Summary: Hatake Kakashi, copy ninja. Not much is known of him. His past is yet to be uncovered.
Warning: Slight Yaoi Iruka/Kakashi much later in the story. VIOLENCE. Now you know why it's rated PG13.
Note: This story only has 3 chapters, so enjoy! And thanks again to Masterdeeds for the beta-reading!
Disclaimer: Naruto does not belong to me.
The Past Behind the Mask
Chapter 2: Deal
Kakashi felt Iruka shift beside him to lean against his back. Moving slightly so that the juunin wouldn't have to support his friend, he let his weight do the job as he placed himself back-to-back with him. The only other movement was a breeze raising a cloud of dust that settled back almost immediately. The sun was climbing down slowly, painting the sky in bright oranges and reds.
"Yaiba-sensei didn't go easy on me that time." Kakashi broke the silence as he remembered his harsh punishment.
"You still haven't told me what you had to do," Iruka added with a small laugh.
"And I'll never tell you either. That knowledge will die with me," replied the juunin darkly.
Iruka chuckled and both of them shook since they were leaning against each other. Kakashi hit him slightly with his elbow and shifted his balance.
"Laugh all you want, but you remember as well as I what came after my confrontation with Haji," the juunin interrupted. Iruka froze suddenly, and his perfect stillness was proof enough of the grimness he felt when recalling the events.
Kakashi ran quickly back to the village through the forest, his senses fully alert. He had been separated from his comrades during their last mission, and they had agreed to meet at the village's gates should they lose one another. There should not be any enemies so close, but you could never know.
The genin was just out of sight of the village when he felt a presence following him. He stopped, aware that there could be traps. He slowed to a walk, careful of his every step and aware of the slightest shift of leaves.
"You look strong, Hatake, but not enough I'm afraid."
Kakashi turned around sharply, only to stare straight at Uchiha Haji. The genin was lounging against a huge oak and wore a satisfied smile that contrasted with his blazing Sharingan.
"It's not the place to fight, Uchiha, we might attract unwanted attention," Kakashi said, a chill going up his spine. What in the world did Haji want now? He had left him alone when he could have had great opportunities to make him pay for insulting him. Why did he choose now, and here, where it was dangerous for him too?
"Don't try to run, Hatake. We're going to fight here and now, and I've got just the thing to make you stay," Haji replied, and stepped aside.
Iruka was sprawled amongst the oak's roots, his face covered in blood. His eyes were glazed and unfocused, and he was frightfully still.
"Iruka!! What did you do to him, bastard?" Kakashi yelled, meaning to run to his friend, but Haji placed himself between them.
"Not one-eyed? Are you afraid, Hatake? That's good, very good. Don't worry though, he isn't dead, and I'll not kill you or him. Death isn't fun compared to pain," Haji answered, his grin widening even more.
Snarling in anger, Kakashi lunged himself at the Sharingan master, only to have his punch contact with air.
"Too slow. What have you been doing all this time? I thought you'd be stronger than that," Haji mocked from behind Kakashi.
The silver-haired boy swirled around, using the movement to land a powerful kick, but the Uchiha evaded it easily.
"Still not fast enough."
However fast Kakashi attacked, Haji either countered it or evaded it easily. Soon, the silver-haired boy found himself covered with deep gashes and the heavy blood loss started to show as he slowed down and his attacks grew sluggish.
"Now you'll see what it feels like to be 'one-eyed'."
Kakashi didn't see the attack coming. Before he knew it, blinding pain erupted in his left eye and hot blood poured down his face. He shrieked, and his yell blended with Haji's laughter.
"Who is one-eyed now, Hatake?" Uchiha laughed, stepping aside and disappearing from Kakashi's eyesight. The silver-haired boy, panting, climbed back to his feet.
"My eye...you bastard," Kakashi started to snarl, but he stopped short when he saw the kunai imbedded in the ground at his feet. A bloody globe was stuck in the blade.
"I wouldn't call it an eye anymore," Haji said mockingly.
Kakashi stared at the globe in horror. He had only thought Uchiha had injured his left eye, maybe even blinded it, but the shock of seeing it at his feet...
"Kakashi..."
The boy called turned sharply around and stared as Iruka slowly climbed to his feet. His eyes were feverish.
"Snap out of it, we're not alone..." the brown-haired boy managed to mutter. Haji had stopped laughing and was studying the surroundings with a touch of panic.
"So that boy isn't dead after all. Good, it's one more hostage then," a voice cackled from the trees.
Five ninjas let themselves fall to the ground, barely making a sound, and surrounded the three genins. Kakashi just had the time to hear Haji echo his own curse before being knocked out.
Kakashi woke up to the pain in his left eye socket, and a slow trickle of blood down his cheek. He looked around, but he might as well have been totally blind; wherever he was being kept was pitch black. He tried to stand up, but he had lost so much blood that his knees buckled under him and a wave of dizziness had him clutching his head.
The genin crouched on all fours and slowly crawled around the room by feeling his way along the walls. The ground and walls were made of stone, cold to the touch and slick, as if they were wet. The cell must have measured no more than four feet by three feet, and the ceiling was barely five feet high. Kakashi couldn't do anything but curl into a ball in a corner, not even able to stretch his aching legs. He tore a piece of cloth from his clothes and dressed his left eye-socket the best he could, but his clothes being already drenched with his blood and dirt, it wasn't very effective.
Kakashi went very still when he heard a creak like rusted hinges to his left.
"He's still out cold. We should give him something; I don't want him to die on us. A dead hostage doesn't have any value," a deep voice rasped.
"I'll go get the Healer. He'll fix him in no time," another, softer voice answered. The speaker appeared younger.
"Don't. If we patch him up too well, they'll get ideas about being important and they'll start acting funny. That cut on his nose is probably just infected. Go get some medicine," the dry voice ordered curtly.
The thump of boots faded away to the left, and Iruka's cell door closed to the same sound of rusty hinges. There was another, slicker sound nearer to the left and Kakashi guessed that it was Haji's cell.
"Go to hell," the boy growled. Their captor laughed.
"Got some spirit, don't ya? So, that's the famous Sharingan. Pretty neat. Maybe we'll find a use for you yet," the man said as he closed the door again.
Kakashi knew he was the next, and he dreaded the opening of the door. The dark suddenly seemed to hold a measure of security, as if he could hide in it.
Light first appeared from above, and Kakashi squinted against the assault. His left socket burned and he shielded it further with one hand. The speaker was a short, stocky man with a scar running along his temple down his neck. His black eyes peered at Kakashi intently through the flickering shadows of his oil lamp.
"That eye of yours doesn't look good," he said with the tone of someone worried that his best merchandise might be damaged beyond repair. "I should have sent for the Healer after all."
Kakashi kept perfectly silent, but his gaze never wavered from his captor's face.
"Good thing I came, then," a young man's voice said curtly. "You know less than zero when it comes to injuries, so I thought I'd better check on the boys to make sure none died on us because of your ignorance."
The man watching Kakashi jumped and looked to his right. A sheepish grin tugged at his scar.
"Yeah, well check this one first. His eye is a mess. If it's still an eye," he added as an afterthought.
Another, younger man appeared in the light. He was tall and slim, a bit like Yaiba-sensei, but his skin was a ghostly white and long white hair framed his face. His blues eyes made Kakashi shudder.
"Remove that bandage, kid, or the wound will infect," the Healer ordered with the tone of someone used to being obeyed.
Kakashi did as he was told, and he flinched when the light hit the sensible nerves at the back of his eye socket. He brought his hand up to shield it in reflex but the Healer grabbed his wrist firmly.
"I've got to treat that now," the Healer said and straightened. "Do you have his eye? It's not too late to replace it," he added.
Kakashi's head jerked at that. They could replace his left eye? Make him see again?
"No. We probably didn't see it on the field. Too bad for the kid," the bigger man answered with a shrug.
Suppressed anger suddenly welled up inside of Kakashi. So he would stay half-blind forever? Haji had gotten them into this stupid situation because of his foolishness, and now not only were they in their enemy's hand, but he and Iruka would have this day branded in their flesh forever. Just because Haji had been stronger with his sharingan.
"I want his eye," Kakashi muttered before he could think. If he had his Sharingan, he'd be strong, and things like this would never happen again, and he'd be able to beat Haji.
The Healer looked at him in surprise, and a new light glittered in his eyes.
"His eye...? You mean his Sharingan? Tochi, was the Uchiha kid the one that tore his eye out?" the Healer asked the man beside him. The guy named Tochi frowned and rubbed his chin.
"I think so. We arrived at the end of their battle, but I'm 90% sure," Tochi answered. "You ain't going to..." he started but the Healer cut him off.
"We could work with this," the Healer mused, a smile curving his pale lips. He considered Kakashi for a moment before straightening. "You have a nice eye boy. I'll give you his Sharingan. Not for free," he added with a laugh at Kakashi's sudden grin. "You'll have to give us a hand."
Kakashi automatically tensed, but he relaxed when he realized the Healer didn't mean his hand but help. He berated himself for a fool. Why would they want a hand anyway? Kakashi's mood darkened, if it was possible. Help them? For what? He didn't want to betray Konoha. He didn't want to be the cause for its destruction! He'd prefer to die in this cell of his.
The Healer laughed and shook his head, as if he had read the boy's thoughts. "We don't ask you to attack your village, not directly at least. See, we don't have the forces to attack it, but we'd like to do a bit of spying, see if we can't find some weakness. But for that, someone has to let us in," the Healer explained, his voice so honeyed it dripped.
Kakashi didn't know what to think or do. He could have a Sharingan, yet he'd have to help his enemies spy on Konoha! But the Sharingan...Troubled thoughts fought in his head, rational versus irrational, and the genin shook his head to try and dissipate the fog that seemed to cloud his senses. If only he could find a way to have the Sharingan without endangering Konoha.
A sudden idea struck him and he struggled not to let his joy show on his face. His teacher had said to join back at the gates if they got separated, and, by now, he'd be looking for him since he hadn't shown up. And Iruka and Haji's disappearance would make it seem all the more important. He could get the Sharingan, pretend to lead them inside Konoha but somehow send a warning. Yes, that would work nicely.
"Alright, I'll help you, but you have to heal Iruka too and make him part of the plan," Kakashi finally agreed.
The Healer smiled. "Then we have a deal." He turned to Tochi who had listened to the conversation with growing surprise at first, then deep thought as he already started to lay out the plans. "Tochi, get the boys out and into the operation room. I'll deal with them there."
The thought of what would become of Haji had never once crossed Kakashi's mind.
TBC
Tochi: Land.
There you go for the second chapter. The next one will be the last!
A-chan