Sitting in the old woman's house, Obito was waiting for her to return with the "payment" that the sweet little old lady had promised him. Of course, he didn't really work for the payments, he worked for the benefit of others... but it would be rude to just leave now without letting her feel like she had paid him somehow. Old people liked to have that dignity.

So Obito stretched, letting some muscles crack, and relaxed. He had offered to help her earlier, but the old woman, Katsumi was her name, had insisted that he just sit down and she was quite comfortable with doing whatever she was doing.

He had helped Katsumi carry home a bag of soil that was clearly too heavy for her, and stuck around to help her plant some flowers. Then he had watered the flowers that were already growing, which was harder than it sounded because she had a lot of them all over the house. Some were in windowsills, others were hung up by the ceiling, and then there were those that were kept outside. After carefully watering all of them, he had fed the fat white cat that had been following him around and sniffing him the entire time, and by the time he was finished it had gotten pretty late and Obito was feeling hungry and thirsty himself.

"I'll make you some tea and dumplings, boy." Katsumi promised, after hearing Obito's stomach rumble obnoxiously. "It's the least I can do after all your help."

"It's no trouble at all, ma'am, you don't have to worry about it." Obito insisted, but his stomach only disagreed with him by protesting loudly. Katsumi chuckled.

"You just sit down and keep Miki-chan company while I fix that for you, dear." She said, leaving to get busy. Obito never refused the request of his seniors, especially the sweet old granny types, so he sat down as he was told and waited with the white cat as she looked expectantly up at him.

"You must be Miki-chan." He said, peering down at the curious feline. Her ears twitched at her name and she brought her face closer to him, and Obito rubbed her forehead until her eyes closed lazily and she purred contentedly.

"Heh." Obito grinned. He liked being appreciated.

After waiting for a while, Katsumi returned with her promise fulfilled- there was a tray of tea and dumplings for Obito. He thanked her and enjoyed his treat, while Katsumi looked pleased to have such a nice guest. Although Obito didn't know it, he reminded her of her own grandchild, but she never saw him anymore. He was a ninja too, but unlike Obito he was too busy to sit with an old woman.

"Young man... Obito Uchiha, was it?"

"Y-yes ma'am?"

"I want you to come back to see me once the flowers are bloomed. You'll do that, won't you?"

"Of course! There's no reason why I wouldn't!" Obito gave her a little thumbs up. "I want to see how beautiful they look, after all the work we've put into them!"

Katsumi smiled. "Then that would make me very happy, and I'll look forward to that day. Might even be more surprises in it for you, eh?"

Obito scratched his neck. "Aw, heh, you don't have to go that far, unless you really, really want to..."

"Then it's settled then. Come back, by spring these seeds will be blossoming, and I'll give you some for your trouble." Katsumi had a knowing little playful smile. "Might be a nice gift for someone else, wouldn't you say, boy?"

A blush crept across Obito's face. "Haha, yeah..." He thought of Rin, and suddenly the day's work seemed even more worth it. His good deed would pay off well!

"Promise me that you'll be back, then?"

"I promise!"

Spring had come, but the Uchiha boy had not. Katsumi thought that he had maybe forgotten about her, but it seemed so unlike him.

Well, if he showed up a bit late, that was fine. Katsumi had the flowers ready that she wanted to show him. They were vibrant-colored and sweet-smelling, and just as good as the flowers you could buy at the Yamanaka shop. The girl that Obito talked about would probably like them.

Katsumi decided to leave the house and do some shopping. As she was out, she saw another young man that she recognized from a photo that Obito had shown her once. She approached him.

"Excuse me," she said timidly, "I think you know a young friend of mine. His name is Obito Uchiha."

The other young man tensed. "You knew Obito?"

"Why yes, he used to help me all the time, but he hasn't been to see me in awhile. Could you give him a message?"

"I... a message. Yes."

"Could you tell him that the flowers have bloomed? He helped me plant them a while ago, and I really wanted him to see them. They turned out so lovely."

The silver-haired boy was quiet, though his expression told nothing. Finally, he said, "I could bring them to him, if you like. He's... not really available at the moment."

"Oh, what a pity." Katsumi frowned.

"Actually, ma'am, there's something you should probably know."

"Oh?"

On the Hero's Memorial, there were two vases full of flowers, where occasionally an old woman would come to pay her respects. She'd fill the vases with flowers, and talk to the stone like it was a friend. No one knew why she did it, since none of her children or grandchildren had died in the war. The woman was very lucky.

Yet she visited this grave until she died.