Chapter Thirty-Six: Kakashi III

Chapter Thirty-Six: Kakashi III

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October 3rd, Year 72, Somewhere in the Land of Lightning

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"Damn it! Where is that little bastard!" Fox exclaimed in frustration. 

I stood atop a giant spruce tree, observing my team frantically scour the area for our target, clutching the new Icha Icha book in my hand. To be honest, I wasn't reading it—haven't for months. It's just a habit, a comforting presence.

The anxiety was getting to me. It had been a day and four hours since we began the search, and worry was settling in. 

I knew fretting about our 'target' was a fool's errand. Over the past two years, I've witnessed what he's capable of, and labeling him a monster hardly fits anymore. With the village's plans for him, I'm unsure what to call him in the future. 

I just hope…

We don't find ourselves in another Danzo situation. 

Don't get me wrong; I have immense love, respect, and trust in my sensei, Lady Tsunade, and Lord Jiraiya. But who knows what might happen? Power corrupts, as I learned during my years in the shadows.

But the feeling of anxiety wasn't just from worrying about him, it was also because… it was embarrassing for a Top-tier ANBU squad to be unable to find their target when they have great advantages…

Then there's the 'target' himself... He doesn't make all this any easier.

For some magical reason, everyone feels attached to him. He effortlessly draws everyone's attention, even when trying to be inconspicuous. 

People just… like him, they adore him, respect him, even love him... without him making any visible effort. His laziness, carefree demeanor, annoying attitude, and sarcastic tendencies doesn't push people away... It draws them closer somehow.

And yes, I AM one of those people.

I paused my train of thought as it ended up there. 

Because, after all this time, I find myself enjoying having Kuro as my junior. His constant teasing about nonsensical things, calling me Kakashi-senpai with his irritatingly-pleasant smile, has become a consistent part of my life. 

Not to mention, he probably was the best partner or support you could ever want on a mission. He's proven that much during these two years we've been on the road with the force.

We've been in Kumo trying to solve the case of Kumo's weird behavior in the past. 

Investigating, interrogating, infiltrating, and assassinating—Kumo's important people have been part of Kuro's training and also for us to gain information. 

We've already found out that the masked Uchiha is involved, the bastard keeps calling himself Madara, just thinking of him makes my skin crawl. But that's not the entire case. 

The main issue boiled down to Akatsuki!

This once insignificant mercenary group, established by Lord Jiraiya's former students, has absorbed a few S-ranked rogue ninjas, including our very own Snake Sannin. 

And this Akatsuki also seems to be involved with the… Masked Uchiha. 

So, they very much are also involved. But even after the last two years, we haven't nailed down anything concrete about them—nothing on their whereabouts, their member list, their battle prowess or specialty, their weapons of choice... None of it.

And to make matters worse… Orochimaru seems to have revived himself with one of his curse marks a year ago, and he appears to have established an organization. 

I scowled at the thought.

We need to find that snake, and the sooner we can find it, the sooner we can erase its existence! 

I thought with some ire showing on my face. I seemed to have leaked out my killing intent as my team came to a halt, arriving near me with a bit of fear in their eyes.

Cat spoke up, "Forgive us, Captain, but we couldn't find any sign of the target, codenamed Shadow. Fox used up almost all of his chakra with Byakugan, and there's been no anomaly. Beetle lost half of his nest, but everywhere the anomalies occurred turned out to be duds. I don't think we can find him, sir." She hesitated a bit, expressing some self-depreciation.

I sighed and shook my head. "Well, I can't really blame you all. Shadow has... gotten too good at using his skills. Sigh... I guess we have to give up and go back to camp."

The team nodded somberly, and we returned to our camp. Commander Anzo was present, going over the new information, while Lord Jiraiya was nowhere to be seen. Sensing our arrival, Commander Anzo spoke without even a minute shift, "So you have failed?"

My team shuddered behind me, while I wore a helpless expression, rubbing the back of my head casually. "Well, you see, there was this baby bird that fell from its nest, and-"

"Sigh… Shut up, Inu!" Commander Anzo commanded, shaking his head. Tsk… Didn't even let me finish my excuse.

Before I could sulk more, Commander Anzo took out a scroll, put some blood on the seal, and established a two-way communication between us and Lord Jiraiya.

"So, the Gaki was able to survive a full ANBU Blanket search? Props to him. GYAHAHAHA. But seriously, how in the name of the sage did he hide for so long in a 10 KM area… Did he perfect his invisibility Jutsu or something? You think he can teach that to me? It will be great for my peep- I mean research!" Lord Jiraiya's voice sounded excited from the other side.

Commander Anzo rubbed his eyes and sighed once more before replying, "Lord Jiraiya, please activate the Secure Location seal sequence."

"You are getting grouchier these days, Anzo. What? Missing that pretty wife of yours, now are you? Hmmm? I remember her being quite the lass… Hehehe.." Lord Jiraiya tried to tease.

"Before you forget, Lord Jiraiya, my dear wife is the current Commander of the ANBU force, and did you forget what happened the last time you tried to peep on her?" Commander Anzo said with some sarcasm and yet threat in his voice, and we all could hear Lord Jiraiya gulping on the other side.

"Aahahahaha. Yeah, no, I mean, yes, so the Gaki, right? I have activated the Secure Location Seal sequence; you should have his location on the scroll in a little bit."

"Thank you for your hard work." Saying as much, Commander Anzo cut the call without letting Lord Jiraiya spout out anything else. He then stood up, looked at the scroll, looking puzzled for a few second, before looking towards us as if he was looking at mischievous kids, before he looked back at the scroll to double check and sigh again.

He then turned towards us and said with a tired voice, "Let's go to his tent…"

You have got to be kidding me! 

I could hear groans coming from behind me.

Yeah team… don't worry, I feel you…

…

…

As we arrived at Kuro's tent, we were met with the same sight as when the exercise started: an empty room. No amount of Sharingan, Byakugan, or other sensing techniques could reveal anything extra.

Undeterred, Commander Anzo headed straight for Kuro's 'beloved' sleeping bag. I say beloved because, at the start of his training journey, he made a huge fuss about taking his sleeping bag… Sometimes I forget he is still a kid…

Anyway.

Commander Anzo moved the sleeping bag aside, revealing a hole underneath, but instead of an empty dark hole, it was filled with Kuro's shadow tendrils. 

Oddly, these tendrils didn't emit any chakra; in fact, they seemed to absorb all the chakra around them, making them look similar to ordinary dirt or any other inanimate object through sensing methods.

No wonder Fox's Byakugan or My Sharingan couldn't detect any anomaly in this place. It appeared as normal dirt to us no hole was sensed. Sneaky-sneaky move, Kuro!

I exchanged a puzzled look with Fox, who asked, "Captain… How is this even possible?"

I shrugged and replied, "Well, you know the rules, no whats no why's and and no butterflies." I left the baffled Fox at his stunned place and looked back at the Commander.

Commander Anzo didn't waste any time. He jumped down, and we all followed suit. To our surprise, we found ourselves in a spacious cave room where we all could fit. It had many seals around it, having temperature control, air flow, noise dampening and much more…

And in the middle of all this… there he was, the tall boy with flowy hair, as black as his shadows, sleeping on another futon, completely oblivious to the commotion.

Commander Anzo sighed and shouted from afar, "KURO. WAKE UP!"

Kuro's eyes fluttered, and countless tendrils of shadows came to life, circling around him, hovering and slithering protectively. We all took a step back, well aware of what would happen if we tried to get closer.

Once an enemy infiltrator tried to kill Kuro in his sleep during one of the missions… Well… It wasn't a pretty sight afterwards…

Commander Anzo didn't move; instead, he ordered Kuro to wake up in a different way, "Kuro, wake up, or I will call your mother!"

No sooner had the words left his mouth than Kuro stood up within a moment, looking disheveled and afraid as he surveyed his surroundings, "I am up, I am up, jeeeez!"

It took him a second to gather his bearing, and once he made sure that his mother was nowhere near him, he turned with a scowl, "What the hell is wrong with you, sensei? Can't you wake a guy up normally? Instead of threatening him… Damn… I almost had a heart attack!"

Right then I noticed that as Kuro calmed down, his shadows retreated as if they never existed in the first place. 

Commander Anzo didn't even budge at the whining and simply said, "You know you won't get a heart attack from your loving mother. And you have slept long enough. The exercise is over. Now get up and get ready for a meeting; we have new crucial information."

Kuro groaned and muttered, "Troublesome old men," under his breath but nodded nonetheless.

He then glanced at the unset alarm clock on the side of his sleeping setup and whistled.

"Damn, you guys found me in only 5 hours? You people are getting good… I need to up my game… I only got to sleep so little… You guys don't understand the importance of sleeping at all, man!" He clicked his tongue while complimenting and cursing us with his irritated face.

Cat seemed to want to correct him, wanting to tell him the truth that it took us a day and 5 hours, not just 5 hours. But I signaled her with my hand not to.

We take the wins we get… And which Ninja in their right mind would admit to a bigheaded, arrogant, and annoying teenager that they had fooled us for such a long time… So yeah, we take the win while we can… I for sure don't want to be on the other side of Kuro being annoying.

…

…

"So, can you please repeat my mission again, because I think I didn't hear you right…" Kuro lazily said while poking his pinky into his ear as if to clean it to hear better.

"Your mission is to infiltrate Kumogakure, figure out if the Masked Man is near the Raikage, if he is, assassinate him and bring back his remains. If he is not, find out who is controlling Kumo, assassinate them, if it's the Raikage himself is controlling everything, bring us his head. And if anyone finds you or gets in your way, kill them too. Finally you will find their Emergency Warehouses and burn it all!" Commander Anzo spoke as if he was telling Kuro to buy some candy.

"So let me get this straight… YOU! Want me to infiltrate a Great Village, find out the head behind all this crap. And KILL him! And then burn down all their food so that the village becomes even more disarray? What are you trying to do sensei? Cause even MORE Chaos on Kumo? Start a new civil war, while they are already fighting on 2 borders on and off? I understand that they are our enemies at the moment… but… Since when did we become the advocates of war?

Why do we need to target their rations too? What has the civilians done? They are already going through a food shortage, and you want to put more oil into that? This will cause a mass Famine! People will die… HUNDREDS OF CHILDREN WILL DIE!" Kuro's eyes lit up with a purplish glint, looking similar to his unique fire element.

And to be honest, seeing Kuro like this was terrifying. But we all could see that he was still not lost in anger, and holding back all his shadows.

But I too felt baffled at the order… We as Ninjas have done a lot of DARK work… But we never target innocents unnecessarily… Not unless we want to start wars… And… I don't believe Sensei would give any such orders. A man who loves peace, would never want to go this far… What's going on…

Commander Anzo didn't even flinch at Kuro's questions as he said with a calm dark tone, "That is your mission. You will do your duty."

"Who gave these orders anyway? I for sure know that Uncle Minato would never give such orders… The man loves peace almost as much as Old man third…" Kuro said with some worry in his voice.

"You are right, he wasn't the one who gave the order…"

We all waited holding our breaths to learn who gave such an atrocious order as this.

"I am the Commander of this team. It's my own order." Commander Anzo finished without even batting an eye.

Kuro clenched his fists.

"When you stay in the shadows, you need to learn how to cut off your emotions and simply follow orders. Do. Your. Duty. That's why you are here." Commander Anzo said emotionlessly.

I felt both surprised and disgusted, and old memories of Root and Danzo resurfaced with those words. I could sense that my squadmates were experiencing the same, given their subtle shudders.

This can't be… Why would the Commander say such... Then it hit me.

Oh…

But if I realized, then…

I chuckled inside my head as I looked at Kuro, who now wore a poker face. Before he sighed and said with a bored tone, "Who the hell set up this prank? Or was it a test? Well, it doesn't matter, but the answer to your question, or supposed question/test is No freaking way! 

I am not just an awesome, handsome and great Ninja to be commanded like a tool. I am my own person, yadi yadi yada, and all that good stuff that Pervy Sage thinks he writes. Who the hell thought I would lose my mind and start killing whoever some higher-up tells me to or did they think I might go rouge if I didn't like the orders? The hell is wrong with you oldies!"

Kuro looked more bored than irritated. He even had a slight smirk on the side of his lips. Commander Anzo stared him down for a few moments longer before chuckling. Actually chuckling

"I would have liked to hear a more passionate speech about why you wouldn't just follow an atrocious order… but I guess that's the curse of being too smart and figuring out it was a test… Very well, Lord Jiraiya would be disappointed that your reaction was just so-so." He finished with another chuckle. Yeah, he was clearly throwing Lord Jiraiya under the bus.

My squadmates looked baffled, but I was dying on the side from the absurdity of the situation laughing. That's when I heard Kuro mutter, "So… it was the Pervy Sage's idea to pull this shit… I will just have to give him nightmares for a few months, no scratch that… lets make it a whole year! Better write that down before I forget."

I sweat-dropped at the thought of Kuro haunting Lord Jiraiya for a few years… I shivered at the thought. But then Kuro got serious, "Look, I know many of you, the higher-ups, and even the council are worried about me going rogue or turning into a mindless killer. I appreciate the genuine concerns and couldn't care less about the haters. But here's the thing, I know myself, and…"

We all perked up our ears to hear what Kuro was going to say, when he yawned and continued, "Being a rogue means less nap time and more running around from all the pursuers; who the hell wants to be a rogue? Sounds too troublesome if you ask me…"

Ah… yeah… same old Kuro…

…

"But enough about that." Kuro's tone shifted abruptly, his expression growing grave, and the atmosphere in the room changed instantly. Even Commander Anzo's demeanor shifted to one of seriousness as he fixed his gaze on Kuro over his tinted glasses.

"I know that my training is basically over. The toads refused to teach me Senjutsu, so that's out of the question for now. You have taught me all you wanted, and I have passed all the tests. Pervy sage already gave me the okay a year ago, after he had nothing left to teach me… So please tell me… why are we still here? Why am I still here?"

We all leaned in, awaiting the answer. Kuro's question struck a chord—why indeed was he still here? He had become the epitome of what every Black Ops Ninja aspired to be: the perfect infiltrator, assassin, and combatant. And with his staggering reservoir of chakra, even with the seal restraining it, he was akin to a walking, talking human shaped Bijuu. So why keep him on standby unless there was a dire need for such firepower, akin to deploying a Jinchuriki in times of war?

Commander Anzo nodded solemnly, then placed a fresh document on the table before Kuro. As Kuro perused its contents, his expression shifted from curiosity to surprise. 

"The fourth Raikage is dead?" Kuro looked up, addressing Commander Anzo with a surprised tone. I shared the sentiment—this was the first I had heard of it. I turned to Commander Anzo, seeking more information. "When?"

"3 hours ago. One of Team Zeta's infiltrators sent us the message; the village is already in disarray," Commander Anzo answered, his tone somber.

Kuro, still processing the information, revisited the document. "He wasn't assassinated. Or it would have been mentioned," he stated matter-of-factly. Both Commander Anzo and I nodded in agreement.

There was a moment of heavy silence before Kuro spoke again, his voice low, "How did he die? Why isn't it included on the report?" 

Commander Anzo hesitated for a brief moment before responding, " I kept the information out. And also, no one knows how. It's as if he was fine, and then suddenly dropped dead the next second. Like—"

"Like a puppet without strings," I finished, recognizing the eerily familiar scenario.

"Are they blaming anyone? Or think that it's an assassination? What did their Medical-Nins say?" Kuro's questions cut through the tense air.

"Not yet. The medics are puzzled, as we all are," Commander Anzo replied, a frown etched on his face.

Kuro sighed in irritation before closing his eyes and looking up. We all waited for him to finish his brainstorming—after all, everyone knew how smart the Nara were, especially Kuro.

He suddenly sighed and muttered in a low voice, "I think the Raikage has been dead for a long time… And had been controlled by the Masked Shit. But something happened, and he suddenly had to relinquish his control… But why now… Did he achieve what he wanted? Or maybe he wants to control someone else and can't while already controlling the Raikage? 

If that's the case then there should be a limit to the number of people he can control at a time? If that's the case, then… Who would be his next target? He can't touch Konoha with our security against him… 

Controlling the Kazekage won't gain him anything… Iwa? But as big as Iwa is, they aren't that rich, not like Kumo anyway, but they do have 2 Jinchurikis… So that would be the next best option if they want to cause more chaos and spread more hate… Think Kuro, think… Kiri… No, Kiri doesn't have anything to offer either… unless he is going after tailed beasts there too… But then why did he send 2 of them directly at us… He could have them for himself already… Unless!" Kuro seemed to look up at all of us in surprise.

"What did you piece together, Kuro?" I asked urgently, but instead of answering, he posed another question.

"Where is Pervy Sage? He is in Iwa, isn't he?" He asked grimly.

Commander Anzo didn't look surprised and nodded solemnly.

"What's the status of their Jinchurikis?" Kuro asked with some trepidation.

Commander Anzo replied with a sigh, "One is missing, the other recently went on a rampage and wrecked a good part of the city till the Tsuchikage was forced to kill the vessel and seal the tailed beast."

"When did this happen?" Kuro asked, furrowing his brows.

"Two days ago," Commander Anzo answered, surprising us all.

"And why didn't you tell us that, Commander? It's crucial information!" I asked, with surprise etching my voice.

Before Commander Anzo could reply, Kuro responded for him, "Because this isn't the only place where something abnormal happened, is it?"

Commander Anzo nodded and replied with a solemn tone, "Orochimaru's new organization was attacked; his whereabouts are unknown for now. Kiri is having some issues too, it seems; there seemed to have been mass killings in some fishing villages, but nothing else is concrete. Some say they have sighted the Mizukage at one of the sites of the massacres."

"This… This doesn't make sense… What's happening?" I asked in a grave tone.

"Oh… their plan is very shitty and quite simple really… but it's also quite effective." Kuro said without missing a beat.

He then turned and looked over all of us as he said, "The Masked Shit and his gang of lunatics are going to start the next great war. Their first targets are clearly the Jinchurikis, and they are trying to get them out of the picture or use them to kickstart the war efforts! What they are doing right now is just weakening the nations, except for one. So that when the time comes, they can swiftly take advantage of the chaos and launch a full-scale war on..." He left the target unsaid but we all understood.

"We will be surrounded on all sides… this time with no allies, as they will think we are too strong or the ones who have started all the issues that cropped up in their own nations." I added.

Kuro shook his head and replied, "No, they will band together because they will be made to do so. With their leading figures either dead, controlled or made helpless, they would drive the sentiment of the people to start a war… They will use their hatred to the best of their ability.

What these lunatics are planning is simple, they want to cause chaos for their own gains. They are weakening the nations and then they will herd them towards us so that we can fight and weaken ourselves as well as everyone, and finally they can swoop in and finish their purpose… And I dread to think what that purpose is… But something tells me that it has something to do with the Jinchurikis… or well with the tailed beasts at least…" Kuro turned grave as he looked at the report.

He muttered, "That Senile Frog said something about tailed beasts and world destruction during his boring yapping… I should've actually listened to it instead of napping… Dammit."

We all turned silent; some of the newer members of my squad seemed to have been frightened at the thought of such a war. And why wouldn't they… War was never pretty…

I didn't think I would see another war in my life… Well, that's a lie… But a man could hope…

Obito… Rin… I am so sorry…

Kuro, after a long while, asked again, "So what is our real mission? I don't think the Hokage or any of the higher-ups would want us to stay away from home soil at this trying time."

We all went to full attention as Commander Anzo spoke with solemn grace, "You are right, Kuro. We will be returning to the Land of Fire. But… We will not be going directly to Konoha."

"And why not? What else can we possibly do?" Kuro asked with raised brows.

We all felt a dense killing intent coming from Commander Anzo, as he stated with a calm voice, but even with his eyes hidden behind his tinted glasses, we could feel his ire, as he spoke, "Orochimaru has been spotted in the Land of Fire after his new base was attacked. He massacred a whole fishing village on the shore area... We have a Pursue and Capture order, failing is not an option. We move out at first light. Is that clear?"

We all stood straight and answered, "Understood!"

"Alright, all of you go and prepare, Inu stay." Commander Anzo ordered, and every one of my team and Kuro disappeared, for Kuro, he literally erased himself in front of us into his shadow.

"I sighed and asked, 'What do you think is really happening?'"

Commander Anzo released a deep breath before saying, "I really wanna know that too… This world is going to shits!"

I didn't say anything but nodded.

"Another war! I brought a child into this world not too long ago… and he will not see his father for who knows how long… he might never see me again if things go wrong…" He spoke with frustration and sadness.

Death was a very common thing about war after all… I knew it first hand.

"We watched wars during our toddling years." I retorted in a weak voice.

"But we were supposed to be better for the next generation! We promised to be better…" Commander Anzo looked disappointed… On himself and everyone involved in this mess.

"If we really want, we can leverage our villages' full power. I don't think we will lose. If we…" I started speaking but stopped myself. No… that's exactly what I promised to stop if it ever got to that point.

"It's no longer about winning or losing, Hatake… it's no longer about winning or losing…" Commander Anzo placed his hand on the reports that he has compiled and placed them inside a sealing scroll before looking at me with solemn eyes.

"I swear to you Hatake, I will find the bastards responsible for all this, and I will make them and their ancestors wail in despair for the mess they created." He spoke calmly, but his killing intent was still in the air.

I almost gulped at that statement but kept my cool.

It was then he asked me a serious question, "What did you think about the test?" He looked at me with a side eye. He seemed curious.

"Kuro doesn't seem to show any of the negative traits geniuses with his prowess show. He seems stable, rational and doesn't show any rebellious behavior." I stated but not really sure.

"You say that now… Things can always change… Don't forget… Geniuses never have good lives." Saying so, he walked out.1

I stood there looking at his back as I clenched my fist at the last remark.

'Geniuses don't have good lives…'

"Don't I know it?" I muttered softly as I closed my eyes and two faces came up and looked at me with their unique smiles…

I felt tears pooling at the side of my eyes…

Rin…

Obito…

I am so sorry…

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A Deep and heavy chapter with a lot of materials for future chapters. Some people might not understand whats going on if you are a returning reader, and some might think all these things happening is too far from Canon… Well you know what I have been saying for a long time. "What do we say to Canon?- Take a Hike buddy!"

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