The kettle in the alley fell silent.
Kiyoshi still stood where he was, his hands hanging at his sides.
The ripples beneath the eaves made their final turn, and a slit opened in the center of the vortex.
Kiyoshi shifted his weight onto the balls of his feet.
Obito stepped out of the slit, his toes touching down more softly than the night itself.
They faced each other, three steps apart.
The yellow glow in Izumi's window had dimmed since he arrived.
He glanced toward it without moving.
Obito looked him up and down and snorted. "A little brat of six or seven, and such a stern face."
His voice came muffled through the mask. "What are you guarding here?"
Kiyoshi didn't answer. He took a step forward, shielding Izumi's door behind his shadow.
Obito gave a laugh, but there was no joy in it. "You can't protect it. You can't even protect yourself."
Kiyoshi raised his hands, his fingers weaving signs.
He had practiced those signs countless times, and every finger fell precisely into place.
The final sign settled before his chest. Roots from the wall burrowed into cracks in the stone, and a translucent barrier rose.
When the wall lit up, it was as though someone had opened Obito's most shameful page and laid it bare beneath a lamp.
The smile vanished from Obito's face.
The wall displayed the outrageous image of him and Kakashi embracing and twisting their hips, but-
Rin stood at the edge of the Training Ground, smiling at him with that shy, radiant smile she wore only when the other girls teased her.
Obito froze, right down to the tips of his ears.
He withdrew the foot he had been about to step forward with.
His voice suddenly sounded hollow. "Rin, we meet again.