Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“A woman painted by the colors of the sunset, a descendant of the Senju, will warm as many hearts as the stars in the nighttime sky. She will rewrite the future that has been set in place as history.
“She has already broken the eternal curse.”

She wasn’t supposed to exist. She wasn’t supposed to be born. But perhaps the fact that she does exist─the fact that she was born may have been a miraculous blessing.
Oh, if you knew, you wouldn’t believe it to be a blessing at all.

KONOHAGAKURE NO SATO─it seemed to come off you weren’t from here at all despite living here because you had no family, unlike all the other children. No friends. No parents.

Furthermore, almost everyone in the village avoided you, despite seven-year-old you not having done anything wrong for as long as you could remember.
You had a house on the outskirts of the village, whom you remember an old man known as the Hokage gave you when you were old enough to have conversations with people. Although, you always slept outside instead of on your bed. You were able to feel the warm wind gently brush your skin while you looked up at the stars, compared to looking up at a blank ceiling inside and not being able to sleep.

Today, you took a different route to the grocery store to buy food. You had nothing else to do all afternoon─like most days, so you wouldn’t worry if you managed to get lost. It wasn’t like anyone expected you home by a specific time─you didn’t have parents to give you a curfew.

You stopped by a place you hadn’t seen before, a vast building, which read the word. “FIRE.” Kids about your age were outside, throwing metal objects to hit targets onto trees.
You stared at them through the separating gate in confusion. What are those kids doing? you asked yourself.

“HEY!”

You turned around seeing two boys, both taller than you, call you out.
“You must be that orphan girl who doesn’t have a clue about anything!” one boy shouted. The other one smirked.
Your eyes widened, but you showed no other emotion. Whenever someone would actually acknowledge you, it was the same thing over and over again.

“You don’t know anything!”
“Please stop,” you mumbled, but you were not loud enough for the boys to hear.

“Here, how about I help you?” the second boy asked, sarcasm glowing in his eyes. He walked towards you and kicked you onto the ground.
“WEAK!” He shouted as he and the first boy laughed.

He continued hitting you with his foot while shouting, “MAYBE THIS WILL HELP YOUR BRAIN...REMEMBER SOMETHING!

“OH, THAT’S RIGHT─MAYBE NOT, BECAUSE YOU’RE PROBABLY NOT MEANT TO EXIST!”

The boy had created bruises all over your legs. Your lip was bleeding. You immediately felt like throwing up as he made a hit to your stomach.

“Please, stop,” you weakly said. “I never did anything...
“Someone, help me, please...”

“HEY!” You could hear a different voice from afar as your vision blurred.

“WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO HER?” The voice demanded.
“Look who decided to show up,” the first boy smirked.

“Another weakling?” The second boy, who delivered a hard stomp to your body, paused and turned.
“You should be ashamed of yourself, Obito. You’re so bad at everything─I just can’t believe you’re an Uchiha!” he said, laughing.
“STOP IT!” The voice─Obito yelled. “One day, I’ll show both of you, and everyone else─I WILL BE STRONGER! Now step away from her!”
“Sorry, but I think you have no business in that,” the second boy said. “If you want to get involved, prepare to die as well!”

“OH YEAH?!” the young Uchiha shouted as he charged forward, crashing right into the boy, knocking him down. He let out a scream.

Although, Obito had forgotten about the first boy, who was now right behind him. He pushed Obito off and yanked him upwards by the orange-tinted goggles he wore.

“YOU’RE GOING TO PAY FOR THIS,” the boy said, scaring Obito, but whatever actions he planned for next were stopped when a man with blonde hair and very blue eyes, wearing the distinctive jounin-vest, stepped outside.

“What’s going on here?!” he asked, and the two boys scattered, thinking that he was a teacher and in fear that if they got caught, they would both be suspended from the academy.
“HEY!” the man shouted, holding up a hand, and was about to chase after them, but then saw the injured girl and Uchiha crawling over to her.

“Hey,” he said quietly, kneeling to the boy. “Are you okay?”
Obito looked up. “Please!” he shouted. “Help me carry her─she’s unconscious!”

“We need to take her to a hospital right now,” the man said, picking the girl up, and Obito nodded, standing up as well.

“Do you know her?”
“No,” Obito replied, “I just happened to see her getting kicked by those two boys.

“I don’t think she deserved any of what they did to her at all!” Anger started building up inside of him─impulses as these happened to Obito a lot. He could never control himself, and he would start doing whatever it took to complete his goal. He wanted to find those two boys who tortured the girl and beat them up immediately.

“She looks really nice,” Obito continued, his voice not yelling anymore. “Too nice. She let herself take up all that beating instead of fighting back.”

The adult frowned. “This girl, if you don’t know her, she doesn’t attend the academy then?”

Obito thought and shook his head. “No...and I’ve never seen her before either. Actually, now that I think about it, she looks about my age. Why isn’t she attending the academy...?” He was now mumbling as he tried to figure out a reasonable explanation.

The jounin looked over at the girl he was carrying on his back and thought.

This must be her.
The girl of prophecy.

And the man’s frown turned into a smile as he looked at the younger boy following him.
It couldn't have been a mere coincidence that he happened to stumble upon and help her, he thought.

“Excuse me, sir, what is your name?” the Uchiha asked.
He smiled more. “Namikaze Minato. You can just call me Minato, though. And yours?”
“Uchiha Obito!” the boy exclaimed. “Are you a teacher? I haven’t seen you before.”
“Hmm...I’m actually planning on becoming one,” he replied, pondering about the possibility.

“Thank you for helping, Minato-Sensei!” the Uchiha said.
Minato chuckled.

The first thing you noticed when you woke up was the hospital ceiling.
And then someone who you didn’t know yelling and celebrating.

“You’re awake!” he shouted. “Minato-Sensei, she’s awake!”
“Now, Uchiha Obito! She just woke up─she’s still healing!” Words fell on deaf ears as the boy screamed in relief and happiness that the girl he saved was alright.

“H-huh?” you mumbled as you tried to sit up.
“H-hey! You still might be too weak! Maybe you should lie down!” The boy tried to persuade.

“I’m fine, don’t worry,” you said, nervously chuckling. You had no clue who he was and why he was here, along with an adult, but he must’ve helped you in some way if he was waiting for you to wake up in a hospital. Heck─he was the first to share kindness and acknowledge you as a living person. How in the world did that happen?

And then it flashed right through you. You had heard this boy’s voice directly before you passed out.

“Hey,” you said, and you looked at him directly for the first time. The first thing that you noticed was his goggles.
“You’re looking at these, huh?!” he exclaimed with a smile.
“Yeah,” you responded. “They’re cute!”

His eyes widened. “Uh, wow...thanks!”

“Umm, so...” you began, but you weren’t really sure how to ask. For one thing, you’ve never conversed this much with someone before.
“H-how did I get here?” You knew perfectly well what happened, but perhaps the boy would admit if he did, in fact, save you when he explained.
“Oh!” he said, and he frowned. “Two boys were hitting you for absolutely no reason, and then I was passing by, and then I saw, and then, uh...

“I tried to stop them, and just as I was about to teach them a lesson for messing with a girl, they got away! D-don’t worry, though! I’m going to find them soon and make them pay!”

Your eyes were filled with astonishment, and you didn’t know what to say until the adult who was sitting on the other side of the room walked over and spoke up.

“Now, now, Obito,” he said. “You should be more truthful to her. I think you were having a hard time dealing with them too, and it was me calling them out that made them run away.”
“Minato-Sensei!” Obito whined, and you laughed.

“Whoever’s story is right,
“Thank you, Uchiha-san.”

You closed your eyes and smiled.

Obito was in shock, not because you were still thanking him even though Minato told you he was partly lying, but because he was getting thanked at all. Obito Uchiha wasn’t ever used to receiving compliments─he was instead the one giving out the kindness. He didn’t know how to react to being treated like this.

“Uchiha-san, your face is turning red. Did they happen to hurt you too?” you asked, worried.
“Huh? No, they didn’t hurt me at all,” he said, immediately smiling. “As I said, I’m going to find them later and make them pay, uh...” he stopped, realizing.

“What’s your name?”
"<(l)___> <___>," you replied, with a coy smile.

“You can just call me Obito. Nice to meet you, <(l)___>!” Obito replied, and it looked like he wanted to jump up and down.

Even though you had woken up without any further complications and your bruises were quickly healing, you still had to stay in the hospital for a full month.

Obito had made a promise to you─he would visit you every day after school until you recovered. You initially told him that you would be okay and that what he did was already enough for you, but he shut you up and persisted until you nodded your head in defeat. It really was because no one had shared such compassion with you before─you weren’t used to such care at all.

You both shared the same understanding of not knowing how to deal with receiving love.

"<___>!" It was day twenty-eight of your hospital stay─two days more until you were able to leave.

Obito burst through the door, and even though you already knew he was coming, and you could hear him from a mile away, he still shocked you. You jumped a bit.

“Oh, oops!” he said, scratching the back of his head in embarrassment, laughing. “Did I scare you?”
“It’s okay,” you replied, and he ran closer to you.
“Minato-Sensei decided to come along today─he wanted me to let you know that,” he said, and you nodded. “He wants to talk to you alone after I’m done.”

Obito started smiling out of the blue, pink flushing his cheeks.

“Obito, what’s going on?” you asked, smirking. For the past month that Obito had been visiting you, you were able to pick things up about him, his behavior, and how he acted. He was outrageously terrible at keeping secrets from you, and when you let him know that you picked up on them, he’d immediately try to act oblivious. You would always laugh at that.

“N-nothing!” he responded faster than he should’ve.
“Your teacher doesn’t usually accompany you,” you added in a suspicious tone.

“N-NEVERMIND THAT!” he said, changing the subject. “Look what I bought you today!”
Your eyes widened at a familiar plastic bag, forgetting about what he was hiding.

“Is t-that, what I think it is, Obito?”

He smiled once more and held up the bag filled with none other than dango from his favorite shop.

On the seventh day of your recovery, Obito had brought dango for you to taste after you told him you’d never tried some before. Obito had told you many things about himself as you became friends, like how school is going for him, his dreams, insults about a certain silver-haired boy he didn’t really like, and his favorite things, like food.

“This is the best thing I’ve ever tasted, Obito-san!” You exclaimed, smiling when you first tried it.
“RIGHT?” Obito joined in agreement.

He opened the bag and took out a piece, and handed the stick to you, which you accepted.
“Thank you!”

Unaware since you were eating and savoring the sweet, Obito stared at you and blushed before eating his.
“That was so good!” you exclaimed after you were done.

“Say, Obito, how’s your ninja training going for you?”

You didn’t know you were in a village full of shinobi before you met Obito. When you first found out from your new friend, you admitted that you didn’t know what they were. You weren’t insanely stupid─you had common sense, but you knew little about the actual world that avoided and disliked you.

“Oh, well, shinobi, protect this village from trouble and evil!” Obito explained the first time. “And well, they’re respected people. They are there to protect both their village, land and their comrades!”

Also unknown to you and Obito, both of you shared a common goal, to be respected by people.
“W-wow...” you said after he had explained everything, from powers to missions. “Now I wish I could be one too!”

“It’s going great!” Obito said. And that question you asked suddenly reminded him.

“<___>, I’ll be back, okay?! Don’t move!” His sudden goodbye surprised you.
“W-wait, what?” you called out as he ran out of the room.

And then, Minato Namikaze came inside.

“I apologize; he must’ve started you,” he said, chuckling, as he closed the door behind him.
“Minato-san!” you exclaimed. “And it’s okay─he’s always like this.” You smiled at that thought.

He stood beside your hospital bed. “Obito has been troubling me a lot lately.”
Your eyes widened. “Really? What about?”
Minato saw concern in your eyes and smiled, reassuring you. “Don’t worry, it’s nothing serious. Well, it can be, but…

He realized he was making you even more worried. “I’ll just get to the point.”
Did something happen? What if he says I’m a bad influence on him, so he won’t let him hang around me anymore? Or what if─
“<(l)___> <___>,” Minato said.

“How would you like to try the shinobi academy?”

Chapter Text

Your eyes immediately lit up in excitement and nervousness about the possibility.

“I-I’m sorry, j-join the academy and train to be a shinobi?”
He smiled. “Indeed.”

You felt your entire face glowing as you nodded eagerly.

“Good.” He paused, hesitant, before continuing.
“<___>, there will be certain conditions. Essentially, this was all requested persistently by Obito, followed by many excuses.”

You started laughing. “So, you just gave in, Minato-san?”

“No…well, actually…” he tried to find the right words to say. “Perhaps it would be just better for the Hokage to tell you. He will tell you the conditions you are required to agree to before attending the academy.”

You nodded, not knowing what to think of this.

“You will report to the Hokage’s office at noon on the day of your release,” Minato said. “That will be it, so I’m glad you’re recovering well, and I’ll see you soon!”

As soon as he exited your room, Obito barged in again, hyperactive as usual.
“So?” he asked, almost shoving his face into yours.
You stood up and pulled him into a hug. “O-Obito... OF COURSE, I SAID YES. THANK YOU!

“THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!”

“A-ah?” He mumbled, not knowing what to say. He could feel his face heating up.
Why does she thank me so much? She treats me so…

He didn’t know how to react.
You let go and smiled. Obito became unusually blank before giving a small smile so that you wouldn’t be concerned.

“Uh, <___>, I think I’m going to go now,” he said, turning his back.
“Oh, okay,” you replied, not sure what to think. You thought that he’d stay a bit longer.

“See you later.” He gave you a dismissing wave before leaving the room.

It was finally the day you were able to go home. If you were honest, you didn’t want to be released because you never felt lonely in the hospital. Obito would visit you every day after the academy and occasionally Minato to see how you were doing. The nurses happened to be nice too and didn’t neglect you, and even though they were doing that probably because of some oath, they swore to help everyone no matter what, you felt like a person regardless.

All your wounds were healed up, so you were all good to go.
It was getting close to noon, so you made a short beeline to the Hokage’s office. As soon as you arrived, Minato was waiting outside.

“Minato-san!”
“<___>, you’re here!” he replied and led you inside.

“Hokage-sama!” A ninja said from inside. “Namikaze-san and <(l)___> <___> are here!”
“Tell them to come inside,” said the voice of Hiruzen Sarutobi.

You stepped inside the office, greeting the man who gave you your shelter about three years ago and also happened to have a pipe in his mouth.

“Miss <(l)___>,” he said, and out of fear, you instantly bowed.
The old man chuckled. “You don’t have to be so serious, or maybe that is an understatement. Your friend came in here not too long ago begging me to let you attend the academy.”

Obito went as far as visiting the leader of this village to let me join?

“<___>, has Obito told you anything about shinobi?”

“Well, there’s actually one thing that’s confusing me about it,” you said, and he encouraged you to go on. “Obito told me all about chakra─the different kinds of it, how it’s energy for shinobi and their powers. I understand all of that, but…
“Don’t you have to be born with chakra? Meaning that regular civilians can’t be ninja because they don’t have chakra existing in their bodies in the first place? I-I have no idea who I am... I’m most likely just a regular person….”

The Hokage cut you off. “My, for a child as young as you, <___>, you are very bright indeed. What you said is correct, and that is why I have asked you to come here today. <___>, you most definitely have a chakra network existing in you.”

“R-really, Hokage-sama?” you asked.
“<___>, your parents. They were both powerful shinobi.”
“M-my parents, were shinobi?”

Your eyes widened. “W-wow…” you stumbled, and suddenly, you now had many questions.

“H-Hokage-sama...may I ask what my parents were like? W-What exactly happened to them? Why does everyone keep mistreating me? And does─”
“You will know when the right time comes,” Sarutobi replied, puzzling you.

“Now, <___>, these are your conditions.” You tensed up, fearing you wouldn’t be able to meet them.

“You will start attending the academy tomorrow,” the Hokage said. “Most of the children you will be sorted with have already been there for a few years, so they will be more advanced. You must catch up or even surpass them and take the graduation exam in one year. That is the first condition.”

Obito told me he started attending the academy when he was four. He’ll have four more years of experience than me, along with almost everyone else there!

But then you thought, But remember, this is all so everyone can start respecting me!
“Okay,” you said with determination.
He smiled. “The second condition. Namikaze Minato will tutor you privately to help you advance faster. You shouldn’t make this aware to anyone if you can, though.”

So I will be getting help after all!

You looked over at Minato, who gave you a smile.
“Okay!” you said, again, with positivity.
“Very well then,” the Hokage said. “You will start attending tomorrow, and your private training with Minato will be on weekends. I hope that is okay with you.”

“I can handle it, Hokage-sama! Thank you!” You had nothing else to do anyway on the weekends.

He smiled again. “Well then, that is all I have to say. You are free to leave, <___>.”
You and Minato left the office and were about to part ways before he called you.

“<___>,” he said.

You turn around. “Yes?”
“I know that you won’t have as much time as the other children to train, but, despite that, I believe that you’re going to be an excellent kunoichi,” He smiled and gave you a thumbs up.

“T-thank you...Minato-san.”
“I’m your teacher now, <___>.”

“Oh, that’s right!” you exclaimed. “Minato-Sensei!”
He chuckled. “It’s almost afternoon now. Obito should be finished at the academy then too. You can go tell him about what happened on his way home.”
“I should!” you agreed. “Thank you, Minato-Sensei, goodbye!” You ran outside to wait for Obito.

“WHAT?! ARE YOU SERIOUS <___>? TOMORROW?”
“Yeah!” you responded, skipping beside Obito. “The Hokage gave me certain conditions, though, like me only having a year to graduate, but I’m up for the challenge!

“I can do this!” You threw a fist into the air.

“That right there is what I like best about you, <___>!” Obito exclaimed.
You giggled. “I’m guessing that’s because you’re always taking up challenges too!”
“Yeah, that’s right!” he answered.

“Say, Obito, where are we going anyway?” you asked. You’d subconsciously been following Obito as you told him what happened throughout the day, but he never said where he was going. You figured he was walking to his house until they took a path where no buildings were.

“Shh, just trust me <___>,” he said, and then grabbed your arm.
“Obito,” you started in your suspicious tone. “Where are you taking me?”
It was getting pretty late, and the sun was about to set, but then again, you had no curfew─or rather anyone to set that up.
You walked up a hill surrounded by trees. Obito led you through an opening on the left, though you still had to walk through some bushes to get past. What you found was breathtaking.

On the other side of all those trees was the edge of the mountain you both stood on, where you had a perfect view of the sun setting behind the other hills.
There was also a bench under the shade where you could sit and still see the view in front of you.

“Obito, WOW!” You exclaimed. He let go of your arm as you danced around. “How did you find this?”

“Well, I took another path from the academy one day and decided to go explore. And I happened to stumble upon this!” he said, proud of himself that he found such a great place.

“I wonder, does anyone else know about this?” you asked.
“Nope! Oh, and <___>. Don’t tell anyone about this─no one! It will be our little secret place where we can watch the sunset and the stars!

“It will be a promise.
“As long as no one else knows, our bond will never break.”

He extended a pinky finger towards you. You raised one back and crossed fingers.
“We need to touch thumbs too!” you reminded him, thinking back to a day where you saw two kids making a pinky promise and touching thumbs too. Now you, yourself, had a friend to do that with.

“Oh yeah!” he said, acting like he knew that. You touched thumbs in the cross.
“A promise that our bond will never break!” you said.
“And also, celebrating <___> attending the academy!” Obito added.

You smiled and continued to dance around.

The dampness from the serein that fell earlier was now drying off as the sun was completely gone. The stars started to show millions of tiny, white dots.

“Do you like watching the stars?” Obito asked, looking up at the sky.
“I sleep under the sky at night,” you admitted and suddenly turned red, not wanting to tell him why. Maybe he’d think you were weird for doing that so you wouldn’t feel lonely.

“I do too!” Obito said, not noticing your embarrassment for what you admitted. “On my rooftop, I just lie down and count them. Maybe, one day, I’ll even have a star named after me!”

“That would be so cool!” you exclaimed in awe. Perhaps he would.
“You want to become Hokage; you told me that, didn’t you, Obito?” you asked.
“Yeah,” he said. “What about it?”

“I think that’s an amazing goal, and I’ll help make sure you do!” You’d been thinking about it for a while. Obito had helped you get closer to your goal of being respected by everyone, so now you wanted to help him reach his.

“You really will <___>?” he asked, genuinely surprised.
“You’re my friend, of course!” you replied, smiling. “I’m going to make sure that your face will be carved into the Hokage monument and have a star named after you! You’ve made a lot of promises to me and always kept them, so I’ll make one now too!”

“T-Thanks!” Obito replied and then surprisingly hugged you. He wasn’t the type to initiate physical contact because he never knew how to handle or find the right time to do those types of things, so on the rare occasions he did, he truly meant how much he cared.

You hugged him back until he let go. You poked his goggles. “And I’ll make sure that those goggles are on that giant stone carving too!”
“Oh yeah! You better make sure!” he winked, readjusting them.

[ ONE YEAR TIMESKIP ]

“Stupid Ba-ka-shi.”

It had been exactly one year since your life completely flipped upside down. You were once all alone with no one to talk to or anyone to have fun with until you met Uchiha Obito, who strayed from ‘the everyone.’ He had saved you from not only those two boys who harassed you but also your mentality.
You happened to make more friends. You hung around with Obito’s close friends, Nohara Rin and Hatake Kakashi.

Kakashi wasn’t really Obito’s friend. He was the boy Obito would blabber about when you were still in the hospital. “Bakashi is such a jerk for no reason!” “Bakashi thinks he can go around and boss everyone around!” You would patiently listen to him and sometimes laugh because hearing him talk about someone he disliked was quite entertaining to you.

When you first started at the academy, and when Obito pointed out who ‘Bakashi’ was, you joked around with him, saying, “I think he’s kind of cute.” Obito threw a whole fit out of the blue and challenged Kakashi to a spar right then and there.

“I don’t want to be involved with your impulses.” Kakashi turned his back on him.
“Please, guys, stop it!” And that’s how you met Nohara, who was trying to stop the two that day. You eventually learned how that was basically her whole role in the trio’s friendship, to keep peace between them.

Today, you sat in the middle with Obito. To your left sat Kakashi, and to Obito’s right sat Rin. This was always how the four of you sat together, and it was for many reasons.

Kakashi acknowledged only you as an actual acquaintance. He and Obito were eternal rivals, and he honestly didn’t care about the peace negotiation thing with Rin. He considered you his friend because you happened to be very sharp, having excellent grades from all the lectures and lessons.
You and Obito sat by each other because, of course, you were best friends.
Even though you were like Kakashi in some ways, you were totally against the strict rule-abiding mental state he was in. You weren’t an S-Rank Troublemaker like Obito, but if the situation needed it, you wouldn’t care to break a few rules.

Like Obito, you also agreed that comrades were the most important part of being a shinobi.

And Obito sat by Rin because they were childhood friends and very close with each other. You also sensed that Obito had a thing for Rin, although you would cast those thoughts away on nights when you would think about it.

He’s your best friend, you’d say. He wouldn’t replace you.

You also knew, though, as well as Obito, that Rin had something for Kakashi as well. Obito also told you about this when you were in the hospital, and you would simply laugh along as he announced how much his dislike for Hatake was.

“I still think that nickname is one of the best names you’ve ever come up with,” you said, overhearing Obito muttering to himself. The day hadn’t even begun yet, and while everyone was still arriving, Kakashi and Obito had another argument outside again.

“It’s true, though,” Obito spat, still angry. “Bakashi is an idiot, and Kakashi is his name!”
“Now, now, Obito-kun, let’s calm down. <___>-san already got Kakashi-kun to calm down, so now you do too,” Rin said.
Obito inhaled through his nose, deciding to give in.

Once everyone in your class arrived, your teacher came up to the front to announce something.

“It has come to my attention that this whole class, except for Hatake Kakashi, since he is already a genin, has passed the graduation exams.”
You and Obito looked at and high-fived each other.

“We will have the graduation ceremony soon,” your teacher continued. “And the teams will be announced tomorrow morning, so make sure to make it to the academy on time! You are now dismissed to go train.”
Everyone started filing out of the class. You were the last to leave, about to catch up with your friends, when Minato unexpectedly greeted you at the doorway.

“Minato-sa─Sensei!”
"Hey <___>! Come with me,” he said, and then you nodded, following.

You stepped into the Hokage’s office with Minato.
“Great job, <___>, you have met both of my conditions for you to be allowed to become a kunoichi,” the Hokage said, to which you smiled.

“Thank you, Hokage-sama!” you responded.

“Now, since you’ve passed the exam, you will be able to graduate from the academy and become a genin. You’ll then be able to go on missions and climb up the ranks to chunin and eventually jonin level status. Do you understand?”

“Yes!” you replied.
“Good. Now, Minato.”
Minato turned towards you and handed you a headband. “It is my honor to present this to you,” he chirped. You were very grateful to him─he must’ve purchased the fabric for your headband himself. The metal plate embalmed the Konohagakure symbol.

You took it and tied it on your forehead. “T-Thank you so much, Minato-Sensei!”

“Wow, Obito!” You exclaimed. “You look great!”
“Thanks!” he said as he adjusted his new headband.

You were both at your usual spot, and as usual, the sun was already setting.
“Y’know, now we’ll be genin now, the both of us, <___>!” Obito said.
“That’s because you helped me join the academy in the first place!” you said. He laughed.

“Oh yeah,” you remembered. “Tomorrow, we’re all going to find out the teams we were put in.” The thought made you nervous─every team consisted of three students and a jonin who would be their teacher, and there haven’t been any exceptions to that before. That means one of you, out of the four friends─Kakashi, Obito, Rin, and you would be separated, if not all of you.

What if I’m not on a team with any of my friends?
And what if Obito is put on a team with Rin as well?
Why does that even matter?

“Who would you like on your team?” you asked, pushing the thought away.

He’s your friend. Friend.

To be honest, you didn’t know what feeling you were experiencing because no one had ever loved you before. You would think to yourself every time; I’m probably only feeling this way towards him because he was my first friend and the one who saved me too. I’m just grateful─that’s all there is to it. But this assumption you made proves wrong whenever you see Obito with Rin. He liked Rin a lot─you knew that she happened to also be his first friend.

How Obito is to me is how Rin is to him. You completely understood.
And yet, you simply couldn’t vanish this feeling in a snap of a finger.

“Well, you and Rin, duh!” he replied to your question. “Definitely not with Bakashi, though; if that jerk ever ends up on my team, I might just have to─”

Drops of water started falling on both of you. But this time, it wasn’t the light evening serein, but it looked to be the start of a storm as dark clouds covered the sky.

“OBITO, LET’S GO!” You shouted, the rain getting heavier, as you stomped over the bushes, back to the main trail. You were now drenched.
Obito ran after you. “Uh oh, <___>, my house is quite far from here!”
“Mine too,” you said. “It’s going to take at least twenty minutes for me!”
“Hey, I know!” Obito said, proposing an idea.

You ran under a tree, to at least not get any wetter. “Well, can you tell me? At least you have goggles covering a third of your face─I have NOTHING!”
He laughed, making you frown, and then said, “We can go to Rin’s house. It’s the closest one from here; we only need to walk down the hill. It’s our best shot.”

Rin. Now they’re going to get to spend more time with each other. But still, I’d rather be inside than here.

“Okay,” you responded. “Let’s hurry then! I’m already soaked!”

You walked out under the leaves and caught up to Obito. It was silent all around you, and the only thing you heard was your own heartbeat and the sound of rain pouring all around you. It was actually pretty relaxing.

Obito quickly looked and examined you while you were zoned out, watching the rain. Not talking, he promptly removed his blue jacket and placed it over your head. He did not dare look at your reaction, and still, silent, kept walking.

W-what? you thought as you turned to see Obito staring straight ahead, with a blank expression on his face. Your cheeks turned pink for a moment before ruining the ambiance.

“Silly-Tobi-there’s-no need for you to get wet too,” you hastily said, taking the jacket and stretching it across his head too, moving closer to him. While multitasking, you had said some of the words a bit too fast.

“Did you just call me, Tobi?” Obito asked, laughing.
“Really? I thought I said ‘Obito,’” you replied, confused.
“Whatever you said, I actually like that nickname <___>!” he said, smiling.

“Well, now that I think about it, it’s quite a playful name,” you input, “which totally matches your personality. It suits you pretty well.”

“You’re always so smart when it comes to everything,” Obito admits. “Even with names! And sharing this makeshift umbrella too!”
You shrugged with a shy smile.

A couple of minutes passed, and you soon made it back down from the hill and into Rin’s neighborhood. Obito found her house and knocked on the door.
It was Rin’s mother who answered it.
“Oh my! Obito, what are you doing here during this weather! And your friend you brought along, I’m sure you’re Rin’s other friend too! Come inside!”

Rin had immediately overheard and grabbed towels as fast as she could. You and Obito stepped inside, and she handed your towels to dry off.

“T-Thank you so much,” you said to Rin while trying to dry yourself.
“Of course!” Rin replied. “You and Obito-kun can stay here for now until the rain stops. I can lend you some of my clothes that you can change into <___>-san! I’m not really sure about Obito-kun, though,” she giggled.

Your eyes widened. “R-really? Thank you, Rin-san.”

Although you always had certain jealousy towards Rin, you were still great friends with her. You had been able to mask your emotions very well from the people you were acquainted with.

She nodded. “Come upstairs with me.” Rin turned towards Obito. “I guess you can use my clothes too if you don’t mind being dressed in girly attire.” You thought about that and immediately started laughing, Rin joining in too.

Obito turned as red as a tomato. Under any other circumstance, he would’ve decided to hold it out─the Uchiha’s ego was too big for him to do something as embarrassing as that, but right now, he was shivering and didn’t want to get sick right before they announced the teams, so he sighed and gave in.

Even more embarrassing, he realized he was going to wear Rin’s clothes.

Luckily for you, Rin’s pajamas she lent you fit perfectly, and they were pretty cute too─pandas patterning them, perfect for eight and nine-year-olds like you and her.
Even her clothes are so pretty. No wonder Obito likes her.

Meanwhile, she decided to let Obito wear a frog costume since everything else she had consisted of skirts, dresses, and blouses. Her shirts and trousers all happened to be washing right now, along with you and Obito’s clothes.

“UMM…” came his voice, walking back into Rin’s room after changing in the restroom.
You snorted, trying to keep in a laugh.
“Oh, I guess it fits you then!” Rin said, trying to keep her cheery persona up and holding back a laugh too.

Obito immediately blushed once he looked at her and then sat down by you.
The storm was still raging outside.

“Well, what do you guys want to do then?” Obito asked, trying to draw attention away from him and his temporary outfit. You kept snickering, trying not to look, but your eyes kept coming back to him.

“OKAY, THAT’S IT!” Obito shouted. “Do you happen to have a MASK Rin?! <___> KEEPS LOOKING AT ME AND LAUGHING! I MIGHT AS WELL JUST HIDE MY FACE!” He tried to pull down the hood of the costume to cover his face but failed. You laughed even harder.

She giggled. “Don’t worry, you won’t be wearing that for long!”

For the rest of the evening, you guys talked about all the new missions you would get as genin, becoming stronger shinobi and kunoichi, and more.

“I’m sure you’re going to be a medical ninja, Rin!” Obito told her, smiling. “You’re always there to help people, like what you did to <___> and me today! I also remember that one time we both helped an old man with fixing his roof! You were great at reading the blueprint! And I know your chakra control is amazing too!”
Ouch, this hurts, you told yourself. But you couldn’t blame him. Rin was just that type of person you could compliment so quickly; she was perfect.

“And <___>, I’m sure, you’ll probably be one of those like─commanders in great wars!” Obito continued, catching you off guard.

Your eyes widened.

“Actually, I don’t think I’ve ever heard of a female commander in any of the past wars yet,” Obito thought aloud. “Then… you’ll be the first! You’re exceptional <___>, you’re always up for challenges, and your leadership makes you strong.”

What he really meant to say was, I watched you grow right in front of me, <___>. You’ve gotten so much stronger since the day I saved you and took you to the hospital. If you were to face those two boys now, I know you would’ve taken them down in one blow.

“It’s actually quite rare to see a kunoichi on the front lines of the battlefield,” Rin said, smiling. “Most of them would be on a support team or the medic-core. Like Obito-kun, I could see you being one of those rare ones.”

You smiled back at her. It felt pretty nice to hear the one you were jealous of compliment you.
“Well, as for you, Obito,” you said, nodding towards Rin.

“You’ll definitely be Hokage!” Rin said, throwing a fist.

Obito blushed at the fact the one he admired believed in him.
“Yeah, 110% sure,” you said cooly, which drew his attention toward you.

Because I made a promise to you. And I’ll see to it that I will fulfill it.

Chapter Text

“As of now, all of you here are now officially genin,” your instructor said. Excitement started to build up in your body─a year ago, you thought you had no purpose, and now, you had dreams and goals you wanted to pursue in your life.

You didn’t forget about what Obito had told you yesterday. You blushed when you thought back to how he saw you as someone strong enough fit to lead an army in war.
And so, that had become your new personal goal.

“I will now list the teams,” the teacher said, and instantly, you remembered your anxiety and the cause for it.
Only three on a team. Only three on a team.

“Dai-nana-han.
“Hatake Kakashi. Uchiha Obito. Nohara─”

Hearing just her last name, your heart dropped. You were the one left behind.
But he was cut off from finishing when suddenly, a jonin burst in through the door.
You stood up by instinct. It was Minato!
“Minato-Sensei!” Obito stood up as well, waving to him.

“Ah, hello <___>! Hello Obito!” He then handed a piece of paper to your teacher.
“What’s this?” he asked, looking over it, confused.

“Oh, that’s right,” Minato said. “To everyone in this class who has become genin, we are having a sort of an experiment in our education system. The grouping of three students with a sensei seems to be working excellent, so we want to see if we can further advance by trying a system of four students to one sensei since numbers are also growing in this village. We will see if this proves efficient.”

You wanted to gasp. Was this all by pure luck?

Your teacher cleared his throat. “Alright then,” he said, looking at the new list. “For the rearranged Team Nana:

“Hatake Kakashi,
“Uchiha Obito,
“Nohara Rin,

“And <(l)___> <___>

“Your instructor will be Namikaze Minato,” he said, and Minato gave a wink towards you.

Minato had quite an excellent reputation, and everyone looked up to him, so many kids in your class were super jealous of your team.

“WOW!” Obito exclaimed, “We’re all on the same team! And even better─we get Minato-Sensei” He then took yours and Rin’s hand.
You quickly latched onto Kakashi’s own hand. His eyes widened at the sudden contact, but he didn’t object. You all threw up your hands.

“TEAM SEVEN!” you and Obito shouted.

It was time for introductions, and even though you just passed a graduation exam, there would be another test specific to your sensei.

“Well, I’m already familiar with two of you,” Minato said. You guys were all outside, right in front of you and Obito’s favorite dango shop.

“But I’ll introduce myself again,” he continued. “I’m Minato! It’s very nice to meet you all! It seems like all four of you have graduated below the average age.”

Most children graduated from the academy at around 11-12 years old. Obito and Rin were nine, and you and Kakashi were eight. You knew that Kakashi was a genius, and even though you hadn’t and would never agree with his strict rule-following, it had gotten him here so far.

“So, let’s start from the left and go right from there,” Minato said, nodding his head towards Kakashi.

“My name is Kakashi,” he said. “And…I just want to be a powerful shinobi.” You could tell he wasn’t expressing his true goal, but your masked friend kept a lot of things to himself, which you were already used to.

Next was Rin. “I’m Rin, and my goal is to provide support to my comrades and help people in need!”
“I’m uh, Uchiha Obito! And my goal is to help everyone and become Hokage!” he said with determination.

“Someone like you can never be Hokage,” a cold Kakashi interrupted.
“What did YOU SAY, you jerk?” Obito asked, already mad.
“You heard me,” Kakashi said. “With who you are right now, your goal is just empty words.”

“YOU IDIOT!” Obito stood up and stomped right towards Kakashi. He then bent down, staring at his face.

“Hey, hey, hey, that’s enough,” Minato and Rin both said at the same time.
I see. This girl is the peace negotiator, Minato thought.

“You’re acting like a complete loser right now,” Kakashi spat, ignoring them. “Do you know who you’re arguing with?”
“I DO!” Obito shouted. “You’re not superior to anyone in this group!”

He then shockingly tried pulling down Kakashi’s mask. You, Rin, and Minato closed your eyes naturally since you’d never seen him with it off before.

“HOW DAR─” Kakashi started and tried jerking away, but Obito, with his eyes shut too, had been able to pull it down.

And, instead of being able to get away from Obito, Kakashi had pulled Obito forward towards him, kissing him!

The other three of you opened your eyes just in time to see the event.

“K-Kakashi-kun-?” Rin asked, shocked.
“O-OBITO-” You couldn’t believe your eyes.

Minato had made one of those ‘I’m Very Weirded Out’ faces and was sweating.

Obito pulled back and then turned away to go “BLAHH~” on the floor. Kakashi, who had made a face of discomfort, immediately turned away from everyone as well to pull his mask up.

Once everyone had regained their senses, they started arguing again.

“YOU IDIOT! YOU─YOU TOOK AWAY MY FIRST KISS WITH R─” You placed a hand over Obito’s mouth to keep him from rambling on.
“It’s not my fault,” Kakashi replied. “You’re the one who decided to get in my face!”

“We still have to hear <___>-san’s introduction,” Rin reminded them, which shut them both up.

“Oh, I didn’t really mind, but thank you, Rin-san,” you shrugged before continuing.

“I’m <(l)___> <___>, and well, to be honest, I didn’t really have a goal until very recently. I was mostly just focused on helping other people reach their goals─well, that’s still one of my goals! But, I also have a personal dream I’d like to fulfill. I want to become a very strong kunoichi that no one has ever seen before! I’ll become a leader, perhaps the first lady commander!”

Obito’s eyes widened. This was what he had imagined what career path you would take and told you the previous day. He was surprised─you would actually make this your goal?

“And…” you said, adding something that came from yourself, personally. “A commander, but, instead of leading this nation to war against other nations, somehow maybe, lead this nation to ally with the other nations, to create peace!”

Although Minato had known you the best out of the four, he was shocked by the small speech you made.

“W-wow… <___>, that’s really your goal?” Obito asked, looking at you.
“That’s amazing!” Rin reacted.

You turned pink, about to thank both of them when Kakashi interrupted.

“<(l)___>,” he said. “You know, that’s not going to be easy at all. We’ve already had two great shinobi wars. It’s a brilliant idea, and I believe you have what it takes to reach those first two steps, but peace between nations is simply im─”

“Kakashi-san,” you interrupted. “We’re a lot alike, right? That’s why you’re friends with me. But something different about us is that I take up challenges, remember? Despite how hard they can be, I’ll still take them on, even if it’s a waste of time or too unrealistic.” You smiled at him, which surprised him, and stopped talking.

Honestly, I thought he’d flat out say I’m stupid for thinking that.
Kakashi is different sometimes.

“<___>,” Minato started.

“As Kakashi said, this goal you have is not just a walk in the park, but with this mindset you have,
“You just might be able to achieve it. I believe in you, <___>, because,

“The first step to reaching a goal is believing in yourself first.”

These words gave you something and the rest of your team to think about later.

“I-I believe in you too!” Obito said, still shocked.
“Me too!” Rin agreed.
Kakashi sighed but then spoke. “I guess you can try. After all, as you said, you don’t care if that wastes time that can be used to focus on more real things.”

It was still a bit insulting, but you knew Kakashi meant he’d try to trust in you too. He just needed proof.
Perhaps you could also change his outlook on the world by fulfilling this goal.

“Now,” Minato said, looking at all his students. “We’re going to begin the test.”
“The test?” Obito asked. He was the only one in the group who didn’t know there would be another challenge.

“You didn’t know, Obito-kun?” Rin asked. “Our teacher explained it to us, back at the academy.”
“He was too busy badmouthing me behind his back,” Kakashi spat.

“Yes,” Minato said, ignoring what Kakashi had said. “There will be a test that will determine the fates of all four of you.”
You looked around, nervous about what the test was going to be like.

Suddenly, Minato pulled out three bells.
“Your challenge will be this, all four of you are going to try and take these bells from me.”

“But, Minato-Sensei, there are only three bells!” Obito pointed out, confused. “And four of us!”

“Well,” Minato replied, “You’re correct. Which means only three of you will be able to become genin.”

“Wait─so you mean, the graduation exam was for NOTHING?” Obito interrupted again.
“Well, no, it was imperative,” Minato replied. “But this will tell me how all of you four work as a team. I mean, we can’t cooperate if we don’t have good teamwork, right?”

The three of you nodded. Meanwhile, Kakashi stayed silent. Minato did not take notice, while you did.

“Well, let’s begin then.
“Three, two, one, start!”

Obito immediately tried going after Minato by himself, while you, Kakashi, and Rin moved away, and went into hiding.

“What is he doing?!” you heard Kakashi mutter.
Obito tried stealing one of the bells, using Taijutsu against Minato, but it proved no success. He was pushed onto the ground and then realized the other three of you had left.

“H-hey!” you quietly called out, and then Obito ran towards some bushes you were hiding behind.
“<___>, do you have a plan?” he whispered, crouching with you.
“Well, yeah,” you replied. “I’m not sure if it will work, though. But I need all four of us, but I don’t know where Kakashi-san and Rin-san are.”

“They’re gone?!” Obito asked.
“Yeah,” you said. “I think Kakashi-san wants to do everything on his own, as always. So we need to get him and Rin-san first and get them to cooperate.”

Obito nodded. “Whatever you say, Commander-sama!”

“H-huh?”
He didn’t notice your cheeks growing warmer as he continued.

“Yeah. This is one of the reasons why I said what I said that day. You’re taking control of our first job as genin already! You have a plan that includes all the members in the group!”

“Well then, if you’re able to call me that, I might as well call you Hokage-sama then.” It was Obito’s turn to turn red.

“Okay, okay. Enough sidetracking. Let’s find Kakashi-san.” You started looking around, seeing if there was anything to reveal where Kakashi was hiding.

“<___>!”

You turned to see that right across from you, Kakashi was about to make a move. He immediately left Rin and attacked Minato.

“Shadow-clone jutsu!”

Five clones of Kakashi tried to jump Minato as you heard Obito mutter.
“He’s trying to do everything alone again! He just left Rin-san and─”

He paused and started to watch the fight as you were doing. Minato had eliminated all Kakashi’s clones, and the real one had retreated.
“Okay, Obito, follow me!” You ran around the perimeter of the field, behind the trees, so that Minato wouldn’t see you.

“<(l)___>,” Kakashi said, seeing you.
“Obito-kun!” Rin said, seeing you guys as well.
“Kakashi-san,” you said, stopping once you reached them. “Please.

“We need to work together, or else we’re all going to fail.”
“I think we’re supposed to be competing against each other,” he objected.

You sighed.

“Look, <___> has a plan!” Obito shouted, losing his patience. “Just please, listen to us!”
“Kakashi-kun, if <___>-san has a plan, we might as well hear it!” Rin agreed.

“Are you sure this plan isn’t going to work out for your own benefit?” he asked.
“H-huh?”

“Obito, Rin, you’re both too naive. Yes, I know that <(l)___> is a compassionate person, but one of us who have worked really hard to get here will be sent back to the academy. It’s only natural for someone to come up with a sly trick.”

“So you’re saying, you don’t trust <___>?!” Obito asked, his anger growing.
“Yes, exactly,” he replied, which hurt your feelings a lot.

So he really doesn’t consider me a comrade after all?
He’s like everyone else? He doesn’t give a damn about me, and if we met anytime else, he’d look at me with judgemental eyes too?

“KAKASHI, HOW DARE YOU!”

Obito had noticed your frown and your eyes building up tears. You weren’t such an emotional person, but what Kakashi had said hit you pretty hard.

“<___> is a comrade! You haven’t even heard her plan yet! How could you judge her so easily!”
Shockingly, Obito smacked a hand across Kakashi’s face, making his eyes widen.
He then finally noticed you about to cry. He looked down at the ground before leaving you, Obito, and Rin.

“I-It’s okay…” you stumbled, not wanting him to confront you again.
“<___>,” Obito started and placed both of his arms on your shoulder.

“Listen to me.
“You always put others above yourself, <___>. You’re the sweetest person I’ve met.
“I will always trust you, y’know? You’re still holding onto our promise after all!”

You nodded, trying to smile.

“I...can r-reformulate the plan, so it’s just three of us,” you said since Kakashi had rudely declined your proposition.
“Yeah!” Obito agreed. “Rin, you’re still with us, right?”
“Yeah!” she replied, joining you too. “I honestly wouldn’t think <___>-san would lie about something like this.” She gave you a reassuring smile.

“Alright,” you said. “Here’s the plan….”

“Hey, Minato-san!” it was your academy teacher who walked right up to him.
“Hey, it’s you again, Ue-san! How are you?” Minato asked.
“Quite good,” he replied and then looked around.

“Are you playing hide and seek…?”
Minato laughed. “Haha, no! Although my test may seem like it.”
“I see,” your teacher nodded. “By the way, I have a question to ask.”

“Really? Go ahead!”

“Is that one of your custom kunai knives?” He bopped his head towards a kunai knife in his back pocket, along with three strings attached to bells.
“Oh, yeah!” he said.
“Mind if I take a look?” your teacher asked.
“Yeah, no problem!”

After pulling out a fishline string, your teacher reached for the kunai knife, but then you changed your aim last second to grab one of the bells.

Checkmate!

“What-?!” Minato asked right before you could grab them, your transformation jutsu wearing off. You had advanced far enough to learn such a tricky jutsu.

“<___>, you forgot I’m called the Yellow Flash of the Leaf-!”
He cut you short of grabbing a bell, pushing you back.

Although, to his surprise, you smirked.

“How could I forget, Sensei?” you asked. “OBITO─RIN-SAN─NOW!”
Immediately, Obito and Rin fell from the sky, the Uchiha blowing fire from his mouth, Minato getting caught in it.

Minato’s vision was occupied as he retreated, and he didn’t see Obito and Rin slide below him, taking two of the bells.
“YEAH!” they both shouted. “<___>, you’re a prodigy for knowing the transformation jutsu!”

My turn, you thought. The fire had extinguished, and Minato was on the ground. As he stood up, you pulled the invisible fishline, which you had attached to one of the bells you masked as trying to directly steal them.

You saw the bell pop out of the cloud of smoke. It was a few meters away, so you had a lot of string to pull towards you.

Wait. This feels wrong, though.

You scanned the area and then found Kakashi, who had been observing.
“You’re the sweetest person I’ve met.”

You sighed.
Sometimes, Obito, it’s to my disadvantage that I’m always kind to everyone.
Once the string was close enough for you to control, you threw it up into the air like someone would aim ninja tools.

“Catch, Kakashi!”
Surprised, he saw the bell flying towards him and then hesitantly caught it, coming out of hiding.

“B-but I, <(l)___>...”
You shrugged as the four of you met up by Minato, as all the bells had been taken.
“BUT <___>!” Obito shouted, running towards you.
“<___>-san!” Rin shouted, too.

You smiled. “I-It’s okay! I can always join a team next year….”
Dammit! My eyes are sweating again! Nothing to worry about, haha…

You closed your eyes to wipe them, but Obito handed his bell towards you when they opened.
“I don’t care if Minato-Sensei says I can’t give away my bell. I’m just going to make an excuse that my Sharingan awakened, and I put him in a genjutsu to make it seem like I took it.”

You stared at his hand.

“<___>, take it!
“Please!”
“No, no…” you replied. “It’s truly okay, Obito! I─”
“Hey, hey,” Minato said, coming towards the four of you.

“You all pass.”

You and Obito stared at each other with eagerness as you both jumped up and down in joy.

Chapter Text

[THREE YEAR TIMESKIP]

It had been about three years since you and your friends had joined Dai-Nana-Han and started going on missions together. It seemed like time had passed so quickly for you.

Two years ago, Minato recommended your team take the chunin exams, and all of you had signed up. The exams were challenging, especially the final round, and sadly Obito and Rin couldn’t pass. They were able to retake it last year, though, and managed to become chunin.

So now, all of you were going to be able to go on higher-ranked missions together.

Today, Team Minato was assigned an A-rank mission because all jonin happened to be occupied with other assignments. The task was to escort a man named Daisuke to the Land of Prairie. They were to watch out for any robbers or assassinators because he was a well-known journalist and had a lot of money.

“BUT Minato-Sensei!” Obito whined. “Are you sure they ranked this right? It’s going to be a piece of cake to escort some guy! Why can’t we get an S-Rank Mission, like defeating some rogue ninja or something?!”

“You’re getting too ahead of yourself, Obito,” Minato replied. “You’ve only been a chunin for one year, and not even the everyday jonin gets an S-Ranked Mission. Besides, this mission may be tougher than you think. After all, we aren’t supposed to get any A-Rank missions.”

The five of you waited outside Konohagakure’s gates for that man you were going to escort. He soon showed up. He looked to be around his thirties, carrying a backpack and holding a maroon-colored journal.

“Hello, Daisuke-sama,” Minato said as he greeted the man. “We are the ninja who will be escorting you to the Land of Prairie.”
“Hello there!” Daisuke said with a chuckle, looking at all four of you. He froze, though, for a split second as he looked at you, focusing on your eyes, before returning to normal.

Oh man, you thought to yourself, noticing. He better not be a creep.

“If all of you are ready, then we’ll go right now,” Minato said, and all of you nodded.

“So, how is it being a journalist, Daisuke-sama?” Obito asked as they headed their way. It would only take half a day for you to reach your destination, so your team decided to take it slow and not rush.

“Very nice indeed,” Daisuke replied with a smile. “I don’t really have a specific subject I need to write on, so I journal whatever I feel like, whenever I travel. The Land of Prairie is pretty small, with most people overlooking it on their maps, so I may be able to find something interesting that no one has written about yet.”

“That sounds very cool!” Rin responded. “I hope you’re able to find something good that can make headlines on the news!”

“Why, thank you, young girl!” Daisuke said.

It was now noon, and you still had a ways to walk before reaching your destination. You were also getting quite hungry, and it wasn’t only you either.

“Minato-Sensei, if Mr. Daisuke doesn’t mind, can we please stop by somewhere to eat?” Obito asked, and immediately after, his stomach growled.
“I guess we can take a short break if you don’t mind,” Minato replied, nodding his head towards Daisuke.

“No, I don’t mind at all!” he said. “I’m actually quite hungry myself.”

You had stopped by a restaurant and were now ordering food. You sat in the middle of a table, Kakashi to your right and Daisuke to your left. Obito sat across from you, with Rin across from Kakashi and Minato across from Daisuke.

You had all ordered pork miso bowls, except Kakashi, who wanted just rice. Obito had also ordered dangos for dessert, being the usual self he was.

For some reason, when the food arrived, Daisuke didn’t have any utensils to eat his food with.
“Oh,” he said, chuckling. “It looks like they forgot my spoon and chopsticks!”

“You can use mine, Daisuke-sama, I haven’t opened them yet,” you said, handing yours to him. “I’ll just ask them for a spare one when they come back.”

“You didn’t have to, thank you!” he replied, accepting them. “May I ask, what is your name?”

“<(l)___> <___>,” you replied. He didn’t show any reaction, but if you happened to pay attention to his pause and look into his eyes, you could tell something was up.

<(l)___>. I see, he thought.
“Thank you, <___>,” he said, and then turned to eat his food.

Once all of you were done, you headed out to finish the second leg. You stayed with Obito, in front of Daisuke.

“Stupid Bakashi,” he muttered under his breath, which you heard. He looked over towards Rin, trying to talk with Kakashi, although he flat-out ignored her. “He doesn’t even acknowledge her! If I were him, I would….”

You held back a sigh. You were now twelve years old, and Obito a few months older than you, thirteen. But for some reason, those feelings you had towards him since you were younger hadn’t changed at all, and you didn’t know why.

“Hey, Kakashi-san!” you spoke up, and unlike how he was behaving towards Rin, he instantly looked at you. You took a look at her and saw her frown at his reaction.

“Someone’s trying to talk to you. Don’t be rude,” you said and kept walking.
He turned and looked at Rin. It didn’t seem like he wanted to talk with her, but he did what you said.

“Hi, Rin.”

You guys were all in conversations together when suddenly, you, Kakashi, and Minato heard a sound from the trees behind you. All three of you freeze and turn around.
“Someone’s there,” Minato said, and you moved to the back to cover Daisuke, holding out a kunai knife, along with Obito and Kakashi in front of you. Rin stayed to the side with Minato.

Suddenly, three shurikens flew through the air towards Daisuke, which you and the others blocked.

The next thing you knew, a man dressed in all black flew past you, with his whole face but eyes covered with a fabric mask, matching the rest of his attire.

“Over there!” you shouted and threw your kunai at him but missed. The man was swift.
He stopped right in front of you guys, and you noticed the symbol on his forehead.
Four squiggles in arrays of two. He must be from the Hidden Mist!
“What’s a Hidden Mist shinobi doing here?” you asked aloud, which the rest of your teammates heard.

“He was probably hired by someone to kill Daisuke-sama,” Kakashi said, thinking that was probably the most plausible explanation, although you wouldn’t know why. After all, both the Land of Prairie and Konohagakure were pretty far from the Mist.

The man who attacked you was now preparing another assault.

“Water-style! Water-Sword Jutsu!” Immediately, a stream of very pressured water came out from his hand, directed to strike through Daisuke.
“Fire-style! Fireball Jutsu!” Obito shouted, running in front of Daisuke, and a ball of flames shot out of his mouth, only barely stopping the water from piercing him.

“Just why are you here?!” Obito yelled at the Mist shinobi. “Why would someone from Kirikagure come this far to kill a journalist? YOU AREN’T THAT BROKE, ARE YOU?”

The man only smirked under his mask before casting another jutsu. “MINI TSUNAMI NO JUTSU!” A large wave appeared right in front of him, and all six of you jumped in the air before landing atop the new flood and tried to balance yourselves on it.

“NOW!” Minato shouted, and he and Kakashi, who had been planning a counterattack, assembled. Kakashi ran towards the man, with a kunai knife in his hand, while Minato instantly transported from the other side, with one of his own custom ones.

“Ha,” the man only responded and then formed more hand signs before Kakashi and Minato were pushed away by the water and knocked down into the flood.
“WATER PRISON JUTSU!” The man shouted while Kakashi tried to get up, and he was suddenly trapped in a spherical water ball.

“KAKASHI-KUN!” you heard Rin shout.

“I was going to try and trap you too, but it seems like you are very fast, and I would just be wasting my chakra,” the man said, looking at Minato, who had been transported back to where the rest of you were. “The Yellow Flash of the Leaf I see.”

“<___>, keep this kunai in your pocket,” Minato whispered, quickly handing you one of his custom kunai before finding Kakashi.
“Hold on, Kakashi, we’re going to get you!” Minato said, examining Kakashi, who was looking at him.
It looks like he can hold on for a while longer, he thought.

You turned to look at Kakashi, then Minato, and then the enemy in front of you.
We need to save Kakashi and stop this ninja, you said to yourself. But how?
Wait a minute! A lightbulb flipped on in your head.

“Obito!” You said, getting his attention.
“We should do the thing we’ve been working on,” you said with a wink.
A smirk appeared on his face.

“<___>,” Minato started. You were still attending the academy, and today was a weekend where you were expanding your training with Minato so you would be able to catch up to everyone.

“We need to find out what chakra nature that you use,” he continued. “As you know, there are five elemental chakra natures─wind, fire, earth, water, and lightning.”

You nodded, understanding.
“So, you’ll now take a quick test to see which nature you have.”
“A test?”
“Don’t worry; it won’t be hard at all!” Minato reassured and then handed you a piece of paper.
“What’s this?”

“It’s a special type of paper which senses what chakra nature you have. For example…” he took another piece of paper out of his pocket and placed it in between his hands. You heard a sudden rii-ip! He revealed the article, which showed it had been torn in two.

“I use wind-style,” Minato explained. “Other types of chakra natures have different effects. If you have an affinity towards fire, the paper will catch on fire. Water, it will become damp. Earth, it will crumble into dirt. And lightning, it will wrinkle. Now, you try.”

“Okay!” you replied and placed the paper between your hands, directing chakra towards it. You waited nervously for any effect to happen.

Ri─ip!
You gasped. You had wind-style too.

“Oh!” Minato reacted, surprised. “Wind-style is actually a pretty rare chakra nature. I’m delighted to see that one of my students possesses it as well.

“Now, you should keep this in mind, as it will be crucial later on when you go on missions and have to fight other shinobi. Wind-style beats lightning-style, but its weakness is fire-style. The catch is, though, that it also works best with fire-style, as a gust of the right amount of wind can amplify fire, can’t it?”
…

“So, you have wind-style,” Obito said, as you told him what you found out at your usual spot. He happened to be the only person you told that Minato was giving you private lessons.

“Yeah!” you said, and then switching to a more sarcastic tone, “I’m exceptional.”

“Oh YEAH? Not as much as me, though!” Obito replied, putting his arms behind his head. You knew this was a habit of his─he would do this whenever he had a spurt of confidence.

You giggled before telling him what you’d wanted to say.
“You use fire-style, don’t you, Obito?”
“Yeah, that’s right,” he replied.
“Minato-Sensei told me that wind-style and fire-style work well together when fighting an opponent,” you explained. “So, if you wouldn’t mind, I want to experiment on something.”

“Okay, sure!” Obito replied, following you as you moved to the edge of the cliff.
“Do your fireball jutsu,” you said. He nodded before breathing flames out of his mouth.

It was your turn. “Wind-style! Tornado-sphere!” This was a very easy jutsu Minato just taught you. A loose round ball of wind accompanied Obito’s fire. Although you expected something, nothing happened.

“Oh, I guess─”

A sudden blast came from the fire, which caught both of you off guard. Your wind had made Obito’s fireball even bigger in an instant, turning the previously orange flames into a more red-orange color, almost the same shade as the setting sun was.

“WOW!” you and Obito cheered at the same time, the flames still alive. It took a full two minutes for all of them to disperse and fade.

“That was an excellent idea you had there, <___>!” Obito exclaimed as you sat down by each other on the bench.
“Thanks,” you responded, turning pink, before continuing. Y’know, we should have a name for this!”

“Hmm…” Obito mumbled as he started pondering.
“How about, RED-HOT-PEPPER EXPLOSION!” he suddenly said.
Obito and his silly names. It’s not even that bad, though.

“It will sound really cool when we both say it!” he continued. “Because, at first, the enemy won’t know what’s about to happen because it will just be my simple fireball, and then your wind will just make it look like a failed attempt to combine them.
“But then, it will EXPLODE! They will never see it coming since we didn’t either! And it looks uh- sweltering! Like it reminded me of a spicy chilly pepper!”

“That’s actually a great observation, Obito,” you said, genuinely liking it. Obito wasn’t the brightest in the room, but he was still as impressive, if not more than everyone else.

Obito was an open book─he was transparently easy to read, but even so, he still managed to surprise you more times than anyone else could ever. It was one of the things you loved about him.

“That’s a great name,” you finally concluded before looking at the sky.

“Alright!” Obito said, determined.
“Fire-style! FIREBALL JUTSU!”

“Silly boy, you’ve already revealed this jutsu,” the man said, finally speaking a sentence. “Now I know exactly how to counterattack.”
“Wind-style, Tornado-sphere,” you said, a lot quieter than Obito, to further catch the man off guard.

“I heard you, girl!” The man spoke. “You tried to be sneaky, but you couldn’t fool me!”

Your wind slowly accompanied his fire, moving that speed on purpose.
Kakashi, who was still spectating from inside, widened his eyes. You and Obito both had done something, but it didn’t seem like anything had happened.

At the same time, Rin saw too. “<___>-san, Obito-kun,” she whispered to herself, concerned. “Is something supposed to happen?”

“It looks like your jutsu didn’t do anything!” the man laughed, amused, letting the flames approach him, confident that he could just block it last second. “Combining different styles can work to the users’ advantages but only if you even know how to do it righ─”

The sphere exploded into red flames, absorbing the ninja.
“GAHHH!”

“RED-HOT-PEPPER EXPLOSION!”

You and Rin rushed over to Kakashi. The water prison that trapped him had broken, which meant that you and Obito’s jutsu had worked.
“Kakashi!” you shouted.
“Are you okay?” Rin asked as Kakashi coughed out water before weakly nodding.

“Rin-san, take Kakashi behind all of us and heal him there,” you said, and she obeyed. You started to stand up when suddenly, the Mist ninja had appeared right behind and grabbed you. You took out the kunai Minato gave to you, but it wasn’t helpful at the moment.

“<___>!” Obito shouted.

“WATER-STRANGLE!” The man shouted, and water started wrapping around your body, restraining you from moving. He then cast another jutsu.
“Water-Barrier!” A four-wall barrier made of water arose around you and the attacker to make sure no one could get through and save you.

“<___>!” Obito shouted. “We NEED TO SAVE HER!”
“Yes, I know!” Minato replied. “But we need a plan.”
Kakashi and Rin were back, and they both ran to the front where Obito and Daisuke were.

“Let me have Yochi, or else I will kill the girl,” the man spoke.
“...Yochi-?!” Minato suddenly asked, his expression showing great confusion.
“You don’t mean Yochi as in the Yochi Clan?”

“Let me have Yochi, or I will kill the girl!” he repeated.

“<___>!” Obito shouted, not caring about what they were talking about. He ran right in front of the barrier and started punching it, but nothing happened.
You threw your kunai to see if it could even just pierce through, but instead, it stuck onto the water wall.

“Obito! Don’t be so reckless! It’s not going to work either way!” Kakashi shouted.
“It looks like you aren’t giving him up,” the Mist ninja said. “Very well, then.”
He faced towards you and pulled out a sword from a sheath that had been attached to his back.

“<___>! Activate it!”

You looked towards your team and saw no one shouting at you, but you noticed something odd about Daisuke’s eyes─they had gone from its brown color to violet, with his pupils taking the form of typhoons.

Activate what?

The ninja made a move to stab you, and you quickly saw the sword in the air.
Am I going to die?

“<___>!” Obito screamed.
“<(l)___>!” Kakashi shouted.
“<___>-san!” Rin gasped.

I can’t die yet! I have goals I need to fulfill!

“I won’t make it in time!” you heard Minato say. He used his transportation jutsu to appear right where the kunai knife you threw at the barrier was, but you were still a few feet from it. You saw him appear in slow motion, gripping it.

Wait, why is everything going so slow?

You turned back to the man about to stab you, and thinking fast, you tried to pull your body up from the water that had been strangling you. You grabbed the grip of the sword before twisting it out of his hands.

You then use all your force to stab him in the heart.

“W...what?!”
The way time moved for you went back to its average speed, and you watched the man instantly coughed up blood.

“Y-you’re o─one…t-too?” He used the last of his strength to point to your eyes.
You pulled the sword out of him, and the ninja collapsed to the ground. The water barrier and strangle holding you still came undone.
Minato ran right toward you and checked the ninja.
“He’s dead. That was very quick of you, <___>. Perhaps, that was even faster than me.”
“I-I…” You looked right into your sensei’s eyes. He stared at you back in shock, stepping away.

“<___>!” Obito ran towards you and instantly noticed too. He froze.
“<___>...” he stumbled. “Y-your eyes…

“They’re violet!”

There was a long pause.

“And for some reason, Daisuke-sama’s eyes look the same as yours too!”
The rest of your team ran towards you, worried. They all noticed the change in your appearance.

“Let me heal you first, okay?” Rin asked, to which you nodded and sat down while she placed her hands on your back.

“Daisuke-sama…” you started.
“No.”
“What?”
“My name actually isn’t Daisuke,” he said, which shocked all of you.

“It’s actually Akasuki. Oh, and I’m not a man either.” She started laughing, her voice suddenly becoming higher, which shocked all five of you, as her hair fell past her shoulders, undone from a bun she had put it in.

“WHAT-?!” Your entire team asked, dazzled.

“I’m sorry. I wanted to tell everyone from the start. Especially you,” Akasuki said, looking at you. “But I was scared that if anybody overheard me, they would pursue after me too. It happened anyway, though.
“I’m not really a journalist. Or I am, but that’s the front I put up, along with pretending I am a man so that no one would notice anything off about me. That man who attacked us was right, Namikaze-san. I am the last─well now, one of the last, of the infamous Yochi clan, who possesses the Murasakiiro.”

Everyone’s eyes widened, although you and Obito were lost entirely.
Akasuki sensed both of you and smiled. “The Murasakiiro is a visual prowess, just like Konohagakure’s Sharingan.” There was an “Ah!” from Obito before she continued.

“The Murasakiiro’s main power is being able to see events in the future,” she said. “Although there are a bunch of restrictions as, those events are limited to the current situation a user is in, and you can only see brief flashes of them, but this is still very powerful. It can allow someone to take advantage of this knowledge. For example, change something so the outcome seen doesn’t happen.

“The Muraskiiro can also break into another’s consciousness if one looks into the surrounding aura coming out of the user’s eyes,” Akasuki continued. “Like this.

“Ora Murasakiiro!”

Akasuki’s eyes turned violet again, and there was an aura coming out from her, like what you saw earlier when you looked at her.
“Wait, so you were the one speaking to me to ‘Activate it?’”

She nodded. “That’s right. One thing to know, though─this going-into-other-consciousness thing can only be achieved through the Ora Muraskiiro. Think of it as a level-up to the regular Muraskiiro.

“And finally, the other power an ordinary Muraskiiro could do is being able to see things happen in slow motion. This power only works for fifteen seconds at a time, but it’s beneficial in case you’re about to die or something.”

“Wait, that’s exactly what I did!” you shouted at the revelation, looking at your hands. “Time passed by so slow─I could even see the way Minato-Sensei disappeared and reappeared!”

“I never knew…someone else was alive….” Akasuki whispered. “Especially, Hayami’s daughter. I recognized you from the beginning. I kept telling myself, oh, you just had to be. Your smile is exactly like hers.”

“H-Hayami? Wait, was s-she my mother?”
“Lady Hayami,” Akasuki said, smiling. “She was my best friend. She was like a sister to me.”
“C-can you tell me about her?” you asked.
“You will know when the time comes,” Akasuki replied, to your puzzlement.
The third Hokage had told me these exact words too. Why is there never an answer?

“But, if you insist, one fun fact about her was that she only fell in love with one person. Although, the man she loved thought he was in love with someone else. She was a very patient woman, though. She waited half a lifetime until he finally realized his true feelings for her.”

Minato had started to ‘fake’ tear-up in emotion.
“T-that’s very interesting,” was all you could respond with.

You had finally reached the Land of Prairie. Akasuki’s hair had gone back up into a bun, and she thanked you all for protecting her.

“I can’t explain how grateful I am to you all,” she said. “Thank you.”

“W-why can’t you come with us to the Leaf?” you asked. For once, there was a person related to you by blood who knew one of your parents and could help you, now that you’ve awakened a power you didn’t think you had before.

“<___>, we must protect ourselves,” Akasuki said, very seriously. “As far as I know, we are the only two ones left. It must have been fate that we were able to meet each other. I already told you most people overlook the Land of Prairie─some don’t even know it exists. My actual reason for being here is to hide.

She hesitated before continuing. “Actually, under any other circumstance, I would strongly advise you to hide too, now that you’ve awakened the Murasakiiro,” she admitted. “But, you are different than I am. A time in the future will come to pass where you’ll find out your true purpose─perhaps you already have. You must become known. I believe that you will save the world.”

“S-save the world?” you asked her. You’ve only just met her, and you knew this power had all sorts of mind-related powers, but she already knew of your ultimate goal to bring the world to peace?

“I will go now,” Akasuki said, bowing to all of you. “Take care <___>,” she said with a smile.

“And your name is Obito, right?” she asked when you were no longer paying attention, turning towards him and then bent down to whisper in his ear.
“Buy her dangos whenever you can. I can see how much she likes you.” Akasuki winked, and Obito immediately turned red, nodding his head.
“Take care!” you said as she waved goodbye to all of you before leaving.

The afternoon you got back, you headed to Konohagakure’s public library to see if it happened to have books talking more about your clan and newfound powers.

I wonder why it wasn’t in any of the academy schoolbooks, along with the Sharingan and Byakugan, you thought to yourself. The only plausible reason would be because your prowess wasn’t from No Sato, so your mother at least must have come from another village.

You scanned the library’s shelves, but you could not find anything.
Back home, as it drew closer to nighttime, you got ready for bed by washing up in your bathroom.

The Murasakiiro, you said, looking at yourself in the mirror.
You still couldn’t grasp that along with being born with a chakra network of all chances, you had also been born with a kekkei genkai that managed to awaken on your last mission. You had already been powerful enough without it─your intuition and strategizing skills were good enough─but in a sense, you were relieved. You saved yourself once already, which meant you could do it again.

You faced your reflection once more and activated your Murasakiiro to take a good look at it, moving your face towards the mirror to examine all the tiny details, such as the typhoon your pupil had become. You tried to use the main foretelling power Akasuki talked about when she first explained it to you, but nothing happened.

What will happen to me tomorrow?
What’s my next mission?
Will anything bad happen to me soon?

I probably have to be in some dire situation or something for it to work, you thought.
I wonder why. And─what happened to our clan? I never got to ask Akasuki.
Who was my mother? An heiress, maybe?
Why do so many people know more personal details about my life than me?

“Yochi <___>,” you said to yourself aloud as you lay outside, the warm wind gently brushing your skin.

Chapter Text

Back in the academy, you were surprisingly regarded as popular. Not in a wrong way─it was that everyone who knew you liked how spirited you were, how you were able to light up your classmates’ day with optimism. It had taken a while for you to break out of your shell, but Obito had helped you become comfortable with your peers. You had that to thank him for too.

You attracted everyone you met─including many of the boys, and even acquainted the hard-to-please Kakashi .

Obito realized that early on.

You heard a knock on your door. Today, you had slept in─you usually didn’t as you were organized with your time, but you had been training extra for the past few weeks after your breakthrough mission, and those hours had made you exhausted.

You wanted to master your new power as quickly as you could. Then, you would never have to doubt how able you were to protect your comrades.

You immediately got up and opened the door.

“Oh, Rin-san...?”
“Hey <___>-san!” she greeted.

“Hi,” you replied and then checked your appearance.

“Oh, I’m so sorry...I only just woke up.” You laughed.
“Don’t worry about it!” she replied, smiling.

Rin. She never judges anyone. Another thing that makes her a saint.

No matter how hard you tried, and even though Rin was your friend, those feelings of jealousy towards her would never go away.

Why am I always thinking these things?

And whenever you would try to pinpoint the origin, all you could trace back to was Obito.

“What did you come here for?” you asked.

“Ah, that’s right! Well, today is the weekend, and tomorrow Obito and I will be busy, so we both wanted to hang out today, with you too! If you don’t mind!”
“Oh! Yeah, why not?” you replied. “I’ll join you guys right after I uh, make myself more presentable.”

You both giggled. “Alright! We’ll see you then!”

You met Obito and Rin right in front of the Yamanaka Flower Shop after you had changed and washed your face.

“Why are we here, Rin-san?” you asked, as this wasn’t the typical place your group would meet up.

“Oh, well...” Rin started. “We tried going to Kakashi-kun’s house as well, but he wasn’t there. So, perhaps we would check the main street to see if he was here.”

“I see,” you replied and then looked over at Obito, who made a very loud sigh.

“Here, let’s walk downhill,” Rin started, already walking. You had zoned out and registered her words a bit too late, and Obito and Rin were almost out of sight in the crowd. Today was a hectic day.

Oh, oops ! You tried to catch up with them but accidentally knocked into someone.

"<___>!" Obito called. He realized that you had lost them and was running back.

“Aah! I am so sorry...” you said, trying to get up. You realized a hand held out towards you.

Oh?

You were pulled to your feet as you looked at the person who you instantly recognized.

“ KEN-kun ...?!”

Kenshiro , or Ken , was a boy from the class above you while still attending the academy. He and his little gang of boys and girls would go around picking on people they didn’t like. Obito had been one of them─they made fun of him for not being able to perform many jutsus correctly and that he was a good-for-nothing Uchiha.

They also happened not to like Kakashi either. They were one of the few, like Obito, to view him as a stuck-up jerk who thought he knew everything in the world.

“ <___>-chan ,” he replied. “I haven’t seen you in a while. What a great time to run into you here!”

You dusted dirt off of your attire. “Yeah, that’s right,” you replied.

“Thanks, by the way. Although, I wouldn’t expect you to be so polite to someone.”

“ Heh ,” he chuckled. “I can say I’ve changed quite a bit.”

You confirmed his statement by the aura he was giving off. It was different. Sure, Ken’s appearance had changed. He was taller looked more masculine and mature. His facial features were more defined─they had become cute to handsome. But the way he greeted you was undoubtedly not the personality of his old self. He seemed way more approachable than the last time you saw him.

"<___>!" Obito shouted once more, running towards you. Rin followed behind.

He looked at you whose eyes were fixed on Kenshiro. Obito looked at him and then back at you again.

What the hell is he doing here?

“Ah, Obito-san?” Kenshiro asked, looking at him. “ Managed to get a girlfriend yet ?”

“HUH?!” he replied, instantly irritated.

“Hey, hey, I just stumbled into him while trying to run after you guys. It’s alright, Obito.” You tried to calm him down.

“It’s nice to see you again, Ken-san,” Rin spoke, and Kenshiro smiled. “Nice seeing you too, Nohara!

“Hey, since we haven’t spoken in a while, why don’t I treat you all to barbeque! We can all catch up!”

“That sounds like a nice idea!” you replied. “Rin-san, Obito?”

“Yeah, I agree!” Rin said.

“Umm, sure ,” Obito spat, clearly not wanting to go.

“Alright!” Kenshiro said, leading you guys to his favorite barbeque.

The restaurant was all-you-could-eat, so you were able to order whatever you wanted to.

“How is it going for you, then?” you asked Kenshiro. “Your missions and everything.”

“It’s going great,” he replied. “I heard your whole team became genin and chunin early─before even anyone in our class could, and well, that says a lot because we’re older, and we’ve been at the academy longer than you! You must be so brilliant, <___>-chan! That’s why our group never picked on you, haha.”

You slightly blushed at the compliment.

“How about you?” he asked.

“I’m doing great too,” you replied. “I’m completing all my missions, I discovered a new power I have, other things...”

“Wow, that’s great! You must’ve come a long way on your journey then.

“How about you, Nohara?”

Obito looked over at Kenshiro and scoffed before Rin spoke.

“I’m doing great too! I’m trying to master medical ninjutsu so I can heal my comrades if they get hurt.

“That sounds pretty cool,” he replied.

“...Oh yeah─I’m sorry about my friends and I making fun of you before. Manami ─she’s one of my friends; when she heard you became a medical-nin, she kind of got inspired by you.”

“I thought all Manami-san cared about was her makeup not getting smudged and some other weirdos in your group .” Obito harshly muttered. “You’re really going to accept their apologies just like that Rin-chan? They made you feel upset every other day!”

“Hey, hey, Obito-kun!” Rin said. “It’s okay! He apologized for both of them! I forgive you, Ken-san.”

At this rate, he’s going to steal Rin-chan! And <___>, my best friend!

“How about you, Obito-san?”

“Yeah, yeah, I’m well,” he replied, crossing his arms. “I’m still on the path to becoming Hokage, though, SO DON’T THINK THAT’S STILL A CHILDISH DREAM!”

Kenshiro chuckled. “I’m going to need you to prove that to me, but I guess I can put my faith in you .”

“Wait, h-huh ?!

“You’re really serious?!”

He nodded. “Sure. You’re a comrade, after all.”

All of you had finished eating, and now you were all walking through town.

“How’s the silver-head? Still the same? Didn’t change as I did?” He chuckled at his own comment.

“Still the same,” you sighed. “I mean, look. He didn’t even join us today.”

He laughed as the four of you made it back to where you came from, in front of the Yamanaka Flower Shop.

“Uh <___>-chan, Obito-san, Nohara, I’ll have to go now,” Kenshiro said, scratching his head. “But, <___>-chan, would you mind waiting out here for a second?”

“Hm? Not at all.”

Kenshiro ran into the flower shop.

“Uhm, what’s he doing?” you asked, confused.

“Yeah, what is he doing?” Obito’s eyebrows furrowed.

Kenshiro came back outside, holding a bouquet of flowers.

“H-huh?”

“You know, I always kind of admired you,” Kenshiro said. “Even back when I was a stupid kid. You showed up in the graduating year of your class yet still became a ninja before me. That’s really cool, you know.

“I know it must be out of the blue. I had so many chances to talk with you. But instead, I decided to make fun of other people, including your friends.”

He handed the bouquet to you.

“I’m not going to ask you to go out with me. I mean, we did just meet again for the first time in years─ and you might already have someone ─I-I just wanted to let you know.” He smiled at you.

“I have a mission tomorrow. I’ll be sent to the front lines of the battle with my sensei. My three comrades on my team are already dead. That’s why I never really talked about myself when you asked how I was doing.”

The Third Great Shinobi War . It was starting to arrive closer and closer to home.

"Ken-kun, I am so sorry."

“Yeah. It hurt a lot. But back to the point, this may be the last time I see any of you. I just wanted to confess something before I go.”

You accepted the flowers and returned a hug from him.

“You’re kind of what changed me, <___>-chan. Yeah, we never talked, but just looking at you made me want to become a better person. And maybe, when I finally became well-behaved, I thought you’d acknowledge me or something. I guess it’s too late now, though.”

He smiled as he let go of the embrace. “ See you , <___>-chan.”

You and Rin waved to him as he left, yours being a more intimate one.

“Awe, <___>-san, that was so cute!” she said after he was gone. “It’s so sweet that Ken-san redeemed himself and changed his personality because of you!”

Your cheeks warmed up. “Yeah, haha.”

“I hope he’s safe out there! And maybe when he comes back, he’ll be able to really ask you out.

“I wonder, would you have accepted if he did?”

You noticed Obito was intensely staring at you.

“U-uh, Obito, are you alright?” you asked.

“Keep talking , <___>.”

Obito seemed way out of it, which made you frown in concern.

“Uh...okay? Well, unfortunately, no. I think I’m a bit too young…or all of us, actually. I can consider it when I’m his age, but I’m not interested in anyone right now.” You gave a slight shrug.

That was a massive lie.

“I see!” Rin replied. “You’re so mature, <___>-san!”

Obito was no longer looking at you and instead had his eyes on the ground.

<___> attracts too many guys for her own good. She needs to take better care of herself. Or, instead, someone needs to protect her.

Wait, what? What am I thinking? Well, I mean, I gotta protect my best friend.

Suddenly, you saw a familiar outline come towards the four of you.

“Kakashi-kun!” Rin shouted. Obito looked up and sighed again.

“Hey, Obito, don’t be such a loser,” you said. You placed an arm around his shoulder and squeezed him. “You’re acting a lot like sulking-Bakashi right now.”

“WHAT?! NO, I’M IN NO WAY LIKE HIM!” Obito shouted and then jumped away, a bit too forcefully. You were dragged onto the ground.

“Oh, I was a bit too rough there, haha.” He fell too.

“Were you all that stupid to wait this long for me?” Kakashi asked as he approached you guys.

“NO,” Obito replied. “And NOT EVERYTHING is about you-!”

First that Kenshiro jerk, and now Bakashi jerk! He’s gonna start talking to <___> again about smart-people stuff and turn her into an arrogant person, and Rin is going to start ignoring me again...

While Obito was lost in his thoughts, Kakashi stepped towards you and pulled you up since you were still on the ground.

He did exactly what Kenshiro did! Dammit, every other boy-! He dug his fists into the dirt.

“Who gave you those?” Kakashi asked, noticing the bouquet.

“Kenshiro-kun. Do you remember him? He was from the academy.”

“Yeah,” he replied, with his usual, blank expression.

“How amusing.”

Today was your last free day of the week, and you and Kakashi were out training alone since both of you had nothing else to do. You had been meeting up for the past few weeks. You both had wanted to improve your skills, and today was the perfect day to do so.

Kakashi came straight after you with a kunai knife, using his full speed, and you immediately stopped him before he hit you.

“This is too easy for me,” you said as Kakashi retreated. “I didn’t even need to activate my Murasakiiro.”

“Yeah, I figured,” he said and then looked at you. “You were one of the fastest students in the academy. Some people even measure you up to Minato-Sensei.”

It had been confirmed. For some reason, you excelled at speed. And now, with your new power, you worked even faster. Perhaps that was a specialty of the Yochi Clan.

“Uh, <(l)___>, maybe this will prove more of a challenge.”

Kakashi looked around to check if anyone was looking and then formed hand signs.

“I’ve discovered a new jutsu,” he explained, finishing the hand-sign, Monkey.

“Chidori !”

A loose sphere of lightning emitted throughout his hand. You widened your eyes, impressed.

“Wow, Kakashi-san. That’s amazing!”

He nodded and started running towards you, with lightning in his palm. An already fast Kakashi had quadrupled in speed, catching you off guard.

“MURASAKIIRO!”

Your eyes glowed purple, and your pupil spun into the form of a typhoon.

The whole world slowed down, guaranteeing you safe. Although Kakashi was still an arm’s length away, you realized right there you didn’t know how to stop his jutsu. He had just told you he only recently found it, so you didn’t know what would happen if you were to touch it, although it looked dangerous enough.

You could try wind-style on it, but you only had five seconds left. If it failed, Kakashi’s lightning would run right into you.

Three, two…

You jumped out of the way before time went back to moving normally. Kakashi realized you had moved, and his eyes widened before stopping the jutsu and tripping over himself.

“Oh oops, sorry about that,” you said, lending a hand to help him up.

“Why didn’t you stop me?” he asked.

“I was trying to find a way to, but I couldn’t,” you laughed. “Your jutsu is really impressive, Kakashi-san, but maybe we should ask Minato-Sensei first how to fight against it.”

“Oh, about that…” he started.

“You’re actually the first person I showed this to. I wasn’t going to reveal it to anyone until I mastered and improved on it, so there would be no flaws.”

You were shocked. “Oh? Why me, though?”

He shrugged. “You were training to experiment with your eyes, so I wanted to experiment with my Chidori too.”

You nodded, understanding.

“Uh, can you keep it a secret, then ?”

You knew Kakashi well─if you asked anyone, they would say that Kakashi was a perfect student who made no mistakes at all. He was a rule follower and acted exactly how a good shinobi should do. Kakashi was quite a perfectionist and wanted to surpass everybody.

You simply smiled. “Alright, just don’t try using it on other people. After all, even I didn’t have enough time to defend myself.”

He nodded, taking in your concern before you guys parted ways finished with your training, as the sun was already setting.

“So, what were you doing today?” you asked Obito at your usual spot. Instead of sitting up on the bench today, you were leaning to the side with your elbow on the armrest, holding your chin up, exhausted.

“What I normally do,” he replied, his hands behind his head. “There was an old lady whose dog ran away while she tried to go inside her house, so I chased and brought him back for her. It was nothing at all!”

“Oh?” You turned and looked at Obito, knowing that when he said something was a piece of cake or nothing complicated for him at all, you knew he was lying. Not noticing beforehand, you saw that his chin was scratched.

“Obito!” you shouted, immediately standing up. “‘Nothing at all,’ you idiot ! You’re injured!”

“It’s nothing at a-” Obito started before realizing he’d just repeated what you were scolding him for.

“ Why didn’t you tell m ─you should’ve let Rin-san heal you!” You faced away from him, angry that you stumbled on your words.

“I’m fine, <___>, I swear!” he said, and you turned back at him, looking close up in his face.

“Luckily for you, I happened to have emergency ointment and bandages!” you shouted, putting your hand into your back pouch and grabbing what you needed. You sat down in front of him to get a better look, especially since it was now dark.

You spread the ointment on his chin, pushing all thoughts out of your brain so you wouldn’t mess up. Your hands were shaking, and you kept telling yourself, Why am I shaking? I’m helping him! That’s what friends do!

You finished and then bandaged it all up. When you were done, you stood up and stepped away, exhaling. You weren’t a medical ninja, but you still knew the basics of first aid.

“Y-you didn’t have to…” Obito mumbled.

“J-just helping,” you replied with the same amount of awkwardness.

Silence filled the air.

You didn’t want to go home yet, but you were still exhausted, so you laid down with your back on the grass and your arms behind your head. You stared at the millions of white dots in the sky in awe. The only sounds you heard were crickets, which helped you relax.

You didn’t notice that Obito had joined you in the same position until he started talking.

“Remember when I said I wanted a star named after me?” he asked.

“Yeah,” you replied. “And I’m still going to fulfill my promise to make that happen.”

“You really are a great friend, <___>.

“You’re always helping your comrades achieve their goals, and you sound so confident about it. You’re just the type of person the world needs.”

He didn’t say, “ And that’s something the other guys don’t realize about you. ” Obito felt like he was the only one who ultimately knew your heart. Kakashi and Kenshiro’s minor interactions with you had somehow made him jealous, and perhaps it was because of that─there was more to yourself than those two knew. He wanted to make it known that he was the special one out of all.

You didn’t know what to say, astonished by the words Obito said. You turned your head to look at him, who was still gazing at the stars, before turning towards you and giving you a smile with his eyes closed.

His smile was your favorite thing in the entire world.

And by instinct, your eyes glowed violet, and Obito’s smile remained.

“So, you were training with Bakashi today?” he asked.

“Huh?” You snapped out, your eyes returning to your normal [E/C].

“Oh...yeah. It’s not as fun as hanging out with you, though!” you said, and he laughed.

“Well, duh! I’m a hundred times better than him.”

“I’m just really exhausted.” You yawned, and your eyes started to close on their own.

“Yeah, you must’ve worked hard today,” he half-consciously said before looking at you, who was now asleep.

“ <___> -!” he said, a bit too loud, panicking. Obito had no clue whatsoever what to do with a girl who fell asleep outside. He instantly covered his mouth, as he didn’t want to wake you up. He stood up, trying to think what to do.

“She told me her house was quite far from here once!” Obito thought aloud. “And I don’t know where it is anyway, so that’s out of the question. I can go to Rin’s, but…” he gulped, thinking about going to his crush’s house at night. “I-I don’t want to bother her so late.”

He knew he only had one other option since you couldn’t stay here, either. Obito gently picked you up and first set you on the bench before wrapping your arms around his shoulders and picking you up. He was going to piggyback you all the way to his house.

“Hah, you’re so light,” Obito teased, knowing you wouldn’t hear him as he started walking downhill. He hoped his grandmother wouldn’t mind him bringing in you tonight, but she would probably be asleep anyway.

After about ten minutes, he reached his house and went inside.

“Uh oh,” he said aloud, now inside his room, with you still on his back, trying to find somewhere to lay you down. He was silently screaming with gratitude towards his grandmother that she had cleaned his room that day while he was out so that you wouldn’t see a whole mess on his floor.

There was nowhere else for you to stay, so Obito placed you on his bed before sighing in relief. He had gotten you here safely.

Obito tucked you inside and placed the covers over you so that you would be warm and comfortable.

There. I know you usually don’t sleep without the stars, but I hope you’re comfortable here too. Goodnight, <___>.

After, Obito pulled out a portable mattress from under the bed, and he slept on the floor that night.

Chapter Text

“OBITO!”
“OBITO!”
“UCHIHA OBITO!”

You woke up in a cold sweat. It was still the middle of the night, but for the past few days, your sleep schedule had started to look like this. It was the same dream over and over again.

It was completely black, but then you would see repeating flashes of disaster happening right in front of your eyes. You saw an image of Rin tied up unconscious, one of Kakashi yelling in agony, and…

You had started to sleep indoors because of this traumatizing dream, seeing if it would make a difference. But the same thing happened over and over again. You kept watching your team suffering.
Of course, you knew it was only a dream. But it was worrying you a lot.

The Third Shinobi War was raging between the nations. Luckily, your team hadn’t been assigned to the front lines of battle yet, but you knew that soon, it would be inevitable, and you would be forced to fight. The direct opposite of what your ultimate goal was.

Today, you were assigned a rare solo mission as chunin still had to be accompanied by a jounin by default. It was only a C-Ranked mission, so it wasn't too dangerous, but you wouldn't be back in the village until the end of the day. You had to leave first thing in the morning, so you wouldn't be able to tell your friends where you were going to be.

"I'll be going now, Hokage-sama," as you reported to him before you left.

Meanwhile, the rest of Team Minato was assigned D-Ranked missions, and everyone had finished theirs before noon.

Obito had been the first to finish, surprisingly.
"I'm pretty sure <___>'s already finished with her mission," Obito thought aloud to himself as he started walking around the main street. "She must've started early since I didn't see her today. I wonder where she is."
He decided to walk to the dango shop. He would buy some dumplings for himself and perhaps wait for you there as well. You always went with Obito to eat lunch there after your missions.

He arrived and bought eight dangos─four of them for him and four for you.
He stayed there for an hour, but you never showed up.
Hm. Where is <___>?

"Obito-kun!"
Obito looked up. Rin was approaching him with Kakashi. Both of them had just finished their missions.

"Hi Rin," Obito said, still sitting. "Have you seen <___> anywhere?"
"Hm?" she asked as they sat down in front of him. "No, I haven't. She's not with you?"
"No," he replied. "Well, I'll see you two later. I'm going to continue looking for her."
Obito got up and was about to walk away when Kakashi decided to start provoking him.

"You're different today, Obito. You're not even phased by the fact Rin showed up with me?" Every other time Rin had been alone with Kakashi and Obito had found out, he would try to fight Kakashi out of jealousy. Today, he didn't even bat an eye at it.

"U-uH—I AM!" Obito shouted and turned back towards Kakashi.
"I'LL FIGHT AND WIN AGAINST YOU...later. I want to find <___>."

"Why? Do you want to confess to her?" Kakashi had meant to come off as sarcastic, but it had sounded like he was serious.

"H-HUH?! NO! I LIKE RI—I MEAN, NO <___> IS LIKE REALLY, REALLY COOL BUT—"

He saw that Kakashi and Rin had confused looks on their faces.
"Obito-kun? Are you fond of <___>-san?" Rin asked.

He immediately turned red. "No, that's RIDICULOUS!"

Obito was pretty sure he was telling the truth, mainly because he didn't want to be lying in front of his crush. Nohara Rin was his crush, right?
"I'M GOING NOW," Obito shouted, turning his back on them. A gust of wind blew by as he was about to leave.

"H-hey Obito-kun! On the ground─" Rin had called out to him, but Obito had already stepped on some chopsticks an undisciplined person littered behind.
"WAH-AAHHH-!" He fell forwards and face-planted onto the ground.
"OBITO!" Rin shouted, running towards him to help him up. Kakashi hesitantly followed and helped him to get up too.

Obito, both embarrassed and piqued, looked straight into Kakashi's eyes.

"You don't know NOTHING! Can her BEST-FRIEND not want to try and find her?
"Oh, that's right. YOU DON'T KNOW HOW TO BE A FRIEND."

He stomped away.

Obito had been trying to find you for hours, but wherever he looked, you weren't there.
He wanted to go to Minato-Sensei or the Hokage, but it seemed like something stopped him every time he decided to make that choice.

First, it was an old man who needed directions. Next, it was a lost dog that needed to get back to its owner. Then, he had to take someone to the hot springs and met a rather pervy man there.

"Uh, what are you doing?" Obito called out to a white-haired man with red paint on his face trying to make a hole in the separation between the women's and men's springs.
"O-Oh, what I'm doing?!" The man replied, awkwardly chuckling. "No need to pay attention to me..."

The last place Obito went was your usual hang-out spot. He was starting to grow worried because you weren't here either.

D-Did something happen to <___>? Obito thought to himself. You had never ghosted him like this before.
No. I'm pretty sure if she was in a situation, she could handle herself just fine. Obito knew how strong of a person you had become since the first time he met you.
He remembered that day as if it happened only yesterday─watching you get beat up by two boys and then having to take you to the hospital.

Obito decided to stay and watch the stars until he felt too tired to keep waiting or until you showed up.

It grew closer to midnight, and Obito had laid down with his arms behind his head and looked up at the dark sky.

"Are you fond of <___>-san?"

He had been thinking about what Rin asked for a while.

Obito had always liked Rin ever since they became friends. He always thought that he couldn't go without her─he had been very lonely before he met her. Obito didn't grow up with parents. He wasn't used to feeling love from another, and he never knew how to respond to it when someone did show it to him. It was foreign.

Rin was the first to show affection towards him. She never compared his strength to the other Uchihas. She never thought he was way too impulsive. She cared for Obito. It was only natural for Obito to have feelings towards her.

And then, you came into the picture. You were on a completely different level in terms of how puzzled you made Obito feel.

The way she treats me is just so…

"O-Obito?"
He snapped out of his thoughts, hearing his name.
"<___>!" Obito shouted, standing up.

"I heard from Kakashi-san and Rin-san that you had been looking for me all day," you said, running towards him, feeling guilty.
"I'm sorry! I had to leave for a mission by myself first thing in the morning, so I couldn't stop by, haha.
"You know, I've been looking for you quite a bit as well too! I went to your house first, but you weren't there. And then I remembered..."

"Hm?" Obito asked. Had he told you something earlier, and he'd forgotten?

"You would have definitely been here tonight," you continued. "Today is the day you brought me here for the first time!"
And where we made our first promise. You smiled to yourself; both of you had been very young when you made that vow, and yet, it still held up. It hadn't been disregarded as stupid or childish now that you were older.

"Wha─oh, that's right!" Obito replied, scratching his head.
"You forgot, huh, Obito?" You smirked.

"N-NO! I TOTALLY REMEMBERED <_─" he sighed in defeat. You always read what was on his mind, and even so, he kept denying that he was an open book.

You gave him a little pat on his back. "It's alright, I get it. You even forget Bakashi's birthday half the time."
"That's different," Obito argued, crossing his arms. "I don't care about him." You laughed.

"I'm sorry, Obito. I'd love to stay but...I'm actually quite tired."
His eyes lifted up in surprise.

Tired? <___> usually has as much stamina as me.
He didn't say this out loud, though.

"Alright. I'll walk you home if you want!"
"It's okay," you replied. "You should get home too. It's uh─very late now."
"Huh?" Obito asked and then realized he had been lying down and waiting for you for hours.

"You're right. See ya tomorrow, <___>," he said with a wave.
You smiled. "See you, Obito!"

Oh, how desperately you wanted to tell him about your nightmares. But you didn't want to worry Obito or the rest of your teammates either.
He was right. You usually had as much energy as him, even on a bad day. But you hadn't been getting enough rest lately, and it had started to exhaust you more quickly.

“<___>-san!”

You were walking around the village when suddenly, a former classmate of yours, Might Gai, appeared right in front of you.

“Gai-pon!” You exclaimed, having not seen him since the academy. “I haven’t seen you in a while!”
“Me either!” Gai replied, with rivers streaming from his eyes. “I have come to you with very important information! Hokage-sama requests your presence at his office right now!”

“Hokage-sama?” you asked. “Okay, I will head there right now. Thank you, Gai-pon!”
“You’re welcome!” Gai replied. “You have become a great kunoichi, <___>-san! Filled with the outstanding power of youth!”

You giggled before making your way.

“Hokage-sama! <(l)___> <___> is here!”
“Please come in.”
You came inside and noticed that Kakashi was here too.

"First of all, <___>, I have been informed that Chinen Kenshiro has fallen in battle. He died a noble shinobi, protecting the village until his last breath. His last wish was to tell you to take care of yourself."

Your stomach dropped. One of your friends had died in the war you were currently in.
You still remembered what happened that weekend─Kenshiro’s redemption.

"I see."

“To the main point of why I summoned you here. <___>, you have become a very fine kunoichi,” Sarutobi Hiruzen said, to which you smiled.

“And I’ve been notified that you’ve awakened your Murasakiiro. ”
“Y-you knew about the visual prowess I have, H-Hokage-sama?”

He only nodded, evident that he didn’t want to dig deeper into this subject. You felt disappointed that he had hidden that knowledge he knew about you, but he must’ve had a logical explanation, so you chose not to try and continue.

Yet, I do know he still knows other things about me that I don’t, and he’s avoiding to tell me about them too.

“Kakashi, you have become an excellent shinobi too,” Sarutobi continued, looking at him. “I have reviewed all your reports and profiles as a no Sato shinobi and decided to summon you here today.

“I request the both of you to become jounin.”
“Jounin?!” You both asked. Kakashi simply raised his eyebrows while you showed a look of avidity.

The Hokage nodded. “You have indeed both passed all requirements to become a jonin, such as creating a new jutsu.” You looked over and sensed Kakashi had improved on his Chidori and had shown it to the Hokage.

You had your own too, which you had been mastering for the past year. You used your Murasakiiro to help, and it made a tornado-like prison to trap an enemy right on the spot. Obito had named it for you─Tornado-Barrage! because it consisted of multiple tornados that surrounded the enemy.

“And you both have mastered two or more chakra natures. <___>, I counted your kekkei genkai as one of them, and of course your wind-style,” he made aware, to which you nodded.

“So, if you want to accept, please fill out these forms.” A jounin who stood by the Hokage took two clipboards with pages clipped and handed them to you and Kakashi.

“Wow, I wasn’t expecting this,” you said to Kakashi.
This kid is too prideful for his own good. He knew he was going to be named jonin one of these days.
He only nodded before filling out his papers.

Meanwhile, you hesitated. You had been a chunin for three years, and you weren’t sure if you were cut out for this. Even as Kakashi reacted like he deserved the rank for years, he really did─he had the potential to become a jounin long ago. But also…

I was hoping to become a jounin with Obito, together.
But if he were here, he would want me to sign it. I just hope he isn’t too disappointed.

You filled out your forms before you and Kakashi handed them to the Hokage.
“Congratulations,” he said with a smile. “<(l)___> <___>, Hatake Kakashi, you two are officially jounin of Konohagakure no Sato.”

“I’m so proud of the both of you!” Minato congratulated both of you. Team Minato had all met up in front of Ichiraku Ramen to celebrate.

“Congrats <___>-san! Congrats, Kakashi-kun!” Rin exclaimed.
“Hey,” you said. You looked at Obito, who had crossed his arms and furrowed his brows.

“Don’t worry <___>,” Obito said, assuming you were concerned about him. “Great job, you worked hard for this. It’s just that stupid Bakashi doesn’t deserve to be a jounin at all.”
Even though he had tried to reassure you, his words sounded empty. He was fighting hard not to let his anger control him right now.

“You can order whatever you want, everyone!” Minato said, smiling. “My treat!” You all sat down in your seats, although this time in a different order than usual.

Obito sat on the far right, then Rin, Kakashi, you, and Minato.
You frowned. You wanted to assure Obito that everything would be alright and he would become a jonin too in no time.

Minato noticed this. “You feel bad for Obito, don’t you, <___>?” he asked.
You became fidgety.

“Uh, yeah. I’m sure you know about his goal, Minato-Sensei. To become Hokage and become respected. He probably feels agitated right now.”
“Yes, I think so too,” he replied. “I think he feels like he’s getting overshadowed by Kakashi─he senses Kakashi's superiority complex.”

You nodded in agreement.

“But I think what he’s forgetting is how amazing his determination is. I know Obito works really hard to try and become as good as his comrade, and he’ll soon find out how much it paid off.”
“I completely agree, Minato-Sensei,” you replied, feeling a bit better about the situation. Obito would be back to his usual self in no time, so you wouldn’t have to worry too much.

All five bowls of ramen had just been finished and placed on the counter for you. You instantly gulped yours down, satisfying your hunger.

“Woah there,” Kakashi said, looking at you. “Don’t eat too fast, or you’ll get indigestion.”
“Since when did you care about my health?” you asked, slurping your noodles.
“We have a mission tomorrow,” he said, and you looked over at Minato.

He frowned. “That’s right, Kakashi,” he said. “The war is getting more chaotic by the second, and we’ve been assigned to the middle of a battle. So eat up and rest well tonight, all of you.”

All of you nodded your heads, except Obito, who was focusing on something else.

“This doesn’t have to do with the mission tomorrow, but don’t you think we should all get gifts for <___>-san and Kakashi-kun for becoming jounin?” Rin asked. “I’ve already asked the rest of our graduating class, and they’ve agreed!”

“I think that’s an excellent idea,” Minato replied. “We'll all bring a gift for them before we leave then. <___> and Kakashi can give each other gifts too if you want.”
You both nodded and finished eating your food.

You laid on your back, staring at the ceiling above you. You wanted to sleep outside desperately, but you didn’t want that same dream to come back and haunt you for another night since you really needed to rest.
You listened to the warm breeze outside, blowing your curtains from your opened window. Your eyes started to close, and you finally fell asleep.

“KAKASHI!” As you and your team tried to escape the collapsing ceiling, a rock had managed to hit Kakashi right on the head, knocking him down.

Seeing a vast boulder breaking off, Obito ran back towards Kakashi and threw him to the side to prevent him from being crushed.

“OBITO!” You cried. “THE BO─”
It was too late. As Obito registered your incomplete sentence and looked above him, the giant rock crushed him.

“NO.
“NO-!!”

Chapter Text

Team Minato was scheduled to leave just before 11 AM, although you showed up at Namikaze Minato’s house four hours before.

“<___>!” Minato greeted, shocked, as you had never visited him at his house before. He welcomed you inside.
“Are you okay? It doesn’t look like you’ve slept well.”
“M-Minato-Sensei…” you started.

You were trembling.
"Hey, hey, sit down here first," Minato said and guided you towards a couch.

You sat and stared at a nearby coffee table for a few minutes, recollecting your thoughts.
“I-I thought at first they were just bad dreams, but the more they repeated, I started to realize.
“I think my Murasakiiro was giving me visions of events that are going to happen."

You told Minato how the same thing had been repeatedly happening for an entire week. You told him about the brief images you saw─Rin being tied up, Kakashi yelling and covering his eye, and about Obito.

“H-he got crushed by a giant boulder as we tried to escape,” you said.
Minato, obviously astonished, contemplated in silence.

“It was wise for you to come to me with this,” he said.
“But, don’t you remember? You have this power to change these disasters and prevent them from happening. You know what’s happening now, and you can stop your comrades from meeting these fates.”

You stared down at the floor.

“<___>, what you saw must be very upsetting for you,” Minato said. “But what good will do nothing except thinking about it do? We must stop these events from happening.”

“You’re right...Minato-Sensei,” you said, holding back tears. “I-I just was confused throughout the whole time. I got caught up in it. I wasn’t thinking straight.” Words stumbled out of your mouth as you tried to think.
“No one blames you for that, <___>,” Minato said and held out his arms to give you a hug, which you took. “This must be very hard for you right now to have foreseen your friends tortured, but it will continue to be if we stay still. We need to figure out a plan, so these visions don’t end up becoming a reality.”

You nodded, trying to compose yourself.

“The plan for this mission was for you and Kakashi to lead two tag teams, with Obito and Rin covering you as you fought the enemy. I would have to leave you guys in charge to go and fight the primary battle.

“What you said, Rin tied up and unconscious─the most reasonable explanation would be that she was taken as hostage. This means you need to protect her from any enemies kidnapping people for intel as much as you can until the mission is done.

“I think that as long as she doesn’t get captured, none of the other events you saw will follow,” Minato said, to which you agreed.

“It’s okay that I’m not going to tell everyone, right?” you asked. You wouldn’t know how you would tell your friends of their own suffering you saw in your mind and how they would react.

“Of course,” Minato replied. “If anything, it will make things much more difficult.”
“There’s one more thing I wanted to tell you,” you said. You had been going back and forth, asking yourself if you should tell Minato this in fear that something was wrong with you.

“Umm, Akasuki-san said that the Murasakiiro specifically only foretells major events in the current situation you’re in. If we haven’t even started the mission yet, how come I can see what’s happening right now?”

“I’m not really sure, <___>,” Minato replied. “But perhaps in a way, this already rare power is unique in a way towards you. And you were able to alert me before it was too late, and now we have a plan. I’m actually relieved it happened like this.”

“Yeah, you’re right, Minato-Sensei,” you said, wiping tears from your cheeks.

It was already past 11 AM as you, Kakashi, Rin, and Minato waited for the last member to arrive.
It was typical for Obito to show up late─all of you had gotten used to it long ago.

Kakashi was the first to hear an incoming Obito as the branches in the trees shook. And sure enough, he came flying through the air and face planted on the ground, right in front of Kakashi.

“You’re late,” he said in his usual bossy, cold tone.
“I-I can explain!” Obito said, getting up and preparing an excuse. “There was a feeble old lady with these heavy bags, and I got something in my eye, and─”

“Every time Obito is late, he says he had to stop and help some needy person,” Kakashi said. “Ninja who break the laws and rules of the shinobi are regarded as nothing but scum!”

“Hey, hey, let’s all calm down, you guys!” Rin spoke up.
“We’re already late,” Minato added. “We’ve got to get going right now.”

“As you all know, <___> and Kakashi have officially become jonin,” Minato started. The trip to enemy territory would take two days, so they would have a stopover at night.

“Our plan is, <___> and Kakashi will become team leaders of tag teams. Kakashi, you will be Captain, and <___>, you’ll be Co-captain. Once you split up into two, Obito, you’ll be paired with Kakashi, and Rin, you’ll be paired with <___>.”

You really wanted Obito to cover you, as you two have proven to be great partners on previous missions, but Rin was the most important person on this mission. The more prominent and cover-up reason was that she was the only medical ninja in the group, and you were best suited to protect her, but as Minato had said, if she was captured, every other event you saw would directly follow.

Kakashi lifted an eyebrow as he also noticed this setup was a bit odd. He decided to not object, though.

“And remember, we were all supposed to bring a gift too!” Rin said.
“Huh?” Obito asked, confused.
“Yeah, remember Obito-kun?” she reminded. “We all agreed on it yesterday!”
“Guess I wasn’t paying attention then,” he muttered.

“Here are my gifts to the two of you; they are custom kunai knives!” Minato said with a wink, holding them out. He handed them to you guys.

“Thanks,” Kakashi said.
“It will come in handy,” Minato continued, looking at you, to which you nodded.

“U-um, here’s my gift!” Rin said, handing her first gift to Kakashi. “It’s a medical kit I put together myself!” Her cheeks were noticeably pink.
“Thanks,” Kakashi said again as he accepted it.

“For you, <___>-san, I thought a lot about what I should give you, and I decided to get something personal to you!” Rin said, turning to you. She handed you an iris purple jewel carved into a star shape, attached to a keychain.

“When I saw it, I immediately thought about you,” she said. “It matches your Murasakiiro eyes!”

You smiled, amazed at how much thought Rin put into this. She was such a kind person, despite unknowingly being your rival.
Coincidentally, it was even a star, which related even more to you.

“W-wow...thank you so much, Rin-san,” you replied, still in awe.
“Really, thanks.”
“Of course!” she replied.

Kakashi gave you your gift.
“Shinobi Rules 101…?” you read aloud. Rin stared at it too, very confused.
He sighed and then whispered so only you could hear.

“It really isn’t that.”

You almost smirked, seeing that Kakashi did have some humor behind his closed-off self. You opened the book but immediately noticed something amusing.

Someone like him is into romance novels?

You handed your gift to Kakashi. You had panicked all night; since you knew nothing about what your friend liked, you had just gotten something you found cute.
“Yeah, you probably think it’s stupid. I’m sorry.” Embarrassed, you handed him a frog plush.

“I don’t mind,” was all he said. "Thanks."

You and Rin turned towards Obito. Kakashi was holding his arm out towards him, too, to which Obito asked, “Why are you holding out your hand?

“Oh, I must’ve forgotten.”
You looked at him anxiously too. Perhaps Obito didn’t bring one for Kakashi, but what about you?

“That’s perfectly fine with me,” Kakashi replied. “After all, I wouldn’t want any dead weight from you.”

"Honestly, mine was probably the most useless Bakashi-san," you tried to object, defending Obito.

“Obito-kun, did you bring a gift for <___>-san?” Rin asked, ignoring Kakashi.

"Huh?"
Obito’s pissed mood shifted into a surprised one, while you, who had just wanted to make a comeback against Kakashi with Obito, had frozen.

Obito looked you in the eye. You both had looks of disappointment.

“Sorry, <___>.”

You had arrived in front of a forest, and Minato instantly stopped you guys, sensing someone.
“There’s only one enemy, luckily, but we should take them out now. Let’s do forma─”

“Minato-Sensei,” Kakashi started. “Allow me to handle this.”
“Oh?”

Kakashi immediately formed hand signs that you were far too familiar with.
“Kakashi-san!” you shouted. “It’s not the─”

“Sensei, I’ve been working on a new jutsu that I want to try out,” Kakashi said, powerful lightning zapping through his right hand.

“<(l)___>, it’s the same jutsu, but I had made it even more powerful.” He answered the question you were about to ask.
“It’s what I’ve shown to the Hokage.”
And it indeed was; the lightning was more concentrated and in greater mass than the last time you saw it.

“Kakashi! You can’t just run in by yourself─” Obito started, but Kakashi cut him off.
“Please, Sensei. Besides, I’m the team captain, and according to the rules of shinobi, everyone must obey the captain. Am I wrong?”

Minato sighed, before agreeing to let him go, only after whispering to you to oversee him. Kakashi burst through your hiding place, a wide log, by making a massive hole through it with his power.

All of you were astonished.

Nineteen, twenty, twenty-one hiding, Kakashi sensed, before running up a tree and attacking the enemy who was hiding behind it. The ninja immediately poofed! upon contact with his Chidori.

A shadow clone! Then I’ll just take them all down!

He ran with unimaginable speed, hitting all of the shadow clones until he found the real one, who jumped out of the tree onto the ground.
“Gotcha,” Kakashi said. “I took down all your clones, and now I’ll take you down too!

“CHIDORI!”
“MURASAKIIRO!”

Kakashi ran towards the enemy, and with Minato’s orders, you activated your power to slow time down. You immediately saw the enemy preparing to counterattack and strike with his kunai knife.

You repeatedly tapped Minato’s shoulder until he gave you a reaction and nodded. He was instantly transported to Kakashi and saved him from being impaled, although the kunai had still managed to cut through his shoulder.

This also gave you more knowledge about your power. Others could still feel contact from you if you tried hard enough, even if you had slowed time down.
Your fifteen seconds finished just in time as Minato returned to your hiding place with Kakashi, who was gripping his wound. Rin rushed over to heal him.

“Are you okay?” Minato asked.
“Yeah, I’m fine,” he replied, still with his usual tone.
“Kakashi! If you didn’t just leave us all alone like that, we could’ve helped, and you wouldn’t have gotten injured! If it weren’t for <___>’s Murasakiiro and Minato-Sensei’s teleportation jutsu, you could’ve died!”

“I never asked you for advice,” Kakashi ridiculed.
“Excuse me? You overestimate yourself, you know, it’s so anno─”

“Please, can the both of you just SHUT UP?” you asked, shocking both of them. You hadn’t been in a good mood for the whole day, and all this bickering wasn’t helping you at all.

“<___>, are you okay?” Obito asked as you turned your back on them. He didn’t get a response.
Is it because I never gave you a gift?

Minato turned back towards Kakashi. “Kakashi. <___> told me about her experience with this jutsu you had. It’s a mighty one, that’s for sure, but I advise you not to use it again. It makes you move too fast, as in too fast that you can’t stop yourself or be able to see a counterattack coming back at you.”

He looked down at the ground.

“<(l)___> told me even she couldn’t figure out how to stop it.”

Your team had traveled far during the day and had stopped to rest in the middle of a desert. A huge rock provided some shade in the night, so that was where you all laid your sleeping bags.

Kakashi and Rin fell asleep with ease as they knew they needed rest for tomorrow's mission; however, you struggled. You knew that the visions would pop up in your mind again, and you didn’t want to see them, mainly because now, you didn't want your confidence to drain while trying to protect your friends.

You couldn’t relax at all, so you joined Minato, who was still awake and was sitting on top of the rock. You had your back facing his back as you thought in the stillness. Even though you joined him without warning, he understood why you were there and gave you your space.

“Obito! You should be sleeping. Why are you here?” You had zoned out and didn’t see Obito approaching you guys until Minato’s voice startled you.

“Uh, I wanted to ask you something,” he replied. “But <___>, why are you here?”
“Just ignore her for now,” Minato said. “She’s uh…doing mind training.

“What did you want to ask me?”

Obito climbed up and sat down beside you. “Why does Kakashi act like this? He tries to look so high and mighty all the time and seems to not care about anyone, especially his comrades! Even though me and Rin-chan try to become his friend, he just pushes us out of the way! And for some reason, he only talks to <___>!
“Why is he so heartless?!”

Unknown to Obito, you were listening in on the conversation.

“Obito. I don’t really know if I should be the person telling you this, but you are Kakashi’s comrade. I’ll tell you something about his father, the White Fang, which will help you understand why he behaves like this.”

“The White Fang? Have I heard about him before?” Obito asked.

“Perhaps, he is well known in the shinobi war,” Minato replied before telling him about Kakashi’s father, which you listened to as well. He told him how Kakashi's father had put his comrades over a particular mission when it started to go wrong and got shunned by the shinobi world because of that─even by the comrades he had saved. Eventually, it had gotten so bad to the point where it affected his mental health.

“And then one night, he ended his own life.”
Obito was full-on shocked by what Minato had just told him. “And so that must be why he abides by the rules so much.

“He didn’t want to end up like his father,” he observed.
Minato nodded, and there was silence between them.
"Comrades," Obito said subconsciously as he stared into the horizon. "I would put my comrades over the mission too."

Later you left, with Obito still sitting by Minato, as you had thought of a good plan for the following day. You hoped that your reassurance would help you sleep peacefully that night.

Once you were out of earshot, Obito asked, “Still. Why does he only acknowledge <___>?”
“I’m sure <___> understood him from the beginning. She is, in a way, like Kakashi too.”

“WHAT?” he asked. “<___> is in NO WAY like Bakashi at ALL! ”

Minato chuckled. “Kakashi is, in fact, close to <___>. Perhaps he admires her.”
“Admires?” Obito asked, crossing his arms and looking up at the sky.

“And maybe another reason he dislikes you is that she’s fond of you …?”
“<___>?!” he sat up. “<___> doesn’t think of me that way! We’re really, really close, yeah, but that’s because we’re best friends!”

Minato laughed again. “Alright then. It was only a guess, after all.” He looked at Obito’s red face.

“Obito,” Minato said, with a now severe tone. “Tomorrow is going to be very dangerous. I don’t think you should ask her why, but <___> seems a little out of it. This is a perilous mission. We're heading into a warzone, and she knows that perfectly well. I think <___> wants to try and protect you all and will forget to look out for herself. As her comrade, please watch her back too.”

“Okay, you can promise me that,” Obito replied with determination and also out of concern for you.

Out of it?

She was acting weird today. She hardly said a thing to me at all. At first, I thought she was just upset with me for not bringing her a gift. Yeah, that was really rude of me. After we complete the mission, I will need to do something out of the world; she deserves to be jonin. But...it was actually something else that's bothering her?

“Good,” Minato said with a yawn. “Thank you. Now, we should both get some sleep.
“We have a long day ahead of us.”

You were all getting ready to move. Rin was changing out the bandaging to Kakashi’s wound and instructed him not to move it too much, although you knew for sure he was going to remain stubborn and do whatever he wanted to. Minato laid out the plan. He would be somewhere else fighting in the primary battle while you and Kakashi led your group to the Kannabi Bridge. You would all meet up at a safe spot once you were finished.

“We’ll part ways now then,” Minato said to the four of you.
“Yes, Sensei!” you all said before your teacher jumped away.

“Lead the way, Captain,” Obito said, facing Kakashi, who was surprised by his change in attitude.
“Let’s do this, <___>-san!” Rin said to you, and you smiled.
“Alright, but Rin-san, make sure you look all around you for any surprise ambush, including behind you.”

“Of course,” she responded, determined.
“Okay,” Kakashi said. “Let’s all─”

He paused, looking at you with the others.
“Uagh…” You immediately plunged down, with your hands gripping your head.

The enemy attacks from above! Somehow, smoke covers the entire area, and you can’t see! Rin gets captured then!

“<___>!” Rin shouted, trying to help you up. “Are you okay?”
You snapped out of your mind. “Y-yeah…” you fell backward, almost hitting your head on the ground.

Kakashi pulled you up with his hand.

“C’mon, we gotta go,” he said, tinting your cheeks by the sudden contact. You didn’t notice that Rin’s eyes also widened.

Kakashi reciprocated. He looked unsure whether to draw his hand back.

“Kakashi, she doesn’t need to learn how to stand up,” Obito coldly said.
“Y-yeah, he’s right…” Rin mumbled in instant agreement.
...

Why is this so awkward? All four of you thought in unison.

You had reached a small brook, and you were stepping over the stones to get to the other side when you realized something was going on too. Kakashi had, too, although you had sensed by remembering the scenery of what you saw in your mind, while he had actually heard something.

“ABOVE US!” both of you shouted.
Kunai knives came straight toward you, and you immediately shouted,
“JUST GET OUT OF THE WAY! DON’T DO ANYTHING THAT MAKES AN-”

“Fire-Style! Fireball jutsu!” Obito yelled before you could finish saying, explosion.

NO! “MURASAKIIRO!” Time slowed all around you, and Rin, who did as you instructed, stood right behind you, looking out. You grabbed her body and jumped up onto a tree to hide. Kakashi and Obito would be just fine since Obito had already blocked out the explosion with his.

Three...two...one…

“Thank you, <___>-san,” Rin whispered, realizing she’d been transported into hiding. You nodded and then viewed what was going on from above.
“WHERE DID THEY GO?!” one of the enemies asked, still in hiding. “There were four of them!”

“We’ll take them all out!” another of them shouted.

One, two, three, four.

“OBITO!” Kakashi shouted. “THERE’S FOUR ENEMY SHINOBI!”
Suddenly, two of them came flying through the air.

“EARTH-STYLE, MUD TRAP!”
“EARTH-STYLE─GRAVEYARD!”

The mud trap started surrounding Obito, and it looked like it was going to drown him. Meanwhile, the area around Kakashi began to rise up, with bedrock about to wrap around and crush him.

“NO! MURASAKIIRO!” you shouted again, trying to buy time. You took out a scroll, summoning two entire lines of twenty kunai knives each, and attached paper bombs to them.

“Okay, Rin-san, I’m going to let you hold...”

Two..one…

You threw the kunais directly towards the two enemies who’d revealed themselves just in time. They were caught by surprise, seeing explosions seemingly appearing out of nowhere.

The jutsus undid themselves, which told you that your plan had succeeded.
“Yes!” Good jo-” Rin started, but suddenly, her body jerked forward and pushed you out of the tree.

“<___>!” Kakashi yelled, seeing you fall.

I-I can’t use my Murasakiiro! I just finished using it! you panicked.

Rin tried to scream, but as you hit the ground, you saw someone had appeared right behind her, out of nowhere. It seemed like he was the one who made Rin unwillingly push you.

Using her strength, she revealed a hidden kunai knife with a paper bomb attached to it, just like the ones you summoned out of the scroll.
Earlier, before you threw them, you gave one to Rin, telling her to keep it just in case.
The enemy immediately saw her trying to impale him from behind and vanished, as if he had turned invisible.

Now!

“MURASAKIIRO!” You got up and saved Rin before she got caught up in the explosion.
“Rin-san!” You yelled. “Stay by Kakashi-san and Obito! The closer we are to each other, the─”

The man who had just vanished reappeared behind you and threw you over his back.
“WHA─”

“<___>!” Obito shouted, trying to catch up as the man jumped and took you away.
“OBITO!” You screamed before the man knocked you out.
"<___>!" He picked up his pace as he jumped through the trees. “I WON’T FORGIVE YOU, WHO TOOK─”

Obito tripped on a branch.
“HEY, Obito!” Kakashi shouted. Kakashi and Rin both caught up to him.

They were panting, and it took a couple of minutes until someone spoke up.

“<___>...” Rin said, scared.
“We need to go after <___>, now.”
“But the mission.”

Kakashi looked torn. Under any other circumstance, he probably would’ve continued to go on the mission, no doubt. But you, his best friend, were the one taken, and for that reason, he didn’t want you gone at all.

“Okay, and?” Obito asked. “<___> is our COMRADE, and right now, she could be in danger! We can’t just leave her there with the enemy; they’ll kill her on the spot!”

“Obito, if they were going to kill her...that man would’ve done it as soon as he grabbed her,” Kakashi said, trying to come up with a reason that excused him to complete the mission. He was trying to convince not Obito but rather himself that he should abandon you. “If he took her, he’d probably use her for intel on what we’re planning to do.”

“Isn’t that bad, though? Then we’ll be at a disadvantage! It’s bad both ways!”

“I─” Kakashi didn’t know what else to say.
“I’m going to save <___>,” Obito stated. “I’ve been thinking about what you said lately, Kakashi.”

“Ninja who break the rules and laws of the shinobi way are regarded as scum,
“But those who abandon even one of their comrades are worse than scum.”

His eyes widened, and for the first time, something inside Kakashi snapped.
“Obito…-kun,” Rin mumbled.

“Kakashi. I believe the White Fang was a true hero,” Obito said with a smile before leaving him. He didn’t even bother to persuade Rin to join him.

“Kakashi-kun? What do we do?” Rin asked.
“I... don’t know…”

Obito was able to track down the enemy easily since the man who kidnapped you happened to let his guard down, thinking he had lost Obito for good. Following the clues left, Obito eventually stumbled upon a secret hideout, where you undoubtedly were.

“She’s probably in there. I’ll just sneak…”
“Just, do what?” a voice asked as Obito turned around.

I’ve been caught!

The man showed himself, about to attack Obito.
DAMMIT! I’m done for!
Suddenly, someone came flying from above with a sword, which caught the enemy off guard and made him retreat.

“Kakashi!” Obito shouted, amazed that his comrade had really shown up to help him.
“Couldn’t just leave a loser crybaby to handle saving our comrade,” he said.
“And Rin-chan?”

“I told her I’ll give her a signal to come help when we reach <___>-san,” Kakashi said.

“Kakashi. At first, I thought you were the White Fang, but it seems like you aren’t.” The man had spoken up, who appeared standing on another branch.

“I’m his son.”
“So you’re his brat then,” the enemy said.
Even though they’re just kids, I shouldn’t underestimate them.

The man vanished.
“Kakashi! Look out!”
“Wha─”

Blood splattered through the air, and Kakashi yelled in agony.
“MY EYE!”

The man had slashed through Kakashi’s right eye with a kunai knife, disabling him as he fell to the ground.

“KAKASHI!” Obito shouted.
“Don’t worry about me─I’m not dead yet! But, he’s gone again!”
“So he really can turn invisible-?!”

“Yeah,” Kakashi said, “And got rid of the kunai knife that was stained with my blood, so I can’t smell him either. You need to watch out.”

Obito stood before his injured friend, holding out a kunai knife.
I made a promise to Minato-Sensei that I would look out for <___>. He was right; she did everything to protect Kakashi and me and Rin-chan, and used up all her power to get captured by the enemy. I must get her back, at whatever cost.

It seems like everything I say I’ll do is just talk─I never actually go through with it!
But after seeing <___>’s determination and how much she really wanted to help me reach my goals, I’ve learned something significant.

“I WILL. PROTECT MY COMRADES THIS TIME.”

Sensing the man, he aimed his kunai straight in front of him.
Instantly, the enemy was revealed, with the kunai stabbing his vital spot.

“B-but how? I was invisible─
“What? It can’t be…

“T-the, Sharingan.”
The man collapsed, finished.
“OBITO!” Kakashi shouted, noticing his changed appearance.
“Your eyes!”

Obito looked at his hands, which he now saw his own chakra flowing through them.
“Oh yeah. It looks like my Sharingan awoke…

“How about you?”

“I’m fine, but it looks like I won’t be able to use my right eye anymore,” Kakashi said. “But I used the medical kit Rin-san gave me to patch it up for now.” He pointed towards his face, which he bandaged. “I’ll signal her now.”

He held up three fingers, and Rin appeared out of her hiding spot, running towards both of them.

“Kakashi-kun! Obito-kun!”

“We’re rescuing <___>-san now,” Kakashi said, and all three of them nodded. They ran inside, but to their surprise, they were greeted by the same two enemies from earlier.

“What? But I thought <(l)___> killed them!” Kakashi said, appalled.

“They’re genjutsu users,” Obito said, using his Sharingan on them. “They probably used it on us earlier, right before they exploded. And is also the reason why…” He scanned your body, which was unconscious.

“<___>’s chakra network is messed up,” Obito said.
“Stay back, Rin-san! When you have the chance, release the genjutsu from <___>!”
She nodded and stood behind Kakashi and Obito, who covered each other as they battled the two enemies.

“Eat this!” Obito shouted. “Fire-style! Fireball jutsu!”
Flames erupted and caught the man he was fighting. That was one enemy down.
“How are you doing, Bakashi?”

Kakashi threw shurikens at his opponent, which sliced through him. “Even in serious situations, you still call me that?” Obito smirked in reply.

“I’m good. I just took down─”
Obito pushed Kakashi out of the way, knocking him to the ground. “He put a genjutsu on you!” he shouted. “Who the hell dies from shurikens anyway?”
Embarrassed, Kakashi scratched the back of his head, seeing a kunai knife on the ground that Obito saved him from.

Obito stood up again and battled the second man, using Taijutsu this time. He was able to read the enemy’s moves perfectly, thanks to his Sharingan, and gave him a fatal blow to the chest with a punch.

“...Nice…” Kakashi complimented him for the first time.
“A-huh?” He had a look of shock on his face.
“T-thanks.”

His rival, who overshadowed and acted bitterly toward Obito until now, had watched his back and acknowledged him for the first time.

“<___>-san!” Rin exclaimed, who had already woken up.
“<___>!” Kakashi and Obito yelled, running towards you.

“G-guys…” you started. “You came for me?”
“Of course, <___>! You’re our comrade!” Obito responded. “C’mon, we need to untie─”

“WHAT? NO!” You instantly jumped, shocking them all.
“Kakashi! Your eye!” You panicked.
“<___>-san, relax, it’s okay─”

You looked up at the ceiling, and in that instant, you knew you were doomed.
“Listen to me, and you cannot interrupt. You need to leave right now─all of you. If you don’t, all of you will die!”

“What?” asked Obito.

“I TOLD YOU, GET OUT OF HERE NOW!” You screamed, starting to cry. “My Murasakiiro let me foresee events that happened on this mission. I was able to save Rin, but in her place, I got trapped here instead! Kakashi’s eye still got slashed, and if all of you don’t run right now, O─”

“STUPID BRATS!”
Kakashi had undone the ropes you were trapped with, and Rin pulled you up.

“Who’s that?” Rin asked.
“It must’ve been that fourth guy from back at the brook!” Kakashi yelled. “Only three guys have attacked us up until now! That one just wanted to hide until now!”
“That’s right,” the voice yelled. “Now, all of you shall die inside there!”
“We need to go…” Obito said, taking your hand and lifting you up.
“HAHA! EARTH STYLE!─”

Suddenly, the ceiling of the rock cave had started to shift as if an earthquake was going on. Pieces of rocks began falling, and you all knew it wasn’t safe anymore.

“RUN!” you yelled as all of you tried to escape, fleeing towards the exit. You took Obito’s hand, gripped it as tight as you could, and took Rin’s other hand, making sure both wouldn’t let go.

“KAKASHI-SAN! GRAB ONTO EITHER ONE─”
Your words were cut short when you saw it play out exactly like your dream.
“KAKASHI!” You yelled. A medium-sized rock had hit his head, face-planting him to the ground.

“There’s a big boulder incoming towards him!” Rin yelled, trying to let go, but couldn’t.
“Kakashi─!”

Despite your efforts, Obito was able to break out and let go of your hand. He ran back towards Kakashi and threw his body out of the way.

“OBITO!” You reached an arm out towards him, letting Rin go.
“HEY, <_─” Rin started, but at the moment, your mind was in complete focus on saving Obito.

“MURASAKIIRO!”
A purple aura shot out of your eyes.
Time instantly froze as you sighed in relief─you could save Obito from what was about to happen to him.

“No.”
No, what?
“<_-___>, it’s me.”
“Obito? B-but how? I slowed time; no one else besides me should be able to be aware!”
“Look behind you.”

You turned around, looking at Rin. You had overlooked her scream when you let go of her hand. She had been knocked down by a smaller rock. It had landed on her left arm, making her unable to move. Five medium-sized rocks that had broken off from the ceiling were about to hit her.

No. No. No. No.
This can’t be happening!

“S-save her,” he said as you turned back towards him.
“No! I can save you both!”
“You know as well as I do that you don’t have enough time.”
“But Obito. Why?”

He smiled, giving you that endearing smile that you now realized you had taken for granted.
“I want to protect my comrades, all the way to the end.

“It’s my last wish.
“Please.”

Obito gave you a slight nudge, pushing you forward.
Five. Four.
You immediately used your strength to free Rin’s arm.
Three. Two.

As the pieces of mineral got within arms reach, you pulled Rin away from her fate, and left Obito to his.

One.

Chapter Text

“NO!”

Your screams filled the entire room as you let go of Rin’s hand. You collapsed to your knees, crying out in pain.

“OBITO!” Kakashi yelled, running towards him.
“<___> HELP ME!” He immediately pressed his hands on the boulder that had crushed half of Uchiha Obito, trying to push it out of the way.
You joined him, tears falling from your eyes. Both of your fists turned red, blood staining the rocks. Rin, who had gained consciousness again, watched both of you from afar in sorrow.

“H-hah…<___> and Kakashi, acting recklessly. Two bright kids acting stupid, never seen that before…” Obito managed to say.

“SAVE YOUR BREATH! WE’RE GETTING YOU OUT OF HERE!” You shouted.
You both tried for two minutes straight, with no success. Kakashi fell and pounded his fists to the ground.

“SO WHAT IF I’M CAPTAIN?! SO WHAT? IF I’M JOUNIN?!” his voice cracked.
You broke down in tears.

“Shh <___>, it’s going to be all alright,” Obito cooed, using his strength to hold up his arm, which you immediately took.

“Oh yeah...I n-never gave you or Kakashi a gift...for b-becoming jounin,” he said.
Both of your eyes widened.
“K-Kakashi, you told me you didn’t want anything dead-weight, nothing trivial. S-so, I won’t be giving you something useless.

“I’m giving you, my Sharingan.”

“R-Rin...please use your medical ninjutsu to transplant m-my entire eye to Kakashi’s right eye,” Obito said, moving his gaze towards her. Tears filled up Rin’s eyes as she nodded, knowing this was her job, and did as he instructed. She started moving his eye to Kakashi.

“<_-___>,”
“Obito…” you whispered, sniffling through your tears.
“D-don’t cry. I want to see your smile.”
“W-wha?”

You tried to stop the tears from coming as you wiped them away from your face. You wanted to give him your best smile, despite all the pain that was about to erupt again, and even though you knew he couldn’t see it, with his eye already gone.

“<___>, I hope you aren’t jealous of Bakashi,” he continued. “I can’t give you a Sharingan too...but I want you to have something very personal to me.”
You tightened your grip on his hand.
“M-my...goggles,” he said, lifting his arm in the direction of where they were. You moved yourself to pick them up without letting go of Obito.

“There…” he said, as you clung onto them.

“Now, you go, all of you,” he said. “Enemy...reinforcements.
“Kakashi, promise me, to take care...of Rin. Protect her like what we’ve all done today…

“I promise, Obito.”

“Rin. I’ve liked you a lot,” he confessed.
Rin’s eyes widened while a feeling of despair washed over your already dejected self.

Did he love Rin? To the very end?

“<___>, you don’t need to be protected.” He laughed, switching back to you.

“Promise me to never give up. Continue being the person you are, and reach your goals. Treat yourself to dango every weekend--you deserve it. And, carry on my nindo, my ninja way…

“Name a star after me too,” he said, chuckling.
“And remember the first promise we ever made. I still want you to keep it. P-promise me.”

“O-Obito…”
“P-promise…?”

…
“I-I promise. ‘Till the day I die.”

“Go.
“Go!”

New enemies had joined from outside and had started to make more of the foundation collapse by combining their jutsu. It was all going to go down. Kakashi was the first one who climbed out of the cave.

“RIN! LET’S GO!” he cried out as he held out a hand towards her.
She hesitated.
“G-goodbye, Obito-kun,” Rin mumbled to Obito, still in shock. She took Kakashi’s hand to climb up.

“Obito...” You could not bear to leave your best friend.

“<_-___>. Please go…”
“I-I…

“<(l)___>!” Kakashi shouted.

Obito, I am so grateful to you for everything. You rebuilt my life, stayed by my side, gave me a purpose, and helped me become a good person.
You’re the best thing that has ever come into my life.

You remembered the first night you hung out with him.

<___>, when you look up at the night sky, I will be on one of the stars. I’ll be Hokage!
And, you’re the one who will be by my side.

The violet in your eyes glowed as bright as ever. The aura surrounding them accompanied fallen tears as they hit Obito’s face.
“Wow...looks like your power awakened earlier. Now you’ll be an even stronger kunoichi...”

You can sense it even now?

...

Two sets of arms grabbed yours and pulled you up towards the shining sun. You felt completely paralyzed. Kakashi and Rin were yelling out your name, but you couldn’t hear anything except ringing in your ears. The last thing you saw was his smile.

As soon as you were above ground again, you passed out.

The night sky was more beautiful that night. You woke up on top of the same giant stone at the spot your team had camped the night before.
A remembrance of events came crashing down on you. You choked in suffocation, feeling as if it was raining asteroids.
You clutched your heart, coughing, as your head fell backward on Minato’s chest.

“<___>.”

“I’m sorry...” you tried to utter. “I’m sorry, sorry, sorry...”
Minato pulled out a bottle filled with water and helped you drink it.
“Don’t apologize.”

After a couple of minutes, the struggling for air had stopped. You were now violently shaking.
“I am sincerely sorry I wasn’t able to make it in time.”

You sat up in silence, blankly staring into the abyss.

Rin had been off to the side, admiring the sky by herself. Kakashi had been sitting next to Minato, too, on the other side of him, so you wouldn’t notice he was there until he spoke up. He didn’t want to make it known to you that he had watched your paroxysm.

“I failed. Minato-Sensei.”
“You didn’t, <___>. It’s my fault,” Kakashi softly objected.
“If it wasn’t for me being a jerk in the first place, none of this would have happened.”

Kakashi. Why are you acting unusual? you wanted to ask out loud. You weren’t sure if you could be angry at him or not. Was it newfound pity? Or perhaps, Obito did something to him while you were gone?

"<___>, Kakashi. None of this is your fault, nor it is Rin’s either.
“You all protected each other as best as you could. The outcome is a result of war--it couldn’t be prevented if it was meant to happen.”

“I-I can’t stand...” you began.
"I could’ve saved all of them.”

"<___>. Never regret what you did. You did everything you could in your power. The rest was left up to destiny.

“That is the eternal curse one cannot alter.”

Four young heroes were made known during the Battle of Kannabi Bridge
Each with his own Sharingan,
Each with her own Promise,

One found his name marked on the memorial stone to be remembered as a noble shinobi.
And the other, became known as ‘Kakashi of the Sharingan.’

Goggles rested on your forehead as you walked up to the memorial shrine with a bouquet of flowers in your hand. You placed your hand on the stone, before setting the flowers down.

Thank you, Obito. For absolutely everything.

“Rin-san!” You shouted, untying Rin.

It had only been several months since the incident, but something unfortunate had happened again. Rin had been previously taken captive by ninja from the village with the nickname, ‘Blood Mist.’ You and Kakashi had gone to find and save her, taking three days to locate her.

“We finally found you.”

“<___>-san, Kakashi-kun...thank you,” she started but was cut off by Kakashi.
“Rin, we got to go,” he said. “Before those enemies find out we took you!”
She nodded before getting up and running out with you.

“THEY’RE GETTING AWAY!” You heard someone shout.
“UAH!” You shouted, tripping over yourself.

Kakashi and his Chidori…
Kyuubi…
Three-Tailed beast?

“<(l)___>!” Kakashi shouted, he and Rin looking behind them, seeing you kneeling on the ground, gripping your head. They both noticed the purple glowing from your eyes.

Kakashi ran back towards you and threw you over his shoulder, your head dangling over his back as you blacked out for the next few minutes as he and Rin jumped away.

You slowly gained your consciousness back, and your eyes reverted to normal. You lifted your head to see trees moving away from you as you noticed Kakashi carrying you.

“K-Kakashi-san.”

“You’re okay now?” he asked, him and Rin turning their heads to look at you.
“Yeah. T-thanks. I can handle myself now,” you said. He nodded and let you down.

The three of you soon entered a clearing in the middle of the forest, with a small brook to the side.

It was far too quiet.

“ENEMIES FROM THE HIDDEN MIST!” You shouted as Kakashi stepped in front of you and Rin, holding out a kunai knife.
“Get the girl back!” an enemy shouted as a dozen ninja appeared from the air.

“URGH! NOT AGAIN, NOT AGAIN-!”

“<___>-san!” Rin shouted, seeing that you had fallen again.

Kakashi and his Chidori…
Kakashi and his Chidori…
Chidori into Rin?!

“Rin, WATCH OUT!” Kakashi yelled as she quickly jumped away, trying to pull you away too, but managed to only rip a piece of your clothing off. She left just in time for a ninja with a sword who had made his target Rin miss, but instead stabbed your left shoulder.

“<___>-san!”
“Rin, take <(l)___> to a safe area and heal her; I can handle the rest of them for now!” Kakashi ordered as Rin nodded and then took you away.

Rin took you back into the forest you came from and hastily set up a tent behind large bushes. You were just out of view of the enemy, but you were able to view the entire battle clearly yourself. She laid you down inside and started to heal your shoulder.

“Don’t worry, you’ll be just alright,” Rin said as she emitted chakra from her hands.
“R-Rin…”
She looked at you.
“W-watch out for Kakash-sani. His jutsu could make him too fast sometimes and─”

“I know, don’t worry,” Rin said, giving you a smile of reassurance. “Now stay here and rest─he’ll come back for you after we’re done. You don’t want the wound reopening again.
“I know that Kakashi cares for you a lot. Please take care of him too,” she suddenly added, with a crack in her voice.

To your dazzlement, she smiled again and left the tent before you could say anything. You slowly crawled up to watch.

Rin wasn’t acting like her usual self, especially with her word choice─and you decided you should run after her. Although suddenly, your mind flooded with images again.

The Mist attackers...massacred?

Why was that such an important event? It could only mean good if Kakashi and Rin were able to take them all out.
You snapped out of your vision but suddenly turned your head as you heard a deadly sound coming from Kakashi as if lightning had just appeared.

“MURASAKIIRO!”
Thirteen…
Rin! What the hell are you doing?
Twelve...
Ouch! I n-need to get up!
Eleven, ten...

Even though you were injured, and your shoulder was giving you a lot of pain, you got up from the tent and started running towards Rin, who jumped right in the path of Kakashi as he prepared to ambush a group of attackers. He ran toward her with his right hand out, and electricity flowing through his hand.

Seven, six…

“ORA MURASAKIIRO!” You were still a few meters away from them. Aura instantly came out of your eyes, which you guided towards Kakashi and Rin.

“KAKASHI! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?
“RIN, GET OUT OF THE WAY!”

“I─I don’t know…” the both of them said in unison.
“W-what?”

Five, four…
I can still save her!

You reached out an arm as you got in close distance to them.
Three, two…
“UAH!” You tripped on a green rock, which lay in front of you as if it was meant to doom you.
One.

“CHIDORI!”

“RIN!” She looked at you with terror in her eyes as you reached your hand out while falling forwards onto the earth. You tasted dirt before hearing a bone break and blacked out.

<___>-san...Kakashi-kun…” were her final words before falling down, right beside you, and Kakashi following soon after, in denial with what he had just done. The three of you laid motionless, blood and tears soaking the ground.

No. First Obito, and now Rin-san?!
I can’t accept this. I-I was supposed to protect her...I...

“NO! I WILL NOT ACCEPT THIS!”

You never found out if someone actually screamed right after you and Kakashi had passed out, or if it was just something you imagined in a dream.

“<(l)___>-san, have you been getting enough sleep lately?”

It had been almost a full year since the deaths of your comrades. You still hadn’t gotten over the fact that you were not able to protect both of them, despite your power to see into the future and slow down time.

“Yeah...I mean no. Well, my missions keep me busy,” you replied to Yuuhi Kurenai, who had asked the question.

You were out eating dumplings with her, Sarutobi Asuma, and Gai. It was a routine thing they did whenever they had breaks off of their jounin missions, and you joined them whenever you could. You didn’t really want to, but it was the only way all three of them wouldn’t sense you weren’t okay.

Unlike Kakashi, who had never joined you guys and kept up his cold demeanor to anyone but you. Everyone was concerned for him. You didn’t want to make yourself a burden for your comrades, too, since you knew they already had so much on their plates.

“Ah, well <(l)___>-san, maybe you should stop taking so many then,” Asuma said. “You’re in the ANBU Black Ops, and I don’t think I’ve seen you take a break in between missions for longer than three days. Actually, didn’t you say you just came back from one?”

You shrugged as you ate a dumpling. “Mm, these are good!”
“Hey, were you even listening?!” Asuma asked.
“Yeah, yeah...I was just enjoying my sweets,” you replied, chewing.

“Hey, Kakashi!” Gai called out, seeing Kakashi pass you all. “Care to join us?”
Kakashi looked in your direction, but then turned back and kept walking.
Noticing, you instantly got out of your chair and ran after Kakashi without warning.

“<___>-san-n!” You heard Gai shout.

Truth be told, you thought that no one had sensed you weren’t alright at all, but instead, all your friends had been concerned about you the most.

“I just don’t get why she has to put up this act,” Kurenai mumbled after you left.
“No one would be okay after going through that incident,” Asuma said. “Her bestfriend, gone. And then Rin-san, her kunoichi teammate, too.”

Kakashi heard your footsteps and moved to the side to give way as you caught up with him.
You had been continuously ditching every one of your plans to join Kakashi, unaware to him because you had made it your priority to keep watch over him.

“Please take care of him too.”

You followed him to the cemetery and instantly found Rin’s gravestone. Kakashi had brought flowers to change out with the old ones, and he wordlessly handed you some to place too.
You both left afterward, not particularly walking to a specific destination.

“You’re still wearing those on your head, huh?” Kakashi asked, breaking the silence.
“Uh, yeah,” you replied, fixing the goggles attached above your head. You had subconsciously picked up Obito’s habit. “When I visit the academy, the kids tell me to wear them, and they say I look pretty cute.”

You pulled them down onto your eyes to show what you just said as Kakashi looked.

“Yeah, you do look cute,” he teased.

You rolled your eyes, turning pink, although Kakashi really didn’t know those words the children said symbolized a lot towards you. You remembered it all too well─the first compliment you gave Obito in the hospital after he saved you.

“...They’re cute!”

“You’ve been taking as many ANBU missions as me,” you changed the topic, chuckling. “I heard you’re pretty well known now; they’re all calling you ‘Kakashi, The Copy Ninja.’”

“...Yeah,” he said, shrugging. “It’s all thanks to...his Sharingan.”
“You’ve used it well,” you said, giving him assurance. “You’ve most definitely climbed the ranks with it and your power.”

“Thanks. You’ve become quite strong too.”
“Haha, I didn’t grow that much,” you humbly responded, turning pink.
"Says you, Co-Captain of our ANBU team.”
You giggled. “Don’t call me that─it makes me a bit flustered to hear that as my title.”

“Usual <___>. Always underestimating herself.”

You didn’t know how to respond to that, so you just shrugged.
Underestimating?

How could I be underestimating myself? you thought to yourself. I think my biggest mistake was overestimating my power.
A purple aura burst from your eyes as you started to tear up.

“<_-___>?” Kakashi asked, turning around.
A guilty expression almost overshadowed his blank face as he saw you cry. It was one of the few times he would show emotion.

I cannot ever trust myself again. Not after what happened.

Chapter Text

“NO!”
It was a word you had grown used to shouting out.
Even though it was the middle of the night, you made no haste as you got out of bed and ran straight to the Fourth Hokage’s house.

“<___>! I haven’t seen you do this in awhile,” yawned Minato as he opened the door.
“I-I’m sorry, Sensei,” you replied, dismissing the memory of the reason you went to Minato’s house the first time, almost a year ago. “I know it’s past midnight, but it’s urgent.”

“Quick question, did you sleep in your ANBU uniform, <___>?” he asked, examining you.
“H-huh? Oh, oops…”

“Honestly, I think you should stop taking missions back to back,” Minato said as you sat on the couch while he sat on an armchair. “You’re overworking yourself.”
“Yeah, yeah…” you mumbled and looked up to see Kushina Uzumaki enter the room.

“<___>!” she shouted, a bit too loud for this late in the night. “How are you!?”
“To be honest, not that fine at all, Kushina-san,” you replied, shrugging.
“Is it Obito?”

“Kushina!” Minato whispered harshly. “That was uncalled for! Repeat it, and we’re going to buy her a hundred stuffed animals.”

“Oh, I’m so sorry!” Kushina said, covering her mouth. You knew she meant well and gave her a smile which told her it was okay.
“No, it’s not about that,” you replied, your voice cracking. You cleared your throat. “But...as you being the Fourth Hokage, Sensei,” you said, I want to make a request to you. “And you too, Kushina-san.”

“I had another vision.”

“Vision?” Minato asked, sitting up. He had been around you long enough to know that whenever you had visions, they always meant something was wrong.
“October 10th. Next month. Does that spark anything?”
Kushina gasped.

“T-that’s the due date of our child!”

“Minato-Sensei,” you said in a severe tone. “I must be there when Kushina-san gives birth to stop something terrible from happening. I can go as a masked ANBU and patrol the site.”

“I understand,” Minato replied with no reluctance. “I’ll set it up then. But, let me ask…

“The whole reason this has to be top secret is that Kushina is the Jinchuriki of the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox. During childbirth, the seal that holds it inside temporarily weakens, posing many possible problems. Did your vision have to do with this at all?”

You hesitantly nodded.

“I see. Alright then. <___>, you should be one of only a few people to know where Kushina will be giving birth. This will be strictly confidential.”

You nodded again.

“What’s going to happen?” Kushina asked, but you shook your head.
“Telling someone of their future might cause more panic than not and risk something even worse happening.” You paused. “Actually, Minato-Sensei told me that.”

“Ah, I see,” Kushina replied to you. “You’re probably right. I might as well throw the whole conversation away now; too much stress isn’t healthy for the baby.”

You nodded and stood up to leave.
“I’m so sorry for bothering the three of you again,” you apologized, bowing. “I hope you all have a good night.”
“No worries, you’re completely fine,” Minato said with a smile. “Please get rest soon.”

“Naruto says ‘goodnight to you’ too!” Kushina giggled.
Naruto. The name of their new upcoming child.

You were walking to get groceries and lost your way, so you re-routed yourself by passing through the Uchiha district.
Perhaps you had lost yourself on purpose just so you had an excuse to reminisce over past times.

You spotted a familiar street, and immediately, memories came flooding back to you.

“<___>!”

“O-Obito!” you shouted, panting. “Y-you have a lot of energy today─I can’t keep up!”
“What did you say-?!” he asked, too far away to hear you.

“I-I SAID-”
“Oh no!”

An old woman was passing right ahead of you and had a paper bag of apples in her hand. The bag had torn due to the apples outweighing and breaking the load. Some of them fell out.

You instantly ran to help the woman and picked up the apples for her.

“Here!” you said, balancing the apples one on top of another, so you could hold them with one hand. It was also good practice to control your chakra since you and Obito were doing extra training that day, anyway. “I’ll help you bring these home!”
“Why, thank you, young lady,” the woman replied and made her way to Obito’s house.

Oh!

“Excuse me, but do you happen to be Uchiha Obito’s grandmother?
You knew your friend lived with his grandma, but you had never seen her before, despite going to his house several times.

“Oh, yes, I am!” she replied. “Do you know him?”
“Uh─actually, I was chasing after him just now,” you laughed.
“He’s my best friend!”

“So you’re the young girl he’s been talking about,” she said.
“O-oh! Well...maybe you might be mistaken. I’m his best friend, n-not his, uh-”
She’s probably thinking of Rin...

“What’s your name?”
“Oh! <(l)___> <___>," you replied, smiling.
“Yes! That’s the name of the girl he always talks about!”

“R-really?” You were speechless as you brought the apples into the house and set them on the counter. You wanted to ask his grandmother what kind of things Obito said about you until he came bursting into the room.

“Grandma!” he shouted.
"<___>! That’s where you were!”
“I’m sorry, Obito,” you said, smiling. “Your grandmother had dropped some apples in the middle of the street, so I helped her bring them in.” She smiled at you, thankful for your kind deed.
“O-oh!” he responded, shocked.

Unknown to you, he stared at you for a while, seeing how great of a person you were, helping strangers, just like he often did too. He was amazed.

You stood in the middle of the road, smiling as a tear fell down your cheek.

You walked towards Obito’s house and peeked into his room from the window in front. Everything in it lay still and untouched, and you couldn’t help but silently grieve for the next few minutes.

It had still been a year, yet your feelings toward this experience hadn’t changed at all. You couldn’t help but feel your stomach drop whenever you heard the name Uchiha Obito come up.

You touched the goggles on your forehead.
“I must protect Kakashi; I must protect Minato-Sensei and his family. Obito would’ve done the exact same thing.”

A masked man breaks into Konohagakure right after Kushina Uzumaki gives birth to her son.

He then stirs up so much trouble citizens have to wake up from their sleep and be evacuated from the village while all shinobi are assembled to fight against the surprise attack. Even the Third, Lord Sarutobi, gets involved.

“Kakashi, how was your mission?”
“It was tiring, as usual,” he replied to Gai. They were walking throughout town at night after Gai had welcomed Kakashi back at the village’s gates.

“Where’s <___>-san?”
“She didn’t go with my team this time,” Kakashi said.
He suddenly paused, furrowing his eyebrows.

“Gai, doesn’t something feel a bit… odd?” Kakashi asked.
Gai stopped and observed the air. “Nope, not to me. Why?”
“Hm, nevermind then,” he said and kept walking.

“Shadow-clone Jutsu!”
There were now four of you, including your authentic self, with your rabbit ANBU mask on, standing right in front of where Kushina was giving birth.

“Okay, this is a top-secret mission, so we all need to be as quiet as we can,” you told them.

That masked guy. Who could he possibly be?

You sent your clones to patrol all around the secret building.
“Now...we just wait,” you said to yourself aloud, looking up at the sky. It was a full moon.

“Augh-” You sat down on the ground as your mind flashed with images.
What is this?
The masked man can go through walls?

“That means the barrier is completely useless!” you said to yourself. You wanted to go inside to tell Minato, but you didn’t want to disturb and panic him and Kushina.

“I’ll have to handle this alone.”
You got into a defensive position, waiting for the man to show himself. You were still super confused about these visions you’d had─what does this man even want? How did he slip past the barrier to enter the village? Unless someone inside the village had betrayed it! Who even is he?

Suddenly, you heard a thud.

You immediately lifted your eyes and scanned the ground. Soon, your shadow clones became aware, too, and started to help.

“Ah.
“It seems like they took extra precautions. But nevermind that; nothing you do will stop me.”
It was rather a deep voice, and you didn’t recognize it at all. Before you and the surrounding shadow clones was a man in a black cloak with a mask on.

“Oh yeah? I intend to stop you right here and now!”
One of your clones, who had snuck up right behind him, tried to land a punch to knock him over, but it only passed right through before you hit the ground with a poof!

Not only can he pass through things, but he can also let things pass right through him!
I’ll have to try something else.
“Ora Musakiiro!”

“The Murasakiiro,” the tresspasser said. “I never knew there was still a living person possessing it.
“And it seems you’ve mastered its power as well, seeing that you can now break into people’s consciousnesses. But, still, your aura won’t be able to reach me.”

An area concentrated with glowing purple started to make its way to the man. As if he wasn’t scared, he simply stood there, waiting.
But to your shock, the aura passed right through his face and faded away.
“W-what?”

“Your efforts are futile. You are no match for me.”

“UAGH!”
You fell and kneeled on the ground, grabbing your head. You could still not use the Ora Murasakiiro for a long time, and its after-effects were the same as when you got visions. Now, you wouldn’t be able to use the regular Murasakiiro until you were fully rested again.

“It appears like you have a limit to how long you can use your aura,” the man observed. “I was expecting something more entertaining, but oh well. I’ll finish you off right now.”

“N-no,” you mumbled, still on the ground. You were a bit dizzy, but you slowly stood back up to face the man.
“You’re already weakened, while I haven’t taken any damage. Why haven’t you given up yet, when the odds are clearly not in your favor?”
You put your arm against the wall of the building to support your body. “Because,

“I want to protect this village─my comrades!
“My friends have given up their lives to protect it, so now, no matter what happens, I will too!”

The intruder chuckled, although his tone conveyed sarcasm and hatred.
“You’ll simply die as a lost cause,” was all he said before preparing to strike.

“I don’t think so! Shadow-clone Jutsu!”
There were now seven of you surrounding the man.

“You can’t beat me with numbers, no matter how many you make. And since you can’t use your Murasakiiro, I don’t think you stand a chance.”

“No! I still have another move left!” you shouted.
All seven of you and your clones shouted out a jutsu together.

"WIND-STYLE! RASENGAN!"

“Minato-Sensei, I want a challenge!” you exclaimed one day.

It was one of your weekends while you were still in the academy, and you had met up with Minato at the training grounds.

“Oh! You seem to have a lot of energy today,” Minato replied, smiling.
“I want to get stronger, that’s all,” you replied. “And aren’t shinobi supposed to endure? I want something hard!”

“You have a point. Yes, shinobi are supposed to endure everything they face,” he replied.
“I suppose a challenge wouldn’t hurt. But what I have in mind right now, er-”

“Oh?” You asked as you looked up in curiosity.
“We both share the same chakra nature, wind-style,” he said. “This jutsu I’m going to let you try and learn is of this nature,

“and it was me who actually discovered it.”

“Rasengan!”
A sphere of wind appeared in his hand.
“Wow!

“Minato-Sensei, that’s quite funny how you created a jutsu and made the name super short.”
“Pardon me?”

“Well, uh, usually, your names are super hard to memorize and long!” You replied. “Like Ultimate-Fire-Thunderstorm-Bombshell Level Two or something!” You burst out laughing.

“Oh!” your teacher replied, laughing along as well. “But anyway, this jutsu has incredible power and is very dangerous, so if you do happen to master it, I don’t want you using it to spar with your comrades. Only save it for very strong enemies.”

You nodded, understanding.

“Alright,” he said. “Now, the first stage...” He held out a water balloon.

It took you a few weeks to get it right, but soon, you returned to Minato and popped a balloon filled with water with just one hand.
“Excellent job, <___>, I knew you could do it!” Minato exclaimed.
“Now, the second part.” This time, he held out a rubber ball.

For some reason, the next stage only took you a couple of days to master, probably because your skills in chakra power were already excellent. The following weekend, you were able to pop a bunch of rubber balls with just one hand, again.

Finally, Minato told you to figure out how to contain the rotating power inside a balloon to complete the stages.

“I-I think I got it!” you shouted after a few more days. You held out your arm towards Minato, who was currently sleeping under a tree.

And suddenly, a sphere of concentrated wind appeared in your hand.
“Minato-Sensei! Minato-Sensei!”
“H-heh?” He asked, instantly getting up from his nap.
You showed him what you had done.

“Oh my, <___>! You did it!” Minato celebrated.
“I knew you could do this! And in very little time as well! And you’re still in the academy as well!”

“T-Thank you, Minato-Sensei, for believing in me,” was all you could reply; still in awe, you mastered your sensei’s justu, which took him three years to figure out.

“Comrades must always believe in each other. That special bond of trust is what makes you comrades in the first place.”
You nodded, remembering his words.
“And, remember. It’s a very powerful jutsu- any average person wouldn’t be able to learn this as fast as you did, if at all. Be careful with it.”

This guy definitely counts as a very strong enemy.

“Hah, you wasted your chakra again! And soon, your life,” the man laughed as you and your shadow clones came over him.
Suddenly, to your shock, he started pulling himself in, with a swirl of wind accompanying him.
“AAH!” some of your shadow clones shouted and then poofed, although one of them was able to survive and got pulled in, along with the man.

Your clone was now inside, and you looked around to see many cubes in some sort of dimension. There was no beginning or end to it.

Where am I?
You suddenly spotted the man who had appeared right beside you. You wasted no time.
“Ora Murasakiiro!”

“No!” you heard him shout.
This time, the aura went right into the man’s eyes as you broke into his mind.

Destroy Konoha…
An organization called The Akatsuki…
Vengeance…
Part of a bigger plan?

“Who are you?” you interrogated.
I am…

“UAGH!” you shouted, as suddenly, you were sucked in, back into the real world, right in front of the building where Kushina and Minato were in, before hearing an answer.

There was no more sign of the masked man. Your eyes slowly returned to normal from the glowing violet they were previously in.

I- really stopped this from happening?
He actually retreated?
Where even was I? And how come my jutsu was able to work on him in there?

The vision you had seen included this mysterious man knowing about the location of where Kushina was going to give birth to her son, and then, also knowing she was the jinchuriki of the Nine-Tailed Fox and knowing everything about when a seal weakens. He would try to steal it away from her to control and destroy Konoha.

You mostly wanted to prevent this because you also saw something haunting. Minato and Kushina would die from this attack, and their son would become an orphan while also becoming the new jinchuriki.

You never knew your parents or had someone to take care of you before Obito, and you had lost him too. You didn’t want their son to suffer the same fate because you knew it was painful to deal with.

“Uagh!” you mumbled. Your head was still hurting─you had forced yourself to use the Murasakiiro once more with your clone while you weren’t fully recovered, so you knew you didn’t have much energy left.

"<___>!
You stood back up, trying to act like you were okay.
“M-Minato-Sensei, you started. “It was just like my vision predicted. I was able to stop the man. I can tell you all the intel I’ve gathered about him later.”

Minato nodded in response. “Thank you, <___>. I’m very sorry you had to do this alone, without anyone else’s help. I’m just glad you were able to beat him while staying safe.

“Come inside.”

“H-huh?” You were thrown off.
“The procedure is done. Kushina and I want you to meet our son.”
“R-really…? Are you sure, Minato-Sensei?”

He smiled. “Come on!” He led the way inside the building.

“<___>!” an exhausted Kushina exclaimed.
Minato came back with a tiny baby wrapped in a blanket and showed him to you.

“<___>, this is Naruto. Naruto, meet <___>.”
“Hello, Naru!” you giggled, coming up with a nickname for the newborn.

“You can hold him if you want!” Kushina smiled.
“R-really, Kushina-san?” You asked, to which she nodded, and Minato handed you the baby.

“You’re adorable, Naruto!” you complimented, slowly rocking the baby back and forth.
“I’m sure you’ll grow up to be a handsome man and protector!”

You didn’t admit it out loud, but something about the child brought you nostalgia. An old friend, perhaps.

You handed the baby back to Minato. “Thank you so much,” you said to Kushina and Minato. “It’s very kind of you to let me be one of the first to hold your new child.”

“<___>, we thank you,” Kushina replied as you turned to her. “You prevented something you foresaw, something terrible for the future, from happening. Maybe even our lives.”

“It’s all nothing!” you scratched your head, not knowing how to accept her thankfulness, but then, your vision started getting hazy.

“I-I’m a bit tired, sorry…” was all you could stutter.
"<___>! Are you okay?” Minato asked, and Kushina gasped, but you couldn’t hear them.

Your ears started to ring as you lost consciousness, and Minato had to catch you before you fell to the ground.

Chapter Text

“<___>!”
You heard Kakashi’s voice as you opened your eyes to something you hadn’t seen in a long while.
The ceiling of a hospital room.

“Kakashi?” you asked and turned to see him, who sat right beside your bed.
“Are you feeling okay?” he asked.
“Yeah,” you replied, sitting up. “Why are you here?”

“Lie back down, <___>.”
He ignored your question.

“I’m feeling fine, don’t worry,” you responded, rolling your eyes. “Besides, if you were me right now, your incredibly stubborn self would do the same thing.”
“That makes both of us stubborn, then.”

The door suddenly opened, and Minato, dressed in his Hokage attire, came in.
“Minato-Sensei!” you greeted.
“Hey, I’m glad to see you’re awake and alright now,” he replied, setting down a bag on a table in the hospital room, letting you see.

“Minato-Sensei,” Kakashi started.
“I know the mission <___> was on had to be top secret, but why couldn’t you at least let her have backup?”
“Kakashi, it’s honestly no big deal, I was perfectly─”

“What would have happened if the enemy overpowered you, <___>? Don’t be so naive; you could’ve died!”

You realized Kakashi was acting like the boy he used to be when you and he were still going on missions with Team Minato. He was always the know-it-all, explaining everything, thinking his way was always right, and even contradicting your sensei at times. It had been his mindset ever since he was a young boy.

But he was also different in a way. It was never like him to show concern for others straightforwardly.

“I’m sorry, Kakashi, but you’re right this once,” Minato replied. “<___>, I actually came here to apologize. I put the whole situation on you, and Kakashi was right. We didn’t know anything about the enemy, and you certainly could’ve been killed.

“It may be easy for you to shrug off, but you passed out from using too much chakra last night. I needed to transport you here through all the chaos. The hospital was at full capacity, and I was only able to get you admitted because I’m the Hokage. Gai, Kushina, Kakashi, and I were all relieved it wasn’t something serious.”

“Even Gai was there?” you asked, looking at Kakashi.
“I’m sorry for causing all of you so much trouble.”

“No, again, it’s my fault. You wouldn’t have collapsed if I didn’t let you fight on your own.”

“It’s really okay, Minato-Sensei. I’m just glad you, Kushina, and your new child are safe,” you replied. “You don’t have to worry about me. You should focus on your duties as being Hokage and your family.”

You smiled at him.

Minato chuckled. “It seems you know my priorities better than I do. But as your former teacher, I care about you a lot.” He pointed towards the bag on the table. “Please accept this as my apology. And I suggest you take a break from your ANBU missions. You deserve it as being a hero to this village.”

“O-Oh…” you said, astonished about how much Minato was genuinely sorry about leaving you alone.
“It’s okay, Minato-Sensei. I don’t feel distressed about anything at all! You believed that I could take the assailant down and trusted me that I could do it. That’s how I see it.”

He smiled. “Thank you, <___>. You’re always looking at the positive spectrum of things. I’ll leave you now with Kakashi.”
Kakashi nodded hastily and then watched as Minato left and shut the door.

“Are you sure you’re fine?”
“Yeah-yeah,” you replied, crossing your arms.
“Why would you go all by yourself? You could’ve told me, and I would’ve joined you right after I returned from my mission.”

“Kakashi, is it not one of the shinobi rules to keep specific confidential ANBU missions confidential?”

He stayed silent.
You instantly laughed, seeing his reaction.

“I never thought there would come a day when Baka-shi Hatake would want to break the rules.”

Continuing not to talk, he walked over to a kitchen counter across the room and handed you a cup of ramen, which had just been prepared.
“Oh,” you responded as you took it.

“Thank you.”
…

“You’re free to leave the hospital when you’re ready,” Kakashi said after a silence. “I can walk you to the Hokage’s office if you want when you’re ready.”
“Yeah, sure. We’ll go in a bit. Thanks, Kakashi.”

“How long were you here anyway?”
“The whole night.”
You shook your head. “Please don’t ever do that again. I’m betting that you still have an ANBU mission tomorrow.”

“Yeah, that’s right.
“You’re being called a hero now, you know.”
“Oh, please. I’m no star.”

You and Kakashi checked out of the hospital and left.

“<___>, am I a good comrade?”
“Huh?” You stopped walking with the sudden question.

“Uh, yeah. Sure, you’re a bit of a jerk sometimes and lecture me about everything, but─”
You paused, seeing that he had stopped too and was trying to avoid you from seeing his expression.

“You’re more than a good comrade. You’re my friend, Kakashi.” You genuinely meant it.
...

“We’re here.”

“Lord Fourth! <(l)___>-san is here!”
“Come in, <___>,” Minato said from his desk.

You walked inside, ready to give Minato intel from what you’d learned about the intruder who planned a disaster to happen that night.

You had a lot of information and input.

“Somehow, he can pass through anything and let anything pass through him,” you said. “And he can transport himself into another dimension, although I think that’s his weak spot.”
“How is it?”
“One of my clones that got transported with him was able to let my aura get to him,” you replied. “So, if he’s in that dimension, he wouldn’t be able to use that un-solidifying power of his.
“Since my aura got to him, I was able to learn a few things from inside his head. Apparently, his plan is to get revenge on our village, and what he tried to do last night is part of a bigger plan.

“Minato-Sensei, he also mentioned something called Akatsuki. Do you happen to know what that is?”
“Akatsuki…” Minato thought.
“Nope, no clue,” he said. “But perhaps, this ‘Akatsuki’ will show up in the future.

You nodded, agreeing.

“Another thing...well, I guess I need to tell you now, Minato-Sensei. About my vision.
“In my vision, this man had stolen the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox from Kushina-san and was somehow able to make it obey what he had commanded it to do. It was like, he was controlling him.”

“Controlling-?” Minato asked, startled.
“There is only one clan who can summon and control tailed beasts without being a Jinchuuriki for them,” he thought aloud.

“The Uchiha Clan.”
“S-so, you’re thinking this evil, masked man is in this village, and an Uchiha?”

“There are very suspicious things that have been happening lately surrounding the Uchihas,” he said. “We just found out today that someone has been slipping through the barrier to get inside the village, through the Uchiha district, without anyone ever sensing someone passing through it.

“And rumors of growing hatred from the clan against the village because they feel as if they’re treated unequally to everyone else. It’s a whole mess right now,” he said.

You blinked.
“Konohagakure’s never-ending politics,” Minato shrugged.

“So, the masked guy could either be an Uchiha wanting revenge against the village or someone working with the Uchihas? Since I don’t have any other reason why you would need to go through the barrier unchecked if you were part of the village.”

“That’s what I think as well,” Minato said. As for his strange power, I’m not sure. But everything else seems to add up.
“How do you know the Uchihas can control tailed beasts?” you asked Minato.

“Oh, it seems you do not know yet,” he replied.

“Long ago, Hashirama Senju, the first Hokage, and Madara Uchiha, also a powerful shinobi, fought at the Final Valley. They had a long past together that you could research independently. Madara Uchiha had summoned and used the Nine-Tailed Fox to try and win against Hashirama.”

“Who won?”
“Hashirama. The Senju Clan also has a unique power─to restrain the power of tailed beasts. Hashirama possessed wood-style, a very rare kekkei-genkai, which was able to stop Madara from using the fox and win against him.”

“I see,” you replied.

“<___>, I will send a team out to investigate who’s been slipping through the wall. If it has to do with anything concerning the masked man, I’ll let you know. I’ll tell you if there’s anything about an Akatsuki.”

“Oh yeah, about that, Minato-Sensei. There’s one final thing….”
You said something very confidential to him.

“Okay, then. I’ll keep that in mind. You should rest now, <___>, you’ve done enough. I’ll take it from here.” Minato smiled to reassure you that everything was going to be okay.

“Thank you, Minato-Sensei. I’ll see you soon!” you said before leaving.

You were now walking past the local park and saw the faces of Asuma, Gai, and Kurenai sitting down on the grass, eating dumplings as usual.

“Hey guys,” you greeted, walking towards them.

“<___>-san, we heard about what happened after Gai found you in the hospital!” Kurenai exclaimed. “How you protected the Hokage last night all by yourself!”
“You really are in a league of your own,” Asuma added.
“Just what I’d expect of you!” Gai shouted. “Always pushing through with your guts!”

“Woah, woah!” you responded, not knowing how to handle so many compliments.
“I-I was just trying to do what every shinobi should do─protect the village.”

All three of them smiled. “Kakashi came and told us this. He said you were a hero─you were able to stop whatever terrible events you foresaw from happening.”

Really? I swear he thought I was reckless for doing that.

“He called me a hero?”
“Yeah,” Kurenai said. “Then, he just walked away.”
You instantly stood up. “Where did he go?”

“Towards the cemetery─I think he went to visit─...them,” she replied.
You nodded and left the three without warning in the direction of where Kakashi was.

“Hey, again.” You stopped right before Rin’s grave as Kakashi lay more flowers down.
“Can I ask? Why you asked me that question earlier?”

“I realized that Obito might’ve been right,” he replied.
“That I may truly be scum.”

You laughed, thinking that he was probably just making a joke out of it, but you realized he was being serious when he started reflecting on the past events in his head.

Your eyes flashed purple.

It’s all my fault. I couldn’t stop Obito from dying, and I killed Rin with my own hands. Not even <___>’s Murasakiiro could prevent these events from happening.
But, last night, she was able to protect Minato-Sensei. Does that mean I’m a curse? Why can’t I do anything right?
It’s already been one year, but I still can’t forgive myself.

“Nothing is your fault,” you told him. “You did absolutely everything you could...and things just ended up not working out.”
He stared at you blankly.
“Remember, Kakashi! We’re in this together! You don’t think I feel like this too? Every single day, I do. And I made myself vow to never let anyone else die on my behalf again.”

“How do you know you won’t break it?”

“Because I’m determined I won’t. I’ll keep training, mastering my eyes and jutsu, and then make sure I won’t repeat the same mistakes again. I’m trying my best to let go too.
You realized how much you sounded like Obito.
“Isn’t that what Obito and Rin would want, Kakashi?”

“I really hate that now, you can read what I’m thinking inside my head,” was all he said.
Although you knew that was his way of saying that, your words had comforted him in some type of way and helped him get back on track.

“Wind-style! Kamikaze!”

A very peculiar and powerful cone of wind developed beneath and surrounded you, disturbing fallen leaves on the ground and carrying them with it. It rose almost a hundred feet into the air.

This no longer feels like wind release. Is it because I have mastered it so well?
You ran over to a nearby pond formed by rain the night before and saw typhoons staring back.
Or perhaps...

Typhoon Style. A rare kekkei-genkai, exclusive to the Yochi Clan.

Chapter Text

“Someone new joining the ANBU?”
You were at ANBU headquarters, re-organizing the locker you’ve occupied for almost a decade and waiting for your new teammate to show up. You had heard that an Uchiha was joining the ANBU, and you had no idea what to expect except they were already, in a way, like your friend, Obito.

“<___>-senpai, he’s here!” one of your comrades called out as you immediately made your way towards Kakashi by the door.

“Hey, Co-Captain.” Kakashi still spoke in the same old, distant tone, although you could tell he was mentally getting better.

Small steps. Small steps.

“Hey, Captain,” you replied, giggling. You hadn’t changed much, either. The both of you had continuously been going on ANBU missions─only taking breaks when absolutely needed. Sometimes, you didn’t even know when you had reached your limit and would pass out in the middle of missions, and one of your teammates would have to take you back home. It had gotten so bad that Minato, as Fourth Hokage, assigned you a personal medical ninja to give you regular checkups.

“Over there!”
The door suddenly opened, revealing a very young boy who stepped inside.

“A teenage boy?”
He’s young, but it looks like he carries more burdens than any average person would in their entire lifetime.

“So our new member’s a rookie, huh?” one of your comrades teased.
“What’s your name?”

“I’m Uchiha Itachi,” the boy responded, not intimidated.
Uchiha. Itachi.

“Well, nice to meet you,” Kakashi replied. “I’m your team’s leader, Hatake Kakashi, but we’ll be using code names.
“This is your co-leader, <(l)___> <___>.”

“Thanks, nice to meet you too, Kakashi-sama, <___>-sama,” Itachi said. He went over and started putting his things in his locker, which was right by yours.

I wonder if he already has his Sharingan awakened by now, you thought.

“Alright,” Kakashi announced.
“Our current mission is to assassinate some Kirigakure ninja who have trespassed into the Land of Fire, preparing to launch an ambush against the village.”

Everyone nodded.

“Itachi, you have been assigned to participate in this mission too. Since you are a new member, you should cover for <___>. We’ll be able to observe your skills and your combat.”

Kakashi handed him a mask.

Itachi nodded, too, understanding.
“Okay. Let’s go.”

It was very dark outside, as the sun had completely gone down. Your team was hopping through trees, and you had already pinpointed the location of the enemy.

“Over there!” you whispered loudly from the front. You moved towards the left, spotting the ninja.
The enemy instantly noticed and threw shurikens toward you while the rest of the group disbanded to throw them off guard.

You were left alone with Itachi as you stood with your backs touching each other.
“Captain, right there!”
You instantly blocked a paper bomb attached to a kunai knife with your wind-style, while Itachi received one too and dissipated it with a fireball.

“Thanks,” you replied and noticed glowing red eyes through the holes of his weasel mask as the boy nodded.
You made a small smile under yours. He does have the Sharingan.

Suddenly, an enemy flew through the trees and attacked Itachi with a sword. He took his own out and started clashing with them. He was able to read the attacker’s moves perfectly and take them down.

“Good job,” you told him, but then, with your own eyes, you noticed about a dozen more enemy ninja had shown up and surrounded you. Both of you were stuck in the center.

“Murasakiiro!”
You wasted no time running and found the shinobi about to ambush you hidden in the trees and took them down with your sword. They would all not realize a thing until what would look like a heart attack to a spectator would cause them to fall.

…One!

You appeared beside Itachi, and your eyes returned to their original color.
“I did not know the Murasakiiro possessed such power,” Itachi said, his eyes widening, realizing you’ve just taken down all the Mist ninja.

You smiled and nodded. “We took care of our part. Let’s go meet back with the rest to see how they’re going.” You both hopped away from the site.

“They’re here!”
The rest of your team were still fighting the rest of the enemies, and it seemed to be twenty of them there, outnumbering you.

“Captain! We fended off the backup!”
“That’s good,” Kakashi replied and turned to stop an enemy from stabbing him.

There are so many! I still have enough power to use my Murasakiiro again.
You had gotten stronger over the past few years. You could now use your power more than once before passing out. You had also gained better control of it and took advantage of situations that would be just right for it.

“Murasakiiro!”
“Wait─!” Kakashi tried to start, sensing you had already used it in your previous fight.

Time slowed as you sliced through enemies your comrades fought, counting to ensure you took down all twenty of them.

Sixteen, seventeen, eighteen, nineteen…
One!

You tried to finish off the last one, but you had miscalculated the remaining time you had. The enemy you were about to attack turned around last minute and cut through your shoulder.

You let out a slight squeal as you backed off and fell to the ground. Your vision was already getting hazy, and you felt dizzy from the Murasakiiro and your new wound.
You got up and tried to hit the ninja again, but he was able to see your moves easily with your injured shoulder. You revealed a weak spot on your body, and the enemy was about to land a hit.

Oh, shoot.

Suddenly, Itachi surprised him from behind and stabbed his sword through him, making the attacker fall over before he could harm you.

Now safe, you dropped your guard. Your body became unbalanced as you fell over, but you were caught by Kakashi, who wrapped your arm around his shoulder.

“Thanks,” you said. “I’m a burden, am I?”
“Yeah, a huge one,” he joked.

“You did good, <___>.”

Your mission was successful, and your team had taken down all enemies trying to infiltrate Konohagakure. It was another day, and you were sitting outside on the edge of a cliff and eating dumplings, watching the sunset as you awaited to hear your next mission.

You heard sounds coming from behind you, and you saw Itachi Uchiha approach you.
“Oh, Itachi!”
“Oh, I didn’t know you were here, <___>-sama,” he said, taking off his mask.
“You’re free to join me if you want,” you replied, moving over as he joined you.
You handed him a stick of dangers, which he gratefully accepted.

“Are you feeling better from last night?” he asked.
“Yeah,” you replied, moving your bandaged shoulder. “This is pretty normal for me─there’s usually never a mission where I don’t pass out.”
You tried laughing about it to let him know it was lighthearted, but he just stared into the sky.

“I see.”

“Itachi, what about you? You’re only thirteen, but I can see you’ve been through a lot of stress.”
“Hah,” he mumbled. “I guess we both have a lot on our plates, then.
“Are you close with Kakashi-sama?”

“You can say that,” you replied. “We’ve been friends for a long time. He’s always been a bit distant and cold, though, although I can’t blame him.”

“Has something happened?”
“Many things,” you replied, staring into the horizon, in front of you. “He’s always been the only one who could understand me. We both lost the people close to us.” You thought about Rin, Kakashi’s father Minato talked about so long ago, who had created Kakashi’s persona in the first place, and of course, Obito.

“My best friend,” you said.
“Taking missions is the only thing that distracts me,” you continued. “I can’t seem to find a way to stop grieving or having nightmares about things I wanted to change so badly. They told me to become a strong shinobi, they told me to protect my comrades, but I’m not sure I could if I couldn’t protect them.”

There was a silence as you ate a dango off of the stick.
Itachi spoke.

“One will have many regrets along the way, but they must know that there is nothing they can do to change the past. One must let go of doubts and focus instead on changing the future to prevent disaster from happening again.”

You let the words the boy told you sink in. He was right in every way. You couldn’t change the past at all, no matter what you tried to do.

“You should honor your friends’ last wishes. They would not want you to be suffering like this.”

“Be an even stronger kunoichi….”
“Please take care of Kakashi….”

You had joined the ANBU with the mindset of using it as an excuse to be busy and not think about anything having to do with the events that scarred you. Your main reason for joining wasn’t because you wanted to protect the village and comrades but because you wanted a distraction. And perhaps the more missions you went on increased the percentage you would die on them.

Rin wouldn’t have wanted this. Now that you thought about it, Kakashi had always been taking care of you, and you weren’t sure if he was worried about his own safety. You had just been lucky enough to be weak while your surroundings were safe.

Obito would’ve scolded you. He would tell you you had lost track of your goals, and you would have never been okay with him upset with you like that.

“Y-you’re right…” you stumbled, realizing how much you screwed up these past few years.
“You know...for someone quite younger than me, you’re very wise, Itachi,” you said, dryly chuckling.
He shrugged and then gave a rare smile.

“Do you have someone close to you?” you asked.
“My little brother,” Itachi replied. “I would do anything for him.”
You smiled. “That’s how I felt about my bestfriend, Obito. I would do anything for him too.”

“Obito as in, Uchiha Obito?”
“Yeah. When I first found an Uchiha was joining the ANBU, I wondered if you’d be like him.”
“Am I?”

“Not at all,” you laughed. “He was dumb and goofy. You’re quiet, observant, and intuitive. But both of you...like dumplings a lot!” You saw the empty stick in his hand.

“I guess we do then,” he responded as you handed him another and smiled.

“I-I am taking a break!”
“<___>-san, seriously-?!” Asuma asked, standing up.
“My goodness, <___>-san, you haven’t been willing to take a vacation for years!” Kurenai said, shocked.
“So, does that mean you’ll be able to hang out with us without running away?” Gai asked.

You laughed. “I guess so...but all of you were right.
“I’ve─realized a few things lately.”

“I’m glad you decided to do this,” Kurenai said, hugging you. “We have been so worried for you, always wanting to check up on you to see if you were doing alright. We’re always here for you, <___>-san, don’t be afraid to come to us when you need help.”

“Thanks, Asuma-san, Gai-pon, and Kurenai-san.” Kurenai pulled everyone else into the hug, and you found yourself in a sentimental moment.
Until you suddenly felt like you were crushed by a rock as you gasped for air. Gai had started crying a puddle of tears while squeezing everybody too hard and your friends made struggling faces as they tried to break out.

“G-GAI!” Asuma shouted.
“S-SORRY,” he replied, wiping his face and letting go of all of you, and you all tumbled to the floor. “I was just so lost in─this FEELING OF YOUTH!”

You giggled as Asuma made a little facepalm and took out a cigarette and a lighter.

“<___>-san, how about Kakashi?”
Kurenai had turned back to you as you let out a little, hm?
“Oh yeah. I-I still need to talk to him…” you responded. “I want him to take a break too.”

You weren’t sure how you were going to get him to comply. It was hard enough for your stubborn self─it had taken almost a decade for you to take such a tiny step in recovering. Kakashi was an even more stubborn person than you.
But you needed to protect him. It was part of the last wish Rin had for you.

“I see,” she replied, nodding her head. “That might be hard. We can come along to help persuade him if you want!”
“Thanks,” you chuckled, “but I think I can do it alone.”

“I think <___>-san can handle it,” Asuma said. “He’s always been fond of you, you know.”

“Pfft, I’m sure not,” you replied and then thought back to the number of fangirls Kakashi had around him during the academy days and how he would acknowledge none of them at all.

You looked over to see the boy, who Obito had marked as his rival, walk across the schoolyard.
“Stupid Bakashi,” Obito spat and then crossed his arms and turned his back against him.
You smiled before continuing to watch Kakashi.

A group of girls giggling with each other suddenly showed up, and they decided to approach the boy.
“Kakashi-kun!” a pretty pinkette in the middle shouted as she walked up towards him.
He completely ignored her as if she was a ghost and kept staring forward.

She took notice and ran right in front of Kakashi to stop him.

“What do you want?”
“Oh, well…” her cheeks turned pink. “I know how much of a genius you are, Kakashi-kun! And that you’re on top of our class right now! I’m kind of failing with some of my work right now, and I’d figured the best thing to do is to ask you for help, so would you mind meeting up with me after-”

Not listening at all, Kakashi moved out of the way and kept walking, stopping at you and Obito.

“<___>-san, are you still training this weekend?”
“Huh? Oh─uh, yeah!” you replied, dazzled at the situation you had just witnessed.
“I’ll join you then,” he replied and then walked off after giving and receiving a death stare from Obito. The three girls who had been tailing him stomped off in a rage.

“<___>, I don’t like you hanging out with him,” Obito said, still having his back against you so that you couldn’t see his face.
You chuckled. “Why not? It’s only just to train, Obito.”
“Because he’s a bad influence on someone so amazing like you. Look at him, thinking that he’s so superior to everyone. Besides, about everyone in our academy has a crush on you too─there are better choices than him.”

You remembered blushing and thinking to yourself, everyone but you, Obito.

“He scolds me every other day,” you said, sighing. “I’m not sure if that counts as admiration, but...I guess I’ll go now. I still need to turn in the forms to take the holiday off. It seems like I stacked up a lot of vacation time too.”
“You must have,” Kurenai said, laughing. “You probably have at least two entire years. It’s no surprise to us. We’ll see you later.”

“You’re taking a break?” Itachi asked. You had coincidentally been passing through the Uchiha District when you managed to catch Itachi outside with his kid brother.

The one he loves so much.

“Yeah,” you replied. “Thanks to you. I’m going to have so much time on my hands. The last time I was this free was about nine years ago.”
“Nine years is a long time. I haven’t even been alive for that long,” the younger Uchiha spoke, wanting to join the conversation.

You giggled and then bent down towards him. “What’s your name?”
“Uchiha Sasuke,” the boy replied. “So, you’re an ANBU Black Op like my brother, too?”
“Yeah, that’s right,” you replied, smiling. “I’m his superior.”
“So you boss him around?”

“Hey, brother,” Itachi said, reminding Sasuke to be nice.
“Oh, sorry,” he replied, bowing.

You laughed. “Don’t worry about it. As a matter of fact, I do boss him around.
“So, what’s your dream goal, Sasuke?”

“To be a strong shinobi, like my brother,” he replied, smiling. “I’ll be going to the academy soon!”
“Awe, that’s great!” You patted his head and turned back towards Itachi.

“Well, since I’m here, I want to thank you, Itachi. You’ve brought me clarity with what you told me.”
He nodded, which was his way of saying you’re welcome.
“I guess I’ll need to buy you more dangos soon, too,” you added with a wink.

“Be good to your older brother, okay?” you said to Sasuke, to which he nodded.
“Remember, he loves you a lot!”

“I love you, big-brother Itachi!” He gave Itachi a hug.

“There you are.”

You arrived at a bridge over a river where Team Minato always used to meet up. You, Rin, and Kakashi would always have to stare at your reflections on the water as you waited for an always-late Obito to show up.

Kakashi was here today, alone.

“<___>,” he said, seeing you approach him.

“You heard?”
“Yeah,” he replied.

“I want to request, as your co-captain, for you to take a break too, Kakashi,” you said. “Itachi’s proved himself to be a very powerful ninja. He can take over as temporary leader of the team.
“I’ve just realized how much of a person I’ve changed since then. I honestly didn’t give much thought to it until now. It looks like I’ve completely lost myself and what I’m trying to complete.”
You had learned that the best way to get Kakashi to do something was by simply being straightforward with him, getting immediately to the point, and not dragging the conversation around.

Kakashi stayed silent.

“We’ll have time to catch up with our comrades. Or if you don’t want to do that, we can just hang out together, like how we used to train with each other on the weekends and then sometimes watch clouds afterward.”

He still didn’t talk.
“Look, even just for a week. I’ll go out with you or something.”

“Are you...bringing up that date I asked you out to a long time ago?”
“Huh?” you asked, puzzled by his response, but then a memory came to your mind.

It was while you were all still young, and everyone had gathered around you to tell you that the cool boy from your graduating class had a crush on you. You thought those were just rumors to make fun of you, and besides, you weren’t interested in him in that way at all.

You could clearly remember your friends’ faces as well─Rin looked a bit upset but chose to go with the crowd egging you on to go to him, which made no sense because you certainly would not do the same if it were between Obito and someone else. Meanwhile, Obito threw a whole fit, with his excuse being that he was just protecting you as your best friend.

“<___>, no! I─uh, will not allow you to see him!”
“Obito! Why are you so concerned about Kakashi and me?”
“He’s a bad influence on you, hmph!” he replied as he turned red and crossed his arms.
“You deserve better than that jerk-face.”

You chuckled at that memory. “My apologies. I didn’t mean to say it like that. But they weren’t rumors after all? I honestly didn’t think someone like you would have a silly crush on someone.”

Kakashi smirked. “I’ve been surprising you a lot ever since we’ve become friends, hm <___>?”
“Yeah, no kidding,” you responded and then sighed.
“Fine. If it’s going to take that for you to go on vacation, then I’ll go on a platonic date with you.”

Kakashi laughed.

“It’s cool,” you continued, letting him know you were more than okay with that, but then you took a turn. “You know, you’ve changed quite a bit, Kakashi.”
He had wondered how much he had changed as well compared to you after losing two of his comrades.

“Agreeing with this says a lot too. I don’t know if you’d understand, but you’re putting comrades above everything else right now.”

You didn’t realize you were rambling your thoughts out loud as you were focused on your reflection in the river and didn’t see Kakashi still paying attention to you.

“Those who abandon even one of their comrades are worse than scum!”
Is this how <___> really thinks about me right now?

Am I really not scum?

Kakashi relaxed his shoulders as he contemplated.

You handed in your request to take a break forms to the Hokage with Kakashi as you laid your ANBU masks down.

“<___>, Kakashi, I’m stunned,” Minato said, his expression matching what he just said.

“But I’m very relieved. When you want to come back, you can retrieve your masks from me.”

“Thank you, Minato-Sensei,” you both said.
“You should visit Naruto sometime, by the way!” Minato exclaimed. “He’s grown so much already─he’s going to start at the academy soon!”

Wow. How much time has passed already?

“I’d love to do that,” you replied, smiling. “I’ll be sure to visit you, Kushina-san, and Naru soon!”
Minato held up a thumbs up in approval.

Chapter Text

First day.

You sat in your room in the morning, filled with anxiety because you knew a normal person shouldn’t be feeling so paranoid that they were on vacation.
To try and calm yourself, you pushed semi-transparent curtains aside and opened your window.
Immediately, you heard birds chirping as sunrays leaked into your room.

You decided to go for a morning stroll around town. You got dressed and went outside, feeling oddly more comfortable than usual since you weren’t using your tight ANBU uniform.

Uncomfortably comfortable.

You walked down to a nearby stream, where the current was shallow and weak. You took off your sandals and stepped in, rummaging through the ground until you found a flat, round stone.

“Let’s see who’s better at skipping stones! The person who gets the most wins!”

Both Obito and you thought you would be the winner, “because after all, you’re a prodigy at everything!”
It turned out you were actually terrible at it because you had never done it before. Meanwhile, you and Obito counted out loud twenty-six for him.

“I’m so bad!” you laughed.
“I’m pretty sure I can only do it so well because of my clan’s specialty in shuriken aiming,” Obito said. “But, I can teach you how to become better. Here…”

You took the rock in your hand and recalled Obito’s technique. This was also how he threw his shuriken, which made him very accurate in hitting his targets once he trained more after graduating from the academy; you had adopted his way as yours as well. You made sure you gripped it as he showed you the first time and then threw it across the stream.

Fifteen, sixteen, seventeen!

You threw your fist in the air.
“See that Obito? That was my highest so far!”

You kept going back to the stream for the next week until you decided that twenty-two was the maximum you could skip a rock.

Ninth day.

You headed down to the closest park by you. It was a weekend, so children from the academy were off, and the ones who weren’t off training were playing there.
You sat down on a bench, dazing off until you started overhearing a conversation between three kunoichis.

“Didn’t I tell you? I need the answers for our quiz─NOW!”
“If you don’t give them to us, I’m going to make sure you fail along too,” someone else said.

“I-I don’t have them yet…” a third person nervously replied.
“YOU’RE SO STUPID!”
“YOU KNOW NOTHING! You’re a good-for-nothing person!”

“HEY.”
The three girls saw you walk up to them.

“Is it her job to make sure you guys pass?”
“Who do you think you are?” one of them ignorantly asked.
“Shut up!” the other bully whispered, harshly nudging her. “She’s one of Lord Hokage’s selected helpers. She protected him a long time ago when she was only a bit older than us.”

You continued on.
“You do know that, in the shinobi world, you will have to look out for your own needs. You can’t just keep depending on or clinging to others for information. You will never be able to survive that way.
“And, one final thing─I don’t want to hear any of you saying that she knows nothing at all. Please apologize to her right now.”

The two girls both hesitated.
“Uh...I’m really sorry,” the first one said to the girl, bowing.
“I’m sorry too,” the second one followed.

“I want to make sure you truly mean it,” you said. “I have ties to the academy too. I’ll be able to find out if your words were true or not.”
The two girls both nodded before scurrying away.

“T-thank you,” the girl who was being bullied shyly said, grateful to you, before running away as well.
You sighed in awe.

Eleventh day.

“Kakashi!”
“<___>.”

You would’ve instead called it a hangout, but you decided to call it a date for the fun of it. You waved to Kakashi, who was already standing in front of Ichiraku Ramen.

“Two miso-pork bowls!” you exclaimed to the ramen guy as you and Kakashi sat down. It was already twilight, and the lanterns surrounding the street had been lit so everyone could see through the dark.

“How has your break been going so far?” you asked.
“I’m adjusting,” he replied. “You?”
“Me too,” you agreed. “It still feels weird having so much time on my hands, and sometimes I get nervous because of that.”

The bowls were soon handed to you both, and you excitedly broke apart your chopsticks and dug in.
Wait a minute! How the hell does Kakashi eat again?

You tried to look at Kakashi out of the corner of your eyes with a suspicious look.

Although, he instantly noticed, and you tried to come up with something to say.

“H-hey, Kakashi, remember that time we tried to pull down your mask?”
He recalled the memory.
“Yes, I do. It could’ve been the most terrifying day of my life.”

Team Minato had been on one of those long missions, where the five of you would have to camp somewhere at night. You had been walking through a forest, with Kakashi and Obito bickering nonstop.

Minato didn’t like that, and when you guys set up camp, he decided to punish them.

“Tonight, all four of you will sleep in one huge tent instead of four individual ones. You need to learn to stick together, even if you have problems with each other.”
You sighed as you entered the tent, knowing none of this was your fault.

Kakashi was very annoyed, as he knew this situation would be a significant discomfort to him.
“I’m sleeping here,” Kakashi said sharply, at the far right side of the tent.

You and Rin had scooted to the far left side of the tent and watched in awkwardness as Obito looked like he had a fever, trying to figure out how he was going to sleep with two girls─one his crush, by him.

“R-Rin-san, you can stay in the corner if you want. I’ll uh...stay in the middle then,” you said, scratching your head, as you would be right next to Obito.

You and Obito looked at each other, both too tense to lie down until you tried to distract yourself by looking at Kakashi, who was setting up his sleeping bag.

Obito followed, and soon the two of you were both wide-eying Kakashi.
Rin noticed too and joined you guys, moving up and sitting right beside you.

Kakashi realized that there were three pairs of eyes watching him, and he furrowed his brows.
“Why are all of you staring at me?”
“Oh-uh…” Obito started.
“A-are you going to sleep with your mask on, Kakashi-kun?” Rin hesitantly asked.
“Yeah.”
“But y-you’ll suffocate!” Obito shouted.
“I’ll be fine,” he spat and then lay down, his back facing all three of you.

You, who was plotting, looked over at Obito and Rin with a smirk on your face.
Obito gave you a smirk back, which told you, “I knew you would have something up your sleeve!”

You instantly went over and grabbed the only lantern in the tent, which lit the entire place up, and stopped the fire with a touch of your finger.

“Bakashi─sweet dreams,” you sarcastically said, and getting no response back, you continued your new plan.
“Obito, Rin-san,” you whispered. “He’s got his guard down. We’ll all surround him─Rin-san on the left, Obito to the right, and me right in front of him. On my signal, we pull his mask down and take a peek.”

Obito instantly nodded, and although Rin knew this was probably the worst idea ever, she couldn’t help but be curious about who the boy she liked looked like under his mask. She nodded too. You then lit a small candle so you three could navigate without tripping.

“Alright then,” you whispered as you three assembled by a sleeping Kakashi.
“Hey! There are two pieces of fabric,” Obito observed.
“Then we’ll pull down both of them,” you said back. “Okay…

“One...two...”
“HAHA! JERK! SHSHSS─!” Obito had been trying to hold back his laughter of this sneaky plan and had lost it a bit too early. You and Rin immediately jumped back as Kakashi’s eyes opened.

Unwillingly, Kakashi’s body electrified himself with his lightning style in self-defense, which he had been practicing for a while, unknown to you three. You, Obito, and Rin instantly got hit with sparks and fell over.

“HELP!” Obito yelled.
Minato instantly appeared by the four of you and saw Kakashi pulling his mask back up.
“OB-TOBI!” You yelled. “WE ONLY GOT UNDER HIS NOSE, DAMMIT!”

Minato’s only reaction was a considerable sweatdrop.

“Terrifying, really?” You asked, laughing at the memory.
You had both finished eating your ramen bowls. Kakashi paid for both of you, and you were now walking through town, where the only light came from the full moon and glowing lanterns from the open shops around you.

“Very. You should be glad that lightning-style I used on you three was weak and could only immobilize you at best.”

You rolled your eyes, him rambling about his jutsu.
Although, honestly, you were feeling happy. Kakashi was acting like his old self.

“You’re smiling a lot,” he observed.
You faced Kakashi. “Of course.
“I’m genuinely in a good mood right now.”

He stared at you blankly, as he usually did.

“What should we do now? I’m free the rest of the night─
“UAGH!”
“<___>?!” Kakashi shouted as your eyes glowed purple.

Right now? What the hell─I’m just talking with Kakashi!
Wait, what-?!
Uchiha, Itachi Uchiha…

A horrible image played in your mind.

You opened your eyes as you instantly toppled over but landed safely on Kakashi’s back.
“Sorry,” he said. “Maybe next time. I’ll bring you home, now.” He turned back and gave a reassuring smile.

“T-thanks…” you mumbled, wrapping your hands around his neck as he carried you.
Why? This always makes me look so weak.
You hated whenever this would happen, and someone else was around. The Murasakiiro’s foretelling powers always drained your chakra and energy, with you either passing out or almost, no matter how strong you had become.

“We’re here now,” Kakashi said as he lowered you down.
“Thanks again,” you replied and unlocked the door.

“Did you have another vision?”
“Huh?” you paused.
“No, it wasn’t,” you lied, facing your back toward him. “I guess strong emotions affect my Murasakiiro. I suppose I haven’t felt this much joy in a while.
“Anyway, see you, Kakashi.”

You waved before going in.

You were glad Kakashi didn’t think too much of your Murasakiiro activating tonight. He had probably overlooked just this time that you did always have visions whenever it suddenly showed up.
I want to go tell Minato-Sensei right now and start investigating, you thought.
But I just started this break! I don’t want everyone around me to start worrying again! I can’t do anything right now!

You slid open your door to the outside hallway. You were happy that still, no one besides Obito had found out you still slept outside, under the stars, instead of your bed. You sighed as you looked up at the sky.

“<___>, when you look up at the night sky, I will be on one of the stars.”

You imagined an older Obito, still with his signature goggles, but he had grown into a handsome man. He had on the white attire of the Hokage and the matching “fire-shadow” hat on his head. You stood right by him, cheering him on.

Chapter Text

22nd day.

“<___>-san, it’s so nice of you to join us today!” Kurenai exclaimed as you and she walked up a hill. She was holding a large picnic basket while you had a blanket.
“Yeah,” you replied, smiling. You hadn’t done something like this in a long time.
“A bunch of comrades we used to go to the academy with are going to be here today,” she continued as you walked up. “We all─”

“<___>!” Gai shouted as he ran down towards the two of you.
“Gai-pon!”

“IN THE POWER OF YOUTH, I CHALLENGE YOU!”
“Wha-t?!” you asked, startled by his sudden contest.
Kurenai shook her head. “Something he only does with Kakashi─san. What’s making you challenge her today, Gai?” she asked.

“AH, THAT’S RIGHT! Kakashi isn’t here right now, so what I’m trying to do is have a little warm-up! You can never get too much training!”

“A-haha...” you mumbled. “So, what do you want me to do, Gai-pon?”
“We will race to the top of the hill, where the best view is!” he shouted with determination. “That is where we will have our picnic!”

He pointed to the top of the hill, which was to be reached by climbing a few hundred concrete stairs.

“Oh─uh, okay!” you hesitantly replied, accepting the challenge and shaking his hand.
“Alright, it’s settled then!” Gai responded, holding up a thumbs up. “Kurenai, count for us!”

She sighed. “Sure.

“One.
“Two.
“THREE!”

You immediately took off, running after Gai, and reached the beginning of the many stairs you had to climb.
“MURASAKIIRO!”
Time froze as Gai ran in slow motion, and you tried to climb up as many stairs as you could before your time ran out.

Actually, this is great practice too.

One!
“HAH!” You shouted, already halfway through. You paused and looked behind you to see where Gai was, but he was now yelling and ran right past you.

“YAAAAA─!”

“WHAT THE─” you were utterly flabbergasted as you continued to catch up with him.
“MURASAKIIRO!”

Eventually, the two of you made it to the top, and both collapsed on the ground as Kurenai followed. Although, unlike the both of you, she wasn’t tired out.

“Woah!” someone shouted, seeing you on the ground, and you realized it was none other than your old classmate, Shiranui Genma.
“Genma-san!” you exclaimed, getting up and looking at him.
“Long time no see,” he replied, smiling through a stick in his mouth.

“Hey <___>-san!” a purple-haired woman waved. It was Mitarashi Anko!
“<___>-san, it’s nice to see you!” Shizune called.

“I haven’t seen you all in so long,” you said in awe. “Wow…”
Is this really how busy I’ve been?

“<___>-san!” Asuma shouted, and you turned to look behind you, seeing him and Kakashi show up.

“Looks like everyone is here!”

You laid down the picnic blanket, and everyone helped prepare the food.

“<___>-san, you’ve gotten even more pretty,” Umino Iruka, who just sat down, mumbled.
“You still fancy her after so long?” another old friend, Ebisu, whispered back as they both grabbed sandwiches.

You laughed. Your friends constantly told you that almost every boy admired you in the academy for your positive and outgoing personality. You knew you had changed much since then; you had closed off yourself and hid your true feelings behind a facade just so no one would be worried about you.

“Iruka-san, how have you been?” you asked.
“Fine, now that we all get to see you again,” he replied. “We all have been worried about you─you practically disappeared from us.”
“I’m sorry I had you all so concerned,” you said. “I’ll make it up to you soon. I can treat the group to Ichiraku Ramen one night!”

Everyone nodded, smiling.

“Well, everyone’s here,” Kurenai said. “Look at us. All from the same graduating class.”
Everyone looked at each other silently.

“I wish Obito-san and Rin-san were here with us, too,” Asuma added.

“Y-yeah…” you mumbled.

“We’re all graduating from the academy soon!” Rin exclaimed as the four of you walked towards the red building.
“You can’t be so sure,” Kakashi muttered, looking at the ground. “It’s not guaranteed we will all pass the graduation exam.”
“You─stop being such a boring loser!” Obito shouted, standing right in front of him.

“Guys, guys, stop!” Rin said. “Anyways, I was thinking of something great our whole class can do since we will soon be put on teams and won’t see each other as often!”
“Really?” you and Obito asked.
“We should all have a picnic on the nearby hill!” she said. “The weather is pretty nice this week, so it will be perfect!”

“Rin, that’s a spectacular idea!” Obito shouted. “You always have the best ideas, Rin!”
You could see his cheeks glowing red. In response, you sighed and shrugged your shoulders.
“Oh, <___>-san, what’s wrong? Do you not like it?” Rin asked.

“No, she finds it great too,” Kakashi answered for you, noticing your true feelings.

“Great! And what about you?”
“You should go too, Kakashi,” you said.

“Sure.”

It was Rin who had created the original picnic your class had. You couldn’t help but smile at the nostalgia you felt, doing this again.

“Oh yeah, <___>, how’d that date go?” Gai suddenly asked.
You snapped out of your thoughts and broke a sweat.

NOT HERE, GAI─! THEY JUST MET ME FOR THE FIRST TIME IN A WHILE…

“Woah, what?” Anko asked, wanting to know more. “It should be unsurprising, but I must’ve missed a chapter!”
“<___>-san, WHAT?” Iruka asked, about to dramatically cry while Asuma patted him on the back.
“<___>-san, so you finally got over Obito?” Genma asked.

“Ueh…-” you started, turning red.
Dammit! It wasn’t a date!
They’ll all get the wrong idea.

Kakashi raised a hand.
KAKASHI! YOU AREN’T HELPING!

“YOU?!”
“Uh, uh─” you tried to draw the attention away from him. “It went well…?”

Anko, without warning, got in your face.
“Honestly, we kind of suspected this would happen.”
“H-heh…?” you asked, terrified.

“POOR, POOR IRUKA!” Ebisu said, exposing his friend as everyone turned to see Iruka with a heart-crushed expression.
“IRUKA! IT’LL BE ALRIGHT!” Gai shouted.
“DON’T GO FIGHTING KAKASHI!”

“H-hey!” you tried to interject, but your comrades had gotten too chaotic.
You stared with a drained expression at Kakashi while he laughed back, finding the whole thing entertaining.

Just like the old times.

It was now the afternoon, and it had been a while since all of you had finished lunch. After you refused to tell everyone what happened for the hundredth time, they calmed down from the misunderstood topic. Gai ate an ice cream cone while chatting with Asuma, Ebisu, Iruka, Kotetzu, and Izumo, playing frisbee in the sun. You, Kurenai, and Shizune had been finding flowers around the fields.

“I’ll head back uphill for now,” you said to them, wanting to get some water.
“Okay, <___>-san!”

“Whatcha doing over here?”
Kakashi was sitting down and leaning against a tree, with an orange book open, as you stood right in front of him. You bent down to try and see the text of the pages.
His eyes moved up to meet yours as he flipped the page.

“An idiot and a pervert too?!”

He smirked and then motioned for you to sit beside him. You hesitated but then followed. You sat down, making yourself comfortable by him.
“Are you just going to read that in front of me?” you asked sharply, gazing at the “Icha-Icha Paradise” title on the front cover.
Kakashi didn’t reply.

You heard the page turn again.

“Can I have another shot at pulling down your mask?”

“Not right now.”

“Why?” you pouted, crossing your arms.
You looked up at Kakashi, whose eyes were focused on what he was reading.
His gaze dropped a second to look at you before he leaned back and placed the book on top of his face.

“Nosebleed,” he said, his voice muffled through the book.
“Weirdo,” you replied. You sighed before looking up at the sky and then closed your eyes.

You, Obito, and Rin had managed to convince all your friends in your class to come to the picnic the following weekend.

“Thanks so much for inviting us!” Kurenai explained as everyone arrived.
“Yeah!” Rin replied, smiling. “Everything’s all set! Let’s eat now!”

It was a little while after lunch, and everyone had decided to spar with each other as training for the graduation exams that were coming up.

Although, it was more of entertainment to all of you to see who was strong and weak.

“How are we going to do this?” Iruka asked.
“We just agree on the two people we want to see fight each other, duh,” Genma shrugged, and no one objected.

“Alright, how about <___>-san and Kakashi-san?”
“I was about to say!” Shizune replied. “They both have the highest grades in the class!”

You looked at Kakashi, who was expressionless.

“Alright,” you said, convinced to try and defeat your only equal, and gave yourself space.
Kakashi followed too.

“GO <___>, BAKASHI WILL BE A PIECE OF CAKE FOR YOU!” Obito cheered. You turned your head to look at him and instantly turned red.

“Stop being distracted,” Kakashi coldly said, and you frowned.

“Start!” Gai shouted.

You first weaved hand signs to create a gush of wind to try and knock Kakashi down.
“Earth-style! Mud wall!”
A wall immediately rose, blocking your attack.

“Wind-style! Tornado-Formation!”

It had been a new jutsu you had been working on. Kakashi was the perfect opponent to try it on.
A dozen minuscule concentrations of wind surrounded Kakashi.

“YEAH!” Obito shouted, raising a fist into the air. <___> learned another jutsu already? I shouldn’t be surprised─she’s a prodigy.

“You’re trapped, Kakashi!” you confidently said, directing your attack towards him.
“Lightning-style!”

What? He can use two chakra natures?

You didn’t realize you were in the path of his jutsu. Kakashi had sent a spurt of electricity into the ground, dispersing the tornados but also unintentionally electrifying you.

“H-huh?!” You gasped as electrons shocked you, and you fell to the earth. “<___>!” Obito shouted and ran towards you and Kakashi.

He gripped his arms on Kakashi’s shoulders, shaking him.

“KAKASHI, HOW DARE YOU?! YOU WERE ONLY SUPPOSED TO SPAR- NOT GET EACH OTHER HURT! <___> MIGHT NEED TO GO TO A HOSPITAL BECAUSE OF THIS!”
“Obito, it’s common knowledge that sparring with a comrade isn’t completely safe. It isn’t like she’s dead,” Kakashi simply said and then looked toward you.

“It was an accident, <___>.
“Sorry.”

It was not every day that Kakashi Hatake would apologize to someone.

“BIG DEAL!” Obito interjected before you could say anything. “I’m going to beat you to a pulp for what you did to <___>! If she wasn’t as strong as she is, she could’ve died!
“FIRE-STYLE! FIRE-”

“Obito-kun!” Rin was shouting from behind him, trying to get him to fall back, knowing completely well that Kakashi would most definitely win if they fought.

“H-hey, Obito…” you started, still lying on the ground, trying to get up.
“I’m actually pretty fine, I promise.” You managed to smile. “H-how about we just leave? We can go to... y’know….”
“<_-” Obito started to object, but you cut him off.

“I don’t need to go to a hospital. It’s not like I got hit by a whole lightning strike.” You were finally able to stand up.

“See? I’m fine!”

Obito didn’t budge and just stood there, still facing Kakashi. In response, you walked towards him and grabbed his hand.

“Obito and I are going now! See you guys!” You waved to everyone behind you as you pulled Obito away from the hill.

“We have ice cream!” Kurenai exclaimed as she pulled out an icebox.

“Ice cream?” You immediately awoke, sitting up, forgetting Kakashi was right next to you. “D-did I fall asleep?”
He smirked. “Yeah, you did. I was able to read in front of you without you scolding me.” “You─!” You stood up, crossing your arms. “Let’s go,” he said, laughing and then pointing towards the others.

Kurenai handed you a cone with two scoops of your favorite ice cream, and you eagerly accepted it.

“You know, <___>-san, on that day when you left early with Obito, you missed the ice cream then,” she said, giggling.
“We did?” You asked, surprised. “This is also Obito’s favorite flavor too. I guess we missed out.” You shrugged as you looked at your cone.

Truth be told, Obito was the first who introduced ice cream to you. You had never tried it before for obvious reasons, so when he bought you his favorite flavor one day to taste, you instantly adopted the same opinion.

“Oh! Well, what a coincidence!” she replied, eating hers after passing, Asuma, Ebisu, Gai, Iruka, and Shizune their own portions.

“Where did you two go anyway? On that day?” Kakashi asked.
“Ah,” you replied. “Well, Obito insisted I get checked out at the hospital, so that’s where we went, even though I kept whining and saying I was alright.”
“I see,” he blankly replied.

No. You didn’t go to the hospital.
You were simply honoring your best friend’s promise you made that day.

“When are you going back to the ANBU?”
“Mm, I’m thinking soon,” you replied to Asuma. It had been almost a month since you had taken a break, but in that short amount of time, your life seemed to have more color than it ever had for the past decade.

“I still need to make a living,” you added.

And you still hadn’t forgotten about your Murasakiiro’s new visions. They kept popping in every other day to remind you what was soon going to unfold.

He nodded, understanding. “I guess so. Is Kakashi-san going back too?”
“Yeah. We both agreed to take the same amount of time off,” you replied.

30th day.

You made your way, alone, to a spot you hadn’t visited in a long time.
“Hey there, Obito.”

The ground had remained untouched for so many years, so the grass was as healthy and soft as ever. Flowers had also grown around, gently swinging back and forth with the breeze.
You sat down, looking into the horizon in front of you.

“I-It’s been a while since I’ve come here,” you admitted out loud.
“For a while...no, a long time actually, the reason I haven’t visited was that I was kind of scared. I had so many regrets─I thought everything was my fault, you know? You’re my best friend, and you mean so much to me…”

You chuckled. “I’m sorry, I’m not really good with words.
“But anyway, I’ve taken a break for once. It’s what you would probably pester me to do if you were here, so I’m sure you’re glad I did. I’ve reconnected with old friends and made some new ones too. And also, you’ll probably hate this part, but I ‘supposedly’ went out with Bakashi too...”

You laughed again.

“I’m seeing a new generation coming into existence as well. Minato-sensei has a child, and one of my ANBU comrades, who is an Uchiha like you, has a younger brother. They’ll both start attending the academy soon. Perhaps they’ll be friends. Or, maybe they’ll be like you and Kakashi. Who knows?”

You picked a flower from the ground and held it up to the sky.
“There’s so much more I want to tell you, Obito. I wish you stayed here longer.”

Branches of the trees surrounding you rustled as a breeze of wind swept through as you stood up.
Well, it looks like I should head back now. I’ll see you later.” You smiled at the sky before leaving.

42nd day.

“You’re here too?”

You had just about a week left until you would return to your ANBU duties.

You walked towards Nohara Rin’s gravestone, seeing Kakashi already in front of it.
“Yeah. Figured I’d come before we get busy again.”

You had picked all the flowers from your remote area earlier and put them all together to create a bouquet. You set it down on top of the stone before standing back.

“Where do you want to go?”
“Let’s visit the academy,” you responded to Kakashi, and he nodded, following you, as you readjusted the goggles on your forehead that you still wore.

You noticed kids running around the campus and shouting at each other as you and Kakashi approached the academy.

“It’s strange; we used to be like them too,” you said.

“Hello!” a young girl said as she approached you.
“Hi dear!” you replied, bending down to her. “What’s your name?”
“I’m Jia,” she said, with pink in her cheeks.

“Guys, come here!” Jia shouted, and some of the other kids came over to her.
Kakashi walked up right behind you and gazed at all the kids.

They all crowded around you guys.

“Are you the one who protected the Hokage a long while back?” a boy asked curiously.
“You heard about that?” you asked, turning pink. “Well...yes!”
“The teachers at the academy taught us about it!”

“You seem super cool!” another kid said. “I want to be like you when I grow up and protect the leader, like what you did!”

“Who’s that?” Jia asked, pointing to Kakashi.

“Is he your boyfriend?”
You made a lopsided smile, still blushing.

“You can decide that on your own.”

“Ooooh!” all the kids said in unison.

“Is he cool like you?”
“Do you go on missions together?”
“Why does he wear a mask?”

“U-uh…─” you started, not prepared with the incoming questions, as Kakashi began laughing.

“I can say I’m pretty cool,” he responded, taking over your answers. “Yes, we do. I wear a mask because─”
“Aehh─he just wants to come off as ~mysterious,” you cut him off, giggling.

YOU KAKASHI-! You looked him in the eye, scaring him.

The children laughed.

“Are those glasses on your forehead?” More questions were incoming.
“No, haha! They’re goggles,” you replied, flexing them.
“Can you put them on?” a boy asked.

“Sure,” you replied and placed them over your eyes.

“You look even cooler!” Jia exclaimed.
“Awe, thank you!”

“Where did you get them?” someone asked.
“Ah,” you replied.

“A really close friend. These were his, actually. But he gave them to me.”

“You have another boyfriend?”
You made a bewildered expression which everyone laughed at.

“Where is he now?” someone asked.
“Oh...” you said, your voice cracking unwillingly.

“He’s sadly not here with us anymore,” Kakashi answered for you.

“Oh,” the children responded and gave you and Kakashi one big group hug.
“Thank you, guys,” you replied, smiling.

“I’ll be going now, so you all promise me you’ll all do good in your classes and train hard! And become excellent shinobi and kunoichi!” You raised a fist towards them.

“We promise!” they all exclaimed.
“Take care of <___>-san, Mister!” Jia shouted, and Kakashi smiled while you hurried your pace as you walked away from the academy.

“There’s a lot of sweet stuff in here,” you said, rummaging through your pantry. You’d spent all afternoon outside with Kakashi, and he’d agreed to have dinner at your place.

“Don’t eat that. You should eat proper food.”
“I don’t think I have ramen anymore,” you replied, your stomach growling.
“That’s not proper food either!” Kakashi clamored.

“I’ll cook something for you.”

“H-huh?” you asked, panicking. “I-IT’S OKAY, I c-can prepare my own-”
“We’re about to start working again, so you need real food,” he said, clearly not going to give way. “Just sit down and wait.”

You sighed and then sat down on the couch, mumbling to yourself.

About half an hour passed when Kakashi was done and set the table up.
“Miso soup,” he said as you sat down.
You took your spoon and scooped some of it and blew it before you tried it.

Wow!
“Kakashi─!! It tastes amazing!”

He smiled before trying some too. “Thanks.”

“It reminds me of that one time we went to your house,” you said. “We were all surprised because you cooked food for all of us, even though you didn’t like Obito and didn’t talk to Rin much.”
You chuckled. “And then, Obito asked if you were going to be a chef when you grew up.”
“Oh yeah,” Kakashi replied, reminiscing over that memory.

“You were very puzzled,” you said. “I still remember the look on your face when he said that.”

“I didn’t think I was that good, to be honest,” he replied. “But maybe he was righ─”
You were slurping down the soup and had finished it in under two minutes, to his amazement.

“Aha─sorry,” you replied, laughing, seeing him stare. “It’s delicious─and I was never one to follow table manners anyway.”
“You weren’t,” he said, laughing too. “When I prepared that meal for you guys, you went completely berserk over everything.”

“Oh, yeah! I remember HAHA!” you replied. That day, you had tried to hog every single thing Kakashi had prepared, with Obito arguing with you because he wanted to have some as well.

“I was just famished that day!”

Chapter Text

“Minato-Sensei.”
“Oh, <___>,” Minato responded, handing you back your ANBU mask. You were back in the Hokage’s office.

“I-I, had another vision.”
His eyes immediately widened in concern while you bluntly continued.

“Uchiha Itachi.”

“Tension between Konohagakure and Uchiha Clan is growing more and more,” you heard Lord Sarutobi say. “It simply cannot be ignored anymore. Itachi has already told us that they are on a path to betray the Leaf.”

“I saw we eliminate them before they could make the first move then,” the man named Shimura Danzo proposed.

You were in a room with Danzo, Itachi, Minato, Sarutobi, and the two elder advisors of the village. Minato had requested a meeting with all of them to ask for advice with the information you had given him.
“No,” Sarutobi objected. “We should use words first rather than fighting. The Uchihas are our comrades─they are part of this village. I will find a way to negotiate with them.

“Itachi. Please do not try anything yourself. I will find another way to solve this.”
Itachi nodded before leaving right after, leaving you with the five adults.

You had told all of them about your vision. You had foreseen there being no other option for peace between Konoha and Uchiha and that Itachi Uchiha had to massacre his own clan before fleeing the village for good.

“<___>, please watch over Itachi,” Hiruzen said. “I will try my best to make sure the worst outcome does not happen.”

“Of course, Lord-Third,” you replied, bowing. “And thank you.”

“Itachi.” You had met the boy at the same mountaintop you ate dangos with a long while ago. It became your new usual spot you two would hang out at.

That’s funny. I guess I have a habit of making mountain cliffs personal meeting spots with each Uchiha I befriend.

“<___>-sama.”
Itachi was always cold and didn’t show expression, but he looked even more solemn today.
“A-Are you okay?” You asked, sitting down right beside him.

“You said you know the feeling of what it’s like to lose your best friend, right?” he asked.
“Yeah.”
“I think, like Kakashi-sama, I can understand you now,” was all he said.

Did he happen to lose his bestfriend too?

A black crow suddenly flew to Itachi, landing on his shoulder, and stared at you with its red eyes.

“I’m so sorry,” was all you knew to reply.

Itachi has already been through so much.
I guess we’re all doomed to the same damned fate.

The warm wind blew past your face as the black crow moved from Itachi to your shoulder. It crowed.
“What are you planning on doing now?”

“I’m going to go forward with it.”

You knew what he was talking about. It was that plan. A plan Danzo came up with.
“But─Itachi-! Lord-Third told you that he’d find another way….”

No. No.

“The Uchiha clan has already chosen their way. They will be persistent until they finally get what they want.
“That is...complete power over the village.”

“I-Is that, really the only way?!”

Itachi looked at you, and his eyes widened in shock at your crying, violet eyes.
“<___>-sama?!”
It was the first time you had seen him show so much emotion, astonishment and concern.

You stood up to leave, wiping your tears.
“Itachi.” You turned your back on him.
“You’re wise for your age. I’d even say you’re brighter than even I. But, you have forgotten.
“You aren’t alone, Itachi. You have comrades to help you. Lord-Fourth and Third are willing to help you so that the Uchiha clan can remain unharmed while still protecting the village!”

You heard no response.

“Itachi. What...about Sasuke?”
You turned so that you could see his face.

“And…” you looked at the crow, which was still perched on your shoulder.
“It looks like someone left something behind to help you too.” You stared at the Sharingan, being reminded of how Obito lent Kakashi his own Sharingan, giving it to him to help him become stronger and protect...
He couldn’t protect Rin.

I’m sorry, Itachi. I look very selfish right now.

You weren’t in his clan. You didn’t know his point of view. You knew you were being a bit too ignorant.
But, you couldn’t bear to lose another friend.

You stood up and walked away without warning, giving Itachi many things to think about.

Itachi Uchiha killed his entire clan and left the village!
It seems like he has joined some dangerous organization!

You only needed those two sentences in your vision to get the whole picture. You needed Itachi stopped at all costs, even if that meant interfering with the massacre and possibly getting killed too.

You just hoped your words were enough and that it wouldn’t have to come to that.

You stepped into Minato’s office.
“Minato-Sensei, you still remember that one thing I told you about long ago?”
He nodded, already having it in mind. “It seems…

“If it will need to come to that, I give you permission to do as you had wanted.”

“Naruto will be starting the academy today!” Kushina shouted.
“I-I know! W-wow…”

You still couldn’t comprehend that your sensei’s child was now going to start his own path to becoming a shinobi.

“Awe, <___>!” Kushina exclaimed. “You must feel the exact way we do! You’ve been visiting Naruto so much; you must consider him as family too!”
“Yeah, that’s actually quite right,” you replied, scratching your head, dazzled you were that easy to read.

“Well? Are you excited, Naru?”
Naruto gave you a huge smile. “OF COURSE I AM, <___>! And I’m going to become stronger than that BIG SHOWOFF YOU LIKE MORE THAN ME─”
You started laughing. He was talking about none other than Uchiha Sasuke, your comrade’s little brother.

A few months before, Minato and Kushina let you take care of Naruto for the entire day. You had brought him to the park and had seen Sasuke there as well.

“Sasu!” you called out, waving to him.
He instantly turned around and blushed, hearing your voice.

“I don’t like to be called that, <___>-san…! REMEMBER?!” He trudged over towards you as you gave him a hug.

You laughed. “I’m always going to call you that, Sasu. Unless you prefer uh... Ba-Sasu ?”

Sasuke reminded you of child Kakashi so much.

“NO! That’s even worse, <___>-san!” he complained, crossing his arms.

“<___>, who’s this guy?!” Naruto asked, mad that your attention wasn’t focused directly on him.
“Ah, he’s one of my friends!” you replied, smiling. “Actually, you two are about the same age! I’m sure you’ll be great friends!”

And Naruto is just another Obito. I wonder how this is going to work out.

“Uh, hi, I’m Naruto,” Naruto said.
Before you were about to assume this might go slowly, he continued to speak in a louder voice.

“And she’s like MY BIG SISTER! SO DON’T TRY TO STEAL HER AWAY!”
“Oh yeah …?” Sasuke asked, and you knew he was going to try and provoke Naruto.

“Turns out that <___>-san is like a big sister to me too!” he smirked. “She hangs out with me, every-day!”

“Now-now, Sasuke, I don’t─”

“WHAT?! <___>- YOU HANG OUT WITH THIS JERK MORE THAN ME? You’ve been lying to me?! Whenever you can’t hang out, it’s because you have missions, OR SO YOU SAY….”

“NARU! HE’S LYING!” you responded, matching his loud tone.
“Now, you two are both my favorite people. I love both of you equally. So let’s all just try to get along….”

Man, Rin. I wonder how the heck you never got exhausted trying to maintain peace between Kakashi and Obito.

“SHE LIKES ME MORE, THOUGH! RIGHT, <___>?!” Naruto shouted, not registering one thing you said.
“I already told you, she likes me!” Sasuke responded back. “She wouldn’t like an obnoxious loser like you─”

You watched, sweat-dropping as Naruto and Sasuke fought your attention.

“Hey.”

You turned around, seeing a silver-head.
“Kakashi!” You left the bickering kids, running towards him.

“H-HUH?!” Naruto and Sasuke both asked.

“Hm?” You grabbed Kakashi’s arm, waving it in the air.

He then noticed the two children you were babysitting, with their jaws dropped.
Kakashi gave a nervous chuckle and then waved to the two of them by his own control.

“Uh, hello─!”

“<___>, YOU NEVER TOLD ME YOU HAD A BOYFRIEND!”
“<___>-san! You never brought up anything about this man!”

“DID YOU SEE THAT, SAUCE-OH-GAY OR WHATEVER YOUR NAME IS─HE JUST STOLE <___> AWAY!”

Sasuke’s aura darkened and then got into an offensive position.

“You, there! I can’t trust you around <___>-san, I don’t care if she says you’re fine! I’m her favorite, so it’s my job to protect her!”

Naruto joined Sasuke, still feeling like this was a competition against him.
“ME TOO! I DON’T WANT <___> TO KEEP SHARING HER ATTENTION!”

“I-I’m too tired for this...” You muttered, facepalming.

Sasuke ran towards Kakashi, about to punch him. Kakashi only stood there, phased that a kid was trying to start a fight against him.
“I’M COMING TOO!” Naruto shouted, not really planning how to attack, but rushed in anyway.

“WIND-STYLE! bREE-ZE!”

A very light gust of wind from your hand pushed them away from Kakashi. You had been careful and made sure it would be so weak it wouldn’t even knock them down.

“<_-__>!” Naruto whined, who purposely knocked himself down.
“Such a dramatic loser,” Sasuke scoffed, regaining his balance, even though it was him who decided he was your protector a few minutes ago.

“Uh, I guess I’ll just introduce myself,” Kakashi said, still finding the entire thing awkward.
“I’m Kakashi Hatake. I didn’t come to take Miss Pretty’s attention from you, although now that you brought it up, I feel like doing that now!”

“NO!” They both objected sharply.

“All of you, cut it out,” you scolded.

“Naru, I love you!”
“Uh, I love you too <___>!”

“Sasu, I love you!”
“Yeah, I love you too, <___>-san.”

There was a silence.

“Wait, do I really have to do it for you too?” You gave Kakashi a questionable look.
Naruto and Sasuke looked at each other.

“Love you-uu, Baka-shi,” you sarcastically said.

“EWWW!” Naruto interjected, and Sasuke shut him up by covering his mouth.

“Now it’s even,” you said. “Don’t fight anymore.”

“He’s not that bad!” you said, laughing.
“Oh yeah, not as bad as your boyfriend!” He shouted.
“HEY! SH─we’re not exactly anything!” You whispered.

He crossed his arms. “I don’t care, as long as you love me the most.”

You kissed his forehead. “Come on. I’ll be able to do the honors and take you to school.”

You took Naruto to the academy and saw many other tiny people waiting outside the entrance.

“Sasu!”
Sasuke immediately turned and walked towards you.
It was funny. Sasuke was way less reserved than Itachi, but he still didn’t like expressing his feelings out loud. Whenever you approached, though, you could clearly see him brightening up.

“Where’s your brother?” You tried finding him with your eyes, but you only saw Fugaku, Sasuke’s father. He was talking with a few of the academy teachers.

You had thought that Itachi would be here too. He should’ve been.

Sasuke shrugged. “He’s busy with some mission and couldn’t make it.”
What? The team roster I received this week never said Itachi had a mission today.

“I see,” you replied. “Well, in that case, I can assist in dropping you off too!”
Sasuke’s face lit up, even if it showed only slightly.

“I wonder...do any of you know any peaceful girls around here?”
“H-HUH?” Naruto asked, not hearing you. There was suddenly a whole crowd of people, and their voices were making it hard for you three to talk.

“Shut up!” Sasuke shouted. “I didn’t get to hear what <___>-san was saying!”
“It’s not even my fault!” Naruto shouted, holding out a fist.
“H-HEY!” you shouted, trying to lower his own, but then Sasuke held up one too.

“Sakura! Look!”

You instantly turned, seeing a pretty blonde-haired girl with her pinkette friend. The friend’s teal eyes were staring at the black-haired of the two.

“Guys, you’re creating a commotion!” you whispered to Naruto and Sasuke. “They’re going to think I’m a bad guardian!”
Both of them instantly pulled back.
There was a silence as everyone─parents and new students stared at you three.

“H-HEY! <___> IS A VERY AMAZING PERSON! SHE’S AMAZING!” Naruto shouted.
“Yeah, that’s right,” Sasuke agreed for the first time, crossing his arms, and you smiled. You had expected him to just call Naruto an idiot for shouting out loud.

“She’s the one who protected the Hokage quite a while ago!”
“I heard she’s in the ANBU!”
“Wow! Isn’t that Fugaku-san’s youngest son? She even has ties with the prestigious Uchiha clan!”
“Aren’t they planning to betray the village, though?”

“Alright, that’s enough drama, boys,” you stated, not wanting them to hear any more conversation. “I might just have to get Bakashi again.”

“NOO! ANYTHING BUT THAT!” both of them panicked.
You laughed aloud. Both of those boys were filling up your life with light.

“Now,” you started. “Before I leave, I want to give both of you some advice.
“Always remember this. Comrades are the most crucial thing as a shinobi. I don’t care what anyone else says─just remember that.
“Focus on school. Some people, like me, are good at it, and some aren’t. That’s okay, though. Just try your best.
“When you become genin, don’t think the hard part is over yet. It’s only the beginning of your long, hard, terrible, depressing, terrifying suffering …

“Am I scaring you guys?” You looked to see Naruto and Sasuke’s faces were both blue.

“UH─LET ME RESTART! What I meant to say is, keep pushing yourselves forward. Strive to become the best of what you can.” You gave them a thumbs-up while closing your eyes.

“ALRIGHT THEN!” Naruto shouted, giving you a thumbs-up back.
Sasuke nodded, slightly smiling.

“See you later!” you said, waving after many of the kids started to head inside.
“Bye <___>!”
“Yeah, <___>-san.”

You started walking back after watching them go in too. Maybe you’d stop by to get some ramen. You could call up Gai or someone.

“Excuse me.”

You noticed a shadow from behind you, and you turned around, seeing a cloaked ANBU Black Op.
Although you knew this one wasn’t from the lead company. This was one of the sketchy Foundation Black Ops who worked under Danzo. The person who proposed that terrible plan for Itachi.

“Yes?” you asked.
“Lord Danzo requests to see you,” the Black Op said. “Please come with me.”

You hesitantly complied, following the masked person to Danzo’s headquarters.

“Miss <___>,” Danzo said.
“There is no choice now. I figured I to let you know.

“Uchiha Itachi has decided to go through with the plan.”

Typhoons formed in your eyes.

Chapter Text

“Ora Murasakiiro!” Danzo didn’t even try to stop you as your aura made its way into his eyes, where you could look into his consciousness.

“TELL ME! What did you say to ITACHI that manipulated him?!”
“I did nothing; Itachi had already decided of his own accord before he came to me.”
“NO.”
“Does the Murasakiiro lie?”

Fury built up inside you by his statement. You had never liked Danzo. He was always a sketchy old man to you. You knew of the particular personality type some people had─the kind of people who plotted evil schemes behind the scenes, out of everyone’s view. You hated people like that.

“Miss <___>, I am sorry, but I must restrain you for the time being,” Danzo said.
“What.”
“I must not let anything or anyone interfere with Itachi’s mission,” he continued.
“Kyoku…” Danzo nodded towards the ANBU member that escorted you to the base. The masked person immediately took chains and locked them around you.

“I’ll release you later.” Danzo turned his back to leave.
“NO! YOU─OLD MAN! I HATE YOU-! I’M GOING TO GET OUT OF HERE AND-”
The ANBU Black Op. performed a jutsu, making you unable to talk before dragging you away. You tried to scream but found you were unable to.

Oh, so you think I’m just going to be willing to sit back and watch?!
I made a promise to myself! I’m not letting more people die on my behalf! I will save them! I will stop Itachi!

The Black Op took you to a pitch-black room. You could not see anything as they dropped you inside and sealed the door shut.

Dammit! How do I get out! And I need to release this jutsu!
Your arms were tied behind your back, so you couldn’t move them to create hand signs.

What do I do?

“Kakashi, would you mind me asking you a question?”
“<___>? No,” he replied.
It was another one of your training sessions, and you were taking a break from sparring with Kakashi.

“You know, that small defense you have,” you said. “The one that shocked Obito, Rin, and I when we tried pulling your mask down on our most recent mission. How did you do that? You did it unconsciously, with no hand signs either.”

“I sort of discovered it along with my Chidori,” he replied. “I can show you how, although I don’t think you’ll be able to learn it because we don’t have the same chakra natures.”
“Hm, yeah,” you replied, pondering. “And sadly, I can’t guarantee my second nature would be lighting...

“Wait!”

Kakashi looked over at you.
“It’s not lightning style, but I have something really close to the Chidori!

“It’s basically the Chidori but wind-style.” You giggled.

“Uh, alright. Perhaps we can try then,” he responded, not sure whether that would work or not.

You closed your eyes, focusing on spreading your chakra evenly around the surface of your body.
After about twenty minutes, you continued to the next step.

Kakashi had told you that you needed something to make you release all that chakra you built up and guided to the surface. Since it was a defense technique, the easiest way for him was to get spooked or caught off guard, which was why he could do it without thought.

Okay, I need to scare myself or something then, you thought.

Someone came to kidnap me!
No, not scary at all.

Everyone outside this room just died!
I’m still not scared. Those people could die any day.

None of this is working. I need to actually see, hear, or feel something. You stood up in the dark room and threw yourself back down, making sure the chains would hit the ground.

You didn’t realize that the floor was made out of concrete. The chains hit the hard surface, creating an echo that rattled your eardrums. It shocked you, causing you to freeze.
A burst of wind unexpectedly pushed the chains out, and then you were set free.

“Basically, for me, it’s just my Chidori, but my whole body is conducting it instead of just my hand. It’s weaker because it’s less concentrated, but it works.”

Release! You were able to talk again.
“Well, that actually worked,” you said aloud to yourself. “Thanks, Kakashi.”

Oh no.
You fell to the ground. You realized you were out of chakra. That was very odd because performing that jutsu to get you out of the chains wasn’t supposed to use up all of your energy.

Wait a second! The room looks like... it’s draining my chakra…
I was perfectly fine a few minutes ago. Maybe, those chains served as a protector to keep my chakra inside me since I couldn’t move, anyway.

You tried crawling back to where the chains were, moving your arms around to try and feel them since you still couldn’t see. You were able to find and touch them before you collapsed.

“T-this is going to take a while to recharge…” you thought audibly. “A few hours at this rate. There’s nothing else I can do, though. I just hope….”

You didn’t know how much time passed. Your chakra was finally replenished to the minimum. The chains were very weak now that they were off you since their purpose wasn’t supposed to be for providing chakra, anyway.

You scanned all four walls of the dark room with your hands until you felt a crack, which told you an opening was there.

“Alright then, RASENGAN!”
You immediately burst through the door and ran outside. Luckily, none of Danzo’s shinobi were patrolling his place. You headed to ANBU Headquarters and grabbed your ANBU outfit and mask out of your locker, putting them on before rushing to the outskirts of the village.

It was already past sundown.

You hurried towards the Uchiha clan’s part of the village, trying to find Itachi.
“Itachi...Itachi…Itachi…”
You hadn’t noticed that there was someone who emerged right in front of you by accident.
“ITACHI!”
The boy in the weasel mask froze and faced you.

“<___>-sama...”

“Can we please talk?”

You led Itachi behind a few bushes so no one else would be able to see or hear you.

“Please, you need to listen to me.
“You aren’t alone, Itachi; you have people you can depend on! Just... don’t handle this all by yourself! You have comrades to trust, friends who will help you.”

“<___>-sama,” he said. “This is something that must happen. There is no other way.

“There is no more hope for this forsaken clan.”

“How do you know that for sure? What about the future generations that could from your clan? What if there is something else that could put a stop to all this hatred? Your brother, Sasuke, Itachi. If you can’t do something alone, what if he can help you? What if he’s able to change the minds of your parents, your family, your clan? You care about him dearly, do you not?

“Do you really want to burden him with what you are about to do?”

“I want─” he paused, and to your surprise, he dropped down, gripping his head.
“<___>-sama. I never truly trusted anyone with anything.”

You knelt down to comfort the boy, but then, you saw a sort of plant arise out of the ground right beside him, in front of you.

“W-WHAT?”
It seemed to be a humanoid plant. Half of the thing’s body was black, and the other half was white.

“I-Itachi. You don’t seem phased at all. A-are you working with this thing!?”

“I was going to kill my entire clan and then follow him to join an organization where I can reside,” Itachi disclosed without hesitation.
“The Akatsuki.”

The Akatsuki. So it has finally made an appearance. And none other than that weirdo is in it.
Wait. “Was?”

The sky had grown darker. The full moon provided a luminescent glow around both people in front of you.

“I-I’m re-adjusting my plans,” Itachi told the plant-man. “Please leave this to me for now.”
“Oh alright, Mr. Emo-sama,” the white part of the plant said, trusting Itachi. The black part tried to object, but they disappeared before you could hear him say anything.
What is going on?

“<___>-sama, leave for now. Before I leave, I’ll find you. I need to...
“...Thank you.”

You nodded. You weren’t sure what Itachi would do now, but you decided to trust him too. You jumped away from the scene.

“I’m home!” Sasuke shouted as he approached his house. “I’m sorry─I didn’t expect to stay so late at the academy. I guess I just got too carried away with my training….”

He suddenly noticed bodies on the ground.
“H-HEY!”
They were all members of his own clan. They were all dropped down on the streets, not moving at all. Sasuke ran towards one of them and placed a finger on their neck.

He’s still alive! Sasuke thought. 

And he doesn’t look like he’s hurt. The boy sighed in relief and checked the others. It just seemed like all of them passed out on the street, although that was still odd.

...

“Sasuke.”
“H-huh?” Sasuke turned and looked up towards an electricity pole, seeing Itachi crouched on it.
“B-big brother! W-what are you doing there?!”

Itachi threw a kunai at him, missing Sasuke as he moved away in shock.
He hopped down and approached Sasuke.

“B-Big Brother-?! Are you the cause of our friends and family being unconscious on the streets?!”

“Sasuke.
“I’m leaving Konohagakure. Don’t try to come after me. I’m going to be marked as a dangerous rogue ninja, and you having any affiliation with me will make everyone oppose you too.

“B-but why?”
“You will soon understand, Sasuke,” Itachi said. “I-I believe you will be the savior of this clan.
“I’m sure you know what has been happening with our kin and the village. I am entrusting a very important task to you.
“Please. Build up enough love to change the hearts of our clan. There will be a lot of hate to start with, and unfortunately, I may be the starting cause of it. But you must remember, revenge will never win.

“It will only create more conflicts for the future generations to repeat all over again.”

“B-BIG BROTHER!” Sasuke was starting to cry. Everything was still registering in the little brother’s mind. His older brother was going to leave the village for good and had just given him a once-in-a-lifetime request.”

“Do not cry, dear brother.”
His voice cracked, and Sasuke noticed tears coming out of Itachi’s eyes as well. He swore that he was dreaming; Itachi never cried.

He walked up towards Sasuke and placed two fingers on his head, giving a gentle push.
Instantly after, the little brother became unbalanced. Itachi picked up the unconscious boy and carried him inside the house.

“Itachi.” Itachi was greeted by Fugaku and Mikoto, his parents.
“I know what you’re going to do,” Fugaku spoke.
Itachi stopped.

“Show me a different path than mine.”
“Promise me, Father, you will take care of Sasuke.”
“I will.”

With one look from Itachi, his father and mother passed out too.

━━━━━━━━•| ⊱✿⊰ |•━━━━━━━━

“<___>-sama.
“I’ll be leaving now.”

Itachi had met up at the cliff you usually hung out at. It was late into the night. The sky was clear this time, with no stars surrounding the moon.

“My clan--they’ll be okay. My disappearance will cause them to reflect on themselves since I was the lifeline between them and the village.”

You nodded and then took in a nervous breath.

“Itachi, I’ll be coming with you.”
“W-what?”

“I already told you, Itachi. You have comrades that will stick with you.”
“<___>, what about your other friends? What about the Hokage’s son? What about Kakashi-sama?”

“It’s been a tough choice. I didn’t do this on a whim,” you admitted.

“Oh yeah, about that Minato-Sensei. There’s one final thing…
“This Akatsuki thing. If we ever learn more about it, I want to leave the village to keep an eye on them. They may be very dangerous to Konohagakure since someone involved with it just tried to steal a tailed beast and knew exactly how and when to do it.”

“Oh─<___>, are you sure about that?? You know, that would be very dangerous; we know nothing about them….”
“Please, Minato-Sensei. I feel like this is what I must do. I’m the only person who already has intel about a grand ruse going unseen by the rest of the world. I promised myself that I would protect the village and its people. I can be a spy on the inside.”

It had been months later, and you revisited Minato, telling him your vision about Itachi.
“My Murasakiiro said that he will join the Akatsuki.”
“If it will need to come to that, I give you permission to do as you had wanted.”

“I know how dangerous it will be,” you told Itachi. “We’re both going to be double agents, taking intel from the inside.”
“But, we both thought we would be doing this individually. How much more confident are you now that there is someone else on this lifetime-mission?”

“You're right, <___>-sama.”
“Please don’t call me by that title anymore,” you said, trying to smile. You had been trying not to cry, but you knew this was the last time you would be in Konohagakure.
“We’re equals now. We’re working together.”

“Thank you, <___>.”

You then saw his eyes fixated on a single flower he held in his hand. The color was visible in the moonlight.

“Is that a red carnation?” 

“Yes. Although, I am not very good with meanings of flowers.” 
You wiped tears off of your face. 

“A red carnation symbolizes admiration and the feeling of missing someone.” 

The boy’s eyes dilated. 
“Uchiha Izumi gave that to you, didn’t she?” you asked with a half-smirk, looking at the mountains ahead of you. 
“Yeah,” he said. Along the course of your friendship, Itachi had found himself slipping details about his personal life, including a certain girl who always hung around him. You had always teased him about it.

“I assume she knew she wouldn’t be seeing me anymore.”

“It seems like Zetsu has scouted out another member,” the leader said.
“I see,” his partner replied. “I wonder what unique power this one has.’
“He possesses the Mangekyo Sharingan.”

Chapter Text

“Minato-Sensei. As a last favor, when I leave, please open this box and deliver these to the person whose name is written on it.”

“I heard that <(l)___> <___> and Uchiha Itachi have abandoned the village!”
“I would’ve never guessed <(l)___> would betray us.”
“And I thought she wanted to become respected.”

“Minato-Sensei, you requested my presence?” Kakashi Hatake asked, stepping inside the Hokage’s office.
He saw Asuma, Gai, and Kurenai there, too, all with solemn expressions on their faces.

“I’m guessing you’ve heard,” Minato started.
“Y-yeah…”

The village had gone into a complete lockdown the previous night. Presumably, the Hokage’s right-hand-woman had gotten tangled up in a situation while doing a secret investigation for the ANBU and was held hostage by Konoha traitors. That was your cover story you and Minato had hoped would buy you enough time, which it did.

It was midnight when a witness reported the truth that you had willingly left with Itachi Uchiha, and that news spread as fast as Minato’s Flying Raijin Technique. The ANBU was sent out to try and retrieve both of you, Kakashi being one included on the mission.

“Asuma, Gai, Kakashi, Kurenai,” Minato said. “<___> has wanted me to give you these.”

Kakashi had searched as far as his Sharingan would let him that night, but it was no use. You had already been gone for three hours.

Minato handed a letter to each of your comrades, along with a parting gift.

Kakashi stared at his for a while, even after the rest left.
“Kakashi.”
He looked up.
“Perhaps you should open it instead of staring.”

“I guess I’m just scared to face the truth,” Kakashi admitted.

A while later, as Kakashi was walking through town, he finally decided to open the envelope containing the letter. Perhaps he had hesitated because he thought maybe you resented him for not being able to protect you while you had always kept a watch on him (Kakashi was well aware of that)─or hadn’t been capable enough to save any of your friends at all. Maybe this was his punishment for not trying hard enough.

Bakashi,

By the time you’re reading this, I have left Konohagakure. Yes, I had been planning it for quite a while.
Please do not worry about me, Kakashi. I decided to do this because I want to protect the Hidden Leaf from the inside and shield the future generation. Haha, typical me, I know. I simply couldn’t keep this information secret from you─I didn’t like the thought of you thinking I had abandoned the village and gone rogue. I cannot disclose Itachi’s reasons.
Please, continue to take care of yourself. Don’t be how we were for the past nine years. Take more breaks. Perhaps, even leave the ANBU, and do something else. If I hear that you’re over-stressing yourself, I might just infiltrate the village and ambush you.
I don’t know how long this will go. I won’t be able to communicate with you for a long time.

So I’ll just let you know now, you’ve always been my most loyal friend to me, Kakashi. I think you’ve earned the right to be called my soulmate. I want to thank you for that.
You’re a hero in my eyes too. Don’t judge yourself so harshly.

Love you, Kakashi.

─<___>.

He stared at the last three sentences, nostalgia and gratefulness completely engulfing him. It was completely different than what he was expecting.
Kakashi had always known you were in love with Obito Uchiha, but marking him as your most important friend had given him every ounce of hope in the shinobi world back. It was as if your bizarre fiery will had finally touched him.

“We’re a lot alike, right? That’s why you’re friends with me. But something different about us is that I take up challenges, remember? Despite how hard they can be, I’ll still try them, even if it’s a waste of time or too unrealistic.”

The mask seemed useless now because instead of perverted nosebleeds, there were drops of water coming from his eyes.

Kakashi, numbed by past events, had not teared up in a very long time.

“Dammit. You make me look like a coward, <___>.”

He didn’t even pay attention to the gift until he got home.
It came with a note.
Stupid book. Well, actually, I finally picked up and read the “disguised” first novel you gave me when I became jonin. It was not all too bad. Although, I am severely glad I looked at it only now.

Kakashi hadn’t even finished reading the first one yet, but you had bought him Icha-Icha Violence, the newest book in his favorite series.
He smiled. You must’ve gone to great lengths to buy it, especially because it also had the autograph of the author’s name on it.

How is one supposed to feel when someone exceptional leaves forever? Naruto Uzumaki thought to himself as he finished training at the academy.
Today, he was walking home alone. Usually, you would be the one to pick him up, but he, even at a young age, knew those routine days had stopped.

At the academy, he heard many rumors about you circulating about. He had gotten two detention periods for getting into fights out of anger while trying to defend you.

“<___> ISN’T A TRAITOR!”

He had been in an absolute mess after eavesdropping on his parents in the morning. Minato and Kushina were both aware that Naruto was attached to you─you were his biggest inspiration and role model. They didn’t want him to know until they could at least find a good way to explain it.

Naruto passed by a lake, seeing Sasuke Uchiha sitting alone by the small dock. The boy hadn’t shown up to school that day, and it was apparent why. The entire Uchiha clan had a meeting with the village leaders, and Sasuke had been the only one left out since he was too young.

That’s right. He knows exactly how I feel. Someone special to him left too.

Naruto and Sasuke never got along despite your best efforts to help them become friends, but today, the Uzumaki decided to set their conflicts aside.

“Hey, Sasuke,” he said, walking right behind Sasuke.
“What do you want, loser?” he spat, immediately recognizing the voice.
“I’m not a loser, Sauce-oh-gay.” Naruto sat down beside him.

“...I know what happened to your brother.”
“Of course you do. Everyone does,” he scoffed.

“Hey. I don’t want to join the crowd and gossip about your clan.
“I know that you can’t bring yourself to hate your older brother despite how he abandoned the village. You would defend him even if everyone decides to call you a bad person for it!”

“What do you know about it?”

“You’re forgetting about <___>!” Naruto replied. “I already told you. I was serious when I said she’s like a big sister to me. I love her so much, and I don’t know why she left. But that doesn’t change the fact that she’s an amazing person to me. I already miss her….”

Naruto frowned. After his parents, you were his favorite out of all the adults he knew.

“Until I find out her reason for leaving, I’m not going to think she’s a bad person, believe me! It’s not like her to want to be evil! And the same goes for your brother, Sasuke!”

There was a silence before Sasuke spoke.

“I miss <___>-san too, Naruto. I guess we can both relate.”
Sasuke gave a stiff but reassuring enough pat to Naruto’s shoulder. “Uh, actually, loser, I have something to give you.”
He revealed a letter and a gift beside him and handed it to Naruto.

“What’s this, Sasuke?”
“I went to Lord Fourth earlier, and he gave me these from <___>-san. It’s her parting gift to us. He told me to give this to you too. He told me he wanted to give it to you earlier, but he couldn’t catch up with you.”

When Naruto had found out the news after making out the words Minato and Kushina were whispering to each other, he left his house with a feeling of betrayal and slammed the door shut. He wouldn't be surprised if he accidentally broke it.

Sasuke added a bit more sarcastically, “I was originally going to keep your gift to myself and never let you know about it. I just decided to give it to you because you aren’t a complete idiot after all.”

“WHAT?!” Naruto shouted and stood up. He tried to calm down immediately after and accepted Sasuke’s things.

Naruto opened the gift first, revealing a cute frog wallet with a note attached.
I named it Gama-chan, your handwriting read.

“Did you open yours yet?” Naruto asked before opening his letter.
Sasuke pulled out another letter.
“No. Not yet. I guess I should read mine now too.”

Along with the Uchiha meeting in Konohagakure, another, secret meeting went on thousands of kilometers away.

“Why have you requested us today?” a man who possessed the Rinnegan asked.
“There have been a few changes to our plans,” the responder─a man with an orange mask replied.

“Oh?”
“There is one I certainly know that will try to get the attention of the Akatsuki. Once they have gained a reputation and revealed themselves to the organization, I will join the Akatsuki.
“I thought that I would have to wait quite a while to show myself, but not everything goes according to plan.”

“I see,” a woman with periwinkle hair replied. “How so?”
“You will figure out when the time comes,” the masked man replied.

Chapter Text

The Akatsuki were starting to become a massive topic in all of the five great nations of the shinobi world. Perilous S-Class criminals who had abandoned their villages decided to join the organization, leading to distrust between the shinobi nations even though the third shinobi war had just ended.

Hoshigashi Kisame from Kirikagure. The man known as Sasori from Sunagakure. Kakuzu from Takigakure. Uchiha Itachi from Konohagakure. Deidera from Iwagakure. Hidan from Yugakure.

“I heard they wear black cloaks embleming red clouds on them.”
You pulled down the hood of your own plain cloak as you walked the streets of a foreign village. It had been four months since you and Itachi left No Sato and split ways for the time being after coming up with a plan. You hadn’t seen him in a while.

You decided to enter a restaurant.

“What may I get you?” a waiter asked as you sat down at an empty table.
“Just rice,” you replied with your hood still on, covering your eyes.

Now even food preferences made you homesick. Plain rice was the usual order of Kakashi and Sasuke back home. Your stomach grumbled out of displeasure.

“What may I get you?” you overheard another waiter ask the person directly behind you.
“Rice, only.”

I’m being watched.
Right after you got your food, you walked towards the direction of the restrooms, after leaving a large tip along with the money to pay.

That was the way you made your exit.

Someone must’ve hired an assassinator to catch me, you thought as you carefully looked where to head. Konohagakure wasn’t the type of village to strictly control their rogue ninja─if it was any other, you and Itachi might’ve had a lot more trouble to deal with. Ninja back home would do a lot for the money, and you probably had a large bounty on your head.

You only realized the entire street was now desolate. Everyone seemed to be gone.

“W-where is everyone?”
You suddenly stopped walking and heard a stone drop.

“MURASAKIIRO!”

You turned around to see three men dressed in black flying through the air, about to hit you with a deadly lightning strike.

“Ora Murasakiiro─genjutsu no mirror.”
As soon as your fifteen seconds were up, the three men attacked each other, disabling all of them.

“That’s funny. The Murasakiiro seems capable of performing a fraction of similar genjutsu the Sharingan can.”
“My friend, Uchiha Shisui, was able to do about the same mirroring technique as you,” Itachi said.
“What about you?” you asked. “You’re the Prince of Genjutsu, after all.”

You had made it seem like one of the other was yourself since they were all wearing the same attire, which was a sort of mirroring technique. It was the easiest way to reflect yourself off of a moving object.
It was a good start to mastering genjustu with your power since you usually only used it for slowing down time.

You thought you were done, but then out of nowhere, long strings of thread shot up and grabbed you. You felt minor cuts throughout your whole body.

What the hell?!

A dozen paper cranes flew towards you from the same direction to make things even more chaotic.

Those cranes explode!

Luckily, you already had your self-defense technique prepared, just in case a situation like this happened.
Release! The shock from getting caught up with threads in the first place was enough to release all your energy.

The threads broke apart, and you hastily grabbed onto one. The line harshly pulled you all the way back to the perpetrator, who had been hiding behind a building.

Bingo.

He was what looked like the leader of the assassinators. Dressed in grey and brown, he wore the Takigakure headband on his head.

What is someone from there doing here? Takigakure is very far from here.

“YOU! UP HERE!”
You took one look up at the sky and saw what looked like a giant bird blocking the light of the sun. A person on it with an ocular watched you in entertainment.

“HA-!”
Suddenly, white spiders started falling from the sky─no, it was coming from the bird.
“MURASAKI─”

Threads from the original man who attacked you spurt back up and wrapped around your body, holding you in place. You were unable to move at all.

Although your eyes were already glowing purple.
“KAMIKAZE-JOUGO!” you shouted as fast as you could.

As the spiders fell, a funnel of wind started to form around you, immediately breaking the threads allowing you to move. Before the bombs could get to you, the small typhoon sucked them up right above you, exploding in a safe area where no harm would be done.

With your eyes, you controlled the wind in the direction of the man, making it seem as you grabbed him with the miniature storm.

“Hmph,” he jerked, and suddenly, a bizarre creature came out of his back.
What the hell is that?

“Earth Grudge Fear!”

The demon had a blue mask, which your instincts immediately correlated the color as something having to do with water.

As you made the connection, the creature charged towards you, spitting out sharp spears made out of water. You immediately dodged them, but it continued to make more and shot them out at an alarming rate. You soon wouldn’t be able to catch up, or keep up your energy, even if you ran away.
And you had already used a form of your Murasakiiro’s Kamikaze or Typhoon-Style, which you didn’t have enough chakra to send out another storm again.

A new wave of spears was aimed right towards you, and you were too exhausted to sense where they were coming from any more longer. You couldn’t keep this going any longer. The man controlled his puppet to release them.
“Murasakiiro!”

As spears were hurling towards you in slow motion, you cautiously tried to grab one. They weren’t dangerous as long as the sharp end was piercing through you at a fast rate.
Unexpectedly, you had been able to take ahold of the water. Because of how fast it was moving, the molecules in it had fused together so tightly it made the entire thing solid. It was a type of water jutsu.

And so you took the spear and stabbed it right through the monster’s mask. As time flowed normally again, the mask shattered, making the threads holding the demon together disassemble and fall to the ground along with you, who was gasping for air.

“Deidera, Kakuzu.”
A woman who seemed like an ordinary villager approached you, along with the man who you were all-out fighting with and the man on a bird who tried to explode you. They all wore similar clothes.

The woman held up two fingers.
“Maki Modoshi.”

Suddenly, you saw the three people’s appearances change completely─the woman’s hair had turned from a brown to a vibrant shade of blue─the eyes of the man you fought the most changed from black to green with red pupils. The boy who had just landed his enormous clay bird had changed his outfit from a simple shirt and trousers to an entire cloak.

A black cloak with red clouds emblemed on it.

Are they members of the Akatsuki?!
You used all of your strength to try to stand up. The three still had their headbands on, but they all had a slash right through their village’s symbol.

“It was a hard time trying not to go all out and kill you,” the man named Kakuzu said, breaking the silence. “Leader-sama had to put a whole power-restriction seal on us.”
“We have been sent by our leader to recruit you,” the woman said. “He wants you to join our organization, the Akatsuki.”

“The Akatsuki?”
You gave it a thought as if this hadn’t been part of your plan at all.

“I’ll comply.”

You silently walked with the three members to what you knew was probably their hideout, or at least a temporary one.

“We move around a lot,” the one with four hearts said to you, and you nodded a bit too fast. These guys scared you─after all, they were your enemies, despite the fact you had just joined their society or whatever kind their group was. They could've killed you in town, and you guessed that they were using at least only a tenth of their actual power.

You ended up at a cave with a vast boulder covering the entrance. You tried to find a way to open the cave─maybe a button disguised in the rock or something that could instantly lift it, but you couldn’t see a noticeable solution right in front of your nose.

I am dying to know what opens this.

The periwinkle-haired kunoichi took out four paper bombs.
“Kakuzu, Deidera.” You heard her speak for the first time.
She handed a paper bomb to each of them. They both bit their fingers and smeared blood onto the paper.

Huh?

The kunoichi did the same and then handed one to you.
“It may be unpleasant, but you must do this to get inside, or you will instantly get killed under that boulder. We all pre-imprinted our blood onto the boulder, so it can match us with it when we try to get back in.”

“How is this supposed to work if I haven’t pre-imprinted it yet?”
“Our leader already handled that,” she replied and gestured towards Kakuzu.
When I got cut by all of those steel threads earlier! It definitely took some of my blood!

“Those threads can go a long distance,” Kakuzu said. “I controlled them to go back to this hideout and imprint it so that you would be allowed inside too.”

But could I really trust them? I may get crushed under a massive rock after all.

“I’ll go in with you,” Deidera cooly said as if he read your mind. “That way, if you get crushed, I will too. Win-win, I say.”
“Uh─sure,” you replied. You took your first observation of him and saw that he was actually relatively young. Not as young as Itachi, but certainly a bit younger than you.

The kunoichi took all four paper bombs and flew into the rock.
“There are very tiny holes in the rock which absorb the paper,” Kakuzu explained. "It was made so that only Konan-sama’s personal paper bombs could pass through; if it were any other, they would explode and cause an alarm that would alert us to leave right away.”

“Kakuzu, you first,” Konan said as you watched the boulder slowly lift.
He walked right through the entrance.
“My turn, and then Deidera and Yochi.”
Yochi.
Konan followed Kakuzu.

“Alright, let’s go,” Deidera said to you.
You nodded, walking beside him under the boulder.

Fortunately, or perhaps, unfortunately, they did not fool you.

You made an internal sigh of relief as you went inside, but that feeling instantly shattered into shock when you heard the boulder slam back down behind you, rattling the ground and making your surroundings pitch black.

A spark in the air came from Konan, and she handed the three of you candles as you walked through a long hallway. You then reached the actual cave, where there was enough natural light so you could see clearly.

“We’re here, Leader-sama,” Kakuzu said while Deidera yawned.
A group of people in the infamous cloaks entered the room. You wanted to gasp as you saw Itachi, dressed in one as well, but knew you couldn’t blow your cover for at least another decade.

You were just glad he was okay.

Although, you almost blew your cover for the second time when you saw something obscure.
An orange-haired man distinguished from the rest stepped forward to welcome you.
You were not surprised by the many rods in his face, although you wanted to question those when an appropriate time would come, too. But it was his eyes.

They weren’t like your Murasakiiro with typhoons as your pupils─he didn’t have pupils at all. It certainly wasn’t the Sharingan or Byakyugan for sure, even if you only saw the latter once in your lifetime.

It could be the Rinnegan. You had learned about it by coming across the term in your school books while in the academy and asking teachers what it was.
It had phenomenal power. So unusual, they told you no one really knew how it worked and how this visual prowess only showed up a few times in history.

And now you decided your speculation was correct. You were seeing it in the flesh, right in front of you.
This Akatsuki. I never expected a group of people to be so powerful…

The Sharingan, an origami master, a man with four hearts, a guy who can bomb the world with exploding clay, and now someone who possessed the Rinnegan? How much more could this get?

“Yochi <___>,” the leader spoke.
“Yes,” you replied, bowing.
He already knows I am from the Yochi clan, too. That I posess the Murasakiiro.

“You can call me Leader or Pein,” he continued.
“Or you can call me kami.”

Pain? Kami?
Maybe feeling pain or having a god-complex is a side-effect of possessing the Rinnegan.

Before you could say “thank you, Pain-Sama,” one of the members interfered.
“HAHA─I WILL NEVER CALL YOU GOD, PEIN-SAMA. THE ONLY TRUE GOD HERE IS JASHIN.”

A member with an even more rowdy personality than Deidera that you knew of so far held up his necklace and showed it off, making known to everyone that it showed his devotion to his own god.

Pein simply continued, not bothering with trying to convert the man.
“We have one more new member.”
A human, already dressed in a cloak, walked in. You actually couldn’t tell if he was actually a man or not─he looked less human than Pein.

You slightly glanced at Itachi, whom you saw his eyes widen, already red. You immediately turned your head back.
Wait a minute. Why does he seem so familiar?

“Yochi-kun, Itachi-san, and Orochimaru? All from Konohagakure?” a member who resembled a shark asked curiously.

Orochimaru! I saw him once as a kid…
You remembered seeing him in town once while you still didn’t know anything about shinobi and all of that and how he gave you a very unsettling smile. You also knew he was one of the Legendary Sannin, trained by the Sadaime─the one who had helped start your career as a kunoichi.

But why would a Sannin be here with evil intent?

You knew Itachi long enough to read his small facial expressions whenever he was emotional enough to make them. You and he both sensed this would be a problem for the both of you.

Itachi and I came here to spy on the inside to protect Konoha. But if someone from there too arrived with the pure intent to do the opposite of what we’re trying to do, it wouldn’t be good.

“Yes,” Pein replied to the shark man’s question. “Now, if you want to start the formal introductions, you can, Kisame.”

“Okay,” he said, turning towards you and Orochimaru.
“Hoshigashi Kisame, from the Blood Mist, and this is Samehada.”
He took a large sword out, covered in bandages.

Isn’t that one of the swords from the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist?
He must be one too! Either that, or he stole it…

“Nice to meet you, Hoshigashi-san,” you replied. “A-and, Samehada too.”

“My name’s Hidan,” the man who argued against Pein earlier said. “I’m in love with three things just in case you wanna get something for my birthday. Blood, torture, and Jashin.” He flexed his necklace again.
“Nice to meet you…Hidan-san,” you hesitantly said.
“The guy’s immortal,” Kakuzu clarified with a grunt. “Which is why I haven’t been able to kill him.”

...Rinnegan, and someone immortal? This is an entire nightmare.

Next, it looked like someone crawling in a cloak approached you.
“That’s a puppet,” Deidera pointed out before you could question, and you gratefully nodded.

“Sasori,” was what the puppet said.
“You don’t really need to know anything about me, except that I absolutely hate to be kept waiting.”

“I’ll keep that in mind, Sasori-dono. Nice to meet you.”

“Itachi, you do not know Yochi, correct?”
“I do not, Leader-sama.”

You immediately got the point. It would certainly be way more suspicious if you and Itachi knew each other. You wondered why he didn’t ask the same for Orochimaru, though.

“Uchiha Itachi, Yochi,” Itachi said in his unreadable tone.

“Welcome, <___>.”
He almost flinched at not using any titles for you but continued to honor the wish you made months ago.
“Thank you, Itachi.”

“We all welcome you, Yochi <___>,” Konan said, speaking again after a while.
“I’m pleased to know there is another kunoichi here,” you said with a friendly smile, trying to break the formality, and she slightly blushed.

Pein spoke again.
“Well, if that is all, then Yo─”

“AUGH! ZETSU-SAH!”
“Zetsu?” Pein asked.

It’s that damn plant! you screamed inside, remembering it appeared by Itachi as you stopped him from becoming a murderer months ago.

The white part of the plant spoke.
“We found Tobi, Pein-sama!” he said in a very childish voice.
“I think he realized,” the black part scoffed. “It took a whole two games of hide and seek to finally catch him.”

Tobi?
You lifted an eyebrow.

Chapter Text

"I smell new people~" Tobi, wearing the Akatsuki cloak and an orange mask, said, running around to approach you and Orochimaru.

It looked like this guy had no limbs at all.

"Who is this─" Orochimaru started as Tobi jumped around him.
"He might've forced his way to join the Akatsuki," Pein replied, although the tone of his voice made it seem as if it was Orochimaru who did that exact thing.

"My name is Tobi!" Tobi exclaimed and then fluttered over to you.
"Ahh…she smells like new books and caramel!"

You could not see his face.

"Uh─thank you?" you replied, and he continued his small chant.
“Tobi-Tobi-Tobi-Tobi-Tobi-Tobi…”

Itachi continued to look even more distraught─it could've been because of how immature the member was acting, but he was not one to reveal expressions for things as shallow as that.

He was thinking to himself. Did he sense something off?

"Alright," Pein announced, silencing everyone.
"Now that we have enough members, I will partner you guys up with each other. This will be the final group. You shall not object to who I pair you with."

The members nodded.
“Sasori and Deidera.
“Hidan and Kakuzu.
“Kisame and Itachi.”

You heard Orochimaru quietly mutter in dissatisfaction upon hearing Itachi's name.
What's up with him?

“Orochimaru and Zetsu.
“<___> and Tobi.”

I'm paired with the preschooler?

"Konan and I," Pain finished. "You will always stick with your partner on your bounties and missions unless I say otherwise. We will all need to work together to accomplish our true goal."

"What exactly are we going to do?" Hidan asked.
"The most important step," Pein started, "is capturing all nine Jinchuriki and extracting their Kyuubi chakra from them."

Jinchuriki. Uzumaki Naruto is a Jinchuriki.

If your life hadn't been so cursed, you could've simply strolled to Minato's office in No Sato and told him the Akatsuki's entire plan, and he could use one of his long-named jutsus to defeat them. But, something as effortless as that could only exist in your dreams.

Maybe if you had been paired with Itachi, things would've been easier.

"But first, we're going to need funds before anything else can happen," Pein continued.
"I will assign all the groups" bounty missions. Complete these, and collect the money. You will be paid for your successes too."

Konan handed out scrolls to each duo, containing information on their first mission.
You received one too. When you immediately finished reading it, the writing vanished.

“<___>-senpai!” Tobi exclaimed, tugging on your cloak. You almost jumped. He was too late as he tried reading what the mission was about as well. The words were already gone.

"It's alright, Tobi," you said. "I already memorized the mission."
"<___>-senpai, you're so assertive! I look forward to partnering with you!"

"Ah, me too, Tobi," you replied, trying to give your best genuine smile.
Why is someone like him part of the Akatsuki?

Tobi out of all names? Damn your immaculate memory of your childhood, <___>.

Kirikagure had hired the Akatsuki for an assination. They were to kill off a group of rebels who had thought the Mist's genin exams were inhumane─how they made young children fight each other to the death to become shinobi. The blood baths that occurred from this earned them the Blood-Mist title. The village leaders did not want a riot or civil war to break out because of this, so they chose to hire you to end things in the shadows. Quiet and quick.

You personally thought that they had the right to speak up─you also agreed that Kirikagure's way of doing things with young children was immoral. Still, assassinators couldn't mix in their personal feelings with the mission.

You would annihilate them by causing as little to no pain as possible.
It took two days to get to the village. Along the way, you came across many sweet shops, and your partner made it known that he was an absolute sweet tooth.

“<___>-senpai! Please! Let's stop by this shop for a snack…."
He was grabbing a sleeve of your cloak, weighing you down as you tried to continue trudging on.

"Tobi!" you retaliated. "We stopped by one two days ago! Besides, we should not show ourselves to the public as much as possible─someone could be tracking us down from the villages we come from and try to take us back…Konohagakure and…

"Tobi? What village do you come from?"
"Ah, that is a mystery, dear <___>-senpai," he replied in a surprisingly ominous tone.
It was made known that he did not want to reveal the village he was from. That made you even more suspicious.

"Ugh, fine. I'll treat you to some dango again."

"The intel says that the group of rebels should be meeting at this location tonight," you said.
"The sun is about to set. We'll hide here and attack from their blind spot once they show up."

Tobi enthusiastically nodded. Although, you were pretty worried. You didn't know Tobi's measure of power, and skill─after all, your first impression of him had implied that he was not as competent as you.

"Tobi, if this wouldn't be a mystery either, may you explain your jutsu? We need to know what each other is capable of to have the highest chance of successfully working as a team.

Know what each other is capable of. That's definitely one thing our team didn't do well.

"I see!" he replied and then clapped his hands together. "Well, in simplest terms, you don't have to worry about me, <___>-senpai."

"What do you mean?"
"Just focus on your attack. I'll be alright, I promise."
You sensed a shift in the pitch of his voice that you hadn't heard before. It caught you off guard before a returning childish voice let you shrug it off.

"We should hide now, shouldn't we <___>-senpai?!" Tobi asked before running over to a large tree and teleporting onto a branch, which didn't surprise you.

You appeared and hid in the tree as well. "You'll be covering me, Tobi. I'll make a sign if I need any help when they come."

"Understood, Com-...Captain!"
You nodded at him and turned to watch the surroundings below. You saw nine shadows first before the outlines of people slowly came trudging forward.

You were positioning yourself so that you could move quickly after you launched your attack, but you accidentally hit a large twig that made a noise.

Oh, shoot.

The Kirigakure rebels immediately turned around and launched a jutsu without hesitation. You could see thousands of sharp needles made out of water heading straight toward you and Tobi.

If I stay here, I'll lose my one perfect opening to take them all down at once! But, if I go for them, I can't shield Tobi either…
"Just focus on your attack."

"MURASAKIIRO!" You shouted and immediately plunged towards the eight targets with the same amount of kunai, stabbing them through the chests as you dashed as fast as you could.

You took one peek at Tobi, who remained frozen as about a dozen sharp needles zoomed straight towards him.

TOBI! you internally shouted.
You wanted to run back, but your slow pace of time had just ended. You took one more look and saw the needles zoom right into him?

No, he was unharmed. Zoomed right past him?
It was more like they had zoomed right through him.

"TOBI!" you shouted once more, letting down your guard as you were sure you had assassinated the entire group of rebels. "A-are you okay?!"

"I already told you <___>-senpai! I'm just fine! Maybe it would've been easier if I said I was invincible!" He put both his hands on his hips, resembling a child showing pride about something.

You wanted to facepalm but instead decided to save that energy for thinking. Was that manchild really more than just a traveling partner to share entertainment with? You still hardly knew anything about him, where he was from, his power, whatever in the world he wanted to be in the Akatsuki for.

And you were still surprised that you had completed the mission successfully.

You were back at the Akatsuki's headquarters, which was now at a different location─a fully booked hotel. You suspected that Kakuzu, who you learned was the group's finances manager, was the one that paid for it.

"He's actually sulking right now," Deidera told you as he welcomed you back and walked you through the hallway. "My man Kakuzu-san is very stingy with his money."

You hesitantly nodded, not knowing what a suitable response would be to his statement. You were only surprised that the company who owned the hotel wasn't skeptical of a group of adults booking out an entire hotel─surely they would've at least thought we were a gang or something.

But money bribes everyone, I guess.

"You can have any room you want on this floor," Deidera said on the hotel's third level. He started pointing at different doors throughout the hallway. "I'm in this room, Uchiha-san is over there, my master is right across from me, and Tobi is at the end, though I don't think you should stay by him. You can hear him through the walls."

He said that with such an exhausted expression on his face that you knew he was telling you that from experience.

"Noted, thank you, Deidera," you quickly nodded.
"No problem, Ms. Yochi," he grinned and then yawned. "I'm going to get some rest; my mission sucked today because there was absolutely no art involved. See ya."

You chose to pick the room closest to the exit, also to the right of Itachi's. You stayed there for a while, opening and sitting on a chair on the balcony, watching the starry, dark sky surrounding you. You had a pen and paper in your hand.

You finally left the room after midnight.

You made sure the other Akatsuki members weren't awake and lounging in the hallway before you quietly knocked on the door beside you.

Itachi, I hope you are awake.

The door opened, revealing piercing red eyes and the boy, still in his robes.
"Itachi! Why aren't you in your pajamas yet?"
"What are you doing here, [___]?" he asked, avoiding your question. He was as formal as he usually was in front of the other members. You sensed he still did not trust your surroundings, and perhaps you should've been more careful about that too.

But he had deactivated his Sharingan, which was his way of letting you know he was glad you were doing alright.

You slipped a note into his pocket as you talked. "Oh! My bad for coming at this hour. I just had to know if you were interested in stargazing since they're so visible in this location. Most of Konohagakure likes it, so I was wondering if we might've shared an interest…."

"Did someone stay stargazing?" You could not see the person talking at the other end of the hallway, but you knew it was Tobi's voice.

"Tobi! Why are you up at such a late hour?"
"I couldn't sleep, [___]-senpai!" he replied energetically. "But if you're worried I might tell Leader-sama that you're out trying to knock on my seniors' doors, I'll keep quie~-"

He heard footsteps that were getting louder towards him. "No! Uh-[___]-senpai, I don't have my mask on! I ask you to respect my privacy!"

"It's actually me," Itachi replied instead, walking down the hallway. "I'm sure you don't have a problem with me?"

"In that case, I'll just skedaddle! Have a goodnight, [___]-senpai!” His voice was filled with nervousness. He ran into his room and aggressively shut and locked the door.

Itachi came back and stopped in front of you before walking back into his room.
"My apologies," he said. "I have found myself too busy to do recreational things like that," he answered your irrelevant question.

At least you had everything you wanted to say to Itachi in your note.
You wondered how the term, stargazing, prompted Tobi to join your conversation.

Itachi.
Have you ever heard of a certain jutsu that allows anything solid to go through themselves? Or at least make it seem like that is happening. I've witnessed this happen to the person I'm currently partnered with─Tobi. I may have seen it wrong, but I also had my Murasakiiro activated…so I just wanted to check.

I also…feel homesick. The stars make me feel at home. That is all I wanted to say.

"Did you enjoy your rest?" Konan asked you. It was the following day, and everyone had come down to the breakfast room to eat. Kisame and Deidera were preparing the food.

"Yeah, thank you! How about you, Konan-sama?"
"I did too, thank you." You noticed a slight smile on her face.

"The food is ready!" Deidera exclaimed, flamboyantly setting plates of pancakes on the table for all ten of you.

"Zetsu doesn't eat food," Sasori told you when you asked.
You didn't think that some of the Akatsuki members were able to cook, but you realized you probably dehumanized them on some things just because of where their morality stood. These talented members were still human in the end and would've probably been recognized and looked up to if they hadn't followed such a dark path.

Except for Zetsu. And possibly Tobi. You still didn't know what he was capable of.

Deidera cooked excellent pancakes.
You also ate one-fourth of the sausages that Kisame had cooked. They tasted that delicious.

"I'm glad to see you like the sausages, Yochi-san," Kisame observed, to which you nodded in reply. "My specialty in cooking is fish, though. Hopefully, you stay alive long enough to try some whenever I get the chance."

Isn't that cannibalism, though, Hoshigashi-san? you wanted to ask but chose to remain quiet.
"Deidara-senpai! These pancakes are so good!" Tobi exclaimed as he chewed through his mask.
"TOBI. CHEW BEFORE YOU TALK, OR I'LL STUFF IT ALL INTO YOUR MOUTH!"
"LEADER-SAMA! DEIDERA-SENPAI JUST THREATENED ME!"

You and Konan turned to Pein, who was silently enjoying his breakfast. He avoided Tobi's pleas.

Chapter Text

<___>,
I will look into it.
-
The stars are watching us. That is why we keep going.

There just had to be some way you could figure out anything about your Akatsuki partner.
He was so playful, yet he guarded himself so well. It was making you uneasy.
Someone like that actually has the potential to be dangerous. I still don’t know who I’m messing with. Is he doing this intentionally?

You weren’t getting anywhere at this point. You needed a new strategy to figure things out; you needed to do more research. Yet you had no leads. You knew nothing about his powers, his clan, or even the village he came from.

“Yochi.”
“Hm?” You looked up from the armchair you were sitting on, taken away from your deep thought.

Pein stood in front of you. “I have a new bounty for you. I’m temporarily switching up your team for now, though, Tobi isn’t available to go on any right now. You’ll be going with Konan.”

Not available? What kind of reason is that?

“I understand, Pein-sama,” you replied, even though you didn’t understand. You didn’t complain, though. You had grown fond of Konan since you arrived, and she seemed like someone who actually had the potential to become friends with.

Potential. Itachi and I are here to protect Konohagakure. These people are all against us.

Itachi,
Where is Tobi? Supposedly, he isn’t available to go on missions right now.

“Goodmorning, <___>,” Konan greeted you as you walked outside.
“Hi, Konan-sama.”

There were two bounties you completed that day; they were pretty easy due to both of you being extremely powerful. Konan took the defense, and you took the offense. Assassinate the ninja assigned to you. If they were a hassle, Konan would turn the defense on them, and you would finish up.

You two were already done by noon.

“Hey, Konan,” you decided to comment as you walked down an unsuspecting village.
“Your jutsu is pretty interesting. Paper, out of all things. I would have never thought it could be so powerful.”

“Thank you,” she replied.
“It was a hobby of mine when I was younger.”

“Really?” you asked. “So, did you like drawing, or making crafts, or─?”
“Origami.
“It was my safeplace during the Third Great Ninja War. When I had thoughts of anxiety, I would just create things. My home was caught in the warzone, so I had those thoughts often.”

“That’s a healthy way to handle it,” you replied, thinking about how you handled your own thoughts during the war. “And I’m sorry for that. The place you lived….”

“Don’t pity me. Because of it, I am where I am now. I believe that Lord Pein will finally take back what we deserve in the end. His goal of peace.”

“But, do you really believe that, Konan-sama? I’m sure you know better than I do that more than half of your members aren’t even in the group to share the same goal─I can’t find myself believing that peace through this plan works.

“And, we? You worked with Pein-sama even before?”

You realized you had said way too much and given unneeded opinions.
“Oh. I’m sorry. I was rambling. You don’t need to answer my question.”

“Your thoughts are justified. And yes. We weren’t business partners, though. He was my friend.”
I really do forget these people are humans too.

“I am sure that is the same with you and the Uchiha?”
“What?”
She knew?

“I don’t think Lord Pein has caught wind of this yet,” she unintentionally reassured, “Or perhaps he has, but he doesn’t find it so important to deal with. But you know him. Just as you know him on a deeper level, I know the same about Pein. That is why I believe his goal is reachable.”

“I understand you,” you replied. And perhaps she was indeed right. You believed that you and Itachi could protect Konohagakure from the danger themselves. You didn’t know how impossible that sounded to an observer, but you could grasp the same idea about Konan and Pein.

So they were childhood friends?

“You’re different than most members here,” she said. “It seems you weren’t robbed of your empathy like the rest of us.”

“Amegakure,” you mumbled, looking at the slashed-through village symbol on Konan’s headband.

“They call me Lady Angel. What is Pein’s goal is also my goal.”
What is Yahiko’s goal becomes Nagato and I’s goal. It will live on.

Something clicked inside your head.
What was Obito’s goal became my goal.

<___>,
He had a “reserved mission.” Or “emergency.” Both terms were used.

“Konan-sama, can we stop by a library?”

It was the second day of your missions with Konan. Once again, you two finished very early. You thought of her as one of the best people you’ve been partnered with in awhile, fighting-wise.

She nodded without questioning why and then led the way toward the nearest library.
Once inside, you immediately headed towards the science and physics area and started turning pages of many books.

Objects can only pass through a target object that is in a liquid or gaseous state. Without penetration or changing the form, composition, or shape of the solid object, nothing would pass through.

Well, duh, you thought in your head. But is the secret to Tobi’s technique really that simple? Am I reading into it too much?

You thought about if what he was doing was turning himself into a gaseous projection that enabled things to pass through him, (you eliminated liquid from the question; you couldn’t observe liquid from the scene.) It seemed plausible─it was like how you watched how Konan would disassemble herself into hundreds of papers and reconstruct herself somewhere else.

But Tobi doesn’t reappear in a new place after he lets something pass through him, you continued thinking. And…gas dissipates into the air; it cannot be contained. The atoms are completely free. Unless he was somehow able to control it.

Ugh. It was getting confusing for you again. But you also realized you had only seen him make that move once. You needed more chances to observe him─maybe you missed something that could be the final piece to the puzzle. You needed to see it again. But Tobi wasn’t even with you right now.

Itachi,
The only thing that makes sense is that he can desolidify himself. But I’m not sure what happens to the part of his body that does that.

You put down your pen. For some reason, you were getting a strong sense of deja vu.

As you passed by Itachi in a hallway, probably the last time you would see each other face-to-face for awhile, because the group was splitting up for new hideouts, he stopped.

“How about you extract the truth yourself? You are capable of that.”

“I wonder how you and Pein-sama keep this entire group together,” you said aloud after another one of your bounties.

“I mean, again. Everyone has different goals, and their best interests come first. Yet we all cooperate to reach your goal.”

“It’s because this is the first proof that Lord Pein’s plan is true,” Konan replied. “Do you think this would be able to happen under any other circumstance? Everyone here has been through hard things. They were forced to join together after. But look, there is a sense of peace between everybody. These tough experiences they’ve been through enabled them to unite with one another. So everyone has a piece of his goal in theirs.”

After one whole week, Tobi was back and assigned to you again.
“<___>-senpai! Tobi missed you so much!”
“I-I missed you too..!” you replied, trying to adjust to the man’s childlike behavior again. You were going to have to deal with him alone, without the back of your leader or Konan.

“So, Tobi, I was wondering what you were up to while you were gone? If I could know?”
“Hmm,” he thought. “Just some business here and there. Every man has to have his dirtywork, if you know what I mean!”

He said that so lightheartedly, yet you knew there was some deeper meaning to what he was trying to come off as a joke, mainly because he was actually correct. Every man you had met as an adult always had some messed-up job on the side─everyone in the Akatsuki, Konohagakure leaders, etc.

“I see,” you contemplated. And, he still wasn’t giving you details of anything, though you did have no business in knowing either, so you let it fall off.

You also still had your backup plan.

You were definitely capable of extracting the truth out of someone. But you weren’t sure how you were going to sneak up on Tobi with the Murasakiiro without getting caught─with the obvious signs being the complete change of your eyes and the verbal citation.

“<___>-senpai, let’s buy dango!”
Bingo!

You purposely guided Tobi to a busy town. While he would be distracted by all the shops and crowds around him, you would whisper the jutsu and aim the aura right where the target dango shop would be. He would stare right at it, and then you could figure out all the needed information.

This is a terrible plan.

You created it on the spot, and if you failed or were caught in any way, you weren’t sure what its results would be. If Tobi was actually stupid enough, he wouldn’t realize you had just tried to take advantage of him, and it would be all good. But, if he wasn’t…

It was so immoral of you too. But you couldn’t stand being partnered with someone so suspicious…

“<___>-senpai, look at all these shops!” Tobi exclaimed as he started running from one to the next.

But I have a chance. Who knows when I’ll get one as good as this again?

“Yeah!” you responded. You made sure you continued to stay behind him. “Alright, let’s search for the dango one!”

“Ora Murasakiiro.”
You made sure you were unsuspecting as you walked behind Tobi. The aura concentrated right behind his head.

“Hey.” He suddenly stopped, catching you off guard. You swore you saw a red aura in front of his face mix with your purple for a second.
“Nevermind. That’s not the dango shop!” he continued walking, making you even more cautious.

You soon caught sight of the dango shop nearby. You knew that it was now or never.
“Hey, Tobi, look!” you exclaimed, pointing to the sign.

As he looked toward the direction your voice motioned him to, you moved the aura right in front of his eyes. You then made a move to absorb it into his sight.

What.

You had successfully got it in the area, but it instead passed entirely through his head.

What?

“Wow, I’m so excited that I thought I was seeing paradise for a second! C’mon <___>-senpai!”
He started dragging you through the crowd, the entire time, you felt sick to your stomach.

The aura just passed right through him.
Of course, how could I not make the correlation earlier?

More than a decade ago, you saved the Fourth Hokage and his wife from an attack trying to steal the Kyuubi Nine-Tails while she was giving birth. It was a masked man, supposedly from the Uchiha, because he was going to take control of the beast. He worked by transporting parts or even his entire body into another dimension─instead of desolidifying, he canceled out entirely.

This man was going under a vast guise─he must’ve definitely recognized you and tried to psychologically throw you off with a bizarre personality.
But if you knew, then he certainly knew as well.

Were you going to get killed by him now? Why did he continue acting normal after seeing the Murasakiiro? What is his goal?

Itachi.
He is the maske─

You received a small note from a crow.
I think I need to come clean. I know him. He has the Sharingan. I waited to tell you this because I didn’t know who was watching. I still don’t know his identity, but I suspect he’s actually Uchiha Madara.

He knew?
But your first suspicion was confirmed─this man is an Uchiha. The red aura that appeared in his eyes earlier was probably from the Sharingan. That was perhaps figured out you were planning something. He kept his cool. It was all an act. If he already fooled you this badly, how much more could he lie?

Itachi.
How do you know him?

Chapter Text

He was the one who recruited me to the Akatsuki. Itachi answered your question over another note.
He was going to assist me in slaughtering the clan too. Forgive me for not telling you until now; he stood close to me.

Don’t apologize, you wrote back to Itachi. You were not upset at all about him knowing but hiding this information all alone─it was apparent he had to keep it for his and your safety. He was also still a teenager. You constantly dwelled on the thought every now and then that Itachi was far too young to be experiencing any of this. Even though you also had experienced death and anguish too young, Itachi had more time to live after the Third Ninja War. He shouldn’t have been robbed of his dreams.

“A commander, but instead of leading this nation to war against other nations, somehow maybe, lead this nation to ally with the other nations, to create peace!”

You realized you really thought of Itachi as a younger sibling. Unlike Naruto or Sasuke (who you still loved as much), who you saw more of as nephews because they were still too innocent to know of the twists of the world. Their perceptions of man hadn’t been scarred yet, and you were working hard to keep it that way. But, Itachi─you two shared the same experiences and hardships as family endures. Your sufferings were closely linked. Yet you still felt a responsibility over him, that he still had a chance to live while he was young.

And he probably thinks the same about Sasuke. It’s a whole cycle.

Were you going to get killed by ‘Madara’ now? Why did he continue acting normal after seeing the Murasakiiro? What is his goal?

“<___>, you will be accompanying Konan and me to Amegakure.
“I have assigned Tobi to his own individual mission. He won’t finish it for awhile. In the meantime, I will have you join us for some errands.”

What? you wanted to ask.

It seemed you weren’t going to be killed yet. But, on the flip side, you and Itachi couldn’t observe him. And it was almost too much of a coincidence that he would suddenly back away right after Itachi had revealed to you who he was.

You hoped that he didn’t find out somehow. But Itachi wouldn’t have been so careless to get himself caught. Your other reason was your Murasakiiro. In fact, that was what was caught.

“Ideally, we would want to start harvesting the Kyuubi in less than five years,” Pein told you as he, you, and Konan entered the Hidden Rain with hoods above your heads.

“So we’ve assigned the Akatsuki to complete bounties to not only raise funds but to make ourselves known around all the five nations. Anyone is free to hire us─as you can tell, we have already been hired by some of the Five Great Nations.

“And once we have enough money, we will start to collect the tailed beasts to gain more power. Hidden villages would have to rely on our services even more for having such great forces, and that is how we will be able to control the world stage.

“What will you do with all this control?” you asked.

“Conquer the nations. Stir up fear to make them attack each other and go to war. Create a conflict so large that there will never be a ‘Ninja-War’ again.”

“Pein-sama…you want a result of peace to come from chaos?”

Pein led you and Konan down the abandoned, ambient streets of the village. You had never stepped foot in the nation until now because of how heavily guarded it was.

Amegakure was a completely different setting than your home village. The skies had been covered in gloom since you had arrived, and you suspected it would stay that way. Buildings reaching into the clouds were scattered everywhere, yet you didn’t see any lively being inhabiting any of them.

“Yochi, how realistic would it be to say you could create peace between the Five Nations by any other way…uniting them together? Don’t you think many have tried to do that in the past?”

“There will always be disagreements,” Konan spoke. “There will always be one who has a different image in mind of what is considered beautiful.”

You suddenly felt convicted. Your younger self felt offended. Your innocent childhood dreams were crushed just as the damp leaves on the ground were by your boots.

“The only way to unite anyone together is by forcing them to share a common goal─an important common goal. Under fear and destruction, will they be guaranteed to come together. This is the Akatsuki’s goal.”

It seemed so twisted but forgivable at the same time. You disagreed with Pein’s view on peace─though he had proved your idea futile as well, there just had to be some other way than causing more wars. Though, you did realize Pein and Konan were searching for this good in the world; they just had a different solution than yours. Unable to see the flaws because they were so desperate for serenity.

There really is another way…right?

“Why are you telling me all this?”

“Because you’re different,” Konan said. “You seem to completely dedicate yourself to your long term goals─whatever they are, unlike the others whose main priorities lie in what benefits them at the moment. You share a similar mindset to Pein and me.”

“Once again, Tobi will be gone for a while,” Pein said. “I have sent him on a long, solo mission. I am offering that you stay with Konan and me for the time being, even after the errands I’ve already assigned to you. You’ll be permitted to travel and do whatever you wish in Amegakure. We’ll train your Murasakiiro even more.”

“I will show you how we are to capture a Kyuubi.”

Amegakure felt like the living definition of tranquility to you. When you weren’t assigned any duties by Konan or Pein, you were free to roam wherever you wanted. Usually, you would go up on the tallest towers to gaze over the silent cityscape below. You were alone with thoughts not of work or Tobi or Itachi for the first time. You weren’t going to see them for a long time anyway, so you might as well not waste your energy thinking about them.

Your thoughts consisted of absolutely nothing. You just admired all the industrialized buildings of the village─a complete contrast to Konohagakure. And when it rained─every Sunday it rained, you would bathe in the ambiance, sometimes reading a book too.

You hadn’t read in a long time either. But now, accompanying Pein and Konan isolated in Ame, you had true free time when you had nothing to do. The village’s library was small but cozy. You went over there from time to time to check out something new.

One thing you tried to find was anything about the Yochi clan or your visual prowess. Unfortunately, for a limited selection of books, there was a slim chance there’d be anything. You only had so much hope because Ame’s population consisted of many refugees or ancestors of them from Great Ninja Wars since the village was right in the middle of the Five Great Nations. Though rare, there could be a possibility that a Yochi ended up here at one point and left records.

But you knew that currently, if she was still alive, only you and Akasuki were the living members of the Yochi clan, and she certainly hadn’t visited Amegakure.

There was nothing in the library.

You also started sleeping better too─maybe because of the rain or because you could finally relax for a bit. It was probably a mix of both. You actually dreamed─they weren’t Murasakiiro visions either─you actually dreamed.

One night you had a dream that Itachi became the Hokage. Sasuke was present in the crowd and was looking up at his brother in admiration. Naruto was right beside him squinting─the sun was blocking his eyes!

Another night, you dreamt of attending a wedding. It was between a more human-looking Pein and Konan.

And then there was a dream that made you get up in the middle of the night and cry.

“This is the Gedo Statue.”
You, Konan, and Pein had entered a hidden cave somewhere in the village. You were wearing a rebreather─something that most of the citizens in Ame wore.

The statue was the ugliest thing you had ever seen.

“This is the husk of the Ten-Tails,” Pein explained.
“Once all the nine-tailed beasts are extracted into it, the creature will be resurrected. This is the sole weapon to be used to cause a war to end all wars.”

“I didn’t even know such a thing existed,” you replied.
“...Did you just find it somewhere? Or was it given to you? Is my next errand to move this thing out of Amegakure?”

“No need,” Konan responded. “Pein-sama summons it.”
You nodded in understanding. “So a husk…is it a normal summoning then? The object is already unique enough, so I would find it odd if your contract was simply blood, Pein-sama.”

“It’s not,” he replied. “It drains my life.
“Normally, I would be dead. But I am unique too─and so I am not dead.”

“You didn’t disregard that it drains your life, though,” you said. “But, you don’t look physically off, Pein-sama. I know I’m only assuming, but I’ve never noticed that you could be suffering. Is this not your real body?”

You observed Konan immediately look at Pein. Her body language was always unreadable until this moment.

“You’re correct.”

You were shocked yet unsurprised at the same time. Of course, Pein wouldn’t be in his true body─he was the leader of the Akatsuki. It would make sense to hide his real heart and lungs somewhere else in case he was attacked. But, it couldn’t be comprehended in your head that someone else was behind the puppet you had been talking to for the past few months.

“Wow.”

“You’re bright, Yochi. Noone else knows about this besides Konan.”

You also couldn’t comprehend how you had just been complimented by the leader of Daybreak.

The citizens of Amegakure referred to Pein as their literal god, though they didn’t know much about him. He had never appeared publicly to them. Instead, Konan, known as Angel, would deliver his messages to the people.

The only things they knew for sure were that Pein had godly powers that were able to overthrow the previous leader, “Hanzo of the Salamander,” and that it rained on days other than Sunday when he was away from the village.

It was as if the skies of the village were weeping, waiting solemnly for their leader to return.

You found it so strange. A Kage that doesn’t interact with his people, the tight security, and the isolation from the outside world in general.
And you thought to yourself, maybe I am only making so many observations about this village because I miss Konoha. It had been so long since you’d seen the sun for being in Ame, and even before, most of your assassinations took place at night. During the day, you’d be inside or in hiding.

You could only dream for now.