• The shrill ringing of the alarm clock as it reached twelve o'clock caught the trio sitting at the training field by surprise. They had completely forgotten that they had activated it hours ago.

    Minato Namikaze shut it off and jumped onto one of the logs used for target practice, letting his gaze sweep the surrounding area. He could see another team practicing some distance away, but there were no signs whatsoever of any black-haired Uchiha genins in the vicinity. Sighing in disappointment, the seventeen-year-old jounin dropped back to where his two other students were waiting.

    Kakashi was pacing the length along the three logs in what could only be described as irritation. He was far from his usual impassive self and his narrowed eyes were a disturbing - if inspiring - sight to behold. Minato, who had been tutoring Kakashi for some time, was both pleased that the new team was already having an effect on the boy's cold exterior and fearful for what those eyes promised for the young Uchiha when the two finally met.

    His other student, newly appointed, was sitting at the base of one of the logs, quietly watching the trails of smoke coming out of Kakashi's ears with a degree of trepidation. Her name was Rin and Minato, thinking that she could use some distracting, sat down next to her in hopes of learning more about his new charge.

    Their chat was slightly awkward - the jounin had just about forgotten how to talk to children her age, after dealing with Kakashi for so long - but enlightening. He found that she was very mature for her age, but, at the same time, not above having a crush on her new silver-haired teammate.

    Minato filed the information away as something he might have to address in the future, but was not overly concerned about it hindering their teamwork. Rin was a smart girl who had a lot of potential. Even though Kakashi had easily brought her down during that morning's evaluation practice, she had still proven that she had some interesting tricks up her sleeve.

    Their mild conversation was interrupted when Kakashi suddenly stopped in his tracks and menacingly clenched his fists.

    "Kakashi?" Minato prompted, unsure of what to expect from his student.

    "This is inadmissible behaviour!" he shouted in an uncharacteristic burst of emotion. "We've been here since seven in the morning - it's now noon and this... this Obito still hasn't shown up! This shows nothing but complete disregard for duty, sensei! You should file a request that this person be sent back to the Academy at once! He clearly lacks the necessary qualities to become a ninja."

    Minato would have found the seven-year-old's exasperated rant cute, if not for the fact that said seven-year-old was a deadly fighter he had trained himself. He scratched the back of his head, trying to figure out what to say. Technically speaking, Kakashi was right, but the teacher also knew that intransigence was not the way to proceed in this situation.

    "Remember what we talked about before, Kakashi? Obito and Rin have just graduated, so you're going to have to be a little bit extra patient for the time being." He then turned to the only one of them who had actually met the Uchiha. "Was Obito ever this late to get to classes, Rin?"

    The brunette girl looked to the ground in embarrassment, not wanting to say anything that might make her friend look bad on his first day, but somehow Minato got the message: "yes", it said. Minato looked down at the grass too - he had known to expect trouble when he had taken on a team with fresh genin, but he had never expected to have to deal with this particular brand of difficulty.

    "All right," he decided. "You two can go on home, training is dismissed. I'm going to see if I can track down Obito. We will meet here again same time tomorrow." The jounin got a pair of nods and farewells, before the two disappeared from sight. He sighed once again before leaving the field himself, hoping that nothing bad had happened to the kid he was now responsible for.

    And so it was that Obito arrived at the training grounds shortly afterwards, already half-way through an excuse for being late, only to be met by a forgotten clock. It was also the beginning of a beautiful friendship with Kakashi - although neither boy quite knew that yet.