He'd sworn to himself he'd never feel this way again. Utter betrayal that's what the feeling was. That's what the situation was. He could be leading all of Konoha into a trap and they would follow his lead, the lead that was so tight around his neck it was beneath his skin.
Several times on the way back, he considered suicide, prevent false knowledge from contaminating Konoha's files. Keep the blindfold away from the Hokage's eyes so that she might be able to see what was happening.
Each time he dismissed it though, he could hint to them what the truth was, or even convey it by way of specific lies. He'd test the jutsu as far as it would go, push Tsuya's control as far as he could. If and when it failed, then suicide…no silence would be the best course of action.
The ANBU guards at hokage tower admitted him instantly. It wasn't everyday that someone supposedly engaged a fictional ninja and survived. The Nari clan were notorious for their lack of survivors.
A cluster of faces turned his way as he pushed the door open. His rescue party no doubt.
They were hesitant though. He could understand that. Tsunade slowly approached him, left hand poised at her side as her right slowly monitored his systems. Did she sense it? No.
She dropped her hand, and then ordered him to the floor calling for bandages. Ah that's right he was injured wasn't he. He hadn't been allowed to really look himself over. Curiously he took account of his body, noting for the first time a foot long gash down his back and the throbbing ache halfway up his left shin.
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"Tell me where Kakashi."
"Back, left shin, back of head."
It wasn't until Gai, Asuma and Genma were holding him down that Tsunade made known the twenty or so barbed senbon imbedded in his back. Each one had to have a small cross shaped incision cut into his back in order to prevent even more damage. And the gash was sever enough that any painkillers could make his condition too unstable. He had to stay with her and not go into shock.
"Maa maa." He replied smartly, before his teeth clamped together and his body began thrashing as she tediously removed the senbon.
The gash, to his surprise wasn't actually painful, it was more like a throbbing ache, like the aftermath of stubbing a toe, or a bee sting. The senbon were painful. He felt each and everyone as she removed them. Could count the number of jagged points that had sunk into his skin as she slowly teased them out. Each had a sharp ripping pain as it brushed his wounded back. Each narrowed the edges of his vision until it was all he could do to keep the last nail in sight.
"That was number eighteen. Come on stay with me Kakashi, I thought you were a genius."
"Us geniuses are always misunderstood."
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Tsunade cursed creatively as his body finally went slack. Other medic nins were there though, and she let them patch up each of the little cross shaped holes as she added her power to sealing the gash. His ribs showed through the skin like bleached bloody shells. It was a miracle he was still alive.
She made sure that the wound was sealed and uninfected before transferring her attention to the back of his skull. There was a minor bruise there nothing more. She probed for a concussion, but there wasn't one. Lastly, left shin. Cutting the pant leg away and slicing through the binds she stared at the healthy seeming limb.
Pushing onwards she probed the area. Maybe it wasn't a miracle he was alive. The bone had a compound fracture a few hours before. It was completely healed though, set, mended, and only a mild muscle strain to allude to where his shinbone had extended out of his leg. It would have been the worst injury. But it had been completely fixed. It was suspicious.
"Gai, Genma, you are to keep guard on Kakashi until I say otherwise. Be alert to any oddities or inconsistencies in his behavior."
"Hai."
"Hai."
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"Alrighty then, first order of business is setting up transport. Second is making a home, third is leaving."
"We should most definitely move somewhere unexpected."
"Yeah, I definitely want a change."
"We should start over completely. New identities all around."
"Yea! As soon as the bind's broken he'll know immediately who we are, it'd take a second to go through the Konoha archives and figure out who we all are."
"Okay, physical changes all around then, and personality ones too. If you liked to eat udon before, sushi is now your favorite food."
"We can't pose as scholars again, too many together we'll definitely attract attention."
"Something new then, and different."
"I'll look into the family's capabilities and resources."
"I'll search for new housing."
"I can do the fashion."
"Whatever Zuki."
"We're gonna need a background, I can handle that."
"You'll need help with documentation, I'm there."
"I'll be the go between for the extended family."
"We can do the transport."
"I'll cover our tracks here. No point in leaving excess info lying about."
"Okay, the rest of us have to keep up appearances."
"Hot damn, so we're all working nights then. Gotta appear normal for now."
"I bet the hokage's out for blood right now."
"Security's gonna be tight, no external fighting from now on. Hell no internal. Hyuuga ability remember."
"Perfectly normal."
"We can do that."
"No sweat."
"This is the Nari Clan we can do anything."
"Yeah!"
"Yeah!"
"Yeah!"
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I am lying on my back, stretched out on a rounded ledge in the cave. Very much like a cat. The silence is consuming, but I'm hearing, seeing, tasting, feeling…through him. It's addictive.
I just know I'm going to need therapy.
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"You understand you were in critical condition when you made your way here correct."
"Yes."
"You had multiple wounds to your back as well as innumerable bruises and aches."
She is looking me in the eye. She was sitting on the desk one leg bent, her left one. Her fingers were tapping a rhythm on her shin. Obvious, but not vocal.
"Yes." I met her eyes, nodding slowly.
"I understand you incurred a head injury as well."
Nod again. "Yes."
"One that may impair your judgment."
Her eyes were hard amber. I could have cried in relief or shouted in joy. I nodded. "Yes."
"So tell me what happened then."
"I came upon Sakura and Ino in a clearing where a ninja I believed to be a member of the Nari clan was approaching them. Both were covered in blood. I assessed their health, both appeared to have no physical wounds. The situation was however traumatic for a genin. I engaged the ninja in battle up to what I am to believe is a few moments before I was able to detect your charka. What I've calculated to be about an hour later, I woke immobile in a chair…"
…she forbid me from naming names or locations. Then ordered me to return to Konoha."
Tsunade was seated, her fingers laced as she pressed her clasped hands against her forhead. "You are telling me that the ninja you fought easily overpowered you."
"Hokage, he was playing with me, even as he was playing with Sakura and Ino."
"Kakashi, in the fullest belief of your judgment do you believe them capable of becoming allies?"
He met her gaze straight on. "Some if persuaded would make extremely loyal valuable allies, others would be like foxes in the henhouse."
"Can you determine the two."
"Yes, I merely can't name them."
"What do you believe is the best course of action."
"Divide and conquer."
"What do you need?"
"Hinata, Hyuuga."
"Granted."
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"Hinata, do you understand what you're about to do?"
The pale pearl eyed girl seemed to have grown exponentially since the chuunin exams. "You need my eyes don't you."
Copy ninja or Kurenai, in a team or alone. She would do her best.
"I need your personality Hinata, and your reputation and your skills."
"I don't understand."
"Ninjas do more than fight. I need you to do more than fight."
"I will not let you down."
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Tsuya casually walked up to the door, pockets keeping her hands warm and two fistfuls of senbon hidden as she scrutinized the area. Amazingly no one seemed to be spying on her. This was great!
Tapping lightly at the door, more of a habit than a necessity, she twisted the knob and let herself in. Closing the door gently behind her she turned and took in the room. Kakashi was stretched out on a loveseat couch, back and feet propped nose in a small orange book. He gave her a cursory glance before turning his attention back to the book. She rolled her eyes and tossed her jacket over a couch.
"So tell me what's happening."
He closed the book, sticking a finger between the pages to mark his spot as he stretched slightly. She noticed his slight wince although he tried to mask it with a yawn. Judging from his conscious and relatively comfortable state, all his other wounds had been tended to satifaction.
"How's your back feeling?"
She received a one eyed stare in return. "Do you care?"
That deserved a good smack, she held back though. Bad form getting angry this early on. "You're little good to us dead."
He scoffed. "The village is no longer searching for your clan. Are you satisfied now?"
"I'm never satisfied."
"You're not the clan."
"But I am, and my actions are the clan's actions. And the clan's goals are mine as well."
"One happy little family, huh."
"You got it."
"Fine, what else does you want?"
"From you, right now, silence."
"That's it? I just can't talk for a while."
"The rest isn't any of your business."
"I'm a ninja of this village, everything's my business."
"You're not the village."
"But I am, and my actions are the villages….and…"
"I get the point…alright?"
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"Kakashi-sensei?"
Tsuya whirled, in the hall was a girl, holding a tray of food and a small basket. She narrowed her eyes. "What's she doing here?"
"It's alright Hinata, she won't hurt you." He turned a lazy eye towards Tsuya. "She's taking care of me, Zuki did a job to my back you know."
And your leg, she thought. It wouldn't do to say that aloud though. "Hai hai."
Sauntering across the room she sprawled in the lone armchair where she could see both of them. Granted her jacket with the easily accessible weapons was farther away, but she wasn't unarmed. The ones she had on her were just more difficult to get to.
She fell silent as Hinata…was it, helped him sit upright and then slowly helped him take off the standard juunin turtleneck. His mask was a separate entity all together. Interesting…
He lay back down, this time on his stomach, hugging the pillows he'd been resting against as she unscrewed a jar of salve. His back was a mottled assortment of white pockmarks.
Their healers had apparently just sealed the wounds not actually healed them. His body must still be working frantically to repair the holes beneath the surface. Zuki used barbed senbon, nasty little buggers. They'd make a quarter sized hole in you when you tried to take them out.
From the looks of it though, they'd managed to bypass that by cutting crosses on the wounds. Clever, but it must have hurt like hell. The girl began methodically applying the salve to his back. Carefully rubbing it into the wounds and the area just around them. The girl knew her stuff.
The salve must be cold though, idly she wondered what it felt like to touch him like that. There would be so many of the village's women who'd vie for that job. Tend to his wounds, the traditional place of the female in all those fairy tales. Pace and pray while they're off at battle and then care and tend them when they come back, victorious.
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She caught him watching her from the couch. Huffing to herself she shifted in the chair letting her eyes wander elsewhere. She wasn't one to wait on anyone, no way. Here she was the one in control, and he, he was caught between duty and a hard place. If you looked at it from a distance that actually made him the good guy…damn.
And I would not blush damnit. I could feel his smile from across the room. Not cool, and most definitely not funny. I clenched my fists. Keep your cool, don't let him get to you.
It was difficult though, especially since it was this type of attention I'd been yearning for from him. Only with different circumstances, but I was reacting the way I had imagined I would. Sure I'm tough but everyone's got to have a soft side. I'd devoted mine to him, it made for a extraordinary coincidence, and a most uncomfortable relationship. At least on my side.
He was probably fine, angry at the fact that such a relationship existed but since there wasn't a whole lot he could do about it there weren't any real choices or decisions on his part. He could just follow the script, I had to write it, me and what's her name…Tsunade.
It was a delicate game of risk the two of us were playing. It would be interesting to see exactly how far we could push her by way of reputation only.
"You will also instruct Tsunade san to not try and figure out the jutsu that was used on the sound soldiers."
His eye narrowed at that. After all, villages stayed alive through their research and improvement. We were taking a major breakthrough from them with this move. Or perhaps I just was. Either way…
"You have no right to demand that." He hissed at me. The Hinata girl seemed to shrink into herself, robotically moving on to the next welt in an attempt to stay out of it.
"We have every right, it is a guarded technique, a family secret. She doesn't try and figure out the Nara techniques, or the Akimichi techniques. Tell her to stay away from ours."
Hinata scampered backwards as he surged off the couch, I could see his muscles flexing beneath the skin of his back. Very nice. He was a good six inches taller than me, barefoot and wounded. Do not drool.
I glared up at him as best I could, it's really difficult when they've got a massive height advantage at five inches apart.
"The Nari clan isn't a recognized clan of Konoha, like the others. Your techniques are free game."
I narrowed my eyes now. "There are more stories of us than any other clan, we are the most well known, the oldest and by far the most powerful."
"You don't serve under the Hokage, you don't actively protect the village and you hide your identities."
"Fine, perhaps were are secretive and independent, that means that any ninja trying to figure out our techniques are free game for us. We've guarded our secrets for centuries, don't think a bit of political mumbo jumbo is going to change that. This is your warning."
He glared, I glared, Hinata cowered. The situation was tense, unfriendly. It was time to leave. I brushed past him, not looking back, slid into my coat and stalked out the door, fingering my weapons and fantasizing about massive ass kicking.
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Hinata sighed and then frowned slightly. "Kakashi-sensei, I need to finish applying your medicine." He was staring at the closed door, eyes deep with thought.
"Hai…" Striding back to the couch he collapsed on the cushions, pillowing his head as he gazed blankly at the back of the couch…thinking.
"Hinata…?"
"That last bit was true, if Tsunade sama continues to research that technique she will be in danger of attack."
"What about the rest?"
"They are not the oldest clan, that technique is not a clan secret, and the clans goals are not her own." She frowned slightly pulling back the details of the conversation.
"Oh, and something else that she wants is your business. Those were the lies, everything else was truth." She concluded.
"They are the most powerful?"
"Yes."
He let out a ragged breath and closed his eyes. There was good news and bad news then. "What else can you tell me."
"I think she knew why I was there."
That surprised one of his eyes into opening. "Oh?"
"There was recognition when she looked at my eyes, as well as amusement and respect, for you I think. She was very pensive when I first began to treat your wounds, she remembered something and then…"
"And then what?" he asked idly.
"I think she was interested in you…" she murmured. "She seemed very interested and then pensive and then embarrassed and angry at you. I couldn't determine why, but she was trying very hard not to react."
"Sou desu ka?"
"Hai."
Well didn't that put an interesting spin on things.
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"Kakashi sensei do you know if she's actually a ninja?"
This was surprising enough that he repositioned so he could look at her while she talked. "What makes you ask that?"
"She seemed genuinely surprised when I spoke. Is it possible she actually didn't detect me?"
He mulled this over… It was possible, unlikely but possible. "She might be a specialist. Although that doesn't make sense if her area of expertise is genjutsu, detecting my charka imprint as well as yours should have been kid's work."
"Perhaps the strain of the one she's using on you might limit her other senses…"
He studied the pearl eyed girl. "You might have a point there."
