"Yuuki, what are you doing?" The tall man with shocking silver hair asks, staring down at the small purple-haired girl as lightning flashes across the darkened sky. Rain pours down on the pair as the man lifts the small girl up off the ground. As he carries her away, he spares a quick glance at the monument erected to honor fallen heroes.
"It's been ten years, Kakashi…I was just remembering him," the girl responds to the man as he carries her back to their home. She reaches up and uncovers Kakashi's left eye, gently touching the scar that runs down his face.
"I miss him, too." Kakashi quietly tells the woman in his arms. "Without him, I would have died."
"He saved us both, Kashi," Yuuki smiles sadly, remembering that fated mission that caused her to lose her best friend and to find her soul mate.
Ten years ago, during the Third Great Ninja War
"I really should be going now, ma'am," a young Yuuki sweetly informs the elderly lady she had been helping with her groceries.
"Yes, yes. Thank you very much for your help, young lady," the kind elder thanks. Yuuki smiles at the sweet older lady, before glancing over at her best friend, Obito Uchiha, as he helps another, not so kind, elderly woman carry her groceries.
"Uhmm, I should get going, too," Obito tells the elder as politely as possible.
"Don't rush me, kid," the old lady yells at Obito, smacking him with the only bag she would carry.
"Sorry, ma'am," Obito bows, rubbing the lump on the back of his head. He glances pleadingly at Yuuki, silently begging for her to help him, but he only receives a devilish smile.
"Well, I'll see you at the meeting spot, Toto-kun," Yuuki yells to the young boy, whilst beginning to dash into the forest nearby.
"Yuuki! Wait, ow!" Obito yells after her, receiving another blow to the head from the old lady.
"Forget it! I'm not facing Kashi's wrath when we are BOTH late! Good luck, Toto!" Yuuki runs through the forest until she arrives at a small clearing where three people are already waiting. "Hello, Minato-sensei," Yuuki greets cheerfully at the older blonde man.
"Yuuki," he smiles back at her in greeting.
"Hello Rin," Yuuki smiles at the brunette girl, receiving a smile in return. "K-Kakashi," Yuuki stutters, with a shy smile, towards the young boy with gravity-defying silver hair and striking black eyes. She receives a polite nod from the stoic boy.
"You barely made it in time, Yuuki," Kakashi informs the blushing girl monotonously, "do better next time."
"Y-yes…" is her reply, as she stares sadly down at the forest floor. The moment of sadness is temporary, however, as a body crashes to the forest floor at her and Kakashi's feet.
Two black orbs stare up at the group after startling half of the members. "Uh, hey," the boy casually states, standing from his position on the ground.
"Toto!" Yuuki squeaks, making sure that her friend is unharmed, save for the two small bumps on the back of his head.
"You're late," Kakashi angrily states, looking down at his teammate
"B-But not my much!" Yuuki defends, while smiling at her friend.
"What time did you think we were supposed to meet? You moron! When you're a full-fledged shinobi, you're expected to follow the rules!" Kakashi stoically tells Obito.
"Err..its just, I was accosted by this feeble old lady with a big sack and she kept asking me directions…" Obito reasons to the unconvinced Kakashi, "I mean..ow, dust in my eyes…" Obito begins rubbing his eyes as they tear up. "Even ask Yuuki, she was there!" He points at Yuuki, causing her to squeak at the realization that her teammates and sensei were all looking at her expectantly.
"W-Well, Toto…I mean Obito…h-he did help an elderly woman carry her groceries home," Yuuki manages to say, trying to ignore the many eyes that were focused solely on her small frame.
"Yeah whatever. We all know how hard it is for you to make Yuuki lie for you," Kakashi responds, glaring hard at the other boy. Yuuki looks down sadly as Kakashi glances over at her, his eyes steely.
"That's enough, Kakashi," Minato states, glancing at your saddened expression. "So, Obito helped out an old lady. Are we done?"
"Come on, Sensei, open your eyes!" Kakashi yells, infuriated, "How often does he do this? Is there an old hag around every corner?" Kakashi once again turns his wrathful gaze over to Obito, "Ninja who break rules and laws are branded as scum." He looks back at Minato, "Am I right?" he questions, almost challenging Minato to tell him he is wrong. Minato gives a nervous laugh, not knowing how to respond to the fiery boy.
"What are you, made of steel!?" Obito exclaims. "I've heard enough of your rules this and laws that! The key is maintaining self-control." Obito states as calmly as possible, almost shocking Kakashi. Yuuki and Minato share a look of knowing that Obito is all talk at this point.
"Okay, guys, break it up. We're all teammates here," Rin chimes in, while pushing the two hot-headed boys away from each other.
"Rin, you go too easy on Obito. Remember, today is also a special day for me," Kakashi tells Rin.
"What was it again?" Obito says indignantly.
"As of today, Kakashi is a Jonin, like me and Yuuki," Minato informs Obito. "For this mission, Kakashi, Yuuki, and I will break off into three teams, which makes us more efficient. Every bit counts, as you know. Konoha is at the weakest it has ever been."
"Split up?" Obito gulps.
"That's right," Minato nods. "Obito and Rin, you'll form a three-man cell led by Kakashi," he nods towards the three of them to make sure they all understand. "Yuuki and I will be on our own," he tells the group, looking into his adopted-daughter's purple orbs, receiving a nod from her.
"Remember, we talked about this the other day," Rin whines to Obito. "This is where we each give Kakashi a gift."
"Sorry. I must have tuned it out when I heard Kakashi's name." Obito huffs.
"This is my present to you, Kakashi," Minato says, breaking the tension with his childish grin. "A custom-made kunai, it's a bit awkward but it's easy to handle once you're used to it." Minato throws the kunai to Kakashi, who easily catches it.
"Thanks."
"And this is from me," Rin begins, "It's a personalized med-kit. I adjusted things a bit to make it easier to use." She hands Kakashi the box and he takes it, giving a quiet thank-you to the brunette. He then turns his attention to Obito, holding his hand out.
"What's that for?" Obito questions, staring at Kakashi's open hand.
"You're supposed to give Kakashi his gift now," Yuuki whispers to her friend.
"I've got nothing to give him. Not a thing," Obito tells the group angrily.
"Obito!" Yuuki yells, losing her cool for a moment before turning to Kakashi. "O-of course he does," Yuuki nervously begins, wracking her brain for a way to salvage the moment, "H-he just, um, forgot. He forgot that we, um, we got it together." Yuuki lies, reaching into her pocket to give Kakashi the gift she had spent over a month making.
"No, I didn't," Obito tells his friend, slightly confused. Realizing what she was trying to do, he sends her a hard look before turning back to Kakashi. "I didn't get him a damn thing."
"Well, that's alright," Kakashi states, causing Yuuki to sigh with relief that Kakashi's feelings were not hurt. "You'd probably just give me some garbage anyway. Better nothing than a useless burden." Obito and Kakashi begin glaring at each other, creating a thick cloud of tension.
"If we're done," Minato begins, using his parenting voice to tell the two boys to behave, "do you mind if I explain the mission now? We're already pretty close to the border." He leads the group over to a tree stump, where he lays out a map. "See this line here," he says, pointing at a line on the map, "it shows where the land of Earth is currently invading Kusagakure. Our enemy is the shinobi of Iwagakure. According to my info, they've already deployed a thousand shinobi to the battlefront." The four teens look at the map and take in this shocking information. "So, our mission is right here," Minato points to a point on the map and continues, "to crush one's enemy at the battlefront requires an immense force of shinobi. Therefore shinobi like us, whose focus is sabotage, must deploy in a short taut unit."
"So it's the bridge?" Yuuki and Kakashi realize at the same time. Yuuki glances over Kakashi with a blush, receiving a small smile from the normally stoic boy.
"You're saying this is an infiltration mission." Kakashi finishes.
"Right," Minato confirms. "Team Kakashi, your mission is to steal into the tail end of enemy territory, destroy the supply bridge, break up the support operation and promptly evacuate. Yuuki, scout out around enemy territory, find out their plans, and destroy enemy camps. However, save as much enemy as possible for healing purposes after the battle." The group nods, understanding their missions.
"But, Sensei, what will you be doing?" Obito questions.
"I'll be at the battlefront, hitting the enemy head on. That should distract them if nothing else. We'll stick together until the border. From there, we split up and set about our own missions."
"Minato-Sensei, I never had a chance to give Kakashi his present," Yuuki informs her father-figure hopefully.
"Oh! Of course, Yuuki. Go ahead," Minato smiles at his daughter lovingly.
"Thank you, Minato-Sensei," Yuuki says pleasantly to Minato. She then reaches into her pocket and pulls out two golden bells. "H-here, Kakashi," Yuuki stutters, handing Kakashi the bells with her shaking hands.
"Thanks, Yuuki," Kakashi says to the nervous girl, "may I ask what they do?"
"Oh! When they ring, they emit a special sound that only the person who's chakra they were created by can hear. These ones were made with my chakra, so no matter where you are, I can hear them ring if you ever need me." Yuuki explains excitedly, completely forgetting about her nervousness.
"That's ingenious!" Kakashi tells the excited girl, receiving a blush in return.
"Let's head out," Minato tells his group, receiving four nods. With Kakashi in the lead, the group travels through the forest until Kakashi motion for everyone to halt. Kakashi charges the scout using a new, underdeveloped technique of his own creation called Chidori One Thousand Birds. The scout creates at least twenty shadow clones, forcing Minato to save Obito, who freezes as one clone attacks him, and to also save Kakashi, whose new technique does not allow him to counter against the enemy clone he was fighting. Kakashi sustains a small injury. Minato takes care of the enemy using his special technique.
After defeating the scout, Rin begins healing Kakashi's wound, much to Yuuki's dismay. "Kakashi's wound isn't trivial," Minato begins, "We'll retreat for now and set up camp."
"I'm fine," Kakashi argues.
"What's so fine about it!? It's your fault for ignoring Sensei and acting so reckless." Obito yells at Kakashi, acting superior.
"Don't talk to me that way. Not you, the spineless crybaby of the Uchiha," Kakashi growls at Obito, mocking him for freezing during the fight.
"Wh..what!? I got dust in my eye!" Obito rebuttals.
"Do you know the twenty-fifth rule of shinobi conduct?" Kakashi questions. "A shinobi must show no tears," he answers himself, glaring at Obito.
"Hey, guys, knock it off," Rin attempts to reason but is ignored.
"Guys!" Yuuki yells at the two feuding boys, shocking everyone around her. "We are a team! We need to work together or someone is going to get seriously hurt!" The boys stare at Yuuki shocked at her sudden outburst.
"Thank you, Yuuki," Minato smiles at her, happy that she had spoken up. "Kakashi, rules and regulations are certainly important but they're not everything. Remember how I told you at times you must adapt and take steps appropriate to the situations at hand." Kakashi looks down discouraged, as Obito grins with self-satisfaction.
"Don't look so satisfied, Obito," Yuuki states sternly. "You know that dust can't get into your eyes when you have goggles on." Obito looks at his friend amazed.
"It's fine to speak of self-control, but you must be strong in heart not just in words," Minato finishes scolding Obito. "One more thing. Kakashi, about that new jutsu, it's a strike with a single focus. It certainly has speed and destructive power, but it makes you move too fast to ascertain the opponents counterattack. It's still imperfect. Before we part, let me say this once more. For shinobi, the one thing above all else is teamwork. Now, let's go get some sleep."