Where Sora Was Headed

"War was a clash between ninjas who wagered their lives."

"The loser had only two possible fates: capture or death."

"When carrying out a mission, you must operate in a three-person squad. Never get separated from your team."

"Never abandon your teammates. On the battlefield, they are your second pair of eyes. Whatever disagreements you had before, you must put them aside."

"Also, if you run into an enemy Jonin and your mission doesn't require you to engage, run immediately. Staying alive comes first."

"Always have a backup plan, and conserve your Chakra. On the battlefield, the amount of Chakra you have left is practically a countdown to your death."

"Finally, in the Third Shinobi World War, Konoha's enemies are the ninjas of the other four great nations. The ones who survive are the winners."

On the training ground, Minato Namikaze spoke gravely to the newly promoted Chunin, explaining what war was, what to watch out for on the battlefield, and how to survive.

"Minato-sama is so cool." Stars sparkled in Kurenai Yuhi's eyes as she gazed adoringly at Minato Namikaze approaching at an unhurried pace. She looked ready to rush over and ask for his autograph.

This girl probably hadn't heard a word Minato had said...

Sora Uchiha's mouth twitched wildly. He silently edged away from her, feeling a little embarrassed...

He moved beside Rin Nohara and lowered his voice. "Is Kurenai always like this?"

Feeling the warm breath by her ear, Rin's face flushed bright red in an instant, her earlobes red as blood.

"Kurenai's not usually like this. She's probably just excited to see her idol today," she stammered.

He's too close... My heart feels like it's about to leap out of my chest!

At this distance, she could even smell the fresh, minty scent coming from Sora Uchiha.

She didn't even notice that her body was unconsciously leaning toward him.

Sora Uchiha froze. He looked at Rin Nohara, who was practically pressed against him, and fell silent for a moment before glancing out of the corner of his eye at someone.

Sure enough, Obito was glaring at him. If looks could kill, Sora would have been riddled with holes by now.

He could almost hear Obito grinding his teeth...

Obito: Awesome! There's a bull here!!

"Yo! Kakashi, you finally made it!"

Obito suddenly shouted, waving excitedly. His voice was practically as loud as if he'd been shouting through a megaphone.

The sudden racket startled everyone. Rin Nohara was especially startled; like a frightened rabbit, she hurriedly backed away several steps, her face burning red as she hunched her shoulders and didn't dare meet Sora Uchiha's gaze.

Kakashi, who had just arrived, was startled too. His expression turned a little strange.

Normally, Obito treated him like an enemy and could barely stand him. So why was he acting like they were long-lost brothers now?

Only then did Kakashi realize Obito wasn't looking at him at all. He was staring at Sora Uchiha, as if Sora had done something unforgivable to him.

Then he sensed the subtle atmosphere around them and glanced at Rin. It seemed to dawn on him what was going on, and the corner of his mouth twitched.

"Sora." He greeted him, then sat down on the steps nearby and looked at the group in exasperation.

"Judging by your faces, none of you listened to what Minato-sensei said, did you?"

"Who says?" Obito protested, stubbornly denying it.

"Then tell me what he said," Kakashi replied calmly.

"Uh, wasn't it about what to watch out for in the Shinobi World War?"

"And what else?"

"What else? Uh... and, and..." Obito faltered, unable to come up with anything.

Kakashi sighed and pressed a hand to his forehead. "I really don't feel safe having you as a teammate."

Obito's face turned livid. He glared at Sora and thought, This is all that guy's fault. Otherwise, I would've heard what Minato-sensei said.

Sora Uchiha, unfairly caught in the crossfire, twitched at the corner of his eye and said helplessly, "Minato said the Chunin would be doing two weeks of squad training."

"Kakashi, Rin, and you are in the same squad. You probably came over because of that." Sora Uchiha explained it to Obito.

"Oh, right! That's what I was going to say in the first place." Obito froze, then stubbornly tried to talk his way out of it.

Everyone was used to Obito's stubborn denials by now, so no one paid him any mind.

"Sora's right. Training starts in a bit. This is one of the few times Minato-sensei will be available, so we should make the most of it." Kakashi nodded, then turned to Rin. "Rin, are you okay with that?"

Rin had recovered from her embarrassment by now. She looked at Kakashi and Obito. "Mm, I'm fine."

"What? Then I won't get to see Sora again before we go to the battlefield?" Kurenai Yuhi wailed, her gaze shifting from Minato Namikaze to Sora Uchiha, full of reluctance.

Compared to Minato-sama, who she could see but never touch, Sora Uchiha was right within reach—and that made him all the more appealing.

After all, besides the Sharingan, the Uchiha Clan was best known for its generally good looks. Just a few more glances might add a few minutes to her life, and Sora Uchiha had an especially distinctive appearance.

Kakashi's expression turned complicated. "Sora, you don't have a permanent squad. What are you going to do about training?"

That was right. After graduating from the Ninja Academy, everyone had been assigned to a three-person unit called a "team." At the time, there had been one person left over.

The teachers at the Ninja Academy had been troubled by it, unsure how to divide up the students.

So Sora Uchiha had spoken with a teacher alone and proposed forming a squad of one. The teacher had been very conflicted, but eventually agreed because Sora Uchiha insisted.

That raised another problem: who would be responsible for training Sora Uchiha?

Back then, the young Sora Uchiha had made another small suggestion.

He would learn from everyone and take the best from each.

The teachers discussed it for a long time, then agreed.

At the time, Sora Uchiha had naively thought he could become a master of ninjutsu. But the harsh truth had been that—

His Chakra control was far too poor. He couldn't learn any ninjutsu at all, though he did learn all the teachers' Taijutsu, Shuriken, and Kunai techniques.

During that period, Minato Namikaze had once been his teacher for three days.

Back to the point—

Minato had just said that the Chunin would train in three-person squads. So what would Sora Uchiha, who had no permanent teammates, do?

Kakashi's eyes gleamed. Deep down, he knew Sora Uchiha was far stronger than Obito, the dead last. It was impossible not to want Sora as a teammate.

Everyone present thought the same way. Having a strong teammate on the battlefield was practically the surest guarantee of survival.

Kakashi lowered his eyes. He thought that if Sora could become his partner, he wouldn't mind talking to Minato about what to do with Obito.

He felt that Obito would be much safer staying behind in Konoha instead of going to the battlefield.

Sora Uchiha smiled faintly. "You don't need to worry about me. The clan has other arrangements for me." He paused, as if joking. "Who knows? Maybe one day I'll be an army of one, coming to rescue you."

As he spoke, his gaze settled on the darkness in the distance, his eyes flickering slightly.

"You can go straight to training. Someone will be coming to find me soon."