Chapter Text
Uzumaki Naruto is four when he realizes he’s being haunted by spirits.
Well.
Maybe not spirits, but by creatures he never sees. Ever since the old man took him out of the orphanage and set him up in his own apartment, Naruto has noticed that he’s constantly being followed. No matter where he is or what time of day it is, there’s always at least one sneaky presence nearby. He’s not sure what the deal is—he thinks he’s not supposed to know they’re there, so he never says anything. They always seem so tense, like… like they’re waiting for something to happen.
Like they’re waiting for Naruto to do something.
But Naruto can’t figure out what that thing is. He’s thought and thought and thought but nothing he does seems to be right. His spirits just keep watching him, always silent and out of sight, and he begins to worry he’ll never meet them.
And he wants to. His spirits are proof that something out there knows he exists and cares enough to stick around, that maybe not everyone hates him just for being alive. That he isn’t alone.
So he keeps trying.
Maybe he has to do something cool, like— oh! No one’s watching that paint, and the stone faces are right there… He makes it all the way to the top of the faces when he feels one of his spirits watching, and he just knows this is going to work–
The tiny flicker of disappointment stops him in his tracks, and his shoulders come up around his head. It’s not like he’s never disappointed anyone before—the people at the orphanage once told him that’s the only thing he’s good at. But his spirits…
He doesn’t want them to feel that way. He wants them to like him—he needs them to. So he straightens and grips the stolen supplies tightly as he turns around and marches back down into the village. He thinks maybe he chose right when the spirit follows with a faint sense of surprise.
So maybe it needs to be cool but also good? He sighs loudly. That sounds boring. But he can do that. He grins to himself—he can do anything. He just has to figure out what it is that he has to do, and he’ll be the best ever at it.
So he keeps looking.
And it takes forever. He never thinks about actually giving up—that’s for babies, and he’s not a kid anymore—but man, he’s running out of ideas. He’s definitely not a kid, but he is only four—he can only have so many thoughts.
But then–
Naruto is in the forest one day, hiding playing. He’s gotten really good at climbing trees, and he can do that all by himself, he doesn’t need stupid Sasuke to have fun. He’s found the tallest tree he’s ever seen—maybe the tallest one in the whole world—and the view is amazing! He can see all the way into—
“W-Woah—” He wobbles, scrabbling for purchase on the peeling bark but then there’s nothing under his feet, and the ground is rushing up to meet him—
Time stops, something whips around him, and suddenly, he’s back on the branch he’d just fallen off of. He blinks. “Um.” He’s pretty sure that’s not supposed to happen…
But then he gasps because—
His spirits! There’s just one today, and it’s one that Naruto almost always feels nearby. He thinks maybe this one likes him the most, even if it only ever really seems to be bored or annoyed. But now—
Naruto feels a strong flash of fear and a wave of pressure before it drops sharply, replaced by disbelief. He whips his head around, knowing he won’t see anything no matter how hard he tries but he thinks— over there?
That’s the most he’s ever felt from one of them! His spirit had totally almost shown itself!
The blond laughs, and it rings through the forest. “I just had to fall from a tree? That’s easy!”
Suddenly, the fear is back, but Naruto just giggles as he takes a step into the air.
Kakashi is not having a good time, and he would like that noted down somewhere. He hasn’t been having a good time, and it’s probably some form of punishment for the many sins he’s committed in the eighteen years he’s been on this earth.
He probably even deserves it.
Still sucks, though.
Especially when the Sandaime pulls him off the external mission roster and places him on glorified babysitting duty. Sure, he’d sworn up and down that this was just a temporary assignment because the jinchūriki is living on his own now and needs to be monitored until he settles into a routine, but he’s heard the judgmental whispers—has for years. He hasn’t done anything too unbalanced recently, though, so maybe he should take the Hokage’s promise at face value.
But Sage, he misses being out of the village, away from reminders of—
Just… everything.
And fuck if he hasn’t been assigned to watch the biggest reminder of them all. He can’t go five hours without seeing Minato-sensei’s blue eyes or hearing Kushina-nee’s laugh or chasing after a child full of mischievous energy that he definitely got from both parents, no matter how well one of them had had everyone else fooled.
Kakashi knows better. Minato-sensei is—
Was.
Minato-sensei was.
Gods, there’s no way this is any better for his mental health than back-to-back assassination missions, he doesn’t care what Yamanaka-san says.
A yell pulls him from his thoughts, and his eyes fly back to that tree just in time to see Naruto fall from his perch.
Fuck, he only looked away for two seconds, sensei is going to come back from the dead and strangle—
What.
Before Kakashi has a chance to fully process the fear that floods his system, the blond is no longer hurtling toward the ground. Instead, he’s perched on the same branch as before with an expression that suggests he’s as confused as Kakashi is.
Because that’s not possible—not from a kid who’s never shown any kind of aptitude or knowledge of how chakra works. Hell, Kakashi’s not sure the kid even knows what chakra is. But that was a perfect shunshin, for all that it was overpowered to hell and back, and oh, he doesn’t like that look in the kid’s eyes, that’s all Kushina-nee—
Naruto giggles and steps off again and Kakashi is going to have a heart attack—
His fingers dig into his thighs as he watches the blond throw himself off the tree over and over only to land perfectly in the exact spot he fell from every time. He swears the kid gets closer to the ground each time, and Kakashi is seconds from breaking the Sandaime’s ‘no contact’ order when Naruto finally, finally climbs down the tree with a sigh.
The relief is short-lived, dread settling in his stomach when the blond pouts, hands on his hips, and mutters, “Not cool enough… Does it want a taller tree?”
Well fuck, at least his hair is already white.
Yanking the door open with more force than strictly necessary, Kakashi ignores the concerned look the other ANBU are giving him. “I’m telling you, it’s like he was purposefully trying to freak me out!” he bites out, shoving his mask into his locker and grabbing his hitai-ate.
Kurenai shares a look with Asuma. “That’s impossible—there’s no way he knew you were there. You’re one of our best at stealth and infiltration.”
Shoving the band down over his eye, Kakashi groans. “Do you think I don’t know that? That makes it worse! Because if he wasn’t doing it for me, then he has no sense of self-preservation! He threw himself off that tree twelve times!”
Asuma snorts, and Kakashi does not appreciate that, thanks. “It’s probably nothing. Kids’ defenses kick in all the time when they’re in near-death situations. The adrenaline probably just stuck around longer than it does for most.” He closes his own locker, clearly losing interest in the conversation. “Kid’ll be fine, you’re worrying for nothing.” He claps Kakashi on the shoulder as he walks past and out the door.
Kurenai smiles reassuringly at him. “Asuma is right, Kakashi. I’m sure things will be normal the next time you see him.”
Kakashi doesn’t answer as she follows after Asuma, and honestly, if they both think they’re fooling anyone into thinking they aren’t sickeningly in love with each other, he thinks he can be excused for thinking they don’t know what the fuck they’re talking about here.
Besides, Kakashi knows exactly how lucky he isn’t, and he knows better than to think this is as crazy as Uzumaki Naruto will get.