Chapter Twenty-Five

"As Hokage of Konohagakure, I hereby promote you, Hatake Kakashi and Uchiha Obito, to the rank of Jounin."

Silence reigned in the hospital room.

Kakashi and Obito stared at the small group assembled in front of them. Their teacher stood behind the Hokage, flanked on either side by Ryo and Yuki, the latter sitting in a wheelchair. The afternoon sun slid through the blinds and cast long shadows along the walls, darkening their faces. The stark contrast made it even harder to connect the words with their meaning.

"We… what?" Obito muttered. "But we failed."

"Indeed," Sandaime said. "But failing the exam doesn't mean I won't use my authority to promote you. I heard full reports from your examiners and the assessment teams. Based on their observations and my judgement, I made the call."

"The rules were only there to keep you from teaming up," Minato explained. "The time limit was for convenience's sake."

"Even so, I made the wrong decision," Kakashi said. Once free from the stress and exhaustion of the exam, his actions brought nothing but embarrassment to him. The unpredictable technique he had used against Ryo wasn't the only lightning ninjutsu he knew. He'd had an advantage over the earth element. Any other would have sufficed. "I created an unnecessary risk."

"No kidding," Yuki scoffed. "But one mistake wasn't going to keep you tied to the Chuunin rank. Your promotion was practically a given before the exam ever started."

Kakashi frowned. "What?"

Yuki shrugged his uninjured shoulder. "Your skills were never in doubt. It was just an issue of whether you had the mental capacity."

"Which was proven time and again," the Hokage said. "Forced into situations with no right or easy answer, you took into consideration all the factors and resources available to you and consistently chose the best option that circumstances allowed. Remember, there are never ideal solutions. All we can do is choose the ones that cause the least damage, whether to yourself, the mission, your comrades, the village, or the state of the world. Then once we choose, we must bear the consequences."

Listening to his words, Kakashi felt the doubts that had lingered in his mind since Nobuki's death slowly ease. It took one look at the Hokage's face to know he had always – and would continue to always – shoulder all the decisions he had made and the lives that had been lost because of them.

Ending this one life may have saved hundreds more, but Kakashi had a feeling Hiruzen was weighing the lives of thousands – not just those living in Konoha now, but also those that had yet to be born.

Whatever anyone thought, Kakashi couldn't bring himself to think the leader standing in front of him was undeserving.

Kakashi nodded. "Hai, Hokage-sama."

Yuki said, "That's not to say you don't have weaknesses. The biggest one being that one-track mind of yours, and you know what I'm talking about. Learn to look at things from different perspectives before you blind yourself with what you think is the only answer. And smile some more for god's sake."

The affirmative response on the tip of Kakashi's tongue dissipated quicker than Obito's muffled snort. Even the Hokage glanced over his shoulder at the ANBU with a raised brow, while Minato's lips curled in silent amusement. Ryo was the only one who kept a straight face.

"Just when I thought you were saying something half decent for once," Kakashi muttered.

"Oh, so you agree you have a single-celled brain?" Yuki grinned.

Kakashi narrowed his eyes. "Takes one to know one, doesn't it?"

Obito burst into laughter, only to double over with a groan.

Sandaime gave a small cough and turned back around.

"Obito," he said.

"…Hai." Obito took a breath and straightened, schooling his expression in an instant.

"Both Ryo and your assessment team were satisfied with your performance," the Hokage said. "It was by no means an easy trial, but you demonstrated outstanding endurance, mental fortitude, adaptability and open-mindedness. Those are all essential traits to a Jounin. Your biggest fault was noted to be your tendency to act on impulses and, when they fail, to give up too early."

"…I do?"

Ryo spoke for the first time. "When I broke through your Reverse Winds, you thought it was over, didn't you?"

Obito grimaced.

"However," Sandaime went on, "I hear your desire to protect those you perceive to be your comrades is extraordinary. There is nothing more important to a Jounin than the safety of his team. I commend you on that point."

Kakashi glanced at his teammate. He had heard bits and pieces of Obito's experience with the prisoners over the course of the morning, but his friend had been unusually distracted, often trailing into silence and losing himself in his thoughts for minutes on end.

Obito's face grew clouded at the Hokage's words. His eyes slid to Ryo as he said, "I was told that's a flaw."

"Only when you let it sway your judgement," Sandaime replied. "The desire itself is a good thing. Never doubt that."

"What I said was my opinion," Ryo added. "It's your job to find your own answer."

Obito was silent for a moment, before looking up with renewed confidence. "I will. Thank you, Hokage-sama."

Hiruzen nodded and smiled. "Congratulations. I have high hopes for both of you. Though your ranks are now higher, the core of what you do remains unchanged. Protect the village and always, always come home safe."

Kakashi and Obito bowed as best they could in bed, and the adults made to leave.

When they were nearly at the door, Obito leaned forward and called out, "Hokage-sama? Can I ask you one thing?"

The Hokage turned and raised a brow.

"What happened to Dojima?"

Ryo began to say something, but Hiruzen raised a hand for silence. "We accepted his offer. I can't tell you any more than that."

Obito relaxed. "That's all I need to know. Thank you."

The two boys were left alone in the room for a moment while Minato saw the Hokage and ANBU out.

"Can you believe it?" Obito muttered.

Kakashi met his eyes. "We don't have much choice, do we?"

Minato returned and looked between the two with a chuckle. "It's not every day I get to see you two looking speechless."

"You could have warned us, sensei," Obito said.

"It wasn't my place. I wasn't sure what Hokage-sama would say either." He shook his head wonder. "I'll be honest, I was beyond worried for a while. But I couldn't be prouder of you both. Congratulations."

Obito shared a look with Kakashi and shrugged, his face breaking out into a grin. "I told you we'd make it."

"You did," Minato said. "Now we're equals. That means, as of today, Team Minato is disbanded."

The grin faded from Obito's face. "Oh, damn. I forgot about that."

Minato smiled. "It's a milestone to celebrate, Obito."

"I know, but…"

Kakashi thought he understood what Obito was trying to say. They weren't a team by default anymore. It wasn't that the notion unsettled or frightened him. But it felt jarring. As if the ground had suddenly been pulled out from beneath his feet.

"But sensei," he said. "Even if we have the same rank, we're nowhere near your equal in strength."

"Don't sell yourself short, Kakashi."

"What I mean is, you're still our teacher. There are things I still want to learn from you."

"Same," Obito said. "I finally got the hang of Fuuton techniques. You're the best person to ask about them."

Minato nodded. "Of course, you're always welcome to come find me – time permitting." He raised a brow at them. "Be prepared to be run into the ground with missions."

"As if we weren't already?" Obito snorted.

"Have there been new developments in the war?" Kakashi asked.

"Not exactly, just some strange reports."

When their teacher trailed into silence with a thoughtful look in his eyes, Obito prompted, "Like what?"

Minato hesitated and then said, "The Earth and Lightning countries are struggling from a food shortage. That in itself wouldn't have been unusual considering how brutal this winter's turning out to be, but I'm hearing reports of raids on warehouses, trade routes and farms."

"Bandits?" Obito suggested.

"No," Kakashi said. "There's nothing in the fields this time of year."

"Exactly," Minato said. "But farm lands are being badly uprooted. Many of them won't be able to grow anything at all next year."

"And the warehouses?"

"Set on fire. Civilian trade caravans are being ambushed along the borders too."

"You think it's either us or the Sands?" Obito asked. "But if it was, you'd know about it."

"I should think so. Hokage-sama isn't aware of any plans like that either." Minato shook his head. "Nothing's certain at this point. It could be the Sands, the Mists, Root, or any other entity."

"Root?" Kakashi asked.

"It's a faction of ANBU that Danzo-sama has been organizing this past year. I don't know much about it, to be honest, except that he has complete autonomy over it. So if Konoha's involved in some way, and Sandaime doesn't know about it, it can only be Root."

Danzo again. Kakashi frowned. He had only ever met the man in passing and knew him more by his reputation than anything. One that was increasingly being entangled in contradictions and doubts the more he learned.

"Whatever the case," Minato went on, "all the countries are at a breaking point. Konoha's desperately short on manpower, Sunagakure's in a state of chaos after the Kazekage disappeared last month, and the Rocks and Clouds are facing this new problem."

"You'd think someone would start negotiations right around now," Obito grumbled.

Minato sighed heavily. "That would have been my first choice, but the war's gone on too long for any of the villages to back down now. Lands have been taken and retaken. Battles won and lost. In the end, nothing's changed. Only the casualty lists keep growing."

"So you think next spring…?" Kakashi said.

Minato nodded. "I think we'll all be going for drastic measures."

A heavy silence fell over them as the implication behind his words settled.

"But now's not the time to be worrying about that," Minato said, setting a different tone. "You need to rest first. And please, don't end up like Yuki."

Obito snorted. "I think we'll stay put this time, right?"

"After seeing that spectacle," Kakashi agreed with a shrug.

Minato laughed and shook his head. "If I had only known that was all it takes to keep you guys from sneaking out."

.-.-.-.

Under threat of pain, the two boys resigned themselves to spending another day under the watch of the nurses. But the crippling exhaustion and soreness from the soldier's pill wore off by midmorning of the second day. Looking to escape the boredom of their ward, Obito convinced Kakashi to go down to the common room, where they perused the bookshelves lined against one wall and sat down by the windows with several scrolls.

"I had no idea they kept ninjutsu scrolls in here," Kakashi muttered, mildly impressed as he rolled one open.

"I heard it was their way of trying to keep patients inside." Obito propped his chin on a hand and glanced at Kakashi with a grin. "It's working."

Kakashi shrugged.

"Speaking of techniques, what was that you used at the end of the exam? I was practically seeing double back then, but I'm sure you've never used that one before."

"I haven't. I tried to combine the lightning nature to sensei's Rasengan and failed."

"Wait." Obito raised a hand. "You lost me at Rasengan. When did he teach you that?"

"He didn't. I watched and copied."

"Copied? You can't just copy –"

"Obito, we've had years."

His teammate huffed. "Yeah, yeah, and I'm an unobservant thumb-twiddler. Sue me."

"Why would I –"

"No, stop, it was a figure of speech." Obito rolled his eyes. "You're just as bad as Ryo. So, you failed the combination but still managed to invent a new technique?"

"I don't know about that," Kakashi said. "It has too many faults to be used as anything more than a last-ditch measure."

"Faults like what?"

Kakashi thought back to the two occasions he had used the technique and broke it down piece by piece to put labels on everything that had felt off. "Tunnel vision, delayed reaction time, high chakra consumption. It's nothing more than a high-speed thrust."

"But think about the pros. It's destructive, it's fast, and it's bound to catch enemies off guard." Obito tapped a finger against the table for a moment, his brows furrowed in thought. "I think I can help. You just need a second pair of eyes."

Kakashi paused. "Your Sharingan?"

"You won't believe how different they are now. I hate how it happened, but I'm positive I can keep up with that speed of yours. I'll also be able to look for counter attacks."

Kakashi tried to think of a reason it wouldn't work but could only come up with untested factors and vague risks that weren't enough to dissuade him.

"True," he conceded.

Obito grinned. "It's team work, just like anything else. We can test it as soon as we're discharged."

Kakashi began to nod and then looked up as he noticed a person standing still behind his teammate, steadfast among the meandering flow of people and voices in the spacious room.

"Asuka."

The Uchiha Clan's only medic stood with his arms crossed, his expression pulled into a sour frown. "I'll have you know, your post-discharge orders include no combat, mission or training for five days."

"That's way over the top," Obito groaned, turning around to look at his cousin. "Can't you scribble that out and rewrite it as one?"

"No."

"Come on, you're the only agent we have infiltrated in this hostile environment."

Asuka gave him an incredulous look. "Did the exam make you even crazier?"

"You knew about it?" Kakashi asked.

"Rin told me."

That reminded him. He needed to talk to Rin. Though he had no idea what to say, he felt he owed her some sort of dialogue for dragging her into that situation.

"Is she here today?" he asked.

"Her shift starts in the afternoon," Asuka replied. He hesitated. "You both passed, right?"

"You bet," Obito said.

A strange look crossed Asuka's face. A mix of longing and resentment, offset by his upturned lips and a tone of grudging admiration when he said, "I can't believe you guys."

"Is that a compliment?" Obito teased. "Asuka's giving compliments?"

The scowl returned in an instant. "Forget it."

He turned on his heels and would have stalked away if Obito hadn't called him back. "Wait, is that all you came here to say?"

Kakashi didn't understand what he was talking about. Asuka stood undecided for a moment before sticking his hands into his pockets and giving a stiff shrug.

"I'm taking the Chuunin exam with Rin next month. If you have some spare time…"

Obito practically beamed. "Hell yeah! I'll help you train anytime. If you could just change that discharge order –"

Asuka simply cut him off with a roll of his eyes and left as someone across the room called for him.

Kakashi gave his teammate a curious look. "Why are you so enthusiastic about his training?"

"Aside from the fact that I won't have to chase him down for it?" Obito shrugged, his eyes still trailing Asuka. When he didn't continue, Kakashi let the matter go and turned his attention to the scroll in his hand.

Minutes passed, measured by fragments of conversations drifting from the other occupants in the room. Speculations about the war, recounts of mission exploits, the occasional grumbles about bedside manners. Someone laughed, and another joined in. Kakashi listened with half an ear.

"I can't remember the last time I saw him laugh like that," Obito muttered.

Kakashi glanced up and followed his friend's line of sight to see Asuka talking with a middle-aged shinobi in a wheelchair. Though his hands were planted on his hips in clear exasperation, his expression was relaxed and grinning, making him look like an entirely different person. For the first time, Kakashi thought he saw a passing resemblance between him and Obito.

"Are you worried about him?" he asked.

Obito took a slow breath, looking conflicted for a moment. "During the exam, I got caught in a genjutsu reversal and – hey, it was only for a second!"

"I didn't say anything."

"That look said everything," Obito grumbled with narrowed eyes. "It was a second... Everyone was dead. The whole village. Asuka was the only one alive, just standing there in the middle of all the bodies."

Kakashi frowned. There were generally two types of illusions – the ones orchestrated by the caster, and the ones that fed on the victim's unconscious feelings or memories.

As if picking up on his thoughts, Obito said, "Remember when we first talked to Iku in the cave? I said he reminded me of Asuka."

That made sense. Kakashi nodded at the quiet words. "Do you still think so?"

"I don't know. I know it's a ridiculous comparison, and to be honest I hadn't thought about it since that night."

Kakashi knew what he was talking about without needing to be told. The night Midori had died. He remembered his teammate stiffening unnaturally at the sight of his cousin.

"But I can't un-see that illusion now," Obito finished bleakly.

Kakashi watched Asuka leave the room with another medic and said, "Even if he did hold a grudge against Konoha, he can't kill the entire village. For good or for bad, he isn't that strong."

"I know. Half of it's just disgust at myself for even having that kind of possibility in my head."

"Nothing wrong with thinking of a worst-case scenario."

Obito gave a rueful smile. "I'd much rather believe in people."

Kakashi shrugged and went back to the scroll. But it wasn't long before Obito continued in the same, pensive tone.

"You know, I've been thinking…"

"About what?" Kakashi asked without taking his eyes off the list of ninjutsu techniques.

"I'm going to become the Hokage."

This made him look up. Slowly, he raised a brow and met Obito's eyes. They were serious.

"Where did that come from?"

"I've been thinking about what Ryo said during the exam. About only being able to protect the people closest to us; that we have to choose. I thought I had. When we agreed that comrades always come first, that was my choice. I sure as hell didn't like it, but it was a compromise. Next thing I know, I'm being told I need to narrow it down even more."

That was one of the biggest differences between them. For Kakashi, it had always been a matter of mission and comrades. If he had to narrow it down to only 'comrades' or even only the 'team,' he could adjust to the new parameters without issue. But Obito was the opposite.

His friend's lips quirked in a sheepish smile. "I make friends way too easily. It's just the way I am. I don't care if it's people from Konoha or other countries. If I like them, I like them. So I'm done compromising with myself. I'm not going to keep narrowing things down. If I'm too weak to protect the people I want to, then the answer's simple: I'll become the strongest shinobi in Konoha."

Kakashi blinked. Once, twice. He should have been used to this by now. Obito's solutions always had a way of catching him off guard with how frighteningly straightforward and brazen they were.

"You're still going to have to choose," he said. After all, he had been trying to do the same thing for years, and it had only taken one highly coordinated hostage situation to show him how much he still lacked.

"I will. But the stronger I become, the more people I'll be able to save. When I'm Hokage, I'll prove to all the cynics that I can protect the entire village."

Kakashi shook his head slowly. "Knowing you, you'll trust the wrong person and get us all killed."

"That's where you come in." Obito grinned. "You'll balance out my impulses, like you've always done. My most trusted advisor."

Kakashi heaved a sigh and leaned his weight onto the table in concession. "Alright, but if you're going to become the strongest in Konoha, you're going to have to beat me first."

"Bring it on!" Obito crowed.

Kakashi suppressed a laugh. If that was what Obito wanted, then he would do everything in his power to make it happen. It would be a lie to say his own lack of concrete goals had never troubled him, but it was times like this that reminded him it was alright. Obito had enough dreams for both of them.

.-.-.-.

Later that afternoon, Kakashi stood outside on the rooftop, his back against the rails, staring at the Hokage monuments that towered over the hospital.

He remembered Minato once describing the Hokage as a position not simply for the strongest shinobi, but one that should be held by the person capable of doing what's best for Konoha. In both regards, Kakashi had little doubt his teacher's face would eventually occupy the space beside Sandaime's. And whether Obito ever became the strongest shinobi in the village or not, Kakashi knew he and Minato were much alike.

Nevertheless, there were many who aspired to become the Hokage. Obito certainly had his work cut out for him.

A movement near the door turned his attention away from the rocks. Then seeing who it was, Kakashi lurched away the rails in surprise and bowed quickly.

"Danzo-sama," he greeted.

"Hatake Kakashi, I presume?" The older shinobi approached on silent footsteps until he was just a few paces away.

"Yes."

"At ease. I only came to congratulate you on your promotion."

"Thank you for the honor." Kakashi dipped his head once more before slowly straightening. He forced his muscles to relax and was careful to keep the sudden wariness in check. Though he'd had misgivings about this man, he hadn't actually thought he would be engaging in any sort of conversation so soon.

Danzo's single eye regarded him with open interest. "I read your reports. They were impressive."

"Not at all," Kakashi murmured.

"Nonsense. I hear you played a crucial role in bringing down Kokoro."

He frowned on confusion. "Kokoro?"

"The insurgent group led by Kure Nobuki. Their rightful name was Kokorozashi – 'Resolve.' Fitting, don't you think? I named them." A small, humorous smile pulled his lips. "I suppose names always have a way of getting shortened one way or another."

Kakashi gave no reaction, standing undecided between an innate desire to know the truth and the learned wisdom of remaining discreet.

Danzo gave him a knowing look. "You can ask whatever you want. I have nothing to hide now that the threat is gone."

"What were you trying to do?" Kakashi asked at last.

"I have one job and that's to keep Konoha safe. This time was no different. I knew that the longer the war dragged on, the more disillusioned our shinobi would get. So I laid a trap."

"You were planning to betray them from the start?"

Danzo chuckled. "I betrayed them? They're the ones who turned their backs on the Hokage. You heard their plans, didn't you?"

"Yes," Kakashi replied. There was no denying the truth.

"Do you have an eye for strategy?"

"I try my best."

"Then you should be able to appreciate the results we were able to achieve with this mission. Think about it." He lifted a finger. "We sent a clear warning to every member of the organization by executing the leaders." A second joined the first. "We were able to weed out and identify all the people harboring ill-intent, which allows us to keep them under close watch now. This alone would have made this mission worthwhile."

A third finger rose. "We were able to dispose of a dangerous missing-nin who had escaped us for years. What's more, we extracted much of the information she held, including the whereabouts of the Sanbi."

A fourth. "And finally, you confirmed that the Mists aren't ready to use the tailed beast. If they wanted to do us harm, now would have been the time to act."

Kakashi understood what he was saying. Knowing with any degree of certainty that there wasn't an imminent threat of being attacked from the east made a world of difference in the distribution of their forces. Especially considering their severe lack of manpower.

"Four birds with one stone," Danzo said.

"Three lives," Kakashi muttered.

"In exchange for saving all the others." Danzo shrugged. "You're saying that's not a rational plan?"

"It is."

Just as Nobuki had seen Sandaime's life as fair exchange for saving the village, Danzo had viewed their heads as an efficient means of gaining as many advantages as possible. The only difference was the emotions in their eyes. Feverish and desperate on one side. Cold and calculated on the other.

"By the way," Danzo said in the same, even tone. "Did you come across a boy named Shisui?"

Kakashi feigned confusion and shook his head. "I've never heard of him."

"I see."

He couldn't read the look in Danzo's schooled expression and the older shinobi soon turned to look out over the rooftops of the nearby buildings.

"Have you heard about the recent developments in the Earth and Lightning countries?" Danzo asked.

"Minato-sensei briefed us about the raids."

"Oh? Tell me, what are your thoughts on them? I'd like to hear your honest opinion."

Kakashi hesitated. "My thoughts are hardly worth your time, Danzo-sama."

"I find it hard to believe you don't have any. Speak."

Left with no other choice, Kakashi took a moment to gather his thoughts and said, "I think it's an effective measure. No one can fight for long without food. It'll also turn the civilians against the shinobi."

Civilian towns generally made no objections to the hidden villages in their midst, seeing them as protectors, agents for hire and the bedrock of their safety. But when faced with danger in their own fields, and the threat of starvation, history had time and again demonstrated how crippling their mistrust and anger could be.

Danzo nodded slowly. "Even the best fortresses fall like rotten trees when they're hit from the inside."

"But there are risks," Kakashi said, watching him closely. Even shinobi followed a loose moral code and keeping civilian casualties to a minimum was one of them. "There's already enough hatred to make negotiations impossible. A move like this only makes it worse. It's also a risk to the infiltrating shinobi. If they're caught…"

Prisoners weren't guaranteed anything. They could be tortured or executed on the spot and no one could say a word. But the worst fates awaited those who were caught inside enemy lines, and Kakashi couldn't begin to guess what would be done to those who had deliberately destroyed the crops and fields of innocents.

"That would be a simple solution," Danzo replied. "They should be ordered to kill themselves if they were discovered. Poison should do the job. Only those with the firmest resolves should be sent."

"And if they're caught off guard?"

"Measures should be taken to ensure they cannot speak when interrogated."

Kakashi stared at the older man, suspicions turning to conviction. He wasn't imaging it. The examples were too specific to be generalized theories.

"Danzo-sama," he murmured. "Are these raids…"

Danzo turned to him and smiled. "I'm just talking 'what ifs.' Apologies for taking up your time. There seems to be someone else who wants to talk to you." He raised his voice. "You there, come out."

Kakashi looked to the door and saw Rin step hesitantly into view. Without another word, Danzo left, as silent as he had come, and Rin hurried out his way with a deep bow.

"What are you doing here?" Kakashi asked, wondering if she had heard any of the conversation.

"I brought you this." She walked over to him and held out a cloak. "You need to stay warm."

He was about to refuse, but her eyes hardened, and he decided it wasn't worth it. "Is Obito done with his exam?"

She nodded. "His sister's visiting right now. What was Danzo-sama doing up here?"

"I don't know, to be honest," he replied. It was the truth. He didn't know why Danzo had personally come to tell him something that could have been conveyed in a simple debriefing. What had he wanted to confirm? Something about the exam? Shisui? The war?

The questions thrummed persistently in his thoughts, growing stronger every second.

"Oh," Rin said.

Kakashi pulled the cloak mindlessly over his shoulders and only noticed something odd when he saw the scarf wrapped around her neck. He watched her lean her arms against the rails with a troubled look clouding her expression.

"What is it?" he asked.

Rin worried her lips for a moment before saying, "Do you remember Nobuki-san? The Jounin who was with us when we met you at the border a few months back?"

He really had to wonder whether she hadn't overheard any of the conversation. But the way she posed the question made it clear the topic had risen from somewhere else. He nodded wordlessly.

"We were just told that he tried to assassinate Hokage-sama… and was executed by the ANBU."

He could have acted surprised – should have, in fact. But he didn't say anything, and the brown eyes that turned to him widened as she connected the dots.

"You knew." It wasn't a question. "Were you there? Was it a part of your…" She paled as the implication of the statement sunk in.

Kakashi hesitated. Details of the mission were confidential – what Danzo had disclosed even more so, despite not saying a word about remaining silent.

"I can't tell you everything," he said at length. "But what you heard is true."

"He betrayed us?"

"He betrayed Sandaime. He was trying to protect the people he cared about."

She was silent for a moment. "He was trying to protect us, wasn't he?"

Kakashi opened his mouth, then closed it. Midori had often spoken of Rin's knack of looking through a person and intuiting what they were really feeling as effortlessly as reading an open scroll.

It was unnerving being on the receiving end of the talent, and he had to remind himself she wasn't picking up clues from him. She had noticed things about Nobuki himself.

He nodded in response to her question, then asked, "Were you close to him?"

"I wouldn't say close. We were only under his command for that one mission. But like everyone else at the hospital, he took us under his wing after we lost our teacher."

"You didn't find a cure?"

She shook her head. "Even if she did wake up, she's got a spinal injury that we couldn't fix. It'll likely leave her paralyzed from the neck down."

"I see."

Rin sighed and dropped her face into her arms. "Nobuki-san once said she's probably happier where she is now."

"I see," Kakashi said again. He wondered if Nobuki could say the same about himself.

"It's strange, really," Rin went on, her voice thin and her tone distant. "I should be angry or shocked like everyone else. But I'm not."

She was sad. Hurt. It struck him how familiar the emotions were to the ones he had felt when he had finally figured out how much his father's death had meant to him on the most personal, familial level.

"It's hard to imagine," she said, "how someone so good to us could be so bad for the village."

"It happens. More often than we think."

"But that doesn't mean he ever stopped being good to us – to me. Is it wrong to think like that?"

Still thinking of his father, he murmured, "No, I don't think so."

Then he said something that he wasn't sure he believed at all, but what felt like the right thing to say in a moment like this. "He'll be glad someone remembers him for who he was. And not what he did."

Rin looked up in surprise. After a moment, her face softened into a smile. "Thanks, Kakashi."

Right and wrong, good and bad, justice and evil – they were all elusively fluid and impossibly subjective. It was no different from how a person was remembered after death. It struck Kakashi how Rin and Danzo reflected the disparity of the phenomena with such remarkable simplicity.

To one, a person's benevolence and generosity to a handful of people could negate treason. Yet to the other, the same person's entire existence had turned hostile in the face of a single act that had undermined everything he had done for the village.

As the thoughts crossed his mind, Kakashi became aware of the possibility that compassion to others and loyalty to an established system were two distinct matters altogether. Which, then, held the greater weight?

On a whim, he voiced the question. Rin scrunched her brows in thought.

"Neither," she said after a pause, surprising him. Her words came slowly, with tentative care. "They're both important, of course, but I don't think one holds more value over the other. I think what matters more is following what the heart says."

The heart. She and Obito, even Minato and Midori – they all said things like that as if it was the most natural factor in the world. But for as simple as it sounded, its significance still baffled him.

"If you have one, I guess," he muttered.

Rin pursed her lips and frowned at him. "Stop that. Of course you do."

Kakashi froze. The force behind her tone and the reprimanding expression was a spitting image of Midori. He waited for the pain to twist in his chest, but it didn't grow any stronger than a dull throb. Eclipsing it instead was a quiet warmth, like an affectionate longing for something that was no longer there.

He decided it was best to change the subject. "Sorry about getting you dragged into the exam."

"Why does everyone keep apologizing?" Rin chuckled. "Minato-sensei said the same thing."

"Because you shouldn't have had to go through that."

She shrugged. "Alright, I'll forgive you. But on one condition."

"Which is?"

"Will you help me train for the Chuunin exam?"

Kakashi raised a brow. "I can, but our skillsets are different."

"That's the whole point. I need a sparring partner." She clasped her hands together, and then opened them again. "Nobuki-san taught us how to turn medical techniques into offensive weapons. But it doesn't mean anything if I can't keep up with the opponent, like what happened during the exam."

"That wasn't your fault. It was an illusion."

"I could use some practice in that field too," she said, undeterred. "I'll ask Obito for help there. So, do you want forgiveness or not?"

Kakashi regarded the playful glint in Rin's eyes and gave up. "Alright, alright, I'll help."

She laughed, and as he watched her, Kakashi was finally able to put a name to the feeling he had experienced a moment ago. He missed Midori.

"Kakashi?"

He missed his old teammate. But at the same time, he was glad Rin was here.

He noticed a flush on her cheeks as she stared at him with an odd look, the humor fading from her face. It was getting colder.

"Come on," he said. "Let's go inside."

A/N: So much dialogue! I am so sorry... But I hope it was worth it. Lots of stuff was stuffed in that stuff :P

Thank you, as always, for reading! I'm going to do a short interlude chapter next, and then onto a new arc!

.LinSetsu.