In a moment suspended in time, Naruto understood Shisui's heart.
If Hatake Kakashi's fury was a cold thing, directed at himself as much as it was to the outside world…
Uchiha Shisui's rage was another thing entirely. It was a burning hot rage, enough to turn anything on its path to ash.
There was no fear, no patience in him. No worries about the future and no concern for the path he was taking. Here was a man here for a precise task: get his answers; kill Uzumaki Naruto. Not necessarily in this order.
Whether he was directly responsible for Toru's death or not. To Shisui, blinded by grief, joining Umi had led to Toru's death. It was enough. Then he would see about the rest, people like Danzō, whom he suspected. That Naruto was a wanted criminal was something that seemed to come as an afterthought.
"Uzumaki."
Naruto could more or less figure out what was going through Shisui's mind, just from the pool of raging emotions he was the source of.
'You caused his death.' Shisui's soul seemed to say. And Naruto couldn't find it in him to disagree. 'For this, you will answer.'
'I'd like to see you try.' Naruto thought.
"He is Sarutobi Naruto." Kakashi said quietly. "Your brother's former teammate. And Uchiha Obito is the masked man."
The Uchiha took it in stride.
"…That would explain a few things." Shisui grunted. "Doesn't change much, though. I will bind him, get my answers and then..."
Shisui didn't waste any time. Naruto felt his chakra build up in his eyes. The long distance Kotoamatsukami. One illusion he knew he would have trouble dispelling. If he could at all.
He made an immediate decision and used a Lightning flash to force them to blink. He started channeling chakra to warp away at the same time he was running.
Naruto broke Shisui's line of sight, dashing through the shattered wall and disappearing in the hospital's corridor.
Kakashi was upon him immediately, a white flash of murdering motion. He couldn't focus on the Leap, so he let that go. Naruto closed his eyes entirely, relying on his other senses.
A sword appeared in his hand, steel clanging as he parried Kakashi's strike. Shisui was behind him, the same chakra building up in his eyes again. With a single motion of his left hand and a burst of focused Lightning chakra, Naruto created a clone, and summoned a sword in midair for his doppelganger.
It was not a shadow clone, and not a lightning clone either. Rather, it was a shadow clone infused with lightning. One only able to use elemental techniques of its element, one that would revert to lightning once struck.
Shisui canceled his genjutsu. The clone drew the sword back, and lightning shaped itself around it.
"Lightning Style: Abrupt Fang"
It thrust its sword forward in a two-handed stabbing motion, and its chakra extended, shaping itself into a beast's jaws, rushing toward Shisui through the narrow hallway.
The real Naruto and Kakashi crossed swords again. His confidence was rapidly diminishing, and soon, he was strictly on the defensive. Fighting for his life.
They said they were aiming at capturing him, yet they were taking no chances.
Every blow each of them struck was meant to be a fatal one. Straightforward attacks with a single purpose behind it: kill the other. The two of them were equally fast, it seemed, Naruto's more power-based cloak matched Kakashi's more efficiency-based one.
And Kakashi's swordsmanship was still slightly better. It was no wonder, as the man had had more time to practice. On top of this, they were fighting in a hospital. All of them kept their attacks' potency down, focusing on fast, lethal strikes.
Behind him, Shisui dodged under the lightning dragon, which flickered into non-existence again, rather than damage the building and endanger people.
Kakashi and Naruto were extremely fast. So how could Shisui manage to keep up — no, it was more than keeping up, he was as swift as they were — without even using Lightning release...?
Shisui's tanto strike bit the clone in the neck. Like Kakashi's had bitten Sakura's throat-
Sakura's throat, ripped open; her blood, spilling.
The clone dispelled in a flash of blinding light, forcing Shisui to take a step away, until his vision returned. Kakashi closed his Sharingan eye for a second, too, Naruto assumed. But he always fought with one eye closed, anyway. And that's what he did then, relying on his regular one.
It did nothing to dampen his prowess in battle, as scary as the thought was.
Unlike Shisui, Toru and most Uchiha, — Naruto assumed — Kakashi spent about half his time fighting without his Sharingan.
Kakashi's hands blurred, and a column of earth spikes rose through the corridor. At the same time, blades made out of water slashed at him, coming down from the ceiling. Naruto weaved through them in a show of agility that belied his size.
Kakashi's other hand, the one wrapped around his sword, released a beam of cutting electricity that Naruto jumped over.
Shisui shot small, focused fireballs at his back, making Naruto jump again, when he was already midair. He did so by pushing himself into a backflip with a burst of air.
Kakashi caught Shisui's fireballs with his left hand, added Wind to them, and threw them again.
Naruto gathered chakra to his hand and dispelled them by sealing them away, right into the window, with a single touch.
Kakashi recognized the technique and something like revolt entered his eyes. He knew where it came from, then. Shisui just grunted, realizing fire would be a bad idea, here, anyway.
Cloaked in his ever-shifting blue cloak of thunder, Kakashi looked like a warrior god again. Just like he did, years ago, when Naruto had first met him. The White Chakra Sabre flew through the air with precision, guided by a lean arm, strong by virtue of its corded muscle.
Naruto could almost feel the same terrified awe, admiration.
He pushed it aside.
What he couldn't push aside was his desire to win. To overcome someone this strong. Defeating an opponent like him meant everything to him, right now. His pride was burning, or maybe it was his soul.
And Uchiha Shisui would have to wait for his turn.
Toru had taught him how to layer techniques before. And he had practiced with him until he got it down. Hopefully, the lesson stuck, because he would likely only get one chance at this.
Naruto started focusing.
He retreated into his mind, dodging under a flurry of sword strikes. It felt as though he were about to do the impossible. Maybe he was, because this sort of thing… he would not consider attempting in normal circumstances.
And then he split his attention in two.
It felt like looking left and right at the same time, except he could not use a Shadow Clone, this time. How did Kurenai manage to do this...? According to Toru, she could do this two more times.
Naruto triggered the seal in which he had sealed the flames away, kicking them around him in a circle. Both Shisui and Kakashi dodged, but it bought him something more precious. Time.
Half of Naruto's awareness was dedicated to one specific task, and he barely managed to crouch under Shisui's tanto strike.
Naruto didn't let his focus waver.
'Rising Dragon.' Naruto spun in an anti-clockwise kick, thunder buzzing around him.
Shisui's eyes were upon him again. Naruto created a shadow clone, and pushed off from it, shattering the ceiling in a mighty kick. The clone slammed down, summoning a shower of wind blades as he did.
Then he whirled around with a kick. Whirlwind Snap.
Kakashi's hands moved again, too fast for Naruto to read the seals he was preparing.
"Water Style: Severing Wave"
Naruto threw himself aside, and the high-pressured Water jet that Kakashi had just created — the one that cut right through stone like butter — didn't manage to cut his leg off.
Naruto didn't let his focus waver.
Both Kakashi and Shisui had expected him to run off through the opening to the upper floor. So Naruto didn't. His hand moved clockwise, and he summoned four swords.
He threw one at Shisui, and one at Kakashi.
For the third one… He gathered his chakra. With a grunt of exertion, he threw it upward, enhanced by Lightning. It cut its way through the building, aiming for the sky.
"Revolving Thunder: Grounding."
Instead of following to the upper floors, Naruto pulled himself to the sword embedded next to Shisui.
Shisui parried Naruto's heavy sword strike with a grunt. Physically, he didn't have the Uzumaki's constitution. He retaliated with a swift kick to Naruto's face.
Naruto stepped back, ignoring the pain in his cheekbone, shaping his fingers in a one-handed seal around his weapon. A Lightning Shadow Clone appeared in front of him, and he whirled around to deflect Kakashi's strike into the wall.
They were too strong for him, together. But Naruto had known this since the very beginning.
Naruto didn't let his focus waver.
Shisui made short work of the clone, of course, and this time… He didn't let himself get blinded. The clone exploded in a shower of lightning.
Naruto pulled at it, sending a show of sparks around them.
Kakashi's blade came at him, striking from above, cold fury moving him like the lightning god's hammer.
Shisui's blade was set aflame, coming from down with such swiftness and precision that Naruto could understand why Toru had always felt as though he couldn't measure up to him.
"Swallow Fury"
The Uchiha's blade made a chain of several wide slashes, and he moved forward with every strike, flames trailing him.
They had fought together before, this much was obvious.
The Hatake moved in between them, sword flashing white, in the leaf's prized style.
"Setting Sun, Rising Moon"
Naruto wove through the blades, wind and instinct guiding his every step.
Kakashi was a hound of thunder; Shisui was a ghost of flame.
Naruto had to anticipate both trajectories. If he missed, there was no doubt that the fight was as good as over.
Neither of them was aiming to disable, or even to maim.
Cold fury; burning rage. The reason behind why they swung their swords might have been different in its expression, but the end result would be the same. Naruto strained.
Naruto felt his mind on the edge of tearing, the effort of having his focus split in between two very different tasks… while trying to keep up with two of Konoha's monsters was too much.
But he couldn't — wouldn't — let his focus waver.
Their swords flew at the same time.
For a moment, he managed to let his heightened emotions flow away, dissociating them from the fires of battle. Naruto let go of himself, and the clarity that came was startling.
There was the sound of steel finding steel. He hadn't missed, and their weapons had made contact with his own. Naruto called to the sword high up in the sky. The one he had sent with only one objective. Gathering the storm.
"Revolving Thunder: Heavenly Light."
Kakashi felt something change, but he was magnetized to Naruto's weapon already. The sparks from before.
A beam of focused lightning struck down from the heavens with a roar, aimed at Naruto's twin blades. The floor ruptured under them, and it was all Naruto could do to keep its power focused on the three of them, rather than the building.
The pain that Naruto felt was indescribable. He screamed, just as he heard both Kakashi and Shisui scream.
But he couldn't — wouldn't — let his focus waver.
Even with his eyes closed, he could see it. White flashes, stars, colors that made no sense. Concentric wavelengths that no human was supposed to be seeing in the first place.
There was only pain on his mind… and his destination.
Something green shaped itself into existence around Shisui, and Naruto knew, from memories that were not his, that it would shield him from the worst of it. But… this changed nothing.
'There's only one way out.' Naruto thought, through the maddening haze of agony. 'Through.'
Naruto burst into motion, detaching himself from Shisui.
His chakra and Kakashi's were still wrestled together, and he couldn't tell which one of them was responsible for this tug of war in the first place. Him… Kakashi… or both.
His focus hadn't wavered.
Kakashi and he disappeared in a crack of thunder.
Behind them, Uchiha Shisui, clad in Susanoo green, howled his rage.
Uzumaki Naruto and Hatake Kakashi fell in the snow in a tumble.
They were back on the mountaintop where Danzo had been killed. They pushed off each other and stood up once more.
Snow was still falling around them, blanketing the earth.
They were both breathing hard, not from exhaustion, but from the sheer pain of becoming lightning rods.
Kakashi saw the still flashing mark and he understood right away.
His Sharingan morphed into a shape Naruto had never seen before, and he moved away from Kakashi's line of sight. But the man had not been aiming at him. There was a whirring sound, and the mark disappeared, along some of the earth.
"Hiraishin…? No. That's something else. But no matter what it is… You won't call your friends here." Kakashi said, to his surprise. "You need some time to put down a mark, as well, don't you?"
Naruto said nothing.
"I won't give you any time to do that, then." Kakashi finished.
"…I wasn't planning on doing that in the first place." Naruto admitted.
Kakashi's eyes were upon him, and Naruto knew exactly how dangerous this was, now.
"No." Naruto shook his head. "It might be foolish. No. It is foolish. But when I defeat you… I want this to be on my terms."
And he closed down on the bond even tighter. He could not afford any distractions, for this.
Kakashi's left hand released shuriken, all of them linked together by wire. Naruto ducked under, blasting the ones hidden in their shadows away, rather than face the exploding tags wrapped around them.
"Earth Release: Underground Gate"
The ground burst open around Naruto entirely, but he dashed away with a push of wind.
Kakashi, who had been ready to summon his dogs, realized it would be a waste. Just like most conventional jutsu would be.
"…When you defeat me?" Kakashi chuckled, low and dangerous.
Naruto knew how bad of an idea it was, facing a shinobi like Hatake Kakashi. And how truly bad it was, to do so alone. Instead of fear, what he felt was pure eagerness.
"Yes." Naruto nodded, slipping back into his fighting stance. "By overcoming you... I can overcome any foe."
His blood was singing.
Kakashi let out a rumbling sound, that was probably supposed to be a chuckle. "Fine by me."
"This will be our last training session, then… Sensei."
"Bring it on, then. Come at me with the intent to kill! ...Because I will." Kakashi finished.
"Does it ever become easier to deal with…? The guilt, I mean." Toru asked him.
"…Not really."
"Ah." Toru sighed. "You know… Sometimes, I wonder what he would think."
It was only the two of them, most of the time. Sasuke was off wandering the world with Jiraiya-sama, and… Naruto had been dead for a while.
"What about?" Kakashi asked.
"…I" Toru's brow furrowed in thought. "I don't know. Everything."
The looming war, the hardships of shinobi life, then.
Kakashi shrugged. "I think Naruto would mostly complain, frankly. About everything."
Toru chuckled. "Yeah. He probably would. But he'd still be there, fighting with us, at least. Maybe he'd be a smart-ass about it, too. He could really be, sometimes."
"Oftentimes." Kakashi smiled.
He had failed him.
"Why did you pick me for the team, Kakashi-sensei?" Sarutobi Naruto asked, looking at him dubiously.
Kakashi blinked. "Why would I not…?"
Truth was, by now, Naruto reminded him of himself a bit. Less… abrasive than he had been at his age, but still.
"There are plenty of other genin who would love to study under you." Naruto retorted.
"Oh…?" Kakashi eye-smiled. "And you don't?"
"It's not that." Naruto laughed. He then turned serious. "But many of them are more suitable for our… line of work." He said with some distaste.
"Because of your aversion to killing?"
"Also this, yes. But… I don't think I have what it takes to be a shinobi. Not a good one, at least. I… still think of just leaving, most days."
"I think I understand that." Kakashi said.
"You… do?" Naruto asked.
"Of course." Kakashi laughed. "You'd be hard-pressed to find someone who doesn't have some sort of doubt about the lives we lead."
"Isn't there… another way?"
"Maybe. Maybe not." Kakashi shrugged. "I don't think it is possible to change the entire world. Not anymore."
"That's… sad."
"I guess so." Kakashi admitted. "I prefer to focus on what I can do."
"What is it?"
Kakashi smiled at him. "Protect the people I hold dear… and take care of Konoha's enemies, so that we live to see another day."
"…I see." Naruto said, not looking entirely satisfied by the answer.
"You're still young, Naruto." Kakashi ruffled his hair. He had no doubt that he would become a strong shinobi, someday, despite his reservations. "And this is just my answer. You will be able to find your own, someday."
"I guess so." Naruto muttered.
"A …son?" Kakashi muttered.
Minato-sensei and Kushina were about to become parents. The idea was as foreign as it was scary. He never voiced it out loud, but he had come to see both of them as something between siblings and parents. But… a baby?
Where did Kakashi fit in this, exactly…?
He pushed the feelings away. Congratulations were in order, not jealousy. The baby would grow up in a loving home, the son of the Hokage and his terrifying, strong, kind wife.
"Yes." Minato-sensei grinned. "Would you do us the honor of keeping watch over Kushina during her pregnancy?"
"Of course!" Kakashi accepted right away. This was the least he could do for them. He could watch from the shadows, and make sure everything went perfectly well-
"It will be good preparation for the future!" Minato-sensei continued, ruffling his hair. "You're going to be a big brother, after all, Kakashi."
Hatake Kakashi was a jōnin, starting today.
And now, he understood what being a shinobi meant. Being willing to put your life, your feelings aside, in order to protect the whole.
One life could not matter more than a thousand. No matter who it was. No matter what stupid Obito kept on saying.
No matter that his father, who had been too weak to do what was needed, wouldn't be here to witness his son's triumphs. He had Minato-sensei, anyway.
Hatake Kakashi was a jōnin, now. And he would defend Konoha at all costs.
Unseen, a tear trickled down Hatake Kakashi's face.
He had tried doing things Obito's way. It had brought him nothing but pain.
Orders were easier to follow.
Besides, Obito was nothing more than a traitor. The man who had killed Minato-sensei and Kushina. Then again, Obito had said he had overheard him talking to his grave.
Something like this was the reason Minato-sensei died…? This was on him, too, then. One more mistake.
He had made so many. Including Naruto. Another traitor. One who had killed the Hokage during wartime, along with more than a dozen Konoha ninja... and had no plans of stopping. Anyone he deemed guilty, he would kill. And he had made this obvious.
Before, he would have tried to find another way. Now, broken, with nothing left to live for but the objectives…
He was nothing at all.
It wouldn't stop him from doing what was needed. Not now, not anymore.