Changing the River of Time

Back in Konoha

"As in my report, Zabuza and Haku are now dead, as is Gato and his hired men."

The two jonin stood lazily, Aki with an easy smile and Kakashi with his normal 'this is such a drag' look on his face. After reassuring the other adults that, Yes, our kids are fine and No, no one is suicidal, they were finally dismissed, walking together silently all the way to the Memorial Stone.

"My first C-rank was botched, too, y'know."

Kakashi sighed, his body sagging. "Of course it was. How could it not have been?"

Aki laughed- a breathless kind that was more of a light chuckle if anyone thought about it.

Which Kakashi did.

"Yeah, it's not too surprising. At least it didn't go worse. We got a nice vacation out of it, after all."

Kakashi shrugged, pretending not to be paying attention to the red-head. They stood in silence for a long while- well, Kakashi did. Aki plopped down, crossed his legs, and started meditating, soon entering Sage Mode. Kakashi took the time to really study the Uzumaki, trying to solve the puzzle that was the red-head.

Orange eye-shadow. A toad sage, then. Does he know Jiraiya...? Who taught him Sage Mode? When did he learn? Uzumaki, obviously. The red hair, ramen obsession, sealing talent, and huge chakra reserves are plenty proof. Younger than me, probably. Smells around 22. Can't be older than 24. Great with kids. Sees potential in everything. His fighting style is a mix of Hyuga, Gai's, mine, Uchiha, and Tsunade's. Has he met some of these people before? No, no one said anything about knowing him and Gai would share about how youthful he is. Has experienced heavy losses. Hasn't said much about himself.

Then a terrifying thought struck Kakashi, but one he couldn't just throw away. How strong is he, really? What are his limits?

He looked at the red-head, curiosity burning in his eyes.

"You can just ask, y'know."

Right. Sages have better sensing. Plus he's an Uzumaki. A terrifying combination for anyone trying to sneak up on him, but can he seriously sense emotions?

"I'm curious."

Aki snorted, opening an eye. "No duh. If it's about me, I'll answer what I can. Anything else, I can only guess on."

Kakashi nodded, blurting out his most recent question. "Can you sense emotions?"

Aki snorted but nodded all the same. "It's an Uzumaki thing, but Sage Mode expands that range." One of his eyes opened, normally violet turned yellow with a horizontal pupil and looking over at Kakashi. "But we both know there's another question you're dying to ask." The eye closed once more, and Kakashi had to pause.

Am I that easy to read...? Or is it just him?

Instead of the thousands of questions burning in his mind, Kakashi asked, "What was your family like?"

Aki shrugged, opening his eyes and looking straight at Kakashi. "I was an orphan. A major disaster happened on my birthday, killing my parents and a lot of the villagers. I never knew any family. People blamed me, mistaking me as the thing that harmed their loved ones." Kakashi caught his breath, realizing the similarity to Naruto. What were the odds...? Maybe he should ask Shikaku about the chances...

"That's... horrible."

Aki shrugged and smiled (it doesn't look like it belongs there, that's not a smile that's acceptance-), letting a hand rub the back of his neck. "I get it. They needed something physical to get their grief out on. I was the perfect target. Sure, it hurt, and I'm ridiculously lucky I don't really scar outside of life-and-death injuries, but I don't blame them. Not for their emotions. I've lost my cool and senses to rage before. Quite a few times, actually. I've hurt people I cared about..." Aki looked down, his eyes seeing something that wasn't there. "But it's okay now. I'm doing... better... And it doesn't really matter anymore." Kakashi only looked at the Uzumaki, barely keeping his calm.