I realised that it was a little unfair for Tenzo in the pairings because I haven't even shown him in the story yet. I'm going to leave the votes about the pairings for later until I can get more Tenzo in it. Maybe you can vote for a love triangle ;) BTW Kinoe is Tenzo's code name in ROOT.


Young Kinoe was given the mission to observe the last Hatake.

He is has no other information besides that Danzo-sama is interested in his abilities, and Kinoe thinks that it is quite strange. Yes, it is true that Danzo-sama has done this more than a few times to recruit members to join ROOT, but never has his interest ever lasted so long. He would usually observe possible candidates for a few months, but Danzo-sama had expressed his desire to bring Hatake Kakashi into the foundation since Hatake Sakumo died. It has been three years, but Danzo-sama's fascination with the chunin still has not waned.

At first, Kinoe did not understand what was so special about the last Hatake. He was just another prodigy, and Konoha had the habit of pumping out a few in every generation – and then some. So what was so special about Hatake Kakashi? But as Kinoe continued to watch him, he realised that Kakashi wasn't just a genius. He was a genius even by prodigy standards. While he did make the wrong decisions every once in a while, he never made the same mistake twice. Kakashi always trained to become stronger and improve himself despite that his current strength far surpassed anyone his age and shinobi double his age.

Despite having no apparent reason than besides surpassing the legacy left by his father, the Hatake trained with a desperate vigour of the constant need to get stronger. Kinoe acknowledges that Kakashi is far stronger than him, and has an inkling of an idea of what Danzo-sama sees in the Hatake.

Something changes in Kinoe. He didn't know when he started noticing trivial things about his target that was irrelevant to the mission. Like the fact that Hatake Kakashi's eyes were so dark that you couldn't see his pupil without shining a light at it. Like the fact that Hatake Kakashi's favourite food is miso soup and eggplant. Like the fact that Hatake Kakashi almost seems female at certain times. Kinoe only realises that he has developed a case of hero worship (puppy love) until well after the first year of his mission. And why shouldn't he? Hatake Kakashi is strong, loyal, handsome and intelligent. Kinoe has always thought that Hatake Kakashi was one of the strongest people he knew bar the Hokage and perhaps Danzo-sama.

It was for that reason he nearly had a heart attack when he found out that his idol was in the hospital. What could have gone so horribly wrong on a C-rank mission? He follows Kakashi's unharmed teammates with curiosity and irritation. Why is that they were unscathed and Kakashi wasn't? He listens to the young Uchiha and bristles in rage. He listens as the useless boy vows to become stronger – to hurt Kakashi. Kinoe thinks that no matter what, the Uchiha – and the weak Nohara – will always be a menace to the Hatake's goals. Later on, when the rest of Team seven don't seem like a waste of space, Kinoe might rethink his current impression of the students of Namikaze Minato.


Obito doesn't react when uncle praises him for activating the sharingan. His past self would having been showering in the attention that he had always longed for, but he didn't want it to happen like this. Not when his teammate almost died. No eyeball upgrade is worth the death of a precious person.

He doesn't listen to the words that come out of his visitor's mouth – nodding at appropriate intervals – with his mind elsewhere. When Fugaku turns to leave, Mikoto ruffles his hair affectionately while carrying a baby Itachi. After both his Uncle and Aunt exit his house, he puts on his training gear and heads for the training grounds where his sensei is waiting.

Private training with Minato-sensei is brutal but efficient. Every time his body is thrown on the ground, he knows that he is making progress. He knows that he is getting stronger, and soon enough, he won't be the one being thrown around.

"Again!" Minato barks, as Obito struggles to his feet. He charges once more, red eyes gleaming with determination.

Soon enough, he'll be able to protect his teammates. He won't be helpless again.

Obito doesn't realise that he has already placed Kakashi as someone as precious – if not more – than Rin.


Kakashi is twelve when she is promoted to jonin.

She did not take an official exam, but was recommended by her sensei. Since they were in the middle of war, the Sandaime instead asked her to take a solo mission with Minato as a supervisor. If she handled the mission well, then she would be promoted. It was expected when she passed with flying colours. She would begin her official duties as a jonin in her next mission.

The day after, Team seven is sent on a mission to destroy Kanabi Bridge. Its starts out as normal as can be. Obito is late with the excuse of helping the elderly, while Kakashi teases him. She receives gifts while on their way to their destination. Minato hands her one of his Hiraishin kunai, Rin gives her a medical kit while Obito…

"You're joking," Kakashi gapes as he holds out a wakizashi.

Obito turns away with a blush on his cheeks. "Just take it. One of the elders I help used to be a black smith. He gave it to me because I carry his groceries a lot." Kakashi gently took it from the Uchiha, turning it over in her hands and admiring the quality of it. Obito rubbed the back of his head. "I noticed that you're ambidextrous, so I guess you could use something in your other hand."

She straps her father's tanto to her hip and places the wakizashi across her back.

"Thank you," Kakashi whispered softly, wearing a smile that could be seen through her mask.


They first encounter an enemy in the mushroom forests of Kusa.

Alerting the rest of the team, Kakashi crouches behind a fallen tree trunk, the others following suit. Minato presses a finger on the forest floor, sensing twenty of the same chakra signatures.

"There are around twenty of them, but I believe that they are clones. Kakashi, you're team leader today, what do you want to do?" He asked. Kakashi did the mental calculations in her head. Clones had only a fraction of the original's strength, and the Iwa-nin was a low level jonin. She came up with a plan that involved minimal injuries and time. It also proved an excellent opportunity to finally use her newly perfected jutsu.

"I'm going to take him out alone. Sensei, I want you to back me up."

"Are you sure?" The blonde asked, and Kakashi nodded. Minato sighed, and let her go. He knew she was strong, but he couldn't help but worry for her. Kakashi was very reckless when she wanted to be, so he readied himself, digging into his kunai pouch for his weapons. He watched her go through several hand signs and lightning sparked to life in her palm, the sound of a thousand birds chirping exploded in the air.

"Chidori!"

And she drove her hand forward, ripping apart the tree trunk and sending bark splinters flying. Zooming forwards while leaving a trail of destruction in her wake, she could sense kunai being hurled at her. Not at all worried, she noted the directions the kunai came from, shuriken spinning around her and knocking the kunai away. She trusted her sensei not to let her get hurt. From behind her, Minato threw a shuriken at one of the clones hiding in the trees.

'Over there.' Kakashi tracked the shuriken to her first victim, plunging her hand into his chest. He popped into smoke and she narrowed her eyes. 'Next one then.'

The Hatake became a zigzagging blur as she darted from clone to clone, kicking up a dust cloud as she went. On her eighteenth clone, she realised that this one was the original. As the Iwa-nin swung his sword, her eyes flickered crimson and she ducks under the blow, spearing her hand into his chest. It's messy and disgusting when her hand drives through his heart and blood sprays the air. The man coughs blood and the rest of his clones are popped.

As Kakashi rips her blood stained arm out of his flesh, the Iwa-nin collapses with a thud. The man's eyes widen when he takes a proper look at the younger jonin. "White Fang," he gargles, and then he dies.

"No," She says, standing over his body. "That's Dad."


They camped out on a boulder when night fell. Once Obito thinks that his Rin and Kakashi are asleep, he climbs onto the rock where Minato-sensei is keeping watch.

"Hey, sensei…"

Blue eyes turn to him. "What is it Obito?"

"Will I ever catch up to Kakashi?" He asks with doubt in his voice. He is half expecting his sensei to say no, or just not answer the question.

"Not everyone is a prodigy," Minato starts, and Obito's heart falls. Deep down inside, he knows that he won't ever catch up to the Hatake's level. "However, there are people who are late bloomers. You might not think it now, but I believe that you will catch up to Kakashi one day."

"You make it sound so long," Obito jokes, relief bringing back up his mood.

Minato chuckles and silences reigns among the two for a few moments. Minato speaks again.

"You shouldn't put Kakashi on an unreachable pedestal. He's human too, and he will make mistakes. All I ask is that you support him when he does. Your teammates will help you when you need it too."

"Hai sensei."

Below the two, Kakashi closes her eyes.


Team seven separates from their sensei in a bamboo forest.

"Good luck and stay on guard." He disappears in a yellow flash.

The team is still for a moment.

"Let's go."

They rush away in the opposite direction of their sensei. Several times they come across traps which only proves that Kanabi Bridge is getting nearer. The further along they get the more complicated the traps became. They stop a few times to check the maps and rest. It all started going wrong when they were crossing the lake.

Kakashi pauses mid step, her nose picking up two enemy scents. Shifting into a defensive stance, her eyes darted around the bamboo trunks. She knows they are there, and it seems like they are tired of staying hidden. Thick lances of bamboo trunks rain down on them. Her eyes flicker to Obito and he nods. Flying through hand signs, he breathes out a fireball that incinerates the projectiles. The burnt trunks splash into the water of the lake. A dark haired man leaps out from his cover in the bushes, the retractable blades in his sleeves whipped out and swinging dangerously close to Kakashi's throat.

Reaching over her left shoulder with her right hand and directing her left hand to her right hip, she grabs the hilt of her tanto and new wakizashi and unsheathes both of them smoothly. Launching herself forwards, she engages the Iwa jonin in a clash of blades. They leap off the trunks of bamboo, smashing their blades together several times, the clangs of metal pierced the usually silent forest. Kakashi jerks away from her battle with the other jonin when she hears a familiar scream.

"Rin!"

Kakashi leaps down next to Obito, and they both watch helplessly as the two Iwa jonin disappear in smoke with their third teammate. Grabbing a frozen Obito's wrist she runs after the stolen medic.

"Come on!" The duo chase after them before the trail stops abruptly. "I can't smell them anymore, I need Pakkun." Biting her thumb, she slammed her hands on the ground, summoning her best tracker. Pulling out the medical kit that Rin gave her, she shoves it under Pakkun's nose. "Can you track this?"

The small dog sniffs it for a moment.

"Of course! Who do you think I am?" The pug yips before spinning on its heel and darting through the bamboo forest. They follow the ninken back to the mushroom forest, right in front of the small opening of the cave. Pakkun disappears in a puff of smoke, his job done. Kakashi can already smell the jonin with the camouflage jutsu out in the open and ready for them, but right now she's tired, angry and ready to kick his ass all the way to Kanabi Bridge.


The jonin was vastly unprepared when two pairs of sharingan eyes found him easily and quite literally smacked him into a tree. The last thing he saw were two demons in the form of children. The silver haired demon lunged forwards with its claws covered in lightning, ripping into his chest and destroying his heart.

Kakashi retracts her arm from the new hole in the dead jonin's body. Her sharingan meets Obito's and they nod at each other. The two Konoha shinobi silently entered the cave. Kakashi's rage increased when she spotted Rin tied up under a genjutsu. Her fury boiled when she sees blood dripping down the Nohara's forehead, sealing one of her eyes shut. The dark haired jonin that attacked them before turned around with a withering glare, muttering about how he had to do everything himself.

"He's trying to get information out of her," Obito murmurs to the silver haired-nin. "I think he hit her because she wasn't talking."

"We have to save her before he does anything worse," Kakashi replies, gripping the hilts of her swords. "Be careful, he's quick."

Obito hums in confirmation, sliding his legs apart and leaning forwards. The tag team launch themselves towards the Iwa jonin. The battle is a blur, and their teamwork is flawless. Their sharingans predicted each other's movements and they moved like a well-oiled machine. Their attacks wove together seamlessly. When Kakashi attacked high, Obito kicked low. When Kakashi pulled back, Obito pushed forwards.

The Uchiha leans backwards when the man swipes his blades at his shoulders. Kakashi leaps above them and prepares to strike downwards with her wakizashi, but leaves her sides open to attacks. Obito rectifies this problem by slamming his legs against the Jonin's arms that are coming from the sides, blocking him from allowing to attack and defend himself. Kakashi slices her sword deep into his shoulder, cutting through his clavicle. The Iwa shinobi falls face first onto the floor as the duo move away.

Kakashi rushes towards their immobile teammate and releases her from the genjutsu. Rin's one eye blinks and she exhales, "Kakashi? Obito?" She spots Kakashi's sharingan. "You have sharingan? But you're not-"

"I'll explain later! We still have a mission to complete," Kakashi said, pulling out a kunai.

"Don't worry, we got you. Let's get out of here!" Obito says breathing heavily, the fight having took a heavy toll on his energy. Rin smiles as Kakashi cuts her bindings and let her stand.

"That was a good combo," a raspy voice emits behind them. "But you're still kids. You always make sure your opponents are dead before letting your guard down."

The dark haired jonin slammed his hand on the floor, blood flowing from his brutally injured shoulder.

'Doton: Iwayadokuzushi!'

Rocks started to fall around them and they wordlessly run for the exit. Kakashi and Obito dodge the falling boulders with ease, but Rin is still adjusting to her temporary blind side. As the cave continued to collapse, a large pocket of space holds firm and the team run for the safe spot. Kakashi and Obito remain unscathed, but Rin – whom was running just a bit behind them – does not. With one of her eyes unusable, she doesn't see the boulder coming from her left side. When the cave stops collapsing and the dust settles, Kakashi and Obito hears Rin crying.

"Rin?!"

Rin lies on her stomach, her foot crushed under a large boulder. Kakashi tries to push off the boulder, but the heavy rock doesn't budge. Obito cradles Rin as she cries from pain. Kakashi suddenly straightens, her ears perking up.

"Crap! We've got company!" Her eye brows scrunch up together and she tilts her head to the right. "Six? No, seven! We have to get out of here!"

"We can't leave Rin!" Obito argues.

"Are you stupid?! Of course not! I'll distract them, you try and get her free. I'm not sure how much time I can buy you, but you have to make it quick." She forms a Chidori and tunnelled her way upwards. The rocks covering the sunlight above them exploded, and the sky became visible…and so did the Iwa jonin. Obito hears sounds of fighting outside and hopes that Kakashi will stay alive until he could help.

He looks back at the boulder that crushed Rin's foot, and he knows that there is no way that he could move the boulder unless he had the strength of the Slug Sannin. He knows there is only one way to get Rin out of there to help Kakashi in time. "Rin, can you hear me?"

"H-hurts," She sobs.

He hushes her. "I know, it hurts but there's only one way that I can get you free. Are you good enough at healing to stop yourself from bleeding to death if I amputate your foot?"

She shakily nods, tears streaming down her face. Obito hears the fighting above them is getting more frantic, and he knows that Kakashi is getting desperate. He hurriedly pulls out two kunai. "Bite down on this," he says, placing the handle of the kunai in her mouth so she couldn't accidently bite off her tongue. Obito takes a deep breath. They had learnt about field amputation in the academy, but he had hoped that he would never use that knowledge. He deactivates his sharingan, because he doesn't want to remember this.

Obito could hear her screaming, and he flinches. When he's done, he throws the blood-stained kunai as far away from him as possible. He's not going to keep touching the weapon that severed his teammate's limb. Rin whimpers as her hands glow green and she heals her stump, stopping any more of her life blood from leaving her body. Obito helps her wrap an entire kit worth of bandages around the area where her ankle used to be. She also wipes the blood from her eye so she could see again.

"Come on," he says weakly, his face green with bile at the back of his throat. He had never seen so much blood. Pulling Rin onto his back, he leaps out of the cave towards the fighting.


Tell me what you think in a review. Feed back is appreciated ;)