"Kaeru! Get up! You don't get to sit down during training!" Obito yelled at his student who had plopped himself down on the grass, crossing his legs over each other.

"But I'm tired!" He puffed out, crossing his arms over his chest.

"We barely trained! You guys have only done two laps around the village, a few target exercises and basic sparing!"

"And I need a break, Obito!!" Kaeru said, whining slightly as he threw himself back on the ground. The older Uchiha sighed heavily as he pinched in between his eyes, on the bridge of his nose.

"Fine, Kaeru. You can relax for a little bit. I guess I forget sometimes that you're not completely trained for super rough training like Shisui."

"That's just because Fugaku-san is determined that Uchiha's will be the ultimate clan in Konoha, so we're over trained." Shisui said, glaring at Obito slightly. Even though the younger Uchiha had only known Kaeru for a few days, he knew that bringing the Hatake down was not the way to help.

"Exactly, Obito!" Kaeru said, throwing himself back down on the ground, and allowing a small relaxing sigh to escape his lips. "And also, I'm not as good as you two in these stuff!"

"I'll give the benefit of the doubt, Kaeru." Obito said before looking at Shisui. "But you, Mr.Uchiha, you're still gonna train. 20 more laps around Konoha, and you only have one hour. Go!"

"Bu-..."

"GO!" Obito said, laughing as Kaeru jumped slightly from the sudden shout. Shisui huffed before he took off, beginning his laps around the village.

| × | × | × | × | × |

"Ma... That wasn't fair, Kaeru... "

Kaeru laughed awkwardly, cringing as he turned to Shisui. "Well, so sorry... The words just slipped out of my mouth. I got dizzy back then..."

Shisui crossed his arms and let out a huff. "Obito-sensei really is a strict one!"

"Well, that's how he was trained in Earth,  unlike me."

"Eh?"

"He got into some kind of special force,  while I'm more of an assassin one. My stamina's not that good, I'm better at hiding and things like that."

"Okay... But that's not a reason to order me to train harder! 20 laps, Kaeru! That's too much difference!"

Kaeru frowned. "Well, he's still new to these kind of things... I guess I can tell him later about this, how's that?"

"Sounds good to me." Shisui replied, as he looked around, "Woah, it's dark already! I guess I gotta get home soon. Is it alright if I leave you now, Kaeru?"

"No problem," the Hatake replied, waving his hand dismissively, "See you tomorrow?"

"Yep!" Shisui replied with a grin, teleporting away. As soon as he was gone, Kaeru's smile turned into a frown. He stood up, shoving his hands into his pocket and began to make his way back to his house.

"Seems like we really are in a whole different levels..." He muttered, huffing slightly.

Actually, it annoys him. He skipped 3 years in shinobi world, that 3 years which others spent to learn the important skills ninjas need. Clone, substitution, teleportation, even kunai and shuriken throwings. Kaeru couldn't do that correctly. He couldn't throw the blades straight like how kunais should be, instead he used them as daggers, as how he did in Earth.

In short, he was raised as a soldier from Earth, not as a shinobi with chakra.

Kaeru grunted, kicking away a pebble. "If this goes on, how can I catch up? F*ck, all I can do is a little of chakra control on trees and water."

"Oi, why so grumpy, Kaeru?"

The young Hatake almost jumped at his sensei's sudden appearance, "Obito! Don't scare me like that!"

"No promises. And you haven't answered my question. What's wrong?"

"Nothing."

"Kaeru..."

"I said it's nothing." Kaeru replied, "I don't need help."

"Is it about the training?"

Kaeru only looked away. Obito let out a sigh, knowing what exactly the problem is. One of his students is a prodigy, while the other one is the opposite.

"Did I went too hard on you?"

"Not exactly." Kaeru answered, "I just... I want to be as good as you and Shisui. But what can I do? With my current skills, it might be impossible."

"Well..." Obito trailed off, but soon went silent.

"I guess I have to train harder, huh?"

Obito nodded. It wasn't fair, to be honest. Kaeru didn't receive as much ninja trainings as others, and he was the only one in his team which didn't have anything to be proud of. Not a prodigy, no kekkei genkai or whatsoever.

"Then, for next time, how about I don't ask for any break unless Shisui does, too? What if you give me extra training?"

The older Uchiha could only stare at Kaeru, speechless. The Hatake had his grin back, looking so innocent. Maybe it was fake. But his request, it wasn't easy.

Won't it be too much? Would he be able to handle it? With his health and all? He was malnourished for years, he's not yet in his top condition, not mentioning his history as a drug addict and his lack of sleep, also his quite unstable mentality. Did Kakashi took care of him well? Would he be able to go under more training?

"You don't have to worry that much, Obito. I'm just asking if you don't mind to help me. If you do, it's alright, I'll do it myself."

"Uh... Are you sure about this?"

"Yes, I am," he said firmly, "I want to make Aniki proud. I want to be amazing like him and our father. I don't care about what I have to do."

Obito inwardly cringed. So innocent. He doesn't deserve what he had gone through.

The Uchiha let out a sigh, forcing himself to smile slightly, "If you say so, then I'll help you."

| × | × | × | × | × |

Kaeru huffed, re-reading the scroll Obito gave him. It has been a long time since the last time he read kanji, and, to be honest, he only remember a few words of it. Another proof why he was actually far behind others.

Well, at least he could understand the scroll, with some guessings and such.

The 12 handsigns are quite hard to memorize, and he often got it messed up. It has been hours since he got home, and once he ate dinner, he went straight back to his room to continue studying.

A knock suddenly interrupted his thoughts. "Kaeru? What are you doing?"

"I'm reading, Aniki. Just come in."

Kakashi

I pushed the door open, and walked into the room. Surprisingly, the room wasn't messy, it was really tidy, unless you count the scattered scrolls on his desk. Kaeru was sitting there, and like what he said, reading. I can't help but to raise an eyebrow at the scroll he held, it was about the basic skills like the handsigns for jutsus like clones and substitutions. I thought they called him a genius?

Kaeru, seeing my gesture, only shrugged. "What is it, Aniki?" He asked.

"I'll be sent to a mission tomorrow, early in the morning. Probably be back next week." I told him, "Would you be alright? Or should I sent a friend of mine to stay here?" Well, not exactly a friend. I'm his self-proclaimed rival, that's all there is to it.

Kaeru shook his head. "You don't have to, Aniki! I'll be fine!"

Is it just me, or he's acting strange? "... Okay..." I trailed off, not knowing what to do. I didn't expect that kind of answer. Would he really be alright? I mean, he's not that healthy, and what about his nightmares?

"Aniki?"

His voice snapped me back to reality, "Oh, right. Here," I pulled out a set of keys from my pocket, "Don't forget to lock the house everytime you leave, and also before you sleep. I already have another set on me, that one is yours."

He gave me a strange look. "You sure you'll give me this?"

What?

"Uh... What's wrong if I do? I mean, what's the worst that might happen? Just keep it, Kaeru. Besides, we both are shinobis, we'll be sent to many missions. Both of us need to keep the key, right?"

"I got it." He said simply, smiling as he took the keys from my hands. That strange look on his face... No, not just mischief. It's also some kind of curiosity, and... ah, it's too hard to read.

Let's just hope this building won't turn into ashes when I return later.

"Alright, then everything's settled." I stated, and turned away, "Don't sleep too late, Kaeru."

"Don't worry!"

I chuckled, closing the door behind me. With his strange constant excitement, I doubt he wouldn't sleep late.

| × | × | × | × | × |

No One

After Kakashi left the next day, Kaeru stayed in his room and continued to study. Honestly, at this point, the boy had a headache and was ready to go back to sleep, but he made a promise that he would improve his ninja skills. And if there was one thing he was determined to do, it was to make Obito and Aniki proud of him.

But at this point, Kaeru had read all the scrolls that Obito had given him about 10 times each, and he felt like he had gotten everything he could out of those one. He sighed heavily and shook his head before looking around the room. He had no more scrolls in his room, so he figured that he should look around the house. Surely his Aniki would have scrolls somewhere in the house.

Kaeru walked down the hallway, and passed their fathers' room. Kaeru had been told to never go in that room, so he wasn't going to. Kaeru stopped in front of Kakashi room, slightly scared to go inside of the room. He had never been there before, but the boy wanted to learn to be better for everyone.

With a shaky hand, Kaeru opened his brother's room and quickly went inside. He looked around for scrolls of any kind, but found none. But the boy was sort of surprised at how messy his brother's room was.

Maybe not really messy, but more messy than Kaeru's room. The boy shook his head slightly, before he quickly made his way out of his brother's room. He really didn't want Kakashi to know he was in his room.

Kaeru walked back down the hallway, and stopped in front of his father's old room. The silver-haired boy glanced up and down at the wall, and reached his hand out slowly towards the doorknob. Yes, he had promised Kakashi that he wouldn't go in the room, but Kaeru needed another scroll to study. After a few minutes of thinking, Kaeru's hand grabbed the doorknob and he turned it.

The door was pushed open slightly, and Kaeru took small steps inside the room. His hand searched on the wall for the light switch, as his eyes glanced around the room. Once the light was on, a smile formed over lips. The boy remembered this room almost exactly as it stood now, from when he was younger and he would sneak into his father's office to ask him questions about anything he could think about.

Kaeru walked into the room, walking into the middle of the room. He glanced around the room, before he started to go through random things that he felt like he would be able to find the scrolls at. Maybe about 10 minutes later, he had two scrolls that had information that Kaeru wanted to learn.

Kaeru smiled slightly with the finds in the room, and he began to exit the room. But as he started to leave the room, he noticed that on the table by the door were two letters. One labeled 'Kakashi' and the other labeled 'Kaeru'

The boy tilted his head and walked over the desk. He picked up both of the letters, both of which were in what Kaeru remembered as their father's handwriting. With the letters and the scrolls, the boy left the bedroom and shut the door behind him.

| × | × | × | × | × |

Kaeru sat back in his room with only the letter that was addressed to him. He had slipped the letter to his brother into Kakashi's room without opening it because he felt like his brother should be the one to open it. Not Kaeru.

The boy laid down on his bed, crossing his legs over one another and leaning into his pillow. With the letter now opened, Kaeru's eyes began to wonder over the letter, starting with the beginning of it. 

'Kaeru,

Oh Kaeru... you'll probably be too young to understand everything that is going on. You'll probably wonder where I am at for months and I am sorry for that. I'm sorry to leave you in a time when you will need me the most. I'm sorry for everything. I'm sorry for how people will look at you when you're older, because you are my son.

But I believe in you. I believe in the potential you have to be great shinobi. I believe that you will surpass me, and even your brother.

Let's talk about Kakashi for a moment. I know he's strict, I know he's hard headed and he's hard to get along with sometimes. But I need you to believe me when I say that Kakashi does care about you. Yes, he says he doesn't. He says he blames you for his mother dying, but Kaeru, I know he cares about you. One day, I hope you two are close and have each other's backs through everything.

Starting with what will happen tonight.

Maybe this is selfish of me. Hell, I know it is. But there's only so much people can take. I want you to know that what I did, I wouldn't take back. I would save my comrades over the mission a thousand times again. Because the shinobi guidelines may say that the mission comes first, but teammates grow on you. Teammates become like family, and I've taught you from the beginning that family comes first.

I hope you open this one day, and you've forgiven me for what I've done. I hope you open this one day, and understand that I do love you, no matter what this may feel like. I hope you open this, and can find it in your heart to forgive me.

I am so proud of you. And I know your mother would be too.

I love you, Kaeru. Remember that.

Love,

Dad.'

Kaeru placed the piece of paper down beside of him, tears in his eyes. His father and him had never been close. His father died when Kaeru was relatively young, not even in the Academy yet, so he didn't have the best relationship with him.

But this letter was enough to convince Kaeru that someone, at one point, loved him and believed in him. And that was enough for him, even if that person was now dead.

Kaeru grasped his hand around the paper, and smiled to himself through his tears.

"I promise, Dad, I'll make you proud of me."

| × | × | × | × | × |

Kaeru raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Ranks? What do you mean?"

"You are a genin, Kaeru. The lowest, the least strong of shinobis. So you will also get easy missions, D-ranks. The harder one is C-rank, then B, A, and finally S-rank."

"And now we got the D-rank one?"

Hiruzen nodded, and stared rummaging through his stack of papers, before finally pulling out something.

"Okay, your mission now is to babysit-... Obito, what's the meaning of this?"

Obito shrugged. "Well, there's no way I would let anyone babysit him. Besides, this way, even if there's an accident or two, you won't get any complaints, seeing as I'll be the one who would take the blame."

Hiruzen let out a sigh, looking at Kaeru's and Shisui's confused faces, then back at Obito's smug grin. He gave the sensei a flat look, before handing him the paper.

"I'm getting tired of this team already. Just leave, you get your mission."

Shisui laughed, dragging his teammate out of the room, while Obito followed them, waving at the Hokage.

As they left the building, Kaeru turned at the older Uchiha. "So... What's the mission?"

Obito grinned even wider. "You'll see."

They walked through the village, and when they finally stopped in front of an apartment, much to the students' surprise, Obito pulled out a key to unlock the front door.

"You live here?"

Obito nodded, as he walked in. "I usually leave him with a clone, but I think you two should meet him too. He's my sensei's son, his parents were killed when he was born, so I adopted him."

Once they reached the living room, they saw a clone of Obito's poofing away, and there, on the carpet, sat a toddler, with bright blonde hair and blue eyes, staring innocently at the guests.

Kaeru's eyes widened, and he instinctively, almost immediately, hid behind Shisui. Shisui's eyes lit up in excitement instead, as he quickly turned at Obito.

"He's too damn cute. Almost as cute as Sasuke. Or Itachi. But still, this one-... His name?"

"Naruto Uzumaki." Obito answered, "Son of the Fourth Hokage. He took his mother's last name. Kushina-san was Mikoto-san's best friend."

"Aunt Mikoto's?! I'm so gonna ask a lot about this!" Shisui exclaimed, "Hey, what's wrong, Kaeru?"

Kaeru growled slightly, still hiding behind Shisui as he narrowed his eyes at the confused Naruto.

"Look at him," Kaeru muttered, "That innocent human. So small. His hair color, so bright, so freaking bright! And his eyes, those large blue eyes! Doesn't he looks dangerous?!"

The two Uchihas stared at him in disbelief, while Kaeru continued watching Naruto in suspicion.

"No, not at all." Shisui stated flatly, "He's totally safe to be around Here, look." He said, as he approached Naruto. He crouched in front on the toddler, his hand reaching out to ruffle the boy's hair.

But Naruto looked up, and bit him instead.

Shisui yelled in pain, and Kaeru immediately pointed an accusing finger at him. "I warned you! See? He's a little monster! He will-... Ouch!"

Obito had already hit him on the head, glaring at him. "Shut up, will you? Naruto's just a kid, Kaeru. You're a little brother, too. How would you feel if your big brother treated you like-..." Obito stopped himself. Sh*t, he thought, I forgot!

Surprisingly, Kaeru only shrugged. "Well, Aniki did that all the time. I'm used to it, so it's no big deal."

Shisui looked at him strangely, and a bit of disbelieving look. He turned to Obito, and whispered, "But Kakashi-san seemed to be a good person..."

Obito shook his head. "He was, and probably still is, an stupid selfish jerk. That was a too soft way to call him, but there's an underage blonde kid here."

"Aren't Kaeru and I also underage?"

"You're shinobis. It doesn't count."

When their attention wad back on Kaeru, they were, to say at least, shocked. The Hatake was sitting in front of Naruto, his legs crossed as he looked at the toddler. His eyes held some kind of wonder, and Naruto was no different.

Naruto raised his hand, reaching up and letting out soft whimpers. Kaeru's gaze somehow softened, and he bent down, even lower than he already is. Naruto grinned, as he grabbed Kaeru's spiky silver hair.

"Fluffy!"

Kaeru snickered. He looked up slightly, smiling at the little blond, and ruffled his hair. "Naruto, huh? That's a cool name."

"Hey, Kaeru! I want to have fun with Naruto, too!"

"No! Naruto with Fluffy!" The toddler yelled.

Kaeru shrugged. "It's not me." He told the Uchihas.

Obito huffed, and crouched in front of Naruto. "Naruto, they are my students. Ninjas like me. That one," he pointed at the younger Uchiha, "is Shisui. And this," now looking at the only Hatake in the room, "Is Kaeru."

"No Sishu! Naruto with Fluffy!"

Shisui faked a hurt expression, looking at Kaeru with his eye twitching, "I should be the one who calls him a demon!"

Kaeru hummed in reply, "Well, I guess I made a mistake back then."

Obito laughed, while Shisui only sat in the corner, pouting.

Naruto giggled, climbing onto Kaeru's back. "Fluffy!"

| × | × | × | × | × |

Ever since the mission with Naruto, Kaeru began to open up even more towards others. Turns out, that Kaeru loves children. He loves baby sitting missions. Toddlers trust him easily, and vice versa. It was strange, but no one complains. He often received inappropriate questions, mostly about his scars, but he replied them all truthfully.

"Bad guys caught me, and I made them angry. That's why they hurt me." He simply said, with a bright smile on his face.

Neither Shisui nor Obito mentions it to anyone.

Kaeru entered his house with a satisfied sigh, grinning slightly as he hummed a soft tune.

"Kaeru? Is that you?"

The voice made him froze. The happy look faded, replaced by a frown.

"Welcome home, Aniki." Kaeru replied, as he walked into the living room. His brother was sitting on the couch, holding an envelope.

"Where did you find this?" Kakashi asked, not a clue about his emotion. Kaeru inwardly flinched, but he still kept his calm.

"On Dad's desk in his room."

"Why did you enter that place?"

"I was looking for some scrolls to read."

"What about my room?"

Kaeru shook his head slightly, "I only put that letter and left. That's all."

Kakashi nodded at him. He was quiet for a while, before finally he asked, "So, how's it going with your team?"

"Well... We only got D-ranks missions so far... Oh, and the Hokage said that we would have our first C-rank once you returned!" At this, Kakashi raised an eyebrow, "That means, tomorrow you would have to go with us!"

"Alright... Have you eaten, Kaeru?"

"Mhmm. I had dinner already, so I would go to my room now. See you in the morning, Aniki?"

"Yeah..." The jōnin trailed off, as his little brother left. His gaze landed on the clock, and he narrowed his eyes. It's not even eight o'clock, it's far too early for Kaeru to go to sleep.

With that in mind, he stood up, and silently walked upstairs. He pushed the door open just a little bit, and peeked inside his sibling's room.

His eyes widened in shock.

Kaeru was doing push-ups, a scroll left open in front of him. He was reading at the same time, muttering some of the words between his breath.

Strange, Kakashi noted. Training at this kind of hour? And studying, too? Sounds so ambitious, but what for? Why the hurry? He never finishes the Academy, everyone wouldn't judge him if he was behind others at his age.

Then why?

Why trying so hard?

| × | × | × | × | × |

Kakashi stayed silent, listening to the Hokage's explanation while he watched Kaeru's reaction. Somehow, he ended up there on time, when Kaeru woke him up and dragged him there early in the morning.

"...-And the Kazekage requested 4 shinobis, that's why Kakashi would go with you." Kakashi nodded curtly, accepting Obito's cold look and Shisui's curious glance, while strangely, Kaeru only hummed in reply, "All of you would escort the Kazekage back to Sunagakure. Kakashi had already went there plenty of times, he would show you the way. This is your first C-rank mission, make sure it went well. Any questions?"

"No? Alright. Team 12, you're dismissed. In half a hour, all of you would meet up at the gate, along with the Kazekage. Kakashi, stay here. I still need to talk to you."

As the team left, Kakashi walked towards the Hokage, bowing slightly as he stopped in front of the large desk.

"Listen, Kakashi. There will be a few Anbus following your group, just for precaution. What the Kazekage wants is to see how good is our village's new genins, and that's why I choose them. Obito already knows about this, so the two of you should try not to interfere much with the fights."

"Understood."

"One last thing. Between you and Obito... Please try to tolerate each other."

"I can't guarantee anything."

"... Figured. At least take care of your brother."

"I will, Hokage-sama."

"The Kazekage is waiting upstairs. Prepare for the mission, then take him to the gates."

"Hai."

"You're dismissed."

The silver-haired jōnin bowed, and left the room.

| × | × | × | × | × |

An update. Hope you like it. 4000 words, well, that's quite a lot.

Sorry for the long wait, we were caught in an emotional wreck because so many scenes that suddenly came into our mind, so many detailed sad scenes that we had to write because it was some kind of... a bunch of... powerful words... Like-... thinking about it makes me wanna cry. So please, don't ask anything. You will eventually find out, everything in due time.

Just-... Well, just tell us what you think, vote and comment. Thanks for bearing with us.