A/N: So, basically a while ago I was rereading some ff, specifically Yumi Take's "Change," and the fact that Kakashi had no time to make plans there made me wonder what other time I could drop Kakashi in and make him scramble to fix the past. Then this happened. (Yup it's time-travelling Kakashi. What else do you expect from me?)

Actually, I've been sitting on posting this fic for a pretty long while now since for the past few months, and still currently, I've been exclusively in the D:BH fandom heh.

KAKASHI

Consciousness spread while Kakashi was in motion, sharp and unexpected, like all things in his life.

Despite the sudden influx of information, Kakashi allowed his momentum to continuously pull him forward, following through with his body's prior task. His feet strained against the muddy ground in rapid strides, scenery around him reduced to nothing but an undistinguishable blur.

His head throbbed with every step.

Mind as muddled as it still was, there was no telling where his current location was. He didn't know why he was suddenly there, or if he was even in the middle of danger.

Any other time, Kakashi would've given himself a moment to gather his bearings and scrounge up proper answers.

Any other time except now, that was, because there were more pressing matters at present. In particular, the fact that in Kakashi's right hand held a blue-white sphere of swirling chakra, and in front of him stood Rin, too heroic and determined in front of his intended path for her own good, only seconds away from certain death.

A horrified panic burst across the back of Kakashi's mind at this impossible sight, because he abruptly realised he'd seen this before, he'd done this before, and there hadn't been a happy ending for anyone at the end of it all.

Over the deafening chirping of his chidori, Kakashi's heartbeat thudded heavily in his chest. But regardless of his confused and agitated state, Kakashi didn't pull to a stop. He didn't because it hadn't worked the first time, and insanity is doing the same thing over again and expecting different results.

He ruthlessly surged onwards instead.

The chidori was more draining than Kakashi remembered it to be, but he still managed to pull aside a sliver of chakra as he continued his warpath forward, left eye focused on Rin. Like every repeated nightmare of this involuntary murder, Kakashi could see Rin's fear glistening in her teary eyes. Except, it turned out, nightmare was not reality, and never had been, because beneath that initial emotion, this time Kakashi could also see the acceptance, the love, the guilt–

"Kamui."

–and then he furiously charged through her disappearing form to avenge the could've-beens.

Two Kiri-nin fell victim to Kakashi's justu before a guttural scream tore through the clearing, a belated response, but not from the Kiri. In a swirl of wild chakra, columns of trees burst forth, uprooting the terrain and coiling like poison ivy.

Then there was a body before Kakashi. There was long untamed hair, a hastily donned cloak, and white curled tendrils of an artificial being that had Kakashi's muscles tensed and ready to rip off Obito should it make any wrong moves.

Obito's hands balled around Kakashi's collar and pulled him up into the air with considerable strength. "Where's Rin!" he howled into his face. "What did you do to her?" he demanded, justifiably panicked at the sudden disappearance of his long-time crush.

Kakashi didn't allow himself to falter at the abrupt appearance of his wayward teammate.

The Kiri-nin were already starting to regroup behind them, shaking off their startled forms.

Decisively, Kakashi kicked himself backwards from Obito's hold to get a clear view of the other man. The maneuver was successful, mostly because Obito didn't expect it, considering Kakashi had let himself dangle limply up until this point.

Obito snarled at the loss.

Immediately, Obito took a step forward in pursuit of his target.

Kakashi was ready for him. It was at that moment that Kakashi's left eye pulsed back into its Magenkyou form. The sight of the foreign design was enough to halt Obito in surprise, and the momentary pause was all it took for Kakashi to spirit him away into a swirling void of his doing.

"Don't come back until you confess," Kakashi called earnestly after him, because he was too old to deal with awkward crushes and unaddressed tension between Obito and Rin.

Once Obito was gone, he turned back to the Kiri-nin.

The Kiri's formation was restored, promptly as one would expect from professional shinobi. When they moved to attack, it was vindictive and brutal, but honestly nothing Kakashi hadn't experienced before.

Kakashi mentally assessed his chakra reserves.

The chidori was less than advisable, but Kakashi's entry in the Bingo Books was never because of his signature assassination jutsu alone. His thirty-so years as a shinobi accumulated a thousand more tricks to back up his reputation.

His counter was swift and unforgiving, like someone who had spent far too long in Anbu as something less than human.

With nimble steps, Kakashi worked quickly to dispose of all those who had done him and his make-shift family wrong. Kunai and ninja wire left motionless bodies in their wake. Kakashi knew better than to leave loose ends, because though he may be merciful, that was not today, knowing the consequences these men's actions had brought to Rin once-upon-a-time.

He slaughtered, because there was no other word for it, these heartless executions.

"H-how?" a Kiri-nin murmured in his dying breath at the sight of a child half their age cutting through their ranks.

Kakashi spared him a glance, bitter smile on his lips. "Because I've regretted too much already," he said passingly – he'd regretted too much to waste the closure he'd finally found in the end to suffer through it once more. Not when this time, Rin and Obito were right there in his grasp, no longer mere passing apparitions.

And then it was over.

The carnage painted the ground red, until Kakashi was the sole silver beacon in that sea of death. At last, Kakashi allowed himself to let out a harsh laugh, adrenaline run its course. He pulled a bloody hand through his hair in a release of tension.

Now that he was no longer in the face of danger, he let the disorientation, the bewilderment, the astonishment flood through his mind, and allowed himself to at last dwell on where (when) he was. The answer was obvious because Rin's appearance before his chidori was quite telling, so it was actually more of a question of how and why and most importantly, what to do next.

It wasn't that Kakashi didn't doubt the sights before him – because who in their right mind could immediately accept the idea of time-travel? Except the long period during his battle with the Kiri-nin slowly ebbed away at his initial skepticism. Obito's loaned sharingan was back in his skull, and its feel was too intimate, and its control was too fluid, for the eye to be anything but authentic; Kakashi had over twenty years to familiarise with the Obito's gift.

Realising that, Kakashi knew this was reality, because no genjutsu could hide from that powerful eye.

Rin didn't have his chidori lodged in her chest, and Obito was showing his face decades ahead of time – in one second Kakashi already managed to change the course of the future and rendered much of his future knowledge meaningless.

But that was fine, Kakashi supposed; what was life without a little uncertainty?

Pulling down his headband to its distinctive slant, Kakashi deliberated the quickest way to summon Minato-sensei and have him fix Rin's unstable seal. He was definitely not losing her this time, well-meaning sacrifice or not.

Nor was he losing Obito to the insane plans of a relic of the past.