Chapter 1

"Obito."

"Huh? What is it, Madara?"

"Before you go…"

Obito turned around. Madara was staring at him. Their eyes met, and the Rinnegan seemed to bore into him. For second, he could've sworn everything blurred, but dismissed it as his imagination.

"Never mind. You should go."

"Uh, alright. Thanks for everything!"

He turned his back on his old savior and ran up the cave path. He'd have to return and thank him sometime.

Whatever his name was.

Zabuza was careful to keep himself hidden as he ran parallel to the troop of Kiri ANBU. There was bound to be at least one sensor-type in the group, and even though they wouldn't be looking for Zabuza, that didn't mean they wouldn't be on alert. He was quickly beginning to realize that the operation he had stumbled on was much larger than he had originally realized. It didn't bother him-the more ANBU being sent after the goods, the more valuable they had to be. In the end, he wasn't concerned. He was confident in his skills, and it's not like anyone would see him coming. 'Accidents' did tend to happen on missions like these. Somebody falls, they don't send enough troops…tragedies, to be sure. It would just so happen that whoever stole the goods in the first place was a really good swordsman.

The ANBU squad didn't even pause when they breached the tree line, rushing right out into the open without a care. Zabuza, for once, was a little more cautious, crouching behind a bush and surveying the clearing. He might be one of the strongest young Shinobi in Kirigakure, but that didn't mean he could take on a dozen ANBU blindly. He could see flashes of Jutsu, hear cries of pain as the ANBU fell back, and the distinctive crackle of lightning Ninjutsu. Whoever was fighting these ANBU was good, especially with the ability to use that much lightning continuously. Slowly, making sure to muffle his movements and keep his Chakra under wraps, he moved forward.

He could see flashes of blue throughout the fog. The natural obscuring conditions were welcome, as he didn't have to create the fog itself. The fighting was also intense-the opponent had to be high-level, enough to merit this level of ANBU attention. His best bet was to get close enough to see the goods, then take out the thief before he realized he was there. He could do it. People died all the time. Death was easy.

Only...something was off. Wrong. The way they were all fighting, yelling in the distance. A girl's voice? What would a-oh you have got to be kidding me. He had come all the way out here, risked trailing an ANBU squad, all for some valuable loot, and they'd been fighting over a girl!? He'd just gotten close enough to see, and yes, a girl, about his age. What a waste of fucking time! Probably the daughter of some lord or Daimyo or something. He could hear the crackling of lightning Chakra again, and watched as one of the ANBU closed in behind her. He could guess how this was going to end, and he didn't feel the need to sit around and-wait, what was she doing?

Kakashi could see the ANBU closing in behind Rin. She was, evidently, terrified by the whole show-she wasn't a combat-type Shinobi, but she knew how to defend herself. Why she wasn't, he didn't know, but he had made a promise to protect her. And damn it, he'd keep this one. He charged forward, his Chidori flaring with power, aimed directly at the Kiri Shinobi, and-

What happened next was a blur of movement. He thought he saw Rin move, and then a massive sword cleaved the air between them, planting itself firmly in the ground. He diverted, losing control of his charge and crashing into the ground, his Chidori dying in his hand and he skidded across the wet mud. He heard a grunt, and saw the ANBU he'd been attacking go flying.

What? What just happened!?

He staggered to his feet, shaking his head to clear it. The moment the world stopped moving around him, he hurried back to Rin, as he heard steel clashing on steel. The man who had intercepted him was fending off two other Mist ANBU. He looked to be near Kakashi and Rin's age, though the-bandages? -he had covering most of his face made it hard to tell. As Kakashi watched, he sidestepped one of the ANBU's kunai throws, before stepping in and cleaving the man diagonally downward. The ANBU shrieked in pain, before the swordsman stepped in and knocked him back with a pommel strike. He turned to engage the second ANBU, but Kakashi's kunai caught the Kiri Shinobi in the shoulder, causing him to stagger backwards in pain. The swordsman shot Kakashi a curious look over his shoulder, but turned back and finished off the ANBU, planting his sword in the ground and turning to survey the young Konoha Shinobi as he walked over.

"I didn't need help," He said lightly when Kakashi came into range. Kakashi snorted.

"Neither did I. Yet you certainly intervened," The man cocked his head, studying him for a moment.

"I'd have thought someone with an eye like that," he said pointedly, "would have seen what happened."

Kakashi closed his eye for a moment, thinking back, and then opened his normal eye, his Sharingan staying closed.

"Rin…what were you doing?" Tears had filled her eyes, and were rapidly beginning to run down her cheeks.

"Kakashi," she sobbed. "I can't-I can't go back to the village. And I know that you'll take me regardless of what I say so, I- I, I-"

"So you jumped in front of my Chidori? That's what your plan was!? To force me to kill you!?"

Rin seemed to be trying to fight back her tears. "You don't-you don't understand. You won't understand, even if I explain! It's not fair, but I will not be responsible for harming the village!"

They were interrupted by a loud thump in the distance, as though something had just fallen out of the sky. The Kiri Shinobi's sword was up and in his hand in an instant, ready for the next attacker. Kakashi and Rin also turned toward the noise, Kakashi drawing a short sword from his back.

"We'll talk about this after we-"

"Rin? Kakashi!"

They froze, stock still, as the pounding of footsteps gradually grew nearer. The Kiri Shinobi looked at the two, eyes glancing to the insignia on Kakashi's headband. Rin's mouth was hanging open, frozen in place. The fog was still thick, and he could just make out the footsteps passing them.

"Hey!" The swordsman barked, and he heard the footsteps skid to a halt, before they started coming closer. Out of the fog ran a boy, in what looked to be wearing nothing but some torn shorts and a robe.

"Rin! Kakashi!" He exclaimed again, excitement plastered all over a boyish face.

"Is…this…some kind of…Genjutsu?" Rin asked, trembling.

"What? No!" The boy who looked like Obito said. He paused, closing and reopening his right eye to reveal a Sharingan. "See!? I've got the matching one!" The swrodsman looked over at Kakashi, as he slowly reopened his Sharingan as well.

"He's…real…" Kakashi said in amazement. After a second pause, Rin ran over, throwing her arms around Obito and sobbing. He awkwardly put his arms around her, though he looked pleased.

"I…suppose you guys saw me get buried alive…huh?" He was red-faced as he looked over Rin's shoulder, and met Kakashi's gaze. "At least it fits you."

Kakashi shook his head. "Figures you'd just pop up out of the blue like this. You know, everyone thinks you're dead, right? Your name is on the war memorial!"

Rin pulled back, rubbing at her eyes and sniffing. "I don't think anyone will be sad if we have to take a name off of it," She said, the faintest hint of reproach in her voice.

Obito laughed nervously, and gave the Kiri Shinobi a cautious stare. "So…uh…who's this? My replacement?"

The man in question was nearly a full head taller than Obito, and made a point of glaring down at him. "No." Obito seemed to shrink slightly at the menace in his voice. The man glanced over at Kakashi. "Maybe move out of the ANBU battleground before doing any more catching up?"

"Uh…right," Kakashi said, coming back to the situation at hand. "We'll probably need to put a fair bit of distance between us and them before it'll be safe to talk."

"Kakashi..." Rin began, but Kakashi held up a hand, cutting her off.

"We'll talk about it later," Obito looked back and forth between them, confused, but Kakashi was clearly taking charge. "We'll have time for explanations later, Obito. We need to move," Obito nodded, and after Kakashi got his bearing, he took off, the rest of them following behind.

"Well?"

"There's definitely still some trackers moving around," Rin said quietly.

The backup from Kirigakure had arrived faster than expected, and they'd spent the better part of a day and a half evading pursuit now. They were wearing down fast. Kakashi was already drained from the fight with the ANBU, and Zabuza-as the swordsman had introduced himself-had ended up taking charge of directing them, as Obito apparently had absolutely no idea where they were. Resistance was heaviest along the way to the Land of Fire, which was hardly surprising. They'd been essentially traveling parallel to the border, as much as that was possible. Zabuza still wasn't sure what they were going to do, but escaping the ANBU came first, regardless.

"They sure are determined," Obito whispered. "Why? What are they after?" Both Kakashi and Zabuza looked at Rin who looked down. "Rin?"

"I caught wind of a big assignment," Zabuza said, making sure to keep his voice down. "Labeled as 'retrieval of precious goods.' Figured it'd be money or treasure or something…anything I could use or sell. Not sure how a Konoha kunoichi fits into that description."

"I…they…" Rin took a deep breath and said, her voice trembling, "They…sealed a…a tailed beast. In me."

"Like…like one of THE Tailed Beasts?" Obito asked, eyes wide. Rin placed a hand on her stomach, likely where the seal was, and nodded.

"That's what you were so worried about?" Kakashi asked. "Sensei's wife is a Jinchuriki too! The village knows how to handle one!"

But Rin shook her head. "That's not-that's not all they did."

"There's no way Kirigakure would make a Jinchuriki without putting some kind of fail-safe in," Zabuza spoke up, eyes locked on Rin, who nodded slowly.

"The moment I set foot in Konoha, the seal will release and set the Tailed Beast free to attack the village. I'd-I'd die anyway, and so would a lot of other people. That's why…" She trailed off, looking at Kakashi, tears starting to form in her eyes. Kakashi looked back, at a loss. It was Obito who broke the silence.

"Well-we can just find someone to undo that part of the seal!" They looked at him. "I mean, it wouldn't be an integral part of the seal, right? Even if it was directly written on, it still wouldn't be part of the base, so somebody who was really good with seal work could still erase it safely. Right?" He looked around at the three of them, uncertainly. "And…if it wasn't part of the actual seal and was written elsewhere it'd be even…easier…wouldn't it?"

Zabuza and Kakashi exchanged a glance. "It's not a terrible idea." The Mist Shinobi grunted. Kakashi nodded in agreement.

"It's not, just…how do you know that, Obito?"

Obito turned red. "Kushina tried to teach me about seals…I guess it just stuck."

"Hmph. Kushina's lessons always seemed to stick more than Minato-Sensei's for you," Rin said.

"Wh-what!? No-no, Rin, it's not like that!"

"Sure it's not," She replied, but her face betrayed her mood. Quieter, she asked, "Do you…do you guys really think it's possible? That I can get that part of the seal removed?"

"Yeah," Kakashi said. "But not if we get caught by the ANBU. You two wait here, we'll go scout," Zabuza raised an eyebrow at the implied command, but followed Kakashi out of their little shelter, curious. They walked several feet away before Kakashi stopped, and turned to face him.

"What's in this for you?"

Zabuza crossed his arms, looking down at him. "You've got a lot of attitude for someone so short."

"Don't dodge the question. And don't pretend you're just doing this out of the goodness of your heart."

Zabuza smirked beneath his mask. "I don't have any of that anyway."

"I guessed."

"Ooh, you do have a lot of attitude."

"Zabuza! Answer me."

"The angrier you get, the more fun I have not answering you." Kakashi's eye narrowed, and Zabuza raised his hands in mock surrender. "Fine, fine. Don't want to anger the short silver dog."

"What the hell is that-"

"Or maybe I should call you White Fang Jr.?" Kakashi broke off, staring at Zabuza in bewilderment.

"How do you know that?" He asked, his voice lowering to a dangerous level.

"Oh, come on Kakashi. I think we both know a fair bit about each other, even if we only just met," He pointed at his sword. "Take a guess."

"…You're the Demon of the Hidden Mist."

"And we have a winner! Only fitting for one of the youngest Jounin of the Hidden Leaf. Deductive reasoning is so important for a shinobi," Kakashi's hand strayed to his kunai pouch, and Zabuza snorted. "You don't want to start a fight with me, Kakashi. Out here, that wouldn't end well for anyone. Besides, I'll answer your question. As I see it, I'm in a group with two Sharingan wielders-even if you both just have one-and a walking, smiling bomb of raw power. There's a lot more potential for growth in a group like that than anyone I worked with back in Kirigakure. I'm not too fond of the place anyway."

"That doesn't explain why you're risking your life to help us."

"I'm sorry, but of the 4 of us, who was trained in Kiri tracking techniques? I'm standing to gain a great deal more than it's possible for me to lose by traveling with you lot. Especially if we end up going to some old sage's place."

Kakashi slowly nodded, digesting his explanation. They were silent for a moment, before, with an air of one who is closing the topic, Kakashi said, simply, "You saved Rin."

Zabuza cocked his head to one side, looking at Kakashi. "Suppose I did."

"…thank you."

"What was that? Didn't quite make it out."

"Go fuck yourself, I'm not saying it again."

"More along the lines of what I was expecting. Now, I suppose we should actually do something about the trackers?"

"Got any idea? You said you've studied their techniques."

Zabuza thought for a moment. "Normally I'd just use the Kirigakure no Jutsu, but the Kiri ANBU would move through it better than you all would. Best plan I'd have is you all wait here and let me go kill a couple. Make a hole in the net."

Kakashi stared at him, and Zabuza guessed his mouth was hanging open. "Those…those are ANBU trackers we're talking about."

"And I'm probably the best silent killer in Kirigakure. You asked me for a plan, there it is. Got a better one?"

There was a moment of quiet, before Kakashi took a deep breath, set his shoulders, and said, "Yeah, I do."

"Well?"

"We go and open and kill a few to open a hole in the net."

Zabuza grinned under his mask and clapped Kakashi on the shoulder. "You and I are gonna get along just fine."

Zabuza was taking two of them, and Kakashi was only taking one, and it was not up for debate.

Or at least, it shouldn't be, but Kakashi wasn't buying it.

"Only three? We need time to get away, not just an hour to catch our breath."

"Once again, I am the Kiri Shinobi here. ANBU trackers are overconfident, and there's only so many out here. If we take out two of the trackers and their message runner, it might well be hours before anyone reports anything. We take all-not most, all-of that time to distance ourselves, and we make sure to cover our tracks. Poof. We've disappeared."

"It's never that simple."

"Killing people is pretty goddamn simple. You spill some blood, their heart stops, we all move on with our lives," Zabuza paused. "Well, except them. Obviously."

"Obviously," Kakashi said in disgust. Zabuza's callous disregard of others' lives irked him. Yes, killing was necessary, but that didn't mean it was fun.

"Look, maybe Konoha likes to make everything difficult, but this doesn't have to be. I'm better at silent killing, so I'll take a tracker and the runner, and you'll take the other tracker. That girl even pinpointed where they were."

"And Rin said they were high-level too. We'd have a hard time taking them head-on, let alone sneak up on professionals like that."

Zabuza sighed. If it was just the two of them, Zabuza was confident they could simply leave. Kick up a fog, maybe, and run right between the trackers. They both knew how to conceal their presence, and while Kakashi's silent movement couldn't compare to Zabuza's, it'd be enough to avoid detection if they were careful. It was Rin and Obito, his teammates, that were the problem. To make sure they got through without getting in a fight, they had to kill the nearby trackers. For killing the trackers to mean anything, they had to get their runner as well.

"You're a Shinobi," Zabuza hissed. "Stop being so scared."

"I'm not-"

"I know how to read people, Kakashi! Maybe not as well as you with your Sharingan, but it was part of my training too. All 3 of you are scared," He crossed his arms, fixing Kakashi with a glare. "That's not strange, all things considered. But if you want to be a leader and take charge, you can't be scared. You don't get that luxury. If you want to be scared, step down and let me take care of this myself."

Kakashi looked away. Zabuza was right, and he knew it. He'd heard of Kakashi before-his father, his status as the youngest Jounin of Konohagakure-he probably had a hard upbringing, even if there was no way it compared to his. There was so much similar between them-it was up to Kakashi to decide quite how much.

Kakashi took a deep breath, and looked back at him. "Got any tricks for silent movement?"

Kakashi kept his breathing even, his hands steady. He'd killed people before, but that was always in combat. In the heat of the battle, where it was one of them or the other. Self-defense, really.

This was different.

It was necessary. He understood that. But this was essentially assassination-ROOT work, not a Jounin's tasks. Even if Kakashi got into ANBU, like he wanted, he'd likely never have to kill like this. Shame he didn't have a choice.

Zabuza had insisted on going over Kakashi's silent moving technique, to see how it matched up to his, until Kakashi had just pointed out that he could use the Sharingan to simply copy Zabuza's movement. It had worked, too, much to Zabuza's annoyance. It wasn't the first time Kakashi had seen that kind of annoyance-someone who had spent years mastering a technique only to have him come along and be able to get it in one go. Still, as they had moved through the trees, Kakashi had noted Zabuza's silent movement skills still surpassed his. The difference between Konoha's and Kiri's hidden movement techniques were slight, but in an op like this, the difference could be huge. The Silent movement Zabuza had shown him used Chakra to displace the impact of each step or jump, spreading it out throughout the surface of whatever they were walking on, making no noise per impact. The style Kakashi had been taught simply used Chakra to absorb the impact. If they were approaching on the ground, Konoha's style might work better, as there'd be fewer vibrations for the trackers to feel, but moving between unconnected trees meant that any sound, even minute ones, were more important to keep under wraps.

He spotted his target easily enough. He might have been concealed from the ground, but standing above him, it didn't look like he was trying to conceal himself at all, sitting on a pile of leafy branches. His sword was already drawn and in his hand, not wanting to risk the noise of drawing it.

Zabuza had refused to explain how he managed silent movement while wearing that massive sword on his back.

He was almost directly above the tracker now. It'd be simple-he just had to fall, freely. He'd land right on top of the tracker, and momentum and his sword would do the rest of the work.

But he wasn't. He was just standing there, staring down at the tracker. His Sharingan was analyzing every movement, breath, heartbeat of the tracker. In combat, that all blurred together, so that he wasn't even conscious of it, but now, with no other distractions, he could analyze the tracker in uncomfortable detail. He'd never spent so long looking at someone with the Sharingan.

The tracker was a man of slight build, probably a little under Zabuza's height, though he looked to be fully grown, unlike the 4 Shinobi he was tracking. He was probably a good 6-7 years older than them, in his early to mid-twenties. He had light skin and brown hair, kept up by a Kiri headband that been tied just a little loosely, so that a sudden impact might cause it to fall off. It wouldn't do its proper job in a battle. He seemed calm enough, likely because he hadn't been given many details on who he was supposed to be finding-kids wouldn't bring concern to anyone. He couldn't see his eyes from here-that, at least, he was grateful for. By all accounts, this was simply a young, overconfident Kiri Shinobi who thought he was out for a simple assignment. What did it matter that Kakashi was younger? It didn't mean this Shinobi didn't have family, or a future, or friends. Maybe a lover, or dependent, or-

This was a job for an assassin. Not a Shinobi. Zabuza, callous killer that he was, might be able to just strike down whoever he felt like, but that wasn't what a real Shinobi did. It wasn't what Konoha trained them to do, and it wasn't what Kakashi would ever condone.

Only…this wasn't a job. Wasn't something he had chosen to do. This was a necessary act, something he had to do to keep his friends safe. To get Rin out of Kiri and eventually, back to Konoha, alive. To keep the miraculously restored Obito around, for good this time. To fight for what he had promised Obito and himself that he would fight for above everything else.

His feet left the branch. Seconds later, his blade pierced directly through the Kiri tracker's heart. He released his hold and jumped backwards, landing on a branch on the next tree over, the blade still embedded in the Kiri-Nin. There was nothing identifiable on it. He didn't want to use it anymore, anyway.

He felt, rather than heard, Zabuza land beside him.

"The longer you wait to do it," The man said quietly, "The harder it is to do. Most killers seize up, get paralyzed on their first kill. That's why Kirigakure had their entrance exam set up the way they did." Zabuza rested a hand on Kakashi's shoulder. "Nothings good about doing something in cold blood. If there is a next time-just get it over with. Don't take time to think about it." Kakashi was unsure how to respond to this unexpected showing of Zabuza's humanity. It almost seemed like he was trying to comfort him. He stood up, drawing breath to speak-and then everyone began blurring and spinning, and he was falling. He heard Zabuza curse, and then everything plunged into darkness.

He awoke to the sound of a crackling fire, and the low hum of medical Ninjutsu. He cracked open his good eye to see Rin kneeling beside him. She caught his gaze and smiled, before looking away from him.

"He's awake."

"'Bout time!" That was Obito's voice-which meant what happened hadn't been a dream.

"What happened?" He asked groggily, attempting to sit up. Rin gently pushed him back down, and as his field of vision widened he could see Obito walking over to them, Zabuza sitting on a log beside the campfire.

"You passed out." Obito said helpfully. Kakashi groaned.

"I guess I'm back to putting up with that." Obito grinned, and Kakashi couldn't bring himself to really be mad.

"Chakra depletion." Rin said. "You've been pushing yourself too much these past couple of days."

"If the Sharingan consumes that much Chakra, why did you have it going the whole time?" Zabuza asked from where he was sitting. Kakashi didn't have an answer, and just focused on his breathing while Rin healed him.

And then he realized something was very wrong.

"Wait-where's my mask!?"

"Ah." Rin said, her cheeks turning pink. "Well, the thing is, Zabuza didn't know why you passed out, and he had to make sure you were still breathing and…uh…we thought putting it back on would be…awkward…" She gradually tailed off, and held out the mask to him. Kakashi grabbed at it weakly, and Obito took it from Rin before he grabbed it.

"Obito, give me that mask or they won't need to take your name off of the memorial!"

"Say please~"

"Obito…" Kakashi growled.

"I said say please-ouch!" Zabuza's fist had come down on top of Obito's head, and while the young Uchiha was stunned, he snatched the mask from him and dropped it in Kakashi's lap. His cheeks burning, Kakashi hurriedly put the mask on and pulled it back up.

"Thanks," He mumbled as Zabuza stared at him, eyebrow raised.

"Do you just wear the mask because you're bad at hiding your emotions?"

He felt his cheeks burn even more, and was thankful for moment that no one could see, before realizing that just proved Zabuza's point. He was saved from answering by Obito leaping up, hand reaching for the bandages covering Zabuza's face, apparently intent on seeing both of them unmasked in one day. Zabuza caught his arm and tossed him away effortlessly, sending him sailing over the fire and rolling in the dirt on the far side.

Obito's voice came wavering over to them. "Ok then…"

Zabuza turned his attention to Rin. "How long before he can move?"

Rin considered for a moment. "Probably an hour or two, though it'll be days before he can properly fight."

Kakashi looked at Rin in surprise. "Really? That's pretty fast, all things considered."

She smiled at him. "I have a lot more Chakra to draw on now, don't I?"

Obito had walked back over to them, and Zabuza spoke.

"There's a village not far from here. I'm gonna head over there and send a report back to Kirigakure. Say something came up and that I have a mission."

"Will that work?" Obito asked doubtfully. Zabuza shrugged.

"Not the first time I've done it. And it won't change anything we do, one way or the other. Might as well send it," He glanced at Rin. "Suppose I might as well ask if anyone down there knows anything about seal work, though I doubt it."

"Thank you," Rin said quietly, and Zabuza held up a hand in a 'don't mention it' kind of movement.

"Now that we have a chance to catch our breaths, I'd just as well be gone for the tearful reunion." He couldn't quite keep the mocking note out of his voice, and he turned away from them and walked out of the campsite without another word.

What the hell am I doing?

It wasn't the first time Zabuza had asked himself that in the past couple of days, but walking down to the village actually gave him time to try and answer it. He wasn't exactly fond of Kirigakure, it wasn't like offing a few Shinobi from there was a bad thing to him, but he wasn't any fonder of Konohagakure. He'd have some half-cocked idea of trying to recruit them to help him, maybe take down the Mizukage-a Jinchuriki and Sharingan users would make for a powerful backup squad-but after spending any amount of time around them it became clear they weren't inclined to do that. He still didn't know how highly they valued their connections to Konoha, but they wouldn't drop everything just to help him. He couldn't think of a way to really make them, either.

He wasn't even sure he wanted to.

Stressful situations, especially combat, were an easy, quick way to build up trust with someone, but the way the three seemed to just explicitly trust him bordered on absurd. Kakashi had shown a healthy level of suspicion at first, but it had evaporated after one conversation. All Konoha Shinobi couldn't be this trusting. They'd all be dead.

Right?

He shook his head, trying to rid himself of the distracting thoughts, focusing on the world around him. The air was crisp and clear, weak sunlight filtering through the trees. He could hear the noise of his footsteps on the slightly frosty grass. Winter was just loosening its grip on the land, and both the plants and animals were waking up. You could never get this kind of sensation in Kiri. Everything was stone and cold. He hated it.

He strolled into the village, which was only just waking up, and ignored everyone he walked past, carrying himself with perfect confidence. He was just a Kiri Shinobi sending a report off. Most villages had some kind of aviary for sending or receiving messages from the main village. He walked into it, unannounced, and grabbed a scroll, tie, and brush, and quickly filled out a basic, vague, 'I found a target' mission details, before tying it to a hawk and all but throwing the bird out the window. He watched it go, troubled. There was no guarantee it'd be believed, or that it would matter. No Kiri Shinobi who saw him had lived, but if anyone had noticed him leave…

Who's to say I shouldn't just go and kill some bandit?

He could. Just find someone, do a basic bounty mission, and return to Kirigakure. Why should he stick with the others? He didn't have to turn them in, but this was rapidly turning into a situation that was the exact opposite of what he'd told Kakashi. More and more it was looking like he was sticking his neck out for little or no reward. There was no good reason for him to stay with them.

He could just leave.

"You don't remember? Really?"

Obito shrugged helplessly. "I don't. Do you expect my answer to change? I remember what you guys did, the eye operation and getting buried by those rocks, and after that it's just all... a blur. I think I stayed underground for a while, but I don't know where or with who."

Kakashi sighed. "The only Shinobi I could think of who could have saved you would be Doton users, and good ones too. But considering they were the ones we were fighting..."

"Even if you could explain that part, you couldn't explain away his new limbs and eye," Rin added. "It's so strange...it's not normal tissue-it wasn't just that someone regrew the limbs," She paused and scoffed at herself. "Like it'd ever be 'just' regrowing a limb, if that's even possible. But anyway, this is all organic tissue, and as far as I can tell, it's attuned enough to Obito for it to keep growing along with him. For all intents and purposes, they're his normal limbs and eye, just without the Sharingan. And yet...they aren't."

Obito just shrugged again. "I mean, I'm ok with it, but I don't how I got all this," He waved an arm vaguely over his face. There were scars running down one side of his face, and one arm and leg were discolored, but he was still very much the Obito they knew.

Rin smiled and laughed a little. "Yes, I suppose that's what's important. For now, at least."

"Speaking of eyes, though," Kakashi said, wincing slightly as he sat up. "I suppose you might as well take this one back." Both Rin and Obito looked at him, mouths slightly open. They clearly hadn't even considered it.

"Ah…um…really?" Obito asked, uncertainly.

"Well, you've got another eye right there. We can both go back to having to normal eyes."

At that, Obito frowned. "Why do you keep it closed anyway?"

"it's not my eye," Kakashi told him. Obito just stared at him, confused. "It's not my eye, so I can't turn it off and on. It's yours. Only you can do that."

"Oh. So…can I turn it off?"

"Once it's back in your head, yes!" Obito jumped slightly at the harsh tone, and they both looked at Rin.

"Um…I don't have any equipment right now. The Kiri Shinobi took all my tools and instruments."

"Oh." Obito clearly didn't know what to say to that. Kakashi gave a weak little shrug and lay back down. They sat in silence for a while, each thinking their own thoughts. Their joy at being reunited was dampened by the strangeness of the whole situation.

"This is all too weird," Obito said, breaking the silence. "I get buried alive under a bunch of falling rocks, yet here I am with you all, with some new limbs and a new eye-with no memory of how I got them, or got here. Kiri Shinobi just kidnap Rin out of nowhere, put a Bijuu inside of her and then let her loose, despite the fact that they then chase after her with a bunch of ANBU. And the only reason she's even alive is because Zabuza showed up out nowhere and saved her," Rin shifted uncomfortably at that, but nodded in agreement.

"I've been thinking about that," Kakashi spoke up. "I don't know about what happened to you, Obito, but I think whoever sealed the beast into Rin must've wanted her taken back to the village. Can you think of a more dangerous sneak attack? There wouldn't even be any evidence."

Obito's face darkened. "Yeah, that would be bad…but do you really think they'd do that? I mean, they'd lose a tailed beast in the process, and Kushina is a Jinchuriki on top of all the high-level ninja in the village."

"...So how does getting crushed under rocks given you the sudden ability to comprehend tactics?"

"Shut up, stupid Kakashi." Rin couldn't help but laugh, and they were all lost in memories for a moment.

It was she who brought them back to reality.

"Do you…do you think Zabuza is coming back?" Rin asked quietly. Obito looked up at her, confused, but Kakashi just sighed.

"I've been wondering that myself. I doubt he'll turn us in, but there's no reason he couldn't have just left."

"Huh? I saw that he was a Kiri shinobi, but I thought you guys were friends…" Obito asked, looking back and forth between the two of them.

"Zabuza showed up right before you did. We'd never met before," Kakashi told him, deciding Obito didn't need the details of exactly what happened.

"Then…why wouldn't he turn us in?"

"Because he's already helped us. He'd just get in trouble for letting us escape in the first place. I doubt we would've gotten away from all those ANBU without him."

Rin and Obito nodded agreement at that. Stealth wasn't their strong suit. They sat in quiet with their thoughts for another moment, before Rin spoke up.

"We should all get some rest," she said.

"Then we need a watch," Kakashi added.

"I've done the least, so…I'll go first. You two should sleep," Obito smiled, stood up, and walked over to the fire.

Kakashi couldn't quite draw strength to protest. There wasn't any point. There probably wouldn't be any problems anyway. And he was really tired.

His last thought, as he drifted off, was wondering if Zabuza was going to come back.

He hoped so.