"An SSS-rank mission?!!"
Naruto hadn't even read the scroll yet, but the mission level alone left him completely frozen.
Forget SSS-rank—he had never touched an S-rank. No, not even an A-rank.
The only reason they were doing anything above B-rank this time was because Old Man Tazuna couldn't afford the commission for a higher-level escort, so they ended up taking on this so-called B-rank mission!
"Naruto!" Sakura warned. "Don't just look at other people's mission scrolls! Iruka-sensei taught us that back in the Academy!"
"Ahhh! Sorry!"
The scroll felt like a burning coal in Naruto's hands. He tossed it from left to right, then right to left, until it finally slipped and dropped onto the grass.
It had already been unrolled, and upon hitting the ground it continued rolling away, spreading wide open across the grass.
[Mission Level: SSS]
[Mission Objective: Kill—the Masked Man.]
Their young squad leader Kakashi cast a glance at the scroll lying on the ground.
"A mission? I'm the one holding the mission scroll this time," he said, his tone carrying both the confidence of a captain and the arrogance of someone who became a jonin at twelve. "SSS-rank? Don't joke around. He's a chunin. At best he can handle little C- or D-rank jobs."
Minato Namikaze picked up the scroll, feeling certain this wasn't something so simple.
Obito might be unreliable at times, but he wasn't the kind to fake a mission scroll just to mess with people.
"Alright, whatever the case, let's head to Tazuna-san's home first," Minato said. "Those two Kirigakure ninja were clearly after him. I'm afraid that man named Zabuza will come back once his injuries heal. And next time, he won't underestimate us like he did just now. Be ready."
The fight had lasted barely ten minutes, but ninja battles weren't like samurai duels. Life and death often hinged on something beyond strength—information.
This clash had only gone so smoothly because Zabuza lacked intel on Kakashi and severely underestimated the unpredictable factor that was Naruto and his team.
Next time wouldn't be so easy.
...
Led by Uncle Tazuna, the group made their way to his home in the Land of Waves.
On the road, young Kakashi glanced at his future self with open disdain.
"Hey, you got caught in that Water Prison by Zabuza just now, didn't you?"
Kakashi: "..." He finally realized just how irritating he'd been as a kid.
"You didn't suffer some hidden injury on a mission or something, right? Otherwise, why would your own student have to figure out how to drag you out of the Water Prison?" Young Kakashi rested both hands behind his head, relentlessly mocking his future self.
Kakashi: "I just let my guard down for a moment."
"Ugh..." Young Kakashi sighed on purpose. "I really hope this is just a nightmare. If not, this future is way too hard to accept."
Kakashi looked at the younger version of himself, still prickly like a little hedgehog, and murmured, "If I could, I'd wish it were all just a dream too." If dreams could end, he'd return to that mission, return to Obito, Rin, and Minato-sensei, head out together, come back safely, quarrel with Obito every day, and complete missions as a team of four.
"Minato-sensei, if it's alright to ask—what mission were you all on? And why wasn't Rin with you?"
When he heard Sasuke ask Minato-sensei to kill Itachi, he too had hesitated for a moment. If he'd warned Sensei in advance that Obito would be lost forever during the Kannabi Bridge mission, could fate have been changed?
Minato nodded. Since they came from different timelines, knowing each other's missions didn't matter. But with how much they already knew, he would have to reconsider whether he should seal everyone's memories entirely.
"We're currently at the height of the Third Shinobi World War. Kakashi and I were assigned to split into two teams. Today just happens to be the day you became a jonin, Kakashi. Remember? This was the day you were to lead your team to cut off the enemy's supply route, the mission to destroy the Kannabi Bridge. Rin was captured by Iwa ninja, but since we were suddenly brought to this future, we couldn't go save her." Minato looked troubled.
The moment Minato Namikaze said this, Kakashi's eyes flew open!
The Kannabi Bridge!!
That meant…
Kakashi followed Uncle Tazuna toward his home as if on autopilot, his mind filled with everything that had happened back then—a sin he could never make up for, no matter how long he spent repenting.
Sasuke, Naruto, and Sakura, who had been listening, were stunned when they heard Minato say, "Today is the day you become a jonin."
They stared at the twelve-year-old Kakashi, the same age as them, their faces full of disbelief and shock.
Sakura: "Seriously? Kakashi-sensei became a jonin at that age?!"
The Fourth Hokage had just said he was twelve?!
Sasuke felt a surge of frustration. They were the same age, yet he and the others could barely handle C- and D-rank missions under Kakashi's lead. Meanwhile, this guy had already taken on crucial assignments in the Third Shinobi World War!!
The difference crushed him. How was he supposed to kill Itachi and restore the Uchiha Clan at this rate?!
"You've gotta be kidding me?!" Naruto yelped, pointing at the silver-haired kid whose smugness outdid even Sasuke's. "He's already a jonin?! This brat?!!"