It wasn't easy, but after having a serious conversation with the Third Hokage, he actually gave in and reinstated your position as a Genin of the Hidden Leaf. What won him over was your point about Sakumo Hatake – Kakashi's father – and how his disobeying actions benefitted the village by saving his comrades. The only reason why he took his life was because of the unethical rules posed by the village. You made a point that if it wasn't for your actions, then Rin (and perhaps someone else) would not have made it back safe.
Hiruzen's decision surprised you. It turned out he had a soft spot after all. He agreed under three conditions, however. One was to never disobey his orders and leave the village unauthorized again.
Granted.
Two, since you couldn't go unpunished, you must help with various tasks around the ninja academy two times a week for six months, as a form of community service.
Fine. You got it.
And his final condition: to keep this incident between you, him, and Obito. It was a fair request since the village elders would surely have had a fit if they learned about the Third's unauthorized decision.
He was, dare I say, breaking the rules.
~~~
At the six-month mark, you finished your mandatory community service at the academy, which left you wondering if you were that annoying when you were those kids' age. You disregarded this thought, remembering that these kids are the future and many of them showed real potential and hope for this village. You were walking up to your door and were surprised to spot Rin already there.
"(y/n)! I'm glad I caught you!"
"H-hello," was the only response you could come up with for the excited girl in front of you.
"I wanted to ask you if you would like to come with me and Obito to see Kakashi on his birthday," Rin beamed, her cheeks glowing pink.
Kakashi at this age was incredibly mean-spirited, and you sort of held a grudge from when he insulted your 'inferior' Earth Style techniques a while back. Your hands tensed into fists, hesitant to agree, but you saw this as an opportunity to finally get on speaking terms with him. Besides, if Obito was there, someone would have to keep his anger and jealousy under control.
You happily volunteered.
"Sure, when's it at?" you asked casually in an attempt to sound cool and laid-back, but probably failed miserably.
"It's right now! Obito was really hoping that you would come. I didn't invite you before since I didn't think you and Kakashi got along..."
"Obito wanted me to be there?"
"Of course!" Rin said cheerfully while making her way down the steps, with you apprehensively following behind her. "We were on our way to get you until a woman asked him to help her carry something into her house, so I'm here on behalf of the both of us!"
You stayed silent, on the way there you made sure to keep a considerable distance between you and Rin.
~~~
The three of you reunited around Kakashi's apartment. Rin was the one to knock and greet Kakashi when he opened the door. You mustered up the courage to greet him next, only to be blatantly ignored, which earned him a piercing stare from Obito.
"Rin, what are you doing here? There's no emergency mission for us," Kakashi stated in a slightly annoyed tone.
"Happy birthday, Kakashi!" Rin declared with a closed-eye grin while holding out a present.
Kakashi blinked in silence. He totally forgot his birthday was today. He hadn't celebrated it since – well, nevermind. Birthdays and celebrations just weren't for him.
"Er, thanks for this, Rin, but that's –"
"Hey what about us, Kakashi?!" Obito interrupted with his own irritated tone, "Me and (y/n) went out of our way to show up yet you can't even glance our way? What's up with you?!"
Obito was right. Kakashi didn't acknowledge your presence or even look in your general direction. It really felt like you two were wasting your time there.
"Oh, pipe down already. It's not like I asked you to be here, anyway," Kakashi said bluntly while finally sparing Obito a side-eye glance.
The atmosphere became increasingly heavy and threatening.
With his teeth clenched, Obito had subconsciously balled his hand into a fist. His tone was low but strained and tense, "Exactly what do you have against us, anyway?"
His cool was clearly faltering.
This is new, you thought.
"I don't want you here. I don't know how to say it any more bluntly." Kakashi then turned his body entirely to you, catching your full attention.
"And you. You're not even on our team. Go home and find someone who actually wants to be around you. To me you're nothing but useless."
You heard yourself inhale a quick gasp. Deeply hurt by Kakashi's words, your vision began to blur with tears while Obito's turned red, both figuratively and literally.
"Wait guys," Rin began. "Everyone just calm d-"
Sounds suddenly hit your ears. First was the sound of air moving, then flesh making harsh contact with flesh followed by a rough smack against wood. Before you or Rin could register what happened, Obito had Kakashi pinned against the wall; his mask slid down his cheek enough to display the clear remnants of a fist mark.
"Listen to me, we've been nothing but respectful to you and this is how you repay us?! What has (y/n) ever done to you, huh?!" Obito's rage was inextinguishable. Kakashi blankly stared into the fierce crimson of Obito's eyes.
"Look, say what you want about me, but don't you ever talk to (y/n) like that again. Do you hear me, Kakashi?"
The silence that followed was suffocating. Rin stood motionless, completely stunned. The stillness in the air was accompanied only by the heavy breathing coming from the enraged Uchiha.
"O-Obito..?" you managed to choke out between holding back tears. That was when he finally broke his piercing glare from Kakashi and back to you, his face immediately softening upon seeing your tears threatening to fall.
Obito directed his attention back to Kakashi, muttering, "You're not worth it," before easing his grip off him. His eyes returned to his calm onyx color when he turned to you and Rin.
"Let's go. If he wants to be alone, then fine," he said quietly, though somehow you could tell that he was in just as much pain as you were.
As Obito trudged down the stairs, with you following at a distance, Rin glanced quietly at Kakashi, her eyes heavy with sympathy, yet disappointed.
"This isn't what I wanted," she murmured. "I wanted to prove that you were better, that you were stronger than this. Whatever is hurting you, whatever is making you treat (y/n) like that – we want to help you. We're your friends, Kakashi."
She set down the present, pushing it close to him.
"Come see us when you're ready for that."
At that, Kakashi dipped his head down as Rin turned to catch up with the two of you, leaving him with nothing but his own thoughts.
~~~
The three of you walked aimlessly in brooding silence for a while, with you and Rin trailing behind Obito, being too nervous to speak and irritate him further.
This did NOT happen in the show, you quietly pointed out to yourself. What they say is true. No matter what I do here, it changes everything. And not always for the best.
"(y/n)."
You looked up at Obito, who was still walking with a hint of anger in his step.
"You okay?" he asked gently, turning his head in your general direction but not directly looking at you.
"I - ...this isn't how I was expecting today to go," you muttered, eyes downcasted.
"I'm sorry guys," Rin finally piped up. "This is all my fault."
Obito interjected, "No way, it's all because of that Hatake."
The air grew silent again as you tried hard to come up with any positives to this situation. Then, it hit you.
"Hey wait a minute, this is actually perfect!"
Obito and Rin glanced at you in puzzlement.
"This is actually the first time in a while where it's just been the three of us together! Maybe we can find something that all three of us can enjoy. Right?"
Rin'sentire face lit up at the idea. "That sounds like a great idea, (y/n)!"
Of course Rin would agree to something like that.
Hersmile then faltered slightly. "-but it's getting late, all the places we could go to are closed."
You contemplated your options for a moment and were very hesitant to share your thoughts, but words came out before you could stop them. "How about we go to my place? I-I don't have much, but I'm sure we can find something there!"
What are you doing, (y/n)? There's absolutely nothing interesting in your house! Why do you think you spend your time anywhere else but there?!
"Hey, yeah. Come to think of it, I've only seen your house a few times since we met," Obito thought out loud, "and it has been a while." Finally, he cracked a smile for the first time that day.
Seeing that smile always gave you strength.
"Alright then, I'll race you two!" you shouted with a head start. "Last one there gets to clean my bathroom!"
"Hey, no fair! Get back here and start over, you big baby!" Obito said as he chased after you, the playfulness entirely apparent in his tone, "What, are you afraid to lose?"
Rin smiled contently when Obito's booming voice progressively shrunk the farther he traveled away from her.
(y/n) really brings out the passion in Obito, she mused as she began heading toward your house with a bounce in her step.
~~~
"So, I know I don't have much, but I think I do have something that will knock your headbands off – check this out!" you said with enthusiasm and opened your freezer to reveal that it was full to the brim with ice cream.
Thank goodness I went to the store earlier!
You looked to them proudly only to notice their unimpressed faces, and you couldn't figure out why. "Do you guys...not like ice cream? I know for a fact that you do, Obito! We get ice cream all the time!"
Obito snickered. "Yeah, and do you remember the flavor I like to get?"
It finally hit you that every tub of ice cream you own is plain old vanilla – Obito always preferred strawberry. Your cheeks flushed in embarrassment while your brilliant plan utterly flopped. Trying to save face, you looked around for anything that could be used as a distraction.
"Well, the only other thing I have is hanami dango that I picked up from the shop earlier," you said sheepishly and presented the sweet dumplings to Obito and Rin.
Both of their eyes lit up and they graciously accepted and devoured the dango, with Obito displaying less restraint, of course. That's when you smiled and joined them at the table with an entire tub of ice cream in your hands.
The next few hours were spent entirely at that table. You, Obito and Rin felt at home with each other discussing various subjects. You still felt inexcusably apprehensive toward Rin, but you continued to suppress those feelings, for Obito's sake.
The conversations throughout the night ranged from missions, family, new jutsu, days at the academy, and of course, jokes. Each of you took turns telling your favorite jokes, and when it was Obito's turn, he looked at the ceiling in thought for a moment before his face signed that he had reached an epiphany.
"So an Uchiha and Senju walk into a bar..."
By the time Obito finished his punchline, he immediately directed his attention toward Rin to scan her reaction, only to find her simply grinning quietly, but his gaze quickly diverted when you instantly broke down in uncontrollable laughter at his joke. Surprised but pleased with your reaction, Obito put his hand on your shoulder and laughed loudly with you. The atmosphere was friendly and full of feelings of amity and mutual trust.
It made Kakashi's and Obito's outburst almost feel like a thing of the past. Almost.
~~~
As you bid your guests safe travels for the night, Obito continued his trek home while Rin suddenly stopped just outside your door and beamed with a close-eyed grin, "Thank you for the dango, (y/n), and for the wonderful night!"
Silently staring at Rin, you were appalled to notice how her enchanting features illuminated beautifully under the moonlight.
Obito loves her, not you.
At the thought, intense heat began boiling up inside you. You tried hard to suppress your animosity for the girl all night, but with Obito gone, you found that restraint slightly loosened.
"It's whatever, Rin. Don't expect it to happen again," you stated bluntly as Rin opened her eyes in confusion.
"(y/n), what's wrong? Are you okay?"
Rin was still acting kindly to you even after rebuffing her.
You exhaled stiffly; brows knitted in frustration.
Why is she so perfect?
The tenseness in your body urged you to snap at her, but then you reflected on the events that happened that day. Merely a few hours before, Kakashi was standing at his doorway, just like you were. Your friend is at the door, concerned only about you, just like she was about Kakashi.
The searing heat teeming inside you diminished, disgusted by how you were treating Rin the exact same way Kakashi treated you only hours before. With a sigh, you looked up to Rin's impossibly big eyes with defeat evident in your own.
"Sorry. Please get home safe. Night."
Every word you said was riddled with insincerity as you shut the door without another word.
Rin stood outside your door in shock, trying to process what would make Kakashi and you snap at her. Did she do something wrong?
Did she... just lose two friends?
~~~
Please join me in admiring this beautiful fanart (read from right to left) drawn by the wonderfully talented mil0-chan on Tumblr!