Day 1 Evening

[Kakashi Hatake]

Night had begun to fall on the island, the sun receding back into its umbral crib. With the sun’s retirement came greatly reduced visibility, forcing the ninja duo to rework their strategy. So far their efforts had yielded nothing of substance, other than the gash inflicted on Minato’s arm. The first fruitless day was rapidly drawing to a close.

Kakashi sat aside a flickering fire, tending the coals idly. They had built the small pyre in a shallow hole, more for warmth than anything else. Minato had left the copy ninja over an hour ago, endeavoring to search the area solo while his protege made other preparations. With the Kage’s prodigious speed, it was the only logical choice. In the meantime, Kakashi had instead taken to jury-rigging a spear from a particularly long stick, attached to the tip with some sinews from their rabbit lunch. With some doing, he was able to craft a workable tool. It wouldn’t be very useful in combat, though if he could take down something small for dinner, it would serve its purpose.

“I wonder how long he’ll be gone,” Kakashi muttered to himself, casting a gaze into the forest behind him.

Despite his moniker and somewhat lax demeanor, the scarecrow had never been particularly good at sitting still for any length of time. In any other instance he’d not give his former-sensei’s extended absence a second thought, but on this island they were stripped of most of their abilities. He could only assure himself that the tiny firearm Minato carried would be able to make up for the deficit. At the very least, its deafening call would alert Kakashi in the event it was fired.

With a sigh the shinobi got to his feet, taking up the makeshift spear and his bulky firearm. The stone fragments from the scuffle earlier in the day had made handy arrowpoints and now would be the time to test their worth. Dusk was the perfect time to hunt small animals, if this place was anything remotely similar to the Land of Fire. Supplies in hand, the ANBU Captain traipsed off into the woods.

It was not long before Kakashi stumbled upon a small brook, the clear water bubbling softly through the rocky ground. The shinobi made a mental note of brook’s location, dropping to his knees and readily scooping the refreshing nectar into his mouth. Several mouthfuls later he stopped, taking notice of a few small fish flitting past. Without a second thought, the copy ninja grabbed up his spear and stabbed expertly at the passersby, managing to snag a few upon the jagged rockpoint. Unfortunately, the tiny stream was not home to many organisms, forcing the shinobi to take up his gear once more and scavenge for more dinner.

- - - - -

As the former Captain trekked back to their campsite, dead fish and several handfuls of berries in tow, he pondered yet again the words that the kunoichi had spoken. Rokudaime. Had he indeed, in some past or parallel life, become the leader of his people? Such a broken and dangerous man did not deserve the adoration of the village. Still, Minato had faith in him, he had always had. Kakashi shook the thought from his head as he walked; his task now was to aid Teucer, not so humor some pipe-dream. Resolute, he headed back toward the campsite.