"When the fox hears the rabbit scream he comes a-runnin', but not to help." –Thomas Harris

Cavum

Time travel was a wonderful thing…in theory. It was based upon the principle of infinite possibilities that one could experience, each decision like a branch in the reality of the universe. Given the opportunity there is not a soul out there who would turn down the chance of rewriting their own history, plunging through their tree to a lower branch and following a different path to see where it would take them.

But the one thing that that a time traveler was failed to be informed about, happened to be something commonly overlooked. It was boring.

Currently, team seven was engaged in training missions and team work exercises. That would translate most accurately into D-ranked missions. Somehow, Naruto had forgotten all about them. The time between graduating the academy and the beginning of the chuunin exams were missing from his memory. When he tried to recall them, it felt like he was looking at his reflection in a rushing river, he could see his outline but none of the details.

It was disconcerting…he was not coping very well at all.

When Kurama had dragged his unhappy ass back into the past, Naruto thought the most difficult thing he would have to deal with was getting his old self back into fighting shape and saving as many of his precious people as possible. Fighting with Kakashi-sensei proved that it would be one of his many obstacles.

Naruto's muscle memory was on point, it was his brain that got in the way. His body knew exactly what it needed to do to reach his goal, but his mind was twisting everything up trying to convince his muscles that his reach was longer, his center of balance taller. In the end it made him just look sloppy, like one who had read all the techniques and movements but had never actually attempted to implement them before.

He was his own worst enemy, in more ways than one. What turned out to be the most challenging aspect of his new -old- life was not his body, it was his mind…his very being was the problem. Existing was the problem.

Going about his life, day-to-day, doing normal things, watching people do normal things was surreal. Starting every morning being yanked cruelly from his nightmares -memories- meeting his team for training and missions, conversing with old -dead- friends, even grocery shopping…it was just too much.

Everything was so seemingly normal. Naruto did not know how to react – so he tried not to react at all. The blonde jinchuuriki plastered the too big and too wide smile upon his sun kissed face and labeled it normal. He pulled the broken pieces of his mind together, connected them with splintered shards of shattered dreams and called himself whole.

Deft fingers -clean and undamaged and unbroken- pulled weeds out of the nearly overtaken garden and Naruto pretended he was happy. He pretended for them, his teammates and precious people, who were sweltering in the heat beside him, piling their weeds next to his. They -not the old they, not his they- were not accustomed to such labor, their skin already burning in the cloudless day, sweating from the heat, fingers beginning to tremble from the grab-pull-drop-repeat.

These muscles of his, though more defined because of what Kurama had done to him, were also unaccustomed to hard work. He hid his discomfort well, though. This seemed like nothing in comparison to what the years ahead would bring. It was surprising what the human body -not human, you're a monster now…remember- could become used to…the pain it could learn to tolerate.

Cerulean blue eyes took in the form of his once friends. Sakura had tied her hair back long ago, parts escaping only to be brushed back by annoyed fingers. Her skin was bright red as she panted in the noon day sun. Arms trembled from the exertion as she smeared dirt upon her cheek. But there was a determined twist to her lips that reminded him so much of his -not mine, not ever, I won't let it- Sakura.

-Eyes piercing, demanding. "Do you understand?" Slow, careful. Words carefully formed, lips twisting with them. Just do as you're told, please!

Shift, uncomfortable, look away. "I don't see why-"

"Do you understand, Naruto?!" Again, face pinched. Why won't you just comply?

"Don't ask me to leave them," begging, pleading. We can't become them, can't be like that, why can't you see? "I won't leave them there."

"Yes," pink hair framing grimacing face, determined. "You will." Compliance.-

Naruto could not bring his eyes to hers when she looked like that.

You're a monster now…remember?

Sakura worked diligently next to him, mouth pressed tightly closed as she went about her assignment like she was getting something a lot more vital out of it other than a weeded garden. Her silence was new, something Naruto knew that she had not developed until she was sixteen and her childhood fantasies crushed beneath an unforgiving fist -his fist, beating heart exploding under trembling fingers- it was different this time around.

Sasuke's shirt was drenched in his perspiration, a prominent frown etched onto his face as if it were a marble sculpture, chiseled lines in stone instead of smooth muscle that was easily pliable. The back of his neck had turned an unhealthy bright red where the sun was shining directly onto his exposed skin.

Naruto saw Sakura's green eyes dart to her crush, brows drawing together as a sense of sadness hung over her like a cloud. Just a week ago they had been gathering trash by the nearby creek. Sakura had said something that Naruto did not hear and Sasuke had turned to her, black eyes tight as he glared.

What Sasuke had told her he never did find out, but it had crushed the cherry blossom's heart. Naruto had watched from a distance her face crumble, shoulders pulling forward and posture becoming huddled as if to shield her from what had been spoken. Sasuke had scoffed then, turning from her as if she was beneath him and not worth his time…as if she was dirt under his shoes.

-"I don't need you, I don't need any of you," words bold, blizzard, ice in the wind.

"Sasuke…" sad, pleading. "You don't have to go." We need you, please stay. We can figure something out. Don't leave us.

Scoff, glare. Incredulous painted upon hollow cheeks. "Idiot, all you do is hold me back." Gone.-

Naruto vaguely remembered a similar incident between his two teammates years ago. It was raining that day, water falling from the sky to drench them like they had personally offended the heavens. Words of annoyance had seeped from pale pink lips and the last loyal Uchiha had lost it. Sakura had turned from him, hands to her face as she tried to mask the tears falling down her cheeks as rain.

Naruto had comforted her then, simpering fool that he had been. He had cursed and raged at his other teammate for making his -not his, I won't let her- Sakura weep. Sakura had rallied herself quickly, calling him an idiot and slamming her fist down upon his head and just like that she was back to normal…but it did not happen that way. Not this time.

You're a monster now…remember?

Naruto had let her pretend her tears were rain and turned back to the creek and continued to pick up litter. Words of adoration and revenge were not spoken and Sakura did not bounce back. Instead she wept, hands shaking as she sniffled and got back to work, silently.

Kakashi had watched the exchange from his relatively dry perch in the dense tree, eye intense and book gone. He had done that the last time as well, watching but doing nothing. Naruto had thought it was because Kakashi believed such trivialities were beneath his level as a jounin, but as he observed the man from the corner of his eye he saw him shift his weight from one leg to the other.

Cerulean blue had widened in astonishment and Naruto fought not to turn and blatantly stare at him. Kakashi was fidgeting…he was uncomfortable. It was not that Sakura's problems were unworthy of his attention, it was simply that he had no idea what to do. The realization was mind boggling.

Naruto had quickly gotten back to work, afraid that his epiphany would draw attention to himself, even as his mind kept tumbling through the realization. Kakashi had always seemed so sure of himself and Naruto had believed for the longest time that the copy-nin had had the answers to everything. It was baffling to realize that Kakashi-sensei, this man in this time, was in fact younger than Naruto of that time and just as uncertain as he himself had been at his age.

The jinchuuriki blinked, the nictitating membrane sliding slower than his eyelids as it cleared the water from his eyes, hidden behind his henge. It was strange to think upon it, but Naruto was actually four years Kakashi's senior, this Kakashi was only twenty-three…and was that not just the oddest thing. Unfortunately, it was not strangest when it came to that man.

Every morning started nearly the same way for the jinchuuriki. He prepared for the day while building mental walls to keep his fucked up past -future- from leaking all over the current time. Most of the time it worked, but Naruto was noticing a serious breach in his mental barriers and the cause was Kakashi himself. Perhaps it was their shared -not shared- history, or the camaraderie that he had with the man -not this man-…either way Naruto noticed that when it came to his sensei he seemed to lose his verbal filter, for lack of a better term.

Ever since he was fifteen, Kakashi and he had this bizarre friendship that was equal parts caring and antagonistic. His sensei would say something demeaning and Naruto would reply with something snarky and then they would bicker back and forth until someone, usually Sakura, threatened bodily harm if they did not stop 'right this fucking instant!' It took years to get to the point where Naruto realized that Kakashi only said the things he did because he cared.

I did not see you there, chibi; good to see you made it back in one piece. Why would the hokage give a brat like you an A-class mission, you have no tact; come back soon, stay safe. Hey brat, you look like shit…Kiba kick your ass in training again; are you alright, I'm willing to listen if you want to talk. Go the fuck to sleep, brat; I have first watch, I'll wake you if you have nightmares again. Anyone ever tell you that you're annoying; laugh, please…I don't like it when you're sad. I know; I trust you.

Nearly a decade of easy banter filled with antagonistic words that did little to shadow what was really meant. Underneath the underneath. It was not a habit Naruto realized that he needed to break…did not want to break if he was being honest -cruel- to himself. It made him feel unfaithful to Kakashi's memory somehow, forcing himself silent when the only thing he wanted to do was argue about the importance of snowball fights or if Anko's latest flame could actually be the one.

He tried, he really did, but Kakashi made it so easy -too easy- to just fall back into old habits. Then his sensei would give him a curious look while Sakura's expression morphed into what Naruto thought was scandalized. Later, he would promise himself that that was the last time, he would keep his mouth shut. Then Kakashi would say something else and Naruto would go right back into old habits again.

It was a vicious cycle. A dangerous one, if he was being truthful. This Kakashi and he did not have the same history, they were not friends…they were hardly even acquaintances. Naruto was his genin student. If Kakashi took offense than Naruto would be written up for insubordination faster than it took to say ramen.

So far he had been lucky. Kakashi seemed to find his reactions interesting if not a little amusing. But Naruto knew that it would not be that way forever. He needed to get a handle on his mouth before Kakashi became annoyed…or worse, curious.

Interacting with this younger Kakashi was fascinating, to say the least. With years of espionage, undercover work, and interrogation under him, Naruto was learning all sorts of things about his old sensei that he never knew. After he saw his team -old, not new- again, Naruto prepared himself for childish rivalries, hurtful words, and pettiness.

He tried taking steps to avoid it as much as possible by not giving his teammates any ammunition to use against him. Naruto still acted like an idiot, but he kept his annoyance on the tolerable scale, toeing the threshold into frustration but never crossing it. He was still happy and cheerful -liar- he still was over enthusiastic -pretender- and embarrassingly outgoing -monster- but he was so very careful to never go further than to incite mild irritation.

Naruto prepared himself for the years of barely there tolerance and avoidance from his teacher. Kakashi had looked to Sasuke for the longest time before his gaze turned to the blonde and finding something worthwhile as well. And it would hurt, he knew, but Naruto had dealt with so much worse in his sickening short life…he could -he would- deal with it.

You're a monster now…remember?

He was ready for it too, prepared as he ever was going to be. But then it happened. It had been just another day, two after Sakura broke under Sasuke's cruelty, when he saw it. Naruto could not remember what happened exactly, the epiphany seemed to shroud everything else in that day as unimportant, but he remembered Sakura had said something and Naruto had laughed and Kakashi had sighed.

Naruto was still unsure what it was that made him look at his sensei, but for just a moment their eyes had met, cerulean blue to smoky gray, and he looked so sad. Naruto had kept laughing, turning to Sakura to ask her something or the other, but the rest of him had stood to attention like he had been slapped in the face with the revelation. He never thought about it before, but suddenly everything made sense.

Kakashi had loved Minato-sensei like a son would a father, and Naruto looked so very much like his father -not anymore, you're a monster now…remember- and at one point Minato had been all the young Hatake had had left. And then Minato had died and Kakashi was alone.

They left me, alone, alone…gods, alone! Gone! Everyone's gone, they just left me and oh gods wh-

"Enough," the words settled over him like a cloak, stopping his mental loop. He sat there for a long moment, mind blank as he tried to pull himself back together. Sweeping together the broken shards of his sanity -quickly, put them back together before someone notices- and clenching his fists to keep his hands from shaking. "You missed a spot."

Naruto looked up surprised, pupils constricting as the black slowly crept back from his vision. Taking a steady breath he reached for another weed, knees pressing into the grass as he continued his chore. Cerulean blue flicked to his team wondering if any had noticed his momentary lapse into partial insanity, but Sakura and Sasuke continued as they had been for the past several hours.

He turned his gaze cautiously to his sensei, glancing at him from the corner of his eye and through his hair so he would not be caught. Kakashi was lounging in the shade on the porch, drinking ice lemonade and reading his Icha Icha. He looked as if he was on vacation, relaxed and at ease as his students slaved away. The jinchuuriki forced his gaze back to the garden, fighting the prickle in his eyes that were threatening to become tears at the sight of him.

Naruto wondered if he had always made his teacher sad when Kakashi was forced to look at him too.

The jinchuuriki suddenly understood, the knowledge of the unintentional pain he was causing his teacher by just existing. No wonder the man had ignored him in favor of Sasuke who, although was an Uchiha, looked nothing like Kakashi's oldest friend. Naruto was barely coping with his failures parading around in front of him, but Kakashi never could have the second chance that had been granted to the jinchuuriki.

He finally understood, and Naruto tried to make himself less like Minato to stop Kakashi from being so sad. Naruto made sure his laugh and his smile and his everything was different than his father just so Kakashi could look at him and not see his failure.

Sakura made a soft sound next to him, a sigh that was caught by the slow wind before it could escape her fully. For a moment, just a fraction of a second, Naruto regretted not comforting the kunoichi the week ago that had broken her heart. But this was not his Sakura…and it hurt to know that this Sakura would never be his Sakura. He would not let her become what she once was, a broken shell of a woman; the will to fight, to help, to be, leaving her until all that was left was just a withered husk of hopelessness in its wake.

Naruto had vowed to himself that he would protect her from what was to be, but he would not protect her from herself. Sakura needed to learn, and Naruto, at the moment, could not give her any of his sympathy as he needed nearly all of his strength to act normal. He needed to be the Naruto that they remembered. They did not want the Naruto he had become, the ruined man -the monster- that was left after everything -everyone- was gone.

He would be anything they wanted and everything they needed because these were his precious people. So he laughed as his fingers dug into the earth even though he broke a little more inside as each second passed. He smiled at his teammates even as another part of him shattered into thousands of pieces. Naruto pretended to be normal, pretended to be whole, for them…because that was what they needed.

You're a monster now…remember?

0~Page_Break~0

Kakashi observed his team from behind his book, eye barely peering over the top as he sipped at the cool lemonade that Yuki-chan had so kindly left for him. There were three unused glasses next to the pitcher and he could see his students eyeing them from time to time, but they did not stop working. They would not until he called them for a break.

Sasuke had learned the hard way what the consequences of disregarding their teacher was. Thousand years of death had left the Uchiha unable to sit for nearly two days. The boy's pain and indignation were worth the death threats and heated glares that followed for weeks afterwards.

Sakura had improved much after that little debacle with the Uchiha heir. She had stopped her complaining and had thrown herself into her training. She took to every mission with a sense of vigor and determination that was admirable, if not a little disturbing, even if it was something as simple as carrying groceries. It was as if she was trying to prove Sasuke wrong with every action she took.

The jounin silently applauded her dedication, even though he frowned upon the reason for such an improvement. But she was only twelve and still had years ahead of her for maturing. And Kakashi wanted to give her years even though he knew how unlikely that would be. Even in a time of peace, the young lost their innocence too quickly.

Too many teams were broken apart because of the cruelty in the world and the silver haired teacher wanted to spare her that for a while longer. Part of him believed that it was because she was such a happy child and so purely in love with life that he felt so protective, but he knew he was just disillusioning himself. He protected her because he could not protect them.

Naruto and Sasuke had no false pretenses about the world and the brutality of the people that lived in it. They had already lost their innocence a long time ago and the constricting feeling in his lungs made him overcompensate with the one child on his team who had no knowledge of such dark things.

A dark gray eye darted to the pale skinned avenger. The massacre of his clan could have ended a weaker willed person, but Sasuke let his hate fill his entire being until he was drowning so deep in it that he could hardly breathe. It was not the best way to deal with the deaths of his family, but it had kept the boy alive.

Sasuke let himself exist for the sole purpose of revenge and Kakashi was lost in what to do to pull him from the cliff edge that the boy stood on. He was terrified that Sasuke would take that final plunge into the dark abyss. The Uchiha may even succeed in getting his vengeance on the way down, but by then there would be no halting his fall and the abrupt stop at the bottom would surely kill him.

Kakashi watched as onyx eyes darted to his teammates and pale shoulders slowly shrugged in what he recognized as a quiet but drawn out sigh. Sasuke held himself apart from the rest looking down upon them like one who was born superior. Kakashi remembered being like that as well, towering above his team members and disgusted by their kindness and friendship. He had learned, in the end…but by then it had been too late. Kakashi wanted to spare Sasuke that pain if he could.

The jounin could see that the boy's act was beginning to wear thin. The effort he put into holding himself apart was starting to look like it was becoming too much as both Naruto and Sakura pulled him into one thing or the other. It amused the former Anbu and helped to ease some of the anxiety that had built since he got assigned his team.

Naruto seemed as if he was on his own personal mission to befriend the Uchiha. Although he and Sakura went about it in completely different ways. Sakura tried to make Sasuke love her, flowering him with affection and endearment, batting her long lashes and blushing prettily. Naruto, on the other hand, seemed to be under the belief that if he could not force Sasuke into reason, then he would pester him into compliance. It was actually quite terrifying that it seemed to be the only method that worked.

After the bell test, Sakura had begun to defer to Naruto when she felt the need too and Sasuke eventually started to follow her example. Since the incident between the two lovebirds, the kunoichi turned to the blonde even more, asking his opinion on the strangest of things in order to draw him into conversation because she could not stand the silence one second longer. Naruto was always happy to comply and Sasuke would watch them with that aloof but sad look in his eyes. Then the blonde would turn to him and pull him into their recent topic of discussion and for just a moment Sasuke lost the holier-than-thou attitude and his expression would brighten and he appeared happy.

Naruto would smile at his team as they bickered and argued and complained next to him, a goofy stretch of lips over teeth as if it had been painted on. Kakashi would tilt his head, taking in their scents as he tried to pinpoint what about the image felt so off but his nose told him no more than his eyes did.

Occasionally, Kakashi would catch Naruto unaware and get a real reaction from him, but as time went on it became that much harder to do. The boy seemed to be overly attentive when he was with his teacher, but the jounin knew he was on guard like one would an enemy, a threat. But sometimes, when he was with the whole team, Naruto would relax and this melancholy expression would take over.

His blue eyes would slide over the other two and he would suddenly appear so much older. A deep well of patience would flow from him as he indulged his teammates in one childish thing or the other and Kakashi could see that he was feigning interest and pretending enthusiasm. And he was good at it…great even, the pretending.

That, more than anything was what bothered Kakashi the most.

He let his gray eye trail over the object of his thoughts. Naruto Uzumaki appeared to be an orphan child who took great pleasure in tormenting his elders through pranks and complete lack of respect. The dead last of his graduating group, he was thick headed and presumptuous. Many had labeled him as the village idiot, his classmates included. But it was underneath the underneath that caught the jounin's attention.

As Kakashi took in the sight of his smallest student, he could not help but think that there was something seriously wrong with him. He did not know what it was, but something had caused the boy to hide himself so deep that no one had noticed. Kakashi wanted to help Naruto like the way Minato-sensei had helped him, but he had no way of going about it. The boy did not trust him, and from all appearances Kakashi doubted the child wanted be anywhere near his teacher. It made aiding him that much harder.

Approaching the Hokage about his suspicions had been a useless endeavor. Sarutobi had 'watched' the boy grow up and had no proof to cause doubt that the front he portrayed was nothing but genuine. He refused to listen to reason and insisted that the former Anbu was being paranoid, pushing his own tormented youth on the child and seeing problems that were not there. It was almost frustrating enough to pull his own hair out.

Naruto's academy instructor was even less helpful. Iruka was under the misguided impression that Kakashi hated the jinchuuriki and was trying to get the boy's genin status revoked under mental instability. The man refused to believe that Kakashi's interest was from honest concern for Naruto's mental health and that the kyuubi had absolutely nothing to do with it. Iruka's final reply was to shove him out the door with a fake smile and a couth remark on where he could go shove his observations.

Kakashi sighed softly in annoyance, orange book falling open in his lap as he rubbed tired fingers on the bridge of his nose to ease the tension. Tilting his head back, he gazed up at the clouds as he forced his mind to calm. He knew he could not approach Naruto as the boy seemed to melt into the background when with the group. On the few occasions where he was able to get him alone, which was becoming harder to do as each day passed, Naruto was quick to make himself scarce with one excuse or another on his lips.

It was amusing in a sad sort of way as he watched his student try to think of one chore or another that had to be completed immediately in order to force Kakashi to dismiss him. After the third time the boy evasively mumbled about watering a plant, which Kakashi knew did not actually exist, it was less amusing and more annoying. From the way Naruto winced yesterday when the excuse passed his lips, Kakashi had not been as successful in hiding his ire like he had hoped.

A cool breeze lifted the leaves, pulling him from such thoughts as he heard his students exhale in relief from the heat. Shifting the chair further into the shade, he gave the children a gentle smile as he called them for a break. Sakura and Naruto both lit up in excitement, rushing over to his position and pouring lemonade with dirt covered hands. Sasuke was slower to join them, but his pace was anything but dawdling.

Kakashi resisted the frown that was trying to tug the corner of his lips down as he watched Naruto carefully maneuver himself so his teammates were between him and his teacher. That tight feeling was back in his chest, making it hard to breathe as Naruto tried to play the whole thing off as coincidental, but he could tell by the set of the boy's shoulders and the quick flick of blue eyes on his gray that Naruto knew that his teacher was aware of what he had intentionally done.

Naruto turned from him quickly, shifting until Sakura blocked his form completely as if to hide behind her. Kakashi tried not to let the action affect him, but he could not stop the feeling of hurt that settled somewhere between his stomach and heart. Naruto was his student, the one that was supposed to teach and protect him until he could protect himself. The fact that Naruto felt like he needed protection from him of all people left a burning sensation in the back of his throat.

There was something deeply wrong with the boy, of that Kakashi was sure. With no information on what exactly it was or a way to approach him about it, the jounin was left with the uncomfortable knowledge that he would have to wait for Naruto to come to him. Fighting another sigh, he forced himself to accept that he would need to be patient.

Naruto needed time and Kakashi needed his trust, so Kakashi would do whatever he needed to in order to gain it…even if that meant letting the boy use Sakura as a shield and not pursuing him when he darted away with a lame excuse on trembling lips. He would be patient, he had to be.