CHAPTER TWO
I don't own Naruto or any of its characters and story lines. But I do believe Kishimoto didn't do justice to the much-loved manga, with his crap of an ending.
Kakashi jumped through the roofs of Konoha in absolute silence, two Anbu followed him close behind. The first order of duty after leaving behind the Hokage's office was to head for the Anbu headquarters located at a secluded part of the village.
They reached there, Kakashi had fond memories of that place, he had always dreamed of joining the Anbu as a kid. He idolised the Anbu, working from the shadows to protect the village, he had felt that was always his calling. Even looking up to Minato he had never wanted to become someone like him, famous and someone who people always looked up to. No, he wanted a safe hiding place from which he could do his duty as a shinobi of Konoha. His father's demise had instilled that in him.
They went in, no one stopped him. Contrary to his earlier wishes, Kakashi or Kakashi of the Sharingan was famous throughout the ninja world. Though he didn't care much for his fame, he was happy to just laze around doing missions for the village, instead of heading the secretive Anbu squads, killing indiscriminately. He had lost his appetite for killing by the time Obito and Rin died. His best friend and the one girl he truly loved. Only girl?
Takanome's face came flashing into his mind.
He shook his head and walked past the Anbu guards along the corridor. He was escorted to a room, there stood an Anbu squad leader with a mask on his face, like everyone else. Kakashi wondered if he knew this guy.
The man spoke, "The Hokage ordered me to give you these documents, they contain the full details about the secrets Takanome took from here"
"Did she seem any different than normal, in the past few days", Kakashi asked him.
"We Anbu are trained hard to not show our emotions, you should very well know that", he responded.
"Hmm", not much help, there Kakashi thought.
"Three men from my team will accompany you, Takanome cannot be taken lightly, she was one of our best and she might have help"
Kakashi didn't respond, he turned and started walking toward the exit.
Kakashi packed for a light mission, he knew this would be more like a skirmish than a drawn out mission. The downpour had become heavier still.
They left the gate, about an hour after Tsunade had broken the news to him. Takanome had a head start on them but Kakashi knew, as skilled as she maybe, you can't win against nature. Besides, he had taught her everything she knew. The first two-hour march was slow, they moved through the thick canopy that surrounded the village. Konoha had got its name from this. The endless green the village was shrouded in.
Kakashi was in a pensive mood, the Anbu never talked, so it was like he was going alone on this mission. He wished he had gone alone to tackle her. Maybe he would have preferred to take Naruto and Sakura, he loved his students and they were a much better team together. Naruto was always talking or getting hit by Sakura, sometimes he was annoying, but he could lift Kakashi's spirits amid any circumstance. That boy had so much of Minato in him and his mother's. He would be a great Hokage. For Minato, his teacher, friend and idol, he would make sure Naruto became Hokage, I promise that much, Kakashi told himself.
Sometimes he wished Minato was alive, everything would have been so much better. The Uchiha massacre would never have happened, Minato would have convinced Fugaku, Konoha would have still had its Uchiha force and Sasuke wouldn't have become such an emotional maniac. Itachi Uchiha would still be in Konoha and Orochimaru would have never dreamed of attacking the village with Minato and Itachi around. Even if he had, the attack would have been over before it started. No village was brave enough to target Konoha directly, as long as the Yellow Flash was alive. Kakashi realised, he hadn't known Itachi's full potential while he was a kid, until the day he and his friend Kisame Hoshigaki attacked, Kakashi didn't know that if he wanted Itachi could have killed all three of them that day.
He was shaken from his thoughts by a sign ahead from one of the Anbu scouts, who was taking point in their loose formation.
Kakashi went to him, the other Anbu joined.
"We have company, maybe some other village shinobi on a different mission or someone is here to help Takanome", the scout reported.
"My clan specialises in animals and communicating with them, up ahead I can sense some distress, the animals there are nervous, someone or something has entered their domain and they are afraid"
Kakashi asked, "Do those animals react to all shinobi like this"
"No normally they wouldn't, as we are trained to be silent and stealthy, they are rarely disturbed except maybe if a fight breaks out. That's what I am bothered about, even if they were shinobi from another village, they will also be like us, silent and stealthy. But their presence has troubled the animals, that's what I am worried about"
"Why?" another Anbu asked.
"If its not a shinobi, what else it might be, who did Takanome betray us to", the scout wondered aloud.
Kakashi was deep in thought. The situation was different. They had to act quickly but be very careful. He gave them their instructions and ordered them to spread out.
They moved swiftly, about a few miles ahead there was a sudden chorus of sounds, a loud bang and they could see smoke above the tree line. Birds where flying away. Someone was fighting.
They rushed ahead, in a few minutes they could spot a clearing ahead, Kakashi asked them to stop to survey what was happening. He moved forward, asking the scout to stay back. He reached the clearing in a few minutes.
There was carnage everywhere, shinobi were lying dead everywhere, atleast 20 of them, a full two squads. Some of them where torn to pieces. From their uniform and headbands he recognised them as the elite fighting unit of Yukigakure. Kakashi waited, confused. Yukigakure was involved, like Tsunade-sama had guessed. But who took them out. Who or what could have done this?
He whistled.
The Anbu joined him. If they were shocked, their masks hid their expressions well.
The scout was the first to speak, "I sense a very evil presence, the animals have gone away from this place, something very bad happened here"
"This doesn't seem like a normal shinobi battle", another quipped.
"We are in deeper shit than we thought"
Kakashi cleared his throat, "I am going to report this to Tsunade-sama, something isn't right, I don't think this will be a easy mission, someone very dangerous is involved. Someone, who took out 20 men with no fuss. Takanome couldn't have done that with all her might"
He drew the signs and summoned Pakkun.
His summon ghosted in out of thin air.
"Kakashi, what have you done here", Pakkun nodded to the bodies.
"It wasn't me, someone or something took out 20 elite Yukigakure shinobi, in two minutes max. Report that to the Hokage and bring back instructions. We are going to go forward with the mission. Tell Tsunade-sama, the mission has changed for the worse, tell her to get backup ready"
Pakkun nodded, "Be careful Kakashi, I don't have the right feeling about it, who are you tracking"
"Takanome"
Pakkun looked shocked, but hid it well. He nodded and started to run to the village.
Kakashi turned to the Anbu.
"From now on we be extra careful, this isn't anymore about just Takanome, someone very powerful has entered the picture, we are going to track and hang back. Do not engage. That's an order."
Kakashi feared the worst. He knew someone who could have done this. Someone, who had history with him and Takanome. Someone, who died long ago. Someone, who Kakashi had killed with his own two hands.
Kakashi jumped forward. Full of doubt.