Chapter 10

Shinobi Diplomacy

Two weeks. It had been two weeks since Kakashi had passed out in front of them, after sharing more than he'd intended, and they still shot looks of pity or fear at him when they thought he wasn't looking. It was all too similar to how he'd been treated in Konoha after his Father's disgrace. But here, he was unable to distance himself from it the way that he had back in the Village. He couldn't just ignore them, or throw himself into missions, or spend countless hours at the training fields. He couldn't even hide behind his mask. Here, he needed to interact with these men and women until they could all figure out a way to keep Daniel safe. Only then would any of them agree to help him find a way home.

Home. It was a concept that Kakashi had never truly put much of his energy into. He'd never had a conventional home in all his life. Sure, he had a roof over his head, but his home-life had consisted of spars with his father in the family dojo since he was three, target practice in the Hatake Compound's private training field, and learning new jutsu anytime he could convince the White Fang to spend more than a moment with him in between the man's grueling missions. And after his father's death, he'd never had what he'd consider a home. It was more of a place he went to sleep and clean his weapons between his own missions.

To Kakashi, home was never more than a label placed on his Village of Konoha to show others around him that he had been born into his shinobi life at that particular geographical location. He was a tool of that village, and until now he had been at peace with that definition. But watching the members of the SGC interact over the past weeks made him realize something that he'd never been willing to admit before...even to himself. He actually missed Konoha. Not just the place, but those people within it that had somehow managed to worm their way into his heart.

Kakashi, for the first time in his life, was homesick.

"A penny for your thoughts." Daniel's voice pulled him out of his revelation.

"I know that I'm new to your currency, but I'm thinking that my thoughts might have a bit more value than a penny."

A small frown spread across Daniel's lips. "It's just a common phrase here on Earth used to try and get someone to share their thoughts."

Kakashi smirked at the man. "You don't say?"

A light blush colored the man's cheeks and he rubbed at the side of his neck. "Sorry about that. Explaining the obvious sort of comes with my job. But still, I am curious to know just what you were thinking about."

He raised one eyebrow at that comment. "What makes you think I was thinking about something?"

It was Daniel's turn to smirk. "It might have had something to do with the fact that you've been reading the same page for the past twenty minutes. And considering I wrote that book, I know that there's nothing that interesting between the covers."

Kakashi snapped the book shut with practiced ease. "I wouldn't say that, Daniel. Your theory on the Great Pyramids being built and inhabited by aliens turned out to be true, after all. And this book provided the perfect starting point for the theories you listed out in your journals regarding the origin of the Egyptian language."

"My journals?" The man looked a bit shocked. "You've already started to read my journals?"

"You did say that I could do so. Although I will admit that much of it sounded more like a fantasy novel than a scientific journal, especially when you detailed some of the more...unique...missions that you've gone on. If you ever were to publish these back where I come from, you'd give Jiraiya a run for his money."

"Jiraiya?"

"He was the author of a series of books that had quite the following in the Five Great Countries." Kakashi frowned as he handed Daniel the book. "Unfortunately he was killed before he could finish the series."

"Killed? Why would anyone kill an author?"

Kakashi couldn't help but smile at that. "Writing was Jiraiya's passion, but his duty was as a shinobi of Konoha. He was a Sannin; the highest rank aside from Hokage. He gave his life in order to supply the Village with the information that we'd needed to eliminate our biggest threat at that time."

"At least you can continue to remember him every time you read his books. And each new generation will know him too. That's something, isn't it?"

A smirk pulled at Kakashi's lips. "Of course, those new generations will need to wait until they are old enough to read them."

Daniel looked confused. "Are you saying that you don't teach your children to read at a young age?"

The smirk stretched into something closer to a leer. "I'm saying that no one under a certain age can buy the type of book Master Jiraiya was famous for."

He watched the confused look on Daniel's face turn into one of understanding a fraction of a moment before it shifted to one of absolute horror. "Kakashi, are you actually comparing my writing to that of a porn writer?"

A full-bellied laugh escaped Kakashi's throat before he could stop it. He held his hands up in a placating manner when he saw a flash of anger behind the man's wire-rimmed glasses. "I simply meant that you both have a knack for keeping the reader interested from the first page to the last page."

The angry look slowly morphed into a glare. "I don't suppose you have a copy so that I can see for myself?"

That wiped the smile off Kakashi's face. "Unfortunately Resheph's Jaffa took it from me when we were captured. It was a personally signed copy, too."

"It sounds like Jiraiya meant more to you than just being an author."

Kakashi let loose a sigh. "He was my Sensei's sensei, and best friend to my father. I learned a lot from the old man."

Daniel seemed to sense that he was entering into a forbidden topic, and Kakashi was grateful when he changed the subject. "The others want us to meet up in the briefing room as soon as possible. They have new information on the whereabouts of Madara and Sasuke."

Those words were enough to pull everything back into focus. Kakashi nodded his understanding and started toward where he knew the others were gathering. He shoved his hands deep into the pockets of his borrowed pants even as he heard Daniel fall into step beside him. They remained silent during their walk, each deep in their own thoughts about just what might be revealed.

Daniel pulled open the door to the briefing room, and the wave of shouting that met them made him cringe. He and Kakashi moved into the room just in time to see Jack being physically pulled back by Teal'c and Sam.

Across the table, Jacob and Martouf were helping Aldwin up from off the floor. The bright red shade of the Tok'ra's swollen cheek made it crystal clear that Jack had let his fists do the talking. What was surprising to Daniel was the fact that General Hammond and Major Davis weren't busy trying to apologize for the action. In fact, the two men seemed nearly as angry as Jack was.

Daniel had a bad feeling about this. So when Kakashi suddenly sneezed, and every head in the room turned toward them, it was clear that he and his silver-haired friend were likely the topic that had led to whatever the hell this was.

Jack, as usual, summed everything up in a way that only he could. "Daniel, tell these damned snakes that it'll be a cold day in Hell before we'd let them take you away! For Pete's sake, we only just got you back! There's no way you're going anywhere with these...these...Tok'ra!"

Jack had spit their race's name out like a curse, and just like that, all Hell broke loose again. Daniel and Kakashi pulled the door closed and simply watched as the two sides of the table seemed desperate to out-shout each other. At one point, even General Hammond lost his normal cool attitude and threatened to pull any and all SG teams from missions meant to help the Tok'ra/Earth alliance.

It was at that point that Daniel noticed that Kakashi was no longer standing next to him. Just as he started to wonder where the man had gone, the entire room became eerily silent. He shifted his eyes back toward the table and was shocked to see every person sitting in their chairs, bound and gagged, while Kakashi sat cross-legged in the middle of the table with his elbow on his knee and his chin resting on his palm.

"How do you people manage to get anything at all accomplished around here?"

Daniel ran a hand across his brow. "Kakashi, untie them."

"And just why would I do that?"

"How about because these are pretty much the only people who might manage to figure out a way to get you home? Is that a good enough reason?"

The sound of Jack cursing up a blue streak from behind his gag made Daniel rethink what he'd just said. "Okay, so maybe not all of them have helping you in mind. But if you really want to learn just what the Tok'ra found out, you'll need to remove the gag from at least some of them."

Kakashi closed his visible eye and moved his fingertips up to rub at his temple. This was something that Daniel had noticed the man do more and more often since he pulled the Tok'ra disc off mid-memory. But when the man opened his eye once more, the hint of pain within that dark depth was pushed aside by a look of determination.

"Pick two, Daniel."

The hard look in the shinobi's eye made it clear that the numbers weren't up for discussion. After a moment of careful deliberation, Daniel walked over to the Tok'ra side of the table. He decided the best bet would be Aldwin. The man wasn't quite as abrasive as Breanar, and was more focused than Martouf. And, unlike Jacob, he wouldn't be thought to be siding with the humans. Besides, considering Aldwin had been on the receiving end of Jack's fist, it was highly likely that he was the one who said whatever it was that set the Colonel off in the first place.

He removed the gag, but at a stern look from Kakashi, he left the man tied up. Aldwin made no move to speak, and his eyes remained fixed on the shinobi that was still seated in the middle of the conference table. Daniel sighed and glanced at the other side of that table. He could see that Jack was eager to be selected, but considering his idea of diplomacy is what resulted in this mess in the first place, he most definitely wasn't being picked. Which meant he needed to choose between the General, Major Davis, Teal'c, and Sam.

"Wheel Major Carter's chair over to Aldwin's, please."

Daniel looked back at the silver-haired man and frowned. The choice was obviously not his to make after all. "What are you thinking, Kakashi?"

"What, no offer of a penny this time?"

"Kakashi..."

"Fine." The man sighed and jumped off the table to land just behind Aldwin. "I'd rather do this in one jutsu, so please bring Major Carter over here."

Daniel saw a look of concern on Sam's face and he tried to smile reassuringly to her. But by the squeak she'd let out from behind her gag when he started to push the chair, it was clear that he had failed. Still, he couldn't help but wonder about what Kakashi had in mind, and he found himself almost excited.

The moment he had rolled Sam's chair over to where he'd been instructed, Kakashi's fingers wove through a series of hand signs. "Place one hand one my shoulder, and the other on Major Carter's."

Even as Daniel did as he was told, Kakashi placed one of his own hands on Aldwin's shoulder and used his free hand to create a sign that he'd seen a few times by now. He readied himself for the wave of nausea that he knew would accompany the teleportation jutsu that his friend was about to perform. He would have apologized to General Hammond if he'd had the time, but the moment that Kakashi finished with his last hand-sign, the smoke rose, and that lurching tug made him glad he'd skipped lunch today.

When the smoke cleared, they were standing in the middle of a field, and it took him more than a minute to truly realize that Kakashi had actually teleported them outside of the SGC all together. Daniel shook his head at the thought of just how he was going to explain this one to the General without landing them both in maximum security cells. He turned toward where Kakashi was standing with his eyes closed and his face tipped up at the sun.

"You do understand that this won't be taken very well, right?"

Kakashi sighed and turned to face him. "True, but I was getting a bit sick of living underground."

Daniel chuckled and shook his head. He really couldn't blame the man. Even after all the years he'd been a part of the SGC, he still found himself missing the outdoors. But, if Kakashi was longing for the sun, he could have always asked to be brought outside. Surely the elevator ride would have been less taxing on the shinobi than this multi-person teleport had been.

He moved over to where Sam and Aldwin were still bound to their chairs. Although Sam seemed to be taking it all in stride, the Tok'ra seemed somewhat disturbed by the entire situation. Daniel had to admit that a small part of him was almost glad to see the almost human reaction in the host, and thought that perhaps this might work out after all. Of course that hope quickly left the moment the Tok'ra spoke.

"Doctor Jackson, does this man understand that what he has done goes against the treaty of alliance between our races? Did he really mean to start a war?"

"Aldwin, I'm sure Kakashi never intended for that to be the result of this impromptu meeting."

The silver-haired man looked up from where he was currently released Sam's bindings. "I don't know, Daniel. Do you think it might get those people to agree on a course of action?"

He released a frustrated breath. "You're not helping."

Kakashi shrugged. "Then how about this? Aldwin, my actions are my own, and as I am not a member of this alliance that you speak of, my actions can not be taken as an act of war from the SGC."

Sam walked over to help untie Aldwin. "He does have a point. Besides, we were getting absolutely nowhere in that meeting."

Aldwin looked like he was about to argue that fact, but instead he shook his head slightly. "You do have a point, Major Carter. But what can we do about it out here?"

Daniel motioned over to where Kakashi was already sitting on the grass and watching their every move. "I suggest we have a seat, and then you two can tell us just how bad a plan it is that wound up in Aldwin being introduced to Jack's idea of diplomacy."

After a moment of silence, the two 'captives' made their way to where he'd pointed, and after another hesitant moment, they began to explain just what the Tok'ra and the SGC were discussing. With luck, Kakashi's reaction wouldn't be as violent as Jack's had been, because Daniel had seen the power behind the shinobi's punches, and Aldwin would never survive it.

Iruka watched Naruto pace back and forth outside the temporary shelter where the Hokage was currently meeting with two squads of ANBU. He'd tried his best to remain a calming influence over the younger man, but after twenty straight minutes of this, Iruka had finally reached his limit. So, when Naruto passed by him for what felt like the thousandth time, he grabbed a firm hold of the black and orange jacket and pulled him down to sit on the bench beside him.

It only took a moment for the boy to shake off his surprise and glare over at him. "What'dya do that for, Iruka-sensei?"

"The Village is going to have a hard enough time recovering from the War without you adding to the damage."

At the blatant look of confusion on Naruto's face, Iruka placed a stern look on his face and pointed down at the hard-packed dirt that was the innocent victim of the boy's nervous energy. Sure enough, there was a good section of the area that was now quite a bit lower than the ground surrounding it.

Naruto wisely looked ashamed, but then he scratched at his ear with a goofy grin splayed across his face. "Do you think that Granny-Tsunade might want a koi pond?"

Iruka found himself chuckling at the boy's comment. It was during moments like this that it became crystal clear that Naruto had trained under Kakashi and Jiraiya. Only those two shinobi would ever try to find a purpose for the deep rut formed by pacing, rather than apologize or admit that they were actually worried about something. But before Iruka could comment on it, the Hokage's voice cut through the air.

"Get in here, Uzumaki! You too, Iruka."

The tone of her voice put a frown on both of their faces. She sounded angry...which didn't bode well for them at all. The only bright side that Iruka could come up with was the fact that if she decided to throw one or the other of them out of the office, that at least they were in a single story unit. He could still remember a few times that Lady Tsunade had gotten her point across by tossing errant shinobi out the window of her office at the top of the old Hokage Tower.

The moment they entered the temporary office, the somber mood hit them like a wall. Iruka swallowed the lump that was in his throat before moving to bow respectfully in front of the Hokage. By the time he'd stood back up, Naruto was already standing at the edge of her desk. His arms were crossed in a way that was far removed from the respect that was due to a Hokage, and Iruka couldn't hold back the cringe when the young man spoke.

"What the hell took you so long, Granny-Tsunade?"

Surprisingly, the Hokage merely sighed and propped her chin up on her fist. "What do you think took me so long, Kid? I needed to weed through their reports to make certain they didn't miss anything."

There was a moment of silence after her statement. Then Naruto unfolded his arms and leaned on the edge of her desk. "Well, did they?"

Iruka stepped forward and slapped the back of Naruto's head in a fluid motion born of thousands of such moves over the years. "Naruto! Stop being so rude! I'm sure the Hokage will tell us if she feels we need to know."

The Genin reached up and rubbed his unruly blond hair. "Ouch! What was that for?"

Iruka sighed in exasperation and turned his attention toward the Hokage. "Forgive his lack of manners, Lady Tsunade. Sometimes I think he was raised by wolves."

A soft chuckle came from the Hokage. "You forget, Iruka-sensei. After you did your best to instill proper etiquette into that thick skull of his, he was taught by two of my most irreverent shinobi. I think we should all just be happy he hasn't picked up some of their other habits."

Iruka smiled at the thought of Naruto entering through windows or going to the bath house for 'research.' Still, that didn't really excuse his behavior. But if the Hokage was okay with it, then who was he to say otherwise.

Meanwhile, Naruto was glaring between the two of them. "You do realize I'm still in the room, right?"

Tsunade sat back in her chair, and there was a look of sadness in her golden eyes. "After an extensive search of the battlefield and the surrounding area going out to well beyond the edges of Fire Country's borders, the ANBU have reported no signs of Kakashi Hatake, either living or dead."

Iruka gasped at the bluntness of her words, and saw by the way Naruto's hands clenched into fists that the news wasn't being taken too well. But Tsunade wasn't finished quite yet.

"In addition, I have received detailed reports from the other Kage stating similar results in each of their lands."

That caught Iruka's attention. "Excuse me, Hokage. But did you just say that the other Kage ordered similar searches for Kakashi in their own countries?"

He watched a sad smile pulled at her lips. "When I informed the countries bordering Fire about what we were doing, and why, word got back to every country that was a part of the Allied Forces. Each and every one of them demanded to perform their own searches to overlap ours."

Iruka turned toward where Naruto was standing, and saw his head was lowered and his body was very nearly shaking. A single word, barely above a whisper, came from the genin's lips.

"No..."

The Hokage pushed air through her teeth. "Dammit, Naruto, you know what this means. Don't make me spell it out."

Again, that single word came. But this time Iruka could hear the tears choking the boy. "No..."

Seeing the Hokage was beginning to lose hold of her limited patience, Iruka tried to intervene. "Naruto, be reasonable..."

That managed to get a reaction. "Reasonable?" Naruto raised his head and shot a look of betrayal at him. "I thought you believed me, Iruka-sensei?"

"I do, Naruto...always. But if your theory was true, don't you think that at least one of the teams would have found some sign of Kakashi-sensei by now?"

"Listen to Iruka, Kid. He's right. It's time to accept that Kakashi's gone."

He watched in silence as Naruto took a deep breath and closed his eyes. At first, Iruka worried that the tell-tale signs of the Kyuubi would start to appear. But it was the eyes of the Sage that stared back at him when those eyelids opened. And when Naruto spoke, his words held a confidence that he'd never heard from him before.

"I'm sorry, Granny-Tsunade, but I can't accept it. You forget that, thanks to Pein, I've actually felt what it's like when Kakashi-sensei is dead."

Iruka heard Tsunade's pained gasp and he turned toward her. The woman's eyes were brimming with tears. "How dare you! You weren't the only one to know what that felt like. But that does nothing to prove that the Brat's alive!"

An uncomfortable silence filled the room as the Hokage and the genin faced off. But something about what Naruto said stuck with Iruka. And after a few tense minutes, everything finally clicked in place.

"Naruto, are you saying that you can feel Kakashi-sensei somewhere out there?"

"Not exactly. But I am saying that I don't feel like I did when he was dead last time. While I'm in Sage-mode I can feel everyone around me...you, Granny-Tsunade, heck, even old-man Teuchi. But when I search for Kakashi-sensei's essence, well...it's kinda hard to explain."

Iruka felt the first true spark of hope since the end of the War. "Try, Naruto. Can you tell where Kakashi-sensei is?"

A frustrated sigh led into the answer to his question. "I know he's alive. But when I try to figure out where he is it gets, I don't know, weird. It's almost like he's right here...but somehow not here. I can't make sense of it."

"Here, but not here." At the sound of the Hokage's voice, they both turned back toward her. "That sounds like something Kakashi-sensei would say."

"You're right, Hokage. But what do we do with Naruto's information? How do we track something like that?"

Tsunade started chewing on the side of her nail, which was a well known sign among the Mission Desk crew that their Hokage was coming up with a plan. And after a few more moments, she didn't disappoint him.

"Shizune!" Once the dark-haired aide stuck her head in the doorway the Hokage continued. "Send someone to fetch Inoichi and Shikaku. NOW!"

By the time Iruka turned his attention back toward Naruto, the young man's eyes had returned to the crystal blue they normally were, and there was a wide grin stretched across his face. And just like that, the spark of hope ignited into a full flame.

It took over an hour for one of the SGC personnel to find them in the briefing room and set them free. And in that time, Jack had thought of at least seventeen different ways to choke the life out of that annoying silver-haired menace. Unfortunately, a full-base search for where the bastard and his hostages went turned up nothing.

General Hammond had one of the geeks in the control room verify that Daniel's key-card wasn't used in any of the elevators, and so the search had been concentrated on the confines of the base. But after such an extensive search, it was clear that they had no choice but to expand the search to the outside.

Even then, it had taken another hour before they'd finally found any sign of the elusive pain in the ass. And now they were headed toward where reports claimed the four missing people were sitting in the middle of a field five miles away from the base. And evidentally there was some kind of fight going on.

As they all climbed into the trucks that would bring them there, Jack vowed that he'd kill Daniel the next time he brought home a stray. A low growl escaped his throat at the thought of how much trouble his friend managed to cause without ever trying.

When Teal'c sat on the seat next to him Jack couldn't help but smirk at the sight of the Jaffa's staff weapon. "Does that mean Hammond's authorizing extreme force?"

"O'Neill, you know that this is not the case."

He sighed and looked out the window of the truck. "You can't blame a guy for wishing. Still, if that ass has done anything to harm Carter or Danny I may just forget to keep the safety of my P-90 on."

"I see. Does that mean that you would remain calm if the injury was done to the Tok'ra instead, O'Neill?"

He turned back to face the man. "Was that actually a joke, T?"

The frown on the Jaffa's face made the answer clear even before the words were spoken. "An injured ally is no laughing matter."

Jack rolled his eyes and gazed back out of the window. He was just starting to wonder when the heck they'd get there, when a flash of bright light in the distance caught his attention. A moment later and the trucks pulled over to the side of the road.

With practiced precision, the SGC teams were on their way. They quickly fell into an infiltration formation and crept through the tall grass surrounding where the flash had occurred. Jack felt the heady calm settle over him that he always felt when out in the thick of things, and he quickly took the lead of the teams surrounding him. With a few precise hand signals those teams split off until they had formed a sweeping arc of BDUs amidst the field, using him as the center point.

The farther they went, the thinner the tall grass grew, and the clearer the sounds of a fight could be heard. He signaled the men to hold back at the edge of the field that was opening up in front of them and observe until they knew what they were dealing with. Teal'c settled on the ground next to him, and the two peered out toward where they could finally see two men going at it.

The shock of silver hair was easy enough to spot in the bright sunlight, and it soon became clear that Kakashi was fully engaged in some type of intense hand to hand battle. But at this distance it was impossible to see just who he was fighting. Actually, the way the two were moving reminded Jack of one of those old Bruce Lee movies. Or maybe more like one of those Crouching Dragon flicks where the actors sailed around the screen defying gravity in their epic battles...thanks to the guide-wires they were hanging from.

He watched the Tree-Frog live up to his nickname as he leaped high into the air over his opponent's head, and for the first time since they had reached the edge of the grass, he had a chance for a clear view of just who the other fighter was. Jack pulled his binoculars out and focused in on the scene. What he saw was enough to make him roll his eyes. A quick scan to the right showed him where Carter, Daniel, and the Tok'ra were sitting on the grass chatting as though they were at a picnic.

"Oh, for Pete's sake!" He pushed himself up to standing and slung his weapon to the side before addressing the rest of the teams. "Stand down, folks. Looks like the only thing any of them are in danger of is a sunburn."

Teal'c raised an eyebrow at him. " Are they not fighting an enemy, O'Neill?"

"Not this time, T. It's just another one of those clones of his." Jack turned back toward the troops. "We'll wrap it up here. Get back to the base and let the General know we're on our way."

The lieutenant standing in front of him nodded once and started rounding up the others to head out. Meanwhile, Jack turned back toward Teal'c and sighed.

"Let's go break up the tea party."

They started walking toward the trio sitting on the grass and were soon close enough to see the look of surprise on their faces. Jack was fully intending to give Daniel more than a piece of his mind this time, when all hell broke loose. The ground around them shook with the force of an explosion, nearly knocking him and Teal'c to the ground. Jack looked up when he heard Carter's shout of fear, and as the hairs on the back of his neck rose, he spun on his heel to face where Kakashi had been continuing to fight himself.

Heading straight toward them was a fire-ball the size of a small moon. It came rolling across the ground low enough that, even if they flattened themselves and ate the dirt, they'd still get hit. And considering he and Teal'c couldn't propel themselves into the air like a certain Tree-frog he knew, it was a pretty good bet that they were about to be in a world of hurt.

Recognizing there'd be no getting out of the way this time, Jack crouched against the ground and curled into a fetal position, hoping to lessen the damage that was about to happen. He was only partially comforted by the fact that Teal'c was in a similar position at his side. The heat wave proceeding the ball of fire rolled over them, wicking away every drop of moisture in the air, but to Jack's surprise, he never felt the fire on his skin. Instead, the hiss of steam surrounded them.

He dared to open one eye, and was greeted by the sight of billowing clouds of white. His mind was still trying to figure out just what the heck happened, when he felt himself being lifted off the ground and back out where the air was clear. Before he'd managed to do more than take a deep breath of the clean air, Carter was at his side.

"Colonel! Are you alright?"

Jack smiled a bit at how concerned she sounded. "I'm fine, Carter. And at least now I know what a lobster feels like."

She returned his smile and then turned her attention to where Daniel was checking Teal'c over. Jack, meanwhile, was still trying to piece together just what the hell had happened to them. He turned back toward where he'd seen the flaming ball of death careening toward them and he frowned. Standing directly in his path was the Tree-frog.

The man was rubbing at the back of his neck. "Sorry about that, Colonel. I'm afraid I didn't expect anyone to be crossing the field while I was practicing."

"Practicing? For what? Long-range barbequing?" He motioned toward Teal'c with a wave of a hand. "You nearly killed us!"

Daniel chuckled from behind him. "To be fair, Jack, Kakashi was able to counter the jutsu before it reached you."

He spun around to face the archaeologist with a glare. "You have got to be kidding me! Fair? You people shouldn't even be out here!" Jack redirected his anger toward the silver-haired freak. "Do you have any idea how much paperwork your little stunt has caused? And what the hell were you thinking when you kidnapped Carter and the Tok'ra?"

Kakashi lowered his arm and shoved his hands into his pockets. "His name is Aldwin."

Jack couldn't believe the gall of this guy. "I know what his name is. That isn't the point! What were you thinking?"

The man sighed. "I was thinking that perhaps everyone in that meeting needed a chance to regroup."

"So you left us tied up like packages while you and those three had a little alone time? Well isn't that just special."

Teal'c chose that moment to join the conversation, which was probably a good thing, as Jack was seriously thinking about following through with his original plan off taking the safety off of his P-90.

"How is it that you were able to destroy the ball of fire?"

"The same way anyone would destroy fire." The man turned one hand palm-side up. A moment later, and a spiral of water grew out of thin air and danced across his fingers. "I threw water on it."

Daniel, Carter and the Tok'ra were all gathered around the freak-fountain, oohing and aahing over the little tricks he was doing with the water. Soon, even Teal'c was caught up in the magic show. Jack scowled at how quickly he was abandoned.

"Okay, kids. Fun time's over. Let's head back to the SGC before General Hammond declares us all AWOL."

Without waiting for a response, he starting walking toward where he knew that at least one of the trucks was still waiting for them. He reached up to where his radio was clipped to his jacket and flipped the thing on.

"Base...this is O'Neill. We're heading back."

"Roger that. You're to bring Aldwin, Dr. Jackson, and General Hatake to the Debarkation Room ASAP."

Before he could reply one way or another, General Hammond's voice came over the radio. "That's an order, Colonel O'Neill. Am I clear?"

Jack sighed and depressed the radio button. "Understood."

It sounded like the Tok'ra were getting their way after all. It was times like this that he truly wished he'd stayed retired.

Kakashi followed silently behind the rest of the group. He still couldn't believe how he'd nearly fried the Colonel and Teal'c. But that accident reenforced what he'd already figured out...that he was in need of more regular intense training than what he'd been able to do in the confines of the SGC. Aside from a few hand to hand spars with his clones, the underground base limited what he was truly able to try.

Still, he should have been more aware while out in the field. It wasn't like the Colonel had been hiding his presence, after all. A freshly graduated genin would have been able to sense the man long before he'd stepped out into the open. And Kakashi was as far removed from being a genin as one could get these days. Hell, he'd nearly been appointed Hokage! He should have sensed their approach from the moment they left the mountain complex!

Sure, he could blame it on the fact that these people held barely a sliver of the chakra of a shinobi. But he'd never had a problem sensing civilians back home. This was just laziness on his part, and he wouldn't allow it to happen again.

Placing himself into the state of casual awareness that he'd use between missions back in Konoha, Kakashi allowed his senses to register every living thing around him. This ability had saved his life more than once over the long years since Obito's eye had needed to be covered, and at the moment, it made it all the more clear how lax he'd been since waking up in this dimension.

Everywhere they walked on their journey through the maze of corridors within the SGC, Kakashi could feel hundreds of men and women going about their daily duties all around them. He frowned to himself. Had it always been this active within the base?

He shook that thought out of his head and paid closer attention to where they were headed. Rather than going back to the briefing room which he'd disappeared from, they seemed to be heading straight for the Gate Room. Which meant one of two things; either the Tok'ra were upset enough to leave outright, or they had somehow managed to convince General Hammond that the wise thing to do to avoid breaking their farce of a treaty would be to relinquish him and Daniel to their 'care.'

Kakashi glanced over to where the archaeologist was walking next to him and sighed. By the tense set of the man's shoulders, it was likely that he'd come to the same conclusions. The question was, what could they do about it?

It wasn't in Daniel's nature to go against the General's orders, even though he was quite fond of pointing out that he was not a member of the military service. And Kakashi still hadn't been able to find the information he needed to leave through the Stargate on his own. It wasn't that he couldn't work the dialing program, because he could. The problem lay in the fact that he hadn't managed to find out which Gate addresses would lead him to hospitable worlds, and which ones led to some of the nastier things in the universe.

After reading Daniel's journals it was quite clear that he shouldn't just pick an address at random. After all, the last thing he needed was to step out of the Gate and into a burning inferno of a volcanic planet, or worse. So, if push came to shove, he and Daniel would end up going with the Tok'ra. And then, when they'd reached their next destination, the two of them would work together to figure it all out.

Two more turns down corridors brought them to the doorway leading into the Embarkation Room, and Kakashi felt his nerves come alive. As they stepped into the room, every eye turned toward them. Those of the Tok'ra seemed to glare the hardest, and Kakashi schooled his features into his usual half-asleep facade. Meanwhile, Daniel seemed to shift nervously with each step they took across the room.

Before anyone could say anything to defend Kakashi's actions, Breanar took one step forward and leveled an icy stare at their group. "I trust your insolent actions are finished, General Hatake?"

A lop-sided grin twitched to life on his lips before he could stop it, which in turn made the Tok'ra glare all the more. "Mah...I'm sure I don't know what you're referring to."

Kakashi heard the chuckle from Jack's throat, and he knew that, no matter how much the man hated him, the Colonel held even more hatred for the Tok'ra. Predictably, Daniel tried to play the mediator before things got too far out of hand.

"I'm sure that what Kakashi meant to say was that he was unaware that he was doing anything wrong."

Breanar's eyes narrowed a bit more before she nodded once. "We accept the apology, but we've wasted more than enough time here. You and that man are to leave with us now."

Kakashi tensed at those words, even though he'd expected the woman to play such a card. "And if we refuse?"

Martouf stepped forward with a frown on his face. "Please do not refuse. To do so would make this world our enemy and negate the Alliance altogether."

Kakashi hated being stuck in the middle of these people's politics, and wanted nothing more than to tell the Tok'ra where they could shove their demands. But instead he bit back his preferred retort and chose his words carefully.

"Although Aldwin and I have already discussed the futility of your plan, it is quite clear to me now that I kidnapped the wrong Tok'ra. If Daniel chooses to go with you, I will have no choice but to follow him."

Daniel cleared his throat a bit before speaking. "General Hammond?"

The older man sighed. "I'm afraid that the Tok'ra's plan has been agreed to by Washington, son. For now, you'll need to accompany the Tok'ra."

As Kakashi had predicted, Daniel graciously accepted the man's order and lowered his head in defeat. Breanar proceeded to puff up a bit with her success, and she turned to face the stone ring that dominated the room. Without another word, the dialing sequence was started, and various symbols started to glow as they were selected.

After the fourth symbol was accepted, the room shook as the ring spun quicker than it had before. Different symbols overwrote those that had already been dialed. Everyone in the room seemed to tense when the voice came over the speakers stating the obvious.

"Unauthorized off-world activation!"

Everyone scrambled out of the way as the final symbol activated and the wormhole leaped into life, filling the stone ring with its shimmering energy. Kakashi watched General Hammond make a sharp motion with his hand that could be seen by the techs in the control room. The voice came over the speakers once more.

"Closing iris!"

A moment later, and the spiral of metal that sealed off the event horizon settled into place, removing the light cast from the wormhole, and making the room seem darker than it was. For several seconds after that, no one spoke. So when a deep voice came from beyond the wormhole, several people in the room took a step back. Kakashi, however, growled low in his throat when he recognized the voice all too well.

"Surrender what is mine...or face my wrath!"

General Hammond walked over to the wall and pushed one of the many switches. When he spoke, it was clear that he was transmitting back through the wormhole.

"This is General George Hammond of Stargate Command. You have no authority to make demands..."

Before the man could say any more, there was a slight disturbance within the lower portion of the iris. Kakashi recognized what was happening even before he opened his sharingan eye to confirm it. Cursing out loud, he moved over to where he'd be positioned between Daniel and the gate just as Madara Uchiha stepped through the metal. The man no longer wore the robes of the Akatsuki, or his red whirlpool mask. He stood before them in the gaudy robes that Kakashi had already learned to associate with the Goa'uld.

"You are mistaken. It is you who has no authority in this matter, General Hammond." Madara turned to face Kakashi and took a single step toward him. "This is a shinobi matter. Isn't that right, Hatake?"