Chapter 4
The difference
Kakashi's eye twitched. Then again. It annoyed him. He looked at his sensei, not hiding it. His eye twitched again. He could go with many of his decisions, no matter how much he disliked it. But this just crossed the line.
"Why is he coming with us?" the masked kid asked pointing at the dark haired fellow. Kuromaru just gave him a glare.
"Because he may prove to be of more assistance to us, Kakashi." Minato answered lowering his head before he could hit the branch. The five were in a hurry to their village. They lost a lot of time convincing the last Nekokage to come with them. That and additional deciding n what to do. Once one of the blonde jounin's toads returned from recon, the news he brought disturbed him greatly. He knew they needed to move to the Hidden Leaf Village and alert the Hokage. However, since they were travelling for more than half a day, with no rest, breakfast and on top speed, it's no wonder Kakashi was getting irritated.
"Still why even think he'll be of any help?" Kakashi asked again. "Don't get me wrong, I saw what he could do. But, what are the chances he wasn't simply lucky?"
"Are you saying that I should've died?" Kuromaru asked him, his voice on the edge.
"Well, you were lucky. That's all I'm saying." The silver haired boy commented. Then he looked at the guy. "It's not like you are a real shinobi, considering you didn't bother to sneak. Plus, that fighting style, while effective, was nowhere near impressive."
At this point Rin cut in. "Kakashi, that's enough. You're going too far."
"I'm just stating a fact, Rin. That guy is even clumsier than Obito was during our very first mission."
"You claim to be such a top dog, huh?" Kuromaru asked.
"Well, I am a jounin after all. Plus I have a sharingan. So yeah, right after sensei I am a top dog in this group." Kakashi responded with a smile.
"I see…" Kuromaru commented with a sinister voice, which didn't escape anyone's notice. "Then you're a wimp too lazy to train, flattering your sensei every now and then to be on his good side and abusing the power given to you by the one who gave that cursed eyeball. Whoever gave that eye must be embarrassed to have made such a poor choice. If I were him I would keep that eye and crush it."
He didn't look at Kakashi or at anyone. But he clearly must've known how his words affected the Leaf ninja- especially Kakashi. His hands were curled into fists and the boy was tightening the grip so much that they were bleeding. Kakashi couldn't stand that comment.
"How dare you belittle Obito, you bastard?" Kakashi's hand was covered in lightening. But before he could speed up and attack, Kuromaru said something that worked like strong blow that calmed him down.
"You wanna proof me wrong? Than how about a sparring?" Kuromaru dared him.
"Whoa, hold on here!" Izo called, jumping in between the two. "We don't have time for this. In case you two have forgotten, the Death ninja are on their way to our village. We gotta hurry and get here before that psycho-kage."
"Actually, we could top for a while." Minato suggested, signaling the team to stop. They landed on the small field. Then, the blonde turned to face Kakashi, while pulling out the scroll. "Kakashi, summon a ninja dog. It'll deliver a massage to the Leaf Village long before us." He said. The Hatake kid nodded and summoned one of his dogs. Minato tied the scroll to the dog and send him running. "Now, you two, can get on with it."
As Kuromaru and Kakashi were taking their stances, Rin ran over to her sensei. "Umm… Sensei, is this wise?"
"To be honest, his might be our best chance to learn of Kuromaru's abilities. That's the only reason I'm going with their challenge." He answered.
"But why Kakashi then?"
"He volunteered." Minato smiled mischievously. Rin and Izo just gave him a bad look. Then they quickly turned to the two, who were about to fight.
Kakashi revealed his sharingan and pulled out his kunai. But he didn't dash just yet. He saw the tanned teen take his stance and still nothing happened. Kuromaru just raised his eyebrow. "Aren't you going to attack?" he asked.
"I'm waiting for that feline form of yours." Kakashi replied. The Nekokage's eyes narrowed. "If you don't take it, then you're not taking me seriously."
"Then you're a fool, fool. You should just attack me now, while I'm not using that form."
"You'll need it. There's no way you can deal with me without…" Kakashi never caught to finish, as someone grabbed his head from behind and brutally slammed his face against the tree. Then Kuromaru threw the silver-haired boy towards the rock, only to find it turn into a log. The tanned guy looked around, just to get kicked in the face. Then he got punched in the gut. Kakashi, whose face was bleeding, was about to deliver another kick, when Kuromaru stabbed his leg with his claw-blades. Then Kakashi popped into smoke, revealing to be a clone jutsu. The real Kakashi was about to strike from behind.
But Kuromaru just smirked. He managed to elbow the young jonin in the face with so much force he sent him flying. The young Hatake collected himself, only to get a knee in the gut. Kakashi jumped some distance away. He needed to think this through. He looked up…
And Kuromaru punched him in a way that Kakashi wouldn't be able to use his left eye for a while. Kakashi held his face in pain.
"See that, you fool?" Nekokage started to lecture him. "What good is your sharingan now? You relied on it right from the beginning and now you can't use it. Let's see you try and take me down without it."
Kakashi growled under his breath. Who did the guy think he is? He charged up his raikiri, which got Minato concerned. He wanted to move, but the new travelling companion signaled him not to interfere. Still, Namikaze was ready to step in. Then Kakashi charged. The electric charge was marking his path. He was going to beat this guy. As he got near, he hit… a tree? This surprised Kakashi. He wanted to turn around when someone grabbed his wrist. Before the silver-haired teen knew what was going on, his head hit the tree and then he was pressed to the ground, his arm restrained and two kunai. One was pressed to the throat and the other to cut off his arm.
Kakashi's right eye widened in pure disbelieve, while his team whistled in amazement. The guy was a bit ruthless and brutal, but skilled.
"You rely on that eye too much." Kuromaru said, not letting Kakashi go. "What kind of a ninja are you if you need it more than your skills?"
Kakashi looked down in shame. This was like a bad omen. He lost to someone other than his sensei. How could that be? Kuromaru, expecting the attack, quickly jumped off the kid. When he saw no movement, he relaxed and approached the team. As he was passing them… "Go to him." he whispered to Rin and Minato. The two nodded and ran to their teammate. The tanned man sighed heavily.
Elsewhere
The black horde was marching south, towards the Hidden Leaf Village. They were all calm. Far ahead of the horde was construction pulled by the summoned hyenas. On top of it were the three generals, bowing before their lord and master. Before their god. The Shinikage was just sitting on his throne, awaiting their report.
"The Hidden Leaf Village will be reached within 2 days, my lord." Decay reported, unrolling a map. "There are seven entrance points to the village. The northern gate, east gate, south gate and four opening for the rivers. Since we're expected, the tree-lovers are likely to set heavy security from the north. That's why I'd like to suggest attacking from the west."
"From the west?" Agony asked. "Are you stupid? Didn't you just say there's no entrance from that direction?"
"Exactly." Suffering answered. "They won't expect an attack from the only side that seems unbreakable. That way we can surprise them and attack the village before they even know were there."
"This won't work." Agony spoke her mind. "I suggest we send a small team from the east, while the main horde strikes from the south. We'll distract them and manage to attack them before they learn it's a trap."
"We need to consider they may notice us before we reach the village at all." Decay said.
But the words of his generals weren't truly reaching him. He was only thinking of the price awaiting him in the village. At long last he would learn of the First and Second Hokage's burial ground. He learned from his research that with the Second Hokage was a scroll with a powerful jutsu hidden. A jutsu he wanted. A jutsu that would allow him to take over this world. He just needed to find it.
Hidden Leaf Village
After two days of a seemingly endless marathon, the team has finally reached the village. They were all exhausted and hungry, but still needed to report to the hokage. What they have learned was too urgent to wait.
Minato explained everything to Hiruzen. He told him everything about the attack, the black horde, the three generals, Ranma Town and, above else, the Shinikage. Hiruzen had terror in his eyes. So the day he feared most since the Second Shinobi War has finally come.
"Minato! I want you and your team to rest for now! We'll discuss the matter later this evening!" Lord Third ordered. Minato nodded and turned towards the door. As he touched the knob, Hiruzen rose up. "Wait a minute, Minato!" the jonin turned around. "This boy, Nekokage Kuromaru, tell him I'd like to see him." He asked. Minato nodded and left the room.
Minato entered his home. He was still breathing hard. He was just exhausted. Before he could enter any deeper, someone hugged him tightly. He looked down to find a mass of red hair, reaching down to the ankles.
"You're finally back, Minato." A woman's voice said. She backed away, gazing her purple eyes into his ocean blue ones, smiling warmly. Kushina was so happy to him return safe and unharmed.
"Kushina…" the blonde whispered, smiling back. He then looked down, to see her big belly. He kneeled and pressed his ear against it. "The child is still calm."
"Apparently it is waiting for daddy." Kushina chuckled. She was expecting to give birth any day now, so the return of her beloved calmed her. But then she noticed a worried look on Minato's face. "What's wrong, darling? You look so serious."
"Don't worry about it." Minato tried to keep her calm. "It's nothing major. But I'd like you to go with the villagers to safety should the need be. Okay?"
"Are expecting to be attacked? By whom? The war has long since ended. Believe that."
"Don't worry. Everything will be alright. This evening will be a meeting about the situation. We'll work a course of action." He petted her cheek. But Kushina was so suspicious. But she putted that aside for now when she heard Minato's belly growl. The blonde blushed with a troubled and embarrassed look on his face. "Got anything to eat?" he asked sheepishly.
"Well, I just finished preparing ramen. Want some?"
"You bet. I feel I could eat a dozen bowls of it."
The two laughed at it. Still, it was could to be back.
The sun was rising, illuminating the Hidden Leaf Village. The yet golden sky made this picture somewhat beautiful. The birds slowly started singing, making the scene even more magnificent. Little did anyone yet knew that not far from the village, a man in black armor was looking at the place.
Shinikage was ready to order the attack.
To be continued…