Fanfiction - Naruto - The Importance of Being Friends
The Prompt - "How about instead of a request, your prompt is THIS PIC I saw over at HOOPSNAKE. i.e. set before the Kyuubi attack a pre-genin Iruka makes friends with Rin & Obitio... but not so much with Kakashi. You can take that in any direction you like but I hope it'll be something fun and bratty :) -konkira" -Saa, this has been a long time coming! I really am sorry about the horrendous wait, I’ve had the idea for a while, but hadn’t had time to get it typed up.
As an apology for taking so long, this was going to be the main request followed by a follow-up chapter. Then I started writing and it’s…at least 4 chapters long, not totally sure yet. So anyway, it’s obvious I liked the idea ^_^ I hope you all like it, too.
Author: Lily Kalanoa
Story: The Importance of Being Friends (gods, that’s a pretty random reference)
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: I own nothing but my laptop, which put me into significant debt. All characters and series belong to their respective creators, I just like to torture them, heh heh.
Warnings: Angst later, death but it’s all canon, spoilers for Kakashi’s past
I do have a request from those fans more knowledgeable than me. I had a heck of a time researching ages and timeline for this. If anyone knows better, could you tell me? I’d like to write more of young Kakashi and Iruka so knowing the timeline would be nice. Here’s what I have (and what will be true for this fic regardless of if it’s accurate or not) Kakashi, Obito, and Rin are all about the same age, with Kakashi’s birthday first, in Sept, Rin in Nov, and Obito the baby all the way in Feb. I have Kakashi testing for jounin just after Obito turns 13, then their bad mission. A month or two later, I imagine Iruka graduating the academy, also 13 years old, and then the fox attack that fall (I think I’ve seen evidence Iruka wasn’t graduated when the fox attacked…anyone know?). In any case, if anyone out there knows better, I’d love to hear it: I’m just plain curious now!
-o-o-o-o-o-
Down and up, down and up. Obito leaned back on his arms, head tilted lazily as he watched his teammate. Down and up. Honestly, he didn’t see how Kakashi could spend his afternoon working out like that. Currently he was doing pushups - the rhythm changed as the silver haired youth began inserting a clap every time he was in the ‘up’ position - but he’d spent the last half hour doing various crunches and leg lifts. He wasn’t training, wasn’t even giving the slightest thought to jutsu or chakra control, this was pure exercise, just toning that already sculpted form.
Obito flung himself backwards, changing his view to that of the clouds floating overhead. “You’re working too hard, man.”
For a second the only response was the steady clap, clap of the boy’s hands and when he did finally speak, his breathing was barely strained at all. “If you don’t work out regularly, you’ll get out of shape.”
Obito sighed, watching a tiger-looking cloud shift and catch up with a flower-looking cloud. The two combined into a sort of two-tailed dragon-looking cloud. “I don’t get what the point is, you’re not even pushing yourself.”
“You add weight to build muscle mass. You add reps to build tone. I don’t really want to get big.” For another minute the only sound was the clapping. “You know you could get in a workout, too.”
“As if! I’m fine, thanks, not all of us are obsessed like you.”
Kakashi sighed huffily. “Then you could always leave. I wouldn’t mind losing the commentary.”
Obito sat up again, not answering his friend and teammate right away. For a minute he stayed quiet, his eyes wandering over the rest of the field. “Nah, I don’t mind keeping you company. It’s boring to train alone.”
The clapping stopped, but Obito didn’t shift his posture. Kakashi rolled onto his feet and walked over behind the other boy, following his gaze to a small group of training genin. “Company, right. And the fact that there are a half dozen kunoichi in skimpy training clothes over there and in a few minutes they’ll all be stretching has nothing to do with it.”
Obito giggled a little, still not taking his eyes off the group of girls. “Not a thing.”
Kakashi huffed again. “You’re disgusting.”
“I’m a perfectly healthy, growing boy, thank you very much. All twelve-year-olds are interested in cute members of the opposite sex.” He grinned, leaning slightly forward as his eyes hazed over. “Especially cute girls, bouncing around the field, bending and twisting, pressing against each other to stretch-“
“No. You’re disgusting and I’m leaving.”
“You realize you only did forty-seven push-ups, right? Seems like an awfully odd number to stop on.”
“You’re the one that said I was working too hard. You just want to stay and girl-watch some more.” He sighed again and turned on his heel, ready to leave.
Obito finally stood, following after his friend. “You need to relax, ‘Kashi. All this up tight training every day isn’t good for you! At the very least you could look.”
Kakashi just scowled behind his mask. “I’m not interested. I’m only thirteen and have other-”
“Exactly! I’ll be thirteen next month and my present to me is gonna be getting a girlfriend. Honestly, Kakashi, I didn’t think you were this socially backwards.”
The masked boy was still scowling. “I’m not interes-“
“Yeah, yeah. That’s why you’re gonna test for jounin, I know. I guess you’re just a late bloomer.”
Kakashi hadn’t stopped walking, continuing into the surrounding trees. At this last statement, he gave up trying to argue as well and quickened his pace. Honestly, the Uchiha boy was infuriating. Kakashi couldn’t see how he’d graduated the academy early when he was constantly distracted with such trivial matters. He was a disgrace to the rank of chunin! At the very least he didn’t have to interrupt Kakashi’s training with his nonsense.
Above the two boys, in the higher branches of the trees, a few children rattled the leaves as they raced towards the training ground. Kakashi paused long enough to look up, recognizing that they were genin. But there was another flicker of chakra, fainter than the others and slightly behind. Obito was still a few steps behind, but he paused as well, both of them feeling the falter as the child slipped, losing his footing. Obito jerked, suddenly realizing Kakashi was just going to stand there and do nothing. “Kakashi!” He leapt forward, but with the other chunin between him and the kid . . .
Kakashi looked disinterested, watching as Obito dove to try and catch the young boy that had fallen. He didn’t really succeed; his hands caught the boy, but they both still crashed to the ground. For a moment, Kakashi was certain the brunette that had fallen would burst into tears. He whimpered miserably and clenched his jaw, but after another moment it was clear he wasn’t going to actually cry.
Obito pushed himself up off the ground, cradling his own scraped arm. “Damn it, Kakashi, what the hell was that!”
The masked boy still didn’t move. “Ninja need to know how to fall.”
Furious, Obito gestured at the boy still on the ground. “He’s not even a genin!” He wasn’t wearing a hitai-ate and, unless he’d graduated early, he certainly looked too young.
Kakashi just continued to stare. “Then he needs to learn how to fall. If he’s still an academy student he shouldn’t be trying something like that anyway. And the training grounds are off limit to non-ninja.”
“Stop freakin’ talking about him like he’s not even here!” Obito looked back at the boy - who wasn’t actually paying attention to either of them - and smiled brightly. “Hang in there another second, I’ll get some help.” Then he looked back up at Kakashi. “Who cares if he isn’t supposed to be here, that doesn’t excuse you. Those that don’t help a comrade in need are the worst kind of scum!”
Kakashi watched as the other boy ran back towards the girls training not too far away. With another little sigh, he looked back at the younger boy at his feet. His scraggly brown hair was pulled up on the top of his head and he had a distinctive scar running across his nose and either cheek. The rest of the boy’s features were lost, his face twisted in pain and eyes screwed shut. Kakashi sighed and looked away, hearing Obito running back towards them.
The Uchiha had gotten Rin and the girl dropped immediately to her knees beside the fallen boy. She didn’t even spare a glance at Kakashi, but that suited the masked boy just fine. He looked at Obito to find the boy was still glaring at him, but Kakashi didn’t care about that, either. He stepped around the scene and continued into the trees, away from the training grounds and his teammates.
-o-o-o-o-o-
Kakashi was waiting for his sensei and the rest of his team, a few minutes early for training. Or, to be accurate, the assigned time had already passed, but the others hadn’t yet arrived. Kakashi was used to them being a few minutes late, and for the most part he didn’t hold it against the others. For simple training, he could understand being a little lax, and anyway their sensei was late, too, and never more than five or ten minutes.
He turned, hearing footsteps coming up behind him, and smiled slightly at the blond he saw. Minato-sensei grinned infinitely wider at the short chunin. “Right on time as usual, I see. Are the others here yet?” Kakashi shook his head and Minato-sensei gave a little sigh. “Obito I understand, but Rin-chan usually tries . . .” He trailed off, eyes shifting past Kakashi to look further down the path.
Kakashi considered not even turning. He could hear two sets of feet pounding along the road behind him and it didn’t take much of a leap to assume it was his teammates. He did turn, though, watching as Rin and Obito raced along the path. Still several feet away, Rin broke into a smile. “Ah, we made it,” she panted, stopping beside the others and bracing her hands on her knees.
Obito stopped as well, throwing himself onto the ground and staring up at the sky as he waited to catch his breath. Minato-sensei just smiled. “And already warmed up, I see. A good idea to go running before we train, gets your legs nice and stretched out.” Beside him, Kakashi scowled; this was ridiculous.
Five minutes later found all three children scattering around, looking for the best place to wait for target practice. Such a simple sounding exercise, but they knew the targets would be anything but ordinary and without concentration it would be unbearably easy to mess up. They knew the price of failure, too. Whoever ended this game with the lowest score wouldn’t be getting any lunch.
Crouched just behind a large rock, Obito quickly prepared. He hadn’t had breakfast and there was no way he was going to lose this time. Part of him really, really wanted to beat Kakashi, too, he couldn’t afford to blow this chance! Several kunai were pulled from his pouch, ready for whatever the first target might be and his other hand slipped back to grab more . . .
Oh, gods, no . . . Obito abandoned watching the field, frantically pulling open his weapon pouch and searching for the two dozen shuriken that should have been there. Only to find empty space - no! He’d left them behind! How could he have been so stupid? If Rin hadn’t dragged him off so quickly . . . he would have been late, but he would have had his weapons. A big part of this exercise was dealing with limited weapon supply and they would have to regather projectiles without getting weighed down. But with only a half-dozen kunai, he’d have to dart out of hiding three times more often than the others!
Obito jerked his head back up, sensing the bit of chakra that was attached to their targets. In a second his eyes took in the information - hostile target, moving away towards the trees . . . Obito’s own weapon hit the thing square in the back, well after two others. He grabbed what weapons he did have, already moving towards where the thing was heading. He’d use the next few minutes to get closer and claim any kunai that ended up near him so he didn’t have to move as far.
Another target darted across the field, followed by two more and a non-hostile target. Damn it, that brought him down to only two kunai, and he hadn’t even made it halfway to where he knew the three were still in that first target. All thought of his handicap flew from Obito’s mind, a startled yell piercing the air. He leapt from the trees, his last two weapons ready for whatever surprise Minato-sensei had planned.
Obito blinked at the sight greeting him. He’d emerged just in time to see little Iruka hit the ground, startled enough that he’d lost his balance. In front of the brunette was another of the target dummies, a kunai stuck firmly in its throat. It was Kakashi’s, Obito knew, he could see Rin poking her head out as well and she wasn’t at the right angle to have thrown it. There were also two shuriken in the thing’s chest and several more on the ground surrounding Iruka.
Minato-sensei was walking out from behind another nearby rock, pausing long enough to pick up another couple of shuriken that had missed their target and rebounded off the stone. “That wasn’t a bad shot,” he mused, looking at Iruka again.
The brunette ducked his head, one hand rubbing across his scar. “I missed with half of them, though.”
The blond man just smiled, stopping beside the boy and offering him a hand up. “Well, when you get your hitai-ate then, you’ll have to focus on improving your aim when you’re startled, won’t you?”
Obito took a few more steps toward the boy. “Are you all right? What’re you doing here?”
Iruka picked up one of the shuriken beside him. “You said you were going to training, but you left these.”
In a flash, Obito was beside him, arms wrapped tightly around the younger boy. “You’re so sweet! You saved my freakin’ butt!”
“He’s okay?” Rin called from where she stood, still half hidden in the trees.
“All right then, reset,” Minato grinned and helped Iruka onto his feet. Then he stooped, scooping up a handful of the shuriken. “You want to try some, too?”
Obito hurriedly gathered the rest of his weapons, not missing the wide smile that stretched Iruka’s face. He darted back into the trees, seeking out a new hiding spot and thanking the entire Umino family for making Iruka such a kind boy. He may actually have a chance at getting lunch now!
“I can’t believe he’s actually letting that kid train with us.” Obito jumped slightly, looking around until he spotted Kakashi up a tree only ten feet away from him. Kakashi’s head swiveled around to stare at him. “Why did he have all your shuriken anyway?”
Obito glared. “We were hanging out earlier. Iruka’s a lot of fun to hang out with. He’s really driven and fun to train with.”
Kakashi looked back towards the field. “You’re training him?”
“Oh don’t sound so snobbish about it. We’re not doing anything different than Minato-sensei’s doing right now.” The blond was actually splitting his attention, putting several marks on a tree nearby so Iruka had something to practice his own aim on. Once the scarred boy started, the blond began giving him tips as well; a bit of private instruction. “If you got off your high horse and got to know the kid, I’m sure you’d like him, too.”
Kakashi said nothing, still focused on the field. He thrust his arm out and Obito spun, cursing under his breath. The other had let fly a weapon, perfectly hitting a new target that streaked into the trees. Obito raised his own weapon, but was too late to get off the attack. “A kid like that is just a distraction,” Kakashi muttered. “You’re as bad around him as you are around girls.” The masked boy leapt away, disappearing to a new hiding place and leaving Obito alone in the trees.
-o-o-o-o-o-
As an apology for taking so long, this was going to be the main request followed by a follow-up chapter. Then I started writing and it’s…at least 4 chapters long, not totally sure yet. So anyway, it’s obvious I liked the idea ^_^ I hope you all like it, too.
Author: Lily Kalanoa
Story: The Importance of Being Friends (gods, that’s a pretty random reference)
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: I own nothing but my laptop, which put me into significant debt. All characters and series belong to their respective creators, I just like to torture them, heh heh.
Warnings: Angst later, death but it’s all canon, spoilers for Kakashi’s past
I do have a request from those fans more knowledgeable than me. I had a heck of a time researching ages and timeline for this. If anyone knows better, could you tell me? I’d like to write more of young Kakashi and Iruka so knowing the timeline would be nice. Here’s what I have (and what will be true for this fic regardless of if it’s accurate or not) Kakashi, Obito, and Rin are all about the same age, with Kakashi’s birthday first, in Sept, Rin in Nov, and Obito the baby all the way in Feb. I have Kakashi testing for jounin just after Obito turns 13, then their bad mission. A month or two later, I imagine Iruka graduating the academy, also 13 years old, and then the fox attack that fall (I think I’ve seen evidence Iruka wasn’t graduated when the fox attacked…anyone know?). In any case, if anyone out there knows better, I’d love to hear it: I’m just plain curious now!
-o-o-o-o-o-
Down and up, down and up. Obito leaned back on his arms, head tilted lazily as he watched his teammate. Down and up. Honestly, he didn’t see how Kakashi could spend his afternoon working out like that. Currently he was doing pushups - the rhythm changed as the silver haired youth began inserting a clap every time he was in the ‘up’ position - but he’d spent the last half hour doing various crunches and leg lifts. He wasn’t training, wasn’t even giving the slightest thought to jutsu or chakra control, this was pure exercise, just toning that already sculpted form.
Obito flung himself backwards, changing his view to that of the clouds floating overhead. “You’re working too hard, man.”
For a second the only response was the steady clap, clap of the boy’s hands and when he did finally speak, his breathing was barely strained at all. “If you don’t work out regularly, you’ll get out of shape.”
Obito sighed, watching a tiger-looking cloud shift and catch up with a flower-looking cloud. The two combined into a sort of two-tailed dragon-looking cloud. “I don’t get what the point is, you’re not even pushing yourself.”
“You add weight to build muscle mass. You add reps to build tone. I don’t really want to get big.” For another minute the only sound was the clapping. “You know you could get in a workout, too.”
“As if! I’m fine, thanks, not all of us are obsessed like you.”
Kakashi sighed huffily. “Then you could always leave. I wouldn’t mind losing the commentary.”
Obito sat up again, not answering his friend and teammate right away. For a minute he stayed quiet, his eyes wandering over the rest of the field. “Nah, I don’t mind keeping you company. It’s boring to train alone.”
The clapping stopped, but Obito didn’t shift his posture. Kakashi rolled onto his feet and walked over behind the other boy, following his gaze to a small group of training genin. “Company, right. And the fact that there are a half dozen kunoichi in skimpy training clothes over there and in a few minutes they’ll all be stretching has nothing to do with it.”
Obito giggled a little, still not taking his eyes off the group of girls. “Not a thing.”
Kakashi huffed again. “You’re disgusting.”
“I’m a perfectly healthy, growing boy, thank you very much. All twelve-year-olds are interested in cute members of the opposite sex.” He grinned, leaning slightly forward as his eyes hazed over. “Especially cute girls, bouncing around the field, bending and twisting, pressing against each other to stretch-“
“No. You’re disgusting and I’m leaving.”
“You realize you only did forty-seven push-ups, right? Seems like an awfully odd number to stop on.”
“You’re the one that said I was working too hard. You just want to stay and girl-watch some more.” He sighed again and turned on his heel, ready to leave.
Obito finally stood, following after his friend. “You need to relax, ‘Kashi. All this up tight training every day isn’t good for you! At the very least you could look.”
Kakashi just scowled behind his mask. “I’m not interested. I’m only thirteen and have other-”
“Exactly! I’ll be thirteen next month and my present to me is gonna be getting a girlfriend. Honestly, Kakashi, I didn’t think you were this socially backwards.”
The masked boy was still scowling. “I’m not interes-“
“Yeah, yeah. That’s why you’re gonna test for jounin, I know. I guess you’re just a late bloomer.”
Kakashi hadn’t stopped walking, continuing into the surrounding trees. At this last statement, he gave up trying to argue as well and quickened his pace. Honestly, the Uchiha boy was infuriating. Kakashi couldn’t see how he’d graduated the academy early when he was constantly distracted with such trivial matters. He was a disgrace to the rank of chunin! At the very least he didn’t have to interrupt Kakashi’s training with his nonsense.
Above the two boys, in the higher branches of the trees, a few children rattled the leaves as they raced towards the training ground. Kakashi paused long enough to look up, recognizing that they were genin. But there was another flicker of chakra, fainter than the others and slightly behind. Obito was still a few steps behind, but he paused as well, both of them feeling the falter as the child slipped, losing his footing. Obito jerked, suddenly realizing Kakashi was just going to stand there and do nothing. “Kakashi!” He leapt forward, but with the other chunin between him and the kid . . .
Kakashi looked disinterested, watching as Obito dove to try and catch the young boy that had fallen. He didn’t really succeed; his hands caught the boy, but they both still crashed to the ground. For a moment, Kakashi was certain the brunette that had fallen would burst into tears. He whimpered miserably and clenched his jaw, but after another moment it was clear he wasn’t going to actually cry.
Obito pushed himself up off the ground, cradling his own scraped arm. “Damn it, Kakashi, what the hell was that!”
The masked boy still didn’t move. “Ninja need to know how to fall.”
Furious, Obito gestured at the boy still on the ground. “He’s not even a genin!” He wasn’t wearing a hitai-ate and, unless he’d graduated early, he certainly looked too young.
Kakashi just continued to stare. “Then he needs to learn how to fall. If he’s still an academy student he shouldn’t be trying something like that anyway. And the training grounds are off limit to non-ninja.”
“Stop freakin’ talking about him like he’s not even here!” Obito looked back at the boy - who wasn’t actually paying attention to either of them - and smiled brightly. “Hang in there another second, I’ll get some help.” Then he looked back up at Kakashi. “Who cares if he isn’t supposed to be here, that doesn’t excuse you. Those that don’t help a comrade in need are the worst kind of scum!”
Kakashi watched as the other boy ran back towards the girls training not too far away. With another little sigh, he looked back at the younger boy at his feet. His scraggly brown hair was pulled up on the top of his head and he had a distinctive scar running across his nose and either cheek. The rest of the boy’s features were lost, his face twisted in pain and eyes screwed shut. Kakashi sighed and looked away, hearing Obito running back towards them.
The Uchiha had gotten Rin and the girl dropped immediately to her knees beside the fallen boy. She didn’t even spare a glance at Kakashi, but that suited the masked boy just fine. He looked at Obito to find the boy was still glaring at him, but Kakashi didn’t care about that, either. He stepped around the scene and continued into the trees, away from the training grounds and his teammates.
-o-o-o-o-o-
Kakashi was waiting for his sensei and the rest of his team, a few minutes early for training. Or, to be accurate, the assigned time had already passed, but the others hadn’t yet arrived. Kakashi was used to them being a few minutes late, and for the most part he didn’t hold it against the others. For simple training, he could understand being a little lax, and anyway their sensei was late, too, and never more than five or ten minutes.
He turned, hearing footsteps coming up behind him, and smiled slightly at the blond he saw. Minato-sensei grinned infinitely wider at the short chunin. “Right on time as usual, I see. Are the others here yet?” Kakashi shook his head and Minato-sensei gave a little sigh. “Obito I understand, but Rin-chan usually tries . . .” He trailed off, eyes shifting past Kakashi to look further down the path.
Kakashi considered not even turning. He could hear two sets of feet pounding along the road behind him and it didn’t take much of a leap to assume it was his teammates. He did turn, though, watching as Rin and Obito raced along the path. Still several feet away, Rin broke into a smile. “Ah, we made it,” she panted, stopping beside the others and bracing her hands on her knees.
Obito stopped as well, throwing himself onto the ground and staring up at the sky as he waited to catch his breath. Minato-sensei just smiled. “And already warmed up, I see. A good idea to go running before we train, gets your legs nice and stretched out.” Beside him, Kakashi scowled; this was ridiculous.
Five minutes later found all three children scattering around, looking for the best place to wait for target practice. Such a simple sounding exercise, but they knew the targets would be anything but ordinary and without concentration it would be unbearably easy to mess up. They knew the price of failure, too. Whoever ended this game with the lowest score wouldn’t be getting any lunch.
Crouched just behind a large rock, Obito quickly prepared. He hadn’t had breakfast and there was no way he was going to lose this time. Part of him really, really wanted to beat Kakashi, too, he couldn’t afford to blow this chance! Several kunai were pulled from his pouch, ready for whatever the first target might be and his other hand slipped back to grab more . . .
Oh, gods, no . . . Obito abandoned watching the field, frantically pulling open his weapon pouch and searching for the two dozen shuriken that should have been there. Only to find empty space - no! He’d left them behind! How could he have been so stupid? If Rin hadn’t dragged him off so quickly . . . he would have been late, but he would have had his weapons. A big part of this exercise was dealing with limited weapon supply and they would have to regather projectiles without getting weighed down. But with only a half-dozen kunai, he’d have to dart out of hiding three times more often than the others!
Obito jerked his head back up, sensing the bit of chakra that was attached to their targets. In a second his eyes took in the information - hostile target, moving away towards the trees . . . Obito’s own weapon hit the thing square in the back, well after two others. He grabbed what weapons he did have, already moving towards where the thing was heading. He’d use the next few minutes to get closer and claim any kunai that ended up near him so he didn’t have to move as far.
Another target darted across the field, followed by two more and a non-hostile target. Damn it, that brought him down to only two kunai, and he hadn’t even made it halfway to where he knew the three were still in that first target. All thought of his handicap flew from Obito’s mind, a startled yell piercing the air. He leapt from the trees, his last two weapons ready for whatever surprise Minato-sensei had planned.
Obito blinked at the sight greeting him. He’d emerged just in time to see little Iruka hit the ground, startled enough that he’d lost his balance. In front of the brunette was another of the target dummies, a kunai stuck firmly in its throat. It was Kakashi’s, Obito knew, he could see Rin poking her head out as well and she wasn’t at the right angle to have thrown it. There were also two shuriken in the thing’s chest and several more on the ground surrounding Iruka.
Minato-sensei was walking out from behind another nearby rock, pausing long enough to pick up another couple of shuriken that had missed their target and rebounded off the stone. “That wasn’t a bad shot,” he mused, looking at Iruka again.
The brunette ducked his head, one hand rubbing across his scar. “I missed with half of them, though.”
The blond man just smiled, stopping beside the boy and offering him a hand up. “Well, when you get your hitai-ate then, you’ll have to focus on improving your aim when you’re startled, won’t you?”
Obito took a few more steps toward the boy. “Are you all right? What’re you doing here?”
Iruka picked up one of the shuriken beside him. “You said you were going to training, but you left these.”
In a flash, Obito was beside him, arms wrapped tightly around the younger boy. “You’re so sweet! You saved my freakin’ butt!”
“He’s okay?” Rin called from where she stood, still half hidden in the trees.
“All right then, reset,” Minato grinned and helped Iruka onto his feet. Then he stooped, scooping up a handful of the shuriken. “You want to try some, too?”
Obito hurriedly gathered the rest of his weapons, not missing the wide smile that stretched Iruka’s face. He darted back into the trees, seeking out a new hiding spot and thanking the entire Umino family for making Iruka such a kind boy. He may actually have a chance at getting lunch now!
“I can’t believe he’s actually letting that kid train with us.” Obito jumped slightly, looking around until he spotted Kakashi up a tree only ten feet away from him. Kakashi’s head swiveled around to stare at him. “Why did he have all your shuriken anyway?”
Obito glared. “We were hanging out earlier. Iruka’s a lot of fun to hang out with. He’s really driven and fun to train with.”
Kakashi looked back towards the field. “You’re training him?”
“Oh don’t sound so snobbish about it. We’re not doing anything different than Minato-sensei’s doing right now.” The blond was actually splitting his attention, putting several marks on a tree nearby so Iruka had something to practice his own aim on. Once the scarred boy started, the blond began giving him tips as well; a bit of private instruction. “If you got off your high horse and got to know the kid, I’m sure you’d like him, too.”
Kakashi said nothing, still focused on the field. He thrust his arm out and Obito spun, cursing under his breath. The other had let fly a weapon, perfectly hitting a new target that streaked into the trees. Obito raised his own weapon, but was too late to get off the attack. “A kid like that is just a distraction,” Kakashi muttered. “You’re as bad around him as you are around girls.” The masked boy leapt away, disappearing to a new hiding place and leaving Obito alone in the trees.
-o-o-o-o-o-