~A/N: So originally I wasn't going to update until tomorrow, because I was tweaking a few placement things with this chapter and the next couple (I wrote Kakashi's storyline all at once then went back ad broke it up with the other characters' inserts), but then I wrote my one-shot for KakaSaku week and posted it and let me tell you, it was pure fluff. Like Wow. Lots of fluff. Sooooo much fluff (for me at least) that I was afraid I was gonna barf in my mouth. Okay that might be an exaggeration, but seriously, there's a reason I write action fics. I don't normally do the whole straight-up romance thing. If I do, it's gotta be like this story, where there's action and development, and then they get together. So anyway, I finished writing my first one-shot, and don't get me wrong, I loooved it, but then I felt the need to write some actiony/battly stuff because I was afraid I was starting to go soft, and therefore, you guys get another chapter!

So yeah, my KakaSaku week fic, Our Love, is up if you wanna check it out, and there's a new EoF chapter! I'm on a roll today!

Thanks to everyone who's been with me on this story-reviewing, favoriting, following. I hope you enjoy, especially now that the action is going to get rolling. A reunion between our two favorite characters is on the horizon!

Eleven: Shadows

If Kakashi had had his way, he would've been out of there the second the recruits were dismissed, but as it was, he wasn't able to get away without attracting attention.

"Hey! Hiro!"

Hideki was waving to him, and Kakashi couldn't come up with an excuse to ditch him.

"What did Takahashi want to talk to you about? He did talk to you, right?"

"It was nothing really. Just making sure I wasn't too handicapped by the eye."

Kakashi attempted to wave it off like it was no big deal, and Hideki likely would have gone along with it, but Kaoru had other ideas.

"Well, it's a valid concern."

"It's like he's never seen another one-eyed ninja around," Hideki laughed.

"There aren't any other one-eyed ninja around, idiot."

"Well, besides that dead guy."

Kaoru sighed impatiently. "If he's dead, he's not around, is he?"

Hideki frowned. "Oh. I guess you're right. So do you guys want to grab some food?"

"We just ate! How can you be hungry again?"

Hideki smiled sheepishly. "I don't know. I just am. What about you, Hiro? You'll come eat with me, right?"

"Sure. Why not? I could eat."

Kakashi couldn't really come up with a plausible reason to excuse himself, and he figured he might as well get a good meal in while he could. If he had to flee all the way back to Konoha, it could be days before he got to eat anything other than rations.

The cafeteria was full of recruits eating dinner and discussing the meeting, so the three men decided to bring their food outside where it was quieter.

"I couldn't hear myself think!" Hideki complained as they sat down on some stones.

They talked for a while—thankfully not about any famous one-eyed ninja—while they ate. It was mostly rebellion stuff, and Kakashi was able to get a better idea of why the people were rebelling, at least.

It seemed many of them weren't happy with their wages as simple farmers and shopkeepers, although Kakashi found little sympathy for them because they were still paid almost as much as one of Konoha's shinobi. But the leaders had promised them more money, and that was enough to lure many young men to war.

"So who do you suppose the leader is, anyway?" Kakashi asked, figuring it was a safe question. Anyone would have been curious about that—not just a spy. "Do you think he's someone from one of the hidden villages?"

"I dunno," Hideki said with a full mouth. "He's gotta be if he's stronger than Kenji Mizushima. I remember hearing about him when I was a teenager. He always seemed so powerful."

Kaoru shook his head. "He doesn't necessarily have to be stronger, he just has to be a better leader. I'd be willing to bet the guy doesn't even fight at all and that's why he hasn't revealed himself."

"Hm," Kakashi said. It was interesting information, and Kaoru had a point. "He could just be keeping his identity a secret to protect himself from traitors or spies though."

"Yeah, but why would they bother with that now? I mean, we're all recruits. It's not like a spy could get in here," Hideki said.

"I wouldn't be too sure," Kaoru warned. "A good spy can infiltrate almost any location—even one of the hidden villages."

"Yeah, it's better safe than sorry," Kakashi said, acting like he agreed with Kaoru. He was beginning to grow a little wary of the blonde. He was more perceptive than Kakashi felt comfortable with, and he definitely had the suspicious nature of a ninja.

"I guess," Hideki sighed, reminding Kakashi a bit of Naruto when he was a kid. "But I'm still curious."

"We all are," Kaoru told him, "but we'll just have to be patient. The war will start soon, and then I'm sure he'll show himself."

Kakashi wanted to ask how long they thought it would be before the fighting began, but he knew they theoretically shouldn't know any more than he did. He'd already asked enough questions, and his gut was telling him he needed to stop. He'd aroused enough suspicion.

"Well, I think I'm going to hit the sack guys. I'm pretty worn out from our training session today."

That was a lie. Kakashi hadn't had a training session that easily since he was three—and maybe not even then. He knew for a fact he'd never had one in all his days as a shinobi, and he hadn't ever dreamed of insulting Team Seven when they were genin by giving them such easy exercises.

But he had an act to keep up here, and being seemingly without a left eye, he wanted to make himself appear to be as weak as possible, while still being strong enough to fight in the rebellion.

"Yeah I don't blame you," Hideki groaned. "I'm pretty worn out, myself. How about you, Kaoru?"

The blonde shook his head. "No, you two go ahead. There's something I want to check out."

"What?" Hideki asked, but Kaoru simply waved him off.

"It's nothing."

Kakashi narrowed his eyes. If it was just nothing, then why the need for all the secrecy? Then he shook his head, wondering if he was letting paranoia get to him.

But every fiber of his being was telling him that it was time to get out of there. He had what he came for, so there was no need to stick around. He would make his escape as soon as the other recruits went to bed.

It was well past midnight by the time Kakashi finally packed up his few supplies and snuck quietly out of his tent, careful not to wake the three other recruits that were still sleeping inside. He'd left his pack with his ANBU mask and gear outside the genjutsu, and he sincerely hoped it was still there. If it wasn't, he was going to have to stop for supplies somewhere, and that wouldn't be good if he happened to be followed.

Still, he was hopeful that it would still be there. After all, if one of the rebels had found gear clearly belonging to a Konoha shinobi, Kakashi was sure he would have been discovered already. They wouldn't have let him get all that information on purpose, and they certainly wouldn't have let him see Jin Takahashi's face or let him hear about Kenji Mizushima.

Briefly he wondered if the whole setup could have been a trap designed to feed him false information, but he shook his head, reminding himself that he wasn't dealing with another ninja village here, he was dealing with an army. They were more concerned about military might than sneaky tactics.

Kakashi had a pretty good idea of the nighttime guard rotation from the month he'd spent among the rebels, and luckily for him, his attentiveness paid off. There was no one in sight when he stepped out of the tent and made his way to the edge of the camp.

The leaders seemed to be fairly confident that their genjutsu would keep any unwanted guests out—and to be fair, if Kakashi hadn't been an elite jonin, it would've kept him out too—so the camp remained mostly unguarded as he made his escape. He'd gone almost the whole way, and was about to step outside of the genjutsu when he heard a stick snap behind him.

He spun around. "Who's there?"

Kaoru stepped out of the shadows, and too late, Kakashi realized he should've faked sleepwalking. But it probably wouldn't have helped. He would've had to go back to his tent, and then Kaoru would have been more suspicious than he already seemed to be.

"What are you doing out here, Hiro?"

Kakashi didn't miss the skeptical tone Kaoru's voice had taken when he said his name.

"Going to the bathroom." It was a weak excuse, and Kakashi didn't think he'd buy it for a second.

"All the way out here? At the edge of camp?"

"I wanted some alone time."

"Right. Why don't we cut the act?"

"Fine," Kakashi said, opening his left eye and exposing his Sharingan for the first time in over a month.

Even though he'd been suspicious, Kaoru's face still registered the shock of seeing the Sharingan in person. He stumbled back a few feet and let out a soundless cry of surprise.

"It is you."

Kakashi didn't bother saying anything. It was unfortunate, but Kaoru had seen him, so now he had to be taken care of.

"Oi! Over here!" Kaoru managed to shout before he was quieted by a fist to the gut.

A second blow sent him sprawling out of range, and Kakashi hesitated for a brief second, torn between finishing him off and making his escape. If he let Kaoru live, his identity would be exposed much sooner, but on the other hand, Kakashi knew it would become fairly obvious what had happened one he was discovered to be the one missing.

There weren't that many one-eyed ninja out there.

He could hear voices and footsteps coming towards them, and that sealed the deal for the Copy Ninja. Without looking back, he turned and fled straight for Konoha. He'd been hoping for an easy and leisurely journey back, but he knew better than most that a shinobi rarely got what he wanted.

"Thanks for sticking around for a bit longer. I know it's your vacation," Naruto said to the couple standing in front of him as he and Sai prepared to depart for the Hidden Leaf village.

They had all agreed that it would be best for the trio of Team Seven shinobi to stay in the Land of Silver and protect the Sasaki family—at least until they could figure out who was behind the attacks. At first, they'd been sure it was the rebel army, but Shikamaru was sure that the culprit had to have been somebody in the room, and Shikamaru's analysis was very rarely wrong.

"Yeah, yeah. I knew this was going to be a drag when I agreed to stop here in the first place," the brown-haired genius complained, but Temari slapped him across the back of the head.

"It's not a problem, Naruto. We'll stay here and help Sasuke in case something happens. You and Sai just worry about reporting back to the Hokage."

"What village do you work for anyway?" Shikamaru grumbled, but shut up quickly when he saw Temari's glare. He didn't fancy getting hit over the head again.

"Right," Naruto said, and Sai nodded next to him. "You can count on us!"

After they said goodbye to Shikamaru and Temari, who were going to find a place to stay for another couple weeks, Sasuke walked over to his two friends.

"Be careful. We don't know if the enemy has eyes out there or not."

Naruto laughed. "You're the one that needs to be careful, Sasuke. You're staying with the targets."

Sasuke narrowed his eyes. "Still. This may be bigger than we initially thought. If Kakashi hasn't found anything yet…who knows what that could mean?"

"Don't worry about Kakashi-sensei," Naruto said fiercely. "If he hasn't gotten that intel yet then I'm sure there's a good reason for it."

"Perhaps he's—"

"No!" Naruto and Sasuke both shouted, cutting off what Sai was about to say.

"He's fine. Kakashi-sensei wouldn't go dying on some stupid mission like this," Naruto said.

"Sorry. It was simply a thought," Sai said. If he was capable of feeling bad, the former foundation agent was sure he would.

"Anyway, you two need to get going. If you hurry, you should be able to make it back to the village in five days."

"Right," Naruto said, nodding to his best friend. "Take care, Sasuke."

Sasuke inclined his head. "You guys too."

"Try not to take all of the action, okay?"

Sasuke grinned. "Guess you'd better hurry, then, hn?"

"Are you ready?" Yamato asked, crouched next to Sakura above their targets.

"Yeah," Sakura nodded.

"Nervous?"

"A little." Sakura felt no need to lie with her former captain. "I know this isn't an S-ranked mission, but it's still my first."

Yamato inclined his head. "Well, for what it's worth. I think you'll do perfectly fine."

She grinned, but didn't let the compliment go to her head. The last thing she needed was to get cocky. Cockiness led to letting your guard down—something a ninja should never do.

"Now!"

Sakura closed her eyes and allowed herself to drop to the ground. Snapping them open, she took in the appearances of the five enemies standing around her.

She grinned. This was going to be fun.

Kakashi had barely had time to grab his pack and don his ANBU mask before taking to the trees again. He wanted to put some distance between himself and the pursuers he knew would be coming.

He wouldn't have bothered with the mask, but it would keep people from bothering him in other countries if they saw him wearing it, and Kakashi knew he had to get back to the Hidden Leaf as soon as possible. The information he had was vital, and he was worried the rebels might make some sort of drastic move now that they knew he had the names and location of two of the rebellion's major players.

The sooner he got home the better.

Plus, he wouldn't mind a nice hot bath, and he really wanted to wash that damn hair dye out of his hair. No offense to Yamato, but brown hair wasn't really his thing. At least he'd been able to take his hair out of the short ponytail he'd kept it in during the mission.

Kakashi rolled his eyes at the fact that he'd let his hair get long enough to pull back into a ponytail. He would go to Sakura as soon as he turned in his report and have her cut his hair. He'd cut it himself, but he was beginning to think that he'd let it get a little too long this time, and he wasn't sure he could handle it.

Assassins? No problem. But his unruly hair? No thank you. That was one enemy he had no desire to face.

He kept his face for the remainder of the night and all through the next day, stopping only for quick breathers when he came across a stream to drink from. Using the Sharingan, he checked behind him every so often, and by the time he stopped for the night—nearly twenty-four hours after his initial escape—he was fairly certain that he'd lost them. It would have been nice to have the Byakugan to confirm, but Kakashi was fairly confident that he'd bought himself at least a few hours of sleep.

Wearily, he summoned Pakkun and asked the small pug to keep watch and wake him after a few hours. Pakkun barely had time to nod before Kakashi was asleep against the nearest tree. The pug rolled his eyes. His master was always overworking himself, even when he wasn't using his Sharingan.

"Get some rest, Kakashi. You look like you need it."

Being told he looked like he needed sleep by a dog. That might have been a new low

Kakashi was awakened five hours later by a rough tongue lapping at his face. Grimacing, he sat up, wiping at where Pakkun had just been licking.

"You really haven't been getting your sleep, eh?" the pug asked, and Kakashi swore that if dogs could smirk, Pakkun would have been doing so right then.

"Remind me why I summoned you again," Kakashi grumbled, readjusting his forehead protector and getting slowly to his feet. The previous day's journey had made him more sore than he'd realized.

After a quick bite to eat from one of his rations, Kakashi set off again. Thanks to his pace yesterday, he was only a day out from Fire country. From there it would be another couple days to Konoha, but he would rest easier once he was in his own territory. There would be other ninja about, and he didn't know if the rebels would be willing to leave the borders of the Land of Silver, even if it was to catch him.

"Well, I guess I better get started," he said, shouldering his pack and setting off for another day of running.