.:Chapter 4:.
Nearing ten o'clock, all six nin were in place.
"Kayaku-sensei?" Kakashi whispered, walking into the clearing. The blonde jumped down into the clearing, eyeing the copy nin with a glare.
"What are you planning?" He directed. Kakashi could tell he was on full alert and he one of his specially altered kunai in his hand, ready to use the hiraishin if needed.
"What makes you think I'm planning something?" He said casually. Kayaku twitched slightly at the calmness of his voice.
"I know you wouldn't just desert Konoha like that. Kakashi... I know you better than anyone and I can tell when you're up to something."
"Alright. You got me," Kakashi smirked from beneath his mask as Jiraiya gave the signal. "We're bringing you back to Konoha, Kayaku-sensei."
Kayaku spun around as Jiraiya and Rin both jumped swiftly above him, intending an advanced attack. The trio of genin back in the treetops watched from a distance, Naruto closer than others, as the blonde jumped to the left just in time as Jiraiya brought the rasengan down onto the ground where his former student had been. Kayaku back-handspringed into a tree top and vanished with the hiraishin before anyone could do anything else.
That's where Sasuke and Sakura took over. Three tomoe spun into full view as the Uchiha's crimson sharingan activated to the movement.
"There," Sasuke whispered and leapt in the direction of the Yondaime with exuberant speed. Sakura followed behind, trying to catch up as best she could. Kakashi sprung to the trees and easily caught up with Sasuke and Sakura.
"Oi! Where's he heading, Sasuke?"
"North-west... a little ways from here..."
"Right. I'll go ahead," Kakashi whispered and shot ahead of the two genin at a quickened pace.
Kayaku appeared outside of the forest a little ways from the others. He could only throw the kunai so far, you know.
"Dammit..." He whispered, panting slightly from the chakra the hiraishin used up. He tried to feel the other's chakra and found Kakashi's immediately.
"Sensei!" Kakashi leapt from the trees as Kayaku tried to spring away once more, only, this time, the copy nin leapt atop of the blonde, knocking the special kunai from his hand and sending it slightly out of reach.
"Lemme go, Kakashi! I swear to God if you-"
"What. You're telling me what to do when you're clearly at my mercy?"
Kayaku laughed evilly from under his breath.
"Have you forgotten who taught you?" With that, Konoha's Yellow Flash elbowed Kakashi in the stomach, sending blood from his student's mouth, and jumped out from under him, sliding to halt near his kunai. The copy nin coughed before standing once more, glaring at the blonde with an intense hatred. Kayaku gave Kakashi one pitiful look of 'sorry' and threw the kunai far away, disappearing in a bright yellow flash.
"Dammit..." The copy nin whispered.
"Kakashi-sensei!" Sasuke and Sakura leapt down beside him.
"Where's Kayaku-san?" Sakura asked worriedly.
"I don't know... Sasuke. Did you happen to-"
"Yeah... But, we'd better get Jiraiya, Rin, and Naruto if we wanna win. If you can't take him..." Sasuke blushed and looked to the side. "Sakura and I sure can't..."
The silver-haired jounin sighed and decided that'd be best.
"Alright... Sasuke, go back and get the others. Sakura, you go with him. Get back here as fast as you can, got it?"
"Hai."
With that, the two were whisked away into the darkness.
After Sasuke and Sakura came back with Jiraiya, Rin, and Naruto, the six followed a faint chakra trail, using both Sasuke's and Kakashi's sharingan. Soon enough, they found him dashing through the treetops of a forest. What they didn't know was that he knew they were following him and that he was gradually pacing them towards Otogakure no Sato. Jiraiya was the first to catch up to the former Yondaime. With the five others far behind him, he leapt in front of Kayaku to slow him down.
"Kayaku! Stop this!" Jiraiya yelled as the blonde noticed just in time to try to use the hiraishin. Unluckily for him, though, Jiraiya was faster and jumped into the air, catching Kayaku's slender frame in his roughened arms and grabbed his wrists with one hand to stop him from making any hand signs.
By this time, Kakashi and the others had caught up and landed on the enlarged tree-branch Jiraiya and Kayaku were on.
"You got him!" Rin exclaimed. Kayaku was struggling with all his might to break free. Jiraiya was loosing hold.
"Kayaku, I said stop! Do I have to knock you out?" The hermit growled angrily, tightening his grip on Kayaku's wrists and body. The blonde let up a bit, feeling the circulation in both wrists being cut off. He winced slightly and glared up at his teacher.
"Let me go," He growled firmly. Anyone could tell he was trying to think of some kind of jutsu to do without hand signs, but, apparently, he could think of none and gave up that theory as he let his body fall limp in Jiraiya's arms.
"D-daddy... why?" Naruto asked, tugging lightly on his fathers sleeve and looking at him in the eyes with the saddest puppy-dog face he could pull off. Kayaku tilted his head to the right to look at his son. He blushed slightly, feeling guilty about trying to lead his own flesh and blood to Otogakure. He didn't even try to answer the younger blonde. He knew he wouldn't be able to, even if he wanted. "Daddy...!" Naruto tugged slightly harder on his sleeve. "Answer me, dattebayo..." He said in his littlest voice ever.
Jiraiya looked at Naruto, seeing his truly saddened self for the first time and sighed. He knew that Naruto watching his father be defeated like this must have had an impact on his mind and impression.
Kayaku closed his eyes and sighed aggravatedly.
"You can let me go now, sensei..." He whispered. "I won't run..."
Jiraiya didn't believe it at first, but when the blonde opened his eyes and looked directly into his own, he knew the boy was telling the truth and set him on his feet, releasing his hold. Rin and Kakashi both kept their guard up to full, watching their sensei's every move and thought with all means possible. Both secretly had weapons and chakra at the ready, just in case.
Kayaku sighed and looked into his son's eyes with a distant gaze of mystery.
"Do you still love me, Naruto?" He asked after a short silence. Naruto blinked, his eyes widening and his mind racing with thoughts.
"D-do I... still...?" Naruto stuttered, not quite comprehending. In the end, he recovered, though. "Of course I do! You're my father! Why wouldn't I?"
Kakashi noticed an incomprehensible pain in his teachers' eyes. An unreal pain that couldn't be understood by anyone but the copy nin, himself.
"Even after I was the one who sealed the kyuubi into you...?"
Naruto blinked, his jaw slightly ajar. His eyes went out of focus as he stared up into the blue he knew was his fathers'.
"I-I..." He stuttered. All eyes were on him. He didn't understand. What was going on? Why couldn't he just say 'yes!'? Kayaku had been Hokage! It was his job!...right?
The former Yondaime sighed and looked to the right, opening his eyes slowly.
"I thought so..." He concluded in a light whisper. "Then I do have no other choice..."
All eyes shot open as Kayaku unexpectedly grabbed Naruto, leapt from the tree, and dashed off as fast as he possibly could. He was gone before anyone could comprehend what had just happened, it had happened so fast. Kakashi and Jiraiya were the first to snap out of it.
"Rin! Take Sasuke and Sakura back to Konoha and report everything to the Godaime!" Jiraiya yelled over his shoulder as he and the copy nin leapt off after the blondes. "Don't do anything unless we signal for you to do so!" By that, he meant don't come back, don't send reinforcements, and, above all, don't get involved.
Before Rin could argue, the duo were gone. She huffed, trying to decide whether to obey or not, and, in the end, decided that it'd be best to respect her elder and do as she was told. So, she took Sasuke and Sakura and headed back to the land of fire.
"KAYAKU!" Jiraiya yelled after catching up to his student. The Yondaime was slightly slowed down by the weight of his son in his arms. Kakashi was slightly behind Jiraiya, not quite advanced enough to get up to speed with his elder yet. "HOLD ON! If you're going to run away, leave Naruto! This isn't right! Do you even know what you're doing right now? ...Kayaku! Kayaku, answer me!-!" Jiraiya yelled, angrier than he had been in a long time. Kayaku ignored the spiky-haired hermit chasing him and kept his eyes focused straight ahead, a look on his face reminding one of a caught burglar trying to unsuccessfully run from the police. Naruto looked up at his father, still speechless and completely bewildered.
"KAYAKU!" Jiraiya hollered behind him and hurled seven extra-pointy kunai in his direction.
"Shit..." Kayaku leapt up with all his might and immediately sprung in a different direction. Kakashi and Jiraiya both immediately followed his movement and sprung to the right along with him. "Dammit...GIVE UP ALREADY!" He yelled over his shoulder at his two pursuers.
"Not until we catch you!" Kakashi yelled back, taking one giant leap and hurling himself right past Jiraiya and up into the air, coming down on Kayaku. "Chidori!" He yelled as a burst of blue chakra formed around his hand, crackling with a noise like no other.
The Yondaime immediately formed a small blue sphere in his right hand, supporting Naruto with his left and slid to a halt on one of the tree-branches as the two blue chakra orbs collided. Naruto's eyes widened, seeing Sasuke and himself in that position.
'But, no...' He reminded himself. 'That's daddy and Kakashi-sensei... in the... exact... same...' He stopped, his jaw now quivering as Kakashi was hurled backwards in a spiral motion. A second later, the jounin recovered and found his balance right before landing on a tree limb. While Kayaku focused on his former student, Jiraiya crept up behind him and snagged Naruto. Before the Yondaime could do anything, Kakashi leapt behind him and hit him with two fingers in the back of the neck, focusing on one tenketsu.
The Yondaime's body immediately went completely numb and his eyes eventually were taken over with darkness. He stood there, completely baffled on the spur of the moment, then collapsed into the arm that Jiraiya wasn't holding Naruto in. The little blonde stared at his father's limp body in terror. Was his father really so vital a nin to Konoha that it would be immediate defeation if Konoha were to loose him to another village? Was his father really that great?
"Gomenasai... sensei..." Kakashi whispered in an extremely light tone, looking sadly down at the elder blonde.
"Naruto..." Jiraiya turned to the startled Uzumaki. "Are you okay in walking?"
"I... y-yeah..." He stuttered as Jiraiya set Naruto onto the branch, making sure his feet were steady below him before letting go. The blonde felt as if he was going to black-out right then and there after witnessing and being a part of everything that had just happened. In fact, he thought he was dreaming everything and he'd wake up soon enough. He hit himself lightly over the head with the blunt part of a kunai he had pulled from its' holster only to find that it wasn't a dream.
"Naruto! What the hell are you doing! Be careful with those!" Jiraiya yelled suddenly, snatching the kunai from Naruto with his free hand. Normally, Naruto would have yelled at the ero-sennin and demand he give him his kunai back, informing him for the umpteenth time he was going to be Hokage one day. But, out of shock, Naruto just slowly turned his head towards Jiraiya, his eyes wide, then blinked once. Jiraiya cocked an eyebrow. "Naruto...? Are you alright?"
"D-daddy..." He said slowly. "Wha-what's he planning on doing...? What's going on!-?" He demanded, glaring at his sensei and Jiraiya.
"Naruto..." Jiraiya said slowly. Kakashi came next to the sannin and took Kayaku from him, adjusting his sensei in his arms. The spiky-haired nin slowly knelt down and put both hands on Naruto's shoulders, a pitiful look of guilt in his eye. "I don't know what he'd trying to do or why, but he's not the same as he used to be, Naruto-kun..." Jiraiya concluded slowly. "He never used to be this way..."
Walking into Konoha, the Yondaime now fully awake and struggling with everything he had when the gates came into view, many onlookers noticed the Yondaime and stared with widened eyes.
"LEMME GO, DAMMIT! I'LL KILL YOU BOTH!" He yelled, trying to do everything he could to break from Jiraiya and Kakashi's grasp. The two nin were standing on either side of the Yondaime, his arms firmly in their grasp.
"Just how do you expect to do that, Kaya-chan?" Jiraiya asked with a smile and a laugh. "Do you remember who taught you? Do you remember who surpassed you when you 'died'?" He was referring to himself, then to Kakashi. Kayaku flushed bright red and growled every cuss word ever invented under his breath in aggravation, his gaze strictly at the moving ground beneath him.
"What does it matter..." The former Yondaime whispered angrily. "I could still beat you both. I think you're forgetting who was the Yondaime Hokage!" His voice gradually built to a yell. He tried to kick the two, his arms and hands not being free at the moment, but only ended up tripping and becoming completely at the two's mercy.
Naruto walked silently, for once, behind them, watching his father's every movement. He just didn't understand why he hated Konoha so much.
"Tsunade-sama?" Naruto pushed open the door to the Godaime's office, walking in, Jiraiya, Kakashi, and Kayaku right behind. Tsunade, Shizune, Rin, Sasuke, and Sakura all were waiting impatiently on the inside. All eyes widened as the four entered.
"Uzumaki Kayaku, you little- faking your own death like that! What in kami-sama's name were you possibly thinking!-?" Tsunade yelled, grabbing Kayaku from Jiraiya and Kakashi, who let go, knowing not even Kayaku could beat Tsunade's abnormal strength. "WELL!-? ANSWER ME, DAMMIT!" She screamed, on the verge of slapping the blonde.
"What does it matter to you? I'm here now, aren't I? You're little posse drug me back to this wretched village! Aren't you just overjoyed that you won and I didn't?" Kayaku yelled back with all his might, clenching his teeth and glaring at the Godaime with a hatred like no other. Tsunade hated being spoken-back to as if she were no one. She hated it with a passion.
"Aw, what's the matter, Kaya-chan? Your cocky little pride beaten down after all these years?" She mocked, a tone of intelligence maneuvered into her vocals.
"Cocky!-? I was never cocky!-!" The blonde yelled furiously. "What the hell are you taking about! I could have easily won if I really needed to!"
"Oh really? Because it seems as if you tried to win and got pummeled in the process! You seem to be forgetting who you're talking to, Kayaku! I happen to be Hokage now, NOT YOU!"
"All I want is for you to let me get out of this office, out of this village, and back to Orochimaru-sama!" He yelled, completely forgetting where he was. Everything stopped.
"O-Orochi...maru...?" Tsunade said slowly. Sasuke's ears perked up as he leaned forward to examine the Yondaime's expression, which was well improvised with anger and surprise.
"That's right! I'm working for Orochimaru-sama!" Kayaku yelled, not even trying to struggle anymore, realizing it's uselessness. He'd need that extra chakra later.
"So... so that's why you... you hate Konoha...?" Tsunade asked slowly. Everyone remembered how Sasuke had acted the same way. Was Kayaku looking for power also? It's not like he needed it... there had to be something else.
Kayaku just panted lightly from his little outburst and broke from Tsunade's grasp, flinging her arms off of his shirt. He strode to the door as Kakashi and Jiraiya were immediately in front of it.
"Out of the way..." Kayaku growled in his most threatening tone, matching his deceptively evil glare.
"You're not going anywhere, Uzumaki," Jiraiya hissed, looking down on his former student with a scolding expression. It was very rare Jiraiya ever used 'Uzumaki' with the blonde, but he knew he had to be stern now to get the younger nin to understand. Kayaku looked ready to completely destroy his former teacher, but took a long breath, counted to ten, and released it slowly, glaring at Jiraiya all the while.
"Sensei..." Kakashi whispered. "Please just tell us why you're doing this..."
Kayaku turned his gaze to the silver-haired jounin, his eyes adjusting to a softer proximity for Kakashi. He didn't want to answer. His jaw quivered with fear and agony. If he answered, there would be no end to it at all. He kept his mouth shut and glared at the carpet, avoiding their gaze. He was now wishing he was dead instead of standing here at countless others' mercy.
"Kayaku," Tsunade growled. "Tell us!"
"Kayaku-sensei, please..." Kakashi started to advance on the blonde, but Jiraiya caught him by the collar, lightly pulling him back.
"Don't..." He whispered to Kakashi as he let him go. The jounin looked questioningly to his elder, but didn't say a word, knowing it wasn't his place to argue.
"It's because..." All eyes turned to Kayaku with surprise as he started to confess. The Yondaime hid his expression under his blonde strands as tears dripped from his face, his fists clenched to the point of bleeding. "...it's because... it could... b-bring her back..." He whispered, his voice lighter than normal. Kakashi blinked. Was he talking about his wife?
A/N: Gah... so tired... Okay...it's nearing three in the morning and I've gotta get up at seven, so I'm going to sleep now! G'night all and good riddance... okay, yeah. I'm not usually this grumpy, but I'm just in that 'overly-tired-get-the-fuck-away-from-me-and-go-die-in-hell' sort of mood... sorry. Leave a review, please? I know I have over thirty readers, seeing as I have over thirty alerts, so please leave a review? (It's not that hard... seriously, it's not...) Anonymous accepted as well as flames! Sankyuu!Oyasuminasai! -bows-