Third Person POV
Obito had managed to follow the few trails the enemies left after escaping with Rin and found a cave in the forest, where they must have been at that moment.
However, just as he knew the enemies were there, the Iwa shinobi noticed his presence and the same man who had captured Rin earlier came out of the cave using a Camouflage Jutsu to attack the boy.
– Alright, here I go! – the Uchiha declared loudly, taking a kunai in hand to head into the cave.
– Go where? – the Stone shinobi asked, appearing behind the boy on the high tree branch they were on.
Shock and fear took over the Uchiha's expression, who turned his face toward the man, seeing him about to strike. However, the only one injured at that moment was the Iwa ninja.
A large cut on his chest, but not deep enough to kill him. Obito saw the trail of white chakra from the tantō that had hit the enemy, and also the boy with equally light hair wielding it.
The opposing shinobi retreated to the branch opposite the one where the two teammates were, and Hatake didn't take his eyes off the man. One wrong move and he would kill them.
– K-Kakashi... Why did you...? – Obito asked, confused, even if still surprised by Hatake's appearance.
– Well, I can't leave this to a crybaby ninja like you, can I? – the platinum-haired boy commented with a certain casualness in his tone, very different from how he acted during missions with the Uchiha.
– Kakashi...
– That silver hair and the White Light Chakra Sabre... – the Iwa ninja spoke with worry in his eyes as he looked at Hatake – Don't tell me you're Konoha's White Fang?! – Kakashi raised the blade of the tantō before his face.
– That was a gift from my father.
Obito looked at his teammate, surprised once again. He could notice the changes Hatake showed compared to how he always acted, and how he had behaved some time before.
– I see... You're the White Fang's son – the shinobi spoke, relieved, and smiled with a slight villainy – I guess I don't need to be afraid – And the man raised his hand in a seal to use his camouflage again.
Kakashi quickly analyzed the surrounding area with his gaze and tried to find any trace of the enemy by his smell, but couldn't. Just as I thought...
– The smell is completely gone – he said aloud to warn the Uchiha of what he had concluded – We'll have to find him by the slightest movement or sound he makes – Obito looked around, searching for any sign of the enemy.
But unlike the two boys, the opponent wouldn't give them time to think or devise any plan against him. Kakashi noticed the subtle breaking of part of the branch he was on, behind the Uchiha.
– Obito, behind you! – Hatake moved faster than his friend and ended up being struck in his place.
A vertical cut on the left side of his face, over his eye. Just as he attacked suddenly, the enemy retreated after this failed strike at the, seemingly, weaker member between those two.
Kakashi fell backward with his hand over his newly acquired injury, feeling its lacerating pain. Obito quickly approached Hatake, helping him sit up.
– Hey, Kakashi! Are you okay?! – he asked nervously, seeing his teammate's blood beginning to trickle between the latter's fingers.
– Our enemy... He's good – Kakashi commented with some difficulty due to the pain he felt, looking at the kunai the opponent had left near them – He got rid of the kunai with the smell of my blood.
Obito clenched his jaw, both from the worry assailing him for his friend and teammate's well-being, and from the subtle frustration with himself for not doing anything to prevent that from happening to Hatake.
He could have died in my place..., the Uchiha pondered. Because I couldn't move from so much fear, I almost got Kakashi killed. Now he's injured because of me and has completely lost the sight in his left eye...
His eyes welled up behind his glasses, and Hatake couldn't help but notice the other's concern for him. And also his self-blame for what happened.
– Don't tell me you got dust in your eye again... – Kakashi teased more quietly, but with a relaxed tone to the Uchiha – A ninja shouldn't cry, I'm not dead yet. Focus! – Obito took off his glasses for a moment, drying the tears that wanted to fall with the sleeve of his jacket.
I'm all talk... I'm always being saved by others. I'm just a big-mouthed loser. But... The Uchiha stood up. I don't want those words I said to Kakashi to be empty! I won't let my friends get hurt because of me!
The Iwa shinobi took advantage of the boys' apparent carelessness regarding his movement, since they seemed focused only on the White Fang's son's situation. He charged toward the Uchiha again, but this time he was caught off guard.
Before the man could reach them to strike with the kunai he had in hand earlier, Obito hit it right at the enemy's chest level. A precise strike to his heart.
The ninja stopped his movements and saw the boy's eyes: the reddish coloration with two tomoe in each. In all his years of life, he had never seen anything like that before.
– W-Why?! – the shinobi asked with difficulty and lost control over his camouflage jutsu – There's no way you could see...
– Obito, you... – Kakashi said quietly, deducing what had happened to the Uchiha to be able to see the enemy even while using his concealment jutsu.
– W-What kind of eyes... are these? – Obito pulled the kunai from the man's body, letting him fall.
– This time... I will protect my comrades!
– Obito, your eyes... – Kakashi said, and the Uchiha looked at his own hands, almost as surprised as Hatake.
– Yeah, I think it's the sharingan. I can predict some movements and see chakra flow.
Although he had seen that dōjutsu before, Kakashi couldn't help but be surprised by its awakening in his friend at that moment. However, the pain from his wound reminded him of reality: he needed to tend to that cut.
– Are you okay, Kakashi? – Obito asked his companion as he approached him again.
– Yeah... – Hatake took from his pouch the small package Nohara had given him the previous day – Seems I lost my left eye, but I still have the kit Rin gave me. I can use it for emergencies – He looked at Obito – Let's save Rin immediately.
– Right!
__________________________________________________________________________
Minutes later, the two boys entered the small cave where the remaining Iwa shinobi was keeping Rin captive. The man was trying uselessly to get information from the girl because he didn't know about her mastery of Yin Release, which made her resistant to the influence of genjutsu.
Kakashi and Obito stopped a few meters from their last opponent, and the Uchiha observed their teammate, seeing her unstable flow. Hatake kept his gaze on the enemy, who stood up upon noticing the presence of the two boys.
– Rin's chakra flow is erratic... – the Uchiha warned Hatake – It's different from yours or mine.
– She must be under a genjutsu – Kakashi explained to Obito – They didn't want to waste time trying to get information from her.
The enemy smiled wickedly at the boys' deduction. Seems they're not just mere kids..., he pondered. Kakashi brought his hand to the hilt of his tantō, and Obito brandished a kunai.
– We fought him before. He's fast, stay alert! – Kakashi said more seriously to the Uchiha, who promptly agreed.
The Iwa ninja charged first toward the boys, and Kakashi followed, soon accompanied by Obito. The man released the arm blades he used and wielded them to strike the two fighting him.
Kakashi acted more offensively, after all his fighting style leaned more toward that, while Obito alternated with Hatake, looking for an opening in the enemy's guard. Noticing this, the Stone shinobi crossed his arms in front of him and opened them, aiming to decapitate the Uchiha who was near him.
Thanks to the sharingan, Obito could predict this movement from the opponent and bent his body backward, escaping his strike. At that moment, Kakashi used this opportunity to attack the enemy again.
However, the man was expecting something like that, given what he could notice of the boys' combat patterns. He changed the direction his arms were taking and turned both back so the blades on them would this time hit Kakashi.
Hatake couldn't dodge the strike, even having noticed it inches from reaching the enemy shinobi. However, he didn't try to stop his advance toward him, trusting his companion to help him at that instant.
Having thrown himself back to dodge the Stone ninja's first attack, Obito supported his hands against the ground and used his legs to prevent the man's arms from returning to the front to hit the platinum-haired boy.
With that cue, Kakashi landed a deep cut on their opponent's shoulder, almost at his neck. His blood soon flowed with the passing of the blade and the white trail it left.
Kakashi jumped over the enemy's back, heading toward Rin, and Obito did the same, leaving the man fallen on the ground.
– Release! – Kakashi formed half a ram seal and sent part of his chakra to Nohara, causing her to awaken from the trance the enemy had put her in.
– Kakashi, Obito... – She spoke a bit disoriented, quickly observing her companions.
Hatake had some bandages covering his left eye, while Obito had his eyes in a vivid red tone. What happened to them?, she wondered to herself, but couldn't ask the two boys.
– We came to save you, Rin! – Obito said quickly – You'll be okay now.
– Right, let's get out of here – Kakashi said, and Obito agreed.
They untied the ropes binding Nohara, and she could stand up to accompany them away from there.
– I see... – However, the three froze when they heard the enemy shinobi's voice echoing through the place – You two make a good team, but you're still just kids – The man stood up – Now you're in enemy hands – The two boys tried to prepare to fight the ninja again, but he quickly formed seals and slammed his hand on the ground – Earth Style: Rock Shatter!
The floor, as well as the walls and ceiling of the cave, began to tremble from the enemy's jutsu. The man left that place quickly, knowing that if he lingered, he would end up buried alive there, like those children.
– Oh no! – Obito said nervously.
– Run for the exit! – Kakashi was the first to realize what would happen if they took too long to act.
Team 7 members began running toward the only place from which natural light came. Their bodies were tired, especially from all the battles they had fought and their resistance against the enemy's genjutsu.
They had to start dodging the rocks coming loose from the cave ceiling, but Kakashi couldn't dodge a larger rock, precisely because it came from his left side, now his blind spot. The boy fell to the ground from the sudden blow to the head, and his two teammates noticed, worried.
– Kakashi! – Rin shouted for Hatake, but it was Obito who returned to the dazed friend and threw him toward Nohara.
And choosing to go back for Kakashi had sealed his fate in that place: Obito wouldn't be able to run away from the numerous rocks collapsing from that cave onto him.
Rin was thrown backward, falling to the ground with the impact of the stones. A thick, continuous curtain of dust covered the area, reaching even outside where the Iwa shinobi was.
Kakashi Hatake POV
The only certainty I had upon half-opening my eye was that I wasn't dead, thanks to all the pain I felt. My head was throbbing, but even so, I tried to get up.
– Are you guys okay? Rin...? Kakashi...? – I heard Obito ask quietly, and when I looked in his direction, I couldn't believe it.
He was on the ground, with a huge piece of rock on the right side of his body.
– Obito! – I called to him desperately, not caring about showing it on the field and ignoring the pains I felt to go to the Uchiha.
I tried to push that rock off him, even with my mind telling me it was useless. No, no, no..., I denied. This can't be happening! This is all because he saved me back then!
– No... It's okay, Kakashi – Obito spoke with a calmness in his tone that left me even more desperate – I don't think... I'll survive. My right side is completely crushed. I can't feel anything... – I stopped the vain effort I was making and tightly closed my eye.
– Damn it!
– No... It can't be... – Rin said, and even without looking at her, I knew she was crying – Why...?
I let myself fall to my knees on the ground and clenched my fist, hitting it against the floor, angry with myself.
– Damn it! Damn it! – I shouted with a choked voice – If... If I had listened to you, if we had come to rescue Rin from the start... This never would have happened!
I felt the anger and sadness filling my chest. How horrible it was to endure that eating at me and to know I had caused it all because of all my idiocy with rules...
– So what if I'm the captain?! So what if I became a jōnin?! – I pondered aloud, feeling my anger at myself increasing every second.
– Ah, right... I had forgotten... – Obito spoke calmly, but I didn't have the courage to look at him – I was the only one who didn't give you a present for becoming a jōnin, Kakashi... – I turned my gaze to the Uchiha, confused that he was saying something like that at this moment – I was wondering what to give you, and I had an idea – He forced a weak smile – Don't worry, it's not something useless... I'll give you... My sharingan – I stared at him, shocked – No matter what the village people say... You're a great jōnin. That's how I feel. So, please, accept it – He then turned his gaze to Rin – Rin, use your medical ninjutsu... Take my whole eye and transplant my sharingan into Kakashi's left eye.
Unlike me, who was too shocked by Obito's attitude, Rin brought her attention to me, remaining calmer than I could manage.
– Kakashi, come here – Nohara asked with firmness in her voice, while I could only try to control the tremor dominating my body – I'll start now.
– I'm about to die... But I'll become your eye and see the future for you – I closed my eye and took a deep breath, seeking the little control I still had to deal with all of that.