Chapter Text
When Obito had been accepted into the University of Konoha four years ago, the main expectation was that if he wanted to continue playing football, he would have to pick a major that would provide for him in the (unfortunately high) likelihood that he would be injured and forced to quit. It wasn’t like he had to listen to his family, but if he wanted those old-fashioned elders to pay for his tuition and living expenses, then he’d have to give in to their requests, occasionally. So, he had decided on Exercise Science, simply for the fact that the classes sounded moderately interesting and he figured that he would be able to make a career out of it in the sports field even if he retired from playing.
However, planning was always the easy part - execution had never been Obito’s forte. Sure, he was in his last semester of college, but that GPA of his was pretty abysmal (enough to maybe graduate, but definitely not enough to get into any sort of graduate school without retaking some classes). He had never been one for making excuses for himself though; he knew the entire reason for it was because 99% of his heart was focused on football and the team, and the remaining 1% was dedicated to his classes.
He just couldn’t find the motivation to study when he was waking up before the sun even rose to run endless laps around the football field.
Still, it was his dedication to football that earned him the position of quarterback during his sophomore year. When it had been announced, he remembered the surprise (and doubt) that clouded UoK’s campus - so many had quoted his inexperience to be a certain doom for the team. Two years later, it was anything but true.
They didn’t know Obito, not like his teammates did. They were the ones who saw the way he put in extra hours on the field - improving his throws, memorizing his plays, flirting with a cheerleader or two for the school spirit.
In turn, he knew his teammates better than anyone could - a necessity when planning out his plays, modifying them for each player’s strengths and weaknesses. Gai was quick on his feet, a great cornerback. Asuma, despite his penchant for smoking a chain right before the game, was an impenetrable lineman.
It was a given he’d know them best though, since he shared a house with them and a couple of the other teammates not too far from campus. Both a blessing and a curse - the amount of times Asuma had saved him from failing Physics was balanced out by how quickly all of them ran through Obito’s protein shakes in a week.
Obito scratched at the scars on his cheek, thoughts interrupted.
“Coach has been running us dry.” Asuma groaned from his spot beneath the oak tree in front of the library. His head dropped backwards with a muffled thunk, another puff of smoke lifting towards the rustling leaves.
Gai let out a hum of agreement from above, mouth full as the crumbs from his sandwich sprinkled onto Asuma’s face, earning him a swat to the ankle.
“We have a game in a couple of weeks, so we need all the practice we can get.” Obito rubbed the back of his head at the pointed look his friends gave him - still trying to figure out how to snatch the granola bar from Gai’s lunch without the other noticing.
“Plus, the burn feels pretty good.” He grinned as his fingers nicked the corner of the wrapper, successfully yanking it out of the bag and into his other awaiting palm, having predicted the way that Gai would lunge at him to try and snatch it back.
“Obito.” His friend whined, nearly kicking Asuma in the face as he leapt upwards, forcing Obito to scramble even further back to avoid those prying hands, already unwrapping the granola bar to shove half of it in his mouth.
He laughed, taking another step back, amused by the way Gai’s thick eyebrows scrunched together, only to notice his teammate’s face suddenly shift to one of surprise, a hand reaching for the front of Obito’s shirt to pull him off of the sidewalk that led to the library doors.
“Look, Gai, you should’ve-” Obito couldn’t even finish his sentence before he realized exactly why Gai had been reaching for him, his back colliding with what felt like a mountain of cardboard. He whipped around and watched as the stacked boxes wobbled, a stressed exhale hissing between his teeth as he caught the top one just as it tipped off.
“Shit, I’m sorry.” He began, so preoccupied with making sure that nothing had dropped out of the box as it fell that he hadn’t looked at exactly who he had run into. His voice dwindled off into silence as he saw that distinctive fluffy silver hair, tufts all over the place, and the haphazard lab coat (which sort of looked like it was inside out).
Kakashi. His TA. The TA that he was sure absolutely hated him because there wasn’t ever a day that Obito wasn’t late to his Physiology class. Professor Namikaze was too kind to ever comment on it, but Kakashi never failed to glare holes through his skull when he would accidentally slam the lecture hall’s doors a little too loudly.
All he knew about Kakashi (thanks to Gai, who seemingly knew anyone and everyone) was that he was in the year below them, majored in Microbiology and basically never left the lab unless he was assisting Professor Namikaze.
So Obito figured that since Kakashi was always tired and he needed to get some brownie points after all of his interruptions in class, he could try to fix this mistake by offering up his services.
“Sorry, Kakashi.” He tried again, this time with a blinding smile - one that had never failed him in all of his years at UoK, especially when he was looking to get some special treatment. “Do you need some help carrying these? It’s the least I could do.”
Then, a slight flex of his arms, just for good measure.
Hook, line and sinker.
What he didn’t expect was Kakashi’s blank expression, the slow blink of his half-lidded eyes before he frowned, the grit of his teeth almost visible.
“Do you know how much these are worth?” He grumbled, and Obito took a little peek into the gap of the box’s top, noticing a plastic kidney - the exact chapter they were on in class. Anatomical models, by the looks of it, most likely for the group study sessions the TAs held in the lab on Fridays. Today, precisely, in about five minutes.
Obito wasn’t sure what to say to that, but regardless, opened his mouth to try and play it cool until Kakashi cut him off, appearing significantly more irritated than before - because he hated Obito, or because of the accident, he wasn’t sure.
“Maybe if you spent more time studying instead of messing around, you wouldn’t be failing.”
Obito could hear Asuma’s awkward cough and Gai fidgeting behind him, trying to stop himself from physically deflating. Damn. His cheeks burned a bright red, so intense that it was visible even on his tanned skin, gently placing the box on top of Kakashi’s pile again as he dejectedly watched his TA walk off in a hurry, clearly late to his destination.
Kakashi was right - he was holding onto a solid D in Physiology and if he wanted to actually graduate this semester he needed to pull it up to something at least passing. He’d done it before in the past, but this semester was hard; he’d been so focused on doing his best at practice to show his full potential to the scouts at the games that he’d been severely neglecting his classes, especially Physiology.
Still, it stung pretty bad to have someone call him out like that - as if they didn’t even care about him or how he felt. Obito was used to people sugarcoating their words or treading lightly around him - anyone who had even a drop of school spirit or cared about the dynamics at UoK basically vibrated in place when he spoke to them. He was the quarterback, and yeah, maybe it got to his head a little, sometimes, but he figured that would’ve given him some slack here.
Not with Kakashi, apparently.
With a lab quiz coming up, Obito decided that this would be his chance to prove himself - he didn’t care what Kakashi thought of him, but he wasn’t about to let that silver-haired brat talk to him like that. He was Obito Uchiha - if he set his mind to it, he could do it.
With a nod and the strap of his backpack in hand, Obito bid his teammates farewell and walked into the most dreaded place on campus.
The library.
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The endless tick of each second passing by was like torture. Tick. Tick. Tick.
Fuck. He hated studying. Two hundred push-ups. Fifty laps. Whatever it was, he’d do it to get out of this hellhole.
Obito groaned and let his head drop to the wooden table, tucked away in the farthest corner of the library with his books and laptop strewn all around him.
Studying here reminded him why he had been avoiding it in the first place - Physio was just too much information to take in at once and it was way easier to simply avoid it.
Honestly, filling in “A” for every question on his quizzes and tests so far had earned him a solid D and he thought that was pretty impressive - so maybe if he stuck with that method he’d be able to somehow pull it up to a passing C.
With a sigh, Obito lifted his head and rested his cheek on an upturned palm. There was a half eaten protein bar, watered down coffee and his professor’s slides pulled up on the screen, which he had sworn was the equation for studying success (or at least that’s what Asuma made it look like), but it was like the words were written in another language.
“The renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system.” He repeated for the hundredth time, trying to kick his brain into gear. With a frustrated sigh, Obito vigorously rubbed at his eyes, trying to shove the desire to take a nap aside.
He was mid-rub when he felt someone’s looming presence - quite possibly the most awkward presence he had ever experienced in his twenty two years of life.
Obito opened his eyes and quirked a brow, confused as to why Kakashi was just ... standing there.
“Uh, are you okay?” Obito asked, eyes drawn to way those long fingers drummed over the cover of a sage green notebook. It was half-funny half-cute the way his TA was looking everywhere but him, obviously confused with himself as to why he was there as well.
“I- uh. I just wanted to-” Kakashi began, grimacing at the way he couldn’t just get it out . “I’m sorry. For earlier.”
Obito blinked in response, surprised because he had honestly forgotten about that ordeal after he’d tried reading these damn notes for the fiftieth time. Yeah, it had angered him in the moment, but Obito was also notorious for getting over things pretty quickly - he had a hot head, but time always soothed his temper.
“Oh, you’re fine.” He drawled, sort of distracted by how different Kakashi looked, hours later. Instead of a frazzled mess of silver hair, it was falling softly over his brows, and that messy lab coat had been swapped out for a chunky brown sweater, loose around the collar.
Pretty.
“- I was just stressed, but that’s no excuse, I shouldn’t have lashed out at you. Even if you’re late every day.” It sounded like Kakashi was rambling, but Obito had honestly zoned out, too busy imagining things that probably weren’t appropriate considering this was his TA.
“So, it’s only fair that I tutor you until the next exam. I shouldn’t be using your grades against you when I haven’t even tried to help.” Kakashi’s voice was like honey, and fuck, maybe it was the sleepiness creeping up on him but Obito’s imagination was going wild.
He casually moved one of his textbooks over his lap, hoping the other didn’t notice.
This was a strange turn of events, but Obito was glad. He needed the help, and he knew that Kakashi would feel guilty until he gave something in return - a win/win situation for the both of them.
“Alright, but I’ll have you know I’m a hands on learner.” Obito smiled as Kakashi sat down across from him, not even minding the way the TA tsked at him with a frown, because the faint dusting of pink across his cheeks was too obvious.
Oh, Obito sure was interested in Physio now.
______________________________________
Hours later, so late that even the librarian had to kick them out, Obito realized that not only did he understand a lot more of Physiology than he ever had, but he also knew a lot more about Kakashi too.
Of course, it only worked because Obito was ever so skilled at prodding and always volunteered free information about his life (he was a crazy kid) but he knew it made other people comfortable. Even with someone as stubbornly private as Kakashi, the more stories he told, the easier it became for his TA to share some small snippets as well.
Even if he had to embarrass himself two hundred times to get one little fact out about Kakashi, just hearing him laugh at the memory of 10 year old Obito busting his face on a cantaloupe was totally worth it.
And the summer where he'd been convinced he was a pirate.
And how, his freshman year of college, he’d gotten his dick stuck in a jar of jam.
And even his theories about how he was sure there was treasure buried ten meters underground in the football field.
All for Kakashi to tell him a tiny story about how he used to go canoeing with his dad as a kid, collecting amoeba samples from the water.
The leaves did nothing to curb the brunt of the wind as they left, Obito squinting at its sheer force, amused by the way it abused Kakashi’s hair, even more tousled and messy than before. It made it easier to imagine what it would look like to see that hair on the pillows beside him, and if there was one thing Obito was good at other than football, it was getting people to sleep with him.
Obito called it big dick energy, but his teammates preferred less than kind terms.
Kakashi lived in the on-campus apartment-style dorms, and since it was nearly midnight, Obito had insisted on walking him there. His TA had protested, since it was only a ten minute walk from the library, but Obito was honestly just trying to stall for as long as possible, moving slower than any human should.
“It’s right around the corner.” Words spoken softly beside him, Obito glanced to his right, and he realized Kakashi had also been stalling (but then again, his TA always seemed to move in slow motion unless he was late to his sessions), the both of them coming to a halt right outside the big brick building.
He eyed the fat black cat that was lounging in a patch of flowers right by the gate, an intruder to what would otherwise be complete privacy. Kakashi huffed out a laugh before taking a step in the direction of his dorm.
“I guess I’ll see you around.”
“You guess? Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Don’t think I’ll let you skip out on my tutoring.” Obito grinned, almost devilishly. He’d be using those sessions to his advantage - both for his grade and as an excuse to see Kakashi some more.
Something like a snort left the younger man as he gave a tired wave, student ID swiping through the knob to unlock the door.
Obito wasn’t sure why he stood there until Kakashi disappeared inside - his TA had been on this campus for three years and obviously had been fine for that long, but his legs had been rooted to the ground until he was sure the other was safely inside.
He shrugged at himself - Obito didn’t really have the energy to dwell on his actions and inactions at the moment, not when he had a warm bed waiting for him at home. So he began his walk back to the training field garage (and if it was a twenty minute walk away from where he was currently, then so be it).
It was pretty hard to “go out of his way” when he wanted the person to stay even longer in the first place.
Still, it was boring to walk by himself through campus - dark and absolutely dead, so unlike its usual bustling self during regular hours. Occasionally, there was a dim lamp post along the way, but the school definitely needed to invest in some more lighting at night.
In the meantime, if he was going to be keeping Kakashi out this late, the least he could do was walk him back to his dorm. Not that he didn’t believe Kakashi couldn’t defend himself, but Obito had seen those wrists - had even pictured how easy it would be to grab both of them in one of his hands, and he was also sure that he wasn’t the first one to think about his TA in that way.
Kakashi was beautiful, anyone could see that. Even if he was a brat. (Obito felt like that flicker of attitude even added to how badly he just wanted to press Kakashi down and put him in his place).
Just thinking about it had his dick accompanying him on this midnight stroll and he groaned, glad that no one else was around. On the bright side it forced him to walk faster to the garage, and he made the easy ascent upstairs to the second floor, backpack carelessly tossed to the backseat of his car, key already in the ignition.
His fingers tensed around the steering wheel.
Yeah, he needed to jerk off when he got home.
Otherwise, he’d be up all night thinking about bending Kakashi over in the library.