Interlude

Chapter Twenty-Six

A day after being released from the hospital, Kakashi, Obito and Minato visited Midori's grave.

Under heavy clouds lined with fine fissures of light, Kakashi brushed the snow off the stone's face until it reflected the feeble sun. Minato lit several sticks of incense while Obito set down the flowers and arranged some of Midori's favorite snacks beside it. When everything was ready, they stepped back and stood silent for a moment.

"Midori," Minato said at last, "we've come to report that Kakashi and Obito both made Jounin. So this officially marks the end of our team. From now, all three of us will stand as equals to protect Konoha, and you'll be right beside us in our hearts."

There was no reply, save from the voice that echoed distantly in their memories.

As if to fill the void, Obito huffed loudly. "You would've failed 100%."

"Obito," Minato chuckled. "I know you know mean that."

He grinned. "I know, I'm kidding. Remember, sensei? We were always neck and neck in everything we did. From the Academy entrance exam all the way up to the Chuunin exam. She would've made Jounin with us for sure."

"She might have actually passed," Kakashi said. "Don't forget we didn't."

"Details," Obito dismissed with a wave of his hand.

"And she graduated the Academy with better scores than you."

"Details."

"One point from failing your written test," Minato mused.

"De –" Obito made a face. "You know what, that's not fair! You can't gang up on me like that!"

Minato laughed. "How long ago was that? Five years?"

Kakashi nodded.

"Feels like yesterday." Minato paused. "Can I admit something?"

"As long as it's not your first impression of us," Obito muttered. "That couldn't have been good."

"It wasn't."

"Hey!"

Minato grinned and ruffled Obito's hair. "Actually, I was so nervous I hardly remember."

"You? Nervous?"

"Terrified."

"No way."

"You have to remember, I was only sixteen."

"That's plenty adult." Thirteen was seen as the traditional coming-of-age.

Minato scoffed. "We'll see what you say in five years' time."

"Count me out," Kakashi said. "I never want to teach."

"Don't be so sure. Who knows? You could get lucky and land a team as brilliant as this one."

Obito rolled his eyes. "Now you're just being sarcastic."

"I'm perfectly serious," Minato said. "The learning in a student-teacher relationship goes both ways, and boy, did you have a lot to teach me."

"Like… what?" Obito asked, clearly cautious.

"Like how to stop an argument in three words or less. How best to corner hospital escapees, how to tell when someone's living on a diet of soldier's pills, how –"

"Sensei?" Obito cut in. "One more word and Kakashi's going to take off."

Kakashi threw his friend a look. "Says the guy who's backing away."

Minato chuckled and snagged them both by the back of their shirts.

"Hear me out," he said, looking between the two with a fond smile. "Because you also taught me how rewarding it is to watch you grow. And how painful it is to lose any one of you. But more than anything, I learned how grateful I am, and I've never regretted my decision to become a teacher. Thank you for being my team and a part of my life."

"There's no reason for you to thank us," Kakashi said. "We wouldn't be here without you." Then he straightened his back and lowered his head in a deep bow. "Thank you for everything you've taught us, Minato-sensei."

Obito mirrored the motion. "We won't let you down."

"I know you won't. You never have."

Their teacher didn't say he was proud of them, but neither Kakashi nor Obito needed to hear the words. It was in his eyes, in the way he talked and in his voice every time he called their names.

Instead, Minato squeezed their shoulders and urged them to raise their heads. "Now, let's get going. Kushina's waiting to celebrate."

"What's she making?" Obito asked.

"Fish filets, maybe," Minato replied with a grimace.

Kakashi had a feeling they would be regaled with a story soon.

With promises to visit again, the three left the cemetery and headed to Minato's house, their primary concern in that hour nothing more serious than the question of who would do the dishes after lunch.

.-.-.-.

Several weeks later, Obito and Kakashi were in the training fields, engaged in what had started as a constructive spar. But somewhere, somehow, it had devolved into a disorderly chase through the forest.

Obito, wearing a blindfold over his eyes, stumbled through the snow and tripped over a root for the third time. He cursed and yanked down the piece of cloth, twisting around just in time to block Kakashi's dropkick.

"Dammit, Kakashi! We're ninjas, not bats. How the hell do you expect me to navigate a forest blind?"

"I don't. It was a simple hand-to-hand training. You're the one who ran away."

"You nearly broke my nose!" He dabbed at the blood trickling over his lips and sniffed.

Kakashi rolled his eyes. "Believe me, I know what breaks a nose. You were too slow is all."

Obito huffed. "Maybe I'm just tired."

"From spending a morning training with Asuka?"

"He's getting faster."

"I know, I sparred with him while you were working with Rin."

"And there was the mission before that."

"I was on it with you."

Obito looked away.

"Anything else?" Kakashi pressed.

"Fine, okay, it's the blindfold! I rely on the Sharingan too much. There, I said it. Happy now?"

Kakashi crossed his arms, unimpressed. "Not until you overcome it. What happened to becoming the strongest shinobi in Konoha?"

Obito growled. "That still stands… But!" He heaved himself from the ground and brushed off the snow. "We can cut ourselves some slack today, can't we?"

"Why?"

"It's New Year's Eve. Come on, when was the last time we had New Year's off?"

"Last year."

He slid Kakashi a look. "We came home at three in the morning."

"We still had New Year's Day off."

"Day is different. All we do is go around the clan saying our greetings. I'm talking about Eve! Tonight's all about the food and having fun!"

Kakashi paused. He tried to match 'fun' with 'New Year' and fell short. The only memories he had of Eve were quiet dinners with his father when he was home and silent nights of studying when he wasn't. After his death, the occasion had quickly ceased to hold any significance to Kakashi, until it was just another number on the calendar.

"Oh." He didn't know what else to say.

"You'll come over, won't you?"

His friend might as well have asked, 'You've written your mission report, right?' with the matter-of-fact tone that was expecting nothing other than a yes.

"No," Kakashi replied.

"Why?"

"You can't just invite strangers over for New Year's Eve. It's a traditional –"

Obito's hoot cut him off. "A stranger? You? Are you nuts?"

"You know what I mean."

He gave a long-suffering sigh. "Fine, then we'll adopt you for tonight. Be my little brother."

Kakashi narrowed his eyes. "I'm older than you."

"But I'm taller."

"No you aren't."

Kakashi ground his teeth, too late, at the reflexive words that tumbled out of his mouth. It was an Academy-level argument, and he had walked right into it.

"Wanna bet?" Obito grinned and backed up against a tree, stamping the snow at his feet to even it out.

With a sigh, Kakashi pulled out a kunai and dragged it across the wood at the top of Obito's head. He carved a simple 'O' beside the notch before they switched places.

He squared his shoulders and tucked in his chin, then scowled when Obito's hand flattened his hair. "What are you doing?"

"These spikes don't count. I'm trying to find where your actual head is." He paused. "Did you just try to lift your heels?"

"No."

"You liar," Obito laughed.

"Just hurry up."

Still grinning, Obito marked his height and labeled it 'K.'

They stepped back and took a look. The 'O' was an inch higher than the 'K.'

"See?"

Kakashi was about to object, turned to his friend – and realized he had to lift his eyes to meet Obito's. Just a fraction.

"See?" Obito said again, brows raised in triumph.

Kakashi bit back a bubble of childish resentment and stuffed his hands into his pockets. "It's still got nothing to do with New Year's, and I'm not being adopted either – What?"

Obito was struggling to keep his mouth straight and his shoulders bounced with barely contained laughter. "You're such sore loser, you know that?"

He glowered. "Sometimes, I understand why Midori kept hitting you."

"She'd be on my side for this, I guarantee it. Come on, just say yes. It's not just me, the whole family wants you over."

"I appreciate the invitation, but –" He ducked as Obito swung his arm at him. "What are you –"

He didn't get the time to finish that sentence either. Obito pounced on him and he twisted away.

"Save the pleasantries. If you don't say yes, I'm going to chain you and drag you home!"

Kakashi released an aggravated sigh. "Since when did you become a chain user?"

"Just now." Obito pulled a length from his pouch and snapped the metal between his hands. He grinned. "I knew you'd refuse, so I came prepared."

Kakashi just shook his head and leapt back from Obito's next lunge.

Another chase began, the roles reversed, as the boys barreled through the training fields and down into the streets of the village. Kakashi picked his way through narrow alleys and sharp turns, across roofs and over the heads of passing civilians.

Obito trailed him stubbornly, shouting words that were lost to the wind. The chain cut through the air time and again, and Kakashi was forced to use the Kawarimi to escape its increasingly accurate shots.

It took twenty minutes for Kakashi to finally lose Obito and another five to make sure it wasn't a trap. Inexplicably more tired than he should have been after a round of training, Kakashi trudged up the stairs of his apartment and let himself inside.

The heat of the exercise and the sudden warmth of the room made his clothes stick uncomfortably to his skin. He walked into the bedroom, pulled the mask from his face and was unzipping his vest when the window slammed open and something white filled his vision.

Without thinking, Kakashi ducked, but a second snowball slammed into his face with enough force to make him stumble back into the wall.

"Ha!" Obito crowed. "Don't think I can't read your movements!"

More resigned than angry at this point, Kakashi slid down the wall and wiped the snow from his face with a heavy hand. Blinking his eyes back into focus, he saw Obito crouched on the windowsill, his cheeks flushed from the run, or victory, he couldn't tell which.

He threw his friend a derisive look. "Really? You used the Sharingan?"

Obito cackled, his eyes fading to black. "Not taking any chances. Did you really think you could get away from me?"

"I just remembered, your idiocy extends to the horizon and back."

"Why, thanks."

"It wasn't a compliment."

Obito ignored him and made himself comfortable in the window.

"Are you going to close that?" Kakashi said.

"Not until you agree to come over."

Kakashi dropped his head back and groaned. "Forget it, Obito, it's not going to happen. I appreciate the offer, but I'm not going to interrupt something that's meant to be a family occasion."

When Obito didn't respond, he looked up to see his friend staring at him curiously.

"What?"

"Your face," Obito replied.

Kakashi remembered the mask bunched around his neck and shrugged. "You've seen it before."

It wasn't long after the mission to Gamashi Kengou's town that Kakashi had realized it was impossible – and meaningless – to keep his face hidden all the time. Midori had choked and Obito had snorted water into his nose the first time he had eaten without turning his back, but for the most part, they hadn't made a fuss.

"For seconds at a time while you stuffed food into your mouth like a chipmunk," Obito said now, turning his eyes away for a moment, before looking back, as if he was uncomfortable with the sight.

Kakashi's lips twisted in exasperation and he started to tug the mask back into place.

"No, leave it!"

"Would you make up your mind?"

Obito laughed. "Sorry. It's just, I can never get over how young you look."

Kakashi narrowed his eyes and continued to cover his face despite Obito's objections. This was exactly why he had started wearing a mask in the first place. No one would have taken him seriously even if he had looked his own age, much less when he looked years younger.

"If you'd only use that babyface when we're on recon missions," Obito said.

"No." Kakashi got to his feet. "Now leave."

"Not until –"

"Leave."

There was a clear warning in his voice, but Obito's only response was to heave a sigh.

"I really didn't want to use this threat," he said with a theatrical shrug, "but you leave me with no other choice."

Kakashi frowned. "Quit the act."

"I'm being serious. If you don't come over, we're going to spend New Year's here."

It took him several seconds to understand what his friend was hearing. "What? Here?"

"Here. In your room."

"Why?"

Obito shrugged. "'Cause once Mom gets an idea, she doesn't let go. You know how many times I had to tell her that stuffed cabbage is Nayu's favorite food, not mine?"

Kakashi began to argue, but his friend cut him off.

"Give it up. It's happening either way. My house at 6:30 or yours at 6:35. See you then!"

Without another word, Obito threw his weight back and tumbled out of sight.

"Wait!" Kakashi ran to the window but was only in time to see his friend's back growing smaller in the distance. For a moment, he just stared, feeling a chill creep down his spine that had nothing to do with the frigid air blowing into his room.

.-.-.-.

Kakashi sighed and watched his breath melt into the darkness of the evening. Beyond it stood the entrance to Obito's house, lit brightly from within. It was a quiet corner of the Uchiha district, away from the main street and lined with sizable houses of the same, traditional style.

He stood just outside the open gate, still unsure whether this was really the right thing to do. Over the years, Kakashi had met Obito's family in passing, but had never exchanged more than a few words at a time. What he knew about them were from stories Obito had shared.

His mother, Natsumi, had been a Jounin specializing in espionage before she had retired to take care of the household. In contrast, his father, Takato, was still a prominent member of the Military Police Force. Kakashi had seen him a number of times on the frontlines leading their forces.

All things considering, he knew it was rude to intrude on a family occasion, but he wondered if it was even ruder to turn down an offer from such respected shinobi.

Unable to find the answer no matter how many times he thought about it, Kakashi sighed again. He took a step forward, then back.

"What are you doing?"

Kakashi spun around at the familiar voice and saw Yuki walking down the street in his Jounin outfit. Keeping pace beside him, similarly dressed, Nayu smiled and waved.

"Welcome, Kakashi. You're right on time."

He lowered his head and mumbled his greetings. Then his eyes shifted to his former examiner. "What are you doing here?"

"You're not the only one who's like family," Yuki replied with a grin.

"But what about your own family?"

"Don't have any left. Last Grandpa died two years ago."

"I'm sorry."

Yuki shrugged. "Don't be. What did you bring?"

He eyed the paper bag in Kakashi's hand.

"Don't tell me that's sake?"

For a second, Kakashi thought he had broken some social etiquette. Then he looked into Yuki's face and found him grinning like a child.

"Captain, your discharge orders," Nayu muttered, even if her voice and attitude all but said she knew her warning would be ignored.

It was. "They expired yesterday. And we have tomorrow off."

She shook her head in silent resignation.

Kakashi glanced at Yuki's shoulder. "How's the injury?"

"Good as new." As if to prove it, he snatched the bag from Kakashi with a speed no self-respecting adult would have used outside of fights.

Kakashi rolled his eyes and Nayu jabbed an elbow into his side, but he ignored them both as he pulled out the bottle. Though the street was dark, a lamppost glowed above them, shedding light on the label and the look of surprise that crossed Yuki's face. His grin softened into a faraway look, and Kakashi knew why.

There was only one brand of rice wine he knew – the one his father had used to drink. On rare occasions, Kakashi remembered seeing him on the open veranda of their home when the moon was bright in the sky. Each time, he would say the same thing as Kakashi sat down beside him and dangled his legs over the edge of the floor.

"When you're old enough…"

Kakashi froze, the voice in his past mingling with another in the present.

For a second, he stared at Yuki, who took one look at his wide eyes and smiled. He slid the bottle back into its bag and returned it to Kakashi.

"He said that to you too, huh?"

Kakashi reached out, nodding silently.

When you're old enough, Kakashi, we'll drink together.

The weight of the bag dropped into his hands.

"I never got to, in the end," Yuki said with a sigh. "But when you're old enough, we'll drink to sensei together. How's that?"

Kakashi nodded again, a strange sense of comfort spreading in his chest as he realized the frail link to his father wasn't, in fact, just through his memories alone.

"Alright," he said.

Having watched the exchange in silence, Nayu smiled and beckoned them through the gate. "Come on, let's get inside. A few more minutes and Mom's going to be packing everything to take to your apartment."

"She was serious about that?"

"Of course," she laughed.

The door to the house slammed open in that moment and Obito waved them furiously inside.

"Come on, hurry! She's got the sealing scroll out and ready!"

Someone shoved Kakashi from behind and in a ruckus of shouts and laughter, they all tumbled into the house. Spurred by Obito shouting come on, come on, come on as if they were charging into battle, they threw off their shoes and flew down the hall. Kakashi didn't even have time to feel out of place as they stormed the kitchen where Takato was furiously trying to distract his wife with a burning mochi rice cake.

The commotion hardly ended there and continued all throughout dinner. It turned out, as Obito had promised, to be a clamorous night of delicious foods, ridiculous fun and light-hearted cheer. Sitting around a table too small for six people, a hot pot simmering at its center, watching Obito's family and Yuki throw around jokes, laughter and the occasional chopstick – Kakashi thought it wasn't bad at all.

.-.-.-.

At the end of the night, standing just outside the house, Kakashi said his thanks and was about to leave when Natsumi stopped him and held out a small wrapped parcel.

"To keep your warm," she said.

Kakashi shook his head and objected. "I can't even thank you enough for the dinner."

"Just take it," Obito said, pressing it into his hands.

Nayu urged him to open it and Yuki looked on with a teasing grin.

Reluctant, but not wanting to keep them standing in the cold, Kakashi opened the parcel and found a gray scarf folded neatly inside. Natsumi wrapped it around his neck.

"Remember, you're always welcome here, Kakashi," she said. "You're like a brother to Obito, so you're like a son to us."

Takato ruffled his son's hair and added, "You're the only one who can keep this one in check."

"I don't need to be babysat," Obito grumbled.

"That's a first," Yuki said.

Obito growled and pulled Kakashi away from the house. "Come on, let's go. I'll walk you out."

Kakashi turned and bowed again. Obito's parents and Nayu waved him off while Yuki followed a few steps behind them.

The two cousins continued to bicker until they parted ways, then Obito and Kakashi headed toward the entrance of the Uchiha district. The streets were quiet and small snowflakes drifted through the still night as they walked in companionable silence.

After a while, Obito said, "That technique we've been practicing. Have you named it already?"

Kakashi shook his head. "No."

Ever since the exam, they had been trying to coordinate the new technique he had created, but he wasn't sure it would end up as anything worth naming. It was far from being an asset in live combat.

"Can I name it?" Obito asked. "I've been thinking of one."

"Depends."

"The Dynamic Lightning Shooting Star!"

Kakashi eyed him with the sort of look one gave a pile of raw garbage sitting out in the summer heat.

Obito burst out laughing. "I'm joking! Man, that was precious."

"You mean worthless."

"I meant your face." Still grinning, he shrugged. "How about Chidori?"

Still wary of another joke, Kakashi asked, "Why?"

"Because of the sound it makes. It's like a thousand singing birds."

"If you're trying to sound like a romantic, it's not suiting you at all."

Obito puffed out his chest. "Every man's a romantic at heart."

Kakashi sighed and shook his head. He repeated the name several times in his head, aware of Obito watching him from the corner of his eyes.

The snow crunched softly under their feet, the only sound in the silence of the night.

Finally, Kakashi let out another breath.

"Chidori it is."

A/N: The boys deserve a break, right? Right? The quiet before the storm...

Anyway, thank you for your patience! I've been ridiculously busy lately, which I suppose is both a blessing and a curse.

I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Tell me if any of this made you laugh :)

.LinSetsu.