Original summary: [AU] [Kakashi-centric] [TOWIB's sequel] He was given ten years by Obito when he used Ijigen no Jutsu. Ten years—and starting from the fresh age of five, Hatake Kakashi would change as much as he could until his fifteenth year when Minato and Kushina were supposed to die.
WARNINGS: AU, past and present psychological, verbal, mental, physical, sexual abuse of a minor, cutting, dark themes, time and dimension travel, language, violence, no yaoi, slaughterhouses, whorehouses, character death, MPD!unstable!Obito, MPD!unstable!Kakashi, brotherly!KakaObi, MinaKushi, ObiRin, SakuTsuna, one-sided!developing!KakaRin and POSSIBLE TRIGGERS.
AYY I'm back.
I've been inactive because of school soccer and just school in general. Spring break is passing, though, so I'll be spending lots of time on this sequel.
ANYWAYS welcome to TOWIF, the sequel to TOWIB. It wasn't planned at all whatsoever. Oops. Haha. But much like TOWIB, I want to keep this story under twenty chapters with 3k+ words per, though this may or may not change. It's probable, though, because one of these chapters is a whoping 8k.
ALSO: TOWIF will be significantly darker. I intend to make this story the opposite of TOWIB in a certain sense.
Original word count: 3.7k~
Recommended songs: Saika, Last Resort (Original & Eliminate remix) by Papa Roach, 3rd Planet by Modest Mouse, Prayer of the Refuge by Rise Against, Savior by Rise Against, I See Fire by Ed Sheeran.
Enjoy! :3
Chapter 1: Aytchiphobia
Bright, contrasted colors blending in and out of dark edges and spots. Vignette turning into sharp neon, no shadows. There was no lighter or darker. A mere solid color was what he saw. Then the darkness came, and it flashed to a bright white color that was pushed away by the hand of a child.
Dark eyes were rubbed by baby hands, confusion tightening the young chest of the boy. "What are you doing…"
The click of a flash light turning off made him look up. The room was dark. But the surrounding windows showed that he was in a kitchen, broken glass by his foot. Rain dripped and rammed on the glass, winds howling and shaking the world outside. Thunder flashed, lightning cracked and the sound shook the glass.
The boy flinched, his eyes darting left and right across the room with anxiety. The sound of thunder always managed to scare him no matter how high his guard was, and it seems that it will forever remain that way.
Large hands pulled him into a hug, the owner falling to their knees and keeping the boy close.
The boy blinked in confusion, silver hairs getting in his eyes. He noticed the silver hair that got into his face—the headband, the flak jacket…he knew who it was. His lips pressed together under his mask, a warming happiness spreading across his chest. He squeezed his eyes shut to stop the tears from flowing, the icy fingers of his best friend thoroughly brushing through his silver locks before disappearing.
"I'm sorry…" the man sobbed. "I'm so, so sorry…"
The boy opened his eyes, pushing away from the man. He stood on his feet and looked up at the man with an innocent confusion. "Why are you saying sorry?" he asked.
The man's dark eyes were puffy as tears continued flowing down his cheeks. A hand covered his mouth, his eye brows creasing deeply with sadness. He slumped forward, a hand remaining on the boys shoulder.
Another flash—another boom of thunder, another unconditional flinch.
"T-tou-san…" he murmured, his small hand reaching out. "…Tou-san…?"
The man's shoulders were shaking, but as he lifted his head, the shaking slowly came to a stop, dark eyes red and tears staining skin. The man smiled. "I'm sorry," he said again. "You're scared of the thunder, aren't you…?"
The boy slowly nodded, his hand noticeably shaking. The man took it, his arms open for a hug. The hug was accepted, and the iced dark eyes of a dead man looked straight into the boys.
"You have a decade. I expect you to use those ten years wisely."
The boy smiled up at the dead man, tucking his face into his father's chest. Yes, yes…he would use the years wisely. He was good at long term plans like this. Perhaps not as stretched as ten years…but he would adapt and manage.
He was Hatake Kakashi, after all.
Kakashi was a chilled out man. His candle light was burnt out, though, in all honesty, and dying at the age of fifty wasn't much of a surprise. He truly thought he would die in his thirties—and he almost did—but, no, he would remain as alive as a newborn thanks to Nagato.
He was feeling more alive than ever, just sleeping next to his father on the latter's futon. His smile was constant and lively.
But it faltered when he remembered how he got there. He used Ijigen no Jutsu, and Obito saved him and pushed him to the end of the jutsu from the afterlife.
And here he was, in his father's presence as a five year old.
Kakashi rolled over, Hatake Sakumo suddenly sitting up. His breathing was quick and his shirt was soaked with sweat, which was most likely a result of a nightmare. Kakashi sat up as well, gently tugging his father's sleeve. "Tou-san…"
Sakumo swallowed and turned to look at Kakashi. His eyes were glassy, but it was blinked away as he completely turned his body towards his son. "What is it?"
Kakashi wanted Sakumo to stay. And while he hasn't looked at a calendar just yet, it was alarmingly easy to tell that tonight was the night Sakumo had full intentions of dying. Kakashi would stay right where he was for as long as he could, as long as he wanted, and would remain at his father's side until the darkness was lifted—or, at the very least, until some light was shed on the man. He blinked. "Why were you shining a flash light in my eyes?" he asked.
"Oh…well, you were having a seizure," Sakumo explained. "I don't know how it happened, but you were unresponsive for a while and it worried me a lot. I had to check your response to light, so I shined a flashlight in your eyes."
A seizure? Kakashi echoed. He frowned. "I don't remember having a seizure," he said.
Sakumo stared at him. He beckoned for his son to come closer, and when the latter did, he was snatched into a hug.
"Ew…you're sweaty," Kakashi grumbled.
Sakumo chuckled weakly. "Am I, now, aren't I? Should I take a shower?"
Kakashi shook his head. "No." Can't have you dying on me…
He smiled again, kissing his sons crown. "You're awfully clingy tonight. What's wrong? Don't tell me you had a bad dream. Or did you?"
That would be a good excuse. He closed his eyes, an icky feeling rising in his chest and taking hold of his lungs and his heart. He reopened his eyes in slits, his hand grabbing Sakumo's thumb and tracing the lines of age. "Yeah…"
"Oh? And what was it about?"
"…Well…" Kakashi paused, feeling his chest tighten. He felt himself get choked up when he suddenly remembered the scene of his father's death—the position, the blood, the weapon…and then there was the reason. Sakumo had killed himself partially because he couldn't bare the shame and depression, but the other reason was because he didn't want to drag Kakashi through anymore shit. It didn't really work—in fact, it barely ever did work, and the only thing that went away was the discrimination. The shame didn't, and Kakashi had to keep that shame for decades.
"Do you want to talk about it?" Sakumo asked in a surprisingly fatherly voice.
Kakashi blinked. "I had a dream where you died," he said. He paused, wanting to continue, but he couldn't. His throat was too dry and he couldn't manage to think straight. His father's death seemed to still be a heavy scar, despite him knowing for sure that he healed the past wound. Perhaps it reopened. And he actually thought he would be able to stop the emotions from spilling, but it seemed that he was very wrong. He squeezed his eyes shut, tears streaming down his face in rivers. His voice shook as he spoke. "Y-you won't d-die on me, right…? You won't leave me…will you, tou-chan…?"
Sakumo was very quiet. He pressed his face into his sons crown, tears of his own piling up and spilling. Sometimes he keeps forgetting that his son is only five, as mature as he is. He wasn't proud of it. What kind of father thought that leaving his child behind would be okay? It wasn't. It was far too selfish and he knew for sure that he wouldn't see his wife because he would just feel too guilty to face her. He smiled, though, rubbing the back of his sobbing child's head. "Of course not."
A pale man with short, spiked dark hair was walking through the corridor of the Hatake compound, his footsteps silent and his presence passed off as a chill in the air. He wore a black, long sleeve pullover and Konoha shinobi pants, black zori accompanying the outfit. Fingerless gloves covered his hands, the right side of his face wrinkled with pale but broad scars.
His ebony black eyes were plain, but they were exploring and dragging from left to right. He stopped when he spotted a peculiar entrance. He stepped in front of it. poking his head forward.
A kunai instantly raced towards his head, but it harmlessly whizzed through his head and tore through the paper, hitting the hallway wall with a thunk.
"Kakashi!" Sakumo called. "What was that?"
The young Hatake blinked and stared at the man for a few seconds before glaring. "I saw a rat!" he replied.
The door slid open, Sakumo stepping through the smug man like he wasn't there. Sakumo raised a peculiar eyebrow. "We don't have rats," he said. He looked around, shivering for a second before looking back at his son.
"No—I saw a rat," Kakashi insisted.
"I would know if we had rats."
"I hate rats."
"Now, now…" Sakumo chided. He exposed the kunai, his eyebrow raising a little bit higher. "Why do you have my kunai in your room? You know I don't like that."
The man smiled in amusement, stepping into a corner as an invisible bystander that only Kakashi seemed to notice.
"Um…precautions."
"For what?"
"Um…the rats."
"We don't have rats!"
"Yes—yes, we do! I saw one!" Kakashi leaped up from his bed, rushing past Sakumo and into the hallway. He pointed up to the ceiling. "Right there! I saw it right there! Its fur was black and it was really, really fat!"
The man in the corner sucked in his cheeks like a fish to stop himself from laughing at the indirect insult.
"I highly doubt rats can walk on walls," Sakumo dead panned. Though, when he stretched his senses, he could feel the presence of an ANBU. He frowned a little, but kept it at a minimum. ANBU typically passed by to deliver messages, or to summon him, via walls and ceiling. The compound was made like that—for some reason.
Kakashi whipped around and pointed his finger at his father. "But what about rat summons?!"
Sakumo stared. "Now you're just rambling," he said. He tucked the kunai away, staring pointedly at his son. "You ruined your door, too."
"I'll fix and reinforce it to keep the rats out!"
"No—you're gonna take a bath. You stink."
Before Kakashi could move towards his room, Sakumo pushed him down the hall towards the bathroom. "Do I have to?"
"Yes, you do. I'll make some lunch while you do," the eld Hatake said.
Kakashi stared blankly, unmoving and stiff.
"What? Do you want to go out for lunch?"
"No…"
"Then hurry along. I have some work to do, as well, y'know."
"You haven't worked in three weeks, tou-chan."
"Hush, child, and take a shower."
"You said a bath."
"Just—please?" Sakumo gave a ticked smile. "You're being difficult this morning."
Kakashi giggled and rushed off to the bathroom, enjoying the fact that he was still a child. He stepped into the bathroom, closing the door and turning his head towards the wall where the man stepped through as if he wasn't there.
The man smiled. "So I'm a fat rat, now?"
Kakashi crossed his arms and glared. "You suddenly appeared like a rat."
The man looked annoyed. "I'm not a rat," he snapped.
"Well, you act like one," Kakashi snarked. "Can you leave? I need to take a bath."
"You're actually gonna listen?"
"Yes, Obito, I am. Now, shoo."
"Yes, my demanding Lord and King," the one and only Uchiha Obito replied sarcastically. He turned away and left through the same wall he came through, the temperature in the room becoming a tiny bit warmer.
Kakashi hummed thoughtfully, and started the water.
Obito followed Sakumo.
The eld Hatake was pulling out some bentos from the fridge. He warmed them up and put them on the kitchen table, leaving a note for Kakashi that stated he was going to the Hokage's office, and that he might be back in an hour.
An ANBU was waiting at the entrance of the kitchen. "Are you ready, Sakumo-san?"
"Yes." Sakumo turned and followed the dark haired ANBU.
Obito reached out and touched a strand of Sakumo's hair as the man turned, though, which made him disappear. Sakumo instantly stopped and shivered, looking over his shoulder towards the empty kitchen.
"…Sakumo-san?"
The Hatake turned back around, shaking his head and following the ANBU out of the compound before they started using Shunshin no Jutsu to travel towards the Hokage's office by the academy. They made it in under three minutes.
Sakumo looked at the ANBU. "Can you keep an eye on Kakashi while I'm gone?" he asked. "Please?"
The ANBU stared. But he nodded, breaking away the instant the eld Hatake entered the hall that lead straight to the Sandaime's office.
Sakumo still felt chilly, goosebumps continuously running up and down his back, and it wasn't until he was granted entrance into the Sandaime Hokage's official office did they vanish.
Sarutobi Hiruzen, the said Hokage, smiled, lines of laughter and stress creasing and deepening. "Good to see you, Sakumo-kun."
The Hatake bowed respectfully, sitting in a chair when Hiruzen beckoned him to do so. "It's good to see you too, Hokage-sama," he replied.
"How are you?" Hiruzen inquired.
Sakumo blinked and smiled in assurance. "I'm doing fine." But that was a lie.
"That's good to hear," Hiruzen said. "What about your son? Little Kakashi, if I recall correctly…"
He nodded. "He's doing fine right now, but he…well, it's a bit of a story. Do you have time?"
"More than enough as of now."
"This happened just a few hours ago, but it was very early in the AM. I was in my work space, as usual, and I heard glass breaking in the kitchen," Sakumo explained. He frowned. "It turns out that he was having a seizure."
Hiruzen chewed on his pipe in concern. "I trust that he is fine, now."
The Hatake nodded. "He is. I'm taking him to the doctors office tomorrow."
"What else happened?"
"He broke the glass with raw strength for some strange reason," Sakumo said, keeping his voice somewhat quiet. "Glass shards got in his palm, and he ended up picking them out with his bare hands."
Hiruzen blinked in surprise. "That's…"
Sakumo nodded in agreement to the reaction. "The wounds healed up seconds after the glass got out," he continued. "It was phenomenal."
Hiruzen stared. "How come you never reported this earlier?"
"Kakashi fell into an emotional breakdown twice—or…something," Sakumo explained. He frowned sadly. "I…I'm actually not sure about what to do."
The Sarutobi leaned back in his chair and sighed. His expression was pinched tightly with thoughts and contemplation before he hummed to himself. "Take a week of leave," Hiruzen said. "Spend time with Kakashi. If you're needed any earlier, I can have another shinobi stay with Kakashi."
"Who is it?"
"He's young, only thirteen and on the road to fourteen, but he's trustworthy. He's also got Uzumaki Kushina as a best friend, so she'll be accompanying during her large amounts of free time," Hiruzen replied. "His name is Namikaze Minato. I'm sure you've seen him a few times before, and I'm sure he'd do good with your son…"
Obito tuned out of the conversation. Things were already changing dramatically. He wasn't sure how it would affect their future, but he only could look ten years ahead as to how it could.
He left the room, and made way back to Kakashi. The young Hatake was in the kitchen, eating the bento and reading a book. He looked and stared at Obito for a few seconds before looking back down at his book. An ANBU was looming around the perimeter of the compound, circling around and stopping by the kitchen to check up on Kakashi. Obito remained silent until the third time the ANBU circled around, which took about fifteen minutes. So, in total, it took the ninja five minutes to check the entire perimeter.
"Your father just told Hiruzen about what happened yesterday," he spoke.
"So?" Kakashi murmured.
"I had to possess your current body to drag your soul in it," Obito pointed out. "So your healing abilities sped up. Last night you had glass in your hand, and when I possessed you your human limits lifted and monster strength shattered the cup you had. Glass shards were embedded in your hand so I had to pick them out on the spot without any tools. Your wounds healed—and apparently your father witnessed almost all of this."
Kakashi paused and sighed, letting it all sink in. "So you screwed up," he mumbled.
"Not completely. You don't remember it at all—and it can be checked," Obito replied. "Possession causes a gap of memory because it's the possessor who is consciously and subconsciously processing just about everything."
The Hatake turned the page. He heard the door suddenly open, and the ANBU's presence disappeared in a jiffy.
"Kakashi," Sakumo called.
The said child brightened up and leaped out of his chair. He exited the dining room and rushed down the hallway. "Tou-chan," he said happily.
Sakumo smiled at his son. "Did you take your bath?"
"Yeah," Kakashi replied. "I was reading and eating."
"What were you reading?" Sakumo asked as they made way to the kitchen.
"I dunno."
"You don't know?"
"Yeah. I just found it and decided to read it."
Sakumo chuckled and picked Kakashi up, letting the child rest on his hip. He sat down, pulling Kakashi's bento towards its rightful owner. He grabbed his own bento, and started on it. "That sounds like something you would do," he said absently. "I was given a week of leave, so I get to spend some time with you."
Kakashi brightened significantly. He looked up at his father. "Seriously?!"
The eld Hatake nodded. "Yup."
He looked down. One full week with his father…that didn't seem like very long to most, but forty-five years of nothing but missing him seemed to have left a larger hole than expected. Keeping Sakumo alive and grounded to life was expected to be difficult, and by keeping the man alive as long as possible, not only would he be changing future events dramatically but Kakashi would be silently attending to old scars that were infected by time.
"So? What do you want to do? We have quite some time to spare."
One place that Kakashi found himself to be missing was Ichiraku's, but that place wouldn't be opening for another five to six years (unfortunately). So he settled for a shrug. "I dunno."
"What about Ichiraku's—oh wait never mind. Ignore me. I'm talking shit," Obito said.
"Oh! You know what's one thing I wanted to do?" Sakumo asked rhetorically. "I wanted you to watch a training session between two chūnin."
"Chūnin? Why?"
"Your grades are excelling wonderfully. At the rate you're going, little one, you'll probably graduate in a year or two," the eld Hatake explained. "I can tell that you'll get to the rank of chūnin in that exact time, too, so I want you to see what it's like to be one up close and personal."
"Oh, okay. So who're the chūnin?"
"One of them is Namikaze Minato. I hear he's pretty good for his age. He's only thirteen, and Hokage-sama is thinking about giving him a jōnin promotion," Sakumo explained. "The other chūnin is Uzumaki Kushina."
"Uzumaki?"
"Oh, have you heard of them?"
"Well…yeah," Kakashi said. "We learned about them in the academy. But weren't they all killed three years ago?"
"There are some survivors." Sakumo continued eating. "They're also going to be the people who look after you when I'm gone during missions."
That caught Kakashi's full attention. Kushina and Minato—babysitters? He gave a side glance to Obito, who raised his shoulders and hands in a shrugging "I'm clueless" universal motion. "So they're my babysitters?" he asked.
"Pretty much."
"I don't need babysitters," Kakashi grumbled. "I can take care of myself…"
"The fat rat can testify," Sakumo shot back, which in turn made Obito laugh with agreement.
Kakashi's ears went red with embarrassment. What was supposed to be an insult towards Obito turned into a sheepish memory for the young Hatake. "Wh-whatever…"
Sakumo laughed. "They're free right now, matter of fact. Hokage-sama said that we can find them in one of the training grounds," he said. "Do you want to go now? They might not be able to do it again anytime soon."
Kakashi nodded. "Yeah. Let's go."
"Are we sure?" Obito suddenly questioned. His cold fingers gently dragged through Kakashi's baby soft silver hair. "It might be too soon for you."
"Go ahead and get ready, then," Sakumo said.
The young Hatake nodded and leaped off of his father's lap, rushing into his room. He slid the door closed behind his back, his head looking at the spirit of his Uchiha guardian friend. "I can take care of myself," Kakashi murmured. "Old habits die hard, though. So help me if you can."
Obito nodded, phasing out of the room.
Kakashi was quick to slip on a new shirt and shorts that had a shinobi tool pouch tied around his right thigh. He slipped his zori on, putting his favorite green scarf around his neck. He adjusted the mask on his face, and exited his room. He stepped back into the kitchen, where he found his father deeply thinking as he washed dishes that were already clean. He frowned a little. "Tou-chan?"
Sakumo blinked out of his daze. He looked at his son, turning the water off. "That was quick," he said with a smile. He swiped his hands clean. "Alright, then, let's get going."
Kakashi was given a piggy back ride, which was enjoyed all the way through the village.
Honestly, no matter how much he talked, he couldn't drown out the voices of failure and sadness. He failed Kushina. He failed Minato. And he failed them because he failed Obito through failing Rin.
Failure was a scary thing. And to face failures that died because of another failure that could have been prevented…it would shake him to a certain degree of emotional death.
He tucked his face into his father's shoulder. Would he break down crying—just like he did with Sakumo?
…Or would he stare numbly pretending that he was in the Mugen Tsukuyomi again…?
A sequel, you see. For real it is.
¿ ¿ ¿ Like, I know what I'm doing? I'm perfectly fine? I can manage to make this not confusing ? ? ?
Well, I also learned that Minato, Kushina, Kakashi, Obito and Rin are in the same generation. A generation is ten years apart, and both Minato and Kushina are eight years older than Team Minato…but Kishi fucked that up…