Chapter 2
Stealing young Kakashi out of the Hokage Tower was much easier than Team 7 had thought. While they packed up the scattered files and documents, returning the office to its usual state, Sakura suddenly recalled that she had read about this particular forbidden space-time jutsu in the library.
"The jutsu's effect lasts for twenty-four hours." She grasped the silver haired teen's hand, pointing out the clock-shaped marked on his inner wrist, partly obscured by blood and grim, explaining. "When the time limit is up, the two that had switched would switch back to their original timeline."
"That means after twenty-four hours, our Kakashi-sensei's gonna be back? That's fantastic!" Knowing he didn't actually lose them their teacher, Naruto couldn't help but feel a heavy weight lifting off his shoulders as he breathed out in relief.
"Oh, and one more thing, let's count it as good news for now." Sakura smiled, blinking at the boys, "When the jutsu activated, we were in the vicinity, so we're affected as well. What that means is, apart from us, nobody would be able to see, hear, or touch this Kakashi-sensei. Thankfully, that means we don't have to worry about being discovered."
It was definitely good news, since Naruto was considering stuffing Kakashi under Sasuke's cloak. Upon hearing the shoddy idea, the last Uchiha's face immediately darkened, though at the same time, miraculously did not object.
Though now it looks like that won't be necessary. Naruto hauled Kakashi up on his shoulder, trying to make himself look more natural – at least not like he was carrying air – while his hands grabbed the teen's legs. Sakura and Sasuke walked on either side of him, preventing the blonde from being approached suddenly or bumped into—they really don't want to see someone's hand going right through their teacher like they were using Chidori.
The trio made their way to Kakashi's place with just a few near misses. Both door and windows of the place had being rigged with complicated seals and traps, though that didn't matter– the Rokudaime's home will always be open to his students unconditionally. They lowered Kakashi onto the bed in the bedroom, Sakura beginning to prepare medical equipment and boil the water while Naruto and Sasuke clumsily stripped the teen of his blood drenched outer layers then wrapped him in blankets. Though, they considerately left the piece connected to his mask. Their teacher's face was still an unsolved mystery in their hearts, but now's definitely not a time to take advantage.
After all of Kakashi's wounds has been treated by Sakura and his cloths tossed into the washing machine, the sun had already begun to set. Walking back into the bedroom with clean hands, she looked at her two teammates, one sitting backwards on a chair and the other leaning against the window. She placed her hands on her hips. "Now, we can have a meeting. What next?"
"Isn't that obvious," it was Naruto who replied quietly, gazing at the teen passed out on the bed. "taking good care of sensei."
After seeing Obito's memory in the war, Naruto's curiosity about Kakashi's past reignited. Though, he knew how bleak and painful those memories were, and bringing it up would only reopen his sensei's wounds.
He had carefully suppressed his curiosity, but he didn't expect Kakashi to have seen right through it all. One day a few months ago, when the two were leaving the Hokage Tower, Kakashi had offered to take Naruto for ramen; facing the steaming bowls, his teacher began talking about his past voluntarily for the first time—Sakumo's suicide, Kannabi Bridge, and Rin's death.
Those horrifying and bloody events recounted in that bland voice was still fresh in Naruto's memories. Regarding that night in the forest bordering Water Country, Kakashi emphasised Rin's understanding and sacrifice, imagined Obito's anguish and despair, but completely breezed past his own thoughts and feelings. At that time Naruto had noticed the incongruency; used as a tool for suicide by Rin and forced to break his promise to Obito, Kakashi's reactions shouldn't have been so unaffected.
It wasn't until the young Kakashi who had just experienced those events appeared before him that Naruto realised, truly realised, how deep was the wound that scene had cut into Kakashi's heart. It was only because his sensei had been swallowing his pain alone in silence for his entire life, never showing anyone his weakness, that he could be so indifferent when he mentioned it.
The teenage genius, youngest Jonin of Konoha. In the end, he was also just a child who was not yet thirteen.
"That didn't even need to be said." Sakura lifted her hands in defeat, "What I mean, is that there's no way he would sleep forever. After he wakes up, he's going to have a whole bunch of questions. The things that's happened these twenty years, have we thought through how to explain it all? Especially," She glanced at the bed, subconsciously lowering her voice, "everything about Obito."
Naruto and Sasuke exchanged a baffled look. It was an unavoidable problem, they all knew that. But simultaneously, all three knew that at the moment, there was no way they could let Kakashi know the truth about Obito.
If Kakashi knew Obito descended into the darkness because he saw him kill Rin, he would no doubt put the blame on himself.
"We'll keep it from him for now, for as long as we can. If he asks, change the topic." After a full five minutes of silence, Naruto decided. "Even if we were to tell him, we need to wait until his physical and mental states are stable."
Sakura nodded her agreement, though Sasuke gave a light frown. He looked at Naruto as if he wanted to suggest something, before his expression took an abrupt turn to alert and looked over at the bed.
Kakashi was awake.
The good thing was that this time, he didn't scream. The onyx right eye slowly blinked open, a lost look flickered in it before it was replaced by surprise, followed by a heavy suspicion; before Naruto or Sakura could speak, he had hauled off the covers and leapt up, retreating to the corner of the bed and stood in a stance that allowed him to both defend and attack with ease, blue-white electricity dancing across his fingertips.
And what stared at Team 7 also turned into that blood red left eye.
"Don't… don't be afraid!" Naruto flailed, nearly knocking over the chair as he stood up, "This is Konoha, we're all Konoha ninja! Uhhh if you don't believe me, just look at the forehead protector, dattebayo!" and proceeded to point at his own forehead.
"I have never seen you around in the village." What answered him was the hoarse but deathly calm voice of the teen, a hint of the later Rokudaime's voice could be heard, except the laziness that the three were familiar with was nowhere to be seen. Thankfully, nowadays Team 7 more or less knew that their teacher's adult personality had differed quite a lot from when he was young, so it wasn't too surprising.
"I'm from the Uchiha Clan." Sasuke began. His visible eye spun red, then returned to normal after a few short seconds. "Is this enough to have your trust?"
As expected, Kekkai Genkai was a compelling way of proving identity. After witnessing Sasuke's Sharingan, Kakashi's guard lowered visibly and his expression eased, though he didn't immediately retract the lightning crackling in his palms. "Was it you guys that had saved me from" —a clear flicker of pain crossed his eyes as he mentioned the location—"the border of Water Country? Why settle me here, and not take me to the hospital?"
"Um… actually…"
Naruto's hesitation had obviously reignited Kakashi's suspicion. "Take me to Namikaze Minato," he raised his voice, "If he proves this to be a misunderstanding, I will give you guys a due apology."
"About that…" Naruto scratched his head, offering a dry laugh. "Dad he… isn't here."
"…Da…dad?" The title was evidently out of Kakashi's expectations, his eyes widening in surprise.
"Yeah." Since he didn't plan on hiding the fact that this was an alternate timeline, Naruto nodded generously, pointing at himself. "This is the world after twenty years, I'm Namikaze Minato and Uzumaki Kushina's son, Uzumaki Naruto. Please look after me, Kakashi-sensei!"
Kakashi looked at Naruto as if he'd gone crazy. "Twenty years later? Minato-sensei and Kushina's son? Even if it's a lie, shouldn't you at least make it seem reasonable!"
"If you don't believe it, why don't you see for yourself?" Sasuke stood up, moving away and giving him the position in front of the window.
As expected, the raven's sure attitude made Kakashi waver. Kakashi stared intently at Sasuke, expression flitting between suspicion and bewilderment; his gaze slowly moved to the side, and after landing on a point outside the window, froze.
From his angle, he could see perfectly the stone Hokage monuments, lined up on the side of the mountain.
After a stretch of silence, Kakashi suddenly leapt off the bed and lurched barefoot to the windowsill. Both hands pressed against the glass, his gaze lingered between the last three stone faces, muttering under his breath, "Minato-sensei became Yondaime as expected… Godaime was Tsunade-sama? Rokudaime… me?!"
His voice cracked an octave higher as Kakashi uttered the last word. After a dazed moment, he shook his head violently, bringing both hands up into a seal and yelled. "Kai!"
Nothing changed.
"Yes, you're the Rokudaime Hokage." Sakura took a step forward, using the gentlest voice she could muster, "And we're your students. Haruno Sakura," she pointed to herself, then at her teammates, "Uzumaki Naruto, Uchiha Sasuke."
Kakashi slowly turned his head. This time, all three members of Team 7 could clearly see the lost expression on his face, steeped with panic.
"I need to go find Minato-sensei." He lowered his gaze, mumbling to himself. The next instant his head snapped up, eyes boring into Naruto desperately. "Take me to Minato-sensei!"
"Kakashi-sensei, they…" Pain graced Naruto's expression, "Dad and Mum both passed away."
The impact this news had on Kakashi was all too tangible. The silver haired teen's swayed, stumbling backwards and his back hit the window sill with a loud thud. It should have hurt, but he couldn't feel it. All he did was stare at the floor with vacant eyes, repeating Naruto's last two words like a ghost, "Passed away? ...passed away?"
The grave atmosphere spread throughout the room in silence.
Kakashi closed his eyes. He took a deep breath, fists tightening then loosening then repeating the process. Then he began again, aiming for an even tone, "I want to see the Sandaime."
Naruto breathed out in relief when he didn't question how Minato and Kushina died, however… "Sansaime-jiji he… he also passed away."
Kakashi snapped his eyes open. "Jiraiya-sensei!"
"…"
A new wound. Against the wall, Kakashi looked as if he was going to slide to the floor any moment, though his hands stubbornly clenched the windowsill in a death grip for support. This time, he couldn't stop his voice from trembling. "Then Tsunade-sama? Don't tell she also…"
"No! Shishou is alive, she's doing great!" Sakura cut in, the sight of Kakashi now was making her heart squeeze painfully. "She's just gone travelling with Shizune-san!"
"…Do you guys know Maito Gai?"
"Super Bushy Brows… Uh no, I mean Gai-sensei, he's good too!" Naruto corrected hastily, "Though he's not in the village either, I think it was three days ago, he went with his student to the hot springs!"
And that was a good thing. It meant that Kakashi would not have to see a forever crippled, wheelchair bound Gai who would never be able to perform the Taijutsu that he took so much pride in.
The answer he received made the silver haired teen grow silent. This silence reminded the other members of team seven of another cruel reality: the few names that he had mentioned; those were all the familiar people that existed to the thirteen-year-old Kakashi.
And either dead or crippled, no one was there.
"Minato-sensei died." After what felt like an eternity, Kakashi's lifeless voice broke the silence inside the room. He stared hollowly at his right hand, as if it was still stained with the blood of a brown-haired girl. "Sandaime-sama died, even Jiraiya-sensei died. They all died, and trash like me is still alive, even… became Hokage?"
"Sensei is not trash!"
A loud voice refuted his murmuring. Kakashi lifted his head, dumbfounded; he saw Naruto stalk forward in big steps, lifting both hands to press on his shoulders.
"Kakashi-sensei is the hero that had led us in saving the world." His sensei's son, his future student gazed into him with those cerulean eyes so much like his father's. His voice was like steel, resolute and uncompromising. "Sensei is Konoha's Rokudaime Hokage, a shinobi I look up to and respect!"
Those words were no doubt a boost for Kakashi. The emotions self-hate and detest finally faded temporarily from his eyes, replaced by slight bewilderment: "Saved… the world?"
"Kakashi-sensei, right now you need rest. We have… a lot of time, to talk over these things slowly." Before Naruto could reply, Sakura walked over. She threw Naruto a meaningful look, reminding him to not say anything he shouldn't say. "And your shoulder wound has reopened… I'll treat that for you."
Palms glowing a gentle green, she approached the bandage wrapped around Kakashi's left shoulder, blood still seeping through. The Mystic Palm jutsu reminded Kakashi of another medical ninja, and pain crawled onto his cheeks once again. Letting go of the conversation, he lowered his head, giving a quiet "Hn."
With the wounded laid back onto his bed, Sakura tucked his sheets in firmly and Naruto tugged down the blinds, blocking out the light of the setting sun. Sasuke lifted his hand to press onto the wall, placing a seal for both protection and sound barrier.
"We'll be right outside." Following her teammates out of the bedroom, Sakura said to Kakashi as she closed the door softly.
That night, none of Team 7 went home. The only sofa in the living room was given to Sakura while Naruto and Sasuke sat on the floor, prepared to make do for the night. Naruto had sent his shadow clone to buy three servings of ramen, though regrettably no one had the appetite, including himself.
To teenage Kakashi, everything that had happened today would have been extremely hard to digest, but to them it was the same.
To see their always calm and collected, strong and indifferent sensei so vulnerable, fragile and helpless.
There was no doubt that Kakashi would ask about the details of Minato's death, as well as the major events that had occurred in the past twenty years. They can't withhold things about Obito forever. It would be a tough battle tomorrow. In wordless silence, the trio drifted off into sleep one after another.
—Until daybreak, when Naruto and Sasuke was shaken awake harshly by Sakura.
"Kakashi-sensei's gone." Her face was exceptionally pale in the faint light of dawn. "he escaped through the window!"
"The barrier jutsu was destroyed. Meticulous technique, no noise at all." Sasuke inspected the wall, voice holding a rare hint of dismay. "It would take a lot of energy to break this barrier, probably all of his current chakra…I didn't think he would've risked everything like this. It's my mistake."
"Naruto, where did Kakashi-sensei go?" Sakura looked at Naruto who was beside the window, agitated. The latter was already in Sage mode, eyes closed and scouring the village for any trace of Kakashi.
A moment later, Naruto's body gave a jolt. Opening both eyes, he looked at Sakura and Sasuke, expression filled with apprehension.
"Dammit," he said, "worst case scenario just happened."
"Sensei he… he went to the Memorial Stone."
Thank you for R&R!