Chapter 7: Go To Hell
Something small pelted against Obito’s head and landed on the desk. Obito turned around to see who threw it, but couldn’t catch them in the act. Regardless, he saw on the desk before him a piece of crumpled-up paper. A note. Obito unfolded the note, smoothing the creases, and saw hieroglyphics that took him a few moments to decipher. Only one person could write something in code like this.

Obito knew that Kakashi deliberately gave him a difficult puzzle to solve and decrypt the meaning behind the message. It took several hours of thinking and flipping his mind upside down and right side up and sideways until he could make sense of the message, which was basically this: Meet me in the park in the afternoon.

Obito double-checked the note to make sure he interpreted it correctly. His blood boiled and Obito fidgeted in his desk while the words of the teacher filtered out from one ear and out the other. Maybe Kakashi wanted to fight him after school.

Challenge accepted.

He trained so hard all this time, he worked on every muscle group in his body and exercised his neck, shoulders, arms, chest, stomach, spine, thighs, and calves every day, on top of running around Konoha, he was sure that THIS time he would be able to best Kakashi. THIS TIME he would make Kakashi land on his ass and make him cry uncle while Obito stood victoriously over him.

When the school bell rang, Obito launched from his desk, bumping into the teacher on his way out (while murmuring a quick sorry!) and rocketing towards the designated meeting place. Obito's lips stretched into a grin that flashed white teeth.

Today was the day he spent several laps circling around the perimeter of Konoha.

Today was the day he endured burning muscles and screaming hunger and torturous pain for.

Today was the day he punched several modified training dummies with bare fists until they bled for.

And today was the day he would use them on a target: Kakashi’s face.

The black-haired boy bounced on his heels, balancing on one leg and then switching to the next. He could’ve hummed a jaunty tune he heard his grandmother listening to in the morning on the radio.

When he met face to face with Kakashi, the masked ninja shoved his hands into his pockets and feigned a look of indifference, though the slight jostle of his right leg and tapping of his foot made Obito pause. What caused Obito to suck in a breath was the look in Kakashi’s eye, as though he were inspecting a specimen like a toad, frog, or insect underneath a microscope lens while looking at Obito. Obito’s grin wiped off his face. Couldn’t Kakashi look at him as some subhuman species, but as the future Hokage of Konoha!

Yet Obito couldn’t help but notice that Kakashi stopped jostling his leg, and Kakashi shifted his headband more securely over his eye.

“What’s up, Kakashi?’ Obito said as he started to frown.

“I need to tell you something,” Kakashi said. “In fact, you’re starting to vex me with the fact that you haven’t confessed yet to Rin.”

Obito’s mouth dried. What did this mean? “I was planning to,” he mumbled.

Kakashi’s dark eyes narrowed and Obito imagined his mouth behind the mask became an angry slash as Kakashi spoke his next words in a clear and unmistakable challenge. “If you’re not going to confess to her…then I will.”

Obito’s eyes widened before he growled and was immediately on top of Kakashi, ready to land a punch against his face. His eyes watered at the injustice of it all. Not only did Kakashi have brains, strength, and skill, he would have the only woman that Obito ever wanted in his life too? “Don’t you dare! You know how…you know how long I’ve…”

"Are you gonna cry about it are you gonna do something about it?” Kakashi said as his eyebrows raised even further on his head that Obito swore they would launch themselves into the stratosphere.

Obito wound up his fist to launch towards Kakashi’s face, though something caused him to pause and simply hit the dirt next to Kakashi’s face. Kakashi then flipped himself on top, and probably smirked in damn victory at Obito’s hesitation and damn soft heart. Was he going to confess to Rin and steal Rin away from him? No way! Obito wouldn’t let that happen!

“I hate you,” Obito said with a dark promise as he struggled to shove Kakashi down onto the ground to pummel his face in, but Kakashi was too quick and slippery like an eel. He used the Substitution method when Obito clenched his hand into a fist and pounded the face of the clone instead of the actual Kakashi, which frustrated Obito to no end. Obito bit his lip, wondering what he should do before Kakashi watched from his perch on the tree above him.

“Is that all you’ve got?” Kakashi taunted, which only infuriated Obito even more.

“Shut up!” Obito shouted towards the tree, attempting to leap onto the tree branch that Kakashi precariously stood on. Probably using that damned sticky chakra to hang onto the tenuous slender branch he was. “I loved her first! It’s not fair, Kakashi! It’s not fair, it’s not fair, it’s not fair!”

“You’re not worthy enough for Rin,” Kakashi noted with a sigh before Obito climbed onto the branch and tried to balance himself on it with sticky chakra, though he found his footing wasn’t as even as he would’ve liked.

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” Obito said.

Kakashi shrugged.

“All that effort, all that hard work you’ve done, will be for nothing if you let things stand as they are. If you really want Rin…if you want to hold her hand and kiss her…then you will stop me.”

“Damn it, Kakashi!” Obito shouted, before punching forward. “Go to hell!”

Kakashi leaped off the tree branch gracefully, to which Obito launched forward and almost fell off the tree and plummeted onto his head down below. He only spared himself the cranial damage by using sticky chakra on the underside of the thin branch. Unfortunately, the tree branch wasn’t sturdy enough to hold his weight even with the sticky chakra, and a nerve wracking crack started to snap in the tree branch as Obito realized he was beginning to fall down to the ground.

Obito landed to the ground with a thud. Besides possible brain damage, Obito also felt a humiliating sting in his pride. He did all that work and studying to get better grades at the Ninja Academy, and now he suffers from massive brain pain from hitting his head and also the fact that his girl was going to be taken away from him. Of all the rotten luck! The absolute worst!

Obito involuntarily felt tears prick the corner of his eyes. It wasn’t fair! Why did Kakashi have to be…Kakashi? He was a genius, and Obito was not. It was only natural that Kakashi, as the genius he was, would be able to outmaneuver him and outwit him. Never in a million years would Obito be able to catch up with such intimidating blessed genes.

“I hate you!” Obito spat, before he ran off so he could find somewhere private where he could let out his tears and pain. This utter humiliation was something that settled deep into his bones and would probably pass through his family line if he ever let it. Forget about family lines though—surely Kakashi was on his way to confessing to Rin. So that meant Obito had to find Rin first, no matter what, though he hated himself for running away from his rival like that. Obito wasn’t known to back down from a challenge or a fight, but the fact that he was defeated with his tail tucked between his legs was a stinging humiliation that he will never forget.

When Obito made his way to the park, Rin was there to greet him. She noticed the downcast look on Obito’s face, as she cocked her head to the side and watched him closely.

“You feeling all right, Obito?” she said very softly, putting a hand on his shoulder.

Obito sniffled.

“It’s no fair,” he said with a sulking edge to his tone that sounded like a whine. “Kakashi is better than me in every single way. There’s no way that a guy like me could compete with him…right?”

Rin looked towards Obito for a moment, before she held both of his hands within her own.

“Obito, the fact that you keep on working so hard with your own strength and hard work is admirable. Kakashi may be a genius, yes, but that’s not to bemoan the hard work and effort you put into your own training. I truly believe that you will one day become Hokage—you can make it. Just keep on training, and you will become the best that everyone has ever seen.”

Obito felt his heartbeat calm for a moment, before he said, “About Kakashi…did he…confess to you?”

Rin cocked her head to the side cutely, before she shook her head. “No, he hadn’t. But even if he did…”

She leaned forward and whispered in Obito’s ear. “I would’ve turned Kakashi down.”

Obito flushed, before he said, “Wait what? You would’ve turned down Kakashi? But if you did that, then…then…what hope do I…”

Rin pressed a finger to Obito’s lips, before she said, “You didn’t let me finish. I would’ve turned Kakashi down…because there’s someone I have in mind that I like a lot more.”

Obito’s shoulders slumped. If she turned down a genius like Kakashi, then what hope did a dunce like Obito have, then?

Could he even possibly hope that the person Rin liked…was him?

Rin let out a soft sigh. She leaned forward, and before Obito knew it, she pressed a kiss against his lips with ghost-like pressure. Obito barely registered it in his mind.

When it took him a few seconds to digest what happened, Obito blushed a bright red.

“R-R-Rin! Don’t tell me that the person you like is…”

“I like you, Obito,” Rin said as though it were the most obvious thing in the world.

“Eh?” Obito said very intelligently.

“I like you,” Rin said as she clasped her hands behind her back, and she started to blush as well like a schoolgirl in love with her senpai. “I meant to tell you this, but…I figured it’s a little old-fashioned for a guy to be the first one to confess, so I figured I’d give you a little nudge along. That’s what Kakashi planned, after all.”

Obito paused for a moment, appearing absolutely dumbfounded. “Huh, what? Kakashi?”

Rin turned around and looked towards the Hokage monument that they stood near, pointing at it. “Your inspiration is to become Hokage, right? You said you wanted to marry me when you become Hokage, right? Well, I’m holding you to that promise, Obito. Kakashi knew that you take your promises seriously. He also knew that you liked me too. Please forgive Kakashi, though—his methods may have been…unorthodox, in his own way, he was cheering us both on. Right?”

“So when Kakashi told me to meet him, and he said that he was going to confess to you first, then…then…”

Rin smiled and clasped her hands around Obito’s. “Right! He wanted to get us together. He knows that you have a little of a hot-blooded temper in you, if he made you finally get up and ask me out, then we would be together. Once again, please forgive Kakashi—he really has your best interests at heart.”

Obito sighed, before pouting a little. In the end, his rival was trying to help him, playing the role of the villain to get Obito and Rin together. Honestly, he didn’t want to admit it, though would Obito have really taken action if it weren’t for Kakashi’s prompting? Everyone else saw how Obito pined after Rin—and everyone else except Obito realized it. Obito knocked himself on the head a bit, with his tongue sticking out. Honestly, he could be a world-class dunce at times, but he didn’t think he would be this slow on the uptake. Rin shared the same feelings as him!

“I’ll walk together with you so that you can apologize to Kakashi,” Rin said with a smile. “I heard you two almost got into a fight, but I have to say that I’m a little envious that you have such a good friend looking out for you. He’s always pushing you to do more and be more, and I’m really happy that you two push one another to become the best versions of yourselves.”

“Aha…” Obito said, finally holding hands with Rin and walking along with her to the park where he and Kakashi last had their ‘scuffle’ with one another. Obito was really glad he didn’t seriously land a punch against Kakashi, or else Obito would’ve felt unending guilt for a man that not only was trying to help him but didn’t even deserve a punch in the face in the first place! If Obito punched someone who was undeserving of such a hit, Obito would have to pay penance for such actions!

Kakashi was waiting for them, looking cool as always.

“Yo,” he said.

Rin nudged Obito, who looked awkwardly at Kakashi, his gaze downcast.

“I heard everything from Rin,” Obito said. “I thought you were just being a jerk, but you were being a jerk for my benefit, and well…thanks.”

“I knew you had it in you,” Kakashi said, giving Obito a thumbs up. “So, Rin, as the current third wheel of the relationship, what do you think of Obito going under a special training regiment.”

Obito’s eyes brightened. “A training regiment?”

Kakashi looked suave. “A training regiment…in the affairs of the heart.”

Obito face-faulted. “Wait. Wait. You’re not talking about…that???”

Kakashi knocked Obito upside the head. “No, dummy. What I’m talking about is the foundations of a relationship. Stay honest and open in communication with one another. Watching you always getting tongue-tied around Rin and not doing anything about it pissed me off, because you were gonna let a one-in-a-lifetime girl slip through your fingers.”

Rin giggled as she looked at the two people she cared about in her life easily bantering with one another. “Now that you two have made up, I want you two to continue to look out for one another like this. Thank you for letting us get together, Kakashi, and Obito…look out for Kakashi too, okay?”

“R-Right,” Obito said, before he saluted her, hands glancing off his goggles. He couldn’t help but grin all the while, holding hands with Rin and walking alongside his friend in the park.