Kakashi was fucking tired. But, hey, he'd take it.

It was a tiredness he was familiar with, at least. That bone-deep ache, weariness in every muscle, limbs heavy as lead from overuse. It meant that he was getting stronger, and even if he felt like shit right now, it was for the best.

What was decidedly not for the best was the Hound mask staring back at him in the mirror.

Working for ROOT… Working for Danzo, of all people— it left his head spinning in a way that, even for all his years, he still couldn't quite get used to. Never did he think that he would dawn this armor for anyone other than Minato-sensei, or the Third.

Then again, he didn't think he would be hurtled through time and space, either. So he figured he was allowed a few reasonable excuses.

Alas, as long as he would like to sulk and stew in his own thoughts, contemplating life and how shitty his was particularly—and he could do that for quite a long time—his work wasn't done.

In his apartment, Kakashi undressed from his ANBU uniform. He dressed the wounds he'd received in his secret nightly training, or the ones that he could dress, at least. For being unceremoniously yanked back into his maybe-twelve or maybe-thirteen-year-old body and being pitted against formidable ROOT members, he didn't fair so badly.

'You should see the other guy' was on the tip of his tongue, but announcing such to an empty room would definitely make him a lunatic, and he was trying oh so desperately to hold onto the last dredges of his sanity.

Even still, he was bruised more than anything. His uniform was a little scorched from a sneaky flame jutsu trap, and his hair was a disheveled mess (even more so than usual), and his Sharingan eye was hurting something awful, but it was not his worst day.

It was far from his worst day.

Running on close to zero sleep would not make it his worst day by a long shot, but if Minato-sensei had decided upon anything incredibly intense for their training this morning, it would make this day very pointedly not his best day by a long shot, either. But, by gods, if Rin or Minato got on his back about looking worse for wear, he might genuinely pull his hair out. The last thing he needed was their worrying. Rin's pestering alone he could handle, but Minato digging his nose in where it didn't belong was what truly got his heart beating faster.

Well. Thinking back to that incredibly stupid stunt in the Forest of Death that Rin had not only participated in but devised, perhaps he should be equally wary of her, if not more so.

Luckily, Kakashi was well-versed in hiding tiredness. Hopefully he was good enough at it that no one would ask any questions. He wasn't fatigued, by any means, but staying up all night fighting fiercely against arguably stronger opponents compared to getting a good night's rest…

Ah, who was he kidding. Kakashi hardly slept well just about ever.

If he thought about it, tired was pretty much his default state, wasn't it?

Not that it mattered. He had a job to do: saving his team from the fate he caused them in the first place. If he had to sacrifice some rest and comfort for it, he figured he was getting by pretty well, all things considered.

Kakashi dressed into his Chunin clothes quickly. He scrubbed his face in the bathroom, brushed his teeth, and tried to tame his hair just a little bit before deciding it was hell-bent on disobeying him and gave up. The last thing there was to do was get a bite to eat, and then he'd be on his way.

Stepping out of the bathroom, Kakashi was suddenly and forcefully hit with a wave of nausea as his left eye pounded terribly, gnawing away at what little chakra he had left. The beginnings of a migraine pulled painfully behind his eyes.

Change of plans, then. A bite to eat and a soldier pill and he'd be on his way.

At the very least, he knew he carried those on his person just about at all times. Out of instinct, he checked the time as he reached for one, because no matter what his students say, he was very punctual as a kid for a reason, which included having a solid internal clock or just frequently looking at some clock somewhere.

Reading the clock hands, Kakashi changed his plans once more.

Two soldier pills, then, while on his way.

He left quickly, locked the apartment, and popped back two soldier pills while running from rooftop to rooftop. They eased the oncoming migraine, at least, restoring his chakra if only temporarily.

In his mind, he could hear Minato-sensei's scolding. "Chakra pills are for emergency consumption on the field, Kakashi! They do not replace a meal!"

Huh. Or maybe that sounded a little more like Rin's voice.

Or like Gai's.

He could hear Tenzo saying something along those lines, too, but it would be accompanied by a knowing smile and a defeated sigh. Gai's would be louder, proclaimed for all the village to hear, or maybe just loud enough to almost get through Kakashii's thick skull.

Something ached in his chest, and it wasn't from the ROOT workout.

Damn it, he missed his friends.

But, no, he didn't have time for that right now. He could sulk in his thoughts later. With a heavy sigh, Kakashi leaped down into the grass of the training area, where Minato and Rin were waiting patiently for him. Obito was still nowhere to be seen.

"Kakashi!" Rin beamed. "Good morning!"

"Good morning," Minato added. "Oh, good, here comes Obito too."

Watching the Uchiha sprint, out of breath, to join them, the ache returned, and he rubbed at his chest absentmindedly. His friends were right here.

Right?

"Sorry I'm late," Obito blabbered. "You see, I was—" And Kakashi immediately tuned the rest out. Or, well, tuned out as best he could. Being a ninja and all, he was always picking things up, intentionally or not. Chances were that he'd find himself using Obito's same excuse sometime in the future, not even sure of where the idea came from.

He zoned completely in again when Minato started talking.

"Now that you're all here," the blond began, in an unusually serious tone, "I have something you all should be aware of."

Minato-sensei, as they all knew, could be a bit dramatic. They all saw it in different ways, in different aspects of his life: whether he was gushing about his girlfriend (and that was rather frequently), or pouring himself over a new scroll, or putting his all into making them better ninjas. Minato did everything at one-hundred-and-ten percent. (Kushina did, too, which made them quite the couple—and which made Naruto quite the student.) Still, Minato's students knew him well. He did his best to keep his gushing from interrupting their training as best he could, and that he was delaying what was probably well-needed training meant something big. Bigger, maybe, than Kakashi had the energy or wherewithal to deal with right now.

All three teenagers leaned in, wary and curious.

Tears welled in Minato's eyes.

"I… I proposed to Kushina!"

Rin screeched. Obito screamed. Minato was crying. They were all like a band of little joyous kids. Meanwhile, Kakashi felt like he'd just been hit with a truck, or a wind jutsu, or a wind jutsu the size of a truck.

The migraine returned full-force, blotting out his vision temporarily. Obito, Rin, and Minato all fell to white noise in the background.

Minato and Kushina were married by the time of the Kannabi Bridge mission. From memory, he recalled that they were married rather quickly after Minato finally worked up the guts to pop the question—a mere few weeks, something about "I've been waitin' for him to hurry up and propose long enough, yanno? Sure as hell not gonna wait that long for the wedding!" or along those lines. Not long after Kannabi, Kushina was expecting.

Gods, it was all happening so fast. How much time did he even have before the mission…? How much time did he have to get strong enough to stop it from happening? How could he have been such an idiot to let time slip by this quickly? He should have sought Danzo out from the start, should have wasted less time on distancing himself (or spent more time on it), should have worked out at least seven full-proof plans by now.

And it was too late. It was too late. Kakashi wasn't strong enough; there wasn't enough time. They would go to Kannabi and it would be the same fucking thing. Obito would die. Rin would die. Minato and Kushina and half the fucking village would die.

And this time it would be doubly his fault.

His shoulders sagged, burdened by such heavy knowledge, guilt, responsibility.

"Kakashi?" Rin questioned. "You haven't said anything…"

If 'tired' was his default setting, so would be 'faking it'.

"Ah, I was just surprised," Kakashi said coolly, and it wasn't entirely a lie. "Congratulations, Sensei."

"As bland as ever," Obito grumbled, and Rin gently elbowed him in the ribs.

Minato was still beaming, despite Kakashi's lackluster response. He looked quite proud of himself, actually. A formidable shinobi he was, but his smarts and skill in battle offered him little when navigating a relationship, especially with the Red Hot Habanero of all people. Somehow, though, someway, he got it right, and he didn't think he could ever be happier.

Kakashi recognized the look on Minato's face, guessed at what he was thinking, and it felt bittersweet to know that there would be an even happier time soon upcoming—an all too short happier time, but happier nonetheless.

"As exciting as that is," Minato continued, "it isn't all I have to share with you. There's also this." And he pulled a scroll from his pouch.

Kakashi felt his anxiety spike.

The timeline had gotten a little screwed, yeah, but it couldn't have messed up this badly, could it? They couldn't be going to Kannabi Bridge now, could they?

He told himself that it couldn't, and they weren't, but his heart was racing anyway.

"We have a mission. We'll be staying close to the Land of Fire, but a town just outside our borders has been showing suspicious activity. We suspect they might be smuggling information on patrol routes to Iwa nin."

Kakashi had to forcibly stop himself from breathing the heaviest sigh of relief, but he felt dizzy with the sudden drop in his adrenaline anyway. No one seemed to notice.

"We'll be laying low," Minato continued. "While it's not abnormal for our shinobi to move in and out through that area, during times of war, the situation calls for different tactics. We can't just drop in and stay awhile, or it'll arouse suspicion."

"So we'll be going undercover?" Rin asked hopefully.

Minato nodded. "I'll brief you all more tomorrow morning. The Land of Fire is large, and it won't be quick to travel through it, so I expect you all to meet me at the west gate at seven sharp."

Obito suddenly felt three pairs of eyes on him (or, two and a half, since Kakashi kept insisting to cover his one eye like that—weirdo).

"H-Hey!" He protested.

Kakashi snickered and pretended not to notice Obito glaring daggers at him.

"I want you all to prepare for tomorrow," their sensei went on, unbothered by the brief interruption, "so we won't have any training today, unless there's something specific that you want to work with me one-on-one. If not, then you're dismissed!"

Seeing as none of them were too interested in staying for extra training, all three students turned to leave.

"Ah, Kakashi, wait a minute."

Or not.

Kakashi refrained from sighing, or pinching the bridge of his nose, or pretending to not hear Minato at all. He was an adult (even if he was in a child's body). He could act like one, at least.

"Yes, Sensei?" He hummed, turning back around.

Minato, at the very least, didn't look like he was overly worried, or losing hair from fretting, so he thought he could take that as a good sign. "Did you go to the hospital after training yesterday?" The Namikaze asked pleasantly.

No, Kakashi thought immediately.

"Yes sir," he replied instead, because, technically, he had gone to the hospital. Walked all the way there, made sure Minato wasn't trailing him, and then walked all the way home. So, yes, he had gone to the hospital. "The medical report should be with Lord Third soon."

Kakashi had tied up that loose end, too. He'd simply found Danzo, explained to him that the medical examination he had needed to be sent to Hiruzen quickly lest more suspicion around him be raised and their secret alliance possibly sniffed out, and that was that.

Minato, however, seemed to falter. "Why— Uh, why do you say that?" His sensei stammered awkwardly. Unprofessional, but not unlike Minato.

Kakashi raised an eyebrow. "All medical reports on shinobi end in Lord Third hands, Sensei, for final review."

"...O-oh. Yeah. Ahem." Minato clearing his throat did absolutely nothing to erase whatever weird behavior that just was, but, well, it was an attempt. "That's all, then. I trust you'll let me know if there's anything… I should know?"

This conversation was getting weirder and weirder. "Yes, Sensei," he lied. Minato looked relieved.

"Well. Good. Um, that's all then. Have a good day, Kakashi, and I'll, uh, see you tomorrow morning."

"...Good day, Sensei."

Minato promptly fled the scene.

Well, that was strange as fuck. Minato, outside of battle, was hardly ever graceful, but that conversation hit a clumsy, flailing new low for him. How had he managed to forget that Hiruzen sees every shinobi's medical exam? Why did he look like he got caught with his hand in the cookie jar?

Kakashi hummed, making a beeline for his apartment while keeping a casual stroll. Was there something that he didn't know?

If there were, it'd be something involving Minato and Hiruzen, surely, and himself. Or, rather, something about himself, considering how Minato was attempting to hide it (as poorly as the performance was). But what? Something to do with the impromptu medical exam?

That in itself wasn't suspicious. Especially with how oddly Kakashi must have been acting after his thiry-ish self was punted by the universe itself into his twelve-or-thirteen-year-old body, having a check up wasn't strange. He had passed out earlier on and been unusually weak after that.

Kakashi worried his lip between his teeth, feeling like he was missing something.

Mixing Minato and medical jargon was about as effective as trying to mix oil and water. Kakashi's initial medical report, while worrying with its mentions of his severely damaged chakra pathways and the like, was the only report Minato had read, and the odds that he got anything out of that other than something was wrong was unlikely.

But Minato wasn't stupid. Far from it. It wasn't his fault he wasn't a medical nin.

Did the contents of that first report worry him so much to get the Third involved…?

Kakashi huffed quietly to himself. If that were the case, they certainly wouldn't like the contents of his second, more thorough medical report. But if they were planning to examine that report, it'd mean they'd come up with a lot more questions than Kakashi felt like answering—or even knew how to answer, really.

It would have to be a problem for another day. Unless Minato or Lord Third approached him about it, or it interfered with his work with Danzo, then it wasn't Kakashi's concern who read what about him. And he certainly wasn't about to try to clear up a situation that hadn't even been muddled in, yet, because that just made everything worse. If Minato didn't know there was a serious problem to begin with, then trying to reassure the man that the serious problem was taken care of (somewhat) would do nothing but alert him to said serious problem.

Kakashi's brain felt fuzzy. Did what he just think actually make any sense…?

It didn't matter. He knew what he meant—ignore it until it becomes a big problem or it goes away. His life's philosophy. Hell, it'd gotten him this far.

It had also gotten him back in time, but, oh well. Par for the course.

Arriving at his apartment was quick work, especially with most of his walk consumed by his thoughts. His body longed for sleep as he unlocked the front door. He could think of nothing better.

Walking through the threshold, Kakashi was rudely greeted by all his earlier thoughts of Gai, Tenzo, Naruto, and every other burden weighing as much as all of the Land of Fire, migraine included.

Well, he had said sulking was for later. Later was now.

Closing the door behind him, Kakashi promptly decided to lay in bed and mope until he fell asleep, which he then proceeded to do. The moping didn't last long, and sleep claimed him quickly.

In the Hokage's Tower, Hiruzen took an incredibly long drag from his pipe and slid the medical report for a certain Hatake across to a certain worried sensei. "I'm afraid," Hiruzen said, blowing out a long trail of gray smoke, "that this might be worse than we initially thought."

Minato tried and failed to hide his nervousness. He picked up the lengthy report, the gold band on his finger sparkling in the sunlight, and he read.