21 Fall of a Rogue Nin

There was a huge commotion inside Konoha, all of them linked to a single man. Kakashi Hatake.

How could he get hurt by a Chunin-level rogue nin?

Is he becoming weak?

Is Kakashi Hatake really a Jonin?

What happened?

Questions after question without any answers rose, the person in question was laying on the Hospital bed with his students beside him.

"So Kakashi... What happened?"

Kakashi looked at the ceiling, he took a deep breath, and gazed at Sasuke.

"Sasuke... You're a precious student to me... I don't wanna lose you too. So please, don't do anything rash"

The Uchiha nodded.

"It was... Itachi"

Sasuke's eyes slightly bulged, but he quickly regained his composure. Itachi?

"What hand does Itachi have in this?"

Kakashi decided to continue seeing as Sasuke was keeping his cool.

"You see, everything was going smoothly, but then... I was suddenly in a place I didn't know, in front of me stood Itachi, I was tied up on a tree... He tortured me to no end... I felt like I'd been tortured for days. But when I was released... As you see, I was... slashed by Nikushima with his blade... I used Chidori right in time to escape... If I was a bit too late to react.."

Sasuke was lost in deep thought... Itachi... Why was he trying to take away everything from him? What has Sasuke done to him for this?

"So... Days in there was only a second in reality. What kind of Jutsu... What kind of Genjutsu?"

Sasuke knew it was because of the Sharingan. But the scale of this Genjutsu was far far far above the normal he used.

"Sasuke... Don't do anything rash"

Kakashi pulled the boy closer. He had gotten really attached to Sasuke, huh? With a chuckle, Kakashi ruffled the boy's hair.

[Flashback]

"Why are you doing this, Itachi?"

Kakashi asked, his eyes bloodshot, breathing rigid and pupils hollow.

"As long as I live, I will take everything and everyone from Sasuke. Starting from you, his precious Sensei, Kakashi. I want to see him drown in despair"

"But why!"

Kakashi couldn't hold it anymore, what was this crazy bastard saying!?

"He is the only one who can give me a warm-up match... For that, I am ready to do anything"

"I won't let that happen, as long as I live... I won't let you hurt Sasuke"

"Your words will only remain as a wish... A pitiful one at that"

[Flashback End]

Kakashi frowned, if he couldn't save Sasuke, then he would ensure that Sasuke could atleast protect himself.

"Hey, Sasuke... When I recover, how about I teach you a Jutsu?"

"For real?... If you want to, I won't say no"

Kakashi smiled, what a lad... Ruthless to his enemies and a sweetheart to his loved ones.

Truly, one of a kind.

Atleast until a turning point comes.

***

Konoha's peaceful, but not for long... Cuz a ticking bomb was grinding for the fall of the same village, training with their own villagers, getting helped by their own villagers... For their village's own fall.

Sasuke's muscles felt sore doing Crunches, but he held it in and continued, it was for him and him alone, for his own growth.

'Itachi... I'll make you regret the choice you made'

Using his anger as a fuel, he found a new form of power. The seal spread and his power grew, the aura around him changed and Sasuke felt rejuvenated.

Without stopping, Sasuke continued his grind.

***

Just like that, a month passed by. Kakashi was back in full health, though the shoulder-to-finger scar was still visible.

"Well, Sasuke... You have an affinity toward lightning, right?"

Sasuke nodded.

"Well, I guess I'll teach you the Chidori then"

"Huh? But that your Kinju-"

"No questions if you wanna learn it"

Sasuke nodded, he activated his Sharingan to observe how it was done. Kakashi created Rasengan and then added lightning Nature to it.

*Chirp*

Lightning sparked before it changed to a conned structure, with a chirp of a thousand birds, the Almighty Chidori lit in Kakashi's hands.

"Easy, right?"

"Yeah... What did you create first?"

"Oh that... It was a Jutsu created by the Fourth Hokage, Rasengan... We'll have to learn that first"

Sasuke nodded before performing it, his Sharingan was a cheat in itself... With a series of hand signs, lightning started to sparkle in Sasuke's left hand.

*Chirp*

A violent torrent of lightning covered Sasuke's left hand, it screamed danger in every sense.

"Your Chakra control is impressive... In fact, it's even better than mine"

Sasuke shrugged, he stopped molding Chakra and the Chidori dispersed.

***

Kakashi and Sasuke sat on a boulder, the former was reading the newly updated Bingo book.

"Oi Sasuke, you heard? Zabuza Momochi's dead... Apparently, It was Lee who broke his spine"

"You mean 'That' Zabuza... The demon blade of the Mist? Heeeh... I wasn't expecting that"

Kakashi nodded, Gai's apprentice was really strong. To beat the demon blade of the Mist... It required immense skill.

"Tho, Gai had to intervene several times to save his life... It couldn't be helped, Zabuza was a skilled assassin afterall"

"Yeah..."

Sasuke got off from the boulder to practice Chidori. Kakashi read through the bingo book to see any potential enemy to test out Sasuke's growth.

"When is the Chunin exam, Kakashi?"

"It's only like 2 months from today"

'Good, I still got time to kick Lee's ass off from the surface of the earth"