An Unknown World

Worth It

I hate flashbacks.

That day... that mission... it's going to haunt me for the rest of my life.

"I'm terrified of you"

The tone of her voice, the tears, and the fear in her eyes will forever be engraved into my memory; but she was still here and Obito wasn't and that's why he was the one to plague my dreams still three years later.

I stood there looking at myself in the bathroom mirror a little bit longer before going to get dressed for the day. I had a meeting with the Hokage this afternoon and I needed to pull myself together before then, he already knew that I was a mess of a person, but I didn't need to give him another reason to worry about me. He always tells Minato-Sensei my condition and I wasn't feeling much like facing him today. "I really hope this isn't anything to worry about..." I thought out loud while pulling my shoes on.

...

The morning air was cool against the exposed part of my face reminding me that the year was coming to an end. I haven't been keeping tabs on the time passing over the past year, I wasn't doing anything exciting enough to compel me to do so. Seasons changed without me even realizing it, holidays came and went, I just kept going forward through it all.

I walked through the village with my hands in my pockets, taking in the silence of the early morning. Most people were just getting out of bed as the sun began to peek over the great stone faces. This was always my favorite time of day; I could get in some morning exercises before anyone got to the training grounds. I kept a steady pace, taking a long route to get to my destination this morning. I had plenty of time to kill before I had to be responsible.

"KAKASHI!" A voice screamed from somewhere behind me.

Why was he awake so early?

Guy came jogging up next to me. "Kakashi, where are you headed so early?" He had that glint in his eyes. I loathed him, but he could be considered my best friend. We were "lifelong rivals" as he called us, always trying to compete against me and win, regardless of what the challenge was.

"What do you want Guy?" I said sighing and closing my eyes, keeping my pace as he jogged beside me matching my walking speed.

I could feel his smile without even looking at him. "What do you say to a little competition!" his enthusiasm was killing me, there goes my peaceful morning. "A little race to the training grounds, I'm sure that's where you're headed correct?" His voice was so brash. I looked over to him, his strange bowl cut black hair...the weird all green body suit that he always wore.

Sigh

"Alright Guy." I stopped and crouched down, putting my gloved hands on the ground and getting into sprinting position. "Let's get this done with." I said. I might as well get this over with for the day. It would be good speed training as well; it was always easier to train this way with another person.

His face lit up like he was expecting me to blow him off. "WOOOO! I WILL DEFEAT YOU WITH THE POWER OF YOUTH!" He got into position. "GO!" He screamed as we both took off quickly down the road ahead of us.

I jumped onto a nearby roof, keeping my speed as I sprinted over the houses. Guy was to the lower left of me sliding down a railing. He was keeping the low ground, weaving in and out of alleyways. Surprisingly he never lost speed through the sharp turns that he had to make, occasionally grabbing onto a balcony and pushing off the side of some of the houses to gain momentum.

I see what his plan was, if he was able to use the chakra built up in his feet to kick off hard enough, he would easily get ahead of me even though I had a straight shot from the rooftops. Smart move my friend. I slid down the side of an especially steep roof of a building, landing on a bridge over the river. Guy was in an alley behind me and would have to cross the bridge to get to the forest ahead.