18DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN NARUTO OR ANY ASSOCIATED CHARACTERS
Hello everyone and welcome to the story. This is the result of a new idea that I've been working on, so I hope you enjoy it. Apologies in advance for the skipping around in this chapter. I needed to set the stage of the overall story, and I needed smaller scenes to do it the way I wanted to. Anyways, I hope all of you will enjoy reading this story as much as I will writing it. Please drop a review detailing any thoughts you may have, and enjoy!
Chapter 1 - The Traitor
This mission was turning out to be incredibly annoying for Obito. First, his prodigy of a teammate gets named Jonin and lords it over him like he was dangling a dog treat, daring him to catch up. It was bad enough the guy was a sadist and didn't care about his teammates, but now he had to take orders from him for crying out loud.
If that wasn't enough, Rin constantly followed after him like a loyal puppy, always nipping at his heels with a smile on her face. It'd been her idea to all get gifts for Kakashi to commemorate his promotion to Jonin, something Obito had foregone out of spite. If he was going to be lower in rank than Kakashi, he sure as hell wasn't going to lick his sandals.
Kakashi's ego had gotten so big that he'd tried to take on that Stone ninja all by himself. It wasn't just that he was sure of his abilities, it was more than that. Kakashi was so high on himself and so above everyone else that he'd taken that guy one on one just to test out a new jutsu. Needless to say, it had been satisfying for Obito to watch Minato-sensei step in and help, much to Kakashi's frustration.
Obito still remembered the first spar he and Kakashi had ever participated in together under Minato-sensei's supervision. It was the day that he'd seen the true face of Kakashi, and Obito had never looked at him the same since.
A series of swift jabs cracked against Obito's nose and made his eyes water, which only fogged up the tinted glass of his goggles. Then it was followed by a leg sweep from his opponent, which resulted in Obito landing flat on his back, eyes wide at the feeling of cold metal pressed against his neck.
"That's enough, Kakashi. You've won, and I said no weapons," Minato scolded.
Kakashi placed the kunai back in his pouch with a sigh of irritation. "Sensei, why spar without weapons if the only people we'll ever face on missions will be carrying them? We should always be prepared to carry out a mission to the best of our abilities."
"That's not the point, Kakashi. This was an exercise between friends, not a deathmatch between enemies."
Kakashi looked down in mild surprise at Obito's hand that stretched upwards. The Uchiha boy flexed his fingers, asking Kakashi to help him to his feet. That only made Kakashi snicker. "You can't even stand on your own? Some ninja you are. It's too bad the mission always comes first, because you'll be the first to die, weak link. I'll be the one to leave you there, too. You'll bleed to death and get interrogated by enemy ninja because you were too useless to get away on your own. Rin and I will get away easily, but you'll get left behind to die."
"Enough!" Minato said forcefully. "We're done for the day. Go home and cool off, both of you!"
Obito was pulled to his feet by Minato. He removed his goggles and wiped them off while Rin began to produce a few bandages to shove into Obito's bleeding nostrils. Huffing in anger, he shrugged her off. It pained him to do so, but he was furious at Kakashi.
Why'd he have to be stuck with the one guy that didn't care about his teammates. And why the hell did Rin like that guy? What did she even see in him? Obito stalked home, swearing under his breath the entire time.
"Obito. Obito? Obito!" Rin called, waving her arms in front of his face.
The black-haired boy shook his head, eyes refocusing on his team. "Uh, sorry, what?"
"Tch," was Kakashi's response as he turned away.
"Obito, you have got to be more aware of your surroundings during a mission. What if enemy ninja had attacked us?" Minato asked with a concerned look.
Obito shook his head to clear it. "No, I'm good, really."
"Alright, this is where we part ways. Remember, stealth is key, and don't forget teamwork," Minato reminded.
When he heard that last word, Obito immediately looked to Kakashi, but the white-haired ninja was scarcely paying attention at all. In fact, it looked like the guy had yawned, though it was hard to tell from underneath his mask. Obito gave a small sigh before turning it into a wide smile when he faced his sensei again. He gave Minato a thumbs up at the same time that Rin smiled.
"We won't fail you, Minato-sensei!" they said in unison.
Minato chuckled, a warm smile spreading across his face at the same time that a dark feeling formed in the pit of his stomach. Oddly, he had a feeling that this would be the last time he saw his students, but he quickly passed it off as jitters due to them parting from him for their first solo mission.
He waved goodbye, and the two groups split off into different directions.
The group of young ninja stopped begrudgingly for the night. They had originally planned to forge on through the darkness, but Kakashi had insisted that Obito and Rin would be utterly useless to him if they were tired, and he would have to complete the mission by himself. He phrased it as if losing the two of them would be a mild inconvenience as opposed to losing two of his closest friends. That is, if Kakashi even had any friends.
What was also odd was that Kakashi vehemently volunteered for first watch. As long as he'd known him, Obito had never heard Kakashi that forceful about anything except when he threatened to leave Obito for dead on missions. In fact, Obito was convinced that the only reason he was alive right now was that Minato-sensei acted like Kakashi's leash.
Despite his confusion, Obito had relented and allowed Kakashi to take watch for them while he and Rin got some shut eye. He drifted off for several restless hours, his usually vivid dreams absent tonight for some reason. After rolling over on his bedroll for the umpteenth time that night, Obito finally gave up and rose to his feet to relieve Kakashi.
When he stepped out from behind the large tree where Rin still slept, he saw Kakashi kneeling down and petting one of his ninja hound's heads. Rubbing the sleep from his eyes, Obito approached. As he got closer, he recognized the little dog and raised a hand in greeting.
"Oh, hey Pakkun."
The pug's eyes went wide as he regarded Obito for a split second before giving a curt nod to Kakashi and disappearing in a puff of smoke. Kakashi quickly shot to his feet and stuffed something in his ninja pouch as he faced Obito.
"What was that about?" the Uchiha asked.
"I sent him to scout ahead. If I summon him tomorrow, he can lead us through enemy territory without us being seen," Kakashi replied, brushing past Obito.
"That was smart," Obito nodded to himself. Even if he hated the guy, Kakashi had some pretty ingenious ideas.
Kakashi responded only with a small grunt as he walked back towards the large tree. "Wake Rin in a few hours."
Minato arrived as the designated spot on the map just before first light. He was told that there would be a contingent of Leaf shinobi here that were assigned to hold this position, but he saw no sign of them. Then again, he saw no sign of the enemy either.
There was clearly evidence that a battle had taken place, with smoking craters and dead shinobi lying left and right. What brought sadness to Minato's eyes was the fact that the majority of them were Leaf shinobi. The entire battlefield was sandstone or some other kind of rock, and blood covered an alarming portion of it, having mixed in with the dirt after leaking from the bodies.
Minato jumped back and drew a kunai at a sudden sound that turned out to only be a wounded Konoha ninja coughing up blood. He replaced the three-pronged weapon and made his way over to the wounded shinobi. Lifting his head up with one hand, Minato allowed the man to look at him.
"You-you're the Yellow Flash!" he realized with wide eyes before coughing again, more blood spattering on the ground. A large wound had been opened up in his stomach, and it needed immediate medical treatment. Unfortunately for them, there wasn't a living medic-nin close enough to save him.
"What happened?" Minato asked.
The man's eyes hardened at the memory. "At first we were...holding them back. Then, out of nowhere...they started...beating us back. It was...like they knew...all of our tactics."
Minato's jaw flexed at the news. That did not bode well. If Iwa shinobi had gotten hold of their tactics, it could only mean one of two things: that they'd captured someone and interrogated them, or there was a traitor among the ranks of Konoha. Personally, Minato was more inclined to believe the former, but he'd learned a long time ago not to trust too blindly.
"Which way did they go?"
The wounded man raised a hand weakly, his fingers folding until he was pointing loosely to his right. Then, all the strength seemed to be sapped from his body and his arm collapsed as the final breath left his body.
Minato's breath caught in his throat as he followed the direction of the man's finger. Never before had he taken off from a spot so quickly, for in that direction was Kannabi Bridge. In that direction was his team.
The air had turned humid for the last few hours. It was to be expected, because the area surrounding Kannabi Bridge was something of a swamp. They crossed several streams while they followed Pakkun. The little pug led them though the territory swiftly, and as of yet, there had been no encounters with enemy ninja.
Still, the air seemed to be unusually heavy, as if the very environment was warning them of what was ahead. Still, they didn't listen, especially when they came upon a large earthen dome set in a small clearing and surrounded by large trees.
"We should go around," Obito advised.
Rin nodded. "The bridge is just on the other side of here."
"What's wrong with you fools? There are enemy ninja down there. It's probably just an intelligence outpost. We could go in and extract any information we can out of them," Kakashi said.
"What happened to 'the mission always comes first' Kakashi?" Obito asked with a hushed sarcastic tone.
Kakashi leapt down from the tree branch they were perched on. "Stop being a coward, you loser."
Rin obediently followed after Kakashi, leaving Obito grumbling in the tree. Pakkun tilted his head to the side, which Obito interpreted as a dog's version of shrugging. "This isn't gonna end well," he sighed as he dropped down to follow his teammates.
They crept along the edge of the earthen dome until they came to a large arch-like opening. Kakashi peered inside for a second, then made several hand signals to communicate the plan. He relayed that he saw two individuals inside, and Obito would take the center, forming a wedge.
Obito gulped, the nervousness rising from the pit of his stomach. He flipped his goggles down to cover his eyes, then nodded to Kakashi, a sign that he was ready. Kakashi counted down on his fingers until he reached one, then switched it to an open palm and waved them in.
Half a second later, Obito was staring at two Iwa shinobi, a kunai in his right hand. The enemy ninja turned around in mock surprise, smiles upon their face. "Oh well look who it is, little Leaf ninja. As if we couldn't sense you from a mile away."
"I told you this was a bad idea, Kakashi," Obito muttered out of the corner of his mouth.
"Shut up," came the reply from behind him.
The two Iwa ninja in front of them were full-grown adults, and were at least mid-chunin level. If they decided to fight here, it would be a tough battle, and Obito had a feeling that not all of them would survive, even if Kakashi was a Jonin.
"What do we do, Kakashi?" Rin whispered as she held a kunai in front of her.
One of the Iwa ninja raised an eyebrow at Rin's words. "Kakashi? So you're the little brat we've heard about so much, eh?"
"What's he talking about, Kakashi?" Obito asked, his eyes flitting towards his teammate, who stood expressionless.
The Iwa ninja laughed. "Oh you mean he hasn't told you? Ha! The little brat's been feeding our Tsuchikage intel for the entire war! Pretty cruel to betray his own village if you ask me. But it's not as cruel as dragging his teammates here to die."
Obito's eyes widened and he turned towards Kakashi, but the silver-haired Jonin was gone. A second later, cold steel was pressed against Obito's throat. Rin gasped, both her hands covering her mouth as she watched the predicament of her best friend. "Obito!"
"Kakashi...why?" Obito asked, trying to adjust his position so that the white chakra blade that was held at his throat didn't cut him.
Kakashi laughed bitterly and cruelly in the Uchiha's ear. "Why not?"
"Kakashi, you're our friend, why would you do this?" Rin asked, the horror showing in her eyes.
"Friend?" Kakashi growled in disbelief. "No one in the village is my friend."
"That's not true!" Rin cried, tears streaming down her face. She looked like she wanted to run towards them, but the blade at Obito's throat held her back. All the while, the two Iwa ninja were enjoying their front row seats to the action.
"It is. Konoha is built on lies. All of the senseis teach teamwork and camaraderie, but when it's time to choose between friends and a mission, they always choose the mission."
"What are you talking about?" Rin asked quietly.
Obito grabbed Kakashi's hand with his own, prying the chakra blade a few inches away from his neck. "You're talking about your father, aren't you?"
"What do you know about my father? Huh? What sensei told you? Did he tell you that the village treated him like a criminal for saving his comrades? Did he tell you that he killed himself because of the treatment?" Kakashi barked.
"Yes," Obito said through grit teeth.
"Then you know that friends don't mean anything. And neither does a village. That's why I've been feeding intelligence to the enemy through Pakkun. Konoha doesn't deserve its reputation of peace," Kakashi said harshly.
Obito and Rin's eyes both snapped towards the little pug, who looked sad and dejected as he whimpered on the ground. "I'm sorry guys, but I have a duty to my summoner. I didn't have a choice."
"That's bullshit! You could have just left!" Obito yelled, but he was silenced by Kakashi pressing the blade close once more.
"Dogs are loyal," Kakashi smirked beneath his mask. Pakkun disappeared in a puff of smoke, leaving the five occupants of the cave to their fate. "I can't say the same for the village. Betraying one of its best Jonin the moment he chooses to save others."
"Your father was a hero, Kakashi! Everyone knows that!" Rin tried, but Kakashi wasn't having any of it.
"I know that better than anyone! That didn't stop the entire village from turning on him!"
Obito winced as the blade cut a small line in his neck. "What about sensei? He supported your father!"
Kakashi scoffed. "Minato-sensei is a hypocrite. He preaches kindness, yet he slaughters enemy ninja by the dozen. As soon as I kill the two of you, I'll continue this charade until I've killed him and brought Konoha to its knees."
Rin dropped to the ground and sobbed into her hands. She was helpless to watch as Kakashi grinned savagely underneath his mask and began to draw the blade across Obito's throat. It never completed the action, though, as a flash of yellow appeared behind him and he was knocked aside by a powerful kick to the head. His white chakra blade clattered to the ground next to him as Minato grabbed Obito.
He brought the Uchiha over to Rin, and she used her healing jutsu to close the cut on his neck. It wasn't very deep, and it hadn't severed any arteries, but the blood had already stained his shirt. She fought through her sobs and managed to close up the wound before burying her head in his chest. Obito would have grinned widely at the fact that he was finally holding Rin how he wanted to, if it weren't for the fact that their once trusted teammate had betrayed them.
"What's the meaning of this, Kakashi?" Minato demanded harshly.
The two Iwa ninja, who had remained apart from the action up to this point, decided to move forward. "You're the Yellow Flash. I'm not seeing much yellow, though."
They were right. Only specks of blue and yellow could be seen here and there on Minato. The majority of his body was covered in dark blood, staining his clothes, hair, and skin. "Sensei, what...happened?" Obito asked.
"I took care of their reinforcements. It's just us now."
The two Iwa ninja's faces were instantly plastered with fear. "That's-that's impossible! We had over a thousand ninja headed here!" one said in disbelief.
The sound of metal on stone alerted them to Kakashi's retrieval of his blade. "Damn. I was hoping to have killed those two by the time you got here. I expected those Iwa ninja to keep you delayed for a lot longer than that."
"So you're the traitor we've been looking for this entire time, Kakashi?" Minato asked, his usually friendly eyes now showing only signs of disappointment and bloody determination. The dried blood caking his face only added to his fear factor.
Kakashi chuckled. "If you'd gotten here two minutes ago, you would have heard my explanation. I suppose you teleported here using this, right?" he held up the three-pronged kunai that Minato had given him earlier. "Well you can have it back."
Kakashi tossed the kunai directly at Minato, who caught it by the handle and returned it to the pouch on his back, all the while never taking his eyes off of Kakashi. "You were more damaged by your father's death than we thought, weren't you?" Minato asked.
"Don't even try, sensei. I'm done talking. I'll kill you, then I can return to the village and play the part of lone survivor until everyone who betrayed my father has been destroyed."
"Guess we'd better help ya, kid," the two Iwa shinobi shrugged. "After all, the Tsuchikage would kill us if we let our valuable informant die before we win the war."
Kakashi twirled his chakra blade in his hand and dropped into a ready position, Minato doing the same. Obito gently pushed Rin off of him and rose to help his sensei, drawing a kunai. He lifted his goggles to wipe a single tear from his eye as he readied himself for the battle.
One of the Iwa ninja started it off by turning completely transparent. Both Minato and Obito completely lost sight of the man. Obito was darting his head back and forth, trying to catch any sign of the enemy ninja that had disappeared. A sudden impact on his right side cracked one of his ribs and sent him sprawling. Trying to catch his breath, Obito crawled to his feet and looked around again. This time, a fist hit him in the cheek and sent him down again.
Not like this, Obito thought to himself, grunting with pain. I have to protect Rin!
The third strike never came, as a kunai was buried in the chest of the transparent Iwa ninja. His jutsu faded, and he looked down in surprise at the little kid that had managed to kill him. The eyes, previously black and full of emotion, were now bright red with two tomoe orbiting the pupil. Hatred and anger were all that was shown in them.
The body dropped to the ground as the air was filled with a high-pitched chirping sound as Kakashi activated his chidori and dashed towards Minato. The Yellow Flash tossed a kunai straight at the remaining Iwa ninja and appeared behind him before thrusting the three-pronged weapon into the back of his head. The man dropped dead to the ground as Kakashi advanced on his former sensei.
The earth dome began to crumble, as apparently it was the man that Minato had just killed who'd cast the jutsu. Strangely, though, the sound of the chidori grew louder, causing Obito to turn his attention back to the fighting. A shadow clone of Kakashi was racing directly towards them, lightning-coated hand poised to plunge directly into the chest of Rin.
Luckily, a kunai flew above her head, and Minato appeared. He grabbed Rin by the back of her shirt and dragged her into the air as Kakashi ran underneath them. Then, using his other hand, he tossed the kunai to Obito, who caught it using his newly awakened sharingan. Minato then flashed next to him and the trio faced down their former teammate.
"He-he tried to kill me!" Rin realized, tears flowing freely down her face again.
More chunks of the ceiling began to fall around them, the ground rumbling from their impacts. Kakashi even had to raise his hand directly above him to cut one in half that would have crushed him.
Minato looked down at his to remaining students. One was in a deep state of shock and emotional trauma, and the other was experiencing unparalleled levels of anger. He needed to get them out of here before the ceiling caved completely in, or worse, Obito did something stupid.
"Sorry Obito."
Minato grabbed both of his students by their shirts again, and suddenly they were on the edge of a grass field. They heard a deep rumbling sound behind them as the rest of the earth dome collapsed in the distance. Obito smacked Minato's arm away and turned towards the sound.
"KAKASHI!" he roared in anger.
Rin collapsed to her knees and began another fit of sobbing as Minato only bowed his head in sadness, watching the suffering of his two students. Truth be told, he blamed himself for not seeing Kakashi's pain earlier, or he might have been able to do something about it. He would regret that for the rest of his life.
Obito was seething. He was almost hyperventilating because of the levels of anger he was experiencing. Minato placed a hand on the Uchiha's shoulder. "Obito, calm down."
Obito shrugged Minato off again. His words came out in a low, animalistic growl that would not have been looked for in a boy of his age. "He betrayed the village. He tried to kill Rin," Obito's blazing red eyes now shed tears like his teammate, only these were of anger.
"I'm gonna kill him. If he survived that, I swear that I'll kill him."
