Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of the characters therein.

Double Vision

Part I: "See Through You"

Oddly enough, Kakashi saw it first. Kurenai realized shortly after, although, to be fair it must be pointed out that her colleague was gifted with special powers of observation. How well he typically used them, however, is a different story.

Watching Naruto watch Hinata in her tortured confrontation with Neji at the chuunin preliminaries, Kakashi could see that the kyuubi was not actually Naruto's strongest source of auxiliary power. The unrealized feelings he harbored for the painfully shy Hyuuga girl were even more fearsome. They galvanized his mind and heart into the conviction that failure was simply not an option.

Like a mirror-image, Kurenai watched as Naruto's gaze transformed Hinata. It was a deeply unkind fate that the one thing Hinata could not see was Naruto's vow to her. Her blood between his fingers, his gesture and words bound them together for the duration of his ninja way. The boy was certainly full of surprises, but the synergy of two such polar opposites and the profundity of Naruto's actions briefly unbalanced even Kakashi, albeit more on Hinata's behalf than Naruto's.

Does she know what she's getting into? I hope for her sake he mellows as a teenager…

Not likely.

Even though Kakashi looked about as concerned as a cat napping belly-up in a patch of sun, he had to admit to himself that it was almost painful to watch two people grow so much in a matter of moments. But he told himself Naruto was a sturdy enough. He'd bounce back. Probably with a concussion if he kept irritating Neji, but he'd bounce nonetheless.

Kurenai was more visibly concerned and with good reason. Hinata's growth spurt had literally broken her heart. The girl was the second of her students to be rushed away on a stretcher that day, and she wondered briefly if Naruto was worth it.

Later, when Naruto blind-sided Neji, Kurenai reconsidered and thought that perhaps, long ago, Hinata had already seen something in the young loud-mouth that everyone else had overlooked. And as the Hyuuga clan's history was revealed in front of an entire arena, Kurenai and Gai remembered that Hinata had seen through Neji as well, had known his suffering even before Neji himself. His vision might be perfect, but hers was more penetrating, almost to the point of clairvoyance.

And so a few began to wonder that day if Naruto might eventually become the vision of greatness he was in Hinata's eyes.

Kakashi wasn't there to wonder. He knew.

Part II: "Purblind"

----------

Oxford English Dictionary:

Purblind (a.):

1. Quite or totally blind. Obs., rare.

2. Of impaired or defective vision, in various senses: a. Blind of one eye (obs.). b. Short-sighted, near-sighted. c. Long-sighted, dim-sighted from age. d. Partially blind; almost blind; dim-sighted, generally, or without particularization.

3. fig. Having imperfect perception or discernment; lacking or incapable of clear mental, moral, or spiritual vision; stupid, obtuse, dull.

----------

Kakashi had good eyes. Unfortunately, that did not always mean he could see clearly. While his senses were keen in a fight, he was all too often blind-sided by mundane things. Put simply, even the elite can be obtuse, dull, and utterly moronic.

"Kakashi-sensei, I think I've got it!"

With much effort, Kakashi extracted himself from another gripping chapter of Icha Icha Paradisu and glanced up to see Sakura fairly vibrating in her excitement. After a quick mental calculation, he was mildly surprised that it had taken little more than half the time he'd estimated for her to master this latest genjutsu.

"Alright, show me."

A flurry of hand signs and quickly muttered words later, Sakura's form blurred and re-focused, revealing a pink-haired, green-eyed, twenty-something kunoichi. Subtler than a standard transformation, this deception altered the viewer's perception of the existing form, requiring less chakra to maintain over long periods. Kakashi flicked up his hitai-ate and quickly checked her work with the Sharingan, noting that, much as he expected, her chakra control was nearly flawless.

"Well, done." He covered his borrowed eye again, missing the glow that spread over her face.

Before Kakashi could think of which technique to impart next, a deafening crash and muffled cursing from the far end of the training ground signaled the latest Naruto-Sasuke crisis. Stuffing the little orange book back in his pouch, Kakashi walked off, tossing a wave and a "keep practicing" over his shoulder.

Had he been looking he would have seen Sakura's eyes dull just a bit more.

----------

Sakura was always his keenest student. Kakashi had paid attention long enough to determine that much, at least. So he wasn't too surprised at her strategy during the second bell test.

Where Naruto rushed in, albeit with more strength and agility to back up his bravado, Sakura waited and watched, evaluating both his and Naruto's performance, taking stock. Even when he seemed to disappear her composure didn't falter. She looked. Right, up, left, behind, fisted her hand… and then she moved.

He was lucky to have noticed the tell-tale pooling of her chakra in her fist just before she struck. It was probably the only reason he was alive.

"Kakashi-sensei! I found you!"

Didn't see that coming.

Facing her across the impressive amount of rubble she'd created, all he could think was… Has she gotten taller? Something about this Sakura seemed familiar. He couldn't quite put his finger on it. Her eyes held his fast and her smile seemed more confident (or was it mischievous?) than the sweet, hopeful little expression he remembered. Not that he had much time to wonder further, for he was soon too busy trying not to get rather more pulverized than he preferred.

Mentally, Kakashi added "inhuman strength" to "intelligence," "aptitude for genjutsu," and "exceptional chakra control" on his list of Sakura's attributes. In the following weeks and months "teamwork" and "dependable" made the list before it was filed away.

----------

Years later, Kakashi accepted a solo S-class mission, his first since Team 7 had achieved jounin status. Officially, he no longer took such assignments, but his particular skills were needed and civilian lives were at stake. True to fashion, he was successful and none the worse for wear, but less than punctual about his return.

Despite the remarkable similarity between his report to Tsunade and a teeth-pulling, he was more than satisfied with his state of affairs after treating his self to a nice meal alone and pocketing the extra cash. Strolling down the dusty street towards his apartment (where his bed and the latest edition of Icha Icha waited), a toothpick dangling from his lips, everything seem almost new again – every homecoming from an exceptionally dangerous mission was like that.

But when a pink-haired, green-eyed, twenty-something kunoichi walked up, grabbed him by his vest, and began to upbraid him for his unannounced and prolonged absence, Kakashi had the oddest sense of déjà vu.

"Are you even listening to me, Kakashi?! You reckless, indigent, ungrateful…"

What happened to "sensei"?

Somehow he hadn't noticed when it happened. When had she become something other than his least-troublesome student? Something more than dependable and something more profound than strong. It was as if she'd occupied a blind spot in his life. He could always feel her presence but she was never in focus. And she wasn't in focus even now because she was too close for his one eye to manage it alone.

He blamed his total lack of depth perception for the first brush of their lips. Everything after that was a blur. Kakashi supposed that it wasn't often a ninja could be surprised – they more often did the surprising – and he was frankly impressed that Sakura had gotten the jump on him. So he mentally added "unpredictable" to his list and decided that his perception of Sakura was in need of some updating – a process he was only too happy to begin immediately. So he deepened the kiss, sending up a brief prayer to whatever fickle supernatural agency was in charge of his life, and squeezed her sculpted rear (a feature he had actually managed to take note of before), just to see what would happen next…

After all, while you could learn quite a lot visually, Kakashi had always felt himself to be more of a hands-on learner.

FIN

Author's Note: So many of these characters have some kind of second sight and there is such a fascination with eyes in the series in general, so I wanted to do something with that. I often think of Kakashi as somewhat similar to Spike in Cowboy Bebop (one eye, sad past), except I think he's headed for a better ending, so he became the pivot point for all this.