Kakashi was a man with many talents, some might say. He had killed many people in his lifetime, and countless in different ways. Some were more brutal than others, while others were quick and efficient. Water made it terrifying, fire made it last long and painful, earth killed you before you could blink from impact, wind cut off any limb with ease, and lightning in his humble opinion was a mix of all of these. The sound made you fearful, it felt like your whole body was on fire as it spasmed from the electric current, if aimed properly, it could kill you instantly or make things last however long the attacker wanted it to. But in all of those cases, Kakashi fought human beings. They had body systems that were known to science that he had read up on at a young age. If he really wanted to be, he could have been a medic in another life.
This... thing he was facing was certainly not any kind of human. It looked like a cross between a bull, a giant, and a goat. It was muscular beyond words, and probably beat him in height many times over. The curved horns protruding from its head definitely didn't help matters.
The minotaur's red eyes glowed with nothing short of anger for Kakashi even attempting to harm it. It snorted as it pulled its battle axe from the sheath on its back, getting into a crouch as it readied itself to charge.
Kakashi's eyes widened. "Get ready to move!" He told Aqua, who looked at him in befuddlement.
"Huh? Move where?!" Aqua yelled.
The minotaur moved at an impressive speed, running towards them with the horns looking to impale both of them on the spot.
"Anywhere but here!" Kakashi jumped out of the way gracefully while Aqua clumsily fell out of harm's way. The minotaur stopped a few meters after missing before turning on a dime and going for another dash. Once again, it was dodged. Frustrated at the two humans, it stood upright once again. It swung its axe at Kakashi who dodged it well enough, but the size of the thing and its wide arcs made it much more of a hassle than it needed to be.
Kakashi tossed his kunai directly at one of the monster's eyes, which it blocked with one of its large hands. He pulled his headband up, hoping to capture the creature in a genjutsu but it stared dead into his eyes and didn't even flinch.
"Seems this thing doesn't have chakra or any kind of magic power to speak of to manipulate." It was surprising. Back in his own world, even animals did have chakra though it was speculated to be more natural energy than anything else. Even still, animals should be able to be put into genjutsu, perhaps this beast wasn't classified as an animal? The people of this world referred to things like this as monsters, perhaps they aren't originally from this land and were created? Speculation for another time, he mused.
"Create Water!" A torrent of water came crashing down on the beast before it dried out onto the ground, creating a mud track from Aqua to the minotaur. It blinked, almost perplexed at the logic of the attack, before huffing and running towards the woman with gusto. For a moment though, it stepped onto the mud created by Aqua's water and it nearly slipped before catching itself with its free hand. If the thing could have blushed, it likely would have.
Aqua slowly backed away in fear at making the thing likely more pissed off than it already was, and she almost pissed herself when the thing came running towards her once more. She turned to where Kakashi was, hoping he would do something...except he wasn't there! What happened?! He was just there a second ago!
Charging toward the crying woman, it put the full speed it could muster behind the dash, ensuring her death.
"WAH! Kakashi! Save me!"
"Earth Style: Headhunter Jutsu!"
"What is that?! Ahhh!"
Aqua was pulled underground through a small hole and her screams seemingly died off as she went further away under the dirt. Kakashi put a hand on her mouth to stop her noises.
"Shh! I've got a plan for that beast, but I need you to work with me. We'll only have one shot at this, and if it fails, we'll have to run and hope for the best. I can probably get us both out, but the carriage driver will probably get killed if we leave him where he is."
"Hey! You scared the heck out of me! I almost had a heart attack!"
"Never mind that. Now, like you said, I can't use most of my jutsus for this since they all lie in attacking that thing, but everything has a weakness. So, from what I've noticed, this is the plan..."
Hopping out of the ground with Aqua in tow, both stood across the Minotaur as the three engaged in a stare down.
"I don't know if you can understand me, but let's settle this right here and right now!" Yelled Kakashi towards the Minotaur, who being of a warrior breed, nodded with fervor.
It huffed and puffed, lowered itself, and sprinted towards them with its axe raised. As it ran, Kakashi ran through multiple hand signs before saying, "Earth Style: Mud Wall!"
The wall sprang from the ground ahead of them, hitting the Minotaur right in the chin and knocking it flat into its back. It being dazed for a moment, allowed Kakashi to use his follow-up move, "Earth Style: Bottomless Swamp!"
This led to the dirt around the Minotaur becoming deep sludge, effectively restricting the limbs of the animal as it thrashed within, but like quick sand, the more you struggled, the faster you'd get lodged in it.
"Aqua! Now!"
"Got it! Sacred Create Water!"
An enormous torrent of water, seemingly never-ending, flooded down onto the Minotaur, filling its lungs with never-ending water. As it drowned, it fought like never before but it was all for naught as after a few minutes it ceased all movement. After another minute, Aqua ceased her magic and pulled out her adventurer's card.
"I got him! Look! Look! I leveled up three times with that kill!"
Kakashi breathed a sigh of relief and patted Aqua's head, as if she were a dog looking for attention and approval, to which she was grateful.
"Good job, Aqua. I'm very proud of your performance."
"Ha! I can't wait to tell Kazuma how impressive I was today!"
Speaking of leveling, Kakashi took a look at his adventurer's card, seeing that he leveled up once from the previous adventurers turned bandits.
Slain - Three intermediate level humans (Penalty for killing humankind: -90% XP)
"Aqua, says here that I got an experience penalty from killing those bandits. What's that about?"
The woman in question walked up to him and looked at his card, before mentioning, "Ah, that's to avoid people targeting other adventurers as kills. If all it took to level up quickly was to murder another high level adventurer, it would set a really bad precedent. So, this penalty was created to discourage that. But due to your low level, you still managed to level up just barely. Don't worry, it's not a penalty for all XP, it's only for human kills. The same applies to demihumans, they get the penalty if they kill one of their own too."
"Hm, I see." Looking at his available skills as a ninja, there were a few trees he could go down for the foreseeable future.
First, there was a skill tree where Kakashi could gain skills/abilities that would allow him to penetrate armor-heavy targets. Based on the description, due to the ninja's nature of espionage and sneak attacks, being able to bypass armor seemed like a no-brainer and it would have definitely helped him against this beast. Furthermore, there was even a skill to copy an enemy move only once once seen, which prompted Kakashi to ask himself if his sharingan could copy magic like it did jutsus. An interesting idea he would have to try out. The second tree focused more on defense, where he could take more damage himself with more stamina for retreat or when in unavoidable engagements. The third tree was more of a deception tree, where he could mimic voices, read the mind of a person so long as he was of equal level or above, or the victim was too fatigued (one of the higher level skills naturally), and some of the thief skills like bind and steal. it wasn't all the thief skills per say, but a good amount of them. For now, Kakashi decided to invest in some armor penetration on the off chance he faced someone else with ludicrously high resistances to the elements or physical damage. It was a trait that increased as you put more points into it.
Pocketing his adventurer's card, he told Aqua they should begin to head back to the carriage as the sun as beginning to set.
"Glad to see you two made it back in one piece." The carriage driver told them with relief visible on his face.
"The concern is appreciated." Kakashi replied with honesty.
The two boarded the carriage and they were off to head back home in two days time. Kakashi decided to nap a bit, but he was rudely awoken by Aqua complaining that they forgot to use the masks she had made to infiltrate the castle, but quite frankly, Kakashi could not be asked to listen so he tuned her out like he did Gai during his youth speeches.
He'd never admit it, but he wished someone from his own world was around to talk to.
"-and that's how it happened!" The goblin told the Demon King, who sat listening to the results of the fight.
"To think up of such a strategy on the fly, and using such unique abilities, this Kakashi sounds very interesting." The Demon King rubbed his chin in thought, "Do you believe he would be open to recruitment?"
"I don't know boss, but we don't know where the guy even lives."
"Then that is the next task you will be overseeing. Delegate someone to perform some reconnaissance. I'm sure as time passes, his name will become more well-known, and when that time comes, we'll send Serena or whoever else to offer an invitation to him."
"What if he says no, boss?"
"It would be a pity, but if he does, then he will perish along with whoever else lives with him. I will raze the city into the ground, and when he sees that he has no other choice, he shall reconsider, or else he too shall die."
The goblin gulped at the evil man's words, but nodded nonetheless.
"However, for now, we cannot simply lead a force through the land without heavy resistance from the royal family. As such, we'll leave him for now. But when the opportunity arises, a moment of weakness, that is when we will put the plan into motion."
"Got it, b-boss."
"Good, now get out of my sight."
When Kakashi and Aqua got home, there was nobody to greet them.
"Seems like those three are out at the moment."
"I'm going to sleep!" Aqua pranced off, excited for her date with her comfy bed.
"No hesitation at all, huh?" Not that he could blame her, that carriage ride certainly wasn't comfortable to sleep in. Still, he didn't want to turn in just yet, nightmares notwithstanding, but those came and went these days. "Guess I'll head to town, see if they're in the guild or some sort."
Once he arrived there, he found none of them once again except Luna who was cleaning some tables with the other waitresses bustling about cleaning up the place after a long day. Perhaps she knew something.
Walking up to her, he cleared this throat from behind her to catch her attention.
Turning to him, she stopped wiping the table. "Oh! Kakashi! I haven't seen you in the guild for a few days."
"Sorry about that, I was out on some business."
"That's fine. It's just, you're one of the few adventurers who seem to take the job seriously, unlike most people." She complimented him earnestly. Many adventurers just wanted some quick cash to splurge with.
"Thanks, but I have a question I'd like to ask you."
"Shoot." Responded Luna as she sat down on the bench on one side of the table.
Taking the hint, Kakashi did the same on the opposite side.
"Have you seen Kazuma, Megumin, or Darkness around? I just got back but they weren't home."
"Oh yes, they went on a quest to kill some toads that were bothering a local farm. They left just recently actually."
"Guess I'll have to wait for their return here then."
"Aren't you tired from whatever you were doing? You could just stay home and rest."
Kakashi eye-smiled at her, which made her smile in turn. "While I appreciate the concern, I don't have a problem waiting here for them."
"Then, do you mind helping me out for a bit?" She asked him, hopeful for agreement. "It's been a long day, and the other girls are busy with their work, so..."
Kakashi folded his hands on the table. "I've got the time, why not? It'd be boring just sitting here, wouldn't it?" Well, that wasn't true. He did have his book with him, but if he read it too often, it would get a bit stale. Plus, back in his world, it was his duty as a ninja to help the populace of his village. It's what Obito would have wanted him to do.
Luna grinned. "Thank you, Kakashi, truly. Okay, so I need some help with these documents in the back..."
The other waitresses pretended to be working, but in reality, started gossiping as soon as Luna was distracted.
"Did you see her talking to that man?"
"I didn't think she was into older, mature men like that!"
"Are you stupid? That guy's not old!"
"But his hair is gray..."
"I think it's just his personal style, maybe he dyed it."
"What kind of weirdo dyes their hair to match some old grandpa?"
"Stop hating, Melina."
"Shut up, Aurora."
"Did you guys see how he wears that mask all the time?"
"Yeah, do you think he has some hot battle scars or something under there?"
"It looks like he lost an eye, so maybe he does. It could be that he's really ugly under there though."
"Huge lips maybe? Wait! Maybe his teeth are messed up so he's embarrassed!"
"Ohhh! I really want to know now!"
"Let's ask Luna when she's done with him!"
"Done with him? If you put it like that, it sounds a bit...dirty."
"Don't act so innocent, Miss Luna is older than all of us anyway."
"How old is she, anyway?"
Silence reigned then, as none of the waitresses knew the answer.
"Anyone want to volunteer and ask?"
"Nope."
"Nuh-uh."
"I'd like to keep my job, thank you."
"Seconded."
"Sigh, I guess we'll just have to wing it when her birthday rolls around."
Luna led him to a back office room where important things were stored along with a large table that served as a desk.
"So, these are the documents I need help with. Make one pile for payments that need to be made to adventurers, one for complaints, and one for debts that are owed."
"Got it."
As they worked, Kakashi noted some odd things that stood out. The pile for debts was quite high, as was the one for complaints.
"Is it normal for so many people to have debts with the guild?"
"Sigh, many of them are small being bar tabs or the like, but others are for things like property damage that the guild receives money for and then pays to the actual recipient. We just act as the middle man."
"And the complaints?"
Luna looked about ready to cry with those as she gazed at them with sad eyes.
"The complaints are mostly from female adventurers, and usually are due to some kind of sexual harassment from the men. We fear that one day someone might take it too far while drinking and really hurt someone, and besides the fact someone would be hurt, the guild would get lots of negative attention." She quickly amended, "N-not that I don't care about the victim, but if the guild gets too much heat, the higher ups at the capital will catch wind of it and replace us all. The girls under me rely on this place as their only job, and I would hate to fail them. You understand, right?"
Kakashi responded quickly. "Trust me, where I come from, politicking is as common as brushing your teeth. You get used to it."
"Thanks for getting it, but I really don't want to come across as a callous woman."
"On the contrary, I think you're pretty nice to everyone, all things considered."
She put the papers she was holding down, and looked at him directly. "Do you really think so? Sometimes I worry that I'm not doing a good enough job."
Kakashi nodded at her. "I've had to deal with annoying clients at my old job while maintaining a polite attitude, I would assume here it's no different if not more amplified."
"You're telling me, it's exhausting dealing with people who get upset at every little thing."
He looked off at a random spot. "It's a thankless job, isn't it?"
"Are you reading my mind or something? You're saying everything I want to hear."
Kakashi shrugged. "I'm just a normal guy."
"A normal guy, huh? You'd be one of the few if that's the case. If nothing else, at least you know how to treat a lady."
"I know how to treat a lady, hm?" That brought Kakashi back to this one time, while Rin had still been alive, Kushina had gotten him to come to her shared home with Minato to talk about something.
"Kakashi! So glad you made it!" Kushina greeted him, wearing her signature green dress.
"You practically threatened me." Kakashi deadpanned, the crazy woman had told him of all the ways she could fold him into a pretzel. He believed her too, even if she wasn't on the field often, she was a top-tier jonin in the village, and if Minato and Orochimaru had not went for the Hokage hat, there were rumors Kushina's name would have been thrown around.
"Don't sweat the details! Come on, sit on the couch with me."
Wordlessly, Kakashi did as she asked and raised an eyebrow at her, hoping she would explain why she suddenly wanted to see him. It's not like he hated the woman, but they certainly aren't what he would call close. They only really interacted when his team was around, and they didn't really mesh well together. He liked peace and quiet, and Kushina brought tons of energy wherever she went, it was exhausting.
"So, Minato asked me to talk to you since you're at that age now where you should be looking for a nice girlfriend."
Kakashi nearly jumped at the word, 'girlfriend'. What a silly thing, he didn't have time for love as a ninja.
"I'm going to assume he asked you not to say it was his idea."
Kushina rubbed his head affectionately even though he attempted to move his head away from her hand. "You're a smart kid, Kakashi."
"So I've been told."
"Anyway, he thought it would be best for me to teach you how to properly treat a lady to get her attention."
Immediately, Kakashi got up to make his great escape, but Kushina was much quicker than him and grabbed his forearm, pulling him back down to his seat.
"Nice try, but you aren't going anywhere. Poor Rin is waiting for you to make a move, and you just stand around brooding."
"I don't brood, and I don't see Rin that way."
"You say that, but you always want to be around her."
"You know why I do that, and it isn't out of any romantic interest."
Kushina smiled sadly for a moment, before winking at him mischievously. "But it could be!"
Kakashi slid a hand down his face in exasperation and leaned back into the couch in despair. "I don't plan on getting a girlfriend."
"Oh, I see. You're playing for the other team."
"Lady Kushina!" He groaned.
"I've told you many times, just call me Kushina." She chastised, "and I'm just teasing. I've seen all the fangirls you get, they would be really disappointed if they never get to see Hatake babies, you know?"
Kakashi blushed bright red at her words and Kushina laughed at the reaction. "See, for all that dark energy you give off, you're still just a little kid."
"I'm not a kid, I'm a legal adult through the eyes of the village."
"Well, I'm not the village and all I see in front of me is an angsty teenager."
Kakashi didn't dignify her with a response.
"Now, the first part to making a girl interested is to..."
For all Kakashi had been put off by the woman, her death had hit him differently than Minato's. She was like Gai for him, a good foil for his quiet personality, and there was a hole there that was never quite filled by anyone else. Right now, he'd give anything to have her bust through the door and come at him like she used to.
"I think that's everything, thanks for the help, Kakashi."
He blinked away the memory. "No problem, if you need my help again, let me know."
"I'm glad you're offering, it was nice to get those things off my chest while we were at it, too." Luna finished, as she put away the papers in their respective drawers. "I'll see you around!" She waved at him as he took his leave.
Kakashi smiled back at her, "Yeah, I'll see you around."
Later, Kazuma and the rest of the gang would come to collect their payment from the quest, with a sleeping Megumin on his back and a slime-covered Darkness.
Author's Ending Note: (If you don't care for the technicalities on how stuff in Naruto works, ignore this note entirely). Okay, I read multiple arguments online, watched some videos, etc. The major consensus is that genjutsu, even if utilized through bloodline abilities like the Sharingan, requires the victim to have chakra or natural energy. I saw this one really in-depth convincing one with manga panels to prove it, so I'm rolling with that. It proved that chakra existed way before shinobi think it did, as Black Zetsu states that he altered history to basically fool humankind into how chakra came to be to further his own plans. Genjustu affects one or more of the five senses by altering chakra flow in the brain. The sharingan does this by sending chakra from their eyes to the victim's eyes. If after the essays I have read on it, I'm still wrong, then screw it I tried lol.
Speaking of which, I was really confused on how Itachi's genjutsu worked when he did it with his finger, so after even MORE research I think I get it. You can dictate your chakra to a certain focal point, which typically can be the eyes like normal, or sounds, or smell, etc. However, Itachi is advanced enough that he can channel the technique to a single point on his body, like his finger, and so long as the victim looks at it hard enough, the genjutsu will activate. I assume it's advanced because literally no one else does it from what I remember or anything similar. Itachi tricked Naruto into looked at this finger by making it look like an attack was coming, and boom, Naruto got caught. Big brain move.
