Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto in any way, shape or form. All I have is my imagination :p
The first time Hatake Kakashi met her, he was standing in front of a poorly marked grave in the middle of November. He had come, like he always had in the brisk mornings before reporting for duty, to visit his father.
He hated the man, the coward who left him all alone. He hated the fact that he didn't realize that his father had been spiraling down a path of no return. He hated that even though he would be leaving his only son to fend for himself, his father had decided to commit seppuku. He hated how he had nightmares every night of a room filled with a strong metallic scent - nightmares of his father laying in a pool of his own blood.
But what Kakashi really hated was how he didn't hate his father at all. He hated that he missed him so terribly. He hated being alone.
He felt rather than saw her, at first. It was a gentle, feminine chakra. It settled over his tense muscles like a wave of comfort. He should have been alarmed at the unfamiliar chakra but for some reason, he simply felt relaxed. More relaxed than he had felt in a year.
"It hurts, doesn't it?" Her voice came from about 45 degrees south east of where he was standing. Fingering the sharp blade in his pocket, he determined that he could easily throw a kunai towards the stranger but the strong push and pull of their chakra warned him it would be a mistake.
Perhaps his last.
It was tempting.
Instead, the nine year old boy turned his head toward the sound but did not fully face her as she continued somberly, "it never gets easier. Watching the people you love fade away. But you learn to live with it and find a reason to go on."
Kakashi turned to face the woman, a sarcastic retort ready on his lips - one of many defenses he kept at the ready. But he was taken aback at first as he took in the long pure white clock she wore over ANBU attire. The cloak was reminiscent to the Hokages' robe but instead bore no marking to such a status. He knew who she was the moment she shifted her pitch black bangs and her lilac, rippled eyes met his.
The Legendary Time Sage.
He had thought, perhaps, that she was only a myth. Few people ever saw the woman - fewer had spoken with her. It was said that she did not reveal herself to just anyone, in fears of altering the timeline.
Kakashi vaguely wondered why she had chosen to appear before him. "You sound like you think I'm going to perform seppuku right here." His voice sounded bitter to his own ears. He wouldn't lie to himself, it had been something he had thought about. After all, what did he have to live for now? A mother long dead, no father to make proud - no family known. Would anyone really miss him?
The woman smiled, but it didn't reach her bright eyes. "No," she whispered, loud enough for him to hear. "Perhaps not this time."
Kakashi brushed aside the comment, despite the fact that it had chilled him to the bone. So he had done it, in some other time and place. Had she seen him die? How many times had she watched him die? In how many different ways?
The woman spoke, startling him out of his inward, ever-darkening, thoughts. "I've seen a lot of death. I've prevented a lot of death. I've stood aside and let death happen..." Her soft voice broke a little, revealing a bare hint of the pain behind the words but she continued, "I try not to interfere with the original timeline. It's hard not to, though, when someone you care about dies. Your death is always hard for me."
"You care about me?" Kakashi said, drolly. Finding it hard to believe.
The time sage smiled softly as she looked down on the prodigy, but her face was contorted in pain. "Very much so."
He didn't ask why. It wasn't permitted. Though he had long believed that her existence was just a rumor, all shinobi of the Hidden Leaf were taught at a young age not to question the futures she saw. They were taught not to ask questions. Especially questions that directly involved them.
He turned back to the grave. He was curious, though. It was his nature - to try and figure out how things worked. His mind whirled at all the possibilities. All of his possible deaths. All of his possible futures.
A gentle hand settled on his shoulder for the briefest second and he shivered as she removed it again.
"I want you to remember what I said." And with that, her chakra vanished as quickly as it had appeared.
It left him with a sour taste in his mouth. What exactly did the woman want him to remember? She hadn't really said much of anything. Besides that it somehow affected her whenever he died.
The boy reach up to his chest, gripping the fabric over his heart.
Why did he suddenly feel even more lonely without her there beside him?
Hi, I'm very new to the Naruto fandom. Seriously, I binge watched it for months and now I'm reading the manga. I rarely write anymore but this plot bunny just wouldn't leave me alone. I figured if the rinnegan could mess time space dimensions then time travel could be possible. But that's probably me just deciding it could, lol. And yes, my sage was born with the Rinnegan - but that's something for another day. Thank you so much for reading!