Author's Note: I know, I know, this isn't a Boiling Point update. Hang in there okay? It is coming!
Rescue Reversal
Kakashi walked into the small, square office and knew something wasn't right. He could feel it in his bones. The Hokage glanced behind him as he heard the door snap and a bolt slide home. He raised his eyebrow at the door lock.
Okay, he thought, that definitely isn't normal. Then a voice in front of him redirected his attention.
"Hatake Kakashi, I have you at last."
Kakashi turned a pair of lazy eyes forward where a ninja appeared behind the lone piece of furniture, a desk. The man was wearing an outfit that, in Kakashi's opinion, had far too many leather straps. I mean really, what could they all be for?
"I suppose you're wondering who I am?" The man continued, his bald head shining in the overhead lights. His large grin was missing a few teeth toward the back.
Kakashi shrugged in his white kage robe, "not really." He was getting too old for this.
The man's smile turned to a grimace but he didn't reply immediately. Instead he knocked on the wall behind him. "Your funeral really," the man said, "it's just going to come that much sooner."
"Well, I am nearly 70 now," Kakashi commented idly. He watched the man with cold calculation.
The man scoffed, not fooled for a moment. "Take him," the man cried. Six other ninja rushed into the room, all in black with cloth masks obscuring everything but their eyes. Two of them grasped Kakashi by the arms. He shook them off, indicating that he'd go without a fuss. Despite this, they bound his hands with chakra cuffs that encircled his wrists.
They soon stepped out into the light of the street. The newly formed village had several wooden huts built behind a much more serious looking barrier. No wonder Naruto wanted me to check this place out, Kakashi mused as one of the men pushed him along to go a little faster. He ignored the guard, biding his time.
The guards were leading him to a scaffolding in the middle of the street. Several other henchpeople with swords waited for them. A crowd was gathering around the rickety structure.
A public execution? But why? Kakashi thought as they led him along. From the corner of Kakashi's eye, he saw someone walking off to his left. There was something about that gait that caused a deep thrum of familiarity to flow through him at the sight of it. The person was in a cloak but it didn't matter. For good measure, a familiar chakra signature popped into Kakashi's awareness, just for a moment, before it was masked once more. Well this certainly complicates things. He repressed a sigh.
There was more shoving to get the retired Hokage onto the platform steps but Kakashi took it patiently. He would go along but he was not going to fall on his face due to their hurrying him. He was aging, he could break a hip! Kakashi mentally chuckled until they reached the top of the stairs. He was shoved into the center of the group with swords.
Kakashi eyed them but did not show any concern. The hooded figure in the crowd caught his attention again as it moved closer to the dais. Kakashi side glanced at the cloaked ninja but did not stare. The man with the overly straped outfit began to speak.
"My people, I bring before you the Sixth Hokage. The glorious Seventh has sent him to us. However, we have to let the Hero of the Leaf know that we want the real him. Only he can lead us and only he can cow us. For we do his work and wish only to be recognized by him."
You were recognized alright, Kakashi thought. His mind flashed back to the conversation he and Naruto had had in the Leaf.
"Their village is called The Village Hidden in Noodles?" Naruto asked. "That's really neat." He frowned however. "What's their motive?"
Shikamaru, never far from the Hokage's side, shook his head. "We don't know. They founded their village less than six months ago on the border of the Land of Fire."
Naruto looked at his old sensei. Kakashi stared evenly back. "Sensei, would you go and check them out? See if they're up to anything and possibly start negotiations with them. They should know they can't start a village that close to the capital."
Kakashi had agreed and arrived in the village days later in his official dignitary garb, only to be apprehended and imprisoned. Now he was staring out at the half fearful, half gleeful expressions of the people of this meager village. The hooded man Kakashi had noticed earlier edged closer and closer to the stage. The retired Hokage watched him out of the corner of his eye. Kakashi bent his knees and waited. The bald man was finishing up his speech.
"And so, we will strike the Sixth Hokage down to further glorify his successor, who has no equal!" The man threw his fist in the air. Some of the people followed suit while others simply shifted in place nervously.
Kakashi raised an eyebrow. It hadn't exactly been a rousing speech. Then his focus shifted to the guards around him. They raised their swords. The hooded figure jumped onto the dais and Kakashi ducked.
The figure knocked the swordsman away with one whirlwind kick, they scattered like autumn leaves in a breeze. Kakashi shifted so that he was back to back with the cloaked figure. "Exit?" Was all the Hokage asked. Then he shoved his shoulder into the younger man's back to throw him off balance.
The other man growled at the interference even as a shuriken missed him by inches. "Alley on the left," he grunted out.
Kakashi glanced to his left and pivoted, kicking a masked henchman out of his way. "I see it," he acknowledged, "you make the call."
The hood flicked toward the elder for a split second in surprise before saying, "now!" They sprung off the platform together, the force actually making the structure collapse.
The young man spread his arms to balance as he fell, making the cloak float out behind him like a cape. Kakashi took extra care to match the other's landing despite his hands still being restrained. Then they were dashing through the gaps between huts. A graceful leap later and they were over the wall.
They were being pursued and the young man began to form hand signs. Kakashi coughed and pointedly looked at his own hands. It was awkward to run with your hands bound after all. The young man grinned, his canines showing. "What? Can't get out of those yourself?"
The familiar teasing tone reminded the Hokage so much of his wife. Kakashi struggled not to roll his eyes at the comment. "I could, but it would be a lot faster if you did it."
The hooded figure slowed and then they slipped into cover, the leaves instantly stilling around them as if they'd never passed that way. Kakashi held out his hands. A pale hand extended out of the robe and with a spark of lightning, the manacles shattered and fell to the forest floor.
"You knew it was me," Roka accused as he lowered his hood. His silver hair was shaggy and attempting to fall forward and cover his Allied Shinobi Forces headband. Roka pushed it back with a distracted hand to keep it out of his eyes.
"Are you supposed to be wearing a disguise?" Kakashi whispered back.
Roka looked down, and then back up again. "I'm wearing a cloak," he defended.
"But you didn't disguise your voice or smell or-"
"Okay Dad, I get it," Roka cut him off, irritated. "But what gave me away first?"
Kakashi eye-smiled, "your walk."
"What? Not my smell?"
"The wind was blowing the other way," Kakashi grunted.
"Or you're getting senile old man," the young man grinned. "Besides, I wanted to be sure you saw me. No one else could pick me out by how I walk."
"In that case, I'm insulted by all the clues you gave me," Kakashi replied. They both continued to watch the road.
"I saved your life you know," Roka said, throwing his trump card in.
Kakashi raised an eyebrow and turned to his eldest son, "was that what that was?" Roka could see the smile under his mask.
"They were going to kill you!" Roka protested, for the first time revealing the concern he'd felt.
"I had it under control," Kakashi replied evenly, looking back toward the road. "You could have gotten hurt, that was reckless."
Roka had about twenty retorts for that one sentence. They ranged from how Kakashi was reckless, and had been for as long as Roka could remember, to the fact that Roka himself was no longer a child in need of protection. The young man held his protestations back, this was not the time.
Twin heads of silver watched the road, spreading out their senses for the pursuing ninja. When they were sure the last of them had raced past their hiding spot, the two crept deeper into the forest and then took to the trees.
"What are you doing here anyway?" Kakashi asked as he leapt from tree to tree.
Roka snorted. "As luck would have it, I was passing through on my way back from a mission."
Kakashi raised an eyebrow skeptically. "From what village?" Roka hesitated and Kakashi pounced. "Don't lie."
"Who said I was going to lie?"
"You were thinking up an excuse, illuminating possibilities to come up with the best lie. I know, I taught you how to do that."
"You didn't teach me everything Dad, some things I just worked out myself you know?"
Kakashi allowed the point. He hadn't taught his children everything they knew but he was still proud of them.
They leapt on for another minute or two before Roka confessed, "I shadowed you."
Kakashi was silent for a moment. "Why?"
"Uncle Naruto didn't ask me to, if that's what you're worried about." Roka avoided the question, but Kakashi had far more experience in that area.
"I wasn't." Kakashi repeated, "why?"
Roka was silent.
The elder laughed lightly. "I'm still perfectly capable of taking care of myself Roka."
"Dad, you're 65," Roka trailed off.
Kakashi snorted. "Do you know how old the Third Hokage was when he died protecting the village? I have plenty of life left in me. Don't you worry about that."
"And yet Uncle Naruto is the Hokage, not you," Roka retorted.
Kakashi smiled. "Naruto surpassed me long before you were even born. I certainly wasn't going to make him wait. Besides, those were different times."
Roka stared grimly ahead. Different times that Roka constantly heard about but didn't understand. It all seemed so mythical, unreal and distant. Roka knew who his father was. He'd seen him fight, saw his kindness, felt the love in their home while growing up. He knew his father had once been among the top shinobi in the world. And yet, Roka turned and looked at his aging father.
He knew they looked alike, everyone said so. But the crow's feet and creases on his father's forehead belied his years of experience. Whereas Roka, at twenty, could finally step into adulthood. He just wished he didn't have to do it in his father's shadow. But Roka only ever saw the shadow and not the mythical Hokage who cast it. Hatake Kakashi was his father; Naruto was the Hokage. The fact that his father had been a previous Hokage always seemed to be at odds with the man who raised him in Roka's mind.
"Roka," Kakashi spoke his name sharply and the ninja tensed. A quick glance showed what he should have realized. They were surrounded.
Both men jumped to the ground and immediately went back to back. "Thought you'd get away from us that easily?" A voice came out of the shadows.
The Hatakes remained silent, hands loose. They waited.
"Give up now and we'll let your son go," a stronger voice called. Kakashi recognized it as the bald man's voice.
Roka froze, then his eyes narrowed and his hand flexed. "Dad," he whispered in warning.
However, Kakashi knew his son. He chuckled, calling back. "Clearly you don't know him very well." The lightness in his voice dropped out. "You'd be dead before we moved two steps."
Roka felt warm pride in his chest. Slowly, he put his hands to his head. The goons thought he might be surrendering, but he only pulled his shaggy hair back into a stub of a ponytail. "Have any kunai?" Roka whispered.
"Two," Kakashi replied. "What are you thinking?" He was cut off by a kunai being thrown at his face. Kakashi deflected it with one of his own. There was a cry among the enemy but Roka was already moving, Kakashi a half second behind him.
The bald man in the strappy outfit was halfway through telling off his subordinate for trying to kill the Hokage prematurely when Roka's kunai found its way into his throat. The next man similarly went down without even realizing it. Roka charged ahead, Kakashi covering him from behind.
Roka dodged some shuriken. He realized a moment later that Kakashi was directly behind him. The younger Hatake whirled, grasping his father by the shoulder to shove him out of the way but the retired Hokage had already ducked. Instead, Kakashi grabbed Roka's hand and widened his stance. Before he knew it, Roka was being thrown head over heels over his father's shoulder to the ground. A fireball blew by a moment later, back lighting Kakashi as he braced himself against the pressure change around the flaming sphere. Kakashi dashed in front of his son to meet a ninja who'd jumped forward to take advantage of Roka's surprise. The young Hatake stood in a rush, gritting his teeth.
"You shouldn't get so riled up in a fight," Kakashi chided. He dodged another attack without looking. "Especially one that's so uneven."
"Dad," Roka complained. His hands flashed through some signs. Kakashi moved over to cover his son while he completed his jutsu. Purple lightning filled the clearing, shooting out from the Hatake men like they were a spoke on a wheel. With that, one fight was over. "Could you not critique me while I'm rescuing you?"
"I thought I already told you I didn't need rescuing," Kakashi replied. He was pulling his Hokage cloak closer around him to look for tears or holes.
"Then why are you hiding an injury," Roka accused.
Kakashi looked up. "I'm not hiding anything."
Roka crossed his arms, glaring at his father. "I'm not five, I can tell when you aren't at full strength. What is it?"
Kakashi let his cloak hang loose, adjusting his posture to look bored. Roka reached out with a flat palm but Kakashi took a step back, his eyes were angry but his tone was neutral. The air of false hurt didn't quite meet its mark. "Don't you trust me?"
Roka frowned. "Not with this I don't." Anxiety filled him. "Are you hurt? Just tell me."
"It's-" Kakashi cut himself off. "It's not that."
More alarmed than ever, Roka stepped forward. Before his father could react, Roka's palm was flat on Kakashi's chest, medical chakra pooling around the area. Kakashi sighed, resigned. Roka's eyes got huge, he glanced apprehensively down at his father's hands. "Dad-"
"It's nothing," Kakashi said flatly.
"This isn't nothing," Roka replied in a whisper. "Does Aunt Sakura know?" His mind leapt in a different direction. "Does Mom?"
"Yes. No."
"Why doesn't Mom know?" Roka demanded. They'd begun to walk without either of them realizing it. The need to keep moving was too deeply engrained. "And why did Sakura allow Naruto to assign you this mission?"
"One thing at a time," Kakashi responded. He knew Roka was getting upset if he forgot to address Naruto and Sakura as uncle and aunt. He hadn't done that since his tween phase. "Sakura didn't tell Naruto because I asked her not to," Kakashi answered.
"Since when does she listen to you?" Roka demanded.
Kakashi sent his son a hurt look. "You're getting ahead of yourself. It really isn't as big of a deal as you're making it out to be. And I haven't told your mother because I just found out."
"But you've suspected," Roka accused.
"Why do you think I was in the Leaf?" Kakashi asked.
Roka nearly froze with shock. His father had willingly gone to seek out a physician.
When Roka had taken up medical ninjutsu as his focus, Mei and Kakashi had been proud. But Kakashi had been less than pleased about Roka wanting to give them checkups every time he was home from a mission. Having a medic in the family, besides Sakura, was definitely a plus. However, it was increasingly difficult for Kakashi to keep up his carefree façade around his son when said son could tell his father was injured. Little did the family head know that Roka had begun to see through that mask years before. Wanting to help and protect his family was one of the reasons Roka had taken up medical ninjutsu in the first place. When he discovered that his chakra control was especially suited for it, Roka continued his studies under Sakura.
"How long has this been going on?" Roka asked softly.
"A couple of years," Kakashi replied. "It was subtle at first, just part of aging I guess."
"Dad, this isn't normal," Roka protested again. It was one thing to joke about his father being old, it was quite another to be faced with the effects of said aging.
"Actually," Kakashi replied, "you'd be surprised. I know most of the people you work on are younger ninja, in the field. But Sakura has been working with a lot of aging shinobi, and quirks like this are popping up more and more frequently. We just haven't been living this long before. Your old master has been developing a lot of theories.
"Did you know Lady Chiyo probably had a split personality disorder from her extensive use of puppetry? And Lord Onoki had extensive nerve damage in his hands and arms?"
"Don't change the subject," Roka demanded. His voice softened. "Is that what you have? Nerve damage?"
Kakashi shook his head. "Not exactly, no." He flexed his right hand.
"Can you feel them at all?" Roka asked apprehensively. "I mean-" He just realized that his father hadn't used any jutsu the entire fight, used no hand signs.
Kakashi chuckled. "Quite the opposite, I wish I could feel them less. But," he flexed his hand again, "no, they work well enough." He shrugged. "It's nothing I haven't dealt with before."
Roka knew his father was referring to the drain his Sharingan used to put on him. This was another constant, albeit different, drain on his strength. After a thoughtful moment Roka asked, "and Lady Tsunade?"
Kakashi glanced over at his son. "You know how and why she died. I expect you to remember that in the future if and when you use that jutsu."
"Yes sir," Roka muttered, properly chastised.
They continued on through the forest. Roka broke the silence again. "You promise to tell Mom the second you get home?"
Kakashi smiled under his mask. "Probably not the second I arrive, but I will tell her, yes."
"Do you promise?"
Kakashi scoffed. "I tell your Mother everything."
Roka raised an eyebrow. "Did you tell her about how the lightning struck her memorial tree for Ao?"
Kakashi's eyes turned up in half-moons. He scratched at where his mask ended. "That tree was better for it. And I'll tell her about that too."
"That's what you said ten years ago," Roka grinned.
"You have an awfully long memory," Kakashi replied.
Roka sobered. "Promise?"
Kakashi nodded and his eldest son was satisfied. Then Kakashi asked, "so when are you going to cut your hair?"
Roka groaned.
More Author's Notes:
1. Alright folks, I hope you enjoyed this story that's set a lot further in the future than I usually write. If you guys liked this let me know, I might have to do similar stories about the rest of the kids when they're older.
2. So this story brings up a subject I find interesting in that, the Naruto universe is going to change dramatically with Naruto as Hokage and the world at peace. It may seem strange that Roka is feeling that he's coming of age at 20 when Kakashi at that same age, couldn't believe he'd lived that long. That's the way the world is now. Although Roka and his siblings are going to be more mature due to their upbringing, their peers are not going to be the same way.
3. Noire Uchiha has made a couple of requests. Requests sometimes take awhile for me to crank out (there's still a girl's night chapter featuring Mei, Tsunade, Sakura, Hinata, etc hanging out that I'm supposed to be working on) but I do have the requests all written down. The amnesia idea caught my fancy so I've done a bit of work on that. However, I've been putting most of my efforts into Boiling Point so it could be awhile.
As for the other request, I'm not sure how I could do a story where they're still kages but they're also dating? They didn't date until after they'd both retired.
4. Noire Uchiha also asked about Tenmaku Uchiha. I had to look that one up on the wiki. I'm going to be honest here, I'm not going watch or read Boruto. The extent of my knowledge on Boruto doesn't go any further than volume 72 of Naruto. As far as I'm concerned, my story goes full AU beyond that point. So I won't be mentioning Tenmaku Uchiha even though his past is mixed up with Mei's.
5. Sorry for the long author's notes. Thank you to my readers, followers, favoritors, and reviewers. You make my day brighter!