This chapter contains scenes from Shippuden Episode 416 and of course my own writing and added scenes.

Five months later

Hiroshi dodged the tanto that swung upwards at him. He jumped back a couple feet, bracing his katana to meet another attack from small sword wielded by the now seven year-old Ahsoka. She quickly jumped into the air, falling back down towards Hiroshi with a graceful twist, blade drawn.

Their blades clashed, Hiroshi quickly used Ahsoka's momentum to slide their blades together until he was in the right position to disarm her and throw her off him. What he didn't know was that Ahsoka anticipated this. She smirked  over their crossed blades, his eyes widened, she flipped herself over him landing behind him.

Hiroshi barely had any time to dodge as Ahsoka's blade came at him with great speed coming dangerously close to slicing his shoulder. Thrown slightly off by her failed attempt, the young girl spun on her heel, turning back to face Hiroshi who was already in front of her kicking the tanto out of her hand.

She gasped in surprise as the blade flew out of her hand and towards a set of logs.

"AYYY!" Obito cried out as Rin yelped from where they had been sitting peacefully watching the match, narrowly surviving being decapitated by the flying sword.

"Hey, watch it!" Obito shouted at Hiroshi as he quickly got up from the awkward position he had fallen into. He shot Ahsoka a glare as she giggled behind her hand.

The jonin laughed nervously as he sweat dropped "Ahaha, Gomen Obito, Rin." Obito huffed and crossed his arms while Rin looked like a deer in headlights.

He turned back to Ahsoka and ruffled her light auburn hair, "You did great today, kiddo." She huffed and grumbled a 'thanks' as she swatted his hands away, stopping him from messing up her hair any further. Hiroshi quickly hid his laugh with a fake cough at her expression as she tried to fix her hair in vain.

"I still haven't caught up to yet." She huffed.

"No, but you've gotten better. You'll catch up eventually." He gave her a closed eyed smile, "Besides.... a guy like me is quite the catch, ya know? It takes time to win me over." He crossed his arms over his chest and winked at her cheekishly.

"Not for the ladies you are not," She deadpanned, his pride sank a little, "Specially if your best pick up lines are puns." Scratch that, it fell to the bottom of the ocean.

"Now listen here you little twerp..." A tick mark appeared on his forehead, he pointed an accusing finger at the seven year-old who shamelessly displayed a sly evil grin.

"Oi, Hiroshi-san!" Obito and Rin jogged up to meet the bickering pair, "Can we practice the shadow shuriken jutsu you were teaching us the other day? Can you? Please please pleaseeee." Obito gave the best puppy eyes he could muster.

"Oh could you please, Hiroshi-san. I want to practice it too!" Rin said with determination and excitement. Ahsoka immediately joined in on the pleading too.

Rin and Obito had started coming to the training grounds to watch Ahsoka practice her kenjutsu with Hiroshi in the mornings for months now and were extremely happy when Hiroshi started including them into his lesson plans and teaching the two kids new justus too.

Hiroshi chuckled at the three eager academy students. He put his hands up in defeat trying to quite down the chorus of 'pleases'.

"I would love to kiddos, but... don't you have school in ten minutes?" Hiroshi pointed at the clock sitting atop the logs.

A collective gasp went through the young shinobi-to be as they turned to look at the time. "Oh my god, Oh my god we're gonna be late!" Rin basically squeaked. They scurried to get their books from the ground.

The academy wasn't too far if you were a shinobi and were allowed to run through the roof tops, but for academy kids...that wasn't exactly deemed safe just yet. It wasn't for the students' safety...it was more for unexpecting civilians who are victims to the bad landings and missed falls from the children.

"Thank you, Hiroshi-san!"

"See ya later, Hiroshi!"

"Bye!"

Hiroshi waved at the kids as they dashed across the training field to get to school. He chuckled as he waved, "I'll teach you guys the jutsu later!"

"Hai!" They called back as they disappeared through the gate.

The three ran down the streets trying not to run in to anything or anyone and failing. "Gomendasai!" Rin called back as she bumped into a man walking his dog. Ahsoka was in the lead, dashing and making quick turns as Obito and Rin struggled to keep up.

"Tasukete! Obito!" The three looked back to see a little old lady with large round glasses and gray hair waving at Obito.

"Suzuki-O-bachan!" Obito ran up the old woman, "Sorry, but I'm in a bit a hurry, you see? I'm gonna be late to school."

The woman brought a hand to her cheek, "Oh dear! That's a shame...I really needed help delivering these bags to the different ladies in the knitting club. They are gifts." Three bundles tightly wrapped in green cloth were on the floor next to Suzuki containing different trinkets and objects and even a cane.

Obito looked at the bundles and back at Suzuki with an uneasy expression, his mouth forming a squiggly line, "Hey what's going on?" Ahsoka and Rin walked up to Obito and Suzuki, having gotten impatient waiting for the Uchiha.

Obito twirled around, "Ah-well-you see...ahaha...." He fidgeted with his hands, constantly changing their place from his neck, next to his hip, to waving them around. "W-well she kinda needs help with some gift deliveries..." He finally gave up and dropped his hands.

Rin and Ahsoka sweat dropped, but soon found themselves each carrying a green bundle to a sweet old lady's house each.

Obito walked down the street trying to get to Ito-O-bachan's house as soon as possible. 'Ahsoka and Rin are gonna kill me for this...' He grimaced at the thought of his angry friends.

"I wish he'd stop messing around!" Obito looked up to see two chunin walking his way, talking loudly.

"Who wants to be together with him?!"

"Don't be so upset," The three crossed paths to where they were now behind Obito, "Kakashi is already leaving the team." Obito stiffened and looked back at the two.

"Still..."

Obito fully turned to face their backs as they continued talking.

"Um, excuse me." The two turned around confused and looked down at Obito, "By 'Kakashi' are you talking about Kakashi Hatake?"

"Huh?" The two continued to look at Obito confused.

"Who are you?" One of the men, who's hair was styled in messy spikes, raised a skeptical brow.

"Kakashi and I were in the Academy together." He answered.

"Oh, so you are friends?" Asked the one with long bangs.

Obito looked down grimacing, "No, I wouldn't call us 'friends." He and Kakashi had never really been on friendly terms. As long as he known the boy the two had clashed.

"He's pretty nasty right?" Obito looked back up at the men in slight surprise.

"We can't complete a mission with a guy like that." The one with spiky hair stated.

Obito furrowed his brows, "Mission?" He looked back down gritting his teeth. 'Oh right...Kakashi is already going on missions'

He looked up at the men, coming out of his thoughts, "Did something happen?"

The spiky haired one narrowed his eyes, "That guy always prioritizes the mission over everything. Even if his teammate is hurt or is left behind in enemy territory."

The one with bangs closed his eyes and lowered his head, "There is no way we can work with him." The two then turned and started to walk away.

"If you ever have to be teamed up with him, be careful."

Obito was left with his mouth agape in shook, his gaze far away 'Prioritizing...the mission?' The image of Kakashi came to his head remembering what he used to say.

"I'll save my friends no matter what, that's my ninja way" Obito couldn't believe it...was this really the same kid? 'Him? He'd..do that?'

Ahsoka skidded to a stop at the academy entrance and sighed in relief, placing a hand on her hip. "Finally!" Rin and Obito came up behind her, sweating and huffing. She looked at the clock in the courtyard and yelped... 20 minutes late.

"Come on we are late!" She grabbed the back of her friends' shirts and dragged them into the building while shooting Obito an annoyed look.

"AW COME ON! It's not my fault that old ladies keep asking me for favors!" Still out of breath he struggled to get the words out. His eyes shifted to the side, his mind really being on the conversation with the chunin.

'I'll have to ask Rin about it later'.'He thought, shooting her a quick glance.

"Yeah, but it is your fault that we got dragged into it too." Rin said, meeting his gaze and pointing at Ahsoka and herself to emphasize her point as they struggled to keep up with Ahsoka who was speed walking down the hall.

"B-But I can't just leave a helpless old lady alone..." Obito looked down at the ground with a blush. Rin and Ahsoka quaffed at his expression as they approached the door.

'Leave it to Obito to be the bigger person' Ahsoka shook her head in amusement.

The classroom door swung open, the three stopped laughing and looked up at Ikamaru-sensei glaring down at them with a raised eyebrow. "May I ask why all three of you are late?"

The three shot each other nervous looks, "Would you believe us if we told you that an we had to deliver some gift-eh packages?" Obito said with an unsure tone.

Ikamaru-sensei looked at the three of them with a deadpan look, "Who in all of Konoha would need three kids to deliver packages for them at eight in the morning?"

"Suzuki-O-bachan..." The three chorused making their sensei sweat drop. He shook his head and opened the door wider.

"J-Just come in and take a seat." The three awkwardly scrambled to find seats in the classroom. Ikamaru-sensei closed the door and stood in front of the class again.

"As I was saying...the end of the year is approaching, and that means that the genin exams are to take place for all grade levels. Even the ones that are considered 'early graduation'" Excited whispers broke out throughout the classroom.

"Settle down, settle down." The class quickly quieted, "Now, as cruel as it might sound, I don't want you all to get your hopes up." The kids flew into outrage at their sensei's lack of faith in them.

"Settle down!" The class quieted down again though reluctantly. Ikamaru sensei sighed, "You are all well on your way to becoming fine shinobi. But, that moment might not be now. I do however have faith that you will try your bests and learn from this year's exams." The students exchanged nervous looks.

The Academy bell rung and the students poured out of the doors chatting. The sun cast it's usual orange glow as Rin and Ahsoka stopped walking so Obito could catch up to them.

"So, how are you guys feeling about the genin exams?" Rin asked.

Obito put his hands in his pockets, "I'll give it my all. I have to catch up to Kakashi...and Ahsoka." He sent her a playful glare, to which she hummed, giving a closed eyed smirk.

Obito then remembered what he wanted to ask, "Say, Rin...Do you see Kakashi these days?"

She furrowed her brow and shook her head slightly, "Uh huh, No I only catch glimpses of him in town." She closed her eyes and smiled slightly, "I think he's away on missions most of the time."

Obito huffed and looked ahead. Ahsoka brought a finger to her lips, furrowing her brows, "Kakashi? That guy... I wonder if he's really as mean as you say Obito."

She was truly curious, he came up every once in a while in conversation but she had never met the kid. Didn't even know what he looked like...only that he graduated at five and was a prodigy...and that he had a lot of screeching fangirls.

"He's not that mean," Rin quickly came to his defense, to which Obito rolled his eyes, "Though he might be a bit blunt sometimes. Why do you ask Obito?"

"I heard some rumors about Kakashi today...they weren't good rumors. Last time I saw him he seemed to have changed a lot too."

This caught both Rin and Ahsoka's attention. Rin's brows furrowed in concern, "Could it be something to do with his father?" She said softly.

"His father?" Ahsoka tensed slightly as she asked.

Obito turned to Rin and asked quickly, "Do you know something?"

Rin shifted and looked ahead, "Well...no."

Obito looked disappointed, "Oh, I see."

Ahsoka looked ahead as well, her gaze far off and blank. 'Mama, Papa..' But flashes of blood, corpses, and a shadowy figure approaching resurfaced in Ahsoka's mind. A scene from not so long ago.

She shut her eyes tight, willing the images to go away before Obito and Rin noticed. Birds cried over head as the three continued to walk in silence. She focused on that instead until the memories went away.

When she opened her eyes again, it was as if nothing had happened.

The three went their separate ways when they got to the inter section, "Okay, Obito, Ahsoka. See you tomorrow!" Rin waved and smiled.

"Bye guys," Ahsoka waved as well.

"Yeah," Obito raised his hand and walked his own way to the Uchiha compound. The sun was beautiful, painting the sky with oranges, pinks and purples as the birds flew through the sky towards the mountains surrounding Konoha.

Obito passed by the river, a wooden fence separating him and the dock. He glanced to his right, and stopped, eyes widening.

There was Kakashi Hatake, sitting down a ways away. He was staring at the sun with his back to Obito, but it was unmistakably him.

'Kakashi...'

He looked older. His silver hair now adorned by the blue Konoha headband. His own tanto on his back. Obito jumped the fence and approached the silver haired boy.

Obito didn't know what could possibly posses him to walk up to the person he hated and envied the most in the world. But he did with a smile on his face.

"Hey, Kakashi!" Obito stopped just behind Kakashi, put his hands on his hips and smirked, "How's it going?"

Kakashi didn't answer or even acknowledge Obito, he just continued to stare at the horizon. Obito pouted slightly but he wasn't going to give up now that he had found him.

"I've been hearing a lot about you," Obito closed his eyes and turned slightly away from Kakashi, "Looks like you've been seeing a lot of action." He opened one eye to take a peek at the boy...nothing.

Obito gritted his teeth, losing his patience, "Hey, did something happen? If something is on your mind-"

"I'm not so desperate that I need you to worry about me." The Uchiha flinched as he was suddenly interrupted by Kakashi's cold, harsh voice. The boy stood up and Obito backed away in surprise.

He lifted his hands to say something, "Hey you-" Then he met Kakashi's dark gaze...It was dull, empty, soul less. He felt like he had seen that look before...in Ahsoka.

Kakashi closed his eyes and turned away, "Leave me alone." Obito reached out to say something else but no words came out. He just watched as Kakashi walked away, the sunset allowing Obito to only see his silhouette.

He dropped his hands and looked at Kakashi's back sadly, "Kakashi."

The rain beat down on Obito as he ran. He jumped into the air and threw a round of shuriken at the log. He landed and inhaled deeply, a huge fireball appeared in front of him scorching the log with the shuriken. He panted but jumped up and stuck himself to a tree branch using chakra control to do pull ups.

Rin and Ahsoka walked through the forest with a pink umbrella being held by Rin. "He's over here."

"Are you sure?"

"Of course I am. I sensed him." That's when they spotted him high up on a tree branch.

"We found you, Obito." Rin called to him with a smile. Obito gasped.

"Rin, Ahsoka." He smiled at his friends. With a loud pop he suddenly felt his shoes become unstuck from the branch as he lost his concentration. He barely had any time to react as he hit the floor with a hard and painful thud. The girls gasped.

"Obito!" Ahsoka shouted and ran as Rin discarded the umbrella and ran after her. Obito's eyes were wide, he had landed in an awkward position on his back with his legs over his shoulders.

"Are you alright?" Rin asked as the two leaned down to inspect him. Obito quickly tried to gain back any dignity he had left by quickly sitting up and rubbing the back of his head.

A bright blush appeared on his cheeks as he laughed, "I just slipped. I'm okay, I'm okay."

Ahsoka looked at him with wide eyes, "You're training in this rain again?" Obito looked up at her and laughed nervously.

"Yeah...I figured I have to try harder if I'm going to catch up that guy."

"That guy?" Rin asked

"I mean Kakashi." He turned to Ahsoka with a cute smile, "And you too, don't you ever forget that." Ahsoka felt her heart skip a beat.

She darted her gaze embarrassed, "H-hai."

"Otherwise I can't become Hokage." He looked at her again, "What you told me that day...you were right, but I'm still going to keep trying to surpass you as soon as possible. No more staring at your back." He sent her another smile.

Her eyes softened, "I wouldn't have it any other way." She didn't know why she felt this way...whenever he looked her way, whenever he laughed. But she knew it started on that day...a day quite similar to this one in weather.

She shook herself out of her thought, trying to hide her blush. He was just her friend, nothing more.

Obito suddenly crossed his arms, "Besides, he's already going on missions. I have to work harder or the gap between us will get bigger!" He brought his fist up in determination.

"That's he spirit!" Rin cheered

"Go for it, Obito!" Ahsoka joined in laughing.

"Hai," Obito blushed while looking at Rin.

"Aoyama Ahsoka," Ahsoka walked towards the center of the room. She gave a small bow to the exam proctors sitting on the desk at the far side of the room with rows of navy blue headbands. Ikamaru-sensei gave her a nod and a smile to which she returned.

Ahsoka took a deep breath, "Kage bunshin-no Justu!" Three poofs of smoke appeared around Ahsoka revealing three more identical amber eyed Aoyamas. They all smiled and waved at the proctors who clapped excitedly and quickly wrote on their clipboards.

"Great job Ahsoka! You passed the final part of the Academy test." Ikamaru-sensei walked over to her, a headband folded in his palms. "You are officially a genin, the rest of the skills you will need to become a fine kunoichi you will find out there."

The young Aoyama looked down at the shining metal plate glistering in the sunlight coming from the window. The leaf village insignia proudly displayed on it. She frowned.

Ikamaru's eyes widened in surprise, "Huh? Is something wrong?" He leaned slightly forward, checking if there was something wrong with the headband.

"Oh- ah..nothing is wrong." She shifted back looking up at her sensei, "It's just that-" Her eyes shifted from side to side.

"Yes?" Ikamaru-sensei asked impatiently.

"Ah, well you see...I'm not so sure I want to be a genin just yet."She all but mumbled the last part of her sentence.

Ikamaru stared at he in disbelief, "Y-You what?!" She flinched slightly, "What do you mean you don't want to be a genin just yet?!"

She laughed uncomfortably, "Ahaha, well...you see I'm not quite ready to leave the academy." She fidgeted with her hands nervously.

Ikamaru looked at the girl as if she had grown a second head, "I-Is that allowed?" He turned to the proctors who looked just as stunned as he was.

The proctors looked at each other unsure what to do, "I-I don't know..I'm not sure anyone has ever declined the genin promotion."

Ahsoka watched as the men bickered and sighed, "Gentlemen, as much as I appreciate your concern...I think I'll take my leave now." She turned on her heel and started to march towards the door.

"W-wait! Ahsoka." She opened the classroom door and walked out, "We have to take this up to the Hokage!" Ikamaru wave his arm trying to call her back.

Ahsoka lounged on the comfortable living room couch of their small apartment reading a book when the door creaked open. "Tadaima," Hiroshi closed the door shut.

"Welcome home." She flipped a page in her book without even looking up at him. Hiroshi watched her with squinted eyes and crossed arms. Ahsoka continued reading but nervous sweat drops started appearing on her forehead.

Hiroshi continued staring at her, not moving from his place, this time glaring her down. Ahsoka's brow furrowed as she willed herself not look at him, her mouth in a hard line yet nervous.

Ahsoka sensed his glare become more intense and a waterfall of sweat dripped down her brow. Hiroshi cleared his throat seeing as his stares were not breaking her. She continued to stubbornly stare down at her book.

He cleared it more forcefully this time making it sound like thunder. Ahsoka didn't flinch but gripped her book tighter as she slowly and stiffly turned her head towards him with wide fearful eyes.

"H-How may I be of service, k-kind sir...." If she could sweat drop any harder she would have.

Hiroshi gave her a deadpan look but decided to play along. "Oh? Well...since you are so willing to serve.." He casually strolled to the kitchen and grabbed a glass of water. He took his sweet time taking sips from the glass as he leaned on the counter. The suspense driving Ahsoka mad.

He finished the glass and set it down on the sink, "Ahh...so where was I? Oh right! You were asking how you could be of service, no?" He shot her a smile that pretty much had as much cheer as a wet cat.

Ahsoka stiffly nodded, "H-hai."

"Well," He clapped his hands and walked towards the couch and crouched down in front of her, "Could you do me a little favor." He squinted his eyes and held his index and thumb close together to emphasize how little his favor was.

She nodded again, "Perfect...because I need your help with some questions...well more like curiosities." He leaned forward, his hazel eyes never leaving Ahsoka's. "When were you planning on telling me that you declined the genin promotion?"

They continued staring at each other for a good ten seconds before Ahsoka broke, "I'm sorryyy! I just didn't know how to say it!" She waved her arms in exasperation trying to explain herself. It had been almost a week since her genin exam and she hadn't told Hiroshi about it.

"Ahsoka these aren't decisions you make lightly! And you could have at least told me afterwards!" He looked at her with wide eyes as she turned her head to the side in guilt.

"I just didn't know how you'll react.." She whispered.

Hiroshi sighed. He gently took the book out of her hands 'The Tales of a Gutsy Ninja' was the title, it even appeared to be a signed copy. He set it down on the coffee table and sat down next to Ahsoka.

"Ahsoka...I need you to tell me things like this! We've known each other for ten months now. Honestly, I'm surprised you'd think I'd react badly."

She looked up at him in shock, "Y-you are not mad?"

"Oh no, I am mad. But only because you kept it from me." She blushed and looked away. Hiroshi smiled down at her and couldn't resist himself.

"Come here kiddo." He playfully grabbed her and ruffled her hair.

"H-hey, stop it!" Ahsoka protested but couldn't contain her laughter.

"Got any more secrets you're keeping from me, Aoyama?" He tickled her side.

Ahsoka stopped squirming, "Uh..well." She chuckled sheepishly. He raised his eyebrows at her.

"Huhh?"

"Umm...well-y-you see...I might have eaten that last onogiri you were saving." His mouth fell open.

"You.did.what."

"I'm sorry! I was hungry and we haven't gone grocery shopping!"

"But those were my favorite Onogiri!"

"I was HUNGRY."

He waved his arms in the air, "The store is right there!"

"Well you didn't give me any money." She crossed her arms and pouted. Hiroshi pinched the bridge of his nose as he tried not to laugh.

"Come on. Let's get food and make sure you don't starve." He stood up and walked to the door.

"Finally." Ahsoka jumped off the couch and followed him.

"But I'm not buying you any dango."

"Touche."

A/N: This chapter was honestly so fun to write and I hope you guy enjoyed it too.

For those of you wondering why she would decline the genin position: the reason is because she had started making friends there and didn't want to lose them, so she was willing to wait until they graduated as well to continue to stay with them.

It may seem like a dumb reason, but to someone, like Ahsoka, who is just now starting to feel comfortable in her environment after a traumatic event, it might not be the best idea to take her out of her comfort.

The choice was of course approved by Hiruzen after he heard about it, understanding her reasoning behind declining.

Next chapter she might be meeting a certain masked boy ;)

***Next update will be July 6th