Author's note: Hey guys! You may know me from my Sonic fics! This is my very first Naruto one, but I hope you guys can't tell! I will give you all a fair warning. To anyone who likes the relationship between Orochimaru and Kabuto, leave now. This story is a bit out there as far as personalities. I will attempt to keep everyone in character as much as the story allows! Please enjoy!
As with most of my stories, the editor and co-author is Zeera! We both hope you enjoy! And keep an open mind!
Disclaimer:
By writing this story, I do not claim ownership of Naruto, the characters, places and ideas present in the story. They belong to their respected owners. This is for pure entertainment. No copyright infringement intended.
Enjoy!
Chapter One: Good-bye To All my Yesterdays…
There was a slight drizzle, but nothing too bad. The morning was calm despite the rolling thunder in the distance. A man in his twenties shook his head as he stared out over the Village, the weight of the world on his shoulders. "Something wrong?" A voice asked beside the man. With a sigh, the brunette turned to look at the elder man standing beside him. He hadn't even heard him come up. Showed how much his skills had vanished. The man laughed slightly and shook his head. He blinked slowly and turned back to the Village.
"Where do I start?" The man muttered softly, his voice hardly heard over the light drizzle.
"You're worried about him, aren't you?" The elder asked.
The brunette shrugged and rubbed a long scar across his nose. "How could I not be?" He asked gently, never taking his eyes off the scene before him. "With his student out of the hospital… You'd think he would have killed the poor boy by now…"
The elder shook his head. "I'll never understand you, Iruka… You worry so much about both that man and boy, yet neither has given you anything in return… Your friendship with him runs deeper than your friendship with Mizuki, though you have countless scars… I worry about you sometimes in the presence of that man."
Iruka shook his head and looked at the Village's previous Hokage. "He has a name, you know…" He said quietly. "And I know you worry about me… Mizuki worries too, but don't."
"For one to want to befriend the person holding the beast that killed his parents inside him…"
Iruka ignored the comment. He was well aware that the man they were speaking of held the Kyuubi within him, but he wasn't really concerned. He and the man had been friends ever since the war with the Rock Village. There wasn't anything more or less about it. He bowed his head and sighed deeply. They would probably never understand the man's pain… Or Iruka's for that matter, but he tried not to let it bother him. He turned to the Third and shook his head. "The man… He is not the demon, Hiruzen-sama…" Iruka said quietly. "He's just confused."
"Yes…" Hiruzen returned gently. Iruka was well aware that his oldest friend was attempting not to offend him by insulting his second oldest friend. "But the man can act like the demon… We don't mean to hate him, and no one in this Village should hate him for the demon, but the way he acts because of it…"
Iruka shook he head, holding his hand up to silence the Hokage. "He acts that way because he's lost everything," he defended quietly. He wasn't in the mood to talk to the Hokage about the Kyuubi's vessel. Their conversations lately had been going there a lot. Iruka was sick of it. He didn't want to be persecuted for befriending Konoha's own Jinchuuriki. He was the man's only remaining friend in this world… Not that he had that many friends before the war, but that was beside the point. Iruka could only stand there and listen to everyone's excuses to get him away from the Jinchuuriki and turn him towards a more peaceful friendship… One that didn't involve scratching, biting and cursing. But Iruka didn't care. He would let them speak out against him if they wanted to.
"It gives him no right…" Hiruzen started, but Iruka silenced him. He began walking away. "Iruka, please!" The Hokage called.
"I'll see you at breakfast, Hiruzen-sama…" And with that, the Chuunin was gone.
Grey light was streaming into the bedroom. A white-haired ninja groaned softly and rolled over to avoid eye contact with the sun, attempting to fall back asleep. He had a rough time the day before and was attempting to catch a few more minutes of sleep before getting himself out of bed and getting up to greet the day and meeting Naruto at the gates. Jiraiya had sent a letter saying that he and Naruto would be back within the week. Well… It was Friday, so he figured that they'd be back either today or tomorrow. He should probably be getting up and getting dressed… But the bed felt so good...
"Alright, you lazy bum! UP!" A voice shouted. The white haired shinobi jumped at the sound and stared at a brown-haired man with a scar as the man threw off the blanket. The fan was on high and it was freezing!
"Iruka?! What are you doing in my house?!" the man snapped, reaching for his blanket. It was so close… "Get out!"
"Na-uh! Not until you get your lazy butt out of bed, Kakashi!" Iruka retorted, pulling the blanket out of Kakashi's reach. Kakashi sat back and glared at Iruka with a decent pout on his face. "Oh don't give me that! Get up!"
Kakashi narrowed his eyes at Iruka. "Get out, you freak!" he teased. Iruka had never come to wake him up before, why now? He crawled to the end of his bed and grabbed his blanket. Within seconds, he was curled up in the blanket. Iruka sighed. "Five more minutes, Iruka-baka…"
Iruka snorted. "Fine! Five minutes is all I need, anyway!" He snapped and stormed out of the room. Kakashi smiled. Good. That was over. Iruka was acting strange this morning. He had never come into Kakashi's house, invited or uninvited. He shrugged. Whatever. Iruka could act like a freak. Naruto was probably back and his presence was probably requested at the gates. They could wait five minutes. Kakashi rolled over to face the wall and not the window. He settled back in his bed and closed his eyes…
And exactly five minutes later, he heard sloshing. "Wha…?" Kakashi asked and lifted his head to see Iruka standing at the foot of his bed with a bucket of ice water. "AH! Iruka! What are you doing?!" He shouted. Iruka did nothing but stand there.
"I said 'get up' Kakashi…" Iruka growled. "The bell's about to ring and I am NOT taking the heat for you and your hangovers again! Now… Get. Up!" Kakashi stared at Iruka as if he had lost his mind. Hangovers…? Bell…? He blinked at Iruka and went under his covers. Okay… He was dreaming. Iruka wasn't usually this violent, or this aggressive… And he usually didn't come into Kakashi's room demanding he get up…
Kakashi's attempt to escape reality was cut short as the blanket was torn off of him and he was given the worst and most involuntary shower he ever had. Kakashi screamed and rolled off his bed, shivering as cold droplets ran down his bare back and chest. "GET OUT!" He screamed at Iruka, hurling a kunai at him from off his side table. Iruka ducked out as if he had been expecting a weapon and slammed the door. Kakashi stood up, dripping wet and freezing. "What is your problem?" He shouted at Iruka through the closed door.
"I told you! I'm not going to take the heat for you anymore! Sasuke's out of the hospital and you have to train him today! Try not to kill him again, please! I can't leave my class to rip you off of him!" Kakashi stopped in his tracks. Sasuke? He was out of the hospital? No… Sasuke was with the Sound Village. Kakashi blinked and shook his head. He dressed swiftly, not even bothering to dry himself off. He had been sleeping on his good vest, but he didn't feel like going through his closet for another clean one, so he just threw on the wet one over his undershirt once he found that too.
Iruka was waiting for him in the living room. "Oh good! You're ready!" He said with a smile. Kakashi narrowed his visible eye at Iruka. Bipolar much?
"What about Sasuke?" Kakashi asked without thanking Iruka for waiting for him.
Iruka narrowed his eyes. "You threw your Sake bottle at him and cracked his skull! Hiruzen and I both told you to stop using your student for target practice! That's what the dummies are for!"
"Sasuke's at the Sound Village!" Kakashi snapped. What was this? Iruka was acting like an idiot.
"Oh, no…" Iruka muttered. Kakashi cocked his head. "You drank yourself stoned last night, didn't you? Kakashi! You knew Sasuke was getting out today! You promised me you wouldn't get drunk! You can't train on a hangover! How many times have I told you that?"
Kakashi blinked. "What… Are you talking about?!" He snapped. "I think you're the one on drugs!" Iruka turned to look at Kakashi and shook his head. His eyes were sad. He really thought Kakashi was on a hangover. "Look, Iruka… I didn't mean to shout at you, okay? I just didn't appreciate a bucket of water getting thrown on me… Now really. What's going on?" Kakashi asked gently, trying to make up for shouting at the man. Iruka didn't move.
"Why are you covering your eye?" Iruka asked calmly.
Kakashi cocked his head. "My… Eye? Because of the Sharingan." He answered.
Iruka shook his head. "What Sharingan? You're not an Uchiha."
Kakashi looked at Iruka and shook his head. No… What kind of joke were they all playing on him? Iruka walked over to Kakashi and lifted the headband. Instantly Kakashi closed his eye. "Are you crazy?" Kakashi snapped. Iruka shook his head.
"Open your eye, Kakashi…" He muttered. Kakashi sighed and reluctantly opened his eye. He expected Iruka to drop instantly but was shocked as the man stared blankly into the eye that held the Sharingan. He didn't drop, he didn't even flinch. He locked his eyes on Kakashi's. Kakashi broke away from Iruka, stunned. It hadn't worked! He ran into the bathroom, throwing off his head band and stared in the mirror. A loud shout came from his mouth. He backed away from the mirror, shocked.
The eye… It was normal. There was no scar, no Sharingan… Nothing! His hand flew to where the scar should be… The flesh was smooth and unblemished. Kakashi spun around and ran to his closet. The vest he had on was the same green color, but as he threw open his closet, he saw that the other vests in there were grey with stone emblems where the swirl should have been. Kakashi backed away from the closet. Reluctantly, he looked down at the headband in his hand. His eyes widened. The symbol wasn't one of the Leaf's, but something that looked like a rough rock.
Iruka had said something about Sasuke… But not about Sakura or Naruto… Where were they? Were they dead?! What was going on? Where was the Sharingan? Where was ANYTHING?! He looked at Iruka and for the first time he noticed that Iruka was wearing the grey suit and the strange headband. He seemed fine with it. It wasn't bothering him. Kakashi felt the world falling out from under him, but he took a deep breath and stayed calm. "Iruka… What Village is this?" He asked gently. Iruka sighed.
"We were previously the Hidden Leaf Village… However, Namikaze Minato, your sensei, he disappeared along with Uchiha Obito on the day of a very important mission…"
"The Bridge…" Kakashi muttered. "What happened?" He asked, almost frantic.
"The team they ended up sending was killed… We lost the war, Kakashi, so now we're a province of Iwagakure… I don't know why you're so freaked out about this now…" Kakashi shook his head. The Bridge… The war… Obito, Minato-sensei… Were they still alive out there somewhere? And then something hit him.
Kakashi grabbed Iruka's shoulders. "Naruto! Where is Uzumaki Naruto?!" He asked, gripping the man's shoulders tightly. Iruka winced at the pressure, but stayed calm.
Iruka shook his head. "Who, Kakashi?" He asked gently, as if he was calming a wild animal. "Who is Uzumaki Naruto?"
Kakashi stepped back… Stunned… one hundred percent stunned. No… NO! This wasn't happening. "Iruka! Where is Naruto? I don't want your jokes!"
Iruka looked at him with concern in his eyes. "Kakashi… Uzumaki Naruto… I don't know an Uzumaki Naruto…"
"WHERE IS NARUTO?!" Kakashi screamed. Iruka grabbed him and forced him over to the couch and shoved him down to sit. He shook his head. He was trying to explain that Uzumaki Naruto didn't exist, but Kakashi wasn't hearing it… He wasn't hearing any of it. Iruka didn't know what to do with him. He looked sick… He felt sick. Nothing was going right at all. He buried his head in his hands, but it made sense… Iruka was saying that Minato disappeared before the Bridge… Naruto wouldn't have been born… He shook his head.
He lifted his head, afraid of the next question. "Who sealed the Kyuubi…?" He asked. It had to have been the Third Hokage. That made sense…
Iruka sighed. "Kakashi, you should know who sealed the demon… Jiraiya-sama did."
Jiraiya had done it? If Minato knew the Jutsu, then perhaps Jiraiya had known it. Or maybe there was something else in this twisted reality… But that meant Jiraiya was dead… Kakashi bowed his head in remorse.
Now… The second question… And the one he was dreading even more than who had sealed it… "Iruka…" He whispered, not lifting his head up. "Who did Jiraiya seal it in?" Iruka sighed and walked over to Kakashi. He knelt before the man and gently lifted Kakashi's shirt to reveal his stomach. Kakashi gulped and looked down, afraid of what he would see… But he saw it. The swirl. The swirl that had caused Naruto so much trouble. He leaned back, all energy drained. Iruka shook his head and took a step back. Kakashi ignored him.
The Kyuubi… Kakashi was Konoha's own Jinchuuriki…
Please review! Wed should be my update day, so keep a look out... Though I might post chapter two tomorrow, since I have to baby-sit! I hope to see you all in chapter two!