Disclaimer: This storyline is mine. The places, characters, basically everything else, isn't.

AN: Thanks for the positive reviews for the last chapter. I was really nervous about how Hiashi would go over with everyone. As for Hinata, she is NOT getting an uber-Byakugan.

Rivers of Hades

Chapter 12

Naruto stumbled up to the door to his and Kakashi's apartment, completely exhausted. Today's training had been a nightmare. He had been made to run a gauntlet of tests by his teachers today, as a test of his overall progress. Taijutsu with Gai had been first, followed by Zabuza and kenjutsu, followed by general weaponry. Sarutobi had covered everything else. He had passed each one, but collapsed after he was done. When he came to, he was under a tree, the three men talking to each other. When they noticed Naruto had rejoined the world of the living, they told him that would be altering parts of his training regimen based on how he had done. Naruto was sent home, under orders not to train again until tomorrow.

He unlocked the door. No one should be inside. Kakashi and Team 7 had been sent on an extended C-Rank a while back. They were escorting some bridge-builder to Nami no Kuni and acting as bodyguards for him until his latest project was finished. Kakashi was reluctant to take it when it was offered, as he still felt Team 7 wasn't ready. Individually, they were ready, but their teamwork was still below what it should have been by this point. It was in the hopes that this would snap the two male genin out of their respective dysfunctions that Kakashi accepted it.

"Yo."

Naruto blinked. Kakashi was lying down on a couch. Normally, this position was accompanied by a copy of Icha Icha, but the books were strangely absent today.

"Hey, you're home."

"Nope. I'm not really here. I'm just a figment of your imagination."

"Ha ha. When did you get back?"

"A couple hours ago. We reported to the Kage Bunshin Hokage-sama left in the office. It then dispelled itself to relay the information. I sent them home and came here." Kakashi's voice had a different tone to it. In place of the usual calm, almost apathetic tone, he sounded tired, not just physically, but emotionally.

Naruto took a seat in a nearby chair.

"So how did the mission go?"

"Well, our client wasn't exactly honest about the situation. On the way, we also ran into some missing-nin from Kiri, the Demon Brothers. After that, I confronted him about what was really going on. Turns out, instead of a small gang of bandits terrorizing his work site, he was really being targeted for assassination by a wealthy businessman and his personal army."

"Wait, he lied about why he wanted ninja? Why did you keep going?"

"It's true that if you discover that your client has falsified information vital to the mission, you have every right to quit then and there, and return to the village. The thing is, with a team, you need a majority decision to turn back. Sakura voted to go back, but Sai and Sasuke voted to continue."

"So what happened?"

"We continued on to his home. It turns out he has a daughter and a grandson. I wish you could have come along. His grandson needed someone to talk some sense into him, and you would have done the best job at it."

"What's his problem?"

"The man he considered his father was killed in public by the businessman, Gato, for standing up to him. After that, he became a rather sullen little brat, thinking standing up to Gato was useless."

"Now I wish sensei had sent me with you. One question, though. If you knew how outnumbered you were, why didn't you send for back-up?"

"I should have, but at the time, I thought it would have done more harm than good to send for back-up so soon."

"How do you figure that?"

"We were the last of this year's genin teams to take a C-Rank, because I felt they weren't ready. I accepted it because they are ready for more advanced missions. It was their first C-Rank, and if I had sent for more help so soon, they might see it as a sign that I still didn't think they were ready. I know you were sent along with Team 8 for your first C-Rank, but if Kurenai had decided that you needed help for some reason, wouldn't you have resented it?"

"Yeah, I suppose I would have seen it as a lack of faith in our abilities. Still, which is more important: showing your students you have faith in them or doing what you know you should do to make sure they survive?"

"I know, and that's one of my biggest problems. I'm an excellent shinobi in combat, but as a teacher, I suck. That's part of why I made sure that the graduating teams assigned to me always failed their test. Just because I'm called a genius shinobi doesn't mean I can teach others."

"I guess that makes sense. Anyway, what else happened on the mission?"

"Thankfully, the Demon Brothers were the only shinobi we had to fight. The rest were just a bunch of bandits and mercenaries Gato had hired. We fought them, and I killed Gato, along with most of his goons. We stayed a couple extra days to recover, and headed home. Sasuke spent most of the trip home sulking."

"Why would he sulk? Did he not get to do anything?"

"He was sulking because even though he had been in a battle, greatly outnumbered, he walked away from it without gaining the Sharingan."

"What? I thought it was supposed to activate in situations like that!"

"It is, but there's a catch. From what I understand, the Uchiha in question must be in a life-threatening situation, and they must also be able to admit it to themselves. Sasuke was fighting for his life, but he refused to see a bunch of non-shinobi, no matter how many there were, as a threat to him. Had there been a shinobi for him to fight, he might have activated it. As it stands, he's probably going to go looking for a strong shinobi to fight, in hopes it will unlock then. He'd been watching Haku and Zabuza train before we left, so he might go looking for a fight with one of them."

"I'll warn them not to accept if he challenges them. Haku will try to avoid a fight, but Zabuza wouldn't hold back from putting the teme in his place, which would be the hospital at best."

"Then you should definitely warn them. I just wish I could get through to Sasuke. I just want to do something to help him gain some peace of mind."

"I've been meaning to ask you about that. Why do you have such a personal interest in Sasuke? I know the council forced you to continue training the team, but why is he so important to you?"

"I'm... repaying a debt."

"A debt? Who do you owe so badly?"

"I really don't feel like talking about it, alright?"

"Kakashi, I really think you should talk about it. When I first moved in, you made me talk to you about things, so I could start trusting people with how I really felt. Why can't you share your story with me?"

Kakashi sighed. 'Curse him and his logic. He won't let it go until I tell him, either. I wonder which parent he got that from. Both of them could be damned stubborn when they wanted to.'

"If you're so sure, I'll tell you. How much do you know about my own genin team?"

"All I've been able to figure out is that you're the last surviving member."

"When I was about five, my father was part of a team sent on a important mission for the village. The mission failed, because my father chose to save the lives of his teammates, rather than complete the mission. For his efforts, he became a virtual outcast. Not even those he saved would speak to him. Eventually, he committed seppuku.

"When this happened, I took it to mean that completing the mission was the only thing that mattered, that teamwork and friendship were useless concepts. The rules were the only things that mattered to me. Later on, I attended the Academy, and at the age of seven, I graduated as the Rookie of the Year.

"My jounin-sensei was the man who would eventually become the Yondaime Hokage. My teammates were a kunoichi named Rin and... Uchiha Obito."

"Holy shit! Wait a second. If you were the Rookie of the Year, wouldn't that make him..."

"Yeah, Obito was the dobe that year. He was one of a handful of Uchiha shinobi that weren't the Rookie of the Year when they went through the Academy, and the only one to be the dobe."

"Bet that was a lot of fun for the other two on your team, having two icebergs on one team."

Kakashi snorted. "Actually, I acted more like a Uchiha than Obito did. Obito... well, in all honesty, he was a lot like you."

"So Obito was only a Uchiha by blood, not mind?"

"Yep. He was friendly, outgoing, and humble. He was also a total goofball. I see more of him in you than Sasuke. He also believed that teamwork was more important than anything."

"Well, that sucks. The one Uchiha I could have gotten along with, and I'll never meet him. I almost wish I could have seen the arguments between the two of you."

"The arguments were nothing special. I didn't really care about my teammates, so I ignored them at every opportunity," Kakashi hung his head. "I didn't even bother with team training sessions most of the time. I would train by myself, and sensei would have to find me and physically drag me to them."

"So what happened?"

"The war with Iwa happened. Obito, Rin, and I were sent on a mission. I was a jounin, and in charge of the mission. During it, Rin was captured. I was ready to abandon her, but Obito wanted to go after her. He called me an arrogant ass, told me that those who abandon their teammates were worse than trash, and took off to go rescue her. After a little bit, I went after him. We managed to rescue Rin, but were ambushed by Iwa ninja. I lost my left eye, and Obito activated his Sharingan for the first time, only to be crushed by a rockslide. Before he died, he had Rin take his left Sharingan eye and implant it in my left eye socket."

Kakashi was openly crying now, the first time Naruto had ever seen him do so.

"He died, and I never had the chance to tell him he was right, or how important he was to me. It makes me sick, thinking about all the times I insulted him and did things by myself. Even after all that, he still saw me as a friend. After that, I made it a personal mission to try and make amends by being the best shinobi I could be, and eventually pass on his beliefs to anyone I could. It's the reason I prefer the bell test, because in order to pass, you need to be willing to sacrifice your personal goals for the good of the team. I just wish I could have done something more to save him, or at least let him know he got through to me."

"He knew, Kakashi."

"Thanks for trying, but you're wrong. He never knew."

"Yes, he did. You said yourself that I'm a lot like Obito, so here's how I see it. The instant you turned back to go after him and Rin, he knew. If he hadn't gotten though to you, you would have left them both to die."

"He died anyway, so what good did it do? He died in vain." Naruto had never seen Kakashi this emotional. It was scary, to say the least.

"But if you hadn't gone with him, there's no guarantee he'd have even made it within sight of Rin, let alone save her. Instead, he died knowing that he saved her, and that he got through to you. He didn't die in vain, and he died relatively happy."

"What makes you think he died happy?"

"Both you and sensei have told me at some point that one of the greatest gifts any person can be given is the right to choose the circumstances of their death. He died on his terms, something a lot of people don't get the chance to do. I understand that you regret what you did and didn't do. That's normal. I also think it's great that you want to pass on what he believed. What I see you doing wrong, though, is that you're dwelling on the past, like sensei does sometimes. You have both taught me that when a mistake is made, you're supposed to learn from it, and move on. You've both learned from your mistakes, but neither of you are moving on. Why can't you follow your own advice?"

"You're right, and a lot of people have told us just that over the years. The thing is, guilt knows no logic but its own. It's why I'm trying so hard to get through to Sasuke, to repay my debt to Obito."

"No offense, but if you wanted to get through to him, you're a little too late. The best time to do it would have been right after Itachi killed everyone, when his avenger routine wasn't set in stone. Now, I don't know what it would take to knock some sense into him before he does something really stupid."

"Yes, but I can still try. There's always a chance he'll come around."

Naruto sat there and looked at Kakashi. It wasn't a glare or a stare, just an unflinching, penetrating gaze. It bugged the hell out of Kakashi, because the last time that look had been directed at him, it was coming from Minato-sensei. It was like his eyes were looking into his soul. Finally, Naruto spoke.

"You really shouldn't lie so much, Kakashi. Now you're lying to yourself and believing it."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"You say you're helping Sasuke to honor Obito's memory. That's not what you really want. You want Sasuke to become a second Obito, and that's not going to happen, not without a bunch of mood-altering medications or a lobotomy. You don't see Obito in Sasuke, you see yourself. You want him to come to his senses, but not in the same way you did. My point is, Sasuke is not Obito, and he probably never will be.

"I'm going to go take a shower. If you want to talk about this some more, we can do it later, alright?"

Kakashi nodded mutely as Naruto headed to get the stuff for his shower. When he heard the water start running, he stood up and made his way over to his bookcase. He reached up to the top, where he kept some personal trinkets. His hand hovered over a small metal box, covered in dust. He pulled it down, and opened it to reveal the team photo of his genin team. Back then, he had wanted to skip the photo and train, but Minato had thrown him over his shoulder and taken him to join the rest of his team. His eyes started tearing up as he looked at it, though only his revealed eye showed it.

'Is Naruto right, Obito? Am I trying to prevent Sasuke from making the same mistakes I made under the guise of repaying you? I know you regretted not having more time with us, but did you die happy?

'Minato-sensei, you would be proud of your son. He has the potential to take the title of the greatest shinobi ever to come from Konoha from you. He's also gained your ability to see what people are hiding, even from themselves, and can guess as to the real motivations of others. I still think that it's part of some hidden kekkai genkai you had and didn't know about. Unfortunately, he's got his mother's sense of tact, and he's about as subtle as a wrecking ball. Still, I think he'll do just fine.

'Rin, what can I say? Before Obito died, I would blow you off, but in the end, you were really all I had left. After the war, Minato-sensei was busy with being prepared for the office of Hokage, but you were there whenever I needed you.

'I miss all of you terribly, and I'm going to do my best to make sure that no team ever has to go through what ours did, for as long as I live.'

Kakashi put the picture away, and sat back down. He then began to cry, harder than he had in a very long time.

--

When Naruto came back out, he saw Kakashi drying his eyes.

"You okay, Kakashi?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine. You just said some things that I needed to hear, but didn't want to."

"Oh. So, the Rookie of the Year, huh? Tell me, is that title really as important as people make it seem?"

"It depends. In the Academy, it's used as a motivator, to make the students work hard. Some see it as a goal to work towards, a sign of superior ability. To others, like you, the Aburame and Nara clans, and maybe Obito, it's something that hinders one's abilities as ninja. Two years ago, you said that you thought it was better for a ninja to be underestimated, to hide their true abilities. You have your opinions on how important it is, and they have theirs. Why do you ask?"

"Well, I was doing some thinking in the shower, and I came up with three things that most Rookies of the Year seem to have in common. I'm not sure if they apply to everyone who got the title, but everyone I could think of had them in common."

"Okay, shoot. What are your three requirements for being Rookie of the Year?"

"First, they have to be arrogant. Second, they have to be as friendly as an iceberg. Third, they need to have a self-destructive obsession with some idea or goal."

"I get the first two, but you'll have to explain that last one."

"Well, you said that you were obsessed with the rules when you were the Rookie. With Sasuke, he's continually going on about 'gaining power'. Neji has this really bizarre attachment to fate, destiny, whatever."

"I see. Itachi was much like his brother, down to the 'gaining power' thing. Orochimaru, well he was always obsessing over learning new jutsu. It's really kind of frightening, now that you mention it. Although, someone could say that you have your own obsessions: ramen and becoming Hokage."

"How are those self-destructive? I love ramen, even though I've been told repeatedly that it's not good for me, and being Hokage is a life-long goal, and I'm getting closer to it very day."

"Alright, what would you do if you couldn't be Hokage? Suppose you had to choose between having a family of your own and being Hokage? Or if you suffered some injury that left you unable to continue as a ninja? We don't know if Kyuubi can regrow a lost limb. What would you do then?"

That stopped Naruto cold. "I...I...I don't know."

"Which is why I asked. You have your heart set on being Hokage, which is an admirable goal, but you don't have any plans other than that. It's good to think towards the future, but you also need to keep yourself in the present. That means having a backup plan."

"I'll... I'll give it some thought."

"Good. I believe we've reached our depression quota for a while, so let's change the subject, shall we? What's been going on while we've been gone?"

"Well, let's see. Haku and Ayame from Ichiraku's started going steady last week."

"Isn't she three or four years older than him? Way to go Haku!" Kakashi wiped away a fake tear. "I'm so proud of him."

"Yeah, well, she's 18, and as a shinobi, Haku's a legal adult. Teuchi thinks Haku's a great guy, and Zabuza was impressed when Ayame didn't seem to be afraid of him. Apparantly, she said that Zabuza couldn't be all bad, if he was responsible for Haku being the nice guy he is. He asked her to keep it a secret, because it could ruin his bad reputation."

Both Naruto and Kakashi got a chuckle out of that.

"Also, Hiashi's asked me to train with Hinata every once in a while. He thinks I'm a good influence on her." Naruto ignored Kakashi's snorts and continued. "They still don't know what's wrong with her Byakugan, so she's not allowed to use it except on missions or in a supervised spar with another Hyuuga present."

"So taijutsu training is out. You both have above average chakra control for your age and rank, so what's left?"

"We normally just do some physical training. We've also been working on breaking out of an enemy's grip lately. Stuff like getting out from under them if we're pinned down."

Due to Kakashi's mask, Naruto didn't see the evil smirk forming. He also didn't see Kakashi's question coming.

"So which do you like better? Her pinning you, or you pinning her?"

Naruto began flushing, stammering, "Wh-What a-are you ta-talking about?"

Now he saw the smirk, complete with eye smile. "Oh, you know what I mean. Do you like it better when she's on top, or when you are?"

Naruto gaped, trying to come up with an answer that didn't make him sound like a pervert. Kakashi's gaze wandered over to the box with his team photo in it.

'Minato-sensei, it should be you, not me, teasing your son about this. But since you can't be here to do it, I'm more than glad to.'

-- -

AN: I've been getting a lot of Private Messages lately, asking me for a chapter where Naruto makes Kakashi face his past. I hope I didn't disappoint. I'm pretty sure this is why he acted the way he did in canon. But hey, I've been wrong before.

As much as I (and probably a lot of you) want Naruto to use Lethe on Sasuke, Orochimaru, and Akatsuki and be done with it, I can't do it. (And believe me, I REALLY want to do it.)

-- -

Next time: Observations and Preparations