Rewind

Obito stayed in the hospital for several months. Tsunade came in just to assist to the transplant and make sure Obito had a higher chance of survival into this. 

Rin and Kakashi visited every day. With the war behind them, the trio could finally relax and lick their wounds. Rin had decided to train in the medical field so she could assist Obito further, but at the same time, she kept training her ice chakra just to make sure she could still go on missions with Kakashi. She was even promoted to chunin on the field.

Today was no different. Rin and Kakashi passed by to check on his recovery.

"Tsunade-sama told me we can start on the physiotherapy!" He spoke excitedly, "So don't slack off, Kakashi! Because with my Sharingan, I can finally beat you up!" 

"I and the kyuubi are still training, you know? It should be you to put everything into this recovery, or else you'll fall behind," Kakashi smirked in response.

"Did Fugako-san come to visit you? I saw him leave this morning," Rin asked as Obito became serious.

"Yes. He told me that once I'm out of here, I should go to him to train my sharingan. He didn't expect me to have awakened it! Although he still thinks I can use it to control the kyuubi."

"I'd like to see him try!" Kurama growled as Kakashi giggled.

"What's so funny?" Obito asked.

"The kyuubi challenged you. In a way, at least. Although it sounded more like a threat to me," Kakashi explained, "he has a lot to say about being controlled."

"Considering what Madara did... I'd be pissed off too," Rin confirmed.

"What about sensei? He didn't come to visit me once!" Obito pouted.

"Well," Kakashi started, "the third just appointed him as the next hokage. If I'm not wrong, he should be appointed next week."

"What?! Sensei is going to be the fourth Hokage?!" Obito yelled in surprise.

"That might make you the fifth" Kakashi nodded "so make sure you get back on your feet. I doubt I'll tolerate Gai any longer.

"Oh right. Since I'm here, it's Gai who assists you," Obito gasped in surprise. "Wait. If the war is over, then why are we still going on missions? I heard someone got attacked by mist shinobi."

"Not everyone was inclined to ending it. The stone learned their lesson, I guess. They faced Sensei and a bijuu," Kakashi explained. "I guess that motivated them into stopping. The kyuubi is ecstatic about having done his part, but I'm not sure that was a brilliant idea."

"But Kakashi. Kyuubi is part of our team. He's supposed to do his part," Obito disagreed.

"That's true. But he's that teammate that can win by a snap of his fingers. He's like cheating in a game. It's a war we started, and I don't see why he had to put his claw into this mess."

"Well... if you ask for my opinion. I think it was you that practically forced him to. You went crazy because I was hurt. You wanted to save me, and I think all the kyuubi did was to fulfill your wish. I mean, he did give me the right physical conditions to start this Hashirama cell experiment." Obito looked at the Hatake.

"I guess," the hatake shrugged his shoulders.

"So I have a favor to ask," Obito spoke after a few more insignificant topics. "When sensei becomes Hokage, would you come by to take me there? I mean, I cannot miss it, but I doubt the nurses will let me out."

"Then maybe you shouldn't be out." Rin crossed her arms. 

"Please, Rin! I mean, he's our sensei! It's a no-miss event!" Obito pleaded, "I'll do everything you say if you do so."

"Actually Obito. I don't think we will be here." Rin came clean.

"What do you mean?" Obito asked.

"We have a mission. We are getting ready for it, but the travel time between the leaf and the stone is of days. We cannot teleport like sensei, you know?" Kakashi raised his hands.

"Plus...Gai is coming with us. And some other chunins," Rin added.

"Let's not mention the five Anbu. We don't know the mission yet; we will be informed about it tomorrow when we leave," Kakashi proceeded.

"If you don't make it to the nomination... I'm going to be so mad at you both!" Obito pouted. It was clear, however, that he was just saddened by the team missing out on such an event.

"We can't promise anything," Kakashi raised his hands in the air.

"Then promise me you'll look out for each other and come back in one piece!" Obito forced them to promise. Even though they couldn't. 

But Obito remained optimistic, and for the greater part of the mission, the trio was on it.

It was an easy mission, or supposedly. 

At the end of the third ninja war, the stone gave up their attacks and retreated for the sake of their people. Minato had managed to 'convince' them enough. But the rest of the world wasn't on the same terms. The mist and some minor villages were still at war, and while they only had to bring some documents to the stone, they were also in the target of those that considered themselves a war. 

Thankfully the journey was peaceful for the major part of it. Gai, Kakashi, and Rin were getting along pretty well, and for once there wasn't any challenge in the midst of it. 

"We are surrounded," an Anbu spoke as the trio got immediately on guard. 

"Mist shinobi," another spoke up, clashing with a shinobi.

"Rin! Gai! Stay close," Kakashi warned them.

"C'mon, Kakashi! We can do this!" Gai pouted.

"I don't care! We have an order! And I don't want you to end up like him!" 

The silence among them fell heavy. Kakashi sighed but obeyed the Anbu. Did it mean he liked it? Not really.

"Team Kakashi," one of the Anbu spoke, "go ahead and deliver those documents to the stone. We cannot have the mist bring us to war again!" 

"Understood!" Kakashi nodded, guiding his team away from the battlefield. 

For a while they seemed to avoid the fighting, and the stone was getting closer.

"Gay. Take these documents and go," Kakashi told him.

"What? Why?" Gai asked, confused, as Kakashi and Rin stopped.

"Rin and I will cover your back. Just go! If we don't give them the peace, it will never be officialized!" Kakashi explained, "Rin, create a barrier of ice! I'll add the earth one as well. These are mist shinobi that cannot use ice. It will be a better barrier than the earth one," he explained to her as the girl nodded, waving. 

She had time to practice her ice style, and despite not being fully complete, the ice wall was sturdy.

The fight was ugly, and even though Gai came back to them instead of leaving them behind, the fight wasn't really in their favor.

"Let's wrap it up!" Someone from the mist called out, "Let's take the girl and get the hell out of here," he added. 

"Watch out!" Kakashi and Gai rushed to the girl, but within a matter of seconds, Rin fell right into the arms of a mist ninja.

"Reverse summoning!" The mist signed vanishing.

"Rin!" Gai called out, turning toward Kakashi, "We have to save her!" He cried out. 

Kakashi didn't move. He seemed paralyzed in fear, and Gai was on his side within seconds.

"Come on, man! Pick yourself up!" He growled. In that moment the hinge vanished, revealing a frantic Rin.

"I'm sorry," she whispered to Gai. "I... he begged me to do this," she teared up. "I didn't know they'd take him!" 

"Kakashi!" Gai called out. 

Kakashi woke up from genjutsu pretty quickly, and he thought of an Oscar award for the fact that he kept a straight face during the whole ordeal. The mist ninja had a scroll with them and were discussing among themselves. 

"Okay, what's the plan now, Kyuubi?" He asked the fox, who was clearly nervous.

"There's no plan. We did what we had to do; now it's a matter of waiting," Kurama replied, looking outside for any signs of rescuing. "We just need to hope no one will come to save us right now."

"What?" Kakashi asked, "You made them take me! What are you planning to do?" 

"They began. Go out there and keep faking you're under genjutsu. Once they have finished, they'll let you go, and when you're far enough, drop the henge and come back here," Kurama simply instructed them. 

Kakashi wasn't sure of what was going on. He felt immense pressure on his stomach, and he mentally hoped they weren't trying to do something to the kyuubi.

However, just as Kurama told him, the mist released him from the genjutsu before letting him go. He didn't question it and ran off from the cave he was in. 

He stopped when he thought he was away from them.

"So?" Kakashi returned to the mindscape just to freeze. There was another cage, right next to Kyuubi's.

"Is this the brat you were telling me about, Nine Tails?" The tailed beast asked, his lone eye fixated on him.

"Yes. Good job, Kakashi. We managed to save one of them. However, his seal is incomplete. You cannot go back to the leaf, or everything is gone."

"I'm sorry...what?! Why did you do this? Why is there another here?'

"He's the three-tailed. There will come someone that will try to get his hands on my siblings. Alone we cannot stand the enemy, but together we will have a chance." Kurama explained, "I knew they'd try to seal the three tails inside your friend, so I made the decision for you to take him in."

"And because you're a Hatake, we can all reunite here without destroying your body," Isobu added.

"I'm sorry, destroy my body?!" Kakashi slightly panicked.

"Humans can host one bijuu at a time. Uzumaki's can host 3 of us at the same time. The Hatake clan, however, can host all of us together. We can share our chakra with everyone, but hosting our entire powers is only the Hatake clan. Kurama proceeded to explain, "Your clan's kekkai genkai allows your chakra coils to adapt to everything you come in contact with. If you were to wear a sharingan, for example, you could turn it on and off as your chakra would turn into one of the Uchiha's clan. That's why you can also copy also kekkai genkai. That's why you can host us. Your chakra adapts to us. It turns you into someone that can host and tolerate and use our powers. It's not just the chakra sharingan that doesn't last much. You can say that, partially, you will become a bijuu yourself.

"That's why you chose me?" Kakashi asked.

"Yes. I want to keep my siblings safe, but in order to do that, we need to be one. Kurama lay down. "Now all you have to do is wait for Minato to come pick you up. Done that, he can fix the seal, cutting off the power the mist has right now. 

"I'm totally not okay with this. However... I know how important friends are. You are my friend, and because of this...I'll help you out. Then what?" Kakashi asked

"Once the threat has been destroyed, you can release us back into the wild."

"Won't I die for doing so?" Kakashi asked, "That's what Minato keeps telling me."

"Contrary to his knowledge, you won't die. Even though they consider you a jinchuuriki, you're not entirely one. Your body is just adapting to a new ability you gained. Once we are free, your chakra will return to normal."

"Because it will take it as my copy time to finish."

"In simpler words, yes. Your kekkai genkai doesn't cut out chakra away all of a sudden. Our chakra will be with you for a while, and slowly your body will return to before I was sealed into you. That's why it was important for me to move from Kushina to you."

Kakashi nodded but didn't really argue. This was a lot to take in, and there was a lot to deal with outside his mindscape. 

"As long as you don't create havoc with my body... I guess I can do this. I'm not too much into this whole jinchuuriki stuff, but if I don't help you, then I'm not part of Team 7. Three tails," he looked at the beast inside the cage, "don't worry. I'm not going to force myself on you. I really don't like using your chakras even though apparently I still don't know how to avoid my anger from doing so."

"It's okay, kiddo. As long as it's not intentional or asked for, I'm not going against you either. And stop calling me three tails. Call me Isobu." The three-tailed fox closed his eyes to rest.

"Alright, Isobu. Thanks. Kyuubi, next time you want to pull something like this off...please talk to me about it. I don't want to use your chakra forcibly, but I'd like for you to stop using me forcibly. We can discuss things together instead of you not telling me what's going on around me. Especially since this is my body.

"Understood, kiddo."

Minato wasn't late this time. Call it as you want, but for Kakashi, Minato came right on time. They had to work outside the land of fire for a few days, but eventually Isobu got a new brand seal. Kakashi didn't tell Minato this was planned, and the concern on his face was hard to miss. Rin and Gai, who had come to save him, stayed by his side through the whole ordeal.

Obito was ecstatic to see them back and even more ecstatic to know the Kyuubi had a sibling.

"Apparently the kyuubi has 9 siblings. We have his brother Isobu," Kakashi had told them. 

"He cares a lot about others," Rin observed. 

"Kind of. He's nothing like what Kushina-san told me about. Sure, he can be intimidating, but he's a softy."

"Hey! I'm right here, you know?!" Kurama growled as Isobu laughed at the antics. Seeing the kyuubi be praised or teased always had put his siblings in a good mood. 

"Oh right! Did Sensei become Hokage yet?" Rin asked.

"I read outside the ceremony is tomorrow," Kakashi replied.

"Then we get to go!" Obito raised his fist.

They didn't know that Minato becoming Hokage wasn't a good deal. While it seemed everyone had accepted him, the life of Team 7 was about to change for the worse.

"They what?!" Obito asked from his wheelchair in the Hokage office. 

"You heard me. The voice of Kakashi being a jinchuuriki of two tailed beasts was not well taken by the village. They want him gone, or a civil war breaks out," Minato explained, looking down.

"But they can't do that!" he argued.

"The council expressed themselves. Given Kakashi's history, he cannot stay here anymore." Danzo looked at the trio.

"Well, the council can go and lick my butt. They already have a tree stuck in their butt, so I don't care! Sensei! You can't let them do this!" Obito pleaded

"It's not up to him, Obito." Kakashi put his hand on Obito's shoulder. "I'll go. It's the best choice. I have a mission on my own, remember? I can manage myself out of these walls. If me staying means war, we cannot afford that."

"But Kakashi!" Obito tried again.

"No buts. Obito, one day you'll become Hokage. When that will happen, I'll be the first in line. But till t you have to make sure there is a village for you to look after." Kakashi explained removing his headband. "Sensei. Thanks for everything. I'll make sure to keep in touch," he bowed, making his way outside. Three anbu following his every step.

He had to leave during the night, just so he wouldn't raise eyes on himself. He stopped seeing Minato and Kushina at the gates and, with them, some of his classmates. Asuma, Kurenai, Gai, Rin. Everyone was there to wish him a safe journey, handling him gifts to make sure he had something of them. Gai cried, and so did Rin. Asuma and Kurenai promised to keep an eye on them. Hikari was also there, waving to him with a saddened face.

"Hikari," he greeted her. 

"I became a genin," she told him. 

"I'm glad to hear it. You met Obito yet?" He asked as Hikari shook her head. 

"Not yet. But Rin told me she'll make me"

"Good. Take care of yourself. Take care of each other." Kakashi greeted them. He didn't really go far before noticing Obito's wheelchair.

"Obito," he called out in surprise. The Uchiha held out his headband for Kakashi to have.

"I don't like any of this," Obito started, "not right when we were getting along so well."

"I know. But I'll be back when everyone's safe," he looked at Obito in return.

"Kakashi," Obito whispered, "make sure to return to me alive. If I lose you...I won't make it."

"Don't worry. I'll make sure to come back to you," Kakashi smiled as Obito nodded.