The Strongest Shape, a naruto fanfic

Title: The Strongest Shape
Author: Seoinage
Series: Naruto
Genre: General, Drama, Angst
Rating: K+
Spoilers/Warnings: Through the Kakashi Gaiden / character passings

A Request: If you have access to the a cappella version of "I Will Get There", by Boyz II Men, please listen to it after reading this fic. Off the top of my head, I know that song can be found on "The Prince of Egypt" soundtrack.

The crunch of the gravel beneath their passing feet could almost fade into the birdsong heard trilling through the autumn air, so quiet they were. But he still picked up the relaxed footfalls of the man leading the way and then those of his own, just a tiny hairs breath behind, like a faint echo shadowing the former. Though the puzzle of why his own very precisely placed steps were falling short (even though strictly controlled and religiously practiced, of course), still eluded him, there were far greater things about his companion that occupied his time. For instance,

"…Where are we going, Sensei?"

The short exhalation of breath, like a satisfied chuckle, gently caressed the response. "Someplace interesting that you've never been to."

At that, his brow furrowed slightly, though bound under cloth and hidden by his falling bangs. Mental calculations executed and then spit out his question of, "Is this a new training you've devised?"

"Now, now, don't you have faith in me?"

In Kakashi's mind, there was no need to even question that, so he responded with, "Right, faith. Actually, I think that's something you'd better teach Obito to have less of, that absolute faith in himself. He'd do better learning the rules and training hard instead so that he doesn't get killed."

The slight turning of the blond head, so that it could deliver its understanding smile, disturbed the air. "Obito will find his own way. So will Rin, myself, and you."

"Obito's a nuisance." His arms swung at his sides, a bit loose, but ready to go into action at any moment should there be a anything waiting. One step, another. "At least Rin's medic skills are useful. And Sensei is Sensei. You've already found your path!"

In response, a soft sigh escaped, though the other's footsteps faltered not. "Do you know what geometric shape is the strongest out of all of them?"

The abrupt change in subject by his teacher didn't faze him. 'Look underneath the underneath' was a favorite saying of the blond's after all. "What? A triangle, of course." How elementary.

"And after that?"

"A circle." An itch was forming right on the tip of his nose.

"But something that is a circle can't change into a triangle and vice versa, right?"

"Maybe with a jutsu or something." A pause and a discreet scratch, though the cloth covering didn't allow for a truly satisfying one. It was almost like getting to a bridge and being able to cross only halfway. "Are we going to learn a new jutsu?"

If they were going to learn something new, at least the weather would cooperate. It was a beautiful day, with the clouds white and fluffy overhead and back-dropped by clear blue. The gravel had since given way to forest litter on the ground, dry and crisp with a slight give that signified good moisture, but not to the extent of rain. The woodsy smells of a young sapling, of the peeling bark of an older tree, of the congealing sap halted in its run down the trunk of another aged specimen; they all hit his nose and tickled his senses.

And when he stretched his other sense out as much as he could (after exhausting sound and smell), in the attempt to gather more information about what the other had in store for him, he swore that he was being led in the direction of running water. Running water? He just hoped the Yellow Flash didn't expect him to go swimming or fishing or just playing around. Time not spent training or on a mission was time wasted, in his opinion.

It was a beautiful day, and the silence after the unanswered question lingered gently between them until a brush of burnt umber swept across him.

"Open your eyes."

He frowned. "Did you say something, Sensei?"

The trickling of the running water seemed to get a little bit louder. And were those footsteps on something wooden, like…a bridge? Was there even a bridge around here? And were Rin and Obito already waiting for them? He mentally snorted. As if Obito would get their early or even on time.

The other's strides were smooth, as was his voice in response. "Don't tell me you're going deaf at such a young age or you're going to make me feel old!" laughed the man in front. "I said, it's not a jutsu." Two hands came to rest at the back of the blond head, clothing shifting to accommodate the movement only to continue with, "But in a way, if you think about it a certain way, it could be a jutsu. Only it's a jutsu any person can do, not just a shinobi."

He snorted disbelievingly through his mask. "What kind of jutsu is that where anyone could perform it? I've never heard of any stupid thing like that!"

Theirs was an easy pace, the elder and taller one leading, the younger and shorter one a few steps behind. They were meandering, and the one following was getting impatient. "So?" he demanded. "What jutsu is this? It must be a weak one if anyone could do it. Does this mean that even Obito could master it?"

The look on his teacher's face, though he could not see it, was evident in the semi-lecturing tone of voice that replied with, "Not weak at all, though it is something that people must practice together. You see, I think that people can do those things we'd talked about. Changing from triangles to circles and back, that is." Sensei paused, as if to collect his thoughts. "It's the easiest and hardest thing to do, having to practice together. But when you place three people together, they can make a triangle if they're placed correctly. Now if there were four people, they can make a filled triangle where three are on the outside and one is in the middle." The lecturing continued as enthusiasm for the topic gained strength. "Not only that, but three people can also make a circle by holding hands. So can four people or two people or five people, it's all the same. Any number of people - well, except if that person were alone, of course - can make circles together. But if we're looking to maximize efficiency, then the best number of people to have do this would be three or four. That's because those numbers can make both a triangle and a circle. They just have to be flexible and understanding of each other, that's all."

A touch of maroon.

Open your eyes.

He blinked, suddenly wanting to rub his eyes. The mask was warm on his face, shielding him from the elements. But the mask could not shield him from the memory of his last sight of Obito seen through his mismatched eyes, one brown, the other two-swirled and red – Ha! You're just jealous of my Sharingan, Kakashi! These babies are mine since I'm an Uchiha!

He shook his head, confused. How could that be since there'd be no way and in no instance would he, a Hatake, have a Sharingan. With his eyesight closed off to him due to the blindfold currently tied around his head, he remembered when his mentor had strolled up, commanded him to tie on the blindfold and then to "follow me while wearing this. Use all your other senses to aid you. "

But when he touched the cloth over his eyes, he didn't feel the thin fabric underneath his fingertips. Instead, he felt the cottony softness, felt the many layers of the bandages wrapped around his head and over his eyes. The first stirrings of alarm tingled within him and he almost stopped following, wanting instead to understand what was going on. But he trusted the Yellow Flash who had been chosen as Hokage, a man he knew would never lead him around and ask random questions if something had happened to Obito.

But something had happened to Obito, to Rin, to Sensei. And suddenly he was no longer in the forest and no longer following footsteps in front of him. Instead, the trees had cleared away to reveal the source of the running water he had heard earlier, a swiftly running river with a sturdy wooden bridge that arced over it, thanks to its triangular supports. He could not figure out the actual width of the river or the true length of the bridge since a gentle mist obscured the necessary information. The area he found himself currently in seemed vast, like a crossroads of sorts between the forest and area beyond, and as he stood there, the memories of what had occurred to each and every one of his team members came flooding back into his mind as memory returned. The bandages faded away to be replaced by his forehead protector, resting in its normal spot over his left eye. Obito's eye.

A strangled gasp escaped him and he moved his hands up to his face, touching the edges of his mask. By its very definition it should have protected him. And for a long time, it did, just not from everything, for it was only a piece of fabric after all. The mask soaked all the blood he'd ever spilled, but it could not shield him completely from another's blood, the blood that lingered on him...Rin's blood. His hands dropped away from the mask that had been a constant for so very long.

A constant, yes, but it had not shielded him from the fact that both his father and then his teacher had left him behind either.

"Sensei, don't leave!"

A fusion of cherry pinks, bright oranges, and deep blues.

"Please...Open your eyes."

A flash of yellow, like sunlight.

"Sensei, please!"

"Open your eyes."

And when he finally did so, with his eyelids feeling as heavy as weighted sandbags, he almost called out to his first triangle, his first circle, his first team. Rin, Sensei…Obito. Instead it was a grainy yet soft, "Morning, kids." His second triangle, his second circle, his second team. Sakura, Sasuke, Naruto.

"Kakashi-sensei!" The pink-haired 'girl' and the blond-haired 'boy', both very much past their youth and well into middle-age, crowded even closer around him as he lay prone on his bed, the covers pulled over him, the golden autumn sunlight streaming through the window. Relief and love and worry and sadness and goodbye shone brighter still on his former students faces. Even the Uchiha made an aborted half-movement but quickly recovered. Kakashi still saw it and understood what would not be said, and smiled slightly in response. Though it was getting difficult to draw breath, it was enough for him to ask, with a semblance of his usual nonchalance, "So do you guys know what shape is the strongest one out there?"

He observed their various and familiar reactions with hidden amusement behind half-lidded eyes, brown and red seemingly mismatched. His eyes, that had seen so much and lived through so much...And yes, had loved through so much, were tired. His age did not sit lightly on him, maybe because he never thought he would live so long. He had survived so many missions, and finally, finally, his longest one was drawing to a close. So he smiled his closed and crinkled-eyed smile at Sakura, Naruto, and Sasuke through the mask that still, out of long habit, covered the majority of his face. After all these years, he hoped that they had learned to read what was underneath the underneath.

When he next opened his eyes, after a moment caught between an instant and eternity, he saw them. He saw them at long last, after so much of himself had been tested. And once again, but also for the first time, he observed their individual reactions when he crested the path that connected them together.

Rin, Sensei…Obito.

I've finally opened my eyes.

Kakashi stepped off the bridge onto the other side and returned to them.

Author Notes (Updated 1/7/2006):

I wanted this fic to:
1) Be finally written to the a cappella version of "I Will Get There" by Boyz II Men
2) Be written for Kakashi's birthday, angsty present though it is
3) Be written in line for 31days' September 15 theme "Your Eyes Closed".

The equilateral triangle is the strongest geometric shape. (Truly, it is.)

I put in the circle as the next strongest, not only to illustrate that whole weird people/jutsu/triangle/circle point, but also because I find that tree trunks, in all sizes of circles but depending upon their flexibility, can withstand much of nature's roughness. However, I don't know if they really are the 2nd strongest shape. (This I made up perhaps since I don't know.)

Because Yondaime's soul is technically trapped in the Death God's belly, one can see this as an experience through Kakashi's mind, real or not. :)

I don't know why, but when I heard "I Will Get There", I viewed it as being sung through Kakashi's POV and not in a happy way. For me, this song depicted that he was just struggling through life until he could reach the place where his loved ones went before him. The 'river' is the Sanzu River (Buddist). Or if you're more familiar with Greek mythology, it is the RiverAcheron (equivalent). Both rivers are the crossroad at which the world of the living meet that of the dead. There are certain things I took artistic liberties with, but do know that the river in this fic does represent the crossing over from the living world into the spirit world.

I know it's supposed to be a very "lift me up" song, but err...Yeah. I am twisted that way.

Constructive comments and critiques are welcomed and adored. :)