Kakashi could only hide in the Hatake compound for so long. After Minato took his leave, the boy gathered his wits and took his sensei's advice to heart. He had a very limited view of who Nohara Rin and Uchiha Obito actually were. After their deaths, he'd twisted his perceptions of them unconsciously. The same had happened with Namikaze Minato and even Hatake Sakumo, his own father. Unlike Sakumo, though, his teammates were raised high on a pedestal. He needed to remind himself that they were just as human as he. They were better, yes, but they were still people ⎼ kids at that. Kakashi was a Chunin, but Obito and Rin were still Genin. He needed to reel back in his judgement of them and start over with a blank slate. Who, really, were his teammates? How had he been this blind, for so long?

The Hatake sighed and stretched. He needed to get some training in. Lazing around, as delightful as it sounded, was not what he could afford. Kannabi Bridge was approaching. At the moment, it loomed over him like a monster in the distance, casting a long shadow, but Kakashi knew that time ran much faster when he absolutely did not want it to. Not one minute could be let to waste if it were possible.

Although he could head to the common training grounds, Kakashi didn't want to be disturbed. He hadn't yet had a chance to practice in this body again, and he needed to relearn many ingrained skills. He'd shrunk quite a bit overnight, and he wasn't as foolish to believe that it would just come naturally. If he had to guess, every move he made would be off balance. He did not even have the gradual improvement and adjustment that he'd had when growing older, the time in between growth spurts to adjust his technique. He had it all, and then it was all gone, in the long, slow blink of a Kamui eye.

Hence, Kakashi headed into the backyard of the Hatake compound, where a private training ground stood. Grass and weeds had overtaken the area, but Kakashi didn't mind. After a week or two of good training, the place would be level and dusty, as most training grounds were.

Before anything, he began his kata, which took a frustrating amount of time to correct. Luckily, he was not labeled a genius by his peers and elders for namesake alone. He recalled how he performed when he was a teenager and mimicked it, but his added years of experience revealed many minor flaws in his technique ⎼ and that he refused to stand for. Refining his kata until he was satisfied took the most time. Truly, it was not that long, but to Kakashi, it felt like an eternity.

After he was meagerly satisfied with his kata, he began on taijutsu. As much as he wanted to hone his ninjutsu and genjutsu, Kakashi didn't want to risk fainting as soon as he opened his left eye. His chakra felt as if it were balancing precariously on a cliff edge, and if he made the wrong move, it would topple over and self-destruct. Although he knew how unlikely it was, he hoped that, if he allowed his chakra to replenish to its maximum, then the situation would resolve itself. Until that did or didn't work, he would deal with the throbbing, dull pain in his hidden eye and sharpen his taijutsu.

Like he suspected, his beginning attacks against the wooden pole were majorly flawed. His swing was wider than it needed to be, his kicks overshot, and he could only imagine the number of blind spots that his poor form was broadcasting. Kakashi resolved to fix as many of these problems as he could before training tomorrow. It wouldn't do to show up and fight like an unsteady Academy student, in addition to how strange he had already been acting. Unfortunately, it was difficult to perfect a taijutsu unless he was in a spar. He didn't know where his blind spots were until they were exploited. But who to spar with? His ninken?

"Well well, if it isn't Hatake Kakashi!" A young, booming, but achingly familiar voice echoed out over the clearing. Kakashi relaxed from his stance, stuck his hands in his pockets, and turned to look at the ninja clad in green-spandex, standing on top of the Hatake compound as if it were a playground.

Maito Gai leapt from the roof and trotted over to him, looking like a happy, green pup. "I wasn't expecting to find you here, my rival!" He exclaimed.

"Gai, what are you doing here?" Kakashi drawled, feigning boredom. In reality, this was perfect. Gai always challenged him when they crossed paths. "You do know these are private grounds, don't you?"

"Ah, but you see! I was running my laps around the village when I saw Minato-sensei leaving this direction! How strange, I thought, because I knew your family home was nearby. So I decided to investigate and, behold! My rival, in the middle of rigorous, youthful training!"

Kakashi huffed, trying to hide the smile that threatened to pull across his lips. He had forgotten how much he had missed the bundle of energy, determination, and loyalty that was Maito Gai. Truly, the Hatake never noticed how much he missed his best friend until Gai was back in the village, chasing after him for another challenge. The ordeal, though infamous, was actually quite rare. In the score of years since they'd become friends, only recently had they broken the one hundred mark. It was to be expected, though ⎼ the Blue Beast and Copy Ninja were two of Konoha's best Jonin. Rarely were they in the village at the same time.

"Actually…" Kakashi turned to face Gai, his hands still in his pockets. "I was about to start working on my taijutsu."

"Taijutsu! The splendor of youth! I would offer to spar with you, but I'm afraid with your covered eye I would be at too much of an advantage. Another day, my rival!"

Not what he wanted to hear, but Kakashi could spin it to his benefit. He feigned disbelief. "I must have misheard… Surely Maito Gai isn't backing down from a challenge?"

That did the trick. He watched his best friend's face heat to the shade of a cherry before he exploded on another youthful rant. "O-of course not!" Gai exclaimed, hurrying to defend his honor. "But I will not fight you when you are not at your best, my rival. It would be unfair!"

Kakashi shrugged, turning back to his wooden post. "Ah, well, it would be unfair, but not to me," he hummed. "I could fight you with both my eyes closed if I wanted. But, I suppose some things are too daunting even for you, Gai. What a shame."

He could practically hear the steam rushing from Gai's ears. "Very well!" Gai cried. "I accept your challenge, rival!"

Feeling victoriously smug, Kakashi turned back to Gai. "Same rules?" He asked, out of habit. Gai's face immediately morphed into confusion.

"Same rules?" Gai questioned. "Uh, Kakashi, you have never accepted one of my challenges before."

Kakashi blanched. That was right. He hadn't paid Gai any mind until after Obito and Rin's deaths. Clearing his throat and scrambling for a coverup, he said, "Well, we'll lay down some rules then." He almost winced, having failed to explain away why he would have thought that they had pre-established rules, but Gai didn't seem to notice, so he steamrolled on. "No ninjutsu or genjutsu. We go on until one of us concedes, gets pinned, or can't go on. Sound fair?"

Gai fistpumped the air. "Delightful!" He shouted to the sky. "I cannot wait to test my strength against the prodigy!"

Again, Kakashi suppressed a wince. Gai had not called him a prodigy in a long, long time. Occasionally he bragged of Kakashi's genius to others, but the Blue Beast knew that Kakashi was a quiet person who did not like boasting. Gai came to respect that throughout their years of rivalry and friendship, but the Hatake was again reminded that he was not in the same time. The boisterous child before him was not the Blue Beast of the Leaf, nor his best friend, or even his self-proclaimed Eternal Rival. Right now they were nothing but former classmates and fellow shinobi.

Kakashi thought he would have started to get used to the pangs in his heart when he thought of what he had lost from the future. He was wrong.

"Are you going to keep yelling or fight me?" He asked, pulling one hand from his pocket. He lifted two fingers to his mask, and Gai instantaneously sobered.

Gai mimicked his sign of friendship. "My apologies. Let us begin."

Both shinobi stood stock still for three long seconds. In tandem, they said, "Hai!" and charged.

They met blow for blow in the middle, fists flying, meeting, missing, in a beautiful exchange of controlled violence. Kakashi knew that, originally, he was stronger than Gai, could beat him flat in a minute of battle. Now, though, either something else was different about Gai or he had overestimated his fighting abilities in this body.

Kakashi overreached a swing, leaving him wide open, and Gai landed a blow square on his shoulder. The force of it sent him flying backwards, but he flipped midair, landing crouched. His skull ⎼ his eye ⎼ throbbed painfully from the quick movements. Kakashi had no time to recover, though, because Gai was on him again, rearing back another blow. He barely had the time to cross his arms in a block, holding onto his footing as he absorbed the fierce blow. Throwing his arms to the side, he off balanced Gai and lunged.

Midair, Gai twisted, dodging his hit, but Kakashi pressed on the offensive. The Genin hardly had his feet under him before Kakashi was on him again, letting lose blow after blow, not letting his opponent regain his balance.

Gai realized his disadvantage and let himself fall, swiping his feet underneath Kakashi's and backflipping a safe distance away. Kakashi dodged but remained where he was, letting Gai take the offensive next.

"I knew you would be an excellent match for me, Kakashi!" Maito panted. "The springs of youth are⎼"

Kakashi cut him off. "Attack me or I'm leaving."

Gai flustered, made no comment that this was Kakashi's own home, and followed Hatake's advice. He launched himself at Kakashi, who was ready. He swiftly dodged the first few punches, buying time. He scanned Gai's movements until he found his weak spot, and immediately he exploited it.

Kakashi ducked underneath a hard-hitting swing and rammed his elbow into Gai's diaphragm, feeling the bones of his ulna and radius tuck under Gai's ribs. Maito gagged, the air rushing out of him, and before he could even fall to his knees Kakashi was behind him. His lanky arms locked around Gai's neck, and Maito choked, struggling fruitlessly. Eventually, he sagged, defeated, and Kakashi dropped him like a ragdoll.

"Not bad." Hatake walked around to face Gai. He crouched down, watching his former ⎼ or maybe to-be best friend rub at his throat and cough. Gai looked up at him from his hands and knees. Defeat was not evident on his face. Only determination and fire lived there, and Kakashi felt warmth blossom in his chest. This was the Maito Gai that he knew. "You lasted longer than I expected."

Seemingly, Gai did not know how to respond to that, or perhaps he couldn't quite form words yet. Knowing that the battle was well over, though, Kakashi extended two curled fingers to him in the sign of friendship. Gai's mouth dropped open, and he mimicked a gaping fish for a moment before he scrambled to do the same. Their fingers interlocked, and Kakashi stood, pulling Gai up with him.

"That was indeed an excellent battle," Gai agreed. "I must ask, Kakashi, why did you change your mind? You've rejected every one of my youthful challenges so far."

The Hatake looked away and shrugged. "Ah, well, you see…" He trailed off. After a few moments, he returned his gaze to Gai and nodded. "Yeah, that about sums it up."

Gai blanched. "Kakashi!" He roared. "That was not an explanation at all!"

A soft but genuine chuckle rose up in Kakashi's throat, and the sound caught both of them off guard. For a moment they froze, standing there and staring at each other in shock. Then Gai burst into laughter, and Kakashi joined him in a more subdued manner. The two children stood there in the overgrown grass of a dying clan's shadow, laughing for no real reason.

Kakashi allowed himself to think that, maybe, remaking his bonds with his friends wouldn't be so bad, after all.

へのへのもへじ

Somewhere along the lines, Kakashi had invited Gai inside for something to eat, and he gladly accepted. Once inside, Gai was thoroughly whumped by his more excitable ninken, who all remembered him as he used to be. He laughed and pet them all, exclaiming that he thought they were all so very precious, and he shouldn't have been surprised that Kakashi was able to summon eight. While Gai was distracted, the Hatake prepared a meal.

"Here you are." Kakashi carried over a bowl of curry, Gai's made especially spicy.

"Thank you very much!" Gai exclaimed, taking the bowl as Kakashi sat down opposite him. They both murmured a quick thanks and began to eat. At this age, Kakashi remembered that Gai would definitely try to peek under his mask, so he made sure to take quick bites whenever the other wasn't looking.

They ate in comfortable silence for a while. However, Kakashi soon felt the need to ask, for the sake of asking.

"Gai," he started. Gai looked up at him, managing a "Yes?" through his mouthful of food, and Kakashi found the nerve to continue. Might as well get it over with immediately, as he knew his best friend could be kind of dense. "So… What do you think about time travel?"

Gai swallowed his mouthful and actually seemed to ponder the question. "What about it?"

"Well, say when you get old⎼" Seeing the protest begin to form, Kakashi quickly raised his hands and corrected himself. "⎼Older. Still in the, uh, 'springtime of youth,' but you've, uh, lived a pretty full life up to that point." Gai nodded, following so far. "Say you have the opportunity to go back to when you were a kid, do it all over. Fix your mistakes. Maybe help a lot of people. Would you do it?"

Maito took a lot longer to answer that time around. Gai poked at his food, furry eyebrows scrunched in thought. Eventually, he looked up. "No," he answered. "No, I wouldn't." Kakashi motioned for him to elaborate, and he did. "Well, I don't think it would be fair," Gai continued, "unless everyone gets a second chance like I would. And… everyone makes mistakes. If I went back and undid all of that, I wouldn't even be me."

Kakashi tried not to let the uneasiness show. He didn't want to further explain on that piece, so he steamrolled ahead. "You didn't have a choice," he interjected. "Somehow, it happened. You wake up a kid, but you remember everything that happened… or that's going to happen. You know you made a lot of mistakes. This is your chance to change it. Do you try to go back to the future you know or change the past?"

Gai shook his head. "It's the same thing, Kakashi," he said, picking at his food. "I would try to get back to my own time. Why do you ask?"

Kakashi let out the softest sigh. "No reason," he murmured, returning his attention to the curry. "It was just ⎼ a dream I had."

"An interesting dream."

"You could say that."

There was a moment of silence between them, but neither resumed eating. Gai looked like he was working up the courage to ask something, and Kakashi waited patiently until he was ready.

"Kakashi…"

"Yes?"

"What was your dream like? Of the future?"

A soft, wistful smile curled onto Kakashi's lips. His visible eye crinkled up into the smile that Gai could see. "It was a good one," he said, "for the most part. The war was over. We lost a lot of good people, but the village had moved on and rebuilt, became stronger. You and me…" He chuckled. "We were Jonin sensei, with our own Genin team. We watched them grow up before our eyes, becoming Chunin and Jonin of their own. It was… good."

Gai beamed. "See!" He exclaimed, and Kakashi was taken aback by his excitement. The Genin barrelled on, saying, "If I had all that, why would I ever want to undo that? Sure, I'm sure it wasn't all good, but that's youth! That's life! It sounds incredible, Kakashi."

Kakashi felt his throat tighten, and something irritating pricked at his eyes. "Yeah," he replied softly. "Yeah, it does."

Shortly after, Gai excused himself for the night, once again thanking him for the spar and the meal. Kakashi saw him out, dismissed his ninken, and quietly cleaned, tidying up the house until the sun sank below the horizon. As shadows of the empty home grew longer, the Hatake sat himself down in his old room, staring out the window at the village that wasn't quite his.

Sudden, unbridled grief smashed into Kakashi like a wave, and he broke.