Kakashi remained in the same apprehensive state for a good hour into their trek to Hiroto's house. Taking the rear once again, his eyes shifted over every tree, rock, and blade of grass in the area, not liking the foreboding feeling he was constantly getting from this mission. Though nothing severe had happened so far, he didn't trust how quiet things were.

The squad was positioned in a diamond formation: Kakashi to the back, Naruto to the front, Sasuke to the left, and Sakura to the right. Hiroto stood in the middle of them. That way, if they were attacked from the front, Naruto could start an assault of Shadow Clones while Sasuke and Sakura closed in to aid him and Kakashi could focus on protecting the client.

"How much longer is it to the destination, Mr. Isamu?" Sakura asked politely, breaking the silence that had been kept for most of the way.

"We still have about an hour's journey if we keep up this pace," He replied.

"Jeez, it's really out of the way, isn't it?" Naruto noted.

"That's the point," Hiroto grimaced back at him.

Sasuke stayed silent as always, seeming to follow his sensei's routine of scrutinizing every object they came in contact with. But, unlike Kakashi, he was like that on just about every mission.

"Are you alright, Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura now turned towards her teacher. She always was good at seeing when something was wrong with the way a person was acting, "You've been really tense since we arrived at the border."

The rest of the group waited in silence for Kakashi's answer, all actually interested in what he would have to say to that.

"I'm fine," He replied nonchalantly, "Just trying to keep up a tight watch, is all. Don't worry."

"Alright," Sakura nodded, reassured by his words. She turned her attention back to the front.

Sasuke, though still facing forward and keeping the pace going, furrowed his brow. Kakashi's behavior had been very off lately. And now the anxiousness he sensed in the man began to grow, though he had to admit, the Copy Ninja was good at hiding it.

"?!" Suddenly Kakashi winced, feeling a sharp and short pain erupt on the left side of his neck, "Oh no…" He moaned inside, his eyes dashing from side to side with ten times his original fervor. With that pain came the horror of realizing that Orochimaru could be very close. And he could reach them at any second. Kakashi stopped suddenly, making the whole group stop in turn to look back at him.

"Kakashi-sen- H-Hey!" Naruto started to ask him a question, but stopped short when he saw the man grunt in pain and sink to his knees. The four of them ran up to him.

"Are you alright?!" Sakura asked feverishly.

"Everyone…" Kakashi said, taking in some deep breaths before standing up again, "Be on your toes; and I mean it. There's someone very strong coming this way right now!"

The group exchanged shocked glanced with each other as they all tensed up into battle positions. The fact that Kakashi had warned them ahead of time meant that this person must have had an enormous amount of strength. Sasuke's mind raced around all of the possibilities that this situation had: the obvious pain Kakashi was in, how he knew that someone strong was coming so fast…

No. Not that. Sasuke was still saving that as an absolute last resort for what was happening with his sensei. Though that possibility seemed like it was the most probable with every step they took…

But still, if it was… him that was coming, wouldn't Sasuke be able to feel it with his own mark??

Kakashi ripped a kunai from his pouch, holding it steady and still scanning over every bit of land around them. It would do no good to start running now. Knowing the threat that was coming closer and closer to them, running would only make it harder for all of them to stay alive. Kakashi bit his lip to keep in focus as the mark started to pulse more regularly. Then, with a glance up, he noticed something that momentarily blocked the sun's light. His eyes widened:

"Look out!!" He dove forward, shoving Hiroto to the ground a second before something enormous made contact with the ground with a powerful crack.

"!?" Squad Seven jumped back quickly to avoid being hit by chunks of rock that flew from the ground from the force of the landing.

"W-What is…" Hiroto stammered as he rolled up to his feet.

Kakashi hopped up to his feet quickly, biting his lip so hard he thought it might bleed, "This… This isn't him… I can already tell… So why is the mark pulsing so freely?!"

The dust cleared, and the sound of a sword being slid out of its sheath echoed in the air. The group stiffened. Standing in the midst of the wrecked land was an extremely tall man wearing what looked to be traditional samurai clothing. But something was different about him… His sword at the ready, he lifted his head up to reveal scorching red eyes.

"Who are you??" Naruto demanded.

The man turned towards him, "The first born of the Musashi Order: Kenshin," His eyes narrowed, "And that is all you need to know."

With that, he launched himself at the boy, Naruto only managing to jump out of the way a second before he would have fallen victim to the man's sword. He almost fell to his rear because of the sudden jump. Kenshin had moved so fast that Kakashi barely had time to leap over to knock his sword back with his kunai. He stood between his student and the samurai.

"Who do you work for?" The Jounin asked icily, "I doubt you just came here of your own will… Kenshin."

"I believe I already said that my name was all you needed to know," Kenshin spoke in a booming voice, "What my connections are is none of your concern," His eyes narrowed again, "Kakashi Hatake."

Kakashi's brow furrowed. He had never met this man before, but his name was known throughout different countries besides the Land of Fire. Something else bothered the Jounin… The strength this swordsman held behind his weapon was staggering. Kakashi's arm was still ringing from knocking it back with just a kunai. As long as he had that sword, the squad didn't have much of a chance against him. Kakashi would be the only one that had a chance to take him down.

Kenshin's eyes shifted back to Naruto, who was staring at him and Kakashi fixedly. He scoffed: "No respect. If I have my pick of any of you to target, then I will definitely pick that one."

He dashed around Kakashi in a split second, once again going after Naruto. Kakashi once again raced in front of the boy, sending his kunai clashing against Kenshin's sword. He held firm footing, trying to push the sword away while the ringing had become fresh again in his arm. He heard a familiar sound behind him:

"Shadow Clone Juts-" Naruto began, positioning his hands accordingly and glaring bitterly at Kenshin.

"No Naruto!" Kakashi called out gruffly, making the boy stop in mid-jutsu, staring back at his teacher with surprised shock. Kakashi continued, "This guy's in a completely different league than you; any of you!" He got the attention of Sakura and the unsatisfied glare of Sasuke, "Just protect Hiroto! He's our prime concern right now!"

The squad all nodded hesitantly and then went into formation around Hiroto, who looked torn, as if he wanted to help Kakashi but knew that he should probably stay out of it. But there was something about this enemy…

"My fight is not with you, Hatake," Kenshin spat, pushing harder against his kunai and beginning to cut his knuckles, "My objective is one of those three children!"

"What?!" Kakashi's visible eye widened a little. How did that make any sense?? "And why's that?"

"I told you once," Kenshin continued, smirking a little, "My connections are none of your concern. But you are not my direct target."

"So you're going after one of the three Genin?!" Kakashi said roughly, "What sort of honor is there in taking down a weaker opponent??"

Kenshin laughed curtly, "You didn't let me finish," He pulled away, wiping the small line of Kakashi's blood off of his blade with a finger, "I'm really just a messenger. I'm only here to… Observe on your part."

"Observe what?!" Kakashi glared, making Kenshin chuckle like he had asked a stupid question.

"You, of course."

Author's Note:

Hey everyone! Sorry; this chapter is out a little later then I had planned… But sometimes I really need to be in the right mood to write this. XP And I knew I didn't want the entire fight to be in one chapter, so sorry it's not uber long!

I promise that there'll be a lot more action in the next chapter! I hope you're all still enjoying this story, and I REALLY appreciate the awesome reviews you all give me! They're truly my inspiration to write more! Thanks guys!

Oh! And have you all heard about the 3rd Naruto Shippuden movie coming out on August 1st?? O.o If you haven't, go on to YouTube or something and search for a trailer! Apparently, the plot revolves around Kakashi-sensei going to sacrifice himself for Konoha with all of the previously Genin group of ninjas going to save him! Looks pretty cool! Finally; a movie with a lot of Kakashi-sensei in it! Though I'm not fond of him dying… Still! I'm excited!