Chasing a Shadow

It was a little late, but Kakashi made his New Year’s resolution. He didn’t really understand the point. Goals could be made year-round and despite January showing up first in calendars, the new lunar cycle wouldn’t begin until the middle of next month. However, it was something Yuina fondly engaged in each year, so he joined in too. Yuina hadn’t returned from Iwa yet. A good sign if what little he heard through Kushina was anything, but it felt odd participating in her rituals without her.

“I’m going to the bookstore. Would you like to come?” asked Sakumo.

Kakashi peeked over, intrigued. The bookstore, not the library. Sakumo would buy him books a few times a year. Slowly, but surely, he filled his shelving unit. “Okay.” Despite his nonchalant tone, he eagerly stood up, his eyes glimmered, and he walked with a bounce in his step.

He loved Yuina, but it was nice to have Sakumo’s attention to himself as missions had slowed down for both of them. Kakashi wondered if it had been the same when he had taken the chunin exams but his mind promptly visualized his return and the ensuing vomit and he quickly backtracked. How could he have forgotten she poisoned herself? There were many risky things Kakashi was willing to do for training. Poisoning himself intentionally wasn’t one of them.

They walked to the bookstore. Sakumo immediately walked in whereas Kakashi lingered outside first to see what was on display.

It was nothing of interest.

Kakashi had no need for superfluous fictional tales.

He entered the bookshop. He wasn’t surprised to see Sakumo in the back corner. It was the poetry section. Kakashi hoped Sakumo was looking at verses of nature. They weren’t too bad. It was like a painting, but one of words. Short. To the point. Imagery of a scene. It was the poems of the more emotional side that Kakashi didn’t care for. It was even more embarrassing that Sakumo could recite them aloud as if it were perfectly normal. It was no wonder Yuina would unapologetically express her love at home. She must have gotten it from Sakumo.

Their mom had to have been the rational one in that regard. There was no other explanation.

Kakashi took a peek. To his dismay, it was the emotional variety. “Not again.”

Sakumo smiled. “You’ll understand when you’re older.”

Kakashi’s expression sank under his mask. He hated those words, and it had never been truer. He’d never understand. It was too unrealistic. Too unbelievable. The words printed in those books deserved to be dropped into a sinkhole. He was sure Kiri had plenty available for disposal. Or perhaps one of Suna’s many sand dunes was more appropriate.

Kakashi quickly skedaddled to another section.

His fingers brushed the spine. ‘Matters of Discipline’ by Somei Rikou. Yes. That’s what he needed. Something orderly. Something that made sense. Kakashi quickly skimmed through ensure nothing weird stuck out. He nodded to himself, pleased that everything seemed in place.

Once making their purchases, they returned home. Kakashi continued to update Sakumo on his life. “Pakkun has been irritable since Bull was added to the contract.” Kakashi was as creative as his father when it came to giving names.

“Make sure you give them both plenty of attention to both.”

“I do!” Sometimes he even summoned them simply to cuddle together at night. It was comfortable and warm, and Kakashi thrived in the knowledge that they were there. “I think it’s because Bull is already bigger than Pakkun.” A sentiment Kakashi could relate to, but he knew Pakkun. He was still getting acquainted with Bull.

“If you know the problem, then you know how to tackle it.”

Kakashi’s shoulders slumped. He knew his dad was right, but that didn’t make it any easier. They should like each other as much as he liked them.

Sakumo made afternoon tea while Kakashi went upstairs. Once he was content with the mixture, he poured some in two tea cups and walked up the stairs with one. “Kakashi.” Sakumo took a step into Kakashi’s room only for him not to be there. There was only one other place he would be if he had gone upstairs. Sakumo walked to the next room. Sure enough, Kakashi was sitting at the small round floor table in Yuina’s room.

Sakumo cleared his throat. He knew his kids had weird rules about their personal interests and progress, including what was written on that paper. It was an issue he left to their own discretion.

Kakashi looked up but waved a hand that it was fine.

Sakumo carefully put down the tea. “Be careful. She’ll know if you spill.”

A breathy exhale left Kakashi’s lips. As if he would leave evidence. If anything, there were ink smudges from Yuina’s carelessness. “I’ll be careful,” he huffed. “I’m only checking if there’s anything that will help Minato-sensei.”

“Oh?”

“He made a jutsu!” Kakashi was happy to boast about his teacher’s achievements. He was learning from him after all. “He’s trying to add wind to his technique to improve it.” Kakashi hoped that by helping Minato achieve that goal that his teacher would teach him the technique.

Sakumo inferred a fair bit. Had Minato designed a jutsu from pure chakra? Wind wasn’t common in Konoha, so it must have been hard for the boy to come across jutsu he could learn. Enough that he sought different avenues for his strength. It was impressive in its own right. Minato was at a disadvantage in that way, but was intelligent enough to find alternatives against the odds stacked against him. Minato and Jiraiya had gotten along well in that regard. Perhaps even the reason Minato had been placed under Jiraiya.

Still, if the end goal was to construct a wind jutsu, Sakumo thought it was better to use it as the base rather than apply it afterwards. There could be a purpose, though. Surely, Minato would have taken that into consideration. Sakumo could only wait to see what Minato had come up with this time.

Kakashi continued to flip through the pages, hoping to find something that would apply. There were familiar words, familiar terminology. He had been through much of the contents before. Several times adjacent topics would come up, which jogged his memory, but nothing was directly one-to-one to what he desired. The work centered more on the transformative nature of chakra than on any layered application.

And here he thought he’d be able to help Sensei. He’d have to convince Minato to teach him the move another way. It was a pure destructive force which made it desirable to Kakashi, even if it looked like it might use a lot of chakra which how densely it coiled.

Kakashi exhausted his time, so he put everything back in their place. He brought his empty cup downstairs to clean before leaving to meet up with Minato.

He wondered what they’d be doing. Sparring? Minato increased the difficulty again. Funijutsu? Minato had been giving him puzzles to quiz his foundational knowledge. It was intricately interesting and there weren’t many in the village who knew it, much less break it down into digestible bits as well as Minato. It could also be bukijutsu. Kakashi found a way to incorporate his chakra into his weapons, without them being specifically designed for it. It made his attacks much stronger with consequences his opponents wouldn’t see coming.

It was great. Minato encouraged Kakashi in all his endeavors. If the possibility existed and there was a desire to learn it, the two pursued it to any end. It was the second reason Kakashi had wanted to be the person to help Minato with his problem. A proof of all he learned and as a thank you for all Minato had done to help him.

“Right on time,” said Minato.

Of course. Kakashi was always right on time. Being late was nonsensical and being early often presented other problems. “What are we doing today?”

Minato waved a scroll side to side by using his fingers as a fulcrum. “I prepared some funijutsu problems. If you get them all right, then we can move on to more complicated arrangements.”

Kakashi’s knowledge of funijutsu was the equivalent of learning radicals to learn kanji. A useful step, but unusable by itself. It was little wonder why funijutsu was such a specialized art. The promise of moving on to the next step made Kakashi even more eager for their session. “My answers will be perfect.” He wouldn’t give Minato any doubt his capabilities. Kakashi liked their arrangements and wanted to keep it that way. Minato was still training him long after becoming chunin, so Kakashi constantly did his best to prove Minato’s time wasn’t wasted on him.

Especially because it was Minato.

Minato offered Kakashi a respite after the academy. Things had been pleasant back when it had been just his family. He prided himself on his skills and knew he was above his peers, but he hadn’t realized how big that gap was until that boring year in the academy. Minato was like him. Minato made him feel comfortable. Their curiosity and skills had endless potential. It was something Kakashi deeply treasured and wouldn’t take for granted again.

Kakashi was halfway through his test when he heard footsteps approach. He paid no mind. People would approach Minato occasionally. It was nothing new.

“Minato.”

The familiar voice made him look up, away from his test. Kushina. Kakashi knew her, but she had never interrupted their training before. She came alongside Minato, at times, or sometimes came at the end of a session to pull Minato away for a date. Kushina never interrupted, though.

The smile that she often wore didn’t exist at that moment. Her lips inched downward, and she must have been biting the inside of her cheek as her lips wobbled. Kushina’s inner flame that always shined so brightly that it could burn was nearly extinguished as she appeared ghostly.

“Kushina?” Minato could immediately tell something wasn’t right. “What’s wrong?” He took a step forward to approach when Kushina bulldozed into Minato, crushing him with her hug as tears finally left her eyes, drowning her face. “Kushina?!” Minato wrapped his arms around her in support, but was wary of what was wrong. He needed to know so that he knew what he could do.

Kushina tried to voice her distress, but her sobering wails prevented anything coherent from leaving her lips. “It’s gone. They’re gone.”

Minato tensed. Even Kakashi could feel the gravity of the issue that weighed on Kushina.

“Uzushio…”

Minato stood even more alert.

“Uzushio’s gone. Completely destroyed.” It hadn’t been her home in a long time, but a part of her heart still belonged there.

Minato’s eyes widened stuck between continuing to support Kushina who desperately needed it, and wanting to get answers.

A village couldn’t be destroyed. It made no sense. They were smaller than Konoha, but they were still extremely large, with plenty of trained shinobi. The location also didn’t make it easy to get to. Even more worryingly was what that meant for them now. Who attacked? For what? Who was next? The Hokage was currently out of the village, leaving his personal council in charge, which gave even more uncertainty of what would happen next.

Minato needed to get the details from someone else. He became extremely cautious about what he asked Kushina. “Kakashi, we’ll finish up another time.” Minato made a clone and sent him to gather information while the original him picked up Kushina and left for his place. He knew how much Kushina hated crying in public.