CHAPTER 15.5
One of Kakashi earliest memory was from when he and Naruto were four years old.
Their father sat them down and carefully explained to them why Naruto didn't look like him, or any picture of their mother.
Naruto was adopted; Sakumo had found him at their front doorstep as a baby, soon after Kakashi's mother had died during childbirth, and had taken the child in without quarrel or question. Sakumo freely welcomed the child into his family and raised the boy as his own.
Even before then, Kakashi had a feeling that his brother wasn't actually related to him by blood.
Naruto had bright, pale eyes.
"Byakugan," Sakumo called it. "All-seeing eyes."
Naruto was chatty and expressive, drawing the other kids they played with around him like bees to a flower.
Or moths to a flame.
Naruto had a way about him that charmed children and adults alike, making him quick friends and impressing adults with his sense of reasoning.
Naruto was also special, like Kakashi.
They understood lessons faster than others, and they were smarter than those their age.
A teacher in their preschool had visited their home and urged Sakumo to enrol his sons in the Ninja Academy. At four years old, they had impressed the Third Hokage to have him personally check on their training sessions with their father.
"Putting aside you're training them at such a young age; they're natural prodigies," the man said. "They truly are exceptional children. Thunder struck twice for you, Sakumo."
Kakashi happily shared the news with his brother that their father had decided they begin schooling in the Ninja Academy, and their family celebrated with ice cream and pastries that evening.
But even then, Kakashi saw the thoughtful look in Naruto's pale eyes whenever he looked up at their father.
That was another thing.
Naruto was always thinking.
Those brief periods between charming everyone and training with their father, Kakashi caught his brother retreating into his thoughts with a slight frown and a wrinkled brow—
Naruto's eyes danced with growing laughter and he shoved Kakashi's shoulder. "You're being weird."
Kakashi swelled up with righteous indignation. "I'm being weird?" he shoved Naruto in retaliation, fighting the urge to yell. "You have that dumb look on your face again."
Naruto scoffed. Instead of pushing his brother, he snagged Kakashi's hand and pulled him with him as he clambered onto a mossy log. Naruto steadied a moment, slowly helping Kakashi up.
The isolated training grounds they had been marching through were located in Konoha's easternmost corners, populated sparsely by trees and with tall grass that reached their knees. A gentle, muddy stream moved beneath the log. The area was so disused that nature had retaken over it, erasing any indication that the place used to be a training ground.
"We're going to get in trouble," Kakashi said with a harsh look at Naruto, adjusting his orange mask with his free hand and refusing to release Naruto's grip. "Sensei says that if we skip class again, we're going to be in trouble!"
"Then why are you here?" Naruto joked, beaming at Kakashi.
Kakashi pouted.
Naruto laughed, reassuring his brother with a squeeze of his hand. "It's fine."
They slowly and steadily shuffled along the log, with Naruto taking the lead. A few steps left, Naruto and Kakashi jumped to the other side of the stream, their feet landing in the soft, muddy bank and sinking into the ground a little.
The two five-year-olds ignored their muddied feet and scampered ahead, walking with hurried steps further into the training ground till they reached they saw a pond in the distance.
Sitting on a ramshackle, crumbling dock was their father, idly fishing and deep in meditative thought. He was sitting with his back to them and his legs crossed, holding a fishing rod with both hands and its line sinking into the water, quietly waiting for a catch.
Sakumo's hair was normally messy and unkempt, but the usual disarray of his silver hair added to the deep slouch in his back.
Their father exhaled wearily, and the breath took away some colour from the man's skin.
Naruto held back and lowered them close to a bush, once again unmindful of the dirt and bugs of the tall grass. Kakashi didn't let go of his brother's hand, hanging close and peering out of the bush at their father.
"Dad hasn't been ok for some time," Naruto said in a faint whisper, wearing a concerned frown. "I think his last mission didn't go well."
"Why'd you say that?" Kakashi asked in as quiet a voice he could manage. He got his knees underneath him and held the grass with his other hand, while Naruto stayed squatting and had his other hand keep the bush parted a little for him and his brother to secretly watch their father.
"He always tells us about his missions." Naruto looked at Kakashi, his pale eyes meeting his brother's dark stare for a moment before returning his attention to their father. "And…I heard some adults whispering…bad stuff about dad…"
Kakashi's brow furrowed incredulously.
He wasn't surprised that Naruto heard things.
Naruto heard everything.
He was more in the loop of village events than any other classmate.
"I don't think…the last mission ended well…" Naruto murmured, his eyes sinking as he watched their father. "That's why dad's sad."
"Then…" Kakashi whispered in a sullen tone, "why isn't he telling us?"
Naruto pursed his lips, and shrugged. "I don't know."
Kakashi's steely gaze faced Naruto. "We need to make him happy again."
Naruto nodded in firm agreement. "How do we do that?"
Kakashi quietly furrowed his eyebrows in deep thought, then his eyes lit up. "We could show him our super-secret ultra combo jutsu!"
Naruto whipped around to his brother and hissed, pressing his left pointer finger to his lips. "Shhhh!"
Kakashi winced. "Sorry."
Naruto looked out again, panicked, but sighed when their father hadn't yet moved from his spot. He sent Kakashi a side eye. "We're not yet ready. We don't have the hand seals and you keep falling."
Naruto and Kakashi hoped that their secret combination jutsu would be the end-all to any fight they encountered in the future, that is if they did manage to finish creating the technique.
"We can still show dad," Kakashi said, pressing his brother. "He'll know how to make it better."
Naruto grumbled, gnawing on his bottom lip. He looked at Kakashi with an uncertain stare. "I don't know…"
"Naruto, please." Kakashi's eyes swelled with glistening tears and he pouted.
Naruto wilted.
"You boys are supposed to be in class," a booming, deep voice said in front of them from the other side of the bush. Naruto's heart leapt into his throat and Kakashi paled, slowly turning back to where their father was and being met with a white-hot glare by their father, bent down and looking straight at Naruto. "What is the meaning of this?"
The two boys trembled, shaking and opening their mouths but too afraid to speak.
Subtly, Naruto pulled Kakashi behind him, away from their father's ire. The boy's expression was pallid, with sweat prickling his brow and his lips screwed into a thin line. His eyes were lowered and his shaking intensified, fighting to open his mouth and speak.
He uttered trembling words in a quiet, reserved voice, not looking up from the ground. "We…we…we saw you weren't happy…since your last mission…and…and…we wanted to cheer you up…dad."
They've only seen their father angry once before, and it was when a one-eyed man had pulled Naruto out of class to have a discussion in the hallway. Sakumo had been livid on hearing this from the class teacher when he went to pick up his boys; mad at Naruto for keeping this meeting secret from him, and enraged at the one-eyed man for having the gall to lord over his son by taking him out of class.
That time, their father's killer intent only breezed past the boys and landed on the poor Academy teacher, but it had been enough for Naruto and Kakashi to soil their underwear.
Their father spent the better part of that month apologising for losing his temper.
Now was different; Sakumo wasn't using even an iota of killer, but rather his eyes were alight with fiery rage, baring down on the two boys with stoic annoyance.
Then the man blinked, and really saw the positions his children were in.
Kakashi was cowering behind his brother, his eyes peeking around at their father and bravely meeting the man's angry look with tearful eyes. Kakashi was shaking terribly.
Naruto on the other hand was covering Kakashi the best he could, holding his right arm behind his back to ensure that Kakashi was a bit out of sight. His byakugan was pointedly looking down, terrified to meet his father's rageful look, but resolute to bear the brunt of Sakumo's righteous indignation at his children's absence from school.
The sight weakened Sakumo's resolve, and the man sighed.
"Come and sit with me, boys," the man said tiredly. He got up and steadily walked back to the dock. The boys hesitated, not yet moving from their place in the bush, and this made Sakumo stop as he got to his fishing rod. His stance sagged remorsefully and he looked over his shoulder at them. "Please."
Kakashi was the first to get up, tugging at Naruto to get to his feet as well. Kakashi took the lead, stepping firmly toward their father and marching through the tall grass, with Naruto simpering with visible reluctance after his brother. When they got to the dock, Kakashi hesitantly looked at the rickety structure, placing a single foot and wincing as it shuddered, adding another foot and shuffling slowly with his brother to their father.
The boys timidly untangled their hands and sat on both sides of their father.
The silence that followed made the atmosphere awkward.
The boys dangled their feet over the edge of the dock, their dirty sandals barely skimming the pond. Kakashi twiddled his thumbs and Naruto squeezed his knees with his hands, keeping his gaze down and wearing a deep frown.
"…What have you heard about me recently, Naruto?" Sakumo quietly began, reeling in the line and bringing the hook close. He rolled his left wrist and a single mealworm appeared between his thumb and index finger, dead but still fresh. He pushed the mealworm onto the hook and tossed the line back into the water, holding the fishing rod with his left hand.
Naruto silently breathed in, releasing the breath and looking at his father from the corner of his eyes. "That you let down the village."
A humourless smile came to the man's face. "I guess I did. But I don't regret what happened."
"What…" Kakashi murmured quietly. He paused from twiddling his thumbs and looked up at his father with a worried frown. "What happened, dad?"
Sakumo licked his dry lips, piecing together his words as carefully as he could. "I…saved a teammate from certain death, and by doing that…the mission was a failure."
"But that doesn't mean everyone should hate you," Naruto said with a disappointed look. The disappointment wasn't faced on his father, but rather on the people that had formerly been singing their father's praises from the tops of their lungs.
They were so quick to put the man down after one single mistake.
Sakumo chuckled and ruffled Naruto's blonde hair. "You're a good kid, Naruto." He quickly added, seeing the earnest look he was getting from Kakashi, "Both of you."
"I would have done that," Kakashi said, nodding earnestly and honestly, much to his father's delight. The man's sunken eyes lit with a beaming smile and he tousled Kakashi's hair.
"People are dumb." Naruto scoffed, swinging his legs.
"Very good, boys." Sakumo's smiled, setting the fishing rod down at his side, between himself and Naruto, and brought his boys in for a hug. "You two are making me so proud." Naruto's face shone with his grin, gripping his father's sides as much as his small arms could, and Kakashi's expression, although hidden behind his mask, was no less happy. "Rules are important, and they should be followed as best as possible, but friends and comrades are more important than any rule. That's why I don't regret saving my comrade."
Naruto's eyes suddenly bugged wide and he snagged the fishing rod before it could be violently yanked into the water, and Sakumo caught the boy before he too could be pulled into the water. Naruto stubbornly held onto the fishing rod and grit his teeth while the fishing line squealed as it was unfurled, as his father had his arms around the boy's middle, jumping to his feet and fastening his shoes to the rickety dock with his chakra. Kakashi jumped up as well, at the quick turn of events, and held onto his father's right leg, supporting the man in the little way he could.
"Quickly. Reel it in!" Sakumo shouted, reluctant to unwrap his arms from around Naruto in case the fish dragged the boy into the water. "Pull!"
Naruto followed his father's urgent instructions, wrestling with the pull of the fish and getting hold of the reel with his right hand, winding it back and heaving back as much as he could, as his father and Kakashi mightily pulled as well.
"It's a big one, dad!" Naruto shouted with a larger-than-life grin; eyes narrowed at the spot the fish was fighting from.
"Give it some slack," Sakumo said in a somewhat calmer tone, still frantic but controlled.
On cue, Naruto released the reel and it squealed as it unwound.
The boy caught hold of the reel before it could fully unwind, just as Sakumo barked. "Reel it back in. Now!"
The dock trembled and Kakashi jerked his eyes up to his father. "Dad!"
"We've got it now, boys!" Sakumo called in a cheering tone, giving Kakashi an understanding look and giving Naruto an encouraging squeeze. "We're eating grilled fish for dinner!"
The two boys cheered. "Yeah!"
Then the dock collapsed, and the Hatake family fell into the pond.
Sakumo's roaring laughter could be heard from afar, mixed with the giggling enjoyment of his two sons.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Lunch break at the academy the next day, Naruto was with Kakashi and their friends. Naruto was in the middle of describing the size of the fish they caught the other day.
He stretched his arms as far as possible, speaking with a mouthful of roasted fish, warmed up from the previous day, "It was huge. Super strong too." He wiped a corner of his lips, giggling when their friends animatedly laughed at his exaggeration. "Dad went under and caught it with his hands." He grabbed Anko by her shoulders without getting up and harmlessly shook her, dramatically scowling and trying his best to speak without spitting on her. "Like this."
"Gerrof me." Anko shoved Naruto off, a bemused frown lingering on her face. Naruto laughed and flopped into Kakashi, who pushed him off with a laugh. They were all crowded around Naruto's desk, having pulled seats to surround the Hatake brothers, merrily eating their lunches. Some were four or even five years older than the Hatake brothers, but were equally enthralled by the articulate child.
He wiped his mouth again and swallowed the fish, looking at Kakashi and asking, "What'd dad call it again?"
"Rainbow trout," Kakashi said, rolling his eyes.
Naruto snapped his fingers. "That."
"My grandpa has a fish farm," Yugao blurted out. She looked to Gekko and he bobbed his head, busily reaching into Kakashi's bento box and getting his fingers harshly poked for his efforts. "He says it's the biggest in Konoha!"
Gecko pouted, stomach grumbling from his lacklustre lunch of a ham sandwich, roasted cashew nuts, and water. His coughed and looked at Yugao pleadingly, his fingers itching to her lunch. "Can I…?"
The girl groaned. "Every day, Gekko."
They didn't notice Naruto's eyes stray over their heads to the entrance of the class, where two older boys were lingering outside. They looked like genin, roughly thirteen or fourteen years old. One wore dark, circular glasses and a high collared shirt, leaning almost out of sight on the frame of the door, and the other had orange hair and stern purple eyes that paced outside of their class. Kakashi saw them though, and he trained his eyes to his brother.
Naruto wrinkled his nose and his expression fell, frowning to himself.
Then his eyes lit up and he got to his feet. The thoughtful look flashed past Naruto's face so fast Kakashi was uncertain was ever there, but the beaming boy handed Gekko his remaining lunch.
"You can have it. I'm full." Naruto patted his stomach and began moving his chair back.
Gekko looked at Naruto with large eyes, already hungrily shovelling strips of roasted fish into his mouth. "Thanks, Naruto."
Yugao clicked her tongue.
"Its fine," Naruto said insistently, apologising a little to Anko as he nearly knocked her out of her chair in his haste. "I'll be right back—"
"Where are you going?" Kakashi asked, standing up as well. He pointed at the two older boys at the door, and the one with orange hair dipped back out of view and the one with dark shades levelled an even stare at Kakashi. "Who're they?"
Naruto got around Anko and casually waved away Kakashi's concern. "They're nobody," he easily said, giving his friends a placating smile. "I'll find out what they want." He turned and walked down the steps at a hurried pace, calling over his shoulder again, "Be right back, ok?"
He didn't wait for a reply, grabbing the boy with orange hair and pulling him out of sight from their class. The one with dark shades exhaled tersely and moved away, following as Naruto pulled them down the hall.
Naruto didn't tell Kakashi what they wanted.
Kakashi shrugged it off.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
"Are you doing it or not? Master is losing his patience."
"Or have you forgotten Master's promise? To make you and your brother stronger."
Naruto didn't answer, leaning against the wall and letting his eyes shut.
"It has to be you."
"It has to be done."
"Don't worry about leaving any trace. Master and our people can make it look like a suicide."
Naruto inhaled and looked at the boy with dark glasses.
Fu Yamanaka bobbed his head fervently.
"Hold onto this and think about it," Torune said in a low voice, slipping a purple capsule into one of Naruto's pants pockets. "It dissolves quickly. Tasteless. Odourless. Undetectable the second it gets into the bloodstream, and kicks in twelve hours afterwards."
The exchange was brief, and Naruto's looked at his pocket.
"Make up your mind quickly, Naruto."
"Master hates delays."
Naruto didn't hear the subtle click of a distant camera taking photographs amid the bustle of the hallway. All ROOT activity was clearly documented, albeit with heavy redactions here and there for the sake of hiding certain identities.
The fledgling ROOT Archives was bustling with actively documented reports and stockpiles of blackmail materials. Not even Danzo knew if he was going to blackmail Naruto in the future, but the man was nothing if not careful.
Naruto left them and went back to class.
He gingerly walked into his class as the bell tolled, signalling the end of their lunchbreak. The group of friends gradually dispersed from around the Hatake brothers, returning to their seats. He crossed the class and removed the pill from his pocket, tossing it into the class wastebin without a second thought.
He wasn't going to kill his father.
He would never do that, less so if it meant hurting his brother.
Besides, he loved his father; the man had welcomed him into his home, even when Sakumo was at his lowest time of his life after losing his wife, and loved Naruto like his very own child.
Naruto would never do anything to harm his father or his brother.
Still, the next day, Kakashi and Naruto found their father lying dead in the house.
His suicide letter begged them for forgiveness.
Authors note
That's that about that.
See you when I see you.
Foy.