Title: Debriefing

Pairing: Kakashi/Guy

Rating: M

Notes: Sequel to "For the Mission". I'd recommend you to read that one first to understand what's going on here.


Never slowing his run, Kakashi rolled gracefully under the massive blade the mistnin swung like he was batting at mosquitoes, jerking and flailing. It went swooshing over his head without so much as touching the tips of Kakashi's grey hair. Slipshod swordsmanship never failed to amuse him.

Kakashi drove his kunai into the other man's calf while he was still struggling with his weapon's weight, no doubt trying to cancel his swing in time to bring the edge down on Kakashi, but the laws of physics were working in Konoha's favor. One well-aimed downward slice took care of the tendons, and by extension the man, who, in pain and shock, but also in an ill-fated attempt to raise his two-handed sword, fell over backward just in time for Kakashi to pull out his kunai and bring it into and anticipatory position.

Steel met flesh with barely a sound. Kakashi rolled again, this time sideways to evade the spray of blood and the falling body.

Two.

He got to his feet in the same fluid motion, behind him the not-quite-a-corpse-just- yet gurgled, no doubt turning the early autumn leaves he had landed on even redder.

Kakashi had no time to admire the vivid colors of fall, however, since he could hear a telltale rustle in the surrounding flora. Too much surrounding flora for his tastes. The marshy forests that separated the main part of the land of fire from the often storm-ridden coast, to be specific.

All kinds of foul plants and creatures thrived here – it was like the forest of death, just on a grander scale. In this mysterious – read foggy – area the adventurous shinobi could encounter a large diversity of fascinating organisms from the smallest – yet most poisonous – tree frog to the craziest missing-nin.

Speaking of which…

Kakashi braced himself, raising his blood-spattered kunai expectantly.

As if on cue, his attacker came running out of the underbrush with another huge sword and a battle roar that just screamed, "Look at me, I'm the distraction!"

Kakashi had enough time to snicker, before he was cut neatly in half. The clone disappeared in a puff of smoke, leaving a water clone that blinked in confusion for a moment, then dissolved with a splash when Kakashi smashed his caster's head against the trunk of the tree he'd been hiding behind.

Three.

Kakashi held his breath, and let his gaze wander over the small expanse of visible forest. A venerable prison of bar-like trees, already almost leafless and barren despite the earliness of the season, encased him.

Nothing.

Kakashi sighed and ventured into the direction his attacker had come from. He should have kept the team together, but it was hard with so many stragglers showing up and drawing them apart. Their mission was to shatter the smuggling ring a few missing nin had set up in the borderlands and the group they'd found had had more members and less solidarity among them than expected. They'd scattered in all directions the moment they'd caught glimpses of the Konoha shinobi.

Kakashi sniffed and smiled to himself. He set off towards the familiar scent.


When Kakashi found him, Asuma was leaning against a tree, blowing quivering smoke circles; Kurenai stood beside him, waving them away whenever they came too close to her. The peculiar sight made Kakashi wonder why she didn't just stand a somewhere else.

"Ah! Kakashi! You're late!" Guy jumped up from where he had crouched next to a body that was half obscured by the tall grass. "How many?"

Kakashi sighed. Well, he couldn't lie about this. "Three," he answered, doing his best to project an air of indifference, like he was just humoring Guy anyway. The low score irked him, especially since there had been quite a number of enemies, but the cowards had run into different directions, and Kakashi couldn't be everywhere at once.

"Hah!" Guy's impossibly wide grin grew even wider. There was a single yellow leaf stuck in his bowl cut; Kakashi resolved not to tell him. "Six," Guy gloated.

"Actually," Kurenai, who had watched in ill-concealed amusement so far, interrupted him before he could break into a triumphant speech. "Weren't some of them trapped in my genjutsu when you killed them?" She cocked her head, a glint of mischief in her eyes, "I don't know if they should count."

Kurenai winked at him.

"W-what?" Guy clutched at his chest, wounded. "Why?"

"Hm, maybe half-points?" Kakashi rubbed his chin as if in deep thought. "Or quarter-points since, technically, Kurenai did most of the work?"

Asuma exhaled a long string of smoke and watched it unfurl into the sky; apparently he didn't enjoy messing with Guy half as much as they did.

"It's true that I had help, while you fought alone," Guy's gaze had grown pensive. As much as he liked to gloat, he wanted to earn it fairly.

Kakashi was about to put a stop to Guy's agony by declaring all of his points half-points, thereby bringing the score to a 3:3 draw, and allowing Guy to buy him dinner at the next stop to make up for his first miscalculation when he caught a glimpse of something that looked like heat haze blurring the outline of the trees around them for just a second.

Which would have been unremarkable if it had been hot, but the forest was damp and cool; the sky above them mostly obscured by knotted, black arms of trees, what little of it was visible, a firm ash-grey.

He wasn't the only one who'd noticed either. Everybody stiffened almost imperceptively, catching each other's eyes. "How about we call it a draw?" Kakashi asked, slipping his hands into his pockets to feel for his weapons.

He sniffed the air around him, smelling nothing but moss, dried blood and sweat. He'd need a moment to filter out all the other odors.

Guy shot him an annoyed look, then slowly gazed over into the forest without turning his head. "Maybe that would be best," he said a little louder than necessary.

Asuma and Kurenai exchanged looks.

There.

He raised his index finger, a fairly innocent gesture at first glance, that just happened to indicate a number if you wanted to read it that way.

One.

"You can buy me dinner later," Kakashi told Guy, pulling his headband up. Before Guy had time to protest, he broke into a run; Kurenai, Asuma and Guy on his heels.

Kakashi leapt into the branches, which creaked mournfully under his weight.

He caught a glimpse of something blue and threw a volley of shuriken at it. The sound of tearing fabric; then the trees started to bend and twitch.

He broke the genjutsu effortlessly.

Around Kakashi the trees became sparser, the sky brighter, the air carried a salty note. They were heading for the coast, he realized. Soon they would reach the Fire nation's natural border.

In the distance he could already hear waves crashing against the cliffs.

Suddenly, Guy appeared next to him, barely more than a green smear. Underneath the sound of the ocean there was another now. Equally rhythmic, but softer, smoother. Wind, not water.

When the fuuma shuriken came into view, Kakashi didn't even have to dodge because Guy plucked it out of the air like it hadn't even been moving at all. Sometimes his strength, speed and coordination could still surprise Kakashi.

Guy caught the shuriken and let its force spin him around, only he made a full 360 degree turn, and hurled the thing back where it came from. It sliced off a fair number of scrawny branches on its way, too, clearing their path and their sight.

They were almost at the cliffs. In front of them the forest opened up to a small grassy area that seemed to end in a jagged line, separating earth and sky. The end of Fire country.

Kakashi landed on the soft grass with a low thump, eyes fixed on the figure that seemed to stand on that very line.

The ground vibrated softly as Guy, Kurenai and Asuma landed to his left and right.

They started their attack simultaneously. Kurenai hung back, forming seals, while Kakashi, Guy and Asuma launched themselves at the single man in front of them.

Guy was there first, probably eager to earn that extra point that would absolve him from buying Kakashi dinner. He went straight at their enemy, fist drawn back for a punch and then hesitated.

It wasn't more than a split second, but it was enough for the other man to duck under Guy's arm, and fell him with a scything kick.

What the hell?

Kakashi was there in an instant, catching his wrist before he could lay another attack on Guy and pulling him up to meet is end at the blade of Kakashi's kunai. The man twisted in his grip, craned his neck to meet Kakashi's eyes, and grinned, his face lighting up with gleeful recognition.

Fuck.

But Kakashi did not freeze, despite the icy shudder that traced his spine; he brought his weapon down with all his might. The man dissolved, not into water, but wisps of air, as if he'd never been there in the first place.

Kakashi spun around. A feeling of dread was wringing his stomach. Behind him, Guy snarled like a wounded animal, "Where?" A pulse of Guy's chakra echoed through his own body. This was not the right time for him to lose his temper and open the gates, Kakashi decided calmly.

Without turning around Kakashi made what was supposed to be a be-quiet-and-stay-down-gesture at Guy with his left hand, but somehow Guy must have gotten up in the meantime because Kakashi's hand ended up on his stomach instead, pressing gently against the warm rising and falling spandex right where Guy's vest gaped open.

Kakashi pulled his hand back as if burned. He swallowed. This wasn't the time, place or situation for memories.

Their enemy was nowhere to be seen. Had he somehow made it back into the dark forest?

"What the hell just happened?" Asuma asked. He'd been just centimeters behind Kakashi when the mist nin had disappeared. Kurenai was approaching now as well. Apparently none of them could feel their enemy's presence anymore.

Kakashi grit his teeth. He felt like someone had walked over his grave.

He looked at Asuma's angry-worried expression and felt the sudden urge to laugh.

Kakashi shook his head in an effort to clear it.

"Guy and I fought that mist nin ten years ago," he said calmly.

He could practically hear Guy grind his teeth.

"We killed him actually," he added with a lightness he didn't quite feel.

Technically, that wasn't really true, Kakashi realized. All they knew back then was that Tora had reported killing a Kirigakure ninja in the woods. At that time he'd had other things on his mind than asking Tora for clarification or examining the body. He'd been a careless captain. And now Tora was too dead to ask him anything.

Apparently, Statue was still alive.