Bone Yard
By TwinEnigma
Characters: Kakashi Hatake, Team Eight, Kouga
Warnings: Crossover, AU; Continuation of one-shot "Progenitor"
Blanket Disclaimer: I do not own either the Naruto or Inuyasha series, nor do I profit from writing this.
Kakashi speeds into the rocky valley, ignoring the tingling feeling of wrongness that seemed to seep through the air. On rocky outcroppings above him, the deformed and crumbling skeletons of his kinsmen sit in silent vigil over the valley. He would never have considered coming here to this sacred ground, were it not for the terrible danger his students and village are in.
These were truly desperate times, he notes mentally. Against gods and immortals, what could these mortal hands do?
Mortal hands - human hands could do nothing, but perhaps the claws of a wolf could succeed where human hands could not.
And so Kakashi had followed his most faded memories and the scattered scents of wolves back to the distant mountains of his ancestors, in search of a fairy-tale treasure, something that could be used to at least give him a fighting chance against their enemy. He had entered a world of fanged smiles, shape-shifters and powerful supernatural creatures that he wouldn't have believed possible if it hadn't been for the proof etched into the very fiber of his being and the fleeting dream-memories of that place. He'd begged their leader, his great-grandfather, for a chance to prove himself in the trial, despite his thin blood and clawless hands.
He is a wolf in his heart and he would die to protect his precious people in Konoha. This is his personal truth.
In a smile that was nothing but fangs and a strange sort of amusement, his great-grandfather granted him permission to take the trial and told him the path to the place where the artifact was hidden.
It led here, to the graveyard of wolves.
Something shimmers in the distance under a crumbling circular arch of stone – a mirror, framed in golden flames, with a golden claw-like artifact gleaming from under the mirror's surface. Kakashi slows, his eyes narrowing in calculation. There is no way it is this simple.
The ground twists and deforms, rocks jutting and melting as they congeal into a monster with three massive heads. Fire dances around its legs and traces along the lips of the three-headed beast. "You..." the heads hiss in tandem, "You may not proceed any further."
"To protect my precious people, I must," Kakashi says firmly. He takes stock of the monstrous guardian, looking for a weakness, and frowns. Most of his jutsu would not be appropriate here. Instead, his hand drifts to his weapons pouch, where he'd brought his one special weapon for the occasion. "I take it that I need to defeat you in order to pass."
"You are correct," the beast answers, flames punctuating its words. "But you will fail."
"I cannot fail," Kakashi counters. He then charges forward, careening around the crushing paws and snapping fangs with dexterity he has long forgotten he is capable of as he tests the beast's defenses and speed.
"You are deluded, brat," the beast announces, its stone skin surging and shifting to attack him. "You are weak and you carry within you something that does not belong to this world."
Kakashi knows immediately that it is referring to his left eye and quickly handsprings away to escape the shifting rock. "I don't see the problem in honoring a friend's last wish."
"Your eye, there is a will in it that is not your own," the beast says flatly, turning its three heads to stare at him. The rocks around it shudder, pushing up through the earth to form spears.
The jounin hesitates, his hand drifting to his concealed left eye. "Obito?" he murmurs. Could it be possible that after all this time, his teammate has truly been by his side, watching over him?
Flames curl menacingly around the three-headed beast's fangs as it speaks again. "The Goraishi is also something that should not be in this world. The sleeping souls of the wolf tribe control it. You, brat, have almost nothing of the wolf in you. You are too human. This claw would destroy you."
Kakashi scowls, clenching his teeth under his mask as he leaps out of the way of a gushing column of fire. He knows there are risks, but he can't back down now. People are depending on him – those kids are depending on him!
"Kakashi-senshi!"
Three familiar voices shoot through the valley and he nearly strains his neck as he whips around, only to see the members of Team Eight. He mentally cursed – he should have known someone would have followed him! Kids were too curious for their own good these days. Honestly, he's a little surprised it's them and at the same time, he isn't: with Asuma dead and Kurenai on maternity leave, he is the only jounin sensei left that they really knew well enough to go to. His own Team 7... well, they have their own trials to endure.
"More intruders!" the beast howls, turning. Spears shoot from the ground, sending the three teenagers scattering to get out of the way.
"Turning your back on me was unwise," Kakashi says, moving quickly. The time for games is over. He draws his secret weapon from his pouch and launches forward, channeling the wild white chakra that is his gift for the first time in years. His father's sword may have been shattered all those years ago, but as soon as the white chakra touches it, the broken fragment comes vividly back to life in his hands, eager to shed enemy blood once more.
The guardian beast howls as it split in half, the white chakra crashing through it what should have been its spine.
"Team Eight on me!" Kakashi orders, leaping back and preparing for a second attack. Immediately, the three teens and nin dog respond, rushing to his position and taking up a defensive formation beside him.
"Kakashi-sensei, what's the target?" Kiba asks, grinning widely.
Hinata forms a hand seal and the veins around her eyes bulge. "Everyone, look out! It's reforming!"
"We're ready," Shino states, raising his hands.
Kakashi scowls under his mask. This isn't their fight. These kids – damn it, they are good but they have no idea what they are really up against here. They'd been lucky to have made it here so far, but they wouldn't stand a chance against the guardian beast if they dared to take it head on. Stupid, idiotic, brave children!
He growls, drawing up his right hand. They left him no choice – he'll have to end this in one hit. And, to save their lives, he'll have to put everything into this one shot. It'll leave him wide open, but if it works...
The beast stands slowly, stones shifting and sliding until it is once more whole, and then it turns to face them. The three heads each seem to freeze as columns of fire pour from their jaws.
"Your fight is with me!" Kakashi roars, leaping forward and swinging his right arm down in a raking strike. Something heavy settles on his right hand and then white chakra and lightning crackle to life around his hand with an intensity he's never felt before, consuming the flames in their blinding force and slicing through the beast beyond.
The guardian wails once and stills, its rocky form collapsing.
It does not reform.
"Kakashi-sensei," Hinata gasps, "Your hand!"
The jounin looks down, raising his right hand and is immediately taken aback in surprise. His glove has burned away completely and, in its place, the strange golden claw-like artifact he'd seen inside the mirror has appeared. He looks at it in bewilderment as it sinks slowly into his hand, its power threading into his chakra with strange ease, and then back to the three flabbergasted teens. "This is..."
Suddenly, the sound of slow clapping comes out from one of the many rock ledges above them. The four ninja and the nin-dog instinctively move into a defensive formation as they look up at the source of the noise.
An old man with rheumy blue eyes and swathed in furs sits on the ledge, his lips twisting into a fanged smile as he slowly applauds. His gnarled hands are clearly tipped in sharp claws and there is something distinctly inhuman about him. "Well done, little Hatake, well done," he calls out. "I knew you had it in you. Truly, you are my descendant."
Kakashi stares a moment, recognizing the voice and scent. Then, he bows in respect. "Thank you, great-grandfather."
"Don't thank me, young pup," the old man responds gruffly, clawed hands digging into the rock. "It was purely your doing. Only a wolf with the right heart could have hoped to succeed."
The old man pauses a moment and then gives them a smile that is all fangs. "The Goraishi have become your claws, little Hatake, and the spirits of your ancestors will watch over you. Pray that you honor them well in defense of your people."
"I will," Kakashi replies honestly. "Team Eight, we're moving out."
As if a switch has been flipped, the three teens and the nin dog snap into action, swiftly moving into an easily-defensible travel formation, and start down the path leading out of the graveyard.
It will be a long journey back to Konoha, a journey filled with more questions than answers, but it has been worth it, Kakashi decides. He clenches his fist, feeling the weight of the Goraishi inside his chakra.
He is a wolf, a descendant of the great and noble Yourouzoku tribe, and no matter if it is gods or demons that threaten them, he will use these claws to protect his precious people, his friends. As long as he still draws breath, he will keep fighting – that is his way of ninja.
After all, those who abandon their friends are worse than trash and Kakashi Hatake, jounin of Konoha, will never abandon his friends.
AN: The test is that someone must put the lives of those under their care before their own safety and desires to obtain the Goraishi. Interestingly, one of Kakashi's lightning attacks in chapter 421 has a very canine shape...
Originally appeared as the 18th chapter of my Variables fanfic. I decided it was better off separate.