Chapter 26

New Nicknames and Allies

Kakashi stayed in the foothills on the edge of Earth for three weeks. That was all the time he needed to start to make a name for himself. He hadn't meant to. Participating in near daily skirmishes, and a handful of more dangerous missions had whispers of the White Fang's vicious cousin and his purple lightning circulating amongst enemies and Konoha shinobi alike.

Those fellow Konoha shinobi had been leery of him at first. It was no secret that he was supposedly from Kumo, an enemy nation. Hiruzen had awarded him the rank of Jōnin on Sakumo's recommendation, so he was regularly leading teams of Chunin into battle. It had only taken a few missions, and the good opinion of Rin's father—who was frequently on those teams—for most of them to decide to trust him.

It was also Rin's father who first told him about his unfortunate new moniker. Kakashi had been adamant that he didn't need one. He'd had his share of nicknames in the past, not that they knew. 'Friend-killer Kakashi,' 'Kakashi of the Sharingan,' 'The Copy-nin, Hatake Kakashi.' He did not care to add to the list.

"Unfortunately, Karasu-san, you're related to the White Fang—someone they already know to flee from—and are every bit as dangerous." Rin's father, name, draped an arm around Kakashi as they walked back into camp, the rest of their team doing a bad job hiding smirks. "And, you possess a singularly noteworthy jutsu." He chuckled good naturedly. "We're at war. Shinobi reputations are built in war. You're no different, Purple Fang."

Kakashi looked imploringly up at the sky and sighed as the team dispersed. Personally he found it painfully unoriginal and redundant. Then, most shinobi nicknames were unoriginal and simple, mostly meant for easy identification. Purple Fang was certainly that.

Sakumo nearly choked himself laughing when he heard it.

A few days before he was finally set to head for Kumo, Jiraiya strolled into camp. Kakashi ran into him on his way to speak with his father as the younger man was headed there himself. He immediately grinned mischievously, elbowing Kakashi in his side and falling into step with him. "Good morning! I wondered when you'd finally join us. Did your lovely young wife come along?"

He made a show of looking around. She wasn't there, he was definitely trying to get a rise out of him, Kakashi knew that. But damn if it was working. He wanted to tear his idiot pervert head off for even thinking about her.

What was wrong with him?

He counted backwards from ten and grit out an answer. "No."

"Ah well…" He chuckled nervously. "So… I hear Konoha has a ferocious pair of twin Fangs defending the Iwa front—"

Kakashi groaned, rubbing the back of his neck. "Please, dont—"

Jiraiya laughed again. "Come on, it's funny. I want to see this purple lightning I've heard so much about. Minato tells me it's rather impressive. That's quite the endorsement in my book."

Thinking about it, Kakashi decided he might like throwing a few punches at the Sannin. "Maybe we'll have time for a short spar."

Jiraiya clapped his hands together. "Alright! And hey, maybe afterwards I'll give you and Sakumo a sneak peak at my upcoming novel. I have a feeling you might like it." His grin was lascivious. "I've spent the last couple of years researching as I traveled. It's going to be a big hit, I just know it."

Thankful for his mask, Kakashi smiled, shaking his head. He had missed his little orange book.

Sakumo was in his tent, busy shuffling through scrolls and writing orders when they slipped into his tent. He did a double take when he saw the Sannin. "Jiraiya, good you're here. I've got a mission for you." He pulled a scroll from the stack, tossing it to a confused Jiraiya.

"A mission? I just got here. Do you not need me here?"

Sakumo glanced at Kakashi. "We're fine here, Jiraiya. This is important."

Kakashi sat, waiting for Jiraiya to read the details. His father glanced at him again, a flicker of anxiety twitched around his eyes. They had discussed telling Jiraiya the truth. He was bound to have questions about this mission. On its face, it had nothing to do with their larger directives handed down from the Hokage. It would be obvious this was of their own agenda. Neither of them were sure he could be trusted to work against Hiruzen.

"You want me to go to Rain?"

"Yes."

Jiraiya's eyes flicked between them. "How do you know so much about my students there?"

Shifting in his seat, Kakashi sighed, caught Sakumo's eyes again and nodded once. His father pursed his lips and crossed his arms.

"What?"

Sakumo sucked his teeth and answered. "I could answer that, but I would need to know you won't run right back to Hiruzen. Or you can trust me, not worry about how I know about them, and just do the mission."

Jiraiya frowned, tossing the scroll back onto the desk. "What the hell, Sakumo? What kind of answer is that? Look, I get why you're not on the best of terms with Hiruzen, but this… Are you openly working against him, now? You can't ask me to do that. He's acting like a bastard, but he's still the Hokage."

"I'm not working against anyone, Jiraiya. I want to end this war as soon as possible and ensure the future of Konoha. I don't trust Hiruzen not to try and stop me for fear it makes him look bad." He hissed a breath in through his teeth. "I believe there are… influences around him that would like this war to drag out."

Jiraiya scoffed. "That's ridiculous."

"Is it?"

Pulling over another seat, Jiraiya sat, arms crossed. "Tell me how you know about my kids in Rain, and then I'll decide if Hiruzen should hear it too. Look, I trust you, Sakumo, but this is a big ask."

Chewing on the inside of his cheek, Kakashi decided they could probably kill the Sanin if they worked together. It wouldn't be ideal, but they were at war. They could make it look like Iwa. "My name isn't Karasu." Incredulous, Jiraiya opened his mouth but Kakashi cut him off. "It's Kakashi."

They were both preparing to leave, Jiraiya to Rain, Kakashi to Kumo. Jiraiya had agreed to go along with their plans, and was going to do what he could to influence Akatsuki. Kakashi had tentative hope that, with his help, they might actually be able to accomplish everything they wanted.

Jiraiya looked up from where he was crouched next to him in the empty barracks, rolling up his bedroll and fastening it onto his pack. "So, is my book as successful as I think?"

Kakashi laughed, cinching up his own pack. "It is a classic. I carried a copy with me everywhere. Unfortunately, it got left in the future." He sighed wistfully. "I have missed it."

Jiraiya laughed boisterously, standing and pounding him on the back. "Well, I'll be sure to get you an early, special copy."

Kakashi scoffed. "Sure, that'd be great." Focusing on what he was doing, he missed the smirk on the other man's face.

"So… are you really married to that sexy little, pink haired kunoichi or is that just the cover—"

Kakashi had grabbed the taller man by the front of his shirt, and dragged his face down to his, a snarl slipping out between his bared fangs before he'd even realized what he was doing. Jiraiya wisely shut his mouth and froze. "I know you have a type, Jiraiya and I know what you're like. Keep your perverted comments to yourself. Ayame doesn't need me to protect her from you, but if you ever so much as look at my wife with anything but cautious respect, I'll rip you apart, toad sage."

Slowly, Jiraiya raised his hands up in surrender, his voice placating. "Right, got it. I understand, Kakashi-san. She's your wife and I definitely respect the institution of marriage. I apologize for my rude comments."

Kakashi clicked his tongue and shoved the other man away. What is wrong with me? He rubbed the back of his neck, frustrated now that the burning rage was fading. "Right. Well, good luck in Rain. I guess I'll see you in a few weeks."

"Sure thing, Kakashi-san." Jiraiya's bright, jovial grin was fixed back in place as he tossed his own pack over his shoulder.

Kakashi followed him silently out of the barracks and through camp, occasionally returning a shouted farewell with a flick of his fingers. At the edge of camp, Jiraiya bid him to say hello to Fugaku for him before taking off. Only watching him go for a moment, Kakashi exhaled a deep breath and headed off in the opposite direction.

Kakashi watched the camp from a distance. The front with Kumo was much closer to what he remembered. Most of the shinobi he could see looked on edge and weary. The war was not going well for them, despite having Uchiha Fugaku in command. Even with all of Konoha's resources, there just weren't enough shinobi to go around. Truly this war had been a disaster from the beginning.

Calculating the risk and deciding they'd be less likely to attack first if he strolled right into camp, Kakashi did just that. Predictably, he was surrounded immediately. Several shinobi, much more angry and ready to do violence to his person than he thought reasonable in his opinion, grabbed hold of him.

"Who the fuck are you and what are you doing in a Konoha uniform?"

"I've never seen you before. You look like another one of those Kumo bastards."

Hm, interesting.

"I bet he's a spy—"

He tried to interrupt. "I'm actually—"

"A damn shit one, with that conspicuous hair. Probably better see what we can get out of him."

At this point, someone grabbed ahold of his hair, attempting to force him to his knees, and Kakashi decided he had had enough. One simple substitution jutsu later and they were all arguing over a log. Meanwhile, Kakashi was slipping into the commander's tent completely unmolested.

"Commander Uchiha?"

The dark haired man turned from what he'd been doing to examine Kakashi with red eyes. "I do not know you. Are you a spy as my men seemed to think?"

Kakashi sauntered further into the tent, hands in pockets. "Of course not."

"Hm." The tomoe of his Sharingan spun lazily as he watched him, looking for all the world unbothered. "Then you must be the White Fang's new cousin I've heard so much about."

"I am."

"You'll forgive us for being suspicious of you, I'm sure, all things considered, but—"

The flap of his tent was thrown back and two shinobi stuck their heads in.

"Commander—"

"Commander Uchiha—"

They looked between Kakashi and a clearly unbothered Fugaku and frowned. "Everything is fine here, as you can see. Leave us."

Glaring at Kakashi, they jerked their heads down once and ducked out.

"As I was saying—what are you doing here?"

Kakashi shrugged. "Sakumo sent me. There have been some… curious developments in Iwa, and he wanted to know if you'd experienced anything similar."

Fugaku narrowed his eyes. "Is that so?"

Reaching into a breast pocket on his flak vest, Kakashi pulled out a sealed scroll and held it out for the other man.

"This is from him?" He took it, examining the seal.

"It is." Sitting uninvited, Kakashi waited for him to read the short missive.

Pursing his lips, Fugaku looked back at the scroll, breaking the seal and unrolling it. "I trust Sakumo because he has even less reason to play sycophant to Hiruzen than I do." After a few quiet moments: "He says I should trust you." His thumb tapped the rolled side of the scroll. "We have had two situations like this since I've been here. Both times, ANBU showed up and took custody without anyone here even sending word home. They played it off as routine inspections on behalf of the Hokage and random prisoner confiscation, but…"

"You didn't buy that."

Fugaku shook his head. "No. Something felt off."

Kakashi made himself more comfortable on the stiff camp chair, stretching out his legs and crossing his ankles. "He's asked me to relay his suspicions."

Rolling up the scroll, Fugaku slipped it into his own breast pocket. "He's named you his proxy in all things. I am to take your words as his own." Another long, assessing look passed over Kakashi before: "Well, what is it the White Fang suspects?"

"We believe the war was instigated by Konoha."

The commander scoffed again, looking down at him like he thought he'd gone insane. "You can't be serious? Iwa and Kumo have both been sending raiding parties into the land of Fire for over a year."

Kakashi arched his brow. "Have they? The two shinobi ANBU came for, are you absolutely positive they were from Kumo?" Fugaku didn't have anything to say to that. "What do you know about an organization known as ROOT?"

Fugaku's face darkened. "Danzō's 'secret' branch of ANBU." He folded his arms across his chest and stared thoughtfully down at his shoes. "What you're suggesting is treason."

"Is it?" Kakashi rather thought if anyone was guilty of treason, it was Danzō. Maybe even the Hokage himself.

"What proof do you have besides a handful of strange prisoner transfers?"

"Every other Iwa prisoner believes Konoha are the aggressors. An outrageous claim if they've been attacking for a year before the Hokage was forced to declare war. What about here? Have you captured any Kumo shinobi making similar claims?"

"I never took it seriously. Why would I?" He stood, rounding his desk and pulling a thick file from a drawer. Laying it open on the desk, he gestured for Kakashi to look as he continued explaining. "Everyone imagines themselves the victimized party in a war such as this. How else do they justify such violence?"

Skimming through several interrogations, he noticed a similar pattern. You Konoha bastards started it, but fuck you we'll finish it.

"You didn't think it was odd that they all feel this way?"

Fugaku folded his arms across his chest. "No, but considering Sakumo is reporting the same thing, and we've both had these mysterious prisoners…" He sighed. "I know Danzō is a conniving, power hungry bastard, but starting a war? Does he intend to sit as Hokage over an expanded Konoha when this is all through?"

Kakashi, knowing how the war had gone the first time and now more certain about Danzō's influence than ever, glowered down at the dirt floor. "On a mountain of dead."

Fugaku sucked his teeth and sighed. "There's not much we can do about it just now, unfortunately."

"Hm." Kakashi glanced up at the other man. "Maybe not." Time for the second part of his mission. Perhaps it would be easier than he'd thought. "Your welcome party seemed to think I was from Kumo."

Fugaku eyed his hair. "It seems that you were not the only Kumo Hatake to survive the last war. Did you not know?"

Hoping they didn't happen to be captives—them not knowing him would be difficult to explain—Kakashi feigned mild surprise. "No. I left when the fighting ended and never looked back."

"So you're a deserter."

Kakashi let his head fall to the side. "As far as I knew, my entire clan had been wiped out. The war was over and I'd had enough of fighting, so I left."

The other man's judgmental frown held but he looked away. "Then why are you fighting for Konoha, now?"

"Hiruzen wanted Sakumo's six-year-old son to fight regardless of his decision on the matter."

Fugaku shook his head. "Sakumo has only one heir, and so far as he knows, your clan is nearly extinct. I can see why he would want him to be a little older before sending him out here. Hiruzen has no right to overstep with clan affairs." His eyes jumped back to Kakashi's. "You came in his place, then?"

"Yes." Fugaku nodded slowly, seeming to accept his answer. "So you've encountered my family, then?"

Another nod. "Yes. There's two of them, male and female, siblings if our intel is correct. They have been picking us off for months. Vexing. I don't suppose you could deal with them for me?"

Kakashi stood. "Maybe. Now that I know for sure they exist, I'd like to see what they have to say about all of this. I'd appreciate any intel you have about their recent movements."

Frowning, Fugaku edged around him towards the front of his tent. "You can't possibly think they'll be interested in helping. Especially when you abandoned them."

Kakashi followed him out. "I guess we'll see.