Chapter 9
Hound has been on a bad mission streak lately. Each one goes wrong in some way, and sometimes it comes at a high cost – whether it’s losing his anonymity in enemy territory; being easily ambushed, or even, unfortunately, costing the lives of other agents.
Since joining the ANBU, Hound has never had so many bad missions before.
But as the saying goes: once is chance. Twice is a coincidence. The third time is enemy action.
In this case it's not too hard to figure out what's going on or who your enemy is. Hound should have known, in fact he should have expected it: retaliation.
Root does not accept failures. They don't accept losses, they don't accept disloyalty. They've never had anything like this before and they've never been through a situation like this before – having one of their own agents fail, switching sides and allegiances.
Hound was a Root for over a year, almost two. Now he's not anymore. And Root isn't handling it well because it's unacceptable to them.
Now they are in this revenge game.
Hound is back to being a regular agent under the Hokage's command. No one seems to have noticed anything wrong going on internally between Root and Hound - the only ones who knew about the Hokage's assassination attempt were Root, Hound, the Hokage himself, and the ANBU guard that day.
The ANBU guard was sworn to silence and complete secrecy. (Nothing new there. They never talk about the things they hear and see in the Hokage's office, the Councilors' office, or their own HQ.)
Hound can make several complaints and write several reports about "failed intelligence compromising the mission and the agents", but internally he knows that this will lead to nothing.
Hound considers daring to go directly to the Hokage and say that he is being actively sabotaged by Elder Danzō, but without presenting concrete evidence the only thing Hound will get is a sigh and a promise to "sort things out" and then get a whole week of paid time off.
It's revolting! Hound is being actively targeted and can't do anything to stop it. So Hound doesn't make any official complaints. He just holds on, fights and persists.
(Obito's comments from that past dream come back to Kakashi and resonate in his mind all the time for the rest of the week)
Hound is at his limit.
He often returns injured from missions. He often comes back with chakra exhaustion. He mourns fellow ANBUs who die because of him.
He is also suspicious of his own fellow ANBUs because the Root agents never took off their masks in front of anyone and thus their identities were secret, so Hound has no way of knowing who is trustworthy and who is not.
He becomes paranoid when he leaves the Village not knowing when the next sabotage or ambush will happen.
He doesn't let his guard down even within the Village. He's paranoid even at home, not knowing if there's an ANBU-Root from the Nara Clan hiding in the shadows waiting for him.
Kakashi redoubles his traps. He checks his equipment several times. He keeps an eye on the shadows and the movement around him.
It's maddening. It's exhausting. It's stressful beyond belief
Kakashi is being followed (stalked) frequently. Sometimes it's four chakra signatures, sometimes it's just one.
Hound is always ready (and waiting) for a fight at any moment.
He is wary of anyone who tries to get close to him – ANBU Crow is one of them.
Crow is a rookie, he's promising, he's a praised genius. An Uchiha, after all.
Hound isn't sure if Crow is Root or not, but it doesn't really matter. An Uchiha friendly with Hound (Kakashi) is reason to be suspicious.
But the kid - he's a kid, years younger - seems genuine (which could be an act). But he has a playful personality (and how weird is that? Uchihas are all poker-faced. The only Uchiha outside of the norm was Obito) - and Crow likes working with Hound. Likes training with him.
Agent Crow never pushes the envelope, never asks questions about his ocular gift, never pushes the boundaries. Not the Hound ones, at least. The other agents say Crow is a little shit.
Hound (Kakashi) knows that it is not Crow who is stalking him outside of ANBU hours. The chakra signature is not right – Uchihas are like fire, fragrant smoke, temperate, spicy and hot chakra.
His unknown pursuer is like wet earth and old tree bark.
Hound keeps his guard up at all times.
Eventually Hound meets his pursuer: a young Root boy named Kinoe.
Despite Kakashi's initial distrust of him, Kinoe proved to be an intriguing, intelligent boy, who could use Mokuton (surprisingly! although no one knew of its existence and its rare ability) and was overall a very nice boy. But there was a problem: the boy was Root with a mission. Against Kakashi
Despite their fragile friendship, Kakashi let his guard down a little. Just a little.
He liked Kinoe, but he never forgot that the boy was Root on a mission.
(Eventually the betrayal happens. Kakashi discovers that the mission was to steal his Sharingan for Danzō. It didn't work, but it was close. Again. Kakashi keeps failing to protect His eye.)
The fight between Hound and Kinoe happens, and the rest you know the story
-
Despite all the attempts to sabotage him on his missions, Kakashi becomes an ANBU Captain.
Hound is too qualified not to be promoted. He has been highly recommended and his stellar track record carries enough weight to merit a promotion.
With the new promotion and new status comes new responsibilities.
Hound helps train the newbies and helps organize the teams according to the missions. He also plans mock battles and becomes demanding with his subordinates.
No one can complain. Hound is one of the best in this organization, if he demands anything, his subordinates should learn and improve themselves.
Unexpectedly Hound also ends up gaining three new Kouhais: Tenzo (formerly Kinoe) currently codenamed Cat;
Shisui, current codename Crow and Itachi, current codename Weasel – Itachi is the newest record breaker in this Organization.
Breaking his record, the Uchiha boy became the youngest agent among their ranks. (A source of pride for the Uchiha clan)
The four of them together formed Team Ro.
Together they became the best squad in ANBU.
Together they became memorable until the day their squad underwent a change. It was inevitable. Change happens to all squads and Hound knew that their unit's days were numbered from the beginning because Uchiha Itachi was one of those cases of a rapidly rising genius who would be difficult to stop. (Just like Hound had done before)
Unsurprisingly, Itachi rose through the ranks very quickly.
Raising rapidly from rank to rank, Itachi became a Captain in his own right and gained his own squad in the process – and as expected, he took Agent Crow with him.
Those two were two peas in a pod
Despite being separated, Team Ro still got together and worked together occasionally whenever possible, but Hound was still prone to going on solo missions due to Root continuing his sabotage attempts.
At first, Kakashi was worried that Root might sabotage Tenzo as well. They both expected it, but nothing happened. Tenzo didn't have the same problems as Kakashi and that was strange, but after much reflection they came to a conclusion: the Mokuton was too precious to be destroyed.
The Hokage might stop being lenient with Danzō if Tenzo was purposefully injured.
(Which was good. Kakashi was relieved that his Kouhai wouldn't be persecuted and sabotaged, but Kakashi also resented Hiruzen. Apparently Kakashi not having a hereditary kekkei genkai of his own made him worth less in the Council's eyes. If it weren't for his sharingan...)
But as always, Kakashi swallowed his resentment and lowered his head.
It is well known that Hound is an elite shinobi; S-rank with a warning to flee immediately if spotted.
He's been through a lot of shit and he's crawled out of shitty situations even worse than this.
He persists and resists and doesn't give in. He always does his best, but sometimes there might be someone better than you out there. Someone who's more prepared. Someone who's more powerful. Someone who's luckier.
Today is not his lucky day.
Hound is unsure if the mission was sabotaged or not, but it went completely wrong and he may not come out of this alive or in one piece.
He was sent to the Land of Water to investigate the growing wave of desertions that were happening in Kiri. The internal unrest in the place began to make international news several months ago after the Kiri civil war broke out and Konoha wanted to know how the Daimyo and his Court were reacting to the anarchy that had taken over Kirigakure.
(Kakashi has no love for Kiri. But apparently the Daimyo of Mizu has even less because the man and his court don't care about their Village waging an internal war and weakening their country.)
Hound managed to infiltrate the house of a nobleman of the Court by getting a job as a stable keeper. Everything was going well in the mission. He spied and dug up as much information as possible, but when it was time to leave he was ambushed by a large group of chakra-enhanced bandits.
He had barely left the Water Capital behind when this happened. He was still in disguise and using the civilian routes to leave the country when his group was suddenly surrounded. The civilians screamed in fear and ran away—Hound included.
The group of civilians were scattered and pursued, but it soon became apparent that Hound (in disguise) was too skilled a civilian to be a mere civilian.
Inevitably he was discovered to be an infiltrator ninja, but his disguise remained and so his true identity was hidden.
Hound put up a good fight; he fled, killed, and lost many pursuers. But these were just bandits with some rudimentary shinobi training, and they also had the advantage in numbers—unfortunately, their pursuit was also loud and noisy, and they inevitably drew the attention of real Kiri-nin.
Things went downhill from there.
Hound was in enemy territory and at a disadvantage. He couldn't reveal himself as a Konoha ninja and there was no way he could be recognized as Hatake Kakashi.
But he was out of luck.
The Kiri-nins realized that he was too good of a shinobi and that automatically meant jounin or ANBU. The fight was tough. Hound was starting to lose his rhythm and run out of soldier pills. He was going to get caught if he didn't get to the border quickly.
.
.
.
(He didn't get to the border)
Hound has been beaten and captured. He knows that torture will soon come at some point because Hound is not talking. He is revealing absolutely nothing and they are getting angry quickly.
Kiri-nin have always been quick to resort to violence. Death first and questions later is their motto.
But they want him alive, for now.
Hound is covered in numerous chakra suppression seals and has been dragged off to be locked away in some rather busy hideout. They intend to take him to Kirigakure as soon as possible. (Because obviously they don't want to miss the chance to have Hatake Kakashi as a guest in their T&I department)
Hound needs to escape before that because if he is imprisoned within the heart of the Blood Village, he may never be able to escape.
Hound thinks about that security seal he has hidden on his body. A seal that should only be used as an absolute last resort. He will only activate it if there is no other way to escape.
(His body and his Sharingan have never fallen into the wrong hands)
-
Hound is locked in the cell after another round of creative interrogation when Obito steps out of the shadows like a spectral ghost.
"Tsk, bakashi. Looks like they did a good number on you."
"O-Obito?!" Kakashi groans in pain and squints his only eye to get a better look at him: all black clothing, a black tunic over his dark robes, a mask hanging from his waist and his face mostly hidden by his hair.
He almost doesn't look like the Obito that Kakashi is used to seeing – the one from his dreams with disheveled hair, dirty clothes and a scarred face with blood running down his only remaining eye.
But the change in his dead friend's current appearance is not unexpected as his mind often wanders to Obito as a half-shapeshifter - sometimes varying between looking like a twelve-year-old child and then looking like a crushed teenager who claims to be living in hell.
(It's not right, in Kakashi's opinion, his friend was a kind soul who did noble deeds. It didn't make sense for Obito to be sent to hell. Kakashi admits that his mind sometimes goes over the top.)
Speaking of mental health...
The fact that Obito has changed his appearance again is a bad sign about his current mental state.
Perhaps Kakashi is in a more serious condition than he had previously considered if he is raving about his dead friend in his cell.
"Are you here to take me to the other side with you?" He asks a genuine question. Kakashi has lost a lot of blood, perhaps it is already killing him.
Obito laughs nasally. "No. You are not on the verge of death, as far as I can tell."
"Hn"
"I heard them talking. They're quite excited to have caught you," Obito approaches him on the ground, crouches down and gently runs his fingers through his dyed (half-faded now) hair, greasy with dirt.
Kakashi shivers at the phantom sensation of touch.
"You need to get up and run now. I heard them say they're waiting for a medic-nin. Do you know what that means?" he muttered darkly.
Kakashi is shaking in fear now, his thoughts racing.
No. That can't happen.
But he won't be able to run very far because of the strategic wounds inflicted on his body.
He has tendons in his feet cut to prevent him from running and his fingers broken too, to prevent him from using jutsus.
Damn! He's in deep shit.
Kakashi winced in pain. "Ugh. I know. I—I don't think I'll make it very far."
Obito narrowed his eyes. "You'll do it. You'll do your best, do you hear me?" The gentle fingers from before disappear and Obito grabs his hair in a firm, almost painful grip.
Kakashi groans at the very real physical pain.
The Sharingan eye glow is dangerous when Obito speaks again. "You're not allowed to die or give up yet, you hear bakashi? So don't get suicidal because I'll frustrate you if you try something stupid and you won't like my punishment later," he pulls your hair painfully as a warning before let him go.
"Now get ready. I'll give you a little help."
With that he leaves
-
The 'little help' is actually Obito deactivating the chakra suppressing seals and Kakashi almost breathes a sigh of relief at having his chakra circulating freely again.
He tries to concentrate chakra on his worst wounds to numb the pain and prepares to take advantage of any opening Obito gives him to escape.
Hound doesn't know how the Phantom will manage this, but okay. They trust him.
Hound sees the opening and takes advantage of it to make his move. He escapes and kills many in his path using a sword and several stolen kunai. He fights his way out and runs.
He runs and tries to ignore the excruciating pain in his tendons, but as he predicted, Hound doesn't get very far. He pauses and grits his teeth in pain.
He lists his main injuries: bleeding in several places; cuts, excessive sweating and the beginning of a fever.
"Why did you stop? Keep running!" Obito reappears behind a tree, startling Kakashi.
"I can't. Ugh. My tendons..."
"Fuck, it was cut? Why didn't you tell me before?! Arg! Let me see," Obito walked over and crouched on the ground, his hands glowing a soft green and - shock!
Kakashi shivered at the sensation. He could feel it. The tingling and the actual touch of a real hand on his ankles.
He feels the touch. (It shouldn't be possible.)
Kakashi breathes raggedly and carefully (fearfully) reaches out to support himself on the other man's shoulder—who has a real, physical body. Real and solid.
He grips the other man's dark clothes tightly and ignores the pain in his fingers.
"O-obito..." He murmurs in disbelief, reverence and mostly in disbelief that Obito is -
"Kakashi, you're disturbing me," he says
Two shaky, bruised hands reach up to touch his disfigured face. "Kakashi! I said -"
"You're real," Kakashi says, his voice cracking.
He's real. He's alive, alive, alive, alive - and he's here with me ~ his thoughts swirl with euphoria, shock, joy, anger, and hysteria.
Obito stops his work and stares at the man before him.
Kakashi looks completely devastated or hopeful, Obito can't tell. But his eyes... his eyes are shining with tears and he looks at Obito like he's some divine miracle and it's disconcerting.
Hatake's hands leave his face to circle his neck in an awkward, tight hug. Too tight.
A litany of "It's you. You're alive. It's really you. You're alive" rings in his ear and Obito's body is as taut as a taut ninja wire.
A hesitant hand is placed on Kakashi's back and all Kakashi can do is hold the other man tighter in his arms and inhale deeply the scent of salt water (of the sea?), ash and wet wood.
"Kakashi -"
Obito is lost and tense because he doesn't know how to hug anyone anymore. (Because it's been a long, long time)
He's torn between the surprising urge to grab Kakashi in the same tight embrace he's in now – or else push him away completely as if Hatake were a contagious plague.
Obito should probably do the latter, yes, but Kakashi's embrace is warm and tight. So good and so forbidden.
Forbidden for reasons...
Damn it! Obito can't risk everything like this! He can't expose himself and risk his anonymity, risk his plans and risk the Grand Master Plan…
Damn it! He needs to fix this fast or else -
Obito actually considers putting the most stunning genjutsu on Kakashi and making him forget this moment, or making him believe he was delirious in a drug-induced dream.
But Obito hesitates because of a new overwhelming desire rising within him
Like a devastating tsunami, the new desire doesn't want to let Kakashi go. Doesn't want to send him back to that trash village. Doesn't want to be separated from him.
This is how they're supposed to be: Together. How it should be. His mind whispers.
Then all his inner turmoil calms down and Obito makes a decision.
A decision that is probably irresponsible and risky. Totally impulsive, one that he may regret and put himself on thin ice, but.
He wants it. He wants it. He wants it.
"Shh, Kakashi" Obito calms him with his softest voice and says, "I'm here"
Kakashi squeezes him tightly and with a trembling voice says: "Obito. Obito. You're here! But how?" - so many questions in his mind and Kakashi can't choose just one.
"It's a long story. And if you want to know, you'll have to come with me."
"I will! Please, Obito, I - ", Kakashi doesn't know what he's asking for or agreeing to, but he wants it anyway.
"Do you trust me?" Obito asks and Kakashi immediately nods. "Yes."
"Then let me take care of you. Let me take you to a safe place," he pleads.
Kakashi agrees. He doesn't let go of Obito.
With difficulty because of Kakashi's grip, Obito maneuvers him until he is able to pick him up and lift him up.
"Now, this might be uncomfortable. Try not to throw up on me, bakashi," he warns.
"Uh?" Kakashi looks at him in confusion as he sees Obito's Sharingan spin and change shape.
A vortex appears above them and they are swallowed up.