Chapter 5: Bounty Hunter

In the span of three hours, this was the fifth time that a foreign chakra signature pricked at his senses. By now, their presence had grown to be familiar. Despite the unknown identity of the stalker, Kakashi never felt threatened by his presence. No alarms went off in his head, no blaring instincts crawling up his skin to provoke him to take action. If anything, Kakashi's suppressed killing intent completely smothered the foreigner's fighting intent.

His footsteps slowed until he was walking at a civilian's pace. The other four times, Kakashi had shown no indication that he noticed anything amiss, yet this time he was curious to see who was so unrelentingly following him. Would this be the time that the mysterious onlooker finally approached?

He slowed his pace in hopes of extending an invitation for him to come forth.

Most shinobi villages would deem his actions to be stupid; why in the world would someone give a major opening to a potential enemy shinobi? Yet from the day Kakashi's status elevated from an Anbu operative to a S rank missing nin after slaughtering an entire clearing of Iwa nins, Kakashi had taken all of Konoha's rules and regulations and discarded them along with his past.

Those rules were written for regular shinobis anyways; it didn't apply to S rank nukenins. The mysterious figure viewed Kakashi as a formidable threat; Kakashi could sense his wariness and hesitation in approaching him even after he had lowered his guard.

Surprising since Kakashi didn't have a reputation that preceded him. He only had one entry in Iwa's Bingo Book, under his moniker, Sukea. The descriptions were based on the features of his disguise and the jutsus he no longer used. There was nothing in there that would trace Sukea back to him. After severing his ties with Konoha, Kakashi began donning a mask with blue intricate markings that wove together to form a semblance of a wolf face. And henceforth, the whispers of Okami, the banisher of corruption, began to circulate through the smaller villages and towns.

His footsteps halted when a figure began to worm his way out of the ground in front of him. Once the figure was halfway out of the ground, the green outer shell opened to reveal a man, half black and half white with piercing yellow eyes staring at him. Kakashi waited patiently until the stalker's feet touched solid ground before he pulled out a kunai from the inside of his cloak. Pointer finger hooked through the metallic ring, Kakashi lazily spun it.

"Who are you?" A bored expression was etched across Kakashi's face. Having scoured the Bingo Book for every nation multiple times, Kakashi knew that this person wasn't listed in any of them. Of course, that didn't necessarily mean he wasn't dangerous.

He just wasn't dangerous yet.

"Kakashi Hatake, former shinobi of Konoha," the plant-like figure hissed. Kakashi narrowed his eyes. Someone who knew his true identity wasn't anyone that Kakashi should get tangled up with.

The first name to flicker to his mind was Danzo.

"I am Zetsu. I'm impressed that you were able to detect my presence. You weren't supposed to be aware of me yet."

Kakashi wasn't supposed to be aware of lots of things, but he still knew them anyways. Heck, he wasn't supposed to be alive, yet here he was still breathing and kicking corruption in the face. Most of those in positions of power weren't quite fond of him.

"What do you want?" Kakashi cut directly to the chase. If Zetsu wanted to fight him – doubtful because Kakashi's cursory analysis painted him more as a support type – then Kakashi wanted to get on with it. If Zetsu wanted something else, then Kakashi wanted him to stop beating around the bush.

Kakashi had places to be.

"We wish to form an alliance with you."

Kakashi didn't miss a beat. "With who?"

"Madara Uchiha."

He shook his head. "Impossible. Madara Uchiha is dead. Who is using his name?"

"Madara Uchiha," Zetsu repeated, no traces of amusement in his voice. "He is not an imposter."

"I don't believe you. Madara is long dead. Even if he wasn't killed in the final battle at Valley End, then he would have died from old age by now. Either your boss is an imposter or he's a reanimation of the original which in both instances, he's nothing more than a shadow of the man written in the history books."

"Well, why don't you come see for yourself?"

Kakashi eyed him warily. "Where are we going?"

The corner of his lips twitched. "Underground."

Following a potential enemy into an enclosed and unknown space wasn't one of Kakashi's brightest moves, but a part of him had to admit that he was quite curious who this "Madara Uchiha" person was. He wanted to know who had the audacity to claim his identity to be one of the strongest shinobis in Konoha history.

So Kakashi ignored that nagging voice in the back of his mind that warned him it was a bad idea and allowed Zetsu to lead him underground.

When the old man perched on the throne slowly opened his eyes to reveal crimson red eyes with three black dots arranged in a pinwheel pattern, a flicker of doubt crossed his mind. Having the Sharingan didn't necessarily mean the man in front of him was Madara Uchiha, but Kakashi wasn't so quick to dismiss the idea now.

Maybe a descendant was carrying out Madara's will in his name. That was the most logical explanation, but if that was the case, why him? Kakashi wasn't an Uchiha. The Uchiha was one of the most thriving clans in Konoha; there was bound to be someone who had a morally dubious conscience that would be willing to help.

"Ah, I see you have brought him." His voice sounded scratchy and hoarse. The words were barely uttered louder than a mere whisper. If not for the amplification effect of being in an enclosed space, Kakashi doubted he would have been able to hear him from this distance.

Kakashi wasn't going to approach any closer. Walking into enemy territory was already dangerous, and Kakashi wasn't delusioned enough to think that the feeble Uchiha wouldn't be able to do any damage in close range.

"Who are you and what do you want?"

"Madara Uchiha. I'm sure you have heard of me." Was he really? Kakashi still remained skeptical. "I've heard many things about you. I believe that we would make a good partnership. You and I are after the same things after all."

Confirming the Uchiha's identity could wait until later. Figuring out his intentions were at the top of Kakashi's priorities at the moment.

Kakashi raised a questioning eyebrow. "Oh? And what is that? How do you know what I'm really after?"

"Konoha betrayed you. I understand the feeling of being betrayed by my own home, the feeling of being forcibly driven out. Zetsu has been keeping an eye on you for a while now and there's plenty of rumors floating around about you. You can't stand corruption. You can't stand people in power bullying the weak. You can't stand allowing them to get away with everything without punishment. That's why you've been assassinating the corrupt officials in the civilian towns, am I right?"

Kakashi shrugged, neither confirming or denying the Uchiha's speculation. "And what are you after?"

The Uchiha spread out his bony, frail arms. "The creation of a perfect world."

Kakashi scoffed, shaking his head in amusement. "No such thing exists."

"Oh but it does," the Uchiha insisted. "How much do you know about ocular jutsus?"

His interest piqued. "What am I supposed to know?"

That prompted Madara Uchiha to launch into an explanation, that was riddled with frequent water breaks and coughing fits, into the power of the Sharingan. Eventually Madara worked his way to explaining the Rinnegan, the type of ocular jutsu that seemed to be more of a conspiracy theory than reality.

And Kakashi would have believed the Rinnegan was fake if he hadn't seen Nagato with those eyes.

"The Eye of the Moon plan would cast a genjutsu down onto everyone in this world. Everyone will be able to live in their dream world, their idea of a perfect world, never to be disrupted from the dream. A much better way to live than in this wretched, cruel world."

Kakashi let out a harsh bark of laughter. "And what's the point of living that life if it's all fake anyways?"

"No one would know," Madara countered. "No one ever wakes up so as far as you know, that is your life. That is your reality. That is what you experience until you die."

"What makes you think I want that? I'm okay with what I have right now."

"Yes. You have a fulfilling purpose in life. However, as long as this reality continues to persist, the corruption will never go away. You may be able to help some, but at the same time, there are others out there that are still victims. No matter how many people you kill, you can never completely shed all of the corruption in the world. With this dream world, you can."

Kakashi didn't say anything, just simply stood there and listened to Madara drone on and on to preach the glory of enacting a perfect world on everyone.

"For some to achieve their dream life would mean to trample on others," Madara continued. "However, with this perfect world, everyone's life will pan out the way that they want it to. Everyone wins."

Madara chuckled lightly. "As you can probably tell, I'm near the end of my life span. I need a successor to carry out my plan."

"You should have been dead a long time ago," Kakashi stated flatly. His eyes flickered to Madara's chest, zeroing in on the face that resembled that of the First Hokage. "Keeping yourself alive with Hashirama cells?"

"Even his regeneration power has its limits," Madara responded wryly. "But I lived long enough to find you."

"Why me?" His loaded question punctured through the thick tension. "A Uchiha who knows how to wield ocular jutsus would be more suitable. And there is probably someone out there who shares the same viewpoint you do; you left quite a lasting impression on the clan."

"You already have an army to back you up and among them, is the boy with the Rinnegan. You already have their trust and respect." The Akatsuki, Kakashi's mind tacked on. Madara knew more than Kakashi initially anticipated.

"You've always been a prodigy. Learning how to wield the Sharingan shouldn't be a problem for you. However in the case that is, I trust that you have the ability to convert one of my clan members to your side. After all, I see a type of charisma in you. A Hashirama-like charisma, one that inspires people to follow your visions. The only difference is your goals."

Hashirama dreamed of erecting a prosperous village from ground up. Kakashi dreamed of destroying the village starting from the inner, corrupted core.

They were nothing alike.

"No." Kakashi shook his head. "We are nothing alike."

Within a second, Kakashi eliminated the distance between him and Madara Uchiha. Before either Madara or Zetsu could blink, Kakashi had already driven a Chidori charged fist through his feeble torso. Blood dribbled from the corner of his lips. His eyes bulged from the impact, accentuating the tomoes that spun wildly in his eyes as the light slowly faded from his eyes.

"We're nothing alike," Kakashi whispered into the dead man's ears. "Because I have the courage to do what Hashirama sama could never do.

"To kill you."

As it turns out, Kakashi wasn't the only one who didn't believe Madara Uchiha was still alive. When he walked into a bounty collection shop located on the outskirts of the Land of the Earth, and claimed that he killed Madara Uchiha, the bounty collector scoffed at him.

Even seeing the severed head wasn't enough to convince him.

"Stop lying to me," the collector said. "Madara Uchiha has been dead for decades. Everyone knows that he died in the battle with Hashirama. If you want to try to swindle money from me, at least make it a more believable story."

"Do you not see the Sharingan?" Kakashi pried Madara's eyelids open to prove his point, but as expected, the bounty collector had the same reaction that Kakashi did when first meeting Madara.

He rolled his eyes. "That could be anyone. He doesn't look like Madara Uchiha. Just some old man who happens to have the Sharingan. Now move along, I have other business to do."

The bounty collector motioned him aside just as a taller man walked up to the counter with his own kill to cash in. As he passed by, Kakashi briefly made eye contact with the cloaked man, black clashing with green. And then Kakashi spun on his feet to leave the shop with as much dignity as he could after being painted as a liar.

Once outside, Kakashi pulled out a scroll and resealed Madara's head. Kakashi was half-tempted to burn the head to a crisp if he wasn't going to get any bounty money for it, but perhaps, it would be useful to him one day.

Maybe Zetsu would want his master's head back. Kakashi would have killed him too but at the first sign of danger, the plant-like creature escaped underground.

Right as Kakashi was tucking away the storage scroll back into his cloak, a flare of chakra bursted behind him. Sidestepping, Kakashi narrowly dodged the extended hand, the palm outstretched to presumably swipe the scroll from him. In one clean movement, Kakashi brandished the sword from his holster and sliced through the bundle of tendons.

Kakashi backflipped three times to place some distance between him and the attacker. Within mere moments, the tendons reattach themselves, pulling the hand back to connect to his forearm again.

The man from the bounty collection shop. When their eyes met, he tipped his head in Kakashi's direction.

"Not bad. Worthy of someone who killed Madara Uchiha."

Kakashi narrowed his eyes in suspicion. "You believe it's Madara?"

"Hmph. I fought the First Hokage and I'm still alive. Immortality isn't as far-fetched of an idea as everyone else makes it out to be."

Kakashi's eyes flickered to his hitai-ite, making out the slashed symbol of the Waterfall Village. A mid-size village, one that Kakashi had visited in passing but never lingered for more than a night.

He noticed. "The name is Kakuzu."

Kakuzu. Ah, the infamous bounty collector. More than half of the bounty kills in the recent decade were attributed to him.

"Okami," Kakashi responded.

A flicker of interest sparked in Kakuzu's eyes. "It's nice to meet you. Perhaps the next time we meet, I'll be after your bounty."

"I don't have a bounty," Kakashi lied, knowing there was no way Kakuzu could make the connection between him and his Sukea entry in the Bingo Book. The bounty on Sukea was abysmally low anyways.

"Not yet, but you're bound to do something that'll get a bounty on your head." Kakuzu wasn't wrong.

Kakashi merely shrugged. "We'll see."

The two of them turned at the same time to head in opposite directions with the promise of a temporary ceasefire lingering behind them. From the moment they stepped out of the vicinity of the bounty collection shop, that temporary peace shattered. Kakashi turned south towards the Hidden Village of the Rain.

Shielded by the slanted rooftop from the brunt of the rain, Kakashi leaned against the cracked concrete wall. A dark shadow stretched over his features, obscuring his identity from any unexpected passing strangers.

When the heated discussion of the best plan to overthrow Hanzo snuffed out, Yahiko turned to face the only person who hadn't spoken a single word this entire time.

"Okami, what do you think?"

Kakashi merely shrugged. "I don't think it matters much on how you approach it. By nature, Hanzo is a very vigilant man. There's no way you'll catch him off guard or be able to sneak a spy in. The most you can do is convert someone by his side or simply attack him head on. With the current size of the Akatsuki, it should be manageable."

"We have numbers, but not everyone is skilled," Konan countered. "Many of those who join come from civilian backgrounds or only have minimal shinobi training."

"Have you not been training them?"

"We have, but only for those who are interested in learning shinobi arts. Many of those we trained are chunin level at best. Many of the elite shinobis are still loyal to Hanzo. At our current strength, we won't be able to beat him."

"What do you think about allowing shinobis from different villages to join?" That question caught them off guard, resulting in a prolonged silence until Yahiko finally spoke.

"What are you suggesting?"

Kakashi didn't answer. "Let me ask you a question. What is the goal of the Akatsuki? After you overthrow Hanzo, what do you intend to do?"

"Overhaul the internal structure of leadership," Yahiko answered without missing a beat. "Enact and preserve peace in this village. Make sure all of the citizens are taken care of."

"That's it?"

Confusion morphed across Yahiko's features. "That's it."

"I always thought the Akatsuki had greater ambitions to seek peace beyond Ame. I thought the reason you wanted to recruit me was because of that, but now I see that I'm wrong."

"Of course we want to!" Yahiko insisted. "But that's just not possible. We have to focus on ourselves first and then we can slowly work our way out of this territory. Achieving worldwide peace is our dream…an unattainable one."

"What if it doesn't have to be?"

Yahiko blinked in confusion. "What?"

"With the right people, your influence can extend beyond Ame. Recruit others displaced from their villages and get them to help you overthrow Hanzo. Once that happens, you can help them achieve their own ambitions. Of course, it'll be much easier if you find those who share a similar vision, but I doubt there are many missing nins who became who they are without bloodshed."

Kakashi was one of those missing nins. Yet the experience of Konan's kidnapping and village leader turning against them had chipped away at their innocence, at their naivety to the point where they had begun to accept the idea of violence as a solution. It still wasn't their first solution, but it was a solution that they were more willing to entertain.

Kakashi never had that dilemma. From the very start, he had chosen violence.

"Who would even want to join us?" Nagato ventured to ask.

Under his mask, the corner of his lips turned upwards.

"I know a person. Might need a little convincing though."

A/N: Hi again!

I hope you enjoyed this chapter. There's one more chapter before the end of the first arc, which is the formation of the Akatsuki, and then Itachi, Shisui and others will began to play a bigger role in the story which I am excited to share. Thanks for reading. Until next time!

-MM