Chapter 5: Anbu

Kakashi's plans were coming together, but there were too many things occupying his attention. The Anbu operatives he assigned to tail the next Root targets reported that they were on the move towards Konoha with a band of mercenaries. There was a troubling report that one of the mercenaries wielded a large executioner's blade, and Kakashi did not want that sword to reach anywhere near Konoha. He wanted it intercepted and returned to the Hidden Mist, where it belonged. Wolf, at least, would be happy to finally go on this mission…she was not learning patience as he hoped she would. She asked him about the mission every time they met, her stubbornness reminding him a little bit of Naruto.

Speaking of Naruto, he had another worry plaguing his mind. Recently, he received a letter from the warden he appointed at Hōzuki Castle. Kahyō. He had appointed her recently and with the mission of reform within the prison system. She had only sent an update, but somehow, thanks to Naruto, a rumor was floating around town that she and Kakashi were romantically involved. He desperately wanted to dispel this rumor for Seika's sake.

It seemed many of the things he was doing as Hokage were for Seika's sake. That in and of itself was troublesome.

His life as Hokage, Kakashi, and Sukea were floating in and out of one another in a strange and complicated dance, and he knew that sooner or later, he would have to give his identity as Sukea up and tell Seika who he was.

A handful of times, Kakashi had used a shadow clone to try to get to know Seika while he was with her as Sukea, but each attempt went awry in some fashion. In one instance, Guy attacked out of nowhere, and Seika pulled his real self away in the midst of the battle. His clone had lost, and Guy was still adamant that it had been a real fight. In another instance, his clone was floundered by a number of townsfolk who wanted to know how construction on the new Hokage's residence was going. In a third instance, he was actually able to greet her, but Seika totally ignored the Hokage. Her vendetta against him was strong, and it felt like a losing battle. Eventually, Seika would need to know his real identity, but he wasn't quite sure how to break it to her yet.

There was other news he would have to break to Wolf first.

"It's time," he said one afternoon when she showed up in his office.

"Where do I go?" she asked without hesitation.

"Not far…both targets are moving towards Konoha. However, you'll be taking a team with you."

"What?!"

"I've assigned Egret, Panther, and Monkey to your team. You'll be leading them to arrest the targets. There is a squad of mercenaries moving with them, and I don't want you to go alone."

"Arrest?"

"No assassination this time. We're changing the way Konoha is treating wrongdoers. There's no need to kill them if there's a chance at rehabilitation in prison."

He was met with silence, a first coming from Wolf.

"No more questions?"

"Egret, Panther, and Monkey?" she asked skeptically.

"I know it's not familiar territory," Kakashi said. "But the other three have been watching them for the past few months, and they'll fill you in on everything you need to know. They need a leader who is skilled in silent killing, which I'd like you to use for something else. One of the mercenaries has a weapon…you'll recognize the large sword. We need to retrieve it."

"So, I'm not killing anyone, you're sending me with a team, and I have to retrieve a weapon?"

"Yes."

She groaned, sounding unenthused. "When do we leave?"

"As soon as possible."

Wolf stalked out of the office, and Kakashi briefly wondered if he had made the right choice in sending her on a team.

That afternoon, Kakashi met Seika for her errands, but he was subdued, and she noticed.

"What's wrong?" she asked after they had picked up a box of medicine from Tsunade and Sakura.

In truth, he had a strange sinking feeling in his stomach about Wolf's mission, but he couldn't tell Seika that. Maybe he could ease his mind if he shared something else that was unsettling to him.

"There's something I haven't told you…" he started.

She waited expectantly. "You make it sound like it's going to be a bad thing."

"I'm…working on a project with the Hokage," he said slowly, wondering how she might take his news. "I've given him a number of my photographs…including some of you."

"Lord Hokage has photos of me?" she asked drily, narrowing her eyes at him.

He cringed at the title by which she called him, nervously explaining. "I know you don't like him, but I'm working on a photo album, a book, documenting the village. H-he c-commissioned it." Wow, I must be nervous if I'm stuttering.

"What's the point? What is he planning to do with the photos?" she asked.

"S-sharing stories," he spat out, withering under her glare. "It helps when others realize they aren't alone."

Seika's eyes bore deep into him, and he thought she might just slap him. He tensed, ready for an outburst, but she just smiled and put her hand on his shoulder. "I appreciate your honesty. If my photographs help others, use them how you will. Just promise me that he doesn't do anything weird with them, like keep them on his desk, okay?"

"Ah, uh, right! He d-doesn't seem like the type that would keep photos of women he doesn't know in his desk!" It was only partly true. Kakashi didn't keep photos of strange women in his desk. Seika's were only there because he knew her. Kind of. Kakashi might be strange to her, but Sukea was not.

"If you say so," she told him lightly.

As they kept walking, Kakashi noticed that a number of young couples were out. Perhaps it was the nice weather, but he wondered if it had anything to do with the circulating rumors about his own love life. Ino and Sai were holding hands, Shikamaru, recently back from his mission, looked like he was on a date with Temari, and Naruto and Hinata were sharing lunch together in the ramen shop. These two were recently engaged, and they were planning their wedding ceremony. Seika took notice.

"It is a time for young love," she said. "Even the Hokage, it seems. I heard he received a love letter from someone he met on his last mission."

This was a good segway…Kakashi wanted to dispel the stupid rumors Naruto had started. But first, he wanted to know what she thought about it.

"Do you think the Hokage has a girlfriend?"

Seika didn't answer him immediately. By now, Kakashi knew that her silence meant that she was deeply considering the matter.

"No," she said. "In truth, I often see him in Konoha Cemetery, by the grave of a woman. Rin Nohara."

She keeps tabs on me? "Do you know who she is?" he asked her.

"No," she admitted, "but he must love her. It's clear to see that his soul is connected to hers."

This was an interesting observation. "Do you believe in soulmates?"

"I think our souls can be tied together through shared experience and shared trauma. They can be tied together through love, but also through guilt and shame. I don't know which ties Kakashi to Rin, but I don't think he would pursue a relationship unless he felt confident she would approve."

Fascinating, Kakashi thought. She has many theories about me, but she's not wrong. If she watches me this much, maybe it won't seem so bad to her when I tell her who I really am.

"So, you think the souls of the dead are impacted by our actions here?" he asked.

"Yes…I think the souls of the dead still have sway over us. For example, don't you think that loving someone again, in this life, affects how they feel in the afterlife? Isn't that why we feel guilt over pursuing happiness?"

"You're thinking of Zabuza?" he asked. Kakashi understood intimately the internal conflict associated with trying to move on after the death of friends.

Seika looked to the ground. "I wish I didn't, but I still carry him here." She held her hand over her heart.

Kakashi knew in his own heart of hearts that Rin and Obito were waiting for him, but he also knew they had each other, and they wouldn't want him to waste his life away. He considered that Zabuza and Haku might be wishing the same for Seika, if Zabuza had truly cared about her in this life.

"If our souls are connected to those who have died, then I think they also understand our pain and our loneliness," he told her. "If they loved us, too, then I don't think they would want us to live on in misery, just to honor them."

As he said the words aloud, he finally realized that he believed them. He cared for Rin, and although he couldn't protect her, he honored her with his life. So, too, with Obito. How much more would they want him to punish himself for actions outside of his own control?

He was so deep in thought that he didn't realize Seika had stopped walking.

"Sukea," she said hesitantly. "In that case, would you…be interested in going on a date with me?" Her cheeks turned a lovely shade of pink.

Kakashi was caught off guard. He wanted to say yes, but in his disguise…should he? He did want to date her, but as Kakashi, not as Sukea. His delay in reply gave her the wrong impression, and her pink cheeks turned flame red in embarrassment.

"It was a silly thought," she said, trying to laugh it off. "Let's just pretend I never asked."

"No, no!" he cried. "I would like to go on a date with you. I just…"

"You just…what?"

I'm not who you think I am. "I'm leaving town soon," he lied.

"Oh," she said, a little too sadly for his liking.

"I'm coming back," he said quickly. I just need a break from Sukea. "I don't know how long my trip will take, but maybe we can go on a date then?" In the meantime maybe I can figure out how to tell her who I am.

"Maybe," she agreed, but after they parted ways, he couldn't get over the hurt in her expression.

Damn it, Kakashi! He reprimanded himself. Given what she's shared, you really messed that one up.

That night, he couldn't sleep, and he realized it wasn't just his conversation with Seika and his dual identity keeping him tossing and turning. Despite her pleasant distraction that afternoon, he was still uneasy about the Anbu mission. Had he sent them out too early? He hoped the mission would build trust, but he was worried there might not be a foundation for it to stand on. It would be his fault if something went awry.

He sighed, sitting up in his bed and considering what to do. Rules to stay in Konoha be damned, he thought.

He flung back the sheets and changed, donning his flak jacket and tucking kunai in the pouch at his side. Then, he left a note for Tsunade and set out from the village, following Wolf and her team. Turns out, he hadn't lied to Seika after all. He was leaving town for a little while.

Wolf sat high in a tree considering their plan of attack. Panther and Monkey were below by the fire, while Egret was keeping tabs on the targets. The three had impressed Wolf; the details they recorded about this roving band of mercenaries was extensive. Names, fighting styles, relationships…most everything she would have noted, they had, too.

Over the past three months, these mercenaries had been plaguing the roads, stealing a number of valuable goods from convoys traveling from village to village. The band was a group of five total, but they only needed to arrest two of them and steal a weapon.

A large sword. Kakashi hadn't given her many other details, but she figured she'd know it when she saw it.

She sensed Egret come back to the camp, and Wolf joined the other two on the forest floor to hear his report.

"They're taking turns through the night. Botan is taking the third shift. He's the least experienced."

"Remember, we're only taking Masashi and Kaito. Dai, Bashira, and Botan aren't our targets. We should attack when either Masashi or Kaito are on watch," Wolf said. "We still have the advantage and fewer will need to be woken."

"No," said Panther with a growl. "It will be easiest to subdue Botan, and it is best to take the other two when they are asleep."

"I agree with Panther," Monkey said. "We've been watching them, not you. It's best to attack on the third watch."

Wolf clenched her teeth. "The risk for Botan to alert the others is high. We should—"

"What are you going to do if we disagree," Panther asked, "kill us?"

That was a low blow, but they had every right to fear her. She had killed her own teammates after all. If only they knew how much she loathed the moment when life was snuffed out, they would understand that she was no threat to them.

Wolf shook her head. "Fourth shift," she said, "when Kaito—"

"No. Third shift. Monkey and Egret and I will go on the third shift, with or without you."

Wolf remained silent, crossing her arms. There was no arguing. They knew that Kakashi had put her in charge of this mission, but they weren't going to accept it. She would just have to make sure they all survived.

"Fine."

"Monkey and I will take care of Botan and Masashi. You and Egret will take Kaito and the weapon."

Wolf bit her tongue, remaining silent. Apparently Panther was leading this mission now, but she would still be responsible if it all went wrong.

The long night began.

The four Leaf shinobi watched as the first shift was taken, then the second shift. Bashira woke Botan for the third.

Well into his shift, Wolf signaled Egret. They moved slowly towards the camp. The rest of the mercenaries were sleeping, but she wasn't sure how soundly.

She assessed the camp. Most of the mercenaries had their supplies and weapons at the ready, but she didn't see a sword. The sword should be hard to miss. She watched the four bodies on the ground, slowly raising and lowering as they breathed. No…three bodies breathing. The fourth…she strained her eyes in the dark…

Shit, she thought with apprehension. The fourth was a decoy.

She made a sign with her hands and readied three clones, signaling Egret to stay back. Together, they shrunk back into the forest.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Monkey and Panther sneaking into camp to get Masashi. They didn't yet know that another one was awake.

A thick mist started filtering into the area, and the other two Anbu disappeared from her sight. She knew what this meant. Only one of the mercenaries hailed from the Hidden Mist: Kaito. He was the second one awake, and he had the sword with him.

She turned around to signal Egret, but he was gone, too.

Somewhere in the mist, she heard a faint whine and jumped just as two shuriken flew past her feet.

Shit!

She formed a series of hand signs and gathered chakra into her stomach. "Wind release: Breakthrough!"

She spun and blew out a gust of air, clearing the mist from her immediate vicinity. No one was present, but she saw where signs of a struggle had occurred near her. Egret.

Her ninjutsu had cleared away a large enough area of the mist to reveal another uncomfortable scene. The watchman, Botan, was tied to a tree where Monkey and Panther had incapacitated him. He was a mere boy, younger even than Egret. The tree was now sliced halfway through, Botan's torso with it. His bloody and mangled body made her stomach twist in knots.

She needed to find her teammates, and fast. All thoughts of the mission aside, her sole focus was making sure they were safe.

She heard a scream nearby, and recognized Egret's tonality. The scent of iron filled the air and filled her mouth, and she froze for a split second. She had experienced this sensation before.

Quickly, she moved her body towards the sound, pulling out a kunai as she went. Through the mist, she could just make out two figures.

"Fire release: Flame Bullet!"

This exclamation came from the camp behind her, and she dodged the small bursts of fire that flew past her. It seemed the other mercenaries had awoken, but she wasn't worried about them. The small blazes lit up the mist in front of her, and she saw the giant blade glint in the firelight. It was poised above Egret, who lay wounded on the ground.

As the blade came down, she threw herself in front of the gigantic cleaver's knife, channeling chakra to her feet to steady herself against the blow. The blade cut into her hand, despite the kunai and her metal hand protectors, but ultimately she stopped it from eating into Egret's flesh.

"Another pet to kill," the man said. His eyes were menacing.

"You killed your teammate," she said through gritted teeth. "Why?"

"He allowed a pack of rats into camp."

He pulled his blade and jumped back, readying himself for another blow, but she was prepared. She shot towards him, using the chakra already placed at her feet to accelerate herself forward. She grabbed his shoulder and flipped over the top of him, aiming her kunai towards a tendon on his right arm, his blade-wielding arm.

He grunted when her kunai sliced flesh.

"It seems you rats are fast," he said when she landed on his other side. He reached over and took the sword with his left hand, and Wolf realized he was ambidextrous.

There was an evil glint in his eye, and in a quick movement he readied the sword. He and Wolf began an intricate dance. Metal shouted against metal, blood and sweat mingling in a tight embrace.

They broke apart, both breathing heavily. Wolf assessed her kunai. It was chipped and about to shatter. The blade in front of her was strong enough to cut through steel. She had to use a different technique.

In a quick flurry of hand motions, she activated another wind technique, channeling her chakra into a blade of her own. She felt chakra extend from her fist in a long, thin line like a katana, and the wind picked up around her, swirling the heavy mist with it.

Focus…I need a stronger blade.

She took a deep breath and focused her chakra, wider and longer and further than she had ever tried to extend it before, to create a blade of wind that matched her opponent's.

He started laughing. "You think that will stop this?" he taunted.

I hope so.

The two shinobi set their sights on one another, lifting their swords high. The blades met with a sharp high-pitched scream in the night. They froze in their stances, and Wolf took a second to assess her position. Kaito's sword had cut into her wind blade, but only halfway through. Her chakra had stopped his advance. Ice was forming where the blades met, a combination between the swirling wind of her chakra and his own self-created thick mist. Crystals of frozen water spread up the iron sword, fractaling out in a beautiful pattern where wind met water.

Wolf smiled to herself, but Kaito couldn't see her expression below her mask. Channeling chakra once again to her feet, she jumped and twisted her body above his blade. She brought down her heel in an axe kick on the flat part of the sword, towards the center where it was coldest. The power of her blow took care of the rest.

The giant executioner's blade split in two.

In another deft motion, she caught the top end of the blade at the point where it formed an empty circle, spun her body, and sliced the broken sword across Kaito's body, just like he had slashed through his own teammate. He didn't have time to make another sound before his blood began to flow. He collapsed.

In the silence that ensued, Wolf dropped the shard of the sword, only then realizing how badly she was shaking. The iron taste was still strong in her mouth.

She stumbled towards Egret, finding the boy bleeding on the ground. His pulse was faint, but he was alive. She didn't have much chakra in her reserves after forming her massive wind sword, but what she did have she now channeled carefully into this boy, knitting his wounds back together.

"What are you doing?!" she heard a voice accuse. Panther and Monkey were in the clearing behind her.

She slowly ebbed the flow of chakra safely away from Egret before turning to look at her teammates. The forest was still misty, carrying the scent of fresh blood in the air.

Panther and Monkey were in fighting stances, and this confused her.

"We should take her out," Monkey said quietly. "She can't be trusted."

She saw Panther nod, and the two split quickly, sending a series of shuriken and kunai towards her. Wolf couldn't believe it, but her body reacted as quickly as it could. She lifted Egret's body on her shoulders and jumped out of the way, nearly stumbling as a kunai caught her calf and split the skin. She landed high in a tree, and wondered whether she could safely set Egret down. Moving him this way already was likely to cause more internal damage, but she didn't want him to be hit by rogue steel.

"She's taking the evidence!" Panther called.

Evidence?

Then, it dawned on her. They thought Egret was dead. They thought she had a part in his death.

"He's still alive!" she called.

"Why should we believe you?" Monkey asked.

"Look, I'll set him down and you can see!"

The two other Anbu glanced at each other, pausing. They took a few steps back, but when she dropped from the tree to lay Egret's body before them, Panther jumped into action again. It was all Wolf could do to keep Egret from dropping harshly to the ground, and she turned to catch Panther's kunai with her body. It lodged deeply into her shoulder blade, splitting muscle and separating bone in a searing pain.

In her hasty movement, Egret's mask had fallen off. The boy's lips were moving, mumbling incoherently.

"Please!" she said again. "He needs medical attention!"

"You're not the one to give it to him," Monkey growled, and when she looked up, he had his own kunai poised at her throat. The point of the knife was pressed against her skin, just enough to start drawing blood.

"That's enough!" came a commanding voice behind them. "Monkey, Panther, drop your weapons."

The two looked at the newcomer and reluctantly let their guards down, taking a few steps back.

"Wolf, release your clones."

Three more versions of Wolf stepped out of the mist, all poised to move against Monkey and Panther. She let them disappear. She stood up and faced the Hokage, her shoulder muscles in fiery pain where the kunai remained lodged.

"What happened?" Kakashi demanded.

"Egret is bleeding internally," Wolf said first, insistent that the boy receive care.

"Monkey," Kakashi said, "take care of him."

"Yes, sir!"

The other Anbu, the actual medical ninja on their team, quickly addressed the boy and finished what Wolf had started. She was thankful; she probably couldn't have healed him on her own. It was as much as she could do to stand.

"Wolf, what happened?" Kakashi repeated, his voice nearly as sharp as the executioner's blade.

Wolf took a moment to look at her two conscious teammates before she addressed Kakashi. She was given the task of leading this team, and she had failed miserably. She would take the blame.

"I suggested we move during the third night shift but neglected to notice that a second mercenary was awake," she said. "They placed a decoy on the ground. When the mist infiltrated the area, I lost Egret. He's gravely injured, because of me."

Inwardly, she groaned at her next series of statements. She thought about what her clones had done at the campsite. "At the campsite, we captured Dai and Bashira," the wrong mercenaries, "Masashi escaped," the one we wanted to capture, "I killed Kaito," instead of leaving him alive, "and the sword…" she glanced at Kaito's dead body, realizing with a start that the sword was no longer with him. In the kerfuffle with her teammates, someone - likely Masashi - had taken the remains of the sword. "The sword is gone."

She dropped her head. "We failed the mission, and it's my fault."

Kakashi's voice, stern. "Monkey, Panther. Is this true?"

A pause.

"Yes," Panther said slowly, "but I suggested we move during the third watch, not her. She wanted to wait until Kaito was on duty. He was the mercenary who deceived us."

"Care to tell me why you were fighting one another?"

None of them answered immediately. Wolf couldn't come up with an excuse, so she told him the truth.

"They were protecting Egret."

"From you?"

"They thought I was harming him." As an afterthought, she quietly added, "Who can blame them?"

"And were you?"

"No. I was healing him."

"And he'll survive," Monkey said, standing up from where the boy lay. "The ninjutsu Wolf provided was enough to keep him from dying."

"Then you'll take care of her wounds, too," Kakashi said, his voice cutting sharply. Wolf had never heard him angry before. She now understood why he was considered a great shinobi in battle. His blasé attitude in Konoha did not reflect who he was here in the slightest.

She and Kakashi watched one another. Strangely, she felt sad to have let him down on this mission, and even more defeated to know that, once again, unneeded lives had been taken. She had grown hopeful at the thought of arrest instead of murder, but maybe all she was good for was death.

Silent assassin…I'm losing my edge. She wasn't upset by this thought, though, knowing that it was nearing time to end her career as a killer.

Kakashi stalked towards them, picking up their injured teammate. "I'll take Egret back to the village. You three clean up this mess. Bring the other two mercenaries with you. Ibiko will question them." He disappeared.

"Hang on," Monkey said, his voice subdued. "This will hurt."

Wolf let out a cry as Monkey ripped the kunai from her shoulder blade, but soon the warmth of his chakra spread throughout the wound. He took care of the other cuts across her body, too, and then together, as a team, the three of them disposed of the dead bodies and returned to Konoha with the others.

A/N: Appreciate the recent reviews - it's been great to know what you think and how you're finding the story so far. For those with accounts, I'm responding to reviews in PMs, so please be sure to check there for responses. I'd love to know what you continue to think about the story as it progresses, so please drop a review and let me know! Follows, favorites, and hits are great, but feedback is helpful. I won't know what you like or dislike unless you tell me.