Future Sight
"What are we here for? I was just getting started on some really nice, really ho-"
"Put a lid on it, kid." Jiraiya said as he fiddled with the scroll he was squatting before, and drew some more.
Uzumaki Naruto stuck his tongue out – and instantly regretted it as a fist jammed onto his head.
"You heard him, Naruto." A warning voice sounded in his ear.
"Good one, Sakura…" Jiraya muttered absently.
"Are you done, old man?" Uchiha Sasuke, the other boy in the clearing asked.
"Put a lid on it, kid." It was too much to hope that Sakura would silence him, as well.
A minute later, Jiraiya stood.
He rubbed his hands together, and turned to the other Jonin in the clearing.
"All done!"
Hatake Kakashi looked up from his book.
"Oh?" he said.
"Come on over, all of you," Jiraiya waved them closer.
The Genin moved towards him warily.
"Are you sure?" Kakashi, who hadn't moved from where he sat, asked.
"Sure, I'm sure!" Jiraiya said, waving a hand.
Tch. Kakashi rose and walked over to the group.
He looked over Sakura's and Naruto's heads to see five concentric circles drawn out of various letters by the Toad Sage, in his own blood.
At the center was one letter. From it, like spokes, rose five lines, that crossed all the circles and ended some inches out of the last one.
"What do you think?" Jiraiya asked excitedly.
Kakashi made no comment.
"Yeah, it looks good. So what? What does it do?" Naruto replied, instead.
"Shut up already!" Jiraiya snapped.
"Alright, everyone. Stand around the circle in the gaps between the lines. The ones like spokes. Hurry up!"
The others hurried as they were told.
Kakashi could hear Jiraiya muttering something.
And the light took them.
Naruto felt his feet hit the ground, hard.
He fell over from the impact, and a second later, someone else lost balance and landed on his back.
Ow. His mind prompted.
"Ow…" His mouth obeyed weakly.
He could see Jiraiya and Kakashi standing near him.
The next second, he pushed off the person on top him and scrambled up.
The person who had landed on top of him turned out to be Sasuke, who got to his feet as well.
"What? Where are we?" Naruto asked, looking about him wildly.
"This…is the same training field." Sakura said as she got to her feet.
"How long ago?" Kakashi asked.
Naruto looked up to see Jiraiya transfer his gaze to Kakashi.
"Fourteen." He said, quietly.
"Where are we?" Naruto asked, raising his voice.
Jiraiya was still looking at Kakashi, a frown forming on his face. Suddenly, he spoke.
"I shouldn't have done it. I'm sorry. Y-"
"It's fine." Kakashi cut him off, turning around, and surveying the area.
"Oi! Pervy Sage, Kakashi-sensei! Where the hell are we?!"
"The past." Jiraiya said.
Even Sasuke looked like he was about to yell.
"The past?!" Sakura was the first to find her voice.
Naruto looked like he wasn't going to talk anytime soon.
"Fourteen years from our time?" Sasuke said, quickly.
Jiraiya nodded.
"We're not born yet!" Sakura said.
"No. And that's why Sasuke, you need to get a shirt from some place."
Kakashi looked back at the Genin.
"And no Sharingan."
Sasuke looked up.
"Naruto. You need to remember to hold your tongue."
Naruto nodded feebly.
"This world isn't like the one you know. So make sure you don't loose your heads…more literally than figuratively."
Sasuke, Sakura and Naruto all stared.
"How will you explain us to the Third?" Kakashi asked Jiraiya.
"I'll think of something…" Jiraiya said, with a smile.
"And why did you bring us to the past, anyway, Pervy Sage?" Naruto asked, indignantly.
The smile disappeared as soon as it had come.
Jiraiya looked at Kakashi, who looked back.
And Naruto fell silent, as words unspoken reverberated in the suddenly still air…shut up.
"Is the village different?" Naruto broke the silence at last.
"Totally, kid. This is war." Jiraiya replied. "Come on. We'd better explain to the Hokage before nightfall."
"Wait. We should disguise ourselves. And Sasuke's shirt won't be the best sight around." Kakashi said.
"Disguise? A henge?" Jiraiya asked, as if this hadn't occurred to him.
Kakashi shrugged.
"We both resemble people we're not supposed to."
Jiraiya paused.
"You're right there…"
And where Jiraiya had stood, a shorter man but with hair of the same length appeared, his right hand extended and the fingers displaying a 'V'.
"Tadaa!"
Kakashi raised his eyebrows.
"Come on, already! There are places to go! People to see!" Jiraiya said, already turning.
And so, three people under Henges, and two more who gawked at everything they saw made their way to the Hokage's office.
The short, stout man with long white hair spun around with a flourish, and a serious face.
"I'll go in and brainwash Sarutobi-sensei. The rest of you wait here."
"What will you tell him?" A tall man with black hair asked resignedly.
"Some tall tales…some of the truth. What did you think?" The short man asked, airily, and without further ado, threw open the door without as much as a knock, and banged it shut behind him.
The others sighed.
The blonde kid dressed in orange opened his mouth, probably to protest, but the tall man distractedly clapped a hand over his mouth.
The kid sulked.
Stupid Prevy Sage always got all the action. And when he didn't, he took credit for it, anyway.
The blonde kid dressed in orange opened his mouth five minutes later, again, but even as he did so, the door to the Hokage's office opened, and a hand they all knew mysteriously beckoned them inside.
"So here you all are." The Third's face was impassive, and it was impossible to figure out what Jiraiya had said.
But as Kakashi found the Hokage's eyes taking in every inch of his appearance, and – he was sure, despite his changed (mostly) appearance – mentally comparing it with someone else's, he knew that Jiraiya had told him that they were from the future…or something like that.
"What service do you think you can render to us? I do not know your capabilities."
The Third's eyes flickered to Kakashi then to Jiraiya.
"You can put the kids on some team." Jiraiya spoke.
"And you both?"
Jiraiya and Kakashi both looked at him like it was obvious.
"Ah…" The Third said, as realization dawned.
"What are they going to do, Old Man?" Naruto cut in.
If the Sarutobi Hiruzen of fourteen years ago was surprised at being addressed thus, he did not let it show.
The Third otherwise ignored Naruto's question.
"Hmm…I've got a team that would be perfect for you. They'll be coming in from a mission some time today."
His eyes flickered to Kakashi, who thought he had a strong hunch about the identity of this team.
"That will be all, then?" Jiraiya asked, almost gleefully.
"Well, no." The Third said.
"Man…" Jiraiya whined.
"I would like to talk to yourself and him." The Third nodded to Kakashi.
"Finer details, huh? I hate those…" Jiraiya said.
"Yeah, yeah, we're leaving, we're leaving. We need to let the grown u –" Naruto said, irritably.
But even as he took two steps to the door, the door swung open violently.
Bang!
The door was almost swung off its hinges, as two people attempted to get in at the same time.
The Third was visibly startled, but even as he realized what had happened, he gave a resigned sigh.
"There, there, now. I need my door to be in harmony with my door frame."
A tall, blonde man straightened, and backed out of the room.
"Ah, sorry about that." He said, sheepishly.
A dark haired boy tumbled inside.
"Yeah, sorry." He added.
Both Kakashi and Jiraiya froze.
This past thingy was getting really freaky.
Yeah, they were back in time and all, but sometimes, brains stubbornly refuse to see the truth and insist on disseminating their outdated information. In this context, two people who are supposed to be dead just walked in, and God's gift to mankind by the means of intelligence mulishly refused to believe it.
With the Third, their brains had a minute or so to get used to this phenomenon, but in this scenario, when two people just barge in with no consideration for things like obdurate brains and overworked neurons, it gets downright unpleasant.
"Are we interrupting something? I'm sorry, we'll come back later." The man made move away, but the Third waved a hand.
"No, no. I wanted to talk to you."
"About what?" The boy asked, looking curiously at the others in the room.
"A few new additions to your team." The Third said, seriously.
The man stepped into the room again, and looked at the others.
His gaze lingered on Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura.
"I see…what are your names?" He asked, conversationally, looking at Naruto.
Naruto looked at him as well.
Ogling, Naruto – you're ogling. His brain informed him.
This was the Fourth!
The greatest Hokage of all time!
And he was standing here, in front of Naruto.
And Naruto was gaping back at him more like a fish than anything else.
He shook himself.
"I'm U –" But Sakura's voice – thankfully – drowned out his.
"Shikamaru!" She said.
Naruto looked at her and then remembered he could hardly give anyone his real name.
"He's Choji!" She pointed to Sasuke, who stared.
"That's Neji!" And Jiraiya deflated.
"That's Shino!" Kakashi didn't move.
"And you are?" The man asked Sakura.
"INO!" Three voices replied, before Sakura could.
"Ino" sighed.
"Yeah, alright. I'm Namikaze Minato. This is my team."
And Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura gaped as two more children stepped into the room at Minato's invitation.
"Y –" "Shino" somehow clapped a hand over Naruto's mouth.
The Genin pointed at the silver haired boy who had entered with a brown haired girl for a second before calming down.
The boy in question shifted his gaze to Naruto, who hastily dropped his eyes. He was aware of the stare moving to "Shino" as Minato spoke.
"That's Kakashi. And Rin. And that's Obito."
"It's nice to meet you all." Sakura said, smiling – rather nervously, but still smiling.
Naruto caught sight of the back of Obito's jacket as he turned to talk to Minato.
This boy was an Uchiha. He had a fan just like Sasuke did.
"But we won't be on his team, or something?" Obito jerked a finger towards Kakashi.
"Didn't I tell you this yesterday?" Minato asked.
"Yeah, you did – but my brain decided it was an illusion." Obito said.
"Really?" Minato looked surprised at the repartee.
"Your brain seemed to have decided that life itself was an illusion shortly after you were born…" Kakashi drawled.
"You –" Obito began, drawing a fist back.
Minato hastily caught it.
"We'll be leaving you, Hokage-sama. I'll come back later for the mission's details!" He literally tucked Obito under an arm before dashing out of the door.
Kakashi and Rin followed them, Rin closing the door behind her.
Naruto looked around at Sasuke and Sakura.
"We're in with Kakashi's team?" He said, before yielding to laughter.
The Third looked bemused.
"Yeah, yeah. Right. Now if you kiddies will excuse us…" "Neji" said.
Naruto sullenly got up.
He shot a glance at "Shino" and his face immediately sported a smirk.
"I'm gonna have some fun!" He shot out of the office through the window.
"There!" Naruto pointed.
Sasuke and Sakura followed his finger.
Minato, Obito and Rin were leaning on a fence not far off.
Minato was saying something, Rin was laughing, and Obito was looked slightly disgruntled.
"Hey!" Naruto called as they approached.
They looked around.
"Hey!" Obito responded in kind.
"Um…where's Kakashi?" Sakura asked looking at them.
"He's got things to do." Minato smiled at them.
Obito glanced at his feet, twiddled his thumbs, and then looked up.
"What rank are you guys?" He blurted.
"We're kinda trying to guess what rank our mission will be." He explained himself, a second later.
"We're Genin." Naruto said, suspiciously.
"So it's almost balanced, then. My predictions still stand!" Minato grinned.
"No way! We're still too many!" Obito countered.
"Either way, we aren't going to get lower than B, right, Sensei?" Rin asked.
"B?!" Naruto burst out.
Team Minato turned to look at him.
"Yeah." Obito stated, staring hard through a pair of orange goggles.
"Don't bother about him – he's just happy to be getting any, at all!" Sakura intervened.
Sasuke looked away, pointedly.
Naruto smiled sheepishly.
"Oh." Obito said.
"I never got the chance to ask, but I haven't seen any of those men who were with you, though they were obviously ninja."
"Uh…they've been traveling around. Stuff like gathering information and stuff." Sakura said.
Minato nodded, and, sensing her awkwardness, didn't pursue the topic.
He looked at the sky before speaking.
"Well, I'll be going to get our mission's details…on time tomorrow, alright, Obito?" With that, Minato gave a wave, and disappeared in smoke.
Obito waved the smoke away, gagging slightly.
"I wish he wouldn't keep doing that. Show off." He said, slightly sullenly.
"Er…I'm hungry." Naruto said.
Obito immediately brightened.
"Wanna go try this ramen stand called Ichiraku's?" Obito asked of Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura.
"Alright! You bet!" Naruto responded enthusiastically.
Sasuke sighed.
Another ramen junkie.
Somehow, life seemed liberally peppered with them.
It was a small world, after all.
Sakura and Rin seemed to be introducing themselves, and in general, getting along well.
And Naruto and Obito were comparing different ramen, the time taken to prepare ramen, and ramen in general.
Swell.
As the day wore on to a close, Jiraiya looked at the orange sky.
Where were those damned kids?
But he needn't have worried.
There they walked, bright as day – Obito and Naruto apparently in a squabble; Sakura and Rin behind them talking softer; and Sasuke came last, the epitome of boredom itself.
"Yo." Jiraiya landed in front of them.
Maybe he should have transformed into someone slightly taller…this did not feel right.
"If you two don't mind…" He said to Obito and Rin, as he pulled Team 7 away from them.
"You'll be in with Minato's team tomorrow, alright? And here. This is your key." He pulled out a single key and handed it to Naruto, who stood closest.
"Key?" Naruto pulled a face. "What for?"
"Your temporary house, of course. I have the spare, in case I need to get in." Jiraiya said.
"How'd you get a house?" Naruto asked, pocketing the key.
"Magic." Jiraiya replied.
"I'm not some stupid kid, you know – magic doesn't exist."
"You'd had me fooled." Sasuke and Sakura spoke in unison.
"When will we go back, anyway? Yeah, Kakashi-sensei's team's nice and all –"
"Let the adults take care of adult-business, got it?" Jiraiya interrupted Naruto.
"Speaking of which, where's our other chaperone?" Sasuke asked.
Jiraiya's expression turned into one of distraction.
"Around…he already left. And it's about time I did, as well." Jiraiya replied.
"Now, this is war. I want you all to obey all orders, keep your cool, don't talk back; don't talk at all – especially if you are – captured. Trust Minato's team, alright? They're Chunin, they know what to do. Stay safe if you want your lives like you left them."
Even Naruto looked grim.
"But no pressure." Jiriaya grinned.
He gave them an airy wave, and, literally, disappeared.
Naruto looked back to where Rin and Obito stood, talking, and wished with most of his heart that he hadn't come here…most. Not all.
"Is that them?" Sakura asked, from behind Naruto and in front of Sasuke as they made their way to where Obito had showed them, the next day.
"Yeah!" Naruto threw over his shoulder, as he pushed a vine out of his face.
He turned, suddenly.
"Alright, you guys! Let's go show them what Team 7 is made of!"
And with that, Naruto took off.
"Hey! Wait up!" Sakura shouted futilely.
"Tch." Sasuke said, as he saw where Naruto had gone.
"Yo!" Naruto skidded to a stop in the midst of Rin, Minato and Kakashi.
The first gave him a smile and a wave.
The second grinned.
The third spared him a glance.
"Even they got here…so much for mistaking the time." Kakashi said, as Sakura and Sasuke arrived.
Minato smiled sheepishly.
"I'm sure he's not far off…"
"That's a bet even Tsunade won't make." Kakashi replied.
"Obito's not here?" Naruto asked.
"Obviously." Sasuke said.
"He's – er – slightly late today." Minato said.
"He's very late, everyday." Kakashi corrected.
Naruto looked confused.
He shot Kakashi, who looked extremely irritated, a glance. Then he looked at his teammates.
Sakura was shifting her gaze onto Naruto from Kakashi as well.
Sasuke seemed to be working something out.
…the day wore on.
Finally, they heard the tell-tale sounds of a boy in a hurry – boots scraping, branches twitching, leaves rubbing viciously against one another – and Obito fell into the clearing, landing at Kakashi's feet.
"Am I late? Did I make it on time?" He asked, hurriedly.
"Yes. No. Because you're late." Kakashi spoke, answering both questions.
"Come on, Kakashi. What happened, Obito?" Minato asked.
"I met an old lady on the road. I had to take her home." Obito said, pulling off his goggles.
"Right. That's a lie." Kakashi said.
"Hey, hey. So you helped the old lady home, huh, Obito?" Minato asked.
"Yeah. I carried her bags, too. And there's something in my eye." Obito was now dripping some drops into his eye.
"Wha –?" Naruto asked weakly.
"Am I missing something?" Sakura muttered to Sasuke and Naruto.
Sasuke looked simply, absolutely, dumbfounded.
"Sensei, you're too soft." Kakashi spoke.
"In the world of ninja, those who don't follow the rules are trash. That's how it is…"
Minato looked slightly uncomfortable.
"We are so missing something. That doesn't sound one hundred percent Kakashi-sensei…" Naruto mused.
Sakura nodded.
"Yeah…it's weird. Isn't there more to that line?"
Kakashi was already talking.
"This is an important day…but then again, I suppose it would have been folly to think that you would have remembered."
True to Kakashi's words, Obito only stared.
"Huh?" He said.
"Did you get a present?" Rin asked, oblivious to Obito's predicament.
"Present?" Obito asked.
"I told you yesterday, don't you remember?" Rin asked.
"Remember? Remember what?" Obito replied.
"From today, Kakashi is a Jonin, like me." Minato said.
Obito only stared.
"I told you yesterday, didn't I, Obito-kun?" Rin asked.
"And the day before that." Kakashi prompted.
Obito only stared.
"Jonin?" Naruto asked, instead.
"Is that even possible?" Sakura said simultaneously.
"Well, the village's strength has hit an all-time low, so we need more teams. You guys will split off from us as soon as we know what you are capable of." Minato said.
He started walking, and beckoned for the others to follow.
As they walked in a file, with Kakashi first, a long gap, then Sasuke, Obito followed by Naruto, then Minato, then Rin and Sakura, Minato told them about their mission.
They had to destroy the bridge Iwagakure used to get their supplies. It was called Kannabi Bridge, and:
"…Kakashi will lead you, while I split." Minato said.
"Kakashi will lead us?" Obito repeated.
"Yes, Obito." Minato said, patiently.
"Which is why we had to get gifts. To celebrate Kakashi-kun making Jonin." Rin chipped in.
"Oh." Obito looked slightly uncomfortable.
"Here! This is mine!" Minato pulled out a kunai that had letters down its handle, and three prongs.
"It's heavy, and a little unwieldy, but it's useful when you get used to it." He explained as Kakashi looked it over.
"Thanks."
"And this is mine." Rin handed him a medical kit.
"You should be able to use it by yourself." She said.
"Thanks." Kakashi repeated.
"Hey, what?" Obito said reflexively as Kakashi turned to him.
"I didn't get you anything. I told you." Obito continued.
"Fine. It would have been trash, anyway. You can make yourself useful by carrying my stuff, though." Kakashi said.
"You –" Obito began.
"Hey, cut it out." Minato said.
Naruto looked at Sakura and Sasuke.
He didn't know about them, but he was very uncomfortable.
"You shouldn't argue." Rin told them.
She looked around at Team 7, and smiled slightly.
"Let's get back to the mission." Minato said.
"What will you do?" Kakashi said.
"I will distract them. I'll be out on the frontlines." Minato said.
"So…we complete this mission without being seen and stuff, right?" Naruto asked.
"Yes." Minato said.
"It's a sneaking mission." Kakashi said.
Minato nodded.
"Let's get on with it, then."
A/N: Well?
Verdict?
Okay, one more thing - if both selves - past and present (future) are in the same room, then the past will be called by the person's name. The present (future) will use the name given to them, in quotes.
Example (and the only case in the story): Kakashi - past self. "Shino" - Kakashi as we first got to know him.
Tell me what you think...