To Be Lost On The Road To Life

Silent Shift

"Shinobi Kumite... Hajime!"

Immediately, the two opponents darted forward at the signal, meeting each other in the center for an exchange of blows.

Kakashi ducked as Obito sent a punch towards his head, and quickly reversed the other's weight, forcing the raven to topple over him. Obito recovered, however, and spun around to reorient himself to send a disarming kick at the Hatake's knees.

The attack was halted, as Kakashi grabbed the raven's ankles and twisted—once again, using Obito's own momentum against him. Kakashi used that moment of surprise to his advantage, and aimed to kick down on his opponent's unprotected diaphragm.

Obito reacted right at the last moment, shielding himself from the blow with his arms and rolling out of the way before he made full contact with the unforgiving ground. He leapt back up to his feet just as Kakashi darted after him, watching as the silver-haired Chūnin ducked to the ground and switched on his heel, readying an upwards kick. Obito shifted with the intention of dodging the incoming attack, stepping into an ill-placed divot in the ground—

A small miss-step.

Obito was sent flying after a kick was delivered to his jaw, and he just barely managed to recover himself before landing on the ground in a heap, instead landing on his feet—shakily, but on his feet regardless. He scowled at Kakashi, wiping away the blood that dripped down his chin before flinching at the obvious injury. "Tch... Damnit."

The two Chūnin reengaged in their hand-to-hand spar upon locking eyes, both unyielding to the other. A peculiar glint, unnoticed by most present, shone in Obito's eyes... One that looked strangely similar to hesitance. Fear. But not in being defeated.

Minato knew that it was not proper practice to focus on a single student when proctoring a sparring match, as favoritism was looked upon with distaste as a general rule. But he had a logical reason behind his focus. His eyes were riveted to Obito, looking for each of the boy's quirks, watching his movements, the minute differences that set him apart from his teammates. The way Obito's eyes darted full seconds quicker than Kakashi's. The way his hands would sometimes twitch unconsciously for a kunai but would be left alone at the last second, before the raven reciprocated an attack. The way he would seemingly strain himself from not reacting automatically to certain attacks. The way he seemed to simply know what his opponent would do, despite his Sharingan being inactive—either speaking of amazing foresight, or adaptability.

It was something that Minato had noticed almost immediately, upon calling the match. Something that he berated himself for not being sharp enough to catch before.

Obito was holding back. And it wasn't just "slightly," either.

It was all subtle, however, and the blonde had no doubt that neither Kakashi or Rin could tell. Even Minato might not have noticed, had he not been specifically looking for the cues. He certainly hadn't noticed before. In fact, it was highly likely that Obito had been holding back all this time, for an unknown amount of time prior to now, and with that possibility...

Minato frowned minutely as his thoughts trailed. When he had mentioned to his team about their renewed eligibility to take on C-Ranks... Kakashi and Rin had reacted as expected; the Jōnin had no small doubt that his Team was, at this point, absolutely sick of menial D-Ranks no matter how much they helped the local economy. However, Obito hadn't reacted as he expected—in fact, there was a distinct lack of reaction, discounting the exceptionally dark look that passed over his countenance.

At the time, Minato had wondered what had the boy looking so haunted; was Obito worried about encountering "Kaguya?" Maybe the boy was worried about the war. Or... Or was it something else...?