Pain was the first thing to register in Kakashi's mind, slowly sinking and settling over him like the dawn of a new day. His mind groggily kicked into gear, struggling to begin accounting for his injuries, but when he hurt everywhere, it was hard to differentiate what was injured and what wasn't. His body felt it was pinned down by a dozen chains while also feeling too heavy to think to move.
What happened…?
He wracked his memories. Above all, his back hurt—damn, he was getting old—but so did his left eye. He'd overused his Sharingan again, drained himself of all the chakra he could spare. And he must've thrown his back out or something equally as old man-sounding. Naruto wouldn't let him live this down for a week.
No, wait, that wasn't right.
Obito wouldn't let him live it down.
Was that right? Neither sounded quite perfect, but Kakashi's mind was still playing catch-up. Where and when was he, again?
Kakashi's fingers twitched. They brushed against stone, and he realized he was pinned in place from debris. Knowing that was a little helpful for his immediate situation, but it didn't help him figure out when he was.
Was he pinned from Pein's attack, or from the cave in near Kannabi Bridge?
Damn, he really needed to stop getting himself stuck like this. It was starting to get embarrassing.
He opened his right eye. It did nothing; darkness still engulfed him. Either he managed to make himself go blind or he was trapped underground. Neither were very appealing options.
His mind finally began to straighten itself out. He remembered Obito's kidnapping, he and Rin going to save him, and then a presumed-dead Iwa nin collapsing the cave. Kakashi had been so drained of chakra that he'd collapsed, but not before forcing Obito and Rin safely out.
Ah, so he was still trapped in the cave. That was bothersome, but he wasn't dead and (probably) wasn't blind, so that was good. Now if only he had a way to tell how long he had been unconscious. Would Obito and Rin still be outside? Would they have run off to get Minato? Or would the three of them have presumed him dead and returned home?
Kakashi sighed and rested his forehead against the cool ground. His forehead protector must have been dislodged in the collapse. That, too, would be annoying to spend energy trying to find, especially since Kakashi felt as if he could curl up and sleep until he were fifty.
But he could move his hand, so he knocked against the stone in a gentle rhythm that echoed throughout the cave.
Tap tap tap. Tap—tap—tap. Tap tap tap.
He wouldn't blame anyone nearby for not hearing it on the first try, but the longer he kept up the pattern, the more likely he'd be found.
Tap tap tap. Tap—tap—tap. Tap tap tap.
If anyone were to find him, hopefully it wouldn't be Iwagakure shinobi. He didn't have the strength to move right now, let alone fight.
Tap tap tap. Tap—tap—tap. Tap tap tap.
That's… assuming anyone was going to find him. Still alive, at least. Crushed beneath boulders and rubble wasn't the best thing for one's health, after all.
Tap tap tap. Tap—tap—tap. Tap tap tap.
He took a deep breath. It looked like he was in this for the long haul.
Tap tap tap. Tap—tap—tap. Tap tap tap.
Tap tap tap. Tap—tap—tap. Tap tap tap.
Tap tap tap. Tap—tap—tap. Tap tap tap.
The sound droned on, repetitive and numbing to his ears. But if focusing on his SOS was what was keeping him alive, he'd deal with it. It'd be easier to close his eyes, let himself fall asleep, but Kakashi didn't tend to do things the easy way, anyway. Besides, he had some people he needed to get back to. He promised Obito that he'd explain everything to Minato, and Gai was still in the lead of their challenges.
Eventually, Kakashi was stirred from the monotonous SOS by the sound of pebbles clinking together, something that he definitely didn't cause. His knocking paused, and he listened.
More pebbles showered down, bouncing off nearby rocks. If he strained his ears, it almost sounded like digging. He hummed softly as he waited for whatever was digging to get through to him. Whether it was his teammates or his enemy, he had no control over that. All he could do was wait.
Dirt clods and pebbles fell to the floor in clumps. Sunlight began poking in through the cracks in the surface. Kakashi squinted and closed his eye, since that was far too bright for him right now. At least he wasn't blind.
He could feel the earth shift under him as the digging grew closer and more intense. The sunlight was close, but still out of reach. Kakashi remained in shadow, buried beneath the rubble. Lazily, he knocked his hand against the stone.
Tap tap tap. Tap—tap—tap. Tap tap tap.
And then the last of the earth gave way. Bright yellow light shone down on Kakashi, and he winced, blinded by the strength of it.
"Kakashi!"
Four little paws landed beside his head. The Jonin cracked open his right eye to see Pakkun digging frantically around him.
"Good morning," Kakashi strained, squeezing his eye shut once more.
"You'd better not be dying," Pakkun gruffed. "That's getting old."
Kakashi's laughed turned into a cough. "Not dying. Water would be nice, though."
Pakkun quickly made the space bigger, and soon enough it began to fill with more ninken who all began to dig as well. Kakashi could feel the pressure around him slipping loose until he could almost move his arms and legs.
Akino dug at the earth underneath Kakashi's belly until he, Shiba, and Urushi could bite down on Kakashi's shirt and drag him out. Uhei and Bull then came on either side of Kakashi, supporting his weight. The smaller dogs—Guruko, Pakkun, and Bisuke, each one of them all covered in dirt—worked to make their exit big enough to pull their human out of. Kakashi kept his eye shut.
They dragged Kakashi out of the earth and into the shady copse of the forest. Kakashi was still too chakra-exhausted to do much of anything, but his ninken were capable. They arranged him until he was reclined against Bull in the shade. Pakkun settled on his stomach, and five others were packed tightly around his legs. Uhei stole his cantine to fill up with water from the river flowing beneath Kannabi Bridge.
While Kakashi had several things he wanted to say, and ask, he couldn't at the moment—his throat was dry and filled with dust. So, as he waited for Uhei to return, he drifted off again, safe with his ninken.
Guruko nudged him awake some time later, and Kakashi felt Uhei pushing his cantine against his hand. "Thanks," he rasped, taking it. The water soothed his throat and quenched his thirst, although it did little to help his tiredness. Or the horrible headache he had, but keeping his eyes closed helped. It was probably just chakra exhaustion.
"Pakkun," Kakashi started once he'd had his fill of water, "where are Obito and Rin?"
The dog shook his head. "I don't know," he said. "Not around here."
"The village?"
"Maybe. Don't worry about that right now."
"Mm?" Kakashi moved to open his eye, but he didn't get very far before he was hit with another sharp throb of pain. Anything other than maximum darkness was too much for his eyesight right now. With a heavy sigh, he relaxed against Bull. "We're technically still in enemy territory."
Pakkun shifted until he was underneath Kakashi's hand. Kakashi's fingers mindlessly began to pet the little pug. "Don't worry about it, Boss," the dog replied. "You're safe."
Kakashi opted not to question it. Instead, he let sleep claim him.
He dreamed of blood red eyes, of falling stone, and of both his Team Sevens, each one taking his hand and pulling him forward into the bright light ahead.
That same bright light awoke him sometime later. Kakashi stirred, turning his head away from the sun and into the shadow. Pakkun nosed against his stomach, and Kakashi heard the little pug sigh through his nose. "Kakashi," the little dog grumbled, "you've slept the whole day away."
Kakashi yawned and rubbed Pakkun's head. "I was tired."
"No wonder."
The Hatake sighed and reclined further against the cozy fur ball that was Bull. "It sounds like you know something I don't."
Guruko tried and failed to stifle a laugh beneath her paw. "If you weren't so lazy, you'd figure it out."
"Well that's just rude."
"It's not rude if it's true," Bisuke snickered.
Kakashi was going to rebuttal, but Pakkun beat him to it. "Just open your eyes, dumbass," the pug gruffed.
Truthfully, he was reluctant to. His killer headache had dissolved away to almost nothing, now, and he didn't want to hammer another icepick behind his eye if he didn't have to, and opening his eyes again made that horrible pain returning a very real possibility.
But obviously there was something he was missing, so Kakashi supposed it was worth the risk.
Slowly, he squinted open his eyes. He saw the moonlit, grassy forest floor without any sharp, terrible pain in his skull, so he turned his head to look at his lovely ninken, and—oh.
Oh.
Well, Kakashi suddenly understood why his dogs were laughing at him. He'd assumed that, after the cave in, he'd been knocked unconscious for a few hours, maybe even a day or two.
Looking at his fully grown body, Kakashi realized his guess was laughably off.
"Oh. Well." Lifting his hand, Kakashi turned it over. The same scar he'd had since he was twenty was still right there on his thumb. It looked like he really was back in his regular body, instead of his thirteen-year-old one. "I would ask how the hell this happened, but does it matter?"
All the dogs snickered. Uhei set his head on Kakashi's thigh. "We assumed that Sharingan of yours kicked into gear," he said. "We don't know when it is, either, if you time traveled again or if it's just been a couple days. But no shinobi have been around this area for a while."
Kakashi moved his hand to pet Uhei. "Hm. I guess we'll just have to find out for ourselves."
"Kakashi," Pakkun said, lifting his head to look at the Hatake, "show me your eye."
"My left one?"
"Do you have a concussion? Yes, your left one."
Kakashi sighed and brushed the hair from over his eye before opening it. Nothing looked different. He didn't feel any drain from his chakra, either. "Is the Sharingan there?"
Pakkun was quiet for a moment. "Not right now."
"Right now?"
"Can you turn it on?"
"Turn it on?" Kakashi raised an eyebrow at the dog. "I've never been able to turn it off before."
Pakkun huffed. "Just try, brat."
He took a deep breath through his nose and figured what the hell. He'd certainly been through weirder in these past few months. Being able to control a Sharingan that his body seemingly created out of his own chakra pool wouldn't be the strangest thing that's happened, yeah?
He focused his chakra in his left eye and imagined flipping a light switch.
Surprisingly, it worked.
Kakashi felt the chakra constrict at his pupil and explode throughout his eye. Everything on his left side became a familiar type of too-clear, the blue veins of chakra rising up from the living things around him. And then, just like he'd turned it on, Kakashi cut off the excess flow of chakra. And his vision went back to normal.
"Well, damn," Pakkun said.
"Well damn," Kakashi echoed. "...What now?"
"Can you move?"
"Not with all you on top of me."
Pakkun gruffed. "You heard 'im. Get up, you lazy oafs."
The other ninken, save for Bull, groaned and complained, but they all stood up anyway, all taking their time to stretch out their limbs. "You gotta plan?" Shiba asked.
Kakashi shifted into a squat and peered up through the trees, looking at the moon. "Uhei, where did you get the water from?"
"Kannabi Bridge," he replied. "The river that flows underneath it."
"So we're a few days out from Konoha," Kakashi remarked. "I'd rather take today to fill our bellies and rest up fully. Then we can take our time heading back."
Urushi cocked his head. "Take our time? I thought you'd be all in a rush to get back, Boss."
Kakashi shrugged. "I don't know how much has changed," he admitted. "How I see it is that, either it's been a couple days and Obito, Rin, and Minato all think I'm dead, or it's been a couple decades and Obito, Rin, and Minato all think I'm dead. Either way, they wouldn't be expecting me or recognize me like I am now. So there's no point in hurrying home."
He looked across the clearing, to where the cave remained collapsed. Quietly, he would admit to himself that he wanted to take his time because he didn't know what he would find when he returned to Konoha.
Truthfully, he didn't think he'd mind much, no matter what he returned to. If this whole thing with his childhood team was just a dream, and if he returned to Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke waiting for him— or if it wasn't, and he returned to find at least one member of Team Minato, hopefully still alive— they would be difficult adjustments, yes, but it'd be better than the other possibility.
Better than returning to Konoha only to find it a graveyard of Pein's doing.
"C'mon, let's find something to eat," Kakashi encouraged. "We can have a nice lunch before getting a move on."
His ninken looked at each other and agreed. They had done this song and dance countless times, taking their time returning home from missions. Six of his ninken broke off into two teams, splitting off in opposite directions and going on the hunt. Guruko and Bisuke stayed with Kakashi, helping him gather firewood, while the others went on the hunt.
Soon enough, the dogs returned with a few animals, enough to feed the lot of them. Kakashi already had the fire going, and while his meal cooked, the dogs ate as they pleased.
They ate in silence, save for the song of frogs and crickets. None of them seemed to be in any rush—or, rather, because Kakashi wasn't in a rush, neither were his ninken. Their meal couldn't last forever, though, and soon enough they had nothing else to do.
"Well, Kakashi?" Pakkun asked, giving him a knowing look.
Kakashi yawned and rubbed at his eyes. "We should get going, I suppose."
"Is there a reason you don't want to travel during the day?"
A sigh. "I'd rather not run into any shinobi," he admitted. "Not before we start to figure all this out."
Kakashi climbed to his feet, albeit slowly. His joints ached something fierce, whether it was from being stuck underneath rubble or from transforming back into an old man. Since his thirteen-year-old body hadn't suffered the decades worth of wear and tear like this one did, Kakashi had gotten used to the advantages of youth that he'd long forgotten.
Now, he had plenty of little aches and pains to remind him of his age.
Damn, he was old.
"Let's get going," Kakashi said. He kicked dirt over the fireplace to snuff out the embers before properly hiding any traces that he or his ninken were here. Even if they weren't in a time of war any longer, old habits die hard, and there was no such thing as being too careful.
After everything was cleaned, seven of his eight ninken disappeared. Pakkun remained with Kakashi, jumping up onto the Hatake's shoulder before they began their trek back to Konoha.
They took their time, traveling at night and resting during the day. With Kakashi's skill and Pakkun's nose, it was easy to remain hidden. On the outskirts of Fire Country, they encountered no patrols, but as they drew closer to the Hidden Leaf, incoming and outgoing shinobi grew more and more frequent.
Kakashi didn't recognize any of them, and neither did Pakkun, but that didn't mean much. In a village as large as the Hidden Leaf, there was no way that they could know every single shinobi. Unfortunately, it also meant that he had no more information as to when it was.
Several days later, Kakashi found himself perched in a tree outside Konoha's main gate, watching the sun rise.
"You see it, too, don't you?" He asked.
Pakkun nodded. "Yeah, Boss."
It was a village Kakashi had never seen before.
Very obviously, it was still the Hidden Leaf village, but the layout was unfamiliar. It didn't have the same design as it had during the Third Shinobi War, but it also wasn't the same as after the Nine Tails attack. Could it be that this is the village that had been rebuilt after Pein's attack?
"You're not going to get any answers by just sitting here," Pakkun told him.
"Mm. It's not like I can just waltz in."
"Papers?"
"Yeah."
They both fell thoughtfully silent. Kakashi could always try to sneak inside, but should he get caught as an intruder, he'd be in hot water. He didn't want to be found while he looked like a Konoha shinobi, either. He might be treated like a spy, and he didn't know Konoha's current political relations with other villages. The last thing he wanted was to be the cause of a war.
"Sukea," Pakkun said, "didn't need papers."
Kakashi clicked his tongue. "Not a bad idea, Pakkun, but I don't have any makeup."
"Give me five minutes."
The little dog jumped down from Kakashi's shoulder and disappeared around the outer wall of Konoha. Kakashi waited patiently for his return, and as promised, Pakkun returned five minutes later with a pouch clutched between his little teeth and a bigger pack tied to his back.
The Hatake held out his hand, and Pakkun dropped the pouch. It unfolded to reveal purple strips, makeup, and brown eye contacts.
"Thanks, Pakkun," he said, giving the dog a little pat. "What's this?" He tucked the makeup into his pocket and untied the bag from Pakkun's back.
"Clothes," Pakkun said. "You look like hell."
"I did just get out of a war," he hummed, "and rubble."
"And I'm sure looking the part won't help you get into Konoha."
Kakashi folded the clothes against his arm. "I'll be five minutes," he said, and he was. He returned dressed as Sukea, the traveling photographer, with a cute little pug by his side.
Satisfied, the two quietly jumped down from the tree, meandered their way onto the main road, and started walking. They had to retreat a little distance, so that the gate shinobi didn't see them walking onto the past from the forest. But the couple of minutes traveling made little difference.
The shinobi guards at the gate weren't Kotetsu or Izuma, who Kakashi had almost been hoping for. Instead they were strangers, ninja Kakashi had never laid his eyes on before. Judging by Pakkun's reaction, their scent wasn't familiar, either.
"Good morning, gentleman," Kakashi greeted cheerily. The shinobi looked at each other, then back to him.
"And you are?" One asked.
"I'm called Sukea," Kakashi responded. "I'm a traveling photographer."
"Yeah?" The other shifted, crossing his arms. He looked curious, more than anything, making friendly conversation with a stranger. "What are you planning to do in Konoha?"
Kakashi didn't get the sense that he was being interrogated more than he was making friendly conversation. While it was easy to pretend to be relaxed, it was much easier when he was actually relaxed. "I want to construct a collection of day to day Konoha life," he lied smoothly. "Taking pictures of monuments, talking to the residents, taking pictures of their shops if they'll allow me. It'll all be going into a portfolio of the Hidden Leaf."
The two shinobi looked at each other, then back to Kakashi. "Well," one said, "you're free to go. Just make sure to ask people before you take their pictures, yeah?"
Kakashi smiled. "Of course. You two have a fine day."
"You too," they said in unison.
Kakashi passed through the gate, Pakkun trotting at his heels, and they were securely inside Konohagakure.
And it was home, but in the same instance it was a place Kakashi had never been before.
The atmosphere was the same, with the shops open and busy, people milling about across the road, having conversations and carrying groceries, avoiding the pull of the horse-drawn carts filled with supplies. But they were roads Kakashi had never seen before, never walked before.
Shops were set up where Kakashi remembered there to be apartment buildings, and apartment buildings where there were supposed to be floral shops and blacksmiths.
He looked down to Pakkun and then looked around him. Kakashi watched as shinobi bearing Hidden Leaf headbands sped across rooftops or squeezed past the busy crowds. He didn't recognize a single one of them.
Kakashi had never felt like an intruder in his own village before, but these past few months, he'd checked a lot of boxes he didn't think possible.
"What now, Kakashi?" Pakkun questioned.
And Kakashi couldn't quite reply for a moment. He noticed that his mouth felt dry.
Was this what he got for messing with time? A home that wasn't his? A new Hidden Leaf, with new shinobi and citizens and roads, a seemingly perfect, unscarred life for everyone except him?
He sacrificed his life, twice, only to be left with… nothing.
Nothing.
There was nothing here for him.
"Kakashi."
But he… he had to know.
Were they still…?
His eyes flicked up to the faces carved on the mountain. All four Hokage stared back at him, and Kakashi recognized them all. Tsunade's face wasn't up there, though, and he didn't know what that meant. Was Minato still Hokage? Or Hiruzen?
His feet carried him without his acknowledgement. Pakkun followed.
The further into the village he walked, the more Kakashi felt like a dead man walking. A shadow was all he was meant to be, as a shinobi, but in the Leaf he had always been stared at. Pitied or spit at when his father was disgraced, glared at when he was an ANBU operative, shot sly, disgusted glances when he was a Jonin-sensei hiding behind Icha Icha.
But now he was just ignored.
His Sukea persona had been created just for this, for a reprieve from all the watching eyes, but this was out of context, out of his comfort zone. Nothing was familiar, anymore.
Faintly, Kakashi recognized the feel of Pakkun's teeth around his pant leg, leading him. He blindly followed, thoughts hazy as fog and moving as if through sludge.
They ducked into an alleyway. The Hatake pressed his back against the wall and closed his eyes, clenching his shaking hands into fists. Pakkun pressed reassuringly against his shins.
And Kakashi stayed like that for a while. Steadying his breathing, focusing on everything he could feel—the cold brick against his back, the warm pug against his legs, the shift of his clothing as he inhaled. The throbbing in his left eye.
Eventually he opened his eyes again. Pakkun nosed against his leg, and Kakashi crouched down, gently petting the dog.
"Sorry," he murmured. "It's… a lot."
"Don't apologize, brat," Pakkun grumbled. "You wouldn't be human if you took this all in stride."
Kakashi let out a breathy laugh. "I suppose you're right. Thanks, Pakkun."
"Don't mention it."
The shinobi sighed and tugged at his clothes. They weren't even his clothes. It was almost laughable, how horribly uncomfortable he felt in a stranger's clothing when he'd spent decades of his life pretending to be someone else for the sake of a mission.
This wasn't a mission, though. This was supposed to be his home.
"What's going on in that head of yours, pup?" Pakkun gruffed.
Kakashi thoughtfully rubbed behind Pakkun's ear. "Thinking about how I would rather have a pair of my own clothes on," he replied.
Pakkun nipped gently at his pant leg and tugged. "We'll find somewhere for you to change, then."
Kakashi stood, and Pakkun led him back out into the crowds. They passed through the winding, unfamiliar streets, dodging the larger crowds of civilians until everything grew quieter, more peaceful. They were approaching the outskirts of the village.
Kakashi looked up and laid his eyes on the Hatake compound.
Pakkun trotted up to the entrance, and Kakashi followed. He slid the door open, walked in, and slid off his shoes.
Surprisingly, it was clean inside.
He would have expected dust, disarray, mold and rot. But the place almost looked lived in, still. Although, obviously, that wasn't possible.
Unless Kakashi somehow landed in another universe with another him.
He let out a sigh and pushed the possibilities from his mind. He was in no mood to think about the what ifs. He just wanted answers.
Pakkun had already gone further inside. "Kakashi," he heard the dog call.
"Coming," he replied.
Kakashi walked through the main sitting room, where everything was set up neatly. Two pillows in front of the low table, everything freshly cleaned. He passed into the hallway, down towards his bedroom, where Pakkun was sitting in the doorway.
Even Kakashi's room was neat. The bed was made with sheets that weren't his own. On the bedside table was a picture of Team Minato. Mr. Ukki wasn't anywhere to be seen.
"Are we sure I'm not dead?" He questioned, only half joking, as he opened the draws. A Jonin uniform in roughly his size was folded neatly inside. Kakashi turned to look at the closet, where a Jonin vest and sandals sat.
It took one look at these clothes to see they'd never been worn, not even once. What was going on?
"I remember what happened the last time you died," came the dog's reply, "and it wasn't anything like this."
"Fair point."
Shedding the stranger's clothes, Kakashi put on more clothes that were but weren't his. At least they fit him better and were familiar. But as he stuffed his feet into his sandals, he recalled why he hated getting new ones, even when his were falling apart at the soles.
They sucked to break in.
"But we can agree this is weird, yeah?" Kakashi questioned, fiddling with the cuffs of his shirt. It felt good to have a mask back on. "Even for us."
"Even for us," Pakkun echoed. "It doesn't smell like anything in here."
"Hm?"
"Like anyone," the dog corrected. "Not any scent of yours, or ours, or even Sakumo's."
Kakashi tilted his head. "Not Obito or Rin? Sensei?"
Pakkun shook his head. "No one."
The Hatake hummed. "Assuming we're in the same timeline," he said, "where I died at Kannabi Bridge… and assuming my team is still alive, it's possible they used this place as a memorial."
"No one puts clothes at a memorial, Kakashi."
He dipped his head in a nod. "They also might not know if I'm dead or not," he suggested. When Pakkun looked at him quizzically, Kakashi elaborated. "It just seems like something Rin would do. Keep the place tidy in case I came back."
"That's awfully convenient."
"Well…" He cleared his throat. "She did the same thing for Obito."
Pakkun hummed and stretched his legs. "That might be the case, then. Where to next?"
Kakashi tugged on his new flak jacket and filled his pockets with the salvageable kunai and shuriken from what he woke up in. "The Memorial Stone," he said.
As the two of them exited the home, Kakashi put his old sandals on the shoe rack. They stepped out, and Kakashi slid the door closed behind them.
"To look for your team's names?" Pakkun asked.
Kakashi shook his head. "To look for mine."
The little dog hummed but said no more. Instead of taking to the streets once again, they took to the rooftops and the trees. It was impossible for every shinobi to know one another, so Kakashi in his Jonin uniform wasn't questioned or even given a second glance. It was still a little disturbing, but he was getting used to it.
Even though the village was different, the training grounds were still in the same area, and so was the Memorial Stone. There were even fewer shinobi and civilians out this far from the center of the village, so Kakashi didn't have to worry as much about being spotted.
He quietly made his way through the trees, silent as a shadow and as invisible as the wind. He passed over one training ground and then the next, searching for the stone, for answers.
Kakashi suddenly froze a split second before jumping into the next tree.
A shuriken landed with a thunk in the bark, inches away from him.
Muttering a curse, the Hatake slunk back, pressing his back to the tree and listening. He doubted he'd been spotted or purposefully attacked. They were just Genin training.
And judging by that shuriken, they needed a lot more aiming practice.
"You idiot! You nearly took my head off with that thing!"
Kakashi felt his heart drop to his stomach.
"Sorry, sorry! It wasn't on purpose, I swear!"
"Oooh, I oughta—"
Kakashi dared to poke his head out from behind the tree. He already knew what he was going to see, but that didn't prepare him for the sight at all.
Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke were the Genin on the training grounds.
His heart panged.
My kids.
His kids were grown, now, Chunin steadily on their way to becoming Jonin, but he remembered when they were that size, so little and young yet still sullied by the evils of the world. When Sakura's only care was her crush, when Naruto was obsessed with pranks, when Sasuke could still forget about the tragedy he'd endured.
He watched them now, just as carefree as he remembered them, practicing against each other. Their teamwork could still use an improvement, but something was different. They bickered as they did any other time, but there was no true anger behind it. Sakura picked on Naruto, and Naruto picked on Sasuke, and Sasuke picked on the both of them.
But they looked like a family, even now.
In fact, they looked happier than they ever did when Kakashi was their sensei.
Pakkun pressed his little body against his thigh, and Kakashi set his hand on the pug's head, giving him little pets. His ninken always knew how to ground him when he was spiraling. It hadn't happened for a while, but this was… a lot.
Kakashi didn't know how long he stayed, silently observing his old Genin, quietly picking out the similarities and differences, wondering what had changed in their lives. Their Jonin-sensei was nowhere to be seen, but they didn't seem at all bothered by it. He quietly scoffed. If only his kids could have figured out to start training on their own when he was late. Instead they just argued.
Granted, they were still arguing, just handling deadly weapons as they did so.
On second thought, maybe it was for the best that his kids never figured out to start training on their own.
"Someone's coming," Pakkun said. Kakashi sensed the chakra signature a moment later. He didn't recognize it, but it was significant enough to be a Jonin. Their sensei, more than likely. It was best not to stick around. The kids had no chance of recognizing him, but Kakashi didn't want to get caught by another Jonin.
He sped off just as quietly as he arrived, but he could still hear Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke cry, "Sensei, you're late!"
He put them, and the thoughts of his own kids, behind him with every step he took. While Kakashi couldn't entirely shake the wrongness of it all, he was at least distracted when he arrived at the familiar clearing with an ebony stone.
No one was around.
Kakashi jumped down from the trees. Pakkun followed suit, and they approached the stone together.
Like everything else in the village, the Memorial Stone was also different.
He'd spent so many hours, days, in front of this stone that he'd long memorized so many of the names that were engraved there. But, stepping up to the platform, Kakashi didn't see the ones he was used to.
No one from the Kyuubi attack was listed, except for a handful. It was a vast difference from the dozens that had died. The few names he did recognize weren't even grouped together, like they had died on separate occasions.
"The Nine Tails attack never happened," Kakashi said aloud. It was still hard to register. His fingers brushed against the cold stone, over names he didn't know.
Pakkun sat down near his feet and rested his body weight against Kakashi's ankle. Kakashi didn't look away from the stone.
Kakashi took a deep breath. "Their names aren't here," he said, and Pakkun understood. Obito and Rin could have died of natural causes, or in an instance that wouldn't get their names on the Memorial Stone, but Kakashi couldn't help but jump to conclusions.
They were alive.
"Is yours?" Pakkun asked. The Jonin kept searching until his fingers slid along an unnerving dip.
"Yeah."
Right there, before his eyes, was his name. Hatake Kakashi. It was surrounded by other names he didn't know, one of hundreds, but it was still there.
That confirmed it, then, everything he already knew but didn't have proof to confirm. He'd died in this timeline, back at Kannabi Bridge. This wasn't his village after Pein's attack, or even his village during the remainder of the Third Shinobi War. This was a new place entirely.
And he couldn't help but get the feeling that he wasn't supposed to be here, even though this was the future he'd worked so hard to have, by saving his teammates that day.
"Kakashi," Pakkun said, another split second before he sensed it himself.
They both vanished from the spot, seeking shelter in the trees. Moments later, two figures walked into view.
It wasn't hard to recognize Minato-sensei, even if he did look older. The man always had a glow about him, like the sun couldn't help but to shine on him. The breeze tugged at his Yondaime cloak.
Even though Minato looked about the same, the person walking beside him didn't. It was why Kakashi had to stare for a minute before the pieces clicked into place. After all, in his timeline, Rin was frozen as a young teenager.
Rin of now, though, was beautiful.
Her hair was still short, and she still wore the purple markings of her clan, but she was a woman now instead of a girl. She'd grown into the roundness of her cheeks, and she'd gotten taller. Each step she took was confident and sure. She wore a Jonin uniform and had flowers in her hand.
Kakashi was speechless, and just as proud as he was guilty. On one hand, I knew you would become a force to be reckoned with, but on the other, look at what I stopped you from becoming.
He watched as Rin and Minato approached the Memorial Stone. The wind died down, and while they spoke quietly, it was easy enough to hear them.
"It's been so long, Sensei," she said. Her voice was as soft as it was when she was young.
Minato sighed. He sounded tired. "It has," he agreed.
I should go to them, Kakashi thought, but his feet wouldn't move.
"Do you think he'll ever come home?" Rin asked. Her hands tightened around the stems of the flowers she'd brought. They were white lilies, the same as he used to bring to her grave.
Minato set a hand on her shoulder. "I don't know," he said. "He could be anywhere."
Kakashi heard what went unsaid from their lips. He could be dead.
His teammates were quiet. The voice in his head grew more insistent. Go to them. His feet almost moved on their own. He almost went to their side.
But then Obito came running up the hill.
"Sorry I'm late!" The Uchiha panted. "The kids really let me have it."
Rin and Minato both smiled, as used to Obito's antics as they were when they were all younger. "Naruto didn't give you any trouble, did he?" Minato asked fondly. Obito chuckled and shook his head.
"Not anymore than usual. You'd think he'd get tired sometime, but he never runs out of energy."
"Gets that from Kushina, I'm sure," Rin laughed softly.
The two of them moved to make room for Obito. And there they all were, Kakashi's team, together and whole and alive, standing in front of the Memorial Stone, mourning him. It was all too easy to remember when Kakashi stood there alone, with nothing but their ghosts around him.
Rin quietly set down the lilies on the stone. "Should we say something?" She murmured.
While it was difficult to see their faces, Kakashi could tell that Obito's demeanor had flipped a switch as soon as he'd approached the stone. The happy-go-lucky part of him had vanished, replaced with something darker, something Kakashi recognized intimately. He knew the feeling well.
Why hadn't he revealed himself yet?
Maybe it was because Kakashi felt like the ghost they were treating him as.
"What's there to say?" Obito scoffed, kicking at the dirt. Everyone could hear the anger in his tone, poorly hiding the grief. "He got himself killed."
"Obito," Minato snapped.
"What?" Obito whirled on their sensei, their Hokage. "He did! He didn't even try to let us save him, Sensei."
"You know why he did that." Rin, ever the mediator, reached for him. "He told us, about everything."
Obito stepped back, avoiding her touch. "We can't know for sure if he was telling the truth," he shot back. "He was thirteen and a Jonin in the middle of war. He was working with the ANBU underneath all of our noses! He needed a psych eval, but instead we sent him out on the frontlines!"
Minato's voice was as powerful as it always had been. "Stop that."
Obito instantly quieted, although the anger contorting his face wasn't quelled. Rin looked ashamed and sorrowful.
"We made a lot of mistakes back then," Minato said, "but getting angry over it isn't going to do anyone any good, especially not Kakashi. Don't disrespect his memory."
"Please," Rin breathed, "don't talk about him like he's dead."
"Rin," Obito started. He stopped abruptly and groaned, messing up his hair. "He's not coming back. He'd be like thirty by now, don't you think he'd have found his way back home?"
"We don't know what happened!" Rin stressed. "He could be—"
"Stop, just stop." Obito threw up his hands. He glanced at the Memorial Stone, glared at it, even, before he looked back to his teammates. "Kakashi's not coming home. He's not."
With that, Obito turned and started to stalk off. Rin and Minato didn't look like they were going to go after him. Panic swelled within Kakashi, an instinct of no, don't go, not yet—! And his feet shifted on his own. Just the quietest, unnatural creak of a branch bearing a heavy weight.
And Obito, riled up on anger and grief and raw Jonin instinct, whipped out a kunai and threw it right at the sound—at Kakashi.
The Hatake could do little more than react instinctively to a threat, so he caught the kunai. And before he could stop himself, he threw it right back. It landed perfectly, pointedly, at Obito's feet, a clear warning of watch it that he didn't mean to send.
All three Jonin on the ground jumped, alarmed at the kunai returning. Rin and Minato immediately shifted to defensive stances, now entirely aware of a brand new chakra incredibly close. A chakra that was too powerful to be a Genin or Chunin, which meant it was a Jonin they didn't know. Possibly a Jonin from another village.
While Rin and Minato went on the defensive, Obito took one look at the kunai at his feet and then zeroed in on the exact spot Kakashi sat hiding. If Kakashi didn't know any better, he'd say they even locked eyes.
Kakashi tensed. "Shit."
And Obito launched at him.
Kakashi kicked back off the tree branch, spinning to get away, but Obito was a lot faster than he'd anticipated. The Uchiha twisted in midair, hands grabbing for Kakahsi's ankles.
Kakashi twisted again to see what he was flying towards, and he caught a tree branch with his hands. He swung with his momentum, landing in a handstand on the branch while Obito went sailing underneath him. But Obito caught on quick, landing on a tree and kicking off so hard that it shattered the bark beneath his feet. It sent him flying right back towards Kakashi.
"Obito!" Kakashi shouted, pushing himself off his hands with a jump. "Obito, stop!"
He barely dodged the other's tackle, but he turned midair to see a kunai flying at him. He blocked it with one of his own, the clash of metal ringing in his ears before the weapon clattered to the ground.
Another three kunai followed it, and Kakashi deflected them easily, but he lost sight of Obito because of it. "Shit. Shit shit," he breathed. Because there was one place he couldn't see and couldn't dodge while he was still falling.
And, like he expected, a heavy weight crashed into his back. They both grunted and smacked into the ground hard. Obito was all strong, wiry muscle, bunched and coiled like a viper ready to strike. All that energy was going into getting Kakashi pinned down.
But Kakashi wasn't a pushover, either, and he didn't want the first time he saw his childhood friend face to face to be with a kunai at his throat. He kicked at Obito's stomach, hearing a satisfying wheeze in return, but Obito refused to let go.
They rolled as they grappled, a test of will and strength, neither willing to give an inch.
Kakashi was on top, now, just as they rolled over a root sticking up out of the ground. He watched Obito's face scrunch in pain, and he took the opportunity to elbow the Uchiha right between his ribs.
Obito wheezed and coughed, the breath rushing from his lungs and his grip weakening, and Kakashi broke free. He leapt up and staggered backwards. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Pakkun in the branches overhead, waiting for Kakashi to give the signal to summon the rest of the pack.
He subtly shook his head and returned his gaze to Obito, who was pushing himself up from the ground.
"You bastard," Obito seethed, tensing to spring again. "Who do you think you are—"
"Obito," Kakashi snapped. He raised his hands in surrender. "Calm the fuck down and look at me for a second, will you?"
The Uchiha snarled. He yanked another kunai from his pocket, twirled it on his fingers, and chucked it. Kakashi dodged only by moving his head slightly to the side, but as the kunai passed his eyes, he recognized the design on it too late.
Kakashi pushed chakra into his feet and kicked off from the ground, but he wasn't even an inch in the air when strong arms wrapped around his own, pinning them behind his back. The weight shoved him face first into the dirt. A knee pressed into his spine and hands tightened around his wrists all before he even heard the sound of the cloak fluttering in the wind.
Well, they didn't call Minato the Yellow Flash for no reason.
"Listen to me," Kakashi pressed. "I'm not—"
Minato applied more pressure to his arm, and Kakashi shut the hell up. He wasn't looking to get a broken arm his first hour inside Konoha.
"Who are you, and how did you get into this village?" Minato questioned.
"And you were eavesdropping on us!" Obito added. "What, are you trying to spy on the Yondaime?"
Kakashi attempted to lift his head, but it didn't give much of a better view of anything. He did see Rin come to stand beside Obito, looking warily at him.
"How did he get past the ANBU?" Rin asked. Her hands lingered carefully near her weapons pouch, on alert even when he was pinned.
The Hatake breathed a curse. He didn't exactly think they would recognize him instantly, but he also didn't expect treatment like this.
"Well, if you'd let me talk, then I could—"
"Fine then," Minato hummed. His voice was deadly serious. "Talk."
Kakashi craned his head to try to keep it out of the dirt. "It'd be easier if you'd let me up."
"After you attacked my Jonin?" Although Kakashi couldn't see the Hokage's face, he could practically hear the eyebrow raising with the question.
"He threw a kunai at me," the Hatake reasoned. "I gave it back. Would you have rather I let it hit me?"
Everyone was quiet for a minute. Kakashi felt the knee against his back pull away, and Minato hauled him to his feet by the grip on his arms. One hand released his wrist to instead put a kunai to Kakashi's neck. Instinctively, he tilted his head away, although it did nothing. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see the bright yellow of Minato's hair and the outline of his nose.
"There," Minato said. "Now you can talk."
Kakashi sighed. "I wasn't spying, first of all," he said, even though he very much was spying, just not for the reasons they thought. "I was visiting the Memorial Stone when you all came. Then I left."
His eyes landed on Rin. She was staring right at him, and he could see the gears turning in her head. But there was no connection to be made, not yet, not with his name and face still hidden from them.
"If you had left, Obito wouldn't have hit you with a kunai," Minato responded coolly.
"You were talking about something interesting, so I lingered." He had to resist the urge to squirm in the other's grip, since it would get him nowhere. "I wanted to talk to you all, but you seemed busy. I thought we could have a more peaceful discussion than this."
"What could we possibly have to talk to you about?" Obito demanded. Kakashi's eyes flickered to the Uchiha, a witty reply on his lips, but this was the first time Kakashi had really gotten a good, long look at the man his teammate had grown up to be.
Kakashi's brain stalled. "Where are your goggles?"
The question took everyone aback, Kakashi included. Obito adjusted the headband on his forehead, where his goggles used to stay. It looked like an unconscious movement. "What do you mean, my goggles?" He asked. For the first time, he sounded a little unsure.
"Your goggles," Kakashi echoed dumbly. "You wear them all the time."
"I haven't worn those since I was a Genin," came the reply. Obito and Rin looked dumbfoundedly at him. "How—?"
"Because I was there. I—"
Minato's grip tightened painfully on his arm. Kakashi could feel the kunai press closer against his neck, ripping the cloth of his mask. "What," the Hokage spat, "are you trying to say?" If Kakashi didn't know any better, he'd say his sensei almost sounded… tormented. Like he knew what Kakashi was trying to get at, yet the idea was too painful to seriously consider until he heard it spelled out.
"I'm Hatake Kakashi."
"Impossible," came the immediate reply. "He died years ago."
Kakashi scoffed. Rin and Obito were still speechless. "What do you want me to say?" He shot back. "I'm as confused as all of you are."
"You're lying," Obito said, but the fire in his voice seemed dimmed. The man looked more in disbelief than anything. "That's not possible. I saw him—"
"I pushed you out of the way," Kakashi interrupted, "with the Lightning Whip jutsu Sensei gave me. Rin too. I couldn't take the chance that you got caught in the cave-in."
For the first time in several minutes, Rin spoke. "Sensei," she said softly. Her voice, ever so gentle, managed to snap everyone's attention to her. "Let him go. I want to hear him out."
"Rin," Obito started.
She shook her head. "Doesn't he look like Kakashi?" She asked. "Just a little bit? And he knows about Kannabi, and Sensei's special kunai."
"He could have found that all out—"
"Obito."
Obito shut up. Her eyes turned to Kakashi, and he returned the stare. She seemed to be searching for something in his gaze, but what, he couldn't tell. Her expression was closely guarded, but if Kakashi had to manage a guess, he'd say she seemed hopeful.
"Sensei, please let him go."
Minato complied. The kunai pulled away from his neck and his arms were released. Immediately, Kakashi took a step away so that he could clearly see Minato on his right and the other two on his left. The tree where Pakkun remained hidden was close behind his back.
Everyone, for a long moment, remained still and quiet. The air was tense. One wrong move could get Kakashi killed, and he wasn't about to try his luck for a third time.
Minato broke the silence. "Start from the beginning," he said.
"That's a long story."
Obito shifted his weight. "We have time."
Kakashi sighed. Then he sat down. He received odd looks for it, and he supplied, "Might as well get comfortable."
To his surprise, Rin sat down as well. She didn't come any closer, but her meaning was clear: she wasn't interested in fighting. Minato and Obito exchanged glances with each other before doing the same, until they were all sitting in a loose circle.
"I already told you two this," he said, "and I don't know if you told Sensei. But I'll start there anyway."
And he told them everything, from Sakumo's death, to the slow, steady demise of Team Minato, the Nine Tails attack, his decade in ANBU, his experience as a Jonin-sensei, and eventually Pein's attack. He told them how he died but then woke up in his Chunin-aged body, and the strangeness of his chakra trying to supply his nonexistent Sharingan. He explained that Danzo had found him out, and he'd made a rough agreement to train with him during the nights to increase his chakra storage. And then Kannabi, when even despite his best efforts, Obito was taken.
"When the boulder hit, I don't know what happened," Kakashi said. He looked to Obito and Rin. "I saw the both of you, when you landed outside the cave. And then it all went black. When I woke up, I was still under the rubble."
"That can't be true," Obito said, although he looked even less convinced of his words than how he sounded. "We went back for you. We dug through that entire cave."
Kakashi shook his head. "I didn't wake up a few days after it happened," he said. "It was more like last week. My ninken dug me out, and that's when I noticed I was back in this body."
He looked around at them, and he recognized the looks of shock on all of them. His words were still sinking in, it seemed like. So he continued, "I took a day to recover and started making my way back here. I entered dressed like a civilian and then made my way to the Hatake compound. That's where I found these." He tugged at his clothes, dirtied now from his scuffle with Obito and Minato.
A quiet sob caught Kakashi's attention, and he looked over to Rin, who had her mouth covered with her hand. Tears caught the corners of her eyes. Her shoulders trembled.
"It's you," she whispered. "It's really you."
This time, neither Obito nor Minato told her she was wrong. Kakashi didn't know what to do, anymore. He'd told them his story, all of it, but he had a feeling that they were believing him.
Rin stood up and ran to Kakashi's side. He startled, but she only dropped to her knees and hugged him tightly. "You came back," she sobbed. Her tears were soaking through his flak jacket, dripping from her chin onto his shirt. "You really came back."
Hesitantly, Kakashi put his arms around her. She clung tighter to his clothes in response. "Yeah," he answered weakly, "I came back."
From his other side, Minato wrapped the both of them in a bone-crushing hug.
Kakashi looked up, past the two of them. Obito stood in front of them all, tears in his eyes, jaw clenched and nose red.
"You have some dust in your eyes," Kakashi croaked.
Obito wiped the tears away on his sleeve. "You idiot," he whispered. His voice cracked. "You… you big idiot."
Minato lifted his head and opened an arm towards the Uchiha. Immediately, Obito joined in. Rin and Obito hugged Kakashi tightly, as if afraid to lose him, and Minato held all three of them in his arms.
"Don't you ever," Obito bit out, "ever do that again, Bakakashi."
Kakashi laughed, blinking away tears of his own. "I won't," he promised. "I swear, I won't."
It was different than anything he could have ever imagined. He was in a new world, where the village he grew up in was one he no longer knew, where his Genin team was never his, where the bonds he'd had with his friends never grew. But he was here, with his team, alive and happy, in a world where Naruto had both his parents and Sasuke had his clan. It would be a difficult adjustment, and he might miss the familiar, but it didn't matter anymore.
Kakashi was finally home.
THE END
A/N: thank you for reading (and for your patience)! i've been considering writing some sort of continuation for this fic - either a sequel, string of one shots, or something or other. if i do, i may solely post it on AO3, on my account dogloser, so keep an eye out there. thank you again for reading!
also check out this amazing artwork here!