Meet the Squad
After his meeting with his superior, the ANBU returned to the pack. It was after dark, chakra signatures and the wards informing him the litter were safe within their den.
Sitting underneath his tree, he flared his chakra. Not long after, Kōri-san emerged, padding up to sit in front of him. Her ears read wary but the way harvest moon eyes searched him, informed Inu it wasn’t him she was skeptical of.
“Kirum’s okay,” he started as way of greeting. Relief untensed lithe muscles. “He’s being looked after by a pack friend of mine, just to ensure nothing happens while he’s healing.”
“And of the human who hurt him?”
Inu gave a feral grin behind his mask, “dealt with. The village Alpha has given me permission to hunt down their Alpha to ensure it will not happen again.”
“Good.” The she-wolf huffed, “I will not take threats against my pack. If something like this should happen again I will take my pups and leave, Inu-san.”
He nodded. “I am aware and informed the village Alpha as such. He is not willing to lose such a pack because of a rabid wolf.”
“Rabid squirrel more like,” she sneezed. “A coward fed only on the power of others.”
“How is Naruto?”
Kōri-san shrugged, worrysafeprotect projecting off her in waves. “He is…okay for now. He will better once his brother is returned. He carries the making of an Alpha himself in the way he worries over his siblings, I believe what happened has only firmed his choice in protecting them. They, one and all, are impatient to begin training. I had to make many promises before they finally settled for the night.”
Here she hesitated, observing him before she bowed her head, “Should you wish, I will concede Alpha to you. I cannot thank you enough for saving my pups. I thought the territory safe, it never occurred to me there might be danger lurking beyond the borders.”
In that statement alone, he remembered truly just how young she was. Yes, she was almost his age but in the terms of the Shiroi ōkami, who’s lives expanded for a hundred years or more, she was naught but an adolescent herself. Naive in some ways, overconfident in others.
“Keep the title, Kōri-san.” he told her softly, “The pups need a Den Mother more now then they need an Alpha. When they are older, and my responsibilities to the human packs lessen, then I will accept it. But until then, treat them as the young they are. Without you, Naruto and Gumo would not have the childhood they do. To the humans they are a nuisance, something to be wary of. You give them the mother they are missing.”
She raised her head, surprise in her perked ears and open mouth and he reached, out, slowly, ever so carefully, extending a hand until it rested between her ears. “The territory is safe. There are wards, powered by the blood of my ancestors, that will allow no one but pack through. As long as the pups remain within the boundaries nothing can harm them.”
Briefly, Kōri-san leaned into the touch before he pulled his hand away. While they’d become talkative, he remembered she was still a wild wolf. More contact would be required before she let him close. He’d even seen it in the way she offered the Alpha title to him, reticent, unwilling to give into someone who only danced around the edges of her pack.
A spike of chakra caught his attention and Inu glanced in the direction. It was brewing, not from anger but bubbling up from the calm water that a sleeping person’s would before they woke.
“Maa, you might want to get back to your pups, Kōri-san, it seems one of them is waking.”
The she-wolf nodded, rising to her feet. Her eyes met his, harvest moon orange meeting silver as if his masks, all of them were nonexistent. For a moment, she didn’t see him as Inu, ANBU Captain. She saw him as Hatake Kakashi, future Alpha. Only then, did she turn away.
“Thank you, Inu-san, may the moon guide your hunt.”
XxX
Two days later found Kakashi squatting on the edge of a building, watching his prey wander down a busy street. If he was going to do this, he was going to do it right. Which meant he needed some help. With the Hokage’s assistance, the three he had in mind had ended up with two weeks of downtime, even if they had no idea of the others involved.
So, here Kakashi sat, watching a brown-haired shinobi amble…until he passed a cart and disappeared. Where to, was immediately answered by the swirling of chakra at his side.
“Kakashi-sempai,” the teen greeted.
Kakashi turned, smiling under his mask so that his visible eye closed with the gesture. “Tenzo-kohai, a pleasure to see you as always.” That should knock him off kilter.
As expected, his ANBU teammate faltered, apprehension in black eyes. “It would if you weren’t stalking me. May I ask why?”
With that, Kakashi stood up, dusting his hands off before setting a hand on Tenzo’s shoulder. “I need your help.” Before his peer could ask, he triggered a shunshin, landing near the Uchiha compound.
He stalked off toward the nearby training grounds, searching for two familiar chakra signatures. The Hatake knew for a fact that where he could find one, he would usually find the other so they shouldn’t be too hard to find.
“Help with what, senpai?”
Kakashi hummed, pulling a hand from a pocket to shake in a so-so gesture. “Little of this, little of that. We just need to find the others and then I’ll explain everything.”
“Find who?”
Finding the bonfirequicksilver and summercampfire chakra signatures, he ignored Tenzo’s question and approached the training ground. Drawing closer, he could hear the clash of metal on metal and feel the lingering chakra that meant powerful jutsu were being thrown around.
A spar then.
They stopped at the edge of the field, watching as two black blurs moved, fighting intensely. Each time the fighters collided, sparks flew followed by a jutsu or two used more as distractions then actual attacks. Until, finally it came to an end.
Two boys stood in the middle of the field, a kunai at each others throats. They were breathing hard, sweat dripping from the intensity of their spar.
Kakashi hummed under his breath, stepping on to the field. As he approached, they noticed him.
Eyes briefly went wide and then weapons disappeared. They bowed as one and the shorter one on the left spoke up up, “Kakashi-taichou, to what do we owe the honor?”
“Uchihas, always so formal.” he thought, a flat look crossing his expression for all of a moment before the boys straightened.
“Maa, maa,” he waved a hand as if dismissing the formalities, “Itachi, Shisui, enough of that. I need your help.”
They shared a look, “Not that this isn’t great you’re asking us for help,” the one on the right, Shisui, started, “but what exactly would you need our help with?”
Here, Kakashi grinned, something dark and malevolent coming to the surface. “You’ll see. Follow me.”
Without another word he turned and left. There was no need to look back, the three chakra signatures, calmcreekforest, bonfirequicksilver, and summercampfire informing the Hatake of his followers as they took to the rooftops and crossed the village. When they neared the Inuzuka compound, he gestured them to wait and shunshind onto the grounds.
In a mirror of the last time he was there, the ninken gathered, watching him. Again he ignored them, moving toward the veterinary clinic in the back. This time, the Alpha did not meet him outside the door, instead when he entered, and crossed the storage room, he found said ninken standing in the doorway.
Blocking it.
Kakashi did not meet the Alpha’s remaining eye, diverting his so as not to challenge the wolfdog in his own territory. “Kuromaru-san, is Hana-san in?”
The ninken flicked an ear, agreement before he turned. Kakashi followed him to the room where Hana had taken Kirum two days before.
“What’s that?” hearing the young voice through the shoji, something in Kakashi relaxed, a release of tension he hadn’t realized he’d been carrying. Kuromaru clawed the door aside, squeezing through, and the Hatake stood in the doorway, his eye landing on the table.
Kirum sat on a folded towel, sitting up and watching Hana as she moved about doing this or that in the cabinets. To Kakashi, she looked stocking them, taking inventory and replenishing what was needed. The wolf pup’s question apparently wasn’t the first, as he repeated it when she pulled something else out.
Each time, she patiently explained what something was as she made notes on a clipboard before putting it back in the cupboard. When Kuromaru barked, she looked up, meeting his gaze.
“Oh, Kakashi-san, my apologies, I didn’t see you there. Is your pack okay?”
He smiled beneath his mask, “My pack is missing one of their number but other then that they’re okay.”
“I see,” She was smart, picking up on his meaning immediately and glanced back at her patient. “Kirum-kun, are you ready?”
The wolf pup tilted his head, a too large ear flopping to the side and looked between her and Kakashi. “Ready? Am I going somewhere?” after a moment, he perked up, jumping up and wiggling from head to tail. “Am I going back to my pack? I get to see Mama and Ruto and Gumo—”
Hana giggled, moving to the table to catch him before he ended up sliding off in his excitement. “Yes, yes, you are going home. My friend here is going to take you back but,” she leaned back, tapping him on the nose. “You have to behave and remember what I said earlier?”
Kirum frowned, eyes crossing as he watched her finger before he nodded, “no speaking in front of humans until I’m back with my pack. Mean humans will take pups that speak.” As if crossing his mind for the first time, he looked at Kakashi, brown eyes scrutinizing him.
“Does that mean Lone is a nice human?”
She arched a brow, “what makes you think he’s a Lone?” Ah, they must’ve been getting to know each other well over his stay if she understood the term wolves used for one without a pack.
As if to make his point, Kirum sniffed, before sneezing recognition. “He smells like a Lone. Gumo and Ruto are always talking about the scent in the trees.”
For the love of treats, these wolves were smart. They were going to give him a heart attack one day, he just knew it.
Hana nodded, running a hand down Kirum’s back, “That’s a good pup. No more getting yourself into trouble now. I don’t want to see you on my table again unless it’s for a check up and don’t go worrying your Den Mother again, understood?”
Kirum’s tongue lolled from the side of his mouth and he jumped up, licking her chin. “I promise, Hana-san.”
With that, Kakashi entered the room, carefully picking the wriggling wolf pup up. Once Kirum settled in his arms, the Hatake nodded grateful to her before triggering another shunshin. He landed back on top the roof where he’d left his team. As predicted Tenzo and Shisui startled at the canine in his arms.
“Good Gods, Kakashi, did you steal an Inuzuka ninken?”
Kirum cowered back in his arms, warywatch so very clear in his language.
He sent the Uchiha a withering glare. Which Shisui ultimately dismissed as he drew closer to try and pet Kirum. “No, I did not steal a pup, and unless you want to lose a finger, don’t touch him.”
To prove his point, the pup snapped his teeth together loudly. That had Shisui backing away, fingers firmly tucked into a fist as if Kirum would bite them off from ten feet away. Tenzo watched them, analyzing the situation as he would a mission but it was Itachi that caught his attention.
The teen was quiet—to be fair he was always calm—but out of the others in his decided team, Kakashi knew he’d need to worry about the clan heir. After all, he’d soon learn where his brother had been disappearing to every day for the past week.
Shifting the pup into a more comfortable position, Kakashi rolled a shoulder. “Let’s go.”
XxX
When they reached the edge of the wards, Kakashi came to a stop, settling on a branch. In his arms, Kirum wriggled, sniffing the air. He whined and the Hatake couldn’t help the smile that pulled at his lips. “You can smell them.” The pup nodded and he set a hand on his head. “You’ll see them soon, I promise. If I set you down, can you find your way?”
Again the pup nodded, more excitedly, and Kakashi gestured for his team to stay put before he leaped to the ground. Once Kirum’s paws touched the dirt, he was gone, disappearing into the brush like a wolf on a mission. Only then did Kakashi return to his perch, turning to face his team.
“Before I explain the mission to you, I need you to understand why it’s important. Once we go in, treat this as an information gathering mission. No sound, no chakra, you must not be detected at all cost.”
That had the others stiffening, mission ready tension falling onto their shoulders with ease. He jumped to their branches, tapping each of them with a small seal and explained, “this’ll let you get past the wards, try not to break it.” The genjutsu the wards cast was a nasty one, hyponotizing and confusing those caught in it’s web, designed to send them away without noticing they’d been redirected at all.
It’s why Kakashi suspected Danzo kept ROOT on watch because any closer and they would just be sent back, confused as to how they ended up there.
Once he tapped Itachi with the seal, he jumped through the barrier, feeling the wards come to life as they pinged on his chakra and alerted him to where the chakra signatures were within it’s boundaries. After his team joined him on the other side, he lead them in the direction of the den.
When they reached the tree line, he lead them to his tree, the branches close enough for them to huddle together and avoid their scent drifting down for the pups to detect them.
He settled on his branch, well familiar with a comfortable position he’d had to take after so many hours watching. In front of the den, the pups were gathered, pouring over the scrolls Sasuke had brought. Kōri-san was there, helping them if they were stuck, and having to separate any scuffles that broke out. Pakkun was present, settled beside Naruto in Kirum’s absence. Though that all changed pretty quickly.
When Kirum ran into the clearing, Kakashi turned his attention to his team. The confusion had fallen away quickly, leaving wonder and curiosity in it’s place.
They’d recognized the village’s jinchuuriki quickly but that wasn’t what he wanted them to see. No, it was the happiness, the bonds, the pack that Naruto and Gumo had come to call their own.
Kakashi needed his team to understand why this mission would be so important. And what better way then to see Naruto cry tears of happiness, to see Gumo, ever quite and sturdy Gumo collide with Kirum in a ball of red hair and white fur. The wolf pile as the siblings welcomed back one of their own. Then, finally, as their Den Mother approached and greeted her son with such love and many kisses.
This was a pack that one day would grow to be strong. Until then, they needed to be protected.
Itachi set a hand on his shoulder, catching his attention, and the Uchiha murmured, “what do we need to do?” This clan heir, all of ten years old, already Jounin and being considered for ANBU who saw his brother taken in by a wolf pack as quickly as if born to it, understood.
Retreat he signed to them. As one, the team left, traveling closer to the wards without actually leaving them, before he turned to them, his expression serious. “The mission parameters are this: We have a target who’s extremely smart, paranoid, and most likely already assumes someone is after him.”
“What’s the plan?” Shisui asked, settling so his legs were swinging off the branch he was sitting on.
Kakashi grinned. It was not pleasant, nor polite, down right dirty and dark. “We are going to use his paranoia against him. Shisui, we need your knowledge in traps and pranking.” The Uchiha straightened, eyes sharing the same glee stretched across Kakshi’s own expression. “Tenzo, you know the target better then all of us combined, his daily whereabouts, where and when he drinks tea, when he’s in his office.” his kohai nodded, already recognizing who their target would be.
Then the silver-haired Jounin turned to Itachi, “Your ability in genjutsu and poker face are going to be important. If there’s anyone who wouldn’t be suspected, it’ll be you. If you help me with this, I’ll speak to the Hokage about drawing the Uchiha further into village politics and trying to edge the elders out. Those old geezers have had their noses in places they haven’t belonged for too long.”
Really, that was just icing on the cake for the clan heir, he knew. Sasuke alone would’ve been enough to have Itachi on his side but a little extra buffering between the village’s distrust and the Uchiha’s rankled pride never hurt.
Seeing Itachi nod, he looked at all them, “This is going to be a long term mission, months at least. But it’s also a side mission. Once things start popping off and you’re made, you will have a target on your back. While I’ll try to help in that regard as much as I can, this is also an S-Ranked mission,” he threw a thumb over his shoulder in the direction of the den. “Nothing you saw here exists, nothing you do or see while in village happens. Are we clear?”
“Yes, Taichou!” With those confirmations, the tension fell from his shoulders, replaced by steel determination. This would work. It would have to. If not…
Kakashi didn’t want to think of the consequences.