*A few weeks, maybe months earlier*
Kakashi was carrying an exhausted Naruto on his back after a monumental clash between the blond and the leader of Akatsuki, a being simply known as Pein.
The deluded man had attacked the hidden village of Konoha without hesitation, announcing his decision that it was time the village felt a pain comparable to his own. In one fell swoop, the self proclaimed god turned the whole of Konoha into a crater, killing hundreds and injuring hundreds more. That was when the unpredictable blond on Kakashi's back had arrived and confronted him.
A whole lot of seemingly impossible things then happened that the Jonin could hardly begin to describe, such things like Naruto nearly losing himself to the Kyuubi, Hinata stepping up to Pein, the basin that once was the village being turned into a lake... honestly, if he hadn't had it verified by several reliable resources, he wouldn't have believed it himself. He had been dead the whole time this happened though so it was kind of understandable. Then after all that, Naruto had managed to confront the true Pein, coerce him to stop the madness and then, somehow, the man gave back life to every single person that was killed in the assult. It was as farfetched as you could hope to imagine but here he was, running through the trees, as alive as he was the day before the attack. But even with all the evidence, he still couldn't quite believe it.
Despite this, Kakashi wasn't one to really pick at the details when something worked as well as this had, merely opting to just go with the flow. Smiling behind his trusty mask, his eye shifted to the side to view the blond mop of hair resting on his shoulder.
"How you holding up there Naruto-kun?"
The mass of blond shifted and a blue eye became visible. "Yeah, holding in there. I'll be right after a good sleep, dattebayo."
Kakashi's eye twisted upward as he smiled happily at the response. "Good to hear. We're nearly back so just hold tight."
Shifting his grip, Kakashi vaulted over a branch and suddenly twisted as a kunai nearly lodged itself in his throat. His feet landed on the side of a tree trunk and he pushed off, shooting over to a large branch that was almost complete concealed by the foliage. Backing Naruto up against the trunk, Kakashi shielded his body as he withdrew a kunai from his leg holster, looking around suspiciously for the enemy.
He sweat dropped when Naruto let out a soft snore behind him. Trust the boy to sleep through something like this. He had used up an incredible amount of chakra through the passing events though so Kakashi couldn't blame him. Swinging around, the grey haired Jonin deflected another kunai in line with his heart. Frowning, the Junin snuck a glance at Naruto. It was clear whoever it was had no interest in Naruto. It probably wasn't the Akatsuki either; intelligence indicated that they operated in pairs. Naruto had told him that Pein's companion had taken the body away somewhere to be buried so they were accounted for. Suddenly, Kakashi had to catch a shuriken that nearly lodged itself in his belly. Ignoring the stinging cut on his palm, he flicked his hand and sent the weapon back in the direction it came. He was rewarded with a rush of movement as a body shifted out of danger. Stealing another look down at the boy, Kakashi shook his head ruefully. This was exactly what he didn't need right now. Sighing, he lifted his headband and revealed his sharingan, looking to finish the fight quickly. It was frustrating though, because he couldn't leave Naruto undefended in such a state.
Kakashi's one red eye managed to pick up the tiniest amount of movement off to his left and quickly let off a hail of kunai. Instantly using the distraction, he bit down on his thumb, flicked his hands through some familiar seals and slapped his palm down on the branch. There was a puff of smoke and a small pug was suddenly sitting before the masked man.
It raised a small paw in greeting. "Yo, Kakashi. What's doing?"
Shaking his head, Kakashi pointed in the direction of Konoha. "No time, I'm currently being attacked and I need backup now. Naruto is with me and unconscious so hurry!"
The small dog's eyes widened before nodding once and disappearing in a blur of motion. Silently wishing his friend safety and a swift trip, Kakashi hunkered down and waited. Whoever it was that decided to attack was now taking a breather, gathering themselves for the next round.
The Jonin's eyes flickered around cautiously, taking in every single movement within viewing range. Drawing a breath, Kakashi knew another attack was due any second now. Had it been under any other situation, he would have led the attacker away from his student. Damn this guy's timing.
A hand flicked two kunai at Kakashi, which he quickly deflected. Narrowing his eyes, Kakashi wondered what the attacker was trying to do. Thus far, all he had managed to do was waste a few kunai and shuriken. It was almost like he was stalling for something.
Kakashi's eyes widened as he suddenly became aware of a sizzling sound behind him. One of the kunai had been tagged. Diving backwards, Kakashi grabbed Naruto's shirt and flung the boy away just as the tag exploded. Taking the brunt of it, Kakashi was thrown backwards as he fell through the trees, bouncing painfully off the branches that filled the forest. He bit his lip as an old dead limb crunched under his weight, the sharp wood piercing his right thigh. Finally after that, the ninja broke through the last of the branches to land solidly on his left leg, heavily favouring his new injury. Groaning, he grabbed the wood piece and ripped it out. Blood squirted out of the hole but quickly fell back to a trickle down his leg. Thankfully, it seemed it hadn't nicked an artery.
Ignoring the pain, Kakashi started running towards the direction Naruto had been blown. He had to have taken some form of damage after something like that. Being asleep meant he couldn't have tensed for the shock and probably knocked him out cold. Diving around a rock, Kakashi's eyes widened as he saw a man in an Akatsuki robe kneeling over Naruto. He cursed his luck. Of course now had to be the one time a solo agent was around. They must have been planning this from the start. That first attack on Kakashi was all just a distraction from the man's real goal. Something weird was happening before the man too. It seemed like the very air before him was being warped for some reason, spirals of matter twisting around in front of his face. Naruto seemed to be affected as well, as his body seemed to start dematerialising right before Kakashi's very eyes.
With no time to think about it, Kakashi's sharingan began to twist as it upgraded to the Mangekyou stage. Widening his eye, Kakashi zeroed in on his target.
"Kamui (Authority of the Gods)."
Instantly, the air around the mystery man began to twist as well as Kakashi's original technique began to suck the villain into a separate dimension. Sensing the attack, the Akatsuki member dived out of harm's way, growling loudly in annoyance. Unfortunately though, this left Naruto behind as the agent's self preservation instinct didn't involve grabbing other people. The boy fell from the suction of the first technique right into Kakashi's own. Instantly aware of the horrific accident, Kakashi nearly cut off the technique but remembered back to when he fought Deidara. He'd stopped the technique early and had successfully ripped the blond man's entire right arm off. And with Naruto now halfway absorbed into the technique, Kakashi didn't even want to think about the end result of that.
Stuck between a rock and a hard place, the Jonin had no choice but to finish the technique. His eyebrows quivered as the boy disappeared into the air, struggling not to show any emotion. He could only hope Tsunade-sama wouldn't completely decapitate him for this. He managed to take some comfort in the thought that Naruto was indeed being sent alive to another realm. Hopefully the boy would find a way to escape and get back. It didn't matter if Naruto didn't anyway because Kakashi would be sending himself off to that dimension as soon as he was done here. Finishing up, Kakashi wiped his eye as a single tear of blood trickled out of it. Turning to face the Akatsuki agent, Kakashi's gaze hardened as he saw him running away. Whoever this person was, he was guaranteed a very painful death for what he had just done. Completely blocking out the pain from his leg, Kakashi vanished in a flicker as he raced to catch up with the offender.
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