The Future In Our Hands

Chapter 6: The Build Up Towards Peace

Chapter 6: The Build Up Towards Peace

The fire crackled softly, sending flickering shadows against the cold stone walls. Outside, the wind howled through the canyon, but inside the cave, silence pressed down like a suffocating weight. The time travelers were busy talking amongst themselves, while the mothers ushered the children to sleep.

Hatake Kakashi had just woken up after the merging, and it felt like he had undergone a full rebirth. Not the kind of rebirth that brought clarity. The kind that left behind echoes of a life twice lived.

He sat near the fire, staring into the flames but not truly seeing them. His body and mind were still adjusting. He had two sets of memories from two lifetimes he had lived. Two versions of himself, now merged into one.

He was a 12-year-old Jounin, but at the same time, he was also the 48-year-old Rokudaime Hokage of Konoha.

He couldn't describe the whiplash he was experiencing as his spiritual self settled—feeling and remembering both versions of himself at the same time.

It was worse than having multiple personalities.

His posture was relaxed—too relaxed—not like a twelve-year-old, but like a battle-hardened shinobi, a veteran accustomed to war councils and bloodstained battlefields rather than simple campfires.

His fingers idly traced the fabric of his gloves, but his thoughts drifted elsewhere, running through memories that had no right to exist in his youthful appearance.

Across from him, Obito sat with his arms crossed, his onyx eyes were locked onto him, visibly frowning. Rin sat beside him, hands resting in her lap, though tension lined her shoulders. Lastly, Minato-sensei stood near the fire, patient yet watchful.

They had all witnessed it. The moment two Kakashis became one.

Minato finally broke the silence. "Kakashi," he said carefully, "how do you feel?"

Kakashi was quiet, contemplating his own feelings.

How did he feel?

The answer should have been simple, but it wasn't. He turned the question over in his mind, but there were too many answers.

"…Heavy," he admitted at last, choosing his words carefully.

"Heavy?" Obito asked, furrowing his brows.

Kakashi tilted his head slightly, humming to himself as he considered his next words. "Like I've carried something for a long time, but I only just realized how much weight I was holding." He tapped his chest lightly. "Like I'm standing in two places at once, living through two different lives, and both of them are painfully vivid and detailed."

Rin's hands clenched slightly in her lap. "Oh..."

"So… is he gone?" Obito reluctantly inquired.

Kakashi met his gaze, calm and certain. "No. I'm still here. He's still here. We are the same."

Minato inhaled slowly, absorbing the weight of that statement. "Maybe it will help if you talk about it with us. We're your team, after all."