WARNING: THE FOLLOWING IS A VERY LONG AUTHOR'S NOTE. Skip it if you know the character Kakashi and the series Naruto fairly well.
For those of you who are unfamiliar with the animanga Naruto, here's a quick spiel on what you probably need to know in order to understand this fic.
The term chakrarefers to the spiritual and body energy circulating in a ninja's cells. Think of it as chi if you like. They use chakra to execute techniques. There is a circulatory system of chakra in the body and this system serves to transport chakra to different openings in the body when needed.
A sealin a sign formed by the hands, and different successions of seals make up different ninja techniques.
The character Hatake Kakashi(surname than given name) is a twenty/thirty something year old elite ninja from the Hidden Ninja Village of Konoha, whose symbol is the leaf. He has the status of a Jounin ninja, the highest rank. He covers his left eye with his Konoha forehead protector (worn or carried by all ninja), which in this fic I have done away with for reasons explained in this chapter.
Kakashi is a particularly famous ninja because his left eye is a Sharingan eye, which has the ability to see through disguises (and do other handy things like that) and can actually see lines of chakra in the body. Most importantly, it gives its owner the ability to copy another ninja's technique just by watching it once. Thus, possessing the Sharingan Eye is very handy for a ninja, as well as a powerful advantage.
However, the Sharingan comes from a genetic trait specific to only one of the ninja families, the Uchiha clan, of which Kakashi is not a member of, making his particular Sharingan very unusual. (The story of how he got his Sharingan is really touching actually.) Because of his Sharingan, Kakashi is well known as the "Copy Ninja." But even without his Sharingan, Kakashi is still a powerful ninja in his own right, and one of the best of Konoha.
Another thing to note about Kakashi is his favorite novel series. This is relevant, I swear. Often, one can find Kakashi with his nose buried in the latest edition of Ichi Ichi Paradise, a series of romantic excursions of the physical kind (read: porn). This is perhaps the most important thing one must know about Hatake Kakashi. Okay, maybe it isn't, but it's pretty close.
Things that aren't necessary to know in order to understand Kakashi's character but may or may not be useful to understand this chapter:
Hokage is the highest ranking level of a ninja village. The Hokage is the leader, and most powerful. All ninja report to him or her. The current leader is Tsunade, known as the Fifth Hokage or just simply the Fifth.
Genin are the lowest ranking ninja, the level ninjas receive right out of school.
Chapter 2: Investigation
"You may enter," Kakashi solemnly told a mother and child as they returned from grocery shopping.
He and Inuyasha were posted at the gate of the main house of the Sohma estate today. Currently, Kakashi watched the comings and goings of the gate while Inuyasha glared at him from the corners of his eyes.
Kakashi allowed himself some amusement. For the past week, Inuyasha couldn't seem to stop staring at his eye patch. Yet, it was clear that the guy couldn't bring himself to ask about it as well. It was as though he were determined to torture his own curiosity.
By now, Kakashi was accustomed to the attention his eye patch brought. In fact, he, himself, found it unusual. He hadn't realized just how big a part his Konoha forehead protector was to him. Just one day of the eye patch had him pining silently for it. It just wasn't the same. The thin cord of the eye patch was a far cry from the strip of cloth he was accustomed to. It didn't have the same stability and firmness as the forehead protector. Plus, it was elastic. Kakashi wasn't sure how much he trusted elastic, unless it happened to be present in things such as women's lingerie, and even then, only if it came up in the latest edition of Ichi Ichi Paradise. Elastic wore out after a while, whereas with cloth, one only had to secure it tighter when needed.
But Kakashi had enough self-discipline to withstand it. After all, his forehead protector, the sign of his status as a Jounin level ninja, meant nothing in this part of the country. It was best not to bring attention to it then. He had no choice, really. Just because the people here didn't know about chakra didn't mean he could risk exposing his Sharingan eye.
"There have been reports of sudden swells of chakra beyond the hidden villages," the Fifth Hokage Tsunade had told him. "And when I say beyond, I mean it. We've detected these rushes off the maps."
"I see," Kakashi had replied gravely.
"Even the genin can feel it," Tsunade continued. "And if they can, doubtless our enemies have already begun investigating the source of such chakra. We can not risk the chance of allowing a potential source of chakra get into their hands. I understand that you already have a lot of work on your shoulders, but frankly, I don't know who else is capable enough to send out who's not already busy. I would have sent a Hyouga instead, but they're all off on missions."
Kakashi had already guessed what his next mission would be before he had stepped into the Fifth's office, but he waited for her to finish.
"Your next assignment is a solo mission: travel down to these areas of vast fluxes of chakra and investigate. Report back with those chakra dogs of yours as often as possible." Tsunade leaned back in her chair and downed a quick cup of sake. "Don't worry about your students," she assured him. "They will continue their training with others."
At the time, Kakashi had thought to himself that this mission was a great disservice to his students: obviously, they would not receive the same quality of education and training with another Jounin as they would with him. But it couldn't be helped. The Hokage's word was final.
Kakashi found the land beyond the ninja lands bewildering, in that where the boundary between them really was the place where all traces of ninjas ended. The moment he had stepped off the mountains separating the two places, Kakashi had lost all sense of chakra. He could barely even feel it in his own body, and only a day of rest and meditation brought back the usual, comforting sensation of chakra running through his veins.
Well, almost all sensation. There was still that prickling of chakra dancing in the back of his skull, the sudden bursts of chakra that worried the Hokage so much back home.
With the absence chakra in this world, it was laughably easy to identify the location of these bursts. The Sohma estate didn't even try to hide itself. To Kakashi's practiced eye, it was as though the Sohmas were flaunting their appalling amounts of chakra.
Dutifully, Kakashi had sent off Pakkun, that cynical but loyal furball of a dog, back to Tsunade with his discoveries. The Fifth, however, was not finished with him.
"She wants you to infiltrate the compound," Pakkun had reported, scratching at an ear with a toe. "She says it's not enough that you know where the chakra is, but who has the chakra, and how many of them, and other troublesome things like that. She also wants me to tell you that she shouldn't have to tell you these things and that you're getting old," he added, just before he vanished with a pop.
Again, the Sohma's made his job pathetically easy. Kakashi had observed the estate for a few days, as well the community around it, and made some preparations. He purchased an eye patch, using some coins with a few illusionary seals cast on them to look like this nation's currency. Then he applied for the guard job and sailed through the interview. Even better, the majority of the time he and Inuyasha were posted outside the main house, the place he felt the most chakra. Kakashi suspected that the eye patch and his face mask had been more convincing than his hastily put together resume, but then, he was grateful for the Sohmas for providing him so many conveniences.
"Hey," Inuyasha called slowly from the other side of the gate.
Kakashi flicked his glance over. "Yes?"
Instead of responding, Inuyasha narrowed his eyes at him.
Presently, it was one of the slow days. Other than the mother and daughter, it seemed that the elite of the Sohmas had all decided to stay at home for the day, leaving their newly appointed guards with no one to watch.
Kakashi took the opportunity to gaze back at him, holding the staring competition. In actuality, Kakashi was observing Inuyasha's chakra lines, of which there was an almost obscene amount. Ruefully, he admitted to himself that Inuyasha's body contained more chakra than he himself, perhaps even as much as his student Naruto. There were the same wild, almost uncontrolled movements of chakra, that inhuman supply that Naruto only had because of the Kyuubi trapped inside. If Naruto needed a demon within his belly to reach that level of chakra, what supernatural force did Inuyasha have?
"I've just been wondering…" Inuyasha started after a minute of staring.
"Yes?" Kakashi wondered if Inuyasha had finally gotten over his gruntled shyness. He had already prepared a plausible excuse for the eye patch, and Kakashi found himself vaguely eager to use it for the first time.
"What's with the mask?" Inuyasha brushed his cheek to indicate. "Are you hiding scars or something?"
Well. Kakashi didn't have a handy answer for that. Nobody back home had ever dared ask him about his mask.
Kakashi leaned against the gate wall, crossing his arms over his vest, and looked up at the clouds as he pondered an answer.
"An accident in my childhood," he decided. "It didn't disfigure my face too horribly, but it was enough to get me into habit of wearing a mask."
"A habit? So you don't necessarily need to hide your face anymore?" Inuyasha cracked a few knuckles and stretched. "Well, I understand the need to hide. There was a time when I would have given anything to wear a mask."
Kakashi looked down from the sky and raised an eyebrow at him, but their peace was interrupted before he could answer.
"My, my, since when did we have such funny-looking guards?"
Inuyasha snapped to attention, brows knit together in scowl. Kakashi merely rotated his neck until there was a crack.
The current potential intruder laughed merrily, tapping his chin with a fan. Inuyasha narrowed his eyes as the character "dog" flashed with every tap on the fan.
Kakashi thought amusedly to himself that the "funny-looking" part was rather rich coming from this guy. The intruder's company included a rather disgruntled bunch of two teenagers, one with silver hair and purple eyes and another with orange hair and eyes.
The intruder was still giggling. "Obviously you've been kept out here in the sun for so long that your hair aged instantly. What on earth is Akito-san thinking, doing such a thing to his protectors?"
"My hair color is natural, actually," Kakashi remarked for no particular reason.
"Of course, of course," the intruder relented, waving his fan. "I was merely shocked that I missed such a new employment. Usually I'm up to date with the family's business, being a very important member of the Sohma's myself. Aren't I, Yuki-kun? Kyou-kun?"
The two boys, Yuki and Kyou, Kakashi assumed, didn't reply. Orange Hair scowled and crossed his arms while Silver Hair merely stared into the gate.
Inuyasha, trying very hard not to glower at the man, gritted his teeth and said, "That's very nice. Go on in."
But the intruder seemed disappointed by the lack of response from his companions. "Why are you both so sullen today? Aren't you at least going to greet the guards? They're just mad about visiting the main house today," he explained to the guards, for no apparent reason that Kakashi could see. "They like living away from home, these two."
"This isn't my home, Shigure," Orange hair suddenly snapped.
In the silence that followed, the intruder, apparently named Shigure, gaped dramatically. "So you haven't forgotten how to speak! Good for you!"
Kakashi observed as the twitch on Inuyasha's right mouth convulsed. "Are you all going in or are you just going to stand there?" he snapped. "If you're not going to fucking enter, leave!"
Shigure pouted. "Akito sure picked some surly guards," he commented. "Come, Yuki, Kyonkichi."
"Don't call me that!"
When they had walked a suitable distance away from the gate, Inuyasha spat at the ground.
"Good riddance," he muttered. "Sheesh. The whole pack of this family is strange. How are we supposed to do our jobs if we have to fucking let in every crazy who calls himself a Sohma?"
Kakashi didn't reply. He was too preoccupied with watching Kyou, who hung at the back of the trio, and his receding back, as well as the quiet swirls of chakra lines zipping around his body. His Sharingan eye stretched open and observed through the eye patch as Yuki slumped behind Shigure and Yuki, noting the lights of chakra within them.
"There is something about the Sohma's," commented Kakashi. "Something off."
"Those three particularly," Inuyasha said.
And then Inuyasha frowned, and if Kakashi hadn't happened to glance up at the right moment, he would have missed what Inuyasha did next. It was subtle, barely a movement, but Kakashi's already open Sharingan eye caught the slight wrinkle of Inuyasha's nose, a tiny flaring of the nostrils, the tilt of the chin lifting his nose into the air.
Inuyasha was sniffing the wind, Kakashi realized. Like a dog trying to catch a scent. Exactly like a dog, in fact.
The Sharingan swiveled to Inuyasha's chest and paused. Sure enough, a trail of glowing chakra zipped at the bridge of his nose.
"Indeed," Kakashi murmured, deciding that despite the wretched eye patch, he was glad that Tsunade had given him this mission. And he really needed to thank the Sohma's for one more thing: providing him an enigma to solve. Guarding could get boring after all.
