Obito Uchiha felt like cursing someone. If it were possible, he would wish for the very concept of a "classmate" to be erased from existence, especially the kind who knew his past.
"Obito, you were alive all this time..." Only Kakashi didn't immediately dredge up the past, instead focusing on the present. "Why didn't you return to Konoha? Rin and I were always..."
His voice trailed off, as if he'd stumbled upon a memory he couldn't bear to face.
But it was precisely those words that instantly ignited Obito's rage.
"You have the gall to mention Rin?" The words were a gut punch. A mocking sneer twisted Obito's lips as he taunted Kakashi for even asking. "The moment I saw her die at your hands, my life lost all meaning. Why would I go back?"
He clutched at his chest, the memory as sharp as ever. "Your Lightning Style was truly brilliant. Pierced right through her heart in an instant."
A wave of pain, so intense it felt like nausea, washed over Kakashi.
"What's going on?" Cold sweat beaded on Might Guy's forehead. Even Kurenai held her breath, watching the two of them, a dawning horror on her face as she pieced together their shared, tragic past.
"But it seems you've changed a lot too, Kakashi," Obito's voice dripped with contempt. "You, who loved fighting with Lightning Style, are now using the Storm Style you used to hate so much."
Kakashi was silent, unable to speak.
At the end of the Third Great Ninja War, the Mist Village had sealed the Three-Tails inside Rin. To protect Konoha, she had thrown herself onto his Raikiri.
Being forced to kill her with his own Lightning Style had trapped him in a nightmare, and over the years, he'd found himself relying more and more on his father's Storm Style. He couldn't bring himself to use Lightning Style, especially not in front of Obito.
"Hmph. You're no different from before," Obito's face grew colder, his mockery deepening. "I thought you, of all people, would cherish your comrades, just like your father, Sakumo Hatake. But you, who killed a comrade without hesitation for the sake of the village... you're just like this absurd world, just like that dark village. No longer worth remembering."
This was a lesson Madara Uchiha had taught him well. Konoha's ninjas, Madara had said, would do anything for their precious village.
Kakashi killing Rin was, in that twisted logic, perfectly normal.
But Obito could never accept it. He could never accept Rin's death, not at the hands of the very comrade he had entrusted her to.
"Sorry," Kakashi finally choked out, his strength gone. His body ached with a pain so deep he could barely form a complete sentence. "Rin, at that time..."
"I already know she wanted to die," Obito cut him off, his expression cold. "But a man who swore to protect his comrades personally killed one of them. This world of endless conflict is so absurdly dark. I see that more clearly than you ever will."
Kakashi had nothing to say. Rin's death was a mistake he could never escape. He'd never imagined that the jutsu he'd been so proud of would become the weapon that killed his friend. The memory was a constant, suffocating pain.
"Don't worry," Obito said, watching Kakashi clutch his chest and collapse to his knees. "I won't blame you for it anymore. Whether it's you who killed her, or them who had nothing to do with it... killing you or sparing you, it no longer has any meaning to me. Even this world, in my eyes, should cease to exist."
Kakashi remained silent, not just from the physical and psychological agony, but from the shame of facing the best friend to whom he had failed so completely.
It was Itachi who broke the tense silence. "We should go," he said gently to Obito, then looked back at the others.
"Captain Kakashi, Squad Leader Yamato, Mr. Guy, Miss Kurenai. You should leave. This was never something you should have been involved in."
"We still haven't..." Guy began, unwilling to give up on their mission to retrieve Anko.
"Guy," Kakashi rasped, raising a weak hand to stop him. He knew their only hope of rescuing Anko now lay with Itachi. And the mission was no longer just about her.
He had to understand what had happened to Obito, the truth of the Uchiha massacre. But right now, his mind was in shambles. He couldn't bring himself to attack them, yet he couldn't allow his comrades to fall here either.
"Guy," he struggled to speak, then coughed up a mouthful of blood. The release of the pent-up emotion brought a strange, fleeting sense of relief, even as his heart ached.
"Kakashi!" Guy rushed to his side.
"Senior Kakashi," Yamato stood guard, his eyes darting between his fallen captain and the two departing figures.
"Hmph. Trash is always trash," Obito sneered at Kakashi, then turned and left without a second glance. Itachi followed, his own expression unreadable.
Zetsu quietly submerged back into the ground, tasked with monitoring the Konoha ninjas' movements.
"Kakashi," Guy said, his face etched with worry. So this was the source of his friend's years of dejection. Of course, Guy knew pain, too. His own father had died in the war, his body burned to a crisp.
"Guy, Yamato, Kurenai," Kakashi said, shaking his head. "Let's leave here first. We'll find a place to talk."
"Okay!" Guy immediately agreed.
Kurenai frowned. The mission had failed, but it wasn't over.
She worried Kakashi would try to go after Obito and Itachi alone. "Kakashi, don't take risks. We don't have many classmates left. If you need help, we can look for reinforcements."
"The village can't send any right now, can it?" even Guy, usually clueless about Konoha's internal politics, could see the village's predicament.
"Actually," Kurenai blushed slightly, "we have another classmate, but he's not in Konoha. He's a guardian ninja for the Daimyo in the capital."
"Don't involve Asuma," Kakashi sighed, rejecting the suggestion. This was between him and Obito.
Even if he was alone, he wouldn't give up.
No, it wasn't just about them anymore.
It was about Itachi, and Anko. He needed to go back to Konoha, to report to the Third Hokage, to find some answers.
"Let's go back to Konoha first," he said finally.
This matter was too important. Two Uchiha in a dangerous organization that also seemed to involve Orochimaru...
However, it was clear Orochimaru wasn't having a particularly good time.
The group's true controller, Emiya Shirou, was already playing both sides, using Orochimaru's existence to manipulate Anko, and Anko's existence to threaten Orochimaru.
Their feelings didn't matter; the bonds between them were real. Anko's desire to kill Orochimaru was real, and Orochimaru's desire for Anko to be safe was also real.
When a bond is formed, threads begin to entwine. They eventually become a cage, and those who cannot escape the cage of bonds will be trapped within it forever.