"It's easy to forget what sin is in the middle of a battlefield." — Solid Snake, Metal Gear
Ten
"So," Sakumo said casually as he ran beside Akio on the way to Iwa. They were heading to a rendezvous point located halfway to Taki that used to function as an underground ANBU operations base during the Second War. It was abandoned now and largely ignored, most forgetting it ever existed. It was the perfect location to use Sora's seal.
The Bolting Arrow, after being tested and retested by both Sora and Jiraiya, was brought straight to the Hokage for classification (fuuinjutsu), rank (S-rank), and any further instructions on its use. To avoid other villages getting wind of Konoha's new seal or up-and-coming seal mistress, especially those of the Five Great Shinobi Nations, the Third instructed Sora not to use the Bolting Arrow straight out of Konoha in case of spies. Since the abandoned ANBU base was largely forgotten and decently out of the way, it was the perfect spot to slip by unnoticed.
It was a five hour run, which meant Sora, even within limitations, could transport a whole team easily to anywhere in the world within five hours. It was even better that she was so good at infiltration, as she'd planted her seals within every Kage's personal office, including Iwa, two in each nation in the world, and one in the underground crypts of Uzushio. That particular location had been more for convenience so as to reach the island quicker by bypassing the whirlpools surrounding it.
Once they reached the rendezvous point, Sora would pin their clothing with an arrow and activate the seal, hopping them to the second seal inside Iwa.
Akio inclined his head in Sakumo's direction with a resigned look on his face that Sakumo thought looked a little forced. Obviously Akio didn't want to talk to him, but knew there wasn't getting out of his inquiries, especially as Sakumo wasn't known to be a patient man, and highly suspicious of most everything.
"Why did you really come along with us? Any ninja worth their salt knows you never truly leave ANBU and most die in the Corps anyway. So what strings did you pull to get on this mission?" Sakumo asked rather bluntly. He was a pretty straight shooting kind of guy and didn't appreciate when people tried to dance around a subject, speaking in riddles and uncertainties, only giving as much as 'maybes' and 'perhaps'.
Akio didn't answer at first, seeming to think over his answer carefully, probably because he knew Sakumo Hatake as well as anyone could know the man and was weighing the possibility of him getting away with lying straight to the White Fang's face. The expression of resignation flickered over his features again, and Sakumo was fairly sure he would get the truth, or at least a vague version of it.
"I…" the ex-ANBU started, but trailed off in favor of averting his gaze. After a short pause, he found his voice again. "I couldn't handle it."
At first, Sakumo wanted to press for further information, especially since the emotions that briefly flittered across the young man's face were intense and dark, but he caught something, something of a warning in the set of Akio's jaw, the grit of his teeth, or maybe the tensing of his shoulders and biceps, as if he completely expected someone to jump out of the trees and kill him for saying anything.
Vowing to figure out what was wrong when they weren't trying to complete a SS-rank mission, Sakumo just shrugged it off and filed the slight relieved expression from his old student in the back of his mind.
Akio Hanari was somewhat of an anomaly. As soon as the boy had been assigned to Sakumo's Genin team he'd shown his adept weapons skills, lithe and graceful taijutsu, powerful ninjutsu, and the uncanny ability to manipulate just about anyone around him. Typically a sarcastic, joking kind of guy, Akio used his outward nonchalance and cynicism to steer people away from what he hid. Sakumo had seen the evidence of this "mask", for lack of a better term, on multiple occasions, but Akio had been able to trick even elite Jounins because he was so masterful at lying and deceiving.
It was one of the prime reasons he was recommended for ANBU. His infiltration skills were rumoured to be unparalleled and his ability to be anything requested of him had the young man swimming in specific mission requests from clients, usually that said something along the lines of: 'Send the one that kills as a civilian.'
Yep. That was what Akio was really known for— killing his victims without armor or gear, but as a civilian. It also made him five times more effective. He'd snap your neck long before you realized that Chinese take-out guys don't typically use chopsticks in that manner.
"Hey!" Sora shouted from point position, yanking Sakumo from his thoughts. "We're just about there!"
The base really wasn't much. It consisted of a single nondescript entrance that looked like the old, rusty doors to someone's abandoned root cellar, but really was six-inch-thick reinforced steel that had such a myriad of seals placed on it that one wrong move would blow the whole thing sky-high or cave it in, depending on what mood the inhabitants were in when they detected your presence. Of course, that was if you even survived the traps placed all around it, which the builders were hoping for apparently because almost all the security measures were created with the intent to maim, not kill.
Team Sakumo had been here before when using the Bolting Arrow for a mission and thus knew the layout like the back of their hands. Once they weaved through all of the security measures (which couldn't be disabled as the seals were too volatile) the entrance doors opened into a surprisingly wide staircase that went at least ten feet underground. Opening up into a wide front room, the stairs then leveled out and ran into a hallway that lead to a wide, cavernous main training area. Off to the right of the cavern was a narrow passageway leading to the sleeping areas, showers, and storage rooms while off to the left was another set of stairs leading down to the numerous conference rooms. Underneath that level was strictly for T&I only and used to hold dangerous POWs if there wasn't any time for them to be transported back to Konoha.
Now it was an empty husk that was highly unnerving and decidedly creepy. To Sakumo, the air had that damp, musty smell one associated with mold and dirt, while also containing a slight metallic tinge coupled with the sharp sting of bleach, attesting to the amount of blood both spilled and cleaned up. He knew quite well how important this base was during the Second War, as he'd visited it more than a few times as a newly appointed Chuunin, and still it hadn't lost its unappealing air that surrounded it, even after all that time and being cleaned out to boot.
Korharu sighed and added some of his blood to the seal keeping the cellar doors shut. "I won't be long, but I there is something that's crucial to the genjutsu we're going to be wearing when entering Iwa, so just stay put." With that, he disappeared underground.
A tense silence followed, but no one really had anything to say. While it was great that the team's fourth member was back, no one really knew him all that well. Sakumo was just trying to reconcile with the fact that Akio hadn't changed all that much, even after two years in ANBU. He was still a manipulative bastard that couldn't be counted on to tell you the truth if his life depended on it. (Which it had on many occasions.) His deadly skills were honed and more instinctual, but that was to be expected, as the increase in chakra that was only sensible because Akio had no reason to conceal it.
Sakumo wasn't sure whether or not he was happy that Akio left ANBU. Sure, the brat could get killed, which wouldn't be good, but Konoha really did need the manpower, and he never was one to turn down an advantage. He wouldn't ever leave a comrade behind or send someone out on a suicide mission unless it was absolutely unavoidable, but a ninja had to make the conscious choice to join ANBU, as they could refuse the offer without penalty, but once one becomes ANBU, they don't ever quite leave. Sakumo personally hadn't ever met anyone that had lived long enough to consider retirement from ANBU.
It also never helped that the spec ops corps didn't operate the same as regular squads did. Teamwork, for all Konoha was famous for it, didn't really apply to ANBU even though it should've been first and foremost. Sakumo never had seen the reasoning behind that one, except maybe to spare the emotional trauma of constantly having your comrades die in front of you. To him, the philosophy seemed more concerned with mission success rates than survivability. Either way, Akio's story didn't sit well with him, as he'd met others in ANBU and almost none of them were that normal. He hated to put it that way, but it was true.
Just as the silence stretched on and he was about ready to make dreaded small talk to end the uncomfortable quiet, there was a loud banging sound that resonated from the base. He exchanged a speculative glance with Sora, but didn't comment as Korharu was known to have unconventional means of using genjutsu.
Korharu was known to have recreated some of the genjutsu of the Sharingan just by studying how it affects the victim. Sakumo wasn't sure how exactly that worked, but since he was about to be using one of those genjutsus to complete his suicidal mission, it probably wasn't something to question.
Suddenly, three consecutive bangs sounded before Korharu came out of the cellar doors with smudges of grease on his face.
"What?" he asked, holding his hands up placatingly. "I had to do some digging. It's not like regular people, or even ninja for that matter, keep WD-40, duct tape, chain locks, lighters, and old newspapers lying everywhere. However, the booze was quite easy to find." He gave a wink at that.
"Um… what do we need all that for?" Sora asked slowly, scanning over the pile of seemingly miscellaneous items that Korharu had acquired. Sakumo was thinking the same thing.
At this, Akio cleared his throat and stepped forward. His dirty blonde hair, more bordering on brown, was tucked behind his ear to keep it out of his face as he gestured at Korharu. "While it won't be hard to get into Iwa with the Bolting Arrow, we still have to infiltrate Ijiri Pharmaceuticals, which is heavily guarded by the military. Every weapon has to be sealed away when we go in and your chakra has to be nonexistent. The only way to do that is to pull this off as civilians, even the assassination. Luckily, I do have experience.
"WD-40 and a lighter can be used as an improvised flamethrower that burns plenty hot enough to scald any unsuspecting ninja. The newspaper can quickly be fashioned into a Millwall Brick and be used as a nightstick. Molotov cocktails are easy and deadly explosives that wouldn't be expected. A chain lock can be a deadly club or suffocation device, breaking bones and cutting off windpipes effectively. Duct tape is great for subduing and restraining if used correctly."
Sakumo frowned. This mission was a simple enough assassination and intelligence gathering, at least on paper. While it would be difficult to find their way into Ijiri Pharmaceuticals, they were all trained Jounin or ANBU level ninja and knew how to conceal themselves plenty well enough to evade detection. While Akio was skilled in killing as a civilian, effectively cutting off any reasonable suspicion of another country, as that was a ninja's job, he and the rest of the team weren't trained for that nor were they ready to be convincing civies. They'd stick out like a sore thumb, chakra or not.
Probably thinking along the same lines, Sora shot Akio an incredulous look and yelled, "Are you insane? None of us are trained in that way! How do you suppose we infiltrate, even as civies?"
Korharu cleared his throat. "That's where I come in. While two of us will conduct the assassination and intelligence gathering, the other two are going to start a riot in the main plaza, not too far from Ijiri. I will keep a strict genjutsu on myself and the other one of us that will help start the riot so that no one would ever recognize us as ninja. While I could disguise our weapons in that scenario, to look like real rioters we'd have to use the same kind of crude and improvised weapons as regular gang members. The other two will pose as janitors, as they have access to the entire compound, and make their way to Ijiri to take him out. You will have a long-range genjutsu that I will keep up, but if you use any chakra, even the amount to open a seal, the illusion will shatter."
This was a bad idea and Sakumo knew it. One of those deep, gut reactions that just screamed something wasn't right. While difficult, nothing in the briefing suggested this mission would have to be carried out as civies, just that it didn't come back to Konoha. The idea of starting a riot in the middle of Iwa was literally asking for a lot of unwanted—suicidal—trouble. Knowing in a way that only veterans could know, Sakumo didn't want to test fate any more than they already were by rioting in the streets of their most vicious enemy's home turf. It was an utter death sentence for all of them.
And yet.
Assassinating Ijiri was their top priority with intelligence gathering weighing in at a close second, and Sakumo and his team were easily skilled enough to hide their chakra effectively enough to bypass security. Unless there was a master sensor, everyone in their party would be able to sneak through without much pause. Even though there was a decent amount of ninja stalking the place, it was mostly Chuunin with only the occasional Jounin. Obviously there wasn't anything too horribly important or Iwa would've put a lot more effort into guarding the place, which just further cemented the idea that the entire mission was utter bullshit.
And yet.
Wasn't killing one of their top civilian liaisons going to piss them off enough? Was it really necessary to trash their city, rile up their civilians, decimate their reputation, cripple one of their main financial supporters, and leave not a trace of who did it to boot? They weren't even technically at war since the border skirmishes were typically nothing more than just that—skirmishes. As the captain of his squad, Sakumo could order them all to retreat, to turn tail and go home before they were all killed in a ridiculous attempt to render Iwa incapable of funding a suitable army for the next fifty years. That would be better than all of them dying, wouldn't it?
And yet.
He didn't want to, but Kakashi came to mind right away. Every since his wife died five years ago, Sakumo had been stumbling over himself in a vain attempt to raise their child correctly— except all that had done was alienate the boy further. He had no notions of a father/son bond between them and was one hundred percent certain Kakashi hadn't either. That is, until Sakumo had that bizarre morning wake up routine only a few hours previous.
After all the crazy shit that'd happened in his life, you'd think he would've gotten used to it, but, alas, he was a straightforward kind of guy, and he never would've guessed that his son was so attached to him. Hell, Kakashi had pushed him away since the tender age of four. Four. So the crying and clinging hadn't just shocked him, it had blown him out of the water. Because, praise the Lord, his son truly wanted him around, truly thought of him as a father. Maybe not a good one, granted, but a father nonetheless.
What kind of example would he be setting by breaking basically the first rule of all ninja? That didn't sit well with him. So, horrible gut feeling or not, he would finish this mission no matter what. Even if he died.
"Alright!" Sakumo barked, causing everyone around him to stiffen instinctually. "We are carrying out this mission. I want Korharu and Sora to start the riot since you two are the greenest out of all of us. Akio and I will infiltrate the compound and take out Ijiri. Korharu will decide the best location for the riot while Akio and I will plan out the best way into the company compound. Intelligence was kind enough to provide us with a sketched map of the premise, and the briefing rooms in the basement of the old ANBU headquarters have maps of Iwa, if slightly out-of-date. They'll have to suffice. We'll plan to leave here in an hour flat, clear?"
"Crystal!" came the answer and a snapped off salute.
Exactly an hour later they stood in front of the entrance to the ANBU headquarters with determined looks on their faces. Sakumo and Akio had hashed out their plan and Korharu and Sora found the ideal place to start an effective riot. Still shoving away the deep-seated feeling of wrongness, Sakumo nodded to Sora who removed three arrows from her quiver.
"Here goes nothing," she muttered, and pinned all of their clothing with the arrows, her frightening accuracy something the team was used to by now. Placing her right hand in a one-handed rat seal, she mumbled "fuuinjutsu" and the world swirled into a cacophony of colors, each one indistinguishable from the next.
However, just as quickly as it began it stopped. Korharu stumbled slightly and Akio wavered on his feet, but Sora and Sakumo were used to the effects of the seal and were immediately in a ready stance just in case someone had been alerted to their presence. Taking stock of the rock face they were standing on and the lack of attacks or warning shouts, they were temporarily safe.
"Where is this seal located?" Sakumo asked Sora. She knew the maps of the Elemental Countries like the back of her hand, so whatever seal she'd decided to teleport to must be within a few minutes of Iwa.
"West of the city." With that, Sakumo gestured for the squad to take position Delta-Foxtrot. He took point, Sora was fifty yards to the south since she was the best at sensing chakra, Korharu was fifty yards to his southeast, and Akio was fifty yards to his southwest. They ran at a steady, chakra-enhanced speed hovering around forty miles per hour.
It didn't take long for the Village Hidden in the Stone to come into view, and all four of them were taken aback, Korharu going as far as a sharp intake of breath.
The village was, honest-to-God, a complete dump. It looked like the whole thing was part of Konoha's Red Light district. The streets were narrow and cracked from years of wear, the buildings sagged as if their foundations were crumbling away at the seams, the shops and stalls were half boarded up or had broken windows, and the rock faces surrounding the entire village gave it an air of suppression and desolation. The streets were littered with trash and deserted, the few people out and about were hunched over and scurrying along like mice at the sight of a hawk, and waterlogged propaganda posters were peeling off of almost every available wall space. The only vaguely nice thing in the entire village was the Tsuchikage's tower, which was brand new and gleaming with white-washed stone and ornate decorations.
It was easy, however to locate Ijiri Pharmaceuticals. Other than the Tsuchikage's tower, the company's compound was the second largest building in the village. It only stood two stories high, but anyone could guess at the probable number of underground floors. The height wasn't what made it so large. The Ijiri compound sprawled at least three square miles and was fenced off with an electrical fence that would fry anyone who touched it.
Sakumo, because of his especially attuned lightning chakra and ability to read it, could tell they'd really cooked up a bad concoction with their fence. While the fence had a low voltage (he guessed about 75 volts), the amperage was at a lethal 150 milliamperes. The amperes were lethal in and of themselves because they weren't high enough to clamp the heart during cardiac arrest and allow for resuscitation, and the low voltage also wouldn't cause the heart to clamp during the shock, so anyone who touched the fence was almost assuredly dead. No medical treatment, even if immediate, would likely revive the victim.
That created a problem for Sakumo's team. Or, most of his team. He himself wouldn't be bothered by the electricity as long as he coated whatever body part touching the fence with lightning chakra. It would flow through his chakra like a current and he wouldn't be affected by the electricity. His other team members, however, were going to have a problem.
Sora had a staunch water affinity, which would do her more harm than good. Korharu had an earth affinity, which might soften the blow of the shock if he could control it correctly, but he was more into genjutsu than elemental ninjutsu. And Akio had a fire affinity akin to his completely uncalled for temper when his buttons were pushed that would just alert the guards should he melt the fence or something equally as flashy.
So that left Sakumo to come up with a way to get himself and Akio over the fence without being electrocuted six ways to Sunday.
Coat Akio in lightning chakra? Nope, that would just kill him. Wait…
"Korharu, do you know any significant Earth jutsus?" Sakumo asked.
The genjutsu specialist seemed to falter at the sudden question, but quickly regained his bearing and replied, "I can tunnel and use the jutsu that creates an earth dragon. Why?"
Tunneling. Perfect, Sakumo thought as he inspected his makeshift weapons and all the sealed ones. They'd be able to take out Kiyoshi Ijiri in no time, not to mention cripple Iwa's only main profiting company. While it seemed a little like beating a dead horse, Iwa was their main enemy, one that had even convinced Kumo and Kiri that Konoha was the biggest threat. Suna was still shaky, but even that alliance didn't seem to hold much promise. The Third Kazekage was the only one responsible for the continued peace between Wind and Fire Country.
They sped off in formation until they made it to the village's edge. It was practically wartime, so the wards would be ridiculously tight, but luckily they didn't have to worry since Sora's seal took them to the very edge of the wards that encompassed the village and small surrounding area. They were already inside.
Ijiri Pharmaceuticals was positioned on the northwest end of the village, which just so happened to also be right next to the Tsuchikage tower, not doubt on purpose. They stopped right outside the electric fence into the compound. Upon arrival, Sakumo ordered Korharu to use his Earth jutsu.
"Earth Style: Tunnelling Technique," the genjutsu specialist whispered as his hands sped through the hand seals. Slowly, so there wasn't too much noise, a tunnel just big enough for an average sized man to fit through opened up in front of them. "This will close back up after you're through it, so you're on your own for getting back out."
This was met with two sharp nods from Sakumo and Akio. Sakumo knew he'd probably have to pull something out of his ass on their way out unless they really were as stealthy as his former student seemed to think they could be (which he highly doubted). Either way, he'd deal with it when he got there.
Tunnelling underneath the fence wasn't exactly pleasant, since rocks kept getting lodged in places rocks should never be, but it did the job and he was successfully inside the company's HQ. Akio wasn't far behind, and as soon as they'd cleared the tunnel, the entire thing collapsed in on itself as if it hadn't been there in the first place. Not even a displacement of dirt remained.
The pair crouched down until they felt Korharu's genjutsu settle over them like a warm blanket before fading into the background of their senses. As per their recently developed plan, Sakumo went to the left to create the distraction for Akio to sneak into Kiyoshi's office. Sakumo headed into the nearest building, labeled Offices, and acted like the janitor he was supposed to be. He knew that pretty soon he'd temporarily forget his name, his past, everything about himself.
At 12:17 p.m. Northern Elemental TimeNET, Tanaka Fujiwara, janitor for Ijiri Pharmaceuticals and Medical Supplies, walked into work for his third shift of the week with three industrial sized cups of coffee shoved down his throat. He absolutely hated what he did, but it was the only job that could support his family of four and his sick mother in the shithole he called home. Scrubbing toilets, cleaning up vomit, tampering with the AC when the white coats got crabby, and making sure the floors were clean enough to eat off of was the last thing he ever thought he'd end up doing.
Unfortunately, he didn't have the money or the qualifications to get a new job. He was literally screwed as far as he was concerned; if he didn't work himself dead then he'd just starve until he ended up in the same place.
Coming up to Kiyoshi Ijiri's office, he pulled out the mop and Pine-Sol to polish and clean the floor. The lemon scent made his sensitive nose twitch in irritation, but all the same he approached the ninja guarding the door to gain permission. The male was a standard Chuunin, but he guessed the woman was a Jounin.
"What do you want?" the woman asked, her voice harsh.
Tanaka averted his gaze because of the killer intent the woman was exuding, most likely to intimidate him, which was working. "I'm just the janitor. I'm supposed to clean Ijiri-san's office."
The Chuunin scowled and pulled a kunai from his leg pouch. "We weren't informed of this. You'll have to come back another time."
If I don't get this done, Tanaka thought wearily, then I'm as good as fired. Taking a deep breath, he said, "Look, please let me through. If I don't do this I'm fired. I need the money."
The woman made an unpleasant noise in the back of her throat before holding a hand out to stall her fellow guard. "I understand, but we're the security and you would be an unexpected security breach. If it becomes that much of a problem, we'll answer for it. Now scram." She took a step forward to emphasize her point.
Tanaka nodded and ducked his head, slouching his shoulders as he passed. Unfortunately, he knocked into the Jounin on his way past and spilled the Pine-Sol all over both guards. The man swore like a sailor while the woman recoiled, and Tanaka backpedaled, not quite sure what to do but also afraid of their reactions.
"You incompetent idiot!" the Chuunin shouted. Anger filled his words and he grabbed Tanaka by the collar. "I'm about five seconds away from making sure no one finds the ditch I leave you in, got that? You're paying for my new pants, and if you think you're keeping this job then you're out of your goddamned mind."
Honestly, at that point, Tanaka was just glad that he'd get away with his life. If he'd angered the Jounin, he'd probably already be a shishkabob in a trash bag. "I-I'll p-pay for th-the pants," he stuttered.
The Chuunin scrunched up his nose and sneered, "Just hop off, Skippy."
Suddenly, the Jounin stuck her hand out in front of her comrade. "Hold up a second," she said. For some reason, her face softened. "Here, I'll tell you what. I'll give you a few bucks for your trouble and escort you back to the compound gates."
"Wha— !" the Chuunin protested, but he was cut off by an elbow to the gut from his partner.
"Forget about him," she said. "Come on. Let's go."
Tanaka nodded vigorously and followed the woman down the hall, away from Kiyoshi Ijiri's office. At the end of the hall, right where the emergency fire extinguisher was located, Tanaka Fujiwara suddenly reached into his front pocket for a tissue when his hand brushed a scroll. Curious, he pulled it out and unrolled it to see what it was. As they turned the corner, he touched the intricate symbol inked onto the paper and flinched as a blue glow lit up the scroll.
At 12:36 p.m. NET, Sakumo Hatake pulled a kunai out of his sealing scroll and deftly slit his Jounin companion's throat. To avoid blood spatter on the bright white linoleum, he immediately sealed her into a black-banded deceased scroll for later inspection. The resulting drops of blood that couldn't be avoided were cleaned away with a quick Water Style.
"And here I thought Iwa ninja were as hard as the land they live in," Sakumo muttered to himself.
As soon as the first guard was taken care of, Sakumo applied a low level genjutsu to make himself blend into the background and turned back around the corner. He then repeated the slit throat and sealing scroll with the hotheaded Chuunin still standing guard. The man didn't have the chance to make a sound.
Now that the guards were taken care of, Sakumo alternately dragged and tapped his boot against the floor in a pattern: drag, drag, tap; drag, drag, drag. As if he were summoned, Akio appeared behind Sakumo silently and tapped the Hatake's shoulder. "All ready, Cap."
This place is… generic, was Sakumo's first thought as he entered Ijiri's office. It was basically a slightly expanded cubicle with a small dirty window on one side facing the inside of the compound. White paint, plastic furniture, and metal filing cabinets cluttered the relatively small space, and the entire room was stuffy and smelled like old people. Cheap ballpoint pens littered the desk along with a single family picture (which had Ijiri's wife scribbled out with Sharpie). The blinds were dusty and closed tight.
What the Konoha ninja really came for, though, was the man passed out on his desk, drooling all over his current paperwork. Kiyoshi Ijiri, CEO of Ijiri Pharmaceuticals. Sakumo guessed the man would be breathing for all of ten more seconds. As Akio decapitated the man and put him in a black-banded scroll, Sakumo began rifling through the drawers and filing cabinets, taking anything that seemed of value and storing it into scroll after scroll. Luckily, Sora had taught him how to do basic storage seals for things that didn't need preserved (like paper), and he had an abundance of them pre-made.
"Alright, let's go. We need to vanish before anyone realizes what happened," he said under his breath to Akio. He received a brisk nod and they were off.
Their luck seemed to run out, however, because as soon as they stepped foot outside the office building and into the main compound, alarms started blaring incessantly. It bothered Sakumo's more sensitive hearing and gave him a mild headache just listening to it.
"Stop!" a Chuunin shouted at them as they ran. When the Iwa ninja realized they were taking off he stopped. "Dust Clone," he said, his hands forming the seals. Four Dust Clones popped into existence and ran after Akio and Sakumo.
"Toss me the intel!" Akio shouted to Sakumo, holding out his hand. "I'm faster than you, but you're more powerful. If I run this to the fence, you can stall them long enough to hop the fence because of your lightning chakra."
For a brief and unexplainable second, Sakumo didn't want to give Akio anything, but his plan made sense and they were about to run out of options since three Jounins had suddenly come up behind the original Chuunin. He'd need all his maneuverability, speed, and power to avoid being killed. So, against his gut instinct, he tossed the intel over to his former student and turned around to face the oncoming ninja.
Ninja had no honor, so it was four-on-one with Sakumo at a huge disadvantage. Or so the enemy thought.
"Pure Lightning Kunai no Jutsu," Sakumo said, not needing to shout his techniques to the heavens like some ninja did. Several kunai made out of pure lightning and superheated to scalding temperatures formed in his hands. The Iwa Chuunin scoffed, probably thinking that pure elemental weapons were low level. Amateur.
Deciding quickly, he threw the lightning kunai with startling accuracy, each hitting their designated targets including the Chuunin's neck, chest, right elbow, and left kneecap. The ninja was dead before he hit the ground.
"Alive Burial no Jutsu!"
Sakumo swore viciously as the ground underneath him opened up and he lost his balance. Channeling chakra to his palms and feet, he stuck to the side of the newly formed split before propelling himself upward as he flashed through hand seals. "Electric Fog no Jutsu."
A translucent fog began blanketing the area and two of the Jounin, (probably the inexperienced ones, Sakumo thought) paused to look around, obviously bewildered. This fog wasn't what Kiri ninja used because it was thin and not stifling, so the greener Jounins didn't understand what it was for. A shit-eating grin spread across Sakumo's face as he held up the dog seal, and jets of electricity arched between the water molecules in the air, straight for the enemy nin. The two bewildered Jounin dropped like rocks, not quite dead but very much unconscious.
As the electricity raced toward the final ninja, he held up a one-handed tiger seal and pulled a kunai out of his leg pouch. "Wind Style: Assassin's Rush!" And he disappeared.
A kunai was plunged into Sakumo's shoulder as the Iwa nin reappeared right in front of him, and he cursed. Sliding into his taijutsu stance, pulling the kunai from his shoulder, and drawing his chakra sabre from its sheath, he nodded his head in acquiesce. "Let's go."
The Iwa nin ran at Sakumo and kicked toward his solar plexus, but he dodged enough for it to skim his side. He used the momentum to follow through and land a spinning backfist, pushing the Jounin back and allowing him room to use his blade. He spun the blade and went for a downward strike, causing a deep cut down the nin's chest. Sakumo didn't let him have time to recover and brought his blade up toward the man's exposed stomach, only to be blocked by a kunai. Gathering chakra, Sakumo channeled it into his tantō, emitting a buzzing noise as it charged. The enemy nin's eyes widened and he coated his kunai with wind chakra in an attempt to counter Sakumo's attack.
Not wanting to chance it with wind chakra, Sakumo overcharged his blade with as much lightning chakra as he thought it could handle, and feigned a left jab before switching his tantō into a one-handed reverse grip to slash to the right. It caught on the nin's collar bone and Sakumo grunted as he ripped the blade from flesh. The Iwa nin shouted out in pain and collapsed to his knees.
"Konoha ninja don't play," Sakumo whispered. "Maybe your friends will remember that." With that, he raised his blade and decapitated the Iwa ninja, the Jounin's head hitting the ground with a thunk and rolling away.
"Hey! Over there!" a voice shouted from behind Sakumo. Realizing he needed to get out of there now, he sped off using as much chakra enhancement as possible shy of obliterating his muscles and tendons.
As soon as he reached the fence, he saw Akio and Sora duking it out with five Jounins. Akio skillfully took down one of them with his ninjatō while Sora knocked one out cold with a vicious kick into a boulder behind them, creating a crater. Sakumo channeled chakra into his limbs and hopped the fence with ease.
"Guys! Let's go!" he shouted, drawing the attention of the remaining enemies.
But as he turned around, he saw over a dozen Jounin ready to kill his team. One of the ninja, a man with taupe colored hair, stepped forward and crossed his arms. "I hope you realize you're on private property." He turned to the rest of his men. "Kill them."
At first, Sakumo thought that his team could most likely take them, considering their skill levels, but that's when he turned around and saw Akio and Sora. Only Akio and Sora. Where was Korharu?
It didn't take a man with imagination to guess what had happened. In the moments before he began the fight for his life, he snarled. Korharu Funaki was his student, grown up or not. Korharu was his responsibility and not only had he failed to protect one of the few people in this world that he truly cared for, but it was entirely his own fault. He'd decided that the mission came first. He'd decided that his son's happiness was worth more than Korharu's life. And he had decided that his village was worth more than his friend.
So these bastards were going down, if only for the sheer fact that he needed someone to fuck up, right now.
He sheathed his sword so he could make this up close and personal.
Sprinting at the nearest person, Sakumo threw a right cross, which landed square on the enemy's nose, a satisfying crack reaching his ears. Spinning around, he lashed out with a back kick while simultaneously blocking kunai from another opponent. Someone leapt at him with a ninjatō, but he dodged and grabbed them by the wrist, flipping them overhead and into one of their comrades. A kunai hit him in the shoulder, but he just grunted and yanked it out so that he could throw it into the eye of the nearest adversary, all the while fending off kunai and shuriken from all directions. Plenty still nicked him, but his adrenaline and fury were fueling his actions and nothing short of a sword to his chest would stop him.
A stray kick sent him flying into a boulder, so he reinforced his skeleton and musculature with chakra and ended up creating one hell of a crater, which just made him angrier. He leapt out of the hole and sent his remaining kunai, save one, at every moving target wearing an Iwa forehead protector. Miraculously, he actually managed to drop one before he was impaled in the upper thigh by a kunai. Ninjutsu was flying everywhere, and he had to be careful not to get charbroiled or drowned or buried or cut to ribbons.
"Finally got you, bastard," came a voice from behind him as a ninjatō was plunged into his back, just shy of the spinal cord. It was a woman that looked highly familiar— a carbon copy of the Jounin guard that he had beheaded.
That's when Sakumo heard the scream. He couldn't see anyone yet because of the sword about to sever his spine, but he knew it was Sora, and he would not let her die too. He was so pissed that as he pulled himself off her sword, he lunged at his current opponent (despite his injury) and grabbed the woman by the hair, unsheathed his sword, and decapitated her as his lightning chakra immediately cauterized the wound.
Akio was twenty-five feet away held at sword point, and Sora was about to be overwhelmed by the sheer number of enemies that had now arrived. What made her scream, however, wasn't that Akio was about to be killed— no. It was that Akio then killed his captor, locked eyes with his former team, and left.
The bastard turned tail and ran in the opposite direction of Fire Country with the intel valuable to the mission. Sakumo didn't have time to process it, however, because both him and Sora were going to be fertilizer in the next thirty seconds if they couldn't think of something. He was bleeding out and couldn't feel his feet, and he knew that if he didn't medical attention soon, it was all over.
He found that it didn't really scare him like he thought it would— like it used to. After Kaiya had died, the only thing that he still wanted out of his life was to raise their child to the best of his ability. For Kakashi to see him as a father, as a father that loved him. It was hard, and Sakumo was beginning to think that Kakashi would never want him as a dad, but that morning had pretty much thrown that out the window.
Kakashi was his son, and he was damn proud of that. Even if he hadn't been the best father in the world or the most compassionate, he'd like to think that at least Kakashi loved him. And really, that's all that would matter in the end. That, sooner or later when Sakumo died, Kakashi would know that he had been loved.
Looking back on it later, he would tell himself that he could've dodged that arrow if he'd really wanted to. Everyone insisted that no one could out-maneuver the Thieving Coyote, but as the arrow pinned him to a boulder and the seal on the shaft glowed a bright blue (too bright, Sakumo thought), all he could do was stare numbly as his surroundings swirled into the familiar cacophony of colors that signified he was being transported via Bolting Arrow.
He couldn't speak as the medics at Konoha's gates swarmed him nor could he speak when he was brought into the hospital and asked what had happened. A day later when the Hokage had demanded a debriefing and mission status, it was with a dead voice that he responded:
"Mission successful. Kiyoshi Ijiri is dead."
Kakashi wasn't exactly sure what he was looking for, but did know that Konoha's ninja library wasn't about to let some green Academy student rifle through books on chakra theory, so he pulled a modified henge and went up to the desk as a run-of-the-mill Chuunin with tan hair and small stature. Immediately, he headed for the section on chakra.
He knew the basics, that chakra was formed with spiritual and physical energies, but he wasn't sure how that would factor into his current predicament. Kakashi needed a more in-depth look at spiritual energy in particular since he would probably have a lot more of that than physical because of his future knowledge.
It took a minute, but he finally found a book that pertained to how spiritual energy was generated and how it was important in relevance to chakra control, the overall use of chakra, and what would happen if there was an energy imbalance. As he read further, he realized just how screwed he was.
'Spiritual energy was typically considered to be generated by one's experiences and memories— a cause and effect relationship. Another popular thinking was that civilians were unable to become ninja because they simply didn't possess enough chakra in the first place. These myths were untrue because most people, ninja included, did not understand the relationship between spiritual energy and memories. One did not cause the other.
'A regular civilian that was unable to utilize chakra was barred from doing so because of a chakra imbalance, not because they didn't have enough. Only about five percent of the human population didn't have enough chakra to become ninja. The imbalance was what the issue was.
'Physical energy was easily generated— all that was required was rigorous training and muscle memory. Spiritual energy, however, was different and much more complicated. While everyone experienced different things in their life and had memories of them, only certain people processed them correctly. While a civilian might witness a crime and be horrified (which would not generate spiritual chakra), a ninja would see it, accept it, and maybe try to stop it. The mentality that a person had would dictate how their brains processed the stimulus it was receiving, thus created or not created spiritual energy. To become a ninja, one must have at least some shred of a warrior mentality, or they wouldn't be able to mould chakra outside their bodies at all. Theoretically, one could build up enough physical energy to use it internally, but its highly unlikely and inordinately rare.
'A typical civilian had two to three times more physical energy than spiritual, and that imbalance would limit them from moulding chakra. No bite with their bark, so to speak. Nothing substantial to really manifest the chakra and allow it to be utilized.
'Theoretically, a chakra imbalance can happen the opposite way— too much spiritual energy and not enough physical. This is impossible in civilians, and only theoretical in shinobi because of the either monstrous life-span required or the improbable way their brain might process stimuli. It has been rumored that the Yamanaka Clan originating in Konoha has used the concept of chakra imbalance for torture and interrogation purposes, but nothing has been confirmed.
'The biggest misconception surrounding spiritual energy is that spiritual energy and memories are one in the same. That one affects the other. The truth is that memories and experiences reside solely in the mind, while spiritual energy resides in the core. The rumored Yamanaka technique can supposedly bind the spiritual energy and memories, but not only is it unconfirmed, it also would be highly dangerous. It could cause headaches, uncontrollable chakra, twitching, and memory loss or memory inconsistencies. It is unknown if the spiritual energy and memories could be separated after being bound.'
Kakashi stared at the book for a full five minutes after he was finished reading, just trying to process the information presented to him. Although he wasn't exactly sure if a chakra imbalance was his issue, it seemed highly likely, and that just made the solution harder. He'd have to talk to Jiraiya to see if he could have some of his spiritual energy sealed away until his body could handle it without screwing up his chakra control, but that meant that the Toad Sage would have to be informed of the whole deal that Kakashi was a freaking time-traveler. And that was even if the pervert was in the village.
Deciding that he wouldn't get anything done sulking around the library, he returned the book to the front desk and headed toward the Hatake compound. His… home. (He still wasn't sure what to think about that.)
By the time he'd come within five feet of the front door, Kakashi could already smell the overwhelming scent of alcohol that saturated the air. It was irritating to his nose, but he'd been in enough bars with Anko and Gai and Asuma that he could tolerate it now. Besides, his nose didn't seem to be quite up to his future self's standards, which wasn't surprising.
When Kakashi entered the living room, all he saw was his father and Jiraiya passed out on the respective couch and armchair with sake bottles everywhere and even a bottle of vodka. (Kakashi had never liked the stuff— his preference usually leaned toward tequila from Suna or Fire Country cognac, if he felt fancy.)
At least I don't have to track down Jiraiya, Kakashi thought as he began collecting the alcohol bottles and tossing them. Tolerance for alcohol or not, the smell was getting to him. His younger self's nose (wasn't that confusing?) wasn't used to it.
Kakashi must've been making enough noise to raise the dead because even out cold and in the drunken stupor he was most assuredly in, Jiraiya still managed to stumble to a standing position and peer suspiciously around the corner. What the man was not expecting was to see Sakumo's son striding around the kitchen throwing away empty alcohol bottles like they were offending him. Jiraiya had seen plenty of odd things in his life, but just looking at the sight Kakashi made had him feeling like he'd stepped into the Twilight Zone.
"Uh…?" Jiraiya said eloquently. (Cut him some slack. He was drunk and probably assuming to be hallucinating.)
Kakashi turned around to look at the man. For a moment, all he saw was the Sannin's casket at the funeral, but luckily he hadn't seen the body, so he shook the memory away quickly. Cocking his head to the side, he asked, "Do you prefer the sake from Kiri or Taki better? I, for one, think Kiri makes trashy beer, but their sake doesn't seem to be too horrible. You seem to like it."
Yep, I'm hallucinating, Jiraiya thought as he fell back down onto the armchair. I've gone and fucking lost it. The Sannin pressed his hands to his temples in an attempt to quell his abominable headache.
"Maybe I overdid it," Kakashi said to himself. "Too bad Tsunade hasn't invented a cure for hangovers yet."
I'm sorry for the wait, but I could not seem to motivate myself to write this chapter. It's probably because I suck at writing action, so feel free to leave constructive criticism on that. I'm not used to it, and once I get in the swing of things, hopefully I'll get better so I can come back and edit this.
Otherwise, Eleven should be out no later than a week or week and a half because I can't wait to write it. I've literally been waiting to write Eleven since I started plotting out the rest of the fic.
*wrings hands evilly* You'll get a real feel for the style of the fic once I post Eleven.