Arc 1: Chapter 2 - "Two of you?"
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, Naruto Shippuden or any versions of it or the characters. All rights go the owners, writers and creators. All I own is the work itself.
In reply to 'blades': I figured Kakashi wouldn't be able to keep quiet, trained ANBU or not, so they learned it from him. Plus, I wanted to get some of the reveals out of the way. And yes, I'll have him clean up, probably with some grossness coming from Team Minato :P Addressing your last point: what I had in mind for how Kakashi doesn't remember it all is an alternate timeline. Basically, think of two lines, the Team came from one's past into the other's future. They can't change the other's past, but the things they learn will make their own timeline's future different from the other's line.
To all the others who favourited, reviewed, and followed: Thank you so much! I wasn't expecting this much support! (By the way, I'll only reply to reviews of length and/or with questions, or ones that really move me!)
WARNINGS: (mild violence, very, very light, brief torture - stabbing. Nothing really graphic, at all. Super light mentions of suicide, but it's more like being super reckless kind of suicidal)
The silence that followed that sentence was so quiet, Minato imagined if it was any quieter, he would be able to hear everyone's bones creaking. Obito broke the silence loudly, "WHAT! Two of you?! What do you mean?!"
Wolf sighed under the bloody animal mask, and murmured coldly, "Still an idiot then."
Minato looked down at the grass, running his eyes over the red liquid staining it. Glancing around the clearing, he felt despair inside him. Kakashi was still a child, in his mind. To think he did something as gruesome as this, and according to Pakkun, things more gruesome than this... it was horrible. He had always been against sending out children to fight war. But, since this was the future, Kakashi - Wolf - was probably an adult by now. Bringing his gaze back to the ANBU and his three students, he looked at Wolf throughly. Trying to ignore the blood, he could see the connection. If under all that red was silver in his hair, taking off his animal mask...
Rin was staring at Wolf wide-eyed, confusion and slight denial swirling inside her. She honestly couldn't see it. Here was an ANBU operative, clearly very skilled, soaked in blood and a dark aura around him. Next to her, Kakashi was so different. His aura wasn't as dark, and was sullen, angry. Wolf just felt tired, utterly and throughly exhausted.
Obito was confused. He had been expecting to teleport near one of his teammates' future selves or even him, and discover that, yes, he had made Hokage, his dream in life. Instead, they end up in the middle of a forest, find an ANBU surrounded by bodies and covered in blood, discover that all of them but Kakashi are dead, and find out that this ANBU is the ninja that they teleported near.
Kakashi wasn't feeling anything. Well, that was a lie. He was trying not to feel anything, but emotions of despair, shock, confusion, anger, and even sadness raged for control.
Wolf sighed loudly, expressing his exasperation and annoyance with the situation in front of him. "Look, I need to clean up this mess, clean myself up a little, then I'll answer your questions," he told them. Then he remembered, "But, before that..."
The ANBU operative shifted his gaze to one of the bodies, this one pinned to a tree, not actually looking all that injured. Minato furrowed his brows as Wolf approached the body of the thug with dirty looking brown hair, "Uh, K-
"Wolf."
"Wolf. What are you doing?" Minato's heart clenched, sadness overtaking it. Something bad had obviously happened to Wolf, but he didn't know what. Was it his team's deaths, or something worse?
"Yeah, that guy's dead, right?" Obito peeped, still subdued from the gore surrounding him and the shock.
"No."
Team Minato watched as Wolf pulled the kunai that pinned the man to the bark out and and heaved the man up against the tree violently. One hand held the man up while Wolf's other hand slipped under his ANBU gear, collecting something. Team Minato stepped forward a bit to get a better look at what the ANBU operative was holding, but the bloody-haired man was in the way, and the object was quickly put away.
"What was that?" Rin asked curiously.
Instead of Wolf answering, Pakkun replied instead, "A wake up call. Come on, get out of sight. Boss has to do something quick." Inside, the pug was slightly worried. Not for Wolf, of course, but of Team Minato's reactions to what he guessed Wolf was about to do.
The team of four let themselves be nudged into the bushes, but kept to an area where they could see. When the thug they thought was dead stirred, they watched intently. Wolf stood menacingly over the slumped man as he released killing intent. Even though it wasn't aimed at them this time, the four hidden in the bushes flattered slightly and their breathing shallowed.
The thug moved his gaze up, first seeing Wolf's feet, all the way to his bloody animal mask and soaked red hair. Eyes wide and scared, he immediately started pleading madly for his life, "P-Please, please do-on't k-kill m-me! I-I have a girlfriend, a-a-a mother, please don't kill me! I-I'm their o-only s-s-sou-ource o-of in-income-" He flattered as Wolf's killing intent doubled and cowered at the ANBU's feet, whimpering pathetically.
Rin's eyes softened slightly at his words, but Minato's eyes narrowed. The blond ninja wondered what Wolf was trying to get out of the thug, who didn't look like he was going to say anything of importance anytime soon, by the sound of his frantic stuttering.
Suddenly, Wolf grabbed the thug by his shirt with his left hand and pulled him up and shoved him into the tree harshly. Rin and Obito both winced at the unexpected display of violence, only for four out of five of them, Kakashi, Obito, Rin, and Minato, to filch, gasp, look away and stare incredulously, respectively, at what Wolf did next.
Wolf knew that Minato, Obito, Rin, and the younger Kakashi were watching from the bushes, but he blocked that off. He had to make sure that these thugs weren't sent after him specifically for some reason. So, after hauling the thug he had kept alive into the tree, releasing even more killing intent, and glaring at him through his animal mask, he slipped a kunai into his right hand. Eyes not wavering from their glare, he stabbed the thug in the right shoulder harshly, very slowly twisting it, getting howls of pain and fear in response.
He knew Minato would never approve of his method, probably even be disgusted, he knew that. The friendly jounin had never particularly liked unnecessary violence, despite not hesitating on the battlefield when killing.
As the thug's pain-filled screams rang, he could hear Obito's gasp, Minato's sharp intake of air, and Rin and Kakashi's younger self's movements disturbed some twigs on the ground. Ignoring them, he focused on the thug in front of him, slowly pulling back his killing intent so that the man could answer his questions without soiling himself. "Who sent you?" he growled out in an intimidating manner. "Why did you attack me? Was it the Mizukage? The Tsuchikage?"
He also knew that Team Minato would currently be freaking out in bushes, but it couldn't be helped, he knew that he had to ask, and they wouldn't go away until he had answered their questions. Shaking himself mentally, he noted that he was feeling way too many emotions for his current position. "W-We j-j-j-just s-saw you, s-so we th-thought we-we c-could gr-grab your st-stuff a-and-"
"Are you lying?" He pushed the knife in deeper, and getting a frantic shake of the head in response. Wolf's eyes narrowed menacingly at the thug, but took the knife out and stopped leaking killing intent, done with his short interrogation.
"T-Thank Kami..." the thug fell to the ground, clutching his heavily bleeding shoulder with a hand. "A-Are you going t-to help me now?"
"Why would I do that?"
"But, but I told what you wanted to know! What more do you want?"
Wolf acted fast. His hand lashed out, pushing the thug painfully against the tree again, and the even ninjas in the bushes were hard-pressed to see. As quick as he did that, he whipped out the still-bloody kunai and put it to the thug's throat, drawing a light stream of blood. He heard the gasping and practically felt the shock from the team of four from the past, and he knew that even the Kakashi from the past would be surprised and nauseous. A cold smirk grew on his face, and he lent forward to whisper in the man's ear, "All I want," the kunai sliced across his throat, flowing onto his ANBU uniform and spraying on his bloody hair, then the whisper turned into simply mouthing the words as the the thug's eyes faded and life escaped him.
"K-Wolf?" Minato stepped out of the bushes, his heart clearly in his eyes and on his sleeve. "D-Did you have to do that? I think you scared Rin, Obito, and, uh, little you."
The blond ninja's words were true. As the three younger ninjas stepped into the clearing, their eyes were wide and they couldn't seem to keep their eyes off the corpse of the man Wolf just killed. But Wolf just stepped in their line of sight and shrugged, "Not really. But I was angry. Blood is hard to get out of hair, and I've ruined too much gear like this, I think the commander's getting annoyed."
"Kakashi!" Minato burst out loudly, drawing both Kakashi's attention, along with the two genins. "Do you know how dangerous that is? The commander is one of the most powerful ninja in the village!"
"It's Wolf. And yes, I do know. I don't care."
Minato's fists clenched when Wolf shot his hand forward and then put a kunai to his throat. When Wolf slit the thug's throat, blood swelled from the crescent shaped wounds on his palms. When the ANBU talked about blood being hard to get out of hair and ruining his gear, an uncomfortable, despairing feeling was the thing swelling up like blood from a wound.
"It's Wolf. And yes, I do know. I don't care," the ANBU that was his student, but might as well have not been, because to Minato, he sounded like a stranger, spoke in an impersonal voice. The curt tone was familiar, but the emotion behind it was all wrong. Sad, tired, cold, empty. Kakashi may never have been much of a child, but even he had playfulness, and something unrecognizable but Minato knew it was good, in his banter. This Kakashi's voice was all wrong.
But Minato sighed through his nose, and stayed calm and collected for his students. "What did you mean about the Mizukage or the Tsuchikage sending these guys after you?"
Wolf shrugged, "I've made many enemies."
"As an ANBU and an adult ninja, you probably have. But Kage-level enemies? That's serious!" Minato avoided using a name, as he wasn't sure what to call his student, his ex-student.
The blond ninja's three students watched the conversation like a tennis match, and Obito muttered under his breath in an offhand way, "Future Kakashi sounds suicidal and crazy." Kakashi stiffed at this comment, and his two dark eyes glared at nothing in particular.
"What made you think I was an adult, Namikaze-san?" Wolf said coldly.
Minato himself filched at the formal usage of his name, but carried on anyway, "You said I died three years ago as the Yondaime Hokage, so you must be at least over twenty, because Sandaime-sama is still fit to be the Hokage, plus you also said you have lots of enemies. You need time to get that."
Kakashi added, "Or you do a lot of dangerous things." The silver-haired chuunin narrowed his eyes at his older self, and it was clear which one he believed.
Wolf exhaled sharply, and lifted his hand towards his bloodied animal mask, but not before checking the area throughly for unwelcome chakra signals and silently gesturing to Pakkun, who had been keeping quiet, for the pug to keep watch. Placing his hand on his mask, he clicked it off, closing his uncovered eye as he did so, only to open it a second later. He felt this conversation needed his face, not his animal mask.
The leader of the team of four took in his student's future self's face. The first thing he noted was that his left eye was covered by bandages. The second thing was that he still wore that damned face-mask that everyone had, at one point, attempted to catch him without.
"What happened to your eye, Bakakashi?"
The future Kakashi took in a harsh but quiet breath, and his breathing shallowed slightly as he stared as Obito, something unidentifiable in his visible eye.
At this point, Rin stepped forward, casting her slight shyness away as she said firmly, "As curious as I am, how about we have this conversation at a different time? I should probably check Kakashi for wounds first, incase he got injured."
"I'll be fine."
"She should check you anyway," Minato backed Rin up quickly. "Unless someone on your team is a medic." Minato knew this was unlikely, as ANBU teams usually were offense and defensive, not supportive.
Obito realized something, temporarily casting away the question of what happened to Wolf's eye, "Actually, we've been making loads of noise, so where are your teammates?"
"He has a good point," his sensei agreed.
Knowing they were going to keep pressing this point now that they noticed it, Wolf admitted, "I'm the only one here, this is a solo mission."
"So Rin should check up on older me."
"Yeah," Obito enforced, for once agreeing with the younger, two-eyed Kakashi.
As Rin had Wolf stretch to see if he winced at all, Minato was deep in thought. He remembered there was something about solo ANBU missions, something that he knew was important. "Wait a moment..." Minato mused, eyes looking at the older Kakashi. "There was something about solo ANBU missions."
Wolf stilled. The ANBU operative and last member of Team Minato remaining didn't want them to find out like this. Well, he didn't want them to find out at all, but under these circumstances... he sighed inaudibly, bracing himself. He'd rather he be the one to tell them.
"They are suicide missions," a clear young voice rang out, before he could speak, "aren't they." It wasn't a question, but a statement.
Everyone froze, and their gazes snapped to Wolf, wishing and praying for him to say that his younger self was wrong for once. Daring him to say it was true.
Wolf sighed. Again. He seemed to be making somewhat of a habit of it, it really wasn't good. "I'm- I'm not going to do it, I- I don't think that'd be right, though it would be fitting, with the b-blade..." he trailed off, ending the sentence with unusual stuttering, a distant look in his eye.
The two genins looked on in confusion as the younger Kakashi got the same distant look in his dark eyes and their sensei bowed his head, looking at the red grass. But when the moment ended, the blond jounin exploded, some of his girlfriend's temper showing, "Kakashi! NO, don't give me 'it's Wolf', your name is Kakashi when that mask isn't on! What are DOING!? Suicide missions?! How many have you done?! You can't do more than a couple, people go crazy because of them!"
At the end, Minato was panting and the older Kakashi was looking properly reprimanded. But it only lasted a minute, before Wolf's face - at least the third of it you could see - closed off, and he spoke coldly, "It's not like I have anyone left here. You're gone, Obito's gone, Rin's gone, my parents are long gone, even Kushina-nee is gone, taking your son with her!" he glared, turning his cold voice into angry shouting. "With me, the Hatake line will die."
Not quite registering that he apparently had a son, or that Kushina died, Minato asked in a quiet, also angry voice, "How many."
Wolf sagged, defeated. "I don't know. I think... more than thirty."
Again, silence reigned after the number was said.
"I- I'm so sorry," Minato whispered.
"Why?" Wolf's visible eye held no emotion - except for the self-hatred that the team of four in front of him failed to notice.
"I wasn't there for you."
Rin agreed sadly, "Yeah, I'm sorry, Kakashi."
And after a look from the girl, Obito also mumbled reluctantly, "Me too, I guess..." Then Rin whacked him over the head lightly, so he looked Wolf in the eye and restated, "I'm sorry too, Bakakas-, uh, Wolf, whatever..."
The younger Kakashi stayed silent, but felt some affection for his teammates at their words, aimed at the future version of him.
At this, the older Kakashi snorted in clear self-distain, but accidentally slipped some information he meant to keep hidden, but couldn't help himself. "Not your guys' fault, it's mine. I'm the one who killed you, after all."
Word Count (not including A/Ns): 2,756
Think I'm moving too fast? Too slow? (Just to get you guys' opinions)