Please, Kakashi

"Damn it! I was this close just now. My Great Fireball almost hit you." Obito folded his arms across his chest, his face full of unwillingness.

"Oh." Facing his anger, Kakashi merely responded with a faint "Oh." That indifferent attitude instantly made Obito see red.

"You don't believe me, do you?! You really don't believe me!"

"I believe you, I believe you. Everything you say is right."

"Argh! Kakashi, I challenge you to a duel!"

"Come on, we're all on the same team." Rin tried to stop them from the side, her face full of helplessness. She shook her head. She really had no idea what to do with the childish Obito.

He had clearly had a chance to hit Kakashi just now, but then he suddenly lost his head and completely ignored her signals.

While the two of them bickered, she began looking for their teacher. Soon, she spotted the two people sitting on a tree branch in the distance. Her gaze lingered on the familiar young man's face for a moment before she suddenly broke into a flower-like smile.

"Sora! What brings you here?"

Rin's shout immediately called Kakashi and Obito back from their "war." Obito in particular looked as though he had eaten something rotten the instant he looked up and saw Sora's face. He muttered, "Why is this annoying guy here?"

As for Kakashi, he stared at Sora Uchiha for a long while before slowly looking away.

"I had nothing to do today, so I came to see how your special training was going." Sora Uchiha said this as he and Minato came before the three of them.

"Tch, if you've got nothing to do, go home and eat rice." Obito curled his lip and muttered.

"Heh heh, Obito, weren't you just getting beaten up by Kakashi again?" Sora Uchiha teased.

"Beaten up? You call that beaten up? That was clearly just losing by one move." As expected, Obito immediately grew agitated. Turning his back and pointing at the Uchiha Clan Crest, he said, "I'm going to become Hokage one day. Everything I'm going through is a test!"

"Yes, yes, future Lord Hokage." Sora Uchiha gave him a perfunctory reply.

"Hey, what's with that tone? I'm telling you, I'm completely different from two weeks ago. Come on, let's exchange a few moves. I'll show you!"

"Oh."

Twenty breaths later...

Obito returned with a swollen and bruised face, while Sora Uchiha merely had a slightly dirty hem. It was obvious at a glance who had won and who had lost.

"Not bad, not bad. Before, I could finish you in ten breaths. Now it takes twenty. Your strength really has doubled." Sora Uchiha deliberately gave him a thumbs-up.

"Pfft."

Laughter rang out, and everyone looked toward the culprit. Rin's little face flushed. "I—I couldn't hold it in."

Obito's entire face darkened. He felt that he had lost face again. Wait, why did I say again?

"If you're so capable, don't use summoning." He spoke indignantly.

"I never stopped you from using summoning." Sora Uchiha replied calmly.

"You—!"

"All right, all right. We're friends. There's no need to take it so seriously." Minato clapped his hands together, directly suppressing the two of them.

Kakashi, standing to the side, wore a solemn expression as he stared intently at Sora Uchiha. He had watched the entire fight between Sora Uchiha and Obito just now.

He had only one feeling: this guy had gotten even stronger.

"Huh? Sora, what's this box you're carrying?" Rin patted the Sword Box and asked curiously.

Obito froze. Only then did he notice the wooden box that Sora Uchiha had been carrying on his shoulder the entire time. His face darkened again. In other words, Sora Uchiha had defeated him in ten breaths while only using one hand.

"This? It's a Sword Box." Sora Uchiha explained and showed everyone the Kusanagi Sword.

"Not bad. What a fine sword." Minato extended a finger and flicked the blade, praising it.

"Heh heh, of course. Depends whose it is." Sora Uchiha replied smugly.

"All right, all right. Give you an inch and you take a mile." Minato smiled and returned the Kusanagi Sword to him. "You probably have something to discuss with them. I'll wait over there."

With that, he vanished in an instant, leaving behind only a specially made Kunai.

The remaining four stared at one another, their eyes wide. After a long while, Kakashi said in a low voice, "Sora, you must be looking for Rin."

As he spoke, he intended to leave.

"Hey, where are you going? We're classmates, after all. Can't I be looking for you?" Sora Uchiha grabbed him and spoke helplessly.

"Looking for me?" Kakashi froze. He and Sora Uchiha had not interacted much. Aside from being called up to demonstrate at the front of the classroom by their teacher at the Ninja Academy, they had hardly ever been alone together.

"Yeah." Sora Uchiha did not explain further. He simply pulled Kakashi toward the side and ran. Obito wanted to follow, but Rin stopped him.

In the dense forest nearby, the weeds were nearly as tall as a person, more than enough to completely conceal the two boys.

"Sora, is this really necessary? Why all the secrecy?" Kakashi asked helplessly.

"Yeah." Sora Uchiha's expression suddenly turned serious, his eyes carrying a maturity that did not belong to someone his age.

Under that grave gaze, Kakashi froze. He immediately realized that what came next was important and became serious as well.

"Go ahead. I'm listening."

Sora Uchiha nodded and licked his dry lips. "If Minato isn't around in the future and Team 7 encounters shinobi from Kirigakure, I hope you'll abandon the mission and stay by Rin's side. If possible, run away outright."

Kakashi: ???

He frowned. "What do you mean? Do you know something?"

Sora Uchiha shook his head. "Exactly what I said."

"Why? From the way you're talking, Rin seems to be in danger. Do you know something?"

"...I can't say."

Sora Uchiha did not know how great a butterfly effect his transmigration would cause, so he did not intend to interfere too much with history as it originally happened. At least... he would not interfere much in the Third Shinobi World War.

In the original story, Rin was captured by Kirigakure and forcibly made into the Three-Tails' jinchuriki, resulting in her death.

If he interfered too much with the plot, he feared the butterfly effect he caused would lead to consequences he could never recover from. What if something else happened in Kirigakure, and events no longer followed the original story? That would be disastrous. So he had only told Kakashi, because Kakashi was the person closest to Rin at the time.

Therefore, only after the Third Shinobi World War ended and he had confirmed that everyone he cared about was safe would he truly step onto the stage from behind the scenes.

"I don't understand." Kakashi shook his head.

"You don't need to understand. And whatever you do, don't tell anyone about this—not even Minato." Sora Uchiha stared fixedly at Kakashi.

Kakashi fell silent. He lowered his eyes, judging whether Sora Uchiha's words were genuine.

After a long while, he spoke quietly. "If what you're saying is true, then there's no need for you to ask me. You're stronger than I am."

"...I can't say."

Sora Uchiha fell silent, then spoke again. "As long as you promise me, I'll help you at the most painful moment of your life in the future, as repayment."

Obito's death would be the most painful moment of Kakashi's life.

"Besides, I'm doing all this for Rin. It's a good thing for you." Sora Uchiha added.

"Please, Kakashi."

Upon hearing this, Kakashi froze. In his impression, Sora Uchiha was an extremely proud person who had never asked anyone for help. Yet now, he was asking someone his own age.

Kakashi looked up. Those pitch-black eyes were so deep that, for some reason, he felt a trace of pleading in them.

After a long while,

"...I agree."