Hey guys, sorry for the weird update - I was running out the door for work when I posted the chapter so I didn't get to check if the chapter uploaded properly Thanks for letting me know and thank you all so much for your words of support and excitement for the story! I look forward to hearing your thoughts!
"Stop where you are."
He reacts instantly.
The speaker's body hits the tunnel wall and Kakashi's kunai is just centimeters from the other shinobis throat before he stops, finally recognizing a chakra signature he's encountered more than a few times. Ally, not enemy. He pulls back, thankful he'd dodged the others' retaliatory strikes before they made him dissipate into a puff of smoke, and quietly reprimands himself for allowing old memories to cloud his awareness.
Slightly widened pale white eyes meet a single slate grey as he greets amicably, "Neji-san, what a surprise. Gai mentioned you had a mission but I didn't realize you'd be all the way out here."
Neji seems to recognize it's as close to an apology as he'll get and straightens out his clothes, Byakugan not deactivating. "Hatake-san," he says in stiff greeting. "Gai-sensei is unaware of all my mission details, and I should hope he isn't freely divulging my whereabouts to just anyone."
Kakashi hears the sharp reproach and waves it off. "Maa, he was excited for you, that's all."
Neji ignores the comment. "I was informed that you would be in the area but I didn't realize your investigation had lead you here. What do missing children have to do with this- facility?"
"Ah, so you've heard about it then?"
The Byakugan-welder doesn't respond for a moment, most likely weighing the pros and cons of interacting with him further. Pros seem to win out but probably not by much. "Rumors my team heard a few towns north while we passed through. Kidnappings aren't uncommon in this region apparently." There's almost enough venom in that statement to make Kakashi wince, filled with old resentment and renewed disgust. "The question is how you knew to look here when even my Byakugan can barely see the residual chakra signatures far below us."
Kakashi refrains from rolling his eyes at the near blatant hostility. Just like your uncle, aren't you?
He eye-smiles. "Just following a hunch. What are you here for, exactly?"
Neji stares at him long and hard, the charged silence stretching long enough for Kakashi to think he isn't going to respond, before the younger man replies coldly, "My team and I were on escort duty when I noticed strange chakra trails leading to this area." To you goes unspoken.
Funny how he wakes to a world where the clan that hates him most actually gives him less trouble than their rival.
Kakashi hadn't heard of any escorts requiring Jounin-level guards - or in this case, judging by the faint scent of a whetting stone, one Jounin and two Chunin who happen to be Tenten and Rock Lee. They're a formidable team for sure with teamwork as good or even better than the Ino-Shika-Cho trio, although he's heard rumors of their splintered relationship since the Chunin exams five years ago that nearly knocked the Hyuuga Clan from their seat at the Council. But what could his teacher need a powerhouse of a team for, on an escort mission no less, and why hadn't he known about it? Minato doesn't tell him everything of course, but Kakashi finds it hard to believe that he wouldn't have heard of Neji's mission if it hadn't been for Gai.
He can smell smoke as well, faint and bitter, and he wonders why Asuma is with them.
"Well, you found me. I'm sure your team is waiting for you." Those all seeing eyes narrow on him, and even as a clone he feels transparent.
"They know protocol when it comes to investigating potential threats." It's obvious by Neji's set shoulders that he isn't leaving until said threat is taken care of and Kakashi has neither the authority nor the strength as a clone to order him away.
Perhaps its the result of a life-long grudge against those who take and sell children like animals, perhaps it's his inherent distrust of an eye-thief like Kakashi, but no matter the reason for Neji's stubbornness, Kakashi can't in good conscience allow Hiashi's prodigal nephew explore these caverns alone. Even if it weren't Orochimaru in particular he was investigating, Kakashi owes Gai (and Neji himself) more than a few favors and life-debts. Just the thought of leaving prized Hyuuga eyes in a place where they would be well used makes his stomach turn.
He doesn't say any of this and certainly doesn't let slip how uneasy he feels practically leading a prime specimen into Orochimaru's clutches.
"Well then," Kakashi says cheerily, motioning down the deep, dark tunnel, "shall we?"
xxx
"What's got you so worked up?"
Minato blinks up from the stack of documents he'd been reviewing and a soft grin automatically steals across his face. "Morning, dear. What're you doing here? I just left-"
"Four hours ago and forgot your lunch, you big lug," Kushina says with a roll of her eyes as she slips around the Hokage's desk with said lunch in her hands. She doesn't mention the fight that lead to him leaving without it in the first place and he doesn't question the tentative truce. "And you didn't answer my question. Honestly, you look tense. More Council stuff?"
She leans down to give him a chaste kiss, and it tastes like an apology and forgiveness at the same time. Even just that short contact makes his shoulders relax. "Not this time."
She hums as she peers at his paperwork, eyes skimming over whatever she thinks is interesting before she quirks an amused grin. "Gai's on kiddy duty? I don't think he's assisted in an academy class since the Hokage Monument Incident two years ago."
Minato winces at the memory but necessary precautions have to be put in place. "I figured it was time to let that go."
Kushina raises an eyebrow, unconvinced. "Konohamaru-kun and his teammates still avoid the Shodaime's head."
"...okay, maybe I just want a little more security in the area. With the Akatsuki moving so quickly and so many unknowns coming into play…"
"You don't think they'd actually attack the village, do you?" Kushina asks, amusement disappearing as she settled on his desk with a hand pressed reassuringly in his. "That'd be crazy, no matter how powerful they think they are. Unless something's happened…"
Minato shakes his head even though the idea doesn't completely leave his mind. "Just a feeling is all."
Kushina's head tilts with a worried furrow between her brows that Minato wants to kiss away. "A bad one? If it's not the Akatsuki...well, I know you're nervous about havin' Naruto and his friends head out to visit Suna but the last few trips have turned out fine, even if Gaara-kuns dad is an intolerable asshat." Minato sends a reproachful look at a snickering ANBU. "And Kakashi-kun's with Genma's team, there's no way they won't run into trouble they can't get out of. That delegate from Kumo is arriving too but she has one of our teams with her so it's probably not that...is it Shizune?"
Minato doesn't know how she's able to read his thoughts so easily and it's times like these that he wishes he could see the Hokage she could've been, but that's neither here nor there. "Sort of all of the above. Tsunade's still in the bowels of T&I with Ibiki discussing things and Jiraiya's off on another networking trip while Naruto's preoccupied. Obito and Rin are close by if needed, but I just can't shake the feeling we're...vulnerable." He shakes his head. "I know that's ridiculous, there are plenty of extremely capable shinobi still here, but it's…"
He bites his lip and tries not to think about one particular report Kakashi had ominously dropped off three days ago and the catalyst for some of his actions in the last few days.
"Unnerving," Kushina finishes in a soft murmur, eyes soft. Then she cuffs him over the ear with a loud and exasperated, "You're going to give yourself grey hairs thinkin' like that, you know? Like you said, we have plenty of capable shinobi in the village. We have you, we have your two students, and more importantly, we have me. So stop mopin', pack up, and let's have a picnic!"
Minato can only watch in slightly stunned silence as his whirlwind of a wife threatens to drag his ANBU guards with them on a strictly non-working basis and wonders how he ever got so lucky.
Still, she's right about Obito and Rin being nearby where he needs them, and he's done what Kakashi's suggested.
With that thought in mind, he follows her out the door.
Xxx
Kakashi examines the unconscious forms of two men he'd caught skulking the borders of the village farms, critical and dispassionate. Either these two were unaware that their activities had drawn attention from beyond their borders or they were just that stupid.
With the way neither had stopped bickering about what to have for lunch before he found them, he's willing to bet the latter.
He's about to just tie them up and leave them for later when he notices it. It's small and almost unnoticeable on the back of their necks, almost looks like a strangely shaped birthmark, but it prods Kakashi's memories instantly.
A burn mark in the shape of a spider.
"Genma's not going to like this."
Kakashi recalls something similar from a solo mission he'd done in his later ANBU years, just before his retirement. The Benigumoto, also known as the Red Spiders, had been small group of drug smugglers and thugs for hire, dangerous and rapidly growing. He'd been tasked to observe them closely, and if necessary, take out the group before they became too powerful and sponsored by any Lords or political figure heads. Like Gatou, they'd had their own hired hands to protect the eight bosses, all missing-nin with rap sheets that had made even Kakashi raise an eyebrow and plan accordingly.
As far as he knew, they hadn't gone into human trafficking until just before he wiped them out. Perhaps they'd expanded into more areas of illegal trade in the last decade, but why did they still exist in the first place? Just because he'd been dead here, other ANBU should've taken his place.
Most books he's managed to snatch out of the library go back to the butterfly effect, the idea one action or event changing everything after. However, he's read a few citing that building a sandcastle on one beach and not the other will make no difference by the time the tide comes. He doesn't believe it completely - he knows better than anyone that every action has a consequence - but it does have some merit because even though there are many differences compared to his world, some things are so painfully the same it makes Kakashi almost forget he's not in the right place.
There are dozens of capable shinobi who could've easily completed his mission, there was nothing special-
Wait.
If all eight bosses weren't killed, that may be why the group is still active.
His identity had been revealed after a long, grueling battle - intel had only known of five leaders and during his own investigation he'd sniffed out two more (he suspects, even to this day, Danzo's hand in one last attempt to off the last Hatake with poor information). The final did not reveal himself until he found out about Kakashi's heritage. After all, a lot of men had hated Hatake Sakumo.
"You know what they say about spiders."
"It's bad luck to see one at night?"
"You kill the ones you find, the sneakier ones live on to procreate."
A chill runs down his spine.
"Genma's really not going to like this."
Xxx
"Really, Gai-san, this isn't necessary, I don't want to trouble you…" Iruka tries again, but like the last dozen times, his politely worded request falls on well-meaning but deaf ears.
"Nonsense, Seeing the Great Potential in the Next Generation is a True Honor! And as My Eternal Rival has Asked Me to Guard the Precious Springtime of Youth in Your Charges, Iruka-san, I Shall Do So With My Life or I Will Climb the Hokage Monument with One Hand Tied Behind My Back and-"
Iruka is going to find this Eternal Rival and wring his neck.
The polite smile on his face is on the verge of cracking, but he has to admit, having Gai's...exuberant presence is certainly going a long way in settling his students. Normally they'd be beside themselves with excitement for this field trip but seeing someone who can somehow have more enthusiasm than all of them combined must be quite a shock. At least, for now. He dreads when that awe will eventually wear off and they join in on the 'youthful' shouting and Capitalized Speech, but for now he'll just try to enjoy the relative peace as Gai finishes his spiel and goes off terrorizing his students.
In all honesty, he's thankful for the help. With Mizuki too sick to co-lead this field trip with him and all the potential substitutes busy - or in Aoba's case, unconscious - he's surprised someone as busy and popular as Gai volunteered to help with something as mundane as a field trip.
He claps his hands to settle his students and tries not to make a face when Gai obediently quiets and sits in a seat far too small for him.
"Alright...well kids, I know you're excited to be outside the village for the first time, but remember it's very important that we follow the rules we went over yesterday…"
xxx
Genmas mouth twists predictably around his senbon, irritated. "Damn. Eight? We don't even have intel on this kind of operation in this area. Further south maybe, but not so far east. Do you remember where their hideout is?"
Kakashi hums, head tilting to the side in thought. "Vaguely."
He sees Izumo frown from the corner of his eye.
He itches to bring out his book but the wire he's carefully curling into a delicate knot requires most of his attention. "I can lead us to the small mountain range they were based in originally and have Pakkun take over from there, but this was about ten years ago and from a different timeline so I can't say if my information is accurate anymore." He places a explosive tag beneath the sensitive mechanism.
"But we definitely know they exist," Kotetsu adds, not reacting to Kakashi's casual mention of his origins as he finishes camouflaging a larger trap with nearby foliage, "so even if we don't find their main base and assuming they have nothing to do with the missing kids, we can complete our mission and report back to Hokage-sama. He can decide whether to send ANBU or not to investigate, and the settlements nearby will be notified and warned. Well, unless Genma-taichou says otherwise."
No one seems very satisfied with leaving such a potentially dangerous syndicate to breed and Kakashi doesn't blame them, but clearing out the Benigumoto isn't their main objective, especially since they have no evidence of them being involved.
Finding those kids and taking out their kidnappers is their priority, and with the evidence Kotetsu and Raidou had found earlier of a seemingly unrelated gang running a human trafficking ring in a larger nearby settlement, they don't have much reason to find and stop the Benigumoto at this point. Besides, they're unprepared with little to no reliable intel and if Kakashi had barely stopped them with backup ten years ago, he doesn't want to imagine what the outcome would be this time.
The senbon rolls again and Kakashi finally recognizes that hard edge in Genma's expression. It hadn't been annoyance earlier. It had been consideration.
Not as predictable as I thought, Kakashi muses quietly.
"Wouldn't hurt to poke around," their team leader says casually, hiding a particularly nasty trap between the roots of a nearby tree, "and maybe smoke out a spiders nest or two. Who's to say they aren't somehow involved? What do you guys think?"
Kotetsu and Raidou grin in unison, vicious and pointed in the soft blue glow of an activated seal.
Kakashi's bloodthirsty smile is hidden beneath his mask. "Well then, we better get going."
Two hours later finds them a few kilometers from where Kakashi last recalls their main base of operations. An hour after that and the base is cleared, dozens of dead or unconscious men littering the small section of tunnels hollowed out from the mountains base. Kakashi runs a critical eye over all of them, noting the fresh looking burn marks on only two men who, coincidentally, were the only ones to put up a decent fight with their unique abilities. He doesn't recall so many Kekkei Genkais existing in this area, but there are a lot of things he's probably missed.
A familiar scent makes him pause.
It's old and very faint, smelling vaguely of wet stone, and it reminds him somewhat of the swamps around the village lands but cleaner with an undertone of salt that doesn't belong. For some reason, alarm bells start ringing in the back of his mind but he can't figure out why.
"Look at this," Kotetsu calls, looking grim.
Kakashi understands when he skims over the files Kotetsu sniffed out in a hidden opening in the wall. It's their proof that the unrelated gang from the next town over is actually a recruiting faction of the Benigumoto in its infancy, hence the lack of identifying marks.
"Well, your feeling panned out," Kotetsu says, glancing at their team leader.
"Great," Genma grunts.
Monetary transactions are written out neatly for them to pack up and seal along with names and locations of victims and potential victims, and the information seems too good to be true until they all remember that they're dealing with an infection of an organization that has somehow spread farther than they could track. The leader of this little troupe wasn't among them.
It's enough to close their mission however, especially with the prisons they find burrowed deep into the cavernous system. There are exactly four children, terrified and exhausted from malnutrition and constant fear, but they are relatively unharmed and Kakashi finds a staggering amount of relief in the fact that he can face the old woman again with good news. One little boy in particular doesn't budge from his spot in the corner until Izumo presents him with a familiar watch with an X scratched across the surface, and from there it takes the other three to settle his overjoyed tears.
Other than those four, there are no other children and evidence suggest there hadn't been for a while - likely weeks as this was probably a transitional base. The dissipation of one of Kakashi's clones informs him that their traps have captured most of the 'unrelated gang' they'd initially been after, which was just a branch of their unruly faction.
It's a strangely lackluster end despite all the clean up required now.
Something like nostalgia grips him when he's suddenly reminded that not all missions are about saving princesses in foreign lands and becoming a fairytale hero revered by an entire village. Sometimes...sometimes they're slow and exhausting and have no glorious ending. Sometimes they're like this - cold, clinical, and quiet.
"Look here!" Izumo calls from deeper inside, something ominous in his tone. "I think we have a problem."
Xxx
Somehow, spending nearly half a day in Orochimaru's secret base is...boring.
Everything important or even useful has been cleaned out, and although Kakashi can pick up faint scents in various corners of the wide, industrialized cavern, it's all overpowered by several sharp, chemical smells that make him thankful for his mask. It's next to impossible to replicate the natural flow of untouched land and Kakashi almost appreciates Orochimaru not even trying. Neji doesn't seem to be having any more luck even with his Byakugan, but they're diligent in scouring every corner and crevice of the facility.
They venture down further, taking time to dismantle traps and security systems that seem to protect nothing, and a few close calls is enough to keep them alert but despite his outward apathy, Kakashi's mind is whirring.
Every moment in the lab jogs a distant part of his memory and he knows this place hasn't been empty for long - maybe days at the most. Hours, even. But how could that be possible if even those closest to him had no clue of his intentions while on this test mission? He casts a glance to his companion and wonders if it was really Kakashi that Orochimaru had been preparing for, but either way, speculation won't do him much good. He slips a seal under some withering vines and leaves that are mostly out of the way and decides there's not much left for him here.
"Looks like this place is clean," he says despite knowing neither of them need to state the obvious.
"And you've found no correlation between this facility and your mission?" Neji asks, staring intently at one of many empty jars on an abandoned metal rack on the opposite wall. More like glaring, from Kakashi's perspective.
He shakes his head and doesn't have to fake the disappointed sigh that passes his lips. "No, I just received memories from a different clone. The group we're searching for has been caught about ten miles northeast and don't have any connection to this area. There's nothing here for us."
The other Jounin looks extremely reluctant but nods after a long moment in agreement. He has to catch up with his group while Kakashi the Clone can feel the tenuous strings of chakra keeping him corporeal slowly fade with time as he was pushed to the limits of the techniques abilities. They slip out of the base as easily as they had entered and last thing he sees before disappearing into a puff of smoke is the back of his old friend's student, stiff and unyielding.
"Kids," he sighs.
Xxx
"We need to get this back to Hokage-sama immediately," Genma growls, throwing the papers with uncharacteristic anger onto the table.
There's an urgency beneath that anger that makes Kotetsu and Izumo straighten.
After flipping through just a few monetary records and filtering through his clones' memories, grimacing at some of the half-formed and likely accurate conclusions his clone from Orochimaru's lab had drawn up, Kakashi could guess what was happening. So it's begun, he thinks grimly, and he can only hope Minato had read between the lines and done what he'd suggested.
"You two can finish the rest here," Genma orders, "Kakashi and I will Hiraishin to an outpost closest to Konoha and warn Hokage-sama. Once everything is settled, we'll send a second squad out this way to gather intel on the rest of the Benigumoto."
Kakashi hopes his shock isn't too obvious. "Hiraishin?"
He didn't think Kotetsu or Izumo knew the formation or how they were even taught it in the first place, especially since it's a jutsu meant solely for the Hokages Platoon to use as a safety precaution. Hell, he didn't think anyone without an affinity for that seal work would be able to use it - it hadn't exactly been easy for Genma, Kotetsu, or Tatami to learn it initially even with Minato trying his best to simplify it without diminishing the technique itself.
Izumo is already drawing up a seal matrix with their coordinates. "The one at the South West border by Spring?"
Genma nods, "We can use the four-man formation. You two put up the perimeter while Kakashi lays down the foundation. I'll draw up the central seal."
Kotetsu and Izumo break to prepare the area and Kakashi just...goes with it.
It takes half an hour but they set up with all four of them in a box formation facing inwards toward a paper seal that coordinates with the one he and Genma are apparently supposed to teleport to. Kakashi is thankful he already knows the procedure from his own world - it would've been embarrassing to admit he didn't know something that apparently most jounin and upper level chunin know, if Kotetsu's irritated grumbling is anything to go by. And what he doesn't know, he manages to figure out as they go along without breaking the flow with Kushina's lessons fresh in his mind combining with old memories.
"Bit of a traditionalist, eh Kakashi?" Kotetsu cajoles when he catches Kakashi using what he thinks is an older version of the same sealwork. Kotetsu doesn't know that's it's the only version Kakashi knows because it's the only version that exists in a world where the Yondaime is long dead.
Kakashi shrugs, nonverbal, and pretends the shrewdness of Genma's gaze doesn't sting. They don't need to know how much of a failure he really is, and he's sure that if Genma found out Kakashi was responsible for Namikaze Minato's death, if he knew how truly useless Kakashi was at protecting the people most important to him, he would never pass the mission and Kakashi wouldn't be able to secure a better future for his precious people. He couldn't let his second chance slip him by with more stupid mistakes like this, especially when he has no idea how much time he has.
Finally, after what seems like a lifetime, the seal is complete.
The familiarity of it brings back a heartache he hasn't noticed in a long while, but he pushes it away as the pulling pressure of the Hiraishin sends him and Genma far, far away.
xxx
"Jeez, how many seals does sensei have out here?" Obito grumbles, rolling his shoulders after spending so long sitting in one position focusing the paper seal that blends seamlessly into the bark of a grand tree. The edges of his vision are fuzzy but that's more likely from the sheer mental exhaustion that comes with delicate seal adjustments, especially on ones that his sensei or Jiraiya draw up.
He never touches Kushina's though - those are a work of art and a death trap all in one.
A warm hand settles at the base of his neck and he sighs contentedly as the throbbing at the base of his skull subsides with a warm wave of familiar chakra.
"You shouldn't push yourself so hard."
He quirks a smile at the admonishment and shrugs. "'S not so bad. Just a little-" he sways as he stands, nearly bites his tongue off when Rin's hand, so delicate and strong at the same time, presses against his bicep to keep him steady, warm brown eyes peering at him with a pensieve little twist of her mouth. Shodai, give me strength. "-uh, dizzy."
She raises an unconvinced eyebrow but doesn't say anything, not when the twinkle in her eye says it all.
"I'm just saying," she continues as they prepare to head to their last seal point, "you need to consider your health. You know what happens with prolonged use of the Sharingan, especially the Mangekyo which I know you've been using more frequently-"
He closes his mouth, refute dying on his tongue because yeah maybe he's had to use it more than he'd like, but it's not like they can afford him holding back even a little bit against the monsters that seem to come out of the woodwork every other day. Not after Aoba had come back half dead just two days ago with a desperate message on his lips before falling into a coma he still hasn't woken up from even with Tsunade's help. Still, her genuine worry squeeze something in his chest.
"-and I understand why, especially after what happened to Ita-"
Obito stops half a second before Rin, both going deathly still while his eyes spin Sharingan red.
What is it? Rin signs, features tense. What did you feel?
See, he signs back. Threat.
Killing intent twines with the chakra saturating the air around them. At first, Obito had assumed the chakra had just been an indicator of some of the seals leaking, weakening from weather and time, but now that they're closer, chills run up and down his spine and he feels watched. Neither he nor Rin have a gift for chakra sensing but it still irks him that they'd somehow stumbled into something unknown.
Nothing moves for a long few minutes and Rin raises an eyebrow. She signs, clear?
He shakes his head, still uneasy.
A shuffling in the bushes a hundred feet to their right breaks the unsettling silence and he flings a kunai with deadly accuracy-
Only to startle a white rabbit.
It darts off into the bushes, seemingly taking the oppressive air with it, and Obito doesn't need to turn his head to know Rin has a hand over her mouth to stifle her laughter.
He grumbles, Sharingan tucked away, and wonders why he suddenly smells seawater. "Okay so maybe I'm a little jump-"
WHOOSH!
He hits the dirt just half a second before a meat cleaver of a weapon sinks into the bark of the tree with a heavy thunk above his head.
The chakra around them becomes thick and cloying, like humidity, like water, a sickly blue color filling his lungs and slowing his movements. He frowns, eyes red once again and cutting through the mist that fills their forest, nearly blocking everything but the dozen trees directly surrounding him and Rin. Heartbeat loud in his ears, Obito's gaze locks onto the grinning visage of a madman.
It's Rin, after blocking a dozen deadly senbon, who announces, "Momoichi Zabuza."