silly60: Kakashi's Sharingan still works and he will try to use it discreetly. You have to keep reading to see if he tells his teammates about it or if they find out. ;)

pixy: You'll see how Kakashi deals with the Med-nin next chapter.

A/N: Once again, thank you so much to all of you who have read or reviewed my fanfic.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or anything to do with it.

Chapter 4: Obito's Vow

When he awoke, it took Kakashi a few seconds to realize that he was being carried on someone's back. He slowly opened his right eye; his left one had been bandaged. The first thing he saw was yellow hair, which meant that he was being carried by Minato. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Obito carrying Rin in a similar manner while running alongside them. It seemed to be around the same time of day that he had passed out, so he must be on his way to the hospital. It was good that they hadn't arrived before Kakashi woke up. If they had, his plan for hiding his Sharingan from the doctors and Med-nin would have been unsuccessful. Noticing that Obito and Minato were speaking quietly, Kakashi decided to tune into the conversation. He might be able to learn what had happened after his collapse.

"—small cuts and bruises, nothing too serious. She should be completely healed in a few days, but just to make sure, we'll have her get checked out at the hospital, too," Minato said. Kakashi inferred that he was talking about Rin. Kakashi was relieved to find out that she was definitely alright, even if he had already known that she probably would be. Minato continued speaking. "The main cause of concern is Kakashi and his eye. He told you that he couldn't see out of it?"

"Yeah," Obito responded, sounding pained and saddened. "He lost his eye because of me. Even though he's a jerk, I still feel so guilty right now." At this, Kakashi immediately felt guilty as well, his stomach twisting. He hadn't been thinking about how Obito would feel afterward. He had only been thinking about hiding his Sharingan. How could he fix this new mistake?

"We don't know that for sure," Minato said. "It hasn't been officially looked at yet. We just have to keep hope. It's actually very fortunate that Kakashi wasn't injured more. He was facing some powerful Iwa-nin."

"Yeah," Obito replied before they lapsed into silence. There was a few minutes of just running through the trees, but then Obito said, "Sensei?"

"Yes, Obito?"

Kakashi heard Obito hesitate before saying, "After Kakashi took down that Iwa-nin, he started acting strange." He had been wondering when Obito would bring that up. Kakashi was annoyed with himself for acting out of character. He decided that if Obito or Minato asked questions about his "strange" behavior, he would claim that everything was a blur and that he didn't really remember it because of chakra depletion or blood loss.

"What do you mean by strange?" Minato asked with concern.

"He started saying that people who abandon their teammates are worse trash than those who break rules, and he said that was something I told him. I don't remember ever saying that. Also, he thanked me and apologized. He even smiled! I didn't know that he even knew how to do that! It was one of the weirdest experiences ever."

"He smiled?" Minato questioned, sounding shocked. "Are you sure that was really Kakashi? It wasn't a genjutsu or anything? An imposter?" Even though it was a pretty serious conversation, Kakashi couldn't help feeling slightly amused at how surprised both of them were that he expressed an emotion other than annoyance.

"I'm pretty sure it was him?" Obito said, making it sound like a question. "I just don't understand what happened. Plus, why would he say the rules don't matter out of nowhere? He's annoyingly obsessed with the rules!"

Minato paused. "I'm probably not supposed to tell you, but since you're on the same team, I want you to know." Kakashi's eye widened. Was Minato going to tell Obito about his past? Kakashi was miffed. That could be considered an invasion of privacy. He would have intervened, but then he would have to admit to listening in on their conversation, something that he definitely wasn't going to do.

"Know what?" Obito asked.

"Have you ever heard of Konoha's White Fang?"

Obito's looked pensive. "I think so. He was a hero, right?"

"He was Kakashi's father, Hatake Sakumo," Minato said. "He had respect on the same level as the 'Legendary Sannin'. The whole village regarded him highly. Well, they did, until that incident happened."

"Incident?" Obito asked nervously.

Minato nodded. "Five years ago, Sakumo was on a top secret mission, sneaking into enemy lands. He had to make a choice; the lives of his companions or the success of the mission. If he was to obey the village's rules, he would have abandoned his comrades. However, he saved them and the mission failed. Because of this, the village suffered a great loss, and he was blamed for it. Even the people he had saved disgraced him. His mind and body became weak, and in the end, Sakumo took his own life. After that, Kakashi never spoke of his father, and he began his insistence on following the rules and regulations."

Obito was quiet. "I had no idea." Of course Obito hadn't known. Kakashi had come to terms with his father's death after many long years, but he recalled his younger self being super angsty about it. Although, he probably hadn't been at Uchiha-level angst. If his own team had heard that joke, Naruto would have burst into laughter, Sakura would have glared at him for insulting Sasuke, and Sasuke…well, Sasuke had still been trying to attack the village, but if he came back, he probably would have tried to punch Kakashi. However, since Kakashi was changing the past, he might as well try to change what had happened with the Uchiha clan. If he did, Sasuke and Itachi would still be with the village.

"It's not your fault that he never spoke of it," Minato said gently. "He was very closed off after that incident. However, I hoped that having comrades of his own would help him open up to people again. From what you said, it seems to be working. I think he was trying to tell you that you're a positive influence on his life when he was saying all of those things before he passed out."

"I can't imagine Kakashi saying that stuff of his own free will. I bet he was suffering from some injury that made him go crazy. Maybe a concussion," Obito muttered. Minato laughed, and Kakashi was relieved. It seemed like blaming his behavior on something medical would be accepted.

"You're probably right about that," Minato replied. They stopped talking, a comfortable silence between them.

"Sensei," Obito said suddenly.

"What is it, Obito?"

"I'm going to become strong," Obito announced confidently. "So strong, that I won't even need my Sharingan to defeat enemy shinobi." Kakashi was astonished. Obito had always said that he would defeat Kakashi once he got his Sharingan, always believing that the Sharingan was his key to becoming stronger. Had Kakashi's small change in events already have this much of an effect?

"I'll gain the acceptance of my clan, I'll become one of the greatest ninja in the village, and," Obito continued, "I'll show that annoying jerk-faced idiotic cold-hearted rule-loving reckless stick-in-the-mud…" Kakashi was impressed that Obito could come up with that many insults, but Obito's next words shocked him to his very core.

"…I'll show him that it's okay to have a blind spot now, because I'll be his left eye and help him out! I vow that I'll get that bastard Kakashi to acknowledge and trust me as a powerful comrade, and when I do, I won't have to feel guilty about his eye, and he won't have to regret giving it up to save me!"

Obito would watch his back? Obito would be his left eye? Kakashi was hyperaware of the left eye that Obito had already given to him without this Obito's knowledge. Obito had already become his left eye. However, Kakashi couldn't help the small smile that appeared on his face at Obito's straightforwardness. Now, if only Obito could back those words up, there would be nothing to worry about.

"That's a pretty big proclamation, Obito," Minato said. You could practically hear the proud grin in his voice, which then took on a teasing tone. "However, maybe you should be on time a little to start that off."

Obito grinned sheepishly before turning around to focus on running once again. Kakashi was lost in thought, Obito's words running through his head. He had only been thinking about how he was going to protect everyone. He hadn't thought about helping them to get stronger to defend themselves. That idea actually had some merit. Kakashi began to formulate plans to help with Obito's and Rin's training. Also, since they were nearing the hospital, he began to finalize his plans to keep the Sharingan hidden as well. He could only hope that it worked out.