Clouds started coming in over the horizon, bringing the chill of the morning mist with it. The stone filled with lost, forgotten names seemed to share the same mood of the earth. Gloomy. Towards the bottom of the stone, among the countless of fallen the dew from the morning mist seemed to pull towards a particular name.
Fitting, he thought.
The white haired jonin stood with his hands in his pockets; head and shoulders slumped forward as a means of prayer and mourning. He knelt down towards the name on the stone, pulling his right hand free and using the tip of his finger to clear the name of dew residing there.
As the sun began to rise, the clouds rolled in further, keeping the morning chill against the earth. The jonin refused to shiver, but the goose bumps and wet clothes clinging to his skin told his body it was time to go. He closed his one, right eye for a moment of prayer before rising back up to his former position. The sun rises further bringing a bit more warmth to the world; quite and serene...
"Kakashi-sensei!" came the yell of the most unpredictable ninja of Konoha.
Kakashi let's out with a sigh before half smiling behind his mask. He lifts his right hand from his pocket once more in greeting, but doesn't turn from the stone. He brings his hand down to his side as the yellow haired adolescence approaches.
"Morning, Naruto." The jonin addresses him, gaze remaining on the stone.
"Kakashi-sensei," The genin says between breaths, "Grany Tsunade sent me to fetch for you; says it's of extreme importance."
Kakashi lets out a low groan in response before addressing him, "I'll be along soon." His eye remains focused forward before he turns towards the young man. He lifts his eye in his original, typical smile.
Naruto reaches out to drag his sensei back by force, as was his orders, before he locks eyes with the jonin. He withdraws his arm, seeing a very haggard and tired man before him. "Are you feeling alright, Kakashi-sensei? You look well, sick."
Kakashi let's out a small laugh to himself, "Thank you for the concern, but I'll be alright." He puts his right hand back into his pocket and hunches his shoulders forward in an attempt to keep his body heat in. Damn, I'm getting old, he thinks to himself.
A slight breeze begins to pick up as a storm is heard coming from over the horizon. Naruto glances towards the storm before bringing his attention back to his sensei. Naruto sighs, "Granny can wait then. Sensei, you know that with my sage form I can feel everything around me." He bites his lip a moment, as if trying to find the right words, "why do you seem so out of balance?" He tries to hide the bit of concern from his voice, "Granny is concerned too."
Kakashi's eye widens a bit at his students blatant observation. Am I really losing my touch that much? He sighs once more to himself, "Nothing to worry about, I assure..." As if on queue the sharingan in his left eye begins to pulse, causing a sharp pain and his chakra network to scramble. He grits his teeth, his left hand griping around the eye as he falls to a knee.
The voice of Uchiha Madara is then heard in his head; Finally found you, Hatake. Kakashi widens his right eye in reaction to the voice. Glad to see you still remember me; the sharingan focuses on the stone, on a particular name. This makes things much easier then, the voice snickers. Kakashi's eye widens in realization of the voice. He tries to ask him a question before being interrupted; Bring the child to Hidden Rain within 5 days, or do I need to use some aces from my sleeve?
Kakashi tries to catch a breath as the pain intensifies, flooding images into his mind of other villages within the Akatsuki's path. Closing his right eye sharply, the pain slowly starts to lessen as the voice sounds farther away. "Wait..." he says out loud as the sharingan starts to focus on another name before Madara releases his hold.
Naruto's touch finally registers to Kakashi as the boy's words come into focus again. "Sensei, Sensei?" he says over and over, the worried tone now a prominent pitch. "What did you tell me to wait for, Sensei? Are you ok?" he pulls his hands away from the jonin's shoulders.
"Um, yeah, I'm... fine, Naruto." he lies, trying to regain his grip on reality. He rises back to his feet, a pounding headache ringing in his ears. He turns his attention, albeit confused, back to the genin, "Let's not keep the Hokage waiting then, shall we?" He tries to smile reassuringly with his eye but flinches slightly at the action.
Naruto turns his gaze to the on coming storm then back to his weary sensei. His concern changes to one of worry, almost fear; "I have a bad feeling, Kakashi-sensei."
Kakashi addresses the boy's statement by walking towards the Hokage's office. "Me to, Naruto," he whispers to himself.