Chapter 19

Alarms weren't just ringing in Kakashi's head, they were blaring and flashing bright lights. The first thing that came to mind was to ask just what game Sasuke was talking about, but before he even opened his mouth he knew it was the wrong thing to say. Instead he carefully rested his elbows against the table, let his face go serious, and said, "Okay."

Sasuke blinked, the cold look leaving his face to be replaced by bemusement. "I didn't think that'd actually work. Was pretty sure you were going to play dumb for a least a few minutes…I had this whole speech planned and everything."

"Well, by all means…"

Sasuke just gave him a flat look. "You have questions."

"That's an understatement. How much of last night do you remember?"

"You mean, after you drugged me?"

Kakashi felt a flicker of guilt before pushing it away. "Can you blame me?"

Sasuke snorted. "I would've drugged me weeks ago. When I wasn't injured and likely to fall asleep before learning anything useful."

"What makes you think I didn't learn anything useful?"

Sasuke just rolled his eyes. "What I've gotten out of this whole fiasco is that you have too much information, but that information is probably confusing and contradictory. Which is going to make my life difficult…more difficult," he amended.

Kakashi couldn't really believe what he was hearing. "So you're going to answer my questions?"

"There's a condition." Sasuke slid a piece of paper across the table at him.

"This is…" Insane, impossible, outstanding, "…sophisticated." Kakashi glanced up from the stark black lines to study Sasuke. Sasuke was smart, there was no doubt about it, but this was incredible. "Where did you get this?"

Sasuke leaned back in his chair, and shrugged. "It's mine, mostly. I used a pretty standard base and modified bits and pieces. I also had to take into account this obstacle." He shook his suppressors for emphasis. "When do I get these off, anyway?"

"Hm? Oh, in a week. Then you'll be fitted with a monitoring bracelet." Kakashi was more interested in picking apart the seal in front of him. It was a beautiful work of art and fully functional. But there was a flaw, one that made the seal rather pointless. He wondered if Sasuke knew.

"I know it's breakable."

Apparently he knew. Kakashi made a face. "Then why? I mean, if you can break it anytime you want, what's the point?"

"It was originally designed it for…well, torture resistance."

"That still doesn't answer my question. You would think an unbreakable seal would be more effective."

Sasuke was quiet for a few seconds, obviously trying to find the way to explain. "With this seal, you have to want to break it. Torture is all about fear. Fear of pain, fear of death, fear that you're going to break and betray all the things you hold dear. Pain is going to happen, being afraid, not being afraid; it's not going to change anything. Death happens…before or after you're broken is the worrying part. But if you have this seal, you don't have to worry. Through all the pain, through all the fear of death, you know you won't give up what you'd rather die to protect. Because in order to break the seal, you have to make the decision to break the seal. And knowing that you can, makes it easier not to." Sasuke waved a hand in the air. "That's all rather irrelevant because the reason I picked it is because I figured it was my best bet on getting you to agree to one, and I could work with it so that if it's breaks, I'd know."

Kakashi just blinked. Ibiki said the boy was definitely Uchiha Sasuke but Kakashi was having a hard time reconciling the boy in front of him with the boy he met on a rooftop a few months ago.

"And if I don't agree? If I decide that I'm done playing this game and drop you off at I&T like I should, then what?"

"Have you ever worn these?" Sasuke held his right hand up, indicating the suppressors. It seemed to be a rhetorical question because he didn't wait for an answer. "They work by suppressing the chakra flow to the wearer's hands. Pretty effective at hindering most nin…most jutsu is channeled through the hands, through the seals…" Sasuke blinked and Kakashi was staring at a pair of completed Sharingan. "Not so effective at hindering chakra to other parts of the body."

Kakashi didn't even twitch. "You think just because you've activated your Sharingan, that what? You can beat me?"

"No. Not with these."

And Kakashi felt pure ice flow through his veins as Sasuke's eyes shift again. He couldn't move, couldn't even twitch his little finger. For the first time, he was actually afraid of the boy sitting across from him.

As quickly as he was caught, he was released and as soon as his body was responding to his commands he was up and moving. Distantly, he was aware of the chair he was sitting in hitting the floor, but he was more focused on forming the seals necessary with shock numb fingers. Ropes sprouted from nowhere and bound Sasuke to the chair he was sitting in.

Sasuke just blinked at him. "Are you done freaking out?"

"How?" It was the only coherent thought running through Kakashi's head.

Sasuke's mouth tightened into a thin line. "That's a long story."

"If you like, you could tell it in I&T."

"We're on the same side here." Exasperation was clear in his voice.

"And which side is that, exactly?"

Sasuke sighed. "The side that keeps Kohona from burning."

Kakashi blinked, and found himself back seated, Sasuke unbound and rubbing at his eyes with swollen fingers. He swallowed thickly and tried not to let it show how unsettled he was. "You said that before." When Sasuke just looked at him questioningly, he elaborated, "You seem convinced Kohona will burn, why?"

The look Sasuke gave him was considering and Kakashi felt the hair on the back of his neck stand on end.

"Because I've seen it."

XXX

Sasuke itched idly at the seal burned just below his collar bone and watched as Kakashi absorbed the highly edited and highly abridged story. Sasuke hadn't even tried to hide the holes that gaped between the information he was willing to give.

"So, just how old are you?"

Sasuke blinked. It wasn't the question he was expecting first. "Um. Twenty."

"So you went from twenty to twelve? That had to be—"

"Horrible, yes."

"That actually explains something."

"Do I even want to know?"

"Probably not."

There was a few beats of silence then Sasuke had to ask, "So, you believe me? Because I'm living it, and I have a hard time believing it some days."

"A magic fox dragged you into the past to save the world…how could I not believe that?"

Sasuke scowled. "When you say it like that, it sounds ridiculous."

Kakashi scrubbed his hands over his face, his mask and gloves long since discarded and his hitai-ate folded neatly on the table. Exhaustion was in every line of his body and when he propped his chin in his hand, Sasuke had a feeling it was to keep his head from slamming into the table.

"Ridiculous, and yet…" Kakashi shook his head, "I don't have any other theory that makes sense." Kakashi lost the battle with gravity and laid his head on the table. "I'm too tired to think about this anymore," he whined. "And I've got to figure out how I'm going to train Naruto for the finals. You know, if an invasion doesn't make it all moot."

Sasuke was pulled from his thoughts. "Naruto made it to the finals?"

Kakashi tilted his head up from the table so he could look at him. "Yeah, I managed to grab him before he disqualified himself by jumping you. He beat a Sound Nin. It was quite impressive. Pretty sure there was some misplaced aggression involved," he added dryly.

"Who is he fighting?"

"Ino." Kakashi pushed himself up from the table. "But whoever wins that match goes up against Gaara."

"That's when they'll start the invasion."

"Allegedly."

Sasuke scowled at him. "This could be good. Naruto could drive Gaara away from the village…"

Kakashi just shook his head and stood up. "You think Naruto could beat Gaara?"

Sasuke shrugged. "He did it before…Where are you going? You look like you are about to fall over."

He got a glare for that. "Shower, then sleep," was Kakashi succinct answer. "He beat Gaara?"

Sasuke didn't even blink as he figured out the shower Kakashi was headed for was his, it wasn't worth the fight he knew he'd lose. "He beat Gaara and then became his friend."

Kakashi paused, swaying slightly, and without turning around, said flatly, "He became his friend. The homicidal Shukaku jinchūriki."

Sasuke shrugged, "Naruto could befriend a rabid snake."

"Do snakes get rabies?" Kakashi mused as he continued on towards the shower.

"Not really the point," Sasuke muttered, as he tried to decide if ordering takeout was worth the effort.

AN- I kinda feel the need to remind everyone I started this fic in 2009…that means some plot points are not canon compliant, due to lack of psychic-ness on my part. That being said, THANK YOU to everyone that reads and reviews!