"Superstitious though it may seem," Sugiyama continued. There was an incredibly stern expression on their face. "I would prefer if you refrained from mentioning names such as that man's, or any epithets or references to him that you may have heard spill forth from my lips. Though that man has likely moved on to the next life, it is still a precaution worth taking. Some taint requires many cycles of the Great Wheel before it is cleansed off of one's spirit. The name of a thing is always associated with the thing it names, but so too is the namer themselves. You would not want to be cursed with misfortune by associating with that one."
Idea: Maybe the spirits, from within the immaterial/cognitive/spiritual realm hear powerful names (deeply imprinted into the collective consciousness of the people of the world) and that draws their attention? And saying a name like Madara can draw the attention of those who hated him (and may seek to smite) or those who liked him (and may cause trouble).
"A fresh start," Sugiyama repeated. More smoke dribbled into the air. This time purple. "Betwixt you and I. I do not have any memories of these travels, but I believe that they happened, and that they count for something. Perhaps we can once again become traveling companions. Maybe someday even friends. Though I don't think that is within either of our capacities at the moment."
That's fair... From Sugiyama's perspective, this random dude starts spouting off shared experiences and information they didn't remember consenting to give them. It's a violation of privacy.
It does make me smile, however, that Sugiyama is willing to reconnect their bond with Kakashi (or, perhaps better phrased, form a new one) by allowing new shared experiences to happen.
I also wonder what Sugiyama was able to glean from our story. They know themselves, however much they may be disassociating via drugs, and likely know how/why they would react to certain things under certain circumstances. So Kakashi's told them shared experiences, meaning that Sugiyama would be able to glean their own thoughts and rationale by listening to Kakashi recite the things that they said and did under different circumstance.
I wonder what Current-Sugiyama thinks of Past-Sugiyama's dynamic with Kakashi. Certainly, they're already being more serious than we've seen them be before. Is it purely due to the present circumstances, or is it an active change to begin a better dynamic? Is it because Sugiyama, whatever their faults, is a professional and Kakashi is their patient?
"Uh," Kakashi said. Leaf as a whole didn't really have much of a tradition on that front, but a few genin teams tended to go off of the old standard. "I guess? Names, likes, dislikes, dreams for the future, that sort of thing?"
Kakashi shrugged. "I don't really know. I'm just kind of making this up as I go along, truthfully. I don't have a plan until I need one. That's just kind of how I do things. Hatake Kakashi, always too late or just in the nick of time. I guess I'm just… lost."
Yeah, it certainly feels that way.
Kakashi chuckled slightly. "Lost. Yeah, that's me. Lost on the road of life."
Second of all: sad to say it, but LotRoL-Kakashi is still more mentally healthy than canon-Kakashi is when he gives this speech to his genin in Naruto Canon.
Third: he admits it! Woo, progress! Now healing and growth can begin!
mostly just some dialogue trees to make the next update easier on the qms, if anyone has any suggestions feel free
[X] No Rest for the Wicked
Word Count: ~450
Sugiyama
Rest and receive treatment from Sugiyama until the Mild and Moderate Consequence are healed.
Hand over the chakra exhaustion medicine Kakashi nicked from Jinraku's desk.
Ask to resume Sugiyama's training.
Be less overbearing in tone.
Exercise can exaggerate features that may be considered gendered, which could evoke a sense of unease/dymorphia within Sugiyama.
Whether or not Sugiyama remembers it, we owe them. Be patient, don't be a dick.
Kagato
Find Kagato's camp in Demon.
He was further from the effect, was his memory of Kakashi affected?
Repeat the mission he gave Kakashi and Shizuka in response to the Honey Clans fighting, if he forgot. Emphasize the Summoner bond between the three of them.
The Murakumo spirit and its servant are dead. Kakashi fried the first and Shizuka blew up the second.
Uhhh the clans of Honey may put bounties on them now, since they defended themselves and the Sasu didn't realize they'd been infiltrated... Any chance Kagato or one of his compatriots could smooth that over? If not, whatever.
Actually, speaking of, does Kagato remember fighting Dragon alongside Kakashi and Shizuka? Does Kakashi still have the protection of Demon against the Oathbreaker? Maybe Gongen Kenzo remembers it? Kakashi didn't talk to him much if at all, perhaps he was spared of the effect.
Shizuka spoke privately with Kagato about her reward for the mission so Kakashi doesn't know what she wanted, but Kagato's offer to Kakashi was to send Mantises to nearby Summon Clans to see if they need a Summoner, and where their Scroll may be if so. Kakashi would like to take him up on that offer.
Shizuka
Kakashi doubts she'll want to hang around and watch him heal his wounds. It also seems they both have business to attend to afterward anyways. If she moves on for now, he gets it.
She was a hell of a fighter and a hell of a teammate.
Shizuka asked why Kakashi didn't leave that other girl behind when she was hit by icicles, yet Shizuka brought Kakashi to a medic even though he surely slowed her down. He respects someone who doesn't abandon their comrades.
Her standoff with Jinraku was pretty cool too. Almost as cool as Kakashi splitting a Lightning Dragon Bullet with his hand. (Has Chidori earned the moniker Raikiri yet? Maybe he should wait...)
Kakashi won't be helping her fight the Salamander anytime soon, but if there's a smaller favor he could do for her, he would. Well, he'd consider it. He is a lazy person after all.
Before they part ways, would she accompany him to find Zabuza? He should be in Demon somewhere. Kakashi is curious about what he wants and obviously isn't at full strength at the moment...
[ ] Seek out Kagato in Demon(?) Country. You managed it once, and the Mantis Summoner still owes you and Shizuka a big favor for dealing with this shit.
[ ] Go hire out a handful of ninja from one of the nearby clans to track Kagato down and deliver a message to him. He can come meet you here, but you are in no shape to be going anywhere.
[ ] Kagato can wait for a bit, but what was it that Tsunade mentioned about Mist ninja being nearby...?
[ ] Kagato can wait for a bit, but you should probably see if anything important has happened in the world while you and Shizuka were trapped in that clusterfuck.
I do want to go seek out Kagato for our reward (hope to fuck he still remembers), but we're also down due to Consequences. We blew through money like it was nothing to get information for this mission, and I'll admit to be a bit leery with spending even more... Maybe a recovery chapter, wherein Kakashi heals, teaches Sugiyama the Fire Shroud jutsu again, bonds with Shizuka a bit?
] Action Plan: Letters, Lessons, and Literature
Words: tbd
Hire out some nearby ninja to track Kagato down and deliver a message to him. He can come meet us back here, since we're in no shape to be going anywhere.
In the letter, mention battling chakra beast swarm and the Special Cave with the Statue, just in case Kagato was affected by the memory wipe. He owes you one. Workshop with Sugiyama to leverage that debt without being rude to Demon-native sensibilities.
Ask to resume Sugiyama's training.
Be less overbearing in tone.
Exercise can exaggerate features that may be considered gendered, which could evoke a sense of unease within Sugiyama.
Whether Sugiyama remembers it or not, we owe them. Be patient, don't be a dick.
Shizuka:
sorry, we got a little... carried away back there, with Sugiyama.
Thanks for saving our lives, against the shapeshifter, and for bringing us back to Sugiyama. Another medic might've sufficed, but believe it or not: we trust Sugiyama's abilities.
So: daughter of Hanzou, huh? My dad abandoned a mission, killed himself out of shame, and left me to raise myself. Gai had to teach me how to shave. Gai. Then Minato came around, and Kushina. Then they died, too...
mostly just some dialogue trees to make the next update easier on the qms, if anyone has any suggestions feel free
[X] No Rest for the Wicked
Word Count: ~450
Sugiyama
Rest and receive treatment from Sugiyama until the Mild and Moderate Consequence are healed.
Hand over the chakra exhaustion medicine Kakashi nicked from Jinraku's desk.
Ask to resume Sugiyama's training.
Be less overbearing in tone.
Exercise can exaggerate features that may be considered gendered, which could evoke a sense of unease/dymorphia within Sugiyama.
Whether or not Sugiyama remembers it, we owe them. Be patient, don't be a dick.
Kagato
Find Kagato's camp in Demon.
He was further from the effect, was his memory of Kakashi affected?
Repeat the mission he gave Kakashi and Shizuka in response to the Honey Clans fighting, if he forgot. Emphasize the Summoner bond between the three of them.
The Murakumo spirit and its servant are dead. Kakashi fried the first and Shizuka blew up the second.
Uhhh the clans of Honey may put bounties on them now, since they defended themselves and the Sasu didn't realize they'd been infiltrated... Any chance Kagato or one of his compatriots could smooth that over? If not, whatever.
Actually, speaking of, does Kagato remember fighting Dragon alongside Kakashi and Shizuka? Does Kakashi still have the protection of Demon against the Oathbreaker? Maybe Gongen Kenzo remembers it? Kakashi didn't talk to him much if at all, perhaps he was spared of the effect.
Shizuka spoke privately with Kagato about her reward for the mission so Kakashi doesn't know what she wanted, but Kagato's offer to Kakashi was to send Mantises to nearby Summon Clans to see if they need a Summoner, and where their Scroll may be if so. Kakashi would like to take him up on that offer.
Shizuka
Kakashi doubts she'll want to hang around and watch him heal his wounds. It also seems they both have business to attend to afterward anyways. If she moves on for now, he gets it.
She was a hell of a fighter and a hell of a teammate.
Shizuka asked why Kakashi didn't leave that other girl behind when she was hit by icicles, yet Shizuka brought Kakashi to a medic even though he surely slowed her down. He respects someone who doesn't abandon their comrades.
Her standoff with Jinraku was pretty cool too. Almost as cool as Kakashi splitting a Lightning Dragon Bullet with his hand. (Has Chidori earned the moniker Raikiri yet? Maybe he should wait...)
Kakashi won't be helping her fight the Salamander anytime soon, but if there's a smaller favor he could do for her, he would. Well, he'd consider it. He is a lazy person after all.
Before they part ways, would she accompany him to find Zabuza? He should be in Demon somewhere. Kakashi is curious about what he wants and obviously isn't at full strength at the moment...
Didn't Kagato call Sugiyama a Seer? That might be a reference to their ability to see/hear spirits/gods/spren. If Kakashi doesn't have the ability innately, maybe we can test the Sharingan's capabilities?
"Good work today everybody, I think we can call things there."
Kakashi watched as Uchiha dropped to the ground in mock exhaustion. It better have not been real, at least. Even the clanless girl was handling herself better than that. The training hadn't even been that hard, all things considered. Useful for sure, but Kakashi thought there could be a better way of building stamina when using chakra adhesion, he'd need to try it when he got home.
Namikaze-sensei clapped his hands again. "Really, I think training has been going excellently this past week. I'm quite glad I got you all as students, you know. To celebrate this team's inception, we should go out to a restaurant! On me, of course."
As if on cue, the Uchiha sprang back up. Really, no self-respect…
He didn't even think training had been going particularly well. Namikaze-sensei wasn't a bad teacher to be certain – he'd met more than his share of those at the academy – but he also wasn't a particularly good one. Kakashi had hoped that being placed with older students would give them some hope of keeping up, but these two didn't seem particularly skilled. He'd been told that Namikaze would find some way to accommodate his genius, but nothing seemed forthcoming. Maybe this was all he'd have for a few years, just inventing and doing his own exercises at home.
It really was a frustrating team that he'd been placed in. He'd done his research more thoroughly, and Namikaze and Nohara were not only both clanless, but both civilian-born! No wonder neither of them had a lick of talent worth noting. Namikaze's trick to the test that got them in had been clever, sure, but trickery and moralizing about the power of teamwork didn't hold up in the ninja world.
Uchiha too, seemed to be talentless. His academy scores were unimpressive, and he was apparently broadly known for being a disappointment to the Uchiha already. He didn't have much of a future ahead of him. Why did Kakashi get placed on a team like this?
"Kakashi, are you alright?"
Kakashi had been squaring himself up with one of the trees to try one of his new adhesion drills, but paused at Namikaze's voice. He turned to see Namikaze looking at him expectantly, while Nohara and Uchiha were already halfway to the border of the training ground.
Kakashi bowed deeply. "My apologies for the confusion, Namikaze-sensei. I am afraid I won't be joining you for dinner. I have some variants on the obstacle course you prepared that I would like to try."
Namikaze laughed, like he had made a joke. "I wasn't asking you to come to dinner with us, Kakashi. You are coming."
He stepped over and placed a hand, gentle yet insistent, on Kakashi's shoulder, and started guiding him towards the town center.
o-o-o-o
The restaurant was about as terrible as Kakashi expected. In the heart of Konoha and on a weekend in what seemed like some kind of festival, the shop was crowded full of the civilian masses in all their fat inadequacy. As if going in wasn't punishment enough, Namikaze had him sit down at a table in the cramped restaurant, drastically limiting his ability to spring to his feet in a fight. And then he was supposed to eat food prepared by a stranger? One who he wasn't even allowed to watch prepare the food? And then sit through all of Namikaze's inane pleasantries and the various details of his squadmates' irrelevant lives….
Kakashi knew he would be expected to do foul and humiliating things on missions, but he didn't think they would be so bad as having to put up with this, and not just pretend that he liked it, but pretend that it somehow counted as teaching. By the time his team was laughing and telling the civilian waiter that yes, the dessert had been amazing, and yes perhaps they did want to try some of the other things on the dessert menu, Kakashi's blood was boiling. As they ordered a second dessert, Kakashi made his excuses and slipped out.
Once free, Kakashi leaped to the rooftop. What a waste of time. Uchiha had eaten like a pig as if to take advantage of Namikaze's offer to pay, like his clan was in the poorhouse, and Nohara had been only a little better. Kakashi had eaten light to retain combat readiness as a ninja ought to, and now he could reap the benefit. Maybe he could still get some training in…
Namikaze was sitting on the rooftop, looking up at the moon. Kakashi stopped flat.
"How did you get up here faster than me?"
Namikaze looked down at him and smiled, as if noticing him after a long time. "Ah, Kakashi! Come, sit, we have some things to talk about."
Kakashi nodded stiffly and walked along the steeply angled roof and stopped just in front of Namikaze.
Namikaze sighed, leaning up against one knee while his other leg remained splayed down the slope of the roof from where he sat on the ridge. He looked longingly out into the city, into the long shadows cast onto the streets by the lazily setting sun, and into the bright flickering of the paper lanterns where they hung in rows over the busy streets and the throngs below.
"My father runs a ramen stand, you know. I hope he's making a killing tonight."
Namikaze looked up at him. "And to answer your question: clever use of Substitution and clone techniques."
Kakashi nodded. "Do I need to sit, sir?"
"No, you can stand if you want," Namikaze said. "I may as well," he said as he pushed himself to his feet.
He took long thoughtful steps to the edge of the rooftop, and Kakashi followed. Down below, the festival raged. A few of the civilians looked up at them and cheered for the ninja, defenders of Konoha. Namikaze smiled for them and gave a gentle wave, and they quickly returned to their festivities.
After many moments longer, Namikaze spoke. "Why do you carry so much contempt for your fellows?"
Kakashi didn't answer. Namikaze didn't pressure him to reply, but just continued looking out over the celebrating civilians down below.
A good ninja never reveals what he is thinking without fully wanting to and understanding the consequences of the revelation.
Kakashi didn't want to say something that would invite further questioning, something foolish like What do you mean, sir?, but any plausibly real or satisfying answer to Namikaze would surely invite disaster. What sort of answer would satisfy Namikaze? The framing itself seemed hostile, trying to force Kakashi to acknowledge a perceived fault.
Maybe the best idea was to ask a different question and draw Namikaze's attention away?
"Why was I placed on this team, sir?" Kakashi asked.
Namikaze took several long moments more to consider Kakashi's question, as if it had been a deep response to Namikaze's own instead of a mere deflection.
"You're here because I requested you here. Sorry about being misleading at the bell test last week, I understand that I made it seem as if the team was chosen at random for me, but I actually requested all three of you."
Kakashi turned that over in his head. He couldn't help but wonder…
"Why, sir? To speak plainly…" Oh, this could be a mistake, "The other two won't be able to keep up with me. Especially not in the long run."
"They will," said Namikaze. "I chose them for a good reason."
Kakashi resisted the urge to shake his head in disappointment. Namikaze must really have been blind. His sensei must have sensed something of Kakashi's disagreement, because he continued.
"Do you remember how today, you wanted to skip dinner and continue working on your three-dimensional movement with chakra adhesion? How you're not just trying to master my exercises but coming up with new ones of your own and seeing how the variants change the task?" Kakashi didn't bother nodding. "Nohara does much the same, except she does not work on her ninja skills further with her extra time. Instead, she works on her medicine, and her medical ninjutsu."
Kakashi wanted to comment on how this wasn't what she needed to be a field ninja, and how maybe she should have just stayed in the hospital if that's what she truly cared about, but it wasn't his place to question his superior.
Frustratingly, Namikaze seemed to read the thoughts off his face again. "Don't be so quick to judge it as useless. For one, she has a strong innate advantage there, which is worth cultivating, and for another, there's benefit to varying your training. You know how it's harder to get the same benefit out of the tenth hour of physical training as the first. Her book studies push her in a different direction than our team training and still a valuable one, otherwise I wouldn't be fulfilling my role as her sensei."
Namikaze sighed and brought his hand to his head to rub the spot between his eyebrows with a finger. "As to Uchiha, who I can tell you are curious about, he has a lot he's struggling with. I assure you that he will grow into a worthy ninja, just as you will."
Kakashi kept his face neutral as he nodded. A lot of platitudes to say that Nohara is better off as some other type of ninja, and that Uchiha probably just shouldn't be one.
Namikaze turned fully away from the festivities below to face him, his expression blank. Kakashi smoothed out his expression too, belatedly realizing that Namikaze probably wanted some sort of repentance for his "contempt". He still didn't fully understand what Namikaze expected from him.
Namikaze studied him for a moment longer and seemed to find him wanting.
"Fine," said the yellow-haired chuunin. "We'll do it as you wish.
"Attention, genin of Leaf!"
Kakashi snapped to attention with one arm tucked behind him, the other across his midsection in a fist. Namikaze's volume had hardly changed, yet Kakashi could feel his words lashing across his mind like a whip. Somehow, the civilians down below hadn't noticed the crack of Namikaze's words and peacefully continued their festivities down below.
Namikaze continued, his words now clipped and precise like the dozens of exacting teachers Kakashi remembered from the Academy. "There is a severe problem on the team, one which dramatically limits its use as a field-capable squad. It is essential to correct this problem so that your village can make adequate use of you. What is the problem I am referring to, Hatake? One word only."
Kakashi answered quickly, the words jumping to his mouth. "Experience, sir!"
"Wrong," said Namikaze. "The correct answer was 'Cohesion'. Memorize that." Kakashi did so. "The team as it is suffers from a serious lack of cohesion. On a battlefield, there must be absolute trust between team members, so that every maneuver that has been drilled into you can be carried out immediately without the faintest hint of hesitation, without any questioning of whether your teammates are capable of carrying out their roles adequately. There are three relationships possible between three people, which all must be satisfactory before the cohesion of the group can start to grow. Of the three relationships between pairs of genin on the squad, Hatake, which ones are inadequate?"
"Myself and Nohara, and myself and Uchiha, sir!"
"Correct. So if I were to identify a problem member of the squad, who would I point to as most responsible for the team's lack of cohesion?"
Kakashi felt a sinking feeling in his gut, but carried through. "Me, sir!"
Somehow, Namikaze's voice didn't draw any attention from the civilians below, but Kakashi's did. He hoped that Nohara and Uchiha were still wasting their time in that stupid restaurant.
"Correct. Therefore, to correct this crucial problem so that you all may become an effective field squad, your orders are to join your teammates after our daily practice and have dinner with them."
What?
"If you have any questions about your orders, ask them. To operate effectively in the field, it is often useful to fully understand what your commander expects of you and why, so I expect you to ask questions until no ambiguity remains in what you are to do."
Kakashi paused to think. Namikaze was clearly serious, but was giving him a fairly absurd order. Did he really think that this would be the best way to improve the cohesion of the team? That going and eating dinner together in restaurants like this one would somehow improve their odds of mission success in the field, especially when even sitting down in the restaurant and playing a fat civilian for a few hours clearly eroded their training and combat readiness?
Was it worth Kakashi arguing? He would follow orders, of course, but would it be better to simply comply and try to manage the costs, or should he try to find some way to minimize his compliance (maybe eat very quickly and leave?) and work around Namikaze's likely ire? Namikaze definitely had more to teach him, he was still a chuunin, but Kakashi knew that eventually that would come to an end and he would have to find a new mentor.
Well, may as well ask what he's looking for so that I can give it to him, even if at the minimal acceptable level.
"Sir, what exactly would constitute a success here? What do you expect to happen as a result of me joining my squadmates for dinner?"
"You will speak with them casually on various topics. Not necessarily ones personal to you, but of anything at all in the world, even me. As a result, you'll become familiar with communicating with them, learn their styles of communication and the assumptions they take for granted when they try to convey information to you, as well as become comfortable with how you need to phrase things in order to convey meaningful information to them.
"In gaining shared common knowledge and communication norms, you will learn about each other and develop trust and familiarity. You will come to genuinely like one another, and will eventually be willing to do what is right for one another, even if that thing might not be something that you or they might explicitly endorse. In doing so, you will gain allies that genuinely want the best for you, and for whom you can try to do the best unto."
Kakashi hesitated for a moment. That sounds… very dangerous. But he knew he had no choice but to accept the orders for now, and Namikaze had given him the information he needed to choose the right level of compliance.
"I understand, sir," Kakashi said, raising his fist once in salute.
Namikaze looked at him, stern and impassive for a moment longer, then softened his expression.
"Thank you, Hatake. It means a lot to me that you are willing to do this. I can aid you in paying for the meals, if that is a concern for you."
Kakashi nodded. "Understood, but that won't be necessary, sir." No reason for that, I'll keep my finances need-to-know.
"And, as a gesture of thanks, I can offer you some private training. Come to the training grounds an hour early, I'll be there and we can work through some of the advanced versions of the exercises we've been doing. I do commend your effort in reinventing them, of course."
Well, that's an unexpectedly good result. If wasting some time with squadmates buys specialized training, it's probably worth putting a fair amount of time into the assignment to keep Namikaze happy.
Namikaze smiled at him. "I'll see you there. And, for what it is worth, young Hatake, I think you can find some genuine enjoyment in the assignment, apart from what you must do to improve the squad's cohesion. Perhaps you are curious why Nohara, despite her clear focus on medical ninjutsu, chose to leave her position at the hospital and become a field ninja. Despite what you may be thinking, many people, especially young people, may just answer your questions if you ask them. At least ask yourself what curiosities you could satisfy along the way."
Kakashi nodded and Namikaze gestured vaguely again to the streets, where the paper lanterns were now burning brightly against the fully darkened sky. "Well, you should feel free to go wherever you were going. I won't make you double back today. Your assignment starts after our next training. That training will have to be delayed a couple days though, as I need to do a mission to keep food on the table."
Kakashi bowed once to his sensei. Namikaze chuckled. "I should go in and tell them too that we'll be taking a couple days off. Thank you for your time, and don't let me keep you."
Kakashi turned to face his family house, but spun at the sound of a crack from where Namikaze stood. His teacher had disappeared, and all that remained was a cloud of misty haze which was quickly carried away by the chill winter's wind.
Shizuka kept herself from jumping as Kagato appeared in a puff of pale green mist. He did a quick turn to check his environment, then sheathed his blades after convincing himself that only Shizuka waited for him by the riverside of their camp.
"Well?" she asked.
He nodded his head once. "It is as you said. Not a moment after I gave the instructions to travel to the borders in search of news of an unclaimed Scroll did I feel the lifted weight of a Contract fulfilled, a Contract I didn't even realize I had made. If Hatake is who he claims he is, then he too should have felt that resolution. In that regard at least, you have been honest. I am yet undecided on whether I can believe all you speak of in the Land of Honey, but I am inclined to treat it as true now that I have verified Hatake's Contract. I will verify his words with another Contract later, but even that will leave questions upon questions unanswered.
"Nonetheless, you should consider yourselves proud for having done this duty even if I cannot recall myself requiring it of you. If all is as you say, then this was no mean feat."
"Sure, make a Contract with him to check he's being honest," she said. "We checked our stories against each other, and we mostly remember the same things, though there are obviously some… holes. We talked about it, and we think that after stuff got erased by the spirit, we subconsciously filled in the gaps. You probably noticed it too if you've felt that certain parts of your memory didn't line up right."
"Yes, I did notice that. Strange, how easily I was willing to forget a months long blur in my memory… I know old age will come for me, but is this a sign that it will come sooner rather than later?"
Shizuka shuddered and shook her head. "No, I don't think so. Nothing about that spirit was natural."
"And these spirits you claim to have met… one a shapeshifter, the other a… concept eraser? I have never heard of such things outside of myth and legend, and certainly never so clearly. The jagged edges of my memory, that much I can notice if it's pointed out to me. This is almost harder to believe."
"About that…" Shizuka said, kneeling as she fished through her pack. The wet grass of the riverside stained her knees, but she ignored the sensation.
"Hm?" Kagato raised an eyebrow.
"We didn't have the time when we were in the office with the first spirit, but there were no real pursuers for the second. Hatake was unconscious from chakra exhaustion, but I took some time to poke around the remains of the creature. They were incredibly caustic and seemed to change as I touched them. Sometimes it was like thick tar, other times like seaweed, other times like… like braided ropes of worms. Still, in the pile, I found this."
She pulled out a jagged section of curved white bone. The curvature was unmistakable, even broken, but the almond-shaped hole left no doubt – this was a section of a mask, like those worn by ANBU across the Elemental Nations.
Kagato looked at it in puzzlement, clearly noting the faded enamel paints across its surface and the patterned ridges and studs and channels and divots. Shizuka had only managed to dig out this piece with great effort from the spirit's remains, and she didn't know if the other two thirds were still in that pile. She had no clue what creature might have given the bone initially, nor who might have sanded and polished it down to its new form, but human hands had certainly shaped it.
Kagato extended his hand for her to hand it over, and Shizuka almost did, but hesitated.
"What will you do with it?"
Kagato looked at her, then returned his gaze to the broken shard of mask. "I have many contacts in Demon who would be better suited to answering questions on origin and myth. They would not trust an outsider. Beyond that, the Summon Clans know many things. I would seek to understand it so that I could take actions that would protect my land."
"Will you tell me what you discover?"
He met her gaze fully this time, and held it there. "No. My loyalty is not to you in the end, and I will not ensure that all that I discover finds its way to your ear, nor even that my actions are taken with your best interest should there be truths too dangerous to know at the end of this thread. Should you remain in Demon, or should there be more of these spirits about that pose a danger to you, then I will tell you what I think will help you, to the degree that I think it will help you, but that is not everything. Still, I suspect that you will learn more through me than on your own."
Shizuka held the shard for a moment longer, then handed it over. "I'm only doing this because I think you're going to be honest, even with no Contract."
Kagato tucked the shard into a fold of his robes with a faint smile. "The habits of a Summoner are etched deep into my bones, that is correct. Though, the issue remains of the Contract you believe I hold with you."
"That I do hold with you," Shizuka said.
"Yes, but which for now, I have only your word to go on. Your request is immense, you are aware?"
"Destroying the spirits in Honey was quite immense too, don't you think?" Shizuka said, a bit of steel edging into her voice. "Not everyone could have done that. Hatake will be receiving his reward in however many weeks or months. You'll need to satisfy my Contract if you want to be released from it."
Kagato sighed. "Yes, I can feel that it is present, though my skills have not yet progressed far enough to remember what exactly was the intent when I first forged it. I shall have to speak to the Mantis Matriarch to aid me in this endeavor."
Shizuka nodded, and Kagato smiled. "I can see you are eager. Certainly, then. She is almost surely busy at the moment, but I suppose I can get in line. I have other business I need to tend to among the Mantises." He gave her a short bow. "By tonight, I shall have your answer. If all you said is true, you will have my aid and the aid of the Mantis Clan as you return to Rain. Summoning Technique: Kamanta!"
A puff of pale green smoke, a whispered command, and he was gone.
o-o-o-o
Shizuka raised the hammer and struck the massive brass gong. On the other side of the river, Hatake looked over from his taijutsu practice. Unfortunately, this was the only way to contact his medic, and it probably had to be this loud in order to pierce even the deepest drug-dampened dazes. In the end, the commotion was due to his own poor choice in subordinates.
Shizuka heard the sound of, confusingly, several layers of tent flaps being opened before the final one did, sending a giant plume of electric blue smoke into the sky. It would surely give their location away to everyone for miles, and Kagato would make them move again. Shizuka resisted the urge to sigh.
The fortune teller gave Shizuka a smile. "Ah, I am pleased you've chosen to come before me. You were incurious at first, but now you are surely seeking a telling, no? The winds of fate are strong about you, I can tell, and you will surely pass through a great deal more storm before you see the eye."
Shizuka blinked. "What?"
"You wish me to read your fortune, correct?"
"No, not that, the part about the storm and the eye, what did you mean by that?"
The fortune teller raised a hand in a strange gesture of apology. "Merely that things are liable to get harder for you before they get easier. No more, no less."
"I see." A reasonable enough inference, when talking with ninja, but still interesting. "Anyway, I'm sorry that I didn't come to have my fortune read. We can do one if you like, though."
"Never for free, young one," said Sugiyama with a wink, extending an upturned palm. "Never for free."
Shizuka patted her pouch, noting how awfully light it had grown of late. "Perhaps another time. No, I just had a simple question for you, one which I recognize might be rude but that I think is important to ask anyway if we are to end up crossing each others' paths again."
"I see. You may ask."
"Are you a man or a woman?"
"No."
Shizuka waited a couple seconds for Sugiyama to elaborate. Those seconds passed.
"Thank you for bringing this question before me, and I trust it has been answered to your satisfaction," the fortune teller said, with a more measured smile. "Sweet dreams!" The tent flap closed. It was mid afternoon.
Shizuka looked at the closed tent for a moment, then to Hatake who had been watching the exchange with amusement.
"What is that supposed to mean?" she asked across the camp.
"What, you didn't hear? Maybe ask for some earwax cleaner first next time, I think Sugiyama has a good one!" he yelled back.
Shizuka quirked her eyebrows in confusion as she turned back to her tent.
o-o-o-o
Kakashi tossed the kunai in the air and caught it by sticking his finger through the hole, spinning it around and tossing it up once more. It was an old dexterity exercise he came up with. It was tricky to time with just one and doing multiple fingers at once gave it a real challenge. When Obito had tried it, he'd stabbed himself a dozen times within a few minutes from losing control. Rin had yelled at him, and then at Kakashi for coming up with stupid training exercises. Still, what sort of exercise was it if it didn't have any pain attached?
Though... Sugiyama had seemed outright resentful of his exercise regimen in the past. They still needed to train their speed, but Kakashi could afford to ease up. They'd already got out of boot camp, even if they didn't remember it. He smiled slightly. The memory erasure had some upsides, like letting him get a fresh start with Sugiyama where he could be more respectful and less of a drill sergeant. If only he had a jutsu that did it at his control.
Speaking of Sugiyama, he couldn't really just call them a medic. They'd had to do the whole Demon country song-and-dance again (though Kakashi had insisted on staying out of Hakata) to find Kagato, and Sugiyama had again been invaluable in navigating the strange currents of the land. And they'd remembered the jutsu he'd developed for them astonishingly well. And there was still the whole fortune telling thing…
As to their medical skills…
"I know not why you have done this, but I believe your chakra has been deeply scarred. Perhaps taunting death inches from the scythe is a way to grow stronger in physical domains, but not so for spiritual ones. Burning through the chakra of your soul leaves it uninhabited, and just like an uninhabited body, it begins to rot!"
"So I have chakra rot? Is that the technical term? That sounds bad."
"No, you have had 'chakra rot' already far too many times now! Your insides writhe at the abuse you lay upon them like a vindictive father. For the sake of your soul itself, you must be more careful with the gift of chakra that you so woefully mistreat."
"Mhmm…"
"I can see you do not take dangers to the soul seriously, something you may come to regret. Yet, there will be other consequences still if you continue to tear essential components from the system. At the very least, you have already suffered damage to several of your internal organs. It is manageable for now, but continue this frequent, extreme overdrawing and you may be at risk of premature mass organ failure!"
"Okay, that one actually sounds bad."
"As it should! I am a fortune teller! When I speak of calamities yet to come, you should take heed, or ignore me only at your own peril!"
They weren't bad, certainly. Confusing, at times, but Sugiyama seemed to know their stuff. Still, he couldn't help but feel like Rin would have had some magical solution just waiting up her sleeve…
…
…
The world went silent. Kakashi pushed himself to his feet, grabbing the kunai from the air. It wasn't subtle like a genjutsu would have been, slowly subverting his senses. He could still hear the sound of his sandals brushing against the rug and his calluses rubbing against the knurling on the kunai, but it sounded like the world outside his tent had disappeared.
He dispelled anyway, but the unnatural silence didn't stop, as if he had suddenly been transported to the deepest, darkest dungeons of T&I. He crept to the edge of the tent and opened a flap, and thick tendrils of fog immediately poured in. Thoughts raced through his mind.
That fog is too opaque. It's a jutsu. Hiding in the Mist? It's strong if it's blocking out noise that well. Kagato's Wind techniques could disperse it, probably, but he's still in the Summon Realm.
If it has a big AoE, it can't be very long range. I need to break out of the fogbank. Can't fight in here for shit.
The tent was now so full of fog that he couldn't see his feet. He crept out and turned to sprint away from the river where the technique had likely come from, ears straining to hear sound that he knew wouldn't come in the dead silence of the technique.
How can I sense through this… Oh, right. He raised the headband off of Obito's eye. Sugiyama isn't going to be happy that I'm using chakra.
Oh, Sugiyama.
Damn.
Compel on "He Who Breaks the Rules": Don't abandon your teammates Kakashi. You know better than that. Even the really, really hopeless ones.
He accepts.
He ran to Sugiyama's tent, relying more on his memory of the terrain than on his eyesight. Strangely, the Sharingan didn't pierce through the mist – it only made it more confusing with the swirls of chakra playing within it. Damn, we camped too close to the river. It's real water.
He almost tripped as he ran over the pile of cloth that used to be the medic's tent. He turned the motion into a roll, getting low to the ground to see what wouldn't be visible at his full height and saw that it had collapsed as if torn apart. There was no shape within where a body might have been.
Did Sugiyama get away? Kakashi spun as he stood from the roll, scouting the mist around him for any hint of chakra that might tell him where his ally had gone and barely caught the preimage of an impossibly broad sword swinging for his neck.
Kakashi fills his stress track and takes a Mild and Medium Consequence. With no Severe slot for the extra stress, he is Taken Out.
Kakashi ducked under the swing, hands flicking through the seals of Chidori to counterattack and blow out the hunter-nin's guts, but the swing was followed by a snap-kick from the mist that he barely managed to block, aborting the jutsu into a two-armed cross guard as the force of the blow sent him tumbling in the mud. He rolled with the impact, finding his feet with sudden chakra adhesion, but had lost sight of the enemy's weapon in the haze.
Nope nope nope.
He cut through the seals for Hiding like a Mole. He couldn't fight like this, his body was too slow and he was already hurting from the chakra needed to power Obito's Sharingan, much less his abused muscles.
He was stopped again by a rising sword swing through the mist that forced his hands apart, drawing a thin line up his chest where he wasn't fast enough to reel away. At the same time, someone just out of sight in the mist swept his legs out from under him.
There's another?
He tried to spin in the air and land anywhere but flat on his back, but he had no way to block the punch that came at his throat. He coughed, closing his eyes for a moment as the blow jolted his windpipe, and when he opened them, he had just enough time to watch the greatsword come down on his neck.
So this is it.
The end.
Kakashi opened his eyes as sound returned to the world, the mist jutsu suddenly turning into a shower of rain on his face. Somehow, he was alive, pinned to the muddy ground by a greatsword with a half-moon hole inexplicably carved out of the blade. It wouldn't hold him. He started making hand seals again, then winced as someone kicked his hands apart and planted a foot on his chest.
A tall, impossibly muscular man pulled the sword away from Kakashi's throat and laid it across his shoulders like it weighed nothing. He was wearing simple, peasant's roughspun clothing, but the lower half of his face was covered in bandages. All of it was splattered in ancient-looking bloodstains.
"Konoha's Copy Ninja ain't worth shit in a fight, huh?" the monster of a man said.
"Here for my bounty?" Kakashi asked, then coughed. If this was a hunter-nin, he might be able to negotiate his way out of this with cash. Damn, why did he keep all his cash on him? He'd need to bluff to keep the man from searching his seals.
He closed Obito's eye, but still gave a cursory glance around for the hunter's ally. He saw them to the side, holding firmly onto Sugiyama, who seemed unharmed. That was a good sign, that meant they probably wouldn't just kill him and turn in the corpse to Leaf. They wanted him willing to go along.
"Nah. Just wanted to see if you knew how to fight. I could say I own your life now or something, but that's not really my style. I should kill that bitch," he said, inclining his head over to Sugiyama and pressing harder on Kakashi's chest, "for fucking with me earlier, but I'll let 'em off to get on your good side."
"Get on my good side?" Kakashi said. He coughed again, feeling the pain in his throat from where the punch had hit him. "The boot isn't helping."
"Let's be clear here, Copy Ninja," the man said, leaning forward on the foot on Kakashi's chest. Kakashi recognized him now. Momochi Zabuza, trainee Swordsman from Hidden Mist. "I am stronger than you. You try to fuck with me, I kill you. If you do something that really pisses me off, I kill your buddies in front of you first. I don't want to waste my time torturing your buddies to death because you did something stupid. You know I can kill you, so you know I don't want to, for now. Work with me? We'll both end up on top. Run away? I'll be a little pissed, but I won't stop you. Try to hurt me?" He chuckled. There was no humor in his voice. "I found you once. I will find you again. Do you understand?"
Kakashi nodded. Honestly, he'd lost his patience for this sort of dominance game ages ago.
Momochi stepped off his chest and backed away as Kakashi sprang to his feet. They watched each other for a second to see if they would attack, then Momochi spun his sword in a physically impossible flourish as he bowed.
"Momochi Zabuza, formerly of Hidden Mist. Get over here fishsticks."
Kakashi blinked, then noticed the other ninja approaching. Or… ninja? The man was around his height and a little better built, and wore armor like a samurai of legend, fit with a sword to his side. He clinked as he walked. Strangely, he had scales on his face and the visible parts of his hands which themselves formed an intricate pattern.
He let go of Sugiyama at a nod from Momochi, who stopped walking for a moment to signal an "All Good" to Kakashi. The medic reached into a pouch with shaking hands to retrieve their pipe. Kakashi carefully didn't mention anything about Shizuka – of her, there was no sign. If things went sour, hopefully she'd be able to help out…
The fish-man bowed deeply to Kakashi. "Nishikigoi Kenichi. I am honored to meet you, and I apologize for the circumstances of our meeting. My companion," he said, straightening up and shooting a disapproving look at Momochi, "said that this would be the surest way to ensure your alliance."
Looking more closely at Nishikigoi, Kakashi realized that he was a kid. He was built big, but he was still probably only sixteen by his face and voice – unless fish-people aged differently. He didn't know how the Hoshigaki worked either…
"Unfortunately, I come in search of aid, and Zabuza here has told me that you would be a valuable resource in my quest. I come from the Sea isles, where the Nishikigoi Clan, though small, is one of the-"
"Skip it, fishsticks," said Momochi. He turned to face Kakashi. "They have some bullshit politics. Somebody stole the saggy…"
"The Shogunate!" said Nishigikoi, looking at Momochi. "At the Covenant of Clans, Irabi Houseki overthrew the Shogun and used his alliance of Clans to keep the others, including the Nishikigoi, from fighting back! We knew they had ill intent, but we did not know the depths-"
"Seriously, cut the crap," Momochi said. "It was just the usual shit a tyrant does when they get in power. Bend the laws, imprison their dissidents, execute their enemies, take away the things that anyone would fight for…"
"Right, yes. The Irabi have been poor stewards of the island, and it is imperative to see them removed."
"Now, I offered to do things the easy way and just fucking murder everybody who supported Irabi, but apparently that wouldn't be right. So don't worry Hatake, we don't need you to be any good in a fight."
Nishikigoi nodded. "It would be profoundly inappropriate for a foreigner to interfere in our affairs, and especially to spill so much blood. I would like to do this as peacefully as possible, though I know some bloodshed may be necessary in the end. I have heard, through Zabuza and rumors in these lands both, that you have successfully removed an unjust government, and that you did so through clever manipulation and tactics, causing them to fall apart from the inside."
Wow, is that what Leaf's been telling people? I guess that's a better look than me just going up there and killing every ninja I met because they annoyed me.
"So you want my help?"
"I would request your aid, but not in combat nor even in subterfuge," Nishikigoi said. "All that I ask is that you provide me with guidance on how to bring down Irabi. Guide me and my clansmen to victory, and we will honor you until the tides no longer turn."
These two… why were they working together? Momochi was a hardened jounin from the Elemental Nations, who clearly understood the proper way to do a coup, while this kid was an idealistic prick from a backwater somehow even more incestuous than Demon.
"How do you two know each other?"
They shared a look, then Nishikigoi spoke. "We were students under a single swordmistress. In our recluse, we did not even realize that the Irabi had seized power until they had come to reclaim the Shrine of Red Dawns from our master. She has been captured by them, and I believe Zabuza would make her safe retrieval another requirement of your assistance."
Momochi barked a laugh. "That old cunt was the best-," his eye twitched, "-second best kenjutsu teacher I ever met. Can't have her dying in a prison on some shit island. As to what's in it for you, fishsticks here'll get his clansmen to show you some techniques for your Uchiha eye. And I'll trade you one-for-one. You probably have a thing or two you need combat power for. Fix fishsticks' problem and I'll solve one of yours for you."
Nishikigoi looked at Momochi again, then turned to Kakashi with an apologetic smile. "I apologize again for the crudeness of our approach, and for the crudeness of our explanation, but that truly is the core of it. Can you aid us?"
Kakashi hummed to himself. "I think…"
Kakashi has gained a Mild and Medium Consequence ("Slashed Chest" and "Bruised Throat"). He netted 0 FP this update. This update happens a little more than three weeks after the last, much of which was waiting for Sugiyama to talk with the Demon ninja to get in contact with Kagato, who, annoyingly, forgot about your rendezvous.
You have earned 389 XP for this arc. Additionally, as this was a rather fun arc to write, we're awarding a 100 XP GM-had-fun bonus. Don't expect this to be a frequent thing, but there's definitely some room for you to influence whether or not an arc has a bonus. Intelligent, stylish, and deadly are your keywords there. 489 XP has been added to your character sheet.
A new Stunt has become available for Kakashi!
Oh No, Not Again
Cost: 50 XP
Prerequisites: I think you know
When overdrawing for a Medium or Severe, gain an extra Fate Point that can only be used on the next roll.
Voting Time! What do you do now?
Here are some options to get you started.
[] Yes. Travel to Sea and get the lay of the (is)land.
[] No. Talk your way out of there with Sugiyama in tow.
[] No. Stall until Kagato returns from the Seventh Path, and let him fight it out with Zabuza.
[] Yes, but get Shizuka involved. After all, any good revolution needs an infiltrator and a spy…
[] Write-in
Remember, we use approval voting, so you can vote for as many plans as you like. Feel free to ping @Paperclipped or @MMKII to ask setting or detail questions that Kakashi could plausibly know.
Voting is open, and closes at 12pm Pacific time, Wednesday June 15.
Alright but consider that getting Chidori up a couple points would unlock LDB which is at a much higher level than FDB is, and a few more points past that would get it to the point where we could use Transcendent Halo...
Alright but consider that getting Chidori up a couple points would unlock LDB which is at a much higher level than FDB is, and a few more points past that would get it to the point where we could use Transcendent Halo...
