AN: Rewrite of The Red.


From Red to White

"Everyone has hidden talents. Some are buried so deep within us that we might never have the strength to pull them out on a whim. But when it shows itself, it will erupt from within, unleashing a power like we have never imagined."


Original Timeline Kakashi's POV:

Kakashi Hatake would never tell anyone that the strongest emotion he held within himself is hate. He would never tell Naruto, his shining student, that the most driving force in his life was hate. He would never tell Sakura, his brightest student, of the horrible insidious darkness that he kept locked away inside his heart. He would never tell Sasuke, his wayward student, that he himself was lost in a shadow darker and deeper than Sasuke's own.

He would never tell them how much he hated himself.

He hated himself for shunning his father and pushing him to suicide. He hated himself for killing Rin, for not having the speed or skill to divert his screaming chakra. He hated himself for failing Obito as a friend, and as his killer, being unable to deal the final blow. He hated himself for letting Minato-sensei and Kushina die, and for leaving Naruto all alone during his childhood. He hated himself for not being able to do anything as everyone was slaughtered by the Jubi.

But he hated himself most for surviving. For outliving them.

So Kakashi pushed himself to exhaustion for three days straight as he searched for anyone, anyone who might have survived like he did. All that he saw was the massive pools of blood that littered the landscape and the rotting corpses of the fallen.

The thirty year old walked up to each of the corpses silently and placed his hand on each of the heads. He said a silent prayer to the death god and paid his respects to each of them before walking off numbly.

Suddenly, he coughed harshly, and stained the front of his mask crimson. He tore it off angrily and left his face bare in the August sun.

Kakashi knew that he was slowly dying. He knew the signs of exhaustion and dehydration even the state he was in. He had eaten half a meal in three days and could only drink whatever water he found that wasn't contaminated with the omnipresent stain of blood. He wouldn't and couldn't resort to eating corpses, even if he was able to stomach the thought of eating human flesh. That was just wrong, no matter how hungry or thirsty he was. Running himself into the ground wasn't going to help his chances of recovering from dehydration anyway.

Kakashi was fine with that.

He pulled himself up off of the ground, (just when had he fallen?) and ignored the sharp pain in his chest as he began walking in a random direction. He felt his steps falter slightly as his shoe was sucked into the wet earth and his momentum pulled it back out with a squelch.

His vision was blurring.

His limbs were getting numb.

Where was he going again?

What was he doing?

His saw the world bounce and tip on its side and in a final moment of understanding, Kakashi welcomed the embrace of the afterlife.


Still Original Kakashi's POV: (location unknown)

Kakashi slammed into the floor hard.

He pushed himself up to his feet and clutched at his head at the phantom pain. Ugh, his head felt like someone had tried to clean it with sandpaper, squeezed out its insides, and then stuffed it with cotton balls. He opened his eye and gazed upon the darkness around him. Pitch blackness and a dark maroon blurred together in the distance.

He saw a figure walking towards him.

He tried to make out what it was and, despite being able to see everything else in the landscape clearly, he wasn't able to identify it. He then tried to call up his chakra to make a small light in his palm.

Nothing.

Pitiful. It still believes it has the powers of the living.

Kakashi whirled around at the sound of the voice echoing behind him and he was blindsided by the dark figure that was present there. He flew to the right as the momentum pushed him to the floor.

It is ridiculous that it has escaped me for so long. Yet now, I see that even in death, it has the scent of the living.

Kakashi pushed himself up weakly and turned to glare at the figure. It was a black silhouette of a person and it moved towards him with an unearthly grace. Somehow, within his tattered mind, he knew that this was the death god. And now he was going to receive his punishment for the deeds of his life.

He sat on his knees and looked up resolutely at it. He deserved the punishment. Hatehatehatehate.

The figure pulled him up by the chin and Kakashi stared into the figure's facelessness.

How much longer will you defy me, human? In life you reek of death, and in death you somehow cling to the scent of life.

It pulled Kakashi up off the ground by the throat and he felt the feeling of needing to choke; to gasp for the life sustaining air when he knew that he was dead.

There is nothing left for you here but death. Cease clinging to your wretched life.

Suddenly, Kakashi felt something building up within his stomach and force itself into his body painfully.

Both he and the figure screamed.

What is this? What are you?!

Kakashi clutched his head as the rest of his body felt an electric sting of a new chakra. Pure, searing, and bright. It was his, yet not. Familiar, yet so painfully different. Nothing and everything all at once.

Descendent of Hankou Hatake! Leave! Get out! You do not belong here, Half-life!

Kakashi suddenly felt himself drop right through the floor, falling and falling away from the faceless being.

There were things attacking him at all sides as he curled up to try and shield himself from the blows. Most of them hit his back right between the shoulder blades and caused a piercing pain. Others struck his face and his eyes, and all of them tore into him, forcibly pulling the new chakra out of him. But his body just produced more and the process repeated itself. Over. And Over.

And thus Kakashi Hatake fell.


Mind-wiped Old/Original Timeline Kakashi's POV:

Ever so slowly, he opened his eyes as his limbs began to regain feeling.

"Where...am I?" He thought. "What...happened to me?" Suddenly realizing that he was awake, he pushed himself to his feet and looked around rapidly for anyone who might be attacking him. He waited. After five minutes he deemed the area safe enough to travel in and began walking.

He couldn't explain it, but there was a certain allure of the direction that he was going in. Nothing he could have said would have been able to explain the feeling that he was experiencing now, but he knew that wherever he was going would give him the answers he needed.

He wandered along to find a road heading east and into the direction of the rising sun. He kept his eyes to the ground as he turned towards the mountain looming in the distance. He felt, a certain kind of homecoming by going towards it. A kind of nostalgia that reminded him of his childhood. Before...

He paused in thought, searching through his memories for the right one. Before... what exactly?

He shuffled through his thoughts and tried to pull up the memory tugging at his mind. It was an important date, tied to a feeling of guilt and regret. But... it was just a blank space.

He reached up and touched his closed left eye involuntarily. He couldn't remember what it was, and the more he thought about it the more his head began to hurt. A gnawing aching pain settled itself what felt to be right behind his left eye in what he thought was a familiar way. When he tried to pull at that memory, a flash of white hot hurt and betrayal coursed through him along with a wild mix of guilt, regret, and determination.

This memory wasn't happy either.

He continued on his way and tugged slightly at the white scarf around his neck. He pulled it upward, towards his face and felt a comfort at having the cloth over his bare skin. He fingered his white jacket with his gloved hands, pulling slightly on the long sleeves. He wasn't uncomfortable with the attire that he was in but he felt like his clothes shouldn't be so... he looked at the white jacket and black undershirt... monochromatic. Like they were missing color or something.

Another thing was that he felt as if he should be at least four inches taller. He feels like he had shrunk and when he touches the young healthy face of someone no older than twenty, he feels like his face should have more wrinkles in it.

He pushed the thought away as he continued on the road. The sun was rising slowly, and soon he found himself before a grand wall with green gates. The road led into a large city heralding large green trees, a tall tower in the distance, and a carving of stone faces in the plateau beyond.

As he stepped in through the gates, he felt a something that warmed him from the tips of his sandaled toes to the roots of his silver hair.

He was home.

Suddenly he felt a malicious presence from above and a figure appeared to drop right out of the sky. On instinct, he jumped backwards and reached for his right leg where an odd pouch was strapped to him with a buckle and some white tape. He looped his finger through a metal ring and pulled out a small double edged knife.

Kunai. His brain answered for him. The figure attacked him again by throwing small cross shaped blades at him. His body reacted again and reversing his grip, he used the kunai to block all of them in one swipe. The figure charged forward, pulling out a short dagger, tanto, and striking him with it rapidly.

Dodge, block, attack, dodge, block. His body told him. He could tell that the blur of color before him was angry, no, absolutely livid with him. He didn't know why.

He pushed the figure away from him with a strong kick and took a good look at his attacker. Silver hair, a masked face, and a familiar white chakra blade rested in the hands of a boy no older than twelve. The expression from his eyes was furious.

The boy darted forward again and swung at him with the blade infused with white chakra.

Then he felt a buildup of searing energy within him and he moved to stop the oncoming blade with his own, now infused with the same white energy.

Suddenly he felt his left eye snap open and track a blur of yellow and green as it flipped between them; pulling the familiar looking boy back and sending a kick towards him. He watched as a hand reached out to touch him and he pulled away from both of them just in time, thankful for his fast reaction speed.

"Who are you?" The yellow blur asked him. A blonde man materialized besides the silver haired boy. The man didn't take his eyes off of him for a second. "Do you know him?"

The boy scowled, visible even with his mask. "Can't you see he's-" The blonde silenced him with a hand.

"I'll ask again, who are you?"

He felt himself try to answer, but the words died on his lips. Who was he? He tried to pull up the information again but again his memory failed him.

I don't know. He tried to say but no sound came out of his mouth.

He touched his lips in shock and the kunai fell from his hand. What? he tried again. Nothing but a puff of air flew from his throat.

His hands flew into a series of panicked signs that his brain connected to words. 'What's going on? Who are you people?'

Both the blonde and the boy's eyes widened in understanding as the signs registered. He was mute and apparently he wasn't the person that the boy thought he was as he lowered his weapon immediately.

"I'm sorry my student attacked you, sir." The blonde apologized, but kept his suspicious gaze. "You are quite skilled." In ninja arts, his brain filled in the unsaid words. "What's your name?"

'Don't know..." He signed sadly. 'Don't remember.' he explained in gestures.

"No name?" the blonde asked again. He nodded. "Well, my name is Minato Namikaze and this here is my student Kakashi Hatake." he pointed to the boy. "I'm quite curious as to how you learned to fight like that. It's not every day a person as skilled as yourself pops out of nowhere."

He wasn't paying too much attention to what he said after that. All he could think about was...

'Ha-ta-ke?' he signed the syllables laboriously. 'I know that name.'

"Why did you come to Konoha?" Minato stressed before answering his unasked question.

He remembered the feeling that had bloomed in his chest when he had entered through those green gates and smiled to himself.

'Home.' He signed simply. 'Feels like home.' he pulled up the boy's name again. 'Ka-ka-shi Ha-ta-ke. Familiar too.' He signed.

"Hatake-san?" The blonde tried, incredulously. He felt himself perk up at the name. He found himself nodding.

"Sakumo Hatake?" The boy tried, tense. He felt his insides clench at the name.

'No. Familiar.' he signed. 'Not me. Very important though.' he added after.

"Kakashi, did your father talk about any of his family members that had may have left Konoha?" Minato asked.

The boy shook his head. "No, he didn't talk about family at all besides mom." he said as he looked at him curiously.

He felt slightly offended at the boy's questioning gaze. 'Not mother.' He signed insistently.

Minato burst out laughing as Kakashi turned away flushed. Minato calmed after a bit and then asked him seriously. "Do you remember anything? Anything about who you are or why you are so skilled?"

Instantly a single word popped into his head.

'War' he signed. 'To protect loved ones and home.'

He looked at his hands as he stretched them out in front of him.

'I hate war.'


Alternate Timeline Kakashi's POV:

Kakashi coughed and blood sprayed out to coat the inside of his mask with the crimson liquid. He tore the fabric off with a weakened hand and threw it as far as he could. He inhaled through his nose and tried to locate his teammates as his right side was crushed and his left eye was gone.

"Obito, Rin, are you guys okay?" He rasped through the blood. He hears both of them gasp in horror as he feels the dust from the cave in settle on his face.

"KAKASHI!" They both scream. He hears the pitter patter of their feet as they run towards him. He breathes in through his nose again, finding comfort in their familiar scents and etching it into his mind. A hand grabs his and he hears Obito throw his weight against the boulder that has crushed his right side.

"Don't bother with it... dobe. You can't beat a rock." He says as he hears the continued struggles. "It's okay. I can't even feel the pain anymo-" He cuts himself off as he feels a warm, wet droplet hit his face. Then another. And another. They slide down his cheek towards his mouth and he is able to taste it through the blood. Tears.

"Kakashi..." He hears Rin crying.

"You BASTARD! Why, Teme?! WHY?!" He hears Obito scream at him as he falls to his knees beside Kakashi's body, sobbing. "Why did you push me out of the way?! Why would you sacrifice your life for me?!"

Kakashi can't help it when a weak chuckle escapes him and his mouth twitches up into a smile.

"I have to explain everything to you, don't I... dobe?" He laughs through the blood. He gives a cough at that and then swallows the coppery liquid so that he can continue. "I finally... understand... why my father would choose a life of scorn... for the safety of his comrades." He says. "When push comes to shove, I would always take the place of death for a comrade." He reached up and caught Obito's face with his palm. "'Those who break the rules are scum... but those who abandon their comrades are worse than scum.'" He quoted. Kakashi gives another chuckle as he practically feels Obito's astonishment.

"But," He hears Obito say. "But you're the leader! The leader isn't supposed to sacrifice himself for his men! He's supposed to stay with them until the end!"

"Ah," Kakashi says. "I suppose... that I should give you something... to remember me by. Think of it as a memento of you 'leader'." He says. Using the bits of chakra and strength he has left, he pulls off the White Fang from his back. "Take it, Obito. Take Sensei's kunai too and listen to what I'm about to explain to you. My last lecture to you."

"Don't say that!" Obito says frantically. "It can't be your last! It won't!"

"Listen!" Kakashi demands and Obito falls silent. "There are three hand signs to the Chidori: Ox, Hare, and Monkey. It takes a large amount of lightning chakra, concentrated in the palm. Chakra change in form is then used to create the sharp piercing effect, the balance scattering of the chakra, and the chirping bird sound. It is to be delivered at high speeds as a straight charge at the opponent." He coughs slightly and he feels Rin apply some of her medical ninjutsu to help him breathe. "It's an incomplete move, as it puts the user in danger to counterattack because it must be delivered in a straight line and because of the tunnel vision it produces."

"If you weren't able to complete it, how do you think I will? You're the genius not me." Obito argues.

"The Sharingan." Kakashi states simply. "I saw how you read that guy's movements while we fought in the cave. With the Sharingan... you should be able to use it without being in danger of a not seeing a counterattack."

"Rin," He says.

"Yes?" She asks, still applying her jutsu.

"Take care of Obito. He loves you, you know." He listens as they both sputter in embarrassment despite the situation. He brings their attention back to him.

"This is my last orders to you. Both of you." He said to them. "Protect the people closest to you, before they disappear, and never change yourself because of what other people tell you."

Suddenly Kakashi tensed and he felt and smelt the arrival of reinforcements. For the other side.

"They're coming." He says ominously. "Go." He says.

"But-"

"GO!" He hears them both scramble up and out of the cave just before the rocks begin crumbling around him.

The stones piece him and push against him and Kakashi knows that he will die.

In those last moments of life, despite the overwhelming regret in his stomach, he finally feels a flutter of hope in his chest. Hope for a future he will never see.


Still Alternate Timeline Kakashi's POV:(location unknown)

Kakahshi finds himself lying on his side in a dark room.

He sees a figure approach him.

A different one from before.

Kakashi glares at it defiantly. A white aura envelops him. Protecting him.

It's still the same as the other. Cast it away.

And then he is falling. Like a bird with clipped wings.


Alternate/Younger Kakashi's POV:

He wakes up to the sounds and smells of the forest and he feels a ray of sunshine warm his face. When he opens his eyes he screams.

There is nothing, nothing but a blur of light as he gets up and stumbles around, blind.

He feels the grass underneath his hands as he falls to his knees. He smells its sweetness as he buries his face in its blades. He hears the faint rustles in the wind as he knows the grass sways. But he can see none of the greenness. There are no individual blades moving in his vision.

He hears voices. They are familiar as he pulls himself up off of the ground and onto his knees. Everything around him seems to lose its vitality as he sees nothing but blurs of white, gray and black.

"I swear I hears someone over here scream!"

"You're just saying that to scare me!"

"No! I wouldn't do that! Just... come with me to find out what it is!"

"Obito Uchiha, if you end up scaring me..."

"Rin! If someone's here they probably need help!"

He stands and starts running towards the voices. He stretches out his hands to help him sense any upcoming obstacles.

It isn't enough as he soon crashes into something with a yelp.

"Omigosh! It's a kid!" the boy from before says. "Hey! Sorry about that! Are you okay?"

There is a yelp of surprise and pain from the boy.

"Don't scare me like that!" The girl says. "Hey, do you need any help?"

Something about those voices resonates within him and he is overwhelmed with the twisting emotions of happiness and fear. He feels younger all of a sudden. Like a child who is barely four.

So he begins to cry.

The two kids who discovered him begin to panic and he is soon lifted up into a hug by a pair of arms. He grips onto the person's shirt for all its worth and he tries to pinpoint why the person's scent seems so familiar.

"Don't cry! Please don't cry!" The boy says to him from above.

"Don't be scared. There's no one here that's going to hurt you." The girl says.

He snuggles into the boy's shoulder and finally calms down after a few minutes.

"I wonder what Kakashi-teme would do if he saw this kid. I swear he's the spitting image of the Hatake asshole." The boy said, probably thinking him to be asleep.

"Don't say that! What if he isn't asleep?" The girl says frantically.

He perks up at the name.

"Hatake?" He says as the name begins to ring familiar bells in his head. "Kakashi Hatake?" He says.

"Uh... yeah. He's our teammate." The boy says nervously. "Why do you ask?"

"Hatake, Hatake, Hatake." He says in a kind of trance. He just keeps repeating it over and over in his head. "Hatake. Why is that so familiar?" He asks aloud. "What's a Hatake?"

"If all Hatakes are like the one I know, their all jerks." The boy says to him.

"Obito!" The girl scolds. "Well they have silver hair and they wear masks all the time." She explained.

"Silver." He repeated.

"Yeah, like yours. If you were to take your black scarf and fold it over the lower part of your face, you would look just like Kakashi." She said half in a cooing voice.

"What colors are your hair?" He asks, trying to create a mental picture for himself of what they looked like. "What do you look like?"

"What do you mean 'what do we look like'?" The boy asks, offended. "Can't you see us right in front of you?" Came the scoff.

"No." He replied. "I can't see."

The boy choked on his tongue. He felt the grip on him tighten. The girl gasped to his right in understanding.

"I'm so sorry! I didn't realize-" The boy sputtered.

"It's okay." He said. "But can you say you're teammate's name again? I can't remember anything, but something about his name is familiar."

The girl hurries to oblige. "Kakashi Hatake."

He feels a piece of his memory come back as he yells out, "Hatake!"

"What about him?" The boy says with a slightly bitter tone.

"I'm a Hatake!" He says, and he feels the pain of regret creep into his stomach as he associates other things with the name. People he failed.


AN: I finally got this done! I will be updating one of my stories once a week, either Riddled or this one and I hope that you all enjoy the beginning of this rewirte!