Star-Crossed: A KakaObi Story

Ch 1: Memories

A loud knock on my bedroom door awakens me from a light, dreamless sleep. I open my eyes and look at the old clock on the wall. It's 6:30 am-- Madara must want me to do early sword training. I sigh and get out of bed.

I go over to my closet and get my armor and sword. As I put on my undershirt, I pause and feel the fabric against my skin. Its rough and thick, a feeling I'll never get comfortable with but have grown used to. I put on my armor, feeling the weight of it on my shoulders, and I strap on my sword against my back.

I open my door to see a fellow Uchiha member. I greet him with a quick nod and then push past him. I walk down the short flight of stairs and greet Madara in the kitchen with a respectful bow.

Some other Uchiha members are eating breakfast quietly in the kitchen. All the highly skilled assassins live together in a large home because Madara insisted it. I guess he wants to train us "properly" even though we already got basic training at the sword academy in the capital. Ah, the racist capital that has never recruited an Uchiha to fight for them.

I grab a few grain crackers and sit down at the table, across from Madara.

"I'm assuming you want me to do an hour of sword training?" I say.

Madara coughs a bit and then looks me in the eye. "Yes. I want you to sharpen up your skills for a top tier assignment that I'm assigning you."

I perk my eyes up in excitement. Top tier assignment? They are usually very dangerous and difficult-- they require lots of skill. I haven't been assigned one until now.

"Ahh. I see that you're finally recognizing my skill," I tell him.

"Shhh," he snaps. He motions with his head at the other clan members. I look with the corner of my eye at them. They seem to just be chatting away, not listening to us.

Madara continues speaking. "Don't talk about it so loudly in front of the other members. Now go get started on your training."

I nod with understanding and quickly finish my breakfast.

I head out to the outside training area, excited to train for once. It's a beautiful spring day, the air is sweet and fresh. I walk over to the Sakura tree that's in the middle of the training grounds and watch as the pink petals fall slowly to the ground. The tree reminds me of the same tree that me and Kakashi trained under when we were kids...

"Hey, Obito!" I hear him call.

I cringe at the shrillness of his voice. He can yell really loud sometimes. He always seems to scream my name in a condescending way, but that's just his way of getting me to work harder.

I keep my back turned toward him, busy watching the cherry petals fall. They are very pretty and interesting to look at, but what I'm actually doing is an act. We've been practicing with our katana for over two hours already and I need a break.

I turn to look at him and I show him the most exhausted look I can pull off.

"Kakashi, can't we just take a tiny little break? I'm freaking exhausted." I say to him.

Kakashi just looks at me, arching his eyebrow unimpressed. He's totally not falling for it. Damn, he knows me too well.

I shrug."Well it was worth a shot," I say.

"Tsk tsk, Obito. When are you going to learn that getting better at sword fighting actually takes real effort?" He sounds stern, but I can tell he's hiding a smile behind that mask of his.

I can't help it when a grin forms on my face too. "Easy for you to say. You're always good at everything."

I see his eyes twinkle and I know he's smiling for real.