Despite that fact that he was getting used to his body, Kakashi made it a plan to get in early morning sessions before having to meet with his team from here on out. During this time, he would focus on becoming attuned to this body while also building up his stamina and balancing his chakra.
Therefore, the first session consisted of running multiple katas and strength exercises with his weights. After which, he switched to sparing to build back the sharpness of his attacks and preferred style of combat.
Kakashi still hadn't had a chance to practice against multiple enemies. Since creating multiple clones to spar with was a waste of chakra so early in the morning and not something he could maintain for long, his ninken where the next best thing. That was he found himself weaving through the attacks of eight dogs during the early morning hours, slowly improving the timing of his counterattacks.
Knowing he had to get to his own team's training soon, Kakashi had halted practice to squeeze in sometime to unwind with his pack. He had purchased some meat for his dogs to enjoy after training, and they were munching their treats happily all around him. He was also enjoying the meal while sitting on the back of Bull. Kakashi hadn't been able to sit on the back of Bull since he turned fifteen. He enjoyed the throwback to a simpler time, when he didn't have to worry about the fate of the world resting on his shoulder and watched his ninken try to beg for more meat from Uhei, who ate at a more sedated pace.
"You should head out soon if you don't want to be late," Pakkun stated, not getting involved in the ruckus.
"I still need to get changed quickly," Kakashi sighed as he took in his dusty appearance. "Minato sensei wanted me to take it easy, if he finds out I was training early he'll go into lecture mode and I'm not really in the mood."
"There's no way you can make it back to your apartment and back on time," Pakkun cautioned. "Coming in late will worry him more than an early workout session."
"I've already planned for this," Kakashi replied as he took out a change of clothes from the backpack that was propped up next to Bull. "I didn't just carry meals for you." He gave Bull a quick scratch behind the ears before jumping down from his back. He let out a whistle and his pack stood to attention and trotted over. "Thanks everyone, I'll see you all again soon."
"Bring more meat!" Urushi begged with a bark.
"You guys are going to bleed me dry," Kakashi chuckled fondly before dismissing them. He quickly changed his clothes and moved to pack his training weights. It was then that he sensed the familiar chakra of his sensei heading over. Confused, Kakashi closed the latch of the bag and turned to the direction his sensei was coming from.
"There you are!" Minato sensei announced his arrival, "What are you doing all the way out here?"
Resigning himself to the lecture, Kakashi sighed before replying "Minor training session. Did anything happen?"
"Training? Why would you push yourself so quickly," Minato frowned.
"It was just some light exercise. Yesterday I barely sparred with Rin and wanted to kick myself back into gear. I didn't overdo anything," Kakashi replied "Did anything happen?" he repeated the ignored question.
"We have a mission," he stated frown still on his face, "You shouldn't have solo training sessions without clearing it with me because you know we may be assigned a mission," he added a reprimand.
"Since we have a mission, if anything, it's good I had a chance to loosen up before we head out," Kakashi dismissed his sensei's words. Moreover, it was his first chance to fight multiple enemies in this body, so it was more important than resting for a fake illness.
"We'll discuss this later, hurry up and get ready," Minato sighed but let it go "I already told Obito and Rin. It's going to be a deployment at the support lines at the Land of Grass. Expected time of deployment, one month. Meet up at the gates in 30 minutes."
Kakashi nodded but internally shuddered as Minato teleported away. The Land of Grass was where the Kannabi Bridge was and the battleground for many clashes with the ninja of the Stone. In fact, as a chunin growing up in times of war, he ended up fighting there often. He hated that land with a passion.
He quickly packed, making sure to take a bunch of seals, as well as his Fuinjutsu tools to make some more in case the mission extended. As he activated his security seals, he tried to rack his brain to remember a deployment to the Land of Grass at this time.
He remembered a few short missions there as part of Team Minato, but nothing about a deployment. At this time in the war, his team was mostly stationed in the Land of Hot Water to maintain the ground Konoha had gained from the aftermath of the fight between the Third Raikage and ten thousand stone shinobi. He didn't have time to change anything. Was getting sick from time travel enough to already start changing the timeline?
The implications filled him with dread. He may not have had a huge impact on the war at this point in time as a chunin, but his sensei sure did. Wherever his sensei was stationed, Minato was sure to have played a role in the way the war unfolded. He considered the date and tried to match it with his memories of events from his past.
He remembered that it was around this time that Konoha's lines faced a major setback in the Land of Grass. A small taskforce of elite ninja had infiltrated their lines and caused devastating losses to Konoha before being eliminated by Orochimaru and a team of trackers who followed in pursuit after the attack. They succeeded, and despite the loss of the high-ranking Stone ninja, the attack had damaged Konoha more.
As for the developments in the Land of Hot Water, he didn't remember anything special around this date and their deployment had been smooth… well as smooth as fighting a war could be. There were loses on both sides, but if Minato wasn't there, would Iwa gain the advantage?
When he arrived at the gates, Rin was the only one there. He nodded at her in greeting and she replied with her own greeting before they fell in companiable silence. Kakashi was still considering the implications of the changes in the timeline while Rin was mentally preparing herself for the mission. Minato arrived with Obito in tow a few minutes later, and Kakashi wasn't sure if he picked him up specifically or if they met on their way here. Obito did manage to come on time on occasion for missions, always excited to prove himself.
"Goooood morning Rin chan!" Obito smiled, breaking away from Minato and running up to them.
She gave a small laugh at his energy, "Good morning, Obito kun."
"You guys ready?" Minato asked.
"Yes, sensei" they chorused. Rin gripped her backpack tighter in determination, Obito gave him a fist bump and Kakashi just stood there stoically.
"Be careful out there," one of the ANBU at the gate stated. The ANBU would usually just nod at the ninja heading out, but Minato was building up a reputation. During times of war, chunin guards didn't cut it, another reminder to Kakashi about the state of the world that was waiting for him outside these gates. In a way, it was fortunate that he knew of the Fourth Shinobi War coming, as he had mentally prepped himself to go back to war.
"Thank you, ANBU san," Minato gave him a short bow, "We'll do our best. Let's head out."
With a nod of acknowledgment from the ANBU, they bound off, Kakashi in the front with Rin and Obito flanking his sides a little bit to the back, while Minato stood behind them all to keep an eye on his team. This was their typical formation. On cue, Minato started to explain the mission as they ran forward.
"Our mission will be to provide medical supplies to our main support camp," Minato explained, "I have the supplies sealed away. It will take us around 22 hours to get to camp so I plan to arrive there in a day and a half. Once we arrive, Rin, you will join the medical team. Obito, you will join the camp guard. Kakashi and I will head out to the frontlines. Kakashi, you will work with the rescue and evacuation team to get our injured back to camp. Is that clear?"
"Why don't we get to fight," Obito complained, "Whenever we are sent to the Land of Grass, we only end up on support teams while you go fight, sensei. We've fought at the frontlines before. We can help!" In the past, Kakashi chalked it up to Obito whining and being childish. However, he was able to pick up on the undertone of frustration for not being able to help more. Obito wasn't complaining because he felt guard duty was beneath him, he wanted to fight alongside others and protect his comrades.
"The Land of Grass is the main battleground with the Stone and can get more chaotic than you're used to," Minato didn't berate Obito since he understood where the frustration was coming from. Kakashi used to think it was leniency. He really was blinded by his own set of code. "Each one of us plays an important part, and only by supporting one another can we win this war."
"I'll get stronger so I can play a bigger role next time," Obito vowed in reply.
"I know you will," Minato nodded in encouragement.
"There was a major fight between the Stone and Cloud, right sensei? So, won't it be more quiet than usual? Or will there be a lot of ninja who are injured?" Rin spoke up now that Obito has relaxed.
"It won't be quiet, the Stone have a large number of forces and are still fighting strong in the Land of Grass despite their setback" Minato answered her truthfully, "To answer your second question, yes there will be a lot of our comrades being injured. They need to be healed, then sent back to the front lines as soon as they can fight again. We were originally supposed to be posted in the Land of Hot Water, but there was a change of plans with Kakashi's illness. The main fighting is in the Land of Grass so you must keep your guard up."
That answered Kakashi's question. It took all his self-control not to curse loudly. He couldn't help but tighten his fist in anger, nonetheless. The advantage of his past knowledge won't be as useful if things were already starting to change. Moreover, how far into the future would he be able to rely on his knowledge? It would be more dangerous to operate on wrong information than no information at all. This was going to be trickier, and his self-appointed mission had just become exponentially harder.
"Will I be able to keep up with the pace of healing?" Rin voiced her concern out loud, cutting through Kakashi's thoughts. Kakashi turned to look at Rin, along with the rest of the team. As Obito started reassuring her with his blinding faith in her, he saw Minato raise his eyebrows in surprise at the question.
"Focus on what you are able to do," Minato cut in Obito's rain of reassurances to provide targeted advice, "talk to Tsunade sama and she can better direct your efforts to where you can have the most impact. Inform her of the techniques and procedures you can do comfortably and be honest about your chakra capacity."
At this point in time, Tsunade had already developed her fear of blood and was never stationed at the front lines in the Third War, focusing on healing fellow ninja once others got the bleeding under control. Her fear of blood was a well-kept secret, and both Konoha and Iwa forces assumed she remained in the main camp as the ultimate form of defense; her presence a large deterrent to attack attempts on the camp. Kakashi recalled that there was some speculation that having the Sannin operate as a team would be more effective, but Konoha ninja ultimately trusted the Third's strategy and didn't question it much. Also, while the Stone had more ninja, Konoha had a better medical force due to Tsunade's efforts, some figured it was too risky as Tsunade would become a prime target.
"I should've taken your advice about maintaining my physical training more seriously," Rin wasn't fully appeased. She closed her eyes tightly to shake away the helplessness she was feeling. Kakashi knew she was recalling his words yesterday.
Imagine if we're at the frontlines and you heal ninja after ninja as they're carried in from the battlefield. After healing a few, you've exhausted your chakra pool because your physical energy is low. Then, Obito comes in, injured. You know the advanced technique to save his life, but you don't have the chakra to perform the procedure.
Feeling responsible for her state of mind, Kakashi couldn't help but jump in before Obito could start giving empty platitudes once more. Obito meant well, but simply telling Rin that she's great is not what she needs to hear.
"You never know what scenario will unfold at the front lines," Kakashi stated, and she looked up to him, her eyes glistening with fear, but there was also a small light of hope, "What we talked about yesterday, that's just one possible scenario."
"Talk yesterday?" Minato mumbled quietly in confusion, but Kakashi ignored him and kept going.
"The advanced procedures you have learned may be the difference between life and death for a fellow Konoha ninja," he continued, his experience as Sakura's sensei coming forward "I only meant that you cannot neglect the physical side so you can heal for a longer period. If we're stationed at the main camp, after you deplete your chakra healing, don't just sit around dejectedly. Do some physical exercise and build your capacity."
He was rewarded as her mouth slowly ticked upwards in a faint smile, replying with a quiet but determined affirmation.
"You suck at being encouraging," Obito groused despite Rin's uplift in mood "say something more inspiring than 'you need to train', Bakashi."
"Like what?" Kakashi gave him an unimpressed half-lidded glance "You got this, you can do this, believe in yourself, you're a great medical ninja?"
"Yea," Obito seemed excited that Kakashi was getting it… or so he thought.
"Those are just generic words. We're ninja, stupid clichés like that are meaningless," Kakashi stated coldly and Obito's face fell. Obito's expression reminded Kakashi of the times when he'd troll his genin team, filling him with a weird sense of nostalgia and loss in one go.
"You jerk, they're not meaningless!" Obito pointed at him in outrage.
"Obito kun," Rin jumped in placatingly "Kakashi kun is right, I need to train. I'll also do what I can, but like he said I won't let my training go to waste. Don't let your efforts go to waste either, let's protect our comrades together, alright?"
"Rin chan," Obito's eyes got watery then smiled brightly, "you're right, we got this!" Obito couldn't help it and turned to Kakashi again, "That's how you encourage someone! Learn something from Rin chan." Kakashi just rolled his eyes and trained them forward again.
"Whatever gets the idea across, right, Kakashi kun?" Rin laughed softly, referencing his words again. Kakashi scoffed out loud. Minato and Obito were confused by the exchange, knowing that there was something they missed. Obito's heart twinged, feeling jealous and was about to lash out again, if Kakashi hadn't intervened.
"Nee, sensei, if we were scheduled to leave to the Land of Hot Water, who was sent in our place?" he hoped it was someone that would be able to hold up the vacancy his sensei was leaving behind.
"Worried? You don't need to be. We switched stations with Orochimaru sama and a team of three chunin." Minato replied. At the mention of the Sanin, Kakashi relaxed, finding it ironic that any mention of the Snake Sanin would bring about any feeling other than dread. He knew that Orochimaru would be more than up for any challenge his sensei may have tackled in the past.
"I'm not worried," he felt the need to add despite his feelings. Minato just chuckled but left it at that. He knew his sensei thought Kakashi was concerned that his illness may lead to unfortunate events that would be traced back to him. If something were to happen in the Land of Hot Water that could have been avoided with Minato being there, his younger self would have blamed himself for his weakness. He would also be worried that the villagers would blame him too; looking for any excuse to point out the flaws of the traitor's son. Compared to his worry about changing the timeline towards a trajectory that led to Konoha's loss, his younger self's concerns were negligible.
The remainder of the time they moved forward was uneventful. Rin and Obito chatted while Minato would pitch in a thought or two every now and then. As night started creeping, Minato signaled for them to stop and set up camp.
"Kakashi, sleeping bags. Obito, fire. Rin, perimeter with me," Minato always asked a different student to set the wards with him to ensure that they all knew how to set up a safe location. As Kakashi started unrolling the sleeping bag, he internally bemoaned the fact that he couldn't get his comrades to do the heavy lifting of camp setup while he lazed around with a book. It's been a while since he wasn't a team leader.
"All done, you two?" Minato asked as he and Rin joined them after a few minutes.
"Yup!" Obito chirped and gave him a thumbs up as they sat around the fire.
Minato opened his backpack and took out sandwiches and passed them along, before taking out a bag with skewered meat and started to cook it over the fire "Might as well enjoy some rich food before we're stuck with war rations," he smiled.
"You're the best, sensei!" Obito got excited at the sight of the meat.
"Thanks sensei," Rin moved to help him set up the skewers on the campfire properly.
"Sensei, you said the frontlines at the Land of Grass are intense even with the Third Raikage's stand in the Land of Hot Water," Obito brought the topic back, "Wouldn't a loss that big make the Stone ninja need to recover or something?"
"The Land of Stone have much more ninja than any of the other nations," Minato explained, "That's why they're a force to be reckoned with."
"That sucks," Obito kicked the dirt lightly "if they didn't have that many ninja they probably would have pulled out of the war now."
"Actually, it was lucky for Konoha in this instance," Kakashi spoke up, "If they didn't have the numbers then they wouldn't have sent a force to the North and there wouldn't have been a stalemate between the Stone and Cloud."
"What do you mean?" Obito was confused. Rin also shared similar sentiments.
"Konoha is geographically located in the middle of all the nations, and they all want to defeat us," Kakashi explained "Therefore, our forces are the most spread out as we have to defend our land from all sides. The battle between the Stone and Cloud ninja was the meeting of their forces as they each tried to find a way to enter the Land of Fire from the North. They kind of took each other out, for the time being at any rate. It would have been tough for Konoha to defend against either battalion if they made their way closer to our lands without meeting. We're lucky that they decided to attack at the same time and ended up fighting each other."
"That seems to be an oversight from the First Hokage and Uchiha Madara," Rin commented, taking a cooked skewer of meat from the fire. "Maybe it would have been better to have established Konoha somewhere on the corners of the continent?"
"During the time of the Warring Clans, the Land of Fire was where the Senju and Uchiha have made a home," Minato shook his head. "Also, their vision was to create peace, and influence other lands towards the same, so having a central location made sense from their perspective."
"We were also much stronger so they probably weren't that worried!" Obito pipped up. "The Uchiha elders are always telling us that when Konoha was founded, the other nations feared Konoha because it was the collection of some of the strongest clans."
"It's that strength that has made Konoha a target," Kakashi told him, "They don't want Konoha to get too strong and control them. So instead of making peace, they decided to attack Konoha and bring our manpower down."
"We won't let them," Obito stated determinedly.
"Right now, Konoha is at a disadvantage in the war," Kakashi burst his bubble, "The Stone are targeting us with large numbers, the Cloud has specialized strike teams that can carry out critical operations and the Mist are growing in strength. It's good that the Sand are still licking their wounds from the Second War and are focusing on recuperating their forces, only expending energy on defense."
"If the Stone's strength is numbers, the Cloud special operations… what's ours?" Rin asked.
"Two things," Minato answered, "teamwork and elite ninja."
"Elite?" Obito gave his sensei a weird look.
"You said it yourself, Konoha is a collection of some of the oldest and strongest clans in ninja history," Minato explained "As such, Konoha produces the largest number of most naturally gifted ninja. This is not just from the major clans; the bar of excellence is higher in Konoha than other nations and we have the largest number of S-Ranked ninja. I'll admit that the Cloud are trying to build a similar approach and have numerous formidable ninja. Anyway, for the Stone, their approach is that even the strongest ninja will fall to a large army. It's working. While they lost ten thousand ninja, they still killed the Third Raikage. The Stone currently have the largest advantage in the war."
Instead of Obito and Rin getting discouraged at the thought, they seemed to get more determined, "We'll show them the strength of Konoha! I'm the future Hokage after all, I'll get stronger and push them back. If I have to fight a hundred ninja, I'll win!"
"Also, if you think long term, if the Stone lose the war they'll have the worst situation economically," Kakashi added.
"What do you mean?" Minato was interested in the train of thought.
"Well, the entire reason this war started is because other lands are starting to build ninja corps. If lands don't have to commission ninja from the major villages for missions, the demand for low-ranked missions will go down. However, even if small villages build their ninja force, they will be faced with situations that require high caliber talent. When that happens, their choices are Konoha and the Cloud, and Konoha is closer to most lands. The central location that is our disadvantage in times of war is our strength in times of peace." Kakashi shared his thoughts. It was what happened in the future. After the war, Konoha grew its might, and bank, once more.
"I haven't thought about it that way," Minato was intrigued, "I guess that's what makes Konoha another tempting target. With Konoha out of the way, they can make more money."
"Which is why it's imperative that when peace treaties are made, there are terms that help create balance so that it doesn't get to that point." Kakashi nodded "Konoha wasn't founded to be rich, it was founded so that children around the world can grow up away from battlefields. If anything, we're farther from that vision than during the Warring Clans Era. The villages are sending fresh genin to the frontlines."
"We can handle it, I'm not scared" Obito announced.
"We'll do our part to bring peace," Rin smiled in reply to Obito's statement. Minato gave them both an encouraging nod. Only Kakashi noticed that it was forced. As a sensei, he could only imagine how troubled Minato was that his students were being sent to the frontlines.
Kakashi felt that was his cue to leave and stood up, "I'm going to sleep, wake me up when it's my watch."
"Already?" Rin seemed concerned. Kakashi didn't answer her and just kept walking away from them. He quickly grabbed his hygienics kits from his bag and went behind the trees to get ready for sleep. Kakashi could hear them continuing their discussion and grimaced.
Their words and energy rubbed Kakashi the wrong way. They died. They didn't know that, but they died so young. After the Third War, the Kyuubi Attack and the Uchiha Massacre, peace was fragile, but all the ninja worked hard to ensure that Konoha remains strong to avoid another war. Kakashi himself was flung into S-Ranked mission after S-Ranked mission; eliminating threats left and right. In fact, he amassed the largest number of S-Ranked missions completed after the Legendary Sannin by the time he was twenty.
Seeing the future generation grow up having retained their innocence was well worth it. Part of him wished that he could have had a similar childhood, but there was no time to dwell on wishes. This was the lot he drew in life, to be born into the longest war in Shinobi history as a genius, and he had made his peace with it. But hearing his team talk about bringing peace, knowing they never lived to see it, was hard to bear. He vowed to make the First Hokage's vision a reality again and save as many lives as possible, for the sake of his comrades and the future children of Konoha.
Morning came without any incidence, and they headed off again, planning to make it to the main camp by midday.
Unfortunately, life had other plans.
It was an hour and a half into their day that Kakashi sensed someone approach just as Minato called the team to a halt. "Standby," Minato stated as he jumped in front of his team "it's probably a Konoha shinobi since they aren't hiding their chakra but stay alert." His students nodded and Minato moved a few branches forward, ready to intercept.
A few second later, a shinobi appeared between the branches, his forehead protector and green jonin vest identifying him as a Konoha shinobi. The man was bulky and spotted short messy brown hair.
"Tanaka san!" Minato exclaimed in worry, given that the ninja in front of them was clearly injured; his left shoulder bleeding heavily and his right arm attempting to staunch the flow of a stab wound in his gut.
"Minato, kun! Of all the shinobi…. who could've been approaching…. am I glad to see you," the man his sensei identified as Tanaka stated in short breaths. He seemed somewhat familiar, but Kakashi couldn't pinpoint where he knew this man. As far as Kakashi knew, this person wasn't a part of their ranks in the future. Kakashi figured probably dead in his timeline. Although, given that the man appears to be in his mid-forties, he could simply be retired for all I know.
Rin moved to help but Kakashi stuck out his hand to stop her, "We must verify he's not an imposter. Sensei?"
"I'm not an imposter," Tanaka replied, weaving through hand signals that Kakashi recognized as ANBU code. He wasn't supposed to know ANBU signs at this stage so remained quiet.
"Identity verified," Minato spoke up for the sake of his team. He helped Tanaka san settle on the ground and motioned for Rin to heal him, "What happened, Tanaka san?"
Now that Tanaka san had found backup, he slumped in relief. "Ambush," Tanaka grunted as he removed his right hand to allow Rin better access to heal his stab wound. Kakashi was grateful to note that while painful, it appeared to be shallow. "My squadron was heading back to rest at main camp when three S-Ranked ninja attacked us. I don't know how they managed to get this far behind our lines. The ninja are Ito Kaito, Yoshida Kenji and Hayashi Haruki. They were also accompanied by A-Ranked Mori Hina, who was providing support."
Minato cursed and Kakashi couldn't blame him as he recognized the names. He wasn't sure if he had good or bad luck; but here he was in the middle of the event that led to mass losses in their backline.
That said, he was confused. In the past they only learned of the ninja sneaking in their territory after they had attacked. As far as Kakashi knew, they still hadn't. Was it possible that Orochimaru's team headed out earlier, while their team was given a day's breather for him to get over his illness? If that were the case, then Orochimaru would have missed Tanaka san and would have had to back pedal from the front lines to deal with the threat. That was the most likely scenario and if so, their timing and early alarm could mitigate the disaster of that event. They needed to get word out quickly and foil the plan.
"We're still three and a half hours away from the main camp," Minato stated and Kakashi moved through the seals to summon some of his pack before Minato could ask. After the smoke cleared, Pakkun, Shiba, Bull and Urushi stood at attention.
"Emergency summoning," Kakashi stated quickly and got down to business, "Urushi, I need you to head to the main medical camp of Konoha, it's three hours and a half, 32 degrees west from here. Tell them that there is an infiltration of a squad of S-Ranked stone ninja: Ito Kaito, Yoshida Kenji and Hayashi Haruki, they're supported by Mori Hina. Anything else, sensei?"
"Yes, tell them that I moved to intercept them," Minato nodded.
"Sensei! You're great but it's too risky, even for you, to take on that squad by yourself," Kakashi cried out. Internally he was panicking. Was it possible for his sensei to fall to the shinobi? Minato sensei was stronger than each of these shinobi many times over, but it was one against four. His sensei defeated a thousand ninja but that was still in a year, with more training and experience.
"Don't worry, Kakashi kun," Minato smiled reassuringly "I'm well aware of their specialties, I'm a terrible match up for them. Please hurry, Urushi." Urushi turned to Kakashi who could only nod in hesitation. Getting his summoner's go ahead, the dog sped away at top speed.
Kakashi had to admit that what Minato said was true and thought out loud, "Kaito and Kenji are sword specialists, Haruki uses stone golems and specializes in large scale earth ninjutsu. Meanwhile, Hina is a medical ninja that also has a minor specialization in genjutsu. The squad tactic is probably Haruki san manipulating people into positions on the battlefield that favor the sword specialists, while Haruki tries to disorient them further with genjutsu. If anyone gets injured, Hina can heal them so that they can keep going."
"That style is in line with the fight we just had," Tanaka verified, his breathing now under control with Rin's healing. "We couldn't keep up and started losing ground. Since I'm the fastest, we switched to me escaping to warn someone. Yuto, Masato and Katsuki managed to intercept them as they tried to follow me. That was two hours ago." At this point in the tale, Tanaka cursed and slammed a fist in the tree bark, startling Rin and causing her healing chakra to waver for a few seconds. Nobody said anything, although they all knew it; his teammates were probably dead.
Minato broke the few seconds of silence by addressing Pakkun, "Pakkun, can you pick out the scent of the enemy ninja around Tanaka san?"
Before Pakkun could reply, Tanaka san took out ripped cloth from his pouch, "I snagged this from Kaito," he held the cloth towards the dogs who immediately jumped closer and sniffed the fabric.
In the meantime, Kakashi continued his analysis still concerned, "Minato sensei, you have the Rasengan so the golems should be easy to destroy. You can weave around the sword specialists' attacks easily with Flying Thunder God. But the biggest threat could lie in their weakest member. If the other three keep you busy, a well-timed genjutsu can give them the opening they need."
"I agree, I will take out Hina first of all," Minato nodded, "once she's out of the picture dealing with the rest will be much easier. Their attacks are more straight-forward, and it'll be a matter of patience breaking through their defense."
Kakashi let out a sigh, knowing he had to trust his sensei. "Pakkun, Shiba, if you memorized the scent can you start heading in that direction and try to pick it up. Once you pick up the scent, have one of you head back to grab Minato instead of howling, then follow the other's scent. The element of surprise will be critical," Kakashi commanded and pointed to the direction Tanaka san came from.
"Roger," Pakkun and Shiba replied before jumping in that direction.
"Before you go sensei, there is a Konoha outpost one hour from here, right?" Obito spoke up, a hint of fear in his voice. Despite his optimism, even Obito could see that the situation was risky even for someone as strong as his sensei "Why don't we get you some backup first, Minato sensei? I know that if we try to support you, we'll just get in your way. Still, even if you are a good match up, these are three S-Ranked ninja! You could seriously die!" Obito's hint of concern devolved into panic at the end.
"No time," Minato explained and ruffled Obito's hair to reassure him, "Tanaka san's teammates may be alive. On the other hand, if they've already been defeated, the Stone ninja would probably start attacking some of the other outposts to do as much damage now that Tanaka san has fled and sounded the alarm. The far back outposts from Tanaka san's direction don't have high defense and are small communication and resupplying stations. They'll be slaughtered. I won't sit back as our fellow ninja are in danger if I can do something to stop it. Have some faith in your sensei."
"Also, I'm sure the guys gave those bastards a good fight," Tanaka san spoke up resolutely. "They won't be in top condition. Don't worry, kid, Minato kun won't lose to them."
"You better not, sensei," Kakashi cautioned. Part of him wanted to help his sensei. Obito said they'd be a liability but not a Kakashi with the experience of numerous S-Ranked missions under his belt. Yet, at the same time, he couldn't leave Obito and Rin if there was a breach in their defenses. As far as he recalled, the breach was just these four ninjas. Then again, there could have been other breaches that were closed, and he hadn't heard about them. He couldn't risk the lives of Rin and Obito on that chance.
"Head to the outpost Obito mentioned. Bull, keep them safe. If you smell anyone, take an alternative route as you make your way. Take care of each other," Minato jumped to a branch and gave his team one last look. He took out a scroll and threw it at Kakashi who grabbed it easily. "Those are the supplies. If I get delayed, make sure they get to Tsunade, they need them. Remember, teamwork is your strongest weapon."
He waited until all three nodded before he jumped away, getting farther and farther way. Kakashi clenched his fists in annoyance and put away the scroll, Obito fidgeted with his goggles, and Rin clasped her hand together in worry. Tanaka san was about to snap them out of it, but Kakashi beat him to it, "Let's go. Obito, help me support Tanaka san. Bull, lead the way, please."
"Leave it to me," Bull barked and bounded off. With Obito and Kakashi supporting Tanaka, and Rin in front following Bull, the team started to make their way to the smaller outpost. They were quiet, each consumed with staying alert in the case of another breach.
Kakashi could feel the tension from Rin and Obito but knew nothing would reassure them other than hearing from their sensei at this point. He himself, was struggling to maintain his worry. The chances of Minato dying to these ninja were very slim… but they weren't zero. Knowing what his sensei accomplished, the stakes were too high.
They were around thirteen minutes away from the outpost when Bull paused and let out a small bark. "Foreign ninja, heading towards the outpost too. He's around 16 kilometers out and headed towards us. It's not Kaito but there is a faint scent of Kaito." Bull informed them.
"Damn it," Tanaka cursed, "That means he'll reach us in around five minutes."
"Does this mean Minato sensei lost?" Rin was concerned.
"No, too soon," Kakashi reassured her, and Rin nearly deflated in relief, "they may have split up or somebody came out to kill Tanaka san before he could sound the alarm. Most likely, they missed Minato sensei and came from a different direction."
"That's great and all but an S-Ranked ninja is heading our way," Obito's cried out, "What do we do?"
"Rin, help Obito with Tanaka san," Kakashi commanded "I'll delay him, you guys get to the outpost and bring backup."
"You may be a genius kid, but you can't delay an S-Ranked ninja," Tanaka pointed out "I'll do it."
"With that wound you won't delay him long enough," Kakashi shook his head, "He'll eliminate you and catch up. Same with Obito and Rin. I'm our best chance. I use sword techniques and am a lightening ninjutsu specialist. I'm the best match up and the most experienced from those of us not injured." Obito and Rin wouldn't stand a chance.
"There must be another way," Rin exclaimed. Obito seemed to be struggling to find words but was biting his lips and shaking lightly, "If we all fought him together…"
"We'd all die. We can't protect you and Tanaka san while also fight. We need the backup." Kakashi cut her off. He saw Obito about to pitch in and continued hastily "There's no time to argue, I need to set traps. The sooner you go the more time I can prepare," he grew impatient, knowing that every second they held this discussion was time he lost in setting up traps.
If he was in his adult form, he could take out the threat easily. While they were S-Ranked ninja, Kakashi had fought tougher opponents and lived. One-to-one fights were his specialty. In this younger body, however, he needed the element of surprise.
If they were being chased by the other sword specialist, Kenji, Kakashi would be hard-pressed to keep up speed-wise. Haruki would be easier; he was a mid-range fighter specializing in large scale earth ninjutsu. He remembered the thousand jutsu he copied and would be able to read the signs and anticipate his attacks. It was likely that Haruki fought from a distance because he was weaker in close combat. In this weaker body, a battle of wits is a better scenario than a physical one.
Kakashi helped Rin support Tanaka san and once he was sure they got it, he addressed Bull. "Bull, if anything, tell Pakkun and Bisuke to give it to him. They'll know what I mean. Get them to the outpost safely, I'm counting on you."
"I got this," Bull barked and then jumped forward, the rest following suit.
Obito looked back, and saw his teammate face the other direction. Obito could only think that his teammate's back was too small to face off against an S-Ranked ninja. He couldn't shake the feeling that he was seeing his teammate alive for the last time. Rin's choked sob didn't help matters.
Obito had liked Kakashi when they were kids and admired him. After Kakashi's father's death, Kakashi turned cold towards him, but Obito decided that we won't give up on trying to be his friend. He could tell Kakashi was hurting and wanted to help. But then, Rin developed a crush on Kakashi, and his jealousy overrode his desire to become friends. As they bickered, the rift between them only grew. Still, a part of him still wanted to be friends. Obito felt that now, he would never have that chance.
Before they could get far enough, Obito spoke up, his voice wavering even though he tried to sound brave "We're getting that backup, so you better not die till then, Kakashi!"
Kakashi, without turning around, gave Obito a thumbs up and added resolutely "I don't plan to."
Obito closed his eyes in frustration, tears leaking out, but he faced the front again and kept moving forward. As frustrating as it was, and as dense as he sometimes acted, even he knew this was their best chance.
"How long will it take for us to get back up?" Obito asked out loud.
"Once we're five minutes from the outpost we can send out a flare signal to get help," Tanaka san replied "With that, we can have support here in around fifteen minutes. It will take the enemy around three minutes to reach Hatake. Therefore, if Hatake can hold out for a little bit less than twenty minutes, there's a chance."
Nobody voiced it out loud, but that was a long time for a chunin to hold back an S-Ranked ninja.
The second his team moved ahead, Kakashi went into motion, setting up traps to hopefully catch the enemy by surprise. He decided to keep the seal on his stomach for now, opting for his natural balance as opposed to gaining access to more spiritual energy. If anything, if he got low, he could release the seal and increase his spiritual reserves. With that, he could stick to techniques that required more spiritual energy to buy more time.
He only managed to prepare two traps when he sensed the enemy approach. It was time. Kakashi hid behind the trunk and waited for his enemy. After a few seconds, the ninja burst forward and Kakashi was able to take a glance as he passed him, identifying him as Haruki much to his relief.
Kakashi cut the wire, releasing a rain of kunai and shuriken on his location. The man easily dodged backwards and closer to his hidden location. Kakashi manually triggered the explosives on the ground below, having forced him into that location with the first trap. Haruki cursed and jumped upwards to avoid the explosion; his back now exposed to Kakashi.
Kakashi moved.
He collected chakra at the base of his feet and launched himself forward, white saber unsheathed. Haruki sensed Kakashi, weaved his body to the right and ducked as Kakashi made contact. The saber dug through Haruki's upper left shoulder and sliced through his collar bone, making Haruki grunt in pain.
Kakashi flipped midair to avoid having his back to his opponent and landed on the ground below. Kakashi examined the injury he gave Haruki and noted that it was less damage than Kakashi hoped to start off with, but the wound would slow Haruki down and impede him in close combat.
Haruki glanced at his injury then turned to face Kakashi with annoyance clear on his face. Kakashi smirked and readied his saber once more, crouching down into a battle stance "This is as far as you go, Haruki san."