Disclaimer: I'd rather not own Naruto. Naruto/Sakura versus Naruto/Hinata. Do YOU wanna get caught in the middle of that shipping war?
Author's Note: This is a PLOT BUNNY, not a story. Keep that in mind. Now let's see how this goes. ^^
Memories of Things To Be
Chapter 1
"Obito, you . . ."
The man interrupted Kakashi with a snarl. "You killed Rin!"
Kakashi did nothing to hide his naked shock, his eyes widening and his mouth falling open. The battle was now at a standstill, completely frozen with the revelation of the man in the mask.
Uchiha Obito.
The man laughed, his scars rippling across his features. "What? Nothing to say now? You're not going to—"
BEEP.
Obito's mouth was moving, his lips twisted in utter fury, but no sound was coming out.
Kakashi frowned. "Obito, I can't hea—"
BEEP.
His world shook as the sound grew louder and louder, and around him, Obito, Naruto, Gai, and Bee all looked like they were screaming at each other, but Kakashi couldn't hear any of them.
BEEP.
His eardrums felt like they were about to burst, and—
BEEP.
His mind was turning to mush.
BEE—
Kakashi's fist crushed the alarm clock on his dressing table. He stared at the broken husk of the machine, watching as it sputtered with sparks before finally dying.
He sighed. That was the fifth one this week. He collapsed back onto his bed, drenched in a cold sweat.
Why was he dreaming about something so ridiculous? After all, Obito was just a moron who made it a point to be late to everything. There was no way he could—
His thought's trailed off as his head rushed to meet the pillow in a glorious embrace. He was asleep in seconds.
"You're late again, moron." Always were late, always are late, and always will be late.
Obito adjusted his orange goggles angrily, as if in preparation for an impending fight. "Shut up, you jerk! I had to help old man Yatsuko with his garbage! And then Mitsui-san's cat got stuck in a tree, so I—"
"A real shinobi should never be late. It's one of our rules. Those who break the rules are nothing but scum."
Obito turned red, and just as he was about to utter a scathing retort, Kakashi heard something else.
Those that break the rules are trash—
The voice sounded strangely familiar, seeming to come from nowhere, but it was interrupted by Minato-sensei's efforts in peacekeeping.
"Now, now, don't fight, boys. We have a long day ahead of us." He smiled that bright smile of his, and the anger in the air seemed to dissipate.
Kakashi shook off the disorientation of apparently having been the only one to have heard the disembodied voice and glared suspiciously at his smiling sensei.
Obito was far less cautious. "Whoo! Are we gonna go do something totally awesome?"
Half an hour later:
"This sucks! We're cleaning out latrines?!"
"Maybe we'd have gotten a better mission if you weren't so late."
Obito was just about to reply with an angry and heartfelt 'Screw you, asshole!' when the lovely Rin added in her own two cents. "As much as I hate to say it, Kakashi-kun is right, Obito. We'd get much better options for our missions if you arrived just a little earlier."
She couldn't help it. Even she was ticked off about having to clean thirty latrines in the outskirts of Konoha for the construction workers to use.
The Uchiha boy blushed a bright red and went silent. He didn't speak again for the rest of the mission, too shamed to so much as make a sound.
Kakashi stared at the memorial stone, his black eyes tracing over the smooth surface with held the names of Konoha's fallen. Pale moonlight drifted through the air, giving everything a ghostly appearance.
Unnoticed by him, his hand began tugging at his headband in an almost reflexive motion until it had entirely covered his left eye.
'Why . . . am I here?'
Kakashi glared, hands raking through his hair, and his gaze found his father's name, one inscribed alongside thousands of thousands of shinobi who had died in service of Konoha. The coward who had once been his father, the former hero who had chosen to abandon him and die after sabotaging a vital mission.
Hatake Sakumo.
That he saved his comrades did not matter. The mission always comes first, and his father had blatantly disregarded that fact.
Kakashi sneered. 'You don't deserve to be on this stone,' he thought.
A splitting headache immediately ambushed him, eliciting a cry of pain.
Those who break the rules are trash—
He was rolling on the grass now, his hands clutching at his head. It was like someone was driving screws through his skill from the inside. And whacking them for good measure. Kakashi couldn't help it. He screamed.
He woke to white linen sheets and the scent of bleach.
Obito and Rin were asleep at the foot of his bed, but Minato-sensei was nowhere to be seen.
Kakashi stared with a strange sense of . . . longing. Was this what it was like to have a family?
He immediately quashed the sensation. It would bring weakness, he was sure.
His checking out of the hospital went relatively smoothly, even if Obito made himself a nuisance by calling Kakashi a wimp for passing out while not even doing anything hard.
Kakashi punched him.
Obito immediately returned the favor, or at he least tried.
Minato-sensei didn't return for another five minutes, as he had gone off to check in with his new wife, and poor Rin had no idea what to do.
When Minato returned, he found the results of a VERY one-sided battle.
He couldn't help but sigh.
Kakashi found himself at the memorial stone again, fingers tracing over the carved names like sacred words that had to be memorized. And oddly, they also traced over blank portions of the stone.
He felt an odd sense of apprehension.
Kakashi frowned. Why was he out here again? Did he really have nothing to do other than sit here and trace the names of dead men and women?
This was such an ineffective, irresponsible way to waste his t—
—but those who abandon their friends are worse than trash. I believe that your father was a hero, Kakashi.
"Obito . . ." The shadow of a whisper.
Kakashi's eyes bulged, and he turned away to regurgitate his lunch. Unfortunately, it was in the koi pond. Strangely enough, the fish liked the additional meal.
The silver-haired teen watched as his reflection rippled with fish after fish, most simply seeking a bit of food, although there were a few curious ones that simply wanted to see this strange creature which had invaded their home.
He sat like that for several minutes.
When he looked up, a single eye glowed red.
It was a man's voice, raspy and broken, as though he'd spent the last year screaming. Kakashi always ignored it. Thank God that his eye went back to normal, though. He didn't know how he'd have explained that.
He didn't so much as look up when Obito came to a sweaty, panting halt. "Sorry—" He wheezed. "—I'm late."
Obito . . . You . . .
An inexplicable sense of hostility washed over him, and his hands inched towards his kunai pouch of their own accord. Kakashi snapped back to reality at the sound Minato-sensei's bright and sunny voice.
"Now that Obito's arrived, we can get started!"
Calloused hands drew back in shock. Kakashi tried not to think about the fact that he had been about to murder a comrade for no real reason.
Obito, expecting the usual reprimand from his teammate, noticed the strangely distant look on Kakashi's face. He frowned. "Oi, jerk-face! Stop spacing out!"
The silver-haired chūnin looked at the Uchiha with nothing but disdain. "How ironic. The boy who's always late trying to reprimand me."
Obito turned red. "Shut up, asshole!"
Minato and Rin sighed. Some things were never meant to change.
That was the first of many incidents. Kakashi swore he was going crazy when he woke up in the local bookstore in the dead of the night, leaning against one of the tome-packed walls.
He nearly panicked when he saw what he was holding.
It had an orange cover. On it, a man was chasing a woman (who didn't seem scared at all).
And the title.
Come, Come, Paradise.
His eyes widened in shock.
It was the infamous adult novel series that Jiraiya-sama had published.
And strangely, Kakashi found himself eagerly opening it, thumbing through the pages like a man possessed.
It was just his luck that Jiraiya-sama and Minato-sensei walked in right at that moment.
"I still don't see why I have to come with you. I mean, it's not like I read the porn. Kushina would kill me."
"Come on, Minato. Don't be like that. This is the start of a new volume in my Icha Icha franchise! I want to buy you your own copy—"
"I'll never read it."
"—author signed—"
"Still wont read it."
"—and then we can go out for some booze. I swear, you're such a prude," Jiraiya groused.
"I'm also faithful to my wife, sensei."
"But it's just a book!"
Kakashi froze. Slowly, he looked down at the thing in his hands.
He didn't have any time to think. The footsteps were getting louder, and they'd be in the literary porn section in seconds.
Ah, well. The earlier they know, the better I suppose.
Kakashi had thought he was going crazy for several weeks now, but this was the first time he'd hated that voice.
'Burn in Hell!'
Hey, don't you think that's a tad bit too harsh?
Kakashi wasn't paying attention at that point. He vaulted over a shelf into the real porn section and hid, praying that his sensei wouldn't be dirty enough to come there.
Ooh. Such a great selection . . .
Kakashi fought the urge to vomit.
For the first time in his life, Kakashi was late. How late? Really late. Three hours late.
Naturally, Obito pounced on the opportunity.
"You're late!" he shouted indignantly.
Well, I was helping an old lady pick up her groceries and carry them home for her, but then a black cat crossed our path. So we had to take the long way around.
"LIAR!"
Ah, my cute little genin.
"I'M NOT A GENIN ANYMORE, YOU RETARD!" Obito paused to take a breath, then tacked on, "AND I'M NOT YOUR GENIN, EITHER!"
Kakashi blinked, disoriented. Had he said that out loud?
Suddenly, he broke into a cold sweat. Off to the side, Minato-sensei frowned. "Kakashi, are you alright? You don't look too good."
A moment of silence, and Minato-sensei traded glances of confusion with Obito and Rin.
He was about to say something when, to everyone's surprise, the teenager merely grinned (or appeared to by the way his eyes were curving). "Mah, mah, I'm fine. Don't worry about me."
Even Obito looked at him like he'd grown a second head.
Familiar instincts flared at long last.
Kakashi frowned thoughtfully, then said, "Shut up, Obito."
"What?! I didn't even say anything!"
That was the day Kakashi decided that he had to do something to get rid of whatever was wrong with him.
After the mission, he wandered and wandered until it hit him. He had the perfect way to fix himself.
Yamanaka Inoichi was quite perplexed when the son of Sakumo dropped into his shop unannounced.
"I need help," he said. Inoichi raised his eyebrows at the young chūnin.
Kakashi nodded, then proceeded to walk in, ignoring the obvious 'closed' sign on the door. "I'm also willing to pay." He gingerly set down a thick wad of bills onto the counter of the store.
The Yamanaka stared silently, then looked over to Kakashi. "Kakashi, what's this about." It wasn't a question so much as it was a deadpan.
The teenager opened his mouth, hesitated, then stiffened. "It's nothing," he said.
Then he turned and walked out the door, not even bothering to take back his money.
Outside the shop, Kakashi clutched at his head.
You really shouldn't have done that.
The words knifed through his ears.
This makes it so much harder for us.
Turning his mind to mush.
I'll have to go back and fix this.
"Urg!"
The pain vanished, and Kakashi allowed his arms to fall to his sides.
One eye glowed red.
Expression blank, he walked back into Inoichi's shop and shut the door behind himself.
The T&I department head was curiously ill for the next three days. When he recovered, he realized that his memories of the entire past week were gone.