Hindsight
Premise: In hindsight, and only while naming his new green eyed, baby boy, had Kakashi realized that Obito and Rin had probably had this planned all along. "Took you long enough." "Shut up and go back into the corner of my head."
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto...
Even though that hadn't been the day where it had started, Kakashi was convinced that the trigger had been the day before. It was March 28th of his 14th year of being alive and breathing. He had rushed to the hospital in a fit that no other member of ANBU had managed to pull him from. His own sensei had reported the news to him just five minutes prior and almost nothing else registered in his mind as he raced towards the white building. His sensei had told him that there wasn't much time left.
Kakashi could remember charging into the hospital doors and walking past a red haired older man who was pacing in front of one of the larger hospital rooms. He had been wringing his hands and chanting, "I hope its boy," the whole entire time Kakashi had sped past. He also remembered the frantic cry of a baby with enormously large set of lungs as he threw himself into the first stairwell to his right. Surprisingly enough he hadn't remembered anything else about that day. The sound of the baby died out behind him as he ascended two flights of stairs and exited the well. Kakashi tore through the throngs of nurses as he approached room number 312, the one that his sensei had said she would be in.
Kakashi had thrown the door open with an enormous bang and his whole entire body froze at the sight that he saw. She was still lying in the bed as his sensei said she would be, his wonderful teammate Rin, the girl that he swore to his best friend he would protect, but there was a white sheet covering her pretty face. He had been too late, and it was at that moment that he decided that if couldn't have arrived on time for either of his best friends, than he would never arrive on time for anything else.
Kakashi had spent a night in the hospital due to his sensei's arrival and continuous egging for him to get some rest away from home. It also probably had to do with the fact that Kakashi hadn't let go of Rin's hand for about two hours and it had required at least five other skilled shinobi to get him out of the room. Kakashi had only complied because everything around him was too hazy for him to compute or care after he had left the room. The Yondiame had set him in the waiting room on a large couch on the first floor.
Despite the initial purpose, Kakashi hadn't gotten a wink of sleep that night and the next morning the red haired man had appeared again. He was sitting on one of the hard, old wooden chairs, his head in his hands and his elbows on his knees. He was pushing his hair away from his face as he took in deep breaths, "A baby girl," he was muttering, "Thank god it wasn't a boy."
And that was when it had started. The voice. "Yo Kakashi!" To say that the silver haired ninja was surprised had been an understatement, he tossed a glare at the red haired man for addressing him that way, but noted that the man hadn't moved, or had even stopped mumbling about his newborn child. "In here you dufus," the voice repeated and it was confirmed for Kakashi, that the voice was that of Uchiha Obito's.
"What the hell?" Kakashi muttered as he sat up from his position on the couch. The man with the red hair looked up at him momentarily before shaking his head and standing up to go back to what were probably his wife and child.
"I suggest you start thinking inwardly Kakashi or people are going to think you're crazy," Obito chided as his image appeared in Kakashi's brain.
"I've finally gone off the deep end," Kakashi muttered as he rubbed at his sharingan eye, "or this thing is giving me more crap than usual."
"Oi, that's no way to talk about a totally awesome present, especially one that I gave you!"
Kakashi sighed, as he looked up bleary eyed. He wasn't up for the voice in his head at the moment. His female teammate had just died; he had just failed the boy whose voice his head was replicating. Maybe it was the eye in conjunction with his guilt that was creating this illusion. "Who are you?" Kakashi thought and directed the thought to the voice, why not? Let's humor the crazy side of his brain before the heartache really set in. When he had to visit the cenotaph for yet another name.
"I'm Uchiha Obito, duh. You really have gotten slow since I've been gone," the inner voice laughed merrily at it seated itself in the inner recesses of his brain. His legs were crossed, his stance so much like that of his late best friend.
Kakashi sighed again and stood up, "If you're Uchiha Obito then the reason that you're here is to haunt me because of Rin's death, right?" His hand shook as he remembered the white sheet and the cold hand, but he didn't cry, he didn't think that crying would have done her life any justice.
Obito grinned before raising the goggles away from his eyes, "You play the blame game a lot Kakashi. It's not healthy for you. You were assigned on two different missions and either way there was nothing you could have done for her. Her whole entire squad was wiped out and you would have been too."
"Then why are you here Obito?" He was getting tired of the overly happy voice; he truly wished he had been on her squad, that way he would've died with her too.
Obito seemed to grin joyously at that question while ignoring the darker thoughts, "I'm your Inner Kakashi! Duh!"
It had taken him at least two years to get used to the fact that there was a loud, obnoxious boy in his head telling him what he should do. Obito was more easily angered, happy, sad, and practically every single emotion more than Kakashi was and it had taken Kakashi three years to get used to the fact that they were two totally different people and that he needed to stop physically reacting to what the boy was doing in his head. Obito would shut up during missions, most of the time, but while they were in the city limits, it was almost like a free for all for the overly happy Uchiha.
Obito complained at first about Kakashi's constant trips to the cenotaph, but Kakashi had managed to win that battle and it seemed as though that was the only place that his "Inner Kakashi" would shut up. For at least three hours, more than that and he had discovered that he was pushing it.
Obito had also made Kakashi do things that otherwise, Kakashi never would have done. Like now for example, where he was staring at a frail old woman who was motioning to the cat stuck in the tree. "You've got to be kidding me," Kakashi hissed to the boy in his head, "I'm still trying to wrap my head around the fact that your excuses were actually real."
Obito grinned at him as he adjusted his goggles, "You are slow Kakashi. Slow as the day I took up residence in here…"
"Please help me get little Fluffy down. He must be so scared right now up in that tree," the old woman muttered as she continued to gesture to the obviously happy and dozing cat.
"Ma'am, I'm sure that you can get some genin to do the task for you," Kakashi replied. The D-rank missions had to come from somewhere after all and unlike Obito, Kakashi made the excuse that he was being noble by not giving a damn about the cat. After all he was giving all the little genins experience and missions by leaving the happy cat in the tree.
"Get the cat down for the lady Kakashi."
"No."
"Retrieve the cat."
"I said no."
"That's it!" Obito cried as he began to rampage around Kakashi's poor abused brain. His natural lazy attitude wasn't cut out for this kind of activity and the ringing behind his ears was only proving more and more of a point.
"Fine, damn it!"
"You don't have to be so rude about it young man," the old lady pestered as Kakashi leapt into the tree to retrieve that small ball of awful smelling fur. When its claws latched into his arm, he remembered why he was a dog person.
Kakashi was back on the ground, "Here's your cat," Kakashi stated as he shoved the now unhappy feline into the arms of its owner, "Now you can shut up," Kakashi hissed inwardly. Obito laughed joyously again as he sat down on the floor of his inner mind. Kakashi sighed as the ringing in his ears stopped.
"Thank you very much young man, I am so very sorry for the trouble, but I love my little Fluffy and can't be parted from her for long," the old woman stated with a smile pulling on her wrinkled face.
Kakashi froze as a feeling of calmness washed over him from the expression on the old woman's face. Obito only laughed as all of Kakashi's muscles tensed and he nodded stiffly to the old woman who limped away with the old smile still shining from her lips. "See I told you to get the cat."
"Shut up."
One year later and Kakashi decided that Obito was becoming way too much of a big part of his life. "I don't like children."
"You told me once that you didn't like cats."
"I don't like cats, but I can deal with them. I don't like nor can I deal with children, I'm not doing this."
"But the little girl is lost Kakashi, help her out man."
"No."
"Do you want me to rampage?"
"I find this to be unfair," Kakashi grounded out as he sat on the tree limb in the forest. Moments ago he had been reading his favorite orange covered book in silence, but the little girl in the clearing below just had to have shown up singing about flowers and the such.
"Kakashi, I'll never ask you to go talk to a kid again okay? Just go talk to this kid, I mean come on, you have to talk to at least one in your life."
"Who ever came up with that rule?"
"Kakashi…"
"Fine, damn it," Kakashi muttered as he hopped of his comfortable branch and landed on the ground. He approached the girl and regarded her silently. She had short pink hair that reached her shoulders and bright green eyes. She also seemed to be talking to herself.
"Why did you want me to go pick flowers?" the girl asked herself as she pulled a yellow weed out of the ground, "I think flowers are pretty too, but I think mommy is going to be mad." She twirled the flower in her hand and giggled softly before she fell back on her butt with a loud thump, "I think this flower is pretty, why are you calling it a weed? What's a weed?"
Obito shoved himself into the forefront of Kakashi's mind and Kakashi snarled at his friend. Obito was used to the indignant silver haired ANBU by now and didn't pay that much attention; he only had eyes for the little pink haired girl in front of them. "Why do you want me to help the girl so badly?" Kakashi asked, "You've never tried to make me help children before."
Obito paused for a bit, "Well…"
"Don't make up one of your stupid excuses."
Obito merely laughed before nodding, "Well you see Kakashi, I think that's she's going to be a very special girl for you later on. So go help her, right now, do it, do it, do it!"
Kakashi sighed in defeat as he made his presence known to the little girl. He raised his eyebrows as her green eyes flashed momentarily at the sight of him and Obito grinned and pranced around like the crazy thirteen-year-old kid that he was. "Hello there…" Kakashi muttered awkwardly as he rubbed the back of his neck and tried to look at anything but the runt in front of him.
"Hello," she chirped as she waved with one small chubby hand. Her eyes continued to flash funnily as Kakashi turned his gaze back to the girl.
"Compliment her," Obito nudged.
"What?"
"Little girls like to know what's pretty about them, compliment her, that way she'll trust you."
Kakashi kneeled down beside the girl and ignored Obito for the time being, "Are you lost?" he managed to splutter out wondering if the kid could even understand him. He didn't remember when he had learned big words, but it didn't matter, he wasn't exactly average.
"Nope, I'm picking flowers because..." the girl paused and scrunched her eyebrows, "Why can't I tell him your name?...Oh…really? Okay," the pink haired kid beamed, "Because Inner Sakura told me that I should go pick flowers!"
"Inner Sakura?" Kakashi dawdled. Obito snickered in the background.
"Yep, Inner Sakura!" the little girl beamed, "Inner Sakura, because my name is Sakura, Haruno Sakura!" She seemed so proud of her lineage although Kakashi had never heard of the surname before.
The two fell into a silence after that. Kakashi had no idea what to say and cursed the moment that he had decided listening to his best friend was a good idea when it came to talking to children. Sakura merely continued to play with the flowers she had already picked before suddenly turning towards Kakashi with the dandelion she had told herself was the prettiest flower. She giggled and suck it into his hair, "You have funny colored hair. Are you an old man?"
Kakashi blanched, "No, I'm only eighteen."
"Old man," Sakura sung and giggled to herself, "Inner Sakura thinks you're an old man too! She even says that you're a st-, stu-, stubborn, lifeless, ugly old man as well! What does stubborn mean?" Sakura blinked and tapped her finger to her chin, "I still don't get it, but I don't think that he's ugly. He's old, but I think that he's very cute, like a puppy!"
"Puppy…" Kakashi muttered, that was definitely not the look he was going for in his ANBU uniform.
Obito burst into a fit of laughter and rolled around on the floor, "This is just too good," he cried out as he lifted his goggles and wiped away a tear from his eye, "So happy you did this man."
"Hm, the flower looks pretty in your hair," Sakura beamed again as she picked another nearby dandelion and stuffed it further into his unruly silver locks.
Kakashi didn't know how to reply and when desperate times came to desperate measures, he decided to finally take his friend's advice. "Uh…" Kakashi ran his eyes over the little girl. She probably had comments on her hair constantly and on her eyes as well, she must have gotten tired from it, after all he hated it when people constantly pointed out the unique strands on his head. Kakashi's eyes continued to rove before he spotted it. It made her look pretty cute so he decided that that was his best bet, "You have a very large forehead."
Obito smacked him upside the head and Kakashi couldn't orient himself for just a second. But when he finally had, his mouth gaped in horror from the tears running down the little girl's face. "What did I say?" Kakashi shouted in a panic to the boy inside his brain. Obito just crossed his arms and glared at his best friend with a roll of his eyes.
The little girl brought a hand to her forehead and rubbed at it before bursting out into sobs. Stumbling onto her feet she decidedly began to run away from Kakashi while sobbing her little heart out. All of the flowers she had picked were left behind. "Follow her," Obito grounded out, "God no wonder you don't have a girlfriend. You're a freaking idiot!"
"What?" Kakashi shouted desperately as he jumped into the trees and followed the little girl to make sure that she made it home all right, "I thought that the forehead made her look cute! You told me to compliment her, damn it!"
"Yah, I told you to compliment her, not scar her for life," Obito sniggered, "Yah we're not going with this child talking approach ever again actually let's have you never talk to women ever again. Stick with books."
"I'm going to kill you."
"That would entail killing yourself," Obito mocked as they came to a halt at the tree line. Kakashi kept himself hidden as he watched the pink haired girl stumble towards a couple; a man with red hair and a woman with very light blond hair.
"She wasn't even freaking lost in the first place!" Kakashi wanted to scream and rip his hair out, the girl was now cuddled in her mother's arms, still sobbing about how a nasty, ugly man had told her that her forehead was huge.
"Nice job, very nice."
"I detest you."
"And you're dumb."
Direct confrontation had never been Kakashi's thing especially not in the light of a good battle. He had come to rely on Obito for that kind of thing because honestly where Kakashi lacked, Obito excelled at. The Inner Kakashi was also where Kakashi had learned to get all of his excuses. After all the promise of never being on time for anything ever again really did require excuses, even though he knew they sucked. But that wasn't the problem at hand right now, the problem at hand was that he had a nine-year-old pink haired girl yelling at him and jabbing him in the torso with her finger. "Oh, I did not see this particular event happening," Obito muttered.
"Girls hold grudges," Kakashi mumbled as he stared wide eyed as the nine-year-old who had a red ribbon tied in her hair to pull away the pink strands from her still huge and regrettably cute forehead.
"I knew I recognized you! Even Inner Sakura says that you were the man who talked to me all those years ago. Five years! You're still stubborn and ugly like a mutt! You were the one who told me that my forehead was huge," Sakura screamed with her little lungs as she continued to jab at him. Kakashi wished to reply, but since five years ago and now he had managed to talk to only one woman, and Kurenai was overly tolerant of men, so he didn't think he could get away with much, "Do you know what that did to my whole entire childhood! I didn't even have any friends until I turned six years old…"
Kakashi was flabbergasted, "Do six words really kill a whole entire kid's childhood?"
Obito shrugged, "I guess so, but that's a girl for you…"
"And that was when I met Ino-pig and you and my huge forehead were the reason that we became friends. And now we aren't friends anymore because both of us like Sasuke-kun…"
"Oh another one for the Uchiha's," Kakashi muttered, Obito jumped in joy but otherwise was subdued quite quickly. Kakashi raised an eyebrow at this; usually Obito always rampaged when the name Uchiha was mentioned by anyone else especially in a good context.
"And now Ino-pig is no longer my friend and we are eternal rivals!"
"Don't you think it's a bad idea to be poking an older ANBU?" Kakashi asked suddenly.
"No! DAMN IT KAKASHI!" Obito groaned in exasperation, "She just finished, JUST finished you fool…"
Sakura's green eyes flashed again as she tried to shove him with her tiny nine-year-old frame. His twenty-three-year-old body didn't even move an inch as she snarled at him some more, "Just because you're some shinobi that works directly for the Hokage does not mean that you can go around calling little girls ugly!"
"Impressive, she knows what an ANBU is," Kakashi muttered inwardly.
Obito shrugged as he yawned, "I'm not all that surprised."
"Is that so?"
"Rin knew what ANBU was when she was nine."
"We lived in a different time Obito."
"Meh."
Kakashi kneeled down to get eye level with the little girl as she continued to glare at him. Apparently the need for him to change his height in order to talk to her did not go well in her little pink-haired, huge foreheaded head and she promptly punched him in the arm. Kakashi didn't even flinch from the contact and the girl was only more enraged from there on out. "I never said that you're forehead was ugly."
"You called it huge," she huffed, "Which Inner Sakura says is very, very stupid and if that's the way that you normally talk to girls then she is very ashamed about the fact that she or any girl ever thought that you were cute or er… sexy?" Obito laughed at that and nodded his head in agreement.
"Did a nine-year-old just call me sexy?" Kakashi asked Obito with a twitch of his eye, "That can't be normal."
"No, a nine-year-old didn't call you sexy, her Inner mind did," Obito smirked.
Kakashi shook his head as he took the little girl's shoulder with his hand. "Well, let me reclarify okay?"
"Fine, you have five sentences, no more."
Kakashi raised his eyebrow at the ultimatum as Obito continued to snicker. Although he was sure the little girl had nothing that she could use against him, he decided to humor her rather than deal with another one of her frantic rants. "When I said that your forehead was huge I didn't mean that it was ugly." Sakura tried to open her mouth to reply but Kakashi just shook his head, "I meant that you forehead is very, very unique."
"Unique…"
"Yes and that I think unique girls are very cute."
"Cute…"
"Uh…beautiful?" Kakashi searched hoping to god that this was going to get him away from the nine-year-old girl's rage. Not like he couldn't just hop away, but then Obito would screw with him until sundown and honestly considering that he had just walked through the gate on the way home from a mission, he really didn't need anymore mental abuse. At least this time he had a legitimate excuse for being late for the debriefing with the Hokage.
Sakura bit her lip in contemplation before nodding, "Fine. You only used four sentences and I think I can believe you," she muttered, "But you are still very stupid and Inner Sakura agrees with me, she says you should fix it before I grow up." Sakura seemed to have paused from that, "Before I grow up? What? Why?"
"I'm told that very often," Kakashi remarked with a sweat drop running down the back of his head, "Not the grow up part, but you know… that I'm quite er… stupid."
Sakura nodded before grinning, "So I'm beautiful?"
"Err… sure?"
"YAH! Ino-pig can eat her heart out. ANBU puppy man told me that I was beautiful," Sakura shouted as she turned away from Kakashi and marched back down the road to her home, "Sasuke-kun probably thinks so too!"
Kakashi sighed from relief as he stood back up and stretched his muscles. That was not what he had intended to do upon returning back to Konoha. Obito snickered again, "Looks like Kakashi has finally become a ladies man."
"Shut up, you know I'm hot enough to get girls without the words," Kakashi sneered, "Unlike you."
"Oi, low blow!"
Three years later and Kakashi found himself listening to Obito for the stupidest of things. For example, "You should go into the business of teaching children. I'm sure you have a lot to hand down to the next generation!"
"Don't dodge the chalk eraser, humor your students you old man before you kick their butts."
"Don't show that you recognize her, she's obviously too googely eyed to recognize you. I told you that Uchiha genetics were better."
"Hahaha, they kind of remind you of us don't they? Well no, Rin was never that bizarre when it came to you… wonder how that works…"
"This is how you say it you old man, repeat after me 'those that break the rules and regulations are scum. But those that abandon their comrades are worse than scum' good job old man. Didn't think that you would finally get a team and say that old man, did yah? Aren't you glad now the little banshee girl doesn't remember you?"
"I got lost on the road of life…"
"I had to go save Tsuki-san's cat…"
"Well you see there was this stray dog…"
"Wow you didn't even need prompting for that line Kakashi, 'I'll never leave my comrades behind!' Man you really are a ladies man now, I'm so proud of how much you've grown from 'you have a very large forehead'."
"Okay, okay, let her explain the whole ranking system in the government and how chakra is utilized. She's obviously really smart so let her take advantage of that!"
"Ruffle her hair, there you go. Now you seem friendly instead of freaky. Was that so hard Kakashi?"
Kakashi sighed as he leaned on the railing, "Do you think she's going to be able to defeat this Ino-pig of hers?" Kakashi asked Obito as he watched his female student tie the forehead protector on her forehead during the prelims of the chuunin exams, he noted that the style didn't make her look cute, but he wasn't going to mention that to her later. He had learned his lesson years ago.
"I wouldn't put it past her, no," Obito replied, his attention was also trained onto the fight as well. "That fight is almighty interesting, don't you think Kakashi, don't you think?"
"Doesn't have that much action in it."
"But it's practically saturated in so much emotion. Those two obviously really care about each other but they can't help but fight, kind of like we used to be."
"What do you mean used to?"
"Oh you are still a bastard sometimes," Obito grumbled as he looked back onto the field. Blond hair had just gone flying absolutely everywhere and Sakura was saying something. Suddenly Ino dropped to her knees. Kakashi rose his eyebrow and continued to watch the works of the battle, including how Sakura was trapped by the tactful blond.
Kakashi vaguely heard one of Asuma's students say that the fight was over now. But that was when something very interesting happened. "Sakura is fighting against a mind control technique," Kakashi muttered to Obito. The boy just seemed to shrug off the idea like it was nothing. "Does it have to do with her Inner Sakura?" The battle was back to two girls with no mind controlling, Sakura had actually broken free from the technique and even Kakashi knew that something special had to be done for a Yamanaka technique to be broken.
"Maybe," Obito replied, "The only way you'll find out is if you get into her mind when she doesn't want to punch you for doing it!"
"Right… I'll note that down for later."
"Go find Sakura now!" Obito shouted. It was the finals of the chuunin exams or technically after the finals and chaos had just broken loose. Sound nins had just invaded the area and Gaara was running rampant through the streets of Konoha. Sasuke had also disappeared, allowing for the sound nins to enter the arena and were now invading the stadium as Kakashi fended them off with his other jonin partners.
"Why her? There are more important people..."
"KAKASHI, go find Sakura!" Obito bellowed as he put his foot down. Kakashi winced from the mental damage his friend had just caused and swallowed deeply as Obito glared at him for the first time, "Just trust me, she's in trouble."
Kakashi nodded as he hopped into the stands. He blinked as a wave of chakra washed over him and stopped momentarily. Taking a look around, Kakashi brought his hands up to create a seal, "Kai!" The wave of chakra faded away from him and he blinked once again at the sight that met him. It seemed as though everyone had been caught in a mass genjutsu and were rendered asleep in the stands. Every single one of them couldn't testify to what was happening and who was doing the damage except for one moving pink-haired head. "Sakura…"
"To the right Kakashi!" Obito stated, Kakashi nodded quickly in response as he jumped in front of Sakura and deflected the two sound nin that had tried to attack the one person who had been able to ward off the genjutsu, "Aren't you glad that you take my advice now Kakashi?"
Kakashi peered under his legs to look into the girl's bright green eyes as she stared back up at him in wonderment, "Yah…"
"You should've entered her mind when she didn't have the ability to send you across Konoha," Obito remarked glibly as Sakura broke the ground right under his feet at the age of sixteen.
"No kidding?" Kakashi replied as his eyes widened at his student's display of immense power. "What ever happened to the four year old girl that bawled from having been complimented about a wide forehead?"
"I dare you to tell her she has a wide forehead now and see how she reacts," Obito grinned.
"I'm not up for dying so much anymore."
"Good, then I've accomplished half of my task."
"Half?"
Obito merely grinned at Kakashi as the battle for the bells continued into the darkness of the night. "She's gotten a lot smarter too, I didn't think it was possible," Kakashi muttered as he took a breather and eye crinkled for his two very grown up students.
"Offer to walk her home," Obito demanded.
"You've got to be kidding right?"
"You are a ladies man my friend, you can do it without screwing up."
"She's not exactly a lady."
"Oh don't tell her that," Obito snickered as Kakashi managed to line himself up with his female teammate. Obito kept quiet the whole entire walk home, Kakashi didn't even need his help in regards to conversation with the pink-haired kunoichi and for that Obito was elated. Something was definitely going right in his plan for Kakashi for a change. Even though Kakashi couldn't see it for himself.
"Kakashi-sensei," Sakura chirped as she grabbed onto Kakashi's arm. Kakashi lowered his book from his face and turned to regard the pink-haired parasite that had latched onto him out of nowhere. He was irked by the fact that he hadn't been able to sense her, but he had known for a while now that the time was going to come when she wasn't going to need any protecting any longer. However, this only proved to him that avoiding her now very lady-like figure was not going so well for him after all.
Obito snickered as Kakashi put on his cool, mysterious and composed front for the now eighteen-year-old girl. "I haven't been your sensei in years Sakura," Kakashi replied automatically. He hated the fact that they all still called him their sensei; it made him feel old. And he really didn't want to feel old around her, but honestly he really didn't want to feel this way around her. It was just too bizarre when he thought about what had been like fourteen years ago.
Obito only laughed further at that. "You've been old all your life!"
Sakura just replied with a giggle and nodded her head, "And you haven't been stupid for many years more!"
"Huh? Did you just call me stupid? Where has all the respect you had for me gone?"
Sakura just laughed again before reaching up with one hand and pulling at his hair, "Don't you think I would be silly if I had forgotten just how unique the hair color of 'you have a very large forehead' man was? Inner Sakura hasn't forgotten either!" Sakura laughed at something that Kakashi couldn't quite understand, and he understood even less when Obito joined in, "So Kakashi?"
"You seemed to have forgotten for the past nine years." He didn't know what to say; her grip on his arm was still there and holding quite strong. He wouldn't be able to escape her if she wished to send him out of Konoha with the use of just her fist. He really hoped that she was actually over that comment; he had been eighteen at the time after all and had only had Obito in his head for four years. He actually wasn't the ladies man, Obito was.
"I didn't forget that you called me beautiful when I was nine either Kakashi. Nine-years-old, and you haven't told me that again and I'm twice that age now, don't you think I feel silly, being beautiful then and not now?"
"She wants me to call her beautiful? Why does she want me to call her beautiful? Oi, Obito, now is the time to talk," Kakashi stated in a panicked tone to his inner mind, "Oi, the one time you're supposed to be of help, what am I supposed to do?"
"No can do, this is just way too funny. Where are your moves? You're supposed to lay them down right now."
"What freaking moves? They're YOUR moves!"
"I ask myself that every single time you gain a fan girl."
"Well, I didn't like you in the past nine years, so I guess we're at a moot point, neh Kakashi? I'll see you tomorrow morning for training then, and you know, now that I like you, you should call me beautiful again," Sakura grinned up at him as she noticed that he hadn't had yet to reply. Inner Sakura told her that it was okay, Kakashi was dumb like that sometimes. "Good night Kakashi." And with that Sakura let go of his arm and span on her heel, running down the street.
"You think a girl that just and might I add finally said inadvertently that she 'likes' you is finally worth being on time for?"
"No. And what do you mean finally?"
"Good god, Kakashi, I hope that you're on time for your own wedding." Obito ignored all other signs of ignorance from his friend.
"Wedding?" the shocked tone only got Obito to laugh even more, oh how his friend had yet to learn the wonderful workings of the Inner minds. Obito watched Sakura disappear over the horizon with a happy grin, idly chatting to herself, oh how Kakashi would learn.
"Kakashi, I think this is a bad idea."
"I think it's a brilliant idea."
"Nuh uh!"
"Thank you Ino," Kakashi stated with a crinkle to his eye.
"No problem, I just can't believe you can copy that. It is you know technically a family thing. Promise you won't tell anyone else how to do it?" Ino chirped as she wiped away the sweat from her brow.
Kakashi tilted his head and nodded, "Don't worry, I won't tell a soul. I just needed the technique to check out something."
Ino blinked before a grin showed up on her face, "This is about Sakura and that crazy second mind that she has right?" Kakashi didn't reply and Ino took that as an affirmative, "Don't you think it's a bad thing to invade your girlfriend's mind? You might find things in there that you might not like and that's me, as her best friend saying that."
"I've been dating Sakura for a year now and I've known her for much longer, I don't think there is much about her that will surprise me or make me like her any less."
Ino simply raised an eyebrow and pursed her lips, "Okay fine. Oh but Kakashi, can you just do a tiny favor for me in exchange for the jutsu? Sakura refuses to tell me and she'll have a fit if I try to invade her mind again."
"Depends…"
"While you're in Sakura's mind can you find out who told Sakura that she had a wide forehead when she was a child. I want to kick the person's ass to the next country for everything that he had but her through as a kid."
Kakashi laughed nervously while running his hand through his messy silver locks. Obito simply rolled around on the ground trying not to die from laughter, "I'll do that, yah I'll do that for you."
"Thank you Kakashi, you'd probably appreciate what I have in store for the ass. It's absolutely wonderful, a true showmanship of shinobi warfare," Ino cackled as she walked into her home. She stopped at the door and looked over her should to flash him an evil grin, "See you later. Oh and Kakashi, while you're in Sakura's mind remind her which gorgeous blond pointed out to her that you were sexy in the first place. Don't want her to get all high and mighty now that's she's dating the copy nin."
"Right…" Kakashi muttered as he walked further down the road, "Are all girls just freaking insane?"
"I can't believe that six words are going to haunt you for the rest of your life," Obito teased, "Though I have to say, those were a testament to your true idiocy. I can't believe that you had managed to ask her out without any incidents… or that she wasn't the one to make the first move."
Kakashi frowned as he approached the red bridge, "Hey, even I know that she shouldn't be the one to make the first move."
"Could've fooled me."
"Kakashi, you're late!" Sakura mumbled as she watched the silver-haired man approach from down the road, "And although I know that's normal for you, couldn't you at least try to be on time for once."
"Sorry, sorry. I just had something that I needed to do," Kakashi replied with another rub to the back of his head. He shoved his hands into his pockets after as Sakura rolled her eyes and smiled. She jumped off of the railing and walked up to him.
"Sure, I'll believe you, but only if…" Sakura giggled before pointing to her lip. Kakashi sighed like his next actions were causing him physical harm as he tilted his head down to peck her on the lips with his mask still on. This was Sakura's way of easing him into public displays of affection. He didn't think it was going to go any farther than these masked pecks. He was already pushing the limit for the girl after all.
"Man, admit it, you love her for even doing this," Obito grinned, "She's kissing an old man. You should be happy."
"Love is a strong word," Kakashi replied as Sakura took his elbow and dragged him to the training field.
"Only for a weak bastard like you," Obito replied with a snicker as Sakura let go of his elbow to position herself on the other side of the large clearing. "You know, you should probably respond to her declaration of love soon. I can't believe that she's still playing along with your 'thank you' stunt."
"What else am I supposed to say when I was incapable of saying 'I love you' back to her? Thank you was the best option; do you think that running away would have been better?
"No, but the right words were obviously not 'thank you'. And did you just say was Hatake?"
"Yah, I think I still have brain damage from that…" Kakashi mumbled as he rubbed his head where a week ago he had received a clean and direct blow.
"Hey, hey you're avoiding the question!"
"Kakashi, are you ready?" Sakura shouted and before she could even register what her boyfriend was doing he had already gone through the familiar seals, "Ino's technique," Sakura managed to whisper before her mind fuzzed away.
"Ah… Kakashi's still an idiot. He should of at least said 'I love you' before doing that, now she'll have every right to kill him," Obito muttered, indignant about being left behind. "Good luck man, good luck… but even I know you can't handle those two women without me."
Kakashi blinked as he registered that he was in Sakura's mind. Now it was time to search and honestly he didn't have to search for very long, all he had to do was turn around. "What the hell is this about Kakashi?" Sakura muttered as she stomped up to him. She took his collar in her hand and pulled him down to her eye level, "You already know everything you need to know about me so what have you been plotting with in regards to the Pig."
"There's just one thing Sakura, I'm sorry… I just didn't know how to ask. And you know how I am with words," Kakashi spluttered as he quickly kissed her on the lips hoping that it would at least prevent her from mauling him. He was a desperate man now and desperate men always resorted to anything that they knew would be able to get them out of trouble.
Sakura just laughed and shook her head with an amused grin, "You're too cute to be mad at for too long. But really Kakashi, why are you in my head?"
"He's probably wondering about me, Sakura…" a voice echoed in the dark chambers.
Sakura blinked before she snapped her fingers, "Inner Sakura!"
Kakashi's body had gone stiff from the voice; he swore that he recognized it from somewhere and if he was right... "That's what you've been calling me since you were four Sakura, but how about before that?"
Sakura grinned as Kakashi's jaw fell open at the manifestation of the Inner being right before his eyes, "Rin!" they both exclaimed. Kakashi had forgotten just how much Rin looked like Sakura when coloring was taken out of the picture, that was why Ino had mentioned how different Inner Sakura should have looked from Sakura.
"'You have a very large forehead' indeed Kakashi," Rin snarled as she marched up to him, he couldn't help but find that the actions were very familiar. However, he didn't think that kissing the girl would help him… not at all, "I hope Obito gave you hell for that."
Kakashi blinked as Sakura tilted her head in wonder. "What's going on?" Sakura asked.
Kakashi pointed, "You… and Obito…" before turning to Sakura, "And you… and Rin… and… you were the baby in the hospital that day…"
"Uh…"
"Don't mind him," Rin chirped as she yanked at his collar causing him to face plant, "He's just being his normal self. It will register eventually. I'll tell you the gist of it once he's out."
"Okay…"
"Holy crap you two are alike," Kakashi muttered with a turn of his head as his eyes widened, their personalities even matched up quite well, although he didn't remember Rin ever being physically violent but influence tended to run both ways. Kakashi blinked in fear as two looming girl stood over his prone form, both with their arms crossed and eyebrows raised. "And Obito knew this all along, that bastard! I'm going to kill him!"
"Don't be too mean to him okay Kakashi?" Rin grinned as she nudged him on the shoulder with her foot, "After all he is the only reason that you still aren't a total idiot."
Kakashi threw her a glance before facing Sakura again, "Do you know who Rin even is?" He really hoped she didn't, he didn't think his brain could take it if Sakura had been in on this all along.
Sakura shook her head as Rin crouched down beside him and poked him in the back of the head, "I'll explain everything to her. I'm pretty sure you have an Uchiha to interrogate right now."
And with that Kakashi dispelled the jutsu and was transported back to his body, "We need to talk Obito..."
"I told you it was a bad idea."
"You better not have made me like her because this is some sick and twisted way that you can be together with Rin again."
"I'm not insane Kakashi," Obito scoffed not at all phased by the man's glare or threat, "I know when I'm done and if I had just wanted to be with Rin I would have stayed in the other world with her when she died."
"Then what the hell was all of this Obito?" Kakashi snarled.
"Simple you idiot," Obito grinned, "If we had left you to your own devices you never would have found her and if you had… oh god only miracles in that case. I mean just think about all of the damage you would have done with just your mouth alone, jeez. And honestly Kakashi, the real reason is that she'll make you happy and that's all that Rin and I wanted for you. When Rin died that day, it was like everything clicked into place, the girl you had meant to be with was just being born and you were at a vulnerable mental state. Too easy to invade and insure that you continued to live your life, even if it was without us."
"You…"
"Thank me later, you probably want to say the right thing to your girlfriend at the moment, she's probably going to be pissed or not, who knows what Rin is telling her about you," Obito snickered as Kakashi's eyes cleared and he watched Sakura's face play over many emotions, most of which contained amusement.
Kakashi approached her slowly as not to startle her and sat beside her as Rin continued to talk to the pink-haired girl. Kakashi took her hand in his and began to idly trance patterns into her skin. Her hands were amazing to him; they were the tools that brought both life and death to anyone that she touched and yet at the same time he could break them with very little pressure. "Acting all sappy now?" Obito grinned, "Well as sappy as you can get. Seriously, break them? What is wrong with you? This is why extreme measures had to be taken you dufus." Kakashi chose not to reply to the voice in his head, he still hadn't quite computed everything, mostly the fact that both of his teammates had never left him. They had both cared enough to stay.
"Kakashi?" Sakura mumbled quietly after a long period of time.
"Hm...?"
"You're old friends are… special."
"I very much agree."
"And I think we should thank them…"
"I guess, but that would mean letting it get to their heads." Sakura just laughed in response as Kakashi continued to trace patterns in her palm, he sighed as he brought her knuckles to his lips. His next words were muffled, but Sakura understood everything perfectly, "Sakura, I love you."
"Well that was well timed and an utterly unique declaration," Sakura giggled sarcastically.
"I've never had a way with words. You out of all people should know that, going with the norm wouldn't get me killed."
"I've known that since I've met you," Sakura smiled, "But the norm is okay…" Sakura grinned as she leaned in to whisper into his ear, "Thank you Kakashi." Sakura laughed as Kakashi shuddered from the reply and rested his forehead on her shoulder with an audible groan. She just took his one hand in both of hers and laughed merrily as she played with the digits, "And I love you too. Since you know, I actually know what to say."
"Good thing that one of us does."
"Name him Obito!"
"Hm… maybe we should name him Minato…" Kakashi muttered.
"Naruto has the rights over that name," Sakura replied from the bed she was laying on.
"Name him Obito!"
"What do you think about Jiraiya? He kind of looks like the old Sannin… same hair color…"
"Do you want me to rip off your head?"
"Name him Obito damn it!"
"Fine then, I guess it will just have to be Obito…" Kakashi smirked.
"I was waiting for that one," Sakura grinned as she flopped her head back down onto the pillow with a happy sigh, "Hatake Obito… I think it sounds better than Uchiha Obito. And our child will be much better looking too, if he takes after his father that is."
"When did she start teasing me too?" Obito pouted, he could only imagine Rin laughing at him in Sakura's head, but maybe it was she who had prompted Sakura to say such a horribly untrue thing. Obito sighed with a small smile but imagine was all he had when it came to his Rin-chan. Also honestly, he would see her soon as well since Kakashi had finally found his happiness and they had completed their task. Rin just wanted to get something done as well before they left.
"You're too easy to pick on," Kakashi replied while coddling his infant son as he slept peacefully in his arms, marveling at the shock of silver hair. He understood now why Sakura's dad had been so happy to have a daughter after the fact, imagine if he had had a son with pink hair. Luckily his hair genes were dominant, but honestly Kakashi didn't really care. He had a son; someone to pass down the Hatake name and that was all that mattered.
"Hey, she'd be killing you right now if you had shown up late for this like you had shown up late for the wedding. Never show up on time for anything again, hah! You should thank me right now Kakashi, thank me…" Kakashi ignored his Inner Kakashi on this prospect; he knew that the thirteen-year-old was right. Kakashi started making kissy faces at his sleeping son as Sakura laughed at his antics. "You only have me to thank for even having a kid in the first place you old man!" Kakashi grinned at the pouting boy in his head as Kakashi allowed his infant son to latch onto his finger in slumber.
"You had this whole naming thing planned all along, didn't you Obito?"
"Took you long enough."
"Shut up and go back into the corner of my head."
"Jeez, don't need to get touchy…"
"Mh, Kakashi…" Sakura mumbled as her eyes cleared and she lifted her neck to regard him. Kakashi looked up at his wife with a smile on his face as he stood up and walked to her side.
"Yes Sakura?"
"Let's have a daughter next," Sakura mumbled warmly as Kakashi pressed his masked lips to her forehead, "One with a beautiful very large forehead. And then let's name her Rin-chan."
Kakashi smiled at his wife and gently took her hand in his, "Okay." It was true; Obito and Rin had had this planned all along.
Note: Hope you enjoyed. If there are any grammar mistakes... please tell me! Also please review : 3