Chapter Text
The green scarf that he had draped around his neck since birth felt nice and comfy. Yet the fraying edges were a testament to its age and use. On more than one occasion, Minato hinted that he wanted to buy him a new one for his birthday. Kakashi rejected the gesture each time, finding himself unwilling to part with the last reminder he had of his father.
However as Team Minato advanced to C ranked, and even B ranked missions, Kakashi was quickly finding out the impracticality of the scarf. It did absolutely nothing for him in battle, other than getting caught on an assortment of branches and making him easier for the enemy to capture. After their last mission, one where his scarf had almost gotten him killed, Kakashi finally made the decision to replace it.
If he was going to get rid of it, then he wanted his Capture Weapon back. His neck felt strangely empty without anything around it.
When Kakashi described the Capture Weapon to Minato, Minato suggested he try the local weapons and armor shop. Minato’s redirection hadn’t been a “no, there’s no such thing in this world” but it also meant it wasn’t something extremely well known. Still, Kakashi latched onto that hope.
A little sense of familiarity would go a long way.
The bells trinkled merrily when Kakashi entered the quaint shop. Instantly, he was assaulted with a spray of dust, the specks illuminated by the sunlight that streamed through the open window. The shopkeeper had his back turned towards him, in the midst of sweeping up the floor.
The shopkeeper craned his neck over his shoulder to glance at the newcomer. “Hello! Is there anything in particular that you’re looking for?”
According to Minato, this shop was one of the lesser known ones in Konoha. However based on Minato’s own experiences, this was also the shop to most likely have what he was looking for. Known for stocking up on eccentric weaponry and armory styles, this was the place where Minato first found the kunai design he based his famed three pronged kunai off of.
The Capture Weapon wasn’t quite that weird, but he trusted his sensei’s judgment.
“I’m looking for a type of cloth,” Kakashi began to explain. “A roll of cloth made out of carbon fibers and a special kind of metal alloy. I want it to be able to react to my chakra and move, sort of like a weapon that can be used for long distance capture.”
The shopkeeper hummed, stroking the bottom of his goatee as his eyebrows knitted together in thought. “A cloth capture weapon, huh. For it to be effective, then it would have to be water and fire resistant. It should also be heavy enough to cut through the resistance in air when you’re utilizing it, but also not too heavy to the point where its movements are hindered. An interesting concept, where did you get the idea from?”
In less than two minutes, the shopkeeper managed to come up with a concrete foundation for the design of his Capture Weapon. Perhaps, his genius was the true reason behind Minato’s recommendation. In that case, Kakashi didn’t see why this shop was so underrated. This shopkeeper was the equivalent of their support course, except his brain alone sustained the entire program.
Kakashi pointed at his scarf. “This gets in the way during battles. I like having something around my neck though, so I figured I might as well turn it into a weapon.”
“I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that you are a student of Minato,” the shopkeeper commented offhandedly. “That boy always came to me with the strangest ideas and somehow they always worked. I don’t have anything that resembles what you are looking for; however, if you want to give me a week, I can probably figure something out.”
Excitement lit up in his purple eyes. There was hope after all.
“No promises though,” the shopkeeper was quick to tack on. “I think it will be extremely difficult to find the type of cloth that you have mentioned. There’s no point in making this weapon if it’s easily destroyed.”
“Of course,” Kakashi agreed. “Thank you for your assistance.”
Five failed attempts and three weeks later, Kakashi was seen walking around the village with a bundle of white cloth wrapping loosely around his neck. The cloth extended high enough to cover the bottom half of his face, much like the green scarf used to do for him. No one really understood the point of the cloth, some even speculated it was his way of carrying around emergency bandages.
If only they had seen Kakashi use that cloth to slap multiple Iwa ninjas in the face.
Three years passed by in a blink of an eye. Following the chunin exams, Team Minato had been upgraded to C ranked missions and eventually B ranked missions. Once Obito and Rin both made chunin at eleven years old, the three of them even undertook missions without Minato’s guidance.
A lot of injuries and arguments have been involved. Luckily, Rin had always been there to patch up their injuries, but even she was helpless in stopping their bickering. The bickering only grew worse as Obito grew older and more hard-headed. While Kakashi disliked being at odds with him all the time - their rift did their team absolutely no good - he often found that the only way to get Obito to really listen was using rank on him.
Obito despised Kakashi using his role as team captain on him, but what he didn’t understand was that he was just trying to look out for their team. All Kakashi wanted was to ensure that their team made it home, intact and alive.
Hopefully someday, Obito would understand that being a shinobi didn’t mean they could save everyone. That in certain situations, their interference only made everything worse.
Kakashi stood by that. Look at how things turned out for Shinsou Hitoshi, for Hatake Sakumo.
Obito didn’t have the same experiences that Kakashi did. For him to truly understand would mean delving deep into the two stained splotches in his life that Kakashi had buried deep within his heart.
Kakashi preferred not to dig up old history.
At twelve years old, Kakashi was the youngest person among his generation to be promoted to jonin. When he was eleven years old, Kakashi had already sensed that the Hokage wanted to nominate him for the jonin exams. After his failed attempt to delay his promotion the first time, Kakashi was under no illusions that he could circumvent the promotion this time either.
As a result, since the beginning of last year, Kakashi had thrown himself into training, pushing himself harder than ever. If he was going to be promoted, then it damned well be because he deserved it and not as a result of outsider factors.
He was going to become the shinobi he wanted to be.
Kakashi passed the examination with flying colors, even beating out candidates with many more years of experience than him. When the Hokage issued his jonin status certification, for once, Kakashi felt like it was the first time he had really earned something due to his own merit.
(While he hated the disadvantages in his previous life, Kakashi had realized that being handed things on a silver platter wasn’t what he was striving for either. A level playing field was all that he really wanted.)
There was no time to celebrate, not that Kakashi cared for one, because Konoha was still in the midst of war. At this point, the war had dragged on for seven long years. With each span of time that passed, it always felt like Konoha was low on manpower.
According to the Hokage, Konoha was suffering from an all time low for manpower. It was also the sole reason why Kakashi was assigned on his first mission as jonin captain the day after his promotion.
An A ranked mission.
While Kakashi had led plenty of missions in the past, this was the first time that Team Minato was carrying out an A ranked mission without their sensei.
The Kannabi Bridge mission. While Minato explained the details of their mission, Kakashi was the only one who understood the importance of this mission. They were to blow up the bridge known to be a vital route for supplies in an attempt to choke Iwa into surrendering. For the past seven years, this was Konoha’s best chance to end the war.
The war that spiraled from the aftermath of his father’s botched mission. While Kakashi didn’t really blame him for the choice he made, the least he could do to remedy the situation was to partake in the mission that could possibly end the entire war.
To redeem the Hatake name. To allow his father to rest in peace. Not to mention, the amount of casualties and further bloodshed Kakashi would be able to prevent.
That was the kind of shinobi that he wanted to be.
For the first part of the journey, Minato accompanied them. While they walked, Kakashi was a mixture of being strung on by the excitement of finally ending the damn war and the onslaught of nervousness that wracked him inside and out.
Never once as Shinsou Hitoshi had he ever been given charge of a task with such importance. Ironically, such a task had been given so freely to him as a newly minted, twelve year old jonin when he was Hatake Kakashi.
Minato was the first to be alerted of an enemy presence, followed by Kakashi who had been a close second. The two moved in sync, holding out their arms to stop Obito and Rin to their tracks. Spreading his feet out into a fighting stance, Kakashi’s hand had already reached to brandish a kunai.
Minato signalled that there were multiple opponents in the clearing. While there certainly were more than one, Kakashi’s senses told him that they belonged to the same chakra source. Signalling back to him that the opponents were clones and that there was only one real opponent, Kakashi contemplated his best course of action.
Nineteen clones. One real body. With no real viable way of discerning between the real and fake, attacking them would be like a shot in the dark. However, it didn’t seem they had much of a choice.
Kakashi turned to Minato. “Are the seals on your kunai resistant to fire?”
MInato nodded. “They are. What are you thinking?”
Kakashi launched into an explanation of the plan he had crafted. Having pinpointed the locations of the five clones located closest to them, Kakashi wanted to take advantage of the obscurity that Obito’s fireball jutsu would afford them to throw Minato’s famed kunais towards the enemy. Obito would take out the clone closest to them while Kakashi and Minato divided up the remaining four.
“You can transport me to your teleportation markings, can’t you?”
“I can,” Minato confirmed. “And then what happens after that?”
And then Kakashi explained that both of them would proceed to eliminate the remaining fifteen of them while Obito circled back to regroup with Rin. It was likely that the enemy would try to attack their support member to weaken them, so having Obito around was an extra precaution.
His plan was logical in that the two fastest members of Team Minato would be the ones to strike. Kakashi was no Minato, who was the speed of light, but his speed was nothing to laugh at either.
“Are you sure you’ll be able to handle them?” Minato questioned.
Of course, otherwise I wouldn’t have suggested it, was what Kakashi really wanted to say to him, but instead, he settled for, “In any case, my Capture Weapon will allow me to attack from a long range distance. I won’t even need to get close, so I’ll be fine.”
Minato took his word for it. Even if he didn’t want to, Kakashi was team captain on this mission after all. Minato wouldn’t be there with them on the second half of the mission, so if there was any time to start trusting Kakashi’s judgment, it was now.
Obito’s massive fireball jutsu put the plan in motion. Previously equipped with Minato’s special kunais, Rin and Kakashi tossed them in the direction of the clones. Less than a moment later, both Kakashi and Minato were gone. Obito leapt out from behind the logs to tackle the first opponent.
Minato’s kunai sliced cleanly through the body of the first clone, poofing out of existence upon contact. Kakashi had eliminated the second. From behind the logs, one of the enemy's clones appeared out from under the ground. High on alert, Rin whirled around just in time to block the clone’s kunai. Her other hand formed a chakra scalpel, slicing cleanly across his stomach.
Obito had gotten the fourth clone while Minato and Kakashi finished up with the fifth and sixth. Feeling of the enemy chakra, Minato tossed more of his three pronged kunais in their general direction while Kakashi used chakra to propel him from tree to tree.
The two of them practically zipped through the forest, in an intricate dance of weaving around the trees. The only images that could be seen were flashes of yellow and white. Almost all of the clones barely knew what was happening before they were knocked out of existence.
The tail end of Kakashi’s Capture Weapon whacked the nineteenth clone into a puff of smoke. Spinning on his heels, Kakashi moved in the direction of the twentieth chakra signature.
This one had to be the real one.
Once Kakashi had gotten a glimpse of the real body of the enemy, he called out an “‘Oi.” As predicted, the Iwa nin had uttered a soft “where?” as his eyes darted around the forest for the source of his voice. Even though he wasn’t really answering his question, Kakashi had upped his quirk technique to work if the person spoke after he did.
Latching onto the control of his mind, Kakashi ordered him to stay still as Minato flashed right in front of the Iwa shinobi and sank the sharp end of his kunai into his throat. The blood that dribbled down from his neck confirmed that it had been the real body of the Iwa nin.
Jumping down from the trees, Minato retrieved Kakashi before yanking both of them back to where Obito and Rin had been waiting. Kakashi signalled to them that the enemy had been eliminated before he took his position at the front of the formation again.
For the rest of their trek that day, they didn’t run into any more enemy shinobis.
The second day of their mission was where the real challenge would begin. Right at the border of the Stone and Fire country, Minato parted from the rest of the team to head to the frontlines, while the three of them took the back routes to reach the Kannabi Bridge.
This was it. Blow up the bridge and Iwa would be so backed into the corner that they would have no choice but to surrender. The seven year long war would finally end. His father would finally receive closure.
Kakashi would have fulfilled his duty of preventing more casualties, and would become the shinobi he always wanted to be.
Except even when everything seemed like it was going right for once - Obito was listening to his orders and not arguing with him and Rin was more on guard than she usually was - that was the opportune time for everything to go wrong. So horribly wrong.
A barrage of wooden logs rained down on them. Obito stepped forward to disintegrate them into ashes with his fireball jutsu. From behind him, Kakashi heard a clash of metal clanging together as Rin blocked the surprise attacker from her assailant.
Channelling a boost of chakra to his feet, Kakashi propelled himself into the air to stop the third enemy from forming hand seals to a deadly earth jutsu.
There were three of them. So their complete team had been a four man team? The fourth member was likely the scout that they had killed yesterday.
Kakashi and his opponent landed on top of the water. They traded blows, Kakashi taking advantage of his smaller stature to weave around his clunky movements to get some scratches and punches in. At one point, Kakashi lost focus to shoot out his Capture Weapon to nick Obito’s opponent in the cheek.
“Focus!” Kakashi commanded Obito through gritted teeth. In the midst of battle was not the time to hesitate. Kakashi jumped backwards, narrowly avoiding the spikes of earth that had risen from beneath the shallow pond.
A glance over his shoulder told him that neither of his teammates would hold out much longer against their respective opponents. The only way for them to win would be for him to take one of commission, quickly.
But these Iwa shinobis were no easy foes either, seemingly on the cusp of jonin status or even jonin at this point.
“Hey! Isn’t it pathetic that you’re attacking kids?”
The Iwa shinobi didn’t respond to his bait. Fuck. This was why Kakashi hated using quirk in battle. Most people were too easy to catch unaware, yet it was still much too risky to rely on something that wouldn’t necessarily work.
Plan B then.
“Obito, jump!” He didn’t even turn to look if Obito did as he requested, there was simply no time. Lightning crackled from his fingertips. The cloth of his Capture Weapon unraveled from his neck, shooting outward to wrap itself around a tree branch. Latching on to the tail end of his cloth and shooting lightning from his fingertips into the water, Kakashi yanked himself out of harm’s way. Having designed the trajectory so that he would run into Obito, he grabbed his teammate from mid-air and carted both of them to safety.
The conducting properties of the water sent the entire pond into a lightning induced death trap, hitting one of the Iwa shinobis.
Wait one? His purple eyes frantically darted across the clearing. There were only two of them, one caught in his lightning surge and the other still fighting Rin. Where had the third gone?
Abandoning Obito on the ground and not bothering to retrieve his Capture Weapon from the tree branches, Kakashi darted towards Rin, having an ominous feeling that this was going to end horribly.
Before he could reach her, the mysterious missing third Iwa shinobi seemingly appeared out of nowhere, right behind Rin. With a strength packed chop to the back of the neck, Rin was out.
Kakashi had been too slow. Rin was now in enemy hands.
“Clever brats,” the Iwa nin commented. “We’ll be taking her for now.”
Kakashi lunged forward, desperately trying to reach her. He even tried activating his brainwash quirk, but of course it didn’t work. He hadn’t spoken before the enemy shinobi did. For the first time since Shinsou Hitoshi had been reincarnated as Hatake Kakashi, he cursed himself for his inadequacy.
Even his father’s death hadn’t left him feeling like this. This was different. He was team captain. Rin was captured under his watch. He was a failure of a leader.
Obito picked himself off of the ground, ambling silently towards Kakashi.
“What do we do now?” If Kakashi hadn’t been so torn up about his inadequacy, he would have caught on to the fact that Obito was willingly deferring to his judgment. That was a first.
“What’s the plan to save her?” Obito asked.
Plan? There was no plan. Their first fight was more than enough for Kakashi to know that they were outmatched. Between the two of them, heck even the three of them, they had absolutely nothing to counter the shinobi who could camouflage himself. Attacking them once again would be a death wish.
Their next logical step was to go blow up that bridge. There was the possibility that this team of Iwa nins were the only obstacles between them and that bridge; they would be idiots to not take advantage of their distraction.
Besides, even if they tried to rescue Rin, it would only end in their deaths.
Kakashi wasn’t quite willing to give up this life yet, for an almost nonexistent chance of success during their rescue mission. It was pointless.
“We proceed to the bridge,” Kakashi responded in a harsh tone, one that indicated there was no room for argument. “Our next move is to complete our mission.”
And then Obito punched him. For three seconds, black dots danced across his vision. Kakashi supposed he should have expected that reaction.
It wasn’t the first time Obito tried to punch him after all.
“What the hell are you talking about? Rin is our comrade! Are you suggesting that we abandon her?”
“Yes,” Kakashi replied, with equal conviction in his voice. Although logical reasoning never really worked on Obito in the past, Kakashi was willing to try one more time. “Think about it. Our mission is time sensitive. If we waste time to save Rin, we could miss the opportunity to end the war. We’ll be saving even more people’s lives if we blow up the Kannabi Bridge.”
Kakashi narrowed his eyes at Obito. “Besides, do either one of us have the ability to counter that camouflage technique? You haven’t unlocked your Sharingan yet and my sense of smell doesn’t work on him. If we go rushing in there now, we’re just sending ourselves to death’s door. Instead of getting ourselves killed, it’s wiser for us to do what is within our capabilities.”
“So it really is that, huh? You run away from fights when you feel like you’re outmatched?”
“It’s only rational-” Kakashi barely managed to get three words in before Obito went off on his spiel.
“If that’s the case, then you’re just a coward’s excuse for a shinobi!” Obito spat. “A true shinobi doesn’t back down from any challenge, even in the face of fear. Even if it’s our last moments, we don’t stop fighting because: Real. Shinobis. Don’t. Go. Down. Without. A. Fight.” Each pause felt like a punch to Kakashi’s gut.
“A real shinobi is someone who strives to save the greater good.”
“That may be true,” Obito acknowledged. “But who are you to dictate what is the greater good? Who are you to decide that blowing up this bridge would save more lives than the number of people she could potentially save in the future? She could potentially end up saving your sorry excuse of being a shinobi.”
“I’ve had enough of your bullshit,” Obito continued. “I tolerated you because you were always much stronger than me, but what’s the point of being strong if you won’t use those skills? If you just turn away from fights without even trying?
“It’s true that people who rush into battle that they aren’t equipped for are foolish, but turning away from a battle when a comrade’s life is on the line? That’s cowardice.”
With those parting words, Obito turned his back to him. “With or without you, I’m going to go save Rin.”
And suddenly, Kakashi was left alone in the clearing. His feet turned, orienting him in the direction towards the bridge. He took a heavy step forward, and then another, wasting entirely too much energy for an action as simple as walking. It was like his body’s way of protesting against his decision, while his brain was set on the fact that he had made the right decision.
Unconsciously, Kakashi found himself looking over his shoulder, in the direction where Obito had gone.
But if I leave him, Obito could die out there. His fist clenched tightly by his side, nails digging painfully into his palms.
What should he do? If he followed Obito now, Kakashi was certain that they weren’t going to get out unscathed. Except if he didn’t follow, Obito might actually die. While the odds weren’t ideal, the two of them together might stand a chance. Obito alone would just be easy pickings for the Iwa ninjas.
But the village was counting on him to complete the mission, one that could potentially alter the course of history. Although unintentional, his father’s botched mission resulted in the burden of ending the war weighing down on Kakashi. Ending the war could save more lives than just one.
Obito was right though. Who was he to dictate the worth of someone’s life?
Most importantly, the question boiled down to whether or not Kakashi was willing to die. Twelve years, that hardly seemed like enough to give up this life. The life where his quirk was an asset and not a curse, and where his lineage set him up for success and not failure. Just when life was getting good, just when he was approaching his goal of becoming the hero that he always wanted to be…
Was Kakashi ready for it to end?
The answer resounded clearly in his mind.
The soles of his sandals dug into the soft soil as he turned and ran.
Among the hundred and thirty six names carved into the memorial stone to honor the last batch of fallen shinobis at the close of the war, one of them belonged to Hatake Kakashi.
During the funeral service, Konoha hailed him as a hero. A hero who was vital to the destruction of the Kannabi Bridge and consequently drawing the seven year long war to a close. Revered as a hero who ended the war and not scorned as the son of the disgraced shinobi who began the war.
A hero.
Hitoshi Shinsou wasn’t quite sure that he became the hero that he was meant to be, yet there was one thing that he knew for certain.
Hatake Kakashi died as the shinobi that he wanted to be.