Chapter Text
Everything went to shit so fast. One moment, Kakashi was finally enjoying life amidst an unfortunate situation. And the next–
The next–
“Watch out!” Iruka screams, and Kakashi reflexively jerks the wheel to the right, which sends Iruka careening into his side and smashing their heads together. Bright bursts of stars flash in Kakashi’s remaining eye.
Twenty minutes ago, they’d taken a pit stop because Naruto had to piss. Kakashi fervently wishes he’d ignored the kid and stopped somewhere more inconspicuous. Tanu-kee’s with its larger than life selection of goods and dozens of gas pumps is a hotspot for travelers of all kinds. Unfortunately, that means Kakashi being recognized was much more likely, no matter how slim the initial possibility was.
The ensuing car chase has confirmed one thing– Danzo was not going to let him go peacefully.
Kakashi regrets a lot of things, and he anticipates that number to grow very rapidly.
Iruka is still yelling obscenities, and it really doesn’t help the insanely painful migraine Kakashi has given himself after ripping his eye out. Right, and the headbutt hadn’t helped either.
It had been an impulsive decision. He could’ve tried stabbing himself in the eye instead of outright ripping it out, but he wasn’t sure if the technology was shatter proof or what. So, it had to go.
Sorry Obito. I’m sure you would’ve done the same thing to protect Rin.
They couldn’t track them anymore, at least. The downside was that by severing the optic nerve violently, there was now a waterfall of blood coming from his empty eye socket, spreading gore all down his face and to his front. His rabbiting, adrenaline-shot pulse is only aiding in speeding up the endless gush. The pain is so acute that had he been a weaker man, with less adrenaline pumping through his veins, he would’ve passed out cold.
Pakkun barks to his left and Kakashi whips his head over to the side view mirror and spots a black car speeding towards them. He narrows his eye, and swerves again, hard enough that several of the dogs go flying, including Pakkun, who lands in Iruka’s lap. Naruto’s laughter is accompanied by the sounds of items slamming against the cabinet doors.
”What the fuck is going on!” Iruka screeches, and while Kakashi can’t see him, he can imagine the other man is two seconds away from exploding. Out of anger or fear, Kakashi isn’t sure. Probably both.
”We’re being chased.” Kakashi wisely informs him.
”I can see that. Why?!”
There’s no sense in trying to hide anymore. They could very well die any moment, so any and all secrets seem so inconsequential and insignificant. Iruka deserves the answers he’s wanted for so long. Kakashi only wishes they could be told under less dire circumstances. ”I defected from ANBU. I didn’t expect Danzo to actually try and drag me back this far out of the province, but that was my mistake.”
It’s not a lie. But it’s not everything either. That’ll come later. A later that will happen, odds be damned.
”You are– were an ANBU. I knew it. Fucking fantastic you only confirm that when we’re all about to die. ” Iruka spits out bitterly. Kakashi tries not to wince at the venom in his tone. And Kakashi faintly realizes this is perhaps the tenth time Iruka has said “fuck” since he ripped his eye out.
”We’re not dying.” Kakashi grits out and grips the steering wheel hard enough to pop all his knuckles in an audible ripple.
Another sharp turn around a SUV has the cupboards and cabinets bursting open, and their belongings become airborne. One of the dogs yelps after presumably being hit by a projectile. Thankfully, all of Kakashi’s weapons are secured tightly underneath the bed, so none of them would be getting stabbed by loose knives. And that provides Kakashi with an idea for a very idiotic but potentially life-saving plan.
”Iruka, I need you to drive.”
” What! ” Iruka exclaims.
”If I don’t stop at least one of their vehicles, we may actually get captured.”
”What do me and Naruto have to do with this!”
”More than you know.” And without another word, Kakashi switches on cruise control and throws himself out of the driver’s compartment and into the back.
Behind him, he can hear Iruka scrambling to take over the wheel all the while cursing his heart out. Honestly, he’s never heard the man curse so much or so violently. Even Naruto has gone silent in lieu of excited, hysterical laughter. His bright blue eyes look up at Kakashi in shock upon seeing the gore coating nearly his entire left side.
Kakashi dives onto the bed in the back and crawls the remaining distance to the back left corner. He pulls back the sponge-like mattress and yanks up a black duffle bag. The van jolts to the side just as Kakashi unzips the bag and he goes careening into the wall right wall. Senbon come loose and scatter across the bed, glinting menacingly in the fading daylight. Cursing under his breath, Kakashi manages to snag the duffle bag towards himself and grab his rolled-up pouch of kunai. He straps the pouch to his thigh and climbs back into the kitchenette.
“Hold the wheel as steady as you can while avoiding projectiles!” Kakashi commands before he throws open the window above the kitchenette counter. Wind howls into the van, sending his hair into further disarray and cooling the hot blood on his face. He punches out the protective screen and prepares to stick himself out of it.
“There’s traffic ahead, I can’t promise you anything!” Iruka hollers back, but the van noticeably stills. Just as he’s putting his top half through the window, Iruka yells, “Wait, did you say projectiles? ”
Now is his chance. While having the vehicle still means he gets a clearer shot, that makes him more susceptible to a hit. But he’ll take what he can. He readies a shuriken between his fingers, fighting against the force of the wind and the hair in his eye, locks on his target and takes a deep breath. On his exhale, he sends the projectile careening towards the closest vehicle. It punctures the front tire, then is driven further into the rubber when the wheel runs it over. The tire practically explodes and the car sails to the left, brakes screeching and metal singing against concrete.
He readies another shuriken when a truck knocks into the back of the van and causes an upset in his precarious balance. The cotton of his jeans slip against the slick porcelain of the counter and he plummets forwards.
The rapidly passing concrete comes rushing towards his face faster than he can even breathe. His mind flashes through possibilities of survival, but the van is going fifty miles per hour at least, and he’s most definitely going to faceplant. This fall will either hideously disfigure him even more or kill him. Either scenario is not ideal.
Suddenly, there's a harsh tug at his ankle and the distinct feeling of teeth sinking into skin. His descent halts and he takes a second to thank whatever higher power was watching him in this moment. And Bull, of course, who bit harder than he probably meant to but he is definitely going to be eating steak for the next month for that one.
The problem now is the truck that’s pressing against the rear bumper. The fact that it's staying at a constant speed means someone is trying to climb onto the van. And to hell with that. He shakes his leg, Bull lets go and Kakashi turns his body around to grab onto the top ledge of the camper. It’s just out of reach, and he decides in the next moment to take another risk. He shifts his body further out before jumping. His left hand finds purchase but his right, slick with blood from a knick from the shuriken he’d been holding, slips off. For a few seconds, he dangles off the side of the van with one hand. It’s with hysterical strength that he manages to grip on with the other hand and pull himself over the lip.
While he’s hauling himself over, a bullet whizzes behind him and grazes the back of his calf. Heat explodes from the fresh wound and Kakashi curses himself for his sloppiness. Now on his stomach on the top of the van, he looks up to see a man clad in tactical gear, wind goggles and heavy, most-likely magnetic boots, just beginning to stand. There’s something odd with the man, though. He’s not wearing any Konoha or Land of Fire insignia, and the gear isn’t any he’s seen on comrades…
Because this man isn’t from Konoha. None of these men are. They’re from Lightning Country. Or, were.
Danzo is hiring fugitives to capture him. And he knows they’re trying to capture him alive. If they weren’t, that gun would’ve been aimed at his head and he would be dead already. Of course, they’re going to come after him with the intent to kill, if the way the man standing above him lunges down towards him with two tantos is any indication. He rolls out of the way just in time to avoid impalation and barely manages to stay on the roof. The swords tear easily through the thin metal and become lodged in the plaster casing. The man begins frantically tugging on the handles, with no success. Kakashi takes that split second of stillness to spin around and kick the guy in the gut. He doesn’t fly off like desired, but he does stumble backwards several steps, his boots keeping him attached to the metal.
Now, however, he’s out of weapons. All Kakashi has to do is figure out a way to short circuit those boots. And luckily, Kakashi is a bit of an electromaniac. Kakashi reaches back into the pouch he’d strapped to his hip and pulls out a compact device from in between the kunai. The fugitive looks at it with wariness before lunging forward to try and make a grab for Kakashi. Before he can, Kakashi plunges the device against his left boot and discharges an electrical shock. The boot immediately comes loose from the roof and the guy hollers as his body, losing its sense of balance, collapses. One more hit from the compact taser on the other boot and the guy falls off backwards and onto the windshield of the truck he’d come from. The truck swerves off the road and flips after striking a large rock.
He risks peeking over the edge to see if there are anymore pursuing cars. Fortunately, or rather unfortunately, there’s only a police car trailing behind by several car-lengths, blocked by traffic. Kakashi can easily lose them. He crawls backwards towards the driver’s compartment and lets his feet hit the hood before he sinks down into a crouch, one hand braced on the windshield and smearing blood and the other pointing at the passenger side window.
Iruka stares at him in abject horror before rolling down the window as he’s told. Kakashi carefully maneuvers through the window and lands in the passenger seat. The window rolls up behind him.
”Iruka, let me drive.” He asks, feeling oddly still now that wind isn’t buffeting against him.
”No. I’m not letting you over here.” Iruka replies without looking away from the road. His knuckles are white against the steering wheel and most of his hair has fallen out of his ponytail band. And his expression is twisted in anxiety, his lovely scar scrunched and rippled on the bridge of his nose.
”I-”
”Stop. Just–” Iruka risks a glance, and hones in on the blood still pouring from Kakashi’s eye socket and the oozing cut on his arm he’d gotten from one of the tanto. He visibly pales and looks back to the road only a moment later. ”–Stop the bleeding and tell me where to go.”
”Let me help, Kakapa!” Naruto cuts in, surprising the both of them. In the chaos that had just transpired, Naruto hadn’t made a peep until now. Kakashi’s stomach sinks a bit at the reminder that not only has his lover been dragged into this mess, but a nine-year-old child . It doesn’t matter that Kakashi had been murdering at that age, this is Naruto , an innocent boy who cries when he scrapes his knees and complains when he has to eat his greens. A boy who’s looking at Kakashi’s lone eye with unwavering sincerity. His resolve melts away, after images of Minato flashing in his mind.
”Naruto,” he sighs, resigned, “I need you to go to the drawer under the sink and get the med kit out. Iruka, take the next right and keep going until I say so.”
Naruto immediately does as he’s told, maneuvering around the mess that’s strewn across the floor and grabs the med kit. He brings it back quickly.
The next ten minutes spent are in tense silence. Kakashi has bandaged himself up as best as he could. During his impromptu patching session, he’d discovered he had stuck himself with a few of his own poison-tipped senbon. That isn’t inherently too much to worry about. He, along with the other ANBU, have been conditioned to resist many poisons. Especially the poisons they carry. However, being resistant doesn’t mean being immune, so the effects are greatly diminished. Kakashi is definitely feeling lightheaded and numb. That could be from the bloodloss, though. And the poison is going to be circulating a lot faster with how frantic his heart is beating. With less blood volume, the poison is also going to be much more potent. Already, he can feel the early signs. His head feels like it is about to float away from his body. Bile climbs up his throat, but he valiantly keeps it down. He leans forwards and rests his head on the cool console. The material should be warm because they’d been driving towards the sun. Sweat beads down from his hairline.
Just an hour longer…
Kakashi is just barely lucid enough to tell Iruka to pull onto a poorly made dirt road almost invisible among the thick foliage and forest. The longer drive the more everything seems to be a wash of color. A picture with the exposure left on too long. Iruka taps his shoulder gently, it still startles him. Iruka is asking for directions.
“Right, then straight.”
Even his own voice is muffled. He just needs to give Iruka directions and stay awake, it should be simple enough. It's one task. At least the thundering in his head had numbed a bit in the ongoing haze. There's some low rumbles of Iruka's concerned voice and a few dwindling comments from Naruto that Kakashi can't decipher anymore. His ears are ringing too loudly.
Stay awake and tell Iruka where to go. Get them safe. Another light tap and a squeeze. Where are they? Right, car directions it should be...
“Pull to the right here and then it should be the first wooden house on the right.”
The gentle rub of a hand on his shoulder keeps him awake. Rub down, breathe through the nausea. Rub up, swallow through the bile. Stay awake. Don't give in yet.
The sky has started to darken with either the overhead trees, time, or maybe that’s just his vision. Doesn’t really matter because another long stretch and then a turn later, they roll to a stop in front of a rundown wooden house. Iruka turns the ignition off and Kakashi watches as Jiraiya's blurry form stomps out onto the porch with a shotgun in his hands. He squints in to look at them and then his eyes widen when he catches sight of Kakashi.
Kakashi opens the door with numb fingers, head hazy and pounding painfully. It takes all of his effort to remain vertical when he stumbles out of the car. One step. Then two. But when he opens his mouth to explain to Jiraiya what’s happening, all air leaves his lungs and the ground comes rushing towards his face.