I sadly, do own Naruto, or else I would have renamed it Kakashi!


White Fang, Lightning's Howl: The Secret of the Hatake Clan

Power Within

Kakashi sat down again on the mat.

"I'm researching lost jutsus."

"Lost jutsus?"

"Yes. Do you think that the Hatake are merely tillers of the land?"

Kakashi sighed. Envious older students, older chuunins, older genins, who disliked the idea of a five-year-old knowing more than they did, were prone to calling his family 'the farmers'. And he was 'the scarecrow.'

"Once upon a time, the Hatake clan were a great people. Working side by side with the Hyuuga and the Uchiha and others to found this village."

"How can we be great?" Kakashi asked, dumbfounded. "Our clan is small. We do not possess any special traits – such as bloodline limits – or anything. Even the Akimichi clan have special pills to eat, the Nara have their special binding techniques, the Yamanake deal with body switching. There's the bug clan, the dog clan, the Byukugan, the Sharingan…."

He sighed.

"My teammate, Obito, brags. He will activate his Sharingan one day and will be able to copy even the techniques I work so hard to make!"

"Those thoughts plagued me too – when I was young." White Fang said.

Kakashi looked up.

"Has that ever stopped me?" asked his father.

Kakashi sat in silence, thinking on what his sensei had told him.

­

"Kakashi. Obito comes from a great clan but you come from a great man. Never be ashamed of your name – Hatake Sakumo is a name associated with the Sannins for all time."

"What makes a shinobi is not his jutsu but love, loyalty, courage and hard work. True power lies inside you, Kakashi."

Kakashi watched the candle flicker.

True power within me?

His father sat back.

"When a clan splits such as ours did, knowledge is often lost in the division. Now, we are no greater in strength than that of the new clans – the Aburame, Akimichi, Nara, Yamanake…. Or the clan that shares our origins….."

Sakumo stood. Kakashi followed suit.

"However. Given time, this year, with practice, you and I can change this. To reap the full potential given to both of us. Inside us."

You and I can change it.

You and I.

You and I.

CHANGE IT!


Kakashi jerked up with a gasp. Sitting in his bed, but still coming out of the murky depths of his dream.

Father.

True power lies within you, Kakashi.

Kakashi sighed.

The long forgotten memory now crystal clear in his memory, he could feel pain, once again. After years of numbness, he was waking again. He knew sleep now was out of the question. Crawling out of bed, he showered, completed a few toiletries, changed into his uniform, ensured the security of his window curtains and door before making and eating breakfast.

True power lies within you, Kakashi.

Too many memories.

That had been the night before the fateful day which changed his family's life. The day Sakumo accepted a dangerous mission.