I am sooo sorry for the longer wait for the update, uni exams killed me and I've only just recovered. To compensate this is my longest chapter yet.

Uchiha Obito was in deep thought. Contrary to popular belief, that being the opinion his of clan and silver-haired teammate, he was not a complete idiot. Yes, he took a little longer than others with both general learning and training (including his goddamn sharingan that just wouldn't appear), but he wasn't blind.

There was something seriously weird going on with Kakashi.

At first, when Minato-sensei had asked them to support Kakashi with whatever he was going through, he thought that just meant not needlessly calling him an idiot. It would be hard, but he could do that. When his sensei had given him the dango as an excuse for his information gathering (not stalking), he thought he might be able to find out the secret behind his weird behaviour. He was hoping for something embarrassing.

He did not expect to find his younger teammate at a grave of all places.

Kakashi had dismissed him as always, but the entire situation had thrown him off massively. For one, his skin had crawled when Kakashi looked him in the eye. He was pretty sure that was not normal.

Now, watching Kakashi leave, he got a sudden urge to spill everything that had just happened to the rest of his team. But he held back, he didn't want to worry Rin just yet if sensei thought it was nothing of concern.

"Sensei?" He turned to the jōnin, who was also watching Kakashi's retreating form. "I was wondering if you could quickly help me with something about the phoenix flower jutsu, I think I've been getting the hand seals wrong."

Minato raised an eyebrow at him, "Can it wait until tomorrow, Obito? I have some dinner plans and I don't really want to be late."

A part of Obito grumbled at that, he would have cancelled those plans for Kakashi. He wasn't an idiot, he knew that Kakashi was his favourite, after all he had been his student for much longer than Obito and Rin had been.

"It will be so quick, I promise," he said, hoping his voice was pleading enough without coming across as pathetic. He was going to have to take a long shower later; looking out for Kakashi was making him feel gross.

"Alright," Minato sighed, "We'll see you tomorrow, Rin. Come on Obito, let's get off the street."

Waving goodbye to Rin, who smiled cheerfully at the two of them causing Obito to blush furiously, he followed after his sensei as he lead them to a more secluded area. The sun was low now and created shadows below the trees, and the heat was finally at a tolerable level but Obito still felt uncomfortable.

"Now, what sign is the one you're having trouble with? You were doing fine this morning."

Obito licked his lips in trepidation, "Well… it's not about that, really. The jutsu is hard but I'm all good with the hand signs."

"Oh?" Minato furrowed his brow in confusion.

"It's… it's about Kakashi," Obito tried to subdue the tug of jealousy as Minato immediately became more alert. His sensei was really worried about Kakashi, of course he would react immediately to anything that concerned him.

"Did something happen earlier? Before the meeting with the Hokage?"

"Nothing happened," Obito emphasized. And nothing did happen, it was all a feeling that he had gotten, and not one he could describe without sounding crazy. "It was more where I found him. He was at the cemetery."

Minato's eyebrows shot up into his hairline.

"The cemetery? Was he visiting a grave?"

Obito frowned, "I think so… I think he had flowers too, but I couldn't see very well. He wasn't happy when he saw me there, he thought I was spying on him- which I wasn't!"

Crossing his arms, Minato stared up at the trees in thought. "Perhaps that's why he has been acting so strange… he must have lost someone close to him."

Obito didn't know about that, he was pretty sure Kakashi had zero friends. "Err… who?"

"I have no idea," Minato admitted, "But why else would he visit a grave. Did he say anything to you about it at all?"

"Not really, he was mostly just annoyed at me. I didn't know what to say either though, I totally did not expect him to be there. It was a complete accident that I was there anyways, I might have been… a little lost… but he just surprised me, you know?" He knew he was rambling, but he couldn't help it. How could he explain the strange vibes he was getting from his teammate all day? "And he was acting so strange, there was this weird feeling…" he trailed off and Minato smiled at him kindly.

"Well cemeteries are not the most pleasant of places for some people, Obito."

"It wasn't the cemetery, it was Kakashi," he huffed. Why couldn't anyone else see it? "Are you one thousand per cent sure that it's the real him? Like there's definitely no chance that it's someone else in disguise?"

"Definitely," Minato said firmly. "Thank you for coming to me with this though, Obito. Kakashi will heal from his loss in time, and maybe then he will start acting like he normally does." Obito was kind of freaked out that this relieved him slightly, but grumpy Kakashi was better than batshit crazy Kakashi. "And I promise you I will help you master that jutsu."

Obito grinned up at the blond, "Yes! And I will finally be able to do something Itachi can't do yet! Do you know how much it sucks having a four year old be better than you in everything," he grumbled. "Shisui too… I hate prodigies."

"Don't worry about them," Minato smiled at him and ruffled his hair. "If you work hard enough, you'll get there. Some of the strongest ninja weren't born talented, like Itachi, they had to work very hard for it. And I think that they make the best leaders because they remember what it was like when they weren't winning every fight and nailing every test."

"You really think so?" Obito stared up at his sensei, his heart lifting.

"Of course," Minato grinned. "But you have to work hard, no short cuts."

"I will!" He declared, his anxiety over Kakashi all but forgotten. "Sorry for making you late for your date, sensei, I'll let you go now."

"What-" Minato spluttered, but Obito had already started running in the direction of the Uchiha Compound with a newfound sense of confidence.

"Thanks sensei!" he called out through his laughter. For all his well-known strength and power, Minato was incredibly easy to tease.

Once again, Kakashi could not sleep.

He had made it home with ease, re-heating the dango and embracing the comforting silence of his apartment. The stressful day had helped him doze off easily on the couch, his arm draping off the side and his body curled into a ball. He had woken an hour later and decided to move to his room as it would be irritating to have sore limbs before training the next day, but that was when the nightmares started.

Dying hadn't been pleasant the first or second time, so Kakashi had been thankful that his memory of the second experience at the hands of Obito had been hazy at best so far. Unfortunately, this blissful ignorance had ended as soon as he fell into a light dream-state.

They had been fighting in the kamui dimension. Obito, who had once struggled with taijutsu the most, had the upper hand. Kakashi had underestimated the powerful combination of skill and pure rage. It was not a pleasant memory.

It had taken longer than Kakashi wanted to admit for him to realise there was a knife speared through his chest, it was only when he looked down that the white hot pain finally registered and he let out a strangled gasp. Perhaps it was the fact that he had been stabbed by Obito that caused the delayed reaction, his brain just didn't want to believe what was happening. Shock and disbelief was soon replaced with resignation and defeat; it was over for him. The last thing he remembered before waking up in a desperate frenzy was the slow spinning of the sharingan as Obito stared down at him, his lips twitching as if starting to speak. To mock him? To blame him one last time for what happened to Rin? It did not matter. He was already gone. After killing him, did Obito go on to massacre the rest of the shinobi alliance? He would never know.

None of these thoughts were helpful for sleeping at this time of night.

Once again, Kakashi found himself staring up at the ceiling, a heavy weight of sadness pressing on his chest. He was back where the people who meant the most to him were still alive (although some were yet to be born), and yet he felt so… lonely. No one knew what was coming or what he'd seen, and he couldn't tell anyone in fear that things would change too much. If only someone had come back with him, even it was-

Kakashi jolted out of bed as if he'd been shocked. Of course, he thought with mild giddiness, of course! With newfound hope and energy, Kakashi quickly slipped on his basic civilian clothes, a dark set of pants and long sleeves, and scrambled to the centre of the room before pausing. Maybe I should do this outside? I don't really want blood on the carpet… fuck it, I'll deal with it later.

Taking a deep breath to steady his racing heart, Kakashi could not help the smile that pulled on his lips. Not everyone was left behind, he wasn't completely alone.

Biting his thumb and completing the hand seals for the summoning jutsu, he almost gently placed his hand on the carpet and leaned forward in barely contained excitement. There was a pop and a puff of smoke, which soon cleared to reveal the bored gaze of a much younger Pakkun. Seconds passed as the two stared at each other, Kakashi in an eager anticipation bordering on mania and Pakkun in mild confusion.

"…Er," Pakkun broke the silence. "Yes, Boss?"

Kakashi's heart sank and he slumped forward. The adrenalin practically zapped from his system as the exhaustion re-entered his body. He had been so sure.

"Boss?" Pakkun repeated, his voice gruff despite the fact that he still looked like a puppy. "What's going on? Why are we in your room?"

Kakashi sighed before looking up to meet Pakkun's half-lidded eyes; he was just yet another familiar face. "It's nothing, Pakkun. I just had an idea but I don't think it will work out."

The miniature pug blinked slowly at him, "An idea? You woke me up at this time for an idea? Maybe you should be saving these ideas for lunchtime, Boss, you look like hell."

"I know," Kakashi groaned and closed his eyes as his head throbbed; the hope of his ninken also being sent back in time must have been influenced by sleep-deprived delirium. "I just haven't been able to sleep the last couple of nights."

"How come?" Pakkun asked, the soft sound of his paws pattering on the carpet as he moved closer to the young shinobi.

Kakashi stared down at the dog and something in his mind just clicked. Just because Pakkun did not come back with him didn't mean that he couldn't know what had happened, nothing would change by telling his ninken. Hope swelled again in his chest but Kakashi quickly squashed it, he did not want to crash again.

"Well… it's a long story and it's kind of unbelievable," Kakashi began, to which Pakkun simply gave him his best deadpan stare. "Fine… I'm actually thirty years old, I woke up in this body a couple of days ago and I'm freaking out- which is why I can't sleep by the way-"

Pakkun maintained his stare, "But you're not thirty. You're twelve."

"No, this body is twelve, but my mind is thirty. I'm from eighteen years in the future, where I am a thirty year old shinobi. I... died and woke up in the past where I'm twelve." Kakashi paused again, "And before you say it, I'm not crazy."

Pakkun's bored gaze had morphed into one of mild concern, "Well I'm pretty sure that's not possible. Maybe it was just a really vivid dream."

"Obito killed me-"

"Definitely a dream," Pakkun noted.

"-And then I just woke up here. I have no idea why or how. Come on, Pakkun, you've got to believe me," Kakashi said, his wavering voice betraying his growing desperation. The pug eyed him before sighing and mumbling something incoherent under his breath.

"Okay," he began, and despite the fact that Kakashi knew he was just humouring him for now, he was thankful. "Why did… Obito kill you?"

That one was easy, "He's crazy. Well… not right now, but he goes crazy. I'm still not completely sure of the reasoning behind it all, but I do know it began when Rin died."

"Right," Pakkun nodded, "He's an Uchiha. They basically have a predisposition for losing their minds. Obito always seemed like the exception though, being a complete idiot and all."

"I know it seems unlikely, but it's true," Kakashi said, absently rubbing his left eye. "Oh, and I get his sharingan-"

"You stole his sharingan?" Pakkun said disbelievingly. "Maybe that's why he killed you, Boss."

"He gave it to me on a mission, we all thought he died…" Kakashi looked out his window tiredly, the moon was still shining brightly but he had a feeling it was going to start getting light soon. He looked back at Pakkun and shrugged, "He thought he was going to die too. And I spent the next fifteen years or so paying respect to a man while he was going around murdering people."

Pakkun moved to rest his face on his paws, clearly thinking hard about what Kakashi was saying. "You said before that Rin died… that can't have been the only reason he lost it."

"Well, Obito is obsessed with her. But you're right, he was also being influenced by Uchiha Madara."

Pakkun shook his head in confusion, "Madara? I know that name… isn't he long dead, killed by the First Hokage or something?"

"Apparently not," Kakashi said mildly, before a thought struck him. "Maybe I should kill Madara, that would solve a lot of problems. He's probably very well hidden though, since everyone thought he was dead for decades. Although… that means that no one was looking for him, pretty easy to hide when no one knows you're hiding," Kakashi made eye contact with a disturbed looking Pakkun. "What do you think?"

"…I think you should get some sleep, Boss."

Kakashi sighed and leaned back against his bed, "I can't sleep, Pakkun, that's the problem. There are so many bad things that are going to happen, and I don't know what to do to stop them. How can I sleep knowing that sensei and Rin and going to die within a couple of years? Or that the entire Uchiha clan will be wiped out in a decade's time?"

Pakkun shuffled closer and rested his head against Kakashi's leg, silently encouraging the silver-haired shinobi to scratch behind his ears. Kakashi obliged.

"You're putting too much pressure on yourself, boy," Pakkun mumbled. "I can tell you think that anything that happens from here on will be your fault, but that's not true, just because you know what might happen doesn't mean you can control what will happen. Sometimes things are just meant to be, nothing you can do about it."

"Things already feel different though," Kakashi said, gazing up at the ceiling and patting Pakkun absently. "It's not the same as last time."

"Maybe that's because you're looking at things as an adult and not as a child," the ninken suggested, causing Kakashi to frown down at him. "Or maybe things are changing, who knows," he amended quickly. "Have you done anything stupid yet?"

Smiling slightly, Kakashi gave Pakkun an affectionate scratch on his stomach, "You believe me."

"I do," Pakkun grumbled, "Against all logic, too. Have you told anyone else?"

"No, not yet. Should I?"

"No," Pakkun said firmly. "Just because I believe you doesn't mean that you don't sound crazy. Or look crazy, for that matter. Get some sleep, Boss."

"There's no point, training is in a couple of hours anyway," Pakkun's half-lidded stare was starting to unnerve him, though he was adorable. "Okay, I promise I will try to sleep after training. I've slept for seven hours during the day before, I can do it again."

"Wow, congrats." Pakkun said monotonously, and Kakashi rolled his eyes. "What will you do in the meantime?"

"I dunno… you want to hear more about the future?"

"Not really," Pakkun replied, closing his eyes, "Your future kind of sucks."

Kakashi couldn't argue with that, "You don't even want to hear about the time I was Hokage? Or about the first time I died?" Patting Pakkun was starting to feel very therapeutic, and Kakashi leant his head back more comfortably against the bed.

"What kind of an idiot would make you Hokage? And what do you mean the first time you died, are you immortal or something?"

"Maybe I am," Kakashi mumbled, closing his eyes. "Hey, what made you believe me?"

He could feel Pakkun let out a puff of air through his nose, "I don't know if you know this, but you did not talk or act like this about a week ago. You were a snivelly prat, and now you're a more mature, sadder prat. Unless there is some sort of personality changing jutsu out there, I knew there had to be something going on. Plus, you never talked this much."

"Fair. You're the same, though. Were you born old?"

Pakkun merely grumbled in reply and Kakashi could feel his breathing start to slow, the circular rubbing he had been doing on Pakkun's back became more and more lethargic as he felt himself beginning to doze off despite his upright position. Eventually, sleep finally took him as Pakkun curled up closer to his leg.

When Kakashi woke up, his head was leaning against his bed, his hand was resting on Pakkun's back, and sunlight was beaming through the window.

"Shit," Kakashi muttered, disturbing Pakkun as he frantically got up to change into his training wear. "Shit."

"You never used to swear either," Pakkun yawned, doing the most half-assed stretch Kakashi had ever seen.

"Yeah and I also never used to sleep in," Kakashi replied, quickly pulling on his arm guards. "I can't believe sensei didn't come and get me."

"Maybe he's also noticed how weird you are, it's hard to miss."

"Yeah, he's noticed," Kakashi muttered, reaching for his gloves. "Can you wait here until I get back? We need to go over our plan for what we're going to do next."

Pakkun looked less than enthused by this notion, "I'm a summons, Boss, I can't do shit. Unless you want me to track somebody, I can't help you," noticing Kakashi's deflated look he added, "I'm sorry."

"You don't want to help me prevent the kyūbi from attacking the village?" he asked, but he knew that Pakkun was right. His Pakkun might have been able to help him devise strategies, but this one was barely through his puppy years (even though he acted ancient) and had only a fraction of the experience.

"I'm afraid that's above my skillset," Pakkun said apologetically. "I can help you sleep though, and you can tell me your plans and I'll tell you how stupid they are. Besides, I should probably go tell the others that you're crazy- I mean, from the future."

Kakashi gave the ninken a half-hearted glare, "Very funny." Making his way towards the window, Kakashi paused as he noticed Pakkun staring at him, "…What?"

"You're not going to eat something before you train? Old you always did."

"I'll eat when I get back," Kakashi rolled his eyes. First Minato and now Pakkun.

The ninken eyed him with what looked like concern, "Living on low food, low sleep and low sanity isn't good for you, Boss."

Yes, Mum, Kakashi thought, but gave Pakkun a reassuring smile nonetheless. "I'll have a big lunch."

"Summon me when you get back so I can have some of that lunch," Pakkun gave him what could only be described as a smug look before vanishing in a puff of smoke. Kakashi sighed, swinging out the window and moving into a jog towards the training grounds. It was only now that he could feel the weight lifted off his shoulders, it had only been a few days in the past and he had already started feeling the cracks forming in his resolve. Just having someone to talk to, even though Pakkun could do little else than just listen, was a massive relief.

Some of that relief dissipated though when he saw how his teammates were looking at him as he arrived at the training ground. Something had changed. Rin in particular was looking at him with wide eyes. Maybe it was just because he was late again, and very late by the looks of things.

"Kakashi!" Minato called out, smiling kindly as he walked towards him. "We weren't sure whether you were going to make it today. Feel free to go or just do what you want; we won't be training for too much longer."

What? Kakashi blinked in confusion.

"What?" he voiced his thoughts, the slightly louder tone appearing to take Minato off-guard. "Why didn't you come and get me?"

"We thought you needed the rest," Minato said slowly. "You know, for your eye and all."

My eye?! Kakashi could not help but internally fume, this was so clearly not about his eye.

"We have a mission," Kakashi bit out through gritted teeth, "That we are supposed to prepare for. How can I be prepared when I am left out of training?" How was he going to prevent anyone from dying if Minato kept babying him like this?

Minato didn't look like he was appreciating his mini-tantrum. Kakashi expected Obito to be highly amused but when he spotted the boy out the corner of his eye, he was frowning.

"Kakashi," Minato said firmly, his eyes pleading for Kakashi to understand. "Part of being prepared for missions is being properly rested and healthy, something that I, as your sensei, saw that you clearly needed. I'm sorry that you're mad at me, but that's too bad. I will not take sleep-deprived shinobi into a war zone; that is asking for someone to be killed."

Kakashi stared silently at the ground, the unfamiliar feeling of embarrassment beginning to form in his gut. Of course, Minato was right. And he was acting like a goddamn child.

Sensing that Kakashi was done talking, Minato turned to his other two students, "This applies to you guys too, make sure that you are eating and sleeping right. It might sound silly, but that tiny extra millisecond of reaction time and clearer thinking could be the difference between life and death, for you or your teammates."

I am such an idiot, Kakashi cringed as he watched Obito and Rin nod enthusiastically. The sleeping was not completely his fault, and it looked like Pakkun being there was going to help, but the eating was totally on him.

"Sorry, sensei," he said quietly, and Minato turned around in surprise.

"Oh…" Minato began hesitantly, looking like he wasn't sure how to continue. "That's okay Kakashi, we know you're… we made sure that you didn't miss anything tactical. It's just mostly a continuation of what we were doing yesterday."

Kakashi raised an eyebrow at the way Minato stumbled over his words when he had perfectly delivered a smack-down to him not moments ago, but decided to let it go. Minato was weird like that sometimes.

"Okay… would you like me to help Rin again with her taijutsu?" Kakashi asked, causing Rin to brighten up noticeably.

"No I think we're about done for today," Minato replied and Rin wilted, "But I'm happy to do some sparring with you before lunch. Obito, Rin, you guys can go if you'd like."

Obito looked delighted at the prospect of hanging out with Rin, but she had other ideas. "Oh, can we watch? I have to warm down anyway. Only if you don't mind, Obito, then we can have lunch all together since Kakashi missed out yesterday."

"Oh, that's fine," Obito muttered, glaring at Kakashi like it was his fault that Rin was a nice person. It didn't matter though, he had other commitments.

"Thanks Rin, but I can't make it anyway," Kakashi said, "I already promised someone that I would have lunch with them. You guys go ahead."

The three of them stared at him in a mixture of surprise and shock, and Obito was the first to break the silence.

"What! Who- you don't even have any friends!"

Well that's just mean, Kakashi felt like pouting. It made his answer even sadder though. Obito and Rin were staring at him with such intrigue that was so eerily similar to Naruto and Sakura back when they were actually impressed with things that he did, that Kakashi got a sudden rush of nostalgic mischief.

"Maybe I do, maybe I don't. It's not really any of your business who I see," he shrugged nonchalantly. "I haven't warmed up much sensei, but I should be ready to spar now."

It took all of his self-control to maintain his cool exterior as Rin audibly gasped and Obito staggered like he'd been hit. Minato silently watched the scene with visible amusement.

"What the hell does that mean?" Obito spluttered and Kakashi gave him a deadpan look that only seemed to confuse him more.

Grabbing Obito's arm, Rin began to drag him away, "We'll let you train, enjoy your lunch, Kakashi!"

Kakashi watched them go, a smile tugging at his lips. They were so perfectly reminiscent of Naruto and Sakura, although if he were being picky, Sakura was slightly more nosy than Rin. He was sure his student would have pressed a little further before dragging Naruto away.

"So who's the lunch with?" Minato smiled at him as turned back to face the blond.

Kakashi paused, "…Pakkun."

Minato let out a hearty laugh at this, causing Kakashi to smile again in response. "Obito is going to be so disappointed by that answer," he shook his head at his student. "You seem much better today, Kakashi, I'm glad. And… I don't want you to ever feel like you're isolated from this team, or that you have to keep secrets just for the sake of it. Sometimes it's best to just talk about things, even when it hurts."

Kakashi eyed Minato in confusion, the smile fading from his face. What was he talking about, how much did he know or think he knew?

Sighing, Minato moved into a defensive stance, "Don't worry about it. You ready?"

Kakashi nodded and mirrored his movement, realising quickly that sparring with Minato was going to be a lot different than sparring with Gai. For one, Minato knew his fighting style, or at least what it should be. It would be difficult to hide anything from someone who had been training with him for year, and particularly when that someone was concerned.

"Ready," he breathed.

Kakashi summarised right now: low on food, low on sleep, low on sanity, high on sass.

I can't determine exactly when the next chapter will come out, I'm going overseas soon so I will either have the next chapter up within two weeks (before I go) or in a month or more (after I come back). I make no promises but I will be trying for two weeks.

Also, I love everyone leaving reviews, favourites and bookmarks. It makes my day. Special shoutout to JunaV who is so amazing. Hope you all enjoyed the well overdue chapter.