Summary: If given the chance to change the mistakes of the past, would you?

Tools Called Shinobi
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Obito's hand was cool against his forehead but Kakashi wasn't surprised. The brunette had been dead too long for his hands to be warm.

Kakashi opened his eyes and looked up at Obito unconcerned. "It's been a long time since I dreamed about you," he whispered honestly.

Two dark eyes widened as they stared down at him and Kakashi began getting a funny feeling in the pit of his stomach. Something felt off… different.

"You dream about me," Obito asked in surprised wonder. He recovered quickly though. "Ew."

Kakashi frowned behind his mask when he realized what had changed about his dream. Obito still had both of his eyes. In every other one, he had only had one.

He blinked, stunned, when Obito smiled at him.

"You got knocked out. You were mumbling in your sleep." The genin looked away before turning back to his silver-haired teammate. "Sounded like a bad dream." His brow furrowed when Kakashi just sat there staring at him, it was disquieting.

Kakashi could tell that he was making Obito uncomfortable now but he couldn't help it. "Obito," he stopped, confused by how young his own voice sounded. Kakashi looked over himself in mild astonishment. This was a new twist; usually he was his adult self in these dreams. He reached a questing hand out toward his teammate and started when he actually touched Obito. Kakashi was stretching another hand toward the brunette's face when someone cleared their throat in amusement behind him.

The silver-haired ninja whirled around in shock only to gasp as his eyes landed on blond hair. Though it probably wasn't obvious beneath the mask, Kakashi felt like his jaw had just fallen off. His pupils dilated as he tried to process the image his eyes were broadcasting to his brain but it was too much for the young jounin and he passed out. It was probably very entertaining to Obito and their Sensei to see someone who was usually so controlled losing it.

Kakashi woke up a little while later with a fading headache and three pairs of eyes staring at him. It was like Team 7's curiosity all over again. A nostalgic smile crossed his face before he tamped down on it. It would be another year at least before Team 7 was born and 11 more before they would become a team.

"Ah," he groaned as he attempted to sit up. Rin moved to help him but Kakashi froze when she touched him. She looked away from him but Kakashi could see that her eyes were tearing up. He suddenly felt like shit. It'd been so long since he'd made Rin cry that the feeling took him completely by surprise and he winced.

She reached out for him again, afraid that he had somehow hurt himself, and this time Kakashi let her touch him. Rin's hands were warm and Kakashi tried to pretend he wasn't shocked by this turn of events. His dark eyes found the deep blue of his Sensei's and Kakashi tried to convey how out of sorts he felt.

"Rin, that's enough. Kakashi is fine," the future Yondaime admonished, trying to hide the smile tugging at his lips. \par

The silver-haired jounin barely managed to keep the grateful look off his face when he met his teacher's eyes again.

The blond smiled affectionately at him and Kakashi looked away in bewilderment. He'd forgotten what it was like with his first team.

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His eyes lingered over his teammates long after they had already fallen asleep. Kakashi's hand rubbed subconsciously over the skin below his left eye. He was still so used to the slightly raised ridge of his scar that the new smoothness that met his questing fingers was a shock.

He couldn't be sure exactly where he was in his timeline but from his observations it couldn't be more than three months before he had lost his eye and been given the gift of another. Technically that also meant that he was no longer a jounin, he was only a chunin.

A silver head shook in faint disgust. "A fucking chunin," he scoffed quietly. If Kakashi's memory served, this had been a very difficult year for him, which wasn't all that surprising really when he thought back over it.

A soft noise to his left brought Kakashi's attention back to the present as he looked over into the concerned gaze of his long dead but somehow alive again teacher.

"I'm surprised your restlessness hasn't agitated them into awareness yet, Kakashi," the future Yondaime said, his own eyes surveying his resting students. "But then they've never been as cautious as you have."

Kakashi mentally winced at the slight accusation in his teacher's voice. So things in this time were a lot like they had been then. He was still distant and acting superior to the only people who depended on him and on whom he could depend in return. He shook his head regretfully.

"That'll change, sensei, trust me. Just give it time," he looked at the blond carefully, silently willing the older man to understand what he meant.

The jounin didn't seem to really understand Kakashi's words but he nodded as though he was considering it. Kakashi guessed that that was the best he could hope for given the circumstances.

"Kakashi, why don't you get some rest? You can't take guard duty all night. I'll take my turn now," the blond offered, giving Kakashi a crooked smile before making a shooing motion with his hand.

The silver-haired young man briefly considered refusing before he realized that this would give him at least one more chance to sleep beside his old team, that and there was no way he could say no to his teacher. He nodded and shifted to stand before turning to the blond in curiosity. "Sensei?"

"Mmm??"

"If you knew something was going to happen in the future, would you try to change it?"

"What do you mean," he asked curiously.

"Well, say you knew someone was going to get hurt and you knew you could keep it from happening," this time he added silently. "Would you try to prevent it, even if it might change the way the future ended up?"

The blond looked at him in serious contemplation for a few moments. "Someone I really cared about would get hurt?" Kakashi nodded. "And I would know before hand and have the ability to change it?" The affirmative again and the man seemed to think about it for a minute. "Then I think I would change it, the future is too unpredictable to factor in." He looked at Kakashi assuredly. "I would protect my precious people."

Kakashi nodded and smiled vaguely at the familiar words. Really, he should have known. "I'm glad you said that, because I have to talk to you about Naruto."

The future Yondaime only looked at him in confusion before opening his mouth to question the silver-haired ninja. Kakashi held up his hand, hoping his teacher could hold his questions until he had explained as best he could without divulging unnecessary details, like a death or a thousand.

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This was actually supposed to be KakaObi, but it ended up feeling more YonKaka... Oops?? And it's making use of the idea the the Yondaime might be Naruto's father, I'm not sure where I stand on that.