Kakashi's POV - CHAPTER 3

Everything seemed quiet, maybe even a little too quiet. I looked up from my book, the continuations of Jiraiya's Icha Icha series by Naruto, only to stare through the glistening emerald leaves up at a pale, baby blue; a single white cloud passing me by. With a sigh, I allowed my one available eye to drift back down to the pages of the book, scanning over the kanji carelessly. I wasn't even focused, technically, just attempting to look occupied and, for lack of better word, apathetic. Normally, I at least had some sort of reference as to where my students were during this entrance exam but, oddly, this time I had none. I would have thought at least Nowaki would have made a little noise. Or Reiji...she was always rather loud. Yet, I had nothing. As I let my subconscious overtake me, those fatal memories seemed to seep back to me like a poison. Sasuke...why...I don't understand.

It wasn't long before Sasuke had faded into Akira and I felt my subconscious being devoured. I glanced around, my blurry vision coming into focus with reality. "Akira...?" I whispered, swearing I had seen him. But, no...there was no way; no one was even around me. I sighed once more and realloted my eyes onto the kanji. It took not but even two minutes before my mind had grasped the nostalgia that was Sasuke once more. Yet, this time, I didn't have the right length of time for Akira to pop into my mind. A faint rustling noise awoke me from my trance.

I didn't take my eyes off the page for a moment. I knew exactly where she was. A twig snapped, an exaggerated "Shoot!" echoing in its wake. A small smirk perked my lips. To think these children would be the future of Konoha. I heard a thump, almost causing a small snort to escape me from amusement, then a yowl, and I shook my head. I almost wanted to tell her to start over and try again, but I decided to give no indication that I knew she was there. Learning from mistakes might just be the only true way to learn.

But, I had been so focused on Reiji and so uncaring that I didn't even notice Nowaki at my side till he was touching the bell. Hmm, teamwork, maybe?

"NOWAKI! YOU IDIOT, THAT'S MINE! GET AWAY FROM THERE!!" Reiji shouted, jumping out of the bush clumsily. I rolled my eyes; nevermind.

"Yours? There's two! We can both get one!" Nowaki retorted, growling at the white haired kunoichi in front of him. She looked him dead in the eye; two magenta orbs meeting cerulean.

"Seriously, you think I'd actually let you get one? Akira and I will be the ones that pass."

"Bang. Bang."

Both nin stopped dead, looking over to me. I held my hand in the form of a gun, pointed directly between them.

"If this had been a real fight," I started, apathy dripping from every syllable. "You both would have been dead."

The pair stared at me in a dazed stupor, shock piercing them thoroughly. I allowed my hand to drop with a sigh. "I don't think I've ever seen a more pitiful group of academy students ev-" I felt the icy chill run down my spine only seconds before it would have hit me, giving me barely half a second to use a replacement jutsu with the nearest uprooted stump I could find. I had relocated myself in the top of a tree, perched on branches surprisingly unfamiliar to me. I twitched. There was no way a kid of his level could have pulled off...

The sky turned black, the tree and forest floor seeping helplessly into a pool of ebony, blurring the reality lines between sky and land.

I couldn't believe it. Akira was a genjutsu user; and a good one at that. But just when had he...-I didn't have time to think. There were needles raining in on me already. Ice needles. I closed my eyes, remaining calm. He was just a kid; repelling this should be like second nature to me. Yet, I was having slight problems. There seemed to be...an interference. It felt almost as though part of my brain had been blocked off or even eradicated. I couldn't access the part of me that was the repellent. It seemed almost...password protected.

"Sensei."

More than a thousand needles rained in on me, piercing my body through every pore. It stung, but didn't seem to actually hurt. A paralyzation technique? The innocent voice echoed around me, closing out my mind to all thoughts except his voice alone. This was no ordinary genjutsu...this was S-ranked forbidden jutsu! Simple, though it was, efficiency seemed to be the only key here. I took a slow deep breath. As much as I hated to admit it, this level of illusion was above me. I felt baffled. Sure, it was easy enough to pull off, but keeping it up and preventing the target's escape with such fluid ease... This was impossible!...wasn't it?

I opened my eyes to gaze upon what lay before me. My eyes were the only thing I could move. Extraordinarily, the fallacy that was plaguing me so seemed to vanish into thin air, leaving reality and two stunned genin in it's wake. I blinked, chest heaving. What in the hell had just happened?

My hand then slipped down to the bells...or, bell, I should say. "Damnit." I cursed in spite of myself, slowing my panicked breathing. I had thought I was returning to the old Kakashi I had been so long ago, but this proved I still wasn't myself. The old Kakashi wouldn't have allowed himself to become so trepidated over a simple paralysis technique induced by a mere genin nonetheless, even if it was S-ranked. I wanted to say I didn't know what was wrong with me, but I did. It was him. That damn Sasuke.

"Kakashi-sensei?" A female voice asked worriedly. I had my hand wrapped firmly around the remaining bell, making certain no one took it. My eyes panned the perimeter, searching for the devious little boy that had stripped me of my pride and rank; if even for a brief moment. He was no where; not even a trace of chakra left to follow. He was good...too good.

I closed my eyes, collecting myself, then cleared my throat; releasing my hold on the single remaining bell.

"Why are you just standing there?" I asked, keeping my voice low. The two looked bewilderedly to me. I help up the bell in front of them. "Have you forgotten your mission?" It was then that shock spread onto their faces; they had forgotten. I sighed, deciding this was pointless. "Nevermind," I whispered. "The purpose of this exercise was not, actually, to obtain a bell. Can either of you tell me what it was?" Nowaki and Reiji looked at each other, stupefied.

"To..." Nowaki started, holding a finger to his pursed lips. "Umm."

"To display what we could do?" Reiji chimed in. I shook my head.

"Not quite."

The snow-haired kunoichi huffed, crossing her arms beneath her breasts.

"Teamwork." A small voice sounded from above. I felt my heart leap as I looked to the sound. Akira.

"Teamwork!?" Nowaki sounded. "There's no way...is there, Sensei? Is that it?" He questioned me. Yet, I was too focused on the boy perched casually in a tree glaring down at me with that pained puppy dog eye; an added fierceness penetrating it's gentle electric purple. "Senseeei..." Nowaki probed. Akira cocked his head at me, his eye was locked with mine. And, for a split second, I could have sworn I saw a smirk caress the right side of his lips upwards. I twitched, never one to favour a cocky attitude. "Sensei!" I looked over to the pair staring at me.

"Uh, right," I nodded. "Teamwork."

"Lame." Reiji growled.

"I'd say the fact that neither of you got a bell is even lamer." I retorted. It may have been childish of me, but I was having a rather hard time holding my tongue with these two. My patience was growing thin.

"Neither of them?" That same timid voice sounded behind me. I whipped around, almost running smack dab into the child. He was standing directly behind me, hands clasped behind his back looking up at me innocently. I squinted, looking to his hands. Not a bell in sight. I held out a hand. He furrowed his brow.

"The bell." I demanded. He cocked his head; a small smile befell his lips as his raven black hair gleamed a distinct light navy in the sunlight.

"I don't have it." He whispered, outturning his pockets and showing me his empty hands. No...there was no way; I searched him up and down with my eyes, not attempting to be pedophilic. Not a bell was in sight.

"Where did you put it?" I interrogated. He shrugged.

"I never got a bell. I just got here."

I lay awake all night staring directly at the ceiling. It was so dark I could barely see the outline of anything in the room. Yet, the flat, opaque ceiling provided a soft canvas for my eyes to paint pictures of my past on. Sasuke...how I missed you. Akira was so much like you. After ten years, I had only just begun to force myself to forget about you and Akira just brought back my feelings tenfolded from prior.

I rolled over in an attempt to forget everything I could 'Sleep, Kakashi,' I told myself. 'Just go to sleep.' Yet, everytime I told myself this, it only made me more awake and more aware. I sat up in the darkness of my apartment, taking a deep breath before glancing over to the alarm. I had guessed it might have been about 11pm, but my eyes told me differently. It was already a little past two in the morning. I flopped back down on the mattress, pressing my hands to my eyes.

Little, blurry rainbow speckles flooded my vision as my eyes remained forcably closed. I laid there like that in a stasis for what seemed like hours before finally sitting up and sliding out of bed onto my bare feet, realizing it had only been a little over five minutes. Time was passing far too slowly. It was giving me time to think and that was the last thing I wanted. I trudged into the bathroom, turning on the faucet calmly and filling the sink with cool water. I looked up slightly, glaring at my own wearied reflection from beneath my grey hair; once a sparkling silver, now a faded, aged grey. I studied the creased lines in my face thinking 'that couldn't be me' all the while. Yet, it was. This is what losing him had done to me.

I cupped my hands and delved them deep into the cool, clear substance, pulling a significant amount up and splashing it to my face. It woke me up, alright. I looked back at my reflection, water dripping off my bangs, nose, and lips. I didn't look nearly as old this time. Was it the night playing tricks on me? I shook my head, spraying water from my bangs around the compact room before turning and walking out, newly awakened. I grabbed my coat, not bothering with my mask or hitai-ate. Or even to put on some shoes. I walked out in my striped blue pajamas. I just didn't care anymore.

I didn't know where I was headed till I got there. Knocking lightly on the door, I heard a tired "enter" from behind it's thick paneling. I turned the knob slowly, pushing the door open with the palm of my available hand.

"Godaime-sama..." I whispered into the dark. No lights were on. I heard the squeal of her chair as Tsunade turned to face me. I could just barely make out the outline of her tired expression. She was the same as me; these past ten years had aged us all more than they should have. Nearly 5 years ago, Konoha had to rebuild itself from scratch in lue of a terrorist attack. We had lost so many; our precious Godaime still blamed herself.

"Kakashi." She greeted with a slight nod. Ten years ago, she would have waved a hand at me and told me to drop the formalities; that titles like Godaime and adding the honorific of sama didn't fit her. Currently, she seemed to accept the title. I closed the door behind me, engulfing us in total darkness. The only light that allowed us to see each other clearly was the light of the full moon peeking through the window; bathing a misconstrued rectangular section of the room in a light blue-ish-yellow.

I stood opposite her, hands at my side in front of her desk. My brow seemed permanently furrowed in a frown. Sensei had always said if I didn't start smiling, the creases in my forhead would be stuck there forever. I could have sworn he was lying.

I paused, a lump caught in my throat. Honestly, I didn't know why I was here. I hadn't even thought that Tsunade would actually be awake at this hour. I pursed my lips, feeling suddenly naked without my mask to hide my subtle expressions. Tsunade let out a long breath she had been holding, getting slowly to her feet and walking to my side. She seemed to have shrunk over the years, the top of her head barely even reaching my neck now.

"What's troubling you, Kakashi?" She asked, eyes contemplative and sympathetic. Did I even have to say it? I could tell she knew... I told her this with my eyes as best I could. She nodded and began to pace around the room. "I've been thinking," She started in a louder, more confident voice. I bit my lip. Thinking about what, I wanted to ask, but I couldn't bring myself to speak. She continued, answering my unspoken inquiry. "Do you know of Akira's home life?" I had to fight to keep listening as his name casually slipped from her lips, piercing me deeper than eyes could see and leaving a burning residue in it's wake. I swallowed and shook my head slightly. "Well, you do have a right to know because what I'm about to say pertains to that."

When silence filled the air, I felt minutes pass us by in the form of hours once more. I couldn't keep this awkward silence prolonged any further. "What?" I asked simply, not knowing what else to say. She turned to me, her once golden eyes a dull, mustard yellow.

"...I can't say just yet. I need more time." She whispered. I felt my eyebrows push together.

"What?" I repeated, more straight-forward in my voice this time.

"For now," She began again. "I want you to watch over him, Kakashi. That's all for now. I was going to call you in later this morning to speak to you about this, but you beat me to it." She pressed a weak smile in my direction. I didn't smile back.

"Watch over?" I mimed, wanting clarity, elaboration. My voice almost cracked. I had watched over Sasuke...and I had lost him. Would history repeat itself? I didn't know if I could fight another internal war. Tsunade simply nodded. I could tell there was more she wasn't telling me. Ten years ago, I wouldn't have even thought of questioning the Godaime. Yet, the words were licking at my lips before I could hold my tongue. "What aren't you telling me, Tsu-...Godaime-sama?" I corrected myself. She smiled, for the first time all night, without having to force it.

"You still haven't lost your touch, eh." She laughed lightly. I didn't find any of this funny. When she noted my serious demeanor, her smile dropped and her eyes locked with mine. "Kakashi..." She started hesitantly. I listened intently, as though one missed word would mean my death. "Eventually, I'm hoping for you to gain custody of Akira."

My entire mind went blank and the only bolded words flooding me inside out were 'what about Sasuke?'.

A/N: The number one thing I have problems with when writing is tense. I tend to switch from present to past tense so often it becomes confusing. As I've been trying hard to fix it, I still haven't found a way. If anyone has any tips on how to remain constant with tense, please tell me. I need it. x.x Thanks.