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Two scrolls. They needed two scrolls before they went to the finishing point and somehow they hadn’t run into any other teams the entire time they were in the forest of death. There wasn’t even a whiff of another team that Kakashi could follow.
It was driving him mad.
“There has to be another team around here,” he grumbled under his breath, turning his eyes up towards Obito where he stood high up in one of the trees looking out over the area. “Anything?”
“Not a single soul,” Obito replied with a defeated tone. “How is there no one around?”
“They’re probably in hiding.’ It was the only explanation that made sense. They wanted to keep hold of their scroll, and the best way to do that was to keep out of sight. The only time it was worth the risk to come out, was when they had a target in sight.
Compared to that, Kakashi and his team were sitting ducks. He preferred it that way though. If there were enemies close enough, his nose and Obito’s eyes would alert them. Plus there were few people who would be able to keep up to him in tactics. All thought his academy days he had the highest grades when it came to tactical planning.
He was confident that his team could handle anything that was thrown their way.
“So, what’s the plan?” Rin turned to look at him. “You have one, I know you do.”
“Of course he has a plan,” Obito’s feet touched ground, a proud smile cemented on his face as he stretched his arms over his head. “The question is weather it’s a good plan or not.”
Kakashi was about to respond when both he picked felt chakra signatures closing in on them, and judging by Obito’s sudden shift into a defensive stance he had also noticed the oncoming shinobi.
“I guess it’s show time.” Rin commented, her voice as calm as ever. Either she wasn’t worried at all that they could be killed by another team at any moment, or she had learned to hide her fear really well since their mission to the land of waves.
“Obito…” before he can finish his sentence, Obito is at his side with his sharingan activated.
“Well well well,” Hearing a voice behind him, Kakashi turned in his spot. His feet shifting until he was standing back to back with Obito while Rin showed up to his left. That left only his right side exposed. He hoped Obito was ready to compensate for that weak spot. “What do we have here?”
“It looks like a trio of lost mice to me,” another voice spoke up from the treelines, still not visible to him. “I wonder if they have the scroll that we’re looking for.”
“Only one way to find out,” seeing the first shinobi move, Kakashi opened the pouch on his leg and brought his Kunai out just in time to deflect the enemies shuriken away from himself. “Not too shabby.”
Rin moved beside him, catching another enemy shinobi on the way in for a strike, and pushing her back. He was impressed. Usually Rin preferred to stay away from close combat, much preferring her traps.
She had grown a lot since they had been put on a team together.
“Kakashi,” Obito spoke up behind him. “There’s one missing.”
“I’ve noticed,” it was hard not to. Every team was required to have three people on it in order to participate in the chunin exams. If one was missing, it could only mean one thing. “Keep your eyes on the area around us. Rin and I will keep them at bay.”
For now, defence was the best course of action. As long as they had no idea where the third member of the team was they were at a disadvantage. One that could prove deadly if they opened themselves up to an easy attack.
Deflecting another attack, Kakashi kept himself cemented firmly in place. With Rin already giving up her spot to face her enemy face on there was too much risk if he moved as well. Obito was still new to his sharingan, and he didn’t have the advantage of an all seeing eye.
In fact, he was at a disadvantage. After all, Rin had chosen to guard his left side for a reason. Without his left eye to see from, he was more susceptible to attack on that side. If he wanted to win this fight he had to rely on his teammates to have his back.
Even if there was a small part of him that burned to branch out and prove himself. To show his full strength. How deadly he could be even with the disadvantage of having a damaged eye.
“Kakashi!” Obito’s hand came down on his arm just as he deflected another kunai, shoving him out of the way as another enemy came bounding out of the treeline and straight for them. Falling backwards, Kakashi watched as Obito took a hit directly to the gut, curling into himself as their enemy stood in front of him triumphant.
Hitting the ground, he couldn’t help but let out a pained groan as the rocks beneath him dug into his skin.
“Hmmm, not what I was going for,” Looking back over at his teammate, Kakashi watched as Obito dropped to his knee with his hands clutching his stomach. From his spot he couldn’t see what exactly had happened, but judging by the way Obito hit the ground like a ton of rocks, it couldn’t be good. “Oh well. That’s one out of the way.”
Anger.
He could feel a deep, burning anger inside of him. Clawing at his insides, desperate to get out. It was a familiar feeling. The same anger he had felt taking over when Obito had taken Zabuza’s sword to protect him.
It was the monsters anger mixed in with his, and no matter what he did he couldn’t stop it. Not while he was standing there looking at Obito’s body face first in the dirt.
“Kakashi!” Rin’s voice was full of fear. “Kakashi, don’t-“
Her pleas are cut off, and the sound of a body colliding with a tree resonates in his ears.
Murder.
Kill.
Blood.
He can feel chakra leaking out of his body. Bubbling and foaming, surrounding his entire body as the anger seeps out.
“That was easy,” hearing the laughter in his enemies voice, Kakashi growls. “I though this was going to be more challenging, and yet all I had to do was take out your little friends.”
Something inside of him snapped. Like a fragile twig keeping the monster at bay, he can feel the anger taking over. Pushing him to his feet while his nails grew into long, sharp claws and his mask burned away under the boiling chakra that surrounded him.
“I-will kill you,” he growled, turning angry red eyes to his enemy. “You bastard!”
Charging forward, he threw a punch towards the man’s face, only to watch as he dodged out of the way at the last minute. Still, the chakra that burned around his hand caught the edge of the man’s face, burning the skin.
Or at least, he had thought that was skin.
“Huh, I guess my disguise is ruined,” Watching the man carefully, Kakashi narrowed his eyes when he saw him reaching up towards his face and grabbing a fist full of his skin, tearing it away like it was nothing. It’s only when he saw the face under that he registered the disguise the bastard was talking about. Now he could see the enemies true face. The crossed scar that sat upon his chin, and the short brown hair that had been hidden away by the long blond locks of his wig. “Not that I need it anymore.”
“Bastard…” The anger only grew when he saw the smug look on the man’s face. “You’re not part of the exams!”
“Of course not,” the man had the audacity to smirk. “I just needed a cover to get here.”
Here. Why here? What was it he was looking for here…
Kakashi’s eyes darted towards Obito.
The sharingan. Naruto-Sensei always talked about how important the sharingan was to enemy shinobi. How so many people sought out its power.
“You can’t have him,” he growled, moving himself in front of Obito’s body without a thought, and forcing the enemy to take a step back. “I won’t let you hurt my teammate!”
Laughter fills the air. Sick and twisted, making Kakashi’s anger burn even more.
“I’m not here for your friend,” Narrowing his eyes, Kakashi took a step back when the man moved. Suddenly appearing directly in front of him and slamming a hand down against his neck. “If I wanted an Uchiha, I could have my pick of them with ease.”
Before he could respond, Kakashi felt a searing pain burning into his neck. Like something was being seared into his skin with hot metal.
Angry red chakra started to fade away. His eyes turning from violent red back to their regular dull black. An exhaustion weighing on his body suddenly, so strong that his knees gave out from under him, sending him crashing to the ground.
Above him, he watched as the enemy reached out for the back of his shirt, only for a flash of green to come down between them and knock the bastard back.
His eyes close just as a hand comes down on his shoulder, and the soft sound of Gai’s voice calls out to him as sleep pulls him down into unconsciousness.