Chapter 14

Hide and Seek

Kakashi gripped the edge of the blanket in his fingers and pulled until it was partially released by the body next to him. He smirked to himself at how quickly he could fall back into the flow of being around the Sensei. So, of course, he couldn't just leave him alone, could he?

"Iruka, will you stop squirming already!? I swear...it's like you've never had to share your bed with anyone before."

Iruka sighed, sounding exceptionally tired. "That's because I haven't up to this point, Kakashi."

Kakashi pushed down the urge to abuse the grown man too much about that fact, figuring the chunin was probably still a bit mad at him for dragging him into this mess. Instead, he decided it might be better to add a bit of levity to the situation. He gave the blanket one last tug and turned to stare innocently into the chunin's brown eyes. "That could be because you're a blanket-hog, Iruka."

He watched the man's face turned beet red and couldn't hold the laughter in any longer as the chunin's foot was used to push him onto the floor. The noise did not go over well with the others cramped into the small, one-room shack, and soon Kakashi felt the strong hands of Ibiki Morino pulling him, none-too-gently, to his feet.

"What part of covert did you two knuckle-heads not get?"

Kakashi continued to chuckle and turned his head to grin at the torture specialist. "Mah, Ibiki...you're just jealous because I get to share the bed with Iruka while you're stuck with 'All Hands' Genma!"

Ibiki grinned back at him, although there was nothing humorous in it, and Kakashi had a feeling he wasn't going to like the next words from the man's mouth. "No need for me to be jealous, Kid...Genma is all yours."

With that, Ibiki shoved Kakashi toward the waiting arms of Genma. Kakashi groaned, rolled his eyes, and effortlessly dodged the groping hands of the senbon-wielding jonin, even without any chakra. By the time he turned back to his previous bed, Ibiki had already settled in next to Iruka, and the chunin grinned back at Kakashi while pulling the entire blanket up to his chin. Because everyone knew Ibiki never used a blanket. Kakashi sighed and sat on the edge of the other bed. He was beginning to remember just why he had never enjoyed going on missions with Ibiki...that man took the fun out of it without even trying.

"Don't worry Kakashi. I don't mind sharing with you." Genma leered in his direction and held the blanket open for him. "The bedding is more than big enough for the two of us."

"Forget about it Shiranui. I'd rather not catch anything you're likely to have."

"Dammit! I thought that rumor was dead!" Genma scowled at him and fumbled in his pockets to pull out a crumpled piece of paper and waved it at him. "Hey, I've got a clean bill of health right here! See?"

Kakashi rolled his eyes. "Genma, put that away before you lose it. It's not you, I swear. I'm just not tired."

Genma put his paperwork away and lay back down, muttering about how unfair it was that one mistake would hang over him for so long. Kakashi smirked at the moping jonin before he looked around the room and sighed. Sleep definitely wouldn't be coming to him tonight, that much was for certain. He scratched idly at one of the healing wounds on his legs and wondered how long it would be before one of two things happened...either Konoha would catch up and bring them all back for judgment, or the Akatsuki would finally make good on their promise to reclaim him.

He really wasn't sure he liked those options, and he was in no rush to deal with either of them. But what could he do? In his current shape, still healing and with his chakra sealed up tight, he didn't have a hope of slipping away on his own without being tracked down like a wounded dog. And Ibiki had made it crystal clear that the particular seals he had applied to Kakashi's chakra network were more complex than normal, thanks to Danzo's insistence, and would require more time to remove than they could afford right now.

Kakashi sighed once more and pushed off the bed to wander over to the only window in the house. Kensei was leaning against the wall next to that window with her eyes closed, her red hair cascading down past her shoulders, unrestrained since she'd stopped wearing her ANBU Ferret mask, and Kakashi wondered just what was running through her mind.

"Stop staring Kakashi-sempai. It's rude." Her lips quirked into a smile even as her lids opened to reveal her startling violet eyes.

He moved to lean against the wall next to her. "Some might take it as a compliment, Kensei."

Her soft, melodic chuckle reached his ears and he turned to see her eyebrows arching. "From someone other than you, Sempai, I probably would take it as a compliment."

He lifted one hand to dramatically cover his heart. "Ouch...I'm hurt Kensei."

She smacked his shoulder lightly. "That'll be the day. So, why aren't you asleep?"

Kakashi shoved his hands into his pockets and shrugged. "Genma isn't my idea of the perfect bedmate, I guess."

"Don't let him hear you say that. After all, he still brags about how you and he had to keep each other warm on that mission up in Snow Country."

Kakashi groaned and rolled his eyes. "Don't remind me...I still can't stand the sight of icicles."

Kensei pushed off the wall and moved until she stood directly in front of him, locking her gaze with his. "Seriously, Sempai...you need to get some rest. We still have a long way to go, and those wounds aren't going to heal if you don't get off your feet."

"Kensei, if we really have such a long way to go then I want you to do me a favor."

"Anything for you, Sempai. Just ask."

He smiled. "Stop calling me sempai."

Kensei frowned. "Okay, Sempai...dammit...so what should I call you?"

Yotaka picked that moment to step over to join them. "Knowing him, he'll demand to be called 'Grand-Exalted-One'...or something equally pretentious."

Kakashi crossed his arms and frowned. "What is this? Pick on Kakashi week?"

The brown-haired ANBU, normally known as Hawk, smiled deviously. "Didn't you get the memo?"

Kakashi chuckled. He had missed working with these two. They were in his last official ANBU squad before he had been forced into retirement. And in his own opinion, they were among the best he had ever trained.

Kensei's voice brought him out of his musings. "Guess that means it's time for my shift, eh, Yotaka?"

"You guessed it." Yotaka took up Kensei's position leaning on the wall as she strapped her kunai pouch to her leg and headed toward the door.

"Careful in the south quadrant. I thought I sensed something over there earlier, but I couldn't find anything. Still..."

Kensei waved back at them and rolled her eyes. "Yeah, yeah...I know...keep it sharp."

Yotaka chuckled and pulled out a ration bar to chew on. Once Kensei was gone, Kakashi shifted his attention to the young man at his side. "Okay Yotaka, why the hell are you five so eager to throw your lives away, hmm?"

The younger man finished his ration bar and crumpled the wrapper in his hand before securing it away in one of his pouches. "We all prefer to see it as a change of career path."

Kakashi shook his head. "Right. You all had the epiphany that life as wanted criminals was so much better than life as one of Konoha's elite. How silly of me."

Yotaka ran a hand through his hair and sighed. "What did you expect us to do, Kakashi? Sit back and let that bastard, Danzo, play his little game and have you killed right in front of us? Let him slander your name? Didn't you have enough of that when he did it to your father?"

Kakashi growled. "Watch it, Hawk."

He saw Yotaka cringe slightly at his tone. "Sorry about that Wolf...but it is what it is. You may not think you're worth saving, but, dammit...we all do!"

"Great. I'm surrounded by people with no common sense." He pushed himself away from the wall and headed toward the door.

"Where the hell do you think you're going, Kakashi-sempai?" Yotaka's words held the edge of danger in them.

Kakashi turned toward the younger man and smirked. "Do you actually kiss Kensei with that mouth?"

The ANBU jonin's mouth opened a fraction in shock. "What?! How could you...?"

Kakashi chuckled. "You don't need to be a genius to know you two are an item. Anyhow, I'm just stepping out for some air. If it'll make you feel any better, I'll go keep your girlfriend company."

Yotaka's eyes narrowed. "You shouldn't be going out there at all."

Kakashi met the stare with one of his own. "And you lot shouldn't be here at all, so we're even."

With that said, Kakashi opened the door and stepped into the cool night air. Normally, all he'd need to do to locate Kensei would be to stretch out his senses and focus in on her unique chakra signature. Unfortunately, there was nothing normal about this little adventure, and with no access to his chakra, he'd need to rely on other methods of locating the woman instead. Looking up into the clear night sky, Kakashi used to stars to figure out which direction would lead him to the southern quadrant of the watch pattern. Based on Yotaka's comments earlier, it was the best place to start searching for Kensei.

Itachi watched his current target leave the Hokage Tower and make his way through the dark streets of Konoha toward where the chunin apartments were located. The man he was watching was stockier than the last time he'd been here, but the dark spiky hair and swathe of crisp white bandage stretched across the bridge of his nose made it clear that it was Kotetsu Hagane. Next to Iruka Umino, Kotetsu knew almost as much about what was going on within the walls of the Hokage Tower. Iruka was actually who Itachi had originally hoped to corner, but it seemed the Academy Sensei was nowhere to be found today, and the Akatsuki couldn't afford to waste any more time.

Itachi watched Kotetsu stop briefly to chat with another chunin, and then move on to where his apartment building was located. Itachi knew the man shared the space with another shinobi...Izumo Kamizuki, if he remembered correctly. So, they would need to intercept Kotetsu before the chunin made it to his door. One subtle signal from his hand set his partner into motion, and Itachi watched as Kisame used his unique skills to subdue the chunin before Kotetsu even knew he was targeted. Once the man was secured, they rendezvoused at their prearranged meeting spot deep in the heart of the old Uchiha district on the outskirts of Konoha.

Now that even Sasuke no longer lived here, the district held a strange deserted aura to it that tended to keep others within the Village too spooked to enter. This, of course, made it the perfect base of operations for the two Akatsuki members until they could get a better idea of just where their newest member was being kept. Itachi had already swept the village in search of Kakashi's chakra signature to no avail, and he had gone so far as to risk detection by physically checking both Kakashi's old apartment and the hospital. There was no sign of the man. Which was why he'd switched to looking for the Academy Sensei...but, strangely enough, Iruka was similarly missing. Then there was the abnormally high presence of ANBU within the village. All these things added up to make it clear that there was something wrong within the walls of Konoha.

Rather than set up in the obvious location of his Father's house, Itachi had directed Kisame to wait for him in the apartment over the old store front his Aunt and Uncle had cared for. Itachi pushed down the old memories leading up to, and including, the Uchiha Massacre with practiced ease, and entered the building without a sound. As expected, Kisame was already there, standing behind the chunin with one hand firmly around the captive man's neck to hold him still. Itachi slowly walked across the dusty wooden floors, the straw tatami mats which once graced this family portion of the building long since rotted away. With each silent step, he watched Kotetsu's face, and was surprised to see more anger than fear within the man's dark eyes. Was it possible that this chunin had no recollection of just who he was? Of the atrocities he had performed in this very district? Could it be that he was known more for the organization he belonged to now than what he'd accomplished on his own?

All these thoughts troubled Itachi, but he wore a schooled expression of indifference...one which he had learned from Kakashi Hatake when the two were much younger, and he knew that none of his concerns showed through to the chunin. He came to a stop just in front of the man and stared silently at Kotetsu. The chunin narrowed his eyes, but said nothing as well.

Kisame shifted impatiently behind Kotetsu. "Itachi, if you aren't going to ask this piece of meat where our Brother is anytime soon, can I?"

The corner of Itachi's mouth almost turned up at his partner's enthusiasm. It was just like Kisame to want to rush such things. "Kisame, we have talked about this before. Your ways are too loud." He noticed Kotetsu tense at that comment. "And I have no desire to draw the ANBU to us quite yet."

Kisame frowned at him. "Fine! Have it your way Itachi. But you are wasting time. Just get the information before the Leader calls for an update."

Itachi sighed. "You have a point, Kisame." He shifted his attention back to Kotetsu. "You will tell me where Kakashi Hatake is."

Kotetsu barked out a sharp laugh. "Not likely, traitor."

Itachi raised his eyebrows slightly at the title he was granted. He took one step closer and glanced down into the chunin's dark gaze while activating his sharingan. Now he saw the fear echoing back at him that Itachi was used to causing in his victims throughout the years. He focused a bit more and pulled the chunin into the inescapable web of the Tsukuyomi.

"By the time we're finished, Kotetsu Hagane, you'll wish you had cooperated when I had first asked."