Things That Matter
Aka "Obito's Party"
"Hurry up Kakashi! We're going to be late for the party!" Rin yelled, banging on the door to Kakashi's apartment.
The door slid open and an exasperated Kakashi dragged her inside.
"I'm not going to be ready any sooner with you standing out there yelling so loud half the village can hear. And since you're here anyway, you can help me with my hair."
"Your hair. You want me to help you with your hair."
Kakashi nodded. "I can't get it to lay flat, and I can't show up to the Uchiha compound looking like I've walked through a tornado or some wind jutsu."
Rin continued to stare incredulously at her teammate. "You're serious? You want me to fix your hair, which you've never cared about before, just because you're going to the Uchiha compound?"
"Well, yes. It's Obito's jounin party," Kakashi told her, as if that explained everything.
"So? The two of you barely talk. You talk to that crazy Gai kid more than you talk to your own teammate. Why is Obito's jounin party so important to you?"
"It just is," Kakashi snapped. "Are you going to help or not?"
Rin just rolled her eyes and bustled him off to the bathroom. A few minutes later, a kunai came flying out. It was followed by five shuriken and several yelping nin-dogs. Kakashi fled into the living room followed by an angry Rin.
"I didn't say you could cut it!" he yelped, hiding behind the couch.
"Come back here!" Rin shouted at him. "I don't know why you're acting so immature about this. I just wanted to trim it a little."
"Have you ever done this before? Most people use scissors, not kunai!"
"Well I don't have haircutting scissors, so we'll just have to make do with what we've got. Now come back to this bathroom and hold still!"
"N-no, we need to think of something else," the silver-haired boy mumbled.
His dogs were watching the two teammates from a distance, unsure about how to help their master. Rin was the only person they knew besides Minato that could cause Kakashi to lose so much of his composure. They could tell he was trying to pull himself back together, but the kunoichi was still unnerving him.
"The only other option is hair gel," Rin sighed, "and I for one think you would look pretty ridiculous with it all slicked down. Your hair's too long, Kakashi."
"I don't have a problem with it. Cutting it short would just make it look like a fuzzy cotton ball. I just wanted to get it into some kind of order…"
"There's always pigtails, you know," Rin teased, "or maybe you can make a ponytail like Iruka."
Kakashi mumbled something too low for her to hear.
"What was that?"
"I said," Kakashi replied, clearing his throat, "that I already tried it. It looked awful. The shorter hairs wouldn't stay down, and my hair's so used to sticking straight up that trying to tie it behind my head just made the sides puff out. It just wouldn't work."
"Maybe you could try getting it wet first. Come on, I'll help you."
She waved him back to the bathroom and disappeared inside as the doubtful jounin reluctantly followed her.
Still sitting in the living room, the nin-dogs listened cautiously to the sounds coming out of the bathroom. While more than willing to leap fearlessly at ANBU level enemies, they weren't sure how comfortable they were about getting between their master and his female teammate.
"Now just hold still while I wet your hair down, Kakashi. This shouldn't be too difficult to fix while it's damp."
The dogs heard some scuffling and quiet whimpering coming the bathroom.
"Are you using a jutsu to keep your hair dry Kakashi?" came Rin's accusing voice from the bathroom.
More scuffling and incoherent muttering came from the bathroom. The dogs looked at each other and edged closer to the door.
"Are you sure you aren't? Because it isn't taking the water. This is real hair, right?"
Kakashi yelped. "Ow, Rin! What did you do that for? My hair is attached to my head, you know!"
The dogs edged even closer to the bathroom door and slowly peeked around the doorframe to see what was happening. Kakashi was sitting in front of the sink, and Rin was holding a comb and an empty cup. Kakashi's shirt was spattered with small drops of water, but he didn't seem to need any assistance from them at the moment.
"Fine, fine, I guess we'll just have to try something else. Suiton Suijinheki!"
"Ahhhhh!"
Kakashi's dogs ran off, barking as the wall of water came flooding out of the bathroom. They might get lectured by their master later, but they did not want to stick around to find out what happened next.
Kakashi was not far behind his dogs. Unfortunately for him, Rin was not far behind him either.
"Would you stop running away from me!" she yelled at him.
"You attacked me with a water jutsu!" Kakashi yelled back, but he stopped running and turned to face the kunoichi. His face and clothes dripped water on the floor around him, but his hair was still surprisingly dry.
"It was the only way!" Rin argued, coming around the other side of the couch. "That hair of yours is impossible to work with by normal means."
"That doesn't mean you have to put my life on the line to tame it!"
"UGH!" Rin yelled, exasperated. "I give up! I'm not going to chase you around the living room trying to do you a favor. You're on your own."
"Wait, Rin!" Kakashi called as she huffed away. "I'm sorry. I'm sure Obito's family won't care if it's a bit messy. I'll dress well enough to make up for it. So instead…can you help me pick something to wear? Please? I don't think I have anything that looks good. "
The kunoichi stared at him for a moment, sighed, and finally, rolled her eyes.
"Well, I suppose we couldn't mess that up too badly. Let's go shopping."
Kakashi cringed a little but followed her out of the living room, leaving a wet trail with every step. Rin led him towards his bedroom and waited outside his door as the jounin went inside and closed the door behind him so he could change.
The shopping trip was nothing exciting. Kakashi was dragging his feet half the time, and Rin was forced to haul him by the hand to keep up the pace. She selected several different formal outfits for him to try. Getting him to choose one wasn't difficult- "Whatever you think looks good," was his only input. Rin picked the one she thought he looked best in- a dark blue yukata was a thin, silver obi.
"It's kind of odd having to dress this way for a party," she commented on their walk back to her place. "It seems more fitting for a festival."
"The Uchiha are a prestigious clan," her teammate replied. "It's only natural for them to make a big deal out of one of their members becoming a jounin. They are a very tightly-knit community."
"I know Obito must be loving the attention," Rin giggled. "He's going to love the present I picked out for him."
Kakashi stopped dead in his tracks.
"Present…?"
"Of course. You know- for becoming a jounin?"
Kakashi was silent, and after observing him for a moment, Rin's eyes went wide.
"You…didn't get him anything, did you?"
Time for another shopping trip. Now they were really going to be late.
By the time the pair reached the Uchiha compound, Obito's party was in full swing. Lanterns hung from every roof corner, and servants circulated carrying trays of food or drinks. The adults stood in small clumps chatting, while the younger shinobi danced to the music blaring into the night.
"What's with the thumpity-tump music?" Kakashi whispered to Rin. "I thought this was supposed to be a formal party."
"The band is called Tea Leaves and Fire, but I don't know why it's playing. It's very popular with the genin, but Obito told me his parents were organizing the party. I doubt they listen to TLF," Rin whispered back.
"You listen to this music?"
"My cousin's a genin. He made me listen to them once. Do you see Obito anywhere in this chaos?"
"He's probably still in his room getting ready. You know he's always late for everything. He'll probably come up with some lame excuse about how he had to rescue Itachi from his rubber duck or something," Kakashi told her, rolling his eyes.
"Kakashi, we're over an hour late! Even Obito never runs that late, and this is his special day. I don't see Sensei either, which is odd. His hair should stand out in this crowd of Uchihas," Rin continued to whisper at him as she looked around.
"My Eternal Rival!" a familiar voice called from the pack of gyrating dancers. "How delightful to see you at this joyful party! You manner of dress is so dazzling and youthful!"
Kakashi simply stared in horror as Gai beamed at him.
"I see your beautiful teammate is also here looking stunning as always! Such devotion you show to Obito, your dear comrade!" Gai continued.
Now it was Rin's turn to stare in horror as the spandex-clad teenager stood there with tears rolling down his cheeks. Thankfully, Obito chose this moment to emerge from the crowd to rescue his teammates.
"Hey, guys! Glad you finally showed up. I was worried you weren't going to make it for a while. Sensei even decided to go and check up on you, since you were so late. Did he find you?"
Rin and Kakashi exchanged horrified looks as they thought of the disaster they had left Kakashi's apartment.
"Sensei's going to think the worst!" Rin gasped, eyes wide. "We didn't even take the shuriken out of the couch!"
"I'll send the dogs!" Kakashi shouted, biting his thumb.
"Shuriken in the couch?" Gai and Obito asked, exchanging startled glances.
"It's not as bad as you think," Rin assured them. "It took us a while to get ready to come here and things got a bit…out of hand."
She turned to give Kakashi a worried glance only to see him staring off in the direction the nindogs had gone. The other party guests were giving him curious looks, wondering why the young jounin had found it necessary to summon eight dogs in the middle of the celebration. Some of the Uchiha elders went so far as to throw him death glares, intimidating enough even without their sharingan.
"S-sorry, Obito," Kakashi murmured awkwardly.
"Don't worry about it," his teammate replied. "I'm sure Sensei will appreciate the message. He's probably gone to organize a search team by now."
"I should have left a note or something," the silver-haired boy sighed.
"Konoha's great Yellow Flash would surely maintain his logical composure!" Gai put in helpfully. "There is no need to worry!"
"Hopefully you're right," Rin said.
"Come on," Obito urged, taking Rin's hand and starting to lead her through the crowd. "Don't worry about it anymore. Just let me show you around!"
Kakashi stared after them, a little confused at the sudden displeasure he felt. Looking beside him, he saw Gai grinning at him with a blinding display of teeth. It was almost disturbing, but the jounin turned to him, unfazed and spoke in his usual casual tone.
"So…who invited you again?"
Meanwhile, a frantic Sensei was making his way to the Hokage's office, unnerved and still twitching at the memory of the state that he had found his student's apartment in. What could have happened? Shuriken in the couch- there was obviously a struggle! No blood, though. That's a good sign…Maybe they were just taken hostage. I'll tell Sandaime-sama about everything I found, and then, we'll organize a search party. Maybe, they'll be able to lend me some ANBU, and then we can-
He stopped. Before he even saw them, he sensed a pack of dogs running in his direction. He was still unprepared for the stampede that bowled him over like he was made of nothing, knocking him to the ground and leaving him completely covered by one large mass of fur.
"Please…get…off!" came the severely muffled cry from the bottom of the dog pile.
The dogs cleared away, and the Yellow Flash found himself staring at Pakkun at ground-level.
"We've brought a message for you," the pug informed him. "Kakashi wanted to let you know that he and Rin are okay. They're at the party now."
The blonde-haired man stared at him, dumbfounded.
"Then that tattered, battle-worn, flooded living room was the result of-?"
"-trying to get Kakashi ready for the party," Pakkun finished.
"Oh," Sensei said, slowly rising to his feet and letting out a long sigh. "In that case, it makes perfect sense."
The small dog nodded as the Yellow Flash ineffectually tried to brush the dirt off of his kimono. Letting out another long sigh, he realized it would just be easier to go home and change. Forming a few hand seals, he disappeared in a puff of smoke.
A few minutes later (he wasn't called Konoha's Yellow Flash for nothing) Minato arrived back at the Uchiha compound. Spying a clump of silvery hair among all the black, he began to thread his way through the crowd. Kakashi was going to be in for such a lecture, Minato thought darkly until he was distracted by a loud shriek from the edge of the dancers.
"Daddy!"
Minato turned to see his two favorite people bouncing along to the music at the edge of the dance floor. Kushina had their son straddled on her hip, and they both seemed to be enjoying the revelry. He made his way towards his family, smiling.
Scooping up Naruto, Minato gave him a big kiss and tossed him high into the air. As his son squealed with pleasure, he leaned in to kiss his wife.
"Did you find your wayward students?" she asked as she watched her husband catch Naruto and settle him onto his own hip.
"You wouldn't believe what I found in Kakashi's apartment," he told her as he snaked his free arm around her waist. "It was a disaster. Shuriken in the couch, living room flooded, and I was off to ask Sandaime-sama for an ANBU team when I got accosted by that pack of ill-bred mongrels my student calls nin-dogs."
"Doggies!" Naruto yelled loudly, attracting the attention of the nearby partygoers. The Yellow Flash winced and shushed his son, informing him that froggies were much better than doggies.
Naruto's cry had also attracted the attention of Obito, who was hurrying over with Rin still in tow.
"Sensei! You're back! That means we can get this ceremony over with and I can open my presents. C'mon, I'll let my parents know."
Across the compound, Kakashi was still listening to Gai as he discussed his newest training regimen to improve his skills.
"…and after that I do fifty more laps around the village, and then I do two hundred push-ups. When I'm done with that, I swim against the current in the river for an hour, and then I walk up and down trees for fifteen minutes to improve my chakra control and warm up again. After I'm warmed up from the river, I usually do five hundred sit-ups and then I do twenty-five laps around the village on my hands. And to finish it off, I practice with my weapons until it gets too dark to see. What do you do to improve your skills, my esteemed rival?"
"I get sent on A-rank missions," Kakashi told him. There was no way he was going to admit that Gai's training regimen was more intensive than his own.
"Oh, what modesty!" Gai exclaimed, tears once again streaming down his face. "You are a true shinobi, beautiful in all you do," he began until he was interrupted by four fireballs that exploded from the corners of the compound to meet in a giant ball of flame above the heads of the guests.
"What?" Kakashi yelped, hand reaching for a weapons pouch he wasn't wearing.
"Calm down, Kakashi," Rin said as she appeared from the crowd. "They're just signaling that Obito's ceremony is about to begin. Sensei is saving us a spot near the front, so hurry up."
Kakashi did not protest as his teammate grabbed his hand and towed him through the crowd of black-haired ninja. He was less pleased to find that Gai was following them, however.
The Uchiha jounin ceremony was long, and in Kakashi's opinion, quite pointless. It wasn't like the Uchiha clan had anything to do with appointing Obito a jounin. The Hokage had done that two days earlier when he had taken Obito's name off the chuunin roster and added it to the jounin roster. Yet here everyone was, listening to boring speeches from the head of the clan, Obito's father, and even a quick speech from Minato-sensei.
During one of the more monotonous speeches, Kakashi looked over to see if Rin was as bored as he was. Instead of the politely tolerant expression he expected to see, he found his teammate beaming. What's wrong with her? Kakashi wondered. It's not like she's the one being promoted to jounin. In fact, she'll probably never become a jounin. Rin's a great medic-nin, but she hasn't got that killer instinct. She hesitates before going in for the kill, and that's probably going to get her killed someday.
Finding that he didn't like where his thoughts were going, he turned to look at Gai instead. The spandex-clad teenager had tears pouring down his face. Again. That's appalling. How did he ever become a ninja?
Finally the speeches were over, and Obito was presented with ceremonial Uchiha fan, signaling the end of the ceremony.
Almost immediately, a small boy came up to Obito, carrying a sword in one hand and holding the hand of a toddler in the other. "This is our family sword," he said loudly. "We would like you to carry it in health and pros… prosp… pros-per-et-ee."
Obito looked towards a young couple in the crowd who nodded to him before kneeling in front of the children. "Thank you, Itachi. Sasuke. I will carry your family sword with pride." The two boys beamed at their Uncle Obito before running back to their parents.
"My turn," Minato said, stepping forward. He held a kunai with an elongated handle covered in writing. "You know what this is. Use it well."
After that, Rin stepped forward to give Obito the specialized first aid kit (complete with extra eye drops) she had made for him. She had even sewn up the case in the garish blue and orange he liked so much.
He received many books and scrolls on advanced genjutsu techniques from his various relatives, and then Gai stepped forward. He handed Obito a giant basket covered in green bows. As the new jounin peered inside the basket, Gai announced, "Now that you are a part of the respected and elite, it is your divine duty to provide a beautiful example to others. I have given you the minty-white toothpaste that I use, so that your teeth may dazzle as brightly as your battle skills!"
Obito stared in horror at the basket full of toothpaste tubes. It would be years before he needed to buy toothpaste again… "Err, thank you, Gai…"
Before Gai could launch into another speech about the beauty of youth and Obito's dazzling battle skills, Rin shoved Kakashi forward whispering, "Rescue him!"
"Ah… Obito…" Kakashi began awkwardly. "Umm, here. I hope you like it," he said as he handed Obito a small box while nervously scratching the back of his head.
Inside the box were two small bells tied to pieces of ribbon.
"Good luck with your first team of brats."
"Thanks, Kakashi," Obito replied, taking out the bells and letting them ring. He smiled at the present. "I'll work them hard!"
After he had finished receiving his presents and thanking all of his friends and relatives, the young Uchiha was finally able to break away from the crowd and chat with his teammates. They settled in a quiet spot on a park bench outside one of the buildings. Kakashi noticed the weary look on his face, but Obito hid it well under a smile. He was looking down at his presents on his lap happily. He ran his fingers over each one and picking up the bells, looked at Kakashi.
"It's weird, isn't it? I feel like I've stepped into some other world. Was it the same for you?"
"What do you mean?" Kakashi asked, not quite understanding what he was talking about.
"You know," Obito replied, "like we were standing on one side of the line and now we're on the other. We're not the subordinates anymore. We've switched places with the next generation, and suddenly it's our turn to teach them. I just can't wrap my mind around it. Maybe…I'm not ready to be a jounin yet."
Kakashi was silent. For him, it had never felt like such a dramatic change. He had been promoted to jounin when most children had only recently become genin, and even though the responsibilities he had been given had always seemed too big for his small shoulders, he had always accepted them without much question. It was his duty, after all.
"I think you are, Obito," Rin told her teammate when Kakashi still didn't say anything. "You were a great chuunin. Konoha needs your strength for more important missions now, so it's only natural you'd get promoted. I'm sure you'll do great!"
The Uchiha blushed and thanked the darkness for hiding some of the redness on his face. Rin smiled at him, and nudged Kakashi.
"What about you? Any word on getting your first genin team anytime soon?"
"Genin teams are for older jounin," Kakashi replied. "No one wants to deal with a pack of squabbling kids only 4 years younger than them."
"Don't you mean that no team of brats wants to deal with you?" Obito asked slyly.
"Tough luck for them when they do. I'm not going to go easy on them," the jounin shot back. "Besides, I'm not interested in mentoring anyone yet."
He was quiet, and Rin glanced at him with a silent, knowing look on her face.
"You're thinking about doing something else, aren't you?"
Kakashi nodded slightly. Obito leaned forward over his gifts to look past Rin at his other teammate. Rin frowned worriedly as the two waited to hear Kakashi's explanation.
"I'm thinking about joining ANBU," the silver-haired boy said finally.
"WHAT?" came the loud burst from his teammates, echoing through the compound and silencing the Uchihas standing closest to them.
"Nothing's set in stone yet," Kakashi said, "but it's what I'd like to do."
Obito and Rin stared at him for a moment. Rin still looked unsettled, and Obito was glaring with a mixture of frustration and anger.
"You know how dangerous that is, don't you? The Special Ops only get sent on the riskiest missions," the Uchiha told him. "What if it's more than you can handle?"
"You really don't think I could do it?" his teammate challenged. "I have far more experience in A-rank missions than anyone our age. Normal jounin missions might seem dangerous enough to you, but I'm ready to start protecting this village to my fullest potential."
"You think you're so great! You're going to get yourself killed! If I could-"
"You can't do anything!"
"Stop it, you two!" Rin scolded. "All this time, and you still bicker like children."
The boys turned away from each other and stared at the floor quietly. Rin leaned closer to Kakashi.
"Obito's only worried about you. We've been a team for so long, the thought of anything breaking us up is really unnerving. You think so too, don't you?"
"We can't be Team Minato forever," Kakashi argued. "Eventually, we have to go our own ways."
Rin was silent, and the jounin felt a stab of regret. Even he couldn't deny that he wished for time to pass slower and for these changes to come less quickly. I can't slow things down. Time's moving so fast, and I can't let myself get left behind. The only thing I can do is run with it and try to keep up. At the same time, he knew that titles never changed who a person truly was; in some ways, their team would always be the same. There was a bond there that couldn't be touched.
"You're right," Obito said suddenly, surprising Kakashi. "We're growing up. You have to do what the village needs you for the most. We all do."
He grinned. Rin was smiling at him, but Kakashi just gave him a strange look. Were they finally agreeing for once?
"I'm going to do my best too," the Uchiha continued, "and someday…I'll be Hokage!"
He sounded so proud and confident. Kakashi tried to refrain from looking too doubtful, and Obito didn't notice any change in his expression. Rin gave an encouraging nod.
"I want to perfect my medical jutsu and be as good as Tsunade-sama herself," she said.
"You won't have any problem with that," Obito told her, trying to not to turn red while offering the compliment. "You're a great med-nin already!"
"It seems the next Hokage's going to be a flirt," Kakashi teased.
"S-shut up!" the Uchiha stammered, unable to hide his blush anymore.
Rin just started laughing, and the masked jounin looked amused. Among the happy celebrating of the clan, Kakashi felt his own sense of contentment, a knowing feeling that this night marked neither a beginning nor an end. It was a continuation. The things that matter will always stay the same.
A/N:
This fic was co-written by weevilone so make sure you show her some love too. Most of the best parts were hers, I think. XD;
Kakashi, Rin, and Obito are around 16 here. It was interesting writing them older in an "Obito lives" universe.
I'm also glad I got another Naruto fanfic out there. I know it's been a while! I adore Team Minato and love writing about their relationship, so this fic was a lot of fun. Plus, collabs always mean a good time. I'd call it a shared adventure.
Hope you enjoyed it!