"I wish Akio was my teacher" Naruto grumbled as he and Kakashi sat next to the lake after a full day of training "Akio isn't lazy like Jiraya or you"
"I've been working tirelessly ever since I got here" Kakashi told him
"If it weren't for Akio you'd be sitting down reading porn, sensei" Naruto rebutted as he threw a stone in the lake watching the ripples fade away slowly
"Of course I would train" Kakashi chuckled "Just not as much"
"Yeah right" Naruto snorted
A comfortable silence rose between them and for a while both were content to keep it that way but Kakashi knew he had to tell Naruto about the White Wolf. He wasn't sure how quickly the blonde will catch on but he decided that unlike Kioshi, if Kakashi told him such news at once he'd probably freak out. It was best to ease into the subject with Naruto at times.
"How are you coming along with controlling the Kyyubi?" Kakashi asked
"I'm getting better" Naruto smiled "Jiraya found out that the eight tails jinchuriki managed to control the demon inside him at the waterfall of truth and Jiraya knows of a similar place so we've been practicing there"
"Waterfall of Truth?" Kakahsi asked for an elaboration
"You sort of face your darker side so that you are happy with who you are" Naruto said in an uncharacteristically quiet voice
"So you face your own demons before the Kyyubi" Kakashi summarized
"You always have a way of putting things in words sensei" Naruto brightened again "Maybe something useful does come out of all your reading, even if it is porn"
"I read things other than porn, Naruto" Kakashi reminded him
"We'll I've never seen you read anything else but I suppose you need to read for sealing jutsu" Naruto said "Can I ask you something and can you for once give me a straight answer?"
Kakashi was surprised by the favor but replied immediately "I can't promise that till I know what you want to ask now can I?"
Naruto huffed in irritation but asked anyway "Are you learning sealing jutsu because of me?"
Kakashi didn't see that question coming yet noted that Naruto gave him the opening which makes it easier all in all "I'm not going to lie and say that I don't think about how much this will help if any problems arose with the Kyyubi but the main reason is for myself"
"You mean you're interested?" Naruto asked curiously
"Well yes but because I also have my own furry problem" Kakashi replied tonelessly
Naruto was speechless for about thirty seconds before he stood up abruptly "What is the meaning of that?! Don't speak in riddles!"
"I wasn't aware that my statement was confusing" Kakashi interjected looking at Naruto calmly
"You mean…" Naruto trailed of
"I also have a demon inside me yes" Kakashi nodded
"How come you've never told me!" Naruto yelled
"Because I wasn't aware of this till a month ago" Kakashi told him
"Oh" Naruto calmed down instantly and sat down "Feels terrible right?"
"Extremely" Kakashi agreed whole-heartedly
"Who's your guest" Naruto asked hesitating at the word guest
"The White Wolf" Kakashi told him and at Naruto's look of confusion he elaborated further "He's been sealed away for centuries so nobody knows about him. Well, almost nobody"
"So every time the host dies they'd get a new one" Naruto spat venomously
"Actually, that's not how it is" Kakashi said hesitantly and Naruto was shocked at that tone and statement.
"You can't have me believe that you've been alive for centuries" Naruto asked "That's absurd"
"It's rather complicated" Kakashi told him
"Then simplify it like you always do" Naruto asked
"The founder of the Hatake Clan, yes we were a clan" Kakashi added at Naruto's surprise "defeated the demon years ago and sealed him inside himself with a seal that allowed the Wolf's chakra to be split among his ancestors. The more there were the less chakra each had so they killed each other for power and slowly died out. I'm the only one left"
Naruto was silent again taking it all in "I have a few questions"
"Go ahead" Kakashi shrugged
"The seal allowed the chakra to be passed on like a bloodline?" Naruto asked skeptically
"I was shocked too but yes" Kakashi nodded
"And now that you're alone you are the host of the full demon?" Naruto asked
"Actually I'm half demon" Kakashi muttered. After everything Naruto heard this was the one that surprised him the most by far.
"Like I said the seal allowed the demon's chakra to become hereditary so the demon's will and chakra is weaved with my own unlike with you where it is separate from your chakra" Kakashi explained
Kakashi expected Naruto to start yelling again but to his surprise Naruto smiled
"You don't act like a demon to me" Naruto said confidently
"Umm thanks but that has to do with the fact that my father sealed the demon so tightly that he couldn't influence me too much" Kakashi smiled a bit
"Keep it shut then" Naruto said simply
"The seal has weakened with time so now it has been removed" Kakashi replied "It was removed a month ago"
"You still don't seem like a demon" Naruto shook his head resolutely
"Half-demon" Kakashi corrected
"Half-demon" Naruto repeated
"Thanks for the vote of confidence but now that the Wolf is unsealed," Kakashi began "It's becoming easier for him to manipulate my thoughts and feelings"
"But you're so strong sensei," Naruto told him "You won't let that demon win"
"Everybody has weaknesses Naruto" Kakashi told him but did not look at him
Naruto knew immediately that his sensei was talking about, not physically weaknesses but mental ones. He couldn't imagine just what problems his sensei had, he just seemed like a rock, no matter how tough things got he was never effected that much by them. Sure he'd become serious and sometimes angry but was never defeated.
"That's what the waterfall of truth thing is for" Naruto noted "You could come train with me"
"It's fine" Kakashi replied "I'm actually going to train in five minutes with Akio"
"Can I come?" Naruto asked and Kakashi knew that if he said no, Naruto would not come
"If you'd like but it's nothing interesting" Kakashi shrugged and they both got up heading towards the training ground
"I have one more thing to ask" Naruto said as they got closer. Kakashi waved his hand as if to say go ahead. "Did… did people treat you differently because of the Wolf?"
"The only people who knew were my father and Jiraya" Kakashi told him "I'm sorry that wasn't your case"
Naruto shrugged "What about for other reasons?"
"What do you mean?" Kakashi asked
"Well you see people treated Sasuke differently because of his clan's massacre, as the last Uchiha they held him at high esteem and had hopes for him. You said you were the last of the Hatakes so I was just curious"
"I was treated differently yes" Kakashi nodded "But not in the same way as Sasuke"
"How?" Naruto asked curiously
"Do you really want to know?" Kakashi asked. He would prefer Naruto say no but if he did say yes Kakashi knew he was going to answer truthfully. He knew Naruto went through hell and was just looking for comfort.
Naruto hesitated but then nodded
Kakashi sighed but then answered "My father, he was a legendary ninja on par with the sannin. While on a mission his teammates got captured. He had to make a choice, the lives of his comrades or the mission. He choose his teammates"
"Those who break the rules are trash but those who abandon their friends are worse than trash" Naruto recited
Kakashi nodded with a tired sigh "Although I do believe that now, not everybody in the ninja world have the same beliefs. Because the mission failed, the Third Great Shinobi became definite and people blamed my father, even those he had saved. They hated hi m deeply for it. My father lost his reputation and from misery he… committed suicide. The hate that was directed towards him was passed on to me, so no, I got a different sort of attention than Sasuke"
"I'm so sorry" Naruto replied immediately. He never knew his sensei had a rough childhood. He always thought his sensei grew up as Konoha's prodigy since he frequently heard others mention that his sensei was a genius even at a young age. "Was it tough?"
"You once told me that Haku said that the worse thing a person can feel is not being needed by anyone in this world." Kakashi told him "I agree" he ended simply
Naruto nodded solemnly knowing exactly what his sensei meant. Loneliness is like hell on Earth, he thought only Iruka sensei, Sasuke and himself knew what that was like form those he knew in Konoha. For once, he felt that he really knows who his sensei is because before this talk, Naruto realized that he knew next to nothing about his sensei.