Sakura didn’t know how her teammates trusted them so much, even if they did save them. Okay, no, she did. Obito was Sasuke’s family and Naruto was an idiot.
But still. They were missing-nin! Not that Naruto seemed to realize what that meant.
“So they left the village?” Naruto repeated in confusion as he sat on the counter, swinging his legs.
Tsunami had gently shooed him away from helping after he’d started crying while cutting onions and managed to cut himself. By the time Tsunami had looked at it the cut was already healed.
“Missing-nin are ninja’s that have abandoned their village and are now traitors,” Sakura recited from one of Iruka’s lessons as she chopped vegetables, trying not to lose what little was left of her patience. “And since Obito is an Uchiha it means he left Konoha.”
Sakura glanced out the window for what must have been the twentieth time. Hoping to see Sasuke coming back to the house with Obito.
She tried to keep her hands steady as she remembered the cold eyes of Sasuke’s brother. For all she gushed about how cool and distant Sasuke was he’d never once made her feel cold like Itachi had.
She also never knew about his brother. For all Sakura had declared herself Ino’s rival for Sasuke’s affection and admired him she really… knew nothing about Sasuke and what he was going through.
Naruto frowned down at his hands like they had the answers he wanted. “Kakashi too?”
“I don’t know if he’s also from Konoha,” Sakura said hesitantly. As far as she knew Hatake wasn’t the name of a known clan in Konoha. But he and Obito were close, so maybe? “But he’s clearly a ninja so he must have left his village too.”
Naruto hummed, something surprisingly pensive in his expression. “Why’d they leave?”
Sakura tightened her grip on the knife. “I don’t know.”
They had no way of knowing why at all. And that scared her.
“You’re an Uchiha,” Sasuke said furiously the moment he could get Obito alone, some other emotion he couldn’t name aching in his chest.
Sakura and Naruto were helping Tsunami get dinner ready. Naruto had thrown himself into the work with all his usual bullheaded stubbornness. Sakura had been far more reserved but even Sasuke could see how desperately she grabbed at the convenient distraction.
Obito scratched the back of his head. “I was hoping to dance around that topic for a bit longer to be honest.”
“You-“ Sasuke didn’t even have the words. Angry and cold at the same time. “Why didn’t you come back?”
Obito tilted head, staring at him with one dark eye. Only one. Sasuke wondered what happened to the other. The expression was a bit unnerving with the scar tissue on his face and no smile to offset it, making him seem harsher than before.
“You might not have noticed,” he started casually, “but I’m kind of a missing-nin. I’m not really allowed back in the village.”
Sasuke bit the inside of his cheek. “How come?”
Obito didn’t pretend not to know what he was asking, scratching his unscarred cheek as if to stall for just a moment longer. “I was thought to be killed in action and I just… never ended up going back,” he said, a touch helplessly, like he didn’t know what else to say.
Whatever. Sasuke didn’t really care about that anyway.
“Could you defeat Itachi?”
“I’m not fighting Itachi ever again if I can help it,” Obito said immediately, almost jokingly, before he seemed to remember who he was talking to and sighed, scrubbing his face with his hands.
“I really don’t know, kid. Maybe.”
“Train me,” Sasuke demanded.
Obito jerked upright. “What? No,” he said almost instinctively, thoughtlessly.
“Why not?”
This was Sasuke’s chance. He’d never seen anyone else match Itachi like that before. Never knew the Sharingan could be used like that. It was a step closer than anything Sasuke had had access to before.
Obito stared at him for a moment, a wry smile slowly crawling up his face. “Still a missing-nin, kid. That hasn’t changed in the last five seconds. And last I checked you’re still a Konoha Shinobi with a village you’ll be going back to soon.”
“I can leave,” Sasuke insisted. “It doesn’t-“
“No,” Obito said flatly, coldly, immediately cutting him off.
Sasuke found his mouth clamping shut, the words he wanted to say being swallowed back. It doesn’t matter. There’s nothing left for me back there other than ghosts.
Perhaps realizing how harsh that sounded, Obito took a deep breath and deliberately gentled his expression. “I know the village sucks sometimes but trust me, this life isn’t easy either. You don’t know what you’ll be giving up.”
Sasuke wrapped his arms around himself and pretended he was only crossing his arms. “Are you staying?”
Obito stared at him and for once Sasuke wasn’t able—or perhaps wasn’t allowed—to read the expression on his face. “For now. At least until Kakashi is better.”
Right. Of course that’s what mattered to him, he thought bitterly. More than the Uchiha Clan at least.
Don’t you care?! Sasuke wanted to scream at him, at Shisui, at Itachi. He couldn’t understand how none of them seemed to care about their clan, their family.
Obito sighed again, more wearily now. “Come on, kid. Let’s head back inside.”
Sasuke quietly followed and pretended he didn’t feel like the wound in his chest was leaking poison.
Dinner was awkward.
Whatever talk Sasuke and Obito had clearly hadn’t gone well. Sasuke was even tenser than usual, dead set on ignoring Obito. Obito was pretending nothing was wrong at all and Naruto might actually not have noticed anything was wrong, badgering Obito with question after question.
Sakura felt sorry for Tsunami who was stuck in the middle of this tension. Not Tazuna though. Tazuna definitely deserved it after everything he’d put them through.
“Did you ever meet the Fourth Hokage?” Naruto asked eagerly.
Obito scratched the back of his head. “I guess? He wasn’t Hokage when I left though.”
That was… a long time ago. Sakura wouldn’t even have been born yet when Obito left the village. It was somewhat wild to think about.
“How old were you when you left?” Sakura asked.
“Twelve,” Obito said casually, like he wasn’t fundamentally shifting their understanding of the world. “I guess. Technically.”
“Twelve?!” Sakura blurted out.
“You were our age?!” Naruto cried out, slamming his hands on the table as he stood.
Even Sasuke looked caught off guard by that, spoon slipping from his fingers as he forgot to pretend Obito didn’t exist.
“How does that even happen?” Sakura asked incredulously. She had no idea how that would work.
Twelve. And all on his own with no village to rely on. No teammates to keep him safe. No sensei to guide him. Sakura couldn’t even imagine it.
“It’s complicated,” Obito said flippantly, firmly shutting down the topic.
Sakura closed her mouth before her next question could leave her mouth.
Why did you leave?
“What about you Naruto?” Obito brought up almost a little too casually. Sakura squinted at him suspiciously but couldn’t figure out what kind of underhanded motive he might have for wanting to learn about Naruto of all people. “Tell me about yourself.”
Naruto looked surprised for all of a second before he jumped on the opening. Sakura almost groaned. “I’m going to be the greatest ninja of all time! Believe it!”
Unlike Ebisu-sensei Obito didn’t scold Naruto for his boisterous words. He just watched with a quirked little smile, like he was watching something nostalgic as Naruto rambled on.
“-And my favorite people are Iruka-sensei, Teuchi, Ayame, and the Old Man-“
“Who?” Obito asked blankly, taking a bite of his food.
“That’s what he calls the Third Hokage,” Sasuke spoke up almost spitefully.
Obito choked.
Naruto started panicking like he thought he’d accidentally killed him until he realized Obito was laughing, not dying.
“Old Man- oh sage I wish I could’ve seen their faces when you called him that.”
It was funny, how young Obito looked in that moment when just moments ago he’d seemed larger than life.
“Is it really that funny?” Naruto asked dubiously.
“You called the Third Hokage ‘Old Man’,” Sakura snapped, her patience running thin at his continued cluelessness. “You’re lucky you weren’t arrested.”
Naruto’s eyes went wide with panic. “Wait really?!” He started glancing around as if he expected to find himself in prison.
Obito laughed harder.
Naruto couldn’t sleep.
Still buzzing even though the danger had passed. It was night now. With only his team and the two missing-nin that saved them all awkwardly crammed into one room and trying to share floor space without getting on too many nerves.
Ebisu-sensei and Kakashi took up most of the space in the center of the room because they were recovering. Or, well, Kakashi was. Ebisu-sensei…
(“Will he be alright?” Sakura asked worriedly.
Obito frowned and then said, “I’m not sure. He’s trapped in a genjutsu as far as I can tell but…” He shrugged helplessly then. “It’s a pretty powerful one. He’ll probably need to see a healer.”
Naruto had stared down at his sensei then, a pit in his stomach. “So there’s nothing you can do?”
Obito just shrugged helplessly.)
He and Ebisu-sensei hadn’t really gotten along. He was kind of a pervert and looked down on Naruto because of the Kyuubi. At least Naruto knew now (kinda) why everyone in Konoha hated him on sight. If he was really going to prove himself to everyone in the Village though then one day his sensei would be forced to accept him too. It just sucked that he had to.
He’d thought becoming a proper ninja would change things. Be a new start. But it was really just the same old same old. It was frustrating. And a bit discouraging too.
Still, when those two missing-nin had attacked them Ebisu-sensei had stood in front of him too. He’d tried to protect them.
Everything about this was so unfair. But that was just Naruto’s life. Always, always unfair. He clenched his fist in the blanket.
“You should sleep.” It was Obito’s voice, barely above a whisper. He poked Naruto’s shoulder as if to emphasize who he was talking to.
Right, he was keeping watch, in case those other guys came back to finish the job.
Sasuke shifted where he leaned against the wall and Naruto wondered if he was awake. He’d been brooding more than usual even for him, not even looking at Obito ever since he and Obito had stepped away to talk to each other. Naruto had wanted to listen in but Sakura had snapped at him, saying they were probably talking about family stuff.
Because Obito was an Uchiha. Like Sasuke. Because they were family.
Naruto felt a familiar bitterness and jealousy well up inside him at the thought. Why was it always Sasuke? Why did he get to find more family out there, like Naruto had always wanted; secretly imagined happening every night he was in the orphanage, after every mean word and bitter comment spat in his direction?
Because Sasuke deserved it, Naruto thought caustically, hands gripping his sheets tight enough his knuckles were probably white. As opposed to a demon like him.
He’s my little brother.
I heard the entire Uchiha Clan was killed though. By you.
Because Sasuke deserved it, Naruto thought, not caustic at all as he relaxed his grip, anger slipping away like mist.
“I can’t,” Naruto said in a hushed whine that was still leagues louder than Obito.
Naruto couldn’t help but be loud. He was sick of quiet. His apartment was always quiet (empty). People could ignore him easier—just pretend like he didn’t exist—if he was quiet. At least animosity still involved acknowledging his existence.
Sakura shifted now, her back facing him. Naruto wondered if anyone on his team was actually going to be able to sleep tonight.
“Do you need a bedtime story?” Obito asked, tone light, probably joking.
No one had ever told Naruto a bedtime story in his life. And suddenly he desperately wanted to experience it now that the offer was on the table.
“Will you tell me one?” Naruto asked.
Obito stared at him for a long moment, gaze unreadable.
Sometimes Obito looked at him like he was seeing something else entirely. Naruto didn’t know what he saw looking at him but it probably wasn’t what everyone else saw in him (the Kyuubi). It lacked hatred and anger. So Naruto doesn’t know what he’s seeing but it must be better than what everyone else saw.
“Ever heard of the Pervy Toad Sage?”
“The who?” Naruto blurted.
Obito’s grin was filled with a prankster’s mischief. “Long, long ago there was a Pervert who made a contract with the toads-“
Sleepless nights were pretty common for Sasuke. For a lot of reasons.
Nightmares for one. The dead silence of an empty house that Sasuke still somehow wasn’t used to even after five years. And, almost worse than that, was a dead, silent, and empty house that creaked.
Sasuke didn’t know how many nights he spent in his bed, straining every sense for the smallest of movement and near jumping out of his skin at every odd sound like Itachi was finally back to finish the job.
What a joke. As if Sasuke would ever hear him coming in the first place unless Itachi wanted him to.
Konoha wasn’t safe. Sasuke had known that ever since the massacre and yet somehow, after over five years without a hint of Itachi, he’d fallen into some kind of false sense of safety within the bloodstained walls of his home.
Sasuke had no such feelings—or illusions—now, with Itachi so close and his only barrier some missing-nin that had abandoned their clan.
“-and that’s why snakes are evil,” Obito said solemnly.
“Um,” Naruto’s voice said through the darkness. “What does that have to do with the Pervy Toad Sage leaving to travel the world?”
“Everything.”
“You kind of suck at telling stories Obito-san,” Naruto said frankly.
Sasuke, for once, couldn’t argue. He cracked his eyes open just enough to watch Obito’s almost indistinguishable form in the dark flap a dismissive hand. He snapped his eyes closed swiftly lest he be dragged into whatever nonsense this was.
“Do you want another one or not?” Obito returned.
“I do! I do!” Naruto yelped, completely having forgone volume control.
Obito didn’t even bother to scold him. Maybe he knew a lost cause when he saw it. “Okay, how about this one about the Red Hot Habanero-“
“You’re just making these up as you go aren’t you?” Naruto accused.
“No,” Obito said so matter-of-factly Sasuke almost believed him. Almost. “Where was I? Oh yeah. Once there was a girl with beautiful red hair-“
Sasuke still didn’t sleep. For the first time he wasn’t awake all by himself with only his thoughts and the ghosts to keep him company though.
Tsunami was nice in a way nobody back in Konoha that wasn’t Iruka or Ayame and Teuchi really were. Because she didn’t, couldn’t, know about the Kyuubi inside him. It was kind of nice.
Inari was a jerk though.
“But mom, they're just going to die,” he said, scowling at them like they weren’t worth the air they took up in the house. That struck a little too close to home for Naruto. “Gato’s going to kill them.”
“Inari!” Tsunami scolded.
“We’re not going to die!” Naruto protested, but if it lacked the boisterous overconfidence he’d had before running into Sasuke’s brother and his partner then no one knew him well enough to mention it.
Obito, or rather Obito’s Shadow Clone, watched silently from the corner with his eyebrows raised. The real Obito had left hours ago with the vague statement of “checking things out” and the promise to come back the instant there was trouble. He’d probably meant ‘missing-nin attacking’ kind of trouble though, not this.
“Whatever,” Inari said.
There was a puff of smoke as the Shadow Clone dispersed and Obito warped into the room. “Sorry I’m late,” he called casually as Tazuna’s family stared in surprise. “An old lady needed help crossing the street and then a black cat crossed my path so I had to take the long way.”
“For four hours?” Sakura asked dubiously.
Obito waved her off as his eye stopped doing its spooky glowing red thing, clapping his hands together. “Anyway, I have some good news. We probably don’t need to worry about Itachi and Kisame coming back.”
“Who?” Naruto asked, scrunching up his face.
Obito spared a look towards the ceiling. “We have got to get you kids some Bingo Books,” he told it before shaking his head. “The missing-nin from yesterday,” he elaborated, this time to them.
Oh. That made sense.
“How come?” Sakura asked, brows furrowed in confusion.
“Because Gato’s dead,” Obito announced.
Tsunami dropped the plate she’d been holding. Tazuna choked on his next swig of alcohol. Inari didn’t seem to be breathing.
“Wha- how?!” Tazuna finally managed to get out around his hacking and coughing.
Obito shrugged, arms spread in a ‘what can you do?’ manner. “Maybe they had a dispute. Either way they won’t be sticking around if they won’t be getting paid.”
“But Itachi-“ Sasuke protested. “He knows-“
Obito met his gaze evenly. “If he hasn’t come to kill us in the last five years I doubt he’s going to do it now.”
Sasuke closed his mouth, looking doubtful.
Inari bolted from the room, Tsunami following after him with a call of his name.
“… Right.” Obito pushed ahead with a breezy tone after the sound of their thundering footsteps faded. “Anyway, I’ll send a letter to Konoha today to let them know to come get you guys.”
Naruto bolted upright from his chair. “But-” he protested helplessly.
But what? It’s not like Naruto even considered that he wouldn’t go back to Konoha. And it wasn’t like he thought Obito and Kakashi would stay forever once Kakashi was better. It just- suddenly felt like Naruto could see the end of their time together in sight and didn’t want that.
Obito and Kakashi were cool! They were both powerful ninja too! And, most importantly, they were cool, powerful Ninja willing to give them—him—the time of day.
Even Sasuke looked grumpier at the news.
“But we barely did anything!” Naruto protested at last.
“You survived,” Obito said bluntly, like it was in fact the greatest thing they could have achieved.
Naruto found he had nothing he could say to that.
“Is that even allowed though?” Sakura piped-up dubiously. “A missing-nin contacting the village?”
“Well it’s certainly not done,” Obito said. “But like that’s going to stop me.” He snorted at the thought, waving it away with his hand.
“How long will we be here for?” Naruto piped up hesitantly.
“A week or two probably,” he answered matter of factly.
“And you?” Naruto pressed more insistently.
“Depends,” Obito said easily.
The silence that fell over the room was uneasy. Sasuke was glaring at the floor like he wanted to set it (or something else) on fire, Sakura worriedly glancing at him. Naruto, for once, didn’t know what to do.
Or rather, he didn’t know what he wanted to do.
“I need another drink,” Tazuna announced tiredly to the world at large.
It was the middle of the afternoon. He was already on his fifth bottle.
Sakura found herself staying behind to help with Tsunami’s housework and take care of their sensei because the boys were hopeless at it. Not that she’d ever tell Sasuke that.
Sakura glanced across at Obito as she (unnecessarily) fixed Ebisu-sensei’s blankets just to have something to do. It wasn’t like he could have moved and messed them up.
Obito was sitting vigil in front of Kakashi. Eye intense as he tracked every breath judiciously. He’d sent a Shadow Clone with the boys earlier, saying breezily that it was just an extra precaution.
She wasn’t sure she believed him.
She still wasn’t sure what to make of Obito. He flipped between harmless and flippant, bordering on irresponsible, to serious and competent. He wasn’t hostile but was quick to divert any question he didn’t like. Sometimes getting any answers from him felt like splitting hairs and other times he tossed information out like free candy.
To Sakura it looked like there was no rhyme or reason to his actions.
He was also the only thing keeping Sakura safe right now.
She’d never felt more helpless.
“Are you doing okay?” Obito threw out so casually it took Sakura a moment to process the question.
“I’m fine,” Sakura said.
Why shouldn’t she be? After all, she hadn’t done anything. Naruto and Sasuke had both helped Kakashi fight but she’d just-
Stood there. Unable to move.
Obito hummed, doubtful.
“I’m fine,” Sakura repeated more firmly.
“If you say so,” he said dubiously.
Sakura had never wanted to punch someone more.
Obito Uchiha was infuriating, Sasuke decided quickly.
“A little more to the right!” Obito called cheerily to him.
Sasuke did not move the lumbar a little more to the right. Instead he stared straight into Obito’s eye and dropped it right where it was at. Obito made a face at him. One of the other bridge builders tried to hold back a laugh.
The workers (in the wake of being freed from years of tyranny) had far too much energy and enthusiasm for the task. Sasuke just wanted to leave already.
He was starting to hate Wave.
Naruto was loudly, and in barely coherent descriptions, telling the bridge builders about Kakashi and Obito fight with- those other guys. Sasuke couldn’t even complain because Naruto’s Shadow Clones actually helped everything go quicker. Even if the technique had made Obito raise his eyebrow.
(“Are they teaching Shadow Clones in the Academy curriculum now?” Obito asked, sounding incredibly doubtful.
Naruto grinned excitedly. “Cool right? I learned it from a scroll!”
He had? When?
Obito’s eyebrow lifted even higher. “It wouldn’t happen to have been from the Forbidden Scroll would it?”
Forbidden? Sasuke sat up a bit straighter at that. Was the technique really that dangerous? It was just clones right?
“Uhh…” Naruto said.
“Idiot! Did you steal it?!” Sakura demanded, hands on her hips as she glowered at him.
“Hey it all worked out!” Naruto protested immediately and, noticeably, did not deny the accusation. “And now I can make clones!”
“You couldn’t before?” Obito asked.
Sasuke grimaced just remembering how pathetic Naruto’s clones had been.
Naruto glared sullenly at the ground, something like shame in the set of his shoulders and how he seemed to curl inward, scuffing at it with his sandals before nodding begrudgingly.
“Huh,” was all Obito offered. “Well it’ll definitely come in handy now.” He placed a hand on Naruto’s shoulder and offered a grin when Naruto finally managed to drag his gaze up from the floor.
Naruto grinned back.
Sasuke looked away from them, chest burning at the sight. Whatever.)
Not that that would stop him though. “Are you planning on just leaving all the work to your clones?” Sasuke challenged.
Naruto scowled, sticking his tongue out at him, and grumbling about ‘arrogant jerks’ but ran off to go help one of the workers. Sasuke caught Obito shaking his head out of the corner of his eye and turned his head even more away, until Sasuke couldn’t see him at all.
Kakashi woke to an unfamiliar ceiling.
This wasn’t anything new. Him and Obito had slept under so many different roofs that only someone with Kakashi’s memory could keep them all straight.
What was familiar was the figure sitting beside him.
“Hey,” Obito said with a smile that tugged on his scars. He squeezed Kakashi's hand with his right, the plant matter making it noticeably cooler than his other hand. And, more than any roof over their heads could ever be, he recognized home. “You look like sh*t.”
Kakashi made a wounded noise and noticed that he was still wearing his mask. Obito’s doing no doubt. The thought made his eyes crinkle at the corners.
“Maa, I thought you were supposed to be nice to the injured.”
“I’m plenty nice to you,” Obito shot back.
Kakashi couldn’t really argue with that.
A few years ago Obito had bought him an entire wardrobe of casual clothing because he thought Kakashi was too minimalistic still. He’d excused the clothing as something they could use for undercover missions, which Kakashi hadn’t bought for a second; and neither had Obito thought he would. Still, Kakashi had let it go without comment because he was an extremely weak man.
He bought Kakashi’s favorite foods whenever they walked past a vendor with them. Kakashi also had an ungodly number of the ugliest trinkets Obito could find and gleefully gift to him. He stayed up with Kakashi for every one of his frequent nightmares no matter how late at night or early in the morning. Kakashi had tried hiding them and quickly found it to be an effort in futility—Obito was scarily attuned to him and getting up from the bed or even the slightest hitch in breath was enough to wake him.
“How long was I out?” Kakashi sidestepped.
“Two days,” Obito said simply, a discontented twist to his lips. Not worried, exactly, after several similar incidents before this but still generally unhappy.
“And this is…?”
“Still in Wave.” Obito heaved a forlorn sigh that was only partly theatrical as he leaned back on his hands. “Crashing with the bridge builder that hired the genin team.”
Ah yes, Kakashi did vaguely remember their wide eyes and a riotously orange jump suit—for some godforsaken reason.
“They’re still here?” Kakashi wondered aloud.
Obito shrugged, the motion a little stiff. He was uncomfortable. “Their Sensei can’t really go anywhere and I’m still waiting to hear back from Konoha. Plus I didn’t want to leave until you were recovered.”
That made sense. He hummed thoughtfully. “Where are they now?”
The house was silent minus some quiet shuffling downstairs. It didn’t account for three noisy genin.
“Helping the bridge builder with his bridge,” Obito said dryly before adding, “Naruto’s been telling stories about your heroism. I think he’s brainwashing the bridge builders about you as we speak. At this rate the bridge might even end up being named after you.”
“Maa,” Kakashi said cheerfully, “how cute.”
Obito snorted and pushed on.
“Gato’s dead.”
Kakashi blinked slowly, staring at him with a lidded gaze. Is this supposed to surprise me?
“And I didn’t kill him,” Obito added.
Ah. That only left… “Itachi?” He guessed. He was, despite reputation and impression, a bleeding heart. It didn’t feel quite right though.
Obito just shrugged with affected nonchalance. “I guess Gato didn’t want to pay them after all,” he threw out.
Either way they’d probably left by now since their employer was dead.
Kakashi raised his hands in surrender, trying not to focus on the shaking in his arms. “Maa, I see you have it all handled then. Anything else I should know?” He asked lightly, eyeing the drawn lines in Obito’s face despite his glib attitude; nothing he’d said so far accounted for it.
“Well.” Obito paused there, as if unsure how to broach the topic, and then seemed to give up and wing it. “It’s just our luck to run into both Sasuke Uchiha and Naruto Uzumaki.”
It took a moment for the names—and the implications of them—to sink in.
“What,” Kakashi said flatly.
He wondered if it was too late to lie back down and go back to being unconscious.
“You’re awake!” Naruto blurted out when he saw Kakashi sitting upright with what Obito had clocked as his normal level of subtlety.
Which was to say with all the subtlety of a hurricane in bright orange. Someone’s got to get that kid different clothes.
Sasuke and Sakura peaked out from around him. Sasuke scowled reflexively when he caught sight of Obito. Obito had never been particularly good at living up to people’s expectations of him so this wasn’t a surprise.
Kakashi eye-smiled in a way that would have convinced anyone else of this is fine. “Maa, I hadn’t noticed,” he chirped because he couldn’t seem to help himself when it came to being a little sh*t.
Naruto didn’t seem to notice the sarcasm of the statement. “Are you leaving then?” He sounded upset, or maybe disappointed. “Since Kakashi-san is awake now?”
It was a bit odd to hear him use honorifics after catching him calling the Third Hokage Old Man over dinner before. Obito had choked on his food laughing.
If Sasuke spat on the ground Obito walked on then Naruto seemed to admire it. It was almost more unsettling than Sasuke's hostility with how unequipped he felt to handle it.
“It takes a bit more than that to recover from chakra exhaustion,” Kakashi commented for him, easily taking the attention away from Obito.
“So you’re not?” Naruto pressed.
“Give it another week,” Kakashi seemed to promise.
Naruto’s grin was all Kushina.
“They’re like little ducklings,” Kakashi commented with amusem*nt from the chair Obito had sat him in after forbidding him from exerting himself, watching the three bicker about how to set the table.
Or rather, Naruto insisted on being the one to do it, Sasuke was snidely correcting him on the proper placements, and Sakura was mindlessly backing Sasuke up.
“I’m going to leave them in the Suna Desert,” Obito, who had been listening to similar squabbles for the past few days already, said. He wasn’t entirely certain he was joking. “Maybe then they’ll have to actually learn how to get along.”
Kakashi hummed in reflection. “Naruto and Sasuke’s teamwork against Kisame wasn’t too bad.”
Watching them now, almost dissolving into a fist fight over where the spoons went, Obito almost couldn’t believe him. But if Kakashi said it then it must be true.
In truth their team dynamic was a mess Obito had unfortunately been forced to observe up close. They seemed to repel away from each other in a way that left them all oddly on the outside of their own team.
Sakura didn’t seem to comprehend how her idolization of Sasuke distanced him from her while her dislike of Naruto created a distance that was very intentional. Naruto seemed jealous and resentful of Sasuke in equal measure (Obito could relate) and Sakura’s constant siding with Sasuke exacerbated the issue all the more. Sasuke was perhaps the most purposeful in his curated distance but Sakura’s fangirling and Naruto’s combative nature wasn’t exactly encouraging him to do anything differently.
Obito felt secondhand embarrassment (not in the least because of some of the resemblance with his team’s dynamic) just from watching them. It made him want to shake them until they all got their acts together, preferably before one of them died. That was probably unreasonable to expect of a bunch of 12 year olds though.
Not for the first time Obito thought Rin must have been a saint to put up with him and Kakashi for as long as she had.
“Ah,” Kakashi said, a quiet warning bong that had Obito snapping out of his thoughts just in time to watch Naruto try to slug Sasuke.
He was between them in an instant, shaking them by their shirt collars like disobedient kittens.
“That’s enough,” Obito said sharply enough that they all looked at him wide eyes like they couldn’t understand what was happening. “You are not going to get into a fist fight here and damage Tsunami’s furniture and dishware while she’s graciously hosting you. Apologize.”
Tsunami jerked in surprise at her name, clearly not having expected to come up at all.
Sakura spoke up next hesitantly, “But Obito-san it was Naruto’s-“
“I don’t care,” Obito said bluntly.
Naruto was responsible for escalating it but Sasuke was responsible for pushing it. They’d both done something wrong and both needed to acknowledge it.
All the fight had drained out of Naruto at his words. He looked… both resentful and uncomfortable being called out like this though.
“Sorry,” Naruto said reluctantly as he crossed his arms, guilt lacing every inch of his form, unable to meet anyone’s eyes. He seemed sincere about the apology itself though so Obito let it be.
Sasuke grunted in acknowledgment. It was a very Uchiha way of apologizing, conceding without ever truly needing to admit to fault. Obito also wouldn’t let it stand. Obito gave him another shake that earned him a betrayed look.
“Sasuke,” he stressed.
Naruto looked between them with wide eyes.
“… Sorry,” Sasuke finally mumbled grumpily, something that was trying to be a scowl (it was a pout) on his face.
“Sit down,” Obito said as he finally released them. “I’ll be setting the table since you two couldn’t be trusted to babysit a pet rock together.”
“But-“ Naruto tried to protest.
Obito silenced him with a look. He caught Kakashi giving him a particularly deep eye-smile from across the table. It was only because Obito was trying to make a point that he did not throw a spoon at his stupid, smug face.
For the first time since they started staying there dinner was a mostly peaceful, if slightly tense, affair.
Naruto and Sasuke were fighting again.
“This time I’m actually going to leave them in the Suna desert,” Obito said conversationally.
“You’d never find them again if you did that,” Kakashi replied, amused.
Obito made a face at him before he headed over to break Naruto and Sasuke up again.
Sakura crossed her arms. “I don’t know why Naruto always has to cause problems.”
Kakashi hummed neutrally. “I think Sasuke is also causing this problem,” he said dryly.
“It wouldn’t be a problem if Naruto wasn’t such an idiot,” Sakura defended.
If he wasn’t such a loud mouth- if he actually thought things through- if he just payed attention- if he just left Sasuke alone-
Sakura tore at the grass with every offense she listed to herself to vent some of her frustration.
Naruto was just so annoying.
Kakashi rapped her forehead lightly with the back of his knuckles, bringing Sakura out of her thoughts. “You know who you sound like?”
Sakura blinked curiously at him. “Who?”
“Me. About Obito.”
Sakura opened and closed her mouth. “ Obito-san? ” She landed on incredulously.
The two of them were so close though.
And Obito was annoying, sure, but in a way that was entirely intentional. He liked getting on people’s nerves, riling them up. Naruto just trampled over toes without noticing.
Kakashi kept his gaze on the sky as he let out a hum. “Maa, it was a long time ago. Still, he and Naruto were a lot alike.”
“Really?” Sakura blurted out, unable to see it.
Kakashi chuckled. “Sure. Both were annoying and loud, both had something to prove, both were dead last in their class,” he listed easily.
Obito? Dead last? Seeing him now Sakura couldn’t even picture it. Obito was one of the most powerful shinobi she’d ever seen.
“-They’re also both incredibly kind.” Kakashi finished.
Sakura was quiet for a long moment before she asked the obvious question. The question Kakashi seemed to be patiently waiting for. “Were a lot alike?”
Past tense. They weren’t anymore.
“There was a war. We grew up,” Kakashi said easily.
Sakura had learned about the war in class. Could recite every major battle. It felt different hearing about it now, from someone that had lived it. Fought in it even. So much more personal compared to diagrams on a chalk bored and bland texts and a teacher’s droning voice.
“Naruto will too. But don’t let his faults blind you to his good qualities.”
Sakura huffed. “What good qualities?”
Kakashi gave her a sharp look. “The kind that doesn’t let him abandon his teammates even when faced with two S-Rank Missing-nin,” he said pointedly.
Sakura supposed she could give him that. “He’s still annoying,” she muttered half-heartedly.
Kakashi patted her head almost condescendingly. “Most boys are,” he said frankly.
Sakura couldn’t help but giggle at that. “Sasuke-kun is perfect!” She protested with a smile.
Kakashi gave her a considering look. “Ne, Sakura, why do you want to be shinobi?”
“Huh? Because…” Sakura trailed off.
“Naruto wants to be Hokage,” Kakashi said, holding out one hand. “Sasuke wants to avenge his clan.” He held out his other hand, arms spread like he was weighing both reasons against each other. “What about you?”
Sakura bit her lip, glancing back at Sasuke, who was grumpily looking away as Obito scolded him, and Naruto, who looked weirdly pleased about being scolded.
“I…”
“Because I’ll tell you now,” Kakashi interrupted. “If Sasuke’s the only reason then you should quit being a ninja.”
Sakura jerked back like she’d been slapped. She didn’t know how they’d gotten here.
Kakashi looked deadly serious, in a way she hadn’t seen from him before. “Otherwise you’ll just get yourself killed.”
“Today,” Obito announced grandly, spreading out his arms dramatically, “I’m teaching you kids how to climb trees.”
“Uhh…” Naruto said blankly.
What was so special about climbing a tree? Naruto already knew how to do that anyway.
Sasuke crossed his arms looking like this whole thing was a waste of his time.
“Without using your hands,” Obito added, almost belatedly and then proceeded to just. Walk up the side of the tree.
Kakashi coughed behind his fist, somehow managing to look amused at their gaping even with only one eye visible. Naruto had tried peeking at his face while he was unconscious—he was curious!!!—and Obito had been quick to shoo him off with a frown despite the clear amusem*nt on his face. So Kakashi’s face still remained a mystery to him.
“You can do that?” Naruto blurted out as Obito casually stood on the underside of a tree branch.
Kakashi hummed in amusem*nt. “Tree Walking is an essential skill for any Ninja,” he said seriously, eye-curved. “It’s also how Ninja’s travel on rooftops and other surfaces without slipping.” Kakashi’s eye curved even more. “It’d be pretty embarrassing otherwise.”
Oh. That kind of made sense.
“I’m not sure why they don’t teach it at the Academy,” Obito added, shaking his head as he walked back to the ground. “It’s not any more complicated than doing a henge or more dangerous than giving 12-year-olds shuriken to toss around.”
“How do we do it?!” Naruto asked excitedly, hopping from foot-to-foot.
“You concentrate your chakra on your feet. Too much and you’ll be pushed away from the tree, too little and you’ll fall,” Kakashi explained easily as he reclined against a tree.
Obito had scolded him when he tried to stand on his own.
“Chakra?” Naruto repeated. The term sounded vaguely familiar but…
“You don’t know?!” Sakura burst out incredulously, Sasuke frowning at him even more than usual.
Naruto bristled angrily. “I-“
Obito stepped between them smoothly. Just like he had at dinner last night when he scolded Naruto and Sasuke.
Naruto’s used to being scolded—hated—but not… like that. Most of the times he was in trouble it was for things that weren’t actually his fault (like existing. Or having the Kyuubi sealed in him. Which basically amounted to the same thing) or a deliberate choice to make people see him: Naruto Uzumaki.
That was maybe the first time he actually felt like he had something to feel guilty for.
And Obito had even made Sasuke apologize too!
Everyone, especially their teachers, seemed to like Sasuke. He was the best in the class. Naruto wasn’t sure he’d seen any of the teachers so much as frown in Sasuke’s direction. Ebisu-sensei had liked Sasuke more too. And Obito was Sasuke’s family. No one had ever put Naruto on the same level as their family even just in terms of culpability—he was always the one at fault usually.
“What you use to make Shadow Clones,” Obito offered simply, tone amused but not mean the way Naruto was used to.
“Oh,” Naruto said because that made sense.
Kakashi made a shooing motion. “Well, give it your best shot.”
Kakashi and Obito might be the only people in the entire world who occasionally took Naruto seriously.
And, well, it seemed simple enough except…
Naruto stared wide eyed at the damaged tree trunk. “You didn’t say that was an option!” He exclaimed as he pointed accusingly at Kakashi.
Obito leaned over to look at the damage. “Too much chakra,” he said, sounding unsurprised. “I figured. Pretty common problem for a- Uzumaki.”
Kakashi coughed. Obito threw a twig at him.
Naruto whipped around to stare wide eyed at Obito. “It is?!”
Obito stared at him blankly, shared a look with Kakashi, and then grumbled, “What are they doing in Konoha?” Before shaking his head. “Did you kids never learn about the Uzumaki Clan?”
“Uhhh…” It might have been covered in class and Naruto had been skipping that day but more importantly- “I have a clan?!”
Sasuke stared into the distance like he was being forced to reevaluate his world view.
“I think I read that the First Hokage’s wife was an Uzumaki?” Sakura offered.
Obito took that in, muttered, “It’s worse than I thought. Kushina would riot,” and then said, in a louder voice to Naruto, “And no one told you anything about it?” He double checked.
Naruto shook his head.
“Should’ve killed the old man when I had the chance,” Obito said, seemingly to himself.
Naruto and his team exchanged vaguely alarmed looks.
“I thought we were trying to avoid a war, not actively start one,” Kakashi shot back teasingly. Obito frowned at him.
Sakura looked vaguely embarrassed. “Well Naruto’s an orphan. No one knows who his parents are so I thought it was a coincidence.”
Obito made a strange face at ‘no one knows who his parents are’ and then snorted. “You thought he was given the last name of one the founding clans of Konoha, who they were so closely allied with that the Uzumaki Clan spiral is sewn on every Jounin’s vest, for funsies?” His tone made it clear how ridiculous he found that idea.
Sakura blushed more.
Naruto was still reeling from the idea that he had a clan. That he wasn’t just an orphan with nothing to his name.
Obito shook his head and knelt down with a hand on his head, meeting his gaze at eye level. “We’ll get back to that. The point is, Naruto, you have a sh*t ton of chakra. Way more than most people will ever have. It’s why most ninjas don’t spam Shadow Clones like you do—they’d literally collapse from chakra exhaustion. That’s why it’s a forbidden technique.”
Oh.
“So try again but with less chakra this time,” Kakashi added cheerily—encouragingly.
Oh.
Naruto stared at them with wide eyes and thought-
I wish you guys were my Sensei instead.
Sakura was the first to master tree walking.
It definitely fired up her teammates, who went back to training with dogged determination.
“Not bad,” Kakashi complimented easily, like their last conversation had never happened.
Obito nodded in agreement. “Good chakra control. That’s useful.”
Sakura ducked her head at the praise. “I don’t have very much chakra though.”
“Well sure, you’d ideally have both,” Kakashi acknowledged. “But precise chakra control like you have can be hard to train for someone with large reserves like Naruto.”
Sakura mulled that over for a moment. “Is that why he can do Shadow Clones but not the regular Clones? Because they use more chakra?”
Obito raised an eyebrow, looking almost impressed. “Probably yeah. I wouldn’t be surprised if that was the case. Naruto will probably struggle with any jutsu that uses small amounts of chakra or requires more detailed chakra work. Meanwhile you’ll have the opposite problem. So no doing any big flashy jutsu for a while.”
“No Rasengan for you,” Kakashi agreed. “At least until you can build up your reserves some more.”
“Rasengan?” Sakura repeated. She’d never heard of a jutsu called that.
They both ignored her question. Ugh. Them and their secrets and stupid, mysterious ways.
“In that sense Sasuke is the most balanced between you three,” Kakashi commented.
Sakura nodded in understanding.
“Still, good chakra control is important, especially when it comes to pacing yourself in battle,” Obito added.
Kakashi nodded along. “It’s especially important in genjutsu, fuinjutsu, and medical ninjutsu.”
“Medical ninjutsu?” Sakura repeated.
They never really learned that in the Academy beyond some basic first aid anyone could do without chakra.
“Our teammate was a medic-nin,” Kakashi commented distantly, gaze far off.
Our. Meaning that he and Obito had been in the same team together.
“I could probably get you some books if you’re interested,” Obito offered, probably to get Sakura to stop asking anymore questions.
Still- “That’d be nice.”
It was like Naruto had a vendetta against peace and quiet sometimes.
“Favorite color?” Naruto pestered Kakashi from his place on the ground. “Mine’s orange.” Yeah, they could tell.
Obito, in an attempt to get some peace and quiet and burn some of their energy, had started teaching the genin tree walking. It was mostly working.
“Maa, never thought about it.”
Kakashi was lounging against a tree to help “supervise”. Obito just thought he got a kick out of watching the baby ninja struggle.
“Favorite food? Mine’s ramen.”
Kakashi gave a thoughtful hum so drawn out Naruto started fidgeting in anticipation. “Don’t really have one.”
Naruto jumped up. “That’s not an answer!”
“And yet it’s the only one I have to give,” he said airily.
Naruto grumbled. “Why’d you become a missing-nin?” He was persistent, Obito would give him that.
Kakashi eye-smiled. “I got lost on the road of life.” Bastard was having far too much fun with this.
“Hey! You didn’t answer a single question!” Naruto yelled, outraged.
“Sure I did,” Kakashi said lazily, making no effort to sound particularly convincing.
Naruto squinted at him suspiciously before huffing and turning to Obito. “Ne, ne, Obito-san, what happened to your face?” He asked blithely.
“Naruto!” Sakura hissed, the only one on the team with any idea what constituted as socially acceptable behavior and what might be offensive to say to someone.
Kakashi made a vaguely choked sound that sounded distinctly amused to Obito.
Sasuke, despite desperately trying to look uninterested, actually peeled himself off the ground at the question, half turning towards him.
“I got crushed by a falling rock,” Obito deadpanned.
Honestly, to him it was probably the least traumatic part about the whole thing. The damage had been so severe, and so sudden, that Obito hadn’t even had time to come out of his shock and really feel the pain. Mostly he just remembered feeling at peace knowing Rin and Kakashi were safe. Falling rocks weren’t what gave Obito nightmares.
(No, that was Rin with a hole in her chest from Kakashi’s hand. It was the sound of Madara’s voice echoing in his mind like the devil on his shoulder. It was endless days spent in a dark cave without the sun and the uncertainty of when, if, he could leave hanging over him. It was Kakashi in Rin’s place and Obito’s hand through his chest.)
“Oh,” Naruto said, looking almost put out by the simplistic explanation. “Wait, what about your eye then?”
Sakura buried her face in her hands.
Obito met Kakashi’s gaze and lingered on the cloth covering his other eye; his lips quirked up in a grin. “It got lost on the road life.”
Naruto groaned loudly.
Kakashi was almost as annoying if not more so than Obito once he was awake.
“Isn’t it time for good little kids to sleep?” Kakashi asked lazily.
Sasuke jumped, whipping around to find him settled once again under the same tree he’d been all afternoon. There were two crutches with him now. Sasuke hadn’t noticed him arriving at all.
He scowled at- well, everything. “Later,” he said shortly.
He was going to master tree walking by the end of the night. He wouldn’t allow for anything else.
“I’m surprised Obito let you move,” Sasuke shot at him shortly.
Obito had been hovering over Kakashi for the better part of two days now. Fussing. Keeping an eye on him.
Sasuke felt entirely bitter over it.
Kakashi- shrugged, unfazed. Not even a flutter of his eyelid to indicate any kind of offense taken with Sasuke’s statement.
“Maa, what he doesn’t know won’t hurt him,” Kakashi said easily.
Sasuke doubted that. And doubted that he hadn’t already noticed.
“Besides,” Kakashi said breezily, “your teammates are quite the handful.”
Sasuke turned around to glare at the tree like it was responsible for all his problems. Of course Obito was herding those idiots and not here.
“You know you don’t have anything to prove right?” Kakashi said almost idly, toying with a blade of grass when Sasuke turned to look at him.
He’d never heard such a blatantly untrue statement and Naruto once tried to insist ramen was the best food ever. His whole life he had to prove himself. To his father, to his clan, and (always, always) to Itachi.
Kakashi seemed to read at least some of that off his face because he dipped his head in acknowledgment. “Whatever you’re trying to prove or to who only matters because you give it that power over you.”
Sasuke clenched his fists. “What do you know!?” He snapped angrily.
Sometime it felt like the fire his clan was known for was burning in his chest. Like it would consume him.
If it was possible to offend Kakashi Sasuke was apparently missing all his buttons because the man just hummed. “More than you I’d like to think,” he said sagely, affecting some kind of worldly tone into his voice. “The benefit of having lived longer than you.”
“I don’t want to hear this from you,” Sasuke bit out.
Kakashi nodded absently in acknowledgment, gaze distant. “Probably not. But, you know, Obito would probably say the same thing.”
“What does that matter?” Sasuke nearly shouted. “He’s not even here.”
“Maa, that’s because he thinks you hate him.”
Sasuke jerked at that. Meanwhile Kakashi raised an eyebrow as if to ask ‘would you care to dispute that?’
Sasuke didn’t know.
“Ah, looks like our time is up,” Kakashi murmured, Sasuke following his gaze to where Obito stood at the tree line. Close enough to notice him but far enough away to give them space. It was only when Kakashi made to stand that Obito started forward.
“Honestly, what did I say Bakakashi?” Obito huffed as reached him, hooking a hand under his arm to help him up.
Kakashi smiled at him. “I can’t seem to recall,” he lied breezily.
Obito slanted a look at him that said he didn’t buy that for a second but didn’t pursue it any further as Kakashi made it to his feet, taking a moment to hand Kakashi his crutches.
“What were you two even talking about?” Obito grumbled to himself.
It was only because Sasuke was looking at them that he caught the brief sweep Obito did of him. Like he was evaluating Sasuke’s state. Checking on him. Whatever he saw seemed to satisfy him because he turned his attention back to Kakashi.
Kakashi waved a hand. “Just a little talk about taking it easy.”
For some reason Obito seemed to find this hilarious. “From you? ”
Kakashi pressed a hand over his heart in mock hurt. “I’ll have you know I’m great at taking it easy.”
Obito snorted. “Yeah, now. You were twenty times worse at his age.”
“All the more reason to talk,” Kakashi said loftily as he started to hobble back in the direction of the house.
Obito just shook his head before turning to Sasuke. “You coming?”
Something in his face didn’t quite match up with the candor Obito was playing at. Sasuke couldn’t tell what it was though.
He sent a glance back at the tree.
“Come on,” Obito said, apparently catching it. “The tree will still be there tomorrow.”
Sasuke couldn’t remember the last time he felt assured there would be a tomorrow waiting for him. Normally it felt like he was running out of time. Every bit of time he had felt like something he’d somehow stolen; and one day he wouldn’t be able to steal anymore.
He slipped his hands into his pockets and started walking. He didn’t look at Obito. “I’m coming.”
Obito quite literally just dropped the book into her lap the next day as he walked past.
Naruto peered at it curiously as she settled into the corner to read. “What’s that Sakura-chan?”
Sakura flipped through the book, catching various diagrams of the body. “A book on medical ninjutsu. Obito-san got it for me.”
Naruto blinked at her. “You want to be a medic Sakura-chan?”
Sakura bit back her first instinct to snap at him and instead admitted, “I don’t know. But I was curious about it.”
Naruto beamed sunnily at her. “Well I think you’d be an awesome one if you wanted to be.”
Sakura found herself smiling back.
A letter from Konoha arrived a day later.
The Konoha genin exchanged glances.
“They’re kind of cute,” Kakashi commented one night before bed, familiar Bull sh*t smile in place.
“They’re brats,” Obito said, which was true enough that it couldn’t be argued with.
He still contemplated drowning them, just a little bit, a couple times a day.
“I thought you liked kids,” Kakashi said idly, picking at the sheets Obito had draped over his lap.
True. It was just a bit hard when they constantly gave you three different PTSD attacks every time you looked at them.
“It’s hard,” Obito admitted quietly, a secret only for Kakashi to hear, holding Kakashi’s other hand like a lifeline.
“It is,” Kakashi agreed evenly.
Kakashi put on a good front but Obito hadn’t missed how he could barely look at Naruto sometimes. How sometimes his face went white from something that had nothing to do with chakra exhaustion and everything to do with the ghosts that still haunted Kakashi—who’d never been very good at letting things go. Even the things he probably should.
Probably this all would have been so much easier, hurt so much less, if they could honestly say they didn’t like them.
“A few more days,” Obito said.
A few more days until Kakashi recovered. A few more days until Tazuna’s bridge was done. A few more days until a Team from Konoha arrived to take them home.
“A few more days,” Kakashi agreed.
“Why did you drag us under the bridge?” Sasuke asked, aggrieved as he crossed his arms.
Apparently the name of the bridge was still pending.
“I’m calling a team meeting!” Naruto announced.
“What about?” Sakura asked curiously.
She’d been quiet lately Sasuke had noticed. Not fawning over him as much. Thinking more.
“I want Obito-san and Kakashi-san to be our sensei!” Naruto declared with the same kind of bullheaded determination he had when talking about becoming Hokage.
But that was…
“Isn’t Ebisu-sensei our sensei?” Sakura spoke up hesitantly, not shooting the idea down outright—rare considering it was coming from Naruto.
“Yeah, but Obito-san said he didn’t know if he’d ever wake up right?” Naruto said with almost callous bluntness. “So we’d need to be assigned a new one anyway!”
For once he probably wasn’t wrong.
“They’re missing-nin,” Sasuke pointed out because it would be a lie to say he hadn’t thought about them training him.
“So?!” Naruto exclaimed. “They’re not bad! We just need to talk with Shikamaru’s dad!”
Sakura and Sasuke exchanged looks.
Naruto blew up. “Oh come on! You guys can’t say you don’t want them to teach us! Sasuke needs to learn how to do his clan’s fancy eye thing-“
“It’s called the Sharingan idiot-“
“-and Sakura-chan’s been reading the medic-nin books Obito-san got her!” She had? “And- and- and-“
Naruto seemed to run out of steam as he stared at them with wide, desperate eyes Sasuke had never seen on him before. Or maybe he’d just never bothered to look close enough to see it before.
“And they like me!” Naruto blurted out at last. “No one else in the village likes me!”
What…?
Sasuke and Sakura stared at him in silence as Naruto panted with his fists balled up like he was ready for a fight.
Sasuke was kind of, peripherally, aware that people didn’t like Naruto. He’d thought it was because of the pranks and Naruto being a joke of ninja though. Was it really that bad? Sasuke realized he didn’t actually know.
Just like how he hadn’t known Naruto was from a clan. Like how he hadn’t known Sakura was considering being a medic-nin now. He really didn’t know anything about his teammates.
Funny, he’d once thought that they didn’t know anything about him. He’d never once considered that the reverse was also true.
“Okay,” Sasuke surprised himself by saying.
Naruto blinked in surprise, as if he hadn’t actually expected them to agree at all and grinned. “Sakura-chan?” He asked next.
Sasuke followed his line of sight.
Sakura stared at the ground, biting her lip. And then something like fire seemed to bloom in her eyes as she jerked her head up to meet their gazes. “Okay. Let’s do it.”
Sasuke almost startled at the raw determination in her voice. Nothing like the vapid and high pitched thing she’d often directed at him. This was low and firm. She sounded like she was ready to go to battle herself.
Naruto somehow grinned wider. “Yeah! Let’s do it Team Seven! I won’t accept anyone else as our sensei!”
Sasuke was surprised to find he was smirking.
“C’mon!” Naruto whined as he bounced from foot to foot. “Can’t you teach us any cool jutsu?”
“I’m not your Sensei brats,” Obito pointed out, very reasonably.
“You taught us tree walking though,” Sakura piped up.
Kakashi coughed behind his fist, eye crinkling. Traitor. He was finally able to move about without help, albeit carefully.
“I still can’t believe they don’t teach that in the Academy,” Obito defended. “Seriously they’ll teach you how to make clones and substitution but not how to walk up trees? You’re from Konoha. You live in a forest. That should be, like, Ninja 101.”
Kakashi clapped his hands together. “As… entertaining as your grudge against the Academy is-“ He gave Obito a knowing look.
Obito still wasn’t over the fact they let Kakashi graduate at five. Five. War time or not that was f*cking ridiculous. Seriously, f*ck the Academy.
Which Kakashi all knew of course.
“-we still can’t teach you,” Kakashi continued.
“Why not?!” Naruto complained.
“It’s frowned upon,” Kakashi said delicately.
It was a nice way of saying that most Hidden Villages would take it as them trying to steal the genin, or recruit them. Especially when the village had no way of knowing what all you’d taught them. Even if they did return to their village they’d still be brought into the T&I, emphasis on the I, Department to make sure they weren’t plants. And even then they’d still be closely watched afterwards.
Village politics. Ugh.
None of the genin looked particularly happy with that answer.
Sakura spent a lot of the next few days thinking.
About what she wanted. What she wanted to do.
She wanted… to never be helpless again.
“You can’t leave us!” Naruto burst out when they broke their plans for departing later that day.
Sakura nodded along with wide eyes Obito was 90% sure were fake. Her eyes teared up. Make that 70% sure. “What if something happens to us?”
“You don’t want Konoha blaming you if anything happened to us, would you?” Meanwhile Sasuke took the more cool and political approach.
Oh, so now they could work together.
And they were trying to blackmail them. How cute. Obito was strangely charmed. But mostly just deeply amused.
They clearly had no idea about Kakashi and Obito’s unofficial status as headaches, security risks, and boogiemen to the Hidden Villages. Apparently that kind of thing wasn’t taught in the Academy either.
Most villages would literally pay them to stay out of their business.
Kakashi clearly thought the same thing based on the hum he let out.
“You know more Konoha ninja will arrive tomorrow to get you right?” Obito deadpanned. According to Kakashi’s calculations anyway. And neither Obito or Kakashi particularly wanted to be here when they did. “I’m pretty sure you’ll be fine if you try.”
“But what if we run into another missing-nin or something? We could die.” Naruto sounded far too pleased for the situation he described.
“S-Ranked missing-nin don’t exactly grow on trees,” Obito pointed out dryly.
“And yet we’ve run into two so far,” Sasuke pointed out.
Four actually. And, well. Couldn’t argue with that.
Obito helplessly took in their expectant faces. He sighed. “I guess we can wait a little longer.”
Kakashi put a hand on his shoulder, radiating amusem*nt.
Naruto cheered.
