The Yellow Flash and The Village of Mokugakure

[Kakashi Hatake]

To say that Kakashi had slept poorly would be an understatement.

As the three shinobi prepared a morning meal and began performing warm-up exercises, Kakashi fought to keep his thoughts in-line. As if the lack of sleep were not enough, his eye had not ceased aching since he had first awoken nearly screaming in agony. Bouts of fitful sleep, punctuated with more nonsensical visions, had plagued him until the sun came up. The dreams felt so real, unlike any he had had previous. He had seen visions of a dark cavern, unsettling voices whispering in his ears, taunting him. Images flashed before his eyes of the drawn, haggard face of an ancient man, his gaze boring into Kakashi’s soul. The shinobi had watched over and over as his teenaged self tore a hole through Rin’s gut.

“What do you two say we try something new?” The threesome stood in formation, spaced apart in a large triangle. At command was their instructor, just finishing his last few stretches. “Our enemies more than likely know of our abilities. Now wouldn’t be a bad time to learn a few new tricks.”

Without another word, the fair-haired ninja raised his hands before him, fingers outstretched. His eyes closed for a brief second as his fingers curled around phantom orbs. With a flourish, Minato spun his fingers in a circle as if to rotate the air within his grasp, a pair of sky blue orbs of chakra sputtering to life. As the energies leveled out and began to spiral smoothly, a smile spread across the former Kage’s face. Though his proteges look unimpressed, he offered only a wink before vanishing from sight.

“We don’t know what our enemies will be using for techniques, so rather than just sparring, let’s try to change it up.” Minato’s voice boomed from somewhere overhead, his students casting looks into the canopy in search of his location. “Now would be the time to try anything out that you’ve been working on.”

The duo were granted a few seconds to puzzle over this before Minato reappeared between the two ninjas, dual rasengan at-hand. Kakashi’s eyes widened as the blonde rushed him, thrusting the jutsu into the scarecrow’s abdomen in quick, rapid bursts. The former Captain felt the shockwaves reverberate through his body as the blows hit home, surprise painted on his countenance. He had always known his sensei’s signature jutsu to be relatively short-lived, though Minato now seemed to be somehow maintaining them throughout his assault. Shaking himself free of the initial shock, Kakashi cocked his arm back, rapidly generating his own destructive orb within his grasp. In an instant he drove the forgery forward, the sphere bursting as it made contact with the blonde jonin’s flak jacket, tossing him backward. Minato skidded a few feet before steadying himself, allowing his jutsu to fade.

The masked shinobi drew rapid breaths, desperately attempting to recovery from the barrage and subsequent retaliation. Compounded by the existing fatigue from his restless night, he was rapidly being worn down. At the rate they were going, he’d be completely exhausted in short order. As he  pondered a means of distraction, his prayers were answered by a rain of blades from above. Their younger companion had taken to the treetops during Minato and Kakashi’s skirmish, stealing the opportunity to unleash a veritable downpour of kunai and shuriken from his vantage. Minato dashed quickly out of harm’s way, disappearing into nothingness. The scarecrow was not so graceful, sloppily tumbling backward to avoid the hail of pain. He winced as a few shuriken found their mark in his back, his armor thankfully taking the brunt of the damage. The sharingan-wielder gritted his teeth as he pulled a pair of blades from the earth beside him, chucking them toward the boy’s perch. The genin fled as the pair of projectiles embedded themselves in the tree trunk.

With each of his companions taking to the safety of the trees, Kakashi followed suit. Standing out in the open would do him no favors, especially against a pair of fellow ninja. He found safety among the leaves of a low-hanging branch, taking a moment to dig the shuriken from his back. A weapon scroll, no doubt. Though himself not a user of fūinjutsu, he couldn’t argue that the technique had been anything but effective, having caused both jonin to flee. 

Sound from the training area drew the silver-haired ninja’s attention as Minato and Kito revealed themselves, trading blows on the opposite end of the clearing. He watched as Kito turned tail, sprinting toward the treeline, Minato in tow. The boy reached the trees, springing from the ground and continuing his dash effortlessly up the side of the tree. His pursuer found his own bough a few feet away a moment later, dashing headlong toward the top, parallel with the lad. Kito glanced to his left, noting the blonde blur giving chase, and abruptly halted his charge, leaping from the trunk and grabbing an adjacent branch. His momentum carried him as he swung his feet forward, letting go to planted both feet against a surprised Minato’s flank. The former Kage was knocked airborne, existing in freefall for but a second before vanishing, just as Kito landed heavily on a lower branch, breathing hard. 

Seeing this, Kakashi took his chance, quickly pulling a kunai and a small slip of paper from his belt pouches. With the aid of a small bit of metal wire, he bound the two together and flung the creation toward Kito’s location. The youth jumped in surprise as the ordinance landed with a thunk on the underside of his perch, the wood splintering as the scroll exploded beneath his feet a split-second later. As the smoke cleared, the masked ninja could find no sign of the boy. Fearing possible assault from within the forest, the scarecrow allowed himself to fall the few feet to the forest floor, laying low to avoid being seen. Remembering the clash earlier, Kakashi formed a ram seal, his body disappearing as his stealth jutsu took effect. He cautiously stepped back into the clearing, being careful to muffle the sounds of his feet against the rocky earth. As he crept back toward the center of the clearing, the air was knocked from his lungs as an explosion of pain erupted within his skull. His jutsu failing, the scarecrow fell to his knees, a sitting duck, location plain as day.

“Hah!” the dark-haired youth cried from above, hurriedly drawing a scroll from his belt and unfurling it over his head. Glyphs upon the parchment’s surface glowed briefly as blades materialized from nothingness, shooting off toward the downed man.

The former ANBU cried out in anguish, deaf and ignorant to the boy’s assault, as his eye threatened to scrotch itself out of his skull. Despite its protest, his vision seemed to only strengthen as he caught sight of the death falling in slow-motion from above. Even as he felt his fingers reflexively tear into the earth in throes of agony, he could feel chakra rushing to his sharingan eye. The rain of blades bore down, threatening to tear into his flesh, though their deadly kiss never came. Kakashi felt warm ichor stream down his pale face as his vision blurred before him, a spiralling distortion tainting his vision. The seconds ticked away as he awaited his punishment, though it did not arrive. The storm of blades ceased to exist as his vision slowly returned, the maelstrom slipping away into itself. Blessedly, the pain followed upon its feels. 

“Kakashi…” 

Drenched in sweat, the silver-haired shinobi turned his gaze to meet his sensei’s inquiry. The blonde wore an expression of concern and surprise in equal measures, quickly striding forward to close the gap and assist his student to his feet. “Sorry,” Kakashi replied as the Kage lifted him from the dirt. “I don’t know what happened.”

“Kakashi, your eye…” Minato trailed off, squinting to examine the scarecrow’s bleeding optic.

The masked jonin froze, breath catching in his throat. It had been some time since he had had such pain, though he had naively hoped that he would never have to bear it again. The physical pain he could tolerate. No, it was the memory that tortured him so. He knew of what Minato referred without needing to ask: The Mangekyou. The symbol of his failure. 

Kakashi wiped the blood from his cheek, closing his eyes hard as he felt his chakra return to normal. Though the symbol of treachery had faded away, returning Obito’s eye to its simple tomoe trio, the thoughts would not fade with it. He drew a deep breath, gritting his teeth in an attempt to keep his emotions in-check.

“Take a break, Kakashi,” Minato urged, laying a hand on his shoulder. “Kito and I will continue for now.”

The scarecrow nodded wordlessly, crossing the clearing back toward the treeline. He turned and sat facing his comrades, his back against a tree trunk. It would be a long time before his heartrate would return to normal, before he could bring himself to stand. In the interim, he was alone with his thoughts.