(AN: This chapter is a little graphic in the fight scene department, but it's not really that bad, so I wouldn't worry).

"Please! I'll do anything, I swear it!"

The masked man stepped forward.

"Name your price, I'll pay! Just don't kill me!"

The victim's shrill cry irritated the man opposite him, whose only job was to see him dead. A rogue like him, with battle scars running across his chest as he so openly displayed, should have been more of a challenge. He should have stood his ground, instead of collapsing under only a pinpoint - a pinch - of pressure.

Again, the mysterious ninja took a step towards his commanding officer's enemy; grimacing at how he groveled at his feet.

How disgusting.

"Please!"

Mercilessly, Kakashi plunged a knife he had been twirling previously on his fingers through the rogue's chest; emerging only seconds later coated in blood. More and more, a sea of red, spurted from the wound, and Kakashi took a glance at the man one last time, only to find his eyes rolling back into his head. An accurately placed stab, no doubt. He was dead. And Kakashi's job was still only halfway finished.

...Fleeing from the scene quickly, after being sure to dispose of the body with an explosion of flames, Kakashi leapt into the trees; eager to locate his next target. The man from before was one of many - too many, for Kakashi's liking - that were part of some organization under the direct order of Orochimaru. This particular group had been growing larger, and more powerful lately, meaning they needed to be stopped. Now, it was Kakashi's, as well as a few other skilled ninjas', job to do it.

Kakashi sighed.

How he wished he could be with Iris at this very moment.

It had been a week, perhaps two, since he had last seen her, and to be honest, he was getting worried. There were so many possibilities, so many chances for her to get into trouble, and without him there, she could very well get hurt. Kakashi wouldn't be able to live with himself if she did.

Yet, who was he, to tell her what to do? What had he been thinking? Saying, 'Our little chat isn't over', was practically telling her to wait for him. In his current state, what right did he have to act all high and mighty? What right did he ever have? Sure, it was true that their conversation simply wasn't over, but he couldn't even stand to wait himself! How did that suddenly translate into him becoming the ring leader?

Feelings of regret for yelling at her had been washing through his system ever since he had left, and now, he could hardly stand to stay focused on this stupid mission. Kakashi cared not about this stupid group of rogues, who, judging from their level of strength, seemed to be a false alarm. All he cared about right now, was returning home, to see Iris alive and well. That was all he wanted. Yet, something was telling him that that wouldn't be what he would find.

Honestly, he had been feeling a bad omen for the past week; seeing signs that struck a danger chord within him for reasons even he did not know. He would simply see something, something so small, and so meaningless, and yet it would set him on edge for the rest of the day. Take the Uchiha Clan crest, for example. As he passed one of their old, destroyed side-branch homes, and saw it; carved into the stone foundation, he had been forced to pause, right there in the open, even with the risk of being seen and attacked. Something, didn't feel right when he looked at it. He didn't know what it was, but whatever the case may have been, it bothered him. Deeply. And now, he was somehow sure that it was connected to Iris, though he could only guess at the significance the Uchiha crest held, considering that all but one of them were dead.

How Kakashi hated not knowing things.

What if she was in pain, right now? What if she had given up on the world? What if she had…

Kakashi didn't want to think about any of this, yet the thought continued to plague him, even as he sunk into focus mode. Even as the other members of his four man squad tried to engage him in conversation. He couldn't pay attention. Iris captivated his entire existence, and this time, not in a good way.

"That was my brother you killed!"

A scream - feminine - broke Kakashi away from his thoughts, though not entirely.

She ran towards him with thundering footfalls, making her easy to spot, even with only his ears. She was not worth the trouble of turning around.

With a flick of his wrist, Kakashi launched a round of throwing stars - shuriken - into the air. They soared silently, trained on their target for only a few seconds at most, creating a thin line of suspense before he heard the satisfying slitting of skin. Blood burst from the wound on her neck, just like it had on her apparent brother, but Kakashi found that he didn't care about it in the slightest as he pushed on; once more disposing of the body with a simple fire jutsu.

One more down, at least a dozen to go.

Kakashi sped through the trees; the green and brown a blur, making it seem like everything was moving too fast. His life was slipping away from him, and somehow, he felt it necessary to grasp it tightly within his fingers so as to not let it get away. If he didn't, surely, Iris would be right there with the trees he passed. Ignored. Forgotten. Unimportant.

And she was none of those things.

"I see you managed to kill my team."

Another rogue appeared, this one faster than the woman had been. He caught up to Kakashi in an instant, though he wasn't going top speed, and slashed at him with a sharpened katana. The fabric of his vest was torn slightly, before he could get away.

Kakashi had just a gotten a new one. How annoying.

This man seemed to be much more skilled than the others on his team, so Kakashi allowed himself to get more serious as he created a few shadow clones. They surrounded him, blocking hits, as he thought of his next move, and if it would affect his schedule to stay here and mess around with the rogue for a while. Surely, even though his team had agreed to meet at their base in what was probably now only a half an hour, they wouldn't mind if he took a small detour, right?

Making the decision to fight the man, since it would take his mind away from Iris, Kakashi stopped suddenly; catching himself on a thick treetrunk before hopping to the forest floor. There, he was soon joined by the rogue; a man without a face, as far as Kakashi could see. His voice from before hinted at the fact that he was probably around Kakashi's age, but other than that, his hood covered all distinguishable features. Since Kakashi was planning on killing him anyway, he decided it didn't matter.

"Yeah, I did," he answered; soon coming to blows with the powerful swing of his katana again. Kakashi allowed one of his clones to take the hit, and it disappeared with a puff of smoke.

"What's a skilled ninja like you doing with thugs like them, anyway?"

It was a question Kakashi actually wanted to know the answer to, despite it being common interrogation protocol. By every second, this mysterious rogue seemed to be getting better, and in comparison, the people Kakashi had fought previously were getting worse and worse. Now, the scream of that barbaric woman seemed like nothing compared to the screech of this blade scraping against the devices of the forest; the whoosh of it passing within millimeters of his ear.

"An uninteresting reason," returned the man, sounding irritated and cold. He was just like an Uchiha, Kakashi realized, with the skill and reserved nature. However, it was simply impossible that it could be, because the massacre had happened all too long ago, and no one but that brat of a child Sasuke had survived. So...definitely not an Uchiha, right?

Once more, the katana almost grazed his skin, and Kakashi found himself panicking slightly beside himself. He had known the rogue was good, better than the others, but not this good. He wasn't even using jutsus yet, as he was sure he could, and he was almost beating him. It was a blow to his pride, surely, but more than that, it made him wonder if he would make it out of this alive to check on Iris.

...Iris!

All at once, Kakashi remembered how the Uchiha crest from before had bothered him so much, while thinking in regards to her. Could this be the reason? Could this fight, in which he repeatedly mistook his opponent for an Uchiha, be the reason he was so unsettled by looking at it?

And, more than that, did such a thing mean that this man was in fact an Uchiha? Was this connection not just referencing what Kakashi thought, but what instead was actually true? Was more happening here, than even he knew?

Kakashi dodged another attempted stab, wondering still about what had gotten this man to stoop to the level of the rogues before him. What was his drive? And more importantly, was he an Uchiha?

"Would you happen to an Uchiha?" Kakashi asked, deciding to be forward as he caught hold of the man's arm. "Perhaps one that's been hiding all these years?"

With a jerk, he left the man tumbling forward, off the branch they had both momentarily been standing on during the mobile skirmish. From there, he followed him, jumping off as well, only to find that the man was gone.

Where-

He hadn't exactly let his guard down, yet Kakashi still didn't expect the sharp blow to the back of his head to come. Swirls of all different colors blocked his vision, and the only thing he could make out was that the pain didn't feel like a stab-wound, so that was good. Less chance of dying, that way.

"I can't say that I'm not," the man spoke into Kakashi's sudden darkness, lifting up his hood just enough for Kakashi to make out a needlessly handsome face, with roughly defined jaw and cheek lines. His eyes were black; soulless, and he only smirked for a second - as those same eyes flashed red - before his expression returned to a blank stare, which fit the tone of his voice.

"But if you'll excuse me," he continued, as Kakashi's eyes shifted hazily towards the raven colored hair he owned; running down his back in a neat ponytail.

"I've got a girl to meet."

(AN: Ooo~oooh, plot development!)