When Time Stops
Chapter 12: Unexpected Appearance
Kakashi could barely breathe or think. His breath and the heavy pounding of his clumsy footsteps on the faded, old shingles of the compound was the only sound he could hear amidst the natural ambience of the forest. He didn't dare look back, fearing that he would trip and fall into one of the many openings into the grassy courtyards below, most of which he did not know existed and were overgrown and deserted. The complex, he found out quickly, was much larger than the two courtyards that the people actually used. The rooftop ended suddenly. Coming to an abrupt and unbalanced stop at the roof's edge, the weakening building crumbled slightly under the weight of his feet and he fell forward. He managed to catch himself and turn his free fall into a neat tucked roll. He cried out as he rolled on his tailbone, somehow managing to righting himself into a low crouch on the roughly packed earth below. He glanced in the briefest moment back up at the roof of the building only to find Pungarh's intimidating, angry figure standing at the top of the building and scowling down at him. Kakashi scrambled, throwing himself to his feet and rushing into the thick brush which surrounded the walls of the Time compound. He pushed aside the tall grasses and bushes, many of which had grown wild and towered over his small figure, and ducked below low-hanging branches. Stray branches whipped him in the face and scratched his arm with their pointy thorns. He could hear Pungarh behind him, slowed in his pursuit while trying to fit his large body through the overcrowded forest foliage. For several long minutes, Kakashi ran as fast as he could, successfully putting more distance between himself and his pursuer. He changed his course often, trying his best not to tear down the underbrush and make it easier for Pungarh to follow him. When he felt he could not run one step more and his breathing seemed impossible, he found a massive tree trunk to duck behind. He threw himself behind it, leaning heavily against its massive base and roots, and not minding that he had fallen into an un-ninja-like heap on the other side. Hit bit his thumb, drawing a bead of blood to the surface of his skin and hurried through the well-familiar signs his father had taught him as if it had been a part of walking or talking. He pounded his hand against the ground, and intricate seal forming under his palm, as he summoned his pack. A puff of smoke popped into the air, blowing away to reveal nothing in the space before him.
"What?!" he blanched aloud in disbelief, not allowing himself to believe that he had preformed the jutsu incorrectly. "Summoning jutsu!" He said aloud, slamming his palm against the dirt once more.
"It is impossible to use normal jutsu to bring summons through time." Pungarh spoke suddenly from beside Kakashi.
Kakashi jumped away, not even glancing towards the quickly disappearing smoke to see the result of his jutsu.
"Come, Hatake," Pungarh called through the clearing smoke, offering a hand, "do not make this hard on yourself. You did not think we would let you escape, did you?"
"I've gotten this far!" Kakashi yelled, kicking the dirt at his feet towards Pungarh's face, turning and running into the thicket of foliage once more.
Pungarh growled, wiping the dirt away from his eyes, "Enough playing! I will no longer go easy on you!" Pungarh flickered through space with the aid of his time jutsu, appearing in front of Kakashi.
The young silver-haired ninja slid to the briefest stop, jumping back several yards in an instant. Pungarh appeared next to him instantly. His eyes widened and his muscles forced his arm up to block without any intentional thought. Without pause, Pungarh's arm came at him with a furiously strong punch. Kakashi gasped as he felt, more than heard, as the force of the larger man's punch send a crack through his forearm, causing his head to sway and vision falter for several seconds. His, now broken arm, did little to stop the man, however, and another punch stuck him squarely on the cheek, whipping his face to the side. He fell back, backpedaling several feet, his broken arm against his chest, breathing loudly. His arm was throbbing and he could feel his right eye starting to swell. He fumbled through the pain in his arm to form the familiar seals that his older brother had taught him. "Shadow Clone Jutsu!" he yelled, forming two identical clones to either side of him. Before the smoke had even cleared, his two clones popped out of existence, the pain of their injuries flooding Kakashi's mind and the smoke of their disappearing aiding in the limited sight. Pungarh appeared suddenly in front of him, grabbing his throat with one massive hand and lifting him up several feet. Kakashi gasped, legs kicking and his good arm scratching at Pungarh's relentless grasp. His vision began to turn dull and darken on the outer edges. He gasped and struggled helplessly. Something caught his eye just beyond Pungarh's shoulder and he glanced towards it with his remaining few seconds of sight. A distance away lay his sensei, Minato, struggling against two equally strong jounin. Minato's hair was thick and wet with sweat, covered in dirt; it whipped against his face as he thrashed against his opponent's restraining grasp.
"Kakashi!" The man yelled desperately, watching his only student be choked to death.
"Sensei," Kakashi muttered weakly has his vision grew darker as it faded to black. 'I have to do something...' he thought weakly as his vision disappeared completely, 'I can't die here!' He gathered chakra in the palm of his left hand, ignoring the pain that the break in his bone caused him. He felt unconsciousness tug at his mind, but fought against it. A surge of energy raced down his arm, joining the chakra in his palm. It was an energy unlike he had ever felt before, strong and electrifying. His consciousness was fading and in a final attempt to get out of his attacker's chokehold, he thrust his palm forward, striking the man with a burst of chakra and energy. The man yelped, dropping Kakashi who fell weakly to the ground. His attacker held the bleeding, tender would on his midsection, yelling in some language he could not understand. Kakashi ignored it, scrambling to his feet even as his vision was slow to return to him, and ran towards his sensei. When he looked to the place that his sensei had been, struggling against two others, however, there was nothing but old trees and overgrown brush. He stopped in bewilderment, confused by the images he was sure had been real. A kick to his spine caught him unaware and a he flew forward, crashing into the trunk of a tree. The breath was forced from his lungs and his head crashed painfully against the rough bark, blood immediately flowing down his eyes and cheeks. He fell to the ground, vision blurring and a wave of nausea washing over him. He shivered, a cold realization of his own weakness and helplessness. He was picked up by the arm, but couldn't find the energy to fight back. Pungarh easily tossed Kakashi over his shoulder, turning and starting back towards the compound.
Leobwin had escorted Duilus back to the courtyard where the other two boys dutifully meditated. He stopped several feet away from the younger boys, catching Duilus by the arm. "Continue your meditation now and worry not about this at the moment," Leobwin said finally, having berated the boy the entire way back.
Duilus nodded, his eyes cast downward. By now, the other boys had stopped meditating and were curiously watching.
"No doubt," Leobwin continued, "The Elder will wish to speak with you as you have broken our most revered code."
"Elder Leobwin!" one of the boys shouted, pointing to the far side of the courtyard.
All eyes followed the boys hand, finding Pungarh, slightly dirty and a bit bloodied, walking from a dark hallway, one that led to an old portion of the compound. Over his shoulder was draped a small, dirtied and bloodied form, motionless except for the movement of Pungarh's heavy steps.
"Kakashi?" Duilus gasped in shock. He started towards the two, worried about the person he had come to know as a friend.
"No," Leobwin instructed, catching Duilus on the shoulder, "You are in far too much trouble as it is." The doctor walked forward, his worry and anger at the condition of his test subject cooly hid behind a calm and collected emotionless mask. He met Pungarh near the center of the courtyard.
"Have you killed him?" the doctor snapped, an edge in his voice as he carefully took the small boy from his companion and lay Kakashi carefully on the grass.
"He knew not when to quit," Pungarh snarled, holding his tender midsection, "he had quite a punch, the little brat."
Leobwin quickly examined his test subject, noting the large gash across Kakashi's forehead, a swollen eye, already changing in color, a swelled left arm and numerous smaller cuts and scrapes. Kakashi's eyes were open but dull and unseeing, shifting uneasily and mouth moving slightly without sound. "Go and report to the Elder what has happened. I think it is time for him to leave us, he has caused much turbulence here."
"Is he well enough?" Pungarh asked, readjusting his hood over his head.
Leobwin nodded, carefully picking Kakashi up and holding him against his chest, "He will survive as long as he sees proper medical help when he returns to his own time. Meet me in the transfer room when you have finished, I will need your help sending him forward in time."
Pungarh nodded, jogging towards the other side of the compound to report to the Elder as he was told.
Leobwin followed, passing by the three boys who were staring intently.
"Where are you taking him?" Duilus asked, half fearful for his friend and unbelieving that this thing called 'fighting' could do such a thing to a person; that Pungarh could do such a thing to another human being.
Leobwin ignored him and continued walking, stepping up the stairs and off of the grassy courtyard, headed into the other sector.
"Leobwin!" Duilus called, worry and guilt growing in his stomach. He couldn't help but feel responsible for all that had happened to Kakashi and what would happen from here.
Pakkun breathed rapidly, eyes flickering through the shadows of the small apartment, lit only by the mid-morning sun that shone through the living room window. Nothing. "Naruto!" he yelled, running down the apartment's only hallway and sniffing in each doorway. He ran back through the house and jumped out the window onto an adjacent rooftop. "Dammit Naruto, where are you at a time like this?" He jumped down onto the ground, pumping his legs as fast as they would go and easily weaving through the feet of the villager in the streets as he headed towards the Hokage Tower. He let himself into the building, not stoping even as guards yelled at him. As he ran up the stairs, he found Shizune walking down, carrying a stack of papers. "Shizune!" He panted, "Where's Naruto?!"
"Pakkun?" She frowned, wondering what all the fuss was about. "He's in a meeting with Tsunade-sama and the Council."
The little dog took off before she had even finished. He slid around the corner at the top of the stairs, running to the meeting room and bursting in. He found the blond mop of hair that marked his target, jumping onto the table in front of him.
"Pakkun?" Naruto question, giving the dog a curious look.
"Pakkun!" Tsunade banged the table, enraged that the dog would interrupt them at such a time. "You are interrupting a very important meeting right now."
"Tsunade-sama, council members," he bowed to each, giving them a nod of respect while he tried to catch his breath, "please forgive my intrusion, but somethings wrong with Kakashi."
"What?!" Naruto shot up in his seat, mind flying with all that could have happened.
"Naruto, please," Tsunade scolded, glancing quickly at the Council's disapproving looks towards Naruto's emotional response.
Naruto glanced at Tsunade and the other people seated at the table, quickly calming himself. "What happened, Pakkun?"
"I'm not sure, I saw the pup just yesterday and he was fine, but just a moment ago, Kakashi-kun summoned me. Well, it felt like he tried to, twice, but it didn't work. That never happens."
Tsunade laced her fingers and leaned forward on her elbows, "Kakashi is on a mission with Neji Hyuuga and his genin team," she explained to the council members.
"Kakashi has been, and will continue to be a valuable ninja in our village," the council woman, Koharu commented, "With the present threat from the Time nin, I suggest that someone is sent to check on him."
"I agree," Tsunade nodded, "Naruto, go with Pakkun to check on Kakashi and Neji's team. If it is the Time ninja, you are the only one capable of fighting them."
Naruto nodded, bowing deeply to the Council members. "Come on Pakkun," he called, turning and running out of the door. Pakkun ran after the blond ninja. They exited the Hokage Tower through a third story window, ducking and rolling into a landing on a nearby rooftop.
"Do you know where Kakashi is?" Naruto questioned seriously.
"No, but we should check the road to Wave first; they should've been on their way back."
"Hn, just try to keep up," Naruto warned, before he pushed chakra to his legs, forcing himself to run faster and harder over the rooftops and into the forest.
Pakkun growled, pushing himself harder but just barely able to keep up with Naruto's speed.
Neji coughed, splattering blood across the dirt, and held his wound with the palm of his hand. His eyes squeezed shut as his coughing fit caused a wave of pain to wash over him. He glanced at each of his genin, noting only minor scrapes. "What happened to Kakashi?"
His genin's worried expressions turned darker.
"We don't know..." Toya supplied, confused and worried.
"He just..." the girl began, eyes watery, "that ninja just disappeared with him! What are we going to do, Sensei? We have to save him!"
"Don't worry," Neji rasped, trying to suppress a cough, "we'll get him back." He clenched his wound and he forced himself to his feet.
"Neji-sensei, we need to bandage your wound before we go after Kakashi." Toya added, seeing the amount of blood that was soaking his teacher's shirt.
A wave of chakra suddenly appeared, coming from the area the genin had been fighting. Neji could feel its presence and looked up, instantly on guard and preparing to fight to protect his students, no matter what state he was in. Instead, his eyes grew wide with what he saw. His students turned to see what he was looking at, sounds of surprise escaping them. Before them, out of nowhere, stood the masked ninja that had taken Kakashi. He stood, head held high, holding Kakashi by the shirt collar. Neji's eyes scanned over Kakashi's body, enraged. Kakashi was hardly standing on his own two feet, mostly held up by the Time ninja. His face was covered in fresh blood, which dripped freely from a gash in his forehead. The boy's face was bruised and beaten and his clothes, which were not the clothes he had been wearing only moments before, were ripped, dirtied, and bloody, evidence of a struggle. Kakashi's eyes lifted to meet Neji's, but Neji wondered if the boy was even aware of where he was and who he was with.
Leobwin examined the Konoha team, noting their shocked expressions, though the leader seemed more angry than anything. He pushed Kakashi forward slightly and the boy tripped on his own two unresponsive feet. He continued to hold on to his test subject, worried that the child would fall and hurt himself further. "We will be back, please make certain that he is returned to Konoha safely." He spoke in his own language, words slightly muffled by the bandages wrapped around the lower half of his face in a mask. It was apparent that none of the four Konoha ninja understood him.
Neji frowned and ran forward, determined to get Kakashi back. Before he had taken the first stride forward, the Time ninja had disappeared and Kakashi fell slowly to his knees, eyes slowly closing. It was only seconds before the silver-haired boy fell to the ground.
"Kakashi!" Neji called, hurrying to the boy's side and kneeling next to him. He quickly turned him onto his back and opened Kakashi's eyelids, finding them to bee unseeing and unresponsive. "Toya," Neji called, remaining as calm as he could in this situation and breathing heavily due to his injury. He turned to find his team standing still in shock. The boy looked to his sensei worriedly. Neji ignored their looks of disbelief at the event that had transpired. "Quickly, bring me the med-kit."
Toya nodded, running forward and kneeling next to Kakashi and his sensei, and digging out the small white box.
Neji took it, pulling it open and pulling out the necessary items. He set to wiping away the blood from the gash in Kakashi's forehead and held the wound tightly.
"Neji-sensei!" the girl called, coming to her teacher's side, "You need to treat your own wound! Tell us what to do and we'll take care of Kakashi."
Neji paused, his adrenaline fading away. He nodded, "Here, place your hand on his forehead until the bleeding stops. The girl did as she was told and Neji grabbed a roll of bandages for himself. He pulled up his shirt, wincing as his wound caused him pain, and quickly wrapped the gauze bandages around his chest.
"Toya, go and grab a straight branch, we'll have to set his arm."
The boy nodded, scrambling towards the nearby forest.
"I think the bleeding stopped, Sensei," the girl carefully lifted the cloth to check.
"Good," Neji dug through the med-kit and pulled out another roll of bandages, "Now, wrap this around his head, but not too tight."
"Will he be alright?" the other boy asked, worried about the state of the younger boy.
"What if those ninja come back?" the girl asked worriedly.
"They wont come back, not for a while at least," Neji reassured, "We have to get back to Konoha soon though, Kakashi needs medical attention. He seems to have a pretty bad concussion and that gash will need stitching."
The girl finished wrapping Kakashi's head and Neji carefully tied the sticks to the underside of Kakashi's broken arm, causing the boy to jerk in his sleep. They quickly packed the med-kit back up and Neji stood, picking Kakashi up. He bit his lip, holding back a cry of pain as Kakashi's weight in between his arms pushed against his fresh would. "Let's get going."
"Sensei!" the girl called, the three genin hurrying to catch up with their teacher who had already started walking, "Are you sure you're okay?"
Neji looked behind him to his team of genin. All three of them looked worried and frightened. He smiled at them, inwardly rebuking himself for neglecting to see how his students were handling the entire situation. They had not had years of experience battling, facing the unexpected, and carrying an injured teammate home like he had. His team had only been in light combat and had not faced an encounter of this sort before. He had allowed himself to worry far too much in this situation, but he could not let anything happen to Kakashi, a former friend and sensei to his closest friends. "I'll be fine," Neji finally replied, giving them a reassuring smile.
"Sensei," Toya spoke up after a couple hours of walking. The sun had begun to set and they had not stopped once, except to give Kakashi a bit of water when he had woken up briefly, mumbling incoherently.
"Hm?" Neji barely heard him, focused instead on placing one foot infront of the other and leading his team back home.
Toya squinted, searching end of the road, "Who's that?"
Neji looked to the horizon, noticing a figure running towards them. He stopped walking, his team slowing to a halt next to him. The figure was getting closer and Neji could see a small animal running alongside the figure. "Naruto?" He could see the faint glint of light shining on his golden hair.
"Who's Naruto?" Toya asked.
"A friend," Neji replied evenly while a wave of relief washed through him; relief that help had come. He was exhausted, an though he would have pushed through the night with his team, he was grateful that help had come and he could rest his injured body.
Naruto crossed the distance between them in no time. "Neji!" Naruto called from several feet away, waving at them. He slowed to a stop in front of them, eyes growing wide when he noticed Kakashi, passed out in Neji's arms. "Neji, what happened?!" Naruto yelled, looking over Kakashi who seemed to have been beaten badly, with a black, swollen eye, a bandaged forehead, and bloodied, dirtied clothes.
"We were attacked by Time nin," Neji explained, handing Kakashi over to Naruto, "They took him, and when they came back, Kakashi was like this."
Naruto took Kakashi, holding him tenderly in his arms and looking at his young sensei with a pang of guilt.
"How did you know that we were attacked?" Toya asked curiously, eyeing the little pug near Naruto's feet.
"He tried summoning me," Pakkun suppled, licking his sore paws.
"Tried?" Neji questioned with a raised eyebrow, looking to the dog for further explination.
The dog nodded, "I felt the pull of the summoning technique twice, but somehow it didn't work."
"Strange..." Neji thought aloud, "He was only gone a few minutes."
Naruto shifted Kakashi carefully."We should head back, Kakashi needs to see a doctor." He turned and made to head back to Konoha.
"Naruto," Pakkun called, "I think we should make camp tonight."
Naruto whirled, face portraying his confusion, "Kakashi needs help!"
"You still have much to learn pup!"" The dog scolded, with a leveling stare. "Can you not see that Neji is injured as badly as Kakashi? It is nearly dark, we should rest for the night."
Naruto looked to Neji, mouth slightly agape in realization. He looked towards the blood which had soaked through Neji's shirt, which he had assumed was Kakashi's but now realized was Neji's. "Neji...I'm sorry, I didn't realize..." Naruto stammered.
"Ah, its fine," Neji forced a half smile, holding his wound.
Pakkun walked towards the side of the road, "Pups! Follow me, well set up camp and get some water boiling to treat their wounds."
"Hai!" the three genin chorused, following after the dog.
They got a fire started quickly and in no time, their tents were set up and night had come over them. Naruto had sent a clone back to Konoha early on to relay the information he had learned thus far. He had laid Kakashi inside his tent, with Pakkun curled up next to the boy, and left him to rest after redressing his wounds. He sat outside the tent with Neji, a ways away from the fire.
Neji worked off his shirt, gasping painfully as the skin around his would was stretched, and threw the fabric aside into the dirt.
"Yikes," Naruto exclaimed, seeing that the entire front of Neji's bandages were soaked with blood. "I'm sorry you got involved in all of this." Naruto watched Neji struggle to unwrap the bandage, and wince at each movement.
"It's fine," Neji replied, looking up at his blond friend for a moment, "I knew he would be my responsibility to watch over once asking him to join us on this mission."
"Here," Naruto moved forward, reaching for the bandage, "let me help you." He kneeled in front of Neji, who embarrassedly looked away. Naruto carefully unwound the wrapping.
Neji sucked in a painful breath of air as the bottom layers were removed, the blood having dried to the cloth.
"Sorry..." Naruto finally removed the last of the soiled bandages and grabbed on of the clean, wet cloths to wipe away the blood. His brow frowned intently, his mind wondering about what had happened during the fight and how Kakashi had been so injured in the span of only a few minutes. "How many of them were there?" He questioned to ease the growing silence.
"There were two, one with bandages over his face and the other, a larger man with a hood. The larger one kept me distracted while the other fought Kakashi." Neji replied, looking to where his genin sat, softly chatting on a rotting log near the fire. He was glad they had escaped any serious injuries.
"How did Kakashi do fighting that Time guy?" Naruto asked, dipping the cloth in water and wringing it out. He carefully blotted around the injury, careful not to cause too much pain.
"I'm not too sure, I had a hard enough time trying to land a hit on my own opponent, but he lasted longer than I thought he would've against opponents of that level. You seem to be bringing him up well...again," Neji chuckled lightly.
Naruto smiled, craning his neck back and examining his work before grabbing a new roll of bandages. "I just hope I don't mess him up." Naruto carefully wrapped the bandage, slowly working it around Neji's chest.
"Kakashi said you've been in plenty of meetings recently."
Naruto laughed, "Yea, Tsunade's got me coming to all sorts of them."
"Is it about Kakashi?" Neji asked, one eyebrow raised and white eyes focused on Naruto's expression.
"Oh no," Naruto smiled, "It's much bigger than that, but, of course, it's top secret."
Neji chucked at Naruto's poorly hidden excitement. "Well, if you are still tied up, Kakashi is welcome to train with my team. He and Toya are a good match; Kakashi is quite skilled with the tanto."
"With a tanto?" Naruto questioned, "I haven't taught him how to use that weapon."
Neji shrugged, "He seemed to remember it."
Naruto glanced up to Neji's face, quickly evading his friend's gaze. "He...sometimes he mixes up whats happening with his old life, you know? I don't really know how it works exactly."
"Ah," Neji replied, looking off in thought. "Naruto," Neji started seriously, frowning at the blond after several moments of silence, "They kept him alive for a reason; they're going to come back."
Naruto slowed, not looking up at his friend, "I know."
Several moments passes and neither of them spoke.
"Sensei..." a weak voice called from behind them where Kakashi lay inside the tent.
Naruto turned, looking towards the tent, bandage in hand.
"Go," Neji smiled, taking the roll from Naruto, "I can handle it from here, thank you."
Naruto smiled and walked over to the tent, ducking inside. Kakashi lay exactly where he had left him, though now his grey eyes were open and searching. "Kashi," Naruto said softly, kneeling beside Kakashi and gently pushing the soft grey locks out of the boy's face.
Kakashi looked towards him, searching his face for something, "Minato-sensei?"
Naruto started, eyes wide in surprise. Kakashi had never mentioned Minato before. He was sure that the boy was confusing the past and present in his delirious state. "Yea," he replied softly, unwilling to jar Kakashi's delirious thoughts.
"My head hurts, Sensei." Kakashi managed, closing his eyes.
"Ok, ok," Naruto reached for a pack that Neji had given him and pulled out a couple pills. "Here, Kakashi-kun, take these." He put them in Kakashi's mouth and held the boy's head up while giving him a sip of water.
Kakashi lay back on his meager pillow, sighing and looking to the blond, "I tried my best, Sensei."
Naruto smiled, gently stroking Kakashi's unmasked cheek, "I know Kashi, you did well."
Kakashi closed his eyes, petting Pakkun's head with his good hand, "I'm tired."
"Sleep," he assured his young charge, "I'll be right here."
A knock sounded at the door and Kakashi wearily blinked his eyes open, glancing around the hospital room. He had been admitted only a few days ago when Naruto and Neji's team had admitted him, though he had been asleep most of the time. A figure with messy dark hair that was pulled back, approached the side of his bed.
"Toya," Kakashi croaked, his voice scratchy from the long sleep. He pushed himself up with his one good arm, wincing as his head throbbed.
The boy, who was several years older, looked away from Kakashi's piercing grey eyes. "Sorry I woke you up...I was just visiting Neji-sensei and thought I'd see how you're doing."
Kakashi nodded, "I'm fine."
"That's good to hear. We were all...really worried about you." Toya replied, at a loss for what else to talk about.
Kakashi stared at the older boy, watching him fidget under the scrutiny. His face was a perfect mask of his emotions, which churned with hurt and loneliness. It was still fresh in his mind how Toya and his teammates had treated him like an outcast, a freak. Kakashi laughed sourly to himself; he realized now that he was some sort of freak - a science experiment. "That's surprising, coming from you."
Toya's eyes shot up, looking at Kakashi, and quickly averted his gaze. "I'm sorry we treated you like shit the other day. You were really brave to stand up to that Time guy by yourself, even if you did get captured in the end." The dark haired boy smiled in hopes that his apology would be accepted.
Kakashi looked away, smiling, unbeknown to Toya, behind the mask that covered his face. It felt good to be complimented by someone, even a genin, who was older than he was.
"Anyways," Toya continued, drawing Kakashi's attention back from his thoughts, "Neji-sensei thought it'd be a good idea if you came and trained with us sometimes. You should come. I'll show you how to properly wield a tanto."
Kakashi nodded just as the door to his room swung open, two familiar blonds entering, followed by a dark haired woman Kakashi remembered seeing around the Hokage Tower. The boy's eyes immediately snapped to them. "Hokage-sama," Kakashi greeted evenly. He bowed lightly with his head while Toya did the same.
"Kakashi, you're awake!" Naruto smiled, filling the room with the warmth of his smile. Kakashi smiled in response behind his mask.
"Toya," Tsunade addressed the boy with an air of superiority, "if you would leave us?"
Toya nodded, "Hai, of course Tsunade-sama!" He turned to Kakashi, "Training field one, okay?" Kakashi nodded and Toya jogged out of the room, leaving the four alone.
"What is this all about?" Kakashi asked, looking towards Tsunade for an answer.
She smiled briefly, pulling a chair from the side of the room and sitting next to Kakashi's bed, the dark-haired woman standing next to her. "I've come to ask you about what happened with the Time ninja, now that you have recovered a bit."
Kakashi glanced towards his brother, who's face was masked of all emotion and unreadable. "What do you need to know?" Kakashi asked, looking back to the blond woman next to him.
She shrugged, "Anything that you can remember, starting from when they first showed up. Any information you have on them is valuable in helping me protect you, and the rest of Konoha, from them. My assistant, Shizune will be writing down any information you have to give us so that is can be looked at and learned from."
Kakashi frowned, slightly troubled by that statement. He thought back, to the weeks before, when the Time nin had first shown themselves. "There were two of them when the showed up; the bigger one, he wears a hood, his name is Pungarh. He's the only one that speaks our language and is their main fighter." Kakashi began, glancing at each of the adults, all of whom wore blank expressions. Tsunade looked to Shizune, making sure she was recording all that Kakashi said. "The other, Leobwin, is their other fighter, but he's also their doctor. He's very important; he's the one in charge of...whatever they're doing to me."
"I see," Tsunade said after Kakashi had grown silent for several seconds, "Leobwin is the one who fought you and took you when you were with Neji and his team?" Kakashi nodded in response to her question, meeting her golden eyes with his own grey ones. "Where did you go when they took you?"
"I don't know." Kakashi frowned, remembering the place. "Is was a really big compound, filled with rooms and courtyards, but there weren't many people there. It's an old place; I couldn't see anything I recognized from the rooftop."
"Did they do anything to you?" Tsunade asked carefully, watching for any hint of hidden emotion behind the mask Kakashi wore so well to cover his emotions.
"When I first woke up there, I was strapped down on an operating table."
Naruto stirred, but when Kakashi looked towards him, his expression remained blank, brilliant blue eyes watching him.
"Pungarh said they wanted to 'look inside me,' but they did something to make me pass out. After I woke up again, there was an incision that was stitched and bandaged right here." Kakashi pointed to the injury, which was nearly healed by now.
Tsunade nodded, "I saw that wound; it seems to have been healing for quite a while now."
Kakashi nodded, "I was there for a couple months at least, but time seemed to pass slower there, it's hard to tell exactly."
The adults expression turned surprised. Tsunade quickly collected herself, " What happened next?"
"I think that they forgot about me in my cell for a while, but when I finally got out, they took me to their Elder, a very old man, who looked inside my head and searched through my memories. After that, I stayed with the other children - there are only three children there."
"Three?" The Hokage clarified, finding it hard to believe.
Kakashi nodded, "They are monks and I learned from one of the children, Duilus, that people are no longer joining their community, or something like that, I couldn't understand everything. They also don't believe in fighting."
"Really?" The blond woman asked curiously.
Kakashi nodded, "Pungarh and Leobwin are the only ones who are allowed to fight." Kakashi bit his lib, shuffling through what else he could remember. "I don't know what they're doing with me, but I think tit has to do with the lack of devotees or something, like I'm an experiment. I remember them taking me to this room," Kakashi explained, frowning and looking down in thought as he tried to remember exactly what the room looked like and what had happened, "and there was this...sigil, covering the whole floor. Pungarh chained me to the middle of it and Leobwin did something that made the sigil glow with energy. The energy traveled through the sigil and came to me; it burned and...I felt like I was exploding - my head hurt really bad."
"Do you remember what it looked like?" Tsunade asked quickly, as if she had been trying not to interrupt, but Kakashi shook his head. "How did you get your concussion and broken arm?" she questioned carefully.
"I escaped." Kakashi looked towards the Hokage, "I ran into the forest and Pungarh followed me. I tried summoning Pakkun, because I knew I couldn't win against him on my own, but it didn't work. Pungarh said it was impossible to summon something into another time with just a normal jutsu. I tried to get away, but..." Kakashi looked down, remembering how helpless he had been and how futile his efforts to get away were. "I don't remember anything else."
Tsunade smiled, laying a hand on his arm in comfort, "Thank you, Kakashi, this information will be very helpful for the next time they come back, if they come back."
Naruto shuffled and Kakashi looked up to him, wondering if he would have anything to say to cheer him up. The blond was masked of emotion but never stopped staring at Kakashi. He gave Kakashi a quick, forced smile and turned, walking determinedly out of the room.
Kakashi's expression turned hurt as he watched his brother leave, "Naruto!"
"He'll be back," Tsunade comforted, smiling softly, "He's just upset."
Kakashi frowned at her. He knew his brother felt guilty about the whole thing. He thought back to the conversation he had with Sakura, about her and Naruto being willing to die to protect him. "It wasn't his fault."
Tsunade nodded, smiling sadly. She stood after a moment, straightening her coat. "I've got to go, Kakashi, I have a lot of work to do. Get some rest, okay? I will be back in a few days to check on you."
Kakashi nodded and the two left, leaving him alone in the sterile hospital room. He leaned back, easing his head onto his pillow and resting his broken arm across his chest. Pungarh and Leobwin would come back for him again, he was sure of that. He wondered intently why - why they would choose him as a test subject for the time jutsu they were working on. Obviously it was a dangerous jutsu, if they were using someone else to try it out on. He struggled for hours, trying to figure out why they had picked him out of everyone but came to no conclusion. "I have to get stronger." He concluded aloud, remembering the look Naruto had in his eyes before leaving the room. His brother worked so hard, trying to be stronger enough to protect him. If this situation had taught him anything, it was that Naruto wouldn't always be around to save him. Sure, Naruto cared deeply for him and did everything he could to protect him, but in the end, the only person who could protect him, Kakashi decided, was himself.
Author's Notes:
* Edit 05/03/2013 - small change that will speed up the story, made kakashi's stay with the Time ninja last "a couple months at least" but it couldve been longer as the Time ninja's time and Konoha's time run at different speeds.
And so we've come to the end of Kakashi's stay with the Time ninja. Its weird, having to reorient myself and write about this whole other set of people again!
I really adored the scene with Naruto and Neji after they set up camp. I don't know why I decided to put it in there, but it turned out to be my favorite part of the chapter. I feel like the convo flows pretty well and the two show a side of themselves that they normally keep hidden.
I've been doing some sketching of this story as of late. Normally, before I start a story, I gather all my thoughts and ideas and write them down in Evernote, but Iv'e reached the end of my first chunk of pre-planned story ideas (at least until later in Kakashi's life) and I've been working out in my head what should happen next. All that to say that it has led to some doodles of Kakashi and Naruto as I figure out their ages, appearance, and personalities from here forward. I posted a few of the sketching on my deviant Art account linked here: #/d5sx8op
Its four sketches,
top left: Kakashi around the time when he first started living with Naruto,
top right: Naruto around the same time,
bottom left: ANBU kakashi,
and bottom right: Kakashi from the end of chapter 8 (I could've seen him falling asleep there if Neji hadn't come looking for him )