Changing What is to Come (rewrite)

by jumantab

After Madara reveals the harrowing truth behind the Uchiha Massacre, Kakashi finds himself in a unique position to alter the course of history. His primary mission: to create a better future for his loved ones and prevent the tragic events set to unfold as Madara remains a constant threat to the peace. Time Travel. Focus on Kakashi & Minato, as well as Itachi & Naruto down the line

1. A Bizzare Situation

Kakashi woke up with a pounding headache and dizzying nausea. He sensed that his chakra was behaving erratically and was confused as to the reason why. Trying to temper down the dizzying feeling, he took a deep breath whilst lying down, brought his hands together in the familiar ram sign and then attempted to control his chakra and calm it down. As he started to feel his chakra swirling around his body, he noted with confusion that his body was exuding a large amount of spiritual energy.

Kakashi consciously swirled his chakra in the opposite direction of his natural counterclockwise state, attempting to impede the flow of his spiritual energy. He could feel the swirl of energy slow down as it tried to move in an unnatural direction. With time, he managed to slow down enough mental energy and expelled it outwards. The imbalance was still significant, so he set off on another round. He repeated the process over and over, allowing for the physical energy to balance better with the now-lowered spiritual levels.

Once the nausea started to subside as his body rebalanced, he turned his thoughts to the reasons why. Between the Orange Masked Akatsuki who claims he's Uchiha Madara declaring the Fourth Shinobi War and the revelation behind the truth of the Uchiha Massacre, Kakashi knew a storm was coming and his trouble magnet student was going to be in the middle of it. Not to mention what Naruto told him about Madara being the one behind the Kyuubi attack, there were so many secrets being uncovered and they all led back to Madara. He couldn't believe the mess one person could cause.

Was it possible that the heightened stress was affecting the spiritual energy component of his chakra? He heard of cases where mental strain caused chakra problems, but documented cases were driven by long-term psychological or physical torture. Maybe the drums of war at their doorstep impacted him more than he realized? Not only was another war coming, but Naruto was a prime target. If he had any chance of protecting Naruto, he needed to seriously level up his abilities, especially if Uchiha Madara was involved.

Then there was the truth about Itachi. After Itachi killed his entire clan, Kakashi felt like he failed in passing on the Will of Fire to his junior in ANBU. He recalled the first time he heard about the massacre; at the time he couldn't believe Itachi would commit such atrocities against his own family. He had always felt a kinship with the younger Uchiha and was devastated that the shinobi he trusted went down such a dark path. The truth gave him some closure in that regard, yet opened old wounds about the darker side of how Konoha is governed.

He understood that this was why Sasuke chose revenge once more and could relate to a degree. After his father's suicide, Kakashi also saw Konoha in a different light. His father was a legendary hero who protected the Leaf and dedicated his whole life to the village. One mistake and he was ostracized to the point of choosing to take his own life. He was beyond angry in the first years following his father's death, but Konoha was his home and he wanted to protect the village which meant the world to his father, and with time, Kakashi himself. He wondered how far Sasuke would go down the avenger path and if he could truly be redeemed.

The train of his thoughts did nothing to alleviate his pounding headache. With a groan, Kakashi moved to sit up, massaging his temples with a grimace. Taking in deep breaths, he waited for the eb in his head to slowly subside before Kakashi finally took stock of his surroundings. He expected to find the same lodgings he, Naruto and Tenzo were resting at, but found himself in an unknown location that was somehow familiar.

With that observation, his instincts immediately kicked in and he pushed the covers to the side and jumped out of the bed to get in a defensive position… or rather, he tried. As he moved to get out of the bed, his legs didn't reach the floor as expected and it knocked him off balance, causing him to tumble. With his honed reflexes, he quickly stuck his hands onto the floor, pushing himself into a makeshift handstand before jumping forwards and righting himself before he could land face first on the floor. The landing was shaky, but he still managed to stand upright, yet the tumbling movements brought upon another wave of sickness that made him sway on his feet. That is when he noticed that his legs were shorter, far shorter.

In response, Kakashi put his hands into the known seals to dispel any genjutsu, however, his shout of 'kai' did nothing and Kakashi's dread grew. His chakra still felt weird, but he knew that he performed the release properly, albeit not as efficiently as he usually does. He opened his left eye to aid in the situation, but the familiar field of vision that Obito's Sharingan displayed did not appear. Kakashi tried to dispel a genjutsu again, this time channeling even more chakra and concentrating more on maintaining proper chakra control but was disappointed once more with the lack of change.

He cursed for not noticing that an enemy caught him in a genjutsu and his concern for Naruto and Tenzo spiked. If the genjutsu was strong enough to nullify the Sharingan, it had to be another Sharingan user who had caught him, so he concluded that Madara had come back sooner than expected. That begged the question of why Madara hadn't simply eliminated him, or why Tenzo and Naruto hadn't dispelled the genjutsu yet.

Highly confused, Kakashi began observing his surroundings, trying to get more hints. If he was indeed caught in a genjutsu, there was nothing for it expect to hope that his teammates dispel it. He spread out his chakra feeling the area around him and could sense the chakra of what would be regular citizens and shinobi milling around. Observing his surroundings, he found them quite familiar as if plucked from old memories. The bed was situated under the window adorned with a blue kunai patterned comforter. To the left of his bed, his desk was overlooking another window, where scrolls and paper were strewn all over the surface in a messy bundle. A bookcase was standing next to it filled with books and numerous scrolls, some he collected while on missions outside of Konoha while others he had inherited from his father. To the right of the bed a closet and some shelves that stored a few more books. In front of the bed, two doors were closed, one that led to a small kitchen while another to a small bathroom. The quaint corner apartment was just as he recalled.

In fact, he could smell his own scent all over the room. This level of scent not possible from a one-night stay, rather, a degree indicating that Kakashi spent an ordinate amount of time here. Olfactory genjutsu were rare, and the level of detail that went into this genjutsu had to have a purpose beyond delaying him from a fight. Why would Madara place him in a genjutsu that dropped him into his childhood home, reverting him into a child and taking the time to add his scent and foreign chakra signals outside?

As time passed by with him simply standing in the middle of the room with no changes, a genjutsu was becoming less and less likely. If he got trapped mid-fight that was still ongoing, his teammates would have cancelled it by now. If his teammates lost, then Madara would have moved forward by either killing him or whatever other purpose he could have in mind.

Concluding that he was most likely in no immediate danger but has found himself in another set of bizarre events, Kakashi turned his thoughts to the mystery at hand. Kakashi sat back down on the floor, taking on a meditative position. This time, he studied the flow of his chakra, reading the various energy levels for clues. He focused on the feel of his spiritual energy, and it was clearing overpowering his physical side. Comparing it to the natural feel of his chakra though, it felt normal, familiar, comfortable. Shifting his focus to his physical energy, the energy swirling inside him felt weaker than usual.

Was there a jutsu that could reverse aging? That would explain his small stature and why his physical energy suddenly plummeted, driving his chakra system out of whack. Yet if that were the case, why would he be in his old bedroom? Was it possible that it wasn't his adult body turned to that of a child, rather, his soul sent back in time. The second he thought of that possibility he dismissed it, there is no such thing as going back in time.

At that point, Kakashi decided to summon Pakkun as an experiment to simply gain more data. Biting his thumb and running through the familiar hand seals, Kakashi called his most faithful companion. Yet, Kakashi only managed to create a cloud of smoke and growled in frustration. This time he consciously mixed his energies as opposed to weaving through the signs as if it was second nature to him, and Kakashi attempted the summoning jutsu once more. In a puff smoke, Pakkun appeared before him much to his relief. Before could Kakashi get a word in, Pakkun addressed him.

"So, it's not just us," Pakkun said evenly taking in Kakashi's form, his bored tone not able to fully mask the concern the pug was feeling.

"Did all of you get smaller?" Kakashi asked for clarification.

"Yes," Pakkun sighed.

"…and this isn't a genjutsu," Kakashi mused out loud.

"No," Pakkun confirmed and started sniffing around "it's your scent alright. What's happening?"

"No idea," Kakashi could feel his headache increasing again, with a sigh he closed his eyes, dipping his head upwards and pinching the top of his nose in annoyance. "I'd say we've gone back in time, but that's ridiculous."

"Is that the best you could come up with?" Pakkun was unamused.

"Any better ideas?" Kakashi asked rhetorically before plopping down on the bed, his legs dangling in the air as he they were too short to reach the floor.

"You're the genius, not me," Pakkun shrugged before jumping on the bed next to Kakashi.

"You spoke at four months," Kakashi reminded him with a small fond smile. Pakkun's only response was a small snort of amusement before they sat in silence, each lost in their own thoughts. If it really were true, what would that mean? Was this a second chance? Did he even want one? Were his students dead? Would they be born again, and if so, would they ever be the same people he grew to love?

He was hit with a flood of emotions from melancholy and loss to a glimmer of hope to anxiousness all at once. If he had truly time-traveled, was there a way to go back? Even if there was a way back home, should he take it? This could be an opportunity for him to give his students a happier childhood. Even if their bond would never be the same, didn't he owe them that much? They were the most precious people in his life now. His entire life he had sacrificed so much for the village and the future children of Konoha, couldn't he do the same for his students?

With that train of thought he felt a stab of annoyance; after so many years in darkness, he had finally become happy. Didn't he deserve that happiness? Why him? Couldn't anyone else have been thrown into this mess? Be saddled with this responsibility? A restless energy overcame him, and he stood up abruptly only to find Pakkun giving him looks of concern.

"Before we get ahead of ourselves, we need to get more evidence," Kakashi mumbled, "let's go for a walk and try to detect if there is anything out of the ordinary. If we don't find any other explanation, then although it's improbable, time travel will become the only likely conclusion. Then we can worry about what comes next."

"Sounds like a plan," Pakkun replied faithfully and Kakashi nodded gratefully.

Kakashi then walked over to the wooden closet and picked out the familiar blue baggy pants and navy t-shirt with white stripes on the side. Throwing them on quickly, he decided to forego the arm guards and made for the desk. Leaning slightly more on one leg, briefly noting that uncomfortable feeling of walking around heads shorter, Kakashi grabbed the calendar and marked the year as three years before the Kyuubi attack.

"I seem to be 11 years old," Kakashi informed Pakkun.

"So, you've been in Team Minato for two years, are Obito and Rin chunin yet?"

"It's July so yes, if I recall they would have just been promoted two months ago," Kakashi replied as he placed the calendar back, "meaning we're getting training missions to get ready to be sent to the frontlines soon. I should become a jonin in around a year. If this is all true, that would give me a little bit less than one year to change Obito's fate."

Kakashi grabbed a stack of papers and started riffling through them for more clues, "these are my notes for Chidori, so the timeline measures up with the date. I seem to have just started coming up with the jutsu. Some of these notes are hilariously wrong though, I'd laugh if the situation wasn't so aggravating."

"In what way?" Pakkun was curious.

"The technical details are right but the way mini-me was trying to piece them together to create a stable form of chakra is off. The elemental manipulation is on point but mini-me is still using the logic of the base chakra form of the Rasengan instead of the proper shape manipulation. He wants to adjust the shape but is still leaning towards forms that favor explosive damage like the Rasengan despite envisioning the cutting effects of Chidori. Lightning is more suitable for precise attacks, thus favors a different form," Kakashi elaborated before going through more stacks of paper.

"Maybe mini-you is still trying to add nature manipulation to the Rasengan," Pakkun suggested but Kakashi shook his head.

"I never tried to do that theoretically, only tried that hands-on and failed. In hindsight, that was a stupid move," Kakashi added. "Nothing else here is very interesting, studying some basic seals, the theory behind the Water Formation Wall, no mission report which means we're in a training period. I'm probably missing a meet up with my team if anything. Regardless, the accuracy of having these notes means we're definitely not in a genjutsu, I can't imagine the amount of planning it would take to create such a scenario. I'd say it's the Mangekyo Sharingan, but Madara's is a space-time jut…"

Kakashi suddenly felt dread as the pieces came together, "Pakkun, if we really did time-travel, then the only explanation that it's a jutsu of Madara's. If that's the case, then he probably time-traveled too. Maybe I traveled too by mistake? Maybe it's because Obito's Mangekyo is also a space-time jutsu? Maybe other people time traveled? There are too many possible scenarios but imagine how easier it would be for Madara to move along his plans if he has fore-knowledge! Come on, we need to see if anyone else could be a time traveler and we can't do that here."

With that, Kakashi and Pakkun made their way outside, Kakashi quickly locking the door and activating the seals, filing away the need to upgrade them down the line if he was in the past. Walking around Konoha, Kakashi first peered at the Hokage Mountain to only find three Hokage looking down at the village. As he started making his way towards the Hokage Administration Building with Pakkun trotting by his side, he kept an ear out on the conversations around him hoping to pick up some clues.

While he had moved apartments down the line, he had walked this path so many times that he easily followed the proper route without much focus. There weren't many conversations around him as he meandered through the familiar side streets, making his way towards the main market area in the village. However, as stalls and shops started lining up the side of the road, the conversations picked up.

"Don't worry, I'm sure Ukai kun will make it back safely."

"They're fifty-two ryou and I won't go down, take it, or leave it. These medicinal herbs are getting scarce with the war. I hope our ninja can secure more soon but until they do, I can't give you a lower price."

"Aren't you worried about sending your kids to the academy during these times? Yuki keeps asking me to join but I can't bring myself to sign him up with a war happening."

"I already need more kunai, with so many missions I feel like I'm restocking my weapons every other week!"

"Have you talked to Saryu san recently? She is still mourning, and I can't get her to leave the house. Have you had better luck?"

"It's been a while since we were in the village at the same time. Do you want to grab some… oi look, it's the Hatake brat. Still can't believe they made him into a ninja."

He slowed down as he heard his name coming in a conversation between two men a few meters away and then pretended to be interested in the books a nearby stall was displaying, hoping to catch useful tidbits. He was far away enough that they wouldn't suspect him listening into their conversation, but with his advanced sense of hearing, it was easy to hear everything they were saying.

"I heard he really helped out on a mission with Idaki with his lightning style jutsu by negating the opponent's techniques to provide him an opening; he is a genius after all."

"I know he's a genius, but Sakumo was also legendary and look at the mess he created. It's not his skill I'm worried about, it's whether he can be trusted. Besides what is he doing with Idaki on a mission, isn't the brat under Minato san's wing now?"

"Well, his teammates are still fresh ninja so they can't keep him on D-Rank missions. The kid has been a chunin for years."

"Good, at least he's out there risking his life, that's the least the brat could do. Maybe he'll die and we'd be rid of him."

"He's just a kid, Kanzaki. Besides, the more ninja we have fighting the better."

Pakkun started growling and Kakashi uttered his name lowly but with urgency. He couldn't risk bringing attention to himself and the villagers' opinions of him were the least of his concerns now. Pretending he finished browsing the collection, he placed one of the books back on the display and started walking once more. When the men saw him approach, they changed the subject to other topics.

That said, the information about Idaki san was useful. He recalled that mission for transporting supplies to one of the front lines and being ambushed by Iwa ninja. If his memory served him correctly, this is the time when forces on both sides started to dwindle so more enemies were making it past the front lines and deeper into enemy territory. As such, many skirmishes would break out closer to the villages and genin were no longer being sent out on many missions, rather focused on supporting the village until they were better prepared.

As he made his way towards the Hokage Building, most of the conversations were mundane. From the small snippets he heard so far, there appeared to be no changes to the timeline as he remembered it. One conversation on the other side of the road, however, made him stand at attention once more, this time opting to stand at the side of the road pretending to observe those coming and going.

"You wouldn't believe what I heard from Yoku chan. Fugaku sama took the Uchiha heir with him to the battlefield! What would happen if Iwa ninja managed to kill him? That would have been a disaster. Can you imagine the moral boost the Iwa scum would have? I think it was just too risky," a woman bemoaned.

"Fugaku sama only took him to a battlefield after the fighting was done," the man who appeared to be her husband shrugged as he balanced bags of vegetables, "I think it's a good idea to inspire the kid to train hard. The Uchiha are some of our strongest ninjas, and while I don't like most of them since they think they're better than everyone, you can't deny their strength."

"But he's too young, and what if there were reinforcements?" the woman wasn't convinced as selected carrots and placed them in a bag, before handing them to her husband and ripping out another plastic bag placed around by the vegetable stand.

"The Legendary Sannin became genin at six years old and look at how strong they are now!" the man reminded her with less than a patient tone, "Even the Hatake brat became a genin at five and is active in the field. Look at Uchiha Shisui, he's already making waves. It may not be completely safe, but exposing geniuses to the realities of the ninja world early has helped shape them into strong weapons. Don't spew nonsense about them being kids, we're ninja."

At that statement, Kakashi felt his temper rise but didn't outwardly show any reaction other than shifting his legs to place more weight on his right one and stuffing his hands deeper in his pockets.

"I wasn't going to," the women seemed to be getting annoyed at her husband, "I may only be a chunin but even I know that a ninja village's strength is linked to how many geniuses it breeds. I'm with you. I just think the heir is still far too young to protect himself for a few seconds if anything went wrong. What is he, five?"

"He's four," the man shrugged, "He also had a bunch of Uchiha with him, he was fine."

Kakashi had heard enough and jumped to the roofs. Pakkun, who was picking up on his summoners' mood, expected the move and was quick to join him. He didn't expect Kakashi to stumble and overshoot his boost.

"You ok?" Pakkun asked with concern.

"Struggling with a bit of chakra imbalance. Anyway, it's interesting what a few years can do to change your perspective on things," Kakashi sighed as he moved to jump to the next roof, this time accounting for his chakra issues as Pakkun followed. "I forgot how harsh people's opinions were during times of war. Well, not forgot per say, but I didn't really focus much on what was happening around me, just on becoming stronger and stronger. This was just background noise."

"What really triggered you though?" Pakkun questioned, filing the chakra imbalance for a later conversation "you didn't care when those men spoke about you worse than these two did. Was it Itachi?"

With that line of questioning Kakashi stopped at the next roof and turned to Pakkun, the pain in his eyes clear to the loyal pug. "He was a kid, Pakkun. He was only thirteen, I can't imagine what he had to endure. It also explains why he didn't do anything that day in Konoha when he came with Kisame. I always wondered why he chose torture despite having such a window to simply kill me, Asuma and Kurenai."

"He did stab you for three days straight," Pakkun noted, "I wouldn't call that nothing."

"Itachi was never the type to torture his victims, always going for the swift death," Kakashi shook his head "I was so blind." Ironically, Kakashi thought about his phrase of looking underneath the underneath. In hindsight, the signs were there, and he missed them. If anything, that was probably why Itachi was brutal; it pushed Kakashi to believe that the comrade he once knew no longer existed, instead of really consider the implications. He truly had failed in so many ways. His heart heavier Kakashi continued onwards until he made it to the Hokage Building.

"I can take it from here Pakkun," Kakashi announced, not wanting Pakkun to attract attention as others would wonder why a summon was there.

"I'll wait for a summon soon," Pakkun understood, "whatever this ends up being, you're not alone." Before Kakashi could return the gesture with gratitude, Pakkun disappeared in a puff of smoke. Kakashi smiled regardless, promising himself to treat the pug to some steak sometime soon. The more the day went on, the more time travel was a possibility. It also made sense that Pakkun and the pack time traveled alongside him as summoning was a space-time jutsu binding the summoner and the creatures of the bond.

As he walked inside, he sat in one of the benches alongside ninja waiting to meet with the Third to receive their missions or give a debrief about a completed one. If anyone had time traveled, there is a good chance they would come here and demand to speak to the Hokage. Nobody paid him any heed, assuming he was there for ninja affairs. His thoughts continued to plague him as he observed the ninja coming and going, but it was becoming harder to concentrate as his mind kept drifting back to Itachi and Naruto.

Unfortunately, after around two hours when the office started winding down, he concluded that even if there were other time travelers, they weren't coming forward. Furthermore, there were no ninja who seemed to be acting differently or simply observing as he was. With that, he walked back outside and noted that dusk was starting to rise in Konoha.

The nausea was starting to return as his spiritual energy built up once more over the last three hours. Not wanting to catch unwanted attention by dispelling his chakra sporadically in one of the busiest areas of Konoha, Kakashi started to make his way back home on foot. His progress was slow as the dizziness refused to subside but the very idea of jumping on the roofs made his world turn.

Luckily, nobody paid him any heed as usual, and he made it back to his apartment complex unhindered. By the time he had made it home, night had fallen on Konoha, and Kakashi was shaking slightly from the exertion, sweat falling down his face and his breathing shallow. With his head to the ground, Kakashi grabbed the staircase railing to support his ascent to his apartment on the upper floors. As he slowly made his way up, he started to lightly expel some energy as he wasn't sure he would make it upstairs if he waited any longer.

"Finally," Kakashi muttered when he saw the familiar door. He quickly opened the door, fumbling a bit at the lock. He walked inside, closed the door behind him and then collapsed on the floor, leaning his head back on the doorframe. He spread out his left leg outwards and lifted his right leg as he began to expel spiritual energy more readily.

As his chakra system stabilized once more, he could feel the dizziness abate. This is going to be a problem. He was so consumed by the process that he didn't sense the presence of someone at his window till they called out his name.

"Kakashi! What's the matter?"

Kakashi lifted his head and found his sensei crouched at the window, a flood of emotions washing over him as he took in the face of his very well and alive sensei. His sensei, who left the world too soon and was unable to meet his bright son beyond a few minutes in the Kyuubi's seal. His fate was too cruel. In fact, his sensei of twenty-one years was now a good decade younger than Kakashi himself. That brought forth a protective instinct in Kakashi, as opposed to the usual sense of tranquility. It was now his job to protect his young sensei, not the other way around.

While he gathered his thoughts, Minato had already opened the window by the desk and made his way inside, kneeling in front of Kakashi who was still sprawled out by the door.

"Kakashi, what are you feeling?" a sense of alarm in Minato's voice as Kakashi failed to reply and only stared at him.

"Nausea," Kakashi answered to reassure his sensei, years in ANBU enabling him to mask his emotions quickly "but it subsided, I'm fine."

He saw Minato placed one hand on Kakashi's forehead and frowned "There's no fever. Any idea what brought this on?"

Kakashi batted his sensei's hand away, "it's probably just something I ate," he offered as an excuse "I thought a bit of fresh air would help but that was clearly a mistake."

Minato gave a small noise of acknowledgment before he extended out a hand, "Can you stand?" Without replying, Kakashi took the offered hand and allowed his sensei help him get back on his feet, his stomach choosing to growl at that moment. Kakashi had been so wrapped up in the events of the day that he had forgotten to eat anything. Minato picked up on it and raised an eyebrow at the younger ninja, "Have you eaten?"

"I was feeling too nauseous," Kakashi shook his head slightly and was secretly glad he used food poisoning as an excuse, it conveniently fit.

"Come on," Minato led Kakashi to the kitchen, "I'll make you some soup." Part of Kakashi wanted to tell the man to leave as his head was still swimming, but he also wanted to simply enjoy his sensei's company again, something he never thought he'd be able to. "Where do you keep the pots… and well… everything?" Minato had never been in Kakashi's kitchen before.

"I got it," Kakashi shook his head fondly and began navigating around the kitchen. He first started with exploring the ingredients in his apartment, not sure what he had in stock and what he could cook.

While his student was busy setting things up, Minato took the moment to examine the neat kitchen and noted multiple cookbooks balanced at the side of a counter. Curious, Minato walked over and browsed the titles ranging from simple dishes, to specialized ones for certain cuisines. "You enjoy cooking?" he couldn't help but ask, surprise lacing his voice.

"It started off as a necessity after father died," Kakashi answered his sensei, his face inside the fridge as he explored the items inside, decided to make some vegetable soup, and started taking out the necessary ingredients, "a ninja must also make sure to eat a healthy balanced diet. That said, I did find myself enjoying it and like to try out new recipes when I have some time."

Minato was surprised at the mention of Sakumo but decided not to dig deep on the sensitive topic and instead replied "I've never seen you bring anything to training other than simple bento boxes," as he watched Kakashi move back and forth from the fridge to the counter, placing radishes, carrots, green onions, mushrooms, tofu, satoimo and burdock root on the countertop.

"Can't have something heavy whilst training," Kakashi shrugged "I usually cook meals for breakfast and dinner only. Anyway, do you like Kenchinjiru Soup? Any ingredients I should avoid?"

"Do what you will," Minato smiled as his student began preparing the ingredients and wash the vegetables, "how can I help?"

"Can you tear the tofu into smaller pieces while I prepare the vegetables?" Kakashi asked as he started drying off the vegetables with a kitchen cloth.

Minato obliged and couldn't help but note the surrealism of the moment. When Kakashi didn't show up for training, he was highly concerned as he knew it would take something serious for his strict student not to join them. He even debated canceling training then and there, or at least sending a shadow clone, but refrained from being a mother hen as Kushina often accused him of.

Regardless, he wasn't surprised to find Kakashi feeling unwell, but would never have thought he would end up cooking by his student's side. His student, who was currently midway through chopping green onions with speedy efficiency. The fact that Kakashi was apparently an experienced cook was a surprise and he didn't expect the young ninja to hone any techniques that weren't directly correlated with ninja skills.

Minato watched his student take the bowl of tofu he prepared with a quick thanks and make his way to place them with the rest of the ingredients in the pot on the stove and stir them. After the liquid started to bubble, Kakashi turned down the heat to simmer and turned the knob for the timer. "Should take 10 minutes or so," he announced, "I just need to skim off the foam from the surface every now and then. Would you like some water while we wait?"

"You're quite the host," Minato nodded. Kakashi gave him an unamused roll of the eyes as he went to fetch some cups, causing Minato to chuckle fondly. He grabbed one of the chairs at the table and turned it around, sitting down and leaning forward on the top rail of the chair.

"So, what did I miss?" Kakashi asked as he handed his sensei a cup before downing his own glass and moved to refill it.

"Since you weren't there we worked on Obito and Rin's sneaking abilities. You're already ahead in that regard so you didn't miss anything," Minato informed him, taking another sip of the water.

Kakashi jumped to sit on the countertop, checking on the soup as he replied, "How'd they do?"

Minato raised an eyebrow at the line of questioning. Since when did Kakashi care about Obito and Rin's training? Out loud he said, "Rin is displaying advanced chunin level skills, she really improved in masking her chakra. Obito does well at the start but is struggling with suppressing his chakra for long periods of time."

"Rin always had good chakra control, even at the Academy" Kakashi noted, not surprised with the information. He saw that foam was starting to form and grabbed the ladle before starting to scoop some of it out and stirring the contents a bit.

"Becoming a medical ninja at her age is a testament to that," Minato added his two cents, recalling how she already knew basic medical jutsu when she first joined his team. With those skills and her dream to save as many of her fellow ninja as possible, Minato arranged for her to take medical lessons at the hospital two to three times a week early in the team's formation. He was very proud to see her flourish under the tutelage of the Medical Corp and always received stellar feedback from the hospital.

"With Obito's clumsiness, it's a good thing she is," Kakashi snorted, knowing he needed to jab at Obito otherwise his sensei would get suspicious. He couldn't change his personality over night after all.

"Kakashi," Minato gave a light warning as he spun the now empty cup in his hand. Kakashi just shrugged and refrained from replying. With nothing more to say on that topic, a comfortable silence fell between the two as the smell of the vegetable broth created a homely atmosphere. The silence was only broken occasionally when Kakashi tended to the soup.

Minato, unfortunately, wasn't the best of cooks. Sure, he could get by, but he only knew how to make some basic dishes. Luckily, Kushina was a wonderful cook and readily prepared meals for him. She would also occasionally come by their training grounds to feed his students. Growing up as an orphan, Kushina always longed to have home cooking, and thus, strived to learn cooking from an early age. As her skills grew, feeding those she loved was something that brought her immense joy. It appeared that his student was more similar to the love of his life than he thought.

Kakashi, on the other hand, watched his sensei fondly from the corner of his eye. He nearly snorted in amusement when his sensei got a slightly sappy look in his eyes, clearly thinking about Kushina. His sensei was always head over heels for the redhead and it was easy to read the look of love now adorning his sensei's face. He wondered if his sensei was always easy to read and he simply didn't make the effort in the past, or if it was just his years of experience.

"It's ready," Kakashi announced after a few minutes as the timer rang, jumping down from the counter, turning off the stove and starting to pour some soup into the bowls, "you can stop thinking about Kushina san now," he couldn't help but add.

He was rewarded with a splutter of indignation, "I wasn't," his sensei lied as he stood up to line the chair back properly before sitting down again. Kakashi placed a bowl of soup in front of his sensei before raising both his eyebrows and titling his head slightly in an unspoken gesture of disbelief. "Thanks for the food," his sensei avoided the topic and moved to grab the spoon.

Kakashi obliged him and let the matter go. He sat down on the table in front of his sensei and took down his mask to join his sensei in eating, not seeing the point since his sensei already saw his face numerous times by that point.

"This is delicious!" Minato exclaimed, his eyes shining with joy. Although it was clear Kakashi knew his way around the kitchen, he still didn't expect the rich flavors that exploded in his mouth. He had vegetable soup many times, but this was on par with restaurant quality. Then again, he shouldn't have been astonished, his student was a genius and surely any skill he decided to pick up would be developed with care.

"It pairs well with sake," Kakashi nodded, a joy bubbling in his chest at the pleased tone of his sensei. After everything the man had done for him, it was nice to repay him, even if it was with a small gesture of gratitude of cooking him a basic meal.

"Speaking from experience," Minato joked before taking another mouthful.

"Of course not, sensei," Kakashi replied staying true to his younger persona, "even if I wasn't underage, it's one of the three prohibitions."

"That doesn't mean you can't drink at all when you're of age," Minato lectured, "just make sure you have it under control." To prove his point, Minato unbuckled a latch and took out a storing scroll, bringing forth a small bottle of sake.

Kakashi watched his sensei add a bit of sake to his soup and stirring it, "Should I be concerned you have sake readily available?" he asked dryly.

"Don't be so melodramatic," Minato hummed with amusement, "this is useful on missions for when you want to gather information. You'd be surprised how much more open people are over a bit of sake." Then he took another mouthful and sighed in content, "You're right, that really hits the spot."

Kakashi managed to control himself from teasing his sensei further on the matter so as not to come across off as acting strangely. It was much more difficult than he thought. He got so used to trolling people and watching them fume never failed to bring him joy. It was no wonder Jiraya enjoyed teasing him growing up, he could now appreciate the humor of his younger self's reactions.

"So how are you feeling?" Minato asked once they had both finished their bowls.

"Better, but still a bit fatigued," Kakashi wanted to get out of training the next day to get his bearings and determine the best approach moving forward. Moreover, he knew he needed to see his teammates from afar before meeting them again on training day, lest he have a severe reaction. Not to mention he needed to sort out his chakra imbalance as well and get used to moving around in his smaller body. He didn't need to give Minato any more reason to be suspicious or observe him closely.

"Maybe you should go to the hospital and get checked out?" Minato suggested before grabbing the plates and placing them in the sink, signaling Kakashi to remain seated when he moved to help. Kakashi typically trained till he dropped, so seeing him voluntarily admit to needing rest when he wasn't bleeding out or lying unconscious was out of character for the young ninja.

Kakashi grimaced visibly at the mention of the hospital, "No need for hospitals, it's just an upset stomach. One more day of rest and I should be back to normal. If I go to the hospital, they'll keep me under observation for days or some such nonsense."

"Right, I forgot about your fear of hospitals," Minato said as he started washing the dishes.

"I'm not afraid of hospitals, sensei," Kakashi frowned at the impression, "it's just deathly boring there and the antiseptic smell can be nauseating with my advanced sense of smell. There are much better ways to spend time instead of lying down in a bed for days." Minato was hinting at Kakashi's desire to always leave the hospital as soon as possible, which was due to him wanting to train and not waste time resting. However, he didn't expect his sensei to assume that he was afraid of hospitals. After getting the Sharingan and spending many weeks in the hospital for chakra exhaustion, Kakashi tried to avoid the place as much as possible.

"If you say so," Minato didn't seem to be convinced as he placed the now clean dishes in the drying rack. Kakashi let it slide, not really wanting to get into that as it wasn't important in the grand scheme of things.

"I'll leave you to rest then," Minato walked over to Kakashi who was still seated at the table and ruffled his head. Kakashi ducked his head to the left to avoid the action, but Minato continued unfazed. "Take tomorrow off and I'll see you the day after. If you need anything else, send one of your Ninken to find me."

"Will do, thanks" Kakashi nodded and followed his sensei to the door as he made his way out of the apartment. With that, his bid his sensei farewell before locking the door.

Minato's arrival helped ease his concerns and distract him a bit, but Kakashi still felt drained from the events of the day. He went through his bedtime routine, wondering how he would quiet the thoughts in his head long enough to get some sleep.

After changing into his nightwear, he walked into the bathroom and startled at his reflection. It would take some time getting used to seeing his younger face staring back at him. As he brushed his teeth, part of him selfishly hoped he would wake up tomorrow, everything would be back to normal, and he could chalk all of this up to a weirdly realistic dream. Conflictingly, he also wanted to stay in the past to spend more time with his sensei and old teammates. He gurgled some water to wash the toothpaste out of his mouth before waking back to his bed.

The covers of his bed were still sprawled out in a messy heap, a sight Kakashi wasn't used to as he routinely made his bed each day. Nonetheless, tidying his bed was the least of his concerns today. With a sigh he lay down on the mattress and covered himself with the blanket, staring up at the ceiling.

At first, he was considering the actions he needed to take the next day to get a plan started for changing the past, then he mulled over his memories to try and paint a picture of what to expect of his teammates, then he would jump back to the truth of the Uchiha Massacre before settling at the thought of his students no longer existing. Every time his mind wandered to his students, he immediately changed course, not wanting to process the implications of their somewhat 'death'. As his thoughts shifted, so did he. It was around two more hours before sleep started to claim him.

One good thing did come out of Minato's visit. While in the afternoon Kakashi did not want to sort through this mess, enjoying his sensei's company strengthened his resolve to create a better future for those he loved and to foil Madara's plans. He had always been the protector from the shadows. Maybe that was his fate. It was time to stop wallowing in self-pity and take up that role once more. With that promise, he finally fell into a deep slumber.