"I haven't seen Obito for a while, I wonder how he's doing." On her way home from training, Nohara Rin showed a worried expression.
The Ninja Academy never concealed the harsh realities of the Ninja World, and the dangers of missions and even going to battle were clearly stated.
But hearing stories about sacrifices in war from teachers and witnessing someone close die in battle are two different things. Ever since she learned that Kakashi's teammate died during a mission, Nohara Rin realized the cruelty of being a ninja.
And Obito has such an easy-going, forgetful personality, Nohara Rin truly worries that Obito might get hurt on a mission because of it.
"Obito, Kakashi, Guy, why are you all together?" Nohara Rin suddenly saw some familiar figures.
"Mmm mmm mmm." Surprised to hear Nohara Rin's voice, Obito looked up in delight, but remembering the wager, he could only gesture while making unintelligible sounds.
Even Nohara Rin, who knew Obito very well, was a bit taken aback seeing his almost possessed-like behavior, not knowing what was happening at the moment.
"Kakashi, what's wrong with Obito?" Nohara Rin had to look to the reliable Kakashi.
But Kakashi didn't answer Nohara Rin, he merely exchanged a glance with her.
Nohara Rin stared at the silent Kakashi and felt even more puzzled. Could unreliability be contagious from Obito?
Might Guy's next words solved Nohara Rin's confusion.
"Haha, because they both lost to me in a running race, they're not allowed to speak today." Might Guy laughed out loud, giving himself a thumbs up.
Running a hundred laps requires a lot of endurance, let alone they were just returning from a trip and were already tired, so ultimately it was the more enduring and persistent Might Guy who finished first.
Nohara Rin didn't know what to say, the penalty for losing was not speaking for a day, are they children who haven't been to school, playing such penalty games?
"Haven't you become intern ninjas? Aren't you supposed to be on a mission? Why are you having a race with Kakashi?" Nohara Rin's big eyes were full of doubts.
"Yes, we just got back from a mission." Might Guy nodded as he replied.
"Mmm mmm..." Obito was anxious, he really wanted to share with Nohara Rin about his and Teacher Mokgetsu's heroic performances in battle and Kakashi's moments of dragging them down.
"Damn Kakashi, he specifically targeted me!" Obito roared inwardly.
Might Guy directly rejected Kakashi's challenge, but the moment Obito casually mentioned it, Kakashi agreed right away, such blatant targeting.
"Could it be, he predicted this and was worried I'd tell Rin about his poor performance?" Obito thought to himself as a possibility occurred to him.
"Despicable Kakashi, watch me expose your secrets tomorrow!" Obito prepared to badmouth Kakashi the next day.
"I see, you guys really have a good relationship with Kakashi, challenging him as soon as you came back." Nohara Rin gave a smile of realization.
"Not really, it's because this guy is our teammate." Obito looked at Nohara Rin's smile feeling uneasy, desperately wanting to explain.
Obito could only hope Might Guy would explain, but Might Guy's next words almost made him stumble and fall.
"Of course, youth and friendship are the perfect match!" Might Guy answered with a radiant smile.
"The bond between boys is really nice." Nohara Rin sighed.
At this moment, Obito regretted why he hadn't learned sign language, otherwise he would surely reveal everything to Nohara Rin at a speed faster than hand seals.
"By the way, no one got hurt during your mission, right?" Nohara Rin asked with concern.
"No, although the enemy was quite strong, Teacher Mokgetsu protected all three of us very well." Might Guy answered honestly.
"The three of you?" Nohara Rin suddenly noticed an issue.
She asked, somewhat unsure, "Besides you, Guy, and Obito, who's the third teammate?"
Obito internally breathed a sigh of relief, thank goodness Nohara Rin was quick-witted, otherwise, there would have been a misunderstanding.
"Kakashi." Might Guy scratched his head in response.
"Wasn't Kakashi already a Chunin? Why would he be in an intern ninja class?" After getting confirmation, Nohara Rin was even more puzzled.
Kakashi: ...
Kakashi, who couldn't speak at the moment, couldn't answer Nohara Rin's question, but even if he could talk, it would be hard for him to respond. Even he was baffled upon realizing it was an intern ninja class.
"This is the bond between my best friends!" Might Guy spoke with a passionate look.
"I don't really understand, but it's nice, everyone being together." Nohara Rin said with a gentle smile.
Although the process was unexpected, the outcome was good. Though she was not there anymore, Kakashi was still with Obito, and she believed Kakashi would take good care of Obito.
"Not nice at all." Obito mentally grumbled about Kakashi, even blaming him for Rin not being able to intern. If not for Kakashi, maybe he, Might Guy, and Rin would have been a team.
"Goodbye then, I'm heading home. You all seem quite tired, get some rest at home too." Nohara Rin waved and smiled in farewell.
Obito raised his hand but eventually lowered it again, accepting defeat meant staying silent today.
...
The next day, Mokgetsu gathered the students at Training Field 26.
The gathering time specified by Mokgetsu was 8 a.m. Kakashi and Might Guy arrived around 7:50, while Obito was about ten minutes late.
"Late again." Kakashi said coldly.
"That's because..." Obito wanted to explain but was cut off by Mokgetsu.
"Let's hold a review meeting before we start today's training, to summarize our last mission's battle." Mokgetsu said.
"Kakashi was too reckless, which got him controlled for over ten minutes!" Obito quickly summarized for Kakashi.
"Obito, you don't understand combat at all. If I hadn't warned you, you would've walked right into the enemy's trap." Kakashi quickly countered.
Smack! Smack!
Two crisp knocking sounds rang out as Obito and Kakashi each covered their heads.
"I asked you to summarize yourselves, not others." Mokgetsu said, lowering his hand with a smile.
"Such speed, I couldn't avoid it." Kakashi, hit for the first time, couldn't help but think.
With Mokgetsu's firm suppression, Obito and Kakashi stopped belittling each other and reflected on their own shortcomings.
"My strength and explosiveness are still lacking, I need more training, and to master the Eight Gates soon." Might Guy was the first to speak.
Might Guy's training wasn't as varied as Kakashi's and Obito's; he focused solely on Taijutsu, centering on Breathing Techniques and the Eight Gates.