In a time long lost to the mists of the past, the Raikiri, a clan of powerful demons, made a pact with a pack of hellbeasts; hounds of fearsome demeanor, frightening intelligence and unparalleled ferocity in hunting their prey. The blood pact was carried through the generations, each of the Raikiri bonding with their own personal group of hell-hounds. Their legacy was a fearful one, for they were the Lords of the Sky-fire, which struck with blinding speed and left death and scorched earth in their wake. With the hellbeasts ever at their sides, they knew no equal, and all feared when the sky rumbled beneath the running feet of the Raikiri and their hounds. But that was in the long ago...
A howl rang through the dark forest, loud and commanding even over the wail of the wind lashing torrents of rain through the trees.
Hatake Kakashi, last, and arguably the most powerful of the Raikiri clan, was on the hunt.
He loped easily through the darkened forest, no more bothered by the driving rain than he was by the near-impenetrable shadows beneath the trees. A master of the lightning, the storm was his element, and the darkness held no secret from his eyes.
The rain had hidden all but the deepest tracks in the sodden loam, but he knew he was close. Kakashi could sense his prey, and it was not far now.
Baring his teeth in what was more a feral grimace than a grin, Kakashi threw back his head and howled the hunt-song to the rumbling sky.
There was no answer, but he expected none. Licking rainwater from his lips, Kakashi laughed darkly and lunged into a run. Close...
He heard it before he saw it. Sounds of battle cut through the hush of the rain and the shrieking of the wind. Growls and snarls were interspersed with pained yips and the thud of powerful blows. Whoever was fighting was making a good accounting of themselves, then.
Kakashi burst through a line of trees into a cleared area at the foot of a small cliff, where the rain drummed on a small overhang of rock. Circling and snarling, eight hellbeasts prowled just beyond the reach of the creature that had gone to ground there, back sheltered against the stone, and a silver dagger lashing out in darting strikes to keep the hell-hounds at bay.
The deep shadow beneath the rock did not allow even Kakashi’s eyes to make out what or who the pack had brought to bay, so he lifted a hand and called a ball of lightning to rest in the cradle of his fingers. The eerie blue-white glow cast the tiny cave and the being sheltered in it into stark relief.
It was clearly a demon, though not of a kind Kakashi had ever encountered before. He might have thought it a kitsune at first glance, to judge by the sharply pointed ears laid flat against hair drenched black by the rain. Needle-sharp fangs flashed bright white in the glow of the lightning, bared in a furious snarl. Brown eyes that shaded to amber regarded him with a narrowed glare, rage gleaming in their depths. A scarred nose wrinkled in a furious growl.
One of the hellbeasts ventured a little too close and the silver blade lashed out faster than thought. The hound had to scramble backwards to avoid being skewered.
Kakashi turned his glower on the hell-hounds, baring his teeth behind his mask and growling a warning. “What do you lot think you’re doing?” he barked. “You left our territory to chase down some scrawny, underfed demon? One that never ventured into our boundaries in the first place?”
Some of them cringed from his rebuke, but several of the oldest merely met his gaze with unconcern.
Kakashi rumbled in displeasure, not breaking off his challenging stare.
The tableau was broken as the cornered demon made a break for freedom, eeling past one of the cowed hell-hounds, quick as the lightning Kakashi commanded.
The largest of Kakashi’s pack turned on the escapee, mouth yawning wider than the demon’s head in a threatening bark, slaver dripping from massive white fangs. Quickly, two of the others flanked their brethren, driving the demon back into the dubious shelter of the tiny alcove.
Kakashi was outraged. Bad enough that they had left their territory undefended, but to disobey him to hunt some random demon? “Enough!” he roared.
This time even the eldest flinched from his anger, several dropping to their bellies in the mud.
“What were you idiots doing?” Kakashi allowed his rage at the disobedience free reign, lashing the pack with the barbs of his fury. The ball of lightning in his hand hissed and threw off bright sparks in response to his anger. “You not only abandoned our territory but disobeyed me, all to hunt some hapless demonling!”
A growl was his response and he found himself looking down into the burning dark-amber eyes of the demon, that silver knife he’d seen darting so effectively at his pack pressing hard into his belly, its sharp tip pricking his skin right through his clothing. “I am neither hapless nor helpless, bastard!” snarled a soft baritone. “I thank you for calling them off, but save your insults for those without fangs to bite back with.” The demon withdrew his blade and sheathed it with a contemptuous sniff. “I leave you to discipline them appropriately.”
He turned his back on Kakashi in a deliberate snub, striding back toward the forest with a natural grace that was only slightly hampered by his affronted dignity.
“Wait!”
Two of his pack tumbled into the demon’s path, tripping over each other in their haste to stop him.
Furious at this new flaunting of his authority, Kakashi moved with the all the speed he was capable of to plant himself between the demon and the two youngest of his hellbeasts. “What in the hell?” he raged, scooping one completely off the ground by the scruff of his neck.
The hound cowered in his grasp, tail between his legs and head twisted in an attempt to bare his throat submissively. “I’msorry-I’msorry-I’msorry!” he yipped breathlessly.
“Oh, don’t be too hard on the pup,” growled a voice from behind him.
Kakashi turned to glare furiously at the oldest of his pack. The wizened face that regarded him was calm. “And why shouldn’t I be, Pakkun?” he hissed.
“It’s not the pup’s fault.” A second Hellhound separated from the pack to stand before him, ears canted back, but head up and looking him in the eyes.
“Don’t you try to lay all the blame on me, Uuhei!” Pakkun snarled.
“Why not?” Uuhei rumbled, voice rich with amusement. “It was all your idea.”
“What was all his idea?” Kakashi growled.
Out of the corner of his eye, Kakashi noted that the other demon had stopped, watching. His ears were pricked and his snarl had faded into an expression of curiosity. Kakashi was mortified that anyone, much less an unknown demon, was witness to this gross insubordination.
Uuhei huffed laughter. “Oh, do tell him, Pakkun. I can’t wait to see his reaction.”
“Tell me what?” Kakashi snarled, his grip tightening unconsciously on Bisuke’s ruff.
Pakkun’s head went down, eyes shifting to look anywhere but at him. “You’ve reached your third century, pup. Well, reached and surpassed it, I mean.”
“Your point? Please get to it,” grumbling, Kakashi fixed his glare on Pakkun.
“Well, the Raikiri clan always chose mates by their third century, to ensure the blood-blond and the contract with the pack continues.” Pakkun kept his head averted, “You’re pushing four and with no pups yet. The contract will be broken at this rate. You’re the last descendant of the clan.”
Caught between confusion and anger, Kakashi let Bisuke drop to the ground. “What?”
Bisuke whimpered and fled to hide behind Uuhei.
Kakashi ignored him to glare at Pakkun. “What in the hells does my lack of pups have to do with the lot of you being obnoxious, disobedient traitors?”
Pakkun, staring morosely at the ground, mumbled something under his breath.
“What was that?” Kakashi growled.
Pakkun muttered just a bit louder, his voice drowned by a rumble of thunder.
“Try again,” Kakashi barked, truly infuriated now.
“You need a mate!” Pakkun yelped, flinching away. “So we went hunting!”
Kakashi froze, blood turning to ice in his veins. “You,” he said clearly, enunciating each word with exquisite care. “Went. Hunting? Because I need... a mate?”
Pakkun, curled up with his paws over his ears, nodded feebly.
Aghast, Kakashi glanced back at the demon, still watching. Those amber-brown eyes glimmered with amusement and the corner of his mouth twitched.
“You...” Kakashi had to pause again to manage actual words, not incoherent growls. “Went off hunting some random demon because you have decided it’s time for me to have a mate? What were you thinking? Were you thinking at all?” he ranted. “Was there any logic involved in this decision?”
Pakkun, belly pressed so low to the muddy ground it looked as if he were merging into it, yiped a little. “You need a mate, boss. One strong enough to protect your pups.”
“This one’s strong,” Shiba said timidly, head ducked low and tail curled up against his belly. “And fights really well!”
Words failed him. He glanced back at the demon, who was now laughing openly.
“You know,” the demon said, smirking. “These things tend to go better if you don’t try to eat the demon you picked for his mate.”
“We weren’t trying to eat you!” Pakkun protested weakly. “We were just trying to herd you into our territory, so you could meet the boss.”
“And introducing yourselves didn’t occur to you?” He ventured a step closer, still smiling ferally.
“Nope,” The largest of Kakashi’s pack put in, sounding absurdly proud of himself.
Kakashi groaned, pressing his palm to his forehead.
“It works like this,” the demon said, mischief lurking in his smile. “You introduce yourself. then progress to asking my name... which is Iruka, by the way, and then you bring up the fact that you have someone you’d very much like me to meet.”
The pack of hellbeasts shared baffled looks.
The demon naming himself Iruka sauntered closer, his dark-amber eyes fixing on Kakashi. “Of course that’s leaving out your part in the whole thing.”
“My part?” Kakashi croaked, utterly sure he wanted the ground to open up and swallow him, so he wouldn’t have to remember this day.
“Mm,” Iruka agreed. “Your part... or lack thereof... in teaching them something resembling politeness and tact. And one more thing...?”
“Yes,” Kakashi managed.
“You might want to teach them the difference between genders and what that has to do with the making of ‘pups.’” With a smirk and a flirt of his tail, Iruka turned and prowled away, all grace and sass, leaving Kakashi stunned and surprisingly breathless.