Chapter 7: The Sensei

Over the next week, Naruto progressed rapidly through his kanji studies. The duo spent all their time going back and forth between reading and writing and ninja arts.

Essentially, Naruto spent all of his time writing characters, reading children's books and trying to stick a leaf to different parts of his body. To say the least, Mumei was bored. He wasn't bored of spending time with Naruto; no, he was bored of meditating all day. Bugging Kurama was one thing but this Yin version of the tailed-fox was booooring. Instead of talking to or insulting Mumei, the tailed beast would simply ignore him when he was annoyed.

Here Mumei was attempting to reform his bond with his sealed Kyuubi but the beast wanted nothing to do with him! It was simply rude! Huffing, Mumei stood from his seat in the outside training field and cracked his back.

"Naruto~ I'm going to find some fun books for us to read," Mumei said mostly joking. He was actually going to find something for himself to read, maybe some new jutsus, but teasing the boy was too much fun.

"Noooo!" the boy jumped up from his sleeping position in response. The lad had managed to fall asleep while doing a handstand and ended up napping with his body resting up against a tree.

Just as Mumei opened his mouth to respond, a loud comical 'moshi moshi' rang through the compound. The time traveler sweatdropped and bounded to the front gate.

"Study, Naruto," he called over his shoulder. The child had gotten to his feet and begun to chase after his uncle to see who was at the door. Hearing this command, the boy took a purposeful faceplant and rolled around in the grass. But he didn't want to study.

Having reached the gate, Mumei bit his finger, placed it on the seal matrix and opened the barriers. As the barriers whooshed away, an ANBU was revealed.

"Rabbit-chan!" Mumei remarked excitedly.

"Namikaze-san. Hokage-sama has called for you," she replied in an even tone.

Mumei narrowed his eyes slightly. What did the Third want now? Did he plan on taking Naruto away from him now? He wouldn't allow that.

With a one-handed tiger seal, Mumei left a shadow clone to watch over Naruto and ensure that the boy actually got some work done. The man exited the gate and placed his bloody hand on the matrix on the outside of the complex, allowing the barriers to go up once again. He nodded to Rabbit to announce his compliance and the ANBU poofed out of sight in a Shunshin. Mumei followed with his own leafy Shunshin.

With a poof, Mumei appeared in the Hokage's office with one knee bent and his head bowed. A spike of surprised chakra to his left caught his attention. Kakashi. Hmmm, he really wondered what this was about.

"Rise," the Third commanded of him.

Mumei rose to his feet and glanced towards where he knew Kakashi to be standing. The man was in his Inu mask so no emotions could be gleaned from his single visible eye. Instead, his gaze wandered to the way the man stood. Normally Kakashi stood straight at attention but his back was slightly over-extended, like he had taken in a breath and had yet to let it back out. His fingers twitched in anticipation, to stab him in the throat with a kunai or wring his neck, he didn't know. Mumei had always been able to read Kakashi like a book. Ever movement, every muscle twitch told a story that could never match Icha Icha.

"Kakashi-kun, I take it you've met Mumei-kun?" the Hokage addressed the grey-haired man.

Kakashi tensed at the mention of his name. And now this stranger knew his ANBU identity. It made his skin crawl.

"Hai, Hokage-sama," the 19-year-old responded stiffly.

"Excellent. You can remove your mask; you won't need it anymore," he said pleasantly as if inviting an old friend to dinner, not firing one of his ANBU captains. "You will now be of service to Mumei-kun. You are dismissed."

Mumei raised his eyebrows in surprise. This was an interesting turn of events.

Kakashi thought his heart was going to stop beating. He was… fired and now 'of service' to this strange man, whatever that meant. Ugh it sounded so sketchy, but one thing Kakashi didn't do was question orders, so he disappeared in a shunshin and allowed the two to talk.

"Kakashi has been taking unnecessary risks as an ANBU captain," the Hokage informed Mumei. "This started when you arrived so I believe that he has taken some kind of issue to your presence. You will take him under your wing. I entrust his safety and well-being to you."

Mumei was taken aback. What the hell did that mean? Was this some kind of weird teacher-student relationship? Was he Kakashi's master or some shit now? Um hell to the no.

"Hokage-sama…" he started before the Third cut him off.

"I don't care what you tell him, I just can't let that idiot go on any more missions. He's going to get himself killed. I'm going to set him up as a jounin sensei as soon as the next class graduates in a month. He might die before then if he keeps going on missions."

Mumei sighed. If he put it that way he didn't have a choice in the matter. Bakashi was going to get himself killed if he said no.

"Hai," he acquiesced.

"You are dismissed."

He disappeared in a swirl of leaves and appeared next to Kakashi who had stationed himself several buildings away.

"You got me fired ," the copy nin snarled.

"No, Bakashi, you got yourself fired," Mumei sing songed. "You can't keep going on missions with the intention to kill yourself. People take notice."

Mumei kicked himself. His appearance here had almost killed Kakashi. He was so thankful that the Third noticed what was going on. He barely survived Kakashi dying once. His face flashed briefly with grief; he had always struggled to constrain his emotions.

Kakashi noticed. What was that grief for? he thought. It couldn't have been for him, this stranger didn't know him from Sato Yuki*. God he hated this guy. He made him feel guilty for going on suicide missions. Him! Guilty! Ugh. What was he grieving about? A loved one that… oh. Minato-sensei technically killed himself to save the village. Now he felt bad for being inconsiderate even in his thoughts. He really hated this guy. How dare he make him feel human?

"So, are we going?" Kakashi complained.

"I have some errands to run. You can come with me or go back to your apartment and pack."

"What?" he asked, shocked. Did this idiot expect him to move back into the Namikaze compound? That means he found his little apartment. This was so embarrassing. Kakashi was never so thankful that his mask covered most of his face because his blush was getting brighter and brighter.

"You're moving in with myself and Naruto," Mumei said with delight. "What do you want for dinner tonight?"

"Hn," the Hatake grumbled before disappearing in a shunshin to gather his belongings.

Mumei swooned. He never got to experience Kakashi at this young of an age. He was so moody and broody like Sasuke still. He kind of loved it. Humming, the time traveler took off to run his errands. The first stop was a clothing store. He needed some pajamas since Kakashi was going to be staying in the compound. He had taken to sleeping in just boxers but that wouldn't do anymore. He needed something more covering. Every look the copy nin gave him made him feel naked and the closer to actual nudity he was the worse off he would be.

Stepping into the clothing store, the owner greeted him kindly. He flipped through some appropriately sized pants and shirts with little interest. Over to the side he noticed some onesies. They looked ridiculously funny so he decided to browse through them. There was a pig, a deer, a sloth, a giraffe, a panda, a koala and… a wolf. It's limp furry head called to him. The fur-like fabric was silky soft to the touch. He pushed the head back and checked the tag. Shivers ran down his spine. It was the last one and just his size. It was meant to be.

He grabbed the wolf onesie off the rack and didn't even bother trying it on. It felt so right in his palms. Just as he was about to check out, something caught his attention. It was a tiny fox onesie over in the children's section. He sidestepped through the smaller aisles and picked up the vibrant orange cloth. It was perfect. What a wonderful visit.

Back over at the cash register, Mumei paid for his purchases. It was quite a bit more than he had intended to spend but he didn't really care because these items were definitely worth it. He hummed away as he left the store and went to the market yet again to pick up the ingredients he would need for Kakashi's favorite meal. It was a good thing he had inside knowledge on the man so he could get him things he enjoyed.

With a quick shunshin he appeared outside the gates to the compound. He was so thankful for the shunshin. What would he do without it? Walk? Ugh no thanks.

Kakashi stood next to the gate matrix, leaned against the wall all suave and cool with one foot pressed against the vertical surface. He gestured with one hand towards the matrix.

"Go ahead," Mumei said, also gesturing at the matrix.

"You didn't recalculate it?" Kakashi asked, puzzled.

"No, he trusted you, why wouldn't I?" he replied cheerily.

Kakashi eyed the man suspiciously, pushed off the wall and bit a finger, placing it on the matrix. The barrier disappeared and the gate swung open with an easy push. Mumei winked at his quizzical look and skipped through the gate.

"Naru~," he called lovingly.

The boy raced around the side of the house at the call of his name. Mumei's shadow clone dispersed at the sound as well. The burst of memories hit him. Naruto was making such great progress; he was now reading and writing at a 7-year-old level and had managed to stick 5 leaves on his body at once. He was so proud of the little tyke.

The child barreled into his uncle's side, giving him a tight hug.

"I missed you," Naruto informed him.

"I left a shadow clone with you," the man replied amusedly.

"I missed you ," the boy insisted.

Glancing at the new stranger, Naruto slinked behind Mumei, unsure of who this new man was. He didn't like new people; they tended to hate him.

Kakashi looked at the child apprehensively. He did not seem to like him very much. He didn't blame him.

"Naru, say hi, this is Kakashi. He was your father's student," Mumei patted Naruto's sunshine locks with his free hand, the other occupied with bags.

Naruto bounded around from his hiding place behind his uncle and tugged on the copy nin's sleeve. "You knew my dad?" the boy asked excitedly.

"Hai, Minato-sensei took me in after my father died," Kakashi replied to the child simply.

Kakashi was perplexed. A couple words from this strange man and suddenly the apprehensive boy was full of energy and excitement. The child trusted his uncle an awful lot for someone who had been so abused his entire life. Speaking of which, the Namikaze had this odd smile stuck on his face. It was partially fake, slung on to cover up true emotions. The guy sucked at hiding, though. It was clear as day what he was feeling; he was reminiscing about something… someone. He was kind of jealous. What the hell was he thinking? He wasn't jealous… no. He barely knew this guy. Pfft. He was just tired, he didn't know what he was thinking, he reassured himself. And there was the blush again.

Mumei kept his eyes on Kakashi. He knew he had nothing to worry about but he felt himself turning into an overprotective caretaker. He discreetly scented the air to discern what Kakashi was feeling. Ooh it seemed like the aloof man was finally warming up to him a little. He knew that Kakashi was having a hard time reconciling his sensei with a man that didn't care about his own brother. In fact, he still felt a little guilty for the half-breed comment but it was effective in portraying Minato as someone different from who he actually was. Hmm. Maybe he should put this off on their 'father' more. Blame him for their distance instead of Minato. Kakashi would be more likely to swallow that pill.

Ugh; he felt so manipulative but there was nothing he could do yet. Kakashi wasn't ready to see the future. Or more like Mumei wasn't ready for Kakashi to know that he had died. Plus, the man still hated him; it wasn't like he would believe anything he was saying. Even when he showed him the future, he would blame it on a genjutsu; he was less trusting than the Hokage. One day, maybe.

Both adults finally zoned back in on Naruto's talking. The child had been babbling away like a creek while the two had been tuned into their own thoughts. Assumably he had been going on about his training or maybe his room, who knows, both things seemed to excite the child equally.

"Wanna see? Wanna see?" Naruto exclaimed, tugging on Kakashi's sleeve.

"Naru, why don't you let him unpack first, then show him after dinner, ne?"

"He's moving in?!" the child exclaimed happily. "You can sleep in my room!" he offered.

Mumei chuckled, "He's going to be sleeping in the third story, dear."

"But… what if the special person comes back?" Naruto asked, the picture of innocence.

"Special person?" Kakashi asked with narrowed eyes. If he was taking someone's space he certainly would take that as a reason to leave.

"Naru-" Mumei started but Naruto cut him off.

"Hai! Mu-Mu-nii-chan says that I can't go all the way upstairs because that's where a special person stays. He hasn't been here in a while, but that's where he lives!" Naruto filled in the blanks for Kakashi.

The 'special person' in question glanced at 'Mu-Mu-nii-chan' who was bright as an apple at Naruto's confession. What an idiot.

"Thanks for saving my room, Mu-Mu-nii-chan," Kakashi laughed.

"I'm going to make dinner. Make yourself comfortable. Naruto, go back to training," Mumei excused himself from the terribly uncomfortable situation. Still bright red, he made his way to the main door of the mansion, leaving Kakashi to lock up. The jerk was bleeding anyways he could put it to good use.

Kakashi still chuckled a little, bemused by this whole situation. Beside him, Naruto sighed in frustration. It seemed he was a little fed up with whatever training Mumei had him doing. The boy tugged on his sleeve again.

"Ne, Kakashi-san, will you help me?" Naruto asked, his little cherubic face giving him the puppy dog face.

"Sure," the copy nin answered.

With Kakashi in tow, Naruto took off for the training field. The boy flopped down on the ground next to his lap-desk and writing supplies. A book was opened in front of the child to a page of kanji. It seemed that the child was learning to read.

"Kakashi-san why are these two kanji different? They look the same," the boy pouted.

Kakashi knelt down in the cool grass to assist the young lad.

"See, this kanji here is earth. The top stroke is short and the bottom stroke is long, which is how you can tell that it means earth and not warrior. Warrior/scholar has a longer top stroke and a shorter bottom stroke," the genius explained.

"Ooh… you're a good teacher, Kakashi-sensei!" the boy exclaimed.

Sensei? Kakashi thought to himself. He had never really helped anyone else to learn before. In his genin team he wasn't interested in helping his teammates, he just wanted to get stronger and ensure that they followed the rules. As an ANBU captain, there wasn't much teaching left to do because they were all skilled ANBU. It was an odd sensation but satisfying. He understood why Mumei seemed to enjoy it.

Naruto hummed quietly to himself as he carefully copied down the kanji from the book. Adults were so weird always getting lost in their thoughts. Maybe it was just Mu-nii and Kakashi-sensei, but they were really the only adults he knew besides Jiji and that old man didn't count.

For quite some time Kakashi observed Naruto work on his kanji, occasionally interrupting to give tidbits of advice. A little longer with that stroke. That's a stop not a slash. Too much ink.

Mumei went about cooking with practiced ease. It had been a while since he had prepared Kakashi's favorite dish. Far too long, in his opinion. Once it was all finished he peeked out the back window at the duo. It was a pretty adorable sight. Naruto was animatedly arguing with Kakashi about some kanji while the man reassured the child that he was indeed right. Why was he right? Because of his many years of experience writing. Just as he was about to move to the door, he felt Kakashi's eye on him. Aah caught again. He thought as a red hue took to his cheeks.

Peeking his head out the door, he shouted "Dinner's ready!"

Naruto jumped to his feet and took off in a dead run. Kakashi followed slowly behind at a normal gait.

"Wash your hands, gaki," Mumei reminded the bounding child.

"Hai~," Naruto responded, bolting into the bathroom to quickly wash his inky hands off.

"You too, Kakashi," the time traveler grunted to the copy nin once he arrived at the stairs.

Kakashi eye smiled his assent and joined the child in the bathroom. As Naruto was drying his hands, Kakashi splashed water at the back of the boy's head. He got his expected response as a screech tore out of the boy's throat.

As Naruto pushed his hands into the stream of water, Mumei appeared behind Kakashi, kunai out and at his jugular.

He quickly assessed the situation and realized that he had yet again overreacted. Instantly, the kunai was away from the copy nin's throat and back in a pouch. Mumei backed out the door, apologizing frantically. This didn't usually happen to him but ever since the fourth war… he was a little jumpy.

Naruto raced after his uncle, hands still moist. The man was bent over the counter, resting on his elbow with his hand covering his eyes. The child launched himself into his side and whispered reassuring words. Kakashi stood frozen. He hadn't even seen the man move and he was Kakashi no Sharingan. Granted, his sharingan wasn't out but he still had an excellent sense of movement. How odd.

Gathering up his courage, the copy nin left the bathroom and approached the distressed man. He placed an apprehensive hand on the man's shoulder.

"I'm sorry," he offered.

Mumei bolted upright, obviously upset by these words.

"No, I'm sorry. I'm the one that threatened you," he growled. The sound was like an angered wolf and Kakashi almost took a step back but hesitated in doing so not wanting to anger the man even more.

"Hai, but I'm in your home and I startled you," the Hatake tried.

"I can't promise it won't happen again, but I can tell you that I'm trying," the man bit out. He had just come back from a war where he saw everyone he cared about die before his eyes, although neither of the others present were aware of such a fact. Either way, it was understandable that it took some time for him to adjust. It's not possible to go from combat ready 24/7 to calm and relaxed.

Coughing slightly to clear the air, the Namikaze slapped a mask over his expression. Like a flash he went from the brooding, hurt man to one of happiness and energy.

"Saa, dinner's ready."

Kakashi frowned deeply. That kind of change was certainly not healthy. He kind of understood why the Hokage had put him here, he had things to change. This strange man seemed deeply injured, something that he understood on a personal level. It wasn't just for his benefit, removing him from ANBU, it was for this small, messed up family too.

Naruto was displeased. Putting on masks of happiness to cover up his true feelings of abandonment was his thing. It felt wrong to see his uncle, a perfect person in the child's eyes, act so hurt. It was something he had seen before. A vendor had made some kind of comment to the man and Mumei had snapped, again drawing a kunai and threatening the man. He didn't know exactly was said because of the hushed tones, but he assumed it was something about him being a monster. Naruto felt guilty; his uncle always seemed to lose control when it came to him. The rest of the time he was calm and collected, practically happy-go-lucky. He didn't like seeing his idol so hurt , and all because of him. He would become strong. So strong that his uncle would never have to worry about him and would never make that face again.

Bustling around the kitchen Mumei pretended nothing had happened at all. It wasn't a particularly healthy coping method, but it worked for the time. Of course, without his knowledge both Kakashi and Naruto were plotting on how to fix the man, patch the holes torn in his armour, in his heart.

With an enthusiastic gesture, the man in question beckoned the deep in thought duo to the table. Laid out before them was boiled saury with salt, miso shiru and slices of eggplant. Kakashi's mouth watered at the sight. He was slightly suspicious how the man knew his favorite food, but he let it slide after the guy's previous episode.

Naruto slid into his side of the booth and somehow managed to take up the entire bench. For such a small child he could take up a lot of space. This forced Kakashi next to Mumei. Kakashi shifted into the bench first and gave the other man ample space. He understandably wary of the guy. Afterall he did just threaten him not even two minutes before. Mumei slipped into the seat shortly after.

The trio offered a surprisingly reserved "Itadakimasu," before eating their meal.

Naruto stared intensely at Kakashi as he prepared to remove his mask, hoping to find out what the copy nin was hiding underneath.

"Underneath this mask," he said with a half-hearted eye smile, "is another mask!"

Kakashi picked up a piece of saury and placed it through the henge mask, chewed and swallowed. Naruto looked absolutely amazed. As he still did not have the knowledge of the academy, this seemed like absolute magic.

"How did you do that?!" he shouted.

"Henge," Kakashi replied, eye still shut. He actually had no clue how this permanent henge ended up on his being. He didn't actually even know how to dismiss it; he assumed there was a seal somewhere but had yet to find it. It was more convenient this way, sure, but it was very curious. Before he was in the hospital, he didn't have it. Upon his awakening in the hospital, he had it. He had determined that the only one that could have placed the mysterious seal upon him was Mumei; another good reason to get close to the man and figure out what was up with him.

The air was tense but Naruto eased it with his rapid babbling. He spoke of the kanji he was having difficulty with, how many leaves he had managed to stick to his body and numerous other topics. Mumei seemed to enthusiastically engage with the boy but Kakashi could tell that his heart wasn't in it.

Once the meal was finished, Naruto dashed outside to play, leaving Mumui and Kakashi to clean up the dishes. Mumei went about the chore in awkward silence. Kakashi on the other hand decided this was the perfect to do some questioning.

"Where is the seal?" he asked, completely non-threatening, simply questioning.

"Behind your right ear," Mumei replied simply.

Kakashi reached up with his right hand, feeling for the seal but felt nothing.

"Chakra and blood," he added.

Channeling chakra to the area, Kakashi bit his finger and placed it at the specified location. He felt the ink on his skin and the henge disappeared. He was relieved that he had pulled the other mask back up after dinner. The seal was… in the shape of a naruto? Odd. Something to ask about later, he supposed.

The two went about the duty in silence after their exchange. Mumei washed and Kakashi dried. It was uncomfortable.

"You're already forgiven," the copy nin stated. He held nothing against a shinobi with a little PTSD. It was a very common mental illness in ninjas. Most saw the Yamanaka's for treatment but others were a little strong-willed, insisting that they could deal with it themselves. Kakashi was one of them.

Mumei snorted in response and finished the dishes. He kept his hands in the water though, scrubbing and scrubbing. The water was hot and singed his already pruny hands. They turned bright red in color and yet he scrubbed at some invisible stain. Kakashi reached over and turned the water off.

"The blood is long gone," he soothed. Not for the first time, the copy nin wondered what the other man was thinking. What he was seeing. It wasn't his business, but he wanted to know. He wanted to know everything about this stranger that showed up out of nowhere, appeared in his hospital room, took in his orphaned nephew and taught the child the shinobi arts. He was voraciously curious.

Mumei said nothing in response and dried his burnt hands. He felt no pain and no matter how much he dried them, they still felt sticky and moist with his deceased love's blood. A shiver ran down his spine.

He walked outside, leaving Kakashi standing in the kitchen alone and wondering. The time traveler joined his nephew in the yard. He shouted to the child, calling him to his side. Although Kakashi could not hear what he was saying, it appeared that he was explaining something, an exercise perhaps. Naruto ran away from his uncle a ways and prepared himself. The man took out several blunted kunai and shuriken and began lobbing them at the boy, allowing him to practice his dodging.

The child seemed to calm the scarred shinobi. If Kakashi was being honest, the older man reminded him of himself. He wondered who he had lost.

After a while of watching, Kakashi joined the two outside. Naruto seemed to be getting better at dodging as time went on and Mumei gradually sped up his tossing. He was tossing barely at genin level but Naruto was doing surprisingly well for a 6-year-old. Kakashi took up residence in a nearby tree and flipped open a book; it was on child soldiers and how to ensure that they had a childhood, something that he himself missed out on.

Out of the corner of his eye, Kakashi kept an eye on Naruto, evaluating his progress. The child was very unpredictable, hopping and diving when you would expect a zig or a zag. That was good, it would make it that much harder to pin him down.

Mumei stopped his lobbing and instructed the child to pick up the weapons and practice his aim. Naruto scrambled to pick up every blunted object and placed them in his pouches. Several targets were set up in the nearby trees and the boy began to practice his aim. He was pretty terrible, to be honest. Granted it was his first time attempting this exercise, but his aim was often off by several feet. Mumei had to keep correcting his stance as well as the way he held each kunai and shuriken. No matter, he was sure that with practice the child would exceed all expectations here as well.

After an hour or two, it began to darken outside. Naruto began yawning and although his aim had gotten better, he still had a ways to go.

Mumei called for the boy to pick up his weapons and get ready for bed, claiming he had a surprise. While the two went inside, Kakashi stayed outside for a while longer, enjoying the quiet dusk. He had missed this compound. It had used to be so full of life but after Minato-sensei and Kushina-nee died, it had become terribly quiet. It hurt him to come by but he felt that it was his duty to take care of the grounds.

20 minutes passed and Kakashi hopped off his branch. Making his way into the house, he spotted a wolf and fox lounging in the living room, reading a story. He joined the onesie-wearing pair, plopping down in a chair and continued to read his book. It weaved an interesting story. From what he could tell, Mumei was doing exactly everything that was suggested in the book without actually realizing he was doing it properly. A mix of fun training with normal childhood activities. The only thing missing was friends for the child. Unfortunately it would be a hard time finding the boy people that would be allowed to play with him. The tales about the monster child reached even the youngest of ears.

"They got all the treasure the devils had. The devils also promised not to bothers the villagers again. They lived happily ever after," Mumei finished the story of Momotarou. The little fox was passed out on the gray wolf's downy fur. The man gathered the child in his arms and walked up the stairs, precious cargo in tow.

Mumei tucked the child into his bed and kissed him on the forehead, murmuring "I love you."

Naruto was apparently not as asleep as the adults thought, because he whispered an "I love you, too," right back.

The time traveler descended the stairs feeling lighter than he had since the incident. Mumei decided to do some reading on new jutsu. He knew that his arsenal was lacking. He had a few jutsu that he used for all occasions, but now that he was masquerading as Minato's brother, he had to find some new techniques. He certainly couldn't use the Six Paths, toad jutsu or Kyuubi chakra. He could probably get away with Rasengan as he was related to the creator, but he had realized that he couldn't depend on the same jutsu all the time. To be a good ninja you must be unpredictable and relying on the same old jutsu was very predictable.

Heading for the library, he walked past the living room where Kakashi was sprawled reading his own book. Apparently the copy nin was quite taken with Naruto now that he could come out of the shadows and actually take care of the boy. He was reading a book on how to ensure that the child actually got a childhood. Good. Naruto deserved one.

Walking up the steps in the library, he stopped in the wind section. There was a variety of Wind Release jutsu. He was actually unsure how Minato and Kushina had managed to amass such a collection. Konoha was not known for their Wind shinobi, in fact, Minato, Naruto and Asuma were some of the only users in the village. It was more common for Suna shinobi to use Wind techniques.

He decided to go alphabetically and selected Fūton: Kūki no Dangan and Fūton: Kiryū Ranbu. Both techniques he had seen before, one used by Nagato and the other used by Temari. This would make his learning of the jutsu much easier. Taking the two scrolls, he descended the stairs to the bottom floor of the library and descended the next set to the basement training area. He flicked on several lights and settled on the floor to read through Fūton: Kūki no Dangan.

Kakashi watched the man go into the library and presumably pick out some scrolls. He was again curious what Mumei was doing so he retreated from the living room and followed the man down the stairs. A large desk was located in the corner and Kakashi took up residence in that corner so that he could watch the other man train. The guy made Kakashi feel like a child again, full of wonder and interest. Nothing really seemed to hold his interest these days other than missions so he was excited to follow the man around.

Mumei took notice that Kakashi was following him like a little lost puppy. He found it interesting, but didn't mind too terribly much. The jounin had seen enough loss in his lifetime and seemed to be becoming attached to Naruto and himself. It made sense that he would want to learn more about the stranger that suddenly appeared as such a prominent figure in his life.

After finishing his first read-through of the scroll, Mumei decided to give it a try. Luckily it only had one seal as his hand seals were far below average for his rank. That was something else he would have to work on. Placing his hands in the bird seal, he molded his chakra into the air around him. He pushed and pulled the air until it resembled a cylinder with a cone on one end, what the scroll called a bullet. Once the bullets were formed, he shot them towards several training dummies at high speed. If the dummies had been stationary ninja, they would have been obliterated. Luckily for him these dummies were reinforced with seals that made them very resistant to attacks of all kinds. The Fūton jutsu made the wood creak as the post bent backwards but it held steady.

Mumei practiced the technique again and again, gradually building speed as he formed the air bullets. He was far from having it mastered, but it was pretty damn fast if he said so himself. The time between the hand seal and the bullets firing was down to two seconds. With his vast reserves of chakra he could make hundreds to thousands of bullets and fire them in any direction, making this technique particularly deadly. It could easily wipe out or subdue an entire group of shinobi. This was a technique that he would have to practice quite a bit more in order to cut his time down even more drastically as well as removing the hand seal and speaking components.

Kakashi watched his new companion train with interest. He was not innately a genius, but his hard work and perseverance could easily put him into the genius class. In his gawking, a moment of eye contact was made. Kakashi quickly looked back down at his book, face flushed. Those stunning cerulean eyes really were something. They were much harder than both Naruto and Minato-sensei's. However, they had a soft quality, something that seemed to draw him in. Every time the man spoke, he felt compelled to listen. Every time the man moved, he felt compelled to watch. It was an odd sensation, being so captivated by another human being. It was similar to watching a wild animal in their natural habitat, hunting, playing, eating. He wanted to know everything that he did, everything that he was. He was fascinated.

Mumei caught Kakashi staring at him. At first, he thought it was out of worry because of the incident earlier in the day. However, the copy nin did not seem to be tensed, ready for battle. In fact, he just seemed to be observing. They locked eyes briefly and the other man blushed. Interesting , he thought.

The time traveler plopped back onto the ground and pulled out the next scroll. With his stamina, he could probably go all night, but he didn't want to worry Kakashi on his first night back in the compound. He read through the scroll briefly. This one was an easy supplementary jutsu, meant only to stir up dust and create a controllable sandstorm. A convenient technique, but only suitable for particular instances.

He practiced the jutsu a few times, creating gales that stemmed from his palms and stirring up dust. However, it just got annoying in such a small space. He would have to try this jutsu outside or in Suna sometime. A controlled sandstorm in that kind of environment would be very convenient. Kakashi seemed somewhat unimpressed with this technique as it just briefly blinded him from being able to read his book. It one word, it was annoying. Mumei seemed to understand the jutsu easily though and only did it once or twice before stopping. The man put away the scrolls before standing and stretching.

"Good night," Mumei called quietly before heading for the stairs.

"You can talk about it, you know. I'm said to be a good listener," Kakashi blurted.

Mumei froze. He debated telling Kakashi the truth, the whole truth, but refrained. The man still wasn't ready. He opted for a different version.

"You're familiar with watching everyone you've ever loved die before your eyes. So am I. I refuse to let it happen ever again."

"Naruto won't die. I won't let him. We won't let him," Kakashi reassured.

"I know," Mumei replied. "Good night," he said with finality and walked up the stairs.

That went well , Kakashi thought sarcastically. It was strange how much the man seemed to know about him. He wasn't sure if he found it suspicious, reassuring, or a mix of the two. Standing, he rolled his back as well and followed the other man up the stairs. Up to the third floor he went. The man finally realized that he had yet to put his belongings away.

Pulling out a single scroll, he unsealed the contents. Clothes were put into the closet. Picture frame of his genin team went on the nightstand next to his family photo. All done. The apartment was barren, just like him. There were no knickknacks to unpack, no treasured pieces of furniture to find homes for. Just clothes and a picture. It was a little sad, but Kakashi found that he didn't care. He stripped down to his shuriken boxers and reactivated his strange new naruto henge. The mask zapped into place and he stripped off his shirt. It was a strange feeling to be able to sleep without a shirt on. The mask-shirt combo had always been part of his nightly routine, but now that he had the henge, he didn't really need it. With a flick of his wrist, he sent the clothes flying into the dirty clothes bin.

With a yawn, he pulled himself into bed and covered himself in blankets. He had no need for an alarm clock as his circadian rhythm always awoke him at dawn every morning.

Meanwhile, Mumei was also in bed. However, he was simply staring at the ceiling, lost in thought yet again. He couldn't believe the events of the day. Not only had he threatened Kakashi for playing with Naruto, he had grouched and brooded over it for the rest of the night. That wasn't like him at all. Maybe it was a combination of the stress suddenly having his lost love in his close proximity and his heightened jumpy senses. Either way, it was something that could never happen again.

He rolled onto his side and pondered of the future. The Uchiha no Jiken would be coming up soon. He had to take care of Danzou before he gave Itachi the order to kill his entire clan. Now that Kakashi was around he wouldn't have to stay with Naruto all the time, worrying about his safety. One night, he could sneak out and do the deed. It would have to be soon, very soon.

A plan started to pull together. He would infiltrate Danzou's home, kill the man and dismantle Root. He would have to take plenty of sealing supplies in order to remove the memories of Danzou and his brainwashing techniques. Some members of Root would be unsavable. The older members had nothing but memories of Danzou. Their memories could not be sealed away, they were to prevalent in their entire lives, their beings. They would have to be ended. The children, though, he could help. They might be set back a few years in time, but they would survive.

With a plan in place, Mumei drifted off into a dreamless sleep.

* Sato Yuki is the most stereotypical name I could find for Japan. Sato is the most stereotypical name and Yuki is the most common first name. Therefore it's like saying John Smith.

Translation Time

Saa = come

Fūton: Kūki no Dangan = Wind Release: Air Bullets

Fūton: Kiryū Ranbu = Wind Release: Air Current Wild Dance

Yes, Kakashi is not reading Icha Icha. He also still doesn't talk to his friends. I promise I know what I'm doing. Being a jounin sensei is what really knocked Kakashi on his ass, forcing him out of his head. He's still stuck in a bad place inside his mind and he won't get out of it overnight, although it will be sped up because of his current situation.

About the whole killing Danzou thing. I got a comment saying that he and Hiruzen have an understanding, but in reality, Sarutobi is just turning a blind eye. I'd like to relate it to the Americas and Trump. Many Americans are ignoring his blatant anti-muslim, anti-black and anti-semitic views because they want to believe in the good intentions of our president. This is similar to Hiruzen pretending that nothing is wrong with Danzou, he is only thinking of the village. In reality, both are power-hungry. Danzou wants the destruction of the Uchihas both because of the coup and because he wants all the Sharingans. If you recall, he has this really freaky Sharingan arm thing. I don't want that happening again. Plus, Danzou has decided to brainwash a ton of children into killing each other. If that isn't enough reason to kill him, I don't know what is. Sorry about the politics, I'm just an angry American.