Youthful Endeavors


The dust clears, Obito's half-crushed beneath the boulder...but, somehow, he manages to give a smile despite it all; he doesn't think he can stand-

Her eyes are so very wide, her pupils so very dark in the middle of all that white; he pulls his arm back, Rin...he hasn't-he doesn't-

He can see the Nine-Tailed fox, but he can't do anything and Minato-Sensei he is out there and-oh god, oh god-

"Kakashi!"

The child's eyes popped open; in the darkness all he could make out was a wide pair of blue eyes and blond hair. Relief sparked through him, it was all just a dream..."Min-" He stopped. Eyes better adjusted, he saw the tell-tale lines on the tanned cheeks and the missing foot of height that belonged to his sensei. "Oh," he breathed, curling in on himself.

A hand came to rest on his back. "Are...are you okay Kakashi-sensei?"

"Go 'way Naruto, 'm fine." Kakashi muttered, face half-buried in his pillow. The hand didn't slip, if anything, it became stronger-rubbing up and down his back. Shifting his face so his mouth is unblocked, the little ninja snapped "Go!"

The hand paused.

"No," Naruto refused.

Shoving himself up on nightmare-weak arms, Kakashi twisted around and snarled. "Leave before I kill you!"

The hand that was so heavy (so warm, so real) dropped, but only long enough for it to come to his face and wipe away the frightened tears. "You're crying..." his student murmured sadly.

"I'm not, Obi-" but that can't be so anymore, his eye is gone, his best friend is gone. The boy quaked with a suppressed sob. Everyone is dead! Obito, Rin, Kushina, Minato, father! And they've been dead for years, but it all felt so raw, like it happened only last week...

Naruto brought him against his chest and held him there. "It's okay to cry, they were you're most important people...it's okay to miss them."

Even as he hid his face in Naruto's stomach, silently trembling and crying into his night-shirt, Kakashi couldn't help but think it wasn't okay. He hadn't cried like this in years, hadn't had such awful nightmares in years (most of the time, it only includes one-two-of his important people's deaths, not all of them).

Somewhere in all of the confusion, sadness and fear the boy put himself in sleep once more-thankfully black and endless.


Sakura knocked on Kakashi's door for what had to be the eighth or ninth time, puffing her cheeks out in annoyance, she yelled; "If one of you doesn't open this door, I'm going to break it down lazy bones!"

When a beat passed with no recognition, she decided not to wait and kicked it in. That ended up being a big mistake. A bunch of kunai shot out at her, causing her to shriek and fall back against the landing's ancient railing (thank god that didn't give away!). This time, though, someone does show up in the doorway. It's Naruto.

Blue eyes wide, he cried "Sakura! Are you okay?"

Getting up, she snapped. "Do I look fine to you!? I just had about fifty kunai attack me out of nowhere!"

"Oh, um, sorry...I was in the shower and-well, Kakashi-sensei's sulking..." He admitted sheepishly, rubbing at his neck.

Taking a step toward the blond, voice softer, she inquired "How is he?"

"Oh, um, great!" The other ninja saw the way she pursed her lips and sighed. "...he's bad, Sakura, I don't know what we can do for him..."

"Bad," the girl repeated. "How bad?"

"Nightmares. Crying. I think he almost mistook me for his Sensei!"

The pink-haired teenager bit her lip. "I was afraid something like that might happen-reverting in behavior to his given age, I mean."

"Then what do we do?" Naruto demanded.

"Keep him busy, the Hokage has her best people working on how to fix this." Curling a rope of hair behind her ear, the ninja said "Bring him to the spot-I told Sai to meet us there today, I think Kakashi-sensei would appreciate training above all else."

"Right," The other nodded, "I'll drag him over by his ankles if I have to!"

Sakura chuckled into her palm. "I'll see you soon, okay?"

"Yeah! Bye Sakura!" Naruto shouted, waving to her as she darted off for their meeting spot. Turning back to the apartment, Naruto muttered "Now I just need to get him to come out of his room..."


Because I kinda feel bad for uploading the wrong chapter this morning...so I'll give you tomorrow's tonight!

To Reviewers, Prescripto13, RoseBunse, and The Goliath Beetle; You guys are the best!

P.S. Thanks to Titi's Nemesis, chapter six is actually chapter six now and not a copy of chapter five, if you want to check that out :)

Thanks for reading and please review! :)

*Chapter edited 5/6/14*