A/N: By no means do I claim myself to be a genius in history. I don't have extensive knowledge of the subject at all. I'm not sure how accurate the details in the story are, but I really wanted to play with the idea of the characters being in the Taishō era (I was inspired by a piece of fanart I saw on Tumblr). Hopefully the story will go to more exciting places once I'm done creating the pace for it.

But for now, please have patience with me.

L.L.

Taishō Roman Konoha

Prologue.

Hatake Kakashi was one of two things; late and on time. It was almost always the former. It wasn't that he didn't care enough to wake up on time or leave a little earlier than he should to be prompt. It was more because life got in the way and little things hindered his journey to wherever he was trying to get to. It was always an elderly woman needing a hand in crossing the street, a kitten lost and shivering from the cold, or even a carriage running rampant straight towards—

"You can't honestly expect anyone to believe that, do you?"

Kakashi blinked, his charcoal eyes scanning over whomever that voice belonged to. His gaze landed on the brown-haired man leaning against the side of the building. His posture was relaxed as he twirled the senbon around in his mouth.

"Yo," Kakashi greeted with a short wave. The brown-haired man rolled his eyes before pushing himself away from the wall, dusting off his white uniform.

White really wasn't Genma's color, Kakashi judged.

"You're late, kid." Genma came up to rub Kakashi's head. His hand didn't get far before Kakashi swatted it away, taking a step back from the affectionate man.

"I'm 19."

"I'm still older than you."

"By two years, Genma." Kakashi suppressed the urge to run his hand through his silver hair. "That's hardly an age gap." Genma feigned indignation at his comment. Great. This was exactly how Kakashi wanted his morning to start. Running into one of the most tiresome people he'd ever met. Genma just took so much out of him. He should've pretended not to notice him.

"Anyway," Genma started after sensing the lull in conversation. "You were thinking of an excuse again, weren't you?"

"Not at all," Kakashi replied. Was he really that transparent?

Genma shook his head, the senbon bouncing with the movement. "You better hurry in there before the Captain gets even angrier. Really, that temper is something." Kakashi nodded. Although he knew the last bit was more for Genma himself. The older man had gotten himself in trouble with their Captain a few times before. He left her office sporting a new bruise every time.

Thank Kami Kakashi had good reflexes. He was able to dodge whatever the woman threw at him. Except for that one time he commented on her age and received a golden paperweight to the side of his head. That took him an entire month to heal. Despite knowing that their Captain had a terrible temper and an ire for tardiness, Kakashi still couldn't bring himself to arrive on time for meetings.

Oh well. He lived a good life.

Kakashi followed Genma inside the main building. They passed by fellow sailors. While he gave a simple smile of acknowledgment, his brown-haired companion chose a more boisterous greeting for each person that they passed.

"You're late." The voice called out as soon as the knock came at the door.

"Apologies, Captain. You see, while I was on my way here, a toddler who lost his mother asked—"

"Save it, Hatake. I don't want another one of your poorly invented excuses." The woman rubbed her tired eyes before settling them on him with a hardened gaze. Kakashi didn't have the nerve nor the undying death wish to continue what he was saying. Genma didn't follow him in. He fulfilled his duty of escorting the silver-haired man. It was probably wise of him not to come in, anyway. His captain pillaged through the large pile of papers on her desk before pulling out a folder and holding it out towards him. "We'll be heading to sea in three days."

Kakashi toyed with the clasp. He wanted to open it then, knowing that all the details were inside.

"Dismissed."

He saluted her before stepping out of the room and pulling the door closed behind him. He thought the meeting would last longer, but he figured Captain Tsunade was already too tired from waiting for him that she let him go with just the sealed documents. She wasn't going to lecture the younger man about his tardiness. Not for the third time that week.

Kakashi slipped the folder into his coat and looked around for Genma, but deciding to leave when he found no trace of his friend.

The streets were busy at ten in the morning. Crowds of citizens and Navy officers filled the streets of Konoha. The marketplace was loud with chatter and merchants yelling of bargains and deals. Men in white uniform such as himself tended to walk in groups. Though half of them wore their uniforms because of the sense of pride that filled them when the thick fabric embraced their skins, the worser half did it to attract attention of fawning women. Apparently, men in uniforms were all the rage these days. Kakashi took in the sight of his hometown, drinking in the various expressions of civilians and all the greens and browns of the scenery.

In three days, he'd be gone.

He stopped under the shade of a tree, giving a smile to two women sneaking glances at him. Kakashi watched as their faces turned a light shade of red before they scurried off giggling. He rubbed his chin. He should really invest in a mask one of these days.

He turned his head to a group of children playing by one of the nearby fruit stands. A blond kid with whiskers looked from left to right, then left again before tiptoeing and discreetly (or trying to be) plucking an apple from the stand. Kakashi shook his head before walking over to the child in hopes of stopping him before the vendor found out.

"Stealing's a dangerous hobby, kid." Kakashi grabbed the boy's wrist gently. He kept his voice low, so that no one around them would hear. The young boy glanced up at him, blue eyes widened with bewilderment.

"I wasn't trying to steal anything!" He yelled in a not-so-quiet voice. Kakashi felt himself wanting to sigh. So much for being discreet.

"Oh? So then what were you doing, reaching for an apple without paying?" He crouched down before the boy, whose lips were now curled downwards in the same direction as his stare.

"I was just..." and he glanced to a spot behind Kakashi quickly before taking his eyes back to the spot on the ground.

Kakashi tried to turn around. "What are you—"

"Shut up, old man!" He yelled before turning around and running off.

O-old?

Kakashi could only stare at the boy's small receding back before standing up again, pretending not to be wounded by the child's comment. Curiously, he turned around. What was the kid looking at? His eyes roamed; from the flower bed on the ground to the elderly group of men playing shogi in the park, he had no idea what the boy was looking at. Kakashi shrugged, about to walk away before something flashed by the corner of his eye.

Pink.

So vividly pink. He watched as a young girl climbed onto the swing, laughing as she swung her feet wildly. After a moment where her momentum was still unmoving, she frowned and huffed. Kakashi chuckled, finding quite a bit of amusement in the girl's distress. Somehow hearing him chuckle, she glanced up and shyly looked away. He walked over to where she sat, the tips of her ears tinged red with embarrassment.

"Do you need help?" He asked her, bending down next to her on the swing.

"U-um, please..." Her voice was so quiet, he almost didn't hear her.

"Hold on tight," he instructed, and she gripped the ropes tighter.

Kakashi was careful not to push her too hard. She was tiny and probably really light. The wrong amount of force could send her flying into one of the fruit stands. A joyful laugh caught his ears and he watched as her grin widened the higher she flew. He knew, then, that this girl was probably what caught the whiskered boy's attention. Young love, he mused to himself.

"Higher!" The child told him.

"Higher?" Kakashi wasn't sure if he wanted to push her any harder than that.

"Yeah!" But he did. He complied and with one not-so-gentle push, she went flying.

"Uh oh."

He panicked as the girl lost her grip on the ropes and went barreling forward. Kakashi ran with his arms outspread, aiming to catch the girl because — Kami what was wrong with him? — there was no way he could've let her fall. For what felt like minutes, she finally landed into his arms with a squeal. He lost the feeling in his legs. Kakashi slumped to the ground, ignoring the disapproving glares and shakes of their heads from the people who witnessed the entire scene. He willed his heart to steady, telling himself that that was one of the most dangerous things he had ever done. And he was in the Navy, dammit. He glanced down to the object behind his increased blood pressure.

"Hey... are you okay?" He asked, worried that she wasn't responding. The little girl was staring at his chest. She was breathing, thankfully. She only looked up at him when he shook her shoulder. Kakashi flicked aside her overgrown bangs and was pleased to find two gems staring wide-eyed at him. They were an amazing shade of green. She stared at him for a bit longer before a smile played at the corners of her lips. That smile turned into a full-blown grin that left him confused and questioning whether or not the incident messed with her head.

"That was so fun!" She exclaimed. He exhaled in what sounded like a laugh and a sigh at the same. God, she was an interesting kid. Then as though all the adrenaline left her, she turned bashful. "Th-thank you, mister."

He nodded at her. She stared at his face a few more times before reaching her hand out and with a teeny tiny finger, touched the part on his where he knew his beauty mark — not mole — would be.

"It's not polite to touch other people's faces," he scolded her in a light manner. Truthfully, he didn't care. He just couldn't help teasing her when he saw that her face turned such a funny shade of red.

"I'm sorry!" She struggled against him, and he let her go free. The girl dusted off her yellow sundress and walked away. She stopped in her tracks and turned around to give him a shy wave. "Bye!"

For the second time that day, Kakashi watched the small back of a kid recede.

Why were kids so troublesome?

"What are you looking for?"

Kakashi ignored Genma. He scanned the crowd for a familiar head of pastel hair. Sensing that the silver-haired man wouldn't respond, Genma walked ahead onto the boarding ship. Families were standing by the deck, waving goodbye to their relatives with either teary eyes or proud grins. There were others who presented themselves out of mere curiosity, fascinated by the sight of officers and sailors in white uniforms heading off to fight for their country. With one last scan, Kakashi finally gave up and boarded the ship.

With one last glance over his shoulder, he spotted a starry-eyed child. The grin on his whiskered face never once wavered as he watched all of the boarding officers ad sailors. There was another child standing a few feet away from the blond boy. He looked at them meekly, clutching his mother's hand. Kakashi vaguely registered her face. Where had he seen her before? When he looked at her husband's stoic expression, the recognition clicked. They were Uchiha Itachi's family. He had the honor to work with the younger man before, and their interactions were always pleasant albeit short. Itachi was a talented strategist for the Navy, and someone whom Kakashi regarded with respect. He watched as the small raven-haired boy waved animatedly to his older brother standing above the deck.

Kakashi chuckled to himself. He wondered how they would all grow up.