Kakashi squinted and his younger self squinted back. Was he ever this short? Hm, well he supposed he hit a growth spurt around age 14 or so, much like Naruto did. It was just amusing (and irritating) to see this much attitude on someone who didn't even reach Kakashi's belly button.

Past Kakashi was clearly unimpressed with this vision of his future. After a series of highly embarrassing revelations that only the real Kakashi would know, during which Sakura guffawed loudly, past Kakashi (around age seven, if they got the jutsu right), finally seemed convinced that they were the real deal. They were from the future. He crossed his arms and shook his head slowly at Present Kakashi, conveying his ultimate assessment.

"Brat," Present Kakashi muttered under his breath.

"I heard that."

Sakura ignored the both of them, going to the calendar hanging on the wall and examining the date. "It's the right month, so I hope this is the right year…" She raised a brow after noticing the picture. "Puppy photo calendar?"

"It was a gift," both Kakashis said at the same time.

Kakashi, the present one, so that this doesn't get confusing, remembered that particular calendar. It had been his favorite and when the year was done, he saved the photographs into a scrapbook. He'd later lost it, much to his displeasure. His fingers itched to roll up the calendar and see if he could take it back with him.

Sakura tapped on a range of days on the calendar. "So what is the date today, exactly?" Past Kakashi informed them and she sighed in relief because they were only a little bit early. The worry had been that they would have to jump back to the present and try again if they were off by months or even years.

"We can just wait around until the time comes." The tension in Sakura's shoulders melted away and she seemed to allow herself to indulge in her curiosity now that the mission was on track. She went right up to the bookshelf and began reading through the titles.

At least Present Kakashi knew that he was good at waiting. A few days were nothing.

Present Kakashi's attention went to the door. There was someone shuffling around downstairs in the kitchen, opening cupboards and humming an idle song. His heart clenched. Dad. He had tried to steel himself for this, knowing full well that they would encounter Sakumo at some point.

He watched his younger self sidle up to Sakura and picking out for her his favorite books and showing off a little about how much he knew despite his age. Present Kakashi might even have called it 'cute.' He was a cute kid. Back when he still was one. He'd forgotten that.

"You are way more advanced than I was." Sakura leaned down and pretended to ruffle Past Kakashi's hair.

"Pretty soon, I'll be able to go on missions with my dad and I'll be a jounin. Just like him." Past Kakashi sat on his bed on top of the shuriken patterned comforter. "I'll help us win this war."

The war seemed far away, in this room from the past with sun streaming through the windows. His favorite old toys were arranged neatly on the nightstand. The faint sound of the ice pop vendor selling his wares drifted by, followed by the sound of children giggling as they ran after him.

"But you're so young," Sakura said softly.

"I'm not that young. My dad said that he became a jounin when he was just a few years older than me. Older me knows that too."

Present Kakashi may not have remembered the exact year that he had a puppy calendar, but the year his father died was burned into his memory. Just fifteen months from now, everything would change.

"Kakashi?" Sakura looked up from the book, her expression concerned.

Present Kakashi shook his head roughly. "Spacing out. Must be the time travel."

"I can't believe I would ever tamper with time travel. What if you mess up something really big?" Past Kakashi pointed at the scar over present Kakashi's left eye. "Or maybe you should tell me something so that you can fix things. How did you do that to myself? It looks like it was painful and I'd like to avoid it."

Present Kakashi and Sakura exchanged glances.

"While we were told that nothing we do will impact the future, I don't think we should take that risk." Present Kakashi tapped his nose and winked.

The circumstances behind the scar were indeed painful, but who would Kakashi have been if it had not happened? Briefly, he wondered even if he could change things whether he would and he felt like a selfish ass. His present had come at the cost of Obito and arguably his other friends as well. But lately, he realized that he'd stop regretting the past and was moving towards something that resembled acceptance. Maybe, just maybe, a little hope was there too. He stole a look at Sakura, who was busy again reading through the book titles.

"Wait, if you're not here to change things, then why are you here?" Past Kakashi asked.

"We need to read through a certain document that's been destroyed in our time. But it's not a perfect time travel method." Sakura demonstrated by letting her hand pass through the dresser near her. "We're incorporeal. No one can see or hear us but you. Plus, we're tied to Kakashi-sensei's memories—your memories—so we can't go anywhere without you."

"So you're ghosts that are haunting me," Past Kakashi concluded sagely.

"Ghosts are dead. Am I wrong?" Present Kakashi turned to Sakura for confirmation. They, on the other hand, were very much alive.

"Some ghosts aren't. Haven't you heard the stories about the people stuck in a coma while their spirits wander around?" Sakura walked around the room, passing through objects to amuse herself.

"Yea. She gets it." Past Kakashi nodded. Then, wistfully, "That looks really fun."

"It is. I wish I could pick stuff up to make it look like they're floating," she said and bent over to pick up a discarded scroll on the floor, only to have her fingers slip right through the covers.

"I bet that would freak out Gai."

Sakura turned sharply to Present Kakashi. "I need to see what Gai-sensei looked like as a child. For science."

"That idiot becomes a teacher?" Past Kakashi's jaw dropped underneath his mask. He blinked and addressed his older self, "Wait, she called you sensei too earlier."

"Force of habit." Sakura stuck out her tongue. "I was his student once, a really long time ago."

"Oh." Past Kakashi's smile dimmed. "I thought—never mind."

Present Kakashi knew exactly what his younger self thought. They both might be wearing masks, but Past Kakashi's face was too easy to read. The kid was going to have a long time to wait, unfortunately. Sakura wouldn't even be born for a few years at this point. And then it would just…take a while before he would realize, well, everything, and after that he'd proceed to agonize over their relationship for what felt like an eternity. They were still in an odd limbo. Shy looks. Brushing fingers. Secret jokes. Nothing really said out in the open, but it was there.

Present Kakashi watched his younger self fix an adoring gaze on Sakura and felt an urge to chuckle. Me too, buddy. Me too. He almost felt bad that there would be so much waiting involved for Past Kakashi.

Sakura beamed, her nose slightly scrunching as she silently mouthed, "So cute," over Past Kakashi's shock of silver hair.

He hoped, at least for him, there wouldn't be much more waiting left.