Author's message: Good day, minna-san. Sorry for the long update. It's actually my 3-week vacation before I enter my summer class. I've been lost in the world where I enjoy too many things because of vacation.

Anyways, I've posted this second chapter for this story. It's another lengthy, because it's another investment I'll be making for dates (I think) I can't post updates.

Thanks for reading.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Still.

Story note: (1) Kougen: In this story, Kumogakure has "plateus" of ninjas serving the village. There are three kougens: the Inner (first), Middle (Second), Lower/Outer (Third) Kougen. Since Kumo is located in a mountain, the First Kougen will take the apex/center of the village, the Second Kougen just on and around the village walls (outside the village) and the Third Kougen on the outskirts of the mountain, somewhat away from the village itself. Positioning of the ninjas on the kougens is done with their rank disregarded.

The Irony of Being a Ninja

Chapter 2 – The Culling

The forest was disheveled in its own way, having the different types of plant life that dotted the landscape. The green mesh of trees that harbored more diverse variety of life occluded much of the senses of anyone who entered the scene. It was pretty amazing that the setting was too much comfortable but dangerous at the same time. The forest brought the unusual aura of treachery and deceit, but at the same time labored the feelings of serenity and tranquility. The wind howled quietly amongst the tall figures, its neutrality being the same danger it possessed. The humble place of unknowing and unassuming nature was one place some people fear to tread.

The other thing was the towering hills that had started to cover most of the scenery. As he went north and deeper into the forest, he was beginning to understand that he was climbing into an elevated location. Even though it was a slow ascent that nobody could easily notice that it was already an uphill track, Kakashi perfectly knew that the geography were starting to resemble that of Kumogakure itself. Like the trees that rooted themselves deeply into the canopy of the hilly surrounding, the hills and the small mountains were great facades that covered most of its image from the rest. It was in the purpose of the daily transition of time that some things remained obscured. It was the same as the danger that some nimble things had… and the absurdity lying in the visage of the strong.

But Hatake Kakashi wasn't some ordinary person and didn't mind the danger one place would bring – as long as he was alone and didn't need to look for some other people in his mission.

The silver-haired jounin of Konoha, the famous Copycat Kakashi, was on his way onto going into a certain village located in the northeast, almost nearing the territorial proper of Kumogakure, the Village Hidden under the Clouds. It was almost two weeks since he'd started his mission way back from Konoha, where he had received it from the Hokage herself, the Sannin Tsunade.

His mission was rather simple for a ninja of his caliber – to rescue some field officer trapped because of Kumogakure's own delusional thoughts of being outran by other villages. But from the looks of his mission parameter, it would rather seemed that Kumogakure had finally discovered a spy network from Konoha running under their noses, and had tracked down the spies that worked against them. But Konoha had also appeared to be prepared for it, and had moved accordingly before Kumo did. It would literally turn his mission into an upper A-class mission or low S-class for that. Even though it was a rescue mission, no one could simply downplay the severity of the matching rank of the assignment.

By his calculations, he would reach the village in a two-day period, although he doubt that he would be seeing the village in his calculated timeframe – along the great stretches of the hilly path, difficulty would come in finding the place. It was still a bother to have an extended moment in travelling and he was starting get irritated by it. He started to muse about the probability that the spy officer he was ordered to help was still alive. He knew that the mission parameters didn't come late – missions of such degree and distance from point of origin were always created and executed in an earlier point. It was almost standard operating procedure that missions involving great distances were formulated because of speculation and early preparation for something unexpected. In short, the mission was probably made because it was it was thought that there was a possibility that something bad would happen. As he continued to think about it, Kakashi discerned that the spy network of Konoha in Lightning Country might not yet been discovered and the evacuation order written in his 'mission scroll', if he could call it as such, may be a precautionary move to save the people working in the network.

As Kakashi continued to let his mind adrift across the things that were in any way related to his mission, he couldn't just let go of the matter that he came across those two weeks ago. He still had with him the letter that Kakumo presumably wrote and he intend to know why the man had become the representative for the Tsuchikage of all sorts. If he could remember it right, Obito – Kakumo now – never had the passion for handling things that involved too much paper works and responsibilities similar to such. He would always whine in front of their sensei about how much boring was it to create mission reports every after tasks and of how much time wasting was it. Obito really seemed that type that had low patience regarding such matters and his words and actions could easily prove that.

Well, that was years ago – when they were still in a team and their sensei was alive.

It had been different now. Obito Uchiha was now in Iwagakure, where he seemed to have nurtured a new life of his own. In fact, it seemed that Obito had changed a lot. It was in the confusion of the present time that Kakashi had meet him again – in the same battlefield that they had lived in the past. He had no idea back then that he had seen Obito one and a half months ago – though he gave him a vague name, the one the Uchiha was using now. It was when he was chasing a young Iwa shinobi that Kakumo stepped out from hiding and finally had the aura of courage to fight him dead on. It was also the time that he had revealed the truth to him – that he survived and was alive and well. It was also the same time that he had known the very truth that was obscured from the minds of many.

Almost six weeks ago, he had received a message from an ANBU that came directly to the Hokage that Naruto had died at the hands of the enemy ninjas while he was accompanying Jiraiya in his travel. He was devastated when he heard the news – the last person he could connect his life to have finally left the world. It was the very first thought that entered his mind, as he considered Naruto as the thinnest thread that he hold on to for his sanity. It was through Naruto that he truly regained his will of fire – the will to carry life on and protect the precious lives in his village. It was through Naruto that he had seen the hope in continuing the life that he chose – the life of being a ninja. It was through him that he knew there would always be hope and change in the ninja world – a fact that the boy had proven in his young life. He had seen the boy suffered. He had seen him lose. But he had also seen him rise again. He had seen him walk again and face the multitude of challenges that lied ahead of him.

That was why he knew his heart would be broken upon hearing the gravest news he could hear in his life.

And it was quickly mended when he knew that Naruto was alive. But another fracture in his heart meandered through his feelings. Upon knowing that the young man was still living, he then found out that he was now working under another village. Obito said that boy had been there for almost two years – a good two years. If that was true, then what happened to the words of both Tsunade and Jiraiya that they would protect Naruto? It was decided upon that Naruto would come under Jiraiya's tutelage through his travels so that the former would be given protection from the Akatsuki. It was a fair deal – since Jiraiya was best to do the responsibility and he was the best person to protect Naruto. If Naruto had been indeed travelling with Jiraiya from the time that the two left, then what was Obito saying? What did he said about Naruto living in Iwa for two years now?

Don't you get it? Your Hokage lied to you from the very time that Naruto had been gone! That pathetic Hokage had covered up Naruto's supposed to be death for three years and she just announced it now! He could still remember Obito's angry countenance when he told that statement. He could literally feel the hatred of Obito as he told him the truth that the Uchiha knew. This was one thing that Kakashi could not believe in the first time. He was a loyal Konoha ninja and a claim as such was always deemed outrageous. But even though how much he wanted to doubt the assertion, he could not see through the evidences that eventually were brought to him. Seeing Naruto being alive and proudly wearing the symbol of Iwa was enough for an evidence for him to believe. Damn… there had been too many things that happened without his knowledge. And he wasn't Hatake Kakashi just to let those things pass. He would deem himself the initiative to discover the real truth behind all the events. And for sure, he needed to have the time to have a talk with the Godaime Hokage herself, who, according to Obito, had basically lied to all of them.

How he would confront her, he didn't know yet. What he knew at the present moment was that he needed to act accordingly in her presence and pretend that he hadn't known anything about the truth. He knew that once he had started to ask about it, the Hokage would forever be following him – in manners that he knew he would not like. If the worst case scenario would come, he might be branded a spy or a traitor, for knowing things that nobody should. But – hell – what was the reason why the Hokage lied to them?

Obito said he knew what happened to Naruto. He remembered it deeply. Almost three years ago, they found Naruto beaten up good by some unknown enemy. Some ANBU arrived in the scene as they were, and one of them even helped Naruto. But due to the gravity of their mission and with the assurance that Tsunade would follow them to help the ninjas who were in need of medical assistance, he and his group were forced to continue on with the mission without tending to the blond boy first. He trusted Tsunade would come to help Naruto, even though it hurt him to leave the boy at the hands of the ANBU. And so they left… only to found out what happened to Naruto in the next few days.

Kakashi walked silently along the halls of the hospital, because he was told that Naruto was placed in an intensive care unit. He was in doubt though, since he perfectly remembered that Naruto wasn't in a state of death when they found him. When he found out about it, he immediately launched himself into the hospital to see if it was true. He would hardly believe, but he knew it was better if it was his own eyes that would see for the truth. He strolled inside the building, slightly antagonized by the smell of the disinfectant that continued to linger. He hated the smell of such things and that was partly the reason why disdained being in the hospital.

"Kakashi," A voice called out, its owner approaching and coming from inside a room. "It's a surprise that I find you here in the hospital." The female voice said. Finally when the visage cleared in his eyes, Kakashi knew he wasn't just looking at an ordinary ninja.

"Hokage-sama," Kakashi only muttered. "You're here?"

"I am a medic-nin, after all." Tsunade was able to give a small smirk, but it was instantly darkened with her sudden change of expression. She looked tousled, and her eyes clearly told him that she was not in a good condition. Her amber orbs slowly met with his lone eye, and she quickly pulled out from the seriousness that came from the contact. "I still have too many things to do in both the Hokage tower and the hospital." She said, calm voice replacing her always ordering tone. "Do you need something here? It's really a rare sight to see you here unscathed."

"I was told that Naruto is placed in an Intensive Care Unit." Kakashi answered and he didn't miss to see when Tsunade's eyes widened in a sudden alarm. The Copycat Ninja didn't mind it at first. "Were his injuries really that dangerous?"

Tsunade looked like she had lost the proper words to answer the Hatake. Her visible hand was shaking slightly while her lips seemed to stutter on its own. It was then Kakashi knew that the panic Tsunade showed from the first statement he said wasn't just a normal response. He continued to observe Tsunade, whose expression maintained with an unexpected falter, and then reform to serious one, and fail again. Kakashi knew that there was something wrong, and somehow he started feeling anxious that on one way or another it might be related to Naruto. His nervousness suddenly fell into nothingness when Tsunade replied. "No, his injuries weren't that bad." She frowned. "And where the hell did you get that story, by the way? Naruto was never put in that unit."

"Well…" Kakashi scratched the back of his head, the smile he was wearing only visible to the crinkling of the sides of his lone eye. He slowly dropped his hand and looked at Tsunade. "If he's not that worse, then can I see him?" He asked his Hokage.

"You can't, Kakashi." Tsunade answered, her face looking at him with emotionless features.

Kakashi was slightly taken aback. Why couldn't he have any visit to his student? "Hokage-sama, Naruto is my student. If he really isn't in a bad condition, then you can let me see him."

"I told you he isn't in a bad condition. But you really can't see him, Kakashi."

"And why is that?"

"He's out of the village."

"What?!" Kakashi almost yelled towards Tsunade. "You let him out of the village on the time he needs recovering?!"

"Kakashi, you don't need to worry." Tsunade answered, slightly not minding the almost outburst from the jounin. "As I've told you, Naruto didn't receive any critical injury. Actually, when I brought him here, he was already up and running after the day." The Hokage frowned faintly, which Kakashi didn't miss as well. She walked nearer to a bench located near a window and sat there. She tilted her head towards the scenery seen through the windowpane, observing Konoha from inside. She slowly looked back at Kakashi, observing the younger one. "You know how much Naruto is in danger now."

"Hai." Kakashi answered hastily. "Akatsuki is on his tail now." An unintended pun in which Tsunade smirked at. But, somehow, Kakashi didn't like the way his Hokage was responding at his remarks, and how she was faring in their conversation. He was finding Tsunade so strange that time.

"Jiraiya had decided that Naruto needed to learn to protect himself from Akatsuki." Tsunade just said, earning herself the vaguely surprised expression from Kakashi. The frequently bored face suddenly twisted into some figure of indiscernible emotion – whether be it annoyance, worry, or disappointment, Tsunade could not care for the moment. "Jiraiya had brought him outside the village."

"How long?" Kakashi responded. Even though how much he hid it, his tone was laced with unexplainable sadness.

"Until Jiraiya deems Naruto capable of protecting himself," Tsunade replied. "I trust Jiraiya, and I want to protect Naruto from those that will harm him." She said, looking at Kakashi's lone eye. "I will want to try to risk things – even though how much aggravating for me to let Naruto leave Konoha, away from my own protection." The Hokage stood up from her chair and opened the window, inhaling the fresh air that came over from the green trees. She leaned on the sill, still retaining her focus towards the silver-haired ninja. "Jiraiya and I decided that it will be best for Naruto…" her face turned angry. "And to satisfy the wimpy tails of the council."

"So the council is partly responsible for Naruto being out of Konoha?" Kakashi asked. "Why am I not surprised?"

"They thought Naruto will only bring Akatsuki towards Konoha." She gritted her teeth. "They thought that as long as Naruto stays inside the village, he will only draw the attention of Akatsuki towards Konoha. They said we can't risk that."

"That's why you let him out?"

"Honestly, I want to punch you in your face for indirectly telling me that I don't have the capability to protect Naruto." Tsunade eyed Kakashi dangerously. "But you are right. Yet, I want to retell you that I trust Jiraiya. I know he will not let Naruto be in danger."

"Alright." Kakashi closed his eyes and turned away from Tsunade. "I'll just tell Sakura that Naruto is out with Jiraiya for training." He started walking away from his Hokage. He had both of his hands inside his pocket, his mind not in the mood to take out the book hidden in his vest. That time, he didn't mind reading his favorite book – his mind too focused concerning the present happenings related to his student. He needed to think straightly; there were a lot of things he needed to do – now that he knew he would finally leave his genin students to the hands of the sannin.

He took a final glance back at Tsunade. He was surprised to see a shiny blue crystal hanging loose in her hand.

If Naruto was indeed together with Jiraiya, then he was sure Naruto would be safe. But, as the fact had already been shouting directly into his ear, one conclusion could only be formed through the progression of events and truths being uncovered – if Tsunade knew, then Jiraiya must too. Hell, he should have thought of that from the point when Obito was beginning to tell him things. If that was the case, the only viable scenario he could come up in his mind was that Jiraiya and Tsunade had fabricated the whole Naruto-was-out-of-the-village-training thing. Then, how the hell Tsunade and Jiraiya have no idea of Naruto's whereabouts?

It was making his head achy, even though he hadn't encountered any enemies yet. The whole matter was hammering his head, and he knew he needed to find the right nail for the thrashing to stop. He needed the truth but the truth seemed to be on the other side of the battlefield – in Iwagakure. Why in the world did he need to fight just to find out the truth? He was slightly sure that Obito would tell him what he wanted, but it was no easy task to go into a seemingly hostile village just to ask a question.

Six against one? Seriously, who would even want that type of disadvantage in a ninja fight?

As Umino Iruka continued to ponder at the question he had formulated from the time their fight started, he would already answer that he was one of the proudest ninjas that didn't want to be involved in such handicap. Although, as his situation served him, he could not just answer it as if it was a trivial question. Currently, he was involved in a fight as such, and he was simply left with a two choices for him to choose – fight and hope to survive, or run and wade it out. But as the logical ninja as he was, he could simply summarize the option into two brief and direct choices – to live or to die.

He was a ninja loyal to Konoha and its people – he chose to live.

He was currently fighting three of the six people that ambushed him in the civilian village of Hajimegakure some distance away now. From the time one of them nudged a kunai into his abdomen, he knew it would totally end up in a fight. But since he didn't want to involve the lives of the innocent people in the village, his battle tactic turned out into a 'hit-and-run' basis – he would bait out his pursuers out of the village, take them one-on-one, and run again. It was one of the best methods he could muster in his mind, since he was freakin' alone in the field and he could not risk confronting all of them.

Well, time to play as a courageous ninja again.

---

The Lightning Country's daimyo was said to be panicking about something nobody else knew about. It was one of the latest information field ninjas of Kumogakure could obtain, and it was one of the few things that could appease their clouded mind. What they just knew was that their superiors were frantic about the existence of a spy network in their country, and their intention was to remove this network immediately from the lands. Due to this goal, many of Kumogakure's field ninjas were quickly scattered across the borders of Lightning Country, in collaboration with some concerned civilian villages. It was an intriguing task, but it had proven itself annoying as well.

Raima was one unfortunate ninja that was sent together with multitudes of bands of ninjas throughout the territory. He was a chuunin from the third kougen(1) from the Raikage's post, meaning that he was one of the ninjas that stayed far off from the high mountains where Kumogakure was situated. Since they were the one nearest to the lower grounds, they were the one sent to attain the efficiency partof the mission. Being part of the third kougen ninjas were not as easy as everyone in Kumogakure thought – they were being utilized more as messengers and as those that could only serve as reconnaissance. Raima actually hated being part of the third kougen but he had no choice; being promoted into a higher kougen required hard work and recognition.

"Raima," A fellow Kumogakure ninja called him from behind. "We lost Umino again."

Raima spat to the ground, gritting afterwards due to irritation. He looked back towards his ally and signaled to him to leave again. He was splendidly annoyed because of the Konoha chuunin. He couldn't understand; the man was merely a chuunin, a non-fighting one of all sorts. But how could he evade them so easily? Through their pursuit to capture the Umino, he'd already lost three of his people. Not that they were dead; they were just incapacitated to the limit that they'd need to be left behind as for them not to become additional burden. He knew that the intelligence given to them were double-checked – triple-checked by his own people – so that failure to capture the said chuunin would not happen.

The man was a Konoha Academy teacher; surely, mastery over the basic skills of a ninja would be his advantage. But that was the only advantage they could seek from him. It was already the real world – the world outside the confines of his village, a world where chaos was real. He couldn't understand how such mongrel could survive through their onslaught, where they were stronger and more knowledgeable.

Or maybe…

"Or maybe I'm just underestimating you." Raima said aloud, attracting the attention of the Kumo ninja who had just started walking away. "Umino, you little bastard!" Raima whirled and threw a kunai towards the ninja.

"What are you talking about, Raima!" The ninja answered. "It's me, Kaito!"

"I've had enough of this!" Raima shouted, charging towards the ninja named Kaito. He revealed more kunais in his hand, preparing himself to throw the weapons to the man. Kaito easily parried the attack, but felt the looming presence of lightning when he landed from a spot away from where he came from. He quickly rolled away from the place, and luckily evaded a lightning surge that formed just beneath him. In a crouched position, he raised his head up and looked at Raima, only to see that the ninja was gone in his location.

Kuso… Kaito cursed in his mind, trying to track any presence around. He was in a disadvantageous position, and he knew he needed to find Raima immediately, or he'd bid the world goodbye in the next few second. He quickly stood up from crouching; as he slid his hand in his kunai holster in a very quick manner only ninjas could see. He surveyed the area for Raima; his hand nervously twitching that almost disturbed his hold of his own kunai. He continued to glance around the surrounding, his eyelids being flooded with sweat. After scanning the entire vicinity through his line of sight, Kaito knew that he had found him. Behind me!

"You're dead!" Raima plunged his kunai towards Kaito's direction, not minding if it would hit the latter or not, since he had another weapon on his other hand. Kaito just pushed off Raima's hand away, effectively swatting away the kunai. Raima jumped backwards and threw another towards Kaito, he evaded by simply moving away. Just as when Kaito was going to attack, he suddenly felt a blast of heat that whipped on his back. He could sense that his vest was burning, since the sensation was starting to smolder him. Little did he know that he was already thrown due to the force of the blast that came from the explosion.

Upon his descent to the ground, Raima quickly went over where Kaito fell. He took hold of the other's weakened body.

"You will not escape," Raima's voice suddenly became crisp with the tone of death as he restrained Kaito using his own body. He disabled the other man's hands and feet with his own extremities, rendering both of them in a stalemated position. Raima only tightened his hold when Kaito was struggling to escape.

"Raima, are you insane?! It's really me! I'm Kaito!" The ninja continued to persuade Raima.

"Shut the hell up!" Raima replied. "Knowing that you are a master of all the basic ninja skills, I learned that I already underestimated you from the start, Umino." He said. "Henge will not be too hard for you, right? So drop the stupid henge now!"

"Raima! I'm not the Umino! You must––" Kaito's words were cut off when a stream of lightning impaled both him and Raima's body. He looked – his eyes bewildered – towards Raima, who was grinning devilishly back at him. The lightning had already deadened his senses, as he felt no sensation from the attack. He could only see his own blood pooling around him. He tried to cover the grave wound in his abdomen, but to no avail. His eyes suddenly darkened – his lids slowly closing as his body started to fell limp. Before his body fell to the ground, Raima already vanished in a cloud of smoke.

"You can't mock me, Umino." A voice resonated from the background, summoning another body from the thick trees. "Even though how great at you with that ninjutsu, you will never fool me." Raima spoke, looking at the dead body of Kaito. "I know it's a fool's mind to underestimate an enemy but I will not fall for that."

"The human mind is such an imaginative thing, ne, Raima-san?" Someone spoke from the trees, garnering the attention of the shocked Kumo-nin. "I didn't expect that you have mistaken him." The figure slowly moved out from the shroud of trees, his expression emotionless as he observed the dead body of Kaito. "The mind really lets instinct takeover when its survival is on the line."

"You?" Raima took a look on the face of newcomer, his horror suddenly overwhelming the staunchness of his figure. He took a final glance back at Kaito's body, which only continued to bleed. The body should have changed back the original form! He shouted in his mind. Could it be…?

The ninja just shrugged at his words, as he tried to observe Raima's expression. "I can't blame you for what you did. We live in a world where fighting and skirmishes seem endless. Of course, it's tough luck to have killed your own comrade, but it's one of the exemptions in the battlefield." The ninja continued to walk slowly towards the Kumo-nin. "Life is harsh to all of us." He pulled a kunai from his pouch and started twirling it expertly in his right hand. "Don't worry; history would never always remember how bad your success went."

"You bastard!" Raima shouted. "You killed one of my friends-!"

"Technically, it was you who killed your friend." The man answered. "You are indeed correct that you should never underestimate your enemy, even though how weak they seem to look. Nevertheless, what surprised me was the overestimation of the enemy."

"You're a monster!"

"I am not." The man suddenly stopped talking, his eyes darting towards a direction far off from their location. Trying to feel the new presence that was slowly coming into their place, the man knew it was something he wasn't expecting for. Without further ado, the man suddenly jumped out from his spot, going back to the safety of hiding into the trees, not minding if Raima would be following him or not.

Kakashi need not to see the place to prove that there had been some very minor skirmish that happened near in his location. Together with his mission parameters, although not clearly stated, was the knowledge that every ensuing fight by the way of his task would mean that either he was already nearing his destination or danger was chasing him. He knew that from then on, he needed to be more careful. Although it merely suggested him to be warier, it so appeared to him that it might have been one of the points that would lead him to his goal. It was already uncanny that a fight just suddenly appeared in Lightning Country's border, unless the people involved were rogues. But it was Lightning, and it had Kumogakure in it. As memory could serve, Kumogakure would always be unforgiving towards enemy ninjas and rogues, and they maintained the reputation of Lightning as a country that was never meant for rogue to live in.

Of course, the possibility of an internal conflict would be possible, although it was almost one in a hundred thousand.

Unless, it was related to Konoha's spy network over Lightning. Even though he wanted to evade danger and fights while in a foreign country, Kakashi's mind would not let him just step away from it. He clearly wanted to finish the mission, and so he would risk the chance just to take a peek if the fight that had ensued was related to his mission.

With a decision in mind, Kakashi sped off towards the direction of the fight, slightly meandering away from the course of his destination. After all, he could really use some time to freshen up his skills.

He was down with almost ten kunais, five exploding tags, six shuriken, a yard of wire, and other items that could not be counted as suitable weapon for an ongoing fight. Iruka Umino retreated from the attacks of the last three ninjas from the Kumo group and he swore that never again he would try to fight off a ninja of a great number. He was already low on chakra and he already decided that he would only use it for evasive jutsus and nothing else. Somehow, he had settled on his plan that he could also use those same jutsus while fighting the enemies. Before he could get more shurikens for another round of attack, he heard the whizzes of flying kunais headed to his location. He used kawarimi to replace himself to another position away from his former one.

Discounting the fact that his chakra was already very low, Umino Iruka also had known that his injuries were no advantage for him. He had cuts all around his body – it was already a miracle that his standard chuunin uniform was still holding. He had a major wound on his left deltoid, and the trickling blood from his calf muscles had warned him that the wound was no better even with some dependable bandages. Damn, the blood has spot on the gauze, he thought. I need to finish this, if I want to live.

A kunai past flew him and made a wild turn around a tree, surprising the chuunin. Iruka's reflexes failed in the sudden bewilderment but he finally realized what made the kunai turned that way – it was connected to a wire that already started to wrap around his body. Knowing that he would barely have time to extricate from the wire, all that he did was to raise his hands away from the wire. Even though the wire caught him and bound around his torso, he had his hands free. In one flick of his wrist, he had cut the wires with a kunai. He quickly jumped out of the way when he felt that fire was running through the wire.

That was close, he thought as he took a final glance at the fire-covered wire. He had only failed to escape the foot that collided with his face, sending him to the ground in full force. He slid to the ground as he fell, his shoulder receiving the full power of his descent. It took him some seconds to recover. He used his hands to support his body, slowly pushing himself from the ground. His eyes only widened in surprise when he felt the presence of three ninjas standing nearby. Ah… I wish I have more time teaching those students, it was his thought before smiling weakly to himself.

---

Hatake Kakashi didn't fail to miss the very first thing he had seen at the person he saw struck down by those Kumogakure ninjas – the hitai-ate, the forehead protector of Konoha. It suddenly pushed his whole body and mind to the place, suddenly feeling the rush of rage upon knowing that it was a fellow ninja that was being attacked. He launched a full barrage of shuriken towards the Kumogakure ninjas on the scene, before he used a shunshin to surprise them.

To him, having a fellow ninja being pursued by enemy ninjas was one of the things that made him crave for the defeat of the adversary. He knew that once he reached that spot where he would make his first attack, the enemy was doomed.

He appeared beside the fallen ninja, but he wasn't able to discern the latter's identity. Not having the time to know who the Konoha ninja was, Kakashi decided that it was best to start his assault against the enemy. He disappeared in another puff of clouds and leaves, startling again the Kumo ninja that was stunned by his sudden arrival. He instantly appeared behind Raima, which everyone noticed first – until every one of the enemy ninjas felt that they had the very same presence behind them.

Simultaneously, all of them whirled behind, making a failed attempt to attack the person now in their rear. "He's using clones!" One of the ninjas shouted, aiming for Kakashi. He only failed to realize that he must first know where the real body was, as he was knocked back due to his slowed thinking.

Not waiting for the ninja to recover, Kakashi attacked the enemy. With a high kick that sent the ninja flying in the air, followed by another one that plunged the enemy to the ground, Kakashi watched how the ninja fell to the canopy of the forest. He quickly used another shunshin near the ninja, immobilizing by hitting him hardly at the back of his neck.

One down.

Kakashi was about to jump again towards another enemy when he saw another limp and unconscious body fell near the first ninja he'd disabled. He smiled to himself, correcting, Oops… Two down.

And to Raima, he knew the visage that had attacked him from behind, that when he already uncovered the identity of the newcomer from his memories; he discerned that it would finally ne the end.

His world faded black.

"Hatake-san?"

The weak voice attracted the attention of the silver-haired ninja, after he had finished tying the three bodies of the Kumo ninjas. Officially, Konohagakure and Kumogakure had not been into some sort of fighting for years, maintaining the small and nimble thread called peace. And to Kakashi, it meant that there was a dire need not to kill those ninjas. If he remembered it right back almost six weeks ago, almost the same event happened that caused a total war that involved four ninja villages. It was when Kusagakure act dumbly enough that they'd killed some Takigakure ninjas just because they thought the latter were violating their territorialities. What happened after then? They'd suffered half of their village destroyed because Takigakure retaliated to them by declaring war.

And it was also a dumb decision for Takigakure to declare war because they thought that the death of their ninjas required the destruction of one village.

But, honestly, he could not blame Takigakure for doing such. According to the reports and intelligence he got from some trustworthy ANBUs and the debriefings done by the Hokage herself, it was then discovered that Takigakure had been indeed planning upon the invasion of Kusagakure. It was then luck was at their side that such event had happened, and used the death of their comrades as a pretext for their war. It was still a war that was made for still unknown reasons, but everyone was eventually relieved that it was quickly quelled. Kami knew how much damage it would have done if it wasn't stopped – the Hokage already told him that Taki might have launched an attack towards the capital of Fire Country if their campaign over Kusa went with success.

He immediately took a glance towards the ninja, since he also delayed himself into identifying who that fellow ninja was. There was also a hidden concern because injuries were inevitable. He could swear that he took a double-take when he had the recognition of the ninja.

"Umino-san?" He sounded bewildered, which Iruka failed not to miss, even though he was already the suffering the fatigue after the heightened levels of adrenaline.

"It's surprising to find you here," Iruka said, chuckling hoarsely.

"You're injured." Kakashi stated the obvious. "Let me help you with that."

"No; I'm fine." Iruka waved off the approaching Kakashi. "I know you were sent here because you have a mission." He said, sitting comfortably at the ground, opening up his pack of medical supplies. "I thank you for helping me defeat those ninjas," he didn't fail to express his gratitude towards the silver-haired ninja. He started tending off his injuries, wincing at spots where the antiseptic stung his wounds. He just saw that the Hatake was examining him from afar, yet he just continued nursing for himself.

"What were you doing here, Umino-san?" The question was thrown.

"I tried to lure out those ninjas away from the civilian village where I am having a mission." Iruka answered. "Damn, I hope those ninjas were not yet visited by wild animals; I knew I should have left them in safe locations." The second part of the statement was muttered in a soft voice, but Kakashi heard it clearly.

"Who?"

"Uh… sorry?"

"The ninjas you were talking about."

"They're their comrades," Iruka answered. "The other three,"

Three? Kakashi thought, almost doubtful. He'd defeated three ninjas before confronting these people I defeated? Although for his own reasoning he would find the enemy weak against his expertise, Kakashi was slightly amazed that a chuunin and an Academy Instructor such as Umino had fend for himself against some numerous adversaries. He was able to discern that the people he'd just confronted were of chuunin level, although it would not decrease the fact that the academy sensei had just fought off almost six of them – if the first three he had defeated were of the same level as those that he overwhelmed. It was surprising to find out that the chuunin were capable, just by himself. Wait…

"You're alone?" It was the sudden recognition that Kakashi had.

"Even though I work at the Academy, it doesn't mean that I'm not capable as a ninja, Hatake-san." Iruka told it in a neutral tone, but Kakashi felt the hidden animosity in his answer.

"I'm not referring about anything, Umino-san." He was blunt as always. "I'm just surprised to find you alone in a foreign country. A solo mission?"

Iruka flushed red – annoyed that Kakashi just waved off his resentment over his almost derogatory statement. "It seems that you are having one as well, Hatake-san." At that point, the sensei was already bandaging himself and replacing the ones that were already soaked in blood. Cleaned and slightly healed, Iruka stood from the ground, not failing to make an aggressive stature as to keep off the Hatake somehow away. "I'm fine off by myself now. You should go and return to the mission you are attending to."

"Umino-san," Kakashi was going to protest, but he saw that there was a negative scrunch forming in his face.

"Hatake-san, I'll be honest with you – I'd rather not you discretely telling me that I can't handle myself." Iruka said with pure courage and vexation. "Just go on with your mission and be done with it." He started walking away from Kakashi but paused abruptly. "I thank you again." He resumed striding away.

Hatake Kakashi was bewildered.

And what was he again? A Jounin?

He'd remember that time when one dared to voice out someone's ideas when he had decided that he would let his students join the upcoming chuunin exam almost three years ago. He'd remember how he easily trounced that very same person into silence, when he claimed that he had the right to decide what upon his soldiers. He was a Jounin, and he wouldn't let someone stood against his decision. Harsh he may was back then, but he really had the point to do so.

They were his students, technically. He'd seen them train, he'd seen them act in a mission, and he'd seen them work together. He'd silently assessed those students of his, and he was trying his best to come up with a best solution for all of them – for all of them to improve and be a very great genin team. With all the activities and missions that they'd went into together, Kakashi had made a slow progress into knowing who really his students were. He'd made an unhurried but sure action to truly know his students, so that he could understand them better. It was no easy task that he did, but he'd seen the fruits of what he planned.

That was why, with his whole confidence, he deemed that his students could participate in the chuunin exams that year. He believed that he had known his students – their strength and weakness, their capabilities and what they lacked. And that was the reason why he had made the decision. Surely, it looked like a hasty decision – but he knew much better… right?

"Obito, just what are you doing?" A blond haired man looked at the teen with curious eyes, as he poked the sizzling pork in the grill with his chopsticks. He continued to jab the pieces of meats, turning them to sides as to cook them evenly, all at the same time observing the young man do something that he couldn't really guess what. "Well?" He persisted prying at the Uchiha, when he received no answer at all. So weird for the loudmouth to be focused on what he's doing… He thought.

Kakashi darted his eyes towards the other one, who was unluckily sat opposite to the table. With his position, he could easily look at the Obito was doing… since the Uchiha was just in front of him. He still had his nonchalant features, shrugging off what Obito was doing, when he decided that there wasn't anything interesting in it. He just intently stared at the meat that crackled weakly above the hot metal plate. He wasn't hungry; he just didn't know what to do when their sensei brought them to the barbecue place for almost no apparent reason. Although, Kakashi felt something weird. He couldn't just discern what.

Rin sat beside Kakashi, trying to suppress the emotion that bathed her that time. At least, she was trying to be human with the opportunity to be near the man she had felt something to. Although she could deny the strange feeling, Rin was proud that at least she wasn't becoming one of those females that ran amok and deliberate of their own feelings and infatuation. She was trying to be civil and normal, at least. Like the people together with her in that small and newly opened barbecue place, she could not deny the presence of awkwardness that lingered in the atmosphere. The noises that could be heard were only from the meat that was slowly being cooked, and the chatter of some people staying at the same place and those passersby.

"Is it just me," their sensei tried to speak again, "or is there really something strange going on here?" He chuckled, slightly arousing Kakashi from his bored look and making Rin flinch with slight humor. Obito looked up for a while, and then proceeded in working with the material he'd brought with him. Their sensei hummed with a curious tone, flitting his eyes at Obito. "Hey, Obito…" He slowly brought his right index finger nearer to the Uchiha, pausing when it was just some fingerbreadths away from his body. Seeing that the teen seemed not to notice the arrival of his finger, their sensei decided to nudge Obito's waist in a strong prod.

"GAH!!!" Obito flinch in the sudden stimulus, feeling how the brawny shove of his sensei's finger brought him a ticklish sensation that accumulated in a single spot. It hurt, actually, but he could not fail to bring a smile to his lips when the 'ticklish' part of his sensei's attack reached his nerves. He pointed an accusing finger towards his sensei, trying to straighten up his face. "Hey, sensei! You shouldn't be doing that!"

"You're too serious." His sensei answered, waving off Obito's finger away. "Even Kakashi's worried about you." Their sensei didn't fail to see Kakashi's eye widened and then narrowed instantly, a glare of daggers sent to his direction.

"Sensei, that Kakashi has an emotion of a rock," Obito answered with reservation. No more came from him.

Which was still weird.

"You know, it's very surprising to see a slight change in behavior can actually affect the whole group." Their sensei observed, smiling as to enlighten up the mood of the group – which he seemed to fail. Obito looked at his sensei, looking inquisitive about what he was saying. "I mean, Obito, look; can't you see that we're feeling a slight jumpy and eerie that you are silently doing something?"

"I thought you better liked me 'shutting up' eh?" Obito snickered. It was a humorous statement from the Uchiha, but it actually stung in Rin's and even Kakashi's perspective.

"So… what are you doing?" It was Rin who talked. "Care to share us?"

"Of course, Rin!" Obito answered energetically, much to the whole team's delight. "Actually, my mom had something to do with this." He scratched his head, waiting for some fits of laugh from his team. Surprised that there was none, he continued telling his tale. "When she was rummaging through the house, she said she had found some scrolls that belonged to our family. She said it was a good idea to give it to me. After handing it to me, she gave me no word except 'discover it yourself.'" He grinned. "She also said that I may even be rewarded if I discover what she wanted me to."

"And have you had any idea what is it?" Their sensei asked.

"I had no idea from the first two days, until I tried to research about it." He blushed when he was complemented by Rin and his sensei for doing something productive. "I recently found out that this scroll was actually the compilation of coded types of encryptions used by the clan."

"Can we take a peek?" His sensei asked, grinning at him with slight astonishment. Obito quickly handed him the scroll. Skimming along some lines, he started to nod at some words and paragraphs, and then smiled successfully when he decided to give it back to Obito. "I get it."

"I want to see it too." Rin said, and Obito handed it to her as well.

Rin (and Kakashi) started to scan around the scroll. After some seconds, her brows met in a knit, signifying that she seemed to have misunderstood the scroll. Kakashi saw it as well, entirely aghast at first, but finally understood – even the little of it – what the scroll was intended to. She returned it with curious eyes over Obito. "It's a…" she paused, hesitated to continue. "Children's story."

"I know!" Obito replied, much to the additional confusion over Rin's mind.

"As Obito stated it earlier, it's a coded types of encryptions." Their sensei spoke. "So, have you discovered them so far?" He asked the Uchiha.

"Of course!" He replied. "I've found seventeen of them! Although I feel that there is more."

"There is," his sensei said – sarcastically.

"Eh?" Obito sounded too doubtful. "Don't tell me you've spotted all of them in that instant!"

"I'm not telling, but I saw more than twenty-five, actually." He smiled, but then noticed Obito's burrowing brows. "Don't be frustrated; I also write encrypted messages – that's why I know a lot of them." He ruffled Obito's hair as to decrease the sudden tension building up within the teen. "Share them one."

"Alright…" Obito tried to remove his sensei's hand away from his head. "Ah, this one!" He almost exclaimed. "This type is one of my favorites already." He held the scroll using his left hand in front of them, while he used his free hand and started sliding it across the material. "See this picture drawn inside the layout of the paragraph?" Rin nodded. Kakashi just stared. "Look at the sentence was compressed right because the drawing used up much space… as I discovered, this was intended so as to pinpoint the particular words that contained some message. Here, I'm going to read it out." He turned the scroll facing him, and read the line. "…since people own the artist wages, he assumed labor engagement…" Obito read the short line.

"What about it?" Rin asked.

"Actually, it's the code." Obito replied. "This type of encryption used the first letters of every word in the statement, to hide the real message. In this," Obito revealed a pencil and a blank piece of paper, "the initial letters would be: SPOTAWHALE." He grinned to them. "Does not make any sense, although it's obvious you can make out something from that in the first glance, right?" He wrote the letters next to each other in the paper.

"Yes," Rin answered, still confused. "It probably went like 'SPOT A WHALE.'" She looked at Obito. "I still can't understand."

"This is not something trivial." Their sensei suddenly intervened. "It is very useful when there are skirmishes and wars." He explained. "In the Intelligence field, a 'whale' meant a group of ninja more than or equal to a hundred units of ninjas. In that code, it meant that, possibly, some reconnaissance ninjas spotted a group of ninjas that number and sent a warning using that coded message. Even though it could be intercepted, it isn't easy to decode it – especially it didn't much dwell in encryption by numbers and logical patterns." He saw the amazed faces of Rin and Kakashi (although still hidden) upon his explanation, while Obito grinned proudly.

"It's my favorite!" Obito announced.

---

Kakashi woke up.

It wasn't the nightmare that he'd usually have at Konoha, and he was glad that it wasn't something so bothering.

He chose to stay resting at night before continuing to his destination, since the fight he had participated lately had also drained him some chakra that he deemed would be valuable in his nearing destination. He picked a location that was so hidden and obscured that he was actually tempted to sleep. And when he finally went adrift to sleep, a dream quickly played in his mind.

It was one of the events that had happened in the past, the times even before they participated in the Third Great Ninja War. It were the weird times that their sensei would sound nice that he ended up treating them into the barbecue stall inside the walls of Konoha. It had actually felt good that he had the dream and it was so new to him that he felt somehow happy rather than the normal feeling of regret and guilt whenever he had such dreams. That time when he opened his eyes, he felt relieved of the things that burdened him. He felt his feelings were lightened. It was very awkward… until his eyes went bloodshot when he finally realized that there was something more in his dream.

He quickly pulled out a scroll in his vest and opened in such a manner that could have destroyed the fragile paper itself. He rescanned the paper, reading the contents again.

---

We continue to affirm Iwagakure's decision on attacking Takigakure as a precautionary and as a military action to suppress the threat against the Country of Earth. The Country of Earth is merely concerned about its safety, and Iwagakure is pledged to help in the country's problem, since it also posed as a threat to the village.

We wish to clarify that Iwagakure's move is not an act of aggression. We are only focused on protecting the people and that is our main goal in the subjugation of Takigakure. We did not attempt to test our mettle against Takigakure, but out attack had been the product of our regard to the continuity of peace in our lands. We hope that Konohagakure, the Village Hidden in the Leaf, do not see our action as an indiscriminate act to show our capabilities or just to conquer more territories.

Getting to grieve respectfully as soon; solemn need and right uttered. To ought something, gift indomitable, for the few risks usurped.

---

He clearly remembered in his dream.

It's my favorite! He could clearly see Obito almost jump in happiness.

Your favorite, huh? Kakashi thought as he started to use the same method Obito showed them in the past.

On to the first paragraph, he told his mind and he quickly plucked the initial letters of those words written in the paragraph. WCTAID… Kakashi listed the letters in his mind but eventually found that the combination made no sense. The second sentence of the same paragraph appeared nil of some vital message. He jumped to the second paragraph were he started to list again. WWTCTI… Like the first paragraph, it was senseless, as well as the second sentence, the third, and the fourth.

With doubt, he started to fill in on the third paragraph.

GTGRA… When he started, he almost succumbed in defeat when he seemed to see that it made no sense as well. Maybe he was just too hopeful that he knew that the message was from Obito, and thought that his old teammate was going to tell him something important. He slumped in defeat, realizing that the message was intended to be read by the Hokage, not for him. He almost chuckled that he had created a false hope… maybe he was just too relieved to know that Obito was alive. Well, he knew he couldn't blame himself.

With nothing in motivation, Kakashi had just decided to continue to pull out those initial letters, still thinking how his dream had brought him too much hope.

GTGRASSNARUTOSGIFTFRU.

He almost fell when he finally found something that made sense. His blood rushing upon the recent development, he quickly revealed a writing material and a paper out of his backpack. He intended to sort out the sense out of the code, and he quickly started to work on it.

GT-GRASS-NARUTOS-GIFT-FRU

He separated the letters that made sense when put together, away from random letters that seemed erratic. As he continued to ponder about what he discovered, he could not help but smile under his mask, remembering how Obito was able to let it slip under the Hokage's eyes. As always, Obito had surprised him for another time, and he couldn't almost hold off a snicker about the coded message that he wrote on an official message to the Hokage. That knucklehead… he's too much risky… After he had finally realized that some letters were somewhat aimed to left out, he finished the message as he wrote in the paper:

Go To GRASS; NARUTO haS GIFT FoR U.

With renewed vigor to finish his mission more quickly, Kakashi sped off towards the location of his mission.

Iwagakure, 0600hours

"Naruto," Kakumo called, looking with a frown to his boy. "You know, Team Obsidian is asking me about you for almost one and half month already." He said, motioning near the young man. "They've told me you still not meet them after the war with Takigakure has ended." Kakumo sighed when Naruto still didn't have any response towards his message relayed by Team Obsidian. "They're just worried about you."

"Obito-ojisan," Naruto finally answered, gazing at the older with very tired eyes. "I'm exhausted. Can you please leave me for a while?" He returned looking outside the apartment where he was staying at, watching the tower spires of Iwagakure that stood almost all along the borders of the village. He sat on a chair located near the window, his mind almost spacing out. He felt that his ojisan was moving towards him, and he made no attempt to make another request for him to be left alone. He was so tired that he couldn't make any effort to make a resistance over the violation of his simple request.

Kakumo stopped when he was already just beside Naruto, taking a short glance of that his boy was looking at. He returned his eyes towards the blonde, as he rose his right hand on top of Naruto's head, making a gentle tap before resting it for a brief period. "Naruto," he started to speak, not actually minding if Naruto didn't like how he held him. "They just care for you, as do I for you. You have heard so many times from me how much I wanted to protect you that you don't even understand why I work so hard for that. I just don't really want you hurt… You know, you can tell me everything that's been bothering you. I'll make no prejudice of it. I'll always be your ojisan…" He stopped but let his hand rest for a while on top of Naruto's head. For almost a minute, Kakumo and Naruto stayed that way, both looking at scenery presented as Iwa. Finally, Kakumo's hand slowly slid off from his head and let it fall onto the boys shoulder, giving it another tap. "I'll be going now."

Naruto knew that his ojisan was out of the room as soon as he heard the door of his little apartment closed. He wished that he could have told his problem to Obito.

---

"What is the verdict?" A man suddenly blocked Kakumo's way, as soon as the man had returned at the Tsuchikage's tower spire. Kakumo had a neutral expression in his mind, looking at the visage of the ninja that stopped him in his steps.

"I could disagree to what you've been telling me." Kakumo spoke. "It seemed true enough that Naruto wasn't minding Team Obsidian – it has been six weeks." He looked slightly annoyed at the other one. "I don't have a choice, but it's time to remove the people the future – he – will not need."

"You mean?"

"Yes."

- End of Chapter -

Thanks for reading another long chapter. I really appreciate that people read my FanFic. Thank you.

Truly yours, Dairene Kezelzghski