Path of Radiance

Chapter 1:

From the Ashes

The snow fell softly on the ice; the sea was completely frozen over. One could easily walk from the Fire Country and go straight to the Water Country. The white rose lay on the frozen water top, not withered. Suddenly, the ice cracked. Then, a hand thrust upwards and out of the ice. Then another hand. Soon, a body was being lifted out of the cold murky water. He then put up one of his knees to propel him better out of the water. Finally, he stood, shivering from the blistering cold. Being in only a black shorts wasn't easy. He didn't even have on sandals. He walked slowly towards the bottom of the cliff, looked up lazily and sighed. A pillar of earth propelled him upwards, he quickly got off and began his journey.

"Heavy snow in the land of fire?" He said. "Now that's a first."He walked through the white forest, but then he unfurled his beautiful and took to the skies. With the snow covering everything, the scenery looks like a world of fragile things. He could barely make out Konoha; after all, they haven't finished re-building yet and won't be finished for now. Somehow, he felt uneasy. What will he say when Tsunade sees him? Will he tell who he really is? How would she react? Will she even believe him?

"Pfft." He rolled his eyes. "She never believed me as Kakashi and she worse won't believe me as Konen." Then he had a thought. "Maybe Anko could help." A grin appeared onto his face, knowing that he's one step closer to regaining his normal life now that Darius is gone. He flew slowly, but he noticed that something was odd about him. His wings felt taller and much heavier. His body felt like he could move mountains. He shook his head to rid the thoughts but with the weight of those wings, he failed miserably. He diverted off the route to Konoha to check on the Akatsuki. As he landed on the cold ground, he used earth to see if they were there. Unfortunately, they weren't.

"Where could they be?" he tapped his chin repeatedly. "Oh no, don't tell me the spell wore off when I died." He dashed towards Konoha, fearing the worst. As he came in close proximity to the village, he smiled, for the gate was already finished being re-built. Then, his eyes caught Kotetsu and Izumo, who were walking to do their gate duties. He sighed, not wanting to stir anything so early in the day. Plus, he was feeling extremely lazy right now. Anyway, he took a chance.

Kakashi walked through the gates, passed Kotetsu and Izumo who seemed as if they didn't noticed that he passed. He shrugged, walking steadily towards where the Hokage tower was. "Where would Tsunade be now?" he stopped in the middle of the street, looking all over. Konoha looked different to him, for he wasn't accustomed to seeing the village looking like ancient ruins. There wasn't anyone on the streets, so traversing Konoha was easy for Kakashi. He didn't have to duck into any dark alleys, use any element as a means of disguise. He could walk freely, like he used to, when he was known to everyone as Kakashi Hatake, the Copy Nin. But now, he's Konen Hashimoto, the leader for Akatsuki. Only Anko could see him for who he really is and not what his title depicts. As he walked past a large tent, he heard a voice shout.

"I need to find Team Gai, pronto!"That voice was none other than Tsunade herself. Kakashi smiled, and walked towards the voice.

"Tsunade," he held her on her shoulder, she jerked in surprise. As she turned and saw who it was, her eyes widen with shock.

"Aren't you supposed to dead?" she rose to her feet. "What are you doing here?!"

"Where are my men?" He asked in a deadly monotone.

"In jail," she turned her back towards him, "and you should be there too."

"For what?!" Kakashi got enraged. "For helping you in a time of need?" By now, fire was blazing in his eyes. "And this is the thanks we get?!"He stormed outwards, and as he did so, he turned back and shot her death glare. "Fucking ingrates." With that he vanished. Tsunade was left in awe. Was she getting mad or did she just finish talking to a dead man?

"Shizune," she called.

"Yes, Tsunade-sama?"

"Did you just see ―"

"Yes, the leader of Akatsuki is not dead."

"Bring me Team Gai." She said stiffly. Shizune nodded in obeisance and within a short moments, Gai, Rock Lee, Neji and TenTen were before her.

"Yes, Tsunade-sama?" Neji said.

"You're being sent on an S-rank mission. To find Kakashi. I don't know where he is now, but I know it can't be in another village. But…" She stopped abruptly.

"But what Tsunade-sama?" Gai asked.

"Someone said this to me, 'since Kakashi is no longer apart of Konoha he no longer exists.'" She looked down towards the ground. "And from that statement, I'm worried. Please, find him or find some kind of trail towards him."

"Hai!"

"You can leave anytime, you want."

Kakashi down the streets of Konoha, furious. He mumbled to himself, cursing and swearing. Without realizing, the hellfire element was burning around his fists. He stormed into a dark alley way, not thinking about where he's going. For some strange reason, he was hurting inside. Ever since this whole situation aroused, his heart ached more than ever. "Maybe it's homesickness." He sighed miserably, and ultimately, he leaned on the brick wall, and a tear escaped his eyes. Quickly, he wiped his eyes and set off to find the Akatsuki.

After hours of walking, he finally came to the prison. The outside looked like an ordinary house, the roof was slab, and surprisingly, it wasn't destroyed during the war. Kakashi pushed the tan door and headed inside. The interior was dark and somewhat dismal, but something bothered him. Where's the guards?! He shrugged it off, and walked down the stairwell. The lighting was poor, horrible to be exact. Well, when Kakashi looked into it, it had to be. In case any prisoners decide to escape, they won't be able to see, thus end up falling back down the stairwell. He chuckled at the thought, but then got back to his original state. Soon, he entered the chamber. The prison cells were on either side, with an opening in the middle. The walkways ran parallel to the cells; the guards were all at their stations. Kakashi kept concealed for a while, until he evoked earth. He tapped his bare feet onto the ground, and immediately, he searched for the Akatsuki. He jerked when he found them, but the thing was they were scattered all over the prison.

"This is going to be a drag," He sighed and vanished to the nearest one, which was Hidan, using lightning transport. The lightning transport was the easiest and the quickest transport out of all the elements. And plus, it's his favourite element. Anytime he used lightning, he felt at ease and at peace. But whenever he uses transport, he feels as if he's become the lightning.

He appeared in Hidan's cell, and was shocked to see that the man was sleeping. He looked in the cell and noticed that his scythe wasn't there. And Kakashi had no idea where to find it.

"Yo, Hidan." He called as he walked towards him. No reply. He hovered over him and grabbed his collar. He raised a hand into the air and smacked him in the face. "Wake up." He said in a low voice. Occasionally, Kakashi glanced over his back, to see if any guards were coming.

"Who ― Kakashi?" Hidan sprang to his feet, stumbling backwards. "Aren't you dead?"

"Yeah, I was. I don't know how I came back or why but I'm here and busting you out."

"Well I'm all game." Hidan placed a hand on Kakashi's shoulder and the two left the cell. Seconds later, the duo appeared in Kakuzu and Deidara's cell. It puzzled Kakashi as to why Hidan was alone in his cell but Deidara and Kakuzu are in the same cell. He blew it off as a minor because right now, he had other things to deal with.

"Bitches," Hidan smiled. "Ready for a jail-break?"

"More than you think actually," Deidara replied with a grin. Obviously, they hadn't noticed Kakashi who was standing near the cell bars. "So how did you get in here exactly?"

"Kakashi."

"What?!" Both men yelled.

"Shh, keep your voices down." Kakashi said as he moved from the bars. "After we escape I'll answer questions." Once more, they left that cell, by means of lightning, going for Itachi. When they arrived, they were stunned as Itachi's cell was the darkest, and the gloomiest.

"Took you long enough." Itachi grinned. "I wonder ―" he broke off, seeing Kakashi. "Aren't you ―"

"I'll take questions later!" Kakashi got miserable, "everyone asking me the same blasted question!"

"Well it is a means of concern." Deidara said. "Just to make sure you aren't the walking dead or a demon."

"This place has seen its fair share of demons experiences." Kakashi said, remembering the Kyuubi attack. "Now that we're all here, let's go." With that said, the men disappeared from the cell in an instant.