Chapter Four: Blank Period Part II

Countless missions and many surveillance hours later, Kakashi found that two and a half years had passed since he joined the Anbu. During his time with the Anbu, Kakashi sought out various members to train with and in the process of doing so, learned his way around all sorts of weapons, especially with swords. With Obito's Sharingan, Kakashi had been finally able to complete the Chidori, yet there were still a lot that he still needed to learn about the Sharingan. Unfortunately, the Uchiha clan was notoriously tight lipped about their precious dojutsu so there wasn't much information about the kekkei genkai save for the basics.

The real reason that Kakashi took note of exactly how much time passed was because Fox announced that he was retiring from the Anbu. For the first time, Kakashi saw the man unmasked and noted the wrinkles that had begun to form on his face. A smile graced Fox's lips, but it didn't quite reach his eyes.

Deer was the one to inquire his reasoning for retiring and Kakashi admitted that he was curious too. The Anbu had a turnover rate of less than one year, but for Fox to have stayed in the Anbu for almost ten years, which was no easy feat for anyone, and then to drop the bomb that he was retiring was surprising. Very few people served longer than Fox, and one of them was the Anbu Commander.

"Got a kid on the way," was all that Fox offered and that was enough for the three remaining members of his team to accept.

"So what will happen to the team?" This time it was Boar.

"Well I heard that you'll be reassigned to a different squad. Don't miss me too much, yeah? Listen to your new squad commander."

"I'll stop by at the Nara compound if that is ever the case," Kakashi commented offhandedly, earning a lighthearted chuckle from Fox.

"So you've known my identity all along?"

Kakashi shrugged. "I might have ran into you at Konoha's market once or twice and recognized your chakra signature. Good luck with your kid."

Fox smiled, a genuine one this time. "Shikamaru would be a good name, don't you think?"

With that, Fox exited the Anbu headquarters for the last time. Deer, Boar, and Kakashi watched him go before nodding towards each other out of mutual respect and understanding before parting ways. It was likely that it would be the last time they saw each other if their team was going to be split up.

At the assignment's desk, Kakashi was informed that he was assigned to be the Hokage's personal guard for the time being, which Kakashi found strange. Didn't Minato sensei already have a platoon to serve as his guards already?

Kakashi shrugged off the thought and reported for duty, slipping into the office through the window. Just like every time he did it, a kunai was thrown his way, which Kakashi easily dodged.

"Kakashi!" Minato chided. "How many times did I tell you to enter using the door?"

Kakashi shrugged in response because he honestly lost count. "I prefer unconventional methods. To catch enemies off guard."

They already had this conversation so many times that Minato just resigned to shake his head out of exasperation.

"I was assigned to be your personal guard."

"Ah, yes," Minato replied, digging through one of the drawers before coming up with a scroll. "I'm going to be leaving for a diplomat meeting tomorrow with the feudal lord tomorrow. I want you to lead two new Anbu members."

"Me?"

"Yes, I don't doubt your leadership qualities and I want to use this opportunity to see if you are capable of becoming a captain. After all, your captain retired today, did he not?"

Kakashi could only nod.

"I've arranged a meeting with your new teammates at Training Ground 4 in half an hour. I trust that you'll get along with them just fine. Now, don't be late."

Kakashi scowled. The one time that he had been late to meet Minato sensei, and that had only been because he lost track of the amount of time he spent at the memorial stone, and now it seemed Minato sensei was eager to hold it over his head forever.

He supposed it was retribution for always getting on Obito's case for arriving late.

Twenty five minutes later, Kakashi perched himself on one of the branches of a nearby tree as he spied two silhouettes approaching from the distance. Two small silhouettes. One looked to be about his height, while the other was shorter which suggested that the two couldn't be much older than himself, or perhaps were even younger than him.

When the two figures came into view, Kakashi almost wanted to groan at fate's cruel and twisted idea of a joke. Minato sensei expected him to mentor two Uchihas? And not ordinary Uchihas...one was the clan's pride and the other was the clan's heir.

Itachi and Shisui Uchiha.

Kakashi had heard of their reputations. The two kids were on par with him, almost breaking his record of being the youngest to be promoted to chunin, but one did beat his record at making jonin. Shisui had gained fame for his contribution during the Third Great War, much like Kakashi did, but for his body flicker technique.

Another Minato, the villagers called him, but any ninja could tell that their techniques were very different. Kakashi didn't know which was more deadly: having a ninja flash right in front of your face or being faced with multiple after images that didn't poof out of existence like shadow clones.

As for Itachi Uchiha, he certainly gained a reputation as the prodigal clan heir. And now he was here to prove it, after being promoted to chunin at age ten and into the Anbu at age eleven.

Perhaps that was why Minato sensei thought they could get along? If the three of them were what Obito called "kid geniuses."

Despite hardly being older than the Uchihas, the two of them listened intently as Kakashi briefed them on their assignment tomorrow. Kakashi went over formations, signals, and the two kids soaked up all of the information without a single question.

"Perhaps we should spar to get a feel for each other's battle styles," the younger of the two Uchihas suggested. Kakashi agreed. After all, he had a nagging feeling that this was going to be his new and very much permanent team…

And he was right. After returning from his diplomat meeting, Minato formally announced the three of them to become a permanent Anbu squad, named Team Ro, with Kakashi as squad leader.

Kakashi half expected the other two to question his authority, since it was clear that the two were most likely stronger than Kakashi himself. The only edge that Kakashi had on them was age, which didn't mean shit for shinobis, and experience in the Anbu.

Yet there was none of that. All of his concerns were unfounded as the two obediently accepted his leadership status. Shisui Uchiha even invited Kakashi to join them for training, stating that it would be beneficial for the team to be well accustomed to each others' fighting styles.

When Kakashi showed up at the Uchiha's favorite training spot, a clearing deep in Konoha's forest, he found Itachi Uchiha practicing using the sword, while Shisui tried to guide him with his limited knowledge from using the tanto.

"Wielding a tanto is not the same as wielding a sword, Uchiha san," Kakashi said, earning both Uchihas' attention. Kakashi then proceeded to correct Itachi's grip on the sword before showing him the basic katas that he went through when he first learned how to use a sword.

"Eventually you should become proficient to use a sword one-handed, but that's for the future. For now, try to get comfortable with a sword to the point where it becomes an extension of yourself."

Kakashi sparred with Itachi a couple of times, with swords and without. His swordsmanship needed some work, but his taijutsu skills gave Kakashi a run for his money. The match ended in a draw and Kakashi highly suspected that Shisui was even stronger than Itachi.

"I suppose we should become familiar with each other's arsenal of techniques," Shisui suggested.

As a sign of good faith, since that Kakashi was certain the Uchiha cousins were slightly wary of sharing all of their secrets with him, he went first. "I have mastery over all five changes in chakra natures. My wind is a bit weak, but I can do the basics."

"Our strengths lie primarily in fire techniques, though we are both proficient in water techniques as well. Genjutsu is our speciality." The naturally part of the sentence was left unsaid.

Well that was good. His genjutsu skills were meh at best. Above average, but not good enough for him to say that was his speciality.

"Hatake san." This time it was Itachi who spoke. "How much mastery do you have over your Sharingan?"

That certainly was a surprise. Not the fact that Itachi knew of his Sharingan - Kakashi figured it was a fact that most Uchiha conservatives were torn over - but rather that Itachi had asked how well Kakashi knew how to use the Sharingan in a manner that he was ready to offer his assistance.

Perhaps, Kakashi was reading the situation entirely wrong.

"Well, I suppose I can copy ninjutsu and see the opponent's moves before it happens. It's also been very helpful in seeing through genjutsu, but I'm sure that I'm barely scratching the surface with what it can do. After all, I try not to use it when I can help it."

"It drains a lot of your chakra, doesn't it?" Shisui deduced. "Still, that's impressive for you to have figured out all of that without guidance."

"Why don't we just cut right to the chase? What do you want? To take back the Sharingan? Condemn me for my amateurish use of the Sharingan?" Kakashi suggested, his mind running through all of the possibilities of why he was having a conversation about his Sharingan with two Uchihas.

"I believe that Shisui is implying that he wants to train you on how to use the Sharingan. If you'll let him, that is," Itachi interjected. Itachi tossed a brief glance towards Shisui, who nodded.

"Why?" Never in a million years did Kakashi expect these two to be willing to spill their clan secrets to an outsider.

"I am the sole earner for my family of three," Shisui began. "My family is a part of the branch family, very far removed from the main family. Uchiha Obito was the only one who was willing to lend his assistance when times were hard for my family, even if it meant he had to starve. And if Obito gifted you with his Sharingan, then the least I can do is train you to use it."

"And what does the main family think of you spilling clan secrets?" Kakashi purposely directed this question towards Itachi.

"What the main family doesn't know won't kill them," Itachi responded carefully. "In the Anbu, I am simply Crow. Not the Uchiha's clan heir."

"Well then," Shisui said, his eyes turning red, Sharingan spinning until three tomoes began a shuriken shaped pattern. "How much do you know about the Mangekyo Sharingan?"

Everyday without fail, Rin spotted a girl with long-brown hair loitering around the entrance of the hospital. It was a strange sight to see the Uchiha crest displayed proudly on her back, as it was well known that the Uchiha clan had their own medics, in an effort to preserve the secrets of their dojutsu. So what was an Uchiha doing here?

Perhaps to visit a non clan member, Rin mused and left it at that.

However, by the end of the week, Rin frowned when she saw that the girl was still pacing aimlessly at the entrance of the hospital. Had she still not gathered enough courage to go inside?

Rin decided it was time to approach her.

"Hello, Uchiha san." Her greeting seemed to jolt the Uchiha out of her trance. The Uchiha responded with an equally polite greeting of her own, no doubt a result of many years of conditioning on being polite.

Rin noted the brand new forehead protector. A fresh graduate?

"I couldn't help but notice that you've been here for the past week. Is there anything that you need? Someone that you want to see?"

"Ah well," the girl began, scratching the back of her neck nervously. "I don't know if it would be appropriate, but is there any way that I can learn medical ninjutsu?"

Upon seeing Rin's blank stare, the girl began to backtrack. "I mean it's totally fine if that's not an option. I would learn from the Uchiha medics, but they're a bunch of old hags that don't view me as part of the Uchiha clan. And my two genin teammates are like miles ahead of me and I just want to achieve something that they can be proud of, you know?"

Rin did know because she had gone through the exact same thing. With a Hatake and Uchiha on her team, it was natural that she would be overlooked. After all, no one ever heard of a Nohara clan, even if her mother had been a kunoichi. At least Rin had her medical ninjutsu to fall back, a small comfort to know that she'll always be better at it than her teammates. But the girl in front of her? She didn't even have that.

"Sure," Rin agreed. "I get off at five. Meet me at Training Ground 6?"

The girl nodded excitedly. "I'm Izumi Uchiha, but you can just call me Izumi!"

Rin smiled. "Rin Nohara."

Izumi's eyes widened. "You're Rin Nohara, Tsunade's apprentice? I've heard so many things about you."

Rin wasn't surprised; after all, she had risen up the ranks at the hospital to the point where her skills were only second to Tsunade's. Yet her lack of experience and young age barred her from reaching the highest position. Not that Rin wanted to, since she was a field medic. As soon as Rin achieved jonin status, she would request to field missions again.

Rin was excited to meet Izumi that afternoon. Everyone that Rin spent time with seemed to be her superior at something, whether it was ninjutsu, taijutsu, weapons mastery and so on. For once, it was a relief to be someone's superior.

As expected of a Uchiha, Izumi was already at the training ground, running through her katas. Before Rin even stepped into the clearing, Izumi paused, head turning to face her direction.

"You have excellent sensory skills for a genin," Rin complimented, digging through her pouch to pull out two scrolls, one blue and the other green.

"My mother says I am a sensor type," Izumi responded in kind. "What's that?" Her eyes fell onto the scrolls in Rin's outstretched hands.

"The blue scroll contains medical texts. If you want to become a medical ninja, then you need to have a thorough understanding of the human body. The green one is full of chakra control exercises. If you can't master them all, then you won't be able to perform medical ninjutsu."

Izumi's eyes widened as Rin tossed her the two scrolls. "You mean there's more to chakra control than walking on water?"

While Izumi looked slightly horrified as she opened the scroll, Rin was impressed that she had already mastered walking on water, especially since Izumi graduated after the war. It was no secret that under the Fourth's reign, genins weren't pushed as hard to become soldiers.

"The best medical ninja can emit chakra from all parts of their body."

"Oh wow."

"I understand if this too daunting for you," Rin told her, hands reaching out to retrieve the scrolls from Izumi's grasp. Much to her surprise, Izumi yanked the scrolls out of Rin's reach, cradling them to her chest tightly.

"I'll master it. Just wait and see," Izumi stated in an uncharacteristic arrogant tone.

Rin smiled. "Come find me when you have finished the two scrolls. Now-"

"Rin san!" Izumi interrupted, her eyes widening considerably of what looked like fear? In her eyes. "Three foreign chakra signatures, coming our way."

Rin frowned, closing her eyes to concentrate. Her eyes snapped open, out of shock. Though the enemies had suppressed their chakra signatures, she felt the faintest traces of foreign chakra. The amount of water nature present in the little of their chakra that Rin could sense felt so familiar.

So familiar…

"Mist nins," Rin hissed at Izumi. Without warning, Rin grabbed Izumi by the wrist and tugged her along.

"Ano, where are we going?" Izumi asked as Rin practically bolted out of the forest. And honestly, Rin didn't have an answer for her. The Hokage Tower had been her first instinct, but that meant leading the Mist nins through one of the busiest streets of Konoha, where most of the civilians worked.

No, Rin needed to go somewhere that wasn't too populated, but be able to get help at the same time.

The medic in her resisted the urge to stop and help the fallen Anbu soldiers as Rin sprinted past their prone bodies, but feeling a spike of chakra was more than enough for her to channel chakra to the soles of her feet to give her the extra boost. Besides her, Izumi mimicked the action, but the curiosity in her led her to keep glancing backwards, like she wanted to see the foreign nins. Rin tugged on her arm, harshly, pulling Izumi's attention away from their pursuers.

"We might have to fight," Rin stated grimly as she felt the foreign chakra gaining on them, even with their extra boost. There was no way they could outrun them forever.

"We're no match for them," Izumi protested.

"That's why you are going to go get help while I stall them." Rin was confident that the Mist nins wouldn't care to go after Izumi, since they could only be here for one thing. What she wasn't confident of was her ability to effectively stall them for a long enough period of time to actually make a difference.

Rin didn't inform Izumi of the doubt lingering in her mind.

"What? You're no match for three jonin level opponents. Come on, we'll go towards the Uchiha district."

"But there's a lot of civilians there," Rin pointed out.

"There's also a lot of capable shinobis," Izumi countered. "There's no time to argue, come on!"

They didn't make it. Rin let go of her grip on Izumi's hand to dodge to her left, the kunai cutting a few strands of her hair rather than being lodged in her shoulder. Rin turned, right hand reaching into her weapons pouch to retrieve a kunai, while her left hand hooked up three poisoned senbons between her fingers.

The three Mist nins jumped down from the branches, in the traditional Mist ninja attire, except the three of them donned masks.

"Come with me peacefully and we will spare the young one's life," the tallest man said.

Like the hell she would.

Rin flung the kunai in her right hand at the man who had spoken, who easily deflected. In less than a second, Rin followed up that throw with another kunai, this time with an explosive tag attached to the hilt. The Mist nin dodged right as the tag denoted, but it had served its purpose. To separate the three of them.

Izumi took advantage of the smoke from the explosion to slip closer to the lone Mist nin, while Rin channeled her chakra into the senbon, launching them at the other two Mist nins. The nin had been too slow to dodge the first senbon, the tip nicking his ear. He recovered just in time to dodge the second and the third senbon, but its job was done.

Taking advantage of the chaos, Rin made her way closer to the second nin, who was verbally berating his comrade for such a slow reaction. The second nin jumped back right as Rin threw her first chakra packed punch, eyes narrowing as he pulled out the sword strapped on his back.

A satisfying thump captured the second nin's attention, as his head slightly turned to witness his comrade collapsing.

Good, the poison was setting in.

She took advantage of his momentary hesitation and darted forward. The second nin recovered immediately, slashing his sword at her, only to be blocked by a kunai. Her left hand trembled underneath the force that the nin was putting behind the sword.

Rin wasn't going to last very long.

Right hand reaching out to pull out two more senbons, she flung them in the nin's direction. As expected, the nin jumped backwards while Rin took the opportunity to escape into the trees, quickly masking her chakra.

Her options were severely limited. From the little that she knew about Izumi's skills, neither of them had any powerful finishing moves. Close combat against a swordsman was a terrible idea, considering that Rin had absolutely no experience fighting against one. Her best bet was her senbons. She had the element of surprise the first time, but Rin was hard pressed to hope it would work a second time, not after making the second nin wary of her abilities.

She exposed her position when she tossed a kunai, to deflect the third nin's kunai that Izumi couldn't dodge in time. Upon that move, the second nin darted into the trees, forcing her back down into the clearing.

"Too bad I can't kill you or else this would be so much easier," the second nin scoffed before running through a series of hand seals which Rin recognized to be for some kind of water jutsu. Moments later, a water dragon emerged, charging straight at her.

Rin could dodge it, but from what she knew of that technique, it was possible for the user to change the trajectory of it and follow its target, so she needed to destroy it.

Tsunade's technique could punch through earth, rock, and trees, but could it punch through water?

Well guess Rin was about to find out.

When her chakra filled fist made contact with the water dragon's head, the jutsu exploded, raining droplets of water all throughout the clearing. The Mist nin looked mildly impressed, but immediately followed up with a wave of water. Ready for his attack, Rin pushed chakra to the soles of her feet and began to run up against the wave. Right as the wave was about to crash, Rin reached the top, firing three more senbons at the nin before diving towards her right to avoid a kunai to her face.

When the water settled down, Rin saw all three of her senbons hit her mark. The nin looked frozen as was the one that Izumi was facing against. Moments later, his eyes rolled to the back of his head before his body fell to the ground, face forward.

Three figures jumped down into the clearing, each of them surveying the prone body. Two of them flashed the shinobi code for "dead," while one confirmed that the foreign nin was still alive.

"Kakashi?" Rin asked, upon recognizing his distinctive wild white hair. The three figures removed their Anbu masks.

"Itachi kun? Shisui san? What are you doing here?"

"We were in the area when we felt a chakra spike," Shisui explained. "So we came to check it out. Imagine that, Mist nin in Konoha territory. Looks like we need to up our security."

"What happened to the Anbu who were supposed to be on duty?" Kakashi asked, eyeing the surrounding for any traces of them.

"The Mist nin had already taken care of them before they came after us," Rin informed him. Of course there was Anbu on her tail, that shouldn't be surprising, not with the many that watched over Kushina. Rin had expected the same security measures be placed on her.

"Izumi san, you are injured. Allow me to take you to the hospital," Itachi said. Rin watched with amusement as Izumi's face turned a few shades redder.

"Ahaha there's no need. Rin will heal me, right Rin?" The fact that Izumi dropped any honorifics when referring to her was only a testament of exactly how nervous she was.

Briefly, it crossed Rin's mind to decline and let Itachi take Izumi to the hospital, but Rin figured that it would be too cruel. Perhaps, on another occasion, when they were more acquainted.

Still, Rin had to fight a smile as Itachi patiently waited for her to heal Izumi, before stating that he would walk her home. Shisui wore an amused smile on his face, which said it all. Kakashi finished up sealing the two dead bodies before motioning Shisui to carry the unconscious man.

"Come on," Kakashi said as he walked past her, his shoulder brushing against hers briefly.

"Where?"

"Hokage Tower. Minato sensei would want to see with his own eyes that you are okay."

"Oh right." Rin hurried to catch up with Kakashi, falling into step besides him. Shisui gave Kakashi a mock salute before taking off towards the roof to avoid causing unnecessary panic among the villagers. Rin was surprised when Kakashi made no move to follow his comrade, but instead continued to stroll in the direction of the Konoha market.

Kakashi noted her absence besides him and cocked his head backwards, finding Rin just standing there, looking like she was lost in her own thoughts.

"Coming?" That had been enough to jolt Rin out of her thoughts and cause her to run to cover the distance between them.

Though silence pervaded between them for almost the entire trip to the Hokage Tower, there was an inexplicable giddy feeling in Rin's chest. Maybe she was just happy that Rin was finally able to walk side by side with Kakashi for once.

Yeah, it was a nice feeling.

A/N: Hi again!

This is the first of many changes that I will be making to the story: Itachi and Shisui's age. In canon, Itachi is apparently 10 years younger than Kakashi, and Shisui looks like he is about 3ish years older than Itachi? In my story however, Itachi is 4 years younger than Kakashi, making Shisui 1-2 years younger than Kakashi. So currently:

Rin+Kakashi: 15 years old (almost 16)

Shisui: 14 years old

Itachi+Izumi: 11 years old

To the guest reviewer: Yes, Izumi, Shisui, and Itachi will appear in the story. As for the Uchiha Massacre (if it even happens at all)...we'll have to see :)

Question: Who are your favorite ships (canon or non canon)?

This is the end of the Blank Period. Starting from this chapter, I'm going to reveal the chapter name of the next chapter. Some of them are super obvious about what it will be about, while others can leave you guessing. If you want, leave me a review and I can let you know if your guess is correct!

Next chapter's name is The Awakening.

As always, thank you for reading. Feel free to let me know what you think and until next time!

-MM