「 Second Time Around」

「 chapter three」

Kakashi spoke up. "They fall victim to the Curse."

Izuna nodded. "And the only way for a Mangekyo Sharingan to activate is for someone to experience the loss of a loved one. So you can guess how the Curse can spread."

Izuna sighed. "The idea is built on good intentions, I'm sure. But the Curse is intoxicating, as it creates a sort of tunnel vision. 'I need to protect this individual, no matter the cost.' It..." Izuna swallowed his pride for his clan. "It's probably what led to the Warring States Period."

They sat in silence again before Izuna started speaking. "But Hashirama (he still refused to add the '-sama' or call him Hokage), had a different approach. The Will of Fire."

Kakashi had perked up slightly. This was something he had learned about in class, something he had understood.

Izuna sighed again. Never was there a time where he thought he would be teaching a Senju concept to a Hatake, no less.

"The Will of Fire." Izuna opened his palm and let fire spread across it. The two watched as red orange flames jumped and danced on his hand. "Love, believe, cherish, and protect the village as a single family. Unity."

Izuna closed his palm. "I suppose you, I mean, we (he almost cursed himself at his slip-up), both learned this in the academy. And since it's what that moron-faaanntastic Senju would've based the village off of..." Izuna tapped his chin. "I guess it's like the biggest rule."

"Yeah, maybe breaking the rules and abandoning your mission makes you trash. But breaking Konoha's philosophy and abandoning your teammates makes you even worse than trash." He turned to Kakashi, who's eyes had widened slightly before his gaze dropped to the floor.

Kakashi remained silent, eyes dark and thoughtful. "Ah! Um, I didn't mean to call you trash. Or worse than trash. I didn't, um-!"

He froze when he saw what must've been a semblance of a smile on the usually stoic ninja's face. "You haven't changed at all, Obito."

Izuna smiled in relief, but internally was frowning. Was he really so similar to the idiot of an Uchiha who wore goggles around? He didn't think he was, he was considerably older than these kids, and it honestly slightly hurt his pride to be compared to someone nearly half his age.

"Forgiveness, Izuna. Patience is a virtue." He managed out, closing his eyes and forcing his mouth into a tight lipped smile.

"I get it. I...I apologize for leaving you behind, Obito." Kakashi turned to him, holding eye contact for a few seconds before dropping it to the floor.

Izuna, surprised that he had managed to get an apology out of his teammate (honestly, he was surprised the conversation had went to well), wasn't able to prevent a boyish grin spread across his face. He quickly composed himself and forced the smile away, but the ends of his mouth twitched upwards.

A peaceful aura surrounded the two, a feeling of camaraderie and acceptance between the two. Really, they did have a lot in common; Minato was right. Both were different from the bunch, the black sheep of their communities. And for just a moment, the two took comfort in their abnormalities, happy to share a mutual understanding with someone else.

"It's alright, Kakashi. I'm way stronger than you anyway, as an Uchiha." Izuna couldn't avoid gloating about his clan, a familiar smirk reappearing on his face.

And just as quickly as the moment of acceptance had appeared, it was gone and the two returned to their usual relationship. Kakashi frowned and argued back good-naturedly. He muttered something about the Uchiha being "too proud for their own good" before picking up the remains of his food and walking back to the camp.