Author's Note: If you're still reading, that is so totally awesome. Thank you! I'm sorry if this is still a little slow, it'll pick up I promise.
Warning: Some language and violence (I think it's still teen, there's violence so be warned, I don't think it's too graphic yet).
Disclaimer: If I owned Naruto… but I don't.
Fair Trade
Chapter 3
Kakashi squatted above the mist soaked ground. Mist. Yeah, right. More like perpetual rain. They're just so used to it they think its light mist. I'm gonna be wet for the rest of my life. He sighed and then shifted. The rest of my life. Two days. That's optimistic. Unconsciously, his hand traveled to his left hip where the scroll was hidden in a waterproof pack. Or maybe not.
He sighed again. Maybe he was picking up Tsunade's habit. No point in getting my hopes up. I just have to focus on killing the Mizukage. Then I can worry about everything else. Kakashi scanned his surroundings. The further he traveled into the Land of Mist, the harder it was to tell which direction he was going. The closer he got to the cities, the more his instincts urged him to turn and walk past. It was a chakra based defense. It was flawlessly juxtaposed with the water that fell continuously from the sky. Even when it wasn't raining, the water on and around the islands worked to confuse and distract enemies.
His hand reached out and tapped his left hip. He glanced around. He'd made it far enough, he'd been island hopping, traveling across the shortest expanses of water possible. Some of the islands had been nice enough. The sun was shining and the defenses were only mildly uncomfortable. Nothing like this. He wasn't on the main island of the Land of Mist, no, the Mizukage no longer resided in the main village, The Village Hidden in Mist. He'd moved his residence and all his trusted companions to a secure location. The man was paranoid and for good reason. He'd killed his predecessor and revived the evil traditions of the past. He was a feared man. He was not loved. The newest generation of shinobi to rise from The Land of Mist was as twisted and warped as Zabuza. The children fought to live, killed to live, and their humanity was brutalized until they were machines lacking true human emotion.
Everyone, the known world, had agreed that this new Mizukage needed to die. But he had taken power then, hidden himself from view too quickly. His whereabouts had been unknown. That was, until two days ago. Konoha allies within the Land of Mist had sent furtive messages over the last year or so, with clues to the Mizukage's residence, and the times he most frequented his home. The pieces had finally fallen into place. The timing had been ideal. The Mizukage was in his residence and he wouldn't be expecting an attack. At least an attack of consequence.
The Mizukage had moved to a small island directly south of the main island of The Land of Mist. Here it rained perpetually; therefore, the land's defenses were that much stronger. A sensible place for a man who feared assassination. Unless you lived or knew the signs to travel safely into the heart of the mist, there was no way to come out alive.
This was why Kakashi was the only one who could complete this mission. His sharingan could read the justu that permeated the mist around him. Now, he had traveled as far as he could without activating his sharingan. If he tried to continue he would be lost in the mist or killed by sentries as his presence was detected.
He reached down one more time and checked his pouch to make sure it was there. Then he lifted his hand to his hitai-ate and pulled it up, leaving his face mask covering his mouth and nose. His normal right eye closed and he focused the sharingan on the jutsu only he could see. Almost immediately his hands flashed performing the signs to neutralize the jutsu.
As soon as he finished signing, the oppressive weight of the mist lifted and he sighed (yet again). He tapped his left hip again. Pulling his hitai-ate back over his left eye, he continued through the barely visible forest. Leaping into the air, Kakashi landed on a branch ten feet above where he had been standing. He had about a mile to go until he reached the Mizukage's hide-away.
He pushed off. Landing on a branch another ten feet away, ten feet towards his destination. He pushed off again. There was only one way to describe the way he felt now. Apathetic. I can't make myself care anymore. He pushed off again. I'm in limbo. Between people, between living and dying. I'm alive but, I do not live. I work but, I do not strive. This is what I've become, he thought. There is no excuse. It's why I volunteered for this mission. What the hell is wrong with me? How can I look at my own life, think things like this about myself and still be unable to care. I know that I should change, that I could change, but I feel cold.
Maa… I don't even care. Let's just get this over with. Kakashi dropped from the trees, the top most roof of the building visible through the quickly dissipating fog. The trees were thinning and the fog refused to touch the home. From all appearances, this was the only place on the whole island that had been touched by sunlight in the last year.
Kakashi tapped the pouch on his left hip. His fingers drumming nervously. The defenses were stronger here rather than weaker, even though the chakra filled rain was absent. At the edge of the forest Kakashi paused again, he crouched in the shrubs watching to see if guards were patrolling the perimeter.
Raising his hitai-ate again, he closed his right eye and focused on the jutsu before him. He could see that there was a patrol but that it was less frequent than he would have thought. One every forty-five minutes or so. Plenty of time. He smirked. I might even make it back out. His mouth turned down bitterly. Yeah, far enough out to die in the forest. Maa….. No time for this.
Kakashi pulled a kunai from the pouch on his hip, feeling the scroll as he did; then he sat back to wait. Knock out one guard and he'd have an assured half hour to find the Mizukage, any longer and he would run the risk of getting caught. Still thinking like I'm gonna get out. The first foot I set inside the house will set off alarms I wouldn't be able to stop. Five minutes. Ten if I'm lucky.
There he is. A guard was heading toward him from the right; the man looked relaxed, safe. Instead of encouraging Kakashi it made him even more nervous. A Kage guard was not relaxed unless he wasn't the threat to worry about. The guard's demeanor preluded the traps and dangers inside the home.
Here we go. He leapt from the ground seconds after the guard passed. From behind the guard he reached forward with his right arm extended, kunai leading. The paper thin edge of the blade slid across the man's throat. Blood sprayed to the right following the path of the blade as it was drawn back. Not even looking at the fallen man, Kakashi brought the blade back to him across the dying man's collar to clean the blade. Old habits die hard. Clean weapons are a necessity. Shinobi training, the blood that runs in the veins of ninja.
Running to the nearest window, he placed fingers against the glass and pushed lightly, seeing if it would open. It did. Kakashi drew in a nervous breath. Things were looking worse. Still no real security measures. Not a good sign. He breathed slowly, tapped his hip and slid himself through the window. No one was inside, not that he was expecting someone.
One door. Guess I'm taking that door then. He stepped into the hallway outside. Genjutsu, distant and ineffective illusions glittered around the walls. Maa….. Here's where the real test starts. Moving quickly to the furthest door he opened it and felt the houses internal alarms activate. And I still have no clue where the Mizukage is. Wonderful. He sped up making it to the next door as quickly as possible.
The center. He'll probably be in the center of the house. Upstairs too. Stairs would be nice…. Ahhhh. Stairs; perfect timing. He climbed the stairs four at a time. At the top he glanced out the window. Good, I'm on the top floor. He stepped forward only to fall flat.
His feet wouldn't move.
His. Feet. Wouldn't. MOVE.
He glanced down. Jutsu in the floor. Hidden until pressure triggered it.
Not good.
He heard the house move.
The House.
Shit. What the hell was that?
Either every person in the house had started running towards him or the floor boards in the house were trying to attack him. Or both.
Both looked about right.
Chakra laced in the wood floors was seeping to the surface, all of it pooling near his feet. The voices of hundreds of guards were getting closer.
He focused his chakra to the soles of his feet. No good. The chakra in the floor was enough to neutralize it. Shit. He looked up. Shit. They are on the other side of that door. He flooded his feet with chakra. No good. Shit.
The first two men burst through the door. The hallway prevented any others from entering quickly to attack him. But they would be able to attack soon. Too soon. The man in the lead hit Kakashi full force. Slammed him back into the floor.
Pain, intense shooting pain closed both Kakashi's eyes. His head felt split. The hand that had locked around his throat tightened and he gagged. His head swam. Pain. Lack of oxygen. So far, this wasn't going well. He blinked his watering eyes open.
The second guard took his exposed kunai and pinned one of Kakashi's flailing arms to the floor. A third man pinned his other one. Skewered, held to the floor Kakashi tried to twist away. Impossible. Feet; stuck. Neck; pinned. Hands; he felt tiny bones break. Pain. He didn't want to think about his hands. His eyes barely open and tear filled scanned wildly around the narrow hallway. More and more and more men packed themselves into the enclosed space. Kakashi's window of escape was shrinking with each addition. The hard edge of the scroll dug into his hip.
A fist slammed into his face. Spots danced before his eyes. His head crushed into the wood, splintering it. No more. Kakashi felt dread settle in his stomach. Closing his eyes Kakashi focused on breathing. In through his broken nose, don't think about it, out through his swollen lips.
Distance yourself from the pain. Let it flow around you, notice it but do not let it affect you. He felt a weight on his chest. Unbearable pressure.
Snap. SNAAAAAAAP. SNAP. Snap. Breathe. Ouch! Kakashi felt his left lung deflate. Calm, he thought. The Mizukage. You have to kill the Mizukage. He gagged.
Blood. From his nose.
Lack of oxygen.
Pain.
Silence.
He sighed in relief as mild shock dulled the pain but left him clear-headed enough to plan his next move. Can't let them break much more or I won't be able to crawl fast enough to kill the Mizukage. Think. If justu won't free you then maybe extreme physical force will counteract the jutsu in the floor.
Swiftly arching his back. Trying to ignore his screaming chest and hands, he drove his feet through the floor boards. He felt the jutsu retreat. Success!
Freeing his wounded and fortunately unwatched hands, he flew through substitution justu signs, trading places with the vase in the hallway before him.
The majority of the guards will have been near the Mizukage. Which direction? Using his sharingan, he looked for the highest concentration of personnel activity and protective jutsu. That way.
He turned right. Then right again. He didn't have time to stop. They were close behind him. He only had seconds to decide. If he took too many seconds, he'd be caught again.
Left.
That door. He has to be behind that door.
The door was ornately carved. And larger than any door he had seen yet.
Flashing through the hand signs to open the jutsu on the door, Kakashi darted in and closed the door quickly, reactivating the jutsu lock.
He breathed. A real breath. The first in minutes.
Pulling out a kunai, he advanced several steps. The room was dark, gloomy and smelled faintly of smoke and something else.
Another step.
Kakashi froze.
Another Author's Note: So, I know the full name is The Land of Mist and Fog but it's too long so I shortened it to The Land of Mist (obviously). Sorry if that bothers anyone. I'm not sure how the fighting went but I hope you like it. Oh, this will be switched to mature for the next chapter for serious violence. Feel free to critique.