A/N: Kagami was supposed to join Sakumo and Rin this chapter and they'll say hello and everything, but he slipped out of my subconsciousness and popped up last chapter! :O Sorry guys, this is what happens when I edit multiple chapters at once. Anyway it's just a small incongruity so it won't affect anything :)
Later there will be a part where lots of things happening at once. Please let me know if it's unclear, so I can write better next time! :)
Kakashi must be tired after seven matches but he's not showing any sign of fatigue; not when showing weakness is a weakness in itself. Neither are his opponents going easy on him – Deer, his eighth opponent, is engaging Kakashi in a bone-cracking taijutsu match. Thankfully Kakashi has more than enough hot-blooded spars with his Eternal Rival Gai. However, unlike Gai, the ANBU has a good thirty centimetres of height over Kakashi. It has become faintly ridiculous how many times Kakashi has tried to trip the man up while ducking under his longer-reaching swings.
"I'm not really sure whether this is a good idea," Sakumo turns to murmur to Kagami, who is sitting on Rin's other side. "Letting so many people know what techniques you have can't be good."
The Uchiha shakes his head, a crooked smile dancing at the edges of his mouth. "I'm sure Kakashi-chan is picking up more techniques than he's revealing." He points at his eyes. "Sharingan."
"…you don't mind?" Rin pipes up hesitantly. "Obito gave his eye to Kakashi but the Uchiha elders weren't really happy."
"Nah, I'm rather proud of Obito," he says reassuringly. "He's one of the ones with his head screwed on right. Hmm Fugaku too. The rest of them can go - ahem - improve their attitude. Good job with the transplant, by the way."
A ghost of a smile touches her lips. "It was Obito's last wish." She hugs her knees to her chest and Sakumo reaches over to give her a comforting pat on the shoulder. Blinking up at him, Rin's smile grows lighter, no longer so weighed down by melancholy.
Sakumo turns back to Kakashi's match only to see his son get sent flying by a punch straight to his midriff. He's on his feet in an instant, trying to come up with something to help Kakashi but coming up frustratingly blank. It's Snake who darts by, a blur of black and grey as she throws herself behind Kakashi to catch him, cushioning what would have been a rather rough impact with the wall.
"Kakashi!" Rin shouts, leaping up to get to her teammate, only to get jerked back by Kagami's sudden grip on her wrist.
"Stop," the Uchiha says with uncharacteristic solemnness, his Sharingan swirling to life as he stares at the green glow wrapping her fingers. The glow sputters into nothing as Rin stares wide-eyed at Kagami, her whole body tensed.
Behind her, blue lights ripple outwards from Snake and Kakashi, spreading across the walls as cascades of seals flare before fading away again. Snake peels the two of them off the wall, dropping Kakashi with a groan before her. "Ugh… you okay kid?" There's a hint of worry hidden in her gruff words.
Gasping, the teen's hand goes to his neck as he tilted his head to the side. There's a nasty popping sound as he rotates his shoulders. "Yeah," he grits out, his eyes fixed on Deer as he climbs back up to his feet. "Yeah," Kakashi repeats. "No problem."
"Let her go please," Sakumo says firmly, reaching out to remove Kagami's hand. The Uchiha lets go as if burnt, seriousness morphing into a sheepish grin.
"Sorry! I didn't mean to scare you, Rin-chan," Kagami apologises, sincerity coating every word. His Sharingan fades back to black.
Still wary, Sakumo takes Rin's arm gently to guide her into sitting down beside him and away from Kagami. A quick glance at Kakashi confirms that he's up and fighting again, looking no worse for wear, and Sakumo pushes down his worry for the time being. "Are you alright?" he whispers to Rin. Grabbing someone like that is a faux pas in the shinobi world unless its a spar. If it had been Sakumo, he might have tried to take Kagami's arm off by sheer reflex.
The slight reddening of the skin at her wrist is what makes anger bubble up in him, though.
"I'm okay!" Rin whispers back, flushing. "I won't break!"
'That's not the point,' Sakumo muses silently, but he lets the matter drop.
Rin leans past Sakumo to look at Kagami. "It's okay!" she says at a normal volume, injecting cheer into her voice in an effort to lighten the atmosphere. "But why did you stop me?"
Kagami scratches the back of his neck in a nervous gesture. "Ah... there's not anything we can do anyway. And Kakashi-chan was fine in the end, right?"
'He's hiding something,' Sakumo realises. A ghost of Kagami's age and his ability can't have failed to notice their ability to use jutsus, no matter how little. His mind is buzzing with unanswered questions but he forces himself to relax. "Over these years, Rin has trained to heal."
"Can you heal well even now?" Kagami questions with strangely intense interest.
"Um... Not as well as I could when I was, er, alive, but I can do stuff like relieving pain and healing small wounds. Cuts up to 2mm deep, usually. More if I try really hard."
"Hnn..." the Uchiha looks contemplative. He glances over, finally acknowledging Sakumo's unhappy stare with an almost imperceptible tilt of his head. "Rin-chan, do you see Hyaku over there?" He points at a splash of Uzumaki red on the far wall. "Can you do me a favour and let her know I cancelled our meeting later with Juurou?"
"Uh, sure." Rin glances between the two older men, probably sensing the tension between them. "Kagami-sama. You can just tell me if you need to speak to Sakumo-san privately, you know?" She smiles sweetly before disappearing in a shunshin.
Kagami rubs at his eyes, his shoulders drooping. "I forget she's not a kid." He gives Sakumo a wan smile. "Come on, let's speak outside."
A/N: Why did Kagami stop Rin? Tomorrow: Kagami and Sakumo have a Very Serious Talk that lasts two chapters, meaning double update! :)