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Kakashi did not deserve the Sharingan. 

It was something the boy was convinced of nearly a month after losing his Uchiha teammate. His new left eye burned for nearly a week after the Kannabi bridge mission. And even after his body accepted the new strain on it, slowly allowing the ruptured tissue to heal around it, Kakashi’s problems kept piling up. The permanent vertical scar over the eye would be the least of his concerns - he could hide it under his hitai-ate. 

The bigger issue was facing the Uchiha clan’s disapproval. Being the only witness to the event, Rin was continuously interrogated by the Sharingan-bearing shinobi alongside Kakashi. Some of them refused to accept Obito’s choice, others were as bold as to even accuse the Hatake boy of stealing the eye. The latter made Kakashi’s throat tighten and he felt sick hearing such outrageous claims. 

At some point, when one of the Uchiha clansmen suggested Rin could’ve helped Kakashi steal Obito’s Sharingan while their teammate had been helpless, the silver-haired boy lost his composure and nearly leapt at the accuser. What saved both of them was Minato’s interference. He’d seen Kakashi’s terrified expression that day, after all. It took a couple of meetings with Fugaku but the team leader finally managed to convince the Uchiha clan to let the Hatake boy keep his gift.

And yet it was not the most horrifying burden he had to bear. The Sharingan acted as though it belonged to someone else at times. Kakashi’s vision would clash with glimpses of another place whenever he opened his left eye. At first, the visions were unchanging - a dark closed space within a cave. They lasted a mere second and the silver-haired boy was sure he was always seeing either a ceiling covered with stalactites hovering over him ominously or a rough stone floor with pieces of debris scattered around. 

They never stayed, and Kakashi never lingered on them for his sanity. But the red eye was relentless. It soon modified the visions, and when the Hatake boy could see strange, human-like white creatures in them, he felt a spike of panic in his guts. It was surreal, unlike anything he’d ever seen. He couldn’t make sense of what was going on. As the only person to be ever approved of keeping the Sharingan, Kakashi had no one to ask for help. The Uchiha clansmen were still giving him cold stares.

It scared him and all he could do was to bottle it all up - something he was used to doing, either way. If he could’ve hidden his grief after losing his father all those years ago, he could hide the pain of the Sharingan acting against his will too. But it didn’t stop the terrifying thoughts that the eye did not deem him worthy of it. It was a gift from Obito out of all the people. Even if it hurt and drained his Chakra, and gave him uncomfortable visions, Kakashi would grit his teeth throughout all of it. He’d hold onto the Sharingan until the day he’d die. 

Even if the eye would be the thing to kill him. Because Obito’s words were the only thing keeping him alive. Without the Sharingan, his life would lose all meaning.

And that notion would only fortify itself with the loss of his second teammate. It cut through Kakashi’s heart, just like his hand cut through Rin’s. When she was impaled on his arm that crackled with lightning, the silver-haired boy felt like everything was crumbling. He broke the promise. He couldn’t do that one simple thing Obito had asked him to. 

At that moment, when Kakashi managed to pull his bloodied arm out of Rin’s already lifeless body, his eye stung like a knife stuck into his skull. He was pretty sure it was Obito’s ghost, expressing his anger with him. And to only add to the despair the silver-haired boy felt, knowing he’d failed his deceased friend, the eye provided him with yet another glimpse through someone else’s sight.

But this time, Kakashi knew what he was seeing. What that split second of his left eye showing him was. Because for the first time, it was almost the same thing as his current view. 

The numerous Kiri ANBU surrounding a weak, silver-haired boy who was swaying on his feet. His hand still crackling with the remaining sparks of a Raiton Jutsu. A body of a brunette lying at his feet, with blood on her face and a hole in her chest. A barren field with no chance of escaping death. The whole sight was painted red, as though someone had coloured everything with fresh blood.

Kakashi couldn’t dwell on the vision, he wouldn’t even if he tried. His consciousness was slipping as his eye pulsated, hurt more than ever before. It was all too much for him and he felt one last pull of his Chakra, gathering in the Sharingan before he collapsed to his knees and his face landed in the mud.

Everything went dark, and he remained in the darkness for hours. When he came to, he opened both of his eyes on reflex. The next vision was that of a dark cave again. The shouts of his comrades from Konoha distracted him for long enough to forget about what he’d seen just before passing out. Seeing the count of lifeless bodies around him rise heavily sent panic through him and he couldn’t understand how it had happened.

No one could answer the boy’s shaky question - who had killed the enemies. No matter how frantic Kakashi sounded, they had no idea. The exhaustion was still wearing his bones down, and the Hatake boy had to be carried back to the village. 

The whole event put him in the hospital bed for a good few days. Kakashi grew even quieter, retracting into the depths of his mind. It was a dark place, and only Minato and Kushina could get through to him. The look the silver-haired boy would give them was absent, lost in thoughts only he knew the contents of. 

Every day when Kakashi woke up in the clean white bed that wasn’t his, he saw the same thing. Once every few hours, he’d open his left eye briefly to see the insides of the cave with no exit. But whoever the visions belonged to wasn’t staring at the ceiling anymore. The Hatake boy saw an old man with long, pure white hair with clear marks of age on his face and some sort of a tube attached to his nape. Other times he saw the two creatures, one of them with a mocking expression on its face. He didn’t understand anything anymore.

The glimpses through someone else’s eye didn’t change until over a year after Obito’s death, half a year after Rin’s passing. Minato was appointed as the Fourth Hokage, and Kakashi didn’t dare to share his troubles with his teacher. After all, how could he know if it was an anomaly - the Uchiha clan kept their secrets well and surely they wouldn’t advise him what to do, even if the silver-haired boy was backed up by the Hokage.

Minato let Kakashi join the ANBU, and in Konoha’s Black Ops, everyone kept quiet. No one spoke of their traumas, troubles or worries. So Kakashi’s problem was his own to deal with. He went on missions that forced him to use Obito’s gift. Keeping Sharingan closed wasn’t an option. And so he’d see other places - sometimes they were tall, dark forests of trees he’d only seen in different countries. Sometimes they were metal buildings erected above water, with rain pouring over them. Sometimes they were vast lakes, with shabby-looking villages in the distance. 

And sometimes, it was a place unlike any other. Lifeless, empty, with no wind or sound it in. Shrouded in endless darkness, rectangular pillars floating in a void. It scared Kakashi the most - he couldn’t tell where it could be if it was even a real place. He felt the glimpses he’d been receiving weren’t meant for his eyes. 

Just like the Sharingan wasn’t meant to be his, after all.

But he continued putting it to good use. He was fulfilling the last promise he’d made to Obito. He’d do anything to keep it going - the silver-haired boy didn’t care for the landscapes he’d visit during his missions. But he knew Obito wanted to see them. So even if it meant getting more of the ominous flashes, Kakashi continued using the Sharingan, capturing various sights with it.

He avoided touching on the subject even during his visits to the Memorial Stone. He wasn’t sure if he was in any position to ask Obito for any sort of help or advice, after all. But one day, when he was tired of everything and had seen even his village through the visions, Kakashi lifted the hitai-ate from his left eye. He opened it, knowing it would be just another place he’d hardly remember seeing. But what flashed in his mind, blocking the sight of the Memorial Stone for just a second, made him flinch.

He saw the very monument he was standing in front of. And he saw the silver-haired figure he saw in the mirror every single day. His heart hammered in his chest and the Hatake boy spun on his heels, looking around with panic twisting his stomach. His eyes scanned the surroundings, trying to find anything that would be out of place. 

But no one was around. The bushes where the view was from were empty. Kakashi’s breathing didn’t calm down for the next ten minutes, and he wondered whether he was going crazy. 

Yet, he risked it again. During one of his daily visits to Rin’s and his father’s graves, he saw himself opening his left eye. Whoever was watching him would vanish from existence right afterwards, though. Kakashi had numerous theories on what was going on. Perhaps it was Obito’s ghost, wandering the world to see the places the silver-haired boy didn’t. Perhaps it was someone else, hijacking his vision through a well-placed Genjutsu. 

Or perhaps it was his punishment for being a failure of a son and a friend. 

Kakashi threw the last option away in fear of it being the only plausibility he deserved. As much as he wasn’t sure ghosts existed - if they did, he’d surely be haunted by a few by now, if his nightmares of Rin’s furious, bloody face was anything to go by - the thought of being an indirect spy in the village horrified him. 

When the same night as Kushina’s due date to give birth he saw himself by the Memorial Stone once again, Kakashi didn’t think much of it. But when all hell broke loose, the Kyuubi escaped its confines, and Minato and Kushina were forced to give their lives to save Konoha, the Hatake boy felt sickened.

He didn’t know if it was his fault. But everything else had always been his fault. He was convinced he’d somehow failed the last people he loved. If only he’d told Minato about his visions, if only he’d trusted Kushina to share his troubles with her…

After the ANBU went back to the Third Hokage’s command, Kakashi shut himself off completely. He feared telling anyone, knowing it could bring death. Getting close to people would only put them in danger - he’d apologise mentally to Gai who kept getting the cold shoulder treatment. 

The visions continued, regardless of how the Hatake boy felt. The sceneries kept repeating, he saw the same kind of people, whose faces told Kakashi nothing. Soon they all blended into nothing. Mixed in with the faces of his targets, the countless people Hound known as the Friend-killer eliminated.

Among the faces he’d got familiar with seeing, a new one appeared one day. One that startled Kakashi, made him stop in his journey back home from another S-ranked mission. He was jumping from one tree to another, occasionally using the Sharingan to make sure the people he saw on the way posed no threat.

He saw a man. Long, dark hair fell wildly in cascades around the face, over scars that marred the skin on the right side. His left eye was closed and the eyelid looked collapsed, as though nothing was underneath. His right eye was bright red with three tomoe in it - a Sharingan. He held a yellow mask in one hand, ornamented with black stripes.

The most shocking part of it all was that Kakashi… could recognise that face. Although changed by years and tragedy, it still bore too much resemblance to the visage of a loud boy who had spewed out claims of becoming the Hokage.

The silver-haired ANBU agent nearly fell off the branch he was jumping over. He had to pause in his tracks and lean over the tree trunk. His chest felt tight and he couldn’t breathe. Just a split second of a glimpse at that face was enough to render him that helpless.

Kakashi landed on the ground, bending one knee to soften the sloppy fall. It was unlike him to get so distracted. But everything else faded away as his thoughts focused solely on what he’d just seen. He couldn’t tell if it was real. But the places he’d seen through the Sharingan, he knew some of them. Which meant…

Obito was somewhere out there. It had to be him. It would explain why Kakashi could see those visions. It was Obito’s eye, after all.

The silver-haired boy rushed home, not putting as much caution on his way back to Konoha as he had before the vision. He needed to test it again, he so desperately wanted to catch another glimpse at the scarred face. 

Kakashi couldn’t remember what he’d reported to the Hokage, his thoughts racing. When he was finally in the safety of his apartment, he gathered all the Chakra he had left after the mission, thinking of a way to make the vision last longer than just a second. 

The sight he was met with was a dark room, with two figures he’d seen a few times before. Both of them wore black cloaks with a red cloud pattern. They appeared to be talking, looking at the third person, whose sight Kakashi was sharing. There were no reflective surfaces around, and the Hatake boy could keep the connection for only one more second before it stopped abruptly and he was back to see his bedroom.

The silver-haired ANBU released the breath he’d been unknowingly holding. His heart ached, wanting to see more of Obito. He just knew it had to be him. Wherever the Uchiha boy was, Kakashi wanted to make sure he was alright. There were thousands of questions running through his head, though the conviction of Obito being alive was the only answer he cared for.

And so Kakashi abandoned his previous resolve to not linger on the visions. He trained his Chakra control to pour it into the Sharingan in a way that would increase the length of the glimpses. He could hardly get further than five seconds, feeling the Chakra output put too much strain on him. His left eye was left aching and Kakashi quickly realised he couldn’t focus on the visions like that before missions. He needed time alone, in the village.

Yet he practised it as often as he could. Unable to tell what days and what time was the best, he desperately sought visions with any sort of reflections. They were rare and didn’t last long. The face was hidden behind the mask more often than not - only the bright red Sharingan glaring into the mirror.

During the scarce times Kakashi managed to see Obito’s expression, the silver-haired boy felt uneasy. He wanted to see it, to fully take in what his former teammate looked like. Yet the hateful grimace, the glare filled with spite, made him look like a completely different person. Somehow, the Hatake boy could tell the hatred in Obito’s eye was never directed at him - or at least not him alone. That anger spread towards the entire world, fueled by schemes and whatever life he was now living.

Kakashi knew nothing of what Obito was doing. Despite seeing what kind of people he met, the places he went, Kakashi was lost in what Obito’s plans were meant to be. As much as he wanted to face him again, to talk to him, and bring him back to Konoha… The silver-haired ANBU agent could be satisfied with the thought of his friend being alive.

But eventually, it was not enough. Knowing that the Sharingan could be trained further, Kakashi wanted to see as much of Obito as he could. Even if he wouldn’t see his face, he’d see what his life was like. On the week when he wasn’t assigned any missions, Kakashi went to an empty training field. 

The wind howled between the obstacles, training dummies and equipment. The Hatake boy stood in the middle of it and closed his eyes, taking a deep breath. His hands formed a sign to help him control his Chakra flow. Naturally, most of his energy was focused on his hands and feet. A shinobi had to be always ready for combat, and gathering Chakra anywhere but the limbs wasn’t a good idea. 

But it was a safe space. No one was around, and no enemies could get there without alarming the village’s defences. And so Kakashi could abandon the basics of his ninja training, break the principles he’d lived by his entire life. The Sharingan was a mysterious and powerful tool. Perhaps the members of the Uchiha clan didn’t need to focus their Chakra output into their eyes to make the best use out of them. But Kakashi wasn’t an Uchiha, and he couldn’t get any advice from them. His best shot was experimenting.

And that experiment would be the highest risk he’d ever take. 

But if it meant falling into the comfort of a reality where Obito was alive, Kakashi was willing to take the risk. He opened his left eye and directed Chakra from all over his body into the split second of a vision that showed him the barren dimension of floating pillars and dark void. 

He saw legs hanging from the edge of one of the enormous constructions. There was a dark robe with purple lining draped over them. The feet had sandals on them, and the toenails were painted a dark colour. The line of sight moved towards right after a moment and Kakashi noticed the yellow mask lying beside a hand barely peeking out from the black sleeve. 

The silver-haired boy felt that he’d gone past his preset limit and his throat constricted. There was a dull ache in his legs and arms but his posture remained unchanged, all of his Chakra focused in the Sharingan.

The hand grabbed the mask and Obito stood up. He looked upwards, as though to see something there. Kakashi could only see the vast darkness, much like the void beneath the pillars. He wondered what his friend could be thinking of.

But his thoughts were soon interrupted, as his legs gave out under him. He collapsed, confused how it could’ve happened so fast. He was sure his Chakra reserves were enough to keep him standing just a while longer, enough so he’d stop it on his own. The control slipped through his fingers and his energy refused to disperse throughout his body despite the hand sign being broken.

Kakashi felt as though someone had kicked him in the ribs, there was no air in his lungs. He felt his head hit the ground, and yet he did not see the open sky above the training field. It was still the dark, endless void of another dimension. His muscles all cramped up and the searing pain that jolted through his body would’ve made him scream if there was still any air left in his lungs.

He couldn’t even tell when the darkness before his eyes changed into pure blindness, the scarce shapes he could see swimming, warping and finally disappearing into nothingness. He felt something warm run down his face, just like a tear from the left eye. But tears weren’t as thick, and they did not feel as warm and sweet when reaching his lips. 

Just for a second, there was a flash of white, before the darkness engulfed him again. He felt someone’s touch, a hand firmly pressed down over his eyes. The fingers forced his eyelid to close and Kakashi’s consciousness took it as a cue to slip away.

He remained in the blissful nothingness, sometimes drifting back into reality to see brightness, hear muffled voices and beeping, just to pass out again. It continued to happen for some time until he was finally able to open his eyes.

But there was no glimpse that time. Half of his vision was covered, and Kakashi felt something soft plastered over the left side of his face. With his right eye, he stared at a tiled ceiling with lamps that were too bright for him. He blinked several times, grimacing as the white surroundings overwhelmed him.

There were people in the room, talking loudly about him. The silver-haired boy made no sound, as the ringing in his ears didn’t allow him to understand the words thrown around very well.

“... Depleted… Slowly… Recovering… Chakra.... Sharingan…” 

Even when only every third word was clear enough to him, Kakashi made more or less sense of them. He’d been warned of it before - everyone learned about Chakra exhaustion back in the Academy. After all, it was the life force of a shinobi. If one was to completely waste it all… 

The silver-haired boy closed his eye and his body trembled. He’d narrowly escaped death. It took him a while to find enough control in his limbs to lift even a finger. Somehow, that didn’t go unnoticed. The murmurs stopped and there was rustling around his bed.

“... Awake? Kakashi, are you awake?” A woman’s voice rang in his ears. She sounded displeased, and the Hatake boy couldn’t blame her. He’d nearly killed himself.

He moved his mouth to answer but his throat was too dry to make a sound. Someone put a glass of water to his mouth and he took a shallow gulp. Water eased his mouth and vocal cords enough for his voice to work again.

“Y… yes…” He croaked out.

“Then you better listen to what I have to say, idiot!” The fury in the woman’s voice was unmistakable. “What were you thinking?! We’ve barely saved you from overusing that Sharingan!”

Kakashi’s body sunk into the bed as the shape of the person next to him became more defined. The blonde hair tied in twin ponytails, the green robe draped over her shoulders… It was Konoha’s best medic-nin, Senju Tsunade. The silver-haired boy knew he was in for quite an earful if Tsunade was the one in charge of his recovery.

She ranted for nearly an hour before she let out enough steam. Her voice didn’t waver for even a second and it all lasted long enough for Kakashi’s vision to clear up. He wasn’t sure how much he wanted to see the details of Tsunade’s scowl, however. Stuck in the hospital bed he had no choice but to hear the scolding out.

It had distracted his thoughts for long enough from what exactly had transpired. But once one of the Three Sannin was out of the room, still fuming at his foolishness, Kakashi could focus back on the last memories he’d had. 

He remembered collapsing on the training grounds. But he had no idea how he’d managed to get to the hospital, or who had rescued him. Until the memory of a leather glove blocking his vision resurfaced.

Despite having calmed down just a few minutes prior, his body began to tremble once more. He swallowed thickly, trying to think just whose hand it could’ve been. He had hardly seen it yet his guesses circled near a single person. Someone who had known where exactly Kakashi had been at the moment. Someone who had known perfectly what the silver-haired boy had been doing. 

Kakashi’s hands, now placed in his lap, shook so violently he had to grip the bedsheets to calm down. He was so sure of who must’ve saved him - who else could’ve known how to stop the Sharingan spinning out of control, using a power Kakashi hadn’t shared with anyone else?

“He’s alive,” the young Hatake mumbled, barely audible in the empty room. “I saw it, I felt it… Obito… He’s alive… I know now…”

Although he’d had visions numerous times where he’d seen his old teammate’s face, they had never gone past being just images. Until now, they’d existed as nothing more than pictures without any proof. But now it had been confirmed with other senses, ones that were much harder to deceive. 

His thoughts spiralled down that hole, and Kakashi completely cut out the rest of the world. It wasn’t just the certainty of Obito’s survival but the fact that he’d gone out of his way to save Kakashi from dying. The silver-haired boy wouldn’t be able to guess if his old friend was angry with the misuse of his gift, or if he still cared enough to help Kakashi get by. 

One way or another, the young ANBU agent got what he wanted - he now knew Obito was somewhere out there, and he wasn’t as unreachable as it had previously seemed. Kakashi knew the touch on his face had been real, more real than anything else ever since the Kannabi Bridge mission. 

At some point, Tsunade was back to check on the regeneration of the silver-haired boy’s Chakra reserves. Her anger had subdued only just by a fraction and she still glared at Kakashi. He was forced to stay two weeks at the hospital - no one would be taking his protests anyway. By the time Kakashi could leave the bed and do push-ups that didn’t feel like suffocating him, fifteen days had passed.

It was enough time to mull over the latest revelation. As much as the young Hatake was tempted to use the Sharingan in the way only he knew how, he’d got his warning. Kakashi had to steel his resolve and remember the basics of a shinobi discipline. He had to limit the use of his left eye during usual missions and finding a new use for it wasn’t helping. 

Kakashi decided to be content with the awareness of Obito’s existence. It gave him new strength, though it made his heart ache, too. He craved to meet his old friend so badly. Yet that single touch to his face while blinded by his friend’s power was as much as he’d get. 

Once he was released from the hospital, Kakashi had to face the Hokage’s disappointment as well. The old Lord Third wasn’t as angry as Tsunade, thankfully, but hardly anyone could read his well-hidden feelings. 

“I’ll give you one chance to explain yourself, Kakashi.” The old Sarutobi narrowed his eyes when the silver-haired ANBU agent was in his office. Two other men with animal masks stood behind Kakashi, guarding the door. Kakashi could feel their judging gaze on the back of his head.

“I’m sorry, Lord Hokage,” Kakashi tried speaking as clearly as possible. Cowering in fear was unbecoming of a member of the ANBU, after all. “Lately, I’ve been training the Sharingan a lot. Perhaps too much.”

“It’s already using too much of your Chakra as it is. What exactly were you trying to achieve?”

Kakashi knew what the Hokage could be alluding to. The secret power of the Uchiha clan, the more advanced form of the Sharingan… 

“As you said, Lord Hokage, it’s already putting a strain on my Chakra reserves,” Kakashi replied truthfully. “I don’t think I’d be able to handle the Mangekyo Sharingan. I just wanted to sharpen my senses, get better control over the Chakra flow to the eye.”

For all it had taken, Kakashi hadn’t thought of the Mangekyo Sharingan even once. Which in retrospect, seemed truly confusing and peculiar. But the silver-haired boy didn’t know where to even start to achieve the full potential of his left eye. No one in the Uchiha clan would be willing to share that secret.

“Judging by all the reports of the missions you’ve led and taken part in, your control over the Sharingan is already good.” Hiruzen closed his eyes and sighed. “A shinobi must always strive for bettering themselves, that’s true. But know your limits, Kakashi. If it isn’t necessary, then cease such dangerous training.”

The Hatake boy bowed deeply, offering another apology.

“I understand, Lord Hokage. It won’t happen again.”

Once he was dismissed, Kakashi realised something - no one knew he’d lost full control over the Sharingan. By the time he’d got to the hospital, he was no different than any other Chakra exhaustion case. He felt his stomach sink, knowing that if it weren’t for Obito’s intervention… The out-of-control eye would’ve killed him.

Kakashi used the next week to get back in shape. Being stuck in the hospital bed for so long didn’t do his muscles any favours. The silver-haired boy took Gai’s challenges with a bit of enthusiasm. His over-energetic friend was glad to help him train, too. 

And yet, even when Kakashi spent more time with his peers than usual - he’d gotten too used to avoiding social interactions - his thoughts kept wandering off to Obito. He couldn’t stop his daily visits to the Memorial Stone, either. Finally, after nearly ten days since he’d left the hospital, Kakashi decided to open his left eye once more while standing by the monument.

The sight of a street under heavy rain flashed before his eyes before disappearing. He closed his eyes and released a shaky, long breath. The visions were still there. He was still connected to what Obito could see. Kakashi chuckled humorlessly and made sure to open only his right eye. 

As long as he’d keep getting the glimpses, he could be sure Obito was alive. And that had to suffice. The silver-haired boy didn’t know when and if they’d ever meet again. Perhaps if that were to happen, it would be on a battlefield. His former teammate seemed to spend most of his time outside of the Fire Country, after all.

Kakashi was soon given another mission, and his life was back to normal. His thoughts lingered on Obito for a bit longer than usual, perhaps. But he’d always been thinking a lot about his old friend. Knowing his face, the way he looked now, helped visualise all the could’ve-been-s. 

He was accompanied by Tenzo and two other shinobi on the new mission. Kakashi was perfectly aware that no distractions were allowed. Although after being put out of commission for several days due to irresponsible training, he wasn’t assigned as the team captain. Still, it didn’t mean he could be any less alert. 

The captain gave orders to travel in distance between each team member to cover more ground. The mission required the ANBU agents to find a high-profile target fleeing from the Fire country and they needed to catch them before they could cross the border.

And so although a part of a team, Kakashi travelled alone, all the trees and occasional buildings around him turning into a blur. He was running, keeping his left eye closed. No matter how much he tried getting used to the visions, he couldn’t deny the way they made his heart skip a beat. He could never know when he’d see Obito’s face again, staring into a puddle disrupted with raindrops, or a broken mirror. 

When the silver-haired boy heard movement to his left, he opened the Sharingan on reflex. Catching the target was essential, after all, and if he braced himself, he could ignore the next glimpse. Even before he got it, Kakashi could already guess it wasn’t necessary to open his left eye. The noise wasn’t made by a person. But he’d soon stop for another reason, anyway.

A sight of a forest clearing flashed before his eyes. It could seem like any other meadow among the tall trees of the Fire country. And yet, there was a distinctive altar in the middle of it, with a statue of a crying woman. The deep purple lilies growing under the statue completed the one-of-a-kind view. 

Kakashi’s feet froze in place, as though someone caught him and immobilised his legs. His heart pounded hard in his chest, and he felt the beating in his tightening throat. He’d always been an observant boy - an excellent feature for a shinobi. So he naturally remembered all the sights he’d passed by.

And the clearing that had just shown itself to him through the Sharingan… He’d seen it less than five minutes ago. 

Kakashi’s thoughts couldn’t catch up to his body’s movements. Just a moment earlier he’d been thinking of the mission alone, not letting a single other thought into his mind. And now he was madly running back, his feet taking him in the opposite direction. 

He opened the red eye again, to see what direction his former teammate was going. To his surprise and relief, the sight did not change. It still showed him the altair, the lilies gently swaying in the forest breeze. 

The silver-haired ANBU member could not stop. He rushed back with a single desire in mind. He needed to see Obito.

Kakashi’s legs ached as he tried running faster than ever before. He checked the vision again, scared that the scenery might change into that of the grey, empty dimension. He felt his left eye pulsate, irritated by the short bursts of Chakra that was necessary to fuel the glimpses. 

He finally saw the destination before his eyes, and ran into the clearing at full speed, before slowing down into a stop. He breathed heavily but refused to bend down to catch a proper breath. His muscles hated the excessive strain and begged him to sit down and rest. Kakashi ignored his body’s pleas, his gaze zeroing in on the lone figure standing next to the altar. 

He saw the long, unkempt black hair resting on the shoulders. The dark purple robe that went all the way below the knees. A sword strapped to the side, held by the sash. The person stood with his back facing Kakashi, unmoving. But the silver-haired boy could catch a glimpse of the mask covering the face.

The first sound that left the young ANBU agent’s mouth was a shaky sigh of relief. Up until that moment, he was still plagued with doubts that the Sharingan might as well have been playing tricks on him. But now that he was in the same place, and he wasn’t on the brink of dying, he knew it had to be real. He staggered towards the figure, with one hand reaching forward.

“It’s… It’s really you, isn’t it?” He laughed pathetically. His voice was trembling and he couldn’t take a proper breath. There was a hint of tears to the tone, too. Each step he took was sluggishly slow and he felt like the distance between them wasn’t closing at all. His ears rang from the wild run just a moment before and it warped the world around him as his heart refused to calm down. “Y-you’re alive... “

Obito refused to turn around. He simply stood with his arms crossed, allowing Kakashi to get closer and closer. He remained silent, only listening to the whimpers the silver-haired boy kept making who revelled in the sight before his eyes.

Kakashi was so close that one more step would let him grab the purple robe. But he stopped, unsure if he should touch the silhouette in front of him. As though trying to take a hold on Obito would make him disappear. 

So the dark-haired figure made his first step. He spun around, leaping at Kakashi. With one swift movement, his hand was on the ANBU agent’s throat and Kakashi was pushed off his feet. He grunted as his back met the ground, and he felt a foot land on his chest, further pinning him down. 

Obito’s left hand grabbed Kakashi’s Hound mask and ripped it off his face, revealing the expression of pure shock and misunderstanding. Kakashi tried making a sound, just a single word asking for anything and Obito responded by tightening his grip on his throat.

“Stop interfering, you pathetic mutt,” The masked figure snarled at him, and through the single hole, Kakashi saw a dangerous red glow.

The silver-haired boy’s left eye was then forced open, Obito pushing the eyelids apart with his fingers and he leant down so their Sharingan stared into one another closely. Kakashi grabbed Obito’s arms, his fingers digging into the fabric and flesh underneath. His legs couldn’t help him in this position, as Obito’s heel dug right into his sternum as a warning. 

Kakashi’s efforts were soon ripped out of him as he felt an enormous pull of Chakra from his Sharingan. The eye that he was forced to stare at changed shape, the three tomoe spinning until they formed a pinwheel shape. It felt similar to how Kakashi had tried prolonging one of his visions, but this time he had no control over his Chakra flow from the very beginning. 

He felt how Chakra was drained from his fingertips and feet, all rushing into the Sharingan and immobilising him. His grip on Obito’s arms weakened and soon his hands were falling to his sides without any resistance. Tears welled up in his right eye that he could only keep closed as Obito cast a Genjutsu.

“Uchiha Obito is dead,” Kakashi heard a distant, hoarse and frustrated voice. “Accept it, and forget about everything you’ve seen. I’m not going to let you do this any longer… Kakashi.”

֎֎֎

Obito felt how the body under him tensed up before completely ceasing moving. He sighed as he released the grip on Kakashi’s throat and got off him. He crouched next to the unconscious boy and slowly shook his head.

He’d tolerated the strange connection he and Kakashi shared for long enough. For years he ignored the way his old teammate kept hijacking his visions for brief moments. It didn’t get in the way of Obito’s plans, although at times it was mildly infuriating. Especially when one day Kakashi had caught the glimpse of Obito’s face. The dark-haired boy had scowled at that and had hoped it wouldn’t lead towards anything serious.

Yet there they were, reuniting after years of not acknowledging each other’s continued existence. At least that was how it’d looked from Obito’s side - he knew perfectly well how Kakashi refused to move on. And perhaps, Obito had never truly forgotten about Kakashi either. 

He looked at the silver-haired boy’s face, still contorted in a mix of emotions that borderlined on betrayal. Obito fixed a few strands dampened with sweat and his eye roamed over Kakashi’s mask, where the outline of a mouth half-open in fear could be visible. 

“Bakakashi… What use is my plan without you in it…?”

The ANBU agents didn’t wear the standard hitai-ate under their porcelain masks. Obito wondered what he could cover Kakashi’s left eye with, to make sure he wouldn’t overuse his Sharingan again after he’d eventually come to.

Obito unwrapped the bandages from his left leg and draped them over Kakashi’s head. He tied them firmly as a message for the ANBU agent to not pull them off too quickly. Once that was done, he pushed his fingers into the silver hair and stroked it gently.

“Someday, we’ll meet again… But it’s far too soon now. Don’t chase after me in this fake world.”

He stood up and activated his Mangekyo Sharingan once again, this time to leave the forest for good.

֎֎֎

Kakashi came to with a groan, feeling a deep, pulsating ache in the left side of his skull. His throat felt bruised, too. He put one hand over his eye and finally steeled himself to open the right eye. 

He was all alone in the middle of a forest clearing. There was a statue in front of him and he vaguely remembered running there. But for whatever reason, he could not tell. The thoughts of a mission lingered at the back of his head and he slowly stood up, trying to will the headache away. 

He spotted his Hound mask resting in the grass and put it on the side of his head. He couldn’t understand why his left eye had been bandaged. Had he overused the Sharingan? Kakashi took a deep breath and slowly recounted all the events he could remember.

The memory of his left eye supplying him with various glimpses hit him and Kakashi grimaced. He remembered seeing different landscapes and sceneries but he couldn’t understand how or why he’d seen them. 

The pain in his neck reminded him about itself and the silver-haired boy rubbed the aching skin. He had to have bruises there but he couldn’t recollect who he’d met and whether he’d even fought anyone. Although such injuries couldn’t come out of anywhere, either.

Kakashi slowly lifted the bandages from his left eye, just to test the Sharingan one more time. Perhaps the visions could cast some light on the blanks in his memory. He slowly opened the eye, expecting another flash of completely different scenery. But… nothing happened.

He was staring at the trees growing around the clearing, the Sharingan recording the sight in front of him. But there weren’t any spaces he had never been to. No rainy cities. No concrete pillars. No vast lakes. It was just Kakashi in one of the countless forests of the Fire Country.

For some reason, instead of relief, he felt horrible. His chest felt tight and he knew he should just go back to the village. He’d come up with an excuse of a sudden attack so that he wouldn’t face the consequences of abandoning the mission. The bruises on his throat were convenient evidence, even if he had absolutely no description of the assailant to give. 

Kakashi’s walk back home was slow and tortuous. His heart ached and he couldn’t understand why. It felt as though had ripped it out of his chest - the thought made him laugh. He’d gone through enough traumatic events that had done so before. Kakashi wasn’t sure if there was anything left in there.

He didn’t speak a single word to the two shinobi stationed at the gates of Konoha. They didn’t stop him either, knowing most ANBU didn’t engage in small talk. Kakashi was known to keep everything to himself among the village’s Black Ops, too. He knew he had to report to the Hokage, or at least at the ANBU headquarters. 

Instead, he directed his steps towards the place he was much too familiar with. The place of excuses, unshed tears, apologies and regrets. The place where the silent monument judged him, along with all the names carved into its surface.

Kakashi fell to his knees in front of the Memorial Stone and clutched his chest. He raised his gaze towards the list of shinobi whose bodies had never returned to the village. He knew perfectly well where exactly Obito’s name was. 

But seeing it there, it hurt. It hurt more than ever before. Kakashi couldn’t understand what was happening to him. Obito had been dead for years so why…

Why did it hurt as though he’d lost him just a few hours ago?