Chapter Nineteen — The Weak are Meek

"I can walk."

"You don't need to!"

"Could you at least stop skipping, then?" Kyoko asked.

Obito slowed, settling into a walk. "Sorry. Is that better?"

"Yes. My jaw thanks you."

He grinned when he felt the weight of her chin on his shoulder. "Glad to hear it. Decided what you want yet?" he asked as they stepped through the compound gates.

Kyoko hummed in his ear, tapping her right foot against his thigh. "Ramen?"

"Ramen's great! Minato-sensei has a favorite place. You'll like it there."

"We can't be there too long. I'm supposed to meet Tsunade-shisho in forty minutes."

"Don't worry." Obito turned his head so he could get a glimpse of her. "I won't make you late. You're still at the stage when you need to impress your sensei, after all."

"Being on time is basic necessity, not me trying to impress her. You should try it sometime."

He snickered. "When did you start being a smartass, Kyo-chan? Uh. Don't tell Tousan I called you that."

Kyoko laughed. "Don't worry."

He heaved a sigh. "Good. Alright, here we are." He stopped and let her slide off his back. Obito raised his arms to present the stand dramatically. "Welcome to Ichiraku!" He pushed her inside. "Ohayo, Teuchi-san!"

The man looked over his shoulder. "Obito-kun! And who's this?" He set down his spoon and turned, wiping his hands on his apron. "A friend?"

"My sister," Obito corrected. He picked Kyoko up, ignored her undignified squeak of surprise, and set her on one of the stools. He hopped up onto his own seat. "This is Kyoko. Kyo-chan, this is Teuchi. He makes the best ramen you'll ever have. Do you know what you want?"

Kyoko leaned forward, elbows on the counter. "Ohayo, Teuchi-san," she greeted. "Pork, please."

"Miso for me," Obito said. As Teuchi got to work, Obito turned in his seat and leaned into Kyoko's space. When she pulled back just enough for him to see the eyebrow she'd raised, he grinned. "You wanna hear a secret?"

"Do I?"

"You do," he decided. "Okay. Minato-sensei brings us here a lot, but," —he leaned in close and dropped his voice into a whisper— "I'm pretty sure he mostly likes to eat here in hopes that Kushina will show up."

Kyoko twisted to look at him. "Kushina?"

He nodded. "Kushina's the best. She's Minato-sensei's girlfriend, and they get all, uh, Kakashi calls it gross." He dropped his chin into both hands. "He does this and he'll stare at her like he's never seen her before. Which is stupid, because they see each other all the time."

"They're in love," she said, smiling. "Do you think it's cute? Or do you think it's gross like Kakashi said?"

He squinted at her. "Dunno. Why are you smiling like that?"

Her smile just brightened. "No reason. Oh." She sat up as her ramen was placed in front of her. "Itadakimasu."

"Hi! I'm here! I'm here!" Obito said, sliding to a stop in front of them. He put his hands on his knees and leaned over, panting.

"You're late," Kakashi said, arms crossed. "What's your excuse this time?"

"I was getting ramen with Kyo-chan to celebrate!"

"Celebrate?" Rin asked. "Oh! Did Kyoko-chan move up again?"

"Nope! She graduated! Oh, and! And!" Obito grinned, bouncing in place. "She got a perfect score on her exam!"

"Perfect?" Minato asked, cutting into the conversation. His eyebrows were raised and his eyes wide. "Perfect score?"

"That's impossible," Kakashi said. "Even Minato-sensei didn't get a perfect score."

"It's not impossible," Obito defended. "Kyo-chan did!"

"She can't have."

"Kakashi-kun," Minato said firmly. "You can't say that. From what I've heard, Kyoko-chan is very impressive."

"Sensei, if you couldn't get a perfect score, doesn't that mean it's unlikely she could either?" Rin asked. "I like Kyoko-chan, but it's . . . a little hard to believe, isn't it?"

"Rin-chan," Obito said, whipping around to stare at her. "You don't, you don't think I'm lying, do you?"

"Of course not," she said, giving him a smile. "I'm just . . . ."

"It's a surprise," Minato said gently. "But your sister does seem to have shown that she's full of those."

"She's a genius," Obito said proudly.

Kakashi snickered. "Too bad you didn't get any of that."

Obito scowled. "You can shove it, Bakashi! Just 'cause Kyo-chan is brilliant doesn't mean that I'm not too!"

"Okay, let's not get started on that," their sensei cut in. "Obito, since you were late, you missed our warmups. So get that done while I get Kakashi and Rin started on sparring. Okay?"

Obito shot Kakashi a glare before nodding. "Okay."

"Why's Kyo-chan not back yet?"

Kagami glanced at the clock. "I'm sure Tsunade-san is wanting to maximize their first few days working together. That's all."

Obito leaned against the counter, resting his chin in his hand and staring at the plates Kagami was stacking on the drying rack. He sighed and started running his thumb over a chip in the edge of the countertop. "Hey, Tousan?"

"Hmm?"

"Am I dumb?"

The clattering of the dishes stopped. Kagami shut the water off. "Obito. Look at me."

Obito pushed off the counter and straightened, looking up.

Kagami frowned, drying his hands off. Then he crossed his arms. "Let's start with my answer. No. You're not dumb."

"But—"

"Tell me why you would ask that."

Obito huffed and shoved his hands in his pockets, turning his head to stare at the front door.

Kagami signed and unfolded his arms. "Obito," he said softly. "Is this about Kyoko?"

"No," Obito said quickly. "Really. It's not."

"Uh-huh. Then did Kakashi say something again?"

He hunched his shoulders. "No."

"So Kakashi said nothing about Kyoko to you?"

"He . . . ." He looked down and scuffed his foot against the bottom edge of the cabinet. "He might have said something."

"I see."

Obito jumped in surprise when Kagami put his hand on his head. He looked up as his father ruffled his hair. "Kyoko is really smart."

Kagami nodded once. "She is."

"I'm not."

"That's not true."

"She just graduated with the best score ever. I graduated in the bottom third last year."

"Rin-chan graduated last year in the middle of your class. Kyoko did much better than her. Does that mean Rin-chan is dumb?"

"She's not dumb!"

"Do you see my point, then?"

"But . . . ." Obito sniffed and rubbed at his nose with his sleeve. "Bakashi's super smart. Like crazy smart. And crazy skilled. Aren't I dumb because I'll never be able to be like him?"

"Am I dumb because I'm not as impressive as my teammate that became Hokage?" Kagami shrugged. "Comparing yourself to your comrades to try to figure out your worth is pointless, Obito. You're not dictated by others. Understand?"

"Yeah," Obito muttered. "I guess. I think you're way cooler than Hokage-sama, though."

Kagami grinned. "Thank you. That means a lot."