2

Chapter 2: IISummary:

Kakashi finds himself in a strange forest.

Notes:

Whenever Kakashi speaks in Italics, he's talking Japanese.

Thanks so much for the kind first reception. I realized just now, that I'll be off with my parents after tomorrow and I don't know if and when I'll find he time to upload anything - nevermind type more. So here's the next chapter and though I try to also upload another christmas chapter this week, I don't know if I'll make it. If not I already wish you a merry christmas, happy holidays, and if I really really don't find the time at all a goot start into the new year.

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

He woke up on soft wet soil. It must have rained the night before, but now it was warm. Sunlight played on his face drying traces of mud on his skin and clothes. Groggily, Kakashi blinked against the light. How did he end up outside? And—

Suddenly alert, he jumped up, standing upright, pulling a kunai at the ready. Woods… He was in a forest, and he was alone. Those were the only two things he registered before his strength left him again. Confused and worried at the sudden onslaught of nausea, he went down on all fours. The world was spinning around him. He needed a moment to suppress the need to vomit. What was going on? He felt as if he was suffering from mild chakra exhaustion. The nausea, the headache, the loss of balance was a telltale sign. But he didn't feel physically weak. He didn't feel the ache of a fight. Nor could he remember using any jutsu that could have caused this. A genjutsu, was his first worry. Or had he been poisoned? How? When?

The last thing he remembered he'd been at his father's house. He remembered hallucinating – seeing his father's dead body. He remembered Obito's eye itching and then…

Nothing…

How had he ended up here? Worried – bordering on panicked – he checked his surroundings again, now that his vision was slowly clearing again, and the world had stopped spinning. He was alone, definitely. He didn't see nor hear or smell another person. Only the trees and animals and wet earth. There was salt in the air. The sea. Impossible! He'd have to be at least a day's trip away from the village if he was close enough to the sea that he was able to smell it so clearly. What was going on?

Belatedly, he started checking himself over. He wasn't hurting, no bumps or bruises beyond the shallow scabbed over cut in his thumb from when he had summoned Pakkun during the Kyuubi attack the day before. He wore the same ANBU uniform minus ANBU mask that he had worn when he'd seen the Hokage. He wore his headband slanted over his left eye, as he normally did when he wasn't on missions for ANBU. There were no signs of blood or dirt on him, beyond a thin layer of sun-dried mud from where he had laid on the ground. He still had his sword strapped to his back. Checking his weapon's pouch, all his kunai, shuriken, scrolls, soldier pills, wire, and other equipment was still there.

As if he had just teleported here. Indeed, teleportation might be the only explanation. The only jutsu he knew that could do that, was Minato-sensei's very own Flying Thunder God technique. But Minato-sensei was dead, buried just hours ago, and he also couldn't find any of his seals lying around, which he'd need as a marker for the technique. It also wouldn't explain, how Kakashi didn't remember anything. For now, he assumed he had to live with not knowing. There were other questions to focus on.

For example, where exactly he was. Because now that he had a clearer view of the woods around him, they not only didn't much resemble the woods around Konoha that he knew inside out, but he wasn't even sure he was in the Land of Fire anymore. Some of the scents were familiar, some of the plants he knew, but there were others he had never seen before. Those were not native to the Land of Fire.

But where else was he? This was neither the snowy mountain region to the north nor the desolate desert and rock formations to the west. It might be the Land of Water, he thought, though he was unconvinced. He hadn't spent much time there yet, so he didn't know their forests. But from what he knew of the country, it was known for its cool weather and mists, but this was a clear and warm day. Still, if he was in the Land of Water, that could be troublesome. They had just signed the peace treaty between the great nations, but relations were still tense. If he was detected by the wrong people and recognized as a shinobi of the leaf, that might spell trouble. A Konoha-shinobi in foreign territory without prior notice might be reason enough to declare war again and Kakashi did not fancy being the cause for the next Great Shinobi War. He wouldn't be the first in his family to have that honor.

Even if this was one of the smaller countries close to the coast – who would not declare war so easily – being found out might cause diplomatic troubles.

Deciding it was best, he didn't show his allegiance openly, he took off his Konoha headband, and instead wrapped a piece of bandage around his forehead and Obito's Sharingan eye. He also decided to take off his leg-pouch and the sword and removed the wrappings around his calves and pieces of armor. He bandaged his shoulder, where his ANBU tattoo would give away his affiliation. After sealing everything away in a storage scroll, he was fairly convinced that he wasn't recognizable as a leaf shinobi anymore. At least not to a common civilian. His name had recently been added to a few villages' Bingo Books, so there was a decent chance a foreign shinobi might recognize him just off his looks. There was nothing to be done about that, short of using a genjutsu – which depending on how well another shinobi was with detecting it, might be more suspicious than just walking around as a teenager. He was young, after all, and he hadn't met anybody who didn't underestimate him, yet. Still, in the next village, he should probably try to get some more inconspicuous civilian clothes.

**

He quickly got used to the strange forest. He liked forests. They made him feel more at home than deserts, or meadows, or mountains. This forest wasn't very impressive though. Around Konoha, there were massive old trees with thick branches and crowns of leaves that led almost no light through. This forest was much more open. It was a mixed forest with a decent number of conifers as opposed to the Land of Fire's broadleaf forests. Most of the tree branches, he was certain, wouldn't carry a man's weight.

He was a little disappointed when he didn't walk long at all before the forest opened up to open meadows and fields, sprawling all the way to where he saw the sea sparkle under the sun. It was barely even a forest at all. Still, he had to admit, the soft hills he now had free sight on, were beautiful. Mostly, he was surprised by how cultivated they seemed. He saw rows of trees, patches of forests, spread through green meadows with knee-high grass and fields of red and gold in odd almost square shapes that couldn't be natural. There were paths, streets, and small rivers with bridges cutting through the hills. As he kept on walking, he saw fences that clearly indicated that the land belonged to somebody. Yet, he saw no actual settlement. Some lone houses here and there, but no villages, and no people around.

The people who lived in this place cultivated different plants than he was used to. In the Land of Fire, they most commonly planted rice, here there was golden wheat and red poppy, and other plants he didn't know or had only ever seen described in books and scrolls.

At normal walking speed, he needed a bit over two hours to reach the coast. East, he noticed. He was going east to the coast. At least if he was still in the northern hemisphere. Kakashi found himself standing atop a beautiful cliff-side. It wasn't particularly high, but he rather enjoyed the view. Rough rock jutted out into the waves. He could not see any land on the other side all the way to the horizon.

Looking down, Kakashi noticed an odd dark shape on the long and wide sand beach. Curiously, Kakashi went along the cliff, a little closer towards the odd shape. An animal. Had it fallen off the cliff? With a simple jump, he slid down the cliff landed feather-light on the beach below.

Indeed, there, right at the coast, still wet from the sea was a shaggy black dog. It was quite big, Kakashi realized. Well-fed, it might be comparable to Bull in size, he thought, but there was nothing 'well-fed' about the scrawny mutt. The fur was standing shaggy off a starved and skeletal frame.

Kakashi liked dogs. His father had helped him train his first ninken. Now, he had his own pack. He hadn't trained them all himself, some he had taken over from father, and really with all of them, they trained each other more than anything else. But still… Seeing this creature starved like that stung Kakashi. He was a dog person after all.

Where had it come from anyway? Had it somehow climbed down the cliff and tried to fish in the water without success? Or had it swum here from… from where? At least, Kakashi was reasonably sure that this dog was a stray.

Still fearing that it might have fallen off the cliff or otherwise been hurt, Kakashi knelt and checked it over for injuries. It was a male He thought he found a few bruises hidden away behind the fur, but nothing severe apart from the starvation. The dog was breathing steadily. He was also shaking like a leaf. He seemed only asleep, though the fact that he hadn't been woken up by a stranger's scent – never mind said stranger getting up close and personal – was alarming.

Something was odd, about his scent, Kakashi thought. He clearly smelled of dog, but there was a rather overwhelming human note to it. And that wasn't just the lingering scent of being cuddled or scratched between the ears – never mind that this dog did not look like he'd ever been cuddled or scratched between the ears – but something much stronger. It reminded Kakashi almost of the Inuzuka. That clan of shinobi possessed dog-like characteristics – and they smelled that way too. While they smelled more human than dog, this one smelled more dog than human, but it was still somewhere oddly in between.

"You're hungry, hm?" Kakashi muttered his hand resting over the ribs that were so clearly standing out even through the fur. He didn't remember ever seeing a dog in such a malnourished state and still be alive.

He stood, stretched, and looked out to the sea. If nothing else, he could feed the poor creature. Soldier pills wouldn't do, he knew. They kept the body running, but they weren't suited to treat malnutrition and starvation. Fish might do the trick, though.

**

Sirius woke up to salt and smoke in his nose and the crusty feeling of sun-dried seawater in his fur. He woke up to an aching body, to an empty cramping stomach, to bone-deep exhaustion. Most of all, he woke up to freedom. The last thing he remembered was the sheer panic as he was dragged down by the sea, but apparently, the sea had been merciful. It had washed him ashore. Where exactly, he didn't know, yet, but at least – that much was clear by the warmth of the sun in his fur – it wasn't that blasted prison island.

Wait… Smoke? Fire?

Now that the initial surprise at having survived so far began to pass, he was able to discern the scents more thoroughly. There was the salt of the sea, smoke and fire, another person, and… grilled fish? He wasn't alone. There was a human close by. A human with food.

And Sirius was hungry.

He blinked his eyes open against the bright sun, and then he was on all four, growling. Sirius was moving on pure instinct, as he crouched down for the attack, aiming at the fish roasting over a small open fire. But then he froze, as his human mind caught up with what he'd been about to do.

That person sitting at the fire, it was just a boy. The same age Harry would be now. Just a kid, and Sirius was about to attack him.

Did you sink so low, that you're ready to attack a kid? Steal their food? Is that how far you've fallen?

Ashamed he found himself taking half a step back. A single grey eye followed each of his movements with an unnerving expression somewhere between bored and alert. The other eye was covered in white bandages, most of his face – really – was hidden away by those bandages and a black cloth mask. There was a shaggy lopsided tuft of spiky grey hair. Even James' hair hadn't been that wild. An odd kid, Sirius thought, but still, just a child and he would rather starve than…

But can you afford that? Can you afford to starve to death while Peter is still with Harry?

Angry over his own self-doubts, he shook his head trying to dispel his own thoughts. Then he turned away, to look along the cliff. He had no clue where he was. This might be everywhere in central- or southeast England.

The boy's voice made Sirius turn back to him. What had he said? He hadn't understood it. Then he spoke again, holding up a fish in Sirius's direction. His lips were clearly moving behind the mask, and Sirius heard his voice, but beyond the overall bored but kind tone, he didn't understand a thing. He understood the gesture, though.

Wearily, and distrusting he padded through the sand the few meters to the fireplace. Carefully, he sniffed the fish. The boy chuckled quietly, then said something else, and then pulled the fish away. Sirius whined disappointed. He'd thought—

A hand was behind his ears scratching comfortably. Sirius couldn't help but lean into the touch. He hadn't been touched kindly like that in years. Before Azkaban, being able to turn into a dog supplied him with a constant stream of cuddles and massages and small loving tickles. Since then, however, human contact had been reduced to a minimum, and whatever physical contact he had, had been all but kind. He leaned his head heavily into the touch. The boy spoke again. Then when he pulled his hand away, Sirius rolled over on the sand, exposing his belly. The boy chuckled again, but only gave one more short scratch of his belly.

Sirius whined when the boy stopped. He spoke again, as if in reply to Sirius' whining. If only he could understand that language. Sirius, initial fear, that he might not have landed in England after all, but somewhere on the continent, where they didn't speak English, had left him now, that he heard more than a few words. The language was decidedly Asian, though he could not place it exactly.

Curiously, he watched the boy, as he worked on the fish. Then, after only a few moments, Sirius turned around again, when he realized, the boy wasn't in fact withholding the treat he had offered earlier. He was plucking out the bones. Sirius ate the first bit when the boy carefully laid it out in front of him in the sand, trying not to get it too sandy. Still, Sirius took quite a bit of sand with it. It was grinding and crackling against his teeth, though as a dog, he did not mind it too much. He licked his lips, then he ate the next bit right out of the boy's hand. The kid chuckled again.

Sirius didn't know if it was just this boy specifically or the sudden vicinity to… kindness and casual friendliness… that made him love this little amused sound so much, that he wanted to hear more of it. As he waited for more, he nudged the boy's neck and was rewarded with another small chuckle. It was never more than that. Never a full-on laugh, and he never saw the smile behind the mask. But it was enough. Would it be like that when he finally met Harry?

Stop it! Harry likely hates you. He has every reason to. This boy would too if he knew who you were.

The thought brought a stop to his enthusiasm, but he still ate the fish he was offered with the same vigor. The first real solid food, the first thing that wasn't a tasteless, colorless mush.

Sirius glanced at the last of three coalfish, that the boy didn't feed to him. It was still spit-roasting over the fire. It smelled good, and for a moment Sirius wished he could turn human and really eat with the boy. Of course, he couldn't.

**

What an odd dog, Kakashi thought. Based on his state, he'd bet the dog hadn't been trained by humans. A stray. Despite the strong smell of human, it was how Kakashi had explained the animal's abysmal state. Yet, he had rarely if ever seen such a well-behaved dog. Even among trained ones, it was difficult to keep them in check, once they were hungry. This one… He'd clearly planned to attack for just a moment but then changed his mind. Why?

Overall, some of his actions seemed odd. Some of his expressions were almost human. Never mind, that he hadn't even lunged when Kakashi had pulled the fish away to take out the bones first. As if the animal understood that was what he was doing. Obviously, he couldn't speak and apparently also didn't understand what Kakashi was saying. But other than that, this one seemed almost on par with his ninken in terms of intelligence.

As he pulled down his mask and started eating his own dinner, he absentmindedly ruffled the dog's fur in between bites. The animal obviously liked that. Despite how he'd first seemed careful and weary when he came closer, he reacted to touch like a touch-starved child. Kakashi ate fast, but as there was nobody else around, he was in no hurry. His thoughts were with the animal that now laid comfortably at his side, the belly lowered down into the sand.

He'd thought it might be an illusion. A human dog transformation that was more than just a regular henge, but he couldn't detect an illusion and he also didn't detect any chakra reserves that would suggest that this dog was a shinobi in disguise or even a ninken. For all intents and purposes, he seemed to be an ordinary dog, just that he didn't smell like one, and that he was clearly more intelligent than most dogs, Kakashi had ever met.

Well, as long as he wasn't an enemy, it didn't matter much. So, there was a smart dog, he'd tell Pakkun about it later. The leader of his ninken pack would have a laugh at that, or he'd feel insulted at being compared to some stray. The chances were 50/50 at that.

The more his thoughts drifted away from the animal, the more he came back to his initial situation. "Do you know where we are?" he asked, looking around. Then he chuckled. "Well, I guess you can't answer anyway." He pulled his mask back up. Now that it was slowly getting dark, he saw lights further down the coast. There was some sort of village or city there. He'd just have to ask the inhabitants. And if he wanted to get anything done today, he should probably start going soon.

Standing up, he smothered the flames with sand and then gave the dog one last more thorough cuddle, before he turned to walk towards the lights. Kakashi didn't expect it, but when he started walking, the dog followed as if it was the most natural thing in the world. He didn't mind the company.

Notes:

As you see, Kakashi doesn't speak English, Sirius doesn't speak Japanese. Thankfully the boy's a genius.

Since I decided to just plop him into this new world, he's very much out of his depth. He doesn't speak the language, has no idea where he is, doesn't know anybody, and doesn't know about magic. I think Kakashi - fighting-wise - is really overpowered compared to the Harry Potter cast, so giving him all sorts of minute things to worry about would be more of a challenge for him than just rocking up to Voldemort, the Death Eaters, or Peter and put a Raikiri through them.

As for characterization:

This is a 14-year-old right-after-Kyuubi-attack ANBU Kakashi. However, although I know, that he's often portrayed as such, I decided against just writing him as the cold-blooded killer. Kakashi was already well on his way to become the kind, polite and humble person we meet as an adult. So he's not cold-blooded or cruel or a mindless murderer. - He is however definitely a trained and effective assassin. He's deeply misunderstood, traumatized, and depressed. He doesn't know how to interact with people outside of a clear team structure, he surely has no idea about Sirius' very different morals. He doesn't like showing emotions, nor does he really know how to. He never really learned how to be a child and people (especially strangers) are always a cause of concern for him, as he doesn't know who's an enemy. However, as he finds a starved dog, the first emotion he'll feel for it is kindhearted compassion. If he'd found a human, maybe he'd be more distrusting and careful, but dogs are different.

As for Sirius, I'm not quite sure how being a dog affects his psyche. The fact that dementors don't affect him as badly when he's in his animagus form seems to suggest that it at least somewhat affects the mind and emotions too. So as a dog, Sirius is a mix between very animalistic instincts, his very strong value system, and also a decent amount of self-hatred and guilt. With Sirius, it's a bit difficult to walk the line between the knowledge that he'S innocent and feeling guilty for what happened regardless. This makes him very self-conscious. He knows how people would react to him if they knew who he was, and he's also a Gryffindor, so he hates that he has to lie about it, feels cowardly, to just be mooching off other people who only help him because they don't know who he is. Sirius in canon is not necessarily the kindest person. He's been bullying Snape for years, he can be quite mean, he's on an actual revenge trip and he feels very angry at the world. However, as far as Kakashi is concerned, Kakashi is the first person to be kind to him, and I just liked the idea of dog Sirius who hasn't experienced laughter in years, getting all excited at hearing just the tiniest chuckle from some stranger kid.