Rewind

The next day Team 7 was already on their way to Kannabi Bridge. Minato had left them to join the other shinobi against the stone. Kakashi was getting the team in the right direction; he was sure of it. With their pace, they were rather quick to reach the pond that would have brought them to the bridge.

“Hey, Kakashi.” Aoi called out, stopping in his tracks and forcing the rest of the team to do so as well. “I think someone is following us.” He looked around, checking for clues. Kakashi looked around as well.

“I can’t sense anything,” the silver-haired one looked back at Aoi.

“I tell you. Something’s not right,” Aoi insisted with urgency. Kakashi nodded, looking back at Rin and Obito.

“Find a hiding spot. I and Aoi are going to scout the area. His senses here are far better than mine," Kakashi stated as the two friends scattered away to hide, suppressing theirchakra. “Let’s go, Aoi.” Kakashi followed the blue-haired kid.

The sound of a battle reached the ears of the two who stayed hidden, worried that the enemy would have found them if just a gasp left their mouth.

“Obito, Rin!” Kakashi suddenly called, letting the two teammates take a breath of relief.

“What happened?” Obito asked, “Are you guys okay?”

“Aoi was right. There were three stone shinobi following us." Kakashi explained, “Maybe aiming to jeopardize our mission. Let’s get back on track."

The two shinobi nodded. “Thanks, Aoi.” Rin smiled. “I’m glad you came along.”.

Aoi blushed. “Thanks, Rin,” he replied with a smile, following Kakashi.

Unfortunately for them, another stone shinobi showed up soon after. The four-leaf shinobi didn’t stand a chance as the stone shinobi defeated them, taking Rin as hostage.

“Rin!” Obito called out, watching Kakashi try to fight the back. It took one hit for Kakashi to dispel. 

“A clone?” The stone Shinobi smirked. “Kids these days are pretty dumb. We will take this one. She will be of use”.

Obito stayed in his spot. Kakashi left, leaving a clone? So the conversation they had last night was just a joke to the Hatake?

“Obito?” Aoi called out.

“He left us! He never cared! He still uses us as objects!” he yelled angrily and hurt.

“Obito!” Aoi slapped him. “We need to go after them. We can’t leave Rin!”

“You’re right. To hell with Kakashi! He made his choice." Obito nodded, wiping his tears away and dashing toward the stone shinobi, Aoi following close behind.

The two landed on a tree closer to the cave from which Rin’s chakra came.

“Okay, let’s do this! Two vs. two” Obito slapped his cheeks, ready to save Rin.

“You know Obito.” Aoi started friendly. “You are pretty dumb to be an Uchiha.” His cold tone put Obito’s senses on guard. The Uchiha immediately turned toward his teammate just to notice his kunai aimed at him. Just for a sword to slice Aoi’s chest and send him backwards. 

“Kakashi!” Obito cried out, eyes watering, “I thought you left us!”

“That wasn’t me. Aoi trapped me in a water prison. I had trouble getting out without using the kyuubi,” Kakashi looked back. “Be focused. Aoi can turn invisible for a few minutes," he explained as Obito nodded, staying on guard, kunai in hand.

“Not bad. You got out rather quickly. Aoi smirked. “Let’s see if you learned your lesson,” he added, turning invisible. Kakashi focused on his surroundings. Just like earlier, no matter the fact they couldn’t see him, Aoi kept leaving tracks of his passage.

“Obito! Behind you!” He pushed the other to the side, taking the full-blown cut of the enemy kunai. 

“Kakashi!” Obito yelled, rushing to his friend’s aid. Kakashi seemed in pain, and Obito wasn’t dealing with this. 

“Stop crying, Obito! Focus on our enemy. I’m not dead yet, right? So stay focused!" Kakashi scolded the Uchiha, who couldn’t actually stop crying. Aoi was still invisible, Kakashi was wounded, and Rin was still kidnapped. The pressure of the situation got to Obito. Was this what it meant to be a shinobi? Was this the weight Kakashi had to deal with being responsible for them? How could he do that?

“Too late.” Aoi talked, rushing to the two, just to finish Obito off: “I don’t need you, Uchiha.”.

It was a matter of seconds. All Kakashi saw was Obito pierce Aoi with his kunai.

“This time,” Obito stated with determination, “I’ll protect my friends!” 

“Obito… your eyes,” Kakashi spoke in complete surprise.

“The Sharingan” Obit stared at his hands, watching his chakra’s flow. “I did it! I awakened it!” He screamed in happiness.

“Lower your voice!” Kakashi scolded him. “It’s too early to celebrate. We still have Rin to save."

“Wait… your eye,” Obito asked worriedly. “Are you going to be okay?” he asked worriedly. Kakashi nodded, taking his first aid kit, a gift from Rin. Obito nodded, helping Kakashi with his wound. 

“Seems you made it past my teammates,” the shinobi holding Rin smirked, letting her hit the ground.

“Something’s off. Rin’s chakra…” Obito started.

“Probably she’s under genjutsu,” Kakashi explained. “Let’s go, Obito.” He dashed against the enemy, followed by the Uchiha. The battle wasn’t long. Obito made sure to cover Kakashi’s blind side and anticipate the shinobi’s movements, giving Kakashi a clean shot to slice the enemy. They didn’t check if the shinobi was still alive or not; they focused on Rin.

“Release!” Kakashi gestured to Rin, who quickly snapped out of her trance.

“Kakashi! Obito!” 

“Are you alright?” Kakashi asked.

“Don’t worry. We came to save you." Obito smiled watching her chakra flow return to normal. 

"Doton! Rock Breaker!" 

"Damn! We have to get the hell out of here now!" Kakashi helped Rin get up, pushing his two friends forward to keep moving. His blind spot came into his way, hitting him right on the eye.

"Kakashi!" Obito stopped turning around and grabbing his friend, throwing him away. 

It took them a few seconds to regain consciousness.

"Are you okay? Kakashi, Rin," Obito's weak voice rose.

"Obito!" Rin gasped in shock, rushing to his side. 

Kakashi didn't comment. He was staring at Obito's body crushed underneath a giant boulder.

"Kakashi... your chakra," Obito tried to warn him.

"Are you letting him die, Kakashi?" Kurama got up, his voice sounding so distant. 

The roar of the kyuubi was all the stone shinobi heard before watching stones explode around the collapsed cave. Red chakra coming out of it in the form of 3 tails. 

Obito felt the pressure from the boulder lift, his body still numb, but at least he could move his leg.

"Kakashi, stop it. It's not worthy." Obito tried to calm the Hatake down, but by the condition of his chakra, he didn't know if the silver-haired kid could hear him out. "Rin...the seal." Obito squeezed the girl's hand, but Rin was terrified. She couldn't move, and it seemed that Kakashi was ready to end her life too. 

With a jump, the hatake was gone. 

"I'm sorry, Obito," Rin trembled.

"It's okay. But... his chakra... it seemed to be consumed by the kyuubi's. We need to help him." Obito tried to convince the girl. She nodded, getting up. She wasn't sure how to stop Kakashi, but if she could get just close enough, she could apply the seal. 

The shinobi that had kidnapped her perked above the crater, forming a paralyzing ring. Even Obito was worried. But then his body went limp and fell backwards, revealing Kakashi still enraged on top of it. No words were exchanged. Kakashi's tails grabbed both Rin and Obito, leaping away. He had to stop when the enemy shinobi surrounded them muttering something about wanting the jinchuuriki and how he was just a kid.

"It seems you lost control," Kurama looked at the silver-haired kid. "Alright then. Let's bring some chaos around here," he smirked.

Kakashi opened his mouth, creating a black sphere in front of it.

"The rasengan?" Obito asked, "Why is it black?" 

Kakashi gulped down the mini sphere. "And why did you eat it, Kakashi?!" He asked, terrified and confused. Confusion that got replaced by pure shock when the sphere got ejected, destroying part of the forest. 

It seemed he was ready to repeat the action, but ninjas started to fall one by one until Minato landed on the branch in front of them. 

"Kakashi! Are you in control?" He asked, but without an answer from the boy, Minato took out the seal to suppress the Kyuubi. "Hold on," he instructed his two students, leaping forward and applying the seal on Kakashi's forehead. It took nearly a minute for the red chakra to vanish, but Minato managed to get ahold of his students and catch Kakashi the moment he passed out. 

Minato teleported them to a safer spot, away from the forest. Obito was injured; Rin was doing her best to keep the vitals in check.

"So?" Minato asked. 

"Seems that his organs regenerated pretty fast. As for his nervous system... I don't think I can do anything about it," Rin shook her head.

"That's alright. Check on Kakashi. I think he lost his eye too," Obito called out.

Rin nodded, going to Kakashi's side and removing his bandages. The wound had completely healed, but the scar still was there. Rin did a quick job to check his left eye, sighing in relief.

"His eye is fine. And so is his wound," she announced as Obito smiled.

"He's Kakashi after all," he spoke to the moon.

"Alright then. I'll teleport you back to the village. We will send another team for the bridge."

"No," both Rin and Obito protested. 

"We are close," Obito said. "I am not in critical condition, sensei. But this mission... if we fail it, the war will keep going. Kakashi is already suffering for the actions of his father. I want to first hear what he has to say in this. With all due respect... he's our jonin." Obito explained 

"Very well," Minato nodded, surrendering.

Kakashi woke up an hour later. 

"Are you alright, Kakashi?" Minato asked, looking at him.

"Obito! Rin!" Kakashi called out, sitting down.

"What is it?" Obito asked leaned against the rock with Rin sitting next to him.

"I...was worried," Kakashi blushed, avoiding Minato to go sit with his friends.

"That's adorable. And to think we believed you betrayed us," Obito smirked.

"Obito...you need medical attention," Kakashi stated, concerned, "and...I'm sorry for whatever I did earlier."

"You mean save our butts?" Obito gently punched his friend. "If it wasn't for you, we would be dead by now."

"Maybe, but... if I was able to get away from Aoi earlier, then I'd..."

"Aoi is a jerk! I shouldn't have trusted him so easily!" Rin pouted.

"Totally! And to think he helped us!" Obito nodded angrily.

"That is still on me. I'm the jonin. I trusted him when he mentioned the enemy." Kakashi looked down.

"Kakashi... we are at war. You already felt the pressure to keep us safe. Mistakes can happen."

"I guess that's how my father felt. Not knowing what to do in a moment of crisis"

"Your father didn't have a chance like we do. Take Rin and go to Kannabi Bridge. Sensei can take you there as the third member of the team."

"What about you? I'm not leaving you here!" Kakashi looked at him horrified.

"Sensei will teleport me to the village with his technique!" Obito raised his thumb. "And when you are all done, you come home and tell me everything else!" 

"Obito," Rin whispered in surprise.

"Make sure he doesn't get hurt. And Kyuubi, make sure they both come home safely. Thanks for making sure I wouldn't die." 

Kurama smirked from behind the cage, moving his tails.

"I did absolutely nothing. It was all thanks to you, Kakashi. Tell him."

Kakashi looked at Obito.

"He says you're welcome. You did say he was part of team 7."

"The best team in the entire village. Too bad I can't be part of it anymore."

Kakashi fell silent before looking at Minato. 

"Sensei. Isn't there a study with the Hashirama cells? Don't you think we can try?" 

"We can. But it has a high chance of death," Minato replied, concerned. 

"I'll take it! I still want to be better than Kakashi!" Obito grinned.

"I'll see what I can do," Minato nodded.