Summary: Kakashi's fighting for the slim chance of one day seeing their hopes and dreams come true because that's the only way he can make up for his mistakes—he couldn't save any of them and the guilt is tearing him apart—it's the only way he knows how to. (In which Kakashi can't stop thinking about his ghosts and Naruto can't stop seeing them.)

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, Kishimoto does.

let's stop running from our ghosts (they're haunting me)

Chapter One

Kakashi's aware of the boy's approach long before he hears the soft scuff of dirt and small, shuffling footsteps behind him.

He's just recently come back from a mission that's taken him out of the village for a month to find that the Hokage has decided to try to give yet another genin team to him. He's failed the last few teams because he refuses to pass anyone who doesn't understand the concept of teamwork; it broke his own genin team—Obito first, then Rin, and even Minato-sensei—and left him the sole survivor to pick up the pieces.

(Years later, and Kakashi still doesn't feel whole.)

He's not entirely sure why the Hokage has decided that Kakashi of all people should get the opportunity to teach impressionable young brats but it's not like he can refuse. Rin would have been better at this, he knows. She was kind and empathetic and understood people on a level that Kakashi never has—and it's not for lack of trying. Honestly, anyone would have been a better choice than him, even Obito, with his perpetual lateness and his scatterbrained qualities.

But instead of them, it's Kakashi standing here, mourning the ghosts of his past. He's fighting for the slim chance of one day seeing their hopes and dreams come true because that's the only way he can make up for his mistakes—he couldn't save any of them and the guilt is tearing him apart—it's the only way he knows how to.

Today, it's graduation day at the Academy and Kakashi chooses to visit Rin at the village's cemetery instead of his usual trip to the Memorial Stone because it's her guidance he needs right now. He stands alone for an hour before he picks up a familiar scent in the air and has to tamp down the immediate instinct to flee.

It's Minato and Kushina's son.

Kakashi could recognize Naruto's scent anywhere, despite the fact that he's never once talked to the boy outside of his ANBU persona, and even then, Naruto would have been too young to remember it. He had watched the boy for years under the strict orders of the Hokage not to interfere unless it was a life or death situation. At that point, it was easy for Kakashi to convince himself that he was just following orders—he could ignore the voice the back of his mind asking, what would Minato-sensei and Kushina say? By the time he leaves the ANBU ranks, it's too easy to default to ignoring Naruto (he tells himself it's less painful too, but that's just another one of his lies).

The soft footsteps of a child draw closer and Kakashi still doesn't move. He's not sure what's holding him here—if he truly believed in spirits of the afterlife, he would swear it was Rin—but whatever it is, it's not letting him go.

Kakashi's back is facing the entrance and he doesn't dare turn around. Naruto's footsteps stop for a moment as he gets close enough to realize that someone else is at the cemetery, but then he continues forward. His steps are slow but certain, and Kakashi wonders if the boy visits the cemetery often. Who would he be here for? he wonders. It can't be his parents—the Third decreed that knowledge be an S-ranked secret for Naruto's own protection.

Just at the edge of Kakashi's vision, Naruto stops again. Kakashi can make out a sliver of bright blond hair and suddenly there's something heavy and painful gripping at his chest, pushing down on his lungs. It gets infinitely harder to breathe as vivid memories of his long-dead sensei write themselves across eyelids that he doesn't remember closing.

Naruto's still not moving. Kakashi forces his lungs to expand and opens his eye to face the boy because he's a goddamn shinobi with twenty years of experience under his belt and has faced down worse things than an eleven-year-old Academy kid (it shouldn't be this hard).

Said kid blinks up at him with wide cerulean eyes. There's a breathless moment where they stare at one another without saying anything. It takes another second before Kakashi realizes that Naruto isn't actually staring at him but is focused on something slightly over his shoulder. It's tempting to glance over and follow Naruto's gaze but Kakashi's absolutely certain there's no one else except them in the cemetery; it's highly unlikely that something even Naruto noticed would get past his own heightened senses. "It's rude to stare, you know," Kakashi says instead.

Naruto's gaze snaps to meet Kakashi's and he adopts an affronted look. "Who says I was staring at you?" he retorts loudly, crossing his arms.

Kakashi just raises an eyebrow. He's about to ask then what were you staring at? when Naruto's eyes slide off Kakashi's face and back to whatever he was looking at before. Kakashi frowns, a little concerned, and surreptitiously glances over his shoulder. As expected, there's only more gravestones and trees.

Naruto's face, when Kakashi turns back, is a mix of confusion, awe, and delight. Kakashi knows that Naruto is very popular in Konoha among civilians and ninja alike for his ridiculous pranks, but he's always been an expressive person and this definitely doesn't seem like a prank to Kakashi. It makes his concern grow because although he's been actively avoiding Naruto, the boy is still Minato and Kushina's son and Kakashi can't not care about him.

"Are you...okay?" he asks awkwardly.

Naruto blinks rapidly, and his eyes focus on Kakashi again. He laughs a little, scratching the back of his head, but it's strained and obviously forced. "Uh, yeah, totally fine." Kakashi narrows his eye. Naruto fidgets under the scrutiny for a moment before clearly steeling himself for something. He raises his chin high. "Can I ask you a question, shinobi-san?"

Kakashi is suddenly sorely tempted to pull out his most recent copy of Icha Icha because he really doesn't know how to deal with children in a way that doesn't include fleeing at the first opportunity—and he's already failed that—but restrains himself. After all, reading that kind of book at the cemetery is rather bad taste (and he can just imagine Rin's reaction). "Sure," he replies, "just make it quick, kid."

Naruto huffs out a breath. "Did you know the Yondaime?"

Kakashi stares because that was not what he was expecting. At all. "What."

Naruto scowls and repeats his question, a little louder this time.

"...Yes, I know him," Kakashi hedges. "Everyone my age did—he was our Hokage, after all. Why do you ask?" The question initially took him by surprise, but it wouldn't be unreasonable that the kid was just curious about past Hokages. Maybe he just thought that Kakashi was old enough to have actually met Minato. It could just be a coincidence….

"No, I meant personally," Naruto stubbornly insists. "You were close to him, weren't you?"

Kakashi unfreezes and straightens from his usual slouch. The boy's slightly annoyed gaze turns into something a little warier because while Kakashi is good at acting pretty laid back, he has a reputation as a famed Konoha nin for a reason. Most people in the village know that Kakashi was Minato's student but Naruto of all people should definitely not know and if someone told the kid about his parents the Hokage was going to have to get involved. "Who told you that?" he asks, serious but gentle because he doesn't want to scare the kid.

Naruto looks a little panicked by the question which is decidedly not good.

"Look, kid, I'm not trying to get you or your friend into trouble but—"

"No one told me."

Kakashi presses because this is important. "The person who told you might be dangerous—"

"No one told me!"

Kakashi definitely does not believe a word he's saying but sighs and nods as if he does. "Alright," he relents because he's obviously not going to get any information that way; Naruto might have Minato's looks but the stubbornness is all Kushina. Thinking about them just sends a sharp pain through Kakashi's chest and he shoves the all-too-familiar feeling away. "Then how did you figure it out?"

Naruto pouts. "You're not going to believe me."

Kakashi crosses his arms and raises an eyebrow because throughout his career as a field shinobi he's seen some pretty weird things. It will take a lot to surprise him. "Try me," he encourages.

Naruto squints up at him for a long second. Kakashi keeps his body language open but expectant. Naruto apparently decides that Kakashi can be trusted—and isn't that a wild thought—because he grins mischievously and points behind Kakashi at Rin's gravestone. "I can see dead people," he declares.

And...what.

"You...can see dead people," Kakashi repeats blankly.

"Isn't that what I just said?" Naruto complains. "I'll prove it to you!" He skips forward a couple of steps closer to Rin's grave. "You're visiting her, right? She's got brown hair and purple markings on her cheeks like this." He proceeds to drag his fingers diagonally across his cheeks, following his own whisker marks. This is information that Naruto definitely should not know.

Kakashi suddenly finds it harder to breathe.

"And she's got brown eyes….and—" Naruto continues his descriptions, but it sounds almost muffled like he's suddenly far away even though Kakashi's sure he hasn't moved. His heart is pounding hard in his ears and his vision has narrowed to a single point—Rin's grave. Naruto is pointing directly to something right above the stone itself but to Kakashi, there's nothing there.

And yet, for some reason, he believes Naruto.

Naruto can see ghosts is running through Kakashi's mind on repeat, and he can't stop thinking about it. Rin's spirit is here is his second thought and suddenly he can't stand to be there any longer. She knows, and that means Obito must know and probably Sensei too because Kakashi's just that unlucky. They've been watching him grieve for all of these years and while he had hoped they had been watching over him it's a different thing entirely to actually know it.

They've seen exactly how broken Kakashi still is, even years after their deaths and he can't bear the thought of facing them.

You're a coward, his mind hisses at him but that doesn't stop him.

Kakashi shushins away, leaving Naruto alone among a sea of graves.