With Every Action, There is an Equal Opposite Reaction

He held his breath, eyes tracking the figures below him, cataloguing weaknesses.

The girl was probably the best target, her posture was that of a long-range fighter, she was also a medic if her slightly larger pack was anything to go by. The boy, judging by his clan symbol, was a mid-range fighter, though he shouldn't be underestimated –that clan was known for their prodigies.

Both were probably genin or recently promoted chuunin, they were roughly his age, maybe a year older. Meaning, chances were they weren't alone, a jounin or a more experienced chuunin was in the area.

He had to be quick about this.

Normally he wouldn't risk it, but his father couldn't wait any longer, he needed to get a better stocked med-kit.

He waited until the young shinobi passed under his hiding spot before moving. Neither noticed his presence as he landed soundlessly behind them. But, when he pulled a kunai, the boy tensed spinning around to warn his teammate, eyes blazing red.

But he was faster.

The girl tensed against him, as he wrapped an arm around her –the kunai at her throat. But she didn't scream, the only noise was her startled intake of breath. But her bravado didn't fool him, he could smell her fear.

"Let her go, you bastard!" the boy snarled, tomoe spinning warningly. He didn't advance, though, thinking better of it.

"Give me your medical supplies and I'll think about it," he responded, voice cold and uncaring.

The boy didn't hesitate, reaching for his pack.

"Obito! Don't negotiate with him!" his captive halted the other's progress.

"Quiet!" he snapped, pressing the kunai closer as a warning, blood trickled slowly from the wound.

"Rin!" the Uchiha gasped, unconsciously reaching for the girl.

"Now, Uchiha!" he growled, growing uncomfortable with the amount of time this was taking, "Or she dies!"

"I don't think he has to worry about that," a voice said softly.

He felt a presence behind him, and –by how easily the man had snuck up on him –he was clearly a jounin. In his current state, he had no hope of defeating a jounin. With a quick estimate of the distance between himself and the nearest tree, he released the girl and darted toward his escape.

However, as he leapt toward the tree, a figure appeared before him and threw him back. Flipping around, he landed on his feet, finally looking at his opponent.

His blood ran cold.

It finally seemed like they would win, after this seemingly endless stalemate, Iwa was due to arrive in the next few days, bringing much needed reinforcements. If they broke through this line they would have control of the sector, giving them a strategic staging ground to win the war.

He was the youngest on the field, at the age of nine, but that didn't make him any less deadly. Most of his enemies underestimated him, considering him a genin who ended up in the wrong place, that was their mistake. He was a chuunin, well on his way to jounin, and the son of one of Kumo's most feared nin –not that the enemy realized this before it was too late.

But, he was tired –like everyone else on the field. This battle had been raging for close to three weeks, rations and medical supplies were running thin; the landscape had been decimated offering no shelter from the elements. Neither side could collect their dead, therefore, the stench of rotting corpses was becoming overwhelming.

He longed for a shower and hot meal… and a bed, a real bed. Soon, he told himself, after this, those that had been on the field the longest would be cycled back for a reprieve. There was some childish hope within him that his father would be there when he got home.

His musings were cut short as the leaf nin started the fight up again. The cowards weren't even showing themselves, hiding behind any cover they could find, as they flung kunai at them. The kunai weren't even aimed, just thrown carelessly into their ranks.

Before he could even comprehend what was going on, screams rose from the other side of their ranks. The stench of fresh blood filled his nose. He turned, planning to head toward the disturbance, but the jounin closest to him stopped him.

"Retreat!" the woman yelled, turning away from the leaf nin, "Everyone, fall back!"

He didn't understand why they were retreating, but he wouldn't disobey orders, turning on his heel he followed the jounin. He passed one of the leaf's kunai, noticing how strange it was, three-pronged.

He didn't have time to contemplate it, as the jounin was cut down in a flash of yellow. He realized all of his comrades were being cut down in a similar fashion. Fear welled within him, and his channeled more chakra to his legs, in a desperate attempt to reach the tree line.

There was a single kunai in his path, and then there was a man. One hand reaching for him, the other holding a bloodied kunai in anticipation. The boy skidded to a halt, fear causing him to freeze up, he recognized this man. One he was warned constantly about. Sun blond hair and blue eyes.

Konoha's Yellow Flash.

Today was the day he would die, he realized with a jolt, suddenly wishing he had taken the time to seek out his father before leaving. His death would surely break him. The boy waited for the deadly slash of the kunai, but it never came.

The leaf nin's hard eyes had softened slightly as he looked at him, though his frown had deepened. Then he stepped aside, jerking his blond head toward the woods.

"Get out of here, kid," the man said emotionlessly.

The boy hesitated, not wanting to get stabbed in the back, but after a moment he darted to the side. Giving the Flash a wide berth, he reached safety within seconds.

He had been the only survivor of the battle, all because of their boogeyman's mercy.

And now he found himself in the same position, at the mercy of one of the most feared men in the nations. Konoha's Yellow Flash.

"Not so fast," the man said, eyes narrowed, taking in every detail, "I don't appreciate threats on my students lives."

"If I had known they were your students I wouldn't have attacked them," he bit out, discreetly looking for an escape.

The jounin frowned, eyes narrowing even further.

Namikaze Minato recognized the boy before him, despite how he'd changed over the past two years. His headband was pulled down over his left eye, his clothes were worn and clearly weren't properly cared for. He also seemed thinner, his mask didn't fit tightly against his face. The boy's visible eye had deep rings under them from obvious lack of sleep.

The biggest change, though, was the slash through his hitai-ate, marking the boy as a missing-nin.

That came as a shock to him, when he'd last seen the boy he was on the frontlines, fighting gallantly for Kumo. When he flashed toward his chakra signature, reaching to grab the foreign shinobi and swiftly kill him, he was surprised when he had to look down.

The silver stock of unruly hair did nothing to hide how young the child was, or the fear in his dark grey eyes. But what tore at Minato's heartstrings was the boy's acceptance, he knew he was going to die and accepted that as fact. It made Minato sick. At child at that age had no right to be on a blood-soaked battlefield, no right to be that indifferent to his own death.

So, he let him go, hoping to never encounter the child again. Though it seemed like fate had other plans.

"I suppose you do own me for sparing your life," he said coolly, wishing to be anywhere else. How he had wondered about the kid, who he was, how old he was, if he was even still alive. It was foolish, the boy was an enemy, but that didn't stop him from wondering.

"You ruined my life!" the boy spat, his visible eye filled with contempt.

Minato blinked in surprise. How could showing someone mercy be a bad thing? Apparently, his students agreed, because Obito let out an indignant squawk, and Rin gasped. Both had retreated to a safer distance, watching their sensei and stranger warily.

"You should have killed me."

Minato made to respond to the boy's accusation, but he was interrupted by a low howl ringing through the forest. The boy in front of him stiffened, and for a brief moment grief flashed across his face. Then he leapt for the trees again, this time Minato let him go, curious as to where he was going.

When Tsurara's mournful howl rose from the direction of their camp, he felt a stab of fear. There was only one reason she would draw attention to herself like that, but he couldn't allow himself to believe that. Father couldn't be…

He made another jump toward the trees, barely noticing the Flash and his team following. he needed to get to camp.

The run seemed so much longer than it should have been, as his he ran he thought of all the possibilities for Tsurara's howl. None of them were good.

Finally, he came to the small cliff where they had made camp for the past few weeks, there was a small fissure that led to an opening large enough to fit two people and their packs. It was covered by a fair amount of foliage, hiding it from unexperienced eyes. It would look uninhabited if not for the large white wolfdog sitting beside it.

Tsurara, his father's pack leader, sat like a silent guardian, unmoving until he landed beside her. Then the dog looked at him with sad eyes, standing to block his entrance.

"Tsurara," he growled distractedly, even here he was suffocated by the smell of fresh blood.

"Kashi," the dog said softly, "I'm sorry… don't blame yourself for this, there was nothing you could've done. It was better this way."

"Why didn't you stop him?" he asked, forcing down the lump in his throat, eyes still fixated on the crevice.

"Because he wished to go on his terms, not by a slow acting poison."

"I would've found something!" he snarled, heart clenching painfully. The dog blinked at him slowly.

"He did this for you, Kashi," she growled softly, "You honestly think he didn't notice how you were taxing yourself to provide for him? Skipping out on your portion of the meals, depriving yourself of sleep to stand vigil over him. It was killing you both!"

He didn't respond past clenching his jaw, his eye narrowing as he tried to see past the shadows. At this Tsurara sighed, looking away from him, after another moment she stepped aside, giving him a few last words.

"He wanted me to tell you he loves you, Kashi."

He didn't respond, and stepped into their hideout, into the scene he feared.

Minato watched from the trees as the child – Kashi? – conversed with the summon, both were clearly upset. He knew it had something to do with the smell of blood on the air, and, judging by their words, someone close to the boy had taken his own life to spare the boy from having to watch his slow death.

Minato didn't know if he agreed with that thought process, as he heard a grief filled cry from where the boy had vanished.

It was then that his remaining two students caught up with him, both wheezing from the fast chase. The looked warily toward the summon, before looking to their teacher with silent questions.

The blond shook his head, motioning them to hold their position. After receiving nods of understanding, he jumped to the ground.

The summon stood, fangs bared, hackles raised.

"You have no reason to be here, Konoha," it snarled, taking a defensive position in front of the cave.

"I'm not here to fight," he said, raising his hands in peace.

"I don't care," it growled, stepping forward, "You're not welcome here."

"Okay," he relented, realizing he wasn't getting in without a fight, which he was unwilling to have, "I'll wait out here then."

The wolfish dog snarled, clearly displeased by his declaration, deep blue eyes following his every move as he settled against the tree his students were in. After awhile, she –for it was definitely female –settled back into her original spot, eyeing him the entire time.

Minato didn't know how long he sat out there before the boy came out, but it was long enough for Obito to fall asleep, his snores could be heard drifting down from above. But, the boy finally emerged, looking horrible, blood stained his clothes and his eye was shadowed. Minato's heart clenched at the sight.

After a moment of looking around in a slight daze, the boy's eye settled on him, and narrowed.

"You're still here?" he grunted, his displeasure and annoyance shining through.

"We never finished our conversation, Nukenin-kun," Minato said softly, though he couldn't help adding that little jab, maybe he was hanging out with Kushina too much. As it was the boy's eyes narrowed further at the nickname.

"Don't call me that," he growled, "I have no interest in continuing our conversation beyond apologizing for attacking your students. I hold no ill-will toward Konoha, and was only taking advantage of an opportunity. It won't happen again."

Minato couldn't help being a little surprised by the maturity of the boy's response, though he knew it was forced.

"As nice as that is, Nukenin-kun," Minato started, ignoring the glare at the use of the nickname, "You are a missing-nin, one from Kumo, who we happen to be at war with, as I'm sure you're aware. It would be in my village's best interest to use you as a bargaining tool."

The child stiffened, and the summon was suddenly before him snarling, but the boy didn't seem fearful, rather he was calculating.

"But, you'd rather not do that," he said confidently, and Minato couldn't help a small grin, this kid was good.

"No, I'd rather not, how about you come with us for now, and when we make camp tonight, we continue our conversation."

The boy seemed to be weighing his options, but seemed to realize Minato would get what he wanted one way or another. So, he sighed, and wilted suddenly, like all his energy was sapped away.

"Fine, but if you're going to pester me you could make yourself useful," here the boy hesitated, before nodding to himself. Turning back to the cave, he continued, "Come on."

"Kashi," the summon protested.

"I can't carry him by myself, Tsurara."

That killed any further protests from the summon, who sighed and nodded. Passing her, Minato followed the boy into the cave.

He was immediately assaulted by the smell of blood, it was overwhelming. He peered through the darkness to locate its source. Which wasn't difficult considering how small the cave was.

The body had obviously been moved and arranged into the position it was in now. The man was laying on his back, with his hands at his sides, eyes closed. But Minato's eyes couldn't help but be drawn to the man's torso, where a long, deep gash could be easily seen, due to the man's lack of shirt.

It was a horrible wound, it was jagged and messy, which would be explained by the man doing it himself. The pain the action caused, only to keep pushing through it. Then the time it took to bleed out, which, honestly, couldn't have been that long judging by the depth, length, and position of the gash. The man had hit multiple vital organs, and severed multiple blood vessels, still it would've –and did by the amount of blood on the ground –taken several minutes.

Minato spared another glance at the boy, who's eyes were purposely diverted to a point on the wall before him.

Glancing back at the body, now taking in the man's features, Minato could barely suppress a gasp. He'd seen that face before, in just about every bingo book out there, most having a 'flee-on-sight' order.

This was Kumo's former White Fang. Hatake Sakumo.

He took in the man's silver hair, and remembered the dark eyes from the picture in the bingo book. Looking at the boy, the resemblance was glaringly obvious. He never heard of the White Fang having a child, but it wasn't uncommon for villages to keep children of their legendary shinobi secret, to keep them from being targeted.

"Hatake-kun," he said softly, drawing the boy's unsurprised gaze, "Would you like to take him outside?"

"Yes, it doesn't feel right to burn his body here," the boy responded, voice lacking all emotion.

Nodding, Minato made to grab the body of one of the most feared men in all the nations, only to stop at the boy's request. Glancing at him, he saw the boy started to go through one of the packs sitting by the wall. After a moment, he pulled out a shirt, and looked hesitantly at his father.

"Here," Minato said softly, reaching for the shirt, "Let me."

The child didn't hesitate this time, handing the shirt to the man, it a few practiced moves Minato had the shirt on the man. He thanked kami that the White Fang hadn't gone into rigor mortis yet, it would have been much more difficult if he had. The shirt was also a dark blue, near-black, so the blood stains weren't that noticeable.

Moving to grab the body once more, he paused to look at the boy for conformation, he received a nod in response. He lifted the body, and carefully maneuvered out of the cave. In the sunlight, he couldn't help but notice what he hadn't before.

The body shinned with the remnants of dried sweat, indicating a high fever, his skin had taken on a yellowish tint. His extremities and the skin around his eyes were also tinged blueish-purple.

He heard his team gasp, as he laid the man down, and Rin was quickly by his side.

"He's already gone, Rin," Minato said softly.

"I know," she responded softly, "I recognize the poison, even though that's not what killed him."

"Could you have saved him?" the boy's voice drifted from behind him, causing Rin to stiffen momentarily, before she shook her head.

"No," she said, turning to look at her former attacker, "It's relatively new, and we haven't discovered a cure yet. By the time its symptoms start to show, it's too late to do anything, it's a truly horrible way to die."

Rin didn't go into specifics, and Minato was glad, he knew what type of poison she was taking about, many of his friends had been taken by it. It was truly horrifying to watch.

"I see."

The boy still had a blank look on his face, he glanced around them for a moment, until the summon, Tsurara, pressed her head against his side. The boy stepped forward, bag in hand, and whispered a few words to his father. Then he pulled a white cloth out of the bag and laid it on Sakumo's chest.

It was a slashed Kumo hitai-ate, Sakumo's hitai-ate.

Stepping back, the child hesitated, looking to the summon for reassurance. The animal pressed herself against the boy again, whispering a few words. He nodded at her words, seeming to steel himself, then raised his hands.

"Wait, Hatake-kun," Minato hurriedly said, once he realized what the boy was about to do, "You don't have to, I could–"

"Thank you, Jounin-san," the bot cut him off, "But I do, he's my father, it's my duty to him."

Before Minato could protest further, he had flashed through several seals, releasing a katon jutsu. The flames quickly engulfed the body.

The smell of burning flesh was always unpleasant, but Minato had long since learned to steel himself against it. His students didn't have such practice, Rin turned rather green and turned away, and Minato to could hear Obito retching in the treetops.

Hatake didn't seem fazed, though the jounin figured it had more to do with the boy being in shock than anything else. The flames reflected in his visible eye demonically, giving the boy an otherworldly look.

He couldn't suppress a shutter as –as if in answer to his thoughts –the summon let out a long mournful howl.

The stood in respectful silence for a few long moments afterward, then Minato turned to the child. His eyes soft, not wanting to push him.

"Hatake-kun?" he called, drawing the boy's vacant gaze, "We can't stay here, the smoke and Tsurara's howls will draw unwanted attention."

Slowly, the boy nodded, turning and disappearing into the cave for a few moments before returning. He had a pack settled over his shoulder, and a sheathed tanto in his hand. Minato immediately recognized it as the White Fang's signature weapon, the one from which he got his name.

"Let's go then," he said, ignoring the still burning body.

Minato nodded and took to the trees, his students and the boy following without question. The ran for several miles, being careful to cover their trail, until they came to a small, nearly dried up, creek bed.

It was well sheltered on either side by the gully walls, trees overhung their chosen spot, hiding them from above. The creek provided enough fresh water for all of them to refill their canteens.

As night fell, they settled in against one of the gully walls, eating their rations. As Minato ate his dried meat, he could stop his straying glances toward the boy. Who was sitting a little ways away with Tsurara curled around him. What did he mean before?

"Just ask your questions or stop staring at me," the boy finally snapped, sending a one-eyed glare towards him.

"What did you mean when you said I ruined your life?"

"Exactly what I said."

"Bastard!" Obito snapped, glaring at the other boy, "I don't know exactly what happened, but sparing someone's life is generally a nice thing to do!"

"Obito!" Rin scolded, glaring pointedly at her teammate.

"I was the only one to walk off that battlefield, what sort of message do you think that sent to my leaders?"

Obito stared at him for a second not understanding, Minato did immediately, and suddenly had an inkling of where this tale was going. Rin also seemed to get his meaning.

"They thought you had given up information for your life."

"Correct, and after I convinced them I was no traitor, the Tsuchikage had this brilliant idea. Since it was shown that Konoha showed mercy on children, why not send one undercover, to sabotage and leak intel."

Minato stiffened, realizing how disastrous that would be, thinking of any children that were brought into the village since his first encounter with Hatake.

"Of course, the first choice would be the child that Konoha had already shown pity on, me. My father protested, he had never thought too kindly of espionage, and wasn't willing to throw his only child into the hands of the enemy.

"At first the Raikage listened to my father's protests, since they were friends and he was a mentor to his sons. But as casualty numbers increased, so did the Tsuchikage's insistence. Soon it was decided that I would be taken to a spot near the Konoha border, gravely injured, and left to be found by a patrol–"

"You agreed to this?" Minato interrupted, appalled by all of this.

"I didn't have a choice in the matter, I was a shinobi of Kumo, I would do what my leaders required of me."

"What happened then?" Rin pressed quietly.

"My father wasn't having any of it, he tracked down us down and killed my escort. You know the rest, he was labeled a missing-nin, and they kept my existence quiet. Probably hoping to track me down and drag me back."

"What happened to your eye?" Obito asked without seeming to realize how rude he sounded.

"Obito…" Rin warned, as Hatake's hand moved to brush the cloth covering his eye.

"Run in with Hunters a few months back, probably the same ones that poisoned my father a few days ago…"

"I'm sorry for your loss, Hatake-kun," Minato said sincerely, "I know you don't want to keep answering questions, but I have one more. Why did you trust me so easily?"

"I didn't trust you," Hatake corrected, "But after you spared me, Father said he wasn't surprised. That you were Jiraiya-sama's student. Therefore, an honorable man. Besides, if you wanted to kill me, wouldn't you have done so earlier?"

"I suppose," Minato paused, then grinned, "Jiraiya-sensei always spoke highly of your father."

The boy's eye widened slightly, before something akin to a smile crossed his face.

"I have a question for you," Minato blinked in surprise at this, "I was under the impression that Konoha's squad system worked similarly to Kumo's, but you're an odd man out."

The tension in the air skyrocketed, and Obito gritted his teeth, only Rin's hand on his arm stopped him from exploding. Noticing he had stepped into something best avoided, Hatake backtracked, apologizing.

"Don't," Minato cut him off, "You're right, my other student was gravely injured by a Kumo-nin. He survived, but… he isn't the same. He's no longer on active duty."

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked."

"It's alright," Rin started then frowned, "You never told us your name."

"Oh, sorry," Hatake said, hesitating, "I'm Hatake Kakashi."

When morning came, so did Kakashi's decision.

"I can't come with you."

Minato wasn't all too surprised by this, though he couldn't help feeling a little disappointed. His students however didn't understand.

"Eh, why not, Bakashi?" Obito asked, earning a sharp look from the silver haired boy at the name.

"What happens if the Hunter-nin find you again? You'll be by yourself."

"No, he won't, I'm not going anywhere until he has a pack of his own," Tsurara grumbled, coming to stand beside her summoner's son.

"I better find Pakkun then," Kakashi quipped, though it was obviously forced. The dog whirled around and glared at him.

"You are not making a pug the leader of your pack!"

"We'll see; and thank you for your concern, Rin, but I'll be fine. I don't want to put your village in a compromising position by sheltering me."

"But we're already at war with Kumo!" Obito shot back.

"And when there's peace? What then, Uchiha? War cannot last forever."

"Maybe we'll meet again," Minato said smiling softly, placing his hand reassuringly on the boy's shoulder.

"Maybe, thank you all again."

And like that he was gone.

"Hokage-sama," Minato said, as he stepped unannounced into the room.

Multiple pairs of eyes turned to look at him, and the jounin winced, but he could turn back now.

"Minato!" his sensei greeted with a broad grin, "And here we were worried your student's bad habits were rubbing off on you."

"Very funny, Sensei."

"Minato-kun," Sarutobi greeted, "You were starting to worry us, though your mission wasn't so important that you had to report right away."

"I know, Hokage-sama, I apologize, I'll come back later."

Minato tried to bow out the door, but a voice stopped him.

"You're already here, Namikaze-san, whatever you had to say in front of the Hokage would be shared with us anyway."

"Danzo is right, Minato, come in," Sarutobi reassured, ignoring his shinobi's unease.

"Of course, Hokage-sama, I came to report the death of Kumo's nukenin, Hatake Sakumo."

Eyes widened around the room, though only Jiraiya's closed in grief and respect.

"Have you proof?" Danzo asked, eye narrowed dangerously.

"I saw his body burn before my own eyes."

"You killed him then?" Koharu asked.

"No, I found his body."

"You just happened to stumble across the body of Kumo's White Fang?"

"No, I was… I was lead to his body by another nukenin," Minato bit out, he had been hoping to avoid mentioning Kakashi's presence.

"Who?"

Minato didn't answer right away, forcing Sarutobi to prompt him.

"Minato, who lead you to his body?"

"Hatake Kakashi."

"Hatake… Kakashi?" Jiraiya stuttered.

"Yes."

"And who exactly is that?"

"The White Fang's son."

There was dead silence in the room, as the processed this bit of information, though Jiraiya had this grin pulling at his lips that worried Minato.

"And where is this child now?" Danzo growled.

"I don't know."

"You mean you let him get away!" the older man snarled, gaining his feet swiftly, "Do you know what you've done! That child could have brought about the end of the war, as a bargaining chip or a weapon, and you just let him go!"

"That's enough, Danzo," the Hokage's voice cutting through the tension, "While I may not agree with what jounin Namikaze has done, there is nothing we can do to change the fact now. We'll discuss this later, Minato, you're dismissed."

The blond bowed stiffly and turned on his heel exiting without a word. That went worse than expected, he shouldn't have said anything. But his duty to the village required him to report Hatake's death. If only the elders weren't there.

But, Minato didn't realize the magnitude of what he had done.

As the Hokage dismissed him, Danzo was calculating how to get his hands on the White Fang's legacy. That was a tool that couldn't be allowed to fall into the wrong hands.

Hope you enjoyed.

I don't have anything planned for this, maybe a few scenes but not a full length story. So, that being said, I might add few other one-shots to this, I might not.

But, let me know what you thought of it.