Tangled Web
AU-ish story set in Kakashi's youth. Hope you enjoy. Please review and let me know.
I own nothing. Nothing.
Chapter Seven
"Ah!" Obito cried as the tanto tore into the flesh of his upper arm, "I'm telling the truth!"
"You are lying!" Sato howled, "Itch leaf! Leeches! Flesh-eating voles! I'm going to skin you alive, Brat!"
"The path is still by water to hide your scent like my clan planned it," Obito panted as his blood trickled from the wound on his bicep, "I'm too young to have my sharingan yet so it is harder to avoid the traps. I'm not lying."
Sato swore and pushed himself off of the boy that he'd tackled against a tree. Obito breathed deeply as he tried to rein in his fears and deal with the pain from where his skull had connected with the tree. This was for Bakakashi and for innocent Genma that had been dragged into this mess because of the Uchiha's stupidity. He'd see this to the end because that was his shinobi way.
"Get up," Sato huffed as he dragged the child up by his hair while Obito held back a whimper, "One more trap and I slit your throat, Boy."
Obito sighed as he tried to keep his balance with his arms twisted behind him. Not for once today did Obito wish that he had Kakashi's sense of smell to know if help was near. The shove into the tree had also left the boy with ringing ears. All in all…today was a sucky day.
"Get on with it," Sato ordered as Obito shook his head to try and right himself.
"Hai," Obito agreed and stepped forward as his blood dropped to the ground from his wound.
He had hopes that the trail of blood drops would bring help faster.
"I need you, Sensei," Obito moaned to himself as he stumbled when his head throbbed harder for a moment, "Please hurry."
oOo
"Obito's blood is on the air," Akino blurted as Minato nearly missed his next step on a tree branch because of the statement and had to be caught by the back of his flak jacket by Jiraiya, "I think the kid is wounded. Not dead."
"Go faster," Minato ordered as the three ninken nodded, "I can keep up and the others will catch up. Go!"
The blonde set his face and leapt after the dogs as Jiraiya cursed and followed with the other two jonin. Minato didn't miss the trail of blood droplets that began to appear and hissed when the droplets grew worse. Obito was losing too much blood. Minato didn't stop, he didn't think, he didn't curse when he finally got a good look at the man that had his knee in his unconscious student's back with Kakashi's weapon poised to strike. He struck instead with a special kunai and a flash of yellow light.
"You bastard!" Minato howled as he tackled the man from Obito's back, "Coward! Attacker of children! Scum! Down, Bull! This one is mine!"
The two scrabbled in the dirt as Minto fought the larger man while dogs barked and snapped at Ogawa. Minato nearly wrestled the tanto from Sato's grip, but the man had brute strength and slammed the shinobi into a tree.
"This is mine!" Sato roared, holding the blade tighter to slash at Minato while the blonde rolled away as Chouza charged in and scooped Obito up and away from danger, "Should have been mine all along so Ame-chan could see me as more of a hero than that filthy White Fang of Stupidity! Sakumo's gone and soon his spawn will be too as well as the other brats who have crossed me! Gah!"
"Not on our watch," Shikaku snorted as Sato froze while shadows held him in place, "Not today and not ever."
Eyes widened as Minato stalked over and nailed Sato Ogawa hard in the face with a well-placed fist. Minato Namikaze rarely allowed his temper to show, but then he was hauling his fist back to punch the beast a second time.
"Don't you ever touch my students again. Wish I could gut you while you still lived for what you have done to innocent children who have never done anything to deserve your attentions," Minato hissed and then accepted Obito from Chouza as the Akimichi ambled forward.
"How dare you," Chouza snarled as his arm enlarged, "You tried to gut my student. You put Genma into a coma and seemed to have enjoyed the pain you unleashed on mere children. Face grown adults for a change, Coward!"
Shikaku chuckled as the Akimichi slammed the other man into a nearby boulder with a very, very large, right hook. The second right hook was just for spite. Sato Ogawa crumbled to the ground with a grunt.
"Hard to face fully trained shinobi, isn't it?" Jiraiya snorted as he jerked the struggling man to his feet, "Talk, Scum. Tell me about the night you entered Kakashi Hatake's home."
Minato listened as he stooped and began to untie Obito's hands as the unconscious boy leaned limply against him. Shikaku came over with a fresh medical kit to dress the wound on the boy's arm while Minato checked to make sure Obito's bloodied nose wasn't broken. The blonde gratefully accepted the boy's goggles from Akino a heartbeat later.
"Brat, was eating when I arrived and I told him to finish his meal. Kid was a bit suspicious, but when is he not?" Sato gritted out angrily after Jiraiya had twisted his arms behind him and lashed the man tightly after having removing the intact scabbard of Kakashi's weapon from the coward, "Lulled him into a false sense of security since I've done repairs in the kid's home before. Mother had asked me to fix the boy's countertop so the brat suspected nothing. It has always bit at me the coldness of that creature."
"Kakashi found his father dead thanks to you and others," Pakkun growled as Bull and Akino snarled beside him, "Pup's emotions are stunted because of his loss. He's not cold, Bastard, he's hurting!"
"Felt good to wrap my hands around that scrawny neck," Sato bragged as all seemed to stop for a moment when the mad gleam of the man's eyes shone out in glee despite the angry growls of the ninken, "Brat fought hard and kicked like a fucking mule once I grabbed him and dragged him to open the damn box with the tanto. Twisted away and the battle was on. He nearly got the upper hand. Brat's well trained, but having one's head slammed in by the hammer I held helped a lot."
"I'm going to bite and tear," Pakkun grizzled, stalking forward as Minato itched to end the man's life while he slid his student's tanto back into the scabbard to return the weapon to Kakashi, "I'm going to start with what's between your legs, Filth!"
"Felt even better to crush him under the couch," Sato gloated, ignoring the ninken, "Should have realized to check for breathing. Who'd have known that Hakake's brat could be even more stubborn than his loser father in wanting to live? The kid must have gotten his mother's strength. Ame-chan was always a spitfire. I got the tanto and it felt glorious in my hands. Cuts anything like butter. Slid into the long-haired brat smooth as silk, but you interrupted me being able to finish what I had started."
Chouza growled as Shikaku had to hold him back from Ogawa.
"Enough," Minato barked, standing with Obito strapped to his back, "Stew in what you brought on yourself. Pakkun, Akino, Bull, nothing important. Hokage-sama wants this one alive. Have fun."
Barks, snarls, and screams echoed behind the sensei before he used Hiraishin to once again flash to Kakashi's hospital room. The five ninken glanced up from beside their sleeping master and relaxed when Minato flashed them a quick smile and placed Kakashi's weapon on the bedside table.
"Pakkun, Bull, and Akino have the attacker," Minato assured as the dogs grinned with sharp teeth showing, "You're master is safe and I need to get Obito to Lady Tsunade. How is Kakashi?"
"Sleeping calmly," Urushi answered, "Lady Tsunade came to check on him and confirmed that there is no brain damage, but his lost memories are permanent."
"That is a good thing, actually," Minato insisted, "The attack on Kakashi was meant to be brutal and scarring. I am glad that he won't remember what that man did. Keep him safe."
"Always," Urushi groused with an indignant glared, cuddling closer to Kakashi's hip, "He's our pup. Didn't even have to say that."
Minato nodded and eased out the door. The two Anbu glanced to him sharply and relaxed at the signal that all was clear now.
"Minato!"
Lady Tsunade flew over to glance over the limp child on the sensei's back in horror.
"Minor injuries," Minato soothed as the Hokage hurried over, "Obito ran off to warn his grandmother since he overheard who had attacked Kakashi and Genma. She was having tea with Ogawa-san and her son and Obito wasn't thinking clearly enough to warn a trained adult. He took off to get his baa-chan to safety. Sato caught Obito and my brat of a student sent the crazy scum on a wild goose chase to give us all time to catch up."
"This one is a handful. Lay him here," Tsunade ordered as she rolled a gurney over, "Any other wound besides the obvious one on his arm?"
"Not sure," Minato admitted as he eased the boy off his back as the Hokage helped maneuver Obito to lay flat, "He was unconscious when we arrived and…oh, geez."
Sarutobi and Tsunade shared looks when the blonde began to laugh.
"I'm calming enough now to remember some details I had to dismiss before. Sato was covered in itch leaf rashes, leech and vole bites, and looked like Obito led him through the shredding vines," Minato snorted as the other two chuckled, "What am I going to do with this brat? Anyway, Jiraiya and the others will be escorting whatever is left of Ogawa to you, Hokage-sama."
"Good," Sarutobi grunted before startling as a voice could be heard yelling while a man that had a striking resemblance to Genma careened around the corner, "Shiranui-san, calm down."
"Where is my son?" the shinobi demanded, "I was told…tell me he's alive!"
Minato sighed and watched as the Hokage led the father over to a chair and gently broke the news to the man. It was pitiful to see a fully-trained shinobi weep, but to hear that one's only son was in a coma made even the strongest crumble.
"Mm?"
"Obito?" Minato called as his student stirred and opened his eyes, "You are so grounded for the rest of your life. Sensei's orders."
"I know," Obito whispered, "Sato?"
"Captured, thanks to your interesting assistance."
"Kakashi and Rin?"
"Kakashi's safe and sleeping. Rin is fine too."
"The idiot green thing?"
"Obito! Stop calling Gai that and yes, he's fine too.
"Genma?"
Minato sighed and watched as Sarutobi led Shiranui-san to his son's room.
"We don't know yet," Minato offered as Obito whimpered, "How do you feel?"
"Stupid," Obito sniffled, "Genma wasn't supposed to be hurt. Rin and I just wanted to help and so did Gai."
"I know," Minato agreed as the boy trembled in his despair, "Don't get upset. You've been through too much right now."
"Calm down," Tsunade ordered, giving a shake of her head to Minato, "Let's see to your wounds and talk about this later. Nagota-san, take Obito to that room there."
"What is it?" Minato demanded once his student was behind a door with the medic nin Tsunade had beckoned over, "You shook your head at me to warn me off. What is wrong with my student?"
"Obito is suffering from a head injury and has lost more blood than I like to see," Tsunade sighed, "That Ogawa certainly liked to slam children in the face and head to subdue them. Obito's also got some broken ribs along with the slice on his arm. The mild concussion is making him not be able to control his emotions right now so he doesn't need to be upset. Go see to the Hokage. Sensei might need your help with Genma's father while I deal with your student."
Minato hesitated to leave Obito, but reluctantly did as the lady asked. Glancing through the observation window, the blonde's heart contracted at seeing Shiranui-san choking back tears as he placed his forehead against his unconscious son's. The father had Raidou wrapped in his other arm while the man grieved for his child's state.
"I hate this part of the job," Sarutobi practically whined as Minato nodded, "My Anbu told me that Ogawa has been taken to the Torture and Interrogation department. I need to see to the man. You okay here?"
"Hai, Hokage-sama," Minato agreed as the older shinobi nodded and left to do his job.
"Minato-sensei?" Rin called as she hurried over with Gai while the blonde kneeled to catch the teary girl, "Obito?"
"Is fine and the man that did all this is captured," Minato soothed as the two children breathed a sigh of relief, "Go wait for me in the waiting room so I can take you two home. I'll be there as soon as I can, okay?"
Minato got twin nods as the kunoichi and her friend walked tiredly away. He sat up and came face to face with Genma's father. The similarities between the father and son were amazing to see when close enough.
"Who did this to my boy?" Shiranui-san growled, "Who caused my only child to need a machine in order to breathe?"
"Sato Ogawa," Minato offered as the other shinobi breathed in angered pants, "He's in custody and the Hokage is dealing with the man now."
"Where?"
"Don't do this, Shiranui-san," Minato warned, sensing the other man's intentions, "The Hokage wants the man alive so he can suffer for what he has done to your son, Kakashi, and Obito. Genma needs his father here so he can sense you close and feel safe. That will help him wake as soon as possible so all of this will just be an old nightmare."
Shiranui snarled angrily for a moment before getting his emotions under control as he breathed in deeply.
"My name is Genta. Remember that name because I only allow those I respect the most to use it. I've been told you saved my boy. Thank you for getting my only child to the hospital before he bled out. Thank you for bringing Raidou here so that Gen could be saved with that remarkable child's matching blood type. We Shiranui have always had rare blood. I am in a great deal of debt to you."
"I am Minato to you and am honored to call you by your name, but you are wrong, Genta-san," Minato denied as Genta frowned in confusion, "It is I that am in debt to your child. Genma realized the dangers of what his teammate and my two students were attempting and worked to keep them safe. He saved them from Ogawa. Your son is amazing."
"Gen's my blessing," Genta whispered, "I…I must get back to him. Thank you again, Minato-san, for saving my boy and seeing his skills. He'll be a great shinobi when…when he wakes because he will. Gen-chan will wake and come back to me because my boy has a core of steel."
Genta bowed deeply and hurried to reach his son's side as Minato prayed that the father's words were true for his child.
To be continued…