Chapter 1

Target

The heel of his enemy's boot pressed harder into Kakashi's already damaged throat. Right now, the Copy-Ninja wanted nothing more than to take a kunai, drive it deep into the bastard's leg and use the surprise created to finish off this piece of scum once and for all. But such a move had long since passed beyond his current range of capabilities. His weapons were all out of reach. And even if this hadn't been the case, Kakashi doubted that he would have been able to raise his arms far enough to carry out the necessary action. He'd already pushed his body well beyond the point of total exhaustion. He could no longer even feel the extent of his injuries. Only a vague pressure as his throat was forcibly constricted.

Was this what the only woman who'd ever truly loved him had died for? So that he could fail her once again? And would he be forced to pay for it with the death of one of the few loved ones he had left? Because from this position it was becoming increasingly clear that his comrade's desperate pleas for help would have to remain unanswered. After everything: the years, the loss, the unbearable regret, Kakashi realised that in the end, he'd die as he'd lived; a failure.

The beginning of this fatal mission seemed like an age ago now. He should have realised that this would've happened from the moment the Hokage had handed him that scroll. A part of him had always known that the next time he set foot in this accursed land, it would be his last. And had his throat allowed, Kakashi would have laughed with scorn at the hope that had so briefly been kindled in his heart. It had always been a fool's hope. To solve a murder so long after it had been written off as a freak accident was madness. It'd been a suicide mission from the start. But he knew that this had been about so much more than simply completing the mission. And it'd even been about more than just closure. In his heart, Kakashi knew the truth. It had been about revenge.

"This mission is of the utmost importance," Tsunade's voice was stern as she handed Kakashi the scroll.

The Copy-Ninja met her gaze impassively and settled into his most relaxed slouch. "I thought all S-rank missions were of the utmost importance."

Tsunade rolled her eyes. "You know what I mean, Brat. You're the only one capable of doing this."

"Right," Kakashi nodded. "I won't fail."

Tsunade smirked. "Well obviously. You never fail."

Kakashi didn't respond. He wasn't going to argue with her, so instead he turned and left the office. Did she actually think that he'd never failed a mission? Well that was more or less what the village records seemed to believe. But the cost at which some of those successes had been bought, denied them the right to be labelled 'SUCCESS' at all. Still, if it gave her peace of mind then the Hokage was welcome to believe whatever she wanted. More importantly, Kakashi was interested to see what was so vital about this assignment.

As the Jonin left the building, he steadily unrolled the document. And as he read his destination, the Copy-Ninja's heart missed a beat.

Mission to the Land of Frost

"Shit," he whispered.

He knew he couldn't avoid that place for ever, even though he'd managed to do so quite successfully for the last decade or so. In fact, Kakashi was well aware that the Third Hokage had purposely never sent him to that land again – after what had happened the last time. But this was the Fifth Hokage, and if he was the only one who could successfully carry out this task, then Kakashi would just have to put the past behind him. He was a shinobi after all; he couldn't afford to be anything other than objective.

With perfectly steady hands, Kakashi opened the document fully:

Mission to the Land of Frost:

S-Rank

Status: Urgent

Task: Assassination

Target: Undisclosed

That really wasn't much to go on by any standard. So Kakashi had to assume that before he could carry out the task, he'd first have to somehow deduce who the target was. This wasn't the first time he'd been given an infuriatingly cryptic mission, and probably wouldn't be the last. But that certainly didn't mean he had to like it.

The Jonin made preparations to leave straight away. It was urgent after all, and delaying would only cause his reservations to grow. But nothing would remove those reservations completely. Now that he thought about it, Kakashi realised that it had been exactly eleven years since he'd last set foot in that wretched place. And somehow, the Copy-Ninja knew that this was no coincidence.

The eternally optimistic part of Might Guy's mind was currently informing him that he'd just broken a personal record for time spent non-stop running. However, the slightly more analytical side of his brain was mainly concerned about the shinobi pursuing him. Even Konoha's Noble Green Beast wasn't permitted to go on solo S-rank missions all that often. And if he ever hoped to equal his Eternal Rival then failure now was not an option.

He had to get back to Konoha as quickly as possible, mainly because there was a chance that his rival's life depended on it. Based on what he'd overheard, these people were out to get Kakashi. Guy wasn't sure why, but he had to warn his friend before he found out any other way. The Jonin was immensely thankful that the route back from this mission had taken him past where this group had just happened to be congregating. Fortunately they'd seemed at first not to notice his presence, which had enabled Guy to hear that they intended to eliminate the Copy-Ninja. At this point, however, Guy had accidentally forgotten that he was meant to be acting with discretion. His instincts had caused him to immediately sprint off in the direction of the village in order to warn his rival. But unfortunately this action had been rather detectable, and thus he was now being chased by the group who presumably did not want the information he'd gathered to reach Konoha.

As the hours drove on, Guy had no choice but to be impressed by his pursuers' stamina. He could still sense their chakra behind him, even though he was managing to keep a fair ways ahead. In fact, thinking about it, Guy realised that the distance between himself and the enemy had not changed at all since the chase had begun. When he'd increased his speed, they'd done so by the same amount. He didn't know if this would have been the case had he slowed because he hadn't done so. Konoha's Green Beast does not slow down. And he certainly does not rest, regardless of how long he's been running for.

Guy still had all of the eight gates accessible to him if a sudden burst of speed was necessary. But the current challenge that he'd set himself was to lose his pursuers without the use of jutsu. Thus the eight gates would only be called upon as a last resort – if the life of someone he loved was directly at risk.

The fault with this logic, however, was that all those he loved were safely back in Konoha – where he was heading. And he was determined to make it before the ninja caught up with him, but it almost seemed as though catching up with him wasn't their aim. In fact, Guy got the vague sense that these ninja weren't actually chasing him at all. But what else could they be doing?

Desperately Guy tried to think. It was at times like these that having a brain like his Eternal Rival would really have come in handy. Then suddenly, as if the thought of Kakashi had given him the inspiration he needed, Guy found the missing piece. Now it all made sense! These ninja weren't pursuing him at all. They were following him! And it had taken him nearly twenty-four hours to realise.

Also, if this group truly was the enemy, then bringing them straight to the village was probably not a brilliant idea. But why did they need to follow him in order to get to Konoha? Most ninja targeting a specific location would at least have bothered to look that location up on a map first. And he would have thought that having a target like the Copy-Ninja would require especial preparation. Unless he'd been mistaken, and had heard wrongly – even though he prided himself on his acute hearing, second only to that of his Eternal Rival. Still, if he had genuinely misheard, then maybe these weren't enemies at all and were in fact just a group of people who had gotten lost on their way to the village. But then surely they could simply have asked for directions, and he would have been more than happy to oblige.

Guy realised then that he'd gotten distracted from his main argument and tried to trace his train of thought back. Then he got distracted again as he suddenly noticed that he'd passed into Land of Fire territory. He was getting closer to Konoha by the second, which meant that so were the group behind him. It was then that Guy finally remembered the fact that he'd been on the brink of deciding not to lead potential enemies right to their target. If he wanted to find out just what was going on, he'd have to wait and let them come to him.

And so that was exactly what Might Guy decided to do. He called this 'tactical planning' and would hope that no one ever referred to it as 'taking a break'. Fortunately the group in the distance continued to advance, even though he himself was no longer moving. And each moment brought Guy closer to finding out their true intentions. All he had to do now was wait.

Kakashi had been travelling for about an hour now. The sun was winding its way slowly towards the western sky, and the Jonin was keen to be out of the Land of Fire by nightfall. If he managed to maintain a good pace then he'd be able to reach the Land of Frost in under three days. Needless to say, he wanted to complete this mission as soon as possible.

The Copy-Ninja was trying to keep his mind solely focussed on calculating his route and approximating timings. This would leave no room for other less helpful thoughts. Doubts had no place on an S-rank mission. But neither did the unexpected sound of footsteps running towards him, or the sudden appearance of a certain unmistakable spandex-clad Jonin. What in Gods' names was Guy doing here?

The ninja in question was far enough away – and apparently sufficiently distracted – that he appeared oblivious to Kakashi's presence. The chronically energetic shinobi had stopped running and was clearly exhausted. He seemed to be trying to hide it, though who from was anybody's guess. He kept peering off into the distance as if expecting a third party's arrival. Kakashi realised that his friend probably wouldn't notice him any time soon, so he decided that he might as well greet the Jonin.

"I didn't expect to see you here, Guy," Kakashi called as he walked towards his viridian-clad comrade.

Instantly Guy spun around, a kunai clasped in his hand. His body flickered out of sight and Kakashi knew without needing his Sharingan where his self-proclaimed rival would next appear. The Copy-Ninja dodged to one side and shot out a hand to still the kunai, which, had he been a fraction of a second slower, would now be embedded in his chest.

For a moment both Jonin were perfectly still, but as Kakashi met Guy's fierce glare, recognition finally dawned on his friend's face. The kunai fell to the ground and the Copy-Ninja quickly released his grip on Guy's arm, even as his comrade's expression became one of sincerest remorse.

"My Eternal Rival! I should have known it was you. I'm so sorry. Of course it's only natural that I couldn't sense your approach. But to attack you like this is most uncivilised of me. Even climbing every tree in this forest with my arms tied behind my back wouldn't adequately make up for my thoughtless response to your kind greeting!"

Kakashi sighed and tried to remember why he hadn't just ignored Guy while he'd still had the chance.

"It's fine Guy… really. But what's got you so on edge? It looked as though you were waiting for someone."

Guy's brow furrowed slightly. "It's more than just someone. There's an entire group of them! They've been pursuing me for about twenty-four hours now. When I first encountered them on the way back from a successful S-rank assignment, I overheard them discussing a certain ninja whom they wished to eliminate."

"Oh really?" That piqued Kakashi's interest, even as his heart tried to warn him of what would come next. "And who might that be?"

"I'd rather die a million painful deaths than say such a thing! But I fear I must tell you as the life of my Eternal Rival may be at risk. Kakashi, you're the one they're after!"

Kakashi smirked. "Well that's a surprise."

Clearly this mission had taken a turn for the worse before it'd even truly begun.

Guy sounded close to tears. "It now seems that my masterful plan is doomed to fail!"

Kakashi raised one eyebrow, waiting for his friend to elaborate.

"I thought that instead of leading them right to you in the village, I'd wait here and apprehend them as they passed. But now that you've joined me I see that in fact my actions have only put you in even greater danger. I am no longer worthy of being called a shinobi!"

Kakashi sighed. "Calm down Guy, this isn't your fault. It's obvious that they were trying to get to me, through you."

Guy's face burned with fury. "What? That's despicable! No one uses my Eternal Rival like that!"

Kakashi's slow, deliberate voice provided a counterpoint to Guy's impassioned rambling. "No Guy, you were the one being used. They probably wanted to follow you back to within sight of the village and then engage you, knowing that I'd come to your aid. And presumably they planned to eliminate me under the pretence of a battle. The worrying thing is how they'd known I was about to set off on a mission and so would be in a position to see them before anyone else in Konoha."

Guy's grin was positively blinding, "You would have come to my rescue in my hour of need? That noble behaviour is truly befitting of my Eternal Rival!"

Kakashi decided that there was no point in continuing this discussion any further. Especially considering that his supposed rival clearly hadn't listened to a word he'd said. "Right, well, whatever. Maybe I'll catch you later Guy."

The Copy-Ninja then began to continue on in the direction of this mysterious group. The flamboyant Jonin caught up with him in less than a second. He sounded thoroughly confused.

"Kakashi, where are you going?"

The masked shinobi sighed but did not slow his pace, "If it's true that these people have a problem with me then I'm going to find out what it is. I've got another mission to complete and I can't afford to be looking over my shoulder the whole time, waiting for a group of ninja to attack me."

"That's right!" Guy beamed. "We can take them together!"

Kakashi's tone grew stern as he implored his friend to rein in his enthusiasm. "No Guy. It's apparently me they want to see, not you. By the sounds of it you have a mission report to submit, that is your current priority."

Guy's grin didn't falter one inch. "I hate to be argumentative, Rival, but my only priority right now is your safety."

Kakashi rolled his eyes, wondering for the millionth time whether Guy would ever get over this whole rival thing. It often made him more than impossible to reason with. Clearly some form of compromise would be in order.

"How about this, Guy? If you go and complete your mission report straight away, you can come back after. You'd only be bored if you tagged along now. I want to talk to them first, because this could all be a misunderstanding. And it's certainly no grounds for a competition to see who can eliminate the most enemy ninja."

That last statement seemed to catch Guy's attention and he gave his trademark thumbs-up. "Well in that case, I'll be back before you know it! And if it gets interesting, we will have to see which one of us manages to do the most in countering this potential threat."

Kakashi gave a weary smile, even as his overzealous friend sprinted back towards the village. Perhaps he'd been a little hasty in his judgement. After all, Guy's incorrigible conviction that they were rivals could certainly be useful when it came to getting him out of the way. Although, that said, it'd only been on the condition that he be allowed to return. And if it was someone as ruthlessly efficient as Iruka on the missions' desk, then unfortunately Guy was likely to return a lot sooner than Kakashi would have preferred. Well, whatever was about to happen, Kakashi's only hope was that he could finish it quickly before he put more than just himself in danger.

His plan of leaving Fire territory by nightfall had already failed, and the rapidly unfolding darkness also meant that Kakashi could not even see the ninja awaiting him in the distance. But even from here, the Jonin could sense their chakra – as well as their bloodlust. Whoever these people were, they were clearly not to be taken lightly.

Eventually they came into view, but still as nothing more than remote, shadowy figures. The group stopped running and held their ground as Kakashi closed the distance between them. And when the moon's pale light finally broke through the overcast sky, it was enough to illuminate the Copy-Ninja's latest adversaries. At a guess, Kakashi would have said that there were about thirty-five of them. Each wore a grey, hooded cloak, which cast their faces into shadow. And every one of them had a white sash tied around their waist, from which hung a curved, single-edged blade. These ninja were all dressed in an identical uniform, except one.

This one stood at the front of the group; his cloak was the colour of newly fallen snow and was tied with a deep purple sash, his clothing stood out royally beside his comrades' dull attire. He had one hand resting comfortably on the hilt of a katana, while a smaller kodachi hung beside this blade. He could only have been their leader. Kakashi was standing less than twenty metres away from the group now, and there was a tempered killing intent radiating from every one of them.

The Jonin sighed internally. His mission hadn't even gotten started yet and already things were going wrong. As usual, the instincts that he'd tried so hard to ignore were proving correct. He'd had a bad feeling about this assignment from the beginning, and right now he strongly felt that the worst was far from over.

The apparent leader raised one hand to the hood of his cloak before drawing it slowly back to reveal an unexpectedly young face. This shinobi couldn't have been a day over eighteen. His features held the hardness of one who resents their own youth; a look that Kakashi had observed in the mirror many times when he'd been still a child. However, there was a simmering fire behind the teenager's muted grey eyes. His lips were tight and the rigidity of his delicately chiselled jaw revealed that he was on edge. Clearly this kid had a goal, one that he would stop at nothing to achieve. His dusty brown hair swept casually across his brow. It partially obscured the symbol on his headband, but Kakashi could still make it out well enough. His heart sank. These were Frost ninja.

Now, the Copy-Ninja knew for sure that he'd be in for a fight, and he was keen to get it over with as soon as possible. But somehow this kid didn't strike him as the reckless type. It didn't seem as though he planned to rush things. However, there was only one way to find out the true extent of this young man's self-control. And so Kakashi decided to draw from the slew of patronising comments that his enemies had directed at him over the years – normally only a matter of moments before they were promptly dispatched.

The Jonin employed his most condescending tone. "What's a kid like you doing out this late? Surely it's past your bedtime."

Kakashi noticed the leader's grip tighten on his katana, but he made no move to draw it. The young man's voice was perfectly calm but it held an edge of steel.

"I know that Kakashi Hatake never underestimates his enemies. And his enemies should never underestimate him. It is clear that you see me as much more than a mere child. You dishonour me by keeping your Sharingan eye covered."

Kakashi wasn't too surprised that the group's young leader hadn't been riled by his taunt. However, the kid had spoken with more confidence, as well as more eloquence than he'd expected. This shinobi was surrounded by an almost tangible air of intelligence and power. And were it not for the sense of an underlying darkness, Kakashi felt that – in other circumstances – they might have gotten on. But as the ninja drew his katana in one hand and his kodachi in the other, Kakashi suspected that it was already too late to diffuse the situation.

Still, the Jonin did not reach for his own weapon, yet. Instead he maintained a decidedly aloof manner as he addressed the group's leader once again. "Clearly you have some business with me. Would you care to discuss it?"

A slight smirk curled at one corner of the leader's lips and a fleeting hint of longing passed through his eyes. "You cannot talk your way out of this fight, Kakashi Hatake."

"Oh well," responded the Jonin lightly, "it was worth a try I suppose."

Without taking his gaze off the leader for a moment, Kakashi reached a hand to his own katana.

The young man's pale eyes narrowed and his face filled with intensity. "It became too late for talking the day you killed my father. I, Kitai Iyoku, will see his legacy restored. I will avenge his death. And you will die today, Copy-Ninja."