Full Summary

Kakashi isn't obsessed with the rules. Obito isn't a crybaby dropout. Midori is Rin's cousin and isn't afraid to stand her ground. In a stronger team with stronger bonds, Team Minato faces the Third Shinobi War. From political intrigue to historic battles - through death, loss and the weight of wills - they learn what it really means to be shinobi: "the ones who endure."

See bottom of chapter for Author's Note

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of the characters.

Prologue:

The snow silenced everything – as if each flake drifting from the sky froze the air, absorbing all sound and rendering the world still. It isolated Hatake Kakashi in the darkness of winter's eve, standing alone before the Memorial Stone.

They were all gone. His father, his team, his teacher, his friends. One by one, they had slipped through his fingers, no matter how hard he had fought, how fast he had run, or how strongly he had gripped their dying hands to keep them grounded to this world.

He had killed them all with his weakness.

For all these years, strength was all he had sought. Love and kindness weren't enough to fulfill the two most basic pillars in a shinobi's life: to accomplish missions and protect one's comrades. Strength had been everything and yet he had failed, time and time again.

None of them had deserved to die. Kakashi should have been the first to go. They had had big dreams, hopes, warm families and a love for life. Kakashi had none of that. Yet here he stood, alive, to face a world in which no one was left to stand by his side.

What he wouldn't give to be with them again, to hear their voices one more time and be surrounded by their laughter. His time would come soon, of that he was sure. Until then, he would carry their wills and bear the pain and emptiness of his heart as atonement for all the lives he had failed to save.

"Obito."

He undid the bandages wrapped around the left half of his face and let them fall onto the white frosted ground. Gingerly raising his injured arms, he lifted the Konoha hitai-ate in his hand and tied it in place. For the first time, he opened both his eye and Obito's.

"I swear to you, Obito."

Never again would he fail for as long as he lived.

A hand rose to the Sharingan.

"On this eye."

Part I: Seeds of War

Chapter One:

[8 years earlier]

"It's still here..."

Kakashi stood in front of the Hatake household and wondered why no one had bothered to tear it down yet. It was the first time in over a year that he was standing beneath the entrance gates. Though the wood was slowly being overrun by moss, it felt sturdy under his hand as he pushed it open and didn't squeak like the front door of his current apartment.

He stepped over the threshold of the property and slowly walked to the main house, finding the door unlocked just as he had left it a week after his father's death. The house smelled of mildew and desertion. He stepped up, not even bothering to take off his shoes. Dust and dirt carried inside by stray animals layered the once polished wooden floors. As Kakashi made his way down the dim hallway, a rat scurried in front of him and disappeared into a hole in the wall.

He passed the kitchen and living area without sparing a glance into the rooms and only slowed when he neared his father's room at the far end of the corridor. It looked out on a small inner garden – or whatever was left of it. Weeds had long overgrown the bonsai trees his father had been fond of and all the flowers had wilted into dirt. The little pond where Kakashi had first practiced standing on water was now nothing more than a pool of mud.

Kakashi looked around the room. It was just as he had left it. Sakumo had kept very little in life and Kakashi had thrown out what few keepsakes he had possessed the day after his funeral. The only signs that Sakumo had once occupied this room was the wooden ranma above the door, carved with the Hatake crest, and a faint, black stain on the tatami floor where his father had gutted himself.

He couldn't smell the blood anymore.

Walking into the room, Kakashi stood in front of the stain and stared at it with blank eyes for a long moment. He remembered the medics making a half-hearted effort to rub the blood clean and idly reflected that they hadn't done a very good job. Then again, Kakashi had never even tried.

"I passed the Chuunin exam, Father," he said at last.

He wondered if he should add anything else – wondered if his father was even listening, or if his eyes were still as dull and empty as the last time he had seen them.

"Don't worry," he found himself saying, remembering Hatake Sakumo's last words. "I'll protect my comrades and I'll never fail to accomplish the mission. I won't be weak like you. I won't make the same mistakes. I'll grow stronger than you ever were."

It wasn't hatred that he held toward his father, or even shame for that matter. If anything, it was indifference. His father had died for his weakness. Nothing more and nothing less. He had said so himself. Kakashi wasn't one to judge how other shinobi lived their lives and accepted that some would always be weaker than others. As he saw it, the weak failed and the strong succeeded.

But a small voice in the back of his head continued to nag him. What was strength? What had Sakumo been trying to tell him that night? The discrepancy that pricked deep inside his chest when he thought of his father as weak wouldn't go away. Or was it because he still didn't know how to come to grips with his suicide? Kakashi frowned. The thought troubled him.

Even as he turned it carefully over in his mind, he found no answer, just a blank wall. Indifference, he told himself.

The house felt suddenly too oppressive so he turned on his heels and stalked out.

Taking a deep breath as he shut the gate behind him, Kakashi looked to the sky. It was just past noon. He recalled Minato saying he would be at the hospital looking in on his two other teammates so he headed toward the village center.

"Kakashi?"

He turned to see a small girl trotting toward him, the smile on her gentle face framed by a bob of brown hair.

"Rin."

"I thought it was you," she said. "I heard about your promotion. Congratulations!"

"Thanks."

"I can't believe you're already a Chuunin. Everyone at the Academy's talking about you."

Kakashi looked away and shrugged. He knew most of the children at the Academy held more jealousy than awe, which was fine. He could ignore that. Rin's eyes, on the other hand, had always held pure admiration and that made him uncomfortable. He was relieved when Rin chattered on and changed the subject.

"Sorry to hear Obito and Midori didn't pass. I'm glad they made it back alright though." A worried frown crossed her face. "I heard the final exam was brutal."

Kakashi thought back to the bloody battle royale that had ended with fatal casualties and his teammates being blown unconscious for two days. He understood why it hadn't been open to the public, so he didn't feel the need to give Rin the details. He said simply, "Your cousin needs someone to drive the concept of danger into her brain."

Rin searched Kakashi's eyes for a second and then her lips turned up in a quiet giggle. "You know where Midori gets her headstrong personality? Our grandmother. She used to be a kunoichi in the Hidden Sand Village before she met Grandfather. That's also where Midori got her talent for wind." She hesitated and then added with another mischievous smile, "Among other qualities."

Kakashi sighed and shook his head, already knowing full well what those were by now.

Rin tilted her head and looked up at Kakashi with a wistful smile. "I'm so jealous. I wish I were in your team. They say Team Minato will be the strongest in our generation, what with you being a genius, Obito an elite from the Uchiha Clan, and Midori with her element."

"If only they'd start acting like it," he mumbled.

Rin smiled broadly. "It hasn't even been a year since you graduated the Academy, but it feels so long ago already. You were always top of the class and Midori and Obito were always competing for second place." She paused and dipped her head. "Who won in the end?"

"Midori. Obito got caught stealing an A-rank ninjutsu scroll from the library and ran out of time to finish the written exams."

"That sounds just like him," Rin laughed. "It's still amazing he graduated in third place."

"Only because he made it for practical combat."

"For all the silly things he does, he is strong isn't he? You all are. I've never been able to best Midori in a spar."

"You just have different talents. Your chakra control is better than any of ours."

"You think so? Father's from a clan of medics. I'm hoping to take after him."

"That's good. We could use a medic on the team."

Rin brightened. "Really?"

Kakashi nodded. "Between Obito's craziness and Midori's recklessness, someone needs to patch them up every time they run into danger without a second thought."

Rin smothered a laugh behind her hand. "Isn't that where you come in, Kakashi?"

"I suppose."

Rin glanced at the sky and made a face. "I have to go. We have class in the training fields. Are you going to the hospital?"

He nodded.

"I wish I could go with you." She looked genuinely disappointed. "Say hi to Obito and Midori for me."

"I will," Kakashi said and watched her continue down the street. He turned and headed in the opposite direction.

.-.-.-.

Kakashi walked through the hospital gate in time to hear Midori's outraged voice coming from the far side of the gardens. Threading his way between saplings and bushes, he listened to Obito's words being drowned out by Midori's rant about the final exam, a demand for a re-match and, when told that wasn't possible, a string of curses and complaints that would have made a veteran soldier proud.

"Not fair?" Minato laughed. "What are you talking about? You three are officially the youngest participants in shinobi history to take the Chuunin exam."

Kakashi turned a final bend in the garden path and found Midori on her feet, heedless of the bandages wrapped around her head and legs. Her hands were fisted in her hair, her eyes wide and furious.

"Speak of the devil," Obito said from his seat on a bench. He too sported similar bandages around his head, a memento from the explosion during the exam.

Midori and Minato both turned, but before his teacher could utter a word, his teammate was already in his face, her hands fisted in his shirt, and shaking him with all her strength. "Kakashi, I'm going to kill you right here and now!"

Kakashi seemed to remember saving her from being killed, but kept the fact to himself.

It was difficult to miss the physical similarities between Rin and Midori. He knew their mothers were identical twins, but had it not been for Midori's lack of facial markings and her polar opposite personality, no one would have believed their fathers were from different clans. Not that it mattered, he thought, now that he knew this temper came from further up the family tree.

"Calm down," Kakashi said. "It's not such a big deal. If you would only work on your self-control – "

Midori's response was a vicious uppercut, which Kakashi only just managed to jerk back from. He dodged through a rain of blows and landed beside Obito. Midori lunged after him, only to be snatched around the waist by their teacher.

"Let me go, sensei!"

"Please, Midori, I can already hear the nurses complaining," Minato chuckled.

"Good job," Obito drawled.

Kakashi sighed. "I didn't think she'd be this mad."

They watched Minato trying to calm their teammate struggling in his arms like a spitting cat.

"Really?" Obito asked, brow raised.

"…I guess I had a vague idea."

Obito laughed and then tipped his head back to look up at Kakashi with a grin. "Congrats."

Kakashi stuck his hands in his pockets. "Thanks, I suppose. Here." He pulled out a pair of square goggles and dangled them in front of his teammate's face. For a moment Obito was surprised to see them, but he quickly recovered and grinned widely.

"I thought I'd lost these in the exam," he said, fixing them loosely over his eyes. "Ah, all's good in the world now."

"I don't know about that, but those must be the world's toughest goggles. They were lying right under a cracked boulder with hardly a scratch."

"It'll take much more than just an explosion to break these," Obito touted proudly. He grinned. "Thanks for picking them up."

"Anytime."

Minato released Midori, who looked marginally calmer but still highly dissatisfied, and turned to all three of his students. "Now then, Obito, Midori, it's time you headed back to your rooms. The nurses said you could leave by noon tomorrow and we'll continue our missions."

With reluctant but obedient replies, the two turned and disappeared down the path leading to the hospital, leaving Minato and Kakashi alone in the garden.

"Why aren't you wearing your vest?" Minato asked.

"It's too big," Kakashi replied. "I don't need it."

Minato chuckled. "I suppose they didn't expect any six year olds to pass the Chuunin exam."

Kakashi didn't say anything as the two walked out.

"Kakashi?"

The boy looked up at his teacher, who had stopped just outside the hospital gate. The piercing blue eyes were looking at him in a way that made him feel uncomfortably vulnerable.

"Is everything okay?" Minato asked.

Kakashi had been careful to act normal – to not let the darkness that had yet to settle show in his words or actions. But no matter how careful he was, he could never seem to fool his teacher.

"I'm fine sensei," he said then quickly changed the subject. "Do you have any assignments for me today?"

Minato stared at him for a moment longer and then finally broke eye contact to shake his head. "Take a break. We'll meet at one o'clock tomorrow on the bridge."

"Hai," Kakashi replied with a nod and then leapt away in a blur of movement.

.-.-.-.

Minato sighed as he watched the young prodigy leave. He wondered if it had been the best decision to let the boy go, but he knew nothing would come from forcing down the walls Kakashi had erected. Give him time, he thought to himself. What the boy needed most right now was time and a team he could trust.

With that, he turned and headed to the Hokage's administration building.

Navigating the hallways, Minato turned a corner and came face-to-face with Danzo. He bowed respectfully and fell in step with the older shinobi. Somehow, he wasn't surprised they had both been summoned by their leader.

"Congratulations on one of your team making Chuunin," Danzo said.

"Thank you. I'm grateful they all made it back safe." His lips thinned. "I'm sure you know some didn't."

In recent years the frequent skirmishes along all borders of the Five Countries had reached a point where it could no longer be overlooked as mission hostilities. Each Hidden Village knew who was friend and who was foe – for now – and had stood ready for open war.

Then unexpectedly, the Sand had proposed a Chuunin exam to be held. Konoha had agreed, followed by the Cloud and Rock. Minato knew a large part of Konoha's quick acceptance had been through Danzo's influence. He couldn't say he agreed with the older man's motives, but he understood them. All the Villages had entered for just one reason: to flex their muscles. It was the perfect platform to demonstrate their strengths, guised as it was by children.

"I've seen the reports," Danzo replied. "Three incapacitated, eight temporarily in the hospital and six promoted to Chuunin. It's not a bad outcome."

Minato remained silent. Konoha had certainly emerged with the most promotions but at what cost? Three would never fight again as ninjas. Their dreams were crushed. Luckily they had avoided fatal casualties but the Rocks and Clouds had each lost one of their children. Regardless of the times they lived in, Minato couldn't help but think that the Chuunin exams should be changed.

They reached the Hokage's office to find the Third sitting at his desk with a dark expression. A scroll lay open before him. "The Sand have formally agreed on an alliance," he explained. "One of their teams was openly slaughtered by the Mists last night."

"Just one?" Danzo asked.

"That's one too many," Hiruzen replied. "I should have suspected they were up to something when they refused to join the Chuunin exams."

"You never know what those sly Mists are thinking," Danzo said.

Minato felt his brows rising and quickly schooled his face into blank neutrality. Danzo was the slyest man he knew of at least.

Whether aware of the slip or not, Danzo continued. "It may have been a single occurrence. My sources tell me they haven't made any moves to side with other Hidden Villages."

"Whatever the case, this now makes us formal enemies. The Sands are sending a group of forces east for retribution as we speak."

"Do you need me to lend assistance?" Minato asked.

The Third shook his head. "I'll leave that to Danzo to organize."

"As you wish," Danzo replied. "What of the envoy to the Hidden Cloud?"

"The last I heard from them was three days ago when they were denied a meeting with the Raikage. I've told them to persevere."

"You know it's fruitless."

Hiruzen frowned. "That doesn't mean I won't try to stop this foolish war from happening. It's not as if you've forgotten how badly the last one cost us."

Danzo shrugged wordlessly.

"Minato," Hiruzen went on. "You and your team will be assigned a mission to Rock Country tomorrow. It's a civilian client, but I need you to do what you can to discern their standing."

"Hai."

The Hokage sighed quietly, the shadows deepening in his eyes.

"So the storm brews," Danzo murmured.

.-.-.-.

Kakashi slowed down once he left the larger masses of houses and people and found himself in the training grounds. He drifted through the trees, searching for a place where he could work on some ninjutsu techniques. He hadn't gone far when he paused on a large oak tree overlooking an Academy class practicing shuriken skills.

He caught sight of Rin and recognized several other faces from the class he had graduated from. Silently, he slipped behind a thick cover of leaves and was about to jump away when shouts of alarm, amusement and anger shot up from the grounds. Before he could assess what had happened, he noticed a shuriken flying straight at him. Out of reflex he caught it between his fingers just as it would have struck his face. Curious, he looked down.

It was easy to find the student who had thrown it. A bowl-haired boy with incredibly thick eyebrows was being scolded by the teacher and laughed at by the students.

"I'm sorry sensei, I really am," the boy was saying, his head bowed and shoulders sagged. In the next second, he straightened and a new determined composure took over. "But not to worry, sensei," he said in a ringing voice. He raised his hand and gave the teacher a thumbs-up and a big toothy smile. The sunlight glinted off his teeth. "I won't miss the next time!" That earned him a big smack on the head and the other students laughed even harder.

Strange looking kid, Kakashi thought to himself, fiddling with the shuriken in his hand. When he took a closer look at the weapon, he noticed it was marked by traces of frequent use. He wiped away some of the stains and idly wondered which class the bowl-haired boy had been in.

"Psst."

Kakashi whirled to find Obito hanging from a branch several feet above him like a monkey.

"What are you doing here? You're supposed to be –"

"To hell with that place."

"You have a concussion."

Obito rolled his eyes and waved such petty matters aside as he swung down and landed beside his teammate. "What's with that dirty shuriken?"

Kakashi nodded to the Academy class. "You know that kid in the green spandex?"

Obito peered out of the leaves and snorted in understanding. "That's Gai. He was in the class next door. Funny guy and all, just can't put two threads of chakra together for the life of him."

"Seems he can't throw straight for the life of him either," Kakashi muttered, turning the shuriken over in his palm.

Obito chuckled and then beckoned Kakashi, pointing to the top of the trees. "Come up. Midori's waiting."

Kakashi's shoulders sagged in an incredulous sigh. "You dragged her out too?"

"She's the one who tried to shadow you in the first place! Just so you know, I talked her out of demanding a duel."

"How?"

"You'll see."

They jumped from one branch to the next, climbing higher up the ancient tree until they came upon a point where the wide trunk was cleanly sliced across the top as if by a powerful ninjutsu. Yet demonstrating the power of nature, its thick boughs still spread regally to all sides, offering a platform where they could look out across much of the training grounds and over the village, all the way to the Hokage Monuments.

Midori sat on the stump beside a small cardboard box and waved them over. Kakashi landed on the tree and saw it was wide enough to almost lay down on. Feeling the wind ruffle his hair, he looked around, impressed.

"Pretty neat, huh?" Obito said, sitting down next to Midori. "It's my secret reading spot."

"You mean your hiding spot," Midori said.

"You'd want somewhere to hide too if those stubborn Uchiha geezers were hunting you down." He shuddered.

Midori grinned. "Must be such a pain coming from a big clan."

Obito rolled his eyes. "Tell me about it."

"Why are they so after you when you haven't even awakened the Sharingan?"

"Because I can take down someone who has?" He shrugged. "I don't know."

"But you can't even steal a scroll from the library without getting caught."

"Stop gloating," Obito groaned. "I told you the Jounin caught up to me while I was saving a grandma from falling into a ditch."

"Sure."

"So," Kakashi interrupted, crossing his arms as he sat down, "you snuck out of the hospital just to argue on top of a tree?"

Midori and Obito shared a look and then turned back to their teammate. "Like you're one to talk, Kakashi," Obito snickered.

"You hate the hospital more than we do," Midori finished.

Kakashi sighed. He supposed it was this ability to constantly be at odds and then instantaneously fall into perfect solidarity that allowed them to function as a team. At the very least, it was what had gotten them through Minato's bell test. It was then that he had learned Obito was far more than just talk and Midori was fully capable of setting aside personal preferences to do the best for her teammates. It was also then that he had found himself thinking it may not be so bad working with his new team after all.

Speaking of teams.

"Rin gives her regards, by the way," he said. "I met her earlier."

Midori lit up at the mention of her cousin. "You did? I haven't seen her in ages. Where'd you see her?"

"She's right down there with everyone else from the Academy," Obito said, pointing to the targeting field below them.

"Really?"

"Wait!" Obito barely had time to grab her hand before she jumped down. "They're having class. We can't just interrupt them."

Midori huffed and sat back down. "Killjoy."

"And they call me a prankster," Obito grumbled. "Remember what we came here for?"

"Right."

"What did you come here for?" Kakashi muttered.

"To celebrate your promotion of course," Obito claimed with a grin. He opened the cardboard box, which revealed a row of colorful donuts.

Midori grumbled something under her breath.

Obito coughed loudly. "You promised remember? I buy you donuts, you stop pouting."

"I wasn't – okay, okay, I'm kidding!" Midori hurriedly packed away her sour attitude when Obito held the donuts hostage. She took a breath and turned to Kakashi with a smile as warm as Rin's, yet full of confidence and mettle. "Congratulations, Kakashi. Or should we call you captain now?"

Still not quite sure what to make of the whole situation, he shrugged. "Just 'Kakashi' will do."

"Then here's to Chuunin Kakashi," Obito said, raising a donut. Midori followed suit. They looked expectantly at him and he stared back.

"Really? Donuts?"

"Don't be a stuck up," Obito said. "We'll toast with beer or wine or whatever it is the adults drink as soon as we're old enough. Now come on."

With a sigh, Kakashi took the donut with the least visible sugar and tapped it lightly against theirs. Obito grinned, satisfied, and took a large bite.

Midori waved hers at her teammate. "Mark my words, Kakashi, we'll be right on your heels."

"I'll be right here waiting," Kakashi replied.

"That may not be for a while though," Obito said through a mouthful of grease and sugar. "Talk of the war's spreading. There's so much hostility at the borders, it's basically already begun."

"No problem," Midori replied. "We'll crush them in days and then hold another Chuunin exam."

Obito nearly choked. "You've never read about war have you?"

"Of course I have." She grew suddenly serious. "They're all the same. They need to be ended quickly before suffering spreads to start another one down the road."

"You and I are only Genin," Obito pointed out. "What can we do?"

"We do what we've always done," Kakashi said. "Complete one mission at a time and keep growing stronger."

Obito and Midori shared another look and Kakashi wondered what they were going to attack with next. He was surprised when Obito only grinned and said, "Point taken."

"Spoken like a true captain," Midori chirped.

"It's nothing like that," Kakashi muttered. When his teammates continued to stare at him, he frowned. "What?"

"Aren't you going to eat that?" Midori asked, nodding to the donut Kakashi still held. The icing was beginning melt.

"Don't be shy," Obito encouraged.

Kakashi sighed and fixed the two with a half-lidded stare. "So this was your aim all along?"

"Of course not," Obito laughed sheepishly. "We were just – hey wait!"

Rolling to the side, Kakashi let himself fall from the tree. He kicked off a branch to gain momentum as he glided through the forest, his teammates hot on his heels. Pulling his mask down between jumps, he stuffed the too-sweet donut in his mouth before pulling the cloth over his nose again. Still chewing, he turned and raised his empty hands.

"Thanks for the treat," he called.

Obito and Midori gave aggravated cries and chased him all the harder, trying to get him to eat another one. Kakashi weaved between the trees, refusing to be caught. He held back from laughing out loud but let himself grin quietly under the mask.

For all the trouble they dragged him into, Kakashi couldn't help but like his team. From Minato's hopeless penchant of babying them, to Midori's grit and temper, and Obito's easy-going nonsense, the team had quickly become his home – and frankly, he couldn't have asked for a better one.

Author's notes on the story:

Firstly, thank you for giving the chapter a try. This is a rewrite of the original "Nakama," which I wrote over 10 years ago.

The story is an alternative version of Kakashi's past and covers the events until just prior to his enlistment in ANBU. A sequel will follow featuring his ANBU years.

Who is Midori and why is she here:

This is not an OC-centric story and neither is it a romance. When I first wrote this, nothing was known about Kakashi's team. My original character, Midori, turned out to be the polar opposite of Rin, and Obito was far too competent compared to canon. So Rin now makes her own appearance, Midori is a fun OC, Obito and Kakashi are childhood friends, and Kakashi, in the long run, has a lot more to fight for – and a lot more to lose. It's a complete canon divergence and AU.

Lastly:

I've been told that it takes a while to get used to Midori and the drastically different team dynamics - but that it's worth it. If you aren't gagging at the writing, my suggestion would be to stick around through Chapter 12 of Part II, which is when character development and plot really start to pick up pace. The beginning may feel slow, but believe me, 20 to 30 chapters down the road and you'll be glad for it.

A HUGE thank you to MaethoMixup for being such a wonderful beta! She's a writer herself so go check out her works too!

Also, I really love to hear from readers. So if you're enjoying it, please leave a review and I promise I'll reply. If you're a guest, look for my response at the bottom of the next updated chapter.

.LinSetsu.