"Late again."

Naruto was still catching his breath from running to the training field from home. He looked up to see Kakashi scowling at him, or at least it seemed like Kakashi was scowling. It was hard to tell when only his two eyes were visible.

"I'm not late! You said we were meeting at 9:15. It's only 9:14 now!" Naruto defended.

Kakashi ignored his comments and turned to Naruto's teammates. Kakashi started to say something about promptness being essential to a shinobi, but Naruto tuned him out. He had noticed that Sakura had a strange expression on her face, like she had exciting news, but didn't want to say it in front of their sensei. Their other teammate, Choji, appeared hungry, which was normal. They were only a genin team and Choji was considered to be a bad shinobi by a lot of the students, but Naruto knew that Choji was really strong. He just needed a reason to show it.

A sharp pain brought Naruto back to awareness. He grabbed the back of his head where Kakashi had slapped him. "Why'd you do that?!" Naruto yelled.

"When I speak, you need to listen. You cannot learn from me if you ignore me when I am teaching you." Naruto nodded, though he had no intention of changing his attitude. Kakashi was always like this! Sure, he was a great ninja, but he wasn't a good teacher. He always tried to lecture them on the "proper" way to be a shinobi, but all he really did was teach them more rules. It was really annoying. The only good thing that had come out of Kakashi's teaching style was that it had created great teamwork between Sakura, Choji, and himself. One week into their training, they had all reached a point of exhaustion listening to their sensei, so they had made a system that they would alternate who would listen to Kakashi on a certain day. They rotated out and would just meet together for ramen or another meal during the week and fill each other in on the gist of what Kakashi had said.

Naruto worked through the exercises Kakashi had prepared for them with ease. The physical tasks they were forced to do were easy, which frustrated him. If there was one thing he hated more than Kakashi's lectures, it was that he never pushed them in their actually training. It was always strategy and rules.

The training session that day lasted until midafternoon. The last two hours were spent in another lecture before Kakashi finally let them go for the day. Like they did every day, Team 3 made their way into town to find a place to eat. While Naruto loved Ichiraku's best, he had picked the restaurant yesterday so now it was Choji's turn. Naruto suspected they would end up at a buffet. After taking several turns around the streets of Konoha, they finally arrived at the only restaurant in town that had a buffet. For midafternoon the place was busy, it seemed like every shinobi and civilian had decided to come and eat.

"Should we find another place to eat?" Sakura asked when they had not been seated after five minutes.

A waiter must have overheard, because he made his way over to them. "The wait will be another twenty minutes, but we can find you a place to sit while you wait."

Naruto looked at Choji for an answer, since this was his choice. He shook his head no. As much as he loved a good buffet, Choji was just too hungry to wait to eat. Naruto turned to the waiter. "No thank you. We'll come back in another day."

The group turned back towards the door when the waiter seemed to realize something. "Wait!" Naruto looked back over at him. "I'm so sorry Naruto-sama. I didn't realize it was you. We can have a table ready for you in just a moment."

Naruto shook his head. "It's fine. We don't want to cause any trouble."

The waiter shook his head again. "I insist. Pleas just wait here, I'll be right back. I don't know what I was thinking, telling you to wait." The waiter hustled off before Naruto could insist again. Turning back to his teammates, he shrugged his shoulders. At lease they could eat.

If there was on aspect of his father's job as Hokage that Naruto hated, it was this. No one treated him like a normal shinobi. He hated this kind of special treatment, but it seemed to follow him everywhere. When the waiter returned to lead them to an open table, Naruto caught the eyes of a few people that had been waiting since before they showed up. They all waved at him and didn't seem to mind that his team was being seated before they had been able to eat. Naruto didn't get it. If that were him seeing someone else getting treated like he was above everyone else, he would be mad. He didn't deserve this anymore than anyone else, but it always seemed to follow him around. Beside him, Sakura and Choji seemed uncomfortable, but he could understand that. While they were good friends, they were still getting used to each other. And it must be hard being surrounded by someone who was always getting more attention than you.

Once they had all grabbed a plate and filled it with food, they settled into the table. Sakura was filling him and Choji in on what Kakashi had talked about today when Naruto remembered the excitement that Sakura seemed to have earlier in the day. Not caring that she was in the middle of a sentence, Naruto interrupted her. "What was up with you this morning?"

Sakura seemed surprised to be cut off midsentence, but she recovered quickly. "Huh?" She seemed lost in thought for a moment. "Oh! I can't believe I forgot to say it." She was grinning so wide her smile seemed to take up her entire face. "I didn't want to say anything in front of Kakashi-sensei, but guess who I heard is returning tomorrow?"

From the hints just given the answer was obvious. "Obito-sensei!" Choji and Naruto shouted simultaneously. "Where'd you hear that?" Naruto asked.

Sakura looked around to see if anyone was listening in. "I overheard Iruka-sensei saying that he was coming in to help at the academy in a few days, which means he will have to be back in Konoha in the next few days to fill out the missions paperwork."

Naruto couldn't help but feel excited at Obito's return. Obito was the opposite of Kakashi in every possible way. When Kakashi was boring, Obito would be fun. When Kakashi lectured on a subject, Obito would have them doing cool training exercises. Naruto could still remember the disappointment he had felt when he learned that Kakashi would be his sensei. At that time he didn't know much about Kakashi other than he had been one of his dad's pupils and that he was a great ninja. But he knew all about Obito. While they were still beginners in the academy, Obito would stop in to volunteer in different classes. He would help Iruka teach them different techniques, but he would make it fun. Everyone had wanted Obito to be their sensei when they graduated, but he ended up being no one's sensei. Apparently Obito was overloaded with missions because of his sharingan and he couldn't take on a genin team. He used his spare time to volunteer at the academy so that he could still be a part of the growing generations learning.

One of the best things about Obito was that even when they had al graduated from the academy, he still planned times to train with everyone. There was no doubt in Naruto's mind that as soon as Obito was back he would plan a time to meet with Team 3 and train with them. They would learn more in those few hours than they had learned with Kakashi in weeks.

oOoOo

Minato was pleased to have the days paperwork finished before supper time. Ever since he had been appointed Hokage, he had always tried to be finished with his work before it was late. There were times when things were out of his control, but most of the time he was able to make it. After the war ended, it had felt like the paperwork would never end, but it eventually had, and unlike his predecessor, he didn't allow himself to fall behind, so the stacks were never ridiculously tall. Minato placed the last paper in a bin before grabbing a folder and heading out the door. He had several of his special kunai at the house, but he liked walking whenever he could.

Walking through the front door of his house, Minato could smell the beef stew cooking in the kitchen. He smiled to himself. While Kushina could cook, most of her meals were just a tad bit off in flavor. Everything except ramen and beef stew. It was no wonder their son ate ramen most of the time. He probably didn't know that other food could taste good! Walking into the kitchen, Minato saw Kushina at work at the stove. She appeared to be mixing ingredients together, so he waited for her to finish. Kushina got ticked when he interrupted her cooking and made her lose track of what she had already done. Once she put the spices down, Minato approached her and wrapped his arms around her from behind.

Kushina leaned back into him. "I knew you were standing there."

Smiling, Minato kissed the back of her neck. "You are too good of a kunoichi to have not noticed me. How was your day, love?"

Kushina laughed, and he couldn't help but smile wider at the sound. "I've been at home all day cleaning up after my boys. I can't wait until my arm is healed and I am cleared to go back on missions." Kushina had been injured in a routine bodyguard mission. Nothing had really gone wrong, the injury was mostly the result of Kushina not paying attention. Though Minato would never force her too, he had a suspicion that Kushina didn't really want to return to missions. She just was tired of being bored all the time. She was an excellent kunoichi, but since Naruto was born, she would much rather spend her time keeping track of him than taking care of clients. Her maternal instincts kept her thinking about her family too much to be entirely focused on a mission.

"Do you mind making dinner for an extra tomorrow?" Minato asked.

Kushina turned around in his arms and looked up at him. "Is Obito finally coming back?" Minato nodded. "Thank heavens. That boy has been gone too long. I'm sure Naruto is going to be excited when he hears." That would be an understatement. Naruto loved Obito. He had never said anything about it, but Minato suspected Naruto had wanted Obito to be his sensei. To be honest, he had too. It was only the facts that he couldn't spare a sharingan user at the time that he hadn't assigned Team 3 to Obito. Instead, Minato had made sure to stick to the regular process of assigning sensei's, and it had been random luck that put Team 3 with Kakashi.

A crash sounded as the front door was slammed into the wall. Minato looked towards the hall, Kushina giggling in his arms. Naruto always made a grand opening when he came home. It was amazing that the boy was a good ninja, considered he couldn't enter his own home without shaking the walls.

oOoOo

The trees around him were finally familiar enough for Obito to slow down. He was in Konoha territory now. Sighing, he looked over at his companions. Minato had sent him out with an Anbu team this time, which had surprised him. Usually his missions involved observing and recording information, so being teamed with a team known as assassins had come as a shock. Still, they had completed their mission and he could finally return home. He would have to stop by the Hokage's office first and give a report, but after that he could go home and take a nice long bath. He liked to relax after long missions like this one.

When he left, he had only expected to be gone for a few days. That had quickly turned into a few weeks. He hadn't been home since shortly after the recent group of genin had graduated. Thinking of the genin reminded him that he needed to talk to Iruka about stopping in soon and also he needed to check up on the teams that had passed the tests. He had never pictured himself as a teacher-and he knew no one else had, since he was always considered irresponsible-but he had come to enjoy the time he spent working with the genin. It felt good to know you were helping kids in a way that would benefit them in life. It definitely felt better than going on missions that required an assassin team.

It took a little more than two hours for the shinobi to make it to the front gate of Konoha. Obito stopped and waited for the watch guards to wave them forward before proceeding to the Minato's office. He waved at several of the villagers as he passed them in the street. They waved back, apparently happy to see him. He only knew a handful of their names, but he recalled doing a favor for most of them in his teenage years. Speaking with the clerk at the front desk, Obito was told to wait while she checked to see if Minato was busy. Moments later she returned telling him to go on in.

Opening the door, Obito was struck by how relieved he was to be home. He didn't often feel homesick, but he had really missed being in Konoha this past mission. Minato was sitting behind the desk, looking every bit as in charge as he did the last time Obito saw him. "I have a mission report to turn in." Obito said when Minato looked up. Minato stood up without saying anything and made his way around his desk and over to the door.

"It's good to see you back and in one piece." Minato said before pulling Obito into a hug. After a second he released him and went back to the desk.

Obito settled down into one of the opposing seats. "This was an interesting mission." For the next few minutes, Obito filled Minato in on the events and findings of the mission he had assigned. The entire time he was talking, Minato took notes and would occasionally interrupt with a question. Once Obito had gone over all of the details, he paused to allow Minato to finish writing.

"Was there anything else strange that you saw? Any shinobi in a place they shouldn't be? Or perhaps something overheard that doesn't make sense?" Minato usually asked these questions at the end of a report. It wasn't because he thought someone might forget something, but because he wanted to make sure he was thorough.

Obito shook his head, "Nothing appeared to be out of the ordinary. I honestly can't imagine the village plotting anything right now. They seem to be too concerned about rebuilding all that was lost in the war." Konoha had escaped the war without much physical damage, but other countries hadn't been so lucky. It had been over a decade since the war ended, but there were still countries rebuilding their homes. The Third Shinobi War had caused more loss than the first and second wars combined. It was a tragedy, and Obito couldn't help feeling sorry for the other countries as well as his own.

Obito made to stand up when Minato spoke again. "Do you have any plans for dinner?" Obito had expected to be asked. His sensei liked to keep up with him and Kakashi, especially after Rin had been killed during the war. Not much time went by when their sensei didn't check up on them. It was true he had wanted to return home and rest, he couldn't turn down Minato's offer. Besides, that would allow him to drill Naruto on what Kakashi had taught him recently.

Dinner that night was a loud ordeal, and Obito loved every second of it. Between himself, Kushina, and Naruto there wasn't a moment when someone wasn't speaking. And most often there were two people speaking at once. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Minato smiling and shaking his head. His sensei was quieter than the rest of them, which meant he never really got a word in during these dinners. After Obito had eaten his share of food, he excused himself from the table and asked Naruto to join him on the porch. The boy happily followed him.

One outside, Obito sat down and leaned back against the house. Naruto sat beside him, for once quiet as he waited for Obito to say why he had brought him out. Obito looked at the boy's expectant face and couldn't help the flashback he had to his own genin days. He would never play favorites, but he loved Naruto like a little brother. He felt a bond with the boy that came from having the same personality type, though Naruto was taken a bit more seriously than Obito ever was. "So, what has Kakashi-sensei taught you lately?"

It seemed like a simple enough question, but Obito quickly learned it was not. "Nothing, that's what I've learned. He gets mad at us for being late when we aren't, and all he ever does is talk about rules, rules, rules. He never lets us do any real work!" Naruto's words all came tumbling out at once, making it difficult for Obito to catch all of them. Still, he seemed to get the gist of it.

"He still hasn't taught you anything physical?" Obito had known that Kakashi was mostly teaching his team about the rules a shinobi should follow, but he had thought he would be done with that by now. How long could someone talk about regulations anyway? "I'll have to talk with him about that. In the meantime, why don't you and your teammates meet me at training field four in two days? I have to get a lot of work done around town tomorrow, but the day after we can spend as much time training as you want."

"Yes!" Naruto jumped up as he pumped his fist. "I can't wait! I have to tell Sakura-chan and Choji!" Naruto looked ready to take off that instant.

Laughing, Obito tried to calm him down. "How about you wait until tomorrow? It's getting late and I don't think their parents will appreciate you banging on their doors and barging into their houses at this time of night." Obito grabbed Naruto by the shoulders and guided him into the house. Naruto was still chattering excitedly when Obito pushed him back into the kitchen to help clean up the dishes.

He really was going to have to talk with Kakashi, even if the man refused to talk to him like always.

oOoOo

It didn't take a genius to decipher the reason behind his student's giddiness. He had heard from Minato that Obito had returned, and he had been careful of where he had gone since. He didn't want to run into him anytime soon. It was clear from the way Minato was speaking that he hoped his old students would patch things up, but that wasn't going to happen. If there was one thing Kakashi hated above all else, it was people who didn't take being a shinobi seriously, and Obito clearly fit into that category.

Turning his thoughts away from his former teammate, Kakashi focused on educating his students on the correct order in which a request should be sent for backup. Other sensei's might gloss over things like this, but Kakashi believed it was rules like this one that separated the bad shinobi from the great. And he always trained to be one of the greats. His lesson went longer than he had planned, but he couldn't leave anything out. His team seemed relieved when he dismissed them, something that he noticed on a regular basis. Hopefully his students understood the importance of what he was teaching them soon. If not than he wouldn't be able to recommend them for Chunin when the time comes.

The moment had had been avoiding-he couldn't say dreading, because he definitely didn't dread his former teammate-came later that afternoon. He had just arrived back at his apartment when a knock sounded on the door. Opening it, he was surprised to see Obito standing there. Most shinobi didn't bother with the door, so it was strange that Obito would. It showed how far they had fallen apart. Not wanting to talk, but also knowing there was no way to permanently avoid Obito, Kakashi let him in.

Obito was quiet as he walked in to the small apartment. He glanced around at the walls before finally looking at Kakashi. "Hi."

It was such as simple thing to say, yet it was more than had been said between them in the past four years. Awkwardly standing by the door, Kakashi shut it and followed Obito into the living room. Once both were seated, Kakashi tried to find something to say. When the silence stretched on, he could no longer take it. "Why are you here?" Kakashi honestly hadn't meant for the question to sound so rude, but he wasn't going to let Obito know that. Let him think whatever he wants.

Obito didn't answer immediately, seemingly choosing his words with care. "I visited with Minato and his family last night." Kakashi had guessed as much from what Minato had said to him. Nodding, Kakashi motioned for Obito to continue. They both knew that wasn't why Obito was here. Swallowing, Obito continued. "I spoke with Naruto briefly and he said that you haven't been teaching them anything but the Shinobi Rules."

It wasn't said like an accusation, but Kakashi knew it was. "My job is to teach them how to be a shinobi, and following the rules is how that is done."

Obito opened his mouth, probably in an attempt to refute Kakashi's statement, but he closed it without speaking. Moments later he spoke. "Yes the rules are important, but so is physical training. You're supposed to be teaching them new jutsu's. They can't grow unless they learn new techniques." When Kakashi started to defend himself, Obito continues. "I know you don't want them to try anything dangerous, but…"

"Leave." Kakashi was standing over Obito now, having moved when Obito started talking about techniques. When Obito didn't move, Kakashi stepped closer. "None of the genin on my team have shown an interest in learned from me, and until they do I'm not going to waste my time teaching them techniques they can't use in the without proper knowledge to back it up. Now leave."

This time Obito listened, quietly shuffling out the door.

oOoOo

Obito wanted to hit something, preferably Kakashi. Why did he have to be so stubborn in his teaching methods? All Obito was trying to do was make sure those kids got the best training they could, and Kakashi refused to listen to any form of reason. He had barely said anything and Kakashi kicked him out! Opening the door to his own apartment in the Uchiha compound, Obito couldn't help but let it slam shut behind him. Kakashi was too obsessed with the rules, even more then when they were genin and chunin. How hard was it for Kakashi to understand that there were times when the rules had to be broken, and many great shinobi broke the rules? Seriously, they were more like guidelines anyway!

Taking off his forehead protector, Obito made his way into the kitchen. He didn't care to admit it, but he could cook pretty well. He definitely cooked better than Kushina, but Minato would kill him if he ever said that. Mixing a few ingredients together, Obito sat down and waited for the food to finish. Thinking back to his earlier conversation with Kakashi, he realized Minato had no idea that Kakashi was being a poor teacher. He couldn't know, because there was no way he would let his son be treated like that. Obito concluded that Kakashi left him no choice. He had to make sure Team 3 got the best training they could, and if that happened by him butting in telling Minato that Kakashi wasn't fit to be a sensei, then he would do it. He would make sure those kids got the best training possible. Someone needed to teach Naruto all those skills a Hokage needed to know.

A/N: I feel like I should rise from the ground saying "I'm alive!" like Mushu. I'm sorry that it took me so long to update. I can't believe how quickly time got away from me. My first semester of college was hectic, but I am halfway done with my second semester, thank goodness! By the way, my intent regarding Kushina is not making it seem like every mother should stay home, but that she was fighting her desire to do good and also her maternal instinct to protect her son.

So here's an ironic story. After I finished writing this chapter, I logged on to double check that I picked up where I left off. When I did that I saw my author's note from my last update saying that it was right after I was rear ended in a car accident. I thought to myself, that was all the way back in August. I left to visit my grandparents and was planning to update when I returned home. I was driving home when I was T-boned by not one, but two cars, since the first car made my car spin into the next lane. I am fine, but it's still crazy.

But anyway, thank you to everyone who has stuck through this story with me. I can't believe I am still getting reviews so long after I last updated! This chapter is for you guys! I hope it is up to par, since outside of English papers, this is the first I've written in months. I had a great authors note planned out too! But I forgot, sorry.