One Summer's Day

Chapter Two

Enjoy

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It was for an entire week that Kakashi was able to avoid giving that small incident any real thought, but eventually he found himself speculating about it. It was during training and it was because he had noticed that Naruto was acting especially happy.

He had been acting that way for a week now, ever since Kakashi had found him at the tribute stone. This wasn't a negative thing for Kakashi, after all it was always a small treat to see happiness and contenting feelings sparkle in his student's eyes, it was just something that was easy to note.

He still bit out and acted out, still planned to rescue Sasuke, and he still doted on Sakura, but he seemed to be doing it with a renewed vigor. He had a different sparkle in his eyes, and he grinned almost as ecstatically as Lee and Gai. He barely batted an eye when Sai insulted his manhood.

It was another of Konoha's sunny days and he was relaxing amiably on the branch of the tree that was directly over the clearing he had assigned his team to train in that day. His usual perch occupied he also continued to peruse his usual literature.

It was such a fine day that he was relaxing nicely, sitting back and reading his porn while half heartedly watching his students beat the daylights out of each other. He flipped a page and mused whether the kids would enjoy an afternoon trying to get out of a genjutsu.

It was almost noon and they had been training only for little under an hour, as Kakashi had shown up late again…but of course it wasn't his fault that a tree had fallen in his path and he had to take a detour…a long detour…and fight off a bunch of dogs. Or wolves? Was it wolves? Ah, not that it mattered anymore.

He knew Naruto would be screaming for lunch soon, and a relaxation from his exuberant sparring, exactly the same way Obito used to…but Kakashi wasn't going to think of things long passed, especially on a beautiful summer day like that particular one.

However, just like a week previously, something occurred. In usual fashion somebody appeared, their presence wasn't felt, their chakra unnoticed…

"Hmm, they're just like how we used to be, aren't they Kakashi?" said a voice from Kakashi's right. It was amused, and contained small chuckles of emotion in each word.

Kakashi had a kunai out and was prepared to attack before the man had even finished his sentence. He hadn't heard the man sneak up on him at all. Not at all.

He lowered his kunai the next second however, it was his sensei. This was his very much, long dead sensei. This was the same sensei that he had been trying unsuccessfully to forget for many, many years.

Was there an enemy threat? Someone trying to bait Kakashi with an artful genjutsu?

"Another hallucination," Kakashi grumbled and then hid his face behind away with a hand, away from his sensei's smiling face. Sometimes if he closed his eyes hard enough his hallucinations managed to fade away, back down to the ground they were buried in.

"Brat, you'll find I am no hallucination, and if you don't choose to believe me this moment than it'll be two hundred laps around Konoha," The man said, with a stern air, before he grinned. "And I've heard it's gotten even bigger since I left."

Kakashi still refused to move his hands for a moment however, his Sharingan pulsated painfully behind his hitae ate. It certainly sounded like how his sensei used to sound, the way that he used to joke and punish at exactly the same time, but he had believed that before, and had gotten caught in the traps of his own mind.

"And when you talk to me use some respect, I am your sensei after all!" Kakashi looked at the man after he said this; his sensei always said this line. His hallucinations had never strayed this far before, could it be true, was it possible? Was this man his sensei?

"How?" Kakashi asked. He was hesitant to do so, as a Sharingan user he knew just how much pain his mind could put him through. He didn't want that pain now, especially not in front of his students.

"I don't have a clue!" said Arashi cheerfully, grinning at him. The man waved jauntily at Kakashi, bouncing the branch a little in amusement.

Kakashi made a choice within his head. If it quacks like a dug, smells like a duck, and has the same flickering chakra signature as a duck then in must be a duck right? His Sharingan said this was his sensei.

"Were you really here the other day? Was it you that Naruto was talking to at the Tribute Stone?" Kakashi asked the man sitting neatly next to him. He was balancing on the branch as if he came there every day for a quiet cloud watching session.

"Hai," he turned and then looked downwards at Kakashi's students. It was one of the rare days where they practiced as a team again, and Sakura and Naruto were sparing, and it actually looked like Naruto was…losing.

"Why did you though, how did you?" Kakashi asked again, pressing for answers. He was a student again and this was his sensei. There was blood behind them, Obito's and Rin's, they were connected by it.

"But don't they really remind you of us?" Arashi said totally skipping Kakashi's question and acting like they hadn't had that part of their conversation at all.

"Yes," said Kakashi honestly. He was willing to give his sensei all the answers he could, the kunai of guilt within his soul allowed him to do so.

"You had the one kid, Sasuke," Kakashi took in a small breath when Arashi said this, he knew about Sasuke as well? "It's taken me a while, but the memories of this world are coming to me. He was just like you, brooding, couldn't stand another member of the group being late. All you used to think about was training, training, training, and same as him. It's odd really he and Obito being Uchiha's and all, you'd think he'd be more like Obito."

While Kakashi had connected the similarities a long time ago, hearing them come from his dead sensei on a cloudless day like this had a different kind of reaction to him. Was it a hallucination? Was it reality? Had his Sharingan finally taken his mind?

"I don't really care about the late thing nowadays," said Kakashi offhandedly looking at his sensei. This wasn't a genjutsu, the Yondaime's chakra signature was reverberating around them normally, even though he hadn't sensed any chakra before the man appeared next to him, and no enemy would have loitered in henge this long. Kakashi struggled to maintain even breathing.

"Indeed," was the response he earned "And you even use some of Obito's excuses from when he was late."

"Tribute to Obito," murmured Kakashi distractedly, all of this was making him think about things that he had buried for the majority of two decades.

"Well that's a sorry excuse," said Arashi somewhat shrilly "I'm sure he feels flattered and all but come now, you're a sensei! Be on time to train your genin."

Kakashi sighed internally. His sensei was the only one who could make him feel guilty and humiliated all in the same sentence. His voice was one of the only voices that could make Kakashi feel so strongly.

"Naruto of course is just like Obito," Arashi went on. "Vying for sensei's praise and wanting to beat the more popular male of the group, wanting the kunoichi's attention."

Kakashi agreed of course, even with Sasuke not here anymore, Naruto still wanted for Kakashi's praise and still tried to beat the Sasuke that existed in his mind.

"Sakura is like Rin in every shape and form," Arashi seemed to be trying to relay a message to Kakashi as he went on. "Had a crush on the genius while the other male vied for her attention. A medic Nin, clever and intelligent, and by Kami the hairstyle is even the same."

Kakashi tried to think of something to say in response, as Arashi seemed to be waiting to hear something in return. His sensei had always been like this, look underneath the underneath, then and bring me the answer to my statement.

"You can credit the hairstyle to Yamanaka Ino," said Kakashi in a lame attempt to say something. That rivalry had been put to bed years ago but Kakashi knew that Iruka-sensei used to two girls as an example when lecturing other aspiring kunoichi.

"Would that be the daughter or son of Inoichi by chance?" asked Arashi, a deep look on his face. Shadows crossed his eyes even on this sunny day. The past pulled him toward darkness.

"Daughter of," said Kakashi.

"I thought so," sighed Arashi "They do have a way of messing with things, don't they?"

"Sensei?"

"Yamanakas, that is," Arashi leaned to the side a bit resting against the tree trunk and crossing his arms, he still watched fixedly the sparing going on in the clearing below them.

Kakashi was seriously striving to say something at this point, he had never been uncomfortable in the presence of his sensei and wasn't about to start now. "Why are you wearing an ANBU uniform?"

Arashi laughed right out loud. "Why Kakashi I never knew you cared so much for attire!"

Kakashi had the grace to blush a tad bit, not that you could see it, him wearing his facemask and all. His sensei was a man of unimportant things, until you took the time to see the importance of the things.

"I decided to wear it, I haven't worn anything like this in a lifetime," literally, Kakashi thought.

Kakashi decided that they could deal with the silence at least for a few moments. He was uncertain how to deal with his latest phenomenon, and he was still trying to decide whether he was in a downward spiral of hallucination, or whether he was still a member of reality. He felt like a genin.

It was Arashi that broke their silence though. "Why didn't you help Naruto?" Arashi's voice was hushed now, cracked and maimed, hurt and tormented, and when Kakashi looked at him he noticed that his sensei's eyes were unnervingly clear.

Kakashi was thrown off track by his sensei's question. "Minato-sensei?" He asked.

"Shh, Kakashi. A name has power, and mine hasn't been whispered in a very long time," replied Arashi, moving back away form the trunk and sitting straight again. "Why didn't you help Naruto out when he was young? When he needed love and guidance?" Minato, or Arashi as he had asked Naruto to call him, shook his head, trying to sift through the jumble inside. The longer he stayed at the plateau of the living the more memories were coming to him of the years he had been gone.

Kakashi knew what he referred to now. Naruto's lifetime of friendless childhood experiences and whispered insults.

"Sandaime banned it," he said simply first. "No one was to speak about, and I think he thought there'd be no trouble that way. I welcomed it."

"Explain more."

"When Sandaime-sama banned the discussion of Naruto I was able to put it out of my mind myself. I only really remembered him, and the pain, when he was put on my genin cell by Iruka-sensei, his academy teacher and the Sandaime himself."

"Ah! Iruka-sensei, yes Naruto mentioned the man. A familial figure to Naruto, a warmth, a radiance." Arashi exclaimed.

Kakashi's stormy grey eye shifted up in amusement. With Minato-sensei looking at him with that smile and the thought of the academy chunin…he really wanted to laugh at the irony of the situation.

"Yes," Kakashi managed at last. "He's the only one Naruto had for a very long time. They are the same, actually."

"How so?"

"Well for one, they're both addicted to ramen…"

Arashi had to let out a barking laugh at that, a healthy interest in ramen he could understand!

"Well as a teacher I'm sure he doesn't read porn in front of children now does he?" Arashi had a lot of fun watching the slightest twinge of pink alight Kakashi's upper cheeks.

"Actually he's rather violent about it," said Kakashi "He's a very anti-porn type person."

This made Arashi howl even louder the laughter spilling from his mouth. It appeared his student had had a first hand account with this teacher and his "anti-porn" acts. Arashi didn't realize that his mad laughter was going to attract the attention of a couple of training students.

Naruto spotted Arashi sitting on the tree branch with Kakashi and let out an excited whoop. This meant he got a little deterred from the fight and ended up getting walloped by Sakura…

After picking himself up from the ground he ran excitedly over to the base of the tree and exclaimed loudly: "Arashi you're here! What are you doing here? Do you know Kakashi-sensei?"

Arashi looked down at the excited boy and smiled. "That I do! I do know Kakashi-bo!"

'Bo?' Naruto laughed to himself. 'I've never heard anyone refer to him as little before, I wonder how he knows Kakashi-sensei?'

"Naruto!" said Sakura, catching her breath as she reached him "Who are you talking to?"

"Ah, come on Sakura!" said Naruto "Are you telling me you can't see Arashi sittin' up there next to Kakashi-sensei? Do you need glasses or something?"

"I can see quite fine Naruto!" said Sakura angrily "And I can see quite distinctly that there's no one sitting next to Kakashi-sensei!"

While the students small tirade was going on Kakashi was looking at Arashi questioningly.

"Oh don't worry!" said Arashi deviously as he looked over at Kakashi "They'll be able to see me soon, my power is returning."

"Power..?" Drifted off Kakashi as his sensei disappeared from right in front of him.

"Hey Ara- where'd he go?" Naruto exclaimed looking dumbfounded like up from the ground. "Damnit, that guy really has more flake in him than Gai-sensei."

"Naruto there isn't any Arashi up on that branch!"

"There is to!"

"Is not!"

"Err! Whatever! Hey Kakashi-sensei you saw Arashi right?"

Kakashi looked down at the angered and confused children twenty feet below him and did the only thing he could do, the only logical thing that came to his brain:

"Training's done for today."

This did the desired thing and distracted Naruto and made Sakura huff off, Sai peered up from his position at the opposite end of the clearing. His curiosity was studying Kakashi with the instincts of an ANBU.

"WHAT! That's not fair! You came late for training today and it's just barely lunch time already, that's only like an hour!"

Kakashi sighed and looked down at Naruto. At blue eyes and blond hair that was so similar to his sensei's own.

"I'll treat you to Ichiraku ramen but only if you get there before me," Kakashi watched, never ceasing to be amazed, as Naruto sped off into the forest heading full throttle towards the ramen stand.

'I wonder if I'll have to go to the Hokage with this?' He leapt easily from the branch; his Icha Icha stored away in his weapons pouch, and then disappeared in an easy flurry of leaves. Naruto saw Minato, Kakashi was definitely not hallucinating.

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This chapter has been edited, and some of the more clichéd and naïve parts remain, they're surprisingly crucial to the rest of the story. This chapter is rather short as well.

I do hope if you're reading that you enjoy this so far. Things are certainly going to heat up in the future.

Thanks!

AnimSiren