Title: "Time"

Status: OneShot

Fandom: Naruto

Characters/Pairing: Naruto Uzumaki/Kakashi Hatake

Disclaimer: Copyright Masashi Kishimoto; no copyright infringement intended.

Rating: T

Genre: slash, character introspection, family, friendship

Warnings: unbeta'ed

Summary: Time is a cruel mistress, the way she takes away what Kakashi holds dear...

Note: Based on the theme prompt "the vacuum of time"

Time

The people he holds dear, sometimes it seems to Kakashi as if all he needs to do is turn around for them to disappear, if he takes his eyes off them for just a moment.

Time is cruel that way, how it stretches and compresses itself, depending on ones happiness or despair.

It was the same as suffering a nightmare and searching for the solace of his fathers embrace only to find him in a pool of congealing blood; his blade gleaming in the moonlight.

It was the same as seeing Obito, one side of his body crushed beneath a boulder, smiling even as he offered his sharingan to the one who had failed to protect him.

It was the same as having to kill Rin, feeling his hand bury itself into her soft flesh as lightning crackled, and seeing her eyes close for the last time, face set in a mockery of peace.

It was the same as watching his sensei walk away to sacrifice himself for the sake of the village he held dear, no matter the cost or what he had to leave behind.

And yet, time nourishes its patterns, perhaps without any regard for a single persons suffering, but with a greater purpose in mind; striving to reach a balance.

Thus, for every precious person Kakashi loses, fails to protect, fails to understand, fails to appreciate as they deserve, he finds another. Not to take the place of those he has lost, never that, but like a new chance given.

And Kakashi can't help himself but reach for what is offered him.

He can see time and its pattern repeat itself, now with himself caught in the middle, when he begins to train Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura. He can see what he lost in them, yet as much as he lives with his past regrets, he can see the future, too.

When Naruto will grab his hand today, ignoring all protests and drag him off to Ichirakus, Kakashi can focus on the warmth of their touch, the sound of his laughter and the sun rising above Konoha's walls and know that his shadow touches the street behind him, as it should.

The End

R&R