Delegated to messenger boys by the outpost leader, Watanabe, Kakashi and Obito spent the next day running around the village delivering orders. During these runs, he was able to learn that Jiraya was being transported back to Konoha this afternoon. That was fortunate, as Ayana's disappearance would occur later at night and wouldn't overlap.
Losing count of how many times he'd visited the medical center over the last two days, Kakashi resigned himself to the assault of antiseptic smells and walked inside. The Konoha ninja were easily recognizable from the other citizens, especially the Hyuga, and Kakashi made his way over.
"Ano, Hyuga-san, Sawamura-san?" Kakashi asked. He was happy to note that Hyuga Yusei's hand was no longer in a sling and appeared to have made a full recovery. Sawamura Seiji lay flat on the bed, his face pale, but he was no longer in life-threatening danger. Most likely a stomach injury, Kakashi concluded.
"Any news?" Yusei asked desperately as Seiji shuffled upward with a grunt. Yusei shifted his attention back to his teammate, "Be careful, you'll reopen your wound." He then gently guided him back to his previous position.
Kakashi waited for them to settle down before replying, 'I'm sorry. The teams sent out were unable to locate Uchiha Noriya. Watanabe-san said that they haven't given up yet. The tracker teams sent from the outpost to catch stragglers and prevent a counterattack will keep looking."
"Damn it," Yusei clenched his eyes shut as he tried to maintain his composure. Kakashi saw the beginnings of the tell-tale signs of the Byakugan's activation. However, the bulging veins subsided a moment later as Yusei regained control of his emotions.
"What are the chances they'll have better luck?" Seiji asked despondently.
"Well, these team are highly specialized in their field." Kakashi replied. "They will have the best chance of finding him."
Yusei also chimed in with his own reassurances, "I know Masato-sama, the Hyuga leading the tracking teams. He'll assign a strong team."
"Even if it's an Uchiha?" Seiji wasn't satiated.
"Oh, come on," Yusei said with an exaggerated groan, "Yes, we have a rivalry but we're all Konoha."
Seiji let out a short, relieved laugh and gave Yusei a sheepish smile in return.
Kakashi was glad to note that the tension hanging around them eased with that. However, Kakashi didn't share their optimism. He doubted that Noriya had survived and felt guilty that another person wound up dead instead of Obito. At the same time, he was extremely relieved that his teammate had survived.
Who am I to decide who gets to live and who dies? He was inflicting the pain that crippled him for years onto others, and it left a bad taste in his mouth.
"I'll let you know if we get any more updates," Kakashi said, not a hint of his emotions seeping into his tone.
"Thank you," Yusei replied, and Seiji gave him a nod in acknowledgement.
"Rest up well," he gave them a short bow and walked away.
His first instinct was to head back to base for his next assignment, but instead, he extended his senses to determine if his sensei was still at Jiraiya's bedside. Minato had ordered him and Obito to rest before Tsunade finished her diagnosis. Although they had tried to argue, their sensei was adamant that they rest enough to perform their duties today.
It was a good thing he did as they'd need their energy to help Ayana escape. But at the same time, Kakashi desperately wanted to know how Jiraya was doing. Another person whose fate I changed. Would he hate me if he knew?
Minato's chakra wasn't present, which was a good thing as his sensei really needed to rest as well. Yet, Tsunade's chakra stood out like a beacon. Knowing that she'd be the best person to give him an update on Jiraya anyway, he knocked on the door and entered after hearing her call him inside.
Tsunade was alone in the room and her face lined with worry. There was no sign of bags underneath her eyes, but Kakashi knew Tsunade could easily conceal her physical state. Jiraya continued to lay in a coma, ignorant to the seriousness of his injuries.
"Brat," Tsunade greeted fondly.
"Tsunade-sama," Kakashi bowed his head lightly.
"Shouldn't you be busy with something?" she asked.
"I'm playing messenger today," Kakashi said in a bored tone as he sat on the bedside chair opposite her. "I just delivered one and have a few moments to spare."
"Well, I'm glad they finally gave you safe assignments," Tsunade said with a scoff. "Watanabe's an uptight bastard, but at least he's got some common sense."
Kakashi rolled his eyes, "I'm fine. I told you I would be. No injuries at all." He casually opened his arms to emphasize the lack of bandages on his body.
"You got lucky," Tsunade said. "Jiraya may be an idiot but he's strong and now look. He'll need multiple surgeries if he has any hope of walking again. Don't underestimate the ninja world."
"Is it that bad?" Kakashi asked, heart constricting at the seriousness of the Toad Sanin's injuries. Although he knew it was serious, he believed Tsunade would be able to fix it.
"Unfortunately," she said and bit her lower lip. "Multiple fractures, many of them in critical areas. It'll take a few surgeries to fix, if it can be fixed at all. Right now, I have him sedated to prevent any movements. We're taking him to Konoha in around two hours. Once I get a better look, hopefully I'll have better news."
"I see," Kakashi cast his eyes towards Jiraya as he digested the news.
"Don't worry," Tsunade reassured him. "I don't know if you've heard, but I'm pretty incredible at my job."
Kakashi was startled to see the determination in her eyes. Based on his interactions with the Tsunade of this time, he expected that this would be another notch leading her towards despair. He wondered what happened to light a fire in her again. It was small, but it was there. Is it just Jiraya-sama's injury that spurred her or did something else happen?
"I heard you're alright," Kakashi replied instead. He wanted to keep her in good spirits and knew that getting into fights is an easy recipe for a lively Tsunade.
He was rewarded with an arrogant smirk, "Oh I see, you really do have a death wish, you rude brat?"
Kakashi replied with an eye-smile and placed both hands up in surrender, "Just kidding, just kidding. You're the best medic to grace the lands, nay the worlds, nay the galaxies. We are nothing but humble farmhands in comparison to you."
"Kami, help me," she shook her head in dismay. Her face changed to one of contemplation a beat later, "You're not like what I heard."
"Let me guess, serious arrogant asshole of a genius?" Kakashi asked knowingly. He knew he was acting different with Tsunade, but she didn't know him well in the past. Kakashi knew that personalities like his younger self would clash terribly with Tsunade, and he wanted to rebuild a relationship with her.
"Pretty much. I've seen many children grow up on the battlefield and there are a few ways it goes. You have the ones who become hardened to survive, like Orochimaru. You can become like me, realizing that the ninja world sucks and not wanting anything to do with it. Or you can become like Jiraya and have hopes that things could change if we all do our part," she placed one hand under her chin and titled her head in thought. "I pegged you as the Orochimaru type, but maybe you're more like this optimistic idiot over here."
"I think it's the Minato-sensei effect," Kakashi suggested, trying not to vomit at being compared to Orochimaru in terms of personality. "There's only so much you can resist before you get infected by his optimism."
Tsunade laughed, "Orochimaru does always say he's a sappy gold ball of sunshine."
Kakashi snorted, finding himself reluctantly agreeing with the Snake Sanin.
"Speaking of Minato-sensei, will he be traveling back to Konoha with you?" Kakashi asked.
"No, we're pushing our advantage against Iwa to force them to surrender. He's a big deterrent for any more fighting so he's needed on the frontlines right now," Tsunade said. "He wasn't happy but understands his responsibility. He'll make sure everyone's efforts on this mission aren't wasted."
Kakashi figured as much. Nobody wanted another battle with the Yellow Flash, especially now after he defeated so many ninja by himself. "I should go before I get into trouble; important messages need to be delivered and all," he said and stood up to leave.
"Try not to get into any more trouble," Tsunade replied.
Kakashi nodded, despite knowing what he and Obito would be up to tonight. I'll only get into a bit more trouble, he thought.
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After a long boring day of being errand boys, Kakashi and Obito were able to get a short power nap before launching their plan late that night. Tsunade had already left with Jiraya back to Konoha, and Minato had also ventured back to the frontlines, leaving him and Obito alone. Kakashi was relieved as this would spare them any suspicions.
They were scheduled to be back on patrol in the outskirts once more. Instead, they made their way to their respective escape plan tasks. Nobody would miss appeared nervous but Kakashi knew he would be more than capable of fulfilling his role. As for Kakashi, his job was to break Ayana out and lead her outside the village undetected, which brought him back to the medical center… again… for the sixth time in two days.
He was about to sneak in but stopped when he realized something was amiss. He couldn't sense Ayana's chakra. Startling to a pause, Kakashi focused more intently on finding her, but to no avail. Trying not to jump to conclusions, he snuck to her window and peeked inside… nothing!
Reflecting on everything he knew, Kakashi tried to make sense of the situation. The last time he saw her was when he had run his test yesterday. He saw her being taken out but never confirmed her return. Could it be my act worried them enough to hide her somewhere else until Konoha left?
Knowing he had no choice, Kakashi made his back into the alleyway and summoned Bisuke. "Ayana-san is missing. Can you find her? Quickly? Remember, we need to stay hidden so avoid main roads."
"On it," Bisuke quickly began sniffing around to catch her scent. A few seconds later, he began heading North, Kakashi quietly on his heels.
As Kakashi followed Bisuke, he kept pondering the situation. Given that the village never mentioned Ayana to Konoha, they had probably decided to keep her a secret from the renown Konoha ninja instead of a way to curry favor with the village. His stunt probably freaked out the Maeda clan, whereby another incident could have revealed her presence.
The biggest problem right now wasn't why, it's when. Obito was scheduled to trigger his distraction fifteen minutes after arrival. Kakashi needed more time with this change in plans. Did they even launch the plan today or gather more information and recalibrate? Then again, time was ticking. He heard the base talk about the teams being sent back to the outpost soon. They couldn't afford to risk waiting another day and losing their window.
"She's in there, second room on the bottom right," Bisuke's statement brought Kakashi out of his musings. The building she was in was the main civilian guard barracks. Fortunately, the room Ayana was in had no bars on the window and it was connected to a private bathroom. However, the barracks was close to the Maeda family's grounds. This also meant that the building was close to the brewery, where Obito was.
"How many guards?" Kakashi asked.
"In her room, there are two. There are many others throughout the building," Bisuke replied. "There are guards outside the building, but they're just sitting at the entrance."
That explains the no bars. She wouldn't be able to escape under the constant watch of two guards, he concluded.
"Bisuke, I need you to go to the brewery," Kakashi said. By the time it took them to arrive at the barracks, ten minutes had passed. According to their original plan, Kakashi and Ayana should have been close to the marketplace by now.
He now had a decision to make. Does he delay the distraction until they're at the market again, or do they use it for Ayana's escape. Knowing it would be much harder to sneak her out and keep her missing presence a secret for long at the barracks, he concluded that they needed Obito's distraction earlier. He would find a way to make it across the marketplace undetected when they got there. "Tell him to launch the distraction in the next ten minutes, not four."
"You sure you got this from here?" Bisuke asked.
"It's two guards. I got this," Kakashi confirmed. With that show of confidence, Bisuke bound away, leaving Kakashi to his own devices.
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Obito only needed a few more steps, and he'd arrive at the brewery walls. There were a few guards at the entrance, but they weren't the problem. A quick jump over the fence from the other side could be executed by a first year Academy student. Also, as they had observed, nobody was working at the brewery this time of night.
No, his challenge lay in climbing up to the top of the building. The brewery lay in the middle of a walled off section where a few trees dotted the area. With little coverage between the building and surrounding houses, he could be seen by anyone if he used the tree-climbing technique to reach the top.
Still, the chances of anyone being awake at this hour and looking out towards the building were low. Obito frowned. When he made this point to Kakashi, he was met with the younger boy's typical 'are-you-an-idiot' look.
Ha, I told him. Not a single house has a light on, paranoid Bakashi, Obito thought triumphantly.
Now hiding behind the shrub closest to the staircase leading up to the roof, he stared intently at the wall ahead. The walls were a simple white, cracked lines dancing across the face. The staircase had seen better days, rust patches decorated the bars all the way up to the top. Simple enough.
Obito's first instinct was to wall climb quickly, Kakashi's paranoia be damned. However, Ayana's face stopped him. His eye twitched as he remembered Kakashi drilling the instructions into him more than once, despite their simplicity. He wasn't stupid.
"This is soooo useless, but fine. Whatever," Obito muttered as he gave in and followed his teammate's plan to the letter. He brought his hands into the familiar seals, "Transformation Jutsu," he whispered. Although he didn't want to admit it, he admired Kakashi for thinking of the smallest risks and trying to mitigate them. Just a teeny bit.
Clothes now mimicking the tired structures, he snuck towards the staircase, grabbed the handles and began climbing. He kept glancing left and right, verifying that nobody was looking his way. He made his way to the top without none-the-wiser.
The roof housed five water tanks and even featured a rainwater collection system with gutters and downspouts channeling water into the water storage tanks. Obito kept to a crouch and used the tanks to maintain his cover as he crept towards one of the chimneys that were part of the ventilation system. He grabbed a small wood plank and blocked the vent.
He bent his head from one side to the next. He noticed that he was off by a few millimeters to the right; air could still escape. He adjusted the plank's position. Another quick check and he confirmed everything was set. He plopped down on the floor next to the vent and pouted. And now I wait while Kakashi does the cool bit.
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Kakashi took a deep breath and snuck past the lazing guards easily. They weren't even scanning the area. A point in their support though, they weren't watching out for ninja, only civilians. Once he was under the window, he eavesdropped into the conversation happening in the room.
"Cut, I'll stay with this hand" a voice stated.
"I'm going for another draw," the other replied.
You've got to be kidding me, Kakashi facepalmed silently. Kakashi didn't know why most guards and bandits he spied on loved playing Oicho-Kabu? It's such a cliché that they'd be interested in a gambling game.
He heard the guards play two more turns before he had his chance.
"I drew a five three times and have one in my hand," one stated in anger. "There's no way you drew another one."
"I'm telling you, you counted wrong," the other argued back heatedly. "I got a nine, pure and simple. I win this round."
With the guards engrossed in their animated debate, Kakashi knew they'd be distracted and peered inside.
He saw the two guards sitting on a table close to the door, the size of the pot small and not worth their squabbles. Then again, Hateno was struggling so Kakashi took back his previous judgement. Who knew what their financial situation was like.
To the right, he saw Ayana sitting on a bed, next to a small wooden desk. She was pretending to read a book but was glancing left and right. She was probably looking for a sign of him. Kakashi managed to catch her eye and hers widened in recognition, then relief. Kakashi shook his head silently, asking her to stay calm. Then he pointed at the bathroom and raised three fingers in the air. He didn't want her to stay too long in the bathroom and draw suspicion. It's better to time it close to Obito's distraction. She gave him the tiniest nod and Kakashi ducked away again, the guards non-the-wiser, still caught up in their argument.
After three minutes had passed as he'd ask, in which Ayana hopefully took the time to steel herself, Kakashi heard one of the guards speak, "Where are you going?"
"I need the bathroom," she replied.
"Again?"
"The baby keeps pushing on my bladder," she explained calmly.
"Make it quick."
Taking that as his cue, Kakashi opened the window of the bathroom and hauled himself inside. Ayana entered two seconds later and gave him a wobbly smile.
Kakashi gestured for her not to worry. He took out a water bottle and began squeezing it into the toilet to give the impression of someone using the bathroom. He then gestured for Ayana to continue doing so.
She took the bottle, shaking her head in amusement. Her shoulders lost a bit of tenseness, but she still looked worried as she followed Kakashi's actions as he scanned the room.
He walked towards the shower and unscrewed the metal shower head. He tested its weight balancing it on the palm of his hand. Satisfied, he took out three pieces of paper and ink. On the first, he scribbled a note to Ayana asking her is she can draw two simple chakra draining seals.
Ayana scanned the words, noted the three lines under the word simple, and nodded. Kakashi handed her the tools so she could get on it. She handed him the bottle back, which was almost empty at this point. He waited a few seconds as Ayana quickly drew on the papers before flushing the empty toilet and then opening the sink.
Less than a minute to go.
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Obito resisted a sigh as he watched the sky, bored out of his mind. Thinking back on his experience on patrol, he determined that he wasn't good at keeping an eye out for trouble and waiting for the action to happen. It was too boring. Missions that needed sneakiness were proving to be just as boring. Maybe if he was doing the main part like Kakashi, but all he had to do was sit here and wait from some gas to accumulate.
Or so he thought.
It had only been a handful of minutes before a scrambling noise coming from the staircase startled him to a crouch and he strained his ears. He could barely make it out, and if he wasn't solely focused on it, he would've missed it completely. Someone was climbing the staircase, and whoever it was, wasn't a civilian.
Barely holding in a curse, Obito debated what to do. Plan A: he could remove the plank to avoid whoever was coming up from seeing it, but that would delay the distraction. Plan B: he could keep the plank in and try to think of a way to keep whoever it was away, but did he have time to come up with something?
Obito grabbed the plank with one hand, getting ready to remove it depending on who came up. He could make his decision based on the incoming person. Except that, it wasn't a person who finally emerged on the roof. "Bisuke?" Obito asked quietly, confusion lacing his voice once he recognized the dog.
"Obito, it's me," Bisuke verified just as quietly as he trotted over.
Obito let go of the plank and let out a sigh of relief, "I'm so glad I didn't go with Plan A."
"Ayana was taken to another location. We found her but Kakashi needs an extra six minutes to set things up," Bisuke informed Obito as he watched him double-check the plank to make sure he didn't mistakenly shift it.
"But we needed the distraction to get Ayana-san across the market," Obito said, his early relief swiftly replaced with panic again at the unexpected turn.
"Plans had to change," Bisuke shrugged without any concern.
Obito was put out by the dog's indifference, "How come you're not worried?"
Over the years and missions with Kakashi, they have faced numerous setbacks and had to work around them. This would be no different. "Kakashi didn't seem worried," Bisuke replied and decided to lay down and rest his legs before the next part.
"Of course he isn't," Obito rolled his eyes. He then eyed the resting dog, "Aren't you going back to them and help them escape?"
"I'll wait for the distraction and meet them at the marketplace," Bisuke said. "Once you set it off, I won't be much help since so many people will start running around. If anything, a dog might catch their attention."
"Even his dogs are paranoid," Obito said with scoff, but he accepted the explanation and sat down next to Bisuke in silence as they counted down the final minutes.
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Kakashi looked over the seals drawn by Ayana. Unlike common sealing techniques, which would used algorithmic logic, Ayana had used an asymmetric geometric pattern. Seals based on geometric symmetry were much more difficult and were reserved for complex seals like the Eight Trigram Seal or the Four Element Seal Minato had used to seal the Kyuubi inside of Naruto. He had never seen them used for something as simple as a chakra draining seal. She had done it effortlessly too. The Uzumaki sealing techniques truly were to be feared. He would love to discuss the spiritual energy draining seals he created and see how she would modify them. But that was for another time.
He positioned himself behind the door and beckoned Ayana to stay where she was. Only a few moments later and a loud boom reverberated from close by. Kakashi could hear shouts of alarm and even saw Ayana jump, hand clutching her heart. She knew of the plan, but it still caught her by surprise.
The door opened briskly as one of the guards roughly called her over, "Come back here!"
Kakashi nodded to her, and she followed the man, leaving the bathroom door open.
Knowing the shower head would now look suspicious, Kakashi screwed it back on. Ayana wouldn't have had time to unscrew it before the guards rushed in after the explosion. If the guards remembered how quickly they'd checked on her, it would seem too coincidental for her to have removed the shower head just before the explosion. That kind of timing could tip someone off. He'd have to find another way to arm a civilian.
Kakashi heard one of the other guard opening the bedroom door, "What's going on?"
"Not sure. I just heard an explosion. Same as you," one replied abruptly from the hallway.
Kakashi could hear many footsteps running around outside. He snuck a glance and saw both guards by the door. He scanned the room and immediately pinpointed a vase, a lamp and a heavy book at the desk near the bed where Ayana was standing. He dismissed the vase as it would shatter on impact and might alert someone.
Instead, he snuck to the desk, grabbed the book and then ducked under it. While hidden from view he slowly unhooked the lamp from the socket as the guards stayed by the door to try and get more information.
"It's coming from the brewery!" he heard a voice shouting.
"I don't think it's Iwa, a lot of Konoha are here," another said.
"What do we do?" the guard asked his partner.
Kakashi rolled the wire of the lamp to prevent it from hitting anything and alerting them. He then grabbed the lamp and book, crawled under the bed. Such a cliché hiding spot, Kakashi thought. But it was the best cover the room had.
"The rest have it covered, we'll stay here," the other said after a beat, and he closed the door. They could still hear the panic outside the door.
"What do you think it is?" one asked as Kakashi saw his shoes pass him as he walked towards the window.
"Like Kuzani said, I doubt it's Iwa," the man replied as he joined him by the window to watch the other guards leaving the barracks.
Now that they were both facing the other way, Kakashi slowly crouched behind them, book and lamp poised to strike in each hand. Ayana was biting her lip as she watched him make his way closer and closer.
"They're heading towards the brewery. Doesn't make sense for Iwa to attack that. It's more likely an internal –"
Kakashi struck both guards in tandem, using enough force to knock them unconscious. The two fell forward but Kakashi grabbed them and pulled them towards the ground and away from the window.
After he lay them down, he took out the seals prepared by Ayana and slapped them onto the guards to ensure that they stayed out of it for a long period of time. He left the book and lamp on the floor. When they awoke, and not having seen Kakashi at any point, they would assume Ayana took the opportunity with the chaos to escape.
Kakashi heard Ayana take a deep sigh of relief, "That was nerve-wrecking," she said. She had her hands on her knees and bent over as she took a deep breath to ease her nerves.
"Don't worry, I told you I'd get you out of here, right?" Kakashi asked and gave her a reassuring smile. "Let's go."
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The darkness of the night was a stark contrast to the orange glow coming from the brewery in the distance. Now outside, Kakashi could also smell the smoke and see the wisps of smoke travel higher into the sky.
Kakashi held his hand out, ordering Ayana to remain hidden behind the wooden crate as he heard a group of people making their way to the brewery. Two of them had buckets in hand, hoping to help put out the fire.
Kakashi waited for the group to disappear behind the next corner before beckoning Ayana to follow. She shadowed a beat later, her hesitant footsteps mimicking his path. They traveled through the streets and alleyways at a cautious pace. Following Bisuke's instructions, he managed to avoid the paths with more traffic.
Their destination, a crack in the village's outer wooden walls that Ayana could easily slip through. While he could easily carry her up the wall, he instructed Bisuke to find an escape a civilian could manage. Any way to cover up ninja involvement would spare Konoha, or at least, make it difficult for Hateno Village to accuse Konoha of orchestrating her escape.
However, the location of the wall crack was past one area that would pose the most difficult challenge. The street was lined with merchant stalls on either side, and wider than others to accommodate the number of buyers coming to the market. Moreover, since many merchants resided and had their products in the area, patrols were frequent. To cross the street at a civilian pace without being discovered, especially with people now out and about, wouldn't be easy.
Kakashi considered going the long way round, but the longer they stayed in the village, the higher the chance of discovery. They had already increased the expected travel time as they had to meander through many detours to avoid the people loitering outside their house. They were clearly waiting to hear news about the brewery from their family members who rushed to the scene. Thus, his planned diagonal route turned into a maze of twists and turns.
Finally arriving at the merchant street, Kakashi and Ayana ducked behind a tool shed in one of the side roads. Compared to a regular day on the market, the road was not busy. However, Kakashi found more people than ideal. Unlike the alleyways, people were clumped in small groups as they waited for news, mostly older men. It was futile to all rush in and help, and they knew it. Kakashi determined that they had probably sent the younger villagers to the brewery.
Some even used the opportunity to sell drinks and snacks to the waiting people. Even the guards who were patrolling the marketplace stayed in the area to keep an eye on things, most with a beverage in hand. Their eyes would continuously gaze into the direction of the brewery were lisps of smoke continued crawling upwards into the sky. Yet, the orange glow, which earlier was so bright, was now dull. The fire was being tamed. They needed to hurry up before someone checked in on Ayana.
"Wait here," he whispered to Ayana who nodded. He wanted to observe the area and come up with a new way to get them across undetected. Maybe a shadow clone to create a distraction on the opposite end?
Ayana tucked into the shadows as much as she could. She placed one hand on her belly and took a deep breath, steeling herself. She knew this was a risky part of the escape. Kakashi had explained all the details to help her prepare.
He recalled her quavering voice after the discussed this part, asking him to leave her behind if they get caught here. She didn't want Konoha or Kakashi and Obito to get in trouble. If it was a failed mission either way, it's best only she faced the consequences. Kakashi had promised her to do so, but he was a ninja; he didn't need to keep his promise.
Before he could start devising a plan, he heard a familiar voice ring out.
"Hello everyone," Obito's voice called out as he skidded to a stop near the entrance of the merchant street. Next to Obito, Kakashi saw a clone transformed to look like him, Bisuke at his heels. "My name is Uchiha Obito, I am one of the Konoha ninja and wanted to reassure you that nobody is attacking. There was an explosion at the brewery and our ninja have already put out most of the fire."
As Obito began talking, the groups of people disbanded and headed closer. The road in front of him and Ayana cleared up. Obito had made an unexpected but brilliant move. Perfect timing, Obito.
The original plan was for Obito to continue patrolling their designated areas with the clone to give them an alibi. His teammate did so, but knowing that the distraction for the marketplace was no longer an option, he had improvised and came to provide them with a new one. Bisuke probably tipped Obito off that he and Ayana were close by, giving them the perfect timing to distract the masses.
"Hurry," Kakashi grabbed Ayana's hand and used chakra in his feet to pull her along faster. The few guards patrolling the streets were facing Obito and away from them, asking him for more details.
They reached the crack in the wall in mere minutes after that, and Kakashi pulled the planks away, finally giving Ayana a way out of the village. Ayana stared at the gap in the wall, her breath catching as the reality of her freedom hit her. Tears welled up in her eyes, but she blinked them away, determined not to falter now.
"Don't relax until you're safe" Kakashi said and helped guide her through. He followed her and then ran through the familiar hand seals to summon Pakkun and Bull. Kakashi had already informed his Ninken of the plan, but this was their first time meeting Ayana. They trotted up to her and took in her scent.
"We're a bit late, unforeseen circumstances," Kakashi said. With all the detours they were around forty-five minutes behind schedule. "Take her to the outpost. Quickly."
"You got it," Pakkun nodded and then turned to Ayana. "Don't worry, you'll be safe with us."
Bull, who preferred not to speak, licked her hands to try and reassure her, sensing her worry. Kakashi was glad to note that the food and basic medical supplies he had given Bull to help Ayana make the journey safely were strapped to his back
"Thank you," Ayana smiled and patted his head fondly. She then turned to Kakashi. "I can't thank you all enough."
"Don't thank us yet," Kakashi could understand her elation at making it outside. But he was worried Ayana wasn't taking the next part of her escape journey seriously. "I don't know who could be out here. Pakkun and Bull will help lead you to the outpost as safely as they can. The patrols will find you and they already know my dogs. You got the letter?"
Ayana patted her pocket, in it a letter Kakashi had penned to the outpost. While he would have preferred to send her all the way to Konoha, his dogs wouldn't have enough chakra to make the full journey. If they were traveling at ninja speeds sure, but Bull was too small to carry Ayana thus they would have to move at her pace. It was safer to send her to the outpost and let the commanders at the outpost organize her return to Konoha.
Kakashi stood in silence as he watched Ayana jog away with his dogs. They would go at a faster pace in the beginning to cover more distance away from the village, then slow down. Once the trio were no longer visible, he ducked back inside the village and made his way back to Obito. He couldn't wait to reassure the Uchiha that they had done it. Maybe he would also pay a compliment to his teammate for his quick thinking.