Disclaimer : I don't own FT and Naruto. They belong to their rightful owners. Not me, unfortunately.
IMPORTANT NOTE : To avoid confusion let's get a few things straight.
1. In this story, Kakashi is NOT 13 when he becomes a Jonin.
2. Odd chapters will be the actual story, even chapters will be drabbles and backstories.
3. For this chapter only, words in italic is the past, while words not in italic is the actual timeline.
ENJOY!
Kakashi Hatake is, by far, not intended to be their next object of interest.
There are expectations, of course. Little murmmurs and small nudges among gods and deities. Perhaps he proves to be a reliable source of entertainment. After all the blood of the Legendary White Fang runs in his veins. But even when his dear mother is screaming for his husband (because I can feel him coming out), they still shake their heads and say no. Why not the Kage's son?
Then Kakashi Hatake is born.
Then everything changes.
As a babe, he is not much different than others. As a babe, Kakashi has chipmunk cheeks, and obsidian eyes that propel wonder and fascination, and a voice that calls attention. As a babe, he is blessedly oblivious to the mischievous hands that will mold his life into something utterly beautiful and something completely horrifying.
As a babe, Kakashi Hatake becomes their intended object of fascination and all it takes is a flick of a finger.
Flick and he is granted skills that easily overshadow his peers'.
Flick and Hatake Sakumo forces a blade into his own gut until he is a mere carcass on the Hatake household.
Flick and Kakashi loses his eyes only to regain it in exchange for friendship.
Flick and he suddenly finds a beating heart in his hands while life fleets from the girl he has sworn to protect.
Flick. Flick. Flick. And Kakashi stumbles and tumbles until he is drowning in his own despair. This is when the gods begin to contemplate their next action. Perhaps they have been too harsh on the boy? Humans, fragile fickle things they are. A grieving boy won't be exciting to watch after all.
One more, one god says. One more and we'll give him a long wonderful break. And a bright future if he survives.
And so at the age of twelve, Kakashi Hatake, son of the legendary White Fang, wielder of the great Sharingan, and murderer of Rin Nohara, made a mistake of falling asleep at his friends' grave and disappeared from the face of Konohagakure.
XOXOXOXO
Kakashi Hatake considers himself a competent navigator, and by all means this claim comes from neither his arrogance nor his obvious superior intellect.
At cloudless nights, stars and contellations are his guide home, and when traveling his intuition is as sharp as a compass. He has a basic knowledge of local vegetation - enough to note where he is if he somehow wakes up in a foreign land. He tracks criminals, and he has eight nin-kens to help him, all of whom are curretnly unavailable except for one particular pug.
And he's not even Pakkun. Just his doppleganger.
But now he's in a foreign dimension, and the foliage is too thick, and everywhere around him there are only trees and dirt. The map is spread wide in front of him, but even when the distance to Magnolia is, as far as a nudge of his finger, he still does not know where to go. His left? Right? Front?
The wyvern is to blame, of course.
Perhaps he shouldn't have left so early in the morning. Or perhaps Kakashi shouldn't have reached for the dagger hidden under the sleeves of his battered shirt. Either way, they were both chased out of the main road, and between carrying his pug and fleeing for their lives, he'd instinctively chosen the forest in hope to lose its trail, instead of civilization.
The wyvern is gone, at least, Kakashi thinks as he refolds the crinkled paper back into his backpack. Now he is faced with the choice of waiting for rescue while he shares the last slab of chicken rolls with Pakkun. Or he can get up, waste as little time as possible, and find Magnolia.
Pakkun barks beside him, and Kakashi reaches over to scratch a certain spot at the back of his neck. "I know you're hungry," he says. "I promise I'll buy you another Blue Sky Bolognese if you can get us out of here. Yajima said he had a branch somewhere in Magnolia."
The gods are gentle when they put him in Earthland, and Kakashi wakes up to dew in his hair, and sunlight in his eyes, and grass on his face.
Then he realizes Obito isn't next to him.
It's the noises he hears first, and it's a chorus of shouting, war cries, and boisterous laughters. At this point, it's not entirely far-fetched to suddenly see tables, beer bottles, and who knows what come at his head. But his tense muscles are not needed, and his imagination is simply overimaginative. With the lack of projectiles in the air, Kakashi squares his shoulders and steels his mind.
He steps inside, and stops upon his first step on the polished floor.
Kakashi is not used to this. Shinobi strives in the shadows. In order for one to return alive - with as least injuries as possible - one must treat discretion as art, while running a kunai across a man's neck. Now they are all staring at him, and the feeling is foreign and overwhelming; he is frozen.
But then again, a boy with an eye for a face and a pug for a pet is just another boy with eccentric fashion and identity issues. The brawl continues. After all, there is a half naked boy in the far corner, a girl standing over a mountain of unconscious man, and a fight between one side of the guild against another. When so many oddities collide, it's become normalcy; and he's just another addition to the otherwise complete collection.
Good, Kakashi thinks stepping forward. He'll fit in just fine.
A man lands by his feet. The shinobi reaches over to tap on his shoulder, and idly wonders if his touch is lost under those bulky muscles.
A moment later, the man's eyes roll over to his face. "Are you a new recruit?"
"No," Kakashi says at once. "I'm a not a mage," he adds before the man can raise his questioning brows that he's seen so many times. "I'm looking for the guild master. Any idea where he...or she is?"
"He's at the bar, I think. Ah - over there." His finger is incredibly accurate amidst the chaos. Far, there is not much to see. But there, on the bar stool, sits a tiny old man, head swaying side by side as though he's listening to a lovely serenade.
"The little guy?"
The man laughs, sitting up."He's hardly little once you know him. By the way...uh, you might wanna move aside." Kakashi thanks the man, and leaves before a table can squash him into mush.
Closer now, Kakashi is reminded of another face from his genin textbook. The Tsuchikage looks nothing like him of course; at least the Guild Master is not blessed with his unfortunate nose. Although they are both as old and as small, they are formidable opponents. Kakashi does not have to crane his neck to meet the man's eyes.
"Hello," he says kindly. "I haven't seen you around. Are you new?"
"I'm not a mage," he repeats firmly, no longer annoyed by such presumptions. People say he could've never looked like a civilian. Kakashi says it's the mask. "You're the Guild Master right?"
Curiosity pulls his eyebrows upwards, turns the left of his lips into an uncertain smile. Kakashi sees questions in his eyes, and ignores them."Makarov Dreyar, Fairy Tail's Guild Master. How can I help you?"
"My name is Kakashi. I have a special mission for your guild," he glances at the chaos behind him. "Privately, if you don't mind."
There are three steps. Kakashi has had five other guilds to practice them with. He succeeded with three of them, all of which would later end in various states of failure; he did not even bother with the other two.
Now he is at his sixth. In all honesty, he does not see a much different future. But now he is willing to give anyone a chance.
Convince. This is the beginning of his trip across the frozen lake. The ice is thick, and there is land. He can go back, but Kakashi moves forward. Even here there are risks. Too excited, and the ice will give away and he will be plunged into icy cold darkness. His tale will be accepted as just that : a tale spun by children's creativity and over-imagination. Too slow, and he'll be seized by fear before the ice gives away. The conversation will lose its spark, and will simply goes ashtray.
Kakashi takes his first step, and waits."Before we go further, I'd like you to promise me, Master Makarov, that this conversation strictly stays between us. Us and the mage that I may or may not be hiring. Promise me with the honor of your guild."
Kakashi would've said I'd have to kill you. That will show him who's in charge. But now he is powerless. Chakra does not exist. He is merely a civilian with above average self-defense. He is just Kakashi Hatake.
"Of course. You have my word."
He takes another step. "Alright. Let's start easy. Do you believe in alternate dimensions, Master?"
Kakashi sees questions. Opinions. A hint of suspicion. A slight crack under his feet. He waits. "Magic is constantly evolving, and we've yet to uncover half of its secrets. I don't see the existence of other...worlds as an impossibility."
"It is." He stops again. To gauge. "I'm a living proof."
"You..." The Guild Master says, stops, and swallows. "...I see. You did strike me peculiar when I first saw you. Something was incredibly off inside you, though I didn't want to mention it until I was sure. The mission has something to with this, I suppose?"
Kakashi nods. He is near the middle. He's entering phase two : Reveal. Here the ice is the thinnest, and down below in the icy water, he sees predators of all kind snapping their jaws at his meat. If Makarov cares about his people as much as he thinks he does, he will ask questions. One wrong move and he is gone. One wrong word and he risks his village's existence to strangers without gaining anything in return.
"I need to go back to my world as soon as possible," Kakashi says. "I've been trying to find a way, but without magic I don't think it's possible."
There is a short suffocating silence. "If I may know, Kakashi, how exactly did you end up here?"
This is it. The beginning of the checklist. The fish are attacking. "I woke up here," he says as casually as possible, because the truth sounds as convincing as a lie.
"You woke up here."
"Yes, at the border between Fiore and Bosco about six months ago."
"I see."
The ice is cracking. Kakashi must move fast. "Master Makarov, if you think I came here willingly—I didn't. I have people to return to—" People because everyone more than that keeps dying . "—responsibilities—"
"That's quite alright, Kakashi," Makarov intterupts him. He smiles at him kindly. Soothingly. "I was just wondering if perhaps an enemy sent you here. It's alright to tell me, Kakashi. We will still aid you, but we must know if someone out there is going to get you."
"Oh." He blinks. Settles back into his chair. "That won't be necessary."
It's the Guild Master's turn to blink. "Unnecessary?"
"There has been neither attempt of assassination nor kidnapping since I came here," Kakashi says, letting all the tension roll off his shoulders. "There might be...conflicts from where I came from, but I don't think someone is targetting me specifically."
Makarov scratched his hat thoughtfully. "Then this mission of yours is simply to search for a way back to your world?"
"It may sound simple, Master, but five other guilds have failed." The mask hides his smile. "I hope your mage is up for a challenge."
"My children are very competitive, I assure you. Though I think you'd prefer S-Rank mages."
"One with your personal recommendation is preferable too," Kakashi says. He's reached an agreement, and even when he's still standing on the thinnest ice, the danger is well past him. From here on, tact plays no bigger role than the self-confidence that pushes him into this conversation in the first place.
"I'm afraid our stock of S-class mages is rather short, Kakashi."
No.
"Both Gildarts and Mystogan are unavailable. My grandson is..." He laps into thoughtful silence, mind searching for an answer he is not ready to hear. No. No no nonononono—
"But there is someone. I don't think she's gone home yet. In fact I'll call her in right now," Makarov says.
When he leaves, Kakashi finally has enough will to ignore the thick treacherous crack beneath his feet until he is safe on land. The walls around him twist and turn into its original form, no longer the constriction squeezing his lungs into empty sponges. He stares at the odd-looking stick Makarov has generously left, presses his sweaty palms to his pants, and listens to two different footsteps.
There is art in this. One must be equipped with a certain ear to even notice the subtle messages they send. If left in dirt to be observed, Kakashi notes direction, heigt and weight, time, and activity. If left for his ear to listen and monitor, Kakashi pictures footwears, location, and a kunai that might or might not be aimed at his neck
Makarov's sandals are loud slab slab slab against the floor, the other, a softer tap tap tap. Kakashi imagines shoes—bigger feet, but not exceedingly because the interval between each tap isn't much longer than Makarov's. Taller than the Guild Master, but still short. Or young perhaps? Kakashi will just have to find out.
He catches her eyes.
Her. And the thought fleets away to take in everything else. Brown eyes. Chocolate eyes. They're wide and boring into his own. With red hair. Not ginger. Just very very red. Like blood. And she's wearing a long sleeve shirt under that plate armor. Or maybe a dress. He can't tell. Do girls even wear plate armor? She's got a sword too. Dangling from a belt around her waist.
Kakashi blinks, and thinks about samurais.
And a ninja.
They kill each other at first sight.
"Kakashi." He jumps down from his chair, then, and approaches them. They're in the same height. "This is one of the brightest mages in Fairy Tail, Erza Scarlett."
He glances at her hair. Like Scarlett. "How old are you?"
She's taken aback. Like she doesn't understand why he's even addressing her. Or why she's just been called away from her brawl. The only testimony of her participation is a sheen of sweat on her forehead, and his hazy memory of seeing red.
"Fifteen,"she says.
"Fifteen."
Her eyes say, How old are you?
"She may look young, Kakashi, but age does not testify everything. Erza is the youngest S-class mage known," Makarov tells him, looking like a proud parent. "I am sure of her capabilities, in both combat and and intelligence. She won't disappoint you."
He looks at her again. At her scarlet hair. At her sword. And tried to okay-ed the whole thing. "Well she's technically qualified."
"I don't understand," Erza says, glancing at him to Makarov and back. Bold, Kakashi thinks."Qualified for what? What's this important mission you mentioned, Master? And who...are you?"
She really has no clue, does she? For a moment Erza shrinks until all he can see is her baffled face. He knows he's smiling at this point—his eye does this squinting thing when he smiles too broadly. Erza might not be able to see it, but he hopes he looks friendly. Scaring her will only be disadvantageous at this point.
"I'm Kakashi Hatake," he says. "And I'll give you 500,000 gold, a tamed pug, a cabin in Clover Town, and this weird looking pendant that can change colours whenever you touch it if you can get me home."
Okay, so a lot of you have been wondering why Kakashi doesn't have any chakra. Give me a chance to explain.
When I was writing this story, I really considered his mental condition at the time. He was at the edge of depression, he had no scruples, and most importantly, he wouldn't work as a team.
So then what made him go to the mages? Obviously from the story, we can see how secretive Kakashi is regarding his origin. He wouldn't contact the locals for help if he could. But he couldn't, because he doesn't have chakra. It'll force him to get out of his comfort zone and seek help. Not only that, this new problem will make him undergo major character development.
So there you go!
Any other thoughts?