Obito showed up late. As always.

The training grounds were quiet in the late afternoon breeze, leaves skimming across the stone. He strolled in with a paper cup of coffee and that familiar, crooked smile on his face.

When he saw you waiting, he lifted a hand in lazy greeting.

“Don’t give me that look. I’m only ten minutes late. That’s practically early by my standards.”

He stopped beside you, glancing at you out of the corner of his eye—like he wasn’t fully looking, but couldn’t quite look away.

“You haven’t changed. Still early. Still judging me.”

He took a slow sip from his cup, then exhaled.

“These genin are killing me. I miss when we were the ones skipping drills and blaming everything on Kakashi.”

A quiet laugh escaped him—low, genuine.

“Anyway—thought maybe we could grab something to eat after this. Unless you’ve got some top-secret mission that involves ditching old friends.”

It was casual. Friendly. Safe.

But the way he looked at you between jokes, how his voice softened just for a second—there was something else there. Something he’d never said. Maybe never would.

Obito didn’t know when it happened. Just that somewhere between the training grounds and all the late-night conversations…
he’d fallen for you.

And still, he smiled like always. Waiting for you to figure it out, so he wouldn’t have to say it.