Naruto spotted him near the edge of the training grounds, lounging under a tree, completely engrossed in a small orange book. The sun was starting to dip, casting long shadows, but the silver-haired man didn't seem to notice.
Naruto squinted.
That hair...
That posture...
That stupid mask...
"Inu?"
The man's visible eye flicked up from his book. He blinked once, then tilted his head slightly, as if trying to remember something.
Then he sighed. "Ah. Haven't been called that in a while."
Naruto walked closer, stopping just a few feet away. He glanced at the book in the man's hands.
"Icha Icha...Tactics?"
Inu—no, Kakashi—didn't even bother hiding it. He just held it up a little, as if presenting a masterpiece. "Mm-hmm."
Naruto frowned. He'd seen people read before, but this book... "What's it about?"
Kakashi's eye curved into something that might've been a smirk. "Ah, Naruto, you're still too young for this kind of literature."
Naruto crossed his arms. "It's just a book."
Kakashi chuckled. "Yes. And the ocean is just water."
Naruto narrowed his eyes. "So, it's a bad book?"
"Oh no," Kakashi said, turning a page. "It's a very good book."
Naruto eyed him warily. "Then why can't I read it?"
Kakashi's eye flicked to him, amused. "Because I'm sure the Hokage would tan my hide if I let you."
Naruto huffed. That old man always got in the way of things.
Kakashi snapped the book shut, slipping it into his pocket. "So, what brings you here, Naruto?"
Naruto stared at him for a moment. It was odd seeing him like this. Not in his ANBU mask, not lurking in the background, just...there.
"You're different," Naruto said bluntly.
Kakashi blinked. "Oh?"
"You talk more."
Kakashi chuckled. "I suppose I do."
Naruto tilted his head. "Why?"
Kakashi hummed, tapping his fingers against his knee. "ANBU life is...different from normal life. When I'm wearing the mask, I don't have to talk much. But out here?" He gestured vaguely. "I can relax."
Naruto wasn't sure how to respond to that.
"So," Kakashi continued, eyeing him curiously. "You were looking for me?"
Naruto hesitated. "Not really. Just saw you."
Kakashi nodded, as if that answer made perfect sense. "Well, since you're here, how's life treating you?"
Naruto considered that. "Strange."
Kakashi chuckled. "That's a very Naruto answer."
Naruto frowned. "What does that mean?"
"It means you've always been a little...different."
Naruto didn't know if that was a compliment or not.
Kakashi stretched, his arms lazily reaching above his head. "Well, since you're here, want some advice?"
Naruto crossed his arms. "Depends."
Kakashi's eye curved into that unreadable smirk again. "Hmm. Alright, how about this? In life, sometimes it's better to be underestimated."
Naruto raised a brow. "What does that mean?"
"It means," Kakashi said, standing up, "that sometimes, letting people think you're weaker than you are is a strength."
Naruto blinked. "...So, act dumb?"
Kakashi chuckled. "Not dumb. Just...not obvious."
Naruto thought about that. It made some sense. If people didn't know what he could do, they wouldn't prepare for it.
Kakashi ruffled his hair. "You'll get it eventually."
Naruto scowled, swatting his hand away, he couldn't let his lazy cat instincts surface. "Don't do that."
Kakashi just laughed, stuffing his hands into his pockets. "See you around, Naruto."
And just like that, he strolled off, humming to himself.
Naruto watched him go.
What a weird guy.
—ToT—
The day had been long, and Naruto found himself wandering through the quieter streets of the village, away from the usual crowded markets and noisy food stalls. It wasn't often that he had nothing to do, no chores, no academy punishments, no old man Hokage asking him questions. Just the world as it was, waiting to be explored. His feet carried him near an alley where faint mewling sounds made him pause.
A small cluster of stray cats huddled near an overturned crate, their thin bodies pressed close together. Some were still kittens, barely more than fur and bones. Their ears twitched as they noticed him, some slinking further into the shadows while others simply stared. Naruto crouched down, watching them. He had seen animals in all forms, had lived as them in past lives, had been everything from the predator to the prey, but in this life, he was human. And humans often overlooked creatures like these.
He reached into his pocket, pulling out the half-eaten fish bun he had saved from earlier. It wasn't much, but it was something. He tore off small pieces and placed them on the ground, inching back to give them space. The braver ones came forward first, sniffing cautiously before snatching up the food. The weaker ones hesitated, waiting until the others had eaten before creeping up to claim the leftovers.
Naruto watched in silence, thoughts drifting. How odd it was, the way creatures acted. In his previous lives, he had been part of so many different systems—packs, swarms, prides, herds. The strong ate first. The weak fought for scraps. But humans didn't always do that. Sometimes the weak were given more. Sometimes they were protected. But sometimes, they were left behind. Like these cats. Like him.
Once they had finished eating, he stood up, dusting off his clothes. The cats wouldn't remember him by tomorrow, but that didn't matter. He had fed them today.
He continued walking until he reached the familiar scent of ink and paper. A bookshop. He paused outside, eyes flicking over the shelves visible through the window. He wasn't here to buy anything—he never had the money for that—but that had never stopped him before. Slipping inside, he kept his steps light, his presence small, moving past the shopkeeper without so much as a glance.
Books lined the shelves in neat rows, their spines worn from use. He scanned the titles until he found what he was looking for—books on animals, old ones. Not the kind kids at the Academy read about, but the ones buried in history. He ran his fingers along the spines, pulling one free and flipping it open. The pages were yellowed, the words dense, but he read quickly, absorbing the information.
Some of the creatures described were ones he had been. He saw their names, the scientific words humans had given them. Some he recognized instantly—mammoth, dire wolf, titanoboa. Others were new to him. The humans had studied them, drawn their bones, guessed at how they moved, but they didn't know them the way he did. They called the saber-toothed cat "Smilodon," wrote about its fangs and hunting patterns, but Naruto knew what it had felt like to sink those teeth into prey. They described the ankylosaurus as a walking fortress, but Naruto remembered the weight of its armor, the sluggish strength in its limbs.
He flipped through another book, this one about insects. Prehistoric dragonflies with wingspans as wide as birds. Ancient centipedes the length of tree trunks. The details were fascinating, but something nagged at him. They were missing something.
The feeling of being them.
Humans could write all they wanted, sketch bones and fossils, debate over what these creatures had been like, but none of them knew what it was to be inside those bodies, to live with instincts that weren't human, to see the world through eyes that weren't shaped for human vision. He had been these creatures. Lived, breathed, died as them.
And now, he was human.
The thought sat heavy in his chest.
Why?
Why did he remember? Why did he carry all these lives with him, stitched into the very fabric of his being? He had died a thousand times, a million times, and yet each time, he came back knowing.
A voice interrupted his thoughts. The shopkeeper had started moving toward his corner of the store. Naruto slipped the book back into place, stepping away just as the man turned the corner. He didn't make a sound as he walked out the door.
Back on the street, the air felt different, heavier. He wasn't sure why. Maybe it was because, for the first time, he had looked at the world humans had built around his past lives. Maybe it was because he was starting to understand something—something just out of reach.
Maybe it was because, no matter how much he knew, no matter how many lives he had lived…
He still didn't know what it meant to be human.
TBC