- 1 month before Shippuden, nighttime -
"Alright, that wraps up our last joint training session for now. If you have questions, feel free to ask any of us. Otherwise, you're dismissed."
As if Kakashi's words were exactly what he had been waiting for, Shikamaru sank into the nearest shadow. He vanished instantly, slipping from shadow to shadow to make his escape.
Asuma shook his head in amusement. He watched his student flee as if all nine-tailed beasts were breathing down his neck.
Once the other ninja dispersed at their own paces, Kakashi vanished in a puff of white smoke a moment later.
- Inside Kakashi's underground base -
Kakashi smiled down at his new invention, finishing the final touches before hurriedly slipping on the black gauntlets and boots.
Channeling chakra through the left boot, he glided smoothly to the side, then tested the forward and backward thrusters with equal precision.
Settling back down, Kakashi raised his right hand. A soft, high-pitched whine vibrated from the open palm before a sharp beam of chakra slammed harmlessly into the fuinjutsu-reinforced wall.
"Chakra consumption is minimal," he noted.
"The boots need fine-tuning for a faster response time, but they're workable and safe for long-distance travel."
Kakashi flicked his wrist back, deploying a small, high-frequency blade that hummed with chakra along his forearm.
"Check."
Pressing a hidden trigger on the gauntlet, he launched the blade across the room. It struck the target wall dead-center, then zipped back through the air to lock securely back onto his hand.
"Ok, one last test."
Kakashi created a clone. The copy immediately formed a single hand sign and exhaled a medium-sized fireball, sending a wave of heat tearing across the room.
Kakashi raised his left gauntlet. The open palm flared with a sealing matrix, rapidly vacuuming the incoming fireball straight into the gauntlet's core. Without missing a beat, he redirected the stored energy, expelling the flame back at the clone as a concentrated, high-velocity beam of fire that struck the clone and dispersed it.
'Very good, but the gauntlet can be overwhelmed with chakra amount; not that just anyone would fire a jutsu that could overwhelm the gauntlet, but they exist.'
Kakashi smiled, thinking these would be perfect for those like Lee or Gai, because despite being healed, Lee, like Gai, wasn't talented in Ninjutsu or Genjutsu, but Kakashi was happy to see his friend pass on the summoning jutsu to his student not long ago.
'Speaking of summons.'
Kakashi flashed through the seals; a white cloud of smoke appeared, revealing a small dog.
"Are you about to send me on another delivery?"
Pakkun asked with piercing eyes, having been used by Kakashi only for delivering his inventions to Tsunade.
"Maa, it's important-"
*Chomp
Pakkun latched onto Kakashi's leg out of frustration, but was left unsatisfied when Kakashi, like all the other times, merely gave him a pitying look as if he wasn't the one causing this.
"I don't have enough time for playing, Pakkun."
Kakashi raised his leg and snatched the dog off him by the scruff of his neck.
"Will you deliver it? Or do I have to summon Biscuit to deliver it for me?"
If Pakkun could've turned red, he would have, snapping angrily at Kakashi, because despite not liking being a delivery dog, to imply that you were going to summon someone else to do a job was an insult.
"You Whor-"
Kakashi stuffed the dog's mouth with prepared treats before he could finish the word.
Pakkun growled, slowly chewing the treats while having a staring contest with his summoner.
Once finished, he huffed and squirmed, a signal Kakashi understood, sitting him down and handing the dog three scrolls after sealing the gauntlets and boots in one.
"Free whis ime, ouve eally utdone elf"
(Three this time, you've really outdone yourself.)
"It would have been more, but I've been focused on training myself and others."
Kakashi sighed, opening the door for Pakkun and watching the dog trot out lazily.
"If you get them to her with less slobber this time, I'll give you a whole box of treats to take back with you."
Pakkun stopped, left ear perking up and turning with a gleam.
"4."
"1."
"3."
Kakashi pulled out two boxes.
"Two, and that's the final offer; push it, and I give both boxes to the Inuzuka clan."
Pakkun nodded, practically gliding as he went.
'That dog.'
Kakashi chuckled. While he could always deliver the scrolls himself, Kakashi had been feeling bad for them as of late; he practically had no use for them now. Only for tracking individuals outside of the Land of Fire, but even that wasn't something he needed for long; once the enemy was inside his observation range, it was over; they weren't getting away unless they had a space/time technique.
Kakashi felt the sudden and familiar tug from his Flying Raijin Kunai, something that Mei had gotten more comfortable using for social calls nowadays.
Stepping out of his base, Kakashi left behind a shadow clone before vanishing, appearing inside the Mizukage's office; his face was smooshed between Mei's chest as usual, something Kakashi could dodge, but he only dodged attacks, not opportunities.
"It's good to see you too."
Kakashi's voice was muffled, making Mei giggle a bit as it tickled.
Mei giggled at the sound, the vibrations tickling her chest as she finally pulled back. She looked radiant, practically beaming with energy.
"What has you so happy?" Kakashi asked, noticing how she was nearly bouncing on the balls of her feet.
"What do you mean, silly? We're getting married in a month. What's there not to be excited about?" Mei replied, her smile widening.
"But that's not all, right?" Kakashi looked her dead in the eyes, sensing that a completely separate wave of genuine satisfaction was radiating off her.
Mei poked Kakashi's chest, raising a playful eyebrow. "Don't go using your sensory abilities to read me. That's rude." She leaned in closer, pressing a soft kiss to his cheek. "Besides, I prefer a much more personal reading."
Kakashi ignored the teasing, having gotten more than used to this level lately, but that's where Kakashi's defenses ended; Mei was getting bolder each time they met, and he was just thankful that she never did any of this in public.
"So, are you going to tell me? You have me in suspense here."
Mei playfully slapped his chest with the back of her hand.
"Utakata has returned, and he brought a student as well. From what he says, he was convinced to return by Jiraiya, Naruto, and Karin."
"That's great. When did he return?"
Kakashi blinked, having honestly forgotten about the wandering man with everything on his plate, glad Jiraiya was able to get in contact with him.
"Just three days ago, he was surprised to be welcomed back."
Mei said, remembering the guarded entrance he had, not even letting his student get close before he knew it was alright.
"I imagine that went a lot smoother with a new council. How is that going? Last time you said that Ao was the 2nd-in-command, your Jonin commander."
"Haku also took up the seat of Clan Head of the Yuki clan, which was a big help."
Mei revealed.
"So, he's already a Jonin, then. Impressive. It would seem you all have improved well, not just you."
Kakashi felt the changes in Mei; the serum given to her had also turned her into something very dangerous.
"What about Zabuza?"
"He is my Anbu Commander, and he's training a promising boy named Chojuro."
Mei rattled off like she didn't want to discuss business anymore, something Kakashi understood, offering his arm.
"It would seem you just wanted to go on a date, yeah?"
"Guilty as charged, handsome. Now let's go, I've been bored all day." Mei smiled, looping her arm tightly through his as they walked out of the Mizukage's office together.
Meanwhile, in Konoha, Tsunade was already sitting back at her desk with Kakashi's delivered scrolls in hand.
Pakkun sat quietly on the wooden edge of the table, his delivery duty finished as Tsunade laid them out on her desk and started with the first one from the left.
*Poof
Tsunade turned the gauntlets and boots over, not really knowing what to look at before picking them up and seeing a couple of papers underneath.
"Hm?"
Reading through the notes on how both worked, Tsunade nodded, numb to Kakashi's inventions at this point.
Opening the next, Tsunade saw what looked like a pen, going right for the paper as she didn't even want to mess with it for fear that it'd do something ridiculous.
"Self-injecting Antidote Autoinjectors. A pre-loaded medical pen containing neutralizing agents that anyone can press into a thigh mid-combat, thus reducing the chances of someone being stalled until they die of poison, an instant antidote that doesn't require medical expertise to use and can save medics some chakra if in battle or a war scenario… Brilliant, why the hell haven't I thought of something like this before?"
Tsunade was a little embarrassed, having never thought of something this simple, but the genius of it was clear.
Sitting that one down gently, she opened the next one, picking up what seemed to be a normal cloak, looking it up and down before just deciding to read the paper, internally grumbling about not being able to figure out what a single one did just by looking at it.
"A Chakra Camouflage Cloak. Lined with fuinjutsu stitched on the inside that acts as a dampener of chakra, the outside lined with seals that harden the fabric when a physical weapon (like a kunai, shuriken, or sword) strikes the outer script, the seals instantly trigger. They harden the fabric to the density of tempered steel at the exact millisecond of impact, causing blades to cleanly deflect."
Tsunade stared disbelievingly at the ordinary-looking black cloak.
"This thing, really?"
- Chapter End -