When Time Stops
Chapter 6: Edge of Sanity
Kakashi yawned, standing, just barely, in the middle of one of Konoha's training fields. The morning was young and darkness still encompassed them. The ground was wet with dew, and the plentiful greenery was motionless in the absent breeze.
Naruto had brought Kakashi out early before school to train, as he had many times in the months since beginning the academy. Naruto had explained that it was never too early to begin training, it would help him come graduation.
"Ready?" Naruto asked after briefly stretching his limbs.
Kakashi groggily nodded, shifting into a lazy fighting stance.
"Kage Bushin!" Naruto called, preforming the seals. Three identical clones popped into existence. They all ran at Kakashi, throwing punches and kicks.
Kakashi fended them off dutifully, attempting to push past his tiredness and focus on the task. He blocked a kick aimed at his head and whirled around to stop a punch but received another in his side, then face as his focus dropped.
"Focus, Kakashi, don't let your guard drop even when you're hit," one of the clones instructed.
Kakashi jumped out of the way of an oncoming hit, jumping from foot to foot to weave around his four opponents. The clones kept at him, pushing him farther away from their starting point as he defended against them as much as his tired body would allow. He managed to block the kicks and punches aimed at him until his back bumped into a thick tree trunk. An unforgiving punch caught him off guard in the gut and he doubled over as the air inside of him was forced out.
"Come on!" the Naruto in the back yelled, pushing the clones out of the way. They disappeared with a pop. Naruto grabbed Kakashi's arm and pulled him upright. Kakashi glared up at him, still clutching his gut. "What's wrong with you today?" The blond demanded, his face was hard and relentless. The blond's blue eyes pierced into Kakashi's. Kakashi only ever saw that sort of expression on his brother during training. At first it had surprised him but he had grown used to it after the first couple weeks of training.
"It's hardly a fair fight," Kakashi rebutted holding his angry glare, "it's four against one! I'm only four years old and you weren't even holding back."
Naruto laughed short and amused, "Not holding back?" A blue ball of whirling wind formed in Naruto's hand and struck above kakashi's head before the boy could blink. The leaves and branches shifted in the artificial wind.
Kakashi shielded himself and leaned away from the blast, looking back towards the trunk of the tree in surprise once the force had died down. The dent of missing bark in the tree trunk was nearly three inches deep and wider then his head.
"You would die in an instant if I didn't hold back, Kakashi."
Kakashi looked away, embarrassed at himself for underestimating his brother and being so arrogant. "It still wasn't fair..." he muttered.
"Tell me, Kakashi, if I were a group of enemy ninja, would I care if you were small and weak? No, because my job would to kill you and would be easier because of it." Naruto continued, his tone softening as he went on. "I will train you as I would any other academy student, based on your skill level and not your age."
"Hai, Nii-san," Kakashi resigned.
"Why don't you do your chakra exercises for now?" Naruto suggested, taking a seat at the base of one of the trees.
Kakashi wordlessly turned toward one of the undamaged trees and focused his chakra to his feet. He took several steps up it and jumped off, landing feet first on the solid ground. "Nii-san," he started, standing up again, "why are you always so serious when we train? I won't be in actual combat for a while still." Kakashi frowned in thought, adjusting his mask. "Is it because that night...when those ninja attacked us and took me? Is that what you're worried about?" He glanced up, waiting for his brother's answer.
Naruto sighed and was silent for several moments, "If you want to ask questions about that, then you'd better be standing on the side of a tree."
Kakashi sighed and dismissed the issue from his mind until later. He knew and, of course, Naruto knew that he wasn't quite skilled enough with chakra to stand on the tree and talk. He was still trying to focus on staying up there, let alone splitting his attention.
Naruto awoke late on a brisk Saturday morning to birds chirping, the commotion of villager through his thin window pane as they went about their business around town, and the warm early spring sun rays that lit up his room. He was quite surprised Kakashi hadn't woken him up already and asked to go training. He sat up, rubbing the sleep from his hazy blue eyes, and stretched his stiff limbs. He wandered into the bathroom to relieve himself and take a quick morning shower to wake him before shuffling his way to the kitchen.
"Kashi?" Naruto called, glancing at Kakashi's school books which had been left untouched since the previous night. He opened the cupboard and began boiling water for tea and a morning bowl of ramen. He chased away the nagging voice in his head that was telling him to check on Kakashi in his room. He was sure that Kakashi's little body just needed some extra rest. He had, of course, been training and studying non stop since entering the academy. Naruto took his ramen and tea to the table and sat down after it had finished cooking, but his worry preoccupied him. Instead of eating, he twirled his chopstick around in the ramen mindlessly, shifting his glance from Kakashi's books to his room to the window in front of him, giving him a view of the rooftops of the city. Eventually, he stood and padded down the hallway to Kakashi's room and crept open the door.
"Kakashi?" Naruto yelled, eyes wide with panic and his heart dropping to his stomach,
Inside the small room, filled sparsely with furniture and the essentials to ninja training, Kakashi's bed lay empty with the sheets thrown aside in a twisted mess.
Naruto didn't care about his own wellbeing at that moment. He didn't stop to think about the effects of his new Thunder God Technique (a technique that was still in the trial and error - more so error - phase, even after three months of training with clones). Before he knew it, he was preforming hand signs and had appeared in Sakura's living room, doubled over. He realized that in his frantic haste he had missed one hand sign. He hoped he hadn't left behind an organ.
"Sakura," his strangled voice called out. He coughed up a mouthful of blood into his hand and reached for the nearest support ( Sakura's living room couch) to help him stay on his feet.
Sakura wondered out of her bedroom, a puzzled look on her face, carrying a pile of dirty clothes that she had been about to wash. The instant she recognized her teammate doubled over, the pile fell to the floor and she rushed to Naruto's side. "Naruto!" she exclaimed in horror, grabbing onto him arm to help give him support, "What the hell happened to you?"
"Nevermind me!" Naruto ground out, standing up as straight as he could and pushing away the kunoichi. His face contorted in pain and his teeth ground together to keep in a pain filled yell. "He's gone," he finally replied after he could swallow down his choked tears of pain and worry, " I woke up this morning and he - I couldn't find him anywhere!"
The pink-haired kunoichi's face dropped, "Kakashi?"
Naruto shook his head and stumbled towards the door, "I have to go find him!" He opened the door and started running down the street, jumping from rooftop to rooftop and checking down each alleyway.
Sakura, barely able to take in the situation, pulled on her sandals in a heartbeat and followed her blond friend out the door, racing as fast as she could to the hokage's tower to alert Tsunade of the situation and recruit more help searching. She hadn't even bothered to shut the door in her haste out.
It was a beautiful Saturday morning, Iruka thought as he strode through Konoha's streets. He loved Saturdays like this. The wind was a bit chilly, left over from winter, but the streets weren't terribly crowded. Not to mention he didn't have to worry about any of his students. It was one of his rare days to himself, without other duties, and he had decided to brush up on some old skills from before his teaching days. He was...rusty, to say the least. He begrudgingly had to stop training a few hours earlier than he had hoped due to exhaustion.
It was about an hour until noon as he rounded up his gear and started back on the path to Konoha. A nice, hot shower and a steaming bowl of the leftover tempura domburi he had prepared the previous night awaited him at home. The thought alone quickened his step.
He spotted a familiar silver hair student - friend - that pulled him away from his musings and into slightly different ones. He had been teaching his old friend for several months now, but each day that Kakashi came to school Iruka still could not comprehend that it was the same Kakashi that he had always known, grown up with, and looked up to.
"Kakashi-kun," Iruka called with the warm smile of a teacher and mentor, waving his student down.
Kakashi glanced over with piercing eyes, heavier than Iruka had seen in him since their childhood. They unnerved him like they had thirty and some years ago. They were very much the opposite of Kakashi's carefree and happy, if determined eyes that Iruka had seen in Kakashi only the day before.
Kakashi sighed deeply, stopping in front of the older man and looking up at his with an annoyed expression of impatience.
"What are you up to today?" Iruka asked, trying to shake off the shivers down his spine looking into those grey, hallow eyes.
"I'm training," the boy replied bluntly, staring down the brunette. His impatience was clearly evident through the way he crossed his arms and continually shifted his weight from foot to foot, or how he glanced longingly towards the wide open training fields.
Iruka smiled and scratched his head, laughing, "I just finished training, though I'm ashamed to say I could use some more work! Where's your brother? I figured you'd be training with him. I thought you enjoyed how much he pushed you."
Kakashi gave the teacher a questioning look, "What are you talking about, you know I don't have a brother." The boy shook his silver head of hair at the wasted time and started past Iruka.
Iruka frowned. Something, he felt, wasn't quite right. He spun around and tugged on the young boy's shoulder, "Wait, Kakashi-kun."
Kakashi spun around, frustrated at the delay when he could be training, and slapped Iruka's hand away. "I don't have time for your silly games today, Iruka!" He snapped, shocking them both.
Kakashi's eyes grew wide and the harsh seriousness from before disappeared from his demeanor. He fell back a step, watching the older man's shocked and hurt expression. "S-Sensei..." he muttered softly.
It took a moment for Iruka to collect himself enough to think clearly. "Kakashi-kun, are you alright?" He asked gently.
Kakashi glanced around slowly, examining his surrounding with a slight frown. "I..." he started, still trying to work things out in his head. He tried shaking away his confusion to no avail. "I don't know what I'm doing here."
Iruka pursed his lips in worry, ushering the boy back towards town by the shoulders, "Common, Kakashi-kun, let's get you home. I'm sure Naruto is looking for you."
Kakashi nodded and let his teacher walk him home.
When they arrived, the silver-haired boy led the way inside. He looked around the open kitchen and living room, finding only a luke-warm instant ramen on the table and a cold cup of tea.
Iruka shut the door and took of his shoes before following his student in, finding it quite strange that Naruto, of all people, had left his precious ramen. 'He must be really worried and left to look for Kakashi,' Iruka thought. He decided to clean up the left over food and wait with Kakashi until Naruto eventually returned.
"Naruto-nii!" Kakashi called, running from the kitchen down the hallway to Naruto's bedroom doorway and then his own, peering inside both carefully. He shuffled back to the kitchen and sat down quietly at the table. "He's not here. He's probably out looking for me..." Kakashi mumbled to his sensei. He felt guilty for worrying his brother, even if it was unintentional and he hadn't realized he was doing it. He didn't know what was wrong with him. What he had thought earlier was so different to how life actually was. It wasn't normal and he wondered as to the cause of it.
"Don't worry about it, Kakashi-kun, it's not your fault." Iruka's warm hand on his shoulder was comforting and Kakashi allowed himself to smile behind his mask.
No sooner had Kakashi wished for his brother to hurry home, a certain blond ninja came through the front door, followed by a pink-haired kunoichi.
Naruto froze in the doorway, causing his teammate to bump into him from behind.
"Umph! Naruto, you idiot, don't stop in the middle of the door way so suddenly." She berated with fake anger.
Naruto could not force himself to move, standing there and looking at his sensei - no, he was more than a sensei now. He cared for the boy as much as if he were his own younger brother.
Kakashi looked up at the door upon hearing the commotion. "Nii-san!" he exclaimed, jumping off his chair and barreling into his older brother.
Naruto kneeled down and hugged his silver-haired charge with the worry that had build up inside of him, trying not to show just how worried and hurt he was. "Kakashi, where were you?" He asked after several moment, finally releasing the boy and staring into his young grey eyes.
Kakashi looked away, fiddling with a button on his shirt, "I don't...Iruka-sensei found me near the training grounds...I'm sorry Nii-san!"
"I was so worried about you..." Naruto hugged Kakashi again with as much vigor as the first.
Sakura smiled with relief from the doorway. "I'll go alert Tsunade-sama and stop the searches." She said before running off and out of the building.
"Are you alright?" Naruto asked, holding Kakashi out at arms length and looking him over for injuries and finding none.
Kakashi nodded.
Naruto smiled and slowly moved over to take a seat at the table with his academy teacher. "Kakashi, why did you leave this morning without at least telling me?" Naruto asked, looking into Kakashi's eyes.
Kakashi looked away, "I didn't mean to, Nii-san..." he trailed off.
"You're not in trouble, I just want to know why?" Naruto coaxed, ruffling Kakashi's hair.
Kakashi shifted his weight uneasily, "This morning I woke up and remembered there was no school today. I don't I really remember leaving but just wanting to train. It seemed like nothing else was as important as me being out on the field training to get stronger, to prove myself." Kakashi paused and sat in the empty seat next to Naruto. He avoided looking at Iruka who sat directly in front of him and instead studied the grain of the table. " I felt...sad, deep down. I don't know exactly why. There was this pain, deep down inside me, but when I try to remember it my mind goes blank. I didin't remember having a brother." Kakashi sheepishly glanced at Naruto and continued his story when the blond's face remained the same. " And I thought," Kakashi shook his head, wondering how he could have made such a mistake, "that Iruka-sensei was one of my classmates. I remember talking with him at school, we were studying together - really he was asking me for help on the homework - but, today I was determined to train as much as I could and didn't have time for talking. It made me angry when Iruka-sensei tried to stop me. Then, everything just came back to me...I don't understand it. Is it some mind controlling jutsu?"
"I don't think so," Naruto spoke up quickly.
"I don't know who would want to mind control an academy student." Iruka comforted with a smile. He hadn't been told much about Kakashi's situation, only what was needed for him to teach Kakashi. What Kakashi described though, it fit exactly how he remembered Kakashi used to act when they were growing up together. It rekindled many memories from his childhood. It made him curious as to what exactly the effect of the jutsu on Kakashi were and he made note to ask Naruto about it later.
"I'm sure it was just a dream; you must have been sleep walking, kiddo." Naruto forced out a laugh. Only Iruka and himself noticed how fake it sounded.
"I think I should be going, now that you've returned, Naruto-kun." Iruka stood, " I've had a full morning of excitement and a warm meal and shower await me at home."
Iruka showed himself to the door, reminding kakashi of his homework to which Kakashi replied that it had already been finished. Meanwhile, Naruto stood slowly and made his way to the couch, staggering slightly.
"Nii, are you okay?" Kakashi asked after his teacher had left, noticing his brother's limp. He followed the blond to the couch curiously.
"Yea I'm fine, " Naruto reassured with a smile, "just sprained my ankle when I was looking for you. It's really no big deal. Sakura will be back to heal it soon." He eye smiled, knowing Kakashi wasn't able to see through his mask.
Kakashi eyed his brother carefully, "Okay..." he said, sitting on the very edge of the couch beside Naruto."I'll make lunch for us then?" he suggested, bouncing up to his feet.
Naruto smiled and nodded and Kakashi left to the kitchen to prepare a meal.
It wasn't long before Sakura returned, first glancing at Kakashi and then making her way to Naruto on the couch. The blond lay, stretched out over the length of the god awful orange sofa, one hand clenching the fabric over his midsection and the other hung carelessly over his face. Sakura knelt down next to him, "Are you okay, Naruto?" she glanced towards the kitchen, making sure Kakashi couldn't see them over the countertops.
"Fix me," Naruto groaned in a rough whisper, not moving an inch.
Sakura pursed her lips and removed Naruto's hand from over his stomach. "What stupid thing did you do that Kyuubi couldn't even heal you, Naruto?" she berated him with a harsh whisper. Her hands began glowing and hovered over Naruto's midsection. "Your spleen..." she started, her expression one of amazement, "it's ripped to shreds. What the hell did you do, Naruto?" Her furious expression was opposite the careful healing touch in her glowing hands.
"It's a new Jutsu," Naruto answered, wincing as his spleen was knit back together.
"If the Kyuubi weren't here to save your life, you would've fell over in my living room and died Naruto, DIED!" Sakura nearly broke her whisper and looked towards the kitchen, pausing to listen to Kakashi rummage through the cabinets.
"I know, I know," Naruto replied, he finally moved his arm and looked at her. "It was my dads Jutsu, the Thunder God Technique." He paused, watching her surprised and curious expression. "I've been practicing it for several months but I just can't figure it out yet...I always manage to disfigure myself somehow. This time worked better than any of the other times I've tried though..." he mused, reaching towards the coffee table for a pen and paper.
"Lay still!" Sakura snapped.
"You see," Naruto continued, as if not hearing his pink-haired teammate, "this time I was in such a rush that I forgot one hand signal. Sure, it tore up my insides, but it wasn't nearly as bad as I had anticipated. Maybe if I slightly modified the hand seal..." Naruto mused, scribbling his ideas down on the scrap of paper.
"I would hate to see what it looks like when you remembered the seal..." Sakura winced.
"It's sure not pretty," Naruto smiled, "My clones complain every time we practice."
"Yea, I'm sure," she grimaced, knowing that Naruto experienced mentally everything his clones did if only without the physical repercussions. She pulled her hands back and let the glow fade away. "All better. I'm going to go help Kakashi with lunch now."
"Yea, okay," Naruto nodded, furiously scribbling on the paper, quickly filling it up.
She stood and made her way into the kitchen, leaving Naruto to his brainstorming. "Hey, Sakura," he called after her only a moment later, standing and following her into the kitchen. "Do you mind hanging out with Kakashi today? I've got to, uh, do some errands," he supplemented, waving his sheet of scribbles when she looked at him questioningly.
She nodded, "Yea, sure, me and Kakashi can hang out, right?" she elbowed him playfully.
Kakashi smiled beneath his mask and nodded, "but, I have to get some studying done today."
Sakura smiled at Kakashi's determination.
"Thanks! I'll see you later then. Stay out of trouble, Kashi!" he yelled back, already rushing out the door.
Soon after lunch, Kakashi pulled out his books (the ones he had borrowed from the library, not his school books since he had already finished his work) and set to studying at the table. The past few days studying had been difficult for him, however. He constantly pondered why Naruto acted so much more intense and unforgiving during training than normal. He knew his brother enough to know that something was up. It wasn't in his brothers personality to naturally be that way, even if Naruto was trying to push him. In addition to that, Naruto had seemed extra worried about him. Granted, anyone would be worried, but he though Naruto had freaked out. "What's wrong with Naruto?" he asked suddenly, disrupting the silence.
Sakura paused from doing the dishes, wondering if Kakashi had heard her and Naruto talking while she was healing him. "What do you mean?" she asked, playing it off.
"I mean," the silver hair boy started, looking up in thought and fidgeting with the top of his mask, "during training he's always so...he pushes me really hard. I mean it's good, because it'll make me a stronger ninja, but I don't understand why."
" Maybe because he wants you to be safe" she suggested, knowing how much Naruto worried for their young sensei. "He won't always be there to protect you, you know."
"But Naruto-nii is a really strong ninja!" Kakashi rebutted, "Stronger than I even know. He showed me some kind of wind technique the other day during training, it was really incredible."
Sakura smiled, know which jutsu Kakashi was talking about, "He is strong, but there is always someone who is stronger than you. Ninja are always learning and creating new jutsu, so you can never truly say that you are 'the strongest' or 'the best' ninja. It's simply impossible." She glanced up at her former sensei to judge his expression. His mind working intensely to figure out some unknown thought as he mindlessly twirled his pen.
Kakashi read over several sentence from his strategy book and scribbled down a note, "Those ninja, the ones that attacked me and Naruto, they're the ones that are stronger than Naruto?"
Sakura hummed, wondering how to answer kakashi's question. "Yes," she spoke slowly after a moment of thought.
Kakashi frowned and made scribbles on his paper, "Are they after me?" he asked carefully "I don't remember what they did...but they took me last time. Are they going to come back? Is that why Naruto-nii was so worried today?"
Sakura dried her hands and leaned against the counter. She nodded slowly, "Yes, that's one of the reasons Naruto pushes you to become as strong as you can and why he trains every day to get better."
Kakashi nodded slowly and continued reading.
Sakura walked over to her former sensei, wondering at how backwards life had become, "Naruto and I will do all we can to protect you, Kakashi-kun. We would die before we let them take you again."
Kakashi looked up to her, studying her with eyes that seemed nearly too knowing for his age. "I know, Sakura, but last time 'all you can do' wasn't enough." His words hung heavy in the air with truth and struck Sakura painfully, though she wouldn't show it. "I need to get stronger too," Kakashi continued, turning back to his book, "I won't be so weak that you and Nii have to die for me."