AN: This will be heavy AU and is primarily a team-bonding fic. The ages for Kakashi's generation are all over the place and contradictory, so we'll say Kakashi, Obito, and Rin are all 7 at the beginning of this story. I'm just not going to bother with the ages of others in this generation because canon can't even figure it out. It's not really important anyways, just be aware that I'm not going off of the ages listed on the wiki.
Map of the World: The map I'm using for this story is the "Elemental Nations Political Map" by xShadowRebirthx on DeviantArt.
Chapter 1 - Every Genin's Nightmare
Springtime. A time for new beginnings. It was a fitting time for graduation as children made the transition from academy students to active duty personnel of the Hidden Leaf. The children weren't the only ones to be experiencing something new, however. Minato Namikaze was a renowned shinobi who had proven himself time and time again, and his most recent task was to bring up a team of genin to be successful shinobi. It was a defining moment of a jonin.
Minato was happy when his team showed up at the designated training grounds. Well, two of them anyway. The two that had shown up were Kakashi Hatake, the spitting image of Konoha's White Fang, and Rin Nohara. "Funny, I thought I was in charge of three genin," Minato said with a lighthearted chuckle.
"Sorry sensei," Rin said, folding her hands together in front of her. "Obito is always late, but he's still a hard worker. I know he'll be here soon."
Kakashi, on the other hand, had brought a hand up to his face as if to massage out some stress. "That idiot, even when he's a shinobi of the village he can't even show up on time."
"That's okay," Minato said, bringing his hands to his hips. "We've got all day for what we need to do. Let's begin with introductions, then. I'm Minato Namikaze, and I'll be your jonin sensei. I like reading and my fiance's home cooking. Now it's your turn; tell me your likes, your ambitions, stuff like that."
"My name is Kakashi Hatake," said one of the genin. "I want to be useful to my village and be the best soldier I can."
Simple, if not a little harsh for a child's ideology. Minato had read the reports on the members of his team, but even if he hadn't, everyone knew of Sakumo Hatake. The village was still in a time of war, so most of the more nationalist types had berated him when he chose to protect the lives of his peers rather than complete his mission. Minato was one of the few who agreed that lives matter more than results, a philosophy The Third had tried to get the village to adapt.
"And I'm Rin Nohara," said the kunoichi. "I like strawberries, enjoy collecting shells, and hope to support Kakashi and Obito in their respective dreams!"
She was innocent, Minato could tell. He feared that she might be too innocent for the life that would be asked for her, but trusted that she knew what she was getting herself into. "Very good, now once the last one—"
"I'm here!" cried a voice from the way Kakashi and Rin had come from a few minutes ago. Everyone looked down the path and saw their final teammate running toward them in a sprint. When he finally caught up to the team, he was doubled over with his hands on his knees as he struggled to catch his breath. "Sorry about that," he said through broken breaths. "I stopped for some eyedrops and then an old lady needed some help with her groceries. As a shinobi, I had to help her!"
Once again, Kakashi put his head into the palm of his head. Obito was always late, and he always had an excuse. Admittedly, this one was a bit better than his usual outlandish claims.
"You must be Obito," Minato said. "We were just introducing ourselves. I'm Minato Namikaze."
Obito's mouth transformed into a wide grin as he fiddled with the goggles on his face. "I'm Obito Uchiha, and I'm going to be Hokage someday!"
It was a natural dream, to be Hokage. Most shinobi had probably thought about the idea a few times, but most didn't go around screaming it in an introduction. Finally, with introductions out of the way, Minato slapped his hands together. "Great, now it's time for your real test. You all passed the academy examination which tested how well you could remember concepts and apply them as well as a basic test on shinobi skills. That isn't everything to being a shinobi, though, so every genin team has to go through an additional test to determine if they're really ready to be a shinobi."
"So it's a hidden test and failure means we're going back to the academy," said Kakashi. He showed no expression when he said it, but the realization sent worry into Obito and Rin.
"Exactly!" Minato said cheerfully as if the implications of what he had just said wasn't so harsh. "Jonin are free to conduct whatever methods they'd like to determine the results, so I'll explain what we're going to do." He reached to his backside and dug in his hip pouch before withdrawing a couple of small bells tied to their own string. "The goal is to get one of these bells. I'll have them attached to my side like so. I will mostly be using evasive actions, but you should come at me with everything you've got."
Kakashi was truly gifted in every way. His analyzation skills had the potential to be among the best in the village if he matured a bit. "Two bells, three genin," Kakashi thought aloud, "so at best only two of us will pass." What he failed to understand, was the hidden meaning within the hidden meaning.
"Well," Minato said casually, checking that the bells on his waist were secure. "I'm ready to start when you are. There's no time limit, but if you exhaust yourself then you pretty much fail."
That was all that Kakashi had needed to hear. He sprang into action, bouncing off of the ground like a springboard. He was quick, especially for someone fresh out of the academy, but Minato still stepped to the side and avoided contact altogether.
Obito and Rin were a little more hesitant, but when Kakashi had jumped into action, they followed suit. They both dived for Minato, but they both came up empty-handed. They continued diving in, going straight for the bell.
It didn't take long for Minato to notice the blatant gap in skill between Kakashi and the other two. While Rin and Obito were focusing entirely on snatching the bell, Kakashi had begun to read body language to try and predict movement. "I told you to come at me with everything you've got. Don't be scared, I can handle it."
Against, Kakashi was the first to analyze what was meant. This wasn't a simple exercise. The gap between a jonin with experience in the field and fresh genin was far too great to overcome by merely trying to snatch a bell. If they wanted any hope of taking one, they'd have to use force.
A few shuriken flew through the air, though their target was far faster than they were. Obito had begun to speak out to berate Kakashi for using such force, but when he saw that his sensei had even begun to smile, he knew that Kakashi had the right idea.
Obito pulled out a kunai, as did Rin. Obito dived, aiming a well-placed slash where the bells were, only to miss entirely and meet the ground with his face.
Rin jumped into the air and threw a handful of shuriken herself and came down to her sensei's new position when he jumped out of the way. Unfortunately, he saw this coming and jumped back with ample time to spare.
From Minato's blind spot came two more shuriken, thrown by Kakashi. It took him longer to notice, but a back handspring was enough mobility to get out of the way. When Minato reached his feet again, he was barely able to see how the shuriken were thrown. Yes, they were spinning around like normal, but they were also spinning along a different axis at a much slower speed, and they were just about to collide with each other. There was a spark as metal bit into metal, but the collision sent the shuriken in opposite directions perpendicular to their previous trajectory.
Minato had suspected that Kakashi would be ahead of the other two after seeing the test scores. His expectations had even grown after just a couple minutes of the test, but he had still managed to underestimate the boy. Kakashi knew that the shuriken would miss, but he didn't know Minato would dodge by moving to the front or the back, so he planned for both.
The attention Minato gave to the shuriken had distracted him for a moment, but not nearly long enough for him to forget Kakashi altogether. Using the distraction of the shuriken, Kakashi moved in close and unsheathed the chakra blade from his back, swinging it with force to try and cut the string to one of the bells. Minato jumped and planted a hand on Kakashi's back, using it as a platform to launch himself into the air above the flight path of the shuriken before jumping away from the group of genin.
Kakashi found himself on the ground. He thought for sure it had worked, but it seemed the gap was still more than he had imagined. If the gap was that big, then the only way to have a hope of getting a bell would be if all three genin worked together and complimented each other's movements. Teamwork, Kakashi concluded, was the meaning of the test.
"Obito, Rin," Kakashi said suddenly as he got to his feet. "Remember the first year from the academy? We went over formations. Let's use the first formation."
"I don't think something so simple would work—" Rin started but was cut off.
"Just do it," Kakashi urged in a voice he hoped wasn't too harsh. "We won't get a bell if we just dive in independently."
Minato was impressed. Kakashi was analytical, but he was also able to provide leadership. He also found out the meaning of the test much earlier than Minato had anticipated.
Twenty minutes had gone by, and despite none of their formations working, they all kept a level head. The effects of moving at full speed for nearly half an hour were starting to come to surface, though.
"None of these are working," Obito said, finding himself doubled over again. "And I'm beat."
Kakashi, as much of a prodigy as he was, was still only 7 years old. "I know. We can't just call out ideas, and we don't have a more efficient way to communicate, so we're forced to use formations we all learned from the academy."
There was one thing Minato had noticed, something that Kakashi should have been more careful about keeping a secret. With every formation they tried, Kakashi was always in the most advantageous role. If any of the formations had worked, Kakashi would be the one with a bell, and not the other two. This was a fact that Minato was sure Obito and Rin hadn't even considered.
By the time the three genin were too tired to carry on, almost another half hour had gone by. They had failed to get a bell, and they were all worn out. "Damn it," Obito said vulgarly, "I guess we were unlucky getting you as a sensei."
"Okay," Minato said without a break in his breathing. He seemed just as refreshed and relaxed as when they started the test, a testament to the physical conditioning he had completed throughout the years. "That concludes the test. Despite your shortcoming, you worked together as a team and tried until the very end to complete the mission." He held up the bells in his hand to put the focus on the objective. "Kakashi noticed early on that it would require you to work together. What I value the most in a shinobi, and the point of my test, was the ability to work together."
The three had different responses to the conclusion of the test. Obito was angry that he had failed, even if they did give it their all. Rin was also upset, but she was mostly upset that she couldn't be a bigger help to the team. Kakashi, while frustrated, was content with his failure. He had failed the mission, and that meant he wasn't ready.
"Even if Obito and Rin didn't realize the purpose of the test, they showed the ability to work together. Kakashi showed an ability to take lead and overcome failure after failure when success was still within reach." Minato said with praise. "For those reasons, you all pass."
The words took a moment to resonate within the children. They had passed. While Rin and Obito cheered with each other, Kakashi approached Minato, shadowed by his own disappointment. "Sensei, we failed to get the bells, doesn't that mean we failed the mission?"
Minato patted the boy on his back and gave a warm smile. "There will be plenty of time for success on missions that matter, but you can't hope to succeed if you're all working against each other. In the future, you will be asked to work with others. There may be instances where only one of the members of a team is adequately awarded recognition, but if you're so worried about outclassing those around you, then you won't be able to work together. If you fail, then no one gets recognition."
Kakashi bowed his head in what he thought was understanding. The famous shinobi rule: to see the hidden meaning within the hidden meaning. He had tried not to take the test at face value, but he still missed the point.
"Anyways, congratulations you guys," Minato said. "We will continue to meet to train and hone your skills until you're ready to start completing missions. Tomorrow we'll meet here again, say, 10 o'clock?" Minato paused and glanced over at Obito. "10:05 for you, I suspect?" Rin laughed innocently, but Obito attempted to hide his face.
In a blur, their sensei had disappeared. He was quick on his feet before, but that small display of casual speed showed that he was little more than playing with them during the test.
"How about we go grab a bite to eat, guys?" asked Rin as she got up to dust herself off. "I'm starving." Obito and Kakashi both exchanged a look. Obito's look was because he did want to go to eat with Rin, but he didn't particularly want Kakashi there. Kakashi, on the other hand, preferred to eat alone most of the time.
When neither of the boys responded, Rin grabbed each of them by the hand and pulled them up before leading them back toward town.
The three went to a small restaurant that had a little bit of everything. They sat at a booth, Obito insistent on sitting next to Rin, and ordered their food. When it arrived, Kakashi had pulled down the cloth on his face to reveal his mouth.
"Why do you wear that stupid cloth anyway?" Obito said before biting taking a bite of a sushi roll.
"A shinobi shouldn't show their emotions, and the muscles around your mouth will give your thoughts away," Kakashi answered matter-of-factly as he prepared to enjoy his miso soup.
Obito's eyes narrowed in on the boy sharply. "Do you even have emotions? You always have that stupid look in your eyes." Kakashi didn't respond other than looking up from his soup into Obito's eyes and then returning them back to his soup. "That's exactly what I meant!"
The genin's first impression of Minato was that he was kind and patient, but also capable and worthy of his rank. As the first week as a team went by, they went over some of the basics that every genin should know, and by the end of the week, they were ready for their first official mission.
The team stood shoulder to shoulder with Minato on the far right. They stood in the Hokage's office and waited patiently as Hiruzen sifted through stacks of paper and rolled up scrolls. "Alright. Team Minato, this will be your first mission. Ah, here we are," said the Third Hokage as he found the scroll he looked for. He snatched it from the desk and in one, smooth motion he tossed it across the room into Minato's hand.
Minato opened the scrolls and read as Hiruzen narrated. "This mission is a village favorite. Raion the cat has once again escaped and it is your task to capture him. From what other genin tell me, he is quite elusive, so be sure not to underestimate him."
The team respectfully accepted the mission and exited the tower. "Well, I'm sure you're aware that if I assisted in this mission that it would be over in a matter of minutes, so I'll just be observing."
"We're just catching a cat, how hard could it be?" Obito said dismissively. He fixed the goggles on his face and then slammed his fist into his palm. "Let's get started!"
The genin all took an earpiece from Minato and stuck it in their ears. "If it's just an ordinary cat, we should split up so we can cover the most area. I'll take the village square." Kakashi clicked a button on his earpiece to ensure it was on and then sprinted toward a building, using chakra to walk up the side to transverse the village quicker.
"I'll check around the wall, then," said Rin, quickly running off in a direction alone.
Obito fumbled with his earpiece, but Minato helped him get it working. "Okay, I'll check the different clan quarters," he said through the mic before leaving Minato to stand in the street alone.
The line of communication was relatively quiet as they only checked in every few minutes to confirm that they still hadn't seen anything. Suddenly, the sound of something falling and crashing to the ground grabbed the attention of everyone on the team.
"What was that?" Kakashi asked, stopping his search for a moment.
There was the sound of struggle on the other end, but eventually, Obito came back over the line. "He's in the Hyuuga district," he said as he managed to get to his feet and start running after the cat. "He's running toward the gate, Kakashi he should be coming toward you!"
"I'm on my way!" Kakashi said. He had to weave in and out of civilian traffic, eventually opting to use a shortcut by running on the rooftops.
"I'm on the other side of the village," Rin said, sounding disappointed. "I'll be there as soon as I can."
Hiruzen's words proved to be true as even when Kakashi arrived to cut off the cat's escape route, Raion outmaneuvered the two genin and ran out of the Hyuuga district. Kakashi and Obito followed but were unable to keep up with the cat's speed.
"Ugh, do we have to capture him unwounded?" Obito asked. His hand twitched, wanting to grab a shuriken to stop the animal in its tracks.
For the first time, Minato came over the comms. "The cat isn't a pest, it's someone's pet. If you cut it up, we'll be the ones paying the client, not the other way around."
Obito groaned. "Got any ideas, Mr. Genius?" he asked Kakashi mockingly.
Kakashi noticed they were running toward the market district of the village. "If we let the cat get to the markets, then we'll lose him in the crowd of people. We need to corner him in somewhere." He pulled out a couple shuriken and threw them ahead, landing in front of the cat.
"Weren't you listening?" Obito yelled through the earpiece, even though he was feet away from Kakashi. "We can't hurt the stupid thing!"
"I missed on purpose," Kakashi said, pointing ahead. "I'll overtake the cat and we'll corner him in a less crowded shop." He increased his speed and jumped over the cat while it was startled from the ninja tools. "In there!" Kakashi ordered, tossing a few more shuriken as he and Obito closed in on the cat, forcing it to take the only escape route: into a small door of a shop.
The two followed with Obito diving onto the cat and grabbing him. The cat struggled and left a deep scratch across the boy's goggles to get away and hide underneath a shelf in the corner.
"You stupid demon cat!" Obito yelled, removing the goggles to inspect the damage. "If I wasn't wearing my goggles you could have clawed out my eyes!"
From outside, the sound of sandals slapping against the ground could be heard as Rin finally caught up to them. She walked inside to find Obito on the ground trying to buff out the scratch by rubbing the goggles with his shirt and Kakashi bending down to look under a shelf.
"Where's the cat?" she asked, out of breath. Kakashi pushed himself off of the ground and turned to look at his teammates to reveal three large claw marks over the bridge of his nose. The emotionless look in his eyes completed the picture and Rin couldn't help but laugh a little bit. "Move, let me try."
Rin walked over to the shelf and got onto her knees. "Hey there Raion," she called, clicking her tongue against the top of her mouth. "Don't you want to come with me?"
There was the sound of purring, then Rin stood up and turned around with a large smile on her face with a complacent Raion in her arms.
"Obito's right," Kakashi said, shocking everyone, "the cat is a demon."
The journey to return the cat was a quiet one. Obito and Kakashi were half expecting the cat to jump out of Rin's arms and attack them on the spot, but Minato insisted that he would recapture it if it escaped again. The woman who had requested the mission was happy to see the cat returned, but the cat looked less than enthused to be back.
"Thank you for returning little Raion to me!" she said with cheers as she danced around the doorway with her cat.
"Can we never do that mission again?" Obito asked on their way back to the Hokage's Office to deliver the mission report. "I'm fine with babysitting or grocery shopping, but that cat is evil."
"I liked him," Rin said, tugging on Obito's arm. "I think I might get a cat, too."
"I'm more of a dog person, I think," Kakashi said conversationally.