Disclaimer: Naruto does not in any way belong to me, it's the property of Kishimoto, etc.

resistance

01: awakening

Kakashi wakes up in Minato-sensei's spare bedroom, his eyes flying open just as his alarm starts going off. He stumbles out of the bed and turns it off before he realizes that something is very, very wrong.

Minato-sensei knocks and then sticks his head in the room. "Did you sleep in?" he asks with a grin, and Kakashi can only stare. This only serves to make the (dead, Minato-sensei is dead) man's smile widen. "Wow, you're really tired, huh? Well I'd let you sleep in but we have a mission this morning..."

Minato-sensei trails off, starting to look really worried. "Are you feeling ok, Kakashi?" He takes a step forward, raises a hand to-

Kakashi darts back, before he realizes that Minato-sensei probably just meant to check for a fever. Something in his gut twists when he sees the hurt look on Minato-sensei's face. "Sorry," he says reflexively, then starts at the sound of his own voice. Pre-pubescent, unbroken. He glances down, and yes, the floor is much closer than he is used to. "Bad dream," he hears himself lie.

Minato-sensei blinks, then grins sheepishly. "Ah, in that case... Do you want to talk about it?"

"No," Kakashi says curtly. "I have to get ready for the mission. When do we leave?" His priority is to get Minato-sensei out of the room so he can get his bearings. Maybe.

"We're due at the main gates in an hour and a half," Minato-sensei answers, looking at Kakashi curiously. He never has to tell Kakashi mission details because the boy always commits them to memory.

Shinobi rule- Well. He doesn't even remember what rule it is anymore. Something about preparedness.

"Un." He wasn't very talkative when he was still Minato-sensei's pupil, so keeping his mouth shut seems like a safe way to go.

"Well, I'll leave you to it," the blond says, casting one last glance at him before shutting the door on his way out. His presence lingers nearby, just at the end of the hall. Kakashi always thought that his teacher's chakra felt like the sun, usually warm and inviting- but at times it could sharpen, beating down mercilessly with the man's rarely evoked killing intent.

Kakashi dismisses the thought and quickly dresses. The lack of his flak vest is at once familiar and foreign. He decides to ignore that too. He must be chuunin, at least. He was only genin for such a brief time, and he thinks this body must be nearing puberty...

His father's chakra blade is on the desk; upon drawing it, he sees that it is intact.

So, before that disastrous mission in Grass; presumably before he made jounin. Unless the mission they're preparing for is-

His gaze flicks to the calendar mounted behind his door. While he can't pick out the exact date - Kakashi was never one to cross days off as they passed - he can figure out the year and month. About six months before that mission, before Obito-

Obito.

Kakashi narrows his eyes and finishes pulling on his various weapons. It's strange to have a full field of vision, with no excess information being transmitted from Obito's left eye. That was always disorienting, having to deal with such detailed images from his left eye compared to the normal (inferior) vision of his own eye - but it's almost as disorienting now, to have an unimpeded field of vision.

Is Obito behind this? he wonders. Is this Obito's new world? Did we lose? He tries to remember, but all he can recall is Obito's ruined face and Madara's arrival before his old teammate (friend, Obito was a friend by the end- by what Kakashi thought was the end) could explain what the fuck he thought he was doing.

Kakashi stares at his diminutive reflection in the mirror for several long moments. He doesn't know what's bothering him more, the younger version of his body or the matching set of dark eyes.

Minato-sensei calls him to breakfast before he can decide, and he distracts himself by subtly trying to test the limits of the genjutsu as he questions his guardian as casually as possible.