...

Miasma

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...

Some crickets chirped loudly from the tall fronds of grass lining the side of the dirt road, their voices cutting loudly through the peaceful, misty morning, but Kakashi made no move to investigate the noise.

He walked slowly down the weather-beaten forest path that led from his secluded house down to the village, a slight frown marring his childish brow.

He wished that Tou-san had been able to walk him to the Academy today… He wanted the reassuring strength of his father's hand wrapped around his smaller one, the comforting growl of the man's low voice as he talked.

But Sakumo Hatake had been called on early this morning to go on a last-minute, high-urgency mission.

And Kakashi couldn't remember a time when he felt more lost.

Except perhaps for that time when he had gone running off after a stray dog when they were at the market and he had wandered around, sniffling and trembling, for hours before his dad had dropped down from an overhanging tree, picked him up, and carried him home.

He had learned an important lesson that day…

If he ever ran away again, his dad would sneakily follow him around while he cried and meandered aimlessly through the village streets, hiding from the cooing older ladies who, whenever they caught him, would brush his cheeks with their scratchy skirts and try to kiss him, hour after excruciating hour-just to teach Kakashi a lesson.

He felt just like that… except maybe a little less shy.

And, unlike before, this time his daddy wasn't going to swoop in, hold him, and clear all the confusion away with his steady, comforting presence.

Kakashi kicked at a stray pebble in his path, feeling an unexpected rush of animosity for the small rock.

He didn't want to go to school today.

…

Sakumo had woken his son up very early this morning. So early that the sky had just been a dark hue of foggy purple outside his window and the tree-leaves still slick with dew.

Kakashi remembered how excited he had been when it had been his Tou-san shaking him out of bed, instead of the other way around this morning.

He had rolled out of bed in a whirlwind of excitement and twisted sheets, his little feet pitter-pattering quickly over the freezing floorboards (the cold feel of which normally incited him to begin an early-morning game of "Try and Get to the Door Without My Feet Touching the Floor"). He had rushed through his small breakfast, which he normally protested against because he wanted to go out and play instead, and he had felt very proud when he had managed to sneak half of it into the pocket of his pants for Touro. Usually dad caught him.

But mostly he remembered how, when he had begun his new favorite game of "Uh Oh, I Magically Forgot How to Dress Myself"; his father, instead of chuckling quietly to himself or rolling his eyes, had just distractedly swiped him up, dropped him onto his bed, and begun to put Kakashi's sandals on for him…

The toddler's pants had been swaddled around his head like a turban and his shirt tied around his neck like a cape...

So, when Kakashi had obediently followed his father around the backyard, helping him to pour dog-food into the nine brightly colored food bowls littering the patio-in naught but his turban, cape, superhero undies, and sandals-he had known for sure then that something was wrong.

In fact, it was only when the two of them were half-way out the gate of their fenced in backyard, Kakashi squirming uncomfortably as his daddy tugged him past a tall fern that tickled the bare skin of his belly, that Sakumo noticed his son's inappropriate attire.

So, after a half-hearted scolding and a quick change into his "Ordinary Person Disguise" (which he insisted take place inside his closet because it was shaped like a telephone booth), Kakashi had trotted back outside and let his father lead him to one of the small forest trails leading off from their backyard.

But his fingers had fiddled with his shirt hem anxiously at Sakumo's distracted, unhappy-looking expression. And his half-eaten breakfast had flopped uncomfortably inside him as he stepped into the shadowed glade of the tall trees.

Tou-san was worried about something.

And this in itself was enough to make Kakashi want to cling to the back of the jounin's pants leg as his father led him silently on through the hushed forest.

Tou-san was never worried.

Seeing his father looking so lost only magnified the fear that had begun to take shape within the little boy.

Finally, when it had begun to seem as though Sakumo might have been planning to travel to the very heart of the forest itself, they stopped.

His father sunk wearily onto the flat head of a mossy boulder jutting out from the side of the thin, winding trail. And Kakashi hadn't wriggled or let out a single noise of protest when his Tou-san's strong hands had picked him up and sat him down on his lap.

He didn't really know what his dad had been trying to say, so he had sat still and watched a fat beetle crawl up the cracked bark of an old tree while Sakumo talked and ran his hand slowly over Kakashi's soft baby hair.

It was only when his dad mentioned Suzuki-san, his Academy Instructor, that the little boy had really latched onto what was being said.

"He was a good man, a very good man. I know that he wanted the best for you and-"

"What?"

"He wanted the-"

"No! What happened to Suzuki-sensei?"

"Ka… Kakashi, weren't you listening? Your sensei, he-"

"What happened to sensei? Why you talking like-"

"He's gone, Kakashi... Your friend is gone."

…

"He… where'd he go?"

…

"Tou-san?"

"Kashi, baby, sometimes when people go out on missions they don't come back. We never see them again."

"Never-why?... I don't… What-"

But before his Tou-san had been able to explain any more than that, or even begin to wipe away the tears that had started to spill down Kakashi's cheeks-they had been interrupted.

A strong, dark presence had appeared suddenly, like a specter in the early morning mist, upon the trail beside them, its otherworldly aura of tightly-reigned power and hostility casting a deep shadow over the small family.

So suddenly had it appeared that Kakashi couldn't help but entertain the whispered fear that it might have been lurking there beside them, invisible and malicious, the whole time that they had been sitting in the quiet wood.

The black and white monster, thin and gaunt like a grinning skeleton, had spoken then with a man's voice-although Kakashi hadn't been able to make out what it said because he had buried his head in his father's shirt the instant it had appeared.

The creature's message had been short, but as soon as it was finished Sakumo had stood up, Kakashi still huddled in his arms, and started to walk briskly back to the house.

Once they got back his father had been a flurry of activity, gathering scrolls, weapons, and spare uniforms and stuffing them into his mission pack.

He had already strapped Kakashi's own school pack onto the toddler's back and was one step out the front door before Kakashi started crying.

He knew that his father was going on a mission and that he would have to walk himself to the Academy-that wasn't unusual-but for some reason, some inexplicable deep feeling within him told him that this was the last time that he would see his dad. That he'd never see his Tou-san again.

"Daddy! Don't go!"

His father turned around and finally saw the distraught, tear-streaked face of his son; the little boy's squinted gray eyes, glistening and filled to the brim with tears, his little legs folded out on either side of him as he sat, crumpled and small and pleading, on the dirty welcome mat at his feet.

Sakumo knelt down and lifted the boy up to a standing position, holding him steady with two heavy palms on each of the toddler's shoulders.

Kakashi scrubbed roughly at his eyes, angry that he was so afraid and that he was crying, but his dad caught his wrist in his large hand and stopped him. Sakumo waited until the toddler's wide eyes, bright and wet with tears, met with his own firm dark gaze, and then he spoke.

"Kakashi… I will always. Always. Come back for you."

…

Now, as Kakashi finished replaying the events of this morning inside of his head, he noticed that he had finally arrived at the academy.

Immediately he reprimanded himself for being so caught up in his memories. His Tou-san said it was the 'pitome of… fools to not pay attention to what was going on around you.

Feeling even more miserable at this, the boy made his way slowly by the small wooden swing hanging listlessly from the grizzled old tree outside of the Academy. He glanced up at the normally bright cheery windows on either side of the doorway, but found them to be dark and cold-looking.

He jerked to a stop.

For some reason a strong, nearly-overpowering urge to run away washed over him. Dread collected like heavy little balls of metal in his tummy, each drop rolling around and sending a fearful judder through him before it came to a stop.

The feeling grew the longer he stood there.

Kakashi didn't know if it was the dark-tinged events that had already transpired this morning, or if it was some other aspect of the weathered schoolhouse that only his subconscious picked up on-but, somehow, in the back of his mind, Kakashi couldn't shake off the heavy feeling that something bad was about to happen.

…

…

"Would someone please tell me what is going on?"

Sakumo straightened up slowly from his half-crouch on an overhanging branch, his sudden stop causing all of the ANBU operatives who had been running alongside him to wheel about in silent alarm. He regarded the various defensive positions that his "team" had fallen into with a cool, half-lidded stare.

ANBU. He hated ANBU.

And that was discounting the fact that one of them had apparently decided it was a good idea to drop in this morning, in the middle of him trying to describe to his little son what death was, and frighten Kakashi to tears.

Now, what father, shinobi or not, could abandon his child when he was needed most, leave for an unranked mission that he didn't even know the time parameters for, and be okay with that?

He knew nothing about this mission except for what he was able to figure out on his own…

Which basically came down to the fact that, if the lightning-quick ANBU at his sides were anything to go by, this was an urgent, high-level mission… And that, if he wasn't briefed soon, Konoha's Black Ops might gain a new understanding of why the White Fang was rumored to be on par with the Three Sannin.

Tsunade wasn't the only one with a temper…

Finally, when the only response he got was the sound of the early-morning breeze rustling through the leaves at his feet, Sakumo's brow ticked.

"You." His voice rang with authority as he turned his hard glare to the ANBU standing closest to him, "Brief me… Now."

The unspoken threat of what would happen if they failed to comply with his demands went unsaid, and it hung heavily in the air between the two ninja.

"Our apologies, Hatake-sama." The black and white garbed figure said lightly, "It is not protocol that ANBU operatives are briefed before the commencing of the-."

Before the ANBU could finish, Sakumo tore his gaze away from the man and moved it to the ANBU standing on his other side, dismissing the former entirely. That had told him nothing.

His other teammate, who was now the focus of the jounin's steely gaze, caught on quickly and supplied an explanation before Sakumo could even open his mouth to ask.

"We know as much as you, Hatake-sama," he said tonelessly, "The only information we were given was the location of the destination and the time-frame given to reach it."

Sakumo closed his eyes briefly and breathed out quietly through his nose.

Of course. Why had he expected any different?

The ANBU were treated like animals rather than soldiers-they were given orders without any background intel or explanation, it was expected for them to commit atrocious acts of violence and self-degradation at little more than a nod from their commanding officer. And, as if to cement their separation from the soft world of humanity, each one was branded with the face and name of an animal so as to cover up any illusion that the creature behind the mask had once been human.

The way Sakumo saw it he had no reason to respect the ANBU because they refused to respect themselves.

He opened his eyes wearily to see the flat white and black faces staring at him expressionlessly, waiting for him to give the order to continue their journey.

He nodded his head slightly and they took off silently, flitting eerily through the tangling branches before him as if they were nothing more than leaves scattered by the breeze.

Sakumo shook his head slowly to himself as he followed after them, leaping through the trees nimbly.

This mission couldn't have come at a worse time.

…

...

"Alright everyone, to your seats please." Aimi-san, the young female instructor of the class below theirs hushed them all, "Please, take a seat."

Kakashi scuffled quietly with an older boy for the chair nearest him, but, after a particularly rough yank to his hair, was forced to slide into a seat one row behind. He glared sullenly at the back of the boy's head, but the other child was too busy clutching his now-bruised nose to notice.

"Boys and girls." The young woman spoke crisply, her patience wearing thin, "Quiet down. I have an important announcement to-"

"Where's Suzuki-sensei?" a boisterous, loud mouthed boy called out from the third row.

"Suzuki-san recently went on a mission that-"

"Are you our teacher now?" a skinny, doe-eyed little girl with curly pig-tails raised her hand in the air politely.

Aimi-sensei opened her mouth to say something, but seemed change her mind midway and closed her mouth into a thin, pursed line.

"Suzuki-sensei is… well as some of you may know…"

She cast a helpless glance to her left, as if the slightly ajar door to the classroom might hold the answers in its chipped green paint.

"I will be your Instructor."

The deep, calm voice that suddenly issued from the classroom entrance caused a few students to jump in their seats. A tall, heavily muscled man followed the low voice into the room, his tread silent despite his loose stride. He came to a stop at the center of the room, clasping one arm behind his back in a commanding, militaristic stance and turned his head to regard the children slowly.

Silence fell over the room.

Kakashi quickly took in every aspect of the man's appearance.

Dressed in the full jounin outfit, the forest green vest left unzipped and the traditional blue sandals traded in for heavy, black combat boots, the man projected a simultaneously relaxed and strict aura. However, the most curious aspect of his appearance was the addition of a long, thick scarf that looped twice around his neck, draped over his head like a hood, and reached down to the length of his knees on one side. The scarf was the color of sun-bleached sand mixed with a faded clay tone, and it hung over the man's face like a cowl, casting all of his features in shadow.

Kakashi was immediately reminded of his own turban from this morning and he took an instant liking to the man.

"My name is Osamu Kenta." He reached up and pulled his hood back, revealing a craggy, angular face and deep-set eyes that were of a blue so dark they were nearly black. But what really captured Kakashi's attention was their new teacher's hair. He had a thick mane of long, grizzled, silver hair that he wore in a half tied-back style with the majority of it spilling over his shoulders limply.

He had hair just like Kakashi's Tou-san!

The man's dark eyes slid cooly over his chair, only to flicker back and fix on Kakashi with a momentary, unreadable stare. The little boy sat up straighter in his too-big seat.

"But you can all call me Osamu-sensei." Their new teacher continued, turning to pace languidly down the front of the classroom, "I will be your teacher for the remainder of the school year and I'm sure that we will all have a great time together."

He paused at the end of the first row and looked down at a young girl who had been looking up at him fearfully, and smiled. It was a surprisingly gentle, understanding grin that made him look infinitely more approachable.

Kakashi found himself smiling tentatively back, even though the man's gaze wasn't focused on him.

"I was with Suzuki-sensei on his last mission and I can say that he was one of my very good friends and that it's a hard thing for him to be gone…"

All of the children looked up at him then with varying expressions of wide-eyed awe or somber comprehension. Kakashi frowned slightly and he wondered if Osamu-sensei was sad because he missed his friend.

"But," he seemed to refocus himself, "He told me a lot about this class, and I could tell that he saw something in you that he thought was worth giving up his life for…"

Some of the children now had tears in their eyes. Two girls in the front row hugged each other, sniffling.

"So this year, I think our goal will be to make Suzuki-sensei proud and achieve all of the goals that he had set out for you. He had the faith that you could do it, and so do I."

There was a short pause in which Aimi-sensei, who had been standing and listening in the doorway as she held a soggy tissue to her nose, slipped over and whispered something into Osamu-sensei's ear before turning and exiting quietly out of the classroom.

"Everyone take out your Trap-Setting Level Four Textbooks and turn to Chapter Twelve, please."

Kakashi dove into his schoolbag and was the first one to have it out and ready on his desk, and he sat quiet and expectant on the edge of his seat, looking up at his new teacher with steadfast attention.

Osamu-sensei's dark eyes met his briefly and, although there was no change in expression on the older man's face, Kakashi could have sworn he saw a flash of approval in that shadowed gaze.

He desperately wanted to please this man, to earn his praise. And the only reason that he could think of as to why was because Osamu was so like his father, Sakumo-in everything from his calm, reassuring way of speaking to the man's tall stature and silver-hued hair, Kakashi's new teacher seemed to emulate everything that he loved about his Tou-san.

And, as Kakashi listened to their replacement teacher talk in rapt attention, he couldn't help but think how silly he had been. All traces of the heavy, foreboding feelings that had assaulted him as he entered the Academy seemed so foolish now.

How could Kakashi feel unsafe when the low, gentle voice that sounded so much like his father's was speaking to him? The little boy closed his eyes briefly and, for one second, let himself believe that it actually was his father in his classroom reading lessons to him.

...

...

Alright, before I say anything else, I just have to tell you all that at the exact second when I submitted the latest chapter for SafeHouse-I experienced my first earthquake.

No joke. I clicked my mouse and then everything started shaking. It was crazy!

But everything is fine :) I'm fine! And I'm back and updating regardless!

Anyway, there's one thing I'd like to mention here because it really won't be touched on again in any other chapters in this story, and I just think it's pretty interesting. I know that the way I wrote this chapter I made it seem like Sakumo didn't approve of ANBU and that it frightened Kakashi. At first I wasn't really sure why I did this but then I realized that it was because I feel like it makes Kakashi's eventual joining of ANBU all the more relevant. I could really go more into depth on this topic, but I don't want to bore anyone. So, if you're interested and want to talk to me more about it you can send me a message or (even better!) review!

Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed it, and please review!

~Flinty