"When you mentioned the Kannabi Bridge mission…" Minato remembered immediately. That morning before they were brought into this world—Kakashi and Obito had argued about the Jōnin gift.
Kakashi said, "Sensei, do you remember how Obito said he wanted to give me a Jōnin gift today?"
"I remember. But what does that have to do with—" your Sharingan?
His mouth moved faster than his mind, and before Minato could finish the question, the realization burst out of him:
"That was his Jōnin gift to you?!"
Minato stared in shock. He'd known plenty of Uchiha in his life, but he had never heard of one actually digging out a Sharingan and giving it away as a promotion gift.
Forget a Jōnin gift—no one had ever given a Sharingan as a love token, either!
Giving away a Sharingan, the very symbol of Uchiha honor… if Fugaku heard this, he'd have a heart attack on the spot!
Minato's eyes were wide with disbelief.
Kakashi only let out a wry smile. "Looking back at the me from then… I really was pretty unbearable, wasn't I, Sensei?"
"Uh…"
Minato felt awkward. How was he supposed to answer that? They were both his precious students. Kakashi was a little arrogant back then, sure, but geniuses had their quirks.
Kakashi gently touched the forehead protector covering his left eye. "Obito awakened this Sharingan to save my life."
Minato didn't interrupt. He could tell Kakashi still had more to say.
"And… to save me, he died in that battle at Kannabi Bridge."
"!!!"
Minato's face shifted instantly. For a moment, he couldn't even form words.
Kakashi spoke quietly, as if recounting someone else's story.
"Before he died, he gave me this eye as my Jōnin gift. He told me to keep watching this world for him… and to use this eye to protect Rin. But I—"
"…"
Minato's expression darkened. "So Obito and Rin… both died?"
Kakashi nodded. "And you, Sensei… and Kushina-san as well. Everyone died protecting the village."
Sometimes, Kakashi wondered if the reason he clung so tightly to Konoha was because the people most important to him had sacrificed themselves for it. Konoha wasn't just the village he lived in—its value was all the lives that had built it.
After a long silence, Minato finally said, "That's… not a future anyone would be happy to hear about."
"Yes. And Naruto…" Kakashi paused."This is the first time he's meeting you."
"He doesn't seem to know I'm his father?"
"Probably because you made too many enemies from other hidden villages during the war. Without you and Kushina-san to protect him, if he were ever captured… the consequences would be unimaginable. So the Third Hokage-sama didn't reveal Naruto's identity."
But the information that Naruto was the Nine-Tails' jinchūriki was leaked.
Even though the Third later locked down the news and assigned ANBU to rotate protecting him, Naruto still lived a far harsher life than other war orphans.
It was part of what shaped his resilience—but Kakashi still carried his own quiet resentment toward that "accidental leak."
Minato lowered his gaze. "I see…"
He didn't comment further. He'd heard the unspoken meaning in Kakashi's words.
And as a Konoha shinobi, Kakashi would never openly question the leadership's decisions.
...
On the other side, deep in the forests of the Land of Waves.
The climate and environment here were a bit different from Konoha's.
Surrounded by the coast, the Land of Waves was much more humid than Konohagakure, which was located in the heart of the Land of Fire. The thick shrubbery flourished in the damp conditions.
"Alright, tell me what you want to learn."
Twelve-year-old Kakashi Hatake wasn't like Naruto's delinquent jōnin instructor, who was always late. At this point, young Kakashi still had the sharp tongue and genius reputation, with a catchphrase of "Anyone who breaks the rules is trash."
He had brought Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura deep into the Land of Waves' forest. Having never taught before, he surprisingly asked what they wanted to learn.
"How are we supposed to know what to learn if you don't teach us?!" Naruto jumped in frustration, angered by Kakashi's nonchalant attitude.
Sasuke was equally upset. While he acknowledged that Kakashi was stronger—after all, Kakashi had become a jōnin at their age—this version of Kakashi was only twelve. Unlike the older Kakashi, this version's lack of strength only sparked Sasuke's rebellious competitive nature.
Young Kakashi wasn't particularly excited to teach them either. If it weren't for Minato-sensei's request, he wouldn't have bothered with these kids.
He couldn't understand why his future self would choose to become a teacher!
Wasn't it better to enjoy missions with the ANBU?!
Sakura, trying to lighten the mood, suggested, "How about showing us a ninjutsu you're good at?" Sure, he was handsome, but young Kakashi-sensei was way too intimidating!!
With his hands on his hips, young Kakashi dramatically sighed.
"Fine. I'll demonstrate. See if you can learn it."
With that, he began forming hand seals.
"Hare", "Horse", "Dragon"—just three seals!
Then his hands suddenly crackled with dazzling blue lightning!
The sharp, crackling sound, like a thousand birds chirping, made it hard for anyone to decide whether to cover their eyes to avoid the blinding light or to plug their ears to stop the ear-piercing sound!
The lightning crackled and struck the ground, sending shocks through the air. The sheer force left Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura staring in shock, their mouths hanging open.
"Raikiri!!!"