Kakashi of the Demon Slayer Corps(Naruto/Demon Slayer Crossover)

Chapter 2

Kakashi slung a bag with rope tied to it over his back and looked back at the cabin he had spent an entire month in. It was cozy, far too cozy for someone like him and he would've left earlier if he were in familiar territory. But he wasn't. He spent the entire month not only surviving but mentally mapping out layout of about 4 kilometers all around him give or take, and he could safely say that he knew his way around at least a little.

He could also say that he was nowhere near Konoha.

Admittedly, he panicked when he found this out and thought he was in deep shit. The mountain he was on wasn't unlike the mountains that covered the Land of Lightning but, in all honest, he wasn't too familiar with even that landscape.

More often than not, he would've been stationed in the deep, cold swamps of the Land of Water or doing missions closer to home in the Land of Fire which was quite warm when it wasn't winter. It didn't help his situation now but he was glad for his good nose as it was guiding him around better than even his eye.

Suddenly, he gripped his headband that laid over his left eye with a grimace. He had just gotten through a flashback from the cave where Obito had died but it was brief and almost instantly his grimy face was now clear of emotion.

He held in a sigh and began walking to the village he remembered Giyu mention right before he had left and he would've gone earlier had he knew which direction it was in. But now he could smell it the faint scent of something being burned and it had to be some type of fossil fuel because it was going nonstop around the clock. He theorized that this was because of the civilization that used it for power. Therefore, a village.

A few hours, huh? The young Jounin let a puff of cold air escape his body.

XxX

Seems I was right. Kakashi thought to himself, looking at the bustling wooden village, despite the cold.

People moved about their daily activities. Some children played in the snow, while adults carried groceries, moved food carts, went into buildings, and some where even at work. All in all, it wasn't unlike his own village though severely down scaled.

He walked into the village slowly, wanting to have a look around and see if he could find a place to both work at and to sleep at. He was sure he would need money to get a place to sleep and he could just sneak in one but it wouldn't be kept heated nor would one probably be available for such a small village.

"Ouch!"

Kakashi stumbled when something hard hit him in the head out of nowhere and he heard a thud below him. He opened his one eye to see a boy who looked his age with black hair, and a distinctly different red tips on the end of his hair. He groaned once more before looking back at the Shinobi.

"Sorry to bump into you like that. I should've been paying more attention."

"It's fine." He answered after a moments pause. He held out his hand. "I'm partly to blame too I guess." He rubbed his head with his other hand and Tanjiro saw a slight grimace under the unique mask the other teen was wearing. "Wonder what in the world hit me though."

Tanjiro chuckled a small bit as he was helped up to his feet. "Sorry, I was always told I had a hard head." He knocked on it as if it were a door and Kakashi only shrugged.

The other male dusted himself off and Kakashi happened to look behind him and saw black dots on the ground and after a couple of more seconds of looking, as that it was coal. Catching his gaze, Tanjiro turned behind him and realized what he was looking at at.

"Crap!" He got on his knees and hurriedly picked up the coal. Kakashi bent down too and began to help. "Aw, you don't have to-"

"It's fine." Kakashi said, picking up a few and storing it back where it belonged. "What are you doing with coal anyway?"

"Ah, well, I'm just selling it. For my family." He answered and it gained Kakashi's attention.

"Hmm, for your family, huh?"

"Yea," Tanjiro nodded, placing another batch of coal he collected with both hands and storing it. "My family has been selling coal for generations and I'm just moving it along. We sell it to a store that's on the other side of this Village to a nice man. I can show you if you wanna see."

The expectant look he sent Kakashi only made him nod before he even thought about it.

"That's great!" Tanjiro beamed. He dusted off his hand before holding it out to Kakashi. "Tanjiro Kamado, pleasure to meet you."

After seconds of staring at the hand, Kakashi grabbed it with his own. "Good to meet you too. Kakashi. Kakashi Hatake."

XxX

Together the two spent a combined two hours together. Kakashi had saw where the boy sold his coal and was even told how they made it. Tanjiro hand did most of the talking which Kakashi was grateful for as he wasn't good a keeping a conversation nor striking one.

At one point, he was asked about his mask and gave about one of the lamest responses one could give.

"It keeps my face warm."

Tanjiro laughed at it but Kakashi could've sworn that his eyes had shown his distrust for the slightest of seconds.

After that, Tanjiro stayed away from what he deemed personal questions.

Tanjiro finally had to get a move on after showing Kakashi around the whole village and promised to see him tomorrow as he had more coal to sell the next day. Kakashi nodded and watched the boy leave while waving him off.

Kakashi thought the boy was very similar to Obito. He was good natured and Kakashi could tell he possessed a good heart and a lot of compassion. He didn't know just how much he needed that in his life.

XxX

Left to his own devices, Kakashu once again explored the small but lively village in hopes of finding a job suitable enough for him. He now knew the village pretty well and could remember the places of business that would give him something to do physically.

He'd be bored otherwise.

It wasn't long before he had found something that caught his interest. It was a shabby looking place, probably the most he'd seen in the village so far but as he walked further inside he could see that the look was purely cosmetic. He heard the sound of steels being his and it was somehow not hot on the inside of the building considering that he was in a blacksmith's store.

A bored looking man worked the front desk and he strode in casually, hands tucked into his pockets.

"Welcome to our store. What can I do for you?"

The man as polite but it sounded a bit too rehearsed. Not that Kakashi cared about that.

"I'd like to apply for a job here." He said simply.

The man raised an eyebrow and Kakashi saw his eyes look him up and down. "You? How old are you, kid?"

His earlier dryness seemed to disappear.

"Old enough to work." Kakashi said blredly but when he saw the man's eyes he changed his approach in a flash. "My family got murdered. So I'm just trying to take care of myself and figured this was the place to start."

The man hummed and tapped his chin in a show of thinking. Then he sighed. "I suppose I could help you out kid. This may be a dumb question but I have to ask. What do you know about blades? You use one?"

Kakashi said nothing and reached into his pouch, withdrawing a Kunai, and in a flash, threw it into the exact middle of a decoration without even looking.

The man looked more than impressed and flashed him a grin.

"I like you. You can start now. Your first job is to sew that decoration you ruined." Smiling, he took out a needle and thread matching the decoration and Kakashi sweatdropped.