A/N: In honor of our blog's Tumblr milestone, the members of the Kakashi Lounge Discord server voted on one prompt ("Moon") and created works for it. This has been a fun project, and I can't wait to read everyone's contributions. If you'd like to read the others, or support the content creators of the server, please follow us on Tumblr!
I do not own these characters; I've had a wonderful time sending them into orbit.
"What is it, my love?" Kakashi felt his mother's fingers weave through his cowlicks in a soothing gesture meant to coax honesty from him. "You seem so listless lately," Kaguya added.
Kakashi sighed through his nose as he stared at the blue waters of Earth before it disappeared from the horizon of the moon.
"Are you so unhappy here that you want to return?" She urged and ran her open palm over the top of his head.
"No, no, that's not it at all," he answered quickly, but quietly. "I've no desire to return to such an unstable place as Earth. Ever since father passed, it hasn't been home."
"Then what's troubling you?" Kaguya asked again, more gently at the mention of her late husband.
"I love you, Mother, and I enjoy your company," Kakashi began with two truths before he stated a third, "but there is no atmosphere here."
He turned his head to look at her. "I miss the effervescence of life. I miss how colorful it is, most of all."
Kakashi tilted his face and lifted his hand to the infinite space above them. "Here, the sky is always black, whether it's night or day, and everything looks dull and grey to my eyes."
Kaguya hummed and nodded her head in understanding. "I thought that Earth was bright and lively, but I admit that it overwhelmed me at times. I am more accustomed to the muted tones of the moon, and so I brought you here after we lost Sakumo."
She lifted her eyes to her son's. "Perhaps I've been too selfish and kept you to myself for too long," she humbly admitted. "You've grown into a strong and intelligent man; of course, you'd want to seek your place in the cosmos."
His excitement at the prospect of such an adventure must've shown through Kakashi's eyes because Kaguya smiled warmly at him. She trailed her fingers across his forehead, brushing his hair to the side. "If not Earth, where would you want to go?"
Kakashi glanced to the side as he thought for a moment. "Jupiter has long held my interest. It's the largest and most colorful planet I have ever seen," he replied.
"It's a dangerous beauty, I'm afraid," Kaguya cautioned her son. "The entire planet is nothing but clouds and storms. There's nowhere for you to stand. However," her hand stilled as inspiration struck, "Jupiter claims the most moons in the galaxy. There would be plenty for you to explore near it," she smiled.
Kaguya called on Sirius to bear and protect her son, as well as Procyon to guide him through his journey. As soon as the shining dog stars arrived and Kakashi's destination was decided, they set out for the moons that orbited Jupiter.
Procyon proved his knowledge of the short cuts through space, and their first destination came into focus, an ancient moon easily identified by its many multi-ringed impact scars. In nearly no time at all, Sirius lit down upon the battered surface of Callisto.
Kakashi was too impatient when he hopped off of Sirius. He lost his footing and tumbled down to the center of the nearest of countless craters that covered the surface. He stood and dusted himself off as Procyon barked a warning to him.
Alarmed, Kakashi looked up in time to see a meteor hurtling towards him. Before he could react, however, it was encased in a translucent cube and pulverized into dust.
"Who are you?"
The cranky question came from behind him, so Kakashi whipped around. He found the cantankerous-looking old man that had asked it hovering above the surface of Callisto.
"I am Kakashi," he hesitated when the old man's eyes narrowed dangerously at him. "Son of Kaguya," he offered, aware that his mother's name would be better known than his own.
"Ah," the old man relaxed his scowl. "I am Ōnoki, and this is my moon—"
He was interrupted when another meteorite whizzed past him, disrupting his balance in midair. Kakashi could see that Ōnoki shouted angrily as he righted himself, but the loud crash at impact drowned out his curses.
The ground shook beneath Kakashi's feet, and he toppled over again. "If you're going to be here, make yourself useful!" Ōnoki hollered down at him.
Hard rock encased the old man's fist, and he pummeled another meteorite before it too could crash into Callisto. "Is it always like this?" Kakashi shouted as he got to his feet.
"Yes," Ōnoki growled as his eyes scanned the sky for the next projectile that dared to mar his moon.
Kakashi tensed and looked around as well. He spied another space rock approaching fast, and coming dangerously close to Sirius.
Lightning crackled in the palm of his hand, and Kakashi wielded it like a sword as he leaped to meet the meteorite, shattering the massive rock before it could do any harm.
"I might risk my safety, but I won't risk yours," he assured Sirius and Procyon when he dropped down on the back of the larger dog star. Procyon yelped his approval and bounded back into space, guiding the others once more.
"Tell your mother that she's welcome here anytime," Ōnoki called after them without looking away from the next massive meteorite that bore down on Callisto.
"Remind me to forget that message," Kakashi mumbled to his companions once they were out of earshot.
Their next destination was impossible to miss. Ganymede, the largest moon in the solar system, was bigger than the planet Mercury. As they neared it, Sirius and Procyon stilled their limbs and allowed the magnetic field that surrounded the moon to pull them in. Kakashi marveled at the auroras as they drifted down, encouraged by the color that hovered high above the surface.
They touched down, slipped, spun, and finally skidded to a stop in a layer of frost. As soon as they stilled, booms as loud as thunderclaps came from below them, betraying a hidden layer of ice which they'd cracked on landing. Kakashi gently eased himself onto his feet as his eyes frantically searched the surface for solid, secure ground.
Before he could find it, however, something broke through the ice. A burst of water shot up and rained back down in icy droplets.
"Who are you?" A menacing voice cut through the spray, and its question rang more like a threat.
Kakashi wiped the saltwater droplets from his stinging eyes as Sirius and Procyon growled on either side of him.
A man with sharp, spiky black hair and grey skin bobbed in the hole that exposed Ganymede's subsurface ocean.
"Who are you?" Kakashi responded by hurling the same question back at him.
"I am Kisame," he said through the most dangerous smile Kakashi had ever seen, "and you are trespassing on my ocean, and my moon."
Kisame turned his attention to the snarling dog stars. "It's been a long time since anyone dared to challenge me; this should be fun," he could barely contain his enthusiasm as he pulled himself and as well as a massive sword out of the water.
Kakashi didn't have much time to react, and he hoped rather than assumed that Ganymede's ocean would behave like the ones he remembered on Earth. He wove hand signs quicker than the eye could follow, and the alien waters obeyed him, taking on the form of a dragon that engulfed and dragged Kisame back below the ice.
"Let's go," Kakashi commanded his canine companions. He ran to keep pace with them, mounted Sirius, and the three raced to the safety of the stars above Ganymede. As the immense moon disappeared below him, dismay caused him to second-guess his adventure, and for the first time since setting out, he considered that perhaps, what he sought in the cosmos couldn't be found.
Kakashi's apprehension grew as the lines that crisscrossed Europa came into focus. Procyon guided them toward the equator, where the distant sun shone the strongest on that moon. There were no mountains or craters to avoid, but landing proved problematic just the same.
As they neared the surface, great pillars of ice almost ten times Kakashi's height rose to meet them. They were arranged in rows and, although gigantic, appeared like a crowd of humble, penitent figures.
"Who are you?" A voice reverberated.
Kakashi looked around him as he dismounted Sirius, and found the reflection of the youth that had spoken.
"I am Kakashi," his answer bounced off the ice that surrounded them. "Who are you?" He asked when he discerned the boy amid his many reflections.
"I am Haku," the youth replied, his eyes still captivated by the ice mirror in front of him, "and this is my moon," he finished his introduction in the same emotionless tone.
Kakashi turned to the side and, in so doing, caught a glimpse of himself. He approached his mirrored image, astonished.
The ice reflected the bleak greys of Europa's eternal winter, and how flawlessly he blended in. He looked as colorless as the moon that he'd left from the start.
"What is your purpose?"
The youth's monotone voice was barely audible through the hypnotic trance that Kakashi had fallen into. "My purpose," he repeated, so quietly that only his reflection could hear.
Suddenly, his odyssey seemed ridiculous to him, and his goal unattainable. The longer he stared at the dreary prospect in the ice mirror, the more convinced he became that he ought to give up and remain there, numb and frozen like Haku.
Procyon whined as the dog stars strode in between Kakashi and his reflection, momentarily breaking the spell. "Take me away from this place," Kakashi let himself fall forward as the last vestiges of hope fell from his lips.
Sirius caught him on his back and carried him far away from the desolate wasteland of Europa as swiftly as he could. Kakashi nuzzled into his companion's back as he sought warmth and shivered from doubt. He raised his head, blinked his eyes and curiosity and craving flared in his heart once more.
Io had risen before them. Volcanic plumes painted the moon yellow and orange. Jupiter loomed large behind it, providing a backdrop of swirling clouds in shades of pink and rose. Kakashi smiled at the spectacle, breathless at finding a place in the cosmos that not only met his expectations but exceeded them.
He scanned the surface as they neared it, and saw a woman with long, red hair that flowed like lava behind her as she ran to meet them. Sirius and Procyon touched down, and Kakashi hopped off when she approached. He stared, entranced as she caught her breath. Her cheeks were flushed from running, her deep green eyes sparkled with vivacity, and he thought he'd never seen a lovelier creature.
"Who are you?" He asked eagerly, coming near enough to touch her.
"I am Mei, and I've been waiting for you. I mean—" she blushed deeper, "I've watched your journey, and I hoped that you would make it here. I knew that you could."
Her voice rang gentle, melodic, and suited her perfectly. Kakashi's hand lifted of its own accord to cradle the side of her face in the palm of his hand. Warmth flooded into him at the touch and spread all the way to his extremities. "Welcome to my moon, my shining soldier," she cooed and leaned into his touch. "I hope that you will find whatever it is that you seek, here."
"Call me Kakashi," he said, pulling her close in an embrace, and initiated the first of what he knew would be countless kisses. "I already have found it, Mei, and more."
The End