Chapter Text
So Kakashi is a lightning mage, right? An ambient one, for reasons. And as we know from Tris, lightning mages are really rare. Mostly they die young. Because lightning. So Kakashi is one of the lucky ones, and just has to worry about being used as a weapon by whoever runs the country he lives in. Not gonna lie, I almost made him Namornese, but Berenene is frightening enough without her own private lightning mage. Anyway. Kakashi grows up with this culture that basically says that the people are the property of the ruler, so he’s the king/emperor/whatever’s private assassin. It’s kind of a calling card: scars from a lightning strike – Lichtenberg figures – on someone killed in their bed, or the bath, or right out in public – however the Daimyo (let’s go with Daimyo) wants it. Kakashi is a good enough assassin to pull it off without anyone seeing him, which is kind of the point; the Daimyo likes people thinking he’s more or less all-powerful. Those who do see Kakashi – generally because he wants to be seen – swear he’s a ghost. So there are all these stories of a spirit, a demon, a god, who wields lightning on command of the king. Of course some people are all ‘duh it’s a mage’ but most tend towards superstition, which is heavily encouraged. A superstitious populace is easier to control than one that questions things.
His dad was also a lightning mage, but he hid it because he didn’t want to be a war mage. He tried to hide Kakashi too, but that fell apart when Kakashi sparked in the wrong place. The Daimyo’s soldiers caught them attempting to flee the country and Sakumo was killed in the ensuing struggle. Right in front of Kakashi. Yay childhood trauma! (No suicide for Sakumo tho. I can at least spare them that.)
So while Kakashi is all busy being the Daimyo’s private horror story, where is Yamato? Danzo is the head of the military in general and black ops in particular, because apparently I like putting all my nasty people in one spot. Or most of them. Orochimaru is mad sciencing it up somewhere else.
Anyway, there’s the Daimyo’s private assassins and spy network, and there’s Danzo’s assassins and spy network, aka Root. Danzo being the nation’s spymaster as well. He must be very busy.
Root works pretty much like it does in canon, and Tenzou’s been in there since early childhood.
Now the thing about ambient magic is that it’s very hard to detect unless you’re specifically looking for it. Something like lightning magic is pretty obvious, but carpentry magic? Danzo’s not going to notice that Tenzou’s really good at carving wood. I mean there’s more to it than that, but still, it’s useless to an assassin. Sorry, no growing trees and houses out of nothing. If I’d made him a plant mage it could happen (trees, anyway), but I figured carpentry magic was more characteristic. Of course Hashirama was a plant mage but he’s dead and has no bearing on this story.
Danzo, being Danzo, is doing the “what I do may be completely morally reprehensible, but it is for the good of the nation” shadow-ruler thing. This entails occasionally killing people the Daimyo would not like him to kill. Like the Daimyo himself. Or Kakashi. After Kakashi rebuffed the assassination of the Daimyo and all of Danzo’s attempts to recruit him, Danzo sent Tenzou after him. The ensuing fight went pretty much like it did in canon, minus the mokuton and with significantly different dialog. Although actually I think I will have Kakashi kill Rin, who was a healer-mage and friend who rebelled. Kakashi never forgave himself and privately swore never to kill a friend again. He and Tenzou (Kinoe at this point) have worked together before (and gotten along!) because they’re technically supposed to be on the same side. So Kakashi’s internal monolog at this point is basically nonononononooNONO no. He’s almost to the point of swaying Tenzou when they are interrupted by foreign spies who are taking the opportunity to get rid or two formidable weapons at once. They unite against the common enemy and when the dust settles Tenzou is like …shit. So he goes to report mission failure and Kakashi freaks out because that means death or compulsion spells so he hauls ass and gets Tenzou out of there before he can be turned into a mindless zombie. Or meat paste. And he’s like holy shit, do you have a death wish? Or does losing your free will appeal to you that much?
Kakashi has been chafing under the Daimyo’s rule for a while now, and this turns vague fantasies of leaving the country into a very urgent reality. The two of them run, as far and as fast as they can, because they know perfectly well that mounting a two-man rebellion is another word for suicide. When they’re far enough away, they travel, and that’s when Tenzou finds out about his magic. He studies under whatever carpentry mage is willing to teach him, and Kakashi teaches him what he can, although there isn’t much that crosses over from lightning to carpentry magic beyond meditation. They make a living as bodyguards for travelers, which as far as they’re concerned is a double win; money and convenient travel entourage!
Somewhere in the middle of all this, they fall in love.
At one point they end up in northern Namorn, which is pretty much the other side of the world from where they started, and Tenzou – Yamato this week; he entertains himself giving each client a different name – is thoroughly enchanted by the architecture. They stay there for a while, and he studies architecture, although the lack of formal accreditation gets in the way of people taking him seriously as a mage – Kakashi is keeping his magic hidden, half by habit and half by healthy paranoia. Lightning mages are some of rulers’ favorite prey. Just look at the effort Berenene went to to get Tris to stay in Namorn. He’s not going to be used like that again. They stay up in Namorn for nearly two years and almost settle down there, but Kakashi can’t stand the cold and Yamato’s not a real fan of it either. Northern Namornese winters are harsh; think Minnesota or even further north. Ottawa is a comparison I’ve seen, because they use the waterways as another road in the winter, like Ottawa…ians?... use the Rideau Canal.
Eventually that lack of accreditation becomes a really obstacle, and, since that’s the one they’re closest to at the time, Yamato ends up studying at Winding Circle Temple to earn it. It beats out Lightsbridge U., which is reputed to be very unwelcoming to ambient mages. Winding Circle, on the other hand, is… not full of them, because they’re seriously rare, but there are more there than pretty much anywhere else.
Kakashi knows and understands his magic and stopped being a danger to himself and others a long time ago, and he’s uninterested in a shiny medallion that proves he’s qualified to teach and be an authority on mage stuff. He doesn’t leave his magic unused, because he knows full well what a disastrous idea that is, but he doesn’t throw it around, either. He does run around in thunderstorms and get hit by lightning though. I don’t think lightning mages are capable of resisting that.
The atmosphere at Winding Circle is lovely and peaceful and Tenzou really likes it, but it leaves Kakashi waiting for the other shoe to drop. He doesn’t like it and he’s uncomfortable all the time, shifty and antsy and anxious. Also, his employment options are pretty much 1-war mage or 2-bodyguard/military/enforcer. Since he’s not a student or a dedicate he can’t live in the temple, so he and Tenzou rent an apartment in Summersea with the money they’ve saved up.
Eventually Kakashi can’t deal with the sitting still and not working thing, so he takes another bodyguarding job and promises to come back. Tenzou moves into student housing at Winding Circle for money reasons.
When Kakashi gets back, three months later, he brings with him three dogs (they’ve already got two; they picked up Pakkun and Bull at some point during their travels and of course Kakashi left them with Tenzou when he left) and Sai. Tenzou sighs and pinches the bridge of his nose and says seriously? Sai has magic with paints and pens and charcoal, and Winding Circle is wonderful for him. He ends up staying in Discipline Cottage with Lark and Rosethorn – Comas has taken his vows and moved out not long ago – because he has a background similar to Kakashi and Tenzou’s, which has left him with pretty significant PTSD. As with Briar, boys who keep weapons are not welcome in the boys’ dormitories. This is good; Lark and Rosethorn are good for him, and he and Evvy are deadpan snark buddies.
Tenzou finishes up his schooling around this point – there wasn’t exactly that much left for him to do after all the studying during their travels – and after long thought, they decide to stay in Summersea. Largely because Emelan is probably one of the most just, inclusive countries they’ve seen. There’s market for an architect. Kakashi toys around with the idea of trying for the police for a bit – or the military – Duke Vedris and his niece Lady Sandrilene are The Good Kind Of Ruler, so he tentatively trusts that this isn’t an all-around terrible decision – and eventually ends up on Lady Sandry’s bodyguard rotation, which is actually a pretty good job. This is how he ends up meeting Tris, Sandry’s foster sister, ambient weather, lightning, and earth mage, who has just gotten back from completing her studies at Lightsbridge, where she hoped to learn magic that would expand her options from 1-penniless, 2-war mage, or 3-… maybe a librarian? But people get nervous of librarians who spark. Not that she does anymore, but still. They become surprising friends over sarcasm and books (she tells him repeatedly and at length that his books are disgusting). Sandry is pleased; she is the sort to befriend everybody and appreciates it when it spreads. Also, she thinks both Kakashi and Tris need to talk to more people.
Eventually the inevitable happens: despite the fact that their close friendship was mended a while ago now, the house Daja, Tris, and Briar live in has sustained serious damage. What was it that guy said in the beginning of Will of the Empress, that the character for chaos in some language is two of the character for mage under the character for house? Yeah. So of course Tenzou is the one hired to fix it. It’s always nice to know that a certain amount of magic is going into whatever service you’re paying for. He and Daja get to talking, and they’re both startled to find that he worked with her old student, another carpentry mage named Nia Bancanor, on a couple of projects – although with her engagement to a boy from a shipbuilding clan, she mostly works on ships now that she’s journeyman level.
Anyway, that’s about as far as I imagined it: comfortable domestic boyfriends with a ton of dogs (Kakashi does not stop collecting them) and the occasional human stray as well (Kakashi does not stop collecting them either. Tenzou is very longsuffering.) (I just really want team 7 to be at least a little bit of a thing). They have a garden and wake each other up from shitty PTSD nightmares and probably bang a lot. Tenzou is very good friends with Lark. It’s basically all very peaceful – okay, sometimes peaceful; remember who we’re talking about – and they’re very content with their lives. And they didn’t get caught up in a war at any point because I said so.
I have some idea of where the other characters end up, but I’m not going into that in depth right now. Maybe someday. No, I’m not writing this goddammit.
Basically:
- Iruka is a teacher but not a mage, and pretty much the only one who takes care of Naruto, whose wild, out-of-control magic is making people think he’s possessed by a demon.
- Sakura is an unusually firm water temple initiate at Winding Circle, working towards being a healer.
- Ino is from a family of diplomats, but is determined not to follow in her father’s footsteps – she’s going to blaze the path for mental health treatment instead, and damn the fact that she’s not a mage. She and Sakura have a fierce rivalry, once they meet. They’re lifelong friends and possibly sweethearts. (Sakura passionately declares that she will make Ino’s dream a reality or die trying when another water temple novice mocks her for it; this is the tipping point.)
- Tsunade is a wandering healer, who travels with her lover and her apprentice, neither of whom have magic – but they’re both excellent doctors despite that, and Shizune is the best at treating poisons. She’s also the only one who can keep Tsunade on task when there are no patients; even Dan can’t do it. At one point Tsunade stays at Winding Circle for a while and ends up teaching Sakura; at another point she teaches Ino. She heartily approves of her goals.
- Jiraiya is still Kakashi’s favorite author.
- Orochimaru is doing mad science somewhere. He is not a mage, which doesn’t matter – he manages to be creapifying without magic just fine.
- Asuma and Kurenai are probably married. She’s an academic mage – an illusionist – and he’s a magicless bodyguard.
- Konan, Yahiko, and Nagato form the rebel organization Akatsuki and overthrow Danzo and the same Daimyo Kakashi and Tenzou fled. Who I guess is Hanzo now? Maybe?
- Itachi and Sasuke lost their entire family in the same epidemic that claimed Sandry’s parents. Itachi was maybe eight and Sasuke was maybe three; they were taken in by family friends for a while and then struck out on their own. They end up in Summersea by chance. Itachi volunteers at Urda’s House and spends a good bit of the Uchiha family fortune on charity work.
- Gai and Lee are traveling as a master-and-apprentice pair, doing some kind of martial arts spiritual practice (that’s a thing, right? I’m pretty sure that’s a thing) which involves a lot of shouting about YOUTH! Or maybe that’s just Gai. They meet Kakashi and Tenzou once before they (that is, K&T) settle down, and Kakashi claims to be traumatized for life.
- Tenten is an apprentice blacksmith. If she and Daja ever meet, they will take an instant liking to each other. Or rather, Tenten has the biggest celebrity crush on Daja before Daja even knows she exists. It’s not the living metal (not just the living metal), it’s the artistry. (ooo what if they date :D)
- Neji’s father never died, and he and Hinata are actually friends.
- Chouji grows up and takes over the family restaurant. He and Shikamaru are either dating or platonic soulmates, no one’s sure.
- Shikamaru is supposed to be studying to take over his father’s position as chief strategist, but he spends most of his time hanging around the Akamichi restaurant.
- Shikaku and Inoichi commiserate over their children; Chouza just laughs.
- Everyone else is doing stuff, idk.
- I think I just wrote Obito out of Kakashi’s backstory. He’s kind of far away at the time. And then dead of smallpox. Whoops.