Kakashi & the Kunoichi from Thunder Country

Blanket Disclaimer applicable to all chapters: I do not own "Naruto" which is a creation by Masashi Kishimoto, though I wished I owned Kakashi as my love slave! I do not make any money off any of the stories I write using Naruto characters. I do own my original characters Otori Rikako, her parents, and teammates.

KAKASHI AND THE KUNOICHI FROM THUNDER COUNTRY
by Kopykat Kakashi

PART II - Strategy and Tactics

2.1 Kakashi’s Evaluation

In the next few months there were more D missions interspersed among their training sessions.

During babysitting, Rikako demonstrated first aid and how to help a choking victim when the six year old quintuplets they were babysitting proved more than even Kakashi could handle. It's like five kage bunshins, but all at the original chakra level! thought the veteran jounin as he tried to remove bubble gum from his hair. This was the worst D mission ever! My poor hair *sob*...

During dog walking, the petite kunoichi elaborated on the different breeds and their specific characteristics while the boys tried to teach them tricks. In addition to her book based knowledge, she had some practical experience as her father often had to double as a vet. "Did you know that attempts to breed dogs for specific characteristics cause recessive genes to manifest? This leads to genetic diseases and undesirable traits such as dwarf brains in Alsatians, eyes that can literally pop out in Chihuahuas, seizures in..." Hmm, interesting, thought Kakashi as he watched over the team from his customary vantage point from a tree. I wonder what she would say about my nin-dogs...

Though the team's bookworm did her best to make the missions educational, if not interesting, it was obvious the entire team was becoming extremely bored. I wish Kakashi sensei would take a greater interest in these missions, she thought in exasperation.

Kenji complained, “I’m so sick of doing these odd jobs! We should be on a real mission by now. It’s been months!”

“It’s not so bad, we get paid well enough,” Takeo pointed out as he stuck a piece of paper with his stick.

But Rikako agreed, “You’re right! Kakashi sensei should speak to the Hokage.”

“Yeah... Hey, Kakashi sensei, when do we get a C mission? Can’t you do something the next time we see the Hokage?” Kenji yelled out to the figure by the trees. The three genins were picking up litter near the riverbank while Kakashi was lying back with his head resting on a protruding tree root.

Rikako elaborated, “Kakashi sensei, we have completed a total of 8 D class missions. It is apparent that our abilities and present level of training has allowed us to far surpass the skills required for such low level missions. It is advisable that to further advance our abilities, we should be allowed the opportunity to prove ourselves during a mission at the subsequent level.”

Kakashi sighed, Why can’t she ever speak simply when she wants something? But said aloud, “I suppose I can request a C mission from the Hokage the next time…”

They’re doing well, he thought, much more team spirit than my first genin team.

Kakashi couldn’t help but compare his second team 7 (senseis were assigned the same number whenever possible to mitigate confusion) to his first. They were so much easier to deal with that things were quite…boring, uneventful, no yelling or fighting. And despite Otori's dire warning, nothing strange had occurred. Well, there was that one time, but...it was no big deal...and nothing since.

And he got first dibs on the latest adult books, plus a 10 discount thanks to Takeo's connection. And he got free meals at the dumpling house thanks to Kenji. How much better can life get?

That wasn’t to say that the team was perfect. But they did stick together…especially against him. He had been better about his lateness, but still not good enough for his team…the longer he was late, the more elaborate the trap.

Ten minutes late: The top horizontal post of the gate where Kakashi usually appeared to meet his team was coated with oil. As a jounin his chakra still glued his feet, but he flipped upside down before his feet caught hold.

Twenty minutes late: Pressure sensitive explosive notes were camouflaged on top of the gate. He felt them trigger and managed to avoid them, but the top of the gate was destroyed. Sandaime was not happy.

Thirty minutes late: The entire meeting area was booby trapped with trip wire, more explosive notes, and kunais.

Kakashi didn’t mind. It was actually fun to see what his genins would come up with. It was good practice and they did it as a team. The two boys thought of the traps as practical jokes and laughed each time he (almost) fell for them. Rikako laughed as well, but there was always disapproval in her eyes and it seemed she really wanted to punish him, really hurt him for being late. Or maybe he was just being paranoid.

The team had completed the tree climbing exercises successfully without any accidents. They were willing to give each other tips and assistance. No rivalries or jealousies. Well, there was that incident when Kenji was boasting how much higher he could climb than the other two. Later he found he could not climb down after the other two set traps all along the tree trunk and on the ground around the tree. And there was that incident when Kenji was fed up with Takeo’s laziness and buried the sleeping genin under a tree, with the girl’s help. (She was nothing if not fair.)

They even advanced to the water walking exercises, which required much more chakra control. The girl took to it like the proverbial fish to water. Her chakra control was excellent, like Sakura’s, no surprise considering her father taught her chakra control when she was barely out of diapers. The boys had more problems, and Kakashi had to admit he laughed, a lot, while watching them almost drown. Takeo got the hang of it first, much to Kenji’s chagrin.

And their own techniques were coming along nicely. Although Kenji was excitable like Naruto, he took his training very seriously and was not normally a prankster. He specialized in the use of strength techniques. But the tall solidly built boy was also quite agile and fast. He’ll grow up to be like Asuma, Kakashi evaluated.

Despite Takeo’s love for resting and sleeping, his skills had also improved. He learned to imbibe his traps with chakra, and he was a natural for barrier techniques. (All the more trouble for Kakashi when he was late.) He talked about as much as Sasuke ever did, but he was like Shikamaru in his lack of motivation. Well, he’ll probably outlive us all, Kakashi evaluated.

But if Kakashi had to pick the most improved genin, he would have chosen the girl. Her thrown weaponry skills were much better, especially after switching to senbon. She found the lighter weight and shape easier to throw than kunais or shurikens, and easier to target using her chakra. She had an excellent memory and could recall complicated seal sequences, up to 20 katas. Her strength and taijutsu were still relatively weak, but she had good stamina. She just needed to learn to channel her chakra into strength and speed. That should come soon.

They’re definitely ready for a C mission, their sensei thought, I was just waiting for them to complain enough, ha ha.

Takeo was usually too passive to complain, and didn’t mind the easy missions, but Kenji was more vocal. Rikako never directly complained but she would influence the boys to first voice a complaint so that it would appear she was only supporting her comrades and was not an instigator. But Kakashi saw through her manipulative tactics. Yet had she not been on the team, there would have been friction between the physical, energetic Kenji, and the quiet, low key Takeo. The girl somehow maintained a balance. Kakashi understood this and was duly impressed and relieved. No Naruto-Sakura-Sasuke triangles! He thought happily.

Kenji was now boasting about his exercise routine, “...and now I can bench press over 200 pounds, over 500 with chakra. Really Takeo, you should work out more.”

Takeo said nothing but was getting annoyed.

Rikako smiled and listened attentively and complimented him, “Wow, that’s impressive, you’ll be the strongest leaf genin soon!” But as he turned away, she rolled her eyes and smiled at Takeo, who smiled back.

The larger boy turned back to the girl and asked her, “Hey, how about a movie after this?”

Rikako took a few seconds to contemplate her answer. “That’s a good idea. We could all use a break from training…

“All of us…?” Kenji started to say.

“Socializing together outside of official missions could be beneficial. What do you think, Takeo-kun?”

“A movie? Yeah, we should all go see that new one that’s out. We can meet up after we change. What about Kakashi sensei?”

“We’d better not rely on him. If we have to wait for him we’d miss most of the movie. Besides, based on his preferred reading material, I doubt he’d be interested in a PG movie,” Rikako laughed.

Hey! I wanted to see that movie too! Kakashi thought disappointedly Well, she has them both eating out of her hands, the way a kunoichi should. Rikako is as smart as Sakura, has as much chakra as Sasuke, and as...as...well, she has little in common with Naruto, except perhaps a defiant spirit. But while Naruto was obvious and loud, she’s more subtle. But there's something about her, not just that incident...all my other genins have been easy to read but...Well, we'll see what happens in the next mission.

…-…-…-…-…-
Author’s Notes: “The incident” Kakashi is referring to will be explained in Part 3 in a flashback. Next up - mission to Wave Country.


2.2 The First C Mission

“A C mission, huh?” the Hokage looked at his scroll. “Kakashi, you think your team is now ready for a C mission?”

“Yes, Hokage-sama. They’ve been training hard and have worked well together. All the D missions were accomplished efficiently and effectively.”

“All right, let’s see what we have here. There’s a simple surveillance request by a businessman. He’s an import-export manager and is away from home a lot. He suspects his wife of having an affair. Hmm, maybe this mission is not age appropriate...”

The tall blond boy interrupted, “Hey wait, that sounds like something we can handle…”

The petite dark girl bowed respectfully, “Hokage-sama, despite our youthfulness, we are mature enough in our sensibilities to handle any uncomfortable situation without resorting to typical adolescent behavior. After all, we are trained shinobis.”

“Well said, Rikako-chan,” smiled Kakashi who wanted this particular mission as much as Kenji. He reached out to pat her on her head. She ducked, but too late. He mussed up her hair. How annoying!

“All right,” Sandaime agreed. “The client lives in the Wave Country. He has requested a contract for one week. Since this is a long mission, make sure you have all your necessary supplies and equipment. Also remember to itemize your expenses. We’ll arrange for suitable housing. I’ll inform the client you’ll be arriving tomorrow evening so you should leave first thing tomorrow morning.”

Rikako looked doubtfully at her sensei, “What would be a reasonable time for us to expect you to arrive, Kakashi sensei?”

She doesn’t have any faith in me does she? “Well, since it is our first C mission…I’ll be on time. We’ll leave at dawn…” Kakashi smiled fondly at his team.

…-…-…-…-…-

Kakashi was almost on time, just five minutes late, not long enough for his team to start contemplating his punishment.

They passed through the immense wooden gates of Konoha to walk along the main road that intersected with other paths to various villages. On the way, the boys discussed the mission. They found the circumstances quite hilarious.

“What does that old geezer expect? Marrying such a beautiful young wife,” laughed Kenji.

Takeo agreed, “Yeah, of course she’s after his money, it’s sure not for his body!”

Kakashi ignored them, but agreed silently.

Rikako remarked seriously, “It’s a sad thing not to trust someone you love. Suppose she thinks he’s the one fooling around with a girl in every port.”

“Well, don’t you think she’s cheating on him?” asked Kenji.

Rikako sighed, “Probably. And he’s probably cheating on her, too. It’s human nature to lie and cheat.”

“That’s a very cynical outlook for one so young, Rikako-chan,” interjected their sensei.

The girl shrugged, “Maybe, but it’s the truth, isn’t it? As a shinobi that’s what we learn, isn’t it? The art of deception, it’s the same thing.”

Takeo shook his head. “That’s not true. I mean, we learn how to deceive our enemies and opponents in battle. It’s not like lying to friends and family.”

The larger boy agreed. “Yeah, and all that emphasis on teamwork and being loyal to your team. That’s totally different.”

Rikako pondered, “Can you always be loyal to your teammates? What if it’s a critical mission and they have to be sacrificed? You might have to make an ad hoc decision to betray them. What do you think Kakashi-sensei?”

“Hmm? Yeah, they’re probably both cheating,” Kakashi mused.

“No, I mean about betraying your comrades,” Rikako repeated seriously.

Kakashi groaned inwardly and thought, It’s Rikako’s situational morality question of the week. She’s always asking questions with no easy answers. I think I’ll just give her my standard answer, I don’t want to get into a lengthy debate right now. “Well, it would be up to each shinobi at that point in time to make his or her own individual decision.”

All three genin yelled, “Cop out!”

...-...-...-...-

Kakashi had always tried to impress upon his genin teams the importance of teamwork and watching out for each other. He knew things were never quite as black and white as he made them out to be. The lessons that his father and Obito had taught him were not simple lessons. His father chose to save his comrades over completing his mission. Konoha suffered a defeat that led to many deaths and his father was disgraced. Since then he believed the mission came first, until Obito and his sacrifice. Since then Kakashi believed Obito and his father were right. But it was one thing to preach it and another to stand by it. He’d been lucky so far, he hadn’t had to make such an impossible choice. Or rather he’d been unlucky and the choice had always been made for him.

There were no more precious ones in his life to protect, except for his past genins, who no longer needed him, and his current genins. Otherwise he kept to solo missions, avoided friendships, just so he would never have to make such choices. A lonely life, but a safe one.

Teamwork...friendship...that lesson was ultimately lost on his first team, wasn't it? Shinobis were a different and difficult lot. Their lives were so far removed from those of civilians even while residing in the same village. Comrades were friends. Rivals were friends. Or so he'd like to think. To think anything less would have tarnished the idealized memory of his best friend, the original owner of his sharingan.

The veteran shinobi looked over his shoulder at his team, a bit sadly. They were still naïve. But sooner or later they would have to make a difficult choice. Sooner or later they would have to take a life. No shinobi could avoid it, not even the shinobi medics like Otori. But taking an enemy’s life was sadly easier than making a decision that would affect your comrades.

So though he preached the concepts of teamwork and friendship, he avoided them whenever possible. He knew his words, his lessons, really meant nothing. Real lessons had to be lived. Decisions were made on the spur of the moment. The boys on his team took his words to heart, at face value. But his advice was never good enough for the deeper thinker on his team.

.

“What if we find that the person we’re hired to protect is a criminal? Are we still bound by contract?”

“Well, in the contract there is a disclosure clause. If the client hasn’t been honest with us, we can declare the contract null and void.”

"What if it’s an assassination contract but the victim is actually innocent?”

“Well, if the contract stipulates the crime, since he’s innocent then the contract would be void.”

“If one of us committed a crime and came to you for help, would you turn us in?”

“Well, it would depend on the crime and why you did it. But I would encourage you to turn yourself in.”

“Would you eat human meat if you were starving and had no other alternative?”

“I don’t know, I suppose so, but I wouldn’t kill someone to eat them.”

“If you were stuck in a cave with a stranger with only enough air for one person, would you kill him?”

“I would be able to get out of a cave easily.”

“If someone were holding hostages and threatened to kill them unless his demands were met, and in order to get at him, some of the hostages could be killed, how do you weigh the demands against lives? What if more lives could be lost if he isn’t taken out? Should the hostages be considered expendable?”

“Umm, could you repeat that?”

“If you were a medic-nin and a lord or kage of a neighboring country and a Leaf comrade were brought in at the same time, with similar injuries, whom would you save first?”

“Uh, ask your father that one.”

“If you had the power over life and death, how many people would you sacrifice so that your loved ones will live? Double the number? Triple? Hundreds? Thousands? Millions? How much more is a known life worth than those of strangers? As shinobis isn’t our first priority to protect the nameless people of the village?"

…?

.

Sometimes it was all he could do to avoid answering her (often rather strange) questions, to avoid even thinking of them and opening up the Pandora’s box of his past. It seemed she knew about him from her father and was insisting on testing or tormenting him. Or maybe he was just being paranoid and she just wanted to be ready for any situation. But how annoying! Still he swore to himself that he’d protect his team, no matter what. Luckily, this was just a simple surveillance mission.

Towards the end of the day the team approached Wave Country. As they crossed the Great Naruto Bridge, Kakashi told his new team what it was like there three years ago. “You see this entire waterfront is new. This country was nearly destitute back then. This bridge has allowed vehicular trade traffic into Fire Country. Wave Country has become an important stopping ground for imports into Fire Country and this has freed up Fire Country’s port congestion.” The genin looked appreciatively at the immense structure. Takeo in particular was interested in its architecture and slowed his paced to study its joints.

“So why is it called the Great Naruto Bridge?” asked Rikako curiously, “There are no whirlpools here, are there?”

“It was named after one of my genins at the time. He inspired the entire town to stand up against a shipping magnate who was trying to take over.”

Rikako nodded and filed away that piece of information. She wanted to ask more questions but knew Kakashi did not like to talk about his past missions or himself at all. He was a master of evasion, in every respect.

“Where will we be staying Kakashi-sensei?” asked Kenji who started to feel quite hungry despite having ate most of his shinobi rations.

“Well, since we’re supposed to be doing undercover surveillance, the Hokage has sent a message ahead. We’ll be staying with the family of the bridge builder Tazuna. That way if anyone identifies us as shinobi, they’ll think we’re here to visit a former client.” Old Sandaime was a smart one. Tazuna still owed them big time for the mission that turned from a C to an A mission. Sandaime figured he could use Tazuna to house the team for free and still charge the client the going lodging rates.

Takeo showed more excitement than usual. “We get to meet the guy who designed this bridge? Awesome! But maybe we shouldn’t be walking around with these forehead protectors. They kind of make us stand out.”

“Kakashi-sensei, maybe you should remove your mask and wear sunglasses,” Rikako suggested. Take off your mask for once, you weirdo!

Kakashi replied, “This is your mission not mine. I’m just here visiting an old client. You guys will be doing all the leg work. I’m just filing the report.”

So what else is new? The three genins thought.

It was the first time Kakashi had been back to Wave Country since the mission with Naruto’s team, but despite all the changes, he was able to navigate the new roads and found Tazuna’s house. It looked much as it did before, but its exterior had been recently refurbished.

An older man, wearing glasses with gray hair and gray beard, answered the door. Despite his age he looked in good shape, smart and spry. Tazuna greeted the team, but was critical as usual as he looked them over. ”Hmmf, Kakashi-sensei, I see your genins sure haven’t improved any. That big one looks as dumb as an ox. That one looks like a wimp. And the girl...is she even old enough to sleep away from home?”

Kakashi scratched his head trying to think of an appropriate response.

Kenji was about to go off on the old geezer, but fortunately Rikako defused the situation. “Tazuna-san, deception is part of being a shinobi. We will be working incognito. If you are so fooled, then we have been successful.” She gave him a respectful bow and a smile

Did she just call me a fool? thought Tazuna.

Kakashi chuckled and reached out to pat the petite kunoichi on her head. “Yes, they’re much stronger than they look.”

The girl blushed and tried to move away, but her sensei had already messed up her hair. How annoying!

“My daughter Tsunami is in the kitchen, dinner should be ready soon. My grandson Inari is out fishing, but he should be back by then. You can settle down first, your rooms are ready.” Tazuna was now trying to be nice. “Kakashi-sensei has his own room. The girl can stay in my daughter’s room, and the boys can stay in Inari’s room while Inari bunks with me.”

“So Kakashi sensei is the only one with his own room?” asked Kenji jealously.

“Of course, I’m the elite shinobi heading this mission,” Kakashi smiled.

“I’m sure Kakashi sensei requires the most peaceful rest, considering his age and the amount of energy he expends during the day...” said the girl with a laugh. ...reading his book. I wonder if he snores or wears that mask to sleep, she added to herself

Kakashi looked down at her. His right eyebrow curved just slightly, enough to show he was not as nonchalant as he always appeared. I’m NOT that old, just a few months before the big 3-0. If she were an orphan I’d teach her a lesson, but that would just get me in trouble with her father.

“Is there time for a nap before dinner?” asked the sleep-eyed boy. Traveling all day was something Takeo was definitely not used to.

Tazuna nodded, "You have an hour."

The team disbanded to their respective rooms before dinner where they performed their characteristic activities: Kakashi read a book by an up and coming author that even made him blush; Takeo slept while ignoring Kenji's grunts as he did situps and pushups; and Rikako wrote in her notebook.

…-…-…-…-…-
Author’s Notes: I put my OC through the Naruto Mary Sue test on livejournal, and she passed *whew* All I can say is that there is a reason for every line I put into my stories.

2.3 Dinner at Tazuna's

Kakashi had already had his dinner secretly in his room (Tsunami was familiar with his idiosyncracies), but he joined everyone else at the dinner table as a matter of courtesy. He was last to arrive as usual and everyone else was involved in animated discussions.

Takeo and Tazuna struck a friendship despite the half century difference in ages. Takeo was interested in architectural and mechanical design and what better source of information than the old super expert bridge builder. They discussed the advantages and disadvantages among arch bridges, beam bridges, truss bridges, and suspension bridges. Tazuna was practically in seventh heaven. No one ever cared about bridge design. All they ever cared about was how much it cost, how long it would take and how long the bridge would last. I love this kid! Why can’t Inari be more like him. A super career in architectural engineering is sooo much better than fishing or being a shinobi!

Kenji and Inari soon became buddies. Kenji was much taller but the younger boy was also on the verge of becoming a strapping young man. They talked about fishing and shinobi training and missions, but not the current one as that was still confidential. He reminds me of big brother Naruto, but much taller, Inari thought.

Thinking about the mission, Rikako asked Tsunami about Wave Country, its history, geography, politics, trade and current events. Who knows what information would come in handy even in a routine surveillance mission, she thought. Then she steered the conversation to the last time Kakashi was here. She reasoned they were more likely to obtain information about that mission from these civilians than from Kakashi himself. And Tsunami seemed pretty level-headed and not prone to embellishment unlike her son, who claimed he caught a fish this big.

“So, Kakashi sensei tells us Wave Country’s recent prosperity is due to the building of the Great Naruto Bridge, named after one of his genin. Is that true?”

“Yes it certainly is! Why I remember when Kakashi and his team showed up with my father. Kakashi was being carried by two of his genins. I was so worried!” Tsunami laughed at the memory

“Oh really? What happened to him?”

“He used up all his… chakra is it? fighting this dangerous shinobi hired by Gatou, the horrible man who was trying to kill my father and ruin this country.”

“Yeah, and that shinobi was a missing-nin and he had this humongous sword!” added Inari.

“Kakashi sensei, a jounin, used up all his chakra to defeat a single enemy,” Rikako mused.

“Apparently he was a jounin missing-nin from the Hidden Mist Village,” Tazuna recalled, “he had a young boy just a bit older than you guys who was his…apprentice.”

“So what happened to them?” asked the curious girl.

“Kakashi sensei killed them!” Inari said in delight.

“He killed the boy too?” asked Rikako, surprised.

“That’s not true,” sighed Kakashi, who had stealthily been listening in to the various conversations, “that was an accident. The boy was fighting my genins, then he jumped in to save his friend at the last second. I couldn’t stop my attack. Then Gatou’s men killed his friend.” A shinobi is a shinobi, an enemy an enemy, no matter what the age. You can’t discriminate or you’d be killed instead, Kakashi thought sadly, recalling how Haku was such a good and pure soul (for a shinobi).

“Wait, wasn’t the missing-nin hired by Gatou too?” asked Kenji.

“It was…complicated,” shrugged Kakashi.

“Gatou betrayed him. He didn’t want to pay shinobi rates,” explained Tazuna.

Rikako appeared to be rather impressed. “I see, he was indeed an excellent businessman.”

“And a ruthless murderer! He killed my father,” cried Inari.

“So what happened to him?” asked Kenji.

“Zabuza, the missing-nin, ended up killing him before he died,” said Tazuna.

“So your other genin team got to see a lot of action on their mission,” pointed out Kenji enviously.

“I’m glad ours is just general surveillance,” said Takeo, “I don’t think we’re ready to face a jounin.” And Kakashi sensei looks a bit out of shape.

“So the prosperity of this country is seeped in blood, just like the others,” Rikako said seriously, almost to herself, recalling the book she read on the ninja wars.

“Don’t worry you guys. This mission will not be like the other one,” Kakashi gave his new team a reassuring smile from underneath his mask, “we are not going to fight any shinobis. We’re doing surveillance only, not protecting someone who happened to give us misleading information.” He shot a look at Tazuna.

“So Kakashi sensei how are your former genins faring?” asked Tsunami.

“Well, uh, Naruto and Sakura are chuunins now.”

“What about the other one?”

Kakashi shrugged noncommittedly.

“I heard he’s a missing-nin!” Kenji chimed in.

Kakashi’s brow furrowed as indicated only by the arch in his eyebrow. He really has no tact at all!

“I see…well, there’s not much you can do once kids grow up, is there? They all have their own decisions to make and their own paths to follow,” Tsunami said wisely.

“Tell big brother Naruto to come by for a visit soon!” added Inari.

“Yes, I’ll do that,” Kakashi said, relieved that the topic of Sasuke was dropped.

...-...-...-...-...-