Kou and Obito

Atop the mountain, Kou stared at the masked man before him, his feelings a tangled mess.

His "fateful entanglement" with this guy had started before they were even born.

Back then, both families had gone to Konoha Hospital to await the birth of their children at the same time. Their due dates were close, and they belonged to the same clan, so after chatting for a while, the parents hit it off.

After discussing it, the adults decided they might as well move in next door to each other, so the children would have a playmate.

So, when Kou was about a year old, his parents in this life planned to move in next door to Obito's family.

However, not long after they moved in, Obito's parents died on a mission.

Kou's parents felt sad and regretful, and decided to look after the family next door as best they could. It now consisted only of an elderly grandmother and Obito, still a baby in swaddling clothes.

As for Kou's reaction back then—

When he found out that the baby next door he'd been playing with was none other than Uchiha Obito—the man who took Madara's name, awakened the Mangekyo for his beloved, unleashed the Nine-Tails, fought the Fourth Hokage, controlled the Mizukage, deceived Nagato, united Akatsuki, gathered the Tailed Beasts, started the Fourth Shinobi World War, became the Ten-Tails' jinchuriki, awakened the Rinnegan, fought Sasuke and Naruto, and spent his whole life on the battlefield for Rin—he was completely dumbfounded.

Wait?! Who?!!

His first thought was to get as far away from him as possible.

Never mind all the insane things this guy named Uchiha Obito would go on to do.

Just the chance that the half-buried, ambitious schemer Uchiha Madara might take an interest in someone close to Obito was enough to make Kou break into a cold sweat.

He hadn't awakened a system, and before he'd grown strong enough, even a half-dead Madara could toy with him until he was dead.

For the sake of his privacy and his life, little Kou had urgently demanded that they move away.

And then... nothing came of it.

His parents in this life had the typical Uchiha mindset. They didn't listen to the opinion of a little kid.

I don't care what you think. I'll decide what I think!

After that, even though he hadn't been happy about it, he really did spend his childhood and adolescence with Obito.

At first, he'd thought about keeping his distance from Obito, but he had to admit that before he went dark, Obito had been a genuinely good person.

When Kou was six, his parents died on a mission.

And through that dark period, the one who stayed by his side was Obito.

Young Obito's warmth and kindness had slowly worn down Kou's wariness over the long years.

He... was, after all, living in a real world.

After more than a decade together, they'd become like family.

He'd once resolved to try to change Obito's fate.

But for one reason or another... he'd failed.

In the end, Obito had still become the man Kou knew as "Obito Uchiha, whose Kamui couldn't hide his tears."

He... hadn't changed a thing.

As memories of the past crossed his mind, a hint of dejection flashed in Kou's eyes.

But on the surface, he instantly switched to that exaggerated persona of his.

He'd adopted it out of fear that the old bastard Danzo might covet him, taking inspiration from the two people around him—Guy and Obito—who were about as likely to catch Root's attention as two clowns at a funeral.

Over time, it had become a mask.

It hid his true thoughts and gave him a way to vent his stress.

Kou let out a loud breath and yelled at Obito in irritation:

"Can't you just walk like a normal person? It's not like it'd kill you! It's just the two of us here. Why bother hiding your presence? You're such a try-hard, it's pathetic!"

He put on an angry face and swung his sword, slashing at Obito a few times.

The blade flashed through the shadowy figure. Naturally, nothing happened.

"Tch, that intangibility of yours... Just how damn sneaky can you get?!"

Kou sheathed his sword, both envious and annoyed, then asked irritably:

"So why'd you come looking for me? If it's nothing important, I'm going back to the Mist Village. I've got a mountain of work waiting for me there."

"...It's nothing major."

Looking at Kou, Obito spoke calmly:

"I just noticed you didn't seem to be in a very good mood when you met Itachi earlier."

His tone turned meaningful.

"That was a pretty blatant provocation. It's not like you."

"...Am I supposed to be in a good mood right now?"

Kou looked at Obito, a shadow passing over his eyes.

He didn't care much about his identity as an Uchiha, and he fully understood that the Uchiha extremists were a bunch of delusional lunatics who couldn't see reality.

But most of the ordinary people in the Uchiha Clan Compound were innocent.

He'd grown up there, after all. How could he feel nothing for the neighbors who'd watched him grow up, or for the life he'd spent there for more than a decade?

After failing to stop Obito from going down the path of darkness, Kou had realized that the Nine-Tails Incident was coming.

But even knowing what lay ahead, what could he do to change it?

Have a heart-to-heart with Obito? Give me a break. Who knew whether that guy, completely obsessed with his plans, would even still recognize his former big brother?

Based on what Kou knew about him, Obito probably wouldn't kill him. But Kou wasn't about to bet his life on that possibility.

As for telling someone else the information in advance...

What? You mean some masked man calling himself Uchiha Madara knows when the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki is due to give birth and plans to attack Konoha?

Whether what you're saying is true or not, first explain how you, an Uchiha, know the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki is about to give birth.

No! Don't explain!!

Come on out, Yamanaka squad member! Use your mind-reading jutsu on him!!

Kou: "...What can I say?"

Back then, he was stronger than Kakashi, who'd shut himself away, but not by much. At most, he was an elite jonin. How was he supposed to get involved in this mess?

Even with the Fourth Hokage, Namikaze Minato, the person he trusted most at the time, all he could do was drop vague hints as subtly as possible.

Namikaze Minato was a good man, sure, but Kou had lived in the Ninja World long enough to know that when it came to his village and his wife, Kushina, that man would never take any chances.

He'd definitely try to confirm whether the information was true, even if that meant searching Kou's memories...

In the end, reality still unfolded the way it had before.

The Nine-Tails Incident began, and the Fourth Hokage and the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki died.

The only thing that differed was that their bodies mysteriously disappeared afterward...

Kou looked at Obito and dragged his thoughts back to the present, putting on a show as he said:

"I'm busting my ass in the Mist Village cleaning up the mess you left behind, and now you've dragged me here to attend Itachi's induction ceremony. Is it really so hard to understand why I'm in a bad mood?"

Obito fell silent for a moment.

Moonlight fell on his orange Spiral Mask, casting shifting shadows across its grooves.

His voice dropped, the hoarseness carrying the obsessive words Kou had heard far too many times:

"You don't need to worry so much about the Uchiha."

He paused, his exposed right eye gazing through the mask's hole toward the full moon on the horizon.

"In the Dream World, they'll all live happily... just like Rin."

Kou rolled his eyes to himself.

He was used to hearing Obito say this. He'd heard this "Dream World" pitch at least eighty times, if not a hundred.

"So what do you actually want from me?"

Obito gazed deeply at Kou—the only friend he still had by his side. They'd grown up together, and Obito had shared all his secrets with him, yet Kou still hadn't left.

He slowly spoke, his tone calm:

"I want you to... become Itachi's partner."

Kou: "...What the hell?!!"

His voice rang out across the mountaintop, startling a few crows perched in the distant trees.