"Rin is already dead..."
Kakashi's face was full of guilt, and he did not dare look at Obito.
To this day, Kakashi could not forget that blood-soaked rainy night. Rin had died—on his Chidori.
"...Sigh."
Obito let out a long sigh.
Hearing that sigh, Kakashi became even more afraid to raise his head.
He feared that if he looked up, the person he missed so dearly would be wearing an expression of rage and disappointment.
Kakashi was not afraid of death. Compared to everything he had lost, death was nothing.
Nor was he afraid of gossip. Even when rumors spread through the Anbu and the village that he had killed a comrade for the sake of a mission, Kakashi had not cared too much.
But Kakashi truly could not bear to have the hero who had saved him, the hero he had admired, look at him with disappointment.
Just imagining it was painful enough to make him faint.
"Kakashi."
Obito softly called Kakashi's name. He placed a hand beneath Kakashi's chin and forced him to meet his eyes.
Kakashi stared blankly at Obito. Once he clearly saw his face, his heart filled with astonishment.
Obito's expression was complicated. There was sorrow and melancholy, but not anger or disappointment.
"You don't need to apologize. This wasn't your fault."
Obito spoke with firm conviction.
The ones who had captured her were powerful Hidden Mist Village shinobi, and the mastermind behind the conspiracy might have been Uchiha Madara. What could Kakashi, a boy who had only just become a jonin, have done against people like that?
Kakashi had even struggled to save his own life. If "Obito" had not arrived at just the right time, Kakashi would have died at the hands of Hidden Mist Village Anbu.
Obito believed that even the "Obito"