Chapter 1

Kakashi was leaning firmly against the tree, nose buried in his book. He kept a careful eye upon his kawaii little students who were having a (not-so-healthy) competition (but, hey, shinobi life was all about having risks, right?).

Usually Kakashi didn't let them go far as they almost always ended up with Naruto making an annoying comment and Sakura then introducing her fist to Naruto's face (though by now they were practically neighbors). However, on this fairly sunny day Kakashi was feeling a bit generous (a fact that was totally not contributed to by the fact a new book that had been introduced to one of his 'favorite series'. . .) and decided to let them do a nice little senbon throwing contest.

Sakura, who had some experience with the needle projectiles through medical procedures, was fairly decent at the practice, using moves with the precision that only medic-nin were required to have.

Naruto, on the other hand, sported several red dots on his palm from mishandling the senbon (though the cuts had long since closed thanks to an occasionally helpful nine-tailed demon sealed inside of him), and was wincing as he attempted to hold the needle.

"I'll get it this time!~(da)ttebayo!" He announced, sloppily throwing the senbon, which, after being airborne for a mere three seconds, fell pathetically to the ground, several feet away from the target. Pathetically, a small worm inched past the senbon quickly, having just nearly been impaled. When the senbon hit the ground, Kakashi felt that a part of Naruto's soul had just died right then.

Sakura shook her head in exasperation. Naruto, despite improving quite a bit after his tutelage under Jiriaya (though senbon-throwing wasn't the only thing he had picked up, unfortunately), was still incredibly bad at aim and genjutsu.

"Naruto-baka!" She growled stomping up to the blonde. Said boy cringed, expected the stinging fist that usually followed such words, but instead she grabbed his wrist (with just enough force not to break it) and forcefully bent it into the correct hand position.

Naruto's wince died in his throat at Sakura's demonic look (one would think it was she who was the one holding a demon). Placing one of the metal needles into his awaiting hand, she stretched back his arm, and then flung it forward, nearly dislocating Naruto's arm in the process.

The steel needle hit the dead center of the target, embedded almost to the end tip into the wooden target. Naruto, through the stinging pain in his hand from being controlled by Sakura's chakra, felt satisfaction rush through him. "I did it~(da)ttebayo!" He shouted, blatantly proud despite the fact he technically hadn't been the one who'd done it.

Sakura glared at him. "The only reason you got it was because I forced you to do it!" She growled, slamming a chakra-powered slap to his skull. Sure, she'd been the one to help him in the first place, but doesn't everyone want a little credit every once in a while?

Kakashi landed softly on the soles of his feet, light as a cat. "Okay kawaii"—Kakashi took a moment to appreciate the disturbed looks that spread across his 'kawaii' students' faces at the thought of him considering them cute—"children!" He smiled, "Let's go back before I have to explain why Naruto has to be brought back in a stretcher, shall we?"

He knew from experience that if he ended up in the hospital a lot from chakra exhaustion, that was nothing compared to the amount of times Sakura had (accidentally of course . . . .) almost beat in Naruto's skull with her fists. It was a wonder the thing wasn't in a concave formation already.

Sakura made an unhappy grunting noise and started picking up the senbon littered around the field (mostly by Naruto's many failed attempts). She suddenly perked up at a thought that had wormed into her mind, and she looked at Naruto with a sly almost foxy grin, "Hey Naruto, since you obviously lost, you owe me money."

Naruto whipped his head around at the thought of depleting his little frog purse of even more coins. "Oh Kami—how much did I say?" Naruto had been a bit carried off at the time, not really thinking about the amount he'd decided on for the bet.

Naruto, Kakashi mused, was a lot like Minato in the aspect of being a horrid gambler. Always being interested in the thrill of gambling, his sensei had always participated (then failed) until Kushina had displayed her disapproval. And whatever the red-head said was law.

"Oh, only about twenty-five ryo," She shrugged innocently. "Pay up." The underlying threat of what would happen to Naruto if he didn't made him quite dedicated to getting his debt filled out.

Kakashi smiled at Naruto's pale expression—what had he said about them being cute?

But as much as he'd like to let them squabble on, he'd arranged with the Hokage for some lovely D-rank missions later in the day, and though he made a reputation for himself, he rather not be late for mission briefs (even if the mission was just for weeding—not that he did any himself of course).

"Come on, we need to go to the Hokage office," Kakashi said enthusiastically, placing a swift end to their argument. He caught Sakura muttering that her teammate still owed her. His black mask hid the content smile that graced his face.

"You still owe me," Sakura whispered to Naruto. After another morbid threat, Naruto's face was white and his whisker marks stood out on his blatantly terrified face.

Kakashi smiled and buried his nose back into his book.

As Kakashi walked past the village gates, he instantly felt something was off. Perhaps one could just call it instinct, but the silver-haired man had learned a long time ago instinct was one of your most acute senses out in the field.

It took Naruto to figure out what he hadn't, what he should've figured out, being the S-ranked jounin he was. But everyone had their off days—and this was definitely going to be an off day for Hatake Kakashi.

"Hey, sensei? It sure is quiet—did Tsunade-obaa-chan go into lockdown or something? Why would that be? What's going on?" Naruto asked, placing his hands behind his head as he walked.

Kakashi's lone gray eye flicked around, taking in account that the streets were surprisingly empty, and the venders that were open had pitifully small amounts of goods on sale. Sure, civilians can be a bit greedy with food, but why would so many stations be closed? Kakashi mused as he glanced at a closed vender that had a hand-written sign that said in bold letters: Out of stock.

The last time Kakashi had remembered the stalls being like this was. . . .

"Kakashi, so how do you like the ramen?"

"Honestly why do you always argue so much? Kakashi you should respect your teammates more."

"Kakashi don't move too much or the wound will reopen."

"Baka-shi get back here!"

"Kakashi get your foot off Obito's head!"

"Spar me, my eternal rival!"

"I'm sorry Obito!"

"Kakashi. Take my eye—we'll see the future together—"

Kakashi shook himself wearily out of the memories. Now wasn't the time to go back twenty years—he had a new team now that needed him.

Minato-sensei. . . .

Kakashi's eye instinctively looked to the Hokage Mountain where the five previous kages had their scowling faces embedded into the stone (Kakashi still recalled Minato trying to convince the carvers to let him at least smile (previous requests had been him wearing a Konoha-styled Laplander that Rin had given him before—this idea had been shot down quickly)).

It took Kakashi a while to finally register in his mind that Minato's face wasn't there. First, his jumbled thoughts told him that the carvers were just being rude and decided to remove it—but then it set in—you can't just remove a head from a stone cliff (it also wouldn't explain why Tsunade was gone as well). The fact it took him that long to realize that it was just somehow gone was telling him that the peace-time was getting to him.

Staring sharply at the three stone faces, he wondered why they were suddenly not there. The stone faces themselves just stared at Kakashi apathetically, not the least bit of help at all. The second Hokage's frowning face almost seemed to say: deal with it. You're a shinobi too. He made a one-eyed glare at them, as if that would help matters.

"Sensei? The faces. . . ." Sakura's voice faded into a muted section of his mind, as Kakashi felt the first presence of chakra he'd felt since they had entered the village gates. Kakashi's mind kicked up.

ANBU.

Four.

Medium amounts of chakra. Probably B-or-A ranked.

Easily dealt with if it comes to fighting. Good thing there aren't many civilians around . . . if it does come to that, Kakashi analyzed quickly.

Without meaning to, Kakashi's back straightened out of its characteristic slouch as he got into a more defensive position. Kakashi could still easily detect the ANBU's chakra flares as they communicated through the pattern of pulsing chakra. As an ex-ANBU captain, he easily decoded the rapid-fire messages. They were moving in.

ANBU tended to have an attack-first, questions-later mindset—something Kakashi knew firsthand. . Kakashi mentally cursed, really, he should've done it before, seeing who he was, but he hadn't taught Naruto and Sakura ANBU fighting styles, and now it was coming back to bite at him. Konoha ANBU had different fighting tactics and styles than shinobi. They were less reluctant to use dirtier methods, backstabbing and lying was a second nature to them—if anything they were more inclined to do so.

"ANBU." He said softly as the black shadows flickered in front of them. The blank white masks stared calculatedly at them. Mouse, Boar, Frog, and Moose, Kakashi identified. He felt a shiver run through his spine. Frog had died eight years ago on an incorrectly ranked solo mission. Unless if they (the ANBU) had replaced Frog with another member, this Frog definitely couldn't be the old one. After all—the old Frog had been one of the captains that had taught Kakashi himself the tricks of the trade in the shadows.

"The Hokage wishes to see you," Moose spoke blankly, voice holding just enough force to sound like a command.

Naruto looked at the four masked men in surprise, and started to back up. "Kakashi-sensei. . . . Who are these guys?" He asked uncertainty at the deadpanned expressions the ANBU were giving him. Scorn, dislike, and downright hatred, Uzumaki Naruto could deal with—human brick walls? Not so much.

"The ANBU black ops. Hand-picked by the Hokage himself." Kakashi said, wary of saying more in front of the ANBU in front of him. ANBU tended to not like when 'outsiders' knew too much about their inner circles.

"Are they strong?" Naruto eyed Mouse. Kakashi was prepared to allow Sakura to punch him if the orange-clad ninja tried to fight one of the ANBU for fun. That was something that would definitely be considered 'treason'.

"Don't even think about it," Kakashi groaned. He nodded at the ANBU. "When does he"—he paused, checking his use of gender labeling was correct. When he found no complaint, confusion rushed at him. Where's Tsunade?—"want us to see him?"

"Now."

Seeing Kakashi wasn't the most cooperative person, Boar grabbed Sakura and body-flickered away. Most likely to the Hokage's office as a form of 'motivation'. Well, at least it looked like ANBU-humor hadn't changed.

"S-Sakura-chan!?" Naruto yelped in surprise. Kakashi mentally sighed. This was why he should've taught them ANBU tactics. This was one of their usual stunts. As Naruto lost his cool, Mouse, Frog, and Moose stood by, unfazed by his act, patiently waiting for them to start moving.

Starting on the dirt path, Kakashi walked ahead, reminding himself where the different roads were. "Come on." Keeping in mind the following ANBU operatives, Kakashi covered up his emotions of surprise whenever he almost landed himself in a dead end.

"Where are we going? We gotta save Sakura-chan! She might be in danger—those ANBU-people might harm her!" Naruto said urgently. Kakashi almost felt like smiling at his naivety.

"Don't worry, the Sandaime has absolute control over the ANBU. He's not the type of person to order her to come to harm," Kakashi reassured the blonde.

"Ojiisan? Isn't he," Naruto paused, a tinge of grief dulling his usual hyperactive voice, "D—"

His voice cut off as Kakashi started choking the air around him, lacing it with a diluted version of killing intent. It was more of a silent 'shut up' than an 'I will slowly rip you apart' thing. Sending Naruto a warning look, the silver-haired jounin continued on like the exchange had never happened. Inside he cursed though—the ANBU were sure to have noticed Naruto's slipup, including maybe their names. Quickly Kakashi selected cover names for them—a good shinobi was always prepared.

He hadn't confirmed it yet, but if they had by the slightest chance, indeed time traveled, he sure as heck wasn't going to mess it up because of Naruto. A world of possibilities seemed to open up to him. If he had the time correct then there was a possibility that he could change it—change everything. Obito—Rin—Minato—Kushina—Danzo—Tenzou—Orrochimaru even! Everything could change!

Kakashi's breathing hitched slightly as a wave of emotion overtook him. Clenching his fist to control himself, Kakashi cursed. What am I doing? I'm getting ahead of myself—when was the last time I unhinged my emotions like that? That won't get me anywhere, especially if we really are back in time. . . .

". . . Akashi-sensei?" Naruto asked plaintively. "Where's the Hokage Tower? It's supposed to be over there but it's not . . . ." Kakashi groaned. If there could be any way clearer to tell the ANBU that they were time-travelers, it would be Naruto to find it.

In some ways, Kakashi wished he had Sakura with him, the pink-haired kunoichi being the sensible one of his team. But in a different view, that would've left Naruto in Boar's custody, and Kakashi didn't want to imagine what Naruto would tell him. After all, the Boar that Kakashi remembered had specialized in interrogation.

"Arashi, remember it's over there? You're always forgetting things like this," Kakashi edged his voice with warning, and Naruto thankfully caught up to what he was implying. The blonde also didn't seem to notice the name difference. Better start intergrading into this world already, Kakashi decided.

"Oh, right sensei! Remember that time I got lost before? I was almost as late as you!"

That story had actually happened, though Naruto had twisted the details quite a bit. The reality was that he had been practicing with his Kyubi chakra at the training field, and afterwards, found himself conveniently in front of Ichiraku with a rumbling stomach, forgetting about the meeting at the Hokage tower in favor of a steaming hot bowl of ramen. And about being as late as Kakashi, Naruto still had a long way to go to compare to the grand master of lateness.

Kakashi eye-smiled at Naruto, partially from the memory and also since the ANBU stalking them would be checking if he was a threat or not. Better be thought to be an idiotic and ignorant daydreaming shinobi than being shoved into a jail cell barely an hour into finding that they were in the past. After all, how was he supposed to save Obito from a rotting underground cage?

The silver-haired man just hoped they wouldn't notice the Kyubi chakra residing inside of Naruto. A shiver ran through him, would Kushina notice if they met? Naruto has a right to meet his parents, but we don't need two nine-tailed beasts rampaging around Konoha years before schedule. . . . Kakashi lost himself in thoughts as they walked to the faded and old Hokage building.

Single grey eye staring at the Sandaime Hokage, Kakashi felt emotions running through him again, restraint gone once more.

So much for controlling himself (A small part of Kakashi's mind was contemplating the possibility that he would be able to refrain from hugging Obito, Rin, and Minato as soon as he saw them).

The Sandaime looked . . . well, good. Young. Positively not dead.

He had a full head of brown hair and his eye wrinkles weren't as prominent. The grief of losing his wife, and possibly his students, wasn't apparent yet. The shadows of having to take up the hat again, long after he should've retired, weren't on his face yet. The betrayal of Orrochimaru, Tsunade's departure while grieving the deaths of her brother and Dan, and Jiriaya leaving to continue his books had yet to happen.

The man had seen too much in his old life, yet here he was, untouched by the worst to come.

Forcing himself to tear his eyes from the Hokage, Kakashi glanced at Sakura, who was standing calmly beside Boar. Sure, her fists were clenched and her breathing was fast paced, but she hadn't killed anybody yet—that was a plus.

Frog, Mouse, and Moose stood by, rejoining Boar by the door.

"You have infiltrated our village. We are currently in a tight situation, so please excuse me if I'm a slight bit rushed. We simply don't have the time nor manpower to give you a proper interrogation, so I'll be making do with what I have," Sarutobi Hiruzen said honestly, underneath his gravelly voice the stiff confidence and determination that had gotten him the position of Hokage in the first place was apparent.

"Understood, continue," Kakashi leaned comfortably against the wall.

"Tell me why you have Konoha hitai-ates," The Sandaime said bluntly.

If his students had been shocked at his quick analysis, they didn't show it. Kakashi felt a surge of pride at them. If only Sasuke was here. . . . Enough of that. What to say? He won't take excuses. . . . This needs to be plausible while a lie as well. Taking a breath, Kakashi steadied himself; every good lie has a kernel of truth in it.

"These are my students. I'm Hatake Urushi." Kakashi explained, lie slipping easily from his clothed lips. Now for the gamble. "It's the Third Shinobi War, yes?" Seeing the Sandaime's sharp-eyed nod, Kakashi continued. "We found some dead Konoha shinobi, and since they completed genin-level training," Kakashi couldn't help but slip that in. No doubt they would analyze everything he said, and by saying that, they would underestimate Sakura and Naruto's skill level. Sure, the lie would be shattered as soon as they used a strong enough jutsu (or if Sakura displayed her near-flawless medic ninjutsu), but it would help their first few days.

Kakashi continued, studying the Hokage's expression intently. Surprised? Disgusted? Amused? "I thought that they should have Konoha hitai-ate, as I intended to take them here one day to visit my"—the next leap of faith—"brother."

"And whom is this brother?" Hiruzen stared doubtfully at them. Sakumo hadn't spoken much of himself or his clan, especially after his accident, and Hiruzen couldn't recall him speaking of any relatives. And now that he was gone, there was no way to confirm what this man was saying. Either way, the way his hitai-ate was slanted over his left eye gave Hiruzen shivers—an oddity in his own office.

"His name's Sakumo? Kind of tall, I guess, wears this ridiculous ponytail. By the way, is he still into gardening?" Kakashi rambled on, grabbing random facts about his father that he recalled from his childhood.

Naruto and Sakura thankfully stayed silent.

"It grieves me to say this, but your . . . brother," Hiruzen hesitated. Should he really be telling this stranger this? No matter, practically all the five countries know that the White Fang had killed himself. "Did seppeku."

Hiruzen's ears picked up the gasp of the pink-haired kunoichi that Boar had brought in. Her jade orbs were widened in shock, and she stared at her sensei in surprise. The man in question didn't look as upset as Hiruzen would've thought. Strange. He filed it away in his mind for later to discuss with the ANBU.

"He failed to finish an invaluable mission. He saved his comrades and abandoned the mission. It was an honorable decision, but it cost Konoha much. Iwa has gained the upper hand from this, and now we're under strain. Sakumo stood strong by his choice, until his teammates turned their backs on him as well, and so Sakumo's resolve degraded, sinking further into depression for months." The room was silent. "He killed himself about five months after the mission and his son, Hatake Kakashi, has been left in his father's shadow."

Hiruzen swallowed back a bitter taste in his throat. He always felt like that when talking about the children of the village. They were suffering for things that the previous generation had done, yet now they were here—forced to fight a war that was not their own.

The orange-clothed boy spoke up, loud voice sobered by the mood. "Who is this . . . Kakashi?"

Forcing himself to chuckle gently, "He's a very talented child, but he didn't take his father's death well. He's currently under the tutelage of Namikaze Minato."

The boy had a shocked expression on his face at Minato's name, and Hiruzen couldn't help but notice their similarities. The boy's vibrant blue eyes stared at him (just like Minato) as if longing to tell him something that Hiruzen couldn't possibly comprehend. The depth in those eyes. It's just like those children. Sent to war too soon. And come back with shattered souls. Shattered hearts. Shattered dreams. Reality is harsh, and it crushed them into the ground.

Hiruzen glanced to Boar, who was standing stiff as usual, hands in uniform positioning behind his back. Catching his gaze, Boar nodded to him, tapping his finger on his left thigh three times. Good. They're telling the truth as far as he can tell. I'll position ANBU around the house as well as have Minato check up on them just in case.

Returning his attention to the three shinobi in front of him, Hiruzen scanned them up and down once again.

Despite his claims, 'Urushi' didn't seem to have come to Konoha recently, and unless the man took to plucking off Konoha uniforms from corpses often, Hiruzen had no clue how he was wearing the standardized current Konoha flak jacket.

Catching him looking at her, the pink-haired girl smiled cautiously. "Hello, sensei . . . we didn't introduce ourselves. . . ." She looked at Urushi, who after a moment of hesitation nodded consent. She doesn't feel at ease enough to tell me her name, yet surely Urushi would've told them about Konoha and how I'm the Hokage since he said they'd planned to come before. . . . More questions. No answers.

Hiruzen knew it was ridiculous, especially in the deceptive careers of shinobi, but despite the obvious suspicion that shrouded the trio, there was an underlying authentic sensation he felt was real.

"My name is Haruno," Urushi stiffened at this, but as the girl continued he relaxed, "Sasami." It was obviously a fake name. The way her vocals rose into the word awkwardly was enough to know. Suspicious, but nothing to prove them a threat. Hiruzen knew multiple shinobi who refused to tell others their names, using aliases instead.

"Uzumaki N—" The boy started until Urushi cut through him.

"Arashi."

Hiruzen perked his ears. Urushi doesn't want me to know the boy's name. Though the surname seems practiced. He doesn't look like an Uzumaki . . . he doesn't have their red hair, though he does have bright eyes. He didn't come in with the refugees either, I would've remembered. . . . When one had a whole village to keep track of, one became quite good at remembering names and faces. After all, in meetings with other countries, some shinobi were prone to getting irritated when others didn't remember them. A lot of times, those shinobi in question were ones you didn't particularly want to make enemies of.

So where did Urushi find them?

Shaking himself out of his thoughts, he clearing his throat, "You will be staying in the Hatake estate." Nodding to Boar, he continued, "Boar will show you to it, and help you get settled in. He'll also clarify the situation with Kakashi." For a young child, he was surprisingly, but rightfully, paranoid.

Hiruzen didn't fail to notice Arashi's glare to Boar. Loyal, he noted. Probably still holding a grudge from when Boar took Sasami here. Determined.

Switching his gaze to Sasami as she left the room, he stared at her. Strong-willed. Sisterly to Arashi. Clever. Tempered from the way she nearly punched Boar's head off.

Finally, looking to Urushi who was leaving just behind his team, one eye still darting about the room. Veteran. Strong. Suspicious. Guarded. Protective.

Possibly the most loyal of the three.

A/N: Hello everyone!

So here it is, the rewrite of Day's Past!

I've renamed it 'Ripples' (cool right?) since Day's Past Rewrite was kinda a mouthful. This story'll have longer chapters, a different plotline, and better writing. I won't promise fast updates (because we all know that's a lie) so, I apologize in advance for my procrastination!

I hope you enjoy the fic guys!

-Sumei1

Also- pointing out errors in my awful grammar is makes me eternally grateful!