Kakashi pushed off from a tree branch, studying the subordinate beside him and a step behind. Kakashi's dog mask was firmly in place, as was the other man's mouse mask.

They weren't the closest of friends, but they'd been assigned to the same team occasionally (as members were occasionally rotated or substituted according to who was available at any given moment), and he wasn't terrible company for an occasional friendly spar or, when Kakashi's non-ANBU peers dragged him to social events and he happened to be there, for a few minutes of chatting.

He'd known the man, named Masami when not wearing his mask, for two years now. He was a skilled operative; highly observant and good at anticipating orders. He was an excellent shot with shiruken, though his preferred weapon was the katana. The two had made a good team for that reason once, on a mission gone bad. His blade had been snapped, and they'd ended up back-to-back. Kakashi had tossed his own katana to him, still being more comfortable with the smaller, more maneuverable kunai he'd used since childhood, and the two had fended off the few remaining enemies and quickly carried out their assignment.

"We're almost there," Kakashi told him, and Masami nodded silently.

The mission Kakashi had briefed him on earlier was an intelligence-gathering mission. There were reports of high-level weapons and other goods being smuggled into fire country from Rain, and Konoha had received a tip about the location of a particular hideout.

Take Masami with you. The Hokage had said that, just before leaving the room. His observation skills would be useful for this kind of mission.

Kakashi had been chosen for this mission because of his tracking abilities. This particular subordinate was led to infer that he'd been chosen because of his keen observation, but there was also another reason which Kakashi knew and he didn't.

Don't bring him back. That had been Danzou's order, after the Sandaime was out of hearing range. He's selling secrets.

The order to execute a comrade never came directly from Hiruzen. For that, Kakashi was grateful to the old man, because it would have forced him to look at himself and Konoha in a much different light. When his dark orders came from the darker side of ANBU, though, he could carry them out knowing that it was indeed in Konoha's best interest, as long as he was actually sure that Hiruzen was involved somehow. That the accused had already been found guilty, judged by the Hokage himself.

Kakashi landed in a small clearing, just a couple of kilometers from the base he was supposed to check out. As soon as his subordinate landed, Kakashi had already spun around and lodged a kunai beneath the man's ribcage, up past the hilt. As a result, the first two fingers of Kakashi's fist were also somewhat inside the man's chest where he held the weapon, and his hand was already being coated in blood pumped directly from the heart he'd just punctured.

The sputter of blood from the man's mouth did nothing to hide the disappointment in his eyes. Kakashi ignored his own disappointment in the man—he'd hoped to see surprise, or regret, or anything more appropriate in his subordinate's eyes at the realization he'd been caught—and set about the tedious but messy task of disposing of the body.


Inspired by a quote from Shippuden episode 355: "As part of my ANBU missions, I've had to deal with Rogue Ninja and traitors of the Hidden Leaf. So I can't help it if I'm called Friend-Killer Kakashi…"

What do you think?