Considering he was waiting for his team since dawn and they didn't meet until mid-morning, Kakashi had time to think and mentally prepare. He didn't dare attempt to predict how he might react, seeing all of them together again. So long as he didn't flee on sight or call Minato-sensei "Hokage-sama" again, he didn't think their reunion would go too poorly. He had a lot more practice keeping his emotions bottled up, and he had already been incredibly skilled at feigning apathy when he was this age. Additionally, besides his sick day yesterday, his teammates saw today as just another day. If only they knew how different everything was.

However, what he was more concerned about was their training. Although his chakra reserves were still low, Kakashi had noticed that his well of reserves was significantly larger than they had been when he was actually thirteen. It wasn't quite on par with when he was fighting Pein, but it was nothing to laugh at, either. At thirteen, he had been able to use the Chidori comfortably two or three times a day while leaving room for other jutsu. Now, he estimated he could use the Chidori about five times daily, while also leaving enough to spare for the other jutsu he had in his arsenal. Although, that was another issue entirely. He no longer had Obito's Sharingan, but he still remembered his copied jutsu and would have to use them sparingly. His teammates and sensei would notice if he revealed how much he knew.

Obito's Sharingan… Yet a third problem. Kakashi touched the cool metal of his hitai-ate, pulled down over his left eye. It was habit more than need this time. There was no drain on his chakra without the Sharingan, which had been the only reason he kept it covered. But he'd grown so accustomed to the leather over his eye that having both eyes readily available was off balancing. To open his left eye in a battle situation was in direct relationship to a flare in his killing intent. As much as he could try to reign it in, he couldn't suppress it entirely. Minato-sensei especially would notice. For now, he would just have to keep his eye closed. He had a temporary excuse, but he would need to come up with a better reason soon, or learn how to function with two eyes once again. Kakashi didn't need to think on that too long to know that the latter option wasn't really an option. He had been operating on mostly one eye for over half his life. That habit was one too cemented to break.

For today, at least, Kakashi didn't need to worry about his eye or his chakra levels. He would focus on keeping his emotions in check and his true skill level hidden. All there was left to do now was wait.

Kakashi closed his eyes and leaned against the trunk of the tree, letting one leg dangle from his branch. He dozed for a couple hours until he felt a familiar chakra signature approaching. Minato-sensei, he identified easily, choosing not to move from his perch.

"Kakashi?" His sensei walked beneath the tree, staring up into the branches. Silently, Kakashi mused that, even though his chakra was low and his presence wasn't obvious, he should have expected his sensei to easily detect him. Much better than his Genin team, back when he first became their sensei. "I wasn't expecting you here so early. Are you feeling better?"

The teen cracked open his right eye, peering down at the Namikaze. "Good morning, Sensei," he drawled, not moving from his comfortable position. "I'm well enough to train."

"Your eye," Minato commented. Kakashi didn't need to be looking at him to know he was concerned. It leaked into his voice and his chakra. "Why is it covered up?"

"Ah, well, it's been bothering me," he replied. "Acting up yesterday. So I decided to cover it."

"That blind spot will give you some trouble during training."

"Maa… I don't think it will really be a problem." Kakashi's single, visible eye crinkled up in the smile that he used after he had been dismissed from the ANBU Black Ops. Perhaps falling on his old habits was the wrong move, because Minato was staring oddly at him. However, his sensei decided not to press that particular issue.

Minato told him, "Your chakra's still low, Kakashi. Are you sure⎼?"

Kakashi waved his concerned sensei off. "Yes, Sensei. I know my own abilities." He carefully didn't mention that he had been awake for over twelve hours. During his time in ANBU, he had been awake, on high alert no less, for much longer. In this period of his life, however, the most difficult mission he had taken was a lousy B-rank. Minato didn't know he had the ability.

Briefly, Kakashi wondered if he still had the ability. His body was small, comparatively weak and untrained. He would have to work his way back up to his regular training regime. Most likely, his current body wasn't able to withstand his skill level. He frowned at the idea of it. It took many years to hone his body and chakra level to that of a decade-old ANBU veteran and Jonin worthy of the Bingo Book, and he was loathe to start the process over from scratch.

To make matters worse, Kakashi knew he shouldn't be thirteen, but that was a problem he was reluctant to even broach. Being thirteen should mean that he was a Jonin, and if he was a Jonin, Obito should be dead. But it was springtime, and his birthday wasn't until September. Unless the Kamui had distorted the timeline more than Kakashi originally anticipated, he should be twelve. But he knew his body well, and he made leaps and bounds of progress in a single year, especially around this age. His body was nearly ready for ANBU, but that didn't correlate with the timeline at all. If he was analyzing this correctly, he was a year off.

Comparing and contrasting dates was taking a toll on Kakashi's mind. He needed solid answers, and who better than his Sensei, leaning against the foot of the tree, waiting for the rest of their team?

"Sensei," Kakashi said, and Minato acknowledged it. He continued, "Do you remember how old I am?"

At that, the Namikaze lifted his head to stare at the Hatake in a tree. "Do I remember how⎼ Kakashi, are you sure you're feeling well enough to train?"

"Yes, Sensei. I'm only testing your memory. Do you?"

"Of course," Minato said. Kakashi forced the rising anticipation down, appearing calm and aloof as he waited for the answer. "You're twelve."

Twelve? That couldn't be right. Kakashi looked down at his hands and thought that definitely couldn't be right. "I could've sworn I was thirteen," he mused to himself. To Minato, he asked, "And my rank?"

"Chunin... Kakashi⎼"

"Oh, look. Rin's here."

Thankfully, the arrival of another team member was enough to throw his sensei off his trail, for now, at least. Kakashi watched Nohara Rin walk up to their sensei, and pain blossomed in an old, familiar wound. She smiled kindly at Minato. "Is Kakashi not here yet?" She asked. In response, Minato graced her smile with his own and pointed upwards. Rin's eyes followed the direction of her sensei's motion, and when she noticed Kakashi sitting in the tree, she turned her dazzling, innocent expression to him. Fresh pain welled up inside him, and he looked away without greeting her.

Rin asked about his eye, but Kakashi only gave her what he had told Minato-sensei. He didn't see the two of them exchange worried glances, but, thankfully, the two of them soon began in some trivial discussion about Kushina ⎼ Minato was always more than willing to gush about his girlfriend ⎼ as they waited for Obito. Kakashi didn't mind in the slightest. Waiting for the Uchiha gave him more time to think on his current situation.

At thirteen, he had been a Jonin and quite soon after that he was gifted Obito's Sharingan. Did that explain the pounding in his head, that refused to leave him alone? Was his body remembering a bloodline that he didn't have? He also couldn't grasp why he was, by date, twelve, but by physique, thirteen. Why would the Kamui send him into the wrong body for the particular period he was in? Why would he have more chakra than he did at either twelve or thirteen? Why would the Kamui send him back in time at all?

Kakashi scrubbed at his visible eye, sighing softly. He didn't know enough about the Sharingan and its capabilities, that was certain. The ideal person to ask would be a Uchiha, but Itachi was still too young to be but a babe, and the Uchiha weren't exactly on friendly terms with the rest of the Konoha shinobi. That only left…

"Sorry I'm late!"

Speak of the devil.

Kakashi turned his head to watch as Uchiha Obito hurried into the clearing, stumbled, and barely managed to catch himself. The boyish grin stretched across his face as he readjusted those damn goggles of his. As his teammate launched into an explanation of why he was late ⎼ something to do with old ladies, cats, and groceries ⎼ Kakashi thought back to a time when those goggles rested above a newly engraved name on the Memorial Stone. He gritted his teeth and swore it would never happen again, not so long as he was breathing.

"Uh, Kakashi?"

The Hatake blinked, realizing he was being spoken to. He shoved his thoughts and emotions into a tiny box, locked it, and hid it away in the corner of his mind. "Yes?" He drawled, looking to Obito and appearing his apathetic self.

Obito flustered at being addressed, or perhaps it had to do with what he had to say. "Are you not, uh, gonna rant at me or anything?"

Kakashi briefly wondered if he was that much of a brat when he was younger. Thinking back to his father, trapped in the afterlife for almost three decades, he concluded that he was and that Obito's reaction was justified. He jumped down from the tree branch, landing beside his teammates. "I'll let you off the hook today," he said dryly. "I missed training yesterday, after all."

The Uchiha was not at all secretive when he stared at Kakashi's covered eye. "Does it, uh, does it have anything to do with your eye?"

Kakashi chose not to grace that with a response. He didn't like repeating himself, after all, and he'd already explained it to Minato and Rin. Instead of acknowledging Obito any further, he turned to Minato. "Can we begin training now, Sensei? We've waited long enough." He ignored Obito's spluttering in the background while Minato nodded, clapping his hands together.

"Very well!" His sensei began. "Today we're going to be working on ninjutsu. First, I have something for all of you." Minato handed out litmus paper, and Kakashi took one with a bored look in his eye. Obito and Rin, on the other hand, were quite excited. Briefly, Kakashi thought back to his own students, and his heart panged mournfully. Oblivious to his genius student's turmoil, their sensei continued, "Now, does anyone know what this is?"

Rin answered excitedly. "It's chakra induction paper! It'll tell us our affinity towards the five elemental chakra natures."

Minato smiled, nodding pleasantly. "Good job, Rin. You're absolutely correct. This paper is special. When you put even a little bit of your chakra into it, it'll react in a particular way, revealing your chakra nature." He held one paper between two fingers. Obito and Rin waited with bated breath; Kakashi wished he was elsewhere. Minato's paper cleanly split in two.

"Now," Minato continued, "what does this mean my chakra nature is?"

"Wind," Rin answered again, and she was given another nod.

"Good, Rin. Now I want the three of you to exert chakra into these papers, one at a time. Obito, you first."

It was common knowledge that the Uchiha clan was of a fire nature, but Kakashi didn't want to rain on his teammate's parade when Obito's paper lit and burned to a crisp. Rin was next. Kakashi forced himself not to cringe when her paper crumbled into dust. (Earth was weak to lightning.) He already knew his own chakra nature, but he let the paper wrinkle around his fingers anyway, and Minato was content.

"Now that we all know our chakra natures, can anyone tell me their strengths and weaknesses?"

Again, Rin piped up to Minato's question. "The chakra wheel goes Fire, Wind, Lightning, Earth, and Water. The preceding chakra nature is its weakness. The following chakra nature is what it's strong against. For example, Fire is weak against Water, but strong against Wind."

Minato spoke again, but by this time Kakashi grew tired of the teachings he knew by heart and zoned out, mostly. He half-focused on his immediate surroundings and half-listened to Minato's lengthy explanations, complete with Obito's oblivious questions and Rin's gentle explanations. It reminded him of himself, in the future, explaining concepts to his own Genin team. As much as he missed his companions, Kakashi genuinely thought that he could listen to Team Minato chatter away until the sun sank.

Truth be told, Kakashi had known he had missed his teammates. He had worried about how he would react when he was reunited with his team. Never did he imagine that he would feel so right. It was as if he had returned home after a long time away. Well, Kakashi supposed, he had returned home, after being gone for almost two decades. Surely he had the right to bask.

"Kakashi?" Rin's voice drew him from his thoughts. "Did you hear what I said?"

"Hm?" He responded, carefully ignoring the worried glances his teammates shared. Even Obito looked mildly concerned. Kakashi supposed he wasn't acting very much his twelve-year-old self, but he wasn't twelve. He was thirty. To borrow the Nara catchphrase, it was troublesome to pretend to be twelve again. (Truthfully, the thought disturbed him a bit. If Naruto ever found out, he would become equal to Jiraiya in perv status.)

"Minato-sensei thought we should work on our ninjutsu. I wanted to check your eye before we got started."

"Mm. If you want."

Rin approached. Obito lingered by Minato. His sensei looked the most worried, but Kakashi didn't want to tell him again that he was fine. Instead, he would let Rin's medical examinations prove it to his team.

"Lift your headband, please," she said. Kakashi obliged. He used his left hand in the familiar action of pulling up his headband, revealing his left eye ⎼

Pain exploded behind his forehead. Chakra overwhelmed his eyes, bringing one into blindness and the other into more than perfect clarity. Kakashi made a choked, pained sound that he didn't recognize from his own vocal cords. The agony was overwhelming.

⎼ and promptly passed out.