A Bare Anomaly

(I lied, this happens both at the same time and then a small skip forward, so don’t get too confused.)


When not on missions (though by Tsunade’s angry reproach about the fight there were a lot of missions), Kakashi had taken to ghosting his female soldier. She had stopped crying on the third night. He learned that by the end of the second week she had fully mastered the scrolls. He also learned that Sasuke had left them, again. His assassination mission in the land of Grass had kept him from being the one to return him. That kid was making his life very difficult. He kept thinking about Sakura, this time, though. He marveled at her deadly precise chakra control. In the right hands she could be a new Tsunade. If her mentality broke down though . . . He didn’t finish that thought. That Kabuto kid was bad enough. The picture of Team Seven also never left his hand.

Kakashi, though in lust with Jiraiya’s books, had always slightly been wary of the older pervert. The man knew too much, gave too little, and was easily swayed by the fairer sex. Even Kakashi couldn’t be bought by cheap liquor and cheaper women. With the great toad hermit staying in town, Kakashi’s visits to the stone were always uneasy. The man always stood there. His eyes thoughtful, but his mouth smirking. Kakashi had the decency to give the dead their respects. Not the older man. Today would be no different.

Kakashi always wondered how to correct his mistakes. For such a genius he always second guessed himself. After the two hours of prayer and talks to Obito, he turned to leave. “I wonder what hurts worse?” Kakashi stopped, the question was thick. He didn’t want to ask. So, instead he kept walking. “The boulders or the chidori, I mean.” He stopped, again. The audacity of that man. “You’re always haunted by it. You know what you have to do. All three of them deserve that.” “Sasuke already knows.” “A good thing I wasn’t talking about that spoiled brat then.” Kakashi turned, his one eye glaring at the man. “Then, who, Jiraiya-sama was you talking about?” “I’ve had it with your self pity Kakashi-chan. That boy deserved better. It was your genin team, you had a responsibility for all of them. He grew exponentially without your help.” Kakashi sputtered. He tried to calm down. But to pin all of Naruto’s short coming’s as his fault? “The same could be said of you, where were you?”

That should have been check, and once again, Jiraiya didn’t even blink. “I haven’t made excuses, Kakashi. I was doing my teacher, and my student, a favor. Making sure that his enemies didn’t know about the kid. His family wants to see him. I had to make sure that didn’t, and still doesn’t, happen.” Kakashi glared. “Look, it doesn’t begin to make up for my absence in the kid’s life. But I’m here now, I’m making sure that he gets what he needs. And in three years you can have him back.” “Three . . . ” “The bastard had to transfer early, so it’ll be three years before he can do it again. And I know the brat will want to save the Uchiha. So, I’m training him.”

Kakashi was about to retort when he realized his question still wasn’t answered. “The heiress, boy. I was talking about the Hyuuga.” “How does . . . ” Kakashi knew she was now a factor in Naruto’s life. But really. He wasn’t going to include her in his ghost hunting. “Sweet gods man. She knows about his burden. I’ve watched her tell her father and her teacher to shove it. She’s going to be valuable for the boy. But she doesn’t have full confidence in the herself.” Kakashi began to understand. “You want absolution? Do what you know to be right. He is the fourth’s legacy. He has the potential to be the best. Let’s make sure that happens.” Kakashi nodded. With that, the hermit was gone. Kakashi had research to attend to.

Kakashi is a broken man, he has been for a long time. Team Seven was the bridge to his reentry into life. His ghosts had always consumed him. Rin’s image always fleeted out of his sight. He didn’t know where she was. Presumed dead. Arashi, we all know what happened there. Obito. His second greatest tragedy. It was his first, until Naruto and Sasuke came into his life. The dead Uchiha was his best friend. Or at least the closest thing to a best friend Kakashi had at the time. It’s strange how history repeats itself. We could, but we won’t, go into how Kakashi is a hypocrite. You know, ‘disobey rules, trash; abandon friends, less than trash.’ But that would demean the lesson he was going to learn. He understood it. Anybody with half a mind should understand it. So why flog a dead horse? He knew what he had to do. So he set out and find out how to do it.

The Uchiha complex was leering at him. But Sasuke left a trail so obvious he must have been wanting Kakashi to find it. His actions, his own, weighed heavily upon him. He had found what he wanted. His eyes widened. The scroll detailing the discovery and method for attaining Mangekyou. The ultimate level of Sharingan. Your best friend must die, by your hands. So Itachi did kill Shisui. Kakashi briefly entertained the idea of Obito killing him to gain this power. He wondered if it had to be the direct tactile murder, or if the rules were a little more flexible than that.

Sasuke had almost been the cause of his best friend’s death. Itachi had killed his. And Kakashi felt responsible for Obito’s death. Kakashi’s head hurt. He had to the urgent need to raise his headband. Suddenly the world seemed to spin. He clutched his head, falling to the ground. The energy coursing through his body was unlike almost anything before. But it felt strangely similar. Like that time . . . Kakashi remembered. When Rin gave him his new eye. Suddenly that voice in his head started again. Like so many years ago.

He never told anyone about it. But every technique he copied, every move he stole, there would be a voice pop up in his head. Of the person whom he imitated. When he first got the eye Obito’s voice kept exploding in his head. It had been many years since he heard that voice. But here it was. Again. When the voice died down, Kakashi’s eyes finally came into focus. The Sharingan had stopped spinning, and the world seemed to slow down. That’s when Kakashi understood. Everything about him was enhanced. But his head hurt. A lot. He would have to practice, a lot. But he couldn’t put anyone in that kind of torture. Too late. The eye activated without his consent. He looked at a bird that landed on the ground. And then ‘poof’. It was gone. He startled. What . . . That’s when he passed out.

He awoke to a constant buzzing sound and to the Hokage’s voice. Kakashi looked left and right. Sakura was to the latter, Hinata to the former. “What . . . ” He sputtered. Hinata jumped, slightly, then shrunk behind Tsunade. “Hinata-san found you on her way home.” “But why is she scared?” The girl chewed through her words. Swallowing them timidly. “Y-y-your eye. It was a different shape than I remember being told what the copy eye was.” “Hmmm. It worked?” His voice was quiet. Speaking really only to himself.

Tsunade had been worried. When Rin gave him the eye, it kept two things about it. The eye stayed active and, as such, the chakra drain was steady and constant. It constantly processed the information given to it; so his chakra reserves, if the eye was left open (obviously), were being drained. Now he had a new version of it, and according to Hinata, it made things disappear. Poor girl had seen everything.

“Hatake.” He really hated the way it sounded when she was being curt, and irritable. “Yes ma’am?” “I think you better tell me what that was about!” “They’re not ready to learn these things.” “Hatake.” The voice was short, and it demanded attention. “Hokage-sama . . . ” Maybe that route would . . . “Out with it man. I’m on my last nerve with you. First you taught . . . ” Or not. “I get it, I get it. I’ve already been through this with the old pervert.” He really didn’t want to tell the girls the real reason why Sasuke was willing to kill Naruto. “It’s the true final level of Sharingan. Itachi used it to massacre his clan. It’s activation is only possible by killing your best friend.” The round of gasp’s were expected. “But in the war Obito saved you. You didn’t . . . ” Tsunade got it. His guilt. He felt responsible for Obito’s death. It would be as though he killed the Uchiha himself. “My god, Hatake. You’ve carried this for fourteen, fifteen years? Why Kakashi? You had to know . . . ” “It didn’t do any good. It never does.”

Tsunade felt for the man. He had carried his demons for so long. And she was no better. She was angry with him. Yet, something was similar between them. And for the life of her she didn’t know how to react. She struggled with her loss of words. This was entirely too much information to process in such a short time. Sake. That was the answer. The one true problem solver. While she looked at the man, the sniffles finally broke through her own thoughts.

They had almost been ignoring the girls. Sakura was not crying. Strangely enough. Hinata was. Now that her mission was over, she lost some of her confidence. Naruto didn’t immediately return her feelings. But she expected that. She didn’t expect that he would leave and not return for three years. Sakura was helping. Hinata was glad for it. He had already left. Gone in the late morning, they prepped days prior. The last few days were letting Naruto adjust and get ready.

They had shared meals together. Naruto had been open with Hinata. But then he was never being one to be shy. It was all she could have hoped for. Sakura patted her shoulder again. They never noticed that the two adults had talked. They were too busy within their own thoughts. “Sakura. Hinata. Starting tomorrow, you are going to begin training with Kakashi.” “With respect, why? I have my own team.” A valid point. Hinata planned on rejoining them on missions soon. She had to get stronger. She knew that. With her father’s training and her teammates, she should begin to attain that strength. “Hinata, you are now privy to Konoha’s biggest secret. You completed your mission with excellence.” “I need soldiers that can put up with his loud mouth and big heart.” Kakashi’s interjection summed up what Tsunade was getting to. She growled. Kakashi reverted to his usual self. “We shall discuss what this entails tomorrow.” The girls nodded. They were one step closer to protecting someone that protected them all.

Author’s note:

I didn’t say these would stop. Just the rants. I think, for my readers, that it’s a great idea to post an author’s note at the end of every chapter. It’s not a tool to boost word count. I’m clocking in 2400 words a chapter, more or less. The rants/notes were only taking up around a sixth of each chapter. That’s only around 400 words. Notes, when done properly, offer insight into the writing process. I’m a big fan of ‘behind the scenes.’ This chapter wasn’t as hard as four was to write. It’s still hard enough, since I don’t like Kakashi as a character, and (if placed in terms of reality) a person. Everything the toad hermit said is only the beginning of my real feelings on the man. I poked fun at the people that take Kakashi to extreme. It’s one of three things with these people. It’s ‘Oh he secretly tried to help Naruto out, but we never saw it, and truthfully it didn’t do any good if it is true, but since he’s super bad ass number one awesome we can’t think he’s a piece of shit. So we make it seem he’s a great guy, but can’t explain why he didn’t do more.’ Or it’s the ‘My view of the guy is so skewed that I’ll make him an insufferable asshole (most of the time along with team seven) and really drive home the point that he broke his own creed. That should appear to be totally awesome number one amongst my peers who think the same way I do.’ And finally, it’s the ‘I refuse to see the flaws within the series, nor do I think that anything is wrong with it, so Kakashi is perfect, Sasuke is tragic, Sakura is a pretty face, and Naruto is the annoying bumbling idiot.’ None of these are truthfully correct. And none of these cover the whole ‘let’s rewrite history so that Kakashi adopts Naruto, even though he would have been thirteen/fourteen at the time and unable (mentally) to care for a child.’ Those are my favorites. And you’re thinking this borders on rant. It is. Almost. In fact if you go to my FF forum, it’s linked in my profile, you’ll see this more in-depth. But here, I’m explaining my thoughts on writing the scene. I had to deal with redeeming Kakashi. It’s part of the divergence. I’m not a great action writer (as evidenced by the reaction my foray into it with Titans got), so most actual training scenes will be in passing. I like dealing with the mind and it’s workings. So I try to balance the thoughts and their correlating actions. That’s also one of the harder things about being engrossed with a series like Naruto. It’s predominantly an action series. But it had (yes I’m aware that I used the past tense for ‘has’) super strong undercurrents with thoughts and character. And Kishimoto out Toriyama’s Toriyama. Since he connects us so greatly to these made-up super people. The next few chapters will deal with the kids. And that should work out better, like the first three chapters.

It’s worth noting that I’m having a difficult time making this solely Naruto/Hinata. I cannot fully discount Sakura. But I don’t want to do the cliched three way romantic drama that some write. I’ve always been a one woman man. Well, one at a time. I cannot wrap my head around the whole triangle dynamic. BUT I still can not find a way to disassociate Pinkie from his head space. I have an idea, but really, at best it’s iffy. Like the whole Sasuke shunts two ANBU like they were nothing. I want to avoid that. (This is just me airing my thoughts and insights, as A/N’s should be used.)