A/N: Well, this came faster than expected, for some reason, I found more time to procrastinate and edit this chapter :)

Also, who do you think should be added as the fourth main character of this story: Shisui or Anko? Both of them have pretty good reasons... And rest assured, Team Minato still takes the spotlight :)

Chapter 2.

"YEAH! TOP GRADES, WE'RE SO KICKASS!" Obito yelled in excitement, elation surged through him. Their story had been graded top of the class, first place… Obito had never been first before, whilst Kakashi always had. Usually, the genius was indifferent towards his overachievements, however this time Obito could have sworn to see that cocky jerk flashed a smirk.

Teamwork, such a gratifying sensation to experience—all of them concurred on this.

Rin had never seen both of them so… congruous with each other before, she was glad they had started to click. Well, by that, Rin meant stopped being awkward and hostile around each other—for some reason, their little arguments never managed to cease completely.

That night, the second day before everybody would leave for Christmas Holiday, Obito had proposed that the three of them should grab some snacks and celebrate on the rooftop of their dormitories.

"I can't believe it's almost the end of first term, what are you guys doing over the holiday?" Obito asked.

"I'm visiting my cousins and doing some volunteer work at an orphanage," said Rin. Obito looked a little downcast.

"Aww I was wondering whether we could hang out together but never mind… How about you Bakashi?"

"I'm… well…" he didn't want to tell them, he cringed inside. He had no family to return to, his parents were dead, and he had lived off alone with some of their remaining money, the social welfare system took care of his fundamental living conditions, the external. Internally, he was shrouded with loneliness whenever he entered the house, it was unbearable and he had attempted to fend off these negative emotions by feigning his indifference towards other people. Nevertheless, these things, sentiments, can be suppressed but can never be dissolved entirely.

"You're gonna be a nerd and study the whole time!" Obito laughed out.

"Don't call me that! And no, as much as it may surprise you, I DON'T spend my time studying 24/7."

"Oh god," Obito tried to deadpan, addressing Rin, he whispered loudly in a dry, sarcastic tone, his intentions at annoying Kakashi were blatantly obvious. "The world's going to end."

"You guys are impossible!" Rin couldn't help it, she burst out cackling.

Minato's voice reverberated in his mind: isolating yourself from people who are reaching out to you isn't good.

Obito had a harsh time with his family…

"Um hey, can I tell you guys something?" he wasn't sure whether it was the right thing to do, but he had buried the burden of the pain inside him for too long.

"Ehh sure…"

"I don't really have a family to return to, I mean I have an apartment and everything but… my parents are dead, both cases are suicides."

"Kakashi…" it was Rin who spoke first, "how? How did this happen?"

"It's a really sensitive topic for me, I don't really want to talk about it."

"Hey Bakashi," Obito followed, "you really shouldn't be so reclusive, I mean if you kept your emotions bottled up, you'll go crazy. Heck, mark my words, I've seen some of my family members act like that…"

"Obito, I'm not sure whether you'd be offended but do you come from a sort of… dysfunctional?... family?" he wanted to avert the topic, really, telling them about the suicides of his parents were enough, he felt the crashing weight of isolation and knowledge a little more bearable. Now, he wanted to know more about Obito, why he… had managed to maintain a cheerful attitude, all right, maybe cheerful and annoying, but still.

Obito's reaction was rather unprecedented, "It's… also a sensitive topic…" his mood darkened a little. "They're not exactly the nurturing type, frankly, most of them are hypocritical elitists with a stick up their asses. I don't fit in, honestly I had serious doubts that I was adopted, you know being the way I am."

As if dreading that this would blacken the mood, he made an effort at laughing at himself. "Bah! I don't care that much, I'd rather be an idiotic retard than one of them! Besides, you guys wouldn't get to experience my awesomeness would you?"

It was there, a spark, an insignificant grain of animosity and dissatisfaction on the world as the way it is, this would later become embittered, bloom and flower into an intense hatred that drove him into committing the atrocious deeds he did. However, the Obito back then quenched these dangerous flames with optimism, good-humor and hope, back then…

"Hey guys…" Rin looked a little unsettled, pointing all the way onto the sports pitch, "is that Maito Gai doing his regular 5000 pushups?"

Obito cackled indefinitely while Kakashi frowned on how hopeless Gai's obsessions were.

...

He grimaced in the bittersweet reverie of the past. They say that time flashes by in a blur when one is recounting the events that they cherish the most, being submerged in those memories had its cons—the culmination of felicity is always superseded by disappointment in reality.

"He was kind of stupid, klutzy but in a way that is bound to cause laughter, his happiness at that time is contagious. He really did believe he could change the world for the better…" Kakashi's voice trailed off, his eyes felt misty. When was the last time it felt like this? 4, 5 years ago?

Shisui had been baffled by the silver haired inspector's tale, he was raised in the same family as Obito had been but, by contrast, he had always been a prodigy. The boy was clumsy, cheerful and easygoing, he was different from the rest of them and the Uchihas—Shisui lamented—would never tolerate that. He could only guess how hard is must be for Obito to live in the same household as his strict, illiberal family. At times he got frustrated, surely, surely, talent isn't the only thing that defines a persons worth—effort mattered more than that.

Obito Uchiha… such a curious case.

Of course, nowadays, things had been a little better; his family wasn't as harsh on its youngsters as it had been before. He smiled as he recalled Aunt Mikoto and the way she had always encouraged her youngest son that he was worthy regardless of his achievements, which were pretty exceptional anyways. His feats were often overlooked in comparison to his brother, Itachi's—who had previously gone undercover for the police force multiple times and is already studying in one of the top universities despite being at the mere age of 16.

"Then there was the holiday, I must admit I was rather surprised to find him knocking my door, wearing a Santa hat topped with his goggles, with some freshly baked cookies, you should have seen him back then! It was the first time I allowed anyone into my house, of course, the me at that time was slightly irritated, acted slightly irritated in the exterior, yet inside, I was secretly glad about it. He didn't stay much long as I kicked him out of the house and told him I had important things to do!" he started laughing again, a hollow, empty laugh that could fool most people, Shisui knew better, it was devoid of actual happiness, filled with poignancy.

He sighed at allowed himself to be immersed in Kakashi's words once again.

...

Obito's jaws dropped in horror as he made his way to the gym with his new best pal, THE Kakashi Hatake. He hadn't expected to be selected for the Junior Varisity Basketball team, though he had no doubts about Kakashi, that guy was good at everything, he was the perfect, model student that Obito had always wanted to be. Despite these minor moments of envy, Obito had never held a single grudge against Kakashi in their High School days; he was content about being the young prodigy's closest confidant. Though coming to think of it, the teenage Uchiha had little hope of making into the original team. Yeah, cool story bro, I guess I'll be a bench warmer, he chortled as he made fun of himself. You ask why was he so mortified, well, their team captain this year was none other than Maito Gai.

"I can feel the power of youth coursing through my veins! My comrades, this year, we will win the Junior Varsity Cup, have faith!" that martial arts aficionado bellowed passionately on top of his voice. " This will be the most youthful team Konoha High has ever had!"

His 'welcoming speech' stunned the rest of the team.

"LET US INTRODUCE OURSELVES, FRIENDSHIP IS CRUCIAL IN THE SPRINGTIME OF YOUTH!"

Kakashi felt his eardrums shatter.

"Oh for gods sake," Kakashi heard someone mutter," does every sentence he say have to include the word youth?"

Genma, Hayate, Asuma, Aoba—these were the names that Kakashi remember the most, probably because he kept in contact with all of them after graduation, he even went to the same university as Asuma and Gai, but that was afterwards.

"Right everybody! I've printed out the training schedule here! Listen, in our springtime of youth, it is crucial that we retain our fitness, as a result, morning runs starting from 5am are mandantory, as are the night time gym workout sessions! Remember 5000 pushups, 3000 situps …"

"Geez," Obito remarked sarcastically, "this guy is insane."

Similarly, the rest of the team lamented on the loss of their captain's sanity.

...

Shisui facepalmed "Whoah Kakashi, you really caught me off-guard this time people like that exist?"

"Yeah, Gai's a good friend of mine despite his… fervent passion when regarding sports and … anything to do with fitness really…"

"Wait isn't he now a Kungfu movie star, I've heard people talk about him?"

"Yep, he invited my to his new movie premier next week."

Shisui gave in a curt nod, ushering him to continue his retellings.

...

The team consisted of 10 players, 5 people would be on court, whilst the other 5 were substitutes.

And, not-so-surprisingly, Kakashi was the star of the team, along with Gai, their coach adored them. After every single game, a shower of compliments would overwhelm them. Suffice to say, Kakashi had really started to enjoy the company of others, especially working together with them and devising strategies to win the game. It was Obito's idea, he would never even consider trying out if it weren't for his friend's insistence. Kakashi couldn't have been more grateful for that clumsy, amiable boy's support.

Obito didn't mind that much that Kakashi got the spotlight, he, similar to his friend, enjoyed the feeling of being part of a team, even though some of his lateness habits would occasionally horrify Gai.

Rin would often drop by to observe the games, on every single occasion she was greeted with alacrity by her lovable, klutzy best friend. Much like Kakashi and Obito, she had really began to relish her time in High School—she was never the most popular, or the smartest yet in Obito's eyes, there is no other girl like her. As for Kakashi, he indeed stopped perceiving the girl as one of his irritating fans; they've also become good friends.

"Hey both of you, I got some Gatorade and biscuits, take a break from all that scuffling!" She habitually joked.

Whenever Obito felt a little downcast by being overshadowed by Kakashi, she would cheer him up by telling him what an amazing player he was and that Kakashi was just abnormally faultless.

"Haha! Kind of like on of those pre-programmed robots, perfect, yes… but dull as hell!"

On occasions like this, he would gulp as he saw his friends slightly vexed reaction.

Nonetheless, Rin wouldn't tell anyone, she is constantly worried about Obito, he seemed too eager to improve himself, too earnest for acknowledgment that he was unwilling to excuse himself from any opportunity for proving his worth. Especially when it was blatantly obvious that he was hurt.

Spring was still a long way away, the ground was coated with a thick, silver blanket of snow, the trees looked as though they donned elegant whites attire on their originally barren bodies. Northern winds whisked their way onto the sports pitch.

Obito had exhausted himself from training with Gai and Kakashi, who were still obstinately competing on who could get the most hoops.

After a meeting of the Konoha High Environmental Commission, Rin had decided to drop by. She loved animals, the environment and in general, was a careful and considerate person.

"Obito! You'll catch a cold like this," she rolled her eyes when she saw Gai and Kakashi, those two were starting to get ridiculously competitive, "come on put this scarf on." Rin took off her scarf and wrapped it around Obito.

"Rin-chan, I'm fine!"

"No your not," she mildly scolded, he's just so cute, in a different way from Kakashi, she thought to herself. "And honestly, don't even think of joining Kakashi and Gai on their absurd competition."

At her own mention of Kakashi's name, Rin involuntarily blushed. She thought no one perceived that, but her friend caught her expressions just in time.

"Aw come one Rin! Fine then lets head towards the cafeteria…" He skulked.

...

"Well , I think we can take a break from this, feel free to grab some food," Shisui remarked.

"No thanks, I ate already before coming here."

The truth is Kakashi didn't feel like eating anymore, somehow, his feelings of nostalgia had numbed his appetite. For the past few months, he had been pondering on the whereabouts of two his of closest High School friends, reflecting bitterly, he thought to himself, Obito, Rin how are you guys doing out there?

A/N: Thanks so much for reading this chapter and don't forget to leave behind a review: why you like it? what could be improved (i would love to hear some constructive criticism)? who would you like to see more? who should be my fourth main character (isn)? Also, any writing tips?

Seriously though, reviews motivate me to write more and update faster :)

Until next time!