Guess who actually wrote the damn chapter at long last? :D
There are also 1106 people following this story and 923 who put it in their favorites?! Ermegahrd! *faints* It means a lot to me that so many are willing to see where this spur-of-the-moment plot is taking us, thank you! :3
As for the very succinct summary, here we go:
In a destroyed Konoha, Kurama hurls himself and Kakashi into the past, into the past Kakashi (Prologue + Ch.1).
This turns Past Kakashi into a Jinchuuriki, and Kurama makes it very clear he's there to help himself by 'helping' Konoha (Ch.2-Ch.7) and proves it, kind of (Ch.8-Ch.9).
Future Kakashi awakens in Ch.10 and Past Kakashi is not happy about the future.
Team Minato comes together after the two Uchiha assholes Daichi and Yurumo bully Obito (Ch.12-13). Kakashi helps his team, though he doesn't like everything his future self has done (Ch.14-19).
Kakashi gets 'mortally' wounded and healed (Ch.20-Ch.24), then he gets kidnapped, once by nukenin and the other by Kumo. Gyuki knows of the Time-travel, and Orochimaru knows of Kurama (Ch.25-33). He comes back with Future Kakashi out of his body, having taken the form of 'Okugi' (Ch.34).
Obito, Rin and Anko become chuunin and Danzo expresses clearly how much he wants to control Okugi (Ch.35-Ch.42).
Team Minato goes on a mission to deal with Iwa, and Kakashi and Rin are kidnapped by Iwa, but manage to escape thanks to Kurama, Han and Kokuo, who knows of the Time-travel (Ch.42-Ch.47). Meanwhile, Future Kakashi uses a bijuudama to save them, but gets kidnapped by ROOT and saved by Jiraya and Kushina.
Team Minato rests and heals, while Kurama is not happy (Ch.48). Team Minato fights a team of Uchiha chuunin to establish dominance, they go on some successful missions, and the Time-Travel Trio prepares for Kannabi Bridge Mission (Ch.49).
For the list of OCs that might be relevant, I put it at the end of this Chapter.
As for the total wordcount, we're at 242.235 words. Considering just how near is Avengers: Endgame, I'll sit this one out on the Avengers fandom. But there are two Naruto stories/long oneshots I wanted to finish, and another tied at the end of this one...
I want to thank Sparksofrandomness, JinxedEclipse, Frosty Abyss, Guest (1), Wolf Guard Miestwin, Guest (2), Suzululu4moe, ChamaeleonEyes, bleedingangel95, Levin Kluge, AlteraWinter, LordAzrael1 and LN Tora for reviewing the last chapter!
I also want to thank Cizk Kazzarch for his positively lengthy and passionate review of Ch. 20 - I apologize for the 'deus-ex-machina of problems' y'all had to bear with, and I'm doubly as grateful to those who made it here with me. Thank you :3
Last but not least, special thanks to Wolf Guard Miestwin for bouncing ideas with me and giving much needed advice on how to make the best out of this story! ^3^
Warnings for this chapter? Nothing you wouldn't expect from the Naruto world, especially at war. Unless you're susceptible to the words 'squelched' and 'blood'.
Word count: 9826 words.
Chapter 50: Advancing
It took no time at all for Team Minato to be sent out on other supply runs. Again and again, back and forth between Konoha and the outposts all over Hi no Kuni.
Two weeks into that cycle of continuous missions, Minato and Kushina were sent to the joint Konoha-Suna frontline - while Kakashi, Obito, Rin and Okugi were hurled from outpost to outpost like tennis balls for the whole following week, encountering next to no shinobi resistance. It was a piece of cake for the three chuunin and two timetravellers.
"We've been home five days out of thirty," Obito had moaned, the night after they had returned from that last supply run. "I counted."
Rin mumbled something vaguely affirmative, half-asleep on the couch, while Okugi occupied what remained of it and laid his head on her lap. Kakashi - with Kurama's thorough but often impatient instructions in his ears - practiced on how to draw counterseals. Simple ones, for now.
When they weren't catching up on their sleep or eating something, they were training. Kakashi pushed himself harder and harder each day, gazing into the bottomless dark pit that was their future if they failed. He needed to be above Uchiha Madara if he wanted to save his comrades, his friends, his village.
During their missions, it wasn't unusual to cross paths with other Konoha-nin moving from the Kumo or Kiri borders, all converging on the Iwa line or coming back home for much-needed rest.
Obito and Rin had both voiced their relief and hope that now, with only one enemy country left, the Third Shinobi War would finally come to an end, after nearly six years of fighting.
Disregarding all future knowledge, it was a sensible hope; but Iwa was preparing the largest and most desperate attempt to stop Konoha and Suna's advance into the buffer states between them. Kusa and Ame had seen some of the harshest fighting in all the Third War, especially towards the end. Kiri had dragged on the war for another half year the first time around by sending their Seven Swordsmen, though it didn't seem quite as likely now.
But for now, Kakashi, Okugi and Kurama could have some sorely needed respite and time to prepare.
Even when, not even a day after their last B-rank supply run - which was most likely a mislabeled C-rank - Team Minato was called again to receive another mission.
This time, it was a joint mission with a genin team and their jonin sensei - Team Hiko.
Kakashi vaguely remembered the Akimichi girl from her disastrous fight against Satoshi Uchiha, and the blond Yamanaka boy from his fight against Obito. Wasn't there a Nara on their team? She had fought against Rin in the finals.
In the Nara's place there was a short, young Aburame, with his hands firmly stuck in the ample pockets of his dark-brown coat. As all Aburame, he had sunglasses firmly attached to his face, so they wouldn't fall off in battle.
Their jonin-sensei, Sarutobi Hiko, nodded in greeting. Her face stayed firmly blank, but her chakra betrayed her surprise. "You're our support chuunin team?"
"Hell yeah!" Obito yelled, pumping his fist in the air as they approached. Rin shushed him and nodded, flanked by both Kakashi and Obito as they made their way through the 'Mission distribution center' of Konoha.
They waited in line with a myriad of other teams - genin, chuunin and jonin alike waited, chattered, grumbled and stretched around them - and decided to talk. Kakashi tuned them out after they told them their names - Sishimi Akimichi, Koto Yamanaka and Shonin Aburame, all still genin.
'How's it going with the Fuinjutsu, Kurama?'
There was a low growl. "The Reverse-summoning Jutsu must be keyed in to your chakra, Kit. The Chakra-storage seals must contain some of your white chakra, unless you plan on coughing up half your guts."
Kakashi cringed at the image painted in his mind's eye. 'I thought I was resistant to your chakra by now - and that only my Chakra Clone was supposed to recharge with those seals?'
"You had me as buffer," Okugi answered to the first part of his question. Rin was scratching behind his ears, prompting the Akimichi girl to do the same. By the ecstatic expression on his muzzle and his tongue poking through his fangs, it seemed impossible he would be holding a serious discussion at the same time in his mind. "You can tolerate more of his chakra because of your period of acclimatization, but no Jinchuuriki can survive only on their bijuu's chakra."
Kurama grunted and answered to the second part. "With my chakra, you can enhance your speed, strength and reflexes, and do some more powerful Katon or not-elemental jutsu. But Raiton, Doton or Suiton? You'd deplete your own chakra - and facing Uchiha Madara with only Katon is a terrible idea." He was growling. "It would be highly detrimental if I were to accidentally permanently take over your body because you couldn't wait for me to restore your chakra in time."
"And I may not be there to help." Even Okugi had inwardly winced at the prospect, imagining his younger self dying silently inside his own mind while his body still lived, controlled by Kurama. "You'll need all the Chakra you can get, Chibi."
Fantastic news, as always. Pushing the vaguely sick feeling aside, Kakashi acknowledged them with a, 'Understood. But when can I add my own chakra to those seals? We've been on back-to-back missions for a month now, and there are six ANBU constantly tailing us.'
Kurama was thinking about it when a voice from the mission desk yelled, "Next!"
Team Hiko and Team Minato stepped up to the large desk, behind which there were five chuunin handing out missions as quickly as they could. Okugi, Obito, Rin, Sishimi, Koto and Shonin stayed behind Hiko, who was the actual mission leader, and Kakashi - the latter of which had come forward out of habit. Realizing his mistake, he stepped back in line to his teammates.
The nondescript chuunin behind the desk, with his left leg in a cast, didn't even spare him a glance. "Small group of chuunin-level hostile Kiri nukenin near Nokuma," he summarized. "Track, kill and/or capture. Estimated time for completion: five days." He handed the green mission scroll to Hiko.
Then he leaned to the side to look at Okugi. "You have a different mission, summon Okugi."
Kakashi's heartbeat quickened. Already split up? Would their telepathic connection hold, no matter the distance? Or would it need more chakra than it was sensible to exude? Would they be alright?
Okugi, the picture of obedience and focus, simply nodded and came forward.
Kakashi breathed out at the comforting warmth of Okugi's chakra washing over him.
Hesitatingly, the chuunin offered another green scroll to Okugi, unsure of how to debrief a summon. Okugi rose on his hind legs to delicately bite the scroll out of the shinobi's hands. He would read the whole thing later.
Shaking himself, the chuunin said, "You are to help the immigration gate of Nisui. The commander of the outpost will tell you what to do. You are to come back and report here after a week, unless there's an emergency and the commander orders you to go back."
Once more, Okugi nodded. "Understood."
Evidently relieved, the man looked behind the two teams and shouted, "Next!"
Once more, Obito mentally reviewed every possible clue as to where Amari had disappeared to.
Shonin didn't say anything about her. Sishimi and Koto preferred to talk about Okugi and skirt around the glaring evidence of torture on Rin's face. Their eyes constantly wandered to her scar, and Obito had taken to loudly commenting on everything he could - the shitty weather, the massive movements of Konoha-nin towards the western border, their own fatigue - anything to take the focus off Rin, to let her breathe without their inquiring looks.
It worked until, while they were tree-hopping to find the last place visited by the Kiri nukenin, Hiko-san narrowed her eyes at him and told him to stop talking, because "we are supposed to attack the nukenin first, not get discovered and ambushed."
Obito had quietly acquiesced, throwing a sideways glance at Kakashi. A blank stare ahead, as it had become more and more frequent these weeks.
"Some help you were," he mumbled.
Because Kakashi pretended not to hear anything but actually listened to everything, his silver-haired teammate turned his head towards him to level him one of his flattest stares. "I'd rather get this mission over with as soon as possible. We need to train more."
More? When they weren't dropping in an exhausted dogpile after their missions or eating a quick meal, they were training to build up stamina, to better control their ninjutsu and to accommodate each other's fighting style - and Kakashi still had that faraway look.
Noise or not, Obito wanted to yell obscenities at Kakashi. Even if he got in trouble with Hiko-san, or got more lightning-charged pokes on his kidneys. Did he even see how much Rin was still affected by her capture?
He nearly got a branch in the face when another thought struck him. How much was Kakashi still affected by his capture?
Training excessively was not a new phenomenon, but… he was more closed off than usual, and that was saying a lot. He had spoken to Obito, and probably some shinobi therapist, and maybe Minato-sensei. What was he thinking about, now?
Whatever it was, it was bad enough to require Obito's dubiously effective intervention, whether Bakakashi wanted to admit it or not.
"Hey, Hiko-san," he called, keeping to the middle-right side of their formation. There was still another question in his mind... "What happened to Amari?"
The jonin-sensei stiffened, Sishimi and Koto snapped their heads towards him to glare daggers at him, and Shonin nearly slipped off a tree branch.
Obito knew there was a reason he was keeping the question to himself. Well, too late now...
"She was killed." The woman's voice was clipped, cutting through the air like kunai sharply embedding themselves into a wooden dummy. "A week after the Chuunin Exams."
"Oh." What was he supposed to say to that? The air had been knocked out of his lungs at that answer - and probably a sliver of Killing Intent spiking towards him. "I'm sorry."
The three genin barely acknowledged his answer.
Rin pursed her lips, breathing deeply, giving her comrade and one-time opponent the respect she deserved. After a few seconds, she was once more staring ahead of her. She looked at Obito once - 'I also wondered about that,' her expression told him. 'I understand the feeling. Thank you.'
Obito smiled softly at her, hoping to convey his sympathy.
Kakashi looked no different than before.
Departing at a 'danger swiftly incoming'-jonin-speed, Older Kakashi made it to Nisui in little under a day, instead of the three it had taken Team Minato a month or so ago.
The faces of the Konoha-nin guarding the southeastern gate had been hilarious, though.
Somewhat impressed by his swift arrival, the commander of the outpost - Hyuuga Nahei - immediately posted him on 'intimidation and sniffing' duty, as he had done the first time around.
Nisui was something of an anomaly among the other outposts of Hi no Kuni, though. It wasn't particularly close to the border of any country - not like Juusui - but it was midway between Konoha and the eastern coast, which meant that some people from both Mizu and Yu no Kuni would need to pass through Nisui to get to Konoha.
Disregarding the little fact that, with the years of war weighing on global trade and general trust, only specific cities in the immediate vicinity of Konoha had passable roads to the Hidden Village. It would be a difficult endeavor to reach Konoha without some sort of permission and a Konoha-nin leading the way.
The room he was placed in was one out of four actual gates of the outpost. It stank of sweaty and scared people, it constantly echoed the cries of children and newborns alike and it was growing mold in the corners. There were windows up the faded white walls, lined with Fuinjutsu in case someone was desperate enough to make a run for it.
It had also been very clear that exuding his Chakra in such an enclosed space made everyone with moderate chakra-sensing abilities nervous, and he had to cut off his connection with Kakashi. He was still sore about that.
"Okugi, check."
Inwardly rolling his eyes, Okugi set to sniff the man who came forward from the long, interminable line of immigrants. Saltwater, soot and sweat - fear, confusion, hope. Civilian chakra. No weapons. Okugi stepped back and nodded at the jonin.
"Nex-"
"STOP THEM!"
Okugi instantly turned. A man and a woman had slipped out of the check-ins, dashing for the door while three Konoha-nin were about to spring out at them.
With a burst of chakra, he had caught up to them. He smacked the duo in the face with his tails, halted in front of them and turned - raising his tails as threateningly as he could, baring his fangs, growling.
The couple was sprawled to the ground, surrounded immediately by some Konoha-nin. Their chakra was around chuunin-level, and the woman was cradling a now-crying bundle in her arms.
They were both roughly pulled up by their elbows. Okugi had resumed his neutral body language, and tried to peek at the newborn in the tattered cloth.
As they were searching them for suspicious items and such, Nahei beckoned him back to his gate.
Okugi obediently heeded his command, sure that everyone from Mizu and Yu would think thrice before trying to make a run for it. He didn't exactly like the feeling - these were civilians for the most part. It felt like bullying children, or kicking puppies for the heck of it.
From the corner of his eyes, Okugi saw a Konoha-nin taking the baby bundle from their mother - with her screaming from the other side of the room - and approaching Nahei. "They're its parents. Both ninja-trained, but they deny being Kiri-nin. They don't have any weapon on them. What do we do about this one?"
The Hyuuga had glanced at the baby with his Byakugan before humming and asking, "Clan?"
"None, sir."
"Then give it back."
'Then give it back'? Okugi's blood chilled at… at the callousness. Was his precious Konoha so short on manpower that they would kidnap and make an orphan out of any child they deemed useful?
Thinking about it this way, Older Kakashi could see why Orochimaru thought it perfectly normal and even natural to experiment on every child he got his hands on. Except that the rest of the Shinobi Corps had supposedly overcome that stage, while the Snake Sannin - and Danzo - had not.
The incredibly large number of children in Konoha's orphanage with no recorded parents made a sudden whole lot of sense…
He shook himself. No. Not now. They already had enough enemies to deal with.
Starting with the baby-snatchers with a thing for young orphaned prodigies - Danzo and Orochimaru.
Hoping that the Elder would lay very, very low after the whole debacle about Okugi and ROOT, Orochimaru was more of an immediate threat to the time-travellers.
He had taken an interest in Kakashi, Kurama's seal and Okugi's overall existence. Sporadic 'check-ups' done by the Sannin were all their contact amounted to, but Okugi wouldn't be surprised if Orochimaru had also taken to studying Uzumaki Fuinjutsu and bijuu confinement and focusing even more on making Mokuton implants work.
Which brought Okugi to the topic of Tenzou - who would instantly flee at the sight of him, lest he lead the ANBU to ROOT and Danzo's nefarious past deeds.
As he sniffed and checked each person for anything strange, he thought about stopping Orochimaru from turning into a possibly pedophiliac self-centered nukenin with a knack for body modifications and bijuu sealing.
Thrashing his labs? Maybe, if it wouldn't leave so many traces leading straight to Okugi, Kakashi and Kurama. It would also open his flank for Danzo to take him into ROOT and break him into 'service', with Sandaime-sama's approval to boot.
Snooping around his labs, with no thrashing? Okugi was quite stealthy, even in his body made of condensed chakra, but how on earth was he supposed to leave no traces of chakra? Not to mention that he was tailed by ANBU, and that Orochimaru instinctively knew his chakra by now.
Keeping him engaged? Risky, so very risky - but the most legal approach, which meant no trouble with Sandaime-sama. Of course, it would also give Orochimaru strange ideas about experimenting on him, but hopefully he wasn't quite so deranged as to ignore/kill the two ANBU tailing Okugi inside Konoha day and night.
Right?
It would be a way to gauge Orochimaru's moral boundaries - if he did retain some - and his likelihood of becoming a nukenin. Older Kakashi still remembered some of the Snake's laboratories' locations, but there was no telling if there was compromising evidence now. He'd rather not be handed off to Danzo, or end up in Orochimaru's clutches.
Sniffing yet again another scared civilian, Okugi decided to discuss it with Kurama and Chibi, again.
One day later
Upon finding the last place where those Kiri nukenin had most likely been, Hiko-san had let Kakashi and Shonin use their tracking abilities to find them.
Rin looked at her younger - and yet more experienced - teammate. He was glancing around the abandoned camp - at the trees, at the ashes in its center, and now back to the bushes and trampled grass.
Despite it being about three o'clock, the sky was already turning darker, promising a harsh downpour. They needed to hurry.
Shonin's kikaichu buzzed around them - "Don't let them eat me!" Obito had shouted, with everyone but Rin rolling their eyes at his antics - in search of a trace, but the genin shook his head when his bugs came back to him. "They don't feel anything, except for us… especially him," he said, turning his head towards Kakashi. "And they don't like the rain."
Hiko-san nodded at the boy anyway, as if to say 'Don't worry, we've still got this'. "What about you, Hatake?"
"There's a faint chakra trail leading northwest." Kakashi pointed in that direction, looking wholly unconcerned that the kikaichu seemed very interested in his chakra. "Five unknown shinobi. We should hurry."
"A chakra trail?" Shonin walked up to her teammate, frowning. His kikaichu buzzed even louder at being so close to Kakashi, zooming around them faster and faster. "You're not a sensor-nin. How-"
Obito loudly gasped and turned around, his Sharingan lazily spinning in his irises. "Wow, Bakakashi - I have to squint really hard to see that! Eheh, but I'll get to Hokage before you can, and that's a promise!"
Team Hiko frowned collectively at Obito. Kakashi simply shrugged and stepped away from Shonin, whose kikaichu quietened and retreated into him. After a beat of silence, Hiko-san shook her head and ordered everyone to be quiet as Kakashi led the way.
Even Rin was confused about Obito's behaviour. Sure, it was nice having more topics to talk about other than her and Kakashi's personal hell in Iwagakure, but… Obito was overcompensating for six people's silence, and that was worrying.
Her teammates, she noticed, had opposite ways of dealing with severe personal issues - besides excessive training, which they had in common.
Kakashi tended to withdraw into his torturous inner world for days on end, barely speaking to them; before he was attacked inside Konoha, all those months ago, he even lashed out at them.
Instead, Obito tended to alternatively chatter their ears off, make nonsensical exclamations and wipe at his tears like they offended him more than usual, or provoking Kakashi until they were both insulting each other and brawling in the dirt before Minato-sensei came to defuse the situation.
Now, both her teammates were dealing with something that escaped Rin's notice.
She intended to get to the bottom of it, no matter what.
Kakashi stared down at the five Kiri nukenin, hidden below them beneath a Genjutsu. He narrowed his eyes and called on Kurama's chakra - he felt especially vicious right now, in the mood to provide a sound thrashing and a painful death to his enemies.
The bijuu's chakra thrummed in his coils. With Kurama's consciousness miles away, he knew he would get no response to his thoughts without exuding enough chakra to warn everyone from there to Suna. Was this how he had worked, before Kurama?
It felt… wrong.
The seven of them were crouching up on the tree canopy, shrouded in darkness, avoiding the dappled dots of sunlight streaming through. Obito and Rin were right behind him, while Hiko was beside him. Good. 'Pincer attack,' he signalled. 'Formation 3.'
His teammates nodded - it was a simple but effective surrounding maneuver, in which Obito would begin by breathing fire and Rin would follow with poisoned kunai, before Kakashi swooped in to stab and/or electrocute their enemies, aided by the other two chuunin. If the senbon struck true, the fight would be over in little under three minutes at the latest. If not, Team Minato was more than ready to stab and burn.
Hiko frowned at Kakashi, while the rest of her team looked on in confusion. She raised her hand to signal: 'Your team on the other side.'
The three chuunin nodded at the jonin and quietly made their way to the other side of the small hidden camp. Leaves silently parted as they sneaked through - and any noise made by their sandals striking the wooden branches was masked by the oncoming storm heading their way.
He took a deep breath. The smell of the forest would soon be drowned by those of blood - if it rained later rather than sooner.
Once they were in position, Kakashi glanced at each of his teammates. Their faces settled into grim determination, and Kakashi gave Obito the order to engage.
With his Sharingan spinning wildly in his irises, Obito shattered their Genjutsu with a burst of chakra and rained fire on them.
Fiery bullets soared straight for the five Kiri nukenin, who bolted in five different directions. Fire sprang to life on the grass and the bushes, crackling, and Obito hurled himself at the nearest man with twin kunai in his hands.
Hiko burst out of the foliage and slammed into one of the nukenin with a chakra-charged kunai. It tore into his flesh - before he used Kawarimi and disappeared from sight.
A swarm of kikaichu forced him out in the open once more, cursing, right into the path of a Human Bullet Tank.
Rin focused on the two nukenin fleeing under her branch. A hail of kunai flew towards their targets. The Kiri kunoichi hissed as one struck her in the shoulder and another grazed her hip. The other shinobi grew his bones into weapons and knocked her kunai to the side. Screaming in rage, he charged at Rin.
Kakashi made a Raiton Clone to deal with the last nukenin and rushed to Rin's side, his tanto charged and sparking with Lightning chakra.
They clashed, bone on steel, each charged with chakra. Kakashi forced more chakra into his blade. The Kaguya moved his arm upwards - his tanto glanced off his cracked bone - and slammed his bone-sharp fist into Kakashi's chakra claw.
He wasted no time in summoning another claw and piercing through the nukenin's intestines and breaking the bones grown to defend them. Squelching, Kakashi's combined chakra tore a gaping hole in his flesh. The chuunin's chakra claw vanished just as quickly and he leapt at the enemy kunoichi with a growl.
Rin had spat high-pressured water at her point-blank - but she had dodged, coming at her with a wakizashi in her hand and madness in her eyes.
Just as Kakashi was poised to stab her through the head, Rin's hand came up, glowing with chakra, and grabbed the Kiri nukenin's folded arm - the one with the blade. The kunoichi gasped in pain, and continued her movement with only a fraction of her strength, still opposed and deflected by Rin.
Her weapon weakly hit a log, appeared in Rin's place.
Kakashi's tanto pierced a hole in the back of her neck, stabbing through her throat. Blood spurted in both directions - on the grass, on his shirt. Unconcerned, Kakashi dashed back into the fight.
WHOOSH! A cloud of ash enveloped the small camp. All genin leapt back as Hiko clicked her teeth and the ash burned into a glorious inferno. It smelled of charred flesh and fear, and Kakashi had felt at home as Kurama's chakra rushed through his coils.
From the flames emerged an amorphous blob of chakra-infused water, carrying two of the nukenin unharmed through the fire.
"Suiton: Water Bullet!"
A flood of water sprung at them. The Konoha-nin quickly jumped out of the way.
Hiko, drenched in chakra-saturated water, hurled a hail of shuriken at the two nukenin. They dodged and leapt at the still-airborne Yamanaka.
Obito and Sishimi pushed themselves off their branches to meet them head on as a swarm of kikaichu clustered around them.
With her student in danger, Hiko attempted the same.
But the water became solid flesh around her, and she had no time to shout in warning - a sharp pain tore through her spine like a bullet, shot point-blank between her vertebrae.
Kakashi's Raiton Clone flashed to the jonin and, with a chakra claw, he wrenched the Hozuki away from Hiko and crashed into him - dispelling into streaks of white lightning.
The man screamed in pain and fell with a squelch to the ground, half-transparent and jelly-like.
Having summoned a Water Clone, Rin and her clone grabbed Hiko in midair and deposited her to the ground, already assessing the damage and preparing to heal her.
Obito slashed with his kunai at the nukenin as the kikaichu drained his chakra. The man fought back with all he had, but a fatal glance to the boy's Sharingan made him unaware of the kunai slashing his throat.
The other nukenin slammed Sishimi to the ground, his kunai poised above her to strike. Kakashi slammed into him from the side, burying his tanto hilt-deep between the man's ribs.
He gasped, shocked, disbelieving, and Kakashi jerked his chakra blade out of his lungs by pushing with his foot. The nukenin twitched as he hit the forest floor, staining the ground with his lifeblood.
The looming clouds darkened. Finally, the first raindrops fell to the wet charred ground; large puddles of blood seeped into the earth and slowly diluted under the rain.
"Hiko-sensei!" The three genin had noticed their sensei a few paces away from them, laying still as two Rins leaned over her with green chakra glowing in their hands. Obito ran with them, eyes wide and worried, with tears already pooling behind his orange goggles.
After a surveying glance over the battlefield - no more hostiles - Kakashi leapt to the Hozuki, unconscious but not dying, cleaning his tanto with two quick swipes of cloth and putting it back in its sheath.
"Don't crowd her," Rin murmured. Her eyes were glued to Hiko's lower back, where she focused her healing chakra. Her face scrunched up, worried and… even fearful, as her chakra revealed to Kakashi's heightened senses. The raindrops were icy against his skin.
Koto leaned forward, anxious. He fidgeted on the hems of his long sleeves. "Rin, what- what happened…?"
The medic-nin bit her lip. She had yet to take her eyes off her patient. "Something tore a hole through her spine and her left lung. I'm not sure what jutsu could do this…"
"Water Gun jutsu, of the Hozuki Clan of Kiri." Kakashi crouched over the jelly-like body of the last Kiri nukenin as everyone but Rin turned around to look at him. "A water bullet, shot point-blank…"
Obito leaned to the side and narrowed his eyes at the unconscious nukenin. "Oi, Kakashi!" He beckoned him to Hiko's side by waving his arm at him. "Use your Kekkei Genkai-thing to help her!"
Kakashi created a Raiton Clone to tie up and guard the Hozuki and hurried to crouch beside Rin. Team Hiko was curious as to what Kekkei Genkai he had, but they were far more worried for their sensei. Sishimi was wiping at her tears, while Shonin put a supporting hand on each of his teammates' shoulders. "How can I help, Rin?"
For the first time, her Water Clone looked away from her task to glance at him. She pointedly didn't look at the carnage around her. "What can you do about this nerve damage?" She gently moved his hand to where the real Rin was working on.
Kakashi closed his eyes and hesitatingly pushed his chakra into the jonin as the genin crowded around them and Obito leaned over them.
There was, quite obviously, a hole in her spinal cord. The difference in chakra flow in her body over and under her injury was jarring - even Kurama would be hard-pressed to completely heal this kind of damage. Her chakra flow under her last ribs was nearly non-existent: maybe that Hozuki had managed to sever a main chakra pathway, or even damage one of the Gates.
Anko's arm had been another thing, somewhat more familiar than a nearly severed spinal cord and possible damage to a chakra Gate. Kakashi had often dealt with injuries to his own arms or his comrades', but he had always left the hardcore iryo-nin healing to actual iryo-nin - Tsunade-sama and Sakura most of all.
He pushed some of Kurama's fire-natured chakra into the kunoichi - she wouldn't reach Konoha alive in her current state, least of all if she dropped dead of blood loss or lack of chakra. Even without considering the rapid drop of temperature due to shock and frigid rain...
Kakashi felt Rin tense at the addition of chakra, but she relaxed slightly when she noticed it was actually helping her endeavor of sealing her left lung. As he had expected, the nervous tissue of Hiko's spinal cord barely twitched at Kurama's chakra.
So he simply withdrew his hands, and shook his head.
Before the genin and Obito could shout obscenities at him, the Hozuki groaned. Feeding a continuous electric current through his water-body, Kakashi's Raiton Clone woke him and made his Kekkei Genkai useless.
"K-Konoha, right?" The Hozuki rolled his eyes at the clone, twitching. "Should have e-expected that…"
Koto growled at his blasé tone of voice and advanced towards him, but Kakashi stopped him by laying a hand on his shoulder. The Yamanaka tried to shrug him off, but Kakashi tightened his grip and shook his head. Shonin tugged his teammate down.
His Raiton Clone dug his fingers - now growing claws due to Kurama's chakra - into the jelly-like chest of the nukenin. "Tell me, Hozuki: are you the last of your group here? Tell the truth and you may be spared a painful death."
The man burst into laughter.
Kakashi tightened his grip and zapped him, cutting him off.
"Why should I tell you, Konoha scum?" There was a mocking light in his narrowed eyes, and the firm set of his mouth radiated defiance.
The clone ground his teeth. His hair was drenched, hanging over his now-red eyes, but it wasn't intimidating enough to make him talk. Never taking his eyes off the Hozuki, he bit out- "Obito, here. Now."
Startled and scared by his demonic look, Obito walked over. "Ehm-"
"Make him talk."
Obito opened his mouth to ask how, but fortunately understood before he made a fool of himself. Within a second, Obito locked gazes with the Kiri nukenin, Sharingan spinning faster and faster, his irises bleeding into a deeper red as he fed more of his Chakra into them.
The Hozuki was paralyzed, mouth agape.
"Are there more Kiri nukenin here?" Obito was evidently straining - Genjutsu had never been his strong point - but he maintained his focus, and their captive hadn't had time to prepare against his Sharingan.
"Y-Yes," the Hozuki stuttered. "Two, in Nokuma. Desu and Tasara. T-They were getting… supplies…"
"For what?"
Kakashi's clone narrowed his eyes. "Where were you going?"
"... Konoha…"
He had expected as much. Kiri hadn't attacked them this time around, but many Kiri-nin still held grudges against Konoha. Even a little damage would mean the world to them - they would have worsened the tension between Konoha and Kiri, hoping for an actual war between them.
The Raiton clone sighed and said, "Obito, that's enough," before dispelling - electrocuting the Hozuki and rendering him unconscious.
Kakashi rose up to his feet and made two Shadow Clones. "Shonin, Koto - you're coming with me to find the last two. Rin, Sishimi, Obito - find shelter nearby, keep Hiko-san alive and guard that nukenin. My clones will stay here to clean up the field and help you. Understood?"
Everyone answered affirmatively, though Rin frowned briefly at him.
"Good. Let's go."
Kakashi, Koto and Shonin left the battlefield and jumped on the branches above them, heading to Nokuma.
For Minato and Kushina, everything had been going just fine.
With the two of them on site, Jiraya had felt confident enough to sneak around the enemy lines and scout the area beyond - Kusa no Kuni had a surprising amount of forests, but perhaps the most astounding thing of all was the utter absence of Kusa-nin.
It was like they had disappeared into thin air, or disbanded.
Minato regretted being one of the invaders - Iwa, Konoha and Suna had been fighting in Kusa for nearly six years, turning acres of field and forest into barren battlefield - but he honestly couldn't muster enough sympathy to speak against entrenching in the country. It was necessary; for Konoha, for the people he had sworn to protect with his life.
As it was, Minato had been eating a rather delicious mixture of some herbs, tubers and smashed ration bars.
Even Kushina had been impressed. "Now this is cooking - the Akimichi are the best, dattebane!" She had wolfed down at least three quarters of her ration in the time it took Minato to eat half. The other Konoha-nin had gobbled up the surprisingly tasty lump with single-minded fervor, as did several Suna-nin.
For many, it had been their last meal.
The Iwa army had gone unnoticed for far too long, and when it struck, it struck hard.
Countless Iwa-nin had surged from underneath the protected borders of their camp, brandishing everything from large cleavers to Annai wires charged with Wind-natured chakra. Earth golems towered over the Konoha-Suna forces, and the first earth spikes had dealt devastating blows to the shinobi who reacted half a second too late.
Minato dodged and teleported away from the thick of the attacks. He scattered his kunai all over the camp and switched from 'supportive comrade and fiancè' to 'unwavering Konoha-nin exacting revenge for his comrades'.
Many Iwa-nin saw him too late - their throats were cut, their body fell to the scorched ground, and the Yellow Flash had already moved onto another target. He picked up his own sealed kunai as he went, carving his bloody path through the largest Iwa force he had ever faced on such a short notice.
Kushina was doing just fine, submerging the battlefield with chakra-imbued water and slapping lethal Fuinjutsu on unfortunate Iwa-nin. The results were explosive more often than not, and the Iwa force seemed to be retreating, if only out of fear than any clear disadvantage.
Until Minato, backflipping away from an angry puppet unleashed on the Yellow Flash's latest victim, saw a handful of Konoha- and Suna-nin clutching to their stomach almost in synch. They were killed the next second by a stray Katon.
He used his Hiraishin to move to another section of the battlefield. Here, too, Konoha and Suna shinobi seemed to be curling into themselves for no clear reason, and the Iwa-nin took advantage of it. Spurts of blood and spilled intestines mixed with brownish vomit on the ground.
With his own stomach roiling, Minato flashed behind the dozen Iwa-nin and stabbed them - reserving a Rasengan for the last one standing, stubbornly settled into the huge arms of his own Earth Golem. His own jutsu, his own tombstone.
Minato stumbled to the ground.
Someone took that as the excuse to throw an Exploding Tag at his face.
He teleported away, towards the back of the camp, where the Iwa-nin had yet to breach - the medical tent was empty, except for two harried iryo-nin and a handful of shinobi moaning, sweating profusely and vomiting-
He slipped a hand near the metal plate of his hitai-ate, gripping the fabric - it was drenched in sweat. His cheeks felt hot and feverish, his breath came out in short, raspy gasps, and… honestly, he couldn't remember when was the last time he had felt quite so sick.
Poison.
'Kushina,' was his second thought. She had eaten so much more… He needed to warn her, whatever the cost…
In a haze, Minato flashed to Kushina.
She was busy punching and kicking the Iwa-nin away from her, and growling at those who hesitated in attacking her. "I dare you, bastards!" her voice was a roar, carrying the fierceness of her soul. She smirked at him. "Minato, let's-"
"Poison."
Three Hyuuga and two Uchiha had joined in, flaring their chakra, pushing the Iwa-nin back with fervor.
Kushina looked at him, alarmed and a little pale. "What-"
Minato lost the strength to keep his eyes open.
She found herself with an armful of fainted and probably poisoned Minato, limp as he had never been.
The Iwa-nin were still around there.
Kushina gritted her teeth and rushed back to the medical tents, first using a Shunshin to have something more of a headstart and then barreling through the camp, leaving deep indents of her sandals by overcharging her steps with chakra. Poisoned?! How could it be? He didn't have any injury on him-
The food.
She nearly smacked herself. Stupid! Of course they didn't get all Iwa spies, wasn't that the point of not pushing forward before-
All around her, Konoha and Suna shinobi showed the same vitality of Minato - none at all.
'We're all poisoned!'
"Took you long enough, woman." The Kyuubi rolled his eyes at her. "Of course, I've already purged-"
That was good and all, but Minato was still poisoned and dying in her arms. Kushina desperately whipped her head around in search of medical supplies. An unopened crate caught her eye, and she laid Minato right next to it before tearing into its contents.
'Gauze, gauze, stitches, soldier pills, chakra storage seals - no, no, no, NO!' She turned to another crate nearby and wrenched it open. 'Come on, come on…!'
Nothing, absolutely nothing! Tears gathered at the corners of her eyes, rolling down her cheeks. No! She spared a glance at her fiancè, her unconscious Minato - she laid her head on his chest. Slowly, he was heaving his last breaths as they rattled in his lungs.
Ignoring the commotion outside, the rushing of people and ninjutsu and the screams of the wounded, Kushina upended every medical-looking crate she saw. Nothing! And everyone else around her was unconscious or vomiting their own guts...!
"Woman. Human." It seemed that the Kyuubi had been calling her for a long time, getting steadily more annoyed. "Kushina."
"What the fuck do you want now?!" she screamed, narrowing her eyes at the shattered empty bottles of antidote and the torn scrolls of chakra storage seals. Kushina moved like a hurricane in search of something, anything, to help Minato. "Want to gloat and take over my body?! Guess what- You will NOT, DATTEBANE!"
To his credit, the Kyuubi was calmer than her. "I can purge the poison out of him like I have done with you."
Her breath caught in her chest. She swallowed - this had to be some sort of ploy to take over, overriding her seal.'What's the catch?'
"I need a larger opening to save your Minato." Now Kurama was smirking, his chakra rumbling almost giddily inside her. "Just little less than one tail. I just ask for it to be permanent - Minato or that other Toad-summoner can-"
'You just want to take over,' she protested, but knew it was a weak argument. She loved Minato far too much to pass this chance, even when everything about the deal reeked of deceit - and the bijuu knew it.
The Kyuubi rolled his eyes. "I'd rather let you fall to despair after he dies than resort to such trickery to break free. It would be much easier."
That was also a good point.
Kushina bit her lip and crouched over Minato, cradling him in her arms. He was getting paler and paler, sweating and moaning, barely moving. Even those rare times he had been injured, Minato had always budged and shifted restlessly.
Outside the tent, the fighting was dying down. But how long before someone could heal Minato…?
She flashed through a series of hand seals, feeling the Kyuubi's rumbling laughter in the back of her mind. Her chakra spun and molded, resembling a pattern of Fuinjutsu she never thought she'd use. There was no other way…
Blue chakra set her fingertips alight.
She turned her fingers on herself, around her seal, and twisted to open it just a sliver - her belly was on fire, and it was spreading-
Her veins, her whole body was burning, straining against the Kyuubi Chakra now freely rushing through her coils. Grounding her teeth, Kushina forced herself to keep her other hand on Minato - and holding tightly onto the hope that Kurama would actually help him.
If he didn't…
The bijuu chakra gathered in her hand, trickling out her [straining] tenketsu. It itched like white-hot needles drilling holes in her palm.
Minato's body convulsed - his chest jerked closer to her hand, as if reaching out to safety and life, though he didn't look any better now, did he? But she had to trust Kurama - she was all out of options, and even if this was all a cruel joke… she had no intention to turn it down.
"Take everything!" someone outside the tent shouted. She jolted, jerking her hand away from her stomach and letting her seal slowly close. "Don't leave them anything-"
Kushina hastily threw Minato over her shoulder and, ignoring her own pain at the closing Fuinjutsu and the Kyuubi chakra, fled as fast as her legs could take her.
Kakashi created five Shadow Clones and Henge'd them - two turned into women, while the other three stayed children and changed their hair colour, hairstyle, face, eyes. Even Minato-sensei would be hard-pressed at connecting them to Kakashi.
He turned to the Yamanaka. "Koto, find a bird, mind-switch with it, and keep watch on the gates. As soon as you see someone suspicious, warn Shonin. Do you have a signal?"
The two genin glanced at each other. "My kikaichu can follow his possessed bird, warn me, and warn you." The young Aburame shuffled his feet, craning his neck outside the canopy they were hiding under. "If you have them on you. They really do not like the rain."
Well, he hadn't expected any stellar support from the two genin anyway - but any set of eyes, whether a pair of human eyeballs or a cluster of bug eyes, would immensely help to assuage his worry.
So Kakashi nodded and let five of Shonin's kikaichu onto his hitai-ate. They kept on buzzing, most likely confused by his chakra, but they didn't seem to be too suspicious or scared just yet. Good enough. "Let's find them."
The chuunin and his clones scattered in the rain in search of their two targets.
While they roamed the streets in search of strong chakra - Nokuma was a civilian town, there was no reason for anyone above genin-level to be there - Kakashi leapt over the highest building he could find, hid himself with a Camouflage jutsu and closed his eyes, calling on Kurama's chakra.
There was a low buzz of… dread. There were small spikes of chakra due to the emotions of civilians, roiling uneasily, spreading through hushed whispers. They were afraid: someone seemed to have heard a fight going on nearby, and they were terrified they would be next.
Kakashi spread his chakra farther.
Most were afraid, yes, stewing in fear and hoping, hoping and hoping they were safe. They weren't quite so distant from the coast, and Kami knew what kind of people would come over.
But there was something else…
A deep breath. There was fear, muted, but a constant thrum that soon turned into a suspicious calmness that bespoke of an attentive, battle-scarred mind. Their chakra was rejecting those around them. Unfamiliar. Intrusive.
A clone dispelled - there they were, a man and a woman, donned in ruined and muddy Hounin cloaks, quietly slinking through the alleys of Nokuma, alert to the dangers of a possible Konoha team coming for their heads but not quite so alarmed as to run away just yet.
"Found them, south district, going to engage," he whispered, and made another clone to allow the kikaichu to get back to Shonin.
Kakashi leapt down, reaching the lower rooftops. Raindrops fell at an angle over Nokuma, and the wind picked up with a vengeance as the rain turned into a terrible downpour. The chuunin kept his eyes down, wishing for an ANBU cloak. Damn it, he was drenched and freezing.
Using a minimum amount of chakra to keep himself warm without being discovered, he leapt over the rooftops, careful not to slip and break his neck. There was a lone bird perched over the southern gate and Kakashi nodded at it. Koto nodded back, and the bird quickly flapped its wings to find shelter underneath a random roof.
Kakashi reached the top of an alley, in which he could feel the two nukenin's chakra. They were suspicious and alert, but not quite worried about being found out so soon.
All the better.
One of Kakashi's clones reached him from the opposite side of the narrow alley, looking as drenched and unhappy as he felt, and they jumped down at the same time, their chakra suppressed until the last moment.
The kunoichi turned around with a start, reaching for a kunai under her sodden cloak, but Kakashi was faster - he slammed his gauntleted forearm on her windpipe and, using his momentum, he wrapped his arms around her neck and his legs around her waist as he hung on her back.
A split second more slowly, the shinobi also turned around - but Kakashi's clone had the time to strike his face with a chakra-charged punch, which slammed the Kiri nukenin's head into the muddy street and knocked him out.
Kakashi let loose a current of his Lightning chakra through his metal gauntlets, shocking the already breathless kunoichi and stunning her while he blocked her carotids.
It took two minutes before she stopped trying to dislodge him or use a Shunshin. Kakashi electrocuted her again and reabsorbed the chakra that rebounded to him due to his sodden clothes.
He - no, his older self - remembered how to secure captured nukenin, and so he did. Kakashi and his clone applied a Chakra suppression seal on each Kiri-nin, tied them up, and henged into a taller form to hoist them over their shoulders.
The two of them - looking like Older Kakashi, except that their hitai-ate was not slanted over their left eyes - took to the rooftops again to join the two genin at the northern edge of Nokuma.
The other Shadow Clones dispelled - no civilian had any idea of the danger that passed them by, everything was calm, and every dead nukenin had been sealed into the Body Scroll every jonin kept on their person, just in case.
Mission complete.
Rin had a really hard time wrapping her head around Kakashi's Shadow Clone spamming.
There were four solidly henge'd clones hauling Hiko-san and their three prisoners - still tied up, chakra-sealed and unconscious - at chuunin-speed to Sansui; an additional fifth clone was giving a ride to Rin, who had nearly exhausted her chakra trying to heal Hiko's spinal cord and was in no shape to tree-hop at that speed in the rain.
The true Kakashi was leading the team, backed up by his three taller clones with prisoners and flanked by Obito and Sishimi. Rin and Hiko were kept in the center, while Shonin and Koto protected their sides.
A sixth Kakashi clone took up the rear of their formation.
Rin buried her face in the fifth clone's shoulder. The rain had never been so frigid as it had been in Tsuchi no Kuni, until today… At least the cloak had kept her covered back then, while her Konoha flak jacket was now drenched and heavy against her shirt and skin. It made her shiver near uncontrollably - she had no Fire-natured chakra to shield her against the cold.
Kakashi's clone got warmer in response.
"You don't have to burn up your chakra," she whispered, but clung tighter to him nonetheless. "I can manage. You can't have so much chakra to spare, between six clones…"
For a moment, Rin thought he was smiling at her, and her stomach fluttered. "Can't have you freezing before we get back home. Hiko-san might need your iryo-jutsu."
"We also can't have you collapsing because of chakra exhaustion." She craned her neck to frown at him, but he was too focused on keeping them balanced to look at her. "Seriously, Kakashi-kun - how many soldier pills did you take to create so many clones?"
"None."
Rin rolled her eyes. If she wasn't so worried for his health, she might have slapped him. "Kakashi - if you collapse, we won't be able to move Hiko-san and the three Kiri-nin on our own."
His shoulders moved in a shrug. "That's why I made the clones."
"Kakashi."
His whole body tensed up, as if ready to bolt ahead and never return.
"What is it you're not telling me?" Rin couldn't help her sad undertone - Kakashi wasn't trusting her with something important, acting as if oblivious to any problem but always ready with the solution.
Why didn't he tell her? This couldn't be the S-ranked secret that somehow got them out of Iwa alive - and if it was, Kakashi would have hidden it better, instead of locking himself in his own mind and mostly ignoring Rin and Obito whenever they were inside Konoha.
The clone mulled over his answer. "My Kekkei Genkai unlocked a larger chakra reserve within me," he said. "That's why I can make so many clones and have chakra to spare. As for that last thing…" He sighed and bowed his head, blinking at the water raining before him. "...I'm worried about the war."
Weren't they all? However, there was a spark of hope in the near distance, now that Kumo had officially retreated - and Kakashi had never been so concerned about the war that it affected his demeanor this much. "But only Iwa is left now. The war will finally end."
Obito shouted a "Hell yeah!" from the point of their formation. One of the taller clones shushed him.
"But it's not over yet." Kakashi shook his head. "They're desperate not to lose, and desperate people will go to great lengths to turn the tables on their enemies. They'll be unpredictable and employ unconventional tactics by sacrificing even greater numbers of their ninja to force us back from their territory. If we can't find a way to end it now, they will."
Silence.
Koto slowly nodded. He blinked rain out of his eyes. "I… I didn't know you were into psychoanalyzing Iwa-nin."
"It's common sense," the clone corrected. "We can't relax until it's all over - until Iwa-nin stop attacking us and Sandaime-sama has signed a peace treaty with the Tsuchikage."
No one knew how to answer to that declaration.
They spent the rest of the day travelling in silence until they reached Sansui.
"Kakashi-san, Hiko-san is asking for your presence."
Kakashi exchanged glances with his team, who had already crashed face first into the too-soft beds of Sansui. He nodded at the chuunin. "Alright. Lead the way, shinobi-san."
"Severed spinal cord and damage to the chakra system?"
'Yes.' Fortunately for them, Nisui and Sansui were close enough to let them keep their telepathic link. Kakashi had missed the time-traveller's commentary, as perplexing as it was. Kurama had decided to muse over his array of Fuinjutsu in silence. 'An Hozuki shot her through her spine.'
Okugi cringed. "And you took command after that?"
'As soon as we won the fight.'
They had reached the infirmary by then. It was a room with six stretchers in total, but with shelves, desks and wardrobes lining the walls. There was a vague smell of antiseptic and blood, with a sliver of Fire-natured chakra lingering on the stretchers near the door.
Sure enough, to Kakashi's right there was a stretcher occupied by Sarutobi Hiko.
The chuunin nodded at the two of them and left the room, softly closing the door behind him.
Kakashi stepped to the jonin's side. "You called, Hiko-san?"
The woman did not look good but, considering she was conscious and still breathing, Kakashi counted that as a good sign. She was pale in the muted light of the infirmary, with two IVs steadily dripping medicines and painkillers into both her wrists. Rin had done her best to heal her injuries, but Hiko still had to get back to Konoha to recover.
Her breath rasped in her lungs. "Report."
"That's why she called you?"
Not one to question this kind of order, Kakashi did as told. "After you were injured, we finished the fight and interrogated the only surviving nukenin. Under Sharingan genjutsu, he told us there were two other Kiri nukenin in Nokuma, so I took command and ordered Rin, Obito and Sishimi to stay by your side and hide while my clones cleaned the battlefield. Shonin, Koto and I went to Nokuma to capture the last two nukenin. I successfully tracked and apprehended them, reunited with the rest of the team before heading to Sansui in order to rest for the night and secure the prisoners."
"In the end, there were four enemies dead - which I sealed into your Body Scroll - and three captured; nobody in Nokuma knows of the Kiri nukenin and the only injuries were yours. Rin's healed most of them, consuming most of her chakra as a result." Kakashi briefly debated whether he should add a more in-depth description of how he tracked and captured the nukenin, but decided not to.
Okugi hummed appreciatively. "Well done, Chibi. That's an excellent clean-up for a chuunin with a team of two chuunin and three genin."
Hiko nodded slightly. "Very good, Kakashi."
The Hatake nodded back, allowing himself a bit of pride but also acknowledging he had relied on Kurama's chakra and his older self's past experience. It was him, but also not - at least not entirely.
Did it make any difference, when those were the tools at his disposal? He didn't think so.
Hiko tried to settle into a more comfortable position, but her paralysis stopped her. She grimaced at her lap, took a deep breath and looked once more into Kakashi's eyes. "So... during your fights - on missions or otherwise - you showed that your strength and speed are way above chuunin level. You tracked down and knocked out two Kiri jonin with no trouble at all. You secured three nukenin by applying chakra suppressing seals you made on the spot. And you immediately took charge when the situation demanded it, successfully completing the mission and leaving no loose ends."
"...Yes, Hiko-san."
Okugi chuckled. "So humble, Chibi. I'm proud of you."
'It's the truth.' For once, it was actually just Hatake Kakashi, chuunin of Konoha and not a time-traveller - future memories and procedures notwithstanding, since he had assimilated them.
It was deeply satisfying to be acknowledged for something he actually did.
Hiko gave him a tiny, lopsided smile, just a fleeting quirk of her lips. Her chakra swayed, both excited and guilty, and Kakashi honestly didn't know what to expect from her next words.
"When we return to Konoha, I'm commending you to Hokage-sama for your skills - for the rank of Jonin." She stared into his eyes, serious and contrite at the same time. "You know what it entails, right? I won't resent you if you ask me not to vouch for your promotion."
In that moment, Kakashi's mind was blank.
He could be jonin (again). The clearance, the missions, the leadership and the responsibility that came with the role of elite ninja of Konohagakure. He hadn't realized how used he was to being a jonin - even when he had never been one, not in his lifetime, not really, not yet. He missed it in a way similar to how he missed friendships yet to blossom, and comrades yet to meet.
On the other hand… just how close were they to that fatal Kannabi Bridge mission?
His teammates needed all the help they could get. His teammates, his comrades, his village, his world - they needed him to be ready, in the right place, at the right time. They needed him to fight and obliterate Uchiha Madara and Black Zetzu, even if they were unaware of it.
There wasn't much of a choice, was there?
So Kakashi nodded, shoving his anxiety in a corner of his mind and letting his hardened resolve show in his eyes. "I'm ready."
Oh boy! About time Kakashi was recognized for his merits, ne? :D
As always, I hope it made sense and you enjoyed reading this chapter! I feel like I've improved quite a lot since the first chapters - five years ago now, holy shit. But I swear I'll end this! I just need to cut some time from my schedule to do that...
And here is the list of relevant/recurring/reappearing OCs running around:
Hound/Inuri Shio: Captain of Team Hound, in charge of guarding Kakashi
Cat/Kuroki: second in command of Team Hound, sensor-nin, done with everyone's shit
Owl: ANBU medic, sarcastic piece of shit who disagreed a lot with Raccoon
Boar: ANBU of Team Hound
Raccoon: ANBU who disagreed a lot with Owl; in charge of guarding Okugi
Falcon: ANBU with some psychological 'training'; in charge of guarding Okugi
Kitsune: the leader of ANBU
Turtle, Rabbit, Jackal, Crane, Ox: other ANBU
Tiger, Otter, Snake: ROOT agents
Sarushi Uchiha: kunoichi who is not a standoffish Uchiha
Daichi Uchiha: asshole Uchiha who bullied Obito
Yurumo Uchiha: Daichi's comrade and relative, also a bully
Satoshi Uchiha: Uchiha 'prodigy', twin sister of Atsui
Atsui Uchiha: friendly with Obito, twin sister of Satoshi
Shinryu Uchiha: Uchiha Clan Head, father of Fugaku
Sarune Fuuma: jonin iryo-nin, Rin's mentor in medic-jutsu
Minami Fuuma: tokubetsu jonin, great at Genjutsu, sister of Sarune
Jiyo: sensei of Gai, Ebisu and Genma (not canon, I know)
Fuuyuki: sensei of Kurenai, Raido and Asuma
Ryoko Hyuuga: once went to search for Kakashi (around Ch. 30) with 2 people
Nakame Inuzuka: proctor of second exam, went with Ryoko Hyuuga; also present in the Konoha-Suna joint camp (Ch.46/47)
Shikayu Nara: proctor of the first exam
Hiko Sarutobi: sensei of OCs Amari Nara (replaced by Shonin Aburame), Sishimi Akimichi and Koto Yamanaka
Hatsumi Ryuu: sensor-nin, sensei of OCs Satoshi Uchiha, Takai Hyuuga and Daku Inuzuka; related to Hikari Ryuu, who holds Konoha's barrier (Ch.4).
Aaaand this closes the 50th Chapter. Now that's an amazing accomplishment. Wow.
Please do tell me if there's something wrong, or if there's some hidden awesomeness I didn't catch in my hundreds of 'rereadings', or even if you just want to scream something at me! ;D
Beware of the Kitsune's rage!
ShiiroiKitsune21