After Pain
Chapter 2: For a Friend
Chapter 3: Anbu
Chapter 4: The Hidden Leaf Jounin
Chapter 5: A Worthy Opponent
Chapter 6: Kakashi Hatake
Chapter 8: The Right Moment
Chapter 9: The Quiet Before the Storm
Chapter 10: A Man of Many Shadows
Chapter 11: A Leaf on the Wind
Chapter 12: The Konoha 11
Chapter 13: Epilogue
Chapter 6: Kakashi Hatake
Going rogue with Kakashi Hatake was never boring. One day they were in a small village helping the villagers recover from an Akatsuki attack and the next day they were in a small farming town listening to people complain about the Leaf Village's violations against their property. All the while they were gathering what Kakashi sensei called valuable information. Naruto wasn't so sure how valuable it really was. It felt like they were getting farther and farther from their goal of helping and bringing back Sasuke as they became surrounded by all these tiny little spontaneous quests."How is this going to help us find Sasuke?" Naruto said. "You heard those guys... he's attacked Danzo twice, once at a well-known town. Let's just go there and follow his scent or something."
Sakura and Kakashi sensei both replied at once and very quickly. As if they had expected this and had thought about their reply.
"My hounds are already tracking his scent, Naruto."
"You have such a one-track mind Naruto!"
Naruto turned on Sakura angrily. "Don't you want to find Sasuke?"
"Yes," Sakura replied. "I really do, Naruto. The problem is: what's going to happen after we find him. Besides, we didn't just come out here to find him, we said we would bring the justice that he needs.
Naruto sighed. They kept repeating the same arguments to him as if he was a stupid little kid. He understood and believed in their mission, he just didn't see how going off-track every few hours was going to help them get there.
"How does helping those villagers AGAINST the leaf village help us?" he asked, tossing a shuriken.
"Those villagers deserve justice just as much as Sasuke does, Naruto. Ultimately, this isn't just about helping one person because he's our friend. It's about looking inward and having the courage to face the mistakes of our own villages."
Naruto remembered Nagato all of a sudden, could imagine him speaking in Kakashi sensei's voice.
"Then we can achieve true peace!"
"Yes, Naruto... at least, I believe it's the only way we have a chance."
...
As they traveled from village to village solving countless little problems for people Kakashi sensei was collecting information. Sakura was watching. She had learned to keep her senses on the alert and so she found it easy to notice the way he probed people for information without seeming to care about it, the way he steered conversations towards the topics he wanted to hear about without actually asking any questions.
Danzo Shimura's reign as Hokage came up often and although Kakashi sensei feigned interest Sakura could tell that none of the news and rumors actually surprised him. He must know a lot more about Danzo than Sakura even guessed at, because a lot of it did surprise her. What her sensei seemed more interested in was the Anbu. He was constantly probing them about the Anbu and their movements, the way they were seen by ordinary people, their history in the region. And the farmers and fisherman and villagers all over the land of fire gave him more information than Sakura would have ever expected.
As it turned out the Leaf Anbu put spreading fear even above the secrecy that was their professional duty. There were rumors and fears and "Anbu areas" that the villagers treated almost like haunted locations. And Kakashi sensei investigated every one. The villagers and farmers that they met and spoke to all knew that Kakashi had left the leaf village and 'gone rogue,' but they treated his investigations with the respect that was given to official Ninja business. His power and skill was well known in the land of fire and beyond. They were happy to have a powerful Ninja help them out and bring order to their world and 'take care' of the Anbu transgressions on their lands whether he was working under the village or not.
It reminded Sakura of the history they studied at the academy about times long gone when Ninja were independent family-led mercenaries that had no villages or official status to organize their activities. It was as if, out here, outside the Ninja villages, not much had changed. Ninja came and went and used their power to get their way and there did not seem to be much that these non-Ninja could do about it, whether it was fair or not, especially when those Ninja were Anbu.
It was a whole different world that Sakura hadn't even been aware of. Her anger grew as she listened.
"Everything over there behind the barn is off-limits," the middle aged woman said, pointing. "We can't go with you."
Kakashi nodded and walked off to begin his investigations, the entire farming town standing behind him and watching. Naruto followed a little less enthusiastically than usual - not being a fan of ghosts - but Sakura couldn't go.
"But don't you know that you have a right to complain to the Hokage and the Feudal Lord?" she asked.
Some people snorted disparagingly, but the middle aged woman to whom that "off-limits" field had belonged stared at her sadly. "The Hokage and the Feudal Lord don't have to live here and risk their lives or their children's lives. We're not strong enough to defy the Anbu, whether we have the backing of the officials or not."
Sakura nodded, keeping her head a little lower. She had not known, back when she had been sent on all those little missions through towns like this as a Genin, that her fellow Ninja were abusing their power like this. Knowing that, she could no longer walk through the villages with her head held high like she used to. For the first time in her life she was ashamed to be a Shinobi.
"But we trust Kakashi Hatake," the woman spoke, as if trying to reassure her or soften the blow to her Shinobi pride. "He is loved here for standing up to the crookedness of the new Hokage."
That made Sakura realize that Kakashi Hatake wasn't just investigating and collecting information and rumors: he was spreading them as well. Just like the Anbu he was skilled enough to preform his operations in secret, but he was choosing to do it out in the open.
Kakashi looked down at the message in deep thought. It had taken too long for Anko's snake to find him. He was not stupid enough to think that Anko had sent the message only to him, she must have sent it to Shikaku, the Jounin Commander, as well, if not to others as well, but there was still a possibility that those other messages had been intercepted along the way. He had to make sure the right people got this information so they could act on it.
"Kakashi Sensei," Sakura said hesitantly. "I almost feel like we've abandoned our village and its struggle against the Akatsuki for selfish reasons... just for our own friend..."
Kakashi looked up at her and handed the letter to Naruto, who had just returned from his patrol round.
"Sakura," Kakashi said. "The village, protecting it against the Akatsuki, all of that is pointless if there's no justice for the Shinobi who are willing to risk their lives for the village. People like Danzo who would do anything in order to get to their goals are the biggest threat to the village right now."
Sakura nodded.
"Kakashi Sensei," Naruto said, holding out the letter. "We have to bring back Sasuke quickly so he can help us fight the Akatsuki's armies."
"More importantly," Kakashi said out loud. "We have to make sure this message gets to people who can do something about it. I'm sending it to Gaara now, but we also need to find a way to send it to someone in the village."
"Who?" Naruto asked, reminding Kakashi why he sent him on so many patrol missions these days.
"Well," he said. "If you really want to know, I'd like to send it to the Jounin Commander."
As Kakashi had suspected Naruto had never heard of the Jounin Commander and he spent the next few minutes speculating on the coolness of that job. Shikaku likely considered the job more of a bother than "cool."
"Let's go," Kakshi said. "We have work to do."
...
Shino was well aware of their Anbu tail. This was good, because it had been difficult for Tenten to find a way to make him understand what she was up to and this way he at least understood that it was not safe to talk about important things right now. At any rate, when she suggested that they go find Sakura and Naruto and Kakashi sensei and convince them to return to the village Shino looked at her closely and said: "Are you sure that's wise."
"I think we should try," Tenten said. "They won't hurt us and we have the best chance of bringing them back to the village."
This was, of course, a ridiculous statement, but Shino simply nodded and allowed her to lead the way. He kept looking for insects along the way and tending his own injured ones, but Tenten had the strangest feeling that it was all a show for the Anbu watching them. But why would it be? Hadn't Shino requested special permission to get outside the village just so he could take care of his bugs?
By the fourth day Tenten was certain that Shino was putting on an act. He was far too chatty, constantly telling her information about his bugs and their injuries and their habitats that she just did not care about. It was very unlike Shino to talk this much. He spoke rarely, if at all. But the Anbu watching them might not realize this. To an outsider who had not spent time with Shino this was normal Aburame behavior. At least she hoped so. You never really knew how much the Anbu knew about people. If rumors were to be believed the Anbu had been up to a lot of shady and downright unlawful things in the past and were only coming out into the open now with Danzo as Hokage.
They came upon many rumors about Kakashi as they searched for him. Some said he was the rightful Hokage. Some said he was preparing to battle Danzo to the death. Some said he would set up his own Ninja village soon from which he would dispense justice. None of the rumors were at all helpful in finding him. The villagers always saw him strolling openly through towns and helping them with his problems, but they never seemed to know where he had come from or where he had gone off to.
It was days before they found him and by that time Tenten was tired and frustrated and doubtful. Perhaps that was why they were able to take her by surprise. One moment her and Shino were carefully following the path that a small group of his bugs had suggested, hoping to find the three rogue Shinobi at last and the next moment Tenten was trapped in the strong grip of Sakura Haruno. The medic knew exactly what she was doing: Tenten's arms were held firmly away from each other, her scrolls had been whisked away, and one of Sakura's precision trained hands was hovering just above Tenten's neck, ready to strike.
Shino was held in a similar lock by Naruto and Kakashi sensei was standing in front of them and smiling down at them as if they were students in need of a creative punishment.
"How?" Tenten asked, still feeling confused and betrayed by her own senses. So much for impressing the Anbu with her skills.
"Don't take it personally," Kakashi said, his two mismatched eyes gleaming mischevously down at her. "I know a lot of Jutsu. You've been under a transparent mist confusion jutsu for a couple of hours now. Did you know you're being followed by someone?"
"No!" Tenten tried to sound surprised, but she was not sure it had worked in her befuddled state.
Kakashi continued to grin. "We'll help you capture your pursuers if you promise not to attack us," he said.
"Why would we attack you, Kakashi sensei?"
Kakashi did not answer. He simply gestured for Naruto and Sakura to release them and Tenten was finally free. She barely had time to pick up her scrolls and her kunai before Kakashi's orders came. She followed them mindlessly, it was difficult enough just to focus on movements that should have come naturally.
Kakashi was good. He used so many Jutsu that Tenten was becoming dizzy. In fact, he seemed to be showing off. Even more brilliant was his plan. It all came together so quickly and smoothly and less than ten minutes later three Anbu were tied up at their feet.
"I let the fourth one go," Kakashi said. "So he could report to the Leaf. There have been enough secrets and lies to last us all a lifetime, don't you think?"
Tenten hardly dared to breathe. Was he going to confront her? But he sidestepped that conversation quicker than he had started it and moved on.
"Why did you come looking for us?" he asked.
His Sharingan eye could surely see that one of the Anbu had one loose hand... surely he should do something about it? But Kakashi did nothing and Tenten found herself saying nothing. Her eyes were still a little watery, but the haze in her mind seemed to have lifted a little.
"We came to convince you to return to the village," Tenten said. "If you give yourselves up I'm sure the villagers and the Hokage will fogive you. Can't you see that the village really needs the three of you right now?"
Kakashi sensei smiled again. He turned around and walked off. "You four chat," he said casually. "I'm going to do a little patrol to make sure we don't have more attackers."
"But Kakashi Sensei!" Tenten objected, but in her heart she was glad. She had told the Anbu that she was going to talk to Sakura alone and this was the perfect opportunity. Now she just had to get rid of Shino and Naruto somehow.
"Wait, Kakashi sensei!" Shino said, running after him. "Can you look at some of my insects with your sharingan please?"
Naruto followed Shino. "What's wrong with them?"
Tenten breathed deeply, despite the feeling that it was all too convenient. Why had Kakashi sensei walked off like that? Did he know that she wanted to talk to Sakura alone? She was going to become paranoid if she didn't get it together.
"Are you ok, Tenten?" Sakura said. "Let me see that hand of yours... looks a little scratched up."
It was, but only a little. Tenten had not even noticed.
"It's that jutsu that Kakashi sensei used," Sakura said. "We had to work hard and preform a counter jutsu, otherwise we'd be in the same condition."
"I'm fine now," Tenten said, pulling her hand away in annoyance. It felt funny, worse than it had before sakura had looked at it. She turned her palm up and looked down. Written in tiny little letters on her hand, in what seemed to be Tenten's own chakra, was a tiny message. Just a few characters long.
Still being watched. Attack us when provoked.
Tenten held her hand back out to Sakura. "Actually, it is a little sore... sorry, Sakura, I'm not usually like this, but that Jutsu is making me on edge."
Sakura nodded understandingly and pretended to heal her hand while wiping the message. Tenten was in no danger of forgetting it. What on earth did "attack us when provoked" mean?
"Sakura," she said, feeling that she had to speak before events got out of hand again. "I've explained to the Hokage that you only came here to try and kill Sasuke yourself and prevent Kakashi sensei and Naruto from joining him. Your action without an order from the hokage is still unlawful, but you should come back now and save yourself from even worse punishment.
Sakura looked around to where Kakashi sensei and the others were crouched over Shino's bugs with a feigned nervousness.
"I can't, Tenten," she whispered. "Not now. Kakashi sensei and Naruto really are trying to join Sasuke. We can't let that happen!"
"Well," Tenten said. "Can't you get away for even a couple of hours?"
Sakura pretended to think. Again, Tenten had a weird feeling that they were both rehearsing a play already written by someone else. Was it the Anbu watching her or Kakashi sensei who had forced them into this script. Tenten wasn't even sure what was happening anymore. She hated the Anbu.
"I'm not sure," Sakura said at last. "Sometimes he lets us patrol individually when we're exploring a new area to camp out in, but we don't go far. If I was to meet you somewhere it would only be for a short while."
"Sure," Tenten said. "A few minutes is all I'd need to introduce you to one of the Hokage's personal guards and get you back in the village's good books... get you an actual mission so that you're not just a rogue."
Sakura nodded. "But how would we meet? Even if I could get them to go close enough to the village I would never be able to get into it through all the guards and you can't let word of this get out or Kakashi sensei will hear about it!"
"Don't worry," Tenten reassured her, wondering how Sakura had gone straight for the meeting place that Tenten had been warned to try and keep her away from. For some reason the Anbu did not want Kakashi sensei or any of his team near the village. But Sakura insisted that was the best way, because otherwise they would never know where or when they could meet.
Finally, Tenten gave up trying to convince her and took out the small map she had been given.
"Fine," she said. "Let's meet here in about three days."
...
Shino sighed in relief as Kakashi sensei gave him the same assessment of the insect's chakra as Neji and Hinata had, although he said it was fading fast.
"You should feed them up and heal them soon, Shino," Kakashi sensei suggested gently. "They're very tired.
"I was afraid that we would have nothing to compare them with. The others that I healed seem normal now, take a look."
"Yes," Kakashi sensei said. "They do seem normal. These were the same before they recovered?"
Shino nodded. He felt a twinge of guilt. Even an outsider had noticed that his bugs needed care. But he would soon be able to cure even this last unit. As soon as he had one more trial done.
"Kakashi sensei, Neji said you had a jutsu that might help us figure it out."
"Figure what out?" Kakashi sensei said, sounding only mildly interested.
"Do you have a jutsu that can send things or people to a different dimension?" Shino asked.
Kakashi sensei stared back at him with much more interest.
"It will kill your insects, Shino."
Shino nodded. "I am willing to take the risk if it's for a good cause, but I don't think that will happen."
"There's a lot you're not telling me." Kakshi sensei said. "May I ask that you speak openly to me about why you're preforming this experiment, Shino?"
Shino wasn't sure if he should. He didn't want Kakashi sensei to try altering the insects' chakra or to do anything that might influence the results of the trial.
"Sure," he said finally. "But can we please do this quickly so that my insects can rest faster."
Kakashi sensei nodded and asked Shino to placed the insects on the ground so that he could more easily focus his jutsu on them. Shino felt like he was sending them to their deaths as he placed them on the rocky ground.
"OK," Kakashi said. "I'm going to send the middle ten insects through so we can look at the ones around them. Kamui!"
They were gone.
"Please bring them back now," Shino asked.
Kakshi sensei looked back at Shino with what could only be interpreted as horror. "What do you mean, bring them back? I thought you wanted to observe the ones that were nearby when I preformed the jutsu?"
"No, Kakashi sensei," Shino said, the panic rubbing off on him. "You need to bring them back!"
Kakashi sensei crouched low to the ground and stared at the insects left over on the ground. There was a small empty circle where twelve other insects should be. Shino was starting to feel breathless. Had he not made it clear that he wanted them to come back?
"They're completely unaffected," Kakashi sensei said. "These ones that were near the Kamui."
"Kakashi sensei please bring the other ones back!"
Kakashi sensei closed his eyes for a minute and took a deep breath. When he opened them again he looked dangerous. He was making hand-signs even thought his previous jutsu did not require any. Finally, he blinked one more time, breathed "Kamui!" in a whisper and the insects reappeared. He turned away, not even wanting to look at them. He seemed even more afraid than Shino had been.
"I'm sorry, Shino," he said. "I misunderstood... I didn't even know I could do that until..."
"It's Ok," Shino said. "They're alive."
Kakashi did not respond. Shino looked up at him and came face to face with that dangerous eye. it seemed to be asking - threatening - him to fulfill his promise. The best place to begin would be to find out the results of the trial and then tell Kakashi sensei from there, but the no nonsense look on the man's face told Shino he'd better have some patience and start from the beginning.
"I'm very close to my insects," he began. "So when they get hurt, even if it's not visible to the eye, when they're tired, I can feel it."
"Of course," Kakashi said. "They are part of you, you share Chakra."
"Well," Shino said. "I noticed after we fought that masked Akatsuki that something was wrong with their chakra, but I couldn't really understand it. So when I got back to the village I had Hinata and Neji look at them. Their byakugan revealed a disturbance in the insects' chakra. We thought we could potentially use this as a way to learn more about the masked man. I showed them other injured insects and everything pointed to that chakra disturbance being unique. We formed a theory and kept doing trials."
"You mean to tell me that you have kept these poor insects from properly recovering for that long?" Kakashi said. "And you subjected even more of your insects to these... trials... to injury, essentially?"
When he said it like that it made Shino feel like a cold-blooded murderer. "I think I know how that Akatsuki slips away," he said, abandoning all caution.
Kakashi's eyes widened. "How?"
"We think he goes to a different dimension," Shino said. "This group of insects disappeared along with him. I waited and waited for them to get back, but they wouldn't. I then used my summoning Jutsu and I was able to recall them."
"Why didn't you recall this group when I panicked?" Kakashi asked, now sounding more like his usual collected, bored self.
"I needed to see if they could survive in your dimension. If you did it too quickly that wouldn't be a real test. If we are to fight the man using a similar Jutsu to his own we should explore its full potential. My insects were able to survive in his dimension for hours. Almost a day. I brought them back in groups to test it."
Kakshi nodded, but he did not take his eyes off Shino.
"I wanted to test if this specific chakra disturbance is special to the masked Akatsuki or if it really has to do with dimensional travel. So I did more trials." Shino took out his other units of insects and allowed Kakashi to look at them with his Sharingan.
Kakashi looked from Shino to these insects several times. He spent a long time studying them. Shino noticed that he never once glanced at the new group that he had sent away and brought back himself. As if afraid that the same panic would return, or perhaps out of guilt... or maybe Kakashi sensei really did read all those books he carried around to make himself look bored... maybe he liked hearing a story from beginning to end. Whatever the reason he spent several minutes examining the groups of insects that Shino had brought with him from the village, but never once glanced at the newest group.
Finally, he focused his full attention on Shino. "You really are brilliant,"
"Thank you," Shino said, "but I couldn't have done it without Neji and Hinata's Byakugan."
"Please explain the trials to me," Kakashi said, pointing to the distinct groups of insects in turn."
Shino nodded. "So you notice some differences with your sharingan too?"
"Yes," Kakashi said. He pointed out to the two groups that had not been sent to different dimensions. "These are injured but do not carry the same chakra disturbance. Those three on the other hand, each carry a slightly unique Chakra disturbance. One, you told me, was sent to a different dimension because they clung to the masked Akatsuki when he slipped away from us. What about these other two?"
"Kiba has a grandmother that can summon aminals to and from a special dimension, and can travel there herself..."
"Ah, yes, old granny Inuzuka." Kakashi said with a smile. "Did she tell you to find me?"
"Neji did," Shino said. "But she mentioned the Uchiha sharingan powers."
Kakahi nodded. "And this last group?"
"They were sent to a storage dimension using a top secret scroll we got from Inoichi Yamanaka - at great risk to his own standing in the intelligence corps."
"So this proves that the chakra disturbance is caused by inter-dimensional travel. And that the... different flavors of the disturbance are like a unique signature for each dimension one has traveled to."
"Well," shino said. "We thought we should do more tests. That's why I came."
"No, Shino," Kakashi said. "You've done enough trials - I believe you've solved our problem at last. Now we have to figure out how to fight the man who can slip to a different dimension."
"Especially since we can't follow him," Naruto breathed, almost giving Shino a heart attack. He had been so unnaturally quiet that Shino had forgotten him.
"There has to be a weakness or limitation," Kakashi said, standing up and stretching. "My Kamui strains my eyes and drains my chakra, there must be a similar limitation for him."
"Kakashi sensei," Shino said. "Will you look at the last group for me now?"
Kakashi grinned. "You'll still have a Hyuga look them over to confirm of course?" It sounded like he was teasing Shino for his thoroughness. Almost as if they were comrades, on equal terms. It was a compliment that Shino greatly appreciated.
He walked over slowly, keeping his head turned until the last minute, creating mock suspense. When he finally looked at the insects, however, his eyes grew wide and he froze. For a long time Kakashi sensei did not speak. Shino found himself staring at his face, waiting for a breath - any kind of explanation. A tear welled up in Kakashi's sharingan eye and then he closed both his eyes and a tear tricked down from his other eye.
"Kakashi Sensei," Sakura said hesitantly. "I almost feel like we've abandoned our village and its struggle against the Akatsuki for selfish reasons... just for our own friend..."
Kakashi looked up at her and handed the letter to Naruto, who had just returned from his patrol round.
"Sakura," Kakashi said. "The village, protecting it against the Akatsuki, all of that is pointless if there's no justice for the Shinobi who are willing to risk their lives for the village. People like Danzo who would do anything in order to get to their goals are the biggest threat to the village right now."
Sakura nodded.
"Kakashi Sensei," Naruto said, holding out the letter. "We have to bring back Sasuke quickly so he can help us fight the Akatsuki's armies."
"More importantly," Kakashi said out loud. "We have to make sure this message gets to people who can do something about it. I'm sending it to Gaara now, but we also need to find a way to send it to someone in the village."
"Who?" Naruto asked, reminding Kakashi why he sent him on so many patrol missions these days.
"Well," he said. "If you really want to know, I'd like to send it to the Jounin Commander."
As Kakashi had suspected Naruto had never heard of the Jounin Commander and he spent the next few minutes speculating on the coolness of that job. Shikaku likely considered the job more of a bother than "cool."
"Let's go," Kakshi said. "We have work to do."
...
Shino was well aware of their Anbu tail. This was good, because it had been difficult for Tenten to find a way to make him understand what she was up to and this way he at least understood that it was not safe to talk about important things right now. At any rate, when she suggested that they go find Sakura and Naruto and Kakashi sensei and convince them to return to the village Shino looked at her closely and said: "Are you sure that's wise."
"I think we should try," Tenten said. "They won't hurt us and we have the best chance of bringing them back to the village."
This was, of course, a ridiculous statement, but Shino simply nodded and allowed her to lead the way. He kept looking for insects along the way and tending his own injured ones, but Tenten had the strangest feeling that it was all a show for the Anbu watching them. But why would it be? Hadn't Shino requested special permission to get outside the village just so he could take care of his bugs?
By the fourth day Tenten was certain that Shino was putting on an act. He was far too chatty, constantly telling her information about his bugs and their injuries and their habitats that she just did not care about. It was very unlike Shino to talk this much. He spoke rarely, if at all. But the Anbu watching them might not realize this. To an outsider who had not spent time with Shino this was normal Aburame behavior. At least she hoped so. You never really knew how much the Anbu knew about people. If rumors were to be believed the Anbu had been up to a lot of shady and downright unlawful things in the past and were only coming out into the open now with Danzo as Hokage.
They came upon many rumors about Kakashi as they searched for him. Some said he was the rightful Hokage. Some said he was preparing to battle Danzo to the death. Some said he would set up his own Ninja village soon from which he would dispense justice. None of the rumors were at all helpful in finding him. The villagers always saw him strolling openly through towns and helping them with his problems, but they never seemed to know where he had come from or where he had gone off to.
It was days before they found him and by that time Tenten was tired and frustrated and doubtful. Perhaps that was why they were able to take her by surprise. One moment her and Shino were carefully following the path that a small group of his bugs had suggested, hoping to find the three rogue Shinobi at last and the next moment Tenten was trapped in the strong grip of Sakura Haruno. The medic knew exactly what she was doing: Tenten's arms were held firmly away from each other, her scrolls had been whisked away, and one of Sakura's precision trained hands was hovering just above Tenten's neck, ready to strike.
Shino was held in a similar lock by Naruto and Kakashi sensei was standing in front of them and smiling down at them as if they were students in need of a creative punishment.
"How?" Tenten asked, still feeling confused and betrayed by her own senses. So much for impressing the Anbu with her skills.
"Don't take it personally," Kakashi said, his two mismatched eyes gleaming mischevously down at her. "I know a lot of Jutsu. You've been under a transparent mist confusion jutsu for a couple of hours now. Did you know you're being followed by someone?"
"No!" Tenten tried to sound surprised, but she was not sure it had worked in her befuddled state.
Kakashi continued to grin. "We'll help you capture your pursuers if you promise not to attack us," he said.
"Why would we attack you, Kakashi sensei?"
Kakashi did not answer. He simply gestured for Naruto and Sakura to release them and Tenten was finally free. She barely had time to pick up her scrolls and her kunai before Kakashi's orders came. She followed them mindlessly, it was difficult enough just to focus on movements that should have come naturally.
Kakashi was good. He used so many Jutsu that Tenten was becoming dizzy. In fact, he seemed to be showing off. Even more brilliant was his plan. It all came together so quickly and smoothly and less than ten minutes later three Anbu were tied up at their feet.
"I let the fourth one go," Kakashi said. "So he could report to the Leaf. There have been enough secrets and lies to last us all a lifetime, don't you think?"
Tenten hardly dared to breathe. Was he going to confront her? But he sidestepped that conversation quicker than he had started it and moved on.
"Why did you come looking for us?" he asked.
His Sharingan eye could surely see that one of the Anbu had one loose hand... surely he should do something about it? But Kakashi did nothing and Tenten found herself saying nothing. Her eyes were still a little watery, but the haze in her mind seemed to have lifted a little.
"We came to convince you to return to the village," Tenten said. "If you give yourselves up I'm sure the villagers and the Hokage will fogive you. Can't you see that the village really needs the three of you right now?"
Kakashi sensei smiled again. He turned around and walked off. "You four chat," he said casually. "I'm going to do a little patrol to make sure we don't have more attackers."
"But Kakashi Sensei!" Tenten objected, but in her heart she was glad. She had told the Anbu that she was going to talk to Sakura alone and this was the perfect opportunity. Now she just had to get rid of Shino and Naruto somehow.
"Wait, Kakashi sensei!" Shino said, running after him. "Can you look at some of my insects with your sharingan please?"
Naruto followed Shino. "What's wrong with them?"
Tenten breathed deeply, despite the feeling that it was all too convenient. Why had Kakashi sensei walked off like that? Did he know that she wanted to talk to Sakura alone? She was going to become paranoid if she didn't get it together.
"Are you ok, Tenten?" Sakura said. "Let me see that hand of yours... looks a little scratched up."
It was, but only a little. Tenten had not even noticed.
"It's that jutsu that Kakashi sensei used," Sakura said. "We had to work hard and preform a counter jutsu, otherwise we'd be in the same condition."
"I'm fine now," Tenten said, pulling her hand away in annoyance. It felt funny, worse than it had before sakura had looked at it. She turned her palm up and looked down. Written in tiny little letters on her hand, in what seemed to be Tenten's own chakra, was a tiny message. Just a few characters long.
Still being watched. Attack us when provoked.
Tenten held her hand back out to Sakura. "Actually, it is a little sore... sorry, Sakura, I'm not usually like this, but that Jutsu is making me on edge."
Sakura nodded understandingly and pretended to heal her hand while wiping the message. Tenten was in no danger of forgetting it. What on earth did "attack us when provoked" mean?
"Sakura," she said, feeling that she had to speak before events got out of hand again. "I've explained to the Hokage that you only came here to try and kill Sasuke yourself and prevent Kakashi sensei and Naruto from joining him. Your action without an order from the hokage is still unlawful, but you should come back now and save yourself from even worse punishment.
Sakura looked around to where Kakashi sensei and the others were crouched over Shino's bugs with a feigned nervousness.
"I can't, Tenten," she whispered. "Not now. Kakashi sensei and Naruto really are trying to join Sasuke. We can't let that happen!"
"Well," Tenten said. "Can't you get away for even a couple of hours?"
Sakura pretended to think. Again, Tenten had a weird feeling that they were both rehearsing a play already written by someone else. Was it the Anbu watching her or Kakashi sensei who had forced them into this script. Tenten wasn't even sure what was happening anymore. She hated the Anbu.
"I'm not sure," Sakura said at last. "Sometimes he lets us patrol individually when we're exploring a new area to camp out in, but we don't go far. If I was to meet you somewhere it would only be for a short while."
"Sure," Tenten said. "A few minutes is all I'd need to introduce you to one of the Hokage's personal guards and get you back in the village's good books... get you an actual mission so that you're not just a rogue."
Sakura nodded. "But how would we meet? Even if I could get them to go close enough to the village I would never be able to get into it through all the guards and you can't let word of this get out or Kakashi sensei will hear about it!"
"Don't worry," Tenten reassured her, wondering how Sakura had gone straight for the meeting place that Tenten had been warned to try and keep her away from. For some reason the Anbu did not want Kakashi sensei or any of his team near the village. But Sakura insisted that was the best way, because otherwise they would never know where or when they could meet.
Finally, Tenten gave up trying to convince her and took out the small map she had been given.
"Fine," she said. "Let's meet here in about three days."
...
Shino sighed in relief as Kakashi sensei gave him the same assessment of the insect's chakra as Neji and Hinata had, although he said it was fading fast.
"You should feed them up and heal them soon, Shino," Kakashi sensei suggested gently. "They're very tired.
"I was afraid that we would have nothing to compare them with. The others that I healed seem normal now, take a look."
"Yes," Kakashi sensei said. "They do seem normal. These were the same before they recovered?"
Shino nodded. He felt a twinge of guilt. Even an outsider had noticed that his bugs needed care. But he would soon be able to cure even this last unit. As soon as he had one more trial done.
"Kakashi sensei, Neji said you had a jutsu that might help us figure it out."
"Figure what out?" Kakashi sensei said, sounding only mildly interested.
"Do you have a jutsu that can send things or people to a different dimension?" Shino asked.
Kakashi sensei stared back at him with much more interest.
"It will kill your insects, Shino."
Shino nodded. "I am willing to take the risk if it's for a good cause, but I don't think that will happen."
"There's a lot you're not telling me." Kakshi sensei said. "May I ask that you speak openly to me about why you're preforming this experiment, Shino?"
Shino wasn't sure if he should. He didn't want Kakashi sensei to try altering the insects' chakra or to do anything that might influence the results of the trial.
"Sure," he said finally. "But can we please do this quickly so that my insects can rest faster."
Kakashi sensei nodded and asked Shino to placed the insects on the ground so that he could more easily focus his jutsu on them. Shino felt like he was sending them to their deaths as he placed them on the rocky ground.
"OK," Kakashi said. "I'm going to send the middle ten insects through so we can look at the ones around them. Kamui!"
They were gone.
"Please bring them back now," Shino asked.
Kakshi sensei looked back at Shino with what could only be interpreted as horror. "What do you mean, bring them back? I thought you wanted to observe the ones that were nearby when I preformed the jutsu?"
"No, Kakashi sensei," Shino said, the panic rubbing off on him. "You need to bring them back!"
Kakashi sensei crouched low to the ground and stared at the insects left over on the ground. There was a small empty circle where twelve other insects should be. Shino was starting to feel breathless. Had he not made it clear that he wanted them to come back?
"They're completely unaffected," Kakashi sensei said. "These ones that were near the Kamui."
"Kakashi sensei please bring the other ones back!"
Kakashi sensei closed his eyes for a minute and took a deep breath. When he opened them again he looked dangerous. He was making hand-signs even thought his previous jutsu did not require any. Finally, he blinked one more time, breathed "Kamui!" in a whisper and the insects reappeared. He turned away, not even wanting to look at them. He seemed even more afraid than Shino had been.
"I'm sorry, Shino," he said. "I misunderstood... I didn't even know I could do that until..."
"It's Ok," Shino said. "They're alive."
Kakashi did not respond. Shino looked up at him and came face to face with that dangerous eye. it seemed to be asking - threatening - him to fulfill his promise. The best place to begin would be to find out the results of the trial and then tell Kakashi sensei from there, but the no nonsense look on the man's face told Shino he'd better have some patience and start from the beginning.
"I'm very close to my insects," he began. "So when they get hurt, even if it's not visible to the eye, when they're tired, I can feel it."
"Of course," Kakashi said. "They are part of you, you share Chakra."
"Well," Shino said. "I noticed after we fought that masked Akatsuki that something was wrong with their chakra, but I couldn't really understand it. So when I got back to the village I had Hinata and Neji look at them. Their byakugan revealed a disturbance in the insects' chakra. We thought we could potentially use this as a way to learn more about the masked man. I showed them other injured insects and everything pointed to that chakra disturbance being unique. We formed a theory and kept doing trials."
"You mean to tell me that you have kept these poor insects from properly recovering for that long?" Kakashi said. "And you subjected even more of your insects to these... trials... to injury, essentially?"
When he said it like that it made Shino feel like a cold-blooded murderer. "I think I know how that Akatsuki slips away," he said, abandoning all caution.
Kakashi's eyes widened. "How?"
"We think he goes to a different dimension," Shino said. "This group of insects disappeared along with him. I waited and waited for them to get back, but they wouldn't. I then used my summoning Jutsu and I was able to recall them."
"Why didn't you recall this group when I panicked?" Kakashi asked, now sounding more like his usual collected, bored self.
"I needed to see if they could survive in your dimension. If you did it too quickly that wouldn't be a real test. If we are to fight the man using a similar Jutsu to his own we should explore its full potential. My insects were able to survive in his dimension for hours. Almost a day. I brought them back in groups to test it."
Kakshi nodded, but he did not take his eyes off Shino.
"I wanted to test if this specific chakra disturbance is special to the masked Akatsuki or if it really has to do with dimensional travel. So I did more trials." Shino took out his other units of insects and allowed Kakashi to look at them with his Sharingan.
Kakashi looked from Shino to these insects several times. He spent a long time studying them. Shino noticed that he never once glanced at the new group that he had sent away and brought back himself. As if afraid that the same panic would return, or perhaps out of guilt... or maybe Kakashi sensei really did read all those books he carried around to make himself look bored... maybe he liked hearing a story from beginning to end. Whatever the reason he spent several minutes examining the groups of insects that Shino had brought with him from the village, but never once glanced at the newest group.
Finally, he focused his full attention on Shino. "You really are brilliant,"
"Thank you," Shino said, "but I couldn't have done it without Neji and Hinata's Byakugan."
"Please explain the trials to me," Kakashi said, pointing to the distinct groups of insects in turn."
Shino nodded. "So you notice some differences with your sharingan too?"
"Yes," Kakashi said. He pointed out to the two groups that had not been sent to different dimensions. "These are injured but do not carry the same chakra disturbance. Those three on the other hand, each carry a slightly unique Chakra disturbance. One, you told me, was sent to a different dimension because they clung to the masked Akatsuki when he slipped away from us. What about these other two?"
"Kiba has a grandmother that can summon aminals to and from a special dimension, and can travel there herself..."
"Ah, yes, old granny Inuzuka." Kakashi said with a smile. "Did she tell you to find me?"
"Neji did," Shino said. "But she mentioned the Uchiha sharingan powers."
Kakahi nodded. "And this last group?"
"They were sent to a storage dimension using a top secret scroll we got from Inoichi Yamanaka - at great risk to his own standing in the intelligence corps."
"So this proves that the chakra disturbance is caused by inter-dimensional travel. And that the... different flavors of the disturbance are like a unique signature for each dimension one has traveled to."
"Well," shino said. "We thought we should do more tests. That's why I came."
"No, Shino," Kakashi said. "You've done enough trials - I believe you've solved our problem at last. Now we have to figure out how to fight the man who can slip to a different dimension."
"Especially since we can't follow him," Naruto breathed, almost giving Shino a heart attack. He had been so unnaturally quiet that Shino had forgotten him.
"There has to be a weakness or limitation," Kakashi said, standing up and stretching. "My Kamui strains my eyes and drains my chakra, there must be a similar limitation for him."
"Kakashi sensei," Shino said. "Will you look at the last group for me now?"
Kakashi grinned. "You'll still have a Hyuga look them over to confirm of course?" It sounded like he was teasing Shino for his thoroughness. Almost as if they were comrades, on equal terms. It was a compliment that Shino greatly appreciated.
He walked over slowly, keeping his head turned until the last minute, creating mock suspense. When he finally looked at the insects, however, his eyes grew wide and he froze. For a long time Kakashi sensei did not speak. Shino found himself staring at his face, waiting for a breath - any kind of explanation. A tear welled up in Kakashi's sharingan eye and then he closed both his eyes and a tear tricked down from his other eye.
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