AN: This is co-written with Lohis so half of the credit goes to her. Well, she also did the beta reading (and corrected my mistakes with prepositions) so I guess a little over half the credit goes to her.

In Naruto, this takes place in early Shippuden or so. In Katanagatari, slight AU and around episode 9.

The story will be in two parts.

A Fistful of Ninjas

Part One

Hatake Kakashi was strolling through the busy streets of Konoha, once again using one of his most honed ninja skills: the art of multitasking. That certain ability was quite useful, he had many times realized, as he could without any difficulties read his favorite Icha Icha novel, listen to the village's latest rumors, avoid bumping into people or street lamps and keep an eye out for any signs of Might Guy and his crazy challenges. All this without even a single glance with the Sharingan. And people dared to call him lazy.

He swiftly dodged another street lamp on his way, continuing to wander to the general direction of the Hokage's office. He was already little late (not much, this was the Hokage after all, not his genin team), so perhaps it was time to make his appearance in case Tsunade was in a bad mood, as the current leader of the Konohagakure Village could be quite unpleasant when angry. Maybe he would manage to save himself from Tsunade-sama's wrath.

Maybe.

Well, life was full of risks.

So in order to avoid getting too badly mauled and yelled by their quite scary leader, after some five minutes the jounin strolled to the Hokage's office, stuffing the orange-covered book to the pouch on his belt.

"Yo," he saluted, the right eye forming a happy crescent.

Tsunade shot him a dark glare from behind her desk, growling: "About time, Hatake."

To the Copy Nin's surprise Naruto was also there, standing in front of the desk, once again wearing the screaming orange-and-black outfit. The youth quickly turned around when hearing his teacher's voice.

"What?! Sensei, you're almost on time!" The boy squinted his eyes accusingly. "How come you are always so late when meeting us?"

"Oh, Naruto, you're here too, " the jounin stated cheerfully. "Well, you know, sometimes I just get lost on the road of life when –"

"Shut it, Hatake!" Tsunade snapped venomously when Naruto opened his mouth to complain further. "I didn't call you here to ramble some nonsense!"

"Ah, forgive me, Hokage-sama," The Copy Nin said with a serious tone, though there was an amused glint in his visible eye that didn't go unnoticed by Tsunade. The woman narrowed her eyes.

"Let's get down to the business, finally. I'm going to send you two to a special mission, so listen carefully. A few days ago –"

"A SPECIAL MISSION?!" Naruto practically hollered in excitement. Kakashi was sure the whole village had heard that. And possibly the neighbor villages too.

"Yes, now shut up, brat!" Tsunade all but roared, slamming her fist on the table (which cracked slightly), thus effectively silencing the over-enthusiastic boy. Kakashi rolled his eye. Tsunade glared at them both before continuing, eyes flashing dangerously.

"As I was saying, a few days ago we caught a missing nin on the borders of Konoha." There was now a serious look in her brown eyes as she continued. "Though she was not dangerous enough to be in the Bingo Books, according to the patrol team that caught her she still was quite a handful. They also found a scroll in her possession. She tried to destroy it before her capture, but some of the scroll still remained legible." Tsunade was silent for a moment, eyeing the two shinobi in front of her. "The messenger didn't know the contents of the scroll and all we managed to find out about the receiver was that they are a small band of rogue nins with apparently quite a powerful leader. She then refused to say anything else."

Naruto was practically shaking with excitement. Beside him, Kakashi had his hands in his pockets, slouching slightly but he didn't for a moment move his gaze from the Hokage.

"Does this rogue shinobi leader have a name?" He asked, tilting his head slightly.

Tsunade sent him a sharp look. "Not yet. The henchman only referred to him as 'master'. "

Kakashi nodded thoughtfully. It was always quite unsettling to hear about rogue shinobi gathering other missing ninjas around them. It never led to anything remotely good.

Tsunade was continuing her briefing and Kakashi swiftly returned his attention to their leader.

"We managed to decrypt most of what was left of the scroll. It held information about a certain location and mentions of a weapon of unknown kind. "

"A weapon?" The silver-haired jounin's eye narrowed slightly. Tsunade crossed her arms and leaned back in her chair.

"Yes. Unfortunately everything we found out about it was pretty much that it is a weapon and in addition, apparently quite a powerful one. The location mentioned in the message is situated on the remote areas in the west, just outside Iwa's borders. "

Kakashi arched one silver eyebrow. This mission was apparently going to be a rather unusual one. Naruto looked as if he was about to explode from excitement but miraculously the boy remained silent.

"What about the sender? And the destination?" Kakashi questioned.

Tsunade grimaced. "Ibiki managed to extract some information out of her. We sent teams to check out both locations, but nothing was found. So either their timetable is strict, they are very cautious or they somehow learned about the capture."

The blonde woman gave Kakashi a steady gaze. "We don't know if this weapon is real or if this rogue nin is as powerful as it is said, but we can't risk some strong and greedy outlaw getting his hands on a weapon with unknown powers. Your job is to make absolutely sure they don't get the weapon. Bring it here if possible, but use whatever means necessary to stop their plans. Destroy it if you have to. Although we captured their messenger we can't trust that they aren't already aware of the location too, so you'll leave as soon as possible. Is that clear?"

"Yes Hokage-sama." The Hatake bowed a little.

"Good. Here are the coordinates." She gave Kakashi a small scroll. "Memorize it and then destroy it. Time is essential, so I expect you to be out of the village by the afternoon. Now, get out."

"Pengin, I don't normally question your information gathering abilities, but are you completely sure?" The Bird Squad leader asked as the two Maniwa ninjas slid down a sand dyne before continuing their darting through the desert.

"H-hai! A-according to Shikizaki Kiki's own notes found from his sw-swordsmith sh-shop, h-he hid one in a c-cave north of here, in the outskirts of J-Japan… "

The Phoenix-ninja didn't glance at the boy, and merely nodded his head.

The two remaining Maniwa Corps heads had been running nonstop for a while now, trying to beat the Strategian-dono in reaching the 11th sword –though the fact that the Owari Shogunate servant had an obligation to stop by at the castle and report her progress gave them a small head start.

Crossing another dyne the fish squad member tripped and yelped rolling down the side of the sand formation. He landed with a soft thud and sent some dust swirling around his tiny form, covering him from Houou's sight.

"Are you alright?" The older man asked stopping and looking down at the cloud of sand.

"Stupid feet… stupid strategian… lousy desert… Hai!"

The man chuckled. It was true that Maniwa Pengin was feared most -after himself- among the Maniwa Clan, but the small boy was still a child -with an impulsive nature.

"Well, if you say so. Let us hurry." Jumping right to the next dyne, the Maniwa Corps leader resumed running, the northern mountain already visible in the distance.

The penguin-clothed boy picked himself up, brushed some of the fine-grained sand off of his black outfit, straightened his cap and shot after his mentor.

The day was about to turn into night as they ran through the forest, jumping from branch to branch and racing through the woods. It was already dusk; the sun was setting, its final rays of reddish light dimly illuminating the forest. The air was already getting colder.

Kakashi leaped from one thick branch to another. They had been quick to leave, taking only absolute necessities with them. It would be vital for their mission to reach the weapon before the outlaws did. If they lost their target to the rogue shinobi, it would be a lot harder to get it back from them than to just fetch it. The quicker they got there, the better.

"How much longer, Sensei?" Naruto asked from behind him.

The Copy Nin quickly glanced behind him.

"We're almost at Iwa's border." They would stay there for some time and sleep and then continue to the Earth Country, staying at the borders the whole time. Luckily their destination wasn't supposed to be too far away from Iwa's western borders. If all went well, they'd reach the location by late afternoon tomorrow.

He heard Naruto speed up and then the blond was running beside him.

"What do you think, Kakashi-sensei? About the mission, I mean."

Kakashi somehow managed to shrug while running. "I don't know, Naruto. This could all be a lost errand. The coordinates can be wrong, or the weapon might not even be there. "

"But if it is there…?"

"Then we are in a hurry."

Naruto grinned. It was clear the boy hoped nothing more than that they would really find an unknown weapon with great powers from the outskirts of the Shinobi Countries. The kid was practically radiating excitement.

"So, let's get going then!" His student exclaimed, dashing forwards. Kakashi chuckled, following right after him as the forest slowly became darker around them.

Houou chuckled. It was true that children were clumsy, but this was starting to be more of a rule than an exception as he looked at Maniwa Pengin, once again, lying on his stomach in the cold stream mumbling incoherent things, again.

"Pengin."

The boy spat out some water and mud: "H-hai?"

"We really need to get going, are you sure you're okay to come along?" The Phoenix-ninja asked standing calmly on a nearby rock, arms folded over his chest, the sun, a mere dot halfly submerged behind the horizon, coloring his features bloody red.

The Fish Squad member nodded standing up. He shook his body splashing the water off and looked ponderingly at the older man.

"Gomenasai, H-Houou-sama… I don't k-know what's wrong wi-with me… I'm really trying my b-best but i-it seems the c-cave doesn't wa-want me to r-re-reach it."

The Bird Squad leader sighed. It did really look that way, no matter how strange it sounded. They had been a rock throw's away from the cave many times already and every time they had needed to back away, mostly thanks to Pengin, who had either tripped and rolled down the mountain side or jumped on a tree branch that had broken under his weight and dropped on the red and white clothed ninja pushing them further away from their destination.

"A-and no matter w-which way we try to r-re-reach it, we still e-end up t-the same length's away…"

"Hai, it seems that your good fortune has somehow turned on you, Pengin," Houou said scratching the back of his head absentmindedly.

"B-but…! My ni-ninpou only works on projectiles…"

"True," the older ninja said offering his hand and pulling the small boy on the rock next to his, "perhaps we have been facing this in the wrong angle…"

"Huh?"

The Maniwa Ninja Corps leader laughed tilting his peak-like cap. "Oh, the irony…" he mumbled, "I should've seen it."

"H-Houou-s-sama…?"

"Gomen, Pengin."

With that the man sucker punched the child and grabbed his falling form.

Tossing the small, unconscious Fish Squad member on his shoulder, the Phoenix-ninja dashed at the cave opening, sliding in smirking, letting the darkness engulf both of them, his chuckle echoing deep.

"Are we there yet?"

Kakashi mentally sighed. Sometimes he felt like the blond boy running behind him hadn't matured at all since the day he was assigned to the genin team. Naruto might have been a teenager with superior chakra reserves and enough determination to get him through the Hokage Mountain but sometimes he still acted like a kid.

"If we were already there we wouldn't be travelling anymore, would we?"

He heard an exaggerated sigh from behind him.

"But we are already over Iwa's borders," his student complained.

Kakashi rolled his eye. Kids these days…

The terrain had already changed from the rocky and desolate grounds of the Earth Country into thick forests. The trees were smaller than in Konoha and they were now travelling on ground. It wasn't as fast as on tree branches but that would have to do. Their destination wasn't that far anyway.

It was already late afternoon, the sun slowly travelling towards the western horizon. Kakashi mentally frowned. He hoped they would reach their destination before the night. They had no information about where the weapon - if there was any – actually was and he'd like to at least take a look around and possibly even find the target before nightfall.

Their journey had gone quite well. They had gotten a few hours of sleep before entering Iwa territory and there hadn't been any incidents slowing them down while they'd traveled in the Earth Country. Kakashi was relieved. The last thing they needed now was some crazy missing nin getting on their way.

They ran for another ten minutes or so. Should be any moment now.

Suddenly they emerged from the forest to a large meadow.

Kakashi halted at the edge of the woods, trailing his gaze over the clearing. There was nothing conspicuous in sight. At least not yet.

Naruto had stopped beside him, looking around the meadow with puzzlement in his azure eyes.

"This is the place, then?"

"I'm not sure Naruto…" The Copy Nin glanced at his student. "But let's take a look around."

Water was dripping somewhere near. Maniwa Houou stared at the pile of crystallized rock as if trying to burn a hole into it. The younger ninja stood behind him, shaking slightly.

"It was here," the Phoenix-ninja said after a while, "but isn't anymore. Did the Strategian-dono beat us to it? No, impossible. She is far too weak to endure such a tiresome journey. Did somebody else take it? Perhaps. Who, then?"

Maniwa Pengin bit his lip. It wasn't unusual for the Maniwa Ninja Corps leader to mumble to himself, but this was starting to be unnatural, even on the older shinobi's scale.

"Um…"

"Yes, Pengin?"

"I was j-just thinking…"

"Hai?"

The Fish Squad member looked down, hands fumbling his clothes. "M-maybe there is another way o-out?"

Houou sighed stroking his peak-like cap. "I agree. No one passed us, and it seems the sword was pulled out not so long ago. There may be a trail left..."

The small boy glanced around.

"D-doesn't look that way… They w-were good…"

"That wasn't what I meant, Pengin," the red and white clothed man chuckled and smiled at the child, "I was talking about the sword."

Maniwa Pengin flinched. He shook his head embarrassed and lowered his gaze, hiding his reddening cheeks. The older ninja let out a laughter and folded his arms.

"You're young, Pengin. You'll learn."

"H-hai…" the boy muttered clenching his fists before loosening them again with a sigh.

"Can you track it?" Houou asked folding his arms over his chest.

The small Fish Squad member kneeled down and ran a hand over the dusty cave floor. Picking himself up, he wandered here and there around the pile of rocks, Maniwa Houou following him with his gaze. The boy's steps echoed in the large cavern being the only source of sound besides the dripping water.

"H-Houou-sama, this way," Maniwa Pengin said and pointed at a small opening hidden behind a rock formation.

The Phoenix-ninja tilted his head. "I won't fit in there."

The small boy shuttered and mumbled: "I'll go s-scout…" He looked through the opening and vanished only to return quickly. "H-Houou-sama! I-It's okay on the other side, p-perhaps the pathway just c-collapsed slightly…"

"No."

"H-Houou-sama?"

"I'm not crawling through that gap, and that's final," the man growled annoyed.

Maniwa Pengin blinked. He had never seen Maniwa Houou so… adamant before.

"B-But… Do-Dokutou Mekki is…" the boy started and pointed at the tiny pathway.

The Bird Squad leader mentally hit his forehead for forgetting it. He cursed the person or persons that had taken the Deviant Blade from its resting place and taken it through that… that… hole.

"H-Houou-sa…" Pengin began but was cut off by Houou's quiet snarling: "Just. This. Once."

Unfolding his arms, the older ninja gritted his teeth and kneeled by the opening. Gesturing the boy to go first, Houou straightened his cap and crawled, no, groveled, forward. The white on his outfit turned grayish and the shinobi could hear the sharp edges rip his clothing.

The small ninja grabbed the older man's upper arm and pulled. The Maniwa Ninja Corps leader grunted and scratched helplessly at the stone underneath him with his free arm, trying to grasp something, anything.

After what felt like an eternity the Phoenix-ninja was able to wiggle and pull his way through.

"Pengin…," he panted, "remind me to use my ninpou next time."

"H-hai, but the wall could then collapse o-on both of u-us."

The man looked at his torn clothes and the fiery-red feathers that now decorated the mouth of the gap.

"I'll take my chances."

The late afternoon in the eastern borders of Earth Country was dark.

The sky was covered by melancholic gray clouds that let practically none of the sunlight through, making the desolate land seem even more forlorn than usually. In the western sky, however, the weather seemed to slowly get brighter, like a promise of a paradise.

Hidden in the shadows of large rock formations was a small hastily build camp, its only purpose being to offer a few hours of rest and sleep for its residents before their journey would continue.

In the outskirts of the camp, two figures stood at guard, hidden in the shadows of nearby massive rocks.

"I hate this blasted country," a man's voice suddenly grunted. "Damn cold rocks as far as the eye can see. Can't wait to get out of here."

"Shut the hell up, Isamu!" Another voice, this one also male, hissed in reply. "We only just got here! And Kita is from Iwagakure, if she hears us she'll skin us both alive!"

"More like break our bones," the first man snorted. "Why would she care, anyway? It's not like she didn't defect that place, Raiden. That woman is just one crazy – "

"Shut it, will you!" The man called Raiden angrily interrupted before his partner could insult their fellow ninja even more and risk the wrath of the insane kunoichi. "Yeah, that is true, but it doesn't mean she wouldn't maul us for offending her birthplace."

Isamu growled in annoyance but let the matter drop. Silence descended between the two men, forlorn wind blowing over the rocky terrain.

"Wonder when Boss will order us to continue," Isamu said after a moment.

His companion snorted. "Probably soon. He was pretty riled up yesterday when we had to move as the first messenger didn't arrive. "The man lowered his voice a little."They say she got caught and now someone might know the location."

Isamu silently swore. "So that's why we've been running like the Shinigami himself was on our heels." The man glanced at the camp. "And without a doubt, we'll soon be doing that again. Don't think Boss wants to let the weapon slip from his fingers. Though I'd really like to take a nap before that happens."

"Speak of the devil…" Raiden muttered as shouts suddenly erupted from the camp, ordering everyone to be ready to leave in ten minutes.

"So much for getting more sleep then," Isamu muttered as the two men returned to the camp to gather their things.

The two were running. They had managed to get out of the cave without further… obstacles, and were now following the eerie aura Dokutou Mekki had left behind – as well as the blood drips on the grass blades.

Upon exiting the cavern the Maniwa ninjas had met a pitiful sight. Down on the root of the mountain a body had laid in pieces. Literally.

It had been that of a man with short black hair and thin body; his eyes of brown -now glazed- had been staring at the drifting clouds. His clothes stained with his own blood had been hanging on his torn body parts, which had been scattered across the small plain.

The Fish Squad member dodged a branch, the scene growing smaller and smaller behind them.

"D-do you think h-he was double-crossed?" The boy asked.

Houou shrugged in the midst of his dash. "Perhaps, or a victim of his own foolery. I am sure that it was the work of Mekki, so we should be nearby."

Pengin nodded. The droplets on the grass were still wet and increasing in number as the two made their way through the early evening forest.

'These woods… I'm not familiar with them,' the Phoenix-ninja thought, slowing down ever-so-slightly as the trees grew fewer and fewer.

The Maniwa ninjas came to a halt as a quiet meadow opened in front them. Upon the clearing, a black sword stood impeded into the ground, greenish aura circling around it blade and hilt.

"Found you," Houou smirked.

The meadow had been slightly larger than Kakashi and Naruto had first thought. Once the two ninjas had started to look around they had quite quickly discovered the true size of the clearing.

The meadow was covered in high grass that was swaying slightly in the gentle breeze of wind. The sun descended steadily towards the horizon, the light slowly changing into a golden reddish glow. It was a perfectly ordinary meadow. No sign of settlements or caves or anything that could have been used as a hiding place for a devastating weapon.

They had no idea what exactly they were looking for ( a "weapon" could be practically anything ) so Kakashi had started methodically searching, walking around the clearing, grey eye looking for any kind of hiding places possible. Naruto trailed after him, looking like he tried to act as he knew what he was supposed to be doing.

So far there had been no success. No sign of anything peculiar or extraordinary. No stones with seals carved to them, no ruins or caves where their target could have been hidden, nothing. Just grass, grass and an occasional stone on their way. Kakashi had every now and then taken a glance around with his Sharingan in case for any genjutsus that could have been set on the clearing, but nothing seemed to change. No illusions then.

"What does that weapon thing look like anyway?" Naruto wailed from behind him.

"It can be practically anything," Kakashi said with a shrug. "A sword, a scroll… or something completely different. Just keep your eyes open for anything peculiar."

Naruto huffed exasperatedly.

"Lousy instructions…."

Kakashi rolled his eye, continuing the search. He wanted to find whatever they were looking for before nightfall and preferably before the rogue shinobi could interfere.

"That's the only place we have yet to search," the Copy Nin said, nodding towards where the last part of the meadow was partially hidden by the tree lines.

"Well, it's gotta be there then!" Naruto exclaimed, clearly eager for some other action than strolling around.

"Yes, or then this has been a total fool's errand."

They made their way to the final part of the clearing, keeping an eye out for anything suspicious. But the grass was still grass without even a hint of any hidden weapons.

Until they came to the sword.

It was kind of funny, really, the way they had been searching for some kind of weird hidden power all afternoon only to almost trip over an ordinary sword stabbed to the ground, partially hidden from view by the high grass.

Well, when he said "ordinary"…

There was an eerie aura drifting around the blade and its hilt, like a green smoky cloud. The sword was black with weird markings in it. Kakashi had never seen a blade quite like that.

If that wasn't the weapon they had been sent to retrieve, nothing was.

"That… that's got to be it, right?" Naruto's awed voice asked from behind him.

His student took a step towards the blade but Kakashi waved an arm to stop him.

"Eh, Sensei?

"Don't touch it yet, Naruto," the jounin murmured, staring intently at the sword.

"Why? Because of that weird stuff floating around it?"

The Copy Nin didn't answer. Could they really just grab the thing and make a run for it? Sounded just a little too easy. He lifted his hand to tug up the headband covering his Sharingan to take a glance at the blade. Then his hand froze, head snapping up as his instincts kicked in.

He grabbed confused Naruto by the shoulder, hauling him towards the nearest treeline and away from the sword. His student tried to sputter in objection but Kakashi silenced him with a commanding "quiet".

The jounin dragged the blond boy behind the trees.

"What was that for, Sensei?" Naruto asked indignantly, though in a low tone, rubbing his shoulder and glaring at him.

The Hatake didn't reply, staring at the sword standing impeded to the ground not too far from them. He could still see it clearly as well as the weird aura around it.

"Someone's coming," he murmured, not moving his gaze from their target.

And then two strangers entered the meadow from the other side of the sword.

Naruto gasped in surprise. Kakashi narrowed his eye.

The strangers had stopped at the edge of the woods. Kakashi was ready to bet the amount of money they had promised for his head in the Bingo Books that the two newcomers were here for the blade too.

However, he was almost as sure that those were not the rogue ninjas after the weapon. But one could never be sure.

Naruto peered at the strangers from behind the tree.

"Hey, that taller guy looks just like a chi –"

"Quiet, Naruto."

But he knew what his student had been trying to say. No missing nin would ever dress like that (and the taller guy did look like a giant bird or something, he just had to admit it). And no matter how carefully the Copy Nin examined them, he saw no headbands or other marks to show allegiance to any Village or country.

"Who are they?" Naruto whispered.

"Don't know Naruto," Kakashi replied with a quiet voice. He had yet to remove his gaze from the newcomers."But they are here for the sword and we can't let them have it."

Maniwa Houou lowered his head. At the same time he had noticed the sword he had heard, and more overly, felt someone on the meadow.

'It might be two… Who would talk to themselves out loud…' He thought and stepped unconsciously slightly in front of Pengin, hiding him behind his clothes.

"H-houou-sama…?"

"Shh, Pengin. We're not alone."

The small boy shuddered. He looked at the Maniwa Corps leader and then past him at the meadow and the sword.

"Oh! H-Houou-sama… The grass by Dokutou Mekki…"

"Hai," the Phoenix-ninja muttered crossing his arms. "Whoever is there," he raised his voice, "come out. Now."

Kakashi froze as he heard the stranger call for them.

"What – How did they -?"

"Naruto."

His student quieted down, looking restless. The Copy Nin tried his best to decide their next move. The strangers clearly knew they were there (Did they hear them? Kakashi cursed mentally. They must have seen the tracks on the grass) so it would probably do no good to pretend otherwise. And they didn't seem to be hostile… yet.

"So what are we gonna do?" Naruto asked, clearly unable to stay silent any longer.

Kakashi adjusted his headband.

"Be quiet and stay behind me."

"Come on Sensei, I'm not a –hey!" The boy whispered angrily as the jounin briskly stepped from behind the tree and started walking, stuffing his gloved hands in his pockets. Naruto hurried after him.

Kakashi stopped so that the sword stood between them and the strangers. Now that he was closer he could better examine the newcomers. The other one really did wear a weird bird-like suit. His companion – who appeared to be just a kid, Kakashi noted – also had a bizarre outfit, and the Copy Nin wondered what their meaning was.

The jounin's pose was languid and he took one hand from his pocket and greeted them with and idle wave.

"Yo."

Because sometimes, Kakashi had noticed a while ago, wrong first impressions could later be quite handy.

Thank you for reading! Feedback is always appreciated.