A/N: This is the promised sequel to My Important Person (short Kakashi/Minato student-teacher fic). Minor references may be used, however it's not necessary to read it first to understand. Enjoy!

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"Ah...the Hokage tower is where...again...?" Obito queried, slightly out of breath, as he looked from left to right. They were not even inside the village yet, but he liked to know things beforehand. Too bad his sense of direction failed him in every possible way.

"Ugh...you don't even know that?" Kakashi mumbled wearily, giving Obito a pathetic glare.

"Shut up, will you," he muttered back defensively, "...jerk."

"What did you say?"

"You heard me." He stuck out his lip and gave him a sideways glare back. He then took closer notice of him. Kakashi looked even more irritated than usual. Was it because he so pissed at that him that his cheeks were turning red? If this was the case, Obito thought, then he was definitely annoyed with him as well. When they were about a half-mile from the village gates, he looked behind him to see that Kakashi was now the one following, not leading. "Hurry up, already!" Obito earned himself another dirty look, but was spared any kind of response. His teammate had been rather quiet the entire way, he noticed—not once did he stop to lecture or or utter some kind of insult aimed at Obito's intelligence. Well, it was good that way.

The shade over the surrounding area was gracefully lifted as a giant cloud finished its course of passing the sun. For no reason in particular, the Uchiha looked up at the sun briefly. Unfortunately for him, it was midday, and his goggles were no replacement for sunglasses. "Ack!" He turned away, blinking like mad to rid himself of the momentary blindness. The silence that followed the next few seconds were unbearable. Hearing Kakashi scold him for every little thing had become second nature to him now, and his sudden passivity was driving him crazy. He stopped. "You..." he drifted off as he turned around to squint at the boy in question. His eyes widened.

Kakashi was nearly thirty feet behind him, stumbling forward rather drunkenly. His gaze was cast downward, and he seemed not to notice Obito rushing towards him, or the hand on his shoulder that followed after.

"Oi, Kakashi!" Obito frowned uneasily. "Are you—?" He lowered himself slightly, trying to look into the other's eyes. To his distress, Kakashi did not meet his teammate's dark, worried eyes. Instead, he did something far scarier...he closed them, and he began to lean forward until Obito re-secured him with a firm left-hand grip.

A single word flashed across Obito's mind.

Poison.

Obito instinctively brought his other hand up to Kakashi's face, touching the left side of his cheek near the jaw where his infamous mask was ripped. He took his thumb and gently brushed the broken skin, examining the small cut. He was startled from his investigation when he felt a hand clutching his forearm. He looked down at the pale, dirty hand, and then back up at Kakashi's face. Dark, heavy-lidded eyes stared back at him with piercing force. Obito felt relieved to see the irritation clear on his face again. But it only lasted only a moment. His hand was abruptly removed from his comrade's masked face with strained effort, and once again he was met with a dwindling, spiritless Kakashi...a concept nothing less than foreign to him.

Baka! Obito mentally slapped himself, opening and closing his palm as he stared at it. My fingers are cut. Why am I touching the poison. He's right. Obviously he doesn't want me to get sick, too... The thought, however practical the reasoning behind it was, brought a strange comfort to him. A quick, simple conclusion was made. He...cares? So he really doesn't hate me.

He erased all thoughts from his worry-wart mind and pulled Kakashi over his shoulder. With the gates now in sight, he pulled on a look of solid determination and took off to the hospital—a place he knew quite well.


A/N: Updates will come faster for this one, given that I'm already working on the next chapter! Expect some fighting and action to follow.