Kakashi had already killed the man that caused the cave in and two others along with him. She was now faced with in a rather dire situation.
Pinned down by a foot on her back with her arms trapped in earth and her swords out of reach, she grimaced, feeling the last of her chakra reserves slowly drain into the jonin's jutsu (She felt as tired as the time she tried to avoid Gai - who chased her around the village in an attempt to compare the texture of their behinds). The Iwa-nin standing above her was nursing a cracked rib and mild burns from a near run in with her Chidori.
"I admit you're pretty good," he said. "Its such a shame you wont live long enough to get any better. God only knows how many more children Konoha will pump into this war."
Kakashi is taken back. The man seemed to generally regret the fact that he is going to kill her.
Obito then chose that exact moment to leap out of the 'rabbit hole' with Rin on his back, and the man turns away from her. Suddenly, Kakashi can feel a pull on the seal on the nape of her neck, and all Kakashi can think is Nonononono.
Everyone has their attention on Obito, so no one sees Kakashi's form flicker like static. Her figure stabilizes again, and she hopes that no one will notice.
"What do we have here?" One of the other Iwa jonin purred, circling the tired pair like a shark smelling blood. Kakashi takes this opportunity to discreetly coat her covered arms in lightning, making the earthen restraints crack. The man doesn't notice. When the Iwa-nin gets too close to her teammates, she rips her arms free, grabs the man's leg, and shocks him with as much chakra as she can spare. The jonin falls, and his squad takes notice.
"Run, Obito!" She yells, grabbing all her remaining kunai and hurling them at the jonin surrounding her team. The enemy leap out of the way and Obito hesitates.
"What about you?!"
"I'll catch up! You have Rin!"
Obito didn't need much convincing, and Kakashi isn't sure whether to feel satisfied or sad. A small selfish part of her wants Obito to argue a little longer, but the more rational part of her is relieved that he left. Her hand digs into her pouch, and her fingers wrap around Minato's Hiraishin kunai, which she pulls out and stares at doubtfully. While it was nice that her sensei gave her the weapon of his signature technique, it wasn't like she would be able to use the seals required for Hiraishin. It was nothing more than an oddly shaped kunai at best.
Kakashi ducks, avoiding decapitation and other methods of homicide. Two of the Iwa-nin attack her simultaneously, and she is barely able to escape death multiple times, her sharingan spinning.
"Oh no you don't," The third Iwa jonin growls, his fingers weaving through signs. A barrage of earthen spears launch themselves towards Obito's fleeing form. Kakashi's heart stops and desperation makes her ignore her two enemies (in which she would later admit to be a rather stupid move on her part).
Time slows, and the last Hatake watches the spears fly at Obito, whose eyes widen at the incoming projectiles. His hands are all that are supporting an unconscious Rin, unable to cast jutsus and too slow to dodge. She feels as helpless as she was during that disastrous chunin mission that gave her the scar on her back.
Kakashi's eyes burn and the last of her chakra surges in her coils.
She won't let it happen.
She can't let it happen.
Three tomoes morph into pinwheels of black and red. A five pointed shuriken remains.
Not again. Never again.
"KUNIUMI!"
Black.
Kinoe didn't think.
His fingers moved on their own, flashing through familiar signs and sending lances of wood spitting from the trees. With a spray of red, the two imminent threats to the Hatake's well being were successfully removed, so he lept down to gather the unconscious silver haired jonin in his arms. The ROOT agent paused to analyse the phenomenon before him.
Everything was at a standstill. Even the tree's leaves stopped swaying, and if he looked up, he could spot a bird frozen in flight, unable to flee the clutches of time. The Iwa jonin had stopped mid jutsu, face cemented into a snarl. The earthen spears were inches from piercing the useless Uchiha, whose face was suspended in panic and fear. Kinoe was tempted to just wait for the jutsu to run its course and let the Uchiha and Nohara get hit because, frankly, they deserved it.
Kakashi was hurt. Kakashi was wounded. Kakashi needed help. And it was all their fault.
But...Kakashi used up the last of his chakra and put himself in danger to save the teammates he didn't need. Kinoe sighed, and created an protective dome of wood around the pair and gently placed his idol against a tree. He picked up the Hiraishin kunai that Kakashi had dropped, and examined it.
The Yellow flash uses these kunai to teleport when it's thrown, so...
He glanced at the knocked out jonin, then to the dome. Objects began to inch forwards again, and time resumed. The spears of earth slammed against the wooden shield as Kinoe tossed the Hiraishin kunai at the last Iwa jonin, and disappeared into the trees as a furious Yellow Flash arrived.
He smiles behind his mask when Kannabi Bridge fell the next day.
From a collapsed cave, a dark figure emerges from the shadows. It leans down and prods the dead body of a dead Iwa-nin.
"We missed them. Madara isn't going to be happy," a voice muttered. It reaches down and plucked up an empty medical kit covered in dried blood.
"What do we do now?" It asked.
"It's simple," another voice said. "We get another one. There are plenty of Uchiha running around." And with that, Zetsu sunk back into the earth.
"Kakashi."
She turns around at the sound of her sensei's voice. It's night, and they're camped out on the same boulder they did at the start of their mission. Obito and Rin are sleeping below them. Kakashi can't shake the guilt that follows every time she sees the Nohara's missing foot.
"I know sensei," she says, placing a hand on her nape. "What happened?"
He looks at her with sad eyes.
"Some seals don't last forever Kakashi. That seal has been active for the last eight years." He gently pries her hand off her neck, observing the black ink. His eyes also unknowingly trace the weight seals on her wrists and ankles. "I'll have to reapply the seal, but your father never specified the date that you could take it off. So it's up to you. Do you want to stop now?"
Her father had placed the seal on her to protect her, but she's strong now. Kakashi could protect herself. But she doesn't want to be the daughter of Hatake Sakumo, the child that almost got assassinated. She wants to be Hatake Kakashi, the son of the White Fang, the prodigy, the second in command of Team 7.
"I don't know."
"You don't have to decide just yet," Minato reassures her, pulling out his sealing kit he always brings along. "That seal has at least another two years before it breaks. I'll just have to give it a touch up, and you can tell me when you're ready."
She nods, pulling down the collar of her shirt, and the blonde gets to work.
When he's done, he grabs her bicep. Chakra wells up beneath his palm. As he lets go, he pulls her sleeve up, showing a script branded on the inside of her bicep.
"A Hiraishin mark never disappears. If you're ever in trouble, or if your seal starts acting up, activate it. I'll come to you."
"What about Obito and Rin?" Kakashi inquires, tracing the new mark on her body.
"I'll offer the same to them as well, but I don't think that they will accept. Rin will be taken off the roster for active duty and retire as a kunoichi. She'll probably work full time at the hospital, so she won't need one. Obito would likely refuse on the basis that the 'future Hokage' didn't need help."
"Ah."
Her sensei pats her on the shoulder, and guides her down the boulder next to her teammates.
"Get some rest," he tells her. "You did well today."
Neither noticed that Obito isn't sleeping.
Danzo stands on the intersecting bridge in ROOT headquarters. He watches, as his underground empire worked as efficiently as an ant colony. His ANBU moved with purpose, none of without a set of tasks to carry out. From the swarm of his 'worker ants' a young cat masked boy knelt before him.
"Report." There was no need for useless talk.
"Hatake Kakashi's mission to destroy Kanabi Bridge was a success. During a battle between Hatake and seven Iwa jonin, Kakashi's sharingan changed, and unleashed an unknown jutsu."
"Oh?" This interested the bandaged adviser. "Changed you say? What did it look like?"
"A five pointed shuriken," Kinoe answers dutifully.
Danzo's eye widened.
"Mangekyou Sharingan. To be awakened at such a young age," he whispered, subconsciously reaching up to touch his missing eye. "Tell me Kinoe, what was this jutsu?"
"The ability to manipulate time."
Silence.
Danzo stood rigidly.
"Kinoe, explain," he snapped.
"From what I observed, everyone in a certain range - except for the user - is effected. The jutsu can only be cast for a short period. The jutsu stops time. It is unknown how many times it can be used. It is unknown if there are other variations of time manipulation."
The elder man inhaled.
"It is decided," he said. "We cannot recruit him at the moment - young Kakashi is being watched with too many eyes - but in time, he must join the foundation. His ability will be of use in the future. Keep watching him Kinoe, an opportunity can come at any moment. I will leave it up to you to take the initiative if you see any chance he might be swayed. Am I understood?"
"Yes Danzo-sama."
You didn't even need to ask.
Obito sits on his bed and ponders.
"Some seals don't last forever Kakashi. That seal has been active for the last eight years."
What seal? What has been active for the last eight years?
"I'll have to reapply the seal, but your father never specified the date that you could take it off. So it's up to you. Do you want to stop now?"
And what about that strange jutsu that protected him? He had heard Kakashi shout out, and when he blinked, a wooden dome surrounded him. He later spotted the other shinobi the Hatake was fighting impaled on wooden spikes. Obito wasn't stupid, he knows exactly what was required to create weapons and shields like that.
Does he have Mokuton?
...But Minato and Kakashi were just as confused as he was.
Something was up with the last Hatake. He obviously didn't know - whatever happened to him took place before he even met the guy, so nothing seemed out of place. Hell, he probably wouldn't have known if he didn't wake up because of the urge to pee. He held it down of course, just until Kakashi fell asleep, and made a show of 'groggily' waking up to leak something fierce.
Minato-sensei never suspected a thing.
Earlier that evening, his Aunt Mikoto had come to congratulate him for completing the mission that turned the war in Konoha's favor. She had said that his Uncle Fugaku couldn't come because he was in a clan meeting. She then proceeded to foist little Itachi and Shisui off to him because she had to go cook dinner and could he please babysit them this evening?
Itachi trots over to him, Shisui at his heels like a dog following a puppy.
"Obito-nii?"
"Yes?" He answers absentmindedly, questions and theories of his teammate clouding his head.
"Do you have a crush on Hatake Kakashi?"
"Yeah...wait, WHAT?" Obito did a double take.
"Shisui says that you're gay," Itachi said with wide innocent eyes. The aforementioned brat nodded sagely. Obito spluttered.
He spent the rest of the afternoon trying - and failing - to convince his cousins that he was not attracted to men.
Kakashi will tell me when he was ready.
The Sandaime Hokage sighed, leaning back in his seat, rubbing a wrinkled hand over his face. He placed his pen down, and pushed his paperwork over to one side of the desk.
"What news do you have for me Jiraiya?" He said, just as a white haired shinobi jumped through his window.
"What? No 'hello' sensei?" The toad Sannin asks playfully.
"I don't have time for this Jiraiya," he tells him with a hard stare. "I'm stressed, I'm tired, and I just want this war to end."
The spymaster raised his hands in defeat before becoming serious.
"Bad news sensei. You know the ambassador that we sent out two weeks ago? He and most of his escort have been found dead just inside the border," he informed grimly. "The bodies were at least a week old when I got there. A couple of the corpses were eaten by wild animals, so it was a bit hard to identify them at first."
"They were killed inside of Hi no Kuni?" The Sandaime asked, and his student nodded.
"We thought that there was a traitor inside the group," Jiraiya went on. "Uchiha Yakumi went MIA and then returned a week before we sent him out with the ambassador. He was checked out at T&I, but they said he was clean. We also found his arm and leg at the site, though his other body parts might be scattered around the area. Only Kiri shinobi have killed so messily."
The old Hokage hummed in thought. "So Kiri broke past the border?"
The Toad Sage shook his head. "That's just the thing. The patrols haven't been attacked, hell, they weren't even the ones that found the bodies. Someone snuck past the border just to kill the ambassador. Kiri doesn't work that way. They go in loud and ruthless or they don't go at all, we would have known. Someone don't want us to play nice with Kiri, and they're doing a poor job of framing them."
The Sandaime just gave a frustrated sigh. "Look into it Jiraiya. We can't have potential traitors or weak borders. Inform the patrols to be more cautious, and tell your contacts to investigate any suspicious dealings with Kiri. I fear that our third party might strike again."
OMAKE:
"Hetero."
He plucked a leaf from a fallen branch.
"Homo."
Another leaf.
"Bi."
Repeat.
Minato stared at Obito, who glumly picked the leaves from a small branch he ripped off a tree, mumbling to himself all the while.
"Obito," The jonin said slowly to his student. "What are you doing?"
"Deciding my sexuality," he replied gloomily.
Minato didn't know what to say to that.
OMAKE 2:
Kinoe shut the door of his quarters in ROOT, before letting his stoic facade fall. He held his trembling hand up to his eye level. Two prominent thoughts ran through his mind.
I touched Kakashi-senpai...I touched KAKASHI-SENPAI~
and
I am never washing this hand again.
The rest of the ROOT agents would wonder where the inhuman squeal came from.
Tenzo gets more screen time :)