Guess who's aliiiiiive? Me! :D

It has been, what, eight months? D: I'm not always sorry, but when I am, I am so, so sorry... (Kudos to whoever gets the reference XD)

Let's start with last chapter's questions:

Wolf Guard Miestwin: Okugi does have three tails' worth of chakra (a mix of Kurama's and Kakashi's own), but the Whirlpool Oblivion had managed to dissipate it while he kept on pumping it out. He lost track of time inside the Seal, and lost quite a lot - so his human brain says "food=chakra", while his bijuu-like body is more like "I can replenish all the chakra, let me work my magic". (The issue of time-travel reveal will have to wait quite a lot XD)

Bindi-fox: Okugi has got 9/10 on nightmare management ;I but I wouldn't bet on his mental health... the poor guy has had it rough, and I haven't been helping ;D

Maxine: Kakashi is 11, Rin and Obito are around 12-13, Anko is about 9-10 by now, so yeah, Kakashi is the youngest of Team Minato! :D And the shortest. But he's got the higher mental age. I don't know if a 'mock-reveal' of Older Kakashi can sneak its way in this, who knows! Not me ;)

Eevee: I didn't plan on having smooching and couples except for Minato and Kushina, though probably, if I write the sequel, it will be Kakashi/Anko and Obito/Rin. You know as much as I do about this :I

I thank y'all for sticking to this story despite all the things (the 'deus ex machina' of problems, randomness, general misspelling of words, weird update dates, etc.) and get! Ready! For! The Last Five Chapters (this one not included)! [Sequel not granted]

Without further ado, let's delve into the story...


Chapter 49: Fear and Respect

Minato cleared the living room of his sealing equipment – he was this close to completing that seal, so close – so that his students, Kushina and Okugi could sit on the two couches.

Obito kept fidgeting, about to jump right into him, worried and excited and hopeful. "Ne, ne, Minato-sensei, tell us! How can we make them stop?"

The blond breathed in. Maybe it was too soon – Rin was still recovering, it wouldn't do to stress her with his plan – but he leapt at the opportunity to make the Uchiha understand they'd better not mess with his students. "Our purpose is to make the Uchiha Elders understand your decision is final."

"Hell yes it's final! How do we do that?!"

Kakashi sighed. "Let sensei speak, Obito."

His raven-haired student glared (half-heartedly) at his teammate and turned to Minato with wide eyes.

"But if we argue with them, we would accomplish nothing," here Minato spoke faster, noticing Obito about to open his mouth again, "because they need to respect your decision, not hate you for it."

Kakashi narrowed his eyes at him, and Minato could almost hear the chuunin discussing with the Kyuubi imitator. There was an oddly similar expression in Okugi's eyes.

"To do that, they must see you as a shinobi able to make his own decisions, stand by them and defend them." Rin and Kakashi's eyes widened, while Kushina and Okugi smirked in anticipation. Maybe it wasn't such a stupid idea, after all.

Crossing his arms and tilting his head, Obito hummed, thinking. "…I don't get it."

"It's a fight, dattebane!" Kushina jumped up, fist aimed at the sky. She stared into Obito's eyes with fire in hers. He tried to scoot back into the couch. "Those pompous jelly-brained old coots will see when you win against them, and if they don't…!" The redhead let out a chillingly gleeful laugh.

Minato shivered and struggled to keep his smile on his face. Konoha didn't need a civil war on top of the war. "It won't come to that, Kushina… and it's just a spar, not a fight. We can arrange something with Fugaku-san and Mikoto-san, we just have to make it quick and non-lethal, Kushina."

His girlfriend pouted and reluctantly sat down again.

"We can join, as well," Kakashi added, shrugging at the looks he received from his teammates. "We'll show them we're standing together – if you're alright with that, Rin."

The medic-in-training ducked her head and rubbed her scar. She nodded, hesitant. "I- I think I can." A small smile graced her lips. "Besides, you'll need some Suiton…"

Blushing, Obito stared at his teammate, both star-struck and embarrassed. "B-But, really, if you don't… want to… it's alright, Rin…"

She smiled at him, and the boy's jaw slackened as he stared into her eyes, a blush steadily growing on his face.

Ah, to be so young, in love! Minato probably looked like that ever since he laid eyes on Kushina.

The moment was ruined when Kakashi opened his mouth.

"We're sparring against other chuunin, Obito," he could hear the little chuunin rolling his eyes, and sure enough, he was. "And it's safer here than out in the field. We'll need an audience of Uchiha to earn their respect, whether they want it or not."

Obito racked his brain for a retort but probably didn't find another solution to the Asshats Elders Problem that didn't involve a fight of some sort. He wasn't averse to the idea of fighting his clansmen, he just didn't want Rin in their line of fire – quite literally.

He looked at her, frowning and worried. "…Are you sure, Rin?"

"We're a team, Obito." She smiled again, and boy did he blush. "We will do this, together."


The next day greeted them with dark clouds looming over Training Ground 42.

Sarushi Uchiha stood between Minato-san's team – didn't the girl and the Hatake just return from Iwagakure? – and three Uchiha of chuunin rank that happened to want to fight against them: the twins Satoshi and Atsui with Tashiro, one of Obito's cousins, fifteen years old.

"This spar," she announced to the shinobi perching on a cluster of trees in front of her, "will involve the chuunin Hatake Kakashi, Uchiha Obito and Nohara Rin against chuunin Uchiha Satoshi, Uchiha Atsui and Uchiha Tashiro. The spar will end when one team has at least two members down at the same time. Interference in favor of one team will mean the victory of the other."

The six teens nodded and waited, their left hands locked in the Seal of Confrontation.

Sarushi looked at the audience – the Clan Head, Fugaku-san with his wife and three-year-old son Itachi, Daichi, Yurumo, five other Uchiha, Minato-san, Kushina-san, the Hatake's summon – and jerked her hand down. "Begin!"


Kakashi and Obito dashed forward while Rin circled around them to their right.

Satoshi and Tashiro met them head-on, katana clashing against the Hatake's tanto, kunai against kunai. The girl slashed and stabbed at the younger chuunin, trying to force him both on the defensive and far enough to make his tanto useless.

The other chuunin hacked furiously at each other, all sparks and clashes as they pushed each other back and forth. Atsui threw a hail of kunai at Rin, who rolled to the side and responded with a flurry of shuriken.

Owl watched with the barest spark of interest. At least it was better than peering into a living room at least twenty meters away, thanks to the Hatake's love for advanced Fuinjutsu.

And paranoia. Can't be a normal shinobi without paranoia.

A spike of chakra made him focus again. Kakashi had channeled chakra to his tanto, lengthening the blade and nearly slicing through the Uchiha's katana. She had jerked away in time to notice a fatal crack in her blade.

Uh. He was going to pay for it. Literally.

Kakashi made good use of her distraction and swiftly punched her in the face with his other hand – that was, if the Uchiha didn't put up a hasty block in time. But she was unbalanced, and dropped her katana to avoid getting skewered by her own blade as she rolled with the blow.

She rolled far, far enough to make the audience whisper to themselves about the Hatake's strength. Her Sharingan spun, as ominous as an incoming hurricane, as she dashed forward.

The chuunin didn't even activate his 'Demon Eyes Mode' as he engaged her in a taijutsu match.

Owl shifted his gaze towards the other kids. Obito and Rin had joined forces against Atsui and Tashiro, already stepping up their game with ninjutsu.

"Katon-"

"-Great Fireball!"

The two boys' fireballs exploded into a tiny inferno as they clashed, flames scorching the clearing as they were stopped in their tracks by each other and burning both their olfactory epithelia and retinas.

At least until Atsui finished her hand seals, took a deep breath and blew a cutting wind right through her clansmen's jutsu. The grass bent, the dust rose, and the combination of Katon and Fuuton hit Obito fully in the chest-

-revealing it to be a log. Hmm. He had improved a bit, after all, but the medic-in-training better be quick enough to avoid it as well.

She Kawarimi'ed out of the way and dashed behind Tashiro, chakra coating her hands.

Gauntleted hands burst from the ground right beneath Atsui, interrupting her jutsu and burying her up to her neck as Kakashi – a clone, this time – jumped up, flashing through hand seals of his own.

"Suiton: Tidal Wave!"

The clearing was flooded by the sudden appearance of a chakra-imbued wave, rising from the ground and crashing onto the 'enemy' Uchiha – especially Atsui, who could not move. The Suiton lasted a couple of seconds before the clone leapt to his left to aid the original with a lightning-coated tanto, ignoring the absolutely floored audience.

That Kami-damned kid could switch between Doton, Suiton and Raiton, easy as breathing.

Owl knew he could also do Katon, if he so wished, and wasn't that just so fucking unfair? There were ANBU like him who trained their asses off, endured exhausting training regimens and cursed their whole genealogic tree to use two chakra natures – then this fucking kid strolled in with four chakra natures at the age of eleven.

What the actual fuck.

By the whispers of the official audience, that was their general sentiment as well.

Except the littlest Uchiha heir, Uchiha Itachi, all innocence and wonder for his three years of age.

The field, so abruptly changed, threw the Uchiha Team off balance – the Kakashi-clone was slicing through Tashiro's guard while Obito and Rin teamed up with the original Hatake against Satoshi. Atsui struggled against the Head Hunter Jutsu keeping her firmly lodged into the ground, to no avail.

The iryo-nin hurled ten senbon at Satoshi, who jumped away and twisted like a cat in midair to avoid all the flying needles – but Obito was there to kick her ribs in, and she grabbed his ankle to hurtle him to the ground.

He yelped as he crashed down and Satoshi had a two-seconds break to form hand seals. "Fuuton: Gale Palm!"

In that same moment, Tashiro flung a hail of shuriken. "Shuriken Shadow Clone!"

A deadly sharp swarm of shuriken soared through the air, straight for Team Minato. Impressive, for a chuunin.

The Yellow Flash's chakra spiked, so much even Owl felt it, and he knows he would have acted if the two Kakashi on the field didn't already bolt in front of his teammates with a twin cry of- "Doton: Mud Wall!"

Smooth blocks of rock shot up from the ground, half a meter thick, impenetrable for measly shuriken – and a bit excessive to shield them against chuunin-level attacks. It wasn't a wonder that the Hatake's Shadow Clone dispelled after that.

Obito and Rin sprang to their feet just in time for the three Uchiha – they managed to get Atsui out, apparently – to leap over the walls, straight for them, hands clenched into fists.

"Suiton: Wild Water Wave!" The girl spat high-pressure water to halt Atsui. The Uchiha was thrown back on the wall, which she used to push herself off and crash into Rin.

The chuunin didn't have time to block and doubled over with a gasp as an elbow sunk into her abdomen. Atsui straddled her as she quickly snatched a kunai from her own pouch and tried to hold it near the other's throat.

Gritting her teeth, Rin struggled to keep the kunai away from her and focus her chakra into scalpels. But Atsui was pressing her advantage and weight on her, and there was only so much the iryo-nin could do.

On the other side of the field, Kakashi and Obito fended off Satoshi and Tashiro – but it did not escape their notice what was happening to their teammate.

The Hatake growled – for a second Owl feared the bijuu was taking over, using his emotions as a catalyst – and his whole body was shrouded in a blinding light. He slammed two chakra claws against the nearest Uchiha enemies, hurtling them into the mud of the clearing, and lifted his teammate into another.

Kakashi was up on a dry tree branch with both his stunned teammates the next second, finishing hand seals. "Raiton: Lightning Strike!"

White lightning shot from his outstretched hands into the sodden ground – and into the three unfortunate Uchiha.

Their screams echoed throughout the clearing, frightening the animals that hadn't already fled the scene, and lit up the gloomy sky.

Owl sunk his fingers into his perch, willing his chakra to stay still.

There was a faint smell of burnt flesh lingering in the air as the three chuunin fell to the ground, defeated.

Tashiro was on all-fours, dirty, battered, bleeding and twitching. He refrained from collapsing through sheer willpower, but his sorry state was clear for all to see. He would not fight.

Atsui was sprawled on her back, her filthy limbs in disarray as she jerkily drew breath. Her eyes were tightly shut, as if the mere idea of opening them equaled a certain death by retina-burning light. She would not fight.

Satoshi had collapsed on her side, clutching at her chest and gasping for breath. She tried to push herself off the ground, but her bleeding arms trembled under the strain and she fell to her elbows in the mud. Her katana laid abandoned a few meters away from her, muddy and cracked. She would not fight, either.

The three chuunin of Team Minato jumped down the branch. Their sandals squelched as they landed on the mud.

Panting, Obito and Rin nearly mirrored each other – brows pulled into a frown, mouths slightly opened and wide eyes looking over the result of their fight. Their silence was telling.

Only Kakashi raised his head – as droplets and dust fell from his silver hair – and stared at Sarushi Uchiha.

The kunoichi landed in front of the speechless audience. Dazed, she looked at the ruined clearing, the three Uchiha chuunin twitching and overall not getting up, and uttered, "Team Minato wins the match."


After Obito stopped shouting at him, Rin stopped judging him with her eyes, Minato-sensei stopped looking both constipated and impressed and Kushina-nee stopped laughing maniacally, Kakashi could actually see the result of their 'spar'.

They went to the BBQ in front of Ichiraku Ramen – as Okugi had insisted, and honestly no one wanted to argue against his obsession for steak – to have dinner, and people were already whispering about them.

"It's them."

"Did you hear what happened…?"

"A fight?"

"No, a spar… I heard he-" Kakashi assumed they were pointing at him. "-electrocuted them."

"During a spar?"

"Young shinobi these days…"

The chakra around him roiled uneasily, churned and curled away from him – he could feel their distrust, their fear that this was it: the point where he stopped being useful to Konoha, where he broke beyond repair and started attacking his comrades.

Kakashi internally scoffed, though he kept his face carefully blank. He toned down his attack for a reason. He was perfectly alright – especially when it involved the safety of his team and fellow shinobi of Konoha.

There was a snort. "You have overreacted."

'Not my fault.' He shot a pointed glare at the henged Okugi, who was devouring a small stack of grilled steaks, and reached for the salt.

'Sukea' glanced up at him and smiled – an empty one. "I'm sorry, Chibi," he whispered, and Kakashi believed him.

"That Clan won't forget that anytime soon." The glass in his hand almost slipped when the bijuu rummaged through his (older self's) memories. "Either they'll hate your guts – again – or they'll try to discover how you moved my chakra so fast that not even the Sharingan could follow it. We'll need to be more careful around the Uchiha."

Kakashi shifted in his seat. While Kushina stuffed herself with a seemingly endless variety of grilled meat and vegetables, an awkward silence settled over their table. He breathed in and turned his focus on the unfamiliar chakra signatures surrounding them.

Among the suffocating suspicion of the people around him, there were also tiny sparks of understanding, approval, pride.

At the table in front of them, he saw a scarred jonin nodding at the passionate speech of a halfway drunk chuunin about how much the Uchiha deserved to be "knocked down a peg".

In a shadowed corner, he saw a group of off-duty ANBU who spoke in hushed whispers and hand signs about his skill and speed, which would one day "decide the fate of future battles".

In front of him, he saw Minato-sensei chewing slowly, half-lidded eyes that replayed his team's actions earlier that day – and Kakashi felt a smidgen of pride in the regular flow of his chakra. He clung to the feeling and pretended not to sense Kurama's unimpressed confusion and his older self's contentment.

He ignored his teammates' suspicious gaze.

He tried to, anyway.

For a while.

"To be fair," he said, instantly grabbing their attention, "they had tried to roast us. And I…" He squirmed; took a deep breath. "When I saw Atsui… on top of Rin… I had to end that fight."

Obito garbled something as he showed them the half-chewed contents of his mouth.

Kushina smacked him behind the head and kept eating. Minato-sensei's wallet would be very sad and empty in the nearest future.

After he finished coughing and gulped down his food, the Uchiha frowned at him from the other side of the table. "I… understandthefeeling." A deep blush took over his cheeks. "But you didn't need to electrocute them."

"You survived just fine when I did that to you."

He threw his hands up, almost hitting a disapproving Minato-sensei in the face. "That's not the point!"

"Then what is it?" Kakashi rolled his eyes and raised his thumb. "I knew what I was doing." His index. "I toned down my Raiton enough to end the spar but not kill them." His middle finger. "They were the first to use ninjutsu and try to burn us." His ring finger. "The Hospital confirmed they didn't get any permanent damage." His pinkie. "Now the Uchiha Elders won't demand anything from you, or us."

Obito opened his mouth several times, but nothing coherent came out.

Kakashi was ninetyfive-percent sure that the whole BBQ was eavesdropping, Rin was thinking about a retort and Minato-sensei agreed with him, but didn't want to take sides in public. Kushina and Okugi were having a silent staring-and-eating contest as they wolfed down dish after dish of meat and vegetables.

"Satoshi, Atsui and Tashiro had no blame."

Rin's voice cut through the silence. Everyone turned to her.

"They didn't deserve to be electrocuted." Her brows were pulled low on her forehead, and her frown twisted the long scar crossing her face. She was perfectly still. "It was unnecessary to use Raiton on them – we could have won without it. Kakashi, you didn't need to do that." She glanced down, her eyes roaming over their dishes on the table. "They already knew you were strong. They needed to see our team was strong."

Kakashi stared at her.

Well.

There was a reason why she had not spoken a word before.

'…Suggestions?'

"She does have a point, Chibi." Okugi slowly drank half of his glass of water. "I was afraid for her, too, but maybe…" He gave the best impression of a shrug through his chakra without moving a muscle. "This Rin is different."

The back of his hands itched, but he forced his fingers not to curl into fists. This was not a fight – he only had to admit his (older self's) emotion got the better of his logical judgment.

…They would never let him live it down.

"…You're right, Rin." Kakashi looked down, but he could feel the confusion and shock in everyone's chakra. Obito actually spluttered and Minato-sensei choked on his water. "As I said before, I couldn't bear to see you in danger, even if I knew you would not die." A deep breath. Quieter, this time, he continued. "I couldn't control my emotions."

After a few beats of silence, the chuunin glanced at his team and Kushina.

Obito's mouth was hanging open, this time blessedly empty of food, as his chopsticks clattered to the table from his frozen fingers.

A light blush took up all of Rin's face, and she was blinking rapidly at him as if she couldn't quite believe what just left his mouth.

Minato-sensei was staring at him contemplatively, or most likely as if he were a particularly complex math equation whose variables kept changing under his very eyes without rhyme or reason.

Okugi nodded sagely, smiling and overall radiating approval through his relaxed shoulders and buzzing chakra.

Kushina was grinning.

Although he had his fill of steak, Kakashi reached for a couple more of sizzling pieces from the grill, put a light Genjutsu around himself and stuffed his mouth shut before he could die of embarrassment.


"Your eye tenketsu shouldn't be a problem anymore." Owl withdrew his probing chakra from the Jinchuuriki's system and stepped back. "That is, if you don't overload them again."

Kakashi blinked quickly. A blank stare. "I'll try," he ground out.

The ANBU shrugged and jotted down the result of the blessed Last Visit with his target. "It's up to you to stop making life difficult for yourself." And for me. Kami, just… just stop getting into trouble. "How are your nightmares?"

"I can manage, Owl-san."

'Oh yes, of course, kid, it's not like I didn't see you lighting up like a goddamn human torch after you woke up from a nightmare just yesterday. Please, do lie to me some more.'

Owl shook the subsequent thought of 'What even is my life' and started filling out the form that would set him relatively free. Why did the desk jockeys want to know his blood type anyway? Only the Hospital would need it. "Sure. Just stop emitting light when you're having a nightmare." Ignoring the kid's scowl, he kept writing.

In the next one hundred and twenty seconds, the only sound in the room was his pen scraping against the paper.

He liked the quiet. Regrettably, he had to break it to show Kakashi the form and hand him the pen. "Sign this at the bottom."

The Hatake, ever the paranoid shinobi, actually read the thing – 'I, Konohan shinobi of sound mind, accept to be reinstated into the Konoha Shinobi Corps, acknowledging all the risks that come with the profession (i.e. death, physical and psychological torture, injury, mutilation' yadda yadda – and Owl had to wait for him.

Not even ANBU read the whole document. Not even those who signed it multiple times in their lives!

The chuunin finally, finally signed the form.

Had he had any less control, Owl would have signed in relief. He snatched the document from his hands instead. "Good. I don't want to see you back in this room anytime soon, chuunin."

"Likewise, Owl-san."

The door clicked shut behind his back.


The Sandaime Hokage called back the whole Team Minato to active duty three days later.

"This time," he began, eyeing each member, "we don't expect you'll meet resistance of any kind. The majority of the reports sent from the southeastern coastline relayed no relevant hostile activity."

The glance Minato aimed at his students was almost neutral enough to be a cursory headcount – many jonin did that to plan ahead of time, in case their mission entailed crossing into enemy territory – but the Hokage knew better.

Obito and Rin exchanged a worried glance, which they turned to Kakashi. The young chuunin, for his part, ignored them. A blank stare was all they got from him, and even then it was directed at the Hokage.

He didn't seem as deranged as some rumors made him out to be. Hiruzen was just glad his decision not to intervene between Team Minato and the Uchiha Clan didn't earn him a few murdered Uchiha Elders. Or a bijuu rampage. Or some brand-new nukenin.

"You are to deliver these scrolls-" the Hokage gestured to the five slightly larger yellow scrolls sitting on his desk, covered in Weight-dispersion seals, "-to the outposts of Ichisui, Nisui, Sansui, Yonsui and Gosui near the coast."

Okugi was sitting ramrod straight, his tails still and ears raised. The intensity of his gaze was almost enough to make Hiruzen twitch his fingers – but if this was his effort not to step out of line, then so be it. He'd rather bear with his stare than his bijuudama.

At least the other Shinobi Countries seemed to silently agree with him, because he never had the small scroll-holding rack so lacking in treaties. No news is good news, as they say, but he planned to look into the matter as soon as possible.

"There is no time limit," he remarked, "but the sooner you come back, the better."

The five of them chorused a, "Hai, Hokage-sama," as they bowed and left the room.


Day 2, Ichisui

"MY ETERNAL RIVAL!"

Kakashi substituted himself with Okugi, who was more than happy to get his plushy fur squeezed by an over-enthusiastic Gai.

The boy still turned to him, tears dramatically flowing down his face. "WINTER WAS SO CLOSE TO CLAIMING YOU, BUT I DID NOT LOSE HOPE!" He tightened his hug on Okugi, who curled his tails around the chuunin. "I HAVE TRAINED, MY ETERNAL RIVAL, SO I CAN CHALLENGE YOU AGAIN!"

"Gai-kun, please, lower your voice…"

Gai opened his mouth to shout an affirmative, but he caught himself in time and just nodded at Minato-sensei, who left to speak with the manager of Ichisui.

Okugi just grinned and nuzzled Gai's neck. He really missed him, with all his quirks and limitless energy – there was something reassuring in seeing how little his self-proclaimed Eternal Rival has changed.

His hug tightened even more, until Ebisu attempted to force them apart.

"Ebisu-kun! Why-"

"Because everyone is staring, Gai," was his curt answer, "and we're not supposed to make this much noise. Do you even remember our mission?"

Gai might be best in small doses, but he did remember his duties. Okugi wriggled out of his hug and pounced on Ebisu with no hesitation, prompting a shout.

"HEY!"

Okugi licked his face – ew, he didn't wash in the river just yet – and left drool and slobber all over him, just because. Always putting Gai down was probably part of the reason.

Laughter and a sigh reached his ears and he glanced up. Kakashi was face-palming, while Obito and Genma had doubled over guffawing and Rin was giggling in her hand. A few chuunin in the canteen of the outpost tower shook their heads at them.

Ha! They didn't know he was just getting started!

"Okugi, get off him."

Whining, he did. It wouldn't do to show Hokage-sama he didn't follow orders – though he was tempted to put up a bit more resistance than usual, just because Ebisu kind of deserved to be knocked down a peg. Karma can be quite a bitch – or, in this case, a half-bijuu.

He was also without Icha Icha and a way to distract himself from his rumbling stomach (or whatever it was that kept him up at night craving raw meat), so Ebisu would have to do. No, Okugi would not eat his former-comrade in his quest of refilling his phantom rumbly tummy.

Maybe, because of Kurama's added Chakra he had used to dissipate the Whirlpool Oblivion, he would take longer to replenish his reserves - and his 'human' part needed him to eat until it happened? At least he was used to running on little sleep.

Ebisu was wiping his saliva from his scowl. Okugi couldn't help but smirk at the boy - distractions, distractions.

Minato-sensei reappeared from a door behind them, having just spoken to the manager of the outpost. He looked at the scene in front of him – Kakashi face-palming, Okugi grinning, Rin, Genma and Obito laughing, Ebisu spluttering and Gai bouncing on his feet – and wisely decided not to ask. "We're leaving again at dawn, team."


Day 3, Nisui

"So, this is where…"

"Where we check who's coming through and knock back those who want to breach in without permission, yes." Atsui dragged a hand under her running nose. "It's an immigration gate."

Obito rubbed the back of his neck as he looked down the window, at the crowd waiting outside the building. "Is it hard?"

She sniffed and shrugged. "A bit. We have to sort out who's looking for a better life, who can bring something useful to Konoha and who wants to infiltrate our village. Nahei-taicho is intimidating enough even without turning on his Byakugan, and he can tell apart shinobi from civilians by the development of their chakra coils."

Obito activated his Sharingan, but all he could see was their flaring chakra as they fidgeted and hoped to escape the fighting going on down south. If it was up to him, he'd let through all of them – they've had it hard enough on the other side of the border, why shouldn't they offer help?

"…About the spar…"

"You don't need to apologize, Obito-kun." Atsui turned to him with a halfhearted smile. "Everyone gets caught up in the heat of the fight. I once sliced through someone's ribcage with a Fuuton because he was about to behead Tashiro." Her smiled widened chillingly. "Don't sweat it, ne?"

Obito took two steps back out of instinct as cold sweat trickled down his neck. Sometimes he needed to be reminded that Atsui was either friendly and polite or ruthless and downright terrifying. There was no middle ground with her, and Obito was glad to be on her right side.

"I- I'll go check the gate," he stammered, and nearly tripped down the corridor and the stairs. Rin was helping out in the infirmary, while Minato-sensei, Bakakashi and Okugi were interrogating/checking/intimidating the people of Mizu and Nami asking to be let in Hi no Kuni.

He should definitely warn Kakashi, just in case.


Day 4; Sansui

Minato instantly recognized the jonin in charge of the next outpost.

"Inuri-san?" he asked, and the man instantly straightened his spine. He gave no other indication of his inner turmoil.

"Namikaze-san," he greeted, quickly rolling up the scroll he had just finished writing. He rose from his desk and bowed his head. "I assume you've brought supplies?"

The blond man nodded. He offered him the larger-than-usual scroll, almost completely black with chakra-imbued ink, and stepped back. "Are there any news about Kirigakure?"

Inuri shook his head, put the supply scroll on the desk and handed Minato another scroll – his latest report. "Nothing. It's been quiet since we've arrived – except for the occasional fight against overzealous Kiri nukenin and the greener genin teams looking for shelter." The scarred man tilted his head as he eyed the blond sensei. "…Is everything alright?"

"Hmm? Oh, yes, everything's alright." Minato couldn't help but smile. His team was back together! "Kakashi, Rin and Okugi managed to come back. Kuroki-san let them in the canteen to eat once he had identified us. I hope it isn't too much trouble if we rest here for the night, Inuri-san?"

The man just blinked at him, but Minato could see his shoulders were far more relaxed than when he had walked in. "Not at all, Namikaze-san."


Day 5; Yonsui

Satoshi looked exceptionally angry when she saw them.

Rin tried not to look at her – she eyed the plain gray walls of the bunk room, the blue-colored plate marking the door and the small windows leaving little openings for those who tried to breach into the tower. She focused on her teammates' presence by her side to ignore the tension curling around her.

It didn't work.

"Why are you here?" the Uchiha demanded, flanked by Hyuuga Takai, Inuzuka Daku and Kiiroimaru. None of them seemed glad to see them.

"We've just brought supplies from Konoha." Kakashi crossed his arms and stared straight at her. "We're resting here until dawn, so we can bring other provisions to Gosui."

Satoshi's eyes bled into her Sharingan, and Rin saw Obito's doing the same on Kakashi's right. Takai looked at all of them with detachment and the barest hint of weariness. Kiiroimaru let out a tiny growl from beside his owner, who frowned at them.

A rumble from Rin's left made her turn – Okugi, hackles raised and ears flattened, was growling back at the ninken.

She almost sighed. Really? Were they going to fight now?

Would a direct approach be her best bet? Although she'd try a diplomatic discussion first, Rin was also sore and tired from their travel. She had no intention of playing peacekeeper between them after yet another day of travelling at chuunin-speed. She was exhausted damn it.

The best way to convince others to do something was to lead by example, right?

Rin pointed at the four beds on the opposite side of Team Hatsumi. Everyone turned to her. "We're staying in that corner. We don't have to fight again – damaging this outpost could lead to demotion, or worse, we'd be too tired to fight tomorrow against true enemies of Konoha." Without glancing at any of them, she walked to the nearest bed, set down her backpack and burrowed under the covers.

Her boldness was rewarded two minutes later, when the beds nearest to her creaked under the weight of her teammates.


Day 6; Gosui

"Kiri has never been so silent, not even in the future."

'What do you think we've changed?

Okugi shrugged. He poked the little white fire in the middle of Kakashi's mindscape with a stick. It tingled, just below the back of his neck. "Could be a lot of things. Maybe they've heard some news that got them shaking. Maybe they're preparing a peace treaty instead of a route to send the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist straight into Konoha."

"Maybe," Kurama rumbled, tapping his claws on the floor and looking unimpressed at the whole world, "your actions didn't escape their notice. Your bijuudama-sized actions."

"You're just jealous 'cause I can do it and you're not allowed to." If Okugi had felt even more childish than usual, he'd have stuck his tongue out at the bijuu.

But he'd rather live.

The Kyuubi growled, and Kakashi was ready to stop things from escalating when the time-traveller said, "I'm saving the next one for that damned Uchiha Madara."

The chuunin stilled. His library-like mindscape darkened and the drop in temperature made him shiver. They were just three months away from the Kannabi Bridge Mission. Three months away from the end of the Third Shinobi War and the first spark that had ignited the Fourth.

"…About that, we need to take into account the changes we have already made." In his human form, it was highly disquieting to see Okugi looking exactly as Kakashi expected himself to be – collected, clever, ready to spring into action. "Obito and Rin are stronger, but they're also less likely to take our words at face-value. They're going to question our decisions. They're going to get neck-deep into trouble just to get us out of it."

Now that his teammates were actually able to fight, they had to exclude them. Kakashi couldn't help but scowl. 'Minato-sensei, too. At the first sign of trouble he'll Hiraishin to us – but Madara…'

"We'd rather not risk it."

"Keeping everyone out of it was already part of the plan." The bijuu let out a sigh (?). "Since arguing with you to leave your team on their own is a moot point, we could send a Chakra Clone with them. To prevent it from dispelling," he continued, glaring at the older Hatake, who was opening his mouth to ask just that, "you will charge it with your chakra every twenty minutes – or every ten if you end up fighting."

It… It made sense, kind of. The dispelling of Chakra Clones always put them in trouble, but this time they actually needed to be in two places at once with enough chakra to face multiple opponents, ranging from ordinary Iwa chuunin to Uchiha goddamn Madara.

Besides, Okugi could just flatten the battlefield (or the bridge) with another bijuudama.

His older self rested his head on his palm as he sat, sitting upright near the white bonfire. "What if we're separated? If Sandaime-sama doesn't send me to Kannabi Bridge and that Chakra Clone dispels, you're in trouble."

'Why shouldn't Hokage-sama send you along with us?' A frown pulled down his brows as he rummaged through his future memories. 'There was… or will be… another Iwa battalion joining the troops on Kannabi Bridge, and we can't go full-bijuu mode on them.'

Kurama snorted. "To slaughter those annoying fleas? It won't be necessary."

"I'm trying to consider all possibilities." Older Kakashi shrugged and scratched his head. "If I try to shirk Hokage-sama's orders again, he's handing me off to Danzo." Here a growl shook the mindscape, and Kakashi wasn't sure which time-traveller it came from. "I can escape, should it happen, but they'll try to use you to trackme and we'd lose virtually all contact."

That was something they had to avoid at all costs – there were still a number of people who could grow into bijuu-hunters, and Kakashi wasn't willing to risk his older self's life on the chance he would always overpower his opponents.

"So you're not coming with us." Kurama laid his head down on his enormous paws, just to better stare down at Okugi. His tails waved uneasily behind him as his mind poured over several plans.

They were two supposed geniuses and one millennia-old time-travelling bijuu – something useful had to come up! Eventually.

The limitations they put on themselves – not telling other people, not getting discovered by passersby, not angering Hokage-sama by not-following his orders – were nigh impossible to put into practice at the same time.

"Keh."

The two Hatake turned to the bijuu, who was smirking to himself.

'What's your plan?' Kakashi couldn't even hide his trepidation, which made the white flames of the bonfire sway to an inexistent wind.

"I can charge a Chakra Clone enough to withstand quite a few hits and destroy Kannabi Bridge," said Kurama, "if I prepare some Fuin beforehand. There are some mixed matrixes I've always wanted to try out…"

The bijuu's laughter sounded like a mountain caving in on itself, rumbling down a valley to crush every one of its inhabitants.

Kakashi shivered, but it was his older self who asked, "I assume there is something more to your plan?"

"Of course, Hatake. I – or you – can charge a few Chakra Storage Seals, which we'll give to the Chakra Clone for free use. We'll need to create some enhanced Explosion Tags, some Pentagonal Counterseals – because Resistance Seals tend to be Hexagonal or Octagonal – and a Reverse Summoning Seal, just in case the situation is dire enough to require our presence on the bridge."

"What- What about the Flypaper Seals?" In a tiny, tiny voice, Older Kakashi had spoken, recalling his 'original' mission. A dim afterimage of a Cobweb Sticky Seal – also called Flypaper Seal, because a stuck shinobi was also a dead one – sprung in the middle of his mindscape.

Kurama bared all his gleaming fangs, his red eyes glinting like blood on a blade. Right in front of him a similar-looking Fuin appeared, and Kakashi recognized the kanjis written as the opposites of the others – the perfect counterseal. "Done."

Uh.

The two Hatake blinked at the bijuu, slowly nodding, as the two Fuinjutsu faded away. Somehow, Kakashi didn't find it all that weird that the Uzumaki Clan was one of the most feared of their time. If Kurama's Fuinjutsu knowledge was just a fraction of what they could do, it was a wonder Uzushio had fallen as it had.

'…We should get started as soon as we come back home.'

The two time-travellers nodded – both satisfied with the results – and finally slowed their chakra flow to let him sleep. His older self mumbled something about needing "time and alcohol" to deal with the future, and Kakashi reminded himself to keep an eye on the saké cabinet Kushina was trying to hide from Obito (and probably Minato).

Just in case.


Usually, Danzo thought of himself as a patient shinobi of Konohagakure who dedicated his whole life to the betterment of his village.

When his plans were going generally in the right direction, he even thought Hiruzen was working for the development of Konoha and its military prowess, instead of letting himself be blinded by his ideals of peaceful cooperation and pots of gold at the end of rainbows.

Other times, his plans were going so absurdly wrong that Danzo couldn't help but silently debate whether to let his old friend live or to stick a kunai in his eye socket the next time he saw him.

How was the Elder even supposed to keep his hard-earned power if Hiruzen absorbed ROOT into the official Shinobi Forces? How was he supposed to keep the loyalty of all those ninja if they became convinced that following their emotions was good?

At least his ROOT shinobi – those whose existence the Hokage was privy to, of course – could not blabber his secrets to anyone, thanks to the Cursed Tongue Eradication Seal. They would still gather information for him and relay it when possible, but acting on it would be a different batch of kunai.

Now, with his shadow troops down to fifteen members and an ANBU watching his every move, Danzo had to be much more careful.

He could, probably, research a way to link the Cursed Seals of his ROOT shinobi to another Seal in order to communicate telepathically. It wasn't like Danzo didn't have time – and access to the Hokage Library – he just had not to alert his teammates too much.

Especially regarding the one person who was in contact with him but did not have a Seal.

Orochimaru.

A wild card, that was for sure. He shared (somewhat) Danzo's ideal of a strong, ruthless Konoha, crushing the other Shinobi Countries under her feet. But his true interest lay in… more personal and intellectual pursuits and accomplishments, rather than the supremacy of Konoha.

Shodaime cells implants, research on body weakening and decay, on chakra system impairment, on Fuinjutsu, Kinjutsu and Kekkei Genkai.

But it wasn't just Orochimaru he had to keep an eye on.

Hiruzen had already brokered a truce/peace with the Yondaime Raikage, was working on keeping their allegiance with the Kazekage – because one of Iwa's Jinchuuriki might have defected, but there were rumors of another Iwa Division incoming to fill the gaps in their defense – and the Sandaime Mizukage was just stalling.

For what? It was only a matter of time before Hiruzen proposed yet another peace treaty to Kirigakure.

If Danzo had had any less control, he would have groaned into his hand and shook his head. They had the power of two bijuu on their side, with the Kyuubi imitator and that half-demon Okugi working for the Hokage (out of convenience, surely), and Hiruzen didn't take that opportunity?

They could annihilate the other Hidden Villages, bend and break them and force them to be their satellite states – because not even Danzo could manage a country as large as the whole continent with the nearest islands – and end the wars once and for all?

Unbelievable.

He got up from his lotus position – meditating was great for his focus – and spared a glance out of the window at the ANBU spying on him. He snorted to himself – he was only going to check on his old teammate and ask him to check the latest reports from Mizu and ascertain the Mizukage wasn't sending spies into Konoha.

After all, why else should he stall for time?


Kure Karatachi found himself at an impasse.

His Seven Swordsmen have told him less than ten Konoha-nin had survived the fight with the Sandaime Raikage – two of them being the Yellow Flash and the Snake Sannin.

His informants told him the Yondaime Kazekage had no interest in crossing Hi no Kuni just to invade Mizu, and it was unlikely he'd try now. The Hokage was much more concerned with fighting Iwa – the Toad Sage and the Red Hot-Blooded Habanero had never been sent near Mizu, as they were busy fulltime on their border with Iwa.

But there was also the matter of their incredibly powerful summon, the White Death or the Shinigami's Hound, as some have put it.

With only one jutsu, it had annihilated an Iwa outpost and struck fear in the hearts of Iwa- and Suna-nin alike. Not even the famed toads of Mount Myoboku could boast such a feat.

Maybe his informants have heard embellished tales of that fight, as unlikely and unfavorable as it was?

The Sandaime Mizukage almost gave into the urge to rest his head on the back of his comfortable chair and close his eyes. Or resign. The stress of his position might have robbed him of a good ten years of life.

"Mizukage-sama," Terumi Yamane furrowed her brows at him, as if she was judging him for his hesitation. "have you reached a decision on the matter?"

That was the problem: he had, but he needed to hear the other Clan Heads' opinions – if only to keep them from rioting. "Given recent developments of Konoha's forces, I believe it is best to abort the attack mission on Hi no Kuni and instead discuss trade agreements for the aftermath of this war. What are your thoughts on the matter, Councilwoman Terumi?"

The sixty-year-old woman's face turned unreadable. "I concur with your decision, Mizukage-sama. Kirigakure is in dire need of time and manpower to secure our ship routes and regain wealth."

"I strongly disagree, Mizukage." Kaguya Yokono glared daggers at him. From the corner of his eye, Kure could see the Hozuki Clan Head nodding. "We have enough shinobi to pillage Nami's port cities and Hi no Kuni's towns nearest to them and leave Konoha none the wiser, now that they are so focused on Iwa and Suna. This way, we'll gain more resources to grow our forces and conquer the former land of Uzushiogakure and Yu no Kuni."

And this is why Kure should have never accepted the title of Mizukage.

Barely withholding a sigh, he said, "Councilman Kaguya, Nami has already settled an agreement with Konoha in case of aggression from other countries – any treaty we have signed with the Hokage will be void if they declare war on us because of our attack on Nami. There is a high chance of us losing to Konoha if they send their strongest shinobi here."

Although it was rather tempting to conquer the no-man's land of Uzushio and have a stronghold in the continent, it was also a suicide policy to incur into Konoha's wrath now. Laying low would have to do.

Hozuki Horu slammed his hand on the rectangular table between them. "Mizukage-sama, are you implying the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist aren't on some tree-hugger's level?"

"I'm saying we are not ready for a direct fight against the Toad Sage, the Snake Sannin, the Yellow Flash and the Red Hot-Blooded Habanero working together – not to mention the Shinigami's Hound, if those rumors are anywhere close to the truth."

The four Clan Heads exchanged glances.

Yuki Kuronuma nodded. "If a Konohan summon can singlehandedly destroy a reinforced Iwa outpost, what is the ability of its summoner, if they managed to subdue such a beast?"

There was some half-hearted mumbling coming from the Hozuki and Kaguya Clan Heads.

"Some shinobi are not going to be so sensible, Councilman Yuki." Yamane let out a sigh through her nose. "The oldest still yearn for retribution after the Second Shinobi War. The youngest are too eager to cut their teeth on the battlefield and avenge their parents and forefathers. I'm afraid they will not listen."

"Then they will learn to accept the commands of their Kage," declared Kure, "or they will pay for their betrayal with their lives." Such was their law.

Kuronuma frowned. "Although such a drastic measure is only natural in wartime, I believe the number of nukenin will increase exponentially, Mizukage-sama, and that will strengthen the pirates still roaming our waters and weaken our forces."

"We're doing this for Kirigakure, Councilman Kuronuma – there would be no military force if our village falls."

The four Clan Heads reluctantly nodded at that.

"We could send three teams of jonin and chuunin to Uzushiogakure," Yokono debated aloud, crossing his arms, "and retrieve what Fuinjutsu knowledge has escaped our notice. The Uzumaki Clan had managed to seal bijuu away – there must be something that works on summons."

That, he could agree to. With a nod, the Mizukage said, "I agree. We will sign a non-aggression treaty with Konoha and propose lower customs duties after this war has ended. The Seven Swordsmen will patrol the islands closer to Hi and Nami no Kuni while three jonin teams will head to Uzushio in order to find Fuinjutsu useful to subduing summons and bijuu."

Yokono snapped his head up, incredulous. "You're finally going to find a Jinchuuriki for the Sanbi?"

"We will need both Jinchuuriki to stand a chance, should the Hokage go back on his word," Kure said, though he grimaced at the mention – he doubted that even the Seven Swordsmen and the Rokubi Jinchuuriki together would win a fight against the best of Konoha, if they spawned at least one per generation.

Better be safe than sorry and dead.

Even if he had to seal the Sanbi into his young nephew.


Two days later, Training Ground 21

"Katon: Phoenix Flowers!"

Anko enveloped the shuriken she had just thrown into red-hot fireballs. They soared into fiery arcs towards the her opponent.

Missed! Missed again!

Flashes of darkness was all he left of his passage. She cursed. Her flaming shuriken pierced the ground harmlessly.

Here!

The kunoichi ducked under the chuunin's punch and hurled snakes out of her sleeves.

Kakashi left a log in his place.

Breathing hard, she tried to focus on the chakra around her – just where the hell was he? The trees, the ground, the bushes?

The lake!

Kakashi was standing on its surface, having already finished who-knew-how-many hand seals. "Suiton: Water Dragon."

What came out of the water was a large, sinuous serpentine-like dragon, faintly glowing with chakra. It towered well above Kakashi and even some nearby trees, spreading (?) its mouth open wide, ready to swallow her up.

She'd better start running, fast.

The dragon launched itself at her.

Anko dodged the first attack to the right and charged each leap with extra chakra. Think, Anko, think! There must be a way for her to get past the motherfucking water dragon and force Kakashi to stop it!

The branch shattered under her feet and she barely Kawarimi'ed away in time. Damn it, drenched clothes were so much heavier!

With another burst of chakra, she shot back towards the lake. Leaves and branches slapped her for her speed but, quite honestly, she was more concerned with the roaring dragon at her heels. Her snakes licked at her skin underneath her sleeves, as if sensing her urgency.

The kunoichi rushed into the clearing around the lake, directly behind Kakashi.

Of course, there was one of his Clones ready for her.

She engaged his tanto with a kunai. Another roar shook the forest behind her, and she smirked.

Anko's snakes shot at the Clone from her sleeves, dispelling it into a cloud of smoke with their bites, and she hurled herself towards the true Kakashi, molding her chakra and turning it to fire in her lungs.

"Katon: Phoenix Flowers!"

Fireballs flew from her lips towards his back, scorching.

There was no way he could use his Suiton to protect himself! He either disengaged and fled, or he took the hit to hit her back!

A chakra claw erupted from his back and blocked her jutsu.

Her mouth hanged open. Fuck, she didn't even consider that.

Anko dove into the frigid water in time to avoid the worst of his Suiton, but the jutsu followed her and spun her around a few, nauseating times. She knew it was over when she felt a current flowing around her from underneath her and bring her to the surface.

As she came face-to-mask with Kakashi, she scowled, still forcing her lunch to stay put. "You know what's unfair? You."

"I fought back with what I could," he simply said, frowning at her with those Kekkei Genkai-induced red eyes. It was a dangerous, malicious shade of red – one that promised blood gushing in long rivers leading to the Shinigami. It was the red of the lethal Fire Lily, more specifically the Magma variation growing at the feet of volcanoes.

It was a red she would love wearing, if it wasn't so blatant and obvious.

"But I know you can do ninjutsu of four different chakra natures, and you can do them well enough to teach them to Obito-baka and Rin-chan." Anko's scowl deepened when she saw a faint smirk on the Hatake's face, and she leaned with her elbows on the water still keeping her in place. "How do you even do that?"

Kakashi nodded and started walking back to the shore, bringing Anko with him in the water. "It was hard, but with some effort and encouragement even Obito learned a new Katon."

Anko groaned and struck her face with her palm. "You know I didn't meant that! …Or maybe I did, but that's not what I wanted to know. How can you mold your chakra into so many elements?" She huffed. "I can only turn it into fire."

"…It takes lots of effort." He set foot on the grass and released Anko from the water. Fuck, she was cold and drenched to her fucking bones. "I ended up in the Hospital quite a few times for chakra exhaustion before I learned how to use Doton: Mud Wall in combat. I could manipulate earth to some extent, but it took me much longer to do that than learning Raiton: Lightning Strike." He shrugged. "It probably helped that I've been training since I was three."

Anko blinked at him. She was coating her skin with her chakra, barely molding it, to dry herself off, and even this much took up a large part of her focus. "You're insane."

"So I've been told."

She rolled her eyes. At least he didn't electrocute her after soaking her through with a freaking water dragon. "When did you learn to use Suiton and Katon?"

"Just a bit after I'd unlocked my Kekkei Genkai." Okugi lazily trudged over to them and snickered. Kakashi glared daggers at him. "It improved my chakra control to-" Their heads snapped to the side for apparently no reason.

Frowning, Anko turned to their point of focus.

Orochimaru-sensei swiftly covered their distance with a few leaps.

"Orochimaru-sensei!" she bowed at him and grinned. More improvement! Or more thrashing. "I didn't know you'd be back so soon, sensei."

The Sannin hummed. "Your chakra control and stamina need more work. A shinobi who's out of breath three minutes into a fight is a dead one – as is a shinobi who wastes chakra with each jutsu casted."

Squirming, Anko struggled to hold his gaze. She forced her expression to stay blank, but she couldn't help a pout. Maybe she shouldn't have brought ninjutsu so soon into their spar? How was she supposed to fight Kakashi without getting out of breath?

She mentally slapped herself. She needed to get better!

"Jog around the enclosure of the Training Ground and light a flame in each of your hands one at a time. If it has only wisps of blue, you're using too little chakra; if it turns white, you're using too much." Orochimaru-sensei pointed towards the entrance of the Training Ground. "Do fifty laps and rest for an hour, then continue until I return."

Anko lowered her head and bowed. "Hai, Orochimaru-sensei," she breathed, and spared a glance towards Kakashi and his summon.

They were the definition of poker-face – were they hiding something? Probably.

The kunoichi nodded at them and left the Training Ground.


'Kurama?'

"What is it?" He needed to be careful here – one wrong stroke and the Uzumaki Demolition Bomb Seal would blow him and a good chunk of the Training Ground sky-high. It probably didn't help that combining Trigrams and Hexagonal Seals gave wildly volatile results.

"So apparently Orochimaru decided to pay us a visit-"

Kurama stilled his ink brush before he did something regrettable. "What is that Snake doing?"

There was apprehension tugging at their telepathic link, mixed with just enough self-control to keep the bijuu from sighing. "He's asking Chibi some questions about his chakra coils, your Seal, his health, that kind of thing."

At least they knew he shouldn't try his hand at kidnapping Jinchuuriki because of the ANBU team tailing Kakashi and Okugi. Of course, they didn't know about the Chakra Clone currently hiding out in a self-made underground bunker in the Forest of Death and crafting seal after seal for a mission they had yet to receive. It would have been rather inconvenient to explain.

"After you're done not spilling everything to him," said Kurama, dipping his brush into a little inkpot imbued with chakra, "tail him. Find his laboratories and discover how far the deep end he is."

'I don't think it's a good idea.' There was an 'auditory flash', with Orochimaru's voice asking, "I need to check your chakra coils once more to understand how that Fuinjutsu works." 'We'll connect after he's gone.'

With those parting words, Kakashi cut off his connection with Kurama.

The bijuu slowly exhaled. So Orochimaru was taking an interest in his modified Nine-way Seal, in Kakashi's chakra system and Fuinjutsu in general. If/when they faced him, they would need to have a few contingency plans, just in case he turned out more troublesome than usual.

A minute later, his own chakra slammed back into him and almost made him fuck up the Fuin with its abruptness.

"…Hatake?"

The space between them was empty. Both Kakashi had severed their connection with him to avoid leading Orochimaru to him – if that was even possible, when not even sensor-nin could find the other end of their link.

Anyway, better be safe than sorry.

Kurama shrugged – they did the right thing, for once – and focused back on the sheets of Taisei paper stacked in front of him. He had to admit that he was far better at recognizing and disrupting chakra-suppression and barrier seals than creating explosion ones.

So far, he did not blow up. He counted that as a win.

On his list of to-do Fuinjutsu there were Demolition Bombs, Pentagonal Counterseals, a few Cobwebs countering the Flypaper Seal, a Reverse Summoning Seal tuned to Kakashi and Okugi's chakra and some Chakra Storage Seals.

Did his Chakra Clone have enough chakra to do all of that? Probably not – he didn't even have enough Taisei paper. Kurama couldn't exactly buy too much of that if he didn't want to raise too many eyebrows, and stealing that kind of paper was something that both Kakashi refused to do.

They had time.

For now.

The bijuu hadn't been opposed to not-stealing – if only to save chakra and effort – but sometimes it was baffling how much those two Hatake cared for Konoha.

How much Naruto had cared for Konoha.

"I hope, Kit," he grumbled, slowly tracing that damned Demolition Bomb seal, "that you know what you're making me do to save you and this ungrateful village. Damn brat, always upending my plans."


Orochimaru left the young Jinchuuriki and the half-demon to their own devices after his cursory examination.

The ANBU had let him, though there was a spike of chakra from one of them, as if they tried to warn him of the danger he was leisurely walking into.

He inwardly shrugged. The bijuu's chakra had been particularly dormant while he prodded at the boundaries of the containment seal and the boy's tough coils. It was no wonder he could perform so many ninjutsu during a fight: his chakra system was built and trained to keep up that kind of effort.

He was very much like his father in that regard.

Although he had preferred to stick to his six favorite ninjutsu – Summoning, Lightning Clone, Lightning Strike, Lightning Hound, Mud Wall and Earth Dome – Sakumo had not been averse to the idea of occasionally throwing off his opponents with some Katon. He usually combined his tanto with those ninjutsu, though.

Now his son added Suiton and bijuu chakra to the mix.

Orochimaru smirked to himself, pleased by the quiet of the farthest Training Grounds. It would be quite the experience to witness the little Hatake going beyond his father's already impressive skills.

What if the generations of Konoha just kept getting better? He wanted to be alive for all of it. He wanted to be alive to learn all that there was to know. He wanted to be alive and see the Hidden Villages rise and fall, to see the futility of everyone's efforts into making the world 'a better place' and wait for the last survivors just to say, "I told you so."

He wanted to see humanity realizing their innate frailty and crumbling when they finally faced the harsh truth.

In the meantime, he would focus on… other matters.

As he stepped into a patch of moist terrain near the border of Training Ground 78, surrounded by mushrooms, Orochimaru locked his hands into the Snake hand seal and swiftly sunk below the ground and into his research center.

After so many of his test subjects died during his lengthy absence to Yu no Kuni, the Sannin decided not to jeopardize his research anymore – though it did come at a higher risk of discovery, Sarutobi-sensei was too busy with the war to chase 'unfounded' rumors.

Besides, the Snake Sannin wasn't so stupid as to bring inside Konoha's walls anything more than rats.

Orochimaru walked into his smaller lab, the one he used to manipulate or multiply cells.

His eyes settled on the lab fridge in a lone corner of the room. A few petri dishes filled with Mokuton cells were waiting for him to give them a host.

Who would they bond better with? He had done his fair share of experiments on still-warm corpses, some orphans, prisoners and refugees Danzo had managed to sneak into his out-of-Konoha labs.

But now that the Elder was losing power, Orochimaru had to find his test subjects himself – he just needed to know where and who to find. Wasting time and resources at the high risk of being discovered would be just disappointing.

Adults and elderly were out of the question – though they could be useful for cell growth in case he was short on mitosis-inducing hormones – because they had already finished growing and thus were less likely to accept new DNA into all their cells.

Young adults showed promising results, but oftentimes the Mokuton cells turned cancerous and drained the subject of their nutrients just to keep growing into an amorphous mass. That is, if their bodies didn't reject the implants from the very beginning and died with an half-formed tree branch in their skull.

Teens and preteens responded well at first, but Orochimaru's lengthy absences and the cells' heightened metabolism killed them before he could record the results. When he could stay longer in Konoha and in his other labs, he should look for more of them, preferably not of Konoha – the Uchiha Police and the ANBU tended to notice things like that.

Babies were too weak to sustain the Mokuton cells' metabolism, but too developed to accept them unconditionally. They always died within the first two months and weren't even worth the trouble he went through to retrieve them.

Maybe embryos and zygotes would be better choices.

Then again, a perfect clone of the Shodaime Hokage was probably too difficult to pass off as fate and fortuity.

As he checked all the items and animal subjects in his lab for damage or rot, Orochimaru pondered on his best course of action.

If he wanted to keep his agreement with Danzo, he'd need to find more teenaged test subjects from somewhere in Hi no Kuni, because only ROOT could kidnap people outside the country without alerting the Sandaime. (Though even that, now, was debatable.)

Anko?

She was a tempting candidate – kunoichi, nine-almost-ten years old, in only a few years she would be in the ideal age for his test, and he could convince her to come to his lab and consent to the experiment – but, if she died, Orochimaru would be in serious trouble.

There was something else he wanted to test, but first he needed to refine his Fuinjutsu skill to harness natural chakra. There were only so many people who would have to die before he perfected his jutsu.

He'd need someone more anonymous.

Maybe someone from that Iburi Clan, the one hiding inside a tree in fear of being torn apart by the wind of the 'outside world'. No one would miss them.

But first… Orochimaru had to train his apprentice and keep an eye on that Hatake brat. He would not tolerate any meddling either from him or his half-bijuu, should they grow curious of his off-duty activities.

Focusing on Fuinjutsu and Senjutsu seemed to be the best option until he could find some more promising test subjects.


So. I am not entirely satisfied by the result, but I believe it was necessary.

You don't need to remember the Kiri people, don't panic just yet. And I'm not insane! It'll make sense. Eventually. I've got the 'scene-breakdown' for the chapters 50 to 54 (kinda). I'll get to finish something for once! If I can get to it.

Now, tell me: do you want me to put up somewhere visible a list of the OCs running amok, or a summary of the story up until now? It's really no problem - I'll get to refresh my memory, too :3

I hope you liked this chapter (or at least some of it)!

Until next time! ;)

ShiiroiKitsune21