I'm sorry!
It's so late. And shorter than normal. My only excuse is that my muse abandoned me and real life shoved itself in my face.
*Ducks under bench to avoid flying objects*
This one's pretty short, only about 1600 words.
The village of Shin was a peaceful little place, seemingly untouched by the constant conflict that made up the shinobi world. A well-kept dirt road functioned for both vehicles and pedestrians, lined by small, whitewashed cottages backing onto the family farms.
Today, Kakashi noted, the village was abuzz with gossip in the weekly marketplace. With a sinking heart, he realised that he was probably the reason.
Better get used to it.
"Did you hear? The Uchiha clan, gone!" One rounded baker said somberly.
"In a single night, too!" His customer replied.
"The criminal's still at large, too. They're saying it's that Hatake, can you believe it?" The greengrocer chimed in.
"No way, they let him escape?!" A burly housewife exclaimed.
Quickly henging into a non-descript traveller, Kakashi stopped his eavesdropping and wandered into the market square, scanning it for the inn that he knew would be there. It would be good to sleep in a real bed for once – after he had sealed his few belongings into scrolls and left the Iburi's oak a few days ago, he had been sleeping with neither a fire nor a sleeping bag.
Kami forbid he even think about a tent.
There it was. A rusty sign proudly showed the door to the Snuggly Duck, creaking in the gentle afternoon breeze. Kakashi ambled over to the sturdy-looking building. Now for the hard part. Villages like this were Jiraiya's domain, and there was a chance that at least someone in this village was one of his hundreds of sleeper agents.
Jiraiya's spy network was legendary for the fine-woven net that it spun around the five great countries. As he travelled, he would recruit shinobi or civilians to act as spies for him, going about their daily lives but looking out for anything he alerted them too.
It didn't take a genius to guess that they'd all be on high alert for one Hakate Kakashi fleeing Fire Country.
Kakashi paused slightly to gather himself, the pushed open the solid wooden door with a resounding creak.
A blast of warm air hit him square in the face, just as a babble of voices met his ears. The large, cosy room was filled with tables and chairs, with a bar at the far end.
A young woman in a waitress' outfit strode confidently between the tables, stopping to appraise the newcomer with a steady gaze.
"Afternoon. Are'ya here for a bed or just for the booze?" The woman asked him with a friendly grin.
"I'd like to stay the night, please." He replied politely.
"Alrighty then, ya room's upstairs, third one on the left. Here's the key." She practically threw the small piece of metal in question at his face. After paying the bill, Kakashi made his way into his room. It was simple enough, with a bed, table, mirror and small bathroom in the corner, but clean and well-kept.
Leaving the less-suspicious of his luggage in the room (anything even remotely marking his as a shinobi stayed firmly in a scroll in his pocket) , Kakashi made his way downstairs for his first hot meal in weeks.
Oh, how he had missed a good roast.
The Sandaime sighed into his pipe, causing a fresh cloud of smoke to waft into the air. Questions were being asked, and if he couldn't control it soon, then all the death of the last weeks would have been for nothing. He could not let this situation fester.
Thus leaving him with a few options.
He could clue in Team Ro on the entire truth, trusting them to see that keeping quiet was the only way to stop a war. However, there was a chance that Tenzo, at least, would prove to be more loyal to Hatake than to the village and turn rogue, and with the loss of one of the best Black Ops as well as an entire clan he could not afford that to happen.
He could feed them some mis-information, allow them to reach to wrong conclusion, a conclusion that would cause them to stay loyal to the Leaf.
He could – Kami forbid – order their assassination. However, not only did he desperately not want it to come to that, it probably wouldn't work. Team Ro was his best assassination squad – they could probably escape any other ANBU teams that came after them and then flee the village.
Or he could give them to Danzo and have them go through his sealing, causing them to become emotionless, endlessly loyal, mindless shells. Shells that would not ask questions or dig up dark secrets. The very thought of willingly sending his soldiers to such a fate sickened him.
But not more than the knowledge that if push came to shove, he would do it. Sighing, he pushed the matter aside for another day and turned back to the latest paperwork.
Sometimes the Sandaime hated his job.
The academy of Konoha was bustling with the chatter of small children. That in itself was definitely not unusual, however, it was not often that the chatter and rumour mill of the Academy playground had been carefully manipulated by an outside force – that level of care was usually dedicated to enemy intelligence networks. However, small children were perfectly suited for Kakashi's intentions. After all, information spread like the plague in a playground, distorting itself and hiding details as it went.
"Hey, guess what happened to my big brother. He's a real ninja now, see, and he was out on a mission where they met a super-mysterious ninja! How cool is that! He helped them out though, so they didn't get to fight, which sucks. I mean, how cool would it be to take down a mysterious enemy?"
"Awww… Your brother gets all the luck, y'know. I've gotta tell my big sis about that. But why's someone we don't know helping us. I mean, if he wanted to help he could just sign up as a ninja here, right?"
"Maybe he's a ghost. They say nobody's seen his face, instead he just wears a Wolf mask. SO maybe he's a ghost of an Uchiha who wants to help but can't sign up 'cos he's dead!"
"Nah, that'd be stupid. A ghost can't be a ninja. Anyway, wanna play ninja?"
Pein looked over the Akatuski. Only Sasori, Konan and Zetsu were bodily present, dark apparitions filling in for the rest of his soldiers. He paused until they all quietened ("Stop looking at my like that, my man! You have no respect for my art!" "Art is eternal, Deidara, you are nothing more than a childish pyromaniac.") and began the meeting.
"I have an announcement to make. As most of you are aware, until today, were attempting to make Hatake Kakashi part of our organisation. However, he has clearly given us his answer by killing our comrade Orochimaru. From now on, he is to be killed on sight. An unwilling member is a hindrance at worst and a serious threat at best, and his bounty should be more than enough to make his death worthwhile for us.
However, do not destroy his Sharingan, it is worth nearly as much as his head."
Unsurprisingly, Konan was the first to ask a sensible question. "Should we seek him out specifically? His death would make a good example to the world of what happens when you anger the Akatsuki."
Pein considered the suggestion. It held plenty of merit – swiftly and brutally killing a powerful enemy would raise their standing in both the 5 great nations and the shinobi underworld. However… "We have recently had a sighting of the Yonbi jinchuuriki down near the land of Rice Paddies. We will focus on obtaining jinchuuriki for now - defeating holders of the tailed beasts should also provide an adequate display of power. Hatake Kakashi is a problem that can wait.
Sasori, Deidara – you two are tasked with obtaining the Yonbi. Try not to kill each other before you outlive your usefulness.
Dismissed."
The apparitions faded into nothingness as the Akatsuki resumed the hunt for bijuu. Pein's eyes widened slightly as he came to a realisation. With the Uchiha clan dead and one of Leaf's most trusted ANBU turning traitor, Black Ops forces were stretched thinner than ever.
Add that to the rock-bottom morale of the Leaf and the fact that the current Kyuubi jinchuuriki was a six-year old child… Yes, I can work with that. I can definitely work with that.
Team Gamma landed in a mossy sunlit clearing next to a towering oak. Raccoon gently ran his fingers over the worn patches on one of the many surrounding trees. "This is not natural." He informed his subordinates in a perfect monotone. "Somebody has been training here. The timeframe matches the target's probable movements. Search the oak."
Kakashi's shadow clone watched through the eyes of a wolf mask, hiding in a deep green pine. So Danzo's found me, huh. Better let the original know.
Raccoon spun as his ears picked up an unnatural sound. After quickly checking the area, he determined that it was nothing.
Four day's travel away, Kakashi froze in the middle of a delicious lamb stew. They're closer than I thought. I guess I'll have to wait a little longer to sleep in a bed.
He looked up to see the cheerful innkeeper catch his eye from across the room, watching him the way a cat looks at its prey. She nodded at him slightly. The unspoken message was easy to read - You are a shinobi. So am I. Watch your back.
Well, this complicated things. The real question was whose side the kunoichi was on. Was she one of Jiraiya's spies? A missing-nin? A shinobi from another village? Or was she related to the Akatsuki?
And most importantly – what were her intentions?
He looked her in the eye with a message of his own – Let's dance.
Fic rec of the chapter is….. Team 7's Ascension – Lines in the Sand by Eilyfe. You know how I recommended Team 7's Ascension – Blood Wings to you a while back? Still one of the best fics I've ever read btw. Well, in between the publishing of the last chapter and this one….
IT GOT A SEQUEL! *throws party*
It's up to chapter 3 right now.
Review answering time!
Sparksofrandomness: Yup, all the Uchiha are dead, including Itachi & Sasuke. I'm glad you liked the story so far!
Angel Hatake: Is subarashi a word? :) Also, if I had the ability to jump in to fanfics oh boy would I use it. But not into dark ones. Don't worry, Kakashi has no intention of joining Akatsuki – he kinda sealed the deal by killing Orochimaru anyway…
love torisho dragon: Thanks, I'm glad you liked it! I'm not sure if Sandaime should tell Jiraiya or not – what do you think? I mean, Sandaime is trying to keep it a secret but it would be awkward if Jiraiya caught Kakashi. So I'm not really sure what he would do.
Nebelkind: Yeah, Kakashi's important people have been taking second place to acting crazy lately. You're welcome for the recommendations – I share your pain in the search for a good Naruto fic. I started reading In a New World and it was really good, so thanks!
Kaminari Rin: There's no need to apologise, your review put a smile on my face and made my day! Sasuke is, unfortunately, dead (I killed him off because there was no real reason Kakashi would have to spare him, also, I don't like Sasuke that much and I was scared I would accidentally bash him). In canon, Kakashi's Mangekyou was awakened when he killed Rin, so I'm sticking with that. Thanks for reviewing and for the kind words!
Please R&R!
Also, story ideas, advice, anything like that would be welcome!
But that's enough for now because ThePlotBunnies is signing out!