Just after Akira and Aiko were escorted to Konoha,
Sakumo was worried about them. So, he decided to secretly trail and protect them. He left the responsibility for Patrol to the Vice-captain and left the borders for Konoha.
He wasn't worried about the border Patrol team as he had just warned the Iwa Anbus when he went to save Akira and Aiko. Iwa Ninjas were aware of his prowess, so they won't pull out any surprise attack on borders.
He safely escorted Akira and Aiko to the Village. After confirming their safety, he went to Hokage's Office to report about the matter.
Hiruzen was stunned to see Sakumo in the village as he questioned him,
"Sakumo! According to my knowledge, you were supposed to guard the Fire Nation's Borders. What are you doing here, neglecting your duties?"
"I was indeed on the Guard duty at the border. Yesterday, I saw Kagami Sensei's son who informed my team about his mission and asked for re-enforcement. I went as their backup and saved them from Iwa Anbus. I confronted them and successfully drove them away. The situation at the border is stable for the next few weeks as the Iwa nin would be preparing for counter-measures against me. Also, their Jounin commander is dead and their assault team is wiped out. It will take a minimum of a week for them to gather and assign a new team at the border. They have suffered considerable losses after all."
Hiruzen nodded at this as he spoke,
"It seems like Iwa was hell-bent on killing the Uchiha trio. I am surprised they were able to make it out alive, well I suppose it is because of you. I will visit them later in the hospital. So, what is your plan now Sakumo? Will you return to Border or stay in the village. Your son is quite a genius and his performance in the academy is outstanding."
"I will stay in the village for a week and then return to the Border to complete the remaining days of my duties. For now, I will go and visit Kakashi. I am sure he would be surprised to see me." Sakumo smiled as he informed Hiruzen.
"Ok! You can continue your patrol duty later." Hiruzen dismissed Sakumo as he prepared to visit the Uchiha couple in the hospital.
Sakumo went to his house to change his Ninja outfit and get washed as he was exhausted from the long journey. He was alone in the house as he was welcomed by the picture of his late wife smiling gently at him.
"Our Kakashi is five years old now Tsumi. He misses you a lot, I miss you too."
A drop of tear trickled down his face. He wiped it away as he went to take a bath.
His wife died two years ago in the Second Shinobi War. Her jounin team was lured into a trap by Amegakure and all of them were killed. Kakashi was only three at that time. Since then, he has to fulfill the role of a parent to Kakashi. But my ninja duties won't allow me to always be with Kakashi. Sakumo sighed in melancholy as he took a bath.
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Later outside the academy,
Sakumo was impatiently waiting for Kakashi to complete his classes.
"Youth!...this is youth."
He was startled by this voice as he turned around to look at the source of this voice.
A tall and well-built man with high cheek-bones, a bulbous nose, dark hair, thick eyebrows, and body hairs on wrists and forearms was walking upside down on his hands as he shouted. He had a haircut in Bowl style that was combed to his right and had a slight lift. There was a bristling mustache and a small goatee and stubble on his face. The man wore a green jumpsuit, orange striped leg warmers, and a yellow scarf around his neck.
Sakumo immediately recognized the incoming person as Might Duy who was infamous in the village as 'the Eternal Genin.' Sakumo greeted Might Duy as he asked,
"Might Duy san! How come you are at the academy?"
Might Duy stood up straight as he wiped away the dust from his clothes and replied,
"Guy was accepted in the academy as an alternate in the Academy's class course. It is time for the classes in the academy to end and I thought of training Guy a little more after his classes. After all, he is still in his ….Youth."
Sakumo nodded at Might Duy who was doing push-ups while waiting for his son.
Soon the bell of Academy rang as children began to run out of the Academy.
"I will defeat you one day Kakashi! My eternal rival."
A six-year child with a shiny bowl-style haircut with his hairs reaching his chin shouted at Kakashi. He had thick eyebrows and wore a sleeveless green jumpsuit with a red scarf tied around his neck.
"Do whatever seems fit to you." Kakashi replied nonchalantly as he prepared to go home."
"Kakashi!"
Kakashi was stunned to hear this familiar voice as he lifted his head to see the person. He was greeted by his father smiling at him. He walked to his father as he asked,
"You were supposed to be on a mission. How come you are here?"
Sakumo sighed as he reprimanded Kakashi,
"You saw your father after three weeks and this is how you greet him. I returned early due to some urgent work and Hokage-sama agreed to give me a break for a few days before I return to my work."
Kakashi began to walk expressionlessly towards their house but deep down he had a smile on his face below his mask. He turned around and spoke,
"Train me during your stay at home. I will surpass you soon."
'This kid he only thinks about training.' Sakumo shook his head as he followed Kakashi.
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Two weeks later,
Sakumo was at the entrance of the Village, he had to return to the borders to continue his patrol duty for two more weeks. Kakashi waved his hand to him to say goodbye. Sakumo waved back then he flickered and disappeared in the forest.
A few hours later, at the Hokage's office,
Hiruzen sighed as he looked at the mission request posted to them. It is an S-Rank mission posted by the Daimyo of the Land of Fire. A scroll containing the various shady businesses of the Daimyo was stolen from his house by some ninjas. From the likes of it, they appeared to be mist ninja. The Daimyo is afraid of them releasing the info to peoples of the Fire Nation. This can cause huge unrest among the masses and could lead to instability in the Land of Fire.
Hiruzen clutched his head as the Daimyo had offered a huge sum of reward to handle this matter. But also warned that if they failed the mission then the funding provided by Daimyo would be reduced by 20%. That is a massive number and they couldn't afford to fail the mission.
Hiruzen began to look through the list of the candidates suitable for the mission.
'Tsunade, she isn't in the village. He crossed her name over. Jiraiya had left the village to roam around the world, that lazy disciple of mine. I can't blame him though, his information network is very useful to the village. Orochimaru is out on a mission, he will take a while to come back. Fugaku Uchiha is still wary of us because of the death of so-many Uchiha clansmen during the past few years. Sakumo, Oh! Sakumo would be the best choice.'
Hiruzen waved his hand as he summoned an Anbu.
"Go! and summon Sakumo to my office. It is an emergency."
The Anbu jumped out of the window and disappeared on the roofs. Hiruzen began to contemplate over the list of other people for the mission.
After a while, the Anbu member reappeared in the Hokage's office as he informed him about the departure of Sakumo for the borders.
"So, he left for the borders earlier this morning. Considering his prowess it would be hard to meet and inform him about the mission before tomorrow."
Hiruzen had a headache as he thought of this matter. For now, gather these people in my office. He gave a list of names to the Anbu.
Outside his office, in the lounge, the fat Daimyo was sitting on the sofa as he covered his face with a fan and sipped some tea prepared for him. He anxiously looked towards Hokage's office as he shouted,
"I want to meet Hiruzen now. Inform him, we can't delay this matter anymore or my reputation will be besmirched which won't fare well for Konoha. Deploy as many ninjas as you can, I want the mission to be a success."
The receptionist had cold-sweat trickling down her head as she tried to appease the Daimyo.
"Daimyo-Sama… Hokage Sama had sent someone to call some Jounin to work on the mission. They will be here soon, Please wait a little bit more.
Humph…
The Daimyo harrumphed angrily and continued to sip his tea.
Inside the Hokage office, ten jounins were saluting the Hokage with their one knee on the floor and head bent down. Hiruzen nodded to them as he began to explain the details of the missions.
The Jounins accepted the mission as they were ready to depart for the mission.
Later on, during the mission, the ninjas were faced with a difficult situation of saving their comrade or continuing the mission. They chose the mission over their comrades. Although the mission was accomplished, Konoha lost Two Jounin Commanders and five other jounins and ten special jounins in the mission. This was a huge loss for Konoha as many of its capable ninjas died in the mission. The heavy involvement of Seven Swordsmen of the Mist was found in the Mission.
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This is a side story chapter. I wanted to save Sakumo, as he was supposed to die during this period when Kakashi was still in the academy. So, I used the butterfly effect caused by the birth of Izuna to save Sakumo for a while. But I will only delay the inevitable for a while as I want Izuna to stop Sakumo from dying. Continue reading to figure out what will happen next.