A/N: Wow, guys! Sixty reviews for eight chapters? That's huge. Thank you soooo much. Shall we try to keep this pace up until I get 100 reviews? :) And to steal an incentive idea from an awesome writer known as That One Eccedentesiast, every twentieth reviewer shall get a new one-shot on any Naruto-related topic of their choice as a prize. It would be so incredible if you all helped me reach 100 reviews. Never have I been able to get that! :)

Anyway, enough shameless review-begging xD.

Namae-desu: Thanks again for the wonderful review. I'm so happy you liked it. You've given some excellent prompts. I'm going to work on them eventually, but for now, I want to cut down on the KakaRin, because not everybody follows that pairing and I want to be fair to them as well. About Gai or Kushina collaborating to get Kakashi to lighten up, I thought that was brilliant. Since I couldn't think of anything for it right now, I've decided to store that away as back-up. Thanks!

The idea for this chapter has been sitting around in my mind for almost a year. Since there was a lack of prompts, I decided I might as well write this down.


It was a spar worth witnessing. Between them, it always was.

Kushina's incredible chakra reserves and expert sealing abilities were just the perfect match for the Sharingan. Mikoto's speed and talent in genjutsu meant that the two women's attacks tended to counter each other. Her red pinwheel eyes could copy Kushina's techniques effortlessly, making any spar between them a tense battle. The two women had been best friends since their earliest days in the Academy. Mikoto's quiet, level-headed personality complimented Kushina's boisterous demeanour well, making them an excellent team on and off the battlefield.

"Wind Style: Tornado Attack Jutsu!" Kushina shouted as the air around Mikoto began twisting into the dreaded force of nature. The Uchiha didn't seem fazed. With quick hand gestures, a large peak tore out of the earth, stabbing Kushina's jutsu right at its heart, dispelling it.

"Damn!" the redhead snapped, settling for taijutsu next. Mikoto matched her skill easily, meeting each one of Kushina's blows unconcerned. Kushina watched her friend smile to herself. Since Itachi's birth, she'd retired as a full-time shinobi. She'd always told Kushina that she'd never wanted to be a ninja—but she was an Uchiha. For them, being a special Jonin was an age-old tradition she couldn't just ignore. But her first-born had given Mikoto the perfect excuse to retire.

Still, now that Itachi himself was at the Academy, there was nobody to talk to at home. She would get bored. It was on days like these that the occasional spar with her best friend made Mikoto feel a lot better.

They battled for another twenty minutes, alternating between taijutsu, ninjutsu and genjutsu. By the end of it, there was no clear winner, but both of them were out of breath and exhilarated. Mikoto was bent over, gasping and laughing. "You lose," she taunted her best friend.

"Rubbish. You were totally thrown off your feet in my last attack."

"Yeah, but my genjutsu got the better of you."

"Did not!"

"It did, Kushina," Mikoto teased. "This is the Sharingan we're talking about."

Kushina opened her mouth to argue, but then she suddenly closed it, her eyes turning thoughtful. "Sharingan," she repeated simply. Suddenly, she added, "Actually, Mikoto, I wanted to talk to you about that."


Kushina sat on the grass, watching her two boys fight. Rin sat beside her, catching her breath. The students were having a training session with Minato. In fact, it was the first since Obito's death. Kakashi had been released from hospital only a week ago. Rin kept fussing about how he ought to eat more, rest more. The Sharingan had been greedily drinking his chakra away. The worst thing was, Kakashi had no clue how to use it.

The jinchuuriki watched Minato and Kakashi spar, studying the Hatake's taijutsu. Minato was wiping the floor with him, and it was taking all of Kakashi's resolve to stay in the fight. His distance perception was also off. The covered Sharingan was no help either.

"Damn it!" the Hatake shouted suddenly, narrowly avoiding Minato's punch. His movements were slower than usual, and he was frustrated. Before his sensei could stop him, Kakashi jumped back and pulled his headband up, revealing the blood-red eye.

Kushina gasped a little. It looked so strange on him. She'd always seen him with his two charcoal eyes, intense and cold. The lone Sharingan looked positively evil. It made Kakashi look sinister in a way that he wasn't.

"I know what you mean," Rin said from beside her.

Kushina didn't respond, staring at Kakashi, agape.

Even Minato paused. "Kakashi, be careful. You don't know how that thing works yet."

The silver-haired jonin grunted in response as he charged. Almost cautiously, Minato countered his attack.

Something happened. Maybe Kakashi used the Sharingan incorrectly. Kushina had no idea. But as Kakashi swung out of the way to avoid his sensei's punch, he just lost his balance and fell sideways, crying out in pain as he went down.

"Kakashi!" the redhead cried as she and Rin tore across the field towards him. Minato was already cradling the boy's head on his lap, while trying to gently slap him awake.

He didn't regain consciousness until five minutes later.


Mikoto listened quietly as they walked to their favourite dumpling store. And when Kushina was finally done talking, the Uchiha was silent for another two minutes. Finally, she said, "You want me to train him?"

"If you can…"

The dark-haired woman stopped in mid-step and gave the jinchuuriki an incredulous look. "You're joking, right?"

"Why on earth would I joke about something like this!?" the redhead angrily snapped. "You're bored at home anyway, and you've been out of active duty for too long to just resume the life of a ninja. Kakashi needs someone to help him with the Sharingan, and who better than you?"

Mikoto gave an empty, sarcastic laugh. "Fugaku would kill me," she retorted. "A non-Uchiha isn't even supposed to have that eye, Kushina! To think that Obito would just give it away like that…more surprisingly, that Kakashi isn't already dead. Do you know how chakra-hungry a Sharingan is? Uchiha bodies have evolved to compliment that. It's the reason why we can use the eyes for long periods of time without suffering from exhaustion. Besides, I needn't have to tell you just how upset the entire family is that a non-Uchiha, a Hatake, no less, has obtained a Sharingan." Before Kushina could shout back, Mikoto calmly added, "I have nothing against Kakashi. I've met him. He's a good boy. But the clan elders…they still haven't forgiven Sakumo. And damn it, Kushina, they hate Kakashi. If it weren't for the Hokage's orders, they'd have pounced on him before he even got out of hospital!"

Kushina's eyes widened in disgust. "Mikoto…"

"A Hatake having the Sharingan? It's a disaster for the Uchihas. I cannot betray my family. Besides, I wouldn't even be allowed. Fugaku would throw a fit."

"Why do you care what he thinks?!" Kushina shouted.

"Because he's my husband, perhaps? Wouldn't you care what Minato thinks, Kushina? We didn't have an idyllic romance like you and Minato. Our marriage was arranged. And maybe we don't love each other like you and Minato, but we still respect each other. And I respect his point of view."

"What—"

Suddenly, anger flashed within Mikoto's otherwise calm eyes. "It's easy for you to say things like that, Kushina. But you don't know the kind of obligations I have. You know how conservative the elders are? Fugaku too? So what if I'm Lady Uchiha of the main branch of the family? It doesn't matter. The traditions always come first. I can't change that." The dark-haired woman's eyes filled with tears. "I wish I could help him, but I just can't."

Mikoto turned to walk away, unable to even look at the redhead.

Kushina grabbed her arm.

"Wait."

Mikoto almost ignored her, but then changed her mind in the last second. Without turning around, she said, "What?"

"Please look at me." There was a tremor to her tone. It was so unlike Kushina that Mikoto obeyed, her eyes widening in surprise to find her best friend on the verge of tears.

"Kushina…"

"Mikoto, I'm appealing to your humanity. No, more. I'm appealing to your maternal instinct. You have it in spades. You're such a wonderful caregiver, Mikoto. And Kakashi…he needs you. If somebody doesn't teach him how to use that thing, it's going to seriously hamper his development. If it keeps draining his chakra like that, I don't know how long he'll last as a shinobi. Train him. Please, please train him."


"I shouldn't even be here," Mikoto said quietly. An owl hooted in the distance. There was no moon tonight.

"Thank you, Mikoto-san," Kakashi replied softly. "I know the Uchihas don't really like me at the moment…"

"They don't," she agreed uncomfortably, "They don't even know I'm here." With a pause, she added, "And thank your Kushina-san. She's the one who convinced me. She really cares for you, you know."

He lowered his eyes.

"Okay," Mikoto said, her tone becoming businesslike. "Activate your Sharingan. Let's begin."


A/N: Guys, I really need prompts. Anything works, but I haven't been getting too many and I'm running out of ideas.

Also, do tell me if you want to see more KakaRin or not. This story isn't related to that pairing at all. I only add it in because it's my OTP. But I don't know if all my readers are okay with that. Let me know.

Please help me reach my goal of 100 reviews. Every 20th reviewer can suggest any one-shot idea of their choice in the Naruto fandom, and I'll write it down for them as a prize.

Thank you so much.