Lost on the Road of Life (An AU Naruto Quest)

Kakashi looked upon the town of Yahashibetsu and saw the impossible. The town's construction wasn't impossible, split into two parts on either side of a grey, moss-covered canyon. It was not the twenty natural stone arches that crossed the gap in the canyon, nor the thick, frothy turquoise water beneath those bridges either. No, it was the size.

This town looks like it's… what, a third the size of Leaf? Kakashi thought, trying to estimate the number of visible houses from a nearby hill. Hell, it might be bigger than Hidden Sand. But there's no signs of ninja patrols, and the chakra beasts are way stronger from what I've seen.

Farmland filled the area around the town anywhere the rocky ground would yield crops, and Kakashi hid in a small field of boulders as he readied his disguise to enter the town. My intel must be bad. Still, until I can figure it out, keep it simple. In-and-out, grab a medic who can travel.

He walked up to the town gates with his stolen cart of leafy purplish vegetables acting as the cover story mandated by ANBU infiltration training. He didn't even read as he walked at a farmer's pace. New books were a priority for this visit. Especially Jiraiya's latest, which should have hit the shelves here given Honey's proximity to the Land of Water.

He nodded at the town guards, a pair of burly-looking men carrying silver-tipped spears, and passed through without any trouble. Even if the town was much more populated than it should be, roads between towns were rough and unviable for trade. With luck, the guards would notice the new farmer pushing a cargo hardly worth the trip into town. That first layer of his disguise was only meant to draw attention to his real, second layer disguise -- Tanaka Migen, a missing-nin from the Land of Rivers looking for allies and employers to protect him once his homeland hunter-nin came knocking. The story would draw the people he wanted, and hopefully the consistent fake identity would keep his true identity as the Copy Ninja unnoticed.

He proceeded into the town, keeping a careful eye out for any clan crests or rooftop footsteps that would indicate ninja presence. Unlike a normal infiltration though, he wouldn't be able to keep away. This time, he would be putting himself deliberately into ninja contact to find a healer.

Oh, I'm going to regret this.



"I see. Yes, that is reasonable. Assign an ANBU agent to the mission to ensure there are no complications. Frog is a reasonable choice, but let Dragon sort it out. The goal is not to collect taxes, but to evaluate local elements. Daimyo, missing-nin, underworld, and the like. Intelligence is the primary objective."

Sarutobi Hiruzen spoke with finality, and moments later, Dragon heard the sound of a chair scraping. The door to the Hokage's office swung open. Nara Shikaku stepped out, made eye contact with Dragon (or at least, the holes in his mask), and wordlessly shuffled through the papers in his arms and handed a report over to him. Dragon examined the report for a second bemused as Nara slowly made his way out of the Hokage Tower before tucking it away and entering Hiruzen's office.

"Ah, Dragon. Welcome, take a seat." Hiruzen absently waved at the chair opposite his desk, not bothering with formality. He had put out his signature pipe for Nara's sake (the man hated smoking), but he repacked it with a casual deftness that somehow still spoke of the power within his aged hands.

Dragon took his seat and didn't speak.

"Nothing? Then I take it you're here for another mission assignment? Your operation in Wind went well, we couldn't have predicted that Houki Kyushichi would have been there. There's no need to beat yourself up about it."

Dragon nodded.

"Well, you were injured, correct? You should rest until you are healed. Take care of ANBU. Your reputation is great, and you can take advantage of that. You have a lot of ability to boost morale with your mere presence. People look up to you. You could use this time to shape the careers of some of the newer recruits."

"In character, sir, for you to suggest that I develop my leadership skills."

Hiruzen laughed at that, a gentle chuckle that came with a small plume of smoke. "Why yes it is, Dragon. I trust you to develop your combat readiness, but even you need to develop the ability to lead people. In your own way, of course."

Dragon nodded. "Is there any more information about the seals I saw in Wolf?"

Sarutobi sighed, punctuating the gesture with another small puff of smoke. "No, and it's unlikely to ever happen. Jiraiya or perhaps Orochimaru could figure it out, but they're far too busy. Other than them, we don't have any sealmasters senior enough to pull apart a ritual, much less any we'd be willing to risk on a continent-crossing journey into lands towards someone of similar or greater ability. Besides, it's been months. Do you think any evidence remains?"

"Acknowledged. Have we followed up on Hatake's allies in Frost?"

Sarutobi took the pipe out of his mouth and tapped his other finger to his chin. "I don't believe so. I gave the information to Gai and expected his natural enthusiasm to sort things out, but he never reported back." He batted the thought aside. "Dragon, you sort out the mission scroll and leave it with me. I'll see that it gets done."

"Permission requested to follow up on the seal ritual and track Hatake down on the Eastern Continent, sir."

"You're still injured, correct?" asked Sarutobi.

"Not visibly. Not in a way that will affect my combat readiness," replied Dragon.

"I see." Sarutobi paused to think, standing and turning to pace by the window. "You will first do as I instructed and perform the leadership components of your job as ANBU Captain." Dragon nodded, but Sarutobi wasn't looking. "After that, I won't stop you. But do consider spending some time with your family." Sarutobi turned back to Dragon and smiled, "Dragon, we can have people wear a mask to cover up when you're in the village or not. The Information Security team can worry about leaks and protocols. Just appreciate the people you have."

Sarutobi's gaze was pulled away again to his window that looked out over the Village Hidden in the Leaves. Outside, the destruction of the Nine Tails's attack had started to heal. Here and there, where the buildings were too destroyed to even salvage, new roads had popped up following the Nine Tails's warpath. The Uchiha compound, so recently reduced to rubble, now sported buildings of shining white marble, while the Uzumaki compound was slowly being reclaimed by the general city. The village no longer looked like the scene of a disaster.

"We're rebuilding, Dragon. We've secured treaties with Lightning, River, Grass, and Tea. Thanks to your mission, I should be able to make Wind fold soon enough. The Third War is over, and we've recovered from the Nine Tails without anyone exploiting our weakness. Your work was essential at keeping us afloat, especially in the wake of Minato's death, but you can afford to take a break now. A week, two, even a month. I won't force you, but," Sarutobi trailed off as he looked out of the window longingly. "There are many people I wish I had spent more time with. The Sage blesses me that I still have sons and daughters that visit. Occasionally."

He turned to Dragon, as if expecting a laugh.

"Acknowledged."

Sarutobi slouched. "Young folk don't understand the value of family these days, now do they?" He slipped back into his chair, taking another long drag from his pipe. "As a Hokage, I need to wear three different hats. First, the leader of the village that unites the individual flames of each ninja's heart into a blazing inferno. Second, the most powerful man in the world whose iron will and unquestionable strength keeps others from undermining our safety. And third… Third is Sarutobi Hiruzen, husband of Biwako, Sage protect her soul, father of Asuma and Okitada and Sakuya and Yume, and soon-to-be grandfather of, hopefully, too many to count. It is that third 'hat' of mine that keeps me sane, that reminds me why I fight to protect this village. I know the truth of the Will of Fire that Tobirama-sensei shared with me, but I feel it most clearly when I'm with the ones I love.

"I understand why you want to find Hatake. You think it's your responsibility. But I wouldn't worry about it for now. Combing a continent is an ineffective use of your time, and you and I both know him. He'll turn up again soon enough."

Dragon stood up, bowed to Sarutobi, and turned to leave.

"Send your family my warm wishes!"

Dragon paused, nodded, and continued out the door.


Kakashi took a meandering route through the city, changing his disguise little by little as he walked. He had learned a lot about Yahashibetsu. The city had two major ninja clans, and all the other major clans in Honey sent representatives to the city to participate in an almost-Clan Council group that decided their policy towards outsiders. Otherwise, each clan ruled itself independently, even fighting sometimes, though they never brought hostility to their meetings.

Sadly, their… unique system of rule meant that they didn't have a Kage, and therefore probably didn't have any hats worth stealing. As he wandered through town, he filled the hole in his heart with other little thefts, each time leaving behind the last thing he stole. The fur merchant would wake up to a cart of vegetables in their shop, the jeweler would find their display cases stuffed with furs, and the shoemaker would find most of their best shoes swapped for silver chains. As Kakashi approached the middle of town in a smart new pair of shoes, he resolved to give the purple-leaf farmer a new pair of boots (or six) to compensate him for the loss of his vegetables.

He approached the town's central canyon and examined the stone arches. Flat paths had been carved into the tops of the arches, wide enough that the largest of them could support two carts side-by-side, while the smallest ones were only a footpath, with occasional metal spikes driven in to give them a rope railing. The stone itself seemed to match the natural terrain around here, not the chakra construct granite that ninja often created, and it was weathered by the wind and occasional spray from the gentle river down below. As he crossed one of the arches, he noted that it almost seemed like the ribcage of some giant creature underlying the town, as the arches were wide at the base and thinnest in the middle. Would that make the river the spine..?

He refocused his idle thoughts. So far, he had struggled to find med-nin in the town. There was a clan in Honey that specialized in medical ninjutsu, but not only did they use some creepy bug-based healing method, but their representatives didn't want to join up with a missing-nin to travel the world for some reason. Something about homes and families.

The only real options for a permanent medic retainer were missing-nin or local clanless. Strong missing-nin brought more problems than solutions, and the weak ones that had survived wouldn't have medical skills on the level he needed. Meanwhile, the local clanless ninja, most often born out of wedlock, were disrespected by the clans and rarely trained. They might have some level of medical skill and feel sufficiently downtrodden to want to leave their homes.

He stepped into the small apothecary, and immediately smelled the discordant smells of a hundred different remedies. This is progress, he thought, the last place focused more on smelling pleasant than on actual medicine. Inside, jars of various salves and medicines lined the back wall. A clean-shaven man was carefully cutting apart stalks of some reddish-green root vegetable behind a counter, but he put down the knife as Kakashi entered.

"Welcome, I am Sakaguchi. Do you need medicines or treatment?"

Kakashi shook his head and crossed the length of the store towards the man. His arms and neck tensed minutely as Kakashi wordlessly drew closer. This was indeed the man Kakashi had been looking for, the bastard child of the Yoshizawa Clan on the southwest peninsula. Kakashi let his movement lapse slightly out of his forced, casual civilian walk and noticed the raised hairs on the man's skin, the sudden acceleration of his breathing and his resting motions. He had some amount of perceptive ability and chakra-enhanced speed and strength.

"Hello, I'm glad to be here. I wanted to know more about your lovely little shop." Kakashi said, taking his time to meander through the words. Slow down the pace, get him relaxed again.

Sakaguchi nodded and turned. "Well, I can sell you a variety of healing salves and the like. If you're not ill and simply want something preventative, these herbs should do you well," he punctuated his words by pointing to a neatly presented bundle of leaves, "brewed into tea. If you want something in case you fall ill on the road, then maybe you should take something for fevers, or for a cough," he said, pointing out a couple smaller jars.

"Yes, that's all well and good, but you are a medical ninja, yes?" Kakashi asked.

"I have some training, yes, and an extensive amount of practice on various petitioners in this town. You don't seem sick or ailing in any way," he said, looking Kakashi up and down, "so if you want my services on another's behalf, I suggest you speak with Hirai Kazuyuki, of the Hirai Clan."

As he spoke, Kakashi absently looked over the various remedies on the walls. Closest to eye level were the most frequently used medicines: fever and cough medicines, salves to speed the healing of cuts and bruises, and other simple solutions. Farther from the center were less common medicines: one for liver health, one for blood impurity, one for virility. At the edges were the least commonly used: one for "yin chakra deficiency", one for spleen health, one for chakra exhaustion-

What.

"-can find him, you can talk with him if you want to hire me. Here, take-"

Kakashi grabbed the paper out of his hand and tossed it to the side. "There, that bottle," he said, pointing to the chakra exhaustion medicine. Sakaguchi looked confused and more than a little annoyed, but he followed Kakashi's gaze to the squat jar of yellowish-orange cream.

He frowned as he picked it up off of the bottom shelf. "This one? It's mostly meant for ninja who hurt themselves while fighting, so it won't do you much good unless you've had a run-in with one of those beasts in the-"

Kakashi reached out for the jar, and Sakaguchi pulled it away. "Alright, that's enough," he said, "who are you and why are you in my shop?"

Kakashi sighed. "I already talked to Hirai to get your information. I also learned about your situation. You're living under their thumb for protection, but you don't get the benefits of their clan. They taught you a little bit of medicine, and you were so good at it that you went from trainee to full-fledged independent medic in less than a year, worrying them enough that they stopped teaching you. Your old clan wanted you dead once they found out they had a chakra-trained bloodline bastard running around, and Hirai wanted to keep you for obvious reasons, but you never manifested the bloodline, so they settle for taxing the shit out of you and giving you just enough business to keep you here and not running away to Umishita to see if your blood clan will give you any better. Does that sound right?"

Sakaguchi nodded hesitantly, and Kakashi took advantage of his momentary indecision to snatch the jar out of his hand.

"Hey, you have to pay for-"

A sack of ryou clinked onto the counter.

Kakashi continued examining the jar, as if looking at it would do anything. "How do I use it?"

"Are you a ninja, sir?" Sakaguchi asked, hesitating slightly as he opened up the bag and saw the pile of mixed coins within.

"Take what you need from there. And obviously, yeah. How do I use it?"

"Well, it needs to be used in tandem with medical ninjutsu-"

Kakashi lit his hand up with the pale green glow of medical chakra. The medicine didn't seem to change under its effect.

"It takes a little bit of training to use right. I can show you-"

"Yeah, that sounds good. I'm going to need literally all of this stuff that you have. Also the locations of shops in the city that might have more of it."

Sakaguchi nodded. He had counted out a small sum of ryou from the bag and placed it in his till. Now he pushed the rest of the bag back to Kakashi. "I'll check the stores, but I don't think we have any more of that medicine. It's not frequently used, and our suppliers haven't sent any in the last six months. I can tell you about other shops, but I definitely can't give you a lesson in medical ninjutsu without Hirai's permission. You were sent by Kazuyuki, right? Did he give you a token?"

Kakashi shook his head. "I'm not going to patronize those crooks. You're being exploited here, if your skill is any indication, and I came to give you a much, much better offer instead. I'm Tanaka Migen, a travelling ninja, and I'm looking for medically trained companions to come with. You seem to be damn good at what you do. If you haven't been trained in fighting, I can show you how to do that, and I can also pay you very, very generously for your work.

"I'm going to be exploring around the Eastern Continent for a while, but I don't have any major objectives. If you have things you want to do, I would be glad to help you with my abilities. The deal is simple. See the world under the wing of a powerful ninja, get much richer than the Hirai want you to be, learn the skills you need to survive anywhere, not just in safe towns like this one, and treat me when I'm injured in exchange. If you're interested, I'll be back tomorrow morning to hear your answer."

Sakaguchi said, "I'm… not sure if I can do that, sir."

"Then don't, it's up to you. Either way," Kakashi said, angling the jar so the light passed through it, "bring out your stores, I'm going to need all of this stuff that you have."


Kakashi eyed the small shack with faint distaste. The ugly building's wooden beams showed hints of rot and water damage, while various parts of the building were stained, warped, and otherwise damaged in ways that let hints of candlelight and smoke from within the building filter through.

Still, this was apparently the residence of Sugiyama Saku, a foreign ninja from Demon who had set down roots in the town almost a decade and a half ago, and who had been running a fortune-telling shop. Though, that wasn't the only story Kakashi had heard about Sugiyama. Apparently, he was also a chakra beast fish trapped in the form of a human, a summon that couldn't be unsummoned, the Sage's great-granddaughter (?), the First Tsuchikage in disguise, or any of about twenty other things.

If more of his other leads had panned out, Kakashi wouldn't have come here. Yet, the vast majority of medic-nin in this city had no interest in travelling. The wilds were dangerous with chakra beasts, and affiliating with a missing-nin was probably even worse for their overall health. Nobody here wanted to abandon their cushy jobs healing trivial ailments for incredibly generous pay, adoration, and, above all, the safety of a town guarded by two major ninja clans. He had to scrape the bottom of the barrel, and there, congealed against the baseboards, rumours of Sugiyama's use of medical chakra led him here.

Kakashi sighed and entered the house. A bell tinkled as he entered, and someone in the back called out, "Wait just a minute, we've almost finished." Sugiyama, presumably, though his voice was ambiguous in gender, and scratchy as if he were smoking.

He probably was smoking, Kakashi realized, as the scent of the place hit him. A hundred different herbs and incenses seemed to be burning, and underneath it all, a sharp, acrid scent that had to be some kind of drug. Maybe that's what gives him the creativity needed to come up with new fortunes for the bored housewives in this city.

As if on cue, the thick curtain of purplish fabric separating the tiny entrance area from the equally tiny sitting room parted, and a middle-aged woman walked out, nodded stiffly to Kakashi with a raging blush on her face, and quickly left the shack. "Come on ii-in," called the lilting voice.

Kakashi slowly pushed the curtain aside, entering a room barely large enough for him to spread his arms across. Despite the small space, it was somehow filled with more trinkets and trifles than he had seen in even the gaudiest of Leaf's Clan houses. Idols of ancient kami gazed at the center of the room from their spots on uneven shelves, bundles of dried flowers and bones hung from the ceiling on twines of varying height, and symbols and pendants with all sorts of strange runes (no sealwork though, thankfully) were nailed into every available surface. In the middle of the room, surrounded by a circle of candles of unusually even height and width, a small raised platform held a pair of overstuffed pillows with a small distance between them.

Sugiyama hastily straightened up on one of the pillows, kicked out a small fire, and placed a small metal device behind his cushion, which started to gently spew steam. Kakashi shuddered at the thought of having an open fire in a place like this, but apparently Sugiyama wasn't concerned. Kakashi couldn't quite figure out Sugiyama's gender even with examination. Long hair left loose, figure obscured by clothing, no signs of facial hair, but face has a vaguely masculine hint, even if androgynous. Whatever, more people said he's a guy than otherwise.

"Welcome, to my house of marvels and mysteries!" said Sugiyama, gesturing and almost knocking over a small statue of a screaming monkey-headed man on a side shelf. "Are you looking for a foretelling? A man of your dignified stature… no, you are too respectable to need my services for success in business. Perhaps in private… you are having trouble conceiving, no?"

Kakashi was about to take a seat on the overstuffed pillow on the side when he seemed to have a sudden coughing fit.

"Perhaps not. Then perhaps you wish to have your fortunes read?"

As he recovered, he eyed Sugiyama, who was watching him back with a pleasant smile. No, he wasn't trying to put him off-guard for an attack of some sort. He was just fucking weird.

Sugiyama grabbed a small pouch of chalk from one of the endless cubbies around the room and dipped his finger into it. "Give me a second to remove the statue of the Bleeding One, then we can get you started. You're in luck, I have recently come into possession of some genuine dragon bones. They have spoken to the stars in the North, and they know truths that they can reveal to you."

"I'm not here for a fortune reading," said Kakashi.

"Oh, such a shame," said Sugiyama, voice still in that vaguely pleasant, impersonal tone. He had drawn a pair of concentric circles around the "statue" that currently sat between the two pillows, a finely carved wooden thing no taller than six inches. It seemed to depict some sort of three-headed man. From head on the left, a torrent of animals jumped out of the statue's mouth. Kakashi could see the fear in the eyes of the animal, fleeing from the god that birthed them. The head on the right seemed to play a flute of some sort, eyes closed and straining to hear an imaginary tune that Kakashi could just barely hear, broken and haunting. The head in the middle looked straight ahead, and its mouth was filled with blood. More blood dripped from punctures in the statue's stomach and feet, and as Kakashi looked the statue in the eye, he could taste that same blood in his mouth, a foul, reddish-black liquid pouring forth from-

Sugiyama snatched the statue out of the center and placed it on a side shelf, facing away from the center of the room. He draped a small black cloth over it for good measure as his sleeve rubbed away the circle and runes he had drawn around the statue. He didn't notice Kakashi's sharp inhale. He turned back a moment later with a knowing smile on his face.

"So, my new and dear friend, you needed my services?"

Kakashi paused for a second. He's wearing… purple dye on his lips? He collected himself and nodded. "I heard that you have skill in medical ninjutsu?"

Sugiyama laughed. "You undersell me!" He gestured wildly around the room, and Kakashi winced as his loose robes just barely managed to avoid knocking a candle onto a book. A grimoire? Somehow, that word seemed more correct.

"I have knowledge stolen from the angels of the Deva Path, and powers taken from the demons of the Naraka!" Faint purple fog started to rise around him as he spoke. "I have whispers from the spirits of a thousand thousand people, from all over the world in the east and the west! Animals give me their insight, plants give me their fortitude, and- shit!"

He batted at his side, where the little flame under his fog-device had spread to a wax-stained portion of his robes. After a second of futilely trying to extinguish his sleeve, he quickly drew a knife from his sleeve and cut off the section of cloth before pouring the purple-dyed water over it. The flames hissed and went out.

He turned back to Kakashi, seemingly not noticing that Kakashi had stood and started forming hand seals when he drew the knife. He gestured to the seat again. "Sit, my friend. I apologize for the interruption. You see, my mind is so troubled with wisdom from beyond the veil that sometimes I forget that I am bound to this physical form."

Kakashi nodded and carefully took a seat again. Sugiyama had moved quickly, but not quite quickly enough to be a threat to Kakashi. "Right. So, you said that you could do medical ninjutsu?" he said.

Sugiyama sighed. "Yes, that is among my many capacities. What do you need? Infected cut, maybe a sore shoulder?"

Kakashi replied. "I'm not here for healing right now, I just have a simple offer. I'm Tanaka Migen, and I was hoping to find travelling companions with medical training to travel with me and make the wilds a little safer. I'm not really sure what motivates you to be honest, but I'm sure I can provide it given time. If there's things you want to do on the Eastern Continent, I'll be glad to help you out with them as long as we can stay on the move. I'm pretty strong, so I can protect you well, too. And I can pay."

Sugiyama cocked his head. "Well that's original," he said in that same lilting, effeminate tone. "It's intriguing, to say the least, so I'll think about it. Now that your pitch has been made, my friend, would you like to have your fortune told?"

Kakashi hastily excused himself.


Kakashi grabbed the shallow glass of spiced rice alcohol the bartender had foisted upon him. The woman had been shifty about what it was made of, but it definitely wasn't normal sake, and at a sniff, it seemed strong enough to pass for anaesthetic. Didn't really matter, as he didn't intend on pulling his mask down in a place like this anyway.

He made his way over to a table where a thick-looking man sat. He looked up as Kakashi approached with the glass held in both hands, and he put down his own drink and tensed, as if expecting a fight. He had chosen a seat with his back to the thinnest wall in the room, and had been carefully examining everyone who came in.

As Kakashi took a seat, he growled, "you know who I am, right? Then you know you ought to make yourself scarce sooner than later."

Kakashi said, "I'm no hunter. I'm a missing-nin myself, in fact."

He waited for a second as Tsutsui processed the implications of being in close quarters with another missing-nin, who was willingly keeping himself from performing hand seals by holding a drink, then continued, "You're strong and seasoned in the field. So am I. It's a dangerous world out there, and if we were to travel together, we might both be safer for it."

Tsutsui laughed. "As if I would be any safer with twice the hunters after me. Get out of here, before I decide I should take your head and your bounty, and use that to find a safe and quiet retirement."

Kakashi sighed. He could probably beat Tsutsui up and down the block until he learned his position in the hierarchy, but that would probably draw too much attention. "Look, I'm making a reasonable offer here. I'm heading far East, where hopefully news will take a long time to travel and hunters are less likely to risk their necks. I'm strong enough to protect myself, but that doesn't mean I won't get injured, so I wouldn't mind having someone with your medic skills along to help me out."

Tsutsui's eyes narrowed. "My medic skills? How do you know that?"

Kakashi shrugged. "Tsutsui Yohachi, chuunin Mist-nin, sent on a suicide mission you weren't told about ahead of time, came back to the turmoil of a coup attempt, decided to cut your losses and flee?" Kakashi didn't know all that, but piecing together the coup timeline and knowing Mist's reputation, it seemed pretty likely. "You might not like the idea of teammates right now, so let's call it business partners. I'll pay. I'll also have a deadman's switch if you betray me, but I hear Mist likes to use both the carrot and the stick, so that wouldn't be a problem, would it?"

Tsutsui scowled. "I'm starting to think you know too much. Best place for people that know too much and talk too much is at the bottom of the ocean."

"Please, don't bother threatening me. If I wanted to rat you out, I wouldn't have come in here with what I know. You've only been vaguely aggressive to me, not informative. More bounty hunters after you means less after me, you know?"

Tsutsui slowly nodded, and Kakashi continued. "Besides, your bounty isn't even worth my time. Two hundred thousand ryou? That's only half a cheap A-rank, hardly worth the effort of cashing it out."

Tsutsui scoffed, but Kakashi could detect a hint of worry. Yep, I'm a jounin and non-hostile. Once-in-your-remaining-lifetime opportunity here.

"I don't like that you know so much about me. Who are you?"

"Tanaka Migen, from the Land of Rivers. Leadership changed during the Third War, and I had some… disagreements with the new Kage. I left before he used his new hat to resolve those disagreements we had. I had been travelling for a bit, but I got injured when some hunters caught up to me. I managed to kill them all, but I had to spend a couple months in hiding while I recovered. I figure the smarter thing to do would be to find a medic so I can recover quicker in the future. Meanwhile, wouldn't you rather have a jounin around when your hunters catch up to you?"

Tsutsui started to nod before he caught himself. "How do I know you're as strong as you say you are? Or that you're not going to lead me like a fool into a hunter-nin's trap?"

"There's no risk for you, really," said Kakashi. "If things seem off to you, you can cut your losses and run. I'm not going to coerce you into this. Which means you can see my abilities yourself, if you want."

"I don't trust it. Something smells fishy about this situation."

Kakashi nodded, and stood. "I understand. Life as a missing-nin means being paranoid and careful. Like I said, I am being fully forthright because I want an ally, not a minion. If you don't want to do it, then don't." Kakashi stepped away from the table. "Don't bother reporting me to the hunter-nin by the way. The ones around here won't stand a chance against me, and I'll be long gone by the time news gets back to River."

He turned to leave, and Tsutsui called after him, "Tanaka, wait. I need to think about it. Come back here tomorrow morning."

Kakashi gave a lazy one handed salute before making his exit.

---

On the upside, the chocolate covered strawberries were delicious.

All three people talked to in this update were interested. Kakashi probed many more people, but by and large, med-nin have a cushy life in towns and are unwilling to risk that for the road. Kakashi isn't interested in having more than one person along with him at this point, as too large of an entourage will make things complicated. You can vote on who to bring along like so:
[] (Medic) Sakaguchi
[] (Medic) Sugiyama
[] (Medic) Tsutsui
[] (Medic) None
Or else @MMKII will decide on his update.

Compel on "The Copy Ninja"!

Kakashi is quite well known, and Leaf is rather confident that Kakashi is on the Eastern continent. While missing an eye is not uncommon for ninja, it's also quite distinctive. Obito's Sharingan, after all, is the distinctive trait of The Copy Ninja.
[] (+1 FP) Accept Compel: Someone off-screen in the city took note of your appearance. After you're gone, they'll realize that you were Hatake Kakashi and report it.
[] (-1 FP) Reject Compel: Your disguise was quite good. No one noticed, and Kakashi was careful (in his off-screen interactions) to obscure his distinctive features and flair.

NOTE: This does not mean that Kakashi wasn't noticed as a result of other people in the city rolling well or trying to find out more about him. This is independent of whatever rolls we did off-screen.

Voting Time! What do you do now?
Here are some options to get you started.
[] To Demon! Look for problems that need solving and chances to learn new techniques, like in Snow.
[] What's this about a coup in Mist? Go to the southwest corner of Honey and ask around to get more details.
[] These medics are awful. Find the bug-medic clan and try to manufacture an internal dispute to get a skilled medic of theirs kicked out, so you can recruit them instead.
[] Why hasn't there been a shipment of the chakra-healing medicine? Kakashi needs more than five days worth. Track down the source and buy more.
[] Glacier proved too hard to take ownership of. If at first you don't succeed, try for regicide round 2, this time in Wolf.
[] Write-in.

Remember, we use approval voting, so you can vote for as many plans as you like. Also, feel free to ping @Paperclipped or @MMKII to ask setting or detail questions that Kakashi could plausibly know.

Voting is open, and closes at 9am Pacific Time, Saturday February 20.