BK= Before Kyuubi
August 2nd, 7 Years BK, In an underground fortress on the border of the Land of Fire;
"The test went quite well." Danzo strikes an imposing figure in the room. His shadow reflects onto the stony cave wall behind him. Small drops of water navigate the moss. How the moss is able to grow is a mystery that no-one cares enough to solve. On the opposite side of an oak conference table, the Tsuchikage floats in the air, legs folded in a crossed position.
"Tell me, what happened?" He asks.
"The child was injected successfully. She went completely out of her mind, and then killed a few other children. The White Fang's son may be infected as well. If he transmits the disease to his father, he will surely die. Then, I will be able to secure my position as Hokage once the Third is dead. Konoha will be in shambles, and it will be me who will stand tall amongst the chaos." Danzo rubs his hands together thoughtfully.
"Yes, and I will have my revenge. It is... mutually beneficial." Ohnoki agrees. "So, I trust we will not have to manufacture more of the white chakra strain?"
"That is correct. Your specialists have done well. Now, I must do my part." Danzo nods to Ohnoki and turns toward the doorway, an irregularly-shaped hole in the side of the cavern that lead to the surface.
"This better be worth the years of research we put into that poison."
"Oh, it will be." Danzo replies, without turning his head to see the subject of his words as walks out of the door. The ROOT members guarding outside of the door fall in line behind him. That old fool. As long as Namikaze is around, the Stone would lose in war regardless of whether or not Kakamo is alive. Danzo will be Hokage.
August 3rd, 7 Years BK, Inoichi Yamanaka's therapy office;
"So, you don't remember anything?"
Kakashi shakes his head. the young boy couldn't shake the feeling that something huge had happened, but he didn't know what, like it was on the tip of his tongue. His father, seated in the leather chair beside him, shares a dissaproving glance with the mind specialist. Kakashi reviewed what he could remember of the last 24 hours. Since last night, his mother and father had a troubled look on their faces. They wouldn't let him watch the news. They walked on eggshells around him, as if they carried a cup of poisonous liquid, filled to the brim, that could spill and infect Kakashi at any moment with it's perilous sludge. Kakashi knew that he had somehow forgotten something very important.
"Tell me about what happened, starting with the day before yesterday." The Yamanaka doctor said. Kakashi rubbed his forehead.
"Well, two nights ago, I ate dinner with my family and then went to bed. Then I don't remember anything between then and when I woke up in the hospital."
The doctor and Kakamo looked each other in the eye, knowingly, and then they shared another look with Kakashi's mother.
"What happened?" Kakashi asked, nervously.
"Well, you went to Jenna's birthday party yesterday... And she released some kind power. It was too much for her to control, and... It consumed her, Kakashi. Everyone else at the party died except you." Kakamo admitted, slowly and awkwardly. An image of confusion appeared on Kakashi's face, and then guilt. He didn't know what happened, but, he only knew that he failed to protect his friends. He swore to himself, he would stay close to his friends and protect them. This would never happen again.
Sakumo. Sakumi. Jenna. Sarah. Minato. Kushina. Rin. Obito.
-Present Time-
"Sarah, there's absolutely no way we're gonna let you fight Zabuza." Yuri asserts, with a slightly amused tone, as he regards the silver-haired girl. Kakashi silently nods in agreement.
"But Sensei, you need my skills, don't you?" Sarah pleads. This was her final rational argument. After this, she would have to start bulshitting.
"Actually, we don't need you. Not even close. To be honest... You're pretty much worthless right now. Just dead weight. You need to get stronger, and if you were, I'd let you join us, injured or not."
Sarah's face bleeds red in embarrassment. She falls silent, off-put by the comment. Fidgeting with the hem of the blanket, she opens her mouth to retort, but instead falls silent. It's true, she kinda does suck. Maybe she's strong for her age, but not strong enough to face A-rank shinobi. Naruto is a jinchurriki. Sasuke has the sharingan. They are valuable in a fight against anyone, but her and her team- they act as anchors, dragging down their Sensei. Internally, Sarah knows that she has been lucky so far.
Kakashi glances over at Yuri. Jonin Senseis should be encouraging, not berating their students. "You'll get stronger quickly." Kakashi says, in an attempt t diffuse the awkward tone that settled on the three like mist. "You've only been a shinobi for a little while, and you've made miraculous progress already. I think you'll become chunin easy at the next exams."
"Thanks, Kakashi-Sensei." Sarah nods in appreciation.
What's gotten into me? Kakashi wonders. He's never been like this to anyone before. Unlike Asuma, Kakashi firmly believed that genin shouldn't be coddled. Outside the window, a small brown bird landed on the windowsill, chirping as it hopped in the withered flowerbed.
Yuri's face appears conflicted as he speaks. "We just... Don't want anyone to get hurt, okay?"
"I know." Sarah says.
Yuri stands up from his wooden chair, and pats Sara's leg as he turns toward the door. Kakashi stands up with him and follows Yuri, but stops in the doorway. "We'll have Kaito stay here to protect you." He says, glancing back over his shoulder.
Sarah nods her head on her pillow. Her wild, unwashed hair squirms around her pale face. After a quick pause, Kakashi strides down the peach- hallway, hands in his pockets. Sarah turns over onto her left side, wincing as her injury gives her pain. The green-colored wall she stared at seemed to stare back, in a knowing way, as if it understood her pain. Slowly, her eyes droop, and she begins to fall asleep. On the white windowsill, the bird looks into the room at the sleeping figure. It cocks it's head to the side, and, after a moment, it flies away. The sun peeks out from behind a tall wooden building, emitting a square of light onto the sleeping girl.
Downstairs, Kakashi leaped from his seat, giving orders to his students and Yuri as he swings his own backpack onto his sturdy shoulders. Only a moment ago, his clone, who was enjoying the warm rays of the sun, as well as his third favorite sex scene in Icha Icha: Makeout Tactics, jumped in surprise. His book, which was visible only a moment ago, had been obscured by a thick mist. Kakashi's clone sighed. He really wanted to know what Mirimi was going to do with that lemon. Jiraya certainly was a master of creativity. The clone pocketed the book and stood up. The faster he defeated the enemy, the sooner he could figure out what that lemon would be used for- the only explanation he could think of currently made him cringe. Not that he doubted Jiraya's writing skills.
August 5th, 7 Years BK
"Look, Kakashi... Don't be like this. Please. Your academy teacher sent me a note today, asking if everything is okay," Kakashi's mother kindly addressed her son, who slowly attempted to eat a small bowl of soup.
She tried a different tactic. "Jenna wouldn't have wanted you to give everyone the cold shoulder. You can't just ignore everyone forever."
Kakashi slams his spoon down on the table. Without looking up, he pushes his stool backwards and stands up. He silently strides to the coat-rack. He reaches for his black hoodie. Slipping it over his head, and flipping up the hood, he stalks out of the front door.
Kakamo rests his hand on wife's. She gives him an uncertain glance.
"Give his heart time to heal." He says, softly. Sakumi nods.
Kakashi walks down the sidewalk of the the civilian sector of the Hatake compound. Kakamo chose to raise Kakashi in the civilian district because the people there seemed to be more carefree and social than in the shinobi district. Most houses in the shinobi district were very plain, and no-one travelled on the sidewalks. People only went outside to get the mail or to retrieve a package. Often, there were houses that seemed abandoned. Kakashi quickened his pace to a brisk jog, and then an all-out run. The sun was low on the horizon. The wind picked up in speed to match Kakashi, blowing against his face. Soon, raindrops joined the tears that streamed off of Kakashi's face. Kakashi doesn't know why he feels this way. He barely knew any of them. Kakashi pumps his arms up and down, putting on a burst of speed. the buildings around him blur. Lanterns hanging on trees are a streak of light in the corner of his eye. The wind slashes his face. Somewhere during his run, he realizes why he is angry- because he did nothing. He was useless. He didn't even save one of those children. As a prodigy, they were his responsibility. Kakashi's face twists into an open frown. His body shudders. He gasps for air.
After about thirty minutes of running, he slows to a stop. The harsh wind of the night had dried his tears. Kakashi sat down on a bench that was next to him and surveyed his surroundings, hopelessly lost. Or, maybe, he wasn't as lost as he thought he was. He recognized the green walls of the forts, resting on the playground mulch for their nightly sleep. Thin wooden cutouts of ninja lay strewn around on the wood chips. A Hatake flag flapped in the wind above each of the wooden forts. He was in the park, by the ice-cream stand he had visited just the other day. He had run a full lap around Konoha, without even realizing the impressive mileage he had run.
Slowly leaning to his feet, Kakashi fixed his hand on one of the cutout ninjas and righted it. The enemy looked on him menacingly. Walking around the forts, he set up the rest of the pseudo-shinobi. In the middle of the playground, Kakashi closed his eyes.
Ninja to his right.
Kakashi swings around and blasts his fist through the wooden cutout. A hole appears in the cutout's forehead. Trembling, it falls backward. Kakashi jumps high in the air, spinning around twice while flipping to land in a handstand. He spins on his right hand, like a top, while upside down, his legs out to the sides, forming a T shape. His feet slash through two cutouts, cutting them in half at the waist, sending splinters into the air, which were quickly carried away by the dark wind. Kakashi finishes his spin and flips backward, landing behind a cutout. An elbow smashes through it's ribs, then a heel kick slams it to the ground. the noise of splitting wood fills the night. He launches himself sideways, then kicks off the wall of the orange fort, his body parallel to the ground. He holds his fist out, which catches the fith enemy in the stomach, and it cracks in half with a loud 'Crack!'.
Kakash lands, dragging his feet to slow himself. Two trenches were carved in the mulch. A backwards kick pierces the sixth enemy. Opening his eyes, he finds a few long, straight pieces of mulch on the ground. He closes his eyes again and hops onto the playground swing. While swinging back and forth, Kakashi carefully aims. A swing of his arm launches the mulch through the hearts of four cutouts. The mulch pierced them so quickly that it did not quite knock them over, leaving them to sway in the wind. He jumps down from the swing at the height of it's crescent course, performing a front-flip and landing in a squat.
He opens his eyes as he stands, surveying his work. His eyes latch onto one of the still-standing boards. His mulch attack had failed to hit the final board. Kakashi stared at it as if it was a mirage. How could he have missed? He memorized their locations perfectly.
The remaining cutout flickered white for just an instant. Kakashi looked at it suspiciously. He tosses a piece of mulch at it. In a puff of smoke, the transformation jutsu is unbalanced by the mulch. His father stands in the place of the cutout.
"Father..." Kakashi whispers.
Kakamo opens his arms. "I'm right here."
Kakashi rushes forward into his father's embrace.