VII - Down Memory Lane
Third Shinobi War
A quiet rustling of leaves followed Team Sakumo all the way to their destination, the weather a pleasant mix of cool wind and warm sunbeams.
Despite that, they were all in a pensive mood, moving about silently. Sakumo would occasionally make them stop to ensure they were untraceable still before carrying on with even more silence.
Evening was approaching, and with it their destination. Sakumo had cautioned them, multiple times, to follow his lead. Neither of them had complained or voiced the fact that they were capable jounin themselves.
The chill that began to sweep the forest was a familiar reminder of cold nights spent in ruined buildings, seeking a few hours of rest amidst the raging storm that was the Fourth Shinobi War. A familiar reminder that they'd be heading there soon, that any day now they'll be in the middle of the fray, their fate undecided.
The thought was colder than the forest.
Sakumo's rapid steps slowed, and he came to a gradual stop behind a small hill, his hand rising in a fist to halt them. He disappeared behind the foliage of some trees, steps muted.
Kakashi and Sakura drifted closer, quiet, their eyes trained on the space where Sakumo previously stood. He reappeared a minute later and slipped down to their side, gaze hard. "You know the plan," as all he said, and then they shot through the shadows, fast on his heels.
Crickets and the nightlife were loud in the quiet space. It was approaching two in the morning, and their target was a dim, secluded area within the trees.
Sakumo glanced at both of them,then pointed towards the dimness ahead with his thumb. He mouthed, "Go."
Sakura and Kakashi shared a look before they dispersed. Sakumo didn't know what to expect, the duo did mention they were jounin, but he wasn't counting on receiving the signal to proceed a mere eleven minutes after their disappearance. He stared at the the small, familiar slug circling his wrist, and was reminded of the thousands of times Tsunade had healed him this way.
She'd always kept a Katsuyu on him, promising the slug would heal him if needed and would alert her if she couldn't. Sakumo shook his head free of thoughts of Tsunade and how her departure had been like a betrayal, like abandonment. He needed to focus.
He formed the necessary hand signs and was gone with a flicker, not a leaf out of place.
...
Sakumo, with the help of Kakashi and Sakura achieved a perimeter and positioned the explosive tags around it. They made a quick work of it, and Sakumo was rather impressed with their skills, despite knowing they were time travelers who'd faced bigger monsters than Iwa.
During their rapid in-and-out of every tent, they'd stumbled across a warehouse, a shahby place so foul smelling, they nearly gagged.
"What is this?" Kakashi hissed, face scrunching.
Sakura held her hand up in a silent order to shut it. She motioned at the boxes in the warehouse and said with a grim twist to her lips, "Organs."
The place was too dark, but further at the back were dimmer shadows hanging from the ceiling, the sickening smell of rotten flesh permeating the air.
Something warm and thick landed on Sakumo's cheek, and he looked up to he greeted by the horror of severed feet and hands hanging from hooks above him.
"Kami, what the fuck?" he muttered and motioned for his teammates to quickly leave the room. They flash stepped all the way to the perimeters and gasped for clean air.
Kakashi looked a little pale while Sakura appeared to be disgusted, but relatively put together. Sakumo wondered what she'd seen, as a medic and as a war veteran, if this was something frequent in her career. He pursed his lips when he recalled their conversation many nights ago. "You allied with these freaks in your world?"
The youngsters turned to stare at him; Kakashi seemed taken aback, but Sakura only looked bewildered. "Are you serious? We produced Orochimaru," she all but hissed at him. "This? This is nothing. Nothing compared to what that snake has done, to us and to them. I don't see Iwa experimenting on humans, on children. I don't see them inflicting cursed seals left and right, twisting people's will to their own and stripping them of their most basic rights … I definitely don't see Iwa locking them in chicken cages, covered in piss and blood and rotting like animals."
Sakumo stared at her and at the vehemence in her gaze and hated himself for remembering Tsunade and her righteous anger, the way she used to glare at him exactly like Sakura's scowl right now. "Konoha is not innocent. All of us are criminals in this war, Sakumo-sensei."
He continued to stare at her, this woman who wore the face of his student and the anger and wiseness of his lover and couldn't begrudge Kakashi for falling for her.
Sakumo nodded his reluctant agreement, about to give the order to proceed when suddenly the ground trembled and a bright orange flame exploded some distance away. His eyes widened, "The tags!"
"We must've missed someone and they stumbled over them. Let's go, let's go, let's go!" Kakashi grabbed Sakura's wrist and began sprinting in the opposite direction. They zigzagged around a few fences and traps, and then jumped into the trees.
However, the trembling of the ground verged on violent and the trees ahead of them—their route of escape—began to collapse, blocking their way out, the fire relentlessly chasing their tail.
"Fuck," Kakashi swore, coming to a stop as the flames began to touch at the fallen trees blocking their exit. "We're stuck."
Sakumo's mind worked rapidly, trying to find an escape route, there must be one, after all it— his mind screeched into a halt as a battle cry rang from Sakura and suddenly she was flying over him, eyes blazing and fist raised and she punched straight through the burning bark, splinters flying all around her.
His mouth parted in shock as the burning log burst into dust and burning embers and Sakura stood panting on the other side, knuckles bleeding and scorched but rapidly healing, and wow, that was as stupid as it was marvellous and this girl didn't get nearly enough recognition!—
—"Are you crazy?!" Kakashi cried in panic from beside him, and the next second he was beside Sakura, roughly shaking her shoulders. "Three centimetres right and you would've caught on fire!"
Sakumo stared at them incomprehensibly and felt somewhat like an outsider again. He was perfectly aware of every sound and step in his surroundings, and yet they were a secondary thing at the back of his head as he watched those two interact and was reminded of his Kakashi and Sakura.
He stumbled his way to them, manoeuvring around fallen branches and burning sticks. Were they in love too? They'd always been very protective and perceptive of each other, could it be that even in this world, the two of them were together?
"Freeze!" bellowed an angry voice, chorused by a few hoots of agreement, causing all three of them to immediately spin around in a tight circle, back to back. Beyond the fire and the fallen trees was a forming ring of Iwa ninja, fierce scowls shadowing their face. Some were grinning victoriously as they peered at them like a lion might a herd of deer.
"My, my, if it isn't Konoha's prized Sakumo Hatake— aw look, isn't that his son? We got the whole family lads!" growled the guy in the centre with a shark-like grin, identifying himself as the leader. His eyes flitted to Sakura only momentarily. "You must be the girlfriend! Don't worry," he said mockingly. "We'll make this as slow and as painful as possible …"
There were way too many Iwa ninja swarming their surroundings, stretching as far as the eyes could see, rows and rows of them and Sakumo knew then it was a trap. They'd disbanded all the shinobi that were in the post; these must've been camped outside in the forest, waiting hungrily for their chance to kill some Konoha ninja.
Did they sacrifice the lives of their kin inside for this ploy? They really are lunatic scumbags, Sakumo thought darkly. As it was, they were surrounded by at least two hundred Iwa ninja.
They were effectively trapped and completely fucked and Sakumo should've considered this, how could he have—
"Shaaaannnnarrrooooo!" Sakura's battle cry dragged his attention to her, and there she was, slamming her fist against the ground, and the whole forest seemed to tremble with her anger. The dirt exploded into a million pieces, sending tens of Iwa shinobi flying in the air, some hitting the trees with such force they were impaled on the branches, rendering them effectively dead.
—or maybe they weren't so fucked. They had a literal human bulldozer by their side. He'd make sure to thank her later.
"Sakura," he barked, taking on his role as commander. He wouldn't —couldn't— expect Sakura to be able to neutralise all of them; they had to get out of here as soon as possible lest they risked Iwa contacting some back up forces. "Make way for us to escape!"
Sakumo whipped his chakra sabre out as the Iwa ninja swarmed them, charging it with his chakra and jumped into the fray, where Kakashi was wielding electricity from his elbow down, ripping hearts still beating out of their cages.
The sight was a little breathtaking. His son was undeniably strong, but he never viewed him as terrifying before this second. With startling clarity, as hot blood flew in his field of vision and he sliced clean through someone's neck with his blade, Sakumo realised that Kakashi had become like him: a hardened shinobi— or what some might call a cold-blooded killer.
Kakashi spun around, digging his heel into the dirt as he off-balanced an Iwa shinobi, and then he did something completely out of the realms of possibilities. He thrust his fist into the ground and formed unfamiliar hand signs, and then the shinobi forming the tightest ring around him were being electrocuted until they caught fire.
"What the fu—" The man closest to Sakumo was just beginning to turn to face his fallen comrades but his moment of inattention cost him his life, and Sakumo didn't give him a chance, charging his sabre with electricity and thrusting it straight through his heart.
Meanwhile, Sakura was slicing through them like a hot knife through butter while he and Kakashi tried to fend off the swarms of enemy nin circling them. He heard multiple Iwa nin screaming in the distance to focus on the girl, but each of them seemed to drop dead as soon as they made a sound.
Sakumo was beginning to struggle against the fifty-something ninja clawing their way through his defenses, but he took a big chunk of them out with a fire release just in time for Sakura to land next to them, a bloody smile on her face. "Hello boys, let's play, shall we?"
The man closest to her began to advance, but then Sakura thrust her chakra blade clean through his neck, his arterial spray like violent showers drenching the whole area.
"You—!" growled one of the men, whipping out his sword and slicing wildly at Sakura, "You'll pay for—" and then he was on the ground, arm detached from his body. All Sakura had done was grab his blade and twist, the sharp end cutting into her hand but the force of her chakra had torn his arm straight out of its socket.
"Sakumo-sensei," she grunted as she bashed the faces of two Iwa shinobi together and flash-stepped behind another. "Get Kakashi and get out of here!"
"No way!" Kakashi snapped from somewhere nearby, where he had one shinobi by the throat.
"You'll hold me back!" Sakura cried, irritation seeping into her voice. "Get. Out!"
Sakumo pursed his lips as he snapped the neck of his captive, then jumped out of the tight circle of Iwa shinobi surrounding him. Some tried to follow, but Sakura took turns grabbing them by the ankle and slamming them into the dirt with enough force to shatter bones. He had no reason to believe she couldn't handle it anymore.
"Kakashi." He jumped to Kakashi's side, prying a ninja off him and thrusting his blade into the man's eye socket. "Let's go!"
A fierce sound like a wounded animal rippled from Kakashi's throat, but he complied, and then they were taking the remaining tree branches away, leaving Sakura behind.
Some ninja made to chase them but Sakura began to effortlessly uproot trees and send them hurtling like kunai at their enemies. "Eyes on me sweethearts, I'm your opponent!"
Sakumo ducked under one of the flying trees, an incredulous laugh escaping him as he dragged Kakashi by the collar. "You sure like them terrifying!"
His son's moodiness continued all the way to the edges of the clearing they chose to stop at, although he appeared to have calmed down from the adrenaline of battle.
"Oh come on, loosen up," Sakumo nudged him, smiling gently. "Do you really doubt her? She's amazing."
Kakashi's shoulders relaxed into a less rigid posture, but he remained stubbornly silent.
"You really should give her more credit she was whooping ass." He swore Kakashi's lips twisted into a faint smile beneath his mask, and Sakumo nudged him again, "That's more like it."
Terrified screams and explosions continued to ring in the distance, and Sakumo wondered what sort of hell Sakura was unleashing on those Iwa ninja.
"It's not that I doubt her," Kakashi finally said, wiping blood off his cheek. His eyes flickered in the direction that lead to Sakura. "Of course not, I'm not blind … let's just say we usually don't leave each other behind."
"Separation anxiety?" Sakumo teased.
Kakashi shrugged, making an effort to meet his eyes. He failed, his gaze dropping to his hands in his lap. "If that's what you want to call it … I've lost a lot of people … over the years I mean. Almost everyone I've ever loved. Can you fault me for being protective of the only one I have left?"
Sakumo's smile waned and disappeared to be replaced by a sinking feeling in his chest. Right. Tragic Kakashi from a tragic alternative univers. Would he ever get used to this Kakashi who rarely smiled? This Kakashi who seemed like he carried the weight of the world combined?
"No," Sakumo acquiesced softly. "No, I cannot."
...
Fourth Shinobi War
Despite deciding to lie low for a while, just until they recovered, war found its way to them, much like it did everything else.
In fact, it knocked right on their door. At five thirty in the morning, the ANBU base began to crumble on their heads as a result of more violent man-made earthquakes.
Kakashi was tempted to throw his hands up in the air and demand the gods give them a break from crumpled ceilings threatening to squash them. It was the second time in less than day.
It was by pure coincidence that the first pebble to fall connected with his head, knocking him awake. And they were damn lucky Sakura could punch through rocks. She'd immediately sprung to her feet and literally wrecked their way out of the base.
They stared at the collapsed pile of rocks for a while, Kakashi frustrated and Sakura with a sense of helplessness. They had restored enough of their chakra to be able to fight—they had no excuse anymore; they couldn't sit this one out.
"Let's go find out exactly what we're dealing with," Sakura finally said. Kakashi nodded, and together they flash-stepped away.
And, oh boy, did they wish they hadn't done that.
Sakura immediately ducked an exploding boulder hurtling their way, pulling Kakashi down with her and flattening herself against the ground.
Kakashi hissed at the foul smell of death that seemed to permeate the air and the very ground they walked on. The stench almost triggered his gag reflex.
They jumped back to their feet, a little disoriented by the fast-paced nature of this fight as they both tried to get their bearings and make sense of their surroundings.
There was a lot of smoke in the air; it hung thickly over everyone's head, reducing vision and making breathing more difficult. The sounds of weapons clashing rang loud, accompanied by gut-wrenching screams here and there. The invisible enemy appeared to be quick on their feet; there was a lot of terrified shouts cut short.
"Kakashi," Sakura said by way of warning, slowly shifting to press her back to his. Their invisible enemy was strong if Sakura could sense them.
And then it made an appearance, a living, breathing hybrid of plant and man twisted into one, with sharp teeth and and long limbs, claws aiming for their throat.
It barely made it a foot. Sakura lashed out, much like her temper did, and snapped its head off its body. She breathed heavily, her eyes wide. "What the fuck is that thing?"
"An alien?" Kakashi guessed, alarmed. He stretched his senses, taking notice of rapidly approaching enemies. "There's more of them heading this way."
"Fresh meat!" chanted the darker half as another hybrid made its appearance. It was rather peculiar that it appeared to be two different entities stitched into one, split in the middle.
"Mother will be pleased," the white half replied with a sharp grin.
Kakashi's skin crawled, his muscles stiffening as he prepared for a fight. Never had he ever encountered an opponent so strange— it travelled through the ground, bursting out at unexpected places and keeping everyone disoriented enough to kill them.
"Kakashi," Sakura said softly, the iciness of her tone strangely grounded him. "Watch your feet."
And then she shattered the earth.
...
Third Shinobi War
"Kakashi are you seriously still sulking?" Sakura huffed after half a day of silent travelling. It was maddening how long Kakashi could hold a silent treatment. "I'm fine. We all are. That's a win in my books."
Kakashi glanced her way, and then fleetingly at Sakumo before he responded, tone clipped, "You made me leave you behind. That about breaks ten different vows I've sworn."
"But Kakashi, I had it under control." Sakura sidled up to his side, a pout on her lips. "You know how it works ... nothing about my fighting style is precise or elegant; you could easily get hurt."
Kakashi's shoulders slumped a fraction before his eyes creased in a helpless, abashed smile. "Dad called it separation anxiety."
She gave a mock gasp. "How dare he hit the nail right on the head?"
In response, Kakashi's fingers gently ruffled her hair in an action he never quite outgrew before easily wrapping an arm around her shoulder and tugging her closer to his side. His nose briefly nuzzled her hair as he pressed an affectionate kiss to her temple. Sakura felt her cheeks burn at his display of affection, in front of his father no less. "Never again okay?" he murmured quietly, to which she quickly nodded and stepped away from his side.
Why was this so embarrassing? Nothing about what he just did was out of character for them, Kakashi was strangely comfortable when it came to being affectionate with her in front of their friends. At first there was hesitance until the general public accepted them, but then Kakashi had grown much more comfortable with holding her hand or waist and occasionally giving her innocent kisses.
It had to be because Sakumo was watching them with gentle eyes.
Oh gods, Sakura's face burned. She cleared her throat, sure that Kakashi was internally laughing at her reaction, and trekked ahead. "Let's hurry up now ... I need to know if Sasuke and Naruto are okay."
The thought of them was like a strong dose of reality. It was immediately sobering. She'd already lost them once, in that cursed other reality she would soon be returning to. She'd cherish those precious days she was granted with them, especially Naruto, who was the closest thing to a brother she'd ever had.
The thought of him always caused fresh tears to spring to her eyes, frustrating and unstoppable. That wound was still too fresh. Konoha's shinobi forces had given up at his loss, fighting half heartedly, feeling hopeless and all but awaiting their turn to die.
Sakura would have been one of them had she not had Kakashi, who was her anchor and the only thing left that tied her to this earth. She wiped hastily at her eyes to clear the moisture out of them and kept walking. So far, Kakashi hadn't seen her break yet, and she didn't want him to witness her moment of weakness when he, himself, was struggling to hold on.
After all, she was vividly aware of how much more this trip was costing him. She might have lost Naruto and gotten a chance to see him again, but in this world, Kakashi had everyone he'd ever lost in his life from mentor to father to best friend—he was going to lose both his teams and his father again. The thought saddened her so much she almost forgot her own pains.
It made her slow down her steps, earlier embarrassment completely forgotten and replaced with an immense heaviness in her heart. She reached out and took Kakashi's hand in her own—she felt completely terrible now. He was so afraid of losing her, the only one he had left, and she found it silly, thinking he simply didn't trust her to fight her own battles.
Sakura reminded herself that Kakashi was the only one on her team who had never doubted her strength. She squeezed his hand. "I'm sorry about earlier."
His eyes widened a fraction in surprise before they creased in a hidden smile. "Okay. Can we have eggplants for dinner tonight?"
Oh, she knew what he was doing. He always made matters sillier, redirecting serious discussions to something lighthearted to make her feel better. The thought warmed her more than she'd ever admit. "Now you're just taking advantage."
"Ninja." He mocked her lightly and squeezed her hand again.
She rolled her eyes, but couldn't quite hide her smile. She turned to look at Sakumo, who was watching them fondly. "Does eggplant sound okay? Kakashi tells me I make the best ones."
"Eggplants sound perfect, thank you, Sakura."
...
It turned out that Naruto and Sasuke had returned a day before them. They were alive, although quite visibly battered, but even more surprised by the hugs they received from Sakura. She was never quite affectionate with either of them, but it wasn't a bad change.
They left the hospital in higher spirits after she took her leave with Kakashi and Sakumo-sensei, Naruto teasing Sasuke for the way he blushed after Sakura's impromptu embrace and Sasuke insisting he was being a dobe and imagining things.
Sakura wore a bittersweet smile all the way home, Kakashi and Sakumo wordlessly trailing her.
"Is she okay?" Sakumo whispered to Kakashi, eyes trained at the rosette who now had a slight slouch in her posture.
Kakashi gave a noncommittal grunt. "I don't think so."
"What is it?" Sakumo worriedly inquired, side-eyeing his son meaningfully, imploring him to elaborate.
Kakashi sighed, his shoulders slumping too, much to his father's chagrin. "There are no longer a Sasuke and Naruto where we come from, Dad."
Sakumo startled, and if it weren't for years of conditioning, he would've stopped walking. Despite that, his breath hitched in his throat.
Kakashi's eyes creased in a rueful smile that fell quickly to be replaced by a heaviness Sakumo was familiar with. "Our Sasuke was too consumed with darkness to be saved. We'd failed him, as a nation, much like they'd failed me. But he bolted, defected Konoha and ran off to be apprenticed by one of the most terrifying shinobi in our world. Sakura killed him herself."
Deafening silence descended on them. "Sakura … killed Sasuke?"
"Not by choice. Hokage's order. For a long time we were told to capture him and bring him before the higher court were we to cross roads. Eleven failed attempts later, the order became capture dead or alive." Kakashi's voice dropped in volume, mindful of the fact that Sakura could overhear them. He didn't want to bring back any more painful memories. "He made it impossible, that idiot." Kakashi shook his head sorrowfully. "I always saw myself in him you know? I'd resolved to kill him myself. Killing your teammate isn't a burden I ever wanted Sakura to carry … god knows the weight of that never eases."
Sakumo listened intently as his son recounted events from his tragic universe.
"But Sakura, ever since Tsunade took her on as her apprentice, had changed. She believed it should be her to put an end to Sasuke." Kakashi recalled how Sakura, with her hands dripping blood and tears streaming down her face, had told him she never wanted him to sully his hands with a teammate's blood ever again. And it was then and there that Kakashi's world titled off balance and his inevitable spiral into love with Sakura started.
"And Naruto," Kakashi continued softly, and this one hurt him more than he'd ever admit, burned in his heart like a personal failure, sat in his throat like lead. He forced the words out, "Naruto died protecting Sakura, just a few weeks ago."
Sakumo's silence was so loud it rang in his ears. And then, "I'm so sorry, Kakashi."
Too overcome with grief, Kakashi didn't respond, and together they kept walking. There were scars that never healed; Kakashi had a number of these, and sometimes words stopped consoling and instead became exhausting to listen to. He was glad his father understood.
Words after all, made it all the much harder not to fall apart. And in war, that would get you crushed.