Sitting with his arms crossed, and his eyes closed, Obito took in the sounds of a class full of excited children. Today, they were going to be ninjas, and the children were practically bouncing off the walls. Obito relished in their innocence. Madara and Hashirama's dream was ultimately just that, a dream. Ironically, the formation of the village system only accelerated the death rate. The missing Senju clan was proof of that.
"Haha, Kaizoku, you jerk!" A child slapped his friend on the back, causing him to spill his milk.
"I'll get you for that later!" The child wiped the milk off of his clothes, and shook his fist.
If only they knew just how bloody things were going to get. The Third Great Ninja War was only around the corner…
"Hey Obito, what's with the new mask? Are ya copying Kakashi?" A loud girl's voice happily shouted in Obito's ear.
Brown hair, and purple face tattoos, the small girl was Rin Nohara. She began to poke and prod at a mask that covered the top half of Obito's face. It was a mask in a similar style to Kakashi's, only reversed. It covered Obito's eyes and left everything below his nose exposed.
"I awakened my sharingan. I wear this mask to keep them a secret, and confuse my enemies." Obito swatted away Rin's hand.
"As if! Acting all cool like Kakashi, you're totally copying him!" Rin added with a hint of playfulness.
"Believe it or leave it, it is what it is." Obito shrugged.
However, contrary to his cool exterior, Obito couldn't help but flashback to his first night in Konoha. Just thinking about his sharingan triggered the memories of the fateful day one week ago. When he woke up in this world, it was in the middle of the night. Shockingly, the first thing he saw was an old woman's corpse.
"Obito?"
Then flashes and bursts of memory entered his mind. Memories of him barely learning the great fireball technique, of long hours spent throwing shuriken only for them to miss the target every time, and of a little girl named Rin who was always supportive.
"Obito!?"
At the realization that he had lost his family and friends, his body shook with powerful emotion. He was no longer Don, he was now and forever more Obito Uchiha. From that day on, that old woman's corpse, Obito's grandmother, was permanently seared into his mind. The sharingan made sure he never forgot.
"Obito! Are you okay!" Rin's face was awash with worry. She placed a hand on Obito's shoulder, only to have him flinch and roughly shake her off.
"I'm fine!" Obito sneered, and turned away from her.
"Obito, you've changed. I'm sorry what's happened to you what with you know…if there's anything I can do to help, I'm here to talk!" Rin nodded her head, and smiled.
Closing his eyes, Obito took a deep breath, and slumped his shoulders. He couldn't let the past get in the way of his survival. Letting his anger leak to such a degree that a little girl showed pity on him was pathetic. If he wanted to become amongst the strongest in the world, he had to man up.
"Thank you Rin, you're a good friend. The passing of my grandma hit me harder than I could ever imagine. Just go easy on me for a while, okay?" Obito scratched the back of his head, and let out a small smile.
"Yeah, of course Obito, what are friends for!" Rin reached out, and gripped Obito's shoulder.
Obito shook his head at himself in self deprecation. He could see why the original Obito had such a huge crush on the girl. It must've driven him mad to be best friends with her, but know that she was absolutely smitten with Kakashi.
As Obito was lost in thought, the rambunctious class of children suddenly went dead silent.
Strutting into the room was their academy sensei, Daisuke Uri. He was a bald, tanned and scarred veteran wearing the apparel of a standard Jonin. A war hero of the First and Second Great Shinobi War's, his mere presence commanded instant obedience from the children.
"Everyone in this room has received their headband, you are the pride of Konoha. Do not disappoint the faith Lord Hokage has placed on all of you." Daisuke made sure to look into each and every child's eye before continuing.
"I'll now list the teams, and have them walk out to meet their new sensei. Starting with Team 1, Asuma Sarutobi, Kurenai Yuhi, Raido. Team 2, Might Guy, Genma, Ebisu…Team 5 Anko Mitarashi, Jiren, Kiyuo…" Daisuke held a clipboard in hand, and began to call out the names of the academy graduates.
"Team 7, Kakashi Hatake, Rin Nohara, and Obito Uchiha. Go meet your new sensei, Minato Namikaze. He's set a bit of a test for you, so go meet him at Training Ground Three by noon!"
A quick look at the clock on the wall, and Obito saw it was 11:45AM.
"Hey Kakashi, how about you, Rin and I go together-"
Kakashi disappeared from the classroom in a cloud of smoke.
"Hurry up Obito, we can't be late on the first day!" Rin tugged at Obito's sleeve.
"Heh heh, you take the lead Rin, I kinda forgot where Training Ground Three is!" Obito scratched the back of his head, and laughed nervously.
"Ugh, seriously! As much as things changed, you're still the same Obito!" Rin karate chopped Obito on the forehead before rushing out of class.
"Hey, wait for me!" Obito fumbled out of his chair, and dashed after her.
"Hahaha, better run quick dead last!"
The sounds of children laughing met Obito's ears, but he didn't pay them one lick of attention. He was going to meet the future Yellow Flash of Konoha!
Huffing and puffing, Obito made it to the familiar clearing of Training Ground Three. Placing his hands on his knees, Obito took a few deep breaths before composing himself.
Rin, Kakashi, and Minato all stared at him while he did this.
"Ahh ha ha, what's with the stares? With looks like that, you'd make a guy nervous! I didn't spill anything on my shirt did I?" Obito flicked his nose with his thumb, and gave the trio a sheepish grin.
"12:01, we'll have to up your stamina Obito." Minato replied in a clinical tone of voice.
"Don't be late next time Obito. This sloppy behavior of yours was barely passable in the academy. In the real world, it will get you killed." Kakashi appraised.
"Obito~" Rin said Obito's name in admonishment.
Obito smiled on reflex as a defense mechanism against such negativity.
Like hell he didn't know how weak he was, no need to rub it in!
"Heh heh, I'll make sure to learn everything I can from you Minato-sensei!" Obito threw out a big thumbs up.
"Right. Okay Team 7, let's get to know each other. What's your name? What are your likes and dislikes? What are your dreams for the future? Do you have any hobbies? I'll go first. My name is Minato Namikaze. I like the color red, and dislike bullies. I have a selfish dream to one day be Hokage. My hobby is to study fuinjutsu."
"Kakashi Hatake. I like training, I dislike rule breakers. I dream about making Konoha stronger. My hobby is private." Kakashi crossed his arms, closed his eyes, and sighed as he listed off his likes and dislikes.
"Hi, I'm Rin Nohara! I like the color white! I also dislike bullies Minato-sensei! My dream is to be with my best friends, Kakashi and Obito forever!"
All the while this was going on Obito didn't know what to say. He wasn't bad at public speaking per se, but he had only been in this world for a week! What kind of dreams could he have!
Looking left and right, Obito saw both Kakashi and Rin staring at him.
Obito began to sweat. He would have to wing it!
"Heh heh, my name is Obito! I like…uhh, I like super big ninjutsu! I dislike uhm, backstabbers! My dream? To survive the war! And my hobby, that is…training to get stronger!" Obito gave yet another big thumbs up at the end of his statement.
"Obito the war ended last year." Kakashi admonished condescendingly.
"You know for a five year old, you sure are scary Kakashi." Obito crossed his arms, and replied in rebuttal.
"Enough, both of you." Minato narrowed his eyes, and berated the pair.
"Sensei."
"Yes, Mianto-sensei!"
"Good. Now, I have another little test for you three. To seize these two bells. Whoever gets them will be treated to a meal by me, while the loser has to watch us eat." At the end of his statement, Minato held up two familiar looking silver bells.
Seeing the bell's he had witnessed a billion times, Obito groaned in frustration.
"What's the matter Obito, scared knowing you'll be the one watching Rin, sensei and I enjoying our meal while you starve?" Kakashi taunted.
Obito eyed Kakashi for a moment. This chibi Kakashi was such a major stick in the mud as a kid!
"Hah~ Rin, Kakashi. Minato-sensei is a Jonin! We've got to work together if we want to take him on!"
"Work together with you? Do you even know the basic academy team work formations?" Kakashi asked, his voice was laced with a heavy dose of skepticism.
"I believe in Obito, Kakashi. Let's do it!" Rin added from the side.
"Okay, but you'll both follow my lead. Let's start with the basics, the first formation!" Kakashi dashed forward, and began to circle Minato.
Rin soon followed, and circled Minato as well.
'It'll be just like in the anime. Just circle with them, do that weird flip thing above Minato, and attack from the side. It'll be fine, it'll be just like in the anime.' Obito gathered his courage, and dashed forward to join in with Rin and Kakashi.
Obito laid down on his back, staring straight at the sky. His blue and orange jacket was torn in a few places, covered in grass stains, and soaked in sweat.
Lying next to him was an out of breath Rin and Kakashi.
"Good work you three. Your dedication, and show of team work is exactly what I was looking for. From today onward, you're officially my pupils. Congratulations Team 7!" Minato's calm smile was followed up by some polite clapping.
"We'll meet up at Training Ground Three at 7:00 AM for the rest of the week. See you then!" Minato disappeared in a poof of smoke.
Getting up from the grass, Kakashi started to walk away without a word.
"Oi ya bastard, where do you think you're going?" Obito stood up, and shouted at Kakashi's back.
Kakashi paused for a second, and replied. "To get in more training. I thought you would understand what with it being your hobby and all." Putting his hands in his pockets, Kakashi kept walking forward, and soon left the forested training ground.
"Obito." Rin gripped the hem of Obito's shirt in an act of holding him back.
"Heh, no worries Rin, I'll get that jerk to come around. Now c'mon, let's go meet up with the other teams, and celebrate graduation!" Obito turned to leave.
"Kakashi." Rin looked forlornly into the direction Kakashi had disappeared in.
"You coming Rin?" Obito turned back.
"Yeah, let's go."
Unbeknownst to the duo, Kakashi was spying on them from the treetops.
"You should go with Rin and Obito, Kakashi." Minato spoke in Kakashi's ear.
"Minato-sensei!" Kakashi whirled around in surprise.
"They're your teammates Kakashi. Training is important, but so are the bonds we make."
"Is that an order sensei?"
Minato stared deeply into Kakashi's eyes. For his part, Kakashi didn't shy away from the stare, and maintained a steady gaze.
"When I look at you Kakashi, I'm reminded of a friend of mine. He was a strong man. Always willing to take on the most dangerous missions, and shoulder the most responsibility. A true workaholic." Minato gazed into the late afternoon sky with a nostalgic look on his face.
"In the end, he was unwilling to share that burden, and committed the ultimate sacrifice for the village. You don't have to carry that burden alone. It is not weakness to open yourself up to friends, but a great strength. Do what you will, but as your mentor, this is my advice to you." Disappearing in a poof of smoke, Minato left behind an emotionally conflicted five year old boy.
"Now that you're done talking to sensei, you can come down and join us!" Obito shouted up into the tree top.
"You don't think Kakashi is really there, do you?" Rin whispered, a tinge of hope in her voice.
"Heh, you're looking at Obito Uchiha! These eyes of mine will always remember that brat's chakra signature!" Obito put his hands on his hips and bragged.
With a complicated look on his face, Kakashi jumped down, and put himself in between Rin and Obito. Resting his hands on the back of his head, Kakashi began to walk forward.
"Oi bastard, where are ya goin?!" Obito yelled once more at Kakashi's back.
"Leading the way to the Akimichi BBQ, isn't it obvious?" Kakashi replied.
"Hey Kakashi, wait for me!" Rin cheerily ran to catch up to Kakashi.
Obito chuckled to himself, before he followed behind.
Standing nearby, yet unnoticeable to the children, Minato smiled to himself.
"See, I told you it would be good to have some kids to look after." Approaching Minato from behind, the 'Red Hot Habanero' Kushina Uzumaki whispered in his ear, and embraced him in a hug.
"It's just good practice for the future." Minato turned around, and kissed Kushina on the lips.
"Eep!" Kushina blushed wildly at Minato's forwardness.
"Smooth talking bastard, as if I'd ever let you be Hokage dattebayo." Kushina pulled away.
"Of course, red is my favorite color after all." Pulling her back into his embrace, Minato admired his girlfriend's heated cheeks.
"W-what, do I have something on my face!" Kushina's blush began to spread to her neck, and wasn't stopping any time soon.
"My little tomato princess." Minato couldn't help himself and muttered out.
"T-tomato! Asshole!" Smacking Minato in the face, Kushina ran away in a blur of motion.
"Ah, it just slipped out. Kushina, give me a chance to explain myself!" Chasing after Kushina, Minato left in a hurry.
"Damn, it was just getting to the good part. But then again, maybe I can incorporate this scene into my new book." A perverted toad the size of a hand mumbled to himself while he was busy writing in a notebook.
AN: I misspelt Kakashi as Kakshi like ten times…
Ages:
Hiruzen Sarutobi: 42
Jiraiya: 28
Minato: 18
Obito: 9
Anko: 9
Kakashi: 5
