"Kohaku, you should rest for a moment." Kakashi insisted when Kohaku nearly lost his footing. "You're in no shape to be pushing yourself so much. Niizuma-san may have healed the worst of your injuries, but you lost a lot of blood."
"I'm okay. I'll rest after we talk to Obito…" Kohaku leaned more heavily against him, wondering how much further they would have to go before they found Minato and Obito. He could hear the sound of distant fighting, but it was difficult to tell exactly which direction it was coming from in the Forest of Death.
He had considered trying to pinpoint Obito's exact location with his chakra, but he was running dangerously low, and he wanted to keep enough in reserve in the off chance that he needed to contain him with a barrier of some sort.
"If he attacks us, promise me that you'll stay out of it." Kakashi frowned at him as they continued onward, the sound of fighting growing louder the farther they walked.
"Can't promise that. I'm sorry, but if he attacks us, I'm going to contain him." Kohaku replied, glancing up at him and smiling weakly. He didn't really want to take his gaze away from him, secretly afraid that his plan may not work, and that they may end up dead.
"You can hardly walk! How are you planning on containing him?" Kakashi tightened his grip around Kohaku's waist, trying to hide his rising anxiety from him. He thought this was a bad idea, but he didn't want to completely give up on Obito either.
"Will you just trust me, Kakashi?" Kohaku asked, hissing in frustration over his current weakness. He was seriously concerned that he may not be conscious by the time they reached Minato and Obito, but he didn't want Kakashi to worry.
Kohaku didn't want to admit that he'd pushed himself entirely too far over the last several days, and there was only so much more his body could take before it shut down completely. Again. He had a feeling that Kakashi wasn't much better off, knowing how much chakra he had used over the last several days and the months before that. He was certain that he'd hardly had a chance to rest once the beast had been set loose on them.
"Always." Kakashi said without hesitation, unable to hide the concern in his voice. He knew there was no point in arguing, but more than that, he was certain that one way or another, Kohaku would change Obito's mind.
"Thanks, Kakashi." Kohaku smiled as they walked, though he couldn't help but worry that they would arrive too late to help both Minato and Obito.
Eventually, the pair came to a clearing, where the sounds of fighting grew stronger and the scent of blood saturated the air.
As they peered through the trees, both Minato and Obito came into view. Both were in terrible shape, but still locked in a stalemate.
Obito's mask had broken, and his cloak had been torn in many places. Minato's long, white haori had been torn in many places, blood staining nearly every inch of it and rendering it nearly unrecognizable.
Kohaku stumbled forward, pulling himself from Kakashi's grip. He stumbled between the two shinobi, putting both hands up to dissuade them from continuing to attack. "Stop!" He shouted.
"Stay out of this, Tenko!" Obito snarled, flashing an angry look at him. "You had your chance to join Madara! He saved your life, and you betrayed him! You had a chance, and you wasted it!"
"Helping him would have meant betraying my village and home, and turning my back on everyone who supported me!" Kohaku glared at him. "And for what? A family that I never knew?"
"How could you possibly understand?" Obito asked, moving to continue speaking, but being silenced by a heavy blow to the face by Kohaku.
"Shut up! You're the one that doesn't understand. You can't even see it when you've been manipulated! You and I, we were both played for fools, but you're still under the impression that Madara saved you, when in reality, he brainwashed you!"
"Kohaku, what do you mean?" Minato asked, frowning as he glanced between two of his precious students. His gaze shifted when he heard Kakashi make his appearance. He remembered everything that Kohaku had told him Madara had done, but it sounded as if he was talking about something else now.
"You don't know what you're talking about!" Obito lunged at Kohaku, kunai in hand.
Kohaku sidestepped out of the way, retrieving a golden kunai that he had stowed away after Hisahito had defeated Matabei. He raised it above his head, his mismatched gaze never leaving Obito's scarred face.
"This belonged to Senga Matabei. I found a matching kunai at the Kanemaru residence when Kakashi and I went to investigate what had happened to them." Kohaku tossed the kunai to Minato, his gaze never leaving Obito's face. "You know why Madara wanted me on his side. I can calm the Kyuubi, and trap it easier than anyone else can."
"This...but how does Senga fit in with Madara's plan?" Kakashi asked, tense and ready to step in if it looked like Kohaku was in danger.
"The Kanemaru wouldn't have wanted to hand the Kyuubi over to someone who would use it for a purpose like this." Minato put in, starting to put together the pieces.
"But…" Obito began, frowning. "That still doesn't change the fact this is all for the better! This is all for a more peaceful world, a world where…"
Kohaku limped towards Obito as quickly as he could manage and grabbed the collar of cloak, dragging him close. "Madara tried to manipulate me into helping him through cruel and merciless means, and I have to wonder if he did the same to you."
Obito tried to stab Kohaku, missing just barely as he shifted out of the way. "Why do you have to keep interfering?!"
"Do you remember when we were kids, in the academy?" Kohaku asked, grabbing Obito's wrist with his free hand so that he couldn't attempt to stab him again. "Do you remember when you asked me if I was the one passing you notes in class?"
"What the hell does that matter?!" Obito was practically seething with anger, so much different from how Kohaku had remembered him.
Out of the corner of his eye, Kohaku noticed Kakashi shifting closer, and he could hear Minato doing the same. "Stay back." He requested politely, glancing back at them before glancing back at Obito. "It was me. I was passing you the notes then because I wanted to help you. You never treated me like everyone else did, never commented on the things everyone else, things that even now, I'm still insecure about. I looked up to your kindness and your optimism, and I know that part of you is still there, somewhere."
"I was a child and naive to the realities of this cruel world!" Obito snarled at him, trying to shake Kohaku's iron grip.
"Since when are kindness and optimism mutually exclusive to childhood and naivete?" Kohaku asked him with a shake of his head. "I think that knowing the harshness of this world would make kindness and optimism more important. No matter what you think, you're not bettering this world by carrying out Madara's plan just so that you can regain something that you lost. It's more naive to think that you can bring back what's gone than anything else."
"...what do you mean?" Obito stilled momentarily before redoubling his efforts to free himself from Kohaku's death grip.
"You can never go back to how things were before you lost them. What's lost can't always be found, and sometimes...sometimes you just have to move on. How can you call this living when all you've been doing is trying to bring back the past?" Kohaku shook his head and lowered his gaze for a moment. "You say you're trying to create a more peaceful world, but why don't you take a look at the people around you? So many people have been hurt because of Madara's goals, and now...you've followed in his footsteps, with violence and destruction. You already tried to kill me, you've been trying to kill Minato-sensei. But...even worse than that, by releasing the Kyuubi, you have hurt and killed so many innocent and defenseless people."
Kohaku let out a soft sigh, letting go of Obito when his movements finally stilled. "When will it end? Why do so many people have to die so that you can create a world dedicated to the past?" He stepped back slowly, shaking his head again. "If you're not careful, there won't be anyone there to see your new world."
"Then what do you suggest I do?!" Obito demanded, backing away from the three of them, almost looking like a cornered animal.
"There isn't just one path to peace, you know." Minato said softly before Kohaku could speak. "You don't have to destroy everything around you for your idea of peace."
Kohaku smiled at Obito weakly. "Everyone has a choice, and that includes you." He raised his hand and offered it to him. "Things will never be the way they were before, but...that's not always a bad thing." He glanced at Kakashi briefly, his gaze softening in a way that it hadn't softened for anyone else before.
Obito stared at Kohaku, his gaze shifting between him, Kakashi, and Minato. There was so much uncertainty in his gaze.
"You can still repair some of the damage that you've done." Kohaku said softly, shifting his gaze back to Obito. "So what do you say?"
