Two
Kakashi could tell that the boy wasn’t lying.
He moved over to check on him when he was sure the boy was completely out.
Whatever he was wearing wasn’t shinobi clothes. He couldn’t decipher the drawings from his clothes. He could tell that this wasn’t an ordinary boy. He had cuts and bruises everywhere, and one of his legs was swollen, maybe twisted.
He couldn’t find anything from him, at least belonging to any other force. He had two kunai and a weirdly polished stick but nothing else. He turned toward his own water and found it filled. It was definitely empty before. He sniffed it… no additional smells. He took a swing and found it refreshing. He found nothing in the water.
He frowned and crouched toward the exit. He should leave, right?
This was just a random boy who helped him. He was a completely random boy in the middle of a shinobi-infested forest, and he saw no one… Things didn’t add up.
What happened to Rin’s body?
He sat there for a while, rummaging through his thoughts, and lost track of time. A bit later, he shook himself out and began to prioritise.
Security first, return to Village… and what about this boy?
He didn’t know. So, he slowly slunk out of this cave-like place and looked around. He only found one set of tracks coming this way. Definitely not a shinobi.
The sun was up… Damn it! How long was he out? And why did that guy take care of him?
He should leave him, right?
He looked around a little more; maybe he could identify his location. He didn’t. Even as he moved around, he removed his tracks. He wondered about the water, as he couldn’t find a source, or maybe he filled it on the way… He set a few markers for any Leaf shinobi that may move about and returned to the crooked tree only not to see it.
He frowned but put his hands together for Genjutsu Release; it didn’t matter. He still couldn’t see it. That didn’t make sense. He lifted his headband and looked; the entrance was just there… so it was a Genjutsu, just not something he could release.
He crawled into the cave and pondered over the boy. Checking his pulse, he was still sleeping. He would be just fine. He would be fine if he could cast this kind of jutsu, so why wasn’t he leaving? Why was he watching over the other boy? He shouldn’t care. It didn’t matter that the boy had helped him. Or was it even helping?
He was startled from his thoughts when he heard someone calling his name. He was alert instantly, but he couldn’t recognise the voice. It called his name again, but he still couldn’t recognise it. It called his name again, this time closer, and he could identify it.
It was Minato. He looked back at the boy, still wondering what he should do about him. He was alert and awake, staring at him and the entrance.
“He is calling you, right?” he whispered. “Then, go. At least I know it’s working,” he mumbled at the end.
Kakashi hadn’t indicated anything but sent a kunai flying out of the cave. The boy scowled at his action. Minato somehow found a way in.
“That wasn’t very subtle,” Minato said as he entered. “Did you cast the Genjutsu? Who is that? He seems sharp.”
“He brought me here.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know.”
“Why?” Minato turned to the boy.
“No good deed ever goes unpunished, huh? Was I supposed to leave him there and hope whoever killed the rest of them didn’t come back?”
“How are you sure he wasn’t the one who killed them?”
“His weapons were clean. Only his arm was covered in blood.”
“Did you see what happened?”
“No, I only woke up some distance from a dead body, still oozing blood. Can I ask a non-rhetorical question now?”
Minato frowned, and Kakashi was in a similar state. Minato nodded.
“Where am I?”
“What?” both of them asked incredulously.
“I have no clue where I am or where I found him. Can you tell me something?”
“The loosest term would be at the border of Fire Country.” The boy just blinked at them… his eyes clouded over.
He began to mumble, his eyes closing slowly, slumping to the side as he mumbled something about it not making sense.
“Why didn’t you…?” Minato didn’t finish the question as he noticed Kakashi walking over to the boy and taking his pulse.
“His sleeping again. Can… would the Village take him?” Kakashi found himself asking. He wasn’t sure where it was coming from, just like he didn’t know why he couldn’t just leave. He swallowed an anxious clump as he waited for Minato’s response.
“Are you sure he isn’t from any other nation?”
“I don’t know that. But there aren’t any symbols. Or I can’t tell. Those clothes don’t exactly look shinobi.”
“He could be a spy.”
“He told me to leave. He didn’t ask to come with me or ask questions other than his own location, and I didn’t place that Genjutsu.”
“He did?”
“Or it was here before. I don’t know. You followed his tracks?”
“I did. I found the place. What happened to Rin?”
Kakashi explained what happened since they separated. “I don’t know what happened to Rin’s body.” He finished.
“But you still want to take him to the village?”
“I can’t explain it.”
Minato walked over to the boy and inspected him. He found the strange, polished stick but got grabbed by the boy. Both blinked up at the boy in surprise but found him still asleep.
“He has some strange injuries. I have no clue what could have made some of them, especially the fresh ones, and I would like to know why he values that stick more than a kunai.”
“He took those from one of the bodies.”
“Ah. Judging by the distance, he walked at least three or four hours, depending on his pace, but strangely enough, the steps weren’t as deep as they should have been if he carried you. Aside from that, I couldn’t detect his injury from his steps. His steps seemed steady and precise. According to all that, he isn’t entirely untrained. His chakra is rather large but barely trained. Hmm, take him to the Village. You won't probably get him past the gate, so wait for me.”
“Just like that?”
Minato nodded. “Let him sleep on it a bit. He seems wary but not unreasonable. See if he would talk about how he got to your location.”
Kakashi nodded, and Minato got out of the place. He could hear him try the Genjutsu release. He stood there for a while before he left, and Kakashi kept his watch over the boy.
He woke up five hours later, noticing Kakashi still there, and sighed.
“Got any water left?”
“No.”
“Too bad. Why are you still here?”
“I was told to take you to the Village.”
“And what if I don’t want to.”
“A Hidden Village of the Leaf is still considered the strongest and safest village.”
He leaned his head back and looked up.
“What time is it?” he suddenly asked. “Is it dark yet?”
“It’s not that late,” Kakashi couldn’t get his reactions.
He sighed and began crawling out.
“Where are you going?”
“I’m going to take a leak after that… I suppose where the wind will take me. Maybe I’ll figure out what sort of mess I am now… and pray for some luck and hope I can find my way back,” he said. He kept moving toward the opening, and Kakashi followed. He looked about, placed a hand on that stick, and mumbled something he couldn’t understand.
Then he left the cave, looked around, and picked a place to do his business.
He moved away from the location and found some berries to eat.
“Will you come willingly?”
“Sure. I have no place to go anyway. Might as well have some help who isn’t out to kill me.”
“Does that happen often?”
“Can't say. If someone asked that about a year ago, four times for thirteen years, but if I include past years crap…” he began raising fingers, quickly getting past the first hand. “I don’t want to count any more. I think it is often enough."
“You don’t seem all that capable. Why would people want to kill you?"
“I have no bloody clue.”
“Why don’t you know? Shouldn’t you know why they want to kill you?”
“Would a madman need a reason to kill someone? Would an animal defending their young need more reason to attack? Would a beast care what you are if it’s hungry?”
“You mean all of that happened?”
He hummed.
“But, even madmen, no matter how mad, started with a reason.”
“So, I investigate? Either way, it looks like an impossible task right now.”
“Why say that?”
He stayed quiet and didn’t answer him. So, he began to lead the boy toward the Village. He didn’t speak much after that and just kept looking around. He also kept picking up safe berries to eat.
Just then, he recalled what Minato had said about his twisted or injured leg. He looked back, Hari didn’t complain.
“Doesn’t it hurt?”
“Hmm?”
“Your leg?”
“Ah, it’s nothing. It usually heals up in a couple of days. I just need to avoid getting it worse. So, thanks for keeping to this pace.” After saying that, he kept quiet, and Kakashi found himself frowning again.
How can he be so easy with it?
After several hours of travelling toward the Village, the sun began to set, and he thought about making camp. He turned to say that to him but found that he already had a pile of sticks in his arms. Then he just raised a brown in question.
“I’ve camped before. Had to do everything, and it doesn’t feel like it will be a warm night.”
“I’m not sure it’s wise to make a fire,” he said, watching the defeated expression on him. “Unless…” he perked up like a puppy, “You are willing to cast that Genjutsu again?”
“Genjutsu?” he looked confused.
“The illusion that made me not see the entrance to the cave?”
“Oh… I’m not really good at it. Not sure it would even work out in the open like this.”
“Then practice. I’ll see if I can get some rabbit or something.”
He sighed. Kakashi wondered what that was about and walked to the forest. He then crouched on a tree and watched the camp, but whatever he did, the camp was already waning from his eye. He uncovered his other eye and saw that he was mumbling and holding that stick.
But just then, their eyes connected. He thought it might be a fluke, but he kept staring at his exact location… he moved to a different location, but Hari had turned away from him and was making fire.
Was it a fluke?
He returned to the invisible camp with a fire.
The boy basically ignored him for the rest of the evening. But he had to say something about the night guard and needed some sleep.
“Sleep. I’ll wake you when I get tired.”
“It doesn’t work like that.”
“When do you want me to wake you?” he asked, staring at the stars. It was a nice evening, but it wouldn’t stay that way long. Clouds were gathering, and he had even put up a tent, just in case.
“When the moon moves there,” he pointed, and Hari nodded. He probably wasn’t going to get a better answer anyway. He turned and went to the tent.
Just a few minutes after he laid down, he could hear Hari moving away from the camp. He was too tired, but he had to know, so he snuck after him.
He found him sitting against the rock, looking at the stars, tears falling. He was just looking at the stars, tears falling without any sign of stopping.
Whatever he was going through, it hurt to look, so he left and tried to sleep. He was tired and fell asleep quickly. Kakashi was woken just at the time he told the other boy. Hari just laid down, covered his eyes with his elbow and at least attempted to sleep.
Kakashi stayed on watch outside. Nothing happened, but he wondered why he even trusted him that much. To guard him while he slept, he isn’t even a ninja, so why was he so okay with him?
Hari woke three hours later with a start, breathing out of place. He looked around for a bit, his eyes landing on him, his shoulders sinking like defeated. Why would he feel like that?
He didn’t say a word and began packing things up. Kakashi didn’t mind, and they began to move. He hadn’t noticed it at first, but as time began to move forward that day, the more he looked back to see if Hari was still with him.
Was he really not a trained ninja, and how was he doing it?
The noise he made lessened. His chakra began getting smaller, and his expression was that of a blind man following without any more reason than to follow.
He shouldn’t care, right? He shouldn’t care that he was going through some horrible pain.
They stopped for lunch. He didn’t eat more than two mouthfuls, and they just sat down, waiting for him to finish.
He shouldn’t care, right?
He didn’t know why, but he did. So, he did what he knew how to do.
“Get up and copy my moves as best you can,” Kakashi pulled out one of his kunai and, with a simple flick of his wrist, sent the kunai flying and thunking into the tree trunk. He didn’t look back, so he pulled another kunai with the other hand and repeated the action. The other kunai thunked into the trunk just beside his first kunai.
He could hear a sigh and a mumble of “Might as well try” from him.
Kakashi stepped away from him, sat down some distance away and began watching how he would do. He didn’t even hit the tree when he tried. They just kept bouncing off the tree, but some life returned to his features. Kakashi let him try for an hour before they began moving again. By the end of the hour, he started hitting the tree with both hands. That wasn’t normal, right? He couldn’t really judge by his own standards.
Even as they walked forward, he kept himself from tripping over the tree roots and vines around him, even as he began to play with the two kunai he had. He made himself some weird games with the blades, and even as he watched, he wondered… was he really not trained in the ninja ways? Those games he played with the blades started getting faster and faster. Even as he watched, the blade began to disappear somewhere around his hands.
They made camp in the evening.
Harri had picked up branches again, and as soon as he said they would be camping there, he began to make a fire.
“Wait, aren’t you going to make that…”
“I did,” his voice was dead. The dried logs began to catch fire, and Kakashi nodded, stepping away, checking if it was really there. The camp disappeared from his eyes, and he went to see if he could get some meat. It took him a while to get something, and he had to stop some distance before the camp as he could see the fire… it wasn’t visible yesterday, so why would it be visible now? He snuck closer and noticed a group of bandits crowding the fire, but no Hari.
He looked over the location, but no, he wasn’t there.
Someone tapped his shoulder; he whirled around with a kunai in his hand, aiming at the person's neck, and stopped just a mere moment before cutting him. It was Hari, his hands raised.
Hari took the rabbit from him and tilted his head. He didn’t make a sound. Kakashi began to lead them away from their old campground. This time, he noticed that Hari had started to pick up some wood.
He was relieved. Hari wasn’t stupid. If one cannot fight, find a way out, and don’t reveal yourself. At least, that was what it seemed to him right now.
This time, they managed to find a cave. Still, he didn’t notice when Hari placed that Genjutsu. The fire was made, and Kakashi cleaned the rabbit on the way, so right now, they only had to wait for it to cook. Hari was playing with those two kunai again, his fingers moving as fast as his own when necessary, but he was just playing. That could be useful…
Hari ate his part of the rabbit this time, and after that, he asked if it was okay to take the second part of the night watch. He didn’t care as long as he got to sleep a bit. He fell asleep pretty fast after their chat and woke up just like he did last time, but just a bit before he was supposed to wake him.
Hari moved out of the cave and looked at the stars again. A short while later, the tears started again, and he kept watching the stars. Kakashi looked away; he just couldn’t look at it. He looked painful.
He slept for some time before he was woken. Aside from the bedroll, all things were cleaned up; even the ashes of their fire were covered by dirt. He frowned, not getting it. It was still too early. Then he heard the sound of people speaking.
He slunk forward to the cave opening. It was the same bandits from earlier, but at least two were missing. As they ran, they were grumbling about something, and Kakashi noticed the two Iwa ninjas playing with them.
He frowned.
Two? This deep in Fire Country…
Hari grabbed him from behind and felt something cover him. A moment later, someone followed slowly after the first two and stepped into this cave.
“Ingenious,” the man mumbled. Then noticed the bedroll and scanned the area but didn’t seem to notice them.
He should use this… he looked at Hari, who was looking at him. His eyes were still a bit dead inside.
The man turned and walked out of the cave. He should kill him. He really should. He didn’t. He grabbed the bedroll and motioned for Hari to follow quietly.
The Iwa ninja moved sideways from the Village so they could continue toward it without attracting their attention.
It had been hours since then, and Hari had started to play with his kunai again.
But just as suddenly, he threw one, not to a tree but into the forest. The force of that throw made the blade move lightning-fast. The next moment, he couldn’t hear a thunk, but a moment later, there was a yelp, and Kakashi stopped for a moment and took off in that direction.
He found the person they saw in the cave, bleeding from his neck. He tried to hold it, but as soon as he saw him, he let go… Hari hadn’t followed him, and it didn’t look like he would. Kakashi searched through him and picked up a few kunai but nothing else.
He found Hari sitting down under a tree. Kakashi motioned for them to continue and gave him three kunai. It seemed he didn’t want to think, so he took those three offered kunai and began trying something with them. It was just a few hours later, but Kakashi could only see two blades in his hands, and yet he knew that he switched them out regularly and where he stashed them, but damn, the switch became almost seamless.
That evening, they reached Konoha, and Hari didn’t complain once during their travel. He hadn’t even stayed at the average civilian level, but he kept up with no complaints.
The gate wasn’t very understanding, as Minato had said. But, it was also apparent that Hari wasn’t a ninja and that Minato had said something about their arrival. Minato arrived at the gate and immediately noticed the change in the boy. Minato turned to him, but he had no idea what it was about. He just knew that Hari was suffering through something he wasn’t willing to talk about.
With Minato’s assurance, Hari was let in and taken to the hospital to be checked out. All his scratches, bruises, and twisted ankle were healed. However, they needed a blood sample to make sure he was healthy.
“What is it going to be used for?” His tone was numb but still a bit defensive.
“Just to ensure you are healthy,” the nurse responded without thinking. It seemed to have assured him in some way he couldn’t fathom.
“Okay,” Hari gave the nurse his hand, and the blood was taken. After that, he was taken to T&I, where he only stayed for a day. He had never seen a visit that short, especially for an outsider.
Because it was Minato who spoke for the boy, Hari was made Minato’s responsibility.
Hari stood slightly away from them while Inoichi pulled Minato to the side.
“Don’t push him too hard. He will come out one day, but right now, just let him be and try talking about simple things. Maybe teach him something. It will take time.”
“What will?”
“His grieving. Whoever he lost was huge. I don’t have to do my mind jutsu to see that, and he truly isn’t a ninja or any spy. He doesn’t have any skills; he can't even lie convincingly. There are so many tells. Just… let him be.”
Minato nodded, and Kakashi understood the silent crying.
“Kushina isn’t in the Village right now. I’ll take you to my place,” he said to the kid, and again, he numbly followed them.