Author's Note: Whoo, I'm on a roll today! Three ficlets out in one evening! This one is more centered around the entirety of Team Seven and not just Kakashi and Rin. As usual, enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.
Stubborn.
I.
It was a sunny summer's day and Team Yellow Flash was at the training grounds. Minato had been called over momentarily to the Hokage Tower – probably for their next mission briefing – and had instructed his pupils to train together while he was gone.
Obito and Rin had made an agreement at once to pair up, but as soon as Rin noticed that their arrangement would leave Kakashi by himself, she turned around and asked, "Hey Kakashi, Obito and I were going to train together. Want to join us?"
Kakashi glanced over in their direction and shook his head. "No." He then headed over to one of the larger tree trunks and began to deal roundhouse kick after roundhouse kick to it, each angry and hard blow making a significant dent.
Rin turned back to Obito, smiling, and suggested that they start training now too. Obito immediately agreed and so they set off sparring, Rin frequently looking back over worriedly at Kakashi.
She was looking so frequently in his direction in fact, that she barely had enough time to defend herself during sparring. As a result of her distractedness, Rin soon found herself colliding with the pavement below her – an unsuspecting kick from Obito knocking her down. The Uchiha boy looked down at her in horrification, his eyes apologetic and fearful. "Oh my god Rin, I'm so sorry!" Obito spluttered out. "It's just I thought we were still sparring, but I guess you probably told me –"
"It's ok, Obito. I'm fine. It's my fault for not paying attention," she told him. Rin dusted herself off and smiled at Obito – proving that she was fine.
He looked back at her, eyes still wide and unblinking. When she smiled at him like that…he always had to enter a trance-like state. The only thing that made him come out of said trance was that he realized she had admitted to not paying attention to their sparring match. So what exactly had she been paying attention to? Obito awoke from his reverie and fixed his gaze on her, hoping to find out the object(s) of her interest.
At that same moment, Rin was in a trance of her own. She looked towards Kakashi in that same sympathetic way; there was something about him that was pained and forced, something that was just not right. Shouldn't children their age, shinobi or not, want to engage in social interactions with their peers? Shouldn't children their age, shinobi or not, be happy and raucous and rambunctious?
Apparently Rin held her gaze for too long, because Obito looked in the direction she was looking over in and was met with the sight of Kakashi's form slowly destroying the stump of a tree. While both of them looked over at Kakashi – who paid no heed to their glances, if he noticed – two very different expressions settled themselves on their faces. On Rin's face, a soft and kind expression emerged, and on Obito's an annoyed scowl. He so disliked that Kakashi. The boy was an arrogant genius and a prick.
Suddenly, a voice came from behind them, startling Rin and Obito. "Hey guys, what are we looking at?" A confused Minato asked the pair, following their gaze; he nearly gave both his students a heart attack; he always seemed to be popping up out of nowhere.
"Kakashi," Obito growled out in answer, and an enlightened look donned itself on Minato's face.
"I really don't know why you like him so much Rin," Obito continued on, positively fuming, "he's a jerk."
"Let's not be harsh Obito. Kakashi is a part of our team," Minato reprimanded his student.
"Well he sure doesn't act like a part of our team!" Obito shouted in protest, then turned back to Rin who was still observing Kakashi. "Rin come on, stop paying so much attention to him! He doesn't deserve it! If he tries so hard to be alone, then just let him be miserable by himself; it's his decision! We've already tried to include him, but he always turns us down. Just leave him be."
"Rin, I'm going to have to agree with Obito this once," Minato said, "Kakashi is a part of our team, and we should include him in activities and the likes, but you have to understand that Kakashi is different from you and I. He's someone who needs to be alone most of the time, someone who doesn't open up as easily as we do. He doesn't trust in many people, and he's not the type to just strike up a conversation. As I said, we should try to include him, but we should also try to be accepting and respectful of his solidarity."
"Exactly Minato-sensei!" Obito nodded fervently in assent to his sensei's comments, "Rin, really! Just give up! He's not going to change!"
At this point in time, Rin whipped her head around to face both Obito and her sensei, her eyes alight with fire. She had tried to tune them out thus far, but their comments hit a nerve in her and she nearly snapped at them – something that was extremely rare.
"I'm not giving up," she told them insistently, "I can't believe you're even asking me to do that! What kind of teammates, what kind of friends are you? It's so obvious, plain as day that there's something wrong with him!" Rin paused for a breath and felt infinitely better that Kakashi was far away enough to not be able to hear her talking about him in such a fashion.
When both Obito and Minato remained guiltily silent, Rin took this as her cue to continue and get her point across. She still couldn't believe their position! Kakashi was, as Minato had said, a part of the team. And if one part of the team was suffering, then the other parts should help him, lest they wish to suffer as well.
"How can you tell me to stay away, when even you see that there's something so wrong? It's no wonder that Kakashi doesn't trust people or try to find comfort; if all the people he wanted to go to acted like you two, it's no wonder that he's keeping all these things bottled up inside; it's no wonder that he doesn't trust!"
After finishing her guilt-trip inducing speech, Rin stared back up at Obito and Minato determinedly and unflinchingly for a few moments, before stalking off and attempting to start a conversation with Kakashi.
Obito sighed and shook his head as he watched her go. "She's too stubborn for her own good."
Minato looked after her as well and grinned lightly. "Yeah, she's stubborn alright, but that stubbornness may just be what gets through to Kakashi."
Author's Note: Well, if you read them in chronological order, then that was either the first or last of my recent ficlets you have read! I suppose that this piece could be interconnected with We're Never Alone, but it's really up to you if you want to make that connection. As mentioned in every other lovingly crafted piece of writing I have, I encourage the reader(s) to leave as detailed and constructive crit filled a review as is possible; I really do appreciate them.