Disclaimer: I obviously do not own Naruto or make any profit from my fics. If I did, certain people wouldn't have died and others wouldn't have lived.
When I Grow Up
By: Yasha's Sis
Kakashi didn't originally want to be a ninja. Believe it or not, he wanted to be a publicist. He remembered when he was three, how his father had read him a bedtime story. It tanked, horribly, spurring the child to demand who allowed such a waste of ink and paper to be given to small children. When he learned that is was a publisher's job to decide whether a story was good enough to go to print, he'd vowed to advocate the best books only. None of that crap about princesses needing to be saved from two foot trolls. There would be true entertainment to be held for children's bed time stories!
Unfortunately for the small children- or may be not in hindsight of Hatake Kakashi's literary tastes- that dream gave way to the shinobi way when he turned four.
A long time ago, before meeting the wrong end of a tanto, Hatake Sakumo took his son to the Land of Snow. It was meant to be a routine mission, involving a lot of sitting around and staring at ridiculously expensive poster boards splashed in paint. Sakumo detested such missions, but the love of his life had just died and a three year old Kakashi could not be left alone with anyone but his father. The boy would allow nothing less. Anyone who even mentioned separation felt a sharp jolt of pain courtesy of a kick to the shins by the miniature Hatake. The White Fang only smiled behind his mask when the victim glared at him accusingly.
His father didn't mind bringing Kakashi along with him since the task was so mundane. Getting Kakashi out of the village where a mother no longer hugged him goodnight and vanilla failed to cling to his freshly folded shirts would be good for both of them- knowing that his kid was in the safest place in this side of Ame certainly did wonders for Sakumo's peace of mind- but his goal of a little peace and boredom vanished once Kakashi found himself face to face with a would be art thief.
The dragon stared balefully at the small pale haired child before it. Kakashi frowned and tilted his head a little more to the left, dark grey eyes squinted just short of being closed. "I don't see it."
Sakumo bit back a grin. "Look harder."
Kakashi leaned forward, perilously close to touching the priceless stone dragon, and turned his head a little more, ignoring the chattering of the museum curator as the boy edged ever closer to the statue.
"Komura-san, please control your son! The Ming-zhe Ryu is very delicate and even the most glancing of touches could damage the artifact. It's carved from 'black' jade. Must I tell you how rare that is? And it's over-"
"Two Thousand years old." The boy finished succinctly, rocking back on his heels with an exasperated huff. "You've told us already, twice. I wasn't going to touch it." Kakashi turned a shrewd gaze to his father. "And if you squint with your head turned at a thirty-five degree angle, it most certainly does not look like a mutant turtle koi."
The curator gasped in horror and pressed his mouth into a thin line, probably gearing towards a lecture on the beauty and elegance of the jade monstrosity. Sakumo cut him off mid breath.
"Which artifact did you wish to show us?" Sakumo pretended to miss Kakashi's brilliant smile as he hefted the boy over his shoulder to sit around his neck. The curator scowled at his interruption but motioned for the father and son to follow. Drowning out the curator's renewed explanation of each and every artifact on the path to their target, Sakumo allowed himself to marvel at how quickly his son could switch from holding an adult conversation to playing like the child that he was. Kakashi kicked his feet happily against his father's chest and propped his head on the mess of identical silver hair. Each time he swiveled his head to look at something they walked past, Sakumo could feel it. Konoha's White Fang bounced abruptly, jostling his son's examination of the Bein Museum, and Kakashi tugged on a lock of his hair in retaliation.
Oblivious to the lack of attention directed to his lecture, Hitomu Ren, led the way out of the room of precious stones to the Wall of Light, which were rows upon rows of brightly colored paintings surrounded by white. Kakashi blinked in interest at an all white painting with one dot in the middle.
"Hitomu-san, how much is that one?" Ren paused in his speech and any irritation at having been distracted vanished once he caught sight of the work.
"Ah you have great taste, Shishi-kun." The curator gushed, ignorant of the way Kakashi scowled at him and only settled when his father squeezed his foot reassuringly. "That there is a famous work by Miyazaki Hanzo: one hundred and twenty-five billion ryo worth of talent."
Sakumo choked.
They were scouting out Bein Museum for the Empress's Emerald, a gem said to have been worn by the Wind Empress of the Moon Lands before the rise of the Shinobi nations, before the rise of the Bijuu even. It was a priceless artifact recently on loan to the museum and the curator's boss, Ton, feared someone would pilfer it in the week it was on display. Five days in and the Hatakes' hadn't witnessed one attempt.
Curator Ren withheld a frustrated sigh at the father-son pair trailing him. The father, Yuma or something, was a traveling adviser for Museum Security on loan from Hi no Kuni's largest Anthropology Museum: Fujimi Legacy. His son- terrible child- was an unfortunate tag along with no appreciation for delicate works of art like the Ming-zhe Jade statue.
Turtle Koi?! The nerve!
Still, Ren was grateful for the added security. The Empress' Jewel was the most precious item to ever grace the halls of Bein Museum! The previous curator would be rolling in his grave to know such an artifact was under Ren's care. While exceptionally knowledgeable on the present inventory, Ren had the unfortunate tendency to offend those visiting the Museum, including his predecessor. It wasn't his fault the man knew as much about Jenji bamboo craftsmanship as he did on how to fly a wild boar. The man was incredible ignorant of the treasures within these walls.
And he had called himself the curator!
So when Ren gained the position not long after the sad but long awaited retirement/death of his mentor, Ren went right to work on properly documenting the Museum items and acquiring more prestigious artifacts for their collection. The Empress' Jewel was a test to show his boss how responsible he could be with maintaining something so valuable.
"Dad, when are we leaving?"
Ren scowled. If only the child wasn't here, then he could really pick the man's mind on how best to protect his precious collection.
"Maa, Shishi, don't be rude. Hitomu-san was just taking us to the Empress' Jewel." The man smiled brilliantly and Ren felt his irritation subside. "Forgive my son, he is going through a difficult time. Please, continue with your precautions."
The curator seemed to inflate a bit before launching into a detailed and surprisingly thorough contingency for protecting the Jewel. Had they not needed to protect it against Shinobi, Sakumo would have thought the gem adequately secured. The men spoke on the pros and the cons to the system in hushed voices much to Kakashi's dismay. The young boy felt such details shouldn't be discussed out in the open where someone could hear. A thief wanted to steal the stone! It was like you were painting a target around the package. Little Kakashi shifted impatiently. His father should know better than this.
The elder Hatake caught eyes with his son in a passing mirror and winked. Kakashi relaxed. He trusted his dad. If they wanted to tell the whole museum about this, then it had to do with the plan to catch the guy. Still… he was so BORED!
Kakashi squirmed. "Dad."
Sakumo paused in replying to the curator and quickly lifted his son over his head. The curator on the other hand had a fearsome scowl on his face, the worse one to date. Well, Kakashi hated the man just as much as he probably hated him. He kept treating him like a little kid. Kakashi would turn four tomorrow!
Kakashi touched the ground and continued to shift foot to foot. His father knelt to one knee. "What's wrong?" The boy furrowed his brow with a slight pout to his lip. Sakumo had to fight to keep his face concerned. His son would be insufferable if Sakumo called him cute.
"Can-"
"May." His father corrected immediately.
Kakashi rolled his eyes. "May I go to the bathroom?" Anything would be better than listening to that man babble about his precious collection.
As if reading his mind, Sakumo did smile then. "Yes, you may. Be careful, Shishi."
"Do you remember where it is?" The irritating man asked condescendingly.
Little Kakashi bristled and managed to convey all the indignant insult a boy could hold as he said, "I know where it is."
The Hatake elder bit his cheek and merely smiled serenely when the curator made a noise of outrage.
Jiro Kaito, chunin of Kumo, smiled as he spotted his target.
While the security for the place was remarkable for a civilian to put together, it was no match for a man of his ability. He slipped past the distracted guard into the Moon Lands display area and casually perused the items present. Intel promised the Wind Empress' Jewel to be near the rear of the area next to the ceremonial wardrobe of the Empress herself.
Kaito smiled in satisfaction when he spotted the display case containing his objective. A flash of chakra and the security system wiring was cut. The Jewel sat on a pressure plate that would set off the alarm if the stone was disturbed. With that out of the way he set about untangling the complex diamond thread system that acted as both a reflecting source for the light to land just right and cut the hands of anyone stupid enough to try and pull apart the threads. His attempt at cutting the threads with chakra failed so he went to work unweaving it by hand with specially coated gloves. A light genjutsu shielded any curious eyes from understanding just what he was doing, giving him roughly 15mins to work before the next security patrol came through. If there was active intent to perceive danger, the jutsu would fail. It was subtle enough that any passing bystander wouldn't pay it any mind but that came at the price of strength.
No matter. Hina would have this as a proposal gift.
Only the best for his girl.
"What are you doing?"
Kaito jumped and swore harshly as his hand jerked too hard against the thread cutting into his gloved hand. He turned his head to the youthful voice to his right.
A small boy with strikingly pale hair was staring at him as if oblivious to the genjutsu. Kaito blinked at him.
"You can see me?"
"Of course I can see you." The kid answered haughtily, and from the look of annoyance sent his way he realized what a dumb question that was. So the genjutsu didn't work? Ok. Some people were just naturally resistant, even brats with light colored hair.
"Sorry." Kaito heard himself say.
The boy looked slightly less offended and walked closer, peering into the now nearly harmless section of threading.
"What are you doing?" The boy repeated.
Kaito started to scramble for an answer and then stopped himself. This was a little kid! What was he getting worked up about? "I'm taking down this threading." The man said, deciding to be honest with his new observer. It's not like the kid could stop him or anything.
Grey eyes took in the gloves and beads of blood pooling on the line across his palm. "Why?"
Kaito mentally shrugged and went about freeing his hands from the gloves. The net was cleared away enough for him to get the Jewel but he'd leave a trail if he bled all over the place. "I wanted to be able to reach the jewel."
The boy turned shrewd eyes to his face. "The man who works here said no one supposed to manhamble the artifacts."
Kaito smirked at the lingering resentment in the little boy's voice. "Manhandle," he corrected.
The boy scowled. "That's what I said!"
Kaito laughed outright. "Alright. I'm sorry." He glanced down at his hand and noticed the blood. Green Chakra flared to life on his opposite hand and he brush the finger along the slight wound erasing blood and sealing the wound with a wave much to the apparent amazement of his little friend.
"You're a Shinobi!" he declared in awe, gesturing to the still glowing hand of healing chakra. "How'd you do that?!"
Bemused, the Kumo nin glanced at his prize then back at the boy. "Ah… Great chakra control and brilliance, kid." He tucked his gloves in his pocket and reached for the Jewel.
The kid's eye twitched and his right cheek puffed out. "Just because you're older than me doesn't make me a kid. I'm turning four." The kid emphasized with a glare.
"My mistake. You were so short I mistook you for someone younger." Kaito grinned at the kid's spunk. He held the Jewel in his hand and tossed it in the air. "I like you kid."
The boy looked as if he didn't know whether to be upset or pleased at the man's comment. Instead Kaito was surprised at the kid's next statement. "You're stealing the Jewel."
Kaito almost dropped it.
"You're stealing the Jewel from the guy who owns this place." The kid repeated cocking his head to the side. "Why?"
"Uh…" He didn't know why the dark eyes of this little boy made him feel guilty. It wasn't like he was selling it for all the ryo in the world. He just wanted his lady happy. Who cares what a pipsqueak like this kid thinks?
"I thought Shinobi were supposed to be honorable." The kid continued with an annoyingly disappointed voice.
Kaito suppressed a flinch. "Look, kid," The shinobi scowled at the slight narrowing of the eyes. "I'm not stealing this as a Shinobi. I'm taking it for my girl-"
The cute nose scrunched in disgust. "You're stealing it for a girl?"
Despite himself, Kaito felt his gaze softening. "Yeah. Love of my life, kid. I'd do anything for her."
"She asked you to steal for her?" The tone implied how poorly of a girlfriend that sounded like. Kaito frowned.
"Well, no-"
"Then why are you taking it?" The high voice interrupted. "What if she doesn't like it? I think it's ugly."
Kaito blinked rapidly. The concept that Hina wouldn't like a priceless gem didn't even cross his mind. He looked down at the large stone in his grasp. It was a green so dark, it could be mistaken for black if the light didn't hit it right. It was ungainly and would never be worn out in public. His brow furrowed. Hina didn't really like jewelry all that much either. She rarely wore any. The only accessory he ever saw her wear regularly was a silver chain he got her for their 10th date. Blue eyes turned to the little boy practically radiating disappointment and stubbornness. A part of him was angry at the boy's innocence. Shinobi stole. They lied. They cheated. Shinobi had no real honor in the traditional sense. Some had standards they wouldn't cross, but those were usually the ones who didn't get very high in the ranks. Kaito really needed to disabuse this kid of that notion. But…
At the thought of shattering this kid's ideals, he found himself reluctant to do so. God, he felt like a bastard just thinking about it.
Kakashi stared at the man who was willing to steal for a girl with disappointment. His dad was a shinobi but he always told Kakashi that stealing from people was wrong (even though he praised him for being able to snatch an Inuzuka's dog treat from them and survive to tell the tale). The fact that this man stole for a girl was beyond upsetting. Girls were weird.
That said, he'd never seen someone heal themselves before. His dad only showed him how to throw things and feel for chakra, which was kind of cool but nothing spectacular. Fixing things was just as cool as breaking them! He wanted to ask his dad if he could do what this man did! Kakashi also didn't want this guy to get in the way of his dad's mission. His father was nice enough to take Kakashi with him after mama passed so he wouldn't be alone. Kakashi knew this. He also wanted to keep a close eye on his dad. Sakumo would stay up late and stare at mama's pictures when he though Kakashi when to sleep. The young boy knew that wasn't normal and was just as happy as his father was to get out of the village, especially since he was undercover as a security officer's son.
So it was important for Kakashi to keep the man from stealing the Jewel, especially for such a dumb reason.
The man let out a breath and Kakashi was pulled from his thoughts. "Damn, kid, you don't know Shinobi."
Kakashi took immediate offense to that statement- he knew a lot of Shinobi- but the man kept talking before he could respond.
"Shinobi do a lot of things because they're ordered to, whether they want to or not." The man sighed. "But, you're right. If we don't have an order to do something," He held up the Jewel, "like an order to steal, we usually don't take it upon ourselves to abuse our power. It's looked down upon for Shinobi to take advantage of those without Shinobi ability. I never thought a brat would get on a soap box and dress me down for being selfish." He chuckled and tossed the Jewel to Kakashi's startled hands.
"Here. Hina would probably give me the same speech and call me reckless." He ran a hand through short, dark brown hair. "I wish Shinobi lived up to your ideal, kid. We're quick to turn on one another if it benefits ourselves or our country. They'll leave a man to die if it betters the mission. Hopefully you won't get disappointed down the road." Kakashi's look of alarm stopped the man's rambling. A big calloused hand reached out and ruffled his hair, to Kakashi's disdain. The man smiled warmly. "Well, you win. Make sure the guy in charge gets his precious rock back." The man winked at Kakashi and disappeared in a swirl of mist.
Much to the horror of Ren, the curator, Hatake Sakumo found his son blinking at the Moon Land's Jewel in his hand. When asked why and how the boy obtained the stone, Kakashi answered solemnly.
"A man gave it to me after I told him it was stupid to steal ugly stuff, especially for a girl." The curator swooned somewhere behind Sakumo and landed with a thump. Sakumo merely shook his head and thanked the gods that his son was safe, if not incredibly naïve for confronting the man they were sent here to stop.
Two days later they were watching the caravan carry the Wind Empress' Jewel back to Hi no Kuni. Kakashi pressed his chin against his father's soft, but gravity defying hair as his legs kicked the man's chest.
"Ready to go home, Kakashi-kun?"
"Hai." The man turned and headed down the road towards home. They walked in silence for a while until Kakashi spoke up again. "Dad?"
"Hn?"
"I want to become a shinobi." The elder tilted his head back in interest.
"What happened to your budding publishing career?" Sakumo asked with no little mirth.
Kakashi kicked just a little bit harder in response. "I will still fix those awful stories, but…. I want to be a Shinobi. The man said I didn't know anything about Shinobi. He said that they were selfish and didn't do what they're supposed to all the time. I want to prove him wrong."
Sakumo willed himself to keep his immediate response down. Shinobi didn't often do the right thing, let alone do so at all times. The Hatake had suspicions that his son was lucky to have met such an honorable shinobi to return a gem worth all of Hi no Kuni because a four year old told him it was "stupid" to steal. His son could have died. Kakashi's noise of protest, made him loosen the grip on his leg.
"If you hold true to this, I believe you will be a great shinobi indeed." Sakumo could feel the pleased pulse of chakra from his son's small coils. Konoha's White Fang reached inside his kunai pouch and pulled out a scroll. With a quick application of chakra, a black and silver sheath appeared in his hand. Sakumo held the tanto up to the child who would become a legend. "Happy Birthday, Kakashi."
Jiro Kaito would never know he was the start of the legendary Sharingan Kakashi.
If he did, he probably would have laughed his ass off in disbelief.
FIN