To Fell the Fel [Great]

[Kakashi Hatake]

Kakashi and his chain-smoking companion strode silently into the Morikage’s office, closing the heavy door behind them. Tsunade sat before her desk, shuffling through the sea of reports and official documents. She looked up as the two entered, offering a weak smirk in reply.

“I’m sorry to call on you so soon, Kakashi,” the Morikage confessed, shuffling through the mound of papers atop her desk. “I’d like nothing more than to offer you some time to get your bearings, but it’s not looking like that will be possible.”

The silver-haired shinobi took a knee, bowing his head in respect. “Whatever you need, Lady First.”

“On your feet, Kakashi. I never really liked the whole curtsying tradition. Besides, we don’t have the time for it. Our scouts have noted a large attack force gathering just south of here.” She unfurled a large scroll with one hand, grabbing a handful of wooden pins with another. On the scroll there looked to be a rough map of the village and the surrounding area.

“Already?!” Sarutobi sputtered, putting out his cigarette on his sleeve. “But they were here just hours ago!”

“These aren’t the White Hand,” Tsunade muttered darkly, pinning the scroll to the desk.

“You can’t mean…” the olive-skinned jonin began, worry etched in his face.

“The scouts report that their banners display the Bonechewer emblem,” the blonde kunoichi responded wearily, placing a paper beside the map scroll. On it was a rough sketch of a set of jagged fangs clamping down on a bone.

“Bonechewers?” Kakashi inquired, raising an eyebrow.

“So-named for their brutal and cannibalistic nature,” Asuma muttered, his brow knitted. “This is not good. They call themselves orcs, but they’re nothing like what we just tangled with.”

“The odds of this village surviving an all-out attack from the Bonechewer clan are lower than I’d like to admit,” the Slug princess stated flatly, staring intently at the duo. “We need to put a stop to this before it starts. These monsters are smarter than the other orcs and goblins we’ve encountered, but just barely. They have a very loose chain of command, essentially relying on their chieftain for orders. I think this can be how we save ourselves.”

“We target their leader,” the scarecrow offered, nodding in agreement.

“Exactly. That’s why I need you, Kakashi. This is something of a specialty for you.” Tsunade met the captain’s gaze for a moment before returning to the map. “You are to assassinate Tagar Spinebreaker WITHOUT alerting his subordinates. Without his iron fist keeping them in line, they’ll dissolve into chaos and hopefully do more damage to each other than us. I will assign you two of the most competent warriors we can spare. Asuma, you’re to stay here and defend on the chance the assassination fails and they attack. Any questions?” Silence hung for a moment before the Morikage spoke once more. “Good. Move out.”

-     -

“Why couldn’t it just be goblins or something…”

Kakashi and his pair of escorts stood at the village gate, re-checking their respective supplies. As he counted his remaining shuriken, scrolls and various other tools he felt a feeling of deja vu, reminded for a moment of his last moments with the rest of Team Ro before entering the Omniverse. The two escorts he had been afforded did not quite inspire confidence in the silver-haired jonin, though they would have to do.

“The Morikage said they were to the south,” the first of the two, Sofia, began. She looked to be around Kakashi’s age, standing not quite six feet tall. She was dressed in rough leather armor pulled over the attire of what he expected was a smith of some variety. Her ivory skin contrasted the inky black hair she had pulled back into a tight bun. Her eyes, a clear blue, squinted at a map she held extended between her hands. “Do we know where, exactly?”

“No,” the silver-haired captain responded. “Unfortunately the last time they were spotted was a few hours ago and even then they were on the move.”

“So, what, are we just going to wander around until we find them?” questioned Dack, their third member. He was somewhat younger than his comrades and nearly a foot shorter, approximately 16 if Kakashi had to guess. His strawberry blonde hair framed his youthful face, falling just short of his shoulders. He too looked to have just thrown simple armor over his day attire; the dirt on his elbows and knees told the captain that he was likely a farmer or something similar.

“Hopefully I can solve that problem for us,” the copy ninja replied.

The scarecrow retrieved a scroll from a pouch on his belt, unfurling it with a flick of his wrist and rested it on the ground before him. As he gazed upon the familiar sigil and signature he bit down hard on the inside of his lip, tasting the metallic tang of blood. After dabbing a small amount of this on his gloved thumb, he began rapidly weaving the appropriate hand seals. He paused as he finished, hoping silently that his technique would work. “Summoning Jutsu!” he asserted, pressing his hand to the scroll.

The scroll’s glyph glowed for a brief moment as Kakashi mentally called forth the image of his intended summon. Suddenly a plume of smoke poured from the point of contact, followed immediately by the familiar deep voice of his old friend. “How’s it going, Kakashi?”

The sharingan wielder smiled underneath his mask as the smoke cleared. “Well, it’s complicated.” He cast a gaze at his comrades, smiling wider at their confused looks. “This is Pakkun,” he replied, gesturing at the small brown pug at his feet. The canine wore forehead protector etched with the symbol of Konoha and a blue vest emblazoned with a henohenomoheji. “Pakkun, this is Sofia and Dack. Pakkun will be our nose.”

The pup chuckled. “Always calling on me to sniff for you. You owe me a belly rub.” He glanced up at the two forest villagers first, then back to Kakashi. “So, what are we looking for?”

“Orcs,” the Anbu captain responded. “Somewhere due south.”

The canine sniffed the air for a moment. “Well, I’m not sure what an ‘orc’ is but I can tell you that there is a strong scent of blood in that direction.”

Dack nodded. “That’ll be them. Those bastards can’t go longer than twenty minutes without gutting something.”

“Alright,” Pakkun responded, turning toward the scent. “Let’s go.”