Naruto: A Lazy Life

Pov: Fugaku Uchiha.

*Whooosh...~*

Nothing but the world around us creates noise- many shinobi gather in black cloth to silently mourn the death of Obitio,

"... What should we do about the boy? about Obito's eye?" One of the Uchiha whisper to me.

...

I take a moment to think about it before responding quietly and concisely.

"Do not sow seeds of discord. He doesn't belong to our clan, but he possesses the sharingan. I understand Obito Uchiha fought bravely. Lets respect his wishes" I state.

"We should-" The Uchiha begins to argue my command but stops himself as he notices a figure walking into the graveyard.

Takumi Uchiha, why is he late to his friends funeral? I should have recalled what happened last time and visited him... perhaps he was mopping up after himself.

I turn my head again to focus more on respecting the dead clan member...

...

"How can he show up late, hell even at all... after lazing around this entire war" I hear someone behind me mutter and I take a deep sigh.

Always someone causing trouble, pushing buttons... I suppose losing the sharingan to Kakashi Hatake got on some of the clans nerves, and because they are unable to take it back their anger is naturally guided to the punching bag of the Uchiha.

"Silent. Keep your thoughts to yourself" I glance behind me and use my chakra to quietly carry my words to them.

They lower their head in shame and I glance forward again.

---

Pov: Takumi Uchiha.

I find a spot in the back to stand and pay my respects, I must have missed the first half of his funeral.

'{You can mourn?}' The annoying voice mocks.

{I am not getting so depressed that you can attempt another take over- stop with the cruel remarks}

'{Oh- stealing your thing aren't I?}'

{I do not require your words, retract them}

...

After a few minutes of silence my thoughts start to spark.

Obito Uchiha- it would be dishonest to call you anything other than my greatest friend, but you knew so little about my past that I ponder on if we really had a friendship? Did you know me? Or did you only care for the me that was decaying? Did I ever show who I was to you?

All these questions are discarded with one memory- nothing specific, nothing wonderous nor beautiful- not something I would recall if you still lingered in the realm of mortals.

We had Lunch the other week, ramen of course- I was being myself, ignorant to social norms and annoying you with my blunt yet unique personality, something very, very hard to decipher- Rin even struggles to understand me some times, but you took a look at my face and guessed- No, not guessed... you saw me, you truly saw me.

You saw whenever I was being sarcastic, making a terrible joke, being serious... you saw it all. None can claim to know me more than you- and I thank you for understanding me at my core, even if it meant accepting my rather cruel and lazy tendencies.

You- You above all people simply let me be me.

No arguments on my work ethic, philosophy and beliefs.

No nosy questions about my techniques, strength and ability.

You saw me.

Obito Uchiha- The Emperor of Blades greatest friend, quite a title. Hopefully it makes up for not becoming the Hokage before you died.

I hope I was a good enough friend, I am unsure if made up for my faults, even if you accepted them.

We ate, we laughed- we made memories, memories I will cherish for the rest of my life- no matter how muddled and dull my memory gets I am sure to sharply remember the time you introduced me to Ichiraku Ramen.

I am sure to remember that crush you had on Rin and all your horribly enacted plans to confess to her.

I am sure to remember the dream you held and hoped to accomplish.

I am sure to remember all the people you helped.

I am sure to remember the day you found me, became my friend.

I smile warmly and take a breath before walking away, leaving the funeral just as early as I was late.

...

The war ended just like that as well, did it not? That was fast.

'{You have no right to say that. All your important wars ended within months}' The voice creeps back.

{Yes. but that was with me and my Grandfather at the helm, I see you are learning the language well enough to peek on my private thoughts}

'{Well enough. But I suppose you lack care? Right?}'

{What are you going to do with my thoughts? Gossip to yourself?}

The voice in my head clicks his tongue and I shake my head, making my way through the streets of Konoha... filled with a lot more people and ninja in the area.

They have not even finished cleaning up after the war... how many ninja are still out there?

...

My thoughts are left unanswered as I return home and open my door, swapping my shoes out for slippers and loosening my black funeral wear.

'{What was the point of dressing up if you only showed up for mere minutes?} The voice scoffs.

{The point was to respect Obito} I retort and look up my stairs.

The wooden sword sits against the wall.

...

I step up and grab it, before freezing and placing it back.

...

What is wrong with me?

'{I can name a few things. All based on facts and studies of course- my training was quite thorough}' The annoying voice breaks my concentration for the last time.

{Quiet. Not another word from you}

The voice fades away and hopefully for another full week.

I take a breath and pick the wooden sword up again, my brow furrows as my hands shake... resisting my intent to even hold the damn thing, I take another heavy breath and raise it upwards... my body stops shaking and I calm myself down before moving it back into my Caretakers room.

I close the door behind me and feel a burden creep up my spine... a certain rage honed with guilt as I lean against the closed door.

-I could have done something, I could have won this war with much less death if I had just stopped lazing around- I could have been me again! I could have-!

...

Haaa- what am I doing?

I slump down to the floor and sit with my back to the wall, letting one knee fall to the ground and using the other to rest my arm.

I thought I got out of my head this morning- I was late to his funeral just so I could clean myself up and look less like a slob.

...

And then I left early as well, the others all probably think I am some scum not deserving of anything I have.

Wouldn't they be right? I have done the bare minimum...

... I have also rattled my brain with this same argument a thousand times over.

Hn. What am I supposed to do? He is dead, I cannot just angrily charge at the stone shinobi who did it- I am not so inexperienced in grief that revenge still grasps my heart, nor am I active enough to survive that mad chase.

But I still feel grief- a clutching deep within my essence, my being- calling out to do something about this atrocity.

I take another deep breath and smile to myself.

The more grief I feel the more his friendship was valued to me- this is natural... this is right.

I should stop worrying and get over myself- I have better things to do than linger in my own head and filth- Obito would certainly hate that kind of Apathy coming from me.

...

*Knock* *Knock*

I stand up after sighing to myself and walk downstairs to the door, opening it reveals Minato Namikaze.

"Namikaze, I apologize for leaving the funeral service early... and being late- my condolences for what happened" I bow slightly.

"Please, no need for formalities with me- call me Minato as well..." Minato tells me kindly.

"What are you here for?" I ask.

"Did you want to join me, Kakashi and Rin for a meal?" Minato turns his body and reveals the other two behind him in the street.

...

"Hn- it would be rude to refuse" I kneel down and put my formal shoes on again, before following him outside.

---

Pov: Minato Namikaze

"You were late" Kakashi states as soon as Takumi leaves his house.

"Naturally. I had to buy some formal wear, and Obito of all people cannot complain about my late arrival" Takumi smirks.

He is taking this surprisingly well, better than the other two at least. But is he just hiding it? I know how much Obito and Takumi's friendship mattered to each other- I expected to at least see tears, even a frown rather than that content smile on his face.

Am I just worrying over nothing? Fugaku told me how he handled the last major death in his life... should I have scouted out his house in case he needed help cleaning it? Is he doing alright?

"Haah- of course you were..." Kakashi sighs as we walk down the street to our destination.

He is acting very normal for someone who just lost a very close childhood friend...

It takes a couple minutes but we eventually arrive at Ichiraku Ramen and wait for a few seats to open up

We all order a bowl of ramen and I look inquisitively at Takumi who orders the spiciest bowl he can get, is it some form of self punishment? is he feeling guilt?

He digs into the meal and treats it as normal so I drop the thought immediately.

...

The area is very quiet and dull, usually someone would have spoken up by now- Obito would have spoken up by now... Rin isn't in the mood and Kakashi was always very quiet, I should speak up- say something nice, but what do I say? I have already gone through most of what I could say to them...

"-" Before I can even speak Takumi does so himself.

"I will certainly miss Obito's erratic and hyper behaviour, this meal is much more boring without entertainment" Takumi places his chopsticks on top of his empty bowl and turns towards us.

"... Yes, it is very quiet without him isn't it?" I add.

Rin nods her head solemnly and Kakashi sighs.

"Obito is going on the memorial stone isn't he? We should all visit him when the time comes" Takumi offers, surprisingly.

"-Should be soon, I heard it was going to be updated tomorrow actually" I reply.

"I will get some flowers, considering I gathered none for his funeral" Takumi nods his head.

"... Yeah, that would be good" Rin clears her throat.

"What about you Hatake- interested in joining?" Takumi asks.

"Hn" He grunts in approval.

"-I still recall the time he accidently picked up my jacket instead of his, how long did it take him to notice that?" Takumi smiles warmly and ponders.

"-Ha... at least a week, only figured it out because you blatantly wore his Jacket in front of him" Rin starts to smile too.

"... Idiot blamed me for stealing his eyedrops because of that, thought I took it from his jacket pockets when he wasn't looking..." Kakashi shakes his head as his eyes stop drooping so low.

"I remember that- I thought he just wanted to switch styles" I chuckle to myself.

"-Then he had that bright idea to swap out all my pyjamas with regular shinobi wear- very rude" Takumi clicks his tongue.

"You looked so out of character" Rin hums.

"I thought you were above pranks- then I caught you stealing everything but his pyjamas from his house" Kakashi raises an eyebrow.

"Do not forget you helped secure the prank, Hatake" Takumi smiles.

I glance around the table and notice everyone smiling... light filling their eyes as they tell ridiculous tales of Obito and the memories they had of him- I begin to add my own stories and feel myself get carried through memory lane as well.

Minutes of chatting turn to hours of talking, as we head from place to place revisiting spots he would often frequent.

Why was I so worried about Takumi...? He has a better handle on this than me.