Kakashi died. He doubted even Naruto could walk away from that kind of injury, despite the Kyuubi's supplemental help to his already freakish Uzumaki vitality. Unless, of course, there was a second Rinnegan-user hiding somewhere, which he highly doubted. Or someone could have used Edo Tensei again, or the life-giving technique of that old Suna lady, but then he currently would not be carried around like a baby by a giant blur of grey color.
Plus, what he could observe of the blur did not quite look like a standard human being or any Kekkei Genkai users he remembered ever seeing. Its face, for example, was just a little too long, and it was incredibly hairy. Almost as it was completely covered in fur.
He was also starting to suspect he was no longer fully human.
His new tail had been a big clue.
Reincarnation. That was the explanation Kakashi had finally settled on after some thinking and several attempts to break the genjutsu. He had been reborn in another world where there was an entire species of humanoids with animal features. They called themselves Minks, and he was one of them.
At least he was a wolf, so it wasn't that bad, Kakashi eventually decided with some hesitation, while staring into the mirror. His reflection, that of a tiny silver wolf pup with a black muzzle, passively stared back. One of his eyes was dark grey, the other red with a vertical scar-like birthmark. A doctor had called it heterochromia, but Kakashi knew was it really was: a reminder.
It might not be Obito's Sharingan anymore, but it had been once.
"Kakashi? What are you doing?" His father asks, stopping outside his room with a curious frown.
Kakashi looks up and blinks owlishly. He hasn't noticed it was morning already. "Reading?"
"You're two. And that's a book on sea navigation. How do you even know how to read?"
"I taught myself." He replies, entirely serious. "Also, it could be useful one day."
His father opens his mouth as if to say something, then closes it. He shakes his head and moves on.
The next day, Kakashi finds a pile of new books on his bed when he returns home. The subjects varied, from biology to geography to history and none where at the level a child could understand, though there were some adventure novels hidden among the stack.
"Boss?!"
Kakashi turns around with a start and meets the eyes of an equally surprised tiny Mink pug. "Pakkun?!"
There is a moment where he forgets how to breathe, the world stilling around them, then they both burst into motion to throw themselves into each other's arms. Kakashi thinks he might be crying.
They end up causing a scene right in the middle of the busy market, but somehow, Kakashi could not bring himself to care about it. Not now that one of his dearest and oldest companions was back. Not now that there was hope the rest of his pack might be somewhere close too. That he wasn't left alone again.
His father opens the front door and furrows his eyebrows in confusion when he notices his new tagalong. "Kakashi, who is this?"
"My dog." He replies as if it should be entirely obvious, and it was a stupid question to be asking.
"Your dog." The older man repeats flatly.
"His name is Pakkun, and he is going to live with us now." Kakashi declares, crinkling his eyes in amusement. "He can use the guest room, and I'll feed him and take him on walks every day. He's very behaved too. There won't be any chewed shoes or scratched furniture, I promise. "
"Kakashi, no."
"He could sleep with me?"
"Kakashi, no."
"But dad!"
"No."
That this new world was one of the weirdest things they have ever seen, quickly became one of their undisputable collective agreements. Considering that their list also contained an army of undead zombies, time travel, aliens, and Maito Gai - among a few other things - it was pretty damn impressive.
For example, Zou, their home, was on top of a millennium-old gigantic elephant called Zunesha. There were also islands in the sky on clouds and islands under the sea and islands that rained lighting. Islands whose climate depends on their magnetic fields and islands where dinosaurs were still alive.
There were giants and fish-men and humans with abnormally long limbs. Sea kings infested most of the sea, and whales grew to the size of mountains. They communicated through snails and transported news using seagulls.
And devil fruits! After arguing for several hours about the mechanics behind them, the encyclopedia painstakingly procured from the library ended up being thrown out the window in a fit of temper.
"How sure are we this isn't the Infinite Tsukuyomi?" Asks Ūhei in a plaintive whine as they all stare at the poor book lying amidst the broken glass littering the ground several floors down.
Their discovery of electro during one of their training sessions when Kakashi had been teaching his pack how to fight as bipedal creatures and reconditioning his own body changed everything.
They later blamed Shiba for it when their parents questioned their various burns. How were they supposed to know that rubbing their paws for long enough could cause such a reaction?
It did not quite replace chakra, but he already had ideas on how to recreate the Chidori and several other lighting-based techniques. Thought it would take practice, and he might have to recreate one of Gai's many former training regiments.
Luckily, this new body seemed stronger and faster than his old one. His senses were sharper too, which hopefully will eliminate the problems he once had with the Chidori, especially as a child before Obito gave him his Sharingan.
One of his ears twitches when a loud crash resonates through the house, but the hissed cursing that follows reassures him it was only his father. He must have dropped something fragile again Kakashi decides, so he doesn't pay much attention when the older Mink come stalking into the living room. "Why are there wires all over the windows? Wires that are connected to deadly traps, Kakashi?"
He hums absentmindedly in response, flipping a page of his book on the Rainbow Mist of the Ruluka Island. "It's for protection." He eventually answers when his father repeats the question sounding exasperated. "Anyone can come in through the windows. Now we'll know if anyone is sneaking in to kill us while we sleep."
"Kakashi, why?!"
He stares down at his unwrapped birthday gift with astonishment.
"We saw you looking at it, boss." Explains Bull quietly, and Kakashi feels like bursting in tears right there and then again. He feels like he's been crying very often those days.
He had noticed the straight-bladed tantō by accident several months ago at the local blacksmith's shop and had been stunned by its similarity to his father's old White Light Chakra Sabre. Since then, he couldn't help throwing a glance towards it every time he walked by. He hadn't thought of it often, but now the guilt of having it destroyed during that fateful mission to Kannabi Bridge returned full force.
"Shiroi Kiba." He finally murmurs over the hard lump in his throat. "Its name is Shiroi Kiba."
"Is that a sword?!" The old lady from next door asks in shock when she looks up from her watering of flowers on her balcony.
"It's my birthday present." Kakashi informs her with a sappy smile.
His father tilts his head in bewilderment, wondering who would give his son such an expensive gift before shrugging. "Okay. Don't hurt yourself."
The old lady looks even more flabbergasted. "Kai, your son is eight."
"I'm aware. Is there something wrong?" He peers at their neighbor in confusion as her mouth drops open, and she overwaters one of her plants in her shock.
"Your son is eight, and you let him play with a sword?!" She eventually shrieks when she finds her voice again.
"Yes?"
Most of the island split into two groups many years ago. They were those that followed Duke Inuarashi and lived from 6:00 AM to 6:00 PM, and they were those who followed Master Nekomamushi and lived from 6:00 PM to 6:00 AM.
Kakashi and his pack were neither, preferring to live by their own, ever-changing routine.
As a ninja, his schedule has never been constant. He learned to thrive just as well in the night as in the day very young and got even better when he joined the ANBU. Missions could happen at any time in the day and night.
At a certain point, he was awake almost exclusively during the night and had a clone in the village while he recuperated. His students never caught on.
So, the regular, unchanging routine had them stressed very quickly. It went against everything he ever learned. After all, as a former assassin, he knew better than anyone else that routines killed.
He's grown again, Kakashi thinks in despair as he stares at his exposed ankles in silent accusation. It was time for the dreaded shopping again.
Pouting, he leaves his house in a hurry, deciding it was better to have it done now than leave it for later. If the ladies next door found out about this… He shivered just thinking about it.
Ordinarily, he would purchase the first semi-decent thing he could find from the first store he encounters, but this time something compels him to veer off his usual route and enter a shady shop he's never noticed before. Only this time, he is pleasantly surprised when he spies clothes similar to those he wore in his ANBU days. It was the same sleeveless turtleneck, and the same comfortable pants, and the same gloves. Only the armor and the sandals were missing.
There even was a mask like the one he had once worn everywhere. Kakashi stares at it for a long moment, but leaves it behind, taking several of the shirts, pants, and gloves instead, and moving to pick a pair of boots that looked the most alike to his old shoes.
"It would look weird with my muzzle anyways." He murmurs as he walks away from the tiny shop.
When all the pack members are about sixteen years old, an old fox mink takes notice of their training. She covertly observes them for several days before deigning to appear in front of them, elegantly waving a fan. They, of course, had known she was there from the beginning, but somehow Kakashi felt as if she let herself be noticed.
"My name is Vivian." She tells them. "And you boys have impressed me. From now on, you will be my students."
Kakashi observes her for a long moment in silence, sharp eyes noting the silver in her red fur, the elaborate but combat suitable off-shoulder kimono, the sharp razors in her fan, and speaks. "Why? Why should we accept you as our teacher?"
She smiles, shrewd, and deadly. "Because I can help you refine your Haki, including your Conqueror, Kakashi. Because I can teach you how to improve your electro. And most importantly, because I can teach you how to keep control in your Sulong forms."
"Have you ever wondered about what's other there?" Guruko asks one day as they lounge around after yet another day of being kicked around by their master.
Kakashi lazily peels open one eye to look at his packmate. "What do you mean?"
"Are we really going to spend our entire life here? Don't get me wrong I like it here." He hastens to add when Akino makes an inquiring noise. "It's peaceful. But, there is a whole new world out there to explore."
Kakashi sits up, thoroughly interested. "What are you proposing?" He wouldn't be lying when he said the thought had been crossing his mind more often those days than when he was younger. He simply hadn't though the rest of his pack would also be getting restless.
Guruko takes a deep breath and lets it out, visibly steeling his nerves. "I think we should leave."
Preparing doesn't take as long as they expected.
Having already read everything they could about surviving out in the Grand Line, all they had left to do was gather supplies and find a boat.
On the day Vivian tells them she had nothing more to teach them, they sneak out the moment their respective families fall asleep. With them, they have oversized rucksacks containing food, clothes, and other necessities like toiletries and maps. Behind, they leave letters, explaining where they had gone and promising to do their best not to get in trouble with the World Government.
They immediately head towards the building where the Mink held their ships, which, while not the best at seafaring, would do for a start. Figuring out the mechanism behind the lowering of the boats takes no time at all, and soon enough they are bobbling on the waves of the Grand Line.
Kakashi clutches the hilt of his White Fang and breaths in the sea air. "Well, where shall we go first?" He asks.
"Wherever you wish too, Boss." Comes the reply.
Wanted Dead or Alive
'Sea Wolf' Kakashi
Captain of the Ninja Pirates
450,000,000 Beli
So, this is just a little writing experiment of mine in a style I don't usually write in. I might continue this one day, but for now, it ends here. Also, how come no one's thought of this yet?!
I don't own Naruto or One Piece.
Edit: I really was going to end this right here. And it was supposed to include only Kakashi if I ever was going to continue. Then a reviewer wonders who else was from the Elemental Nations.
Ladies, and gentlemen. Dear readers. The continuation of Sea Wolf is now posted and is called Firestorm.