Chapter 3: Here they come
From fighting world wars to protecting world class whores, returning lost kittens to wiping out enemy towns. One Kakashi Hatake, the copy ninja, the man who copied a thousand jutsu, had done it all.
Being a student of the Yondaime Hokage and the son of the white fang, the silver haired scarecrow lookalike was destined for greatness from childhood.
He graduated the acedmy at 5, progressing through the ranks at an impressive rate to become a Jounin at 13 and an Anbu black op. Few Shinobi could compare to his career achievements.
Yet the man, despite his reknowned fame and experience as a high class Shinobi, was followed everyday by the guilt and sorrow of his past mistakes. He had lost his best friend, Obito Uchiha who died to save his life, he lost his other teammate by his own hand, sacrificing herself for the safety of the village. His teacher who gave his life to seal a Bijuu and two of his students, one who died because the other went rogue.
That one especially hurt, because it was his signature technique that took the life of his blonde pupil, his masters son no less.
The last few years had been quiet for him, solo missions and quiet evenings becoming the norm, he had no intention of teaching any new students. The failure of team 7 having shown his incapability as a teacher and as a role model.
At least Sakura turned out right, the pinkete who was currently tree jumping beside him followed by her peers behind them.
This mission was the first in five years that he had been put with Sakura and he found the tension suffocating. Teacher and former student having no words to say as even he could admit that her current level of strength was nothing of his doing.
Hinata and Kiba hung back with Akamaru in tow, conversing with each other as teammates should. He felt sorry for the Hyuuga, since naruto's apparent death the girl had become incredibly conceited and quiet, with only her team being able to bring her out of her short lived depression. Any fool could see that disputed Kibas bachelor attitude as of late that the young man had strong feelings to the pale eyes kunoichi and any fool could see that her heart was else wear, underneath the calm waters of valley of the end.
"We'll stop up ahead for the night, tomorrow morning we will meet the client" he said breaking the silence of the group. The other Shinobi nodded in unison.
Naruto walked at a slow pace through the backwoods of grass country, another contract done and dusted. Just a simple go getter as he put it. Finding some blacksmiths treasured toolkit stolen by some runaway apprentice.
The kind of thing that warranted a Shinobi yet due to the economics of the town, a mission not worth the price of the official Ninja of the land.
Stopping in his tracks the blonde held a one handed seal as a slab of earth rose from the ground as a makeshift seat for the man. Puffing on his pipe purple eye looked above as a small bird decended onto his outstretched hand.
'Let me guess, a snatch and grab contract'
'Mmmm I think a stab satb and runaway contract, haven't had one of those in a while'
He touched the creatures head as its eyes reflected his own, the voice of a client reaching his mind as the bird recent memories became his own.
'Wow seems I'm a wanted criminal, why would a noble want me dead?'
'You did screw his daughter when you took his gold'
'Oh right now I remember, guess everything comes back around'
Dismissing the small bird that had served its purpose the blondes turned east.
It seems that a regular client had grown sick of his liege lords policies and now wished him dead, seeing as the same lord wished Naruto dead the blonde was chosen so as to kill two birds with one stone. How convenient.
The nawing in the back of his mind came again. As the tall grass and thinly grown trees began to make way for the high forest and thick greenery of the land of fire. It had been some months since he had received work in his home country. He had no worries though, no Konoha Ninja has ever crossed his path so he was fairly certain he would be fine.
Fairly certain.
The feudal system of the elemental nations had existed since the dawn of time, or so as was said. Each independent nation had its own feudal lord that governed the land by proxy of the regional nobility that kept the peace and enforced the law. Each noble family held a prominent role in their respective region, with many myths and legends surrounding their heritage so as to justify their place in society.
One common symptom of their place in the pyramid, on that is universal among all high class civilians was the arrogance and perceived invulnerability.
"I demand you bring that wreched feind to me, I want him alive so I may execute him myself" oh how Kakashi hated theses kinds of mission, nobles always made things harder.
"As you command lord Jeshu-sama" Kakashi responded with a low bow, his team following suit.
"The man stole my property and my daughters purity, for that I shall have him hung, drawn and quartered like the animal he is" the mans white powdered face do nothing to shade the red tint his features took. The girl next to him, his daughter as it looked, looked at her feet and blushed.
'Poor girl' Kakashi thought
Stepping forward Sakura took the spotlight "lord Jenshu-sama, how long ago did this monk leave your village, it may help us track him down"
"Stupid woman, I have already done that for you. Bring in the traitor!" Sakura fist clenched for a second, boy did Kakashi hope she hadn't developed Tsunade's renowned temper as well.
Two doors open revealing two samurai holding a chained man covered in bloody wound and thick scars. The guards had to drag him almost, the mans legs to weak to hold him.
"This is the man who sent word to the whelp in regards to my vault, apparently someone he grew jealous and defiantly hired the scum to steal my gold. Fortunately this traitor has sent word to the monk to kill me so I expect you four to prevent that from occurring."
Kakashi's visible eye narrowed at this, no monk would be hired to steal, obviously he was a Shinobi posing as a monk or a holy man with some serious sin. Either way Kakashi needed more information.
Hinata Hyuuga, the eldest daughter of Hiashi Hyuuga, former heiress of her clan had never been one for emotions. A quiet girl from childhood many had deemed the girl too timid and gentle for Shinobi life. When her sister defeated her because she would not harm the younger girl, Hinata has nearly been cast out of her clan. When her heart had broken with the death of Naruto she had nearly fell into despair.
Her friends and peers had helped her since but even still her social ability was wreck by her chronic anxiety and habit of fainting when tension presented herself.
Nevertheless due to the fact she came from a noble family Kakashi-Sensei had seen to it that she talked with the lord's daughter in regards to their target.
"Can you tell me what he looked like?" He voice was soft and gentle, anyone could see that the poor girl was conflicted. Many fathers would wish to kill any boy who slept with their daughters yet when your father was a noble lord, shit tended to hit the fan.
"Ummm I don't know" the brown haired girl replied toying with her gold laced red kimono. The poor child was obviously with holding information.
"The towns people told us that he was blonde and that he wore a white coat, was there any other distinguishable markings, like a tattoo or a scar" Hinata hated this, it took real effort to keep her voice from trembling or stuttering.
The girl beside her sitting on the bed simply looked down at her hands as if in thought. As if remembering something she looked Hinata in the eyes as if to speak but her bright red cheeks and wide eyes showed that whatever came to mind was not spoken in polite conversation.
Hinata blushes as well, the awkwardness and embarrassment getting the better of her as she left the noble women's room.
Why couldn't Sakura do this, she was always so confident and sure of herself.
The four Konoha Shinobi gathered together in kakashi's room, a map of the lords villa and the surrounding town placed on a table with undiscerning markings written all over it.
"Well seeing as his excellency has done the tricky part for us, all we have to do is subdue the target and allow his lordship to deal justice."
Kiba was the first to speak up with Akamaru currently standing by his master "That guy is as stuck up as a turkey on thanksgiving, let's just get this done so we don't have to listen to his stupid voice any more" Kakashi couldn't help but agree.
"His lordship as given us twenty of his person guards to help us, seeing as the target is unlikely to know that Shinobi are involved then our best bet is to remain low and only show up when the target does, right Kakashi-Sensei" Sakura said trying to get back on track.
"Good idea Sakura, from what I can tell this wandering holy man is more then he puts on, my guess is that he's a rogue Shinobi for hire posing as a monk in order to prevent suspicion, a few of the townspeople have given us a description and it all seems the same. Short blond hair, a long white robe and smokes a wooden pipe." Looking over the map the one eyed Jounin held a hand to his chin.
"I-If he is a Shinobi then the g-guards won't do much, we will have to stay close to the client just in case" Hinata spoke quietly, smiling as the others in the room nodded in agreement.
"Alrighty then, everyone stay close to the client but stay out of the spotlight, if you see anyone that fits the description wait until he gets close so he can't escape, dismissed"
"Hai"
"Hai
"Hai"
"Woof"
And with that they returned to their separate rooms.
3 days later
On the outskirts of the town Naruto could see the whole settlement with a birds eye view, concentrating chakra to his eyes the blonde vision changed from seeing the natural colours if the world to many shades of grey.
Spots of blue moved about as the villagers went about their business, yet along the walls and in the lords palace greater shades showed the higher level people that surrounded his target.
Naruto frowned at this, he counted around twenty to twenty five guards throughout the village. He had no intention of a drawn out battle, just a silent kill to complete his task.
It seemed the noble lord had hired the help of some strong Shinobi, their chakras shining greater then the petty samurai that guarded the town. This made things difficult.
Holding his hands in the tiger seal his appearance morphed into that of an old man, complete with a walking can and rugged worn out robes.
Hobbling his way to the main entrance his anxiety reached its peak, he had done this many times before so why was he so nervous?
He shrugged it off, he wanted to leave as soon as possible. Kurama snoring in the back of his mind took away the doubt he had. Just another job and another pay day.
Perhaps after this contract he'd go away for a while, hide out and lay low for a holiday.
Being a feudal ruler meant many things, having few rights yet many privileges, few choices and many obligations. One such obligation was having an audience with your subjects in order to hear the appeals of the citizenry and accept the gift of the people whom you governed over.
A massive security risk but a necessary custom to keep the peace.
Kakashi and his squad were hidden among the rafters looking over their charge as his servants did their jobs hearing the people and accepting gifts. High on his throne Kakashi frowned at how the lord looked down his nose at the small folk. The man was an asshole through and through yet he paid for protection.
An old man approached the the front and whispered something to the attended, the servants features went blank as he stepped aside for the old man to talk to his liege directly. Kakashis body tended as the client stood up and shouted something before he was pulled by some undress force into the old mans outstretched hand.
Lightning covered the joints hand as he jumped from the rafters. Turns out the monk was a Shinobi and one quite good at disguises.
Despite never having talent for Genjutsu Naruto had no trouble getting the attendant to move aside. Approach throne at a slow pace he gave a small smile to the man he was meant to kill.
"And what gives you the right to approach me peasant, speak quickly or I'll have you thrown out" by god was this man a true asshole. Oh well he'd fix that soon enough.
"I just wished to say to you my lord…" he allowed his true eyes to show, the man jumping up in surprise "... that your daughter was the best fuck I've had in a while"
The man shouted some incoherent chatter before Naruto pulled him in with a quick Banshou Ten'in.
The man couldn't even put up a fight as his very soul was sucked out of his lifeless corpse.
Naruto was forced to drop the body in order to dodge a lightning blade aimed for his head as well as jump to dodge a duo of spinning claws and fangs.
Standing amongst the shocked crowd of onlookers Naruto now purple ringed eyes widened in shock at the two Shinobi before him as well as the two kunoichi flanking him.
' you have got to be fucking kidding me' of all the twice damned Shinobi of all people it had to be this lot who got hired to protect that snob of a man.
His heart was racing now and it took great effort to maintain his disguise in his surprises state.
His senses flair as in the corner of his periphery a pink blur dashed towards him, easily avoiding the slow downward strike Naruto was again shocked to see the ground he had stood on break and shatter from the impact.
If it was any other group of people he would have dropped the disguise and taken them all out. He couldn't take the risk though, not with Konoha.
In a blur of speed the old man made for the doors to the courtroom, Hinata was able to intercept him though and even land a gentle fist strike to the chest. Kakashi has thought it was all over at that point only for the old man's appearance to waver for a second before backhanding the blue haired girl knocking her out.
He ordered Sakura to tend to Hinata before he and Kiba made to pursue their target. The weave through the panicked crowd that had gathered outside as kakashi lifted his headband and used his Sharingan to follow the old man's trail.
He was definitely under a disguise if the thick layer of chakra was anything to go by as well as the chakra he was using to enhance his speed. As the old man made his way into the towns main road the silver haired Jounin flew through hand seals
"Doton: Earth style wall!"
Walls of earthen brick decorated with bulldog sculptures rose from the ground on three sides to block the man's escape through the town gates. Kiba and Akamaru launched into another Fang over Fang only for the man to fly threw his own one handed seals.
"Doton: bedrock barrier" the voice that spoke betrayed the outward appearance of an elderly man, and the fact that the inuzuka and Ninken bounced of the dark grey wall and into unconsciousness betrayed the visage of a feeble senior citizen.
Kakashi locked his mixed eyes with the brown ones of his target. His team had been incapacitated and only a drawn out battle would result in capture of the target, that is if kakashi could take him.
He had knocked out Hinata with one hit, produced an earth technique he had never seen before, dodged his own Raikiri easily and all the while held up a transformation.
"I should feel complimented that the famed kakashi of the Sharingan would be assigned to take me out, a shame you were hired to protect a man as foul as the late lord of this town" kakashi frowned at this, his uncannily calm voice pointing out the mission failure.
"A shame your team weren't worth more then the headbands they wear" Kakashi's Sharingan struggled to keep up with the mans fast hand seals.
"Katon: Unholy Flame"
Blue flames spread out across the limited ground, climbing up both the his own and kakashi's earthen walls, the flames raced towards kakashi who was forced to jump back into the road.
Blue flames then turned to red as the burned with such intensity that kakashi had to sheiks his eyes from the sight. Another technique he had never seen before.
A moment passed as the flames subsided leaving ashen earth. He was gone.
Kakashi kicked himself, he had let the man in an older disguise leave the scene of the crime with only a failed mission and dead client.
The political implications went unsaid. Tsunade was going to kill him for this.
'That was a close one'
'Really, you think?'
'Oh how nice of you to show up now'
'Piss off I was sleeping, you're the one that went in head first without properly sniffing out any real threat, I told you before any contract in the land of fire means Konoha is just an hour away'
'Why thank you Kurama for stating the obvious, besides they didn't see me, not like you helped anyways'
'You are so lucky I can't hurt you in this cage'
'Just lend me some chakra so I can be sure I wasn't followed'
Allowing his eyes to show their true appearance naruto's pupils elongated into slits that went through each of the concentric rings.
His senses expanded dramatically, giving him a mental image of all sentient beings in ten mile radius. From each insignificant mouse on the ground to the villages scrambling in panic five minutes south, all that thought became known to Naruto's mind.
His eyes returned to normal as the appearance of the old man faded. He was safe now, the Konoha Shinobi whet still tending to their wounds and so his jumped into the trees heading for the coast.
Turns out that holiday was his best bet, now he was on his former homes radar which meant he had to dispappear.
And the land of whirlpools was the best place for that.
Chapter end