A/N: I sort of got this weird idea during my mechanics class, it's not much of a story, just a muse. For anyone's who's interested, this is actually based upon the concept of tangential and normal velocity. A pretty cool concept, really.
Tell me what you think of this.
Disclaimer: I certainly don't own Naruto, kishimoto does. I'm just a college student fiddling with his stuff.
KAKASHI WONDERED
Kakashi liked to observe.
Even as a child, he was content to simply lean back and watch other people mingle, his mind trying to unwrap the strangeness of the human kind, its bonds and relations, its quirks and insaneness, its greatness and tragedy.
Its irony and rhetoric.
Before his father died, it was a simple hobby, untainted by hate or fury, unburdened by pain or fear. A simple callous activity that interested him, nothing more ,nothing less.
But then he came to know the entity called death.
After that, nothing was simple or innocent anymore, he continued to observe but not from boredom but from the desire to survive.
And so he kept on watching, observing for signs to reiterate his fury, his voiceless desolation.
But what he did see rendered him blind to his anger.
Minato sensei's benevolent smile, Kushina-sama's mischievous winks, Obito's grins, Rin' s soft gaze...
Even when they were snatched from him, the signs remained, anchoring him.
With time, he once again picked up the art of callous observation.
He learned about people.
He learned about the predictability of the human race.
He learned what made people strong but at the same time weak.
He learned to see a true smile.
He learned people.
But even more than that he learned about bonds.
He watched , from the shade of his glazed book, like an element of nature itself, as bonds were built and torn to shreds under the watch of his dark eyes.
They interested him.
He had watched as Orochimaru had abandoned his comrades, running away to a life of insanity. He had watched as Jiraiya had kept on running after him.
But never quite reaching him.
He had watched as Asuma Sarutobi walked away, unable to find his purpose, only to return later with his king, but died in the arms of his beloved student.
He had watched as Itachi poked his young brother on his forehead, his eyes dancing with genuine love and happiness.
Only to watch those same eyes stare at him, in the face of a murderer, years later.
And so it was with a growing sense of predictability that he watched his two young students interact.
Sasuke and Naruto.
When he was a toddler, he used to love playing with a particular toy, a string tied to a stick, to the end of the string a bright ball was attached.
He would spin the yarn with great joy, watching as the ball spun with greater speed every time the string shortened. Watching as it collided with the stick, cutting off the motion completely.
It felt the same watching them.
Naruto held onto Sasuke, refusing to let go, only for Sasuke to pull himself farther away.
And so they spun, with one pulling, the other pushing, gaining momentum each time they got close and losing it as the gap widened.
Just as Kakashi had never needed to put any effort to spin his toy, the two shinobi never had to either.
The dynamics of their bond did everything, they only kept spinning.
And just like Jiraiya and Orochimaru.
Just like Asuma and Shikamaru.
Like Itachi and Sasuke.
He waited for them to collide, to end their incessant spinning.
They were like the sun and the earth, spinning around one another, unable to tear each other from the bond they shared but seeking to flee at the same time.
But unable to do both, they kept spinning, never letting each other go too far or get too close.
He waited, still with the book in his hand and with feigned apathy, for them to break apart. For the collision.
But it never came.
And as he watched Naruto extend his arm towards the raven head, with clear blue eyes, determination echoed in those familiar depths.
"I won't give up"
The book fell from his hand, landing with a small thud, it's glazed orange cover no longer capable of hiding his genuine perplexity.
They were supposed to fall, to break.
"Why?!Why are you willing to go so far for me?!"
Kakashi only stood by the blonde s' side, but echoing the same question.
Azure depths steadily stared ahead.
"Because you're my friend"
And suddenly Kakashi understood.
"I'll shoulder your hatred and die with you"
He saw it now, what prevented them from falling.
He should have seen it in the first place.
When Orochimaru fought by their side in a faint memory of Jiraiya.
When Asuma entrusted his king to his student, eyes shining with pride.
When Itachi poked his blood drenched fingers on his kid brother's forehead, the same love dancing within those dazed depths.
When Obito offered him his eye, his last gift.
Bonds.
Hope. Strength. Love. Friendship.
Maybe Kakashi wasn't so observant at all.
They wouldn't fall, they would keep spinning, just as the earth and the moon continued to do for centuries, just as people continued to do for eras.
Hatred and love. Loss and gain. Irony and rhetoric.
Kakashi picked the back up again, dusting off the dirt and leaned back, opening it.
And watched as people continued to spin.
Over and over again.
Bonds.
Over and over and over again.
He kept on watching.
It's exactly how I see their bond, it has always interested me.
Hope you guys liked it!
Thanks for reading!