Present

Chapter One: Battlefield Glory

For the third time that night, Kakashi had been awakened from his sleep. The first had been a medic who barged into his tent to update him of Toshiro Uchiha's condition. As the third in command at this outpost, the news of Toshiro's injuries had spread like wildfire through the camp and dampened morale. Poisoned, heavily wounded in the stomach, quickly bleeding out, a couple of broken ribs, among other injuries that the head medic didn't bother to inform him about. Up until the medic bursted into his tent, Kakashi had no idea what Toshiro's condition was like nor if he would live.

Kakashi was certainly relieved to hear that Toshiro was out of imminent danger, yet he certainly hadn't appreciated the medic rousing him from his much needed sleep. Pushing thirty hours with only a small nap to fuel him, Kakashi had been looking forward to catching up on some sleep.

Perhaps with the news of his comrade's recovery now on his mind, he would be able to peacefully rest.

The second interruption came in the form of a younger boy, who barely looked sixteen, who came rushing into his tent. Through his bleary vision, Kakashi vaguely registered the boy waving a scroll in his hand. The boy stopped in front of Kakashi, holding the scroll in his outstretched hand, waiting for Kakashi to take it.

Kakashi resisted the urge to yell at the boy for ruining his precious sleep once more.

He wearily took the scroll from the boy, blinking away the weariness from his eyes. Pulling on the string knotted around the scroll, Kakashi undid the scroll before unfurling the contents across his lap.

It had taken a couple seconds for his groggy mind to register the contents of the scroll. The usual message from the village, detailing the plans for rotation, to swap out the shinobis who had been at the battlefield for more than three months, so they had an opportunity to recover. The rotation was sent to happen in a week's time and if Kakashi had been in a better state of mind, he might have noted that he was one of those who were due to be sent home after a six month stint of heading the unit in charge of securing the northern border.

Instead, his sleep deprived mind was focused on other things. "And this couldn't wait until morning?"

The boy visibly flinched, taking a few hesitant steps backwards. His shoulders were hunched, feet slightly angled towards the exit. Scared. Ready to bolt. Kakashi couldn't have cared less.

"Kenzou san told me that I should inform you immediately. Obito taichou has instructed all matters to be diverted to you for the next twelve hours."

Kakashi mentally cursed Obito with every possible insult that he knew of. For Obito, the commander of the entire unit, to pull rank and push everything off to him, the second in command, so that he could get some precious sleep was a low move. Especially when Obito knew that Kakashi couldn't pass off the duty to the third in command, not when Toshiro was still recovering from his injuries.

Kakashi had half a mind to instruct the boy to pass the message along to Obito as well, just to spite him, but he figured that there was no way the messenger would do that. Obito was an Uchiha and everyone was scared of pissing off an Uchiha more than a non Uchiha. Like him.

"If it's nothing urgent, don't come bother me again."

The boy nodded vigorously, taking that as his cue to quickly scram from the tent. Kakashi sighed, rolling up the scroll once more and tossing it onto the floor, alongside his pile of weapons. He stretched his body, loosening up the aching muscles, especially around his shoulders before he slid back onto the cot. Laying back down, Kakashi pulled the thin blanket over his body once more, closing his eyes and willing for sleep to take him again.

Only to be awakened a third time by Kenji Uchiha, who woke him up with his shouting. Conditioned to being in the battlefield environment, Kakashi was up on his feet in less than a second. Feet slipping through the sandals left on the floor by his cot, blanket tossed aside, Kakashi made a beeline straight towards his weapons pouch. Clipping the weapons pouch to the waistband of his pants - there was simply no time to put on the rest of his armor - he merely grabbed his sword holder that had been propped against the wall of the tent.

"What's going on?" Kakashi shot to the out of breath Uchiha.

"A fight." That was all Kakashi needed to hear before he bent down, lifting the flap over his head and stepping outside of his tent.

He expected chaos outside of the tent, the kind of chaos that involved rousing the entire camp because there was a Senju force attacking them. What he hadn't expected was chaos, the kind that erupted because of a damned fight between two of his subordinates.

A group had formed to watch the show, no doubt just out of bed judging by their various states of undress. Approaching the group, Kakashi pushed aside some of his subordinates to make his way to the center. The smarter ones had seen Kakashi coming and quietly moved out of his way.

Ren Uchiha and Kaito Hyuga.

Kakashi should have known that this would have happened; they had been at each other's necks from the first day that they had been placed in the same unit. Now a month in, Kakashi was astonished to note that it had taken that long for something to erupt. That might have been due to his efforts to keep the two of them as separated as possible, but the conflict was inevitable.

Too bad they couldn't have picked the worst time to pick a fight. When Obito had deferred authority to him for the next twelve hours, when Toshiro was still recovering so Kakashi couldn't defer to him to take care of it, and when Kakashi was almost set to be on the squad to return home in the next week.

God damnit. Why did it have to be him?

When Ren threw another punch at Kaito, Kakashi decided that it was time to break the fight. With all of the shouts and cheers for both parties, Kakashi had to project his voice, so that he could be heard above the crowd. Though his voice was hoarse and no doubt he would lose his voice the next day, Kakashi had successfully gotten the crowd to quiet down.

Kaito was the only one of the two who heeded to his shout, craning his head to face Kakashi upon hearing his order, but Ren had decided that was the opportunity for him to get another punch in.

Except in the three seconds it would have taken his punch to connect to the left side of Kaito's face, Kakashi had eliminated the distance between himself and the two men and caught Ren's punch with his right hand. His fingers curled around Ren's fist, placing pressure on Ren's fist as Kakashi stared down the Uchiha.

Five seconds into the staredown, Ren jerked his head away, submitting to Kakashi's authority. Displeasure was written all over the Uchiha's face and the scoff that he emitted only served to inform Kakashi exactly how unhappy he was to have to submit to a non Uchiha.

Too bad everyone present knew that Kakashi could kick Ren's ass in a heartbeat.

Kakashi released Ren's fist, which he quickly retracted to his side. His observant eyes didn't miss the way Ren subtly tried to rub his knuckles, the skin in the area having already turned red from the pressure.

"How are we supposed to win against the Senju if we are fighting amongst ourselves?" His voice projected clearly throughout the area. "Those of you who were watching should have stopped the fight, not condone it."

Kakashi watched as many of the crowd either hung their heads out of shame and guilt or averted their eyes when Kakashi tried to make eye contact with them. He whirled his head sharply so that he faced Ren and Kaito.

"And the two of you shouldn't have been fighting in the first place."

"He's the one who started it. He wouldn't listen to my orders!" Ren was quick to point out, jabbing an accusing finger in Kaito's direction.

"He doesn't have any authority over me," Kaito shot back.

Kakashi's eyes flickered back and forth between the two parties as they continued to hash out the entire argument, once more.

"I'm an Uchiha. You always have to listen to me!"

"Listen, you bastard. The Hyuga clan does not have to bow down to you. Don't forget we are allies, not your servants."

Ren scoffed. "Clearly, the Uchiha have the superior dojutsu, so I can take you out in a fight, any day, any time."

"Oh yeah? Big words for someone who couldn't even win the fight earlier."

"It's not like you won the fight either! If taichou didn't step in, I most certainly would have beaten your ass!"

"That's not-"

"Enough!" Kakashi interjected, effectively silencing the two arguing shinobis. "I don't care whose fault it is or who started the fight, but both of you will be on outpost duty for the next two weeks. If by then, the two of you cannot get along, then don't bother coming back at all."

Ren had the audacity to look affronted at the mention of outpost duty; everyone knew that it was the most undesirable position to be in, usually left to the newbies or the ones who drew the short end of the stick. To have to squat in the trees and be on the lookout for numerous hours...to eat their cold meals in the shadows and in silence... while the rest of them were camped around the bonfire, around the warmth…

Kaito merely acknowledged Kakashi's words with a simple nod. With that, the crowd dispersed. Ren and Kaito parted ways, the former muttering some choice words under his breath that Kakashi had chosen to ignore.

If he had ten ryos for every time an Uchiha subordinate disrespected him because he was a non Uchiha, then he certainly would be a wealthy man. He may not have been an Uchiha, but his prowess was nothing to be looked down upon, so much so that Itachi Uchiha himself appointed Kakashi to become Obito's second in command. He had been slated to be the commander of another unit, but the backlash would have been too much.

The Uchihas already had a hard enough time accepting an outsider at the top of their command chain.

As Kakashi turned back to the direction of his tent, he noted the first rays of sunlight peeking through the slowly brightening sky. Judging from the sun's position, it was currently seven in the morning, too late for him to go back to sleep, but also too early for him to feel completely refreshed. Even if he did go back to sleep, Kakashi wagered that there would be a fourth interruption, knowing his luck.

So he switched paths and headed towards the medical tent instead.

Ducking his head as he lifted the flaps of the tent, Kakashi stepped inside. Upon spotting his presence, the medic gave a curt nod before politely exiting the room. Toshiro grinned weakly from his position at the cot. Kakashi moved quickly to his side as Toshiro attempted to push himself into a sitting position.

"Ahh, you shouldn't strain yourself too much." Toshiro obediently laid back down on the cot.

"How's the camp?"

"Complete chaos," Kakashi admitted. "Morale has been low since your platoon came back with only half of your men and one of our best shinobis has been injured. You shouldn't worry about that though; Obito and I have it under control."

Hence, the thirty waking hours that Kakashi had pulled prior to his fragmented sleep.

"They were good men," Toshiro murmured. "The Yellow Flash ambushed us. We didn't have much time to react."

There wasn't a single person who wasn't aware of who the Yellow Flash was; even the civilians in the village knew of his reputation. One of the shinobis on the Senju side that was deemed to be a major threat. The Uchiha side has tried multiple times to take out the legend in order to mitigate future losses, but each attempt ended in a failure.

"Ah, there's nothing you could have done then."

Shisui Uchiha was the only one on the Uchiha side that could keep up with the Yellow Flash.

"I know." At this point, Toshiro closed his eyes. "I just wished it had been Shisui there instead of me. He would have been able to stop the Yellow Flash."

"There's no use in blaming yourself," Kakashi chided. "You were still able to bring back half of your team; that has to count for something."

"Ah, the Yellow Flash voluntarily retreated; it had nothing to do with me," Toshiro admitted. "If he really wanted to, he could have wiped out the entire platoon before I could even activate my Mangekyo. I suspect that it was a warning this time."

Toshiro's suspicions were wrong; Kakashi knew the real reason for Minato's actions, but he wasn't going to correct him.

"We'll be better prepared next time," Kakashi placated, even though both of them knew that there was no preparing against the Yellow Flash's speed. "There's a rotation coming up in a week. You should go home to recover."

Toshiro frowned. "I've barely been here for a month. It does not feel right for me to go home while others have been here for much longer than I have."

"But you are injured," Kakashi countered. "You are no use lying in bed, anyways. When you are healed, I am sure you can request to be sent out to the field again."

"You're leaving this round too, right?"

"And Obito," Kakashi added.

"Then this camp will lose all three of its leaders," Toshiro protested. "It's already bad enough that both you and Obito will be leaving at the same time, but for me to go as well…"

"There will be someone to replace us," Kakashi told him. "The missive stated that Sora Uchiha will be the one to replace us, the camp will be better off with a more experienced leader anyways."

It was well known that Sora Uchiha was a war hawk, having lived through two wars between the Uchiha and Senju as well as multiple skirmishes between the two sides during times of tentative peace.

"That's good," Toshiro murmured. "It seems that the Senju are particularly interested in attacking our northern front these days."

They were, only because they received intel on how to navigate the terrain.

Kakashi merely hummed in agreement.

"Do you even think we can win the war?" Toshiro questioned, his dark eyes boring into the ceiling of the tent. "Doesn't all of this fighting seem pointless to you?"

Kakashi agreed with his sentiments, but it wasn't their generation who started the war. It had been Fugaku's generation who did, and then Toshiro's and his generation were the young abled shinobis who had been drawn into the crossfire.

"I just hope I can live to see the end of the war."

Obito had such a sheepish look on his face when Kakashi stormed into his tent later that day, that Kakashi found it hard to stay angry at him. As Kakashi half heartedly ranted of all of the crap that he had to deal with throughout the night, including the details of Ren and Kaito's brawl, Obito had placated with the promise that Kakashi would get a peaceful night of sleep tonight.

Kakashi would make sure that Obito kept his word, but there were more pressing matters to discuss.

"Not sure if you have heard, but the rotation is happening at the end of the week. You have the list of shinobis who are switching out?"

Obito nodded. "Yeah, I've already ordered Yasu to inform everyone. Excited to finally get to go home?"

The stupid grin stretched across Obito's face was more than enough to show exactly who was more excited to go home.

"Excited to see the girl who you've been writing letters to?" Watching Obito's face and neck turn bright red was amusing to Kakashi. Obito was the type to get embarrassed by a lot of things, but he was the type to hide it by denying it. Yet there wasn't a single utter of protest from him this time.

"It's been a while since I last saw her…" When Kakashi spotted the dreamy look on Obito's face, he knew his friend was too far gone.

"What's so special about her anyways? You aren't dating her, are you?"

Obito shot him a glare. "Not yet, I haven't had the chance to ask her. I didn't want to be an asshole and do it right before I left. You never met her, so of course you won't understand. She's the best friend I could ask for."

"Oh, so clearly our friendship isn't important to you," Kakashi retorted sarcastically.

"No, no, no," Obito protested. "That's not what I meant. It's just, well, the first time we met, she was the one who saved my life. At that point, I thought I was going to die, so her appearance was a second chance at life that I thought I wasn't going to get."

"Are you sure that you're in love with her or do you just feel indebted to her?" Kakashi commented dryly.

"Definitely in love." There goes the dreamy look on Obito's face again. "She's the kindest, most loving, most patient person I know. She was always there for me when I needed her; I feel terrible that I can't reciprocate since I'm always away from the village."

"A civilian?"

"Part of the medic team," Obito corrected.

Kakashi arched an eyebrow. "Then why don't you request her to be stationed at your outpost? Then you'll be able to spend time with her."

Obito looked appalled at the suggestion. "I don't want her to have to live in such terrible conditions. Besides, she's not field certified, so if an ambush does happen…"

"Neither are half of the medics that are being sent out," Kakashi pointed out. "At this point, there's a shortage of medics that it doesn't matter whether or not they're field certified or not. Besides, she'll be able to save more people out in the field versus waiting for them to be dragged back to the hospital."

Obito shrugged. "As far as I know, she's needed at the hospital. She's a poison expert, so she needs to be on standby to crack Tsunade's poisons."

Poison expert?

Kakashi recalled the last correspondence with his sensei and how he briefly mentioned that Tsunade was growing frustrated because someone was continually thwarting all of her creations. He hadn't given much thought to it back then since that wasn't his focus, but if Obito's friend was the poison expert...eliminating her would give the Senjus an advantage.

Perhaps that was another reason why she was being kept in the village.

"I see. That's good."

If Obito took note of Kakashi's lackluster response, he didn't acknowledge it. Instead, Obito continued to ramble on about all of the things that he wanted to do once he reached the village. Kakashi tuned him out for the most part, inserting appropriate head nods or chuckling at certain points to give him an impression that he was still listening, while his mind was fixated on one thought:

It was time to pay the Senjus another visit.

A/N: Hi again.

So fair warning, this story errs more on the darker side (I mean they are in the middle of war), so if you want something lighthearted, this isn't for you. My original intention was to make this a heavily romance focused war story, but then I found other avenues to explore, like the implication of friendship, betrayal and manipulation, and a testament of one's morals. So here we are with this version.

I'm curious to know, which ship do you root for? ObiRin or KakaRin? (Side note: I've already decided the outcome of this entire story so popular consensus won't change anything, but I wanted to gauge your preferences).

You might have noticed the "Present" at the very top of the story. That's very important to look at for because there will be two plotlines happening at the same time, one is the "present" while the other is the "past." Just so you have an idea, the next chapter will be a "past" story but they don't necessarily appear in any specific order. They may seem irrelevant at the moment, but you'll start seeing some connections to the "present" as we go along. Besides, the backstories give a lot of character depth and it might help you relate more to why these characters act this way.

Anyways, any questions? Any thoughts? Any predictions? Any constructive criticism? Shoot them my way. Thank you all so much for reading and giving this story a chance! If you're a reader from The Catalyst, I tried to make this one a lot better so hope that you'll be able to enjoy it even more.

See you next week!

-MM