Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of it's characters.
"I knew this day would come. I knew you'd come back. What took so long?"
It was the only 'Welcome home' I could offer at the time. My student had returned home, that lends me to the conclusion that he accomplished his goal; he killed Itachi.
We sat in the trees near the training grounds where I passed my only students. The wind was blowing slightly with the chilled weather. It felt calming as I continued to speak with my former student.
"Kakashi how could we be so alike? When I chased vengeance when you told me that it never works out? Since you said that I believed that you didn't get your revenge for everyone being taken from you but now I'm not so sure. How can you be so content when they're all gone?"
"Well," Oh boy, how to explain this one, "Sasuke, I did get my revenge. The Hokage laughed at me when I told her, of course, she didn't know the entire story until she read the mission reports."
I saw his eyes brighten. It looked as if he had found some footing in this world once again; almost as though he was happy, or curious.
"So what happened? Who did you avenge and how did it happen?"
"I suppose that's something you've wanted to know for a while now. I'll make you a deal; I'll tell you and you promise not to cause so much trouble anymore."
"Deal."
"I was thirteen, it was the day I became a jonin…" I saw his eyes turn to a shocked expression at this new information, but then that disappeared very quickly.
"My mother died when she gave birth to me, and my father died when I was eight. So by this time by family was already dead, and I had no one to fight for revenge. During my first mission as squad commander my teammates were Rin, Obito Uchiha, and the future fourth Hokage. We were to destroy a bridge that our enemies were receiving supplies from, since this was a time of war, we split up with our sensei and proceeded to the bridge while he kept the enemies attention at the front lines
"We were ambushed and our teammate, Rin, was captured. When we went to rescue her I lost my left eye when it was slashed by a kunai. Soon after Obito awakened his sharingan, but it was short-lived since the enemy decided to pull out a rather handy jutsu. Obito's right side was crushed by a bolder when he saved me. He gave me his sharingan as a gift and almost immediately after receiving it I killed off our enemy. The thing that Tsunade laughed at was that I got my revenge for Obito's death before he was dead. In the end, Obito died and the mission was registered as a success with a casualty."
I watched Sasuke for any clues of what he was thinking. It makes me uncomfortable to know that I can't read his face any more. It's as if he has grown into something that resembles more of what I am now than what I thought Sasuke would always be.
"It seems a lot happened to you that day." A short silence ensued as we watched the leaves float to the ground, swirled by the wind.
"It even beats what I've done. It's hard to believe that in one day a child could become a jonin, lose his left eye, get a best friend, lose his best friend, and get the sharingan."
I smirked under my mask. I'm sure he saw because gave a confused look that said he clearly didn't understand.
"Technically, it was over the span of two days. Day one was when I became a Jonin and the mission was explained, the next day everything else happened."
"I still feel as though you've left out some important details; I won't ask, but that's the day that changed you into the man you are today."
"That's right."
"It wasn't a question."
I stared at him for a few seconds while he looked down; he seemed tired. My gaze traveled to the now setting sun. It was one of the more colorful sunsets of the village; a brilliant mixture of orange and red. I was thankful that there was no pink in the sky then, only because pink never suited either of our personalities.
"Kakashi, I want to verify something."
"What's that?" Neither of us looked at the other but our gazes were steady.
"What was your father's name?"
"Sakumo Hatake."
"I thought so; in Orochimaru's 'hideout' there were many documents of that man. I read most of them, the only ones I didn't were those of scripts on how to genetically remake him. I'm sorry to tell you this, but I thought you should know. Orochimaru had already begun experiments to complete this. The closest he came was a clone that didn't leave a tank."
He finally looked up, so I returned his gesture.
"What all do you know? And thank you for telling me."
"I now know that you're the son of the greatest tracker this village has ever seen. I also know that he is among the strongest of the village's past. There were many pictures of him, so I know what he looks like. Those pictures are probably the only reason I became interested in who it was. It looked identical to you, minus the sharingan and scar, and with longer hair."
"Right, since Orochimaru and my father were of the same generation they were…lets say equally matched in experience. The really big difference is that my father received his name as Konoha's White Fang before the Sanin. I'm going to guess you already know all the details and dates of when and what happened."
"You mean his death. I know how he died."
I turned my head towards him as the last rays of sunlight slid behind a distant mountain. He had a question, he wanted to know, but he still hesitated.
"Sasuke—"
"Why didn't you tell us you had a Kekkei-Genkai?!"
"Wait, what?"
"Your white chakra and the Hatake tanto is what I mean; why did you say that you had no Kekkei-Genkai by blood if you had this the whole time?"
I turned my head towards the memorial stone, then to stumps, then Sasuke, then the stars.
"Because it was never considered a Kekkei-Genkai since the Hatake family was so small. It's there, and you're right, I did have this the whole time. The sharingan is your Kekkei-Genkai, not mine, the only reason I can use it without Uchiha blood is because of that White Chakra."
"So without that chakra…?"
"I wouldn't be able to use it, and I'd probably be dead by now."
"It's funny, I've learned more about you tonight then I have in all the years since I've met you." He showed signs of amusement, I could tell even without looking at him. I laid back on the large branch I was sitting on to lay with my hands behind my head and one foot dangled off the edge. That's when I looked at Sasuke's eyes to find out what he was truly thinking.
"Kakashi, how are Sakura and Naruto? Are they alright?"
"Yeah, they're fine. They've been working so hard to get you back."
"And you? Have you been working too?"
"Not for the true intent of dragging you back. Since I've been in the same position as you I already knew what would eventually happen."
"Oh, what's that?"
"You'd kill Itachi and then come home."
He looked off towards the stumps with a small smile on his face.
"You always did answer short and truthfully. Thank you."
"Ok, Sasuke you're beginning to scare me. What happened?"
"Don't worry so much. I'm fine; it's just good to be back."
"Sasuke, we need to get your return settled down with the Hokage. I'm surprised hunter ninja haven't tried to kill you yet."
"They were easy to get past."
"What?"
"I used my sharingan to put them under a gen-jutsu. They're at the Anbu Headquarters fast asleep. As for the reason why they haven't jumped out of the bush behind us, it's probably because I'm with you. If I'm right, then you still hold power over them, correct?"
"Good, very good, I didn't think you'd notice them with your chakra so depleted."
"So they're with you. Then you're going to kill me now, as a missing ninja."
"No, and don't ever think that way," I sat up and turned around to meet the eyes of at least 15 men, "Leave now."
They stepped out of the shadows and removed their masks. I personally knew about 13 of them, the others must be new. They bowed and turned to leave, while the new girl followed the boy glared at me and began yelling.
"Why are you all following his orders?! We were sent here to kill that Uchiha! We could take down both to reach our goal so why are you leaving on his command like he's the Hokage?!"
A blue haired boy who specialized in water styled jutsu stepped forward; man, I still can't remember their names.
"We follow his orders because this is Kakashi Hatake. If the Uchiha is with him in this manner, and he tells us to leave, we do so because we always have."
"Why have you always followed him, it's not like he's anything special."
This time a pro tracker decided to speak.
"He's earned our respect and he was our commander. He'll take care of the boy."
"But—
He didn't finish because Genma put a hand around his mouth and they proceeded to drag him away. I felt no pity towards the boy, and I'd be glad to take him on an Anbu mission to show him how I earned their respect.
As I turn towards Sasuke I'm sadden by how broken he is. I see him sobbing quietly to himself, his knees pulled up with his hands hugging them tighter, his face is lowered and covered in shadow while his shoulders shake slightly. I only know one thing to do.
I kneel down on the branch infront of him. Asking with complete concern I say, "Come on now, what's wrong?"
He raises his head slightly and I see his tears in the moonlight.
"Are you going to kill me?"
I'm a bit shocked at his answer/question.
"No, I'm not. I couldn't even if I wanted to, since you're so much stronger than I am." I smile to try to comfort him and I know he sees it. He raises his head a bit more.
"What did they mean when they said that you'll 'take care of me'?"
"It meant that I'll get rid of the problem. We're going to go to the Hokage to sort this out. And Sasuke, if you don't mind by me asking, what's the reason you're crying?"
"I don't know. My tears just started coming and I couldn't stop them. I was afraid of you turning to take a kunai to my throat and end it; afraid of the hurt. I am afraid that I'll never be accepted back into this village and that I'll always be hunted."
He looked at his hands as he said this to me. It was a confession that he loved his home and he wanted to be back and live happy instead of in the eyes of hatred.
"We're going to fix it. I promise everything will be ok. I won't let anything happen to you."
He looked up, and I saw something I never did before. He was a child. His eyes were hurt and tears still rolled over, there was no frown but instead it was the look of a child who honestly believed that nothing would go wrong and that the person infront of them would make it all better.
I smiled and he stood. We jumped from tree to tree with him following me. I stopped and told him, "We'll speak with Tsunade tomorrow. Tonight you need sleep."
He nodded as though he'd never argued.
I don't know if I'm going to continue this or not. If someone asks in a review I guess I should. I'm going to work on my Naruto/DBZ comparison/fic thingy so see ya!
Hope you enjoyed!