Okami
Our next few missions went along without incident, even though some of them were outside of the village. Then we received a mission to the village hidden in the sand.
Traveling there wasn't difficult. It took us a few days, and my new camping gear proved to be effective. I had the strange sense that someone or something was watching us, but sensei didn't say anything about it, which meant either they were friendly or he was waiting for them to act.
The sense of being followed faded as we left the forest, and I felt my chakra levels suddenly drop as we moved into the desert. I stumbled, but sensei was fast enough to catch me before I could fall.
"What's wrong?" he asked.
I told him, "My chakra levels fell. I don't know why. It feels strange."
Sensei helped me get my feet under myself again, then lifted his headband so he could look at me with his sharingan.
"The green chakra in you has faded quite a bit," he informed me, "Whatever gave it to you, you're outside of its influence, so it can't keep you full all the time. I doubt this chakra will refill naturally. You might never be able to regain it outside of the forest."
I nodded a little to show I understood, and we ran to within a day's travel of the village hidden in the sand, where we made camp only a little way off the road, not expecting any attacks, but still having a schedule to keep watch.
My watch was around midnight, and I was shocked to see a pack of wolves approaching the camp. I attempted a genjutsu to keep them away from the camp, but they ignored it and walked right up to me.
The largest wolf in the pack looked up at me and said, "We are sorry for the delay, pup." My chakra levels immediately rose again, but it felt different, as if desert wolves had different chakra than the forest ones.
"It's not an issue," I assured the alpha, bowing low as a sign of respect.
The alpha leaped at me, pinning me under his weight, and I wondered why sensei hadn't woken up yet.
"You are not under me, little pup," the alpha growled, "and you should not show your belly or attempt to preserve my honor. Honor your alpha, not me."
I replied, "I am sorry, I do not fully understand the ways of our people." Our felt better than your in this situation for some reason.
"You will learn quickly when you are with your alpha's pack," the wolf offered, removing himself from me.
"The chakra you gave me feels different," I remarked, "Will it be like this every time I meet a new pack?"
The wolf explained, "Wolves live in many lands, and those lands cause us to develop different traits. My pack hunts in the desert, while yours hunts in the forest. There are packs that hunt in the mountains and many other places I know nothing of. It is the land that gives us different chakra," he didn't seem to like that word, and I suspected they had a different word for the power, "That is why you sense the difference in the power. While you are here, your chakra will be like ours. Once you return to the forest, your pack will return you to their power. If you enter the mountains or one of the other lands, you will be gifted a different type."
"Thank you for your lesson," I told the alpha.
"Your power lets you protect your pack," the alpha replied, "I would not deny you of it." The wolf pack left then, going off to hunt down its prey or back to its den to sleep. I didn't know if they were nocturnal or not.
Shikadai came out of his tent cautiously and remarked, "You'll have to wait for a pack to track you down every time we change environments."
"And there won't be packs in the marshlands. I'll be at my weakest there," I remarked.
"You should tell Sensei about the wolf boss and about what the packs told you," Shikadai said, "The Hatake clan had the contract with the wolf boss for many generations. It was shortly before they joined the village that it was given to another."
I agreed, "I will. I just wonder what the different chakra will mean. Konoha nin often have an affinity for plant based jutsu, although the Uchiha is focused more in fire. The fire must have stayed, but I imagine the plant affinity would have shifted to a sand affinity. Sensei knows jutsu from more lands than anyone, since his sharingan lets him copy the moves of others. He might be my best bet for learning how to use these different types of chakra."
"You'll have to travel from land to land if you truly want to learn them all," Shikadai pointed out.
"But there's no time for that now," I complained, "When I'm a jonin, I might be able to learn to use more chakra types, but for now I need to focus on the ones I'll have the most."
Shikadai asked, "Why didn't sensei wake up?"
"You're part of my pack," I pointed out quietly, "Sensei has a pack of his own."
Shikadai took over the rest of my watch, so I could sleep and let my body become accustomed to the new chakra.
In the morning, sensei examined me with his sharingan again.
"What happened?" he inquired.
I explained what had happened with the wolf boss originally and what had happened with the pack the night before.
He remarked, "You probably won't be able to use several of the jutsu you learned in training. Focus on taijutsu and genjutsu on this mission."
"Yes, sensei," I agreed.
"If we have any down time, I'll show you the few sand jutsu I know," sensei offered, "If you have to use a ninjutsu, try to make sure it's one of your clan's."
I nodded, and we continued towards the village hidden in the sand.
It was very different from Konoha, which was to be expected. As the wolves had said, landscape affected how you lived.
We were met at the gate by a team of ninja fairly close to us in age.
"Cousin Nara," one of them greeted coldly. He had a puppet strapped to his back, and he looked angry. I had forgotten that Shikadai's mother was a sand nin originally.
Kakashi-sensei and the other sensei talked for a couple of minutes, while Shikadai lazily ignored his cousin, and I hovered between sensei and Shikadai, not really sure what to do with myself. We were here to give a scroll to the Kazekage and then take another scroll that he would give us home to the Hokage. Neither of the scrolls were overly sensitive, but I doubted we would have gotten the mission if our sensei was anything less than an S ranked ninja.
Finally, we were led into the village towards the Kazekage's tower.
The village was large, and I liked the logic of its layout. A few people looked at us kind of funny, especially when they saw the Uchiha fan on the back of my shirt. I ignored them, not really caring what this village's opinion of my clan was.
We arrived at the tower, but were still escorted to the Kazekage's office, although we were kept waiting outside of it for a solid twenty minutes. Just as Shikadai was about to doze off, a couple of ninja barged out of the office.
One of them glared at me hard, but I met their gaze, remembering what the alpha wolf had told me. These men weren't pack, nor were they ranked high enough for me to offer them respect. The man demanded, "What are you looking at?"
A sign from Kakashi-sensei made me keep my mouth shut.
"You Uchiha are all the same," the man remarked, "No respect for those above you."
I felt the fire inside of me start to rise, and again the wolf chakra only made it burn hotter. It took everything I had to restrain myself from lashing out.
"I'd be careful how you talk to that one. Can't you see his face? He's probably heir to the Uchiha clan. Besides, Hatake Kakashi won't let you hurt the kid, even if he'll let you insult his clan," the other sensei warned.
The man seemed to only notice Kakashi-sensei then. He blanched then quickly left the room.
I breathed deeply, and with the man gone the anger slowly faded.
We were allowed to enter the Kazekage's office then, and Kakashi-sensei turned over the scroll to the man in robes very similar to the Hokage's robes, although the robes were a different color. The Kazekage reviewed the scroll, but then he looked at the three of us, his eyes lingering on me the longest.
The Kazekage inquired, "Hatake, why does your student have sand affinity?"
"We don't know who the mother is," Kakashi-sensei offered with a shrug, and I focused on my shoes so I didn't feel like attempting to beat a ninja that could clearly defeat me. It was the best answer that could be given without revealing everything about the wolf boss, but that didn't mean I had to like it.
"Uchiha don't have split affinity," the Kazekage stated, "How does he have sand affinity?"
Kakshi-sensei stated, his voice taking on an edge as he pointedly looked around the room, "We don't know who the mother is." It was obvious to me that he was pointing out the fact that this wasn't a secret he would reveal with others nearby, or likely in Sunagakure at all.
The Kazekage let the subject drop.
"Return in three days, and I'll have the scroll for your return trip," the Kazekage offered.
Kakashi-sensei dipped his head, and Shikadai and I followed his example. Three days to learn to use sand chakra and then lose it to the forest of my home again.
We left the Kazekage's office then, but the Kazekage's assistant stopped us before we could leave the building. She offered, "Kankuro-san requested that you join his team on training ground 32. I'm sure a shinobi of your talents can find it, Hatake-san, but if you'd like, I can give you directions."
"That would be nice," Kakashi-sensei agreed.
She spouted out directions with landmarks and things, but I was more worried at the intense gaze I suddenly felt on me. Maybe I wouldn't have three days to learn how to use sand chakra. If this was supposed to stay secret, I would only have the trip back to try to learn as much as I could from sensei. After all, if there were spies, inevitably some would be from Konoha. There were some people there that couldn't be allowed to know about this.
Kakashi-sensei led the way through the town, reading his book but somehow following the secretary's directions perfectly anyway.
The training ground was surprisingly far out of town, and even Shikadai and I could sense the wards around the place to protect it from eaves droppers and intruders. We were allowed through them specifically, although the wolf chakra tingled a little like the wards weren't sure what to do with it.
Kankuro-san, apparently the name of the other sensei, didn't have his students with him anymore. He asked, "What's with the Uchiha? Our guards protected you the minute you crossed the border, but they all passed out the second night, and when they woke up he had sand affinity instead of plant affinity."
"Has this information been leaked at any point?" Kakashi-sensei demanded.
"No, we've been careful. It would have been weird if Gaara didn't say anything to you about it," Kankuro-san informed him, "Why are you so worried?"
Kakashi-sensei informed him, "The Uchiha have many enemies. Okami has even more because of his heritage."
"Is it really from his mother?" Kankuro-san inquired.
"No," Kakashi-sensei replied, "but that will be the public story. It's the best we can do on short notice."
Kankuro-san offered, "You have three days here. That's as long as Gaara can give you, but this training ground will be safe from prying eyes. If you want to teach him, this is the best chance you'll have. There's a room for you at a hotel in town. I figured it'd be safer for you there than in the guest house attached to the Kazekage tower. There will be fewer prying eyes."
Kakashi-sensei nodded, and Kankuro-san disappeared.
Three days.
A Couple Weeks Later
The wolves found me faster inside of the forests. It was our first night camping, during my watch again.
"Welcome home, pup," the Alpha offered as I dipped my head slightly in respect.
I told him, "There are still two days left before I reach my den."
"Run safely," the Alpha said, and I felt the chakra transfer, although this one felt more natural than the last had, "If you wait here before you leave our lands, we can make it easier for you to receive the new."
"I'll need yours to protect me until I find the next pack," I informed him.
The Alpha replied, "Then make sure your fangs and claws are sharp when you leave, pup. I know you have experienced it twice, but our power does not like to leave our lands."
"Thank you," I said honestly.
The pack ran off again, and I waited patiently for the end of my watch, even as I felt the eyes return to staring at me.
Sensei materialized suddenly and ordered, "Go to sleep, Okami. I'll keep an eye on things from here."
I went over to my tent, even as I felt Sensei's chakra wash over the clearing we were camping in. He would keep us safe until morning. That, at the very least, was a guarantee.
Kakashi
I summoned Pakkun after making it clear that none of those watching us would want to attempt to grab either of my students. Writing a quick note, I sent him on his way to find Sasuke or Itachi. Either of them would be able to strengthen the wards around Itachi's house. He would need more protection once people realized he was different. Gaara had been right. Uchiha never had split affinities. It was one of the draw backs of the clan, and one of the reasons why I was the only one known as a Copy nin. My split affinity made it easier for me to learn jutsu other than those I had an affinity for. Most Uchiha were stuck to one path.
This Kakashi bit is to show why Kakashi is the only one known as the Copy Nin. Seriously, this is a village that was full of people with the ability to copy other people's moves, yet only Kakashi, who wasn't born with this power, is the Copy Nin. I figured that deserved an explanation.