Chapter 9: Keep Away

Kaito's POV:

I was ready for a scolding from Kakashi and Pakkun, but as soon as the two appeared before me at the park, so did Kohona's Elite of the Elite. The ANBU surrounded us, and announced that the Hokage, demanded our presence. It was when we entered her office did I want to turn tail. This was not a happy Hokage. She even had a scary guy with a scarred face standing beside her, hitting us with a stare that made me acknowledge quickly that this guy was not to be messed with. I was actually grateful for once, when the pug sat down next to me, and for the calm demeanor Kakashi was showing. It made me feel centered being near the two, and I just wished someone would just tell me why. However, at this moment I kept my attention on Lady Hokage. My ears were twitching like crazy trying to detect the shinobi that I knew were hidden from sight. I really missed my chakra at the moment.

"Do you know why I called you here?" Tsunuade asked, staring at the three of us. I said nothing and neither did Kakashi or Pakkun. So she continued. "One of the criminals made a deal."

I could feel my eyes widen at those words. I knew Master Riku wanted to clean out the rag tag group he and Aimi had built, but if one of them snitched, the question now was, what did the bastard say, that warranted the Hokage to send her finest out to bring me in.

"Its interesting the number of rogue shinobi's we have been catching in our village." She continued. "They seemed to gather around the Uchiha Compond and the streets of our market place. Some were even caught stalking Iruka Sensei. Now we know why, but maybe you would like to tell us Kaito." Her eyes locked onto me.

I didn't break eye contact, but Iwanted to. "Master Riku….. assigned them to hunt down the Ninetails Host …..and the last Uchiha." I answered slowly. I had enough experience with a Aimi and Master Riku to know to never break eye contact. Any hint of lying could bring disastrous consequence and I did not plan lying to this Hokage.

"Do know what is special about this prisoner?" She asked.

I shook my head.

"He pointed us straight to you. Apparently you have more insight than what we have first thought." She leaned forward. "I want you to think before I continue. You wear our village symbol around your neck. Yes, we have sealed your chakra, but we have also shown trust, by letting you roam without being on a leash. Kakashi seems to trust you enough to let you wander off." I noticed her eyes shift to Kakshi for a split second, before she continued speaking. "I'm going to give you one chance to prove my decision to keep you alive was not a mistake. What the hell is going on and where is our Forbidden Scroll?" She stood up as she asked the question, and I involuntarily took a step back.

"Wow….She's a scary lady." Heki's faceless form stood off to the side of the Hokages desk, before he faded away.

"Master Riku wants to clean out the group….. He knew that by targeting….. the Ninetails Host and the last Uchiha…. would cause you to catch the ones…. he had no use for anymore." I said, and surprisingly he felt better telling them Riku's plan.

"So we have over twenty-five, E to D-class shinobi's in our cells right now, because this Riku is using our village to clean house?!" Tsunade clarified angrily.

I nodded. "If you have twenty-five of them,…. then you basically have them all by now….. Riku would have already sent those ….he wished to keep, away from this village."

"But our thief problems are not over yet." She stated. "Where is this Riku hiding?"

"I….don't know….I just know he wanted you to capture…. the loose ends in the group." I admitted. I was going to tell them that Master Riku also ordered him to find a way to kill Kakashi, but thought better of it. Best not say something that would make them think better about me being kept alive. Besides, I have a feeling that I would not want to kill Kakashi after all this was over. It wouldn't be the first time I disobeyed Aimi or Master Riku. I wanted to tell them about the Forbidden Scroll that we had stolen, but then that would be admitting that I had told them another lie as soon as I was brought here. Plus, I wasn't so sure how they would respond if they knew that I actually did know where it was.

I could tell that she didn't really believe me, when she narrowed her eyes at me. "I see. I want you to follow this shinobi, and wait out in the hall. I have a few words to say to Kakashi."

I waited for Kakashi to say something, that would indicate that he wanted to me to stay in the room, but both Pakkun and Kakashi stayed silent. Pakkun just looked at me with a nod, before leaving the room in a puff of smoke, once the Hokage turned her eyes on him, signaling him to leave as well. I didn't really want to leave Kakashi's side, but thought it best to not disobey, so I follow the shinobi wearing the cat mask. This shinobi looked down at me as he held the door open and watched me as I exited, but said nothing to me as he stood beside me outside of the office. Being told to leave like a scolded child, made me feel like I had been kicked. Why was simply being told to leave the room affecting me like this? I have had much worse done to me than just being sent out of a room. So why?

I sat down next to the ANBU, who kept himself between me and the door. I couldn't sit down long though, about three minutes sitting in the hallway and I was up pacing. I could hear murmurs coming from behind the door, but I couldn't make out any words. I thought I heard my name said, I couldn't be sure though. Why did she have to send the one wearing a cat mask out to watch me? The shinobi followed my movement with the slight turn of his head, and it was not helping. If they were talking about me then they could at least talk about me to my face. Kakashi was starting to seem like a good leader, but if his actions and behavior were really just an act, then maybe I was too quick to warm up to him.

"That's what you thought about my family at first too." Heki chimed in, appearing in front of the shinobi. If he had a face I would say he was looking at him in child-like awe. "You were wrong then, maybe your wrong now. He seems nice."

"Maybe I didn't kick you enough if your still listening to the brat." I groaned in frustration and dismay when Aimi's phantom image appeared leaning against the wall. "Go ahead, spill your guts Mutt, and watch what they will do to you once they don't need you anymore." She sneered, unlike Heki, she had her face.

"You leave him alone! Don't listen to her Kaito." Heki yelled stomping his foot.

"Just shut up!…." I growled, in a low voice, and just like that they were gone. It was then that I realized that I was panting and huffing, like I just ran down a long trail. That's all I needed was another phantom haunting me. I already couldn't sleep without hearing their voices, did they have to haunt me while I was awake too?!

If the cat masked shinobi heard me, he didn't show any signs.

Kakashi's POV

"Hatake….." She said grinding her teeth together. "Are you determined to not act like a shinobi?! What were you thinking letting him wander off like that?"

"I had everything under control. Besides its not like he's a danger with his chakra sealed. How much damage could he do? I have everything under control." I said, in my usual tone.

"We have thieves running around the village and you think Kaito running off is okay?!" She growled out the question.

"If any had approached him, I would have intervened, and I am positive the pack would as well." I stated. Although maybe I was giving the ninken too much freedom. He was an enemy ninken after all. But I saw no harm in him aiding a village citizen. Although, I suppose I was going to have to talk to Kaito about speaking up if he wanted to venture somewhere. I would have Pakkun explain how a pack functions to him when we got home. "Surely that isn't all you wanted to talk to me about." I said.

"Don't be a brat." She scolded, throwing a scroll, that I had to move my head slightly to avoid. "We have searched everywhere, following up to the point where Kaito was found. The Forbidden Scroll that was stolen seems to have disappeared…..." She continued on, letting out a sigh.

"The ninken has to know something. If he is withholding information then it is time for him to meet Hound." Ibiki added.

"I would rather not intimidate information out of him. He is just now accepting my leadership. If we try to grind the location of the scroll from him, he may think that, that we only gave him a place here only to use him for our own gain. By letting him roam, and not stopping him gives us a way to show him that we do trust him, and we want nothing from him." Ibiki open his mouth to interrupt me, but I held my hand signaling him to let me finish. "Don't misunderstand now, I am certain, he know we want our scroll back."

"Then am I to assume you have a plan as to retain the information we want without losing your progress?" Lady Tsunade asked. Ibiki made a disapproving grunt, causing Tsunade to move her gaze to him. "We want to keep the ninken. Despite how we have obtained him. We want to preserve what is left of such a great Clan. Be it either the Kyūketsuki or the Mangetsu Clan." Her eyes moved around the room eyeing the shinobi who were present. "Kakashi I will trust your judgment for now. Do what you think is best with Kaito."

I nodded and took that as my time to leave. "I need someone to deliver a message to Pakkun for me, if you don't mind." I requested, before moving toward the door.

Kaito's POV:

As soon as that office door opened, I was snapped out of my thoughts and found myself focused only on Kakashi as he stepped out. My tail flicked twice, and I still didn't understand what prompted it to move, especially after arriving here in this village. My tail has not move in like this in nine years. I am proud to say that I refrained from running up to him like most dogs tend to do. I was not like other dogs. Kakashi was not my Master; Pakkun had said as much.

"That's right. He's not your Master. Remember that Mutt." Aimi phantom voice echoed in my head. I could practically see the sneer on her face. "Riku and I own you." I ignore the nagging voice, focusing instead on what Kakashi was saying.

"Let's go Kaito. I think Pakkun has something he wants to talk to you about." He said, leading my out of the Hokage Tower, but he did not take us straight home, but back to the park. Pakkun was waiting for us there. "I'll be nearby." He said, walking away. "Go easy on him Pakkun." He shouted back before he got out of sight.

Hearing those words I glanced at the little pug. What did he mean go easy one me. What was the pug going to do to me?

"Follow me." Pakkun instructed leading me away and further away from Kakashi. He led me to the field that was surround by trees and apparently out of the way for any civilian. Whatever, Pakkun had plan he wanted us far enough away from the civilians. That's what I thought until the rest of the pack walk out and circled us.

My instinct spiked up at their positioning, and I felt cornered, trapped even. Pakkun position himself to stand in front of me. I flattened my ears and I could feel my hackles raise up slightly. I could feel my body preparing itself for an outright attack. Maybe I was wrong? Why else would they surround me in this fashion? I couldn't stop my eyes and my head from not moving to keep track of the ninken around, trying to figure out where the first attack was going to come from. Pakkun was watching me, with the unreadable bored gaze and it was bugging the hell out of me. I could not read deeper in this situation. So when Pakkun took a step closer to me, I couldn't stop the growl that escaped.

"Calm down, pup." He said. "Its just time for our talk about pack dynamics."

"Then why….is everyone here?…." I asked, this time freely letting me head to turn and face the rest of the pack.

"We're going on a run." Pakkun said.

I gave him a questioning look. That didn't explain why the whole pack was here?

Seeing the question mark stamped on my face, Pakkun tilted his head. "Its common knowledge that a pack that runs together, stays together. If you want to understand the pack better, you need to run and play with us."

"Run….? Play….?" I repeated, my mind going straight to my leg; I still had a limp. This was stupid.

"We'll take it easy on you." Pakkun reassured.

Still unsure, I glanced around at the rest of the pack, who, now that I looked closely, were all smiling seemed to be giving me encouraging looks. "I think….I just want to….go back to the Compound." I said. I didn't feel like running today, nor getting closer to the pack. Wasn't showing Kakashi that I would follow his lead enough?

Pakkun waved my suggestion away with one of his paws. "Come on, pup. There's a prize at the end of this if you participate." Pakkun said, in a persuasive tone.

"That doesn't work on me. I don't need rewards to be happy." I huffed, already turning away to follow our path back to Kakashi.

"Not even for that?" Pakkun asked.

I turned to follow were his eyes were looking, toward the tan colored ninken with the brown long ears and brown legs. If I remember correctly his name was Bisuke. "Hey!...That's mine!" I growled. He had my Mangetsu pendant in his mouth. Putting drool all over it. "Give it back….." I demanded, swinging my head towards Pakkun, and stalking closer to him.

He didn't move, but the other dogs were slowly backing up, but not out of fear of me. They were getting ready to do what they came here to do. "There's a reward for everyone, but that, is yours. Boss was going to give back to you, but I suggested that he give it to us. You got to keep up to get the reward." He said, not even bothered that I was very close to just rip his throat out. "Now the rules are simple. You just have to have fun and avoid injuring someone. Think smart and just feel the rthyme of the pack."

"I don't care….about the pack!….Now give it back!" I snapped, aiming close to his face, only when I blinked he was and I felt something land on my back and a pinch on my ear. The crazy little pug had teleported himself onto my back and had nipped my ear. For some reason, the nip on the ear, had me wanting to put my head down and go plaint, but I ignored the urge.

"We're going to keep this simple, due to you not being able to use your chakra. But you are a ninken and your injuries aren't too bad, for a small game of keep away. I think this is a good opportunity for us all to get to know each other better." He said, hopping off my back before I could even decide to buck him off ignoring my disinterest to run with them. "You good with all that?"

"I'm not playing…." I growled.

"Okay, get ready." He said. The other ninken positioned themselves in a ready stance.

"Give it back!..." I advance toward him, hackles once again raised.

"Steady." He said, backing up from me.

"Pakkun!" I growled, warningly.

"GO!" He said, turning and dashing away. The rest of the ninken ahead of him. "Better hurry, pup! Don't want to lose your reward." He called over his shoulder.

Letting a snarl out, I had to run after them. That was my pendant, my last possession of my life with Heki. I had kept it all these years, it was the only thing that kept me sane. I thought it was lost when I woke up with it gone, thinking that Aimi had somehow broke the link when she cut at my throat. But no, these Leaf shinobi's had it all this time, and now these ninken were refusing to give it back. 'Fine, I'll run with you, and I'll take it back when I catch you!' I silently vowed. The wanted me to run, I would show them I was not to be trifled with even with my chakra sealed. Even though I was a bit sore and had a limp I was gaining on them. I was at least getting closer to Pakkun, who looked back to check on my progress. He had a smile on his face, when he saw I was gaining ground on him.

"That's it, pup. We're going to pick up the speed now." He said, moving even further ahead of me, the pack following his lead.

I moved my legs faster, well as fast I could with a limp, to keep up. I was gaining again, Bisuke, the one that held my Mangetsu pendant was just within my reach. Seeing my coming up beside him, he tossed it in the air and the big one; Bull caught it. He was further ahead of Bisuke. The were all zig-zagging around me, and tossing the Mangetsu pendant to each other. I did notice that none of them were using their chakra and I noticed that Pakkun was constantly looking back at me. They could leave me in the dust if they want to, but they weren't they were in sync with one another.

"Just like us. Remember when we would chase each other." Heki cheered, His voice echoing in my head as his phantom image said, appearing and disappearing in a blink of an eye. "It was so much fun!"

"Ready? We're about to start the best part of the run." Pakkun said, slowing slight to end up beside me. "Scatter!"

At the command, everyone went in different directions. They scattered so quickly that I couldn't decided which dog to keep track of first. "Wait!..." I huffed, slowing slightly. I didn't know what they were doing. I decided to just keep following the one who had the Mangetsu pendant last. If they hadn't passed it to off again. I veered off to the left to follow the ninken wearing the sunglasses; Akino was his name, I believe. I haven't spent much time talking to these ninken besides Pakkun. He was jogging and apparently waiting on me. I didn't care I lunged to take back what was mine.

Akino slowed even more jumping in the air and barrel rolling to the opposite side of me. "You got good eyes." He said, before catching the Mangetsu pendant.

I didn't reply, I don't think I could anyway. I didn't think I was in such bad shape. I was already getting tired. "S-stop!" I huffed. When another ninken; Urushi, I believe came out of the bushes and snatched the Mangetsu pendant from Akino. I was now following white and light brown colored ninken. He kept looking back when he noticed I was on his tail.

"Almost there." He called back to me, and all I could do was hope he didn't lose it with it swinging between his teeth.

When we broke through the trees, I was not expecting to see the other ninken already ahead of us and pouncing and tackling each other. However, it didn't look like they were hurting each other either. They looked like they were having fun. I certainly wasn't expecting the greyhound one looking one; Ūhei, to suddenly bump into me slightly with a swish of his tail as he took possession of my pendant. He even jerked indicating me to follow him before he jogged over where the rest of the pack were fooling around. When I did follow, jumped away out of my reach wagging his tail. 'What is he doing?' I tried getting close to him again, and he jumped away again.

I looked over at Pakkun, who was watching the whole thing with a smile on his face, while sitting on top of Bulls head. What was going on. I thought this was suppose to teach me the benefits of a pack. How was this teaching me?

"I don't know what their trying to teach you, but it sure looks like fun!"

I shook my head of Heki's laughter. I didn't get it, I don't even know what this has to do with pack. I just want the pendant back! Getting frustrated I waited till I knew Ūhei's attention moved off to the other ninken to ram into him. We both sprawled into the grass and my pendant went flying somewhere into nearby bushes. I scrambled to get to my feet before

"Hey, hey, break it up now." Pakkun barked. I found myself picked up by my scruff, by Bull. "I think we made our point. Guruko go get the pendant."

"What?….You point?" I asked, as Bull put me back down.

"Yeah." Akino spoke up. "We wanted you to demonstrate to you how having no pack could affect your performance as a ninken."

"You couldn't get that pendant, could you?" Pakkun said.

"There are more of you…. and one of me. And your all….in better shape." I huffed. "This was unfair ….from the moment it started."

"Right." Pakkun nodded. "And now that your rested a bit let's do this again. Akino, Bisuke, Shiba, and Ūhei will help you out this time."

I felt my jaw drop slightly. He wanted us to do that again?!

They all laughed at my reaction, but I was still reeling, that I didn't even think about being offended by their laughter. "We'll give them a ten second head start. Okay?" Shiba said, as he and the other three positioned themselves beside me.

Guruko tossed my pendant to Pakkun, who was still sitting on Bulls head. "Sound fair." He said catching it. He and the rest turned and started back running.

"So do you know what our plan of action will be?" Shiba asked.

"Conquer." I growled. I seriously just wanted to go back to the Compound.

They shared a looked, but didn't say anything.

As soon as ten seconds were up, I started after Pakkuns team. I don't think I can run as fast this time, but I was going to try. I could tell Pakkun had his team running slower, and for some reason instead of being grateful for the consideration they were taking due to my condition, it just made me angry. He watched from Bulls head. I kept my eyes on him. I was coming right up beside Bull and all I had to do was jump up to take back what was mine. When I did jump, it wasn't even high enough, but Pakkun still left Bulls head and now I had a dog three times my size blocking me from the little pug. I looked back at the ninken who were suppose to be helping me. "Do something!" I growled.

The four ninken, spread out, but were all looking my way every few seconds. I didn't understand why they were doing that. They worked flawlessly as a team when they were following Pakkuns orders. What was I missing? I watched as Pakkun and the others were zig-zagging and blocking each other as they tossed my pendant around. It didn't look like a competition, even though we were split into teams. They were laughing and even my team who would get the pendant, were not trying as hard to keep it. They even let me get a hold of it a few times before someone would zip by and snatch it away from me. It wasn't so much as running anymore than everyone staying in this one area to play; as Pakkun had said earlier, a game of 'Keep Away'. I was so busy looking around at what they were all doing, and marveling over how much fun they were all having. I barely even noticed my tail was actually wagging every so often whenever I had my pendant, and it was thrilling to try and keep it away from the others.

Despite Shiba, Akino, Bisuke, and Ūhei who were suppose to be helping me, I was even trying to either take my pendant from them, or keeping it away from them. They even called for me to pass the pendant to them whenever I could get, but I wouldn't. I just couldn't bring myself to trust them to really be on my team. I was so focused on watching everyone and keeping my eye on the Mangetsu pendant, I didn't have time to acknowledge that I didn't want this to end. However, I was getting really tired now and I found myself trying to keep moving, and watching everyone at the same time.

"Pup watch out!" Pakkun shouted.

But too late, I tripped over a fallen branch and went flying into the bushes and got wedged between the branches of the bush. And just like that whatever spell or jutsu I was under, broke and I felt stupid for not being able to notice a branch in my path. I wiggled to try and get out but it was useless.

"Okay, I think that's enough." I heard Pakkun say. I grunted when I felt myself being pulled from the bush by my tail, by Bull. Pakkun waited for him to put me down before he walked up to me and placed my pendant on the ground. "That was poor pack teamwork on your part, but you looked like a different dog today." He grunted.

I glared at him. Slowly taking my paw and placing over the Mangetsu pendant. Pakkun didn't say anything.

"Uh-oh, I think their starting to notice. Maybe its time to come clean, huh, Kaito?" echoed Heki's voice.

Like hell, over my dead body. "I never…. had to work…. with a pack. I…. just took orders." I grumbled.

"That's ridiculous, its ingrain in your instinct. Even a lone wolf, knows how to work with other wolves." Akino interjected.

"Well, I'm not a wolf,…. and its not …..ingrained in mine!" I growled. They all just stared at me. However, as much as I didn't want to admit it, I did get what Pakkun and everyone was trying to show me. "But I think ….I get what you were ….trying to show me." Pakkun nodded for me to continue. "It is important….to communicate with….your teammates. Don't….try to do everything….yourself."

"Yes that was part of it what we were trying to show you today." Pakkun nodded.

"But the most important was to get you out and about and let you have some fun." Bull added, from behind me.

"Yeah, we knew you would probably not want to participate, so we decided to use your pendant as encouragement." Bisuke added.

"You been so uptight and stressed from the moment you stepped foot in the Compound." Shiba said.

"Well….it worked." I admitted. Although I was going to be a little more sore than what I was already. I…..

"C'mon, admit it, you had fun."

…..I did have fun. It was got to really stretch my legs and use some muscles that I haven't been allowed to use since I got here. And no one was yelling at me for doing a horrible performance in their game of 'Keep Away'. It actually brought back long forgotten fun memories. I remember doing the exact same thing to Heki, only he ended up eating mud. The thought of the entire moment of that day, had my chest bursting with a feeling I haven't felt in a long time and I just had to let it out. The other ninken kind of looked surprised with I busted out laughing. I actually ended up eating a bush, just like Heki had with mud. I don't know about anyone else, but it was a hilarious parallel to me.

"He's crying." Guruko said.

Was I? My eyes were becoming wet and my body was shaking, but that was from laughing. I can't remember the last time I felt like this before.

"Maybe this was the wrong way to do this." Urushi added.

"No. No….I'm fine." I reassured, with a smile. "I'm sorry….Its just been a long time…..since I have had fun." At my words everyone returned my smile, and were wagging tails.

"Well, I think its time we head home." Pakkun said, in a cheerful tone.

Before I followed the pack back tot he Compound, made sure to remember to pick up my Mangetsu pendant. Maybe I could ask Kakashi to give me a new link for it so I could wear it again.

Kakashi's POV:

Well, that was interesting to watch. It started out rough at first, but Kaito was actually getting into the spirit of the game the ninken were playing. I was watching safely in the trees and thanks to Kaitps chakra sealed, he had no way of knowing I was watching. It was clear the German Shepherd had no idea how to work in a team, much less a pack. He was competing against the ninken, Pakkun had assign to be on his team. We were going to have to work on that. His limp wasn't too bad, he could run good with it. He was out of shape though, nothing a bit of training couldn't fix. The pendant was a good idea, it motivated him to interact and after a while he seemed to be enjoying himself.

He looked like a totally different dog. He had a smile on his face. His tail was up and wagging. His head was up, and his eyes didn't hold the fear in them that they usually do. He looked carefree. And that was just another accomplishment for today. It made me smile to know that there was another Kaito underneath all that fear and stress. It showed me there was hope for him. However, his inability to function with a team was worrying, but understandable. He wasn't train properly. But we were already fixing that. Hearing Kaito laugh was proof of that.

"You can tell Lady Tsunade now that I am making progress." I said, to ANBU Cat, who was watching with me.

"Yes, I will be sure to inquire that your way is best. There is a big improvement compare to when you first brought him home." ANBU Cat agreed.

"Don't let anyone touch my ninken Yamato. I will count on to help me keep an eye out for him." I said, placing my hand on his shoulder.

"I have been assigned to find this Riku. You believe this Riku is one of the children from the Mangetsu massacre, he is one of the Kyūketsuki orphans?" He asked.

I nodded. "He's around somewhere. And when he's ready, he will come for Kaito. This I am sure." I said.

TBC

A/N: Hey all! I hope you like the Chapter. ^^ Let me know what you think, by Favoring, Following, and Review. I enjoy know what you all think whether you like it or hated it.

Until Next Time…

HAPPY READING!