A Most Memorable Night

Obito stood by crouched near the ground digging a shuriken into the training ground's turf. From the corner of his eye he watched Kakashi stroll off with Rin bouncing at his side as the two of them went to dinner. Usually, Obito would have been right beside them; a meal with Rin to good to pass up, but not today. No, today he had to ask a favor of his teacher. A favor he wasn't sure the man would be willing to fulfill.

"Sensei?" He called as the man finished picking up the stray weapons his team had left behind after a day of training.

The Blond's light gaze swung to him as he snatched up a throwing star. "Yeah Obito?" He implored.

Swallowing, the boy looked to the freshly dug hole he'd made. "I was wondering..." he lifted his gaze to study that of his instructor. "I was wondering if I could spend the weekend at your place? Their fumigating my apartment complex and I-I don't have enough money o rent a room anywhere for a couple nights..."

A sunny grin split across the man's face and Obito instantly felt at ease. "Of course kiddo," Minato-sensei chuckled. "It's no problem!" He came to the youth's side then, ruffling his short hair. "Just make sure to bring everything you'll need!"

"I will!" Obito confirmed. He should have known his teacher would say yes. The blond was too kind not to. The man offered a hand which the boy gladly took.

Grip lingering for just a moment, Minato-sensei remarked; "If we hurry, I bet we can beat Kakashi and Rin to the restaurant."

"Let's do it!" The youth eagerly agreed, any chance to out-do Kakashi was a challenge worth taking. As he began to run, his teacher chuckling while he fell into place behind him; Obito didn't mind. It was just how Minato was as far as he was concerned.

The next evening, his duffel clutched tight in his hand, Obito knocked on his teacher's door. There was a murmur of voices and just as Obito was considering knocking one more time, the dull brown parted to reveal his loatheful teammate Kakashi. Taking a step back in surprise, the boy shouted;

"What are you doing here!?"

Nonplussed, the slighter youth leaned up against the door. "What are you doing here?" He countered.

Before anything could escalate, the owner the apartment appeared behind his pupil. "Ah you made it!" He grinned; "I was afraid you might have gotten lost," gently pushing Kakashi aside, he tugged the dark-haired boy in. "How are you?"

"Fine."

"Sensei, what's he doing here?" Kakashi scowled, arms crossed.

The blond smiled. "He's spending the night, tomorrow too right?" He asked at the end.

Obito wasn't sure he wanted to anymore, but he didn't have another place to stay so..."I am." He answered. Eyes finding his teammates, he implored; "What's he doing here?"

Putting a hand on the gray-haired boy's shoulder, Minato-sensei told him "Kakashi spends most nights here these days."

"Wh-" the Uchiha bit his tongue. He knew why. Kakashi's father died this year. The other youth was an orphan just like him. "Oh," he whispered; "I see."

Sensing how the air was shifting, the teacher laughed. "C'mon don't get all broody! It isn't even dinner time!" Bringing them close, he suggested hopefully; "We'll order take-out and play some games tonight, hm?"

Kakashi scowled. "Sensei," he muttered; "You promised to help me with building more chakra."

"I've been helping you with that all week," Minato reminded his teammate, "Besides, a little fun won't hurt you." It was a scolding if he'd ever heard one, but interestingly, Kakashi didn't fight it like he fought so many things. Instead, he huffed and relented.

"Whatever."

Minato smiled happily at this, "Attaboy!" He praised. "Now will you two be okay while I run down the road?"

"Uh, yeah." Obito answered for them.

"Great," and with one last smile, their teacher left them.

"...do you guys eat take-out a lot?"

Kakashi made a sound that was half-scoff, half-snort. "He can't cook."

"I'm guessing you can't either?" Obito pressed with a smirk.

Coolly, the slighter youth shifted his gaze to something behind the dark-haired boy's head. "I have yet to find someone who can teach me."

"So...no."

With an aggrieved sigh, his teammate replied. "No."

Looking about the rather barren hall, Obito then inquired. "What do we do while we wait?"

"We make tea," Kakashi told him and with that, the other turned away-not waiting to see if the Uchiha would follow.

"No! You can't do that Kakashi!" Obito argued as he threw down his cards. "That's cheating!"

An irritated glare met his frown. "Just because you can't doesn't mean I can't!"

Face flushed, Obito shifted his plea to his teacher. "Tell him he can't count cards!"

The blond held up his hands. "Okay, okay," he said. "Maybe we should play a different game..."

"What though? We've tried charades, twenty questions and go fish! What can we play that Kakashi won't cheat!"

"I'm not cheating! You just suck!" Kakashi protested.

Minato stood up. "Boys!" Immediately, the two settled. "Do we need to do something quiet? Like story-time?" It was supposed to be a joke, but both boy's eyes gleamed.

"What kind of story sensei?"

"Is it going to be that story about how you rescued Kushina-san and she stopped calling you a 'girly-boy'?"

"Girly-boy? She called you girly!?"

"Yeah, when I asked her about it she said Minato-sensei was an effeminate kid."

"I want to hear it! Will you tell us please sensei?!"

At a loss, Minato wondered if he hadn't failed to teach the boys something. Obviously they didn't understand sarcasm (what was up with that? Surely Kakashi should have at least...) Relenting to the fact that he would be hosting "story-time" for his two eleven-year-old students, the blond hunkered down and began.

"I thought it'd be like any other day, but as soon as I woke up..."

"Move over!" Obito hissed as he tugged at the blankets of the futon.

Kakashi held fast and glared at his teammate in the room's darkness. "This is supposed to be my bed."

"Minato-sensei told you you had to share!"

Kakashi didn't budge. "You should be sleeping on the floor."

"Uh, who summoned all of their dogs to sleep on it? Not me."

The slighter youth punched him. "Shut up, their guard dogs!"

"That's right kid," one grumbled from the floor and Obito paused mid-swing.

"They talk?"

A pair of paws padded over his calves. "'course we do, we're the Hatake summons."

Kakashi's hands went out and brought the dog-a pug-to his chest. "Yeah, they're smart. Smarter than you."

Obito smirked though. "Yeah, okay," he relented; "But I don't need to cuddle them to sleep like you do."

He could see the bright red on the gray-haired boy's cheeks in the dim light. "Shut up," he muttered. "Or I'll tell Rin that your pajamas have teddy bears on them!"

"They don't though!" Obito muttered, looking to the stripes of his top.

Kakashi was obviously smirking behind his dog. "So?" he sneered. "Who's she going to believe?"

"You suck!" Obito roared, attempting to kick Kakashi; but the other was too fast.

"Try that again kid and we'll bite your ass;" Bisuke warned him.

Feeling that this was utterly unfair, Obito whined "He started it!"

"Maybe, but we're s'posed to protect him; so you know, mess with him you mess with us." The pug in Kakashi's arms explained.

Throwing back the blanket, Obito got up. "I'm going to sleep with sensei!"

"Whatever," Kakashi yawned, his body spreading out into the place that Obito previously occupied.

With one last stomp, Obito left.

"Sensei?" The blond turned over. He'd heard everything. Opening his blanket, he invited the youth in.

Once Obito had settled across from him, Minato apologized. "Sorry about Kakashi, I was hoping with someone there with him he wouldn't bring out his ninken..."

Blinking at his teacher in the dark, the boy implored. "So he does that every night? Not just to annoy me?"

"Kakashi..." the blond searched for the right words. "Kakashi's just a kid. Like you. And he just lost his father a few months ago...I think the dogs are a comfort to him. They were Sakumo's first, you know. He likes having something from home with him."

Obito frowned. "Why doesn't he live at his house? Why's he stay with you sensei?"

Minato ran a hand over his student's head. "You know how Sakumo died right? And...and what lead up to it, don't you? I know you must have. It was gossiped about for so long..."

The Uchiha did know, he knew about the failed mission, he knew that Kakashi's dad killed himself. He'd just never talked about it, it would be a low-blow too. Swallowing, the dark-haired youth nodded. "Uh-huh," he mumbled.

"Well...Kakashi's not comfortable staying where his dad, uh, died and...no one's willing to rent to him at the moment; so..." His instructor trailed off.

There was quiet for a moment. "I won't tease him," Obito told the blond.

A relieved sigh filled his ears. "Thank you Obito," the man muttered. "The two of you are so alike...stubborn, resourceful, hot-headed; if you gave each other a chance, you'd be best friends I think."

The youth snorted. "Yeah right sensei! He's the biggest jerk ever!"

"I don't know about that," the blond chuckled. "I care about both of you, you know that right?"

"Uh, sure?" Obito agreed.

Smiling at him, light eyes softened. "I do, Obito, you, Kakashi and Rin. You're my team, my family. I'd do anything for you. It hurts sometimes to see how you and Kakashi fight."

Feeling a little embarrassed, the Uchiha looked to the futon. "I'll try to be nicer."

"Thank you Obito," Minato-sensei whispered. "Now, let's get some sleep."

Rubbing at his eyes, the boy agreed. "Yeah..." not long after, the two slipped into slumber.

This was Tdbank316's prize for being my fifteenth reviewer on And I Struggle. She wanted a story where Minato hosts a sleepover for Kakashi and Obito and that's what I've written. It's a littl more Obito-centered than I was expecting, but I hope you don't mind :)

Also, I have posted my next fic, Quietly a fic with the focus on moments between Kakashi and Ayame (the Ramen girl).

Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed it and please review!