"Aw, Rin, please?" Obito pleaded, making the most ridiculous-looking pout Rin had ever seen. She giggled, clapping a hand over her mouth.

Her best friend looked absolutely miserable, splayed out against the base of the tree—twigs and leaves sticking out of his sweat-matted hair, clothes scuffed and torn, the beginnings of a bruise already forming on his forehead.

Oops—Rin must have missed that one when she had been practicing her medical ninjutsu.

"Just one little break—it'll be just five minutes, I swear! Sensei won't even know!" Obito paused, glancing off furtively in the direction of the field where Minato and Kakashi were sparring. He scrunched up his nose in distaste. "He's too busy fighting with Bakashi, anyways. That stupid loser, he always gets to fight Minato-sensei. It's not fair," he groused.

Rin marched over to Obito and lightly smacked him upside the head, smiling in exasperation "That's because you still need to work on your tree-walking, and I need to practice my medical ninjutsu."

Obito kept grumbling, so with a gentle huff, she grabbed his hands and yanked him to his feet. He yelped in surprise, face turning slightly red, but Rin ignored him. Her face turned serious, and she gave him an intent stare.

"Obito, are you really going to give up so easily?"

"What? No, of course not! I never give up!" he spluttered.

"Exactly." Rin's face melted back into a smile. Letting go of his hands, she stepped back and nodded confidently. "I believe in you, Obito. You can do this!"

Obito's eyes widened slightly, but then narrowed in determination. He nodded. "Right—yeah! I can do this."

He whirled around and glared up at the tree, jutting a finger up at it. "You're easy! Just watch, I'll defeat you in no time, you stupid tree!"

He glanced back at Rin. "Er, just in case I fall down..." Obito's face flushed. "You know, like if Bakashi interrupts me, or a bird flies into my eyes or something!" he said hastily.

"Right, right." Rin bit the inside of her cheeks to keep from laughing.

"Can—can you catch me this time? I mean, not that I'll need it, but, you know, just in case..." He looked down and away, cheeks tinged pink.

Rin reminded herself that she really shouldn't laugh at Obito's embarrassment. But he was such an adorable klutz! She reached out and ruffled his hair, pausing to pull out a particularly large twig as she did so.

"Of course, Obito. I'm just sorry I couldn't catch you earlier because of Sensei's orders for my medical ninjutsu practice."

Obito grinned in relief. "Rin, you're the best." He turned to the tree with renewed determination. "Alright! Let's do this."

Rin watched him, a smile on her face. This was what she loved about Obito—his sheer, stubborn will. He really did never give up—whether it was something small like climbing a tree, or something huge like becoming Hokage, Rin didn't doubt for a second that Obito would do anything but succeed. He was an anomaly that way—yes, maybe he wasn't so strong, or so skilled, but Obito was the nicest, friendliest, most tenacious person Rin knew.

One day, Rin was certain, Obito would achieve great things, and blow the rest of Konoha away.

He was now about eight metres up the tree, more than three-quarters of the way there. Slowly but surely, he was making his way upwards. Rin inched a bit closer to the tree, ready to catch him if necessary.

"Almost... there..." With the utmost care, Obito took another step. Rin could see his body trembling with the effort.

She cupped her hands around her mouth and called out. "You're doing amazing, Obito! Just a few more steps!"

He was close, so close—Obito was actually going to make it, and on the first try, too! Rin grinned, amazed at what Obito could accomplish when he just put his mind to it. She watched with bated breath as he took another step—

And then his body went limp.

Obito fell. Rin's eyes widened. She tensed her muscles, arms ready. And Obito had been steps away, too! But she supposed she should have expected this might happen, even if the way Obito had abruptly lost focus seemed a little strange.

What she most definitely had not expected was for Obito to suddenly regain control and twist himself around in midair, about to pull off a textbook tuck and roll.

As his face turned towards her, his expression morphed into one of pure shock. Rin paused, taken aback.

And then she yelped as Obito crashed into her, his attempted tuck and roll futile when there was a body right under him.

Rin had barely hit the ground and was still getting her bearings when Obito practically flew off her to a good five metres away. She wheezed, glad for the lifted weight. If she hadn't known how bad Obito was at it, she'd have thought he had used a shunshin.

Sitting up, she rubbed the back of her head with a wince and glanced over in embarrassment. "I'm so, so sorry, Obito! I should have reacted faster, I don't know what I was—"

And then she really looked at him.

At his wide eyes, slack jaw, and deathly pale face.

What?

Rin frowned, an odd chill running down her spine. "Obito? Are you alright?"

She paused, waiting for him to respond with his typical blustering confidence.

But he didn't.

Obito continued to stare at her, frozen to the spot. The look on his face—Rin didn't even know how to describe it. Shock? But no, it was much more than that. Disbelief? But that didn't quite capture the way his eyebrows drew together, or the slight tension in the corners of his eyes.

This wasn't normal. She always knew how to read Obito's expressions!

Rin bit her lip and stood up. "Okay, what's wrong? You look like you've seen a ghost!" She walked over to Obito.

He took a step back, that strange look still on his face.

"R-Rin?"

Her frown deepened, and she stretched her hand out to feel Obito's forehead.

He flinched.

Rin paused, now really concerned. "Obito, I just want to check your temperature. You're acting a little strange." She pressed her hand to his forehead, her eyes crinkling in worry.

But his temperature seemed fine—maybe she could run a diagnostic jutsu? Should she go call for Minato? Or maybe Obito was just a little in shock from his sudden fall—had he hit his head? Rin pursed her lips, thoughts racing.

And then, like a switch had been flipped, Obito relaxed, melting back into normalcy. He took ahold of her wrist and lifted it from his forehead, gently setting it down. Still with a hint of that odd stare, he gave a smile that Rin thought was just the tiniest bit shaky. "Sorry, Rin! Think I spaced out for a second. It's all this training, y'know?"

Rin frowned. "Well, if that's all it is..."

"Yeah," he said, scratching the back of his head in embarrassment.

To Rin's relief, Obito was no longer staring at her with that single-minded intensity—but instead, he was staring everywhere else. His eyes flickered to and fro, seeming to inspect everything from the ground to the sky. It was almost reminiscent of Minato, whenever Sensei teleported them to a brand new location and needed to scope things out.

He paused, posture stiffening a little again. "Hey, Rin."

"Hmm?"

"Kakashi's out in the centre field, right?"

"Yeah, he's still sparring with Minato-sensei." Rin creased her brow. "You don't remember?"

"Oh, no, I was just... thinking." He took a few steps in the direction of the field. "I just remembered I have to talk to the idiot about something."

He turned around. "Rin, just stay here, alright?" He spoke lightly, but the piercing look on his face belied his casual words.

No, something was definitely still going on with Obito.

"...Yes, of course," she said. She tucked away a stray strand of hair. "But, Obito—"

And then the strand of hair escaped again as a sudden gust of wind filled their little alcove. Blinking, Rin realized a figure had just flickered into the clearing.

Was that—Kakashi?

The smoke cleared. Yes, it was Kakashi. But Rin—Rin was not prepared to see that exact same look on his face. The same one that Obito had, that screamed surprise and vulnerability and a whole host of other things that Rin was sure she must be imagining because they made no sense.

Across from her, Obito tensed, opening his mouth.

With a hiss, Kakashi seemed to regain control, shaking himself out of whatever stupor he had been in. He snapped his head over towards Obito.

"Obito," he spat out, a murderous glint in his eyes that Rin had never quite seen before.

And then they both jumped into action, fists flying at speeds Rin almost couldn't follow, hissing out words that gave no context as to what was going on.

Her mind whirled. What—what on earth?

She hurried towards them. "Kakashi, what are you doing?!"

He spared her a quick glance, his eyes cold as ice and twice as cutting.

Rin froze.

Kakashi could be aloof, yes, distant, yes, but never... never so cold. Never towards her, a teammate! That had been the look he gave enemy nin seconds before a battle, the look he gave their cooling bodies seconds afterwards.

Rin took a shaky breath. Bloodthirsty Kakashi or not, this was her team, and she'd be damned if she couldn't play the peacemaker between the boys one more time.

She ran forwards—a plea on her lips for them to stop—when Minato finally arrived, blurring to a stop next to her.

Rin practically melted in relief.

Sensei, Sensei was here! Things would be okay—he'd sort this out, like he always did. Kakashi would apologize reluctantly, Obito would huff out an unintelligible "apology", and later that day Rin would drag the truth out of her friend and force him to go back and apologize properly.

She turned her head to him. "Sensei, what's going on with Kakashi and Obito?"

Minato grimaced. "I have no idea. But I intend to find out."

"Shouldn't—shouldn't you stop them?"

"This may yet just be a little spar. A heated spar, yes, but it might be something they just need to get it out of their system." Minato sounded like he was trying to convince himself more than anything, but still gave her a quick, reassuring smile, placing a hand on her shoulder.

Rin smiled back hesitantly. The smile died as she turned back to Kakashi and Obito's fight. Still, it was with enormous relief that Rin realized Obito was somehow still holding his own, though Kakashi appeared, for all intents and purposes, to be trying to kill him.

"Genjutsu? Infinite Tsukuyomi?" Kakashi gritted out strange terms in-between punches and kicks. "Another abomination cooked up by you and Madara?"

Infinite Tsuku... huh?

And, Madara? As in, Uchiha Madara? Rin was relatively certain there were no others named after the village's greatest traitor, never mind someone that Obito would know.

A genjutsu? What was Kakashi talking about?

"And them. Here. How could you?" Kakashi hissed.

Even without having a clue as to what Kakashi was saying, Rin's chest tightened at the palpable anger in his voice.

With relief, she watched as Minato finally decided enough was enough, and grabbed ahold of Kakashi's wrist.

And then she cried in horror as Kakashi melted out of Minato's grip, a water clone, and a hail of very sharp, very real, and very lethal clay spikes rained down on Obito.

They slammed into Obito's chest, and for a split second, Rin's heart stopped.

Kakashi—Kakashi had just—

One substitution jutsu later, and Rin didn't think she had ever been so happy to see a log as she was right then.

Obito's sharp voice cut through the air, coming from somewhere above her. "If you want answers so badly, stop trying to murder me and let me speak!"

Deliriously, Rin wondered if she had been dropped into an alternate universe. One where up was down and left was right, where Kakashi was hell-bent on killing his teammate and Obito's personality had done a complete one-eighty, where both were scarily talented shinobi a thousand times better than the Kakashi and Obito she knew.

She watched helplessly as they took their spat to the treetops, low hisses and vicious whispers dancing just out of range.

A few seconds, a "stay put", and a hair ruffle later, Minato jumped up to join them. His voice, stern and admonishing, joined the fray.

The minutes felt like hours as Rin waited for her team to come back down. She couldn't help but feel left out, helpless to do anything. As the self-appointed mediator of Team Minato, she wanted to jump up there and give them both a talking-to herself, dammit!

But orders were orders, and Rin had faith that whatever it was that had made her boys act so violently out of character, Minato would get to the bottom of it. And so she waited.

Ages later, someone finally jumped back down—Obito. He stared at her, and took in a deep breath.

Rin rushed over, her eyes darting over him, checking for injuries. Her eyes zeroed in on a cut—a deep cut!—on his left forearm.

Her brows knitting in worry, she grabbed his arm and immediately began channelling her chakra to heal it.

"Uchiha Obito!" Rin glared up at him even as she started the process of weaving tissues and tendons back together. "What on earth was that? Why were you two fighting? What were you thinking?"

He laughed sheepishly—at least his personality was back to normal, Rin thought. "Er, just a little prank? Genjutsu? Seriously, don't worry about it."

Rin's jaw dropped. The green glow around her palm faded out. "'Don't worry about it?' Obito, you could have died! I nearly saw Kakashi kill my best friend! Can you imagine how that feels?"

He flinched.

"You're right," he said, eyes growing distant. "I can imagine that must have felt horrible. I'm sorry."

Rin frowned. "Well... it's alright. As long as you don't provoke Kakashi like that again." She restarted her healing, noting that Minato and Kakashi were jumping down to join them.

Obito grinned, relaxing again. "Yeah, of course! I promise," he declared.

Rin glanced up at him. Her brows furrowing slightly. Was it her imagination, or did Obito's grin seem just the tiniest bit forced?

...Her mind was going into overdrive. This was silly. She shook her head at herself, and gave Obito a wry smile. "Right. It'll be a miracle if you can go a single day without riling Kakashi up."

He huffed at that, but didn't argue.

"Sensei," Kakashi said. Rin looked up. "Is it alright if I leave early? I'm not feeling well."

"Oh!" Minato gave Kakashi a worried once-over. "Of course, Kakashi. It's not a cold, is it?"

Rin gave Kakashi an appraisal as well. He looked a little on edge, and Rin wondered just what kind of genjutsu Obito had done to make even Hatake Kakashi seem so jittery.

But Kakashi just shook his head, the reticent teenage boy that he was, and turned to leave.

Rin fidgeted. "Wait. Kakashi!" He paused, turning his head back. He glanced at her expectantly.

She started to ask if he was alright, but the words died on her lips as she pursed them in frustration.

She already knew what he'd say—or rather, what he wouldn't say. Kakashi would just nod, as he always did when she was concerned about him. Or say that he was "fine," because for some reason he was under the ridiculous belief that showing any kind of weakness or humanity was improper for a shinobi.

"...Never mind. Just, get some rest, okay? Don't stay up training all night again."

Kakashi lowered his eyes. He glanced back up at her, giving another nod.

Was that guilt? Rin wondered in exasperation and worry if he had been planning to do exactly that.

Kakashi gazed around at all of them with a sort of heavy finality, like he was almost reluctant to leave. But with one last glance at Obito, he flickered away, leaving behind only a breeze and an empty spot where he had been standing.

Rin frowned, something about Kakashi still giving her an uneasy feeling. But she turned back to Obito, her work on his arm done. She brushed the healed area with her fingers, giving it one last check. "There," she said, shaking her thoughts away. "All good." She gave it a pat and let go.

Obito gaped at his arm in awe. "Whoa, you can't even see it anymore!" He grinned at Rin. "Thanks!"

"Well, Rin," Minato said, chuckling. "I suppose you got your fill of practice for today. Good work on that laceration."

Rin turned red at the praise. "Thank you!"

"Uh, Sensei?" Obito raised his hand. "Now that Bakashi's left, does that mean practice is over?"

Minato frowned. "Well, I still haven't seen your tree-climbing yet—"

"Oh, come on, I just did it earlier! I was up on that tree, wasn't I?"

"I suppose..."

"And I was pretty good, right?" Obito grinned expectantly.

Minato sighed, the corners of his lips twitching. He nodded.

"Exactly!" Obito gave the air a triumphant fist pump. "So that means training is over! It's practically dinnertime, anyways," he added. "These practices are brutal. I'm starving!"

"Obito, it's only four in the afternoon—"

"I thought you wanted to spar with Sensei—"

"See ya!"

And then he was gone.

For a few seconds, Rin stared at his empty spot.

"Uh, Sensei. I think that was a shunshin."

Minato nodded slowly.

"...Obito can do Shunshin too?"

"Well, he can now," he said wryly. He shook his head. "Rin, what on earth's been going on today?"

She sighed, plopping down onto the grass with a defeated grimace. A few seconds later, Minato joined her.

Rin brought her knees up to her chest and dropped her head into her crossed arms. "I'm as lost as you are, Sensei. Obito was tree-walking, perfectly fine!" She gestured for emphasis. "Then all of a sudden, he just fell off. And then he started acting all strange. You should have seen the look on his face—he was staring at me like I just killed his puppy."

Minato's eyebrows wrinkled in thought. "Kakashi did the same thing. We were in the middle of sparring when he seemed to completely lose focus—he almost took a kunai to the face," he added, frowning. "I thought he was just showing off, but now that I think back on it, he seemed quite genuinely disoriented."

"It must have been one nasty genjutsu." Rin hesitated, running a hand through her hair. "Did they seem a bit off to you? Just now, as well?"

Minato nodded. "You know, I could have sworn Kakashi was hiding a smile under that mask, back there when he was leaving. And earlier, he apologized. To Obito! Without being prompted!" He laughed weakly. "He even admitted that he let his anger get the best of him."

Rin gaped. "Kakashi—he—" She shook herself. "Well, that was a horrible earth jutsu that he used."

"I almost had a heart attack." Minato rubbed his temples. "I don't even know where he learned it—certainly not from me."

Rin made a face. "I love them, but... they're such boys."