Chapter 1: To Live Another Tale

As consciousness began to penetrate through the black bliss in which he was immersed, Kakashi was hastily introduced to pain. It felt as if a wrecking ball was striking inside of his forehead with relentless ferocity, undying with its strength increasing per strike; whilst a more acute sense of agony gripped the back of his head as if sharp nails were burrowing their way into his scalp.

He could easily distinguish the second pain as a minor head injury, probably from the fall he had experienced when he hopped from one time frame to another. The rancid taste in his mouth only confirmed the presence of stale blood; seeing its scarlet property wasn't needed, the metallic taste with the consistency of salt had already proven so much to Kakashi - he must have had one hell of a fall. However he was left befuddled with the first pain which attacked his forehead. It was sharp and it attacked simultaneously.

Kakashi remained idle on his spot, still trying to burst his way out and fully become conscious. Every sense in his body betrayed him apart from his ability to pick upon the most minuscule scent. His nose lightly twitched and immediately received a bursting amount of fragrances which clung over his surroundings. He picked up on sweat, newly cut grass, rotting leaves and a very familiar scent of a dog.

Hearing was far more complicated to utilize properly. His ears still held a sharp ringing tone which deprived him from listening much more attentively.

Up until now he had not relied on the sense of touch, mainly because he had not yet subjected any part of his body to the test of movement. Moving even an inch of his body may introduce far greater pain than he could, currently, handle. Slowly, with large precaution, he tried to reconnect with his limbs. He felt his legs move through silky, wet strands; which he could only guess was grass. His fingers responded next, lightly grazing upon the same texture as his legs, but he felt new pain lacerate his shoulders and arms.

Kakashi hissed through his teeth then paused, half satisfied with his efforts. Eventually he tried to open his eyes. The pain in his forehead increased, immediately forcing him to clamp his eyes shut again.

Gingerly, he squinted from behind half closed lids, staring directly at the sky which floated amidst the thick shrouds of golden-brown leaves softly rustling in motion with the zephyr. He inhaled contently whilst he mildly began to feign from consciousness again. The lids of his eyes became heavy; there was no use to fight against it, he was too drunk with fatigue to break free.

"Hey Kakashi," the voice was deep mixed with a raspy texture, "You should head back to the Hospital."

Wearily the Jōnin cracked his eyes open and traced to where the voice came from. In delight of seeing a familiar face his eyes creased whilst his lips curled to make the faintest smile. "..Pakkun." he croaked.

"You look worse than when you were in the Hospital!" the pug claimed, trotting over slowly. "I told you to recuperate, yet you wouldn't listen. Honestly... brats like you never listen."

Brat - it's been a decade and half since someone had addressed him with that belittling title.

Kakashi shifted and pushed himself up to a prominent sitting position against the Oak tree that loomed behind him. He grunted at the pain which simultaneously attacked every inch of his body, twisting and vexing swollen muscles. When he had finished settling his eyes clamped shut once more, this time he remained conscious.

"Oi kid, your father didn't leave you to me so you can-"

"...My father," only one eye cracked open, out of habit, its pupil directly glaring at Pakkun; "Is he alive?"

Pakkun was dumbstruck and this allowed for silence to settle in the foundation of their conversation. After a couple of seconds of wallowing in sentimentality the summon spoke again: "Sakumo sui-died three years ago, Kakashi."

His open eye drifted away again. 'Three years? That would mean I'm currently ten years old. No wonder this body feels very fragile.'

"Where's Rin... and Obito?" Kakashi dryly asked.

"I don't know, Kid, I don't babysit those brats."

Kakashi chuckled before he struggled to stand back up, face twisting unpleasantly at the pain his body projected. However, pain was good. Pain meant he was still alive. And being alive meant he still has a chance, no matter how slim, to fully seize the oppotunity to change the future.

Tentatively, he drew his attention to his chakra gauge and checked his chakra levels: increasingly high, and rapidly rising. His gauge had expanded at such an amount it was surreal. 'What... this amount is..'

"Kakashi are you alright?"

One pair of obsidian eyes gave a softened glance at the innocent pug. "Y-Yeah. Lead the way, Pakkun; we're heading to the Hospital."

A paw pointed directly at him, "Before we do that I suggest you pull your mask back up."

Clumsily the silver-haired boy grabbed the hem of his mask and yanked it back up to conceal of his face. "Thanks. Now we head to the hospital."

~O~O~

Upon entering in the Hospital Kakashi was greeted with an astounding amount of noise from: the shuffling of feet, rustles from sheaf of documents being rummaged through, voices both loud and quiet mixed together to make one cluster-load of loudness.

Pakkun grimaced at the amount of racket being caused by human beings. "Today's very busy, it would seem." he dully noted to himself before he proceeded to walk deeper into the building. "Come on, your room is just down the hallway."

"That's very convenient." he grumbled, maneuvering his left leg forward first, then his right. Though the pain was still present he managed to compensate the lack of available movement by aiding every inch of his muscles with chakra. The right amount applied was enough to negate the pain he kept on inflicting upon himself per step forward.

Kakashi slowly sauntered through the reception room and down the corridors until he was met by an awfully familiar blonde medical ninja. Pakkun froze on his spot, eyes gaping wide at the woman whom had her arms folded with a stern face.

"Sneaking out again, gaki?" she sharply asked, eyebrow raising.

Before Kakashi could muster up enough words to reply her iron clad grip transferred onto his collar and his feet shamefully lifted off from the surface. He glanced briefly at the blonde only to meet her glare penetrating through him. "Uhm, what about putting me down?" he added a soft chuckle to ensure that she would know that he wasn't ordering her, in any way possible.

Having her misinterpret it would be fatal. He didn't want that.

Tsunade resumed to pace down the narrow corridor with Pakkun trotting beside her, grinning smugly at his summoner's degrading predicament.

"Do you know how busy I am today, Hatake?" Tsunade snarled through her teeth. "I don't have time to deal with your nonsense."

She expected him to scoff stubbornly and respond back with a rule he had so meticulously extracted from the Ninja's Rule Book for situations like these. However she was met with a soft laugh, it was almost breath-taking to hear Sakumo's son laugh back to respond.

"I guess I can examine your brain while I'm at it."

The time-traveler was let back on his feet when they had arrived in his temporary room. He grimaced at the bland room he was imprisoned in, it just reminded him: he was in a hospital. Hospital. He loathed every single letter, every syllable of it. Ever since the sharingan had been bestowed onto him the hospital quickly became a second home. A second, unwanted home of his.

"Sit down on the bed, brat. I'll take a quick test on your brain. You're acting too weird for my liking."

Kakashi sheepishly scratched the back of his head, chuckling as politely as possible. "I-I don't think that's necessary, Tsunade-sama. I feel fine, honestly!"

She looked annoyed, her narrowed eyes aided his analysis. With a quick huff she swiped through his charts that were placed on his bed whilst he remained stood on the spot, waiting to get permission to move.

"Remove your clothes for me, Kakashi." Tsunade calmly requested, not glancing back up to witness his shock. "I'm not asking again,"

"I'm fine believe me!" he insisted stubbornly. 'If she sees my injuries.. what should I say? I fell from a tree whilst climbing to get a cat for an old lady? No, even I know tha-'

"I'm not trying to peek at whatever you have hiding underneath those things," her finger pointed directly at his navy pants, "This is strictly professional. Leave your drawers on; I'm not doing a full body examination."

Obediently, with obvious signs of reluctance, Kakashi discarded his top along with his pants and shoes. Pakkun chuckled at the corner of room, loving the way his master tried to cover the lower part of his face with his bare hand.

Tsunade knelt down in front of the boy, prying his hand away from his face by force. She held his face by his chin then her thumb brushed across his cracked lips before she raised his upper lip up, revealing small blood stains coating his teeth. "You're not fine at all, kid." she muttered deeply.

Kakashi raised his eyebrow upon hearing her. Did she just show a hint of concern? Odd. He must have imagined it.

"The bleeding has stopped. And the wound isn't at all deep."

Her hand left his face then wondered down his upper torso, lightly running her fingers over his chest and the expanse of his stomach. Tsunade firmly pressed her palm against the left side of his chest with her hand glowing with a distinct emerald green. 'Heart rate: normal. And so is the breathing.'

Tsunade couldn't help but smirk at the boy's immediate reaction to clench his fists tight. After briefly indulging in Kakashi's uncomfortable position, she proceeded to check his other organs for any internal bleeding or severe damage. Thankfully she didn't receive any results to prove her worry.

Kakashi watched the medic's wondering hands warily as it skimmed through his arms and legs. He swallowed hard when she glared at him darkly. "W-What is it?"

"What kind of rigorous training have you been doing now?" Tsunade scowled, eyes rolling backwards in exasperation. This kid has been known to act more than his actual age, it's ridiculous. One time he even tried to tag along in Sakumo's S class assassination mission! It wasn't long until his father caught him and tied him down to restrain him, of course.

Honestly, this brat is too ambitious for his own damn good.

"N-Nothing I can't handle, Tsunade-sama." twin raven eyes wondered elsewhere, anywhere, just so he would not lock eyes with Tsunade and have an intense staring competition. It has happened before and he lost after a book was projected in between his face, inevitably breaking his nose. That was how he had come to realize that his Hokage didn't like being stared at so intensely.

"You have not been admitted out of the hospital yet, Kakashi," Tsunade snapped, "You careless boy."

She stood back up and wondered out of the room, "Don't move; don't get changed. Wait for me."

Exactly as ordered he stood completely stagnant on the spot. He had come to acknowledge at a young age that listening to your superiors is a necessity in the Shinobi World. Though time has flown and changed his appearance, his principles hadn't change.

After a couple of minutes standing idle Tsunade rushed back into his room with a roll of bandages. Meticulously, after she had healed his bruises, she applied bandages around his stomach and the bicep of his left arm. After she had finished applying the bandages she stood back up on her feet, expressing a heavy huff of irritation.

"Boys like you should not try and act tough, Hatake."

"Y-Yes, Tsunade-sama."

After she had finished rolling the leftover of the bandages, she took her clipboard and lightly sighed. "Go get changed and get back into bed. You need to rest."

Tsunade nudged him forward towards the bed before she turned on her heels to walk out of the door. "Remember: one more Shinobi Rule out of your mouth and I'll staple you shut. Am I clear?"

Kakashi paled, eyes wide as saucers. "H-Hai..." the tone of his voice lost all enthusiasm and spirit, it was all too bland. 'Come to think of it.. the Tsunade-sama Naruto managed to bring back was far... nicer. Who would have thought I would be the one saying that?'

Both the summon and summoner remained idle on their spot until the door was slammed shut. Pakkun stayed awfully silent for an extended period of time, he was still wary of Tsunade's presence, she had always irked him out of his comfort zone. Once he was confident that her presence had left the corridor he shuffled back to his master who had already slipped underneath the covers, fully changed.

"You know you're acting awfully odd today. Did you eat something terrible whilst you were in the hospital?"

Kakashi hummed for an answer then admittedly sighed in defeat; he was far too tired to lie his way out of this. "Who knows?" he bluntly replied, settling down onto the mattress, crossing his arms behind his head.

Pakkun cocked his head to the side. 'This Kakashi seems far more laid back than before...'

Although the summon had accumulated several questions in his mind that he oh-so-desperately wanted to ask, he steadied himself and shut off his thoughts. Obediently he jumped up onto the bed and curled up by Kakashi's feet, grumbling groggily in the process.

"Kid, I can feel you staring at me."

"What's wrong with that?"

"I'm trying to sleep. And I can't if I know someone is monitoring me."

"I'm not monitoring you."

"Just pipe down and take a damn nap, kid. Sheesh."

Kakashi laughed again. As it rang through Pakkun's ears the pug became more certain about his suspicion, he had never heard this laugh from him before. His usual laugh was sarcastic or quiet but this, this is... different. The laugh held a genuine tone coated with a tinge of happiness and appreciation. Nothing like Kakashi's usual laugh which he had become accustomed to.

'I wonder what has gotten into him?'

The room fell silent, Pakkun had fallen asleep and Kakashi remained awake on the bed, quietly treasuring the halcyon rustles from the trees. He watched the tree sway lightly outside with appreciative eyes. He had forgotten what peace felt like since the endless days of the Fourth Shinobi War. However he was now in the presence of peace, there wasn't a single dead body in sight, no noise of weapons clashing against each other nor were there any endless screams and moans of anguish. They had now disappeared... for the time being.

The Third Shinobi War wasn't far from their doorstep. The least he could do was indulge in the presence of serenity.

Kakashi resigned a small sigh of contention before his eyes clamped shut.

~O~O~

"Where is that baka-Kakashi, huh?!"

"Obito calm down, I'm sure Kakashi still needs time to rest."

"Heh. That stupid little-!"

"Refrain yourself from spouting foul language, Obito. We are at a public place, that's not the example you want to be setting."

"H-Hai, Minato-sensei."

Kakashi shifted away from his sleep when he heard a small commotion in the corridor outside. Twin obsidian orbs immediately shone to life and he quickly propped himself up on the bed, cursing inwardly at the sharp pain which momentarily cloaked around his body. Those voices rang with familiarity. 'Don't tell me that's-!' Then he felt it. Warm. Overwhelmingly familiar. Throbbing with brightness and naïveté, the chakra glissaded over the expanse on the nape of his neck. No doubt crossed his mind, it was his team behind those doors, creating the usual fuss he used to despise.

Then it happened: the door swung wide open. It revealed non-other than a vexed Obito Uchiha; a benevolent Rin Nohara; and the legendary Yellow Flash.

"Hey, Kakashi-teme, how dare you hog the spotlight in the mission!" the Uchiha accusingly shot his index finger directly at the bed-ridden ninja who continued to stare at him breathlessly. "I was supposed to get that scroll, but you just had to butt in!"

Rin clutched onto Obito's forearm, "Obito, we came here to comfort Kakashi!"

"It wasn't fair!" he stubbornly crossed his arms and pouted away. "I got sand in my eyes, and Kakashi decided to take the lead. If only I-"

Minato's hand muffled the rest of the childish banter Obito expressed, with a smile. "So, Kakashi, have you recuperated properly?"

At first the prodigy blinked blankly several times, stunned. Were they really standing there in front of him.. alive? Quarreling no less?

Kakashi nodded slowly. It would seem that his tongue had betrayed him.

"Huh?! What's up with that answer?" Obito grumbled. "Can't you talk or something?"

Minato continued to examine his student tentatively with worried eyes. "Tell me, what do you remember?"

"I-" Kakashi managed to croak then he closed his mouth shut. His throat felt too dry like sandpaper, each word scraped against his throat harshly. Swiftly he licked his chapped lips and swallowed forcefully. "-Can't recall our mission."

Rin was the first to react. "Seriously?!"

Minato remained stoic. "I see. Considering that you sustained great damage in the mission; it's a possibility. Your brain must have fully shut down because of the overwhelming pain you experienced." the smile returned, "But I'm glad you're alright now, Kakashi. I've received your chart from Tsunade-sama and-"

"More like you stole it from the reception desk," a sharp voice interrupted darkly in the conversation. "Didn't you Minato?"

The first syllable spoken alone was enough to make the blond exude underneath his light blue Jōnin uniform. He hadn't anticipated for Tsunade to notice, after all it was in a pile of other charts. Slowly he turned around to lock with Tsunade's glare. "I-I planned on returning it..." if his other two students were meticulous enough with the most minuscule detail then they would have witnessed their teacher's body shaking. Kakashi, on the other hand smiled, that fact was blatantly obvious to him.

Obito raised a brow. "Hey Minato-sensei, why are you scared of her? She's only a woman!"

Tsunade grinned darkly. "Oh, that's a lot coming from you, gaki!" she wanted to kill him in that very spot, the tone of her voice, which was potent with deadly intent, can attest to that. She took paced steps forward to the Uchiha, purposely leaning down to cast a shadow over him. "Boys who make up pathetic excuses cannot say anything."

"What was that?!"

"Sand in your eyes, seriously? How can sand get into your eyes when you wear goggles all the time?"

"W-Well-"

She snorted in derision. "Sit down kid, you might get yourself hurt."

Obito scrambled backwards in order to evade her index-finger-flick on the forehead move, eventually falling on top of the bed, his back crushing on top of Pakkun. He jolted back on his feet against the pug's sharp snarl, nearly slamming into the blonde medic's chest in the process.

"Ah, clumsy.. and a pervert." Tsunade concluded, pushing him towards Rin. "I'm not surprised; Minato is indeed Jiraiya's disciple."

Sheepishly Minato ruffled his hair, shredding a weak laugh to compensate for the deafening silence which befell on them. "I-Is that what you think of me, Tsunade-sama?"

"Well you're not as bad," Tsunade shrugged lazily, "I have Kushina to thank for that."

Kakashi shifted on the bed, a whimsical attempt to reach back down on the surface again. He was refrained from doing so when Tsunade placed her hand abruptly on his shoulder, lightly digging her fingers into his shirt's fabric.

"Don't force yourself," she said plainly but with enough concern to make Kakashi curtly nod, "Rest and take it easy. If you do that, you should be out of this building by tomorrow afternoon."

That was good news.

"But if I see your masked face here this month again, Kakashi-" she snarled sharply.

The time-traveler swallowed hard.

"-I will break your bones myself. Understood?"

Before Kakashi could reply - or try to at that - an extremely masculine form of chakra clenched into his nape, alerting him of the incoming presence. He felt it coming closer at an incredible rate. It was heavy and powerful. The chakra raised his attention. This was-

"Beauty kills right, Kakashi?"

-Jiraiya, the Legendary Pervert.

Tsunade huffed directly at her teammate who was prominently propped on the window sill. He wore a mischievous grin matched with eyes heavily potent with perverted intent which could personify one thing. One thing only: more research based activities in the Hot Springs.

Kakashi flinched, looking over his shoulder to see the young Jiraiya in his prime staring down at him with a chappy smile. "J-Jiraiya-"

"What are you doing here?" Tsunade sharply asked, crossing her arms, eyes narrowed.

"Cold as always my dear Hime," the perverted man replied, ruffling the back of his hair before settling down onto the hospital floor. "Do not fret, I am here for Minato-kun, and not for your work colleagues."

Her honey eyes screwed a look of skepticism, she didn't trust her comrade no matter how sincere his voice sounded. Nevertheless she brushed off his sentence and propped herself on a nearby stool whilst she reexamined Kakashi's results.

Minato averted his gaze to Jiraiya. "What is it, Jiraiya-sensei?"

"My boy, it is time." a small twinkle developed in his eyes. "This time we will succeed."

Obito slammed both of his hands down into the bed, startling Pakkun from his nap once more. "What time?! Is this some awesome jutsu!?" he vociferated, "Take me too, Jiraiya-sama!"

"Nope, I can't do that."

"Eh, why not?" he whined.

"This business of your sensei-"

"I am not included in this conquest of yours, Jiraiya-sensei." Minato interrupted lightly.

"Hey, now don't go saying that when you have peeked into Hot Springs countless amount of times with me!"

The room went silent. Obito's jaw dropped; Rin's smile began to fade; Minato's face froze and paled several shades lighter; Kakashi's eyes shifted from the ceiling to Tsunade rising from the stool.

He knew what was going to happen. It wasn't going to be pretty. However -

"Minato-kun, is that true?" a different voice pierced through the room.

- having Kushina involved as well may involve a very ghastly death for both of the older male ninjas in the room.

Minato turned around only to meet two terrifying women cracking their knuckles in sync. Shakily he brought his hands up in defense, chuckling nervously as they drew closer to him. "Ku-Kushina, what a pleasant surprise!"

"It is, isn't it?"

Jiraiya nonchalantly nodded before he closed his eyes after he saw Tsunade step closer towards him, eyes looking ever so menacingly. "A man only grows stronger when he faces the consequen-"

"Shut up, you egg-headed perverted!" the tone of her sentence was just as strong as the strength that had been pented up in her knuckles.

As expected the white-haired pervert crashed out of the hospital window with blood spraying out of his nostrils. Tsunade huffed then swiped her bangs away from her face. "Like hell will I heal that perverted fool when he comes crawling back here."

"Ahh, damn it, dattebane!" Kushina shrieked, fist hitting the air instead of Minato.

"What's wrong?" Tsunade asked, turning back around with her face unpleasantly wrinkled with concern.

"He teleported away from me!"

~O~O~

"This isn't much but Minato-sensei told us to buy you something to help you pass time here in the hospital." Rin pulled out a brown, hardback notebook with pink strings of ribbons encasing around its body. "I hope you like it!"

She had her head bowed down in front of him as if to show desperation to be appreciated. Kakashi warmly smiled underneath his mask as he took in her gift. "Thanks, Rin."

"Here." another voice bluntly interjected from the other side of the bed.

Kakashi gazed up at the right side of the bed and saw Obito looking away with his lips pursed, clinging desperately onto his pride. His gaze then wondered down to the rectangular object that had been so carefully wrapped with a dark blue paper. The uncut edges of paper and overused sellotape to bind it all together was fascinating, if not humorous.

People would think that the Uchiha would be the clan who would fixate on the tiniest detail, but Obito's piece of work contradicted that opinion. He truly is the Black Sheep of the clan.

"Thanks." Kakashi smiled once more underneath his mask.

Obito caught his smile and blushed, causing him to panic. "B-Baka, stop smiling like that! It's creepy!" he hid his blushes behind his arm. "Besides it was Minato-sensei who told me to buy you a gift, I didn't want to do it."

"Thanks." Kakashi repeated once more, the tone of gratitude not fading away. "Thank you, Obito."

"Damn it, stop saying that already!"

Rin giggled softly, cheeks being tainted with a light pink color. "This is the first time you two are actually getting along!"

"Eh?!" Obito was geared to roar out a colorful protest. "We aren-"

"Dynamic Entry of Youth!"

Another voice vociferated through the steel doors before it was pried open by the overly-zealous Guy Might. The young boy clad in a green jumpsuit ran inside the room and stood next to Obito, wearing an eye-blinding smile. "My dear rival-"

"Rival?!" the Uchiha questioned, veins throbbing out from his temple. "He isn't your rival! He's mine!"

Guy cupped his chin then raised one thick eyebrow up. "Who are you?"

"W-What do you mean, who am I?!" he pointed his finger at him. "We fought in the Chuunin Exams!"

More confusion registered on Guy's face. "We did?"

"Yes! Anyway, that's not the point!"

"It's not?"

"The point is that Kakashi is my rival, got it, Eyebrows?!"

"Heh, you're full of Youthful Spirit, Four-eyes. I like that!" Guy gestured at Obito to come at him after he had gotten into his fighting stance. "Let's duel for the title of Kakashi's Eternal Rival!"

Kakashi grimaced at their childish spar. "You know-"

Obito grabbed Guy's collar and smashed their foreheads together, teeth gritting furiously. "It's Obito Uchiha, Eyebrows!"

"That's a ridiculous name. There's no Youth in that name!"

"The only thing that's ridiculous here is your bowl haircut!"

"Your words hold so much Youth! So it's a battle of Youthful words, huh? Then I won't lose, as Kakashi's Eternal Rival, I must redeem myself!"

The masked prodigy's eyebrows began to twitch. "Guy-"

"No, no, my Rival, this must be settled once and for all! So just sit tight and don't go anywhere. I want you to witness this."

Kakashi's face fell farther more with befuddlement, "Guy, you do know that I can't get out of bed, right?"

"Oh.. well then, just sit tight,"

Both of Obito and Guy's balled hands came up into the air, threatening to land a blow. Their faces reeked with determination and concentration. Things had just become serious.

"I'll win this time!" Obito roared, drawing his hand down.

"When it comes to Youth, I cannot lose!" Guy replied, lips edging a bright smile intoxicated with mirth.

Rin expressed a look of worry as she tried to intervene, only to halt at the voice of Kakashi's: "No, leave them be."

"W-Why?"

"Watch."

Their fists flew down in a synchronized motion. "Rock, paper, scissors!"

"Again!"

"Again!"

"Again!"

Kakashi shook his head slowly, sighing. "That's why."

"Youth wins once again!"

~O~O~

Sunset finally came. Pigments of ember began to taint the sky's faint blue color as the sun began to set whilst the moon began to embark on its highest mark.

Rin and Obito had remained sat in front of Kakashi, silent and still. Pakkun had long left the hospital after his summoning time had long exceeded its limit, leaving the room hallow from conversation.

Wearily the Uchiha child yawned and stretched his arms out before he stood back up on his feet. "Oi, baka-Kakashi," he began, arms folded behind his head. "I expect to see you tomorrow afternoon at the Academy's rooftop."

"Count on it." Kakashi's eyes attentively followed the shuffling of Obito's feet as he worked his way to the steel doors.

"Don't be late," the Black Sheep of the Uchiha looked over his shoulder and smirked. "Is what you would normally say, right?"

"Ob-"

"Don't worry, it may not look like it but my time management has improved!" a thumbs up of reassurance was sent to their way. "So, baka-Kakashi, make sure you're not late."

Confidently the masked prodigy folded his arms and smirked. "That goes without saying."

Although that may be a problem since I have grown quite accustomed - or fond, which ever sounds less tacky - to being five hours late.. Was left unsaid by the former-dubbed Copy Ninja. Since he was known for his punctuality in the group, to claim otherwise now would certainly be too out of character.

"Hmp. Alright, I'll see you tomorrow, Rin, Kakashi!"

The remaining ninjas in the hospital room listened closely to the faintest sound of the sole of Obito's sandals echoing through the currently unoccupied corridors of the hospital.

Rin stood up next, still wearing a sweet smile on her face. "I've got to get going too." her hand softly cupped Kakashi's whilst her other hand simultaneously balled up into a fist of determination. "Remember, keep resting and you'll be out of here tomorrow!"

"Yeah," Kakashi faintly smiled as his eyes arched upwards. Immediately he broke out of his smile and his eyes opened only to meet his teammate furiously blushing at him.

Blinking out of surprise, Rin withdrew her hand and quickly bowed her head down in hopes that it would conceal her tainted cheeks. "An-Anyway t-t-omorrow, okay?" quickly, without looking back up, she bolted out of the room, completely flustered.

"See you tomorrow, Kakashi!" Rin managed to shout after she had scrambled in the hallow corridor.

"Tomorrow, huh?" he lowly whispered, choking out a mixture of soft sobs and laughs. With a resigned shaky sigh, Kakashi leaned his head back on the wall and huffed with exasperation before he sank back down onto his mattress, hand held up high to the ceiling.

Slowly he flexed his fingers out as his obsidian orbs flickered and revealed twin, matured sharingan glaring daringly up at the ceiling. Jet black tomoes spun clockwise in the pool of red of his eyes, gradually bending into the last stage - the Mangekyō sharingan.

"I didn't think I would hear that again."

Gently the edge of his lips tugged upwards before his Kekkei Genkai flicked off, without a trace. His hand shifted through the softness of the white sheets and then he clasped onto the notebook Rin had generously given him.

He unraveled the notebook from its ribbons then quickly flicked through the pages. Kakashi shifted on the bed and carefully propped himself up again, groaning lightly against the acute pain that has concentrated on his shoulder blades.

The notebook was placed on his lap, cover open on a fresh page. Kakashi clicked his tongue and reached for the pen that had been abandoned by Tsunade after his last examination on the table next to him.

Once the pen's nib touched the surface of the paper Kakashi began to meticulously write inside it, concentration intact. With a sigh he retracted the pen from the paper and looked back at his work, eyes quickly scanning over the names of ninjas he had listed down the page.

"This is like piecing together a puzzle," Kakashi mused out loud, "If I can't piece together these pieces; I won't be able to get the result I want."

Eyes narrowed bitterly at the thought.

"In order to alter the future, I need to change these people's outcomes."

His gaze shifted to his open door and locked onto the blonde medical ninja whom he used to call Gondaime-Hokage.

"Dan," Tsunade beamed, the kind of expression Kakashi had never witnessed until then. "Back so soon?"

The tall, lean man clad in the standard Jōnin outfit took several steps towards Tsunade before he decided to stop mid-way. His hand rested prominently on his hip and the strands of his pale blue hair fell further to frame his face.

"The escort mission went faster than I anticipated," Dan replied with a chappy smile. "But I guess that's a good thing, because now I can spend more time here."

Kakashi analyzed the situation outside his door closely until the two adults disappeared from his sights. The nib of his pen touched the surface of the paper once more.

Dan Kato; Tsunade Senju.

His tongue clicked again but this time his lips arched upwards.

The pieces are now at his hands, all he needs to do is to piece them together to create a beautiful picture.

Although it won't be the utopia Madara had envisioned... it'll be real and everyone will be alive controlling their own destinies.

This time for sure... he will seize this opportunity and keep his promise.

Obito, rest easy now... I will save Rin. This time for sure...

A/N: I am terribly sorry for my incompetence as an author! I can't believe that I haven't updated for this long. It's mind-boggling in a sense of how much time can whiz past us. I cannot justify my absence with a good answer apart from the fact that I was extremely busy. So forgive me, yeah?

(Sorry for any mistakes, as well)

Oh, I didn't know whether I should insert this or not, but lately I have been more fond of the romantic aspect of things. So this story will have romance in the sidelines. However it won't be a focal point, it will just be applied lightly in different places of this story. Don't worry I won't string your emotions around and sucker-punch ya'll at the end. Romance will mainly be fixated on the canon pairings, MinaKushi; DanTsu; AsuKure and so on and so forth. ;)

Anyway, happy reading! And thank you for the reviews, follows and favorites. They are all awesome to have!

I doubt I can update anytime soon, so here are some stories which are definitely worth your time!

Branches by To Mockingbird

Kakashi falls off a tree and lands in a different world. Literally. Now he's in a dimension where nothing makes sense—but he's used to that. Kakashi plans to wreak as much havoc as he can and find his way home . . . if he can.

Running in the Shadows by Igornerd

In a world of science, advanced technology and cyberspace hackers, powerful corporations control the world. Deciding the fates of masses that inhabit the urban sprawls. Yet in the corners of society, the ostracized live their lives in secret, running in the shadows. AU. Rated T for violence and language.

Phantom Pains by mapplepie

There is something going on with Kakashi, and Minato can't figure out what. All he has are distressing deductions, each one progressively worse than the last. It's no wonder Minato can't help but fear and fear and fear. (To be fair though, it really wasn't his fault he never considered the possibility of time-travel)

Till next time,

Exciled3