第1章

Chapter One:

障害

Failure

七年前に

Still seven years ago:

The air was humid and heavy with the smell of blood and cadavers. Hatake Kakashi crouched silently and invisibly in the boughs of a tall tree. It was all he could manage to silence his heavy, labored breathing. Sixteen dead enemies littered the forest floor and branches. This was more than he bargained for. This was supposed to be a "break," a simple A-ranked espionage mission.

At only sixteen, Kakashi was already suffering the consequences of serving in Anbu Black-Ops for a significant length of time. He was exhausted, wounded, and hungry. His chakra was low and never fully recovered between missions, and neither did his cuts, bruises, or sore muscles. He was constantly on edge, always expecting the possibility of being killed at any second. The tension in his body grew relentlessly with each close encounter.

His social health was also in seriously bad shape, even though it was something he never really concerned himself with. He had been constantly sent away on solo missions for the past two years straight. What would he give for a lighthearted banter with Maito Gai! Then again, what was he thinking? Gai was always so annoying. Kakashi's mouth twitched to a grin. I wonder what Gai is up to these days, he thought nostalgically.

His musings were interrupted by a light swish and a thump as a kunai imbedded itself into the branch where he had been crouching a moment before. He winced and grabbed the fresh cut on his ankle. He was getting slow. He had to end this before things got worse. Kakashi threw multiple shuriken at his newest attacker. The unknown shinobi dodged quickly behind Kakashi and aimed a blow at the Copy Ninja's back. This guy is fast.

Kakashi somersaulted and aimed a foot at his attacker's foundation. The shinobi jumped nimbly, landed on Kakashi, and promptly slit his jugular. There was a puff of smoke as a broken branch appeared where Kakashi's neck had been a split second earlier. The attacker suffered several swift slashes to his major arteries, and Kakashi was sprayed with a new layer of fresh blood. Agonizing screams escaped urgently as the wounded man fell to the ground in spasms. He lay there squirming, gasping, and twitching for bit and then fell silent and still. Kakashi was too weary to end the man's misery more quickly.

Shortly after the shinobi's death, Kakashi's tracking dogs returned with the welcome news that he had slain his last opponent. Kakashi sank to the ground in relief and nearly passed out in the growing pool of blood from the nearest dead shinobi. He wrinkled his nose in disgust and used his last ounce of strength to search the land for the nearest body of fresh water. After bathing unceremoniously in a stream three miles away from the massacre, Kakashi collapsed under the nearest tree. The sunlight sparkled through the leaves but did little to warm the shivering ninja. He curled into a fetal position to keep warm and finally dozed off.

He only managed half an hour of much needed rest before he was once again interrupted by the noise of conflict. He could not repress an audible sigh as he lifted himself to his feet while his muscles were in continual protest.

He paused and listened.

There were two voices. A raised, angry voice of a grown man and the screams of protest from a small girl. He approached the noise stealthily. He thought he had acquired as much information as possible from the mission, but perhaps there was something he had missed. As he approached, he noticed something was off. The voice from the man was foreign, in the unique language of the southern islanders. His thoughts were confirmed when he sneaked close enough to see the two clearly.

The man was a short, middle-aged shinobi with short, dark, thinning hair and a hitai-ate bearing the splashing symbol of the Sea Village. He was busying himself yelling and kicking at a child, a thinly-clad lump of skin and bone. Thinly-clad because that man has been tearing off her clothes, Kakashi thought as a cold winter breeze caused branches to shiver. If that child really is a girl and from THAT village, there's no way she's a kunoichi.

Kakashi clenched his jaw as he saw the man lift the girl up by the collar of her shirt, scream at her in his incomprehensible language, and slapped her until her face bled. The man threw the helpless child to the ground and proceeded to rip what was left of her garments away, shoving his fist up her now naked, hairless groin. Or he is a sick bastard messing with an innocent child. With that thought, Kakashi leaped from his hiding spot and pushed the shinobi away from the child. The stranger's eyes widened in surprise and then narrowed with fury.

"What you want, Konoha shinobi, this no your business," the man snarled between his teeth in his best traditional Japanese.

"Oh but it is, as you are in the Fire Country," Kakashi spoke smoothly and slowly. "It is very much my business if you are abusing a helpless child in the noble land surrounding the Village hidden in the Leaves."

"May be Fire Country, but you stay out if you no want wrath of Sea shinobi!" The man drew two short blades, widened his stance, and breathed in and out heavily.

Kakashi sized the man up. He was dirty and slashed from a recent battle. His eyes were determined but Kakashi could sense the weakness in his chakra from exhaustion.

"Do you know who I am?" Kakashi challenged as he lifted his hitai-ate to expose his sharingan.

The Sea shinobi stared wide-eyed at Kakashi's eyes. Perfect. A foreigner who is not familiar with sharingan genjutsu. Kakashi burrowed into the man's mind and weaved the most damaging genjutsu he could with what strength he had left. Fortunately, it was enough. Kakashi's opponent was done for, and would be unconscious for at least a couple days. Kakashi himself was all but fainted, his chakra nearly depleted entirely. Any more fighting and, simply put, he would die.

He turned wearily to eye the child he just saved. She was a small, bony girl who looked about eight. Her eyes gazed at the ground, shrouded by a dirty, matted mess of bloodied dirty blonde hair. Shreds of clothing still clung to her pale body scattered with hideous bruises and patches of blood. He was a sick bastard. The child swayed and fainted into Kakashi's arms. He sighed and lifted her gently. They could both use a little rest and healing before returning to their respective homes. Correction, they both needed a good rest!

Amaya awoke to find herself naked under a blanket, warmed by a nearby fire. The night was lit by the enchanting orange glow of the flames. She sat up quickly, receiving waves of protest from the hurt places of her body.

"Where are my clothes?" She mumbled to herself absently.

"Right beside you, or rather, what's left of them," answered a deep, silky male voice.

Before even glancing at the owner of the voice, Amaya grabbed her pants, the only thing recovered from her ravaged garments, and searched frantically for a weapon.

"So you are a young kunoichi. Not of the Sea Village, I suppose? Did you get in trouble with one of their shinobi? Or was he just being sexist, the way they are over there..."

Sexist? What did that mean?

"You do not need to worry, I am not going to hurt you or tell anyone," the stranger added.

Amaya noticed that she was clean, the blood and the dirt all washed away. She was too young to feel abashed at the realization, after all, she had nothing to expose. So, she wrapped her blanket closer around her, scooted up to the crackling fire, and looked her savior in the face and stared. His face was almost entirely covered by a mask and a hitai-ate, but the shock of silver, almost white hair was undeniably memorable.

She was flooded with emotions as she stared at her rescuer. She did not know whether to be happy or afraid. Amaya furrowed her brow and bit her lip. She dared not let herself hope that he really was who she thought he was...

Kakashi watched curiously as the little kunoichi's pale, olive green eyes stared at his face without pause, unapologetically. Still, without saying a word, the child turned to her clothing on the ground, rummaged through a pocket, and pulled something out that appeared to be a small notebook. The girl hesitated, then placed the book in her lap and looked back up at Kakashi. Finally, she spoke.

"If you knew I was a kunoichi, why help me? You should have known it was not your business," her Japanese was perfect, but Kakashi did not miss the hint of an accent. It was not her first language. Could she really be a kunoichi from the same village that did not let women fight?

"All I initially saw was a perverted shinobi molesting and beating a helpless child. Only after I had knocked him out did I realize you were a kunoichi," Kakashi spoke patiently.

"It was my just punishment for failing our mission, and my village will never let me back in."

"You are a kunoichi from the Village hidden in the Sea? Hmm. I didn't think they let girls fight. Also, I don't think they would punish you so severely for a failed mission attempt," Kakashi took advantage of the girl's current openness.

"I am from the Owatatsumi family. I am Amaya Owatatsumi. Fighting is what my family does. Why are you asking questions? Don't you have business?"

Kakashi met the girls big eyes wearily. Owatatsumi? The name sounded slightly familiar. "I am Hatake Kakashi, and I need to rest. I just killed seventeen shinobi by myself on already low chakra supplies," The young man put his hands behind his head and laid back against a tree trunk. "You may leave any time, but considering your injuries and the fact that you have no where to go, you may want to stay while we both recover, and you are certainly welcome to," Kakashi added kindly.

The girl hesitated. She surveyed scenery as if she were looking for somewhere to go to prove Kakashi wrong. Her eyes, however, were empty and hopeless. Finally, the child sighed.

"I will accept your generous offer," Amaya bowed her head towards the young adult shinobi. She really did have nowhere else to go.

Kakashi watched as the little girl pulled her blanket closely around her body and remembered she still needed clothes. He rummaged through his pack wordlessly and tossed her a spare black shirt.

"Thank you, Hatake-san."

Amaya slipped on her pants and the huge shirt innocently, still not concerned about exposing her tiny, child's body. Kakashi glanced at the child's mangled body, feeling sorely depressed once again over the harsh realities of the Ninja World.

The kindness of the shinobi truly startled Amaya. Here he was, a perfect stranger, helping her and treating her like no one of her own village ever would. Like her father never would. She curled up under the blanket and slept.

Author: I decided to split this chapter in half so readers could get more of an idea of what this story will be like (my writing style, characters, etc) before I finish some more. So, the next chapter will still take place Seven Years Ago (O.o). After that, we will travel to the "present," which is before team 7, where Amaya and Kakashi are all grown up.