A/n: So, uh, Minato's genin team - we have a picture of them, but do they have names? If not, then yay, I don't have to edit this chapter.
And I suppose the battle scene is a bit wordy ... er, well, it's a learning process; hope I do better next battle scene, whenever that may be.

Chapter 35: Copy-cat

It was supposed to be a simple recon mission.

Konoha had gotten word that the hostility between Hidden Leaf and Hidden Rock was only getting worse. There was growing certainty that the beginnings of another war was ready to sprout amidst their crumbling relationship (not that there ever had been one in the first place).

Minato and his team were despatched to find evidence for such claims of a possible war. Team Minato, as the Hokage called them, were made up of what was once Team Jiraiya. The other two Jounin on the blond's team, the brunette haired kunoichi Yuki with her distinct red hair-band, and Toshi who'd been teased as a kid for looking every bit like a monk, were Minato's old cell mate back when they were all Genin. The three of them got along and worked well with each other.

Minato never expected anything to go wrong on this mission with them by his side. But then again, when was anything ever simple?

x

Their first mistake was stumbling onto an enemy camp not too far from Iwa. They'd seen the signs of a camp nearby when the three of them had first crossed the woods in that area, but none had expected the traps to be set in such a large radius.

A sort of silent alarm had likely been tripped, for Team Minato had no warning until they suddenly detected faint chakra signals approaching them in alarming speeds. There were three of them, Minato noted immediately, and glances over at Yuki and Toshi showed that they were equally aware.

As they suspected, not a heartbeat later, three Iwa nin suddenly appeared before them, weapons drawn. "Well well, sneaking into our land, Konoha-nin?" a man laughed, his Rock headband glinting under the sunlight.

That was all the preamble Team Minato received before a flurry of weapons were exchanged. The Konoha team retaliated equally as vicious, holding the competition steady, refusing to give in even an inch. And then the Rock ninjas got down to business. "Doton: Doryūheki (Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall)" one of the Iwa-nin cried, hands flying into seals.

A slab of earth rose from the ground, carrying the enemy up until he was leveled with the forest behind him. From their position on the ground, looking up at the man, Minato, Yuki, and Toshi had to squint into the sunlight to make out the man's movements – it was a dire disadvantage. The area behind the enemy nin was unlike the clearing they had been lead into while exchanging kunai and shuriken; it was dense with trees, lining up behind the Iwa-nin like a natural defense from rear attacks.

Team Minato could only dash to the sides to avoid staring directly into the sunlight, but the Iwa-nin's two other comrades were already there ready to corner them back in.

It was significantly harder to dodge now, between the approaching two enemies and the one towering over them pelleting the ground below with any sharp implements he had on hand.

But they hadn't been promoted to Jounin for nothing; they could get out of this predicament quite easily with a quick bit of teamwork. "I'll take care of this," Yuki grinned, sharing a glance over to Minato who nodded briefly. "Suiton: Takitsubo no Jutsu (Water Release: Waterfall Basin Technique)." A rush of water, like a tsunami wave, spat out towards the other two Rock nin who were amidst cornering Team Minato towards the slab of earth wall in a sort of triangular barrier, driving the enemy the other direction.

Minato immediately jumped onto his teammate's jutsu, running along the flow of water in a practiced movement. His cerulean eyes were focused intently on his targets, even as a corner of his mind started to worry about the tactics used against them. It was rather odd, Minato noted the second he thought about it, that the first ninja was doing nothing other than throwing sharp projectiles down at them. True the Iwa-nin was at an advantage with his elevated position, and that more times than not he was a more than a worthy distraction to worry about while also actively trying to avoid the other two enemy - Team Minato already been more than scratched up due to him -, but that Iwa-nin seemed to be doing so little to help his comrades. Especially now while Yuki was successfully pushing the other two back.

Nearing his targets, the blond cleared his mind and allowed his focus to return entirely back on the battle in front him, dropping his curiosity for the moment. Minato clutched his right arm with his other hand, gathering chakra into a spinning swirl. Without warning, Minato spun sharply towards one of the two. The Rock ninja threw up thick, metal tonfas, which had been previously hidden on his person, into a defensive cross in front of him in the same quick moment to block the attack; he'd held them quite clumsily, likely because he'd not been expecting the blond to form a jutsu so quickly, but they were in place to bare the brute of the attack nevertheless.

"Rasengan," Minato murmured under his breath as he thrust his hand forwards.

Minato had finished this particular jutsu a couple months ago, and this seemed like a good place to test it in actual battle. He needed to work out the last little imperfections of it before moving on to the next stages he had planned for the technique, anyways. Minato watched carefully to the damage his spiralling sphere made, watching as the Iwa-nin's tonfas cracked and shattered like they weren't even there to begin with, flinging the man back in an impressive speed.

Cerulean eyes flickered towards his left, fixing his sights on the second shinobi before the first man had even hit the ground. The other enemy was already flipping through a long series of hand seal in anticipation of the Rasengan by this point. He finished it just in time.

The two jutsu struck head on, a burst of chakra swelling in the surround air as raw energies collided. There was a momentary struggle, but Minato's Rasengan was a dense sphere of chakra, bursting with supressed potential energy – its power was by far greater than the jutsu the Iwa-nin had performed. Like his partner, the second Rock ninja was thrown backwards into the ground.

For a mere second, Minato felt satisfaction bloat in his chest, but that dissipated just as quickly as a sudden harsh yell from behind had Minato whipping his head back around towards his teammates before he could confirm his opponent was indeed out of the battle.

The scene before him had the blond cursing under his breath. Thoughts and momentarily forgotten suspicions whirled back to life at the sight. The two he'd fought had been merely distraction, Minato's mind concluded tersely, seeing two new Iwa ninjas standing where the defeated two had previously been before Yuki had forced them back. These two quickly completed the triangular earth wall barrier around Yuki and Toshi like they had originally planned to in the beginning. The very first Iwa-nin they'd fought was still there, sitting on the earth wall he'd built, grinning viciously down on the Konoha-nin.

This was what he was waiting for, Minato realised abruptly. It was a trap from the very beginning.

Shinobi – or rather intelligent shinobi - didn't waste time with villainous monologues of revealing their tricks, gloating over their captive. After all, a ninja could do a lot in a second, and a fight was not over until the enemy breathed their final breath. But Minato didn't need the Rock nin to revel in their failures anyways; the battle field spoke for itself.

The two new Iwa shinobi had been hidden underground the whole time, emerged the moment Minato stepped away from the group. The blond was almost surprised none of them realised them hiding there, but that explained the opening of the battle and how easily the three initial Iwa-nin allowed themselves to be detected as they approached Team Minato. The first three Rock ninja had deliberately supressed their chakra ineptly, compelling Team Minato to focus their attention on them while two others, properly supressing their chakra, sneaked into the battle field without anyone being the wiser. It was a plan to strike when the Leaf least expected it.

It was a brilliant strategy, Minato had to admit, but this was no time to be appreciating the enemy's tactics.

Minato leaped into action, pumping chakra into his legs to project himself back to his teammates. He didn't get far, as not soon after he'd started moving, a small handful of shuriken from behind lodged into his legs. Minato stumbled back onto the ground, eyes flickering behind himself even as his hands moved to dislodge the throwing stars while absentmindedly appreciating the protection his coarse shinobi pants gave him. His cerulean eyes darkened when he realised the attack came from the Iwa ninja he'd thrown back just a little while ago; clearly Minato had underestimated the strength of the shinobi's jutsu in order for the Rasengan's power to be cushioned enough for the other man to be still conscious.

The blond's eyes sought out his teammates for a quick second as he growled under his breath. He didn't have time for this!

Minato twisted around, using his momentum to strengthen his punch as he lashed out towards the Iwa-nin who'd just gained on him. But that didn't hold him down for long.

And much, much too far away, the first Iwa nin was already performing his jutsu, and Minato was nowhere near to help. "Doryū Shigure (Earth Showers)!" the low echo of the Rock-nin's voice resonanted through the trees. Sharp spikes of hardened earth shot towards the victims confined in the doryūheki. The attack poured down from all above them in a blindingly fast descent that promised no mercy.

Minato wasn't even close protect them, never mind making it there in time to stop it. "No!" Minato cried, trying not to let the sudden images of speared teammates cross his mind. But there was no way Yuki or Toshi could escape. Yuki had water affinity; it weak against earth, and she wouldn't be able to break through the earth barrier to escape in time. Toshi wasn't in a position any better than their kunoichi.

Minato tried to fight his way towards his teammates – his siblings, goddamit, because they'd been together since they were Genin, and he couldn't, couldn't let them down like this – but the showers of earth spears only took one ninja to perform, and the other two were already in front of him and leering in his face. Minato was outnumbered by three who took pleasure in blocking his way.

Minato swore desperately, hand clutching tightly to his kunai as he blocked rapid jabs his way. He slashed out, determined not to give in even as he was easily pushed back. Despite their hindering, Minato continuously persisted to push his way forward, even if it seemed so hopeless and futile and –

- and the blond tried not to react as a shiver suddenly shot down his spine at the feeling of concentrated chakra erupting by the earth cell, air crackling as though dense with electricity.

There was something oddly familiar about the feeling, but Minato pushed the thought aside, merely appreciating that little detail of familiarity as the reason why he'd snapped out of his surprise a second sooner than the enemy nin had - and that was a fact Minato took full advantage of.

The blond quickly disarmed one of the Iwa-nin while flinging another head-first into the earth wall cell they were guarding. Minato could only allow himself a quick peak at the situation over there, knowing the other two ninja wouldn't spare him anymore time before attacking, but it was enough time to see a flash of red darting into a freshly crumbled piece of wall and retreating out with Yuki and Toshi in tow.

The next thing he knew, a leg blocked his vision, causing the blond to jump backwards – but not before throwing a kunai at them.

The Iwa-nin ducked under it. "Missed," the man crooned. And then he was thrown off balance as the discreetly attached explosive tags went off.

Minato set a sharp jab to the back of the man's neck rendering him unconscious before turning to the next one, hand forming seals even as he turned. "Fūton: Daitoppa (Wind Release: Great Breakthrough)," the blond cried, letting blades of wind lash bitingly into the enemy's skin as it pushed him backwards. Before the Iwa ninja realised it, Minato rushed in, speed aided by the wind, piercing an array of kunai through the other ninja's back as he rushed by.

There was a solemn thud as the man dropped to the ground, but Minato paid it little heed, focus already frantically turning towards where his two teammates laid. He smelled blood, and lots of it, and if either Yuki or Toshi were dead… Minato pushed the thought to the side, carefully ignoring the strangling coil around his stomach at the idea as he continued to rush towards the two.

Minato's eyes sharpen into a critical gaze as he took in the sights that behold him.

Yuki and Toshi were out of the earth cell, breathing heavily and slumped together. They were bleeding though an alarming amount of punctured wounds, but nothing seemed too bad from Minato's current perspective. An unknown ninja with a blindingly bright red scarf around his face, stood defensively over them. Off to the side, Minato recognised the Iwa shinobi who he had flung over at the earth walls a little while ago, except now, he was covered with senbon. The man probably hadn't stayed unconscious from Minato's attack and had gotten up again to attack the unknown ninja, only to be killed permanently this time.

The scarfed ninja was currently facing off the Iwa-nin who had been the first to engage with Team Minato. This Rock ninja seemed like the leader of the group, now that Minato observed more carefully, noting the display of strength the man possessed that exceeded the level of the grunts he had been fighting off. The scarfed ninja seemed on par with him, but Minato could see a wound, harsh and deep, sliced in the front of his chest, slowing down the man's movements as the wound undoubtedly stun with his every action.

Minato rushed over to them with every inch of speed he possessed, hand already gathering chakra along the way. The scarfed ninja spared a quick glance at his glowing hand before jumping out of the way, behind the Iwa-nin to trap the enemy into Minato's direct line of attack.

For a second the remaining standing Iwa-nin looked like he was ready to turn around and escape through the seemingly safer route past the scarfed ninja, but then that scarfed ninja's hand started glowing as well, just as frighteningly as Minato's Rasengan. Minato felt the stinging pricks of lightning chakra accumulating as the other man concentrated the energy into an oddly similar ball of chakra, much like his own. After that, it took not even a minute to dispose of the remaining shinobi, trapped as he was between the two.

The moment the Iwa-nin dropped, Minato turned towards the other man. He kept his Rasengan still swirling in his hand and his wary eyes fixed on the tell-tale contractions of the other man's muscles. Truthfully, Minato couldn't keep his Rasengan up for much longer, but the other man didn't need to know of his fatigue.

But either way, there was no confrontation; the scarfed ninja only dropped his hands in response to Minato's careful scrutiny, letting the lightning ball abruptly fizz out of existence.

Minato contemplated for a second about keeping his jutsu up, for intimidation's sake, but there really was no point. The scarfed ninja seemed oddly compliant, and frankly, there was an old unspoken practice on laying down weapons when the other party had already done so – especially towards those who had yet to cause him (or his village) any harm.

Watching the scarfed ninja closely, the sunshine blond slowly let his own jutsu disperse in a slow manner, everything in his attitude saying that he was more than willing to form it again if the other man tried anything suspicious. The scarfed man didn't look too bothered from the hostility Minato showed him; honestly, he seemed to expect it, actually.

Minato slid up closer to the other man, his mind already categorising all he could about the unknown threat. His height was on par with Minato's own, as the blond stared eye-to-eye with the other man. His skin was pale, even more so, sandwiched between hair as dark as night, and a scarf so blindingly crimson. He had sinewy muscles that spoke of training, on a somewhat broad figure. "So, who might you be?" Minato asked in a casual tone.

As casual as Minato's voice sounded, the scarfed man seemed to know better than to trust it, as the man seemed to visibly force his posture to relax and appear harmless. "They call me the Copy-cat Ninja," the man said nonchalantly, after what appeared to be a second of consideration.

It was a named that seemed to come from nowhere. "Who is 'they'?" Minato demanded.

"Well, you know, they," the man reiterated, after a moment's pause.

"I've never heard of anyone called 'the Copy-cat Ninja'."

There was a hint of amusement in the man's tone that contrasted the sad shadow that suddenly cast over the Copy-cat Ninja's eyes as he spoke next. "Yes, well, you're behind times," he said idly. There was a pause. "Or maybe I may be too far ahead," the man muttered to himself much quieter. The man's voice was beginning to waver and his breathing was becoming more laboured by the minute. But even so, Minato could make out the anxious significance that the man seemed to hold to those words.

"Is that so?" Minato responded, his voice holding cautious indifference. The blond's cerulean eyes lowered, unable to help himself staring at the bleeding stomach wound the man before him was sporting.

Red-stained gloves clasped tighter over it in response to Minato's gaze. "Now, if you'll excuse me." The man turned around, shoulder tensed in a bunch.

"Wait," Minato started, feet already taking long strides towards the scarfed man. His hand was open, ready to grab him, hold him, lock him into submission until the man revealed who he was, or what his goals were. The bleeding shinobi's pleading eyes as he rotated his body and turned his head back to look at Minato, despite how much that had to hurt with his stomach wound, gave Minato a pause.

"Do me a favour; check on your teammates. I hope they're alright."

The blond Jounin had a feeling that wasn't the favour the other shinobi actually wanted. His dark eyes had said it all when he had glanced back at Minato: "Let me go; I won't do any harm."

Minato was a fool for pausing at that look. Minato was going to be a fool for believing him. And yet he did. How could Minato not, after the man rescued his teammates from what had so nearly been their inevitable end? The man had done nothing against Konoha or his team. (or at least, not yet)

"Fine." At the blond's begrudging nod, the Copy-cat ninja slowly slipped into the trees, traveling cautiously away from the battle ground as he clutched onto his bleeding wound. Minato knew he had plenty of chances to subdue to man, but he also knew the other man would've fought tooth and nail to escape if it came to that. Even with his Rasengan, that startlingly chilling ball of lightening chakra the Copy-cat had in his arsenal was a frightening jutsu to go up against. And coupled with the reason that he'd just saved two Leaf ninjas? Letting the man go seemed like the best option at the time.

Giving only a sparing glance at the man's retreating back as it disappeared into the trees, Minato turned away (never fully leaving his back open in case he'd judged the man wrong, of course) and kneeled besides his fallen (and thankfully still breathing) comrades, bandages already spilling from his hands.

x

Kakashi dropped his henge the moment his feet touched Konoha soil. He didn't know what happened after he'd left Minato, but Kakashi knew he couldn't linger around if he wanted to have enough time to limp all the way back to Konoha without leaving bloody tracks in his wake, and sneak back to his room. Getting through the fence that surrounded Konoha wasn't too difficult; Kakashi had twenty-so years of knowledge of Village security, and it wasn't hard to recall security holes that he knew wouldn't be fixed until sometime in the future.

Kakashi was glad to remember that Minato's teleportation technique was yet to be perfected, when the boy managed to crawl into his room and slam his door shut in time, just moments before a hastily formed clone he'd situated near the proper Gate Entrance dispersed, informing him of Minato's arrival back to Konoha.

Minato, like Kakashi had expected him to, made a quick detour to the Namikaze Complex the movement he checked in. It wasn't proper procedure, per say, but then again, no rule said Minato couldn't. The blond quickened his pace back home, hoping to be able to spare the time to give Kakashi a quick 'hello, I'm home' before going back to debrief the mission. He hoped it would give the boy a peace of mind in case Kakashi was worried for Minato after what happened with his father.

When he got to the building, the apartment was cold and dark. Fear tugged at the blond's heart.

"Kakashi?" he called out into the dark, unlit apartment. "Kakashi?" A soft, muffled groan caught the man's ears as he edged closer to the young silver-haired boy's room. He knocked nervously on the door. "I'm back from my mission. Are you home, Kakashi?" he asked softly, anxiety building with every quiet second.

Before Minato did anything drastic, like breaking the door down, a sharp tone finally hissed out. "I'm here, I'm fine. Welcome home. ...now go away."

Minato froze at the voice. "You sound a bit …" Frigid? Irate? But he couldn't say that to the boy.

"Don't you have to report to the Hokage?" the strained voice called out once more from the other side on the door.

Minato was suddenly hyperaware of himself and just how strongly of blood he was reeking of, as the scent seemed to fill the whole house. Was the smell bothering Kakashi, Minato wondered? Was it reminding him too much of his father, and was that why he was so harshly trying to get Minato to leave? The blond desperately tried to push away the thought that Kakashi'd been like this before he'd entered, because Minato wanted every excuse he could get. Minato couldn't stand it if Kakashi hated him.

"Kakashi, I-" Minato tried to begin, before the boy's insistent voice call out once more.

"Please go away, I'm … sleeping." Minato glance out the window, noting it was just evening. There was a pause. "Come back tomorrow," Kakashi's low voice finally said when the blond didn't move from his doorway.

With a reluctant nod, and a heavy heart, Minato eventually left for the hospital where his teammates had been dismissed towards. He tried to cast this event from his mind, determined to focus on the mission again, like the professional shinobi he was. But honestly, Minato was only human, and Kakashi's actions left a sharp, sharp pain in his chest.