An Hatake's story

Chapter 1

Pain.

Hot, white fire, consuming him, making his vision blur and his head ache, like it never ached before.

His jaw burn, and it feels as if his someone is trying to tear his teeth out of his mouth, but it's worse, because the process is so slow that the freaking pain is multiplied tenfold.

It hurts.

But Kakashi is a shinobi, and shinobis endure.

But it hurts so much...

So, Kakashi endures.
He goes to training, just like ever other day.
Like every other day, he is early, as is his sensei.
Like every other day, Rin is on time, and starts talking with Minato-sensei, nice and polite as ever.
Like every other day, Obito is late, and gives them the lamest excuse he could find.
Unlike every other day, Kakashi doesn’t remark on him being late. In fact, he doesn’t say anything, and is too focused on masking his pain to notice the incredulous looks that his teammates send him.
Unlike every other day, when Minato-sensei talks, Kakashi isn’t listening.

« …ashi ? »

‘Fuck, the pain isn’t going away… the pain meds helped a bit, but in this state, I don’t know if I will be able to carry on through the training…’

« …kashi ! »

‘But I don’t have a choice. Thinks of it as a pain resistance training, Kakashi. Yes, training is good. It's the only thing that matters anymore. All I have to do is keep a front in front of the others, and then…’

« Kakashi ! »

Abruptly pulled out of his thought by his sensei's voice, the silver haired teen glances up at the worried eyes of his teacher.

*~*

Minato frown and takes a step towards his youngest student. Not listening to his superior isn’t something he ever thought Kakashi would do.
Like, never.
But that’s exactly what his rules-obsessed student is doing. He isn’t focused, and it’s something so unKakashi-like that it makes him stops his briefing of today’s training program.
He calls out to him, and Kakashi doesn’t hear him. Kakashi, with his enhanced earing, doesn’t hear him.
If he wasn’t panicking, now he is. First, him not scolding Obito (not that he complains, no, but this is so unlike him) and now, him dissociating in the middle of training, training, wich basically is the only thing that Kakashi takes seriously, along with missions ?
Something’s definitely wrong here.
When Kakashi looks up to him (after being called three fuking times -this is so wrong-), he swear he sees a fickle of pain in his eyes before the kid (because he is a kid, chunin or not, prodigy or not, he is ten for god'sake) smooth out his features in a mask of cold indifference.
But he saw it.

*~*

« Kakashi, are you alright ? »

Sensei’s voice is filled with worry, and Kakashi inwardly cringes. He is a shinobi, a soldier, and showing pain isn’t something a shinobi does.
He isn’t a crybaby like Obito.
He is a prodigy, one who graduated from the academy at five, and became a chunin at six.
Pain is nothing.
Nothing.
His sensei, his superior is awaiting an answer, so it doesn’t matter if moving his jaw, and much less talking makes him feel like he is going to pass out from the pain. He is going to give him an answer.

« It’s… nothing, sensei. Just.. lost in thoughts. » He stops, takes a breath the most discretely he can and mutters, « sorry ».

And yes, talking hurts like shit. He is definitely not doing that again.

« Are you sure ? » Minato doesn’t seem convinced. Then again, he has been his sensei since the day he turned five. He must know something is off.

Glancing to his side, he sees that Rin is wearing a matching worried look.
Sweet.
Well, at least Obito doesn’t seem to notice that something is amiss. The boy is scowling at him, likely for being the center of attention. Not like he likes it either.

Kakashi looks directly in his sensei eyes and nods stiffly.

There is still worry in the man eyes -and in his scent- but he resumes his explanations and this time, the chunin makes extra efforts to pay attention.

And it all go well, he sees -scent- Minato-sensei’s worries fade away as the day goes, and he just needs to hold out a little bit longer until he can collapse in his apartment.

Just a little bit longer.

But then, he and Obito spar.

*~*

Obito is pissed off.
But who is pissing sweet, perfect little Obito off, you ask ?
Well, Hatake fucking Kakashi.
The boy always piss him off. So, what is new about poor little Obito situation, hum ?
Maybe, maybe it’s the fact that the fucker found a way to become even more annoying.
Obito didn’t think it was even possible before today.
At first, when the other boy didn’t mock him for being late, he thought (naively) that Kakashi was warming up to him, to the team.
But nooooo, of course not !
He just suddenly decided that he was too good, too mighty, to waste his saliva in talking to them.
He barely looked at them the whole day, too focused on his little person to bother, and didn’t as much as address them once since the morning, after he blatantly ignored sensei !
So yes, Obito is pissed off.

And when, as the end of the day approaches, sensei pair them up for a spar, the black haired boy is more than ready to give the other a piece of his mind.

But he never really thought he would touch him.

No, since the team had been created, the gap in level between him and Kakashi has always made it so the chunin always dodged or pared any attack Obito would trow at him.

Always.

But not this time.

This time, Kakashi looked distracted, and he… overprotected his head ? Weird, but the Uchiha took his chance, and his fist actually connected with Kakashi's stomach.

The silver haired teen doubled over, and Obito was so freaking stunned, that he just stood there, at lost.

Apparently, Minato and Rin, who were watching, were just as stunned as him, because a deep silence fell over the training ground.

What the fuck just happened  ?

*~*

Pain.

Fucking, overwhelming pain flashes from his jaw during the spar.

The pain meds aren’t working anymore, are they ?

For a moment, his vision goes white, and the next, his stomach is hurting.

Shit.

Did… did Obito just hit him ?

His vision makes her comeback, and yes, Obito is there, seemingly paralysed in a state of disbelief.

Double shit.

But he doesn’t have time to feel ashamed.
He is going to faint any moment now, he knows it, so he ruches towards his sensei and croak.

« I'm going home. »

And if his voice cracks at the end of his sentence, he doesn’t care.
He doesn’t.

*~*