The song "Pern" from Yann Tiersen's EUSA Live Concert Nantes 2016; Time Stamp: 5:32

READING ABOUT FUIN theory wasn't enjoyable for six year olds. And yet his son was focused with rapt attention. Sakumo puttered about the kitchen in the clunky awkward way old people slow-danced at weddings. It was comfortable for the participant but not exactly enjoyable for on-lookers, other than the soft feelings of tenderness.

It wasn't his best skill, cooking. Yet, there he was. He was more comfortable holding a tanto, but a ladle would have to do for now.

Every now and again, Kakashi would glance over as though to make sure to check and make sure he was still there. It felt like he had a snake of some sort in his belly whenever the boy looked at him like that, just a little bit sloppy and over-full of love.

There was something particular about a child's love that he'd never understood. It was all full of feeling and completely lacking in judgment. Good fathers received the full weight of their children's affection and esteem. They were like a god to them, so full of promise and potential and to a child the idea that their parents would fail them didn't enter into their mind. At least a good father.

Sakumo was aware of the tension that his son operated with at times. It had been a confusing set of weeks to watch his child change immediately overnight. A wisdom had entered his child's eye's overnight and it was disturbing to say the least.

Yet, the strange knowing he saw in his son's eyes had been paired with an overwhelming keenness and gratitude. This was not the same son and yet it altogether was the truest form of his son he had ever seen. Breath had breathed on the flame of his soul and now he was burning, a candle in the dark.

Sakumo set the thin mesh strainer over the empty pot, pouring the broth slowly so that he wouldn't scald his skin as he separated out the bones. He picked up the mesh strainer and shook it gently before picking it up and hurrying it over to the sink. The metal of the strainer had heated so quickly.

He poured himself a little saucer of sake and stared at the broth as it boiled. Kakashi gently turned the page and he glanced over at him again, his lips quirking up at the sight of the boy with his legs tucked under him so that he was tall enough to comfortably lean over the table.

The familiar pain of longing crashed into his heart and he downed the sake like water. He poured another and downed that one as well. Himari had been an excellent mother and he missed her terribly. She'd always been a better cook than him; eating miserable-tasting food had been a sweet reminder of the role she'd once played in his life.

Learning to cook and learning to do all the things for his son meant finally letting go of the pain of losing her. It had already been two years. Over six hundred days without a wife and a friend to help him through the trials of parenthood.

Moving on and into new skills meant leaving her behind and letting himself move on. He didn't know how to let go of things, but he was going to have to if he wanted to see his child be successful and happy.

He dumped the vegetables into the broth and stirred them around a little, tamping down the emotions inside him and trying to think of other times. When he found that he couldn't, he cleared his throat and asked Kakashi to go get some potatoes from the pantry.

The boy nodded, looking at him for just a little bit too long before he wandered off to complete the task. Some days he wondered where and when the boy's youth had gone and why he didn't feel like he was living with just a child anymore. It wasn't unnerving to him, just sad that his son had grown up too quickly.

He cried while he could, quickly chucking the emotion out of his body like trash into a dumpster. They were wiped off as quickly as they came so that his son wouldn't see him be too soft. He downed another saucer of sake and focused on the gratitude of having a son– having someone.

When Kakashi returned to the kitchen, he wordlessly scrubbed the potatoes in the sink.

"Are you learning anything awesome about the sealing arts?" Sakumo asked tentatively.

Kakashi nodded and paused his washing to wipe off his hands and pull down his mask so his face was visible. He didn't do that often. Sakumo's own lips pulled up into a smile when he saw his son's excited grin. .

"It's so cool. I am going to work on some storage seals for us, but apparently there's a lot of talented seal masters within the Uzumaki clan and even in the Land of Whirlpool! I want to go there some day and meet some seal masters. I think it would be good to be good at this." Kakashi had begun to cut the potatoes and was still smiling slightly.

"Yes, I'd love to take you. I have a stretch of time in two weeks. Maybe if we can swing it, we can take your sensei along for a little training trip. This does concern your studies, after all. I would also like to touch base with an old friend of mine who might be out there doing some more covert maneuvering," Sakumo mumbled, leaning his hip against the counter as he stirred the soup. "I really would love to head out that way."

Kakashi gently put the potatoes into the stew. "Who's the friend that you want to see?"

"That's for me to know and you to find out!" Sakumo laughed. "He's a distant relative, actually. You'll see. Now go ahead and please go fill out those poison comparisons I gave to you. I don't want you to be caught unawares out on the field. I put some neutralized vials in the workroom for you to smell."

Kakashi huffed in annoyance. "Fine. Keep your secrets, old man. I'll find out one way or another."

MINATO WATCHED WITH keen focus as Kakashi shifted through the variations of his primary fighting stance. "You've changed your style this past month."

Kakashi nodded as he moved, planting a hand on the ground as shoved his feet up in the air through a fake enemy's jaw. "Yes, my father has been teaching me more of the family style because I was asking him about it."

His sensei laughed. "That old war-hawk is well-known for his capabilities. He's getting a little older now for a standard shinobi, but he's still able to hold his own against all the Sannin." (A/N: That's a fact, I'm not making that up.)

Minato stood up from the log he'd been sitting on. "We have a mission later today. I picked it up this morning. We'll be out of town for a few days on protection detail for a merchant family moving into Konoha."

Kakashi nodded before straightening up. "Should I go get my gear now?"

"Aa." Minato smiled gently and then suddenly he was next to Kakashi. He ruffled the boy's hair and mussed it deeply.

"Hey! Cut it out," Kakashi groused, rearranging his hair into the signature mess he was used to. "I'll see you at the Hokage Tower in an hour."

Kakashi leapt into the trees and began to head back towards his family home. The breeze caught his hair, screwing up the fine touches he had just made. The feeling of the wind on his sweaty skin was pleasant.

He was beginning to feel normal. He wasn't seeing death everywhere he looked. It was all a reminder of possibilities. Going to Uzu was going to be a real treat– he'd only been there once or twice before it was destroyed in the Third Ninja War. As he moved from the trees to the rooftops, he wondered how many people he'd be able to save. Would it be too much to dream to stop the destruction of an entire nation? He hoped not.

THE MISSION WAS a glorified babysitting gig; why they hadn't found a genin trio to walk with the dignitary was beyond Kakashi. It probably had something to do with the war that was brewing, still a few years out at this point in history.

At the first camp-stop, Minato built the fire while Kakashi popped up a tent and scouted out a rabbit or two for dinner. It was easy work for him, which Minato noticed and commented on. Kakashi tried to appear sheepish about the praise, as though he'd been fishing for it.

The two sat staring into the fire as the rabbit carcasses were turned over the flame on a spit. Genta was very private, electing to stay in the tent that Kakashi had set up for him until the meal was prepared.

Kakashi's senses flared to a state of alertness when he felt Minato cast a subtle genjutsu over the two of them. It was a simple area of effect genjutsu, serving to shut off any noise that they might be making within the area of the jutsu. A shinobi would have sensed it in a second, but as it was, Genta was hopelessly civilian.

"I want to go over some things you failed to mention, Kakashi-kun," Minato murmured, turning the rabbit over so that it wouldn't burn on one side. When Kakashi stiffened, Minato chuckled. "You're not in trouble. I am just trying to pin some facts down."

He couldn't help the way his stomach squirmed. Facts were hard to really pin down for him lately. He nodded as nonchalantly as he could, knowing that it could be something very simple and not at all an accusation that he'd indeed been acting differently– very differently in the last two months.

Minato chuckled a little and grabbed his shoulder and shook it a little. "Lighten up, kid! You act like you're standing trial before the Elders."

Kakashi laughed a genuine laugh, remembering the time or two that he'd actually had to stand before the council and defend actions he'd taken. One of them had been following that dreadful mission where he'd thought Obito had died. Surely, this was not so big a deal as that.

"Alright, sensei, what do you want to talk about?"

"That night you were in the hospital, after you graduated to chunnin… You mentioned you had some foreign chakra in your system, but not necessarily that you'd been poisoned. Are they sure it was chakra poisoning? Or was it poison that affected your flow of chakra?" Minato's face was drawn in serious lines.

Kakashi opened his mouth to respond, then paused. He hadn't actually given much thought to the events of that evening. He hadn't thought about the foreign chakra at all. "I– I actually don't know, sensei. I hadn't thought about it. It was so confusing that I was just focusing on getting better." 'And adjusting to being a child instead of a man in his early thirties.'

Minato nodded. "Interesting. You mentioned genjutsu– what happened while you were being affected by it?"

"I mostly was just terrified, watching really horrible things happen. I don't want to talk about that because I'm trying to let it go. But… come to think of it, I don't remember that night. I don't even really remember the week leading up to that night, either."

"Have you been training with anyone new recently? Have any shinobi that you don't know been showing up consistently around you, randomly at the same places as you?"

Dread crept into his being like a slimy worm around his intestines. "Uhm, sensei… Did you wait until I was out of the village to talk to me about this?"

Minato's eyes narrowed, ever so slightly. "Do you have reason to think that I should have?"

"Not particularly– that's why I asked, sensei. Should I be concerned?" It had actually never occurred to him that he had absolutely no idea what Root was doing or how it was moving before Minato became Hokage. As he studied his teacher's face, he wondered if Minato or any of his friends had been accosted by Root ninja.

"Don't be concerned. Just keep an eye out. You were safely in the village and so it could have been any number of things. There's no need to walk in fear– just be mindful. I'm sorry if I've frightened you– I just want to figure out what has happened. Have you had any follow up visits with health officials?"

Kakashi cringed and scratched the back of his head. "Sensei– you know I hate the doctor!"

"That's alright. I'll ask my sensei if one of his friends can take a look at you." Minato scrubbed his hand through Kakashi's hair, chuckling when the youngster glared at him as he fixed the messy pile of hair back into its just-so position. "Alright, time to get dinner finished up."

Without another word, Minato dismantled the illusion and pressed his hands into his thighs as he stood up. Just for fun, he messed Kakashi's hair up again before skipping over to the other side of the fire.

Kakashi didn't have to pretend to hate it when people did that, but part of him was also incredibly grateful for that level of familiarity. He missed his deep friendships from when he was older. He'd have to set about reestablishing those; it wouldn't do much good to train so hard and be so serious that any and all joy was stripped from his life. Besides, you can't save people you don't talk to.

"Alright, time to eat!" chirped Minato, greedily pulling the rabbit off of the spit. "This looks great, Kakashi-kun!"

Genta poked his head out of his tent with wide, optimistic eyes and crawled out when he saw that it looked as good as it smelled.

Kakashi pondered a little further, remembering that the orphans Jiraiya had been pouring life into seven years ago were still alive. Still waiting for him to return. Still kind and gentle at this point. He knew that they'd been double crossed by someone at some point and that was what got Yahiko killed– Naruto had briefly explained to him but he hadn't pressed too much for details with everything else that had been happening.

An uncomfortable feeling swirled within him as he contemplated. Suddenly, he wasn't hungry. He was torn between excitement and anxiety as he realized the particularly fortuitous timing he had.

He didn't care if he was dead, if this was the afterlife, or reality. It didn't change anything for him to understand why he was here. All he knew was that he was here and where he was in this particular time was allowing him the opportunity to effect a rather large change.

When he returned from this mission, he intended to spend a rather long time in meditation trying to mentally walk back to all the information he knew about this time period and what had happened with the beginning of Akatsuki, the rot in the village, and how best to combat that.

However, understanding and theorizing about how things needed to be done would mean that eventually he had to reveal his hand. He wasn't sure when that time would come. If it would come in time to actually make a real change for certain people. Kakashi, for all of his failings, was no slouch. He was going to do this right, to the extent that he was able and to the extent that others were willing to play along and be a part of it.

"You're not eating, Kakashi." It was a statement, not a question.

"Sorry, just thinking and planning ahead." Kakashi at this point in time hadn't perfected eating with a mask. So he simply pulled it down and shoveled the food in. Genta had already eaten half-way through the other rabbit. Kakashi scooped some of the boiled potatoes out of the small pot and blew on them to cool them down. "What time are we getting up in the morning?"

"Oh-six-hundred!" Minato said with a vicious grin. "We've got a lot of ground to cover."

Genta whined slightly and Kakashi snickered. Minato had always been obsessed with efficiency.

"HOW HAVE THOSE jutsus been helping you, Kakashi-kun?"

Kakashi frowned slightly, tapping a contemplative finger to his chin. "They've been very helpful. Your last few moves however have not been helpful."

He and Kenta were playing Shogi and the older man had elected to use the Yagura Castle defense. This meant that while Kenta had to move diagonally, Kakashi's only real option for offense was to attack in an incredibly straightforward way. It meant he had to directly weigh every option before attacking as the ability to be covert in his movements wasn't an option. He'd have to overwhelm with brute force and cunning if he wanted to get anywhere.

"I aim to please," Kenta murmured, shifting a wedge-shaped piece into a different position with a self-satisfied smile.

Kenta wasn't taking it easy on him, which he supposed made sense. He was a grown man in the body of a child; he'd commanded the army during that horrible war. Perhaps his was on par with Nara intelligence at this point, but Kakashi would never assume that level of greatness for himself. It was hard to imagine how those around him perceived him– even a mature child could be unsettling to adults. Kakashi liked to think that it was his winning personality that Kenta was interested in, but like most adults it was probably a measure of his skill that brought him to the Yamanaka household for tea and shogi.

Inoichi was present, though he was reading and studying up on some clan techniques. Every so often he'd get up to check on the flowers and turn the mist nozzles on or off.

Kakashi craned his head back to study the intricate designs that were woven into the ceiling. To an ignorant individual, they'd view the sweeping, swirling designs as a beautiful pattern meant to resemble that of a dragon. He could recognize them for what they were: sealing constructs.

"Kenta-san, is this a sealing array?" He asked innocently, lifting his hand lazily to point to the ceiling.

Kenta's mouth opened slightly, surprised. He took a small moment to appear nonchalant, sipping his tea casually. "Of course."

Kakashi moved a pawn. "What's it for?"

"That," the older man said, immediately crushing the move he'd just made, "is a secret, dear child."

Inoichi stared at him incredulously. "How'd you even know that?"

"Sakumo was telling me that the boy is incredibly interested in fuin-jutsu."

Ah, no honorific. This must have been one of his father's friends, then. "I am."

Inocihi scoffed and went back to reading, somewhat annoyed by Kakashi's ability to surpass him in the most basic of things. "You're always showing people up, kid. Sometimes it's best to keep some things under wraps so that those around you don't feel alienated by your ability to outperform them."

Kakashi gave him a blank look. "...Are you feeling alienated by my ability to perform?"

The blonde blushed a deep shade of pink until even his ears were tinged with the colouring. "Of course I am! You're six years old and as good of a ninja as I am."

"I have some business to attend to, so let's scrap the game for now. Inoichi, why don't you and your friend go do something less mentally taxing and more fun?" Kenta said, standing up from the low table. His robes were red and thick, with gold trimming at the sleeves. With his blonde hair pulled up into a half bun, he looked the epitome of a king and war-lord.

Kakashi glanced down at the board and realized he'd been beaten. Absently, he wondered what had happened to this absolute machine of war and hoped he'd be able to stick around for a while so he could get beaten a few more times to improve his own strategizing.

The older man swept past them, ruffling both of their heads affectionately. Inoichi swatted his hand away in irritation, feeling too old for the gesture. "Tou-san cut it out, you know I hate that."

As he departed, the smell of sweet tobacco and molasses trailed after him. Smell for ninjas was interesting. It was like long-hair. You had to get to a certain level of ability before you could afford to indulge in certain peculiarities. Long hair was a weakness if you didn't have the skill to combat the opening in your defense. Smell was the same way. It was a privilege to be able to have distinguishing features– this meant either prowess on the battlefield or the freedom to be bold and refuse more discrete, subversive maneuvers.

In less than an hour, Kakashi and Inoichi were wandering through a craft market. Inoichi dragged him from stall to stall, looking interestedly at the different inks that the stalls offered. He would pick up the bottles and hold them up to the sun so that he could see the light filter through the ink. When he found one he thought he liked, he'd give the bottles a little swirling motion to feel the liquid move, measuring the viscosity of the ink.

When Inoichi realized how bored Kakashi looked, he explained what he was doing. Kakashi didn't have the heart to tell the man that he already knew what was happening so he played along and asked Inoichi why he was so interested in the ink.

While Kakashi had known how to find good ink because of the time he'd spent with Sai, he was surprised to find out that Inoichi deeply enjoyed creating beautiful calligraphy on panels which he'd pressed free flowers into. He'd been so busy with war and growth in his younger years that he'd never heard this information. Or maybe he had and just hadn't heard it. Maybe people just stopped sharing this part of life with him.

Kakashi mentally filed this information away inside of himself. He'd started noticing these things about people in his late twenties, when he realized that his whole life couldn't be composed of ninja skills and improving his murder methods. When he'd realized there was more to life than killing and survival, he'd endeavored to make note of what made others feel alive.

Now was as good a time as any to continue that habit. Just because he had to focus steadfastly on growth and survival again didn't mean that life had to be a hard, joyless slog.

He realized that at some point Inoichi must have said something to him, because the older boy was staring at him with a look of expectation. "Sorry, what?"

"What are your hobbies?"

"Oh. I don't really have any. I just mostly study so… reading, I guess?" He sheepishly scratched the back of his head.

Inoichi nodded thoughtfully. "Hmm. I'm going to teach you to press flowers."

Kakashi grunted in response. Is this how Sai had felt when the Rookie Nine and some other Jonin came together to help him become "normal?"

"The fox is dead in the garden, the hedges are on fire in the country lanes,

And all I want to do is get out of the rain." I'm Done With the World and It's Done with Me; Foals

JUMPING FROM ROOF to roof was a favoured activity for Kakashi, as it meant he was better able to survey the village and see what was going on down in the streets and who was there. After his conversation with Minato on that mission, Kakashi had decided to keep a better watch on things. He'd only gotten back a few days ago and while he hadn't noticed anything particularly damning, he'd seen far more ninja prowling around on the rooftops than he remembered from his youth. Then again, maybe he just hadn't been paying attention.

His next step was to get both a bingo book and a classified roster so that he could begin to memorize the different faces in the village. It would also help him to see exactly how old all of his old friends were from his past life. It would make it a lot easier to initiate friendship with them if he knew where he'd be able to find them.

He was supposed to be meeting Minato-sensei for tea. He had a sneaking suspicion that either Jiraiya or one of Jiraiya's friends would be there. He was excited for the opportunity, because that meant he could begin to– if he played his cards right–start re-establishing connections with those in actual positions of power. Which meant he could also begin to assess whether or not he'd be able to invite any of these people into his machinations for restoring the future of Konoha.

Kakashi jumped again from one building to another, absently noting that he was currently jumping over the roofs in the Uchiha sector. Yet another group that needed to be redeemed. Yet another group tied to Danzo's damnable actions.

When he finally arrived at the doorstep of Minato's humble abode, Kakashi elected to knock on the door. He felt suddenly formal, unsure of how to proceed.

Minato opened the door with a wide smile, beckoning him in. "Kakashi-kun, you're early! Here come in and take a seat."

Early? He was on time.

Kakashi nodded, slipping off his ninja sandals before he entered the home. Kushina was seated at the table, doodling away at a little picture. She smiled warmly when he came in. Kakashi couldn't remember if he'd ever met her before. He felt awkward as he bowed, sitting next to her at the table.

"Do you want some tea?" she asked, already pouring him some. Kakashi nodded, smiling to himself. She was where Naruto had gotten his impatience. "It's lapsang, so it's nice and smoky."

He was grateful to sip the tea and not have to make immediate conversation. Kushina was rattling off all the cool things that she'd done that week and it was a great comfort to not answer any deep questions about himself so quickly after seeing her again.

There was a knock at the door and Minato practically beamed with pleasure as he went to open the door. "Sensei! Tsunade-shishou! I'm so glad you could make it."

Kakashi blanched beneath his mask, not prepared for this level of interaction. As they filed into the room, he almost winced he saw Shizune filter in behind them. Of course she'd be with Tsunade. He stood, bowed to each of them, and then sat back down and wrapped his hands around his teacup, plotting how best to maneuver through this encounter.

It might be best to try and enjoy it.

A/N:

Couldn't think of a different place to cut this off. I also don't have any music to add to this, sorry! If you think of something let me know and I'll see if it fits somewhere. I've got a lot of ideas for this now. I'm excited to try and figure out how to marry it all together.

It will most likely be slow moving and focused in this part of history, rather than fixing a few things and then jumping forward. I'm kind of interested in seeing/fleshing out this part of history for the Narutoverse. See some Uchihas, some other clan members that aren't going to be dead at this point…. Let's see what comes of it! Love y'all. :)

QUESTION: Do we think I should cross post this to A03?