Isolated, ignored, bullied, rejected.
When Kakashi had served in the ANBU, he would sometimes visit Minato-sensei and Kushina's child during rare breaks between missions. The little boy had golden hair and blue eyes like Minato, and a round face clearly inherited from Kushina.
In a small civilian home on the village outskirts, the table was always set with expired milk and leftover bread. Dirty clothes were scattered across the floor, never washed. A lonely boy practiced shuriken techniques he couldn't get the hang of.
That was Naruto's entire childhood.
It turned Minato-sensei's promise to Kushina into the biggest joke of all.
"But you're the Hokage! You're so busy! And this child is so naughty—always yelling about wanting to become Hokage, running around making trouble, never listening!"
Kushina grumbled anxiously inside the room.
"He's slow when it comes to feelings too, treating the people he likes as just friends! He keeps arguing with his teachers! And then—!"
Pfft.
Kakashi couldn't help laughing inwardly. Had Kushina really seen all this coming so early?
Minato's voice came from inside: "Hold on, hold on. Worrying about things before the child is even born is way too early! And how do you know it's even a boy? Becoming Hokage? You already know all this before the baby's born?"
"Because..."
Kushina said, "Because I'm the mother!"
"In any case, I'm the Hokage. I won't die that easily!"
Inside the room, the Fourth Hokage's heart was practically pounding out of his chest at the sight of Kushina's beautiful face and her unwavering determination. "No matter what happens, I'll protect this child."
"Are you sure you'll really do that?"
"Of course! Because I'm the father!"
After soothing Kushina, Minato stepped outside. The moment the door closed, his expression changed completely.
With a flicker, he used the Flying Thunder God Technique and appeared behind adult Kakashi and Minato from the Kannabi Bridge Timeline.
"Since you hold no hostility and your chakra is unusual, I allowed you to listen until now."
His voice was cold and emotionless, nothing like the gentle tone he'd used with his wife.
When the alternate Minato and future Kakashi turned around, signaling they meant no harm, this world's Fourth Hokage couldn't hide his shock.
"You two… Kakashi?!"
"Yes, Minato-sensei."
"There are traces of Space–Time Ninjutsu on you… the future?!"
Kannabi Bridge Minato shook his head. "To be precise, only Kakashi is from the future. I came from another parallel world, at the time of the Kannabi Bridge mission, due to certain circumstances."
"Kannabi Bridge?! What about Obito?!"
"Obito is alive, and Rin is well."
The younger Minato's face darkened. "But we came to tell you—"
"The promises you just made… in our world, you failed to fulfill even one of them."
Minato Namikaze almost never spoke harshly. Even with enemies from other nations—like the A-B brothers of Kumo—if there wasn't deep enmity, he usually spoke with restraint.
For him to talk this way to another version of himself meant only one thing: he already knew how Naruto had lived in Konoha.
And hearing Kushina's hopes and fears just now…
Disappointment in his future self, hatred for the masked man, disgust toward Danzo Shimura—these emotions all collided inside him.
Adult Kakashi was shocked; he hadn't expected Minato-sensei to speak so directly.
He quickly apologized to this world's Fourth Hokage.
But the Fourth Hokage's real concern was the warning conveyed by his counterparts.
"What do you mean?"
"On the night Kushina gives birth, a man will appear to seize control of the Nine-Tails. His abilities are extraordinary. He calls himself 'Madara.' The village's barrier and every seal in the restricted zone are completely useless against him."
"What?!"
The Fourth Hokage's heart tightened. Kushina's due date was close.
With his wife and child at risk, he had to be on highest alert.
"What are this man's features? And does he also possess advanced sealing techniques?!"
The Kannabi Bridge Minato said, "He wears an orange mask. His ability is a strange Space–Time dōjutsu. No sealing technique or attack can touch him when he activates his 'intangible' state."
He gave a rough account of their experience in the world of the Nine-Tails' Rampage.
He also mentioned Danzo Shimura's persecution of the Uchiha Clan.
Adult Kakashi then added that he was Naruto and Sasuke's sensei in that world, and revealed the tragic circumstances of the two boys' lives.
The Fourth Hokage immediately understood why his alternate self had been so furious. In order to protect Konoha, he had sacrificed his wife, his child, and himself—yet he had claimed a Hokage could protect them no matter what.
A deluge of information hit him at once, leaving no room for sorrow.
"He said he has a special method for gathering intel about Konoha?"
Adult Kakashi nodded. Just as he was about to explain, everyone fell silent, turning toward a single direction.
It was…
This era's young Kakashi.
Wearing an ANBU mask, his small frame cloaked in black, even just moving through the shadows he carried a palpable sadness.
Seeing his student, the Fourth Hokage let out a quiet sigh.
He whispered to his counterpart, "After Obito and Rin died one after another, Kakashi's mental state became very unstable…" He suddenly remembered adult Kakashi was present and quickly apologized.
Adult Kakashi simply shook his head.
The cloaked Kakashi approached Minato-sensei's house, crouching on the roof to guard Kushina and the child in her womb. He stayed so still he seemed fused with the world itself. A dragonfly occasionally landed on him—likely mistaking him for part of the roof.
This sight made Minato from the Kannabi Bridge Timeline ache with sympathy.
The Fourth Hokage appeared beside the boy. "Kakashi, the mission ends here today. Thank you."
If the masked man truly showed up, throwing away his last disciple would accomplish nothing.
"Huh?"
The masked youth looked surprised for a moment, then bowed his head slightly, his whole presence fading as if he were becoming part of the background.
"I understand, Hokage-sama."
"......" The Fourth Hokage sighed. "I'd still prefer you call me Minato-sensei."
The boy nodded and vanished.
The two visitors from the parallel world also prepared to leave. Meanwhile, the Fourth Hokage returned to the Hokage Tower to consider countermeasures against the masked man and urgently summoned Fugaku Uchiha.
Young Kakashi, having been relieved of his mission, wandered aimlessly through the streets of Konoha.
His peers were gathered at the dango shop eating mochi, but no matter who called his name, Kakashi walked past like a lifeless shell.
Until—
"KAKASHI!!! KAKASHI!!!"
A voice rang out—loud, trembling with fear—shouting from hundreds of meters away, barreling straight toward him.
Genma Shiranui poked his head out of the shop, watching a green blur charging through a cloud of dust.
"Yep. That's definitely Might Guy."
"KAKASHI!!!"
In the blink of an eye, Might Guy was standing right in front of him, panting hard.
His frantic energy was the complete opposite of the cold, expressionless silver-haired boy.
"What is it…"
"Kakashi! Listen!! This morning I was training—one-handed handstands in the Konoha Forest—"
After rambling through a pile of irrelevant nonsense, he finally reached the point:
"At the entrance of the Forest of Death! I saw—I really saw—"
Young Kakashi stared with dull, lifeless eyes, waiting for him to finish. Even the others in the shop paused, eating their dango while watching.
"I saw Obito Uchiha and Rin Nohara!!!"
That sentence—hit like a bolt of lightning.
Everyone froze.
Genma dropped the skewer of mochi he'd been biting onto the floor.
Young Kakashi finally reacted—his expression changing at last.
But once he recovered—
He punched Might Guy.
Thud—!
Guy flew backward from the hit.
No one scolded Kakashi. Because in his eyes—There was nothing but despair.
"Obito… Obito and Rin are gone."
Hearing the boy say it himself felt unbearably cruel.
Guy was stunned for a few seconds. But when he snapped out of it, he ignored the punch and grabbed Kakashi, dragging him away.
"It's true! I really saw them! Come with me!!"
The two dashed off.
Ebisu: "What happened?!"
Kurenai: "Let's check it out!"
Asuma: "Boss lady, the bill!"
Hayate: "They… cough cough… they're already gone."
Genma: "Head to the Forest of Death!"
One after another, the young ninja paid and followed the group toward Training Ground 44.
By then, Naruto and Obito were already impatient—especially Obito.
Having no idea that his counterpart in this world was already dead, he waved hello to Might Guy moments earlier… and the man had looked at him like he'd just seen a ghost.
Kakashi and Rin had barely managed to pull him back and pretend nothing happened.
Luckily, Guy had been too terrified to chase after them.
But none of them expected him to return moments later—dragging a whole crowd with him—to "catch the ghost."
"Kakashi! I saw Obito and Rin right here! I swear!!"
But looking around… nothing.
Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, Young Kakashi, Obito, and Rin hid behind the bushes, afraid to breathe.
Young Kakashi glared at Obito so fiercely it looked like he was seconds away from punching him again.
But Obito, looking at the Kakashi of this timeline, felt only bitterness.
That look in Kakashi's eyes—lonelier than when he lost his father—was as if he were dissolving into the world itself, fading into the backdrop…
Kurenai said, "Maybe you could ask your ninken to help track them, Kakashi?"
Obito: "!!!!"
His heart nearly exploded.
Asuma added, "Forget it. Don't make Pakkun suffer. Even a ninken can't sniff out ghosts, right?"
Rin pressed a hand to her chest, relieved. But her eyes grew even more pained and guilty as she watched Kakashi.
"Kakashi, I'm telling you the truth—I really saw Obito and Rin!"
"Guy, enough," the others urged. "There's nothing here."
Might Guy's shoulders drooped…
The silent, grieving Kakashi said nothing. He simply turned and walked away.
Seeing that broken version of Kakashi—How could Obito possibly stand by and do nothing?
...
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