AN: Another chappie guys XD haha. Summer class would start Monday next week, so the updates would be a bit out of schedule. But I'll update weekly..or twice in a week...we'll see about it, hehe. Itachi got the first half of this chapter^^ and a surprise guest on the other half XD On another note, we reached a hundred follows, yehey!
Names:
Robert Sage= Jiraiya
Samantha Glass= Tsunade
Maru= Orochimaru
Sherry Blossom= Sakura
Might Daimon= Might Dai
Harold Chequer= Asuma
Sophie Zanne= Anko
Krista Scarlet= Kurenai
Shizu Nekato= Shizune
Enma Nadel= Genma
Tobias Uchiha= Obito
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.
At three years old Uchiha Itachi knew he is a genius, his mother said it, his father said it and even his older brother is proud to admit it. No one would fault him that the praises he received from his parents bolstered his ego up a bit- okay a lot. He easily learned the lessons given to him by his tutors, concepts were understood quickly and his mind would come up with ideas that was far advanced than his age group.
At five, he was enrolled in the prestigious university, he had only attended the first half of the preschool before his father decided that he might benefit more if he skipped some grades. Thus, he took the Advance Program, he was pleased to know that he had jumped Kindergarten and 1st Grade and joined with the 2nd Grade on the second half of the school year.
The first thing that came up to his mind when he met his new classmates were...friendly. Being the youngest kid in the class gave him certain advantages that he never knew he could have. To sum it up, he was pampered like a prince by his older peers.
And being child, Itachi took it without a question and eagerly enjoyed the attention.
However, something changed along the way.
At first he asked help in his assignments, asking his proclaimed older brother and sisters for tips and sometimes answers when he made some unexpected errors. As he expected they gave it to him. Then it escalated to tests- the ones written in their FlatPads, there were some who were hesitant to help him in a middle of test, but they helped him nonetheless.
It went downhill right after that.
Itachi didn't know what happened but he felt a rift in the friendship he had with his classmates. He ignored it, thinking than it isn't a big deal, he continued to ask and ask, no one scolded him for it so it was never wrong in his eyes. Then suddenly, some of the older boys began to make remarks about him, saying mean things behind his back and sometimes ignored his presence.
Being a child, Itachi took the teasing as something bad, no one insulted him before and he was mad at them. He never mentioned it to his parents and even his older brother in fear of making the teasing worse. So he bottled it in, and promised that he'll take a revenge at them...it was something he saw in a movie once, so that might be the right route.
One of the bullies had confronted 'it' about him, he honestly don't know what the 'it' means but the boy was very mean to him. He wanted to shout at the boy and ask him why he was doing this but that was throwing a tantrum- and mother said that it was a bad thing to do. In the end, he decided to copy his brother's reply when his blond friend visited them once.
"Hn."
It seemed to silence the boy but the sneer he gave him frightened him, he thought that the boy would punch him. He never was one to fight with his fists, Itachi knew he'll lose if it came out to that. Thankfully, the boy just scoffed and left him alone- but that left something bitter in his mind. It was then that he planned to make his 'revenge' came up, he stole a rubber thing from his brother's wallet and planted it on the boy's bag when the class went out for a recess.
He thought that it will embarrass the boy when other kids saw that he brought a 'balloon' in class.
It was much worse, he never knew it would come out that bad, the boy was scolded when he pulled out the balloon from his bag and held it in front of their teacher. There was a lengthiest scolding he heard in his life and the teacher ordered the boy go to the principal and called the boy's parents.
Itachi shrank in his seat as the whole class whispered and talked about the scene after the teacher left them. Suddenly, a friend of the boy pointed at him saying that it he who put the 'porn' in the bag- he never knew what 'porn' meant but he knew that his classmates had silently agreed. Itachi just kept silent.
After that debacle, the boy was absent for a whole week and everyone seemed to have forgotten it. When the final exams started, the lessons became hard for him- he only had tutors in his summer and his brother was busy with his studies- and the when the week came up he can't help but ask for help again. Some of his classmates gave him this look after he pleaded for their help, but they finally relented.
Something happened along the way and suddenly the whole class was reprimanded. It was then that Itachi decided that he'll never ask for help again after seeing the glares directed at him.
The first day of his 3rd grade, all of his classmates gave him the cold shoulder. Itachi was sad at this but he never got to ask them why. He endured it, saying that he still had his tutors and family to help him, so it was okay. He'll be independent, so he studied his lessons vigorously to prepare for the coming classes.
At the second day, they got a new classmate. Itachi was genuinely curious at the silver haired boy and thought that he might have a new friend- he was a genius just like him too- his classmates are never one to begin with. But the boy had already made friends with his classmates, Sophie and Iruka, the two were not mean to him but he heard them whisper behind his back, so the immediately tagged the boy as not friendly because he was friends with his classmates.
Though he felt something in his heart ache as he saw how friendly Iruka and Sophie are with him, just like how his classmates once are with him. He didn't like it one bit and disliked the boy because of it.
It became a contest to him, the ache in his chest was hard to ignore and it was because of that that he decided that Hatake Kakashi is an enemy. The silver haired kid was odd but that won't stop him from showing who is better.
If he showed his classmates that he's better then maybe they could be friends again.
He was on his way to visit his brother- Sasuke told him something about a club and was excused in his class, when he saw his new classmate walking alone in the corridor.
Itachi didn't know why Hatake was strolling when he should be in class, so he hid around the corner and peeked at the lone kid. The masked kid was talking to his summon and Itachi was surprised to see that it was the black bot that Hatake was debating yesterday.
He watched intently as the boy took out coins from his pocket and threw it in the air. Itachi's eyes widened as the kid slapped the coins in the air, he flinch preparing for the loud clutter of noise to fill the air, only to blink when he didn't heard any sound.
Where did the metals go? He rose an incredulous eyebrow when he saw the kid raise his open hand and Itachi saw the silhouettes of coins stuck right in the middle of the kid's palm without falling.
That's preposterous, where did gravity had gone to?
Hatake shifted at the side and lowered his hand palms still open, Itachi he was not hallucinating, the coins did stuck without any gluing aid. Suddenly the palm was closed in a fist and the silver haired kid glance at his direction.
He was seen.
Having no choice, Itachi stepped out of his hiding place.
"What did you do?" He asked, raising a brow.
"Haven't seen a magic trick, ne...Mr. Uchiha?"
Kakashi watched as Itachi frowned at his answer in confusion.
"Magic...trick?" Itachi asked, repeating the word unsurely.
"Aa." He said and nodded. "Have you heard of it?" Kakashi asked, deciding that it might the right time to let him know that his doubt would be benefited, but first he need to find something to distract the raven from the earlier event.
The raven haired genius tilted his head. "Like those wizards?"
Kakashi hid a sweat-drop and made mixture of grimace and amusement, Itachi is far too genuine with his expressions. He raised a hand and shook it in a negative manner.
"No, no." He denied quickly. "People who does magic tricks are called Magicians." He corrected and flicked out a coin with his pointer and middle finger. "They were masters of trickery and fooled a lot of people in the past."
"So they're mean people?" Itachi asked, eyes narrowing.
"Aa, far from it actually." Kakashi replied and gave an eye-smile.
To make his point he pocketed the other two coins and presented the lone coin in front of the raven. He made flamboyant movements in his arms with slow movements and with a snap threw the coin in the air and caught it in a flash.
It was then Kakashi admitted that his kohai can give cute expressions when awed.
He held out his arms with both fists closed. "Two arms. One coin. Do you know where is it?"
Kakashi watched, satisfied that he manage to get the curiosity out of the raven, he waited as Itachi took his time to choose, face scrunched up in concentration and a growing pout was slowly forming. A second later the boy pointed at his right hand.
"Are you sure?" He asked elevating his right hand an inch.
"Yes."
Kakashi smiled and opened his hand...his empty hand. He watched the brows of the raven furrow while looking at his left hand. Kakashi's grin was hidden by his mask as he opened his left fist.
It was empty.
"How? But- where did the coin go?" Itachi asked in confusion.
"You have it." He answered and prompted a baffled look from the boy. Kakashi reached out a hand and raised it near the right ear of Itachi, making sure that it was out of the raven's sight. He flicked his hand and withdrew the limb along with the coin that disappeared moments ago.
"But...how?" The raven asked, green eyes widening as he saw the coin had reappeared.
An eye-smile was Kakashi's only response and flicked the coin in the air and caught it. "It's magic. You see, magicians trick a lot of people, true, but they don't harm anyone...They just do it for fun and to see the reactions of their audiences. Hmm, like the one you are doing right now."
Itachi blinked and snapped his mouth shut, a flush of red peppered his cheeks.
"Surprise, awe, confusion, and there were times that some freak out- ultimately those are the reactions of the audiences." Kakashi added and pocketed his coin. "Those were what the magician would like to see...his audiences might be confused but they wore smiles nonetheless. I would like to think that a magician's objective in his art is to make people happy."
There was a short moment of silence as he let the raven contemplate his words. He saw a glint of understanding and Kakashi inwardly nodded. The kid is far from what he heard from Iruka and Sophie, there were no malicious or any negative hints that he could find, instead, Itachi radiated just pure innocence.
"Maa, I better get going...ja." He turned around and was about to enter the stairwell when he heard Itachi speaking.
"...Are you a magician then?"
"Nope... you could say I can be similar to one...though I won't do anything as shallow as tricks to make my precious people safe and happy." Kakashi replied, keeping the latter part said in a soft whisper.
Whether Itachi heard it or not, was left unknown to Kakashi, he waved a goodbye as the door slid shut.
Three in the afternoon is the time that Kakashi reached the lobby and as he expected, Kuro was already there, a bottle of water in its hands. Kakashi huffed as he took the refreshment and in a moment of unconscious habit- or stupidity- poured the water over his head.
Fortunately, the water was not enough to reach the floor but it was enough for his clothes to get wet.
Unfortunately, his actions gathered a lot of attention from both the staff and parents in the lounge. Kakashi admits dumping water over your head in a controlled environment would definitely get a lot of attention, even if it was granted that he was damped with sweat before he did the act.
The water is very refreshing though.
Kakashi lazily blinked his eyes as he met the stares of the people. Droplets of water cascading down his hair and into his clothes. Strangely the surgical mask he wore didn't get wet despite it being a cloth...maybe he could use the material to make his old mask? It would help him a lot in so many ways.
When the people did not relent on their gazes at him, Kakashi rose his eyebrow delicately and changed his posture to something haughty and nonchalant.
"You would do that if you were in my shoes." He started and crossed his arms like a petulant child. "Try running down the stairs from the 67th floor and see if you don't want to dump water in your head."
As if his words were a spell, majority of the staffs and parents snapped their attention away from him, the minority of them had however let their curiosity and bafflement be seen as their eyes lingered on him.
"So what Naruto did said about you is true..." A voice mused out from behind him.
Kakashi froze and felt his heart stop for a long while before he forced his bearings to come back. Flashes of blood, swords and rocks flickered in his mind as if his memory saw fit that it was the right time to remind him of his mistakes. His breath hitched as he saw the crushed body of his teammate.
"...You do like exercises, rare for a kid your age, ne?" The man continued.
He refused the instinct to turn around and shout for forgiveness, even if he had been forgiven in his last life, it was hard not to do it. After all, he spent more than twenty years asking for it. He clenched his hands into a fist and saw Kuro looking at his side to look at the arrival.
Kakashi didn't manage to hide his flinch as the man moved, he heard the tell tale sound of clothes shifting behind him and not a second later the man is now before him.
Obito...
Kakashi almost took a step back when the man leaned down on his level a grin on his lips. The expression was exactly like he remembered from the tardy idiot he knew. If Obito didn't die in that cave the appearance of the man before him would be exactly like his friend.
Black cropped hair... Scarless face... Confident grin... The boisterous aura...
He nearly cried right then and there but he manage to control his emotions. Though he noticed that his eyes were watering, thankfully it could pass as a result of his earlier actions.
The older version of Obito wore a similar attire yesterday but instead of the white pants and necktie, the color of the garments changed into deep blue. He hid a chuckle when the same orange rimmed glasses is perched on the man's nose. It was just like the Uchiha he knew to wear something so absurd.
"Hello, I'm afraid we haven't been introduced yet." 'Obito' smiled and it was only then that Kakashi noticed the man's eye color. The dark shade of grey- nearly black- was so similar to his. "You suddenly left yesterday. Anyways, I'm Tobias Uchiha. Mathematics teacher for High School level and current Teacher in Charge of the Taijutsu club."
Kakashi's throat was unable to reply but he forced his chord to work when he met the expectant look from Tobias. "H-Hatake...Kakashi..."
His heart suddenly clenched when he had somehow hoped that the man would remember him...an impossible notion and Kakashi was harshly reminded that he is in a new world. No one would remember him...
...No one knows him, the odd, perverted and infamous Hatake Kakashi...but he knew them, he remembered them...that realization is worse that knowing he was dumped in a new world.
He felt numb...
"Scarecrow, huh? Cute name." The man grinned and ruffled his soaked hair. Kakashi found the action more odd than what Naruto did since Obito never did that. "What are you doing here anyways? Classes won't end until four."
Kakashi didn't reply, too caught up in his thoughts to even notice that a tear escaped his eyes.
"Hey, kid are you okay?"
He blinked as he was finally pulled out from his musings and rubbed his eyes. "Aa...j-just...something was caught in my eyes." He mumbled lowly and let out a soft chuckle.
Oh, irony. It seems he was the crybaby in this world and not Obi- no Tobias. If sensei would see this he'll never get a moment of peace from the teasing.
Kakashi the crybaby.
"I-I don't have any Electives, so I guess I am dismissed an hour earlier." He added and bit his lips in annoyance when another tear escaped.
"Oh, well. I just can't let you walk out with that wet state you are in." Tobias smile and gestured at his wet clothes. "Come on, the lobby got a clinic here somewhere, there should be towels in their supplies."
Kakashi shook his head, his walls are already cracked by seeing his friend and his emotions would go out of control if he spent another minute with the man. "No...I need to go...I have plans."
But just like Obito, Tobias is as stubborn as his counterpart. "Your plans could wait, I couldn't, in good conscience, let a soaked kid go home that state." The man said and pulled at his hands and began to drag him into one of the corridors. "You should at least dry your hair and clothes before you go home."
He really wanted to protest and tried pulling his arm back, but Tobias got a good hold on his limb and he found himself being dragged along. On the second corner, Kakashi finally resigned to his fate, the only good thing in this situation, is that the man couldn't see him crying.
The walk to the clinic was short and as soon as the two of them entered- Kuro was left by the door-, Kakashi quickly let his eyes wander until he saw the comfort room. It took a lot of time to see the door because of his blurry eyesight.
He took the chance to ran to his only escape, before the man would turn- before he could see Obito's face again. The second that the door closed, Kakashi sagged against the wall and began to furiously rub his eyes. No matter how many times he try the tears just fall one after the other.
He took in deep breaths and forced himself to calm down. The process took him three minutes before he decided that the mental duck tapes he plastered in his cracked walls would hold for now and stood up, taking off his mask in one swift move and walked to the sink at the opposite side.
He saw his reflection and couldn't help but take pity at how red his eyes became.
Whatever world he might be in, Kakashi is still a ninja by heart and code, and ninjas endure. The thought is his only comfort he could take for now.
He'll endure this situation, no matter how mentally and emotionally exhausting it would be.
Kakashi let the faucet run and washed his face. The cold water is enough to lighten up the red rims in his eyes and his sight is much clearer than before. Kakashi saw how wet his clothes are, so he took off his jacket and and tied on his waistline, thankfully his long sleeved shirt is just damp- easily dried after basking on the sun.
His hair on the other hand is another matter. He glanced at the comfort room and looked where the towels are. Oddly he didn't find one, he spare a look at the door and a short internal debate later, he sighed and wore his mask again.
The first thing he saw when the door was opened was of Tobias lounging on one of the beds, a towel in hand and a phone on the other. There is also the balloon bot standing by the empty desk at the corner.
"You suddenly ran." The man stated.
Kakashi shrugged. "Nature called." He replied offhandedly and saw the man rose an eyebrow.
"It took you ten minutes?" Tobias asked.
This time it was Kakashi's turn to raise his brows. "It was a lot...I couldn't help it."
Tobias blinked and his mouth opened an inch. "Oh..you...Nevermind." The man commented and stood up he walked towards the desk and gestured for him to sit on one of the empty chair.
Kakashi knew what the man wanted to do and didn't move an inch, instead he held out a hand. "I could dry myself you know."
"Oh, come on do me some favor. I haven't babied Itachi in summer, I missed spoiling the brat." Tobias muttered.
Kakashi gave the man a deadpanned stare.
"You're no fun." Tobias muttered and threw the towel at him.
Kakashi caught it swiftly and began to dry his hair. He intentionally blocked his sight of the man he rubbed his head. "So you know Itachi?"
"Yeah, he's my cousin. I was his babysitter when Sasuke is not around." Tobias replied.
"Hmm." Kakashi hummed and suddenly let out a surprised yelp when he felt a pair of rubber arms hugged him. He pulled the towel out of his sight and saw that the nurse bot was the cause.
"What is it doing?" He asked in alarm.
"Warming you up." Tobias grinned and Kakashi felt the heat from the bot.
He let out a huff when he felt his body relax.
There was a short silence as Kakashi eased in the hold of the nurse bot, it was like having a heated comforter blanketing him.
"I've been meaning to ask you..." The man started. "But why are you wearing a surgical mask?"
"I'm allergic." Came his automatic reply.
Tobias gave him a baffled look. "Were in a clinic, this place is sanitized."
Kakashi shrugged. "I'm comfortable wearing it." He said and gently pushed the bot when he decided that he was warmed enough. His hair had even dried in the process.
There was a sudden sound of ringing in the air and both males snapped in attention. Tobias quickly pulled out his phone and a second later a voice rang out in the air.
"Teach! Where are you!?" A trio of voice hollered and Kakashi realized that it was Naruto and co.
"You told us that were having an emergency club meeting!" This time it was Sherry's voice.
"Yeah!" Naruto agreed in the background, Kakashi easily imagine the blond shaking his fist in the air.
"We already wasted thirty minutes waiting for you." Sasuke added. "We have classes, you tardy bastard."
"Oi, oi. I have an valid excuse this time." Tobias retorted and the following minutes was spent bantering with the callers.
Kakashi find the sight amusing. It was so similar to what Team 7 had done in his past life...only this time Obito was on the short end of his once students' ire.
He couldn't help but feel a small tinge of jealously.
"I'm so sorry for holding you out, Kakashi." Tobias chuckled as he ended the call. "You could go home now." The man said as he hurriedly nudge him out of the clinic and waved goodbye to the nurse bot.
"It's fine." He answered and paused when they reached the lobby, Tobias following suit shortly after.
"Well, nice meeting you Kakashi. I'll be going now or my students scold me." Tobias said as he let out a chuckle while rubbing the back of his head.
The man turned around and Kakashi found himself hesitating for a moment but he hastily called out the man before he disappeared from his sight.
"Sir?" Kakashi grimaced, it was weird calling Obito with that title. The man turned around fortunately hearing his call.
"Yes?"
"Thank you." Those two words held much more meaning than the recent help he got.
Tobias might have a found the hidden intent on his gratefulness as he stiffened for a second. The man shook his head and suddenly grinned. "Sure, no problem, I'll see you sometime ne?"
Kakashi nodded and his eyes lingered as the man continued his way until he turned a corner, disappearing from his sight.
He sighed and pocketed his hands and walked towards the exit with Kuro just a few steps behind. If he ignored his emotionIal reactions earlier, he found out that it wasn't that bad interacting with the counterpart of Obito. It was admittedly lightening. Now that his mind had somewhat calmed down, he replayed the conversations he had earlier and he couldn't help but be curious.
Curiosity killed the cat, as most would say, but Kakashi had only been killed thrice...it wouldn't hurt to risk another one.
AN: So..what do you think?
ShiiroiKitsune21: I just made that name right on the last second, since I couldn't find anything that would easily remind the readers that it's Obito^^
Guest: Thank you for reviewing^^
ExtremeA: They'll come out soon.
juman1994: Yep, Obito is the sponsor or the teacher in charge^^
The Shifting: I can't help it^^ Obito wouldn't be Obito without any orange, hehe, glad to know you noticed the symbolism there.
Fairy Law: Welcome to the club XD
Completely Confunded: Is that positive or negative? Ahaha, I kinda find it alarming.
Sup Poki: XD thank you for reviewing, I'm curious how how Obito will come about.
Xeraphina Laurentia: Yeah..maybe I should have put what subject he's in... Though I just need to fill out Kakashi's student life before I'll drop the antagonists^^
Hg247: I have plans for Kakashi having a pet^^ don't worry.
nurr: After I read you review, I find it slightly...deep, but it gave me an idea, hehe...I might incorporate that in the plot...I think. And I'm so sorry about the lack of Omake here, I'll add it on the next one...or the 25th.
Yumi014: The bunnies just drop on me, hehe, I did plan this on being a short story, but with all the support this story got. I just decided to have a plot- sort of- though I'm glad you enjoyed the story XD
Drop a review please^^