“We were strangers, starting out on a journey. Never dreaming of what we’d have to go through.” I break out into song, throwing my arms up into the air and spinning around in a circle as we walk. “Now here we are and I’m suddenly standing at the beginning with you!”
I look to Kakashi, waiting for him to break into song with me. My husband simply rolls his eyes and shakes his head. “I’m not singing.”
“Naru-kun!” I call.
“No, Ma. Leave me alone!” Naruto gasps hastily and starts running. Sakura giggles lightly and Sasuke simply glares at the floor, ignoring us all. We have another mission, one that surprisingly isn’t in the anime or manga, and we’re supposed to go to Sunagakure, special request of their new Kazekage Gaara.
Which is perfectly fine with me, I never got to really meet said redhead and I’ve been dying too.
I pout. “But it’s such a good song! SASUKE!”
I turn to the duckling but he shoots me a swift glare of death. “No.”
And I return to my pouting.
“Fine. I guess I’ll just have to do both parts…all by myself…with no partner, even though I do have a husband…all lonely…and cold.” I stare at Kakashi-waiting for him to say, okay honey, I’ll sing. But unfortunately, he only picks up on my latter comment.
“Are you cold?”
I scowl at him and he grins beneath his mask.
“No one told me, I was going to find you. Unexpected; what you did to my heart.” I continue, scowling darkly still, “When I lost hope, you were there to remind me, this is the star.”
“And life is a road and I want keep going. Love is a river I want keep flowing. Life is a road, now and forever. A wonderful journey. I’ll be there when the world stops turning. I’ll be there when the storm is through. In the end, I wanna be standing at the beginning with you.” My lips stretch into a wide smile and I look to Kakashi, slightly smug, as he sings along softly.
I giggle and spin around again. Kakashi rolls his eyes and shakes his head again.
Lucky for him, I don’t force him to sing along anymore. The woods are quiet, only the sand shifting beneath our shoes making a sound. I smile, now content that I got Kakashi to sing with me-especially in front of the kids, I mean, what a feat!-and gladly comply to the comfortable silence that consumes us. Naruto is still a little ways away, head shifting this way and that to make sure we’re not being followed, and Sasuke is still glaring at the ground with his hands shoved into his pockets. Sakura is the only one who moves-stopping until I am at her side.
Guess she realized Sasuke wasn’t in a very talkative mood today.
Kakashi walks along quietly on the other side of Sakura. I’ve been waiting for him to take out that book of his, so I can relish his reaction while it lasts, but I guess he has a lot on his mind. Which doesn’t surprise me. He’s pretty worried about waking up one day and me not being there.
I sigh softly at the thought. Don’t get me wrong, I get sick at the thought of it. Even now I’m starting to get queasy, which is exactly why I try to avoid thinking that way. Plus, a small part of me secretly believes that if I keep thinking about it, it’ll actually happen. And I just can’t afford to think like that.
“How long do you think this mission will take?” Sakura asks after a couple moments of silence.
I look down, blinking. “If memory serves correct, I think its three days…?”
She nods and glances over to Sasuke, a sense of longing evading her features. I sigh softly, thinking about what’s in store for them in the future. I wonder if I should save her the heartache and just tell her he doesn’t care.
But then again, she may never learn for herself.
Plus, she might just ignore me.
I hear Kakashi yawn softly and glance over, eyes widening when I realize he’s reaching for his pocket-the one that holds his book. Excitement flutters through me and I clench my hands into tight fists. His eye rolls over to glance at me and I smile sweetly-trying not to look guilty.
His eye narrows and he pulls out his book.
A loud, ear splitting scream echoes off the forest trees-sending a flock of inky black ravens scurrying into the air. I cackle evilly and barely dodge his lunge. Landing on my feet, I break into a speedy sprint and disappear into the forest.
“Alex-sensei!” I hear Sakura call after me, and then later, “Kakashi-sensei!”
“Let’s follow them.” Naruto shouts, his voice carrying through the trees, and I hear them all take off after us.
Daring a glance back, I bite back a startled scream. Kakashi is mere inches away from me-so close, almost too where he can grab me and wrench me to a stop. I don’t want to think about what he’ll do to me when he finally does catch up, but I would like to stay alive.
The tips of his fingers lightly brush my collar. I push myself faster, heart thumping loudly in my chest like a drum. Or helicopter, that would be more appropriate.
The air around me changes subtly, dropping a few degrees. I leap up into the trees and bounce from one to the other, hoping that’ll help me lose him or at least gain a couple feet on him. A couple of feet, that’s all I ask for.
“YOU GUYS!” Naruto screams from behind us.
I skid to a stop, hearing the pure terror and confusion mixed into the normal peppiness of Naruto’s voice, and Kakashi is barely able to stop behind me, arms winding around my torso. Naruto stands a few feet behind us, big blue eyes wide with confusion, and our other students stand at his sides, all their eyes trained on something behind me.
“Naruto?” I twist around in his grasp and peer over Kakashi’s shoulder.
Kakashi lets go of me abruptly. Confused, I look up to see he’s suffering from the same symptom, utter confusion and pure terror swirling within his lone brown orb. His eyes, too, are glued to something behind me-err in front of me.
Feeling left out, I turn around and gasp.
And then scream.
“ALEX!” Kakashi hisses, clamping a hand over my mouth-but I still scream through his fingers.
Mini-Kakashi stares at me, a bored expression plastered to his face, and little Obito and Rin smile sweetly. Minato’s eyes widen slightly-taking in Kakashi’s form behind me and obviously recognizing him. His big blue Naruto eyes shift from my husband to the little kid in front of him, wide with wonder.
The shock is thick and tangible in the air around us, and all of us wait for the other to say something. My heart races uncontrollably, terrified of what could happen.
But then Naruto steps up and moves around us, into view.
“Who the hell are you?!” He shouts, pointing to Mini-Kakashi."You look just like my Dad! Only shorter."
“Naruto!” I stop screaming to scold, bopping him upside the head. “Say it again. I dare you. I’ll make you eat a bar of soap.”
He turns to me, pouting and rubbing his head. “But you and dad say it.”
“We’re adults. We’ve been on this world long enough that we can curse whenever we want to.” I retort, sticking my tongue out at him playfully. Rolling his eyes and smiling slightly, Naruto removes his hands from his head and turns back to Team Minato.
“Hey, you look like the Fourth!” He points to Minato.
I facepalm. Sakura steps up timidly and hides half-way behind me. Sasuke steps up to, glaring at everyone, with his arms across his chest. Kakashi sucks in a sharp breath and I look to him, worriedly.
Minato steps up, a bright, confused smile on his face. He looks guarded, and his attention is frayed between the older version of his student and the exact replica of a younger Minato. I look to Kakashi and watch for his reaction, but he seems frozen in place, so I step forward for the introductions.
“Hello.” I smile sweetly. “I’m Alex Hatake. It’s nice to meet you.”
I hold my hand out, unsure of what else to do really. Minato’s eyes widen slightly at my last name and his smile twists down a more genuine path. “I’m Minato Namikaze, and this is my team. Are you from around here?”
I look to Kakashi, but he’s still unresponsive.
“Sorta.” I shrug. “It’s hard to explain. This is my husband, Kakashi, and our team. Team Seven, say hello and introduce yourselves.” I give them all hard looks-especially Sasuke, because he looks ready to kill me.
“I’m Naruto Uzumaki, believe it!” Naruto shouts happily and points to himself, grinning sheepishly. “And I’m going to be Hokage someday.”
Minato pales at the name and nods slightly, struggling to breathe. His eyes tear away from Naruto to look to me, and I can do nothing but smile tensely and hope he’ll give us time to explain later.
“I’m Sakura Haruno.” Sakura smiles sweetly.
“And I’m Sasuke Uchiha.” Sasuke growls to nobody in particular, eyes glued to the forest in front of us.
“But you can call him Duckbutt.” I grin.
Sasuke rolls his eyes and lets out a grunt, his Uchiha Signature. I glance back to Kakashi, starting to get a little more worried because he’s been in this frozen-like trance since we got here, and realize what he’s staring at.
Or who, to be exact.
Obito is obviously getting freaked out, being scrutinized beneath Kakashi’s astonished gaze, and I grab the silver nin’s hand, squeezing tightly until he blinks out of his trance and looks over-face twisting with obvious pain.
“What?” He sounds as if he’s just woke up, a little groggy-voice thick with sleep.
“You’re scaring the poor kid.” I scowl at him.
He shakes his head and looks back down, brow furrowed in confusion and concentration. I squeeze again, a little softer this time, and he looks up again.
“Aren’t you going to say hello?” I smile. “He is your old Sensei after all…”
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The song and this idea was inspired by this video :P Adorable, isn't it?
--Cloud<3<3