Dreams of the Past

New Nicknames and Allies

Chapter 26

New Nicknames and Allies

Kakashi stayed in the foothills on the edge of Earth for three weeks. That was all the time he needed to start to make a name for himself. He hadn't meant to. Participating in near daily skirmishes, and a handful of more dangerous missions had whispers of the White Fang's vicious cousin and his purple lightning circulating amongst enemies and Konoha shinobi alike.

Those fellow Konoha shinobi had been leery of him at first. It was no secret that he was supposedly from Kumo, an enemy nation. Hiruzen had awarded him the rank of Jōnin on Sakumo's recommendation, so he was regularly leading teams of Chunin into battle. It had only taken a few missions, and the good opinion of Rin's father—who was frequently on those teams—for most of them to decide to trust him.

It was also Rin's father who first told him about his unfortunate new moniker. Kakashi had been adamant that he didn't need one. He'd had his share of nicknames in the past, not that they knew. 'Friend-killer Kakashi,' 'Kakashi of the Sharingan,' 'The Copy-nin, Hatake Kakashi.' He did not care to add to the list.

"Unfortunately, Karasu-san, you're related to the White Fang—someone they already know to flee from—and are every bit as dangerous." Rin's father, name, draped an arm around Kakashi as they walked back into camp, the rest of their team doing a bad job hiding smirks. "And, you possess a singularly noteworthy jutsu." He chuckled good naturedly. "We're at war. Shinobi reputations are built in war. You're no different, Purple Fang."

Kakashi looked imploringly up at the sky and sighed as the team dispersed. Personally he found it painfully unoriginal and redundant. Then, most shinobi nicknames were unoriginal and simple, mostly meant for easy identification. Purple Fang was certainly that.

Sakumo nearly choked himself laughing when he heard it.

A few days before he was finally set to head for Kumo, Jiraiya strolled into camp. Kakashi ran into him on his way to speak with his father as the younger man was headed there himself. He immediately grinned mischievously, elbowing Kakashi in his side and falling into step with him. "Good morning! I wondered when you'd finally join us. Did your lovely young wife come along?"

He made a show of looking around. She wasn't there, he was definitely trying to get a rise out of him, Kakashi knew that. But damn if it was working. He wanted to tear his idiot pervert head off for even thinking about her.

What was wrong with him?

He counted backwards from ten and grit out an answer. "No."

"Ah well..." He chuckled nervously. "So... I hear Konoha has a ferocious pair of twin Fangs defending the Iwa front—"

Kakashi groaned, rubbing the back of his neck. "Please, dont—"

Jiraiya laughed again. "Come on, it's funny. I want to see this purple lightning I've heard so much about. Minato tells me it's rather impressive. That's quite the endorsement in my book."

Thinking about it, Kakashi decided he might like throwing a few punches at the Sannin. "Maybe we'll have time for a short spar."

Jiraiya clapped his hands together. "Alright! And hey, maybe afterwards I'll give you and Sakumo a sneak peak at my upcoming novel. I have a feeling you might like it." His grin was lascivious. "I've spent the last couple of years researching as I traveled. It's going to be a big hit, I just know it."

Thankful for his mask, Kakashi smiled, shaking his head. He had missed his little orange book.

Sakumo was in his tent, busy shuffling through scrolls and writing orders when they slipped into his tent. He did a double take when he saw the Sannin. "Jiraiya, good you're here. I've got a mission for you." He pulled a scroll from the stack, tossing it to a confused Jiraiya.