Important note about canon vs non-canon: There is no Kaguya in To Unravel the Night. As such, I came up with some different explanations for things like chakra, as well as a whole new history for the Shinobi world that we'll gradually see as we go. Keep that in mind when reading this.


Chapter 2: Of Kunai and Copy-Nins

The forest flew by in a blur of greens and browns; the sun dappled the dirt path under her feet and warmed her shoulders in uneven intervals amidst the cool shade. Distance running wasn't just a training exercise for Kaiya; it was almost a form of moving meditation. With her heart racing and muscles moving in steady, swift motion, her mind became clear and expansive. It was her favorite way to deal with new projects or problems, and today, it helped clear the clutter in her brain from the recent revelation of Naruto housing a nine-tailed fox demon.

Kaiya hadn't expected to find any information on the Kyuubi in the library, though she'd looked anyway, just in case; her clearance only allowed her into certain parts of the village archives for jutsu and sensitive information, so for now, her search had turned up nothing. She debated just going to the Hokage himself and asking; perhaps after her run today, she would do just that. Might as well go to the source.

She took a sharp turn at a fork in the path, curious to try a route she hadn't been on yet. The forests around Konoha were dense and even with all the runs she went on, Kaiya knew there were many nooks she had yet to see. After a few kilometers, she came across a strange sight: a crater, right in the middle of the forest. It was the size of a small lake and must have been made years ago, going by the regrowth of plant life. Had there been a battle here? It was possible, Kaiya supposed as she slowed to a walk. The hair on the back of her neck stood at attention; the air seemed to hum with some faint energy, as though an echo of whatever happened here remained. It made Kaiya shiver, though the air was warm.

Then she saw it: a the morning light glinted off something about a meter away, something metallic. Kaiya crouched down and picked the item out of the overgrown brush: it was…a kunai? Not like any standard-issue kunai, though; it was heavier, with two curved prongs on either side of the main blade. The handle was wrapped in cloth, or had been - only about half of the cloth remained, the rest of it having been burnt off. There was something written on that cloth, too…no…ken? Kaiya blinked. Sword of…what?

An idea struck her. Kanji was sometimes used to condense a sealing formula - a Fuinjutsu. The formula would be embedded within the strokes - something only high-level users of the craft were capable of. Kaiya could do it with simple formulas, but the more complex the jutsu, the more difficult it was to manage. She did know how to make such formulas visible, though.

Fuinjutsu: Revelation!

With a simple series of hand signs, Kaiya watched as the kanji glowed blue with chakra threads. Those threads formed tiny symbols and tendrils within the strokes of ink - a truly intricate jutsu was laid on this kunai! Kaiya recognized most of the symbols, though she could tell she'd need a magnifying glass to see them all. Balancing agents, elements of Wind and Lightning indicating some sort of movement-enhancing purpose…

Wait. Lightning - Thunder…Could this really be…

Hiraishin…the Flying Thunder God jutsu?

Her teacher had once told her of this technique, created by the Second Hokage and further developed by the Fourth. Yuuma-sensei had suggested that it might be something she could learn as a Jonin, given her naturally fast reflexes and mind for seals. Normally, such a jutsu would be highly restricted, not just to keep it from enemy hands but because it was extremely dangerous to learn. There was a reason that Hiraishin was the only known jutsu besides Kuchiyose that could safely transport a human being.

All things, living and not, had chakra. If atoms were the building blocks of physical matter, then chakra was the energy that held it all together. Complex beings like humans and animals developed unique signatures and wavelengths upon conception which morphed as environmental and genetic factors took their tolls. Thus, by the time a human reached adulthood, their chakra was unique among living things, distinguishable from other animals and even other people.

That chakra also fluctuated constantly, even without the person's awareness. This was less so for inanimate, nonliving objects. Teleportation jutsu involved breaking down an object's matter, dismantling its chakra threads and condensing it so that it could slip through a pocket of space and time to land in another location. Some theories even suggested that the teleportation process involving opening a temporary portal to another dimension that intersected this one, thus providing a direct 'bridge' to the chosen location.

An anchor of some sort decided where that was; for Kuchiyose, the anchor was the summoner's own blood and chakra. The more chakra given to the jutsu, the more complex the creature that could be summoned. Humans could be the target as well, though it worked best when they were relatively stagnant when the summoning came through.

However, Kuchiyose involved one person acting as the catalyst and another, the target, much liked one person holding a door for another. With Hiraishin, a single person was both the catalyst and the target, responsible for both opening the door and moving through it - a door that would only open for a fraction of a second while he or she actively condensed and reformed their own chakra. It required a significant amount of energy to perform and extreme control to execute; anything less than absolute precision could have lethal results.

This was why only two people were ever known to have mastered Hiraishin in its truest form - and why Kaiya felt both a rush of excitement and a shiver of fear at the prospect of doing so herself.

If her hunch was right, she was holding the Fourth Hokage's kunai with his marking seal! Sure, it was incomplete, but Kaiya was no stranger to Space-Time formulas. The field had fascinated her since she was a Genin and had just starting to dismantle her first seals. Maybe, with time and careful research, she could fill in the blanks and decipher the jutsu on her own…no. Messing with Space-Time ninjutsu, especially one like this, could lead to disaster if handled poorly. She wasn't dumb enough to assume she'd make no mistakes. She didn't want to present the kunai to the village officials just yet, either; they'd probably confiscate it, and besides, she didn't want to advertise that she was trying to learn this. Was there someone else who could help? Neither Hikaru nor Gorou were much for Space-Time or Fuinjutsu…if she could get her hands on an intact kunai, that would be ideal, but those kind of weapons were usually locked away in confidential archives with Hokage-level clearance or kept by family members or students-

Students…she did know of one student of the Fourth Hokage - the only one still living, for that matter. Hatake Kakashi…The thought of asking him for help on this wasn't her first choice, given the chilly reception she'd gotten from him last time, but if he could help…


Sasuke wiped some sweat from his brow. He was a little out of breath, but that wasn't about to stop him; he still had the chakra for a few more rounds, he was sure of it! Closing his eyes, he slowed his breathing and focused on bringing his chakra to his stomach. A few quick hand signs, a deep breath in, heat the chakra as it came out with his exhale -

Katon: Gokyaku no jutsu!

Flames ripped from his lips and formed a blazing ball that shot across the field, traveling several meters before stalling. Sasuke blew harder, trying to push the Great Fireball further, trying to give it more chakra, make it stronger, larger, more potent. In his mind, there was a figure standing just beyond the flames' reach, a face filled with cold contempt, eyes dark and empty of anything resembling humanity.

Come on…come on!

The fire went out, leaving Sasuke panting and doubled over. Not enough…it still wasn't enough! He looked up to see the apparition of that person fade away with the last of the flames, untouched by their scorching heat.

Not ENOUGH!

"You've really mastered that one, haven't you, Sasuke?"

Sasuke whirled around to see a familiar redhead walking toward him, placing something in her side pack. He bit back a groan and narrowed his eyes. "What do you want?"

She rolled her eyes. "'Well hello there Kaiya, how nice to see you, and thank you for the compliment!' Is a polite greeting really so much to ask for?"

Sasuke replied in a flat voice, "Hello, Kaiya. Nice to see you. So what do you want?"

"Your enthusiasm is astounding," Kaiya responded sarcastically, sitting on a tree stump nearby. "So how've you been? I don't think we've really talked since before graduation."

"Fine."

"Getting along with your teammates?"

He clicked his tongue. "Naruto's obnoxious. Sakura is clingy. Kakashi is holding me back."

"From what, exactly?"

Sasuke glared at her, annoyance sparking in his chest. "Don't play dumb - you know from what!"

She met his glare with her own calm gaze. "Did you ever consider that maybe they can help?"

"How could they?!" Sasuke turned away, but her question did make him briefly consider each of his teammates. "Okay, I'll admit Naruto isn't as hopeless as he looks, and Sakura means well, but there's no way they'd be able to do anything against…" He didn't say the name. "And even if they could, I don't want their help!"

Kaiya sighed. "Not quite what I meant by help," she muttered. "You might not want to hear it, but there is more to life than revenge."

"Not for me," Sasuke stated. "Maybe you can just live like none of it happened-"

"That's not how it is," she replied in a tight voice.

"Really?!" He whirled back around with a wide-eyed glare. "'Cuz from where I stand, you've done nothing about it! No one's done anything about it!"

"You think I've been doing nothing?" Kaiya shot back. Her fingers clenched at the tree stump, turning her knuckles white; she was obviously holding her tongue from saying anything more.

Sasuke felt some of the rage in his chest die down until it became like embers, still hot but subdued. Maybe it wasn't right of him to accuse Kaiya of doing nothing. She didn't lose her entire clan that night; she couldn't possibly know what that was like. It wasn't her responsibility to avenge their deaths.

But she had been the one who found him that night, the one who'd stayed with him in the weeks that followed, the one who handled the paperwork and taught him how to live on his own: how to cook for himself, buy groceries, do laundry. She had patiently seen him through that period of weakness and neediness until he could fend for himself. For that, at the very least, he should give her credit.

Sasuke's jaw clenched, but he tried to make his voice a little more civil. "I'll kill him one day, Kaiya. Even if the village won't do anything, I will."

He didn't turn around, didn't see the sadness and regret in her blue eyes, didn't see how her face fell in frustration before she took a deep breath and looked back up at him. He did hear what she said next, and as much as he wished it wasn't so, it did give him a modicum of comfort.

"You know my door is always open to you, Sasuke."

He didn't turn back around, but he did feel some of the tension ease from his shoulders. "I know."


It wasn't long before Kaiya caved and returned to the Copy-Nin's doorstep. When he opened up, she braced herself and started talking.

"This isn't about Naruto," she assured him, hands up placatingly. "I'm actually here to ask a favor."

She was met with a blank stare, but he didn't try to shut the door on her. That was an improvement.

"So…" Kaiya tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. "You were the Fourth Hokage's student, right?"

Had he transformed into a statue? He must have, for he barely moved a muscle. Kaiya wondered if he was even breathing.

"Sorry if that's…well, personal," she apologized. "And I do understand what it's like to lose your mentor…"

"What's the favor?"

Kaiya looked up in surprise and refocused before he changed his mind and retreated to his room. "Right. Well…is there anything you know about his signature jutsu, Hiraishin?"

Kakashi blinked in surprise. "I never learned it."

"But you trained under him," Kaiya insisted, eyes imploring. "And everyone says you're a genius - well…" She dug into her belt pack and produced the three-pronged kunai. "I found this about ten kilometers outside the village - it's one of his, isn't it? It has an inscription on the hilt…but if you look here, it's burnt up pretty badly, so the formula's incomplete…"

Kakashi didn't take the kunai from her, but he did look at it intently, a fleeting emotion passing through his eye. It was gone before she could identify it, but she could imagine that being presented with something of his old sensei's would be nostalgic at the least. For her, it certainly would be. "Where did you…"

"In the forest outside the village," Kaiya repeated impatiently. "It was near a crater of some sort - must've been a battle or something. But look - I can try to fill in the blanks myself, but if I get even one symbol wrong, the jutsu either won't work or will…well, according to Space-Time theory, it could mean losing a limb or something. Anyway…you were the Fourth's student…I was wondering if you might be able to help me figure it out."

"You're trying to learn Hiraishin?"

She gave him a look that said, Haven't you been listening? "Well, yeah! I mean, jutsu like this you either have to learn from someone else or figure out yourself, right? That's the whole point behind a 'secret' jutsu - it's not known on a wide scale so that there's less chance of it getting into enemy hands. And I doubt that even if there is a scroll about it, they'd let a Chunin have it…besides, I kinda want to figure it out on my own, you know? See how it works from scratch, then if I want to make any changes, I can!"

Kaiya fought the urge to bite her lip or touch her hair again, her heart pounding as she awaited his answer. She mentally begged him to agree - she was sure she could learn this jutsu, and asking for help wasn't something she was thrilled about! She just needed a nudge in the right direction…but the longer he remained silent, the less hopeful she became, so she presented the next tactic she'd prepared.

"Look…if this is about me still being a Chunin, then let me show you why that shouldn't matter," she said. "How about a spar?"

Again, Kakashi blinked in surprise. "Excuse me?"

"A spar," Kaiya repeated. "We'll take over one of the training fields for an hour or so and I'll show you why you shouldn't let my rank get in the way of this. If I win, you'll work with me on the Hiraishin formula!"

Kakashi stared at her from a single, heavy-lidded eye. Finally, he answered. "Two days. Training field three. Seven a.m."

Kaiya lit up with excitement. "Right! Got it! See you then-"

The door shut before she finished speaking, but Kaiya was practically bouncing on her toes in spite of the rude departure. That had gone better than she'd hoped; not only was she sure to get Kakashi's help on Hiraishin, she'd finally be able to test out another project she'd been working on.

He didn't have to know about the latter though, she thought with a sly smile.


Being inside the Hokage Mansion always made Kaiya stand a little straighter, a little stiffer. The few times she'd been here on her own usually involved attempting to infiltrate restricted archive rooms; without her teammates at her side, she felt a little like she was visiting the Academy principal's office, except that she'd come here voluntarily.

Just getting an appointment to speak with the Hokage officially had been trying. The Chunin Exams were being held in Konoha soon, and they promised to be the highest-attended in years; the preparations kept the Hokage's appointment book packed. Kaiya wondered if it wouldn't have been easier to just run into the man by accident - that had worked in the past.

Finally, the door to his office opened and Kaiya was called in. The early afternoon sun shone warmly through the many windows of the large room, giving it an open and airy feeling - a feeling that was quickly crushed when she realized that the two Elders, Koharu and Homura, were also present. Kaiya had…experience with the Elders from years ago that to this day left a sour taste in her mouth. Even if it weren't for that particular incident, she always had the sense that they looked down on her in some way, that they didn't expect much from her. She had no concrete evidence to support this theory though, so for the most part, Kaiya simply avoided being in their presence when possible.

Today, it seemed, it wasn't possible.

"Ah, Kaiya," greeted the Hokage, speaking around his pipe as he finished studying a form in his hand. "Come in. Close the door." She did. "I take it this is about Naruto and the fox demon sealed within him?"

Kaiya blinked in surprise, her brows rising to her hairline. The reason she'd used for getting in to see the Hokage had nothing to do with the Kyuubi; she knew better than to say such things directly. So how did he know…?

Sandaime gave her a knowing smile. "Iruka informed me that Naruto might talk to you about it."

Iruka, you rat! There was little malice in the thought, just annoyance at having been talked about at all. "…Yes. I wanted to confirm that it is, indeed, true-"

"It is."

Kaiya swallowed. She all but knew it was, but having the Hokage confirm that yes, Naruto was housing a demon fox spirit…it made the knowledge all the more real. "Why wasn't he told?"

Homura scoffed. "Why wasn't a twelve-year-old who barely made it to Genin and regularly pulls obscene pranks told that he holds a powerful spirit?"

Kaiya narrowed her eyes but bit her tongue and focused on the Hokage. "Forgive me for speaking out of turn, Hokage-sama, but wouldn't knowing what he carried have been more helpful? He's never had an issue before-"

"Because he was never pushed," interrupted Koharu. "He will be now that he is a Genin."

Kaiya's jaw tightened. "But just knowing what it was might've saved him a lot of grief and allowed him to train properly."

"Are you questioning your Hokage?"

"I'm asking for answers," she replied as evenly as she could. It was getting harder to hold back any biting retorts to the Elders, and it frustrated her that the Hokage simply stood by silently during all of this. Did he have nothing to say?

"Your role as Chunin is to carry out orders and trust your superiors to do the rest," stated Koharu. "We have handled that boy since his birth-"

"Naruto," Kaiya ground out before she could stop herself.

"And we know what we are doing," finished the female elder. "This is not up for discussion!"

The two elders turned away, clearly believing they were finished.

"Well, I've looked out for him practically since his birth," Kaiya responded, ignoring the obviously implied dismissal. "I've been there for the nightmares. I'm the one who cleaned up his cuts and bruises from fights he got in. I'm the one who made sure he got groceries when shopkeepers ignored him and left him hungry! Other than our allowances, I never see any of you-"

"That's enough, Kaiya." The Hokage finally spoke, taking his pipe from his mouth and turning toward her. "That is enough. We all are aware of how you've helped Naruto over the years, and from the bottom of my heart, I am grateful."

Kaiya couldn't help but note that he purposely said I instead of we in that statement. Her eyes flicked to the elders, who looked distinctly put-out by her outburst but kept quiet for their Hokage.

"He knows now," continued the Hokage. "It was not in the way I would have preferred, but he knows now and so do you. It was kept a secret in order to prevent any sort of information leak."

Kaiya's brow furrowed. Sure, it made sense that Konoha wouldn't want to advertise that one of their children housed a demon spirit - it could make Naruto a target for other nations who would want to use him as a weapon. "Wait…why was it sealed in him? Why a baby? Why is it still there?"

The Elders each opened their mouths, but the Hokage silenced them with a gesture. "No, she deserves some explanation. As she said, she has a close relationship with young Naruto."

The Elders closed their mouths tightly and looked away.

The Hokage went around his desk and sat down. "The Kyuubi cannot be taken from Naruto without also taking his life - that is the first thing you need to know."

The news sank in Kaiya's chest like a rock in a river. She'd hoped that there might be some way to relieve him of that burden, was even ready to ask that she be allowed to find another way to hold the Kyuubi without having to use Naruto. She'd set up detailed arguments in her head for this very purpose and opportunity…but none of it would matter. He could never be rid of that demon.

"Why the Fourth sealed it within Naruto in particular…is difficult to say," continued the Hokage. "However, the jutsu he used was designed to allow a small amount of the Kyuubi's chakra to mingle with Naruto's own - it is possible that he intended the boy to use that power someday. To that end, he was brought to the Academy at the proper age so that he could learn to control his own chakra, and has been allowed to proceed to Genin in order to further train."

Brought to the Academy…allowed to proceed… The phrases were ominous in her mind, suggestive of dire consequences should anything be amiss. There was a chance that, should these three decide he was becoming too dangerous, Naruto could be removed from the ranks. He'd worked so hard - it wasn't his fault he had a demon sealed inside of him!

The Hokage approached her genuflecting form and laid a withered hand on her shoulder. Kaiya looked up to see a smile on his wizened face. "That said, we are all impressed with how far he's come already. I believe him to be in the best possible team for his development, and I, for one, share your high hopes for him."

Almost immediately, Kaiya's shoulders sagged in relief. She wasn't the only one who wanted Naruto to succeed - sometimes she needed a reminder of that. Next came shame: She'd doubted her leader. One of the first things she'd learned in the Academy - a lesson drilled into students over and over again in various ways - was to trust their leader. Without that trust, missions couldn't happen. In times of crisis, that trust had to be absolute, or chaos would fall.

She'd been so caught up in her indignity over Naruto being lied to - over herself being lied to - that she failed to consider the other side of the argument.

Kaiya bowed her head. "Thank you for explaining, Hokage-sama. I…I'm sorry to have questioned you."

"Bah, you're young, and you aren't the first to do so," he replied with a small laugh. "But listen - Naruto obviously trusts you. I doubt he would have spoken so openly about the Kyuubi otherwise…but please do your best to impress on him why he shouldn't go around telling just anyone."

She could do that. "Hai."

"Now go on - I'm sure you have better things to do than sit around with three old people!"

She suppressed a smile and bowed again before leaving - though part of her couldn't help but feel satisfied by the indignant looks on the Elders' faces as she did.


A candle flickered in the darkened room as its oil burned lower. The soft tap of Shogi pieces on a lacquered board punctuated the stiff silence until the two inhabitants eventually struck up a conversation. Their talks were always tinged with tension, even after five years since their falling out; yet lately, perhaps due to age, that tension felt lessened. Their talks gradually became more like they once were, long before their rivalry had penetrated politics and began affecting other lives.

Tap. "She's grown quite insolent, from the sound of things."

"She's concerned, that's all. She has her father's sense of justice."

"And her mother's loose tongue. You should wait a little longer for her to mature before telling her anything else, old friend."

"Is that so?" Tap.

"You come here when you seek my opinion, do you not? It shows in your choice of conversation. I am simply obliging and offering what I can…as I always have."

A sigh. "I cannot rescind the sentence. What you did…even if no one else in the village knows, I will know. And wouldn't you usually say that I should stick to a decision once acted upon?"

"That I would, and I appreciate that…yet you still come here."

"To see my old friend."

Tap. "As you say, Hiruzen. Check."


He was late.

Kaiya tapped her foot impatiently and blew a lock of hair from her face. Kakashi had said to meet at seven, but that had passed at least an hour ago. Why was she even still waiting here? After the first twenty minutes, she'd done a few rounds of kunai throwing practice; just about all of her knives were now embedded in the bulls-eye of the targets scattered around the field. With an irritated groan, she gathered them for the third time and started again.

Start from stillness…

Her breathing slowed; her skin tingled with anticipation as the light morning breeze passed over it. She saw in her mind's eye every one of the eleven targets around the field. From here, she could easily make five of them without moving; for the other six, she decided to try hitting them without changing her position. If she put a twist on the sixth, bounced it off the fifth in midair…

She felt her heart pound as the exercise grew familiar, but she'd had years of practice in chasing away that reaction. This had nothing to do with him, she reminded herself. Kunai throwing was one of her strong points; it didn't have to do with him.

Kaiya took a deep breath, then released the first five kunai from a crouch. They thunked as they hit their targets. Leaping into the air, she let lose three more, the extra few feet of altitude letting her clear the obstacles in their paths. Two more were released, followed swiftly by the last, which intercepted the trajectory of the tenth kunai with a clang. Both were thrown on different courses; time seemed to slow as she watched for how they would land.

Thunk! Thun - clack…

"Damnit!" Kaiya muttered. Too much twist on the last one had put it at a bad angle; while it reached its target, it was at a slight angle so that the hilt of the kunai hit the target rather than the point. She growled to herself as she went to gather the kunai yet again, her hand already practicing the failed throw for next time.

"Not bad."

Kaiya nearly jumped out of her skin. Whirling around, she found the source of the compliment and felt her cheeks go red. "How long have you been there?!"

"Just a minute or two," Kakashi answered, leaning casually against a tree, hands in pockets. "Not bad aim - and not easy targets. Too much twist on the last one, though."

Kaiya yanked a kunai out of a target with more force than necessary. "Well, I had to do something to keep busy. What happened to 'seven o'clock?'"

"Sorry about that," he apologized, not sounding very sorry at all. "I was lost in my thoughts."

Kaiya rolled her eyes at the lame excuse - Naruto had complained about his sensei's constant lateness over ramen the night before, so she supposed she had been warned. "So…ready to start?"

"When you are," he answered.

They stood a few meters apart, Kaiya in a fighting stance, Kakashi just standing. She almost rolled her eyes at his nonchalance. He didn't even bother to uncover the eye that gave him one of his nicknames, Sharingan no Kakashi. Well, fine - if he wasn't going to take this seriously, she'd just have to show him how big a mistake that was.

Once again, she slowed her breathing and became hyper-aware of her surroundings. Then, without any warning, her hands flashed through a short series of seals faster than the eye could follow.

Futon: Wind Tunnel!

Kakashi's eye widened and he braced himself, momentarily blinded by the dust kicked up by the gale that sped toward him. Without his Sharingan uncovered, he hadn't been able to follow her swift hands and predict the jutsu. It was incredibly strong too, with swirling gusts of razor-sharp air that forced him to jump and dodge before Kaiya herself came down on him. She used the dust cloud to mask her movements, and the cutting nature of the Wind attack to keep him off-balance.

Smart.

A lifetime of honing his instincts let him block her strikes. He redirected her momentum, but she was ready for that and instead flipped over him, kunai aimed at the small of his back. She made contact, but a puff of smoke revealed a log.

Substitution jutsu...She landed and quickly and looked and listened around her. Where'd he go?

A rustle of leaves caught her attention, and she let loose her kunai. She immediately swore to herself, even before the knife hit its target - she should have known it wouldn't be him. The legendary Copy-Nin wouldn't have made such a careless mistake, and she was a sitting duck in this open field…Time for phase two, then.

She vanished from sight. Kakashi squinted: he hadn't seen a hand sign this time. She was quick, he gave her that. Her reaction to his feint had been instantaneous, if erroneous, and without his Sharingan, her hands had been blurs as they formed seals. He cast his senses out, trying to pick out any sign of where she had gone. Nothing - she hid herself well. Maybe just a peak with his Sharingan, then…

Just as he reached up to uncover the eye, Kaiya dropped from a tree, forcing him to use his arms to block her. She bounced off his arms, then off a trunk, briefly bracing her hand against the bark and using the added momentum to propel herself at him elbow-first. He dodged easily, and she disappeared with a 'poof.'

Shadow Clone! So she'd learned that jutsu as well - he vaguely wondered how and when as he scanned the area for the real Kaiya.

She came running across the forest floor barely a minute later, shuriken flying. He dodged them easily and tossed her into another tree. Kaiya tried to right herself in mid-air, but wound up crashing anyway. Another 'poof' - another Shadow Clone.

Why only attack him with one clone at a time, though? It would make much more sense to ambush him if she could manage the numbers - what was she playing at?

Two more clones were suddenly at either side of him, and he caught sight of a kunai on the ground, embedded in a root. It had an inscription - had she already figured the Hiraishin formula out? Each clone ran up a trunk, one in front of him, one behind, and flipped off, their mirrored legs extended toward his skull. He grabbed their ankles and threw them to the ground. Poof! Poof! That just left the real Kaiya...though he was seriously starting to wonder how the girl was up for Jonin promotion when her attacks were more obvious than his own Genin team's.

Speaking of the real person - she hadn't shown up yet. The forest was quiet. Kakashi's visible eye narrowed. Were the clones just following each other after the first had found him? He glanced over to the root where he'd found the inscribed kunai - but it was gone. The root had a small nick in it, so it was the right spot; she had to be nearby...

Just then, he felt her presence behind him. He parried blow after blow; none of her strikes made contact, but none of his did, either. He'd jab at her, sure of landing a hit, but his hand would go straight through and she'd show up a meter to the side instead. Afterimages…she was moving so fast that he was only seeing the impression she made! He watched her movements as he blocked her strikes, using their timing to predict where she'd come from next. If he was right, then…there!

She vanished. No poof, no flash, just gone. Was that Body Flicker? If so, she was on a level that neared the late Uchiha Shisui. Kakashi decided it was time to be a little more serious and uncover his Sharingan.

The black-flecked, scarlet eye transformed the world around him, making him shut his normal eye lest the discrepancies give him vertigo. Colors were more nuanced; the air waved with subtle energy, and every bit of motion he saw was suddenly trackable, predictable. He could see the chakra of the squirrels running through the trees and the birds flying overhead like little balls of blue light - and about a hundred meters to the west, he could just pick out a swiftly moving human mass of chakra.

Found you. Kakashi sped toward the chakra signature, silent and focused, a predator locked onto its prey -

…and nearly tripped over a root that definitely hadn't been in his path a split second ago. He caught himself easily and looked down. Was that the same nicked root he'd started at? His Sharingan told him it was; this whole area was the same one he'd been in seconds before. But how…?

He scanned the area with the Sharingan; nothing else seemed out of place. It was the same patch of forest, and - there! This time she was just north of him, moving slowly - probably trying to sneak up on him. Kakashi decided to take advantage of her lack of sensing skills to sneak up on her instead, and darted through the trees to do just that.

Within seconds, he was back at that same root. This time, he'd noticed the sudden change in terrain just as it happened; somehow, he'd been brought back to this spot. His eyes narrowed in suspicion as he began theorizing about what was happening.

"Oh Kakashiii..." Her voice sang from a tree to his left. He turned, but saw nothing with his Sharingan.

"Hey sempai, whatcha doing there?" To his right this time. Did she have to use that annoying sing-song tone?

"Boo."

He actually started a bit when he felt - not just heard, but felt the actual breath of her voice at his ear. He turned toward her and sighed. "I see you've been experimenting with more than just kunai."

She laughed, clutching her stomach. "The look on your face!"

"Yeah, yeah..." he crossed his arms. "You used a space-time ninjutsu to create a closed loop of some sort. It had to do not only with the kunai, but with your shadow clones, yes?"

She brushed a red lock from her face and nodded. "Sort of - it's a barrier seal jutsu that has space-time ninjutsu worked in. I've been working on it for the past year and a half - want to know how it works?"

"Enlighten me."

She grinned. "First, I used the Wind Tunnel jutsu to hide that I was making Shadow Clones - four of them, which went in different directions around the field. They kept an eye on you so that when you ran off later, I could follow you. I'm kind of a crap sensor."

"Okay…"

"Then, once one found you and was defeated, the others - including me - knew where to go. Of course, there was no guarantee that you'd stay in one spot, so that clone tagged you with a tracking seal." She reached up and pulled a small paper from the inside of his vest collar. "Got this on you as soon as it dropped from the tree. I've gotten pretty good at tagging targets; comes in handy when my team needs to follow someone, though it only works for a limited time and area." Next she showed him her forearm, where a basic map of the field was drawn. "See the 'x?' That's connected to the tag, which emits a very slight chakra signal when active. It's pretty hard to find unless you're a really good sensor or know to look for it. Looks like even your Sharingan didn't catch it!"

"You made this?"

"No, this technique has been around for a while," she said, waving him off. "But there are so few situations where it's actually helpful in the field that it's rarely used anymore. My old sensei loved stuff like this, though." For a second, her gaze dropped and dimmed in memory, but then she brightened and continued. "So once I could find you, my clones set up a barrier around you. Did you notice them each touch something with their hands?"

Kakashi thought for a second then nodded. "The tree trunks…they each touched a trunk with their palms."

"Blood marking," Kaiya explained. "Set north, south, east, and west of this." She pulled out the kunai he'd spotted earlier, the one that left the nick in the root. "I put an anchor seal on this as well as a possible Hiraishin formula, just to mislead you. The anchor was the only thing that's supposed to work. Once the clones hit those four points - all exactly the same distance away from this anchor - the barrier was all set up. I just had to activate it."

She brought her hands up and weaved a hand sign. Kakashi then noticed a distinct lightening in the air pressure around them, and Kaiya sighed. "Yeah, that's one of the kinks I still need to work out. I made sure to be fighting you when I activated the barrier so hopefully you wouldn't notice, but I need to fix that before using it in the field. The setup for the barrier's pretty clumsy too, but now that I know the basics work, I can fix that."

"So once the barrier was set up," Kakashi recapped, "if I hit its boundaries, it bounced me back to the anchoring point?"

"Exactly!" Her eyes shone with excitement. "That was the trickiest part, working in a space-time formula. The barrier creates a very basic space-time loop within its confines, so you can easily predict where a target will end up if they try to escape. Oh, and the best part? It's actually stable enough that once it's up, you don't have to stick around to maintain it, though I still have to test out just how far you can go before it destabilizes. Ideally, you could leave a target trapped while you leave to get backup. Oh - did you happen to notice anything with your Sharingan? A chakra field, anything like that?"

Kakashi shook his head slowly, finding it dizzying to keep up with her.

Kaiya pumped a fist in the air. "Yes - so it's invisible, at least to Sharingan! I used a bit of an old formula I made during my Chunin Exams to mask chakra from dojutsu and sensors. I was worried it would unbalance the seal, but it sounds like it worked! Though I wonder if that's what's making the air pressure change…"

She noticed Kakashi staring at her with what looked like mild bewilderment and gave a nervous chuckle. "Sorry…I tend to ramble a lot when it comes to my projects. And I know this was supposed to be just about Hiraishin, but I needed to test this out on someone besides my teammates since they already know the older versions, and…well, to be honest, I'm up for Jonin promotion soon, and having the recommendation from an established Jonin would go a long way…and I'd still like to work on the Hiraishin formulas too, I mean, if you're not busy, which I totally understand if you are-"

"Kaiya."

She snapped her mouth shut, realizing that once again, she'd let her tongue get away from her. It was an old nervous habit.

Kakashi closed his eyes for a moment, then opened them and asked, "Why do you want to become a Jonin?"

She shifted her weight. "Well, it's the next step, right? Genin, Chunin, Jonin…plus, the security clearance for Jonin is significantly higher. I managed to get this far with the barrier using what's available to Chunin, but it might've gone a lot faster if I had access to Jonin-level materials. That's where the A-rank, less commonly taught jutsu is, and frankly, I've pretty much exhausted all the lower-level Fuinjutsu resources. Besides…no one takes a Chunin's theories all that seriously, trust me."

"There's more to being a Jonin than security clearance and research opportunities," Kakashi said, sounding almost testy. "If that's all you're after-"

"It's not." Kaiya pushed her hair back in agitation. "I know it's not. But I have something to contribute, you know? Something that could really help people. No one really studies Fuinjutsu anymore; all we do is reuse old formulas. This barrier…it's the first jutsu I've made from scratch, so to speak, though it still uses a lot of elements from other seals. But it's not just about that. If I can get it work better, it could make a huge difference for Shinobi in the field. It could provide a safe space to recover from injuries and exhaustion, or to discuss things without enemies overhearing them. It could trap enemies or targets so that a long chase isn't necessary. It's rough right now, but I know it could work…and I need to get past all that bureaucratic red tape to make it so."

She was starting to get used to Kakashi staring at her like this, she decided - searchingly, or like he was just on the verge of saying something but held back. Or at least, she'd tell herself that until it stopped making her uncomfortable.

After a moment, he sighed and closed his eye. "There's still more to becoming a Jonin…but if you'd like, I can train with you sometimes to help you get there."

Kaiya smiled and had to restrain herself from leaping for joy. "Thank you! Thank you so much - seriously, you have no idea what this means to me! I'll work around your schedule - well, and my own, obviously - but I promise you won't regret this!"

Kakashi watched her leave with a pensive frown creasing his forehead, wondering why he had signed himself on for this.


On the furthermost edge of the territory that fell under Konoha's sensing barrier, in a deep underground tunnel, two masked Shinobi stood watch. A man slowly sauntered up to them, his eyes practically glowing in the dimly lit corridor, sizing them up…and finding them lacking. Just like that old man to send others - though granted, this was just a meeting to confirm the plan. Perhaps he felt this task was beneath him.

"So he won't come to greet me personally, I take it?" The man's voice slithered along the walls to the ears of the other two.

"We're here to deliver a message," answered one of the agents, his voice muffled by his bone-white mask.

The man grinned, his sharp incisors gleaming like fangs in the torchlight. "Oh?"

"'Everything is set up,'" quoted the agent. "'Welcome back to Konoha, Orochimaru.'"


Looks like trouble's a-brewing! Let's have a quick recap:

-Kaiya found one of the Fourth's Hiraishin kunai! We also got a little explanation of chakra/jutsu theory and why Hiraishin is so hard to learn. I'll admit, that's one of my favorite parts of fanfiction - explaining things that canon maybe did not :P

-We saw a bit of the (tense) relationship Sasuke and Kaiya have...though it seems like most of that tension comes from his side. Sasuke's quite proud and independent; he doesn't always appreciate being "mothered."

-Ooo...looks like there's some tension when it comes to the Elders, too! And what was that conversation afterward all about? Who was Hiruzen talking with? (Probably not hard to guess lol)

-We get a look at Kaiya in action - including with the jutsu that will become one her signatures, the (uncreatively named) Barrier Seal!

Stay tuned!