9

Chapter 9: IX

Notes:

Trigger Warning: Mention of Suicide!

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

Sirius's body was aching all over. He hadn't ached that bad since he had escaped Azkaban still bruised from when the sea had thrown him around, crashed his body against rocks before it had washed him ashore. This ache, however, felt better. It was the screaming muscles of hard work not the agonizing bruises of abuse. Still, it was a clear sign that he had overdone it the day before.

He woke up, feeling groggy and a little lost. Like there was something he should remember but had forgotten. His chin rested against a hard surface while his arms and legs hung free, held up by somebody carrying him with strong arms around his thighs, his weight slumped over straight shoulders… Shoulders? His chin was resting against the crook of a neck, somebody else's hair scratching and tickling against his skin.

The soft up and down of powerful steps was almost imperceptible. It reminded him of Hogwarts. Of the morning after a full moon night in sixth grade, when he had overdone it and fallen asleep, so Prongs carried him back to the dormitory before the teachers who would come to collect Moony in the morning, could find him too and see that he had snuck out of the Gryffindor dorms again.

"I've missed you, Prongs," he muttered before he could even think about his words.

That wasn't right…

Confused he raised his head blinking against the sun. James was dead. Dead and buried over a decade ago. Remus had abandoned him, and Peter was a traitor. He was a convict on the run, he reminded himself, although now, that he slowly caught up to his situation he didn't really need that reminder. He was painfully aware of it.

Who would carry him, then?

He saw the back of a head, grey hair, and the dark cloth of the mask stretching over a thin neck. The boy… Kakashi. Automatically Sirius pushed away from him.

"Kakashi!" he exclaimed surprised. How could Kakashi carry him? Why would he? He suddenly felt awkward, realizing how much shorter the kid was than him. A fourteen-year-old teenager carrying a full-grown adult. Sure, he was starved half to death, but that wasn't really an excuse why he should let himself be carried around by a kid. And where was Kakashi even taking him? Never mind, he only actively realized now, he was in human form… if they were seen. Or was that what Kakashi had planned? Carrying him to the police, helpless in his sleep?

"Good morning, Mr. Black," Kakashi said with a silent chuckle in his voice. He let Sirius down. "We had to leave camp. People."

There were people? Sirius looked Kakashi up and down, looked for any signs that the boy was sweating or that his back was aching from carrying Sirius around.

"Call me Sirius," Sirius said automatically, before biting his tongue. The child was terrified of him, he reminded himself, remembering how tired Kakashi had been from lack of sleep. Acting as if they were close by getting on a first name basis… that wouldn't help, Sirius feared.

But Kakashi only smiled at him. "Good morning, Sirius," he repeated. "I tried you awake, but you were tired."

"You tried waking me up, but I was tired?" Sirius said without thinking. "Why?" he quickly added because that was more important now than the English lesson. "Why didn't you just leave me there."

Kakashi stared at him with a single wide eye, then he looked down at the street as if he was taken aback by the question. He didn't answer. Sirius followed his eyes.

"Where are we?" He didn't recognize this place, which didn't mean much. There were a lot of parts of England that he wouldn't recognize immediately, even before his imprisonment. And that was ten years ago. There were plain green meadows around them. Not a hill in sight. He had no idea where he was.

Kakashi took a few steps back, then he pointed with his left arm. Sirius followed him, then looked where Kakashi was pointing. A bit further away down a narrow path, there was a small sign. A white arrow with a text on it, that he couldn't read from where they stood. Sirius jogged up to the sign, with Kakashi following him close behind.

"Braintree," he read. He shook his head. He didn't know a Braintree in Norfolk. The last he remembered they had been close to Thetford. He looked around. He didn't see the town close by, nor did he see any signs pointing towards it. "Have we already passed Thetford?"

Kakashi nodded.

"How long ago?" If he could calculate the time and… How fast would Kakashi be, carrying him around? He had already noted that the boy had good stamina, he hadn't once gotten tired on their journey. So, he wasn't too surprised that Kakashi was not just able to carry him, but even drag him all the way past Thetford. Only how much further?

If they had passed Thetford, were they already in Suffolk? But he didn't know a Braintree in Suffolk either. Maybe, it was some tiny place he had never heard of. The closest Braintree, Sirius could think of was in…. Essex… but that couldn't be right. That would mean, Kakashi had carried him all the way through Suffolk and they were already 40 miles before London. Sirius shook his head. That was simply impossible.

But then he read the sign again. "Braintree…" He glanced at Kakashi. "How long was I asleep? How long did you carry me?" Braintree, if this was indeed Braintree, Essex was halfway between Thetford and central London. How?!

Kakashi shrugged again. "Hour before sun went up?"

"We left camp an hour before sunrise?" Sirius shook his head disbelieving. "Today?" It wasn't even noon yet. Had Kakashi run a marathon with him on his back? He shook his head, deciding it would be a waste of energy to make sense of that. Maybe it was another instance of Kakashi's maybe magical abilities. Somehow teleporting him from Thetford, Norfolk to Braintree, Essex. "Did anybody see us?" That was a much bigger worry, he decided.

It was difficult to read his expression behind the mask, but Sirius thought Kakashi scoffed. "No." He said in a tone as if he felt insulted that Sirius had even considered that.

Although Sirius was doubtful, he didn't question it. "Okay," he said. He didn't really believe it though. Somehow carrying Sirius for 40 miles was one thing. Doing it without being seen by anybody?

"I'm sorry about that." Sirius looked at the boy. He still couldn't detect any slumped shoulders or sweat. "Forcing you into that position." Even if the boy were here of his own free will… it was one thing to ask him to follow Sirius around, another thing entirely to need to be carried.

"No worries," Kakashi smiled.

"How did you know the way?"

"You said London. I read signs. London everywhere."

"Every sign says what direction London is?" Sirius asked to make sure.

Kakashi nodded.

"Good." Not just that they had gone in the right direction. Even more so, it was reassuring that Kakashi could find his way. If he continued like that, he'd soon be better at finding his way than Sirius himself.

**

They carried on their journey. Kakashi had been a little put-off, by how surprised Sirius had been, that Kakashi had taken care of him as he was asleep. Had he thought, Kakashi would just leave him to be found? Did Sirius think that low of him?

Then, however, he had quickly brushed these doubts off. Evidently, Sirius had only been surprised, that Kakashi was able to carry him – never mind carry him that far. Still, Sirius's doubts in his skills were almost more insulting than doubting his integrity would have been. Kakashi knew he was the scum of the earth. So, having people expect the worst from him, might hurt, but it wasn't very surprising. Having them doubt his abilities… That was a new one. It wasn't Sirius' fault of course. Kakashi had kept his skills hidden, after all.

Because Sirius hadn't eaten anything since yesterday morning, he quickly ate the rest of the smoked trout.

"You're not hungry?" Sirius asked with the trout half-eaten. Kakashi only shook his head. He wasn't and if he were, he still had enough soldier pills to last for a few days.

"If we're already at Braintree…" Sirius started but then shook his head eating the rest. "We're getting close to London now. Soon as we're in the metropolitan region, I don't feel comfortable transforming anymore."

Kakashi had no idea what 'metropolitan region' meant. "Close to London?" he asked.

"Yes." Sirius looked at him then sighed. "The city itself and the region around it. Too many people. I'll be seen."

Five million people, Kakashi remembered. The very idea of so many people in one single city made his ears ring. Hiding from so many sounded like a challenge even for him. It would be safer for Sirius to just stay hidden as a giant black dog.

"What is plan in London?" Kakashi asked curiously. If he had understood it correctly, it wasn't where Sirius' godson lived, so what were they going to do there? So far, Kakashi had the impression, Sirius was avoiding the cities, so why would he want to walk right into the biggest of them all.

"What's the plan when we arrive in London? Or… What are you planning to do in London?" Sirius shook his head. It wasn't the first time that he offered multiple solutions how to say something without really explaining the difference to Kakashi. Kakashi wouldn't know it, even if Sirius explained. Learning the language seemed to work intuitively for the most part, but Kakashi never had grammar classes in school. If Sirius started explaining what a subject or verb in a clause was, it would hardly help Kakashi. "It's on the way to Surrey," Sirius answered. Then he hesitated for a moment. "And we should get to a police department there."

"Police?" Kakashi asked curiously. If he had at all understood what 'police' meant it was an institution Sirius should rather try to avoid. But Sirius didn't explain himself.

"Son's friend lives in Surrey?" Kakashi asked, then he frowned realizing his own mistake. "Your friend's son."

"Yes." Sirius sighed, looking down the road. Kakashi had chosen this empty hiking trail through the countryside. It was lonely, without a soul in sight. Several times that day, Kakashi had to jump off-road to avoid being seen before he had found this path. However, the lack of street signs in the place made it rather difficult for him to navigate through this foreign country. He had set a course roughly southwest having already gathered that London had to be somewhere in that direction from all the street signs he'd seen before – when he'd still used the bigger roads.

"We should move on. How did you find this trail?" Sirius looked rather impressed at the surprising solitude. Kakashi shrugged. Apparently, Sirius didn't need an answer to his question because he continued after a moment. "His name is Harry. Harry Potter. He's my godson." He had used that word before, Kakashi remembered.

"Godson?" Kakashi asked.

Sirius looked at him as if he didn't understand the question. Then he smiled drily. "Oh… Yes, a godson is… The parents choose another adult – a friend or maybe an aunt or uncle– to help raise and guide the child. Lily and James chose me. When they died, I should have become Harry's guardian. I should be the one taking care of him, but…" He didn't finish the sentence, but Kakashi was able to fill in the blank. Obviously, being imprisoned would make it difficult to fulfill his guardian role.

Sirius stayed quiet for a while, Kakashi having nothing to add to it himself. Then finally, Sirius spoke up again. "Do you have that in your culture, too? In Japan?"

Kakashi felt uncomfortable then. Sirius had told him so much. He had taught Kakashi everything about their world, helped him learn the language, opened up about his past… He trusted Kakashi with so much, and Kakashi still hadn't even told him where he came from.

"I'm not—" Kakashi started, but then he caught himself. It wasn't safe to share this information he told himself. A shinobi didn't share their affiliation without good reason… Never mind, even if he wanted to, what was the point? Sirius wouldn't even know what Kakashi was talking about.

"Yes." He had no idea about Japan, but in Konoha, they had godparents, or something similar. "Something like that."

"Like that?" Sirius asked curiously. He was clearly just trying to keep the conversation going. Was he fishing for information? Or was he trying to bond? "Do you have a good relationship with your godparent?"

Maybe it was just another English lesson, Kakashi thought, as he was trying to string together his response. "I guess." He shrugged. "He took care of me."

Sirius's brows furrowed. "He took care of you? What about your parents?"

Kakashi answered with a shrug. He saw something dark pass across Sirius' eyes, then he apparently brushed it aside.

"Does he have a name? That godparent?"

Now, that was the first question that might prompt Kakashi to give something important away. Asking for a name. Warily Kakashi glanced at Sirius, but there was nothing on his face that would give away the man's intention. Kakashi didn't think Sirius was actually trying to get details to use against him, and maybe this would be a good opportunity to test something.

"Sarutobi," Kakashi said. "Hiruzen Sarutobi."

There was no moment of recognition on Sirius' face. Nothing in his eyes or the way he acted would indicate that he knew the name. So, not only did Kakashi not know this country, but the name of the Hokage hadn't reached here either. That, or Sirius was a much better actor than Kakashi gave him credit for.

"He's the Hokage."

Still, nothing. Sirius didn't know what a Hokage was. It seemed more and more likely, that Kakashi had really somehow landed in a sort of parallel dimension. One, where Konoha didn't exist. If that was true, Kakashi could be a bit more open with details of his life… However, he thought, he should stay cautious. Who knew what these people would do, if they found out inter-dimensional travel was a thing… Unless, of course, they already knew about that...? Then, maybe, this magic was his ticket home.

"What's a Hokage?" Sirius asked when Kakashi – deep in thought – didn't say anything else.

Kakashi pushed his hands in his pockets. "He's village leader."

"Village leader? Like a mayor?"

Kakashi already knew that word. "Something like that. Just… more important."

At that, Sirius chuckled. "So, your parents are some big shots? Important people with connections to local government?"

The question threw Kakashi for a loop before he understood what Sirius meant. The way, he had explained godparents, it seemed to be something very personal. A godparent was a friend of the family, maybe even part of the family. It was similar for civilians in the Land of Fire, Kakashi thought. For most shinobi, however, their parents appointed the Hokage guardian in case of their early demise. It was the easiest solution, especially considering that most shinobi would die young, and leaving the child under the watchful eye of the Hokage – and therefore making them a ward of the entire village – was a much more permanent solution, than to pick a friend of the family who might not survive much longer, anyway. Kakashi knew, that Minato-sensei and Kushina-nee had named Jiraiya-sama Naruto's godfather, but even then, ultimately, the Hokage had assumed custody over the child. Now that he thought about it, that was a little odd…

"Kakashi?" Sirius looked at him, worry etching deep lines into his face. "Is everything okay? Was it too personal?"

"No," Kakashi answered immediately, appalled at the idea that Sirius might think him weak, for being unable to keep his thoughts straight after his only mildly personal question. "They wasn't important." But then he shook his head.

He shouldn't talk about his father like that. He barely knew anything about his mother, but his father had been an important shinobi. Sure, he was from a minor clan, and therefore had little political influence, and that wasn't the reason why the Hokage had been appointed as Kakashi's godparent… But still, Sakumo Hatake was not just anybody.

His father was the White Fang. And Kakashi had disrespected his memory for too long already.

"No, I mean… They was…"

"Were," Sirius interrupted in a low voice when Kakashi paused to look for words.

"They were… I mean… Father was important. But not… because of politics?" At the end of his explanation, his voice raised as if he was asking a question instead of explaining. He didn't know if his attempts were at all understandable.

"Your father was important, but not politically?" Sirius asked patiently, and when Kakashi nodded, he smiled. There was something sad in the way his lips quirked. It was in his eyes. Something deeply compassionate. "What happened to him?"

Kakashi stared at him. Then he looked away. He wasn't willing to talk about that yet. Not with Sirius, or anybody. He had never liked talking about what had happened to his father. Even with Obito; when Obito had mentioned the White Fang during their last mission together… He'd been immensely grateful that Obito had never talked about the way he'd died, but only the way he'd lived. And then Obito had gone and died, saving Kakashi and clearly… talking about it brought only bad luck.

Kakashi didn't want to.

His dad had been the great White Fang. A shinobi of the Leaf, a legendary ninja who had been a genius among his peers. During the Second Shinobi World War, he had forever carved his name into the annals of Konoha's history… And then he had failed a single mission and paid for it with his honor and good name. And ultimately his life…

What was there to talk about? Kakashi didn't want to cry about it. He'd already been a chunin then, as such an adult in the eyes of his village. He had picked up the pieces after his father's suicide, as was expected. He had buried his father and continued his job, as was expected. And when the war broke out – the one many thought his father's actions had started – he had done his part and fought for his village, as was expected. He had done what he could to rebuild his name and his honor, as was expected.

At least so he had thought. But, of course, he had it all wrong.

His father had been a hero.

And Kakashi was the worst scum.

He knew that now, and if he regretted anything, then that he hadn't told his father before it was too late: that he hadn't told the White Fang, that he was a hero; that his son was proud that he had done what he did; that there was no shame in his actions, and that Kakashi was sorry that he hadn't seen it sooner. He would have told his father that there was nothing dishonorable about saving his comrades, or if – adversely – abandoning them for the mission was the meaning of honor Kakashi didn't want any of it.

In the eyes of many people, Kakashi knew, that was exactly what honor meant. In their eyes, Sakumo Hatake had lost his honor by abandoning the mission to save his comrades and gained it back by abandoning his son.

"I see—" Sirius said although Kakashi hadn't said anything. He clearly wanted to add something, but instead looked down along the narrow trail. A little further ahead there was a straight horizontal cut through the meadows. A bigger road crossing their path. "I'm sorry for intruding…" And with that Sirius transformed back to his dog form.

Kakashi was thankful that Sirius didn't pry. Still, he felt guilty for having blocked off Sirius' attempts at bonding like that. "There's not much to talk about." It was a lie, of course. It wasn't that there was nothing to talk about, there was never anybody to talk to. When his father had killed himself, the village had been happy to pretend nothing had happened. In their eyes, father had betrayed them and then paid for it with his life. The Hokage had offered his condolences but other than that, neither Kakashi nor the villagers had been keen to remember the shinobi who had killed himself after being ostracized for his decision to prioritize his comrades over his mission. Minato-sensei had only taken over as Kakashi's teacher a few years later and by then Kakashi's heart had already hardened and his memory of his father had been poisoned by grief and anger. Only Obito had helped him out of that hole he had dug for himself, but it was too late by then… Too late to talk about Sakumo Hatake. Kakashi's own generation didn't even remember him, Minato's generation did, but they were too young and had no part in his death, most of those older than Minato didn't want to be remembered of the past. He'd just be digging up old skeletons.

Of course, there was no response from Sirius, who was already trudging along as a dog.

**

The area where Kakashi had first woken up, was called Norfolk. Norfolk, he had found out, wasn't so much a country but rather just a part of this nation which was much bigger and – as he was reasonably sure from the way Sirius had talked about it in some of their conversations – apparently on an island.

Norfolk had stretched from the coast in the north and northeast through small hills with meadows, fields and small patches of wood that barely deserved the name 'forests', interspersed by many villages – the biggest of which barely reached Konoha in size. At least that's what Kakashi had thought until he reached the outskirts of Norwich… which had been a city as big as the capital of the Land of Fire as far as Kakashi could say. Although Norfolk was not a country by itself, Norwich still seemed a sort of capital for the area.

After that, Kakashi had within just a day marched through the region called Suffolk to the south. What he'd seen of Suffolk – staying away from busy roads, villages, and towns – had been flat green plains. Staying undetected had been hard at times – which was the reason he'd taken half the day to cross this region. This country was cultivated even to the last square meter. Wherever he was, there were the signs of people living there. Even when he avoided the towns and villages themselves, roads were made of pavement or well-kept gravel trails, there were gardens and huge farms and he had run past quite a few paddocks for horses. At one time, he'd even turned around to avoid a flock of sheep.

Now apparently – both the street signs and Sirius had told Kakashi so – they were in an area called Essex. Now, the land was just flat. Flat flat flat. No place to hide, no place to walk around unseen. Whatever small hills they found he was half-certain were artificial. He would have liked talking more to Sirius, to improve his English, but after only a short walk they left the small artificial hill that had given them protection, and now… It seemed even avoiding the villages, walking across these endless plains of farmland, any person walking across this flat land could be seen sticking out of the landscape from a mile away.

They just passed a city called Chelmsford, when Kakashi decided it was time to rest again or Sirius would once more overexert himself. It wasn't getting dark yet, but it would soon, and Kakashi worried, that as they came closer to London it would get harder to find a safe spot for a camp. He still couldn't imagine it… Five Million.

Instead of hiding in a patch of forest or between hills, Kakashi decided to sneak into an empty building of red brick. It was just a one-story building, and he assumed it was an old factory or maybe a warehouse. In any case, it wasn't in use and stood empty. There was a small guardhouse towards the main road, with a slim man inside, keeping an eye on the complex. However, he only looked towards the main road and – Kakashi noted – seemed to be far more interested in the crossword in his newspaper than his job. It was easy for Sirius to quickly transform and climb over a wall, onto the premises. Once on the premises, the backdoor wasn't even locked.

Sirius seemed nervous but also glad to be inside. The weather promise to take a turn for the worst that night. The convict's eyes were shifting through the big hall they were in, towards the main door.

"We shouldn't be here," Sirius mumbled. "If we get caught… I can turn, but you…"

Kakashi gave a half-hearted shrug. At worst, they'd only find a stray dog here. The more time he spent here the more confident he was, that he could hide from the people in this country. At least from the so-called muggles… He eyed Sirius. He wasn't sure about the wizards yet.

"You think you'll get away with it, 'cause you're a kid?" Sirius asked. He smirked as he said it as if he remembered something funny. He didn't elaborate, though.

"Do you.-.?" Kakashi tried to start a different conversation – one he was curious about for a while now. However, the words failed him.

"Do I… what?" Sirius asked with a frown.

"With magic…" Kakashi frowned still lacking a way to explain it. He tried to gesture with his hands. "Poof," he opened up one hand, "poof!" He closed the hand and opened the other on the other side of his head.

Sirius looked utterly confused. "If I can… poof with magic?" He snickered a little.

Kakashi glared at him, frustrated with the lack of understanding. "From one place to somewhere else – poof."

"Ha!" Sirius barked in laughter. Then he snapped his mouth shut, trying to muffle the noise. He threw a wary glance to the front door. "Teleport? You mean if I can teleport?"

Kakashi shrugged, because… How would he know if 'teleport' was what he wanted to ask about?

"Disappearing from one place and reappearing somewhere else," Sirius tried again and this time Kakashi nodded, though he didn't know the words 'disappear' and 'reappear', but it sounded like that might be what he had meant. "Yes, I can. I mean, not now without my wand. But if I ever get my wand back…" His voice trailed off then. Kakashi had already realized that losing this wand-thing had been a blow to Sirius that he didn't like talking about.

"How does it work?"

Sirius opened his mouth, was just about to say something when he closed it again. Curiously, Kakashi noted he was grinning from ear to ear, but he didn't explain what made him so happy. "I don't know actually. It feels like being pressed through a tube, and then you're somewhere else…" His forehead furrowed in thought.

"A tube?" Kakashi repeated. "like…" he formed a tiny hole with his thumb and index finger.

"Yes, like that."

Kakashi wondered if that meant something. Was this odd tube-like feeling just the high velocity from traveling through space in such a short time or was it another dimension that the wizards traveled through to get somewhere else? "And other…worlds?" Again, he was unhappy with his lacking vocabulary.

Sirius looked at him confused. "What do you mean other worlds?"

"Can you travel to other worlds?"

Again, there was a grin on Sirius' face. It looked oddly proud, Kakashi thought. Approving. "I don't quite understand what you mean," Sirius admitted. Then, however, something sparked in his eyes as if he had remembered something. "You mean like… traveling to other planets? Or other dimensions? Like they do in these muggle comic books sometimes?"

Planets, dimensions… comic… Kakashi had no idea what any of that meant. "What books?" he asked confused.

"Comic books," Sirius cried out. He looked almost stupidly excited now. "I bought them as a teenager, whenever I was in muggle London. Mom would hate them. Sometimes Peter brought some to Hogwarts after sum—" Sirius stopped short. At once, all mirth left him. Where his eyes had lit up with excitement and nostalgic joy just moments ago, suddenly all life drained out of them. He stared at Kakashi, then he turned away staring at his hands. Kakashi saw him blink rapidly. "Anyway…," Sirius coughed, his voice sounded weak and raspy as if he were close to tears. "Ahm… It's a style of book muggles use. With images… It's not important."

"What are planets and dimensions?" Kakashi asked not wanting to linger on the whole comic thing after it had so clearly touched a sore spot for Sirius.

"Yeah, right," Sirius visibly perked up, but it was only with effort, grief still straining his voice and the easy excitement hadn't returned into his eyes. "Planets are… like this, this is earth. The globe. And then there is the moon. And beyond that, there are other planets. Like Jupiter and Uranus." Sirius stopped there. His lips twitched as if he had remembered an old joke, but now couldn't see the fun in it anymore. "That's planets. Some think, there might be some planets out there, outside of our solar system that are inhabited."

It got really confusing for Kakashi then. He could follow Sirius all the way past when he mentioned the moon, but then, he quickly lost himself in all those new words.

"Dimensions are like… when, let's say you believe there's a different world like ours that exists parallel to this, in a different dimension." Maybe it was the lack of complicated vocabulary that helped Kakashi understand this definition far better than the one before.

"That… Can you use that? Travel to dimensions?"

Sirius thought about it for a while. For too long, Kakashi feared. If wizards could use interdimensional travel, surely, they would know about it. But the fact that he had to think for so long… Didn't he know how his own magic worked? Was it so intuitive for him, that he could use magic without ever thinking about the technicalities – like asking himself if that 'tube' was a dimension or just the feeling of velocity?

"I don't think so," Sirius said after a while. "I mean, I couldn't think of any spell that would teleport me into a different dimension. But I never really tried."

"What if…?" Kakashi thought about how to phrase his next question. "What if dimensions are not whole worlds. But small. Just… things that overlap in space or time? Or routes you take to get from one place to somewhere else."

Sirius stared at him. Then after a while, he blinked. "That was… Your English got a lot better!" Then he shook his head actually thinking about his question. Kakashi could see the wheels spin. "Well, I guess... You're asking whether Apparating – uh, teleporting I mean – is a form of hopping from place to place through a dimension. But I don't…Magic is not that technical. The tube-like feeling is from the spinning movement. It makes people feel nauseated. It's not an actual tube." Kakashi was disappointed. "But maybe… maybe there are other things. We can hide things in space with magic."

Sirius said this last part as if it was natural.

"Explain."

"We can hide buildings, and entire streets overlapping with the muggle world. We can make things be much bigger from the inside than the outside. Like it might just look like a regular bag, but inside it might be as big as a three-room flat." Sirius gestured with his hands as he spoke, showing the size of a small purse and then gesticulating widely to encompass the entire room around them.

To Kakashi that sounded a lot like his own storage seal. With his own technique, Kakashi was creating and using miniature pocket dimensions, and apparently there was something similar in the magical world. That was somewhere to start. If both the shinobi world and this magical world knew a form of dimensional travel, was there a chance that somehow by chance they had accessed the same dimension and thus connected their worlds?

As a theory, Kakashi decided that it held some merit, although it opened up a whole different set of questions. Like: Kakashi didn't remember using any jutsu – never mind one that would allow him to travel through dimensions. Had he used his summoning to reverse summon himself to this odd place? He somehow doubted it. His summoning was very specific in which dimensions it could access. It allowed traveling strictly between the shinobi world and the ninken's Kennels and no other dimension. And the Kennels couldn't be accessed by anybody who hadn't signed the contract with his ninken. So, how would someone in the magical world access it and somehow pull Kakashi through? Speaking of which, who even would have done that. Kakashi hadn't woken up close to another wizard that might have accessed whichever dimension he might have traveled through to pull Kakashi into this world…

He still didn't know enough, Kakashi decided. He needed more information. And – he realized – it was difficult prying for information without telling Sirius what he needed exactly. Kakashi looked at Sirius, contemplating. The other man was waiting patiently for him to say something. Should he tell him?

But how would he even phrase that? Would Sirius believe him or think he was making something up? And what about Kakashi's decision to keep his true identity a secret? No, he should wait a little longer. He had only started to grasp the concept of this 'magic'. In a few days, maybe he'd be able to solve his issues all on his own. Then he could help Sirius catch the rat and go back home as soon as he was done here. There was no rush. They were still a long journey away from this Hogwarts school – If the rat even was in Hogwarts.

And before that, Kakashi had no intent to leave anyway.

Notes:

I've searched the entire Archive for good (Post-)Azkaban Sirius-centered fics that are not Wolfstar fics! Now, I'm frustrated because there are only so few in comparison!

From that, I have to admit I've recently grown a dislike for Wolfstar (so for those who don't know: the SiriusxRemus ship). However, while increasingly having lost my interest in the SiriusxRemus ship, now feeling only contempt for the ship, I have grown to rather love reading/writing Azkaban-stuff! Damn Azkaban is such an angsty place to make characters suffer. I'll probably build in a few Azkaban flashbacks into this fic because it's just such a horrific place. I don't know how Kakashi will deal with it if he eventually has to face dementors.

Speaking of Kakashi, I finally got to build in some Kakashi angst. I just have to be honest, I love Sakumo Hatake. His fate in the Naruto canon is just so tragic it twists my little heart. I know there are a lot of fics out there quite critical about him and his decision to kill himself / leave Kakashi, but while of course I'd rather he wouldn't have done that, my heart bleeds for Sakumo almost as much as it does for Kakashi. The man worked all his life for the sake of the village, risked his life and health on missions, and then made a choice to put his mission before his comrades. And the village thanked him for years of services by ostracising him. Even the people he saved insulted and spat at him! It really makes me hate Konoha. If Sakumo hadn't been there the mission would have failed anyway AND they would have lost all the shinobi on the mission. The people are just so ungrateful. I find it especially jarring because all throughout NAruto we learn how all the important characters value their comrades' lives. That's what most naruto-characters were all about, and the love you have for your comrades is something old Sarutobi even preached to the young kids. Where were you, Sarutobi, when the village you loved pushed one of your best shinobi to suicide? (though honestly, not that Sakumo is the only one to become a victim of their own village... just look at naruto himself...)

I just always feel like in many ways, Sakumo was a pioneer for his village. Like when he saved his comrades but abandoned the mission he had to pay for it with his life, but now everybody has learned that it's the right thing to do.

(Also I really wanted to put in the tidbit of Sirius calling Kakashi 'Prongs')