Obito was just 6 years old when he heard a flute playing by the lake one night.
Being a curious boy, Obito wanted to go towards the source of the alluring sound, but his grandmother pulled him away. She warned him not to go towards the lake at night.
There were stories, you see.
Around town, there were legends about the Torii gate on the lake being an entrance to another world– one similar to this one, but darker and more sharper around the edges.
It is said that on certain nights, you can see shadows of figures wandering through the misty haze of the lake. Other legends speak of townsfolk who wandered too close and were never seen again. A few of them returned many years later, but they came back having gone insane or not remembering their own name.
So Obito learned to stay away from the lake when it was nighttime. He was a young and obedient grandchild, careful not to be a burden on his aging grandparents. But deep within his being, he felt drawn to the lake. The songs that played there on certain nights were strangely alluring.
Although it seemed like he was the only one who could hear these songs. Maybe he already was going insane...
As Obito grew older, he started playing the flute on his own. The music by the lake had him possessed. He didn't know why, but he felt this strong need to play the flute so that he could replicate the strange melody. Or perhaps, it was the mysterious emotion conveyed through the melody that he couldn't shake off.
He couldn't describe what the flute music made him feel. The songs always felt so sad and lonely, but at the same time yearning and bittersweet. And for some reason, it made him feel like a part of him that was missing was slowly being filled. He didn't know he was missing a part of himself until he heard those songs.
So he practiced everyday, memorizing the feel of the bamboo on his fingertips and the sharp yet bright sounds the flute whistled out as he breathed life into it. He grew comfortable playing the flute. It became his peace, his passion.
Obito was 10 years old when his little family started falling on hard times. He was raised by his grandparents, since his father and mother died so long ago. They were a small family of 3 with a little farm, but with every year, it got harder to keep up and maintain it. The amount of food produced and the money they had was quickly growing scarce. And his grandparents were getting older. Times were getting desperate and playing the flute felt frivolous.
On one night of the full moon, Obito wandered over to the lake, crying softly to himself. He knew the lake was dangerous– he should know– but deep down in his heart, he never believed in the legends. He felt comforted by the lake; No way could such beautiful flute playing be evil.
He sits down and leans up against the Torii gate, sobbing to himself. What am I going to do? Grandpa is getting old, and it's getting harder and harder to tend the farm. And Grandma is getting older too. I don't want to be alone...
Obito hugs his knees and dips his head to muffle his cries. His body starts to shake and he lets out a soft wail.
“Ugh! Could you stop crying!? Geez you’re so loud…,” says a voice above him.
Obito perks up. “Who...?" He looks around and gets up on his feet. "Who said that?” he calls.
He continues to look around, turning his head side to side, but sees no one. He's not surprised. He made sure no one was here before he sat down to cry. And the people in town know to stay away from the lake, especially during the night. So where did that voice come from?
Obito scratches his head and pouts. I swear I heard a voice. It sounded like it came from…
Slowly, as if by instinct, he looks up.
And there he is. A young boy with white silver hair, springing up atop his head, and what looks like a black mask covering the lower half of his face. He's sitting there atop the Torii gate, looking down at him with an obvious scowl shown through with just his eyes.
“I could ask you the same thing,“ the boy says blandly.
The boy shifts his weight, then jumps down the 20 foot drop. He seems to float as he gets closer to the ground, then lands gracefully on his feet. A soft woosh emits from the spot where he lands.
Obito tilts his head as he watches the other boy slowly stand up. He seems like a normal kid from town– He's wearing a white kimono and light blue hakama (traditional japanese pants), with a silvery grey scarf wrapped around his neck.
Obito narrows his eyes as the boy turns his head to look at him. Something strange catches his attention. What he initially thought was a black mask covering half of the boy's face, looks more like a... shadow?
He watches as the dark shadow on the boy’s face seems to drift slightly, as if catching up to follow the boy’s movement.
A dark chill creeps up Obito's spine. He could've sworn no one was around when he came over to the Torii gate. Then he realizes another odd thing. Wait, did this kid just jump down 20 feet, unharmed?
“Who– who are you?," Obito sputters and he struggles to keep his shoulders from shaking. He gulps nervously. "W-where did you come from?”
The boy stares at him and arches an eyebrow. He looks very unimpressed and comments with a condescending tone, “Wouldn't you like to know."
Obito stiffens up, stunned by this boy's rudeness. Why is he acting so mean? But Obito has some snark of his own too.
“Yeah!," he yells at the boy's face. He puts his hands on his hips and scowls. "That’s why I asked. You baka!”
The boy's eyebrows rise a small fraction, then he narrows his eyes. “What did you call me?“
Obito straightens up, making himself appear taller than how he actually feels. He sticks out his tongue. “You BAKA!”
The boy glares at Obito. He says with a sneer, “You better watch it, Crybaby.”
“What!?” Obito steps back, his face turning red. “I’m not a crybaby," he retorts haughtily.
The boy scoffs and says as if it was too obvious to point out, “You were just crying a moment ago." Then his eyes gleam with satisfaction and he adds, "Crybaby.”
Obito gawks at the boy, his mouth slackjaw and hanging open stupidly. His eyes begin to sting, tears ready to fall. But he's so pissed that this jerkace of a kid got the last word in.
As if knowing Obito is about to cry again, the silver haired boy smirks and starts walking away. Anger flashes across Obito's face and something in his brain snaps.
“GRAH!” Obito screams and runs over to tackle the other boy. The white haired boy yelps and falls down unceremoniously as Obito's weight hits him like a giant bean bag.
They fall onto the misty wet grass, scrambling to get atop the other while fighting in a tangle of limbs. Obito shoves the boy over, and sits on top of his chest. He starts smacking him on the face, yelling and blinking away tears. "I'm not a crybaby! Baka-baka-baka!"
The other boy grunts and pushes him off, then he jumps on top and shoves Obito's face down into the grass. "Yes, you are! Crybaby! Crybaby!!"
They fight like that for a few minutes till Obito smacks the boy's hand away and a long wooden object flies out of his sleeve. Wide eyed, the silver haired boy springs to his feet and runs to the object before it rolls too far out of reach.
All muddied with grass over his clothes and face, hair tousled in every direction, Obito gets up to a sitting position. He props himself up, using his hands to support himself on the grass behind him. He watches the other boy with a dazed look, curious too see what he is holding so preciously in his hands.
The boy hugs it tightly to his chest and closes his eyes, as if he almost lost the most important thing in the world. Obito catches a glimmer of the strange object. He knows exactly what it is: A flute.
"Why do you have a flute?" Obito asks, squinting his eyes.
The boy, still holding the flute close to his chest, looks at him warily. "It's mine."
"Yours?…," Obito studies the flute in the boy's hands, he notices how shiny and fancy it looks. It's not something a boy from town would be able to afford. He gasps, "You stole that didnt you?!"
"What?" the boy squawks, eyes wide at the accusation. He glares at Obito and seethes, "No, It's mine."
Obito purses his lips, then gets up and walks over to the boy. His anger and fear from just a few moments ago melts away, now replaced with genuine curiosity. Something at the back of his mind is itching to hear this boy's flute. "Can you play it?"
"Of course I can," the boy snaps.
Ignoring the boy’s rude tone, Obito can’t take his eyes off the flute– there's something otherworldly about it. The flute looks like it is made of wood, bamboo to be precise, but its white and silver in color. And the longer he stares at it, he notices it has this hazy ethereal sheen.
"Wow," Obito gasps. He can't help it when his eyes grow wide and doey and he looks at the other boy pleadingly. "Can I hear it?"
The boy narrows his eyes suspiciously, but with Obito looking at him with such a dopey desperate expression, he can’t resist for long. He lets out an exasperated sigh and raises the flute to his lips.
Obito watches the boy’s lower face in awe. The dark shadow is still there, concealing his lower facial features, but it doesn’t seem to impede on the boy’s flute playing.
The silver haired boy closes his eyes as he begins to play. The sound of the flute emerges and starts to drift through the cold misty air. It's sharp and bright, yet peaceful and calming. The melody surrounds them both, mixing with the noises of nature in the nighttime, lulling all the little creatures around them into tranquil silence– Only the sound of the flute remains.
Obito watches him with rapt attention; everything in their surroundings seems to fade away and disappear. The boy looks so peaceful as he plays, completely opposite to his attitude from earlier. And there is something else intriguing about the boy. It's an unconscious feeling– something Obito isn't fully aware of– but the longer he looks at him, there is a feeling in his gut that senses something more… something comforting and familiar.
Obito blinks and wakes himself up. He listens to the song. The mood, the melody… it takes hold of his whole being. Then the epiphany hits him like a ton of bricks.
This boy… is his nighttime flute player by the lake.
"Oh my god. It's you!" Obito exclaims.
The boy opens his eyes and stops his playing. He arches an eyebrow and looks at Obito, deadpan. "What do you mean?"
"It's you!" Obito yells, then he covers his mouth. He doesn't want his voice to travel and alert anyone in town. He says in a smaller voice, "You're the one who plays the flute here on some nights. Aren't you?"
The boy's eyes widen, then he stares at Obito for a long moment, studying him intently. "You heard me playing the flute before?"
"Yes! You're amazing!!" Obito gushes. His face seems to glow with his bright smile, his eyes sparkling.
The silver haired boy stares at Obito, stunned speechless. A light blush appears on his cheeks and he looks away. "Oh," he says, pleasantly surprised.
"Yesss! I love your music!" Obito smiles wide and offers his hand toward the boy for a handshake. "My name is Obito. I'm so happy to finally meet you!"
The boy turns his attention back to Obito. He raises his hand to shake Obito's, eyeing him curiously. "Hi… I'm Kakashi," he says.
Obito grabs and shakes Kakashi's hand, causing him to shake along with it. "I'm like your biggest fan. I even started playing the flute on my own."
Kakashi perks up. "You play the flute too?"
"Yea!," Obito beams. "It's back at my house though, maybe I can meet you here again tomorrow?"
Kakashi's face does a tiny wince, it was almost indiscernible and Obito doesn't notice. He looks up over his shoulder to glance at the moon, then he turns back to Obito and gives a small half smile.
"I can't."
Obito's excited demeanor fades and he looks down at his feet. He really wanted to show his skills to his new friend.
"But…," he hears Kakashi say, "I can meet you here next month."
Obito's head snaps back up. He locks eyes with Kakashi, a bright hopefulness in his eyes. "Oh my god, really?"
Kakashi studies him for a short moment, then gives a little smile. "Yes, just meet me here exactly a month from now."
Over a period of mere half seconds, Obito's expression changes from dejected sadness to utter joy!
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A/N: Hi guys! I started writing this one like a year ago, but then I stopped because... well I got to the smut part and I didn't know how to write smut back then lol 😅😅
In case anyone is interested... I was inspired by an old japanese folklore I found in a book at the library. (Lol the one time I went to the library in the past few years 🤣) And for the life of me, I can't find the story anywhere online. 🥺 Well basically, its about this guy that goes to play his flute underneath the Torii Gate by his village. When he's finished, he hears a disembodied voice that tells him he's pretty good. So he keeps coming back and the voice starts giving him advice....
I'll tell you the rest in the next chapters. 😘 I don't want to give anything away with my story. As usual, I thought of that little fairytale story again and it made me think of my ship lmao! So I had to make the kakaobi version!! 🤣🤣
Well anyways, Thank you for reading! 😁❤ Hopefully this little story keeps you entertained while I work on updates for my main ones.