AN.

I KNOW I KNOW THIS IS SUCH A SHORT, HALF-ASSED TRANSITION CHAPTER TO THE ACTION BUT HERE ME OUT

Okay, so I know that this fanfic is a mess, plotwise and writing-wise. I'm currently rewriting everything and converting it to 3rd Person POV. Don't worry, veteran writers, all the important scenes are going to still be here, probably going to add more scenes to smoothen transitions etc.

Basically editing I should have done in the first place.

Anyway that's all

WARNING: Underage drinking and rushed editing HNGGG

For the sake of some content in this chapter, disclaimer: I do not own anything mentioned in this fic except the story and my OC. No copyright infringement is and will ever be intended.

Also IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT AT THE BOTTOM

It's been a year,

A year of Obito not heeding Tokina's whishes,

A year of Obito apologizing and promising to reform,

A year of Tokina harshly reprimanding her friend despite her said friend being an adult in Konoha standard,

A year of Tokina huffing and taking back the apologies that she shouldn't even hear because Obito is an adult, who could think for himself,

A year of both of them committing mistakes over and over again,

Tokina wasn't mad. Due to her spiteful nature, she was glad that he didn't get that promotion to chunin and got absolutely owned by Maito Gai in the most painful way possible. Of course she followed Rin, who also wasn't promoted to chunin even though she won her match, and cheered the moody Uchiha up, Tokina ignoring the sharp glances Rin gave her every time she said "I told you so,"

But he rebounded anyway.

As expected

After their fourth B-rank, Team Minato boasted a 99% success rate. The adults (and some of their batch mates) rolled their eyes at the news. They expected this, anyway. Were they supposed to be surprised that the two geniuses that graduated at age five had so much success if they were in the same team?

The three worked well together, covering spots for each other. Tokina had a brilliant and creative mind which she uses for tactics but lacked the decisiveness of a leader. Kakashi was a natural born leader and knew his priorities but didn't have the flexibility needed to be a good tactician. When the two thinkers were stumped at what to do, impulsiveness was Obito's unsaid brand.

However, it should also be said that the workplace is very different from a home environment, obviously, but when the work environment melds with the home environment, things get a tad bit problematic.

Especially for the two best friends who now had a rocky relationship and was only getting rockier from there. She thought the chunin exams would have given him a harsh lesson in reality, or maybe one of the many dangerous B-ranks they took and had multiple brushes with death.

But Obito was still the same Obito.

"Naive, reckless, immature!" Tokina thought bitterly after another scuffle with enemy ninjas with a mission that, you guessed it! Went south even before they talked to their client. The war was not helping her cause for safety but what can she do? Singlehandedly stop the entire Shinobi War? In her dreams!

"This isn't a game, Obito." Tokina unleashed her cold wrath on the foolishly reckless Uchiha. It mildly annoyed her that she had to tilt her head upward now to his eye to the Uchiha boy.

Ironic since they now rarely see eye to eye.

Minato frowned and Kakashi cringed at the loudness of her voice, stepping over the dead body of one of the twenty enemy-nins they were tasked to exterminate. The two bystanders watched what was slowly becoming a reoccurring scene after missions. Tokina spouting recommendations on what to do, Kakashi approving, Obito complying and Minato would step in if the plan wasn't efficient to carry out, which was rarely.

It was also common for Obito to listen to his instincts and not follow the plan.

Tokina would have been okay with it. She really would, but when his "instincts" causes him to almost die multiple times in many different and horrific ways, that's when she drew the line on the imaginary ground she conjured up.

And that said ground was running out of free space for all the lines she drew.

Obito rolled his eyes, crossing his arms and inwardly preparing for Tokina's nagging, and not appreciating her tone at the slightest. "Oh great here it goes..." he muttered, intending for her to hear the five worded mantra that he uses to brace himself through the shit stroms that he dubbed as a Hyūga Hearing.

Which made her even more irritable,

"I thought you promised to stop this idiocy. My God, Obito, it's been a year and you still do this!" she emphasized the dead Shinobi with an extended hand which did not do well for the point she was trying to make. "Can you not run into danger like a mosquito flying to a lantern that would kill them?" Tokina pressed with a cold revere about her.

Whenever she got mad, hell froze over.

And she was the ice.

But Obito usually burned even hotter than hell.

"If you haven't noticed, Tokina, I'm a ninja? I'm sure your Byakugan should have picked that little fact up." Perfecting his Uchiha sneer. Obito showed the clan's favorite face which Tokina slowly grew to despise. "I'm not your kid, I'm not Tokuma, I'm a perfectly capable ninja—"

"—that could die if he doesn't use his brain more than his gut—"

"—that doesn't need constant supervision and "friendly reminders" from a "friend"."

Obito didn't appreciate the interruption but said nothing. The two traded glares, one cold as winter itself and the other one completely on fire and neither one seemed like they would back down from the other.

Kakashi stayed quiet as always. He always told himself that one day, they were going to have a big fight. It was just so glaringly obvious. Their personalities did not match. Someone as passionate yet hard-headed as Obito couldn't mix with someone as blasé and borderline uncaring person like Tokina. That didn't mean that he appreciated the chaos of it all. A headache was a norm that surfaced after this scuffle. He refused to be the bridge.

"You know what?" Tokina threw her hands up in the air. "Okay. Sure. Fine. I am so done with your immaturity." She, surprisingly, backed down. Rarely did she convey her true feelings, hiding it behind that smile she usually forced herself on (as instructed by her therapist and multiple beauty magazines) or a blank face. Even rarer was her backing down from an argument.

Kakashi dubbed her as the intelligent of the two, and a year with her proved that. It wasn't without debate, her taking up the role as the team's tactician. She knew fights that they should engage head on, using stealth or not pursue at all.

It seems that that same mind dubbed her fruitless conquest as a loss.

"Get yourself killed, see if I care, Hokage-dono." She turned her back, her hakama fluttering due to the speed and utter sass that the single action upheld. Tokina jumped from tree to tree and seethed in silence. The two other men that didn't have a scolding sighed and followed suit. Obito let out a frustrated cry before catching up to them.

The year wasn't friendly on the two friends, if you can still call them that.

Well of course, Veggie-chan! Who wouldn't want to be Hokage?"

Tokina raised an amused eyebrow. Because her sense of humor demanded it, she slowly raised her left hand. Obito continued smiling as he held her hand and slowly pulled it down, much to the Hyūga's very shallow amusement.

"Besides you," He added as an afterthought. "Why don't you wanna be Hokage anyway?" the black haired boy who believed he was a man expressed his genuine curiosity.

Tokina shrugged, before smirking at him with a small, tight lipped smile. "I think the real question is why you want to be Hokage." She challenged with a tilt of her head. "I couldn't handle the pressure of leading an entire village."

"And retiring early and being a hermit is a better choice than being THE Hokage?" He deadpanned, violating the unsaid copyright since that deadpan belonged solely to the Hyūgas.

"Hey, I support your dreams so you should support mine too." Tokina expressed haughtily.

"What's up with that dream, anyway?" He asked, ignoring her blatant need for his approval.

"I just want to live my life in peace," she said, a hint of longingness crawling forth in her tone. Obito eyed his friend warily before she caught herself and returned to her passive smile. "Which seems so hard because the two other ninjas can't protect the support-nin from the dangers of being in the rear posistion."

"Hey to be fair, you can protect yourself just fine!" He pointed out. Tokina let out a humorless snort.

"That doesn't excuse you for slacking off your jo-"

"Tokina-chan?"

The familiar voice shook herself from her dreaming of a better time. She didn't bother standing up to meet Rin, who without invitation, sat down with her in the grass. The mid-summer in Konoha was particularly cruel this time of the month. Shade provided by a tree near a lake was the perfect opportunity to cool down when she didn't want to go home.

"Rin? What are you doing here?" She blinked up, a bit drowsy from her brief siesta under the cool shade.

"I heard you and Obito-kun got into another fight. This is your favorite spot in Konoha, so I took an intellectual guess." She summed up with a feminine smile.

"Ugh," Tokina expressed exactly what she felt about that particular verbal lashing.

"Let me guess, the usual?" Rin eased and leaned on the tree bark with her Hyūga friend. It was scary how often these scuffles happened that she had to play peacemaker every time.

"Is it really a surprise?" She coldly spat out. "The foolhardy little twit couldn't even take into consideration that there are people waiting for him here. Of course, that reason is a bit too rich for Hokage-dono's blood."

"I talked to him about it and he vowed that he'll try to be more careful next time."

"I heard that line." Tokina said with a little bit more disdain that she should have given into. "I heard that last week, and the week after that, and the week after that week." She rolled around her hand, easily showing how tired she was of her pointless battle. "He's like an alcoholic, except this can kill him faster than any alcohol could ever dream of."

"I understand your point Tokina-chan" Rin whole-heartily agreed with the cause of her fight, however playing peacemaker had rules that she needed to heed and that was absolutely no bias allowed. "But you need to understand his."

Tokina turned her head to her and raided a brow.

"Being teamed up with the two prodigies of this generation can lead to...insecurities," Rin confessed with a soft, a bit sad smile. "Especially if that said person came from a prestigious clan that demanded excellence. It doesn't help if that said, completely hypothetical and imaginary person and the said prodigy is an Uchiha and a Hyūga, a clan so often in cold war because of their eyes they can write up a whole book about it."

Tokina blinked and her face turned into that famed Hyūga deadpan. "So because of his ego, he can't bear to realize that he can excel and survive at the same time?"

"That's a little harsh, isn't it?" Rin pressed her lips, not at all happy "And your completely missing the point." Tokina looked a bit sheepish and dipped her head, averting her gaze and finding the grass worthy of her attention a little bit too much.

"I care for him like my own flesh and blood, and you know how I treat Tokuma, Rin." Tokina smiled at the mention of her baby bear.

"I keep telling him 'the greatest ninjas are the ones that stay alive.' but he's just so…" she waved her hand, trying to find the right word. "…Enamored of the thought of proving himself that it could lead him to his early death." The Hyūga seemed twice her age that day. Rin thought it was just the maturity that being a prodigious ninja forced on to her.

Tokina was remembering a very clear picture of how her best-friend being buried under a rock and missing one eye.

"He doesn't need to prove himself to anyone. Have you seen his fireball Rin? He could burn a whole forest down without breaking a sweat." Tokina's eyes shone with second-hand pride, much to Rin's amusement.

"Obito's such a late bloomer, isn't he?" Rin agreed, "He perfected Fire Release: Phoenix Sage Fire this morning."

Tokina nodded. "So why is he so stubborn about his acts of heroism? I believe he can be Hokage, Rin, and a good one at that but you can't become Hokage if your etched into the memorial stone before you become one."

Rin smirked before sighing and let a breath in. "His sensei, a direct student from Jiraiya-sama and from a no-name clan, is already a rising star throughout the nations. His teammate, Kakashi, the son of the White Fang of Konoha, is a prodigy that is rumored to have bested twenty jonin alone. Another prodigy, Tokina, daughter of the Hyūga Clan and another student of a Sannin, Orochimaru, is rumored to have escaped Kiri's T&I, a feat no other Konoha-nin could brag about."

Tokina felt a little sheepish about the T&I bit. "Shishou was the one that busted me out. I don't know what you're talking about." She mumbled to Rin.

"Endured it nevertheless." The brunette smiled. "Three ninjas who have already achieved great things before they reached twenty-five, and what can Obito-kun compare that to? Mastering a jutsu he is expected to learn."

"Rin, that makes us sound like over-achieving monsters." Tokina, intended as a jest, said. Rin gave her a look that said "yeah...about that" which made her groan.

"Okay, fine, I'll go apologize to him after he's done fuming." Tokina huffed; breaking her stubborn streak of making sure the party that offends her apologizes to her first. Rin nodded to herself with a smile, her job done.

"Also, are you going to attend tonight's gathering?" Rin followed-up casually. "I know you're not fond of this, but it would be nice to see you in our little batch gatherings. Everyone wants to see you."

Tokina shrugged, "I don't know, Rin. Not only is Obito mad at me, and I know he's going to go, but Anko's just gonna call me names, Genma is probably going to give some snide remark about my thighs which I've hid thanks to my hakama and I'm probably going to be the victim of Gai's hyper-ness if Kakashi decides he won't come. Again."

The little gathering was hosted by Rin. She didn't want the war to destroy what little of a bond her batch mates had with each other so she went out of her way and literally gathered them all up. Rin always had that way with people, getting what she wanted.

Tokina let herself give into a knowing smirk. At least she did one thing right.

"While we're in the topic of Obito's welfare and happiness," Tokina gave the medic-nin a knowing smile which Rin quickly evaded, guising her blush by standing up.

"I think I should go, Nana-san might be expecting me."

"Come on, Rin."

"We've discussed this before, Tokina-chan."

"If he's not going to make the first move—"

"—which he's not because he is not in love with me—"

"You can't be that blind and dense."

"Shush," Rin hushed her before walking away. Tokina cackled aside herself.

"Eeeey! Look who decided to show up!" Anko waved a sake bottle to Rin and Tokina when they emerged from the darkness.

Konoha was chock-full of discrimination, whether if it was your marital status to where your last name came from. One of the "privileges" that ninjas can have is underage drinking. Although it was legal, most bar owners condone it since the whole "no drinking until 18+" had been beaten to them senseless before they reached that age.

Of course, if said ninja was really persuasive (or pushy) they could get the spirits if they so desired.

Anko was the pushy kind.

Tokina rolled her eyes at the little drunkard-to-be. "All that alcohol and you can't even hold it, Mitarashi-san." The Hyūga brunette huffed, sliding next to Kakashi while Rin went to the opposite end of the bench, sitting with Obito who gave Tokina a side eye before drinking whatever he was drinking. Tokina shuffled next to Kakashi's side who looked at her once before both of the prodigies wincing at Gai's rambunctiousness.

"Huh?! You trying to pick a fight?!" Anko hicked with bravado, much to the blatant amusement of some of her peers. Tokina shook her head and sighed. She ordered a beef bowl to keep her occupied, while all the others were watching Anko rant about Orochimaru and making a general fool of herself.

"So, did he give you his hair secrets, snake-y?" Genma chuckled, holding what was probably watered down sake. Raidō boweled with laughter at the story that Tokina and Rin missed.

"That's where it gets irritating!" She howled. "You know what he said?! You know what that beautiful man that I could have sworn was my mom when he had his back turned said?!"

Asuma rolled his eyes in good humor "Oh I'm dying to hear it." Kurenai chuckled at his sarcasm.

"He said that I "will know in due time!"" Anko spouted that quote out like it was some mortal sin. "Like, what the fuck?! I don't want die with mud on my hair! I shit you not that whenever he runs, no leaves ever gets caught!" As if to emphasize her point, she dug through her volume of hair and found a generously sized leaf. "See what I have to deal with?!"

Rounds of laughter, Anko not appreciating it one bit. She glared at Tokina who was innocently eating her food while listening to one of Gai's soliloquies of youth and vigor.

"Admit it, butterfly butt face!" Anko pointed at her.

Tokina rolled her eyes, muttering a soft "That's a new one." That didn't go unheard by the party who all snorted and laughed.

Anko, who was flushed thanks to the effects of sake, continued on. "You know his hair secrets, don't you! Tell me what shampoo he uses or I swear I'll gut you."

"Yeah, I'm sure you can gut your "senpai", Anko."

"Shut the fuck up, Genma! I told you not to call her that! No one asked for your input!" She slurred at the expert senbon user. "Go back to making kissy faces with Raidō!"

"I keep telling you I'm not gay!"

"On second thought, take your fragile masculinity with you, too!" The trench coat wearing kunoichi said in finality, throwing the leaf she got from her hair at him.

"Now, Tokina, you can tell me or I gut you!" Anko threatened seriously. The whole group focused their attention on them besides Rin and Obito that were talking besides themselves. Tokina huffed and rolled her eyes once more. Kakashi and Gai leaned back when the drunk, underage kunoichi began crawling on the table to face her, using her ninja skills to avoid wasting any food.

"He uses shampoo, Anko, and I'm sure you should use it too." Tokina wrinkled her nose and pushed Anko away, much to her annoyance and the delight if the group, laughing at the blubbering snake-user.

After that little incident, the group finally quieted down and talked amongst each other in their own individual friendship circles. When Gai excused himself for his nightly routine that involved weight, too much effort and youth, it didn't take long for Kakashi to seize Tokina up, who was taking her time with that beef bowl and deliberately avoiding his gaze.

"Is the dimwit is still mad at you?"

Tokina pursed her lips. "He's not a dimwit, he's trying his best." She scolded lightly.

Kakashi snorted, "So he is."

Tokina didn't except Kakashi to take up her offer with "movie time". One random day, she was alone in Training Ground 3, enjoying the nature, minding her business like any person would, totally not using that spot because it had cool shade, quiet atmosphere, and absolutely no people to judge her whenever she squealed when someone in her many romance novels does something cute which was very often, then suddenly Kakashi appeared before her and demanded to watch more musicals.

Before dodging a senbon aimed for his eye due to surprise.

She complied as an apology and showed him the Broadway musical "Wicked" with a bit better special effects than necessary and totally did not show him the part where Wicked Witch of the West almost fell to her death because of a malfunction in the part where she was suppose to fly when she saw it. Tokina swore to him that she wouldn't brag to anyone how his eyes practically sparkled when "Defying Gravity" played (and how the Witch did not fuck up this time) and how smug he was when she revealed the Wicked Witch of the West wasn't dead.

They had a very thorough discussion about morality after that and it went downhill from there.

Also he didn't complain about the subs.

Unlike a certain Uchiha when she tried to show him the anime "Gintama".

The two prodigies didn't need to hold an awkward air towards each other anymore or force themselves to look each other in the eye.

Kakashi seeked her out while Tokina waited for him, which annoyed her and slowly became a game of cat and mouse with Tokina activating her Byakugan to find him and Kakashi dodging her vision.

It annoyed her vastly.

Like what he's doing right now.

"Kakashi, stop looking at me like that." She glared at his blank side-eye that told her "Christ your pathetic" which she didn't care for at all.

"What look?" The Silver haired boy asked innocently

"You're smarter than this,"

"Tell me something I don't know."

She repressed a groan and shoved a big helping of beef in her mouth and chewing in cold anger. Tokina suddenly regretted her decision to sit next to Kakashi who gave her the "look".

The "look" was a mix of a condescending sneer, a sarcastic smile and eyes that said:"you're pathetic." He uses it whenever Obito pisses him off or he wants Tokina to do something and pokes her pride to attain it .

"Okay, fine, what do you want me to do?" She jabbed the last of her beef, letting her voice go a volume higher thanks to how loudly Anko was snoring.

Kakashi shrugged, his elbows resting on the table and facing her with a bored expression. "Don't apologize. I know you were thinking of apologizing first." He clearly read her mind. She didn't let the surprise register on her face, instead bringing her beef to her mouth and chewing it vehemently.

"Last time I checked, you belong in the Hatake Clan and not the Yamanakas." She smartly remarked, about to finish food.

Kakashi shrugged, only addressing her quip with that before continuing. "Your right, he needs to wake up from whatever dream he's in." Kakashi huffed, "it'll do all of us a favor since it annoys me the most."

Tokina gave a close lipped smile. "Is this you caring for Obito?"

Kakashi gave her a death glare for her insinuation. "I don't want that idiot slowing me down." He stood up and left the group without a goodbye. She sighed and gulped down her orange juice because she was one of the few people that wasn't afraid of vitamin C and wasn't intolerant of orange-y deliciousness.

She didn't want to weigh her decision with the likes of Anko snoring. As to not rouse the sleeping kunoichi, she quietly bid adieu, not even glancing at Obito who was still talking to Rin and left.

"An A-rank mission?!" Obito repeated with stars in his black eyes.

Tokina tensed and Kakashi nodded in approval. Minato smirked at the Uchiha's enthusiasm. "That's right Obito-kun, an A-rank. We are tasked to go to the Land of Hotsprings and assist a village called Bamboo Village with whatever seems to be ailing them. The Land of Hot springs are known for their water with medicinal properties so it isn't their money we're after, but a partnership for a steady silly of the water."

Obito whooped nevertheless. Sure it was probably going to be a hard mission, but he won't pass up the opportunity to show those two that he can be as strong or than them or even moreso! He gazed at Tokina who looked troubled at the prospect of going to the Land of Hotsprings. It was either that or the dangers of an A-Rank mission.

She was always such a worry wart.

Tokina instinctively held her arms, as if remembering something that bothered her greatly.

It tugged on Obito's heartstrings.

She's deathly afraid of water.

He wasn't as blind as she thought. There were multiple missions when they required walking on water but she usually found another route to take, convincing them with some spiel about tactics and routes and other bullshit. He didn't have the gall to tease her about it even if she wasn't his favorite person at the moment.

He remembered her shaking at the sound of a running tap.

He shook his head out of the funk he was slowly descending into. No, this mission is the mission where he'll finally prove to them that he's worth his salt. Despite what Rin told him, he wasn't going to talk to Tokina until she talks to him first. He was so done being a doormat to the Hyūga. If he's going to be Hokage he needs to show some back bone right now.

This is a chance he can't pass up.

AN.

SO YES!

Hopefully that was a wholesome ending to avoid cliffhangers.

I won't be posting anymore chapters until I rewrite the whole fanfic to avoid fake updates. I'll be posting them in one sitting+the new chapter.

ANYWAY CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM IS WANTED BECAUSE WOW, I NEED IT. I try to incorporate all the notices in this fanfic and I'll try my best but HERE ME OUT FOR A SEC!

By: Way of Life

In all the stories I generally like Obito's
character, but in yours I do not. He is stupid, puts himself and his team at risk and doesn't even know what is wrong in his actions. Even when told.

Your minato is just too weak and soft on Obito too. The mistake that Obito made could have endangered the entire team, it in fact did, yet he lets it go with a slap on the back of the hand and even insists that Tokina should lighten up.

I feel your OC is the only sensible character here.
Your Minato is just too focused on comedy and in the end just ends up becoming a caricature of himself and just a one dimensional poorly written character.

I know that you are a good writer, your story is the proof of that. It's just these 2 points that drag your story down. Specially your interpretation of Minato. He is a seasoned shinobi that fought in wars, and came out of them alive. He will not allow mistakes like Obito's to persist.

That's all that I have to say. Good work with story and I will be waiting for the next update.

ALL OF THIS IS VALID AND THERE IS NO LIE ESPECIALLY AT MINATO'S PART however I believe that the Obito we know in the anime should be different in this fanfic because of character development. We don't know the shit he's been through pre-Kannabi and I wanted to emphasize his growth.

HOWEVER THERE IS NO EXCUSE AT MINATO'S PART. I'LL TRY TO DO THAT WHILE I EDIT THE WHOLE FIC AND THE FUTURE UPDATES

THANKS GUYS AND REMEMBER to enjoy life :)