Summary: After waking up in a different world and realizing he's gone rogue with Itachi Uchiha, Kakashi Hatake just kind of rolls with it. Missing-nin Kakashi AU.
II. We're Motivated by the Scars that We're Made Of
Land of Stone
Kakashi couldn't summon his dogs before Itachi left. They would know something was off about him immediately and could easily blow his cover of being this world's Kakashi.
He decided to be cautious. He bit his thumb and used the blood to summon only one of his dogs.
There was a puff of smoke and a small dog with floppy ears stared up at him. "Boss?"
"Hey, Pakkun. It's been a while so I thought I'd check in." Kakashi casually drawled.
"We're fine?" Pakkun broke the awkward silence with another question, "By the way, do you remember when Shiba, Geruko, and Akino started badgering Uhei about his bandages?"
Kakashi raised an eyebrow. "You mean the time you guys destroyed a sweet shop and I stopped letting you wander off in Konoha alone?" The reply came out instinctively.
Pakkun's eyes widened. His tag started wagging. "You're our Boss."
Kakashi smiled. "You guys got dragged along with me, huh? Sorry about that."
Pakkun bristled for a minute. "Boss, we'd all rather be stuck here with you, than wondering where you went."
"Ah." Kakashi paused. He never got used to such sentiments. "Thank you," he said softly. "I should probably call the other guys, shouldn't I." He grinned as he bit his thumb.
Kakashi almost regretted summoning the rest of his dogs, as he was squashed under nine, excited furry bodies.
XXX
Kakashi's training grew even harder now that he could focus on what he needed to brush up on and not tailor to what Itachi could keep up with.
He desperately needed this training. Kakashi needed to build his strength, his speed, his skill with every weapon in his arsenal, his proficiency with the most useful ninjutsu he remembered, his knowledge of sealing. . . . And most importantly, he needed the bigger chakra pool that he had by the time he became Hokage, or even what he had during the Great Shinobi War.
Currently, his body was younger and less powerful, but he was bringing an extra few decades of experience on the mental side. He had to make sure he was ready to face down the threats to him, to his family, and to Konoha.
XXX
Three Years Later
Kakashi made a list of stuff to do, not a kill list (he already had one), but general meddling that needed to be done. Dealing with the more problematic Jinchuurikis and biju were at the top of that to do list.
The next thing he did was get a haircut—long hair was a liability in fights—and then he went clothes shopping; all of the clothes he had were worn out from training. He got a few new undershirts, some pants, and a long dark overcoat. A long red scarf caught his eye, so he bought that as well.
XXX
Near Sunagakure, Land of Wind
Kakashi was training, climbing the sandy peaks outside the village. Instead of using chakra to glue himself to the wall, he spread his chakra out through his hands to keep the shifting debris around his holds solid. This exercise trained his physical strength and chakra control.
He paused for a moment as memories from a shadow clone entered his head.
Kakashi wasn't that far out of Sunagakure, but why was Gaara out here? The reason didn't particularly matter, he guessed. He couldn't pass up this chance.
He summoned two of his dogs. Uhei was the most gentle with children and Akino who was usually pretty passive in general. He sent them off to play with Gaara and lead the child deeper into the mountains; it'd be better to interact without other interruptions.
Kakashi could almost swear Gaara was smiling, despite the tear marks still running down the child's face. "Yo," he greeted.
Gaara stiffened, unsure. He had humongous bags under his eyes, from loss of sleep. His spiky red hair needed a haircut.
"Gaara, I need to have a talk with the," Kakashi hesitated before hedging," . . .friend inside you. Is that okay?"
Gaara's eyes turned scared and wary. Everyone who knew about the thing inside of him disliked him.
"Don't worry. I won't hurt you. It won't hurt you. I'm trying to help you," Kakashi soothed. "Is that okay?"
Gaara buried his face into Akino's fur but nodded.
"Good. I'm going to need you to look at me. Okay?" Kakashi waited for Gaara.
The child kept his arms around the dog but lifted his head.
Kakashi activated his Sharingan and dove straight into Gaara's mind. He was not surprised to find that the child's mindscape was a desert. Sand rumbled underneath Kakashi's feet as the One-Tail Biju stood up.
As usual, Shukaku was massive. The beast had dark blue patterns that curled over its skin.
"Hello," Kakashi chirped. "I need to talk to you."
"What do you want, human?" The chakra beast sounded bored.
Kakashi smiled. "Shukaku, we need to talk about how you've been treating Gaara-chan and about the dangers that are coming in a few years."
Once the talk was over, Kakashi dropped the sleeping Gaara back inside Sunagakure. . . . a few misunderstandings between him and Sunagakure may have happened because of that.
XXX
Land of Hot Water
Kakashi recognized that blond hair immediately. A smile curled across his face, obscured by his mask. He waited for someone to leave and sat down in their place to join the round. He spent the first few rounds of the game as more of a quiet participant, staying in until the bid got too high. And then, finally, he started playing viciously, upping the bid with blatant confidence in his hands.
Tsunade was staring at him, eyes narrowed. She knew he was cheating. She just didn't know how.
Kakashi pulled yet another pile of poker chips towards him. He was pretty confident that even Tsunade wouldn't catch him.
Konoha's ANBU were fond of playing various games, particularly poker due to its widespread popularity around all of the nations. Sometimes one had to be good at something to blend into a place; sometimes one just wanted to get some extra cash.
Of course, instead of chancing their luck, all of ANBU just learned to cheat instead. Most poker games among the ANBU were based on catching people cheating, not getting caught yourself, and figuring out how good your hand had to be in order to win. Occasionally you could cheat and make your hand ridiculous, but if you do it's pretty obvious you're cheating. For instance, you aren't going to pull out a hand of double aces three hands in a row without the rest of the squad getting mad and uniting against you. . . . Kakashi had still pulled out a fourth hand of two pair ace while his teammates were watching him; after that, they had refused to play poker with him for a good month.
Kakashi walked out with most of Tsunade's money and her grudging respect.
XXX
Kakashi had been practicing his water jutsu in the ocean. He let the sun and wind dry him and his clothes as he walked along the beach. Water trickled off the fish he had stringed through the gills with a piece of wire.
He spotted smoke. There was a campfire nearby? Not on the beach of course, few were stupid enough to do that, but a campfire in the nearby woods.
Kakashi spotted who owned it and simply strolled into the camp, not even looking at the two ninjas he had disturbed. He inspected the well-sized fire that was cooking a fish and four potatoes. "Mind if I use your fire? I'll share some of my catch of course."
Nukenins were freelancers, contractors, wanderers, but they had their own code of conduct. There was no need to uselessly act as enemies, even if they had been previously because of their villages. That was to say the general sentiment was, a job was the only good reason to kill another nukenin.
"Kakashi Hatake, is there a reason you're sniffing around here?" Zabuza's reply was hostile.
"Not really, Zabuza. I just got lost on the road of life." Kakashi shrugged. He started gutting the fish with his kunai, aware of Haku watching him curiously and Zabuza watching him warily. "Kid, you got a name?"
"Haku," he whispered quietly, but clearly heard by Jounin level ninja.
Zabuza glared at both of them.
Kakashi nodded as he rammed wooden sticks through each of the fish. "It's a miracle that you managed to pick up such a polite kid, Zabuza."
"What the h*ll is that supposed to mean?"
XXX
Konoha, Land of Fire
Rogue ninjas usually avoided the country they defected from, never mind the hidden village they were from. There were multiple reasons for that, mainly that they were more likely to be recognized and caught.
Kakashi found the risk of being in Konoha acceptable however. There were few people in the world who were ever able to match him in the world, and at this point in time they were either dead or too green. The only exception being Gai, but with Kakashi disguising himself as Sukea there wouldn't be a problem.
Of course, he was going to Konoha for a good reason; he wanted to check on his team.
Kakashi stared up at the mountain that sheltered Konoha's back. There were four heads on the mountain. As he suspected, it was the Sandaime's second reign.
XXX
With the glaring orange he wore and his spiky blond hair, Naruto was easy to spot. He was holding a steam bowl of instant ramen, chopsticks in hand. Naruto looked up to find an adult standing in front of him. His muscles tensed.
Kakashi crouched in front of him. "You like ramen?" He wore a brown coat and had purple tattoo marks under his eyes.
"Yeah."
"Where are the vegetables?"
Naruto narrowed his eyes. "I don't need vegetables."
Kakashi clucked his tongue. He shook his head, his expression completely serious. "If you want to grow up to be a big and strong ninja, you need to eat vegetables."
"You think I can be a big and strong ninja?"
"Of course," Kakashi easily replied.
Naruto was always bolstered by someone expressing belief in him. What he was sure was a ninja that he wanted to be like someday saying something like that practically put stars in his eyes.
"Alright. I've got to go now. Have a good lunch."
"Bye, mister. You too."
XXX
Sakura was holed in a public library, blocking the world out with the help of a thick history book.
"You're very hard working, you could become a good ninja with the proper training and knowledge," someone observed.
Sakura jolted, the book sliding from her hands. "Really?" The words slipped from her throat, before she understood what she was saying.
"Really." The man caught the book and put it onto the table. He patted her on the head and stood up, "I have to go, but you can borrow these as I don't need them right now."
The man was gone, surely a ninja, Sakura figured. He left what seemed to be a medical textbook and a scroll about Genjutsu. She put the history textbook back and started on her new reading material.
XXX
Sasuke sat on a tree branch. He looked just as sullen as ever.
The leaves rustled and a handful of objects fell down.
Sasuke caught them on instinct. He opened his hand to reveal. . .candies? Hard candies, made of honey. "I'm not paying for these. Or eating them."
"Do with them what you want. They're a gift."
Sasuke looked up to see the mysterious man, meeting the man's eyes. Jounin-level ninja, he estimated. "How did you know I like this?" He growled.
The man shrugged. "A little bird mentioned it."
Sasuke leaned back and almost lost his balance in the process, but the man still managed to ruffle his hair before disappearing. He irritably combed his bangs back in place and slipped the candies in his weapons pouch. Konoha Jounin were all a bit weird from what he had heard.
XXX
Kakashi laughed as he realized something about Team Seven. They were all loners, weren't they. They were all looking for somewhere to belong and people they belonged to. Perhaps that's why they ended up sticking together the way they did, even after the kids grew up and were no longer cute baby genin anymore.
XXX
There were two odd occurrences in Konoha that week.
The first was that a pair of dogs made the Tora mission impossible, harassing the cat until it ran back to its owner's house. The dogs were figured to be ninken and assumed to be Inuzuka dogs, but the clan claimed otherwise. They remained unidentified.
The second was that Danzou received a delivery of five dozen roses from an unknown sender. The message attached to one of the bouquets was,
'I've had my eye on you for a while ;)
—Your Secret Admirer'
The bill was charged to Jiraiya.
XXX
Land of Waterfall
"So, do you want to overthrow Yagura?"
"You're insane," Zabuza replied. "With just the three of us? It'd be suicide."
Kakashi shook his head. "I disagree. We might as well try it, right?"
Zabuza didn't believe the blind optimism in Kakashi's voice at all. "What are you getting out of this?"
Kakashi spread his hands out. "Here's the deal," he cheerfully laid out, "I want him dead and the Sanbi contained safely in someone who is not a lunatic. You are free to make Kirigakure a better place, and I wish you much luck with that. "
Zabuza stared at the fire for a while, before taking the bait, ". . .What do you need?"
Kakashi smiled. "I just need you to get him to make eye-contact with me."
XXX
Kirigakure, Land of Water
The walls of the throne room were embedded with seals, mostly silencing, suppressing, and warding. It was hard to change already made seals, but rather easy to figure out how to turn them on for your benefit. The first move they made was to turn them on and make this into a private battle.
Ice mirrors circled the room. Chakra mist filled the air, making it almost impossible to sense others with chakra. Haku's senbon backed up Zabuza's sword.
Water coated the floor, acidic and full of the Sanbi's chakra.
Kakashi had been layering genjutsu over himself to make him more unnoticeable, more forgettable. He took a deep breath, smelling the three ninja in the room and where they were. Kakashi pulled his face mask back up now that he had caught Yagura's scent. A chakra clone dropped down and ran along the wall sideways, drawing Yagura's attention.
Yagura dispelled the clone easily. He turned to see Kakashi charging at him, a kunai in the man's hand.
They locked eyes and a red Sharingan burst to life. The three tomoe shifted to a Mangekyou Sharingan. It was too late for Yagura, Kotoamatsukami had already been cast.
Using this jutsu was different than any genjutsu Kakashi had ever done. He used what little Itachi and Sasuke had told him about it to manipulate Yagura's will. "Stop."
Yagura went limp, like a puppet.
"Zabuza, Haku-kun, give me a minute or two to cement this," Kakashi lied. It was inadvisable to trust other ninja like this, but he had no choice and they had enough reasons not to off him. Adding the idea that Yagura could come back and kill all of them if Kakashi was hurt was also a helpful incentive.
Zabuza grunted something.
And. . .Kakashi sensed the Sanbi move, a wisp of interest and fear towards the person clamping down on the Jinchuuriki's will. He took the chance and jumped right in Yagura's mind. Fortunately, talking to the Sanbi was pretty easy after avoiding a few tidal waves. Kakashi blinked, now back in the world of the living. "Sleep," he ordered.
Yagura laid down and closed his eyes.
It was dangerous for Yagura to keep the Sanbi, far too dangerous.
"Who do you want me to seal the Sanbi in?" Kakashi's hand was trembling, using a high level jutsu like Kotoamatsukami and then diving right into someone's mind cut out a lot of his chakra pool. His voice was completely even, however. "It's best for Jinchuuriki to start on the younger side."
Zabuza's gaze went to Haku, the only person here that would qualify. "You can't want me to-"
"Unless you want to pick out a kid out of the Academy and shove a chakra beast in them," Kakashi interrupted. "I can't promise it will be painless, but I can promise Haku-kun will survive. I have learned sealing from the best after all." He could replicate chakra beast seals, counter seals, and negating seals in his sleep. Kakashi had copied them with the Sharingan and drew them until he could do it without looking. It was a subject of intense study for him after Rin's death and the Kyuubi attack; additionally, such knowledge was a safety measure for having a team with Naruto on it. "You have five minutes to decide."
Kakashi kept an eye on Zabuza and Haku as he started drawing a large seal on the floor, after using a fire jutsu to dry the tile. This one was for the transfer, he had learned some things from the Akatsuki and Kushina's old notes.
"This brat," Zabuza growled loudly under his breath before continuing to argue with Haku.
For sealing a biju into someone, he needed an external force of chakra to pay the cost. With Kakashi not having sufficient chakra, he would need to draw the chakra from somewhere to activate the seal. Fortunately he had someone to draw the energy from that would be perfect, Yagura. He painted seals on the fallen Kage's chest and arms. A Kage level ninja was perfect, with such a large pool.
"Kakashi-san, I want to do it." Haku's mask was off, showing just how young he still was. If he was a normal ninja, he'd barely be a genin. His eyes were far more serious and deadly than Kakashi's baby genin had been.
Zabuza stood behind Haku, arms crossed and clearly unhappy with everything.
Kakashi nodded and ruffled Haku's hair. "Sit down and take off your shirt." He finished the seal on Yagura and started on Haku's arm. "Here's some free advice: the Sanbi is the most reasonable chakra beast. He shouldn't give you trouble. You are going to need to eat more as you will have a higher metabolism. And you're going to carry some more water."
Haku tilted his head in confusion at the last part. "Why?" The Sanbi had so much chakra that pulling water out of the air was simple, even though it was seawater, acidic, and couldn't be drunk.
"From what I've heard, using the Sanbi's chakra makes your mouth taste like salt," Kakashi informed. At least, that's what Rin had complained about before she died.
Haku nodded.
"I'm going to start the transfer now." Kakashi cut Yagura's palm and put it on the ground. "Give," he ordered and quickly drew the line to complete the seal.
All three seals lit up.
Yagura stayed quiet but his fingers kept twitching. His green chakra slowly draining out of him and into the floor, the ink on his skin following. Blue chakra was twined along with it, and followed along before branching off into Haku.
The chakra ink was crawling up Haku's skin, congregating at his chest. It had turned blue from the Sanbi's chakra. He clutched his chest and gritted his teeth, refusing to scream.
The seals faded into black and Kakashi used a Suiton to wipe away the ink left on the floor.
Haku was breathing heavily, but seemed fine otherwise.
The Sanbi didn't fight him at all, willingly caging itself into a new host. The lack of resistance made the move much less strenuous than it could have been.
"No mentioning your eye or who transferred the Sanbi I take it?" Zabuza asked.
Kakashi smiled. "That would be much appreciated."
The two men watched Haku for a minute. The boy created a small ball of water that folded out into the stream, dripping with the Sanbi's chakra. Haku made a face, visible because he wasn't wearing his mask; his tongue tasted like he had licked a block of salt.
Kakashi snorted at the expression. While Zabuza talked with Haku, he went over to one of the walls and negated the seal he had added to tamper with the room's sealing system. "And with this, I leave all the political ramifications to you."
"Not interested in joining Kirigakure?" As the soon-to-be Mizukage, such an offer was not impossible. The other swordsmen would support Zabuza's claim as one of them, even if he had left the village before, that he had taken down Yagura.
Kakashi raised an eyebrow. "Hmm. . . ." He waved a hand dismissively, not even seriously considering the offer. "Too much water," he said, disappearing from sight with the combination of a Genjustu and Shunshin right before a squad of Kiri-ninja kicked down the door.
A/N
Jutsu used:
Kage Bunshin: creates a physical copy of a person.
Summoning Jutsu: used to summon whatever ninja animal the summoner is contracted to.
Kotoamatsukami: "a dōjutsu that casts a powerful yet subtle mind-controlling genjutsu on the target." For further info, check out wiki/ Kotoamatsukami
Shunshin no justu/body flicker-" a high-speed movement technique." For more info, check out wiki/ Body_Flicker_Technique
A mega thank you to an_actual_ocean for all the trolling ideas that are going to be spread through this fic.
If you're going to make a case for an Akatsuki member not being killed/betraying the Akatsuki/escaping the wrath of a time traveling S-class ninja, make it soon or forever hold your peace.
-Silver