Hidden Depths

Trust Arc

Part 4

His feet were on the floor, his mask in place, the covers flapping around him, the moment he woke. Nonexistent energy burned through him, fueling his sudden action, as he paced with charged strides back into the kitchen.

He took in the light filtering through the lighter curtains of the kitchen and matching it against the time on the wall clock gave him a rough estimate on how long he'd been out as well as the season. Mid afternoon in Fall. Slept for six hours. When would Gai be getting back? Various items, a book, plant, flyer, receipt, a scribbled note, discarded training equipment, all confirmed the year in his head. It coincided with the year that he thought the Gai he'd spoken with that morning belonged to. So bloody young.

Opening his senses further he found no one near the house, but allowed himself to pause in his frenetic assessment of his situation and simply bask in what he felt; Konoha hadn't felt so full since before the Kyuubi attack, perhaps not even since before the Third War. Even with the expected baby boom after the end of the war, their numbers continued to be hit one way or another. Shinobi numbers especially had dropped during peace times because of less demand to farm them out of the academy as soon as possible. His very being shook at the overwhelming emotion of feeling of being in a Konoha before the series of tragedies struck, decimating their people.

There was a tension in the air he could remember well; the wary feeling of a peace that would not last must longer, and the strong feelings that would not bow out of the way until peace had long since left. The people of Konoha were always stubborn about conforming to the mindset of war. Oh, they were still wary and alert, ready to make sacrifices that would never be accepted outside of war - but coming into the village itself had always been like stepping into a world apart. The people of Konoha still lived during the war, in a way no other village had been able to emulate. Not even Konoha itself to an extent - not after the Yondaime's death. He'd felt flashes of it after Pein's defeat, like an ember starting to catch fire once more, but this-

He closed his senses back up to their normal standards with a snap. In a village full of shinobi outputting chakra, such a wide range was almost useless; too broad, with chakra's overlapping and merging together. Only those people stood out to his senses at all. Even a large population of civilians, with their extremely low quantities of chakra were enough to distort sensing. It was why it was relatively easy for even a low ranking shinobi to disappear in a population. Even if Gai was in the civilian quarter that he noted was near the house, he wouldn't be able to pick him out at this distance unless he was actively using chakra.

It would have to be enough that he could sense no shinobi nearby. Any that could escape his senses would be as unable to detect him as he was them. That left the normal five senses - despite his abrupt movements when he'd leapt from bed he'd remained silent with no one to be conscientious of. The curtains were all shut to prying eyes. And if they could make use of any of the remaining senses then they were far too close to worry about whether or not they could sense him. He briefly considered someone using vibrations but decided he was being too paranoid. That was a highly specialized skill that was all but unheard of in Konoha. He still lightened his footsteps and resumed his pacing on the rug.

If anything it was doujutsu that he needed to be concerned about. Even though his scan of the village had showed that there were no dojutsu active in the vicinity the Byakugan was not limited to distance in the right hands. He was relatively certain that he was not being watched at the moment but he could not rely on that. A quick check of other known abilities especially in Konoha came up with the same results. Seals were the only thing he would trust fully. But he would need to wait until Gai returned to check his seals. How had he slept like this? Judging by Gai's age his younger self would have already been helping Gai pick out the seals for his wards, but his standards of 'safety' had grown exponentially since then. His knowledge of what needed to be guarded against and what could be guarded against was perhaps the only thing that had grown more quickly than his catalog of jutsus after gaining the Sharingan.

The thought caught in his head. There was really no denying that he was in the past. Even with a clear mind, he dismissed genjutsu within moments. Insanity was simply disregarded as pointless and potentially detrimental to dwell too long on. Instead time travel was an explanation he found he could easily accept. Alternate dimensions and justsu and seals that affected space-time had become almost disturbingly common place during the Fourth War alongside other things that stretched believability. What bore consideration was if he was in the same timeline, or an alternate reality. Paradoxes. The Butterfly effect. He was sure those were supposed to be important or something. Well. He'd deal with it if it came up.

When exactly he found himself was easily determined enough. The layout of the village that he had seen when he first found himself waking in Konoha was untouched by the destruction of the Kyuubi, the gradual changes of time, and the total annihilation Pein had wrought. The atmosphere was unique in his lifespan to the period preceding the Third Shinobi War. He had no doubt that if he were to look the Fourth would not yet be gracing the Hokage Monument. And Gai of course spoke for himself. Even in the state he'd first woken in he'd recognized when he was and came to the conclusion, at least subconsciously, that time-travel was involved.

Anger stirred within him. He could accept that he hadn't truly thought about other options with his mind as it had been, knowing that there would have been an underlying thought process guiding his conclusions. Even half-dead and out of his mind, he was still a competent shinobi. What bothered him was that he had come to those conclusions and yet he hadn't acted upon them! And his guard had been so far down around Gai that it physically hurt him to think about. He asked no questions, assumed that Gai told no one, that he was able to cover his tracks with no one the wiser, that he hadn't given away the fact that there was a second person in his home, that Gai would be able to act normally, that there were no traps in place to keep him incapacitated, that Gai actually believed that he was Kakashi. He didn't ask for the date, the current situation, Gai's schedule, about his seals, if he normally had guests, how his weapon stock was. He had told the kid that he had time-travelled and he hadn't even waited for his reaction. Hell, he hadn't even put too much thought into why Gai had taken in a man fleeing Konoha nin that had a passing resemblance to a certain silver haired chuunin and was rambling like a madman - as if he was said chuunin himself.

He'd done nothing to ascertain the stability of his situation, to find out the information he needed to start taking action. This was a time where many of the dominoes that led to the events in his life were first set up. Some would have already been knocked over by this point but he didn't allow them to be more than a passing thought. Danzou, Orochimaru, Hanzou, the list went on. Madara himself was out there somewhere. And yet he had done nothing. He brushed off the train of thought. There were more important things to think about.

He was more aware than most that the long peace between the Third and Fourth Wars in Konoha was due in large part to Danzou's actions in the shadows. Yet even so, there could be no doubting that he could also be held partially, if not wholly, responsible for some of the village's worst nightmares.

The extent of the man's reach was widely unknown even after his death. Aside from Danzou he was was probably one of the few people that had even an inkling of how widespread Danzou had spread his roots. Pun intended. Even now before the Third War had truly started Root would be active; he had the suspicion that Danzou had laid the foundations for the shadow organization in the Second War even though the Sandaime hadn't caught wind of it until the Third. But just like Hiruzen hadn't shut down the ANBU branch until the end of the Third War, he knew that getting rid of it would only be detrimental to Konoha. While Danzou's methods were detestable, they had played a part in the village's victory in the war. Until he knew exactly how deeply imbedded Root was in the war efforts he was more likely to sabotage the villages survival than make a positive impact.

No, he was already starting to form other plans for Danzou and Root. Plans that would make dealing with everything else much easier as well. And for that he needed information.

His own memories of the past would not be useful here. In retrospect he had long since realized that he'd had several encounters with Danzou and even Root that never made it on the official record during that time. Danzou had thought him easily manipulatable but extremely useful especially when he didn't have a team or sensei. Despite being well-known because of the scandal with his father, he had still managed to somewhat drop off the map after graduating from the academy. A few weeks here and there when he disappeared went by unnoticed. Kakashi had known that Danzou was behind the dangerous missions assignments that the missions office would never have approved, that his actions were strange, but had been unaware that the man was going behind the Hokage's back with his actions. He hadn't understood until later that many of the missions he undertook would not even be given to hardened jonin, or sometimes even to Konoha nin in general.

Despite all this, his memory of those years were sketchy at best for the sake of his own sanity. After a brief consideration he decided the risk outweighed the potential knowledge digging the memories up might reveal at least for the moment. Going directly to the source was still an option at the moment and would bestow more accurate intel in much larger quantities than the narrow scope his interactions with Danzou would supply.

He stopped his pacing and sat down in a deliberate motion; he couldn't afford to waste any more energy he didn't have. Without the pacing to expel his tension his body automatically fell into his neutral state, slouched and apathetic. To look at him, one would never suspect the storm of thought raging in his head.

The opportunities before him were daunting, overwhelming in their scope, but he could not let them slip past because his body was not up to it. He needed a way around his current state - despite his quick mental recovery he had the suspicion that he would not be in top form for quite some time.

He didn't have the chakra for a long term genjutsu or henge so he would need someone that would accept not only who he was but also that he was not the same Kakashi that they knew. Some things he could perhaps do through long distance, and thus anonymously or as someone else, but frankly what he needed at the moment was someone to physically back him up. And at this point in time there weren't that many options. Most of the influence, respect, and trust that he had grown used to had been earned every step out from under the shadow of his father. Now he would be the son of the traitor, a genius prodigy that made people nervous.

The rare few that didn't see him like that presented their own risks. People like the Sandaime, Jiraiya, Minato, Kushina, would want to involve other people, they'd want to know all the details. If they saw even a hint of his weakness they would try to completely take over his mission. All they knew was the child, obsessed with the rules, emotionless, broken. They would need proof that he had grown into a competent shinobi. Hell, they would want proof - Yamanaka style proof more than likely - that he had traveled to the past. Would they understand when he was not willing to give them information about the last twenty yeas of his life?

Combined with the trouble of meeting them, without being killed or captured on sight, they simply weren't worth the effort for backup. He idly noted that despite all the losses he'd suffered in his life, in comparison to this short list of people he could turn to in this time, his life truly had improved as he'd gotten older.

A particular chakra entered the range of his senses. There was one other important person during this time; one that was already aware of his presence. Someone who already recognized his strength, no matter what year it was. He allowed his previous frustration at his actions around Gai to resurface. With brutal efficiency he stripped the emotion down to it's source, though somewhere he already knew what he would find. Hidden underneath all the other emotions was something simple, but he wouldn't have been able to guess at it and the realization shook him.

Trust.

It was one thing, he thought, to know that you would die for someone, that they had your back in a fight, that they would also die for you, it was something completely different to truly trust them. He had thought leaving your back to someone in a fight was trusting someone. And maybe that was one aspect of it. But it truly hit him hard that he didn't just trust in Gai's skills in battle; he trusted Gai to understand him, to trust him in turn. He trusted Gai to respect his paranoia, to respect his need to disappear from the world sometimes. And it wasn't just trust that was built up over time as they fought and grew up together. The mini-Gai walking into the building right then had all of that trust too.

A wry, melancholy, humor filled him. Any questions about the kid telling, letting his presence slip, not being able to cover his tracks, or his reaction to his presence, disappeared. And when he turned to face Gai as he walked into the room it was with a wicked and vindictive smirk that made the kid pause.

"Ne, Gai. How do you feel about joining me for a mission?"

He had a plan to set in motion. Any doubts mini-Gai had would be cleared up along the way.

-

They ducked into a side passage as Kakashi sensed their first signs of occupants in the warren of tunnels. There were two of them, neither speaking. As they came nearer he stopped breathing, noting that Gai mimicked his actions as he'd expected. Though they both breathed near silently, there was no point in taking chances - not while infiltrating an organization that thrived on stealth and paranoia. Even when the two operatives left the range of his senses he was careful not to sigh or inhale dramatically and his shadow followed his example.

He moved on with confidence, impishly anticipating Gai's explosion of question on his actions once their 'mission' was over. For all that Gai was a natural at stealth, he still had yet to gather true experience in the skill. It was something he always took great pleasure in, defying a green nin's expectations of what 'stealth' meant. Most others would have darted from place to place, stopping and straining frequently to check for discovery. But he moved as if he belonged there, confident, unflinching. If someone did sense them they didn't need to give them any reason to think that they were infiltrators. And besides that, it was bloody faster.

Several more times they were forced to divert to side passages. Occasionally they waited until operatives passed and continued on, but more often they simply continued in a different direction. With no particular destination, though he hadn't mentioned that to Gai, the trip was more about covering as much ground as possible to hopefully come across the information they'd set out to find. Not that he wasn't being methodical in his search; they were steadily coming across more and more operatives as they worked further into the labyrinth. Already they had passed several rooms that appeared to be living quarters, and a vague uneasiness about their numbers was beginning to grow in the back of his mind.

They came across another passageway with the faint chakra of a seal tickling his senses, but unlike the others that he had passed over with only a note of their locations, he paused at this one. The muffling seal was preventing him from extending his senses as far as he was normally able to but it wasn't designed to combat a sensor of his level from the inside. A chakra source going out abruptly not far beyond the sealed door was what had caught his attention, but there were several active chakras hovering on the edges of his senses as well. There was a certain dreadful surety dulling his thoughts, and he made his way down the passage almost on autopilot. The seal wasn't trapped this time but he was still careful not to touch as he traced its pattern, confirming that it was another variation of the entrance seal; most likely only people above a certain rank could open the door it was warding. His previous satisfaction at finding the low level sealing, low level enough that he could easily scratch out the necessary modifications, was greatly diminished as he made up two quick counter seals. He was through the door as soon as there was a crack wide enough for him.

Faint, flickering light turned the black world they'd been into dark grey and they carefully shut the door behind them. The chakra's were around the corner of the tunnel they'd entered, and he backed up against it, before sneaking a glance. He withdrew rapidly, processing the layout of the small cavern more than the scene he'd been presented with. A few torches barely lit the space and threw dancing shadows every which way. There were several natural tiers higher up on the walls, and scattered debris piles he guessed were from previous spars surrounded a flat clearing. As he'd known the cavern's occupants were focused elsewhere, and he already had a path up to the closest tier laid out. Normally there wouldn't have been enough cover to hide from Root's nin but he wasn't worried. Squeezing Gai's shoulder once to warn him of the impending action, he swiftly moved out and let himself be absorbed into the shadows, darting behind and on top of the debris. He didn't stop moving until he reached the back edge of the target tier and wasn't surprised to find Gai right behind him.

Carefully, he made several signs against Gai's arm, ordering him to stay back from the edge. Fortunately the crash course on distinguishing signals by touch seemed to have stuck and he moved to the edge alone. That dread certainty was telling him that this wasn't something the kid needed to see.

Another chakra had been petering out as they entered and had now gone out completely. Several bodies littered the ground evidence of the recent violence. A few still figure stood over some of them, blood dripping from their weapons. Even as he watched they were led out the same way that he and Gai had entered. Two masked nin remained having a brief sign exchange about the bodies. Apparently they had interfered in one of the kills when it looked like the body would be damaged to badly, leaving the victim badly injured but alive. One was saying that he should be neutralized, being useless, while the other rebuffed him saying it was not their decision. Conflict resolved they grabbed the bodies and left. Idly, he wondered if they would come back to clean up the bloodstains or if they didn't see them as reminders of the horrors they were committing.

There was a light touch on his leg and he sprung into motion after allowing it to rest there for several seconds as confirmation for Gai to resume following him. They landed within the circle of light avoiding the sand, blood, dirt, and loose stones that would leave evidence of their presence. He wasn't sure how much of that Gai had sensed, and he knew that he couldn't know what had just transpired, but this was something that they needed to be able to see each other for. Well, as much as they could with the hooded cloaks they both wore in imitation of Root operatives anyway. The porcelain masks couldn't be faked or stolen on such short notice so they both wore scarves to cover the bottom hall of their faces, letting the shadow of the deep hoods do the rest - it would have been more suspicious to have a fake mask than to not have one in the heart of their base. The gesture would have to do.

Gai looked around, glancing at him once, and then stilled in thought. It was doubtful that he would come to the conclusion that children that had been raised as siblings had not long ago been killing each other in this cavern, their 'guardians' watching over them, enforcing the violence rather than halting it. But his conclusion wouldn't be positive either. Despite being shinobi village, people were almost never killed within Konoha unless they were enemies or traitors. Gai's hood turned towards him, waiting, and just to be sure it was clear, without going into the details, he signed, not enemies.

Maybe later he would explain, but for now it was enough that Gai understood the significance. The Hokage wouldn't approve of summary executions, much less what had really happened, and thus, for this to be going on, the Hokage couldn't know. And it was large-scale as well. Not a couple of shinobi resentful for a demotion that had been overlooked, but a large group of uniformed nin, with their own seal hidden base.

If Gai had doubts about there being duplicitous characters in the village, this would have erased them. As if in confirmation of this, Gai gave a resolute nod. He returned it and then lead them out of the room. Resolved renewed, they slipped back into the dark, moving deeper and deeper into the shadowy roots of Konoha.

Notes: As usual this hasn't been edited. Please let me know if you find any mistakes.

There are a few things that I have written out or have ideas on that I can't seem to find a place for in the story at the moment. Things like what Kakashi and Gai are wearing on their little outing. Or Gai's perspective on everything. I've seen other authors like Tsu Doh Nimh (The Havoc Side of the Force, Harry Potter/Star Wars crossover, is one of my favourites) post companion fics to their main stories that complement the main story without interrupting it's flow. I'm considering this so let me know what you think. Everything would be written as cut scenes so no dry explanation or anything like that.