The cawing of birds made Obito look up, as the feathered creatures took wing and headed for the canopy high above them, no doubt aiming to break through to the clear sky beyond. He was following behind Kakashi, as they navigated their way through the forest, making quiet progress on their journey towards the border. He lowered his eyes to the silver haired boy before him when he heard a muffled grunt that signalled a sudden awareness, almost crashing into the other boy before managing to get a hold of himself and bringing himself to a halt behind his captain. His eyes darted around the area, seeking out the potential threat that Kakashi had clearly sensed.
Kakashi gestured for the team to take cover, which they all did, behind a nearby downed tree. Obito glanced over at their blonde sensei, discreetly watching the elder as he pressed the tip of his index finger to the ground. Obito had always found so many of Minato's skills fascinating, his ability to sense enemies being one of the more interesting to him. He remembered learning as a younger student in the Academy about how Tobirama Senju had had the very same ability himself, which for some unknown reason, had always amused him.
"Everyone, be careful. There's about twenty enemies." Minato said, snapping Obito out of his internal thoughts and returning the teen to reality. He glanced around the area, before looking back to their blonde leader. "It's probably just a bunch of shadow clones." Minato added, not noticing his students lapse in attention.
"Looks like it." Kakashi countered, surveying the area with careful scrutiny. "Sensei, I'll go first. Please cover me." The silver haired boy continued, causing both his sensei and team mates to look at him with sceptical expressions on their faces.
"Don't be too hasty, Kakashi." Minato warned, watching his young pupil carefully. "You should just be the backup." He added, looking back out at the seemingly harmless area before them. Kakashi ignored the elders words of wisdom, already making hand seals.
"Sensei, I'm the captain today, right?" He asked, not taking his eyes from his hands, lest he should make some mistake and have to restart. "Besides, now's an excellent time to try out my new jutsu I've been developing." He added, sounding incredibly smug as one hand became engulfed in a crackling blue charge of electrical energy. "Chidori!" Kakashi cried, his charged hand almost bursting with a fresh batch of power. Obito's jaw dropped slightly at the sight of such a powerful technique.
When did he find time to work onthat? He wondered, briefly thinking over the amount of time the silver haired boy had spent having secret 'training' sessions with him over the summer. Whatisthat jutsu? He thought, watching as Kakashi prepared himself to set off.
"Let's go!" He said, gathering his feet beneath him in order to set off - only to find his way blocked by the arm of their blonde sensei. Obito gulped as his eyes travelled from the out-stretched hand, along the man's arm and all the way to his fiercely intent blue eyes, which were locked on Kakashi. He felt a slight stab of jealousy in his gut, but he hurriedly pushed it away and buried it as deep as he could, somewhere he hoped it would never escape from again. "It doesn't matter how many enemies there are, this'll end it in a flash. It's the same as your nickname. Besides... it's like you said, Sensei. The leader of this mission is me." Kakashi said, glaring up at the elder man as he impatiently waited to launch himself into battle. Obito felt his irritation rising as the silver haired Jounin stubbornly tried to get his own way.
"It's a rule that a team must follow its leader's orders. Right, Sensei?" Minato watched his student for a moment loner, before he withdrew his hand and let the younger boy do as he desired. Kakashi exploded out of their hiding place, causing each of his remaining team mates to shield their faces from flying debris from the now partially destroyed tree before them. Kakashi's speed almost made him impossible to follow, though Obito just managed to keep him within eyesight as he progressed towards the enemy. He darted forward, ignoring the many kunai and shuriken that rained down around him as he drove forward at what Obito had previously thought to be impossible speeds.
Obito looked over to their blonde leader, as the elder launched a barrage of kunai and shuriken of his own, effectively countering and deflecting the assailants attack on his silver haired student. Obito swallowed the hard lump building in his throat from seeing the blonde so focused and observant, though he soon looked away when he noticed Minato's gaze begin to shift towards himself.
He watched in awe, as Kakashi launched himself up the face of a tree, his speed not dropping in the least as he continued to barrel his way through to the enemies location. He noticed more weapons being launched from his sensei, though this time he watched the elder more discreetly, looking over at him from the corner of his eye instead of turning to actually stare at him. He turned his eyes back on his team mate as he heard Kakashi cursing, something that always amused him because the silver haired boy didn't tend to do it often.
Too good for cursing like the rest of us, Mr follow-the-rules... Obito cut his thoughts off, not liking the path they were following. He and Rin shared a look, before cautiously making their out from their protected hide-out, making their way into the forest while Kakashi launched himself off in a new direction. He looked around the area carefully, trying to concentrate on safely navigating his way forward with Rin so that they could both find the real enemy and keep out of Kakashi's path of destruction.
He gasped when a cloud of smoke erupted before him, stopping him in his tracks as he stared wide-eyed at the previously hidden enemy. He was frozen to the spot, unable to move, as fear worked its way through his limbs. A kunai suddenly struck the enemy that as creeping forward from the cloud of smoke, destroying the clone and making it disappear. Minato turned to face him, his piercing blue eyes hard as they locked with his own.
"Don't let your guard down!" The blonde man scolded, sounding both disappointed and yet also concerned. Obito stared at his sensei for a moment, trying to clear his mind of the thoughts that were trying to cloud it. He nodded his head and tried to snap himself out of his reverie.
"Right!" He replied, sounding more upset than he did confident that he was over his momentary lapse. He looked off towards Kakashi's last location, taking a deep breathe as he watched clone after clone disappear in a puff of smoke all across the area. He felt eyes upon him, but didn't dare to turn and see if it was Rin or Minato watching him, not sure if he could contain his emotions in either case.
Why do I feel so warm..? Why don't I feel this when I'm around -He felt a sudden jolt of fear, as he watched Kakashi race towards another enemy, his Chidori chirping madly as he approached the figure. However, the Jounin had failed to notice the katana that his enemy had kept hidden until he was within reach, even as said enemy moved the blade closer to his gut. His lips parted, his silver haired team mates name ready to burst free in a cry of warning - but his cry was halted by the sudden appearance of a flash of yellow intervening.
Obito watched, fascinated as Minato caught Kakashi around the middle and drew him out of the path of the enemies blade. His hand rested on the toe of their enemies shoe, as he flipped himself over and dodged the weapon's arc himself. Minato landed on his feet and immediately darted away from the enemy nin, bringing their team mate to them. Obito watched the enemy retreat slightly, disappearing once more into the hidden depths of the forest.
"Kakashi!" Rin's cry of worry drew his attention back to his team. He looked first to Minato, though he quickly turned his eyes down to his silver haired captain, who was sitting in an oddly awkward looking position at the blondes feet. His mouth ran dry as he noticed the slightly older boy had received a wound, apparently having been lightly caught by the enemies blade after all.
Obito looked up slowly, as Minato stood with confident grace. His eyes were closed, as he brought the strap of his backpack to rest on one shoulder. Obito felt his pulse quicken as the blondes blue eyes opened, immediately connecting with his own, before looking over his shoulder at something. The elder released the strap from his grasp and by the time the backpack hit the ground, he was gone.
Obito's eyes widened, not because he hadn't seen their sensei's abilities in action before - but because when his eyes had connected with Minato's, he had felt so much like he had that night he had been drunk and made a pass at the elder man. The warmth that flooded his system, the way his heart rate not only sped up - but also seemed to flutter like birds wings. He couldn't understand what it was that the man made him feel, nor why it was that he never felt such things when he was being 'intimate' with Kakashi. Obito turned his gaze to the ground, trying to push aside his inner war with himself so that he could concentrate on his mission once more.
"Kakashi's injury is pretty bad." The angry tone of their sensei, caused all three students to look up at the blonde. Obito glanced over at his team mates, seeing Rin eagerly tending to said wound with her healing jutsu's. He felt an odd touch of insecurity while watching the two, so he turned back to their blonde sensei instead, though that hardly helped him to feel any better. "For now, we should retreat and set camp." Minato continued, looking over his students with both concern and stern disappointment.
"I'm fine!" Kakashi cut in, turning to look at their blonde leader with a haughty glare of defiance. Obito felt a rush of rage at the silver haired boys words, his hands unconsciously balling into fists as he looked over at him.
"What do you mean 'fine'?" He snapped, his eyebrows furrowing as he glared at the higher ranked ninja. "You selfishly went against Sensei's orders, and did something crazy!" He added, though he had to fight to keep a blush from his face as he did. Kakashi narrowed his eyes dangerously, watching him closely as Rin continued to heal him.
"I don't have anything to say to an elite Uchiha crybaby who pissed his pants." The silver haired boy replied scathingly, barely covering his hurt pride with his insult. Obito felt his pulse quicken as his ears began to ring faintly, his anger rising as his smug, rule following team mate just sat there and glared at him.
"Well... I got something in my eyes, so tears started coming out!" He spat, feeling both humiliated and hurt by the other boy.
"Do you know the twenty fifth Shinobi Rule?" Kakashi asked, his lips curling into a sadistic smirk beneath his mask. Obito's fists began to shake, as he fought to hold back searing hot tears of deep anguish. "It states, 'A shinobi must never show his tears.' Obito grimaced, grinding his teeth together in irritation.
"Hey, you two should stop this." Rin cut in, her worried face turning to each boy in turn. She noticed their glares and quickly hid her face from them, deciding that perhaps it was better to keep herself out of her team mates usual arguments.
"Take it easy now, you two." Minato spoke up, his usually cheerful eyes hard as he observed his students. All three looked over at their leader, surprised by his unusually serious tone. "Kakashi, it's true that rules and regulations are there to be followed, but that's not all there is to it. I've told you before. There are also times where you have to cope with the situation." Kakashi looked away, his smirk gone as he contemplated his sensei's words to him.
"You see?" Obito cried, pointing at Kakashi with a grin of his own. He felt as if his heart was swelling, about to burst forth from his chest.
He agreed with me! And Kakashi getting his ass handed to him is always fun to watch... He thought smugly, though his brief happiness was soon cut short.
"Obito, you too!" Minato said sternly. Obito dropped his hand, looking over to the blonde man with wide eyes, as his heart sank faster than a lead balloon. "You're wearing goggles, so there's no way something may've gotten into your eyes. If you don't control your mouth, then your mind will become just as weak." Obito blinked in surprise, realising that he had in fact, behaved just as badly as his silver haired team mate.
"And one more thing..." Minato continued, drawing the attention of all three once more. "Kakashi, you shouldn't use that jutsu again." Obito glanced at Kakashi, knowing that this comment would most likely upset the other boy somewhat. Kakashi was glaring at Minato defiantly, though he was clearly biting his tongue to keep from replying with some snide comment. "It's true that you have the destructive force and speed needed for it, but when you're moving too fast, it's near impossible for you to see the enemy counter your attack. Therefore, it's an incomplete jutsu." Obito watched as Kakashi's glare softened, turning into a more thoughtful and contemplative expression instead.
"Before we leave, I'll say this once again." Minato said sternly, looking into the faces of each of his students. Obito kept his eyes on the ground, until he realised Minato had not yet continued. He slowly raised his obsidian eyes, to meet the piercing blue orbs of his sensei. They remained locked in a heated gaze for a moment, before Minato finally looked away. "The most important thing for shinobi is teamwork." He concluded, watching as all three of his students hung their heads in shame. Obito felt his hands ball into fists once more, his heart tearing at the disappointment he had not only heard, but also seen radiating from their leader. He hated how weak he had appeared, how far behind Kakashi's level he seemed to be, despite his best efforts.
Why is it that I just cant seem to catch up to him? He wondered, looking over at his team mate as the silver haired boy thanked Rin for her aid and got to his feet. All I'm good for is making wise cracks and fake stories as to why I'm always late... He thought gloomily. It's no wonder that - He cut his thought's off, desperately tryingnot to think of how Minato must really think of him. He felt tears begin to prick at his eyes, threatening to fall at any moment.
"I, uh... I need to go relieve myself before we leave..." He said hurriedly, immediately turning around so that he could hide his face. He didn't wait for a reply, before dashing into a nearby group of trees. He made his way through some ferns and ducked behind a particularly large tree, resting his back against the trunk as he released a shaky breath that he had been holding without realising. He lifted his goggles and wiped away the dampness of his falling tears, feeling like a fool for even ever considering the idea of his sensei being interested in him. He leant his head back and closed his eyes, thinking to himself of how he had gotten himself into such a ridiculous situation in the first place. He felt his treacherous tears continue to slowly stream down his cheeks, leaving wet trails behind as they slipped over his skin and began to drip from his chin.
"Obito..?" His eyes shot open, a muffled gasp escaping his lips before a hand was quickly pressed over them. A warm body rested against his own in an instant, both comforting and heart breaking to him, as it managed to halt his bodies defensive reaction's. His kunai was lodged into the tree behind him, his wrist being gently held as it was bent backwards. His eyes franticly searched those that were before him, trying to seek out some sort of explanation from within them.
"Easy... I only came to check on you. It's possible there's still some unfriendly shinobi lurking in this part of the forest..." Obito raised a brow, not believing the rather lame excuse. The other male chuckled, shaking his head slightly at his own lie. "OK, so admittedly, I'm not as quick at thinking things up as you are..." Obito felt a swell of pride surge through his chest, though he soon began to blush with embarrassment.
A frown creased Minato's face, as he noticed the streaks of dampness over his student's cheeks. He released Obito's hand and raised it to his cheek, gently wiping away the lingering tears. Obito stared, confused and entranced by the man before him. The blue eyes that he so often felt lost in, the soft kindness in them - he couldn't understand why the man was even here. He slowly raised his hand, as Minato continued to gently wipe at his now dry cheek, apparently lost in some thought bubble.
Obito gently covered the hand Minato still had over his mouth with his own, causing those sky blue hues to snap up to meet his own obsidian orbs. He gently removed Minato's hand, moving slowly in some feeble attempt to not let the man notice what he was doing. He looked down at the hand he held, unconsciously tilting his face into the blondes touch. Minato's brow crinkled, as Obito leaned forward slightly, moving slow enough that the elder could easily stop him.
Obito continued to lean closer, knowing that if he stopped, the momentary haze would be over. His eyes rested on the lips of his team leader, as he closed the distance between them. He briefly flicked his gaze up to meet the half confused, half lust hazed eyes of his blonde sensei, before he finally pressed his lips to the man's - just lightly brushing their lips together. He allowed his eyes to slip closed, his eyelashes fluttering against his cheeks as he parted his lips slightly and moved them against the other man's.
Obito felt as if his heart might explode, he could even feel that Minato's was beating just as fast. He pulled back slightly, briefly opening his eyes to glance up at the other man's eyes. He saw Minato gulp, his eyes closed and his brow furrowed slightly, as if confused by something. Obito leaned forward once more, not wanting to waste what may turn out to be his only opportunity. He pressed his lips slightly firmer to the blondes, capturing the man's bottom lip between his own as he kissed him with a little more force than he had before. He heard Minato's sharp intake of breath, before all warmth suddenly disappeared. He opened his eyes, to find himself alone in the trees, with no sign that his sensei was ever there. The snapping of a branch alerted him to another's presence and he spun around, his kunai drawn as he prepared for possible attack.
"Whoa! Easy! It's just me..! Looks like you're not as much of a lost cause as I tend to make out..." Kakashi's lazy drawl said, a smug grin obvious beneath his mask. Obito sighed and dropped his hand, stowing his kunai back into his pack.
"What do you want?" He asked rudely, though he couldn't help it - he felt as if he had just been cheated out of the world's best kiss and he couldn't help but blame Kakashi for it. The silver haired boy raised a brow, clearly surprised by his tone of voice.
"Sensei came to look for you, but I got bored of waiting... plus I thought that if I found you first we could sneak a-"
"We should get back." Obito cut in, sliding his goggles into place before striding past his silver haired team mate. Kakashi had been smirking at him from beneath his mask, but when the teen grabbed Obito's arm and spun him around his smirk was long gone.
"What's with you?" Kakashi asked, frowning at Obito's cold attitude. Obito pushed the Jounin's hand off him and turned away again, trying desperately to control his heart rate while also trying to not sound as flustered as he felt.
"Nothing." He mumbled, hoping he sounded convincing. "I just don't think now is a good time... It's not like Sensei is really unable to find me, he probably knows where I am and was just giving me some privacy. Look, we'll sneak some alone time later... I promise. I'll make it up to you..." He added, flashing his team mate a false smile, before quickly averting his eyes. Kakashi returned the gesture, walking up to Obito to give him a quick kiss while no one could see them. Obito allowed the other boy to kiss him, even smiling as he pulled away. But his heart was sinking in his chest as Kakashi turned his back on him and began to lead him back to their team. Kakashi's kiss could never make him feel like Minato's, no matter how much they used to make him feel like the world had stopped moving. Now he was hooked on the blondes taste, his kiss, his everything. It was impossible to go back after that. Obito sighed as he followed Kakashi back to their team, feeling once more as if his world had been turned upside down by one little kiss - which of course, was exactly what had happened.
A/N:~ Chapter two for you all, though I haven no idea if anyone is even interested in this - but still, I have this sitting doing nothing, and I might as well let you have it :)
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