The Windmill Turns Both Ways

Present

At Tsunade's prompting, Kakashi put his book away and knelt beside Naruto. He brought up a hand and touched his glowing fingertips lightly to the Kyuubi's seal. It reappeared at the touch.

"It's all okay, right?" Naruto asked. He couldn't tell anything from the small visible patch of Kakashi's face.

"It's exactly how it was before," Kakashi said, pulling his hand back. "Really, I think that's proof enough. It would be nearly impossible to replicate your seal, especially as it was four years ago. It's different now. Only a few people know it was reset, and how, and why."

"Let me guess: you can't tell me that either?" Naruto grumbled, pulling his shirt back on.

To his surprise, Kakashi seemed to be genuinely considering it. His brow furrowed thoughtfully.

Naruto sensed weakness. "If only a few people know anyway, it doesn't matter if you tell me. C'mon, Kakashi-sensei. I'll keep my mouth shut about it, I promise. It's my seal, so I have a right to know."

"Yeah, I think you do," Kakashi said. "Now that you've seen what's happened to the village, I bet you've decided to change history the moment you get a chance, regardless of what any of us say, using any means necessary. Am I right?"

Naruto jutted out his lower lip. "Wouldn't you do the same thing?"

"I'm not saying I blame you. It's too late to hope nothing will change when you go back. Even if you tried to keep it the same, you probably couldn't. So it might be good to warn you about that incident, at least."

Naruto nodded, not daring to speak lest Kakashi change his mind.

"Your seal is designed so the Kyuubi's chakra slowly merges with yours over time. It also lets you use its power in life-threatening situations. You've seen how powerful it can be."

"Yeah. I get why Akatsuki would want to steal it."

"But your version of the seal will start to weaken very soon. The more you use that power, the more quickly the seal will corrode, so you have to be careful. There's no telling what would change if it happened too early."

"If what happened?"

"The seal was close to breaking," Kakashi said quietly. "It was weakening anyway. But when you were fighting against Pein, your anger and hurt nearly broke it entirely. The Kyuubi was taking over to a point where you couldn't stop it. I didn't get to see it, but they say your body was completely replaced with its form. It was just one step away from being released, and if it had been, you probably would have died, and the Kyuubi would be out in the world."

Naruto's throat constricted tightly. He remembered vividly how scary it had been to see Gaara transform almost entirely into his beast's form. That visceral, wild state was something he never wanted to experience.

"Fortunately, there was a fail-safe," Kakashi continued. "The seal was made to reset itself if it was about to break. But if you're too reckless and draw on the Kyuubi's power too much, it will try to control you. Even with the fail-safe, you shouldn't rely on that power until you find a safer way to use it."

The door to the hospital room opened loudly and Sakura came in. Naruto looked away from her and Kakashi stood to pull up a couple of chairs.

"Sit. I've got some things to go over with the two of you," he said, taking a seat himself and looking relaxed, as if they hadn't just been interrupted.

"Are you really going to tell us what you found out in the investigation? We thought it was going to stay a secret." Sakura took a seat and glanced at Naruto.