Chapter 4—The Sixth Hokage

Tsunade felt restless as she wandered through the village, skirting around the busy areas and trying to catch bits of conversations wherever she could, but no one seemed to have anything of consequence to say. After some time, her frustration at this began to tempt her, coaxing her to come out of hiding and find information for herself. She considered this option for a while as she continued walking and suddenly found herself on the edge of the training grounds where she, Orochimaru, and Jiraiya had once fought to retrieve a pair of bells from their teacher. She almost laughed but caught herself and fell immediately back into the shadows when she spotted Kakashi standing a few yards away at the memorial stone.

So he still finds time to come here, she thought. Maybe this is my chance to get some decent information… But I'll have to be careful. Tsunade drew farther back into the trees, made a shadow clone, and sent it out onto the training grounds. If he gets suspicious, I'll just dismiss the clone and leave the village, she thought. …I'm ready.

The clone walked up to Kakashi and addressed him formally as the Sixth Hokage. He was still and silent for a few moments before responding.

"I never thought I'd wish for that to be true," he sighed.

This time the chill ran through to her bones and she was grateful for the mask and cloak that helped to hide her tension. "What do you mean?" she asked slowly.

"Oh, nothing. Forget I said anything," he said lightly.

"R-Right…" she muttered. "Well then–"

"You know," he said suddenly, turning toward her. "It's pretty unusual to see an ANBU like you around anymore. In fact..." He lunged at her and she turned to try to run but they both crashed to the ground, Kakashi on top of her, holding her arm up behind her back and a kunai against her throat. "ANBU like you don't exist anymore. They haven't for weeks. Who are you?"

The clone vanished and, in the trees, Tsunade turned to run, but Kakashi was already there. "You should probably just come with me," he said.

Tsunade took a step back and immediately Kakashi's raikiri flashed to life. She sprang back and he went after her, chasing her back out of the trees and into the open area of the training ground where his clone was waiting. He rushed at her from both sides and she was forced to duck under the attacks and they closed in on her. From the ground she struck at the shadow clone, landing a solid kick to his stomach. The clone went flying back and the technique was dispelled violently before it even hit the ground.

Dammit, that was too much, Tsunade thought as she jumped back up and faced Kakashi, taking a few quick steps away from him to gain a more comfortable distance. He was looking at her strangely and she cursed herself for not considering his sharingan before exposing herself in the first place.

Can he tell? she thought nervously. She shed her cloak and slowly reached back to take hold of her sword.

"Acting on your own again, are you?"

Tsunade froze and she saw her own feeling of shock reflected on Kakashi's face as well. Her hand dropped, leaving the weapon sheathed on her back.

"Orochimaru…" Kakashi said, staring just over her shoulder.

Orochimaru walked up next to Tsunade. "Kakashi," he said with a grin. "It's been a while."

"Why are you here?" Kakashi demanded. "What more could you possibly do to this village? You've already taken our Hokage twice."

"Heh, relax," Orochimaru said easily. "I'm only here to stop you from trying to take what's mine." Kakashi's gaze flickered to Tsunade and back. "You cannot fight me," Orochimaru continued. "Last time, the mere possibility of it left you shaking in fear."

Kakashi reached up steadily and pushed his headband back. "What do you think I've been doing for the past five years?" The colors of his eye shifted and the mangekyō sharingan appeared, its focus locked on Orochimaru. He was no longer smiling

"Maybe I should have killed you then," he muttered.

Kakashi called forth a second raikiri and ran forward, directing his attack only at Orochimaru, but Orochimaru had no intention of letting Kakashi get that close. He had realized the danger his new sharingan posed and decided that it would be best to keep his distance.

With Orochimaru moving so quickly, slipping just out of his reach at every turn, Kakashi could not find an opportunity to use the kamui. He knew it was a risky technique and the toll it took on his body was too high to use it unless he was sure he could hit his target. He pushed himself to move faster, chasing after Orochimaru, the raikiri screaming in his hand, but when he thought he saw his opportunity to strike, Orochimaru had already read his intentions. He grabbed Kakashi's arm and disrupted the raikiri with his own chakra. It quickly flickered out.

Now–! Kakashi thought. He focused the mangekyō sharingan on Orochimaru again, but before the kamui could even begin to form, Orochimaru slammed his foot into Kakashi's diaphragm and sent him flying back. He hit the ground hard and stayed down, coughing as his deflated lungs slowly recovered.

Tsunade went to Orochimaru's side and drew the sword from the sheath on her back.

"If you're not going to fight seriously, you should stay out of it," Orochimaru said to her.

"I'm tired of sitting on the sidelines," she muttered as Kakashi slowly got to his feet. He pulled out a kunai and attacked Orochimaru head-on once again. Orochimaru grabbed the sword from Tsunade and pushed her back just as Kakashi's blade collided with his. Orochimaru smirked as he held off the attack.

"Come to think of it," he said in a smug tone. "You were Sasuke's old teacher, weren't you, Kakashi? You should be proud. He's become very strong." Orochimaru grinned and Kakashi felt his stomach turn.

Did… Did he already…? Orochimaru began forcing him back and Kakashi focused again on the situation at hand. This is my chance, he thought. He pushed against the sword and started building chakra with his eye. He was vaguely aware of Tsunade pulling four shuriken out, but he did not bother to dodge them.

I can't waste this chance, he told himself as she threw them and each blade lodged into his arm. He ignored the pain and hooked his foot around Orochimaru's ankle. At the same time, he lunged forward and they both crashed to the ground. Kakashi dropped the kunai and grabbed the sword with both hands, pressing the flat of the blade against Orochimaru's neck with all his strength. Then the air began to distort as the kamui finally formed, targeting Orochimaru's head.

The next thing Kakashi knew, he was flying through the air again, pain searing in his ribs even before he slammed into the ground. Carried by momentum, he skidded and rolled across the grass and into the nearby river. Tsunade watched him go, enjoying a moment of satisfaction even though she knew that she had once again used more strength than discretion allowed. As soon as Kakashi had fallen into the river, she knelt beside Orochimaru and helped him sit up.

"You idiot," she said irritably as soon as she was sure he was all right. "You can't let him get you with that technique. Don't give him the chance to use it."

"What is it?" Orochimaru asked, his hand going to his throat absently as he watched the river.

"He can pull things into an alternate dimension. It's how he got Deidara's arm. You could have lost your head."

A grin slowly formed on Orochimaru's face and his tongue swept out briefly. "What a wonderful technique."

[X]

It was quiet and dark deep beneath the surface of the river where Kakashi was collecting his thoughts.

If I'm going to stop Orochimaru, I'll have to keep that… ANBU busy. He carefully pulled the shuriken from his arm, made three shadow clones, and sent them further down the river as he climbed back up onto its bank. Several of his ribs were at least cracked, each breath a searing pain, and his right arm was bleeding heavily, but he stood and sped through a flurry of hand signs.

"Water release: great waterfall technique."

The water in the river churned violently, rising up behind Kakashi. Orochimaru and Tsunade stood quickly, but even as they did, one of Kakashi's clones appeared between them. Another raikiri flashed in his hand and this time he focused his attack on Tsunade, pushing her back, away from Orochimaru as she dodged the jutsu. Orochimaru was about to chase after them but two more clones grabbed his arms and wrenched him back.

When the two Sannin were separated, the massive flood of water crashed down, sweeping Tsunade away into the trees behind the memorial stone. She slammed into a sturdy trunk and fell to her hands and knees as the technique ended and the water ebbed. As she got to her feet again, she pulled a kunai from the holster on her leg, keeping the large tree at her back. She knew Kakashi often used such techniques as opportunities to sneak up on his opponents and she didn't intend to give him that chance. But even as she thought this, a web of wires suddenly closed around her, binding her to the tree.

Out on the training grounds, one clone was still holding Orochimaru back, but the other had released him in order to produce yet another raikiri.

"That's four already," Orochimaru said with interest, eyeing the field of electricity around Kakashi's hand. "You certainly have been improving, haven't you?"

Kakashi ignored him and moved to strike, but Orochimaru grinned and opened his mouth, releasing several small snakes. They sank their fangs into the clone that was holding him and their venom quickly dispelled the technique, allowing Orochimaru to easily dodge the attack.

"Don't disappoint me, Kakashi," he said, still smiling. "I want to see that technique that gives you so much confidence."

Behind the memorial stone, Kakashi leapt down out of the branches and picked up the kunai Tsunade had dropped, spinning it around his finger by the loop on its handle. "I can read your moves," he said to her. "And I can tell you're transformed, though it threw me that this outfit is real." He carefully reached out and removed her mask. "Who are you?"

Tsunade scoffed. "You're kidding. You really think I'd answer?"

"I'd hoped… Lady Tsunade."

"What?" Tsunade replied seamlessly. She looked around. "There's no one here. What are you trying to pull?"

Kakashi watched her carefully for a few moments. …Maybe it's not an act, he thought. Maybe Orochimaru has all of her memories sealed now. He tensed as he became aware of the elimination of his last clone. He knew Orochimaru was coming but he was not prepared for him to come up out of the ground. In an instant, Orochimaru cut the wires binding Tsunade, grabbed her, and vanished into the earth once again.

Kakashi saw them surface several yards away near the three wooden posts. The ANBU woman dropped to her hands and knees and Orochimaru paused to say something to her. The woman responded, then Orochimaru left her behind to go after Kakashi again. Kakashi quickly used the substitution technique to put a clone in his place while he took to the trees again to hide. He watched as his clone was driven back by Orochimaru's relentless attacks, and the moment he was sure this would be an adequate distraction, he doubled back for Tsunade. She was still on the ground where Orochimaru had left her, though she seemed to be struggling to her feet.

It seems like the technique he used took a toll on her. Maybe this is my chance.

He reached her just as she stood and grabbed her shoulder. There was a dizzying whirl of green and grey as the world flipped and Kakashi suddenly found himself on the ground, flat on his back with the air knocked from his lungs. A cry caught in his throat as his ribs screamed at the abuse, and the fierce pain in his shoulder told him it was dislocated.

Tsunade did not allow him time to recover. She forced him face down into the grass and wrenched his injured arm up behind his back, holding him there as he struggled for breath with short, weak gasps.

"You're wounded and you've already used a lot of chakra. Give up," Tsunade said.

"Why… did you think I was Hokage?" Kakashi asked, his voice hoarse and faint.

"Never mind that," she said. "Tell me what happened to the ANBU. Why don't they exist anymore?"

"They're all dead. They were–" He cut off when quick movement in the grass caught his eye. A small snake was darting toward him and Kakashi tried to escape but Tsunade instinctively tightened her hold against his struggles. A sharp, short hiss cut through the air as the snake made its strike, fangs sinking deep into Kakashi's neck.

Tsunade could see the effects immediately. His breathing became uneven and sweat gathered on his face, his skin quickly loosing color. Tsunade's fingers moved to Kakashi's wrist without conscious thought and she felt a rapid pulse under his already fevered skin. When she glanced back to his face, she realized he had passed out with his eyes open.

Tsunade quickly stood and took a few steps back, watching the snake crawl slowly over its victim and coil itself on Kakashi's back as though staking a claim.

Orochimaru came to Tsunade's side and the snake suddenly vanished in a white cloud. "Are you finished here?" he asked casually.

"How long does it take?" she said, still watching Kakashi.

"Maybe half a day."

Tsunade nodded and started walking. I'm sure someone will find him before then. "There's one more place we have to go." Orochimaru followed her, about to object but Tsunade cut him off. "We need to know who the Hokage is… and why Jiraiya lied to us."

"If you're going to insist on this," Orochimaru started irritably, knowing that she would. "We need to at least make you less noticeable." He grabbed her arm, stopping her before she could leave the training grounds. "This disguise will only make you a target now." He helped her remove the armor then went to pick up the discarded cloak.

"You were listening then," she murmured. "From the start?"

"Of course," he answered.

"Hm." Tsunade watched as Orochimaru piled the pieces of her ANBU disguise together and performed a quick fire-style technique to destroy them. The flames burned low and thick, producing dark smoke that rose up and streaked the pale grey sky like ashes brushed across a hearth. It would draw attention quickly. She looked at Orochimaru carefully but could not read his intentions.

"We should hurry," was all he said, and it only deepened her curiosity. He obviously knew his actions had given away their position, and destroying the ANBU disguise was not truly necessary, so why had he done it? He took off running without explanation and Tsunade immediately followed. Her curiosity could wait. It had not made her forget her other concerns.