Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto. I am not profiting from this. Mistakes? Weird parts? Whatever? Please tell me. Thanks.

Won't bother you with my excuses, here we go.


Part 13: I'm not Obito.

Kakashi thought grimly. That his jounin promotion couldn't have come at a worse time. It didn't matter which world. Which timeline. Which Obito. Team Minato was meant to take the Kannabi mission.

Hatake Kakashi was tired.

A heavy sigh left his lips right as a familiar figure emerged from the trees.

"Hatake-san?" It was Obito.

"Hm? Obito? What's up?" he put up a cheery facade.

"Uh, nothing much. I got out of a clan meeting just a bit ago. Um… Are you okay?" he asked cautiously. Perhaps Kakashi's mood was off putting.

"Nope!" Ah. That wasn't what he meant to say. Can't take it back now.

"Do you… want to talk about it? Ichi-san told me talking things out is healthy," Obito said. He was oddly tame and hesitant that day. Why?

"Mmmm. Say, do you believe in things like fate and destiny?" Kakashi asked, briefly thinking back to a certain Hyuuga.

"What's this all of a sudden?"

"Well, you're a weird and interesting guy, and I figured you'd have an equally weird and interesting answer." Obito regarded him for a quick second, expression carefully blank. Seriously, what was up with him today?

"I also think you're a weird and interesting guy. Too interesting to be caught up on something so mundane as the topic of fate."

"Humor me."

"To be honest, I don't think about things like that, so I don't have much of an answer for you."

"What if you knew what would happen in the future? Would you try to change it? Change fate?"

"Wha- Isn't that obvious? Aren't you supposed to be a genius?" Obito took on a teasing tone.

"I don't understand what you're talking about."

"Hahaha, you're so clueless! How are you a jounin already? Ah, congratulations on that by the way. I got you a gift. You want it now or with the team tomorrow?"

Obito got him a gift. He didn't forget. Another tally in the difference between his Obito and this Obito.

"Tomorrow. Right now, I just want to hear what you're thinking about."

His friend scoffed, but obliged anyway. "So you know what's gonna happen. That's just Intelligence doing their job. Obviously, you'd work with it."

"That's not quite what I asked."

"Then you better be clear about it." With that, Obito plopped down next to Kakashi.

"I mean, if you've experienced something and had the chance to do it again, would you do anything different?"

"Depends. Was it good or bad the first time around?"

"Terrible."

"Then, yeah."

"Even if it's going against fate?"

"Do you believe in fate?"

"I don't know."

"Hmph. Fate is just another word for what happened. You can't go back in time, so you can't change what happened. Destiny is what you do about it. That's what I think. Nevermind all this talk, let's go eat dinner. My treat for the new jounin!"

Fate and destiny were brushed to the side with the promise of free food.


"Congratulations on your promotion, Kakashi-kun!" Rin cheered happily. Minato smiled as he looked over his team. "I got you a packed medkit. I got one for Obi, too."

"Thank you," Kakashi said as he accepted the pack.

"I got everyone a gift, too! Ta da!" Obito announced as he produced small cubes from his pocket. Each one had the Uchiwa engraved on it.

"They're special blade sharpeners from the Uchiha blacksmith. Really good, I tried!" Obito looked really proud.

Minato quickly tried it out and was positively surprised. "Oh, they work better than the standard ones they give you."

Obito grinned, "Since the smithy is kinda deep inside the clan compound, not many outsiders wander in. Tell your friends, Asahi-san will be happy."

"And, I got a gift for the team as well," Minato also cheered, producing his iconic custom-made kunai.

Obito took one with confusion in his eyes, but he only smiled and thanked the man. Obito probably didn't want to risk offending their teacher by calling his gift strange.


Kakashi knew what happened the first time around. They didn't know what those did. So it was too late.

He wasn't going to let that happen again.


"Sensei, are these seals? What do they do?" he asked.

"It's the Hiraishin. If you throw it, I'll know and zoom over," Minato explained. "Use it if you're ever in trouble, okay?"

"Yes, sir!"

With that, Team Minato officially set out for Kannabi bridge.


"How should we blow the bridge?" Rin asked.

"With the explosives?" Obito responded, questioning his own answer.

"Well, yeah, but how? Like, should we plant them at the base? Or plant them in the middle? Or just chuck them?"

"We should… spread them out and take the whole thing out, right?" Obito turned to Minato. Then to Kakashi. Neither of them were listening as they were planning out their next course of action. Obito turned back to Rin. "Dunno."


It was quite uneventful until right before Minato was supposed to split. Kakashi entertained the thought of bringing out the bright and noisy menace, but he was not a child. He knew the risks and dangers, so he did not.

Other than a few scratches, the team was fine.

"Alright. Everyone good so far?" Nods all around. "Okay. Stay safe, be careful. We'll meet back up again."

And Minato was gone, leaving three children alone in war.


Obito thought there was something kind of fucked up about the situation, but did not voice it. Kids in war. In the woods. Alone. Killing and killing and killing. It was the norm in this crazy, new world.

He didn't like it, but complaining wouldn't help anyone at that moment.


Rin was nervous. Anxious. Dreading every step she took. Minato wasn't there to save them. What if, what if, what if?

What if they died?

What if Minato died?

What if she died?

What if, what if, what if…


Kakashi felt every single strand of hair on edge. He kept his eyes on every single detail.

Enemy? No, just a branch.

Shuriken? Just a beetle.

And then, ambush.


Kakashi's mind was running a hundred miles a second. How many enemies? Three? Four? Five? Were there this many the first time? First time? That didn't matter! There were five (six? seven?) enemy shinobi trying to kill them and Rin-!

He wasn't thinking straight. Maybe that was why he focused so heavily on the enemies around her. So caught up with his past, with the first time he went on this mission. Trying to fix his mistakes and repent.

It was his fault anything happened the way it did. His fault!


Rin was safe. A little shaken up, but safe and whole. She stood with trembling legs, unable to comprehend what just had happened, until-

"Obito… OBITO!" she cried.

Instead of Rin, it was Obito. He was gone.

"Kakashi-kun, we have to find him! We have to!"

Mission put on hold, Kakashi gripped Rin's shoulders and kept her in place. Panicking was no good. Not now.

"We're going to get him back."

It was a promise.


Kakashi couldn't rely on his past memories. He really couldn't. Things were already different, so who's to say there won't be any more changes?

Running on instinct alone, he vaguely registered the course he and Rin set out on. It was different from before. For the first time since the start of the mission, Kakashi found himself hoping everything else stayed the same.


It was a little known fact that Nohara Rin had the most stamina out of the three children of Team Minato. Obito was a close second. Kakashi, even with all his efforts, could only curse his genetics.

Rin held her expression as blank as possible, but inside, her heart and mind were in turmoil. What if, what if, what if…

What if Obito was dead?

She knew they had to hurry, but they've been running for so long, and the enemies had already gone so far.

"Kakashi-kun, are you holding up?" she asked.

"Fine," he replied tersely, trying very hard to conserve as much energy as he could.

Just as Rin was about to say something else, she spotted out of the corner of her eye, an unnatural glint among the leaves.

"GET DOWN!"


Two children engaged in yet another battle with grown men and women. Three adults who hadn't been running at top speed for who knows how long.

But the children managed to push back through sheer adrenaline and willpower. They left one woman alive since she was holding onto Obito's packs. The other two were sprawled on the ground with torn throats, decidedly ignored.

"Obito. Where's Obito?" the boy demanded. The woman, dazed from a blow to the head, gazed with blurry eyes.

"Who?" she asked.

"Our teammate! Where did they take him?!" the boy was furious, shaking the woman by her collar. He did not know when they had split up. Their chakra were masked like the professionals they were.

The woman's eyes cleared their haze minutely before her face twisted into a condescending sneer. "As if I'd tell you little shits anything!" she spit before crunching on a pill, falling like a ragdoll.

Two children stood silently with three bodies.


"Kakashi-kun, do you think this is enough trouble for us to call Minato-sensei? A-and, we should wrap your eye right now," Rin whispered. The sight of death still shook her to the core. She never got used to it. Just better at hiding it.


That's right. That's right! Minato! Kakashi, in his guilt and panic, had forgotten they weren't alone. They had their beloved teacher, the man who could decimate entire platoons. He could save them! They didn't have to do this alone. This was important.

Obito was important.

"Yeah, we should-" Kakashi began, Rin already reaching for the special blade, when an explosion shook the world.


Obito didn't know what exactly happened between his waking moments. Well, he figured nothing interesting really happened. One moment in the forest, then the next blindfolded somewhere else. One moment he was fighting, then the next he was getting a good smack in the face. Wasn't a very pleasant way to wake up.

"You need to chill," Obito grinned. He wasn't sure what the correct reaction to… whatever was going on was (Torture? Interrogation?). He didn't know, so he did what he did best.

"Shut it, brat," a scratchy voice spoke before Obito got a backhand to the other cheek. He was really good at irritating people.

"'Kay," he mumbled.

"Now, tell us. What's your mission? What's Konoha up to?" And on and on and on, asking questions about things Obito barely knew. He kept silent, even when the beatings turned meaner and more aggressive.

Then suddenly, the stagnant voice turned impatient and loud. "TELL US!" And Obito cracked another (crooked) grin.

"You told me to shut it. What do you want me to do? And really? This blindfold? Totally unoriginal," he jested. He was testing the nonexistent patience of his captors. What a dangerous game.

"This fucking shit! I'll rip your fucking eyes out!" his interrogator yelled. Obito needed an edge.

"If you're gonna do that, you better take the blindfold off, yeah?" he spoke with a light tone, continuing to grate on everyone's nerves.

"Heh, nice try, kid. But we're not gonna risk you having those fancy eyes," another man laughed sardonically. Obito didn't get his edge. But that's okay. He'll try again.

"Let's try again slower this time, kiddo." Good. "What's your mission?"

"Come closer and maybe I'll tell you," Obito smiled, though not as wide. His split lip was protesting every movement, screaming at him to shut the hell up.

He heard someone shifting nearer. Heh, they took him too seriously. Morons.

"My mission is… To tell you… You're a little bitch."

And then, another nice beating session. Obito was getting tired of all this. When the punches and kicks slowed down, he took a breath. Then another.

Then Obito exhaled another breah, that time with chakra. His very own burst of fire.


He couldn't hear their screams anymore. Which was honestly kind of unsettling, but whatever. With a hidden razor, Obito cut himself free and ripped the blindfold off. Finally he could see!

And what he saw wasn't something he really wanted to see in his life. He wasn't sure if his captors were alive, but at that moment, he didn't care. He hurt all over and couldn't even escape his own flames in the cramped space of the cavern. Obito sneezed, the scent of ash and burnt hair and skin filling the air.

Obito didn't know any earth release (not that he could even perform any jutsu at that moment. His hands were broken and missing a few nails. Painful!). It wasn't even his nature. He wasn't even sure if he was underground or not. He didn't have enough information to do much.

'Maybe I can lay down and rest. And someone will come get me,' he thought. 'Or I'll just sleep here forever because everyone's too busy fighting.'

Lost in his thoughts, the slight movements of a body didn't register until a second later.

And then…


Startled by the explosion, Rin dropped the Hiraishin kunai. And Minato promptly arrived with frantic eyes, taking in the states of his two students.

"Where's Obito?"


When they arrived, there wasn't much to see. A bunch of rocks and burnt grass. No blood, no bodies. They were all probably buried beneath. Obito included.

'Let's not think about that,' Kakashi shook his head. Obito had to be alive. Not… He had to be alive.

"Obito?" Rin called out quietly in case there were still enemies nearby. With the explosion, they were sure someone would come running. Someone not so friendly.

They held their breath in silence when a cough sent their heads turning to the singed trees to their left.

Obito.


Obito was incoherent the rest of the mission, mumbling jumbled thoughts and events out of order. Minato joined them as the team made their way swiftly to the bridge.

As they camped at night, Obito woke with a shuddering breath, trying to catch his breath.

"...vy…" he said.

"What?" Kakashi asked.

"Heavy," Obito repeated, reaching up with a trembling hand. He tore his headband from his person.

Minato saw. He said nothing. Only looked on with concern.


Obito woke the next morning with more awareness than before. He didn't really know what was going on. Just that the mission was a success and they were going home.

"Obito, what happened after you were separated?" Minato asked when they passed a Konoha lookout post.

"I was…" Obito tried to gather his thoughts. "I was in a cave place. And they asked me stuff, but I wouldn't tell them. So they got angry."

"Obi, do you know about the explosion?" Rin asked, worriedly. Obito glanced at her. She was always so worried about him. She shouldn't waste her energy on him.

"I threw up some fire and they died… But not really. One of them was gonna do something but…," he trailed off before laughing. "I was so lucky he was looking right at me!"

"What do you mean?" Minato asked.

"Because the Uchiha magic eyes don't work without eye contact!"


"The hospital is a surprisingly weird place to be," Obito mused out loud for his companion to hear. Kakashi jolted awake at that.

"Obito, you're awake!" he nearly wept tears of relief, thoughts of death and failure banished from his conscience.

"And so are you, Hatake-san. How are you feeling?" Obito asked.

"You- Hah! Shouldn't I be asking you that?"

"Hehe, I think I'm drugged. Can't feel much… I can't remember much of what happened after the cave collapsed. Care to fill me in?"

So Kakashi did just that. Recalling the past events and the information Obito had half-lucidly confessed. Obito grinned without humor. There was nothing funny about all that.

"Since when did you have the Sharingan?"

"I think…" Obito responded sluggishly, his mind still a little fuzzy, "since I was four or five. It was when Ichi-san came back."

"You're unbelievable."

"Uhh, thanks?"


Nurses came and went. Kakashi was going to excuse himself so that Obito could rest, but Obito insisted on him staying just a bit longer. There was something important he wanted to know.


The setting sun cast an orange layer over everything it touched. Coming from behind through the window, Obito's face looked dark and grim. With his iconic grin in place, Obito spoke.

"It must've been hard for you, Hatake-san," he began.

"What do you mean?" Kakashi questioned.

"You are a man out of time."

"I don't understand."

"I don't either, but here you are. A breathing, living time traveler."

Kakashi's heart lept, fingers twitched. Obito knew? Should he tell the truth or try to bullshit out of this?

"You're not a very good actor," Obito broke through his racing thoughts.

"How… Since when?" Obito looked too amused for his liking.

"I didn't. I guessed." FUCK. "But your reaction tells me enough to know that it's true."

Kakashi lost, Obito won. Truly, a very anticlimactic end to that game.

"How did you even guess something like this? Unbelievable."

"So you tell me. It's a crazy world here. Anything could happen. Even dead guys can come back to life."

"...?"

"Anyways, can you tell me what happened the first time you went through all this? Don't look at me like that. I knew you were nervous for this specific mission for months. What happened? Was it Ririn-chan that got caught? Did she die? Did I die? Someone die? Did you change fate and all that?"

And that was enough for Kakashi to spill his guts to the boy he learned to love and trust. He blamed whatever drugs the doctors gave him.


By the end of his tale, Obito's grin remained, but there was nothing friendly about him. No, there was tension in his shoulders and his eyes held something mighty cold.

"The only real difference is me," Obito stated.

"Yeah."

"Hm. So tell me. Who am I?" … What?

"What?"

"Stop being so daft. Who am I?"

"You're Obito?"

"Am I Obito or am I me?"

"Obito, stop being so vague. What are you asking?"

"How much of me do you know as 'the other version of Obito'? How many comparisons did you draw up between me and someone who's so completely removed from me?"

"I…"


Kakashi was starting to understand. He'd always thought of the boy before him as a different Obito, not his own person. And the boy always knew that. Felt that since the very moment they met years ago. And he didn't have a proper answer. Until now.

"Don't compare me to people I'm not. Stop holding expectations based on things I'm not."

IT'S NOT FAIR! Obito wanted to scream. YOU'RE NOT BEING FAIR! In the corner of his mind, Obito knew he wasn't either.

"I thought- that the first person to really talk to me saw me as just me, plain and simple. Not my clan and its stereotypes. Not the class failure. Not the village weirdo. Just me. But I guess you were just seeing a ghost."

"Obito-"

"Please, Hatake-san. If you can't separate me from the boy in your past, I don't want you to call me that."

"I'm tired, can you leave? Please?"

It hurt more than Kakashi would admit.


It was painfully obvious to Minato and Rin that something happened between the two boys. There was a tense distance between them. Kakashi rarely met Obito's eyes, but when he did, Obito would look away.

Minato could only hope they'd resolve it sooner than later.


"Obi?"

"Ririringo-chi?"

"Heh, what's that?"

"That was what I first decided on. Your nickname, that is. But Ichi-san said it's too long."

"It's cute."

"Thanks."

"About you and Kakashi-kun…"

"I know."

"Wanna talk about it?"

"I was really upset so I wasn't fair to him. I was so focused on how he hurt me, I didn't consider what he was going through."

Rin didn't understand without context, but it was none of her business. Right then, her job was to listen and respond.

"What should I do?"

"I don't know. Do you think you should talk with him?"

"I should. I want to keep being his friend, but… What if he doesn't want to be friends with me anymore?"

"Whatever happens, I trust in both of you."

"Yeah. Thanks. I'm gonna go talk to him."

"Good luck."


"Obi- Erm…" Kakashi began and trailed off. Obito didn't seem to mind. His concentration was solely focused on dragging Kakashi to… somewhere.

"Uhm, where are we going?" Kakashi ventured to ask.

"Somewhere quiet," Obito replied.


Somewhere quiet was an apt description of Training Ground 51. There was no body of water close by and the bushes and foliage were thick and dense. The best use of the place would be trap setting and agility, but even so, there were better places to go than Training Ground 51. The place was pretty desolate.

"Let's talk. I'm gonna go first," said Obito.

"Uhm, what's this-" Kakashi began but was caught off.

"Hey, I said I'm gonna go first."

"Ah, sorry."

Then the Uchiha boy took a step back and bowed. Kakashi also took a step back but from shock and surprise.

"I'm really sorry."

"...For what?" Kakashi asked when he found his voice.

"I wasn't being fair. You lost everyone precious to you and had to restart all your relationships. I was too upset at the fact you never saw me as my own person-" a flinch "-that I didn't consider how difficult dealing with life is for you. So I apologize. I'm very sorry."

"You- O- You don't need to apologize. There's nothing for you to-"

"No, I insist."

"Then, I'm sorry too. For never truly seeing who you are. It wasn't fair of me to do that to you, especially as… your first friend."


Two boys fought.

Two boys made up.

Heavy hearts, broken and shattered, managed to be pieced back together.


"My name is Uchiha Obito of the great Uchiha clan where kitties and sunshine sleep. My current guardian is Uchiha Ichiro, and he's the best at cooking vegetables and fish. Uchiha Fugaku-sama is now the clan head, and I used to call him pissant because he did something that upset me, but now we fixed our relationship. I like cats and sweets and watching sunrises. My dream is to retire and go traveling with Ichiro-san after the war."

"My name is Hatake Kakashi, the last member of the Hatake clan. My guardians are Namikaze Minato and Uzumaki Kushina. There's never a dull moment living with them. I like dogs and training, especially with friends. I've never had the guts to call people of authority anything other than their titles or their names. My dream is to live peacefully with everyone I hold dear."

A moment of silence passed between the two boys. Then they fell into a heap of laughter and forgiveness and camaraderie.


"You know, Hatake-san-"

"You can call me Kakashi, you know."

"Oh! Kakashi… kun."

"Why are you blushing like a schoolboy with a crush?"

"It's a big step in our relationship! I can't believe we're in the middle of a forest with no one to witness this monumental moment."

"Now, you're being dramatic. What were you going to say?"

"Ah, sometime during the academy, I made up a game-"

"What else is new."

"-and it was basically, whoever first makes an attempt to befriend me will get a very special present from me."

"And?"

"And, because you're my very first and best friend, I'm going to give you a gift!"

"Neat."

"Why can't you sound more excited?"

"Neat-o! Thanks, friend! Can't wait to see my gift!"

"... Right. Once a month, I'll treat you to any store in Konoha!"

"... That's it?"

"That's it."

"You're ridiculous."

"And you're a penny-pincher, so I think it's the perfect gift for you. Unless you want an eye transplant directly from-"

"NO."


"Well, glad to see your team functioning properly again," Kushina commented as she and Minato watched over three children being children. As in, they were trying to drown each other in the lake. Ah, youth.

"Mhm. This entire month was a wild and hectic experience. Really glad I told them about the Hiraishin," Minato sighed as he leaned back on his hands.

"Minato-sensei! Kushina-neesan!" Rin's voice brought their attention to the kids now standing on the lake.

In their arms, each child held a portion of an enormous carp, struggling to free itself from their enhanced grips. Everyone laughed so hard, smiled so wide. Everything was perfect.

Kakashi could live with this.


note: DONE. I had a hard time starting this but I did it. It's not perfect, but I finished it! Longest chapter in this fic (around 4,300 words). Next update will address whatever details I left out, the omake things, questions if you have any. If you have questions, leave them in the reviews, and I will try my best to answer them in the next update. Thanks for sticking with me, hope this chapter doesn't feel awkward/rushed/weird/etc etc. Thanks, bye.