Chapter One: In the Beginning are the Ashes of the End

"Pick it up, pick it all up. And start again. You've got a second chance, you could go home, escape it all.. it's just irrelevant." - Medicine, by Daughter. [YOU SHOULD LISTEN TO THIS WHILE YOU READ, IT SETS A GOOD TONE!]

OF ALL THE vast tidbits of information that he'd collected over the years to base his conclusions on, Kakashi could honestly say that the majority of that knowledge, if not all of it, pointed directly to two very succinct and obvious conclusions. The first conclusion a clear indication that his life was in shambles and, as of this moment, was a complete and utter waste. The second deduction that he had come across was that he was in every way possible a hypocrite.

Trash? He was lower than trash. He was not leaving his teammates behind; he was completely forsaking his ideals to wallow in his own misery, even if only for the brief period of minutes. His complete inability to fight at the moment overwhelmed him. While his self-loathing and pity wasn't completely misplaced, his own degradation would do little to quell the battle that was undeniably warring on without him. He was inconsequential, in the grand scheme of things, anyway. He couldn't take care of a simple Genin team, let alone command the ANBU troops as the Hokage had asked. He'd tried his best, but it was for naught. Many of them lay slaughtered by the hands of Naruto's sworn enemies and the various minions and allies of that terrible group.

Akatsuki... Kakashi shifted his weight onto the ball of his right foot as he watched the battle beneath him. From his perch atop the head of Hashirama he had quite the view. Akatsuki hadn't succeeded in collecting all of the bijuu, but they'd managed to gather the help of other villages in order to conquer Konoha. By gather, they had forced the villages into submission by force. Kakashi was sure that some of the villages had been scared into submission, but it didn't make the situation hurt him any less. All of the previous battles had been horrendous; the sounds of hundreds of ninja dragging in their last, ragged breaths before the life sputtered out of them would perhaps fade with time, though he hardly believed that would happen. The images of such atrocities, however... this he knew would never leave him.

Precious Lee had been one of the first to perish. To see him struck down in a vicious flurry of ninjutsu of such a caliber that not even he himself would have escaped caused a throbbing ache to originate in the pit of his chest. He should have shunshin'd with the boy and given him a chance to keep fighting. Lee had taken down two hundred of the enemy forces before dying to protect the Hokage. It had been a most personal loss to Kakashi, who had secretly respected both Lee and Gai for their constant perseverance. Gai had been furious, making such quick of the enemy ninja that Kakashi wouldn't have thought it possible.

Kakashi grit his teeth as he recalled how he had watched the battle rage on. Another one was killed, before his unyielding, damnably perfect gaze. He saw every cut with perfect analytical precision, knowing just which arteries had been sliced and how deeply. The blood trickled past Kiba's lips as his body gave way. Kakashi wondered absently how he himself would appear as he died. Not nearly as valiant, he supposed.

The deaths had happened in a myriad of ways until they were nearly all gone. Watching them die had surely been the worst part. Fighting side by side with them to ensure their safety... he had failed. Each and every time he'd failed. There were just too many...

The sounds of battle were still raging. Konoha was gone and yet the fighting continued. And for what? Kakashi sadly watched as Naruto clashed with the remaining ninja. By now only the strongest were left... How ironic that he was left. He was too injured to fight further. Death was imminent, he was sure. He would've stayed to fight but Naruto would have only died faster trying to protect him. He at least owed his student the satisfaction of taking as many of those bastards with him on the way out. It was only suiting to allow the Hokage to do his best to protect the village, even if it no longer existed.

The sound of a large explosive denoting resonated in the background as he continued to stare at his student. Long ago had the student surpassed his sensei... If only Minato could see him now. How proud would he have been? Would he have taught Naruto the Hiraishin?

Kakashi looked away when Naruto shrieked in pain; it wasn't a sound of physical pain but emotional torment. Forcing himself to look, Kakashi could see the blood spilling from his pink-haired student. The pain in his chest increased almost to the point of breaking him. She was careening through the air, a look of utter shock plastered to her porcelain features.

Forcing the chakra into his feet, Kakashi pushed off of the monument. Gracefully, he caught her before she could hit the ground. He could feel her gaze upon him as he struggled to land with the same grace.

"Kakashi-sensei..." Sakura smiled lightly as tears carved paths through the grimy soot of war that covered her cheeks. "I-" 'I thought you were dead.' She needn't have said it.

"Shh... Save your strength," he pleaded, pushing his hitai-ite up off of his eye. 'I'd rather it be me.' "You need to get better so you can help Naruto-kun, ne?"

Sakura smiled sadly, noting the sheer desperation in his tone. She repressed the urge to wheeze, even as the blood began to soak through the material of her shirt. Her breath caught when she realized his hand was moving towards his mask. "What... sensei?"

Kakashi sucked in a shuddering breath as she tilted her head to the side in confusion, not noticing that her own blood was collecting in the corner of her mouth. "I thought," he whispered, pulling the mask down, "that you might want to see my face bef-"

A racking sob escaped him, much to his chagrin. Ninjas weren't supposed to cry, but then again, he'd done a lot of things over the years that he wasn't proud of. He just couldn't bring himself to say it... Before you die. Sakura smiled slightly, reaching up with the last bit of her strength to touch his cheek. "Don't cry, Kakashi-sensei. Ninja don't cry."

Kakashi chuckled thickly, brushing the hair out of her face. "Liar. You're crying, too."

"Tears of happiness are okay," she whispered. Kakashi scrunched his eyes shut, willing himself not to beg her to hang on. She was ready to go, probably glad to go after fighting for so long. "Thank you, Kakashi-sensei."

"For what?" he whispered fiercely, his eyes burning into hers with anger. "I haven't done a single thing I should have. I should have done so much more!"

She simply smiled at him, blinking her big green eyes at him slowly. "But I know you will."

She died with that infernally serene smile on her face before he could even demand how he was to fix things. Kakashi couldn't contain his gut-wrenching screams of loss. He'd known they'd die. He just didn't understand why it had to hurt so goddamned much. He'd had many comrades die in war before, but not like this. Not like this... they deserved better than this.

The sounds of battle were getting closer to him. Kakashi slowly turned his body around, every move sending ripples of pain through him. His time was nearing, as was Naruto's. He could feel the distinct ripple of Kyuubi's chakra as it cut through the air. But even then, it was not enough. Naruto's strangled cry was loud and emotionally scarring as the blonde jinchuuriki was slammed into the ground.

Kakashi forced his body to move, fighting against death every step of the way. His body was ready to give out, but he wasn't- not before he saw Naruto.

The enemy ninja had mysteriously disappeared, though for what reason he was not sure. He didn't care, to be honest. Kakashi gasped in pain as he practically collapsed onto the ground next to Naruto.

Naruto coughed as blood pooled in his lungs. He smiled cheekily at Kakashi, who had used some of his last dregs of strength to yank Naruto into his lap. "You look like shit, Kakashi-sensei. I thought you were dead..."

"I couldn't hang around to fight with you, otherwise you'd just have killed yourself trying to protect me." Kakashi whispered.

"Yeah, well... I guess this makes up for it," chuckled Naruto, wincing as his ribs protested at the motion. "Never thought I'd see the day."

Kakashi sighed, letting a few of his tears spill over. "Naruto... this wasn't how it was supposed to end. I'm so sorry... I should have done more. I failed you... I-"

"It's okay, Kakashi. I just wish I could have protected my precious people... I failed..." Naruto smiled up at him, eyes watery and voice sad. "We both could've done a lot differently, ne?"

Kakashi smiled wistfully as sobs threatened to prevent him from speaking. "So much..."

"Kakashi-sensei... Thanks for being there for Sakura. I—I know it hurts but just close your eyes. Lay down and close your eyes. We're both almost done, you know." Naruto's words cut through Kakashi like a deadly katana blade. Kakashi brushed Naruto's hair away from his hitai-ite covered forehead and pressed a kiss to the smooth metal.

"You deserved more, Naruto-kun. More than anyone ever gave you."

With that, Kakashi plopped down on the ground next to Naruto, wheezing as his mind finally allowed his body to submit to the stress placed upon it.

Naruto lazily turned his head to glance at his teacher. "Sensei... if you could do it all again, what would you do differently?"

Kakashi smiled slightly as fresh tears leaked from his eyes. "Everything... I'd save everyone I possibly could. Especially you. Don't tell Sakura-chan, but you were my favorite."

Naruto giggled until he choked on the blood threatening to suffocate him at any moment. "I knew it! Which is good, considering what I'm about to do..."

Kakashi's trained eyes searched for further response, but he found none. In fact, Naruto stopped breathing and his heart-beat slowed to a near non-existent pulse. Kakashi felt the stressing pressure within his chest break and his world gave way to blackness. His will to survive evaporated, and without it, his world crashed down around him as the darkness consumed him. He accepted it wholeheartedly, wondering what Hell would look like.

His previous misconceptions paled in comparison.

[.-_-.]

PAIN. IT CONSUMED every aspect of his being. His body was being ripped from him. His mind was fracturing with the pain of staying intact. Memories, new and then older, rippled to the surface. All of the memories coursed through him as he remained, consumed in the world of darkness.

Sparks in the darkness gave birth to a greater image; he could see Naruto's body as he lay lifeless on the ground. 'If you could do it all again, what would you do differently?' Naruto's disembodied echoed hollowly in the background as Kakashi watched the scene begin to rewind. Naruto was slammed into the ground, again and again. It rewound and played once more.

How was he seeing this? He hadn't even been there...

Kakashi could feel himself sucking an anguished gasp into his lungs as suddenly he was watching Sakura being impacted by the tremendous force of one of Deidara's devilish "art" bombs. So much suffering... even as he watched the torrential onslaught of painful images, Kakashi couldn't help but wonder how on earth he could be seeing all of this. This was not the vantage point with which he'd viewed their abuse...

His confusion evaporated just as suddenly, he was seeing things through his own eyes again. Sakura's tear-streaked, soot covered face as she told him not to cry... the feel of her hand on his cheek... the smell of Naruto's burnt hair as he watched the life fade from his eyes... it still hurt to see. It hurt more to watch this time because he knew it was coming but he couldn't force himself to look away.

Kakashi's depression lifted for a moment as the scenes disappeared, but it returned full force when he was forced to watch his beloved village be forced into the ground. Scenes of deaths that he even didn't recall witnessing but had remembered hearing about were flashed before him, some more gruesome than others but each one painful to watch. Kakashi could vaguely feel the tears on his cheeks as he watched Gai die. It was long, drawn-out, and completely and utterly honorable. Gai did his best to protect Naruto.

He watched, from where Naruto stood, as Gai attempted to forcefully open the last of his celestial gates. After successfully doing so, he charged, evading the many swipes of the large cleaver of a sword, even laughing at Kisame's surprised expression. Then Kisame had stabbed forward with his massive sword. It easily cut through Gai's stomach, exiting the other side of his body. Gai's momentum propelled him forward, however. With the last of his energy, Gai used two Kunai to effectively decapitate the dreaded ninja. "Ah, the passion of youth... Naruto! Like a phoenix, you must rise above my ashes with the power of your youth!" Naruto promised he would. Gai slowly bled to death as Naruto ran off to seek vengeance for his fallen comrades.

There were so many deaths. Naruto. Sakura. Gai. Lee. Kiba. Shikamaru. Ino. All dead. Each every single person he could think of was dead. Even the Sunagakure ninja that Gaara had sent and accompanied to aid Konoha. Even the Sand Siblings themselves had perished in an effort to defend their beloved friend. Nothing remained. The Akatsuki had won, even without stealing Naruto's bijuu.

Kakashi cried out as his mind began to rewind playing through various painful images. Was he really so terrible that he had to endure this? He lost count of how many friends and loved ones were violently slaughtered before him. At long last, he was eye to eye with Obito and then the boy was whisked away by the hands of fate and death was upon him.

Throughout all of this, all of the deaths and deprived imagery, he felt as though his body was being torn apart, bit by bit, and then rammed back together again. It was like being compressed and torn apart simultaneously. If he wasn't dead already, he was sure the massive overload of pain stimuli would have fried his brain.

After what seemed like an eternity the world went black. Peace. Finally. Kakashi exhaled miserably, wishing that he could just be at peace again. It'd been so long...

The sound of a chair scraping backwards roused him from his pensive state. 'What the fuck...' Kakashi strained to hear more sounds, but could gather nothing conclusive. Something was wrong with his hearing. Although, he was dead. Wasn't he?

Did he have a body? Kakashi struggled to regain his situational awareness, but he was fucked. He couldn't tell if he was lying down, sitting up, or even present. Kakashi was frustrated at such a level that he wished he could scream. He was surprised when the sound of a thin, wailing cry pierced the air. The ugly sound did little for the pounding, throbbing sensation of the worst hangover he'd ever experienced.

'That's odd,' he mused, almost forgetting his anger. He was so fatigued that it was hard for him to remain coherent. When he felt a pair of hands grip his shoulders, he didn't object. They felt bizarrely huge. Was he being gripped by a demon? Was he facing his judgment?

"Kakashi-kun, wake up. You're having a nightmare..." commanded a gravely, comforting voice. Kakashi winced when his world was flooded with light. That voice...

That face. Oh fuck. 'Fuck, fuck, fuck. Please, Kami, tell me this isn't happening.' Kakashi was panicking internally as he looked down at himself. He was miniscule.

"Was taking that stupid exam worth it, if you're going to wake up every night having terrible dreams, hmm?" Kakashi whimpered at the sound of the voice. It'd been so long...

"Tou-san?" Kakashi couldn't believe his eyes or his ears. Sakumo blinked in confusion, noticing his boy's surprise at seeing him.

He tilted his head to the side, letting out a soft sound of surprise when Kakashi's tiny frame latched onto him with the little boy was worth. Needless to say, it actually hurt. He was only six, but he was already a Chunin and had quiet the grip. "Are you alright?"

"I just... I had a bad dream. I dreamed that you died and everyone else died..." Kakashi didn't care if this was a bizarre illusion before he passed over to the other side, but he didn't care. He'd already forgiven his father for committing suicide; after he grew up it was something he'd considered quite often but had put off for one reason or another. He just wished things had been different.

Sakumo gave Kakashi a gentle squeeze before pulling back to smiley lazily. "I'm not going anywhere, shinme." Kakashi smiled, relishing the nickname. It meant 'bud,' referencing their family's long history of farming. Sometimes his father word call him 'me', for sprout, but Sakumo knew that Kakashi was embarrassed by it—it was used in public simply for that fact.

"I know I'm supposed to be a big kid now, but... can I sleep in your bed tonight? Just this once?" Kakashi bit his lip, wondering what Naruto would do if he knew that his thirty-two year old sensei was sleeping in the same bed as his father. He repressed the bitter sadness that pressed down on him, crushing into his chest like a deadly weight. Sakumo nodded drowsily, flipping Kakashi up onto his shoulder too quickly for Kakashi to protest.

Kakashi chuckled softly as his father carried him to the room that Kakashi had taken to avoiding in the future. As his father plopped down onto the bed, Kakashi rolled off of his shoulder and onto the mattress with a soft sigh. Plucking up his courage, he rolled over and poked his father in the side. A trained ninja, he'd already fallen asleep. He jolted awake and rolled over to stare at Kakashi, who gaze at him with a neutral expression.

"Eh? What? Was I snoring or something?"

Kakashi giggled in spite of himself and then frowned. This body wasn't used to being a lazy, emotionless tool. Damn. He schooled his features again as he shook his head 'no.' "Do you... no matter what happens, I love you, okay, tou-san? I just needed to tell you that."

Sakumo smiled, tilting his chin forward as he thought. "I love you too, ya persistent little guy. Was your dream really that bad? You haven't willingly said you loved me in two years."

"Shinobi are supposed to be in control of their emotions at all times," pointed out Kakashi. That was something he stuck to after his mother died. His father's death had cemented that even further into his head, especially due to the circumstances behind the man's suicide. "But... I just realized that I don't say it enough and I couldn't... if you were gone, I don't know where I'd be."

"You know, I always thought I'd hear you say that when you got married. Not at two–thirty in the morning when you're six years old. I don't know if I'm blessed that you're so mature or not." Sakumo yanked him a hug, and then sighed drowsily. "Your mother would be proud of you, even though you're a bit of an emotionally stunted weirdo."

Kakashi felt his draw drop as he tried to pull away from his father's grip. "I just practically poured my heart out to you and you're making fun of me?"

"It's 'cuz I love you. Now sleep. I have a mission tomorrow and you have group training."

'Ugh. At least this isn't real. Minato-sensei's training was always killer. Not that I had problems with it.' thought Kakashi, trying to close his eyes. Eventually the sounds of his father's breathing lulled him to sleep. He was pleased that there were no dreams to disturb him, only darkness. 'Whatever. I wonder what's next... A brigade of Itachi's to Tsukiyomi me into oblivion? Hmm... That sounds about right.'

[.-_-.]

KAKASHI WASN'T RIGHT. It was one of the rare times that he was completely wrong—usually he had at least a vindication to his guesses, but this time there was no such thing. He was completely and utterly wrong. This fact was proven when his father flung a handful of kunai at him as a way of waking up the near-comatose boy.

Kakashi's younger body wasn't as perceptive of its surroundings, but his mind was still just as sharp as it had always been. Being paranoid did have its perks. He rolled out of bed without a sound, leaving the kunai to pierce the headboard. "What the fuck—"

The back of his father's hand connected with his cheek before he could finish the sentence. "What have I told you about your language!?"

"I don't remember!" snapped Kakashi, trying to gather his bearings. The world was spinning. "Dammit, I thought this wasn't—" Kakashi broke off, realizing that he couldn't go spouting on about how he thought he'd been dreaming or experiencing some weird illusion the night before. The pain coursing through him right now had rapidly shot that idea to Hell. He'd already had the migraine from hell before being back-handed with enough force to send him flying.

His father, an experienced Jonin, picked up on the slip of tongue. "Didn't think what?"

Kakashi paled, struggling furiously to think of a solution. The problem was that he couldn't. If he had indeed time-traveled, why in the hell had he come back to this point? What was so significant about this time?

"I..." Kakashi broke off as suddenly the pain in his head suddenly spiked dangerously. "Oh..." A dark haze fizzled around the edges of his vision as he crumpled.

Pushing his gray hair out of his face, Kakashi struggled to sit up. He froze when he heard the low growl of a voice he felt he should recognize but didn't. The deep, gravely tone almost frightened him. "Before you turn around, just know that if you laugh, I'm going to bite your feet off."

Kakashi immediately realized that he was no longer with his father. "Where am I?"

"Your mindscape. Now turn around. If you laugh, I swear I have no problem biting off your ankles and ripping out your throat. I'm not sealed inside you nearly as well as I was inside the boy."

Intrigued by the statement about sealing, Kakashi forced himself to his feet and spun around. At his feet was a two-foot tall fox, snarling at him with all of the rage it could possibly muster. It would have been terrifying if it were not so small. A small smile tugged at his lips, but he quashed it when the fox beared it's long canines and gnashed it's teeth convincingly.

"Kakashi, he won't hesitate to do what he said," murmured an amused voice to the left of him. Kakashi glanced to the left, recognizing the amused chuckle that followed the bit of advice.

"...Naruto? You're dead...I'm dead. What is this?" 'I'm beginning to sound like Naruto with the way I'm asking all these questions,' mused Kakashi, scratching the back of his head. The fox before sat back on its haunches, licking its lips.

"This," purred the fox, "Is your mindscape. However, it's far less imaginative than that idiot's. He had me in a sewer cell—"

"Hey! I couldn't change that! That was the seal—"

The fox snarled viciously, cutting him off. "You didn't try too hard you ungrateful little shit. Now shut up, the adults are talking."

'You hardly look like an adult...' thought Kakashi, raising an eyebrow.

"Respect your elders, Hatake, I'm hundreds of years older than you," snarled the fox.

Kakashi lifted his hands in a gesture of sheepish apology. "You heard that? Sorry... I didn't think I said anything.

"You didn't!" laughed Naruto, stepping toward them so that he could clap Kakashi on the back and give him a noogy. "But we are inside your head! So... we kind of hear everything you say. Or, more accurately, we're sealed into the area between your shoulder blades. Do you remember the night that the village was destroyed?"

Kakashi nodded, trying to repress the onslaught of painful images. He was horrified when just a hundred yards away, off to the right, a large body of civilians appeared. He watched silently as they were destroyed by one of Deidara's bombs. It physically hurt him to watch that take place.

"Sorry, it's a side-effect of being in here. You create the scenery and when you think of things, they appear in here. They go away when you stop thinking of them, but we won't. When you were injured and Sakura-chan was healing you, I had her knock you out so I could put a seal—"

"You what? Dammit, Naruto—"

"Shut up." Naruto's voice echoed loud and clear. It was the voice of authority that Kakashi had rarely seen the blonde use. This was a matter of importance and it was better for him to shut up and listen to what the kid had to say. "I put the seal on you so that it could store chakra from both the Kyuubi and I. In the event that I would die, it would react and all of the Kyuubi's chakra would be used to perform the jutsu that required the seal and intentions that you had. It was a last ditch effort to protect Konoha and now we have that chance.

"I sealed you with the Eien Fuschichou Fuuin. I had to die to give it to you, and the Kyuubi had to supply most of the power, but I made the primary seal for it before I performed the final seal. That gave me time to store the chakra. I needed to make sure I had enough when I did it, because I knew I would have to wait until I was on the brink of death. It has to be selfless death, you see. Even if I wanted to I couldn't have sent myself back. I didn't have the foresight to perform the tasks necessary, anyway. I also... I know you didn't always do the right thing with the training of the group. I used to resent you for it...

"I thought that you just didn't like me and couldn't stand me, but I... I did speak to Gai-sensei as the war got worse and it wasn't until I talked to him that I realized just how screwed up your situation was. You were just like me. Almost, anyway..."

Kakashi stared at Naruto blankly for a moment before the visible bits of his face erupted into a masked display of rage. He leaped at Naruto, his fists closing around the boy's throat before Naruto could protest. "This isn't a game, Naruto! You can't just do this to people! I don't want to live through this again! I wanted to die! I was ready to die! You know I'd follow you the end of the fucking world, but you do this? Do you even..."

Releasing the sputtering twenty-year old, the gray-haired ninja turned around, crouching down to cover his head. He let out a frustrated groan as he tried to process the information. "You didn't even ask me. Didn't you ever wonder why I never talked about my family?"

Naruto stared at the floor, a sad frown marring his expression. "I figured you didn't talk about them for a reason. But... It was a risk I had to take."

"A risk? It's my fucking life, Naruto! You can't just-"

"Yes, I can, Kakashi. Hokage. It's my job to protect the village." Kakashi could tell that Naruto's eyes were watery with tears that begged for forgiveness, but he was too angry to care.

"What if I don't want to do this? What if I can't do this? Everyone I know dies! Everyone I get close to dies..." Kakashi plopped down onto the floor, a humorless laugh escaping him. "You know, I thought this was hell when I woke up. It is, in a way."

"Grow up, Kakashi!" snapped Naruto. "I know this sucks—I admit. It really sucks. But what would you have me do? I had a chance to protect Konoha and I took it. You were the only one fit for the job. Why? Because you don't want it. If you think for a second I'm doing this for selfish reasons, then you're wrong. I gave up my life—almost gave up my sanity for this village. You only get one shot to do this and I..."

Kakashi looked up, tugging his mask away from his face so that he could use the arms of his sleeves to wipe away his tears. "You what?"

"I can't be Hokage again..." Naruto sank down the ground next to Kakashi. "I can't. I don't want it. You have to see the people who died. I had to send them to their death. I killed them..."

Kakashi sniffed loudly, wrapping an arm around his student. "You and your father are so alike it scares me, gaki."

Naruto looked up at him with a sad smile. "I wish I got to know him."

"Me too..." Kakashi sighed, looking on as the Kyuubi fox chased valiantly after his own tail. It looked so completely and utterly ridiculous they had to laugh in spite of themselves. Kakashi sighed again when Naruto rested his head against his mentor's shoulder. "I thought of his my own father, you know...I never said it, but... he was the closest thing to a dad that I could remember. I should have been the one to tell you. I just... I couldn't. It hurt so much to have to look at you and know that you were his son and I couldn't do anything. Hiruzen couldn't allow me to teach you anything more than what I did, or his counsel would've tried to have you exterminated as a threat to the village. Danzo was always trying to get his hands on you when you were little... it was a lose-lose situation. I should have done more. I should have defied their orders. I almost got you killed so many times. I had all those chances to save people and I didn't... because of my own stupid ideals I didn't-"

"But you will, Kakashi. I put the seal on your beforehand for another reason. It could read your emotions. It's an old seal, invented by the Shodai Hokage. Why do you think you were drawn to that statue during the Battle at the Valley of the End? I knew you were there. I knew you were alive. Sakura-chan knew all about my plan. She was the only one. She suggested you. I almost sent her back, so she could save Sasuke-teme, but she said I was selfish and that was a stupid reason to send her back. I guess you were the only one who could change everything and she said you deserved it the most."

Kakashi smiled slightly as he eyed the white space beneath his feet. He was smiled as the white faded to green, and grass began to form. "Sakura-chan... she's the savior of Team Seven. How ironic that we always thought her the weakest... she had the most strength of all of us, at least in the end... Therefore, the first addition to this place will be a tree in her honor. Hell, she gets a forest of Sakura trees. "

Naruto scrambled away from Kakashi, jumping to his feet just so he could stamp his feet angrily. "You baka! I brought you back here to give you another chance and you give her the forest?"

Kakashi looked up, completely unsurprised by his outburst. He was pleased to see that Naruto had an amused glint in his eye. "Ah, but I'm fixing everything for you, eh? Although... there's so much more that I can fix now. How did you... how did you bring me back here?"

"Heh heh heh, it wasn't hard," chuckled Kyuubi. "I just had to find a somewhat significant date. I didn't want to bring you back while you were sitting on the toilet or anything. How anticlimactic would that have been? Nah... So I picked this date. I'm not completely ruthless. Being sealed up inside that damned cage all the time... I tell ya it pissed me off me more than anything. But, I digress. Naruto wanted you to have a chance to fix your own life since you're saving the village. He promised me that this would save my ass as well, so I agreed to grant him the chance. If you even think of fucking things up though, I swear to Kami I will rip your balls-"

"Hey, hey, let's not go there, eh?" propositioned Kakashi, unconsciously covering himself with his hands. "Thank you... I—you have no idea what this means."

Naruto smiled cheekily and clapped him on the back again. "Just don't fuck it up. It's not gonna be easy. You can't tell anybody but those we approve of. Or it will cause major consequences. If you run about and tell everyone and someone stronger comes along and kills them, the information can be picked right out of their head if they get someone smart enough. Not likely, but it's still a risk I'm not willing to take. Not when Konohagakure is on the line. No one below Jonin and no one who isn't instrumental in fixing it. In short, not your father."

Kakashi nodded as he began to extract himself from his mindscape.

"Oh, one more thing Kaka-sensei. You're going to need to retrain your body."

Kakashi paused, his mind whirling as he computed. "Retrain?"

"Well yeah. This is your body at six. We have gone back through time. Not a time jump, but literally we reversed time with this jutsu. It can only be done once in a lifetime. The bijuu together conferred on the matter and can donate their strength to one of the bijuu so that he can pass on the power. Even though Madara had harnessed them that was a formality. He had their physical manifestations but not their literal souls. They lent power to Kurama and he... lent it to us. That's what we had to do. You can only do this jutsu with the power of the bijuu, your own life, and someone with the intentions of good. Bijuu aren't evil. They're just selfish and crude-" Naruto broke off as the small version of Kyuubi began to viciously bite at his ankles. "Ouch! Stop it you furry little freak! But anyway, we couldn't time jump. Otherwise you'd be at the same age as you were in your own time-line and that would just be a cluster-fuck of issues... So... don't fuck this up. You don't get to go back. Your brain can't take it. We had to compress and literally un-grow your body which took an enormous amount of effort—especially on Kyuubi's part. The effect hit him, too, and that's why he's so small. By the time you hit puberty though, he'll have fully developed again."

Kakashi nodded wearily. "This... is going to be hard. How am I supposed to face everyone? The minute I saw my father I thought of him killing himself. When... when I see everyone else I'm going to think of them dying as well! How am I supposed to deal with that?"

"Well... The only thing I can think of is to creep around and spy on everyone you can that way you can practice and get things like that out of the way before you have to talk to them. You know? But... it won't get easier. I... I could never forgive myself when I had to keep sending people out to die. I have a lot of plans, but we have to wait awhile before we get to them. I don't know what will happen when I see them—we'll be able to see what you see unless you ask us not to watch or you seal us off so we can't experience your thoughts for a while... I just hope that my emotions don't influence yours. You're going to relive your life. And make it better. Take solace in that, okay?"

With a nod and a brief smile that neither Naruto or Kyuubi could really see beneath his mask, Kakashi withdrew from his mindscape and back into his conscious state.

He was surprised to see that his father was crouching over him as though he had only just fallen. He felt as though he'd been gone for hours, but in reality he'd only been gone a few seconds. That was... fortunate, actually.

"I think you hit me a bit too hard," he chuckled, attempting to play off the situation. "Maa, we should get some breakfast before we go off to work and training, eh?"

Sakumo nodded, grinning as they both stood up. They trekked to the kitchen in comfortable silence, Kakashi plopping down at the table as he waited for breakfast. When it finally arrived, he groaned inwardly. His father was a terrible cook.

Author's Note: Anti-climactic I know. -_- BUT. I have already begun the next chapter and this seemed like a better cut-off point. Also, to my Hatake Naruto fans, apologize for not updating as promised, but... COME ON. this is better. So much better. It legitimately has the potential to be the best thing I've written thus far.

Flame away. I need criticism. But please be constructive. I want to make this a good one, not get discouraged. Also... I don't know if there will be a pairing for Kakashi but I want to do some really off the wall pairings for a few of the people. Definitely no Naru/Hina or Sasu/Saku. No yaoi. But... ANYWAY.

REVIEW PLEASE.IT FUELS MY INSPIRATION.

Lauren. :]