Dystopia Unleashed

By WhoIsThisDamnAuthor

To all the Kakashi fans reading this, better make sure you're already in a good mood.

Because this will make you feel much, much...

Better.

Hah!

Read on and enjoy.

Chapter 9: Trial

Son Goku was thrilled.

Frankly, he was surprised his heart hadn't exploded yet. Everything had gone his way since he'd come here. It wasn't much different from what he was used to, back home, but still. Being a thirteen-year-old again, in this village with its myriad intricacies, mysteries, and colourful people, was a hell of a lot of fun.

Oh, the people. He loved every one of them already; the old landlady, Kotonoha-baa-san, and her irascible attitude towards all of her tenants, or 'whippersnappers', as she called everybody except him. He loved the various street vendors, selling different kinds of vegetables and whatnot, each greeting him with a cautious but heartfelt smile every time he went there.

He especially adored the grocery store owner, Mikazuki-san, who always had his crate of instant ramen packets ready every evening at eight. It was quite unbelievable, how a child so small could eat so many times his own body volume, but his training left him with a hole inside which still refused to go away, even after the mindless gluttony.

He loved the training most of all, the adrenaline surging through his body, pushing every muscle to its limit, not caring where the power to move the next huge boulder was coming from. He also enjoyed the free dinners at Ichiraku's. The dude had installed a ramen extruding machine now, and had hired three apprentices. His business had really taken off. All within a single week.

Goku's parkour times were at an all-time best, and he was getting ever so close to the insane levels of fitness Kushina expected of him. Market Central to HQ in twelve seconds, and his apartment to the training grounds in fifteen flat. Kushina had actually clapped for that last feat, and as the Saiyan had blushed, she'd ordered five thousand push-ups as punishment for slacking off.

His body was growing well. He felt stronger with every plank, every kunai drill, and every complex seal combo he performed. His mind, too felt almost completely clear, with only a few fading ripples from that incident even budging the surface of his consciousness. His chakra control still needed some work, as did his jutsus.

He wasn't nearly as prodigal as he expected. This wasn't something that could be learnt in a matter of three days, despite him trying his best. Goku brushed that thought away, like an errant fly.

Not nearly as prodigal as he'd expected.

That gnawed at his conscience a little, but he had pushed to the recesses of his mind, to dwell on another day. Today was the day he fought.

As he walked beside Namikaze Minato on their way to the meeting with the three Gen...gen...genins, Whew. Finally got it right, he couldn't wait to test his skill against those who'd been receiving training to be ninjas since they were old enough to walk. Sure, Minato and the girls counted, but they didn't use their full array of ninjutsu, always saying it would be too much for him to handle.

So far it had been. He could take on any opponent face to face in a hand-to-hand battle, but when it came to the kind of manipulation these guys used, he was useless. So, he had been salivating for his chance to prove himself among those his own age and nearer to his own rank. Which was nothing.

As the lawns came into sight, the gentle downslope of the road till the trees let Goku have his first sight of the trainees. Suddenly, a flush of red crossed his face as he saw the one standing a little apart from the two. He was the kid who'd seen Goku knee himself in the face. It definitely had not been him at his best, to put it very lightly. He definitely didn't want Minato to find out about it. He wasn't facing them right now, so Goku had a few seconds of time to think of a decent alibi for that moment of shame. He was racking his brains, as they approached close enough.

The grey-haired kid's face was turned away from him, but he could see the corners of his mouth; his grin must have been freakishly wide. He knows! Goku was at his teeny-tiny wit's end. There was no backing out of this now. "Uh, Minato..." He began. Grey-spikes turned, and his eyes widened in shock. Goku wasn't what he was expecting; that was clear.

The sound of the bells seemed to punctuate the silence. Goku was planning to ask Minato on the way over about what those bells were for, but there hadn't been an opportunity. Guess I'll have to find out at the same time these three do... He mentally smacked his forehead. Stop raising yourself to a special level! As far as the village is concerned, I'm a bigger nobody than anyone else. Rather, I AM nobody.

Grey-spikes seemed aware of what the bells meant; he was gazing at them with an almost malicious intent. As Minato paused for effect, Goku felt his heart rate rise in expectation. This was going to be a perfect morning.

Minato took out a sheet of paper, from a pouch on his flak jacket. It was hard to locate which; the entire thing seemed to be made of zippers and bulges. Unfolding it, he read out three names. "Obito Uchiha... Nohara Rin... Hatake Kakashi... are you three, I presume?" They nodded. Minato's face took a sudden turn for the worse.

"I'm sorry, I couldn't hear you. Care to say something out loud this time round?"

The three couldn't give any less fucks. "Yes," they replied. Goku felt a dark aura emanating from the person on his left. Shuddering, he turned his head, and broke out in a cold sweat. Demon Minato was back. There was no mistaking it. Those deep blue eyes were like glowing embers, and the two canines that were seen from under his curved lips seemed oddly sharper than usual.

"I...still...did...not...hear...you."

Clear prolonged enunciation. Another sign that Minato's Vesuvius was about to explode. And the three kids in front of him were buried up to their necks in Pompeii's dark soil.

Somehow, when Goku looked over towards them, he wasn't expecting exactly that reaction. They all seemed rather...bored, like they didn't care about their Jonin-sensei's anger one bit. The masked one rolled his eyes, and screamed, "YES!"

The other two followed suit. Minato looked a little mollified, but he wasn't pleased with the eye rolling either. "All right," he continued. "The three of you must be feeling quite proud of yourselves, aren't you?" Hesitant nods followed.

"Don't be."

The vicious, spat out words made the children start. Suddenly, it hit the girl and the other kid. They began to understand their situation. Goku remembered the angry look Minato had had in the Hokage's chambers. As far as he knew, two of the three were getting jingle bell enemas that day. Two of the four, he reminded himself, stifling a large gulp. This wasn't going to be a good day.

Not at all.

"I will proceed to make you three little shits rue the day you ever thought becoming a shinobi was an achievable thing," Minato continued, every syllable coming out sharp and crystal clear. "When I'm done with you three, by the time you even muster the courage to write the Academy's test again, Hell will have long since frozen over. You should have already realized that probability has played a cruel trick on you, a cruel trick indeed."

Everyone else except the grey-haired kid had already gone white. Konoha shinobi were generally of a very kind, genial nature. Would-be Genin were usually treated strictly, but fairly. This kind of random threatening was unheard of, even with the worst of Jonin-sensei. Kakashi, however, was more than used to great hatred. For him, someone threatening to kill him didn't even register anymore, forget random, vague insults.

Yeah, yeah, just get it over with, dude. You aren't scaring anyone.

Hatake Kakashi glanced contemptuously at the idiots losing their minds over some random angry ranting. Well, not me, at least... He pulled back into focus. "Your job is to take these two bells from me by any means necessary. I definitely don't think anyone will succeed anyway, given your utterly pathetic... Oh, let's call them abilities," Kakashi didn't really care about this, but Minato's speech had become annoying. He could see the Rin and the imbecile getting irritated as well.

At least we've got that in common. The gray-haired genius simply wanted to get this out of the way, and continue on with his training. He knew he was destined for the ANBU, where all people with similar familial situations ended up. The cutthroat world of Konoha's espionage agency awaited him. Naturally, one realizes that simple, useless things like competition between peers and such shit never mattered.

I'm rooting for that knee-in-the-face kid. That way, I wouldn't have to bear those insufferable acquaintances of mine. Almost as an afterthought, he added, maybe Rin isn't so bad, after all...

He gave his opponent a cursory look-over. Minato, at first glance, seemed like any other Jonin; calm and confident, with an aura of chakra seeping out from every tenketsu in his body. But Kakashi guessed he was more than that. The Hokage wouldn't put two of the best students in this year's class under this guy for no reason. Clearly, he had a great deal to teach them, if they got past his stupid, angry side.

Wait. WHAT? He hadn't noticed it until then because he hadn't given a damn. The kid next to Minato had a similar aura. That amount of chakra seepage usually did not occur unless a person had more chakra than he knew what to do with. So, the kid has massive chakra as well.

Still, it was hard to assign any serious attention to the kid in general, after that incident. But, he noticed the sword hanging at his hip, and how naturally he wore it. It seemed like a part of him, almost like an appendage. His hand seemed like it was ready to draw and decapitate in an instant.

His chances were looking better by the minute. Anyway, ol' Minny was done with his dramatic monologue, so Kakashi readied himself for a fight. Rin and whatshisname seemed alert as well. The kid had taken a taijutsu stance, though it was extremely anticipatory and defensive for Kakashi's liking. If you want to be a coward, be my guest.

By the look of things, you'll still get a bell.

Minato was standing in the most open, clearly provocative position. Even the imbecile could see the gaps in his obviously-fake defenses. His nickname was justified; the dumbfuck attacked. Without warning, he rushed forward, sidestepping alternately to the left and right. As he approached, he suddenly created a clone, changing his direction of motion to create the illusion that he'd vanished. Kakashi fast-forwarded the scene in his head.

The retard would reappear to the left, given the step he'd taken right before he created the diversion. Judging by his sprint speed and the time his clone would last, his position of attack would be around the edge of Minato's peripheral vision. It didn't even pass as mediocre. Minato would simply have to block the direct kunai to his face, and return with a nice cross counter that would leave Obito sprawled on the ground. Perfect.

Obito didn't throw a kunai. Thinking uncharacteristically, he sprinted radially inwards, torso already lowering to dodge the expected punch. That wasn't bad, even Kakashi had to admit. The retard can think, just a little bit. Nice. But that'll only end up in giving him five more seconds of consciousness. One easy rising kick to the jaw will end it here, anyway.

"RASENGAN!"

The full force of the attack hit Obito in the chest, sending him flying backwards. He slammed into a tree at the edge of the training area, after travelling almost a hundred meters straight. He peeled off of the trunk, and fell limply to the ground. That was probably it for his chances to ever get back up again for the next week, forget fight for the bell.

Kakashi stared, eyes popping.

What the fuck just happened?

Minato held his position for a while, deliberately sending a message to the remaining three. His fierce, smoldering eyes clearly said I'm not going to hold back one bit. Rin had taken an involuntary step backwards, and her mouth was open in a soundless scream. The other kid seemed less flustered, but his expression too was one of surprise. Even he hadn't anticipated this...

They could still see Obito's back in the distance. There was a rip in his shirt. The Uchiha emblem had been ripped off by the remnants of chakra from that attack. With an effort, Kakashi took his eyes away from his fallen teammate, and turned back. His pupils dilated in shock.

Minato was on him. Kakashi suddenly felt extreme pain spread through his entire abdomen, as his punch landed directly on his solar plexus. His breath was driven out of his lungs. He took a faltering step back, gasping for oxygen. Minato didn't even give him that chance. Taking a step forward, the rasengan already forming in his other palm, Minato looked like he was going to finish him off. Literally.

As the attack approached, Kakashi's eyes noticed the chakra patterns. They were a swirling ball of chaos, the motion of each particle too random to observe with any clarity. He prepped himself for pain. A lot of pain.

The attack never landed. Kakashi forced open his eyelids; he didn't remember closing them. Standing in front of him was Rin. The very girl he wanted out of the competition. She had deftly used a series of chakra infused prods to naturally dissipate away the energy that kept the rasengan's shape intact. Without that critical centripetal force, the entire thing simply fizzled away into nothingness.

Nohara Rin had saved him. Probably with no expectation of anything in return. He had observed her quite a bit from a distance. She always seemed like the kind of character who would do that. What surprised him was that she was willing to do this for him. In the depths of his mind, Kakashi felt...something. An emotion he'd never experienced. It was somehow familiar, yet completely unknown.

Am I...

Grateful?

Goku watched the whole catastrophe occur from quite the perfect viewing angle, yet his body was frozen. Too frozen to act; too frozen to defend those innocent children from his teacher's crazy misdirected anger. As he finally got it to act, heading towards Minato with a careful, measured approach, he realized that today was going to be a game of survival, and that there might not even be two winners left at the end.

Just what are you playing at, Minato?

Goku watched Rin, as she let out an exhausted breath. She had to be exhausted; dissipating that much raw power without so much as a whiff of it being felt by the boy she was defending had to take a huge effort. Minato's hands moved, and Goku noticed to his horror that he had produced fifteen floating, custom-made kunai out of his jacket's many pockets, and was ruthlessly about to strike.

Goku didn't need any more incentive. Two chakra infused steps took him right next to the duo, and he already had his black blade in his hand. Minato started. The barrage was harder to face than anything he'd seen before. It was like Minato had held back ninety percent of his power when they were training together. This was a new, overpowering series of attacks.

Minato had a blade coming at him from every opening he could find, and three or four more from random, premeditated areas, where he predicted the Saiyan was going to be in the next moment. Goku tried his absolute best, but to no avail. He realized how out of his depth he was. He felt exhausted with every block, every single dodge sapped his strength. This was Minato at his best, so it didn't come as a surprise that his body's physical limitations chose to reveal themselves in this fight.

Goku took a slight pause from gazing continuously at the blades, and looked into his sensei's eyes. Something seemed different somehow. He wasn't sure exactly what, but the glint in Minato's eyes sent a primal wave of fear through his spine, jolting him into action. As he dodged the next few attacks, he couldn't help but enjoy himself. Being tested to this extent reminded him of happier times. He remembered his (first) childhood.

Through the haze of his jumbled memories, he remembered how it used to be. Training under Master Roshi, fetching the special stone with Krillin, beating General Tao after learning the secrets of the Holy Water from Korin. Oh, those were the days, when he fought to prove himself, fought with his life on the line against opponents who wanted the same things he did. There was no true villain, no random megalomaniac blowing up planets just because he was a sore loser. It was exactly like his last week here, or rather his last week here was exactly like those times.

But before he knew it, things began to change, too gradually to notice right away. As his enemies got stronger, they also got more and more cruel, with dastardly motives which disgusted him down to his soul. Retarded villains kept popping up, ready to do anything, anything to get those seven wish-granting spheres. And some even more retarded villains who came with the sole intent of killing him. As if a stupid grudge mattered that much.

Heh, pathetic.

He was very happy to have been given this chance. Despite all that, and discounting the fact that he had become a lot better in the last week, it was impossible for the Saiyan to keep up with one of Konoha's fastest in what was definitely one of his weakest forms. The kunai kept coming, and Goku quickly started tiring. His parries got clumsier, and, all of a sudden, the status quo was broken.

A lazy, half-hearted counter was all it took. Minato channelled three kunai at the badly positioned blocking arm, and slashed with a fourth and fifth at his unguarded sword arm. Minato's three pronged weapons drove clean through sinew and muscle.

Goku drew back, wincing in pain. His arms fell limply to his side, and the black blade dropped to the ground. The Saiyan did not like this at all. This continuous stream of wounding battles was starting to really get on his nerves. Despite the dire situation, or maybe because of it, he let out a chuckle.

Nostalgia seeped into his consciousness; he remembered laughing just like that.

Just like that, so many, many times.

So many ruthless, powerful enemies he'd put away, just like that. And now, he was being humbled by someone whose strongest attacks couldn't even begin to compare with the feeblest of what he used to be capable of. As he bent down to duck under the horizontal twin slashes of another two kunai, he couldn't help but marvel at the irony of the whole situation.

He'd predicted that the current attack pattern would culminate in the next move. As Minato brought one kunai vertically downward, a rasengan already in his other palm, Goku realized enough was enough. He'd been behaving quite oddly this entire time, at least as far as his fights were concerned. He'd left the impression of a large, untapped potential, just lying under the surface, only diving into that pool on occasion.

That had kept Kushina and Mikoto's interest in him from fading away, and had also kept them from realizing just how really strong he was. He always showed off an improvement proportional to his training, no matter how much stronger he'd actually gotten. This had been his general rule of thumb for the first three days. But afterwards, the glaring holes in that strategy began showing themselves.

First, his improvement after that slowed drastically, until he sometimes had to train alone in his room just to keep up with the gradient he himself had set in the beginning. Also, Kushina had realized what was happening. As a consequence, Goku's training over the last three days had gotten even more back-breaking. Goku enjoyed it deeply, but also felt a growing regret that he wasn't even matching his own diminished standards. He still loved tackling the challenges head-on, but they now left a bitter taste in his mouth.

It really wasn't his fault. A body that had atrophied for God only knew how many millions of years could not be brought back into shape at the snap of a finger, with a wave of a magic wand. He was still far, far behind in his training, and the very fact that he had allowed himself to get into such a position, giving Minato the chance to finish it, was an indicator in itself as to how profoundly helpless he was at the moment.

As he saw the pincer combination of kunai and chakra closing in, the internal strife and turmoil came to a head. He gave up the feigning, gave up caring about the impression he was creating on everybody else. Holding his hands in the all-too-familiar pose, he concentrated, using sheer willpower to thrust open more chakra conduits, and used some of it to move his lifeless arms, like a deranged puppeteer. Forcing the chakra through the tenketsu in his hands instead of letting it seep out on its own, he practically flooded the substance in between his palms.

As he was adding the required rotation, he looked up at his opponent. To his horror, he saw that he didn't have the time to complete his Kamehameha. Also, he couldn't move his arms an inch. The attack was too unstable at the moment; any mistakes would lead to an explosion that would affect him far more than it would Minato.

His eyes moved frantically, searching for something to defend himself with. They suddenly caught the dark glint of his sword, right there behind him. I didn't think I'd have to use it at all, forget it being practically what saves my life. He moved his tail, sliding it out. Before it came free of his lower garment, a shriek distracted him.

"WATCH OUT!" It was Rin. The sudden noise allowed Goku's focus to slip. The blade was on him, up close. It was at his chest, and was about to pierce his heart. The Rasengan was already at his abdomen, chakra ripping through his skin. Goku felt the pain rise; from an irritating itch to full-fledged agony. As it began to become unbearable, Goku experienced a sharp weakness crash over him, along with a sharp tug. Someone was holding onto and pulling his tail.

With another strong pull, Goku was yanked right out of the trajectories of the attacks. He landed on the ground rather roughly, and skidded a little on the grass. His injuries weren't severe enough for him pass out entirely, but he closed his eyes anyway.

A minute's rest won't be a problem, I guess.

Uchiha Mikoto couldn't believe her eyes.

What she'd witnessed was not possible. Not in a million years. Namikaze Minato had gone crazy. She remembered the grudge he held against the Hokage for this stupid assignment, but the Minato she knew would never go so far. This was beyond harsh. This was pure torture. She couldn't bring herself to watch any more of these poor children suffer. But she stayed right there, petrified, because of Son-kun's condition.

He'd specifically told her to not interfere at all, no matter what the situation. That was his exchange for her coming in secret and watching his trial. She'd agreed; because at that time, there was nothing she could foresee that would need her to show herself at all, forget interfering. She was sure Goku would get a bell, and achieve it in such a way that even his defeated opponents would applaud. For that was the kind of fair person her Son-kun was. She felt happy and comforted by his mere presence. This was quite the contrast to the dark, shrouded eaves of the Uchiha enclosure.

Something didn't feel right about Minato's eyes. They had a rather unnatural glint, one of pure malice. Mikoto knew that the yellow-haired Jonin wasn't capable of such an emotion. Activating her Sharingan, she searched him for signs of Genjutsu usage. She found one almost immediately. It was placed in the most obvious place, right in the chakra flows around the temple. This gave it easy access to the mind, but it was just as trivial to detect.

Impressive. Truly impressive. It was as if the user had simply ignored the limits that were usually present on Genjutsu. There were two conditions for Genjutsu. One, it could not be used on someone who had deliberately stopped their chakra circulatory system. Second, there was a limit to how much mind control you could have over a person while simultaneously keeping their fighting abilities intact. This one broke that limit like it was nothing. All of Minato's mental and physical abilities were at a maximum, and it seemed like the mysterious user had complete control of his free will as well.

She shook her head. This wasn't a time to be playing 'Who just beat the Sharingan?' just yet. Son-kun needed to be saved. He was out of danger for the moment, but who knew what Minato could come up with next to decimate the three hapless children. But... she did have to keep her promise not to interfere.

Please, please get this over with.

Somebody save him!

Oh, this is brilliant. Simply brilliant.

The feeling of the unmolded, raw chakra pouring out of Goku, as it washed onto his face, was pure ecstasy. Orochimaru darted his forked tongue out, and slowly moistened his lips. The child was an untapped well of possibilities. Every time he saw him churn out that amount of chakra for any move, he realized that an Uchiha vessel was no longer required. Despite the great Dojutsu prowess of the Sharingan, the chakra to sustain it for long periods was not a trait the Uchiha had.

The answer was trivial. Once the final touches to his body-changing attempt at immortality were complete, he would then use the child, preferably a few years older by then, as a container for his soul. Later, given his immense strength and chakra, obtaining the powerful eyes would simply be a matter of time. Waiting until the perfect Uchiha arrived was going to be the bottleneck in his entire plan anyways; so why not wait inside a stronger, healthier body? The kind of treatment he'd meted out to his current one made a replacement necessary, as soon as possible.

Anyway, this simple triviality was his way of testing the kid for signs of his future potential. He'd long since surpassed the limitations of standard genjutsu. Also, using the convenient state of mind Jiraiya's yellow-haired protégé was in, he was able to get even more cooperation than he'd expected.

Such feeble devices these unevolved minds are. Orochimaru almost spat contemptuously. So utterly worthless. The only mind he had come to acknowledge, apart from his own, was that of the legendary Uchiha ancestor, the one. For the world view Uchiha Madara had was unique; despite him not having the means to achieve it, the possibilities of his vision for humanity still gave Orochimaru the goosebumps.

All those grand stratagems, the formulated plans; what did the genius get in return? Nothing. All because of that retarded do-gooder of an opponent, who just happened to be insanely strong as well. Orochimaru had long since found out that a single human body was too frail to sustain the soul for longer than a very limited time. Some of the research he was undertaking, however, was going to take far, far longer.

He had begun experimentation on a novel way to ensure the continuation of his existence. If this method worked, he would not need to despair about the completion of his schemes any more. For a trial run, however, he needed a test subject. One with massive amounts of chakra, to provide for the amount lost because of error and inexperience. And, of course, a near-Neanderthal mind.

And the test subject was lying in front of him. With a tail, too, extending the Neanderthal comparison even further back in the evolution timeline.

Orochimaru wrinkled his nose in disgust. I've always detested monkeys.

How ironic is it that I'd want to inhabit one…

Kakashi knew exactly why he'd broken character and saved the monkey-boy. Simple survival instinct. There was absolutely no way anyone could win alone, so he needed everyone he had. Along with saving the kid, he'd also taken his shortsword in the same motion.

It was physically impossible to fend off fifteen kunai with only one blade, without taking any damage. Once he got a few cuts in on your desperately blocking other arm, it was basically a battle of attrition. And Minato definitely knew how to press the kid into making those mistakes. Sure, he had power, but a lack of chakra control, very little battle experience and a psychotic need to constantly hit back harder, not smarter, was undermining his strength.

This is why I hate these brawn-no-brain losers. He cast another glance towards Rin. She was still there, rooted to her spot. Even from a distance, she was visibly shaking. Man, is even basic level-headedness too much to expect? Emotion. Another point against the kid's weaknesses.

As he pulled out his own blade from behind his back, he was already assessing the scenario. From his hushed mutterings, the kid was simply taking a breather. So he had to fend off Minato's advances for at least a few minutes. He decided he would give him two. Then, it was wakey-wakey time, even if it took a nice sword point into the ass. That would hurt, wouldn't it? For at least a thousand years?

Chuckling silently, he gripped both the hilts, and swung them, testing out his balance. Somehow, the black one was lighter, despite it being the larger of the two. He noticed the chakra hole almost instantly. Hmm. So this was always meant to be dual-wielded. Supplying the required difference, he matched the weights of the two swords. Placing a stopper on the hole using a miniature seal, he ensured that the chakra wouldn't exit by mistake and throw off the mass in the middle of a manoeuvre.

Looking into Minato's eyes, he saw the killing intent. So this was a Jonin at full strength. Kakashi couldn't resist a smile. He started walking towards his opponent. As he covered the distance, he kept checking on both Rin and the kid in his peripheral vision. Rin, at least, seemed to look more lifelike. She was slowly getting into position, shaking off the lethargy.

He whipped back into focus as three kunai launched themselves from above Minato's head and headed his way. Minato was simply testing the waters. Kakashi sliced, using both blades. He cut right through the metal, sending the halves flying off in random directions. One drove itself right into the ground, next to Obito's head. Lowering the sword, he levelled it at Minato's face.

"Come."

His Jonin-sensei's eyes widened comically at the challenge. But a millisecond later, he was already there, three more blades having replaced the ones Kakashi had cut. He felt the pressure as the difference in ability soon became clear. Dark metal blades appearing as if out of nowhere, juggling around his torso, circling like vultures over a dying animal. Kakashi knew he could keep them at bay now, given his two swords, but since there were blades everywhere, producing the same kunai-splitting swing was not going to be possible.

Minato stepped up his attack another notch. There were seventeen kunais now. He had no space, but he had to try and thin the herd a little. He whipped back his right arm, trying to add some momentum to his swing. Minato's eyes flashed, all of a sudden. As Kakashi tried to execute the movement, suddenly, his arm felt like it was dragging a boulder through mud. He looked back for a second, and saw ten blades bearing down on the sword, holding it in place behind his head.

There's no need to get flustered, he reminded himself. I still have the other sword, and he has seven... Wait.

THE HELL?

Seventeen kunai still faced him from the front.

Dodging those with just one sword would be rather...irritating. Kakashi suddenly left the blocked sword. Falling to his haunches, he picked it up again, right before it touched the ground, all the while carefully observing Minato's every move. The blades were on him before he knew it. Cocking his wrists, he held out the two blades opposite to each other, emulating the spinning bamboo toy children played with.

Powering upwards, he spun on the pivot created by rising on his heels, fanning out the blades to cover the area around him. The rapidly spinning blades sliced through the weak points in Minato's special kunai, ripping them into pieces. Exiting the spin, he continued into the air, and took aim. The last half turn would bring him face to face with Minato again. Throwing one of the swords as a javelin was his only option. Given a choice, it would have to be the black one.

Dismantling the seal, he added more chakra until the tendons in wrist screamed with pain from the centrifugal force. He pushed till he was sure he could add no more without actually dislocating the bones, and then resealed the hole. The adrenalin made the last ninety degrees of turn excruciatingly slow. Whipping his neck, he turned his head, in an attempt to get a longer look at his target. Accuracy was key.

And suddenly, it wasn't. There was a Rasengan right in his chest. As the attack connected, Kakashi simultaneously skewered his Jonin-sensei through the abdomen. The sheer weight of the sword made the flak jacket, skin and muscle underneath feel like nothing, as it went clean through. It wasn't hindered in the least as it slid further inwards, coming out the other side of Minato's torso with barely any decrease in speed. The rasengan lost its shape and disintegrated, but not before creating a small explosion. Kakashi was blown back, and his slick fingers slid off the dark black hilt. Because the seal was still in place, the weight remained unchanged.

He couldn't help it. His face cracked into a smile.

And pop goes the weasel.

Wait. The fang. The weasel. The fang.

The weasel it is.

There were two dull thuds. The first was the still-moving hilt crashing into Minato's chest, unable to move further. The momentum transfer hit the yellow-haired Jonin like a hammer, driving him to the ground. Next, Kakashi falling heavily, the front of his clothes charred and ripped by the Rasengan's destructive power.

Nohara Rin only cared about one.

Running flat out in a sprint, she reached his fallen body, hands already flung in front of her. Falling to her knees, she cradled the grey-haired teen's head in one arm, while the other hand was going over the bleeding torso, marred forever by the characteristic spirals. For that was the curse of the attack Minato had invented. Its relative simplicity compared to other equally powerful jutsus was what made it such a weapon.

A tear welled up in her eye; she couldn't control herself. This was all her fault. If only she'd moved then, when she saw Minato-sensei prepare to jump with the Rasengan in his hand, she could have stopped him, and then Kakashi-kun would have had no problems with taking him out at his leisure. She'd been a massive liability, and she felt all the more guilty because of it.

All through her days at the Academy, she'd watched this genius sweep the grading system under the rug with his exceptional and, most importantly, consistent performance. Even the most cynical and sadistic instructors couldn't help but acknowledge Kakashi-kun's skill. Despite being extremely competitive, Rin had given up on the hopes that she would actually beat him at something. His aura of confidence simply had an effect on everyone else's grades as well. But even then, she'd come in second in the Academy, almost at Kakashi's level, and leagues above the rest of the crowd.

After three gruelling years, they had been acknowledged as Genins, those who would fearlessly choose to serve the needs of the village above their own. What was the point of he graduating second in the class, so far ahead of everyone else? What was the point of her training, the countless hours she'd spent? What was the point, if she couldn't convert that knowledge and training into actual results? And if there was none, what was she to do from now?

The answer was clear. Placing Kakashi's unconscious, barely breathing body down, ever so gingerly on the grass, she walked over to Minato. Reaching into his bloodied jacket, she drew out the bells. They gleamed in the sunlight; the profuse bloodshed hadn't reached them yet. Plucking one out of the two, she threw it towards the gray-haired prodigy's body. He wouldn't need to fight any more this day.

Something was going on in the back of her mind. It was a hushed, incomprehensible voice. She tried to drive it away, but it came back, even stronger.

Forgetting... Mustn't forget...

Huh? Something I'm forgetting? She shook her head. It must have been some conjured thought being projected through her senses. She began walking back towards Kakashi. He needed medical attention soon, or he was going to die, surely. Reaching the pale-faced boy, she proceeded to hold him tightly and started dragging him towards the medical center, quite the distance away from the remote training grounds. Kakashi groaned at the sudden movement, but Rin continued on. Better a little a pain now than complete crippling...

"Don't bother."

She stopped in her tracks, and turned to face the voice. The kid was just getting up, and clearly struggling to do so. Rin was flabbergasted. He could still remain conscious, even after handling a Jonin head-on? Sure, Kakashi-kun had saved him from a clear death, but he'd sustained far greater injuries before that. He should have been in a similar condition.

Grunting, he shifted his weight into a less painful position. Slowly raising his arm, he pointed with his thumb to something behind him. Obito still lay there, fallen like a corpse. Rin gasped audibly as she remembered what she had forgotten. "He got the brunt of the attacks; the next few Rasengans were far, far weaker. You should probably see to him first," Rin nodded, and gingerly placed Kakashi right onto the ground.

As she sprinted past, he added, "And don't worry about taking him anywhere. Someone's already taking care of that." She glanced at him as she whizzed past. He was staring into a random spot in the undergrowth. Had someone else been watching them? That was obvious; the real question was how many people had been watching.

She approached the tree without slowing down at all. A glance was all it took to tell her that his vitals were far, far worse than the other two combined. She leaned downwards, and placed her ear next to his mouth. It was exactly as she'd feared. No breathing. Obito's lips were already blue. He needed resuscitation, and he needed it immediately.

She moved over his face, pausing only to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear. Bending down, she held his mouth open in the position that had been drilled into her during those first aid classes. She didn't even consider the implications of what she was about to do.

All Nohara Rin could think about was that the quicker she got Obito breathing on his own, the sooner she could return to Kakashi-kun's side. It was an extremely base and shameless thought process, but at least it eliminated the awkwardness of kissing someone right on the lips.

Breathing out forcefully, she saw the Uchiha's lungs rise, and then fall as she broke lip contact. That meant that he had simply stopped breathing due to massive shock. His pulse was still holding steady, but with every beat, it was getting weaker as more blood oozed out of the gashes and cuts he had on his chest. She continued, still gazing at his chest rise and fall.

She was too engrossed with keeping her nakama alive to notice that her original object of concern had woken up.

The. Actual. Fuck.

The said object of concern was shell-shocked.

Goku hobbled up to him. "She's just giving him first-aid," he said, as a consolation.

His expression relaxed quite significantly. He gave him a resigned, sarcastic smile, and limped over to Minato's body. Gripping the sword with his right hand, he pulled it out, with surgeon-like precision. No extra injured tissue, no more blood loss. He was too tired to do anything more. Dropping the still-heavy blade, he dropped alongside it.

Return quickly, Mikoto...

The alarm rang insistently.

Kushina crammed her eyes shut, and tried to drown out the sound using her pillow as an ear muffler. Today was her day off. And she'd forgotten to turn off the damn alarm the night before. Why do I do these stupid things?

Speaking of stupid things... Minato, with his godforsaken sweet-talk, had convinced her to let him test his Genins alone. How he had managed it, she didn't know, but the next thing she knew he was tucking her into bed, telling her how nice her day off was going to be. But that idiot had not done the most vital thing. He too, had conveniently forgotten to turn it off.

She sat up, sleepily rubbing her eyelids. Her slender figure, right there in the mid-morning sunlight, in her loosely hanging nightclothes, as the rays caught every strand of messy, bed hair, was an artist's wet dream. Turning, she smashed the snooze button of the clock hard with her fist, shattering the illusion that the Uzumaki was, in any way, attractive.

She cracked open a single eyelid to just glance at the time. The face read half past nine. Three hours past her usual time. A little confused, she shuffled over to the nightstand, and picked up the now-destroyed thing in her hand. There was a note attached to the back. Picking it off, she started reading.

So, good morning, I guess. How's your day off? Slept well? Heh. Sorry about the alarm, but it's important. In case you still want in, you can come and meet my Genins now. I'm probably done failing them all by now, so you can come play good cop and tell them they've actually passed.

Love, Minato. That part was clearly not an afterthought, as much as a statement of the obvious. Laughing a little at her boyfriend's indirectness, she got up to change. Oh, she wasn't going to play good cop; not even close to good. For the red-haired devil was called that for a very good reason. Because she was.

I'll show you a greater hell than Minato has.

Just you wait.

That took quite the long while. It feels almost like Kyakka's scanlations, doesn't it?

Oh, wait. I think he's stopped translating Oregairu.

Stupid, stupid Yen Press and their licensing.

Anyway, my recent anime/LN kick has ended, and I'm back.

Hopefully I get off another couple of chapters in a short while, eh?

By the way, anyone got the Sennen Goroshi reference in the middle?

Kudos if you actually did.

Recurring readers, thanks for sticking with the story. I promise I won't let it die.

P.S. Optimus610 and Boyzilla, kudos for pointing that out.

After a little reconsideration, I've decided to change that part a little.

Keep reading, and telling me about such factual inaccuracies.

Peace out.