Chapter 10 – A Dying Breed

Hinata was always one to arrive early. She had her own policy: always leave thirty minutes before a scheduled time. Maybe she'd get there a little early, but it was always better to be early than late. So she was more than surprised when she found Kakashi waiting for her at the entrance of the village.

"You're here early," she said as she walked up to the man.

"You make it sound like this is a uncommon thing," Kakashi said with an eye smile.

Hinata only shot him a raised eyebrow and he chuckled. "Now, now. We are on the clock. I'm never late when we are on a mission. How punctual I am when we're off the clock is my business."

"I don't think Sasuke-kun and Naruto-kun would like it if they heard you say that Kakashi-sensei," she reprimanded.

"Probably not. Which is why it's just going to be our little secret, Hinata-chan," he said as he ruffled her navy hair affectionately.

She tried to look a little agitated by the gesture, but couldn't muster up the anger to do it. The result ended up looking like something an amused pout.

They stood there and conversed for ten minutes before Sasuke arrived. He had the same surprised look as Hinata upon seeing Kakashi. Instead of commenting on it, he walked up to the wall of the village and rested in the shade.

Of course, it was two minutes before the scheduled time before Naruto burst onto the scene.

"I'm not late am I?" he panted as he tried to regain his breath.

"Nope, just in time," Kakashi drawled, "I assume you left your bag on purpose?"

The boy nodded as he reached into his kunai pouch and pulled out a little scroll.

"All sealed up and ready to go sensei!" he said with a smile.

Kakashi nodded and turned to address the group. "Okay team. Like I said before, this should take us about eight hours to get there. While this mission isn't exactly going to be life threatening, still act as if we were in a real scenario. Consider it training for the real thing."

All three lined up and Naruto gave the man a mock salute. "What are your orders, sensei?"

Kakashi sighed and continued, "Sasuke and Hinata. When we arrive, I want you to drop off your stuff in your accommodations and begin patrolling the area. While there is little threat from enemy nin, there is a chance of one of the men getting a little greedy in the wake of the confusion. Just keep an eye on things, while the manager and I discuss some details for tomorrow."

"What about me sensei?" Naruto butted in.

"I was getting to that. You are going to join me for your proposal to the manager. I think it would be best if there was a practical demonstration to ease the man into the idea."

Naruto's eyes lit up. He loved getting to show off his fuinjutsu prowess, even if it was something simple.

It was almost to quick to see, but Kakashi noticed Sasuke shooting the boy a short glare.

Oh, was the little Uchiha prodigy getting a little jealous? Now wasn't that entertaining. Kakashi smiled as an idea popped into his head.

"Well, if we are going to treat this like a real mission, why start when we get there?"

This drew confused looks from his genin. Oh, they were just so precious and innocent.

"Let's have a little fun and treat this like an escort mission."

"Huh," Naruto intelligibly said, "I don't get it. Who's the escort?"

"You." Kakashi eye-smiled.

As the boy sputtered, a tiny grin broke out on Sasuke's face. "What's wrong dobe? It makes perfect sense. We have to protect the most fragile of the group."

"What did you say you teme?" he yelled at the boy.

Hinata held an arm in front of him and tried to hold him back from lunging at the black-haired boy. "Naruto, although Sasuke was a little rude when he said it, it does make sense."

"Hinata-chan! You too?" he sulked off on the ground as dark lines appeared above his head. "You think I'm fragile?"

Her eyes widened and she quickly shook her head. "N-no, no, no, Naruto-kun. You misunderstood. I-I meant that you are key for making this mission a success, so it makes sense that you are the valued person."

Kakashi chuckled as he watched the exchange. "Alright. If you're done pouting Naruto, then let's move out. Sasuke, you take point, while Hinata and I will be along side Naruto."

The mission was so far a success. The trio of figures watched as their escort interacted with the manager of the lumberyard. His blonde hair gleamed as he amiably chatted with the manager about how they could reduce the amount of time necessary for transport due to their tragic accident.

He only glanced in their direction once, and the dim gleam of their forehead protectors in the evening light reassured him that they were still there.

As time went on, he noticed one figures detach itself from the rest of the group and head off deeper into the woods. Probably to go on patrol. Things were certainly going to start heating up soon if what the manager had said was true, but this was what he prepared for. It would be unprofessional for him to loose his composure at the first sign of trouble.

After all, you don't spend two years of your life preparing to infiltrate Konoha only to loose your cool at the first sign of trouble.

The Iwa jounin wanted to sigh due to his comrade's vexing behavior. The man was a ninja for crying out loud. He was way too fidgety than the jounin felt comfortable with, especially this close to Konoha. The jounin could barely understand the Tsuchikage's reasoning for including him on this mission.

The chunin was rash, impatient, and thought with his heart rather than his head. He was too much of a loose cannon for this delicate operation. The jounin preferred the chunin's other teammate for this mission; at least he could act professional. That was why he had sent the man off to prepare for the incoming team from Konoha.

Dam that cursed drunkard who had caused the fire in the barracks. Because of him, their operation, which had taken months of paperwork and preparation, was at risk.

Their mole was posing as a carpenter under contract for the labor yard. It had taken months to forge the appropriate paperwork for him to get into Konoha, but now it could possibly be undone just because of an uncontrollable accident. Murphy's Law really was a bitch.

Now, Konoha was sending out a team to help the manager and that complicated things. The jounin's team was sent to ensure that the spy slipped by the Fire Nation borders undisturbed, and provide cover for an escape route in the event something went wrong before he got inside the village. Their close proximity to the spy could alert the group from Konoha that something was wrong, causing them to investigate further.

He was broken out of his thoughts as the other chunin returned.

"Daiki-san, the team from Konoha is almost here."

The jounin frowned. "Did they catch even a glimpse of you?"

Kyou shook his head. "No, I'm certain, but you don't have to worry too much. Like we hoped, it's just a team of genin."

Daiki felt a weight lift off his chest. Perfect. Now the only thing they had to worry about was the genin team's jounin. Depending on his or her ability, they may not have to alter their plans.

"Perfect. I can't wait to see the trash Konoha sent. This'll be a breeze!" the other chunin confidently smirked.

Daiki frowned. "Takara, go check on the traps set along our escape route."

"What! But why? I want to see the Konoha scum up close!" he argued.

The jounin fixed him a dark stare. "Because I ordered you to. Now move it."

The chunin grumbled as he darted off.

Kyou offered the jounin an apologetic smile. "I apologize for my friend's rude behavior Daiki-san."

The jounin rubbed his forehead. "He sounds too much like that upstart Yuuto. How the hell did that insubordinate hothead become a chunin?"

"Takara is one of my best friends, but I will be one of the first to say that he wasn't quite ready to be promoted to chunin. Yuuto-sama and other members of the council put pressure on the Tsuchikage in order to speed him along. They needed him to pass the requirement in order to activate certain clan restoration laws. Even if he is mentally not ready for the rank, he makes up for it in his ability. Did the Tsuchikage tell you why he was chosen for this mission?"

"Something about covering us if we need to escape, but I don't see what the hell could be so special about that hothead."

"He's one of the last of his family line. His family had a special kekkai genkai, which made their clan especially hard to kill, but almost all of them died during the last shinobi war. He's a little overzealous when it comes to Konoha, since one team discovered a weakness in their jutsu and exploited it. After spreading the information across their ranks, the clan's numbers greatly diminished. The Tsuchikage sent me to keep him in check because I'm the only one he'll calm down enough to listen to."

Daiki was not one to argue against the decisions of his kage. If the man thought Kyou could handle the chunin on this important mission, then he would let him.

"Still, his attitude towards Konoha reflects more of Yuuto's mindset than I would like. His hate filled speeches and propaganda are doing more bad for the village's moral, than good."

Kyou nodded. "I agree. Did you hear that he wanted the Tsuchikage to pardon the traitor Deidara as well?"

Daiki rounded on him, "That's absurd! After all of the damage he left in his wake out of the village?"

Kyou looked grim, "He believe his phrased it as being able to forgive the rebellious stage of a young artist. Honestly, I think he just wants to gather up as many people he can who would side with him over the Tsuchikage."

Daiki shot him a look, "Do you think he would try anything?

He shook his head. "Not anytime soon. He does not have enough followers for that, but I won't deny that I think that may be his ultimate intention. That is part of the reason why the Tsuchikage has assigned me to watch over Takara. He wants me to try to shake those feelings of hate out of his system and ensure his loyalty."

He paused and turned his attention towards the road. "I apologize Daiki-san, I believe we are going to have to cut this conversation short. The team should be arriving in a few minutes."

They waited in silence for several minutes before the silhouettes of Konoha's team became visible in the dark. Kyou did not get a chance to look at the group up close before, so now he really began studying the group. He did not recognize the jounin, so he turned his attention to the genin. The first to become visible had a mob of blonde hair and a booming voice. There was something familiar about the boy but he couldn't place it, so he turned his attention to the other two. The blonde was chatting along with a young girl with dark hair, who he was surprised to recognize as a Hyuuga. Not just any Hyuuga, but a main family member! He was even more surprised when the boy in front passed and he recognized the iconic fan shape on his back. An Uchiha! The last loyal Uchiha to Konoha!

A different train of thought went through the jounin's mind as he instantly recognized the jounin from the bingo book. That was Kakashi Hatake of the Sharingan!

Of course they couldn't have been blessed with a lower level jounin. Instead, they were faced with arguably the strongest jounin Konoha had.

Thankfully, the man's attention was held by a small book and his students were too distracted conversing amongst themselves to notice the duo watching them. They would have remained undiscovered, if their other teammate had not chosen this exact moment to loudly return.

Immediately, the jounin tackled Takara and held him behind a tree. The chunin struggled furiously as the jounin tried to keep him quiet. All he could do was pray as he tried to silence the impatient chunin within his grasp. After several minutes, Kyou appeared by their side.

"It is clear. They have passed."

Daiki finally released Takara, who began gasping for air.

"What—The hell—Was that for?"

"Shut up you idiot! You almost got us caught!"

He turned his attention back to Kyou. "Did they notice us after I dived for Takara?"

"The genin did not notice, but the jounin did glance in our direction. He seemed to stare right at where you were hiding. If he noticed, he didn't act on it."

"Shit!" he said, as he ran a hand through his hair. Hatake would be suspicious now. He would now be keeping an eye out for anything out of the ordinary.

Their spy was good and was trained to fool even Konoha's ANBU, but even so, he was not prepared for someone with Kakashi's experience. Especially, if they had to stay in a close proximity with him all the way back to the village.

"There's more, I don't know if you noticed, but they had the Hyuuga and Uchiha heirs with them too."

"What!" Takara gasped, "Screw this infiltration mission. Let's just abduct them now! The heirs of the two most powerful dojutsu lines are worth way more than protecting the spy."

The jounin closed his eyes as he thought. He really wanted to consider it. The opportunity to nab two valuable heirs to Konoha was almost too good to pass up. However, the more he thought about it, the less enchanted he became with the idea.

If they were to attempt to abduct the two, he was certain a confrontation with Hatake would be unavoidable. If they managed to get away, Konoha would surely start asking questions as to why they were in their borders to begin with, which would put their spy at risk. And this was assuming they managed to get away. Right now, they were in the heart of Fire Country. It would take them days of travel to reach the border. It was already going to be challenging to leave undetected as originally planned. They would be even slower with the added weight, making it easy for hunter-nin to catch up. Plus the border patrol.

As good of an opportunity as it was, there were too many factors for them to fail.

"As much as I hate to say it, we are going to have to pass on this opportunity. We would likely fail in our endeavor and potentially put our spy at risk."

Takara was about to object, but was silenced when Daiki raised his hand. "Non-negotiable. Now, let's move on to see what we can do to make sure this mission is still a success. First, we need to push back in case that Hyuuga activates her byakugan. Next, their jounin is going to be on the lookout for anything suspicious now. We have to find a way to draw his attention away from our informant. Here is what we are going to do."

"We're finally here!" the blonde shouted as the complex came into view. The complex was mostly barren with a few clusters of buildings off to one side. On the opposite side of the complex was the actual lumberyard. The ground was covered in dirt and pine dust from the acres of trees that were torn down.

Hinata and Sasuke also let out a sigh of relief as their eyes wandered the new environment. Kakashi's attention may have seemed glued to his book, but he was instead scanning the tree line around the complex.

He was sure he had seen something earlier, and it was making him uneasy. Any friendly hunter-nin or patrolling officer would have at least clarified his identity through hand signals. The whole situation made him uncomfortable, and he had long ago learned to listen to his gut.

"Change of plans guys," he said as he turned their attention back to him. "Hinata, Sasuke, I know I told you to look around, but I've changed my mind. We are all going to go meet with the manager, before we hit the hay. You guys deserve a break for not complaining through the whole trip."

Hinata seemed grateful, and Sasuke seemed like he didn't care. Naruto was jumping up and down with excitement as they headed towards the administrative building.

There was no need to worry them until he was sure it was something. It could just as easily been an animal that caught his attention, but he wanted to ensure it was nothing.

To say that Naruto's performance for the manager had gone well would be an understatement. He had been captivated by the boy's demonstration and Kakashi could see the glimmer in his eye as the new possibilities this presented swam through his head. He had instantly agreed to the boy's proposition and was very interested to learn more about the sealing techniques. Unfortunately for him, Kakashi decided to end their conversation as he noticed his other two charges growing drowsy. The blonde and the manager had been talking for over an hour and he decided to cut their conversation short.

They decided to set camp next to the storage facility for the lumber. After another hour, the three genin were sound asleep as Kakashi slowly exited his tent. He created a kage bunshin to stay with the group, before heading outside of their circle of tents. He paused to make sure Naruto's proximity seals were in still place before he dashed off towards the road.

At his current speed, it took him little time to return to the spot they had passed earlier. When he arrived, he bit his thumb and made four hand signs before slamming his hand into the ground.

After a cloud of smoke dissipated, a tiny brown pug sat in front of him.

"Kakashi, I thought you and your little squirts were out on an easy mission close to the village?" the dog said in a gruff voice.

"We still are on our mission. However, how easy it will remain will be decided if you find anything in the next few minutes," Kakashi replied seriously.

Pakkun nodded his head and followed the man into the trees. He came to a stop a short distance away from the road and noticed a bush with heavily bent twigs. He knelt down and studied it as he waved Pakkun over.

"See if you can get a scent off of this."

The dog began sniffing at the bush, before turning to the man and said, "Don't notice anything out of the ordinary."

Kakashi nodded. "Go look around the area, and report back if you find anything."

As the dog walked away with his nose in the dirt, Kakashi scanned his eyes around the area. He was sure he had seen something right here. Even if it had been just an animal, there should have been a scent left over. While some might have said he was being paranoid, the ANBU in him just wouldn't let it slide.

"Kakashi, up here," Pakkun called.

Kakashi jumped up to a branch not far away and landed next to Pakkun.

"Find anything?"

"No, but that is exactly what the problem is."

He pointed his nose to where the branch connected with the tree. "Right here. I smell nothing. I mean, no smell from the bark or leaves. Nothing. I think we both know what that means."

He did know what this meant. Many hunter-nins and ANBU agents used a particular musk to hide their scent during high profile stealth missions. It was as close to perfect as you were going to get. It completely masked the scent of whoever applied it, allowing the user to even trick the noses of the famed Inuzuka.

However, it did have one flaw. It worked a little too well. The musk was so heavy that it tended to linger for hours at a time. While some might have argued this was a good thing, it created its own problem. If a person lingered long enough, the musk would spread out and encompass the area around them. This left its own kind of trail, for it left behind a vacuum of air devoid of any scent.

Kakashi frowned. Something was very wrong. Whoever had been here did not want their presence known.

"Thanks Pakkun. I may need to call you again in the next day or two, so be ready on standby. When you return, ask the Hokage if he has had any patrols go through this sector."

"No problem," the dog nodded before asking, "And just when are you going to let us meet your new little students? Bull is very excited to meet them."

In spite of the situation, Kakashi chuckled. "I'll make sure to have them meet you all very soon. You guys may not like Sasuke, but I'm certain you're going to love Hinata. She'll probably spoil you rotten."

Pakkun waived his tail at the idea before disappearing in a cloud of smoke.

Kakashi stood up and gazed around the forest. It was much to quiet for his liking. Someone was in the area that did not want to be found. Kakashi lifted off as he began searching for more clues.

After 4 hours of searching to no avail, he finally quit and returned to camp. His arrival had caused an uproar from the blonde, who drearily charged out of his tent after being woken up by his proximity seals. The jounin just waved him off by saying he had to go to the bathroom, causing the blonde and his two teammates to angrily stare at him as they returned to their tents.

As all three went back to sleep, Kakashi summoned more clones to keep watch. Let them get their sleep. Tomorrow, they would need their energy. They were all going to be busy tomorrow.

Author's Note:

Sorry for the delay. Been busy with game day and studying. I've found it's much harder to write actions scenes than it is to write plot driven moments (if that isn't a spoiler for next chapter). I know not a lot happened this chapter, but it mostly serves as set up for the next chapter and future story arcs.

I just want to shoot you guys a head's up. Sad to say it, but don't expect new chapters to come out on Thursdays or Saturdays. Those are my busiest days of the week. Thursday is my busiest day for work and Saturday is usually eaten up by college football.

I also want to apologize ahead of time for the lack of chapters for this upcoming week. I have my first round of exams for Physics and I have to make a strong first grade, so definitely no chapter on Wednesday.

Now that the boring stuff is out of the way, on to the question corner:

In response to reviewer "Neon and the Lost Soul." No, Naruto isn't going to mess with gravity seals for training. That trope is found in way too many fanfictions as it is. Even my personal favorite, Team 8 (which you should all read btw), falls into this pitfall. That's why I made him naturally fast to combat this theme.

To LordTicky. Yes, Naruto is going to specialize in fuinjutsu throughout his career.

To reviewer KK. Very close, but not quite on the money for that team configuration.

To bigfan22, really enjoyed the review. I agree with what you said about Kushina vs Minato. It's just that the Hirasihin opens more opportunities story and action-wise than the chains do.

Lastly to Hayden Elrics. No, it is not Zetsu.

Enjoy this and the next chapter that I will post later today.