Chapter Text
Kakashi had kidnapped rescued Minato’s son and left Konoha a little over a month ago, and he was beginning to curse himself for not planning his escape any better. Had he been by himself, he would have had no problem surviving outside of Konoha. As per his Anbu training, Kakashi could be dropped in the wilderness just about anywhere in the Five Great Nations, and as long as he had a kunai in his hand and Icha Icha in his pocket, he would be fine. No, the problem wasn’t surviving. It was making sure Naruto did.
As Kakashi had quickly realized, a stealthy six-year-old Naruto was not. Kakashi couldn’t get near any of the forest’s usually plentiful creatures without them hearing Naruto from a mile off. Plants and roots could only sustain a shinobi for so long before their body starts to suffer for it, let alone a growing child. A child with an appetite that, Kakashi thought, was frankly unfair to him as a caretaker. The kid could eat .
He also discovered that young children didn’t sleep well covered in mud, or cold, or in uncomfortable ditches. They also required conversation, which was something Kakashi himself struggled in. Not to mention the fact that they apparently needed to sleep for longer than three hours per night to remain healthy… in short, while Kakashi had occasionally thought about how he might go about escaping his village should he ever need to, he had never factored in the possibility of him bringing a child along for the ride.
Which was why he was now patrolling the forest much too close to Konoha for his liking while Naruto slept in a nearby cave, rather than hightailing his way to the Land of Earth as Kakashi would have liked. He had just begun to consider whether or not he could make better time by getting his ninken to carry Naruto while the boy slept when he felt the telltale disturbance in the air of a shunshin. Without hesitation, he pulled a kunai out of his weapons pouch and wheeled around, slashing at where he sensed his opponent. His one uncovered eye widened as his kunai was stopped just short of slicing open Itachi’s throat. Itachi just gave him a small smile, even as a slow trickle of blood dripped down his neck from where the kunai had barely pierced his skin.
“Senpai,” The boy greeted.
Kakashi looked down to where his wrist holding the kunai was wrapped in wood, preventing it from moving forward. He glared at the material for a split second before substituting with a nearby log. He watched from his hiding place a few trees away as Tenzo appeared next to Itachi on the branch where Kakashi had just been standing.
He grimaced. The first team from Konoha to find him since his defection, of course it was own. He could beat either of his kohais one-on-one, but together they would be a problem. Neither of them were wearing their Anbu masks, which was unusual, considering they were both in their Anbu gear. Perhaps they thought that Kakashi would be more hesitant to strike if he could see their faces? They wouldn’t exactly be wrong. Though, he liked to think that it would go both ways.
Kakashi also detected two chakra signatures a little ways away in the direction his old team had come from. They didn’t seem to be hidden very well, or at all, actually. Perhaps an amateur tracking team. Kakashi’s eyes narrowed even as he watched both of his kohais reach into their pockets. He couldn’t let the secondary team find Naruto. But how could he divert their attention, while still facing the bigger threat? Perhaps his ninken could… could… Itachi and Tenzo were holding their headbands. Holding them high above their heads, slowly turning them back and forth so that Kakashi could get a good look at them no matter where he was hiding. And with his sharingan, there was no mistaking the deep groove scratched through the center of the Konoha leaf. Kakashi performed a quick summoning before leaping out of his hiding place to a branch a few trees away from his opponents. He held a kunai towards his former teammates.
“You have my attention. You both have 30 seconds to explain why you’re here before my dogs tear your back-up team apart.”
Tenzo didn’t seem particularly worried, and Itachi even had the nerve to smile. He spoke up first. “Somehow, I don’t think they will.”
Kakashi’s eye twitched. At least Tenzo had the decency to appear a bit nervous at Kakashi’s obviously thinning patience. “We’ve gone missing-nin, senpai.”
Kakashi rolled his eyes. “I can see your headbands. For all I know those could be props. If you two have really gone missing-nin, then why is there a secondary squad with you?”
Itachi just continued to smile, while Tenzo looked a bit sheepish, but before either could answer, a shout was heard from the woods.
“Let me go! Stupid dog! NII-SAN! HELP-OW!”
“Quiet down, brat!”
Kakashi’s eye twitched again, harder this time. He glanced down to the forest floor, where a struggling young Uchiha with a scowl on his face was being carried by the back of his shirt by Bull. Pakkun was sitting on his head, leaning down from where he had smacked the boy on the nose. Behind Bull, a girl of similar age with pink hair was quietly walking, surrounded by Kakashi’s other summons.
Keeping his eyes wearily on his apparently fellow missing-nin, Kakashi called down. “Pakkun, report.”
“We found two pups further into the forest. The girl followed quietly, but the boy was being resistant,” the pug replied with something like amusement in his voice.
Kakashi’s eye twitched one final time before he put away his kunai and leapt to the forest floor, and began in the direction of the cave where Naruto was probably still sleeping. “You’re both unbelievable,” he muttered.
Tenzo and Itachi shared a smile before leaping down as well. “We learned from the best, Senpai."