A/N:

Scarease

I'm not sure what Konoha would want with a broken sword, but then who knows. Maybe they can throw it at Danzo or something.

The Plague Doctor

Thank you and welcome.

. . .

VII - Instinct

They stumbled their way back into town the next night under cover of darkness. Sai insisted he could walk, but in reality he barely managed to stand. One of his liondogs carried him most of the way and then Chikako played crutch because that technique was just too recognizable to risk being seen.

Jirocho Wasabi was more than happy to offer them rooms instead of the agreed upon money and after Chikako cornered him in a room, kunai to his throat, Idate agreed to keep his mouth shut about their abilities and faces. She'd made sure to focus every last bit of killing intent she could muster on him until he'd been so afraid she thought he might have a heart attack if she didn't let up.

The safest solution would have been to kill him. Naruto, Hinata and Kiba were the only other people who could match their masks to their identities, and even though Idate didn't know their names he could easily give a description of their appearance and the techniques they had used. The problem with killing him was that Sai badly needed rest. There was no way Jirocho would let them stay if Idate suddenly had an unfortunate accident, and even if he did, she couldn't do that to Ibiki.

Chikako couldn't for the life of her understand why the man loved his little brother, but he obviously did so she'd have to find another solution. Scaring someone into compliance was far from her favorite. She was generally against torture, physical or mental. It wasn't a reliable way to get information and it bred resentment. She didn't have much of a choice though. Idate wasn't someone who could be bribed, not that she would have trusted his word any more if he was. In fact, she didn't trust him at all, which was why she made sure to occasionally remind him that he lived because she allowed him to. He didn't need to know how untrue that statement was.

At some point he'd be sick and tired of the constant threat and when that point came he would rat her out or send people that asked the wrong questions her way. A calculated risk. Chikako didn't plan on staying in Degarashi a day longer than they needed to for Sai to heal, but considering how badly he was injured it would take weeks before he could walk again, much less run. So to buy themselves a little more time Chikako, with a little help of the Hell Viewing Technique, made sure Idate had a vivid understanding of what she would do to the Wasabi family if he betrayed her.

It was another lie of course. Killing the clan wouldn't do her any good, especially in the gruesome way she had shown him. The genjutsu she'd used only showed the victim one of their own fears, but it drew on what was closest to the surface. In order to make him see what she'd wanted him to see Chikako had first described several of the things she'd been witness to in Orochimaru's care, simply swapping out the people involved. After that Idate's own imagination had supplied everything else.

He'd known it was a genjutsu immediately, even if he had needed two tries to break it. It didn't matter though. After all, she hadn't been trying to trap him and that little display had gotten her point across marvelously.

. . .

They ended up staying in Degarashi Port for the better part of two months. At least Sai did because his leg had been burned so badly that he would never completely recover, even with the help of chakra and the salve. He hated every second of it, constantly telling Chikako that they needed to leave and that he would be fine.

He was right of course, at least about the fact that staying was dangerous. She could almost feel ROOT closing in on them with every day that passed. In fact she'd left Degarashi multiple times to lay false trails, even going so far as to track down bandits and paying them to spread rumors about Fox and Owl.

Chikako had no idea if any of it worked and the uncertainty drove her slowly but surely insane. Sai wasn't up to running again just yet, but he could walk for more than five minutes at a time. They had bought passage on a merchant ship that left for Wind in the morning. That was almost exactly the opposite of where they wanted to go, but the sooner they got out of Degarashi the better and beggars couldn't be choosers. Not to mention that Sai was ready to crawl up the walls, had been for weeks really. He probably would have agreed to accompany a caravan headed straight for Konoha as long as it meant they could start traveling again.

Idate stayed well away from them at all times. Sometimes he went so far as to leave not only a room, but the clan compound when Chikako was there. She didn't mind and Jiro kept an eye on him to ensure he didn't talk to anyone, which was really all she cared about at that point.

They would never be friends or even reluctant allies and meeting Chikako certainly hadn't raised Idate's opinion of shinobi any. She hoped he didn't hate his brother for her actions, but if he did then that was his loss. It was also Ibiki's fault for getting her into this mess in such an underhanded way. She had no doubt the man kept tabs on his brother and knew of his attitude towards ninja. He had certainly known, and completely disregarded, how Chikako would react to meeting the traitor.

Of course it was entirely possible that he hadn't orchestrated Hinata overhearing that conversation about the race. In fact the meeting between her and the Konoha team had been a coincidence, so maybe this whole mess was as well. But then Ibiki was the head of T&I and the way things had gone down seemed just a little too convenient, so Chikako was going to blame him regardless to be on the safe side.

He might not be happy with the way she'd handled things, but he would understand when he heard about them, if he hadn't already. Even with all the precautions she'd taken they had spent too much time in Degarashi and she was more than relieved that they could finally start traveling again.

This particular night was the last one before they would head out. Chikako was meeting up with one of the contacts she had made in the area to ensure there would be a sighting of two strangers with and Owl and a Fox mask somewhere on the other side of the continent.

Sai and two liondogs were in the woods several kilometers north of her position and slowly making their way towards a different port. Meanwhile Jiro was pretending to be Sai and would leave with a trading caravan at first light. He would also die a horribly drawn out death due to poisoning and then slip away as soon as possible to join up with them again. It was another attempt to confuse the trail. One that made her uneasy because Sai would be completely on his own for several hours, but that couldn't be helped.

Chikako had stayed out of sight as much as possible, but her companion had been in no shape to hide. Their odd journey from Rice to Tea would have bought them some time, as would the masks, but their luck wouldn't hold forever. The head start that strange encounter in Rice had gotten them was long gone. She could practically feel the hounds snapping at her heels, eager to take their pound of flesh.

It took her a moment to realize that that wasn't just her imagination. There were literal hounds behind her and she really should have paid more attention to the uneasy feeling in her stomach. Chikako knew a few shinobi that hunted with dogs, but there was only one that could hide from her.

The ninken didn't have a lot of chakra and they were moving fast, so keeping track of them individually was more of a distraction than anything else. The real problem was their master. Kakashi was elite even among ANBU and he specialized in tracking and assassination.

The fact that she couldn't sense him either meant he wasn't with his pack, which was so unlikely that Chikako snorted at the idea, or that he was deliberately staying hidden. She could think of precisely one reason for the latter.

By now moving silently while keeping her chakra, body heat and scent suppressed was practically second nature to Chikako, but a few sharp turns quickly let her know that the dogs were not just coincidentally on the right trail. She had no idea how they were tracking her, but there was no doubt that that was exactly what they were doing. They were also rapidly gaining ground.

Either she had gotten slower in the past few months or Kakashi had gotten the pack back in shape. Not that it mattered because the result was the same. There was no way she could run from them, so instead of wasting any more energy trying to escape Chikako slowed down and waited in the first clearing she came across.

She'd deliberately stayed away from the nearby river because while the water might have helped her loose the pack, there would have only been two directions to go and her pursuers could have easily split up to find her again. There was also no guarantee that it would have worked and Chikako distinctly remembered the confrontation against Zabuza. She had no intention of fighting someone with an affinity for Lightning, who could also manipulate the other four elements, anywhere near water.

So instead she'd picked her clearing, where there was nothing but dirt and grass. It wouldn't do her much good if things were as bad as she thought they were, but then it didn't make the situation any worse either.

Chikako took several deep breaths to try and get her racing heart back under control. She'd been in a constant state of alertness for weeks and weeks on end, and it had left her nervous and exhausted. Jiro had occasionally forced her to rest and recover, but she certainly wasn't at her best. Her nerves were completely fried, but not quite so much that she didn't notice three shinobi trailing the dogs.

None of their chakra signatures seemed familiar to her, but judging by their affinities, Fire, Fire and Earth, she was willing to bet they were from Konoha. If those three assholes had been ahead of the pack or even just run with the dogs, instead of trying to hide behind them she would have had more than ample warning. As things were however Chikako was surrounded by what should have been her family and whoever the unknown shinobi were. Their job was either to provide backup or simply observe because they made no move to come any closer. Curiously neither did the pack, seemingly content to guard the perimeter now that their prey was boxed in.

They kept well out of her range, something Chikako was grateful for. She didn't want to have to face them. She was half hoping that Kakashi would appear behind her, tell her that she was a horrible excuse for a shinobi that sucked at hide and seek, and maybe hit her with his little orange book just because he could, but the continued silence didn't bode very well.

She knew he was there, somewhere. The storm that was his chakra crackled like electricity over her senses. It was nothing but the barest of touches though and she might not even have noticed had she not been so familiar with it. Yet Chikako couldn't pinpoint his position.

Whatever he was doing to his chakra worked incredibly well and she highly doubted that she could find him like this. Not unless he actually used a technique and by then things would be over. ANBU Hound was more than capable of taking an opponent out with a single attack. In fact his only original technique was specifically designed for exactly that purpose. Sure it was loud, but it was also incredibly fast and about as destructive as the Sword of the Thunder God had been.

"I'm getting sick and tired of people trying to electrocute me," Chikako muttered under her breath and then, closing her eyes, focused on her other senses. If she couldn't locate him by sight or the feeling of his chakra she would just have to do it another way. He'd taught her well and whatever else she had done, she wouldn't disappoint him by just rolling over.

She couldn't smell well enough to track him that way, but her hearing was fine and she'd learned to pay attention to and focus on individual sounds. Footsteps, the rustling of clothes and clinking of weapons were the most obvious. Kakashi wasn't an amateur though. The man could move without making any kind of noise if he wanted to, but because of her sensory abilities he had to do it without the help of chakra and that meant slowly.

He clearly didn't want to confront her outright, so he had to get so close that she wouldn't have time to react to an attack. Chikako would know were he was the instant he used chakra and over short distances she was faster than him. Her muscles wouldn't thank her for the strain a Body Flicker with that kind of speed would cause, but she could live with that if it meant avoiding a Chidori to the chest.

She spread her chakra out around her like a fine mist. It wasn't visible, but would be obvious even to a non-sensor. If he got within it's range it would be like pulling on the string of a spider's web. Not that she actually expected him to fall for such an obvious trap. It was mainly to ensure he stayed farther away.

Chikako wasn't quite certain just how close he had to get, but she couldn't afford to err on the side of caution because her chakra reserves were quite a bit more limited than his and if she spread the mist too thin it would be useless.

"Come out, come out, wherever you are," she singsonged, drawing out the pauses between the syllables. Echolocation wasn't really one of her skills, but Chikako was getting more desperate to find him with every passing second. No matter how slowly he had to move, time wasn't on her side and they both knew it.

She almost whipped around when she heard the telltale whistle of steel cutting through air behind her and slightly to the left, but fought the impulse at the last moment. Kakashi knew better than to think she would miss such an obvious sound, which meant it was deliberate, a distraction. That in mind her next instinct was to dodge towards the projectile rather than away from it, expecting him in the opposite direction, ready to strike from behind when she got closer.

Chikako didn't quite manage to curb that reaction, but instead of stopping herself again she put an excessive amount of chakra behind the motion, turning it into a Body Flicker and overshooting her initial target by several meters. She landed almost on top of Kakashi, which clearly took him by surprise. He still managed to dodge the volley of senbon she released at his back with a simple Replacement, reappearing in the middle of the clearing. It didn't speak well of her chances that she hadn't even managed to nick him when he wasn't expecting the attack, but at least she'd forced him out into the open.

The minor triumph was short-lived at best. Dead on arrival, really.

Chikako's heart nearly stopped, eyes widening in shock when she actually took a second to look at him instead of just throwing pointy things. He was in full uniform. Body clad in the harsh black and gray of ANBU, and face hidden behind a bone white mask, empty but for a few crimson markings.

She'd thought about his skill as a black ops operative earlier, but she hadn't actually expected to see him in anything other than his customary jonin outfit. Even his posture was different. There was no hint of the lazy slouch he liked to affect. No orange book in his hand and no half closed eyes to tell the world how bored and utterly uninterested in company he was. Instead he stood tall, the blade most ANBU carried on their backs in his right hand and the blood red of the sharingan gleaming at her from behind the mask.

This wasn't her friend and mentor Kakashi, come to lecture her for her idiocy and bring her back home. This was ANBU Hound, and she was his prey.

For a moment it was like the world had stopped. The air froze in her lungs while her muscles strained with tension and she would have sworn her heart skipped a beat, unable to handle the sudden onslaught of panic, and then he moved and she bit her lip bloody in an effort to rip herself out of the shock and match his speed.

There was no time to freak out. No time to think. No time to do anything but act, and so she let instinct guide her. Her mind was overwhelmed with the need to get away. Runrunhide! Her body however was fueled by adrenaline and it knew this dance. Had learned it at the hands and blade of the Demon of the Mist.

Chikako drew her wakizashi without even noticing, it was just suddenly there, an extension of her arm. Then her world became, dodge, block, counter, repeat. On and on they twirled in their little dance. She kept her steps light, fast, precise.

Never fall into patterns. Never become predictable. Never show an opponent your back, Dodge when you can, block when you have to. Make every movement count. Don't hesitate. Don't rush in like an idiot, but don't play defense either. You can't let an enemy decide where you go. Know your surroundings and use them.

Zabuza's lessons all around her like, an ocean of experience that guided her even when her own mind wouldn't. And still it wasn't enough. Before long her clothes were littered with cuts, blood soaking the fabric. She was coated in sweat and dirt, from the exertion and rolling on the ground to get out of his way when she couldn't afford the chakra for another Body Flicker. As yet he hadn't resorted to using any jutsu other than the occasional Replacement and she took great care not to look into his eye. Normal illusions she could shrug off, but those empowered by the Sharingan were quite a different matter and she had no breathing room as it was.

Kakashi himself didn't look pristine anymore, but he wasn't nearly as bad off as her. It was a wonder she had gotten any hits in at all. Her best option would be to tire him out, to wait until the kekkei genkai that wasn't his took it's toll. The only problem with that tactic was that she had no hope of lasting that long.

He was stronger than her, had more stamina and when she couldn't use a Body Flicker to dodge he was faster as well. He knew a thousand jutsu she had never even heard of and had likely killed more people than she had met in her life.

And yet, she'd somehow managed to keep up so far. Landing a lucky hit on him was one thing, but he was better than her at practically everything that mattered for this fight. The man was a genius forged in the fires of war, tempered by grief and time. By rights she should be dead.

So why wasn't she?

Chikako's eyes widened minutely when her brain finally kicked back into gear, thoughts no longer drowned out by fear and her survival instinct. She stumbled backwards as the most obvious conclusion hit her like the tide, ice cold and with so much force she couldn't have fought it had she wanted to.

A heartbeat later she found herself neck-deep in the ground, earth pressing in on her and keeping her prisoner. Kakashi had instantly capitalized on her mistake and she had to wonder how much he had been holding back and how much fighting her had actually been a challenge. He'd had to deal with the added complication of making sure not to accidentally hurt her too badly, still she couldn't help a tiny flicker of pride that she'd managed to force him into an open confrontation at all.

He didn't give her much time to celebrate. The moment she felt the three other shinobi move closer a powerful area genjutsu washed over her. Chikako didn't even try to break it. It wasn't meant for her, and while he would have outlasted her, Kakashi's chakra reserves where low enough that she worried. His control was exceptional, but he wasn't a genjutsu type and something this strong would drain him fast.

He seemed to agree with her because he didn't waste any time on small talk, merely raised his blade and then brought it down in a clean swipe. The steel passed millimeters in front of her neck, so close that she could feel the wind in it's wake and then the earth was coated in a river of illusory blood.

Chikako sensed a dull sort of satisfaction from their observers when cold fire consumed her corpse, leaving nothing behind but a hole in the ground. Kakashi didn't linger, didn't acknowledge her or the hidden observers in any way.

They left shortly after he did, but the genjutsu stayed in place a long time after that and so did Chikako, too afraid to ruin Kakashi's work.

He'd been sent to kill her. An elite black ops operative, called back into service to hunt down a mere genin with no crimes to her name, other than leaving the village. This wasn't how ANBU operated. They also didn't have observers to make sure they actually did their job. Someone had sent those three after Kakashi without informing him. Danzo, no doubt.

Had Kakashi volunteered for this job? Maybe because of personal ties? It wasn't unheard of, and his stance on traitors wasn't a secret so no one would doubt his word when he told them he'd burned the body.

The explanation didn't feel right though. There was no reason for him to volunteer unless the Hokage had actually made her a high enough priority that she would be actively hunted and there was no reason for that. Chikako hadn't stepped on anyone's toes. Well, except for Danzo, who's operative she'd technically turned and stolen, but he could hardly take something like that to Tsunade, seeing as he wasn't supposed to have operatives of his own in the first place.

Of course that didn't mean he couldn't have fabricated other evidence. According to records from the First Shinobi World War his team and Hiruzen Sarutobi's had fought side by side on several occasions, which meant Danzo had a long history with both Homura Mitokado and Koharu Utatane, the sole members of Tsunade's council. They couldn't actually give the Hokage orders, but they could certainly make her life a lot harder.

Chikako hated when she didn't have all the information to figure out what was going on. It felt like someone else was pulling her strings and all she could do was dance to a tune she couldn't hear. A good little puppet, forced to play a part without being able to see the bigger picture. At this point she wasn't even convinced she understood the small picture.

Kakashi clearly hadn't wanted her dead, but that stupid stumble still could have cost her her life. Just because he didn't like the idea of being her executioner didn't mean he wouldn't take her head if ordered to, not after she'd abandoned the village. But once that thought had hit her, that he didn't want to kill her, she'd just stopped. Ready to give him the lead like she always did. The possibility that he might just be sad about what he had to do didn't even occur to her until several seconds later and by then it had been more than too late.

He could have cut her actual throat just as easily as he'd cut the illusion's. The only reason she was still alive was because he'd decided not to kill her, and suddenly Chikako regretted the way she'd treated Idate. Being at someone else's mercy sucked.