Flash Forward: Naruto Edition

Chapter 9 - Kakashi

Another chapter up and ready to go for you guys, so without further adieu, we have the Kakashi chapter...

Let's go!

Neji wasn't aware when he had started to cry until he felt the wet tears run down his cheeks. He made to clear them but the strength in his entire body was gone. How had it come to this? Just this morning he was expecting for a normal day as a genin but had ended up watching his own death. A death he had chosen in the place of his cousin. The same cousin he hated and blamed for most of the bad things that had happened in his life.

His legs gave out from underneath him and he stumbled backward. He would have fallen if TenTen and the others had released their hold on him. He had grown so used to their warmth that he hadn't realized that they were still holding on to him. Now the crying from the three had returned in earnest and Neji failed to feel the annoyance he would have in any other situation.

Even more surprising was the grim expression he noticed on Naruto's face. The two had never gotten along and Neji was sure that it was his own attitude that caused that. But here he was, showing genuine remorse at what the screen had shown.

"Perhaps... it would be best of we took a short break from the viewings," the Third suggested and Neji felt himself nodding along absently. He tried to make his way back to his seat but Hinata, in a rare show of resolve, had dragged him over to her spot beside Naruto, and by association, the entirety of Team Gai as well.

It was a few minutes after that Kakashi spoke up. The man's voice was monotonic in his delivery and Neji watched half-absently as the man allowed his chakra to flow into the array, lighting the room in a brilliant blue hue before fading once more.

Another future was being shown.

Kakashi Hatake, the Sixth Hokage of the Leaf Village, once again found himself at his desk. It was the usually place to find the shinobi, as was the same for his predecessors. The job was a taxing one which was not for the faint of heart and it had suited well for the silver-haired man.

But an anomaly in the picture that most could easily recognize was the lack of paperwork on his desk.

"That is odd," Asuma spoke up. The man's grip on his future-baby-mother and current girlfriend had tightened. Death would only make you appreciate life more.

It was a well-known fact that the workload required as the hokage was far more than any other position of power within a ninja village. So legendary was the task, that many were under the assumption that the First Hokage, Hashirama Senju, had built the forest around the village for the sole purpose of supplying a steady stream of trees for the production of papers used by the Hokage.

A bit far-fetched but yet completely understandable.

So why was it that Kakashi had been able to acquire the small moment of refuge, you might ask? Well, it was due to months of planning and the ability to be an arse and shove all the work on his assistant.

Naruto snorted under his breath. He had not known the man long but that seemed like something that Kakashi would do.

It was totally not an abuse of power. That was Kakashi's stance and he would stick to it.

The lanky man rose from his swivel chair and stretched upwards, working out the aching muscles and tense posture he had formed from a day's work. Sparing not a second, he reached for his white robe he had hung behind his chair and with a single flourish, threw it on over his jounin uniform that he still wore. It was different from his original (which had been a flak jacket). This was more robust in nature, with a green padding for his chest and back with a gray collar that ran down the length of his shoulders. Unlike the leaders before him, Kakashi till wore his forehead protector, but rather than the customary stylish leaf on the metal plating, he embellished the kanji of 'shinobi'.