A/N: I should probably mention that this story can/will/already has contain(ed) spoilers for the entire manga.

Lost To Sight

Chapter 4

Inside The Scroll

Kakashi rarely remembered his dreams. The ones he could still recall all told terrible stories of his own fictional peril. The 'What if?' dreams, as he thought of them. Those would have him jerk awake in the middle of the night, soaked in his own sweat. It would leave him feeling shaky and alert.

He wasn't having one of those dreams. He slept soundly, his mind conjuring images of a green field flanked by cherry blossom trees. Kakashi recongnised the place immediately as one of the training grounds he often used. If he looked to the east he could see the Hokage mountain.

And there it was, five heads carved. It was an exact mirror of the real world. Kakashi sat down beneath the twisting limbs of the nearest tree, and just observed the peace. It was nice. He was getting lost in the quiet, when quite unexpectedly he heard the roar of a great fire.

Kakashi sprang to his feet, vigilant as he searched for the source. but all he could find was patches of red in the sky. They grew larger, and joined to swallow the blue he was looking at only moments before. It swallowed the trees too, and the mountain. And in a disorienting swipe of the landscape, everything had changed. The sky was black with smoke, the village on fire and the faces on the mountain destroyed. Embers leaped from the charred tree behind him and he jerked away from it.

He was running towards Konoha when the red was swallowed up by blue again. He stood still as the rapid transformation took place. The tree behind him had something carved into it, but he was too far away to read it. He turned, expecting to see the charred remains of Konoha, only to find it undisturbed.

But something wasn't right. He didn't recognise the tower near the bridge. That tower had never been there. He looked to the mountain, and confusion overtook him. There were five faces carved into the mountain, but the Fifth was wrong. In the place of Tsunade's face was that of her teammate, Jiraiya.

It was illogical and strange, but that's where the dream ended as Kakashi awoke to the melody of morning bird song. He rubbed his face, and in the same motion pulled down his mask to scratch at his jaw stubble. That dream had been strange. But he had long since learned not to delve too deeply into the psychology of the dreams he did remember.

It had probably been triggered by Tsunade's announcement of his impending leadership of Konoha. He recalled that the position had been offered to Jiraiya once. His mind was probably trying to reconcile the Toad Sage's ability to choose, where Kakashi himself had no such choice.

He breathed deeply, and got to his feet. The day had started, and it waited for no one. Kakashi made his way into his bathroom to take care of the stink that clung to him from his return journey.

Fifteen minutes later he emerged clean from the steaming bathroom. He wore only a towel tied loosely around his hips. Kakashi took stock of his clean uniforms, and made note that he would have to do laundry soon. He laid out clothes on his bed, gathering underwear, his jounin pants and shirt, and a clean headband before starting to dress.

He reached for his shirt after putting on his underwear, his eye catching an out of place object on his bed. It was the scroll. He remembered it being delivered when he was about to leave on his mission.

Kakashi dropped his shirt back onto the bed, and reached for the scroll instead. He'd delayed reading it long enough. He sat down on his bed and with a practiced motion unrolled the parchment.

He studied it, his brows raising, then pinching as his eyes darted from right to left. "What nonsense is this?" He muttered in the silence, thoroughly confused. He pulled the scroll out in its entirety, only to see the same thing from top to bottom. It was blank.

"Silly," he threw it down on his bed without rolling it back up.

Kakashi continued to dress with a pinched brow. He was annoyed. How disappointing, to expect a message and not find one.

Fully dressed, he leaned over to pick up the scroll again. Perhaps he would use it as kindling. In the forward motion a drop of water fell from his hair and landed on the scroll. Kakashi watched the moisture spread as the parchment absorbed the drop.

The wetness vanished. Kakashi squinted his eyes and brought the parchment closer to his face. "Odd," he said.

The drop had dried up much faster than it should have. Experimentally, Kakashi took a clump of hair and squeezed another drop onto the parchment. The same thing happened again. It spread, then vanished far too quickly to have simply dried.

A sharp light reached his eyes, and Kakashi dropped the scroll. White light burst forth from the scroll in a pattern. Kakashi berated himself, he should have checked for traps and curse seals before opening it.

He braced himself, beginning to mold chakra and form the hand seals to a general counter to curses and genjutsu. Kakashi fully expected something terrible to happen, and for the first time in four years wished he still had the sharingan.

Yet, the light only continued to dance slowly, forming a pattern. Unable to look away, Kakashi began to recognise the symbols as letters. As the light faded, a single, inked message stood at the scroll's center.

Kakashi,

Things are as you see them, but they are more than what they appear to be.

"What is this. . ." Kakashi watched the ink fade and disappear. The scroll did not illuminate again.

He stood in his room watching the parchment for near an hour. Nothing else happened. Kakashi performed a series of checks for traps and curses. He found none. Ever so gently he picked up the scroll, and rolled it back up.

He needed to speak to Sai.

The Yamanaka flower shop always had a beautiful assortment to choose from. Yellow daisies, pink tulips, red roses. . . Naruto didn't know anything about flowers. He was at a loss-again-as he perused the potted plants. Clicking heals on the concrete alerted him to the presence of another. He turned, and watched as his blond friend came out of a storage room.

"Ino, you have to help me," he begged pitifully.

"You're hopeless," an airy laugh escaped her as she walked around the front desk. "What's the occasion?"

The grin that spread across Naruto's face lit up the room, his blue eyes sparkling with happiness. "It's Hinata's and my first anniversary."

Ino's eyes widened as she loudly drew in a breath,"One year already? That went by really fast. Feels like I was at your wedding only yesterday."

Naruto's hand came up behind his head. He scratched behind the knot of his headband. "Haha, yeah. I almost can't believe it myself!"

"Congratulations, Naruto," Ino said.

"Thanks! Now. . . eh, what sort of flowers should I give her? I'm really bad at this."

"Haha, I know. You are terrible. But that's why I'm here," she pulled him over to a shelf in the middle of the store. "These here, are Pansy flowers, they symbolise remembrance, and are a traditional first anniversary flower. They come in purples, blues, reds, yellows, and hybrid whites. We don't have any of the blue ones in stock at the moment. And over here," she turned him around to face the shelf opposite where five-petalled white flowers sat, "These are Orange Blossoms. They symbolise eternal love and purity, and are also traditionally a first anniversary flower."

Naruto glanced between the different flowers. He brought a finger to his lips, and bent his other arm across his body, thinking. They were all pretty, he supposed. "I'm not sure which ones to pick. . . what do you think, Ino?"

"Why don't I make you an arrangement with both flowers."

"That sounds awesome, Ino. Thank you!"

"No problem! It will be ready later this afternoon. Any time after three. Oh! Is that Kakashi-sensei? He seems to be in a hurry."

Naruto turned around to glance out the window behind him. He barely caught a glimpse of the grey hair disappearing around the corner. He sighed.

"He's still looking for her, isn't he. . ."

"Yes, Ino," Naruto spoke, his voice unusually subdued. "He is."

"We used the entirety of the sensor network back then to make sure we found all the survivors. She wasn't among them. Why can't he let her go? " Ino squinted her eyes, forcing the tears back. It was always difficult for her to talk about Sakura. Not only had she lost her father in that war, she had lost her best friend as well.

"I don't think even he knows why, Ino," Naruto stared out the window. "But. . . maybe because we never found her body."

Kakashi sped across the rooftops towards the Jounin Headquarters. The scroll was safely tucked inside his vest. Sai usually spent his time in one of three places. He'd already checked the young man's apartment. All he found there were some beautifully painted canvases, and a crisply made bed. The waterfall overlook near the eastern side of the village did not harbor Sai either.

He touched down outside the green doors of the Jounin HQ and walked inside. He searched every room, but Sai wasn't there. He sighed and walked up to the mission desk.

"Raidou," Kakashi gained the man's attention. "Has Sai been sent out on a mission?"

"Let me check his file," Raidou turned around to the cabinet behind him, and opened the drawer labeled with a black letter 'S'. He pulled out a green folder and opened to the inside cover, where recent mission sheets were always placed for easy access. "Hm, yes. He left two days ago on a recon trip. He's expected to return in three days' time."

"Damnit," Kakashi sighed. "Thank you, Raidou."

"You're welcome," Raidou put Sai's file away and turned back to face Kakashi. He was almost out the door again. "Hey, Kakashi!"

"Yes?" Kakashi stopped with his hand on the door.

"Genma and I are going out for drinks at the Rusty Kunai later. You coming?"

"I might stop by," Kakashi said. And with a two-finger wave he was out the door again.

Kakashi made his way to his preferred training ground. The sun had not yet reached it's highest point in the sky. The day was young still, and there would be no summons for him any time soon. In one month he would be Hokage, and he would not receive any missions until then. He'd run his last. At least until he handed the reigns over to Naruto one day. All he could do now was keep his skills and instincts sharp. Spending the day training would also keep his mind busy. He needed distraction from the scroll. Until Sai returned its mystery would not be solved. Even with Sai's help it might not be solved. It was a troublesome thought.

He arrived at the training field and quickly shrugged off his vest. With that taken care of he started his basic stretches.

A gentle breeze rustled his hair as he began his first in a series of katas. Barring missions and recovery time, he'd done them every day since he was a genin. It was a routine so ingrained in his being that he often lost track of time while going through it. But Kakashi wasn't simply going through the motions. He thought about every move he made, remembered the faces who taught it to him. His father first, then Minato, and even Jiraiya had a hand in his training when he was a boy. Over time as his skills improved, his katas became more advanced.

His movements were graceful, elegant, efficient, and powerful. The first kata lead into the faster paced second kata. The intensity continued to build. It was an impressive display of the best Jounin Konoha had to offer.

A group of academy students arrived at the edge of Kakashi's training field, led by Iruka. It was a field trip the students took a few weeks before they underwent their genin examinations. Seeing the higher ranked shinobi train was meant to inspire them to study and practice hard. Iruka did not expect Hatake Kakashi to be there. It was uncommon to find the man there during that time of day. He looked down at his students' reactions to seeing Kakashi move seamlessly. He smiled at the awe reflected in their gazes.

"Sensei, who is that shinobi? Is he a Jounin?" One of the students asked, the amazement the boy felt carried over in his voice.

"That is Hatake Kakashi. He is one of Konoha's elite. He earned his Jounin rank at thirteen when he fought in the Third Shinobi War under Namikaze Minato's leadership. In the Fourth War he was in command of the third division, and was part of the group that finally brought us victory. Pay attention everyone. This is an incredibly rare opportunity to see genius in action."

Kakashi's final Kata involved his lightning nature. Since losing the sharingan he had much more chakra to work with. He sometimes missed being able to use the Kamui, but he'd forgotten how powerful his natural state could be. Or perhaps he never had a chance to experience it until the Uchiha eye was removed from him. He'd inherited the same chakra his father was famous for.

White lightining danced around him, scorching the earth around him in a wide circle. It was a sight to behold. With a final movement Kakashi ended his kata, standing straight with one hand forming a seal in front of his chest, the other extended straight into the air. The lightning gathered close to his body before shooting into the sky, disapating in its blue depths, and signalling the end of the kata.

Kakashi gave a friendly wave to Iruka and the students, then dropped down to the ground to start his strength exercises with a set of pushups. He remembered how Sakura would sit on his back when she was a genin, providing the extra weight he needed to improve his training. He sighed through his fifteenth pushup. Reminders of her were everywhere.

He didn't take notice as Iruka and the students moved on to the next training field. Kakashi was too engrossed in his own thoughts about the scroll. Now that the shock had worn off, he began analyzing what he had seen.

Things are as you see them, but they are more than what they appear to be.

Kakashi did not try to find meaning in the sentence. Instead, he tried to remember what the writing looked like.

He'd seen it many times before on mission reports. Medical ninja were required to write up reports on every mission they were assigned to. A copy was always given to the mission leader. Sakura had written many, and Kakashi had been the receiver of enough of them to know that the writing in his mysterious scroll almost certainly belonged to her.

His resolve to find her strengthened. If only the message had remained visible. . . Perhaps seeing Sakura's handwriting on a recent message would persuade others of the possibility that she was still alive. Or they would argue forgery. It was a scenario that Kakashi could not deny either. No matter how badly he wanted to find her, in the end it could very well all be a cruel joke.

He needed to learn how the scroll's jutsu functioned. Kakashi hoped the knowledge would lead him to whoever sent it.

A/N: Thanks for reading, and for all the follows, faves, and reviews! Next chapter we'll learn a bit more about the scroll.

P.S. Silly Sai, being away on a mission when Kakashi really needs to talk to him about his unique jutsu!