CSA Version 8ParallelEternity is Not What it Seems

Parallel: Surreality

Summary: The Kazama Clan has fallen, and Kakashi is grieving for a love that was confessed far too late. When he finds a letter written to him by Naruto, he gets knocked out, and woke up as… something unexpected…

Prologue

Konohagakure no Sato in the heart of Fire Country was in mourning. The last of the Kazama Clan was gone, and there would never again be a blue eyed Oracle wandering the village, and guiding the Hidden Leaf through rough times. The Kazama Clan had finally fallen, and those who had lived through the previous Oracles suddenly felt defenseless, as though a long standing defense had suddenly vanished.

In many ways, it was the truth. Konoha had always had an Oracle to guide the village from the very moment of its founding. The Oracle Sorasmaru had met the Shodai Hokage through her distant kin, Uchiha Madara, and had guided him to build his village in its current position. Soramaru had become so besotted with the infant village, that she had settled in Konoha permanently, and started a family. Ever since then, Soramaru's children had lived and protected the village. By the power of the Oracle, Konoha had become one of the greatest Ninja Villages to ever exist, and now that the line of Oracles had broken…

Would the village fall without an Oracle? Konoha was entering its most difficult times. They were now to live without an Oracle. The Oracle, who had guided them, protected them…

Throughout the village, only one man did not grieve. Rather, he laughed and toasted Kazama Uzumaki Naruto Kazuki's name and gathered his forces to him. He never thought that the Oracle might have spoken of him in his last moments, and for Danzou, that would be his fall…

At the training ground seven, Zabuza and Haku stood before the Hero's Monument, and stared at the cenotaph. Ibiki and Anko arrived, both carrying a batch of lilies and they set the flowers at the monument. The two special jounin bowed their heads and rose to their feet. They nodded to Zabuza and Haku in acknowledgement and vanished in a swirl of leaves.

Kakashi stood inside the house that Naruto and his friends had resided in for so long. All around, he could see the signs of daily life in the Oracle Manor. In that sink were the remnants of dirty dishes, and pots and pans still soaking and waiting to be washed. On that table was that delicate flower-like cup from which Naruto and his housemates tended to drink their tea. On the kitchen counter was a pile of vegetables, set to the side for preparation of the next meal, and in a large bowl next to the vegetables was a hunk of frozen meat, still thawing.

In the living room, was that single glass table surrounded by the couches and sofa, and there were signs of preparations for war. There were those shuriken, which had been left out because they were dull, the kunai that had not been taken because the wrappings on the handle was loose, and the blade was chipped. There was that extra roll of nin-wire that had been left behind, and the small sack of soldier pills, and slung over that chair was a jacket, and in that corner was a set of weights.

Kakashi wandered through the house, until he reached a room which had housed the one person he had ever loved most.

Naruto…

The young Oracle rarely wore bright colors unless he was inside the village, even then, it was usually as a jacket that could be quickly thrown off and turned inside out so the dark lining would be more appropriate for a ninja's line of work. Kakashi opened the door slowly and stepped inside.

The emblem of Konoha and the Oracle seemed to be the theme in that room, and there, hanging on a hook was Naruto's formal robes. Over there was that little sleeping cap that he had outgrown and stopped wearing when he turned ten. On that bedside table was a picture of Naruto and the four teens Anko and Ibiki tended to call the Pilots, and that picture was surrounded by that team photo that had been taken not long after Team Seven had been officially passed, and there were pictures of Naruto at a party with the ANBU who watched him surrounding him. There was even a picture of the boy with his arms around Iruka's shoulders as the two laughed toward the camera.

Kakashi picked up the sleeping cap and pressed his face against it, and breathed in. He could smell Naruto on it, the scent of ramen and sunshine, with warm green tea, and the cold metallic scent of the kunai and shuriken that was a part of every ninja's arsenal, and the faintest traces of blood and tears, all of which made up Naruto's unique scent.

Tears sprang once more to his eyes, and Kakashi sat down heavily on Nauto's bed, clutching the hat to his chest. The pillow shifted, and there was a crinkling of paper.

Curious, his tugged the paper out from beneath the pillow. His name had been written on it, underneath it was a seal that resembled a chakra seal, so Kakashi channeled his chakra into the seal. If he had been less desperate to find a way to ignore the fact that Naruto was dead, he'd have knwn better. As it was, the seal glowed then all Kakashi knew was darkness…

TBC…

Totally Random Babbling… Or Not: I really seem to be getting into writing the time travel stories. This is the third one! The only difference is, instead of being Naruto or one of the Konoha 11, this is from Kakashi's perspective! Well, Kakashi will be tough to write, but what's life without a little challenge?

SanadaSayuri