Five times Obito made friends with Kakashi - Mission #04
Mission #04:
Obito's kick was probably too rough for a simple round of training, but it wasn't like he could be bothered to hold it back. His teacher had gone with Rin to fetch the orders for their next mission - which was bound to be as crappy as everything else they'd been asked to do so far - leaving him with Kakashi for a partner.
"Worried about something?" The unusually thoughtful question wasn't the kind of thing the young Uchiha ever expected to come out of his arch-enemy's lips, so he didn't answer straight away. Like their teacher Minato always said, "look underneath the underneath". Kakashi was too hopeless a bastard to ever care about what Obito might or might not feel, so a punch line was sure to follow shortly.
It did come, rather literally, when Kakashi took advantage of the fact that Obito was gaping at him suspiciously to move in close and throw him to the ground. The black-haired nine-year-old was so surprised, he didn't have time to brace for the impact and a couple of tears ended up leaking from his eyes due to pain.
"Heh... I'd be worried too if I was such a useless crybaby," Kakashi commented, without any kind of inflection, as if Obito was as interesting to him as the dirt he was lying upon.
"Damn it, Kakashi! I'll show you who's useless!!"
With renewed vigour, Obito jumped back on his feet to tackle his teammate. His eyes glinted with fierceness and his limbs vibrated with unchecked energy, but all his punches were blocked and his kicks evaded. The thought that Kakashi would be smirking beneath that dark blue mask spurred him on and he didn't slow down until he'd used every trick he could think of to get past the other's defenses. For all his efforts, though, all that the genin managed was to get thrown back on his behind.
"Is that all you can do?" the grey-haired chuunin asked. "I'd quit being a ninja if I were you."
"Just you wait. Someday I'll awaken my Sha..." Obito paused mid-shout, all rage suddenly replaced by dread at the most curious sight. "Oh crap... It's him!"
Kakashi, even though he thought of the Uchiha as an idiot, knew better than to dismiss that tone of voice. It sounded like his teammate was genuinely afraid of something. He tried to turn around to see what had caught his attention, but found himself hastily being dragged out of the training ground by the Uchiha.
"What are you..." he started to ask, but was promptly shushed and pulled behind a tree. Obito soon hid next to him and both settled down, silent as mice.
Kakashi was starting to wonder if maybe it was some kind of elaborate plan to ridicule him - Obito was known to be somewhat of a prankster - when something he couldn't quite define entered his field of sight. It was green and orange and black - three colours that nature had surely never intended to put together in one element - and it was approaching in wobbly steps. He couldn't get a good enough look to identify it, but apparently his teammate didn't have the same problems.
"Who's that?" he whispered, contemplating the kid who took step after step across the field on his hands, upside down.
"You don't know who Might Guy is?" Obito replied. "Everyone knows who Might Guy is."
Annoyed that he might be behind the Uchiha on something - especially on a crucial ninja skill like information gathering - Kakashi turned back to watch the strange newcomer. He looked to be about the same age as them, with shiny black hair (oiled?) and an eye-sore of an outfit. A red sash around his waist bore the metal plate with the Konoha symbol more commonly found on forehead protectors, marking him as a ninja, however, he couldn't fathom how this Might Guy ever expected to go on missions when all his clothes were in an unstealthy bright green and orange.
Finally, he decided to swallow his pride. Shifting his gaze back to Obito, he repeated his question: "who is he?"
For a moment, Obito just stared at him, wondering. An evil plan to push Kakashi forward into Guy's path was slowly taking shape in his mind. It would be fun to see the obnoxious genius deal with the other kid's flamboyant personality - and no one could say that that wouldn't answer any questions Kakashi might have. Then again, he wouldn't put it past the bastard to drag him along if he did that, and then he'd have to deal with those mentally scarring talks of rivalry and youth too.
"Ok, listen up. You were out of the Academy before either of us even started so you have no idea what we're up against," he explained seriously. "Guy graduated two years before me..."
"Oh, someone else who's better than you."
"...And he's completely crazy!" Obito finished through grit teeth, glaring at his teammate as if willing him to turn into a pile of ash. The plan to let Kakashi meet the other one in person was looking better every second. "Seriously crazy. For some reason, he got it in his head that we're some kind of rivals, so he's always bugging me to go on these weird training sessions with him. I mean, look at him, standing on his hands! What the hell does he think he's doing?!"
"Hm... sensei did tell us we should take this time to practice," the grey-haired genin said.
Obito was just about to ask what he meant by that, when a well-placed push on his back forced him out from behind the tree and into the open. He froze and hoped that there was still time to run away and hide again before he was spotted.
"Ah! Obito, my rival!" the shout halted his progress.
Crap, crap, crap! Kakashi, I'm so going to get you back for this...
"What a fine day to be out in the fields embracing our glorious youth, don't you think?" Guy had yet to break up his hand stand, so he had to roll his eyes as far up as they'd go to make contact with the area around Obito's chin. The way those black orbs peeked from under humongous bushy eye-brows was rather painful to look at, the Uchiha found.
"Ah, yeah... something like that," he laughed without much inspiration. "Look, I'm waiting for my team to go on a mission, so..."
"REALLY??" The yelled interruption ran up Obito's spine in a most ominous chill. "So am I! I am to go on a mission that requires two teams!" he revealed, before performing a surprisingly acrobatic flip to straighten himself.
"My rival!! Fate has determined that we should go together so our flames of youth may reach even greater heights!"
By the time all eight team members had gathered on the clearing, Obito was feeling severely depressed. Rin was looking at him with mild pity, aware of his history with Guy, while Minato smiled in oblivious contentment at all the young, promising genin. Meanwhile, Kakashi had removed himself to the side of the large group in order to stay far away from the weirdoes and attract the least possible attention to himself. His efforts, however, were thwarted as soon as the introductions were made.
Hearing the name Hatake, Guy forgot all about Obito and zeroed in on the acclaimed genius who had become a ninja at the mere age of five. Within moments, he'd unilaterally issued a challenge and refused to hear anything about a decline, no matter how big a hole Kakashi's dead eyes drilled into his skull.
Obito was a bit stung that he was being passed up so easily - Uchiha were the ultimate elite, so it stood to reason that they'd make the best rivals! - but then quickly shook off those foolish thoughts. Guy had decided to bug Kakashi this time. Leaving him free.
He grinned like an evil conspirator.
Finally! Some pay back...
Continue...