Day 5 Morning

[Kakashi Hatake]

It was over.

The pile of ash that once comprised the body of the all-powerful warlock now sat inert, stray particles slowly drifted toward the ground in the cave’s nigh-stagnant air. Silence had settled over the arena as the heroes assessed and recouped.

Kakashi stared for a long moment at the warlock’s remains before breathing a sigh of relief as he allowed his chakra to return to normal flow. He was feeling a bit worse for wear, the constant battery on his chakra network exponentially increasing his fatigue. Still, he hardly had room to complain. Those that had not outright died during the battle were quite near the ends of their respective ropes. Notwithstanding the pain he felt throughout his body, he would carry on.

Ever the diplomat, Minato had struck up a tenuous friendship with another group of stalwart heroes, a bunch that at least appeared to be friendly. The smallest of the heroes seemed refreshingly kind despite the trials the past few days had entailed. His compatriots regarded the shinobi duo with what could best be described as dubious trust. At this point, however, the scarecrow would take cautious glances over a bloody free-for-all. They no doubt wanted to protect Teucer’s relics, though it was hard to turn down the Fourth Hokage’s boundless optimism.

“Let’s go!”

As if in anticipation of foul play, the other members of the group fell back, sequestering the gold and silver shinobi smack in the middle. Watching each other’s flank, Kakashi mused. He could hardly blame them. “Is it just me,” he muttered to his partner, “or did we forget to introduce ourselves?”

“We’ll do that later,” Minato responded, winking.

Before Kakashi could consider the comment, the female of the group spoke up. “So, who are you boys?” she inquired from behind, pulling the ratty warlock’s cloak tighter around her abdomen. The garment looked positively filthy; Kakashi could only assume she had a good reason to wear such garb.

“My name is Minato, and this is Kakashi,” the blonde Hokage piped up immediately. “I’m glad we finally met someone who doesn’t want to kill us.”

“Do us the same courtesy and we’ll get along,” a red-armored lad replied wearily. Kakashi could feel the boy sizing them up from behind his dark glasses. “I’m Blues.”

“Link,” the green-tunicked teen offered, nodding politely.

“I’m Mickey,” the anthropomorphic rodent said, jabbing a thumb at his chest. “And this is my pal Belle,” he finished, gesturing toward the redhead, who nodded in acknowledgement.

A few seconds of silence. “So, back to Teucer then?” Minato inquired, rubbing his shoulder gingerly. No doubt one of the many injuries he had incurred, courtesy of the warlock.

“Yup,” Blues answered, crossing his arms. “Not much else to do.”

“Not looking forward to what happens when we get there,” Belle stated flatly, shaking her head.

Kakashi cocked an eyebrow. “What do you mean?”

“The Relics,” Link answered. “Whoever returns all six is entitled to keep one. I imagine a fair few will want that reward.”

The sharingan-wielder sighed. He’d forgotten that small detail. “Maybe this can be settled without more bloodshed?” he asked hopefully.

Silence followed.