Why OBKK is so easy to overlook in Naruto series
I find it interesting that you actually need a certain level of attention and media literacy to really notice and understand obkk dynamics, because it’s very easy to overlook them when you first watch Naruto.
On my first rewatch, I was more focused on the clan lore. Don’t blame me, it’s cool to learn about them ok? On my second rewatch around my mid-teens, I had my Tobirama/Izuna phase despite their lack of interaction in canon. Around that time, I was starting to notice obkk, but I hesitated because of Obito’s love for Rin, even though it was unrequited.
My dumbass back then still thought Obito waged war for Rin, even though he clearly states multiple times in both the manga and anime that he didn’t. He talks about wanting to create a world where kids like Team Minato wouldn’t be sent to war, and where people wouldn’t have to suffer through that kind of reality.
Then a few years later, one tt vid came on my fyp. It's about Obito being delusional about his “what if I became Hokage with Kakashi by my side” dream. That honestly opened my eyes. I started watching more videos about them, did a third rewatch, and I got hooked immediately on all the possible aus. I kept thinking, how the hell did I miss THIS?
Especially on Kakashi’s side, it’s literally right in front of our faces. So much of Kakashi’s beliefs were shaped because of Obito and Obito awakened his Sharingan because Kakashi got hurt. On his 'deathbed,' he says, “I’m about to die, but I’ll become your eye and see the future for you.” HELLO? That is tragic Greek story material right there.
And that scene where Obito says, “There’s nothing in my heart,” then it cuts to Kakashi shown inside that empty space, heavily implying that Kakashi is enough to fill in the void. Both of them cared for each other so much.
They’re also very versatile as a ship. Obkk can be fluff or pure angst without needing to change too much of their personalities. You can write them as toxic or healthy and it still makes sense with canon. Want toxic? Canon already gave us that. Want fluff? Obito’s canon delusions provided us that.
I especially love Sharingan eye marriage au and paired it with post-war Obito-survives au, those fics are always so fun to read.
Like I said earlier, it’s easy to overlook and hesitate to ship them not only because of Rin, but also because Kakashi has undeniable chemistry with other characters. When antis always bring up that Rin was Obito’s, first love. Yes, she was Obito’s first love, and that will never change canon-wise. But he grew, and she didn’t. In his eyes, Rin stayed frozen as that innocent girl who never got to grow up, while he watched Kakashi suffer over and over at the hands of the village and the system they lived in.
A huge part of Obito’s goal was wanting to create a world where none of that happened. A world where Kakashi didn’t have to go through all that pain. Over time, as Obito matured, it feels less like Rin was a romantic motivation and more like she became that first unrequited crush he never got closure from. Meanwhile, Kakashi was still there, still living, still suffering right in front of him.
That dream where they are side by side, Obito as Hokage changing the system, and Kakashi beside him, says a lot. Obito always wanted Kakashi to notice him too. Kakashi’s opinion mattered so much to him, otherwise why create that one-sided rivalry in the first place? Especially when you see how much Obito admired him.
Obito even says in the manga that if he had noticed Kakashi’s pain sooner, he could have eased his suffering and they could have become closer before everything went wrong. That line says more about how he saw Kakashi than anything else.
Also, Obito very clearly moves past Rin’s death in his own warped “what if” vision. In the Infinite Tsukuyomi dream sequences we see, Rin and Gai are nowhere in sight. It’s just him and Kakashi in that Hokage dream scenario.
I want to yap more but that's all for now have a good day!
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