Okay, on to Twelve. I'm really enjoying writing this, and it'll just get better from here. One thing I do want to point out now, though, is that there won't be any Sora/Sasori. Not only do I not write romance very often, but Sasori is eleven. Sora is eighteen and too old for him. If both characters survive until Sasori is older, then maybe, but I haven't decided what I will do with either of them for the long-term.

Get your heads out of the gutter.

"Lying to ourselves is more deeply ingrained than lying to others." —Dostoevsky

Twelve

Kakashi knew that no one around him could be even remotely normal, as illustrated by the various odd-balls that made up his previous teams: Obito, the only Uchiha that didn't act like one; Rin, the moderator/medic/fangirl (?) that was still somehow fit for war; Minato-sensei, the ludicrously strong but compassionate teacher; Naruto, the equally as strong and equally as compassionate son with a penchant for crazy stunts and blitzing through unbelievable odds; Sakura, the fangirl-turned-very-scary-punch-your-lights-out-medic that was too similar to Tsunade for anyone's tastes; Sasuke, the emotionally traumatized, revenge-obsessed, highly crazy Uchiha; Sai, the Root operative turned oddly-hilarious-yet-uncompromisingly-true-commentator; and of course himself, the socially inept asshole that can't seem to keep anyone alive.

Well, that was a downer.

But all-in-all, Kakashi knew that anyone he was friends with couldn't possibly be normal in any sense of the word. The prime example of this was Guy. Really. Enough said.

So when Jiraiya and his father were finally sober enough to speak clearly (and didn't that take a while), Kakashi was reminded again why Jiraiya was underestimated so much. Especially at this point in time before he'd been named one of the Sannin. Before the Konoha Chuunin Exams that Team 7 participated in, Jiraiya could be underestimated by opponents that didn't know him because of his ridiculous and crazy countenance, and ludicrously perverted ways. Now, though, he wasn't nearly as well-known, and Kakashi wouldn't be surprised if most ninja kind of over-looked him in favor of Orochimaru (who Kakashi had to keep reminding himself wasn't evil yet), or Tsunade (who was just plain scary even without her usual matchstick temper).

The first thing Jiraiya said was: "Why the hell do you think Kiri makes trashy beer?"

God-fucking-damnit, Kakashi was surrounded by idiots.

Kakashi knew that he was going to have to tell Jiraiya about the whole time-travel thing if he wanted the man's help, but that didn't mean he couldn't fuck around a bit first.

Slapping a scowl on his face, Kakashi held up a bottle of Kiri's lesser quality sakes and said, "This in and of itself is disgusting, but their beer would make anyone with any taste incinerate it on the spot. I mean, really, who the hell thinks that overloading the stuff with hops will make it taste good? Plus, the quality of the hops definitely leaves something to be desired. They don't even age it long enough. Beer is already as bitter as piss, so why add more bitterness? I get that hops help the preservation, but my God! We're shinobi! The stuff goes pretty damn fast."

That absolutely dumb-struck look on Jiraiya's face and the outright amusement on his father's would be something he'd remember for a long time. Once he'd said his peace, he burst out laughing at the sheer hilarity of the conversation. While he wasn't joking about Kiri's beer, he was sure that the in-depth alcohol lecture was the picture of ridiculous when coming from a five-year-old.

Which is why he did it. Besides, his father was obviously trying his damnest not to laugh and Kakashi saw that as a win.

"Uh," Jiraiya said. "Sakumo, I don't think that's your son." He scratched his head and squinted. "Pretty damn good genjutsu, though."

"I assure you that that is, in fact, Kakashi," Sakumo bit out between snickers. Kakashi himself was just recovering from the laughing, but knew he'd need to talk to his father if he wanted to convince him to enlist Jiraiya's help. One thing Kakashi had always liked about the Toad Sage was that, while Sarutobi was his former sensei, he wouldn't go blabbing absolutely everything to the man. He could think for himself.

Which was great because Kakashi didn't want to tell the Hokage right away. It's not that he didn't trust the Third, but the man already didn't handle conflict that well, and even if Sarutobi believed him, the information wouldn't be put to good use. And Danzō, of course. Danzō had spies everywhere, and who knew what the war hawk would do with all that future knowledge?

Not to mention that Kakashi didn't really plan on using a whole lot of his future knowledge. When he went back in time, he wasn't sure whether or not he'd be able to change things because he'd heard the theory that time would always try to revert itself back to how it should be, but because he'd saved his father, he had no reason to believe that to be true. As far as Kakashi was concerned, the future could be completely rewritten without any of that ridiculous fate crap getting in the way. (And wasn't that a relief? Anything that turned out how it had before was pretty much a bad thing.)

"Hey, Dad? Can I ask you something?" Kakashi asked and jerked his head toward the kitchen. His father quirked an eyebrow, but nodded. As soon as they were out of earshot of Jiraiya, he asked, "We need to tell Jiraiya."

His father's eyes widened slightly and he asked, "Why, exactly? This isn't exactly something to be shouting from the mountaintops, is it?"

Kakashi shook his head, but gestured to himself. "My chakra is all kinds of fucked up. At the Academy I couldn't even climb trees. My chakra was sluggish and unresponsive before becoming wild and untamable suddenly, like a damn had been opened. I researched it and found that I have a chakra imbalance; I have way too much spiritual energy compared to my physical energy, so I have shit control. I need Jiraiya to seal away some of my spiritual chakra."

His father took that in stride and nodded, gesturing to Jiraiya. They both turned to look at the still slightly woozy man with varying expressions of amusement before turning back into the living room.

The following hour of explanation, reassurance, and insistence that the Hokage didn't need to know yet was probably the longest of Kakashi's abnormally long life. Even longer than explaining to his father because while he respected Jiraiya, and the man acted like a surrogate father to Naruto, he was never that close to the man, and it was odd trying to struggle through his clusterfuck of a life when most of it was highly personal and made him hate himself more with every retelling. Nonetheless, he had to explain or Jiraiya wouldn't help him.

After it seemed like the man had grasped the basics of Kakashi's situation, Jiraiya asked, "So, why exactly are you telling me this? I guess, crazily enough, that I believe you, but why would you tell me?"

"My chakra is a shit storm because of a spiritual energy imbalance and I need you to seal away some of it so that I can use my chakra again," Kakashi said. Jiraiya furrowed his eyebrows in contemplation.

"I don't know if I should do that," he said.

"Why?"

Jiraiya was contemplating the problems with sealing away the kid's spiritual energy. Typically, it wouldn't be a huge problem because, while it would take him a good week to actually formulate the seal, it wasn't outside his realm of expertise. Simple containment spiral with change and additions for specific spiritual energy or a time-release so the seal would adjust itself according to the user's needs. But in this case, Kakashi told him that a seal was what sent him back in time.

A seal would not be able to just send memories back in time. Memories were intangible and seals could only deal with something tangible. Like thoughts. A seal could not read or direct thoughts because they were intangible things. Same with memories. Because the only jutsus or seals that could deal with the mind directly were Yamanaka clan techniques or something similar, that led Jiraiya to think that, theoretically, memories could be bound to a person's spiritual energy, as Yamanakas have recently taken to doing, and that the seal could send the spiritual energy back in time to the recipient's body.

That created a problem: by sealing away Kakashi's excess spiritual energy, Jiraiya would be sealing away future memories, which would affect him in any number of disastrous ways. Kakashi could forget key parts of the future, he could forget instrumental events that shaped his personality, or even worse—he'd forget things in patches that would leave him with memories that made no sense.

With all the shit that Kakashi went through, that could cause him to go completely insane, which wouldn't be good. So that left having Kakashi's memories unbound from his spiritual energy, which would also be very bad.

Jiraiya voiced this opinion to Sakumo and his son, who then asked him to explain. "As far as I understand from Inochi Yamanaka, when memories are bound they become less emotionally significant. They're easily recollected, and if they're strong then they'll still carry plenty of emotional significance, but they become, for lack of a better term, detached."

Kakashi narrowed his eyes in thought as he processed this. "So you're saying that my future memories are dulled?" His voice was high with incredulousness.

Jiraiya winced. "Yes," he said with an apology in his tone. "If your memories are already so vivid that they can cause crippling nightmares, then I would hate to see what would happen if they were unbound. You said you were sent back right at the end of the battle with Madara and that you were dying; at the time, you wouldn't have had any reason or time to sort through everything you experienced during the Fourth War or before. Unfortunately, that's going to bite you in the ass now."

Kakashi's mind was spinning. Seriously? he thought with anger. Great, he was already barely holding on to his sanity, and now he was being told that if he wanted to use his chakra before he was thirty, then he'd have to relive everything he'd ever gone through with his emotions running high as a kite? All the loss and hate and anger and depression and every other shitty thing he'd done was going to be pushed to forefront of his mind again? He couldn't fucking believe it.

I'm going to kick Naruto's ass to Iwa and back if I ever see him again, he thought angrily.

He was pulled out of his thoughts when Sakumo cleared his throat. "Not to disrupt the problem solving here, but the only person who could unbind your memories would be a part of the Yamanaka Clan and highly loyal to the Hokage, not to mention probably wouldn't believe the whole time-travel thing."

Jiraiya just shrugged and said, "Actually, the Yamanaka would be the most likely to believe it because they could go through your mind to confirm it. And I know Inochi well enough that he would probably be quiet about it. It's not like you have any other choice."

Sakumo agreed, but Kakashi wanted to just bash his head in. It was just his fucking luck that he'd have to do this, and of course he'd have to let another person know about his time-travel, which was getting old. While he didn't care for preserving the timeline, that didn't mean he wanted everyone to know he had an advantage so they could purposefully change things. He was sure that he'd screw everything up beyond recognition within a year or so.

He was kind of hoping for that, anyway.

"How are we going to approach Inochi?" Kakashi asked. He knew Inochi was a clan head, at least until his son, the third member of the famous Ino-Shika-Cho combination, took over the position. Clan heads had a lot more than their ninja careers to deal with and it didn't seem like just anyone would be able to just knock on his door for a few spots of tea and a memory unbinding. That was time consuming, and not to mention that it was highly personal and usually a very private affair.

His father cleared his throat. "I have an appointment anytime within the next week with Inochi on orders of the Hokage. We could deal with it then."

Kakashi knew there was more to it than that, but decided he shouldn't push since he had plenty of shit on his plate at the moment. He'd talk to his father about it later. Instead, he nodded and said, "Great, it's settled. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'd like to take a shower and pass out."

With that, Kakashi stood up and stretched before heading into his bedroom and shutting the door. He dug around in his drawers for a set of comfortable pajamas, something he hadn't had the luxury of for years, before climbing into his bed and staring at the ceiling, thinking about everything he still had to do.

After unbinding his memories and sealing away some of his spiritual energy, he still had to regain control of his chakra, hand seal speed, and eventually, though not for a least a couple of years, get used to serious chakra form and nature manipulation. He wouldn't be able to do Chidori without…

Fuck.

He realized that he hadn't ever truly completed the Chidori. There was a reason that it couldn't be performed by anyone other than an Uchiha: as it was, only the Sharingan could complete the jutsu. When Obito had given him the Sharingan, the Chidori was completed… for him. The jutsu was still technically incomplete because it couldn't effectively be used without it, even by him. The human eye simply couldn't keep up with the Chidori's speed, so the user couldn't see a counterattack in time to dodge it. If he ever wanted to use his signature jutsu again, he'd have to find a way to either slow the jutsu down, regain the Sharingan (not happening), or find some other way to detect enemies extremely quickly other than sight. While sound and smell could detect enemies, those senses couldn't keep track of the opponent at such speeds.

First step, though: be able to perform an incomplete Chidori before worrying about completing it.

Thinking of the Sharingan brought him to Obito. He said that he'd meet Obito at the bridge tomorrow at noon, and he was honestly looking forward to it. During Kakashi's first life, they'd been classmates, teammates, rivals, and even enemies, but Kakashi had never really gotten to know Obito. Yeah, he'd gone to the Memorial Stone every day to talk to the Uchiha, but it was really the idealized, post-mortem, guilty kind of knowing and Kakashi was slightly ashamed to say he didn't know Obito Uchiha very well at all other than what everyone knew of him.

Kakashi had a feeling that Minato-sensei had been a lot closer to the Uchiha's black sheep than he let on, and that that was part of the reason he'd agreed to take Obito and him on was the hope that the two would even each other out.

If Minato had seen Obito torture him, or Kakashi fight Obito to the death, he might realize why that wouldn't have ever happened. Either way, the past was in the future, and he might as well try to get some sleep before he met his ex-enemy/ex-teammate/possible future teammate. (Ugh. Time-travel would never stop being confusing.)

The whole 'atoning for one's sins' had always seemed very unrealistic in Kakashi's opinion, as he didn't think a person could ever truly erase whatever atrocities they'd committed, but he hoped that one day he'd at least forgive himself for them. And even though he didn't believe he could wipe away his past, that didn't mean he didn't owe some people more than they would ever know.

Starting tomorrow, he had a lot of making up to do.

X.x.X.x.X

When Kakashi woke up well after dawn, he marveled at the fact that he'd had an entire night of uninterrupted sleep. That hadn't happened since… actually, he couldn't really remember the last time. It was probably sometime during the first few months of passing his Genin team, and that had been over five years ago. He was always woken by either nightmares or people trying to kill him.

Was it sad that he couldn't decide which was worse?

After digging through his closet, Kakashi found something that he hadn't thought about in decades: the green and navy scarf that his father had given to him when he was a baby. The first time, he'd never had the chance to ask why his father had gotten it for him, but now that he thought about it, he decided to ask. It was, after all, his first 'mask' so to speak. He'd worn it over top of his regular mask during his Academy days because it was a gift from his father. In a fit of sentimentality, Kakashi wrapped it around his face before he left his room to the kitchen.

The clock above the stove read 10:07 and Kakashi was shocked. He didn't think he'd ever slept that late in his entire life, at least not since he was… oh wait. Duh. He was five physically, so his body needed a lot more sleep than he was used to. Actually, exhaustion might've been a part of why he hadn't dreamt last night.

Entering the kitchen, he found his father and Jiraiya sitting at the island nursing cups of tea. Both of them seemed to have their head cradled in their hands and Kakashi knew that they had killer hangovers from their overhaul of the liquor cabinet yesterday. It was a testament to their hungover-ness (was that a word?) that neither of them knew Kakashi was in the room until he came up right behind them.

For some reason, Kakashi had never enjoyed tea. He thought it tasted like hot piss, the exact opposite of beer just without the alcohol. He accepted it if it was offered because there was no reason to complain about something he wasn't going to drink even if he liked it.

No, Kakashi was a coffee kind of person. Admittedly, he didn't drink it black because of how bitter it was even if he claimed to so he'd look like more of a badass. (He'd only told that to Guy during one of their ridiculous challenges.) So as soon as he stepped foot in the kitchen, he turned on the percolator and filled it with his favorite beans: the 9th Degree of Darkness from Old Crown, a local coffee shop that roasted their own beans in-house every Friday.

He'd discovered Old Crown when he'd started ANBU and had gone there ever since. He was elated that his father seemed to like the shop, though he couldn't recall that little detail from the last time around. As soon as it was done brewing, he added a teaspoon of sugar and just a little half-and-half to combat the very bold brew. Going to sit on the opposite side of the island to his dad and Jiraiya, he said, "Regretting the alcohol yet?" in a teasing tone.

Jiraiya groaned dramatically. "Don't even remind me, brat. I'm going to be feeling this one the rest of the day." He took another gulp of his tea before letting his head bang against the table. "And it's only ten."

Sakumo just groaned in agreement.

Kakashi snickered and let a comfortable silence fall. The Hatake's small kitchen was awash in early morning light and it made him oddly optimistic when he was typically highly negative. (Most of his life did warrant that.) He was looking forward to training with Obito, even though he wouldn't be making any progress, and he was hoping he'd be able to eventually gain the Uchiha's trust so that Kakashi could help Obito with his training more regularly. While Minato was a great teacher, the blonde couldn't get to anything very advanced because the constant bickering between him and Obito made it impossible to get past the basics, not to mention the war. So if Kakashi could speed that up, then all the more likely that Obito wouldn't die in the future, Kannabi Bridge mission or not.

As Kakashi chucked back the last dregs of his coffee, which garnered odd looks from his dad and Jiraiya, he tugged his scarf back up over his mask. Turning to his dad, he asked, "Hey, Dad. Where did you get this scarf?"

The question seemed to startle his father, who choked on his tea and coughed loudly. "Um, your mother bought that once she found out she'd be having a boy."

"I… This is from my mother?" Kakashi asked quietly. He was somewhat shocked. He'd been a baby when his mother had died the first time and his father either didn't have or didn't keep any pictures of her, so he didn't even know what she looked like. Not to mention that he hadn't really cared the first time.

Sakumo got a far-eyed look, as if he was thinking about something long ago. "She swore up and down the wall that any child of hers would instinctually want to cover their face, so she bought this scarf thinking that the colors were pretty but muted so they'd befit the child of two ninjas."

She was right, Kakashi thought as he fingered the sturdy material. If he had to pick a favorite color it would probably be navy blue or black, and the green was muted enough that it didn't remind him of Guy, so it was fine. It looked good, was really comfortable, and he liked the colors, so he thought he'd wear it at least until he graduated. Which, luckily for his sanity, wasn't very far off.

Glancing at the clock, Kakashi still had an hour and a half until he had to meet Obito, so he dropped his mug in the sink, rechecked for all of his weapons, and ran a cursory eye over the kitchen, mostly out of habit. He nodded to his father and Jiraiya before heading outside to peruse the village for a while until noon. He might even get to the bridge early just to pull a Team 7 and see what Obito was up to. That is, if Obito was even there. With his reputation for lateness, Kakashi really doubted it.

Compared to Konoha before it was destroyed by Pain, the village was more muted, though not unlively. There was an undercurrent of nervousness and anticipation that acted like a weight on the usual everyday activities, mostly in the way people interacted with each other. The civilians avoided the ninjas like the plague, even Kakashi, who was only in the Academy. Looking so much like his father probably had something to do with it.

Unless people were travelling in groups, no one really talked to each other, but instead herded to the side of the street like the middle was more dangerous or something. (It actually was, but typically civilians didn't think like that.) Kakashi knew that this behavior was because of the looming war, but he felt like he was missing something because this was even more paranoid than Konoha was the first time. His father had warned him that the Third War might be sparked because of whatever his mission was, so Kakashi guessed that it was because of that.

The day was overcast but not raining, and Kakashi was inwardly glad that it wasn't bright and sunny outside. He really wasn't in the mood for a clear blue sky or an optimistic sun at the moment, so while he might prefer rain, the clouds were appreciated.

"Kakashi?" a woman's voice said from behind him. It was vaguely familiar, but he couldn't quite place it.

As soon as he turned around he realized why: Mikoto Uchiha, one of Kushina's close friends, was walking with her now-boyfriend Fugaku. Kakashi knew that Sasuke's parents had gotten married a lot earlier than most of their generation because of Uchiha Clan Elders pressuring them, but he was kind of surprised that Mikoto really recognized him. Minato was only somewhat-friends with Sakumo, through Jiraiya, and he and Kushina weren't even close to dating yet, so it didn't seem like something Kushina would mention to her friends.

Unless Kakashi changed something already, which was more likely than not.

"Hello, Uchiha-sama," Kakashi greeted with a nod. Mikoto's father was the current Clan Head after all, and it wouldn't do to insult her, or more likely, Fugaku. That man was more immersed in Clan politics than anyone Kakashi had ever had the displeasure of meeting.

Surprisingly, it was Fugaku who spoke. "How are you, Kakashi?" He seemed to genuinely want to know, not just offering a stiff, required inquiry like he was known for doing.

It was downright weird. Shaking his head slightly, Kakashi answered, "Well, thank you. I'm happy my father's home." Which was as true as anything. He was even happier now that his father wasn't on the brink of mental collapse.

That seemed to make Fugaku perk up slightly, though he hid it well. Kakashi was just better at distinguishing micro-emotions because of ANBU training. "Tell your father that we're all glad he made it back."

Really? He's trying to get in my father's good graces through me? Over this? Kakashi was about to snap at Fugaku, future Clan Head or not, when he got a closer look at the teen. While the compliment was most likely pretty empty, Fugaku seemed genuinely sad about Sakumo's teammates, which once again startled Kakashi.

When he thought about it more, though, he realized something he should have a lot sooner. Just like Minato, Fugaku and the rest of their generation was still thoroughly inexperienced. The Third War hadn't sparked yet and they were too young to have fought in the Second War, so the relatively miniscule amount of battle they'd seen was not only isolated but not very gruesome compared to what would come. They were naïve, more naïve than Kakashi. (Wasn't that hilarious to think about?)

So maybe Fugaku was manipulative and cold and dangerously cunning in the future, but now he was still pretty innocent and however he acted now would be more reminiscent of who he could've been. Clan politics probably turned this Fugaku into the Fugaku of the future that planned a coup d'état.

"I will," Kakashi said absently, still observing the fifteen-year-old.

It was still kind of odd seeing all of these people so young again. Jiraiya had looked pretty much the same for a long time, and his father looked just like he remembered (obviously), but Minato and the adults of that generation… it was weird seeing them as teenagers. Most of them were only barely Jounins. Minato was a Jounin, but from the vests that Mikoto and Fugaku were wearing, Mikoto was still a Chuunin. Though that would probably change here soon.

"Where are you headed?" Mikoto asked Kakashi to break the silence.

Kakashi gestured toward the bridge. "I told Obito that I'd meet him at that new bridge over by the Academy at noon. We're going to train."

Mikoto smiled and said, "Really? You've got about an hour until then, don't you? How about you come back with us to the Uchiha District and you can grab Obito now? If you wait, he'll probably be late knowing that kid."

Uh… "Sure…" he said. Really, how was he supposed to answer that? Kakashi hadn't ever talked to any Uchiha save Obito until he'd gotten the Sharingan, and those weren't friendly conversations anyway. Even when Kakashi got to know Kushina better, they hadn't talked about her friends but occasionally, mostly just because he was hearing a conversation about who was injured in the field.

He walked alongside the couple for a few minutes until Mikoto spoke up. "When will you graduate the Academy?"

Kakashi actually had to think about that. His father had committed seppuku two months after the Mission from Hell, as he'd dubbed it, and vaguely remembered graduating something like six months later. He thought it was late spring, maybe April or May. He said so to Mikoto.

"Will you be put on a Genin team or be apprenticed?" Fugaku asked.

Even with future knowledge, Kakashi wasn't entirely sure. Since things wouldn't go exactly as they had last time, hypothetically he could get any of the current Jounins as a sensei, or even be put with other Genins almost four years older than him. Honestly, he highly doubted it. No team would work with him because of his age, and Minato was the most experienced of the young Jounins, so Kakashi still suspected that he'd get the Namikaze again. "Probably apprenticed," is what he told Fugaku.

The teen rubbed his chin like he had a beard even though he didn't even have stubble and made the classic 'hn' noise that the Uchiha were known for. Luckily Kakashi was well-versed in Uchiha-ese.

"Probably Minato Namikaze if I had to hazard a guess." Fugaku glanced over at him with slight surprise, probably since not many knew the Uchiha well enough to interpret their different grunts. Honestly, it was ridiculous that they did it at all because it caused so many miscommunications that it wasn't even funny.

"Why do you say that?" Mikoto said, jumping in. Oddly enough, the Uchiha women that Kakashi had met never grunted like their male counterparts did.

"Well," Kakashi drawled, tipping his head up toward the sky. Dark gray storm clouds were starting to roll in, casting an ominous feeling over the whole village. It seemed like it was about to rain soon and he pursed his lips. "Namikaze-san is the most experienced Jounin that I know of, not to mention that he's been asking to teach for God knows how long now."

Mikoto and Fugaku nodded knowingly and they all fell into a comfortable silence as they approached the Uchiha District. Its high wooden walls that shut out the rest of the world always seemed imposing when Kakashi was a kid, but now it was only pitiable. The Uchiha, a founding clan of Konoha, was both being shut out and shutting themselves out from the very village they were supposed to be a part of. The clan, which so desperately tried to claw for power, was feared by everyone but loved by none. Many of its own members disliked the clan, especially the lower class ones that were tossed aside because they didn't acquire the Sharingan.

If there was one clan Kakashi didn't want to be a part of, it was the Uchiha. In some ways, he didn't entirely blame Sasuke for how he turned out. That clan was truly damned.

As he said goodbye to Fugaku and Mikoto, he hoped that their clan could escape the fate it had the last time around. Maybe, just maybe, the Uchihas wouldn't end up extinct.

It sounded like a pipe dream even to Kakashi.

After he'd set off to Obito's house, Mikoto turned to her boyfriend and they locked eyes for a moment before she said, "How old is he again?"

Fugaku furrowed his eyebrows. "I thought five, but that doesn't seem right. You think he's small for his age? Maybe seven? Either way, he's like a mini-Sakumo."

Mikoto shook her head. "He reminds me exactly of Kaiya."


"You've got some kid there, Sakumo," Jiraiya told him as soon as Kakashi left.

Sakumo ran his fingers through his hair, frustrated. He knew that all too well and it wasn't likely that it would change anytime soon. Not only was it downright crazy how Kakashi acted, even if Sakumo knew about the time-travel, but how he made absolutely no sound. Sakumo hadn't really noticed it until this morning when Kakashi just appeared in front of them and started making coffee. Granted, they had horrendous hangovers, still did, but even in all of Kakashi's genius he'd never been that quiet, especially instinctually. Sakumo had been drunk before and still easily heard his son move around the house.

He honestly wasn't sure what to do with Kakashi. It's not like he wouldn't help him out with whatever he needed help doing because he would, but it was overwhelming, the whole 'the fate of Konoha is partly on your shoulders'. It wore on a person, especially him since he was already screwed up. After that shitshow of a mission, he came back to whatever the hell he wanted to call Kakashi's time-travel business.

He was only twenty-five and he still felt too old for this shit. Ugh.

Suddenly, Jiraiya clapped him on the back, effectively pulling him out of his thoughts. "Think about it this way, Sakumo. At least—"

Jiraiya was cut off by an ANBU materializing in the window of his kitchen. In a monotone the ANBU said, "The Hokage requires both of your presences immediately in his office. This is considered S-class priority." Just as quickly as he came, he disappeared in a swirl of leaves.

Sakumo glanced at Jiraiya before they took off toward the Hokage Tower. They leapt across rooftops with chakra-enhanced speed, vaulted in the open window of the Tower as they flared their chakra, and pulled off a quick salute to Sarutobi before standing at attention. Right away, the Hokage said, "At ease."

"What's going on Sensei?" Jiraiya spoke up first. "What would be of S-class priority?"

Sarutobi sighed and Sakumo noticed that, for once, the old man didn't have his trademark pipe. In fact, the Hokage's desk was clear of everything save a small, lone scroll that looked entirely too innocent lying there by itself. For some reason, it gave Sakumo a bad feeling, though he couldn't say why if asked.

When most ninja were in the Hokage's office, they were nervous or fidgety, but the more seasoned Jounins eventually got used to the tense atmosphere. It was obvious that the messenger who brought the scroll was not one of these people. The boy kept shifting from foot to foot and flickering his eyes across the room looking at everything and nothing at the same time. Sakumo might've felt a little bad for the kid, but he was too worried about whatever the Hokage called them there for to give the messenger much thought.

Luckily for the Chuunin that spotted the hawk, he wouldn't be the one giving Sakumo the news.

The Third Hokage sighed again. "You're going to want to sit down for this," he said wearily. "It's good and bad news. Admittedly more good than bad, but probably not for long."

How perfectly vague and cryptic, Sakumo thought sarcastically. He didn't voice this opinion, however, and sat down with Jiraiya.

"This morning at 09:00 hours, we received a scroll from Suna's fastest hawk with a triple white band, S-class. After disabling a myriad of blood seals, this is how the missive read:

"Hokage-sama, earlier this morning a shinobi claiming to be of Konoha was admitted to Suna's hospital after being accosted by a Suna nin. She was admitted with a shoulder and side injury, minor chakra exhaustion, and various cuts and bruises. She claimed to be Sora Kuramoto, a Jounin of Konoha. Within minutes of myself and Lady Chiyō leaving the room, she mysteriously disappeared, taking a poison on Chiyō's person with her. Not thirty minutes later, Kuramoto-san appeared directly in my office with a Chuunin and Genin of mine, Sasori and Komushi. She demanded medical treatment for the Genin before she would go on to explain her seal, the Bolting Arrow. This conversation was held in complete private, as Kuramoto-san erected multiple privacy seals beforehand.

"I would like to know how such a seal was placed in my office or inside Suna's wards, but after Kuramoto-san's actions regarding my ninja, I think I will be able to convince the Council to re-issue Suna's treaty with Konoha. If there is war, which seems inevitable at this point, Suna is your ally.

"Sincerely, Tetsunaka Amori, Third Kazekage."

Silence reigned for a full minute after the Hokage was finished. No one quite knew what to say. For that minute of quiet, everyone in the room was staring at something, probably trying to digest the new information. Sarutobi's lips had thinned into a hard line, Jiraiya was trying and failing to keep the shock off his face, and Sakumo was staring blankly at the morning sun that slanted across the room, bisecting the Hokage's large mahogany desk. The White Fang was intently watching the dust motes as they danced through the air in front of him because he wasn't quite ready to accept what he'd just heard. Jiraiya was the one to break the brief silence.

"Suna's on our side?"

Leave it to Jiraiya to be as blunt as humanly possible.

The Hokage sighed. "It seems that way, yes. As I said, this is good news, however the implications might not be…" Both of the seasoned Jounins knew what that meant.

Just another catalyst to start the Third Shinobi World War. While it was great that Suna would be on their side, no one particularly wanted to go to war anyway. Not that it was really optional at this point. The Elemental Countries had been a powder keg for years and it was really only a matter of time until it exploded.

When Sakumo spoke it was slightly scratchy and very tight, but otherwise he did an impeccable job of keeping the tremble out of it. "Sora is alive? In Suna?" He received a weary nod from Sarutobi.

Even though Sakumo didn't know any of the details, he knew without a doubt that Sora must've tried to Bolt even with badly drained chakra reserves. She'd told him before that it was highly dangerous to Bolt like that and that theoretically it could pull her apart, or scatter pieces of her across the world, or just outright kill her from chakra exhaustion. She did know for a fact that it wouldn't complete the transportation and that she'd be, at the very least, dropped off at some random beacon seal in between her location and the target beacon.

From what little he knew, he guessed the latter theory had been correct, and because of her low chakra, the jutsu dumped her in Suna where the nearest beacon seal outside of Iwa was. Whatever the hell had happened, he was just glad that she was alive.

He couldn't say the same of Korharu. And Akio was… well Akio had a target on his back, and if Sakumo (or any Konoha ninja because of the Hokage) ever saw the ex-ANBU again, he'd make sure that Hanari didn't have teeth to lie through anymore. Or a throat to scream.

Sakumo knew that it wasn't healthy to think like that, but he was so pissed he didn't give a damn. He wouldn't let anyone know he was so angry, but he'd let it simmer, put it on a backburner until he saw the bastard again and then he'd show Akio just why his moniker was the White Fang. The mission was still an open wound and Akio's betrayal had just rubbed salt in it.

Keeping his darker thoughts to himself, he asked, "Is Sora heading for Konoha now?"

"I don't have any further details, but from what I've gathered, Kuramoto-san seems oddly protective of the Suna nins she saved. You'd know better than me Sakumo, but I doubt she'll ditch while one is still in the hospital," the Hokage said in a tone that implied just how he felt about that. While Konoha was known for their looser interpretations of the Shinobi Rules, that didn't mean it was good to form significant relationships with ninja from other villages. It almost always ended badly.

Sakumo knew his student than almost anyone, and he was sure that something crazy must've caught her attention for her to stay in a possibly hostile village longer than absolutely needed. He wasn't sure the extent of her injuries after she Bolted, but he didn't think they could be minimal and at the very least she'd be really low on chakra. So, whoever she was staying for had to be special.

Sora hadn't been quite the same after her father was killed. She never said anything to Sakumo or Korharu, but the mission that she took immediately after the funeral changed her in some way because as soon as she came back, she wasn't the same. Sakumo had been around for a while and he had his suspicions about what she'd done while she was gone.

"No, if she stayed in Suna to save this person, she wouldn't leave until she knew he was okay," Sakumo said, which just garnered looks from both Jiraiya and the Hokage. The implications there were anything but subtle.

Sarutobi turned his attention to Jiraiya. "Have you gotten anything from your spies? I'm sure that Iwa isn't staying quiet about everything that's happened and I want to be ready for anything they throw at us. I don't think that they'd try anything too drastic, but I won't bank the village on it."

Sakumo and Jiraiya shared a brief look, but in that moment something significant two men, something that solidified what Sakumo already knew. The Toad Sage faced his former sensei and said, "Nothing interesting has come up recently, but we can't let our guard down. We'll have to keep an eye out."

The Hatake let out a small, inaudible breath. Kakashi's secret was safe for now, and that was enough for Sakumo. Now they just had to survive the time spent with Inochi. And save the world. Someone please put me out of my misery.


As Kakashi expected, Obito was still sleeping. They were still really young, so it honestly wasn't that surprising, not to mention that Obito didn't have any contention with his family yet. Because of his young age, and the lack of Itachi's genius hanging over his head, Obito's parents still thought he could be the perfect Uchiha. (It was so fitting that Obito's Sharingan would eventually become one of the strongest the Uchiha Clan had ever produced. Payback's a bitch.)

Kakashi had never met Obito's parents, but as he knocked on the door, he was irrationally nervous. By the time he'd been put on Team 7, Obito was already the infamous Black Sheep and therefore lived by himself, already having been kicked out by his parents. It didn't sit well that the people he was about to meet were the ones to disown their own son. It was insulting to people like Naruto, Sasuke, and Lee, whose families were taken from them without so much as a by-your-leave; and in Naruto and Lee's case without ever even knowing them.

The door was pulled open by a tall, dark-haired man with the typical black eyes of the Uchiha. He was at least six-foot-two with broad shoulders and muscular arms that were crossed in front of him. His face was neutral in a way that only ninjas could truly pull off, so Kakashi was right in assuming that at least one of Obito's parents were ninjas.

"Can I help you?" the man asked gruffly.

"My name is Kakashi Hatake and I was going to train with Obito today," Kakashi replied politely. He wondered if this man was going to let inside or just get Obito. He'd be completely fine with the latter.

"Come in," Obito's father said as he swung the door wide. "My wife would kill me if I left you out on the doorstep."

Kakashi suppressed a snicker. It didn't matter who you were—happy wife means happy life. He'd seen Kushina angry enough times to know that even if he'd never been married.

The inside of the Uchiha's house was surprisingly homey. In fact, it was nothing like Kakashi assumed a stick-up-the-ass Uchiha would even step foot in. The first area he walked into was a foyer area with a closet that opened to the left into a large and open front room. A blue and white striped couch stood against the wall of windows looking out onto the front lawn that was, surprisingly, not immaculate. It was presentable, but nothing pristine like he always imagine it would have to be. Then again, this area of the Uchiha District was tucked away, and he assumed that Mikoto's house was nothing like this.

"Who was it, Masaru?" a woman asked as she entered the front living area through a double acting door*. The living area that Kakashi was standing in was attached to the dining area with a table that sat four.

"Kakashi Hatake. He's here to get Obito for training," the previously-named Masaru replied.

Obito's mother was a pleasant woman, as Kakashi came to find out. She introduced herself as Naoko Uchiha, Mikoto's cousin on her father's side, and he was coming to learn in the short few minutes that he'd spent with her that she practically embodied what he thought of as a mother (though he only had Kushina (ish) and people like Inoichi and Shukaku's wives to go by). She was stern when it came to her son, but there was no doubting the fierce undercurrent of love and protectiveness to her. Not that that stopped her front whapping Obito over the head when he complained about it being too early to wake up.

Naoko had all the looks of an Uchiha, that was for sure. Her black hair was straight and went to about mid-back, and her black eyes were smart and calculating. A few times Kakashi had said something to her while waiting for Obito and found her staring at him, and after that he tried to dumb down his sentences a little bit, realizing how impossibly articulate he must seem for a five-year-old. She had a petite frame and was only about five-foot-three, but either way she was not someone to mess with. She moved with the deliberate grace only a ninja would have, and Kakashi was correct in assuming that Obito's parents were ninjas. Active ones, if the Jounin vests laid over the back of chairs suggested anything.

It didn't take long for Obito to throw some clothes on once his mother finally whacked him hard enough to wake up. He came bounding down the stairs about fifteen minutes after Kakashi arrived with his usual exuberance and large smiles.

"When will you be back?" Naoko asked her son as he tried to dart out the door. She crouched down as she said it and held firmly onto his collar until he huffed, but relaxed.

"Probably in a couple hours, maybe three," Kakashi answered, glancing at Naoko.

The Uchiha matriarch glanced at him with that curious and slightly confused expression again, but nodded her head nonetheless and repeated to Obito to be home on time and not talk to strangers. "Yeah!" Obito shouted in response as he grabbed Kakashi's hand and yanked him out the door, running the entire way to the training grounds.

Training Ground 13 was situated as close to the regular workings of the village as possible without being overtly dangerous. The only people that really used it were Academy students because anyone of any rank whatsoever would probably be likely to damage something nearby if they overpowered or misused a jutsu. Not to mention that the civies liked this training ground to look nice since it was in easy view of foot-traffic.

As soon as they got there, Obito pulled out a set of blunted training kunai to show to Kakashi. "My dad bo-bought these for me be-before I started th-the Academy," he explained sagely, as if this fact was immensely important. Kakashi slid his real kunai from his leg holster and got ready. If he was going to get used to being a kid, he'd have to train all of his skills and reflexes.

Obito wasn't bad, but Kakashi could tell from his stance that his throwing arm wasn't drawing back far enough and he wasn't putting his body behind the throw. As such young kids, they simply didn't have the arm strength it would take to throw a kunai effectively without their full body weight behind it. Not to mention that it always yielded more penetration and accuracy if a person put real weight behind their throw. So, Kakashi gave his first bit of wisdom to Obito.

"Pull your arm back farther and twist your body like this to put weight behind it," Kakashi explained as he set up to throw his own kunai. Cocking his left arm back, he did a mock throw to test his physical capabilities before lobbing the knife as hard and accurate as he could. It hit the target just slightly right of center with a solid thunk and embedded itself a good couple inches deep. Obito gaped as he then proceeded to throw the rest of his kunai just as accurately.

"Woooooah. You-you're amazing!" Obito stuttered, his mouth not quite keeping up with his brain. "Show me! Show me!"

They spent the next hour trying to perfect Obito's aim, which Kakashi had to admit got a lot better as they went along. Obito was hitting the target every time now and getting a lethal chest hit five out of ten times. It was a decent start, and one that Kakashi could work with in the future. Eventually, though, Obito started to get tired and even Kakashi was winding down. Though he could push himself to exhaustion if the need arose, his five-year-old body was not only unused to that, but it would be detrimental to his growth to exhaust himself every time he trained, which bothered him a lot more than it should.

Whatever anyone said about him otherwise, Kakashi was completely fucked up. Plain and simple. And to get away from the worst of his nightmares or the worst of his missions, he trained himself into utter exhaustion so that he wouldn't dream, couldn't even think straight. He pushed himself to the physical limit to get away from the people and places that haunted him, to forget about the children he'd killed, to hide from the accusing faces of the few people willing to be around him.

Now that he was so young, he couldn't throw a kunai accurately without way too much concentration for his standards, and his taijutsu was so unbelievably horrendous that it would be impossible to train to exhaustion. There wasn't anyone he could even spar with for a while, at least until he was apprenticed, hopefully to Minato. The amount of stress that was building up just because he couldn't train was starting to bother him.

After a short break where Obito gushed about his awesome throwing skills, they both tried to climb trees with their chakra. Kakashi was out-right failing because of his chakra imbalance, but Obito, on the other hand, just couldn't seem to figure out how to keep his chakra steady when walking upwards. Kakashi tried his best to teach him, but it was kind of hard to convince Obito of his knowledge when he couldn't even do it. After about fifteen more minutes of no progress, Obito got frustrated and flopped down at the base of the tree with a put-out expression on his face.

"I'm not ever gonna get it," Obito pouted, sniffing.

Kakashi sat down about a foot from him and leaned back against the tree trunk. "Why do you say that?"

"We've pra-practiced for two days a-and I can't d-do it," he mumbled.

Thinking back, Kakashi remembered that even when Obito joined Team 7, his chakra control was relatively bad. It wasn't atrocious like Naruto's since he had been trained, at least to some degree, but his water-walking was usually shaky and his Fire Style techniques would waste quite a bit of chakra if they were bigger than Genin size. So chakra control seemed to be one of Obito's biggest weaknesses, and Kakashi tried to rack his brain for anything that could help him get a better hold on his chakra, faster. He was bouncing ideas around in his head when he sensed someone's very familiar chakra approach the edge of the training grounds.

Honestly, Kakashi was waiting for Minato to seek him out considering what the blonde had witnessed the day his father returned. For a while, he just assumed that Minato was being polite and letting him have time with his father, but now that he was out and about, he guessed that Minato thought this a great opportunity.

"Hey, Kakashi," Minato said once he'd appeared in the clearing. He eyed the targets that Kakashi nailed with kunai before glancing at Obito's, probably noting the disparity between the two. "Who're you training with?"

Obito glanced up at Minato and, seeing the Jounin vest, presently forgot his pouting in favor of shooting to his feet and smiling that face-splitting smile he was so known for. "I'm Obito Uchiha. Who are you?"

Minato chuckled at Obito's cheerfulness before replying, "Minato Namikaze. What were you guys doing?"

Kakashi didn't really want to have this conversation, but it seemed like it was inevitable. The least he could do was get Obito a real teacher before he had to lie his way through the interaction with Minato.

The problem wasn't that Kakashi didn't plan on telling Minato about time-traveling because he absolutely was going to. Some things that Madara did the first time would have to happen again because they were integral to the madman's plans, such as the Kyuubi attack and the Uchiha Massacre. While they'd go down differently, they would have to happen somehow. With Minato eventually being Hokage, or at least one of the highest ranking Jounins, he would have to know about those things. Kakashi also wasn't worried about Naruto and the rest of his generation not existing, because he'd come to term with the fact that they wouldn't.

It would be absolutely impossible for the exact same sperm to fertilize the exact same egg for all of Naruto's generation to be the exact same person they were before. Not to mention that different experiences and lack or gaining of parents, friends, or family would all influence how they turned out. As much as Kakashi loved Naruto and Sasuke and Sakura, those people as he knew them wouldn't exist. That's not to say that some wouldn't be similar because it might as well be a law of nature that Nara men were the laziest people on the planet, Uchiha pretty much had collective sticks up their asses, and Uzumakis were loud and brash and fiercely loyal.

So Minato would know, but he just couldn't yet. Kakashi would rather form at least some foundation of a relationship before dropping a bomb like that. It would make it easier for everyone if Minato accepted the information because he trusted Kakashi instead of banking on the word of Jiraiya. Not to mention that Kakashi just really wanted to spend some time with Minato without the future hanging over their heads. Especially since Minato would eventually learn about a son he would no longer have with Kushina.

But right now Kakashi needed to focus on what was right in front of him. "Climbing trees with chakra," he told Minato. "But we're both having trouble."

"I think I might have a few ideas," Minato said as he glanced between the two Academy students. "Have you guys ever seen a summoning jutsu?"

I know this took forever, and I'm sorry. I've started a different school this year which is a lot more gruelling than last year, so my writing time is knocked down. I'm still going to shoot for bi-weekly to every three weeks, not a month, but I can't promise anything.

This chapter had a lot of explanation, I know. Bear with me because the next chapter will have Minato's confrontation and Inochi's appointment. None of that will be pretty. Not to mention that we'll see a few spars.