A/N: small warning for this chapter: more cursing and gore than usual.

"Come on, don't be an idiot! We can't do this on our own. We need Sensei!"

"Sensei's too far away to matter. By the time you get to him, it'll be too late. We don't have any other choice."

"I'm not going without you!"

"I'm not going with you."

Obito tightened his grip on his backpack straps, falling quietly in step beside Rin. If Minato noticed that his team was strangely silent today (and he definitely did), he didn't say anything. Hopefully his kids would sort their tension out before they closed in on the bridge. He needed them to work together seamlessly, or else he'd be worried sick the entire time he was gone from them. If their attitude wasn't shaped up by tomorrow or the day after, he'd have to step in.

Rin was too scared to say anything. She could sense it, too. Their team felt so fragile, when they needed it to be at its strongest. But how could she focus when her mind was filled with Kakashi?

Her eyes lifted from her feet to stare at the back of the silver head in front of her. But she didn't look for too long. Kakashi always had a knack for knowing when people were looking at him, and she didn't want to be caught staring.

After the night of Minato's wedding, though, Kakashi had been different. He'd avoided them all until training, when Minato told them about today's mission. Even then, she could tell that his behavior was faked. He was hurting inside, she knew. She just didn't know why.

And she couldn't tell if it was because of something he hadn't told her, or because of something he had.

That dream he had mentioned… Rin felt uneasy about it. She couldn't place why, exactly, but something wasn't right. Kakashi had said that Obtio had died on a mission where Minato wasn't with them, and when Kakashi was Jonin and team captain.

Was that why she felt so nervous?

"Obito," she said softly, glancing at the back of Kakashi's head. Their teammate didn't so much as twitch. "Are you feeling…"

"Scared?" Obito chuckled, but his voice sounded tight. "Me? Never. I'm never scared. I'm going to be the Hokage one day, you know."

She fiddled with her bracelet. "Yeah," she told him. "Yeah, I know you will be."

Obito cleared his throat and adjusted his backpack straps again. "But, um, if you're scared…" He swallowed, shifted, started again. "It's okay to be scared, you know. Because I'll protect you. And so will Kakashi."

"Kakashi will protect us both."

Obito nodded. "And we'll protect him. It'll be fine."

Rin gave a shaky sigh and a little nod. "It'll be fine," she echoed.

But she had a bad feeling.

BREAK

Obito didn't want Minato to leave. He wished he could beg his sensei to stay with the three of them, but he didn't have much of a choice.

At least, Obtio reassured himself, that Minato would be back. With a quiet farewell, the Namikaze jumped up into the trees. The three of them settled into their sleeping bags, to get some rest while the blond was on first watch.

But the silence was heavy, and oppressive, and Obito almost couldn't bear it. He looked at Kakashi, who had climbed into his sleeping bag without so much as a word goodnight and turned away from them. He knew Kakashi well enough to see the rigid lines of tension in his shoulders. Kakashi might be a good faker, but Obito was his best friend. He could see through it.

And if he didn't know Kakashi well enough, he would say that Kakashi was scared.

His mind cycled back to the dream he was told about. Obito was nervous, sure, because he certainly didn't want to die. He was going to become Hokage, and he couldn't do that if he were dead! But when he thought of Kakashi…

In that dream, Kakashi had survived. He'd survived Obito's death, Rin's, even Minato's.

It just sounded so lonely.

And Obito couldn't blame Kakashi if he was scared of being alone again.

But what could he say to comfort him? Kakashi had never taken very well to expressing himself, or being vulnerable with anyone, Obito least of all. But when Obito laid down, he found that sleep wouldn't come. His thoughts and worry for Kakashi were just eating at him.

Rin didn't look any better, from what he could see. She was still, but he could almost guarantee that she was kept awake by the same thoughts.

He rolled over to look at Kakashi again. His friend didn't look any more relaxed than before.

"Kakashi," Obito said. Kakashi didn't respond, but he knew the other could hear him. "Listen. If you're nervous about your first mission as team captain… Don't worry! Um, that probably sounds stupid, but what I mean is, me and Rin've got your back. If anything goes wrong, we'll be there to fix it up again. I swear."

Kakashi still didn't respond, and Obito thought maybe he was mistaken, and his friend was actually asleep. Before he could feel like too much of an idiot for talking to the air, Kakashi hunched his shoulders. It looked like he had curled up on himself.

"Thanks, Obito. But nothing's going to go wrong. You and Rin will be fine, I promise."

Instinctually, Obito wanted to argue. But before he could open his mouth, Kakashi added, "Go to sleep, idiot. You have next watch."

He couldn't really argue with that. Obito sighed, mumbled a goodnight, and got as comfortable as he could on the lumpy ground. His thoughts still stirred lazily in his brain, but one in particular followed him into sleep:

BREAK

Minato had been hoping that, come morning light, his team would have themselves situated. This was their first mission without him, after all, and he was going to worry himself sick.

But, while everything seemed normal on the surface, Minato could still tell that something was off. Obito's smile looked a little forced; Rin seemed more skittish than usual; and Kakashi was quieter.

What had he missed?

Anxiety turned his stomach into knots. Maybe he should keep a shadow clone with them, just in case. But he also didn't want Kakashi to think he didn't trust him! Still…

Minato worried his lip in between his teeth, glancing back to Obito and Rin chattering away as usual. As a shinobi, he always trusted his gut when it told him something was wrong, but just knowing that something wasn't right didn't help him know how to fix it.

"Kakashi," Minato said. His student looked up at him, seeming to snap back from a daydream. That was unlike Kakashi, especially on a mission. The Hatake was always so focused. "Come up here."

Kakashi glanced to Rin and Obito, who both offered him clueless shrugs, and he upped his pace to fall in step with Minato.

"Are you feeling alright?" He asked. "It doesn't look like your head's in the game."

"I'm fine, Sensei," Kakashi assured, just as expected.

Minato refrained from sighing. He didn't want to belittle his student or insult him, but he needed Kakashi to take him seriously.

"Disperse!"

And just like that, Team Kakashi was on their own and heading for the one place that made Kakashi want to run in the opposite direction

Things were a little tense with them, and like usual, Kakashi was the one to blame. He'd brought up his stupid "dream" and thrown the whole team off kilter. If only he'd kept his big trap shut. The only other option would have been telling them the truth, and the whole truth at that—and telling them he was a time traveler from the future seemed as good of an idea as it did when he first got into this whole mess.

Maybe if he had told them everything, they'd suggest he needed an evaluation, and then he could have failed it and not been the one to lead Obito and Rin to their doom.

But, alas, he was still here.

They made camp for the night, about a day out from Kannabi Bridge. Tomorrow, they would be crossing over into enemy territory. And, with nowhere to run, Obito and Rin simultaneously decided to corner him.

"Kakashi," Rin said quietly, leaning against the trunk of a tree, "about what you told us the other day…"

"I think I'll take first watch," Kakashi said, standing up. Obito was on him in an instant with a hand on his shoulder to push him back to sitting.

"No way," the Uchiha said. "You're not running away from us this time, Kakashi."

"I'm not running away," Kakashi protested.

"Save it."

Kakashi sighed heavily, defeated. Satisfied that his friend wouldn't make for the hills, Obito released him and sat down close by.

Rin continued, "Your dream was… really weird. And you've been acting off ever since."

"Actually," Obito interjected, "you've been acting off for months."

"People change, you know," Kakashi said.

Rin shook her head. "Not overnight like you did. It was like you were a different person, Kakashi. Nothing makes sense. You're an amazing shinobi, but you seem like you're a lot more powerful than you're actually letting on. And then there was that whole thing with your eye…"

"Yeah!" Obito added. "I remember at the Forest of Death, I thought I saw a Sharingan in it, when you got mad."

"Mad at you two pretending to die," Kakashi reminded them.

Rin had the grace to look ashamed for just a moment, before something clicked. "Was that because of your dream?" She asked. "Minato had told us it was probably because of, um… because of the White Fang, but… Kakashi, how long have you had this dream?"

Deep in his bones, Kakashi knew that he had fucked up.

"...Since the night I started acting differently," he told them.

Obito and Rin grew quiet and looked at each other, then back at Kakashi. The Hatake had the very distinct, very unique feeling that, if he hadn't completely screwed this timeline halfway to Sunday, he was about to.

"Kakashi," Rin said, "what happened?"

He heard himself saying, "You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

"Try us," Obito challenged.

Kakashi took a deep breath.

Don't tell them. Don't tell them. Don't…

He told them.

"Everything I told you," he said, "about that dream was real."

"Bullshit," Obito said immediately. "What are you, a time traveler? You know, if you really didn't want to tell us, you could have just said so, instead of lying—"

"What happened to 'try us'?" Kakashi shot back. "I'm telling you the truth."

Rin shifted, catching the boys' attention. "Could you… explain a little bit more, please?" She asked. "I'm not saying that I don't believe you, but what you're saying is really hard to wrap my head around."

"You want the whole story?"

In unison, Obito and Rin said, "Yes."

Mentally, Kakashi settled in for a long night.

He told them everything. And he was terrified the entire time, tucking his hands out of sight so that his friends couldn't see them trembling. He told them about his snooty attitude because of Sakumo's suicide, about Rin's gift and Obito's lack of one. Then, Rin's kidnapping, his and Obito's fight, the cave, the collapse, and eventually Obito's gift.

He told them about Minato becoming Hokage, Rin getting kidnapped again, becoming a Jinchuriki, and throwing herself in front of his Chidori. He told them that Minato had then appointed him to ANBU for Kushina's pregnancy. How Naruto was born and orphaned in the same instance, and how Kakashi had done absolutely nothing to prevent it.

He explained how he served for a decade in the ANBU, known generally as the Copy Ninja from Obito's Sharingan, but also as Friend Killer Kakashi. That the Uchiha were slaughtered by one of their own. How Hiruzen eventually removed him from ANBU to become a Jonin Sensei, and how he found himself passing the Genin squad of Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke.

He told them that he'd failed Sasuke, and Naruto and Sakura moved onto better teachers. Then came the Akatsuki, the mysterious organization looking to gather all the Jinchuriki. He told them how Asuma and Jiraiya died while fighting them, and how Pein attacked their village.

"I died, then and there," Kakashi said. "I exhausted my chakra completely. The world went dark, and then I woke up with the worst headache of my life and in this body."

Obito and Rin were quiet for the entire time, except to ask a question or two for clarification. The silence among them felt heavy, weighted with words yet to be said, but Kakashi felt marginally better for finally telling them.

He also felt like he'd just made the biggest mistake of his life, but he ignored that.

"That's… a lot to take in," Rin said softly.

Kakashi gave the smallest nod. "Yeah. I know."

Obito suddenly groaned, scrubbing his hands against his face. "Kakashi!" He exclaimed. "Why didn't you say anything about this before? You could've told us right away, or Minato-sensei at least!"

"I didn't think it was a good idea at the time," he replied. "I'm still not sure if I should have told you. But when I first got here, I couldn't figure out if I should try to stay here or go home."

Rin looked at him sadly. "Home, huh?"

Kakashi shifted and looked away. "It—"

She held up her hands. "You don't have to explain. If what you said is true, that means you've gone through… a lot. But you still had friends, people who you cared really deeply for and who cared about you. I'm sure suddenly… losing that wasn't easy."

Obito stood up. "We need to get Sensei," he declared. "Kannabi Bridge can wait. If we leave now, we could still—"

"Wait, what?" Kakashi reached out, snagging Obito's wrist and tugging him to sit down again. "We're not getting Sensei."

"What do you mean, 'we're not getting Sensei'?!" The Uchiha snapped back. He pulled his wrist away. "Did you hear yourself just now? We're apparently walking into a death trap—" He threw his arm out, wildly motioning in the direction of Kannabi Bridge. "And you're from the future! Sensei needs to know!"

"Sensei's on his own mission," Kakashi interjected. "And it's an important one. If he messes this up, it could have serious repercussions for him."

"But—"

"We're in the middle of a war, Obito." Kakashi stood up, too, face-to-face with his childhood best friend. "If we don't destroy Kannabi Bridge, we could lose the war. If we sidetrack Sensei, we could lose the war. I know what's waiting for us. We'll be fine."

Before Obito could say anything, Rin spoke up. "I agree with Kakashi," she said softly. "It's scary to think about getting kidnapped, or… or any one of us dying, but I trust him. We'll be okay."

Obito looked between them and sighed. "Fine," he relented. "But we're telling Sensei as soon as we get back, okay? You're going to tell him everything."

Kakashi gave a reluctant nod. "I'll tell him."

"You promise?"

"I promise."

Kakashi took first watch. When the sun rose on the next day, they were finally going to begin closing in on Kannabi.

Crossing into enemy lines made Rin and Obito anxious, Kakashi could tell. It was their first time on a mission as dangerous as this, and it was without the safety net of Minato, no less. But, with the truth finally laid bare among them, the tension that had been shaking loose their foundation had vanished. Sneaking towards Kannabi Bridge, they worked together like a well-oiled machine. Kakashi was almost reminded of Team Ro.

They encountered a few Iwa nin, but under Kakashi's instruction, each and every one was killed silently and swiftly. Rin and Obito didn't question his command even once, and he suspected it was because they knew a little of his experience, but he also made sure to solidify their confidence.

Then they ran into the bastards who took Rin the first time around.

Kakashi recognized them instantly. Their faces were seared into his memory. The one who took Rin, the one who took his eye, and the one who took Obito's life.

Team Seven hadn't been spotted. They were careful enough to keep their chakras suppressed and to be silent. The Iwa nin had no clue of their presence, but it also seemed that the Iwa were preoccupied with something. They were huddled close together, talking in hushed voices.

Rin and Obito detected the stiffness of his shoulders at the sight of them. The two exchanged glances. "Kakashi," Rin whispered, "are they…?"

"They're the ones who took you," Kakashi replied coldly. It didn't take long for his teammates to piece the rest of it together, what went unsaid. They're the ones who killed Obito.

"Well, what do we do?" Obito asked. "They're stronger than us."

"They don't know we're here," Kakashi pointed out. "We have the advantage. We won't take them all on at once." He pointed at each of them in turn. "He's got decently powerful earth jutsu. He's skilled in genjustu. And that one can camouflage."

"Camouflage?"

Kakashi nodded. "We should take him out first."

Rin took a deep breath. "How do we separate them?"

Kakashi motioned for them to come closer, and they did. He quietly explained to them what the plan would be, and his teammates agreed. And then they began.

To Kakashi, it was as if the past summer had never happened, as if the past twenty years had never happened. Here he was again, arguing with Obito, Rin hesitantly standing to the side, trying to intervene.

And just like he remembered, the Iwa nin fell for the bait: Two of them swooped in, attacking Obito and Kakashi instantly. The third wasn't in sight, either hiding in the trees or using his camouflaging ability.

Their clones fought fiercely against the Iwa nin while the true Team Seven searched for the third shinobi. With his pseudo-Sharingan eye, Kakashi was able to pinpoint the man easily, hiding in the branches of a tree overlooking the fight. He whistled, mimicking the sound of a bird local to Fire Country, and his teammates knew exactly what it meant.

Attack.

All three of them swooped in like a hawk to a mouse. Kakashi struck first, his kunai slashing out at seemingly thin air, but the spirals of swirling chakra were plain as day to his eye. Blood sprayed from the Iwa nin's shoulder, and the man dropped his camouflage in surprise.

As soon as the enemy was visible again, two senbon covered in an earth-style jutsu sank deep into the Iwa nin's neck. He dropped dead on the spot, but Obito caught the body before it could fall down the tree.

"Great job, Rin!" Obito whispered. "That Earth Senbon jutsu really came in handy."

Rin dropped down from the branches with a little blush on her cheeks. "Thank you. Kakashi was the one who helped me perfect it."

Kakashi was quickly making a flat-enough area to lay the body. "I didn't do anything," he countered. "That was all you. Now hurry, our clones aren't going to last much longer."

In unison, the two of them said, "Right!"

Just seconds later, Team Seven watched from the branches as their clones disappeared. The Iwa nin below let out a roar of rage and began scanning the immediate area and found nothing. Then, just as Kakashi had hoped, they split up.

He instructed Obito and Rin to go after the prominently earth-style one, while Kakashi hunted the genjutsu one. Gut instinct told him to do the opposite, as he didn't want to send his teammates after a powerful opponent, but if they were caught in a genjustu they would have no way of knowing. They were still just Chunin, after all, just children. Kakashi had years of experience on them, and the Sharingan to boot.

Like this, with him on his own and those two together, hopefully they'd pull out of this in one piece. Just in case, though, he quietly summoned Shiba and Guruko to follow Obito and Rin and provide them any assistance. Other than that, for now he could only trust his team to handle it to the best of their ability until he could rejoin with them. He had his own shinobi to focus on.

The Iwa nin still appeared to be on the hunt. Kakashi didn't know the man's ninjustu or taijustu ability, although he was at least a little certain that they had fought before. After Obito's death, his memory blurred significantly, so he never did remember exactly what occurred after the cave in. Rin and Minato had explained a little to him after he'd awoken in the hospital, although none of that information helped him now.

So he called on his years of experience as an ANBU operative. The Hound was once again on the hunt.

The Iwa nin quietly took to the trees, and Kakashi wasn't far behind. He stalked his prey while also keeping track of where he was going in relation to Obito and Rin's assumed position and Kannabi Bridge.

He watched as the shinobi moved from tree to tree, searching. If Kakashi had to guess, he'd pin this particular ninja as a tracker, looking for footprints and scratches on trees, any sign of Konoha shinobi. Obito and Rin weren't around this area to leave tracks, and Kakashi knew better to.

It was a perfect opportunity to lay a trap.

Silently, Kakashi skirted around the shinobi, traveling in a wide half-circle to get in front. Once there, he dug his foot lightly into the branch of the tree and kicked off again, disappearing into the canopy.

へのへのもへじ

"Gotcha." Benjiro brushed his fingers over the soft dusting of a footprint. It was small. Nothing more than a child, a new Chunin at best but likely a Genin. It didn't matter to him; this was war. If Konoha didn't want their children dying on the front lines, they should stop sending their children to the front lines.

With a devilish smirk, the Iwa nin took off with renewed speed now that he'd found his prey.

And find his prey he did. A little kid, looking haggard and tired. Panicking too, if the way his white head turned frantically back and forth. Benjiro had to wonder, where was the rest of his team?

Probably dead. But that just made his job easier. Unsheathing his kunai, Benjiro carefully positioned himself, poised to strike like a viper. The child was clueless.

He attacked.

Kakashi's shadow clone vanished. Benjiro didn't even have time to react before he felt cold, biting metal slice across his jugular.

The body crumpled like a puppet cut from its strings, and Kakashi stepped back to avoid as much of the crimson spray as he could. He wiped his bloody kunai on his pants and tucked it away.

Turns out it didn't matter what the Iwa's skills were.

He quickly made a hole in the ground with his earth jutsu and pushed the body in. He covered it just as quickly. Usually he wouldn't bother, but if it so happened that Obito and Rin's guy got all the way over here, he wouldn't want the body of his comrade to give away that they were being hunted.

With another couple hand signs, Pakkun appeared at his feet. "Shiba, Akino, Obito, and Rin should be that way." He pointed. "Lead me there."

The little pug gave a sharp nod and took off into the trees. Kakashi followed quickly behind.

They hadn't traveled very far before Pakkun sharply said, "Boss," and Kakashi instantly knew that something was very, very wrong. They came to a dead stop, and seconds later Akino joined them on their branch.

"Boss. Pakkun." Just as suddenly as he'd arrived, the dog turned and sped away. Wordlessly, Kakashi and Pakkun followed. Akino explained as they ran, "That Iwa nin wasn't alone. He met up with another squad who detected Obito and Rin."

"Where are they?" Kakashi demanded. "Are they hurt?"

"Rin is fine," came the reply. But there was a catch. There was always a fucking catch.

Kakashi didn't even want to ask.

"And Obito?"

"Obito is missing."

And the shoe dropped, right along with Kakashi's heart, sinking to the pits of his stomach. Because of course. Of fucking course.

"Missing?"

"Taken, presumably," Akino answered. "Shiba is tracking them now. Rin insisted I come find you."

Kakashi grit his teeth and channeled chakra to his feet, pushing himself to go faster and faster. How could this have happened again? He thought he'd done everything right to ensure that he and his team would make it out of Kannabi whole. He worked so hard to make sure that they were trained and ready, that he was a better leader than he was twenty years ago, that he would lead his team home and whole. Was he just destined to fail?

Was Obito simply destined to die?

Did the universe hate him that much? Was he sent back in time just for this? Just so he could try to fix his errors, and get used to having Rin and Obito and Minato around him again, just for them to be ripped away from his grasp once more? Would Rin die after this? Minato, Kushina? How many more times could one man fail so horrendously?

Kakashi took a deep breath.

No.

No, he couldn't live through that again. He couldn't put Rin or Minato through that grief again.

He wouldn't.

No matter the cost, he told himself. No matter the cost.

He'd promised them. He promised that he would get them both home safely.

He would. He will.

No matter what.

へのへのもへじ

They found Rin, shaking like a leaf and trying to hold back tears. Kakashi didn't even need to ask her to know what she was thinking.

I told her Obito died today. I told her they would be fine.

"Are you injured?" Kakashi asked as soon as his feet hit the forest floor. Rin shook her head.

"I healed myself," she told him. "There's nothing—"

He cut her off. "Then let's go."

Kakashi took her hand and jumped into the trees. She stumbled but followed after him and the ninken. Her feet were steady on the branches, but Kakashi didn't let go of her hand. She only gripped his hand tighter.

"He'll be fine," Kakashi told her. "I won't let anything happen to him."

Rin didn't sound like she believed him when she said, "I know. He'll be fine."

He squeezed her hand back, and they ran.

They ran until they arrived at a clearing that was all too familiar.

Kakashi took another deep breath. Of course the Iwa nin would bring Obito here. Of course today had to play out like this. If—when—they all got out of this alive, Kakashi wouldn't be surprised if Obito and Rin refused to ever go on a mission with him again. He'd probably deserve it. No, he'd definitely deserve it.

He and Rin quietly landed on a tree branch overlooking the cave. Only then did he let go of her hand. Pakkun, Akino, and Shiba joined the two of them.

"Boss," Shiba greeted gruffly, "Obito's inside. There are only two. One is inside with Obito. The other is patrolling the area."

"What about the other two that were with them?" Kakashi asked.

"Off somewhere, either to find Rin or to find reinforcements."

The Hatake sighed. "Well, that doesn't leave us much time. We'll have to make do."

Pakkun looked at Kakashi. "What do you want us to do, Boss?"

Kakashi clicked his tongue softly as he thought. "Find the patrolling nin," he answered, "and lure him to me. I want to deal with him first before heading into the cave."

"Hai!" The dogs responded, and they hurried away into the treetops.

Rin shifted beside him. "What do we do, Kakashi?" She asked softly. "It doesn't look like we can get in that cave except right through the entrance."

Kakashi shook his head. "Worry about that later. They're not going to kill Obito or they would have when they found the two of you. We have time."

"Not much time though?"

"Until the other two get back. It's easier to deal with them when they're separated."

Pakkun reappeared at his side. "On his way, Boss. Your six."

Kakashi nodded. "Stay with Rin." He shifted to his right, about to jump off, when Rin grabbed his hand. He turned back to look at her, and her eyes were pleading.

"Be careful."

"This will just take a second. Stay hidden, and stay safe."

Rin squeezed his hand and let go. She nodded, and Kakashi returned it before jumping away.

Kakashi came to a stop on a branch when Rin was out of sight, just in time to watch Shiba and Akino sprint away underneath him. The Iwa nin came into sight seconds later. With little time to react, Kakashi quickly flashed the hand signs of a jutsu he learned not long ago.

The Lightning Whip jutsu shot down from the trees at his command, wrapping around the shinobi in an instant. The man didn't even have time to scream before Kakashi brandished his kunai and pierced the nin's heart.

Only after the body stopped moving did Kakashi release his justu, and when he went to fetch his kunai, he realized it may have been overkill. But better safe than sorry.

This time, he didn't take the time to hide the charred corpse before hurrying back to Rin. She was in the same spot, only with three dogs around her instead of one.

"That was fast," Rin breathed when Kakashi joined her again.

"Let's make the second one just as fast." He looked down to the cave, breathing a little heavily. "How much chakra do you have left?"

Rin considered for a moment. "Enough. What do you need?"

He shook his head, taking the moment to slow his breathing. He'd used up more of his chakra than he was comfortable with, if he were honest, but he could spare another shadow clone. "Save it," he told her. "If Obito's injured, I want you to be at your best."

His fingers flew into hand signs until his double appeared in a cloud of smoke. Another few hand signs later, his double looked exactly like Rin, except injured. Kakashi did his best not to look at the trail of blood from Clone Rin's mouth.

"Kakashi," Rin started hesitantly, "do you have enough chakra?"

Again, he knew exactly what she was thinking.

"I died, then and there. I exhausted my chakra completely."

"I'm fine," he told her. "I know my limits."

She didn't look satisfied with his answer, or like she believed him either, but she didn't argue. "If you're sure," was all she said, and Kakashi didn't try his luck again.

Instead, he sent his clone down to the cave.

The bloodied, injured form of Rin stumbled to the cave's entrance. "Obito?" She called weakly. "Obito, are you here?"

The Iwa nin replied instead of Obito. "Oh, look, you came crawling right to me." He laughed, and when he pulled his kunai from his pouch, it glinted in the broken cracks of sunlight streaming through. "That makes my job a lot easier, small fry."

"Don't…" Rin coughed, blood splattering onto her hand. "Don't hurt him."

"Hurt him?" Iwa cooed. He began to saunter forward, leaving Obito alone and unconscious in the back of the cave. "Oh, I wouldn't dream of it. He's only going to become a Jinchuriki. You, though?" He laughed. "You, pretty lady, aren't getting out of this cave alive."

"Don't hurt him," Rin repeated. She slumped against the mouth of the cave, watching helplessly as the nin drew nearer. From over his shoulder, the clone could see the earth quietly moving, shifting open to allow Kakashi and the real Rin in through underground.

"Please," the clone added. Its only job was to keep the Iwa nin's eyes on it. "Please don't hurt him."

Kakashi and Rin rushed to Obito's side and cut his ties. Closer inspection revealed that the boy was trapped in a genjutsu, not unconscious, and Kakashi filed away that at least one more of the Iwa nin was decently skilled in genjutsu. But that was information for later.

Kakashi breathed out a "Kai!" and the jutsu broke. Life returned to Obito's eyes, but before his friend could say anything, Kakashi slapped a hand over his mouth and held a finger to his own lips. Shh.

Obito's eyes flickered from Kakashi, to Rin, and then over Kakashi's shoulder to the Iwa nin and the clone. The Uchiha nodded in understanding, and Kakashi pulled his hand back. But just as he did so, Obito's eyes widened. Kakashi turned to look.

The other two Iwa nin returned. "Oh, here's the bitch," one snickered. "Did our job for us."

"Yeah," another laughed. "Let's get this over with. I want to go home."

"Fine by me."

Shit. Shit shit shit. They had to get out of here yesterday.

Kakashi ushered Obito and Rin to the hole they'd entered into. As they were beginning to comply, Kakashi heard a distinct poof, and memories of his clone slammed into him.

Fuck.

"A clone?!"

"The fucking cave, you nitwits!"

"You bastards!"

They were caught. Three Iwa nin, either Jonin or Chunin, were closing in on them. The cave suddenly felt more like a lion's mouth closing around them.

"Go," Kakashi ushered. "I'll handle them."

"Kakashi—" They protested.

"Go!"

Rin took Obito by the wrist and tugged him towards her, but he resisted. He remained half-climbing out, determination bright and fiery in his eyes. "I won't go! Let us help!"

"They're getting away!"

Kakashi turned away from his teammates. The Chidori sparked bright in his palm. He ignored the distinctive pull on his chakra. "I got this," he told them, but then two senbon whizzed past him, striking one of the Iwa in the neck. The Iwa fell dead instantly.

Rin stood beside him, pulling more senbon from her pouch and covering them with her earth-style jutsu. "You're not doing this alone."

Obito joined her on Kakashi's other side. "Yeah! You have us."

Three against two. Kakashi liked these odds better. "Then let's get it over with," he told them.

"Hai!"

Kakashi leapt into action, calling on everything his pseudo-Sharingan eye had to offer him. Rin's senbon reached the first Iwa nin before he did, striking the enemy right between his ribs, and Kakashi's chidori took out a chunk of the man's side.

Obito spat fireball after fireball, and Kakashi could feel the heat rush past his side. The last Iwa nin jumped out of the way, landing on the wall of the cave, and it was only an instant before he was again dodging Rin's senbon.

"You think you kids can take me down?!" The Iwa challenged. "I'm Daiki of Iwagakure! A Jonin! You brats could never kill me!"

Daiki flashed hand signs. The cave rumbled before two pieces from its side tore off, both barreling directly towards Kakashi. The Hatake smashed through them with his Chidori as if they were nothing but pebbles.

Already, Kakashi was panting. He could feel the drain on his chakra, even after all of the training with Danzo. So he released his Chidori and instead launched shuriken at the Jonin, but they were dodged easily. With Daiki's advancement, Team Seven was pushed further and further into the back of the cave.

Kakashi saw it a split second before his teammates did. "Obito, look out!"

Daiki spun on his heel and launched after the Uchiha.

Obito froze on the spot, eyes wide as the Iwa nin closed in on him. Kakashi barrelled into Daiki's side an instant before a kunai would have buried itself in Obito's chest.

Kakashi and Daiki tumbled across the cave floor, and Kakashi ripped his tanto from its sheathe, slashing. Daiki wasn't fast enough to jump away without a gash raking across his side, and he cursed loudly, putting a hand to the deep wound.

Now with the Jonin's blood, Kakashi's hands flew into new hand signs. "Earth style: Head Hunter jutsu!"

Eight puffs of smoke appeared around the Iwa nin. All of Kakashi's ninken sank their teeth into Daiki, pinning him in place. The Jonin howled in pain and writhed, but the ninken held tight.

Daiki wasn't going anywhere. They were safe.

Kakashi dropped to a knee, panting heavily. He shut his left eye. Pain throbbed through the entire left side of his face, and his brain felt as if it had been put into a blender.

"Kakashi!" Rin rushed to his side, dropping to her knees. Her hands were already glowing green. "Where are you injured?"

He waved her off and struggled to his feet. "I'm fine," he told her. Gripping his tanto tight, he approached Daiki.

The Iwa nin already looked to be half-dead, but he was still struggling fruitlessly against the maws of the ninken. "Fuck you, brat." He spat, and blood splattered the floor. Kakashi didn't care.

"You're never going to hurt my friends again," Kakashi hissed.

Daiki laughed mirthlessly. "Stupid kid. Don't even know how to finish battles."

"You're going to die here. Isn't that enough?"

"'M not talkin' 'bout me."

The ground started to tremble. Pebbles dropped from the ceiling, bouncing off the floor. Kakashi whirled around, only to see the man with half of his side torn apart with his hands in an all too-familiar earth sign.

The cave started to collapse.

"Shit." Kakashi whirled around, sliced through Daiki's neck, and sheathed his tanto all one motion. Then his eyes locked onto the secret entrance they'd made. It was closer than the mouth of the cave. They could only go one at a time, but it would have to do.

"Run," he said. "Run."

Obito and Rin blinked. It clicked, and they ran, just as boulders started to rain down upon their heads. Kakashi dismissed his ninken with another few hand signs, ignoring their cut off yowls of protest as they disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

And he watched as Obito yanked Rin back from the tunnel's entrance just before a boulder landed on top of it.

Kakashi reached them just in time to grab them and shove them towards the mouth of the cave. It was their only option, now. He didn't need to say anything. Terror drove all three of them on as they sprinted.

A horrible feeling overcame Kakashi, and he looked up.

The boulder that crushed Obito slipped loose.

"Don't look back!" Kakashi shouted at them. "Keep going! I'm right behind you!"

Obito and Rin trusted him. They trusted that he would get them out of this alive, and they trusted that there was a reason for them not to look back. So they kept their eyes in front of them as they closed in on the mouth of the cave.

They trusted that Kakashi was right behind them.

But Obito could never just do anything Kakashi told him without questioning it a little bit, could he? And so he glanced behind him.

He glanced just in time to see when a new wave of sharp, excruciating pain pounded through Kakashi's left side. The pain was enough to buckle Kakashi's knee, and the Hatake dropped.

"Kakashi!" Obito screamed, already moving to turn around.

The pain was so all-consuming that Kakashi could hardly move through it. His brain felt like it was rattling around in his skull, and he couldn't see out of his left eye at all. But he could still see Obito starting to run towards him, towards the boulder that would take his life.

But a greater motivator than his pain was his promise. He would keep Obito and Rin alive.

No matter what.

Summoning the last dredges of his chakra, Kakashi sprouted lightning from his hands. His Sharingan pulsed in his eye in full color, bright red with three pitch-black spinning tomoes. The Lightning Whip lashed out, larger than anything Kakashi had been able to create before. It felt unstable and raw in his hands, burning through his skin, but it wouldn't matter soon enough.

Kakashi and Obito locked eyes just as the attack made contact.

It crashed into Obito and Rin. The force sent them flying through the rest of the cave, past falling rocks that would seal the mouth of the cave shut. In slow motion, Kakashi watched them skid across the grass outside the cave before coming to a haggered stop. Watched them struggle to sit up, looking seared and wounded and pained. He saw Rin turn around in horror, and Obito scream his name. The sound didn't reach his ears.

The boulder impacted. Everything went dark.

His tomoe spun.