Kakashi leaned his forehead against the tiled wall in the ANBU shower room. The cold water washed over him. It was a pain to find the balance between too cold and too hot and most days he couldn't be bothered. He hadn't slept well the night before so the cold was a shock to his system, forcing him to be alert.
He could catch snatches of conversation from the men's locker room on the other side. For an organization that could be trusted to take Konoha's secrets to the grave, they were surprisingly full of gossip. They knew everything about everyone. Kakashi supposed they kept so many life or death secrets that these ones seemed petty in comparison.
"Did you hear? They're giving Hound his own team - "
"Yeah, because no one else wants to work with him - "
"Well, other than Tiger. Wasn't he from you know to begin with? He's a bit weird - "
"They have no idea - "
"Uchiha Itachi, he's only eleven years old. They're saying he's a prodigy - "
"The girl is so short! Where are they getting recruits these days? The academy?"
"Dunno who she is, but she's a dead girl walking. You know what happens when you get between the Hound and the mission. Didn't you hear about - "
"Oh yeah, that girl. What was her name again?"
"Nohara Rin."
"I hear he put that chidori of his straight through her chest!"
His fist slammed against the tile. Obito's sharingan started crying blood as it replayed Rin's final moments in front of his mind's eye. It was a wonder no one in the Uchiha clan had snapped and gone rogue. Having your worst moments replayed over and over was something straight out of Ibiki's playbook. He had never learned to deactivate it or make it stop. The Uchiha were reluctant to show him their ways, some even believing he had killed Obito and stolen the eye. The few who tried couldn't find a way to help him as he wasn't an Uchiha and lacked the level of control that they instinctively had over it. He had learned enough to use it on missions through trial and error. The rest of the time he rested it, keeping it hidden behind his forehead protector. It served as a reminder of his broken promise to Obito. A reminder of his failure to save Rin.
Her hand reached out towards him in perfect clarity as she mouthed out his name.
There was a ringing in his ear and his heart pounded almost painfully in his chest. The dull sound of the splatter of the water from the shower head onto him and then onto the tiles below returned. His heart rate slowed as the adrenaline left him. He had to get a grip. It wouldn't do to have one of these attacks in the middle of a mission.
The shower groaned as he turned off the taps before grabbing a towel. He haphazardly used it to dry most of the wetness out of his hair, letting the rest of it drip dry. He fixed his face mask in place and wrapped the towel around his waist before heading out into the locker room.
"Good morning everyone," Kakashi said, deciding to make his presence known at last. He closed his eye into a mockery of a smile. A hush fell over the room as he made his way to his locker. He could feel all eyes on him, perhaps wondering how much he overheard. Well that just served them right. They should really pay more attention to their surroundings if they were going to gossip about their comrades.
He opened his locker to pull out his uniform and when he slammed it shut, he was met with a pair of dark, earnest eyes.
"They're wrong," Tenzo said. "And it shows a lack of character to say such things behind your back."
"Maa, don't worry about their character," Kakashi said. He closed his eye and tried to give what he thought was a reassuring smile this time. It probably came out as more of a grimace, but it's not like Tenzo could actually see him smile anyway. "Most of them have said worst to my face."
Besides, it was his character that was lacking. He only hoped that Tenzo's ill-guided loyalty didn't drag him down with him. He had been trying to push the teen into making friends with the others. The more he pushed him away, the more Tenzo seemed to cling to him. Kakashi didn't have the energy to continue to push. Plus, it was nice to talk to someone who didn't hate him.
The thud against the lockers announced a new presence on his blind side. When he turned his head, Shiranui Genma was leaning against the locker next to him.
"Morning Captain!" He cheerfully greeted.
"Piss off, Gecko."
"Oh now, now, is that any way to greet an old friend? We're going to be spending a lot of time together - " despite the gecko mask covering his face, Kakashi could just picture the mocking smile on the other man's smug face.
He had managed to avoid Genma since he had joined ANBU five years ago. It wasn't anything personal. He just tried to keep all of his old friends at arm's length. Something that was getting increasingly difficult. Gai kept challenging him with more and more outrageous competitions. Asuma and Kurenai always seemed to run into him and invite him to join them. Genma pestered him in the ANBU training grounds and locker rooms. As with Tenzo, Kakashi was running out of the energy required to fight them.
Now he was going to be spending even more time with Genma. The gossip had been correct that very few wanted to work with Kakashi. He had been bounced around from team to team. He was a liability; no one trusted him to have their back. Friend-Killer Kakashi. Everyone assumed he would leave them for dead or put his hand through their chest the moment a mission ran into problems. It couldn't be the furthest from the truth.
More often than not, he had been partnered with Tenzo. Then Lord Third decided to make Kakashi an ANBU captain and give him his own team. He thought he had leadership qualities. The very word sounded exhausting.
Kakashi gave a deep sigh as he adjusted the hound mask over his face. It seemed it was too late to back out of this now.
As if sensing there was an unofficial team meeting, Bear and Owl silently came over to join them. Kakashi had worked with them on a number of missions. They were some of the more seasoned ANBU shinobi. Kakashi knew them to be several years older than he and had been members of the Black Ops ever since the Third Shinobi War. Neither were particularly interested in leadership roles, both preferring supporting ones. They came to work, did their job and then went home at the end of the day. Kakashi wondered how he could sign up for that level of responsibility instead.
Kakashi had long ago correctly guessed the identity of Bear as Utatane Satoshi. The man's giant build and use of medical ninjutsu easily gave him away. The pale, white eyes of the Hyuga peered out at him from Owl's mask. That was to be expected. Some clans had a tradition of having the same mask through the generations. You could always expect a Nara underneath the deer or stag mask and a Yamanaka underneath the boar or pig. Hyuga Haruki was the only member of the Hyuga clan currently in ANBU.
Cat, otherwise known as Uzuki Yugao, was no doubt waiting for them outside. That left the two new recruits he was supposed to pick up from the Hokage's office, well, five minutes ago.
"Find Cat and head to the third training ground for sparring practice. I'll join you when I'm done showing Hawk and Lynx around. We'll be testing their skills and getting them adjusted to working as a team. We have four weeks before we're expected to take our first mission."
Both Hawk and Lynx would have been put through Panda's four week bootcamp along with the rest of the new recruits. Now that they had successfully completed the program, the initial plan was to get an idea of their skillsets and how they blended into the team and in smaller pairs. By the time they hit the road, Team Ro was expected to be a well functioning machine. As missions came up, Kakashi would divide them based on the needs of the task. It was rare all eight of them would act as one. More often, they would break into smaller groups of two, three or four. Larger missions may require them to break into two groups of four with one group acting as backup.
There were nods of agreement and then they parted ways. The rest of his team headed out to the private training grounds reserved for ANBU members while Kakashi took an underground pathway that would spiral up into a hidden stairwell that lead to the Hokage's Tower. Mouse and Crow were on guard duty today and opened the doors to admit him.
There were two people standing before him when he entered the Hokage's office. Lord Third gave an amused smile as he greeted him. Being late to the Hokage's office was a bit like playing with fire. Kakashi had figured out over the years how far he could push the old man without getting burnt.
"Yo," he casually greeted. "Sorry I'm late. I had to call a plumber, the hot water tank wasn't working again."
Lord Third's mouth twitched in response. Hawk and Lynx glanced at each other and then at him.
"I am called Hound."
It was no surprise to see the young Uchiha before him wearing the lynx mask. The gossip mill had been churning ever since Shisui leaked the news two days ago. When Kakashi was told he was to pick up Lynx and Hawk from the Hokage's Office he knew he would be expected to train Itachi.
Itachi politely bowed his head, and following Kakashi's lead said, "I am called Lynx."
"Hello, I'm Hawk!" chirped the second recruit.
Kakashi froze as his eyes glanced at her. The petite build, the brown hair, the olive skin tone - absolutely not.
It was Sorano Kotori. He was sure of it. He gathered chakra to his nose, a technique he had copied from the Inuzuka years ago. It was definitely her scent. He felt ice in his veins and dread curl at the bottom of his stomach.
As his reputation and body count grew, so did his need to know that this was all somehow worth it. That he lived in the shadows so that others could live in the sun. He checked in on the little genin from time to time as a reminder that he could do more than just kill. She was a bright spot; seemingly untouched by the darkness of their world. The chirping of her little songbirds were a welcome sound that seemed to follow him from one end of the country to the other. She had grown stronger despite her grief to become an admirable chunin. Kakashi fully expected her to have a career with the Intelligence Division or the border patrols. Something nice and safe and out of any real danger. And if some of her missions were a little too easy because a nearby ANBU was willing to cut down any enemies that threatened her team, well so be it.
Now she was standing here before him dressed in an ANBU uniform. Could he not have one little aspect of his life untouched by darkness? She wasn't suited to the life of an ANBU. She was… too nice, too bright, too chipper.
However he wasn't one to argue with the Hokage's decisions. Kakashi bowed his head as he took his leave. As they made their way to the ANBU Training grounds, he questioned Kotori and Itachi about the bootcamp and their scorecards. As expected, Itachi had passed everything flawlessly. Kotori would need to improve her speed, strength and stamina to make it as an ANBU, however she had still been acceptable according to the instructors.
They made their way to the third training ground to locate the rest of Team Ro. To Kakashi's dismay, he realized that none of them had been sparring like he had asked. Instead, they were all lounging above in the trees. He could hear Genma's voice carrying across the field as well as Yugao's laughter. He couldn't be too annoyed. It would be good for their teamwork to bond.
"Everyone, this is Lynx and Hawk," Kakashi said, giving a lazy gesture towards their new teammates. "Lynx and Hawk, this is everyone."
He grouped everyone off to test the new recruits. Yugao and Genma against Kotori, Haruki and Satoshi against Itachi. He kept Tenzo, already having enough experience with what he could do.
He also valued his opinion. Despite his young age, Tenzo was an expert. Mostly because he had been grown in a lab and then raised by Danzo. The poor teen knew no other life.
"Uchiha?" Tenzo asked, nodding towards the kid. "Impressive. He almost has Owl beat."
Itachi was already fighting on a level that very few could hope to achieve in their lifetime. Give him a few more years and Kakashi doubted anyone in Konoha could match him.
"Who's the girl?" Tenzo asked.
"Her name's Sorano Kotori. Skilled in intel gathering."
Kakashi shoved his hands in his pocket as he observed Kotori more carefully. She was more defensive in her techniques, dodging and deflecting attacks from both Yugao and Genma. Every time Genma threw a senbon, she used a wind style jutsu to blow a gust of wind, throwing it off course. She seemed to have eyes everywhere, able to dodge attacks that she shouldn't have been able to see or hear. Kakashi lifted his forehead protector and saw dozens of chakra birds hiding throughout the training grounds. They blended in with their environment, but Kakashi could see the bright chakra pulsing in them through the sharingan. The birds were probably feeding her information as she fought. That could be useful.
She was weaker in hand-to-hand combat, it didn't take much for Genma to pin her down with her arms behind her back. She struggled against him, but even using chakra to strengthen her movements was of no use.
"Her taijutsu needs improving," Tenzo critiqued. "She's too small, she needs to learn to compensate for that. Everyone we could go up against is going to be bigger and physically stronger."
"I'll have her train with Bear to start then."
"Is she a sensory type? She seems to know where Gecko and Cat are at all times."
"Check the trees," Kakashi said. He tilted his head up and waved at the little songbird sitting above them. The bird chirped back at him.
"Summons?"
Kakashi shock his head and then smiled underneath his mask as he made direct eye contact with the bird. "You're going to have to play dirty if you want to win. Gecko doesn't wear a cup to practice. Teach him a lesson."
Within seconds, Kotori kneed Genma in the groin and freed herself. She glanced over towards him and Tenzo so he gave her a cheeky wave.
Tenzo let out a small wince before saying, "Well, that technique could be useful."
Kakashi leaned against the tree and crossed his arms as he contemplated his new team. Team Ro was stacked with people he liked, people he respected, people he trusted. The thought of being responsible to lead this team filled him with dread. The only place he had ever lead his last team had been to their deaths. Kakashi pushed himself off the tree and signalled for them to come over.
He would be damned if he let that happen again. It was time to start training them.