Love Triangle: Kakashi vs. Genma

40 | Kakashi's Weakness

Kakashi was absolutely pissed now. Not only was Itachi back here causing trouble, but he was risking the lives of his friends, of his lover. He turned and glared at the Uchiha boy before growling out orders to his friends. "Stay on your toes. This guy was made chief of ANBU black ops when he was only thirteen." [Y/N] remembered. She was a few years older that Itachi, but he graduated so young—he was in her year at the academy. They had joined the black ops at the same time. He excelled and became chief. She met Kakashi and fell in love.

Asuma grunted. "All right, he's tough. We get it." [Y/N] rolled her eyes. Tough doesn't cover it and Kakashi said as much. "You haven't seen half of what he can do." Kakashi turned to face Itachi head on. He resisted the urge to step closer to [Y/N]. If there was anything he knew, it's that you don't give away your weakness in a battle. [Y/N] was by no means weak herself, but she was a one-way ticket to Kakashi's downfall now. Should Itachi go for her... but then, Itachi would have had his own reasons to go for her and he hadn't yet.

Instead he remained focused on Kakashi. "For someone who is not of the Uchiha clan, you have mastered the sharingan well. However, not being one of us, you lack our physical strength and that's something you can't copy." Kakashi clenched his jaw and his fists. Itachi did have a point there.

Itachi closed his eyes. "Why is it the Uchiha clan is known by all and feared by all? I'll show you what the sharingan can do when it's wielded by a true heir of the bloodline." When he reopened his eyes, Kakashi tensed. "It can't be... Oh, no! Close your eyes! Don't look at his eyes!"

Kurenai and Asuma both screwed their eyes shut tightly almost instantly. [Y/N] hesitated but obeyed, if but a little begrudgingly, and listened as Kakashi spoke. "Listen, all of you. Whatever happens, don't look. If you meet his gaze, you're finished." Kurenai gulped nervously as Kakashi continued. "I'm going to have to do this alone. My sharingan against his." Of course, [Y/N] hated the idea, but without a sharingan of her own, what use would she be?

Itachi spoke again, unamused. "Indeed, your abilities are impressive. They might even be enough to resist the Mangekyo sharingan. However, there is something they can't defend against—this special sharingan jutsu called Tsukuyomi. Only someone with the sharingan and Kekkai Genkai can defeat me."

[Y/N] listened as Kakashi's breath became more ragged and unsteady. He was nervous. Suddenly, he groaned out and fell to the ground, splashing the water around him. He was breathing heavier now. [Y/N]'s entire body tensed but Kurenai spoke first. "Kakashi! What is it? Can we open our eyes now?"

"No. Not yet." He sounded like he was in so much pain, breathing heavier still.

Asuma was getting irritated. "What just happened? One second the guy's talking and the next second you hit the ground!"

Kakashi didn't respond, as he was still struggling to catch his breath from the jutsu he'd just experienced. It felt like forever in that jutsu that he was being tortured; had it really only been a few seconds? He wondered why Itachi would put him through that, but not just kill him. He could have. He could have much more easily than Kakashi would like to have admitted.

Kisame appeared next to Itachi. "Hm. After all that, the fool's spirit is still intact... Meanwhile, you've risked overusing those eyes of yours. You know that's dangerous."

Kakashi held his ground. His spirit was intact for one reason only. She stood a mere meter away from him. He realized how close she was to the same danger he had just faced and tried to redirect the situation.

"This thing you've come for. Is it Sasuke?"

He watched as Itachi's eyes narrowed angrily. "No. The legacy of the Fourth Hokage."

Asuma, [Y/N], and Kurenai gasped. The latter voiced what the other two were thinking. "What's he talking about? What's he after?" There was no response. Kakashi knew exactly who they were after. He decided to play his hand and hoped to catch Itachi off guard.

"The Nine-Tailed spirit inside Naruto. That's what you're after? You're not the only ones, are you? There are seven more of you out there, searching. Hunting. I know all about you. You call yourselves the Akatsuki, right?"

Asuma and Kurenai turned in toward Kakashi. They wondered how he knew all of this. Asuma wondered if [Y/N] knew all of this. If she did, that could be dangerous for her. Before they could react, Itachi spoke.

"Kisame, we'll take Kakashi with us, but we don't need the others. Get rid of them." Kisame took off across the water.

[Y/N] didn't care anymore. "No!" She opened her eyes and jumped over Kakashi, who panicked. She had just landed when Guy came out of nowhere and attacked Kisame first. "Severe leaf hurricane!" [Y/N] stopped and stood in front of Kakashi, who reached out just enough to grab the hem of her pants. [Y/N] ignored it, knowing that was his way of telling her to stay put. Guy landed back in front of his friends. After a few words between Kisame and Guy, Kakashi fell forward and started sinking. [Y/N] realized he had passed out and tried to pull him back up.

Guy turned around and helped her yank him back out of the water. He pulled Kakashi up over his shoulder. Guy was amazed, as he had never seen Kakashi go down like that and he turned and glared. "What they must've put him through..."

Asuma tried to warn Guy not to look at Itachi, but Guy reassured his friends that he would be fine (he had spent time studying the sharingan as a means to fight Kakashi). Guy stood up with Kakashi still over his shoulder. "Alright. All of you, open your eyes now."

Kurenai scrunched her nose. "But, if we—"

"Don't worry, just don't look in his eyes. That's the key to fighting an opponent who's using sharingan. Focus on his feet. You can read what he's gonna do from his feet."

They opened their eyes hesitantly. Kurenai wasn't happy about it. "Alright, but that trick sounds a lot easier said than done."

Asuma agreed. "We haven't had all your training. We're not you, Guy."

Guy again reassured his friends, directing them through a plan. Kurenai was to get Kakashi to the medical corps while [Y/N] and Asuma served as Guy's backup. It was only once the entire plan was laid out did Itachi order Kisame to pull out with him. The two jumped and disappeared. Asuma grunted, scanning for them.

[Y/N] turned away and moved toward Kurenai who was now supporting her boyfriend's dead weight. "Kakashi..."

Guy placed his hand on [Y/N]'s shoulder. "Let's get him home to rest."