The curse mark was burning again, and it took Kamineko Harune all of her effort not to screech out in pain. As agonizing as it was, she had to keep going to avoid getting caught by the ANBU squad right on her tail. Unfortunately, the 17 year old was having a difficult time focusing on her surroundings, and nearly crashed right into Konoha's most wanted criminal: Orochimaru.
"Kuso! Go-gomenosai, Orochimaru-sama," the dark haired kunoichi apologized quickly.
"Why so shaken, Harune-chan?" the S-class missing-nin drawled. "You did manage to get what I had asked of you, yes?"
Harune nodded enthusiastically, before fumbling through her satchel, trying her best to buy time. Orochimaru didn't seem to notice that the ANBU operatives were closing in on them quickly, and were seconds away from ambushing the criminal pair. She just hoped they would be strong enough to take the Legendary Sannin down.
The curse mark throbbed, demanding to be released, and the Sannin's dojutsu experiment hissed, placing her hand on the back of her neck in a fit of pain. The snake summoner didn't seem at all surprised or concerned, and simply waited patiently for his subordinate to finish cussing out the pain, as was her habit.
"Kuso," Harune smirked. She did it.
"NOW!" Hatake Kakashi's voice roared through the forest, and ANBU agents flooded into view, surrounding Orochimaru and Harune, who swiftly caught him in a chokehold, pressing a chakra infused kunai against her former sensei's throat.
"And after all this time, I really believed I could trust you," the rogue Sannin chuckled malevolently.
"I knew you could make me powerful, but I never expected this much, quite honestly," the Byaku-Sharingan blessed Kamineko snarled, a hint of amusement in her voice. She felt Orochimaru tense, having realized that it was in fact she who had been using him all along.
"You know, not all Konoha ninja are merciful," Harune said, suddenly bloodthirsty for the death of the Sandaime's former subordinate. She made the move to slit his pale throat, but a cry out from Kakashi halted her actions.
"Harune! We need him alive," the jonin reminded her, walking up to the S-class criminals cautiously. Orochimaru took the dark haired kunoichi's hesitation as an opportunity, and released the seal on her curse mark.
The 17 year old immediately dropped to the ground, letting out a sharp cry of pain and shock. Her body began to rapidly undergo the transformation to the second stage, and her skin went from its dark olive colour to a disturbing greyish tint. Her black hair grew even longer, and changed to match Kakashi's silver locks. Stunned, and fearful for his friend's life, Kakashi ran in to help her, only to be swiped away by the cursed kunoichi.
"Ku-ku…so, Kakashi-kun, use… Sharin-gahh!" The rogue jonin fought the curse mark desperately, and the transformation halted halfway, giving the otherwise beautiful girl a horrifying appearance.
"Che, such a pretty girl, I really did love having you around with me," Orochimaru cackled, "It's too bad I have to use you to kill these ninja."
All at once, the surrounding ANBU moved to attack the Sannin, and it was all that Harune could do to watch her own movements as she unwillingly defended her former 'sensei' ferociously.
Control yourself, kuso, the young missing-nin inwardly fought for dominance over her own body, to no avail. The best she could do was gain enough self-restraint to keep from killing any of her Konoha comrades, and only used enough force to knock them out.
Kakashi hung back the entire time, unable to bring himself to fight the girl he had promised Obito he would protect with his life. He had already failed to protect Rin, and he had allowed Harune to be kidnapped on her last ANBU mission, those three years ago. He couldn't fight the Kamineko, not under these circumstances.
All 15 ANBU agents were on the ground, having been knocked out by the cursed kunoichi. Orochimaru watched with malignant glee as the childhood friends realized that they had no choice but to attack each other. Kakashi wanted to look away from the sight of his broken friend, not because she was stuck between phases, half-transformed into the demon the curse mark had the potential to turn her into, but because she was helpless, the tears streaming from the eyes that were silently begging him to kill her and take her out of this hell.
"Chidori," the feline summoner mouthed, her defining Kamineko fangs protruding slightly.
He shook his head, at first slowly, then defiantly, but the look in the kunoichi prodigy's eyes had changed. Kakashi had always had a difficult time discerning Harune's expressions, but there was no mistaking the smug look in the Byaku-Sharingan eyes locked with his own. It was all too familiar, and it sent the ANBU operative back to the years when Harune had trained with him and his genin team, Uchiha Obito and Nohara Rin. It was the look she had whenever the sharp girl had a plan, and he couldn't help but place his trust in her.
"Chidori!" the Copy-nin growled, and the forest air filled with the sound of a thousand high-pitched birds chirping.
Kuso, this better work, Harune thought to herself, staring at the lightning flowing from Kakashi's right hand. If it doesn't, I'm dead.
The former Konoha jonin readied herself and got into a fighting stance. She had been pushing back the curse mark, and was slowly regaining full control of her body.
Kakashi couldn't give himself enough time to think; if he did, he wouldn't be able to bring himself to use chidori against the person he probably cared most for on this planet, especially after what had happened to Rin. The silver-haired ANBU charged at Harune with full force, fighting to control the overwhelming sense of fear and panic rushing through his body.
Harune-chan, you better know what you're fucking doing. You better not die on me, not you too. I've been looking for you for three years. Three fucking years. And now that I've found you, you're coming back to Konoha with me, you understand?! The last Hatake thought as he felt his fist come into contact with the missing-nin.
"I'm a grown-ass woman, Kakashi-kun, of course I know what I'm doing," the dark-haired kunoichi smirked, and Kakashi realized that she had absorbed the impact of his chidori in her left hand.
It all happened too quickly; first, Harune had caught Kakashi's right hand in her left, the raw energy flowing directly into her body. As quickly as it had taken over, the curse mark began to visibly recede, and the Kamineko relished in the moments that she had regained her self-control.
Harune had always been known for her capacity to manipulate chakra effortlessly, but Kakashi never could have imagined that she could bypass the sheer power of chidori through her body and direct it elsewhere of her own accord. So when within seconds of having been struck by Konoha's Copy-nin Harune released the lightning from her right hand and straight at Orochimaru, who was standing defenselessly behind his former experiment, Kakashi needed more than just a moment to process the events that had just unfolded before him.
Harune's strike hadn't been lethal, but it was more than enough to seriously injure the Sannin. The pale snake-resembling criminal swiftly retreated, but the determined kunoichi made a move to go after him, driven by the flooding urge to seek revenge.
"Harune-chan! Don't, it's not worth it, not when you're injured like this," Kakashi held his reckless friend back. She opened her mouth to argue, but she felt residual surges of energy pulsing through her body, and had to hold on to the masked jonin for support. "We'll take you back to Kono-"
"Kamineko Harune, you are hereby under arrest by Konohagakure, under the orders of the Sandaime Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen-sama, for committing treason against the state as well as a variety of S-class criminal offenses. You will remain in the custody of ANBU until returned to Konoha, where you will receive judgement and atone for your crimes. Is that clear?" A nameless ANBU agent cut the childhood friends' reunion short, pulling Harune's arms back aggressively and fitting handcuffs onto her.
"Crystal," the 17 year old, not showing any signs of restraint or disdain for the man. She noticed the rest of the squad had recovered from her attacks, and gave Kakashi a fond and somewhat apologetic look before being pulled into formation by the nameless officer.
The whole way back, Kakashi couldn't take his mind off the captured kunoichi. He thought back to that last mission they had gone on together, the mission where he lost his closest friend, and the one person he cared for most.
"So, what exactly are we doing again?" a 14 year old Harune asked, her voice muffled slightly by the ANBU mask she wore. Kakashi sighed behind her; she never listened to the briefings given to her squad by the Sandaime. Of course, the last Kamineko had always made an effort to at least look like she was listening, but Kakashi knew that more often than not Harune had her mind on things she deemed were more important. What such things were, Kakashi could only imagine.
"We're going up to Kumogakure to retrieve some intel on a rumored military coup that's supposedly about to take place, Kuropansa," their squad leader replied, somewhat impatiently.
The girl nicknamed Black Panther looked up at the sky, replying with a thoughtful 'hnn'. None of her fellow teammates were aware of the true nature of the mission the Sandaime had sent them on: to get the Sharingan-blessed Kamineko captured by Orochimaru.
The plan had been in development since Orochimaru's defection from Konoha. The attack of the Kyuubi on the Leaf had left Harune orphaned and without a sensei, and her academy teammates had been killed in action on their first ANBU mission to Sunagakure together. Hiruzen had thought it best to reassign the more than distraught kunoichi altogether, and had placed her under Yamanaka Inoichi's tutelage.
It was here that she learned all the ninjutsu exclusive to the Yamanaka clan, including the Mind Body Disturbance Technique, the Mind Body Transmission Technique, and the Mind Body Switch Technique. Within months, Harune had become one of Konoha's Intelligence Division's greatest assets. As disturbing a thought it was, Hiruzen knew that it would be her youth and inherent potential to become powerful to an even abhorrent extent that would draw his former pupil to the girl, which was the exact reason why he had chosen her for the perilous task of infiltrating Orochimaru's organization.
Of course, the risks that this mission imposed were all fatal, and so it was imperative that no one would be made aware of it, except for Yamanaka Inoichi, the Sandaime, and of course, Harune herself.
The 14 year old knew that if the mission went awry, she would suffer immense consequences, and if it succeeded, she would more than likely be subject to horrible experiments at Orochimaru's hand, but it wasn't this that distressed her.
"Inoichi-sensei," the young espionage agent asked tentatively, as he walked her back home the night before she was due to leave. He turned to face the dark haired girl, caught off guard by the uncharacteristic uneasiness in her expression.
"Could I please tell Kakashi-kun?" she continued, almost desperately. The Yamanaka clan head sighed.
"You know the answer to that, Harune," he said, not unapologetically.
"He's going to blame himself again; at least make sure he's not assigned to this mission. He can't be there. He's not going to let Orochimaru take me easily."
"I'm not the one who decides who goes on what missions, the Sandaime does. And he decided that Hatake Kakashi will be a part of your squad tomorrow, Harune. Besides, like you said, his will to fight Orochimaru for you will undoubtedly be fearsome, which will assure Orochimaru even further that he is in fact the one who holds all the cards," Inoichi reasoned. Harune looked down at her feet, knowing that her sensei had a point.
"Someone is going to have to look after him until I come back. Kakashi-kun has a powerful darkness in his heart, sensei. Promise me that you'll make sure he doesn't lose his way as a shinobi," the Kamineko's green eyes locked with Inoichi's, and the Yamanaka gave her a sympathetic smile.
"You won't be gone very long, Harune. We'll get you back within a few months, just enough time for you to retrieve a substantial amount of information," he reassured her. "Come here," he said, pulling her into a hug. The Yamanaka had grown very attached to the young jonin in the year and a half that she had served as his subordinate, and was reluctant to let her go on such a dangerous mission. He knew that while getting her under Orochimaru's possession would be the easy part, her retrieval would be far from guaranteed, and that is what concerned him the most.
"You're strong. You'll be perfectly fine," the blond jonin said, and he wasn't sure who he was trying to convince more: the girl or himself.
"Arigato, Inoichi-sensei," Harune said, a grateful smile playing across her face, tattooed with the traditional whisker-like markings, as was customary of her clan. Inoichi had to force himself to keep walking even after she had closed the door behind her, and hoped that one day, his infant daughter, Ino, would grow up to be as brave a kunoichi as his student.
Nothing had gone right that day, Harune thought ruefully as she trudged along, ANBU agents surrounding her as they made their way back to Konoha. She remembered how Orochimaru had ambushed her squad, assuming that they had been sent to capture him rather than complete some bogus mission the Sandaime had used to cover up his true intentions. Hiruzen was right though; the moment Orochimaru had seen Harune fight to protect her comrades, he wanted her. He wanted to harness her power: to add her to his collection of experiments in his conquest to learn every jutsu known to man.
And, as the feline summoner had expected, Kakashi had fought with a frightening ferocity to ensure that she remained his.
"Harune, you're all I have left. I can't even fathom a world where I lost you too. And for that reason, I will protect you with my whole life, no matter what," Harune remembered the last Hatake's lifelong pledge to keep her safe the night she woke up in the hospital after having nearly died on a mission two years prior to her 'kidnapping'.
Of course, while the then 16 year old copy-nin was an undeniable force to be reckoned with, he was still no match for the defected Sannin, and Harune had to pledge her loyalty to him in exchange for the sparing of her comrades lives. To her, it wasn't even a matter of completing her own mission; rather, the only thing she had had on her mind at the time was ensuring Kakashi's survival.
It had been a full year before the dark haired kunoichi had finally lost hope in her retrieval.
And it had been a really difficult one.
Orochimaru had wasted no time in expanding Harune's potential to become one of his most powerful subordinates, and used the Sharingan carrier as a subject for his dojutsu experiments. The result was much more formidable than anyone could have expected, including the defected Sannin himself, and it was equally terrifying.
Kamineko Harune had become the first and only human carrier of both the Sharingan and the Byakugan, and she was in full control of both. When activated, the young jonin's otherwise green eyes would turn white, with three tomoe circling the center. It granted the last Kamineko power that Orochimaru himself knew he would fear if it was ever used against him, resulting in his branding her with the curse mark.
Thinking back on her days under the control of the former Sandaime's subordinate, Harune knew that had she simply fought with her Will of Fire, she never would have had to commit the horrendous crimes Orochimaru had manipulated her into. However, the Harune of then had lost all sense of her Will of Fire, having abandoned all faith in that one day, the Sandaime would send someone out to deliver her from this hell.
And yet the overpowered kunoichi had never forgotten her assignment and continued to archive all the information she retrieved from a trusting Orochimaru for the three years she served under him. Regardless of what the Sandaime held in store for her upon her return to Konoha, the Kamineko decided that it was her duty to relay every last piece of intelligence she had collected.
The martyred espionage agent had successfully completed her mission.