Apologies for the atypically long delay. Had a massive case of writer's block I had to force my way through.
InsaneIsBestSane: The problem with pairing Guy off is in the fact that he is either asexual, or basically has a village-sized harem. DID YOU SEE THOSE PECKS? MY GOD!
Jigoku: The Eye on the Moon plan working? No, I would never do thaaat... ;)
And finally, the savage that went ahead and wrote up a metric ton of reviews - Illuminated.
ch1 - I might've brought this up in a PM, but YES! Minato making a mockery of space and time does have something to do with the plot devices of the young man and the seer!
ch6, ch7, ch9 - Those are MK-level brutal... They're perfect! Also, if you want, I can make the Guren vs Haku fight a reality - sounds epic.
ch10 - In this story, at least, 'Madara' had perfectly manipulated the Mizukage even before Zabuza's first rebellion. It was one of the first things he did after getting Nagato and Konan on his side.
ch12 - I've noted such things because it'll be hilarious and heartbreaking when they get relevant.
ch14 - Thank you! As much as I love general praise, hearing that I do human relationships properly is the most motivating thing out there!
ch23 - You caught that? Good eye! It's a relevant difference.
ch27 - We agree. I am so gonna love writing more of him. Check out ch31, and tell me if I got him properly.
I honestly hope you will keep finding this story to your liking.
He took first watch – only made sense, given his need to mull over the implications of the recent discussion.
There was progress, that was indisputable. The differences in the manner in which they spoke about their dreams, goals and ambitions were the only things Kakashi needed; their choice of words spoke volumes of their current dispositions towards the team as a whole, one another, and even themselves.
The most surprising one was Naruto, actually. He half expected the blonde to let the significance of his heritage get to him, creating illusions about things he'd be entitled to, things he would be owed. Instead, he stayed true to form, promising to become a shinobi his mother and father would be proud of.
To think that the child sacrificed to become the Nine-tails' jinchuriki would, despite the obviously poor way his upbringing was handled, decide that he wishes to grow up to become a hero… it spoke of Konoha, more than anything else. The Will of Fire took root in his heart, and it would take a great darkness to dislodge it now… a darkness Kakashi would give his own life to stop, if ever such a time came.
There were threats, obviously. The Akatsuki were most direct, with Itachi and his Kiri ally plainly saying that they will be coming for him. Orochimaru was a close second; Naruto's involvement in the death of what reports claim to be one of his primary officers wouldn't go unnoticed.
Alas, the threat that truly worried Kakashi was much closer to home – Danzo.
While he had run only a single surveillance op as part of the Anti-Root, the one that kept him away from the Land of Tea, he had seen enough to know that whatever their motivation was, it couldn't possibly justify the methods. Were he not there, watching those faceless men and women slay the Kusagakure scouts, no one would ever know that anything had happened there, in the middle of the night, smack-dab in the village square.
The Root was strong... strong and dangerous.
Some small relief came from the fact that Naruto was least likely to go along with whatever scheme men like Danzo or Orochimaru could concoct – even when not given the choice, the idiot would take a third or fourth option; it was the way he did things.
For a moment he thought he had seen a shadow move; in that same moment, he had appeared beside it, seeing that it was merely a wild hare. He put it down quietly and carried it over to the low-burning fire.
Shadows were tricky buggers; Could be nothing, could be the thing that kills you. In the odd case, could be a Nara that decided to mess with you a bit; admittedly, that was the rarest of cases.
Much like darkness, shadows had this way of not letting go once they had you. You saw the light, but you did not live in it; those that did, however, knew nothing of what was in the shadows.
Kakashi had yet to meet a man who stepped out of the shadows, out of the darkness, back into the light.
His wandering continued on a while longer. They've yet to reach the village properly, having to find and navigate through one of the many expedition tunnels various villages made throughout the years, but after that, it would only be a matter of dealing with unknown, impossibly complicated and impossibly dangerous traps… easy enough, so long as it didn't require the finest of depth perception, of course.
That was one of the few things Kakashi couldn't deny as his weakness; having to operate with just one eye made his career as a shinobi rather complicated at times, seeing as he couldn't gauge distance quite as well as he could when he was a kid fighting in a war.
Other Jonin, both Konoha and foreign, brought this handicap of his up as often as they could in combat, mostly when their attempts to exploit it fell flat. His secret was amazingly simple, however…
It was only then that he, a perpetually watchful jonin, noticed the slowly pulsing sigil on the ground.
"Huh… That wasn't there before…"
He blacked out.
…
Eye snaps open, and he realizes he's no longer at the outcropping overlooking the ruined Whirlpool Village. Arms and legs feel heavy, sluggish, but still move unobstructed, so he breaks into a run.
'The kids. Have to find them, make sure they're safe,' he thinks.
Air feels strange, he notices. No hint of poison, at least none that he can taste or smell, but strange nonetheless. He moves faster anyway. Another shadow stirs, but this time he has no time for chasing it down.
'Just watch it,' he says to himself, 'even if it's something, you can only watch.'
Hand pushes the headband aside, and the world, or this blasted part of it, anyway, comes to life. It's in that very moment that Kakashi Hatake remembers why he didn't take on a genin team for the longest of times…
He's in a steel corridor of some kind, near its' exit; open air on one side, the innards of the hills on the other – the scent of old secrets lingers in the air in both directions, but he can't really focus on either.
The shadow, he realizes, wasn't just a critter this time. He messed up, he realized, letting whatever it is get as close as it did. He couldn't afford distractions, not now when he had scarcely a clue as to what was going on.
Things hardly play out properly in this line of work, however…
A large, butcher-bladed sword swishes past where his head would've been, and he strikes at the wrist of the arm that's holding it. No luck, though, whoever's attacking is no rookie.
'Why now?' he thinks, a kunai dancing between his fingers, ready to jump at his command. Shoulders tense a bit as he finds a stable-looking wall to put between himself and other possible assailants:
'I should've seen this coming, though.'
"Damn… the Leaf's gone all-out if they've sent you, Sharingan Kakashi…"
'Water' it says on the left shoulder; 'Lightning' on the right. The large blade merely confirms Kakashi's suspicions – this is the Raikage's right-hand man, Darui of the Black Lightning.
"…"
He readied one of his many Sharingan genjutsu, but flinched backwards when the dark-skinned man lashed out at him with the blade, kicking up some gravel to make room.
"Nah, man…" Darui drawled, the majority of his face hidden behind the immaculately polished surface of his blade, "against a dude like you, there's no playing it halfway."
Kakashi nodded, moving a few unruly strands of hair out of the way:
"Very well. If you want me to kill you and start another pointless war, I'm sure I can oblige…"
"Sure… kill me," Darui grinned, twirling his blade and leveling it at the copy-nin, "see how it turned out for the last man who made that claim."
The open air was the only way to go, Kakashi realized, as he tumbled backwards, disappearing into shadow and dust; he's going to need room if he's to dodge the attacks of someone like this man… a lot of room.
It's been a while since he faced a foe of this caliber, though. Since the Wave, there were precious few opportunities for the copy-nin to truly let loose. And, to be quite honest, he's been aching for a proper fight for a while now…
oOoOoOo
He caught sight of his foe in the clearing. It was almost dawn, with a bright yellow sun lingering just beyond the horizon. Long shadows stretched across the area, and one of them was his current hiding spot.
It couldn't be him, Kakashi thought – the real Darui wouldn't stand out in the open like that. He was clever, of course, standing in a shadow and making it hard to tell whether it's a clone or not, but bait only works if the supposed prey is willing to bite.
"You step on one of those sigils too?" came a question from somewhere across; the open area was a shinobi's playground, and bouncing your voice off of surfaces was child's play for men like them.
A bit of string will help, he realized. Take a shuriken and slingshot it across – even if the Kumo-nin notices the glint and goes for it, Kakashi himself would be far enough away.
Twiddle with some string, then send it flying. Whoosh.
Of course, the rather sharp bit of metal sails right through his perceived foe, jamming itself somewhere near the entrance to the tunnels… but no reaction. Curious.
His fascination with the silence cost him. While he was busy fishing for the Kumo-nin, the man was hunting him down in turn… and Darui was the better hunter of the two. Like it did so many times before, Obito's eye saved him, capturing the tiniest flicker of light in the corner of his vision, sending him diving to the side, away from the blow that would have certainly claimed his head had it hit.
"Darn..." he drawled, hefting the blade and swinging it at the copy-nin, keeping him off balance, "and I was close, too."
Kakashi tumbled, coming to his feet and leaping upwards, clear over his opponent, landing on the far side of the dust bowl the two of them found themselves in. The kunai was in his hand once more, gleaming in the rising sun.
Darui batted away the explosive tag; the copy ninja thought he was being clever, but he noticed the minute flick of his wrist. It had to have been a weapon, of course, but he appreciated the effort nonetheless. He rolled his shoulders, beckoning his Konoha counterpart to attack.
His wish was granted, as the silver-haired jonin came down upon him like a typhoon, a storm of blades, lightning and fury. Thin, brilliant strips of lightning hung in the air as the kunai made their way through, rebuffed time and time again by the great dark blade of the Sandaime's protégé.
Huffing, Kakashi threw up a handful of dust, using the minute distraction to step back and get through his hand-signs:
Over a hundred Jutsu, and I can't afford to pick the wrong one…
"Lightning Style: Lightning Beast Running Jutsu!"
Chakra roared to life in his hand, and he had to steady it to avoid falling over from the discharge. From the Lightning Cutter's form came a beast forged of pure electricity, darting across the field in an erratic, zig-zag pattern.
"Two can play at that game, Hatake!" Darui smirked, having narrowly dodged the technique. He too used lightning, and was familiar with both its' strengths and weaknesses; he had a second before that beast of his would be redirected.
"Let's see you copy this, then… Lightning Style: Black Panther!"
The secret of Black Lightning, as a form of expressing pure Lightning Style, was known to two men in history. Darui was the other one.
What an Uchiha's Amaterasu was to regular fire, Black Lightning was to standard electricity – it was the storm that consumed other storms, the unstoppable thunder that one couldn't flee. Even the most powerful of Wind techniques fell before the unbridled might of a properly focused bolt.
The Third Raikage, a titan among men, barely scratched the surface of what could be done with such a technique before his death. His legacy, however, would live on.
Because Darui… for all his reputation as a slacker… was anything but unfocused.
The black panther was quick, far quicker than the running beast. It was only when he realized that it wasn't aiming for him that Kakashi noticed his mistake – the panther wasn't aiming to destroy the beast, but rather consume it.
Dozens of possibilities flashed in the copy ninja's mind. Maneuvers, techniques, forms… all his skills, ready to be put to use avoiding the undoubtedly grisly death that awaits if he is hit by a technique like that. And yet, with all that, he still could really focus on one single thing.
'I hope the kids are safe…'
oOoOoOo
He had to admit it to the Konoha-nin, he was putting up a proper fight. Usually it'd be the first blow, the one Kakashi managed to dodge, that ends the foes that end up in his way.
And the Lightning Beast? Extra points, you just can't fake style like that…
However… All good things must come to an unfortunate, and often messy, end.
"I'll remember this fight, Sharingan Kakashi. Sorry about this..."
By this point, his black panther consumed the running beast, spawning a copy of itself from the chakra. Between the two monsters hunting him, as well as the beastmaster himself, Hatake lost this fight the moment he assumed the panther was going for him.
Now, all he needed to do was set up a simple earth jutsu and let loose with the finishing blow. It was a bit dull, actually, considering how the man's reputation painted him as some kind of monster… just flesh and blood, like everyone else.
"Earth Style: Granite Mirror Graveyard!"
A simple technique, yet so deadly when combined with the proper follow-up… and as with most Earth Jutsu, it merely required holding the snake seal at the end.
One by one, breaking through the worn, dusty ground of whatever this place was, polished slabs of stone came into the light, slowly closing a circle around the copy nin and two panthers.
He watched, silently, as Kakashi managed to dispel one of the panthers with a perfectly timed Wild Water Wave; too little, too late, unfortunately. A couple of seconds later, and the final slab rose into its' place, forming a perfect, unbroken and unblemished ring.
"Gale Style…" he began, holding his arms outward before pressing them together to make the necessary seals, "… Laser Circus!"
Dozens of brilliant, dazzling beams shot from his hands, crashing into the granite bowl and quickly filling it with dancing bolts of ricocheting light. This combination was the one-two combo of every Gale Style user, and it was a damn effective one. Even someone with the Sharingan couldn't possibly dodge them all, especially when hounded by a black panther.
"Sorry, man…" Darui drawled, looking genuinely apologetic as his technique reached critical mass, blowing out the granite arena and leaving a shallow, but smoldering crater in its' wake. The force of the explosion forced him a couple of steps back, and he barely got to shield his eyes from the brilliant light and the minor debris sent flying everywhere.
"About what?" came a voice, sounding rather carefree for one coming from a dead man.
"…"
Darui blinked, then leapt back, only to press against the wall. The wall shouldn't have been that close… he was almost certain of it…
"Confused?" Kakashi offered, approaching from three directions at once. Were they shadow clones, or mere light illusions, like he used before?
"Now, you must be wondering… Did he do it while being chased by angry black panthers, or maybe before? Or, and listen to this, did I somehow manage to escape your deathtrap?"
Two of the Kakashi lunged at him, but fell to the great black cleaver, dissolving into water. Yet two more were now in their place, still marching forward implacably…
"An illusion? But if one has gotten this far, you are dead already, aren't you?" the copy-nin carried on, voice equal parts jovial and menacing, "Wouldn't that be dull, huh?"
"Forget these mind games…" Darui frowned, throwing the cleaver at the central Kakashi, pinning him to the ground as his hands made the quickest set of seals of his life.
"Lightning Style: Tsunami of Inspiration!"
The two sigils on his shoulders came alive, water and lightning coming together to unleash their terrible fury - First was the wave, roaring to life from nowhere and yet getting everywhere, soaking not only the visages of the copy-nin, but the general vicinity around the Gale Style user, turning the once cracked and dusty floor of their impromptu battlefield into something that resembled a marsh. Second was the storm, crisp blue bolts that sprang from his arms into the water, momentarily frying everything that was in contact with the water… anything but Darui himself, that is.
"You're gonna need a bit more than some genjutsu to throw me off, Copy Ninja…"
"…"
He was speechless. The copy-nin, the man who indulged in all manner of combat banter, the man who enjoyed his fights not only because of the thrill of danger but the witty conversation as well… he was completely, utterly, speechless.
He knew that those with the bloodlines of advanced chakra natures could mix their two primary affinities, but to see someone intentionally use them separately… it was beautiful.
His eye was on fire… or at least that was how it felt. His vision, crap as it was with the depth problems, was now starting to blur, bad. Even if his famous eye could predict the future, he doubted it'd be a cheerful one by this point.
The illusion consumed monstrous amounts of chakra – not only was it a Sharingan technique, but using it on someone as willful as Darui of the Hidden Cloud… why didn't it work?
At least… he sighed, taking a breath and settling into a basic strong fist stance. At least they were both running on fumes now. And he figured he could take the Cloud titan in a fistfight… probably.
"I'm still alive…" he eye-smirked, motioning with his finger for his foe to come closer, "I can't die here, you know…"
"Oh?" Darui stumbled to his feet, pulling the charred blade from the ground and, realizing that it's become too heavy for one hand, hefted it with both:
"That makes it ok for me to kick the bucket, eh?" he mused, looking somewhat out of it.
They drew closer to one another. The once massive arena had shrunk in their eyes, the wide world coming down to nothing more than the muddy hole in the ground their battle gave birth to.
Determination drove both men… but for different reasons.
For Kakashi, it was simple; he needed to protect those three. If he died here, the Whirlpool would undoubtedly swallow them. His last hurrah would be nothing more than a whimper, a wailing cry of a man who failed to protect those important to him yet again.
For Darui, it was his unflinching devotion to the ideal of duty. When he sat down to have his natures etched into his shoulder, when he stood to study with the Third Raikage… he did it not for some petty dream of power, but rather for the village, his home and the place for which he would face down the most powerful shinobi, even if it meant his death.
The swing came low, but even as tired as it was, Kakashi's Sharingan eye saw the move coming. The counterattack, however, was little more than a well-aimed haymaker; the blow connected perfectly, shaking Darui's jaw and sending a fresh wave of pain through his already exhausted and hurting body.
"Oh…" he spat, shaking his head and locking eyes with the copy nin once more, feeling his eyelids grow as heavy as the blade in his hands. He swung once more.
'Too slow' Kakashi thought, unable to do anything but sway weakly to the side as the cleaver tore his flak jacket from bottom to top, taking a small bit of his eyebrow as well. Hot blood began pouring down the side of his face… Red on Red.
Ignoring the pain, he reached out, pressing hard on the wrist of the hand he had managed to grab hold of – a pained moan was followed by the soggy splash of metal and mud. For a moment, Kakashi felt good about his predictions again.
He didn't wait for ideas – the other fist just moved.
One blow… two…
He blinked, and now he was holding a clearly unconscious man by the collar. He tried to swing once more, but his hand shook so badly it hurt.
Kakashi needed a moment to rest.
oOoOoOo
'Where are we..?'
Whatever this place was, some kind of circular storage area by the look of it, it was now ruined. Between the granite circus and the explosion of water, it looked nothing like the smooth-edged arena it was mere minutes ago – just a swamp, a messy, bloody, ruined swamp.
His legs buckled, and he sunk into the mud a bit, kneeling before the fallen form of his enemy… and what an enemy he was, holding nothing back, fighting outside of the shadows and coming at him with all the determination of the Hidden Cloud.
He fought Gale users before, he was sure of it… but none compared to this.
To be drained this much this quickly… the intensity of it all still stunned. Then again, fights to the death usually didn't last for hour upon hour. Talking had its' place, of course, but sometimes it knew to prolong fights far beyond their expiration date.
He paused. Was he seriously thinking about the merits of combat banter… now?
Shaking his head and heaving a sigh, Kakashi reached for the butcher's blade. It was a magnificent piece, forged of the dark durable quasi-steel alloy that was oft found in Cloud ninja gear – it was also heavy… so damn heavy.
Pushing himself back onto his feet, Kakashi held the blade high, watching impassively at the beaten, but still very living body of the Cloud's Darui. He had beaten him, and in so doing gained the right to decide the man's fate.
He needed only swing down, and everything he could become, everyone he would hurt and everyone he would save would all be undone.
It was strange. He had, on rare occasion, killed more dangerous individuals… he never once thought about how their deaths would affect the world during those executions. Something about this one, be it the sheer exhaustion, or maybe the random, almost arbitrary way in which they simply came across one another…
The Cloud wanted the Whirlpool's secrets as well, that much was clear. Did he come with a team of his own, though? Would ending this man end them as well?
Kakashi held the blade aloft, and decided…
Decided what? I'd like to hear what you think... Maybe it's a vote?
Hope you enjoyed the chapter!