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Chapter Text

“Imagine my surprise,” Kakashi drawled lazily as he held his sharpened kunai at Itachi’s neck, “…I go to check out a couple of lowlife vagabonds at the tea house, and I find none other than Itachi Uchiha and Kisame Hoshigaki.”

It was jarring to see Itachi again, alive.

This Itachi looked young, the faint trace of baby fat softening a face that would later become the sharp feminine angles that the Uchiha were known for. Shorter too, Kakashi noticed, younger by years than the last time they had crossed paths, during the Kazekage retrieval mission. The Itachi of this time must be around 17 or 18, the age his students had been the last he had seen them all, he realized, feeling the echo of loss settle low in his chest at their memory. The realization that Itachi was the same age as them now made familiar protective instincts rise within him, suddenly making him doubt his decision of burdening Itachi with knowledge of the future. This kid already has taken enough on his shoulders, he thought despairingly, and I am about to add to that.

But, Itachi was his only potential ally that was close to Obito, and the Akatsuki.

He didn’t know if at his current age, Itachi had trained with his Susanno, if he could use the Sword of Totsuka that Naruto and Sasuke had told him he had, that could be used to seal the black Zetsu away. It was one of his many plans for getting rid of that insidious shadow, Kakashi thought venomously, trying to push aside the repulsion and hate it brought forth.

Zetsu hadn’t simply ruined countless people’s lives- he had stripped them of their choices, and hollowed them out until they were nothing more than pawns on his endless board. He had spread endless amounts of cruelty and pain into the world with his machinations, where there could’ve been love and peace. And then when he revived Kaguya, the world had been reduced to heaps of grotesque corpses and fiery destruction. The air had constantly been saturated with sheer, claustrophobic terror, the shinobi forces having given up hope as the bodies kept piling up, death hounding them all mercilessly. Kakashi hated Zetsu and Kaguya in a way he hadn’t thought himself capable of hating anymore.

He let the fight play out as it had last time, and let Itachi pull him into his Tsukuyomi. It would be easy as breathing for him to break free of it now, with the mastery that he had gained over his Mangekyō with his practice and experience both during the war and before it.

He looked into Itachi’s eyes. The skies turned red, and he found himself impaled on a cross in the Tsukuyomi, surrounded by infinite copies of Itachi, all threateningly holding a sword in their hands.  

Before Itachi could start, he let his Mangekyō swirl into existence, took hold of the Tsukuyomi and bent it to his will, watching Itachi’s eyes widen and lips part with surprise before the expression was hidden away behind his uninterested mask. The duplicates were gone, and he was no longer impaled on the cross. As his feet touched the ground, Kakashi lazily leaned back on the cross, rubbing phantom pain out of his wrists where he had been skewered, eyes studying Itachi who now had an air of caution around him.

“You have been training your Mangekyō, then,” Itachi said, head tilted, sounding faintly impressed.  “Nobody has been able to break my Tsukuyomi and take over control so easily. I will not underestimate you going forward.” His gaze was sharp and assessing.

Kakashi gazed back, steady and calm, letting silence still the air for a moment, preparing it for the heavy words that he was going to say next. He closed his eyes, let out a deep breath, and said—

“I know the truth about the massacre, Itachi.”

Itachi’s face betrayed nothing, eyes flat and unreadable. These were words that he never expected to hear in his lifetime, Kakashi knew. He had intended for nobody to ever find out about it. Itachi most likely knew what was coming, what Kakashi was going to say next, and it must be internally distressing him, although he didn’t let it show.

“The truth?” Itachi echoed softly. “I measured my strength against the clan. What more could there be?”  

“I know that the Uchiha were planning a coup. You accepted Danzo’s mission to massacre the clan, on the condition that Sasuke would be spared, and protected,” he said steadily, watching as Itachi’s eyes filled with oncoming panic. “A masked man, who calls himself Madara Uchiha assisted you in the massacre, and is the leader of the Akatsuki. He is also the one responsible for the Nine-Tails attack on the village.”

Suddenly, Itachi was right in front of him, hand wrapped around Kakashi’s neck, squeezing his breath out. Kakashi let him, unflinchingly looking into Itachi’s eyes. 

“Who told you?” Itachi asked with a terrifyingly cold tone, tightening his hand. “Was it Danzo? Madara?”

“The man who calls himself Madara told me this, or will tell me this,” Kakashi said calmly, gripping Itachi’s hand and forcing it away from his throat. “I am from the future, four years from now. There will be another war. The Akatsuki’s plans will succeed, but the result will be something that not even they themselves anticipate.”

Kakashi realized he was talking about it all in a very vague manner, and Itachi’s expression was growing more and more disbelieving. Deciding to show rather than tell, he carefully locked his memories of Sasuke’s death away, and let the images of the future play out in the genjutsu world around them. He chose the most key moments, such as the revived Madara being betrayed by black Zetsu and revealing his machinations, Kaguya being revived, their failure to seal her, and the death and destruction that followed. The past four reanimated Hokage, along with Orochimaru, who had all poured their genius and seal knowledge together to create the seal. The planning, and him being chosen out of the survivors to be sent back.

“If you still don’t believe me, there is information that I could give you, that I would have no way of knowing. But, you don’t have to believe that I came from the future, Itachi. I know that you care about Sasuke, and that your loyalty to the village hasn’t wavered. Help me protect it, and help me prevent the war. Akatsuki’s goals are going to bring no good. That plan that you have, of dying at Sasuke’s hand, bringing justice onto yourself, is going to fail. The masked man will immediately snatch him up, and manipulate him with the truth. It will drive Sasuke mad, and further into the darkness of vengeance. And by the time he pulls himself out of it, it wouldn’t matter, because Zetsu will revive Kaguya, and she will tear the world apart,” Kakashi plead, feeling drained.

Itachi’s stood back and contemplated everything that he had just learnt. He could tell that these memories were real, and despite all of the masks that Kakashi liked to wear, he had always been unflinchingly straightforward and honest. If the man had an ulterior motive, he wouldn’t have chosen such a bizarre and convoluted approach to achieve it.

And after all, was time travel really that unrealistic an explanation, after all of the things that he knew that the Sharingan could achieve? The Second Hokage had devised a jutsu that could bring the dead to life. His teleportation jutsu dealt with the physics of space and time. The Uzumaki clan had been known to have taken the art of sealing to extraordinary levels, achieving feats that made the elemental nations wary of them, despite their small size.  No, it wasn’t unrealistic that the Second Hokage, along with Orochimaru and the other three Hokage, had managed to achieve this.

“The masked man. What is his real identity? You refuse to call him Madara,” Itachi observed.

Letting out a tired sigh, Kakashi muttered, “Do you remember your cousin Obito? You must’ve been around four years old, when he died in a mission during the third war. It’s him. He is the man under the mask. We all thought him dead, but he was rescued and manipulated by the real Madara Uchiha. He is a pawn being played by Zetsu as well.”

Itachi closed his eyes, and stayed quiet for a long moment.

Then, he murmured, “How can I help?”

The words brought Kakashi great relief. He could feel the smallest echo of camaraderie between them, and was thrown back to the days that they had spent together on their ANBU team along with Tenzo and Shisui. Itachi had still been quite quiet and reserved then as well, but his eyes had held kindness, warmth, and a certain childlike curiosity about the world.

Now, after everything that he had happened, gone was all of the kindness. Haunted detachment had taken its place.

“Our first priority will be to seal Zetsu away, and destroy the Gedo Mazo. I need you to figure out and communicate to me their locations.”

Itachi nodded in agreement. 

“And—I was told that you possessed Totsuka’s Sword. Could we use that to seal Zetsu? He isn’t exactly human; I don’t know if he even has a soul. All I know is he is a manifestation of Kaguya’s will.”

“Yes. In theory, the sword should be able to seal anything away. I am confident that it will be able to seal Zetsu.”

“Will Zetsu ever be able to escape it? Or will someone else be able to free him from it?” It was the most important concern that Kakashi had with this plan. He had thought about using the Reaper’s Death Seal, but the problem with that was that people like Orochimaru knew how to release the trapped souls from Shinigami’s stomach, as he had done when reanimating the previous Hokage. So if he used that seal, there would always be the possibility of Zetsu being released, and returning to his scheming ways. He would have to hunt down the Uzumaki clan’s secret scrolls and destroy them, if Orochimaru hadn’t gotten to them already, along with the masks and the temple. Because of the amount of uncertainty, Kakashi had set that plan aside as a last resort.

“No. Those that are stabbed with the sword will be trapped in a genjutsu world of drunken stupor for eternity. He will not be able to escape the gourd, and as the sword has been integrated into my Susanno, nor will anyone else be able to release him,” Itachi said with certainty.

“Will you be able to release him?” Kakashi cut in, sharp and measured, eyeing the Akatsuki member speculatively from where he stood.  

Itachi looked away, grimacing. “I can. But I won’t,” he replied, turning back to face Kakashi, steady and determined.

“Every jutsu has its weakness, you told Sasuke once, in the future. The same is true of people, and yours is Sasuke. There is a chance that they will use him against you, once we set our plans into motion. Threaten his life, or put him through worse. If it comes to that, which we will give our damnedest efforts to that it doesn’t, I hope, that however you act, you do so while keeping the grim future that’s coming in mind,” Kakashi started, watching as indignation and anger began to rise on Itachi’s face. Holding out his hand to stop him from interrupting, he continued,

“I am not asking you to abandon Sasuke if it comes to making a choice. I would never abandon my friends, and I care about Sasuke too. All I ask you is to be conscious and aware of the tunnel vision that your love for him creates.

Obito and Zetsu are both very skilled at using people’s most vulnerable spots to manipulate and twist them according to their needs. Do not let them use Sasuke against you. Keep a level head, and don’t fall for their tactics. Do you understand?” 

He could see Itachi absorb his words, through the clarity and deep awareness that was now dawning on his face. Kakashi had always theorized to himself that this tunnel vision, exacerbated by Shisui’s suicide, was one of the reasons why Itachi had agreed to the massacre. Otherwise, Itachi’s genius mind could’ve come up with multiple solutions to de-escalate the situation that didn’t end up with him killing his entire family in cold blood.

“I understand,” Itachi replied, and Kakashi could hear the steel in his voice.

“Okay, then,” Kakashi said, somewhat pacified. He was still going to keep an eye on Itachi in case something like that happened. “I assume you will be using the crows to communicate?”

Itachi nodded. 

“What’s your plan?"

Chapter Text

Itachi and Kisame made a tactical retreat after Gai’s dynamic entry. Kakashi instructed Asuma and Kurenai to stay alert in the village and warn the others, while he and Gai tore through the streets toward where he had last seen Naruto.

His mind was racing. The last time this had happened, he’d fallen into a coma. He didn’t know how this was going to play out.

All he knew was that back then, Itachi had tortured Sasuke with his Tsukuyomi and then abandoned the mission to capture Naruto after Jiraiya’s arrival.

He had strongly warned Itachi against torturing Sasuke again this time around. Sasuke had been slowly starting to heal and build bonds with Team 7 when the encounter with Itachi and the torturous Tsukuyomi had violently clawed into his healing scabs, dragging them open and raw until they bled the color of vengeance again.

If Itachi so much as thought of harming Sasuke in any way like that this time around, there would be hell for him to pay, Sword of Totsuka be damned. Kakashi had made him promise to stay away from his students and quit his plan to die by Sasuke’s hand. No more torturing Sasuke, and no more pushing him into the path of revenge.

He thought back to their long conversation in the Tsukuyomi as he jumped rooftops with Gai. Itachi had said he planned to subtly convince Kisame to abandon the mission to capture Naruto and go back. But Kisame’s loyalty lay with the Akatsuki, and while he usually followed Itachi’s lead, it was unpredictable if he would agree to go back or decide to continue pursuing Naruto. He was known to be ruthless and savage. One unfortunate swipe of his sword would do a lot of damage to Kakashi’s baby genin. He had to make sure Naruto was safe and relay to Jiraya the threat of the two Akatsuki members.

The fact that he has now changed the future by telling Itachi, and therefore made the situation even more unpredictable, was adding to the panic that was rising inside of him. Gruesome images of the worst-case scenarios kept flashing through his head, and he tried in vain to gain control of his mind and banish them.

Teuchi-san told him that Jiraya had taken Naruto along with him to a nearby town with a pleasure district. Kakashi nodded to Gai, and they both set off in that direction.

He and Gai separated to search through the town. After looking through three inns, one of which had had another pair of blonde boy and white-haired man, Kakashi found Naruto just in time, petrified and looking up at Itachi and Kisame’s imposing figures. Naruto looked especially small and fragile in front of Kisame’s towering frame and Itachi’s terrifying and intense presence.

Jiraya was nowhere in sight.  

“Perhaps we should cut off one of his legs or something,” Kisame was saying, his hand curled around the hilt of Samehada.

“Step away from Naruto,” Kakashi growled.

Letting his Mangekyō swirl into existence, he cut off Kisame’s hand and the handle that it was holding onto with Kamui within a fraction of a second.

Kisame blinked, staring at his handless wrist spurting blood everywhere for a moment of bewilderment, before smirking, “Well well, Hatake. So full of surprises.”

Footsteps thundered up the stairs, furious and familiar, and Sasuke was there too, huffing from exertion. How did he find out, and why couldn’t he have stayed in the village—

“Long time no see, Sasuke,” Itachi intoned without taking his eyes off Naruto.

“My my,” Kisame chuckled darkly, “Another Sharingan!” Sasuke was standing next to Kakashi, his breathing erratic and a crazed look in his scarlet eyes.

“I am going to kill you, Itachi!” Sasuke shouted, his voice shaking with the rage and resentment that he had held onto for years, “Just as you told me to… I’ve loathed and hated you and lived, solely to kill you!”

“Sasuke!” Kakashi barked, as the sound of chirping birds pierced the quiet of the hallway, “Act wisely, Sasuke. This is not the time and place for that.” He held his hand out to stop Sasuke and keep him behind himself.

Naruto was still too far from Kakashi, vulnerable with Kisame and Itachi standing between them.  

“You don’t understand!” Sasuke yelled, almost manically. “I have been waiting for this for years! Day and night, I have been training—“

“Is your revenge more important than Naruto’s life right now, Sasuke? Take a deep breath and center yourself. Don’t let your emotions control you like this,” Kakashi commanded sharply, hoping to cut through Sasuke’s rage-filled mind and bring him back to his senses. “They are both here to take Naruto. We need to make sure that doesn’t happen.” Kakashi was unsure Sasuke would listen in his state, but then he heard Sasuke take a loud and shaky breath in through his nose and let his Chidori die out, and relaxed infinitesimally.

Itachi, who had quietly been watching them, opened his mouth, most likely to say something mocking, but Kakashi widened his eyes in warning and subtly mouthed “Don’t.” 

Kisame, inspecting the healing stump of his wrist, glanced between them. “Who is that kid, Itachi? He looks an awful lot like you.”

“He is my brother,” Itachi replied simply.

Kisame snorted. “Funny. Thought the whole Uchiha clan was wiped— HEY!”

Kakashi took the opportunity when he was distracted and teleported behind Kisame with Kamui, quickly grabbed Naruto, and teleported them both back to where Sasuke was still glaring at Itachi.

“Resistance is futile,” Itachi said, as Kisame growled and ran towards them, sword raised by his other hand. “To take Naruto is the supreme order given unto us by the Akatsuki. Naruto must come with us.” Kakashi adjusted his stance, ready to Kamui himself and the two boys to safety.

“DYNAMIC ENTRY!”

Gai kicked Kisame in his chest and sent him flying back. He landed next to Kakashi and assumed his usual ready stance.

Jiraya had arrived as well, with an unconscious woman slung over his shoulder. Setting her down to the side gently, he slammed his hands into the floor.

“Ninja Art! Toad Mouth Trap!” Jiraya yelled, and the entire passageway was encased in flesh, trapping Itachi and Kisame further by engulfing their feet. “Too bad, Itachi and Kisame,” Jiraya called, voice booming. “You should not have underestimated me. You’ve just been swallowed by the rock-dwelling giant toad of Mount Myoboku. Welcome, my friends, to the belly of the beast!”

“Kisame!” Itachi called out sharply and began running towards the end of the passage, “Let’s go!” He used Amaterasu to burn an exit in the flesh.

Kisame extracted his sword from the flesh with a squelch and followed Itachi. Gai started to chase after them, but Kakashi caught his hand and pulled him back away from the black flames.

“No one’s ever successfully escaped from this!” Jiraya called out. The flesh started moving, trying to trap them in.

“No! But—wait!“ Sasuke shouted just as Itachi was about to escape, and started shouldering past Kakashi towards Itachi. Kakashi stopped him with a hand on his shoulder.

Itachi paused, looked back at Sasuke one last time, an unreadable look passing over his face, and jumped out.

The passage was left silent except for the faint squelch of flesh and the crackle of the Amaterasu flames.

“Hah! Tried to distract me with a pretty woman! A man like me doesn’t chase women! It is women who fall for my charms!!” Jiraya boasted loudly as he walked towards the hole in the wall from which the pair of Akatsuki members had escaped. The black flames of Amaterasu were steadily burning away and filling the place with the stench of burning flesh. He swiftly sealed them away and reversed his Toad Mouth Trap jutsu.  

“Yeah, right!” Naruto shouted in response, outraged. “One wink from that pretty woman and you were like a starving dog drooling over a bone!” He pointed an accusing finger at Jiraya, “This is no time to be acting high and mighty, Pervy Sage!”

“Aargh! Will you stop calling me that in front of other people!”

“I must say, Jiraya-sama— It was entirely un-youthful of you to be distracted by the vices of lust, leaving your young charge alone in this sinister part of town,” Gai admonished Jiraya, in a respectful but firm tone, and Kakashi was thankful for it. If he had opened his mouth instead, respectful is the last thing his words would’ve been. The anger that he had felt upon seeing Naruto alone, cornered and vulnerable in front of Kisame and Itachi still threatened to come lashing out, biting and sharp. Abandoning Naruto, a young genin in this shady part of town, to chase a woman was reckless beyond measure, especially considering the vulnerable position that the leaf was currently in, without a Hokage.

Jiraya let out a fake-sounding chuckle and scratched his head. “Eh-he-he- Gai, I was just gathering intelligence! And besides, I was still alert and keeping an eye out—came back just in time, didn’t I?”

Kakashi breathed his anger out with a sigh. To be fair, he couldn’t expect Jiraya to keep Naruto stuck to himself twenty-four hours a day. Jiraya hadn’t strayed very far away from him, and yes, had rushed back as soon as he had noticed something amiss, Kakashi thought, looking at the unconscious woman lying on the floor.

His gaze trailed to Sasuke, who was still staring at the spot Itachi had escaped from, his eyes watery and expression troubled. Sasuke’s brows were furrowed with confusion instead of anger.

“You okay, kid?” Kakashi asked, squeezing his shoulder. Naruto, who had been grumbling about Jiraya, also turned to look at him. He didn’t say anything, sensing his melancholy as well.

Sasuke pushed his hand away and silently started walking down the stairs.

Naruto looked up at Kakashi with a worried frown, wringing his hands together nervously. “Kakashi-sensei,” he asked as soon as Sasuke left hearing range, “That was the guy Sasuke was talking about, wasn’t he? The one he wanted to kill?”

Kakashi motioned Gai to follow Sasuke and crouched down to talk to Naruto.

“Yes, he was.”

“Will Sasuke be okay? He looked really sad.”

“He must be a bit shaken up, seeing Itachi after so many years like this. But I’ll talk to him, okay? I’ll make sure he doesn’t brood for too long,” Kakashi said, giving Naruto a small reassuring smile. “You want to continue your trip with Jiraya?”

“Yeah! He’s going to teach me a cool new jutsu. I’ll learn it super quick and then come back to train with Team 7. Maybe we could all beat this Itachi guy together!”

The Rasengan, it must be. “Good plan, kid,” Kakashi replied fondly, standing up and ruffling his hair. “I’ll see you back at the village.”

He looked at Jiraya, who was silently watching them both, and nodded. “I’ll pay the innkeeper for the damages. Safe travels, Jiraya-sama, Naruto. Jaa ne!”

---

He Kamuied into the dimension and was about to get some rest in his usual spot when something dark on one of the stone blocks caught his eye. Moving closer, he realized it was blood, soaking into two objects. A severed hand—larger than an average human’s, with a bluish-gray hue, lying palm up beside a shaft of metal that looked oddly familiar. Drawing his kunai, Obito flipped the hand over, and despite the blood coating nearly every inch of it, the bright purple nail polish on its fingers gave it away. Kisame.

That must mean—Kakashi. 

---

Sasuke had come to the training ground to work the agitation out of his body, but he simply could not focus, no matter how hard he tried. So there he lay on the training ground, limbs spread out, panting as he stared up at the cloudy late afternoon sky. There was an image in his head—one that he hadn’t been sure was a true memory or something that his mind had made up. He had thought maybe he’d seen it in one of his horrid nightmares, and mixed it all up.

Itachi, on the night of the massacre, looking down at him with tears in his eyes, regret and pain written all over his blood-splattered face. Blood of his parents. Blood of his favorite aunt, blood of baby Hiro, of his family, blood, red and smelly and death, heavy and dreadful, filling the air, clogging his chest—

NO—Sasuke thought, fingers tangled in his hair, pulling until he felt his scalp sting.

The image. Itachi.

He had told himself it wasn’t real. Because why would Itachi be regretful? How could a psychopath like him cry? What would he even cry for? For—for—his mind stuttered and went completely blank, froze on the cliff edge of the void that were his memories of that night, of the unimaginably terrible things his once beloved brother had done.

He’d seen that image come to life today, in an inn in the shady corner of the neighboring town. It had felt like déjà vu. When he had shouted “Wait!” and Itachi had stopped to look back at him, his face had been etched with the same emotions that he had seen years ago—regret, pain, and this time, longing as well. He’d know— Itachi used to have the same look on his face when he had to break his promises to Sasuke and go on a mission. When he’d tap his fingers to his forehead and regretfully murmur, “Next time, Sasuke.”

Why couldn’t Itachi have been the cold psychopathic killer that he had been imagining him to be all of these years? The one that had tortured him with hours and hours of visions of his parents and family being murdered, the one that had left him alone with the curse to live in hatred and revenge? Sasuke had been expecting him to be crueler, soulless, and remorseless, and then it would’ve been easier to lose himself back into that familiar rhythm of rage and hatred. To keep looking at the future and keep planning that man’s death.

But one glimpse of that expression, another memory long buried unearthed, and it felt like the ground underneath his feet had tilted uncomfortably, and no matter how much he tried, he couldn’t ignore it, couldn’t let it go, couldn’t fall back into blindly hating and plotting his revenge again. There was a wrongness to everything that kept nagging at him.  

It hurt so much. To remember that expression, and to remember the brother that Itachi had once been. There was a lump in his throat and a stone on his chest, restricting his breath. The rest of his body was numb.

It hurt so much to even glance at his memories of the past instead of compulsively obsessing over the future. Memories of him being a kind and loving elder brother hurt more than memories of the torture, of that night.

He’d give Sasuke piggyback rides when he’d be too tired after training. He’d kneel beside him to clean his scrapes with patient hands. At night, he’d sometimes read to him, his voice warm and happy, and the experience used to feel so magical to him. On some nights, Sasuke would dance and jump on Itachi’s bed to some silly cartoon song on the radio, and Itachi would watch, eyes filled with love, so much love, he remembered, and—

Letting out a hoarse cry, Sasuke curled into a ball, feeling the grass of the training ground underneath prick him through his shirt. Soundless sobs tore through his chest. He clawed his fingers into his hair and yanked, barely feeling the pain. It all felt like too much. The tears weren’t enough to expel whatever he was feeling, and his chest was too full of emotion, his sobs becoming bigger and more uncontrollable, turning into ragged gasping coughs until he could barely breathe.

Nothing made sense at all. Why had he done it? Why that bullshit excuse of ‘testing his strength’? What had really happened that night? Why had Itachi killed their parents—why had he tortured him—betrayed him?

And then left him alone?

Gentle hands untangled his fingers from his hair and massaged his scalp soothingly. Kakashi-sensei. He picked Sasuke up from the ground and held him in a hug that would’ve been too tight and constricting otherwise, but felt grounding and safe in the moment. He didn’t say anything, just held Sasuke until his sobs calmed down into noiseless hiccups.

Sasuke’s head felt strangely light and clear after his crying calmed down. He laid his head on Kakashi-sensei’s shoulder and breathed in the familiar scent of incense that always permeated everything in his house. He most likely used it to cover up the smell of his eight dogs, and it wasn’t a very strong smell, but it always would linger on your clothes after you visited his house. 

“What did he want with Naruto?” he asked quietly after a couple of minutes of silence.

“Itachi works for a terrorist organization called the ‘Akatsuki,’” Kakashi-sensei murmured, slowly rubbing his back. “He was following their orders to kidnap Naruto and bring him to them. As to the reason why—that’s an S-rank secret. And the only one who has the right to tell you is Naruto himself.”

Sasuke thoughtlessly stared at the grass in front of him, distantly taking in the details of its blades and tiny purple flowers. “Why do you think he did it? Kill everyone?” he heard himself ask. “Do you believe the reason that he gave? About testing himself?”

“I always thought that was a bullshit reason,” Kakashi-sensei said, after a pause. “I figured, at that time, that there must’ve been some internal dispute within the clan, or something. Shisui’s suicide, and Itachi being suspected—must’ve played some role, I guessed. Tensions had been rising, politically, between the Uchiha and the village. We could all feel it, the disturbance and dread in the air, but we couldn’t exactly pinpoint where it was coming from at the time. It kept rising and rising, until—”

He sighed and looked away. “The Uchiha were very reserved, of course, especially with their internal clan matters. The Hokage and the council were very tight-lipped afterwards as well. Nobody knew what exactly had happened. Why he did it. All that we heard was your testimony to the Hokage. And so we could only guess.”

Kakashi looked down at Sasuke, who was now staring at the grass with a thoughtful look on his face, “Why do you ask? You don’t believe his reason either?” he asked gently. Sasuke simply shrugged in response. He pulled himself out of the hug and stood up. Kakashi reached for the water bottle Sasuke always brought with him for training and handed it over to him.

“Here. Drink, and wash your face.”

Sasuke nodded, feeling drained. He hadn’t realized how dry his mouth had gotten and drank the cool water gratefully.

“I’ll walk you home. Get some proper rest today. Training is at seven tomorrow.”

Together, they started walking back to Sasuke’s apartment.

“Good job on holding yourself back today, by the way. It must’ve been hard, and I am very proud of you.” Kakashi-sensei said, briefly patting him on the head. “Not letting your emotions control you is a very critical skill to have as a shinobi. Regular meditation will help you perfect it even more.”

“Hn,” Sasuke grunted. “Start teaching that to Naruto first. He needs it more than anyone.”

Kakashi chuckled in response.