Kakashi awoke with the rising of the sun, fighting with his blankets and in a cold sweat. He blinked away the claws of the shadowy figures in his dream, breathing heavily. The figures dissipated quickly now that he was awake, but he was still left with unease resting uncomfortably in the pit of his stomach. Nightmares tended to do that to him—whether he remembered them or not.

Blearily, he glanced at the clock. The bright digits read 5:21 AM.

Sun filtered in through his half-closed blinds, and Kakashi, as much as he would like to fall back into the warm darkness of sleep, he was already closer to fully awake than not. He still had about an hour and a half before he had to meet his team at the west gate for their mission, and it didn't take him a quarter of that time to get ready, but it would be pointless to toss and turn in bed for another hour.

So he got up.

And he thought, not for the first time, the lengths he would go to have his hands on a copy of Icha Icha. Any form of Icha Icha, at this point.

But he couldn't steal, beg, or kill for a book that had yet to be written. Sighing out his misery, he started a shower and got ready. He had the time to make himself a proper breakfast, at the very least, which he was thankful for.

The clock neared 6 AM, and Kakashi was fully ready, packed and dressed and fed and clean, and he was getting tired of sitting around his apartment waiting for time to pass. So he left and locked it up, all the while reminding himself that he didn't have any plants that needed looking after while he was gone.

The morning air was cool and crisp. Kakashi opted for a leisurely stroll around the village to waste time. Since his return to the pre-Nine Tails village, he'd once again become familiar with the layout, even if he still did find himself taking a wrong turn from time to time, and he was confident that he could go out and get "lost" and still know his way to the west gate. And so off he went.

Without a book to bury his nose in, Kakashi was left looking at the passersby. Even for so early in the morning, a Hidden village never truly sleeps. Other ninja, although few of them, moved across the rooftops, some heading out and some returning. Shopkeepers were beginning to get their store ready for the day's foot traffic, and other early birds were enjoying the weather before it grew hot in the afternoon.

Other early birds, unfortunately, included one very green-clad shinobi, walking around the village on his hands.

Kakashi dipped into another alleyway in hopes of avoiding him, but the cause was fruitless. He had been spotted.

"Kakashi!" Gai bellowed, shoving himself back onto his feet and sprinting over to where Kakashi was pointedly walking in the opposite direction.

The Hatake stifled a sigh. As much as he put up with (enjoyed) Gai's antics in his time, that was only after those hard-won years of friendship, of having each other's backs through thick and thin, battle after battle and competition after competition. This Gai, on the other hand, while he was just as adamant to pursue Kakashi's friendship, simply didn't measure up. And perhaps that was cruel of Kakashi to think, but it felt like the truth. In this time, as teenagers, and especially before Kannabi, they were classmates at worst and acquaintances at best.

In short, if Kakashi was going to put up with Gai, he would rather have his own time's Gai.

"Good morning, Gai," he drawled. The acknowledgement, however simple it was, lit up Gai's face like fireworks in the night sky.

"I haven't seen you out and about so early before!" Maito shouted, all too loud for the morning, as usual. "Finally enjoying the Springtimes of Youth, are we?"

Kakashi shook his head, and Gai fell into step beside him. "I'm leaving on a mission soon."

The expression that crossed Gai's face was… complicated. Kakashi couldn't tell if he was overjoyed or saddened. "By yourself?"

"With my team, in… Forty-three minutes."

That damn expression hadn't left Gai's face yet, and Kakashi couldn't tell why. Usually he was able to read Gai like an open book, because the man was anything but private. The Hatake suspected there was something Gai wanted.

"Oh," Gai said, sounding dejected, but he quickly returned to his energetic self, however forceful. He shouted, "I do hope you fare well then, and are successful!"

Kakashi, this time, allowed a sigh through his nose and stopped. Gai did the same, with that same look on him, like he was a kicked puppy. "Was there something you wanted, Gai?"

Gai squirmed. Gotcha.

"Well, I… I had simply been hoping, since I saw you early, that we would be able to have another challenge, Rival," he admitted.

Ah, so that was it. Kakashi glanced at the position of the sun in the sky once more and concluded that, depending on the challenge, he would have time.

This Gai wasn't his Gai, but he was Gai all the same. And Kakashi had missed his company, even if he would rather face Pein again than admit to it aloud. The loud, eager man (boy) had wormed his way into Kakashi's heart, and it was useless to try to remove him now, for Gai had dug his roots in like the most stubborn weed.

"I have time," Kakashi answered. And Gai broke into the most ridiculous grin that covered all of his lower face.

"That's splendid, Kakashi! Although I am not sure if we have time for another spar… And I do not want to wear you out before your mission."

"Mm." Kakashi looked around. They were fairly close to the eastern gate, on the opposite side of town than where Kakashi needed to be. He had an idea. "Let's race."

Gai blinked. "Race?"

"You heard me. I'm meeting Minato-sensei at the west gate, so I have to head that way anyway. It'd be the most convenient, and it'd be a nice warmup."

Recovering quickly from being taken aback, Maito beamed and struck his infamous pose that had not changed for decades, pointing his thumb at himself and grinning so fiercely that the sun caught in his white teeth. "A race it is, then, Rival!" He proclaimed.

Kakashi dipped his head in a nod. "We'll start at the east gate," he said, "and whoever gets to the west gate first wins… No chakra boosts, no rooftops."

"Fair as always, Rival!"

And so they made for the east gate.

Kakashi found a rock on the ground, looking out over the village, beginning to bustle with life. Dodging the early morning foot traffic and carts was going to be an interesting challenge. Going across the roofs would have been the most direct route, but without them, there was no one street that cut directly through the village from east to west.

This was going to be fun.

"When this hits the ground, we'll start," he explained, and Gai nodded along seriously, as if they were going into battle rather than having a friendly competition. "Ready?"

"Of course!"

"Then let's start."

Kakashi tossed the pebble into the air. They waited.

It clinked against the ground, and they were gone.

Both ninja sped through the village at breakneck speeds—one reason Kakashi had forbidden use of chakra, save for running on walls or the like. The last thing he'd like to do was alert the ANBU and be stopped because of the sudden, intense bursts of chakra. (And, admittedly, Kakashi was trying to save his chakra supply for the mission.)

Soon finding themselves in the thick of the village life, Kakashi ducked and dodged around pedestrians just trying to walk. The wind blew past them, and some shouted after them angrily, but neither shinobi paid them any mind. As they approached an intersection, a horse-drawn cart walked out directly in front of them. Kakashi smoothly stepped onto the walls of the nearby building, running straight past it, and Gai slid cleanly underneath, up again on his feet in seconds.

They were more evenly matched than Kakashi would like to admit, but with no chakra and no fighting, even as young as teenagers, Gai's speed was impressive, as it always had been.

Neither of them had broken a sweat, halfway through the village.

Kakashi was back on the ground, right beside Gai, but he remembered a shortcut. As a child, he'd found it, using it to avoid the larger gatherings of people who dragged the name of Hatake Sakumo through the mud. Seeing as the crowds were beginning to pool in the busying streets, Kakashi suddenly broke off from Gai, who noted his absence with a confused yelp.

While Gai had to fight his way through the streets, Kakashi's shortcut was beautifully abandoned. He sped through, coming out on the other side of the crowd, with Gai nowhere in sight. While Kakashi couldn't judge if that was a good or a bad thing, he focused instead on getting to the west gate, which loomed above in the near distance.

The further edges of the village were emptier than the heart of it, and Kakashi had an easier time maneuvering around the few people he needed to dodge. Most saw him coming and got out of his way if they were in it, and the oblivious others were left wondering what that strong breeze was.

Up ahead, Kakashi spotted a figure with a backpack and short brown hair walking casually to the west gate. Rin. Gods, if she saw him like this, and found out that it was because he was in a race against Maito Gai, she would never let him live it down. But Gai would never let him live it down if he lost—so he picked the lesser of two evils, all the while hoping Rin just miraculously didn't see him.

"Damn kid!" Shouted a shopkeeper. "Watch it!" And Rin turned her head to see what all the commotion was about. Immediately, her brow furrowed in confusion.

"Kakashi…?" She questioned.

"Can't stay and chat!" Kakashi called as he flew by her. Rin stood, staring after, wondering what in the world her stoic teammate was doing. Then it clicked that perhaps she was later than she thought, and somehow Kakashi was also late. In a panic, she gave chase after him without knowing why, even though Kakashi was long gone from sight by then.

へのへのもへじ

Minato's form stood patiently at the west gate. The man leaned against his post, waiting for his students. It was just nearing 6:40 AM, so he expected Kakashi or Rin to arrive shortly. Hopefully Obito would make it on time. But, truthfully, that wasn't what was eating at Minato's brain.

That medical report… Minato worried the inside of his cheek with his teeth. He had figured that something was wrong with his student—Kakashi had started acting strangely some months ago, which included passing out and having something even stranger going on with his left eye. Then, at the Forest of Death, he could have sworn that he saw a Sharingan swirl in Kakashi's eye.

But that medical report confirmed it. And that was the scariest thing, probably. The report spared no detail. For some unknown reason, Kakashi's chakra system had been funneling chakra steadily to his left eye, which explained the drain and exhaustion from his student. So much chakra had been sent there that somehow, someway, Kakashi was developing his own Sharingan, in a slow and painful process extremely unlike the Uchiha's instant activation.

As far as Minato knew, however, Kakashi had absolutely no Uchiha blood in him, so there was no possible way for a Sharingan to form. So then, how…?

Those answers Minato didn't think he'd be getting anytime soon. That, however, didn't stop his worrying. The unnatural and forced development of the Sharingan was putting too much strain on Kakashi's eye. Either Kakashi needed enough chakra to fully develop the Sharingan (which he didn't have) or he could risk being blind in that eye for forever.

And that didn't even scratch the surface of future what ifs. Suppose Kakashi did go blind—while he was certain his student could overcome the handicap, what would his chakra system do? Would it continue sending chakra to an eye that no longer worked? Would the flow of chakra switch to his other eye? Or would it cease altogether? The examiner gave no answers for those possibilities. Everyone was equally lost, and Minato assumed Kakashi fared no better.

Somehow, though, someway, that wasn't even the full extent of the problem. Although the first medical report had touched on it, the second gave more detail: Kakashi's chakra pathways were completely burnt out. Chakra systems could get damaged and scarred by overuse, like chakra exhaustion, but having the entire system devastated as it was indicated something far more sinister. The medical examiner wrote out that the only time he had seen a system like Kakashi's was in an autopsy of a shinobi who had died of extreme chakra exhaustion.

Based off his system, by all means, Kakashi should be dead.

No one knew how he was still alive, let alone functioning (more or less) normally. Minato had no idea how Kakashi might have gotten into a position in which he had to use that much chakra while keeping it all a secret. At the very least, Kakashi would have been hospital-bound for weeks in a condition like that, and yet it never happened. Kakashi had always been under Minato's watchful eye, and this bizarre change had happened overnight.

Minato rubbed at his temples. He needed a strong drink.

Besides the physical problems, Kakashi had changed in another glaringly obvious manner: his personality seemed to turn on a dime. Just as suddenly, the cold-shoulder he gave his teammates was replaced. What it was replaced with was so entirely complicated that Minato was still struggling to wrap his head around it. Kakashi had seemed both mortified and overjoyed to spend time with his teammates, and after aggressively distancing himself from them (which was strange enough; Kakashi kept his distance, yes, but he didn't go out of his way to) he turned around and began befriending them.

Not that Minato had qualms about Kakashi making friends, but combined with all of this information, it was far beyond strange.

His skill as a shinobi had improved as well. Kakashi tried to keep it hidden, but simply in the way he mastered the Lightning Whip jutsu proved it. Yes, Kakashi was well on his way to becoming a Jonin, but that was a difficult jutsu even for a veteran shinobi, and Kakashi had conquered it in an hour. And immediately after, he went to help Rin and Obito learn theirs.

Kakashi, for all purposes, might as well have been a veteran Jonin. The way he fought, the way he reacted to his students' idiotic stunt in the Forest of Death, the way he carried himself, as inconspicuous as he tried to seem—all of it screamed that he was confident in his skills, but on his guard, like waiting for the second shoe to drop. Minato had seen ANBU who resembled his student in that way. It was as if Kakashi had lived through decades of war.

Something twisted sickeningly in Minato's stomach. They were in a war now, yes, but Minato had done his best to keep his students away from the fighting. So then why…?

It was as if Kakashi… wasn't Kakashi anymore.

Minato felt as if he'd gotten the wind knocked out of him. No, that couldn't…

Kakashi couldn't be… He couldn't have been replaced by a spy, could he…?

No. No, that was just ridiculous. Kakashi, while not acting himself, was still Kakashi. While there was definitely something that the Hatake was hiding, it didn't fit with the behavior seen with spies.

Kakashi was still Kakashi, but he knew too much. It was as if he had seen the horrors of the world too many times and somehow walked out alive. Broken, scarred, but alive.

But how could all of that happen overnight?

A jutsu, maybe? A transfer of information from another shinobi that overwhelmed his chakra system? But Minato didn't know of any jutsu capable of that, and even if that was the case, what shinobi could it be? And why Kakashi? Sure, he was the last Hatake, and he was a student of the Yellow Flash—both of those alone were reasons enough to be targeted, but Kakashi was safe in the Hidden Leaf.

So then what?

Minato's thoughts stopped dead in their tracks when he noticed Kakashi, sprinting at him. A cold fear flushed through him, and he was at the ready in an instant.

"Kakashi?!" Minato ran to his student, who stopped at the gate, breathing only a little heavy. "What's wrong? What happened?!"

Kakashi waved Minato off. "Nothing's wrong, Sensei," he replied coolly, and Minato wondered if he was going to have a heart attack or not. Surely his blood pressure wasn't meant to be this high.

"Then why—"

"Look." Kakashi turned back around, and over the crest of the hill, Maito Gai appeared, also sprinting.

Minato was silent, watching in a very confused awe as Gai came to a stop, immediately resting his hands on his knees.

"Ah, Rival, you've bested me yet again!" Gai wheezed, clearly out of breath. "That was… ah… very impressive…"

Kakashi, to Minato's surprise, actually seemed to be putting up with Gai. "It pays to know shortcuts, Gai," he answered, wagging his finger at the green-clad shinobi. "The most direct route isn't always the fastest."

Gai exhaled heavily, standing to full height. "Of course! Such marvelous words of wisdom, Kakashi!"

"This makes us 2-0, you know."

Minato was a little more than lost, at this point. "Wait, what is—"

And then Rin sprinted up to them, also panting. "I'm so sorry I'm late!" She apologized, immediately bowing low to Minato. All three stared at her incredulously.

"Rin," Minato said, "it's only 6:45."

Rin blinked, surprised, and stood up. "But then…" She looked to Kakashi, then Gai, then back to Kakashi. "Why were you running? And, Gai, why are you here?"

"My Rival and I were having a competition!" Gai shouted passionately. "We raced from the eastern gate here, but he defeated me once again!"

"Once again?" Rin and Minato echoed, looking to Kakashi for clarification.

Kakashi looked away, feeling flustered. "Gai asked me to spar. I beat him. And I beat him in the race, too. So we're 2-0 in my favor."

Gai, at least, didn't look too bothered. "Then I will train doubly hard to defeat you when you return from your mission!" He cried.

If Minato didn't know Kakashi better, he would think his student was smirking.

"Only doubly?"

Gai's vigor skyrocketed. "Thrice as hard!" He screeched. "No— I will work ten times as hard!"

"A-Alright Gai, you can calm down a little," Minato encouraged softly, noticing the odd stares they were receiving. Weirdest of all was that Kakashi almost, almost, looked to be smiling.

"Yes, forgive me, Minato-sensei!" Gai bowed quickly, and Minato was nearly worried the boy would pull a muscle with how fast he did so. "I do not want to hold you up on your mission, so I will take my leave. Rival!" And just like that, Gai was standing at full height again, whirling around to face Kakashi, who seemed unphased. "When you return, we will have another competition! And I will beat you!"

Minato and Rin both expected Kakashi to scoff, or ignore Gai completely, but to their shock, Kakashi didn't do either of these things. If anything, he did the opposite.

"Then you better come up with a good challenge," Kakashi replied.

Gai started weeping. "I will, Rival! I will! Please have a safe mission!"

And like that, Gai was gone.

The three of them stood very silently for a few seconds.

"Kakashi—"

"Don't ask."

And they waited for Obito, who arrived at 6:59 AM precisely. Kakashi immediately announced such upon Obito's arrival, and Obito laughed because, wow, see Sensei, he was on time!

Already feeling dragged through the wringer, Minato heaved a tired sigh and shooed his kids out of the gate.

へのへのもへじ

"So, Kakashi," Minato said, interrupting the silence between them, "you're, uh, getting along pretty well with Gai, huh?"

Kakashi glanced at his sensei, walking beside him down the dirt road, and then to Rin and Obito, who were mindlessly chit chatting up ahead. He warily eyed the Namikaze, wondering why this felt like the beginnings of an intervention.

"It'd appear so," he answered.

Minato, for his credit, took the lame answer in stride. "I thought you hated Gai."

Kakashi raised an eyebrow, and Minato flushed, feeling the need to elaborate. "I mean," the blond continued, "it seemed like… well, like you hated him. Or just didn't like him, at least, so I was surprised to see you two together."

That made sense. Kakashi knew what his attitude towards Gai had been as a teenager, and teenage him certainly didn't try to hide it, either. "Maa… I've had a change of heart, I suppose," Kakashi replied, kicking at a loose stone and sending it skittering down the path.

"You've… had a change of heart about a lot of things, recently."

There it was.

"Have I?"

Minato frowned, looking a little more than displeased with his student playing dumb. "Kakashi," he sighed, "I know you know what I'm talking about."

Kakashi shrugged, stuffing his hands in his pockets. Minato eyed the movement with that same worrying frown, but neither of them said anything else for another few minutes. Rin and Obito, oblivious, continued their upbeat conversation ahead.

"I read your medical report. The second one."

While not the best of news, Kakashi was determined to avoid this conversation. "Ah."

"Don't just—" Minato groaned, turning most of his body to face Kakashi as they walked. "Kakashi, I can't even begin to wrap my head around everything in that report. By your chakra system alone you should be—"

"Sensei."

Minato paused. Kakashi had a sharp look in his eye, that same expression that made it seem as if his young student was decades older.

"I'm aware of my own report, Sensei," Kakashi continued quietly. "But I'd rather not discuss it."

"With me?" Minato pushed. "Or with your teammates around?"

When Kakashi didn't answer, Minato steamrolled ahead. "Look," he started again, "I don't know what happened. I'm at a loss here. I started with a lot of questions and your report hasn't given me any answers. It's only given me more questions. If you don't know what's going on either, that's one thing, but if you know something and aren't telling me…"

Silence from Kakashi again. Minato was afraid it'd come to this.

"Kakashi, if you're sick in some way, it could threaten your role on the active duty roster."

That got a reaction, at least. Tension rippled up Kakashi's spine, but instead of squaring his shoulders, his student seemed to hunch down even more, as if bunkering down for another barrage. "You wouldn't," Kakashi stated as if it were the truth. "You need me too much."

And while it was the truth, Kakashi's body language suggested he was afraid of the mere possibility of being taken off active duty. So Minato had to take what he had and run with it.

"Not if you're going to endanger your teammates."

Kakashi's chakra flared.

And it was gone in the next instant, but Minato was left reeling anyway. Obito and Rin didn't seem to have sensed it, and Minato was almost questioning if that had actually just happened. The amount of power that came from his young student was far greater than Kakashi should have, let alone the amount of control it would take to reel that all in.

But it was as if Kakashi's mask slipped, for a split second, like the tea kettle screaming before being taken off the stove.

Minato stared, and Kakashi finally looked at him. The cold, steely glint in Kakashi's eye was yet another look far beyond his years, and Minato couldn't help but wonder, What happened to you?

"I understand your concern," the Hatake said, but through his calm facade it was as if he were talking through gritted teeth, "but I assure you, I will never put my teammates in danger."

Kakashi's body language was screaming drop it, and Minato got the sense that he had pushed too far. So he relented, for now, with a curt nod. "Of course, Kakashi," he murmured. "It's just something to think about."

And think about it Kakashi did, all the way until they reached their destination.