Chapter Text
The sun wasn’t all the way up, but it promised to be a warm day. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky or so much as a hint of a breeze.
Good walking weather, the traveler thought.
The streets of the village were quiet. The traveler, a young man with shaggy dark hair and cautious, dark eyes, took a deep breath and stepped out into the quiet streets. He was glad that there was no one to see him wind his way through the pre-dawn twilight. Had there been eyes on him, he would have felt the need to slink through the deepest of shadows, slow, careful, and quiet.
As it was, he moved as quickly as he could down the middle of the street, not caring about the noise his right sandal made as its sole skimmed the cobblestones. The limp slowed him down, but not as much as he had expected.
The pain in his knee was just a dull ache and he didn’t try to run, as much as his heart ached to, in the hopes of it staying a dull ache.
The main gates were in sight. In this time of peace, they were thrown open wide. Only 2 bored shinobi were watching where the road emerged from the boughs of the forest.
The traveler knew they wouldn’t stop him. They had no reason to. He was almost free.
“You really leaving without saying goodbye?” the voice came from just behind the traveler and he froze.
Slowly, the traveler turned. He was acutely away now of the way his right foot dragged and the bandages visible under his tank top. He’d decided to forgo all of his shinobi gear in favor of civilian clothes suited to summer travel. Now he felt exposed. “Yes. That was the plan,” the traveler said softly.
The owner of the voice, one Hatake Kakashi, looked like he’d just been punched in the face.
Kakashi blinked 2 dark eyes at the traveler and the traveler smiled despite having been caught. Kakashi looked like he’d just rolled out of bed. Kami knew the last time Kakashi slept through the night let alone slept in. His silver hair was a wild mess and the dark circles under his eyes were noticeably absent. Peace looked good on Kakashi.
“Why?” Kakashi asked. He sounded hurt.
The traveler winced. “I didn’t want a fuss or anyone to try and tell me I shouldn’t go.”
Under his mask, Kakashi opened his mouth to argue and then closed it. “You just got out of the hospital,” he said after a minute.
The traveler nodded. “I can’t stay here.”
“I’ll go with you,” Kakashi made the offer without hesitation and the other man knew he meant it. The village was safe, the war was over, and Kakashi’s sense of duty was fulfilled. In his mind, his friend needed him more than the village did now.
The traveler wanted to say yes. They could pretend they were kids again, fish for their dinner in the mountain streams, and sleep under the stars. Without the weight of a mission or a war on their shoulders, the experience might actually live up to the nostalgia tinted memories.
“There’s other people who can do my job,” Kakashi added.
The traveler shook his head and smiled at Kakashi. “You’re not getting out wearing the Hat that easily.”
“The kids would go with you. You could have your pick,” Kakashi offered.
The traveler laughed. “We both know the kids are an all or none deal. You’re not going to pry those 3 apart anytime soon and I need a break from being sensei.” Naruto and Sakura weren’t going to let the last Uchiha out of their sight again and Sasuke didn’t seem even remotely inclined to attempt an escape attempt even if the rest of the village treated him like a traitor. As long as he had the other two at his side, Sasuke walked with his head held high and dared anyone to say something to his face.
“Sai would go,” Kakashi argued. He already knew it was a losing battle.
“I know, but he’s happy here. He’s finally happy and with friends. I will not take him away from that.”
Kakashi nodded. He understood. “How long?”
The traveler shrugged. “Until I feel like me again? Until I feel like someone again? Until I figure out who I am now? Until the nightmares stop and the guilt doesn’t weigh on my every waking minute? Until I can use my justus again?” If his voice sounded a bit hysterical by the end, he didn’t care. He’d been a POW for months. He’d been experimented on for the second time in his life. He’d been used to build an army, had his very essence ripped out of his body and then been cast aside like an empty husk. He’d seen through the eyes of the things they’d made from him as they slaughtered innocent people, slaughtered his friends. He’d felt those things literally tear people apart like it was his hands. He had the right to be a little hysterical.
Kakashi nodded. “You’ve got 6 months. If I don’t hear from you, I’m putting you in the bingo book and sending every shinobi in the world out looking for you.”
The traveler laughed. “At the very least, I’ll send a letter.”
Kakashi smiled then, a real Kakashi smile with his eyes closed and little crinkles in the corners. “Take care of yourself.”
“You too. Don’t let them run you too ragged,” the traveler ordered.
Kakashi snorted.
They both lingered for a minute, staring, memorizing each other.
Then, the traveler settled his hands on the backpack straps, adjusted the weight, and turned back towards the gate. He could feel Kakashi’s eyes on his back with every step he took.
The shinobi at the gate nodded to him. They called him a name that he barely recognized as his. He waved anyway.
One step at a time, he limped out of the village and into the shadowy darkness of the forest.
Who would Kakashi list in the bingo book? The traveler wondered.
Kinoe? Danzou’s perfect soldier corrupted by the Hatake, he’d left that name behind before he reached his teens.
Tenzou? The anbu, second member of Team Rho, the teenager who’d trusted one person in the whole world, jumped at shadows, and committed himself to trying everything. The traveler had left Tenzou behind when he turned 20. Tenzou had lived in the past, trying to make up for lost time and find the family he was ripped from before he’d every been Kinoe.
Yamoto? The anbu captain, the sensei, the man who’d survived to replace Danzou Shimaru as head of the Elite Root anbu. Yamoto was a good shinobi. He was confident in his skills. He’d stepped out of the darkness of Root and the shadow of the Hokage whose DNA he shared. Yamoto was the first casualty of the 4th Great Shinobi War.
The traveler decided it didn’t matter who Kakashi listed in the bingo book, none of them would be found.