Almost two weeks ago, team Ryoichi, Rin, and Obito returned to the village, though there was one problem...

Obito had gone into a coma at the end of their mission, they delivered him to the hospital before arriving to the Hokage's office.

The team shuffled into Minato's office, exhaustion etched on their faces. Ryoichi stepped forward, his voice steady as he recounted the mission. "Lord Fourth, we successfully retrieved the artifact as requested."

Minato nodded, his blue eyes scanning the group, noticing a lack of his other student. "Any complications?"

Ryoichi responded quick and decisive, "Well, there was a bit of a scuffle with the Four-Tails jinchuriki..."

Shisui interrupted, a bit too excited. "But big brother Obito took care of it! You should've seen him, Lord Fourth! His eyes went all yellow and orange, the jinchuuriki never stood a chance!"

Minato's eyebrows shot up. "Is that so? And where is Obito now?"

The room fell silent. Rin spoke up softly, "He... collapsed after touching the armor plate, sensei. We're not sure why."

Minato's brow furrowed. "I see. Kazumi, anything to add?"

The Aburame girl shook her head. "My insects didn't detect any anomalies in Obito's chakra before he collapsed. And no one else was affected, which means either it was targeted or a coincidence."

"Alright," Minato sighed. "Good work, everyone. You're dismissed. But Rin, could you stay back for a moment?"

As the others filed out, Rin lingered, fidgeting with the hem of her shirt.

Minato's serious expression melted into a warm smile. "It's still good to have you back, Rin. I never got to ask last time, how was your training with Tsunade?"

Rin's eyes lit up. "It was amazing, sensei! I learned so much more about medical ninjutsu and chakra control. I feel... stronger now."

"I'm glad to hear it," Minato chuckled. "And how are things with Obito? His lack of control over his emotions got to him last time."

Rin's cheeks flushed slightly. "Well he was a lot... different. More focused, I guess? But still Obito, you know? I can't believe he took on the four tails' host."

Minato nodded, his expression turning somber. "He's carried a lot of guilt since Kanabi Bridge, Rin. About Kakashi..."

Rin's smile faltered. "I know. I... I still feel guilty too. If I hadn't been captured..."

"Hey," Minato interrupted gently. "You can't blame yourself for that. No one could have predicted what happened."

Rin nodded, but her eyes remained downcast. Minato sighed, running a hand through his spiky blonde hair.

"Look, Rin. You and Obito have both grown so much. Maybe it's time to start moving forward, hmm?"

Rin looked up, a small smile tugging at her lips. "Maybe you're right, sensei. Thanks."

As Rin turned to leave, Minato called out, "Oh, and Rin? Keep an eye on Obito for me, will you? Something tells me there's more to this collapse than meets the eye."

Rin nodded, determination flickering in her eyes. "You can count on me, sensei."

Rin stepped out of the Hokage Tower, the warm afternoon sun hitting her face. She took a deep breath, her mind swirling with thoughts of the mission and her conversation with Minato-sensei. Her feet seemed to move on their own, guiding her through the bustling streets of Konoha.

Before she knew it, she found herself at the entrance of the village cemetery. The familiar stone path stretched out before her, lined with carefully tended flowers and trees. Rin's steps slowed as she approached Kakashi's grave, her heart heavy with a mix of emotions.

"Hey, Kakashi," she said softly, kneeling in front of the stone marker. "It's been a while, huh?"

She traced her fingers over the engraved name, a sad smile on her face. "You wouldn't believe the mission we just had. It was... something."

Rin settled more comfortably on the grass, her eyes fixed on the stone. "We had to retrieve this artifact, and things got pretty wild. Obito... he fought the Four-Tails jinchuriki. And he won! Can you believe it?"

She paused, remembering the awe-inspiring sight of Obito in Sage Mode. "He's changed so much, Kakashi. But in some ways, he's still the same old Obito."

A cool breeze rustled the leaves around her, and Rin hugged her knees to her chest. "I got to work with my dad on this mission too. It was... nice. Weird, but nice."

Her voice dropped to a whisper. "And there was this gala. I dressed up nice and fancy like, hung out with the high society folk. It kinda felt like something out of a dream, you know?"

Rin's eyes welled up with tears. "But then everything went wrong. Obito touched the First Hokage's armor plate and just... collapsed. He's in a coma now, and we don't know why."

She wiped her eyes, sniffling. "I wish you were here, Kakashi. You'd probably know what to do. Or at least, you'd say something snarky to make me feel better."

Rin sat in silence for a moment, listening to the rustle of leaves and distant sounds of the village. "I miss you," she said finally. "We both do. Obito might not say it, but I know he does."

She stood up, brushing grass from her clothes. "I should go check on him. Who knows? Maybe he'll wake up and ask for some of that gross hospital food you always complained about."

With a final touch to Kakashi's gravestone, Rin turned and headed back towards the village, her steps a little lighter than before.

A white creature with green hair erupted from the bushes, "Boy, Kakashi sure seems to have an admirer. I wonder what he'll think of this." He grabbed the flowers and burrowed through the ground, disappearing without a trace.

Days later, in the rain soaked land of Rain. The rain-soaked streets of Amegakure stretched before Konan and Sakumo as they approached the village bridge. Between them stumbled the Seven-Tails Jinchuriki, his steps faltering under the weight of exhaustion and despair. The constant pitter-patter of raindrops masked their footsteps, creating an eerie silence broken only by the occasional whimper from their captive. Konan's paper jutsu restricted his movements just to be safe.

As they passed over the bridge, the towering metal structures of Amegakure loomed overhead, water cascading down their sides in sheets. The few villagers out in the rain cast furtive glances at the arrivals before hurrying on their way, their hunched shoulders speaking volumes about life in this dreary village.

Sakumo's hand gripped the Jinchuriki's arm tightly as he steered him towards the main tower.

Konan trailed behind, her eyes darting between Sakumo's short and rigid back and the defeated slump of the Jinchuriki's shoulders. She felt turmoil in her heart from having witnessed Sakumo destroy the Hidden Waterfall.

Inside the tower, Sakumo wasted no time taking their prisoner to a cell surrounded by chakra blockers. He spun the Jinchuriki around, locking eyes with him. Sakumo's lone Sharingan eye stared deeply into the jinchuuriki's eyes. The air seemed to shimmer for a moment as Sakumo's genjutsu took hold. The young man's eyes glazed over, his body going slack. Sakumo's young frame sighed in relief.

"There," Sakumo said, his tone cold and icy. "That should keep him docile for now." He exited the cell and shut the door. Sakumo made his way back to the war room, Konan followed in tow, intrigued yet fearful.

Konan watched as Sakumo spread out some plans on the table, a chill running down her spine that had nothing to do with her wet clothes. "What now?" she asked, her voice barely above a whisper.

Sakumo gazed at her, his eye looked at her from underneath his wolf mask. His voice was flat. "Now, we build," he said, motioning to the plans. "Here, in the center of the village. We'll construct a stadium."

Konan's brow furrowed as she studied the plans. "A stadium? For what purpose?"

"A tournament," Sakumo replied, his finger tracing the outline of the proposed structure. "One that will draw attention from all the great villages."

She chuckled slightly, "The major villages would rather spit on us then speak with us. You can't expect they'd give us the time of day, right?"

Sakumo held up his index finger, "With a prize like the jinchuuriki they can't ignore such an event out of fear of others winning it."

Konan's mind raced. A tournament... with the Seven-Tails as the prize? The implications were staggering. She could already picture the chaos, the desperation such an event would breed.

"But why?" Konan found herself asking. "Why invite such danger to our doorstep?"

Sakumo was a tactician that saw things from multiple angles, he knew how she saw it. "Publicity, Konan. And opportunity. We'll extend invitations to all the great villages. They'll send their best, thinking only of the prize. But some... some will see the true strength of Amegakure. Those unhappy with their lot might find a new home here, with the strongest village." It was strange how a young man could come up with such an idea, it was genius in a way.

Konan's eyes widened as understanding dawned. "You mean to use this as a recruitment tool?"

"Among other things," Sakumo nodded. "Power attracts power, after all."

"You say you wish to just give the jinchuuriki away, yes?" she asked, her head in her palm as she sat down. "What happens when the Leaf or Cloud wins the tournament? We'll be out of a jinchuuriki and the Rain will be made into a laughingstock."

Sakumo's expression hardened. "I'll be entering, for Ame. If there truly exists a Shinobi who can beat me they deserve him, but they won't." He removed his mask, his scarred face exposed. He pulled out his head band and covered his left eye. "I was planning on an age limit, seventeen maybe. One male and one female representation of each village, you would be a representative alongside me. What do you think?"

Konan thought it over, it was a great way to get more manpower, but the danger was high. How could Sakumo be so confident when there were so many variables in play?

Sakumo threw out pictures of who he thought each village would send. The Mist, the Stone, the Cloud, the Sand, and the Leaf. Konan looked at the pictures, various teens and one younger boy from Stone, it almost seemed like there would be no competition. But then Konan recognized the boy from the Leaf, she started reminiscing about him, that's when Sakumo interrupted her. "I know you shared a mentor with him." He wasn't specific but he didn't need to be. Konan's cheeks flushed thinking of the late training and chores she'd done with him. While Nagato and Yahiko were like brothers to her, Obito was something else, something more.

"Will it be a problem?" Sakumo asked sternly.

Konan shook her head, "Of course not." She straightened up, "Fellow student or not, I won't go easy on him. It would be a disservice to him, and to you."

Sakumo looked away, neutral about her answer. "I would hope so..."

Sakumo was now going over his blueprints of the stadium, "You're dismissed, Konan." She couldn't quite tell if he was displeased with her response, nevertheless she accepted her dismissal and shuffled out of the room quietly.

Right now she probably needed to prepare for the tournament, Konan needed to be in tip top shape for any opponent, even Obito...

Back in the present, Obito had been released from the hospital, Tsunade hadn't found a single thing wrong with him. The conversation was very professional but the thought of telling her of their relation was on Obito's mind. But he decided against it.

He was greeted by friends and his new family on his release, yet one person was missing, Minato. It didn't bother him since he was probably busy, especially being the Hokage.

Obito was at least happy this was his life, when he knew how much worse it could be. Hashirama's life was evident of that, yet he always moved forward. He'd try his best to do the same, try.

In the Hidden Rain village, Kakashi was overseeing the construction of the stadium for the tournament, Sasori by his side.

The puppet user looked out upon the countless Shinobi and laborers working in the rain. "Hanma, I don't quite understand what you're asking of me."

Kakashi turned his head, the silver wolf mask of his gleaming with the Sharingan that lay underneath. "This tournament is going to have a lot of eyes on it, and the village needs a figure to represent leadership and strength. I can't take that position because of my participation in the tournament, and with my age the four Kage would likely write us off immediately. Another reason is that you already have a reputation of fear within the Stone and Sand, they would be fools to not take you seriously."

Sasori turned to meet Sakumo's eye, "You bring up valid points, leader. I'll do my best to keep the visage of leadership." He bowed with the utmost respect.

Kakashi returned his gaze to the stadium, "For the greatest piece of art, an eternal slumber where peace springs forevermore."

Sasori raised his head, a smile plastered on his face. "True art that would never wither, always full of beauty. I will forever be grateful for your plan, for my faith in the Eye of the Moon will never falter."

Kakashi nodded, "We will walk the path to ensure peace, no matter how much blood must be spilled to get there." He was thankful that a powerful Shinobi like Sasori found the infinite Tsukoyomi appealing beyond measure. An artist enjoys art, and the infinite Tsukoyomi was the pinnacle to Sasori. "For father..."

Minato's fingers drummed on his desk, his eyes fixed on the letter that sat on his desk. He reached out with his right hand, then froze after realization. A frown crossed his face as he used his left hand, his only remaining hand. He sighed, "Some things take time to unlearn."

The letter crinkled as he unfolded it. "Tournament, huh?" he muttered. "Three weeks... under seventeen... prize is the seven-tails jinchuriki!?" His brow furrowed. An event like this was something he couldn't ignore, he believed Rin and Obito would be perfect, but Obito was...

The door creaked open, and Minato's head snapped up. His eyes widened. "Obito?!"

There stood Obito, looking a bit dazed but very much awake. His hair was messy, like he'd just rolled out of bed.

"Hey, Sensei," Obito said, his voice a little raspy. He scratched the back of his head, a little nervous. "Kushina, oh umm Mom, sorry I'm still getting used to it. But she said that you were working today. I wanted to make sure it was a little surprise when I saw you."

Minato jumped up, nearly knocking over his chair. "You're awake! How are you feeling? Is everything okay?" He was asking in a very fatherly tone, Obito was surprised to hear this but it was true.

Obito hesitated, shifting from foot to foot. "I... uh... had some weird dreams. Or visions. I'm not sure."

"Oh?" Minato leaned forward, his curiosity piqued. "What kind of visions?"

Obito's face scrunched up, like he was trying to remember a difficult math problem. "They were memories, I'm certain of it. But they weren't mine. They were... the First Hokage's."

Minato's eyebrows shot up. "The First's? That's... impossible."

"Yeah, I know. But I think there was more in that armor plate than you'd think." Obito continued, his voice dropping to a near-whisper. "My assumption is that there was a little bit of sage chakra, and since I was in sage mode moments before touching it it affected me. Though I could be wrong."

Minato had to agree that it was some solid guestimation, whether it be true or not was yet to be seen. "What exactly did you see in these visions?"

Obito was stern, serious beyond belief. "They went through the First Hokage's life, from his childhood to his late adulthood. It was all centered around one person, Madara Uchiha."

Minato felt a chill creep up his neck, hearing the name always did that. Just the question now was if what Obito had seen was real.

Obito continued, remembering the vividness of them. "Madara Uchiha was his friend, but they became enemies for a long while. But there was one thing that I still couldn't wrap my head around, Madara was a girl. It didn't make any sense until the visions were placed after the village was founded. She fell in love with the First Hokage, making her my great grandmother."

Minato's face fell, his shoulders sagging. He sank back into his chair, looking suddenly tired. "Oh, Obito... I'm so sorry."

Obito blinked, confused. "Sorry? For what?"

Minato sighed, running a hand through his hair. "I knew. Lord Second told me... well, he didn't mean to. He let it slip when we questioned him. He made me promise not to tell you."

Obito's eyes widened. "But... why?"

"He said it was more important for you to know you were Hashirama's descendant. As for Madara... I don't know why that was kept secret. But Lord Second must have had his reasons."

Obito nodded slowly, processing this information. "I... I'm not mad, Sensei. I just want to understand why."

Minato was shocked, the boy he knew to be impulsive and clumsy was now calm and curious. He smiled softly, "That's very mature of you, Obito. You really have changed."

He glanced back at the letter on his desk, then back to Obito. "Actually, I'm glad you're here. I've got some news that might interest you."

Obito let up on his earlier sternness. "What's it about?"

Minato held up the letter. "Hidden Rain's hosting a tournament. They want two shinobi from each village - a boy and a girl, between ten and seventeen. I was thinking you and Rin would be perfect for it."

Obito's eyes lit up. "A tournament? With Rin? That sounds awesome!"

Minato chuckled. "I thought you'd like that. But here's the catch - it starts in three weeks. You two will need some intense training before then."

Obito nodded eagerly. "No problem! You can train us, right, Sensei?"

Minato's smile faltered. He tapped his hand on his desk. "Ah, about that... Since the chainbreaker's attack I haven't trained or seen combat with my injury."

Obito's face fell. "Oh... right. Sorry, Sensei."

Minato waved it off. "Don't worry about it. I've been thinking about who could train you two. Tsunade is busy adjusting to taking over the medical division, and Jiraiya... I don't quite trust to train Rin so it can't be him..."

Obito tilted his head. "So... who?"

A mischievous glint appeared in Minato's eyes. "Well, I had one idea. How would you feel about training with... Lord Second?"

Obito shifted in his seat, suddenly looking uncomfortable. "I... I don't know, Sensei. I have a lot of questions for him. About Madara, and the First, and... well, everything."

Minato leaned forward, his voice gentle. "Maybe that's all the more reason to do it, Obito. This could be your chance to get answers."

Obito bit his lip, considering. Finally, he nodded. "Okay. I'll do it. But... what about Rin? How do you think she'll take it?"

Minato grinned. "Oh, I think she'll be surprised at first. But knowing Rin, she'll probably end up loving it. She's always enjoyed learning."

Obito sighed, "I suppose so." He then asked "What makes this tournament so important? Isn't Rain not a major village?"

Minato nodded, his grin fading. "Correct. Amegakure is a smaller village like the Hidden Waterfall or the Hidden Grass. They don't usually have a strong military presence but yet... They're offering up the seven-tails jinchuriki to the winning village."

Obito straightened up, not sure if it was really much of a big deal. "I know I met one but what exactly is it?"

Minato chuckled, "I forgot, it's not a very open thing to kids anymore. A jinchuuriki is someone who has a tailed beast sealed inside them, they contain great power. There are nine of them in total and the more tails they have the stronger they are. During Lord First's era, he captured all of them and bequeathed to the other major villages, besides Sand, two of them. He gave the seven tails to Hidden Waterfall as a good will gesture, but they saw his kindness as weakness so they tried assassinating him soon after and failed."

Obito listened about his great grandfather, there was no amount of strength that could prepare a man for killing his love. His thoughts returned to the conversation, "So if Hidden Waterfall had the seven tails then why does Rain have it?"

Minato looked at the letter, squinting his eyes, "That's what's troubling me. Either Rain is bluffing or they're being honest. Which makes it all the more troubling... If they are telling the truth and just one of the villages gets a hold on the seven tails then a Fourth war would be on the horizon."

Obito remembered the third war still, if there was any way to stop something like that from happening. He had siblings he wished never had to go through such events. Just like the First wanted...

"I'll train as hard as I can, Sensei. If me and Rin have to win that stupid tournament to stop a war from happening then I don't care who they throw at me, I'll take em all on."

Minato already knew that, but still hearing his student burn bright with determination made him happy. "I had a feeling you'd say that."

In a small hut in the pouring rain, the two boys, Yahiko and Nagato, were seeking refuge whilst still keeping guard of the small town to the east.

Nagato was trying to use his sensory abilities for any nearby Shinobi. It came easy to him, sensing chakra. Nagato knew it must've been from his mother's side, Uzumaki is what he remembered his father calling her family.

It was a very distant memory, long before he learned of Jiraiya's teachings, his current life seemed so different yet he preferred it now. Even if Konan, Jiraiya-Sensei, and Obito were no longer around.

Yahiko was perplexed as he was reading about the news coming from Amegakure, "It doesn't make any sense..."

Nagato relinquished his focus, turning to his friend. "What's the matter?"

His orange haired friend was continuing to read the newspaper, an image of a red haired man, he seemed pretty young. "The new leader of the Amegakure was revealed, it's an infamous Suna nin, Sasori of the Red Sand or so it says."

Nagato was perplexed too, "So he's the one who killed Hanzo? It seems quite odd that it took him this long to come out of the shadows."

Yahiko started rubbing his chin, "Yeah, especially when there was a guy like that Hanma, strong arming one of us to join their group."

"Yes. Someone like Hanma is more of a leader than a follower, unless he's leading from the shadows..." He thought aloud. "But there's no connection between the two of them. It could be unrelated."

Yahiko agreed reluctantly, "Yeah, that's true. But there's still the possibility. Sasori seems like bad news, so if Hanma's working with him then he'd be nefarious too." His mind wanted Hanma to be bad so he could come to Konan's rescue this time.

Nagato didn't know that sense of want his friend wanted, his only goal was to support Yahiko and his dream. But that dream almost seemed impossible at this moment, though his faith in Yahiko would never falter. "Is there anything else in the newspaper of note?"

Yahiko hadn't gotten very far before he noticed some other big news, "Sasori has released a statement about hosting a tournament in Amegakure, in which two members of each village under seventeen will participate in, the last village standing will receive the seven tails jinchuuriki?! Ame's participants have already been chosen, Konan and Sakumo."

Nagato hummed, "It seems that we've got a tournament to attend." The idea of supporting Konan in the tournament was nice.

Yahiko sighed, "I guess so." He cursed the world for making such cool ideas like tournaments, and pretty girls. "Hopefully the other villages won't have any strong contenders for her. She'd probably shred them to pieces." They shared a quick chuckle, Konan was calm and delicate yet she'd always had that thorny part of her during fights, the boys had shared some cuts and bruises against her many times.

Shisui was in the archive of the village, learning all he could about the Senju and Uchiha, he hadn't unlocked his Sharingan yet but he would soon. He just needed to know how.

Shisui was on his third book already, and there was no relevant information on the Sharingan. He decided to ask his ancestor the Second Hokage, he knew everything there was so it would be like learning from every single book. Or so he thought.

He arrived to the cave the Fourth showed him and found nothing but notes from the Second. He was writing some sort of information about an Evil force, writing down so much knowledge that Shisui couldn't quite understand it all.

"What's going on with Lord Second?"

Obito and Rin were walking through the forest, on their way to a special training ground Minato assigned them to train at. Rin had no idea they were gonna train with the Second Hokage, she'd be baffled and honored.

Obito kept glancing at Rin, she looked a bit too nice for training. Rin wore a nice grey cardigan and white shorts, she also wore black leggings ike the ones that she used to wear.

He tried to distract himself by asking a question he already knew the answer to. "So, any idea who's gonna train us?" Obito asked, kicking a pebble.

Rin shrugged, her cardigan shifting with the motion. "Beats me. Minato-sensei's being all mysterious about it."

Obito snuck another glance at Rin. Her hair swayed gently in the breeze, and he couldn't help but notice how different she looked, the change almost three years made. Not just older, but... prettier? He quickly averted his gaze, feeling his cheeks warm. He saw her dressed up during their mission, but he thought she looked fine then, a hint of the Rin he knew. But he shouldn't feel that way, his vow wouldn't allow him to.

"You okay there, Obito?" Rin's voice held a hint of amusement. "You're not picking up bad habits from Jiraiya, are you?"

"What? No way!" Obito sputtered, waving his hands. "I just... uh... your outfit. It's not very trainy, you know?"

Rin giggled, a sound that made Obito's stomach do a little flip. "Trainy? Is that even a word?"

"You know what I mean," he grumbled, trying to hide his embarrassment.

They walked in silence for a moment before Rin spoke again. "It's okay, you know. If things are different now."

Obito's steps faltered, unsure what that meant. "What do you mean?"

Rin's eyes met his, a mix of warmth and something he couldn't quite place. "We've both changed. Grown up. It's natural for feelings to change too. Tsunade taught me that feelings are fine but they can't cloud your judgement, if they do then people will get hurt."

Images flashed through Obito's mind - his brash words to Kakashi, being rescued by him, the awakening of his Sharingan, Kakashi's sacrifice, the awakening of his Mangekyou Sharingan. It was all because of his emotions that Kakashi had to pay the price. He swallowed hard.

"Yeah, those are wise words," he said softly.

As they continued walking, Obito found himself hyper-aware of Rin's presence. The way she moved, the sound of her breathing, even the scent of her shampoo carried on the breeze. It was... distracting. Was he getting to that age?

"Hey, Obito?" Rin's voice snapped him back to reality.

"Huh? What?"

She stopped and folded her arms, a stern but concerned expression on her face. "You've been acting a lot weirder since you woke up from your coma, do you have anything special on your mind?"

Obito wondered if he could tell Rin, would she even believe him, or understand it? He could barely believe it himself.

He was an orphan up until Minato became Hokage, then he was informed he had a brother, Shisui. Then when Obito returned after training with Jiraiya for two years he was informed he was the decendant of the First Hokage. And now with witnessing Hashirama's memories he found out Madara Uchiha was a woman and his great grandmother. Legendary blood flowed through him, of the founders, of the Union of Senju and Uchiha. It was a lot, especially when he couldn't process it all alone. How exactly could he explain it all, should he even tell Rin?

Obito blinked, tried coming up with an excuse. "Oh, it's just that..." An idea formed, "I have friends in the land of Rain, and before me and Jiraiya-Sensei left for Mount Myoboku, Hanzo the salamander was killed. Meaning there was a new shift in leadership within the village. They weren't very complicit with Hanzo's leadership, but I wonder if something happened to them. I hope they're alright."

As they entered the training ground, a lone chair stood out against the trees. Suddenly, a flash of light, and there stood the Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju, in all his blue-armored glory.

His sharp eyes scanned them. "Minato's students, eh?" His voice was gruff but not unfriendly.

Rin bowed low, her voice filled with awe. "Lord Second! It's such an honor!"

Obito just gave a short nod, his face unreadable.

Tobirama circled them, like a wolf sizing up its pack. "Hmm. A medical Shinobi with Senju strength and an Uchiha with great prowess. Quite the strong participants for a tournament."

He stopped in front of Rin, a hint of a smile on his lips. "You've got spunk, girl. Reminds me of little Tsunade."

Rin's eyes went wide. "Me? Like Lady Tsunade?"

Tobirama chuckled. "Oh yes, she was a firecracker. Seems she's passed that on to you."

Turning to Obito, his expression softened just a touch. "Now, boy. How do you want to handle this? With your friend here?"

Obito tensed, then sighed. "It's fine. Rin should know. I... I can't say it myself."

Tobirama nodded, then turned to Rin. "Rin was it? This might come as a shock, but Obito here... he's got Senju blood. My brother's, to be exact."

Rin's jaw dropped. She looked at Obito, then back at Tobirama. "But... how? I thought... Obito was an orphan, and an Uchiha!"

Tobirama's eyes glinted. "History's not always what it seems, girl. You've heard of Madara Uchiha, right?"

Rin nodded, still dazed from the info.

"Well, here's something they don't teach you in the academy. Madara... was a woman. And my brother's first love."

Rin's eyes widened even further, if that was possible. She looked at Obito, really looked at him. Suddenly, she saw him differently. The strength in his jaw, the fire that was always there in his eyes... it all made sense now.

"Obito..." she breathed, a mix of awe and something else in her voice.

Obito shifted uncomfortably, avoiding her gaze. "Yeah, well... It doesn't really matter who my ancestors were, I'm my own person." In a sense he was telling the truth, though his lineage mattered a bit too much. But right now he was just trying to play it cool, he didn't need to talk about it, he needed to train. His body had been immobile for two weeks.

Tobirama watched them both, a knowing look of understanding on his face. "Now to the original reason we're here. You two need to grow stronger for this tournament, the other villages have many unknowns and it's best to be prepared for anything, regardless of if you think you're ready. For our first bit of training I want you to come at me like you want to kill me. I need to see where you stand physically, mentally, and strategically. Oh and don't worry, I can take anything you throw at me."

Obito was unsure if this was really how they should be training, it's not like they would kill anyone in the tournament... right?

Rin didn't need to be told twice. With a cry of "Chaaa!", she charged forward, her fist glowing with chakra. She slammed her fist into the ground, Tobirama dodged effortlessly, a small smile playing on his lips as he saw the massive destruction the girl caused.

Obito sighed, he'd hold himself back from using his Sharingan or sage mode. He always relied on them to win fights he otherwise wouldn't have, he had to train his base strength even more than he did with Jiraiya.

He watched Rin continue her assault, analyzing both her and Tobirama's movements. He saw openings in Tobirama's defense, but also how quickly the old Hokage closed them.

"Come on, Obito!" Tobirama called out. "Your girlfriend's putting you to shame!"

Obito felt his face heat up. "She's not my- oh, whatever." He jumped into the fray, trying to tag the Hokage. But he quickly found out that the second was fast, just like Minato-Sensei.

But something was off. Their moves were clumsy, uncoordinated. It was like they'd never trained together before. Tobirama frowned, dodging their attacks with ease.

"What's going on here?" he thought. "Minato said they were on the same team for years. And they trained under Tsunade and Jiraiya - two-thirds of the legendary Sannin. So why can't they work together?"

He watched as Rin threw a punch, only for Obito to nearly collide with her. There was a tension between them, a hesitation in their movements.

"Alright, stop!" Tobirama called out. Obito and Rin halted, panting. "What's going on with you two? You're fighting like strangers, not teammates."

Rin and Obito exchanged a quick glance, then looked away. Tobirama's eyes narrowed. There was definitely something there - resentment? Fear? A new dynamic he couldn't quite put his finger on?

"Look," he said, his voice softer. "Whatever's going on between you two, you need to sort it out. Fast. Because right now, you're not just holding yourselves back - you're a liability to each other."

Obito winced at the harsh words, but he knew Tobirama was right. He glanced at Rin, seeing the same realization in her eyes. They wouldn't be able to properly train together without clearing the air.

Rin took a deep breath. "I... I felt so weak after Kakashi's death. That's why I wanted to train under Lady Tsunade. I never wanted to be helpless again."

Obito's eyes widened. He had no idea Rin felt that way.

Rin continued, her voice shaky. "But seeing you fight the four-tails jinchuriki... I realized I'm still in your shadow. I'm still not strong enough."

Obito felt a lump in his throat. "Rin, I... I had no idea. I thought you were happy."

Tobirama watched silently, his expression unreadable.

Obito swallowed hard. "I've been carrying my own weight too. I feel like everyone expects me to be the next great hero like Minato, or the First Hokage, or even Madara before her defection. It's... a lot."

He paused, his voice dropping to a whisper. "And I still feel responsible for Kakashi's death. I saved him, in a way. Reminded him to do the right thing, no matter how people think of you for it. But... I traded his life for yours, Rin. That guilt... it eats at me." For the first time his guilt didn't feel so bad. The confession lifted some of it off of him, but he would never fully be guilty free, his friend died because of him and he had to live with it.

Tobirama's eyes widened at the mention of Kakashi. "Kakashi... Hatake?"

Obito nodded, confused. "Yeah, why?"

Tobirama's mind raced. Remembering that Minato had mentioned a Kakashi, Sakumo Hatake's son. That meant...

"Obito," Tobirama said slowly. "Kakashi was my grandson. He was your cousin."