A/N: To anyone who hasn't already read it, I wrote a short oneshot inspired by the previous chapter. It's called "Of Dreams and Flowing Time" and can be found on my profile. If you're interested, feel free to go take a look :)
Chapter Seventeen:
The second ANBU stepped forward and spread a scroll to display a basic map of Fire Country.
"The exam takes place over seven days within the borders of Fire Country. Each of you are to stay within your designated areas. Uchiha Obito, yours is bordered by the South and East geographic lines. Hatake Kakashi, your boundary lies between the North and East lines. Cross them and you're disqualified. Towns and villages are likewise out of bounds. Avoid them by a mile radius."
"There are no other rules," the first ANBU said. "Once the exam begins, your life and safety are no longer guaranteed – for that matter, neither is your sanity. Try to kill us if you want. We won't hesitate to do the same if we think you're unqualified."
A slight frown creased Obito's brow and he tipped his head a fraction at the vaguely familiar sound of the ANBU's muffled voice. Before he could voice his suspicion, however, Minato spoke up.
"If you're alive and well, return here by sunset of the seventh day. That will mark the end of your exam." He looked each of them in the eye for a moment, but his expression was closed and his voice held none of its usual cheer. He glanced at the sky. "You'll be given a head-start until the sun rises. When it does, your examiners will begin their pursuit."
The two ANBU disappeared and a moment later, the East Gate rolled open with a low groan to reveal the road leading out of the Village. The sky, weighed with clouds, was a subdued grey. A biting wind swept against them, the moist air laden with the promise of more snow.
Minato faced his students once again. "Go."
Without a word, they ran past him. Kakashi immediately leapt to the north and Obito to the south, disappearing into the shadows of the forest. The ANBU returned and looked out across the paling sky.
"You sure about this Minato?" one of them asked. His mask was an abstract depiction of a black goose in flight.
"I think the question is, do I believe they'll make it back?" Minato murmured.
He recalled the sense of pride and confidence he had felt minutes earlier as he had watched his students emerge from the darkness with their heads held high. He had known in that moment he had made the right decision. No matter how much he wanted to hold them back and protect them from the ruthless world, he knew there was no stopping them. As Jiraiya had once said, they were fated to rise above their peers and all that was left for him to do was help them achieve what they were born to do.
A small smile tugged his lips as he turned to the ANBU. "They'll make it. You two better be careful."
The Goose snorted. "They're just brats."
"Not just any brat," the second ANBU said.
"The White Fang's son right? All the more reason to crush him before he makes the same stupid mistake."
Minato stared at the dark eyes behind the mask. "I wouldn't count on it."
The ANBU huffed, unimpressed. "We'll see."
The sun soon broke over the horizon – a thin sliver of light quickly swallowed by the clouds. Without a sound, the two ANBU disappeared and Minato was left to gaze at the muted sunrise that bathed the Village behind him in a new day.
"Good luck Kakashi, Obito."
.-.-.-.
Kakashi bounded from tree to tree, rushing up the northern geographic line while memorizing the surrounding landscape that marked his boundary. He had traveled these areas countless times on missions, and recognized a handful of landmarks despite the patches of crusted snow on the forest floor and in the shadow of trees that made the area look different. It would take all day to travel to the country's border but he familiarized himself with what he could until the sun peaked over the horizon.
He then made an abrupt right and placed some distance between himself and the area perimeter before dropping lower down the ancient trees where the shadows still lay thick. He hid himself under a tangle of intertwining branches, killed his presence and waited. Having chosen speed over stealth, he knew his footprints could be easily traced. It would only be a question of time before the ANBU found him.
A soft thump of boots landing on wood was the only sound to announce the ANBU's arrival. He was higher up the tree and only his legs were visible from where Kakashi hid.
"Hatake. Come out."
Kakashi didn't move.
The ANBU sighed. "Fine, don't. I know you're close enough to hear me in any case, so… Ah, here you are."
Kakashi snapped his head to the side when the ANBU suddenly appeared beside him. Without thought, he leapt back along the branch, a kunai drawn. A quick look at the empty branches above told him it wasn't a Kage Bunshin and cold sweat broke out on his back.
The ANBU chuckled. "Put that away, I'm not here to hurt you – yet." He raised a hand to the mask, marked with flowing lines that resembled a bird's spread wings, and pulled it off. The smiling face beneath appeared to look around Minato's age, framed by dark hair and accented with a golden earring in his left earlobe.
"I go by the name Yuki," he went on. "Thought I'd introduce myself, seeing as we're going to be stuck together for the next week, hopefully less."
Kakashi didn't say anything, not knowing quite what to make of the shinobi. Crouched on the tree with his back leaning casually against the trunk, he looked nothing short of relaxed and yet, there wasn't so much as a fissure in his guard. So this is ANBU.
A long moment passed in silence as Yuki simply stared at him. Kakashi remained tense at first, one hand braced against the rough wood, but after a while, it became obvious the ANBU wasn't going to attack.
"What?" he asked at last.
"I was just thinking, you don't look much like your father. Aside from the hair of course."
"You knew him?"
"You could say that. I was his student."
Kakashi stiffened in surprise. He had known his father had taught a team but didn't remember ever meeting them. Their house, unlike Minato and Kushina's, had never hosted a group of rowdy students. Meals had always been a somber time between just the two of them.
"He never spoke about his team," Kakashi said.
Yuki snorted. "You couldn't even stand back then."
"We've met?"
"A couple times. You wouldn't remember."
Kakashi fell silent. He had never bothered to look up who his father's students were. He had always assumed they were one of the many who had turned their backs on the White Fang after that one mission had ended in disaster. He had little reason to think Yuki was any different.
"What did he tell you before he died?"
Kakashi's hand twitched against the bark. He stared at the shinobi in front of him, feeling like he had been blindsided. Not even Minato had ever asked him such a question. He hid his discomfort behind a frown and asked, "What makes you think he told me anything?"
"You were everything to him. He wouldn't have killed himself without passing on a part of him to you."
"What would you know?" Kakashi clenched his jaw unconsciously. He had hoped the exam would take his mind off the recent string of events that had brought his father to the forefront of his mind. Instead, it was only dragging him deeper into a hole he had turned away from years ago.
"More than you think," Yuki replied. "Tell me, what were his last words?"
It wasn't so much what he said as how he said it that made Kakashi pause. He realized with a start that he had yet to feel any sort of animosity or aversion from the ANBU even when he talked about Sakumo.
He hesitated. It wasn't a secret after all. "He told me to grow strong. Stronger than him."
Yuki was silent for a moment, eventually closing his eyes with a soft sigh. When he looked up again, a mirthless smile tugged his lips. "I take it back. You're more like him than I thought."
"I'm nothing like him."
"That's for me to decide. Later." He leaned forward so that he was balancing on the toes of his feet and set a new tone. "First, let me tell you how things are going to work during this exam. You're going to follow my orders at all times. I hear you like to disobey your team leaders lately, but pull one of those stunts on me and I'll disqualify you on the spot. If I give you a mission, you do it. If I tell you flush out enemies and kill every one of them, you do it. If I tell you to run to the border and back with an illusionary team of idiots, you do it. Am I clear?"
Kakashi nodded once.
"Good, then spin around in a circle three times and bark like a dog."
"…What?"
"You heard me." Yuki twirled his finger to emphasize his point. "Hurry up. We don't have all day."
"Why? What's the point?"
"That's for me to know and you to never find out. Come on, or I'm going to disqualify you now before we even begin."
Biting back on the impulse to pull the very stunt he had just been warned against, Kakashi straightened slowly, reluctantly. He hoped to high heaven the ANBU was just looking for a moment to attack. If he wasn't…
Kakashi spun rapidly in place three times, then forced a grudging "Woof" through clenched teeth.
A moment of stunned silence followed. No attack was forthcoming.
"Oh wow." Yuki burst into laughter. "I can't believe you actually did it! Don't you have any pride?!"
Rendered speechless out sheer annoyance and embarrassment, Kakashi hurled a kunai at the ANBU who was now doubled over in hysteria. He did say they were allowed to kill them after all. Kakashi's indignation only mounted when Yuki deflected the weapon with a mindless twist of his armored wrist even as he continued to wheeze and chortle in glee.
"Are you done yet?" Kakashi demanded.
His shoulders still shaking, Yuki finally straightened and wiped the tears from his eyes. "You're definitely something. We're going to get along just fine."
"Not if I can help it," Kakashi grumbled.
The ANBU released a last chuckle and then got his feet with a deep breath. "Alright. Ice breaker's is over. Here's your first mission: guess who I am."
Kakashi promptly threw another kunai at him. Yuki caught it by the hilt an inch from his face and grinned.
"I'm not kidding," he said, rolling the weapon deftly between his fingers like a pencil. "Sometimes Jounin have to figure out who the hell they're fighting just by observing their enemy's movements, style and ninjutsu elements. It's a lot easier in the ANBU – we kill first and ask later – but the Jounin need to be more diplomatic. So I'll say it again. Guess who I am. You have three tries and as a token for your hilarious show just now, I'll give you eight hours."
Despite the absurdity of the situation, he had a feeling Yuki wasn't just looking for names. Names were meaningless to shinobi. He would need to gauge either his clan, bloodline, or his possible significance in the Village. "How specific does it have to be?"
"As specific as I say so," came the flippant reply and Kakashi barely stopped himself from wasting a third kunai. The first thing he needed to do was wipe that confident grin from the ANBU's face. Only then would he start revealing the ninjutsu he was most familiar with.
"You ready brat?" Yuki asked. He tossed the kunai into air and, without waiting for a reply, struck it with the flat of his palm to propel it at Kakashi.
Kakashi snatched it out of its wild spin and in the same movement, twisted around to clash it against the ANBU's katana that swung down on him from behind. The mask was back in place, glaring at him from behind their locked weapons.
"Your mission starts now."
.-.-.-.
The morning grew progressively darker until it finally began to snow sometime after noon. Unlike earlier occasions, the snow now blanketed the trees and forest floor within minutes, building layers fortified by the cold.
Kakashi disengaged from a lengthy round of close-range combat – out of breath and suffering a deep cut along his collar bone – but nevertheless convinced the ANBU wasn't a Hyuuga in disguise. Hours of near constant fighting had failed to reveal a movement even remotely similar to the Byakugan clan's fluid taijutsu style, even on the few occasions when he had succeeded in penetrating Yuki's defenses. His movements were fast and seamless, but they were also abrupt and had a tendency of snapping out of predicted courses. It spoke of years of dedicated training and combat, not the cover-up of a Henge for the sake of testing an examinee.
As he vaulted back onto a higher branch to catch his breath, Kakashi kept his eyes on the shinobi standing leisurely below him. He wasn't from the Aburame or Inuzuka clans – the former were specialists in long-range combat and the latter had a distinct scent to them that was impossible to disguise. The Akimichi, Yamanaka and Nara clans were also out for their distinct fighting styles that were far removed from the ninjutsu, kenjutsu and taijutsu expertise the ANBU had shown so far.
His elemental attacks had included everything except Lightning. By and large he used Doton and Fuuton as distractions and the Katon to attack. Then in the wake of fire that turned snow to rain, he had also used water elements to catch Kakashi off guard.
Whatever his main affinity was, it was clear the ANBU was fully capable of using other elements with lethal precision. Putting all those facts together, it narrowed the options down to the Uchiha, Sarutobi and Shimura clans – as well as every other all-rounder shinobi in Konoha.
Kakashi cursed under his breath.
"You going to make a guess anytime soon?" Yuki called up. "You're almost out of time."
Kakashi hated guessing. There was nothing more dangerous than a wild bet and that was Obito's specialty.
He paused and turned the thought over again. His teammate had crossed his mind several times during the fight, but he had dismissed them as fleeting memories of his training. There were clear differences in style between Obito and Yuki, but there were also moments when a slight shift in weight or a certain angle of a defensive stance seemed to overlap in his mind, making him feel like he was sparring with Obito.
"The Uchiha Clan," he said.
The ANBU cocked his head. "You're going to have to be more specific than that."
Kakashi ground his teeth. This was what he had feared the most. He hardly knew anyone from the Uchiha clan other than Obito and Asuka. The only one he knew in ANBU was –
"Nayu…?"
Yuki erupted into laughter again and Kakashi rolled his eyes. He knew it wasn't Nayu but who else was he to name? Fatigue was quickly spilling over into aggravation and he wasn't pleased with it.
"By the way, unless you want to keep looking like an idiot," Yuki said, pointing behind Kakashi, "you'd better watch out."
Kakashi spun to see a Kage Bunshin almost within striking distance. He ducked under the katana's swing, twisted, and threw his heel into the ANBU's open side. It was blocked, but Kakashi didn't have time to follow through with a second attack as he felt a surge of heat and chakra rushing at him from below.
For a second he thought it was the Goukakyuu. Then the mass of fire diverged into three heads and engulfed the branch Kakashi was standing on. By the time he recognized it as the Karyuu Endan, he was already plummeting in an uncontrolled fall down the tree from a hastily executed Shunshin. He winced as he pressed a hand against the angry burn along his left arm where the sleeve was torn open.
Landing unsteadily in the knee-deep snow, he immediately withdrew two kunai to parry the ANBU's flurry of strikes. He soon found himself being pushed back by the sheer force and speed behind each blow despite his mobility advantage with the smaller weapons. When his back hit the trunk of a tree, he gritted his teeth and braced his arms against the weight of the ANBU's sword as the blades ground together in a deadlock.
"So what's your next guess?" Yuki asked. "You have two more."
Kakashi made no reply, aware only of his mounting exhaustion and the pale vapor of his rapid breaths. His arms shook from exertion and he knew he wouldn't last much longer. With a deft twist of his wrist, he pulled out an explosive seal from his sleeve and struck it down with one of the kunai.
Yuki immediately leapt back. Kakashi surged forward after him, stepping over the talisman just as it exploded. His hands flashed through a shortened set of seals as he used the explosion's shockwave to propel his Shunshin to greater speeds.
The ANBU froze as Kakashi skidded into the snow behind him. Kicking off the ground with a burst of chakra, he drove a kunai into Yuki's unprotected back.
Both fist and weapon slammed into a wall of snow.
Kakashi stared at it for a second. Snow? As a Kawarimi? He pulled out his hand and staggered back a step, grimacing from the inevitable damage he had suffered from the blast. He searched for the ANBU's presence, but his eyes were repeatedly drawn to the peculiar replacement technique standing before him.
Snow – Yuki. He frowned. Was the codename a pun on the ANBU's unique abilities? He had once heard of a clan in Water Country with a bloodline that allowed them to create ice and snow at will. But as far as he knew, no one in Konoha possessed the same ability, much less a member of the Uchiha clan.
No, wait. Kakashi froze and searched for a memory from years ago.
…he knows more snow techniques than fire for crying out loud.
Those were Obito's words. What had they been talking about? Elemental ninjutsu – Katon – Uchiha elders – Sharingan – a cousin –
Kakashi spun to face the ANBU who dropped down silently on him, the katana's swing already halfway to his throat.
"You're Obito's second cousin from a family who married so many outsiders you never developed the Sharingan," Kakashi blurted in a single breath.
The blade stopped against the fabric of his mask. Nothing moved except the drifting snowflakes and there was no sound except Kakashi's labored breathing. He kept his eyes fixed on the ANBU mask, every muscle in his body tense, ready to spring back into motion if the guess was wrong.
Slowly, Yuki withdrew the sword and took a step back. "Well… that's one way of putting it. Who told you that?"
"Obito."
"That pipsqueak." He sheathed his sword and removed the mask from his disgruntled face. "Well done. Mission accomplished."
Kakashi slowly relaxed his posture and pressed a hand against his throbbing arm. "He said you know more snow techniques than fire. Is that your affinity? I've never seen anyone use it in Konoha."
Yuki shrugged. "It's not hard, just a combination of water and wind chakra. There might have been a great-aunt or someone from the Snow Clan, I forget." He sighed deeply and cracked his neck. "Goddammit. I was really hoping to disqualify you here. That idiot. He needs to learn to keep quiet."
So the mission had been made deliberately impossible. Kakashi was beginning to have serious doubts about the validity of the Jounin exam – or more specifically, this examiner. "If it makes you feel any better, he never mentioned you by name."
"Not in the least, seeing as the rest of my squad is getting time off." He huffed and crossed his arms. "Well, what's done is done. I'm Uchiha Masayuki. I also happen to be Nayu's captain."
Yuki, as in Masayuki? "I thought codenames were meant to be more arbitrary."
"Who said it was a codename?" He tapped the mask sitting on his head. "The ANBU call me Goose."
"As in Silly Goose?"
Kakashi barely managed to raise his arm in time to block the kick that sent him stumbling into the snow.
"Think you're funny huh?"
"Not really," Kakashi muttered, getting slowly to his feet. His body felt heavy. It wasn't the first time he had fought for hours on end so he didn't know where the exhaustion was coming from. Had he used too much chakra? The wound along his shoulder was still bleeding but not heavily. He shook his head. The exam was a week long. He didn't have the leisure to be feeling tired.
"Well if you're fit enough to be a smartass, you're fit enough to start the next mission as far as I'm concerned. Agent Raven."
A second ANBU landed beside him, shorter in stature but otherwise obscured beneath a black hooded cloak. Kakashi immediately tensed, but Yuki held up a hand and looked aside between the trees.
Kakashi followed the direction of his gaze and frowned. A third ANBU was walking through the snow with two girls. One was a freckled child with wide, terrified eyes, bundled in a thick winter robe. The other was Rin. She held the younger girl close in a comforting embrace but looked up in surprise when she caught sight of them.
"Kakashi?" He saw her eyes flick down to his injuries and she made a move to approach him but was held back by the ANBU. He placed a hand on her shoulder and nodded to Yuki and the Raven. Rin looked back and forth between the group of shinobi. "What's going on?"
"What are you doing here?" Kakashi asked, equally bewildered but beginning to feel an inkling of suspicion and an undeniable sense of ill-boding.
"I was working at the hospital when I was told to assist the ANBU –" She glanced at the shinobi behind her wearing a feline mask "– with an accident out here. When I met him at the rendezvous point some distance outside the Village he was with this girl and wouldn't give me any details."
Kakashi turned to the only one who had the answers but Yuki ignored his silent question. The ANBU knelt in front of the small girl and exchanged a few quiet words. Then he picked her up and walked to Kakashi's other side.
"This is Akane-chan from East Valley. We received a report that she was abducted last night by a group of shinobi, so Agent Lynx was dispatched to stop them. He's on his way now to take her home."
"What does that have to do with the exam?" Kakashi asked.
"What exam?" Rin asked.
"A Jounin exam," the Raven replied. His voice was a deep rasp as if someone had once crushed his vocal chords.
Rin stared incomprehensively at him for a moment, before turning to Kakashi. "Jounin exam?"
Kakashi hesitated, not sure where to begin or even if this was the time to explain. Yuki saved him from having to reply.
"Hatake, your next mission is to make sure the Lynx can finish his job." He then met Rin's eyes. "Sorry for dragging you into this. You'll get a chance to catch up when the exam's over. That is, if you're still alive."
He had barely finished speaking when the Lynx wrapped an arm around Rin's neck and bound her limbs with a set of wires. She stood frozen in shock, her eyes faltering with confusion and indecision.
"What the hell are you –" Kakashi wrenched a kunai from his holster and immediately leapt at the Lynx, but Yuki stopped him before he could take two steps.
"Hatake!"
He looked over his shoulder and froze. Yuki was holding Akane against his shoulder with the point of a kunai tipped to the back of her neck.
"What –"
"Your mission's over here. Remember the rules. Shinobi must always make their mission the top priority, even if it means other sacrifices have to be made. Don't make the same mistake as Sakumo."
Kakashi stared at him with wide eyes, unable to accept what was happening.
It couldn't. It was absurd.
Yet the ultimatum was as clear as anything.
"I'm telling you to choose," Yuki said. "Save the mission or save your friend."
Translations:
Kenjutsu – sword fighting techniques
Karyuu Endan – Dragon's flame
.LinSetsu.