Chapter 21

The Pieces In Play

The young man Itachi brought back to the house bowed low to the floor, shaking like a leaf in a fall breeze. He raised his head to look from Itachi to the Leader and then bowed lower still.

"I . . . I can only wake one of them today . . . I don't have enough chakra for both."

The Leader turned toward Itachi with a scowl. "Were there no other choices?"

Itachi kept his expression neutral. "None, Leader. Aside from the sisters, this is the only other healer in the village."

The Leader frowned and turned back toward the boy. "Very well. Heal Mishobi first. I want to test his control over the Tool before this day is through."

Itachi bowed his head in acknowledgment, and waited until the Leader left the room before turning toward the frightened boy at his feet. "Do what you can for the one with the mask."

The young man scurried to Mishobi's side and went straight to work trying to release the Akatsuki member from his forced slumber. Itachi moved to the nearest chair and sat down to watch the youth and make certain there would be no more deception. As the minutes stretched on, he found his mind wandering to the first time he'd come to this village - to this very house.

He'd been thirteen years old and assigned to Kakashi Hatake's ANBU squad. Itachi had known the mission was meant to be used as a final test of sorts for him. After all, the rumors throughout the Leaf Village of his upcoming rise to squad leader were hard to ignore . . . even for him. He'd found it ironic that the final test would be at the hands of the man he'd be compared to for his entire life.

Never mind that Itachi's sharingan was active at the age of eight and he'd graduated the academy at ten . . . that paled in comparison to Kakashi – who'd graduated at five and was chunin at six years. The silver-haired boy had been a hardened soldier at the tender age of nine – the same year Itachi was born – and was a full-fledged jonin by twelve. Everyone knew that the only reason Kakashi wasn't made a squad leader upon his entrance into ANBU at thirteen was because it had never been done before . . . so they'd waited until he was fifteen to officially bestow the title and duties to him.

Itachi's own meteoric rise in rank was in large part due to the fact Kakashi had gone before him. If not for the White Fang's genius offspring, the thought of assigning the Uchiha prodigy to a leadership role at so young an age would never have crossed anyone's mind.

When it came down to it, Itachi was the person he was today solely because he was constantly compared to Kakashi Hatake. Itachi smiled to himself – even now, he found he was trying to catch up to the man. After all – he'd never expected Kakashi to have been able to advance his gifted sharingan to the level it was at now. It made Itachi nervous about what other feats the man could accomplish before they were both dead and buried.

An out of place noise wrested Itachi from his musings. He focused on the healer and saw him still hard at work – oblivious to the sound. Itachi stood – prepared to take whatever action needed to allow the young man to continue his work.

The door to the house was pushed open, and in walked the youngest member of the Akatsuki. His short brown hair still stuck out in places – as though he'd just woken from a nap. He glanced at Itachi and waved, then made his way to the other room. Itachi frowned. The man's arms were empty – meaning the jinchuriki must have slipped through his fingers once again. The Leader was not going to be pleased with that news.

Itachi heard the tongue-lashing begin and his frown was replaced with a knowing grin. He'd already been on the receiving end of the Leader's anger today – he'd gladly share that honor with someone else. Itachi settled back onto the chair and resumed his watch. His mind was just starting to wander again when another noise caught his attention.

Itachi furrowed his brow – no others were expected tonight – so what would this latest interruption bring? He saw the wood of the door begin to warp in its frame. His eyes went wide and he instantly wove an illusion around himself, Deidara, Mishobi and the young healer. The genjutsu was barely in place before the door seemingly melted away – allowing a handful of Leaf shinobi entrance to the building. In their frenzied state, those bursting into the house would only see an empty room as they rushed by to their goal – which was undoubtedly the rescue of Kakashi Hatake in the far room.

Itachi watched, with breath held, as one after another poured into the house. He'd use the distraction in the far room to move his charges out of harm's way. He saw no reason to become involved in the battle that was about to unfold – no reason what-so-ever.

--

The assault worked like clockwork . . . Ibiki and his men infiltrated the house from the front, side and above, while the nin-hounds broke through from below and through the only window to the room. They outnumbered the enemy three to one, and hoped to make short work of this. He should have known better. After all, the four black and red robed men standing in their way were all S-ranked felons – each worth a half dozen jonin any day of the week.

Still, with Kakashi's hounds working in tandem with the extraction team, Asuma and Shikamaru were soon making their way toward where the Hokage was lying on the ground – covered to the neck with one of Zetsu's plant cocoons. Ibiki spared one last look around, and then focused fully on the approaching form of Kisame – looming over him with his over-sized sword pointed straight at his head.

Ibiki smiled and pulled out two kunai. It had been awhile since he'd fought in such close quarters. He was looking forward to the challenge.

--

One man stood between Asuma and Kakashi. That man looked barely old enough to be a ninja – let alone a member of the Akatsuki. Asuma narrowed his eyes and raised his trench knives into position – feeding his chakra into the blades as he went. This caused the young man in front of him to smile – his dull gray eyes nearly sparkling with excitement.

Asuma knew Shikamaru's shadow imitation jutsu was snaking its way across the floor and would take hold of the boy soon. But before that inky form could latch onto the Akatsuki member, Asuma watched him split into two – then into four – then into eight – then finally into sixteen. All in less time then it took Shikamaru's shadow to immobilize the original form.

"Shit!" Shikamaru's curse was followed by his release of his jutsu. Asuma realized his former student had already recognized the futility of such an attack against so many of the enemy, and knew the young man didn't need him to tell him what to do next. The tactical genius was already switching to his offensive shadow sewing technique – most likely hoping to dispatch some of the clones with his attacks.

Kakashi's voice from behind the wall of Akatsuki robes caused Asuma to pause. "Asuma – Shikamaru – be careful. Those are duplicates – not clones. You can't dispel them – you've got to . . . argh. . ."

Kakashi's comments were cut short when one of the sixteen boys kicked him hard in the side.

"Dammit!" Asuma hissed in anger and launched himself at the nearest Akatsuki duplicates. Meanwhile, Shikamaru sent his shadow tendrils striking out all around him – but Asuma knew it was only a matter of time before one of the duplicates broke through the tendrils. If something didn't change soon – this extraction could turn sour rather quickly. He watched two of Kakashi's hounds wind their way to their master – but they were blocked by four of the duplicates before they could manage to try and free the man.

Asuma heard Kakashi cry out – not for himself – but for one of the hounds when it was on the receiving end of a large mace-like weapon. Asuma saw it hit the far wall and lay unmoving on the ground. This was not good.

Asuma redoubled his efforts to get to his friend and was rewarded with his opponent falling to his knees after he slit the boy's stomach open with his blades. Three of the others stepped forward to take over for their fallen duplicate, and Asuma found himself being pushed back toward the center of the room.

--

Kakashi stopped pretending he was helpless and worked feverishly to cut himself loose of his confinement – thankful for Shikamaru and Asuma's diversion of the duplicates. Kakashi's chakra levels might be low, and his sharingan inoperable – due to the fact his left eye was swollen shut from his previous beating – but still, he could help even things up a with his Taijutsu and close quarter fighting abilities. Besides – he hated being left out of a battle and especially wanted to get even with the young Akatsuki member who'd managed to wound his hound.

The stolen shuriken sliced through the final layer of Zetsu's pod and Kakashi made quick work of enlarging the opening until he could pull himself free. His hounds were keeping the four duplicates nearest him too busy to see his escape and he moved to stand up. He fell back down – resisting the urge to cry out – as his beaten body refused to hold his weight.

OK – I guess maybe they did more damage to me then I originally thought. Guess my Taijutsu won't be as helpful as I'd planned.

He looked around – trying to find anything he could use to attack with – or at least help him stand without falling over again. In the corner he saw the remains of a chair that had been broken the previous night, and he crawled over to pull loose one of the larger pieces. He tested its balance in his hand and was about to try to stand up again when a familiar voice caught his attention.

"It's a bit crowded in here for a game of fetch, Kakashi."

Kakashi met the pug's dark eyes and sighed. "I should have known you'd find me, Pakkun."

The hound licked Kakashi's cheek. "It's becoming a bit of a habit, pup." Pakkun narrowed his brown eyes. "You've looked better."

Kakashi chuckled. "Yeah – well I've felt better too. What say we try and give these folks a hand rescuing me?"

Pakkun opened his mouth to reply when he was grabbed by the collar and thrown across the room. Kakashi's heart skipped a beat when he heard his oldest friend yelp when he impacted a wall. He looked up into the face of the Leader – his black on white eyes nearly burned with anger, and Kakashi knew his hopes for escape were disappearing even as the young man pulled the chair leg out of Kakashi's hand and placed one foot firmly on his neck – pinning him to the ground.

"I've had enough of this game – Hatake!" The man's foot pushed down – threatening to crush Kakashi's wind pipe.

Kakashi wasn't going to let this brat end his life so easily – even if he didn't have any of his jutsus to rely on - he still had one more method that most people tended to forget. He pulled the shuriken he'd used to free himself out of his pants pocket and drew the cold steel point across the back of the Leader's knee. He used the moment of surprise he saw flash in the orange-haired man and pushed the bastard off his neck and onto the ground. Kakashi grinned – most people tended to forget that he knew how to fight dirty when he needed to.

He rolled away from the Leader and scrambled toward the far wall, pushing his back against the wood and forcing his body to stand on legs threatening to collapse any second. Kakashi scanned the room – hoping he'd see something to bolster his energy – make him pull that little bit extra out of his body to push him to see this through. What he saw made him sick.

Kisame stood over Asuma's unmoving body, a grin stretched across his sharp-toothed face and blood soaking the edge of his monstrous blade. Zetsu was tossing one of many ANBU bodies into a pile near the sink, his blood lust glowing on his black and white face. Shikamaru was still standing – but Kakashi knew the young man wouldn't be for long as two of the duplicates were closing in on him while he desperately tried to fend off a third. Three of Kakashi's hounds lay unmoving – Pakkun among them – and the others were being corralled into the far corner by still more of the duplicates.

The Leader laughed from his place on the floor. "I told you once, Kakashi Hatake, that you are our most treasured Tool - and that the only way I'd ever let you go was if you were dead."

Kakashi swallowed back the bile that rose in his throat. He moved to dive at the Akatsuki Leader – took one step – and fell to the ground on legs that refused to hold him. He cried out in pain as he hit the hard floor. The Leader smiled calmly, tearing a strip from his robe to tie around the wound Kakashi had inflicted on him. Then the man pushed himself to his feet and limped over to where Kakashi fell. He bent down and grabbed a handful of his silver hair.

"Fortunately – you don't need to be able to walk for me to continue using you – Tool."

Kakashi shuddered at the implications of the Leader's words, and was about to beg for him to let those living go, when a flash of yellow at the far side of the room caught Kakashi's attention. A smile crossed his face, causing his eye to curve into its own version of the grin, and for the briefest of moments he saw confusion grace the Leader's face.

Kakashi took a deep breath and met the Akatsuki member's stare. "Surrender now – and you live."

The Leader laughed – until he heard a voice call out to him from behind. "Leave my Sensei alone – you bastard!"

Kakashi watched the orange-haired man spin to face over a dozen of the yellow-haired knuckle-headed ninjas bounding toward him. To his credit, the Leader only froze for a moment – before he saw even more ninja – some in ANBU masks – others not – joining Naruto in a steady stream into the building. Those others were already making short work of the duplicates surrounding Shikamaru and the hounds – and still others were herding Kisame and Zetsu into the center of the room.

The Leader looked over his shoulder toward Kakashi and frowned. "This isn't over Copy-ninja – not even close!"

Kakashi tried to call out a warning – but before the first word could leave his lips, the Leader formed hand signs and disappeared in a puff of smoke. Taking their cue from the other – Zetsu reached out to grab one of the duplicates by the collar – and Kisame by an arm – and then sank into the ground in less then a heartbeat.

The duplicates remaining ran toward the door to try to escape – some were stopped with katana and kunai – while a few managed to slip through the exit. A handful of ANBU made chase – leaving the rest of the group to stare around the small house in shock. Kakashi sighed and watched Naruto's clones disperse while the young man walked swiftly to him – kneeling at his side.

"Kakashi-sensei . . . oh my god – what did they do to you?"

Naruto's words were soft and full of so much emotion that Kakashi almost allowed them to influence him. He shook his head though – and turned his focus to where it needed to be.

"Naruto – I'll survive. I need you to check on the others for me – please – I need to know what shape they're in."

Naruto's blue eyes were full of tears, but he nodded once, stood and moved to where Shikamaru was being tended to by some of the others. Kakashi tried to steady his breathing and turned his gaze to the white and tan body of one of his hounds. He crawled over to where the beast lay – and pulled it's already cold body into his lap. He lowered his head into his hound's fur and wept at the loss – he didn't care who saw his tears anymore.

Shizune's soft voice at his side barely registered. "Lord Hokage – please let me tend to your injuries."

He didn't bother to raise his head as he responded. "No. Care for the others first – mine can wait. My captors didn't injure me in such a way that my life is threatened. I can't say the same for the others."

Kakashi heard Shizune choke back tears of her own when she acknowledged his words. "As you command – Lord Hokage."

He listened to her walk away and resumed his silent mourning for not only his hound – but for all the others who had sacrificed themselves today to rescue one unworthy man.

--

Shizune walked back into the fray of blood and gore – wiping away the tears from her eyes with her sleeve. By the time she'd reached the cluster of ANBU around Asuma's body – she was all business once again.

"Move aside – let me see if he can be saved." They moved – and for a moment – she wished they hadn't.

Asuma's face was ashen – his left arm severed nearly all the way through – and a puddle of blood pooled under him that showed the woman he was far too close to death to even contemplate saving the arm. If Asuma Sarutobi was to stand any chance at all for survival she had to act fast.

Pulling her medical pack off her back, she quickly located what she needed. Tying a tourniquet into place just above the cut, she pulled a surgical knife out of the bag and looked up into the ANBU members' eyes.

"Hold him down – this isn't going to be easy."

They nodded and did as they were instructed. Shizune skillfully drew the blade in a series of distinct cuts and in a matter of moments, the arm with the hand that normally lit Asuma's never ending supply of cigarettes was set to the side – a good distance from the rest of the jonin's body. Asuma hadn't made a sound through the entire procedure. Shizune wasn't so sure that was a good thing – but she pushed that thought aside and quickly sent her chakra into the bloody stump to seal the veins and arteries before the rest of his life could flow away. As much as she wanted to force him into a deep slumber – she knew they needed to keep the man awake until she could assess any other injuries he might have acquired.

When she looked into Asuma's still too pale face, Shizune was surprised to see him meet her gaze with calm brown eyes. His voice sounded gruff, but at least he could speak.

"How is Kakashi? Did he survive?"

Shizune smiled. "He's alive. Beyond that I couldn't tell you." Seeing the look of anger flash in her current patient's eyes, she quickly finished. "Asuma – he was insistent that I tend to the rest of you first. He won't let me near him until then."

Asuma laughed. Not a whole-hearted sound – more of a hoarse cough – but it was a laugh all the same. "Always said the kid was mule-headed."

Shizune smiled. "Yeah – well evidently there's a lot of that going around. Will you be OK while I check the rest of your team?"

Asuma nodded and allowed them to lay him back on the floor with his head on a field pack. Shizune moved on to Shikamaru and thankfully was able to let one of the others on her team tend to his less life-threatening injuries.

She moved over to where Ibiki sat with his back against a wall. His eyes were wide open and his chest was carved open by what Shizune could only imagine had been Kisame's sword. She swallowed deeply, moved closer, and closed the commander's eyes for him. His skills would be missed in the Leaf village.

Shizune pushed herself back up and then systematically worked her way through the rest of the carnage until, at last, she found herself at Kakashi's side once more. Naruto was sitting next to him now, watching the older man carefully. He turned toward her when she approached.

"Kakashi-sensei hasn't said a word, Shizune – and he just keeps petting the poor hound's fur. I'm scared for him."

She nodded and knelt next to the Hokage, meeting his eye before placing a soft smile on her lips. "Lord Kakashi – I found someone who really needs to talk to you."

Kakashi blinked – but said nothing. Shizune carefully pulled his hand away from the hound in his lap – motioning with her head for Naruto to more the animal aside. She saw a flash of something dangerous in Kakashi's eye when the hound was moved – but when Shizune placed the small bundle of blanket and brown fur into his empty lap that look changed to one of hope. Shizune smiled wider and let him have a moment to himself before she'd begin her work on him.

--

Kakashi stared down into the deep brown eyes of his oldest hound and he felt his heart tighten. A single tear fell down his cheek. The pug wriggled his head free of the blanket and frowned.

"What are you looking all doe-eyed about, pup? Haven't you ever seen a dog before?"

Kakashi smiled – laughing a bit at the pug's choice of words. Those had been the same words the mutt had used when they'd first met. He scratched the dog fondly behind his ear. "Pakkun – I thought I'd lost you."

The pug pushed his head into Kakashi's chest, nuzzling into the folds of his arms. "Yeah – well I thought the same thing about you."

Kakashi glanced up into Shizune's face. "Thank you. For all of it."

He looked out at the rest of the room – he saw that there were far too many good people dead and knew that those who'd survived would remember this day for some time to come. He caught sight of Shikamaru kneeling next to Asuma's prone body and a sick feeling came over him. He met the medic's eyes once more and spoke a single word.

"Asuma?"

She looked back toward the man on the floor before answering. "He'll live. But I'm afraid his arm had to be sacrificed."

Kakashi cringed at the news. "Who else?"

Shizune sighed and went on to report the long list of casualties - starting with Ibiki Morino and ending many minutes later with a count of nine of the Akatsuki duplicates. Kakashi closed his eye.

Well – that's something I guess. At least they took out a few of the bastards.

He opened his eye. "What of Itachi, Deidara and Mishobi?"

She blinked at him in confusion. "There were no others here, Lord Kakashi. We checked everywhere."

"Dammit – then this isn't quite over yet." He took a deep breath. "May as well get started on me then – I'd like to be able to at least stand when then come for me again."

Kakashi sat still while Shizune examined him from head to toe. More than once she cursed the Akatsuki for the heinous injuries they'd inflicted on him. For the most part, however, it proved to be as he'd predicted. . . his injuries were not life-threatening. Painful – yes – but he'd live to see another day.

While Shizune pushed on the swollen mass that was Obito's eye, he asked one more question that was weighing heavy on his mind. "Shizune – are Mikoda and her sisters safe?"

The medic smiled once more. "I wondered when you were going to ask that. They're fine. Master Jiraiya is making sure they have everything they need."

Kakashi frowned. "Jiraiya's watching over them?"

Shizune nodded. "Yes – why?"

He scowled. "It's just one more reason to get the hell back to the Leaf Village as soon as we can."

She laughed – and even Kakashi had to smile this time, although he winced when his swollen eye protested the movement.