Kakashi was pissed that it was raining.
I mean, what a cliche? Right? The droplets splattered over his clothes, soaking them until they were plastered to his skin. It was snowing just a week ago, ground icy and damp as mud seeped into his unzipped jacket. The pitter patter of the rain was loud enough to annoy him, but he didn't really feel like moving.
At least he wasn't concerned about frostbite, the alcohol kept him feeling warm.
Uncoordinatedly, he pat the ground to find his bottle, mud getting all over his hands. Grasping the slippery glass, he fumbled for the mouth, eye fuzzy as he brought it to his lips and tipped it.
It burned as it went down his throat until he could feel it sit in his stomach, his lips tingling from the cold edge. Kakashi was past the point of identifying what the fuck he drank, since after a few hours everything just tasted like liquid battery fluid.
Gagging, he ripped the bottle away from his mouth, rolling over on his stomach and managing to lift himself up before throwing up all over the grass. Mud dripped down his jacket, arms trembling as white fingers grasped the icy grass. Kakashi retched, dry heaving a couple of times, eye watering with the force his stomach contracted with.
After a painful few seconds, he pushed himself away from the pile of throw-up, sight blurring the grass and vomit together into a clump of white-green. He rolled over, flopping back down on to the cold mud.
Kakashi lay there, staring at the star-less sky as rain chilled him down to his bones. He was pretty sure he was out of anything to drink, which fucking sucked. It was one of those days where everything he pretended not to think about made a pile and crushed his brain, which usually happened once-a-month or so. They hadn't gotten as bad as this, not in a while at least.
Kakashi giggled, he was fucked up right now.
He was currently in the woods surrounding training grounds forty-four, far enough that he probably wouldn't get mauled to death, but close enough where it was certainly a possibility. Also far enough and in a weird spot where anyone looking for him would take a while.
He just wanted to lay here alone.
Everything in life right now just fucking sucked, so he was taking a break. Drowning himself in alcohol until he couldn't feel himself think in a quiet, earthy place. Minato-sensei had recommended he go into ANBU a few months ago, and Kakashi had just finished the entrance exam five-or-so hours ago. To say that it was bad was an understatement.
Kakashi sometimes forgot that the majority of shinobi population actively hated his guts because of his dad, and that that majority were older, war-torn ninja, which funnily enough made up around half of the entire ANBU population. He was greatly reminded of that fact five-or-so hours ago, which was nice, and exactly what he needed after trying not to spiral after Obito's sex date with Rin a week ago.
It went well, they were official.
He was also right about Minato-sensei and Kushina trying for a baby, because yesterday she had announced to Team Seven that she was pregnant. That would've been great news, except that meant that Minato-sensei was now too busy to do anything with Team Seven. At first that didn't bother Kakashi, until he realized how vital it was for him to have him physically present there.
It started with a team training day with their sensei absent. He'd left a note pinned to the tree he always stood against, outlining what they were supposed to do today. Rin and Obito immediately started warming up, chatting together with faint blushes on their cheeks. Kakashi wanted to vomit seeing them be all boyfriend-girlfriend together, but held it in, and started his own stretches. They did warm up spars, which Kakashi did okay in, and then ran drills.
That was where all the feelings of 'bleh' started festering, when Kakashi felt weirdly imbalanced without their fourth. That ended in him doing really shitty, which elicited taunts and insults from Obito, which Rin didn't verbally encourage, but didn't stop either. Normally, Minato-sensei would playfully shut it down so that they could continue, but he wasn't there that day.
Kakashi missed a throw, "Nice shot, Bakashi. You have to actually aim for the enemy, not five-feet west."
Kakashi tripped, "I think your shoes might be a little too big, mister eat-dirt genius."
Kakashi failed to dodge fast enough, "Nice to see that my Sharingan is being put to good use."
Kakashi lost control of a water dragon, soaking himself in chakra-water, "I think you should learn how to stick a leaf to your forehead before attempting serious jutsu, okay mister genius?"
He was ready to snap at that last one, but reeled it in for not fighting sake. The rest of the day went fine, despite the fact that he was nauseous from watching Rin and Obito make gooey eyes at each other for the whole fucking day. Kakashi wanted to vomit, cry, or punch them both in the face. He didn't do either, and just left training coldly, removing himself from the situation before he did something he'd regret.
He had a lot of regrets in life, but falling in love with Obito was probably the biggest one.
Now, Kakashi is shitfaced in the middle of fucking nowhere and is out of alcohol.
With a cry of frustration, he grabbed the glass bottle and smashed it against the icy ground as hard as he could. Shards of glass splintered with a loud crack, flying away and lodging themselves deep into the flesh of his palm as he hissed, wrenching his hand away.
The forest was eerily empty, filled with Kakashi's shallow pants and the pitter-patter of rain as he grasped his wrist, palm faced up, trembling as blood pooled around the wounds and slowly dripped down the sides of his hands. The wind whistled after a beat, causing a deep-boned shudder to rack through him as his palms stung with the cold and the scent of fresh blood irritated his bare nose.
He needed more alcohol.
Kakashi gagged, slapping his non-bloodied hand over his mouth in an attempt to not throw up again. It didn't work, and he quickly turned his head to vomit into his previous pile of alcohol and stomach acid.
Fuck, he really needed some more alcohol.
Mind made up, Kakashi unsteadily tried pushing himself up to his feet, vision swaying and blurring as he shakily got up on one knee, only to slip on the frosty mud and tumble back down. He lay face-down on the dirt now, mud running down his head. The rain washed some off the dirt clinging on the back of his jacket, which was nice, but made it almost impossible to move. Kakashi felt so, so incredibly tired as he lay there, slowly losing feeling in his ears and fingers.
He could just- take a quick nap. He was so fucking tired and sad that sleeping would probably help a lot.
Yeah, a nap.
Kakashi sighed into the frosty grass, rain soaking him through and through as he shut his eyes, body aching from the hell the ANBU put him through. The alcohol warmed him up enough that the fuzz lulled him into sleep, mud sticking to his face as he fell asleep in the forest.
Minato sat side-by-side Kushina on their leather couch, shoulders touching as they ate ramen together in peaceful silence. He could barely stomach any food, excitement and anxiety buzzing in his gut.
Kushina was pregnant!
His wife was pregnant, with his child. With their child, together, that they were going to raise.
Together!
He grinned into his noodles, bouncing his leg uncontrollably as she snorted softly, no doubt reading what was on his mind. Kushina too, was very excited, but was managing it a lot better than he was, (which was pretty surprising.)
The sun had set a while ago, rain assaulting their windows. It was a really heavy downpour, and the apartment had started to get a little drafty because of it. It wasn't too big of a problem, though, since the heating was on and they were bundled up in thick comfy sweaters. The steaming hot ramen also helped a ton.
Fuck, Minato was so happy he could swear. Him! He never swore ever!
Kushina finished up her third bowl, sighing happily and setting it on the table beside the couch. She leaned heavier into Minato, basically snuggling up to him as he shifted to make her more comfortable.
She smiled softly, closing her eyes as Minato tried not to squeal, "What did the brats do today?"
He swallowed his noodles through his smile, "Just warm ups and exercises," He answered, clock ticking quietly in the background, "I wanted to introduce them gently into doing stuff without me, so It wasn't anything too strenuous."
"They're growing up," Kushina whined sadly, "I can't believe Obito and Rin are dating."
Minato nodded, "I didn't think Obito would ever get over her, and I'm glad she finally reciprocates," He mused, voice slightly muffed by the bowl, "I wonder how the dynamic between them will change fighting wise."
Kushina lightly smacked his thigh, "You're such a sensei," She teased playfully, giggling, "I'm more interested in their relationship dynamic dating wise."
Minato huffed, smiling, "You're such a gossip," He teased back, gently knocking her knee with his.
She chuckled again, snuggling into his side, "It's against the law to tease your pregnant wife, Minato."
Minato burst out laughing, spitting noodles out into his bowl, "I don't remember instating that law!" He protested with a beaming grin on his face.
"Well," Kushina sniffed, "Maybe you should."
"That's nepotism-"
Sharp knocks broke Minato out of his sentence, cutting him off. Both him and Kushina turned their heads to the front door, the latter opening her eyes and shooting him a confused look, "Who'd visit at this hour?" She asked curiously, the house silent except for the pitter-patter of rain outside their windows.
Minato blinked, glancing at the ticking clock, almost midnight. His brow furrowed as he set his bowl down, cautiously getting up, "I don't know."
Kushina moved herself to allow him to get up, patting her thigh for her weapons pouch reflexively as Minato approached the door. He peered through the peep-hole, expression growing even more confused.
He pulled away, "It's Genma and Gai."
Kushina blinked, tilting her head as Minato unlocked and opened the door.
Genma stood there in the dark, shivering as his shoulders were hiked up to his jaw. His dark pants were covered in slush, and his boots were soaked through as Gai stood behind him, looking much warmer and bouncing up and down nervously.
"Hey, Minato-sensei," Genma greeted, a little awkwardly as he resisted the urge to bite down on something, teeth chattering, "Is uh- is Kakashi here? Oh, congrats on the pregnancy."
Minato blinked slowly, "Thanks," He said, looking them up and down subtly at their quickly thrown on and not really appropriate attire for the weather, "He's not here, but you guys can step in to warm up a little bit."
Gai froze as Genma went a shade paler, "He's not here?"
"...no?" Minato confirmed slowly, brow furrowing, "What's wrong?" He responded, posture straightening up as he gripped the door a little more tightly. Kushina approached the door and put a hand on her husband's shoulder, curious.
"What's going on?" She asked, looking at Minato and then back at the teenagers, "What about Kakashi?"
"Do you know where he could be?" Genma asked quickly.
"No," Minato responded again, sharing a worried look with Kushina, "What's going on?" He repeated, "Is he in danger?"
Genma and Gai shared their own look, anxiously stepping into Minato's place after a beat as he shut the door behind them.
"My Rival is not home," Gai spoke up, "Genma went to go see him and thought that he may be at my place, but he's not there either. He's not at Asuma's, or Obito's, since Rin is with him. We thought maybe he'd be here."
Minato shook his head, "He's not here," He confirmed, "I'll go gear up and we can look for him. He's not on a mission either, though he did do the ANBU exams today. They should've finished by now."
"I'll gear up too," Kushina added.
Minato's gaze softened as he shook his head, "It's raining, cold, and you're pregnant," He argued, "I don't want you to get sick."
Kushina huffed, "I'm not some damsel in distress, y'know, I can take care of myself."
"I know," Minato answered quietly.
Tense silence hovered in the air for a few moments as Genma and Gai shared another look awkwardly. Kushina sighed, deflating as she conceded, "Fine."
"Thanks," Minato said earnestly, planting a kiss on her forehead, "We'll be back in no time."
"Yeah yeah, I'm the best wife ever, whatever-"
He chuckled as he quickly counted his weapons, slipping into his winter gear and boots. Kushina tossed him his pouch from the table where the ramen was at, and he quickly strapped it on as they exited the apartment.
"I've got Hiraishin markers all over Konoha," Minato immediately started, rubbing his hands together in an attempt to warm them up from the freezing air, "I have one on Kakashi, but the connection feels too weak to flash to."
Genma shot him a puzzled look as they lingered outside of Minato's home, "The rain? Or intentional tampering?"
A beat passed, "Not sure."
Gai shuffled, "What can we do?" He asked bravely, before deflating and shaking his head, "Where can we go? None of us are good trackers."
Minato gently put a hand on his shoulder, "Don't worry," He reassured, "I'm the Hokage for a reason. Let's go back to his house to double check and see if we can find any leads, and if not, I'll get ANBU on it."
Gai shuffled nervously before nodding as Minato gestured to Genma to come closer. He put a hand on his shoulder the same way he did with Gai, and tightened his grip; "Hold on."
That was the only warning the two teenagers got before Minato flashed them through space and time.
The only way Genma could describe it as was disorientating, like they were just yanked off their feet and flung in a random direction. He stumbled when they landed, knees going weak as his head spun. Minato's hand kept him from face-planting, but Gai wasn't so lucky.
Minato had the sense to re-direct him into Kakashi's trashcan as Gai gagged and vomited, knees hitting the floor as he slumped. If Genma was pale before, he was paler now as he tried to keep the nausea away. His vision settled eventually, though he was kinda leaning on Minato pretty heavily as he willed his legs to stop shaking.
They were inside Kakashi's apartment, in the living room. Minato patiently waited for Gai to stop throwing up in the trashcan as Genma regained his bearings and gently pushed off of him.
"Good tolerance," Minato winked, smiling as Genma made a face. Him? Tolerance? For the fucking Hiraishin?! Sure he wasn't puking his guts out but he still felt like shit. Still, a compliment from the Hokage is still a compliment, and he hoped Minato didn't see him go pink.
Gai spit out the rest of the vomit, panting. He looked green, and so pale he was almost white. Kudos to him though, he shakily got up, wiping his mouth with the back of his jacket sleeve.
"You alright?" Minato asked.
Gai nodded, "I apologize for my embarrassing display of weakness," He responded, eyes hard, "It will not happen again."
Minato shook his head, "A lot of people have worse reactions than you do. The first time I used the Hiraishin I lost all my clothes and spent three hours vomiting naked in the training grounds."
Genma's mouth dropped.
Minato flushed a little, "Uh, don't tell anyone that," He added, "But all things considered, it was a pretty tame reaction."
Gai nodded slowly, wide-eyed. Minato smiled and turned to scan Kakashi's living room. No signs of a struggle, but the couches and coffee table were a little more offset than they should be.
"Right!" He started, tone not betraying his thoughts, "Let's split up. Gai, check the Laundry room and bathroom for anything that could be useful. Genma, check his bedroom and bathroom two, and I'll look through the living room and kitchen." Minato ordered, nodding when the two teenagers saluted and got to work.
Gai went down the hall into Kakashi's bathroom, opening the door to humidity. Beads of water clung on the roof as Gai stepped in, eyes darting around. Kakashi's towel was still wet, his shampoo and conditioner in the tub instead of on his neat products rack, and there was water around the sink. He had definitely been here and took a shower somewhat recently.
Curious, Gai crouched down and opened the cabinets under the faucet, eyes roaming through the various cleaning products. Nothing looked touched or out of place, so he shut them and quickly moved on to the laundry room.
Gai had to flick the light on as bright, white fluorescents illuminated the dark room. There was a standard washing machine and dryer, nothing fancy as he stepped in, boots squelching. He felt bad for a second that he was tracking slush into his rival's home, but it was more important to find him.
The dryer was empty, but when Gai peered into the washer, he found a sweater and pants crumpled up in there. Brow furrowing, he opened the glass door, reaching into the machine and pulling out the clothes.
They were dry, but crusty, which meant that they had been in there for a while. Opening up the sweater to take a better look at it, Gai paused as he examined it.
This was Obito's sweater.
It wasn't surprising that Obito had been here sometime recently since he and Kakashi were close, but knowing how his Rival was a clean freak, it was surprising that they weren't neatly folded to promptly be returned. Gai sighed, putting the sweater back in the washer and shutting the door.
In the kitchen, Minato ran his thumb down the side of a ceramic mug.
It had a cute little Christmas tree painted on it, with unwashed residue sitting in the bottom of the cup. It was unusual for Kakashi not immediately wash his dishes, especially if they were gross, and dipping his pinky in the liquid and into his mouth confirmed that it was very sugary tea.
Something that Kakashi did not drink.
So, someone had been here with him sometime recently. The tea had formed a light brown ring around the inside of the mug, so it was probably more than a few days ago. Minato placed it back in the sink, crouching down to open Kakashi's cabinets and pull out his tea set.
A box of green tea was the one placed closest to the edge, and it looked haphazardly opened, so Minato pulled it out and ripped open the top all the way. He peered inside to quickly count three bags missing, but only two mugs in the sink. It was plausible that the kid brewed another cup for himself since he did like green tea.
Obito liked green tea too, really sweet green tea.
Minato looked up at the sink, and then back down at the box as he shoved it back in the cabinet and shut the doors. It was possible that Obito had been at Kakashi's recently, but he'd have to confirm with Gai and Genma to see if they found anything.
The living room was clean, save for the weirdly arranged furniture which Minato didn't really have a theory for. Contemplating to himself, the blond stood back up to his full height, and turned his head when he heard Gai approach.
"Minato-sensei," The teenager greeted.
"Report."
Gai saluted, "No signs of a struggle, bathroom was messy and indicated that Kakashi had been here earlier to take a shower. Obito's clothes were found in the laundry room, dry, but in the way where it had been air drying for a few days." He responded quickly.
Minato nodded, "That adds up to what I got in the kitchen," He put a hand on his chin, "So we know that Obito was definitely here sometime in the past week, so we should go find him and see if he knows where Kakashi is."
Gai nodded slowly, "Right. Did Genma find anything?"
In Kakashi's bedroom, Genma shook uncontrolably as he tried not to throw up. He was shoved up against the door, in the corner, knees wobbly and face sheet-white as he stared locked in at the absolute mess that the room was in.
There was blood everywhere.
Genma blinked back his terrified tears as he tried to force his brain into ninja-mode, since he'd fucking killed worse than this. He was reduced to a terrified little kid in the face of some blood, even though he'd seen and crawled through worse.
Fuck.
It was all over the floor, dark red splotches pooling on his hardwood floors, streaks of bright red dragging across the floor, bloody handprints and sandals pressing up against the trims, leading into the bathroom.
The door was cracked open just enough for the warm, flickering light to cast a glow into Kakashi's bedroom. Genma absolutely did not want to go in there, the possibility of finding a dead body with this amount of fucking blood everywhere was higher than he'd like. Shit, the chances of him finding Kakashi's dead body?
With that thought, he collapsed into himself with a crash. Not even a moment later, the door flew open, almost smacking Genma in the face as he quickly blocked it, tears quietly streaming down his face.
"Oh fuck," Minato emerged, wide-eyed with a kunai gripped in his palm as his eyes darted around to rest on Genma hiding behind the door and the sheer amount of blood leading into the bathroom.
Genma heard Gai stumble in the doorway as Minato-sensei didn't waste a second before shoving the bathroom door open, kunai brandished in a protective stance. His stance faltered, and Genma let out a confused sob, slapping his hand over his mouth.
"He's not here," Minato said, swallowing thickly and lowering his weapon. He turned to face them, "Get out."
Genma didn't move for a moment too long, stuck frozen in the junction between the door and the wall. He quickly wiped at his eyes, shakily getting up and avoiding Minato-sensei's gaze as he stumbled out of Kakashi's bedroom and collapsed into the hallway beside Gai.
The door shut behind him.
The hallway was warmer than Kakashi's bedroom as Genma lay there on his side, eyes plastered on Gai's sitting form, beside the door with his knees tucked up against his chest. He found the strength to ask first; "Do you think he was attacked?"
Gai's voice was quiet, too quiet. Genma blinked back his tears, "I don't know."
Silence.
Then, "Do you think he's dead?"
Genma didn't bother answering that as Minato opened the door, stepping out of the hallway. His face was grim, eyes hard as he gently hauled the teenagers up to their unsteady feet.
"He's drunk," Minato started, "Empty bottles everywhere in the bathroom. I'm going to use Sage Mode to find him, okay?"
He didn't wait for an answer as the skin around his eyes changed color, irises shrinking with a spike of chakra. Genma and Gai shared another worried look as Minato's brow furrowed, head snapping to the side, "He's in the forest of death."
Almost like it didn't happen, the marks around his eyes disappeared, pupils returning back to normal.
Genma felt sick as Minato turned to face them with a serious expression, "Cat, Rabbit, take them home."
Two ANBU materialized out of thin air, heads bowed in greeting to their Hokage as Genma and Gai jerked backwards, hands clenching into fists.
"What?!" They cried in unison, swivling together back-to-back, facing the ANBU. It was Genma who continued, "You can't leave us out of this! Kakashi is our friend!"
Minato shook his head, "This mission has become too dangerous for you two," He answered, "I'm sorry, but it's out of your hands now. Take them home."
The teenagers protested for a moment before the two ANBU whisked them away.
Kakashi was a soldier first before anything else.
It was a snarl that jerked him awake, eye snapping open in alarm, as his arms shoved him up and away from the giant claw that slashed at the frosted-over dirt he was occupying. His head spun, vision still blurry as he stumbled back, blinking rapidly to try and assess the situation. Slowly, from the haphazard distance, thick droplets of rain obstructing his vision, his neck craned to stare at the towering monster staring right at him. It was easily twice his size, with dirty, yellow claws the size of his forearm and teeth bigger than his head. The rest of it's features was a blur as Kakashi distantly realized he was screwed.
Fuck.
Oh shit.
The beat growled again, spitting slobbery saliva out of it's mouth and onto the frozen floor. It lifted itself up on its hind legs, shoulders bunching, letting out a deafening roar as Kakashi sluggishly fumbled for a weapon. It attacked suddenly, bounding towards him in a ripple of it's ginormous back legs, a leap, which Kakashi was able to throw himself to the side and dodge. His landing was rough, boots leaving streaks in the hard mud, stumbling backwards even though his reflexes let him clumsily throw his kunai in the general vicinity of the beasts face.
The beast shrieked as it grazed it's ear, canines protruding and nails growing as it's eyes turned red, nature-chakra emitting in the form of steam from it's coat. It attacked once again, claws extended, pouncing on him. Kakashi cursed, drunkenly trying to dodge again but failing as the beast managed to rip it's nails into the length of his entire arm. The force of it sent him flying, hitting frozen dirt with a sharp crack as all the air from his lungs escaped, causing him to wheeze painfully as a scream tore from his throat. He rolled, injuries re-opening as rain made the ground slippery. Kakashi grunted in pain, reflexively slamming a hand on the wound, blood gushing from his arm. His flesh squelched under his bloody palm, red-hot as the flow slowed after a moment, trickling down his forearm and dripping off his elbow. His jacket sleeve was ruined, torn to shreds and hanging off his shaking figure.
Kakashi didn't know what to do, shakily getting up and instinctively jumping up a tree as the beast growled again. He hid behind the trunk, breathing hard as his vision tilted dangerously, hand grasping for cold, icy bark to steady himself. He shoved his headband up with bloody palms, uncovering Obito's eye to try and even out his blurred vision. He absently realized that he was losing too much blood, the gash, coupled with his injuries from earlier sent another chill down his spine that the frigid air didn't help. He felt slow and sluggish as Obito's eye spun, sharpening his vision enough to rotate his head and get a good look at the beast pacing below the tree.
Kakashi fumbled and pulled out his kunai, gripping them with an iron grip as his sticky blood made it hard to properly hold. The rain was pouring heavily still, bending and warping the red glow of Obito's Sharingan through the droplets. He leaned against the bark, shinobi-silent as he angled his body so that half of him was pressing up against the tree, and the other half was crouched, reading to spring up. He waited for a beat, whipping his kunai with okay-ish accuracy at the creatures face, making a sharp noise as it flew true and impaled the beast right through it's eyes and nose.
The beast screamed wildly, banging on the bottom of the tree Kakashi was on, blood spurting from its face, features transforming into an ugly cry. Kakashi wobbled, head spinning as he quickly flew through handsigns to finish it off, summoning blue-white lightning crackling at his fingertips. It burned at his cut up palm and through the sluggishly bleeding wound running through his entire arm, glowing and steaming in the rain, but Kakashi was too drunk and full of adrenaline to care.
"Lightning Style," Kakashi croaked out quietly, lips chapped. He aimed, "Lightning Arrow."
The lightning arrow shrieked and sparked with a loud bang as it hit the beast dead in its face, burning it from the inside out as the arrow cut through its fur and impaled it the whole way through. One second, two seconds, three seconds later the creature toppled abruptly, mouth hanging open in a silent roar, falling on the frosty grass with a heavy thud as mud splattered around it.
Kakashi squeezed his eye shut as a wave of nausea rolled over him, head spinning and losing his balance as he tilted and tumbled down the tree. He hit the ice again with a sharp crack, sliding down down down as the sky above blurred to grey-green-grey-green-grey-green-
Until he stopped.
Kakashi slammed into a mound of thickets and vines, the ropes creaking and giving in slightly with the force he pushed them with. He vaguely felt like throwing up as his head spun, sky refocusing into a dark grey. Groaning softly, Kakashi cracked open both his eyes to the sound of rushing water beneath him, the cliff ending just before he stopped. He ached, ached hard and tiredly as he giggled.
'Oh yeah,' He thought absently, smile on his face, 'the Naka River runs through this part of the forest'.
Rain splashed his bloodied and muddied clothing as he hissed in pain, sluggishly losing blood. He was probably definitely fucked as he started shivering hard, vision hazy and head foggy. His hands grasped the icy grass slowly as Kakashi strained, forcing himself to roll over on his back, wincing when his arms protested. He left a long trail of mud-red blood as he rolled down, streaks staining the grass below. The weight off his back was heavenly as Kakashi slowly realized that the painkillers were wearing off, sending shooting pains up his back and deep into his tissue from the torture wounds he had to endure as part of the ANBU exam.
He was pretty sure they weren't supposed to hit him that much or that hard.
Kakashi lay there as the rain washed his thoughts away, breathing shallowly as fatigue glued him in place. He hurt, and everything sucked. He desperately wished Obito loved him, he wished Rin didn't love Obito, he wished Minato and Kushina weren't expecting a kid, and he wished he didn't do that godforsaken fucking ANBU exam.
He wished his dad didn't kill himself.
A sob broke out of his throat as he cried, and finally wished that he didn't have to die here, alone. Kakashi was abruptly brought back to Obito's weird question that fateful day in the snow, when he turned his head to admire his lashes fluttering in the flurry.
Obito had stared straight down, kicking at the powder-white snow, and asked, "Do you ever think about dying?" It rattled Kakashi at the time, who's chest sqeezed and constricted at the thought that Obito had ever felt like he had, laying alone in his room, curled up with a box of cold, uneaten food as the night turned to day turned to night turned to day-
It scared him. He didn't want that to ever happen to Obito.
He remembered what he said, with false conviction, with a subtle bite, "Just because you die by yourself doesn't mean you're alone."
Well, Kakashi was a fucking liar.
He was alone, and he was going to die here alone, bleeding out from his injuries in the freezing rain as he trembled. At least Obito, and Rin, and Genma, and Gai, and Asuma, and Minato-sensei and Kushina, and their baby would outlive him. At least they wouldn't leave him and die while he watched.
In a way, this was a way more peaceful death than the life he'd imagined for himself was.
Kakashi closed his eyes.
Minato sped through the forest, trees blurring past him as lept from one branch to another. Rain obstructed his vision in a hazy gray, hair plastered wetly to his head as droplets dripped down his face and jaw. The wind and cold air stung his cheeks as his eyes scanned his surroundings. Part of Minato wanted to order an ANBU search team for him, but he knew that Kakashi would freak out if that happened.
Minato continuously shot his chakra out in pulses as he zipped through the trees, using an old-school technique to scan for chakra-signatures. The marker on Kakashi was still too weak to use to Hiraishin directly to the teenager, so Minato instead flashed around in spots he had marked before. A clearing, a ravine, the Naka river-
He froze as he landed on top of the rushing water, head snapping up the cliff as his chakra reacted. There in the distance, Minato could see a faint bundle of red-silver hidden in a pile of thickets. His heart hammered as the sharp tang of blood and alcohol hit him next, and Minato didn't stop to think before leaping up and scaling the edge of the cliff.
Minato's breaths came out in short pants as he reached the top, flashing In front of the pile of vines and roots that spanned the edge of the steep, icy cliff. There laying motionless, was Kakashi, just as he feared, covered in sticky brown-red blood. Minato immediately dropped to his knees, mud splattering up his thighs as his knees dug into the dirt, roughly grabbing the injured teenager and rolling him over, pressing two fingers to the soft fleshy part of his neck. Kakashi reacted sluggishly, eye snapping open and reflexively elbowing Minato in the gut. He caught the elbow, squeezing it tightly in a white-knuckled grip as he removed his fingers and stared wide-eyed at him.
"Minato-sensei?" Kakashi asked in a small voice, eyes hazy and unfocused, glowing an eerie red in the rain, "Am I dead yet?"
Minato let out a wheeze, like all the air from his gut was expelled as he choked out, "No," Grabbing Kakashi and pulling him into a big, crushing hug.
Kakashi's head lay limply into Minato's neck, eyes fluttering closed as he sighed, "Oh."
A pause, then a sob, " I don't want to die."
The rain drenched the two in freezing water, the sound the only one in the secluded forest. Minato blinked back tears, inhaling deeply, "I know," he said, squeezing tighter, ignoring the blood seeping from Kakashi's jacket, "I'm sorry."
Minato sat there for a little, knees muddy as his boots dug into the icy soil, arms wrapped tightly around his student. He buried his nose in Kakashi's limp, wet hair, focusing on his beating heart that he could feel through his thin sweatshirt. After a few moments, he gently re-positioned Kakashi in his arms, securely holding him in a bridal carry as the teenager opened his eyes again.
Minato swiftly stood, smiling down at him as the rain mixed with their tears, "I'm taking you to the hospital," He explained gently, "Okay?"
Kakashi closed his eyes again, "Okay."