บท 11: Intern under a Pro
Bakugo finds himself suddenly awake. He's foggy and feels a stiffness all over his body. He rubs his head and slowly gets up, now noticing that he was in a hospital room. A second later, he realizes that someone else was in the room. It was his Sensei, leaning against the wall and staring back at him.
Suddenly, he remembers all that had happened in class and anger pours into him. He suddenly jumps off the bed but stumbles in pain and falls to the ground on his hands and knees with a low grunt. The entire time, Aizawa doesn't move.
"Get back into the bed. You need more rest."
Bakugo forces himself up but his legs quickly give out and he would've fallen had the bed not been behind him. He grits his teeth in rage.
"That temper of yours is a problem, Bakugo."
Bakugo immediately locks eyes with his teacher. He wants to know what he was going on about. This wasn't his fault! It was that bastard Hatake! He should've won that fight! But that bastard tricked him!
"It's done nothing but get you in trouble, and it'll get you killed if you don't learn how to control yourself."
"I can control myself just fine!" Bakugo spits in anger. "It's Hatake you should be worried about! He's the crazy one!"
"You almost killed everyone in the room with that final blast, and you think you aren't just as crazy?" Bakugo went cold as his teacher's eyes glows a low red and his hair stands high. He feels a block inside of him and he feels so much weaker all of a sudden. Like a light going out. "You have no regard for others and no situational awareness. Your pride blocks that smart brain of yours. You made yourself look like a fool. Think about it. You told an opponent to stand still so that you could hit them, and then you expected him so sit still. You saw all his other fights before that, I know you came up with a strategy to win, but once you felt your pride in jeopardy you threw it all out of the window."
Bakugo grits his teeth once more but can't find words to get out. He's angry, but his teacher is right. He'd been an idiot to believe that Kakashi would actually just sit there and take an attack like that. What was he thinking?
"But I have someone who'll level out that rage that you can't seem to outgrow. Someone who's just as competitive and just as hotheaded as you but knows battle and how to control that anger. I've worked with her once. She's not a friend but I had favors pulled." He pulls out a folded piece of paper and hands it to him. "Use that to find her. Your internship starts in a couple of hours. Be ready."
He steps out of the room and closes the door without another word or glance.
Bakugo immediately explodes with rage and the heart rate machine explodes from a touch of his quirk.
XxX
Kakashi rolls his stiff shoulder around as he walks out of the hospital. He would've been happy to be outside where fresh air was if the air was actually fresh. The smell would've caused him some disgust if he could smell as good as he could if it were fully healed. It was no longer swollen so he guessed that he would take that. It was better than nothing.
He looks around the giant building surrounding him, covering the sun with his hand so he could see more clearly. He would probably never get used to seeing sights like this. He misses seeing an abundance of trees. Cities weren't his thing.
He looks down at the note in his hand. He would have to find this city on his own. Ryukyu had come to visit earlier but had been called by her agency for emergency hero work. He reads the note again as cars whizz by on the busy street. Wait, he could just use his sense of smell to find the man instead of looking all over and asking around.
He turns back to the hospital and forgoes going through the front desk. He, instead, leaps up to the side of the building, using his chakra to stick to it as he ran up the side of it. His room was near the top from the view he had. If he were to guess it would be in the middle on the 7th floor. He was proved right when he smells his lingering scent from the window above.
He begins building up chakra in his hand and it turns bright orange when he changes its nature into fire. He taps on the window with a single finger and draws a circle, drilling into the glass. When he finishes, he taps on the middle of it with his feet and uses his chakra to catch it from falling as if it were glued to his feet. He maneuveres himself and soon he was in and the glass was back in place.
Now inside the room, he could smell all the scents quite strongly, but with his nose the way it was smelling them in any place other than the room would overwhelm his nose. But someone had an even better sense of smell than him.
A few handsigns later and Kakashi slaps his hand onto the ground, hoping this would work. Seals spread across the ground and a puff of smoke erupts. Shortly after, he is greeted to a sight of Pakkun who immediately jumps on him.
"Dammit, Kakashi!" He yells. "What happened? For a second, your name darkened on our registry!"
Kakashi is confused. "It did? How is that possible? I didn't die."
"You were probably close." He takes a look around where they were, still atop his chest. "Where are we? I smell nothing familiar with this place. And a smell that way that makes me wanna hurl." He was looking toward the window.
"You'll get used to it." Kakashi said, pushing himself off the ground as Pakkun got off him. "This'll shock you, but somehow I got transported to a different world. I'm nowhere in the elemental nations and I'm surprised I was able to contact you."
Pakkun shows surprise and confusion, which Kakashi expected. "I wanna ask why but you don't even know." He sighs. "You have a plan to leave? I know you thought of something."
Now that Kakashi thought about it, he never actually thought about leaving this place. He's never been looking for a way out. He'd been trying to look for that stone ninja but he had no luck in finding him yet. Not even a way to track him down.
Kakashi scratches his head, ignoring the deadpanned look of his companion. "I haven't given much thought but... Obito's dead..."
Kakashi sees his eyes widen in surprise. "His killer was transported here too. I've been looking for him, but I haven't had much luck."
He sighes once more, but sounded so much more defeated. "God, this is messed up. And you have no leads?"
Kakashi shakes his head. He was at a loss at the moment.
"Shit." He curses. He doesn't do it much so Kakashi knew he was stressing about it.
Kakashi grunted as he bent down to his level and put his hand on his head. "It's a lot, but we have to keep going. I brought you here so you could catch a trail for me. There's this thing that they have called internships with pro heroes that I've been selected to join."
Pakkun just looked at him. "What?"
"I'll explain later. Right now, I need you to sniff out a scent of gold in this room. There's a lot of scents in this room so it'll confuse you but no one was wearing gold except for him. Connect the scent closest to it and lead me to him."
"Ok, but you have to explain on the way."
Kakashi nodded; this was a given. "Of course."
Pakkun took careful steps around the room, sniffing the ground before looking back at Kakashi quickly, seemingly having found the smell. "I smell the gold and the scent closest to it. Was it a male adult?"
He nodded. "Yea, that's him. Can you follow that trail?"
Sniffing the air, he replied,"Maybe—hopefully. The trail is kinda blocked by other fumes I haven't experienced before. It'll take some time to filter."
"That's fine. Anything helps, and while you're looking I can explain this world in one go."
"Sounds good." He turned to the window. "I feel your chakra holding part of that glass together. You broke in?"
"Not really. It was originally my room." Kakashi should've known not to say that and he only realized it after it had already been said. Pakkun sent him a look. "I'll explain it later. It's part of the story."
Pakkun sighed once more, shaking his head. "You always seem to find yourself in trouble, pup. You make me feel like an old dog."
"You are old."
He deadpanned. "Thanks. You really made me feel better. Anyway let's get going. You've got a long story and I've gotta filter through all these new fumes. It's going to take a while."
Kakashi agreed and rolled his shoulder once more. "Yea. Let's go."
XxX
Bakugo stepped off the train, taking a long look around the surrounding buildings while people of all different looks walked to continue through their day. He was not happy that he had to travel so far. Night had nearly settled and it would probably take longer to track down this mystery teacher of his. He was anxious not knowing who his teacher was going to be and he wouldn't put it past his teacher to get someone worthless just to waste his time.
He looked at the note once more when he reached the taxi area. Hopefully, they knew where the fuck to go. He certainly didn't.
It didn't take more than three minutes before a taxi pulled up in front of him and the window scrolled down, showing a gruff looking man.
"You riding?"
"Yea, you know where the hell this is at?" He showed the note and the man took it and took a fee seconds.
"Yea, that's between uptown and downtown. I can get you there." He said as he handed the note back.
Bakugo tucked it away in his pocket and picked up his bags. He really hoped this wouldn't be a waste of his time.
X
About twenty minutes later, they stopped in front of what looked like quite a big gym from the looks of it. He couldn't tell what the hell it was but it seemed that at least the hero had something to offer him.
"Whoever they are renovated this house to hell and back." The driver said—Yuggi. That was his name but he was just a lame extra so it wasn't worth remembering.
He stepped out of the car, left money inside, grabbed his bags, and closed the door behind him. This was the place it would seem. It was on a normal block with regular houses but it would seem whoever here had quite a different taste. Not that it mattered. As long as they weren't annoying he could deal with it, for the time being anyway.
He was only able to take once step before he noticed a shadow had suddenly blocked the light from the sun hitting him. He looked up and could only see a blur before he dropped his bags and used a small explosion to get back just in time for that something to smash into the ground in front of him, kicking up dust.
What the hell! Who could be attacking him here? Was he followed? He took a quick glance behind him and the taxi was already gone. Was he apart of this ambush or something?
"You already failed! Never take your eyes off an opponent!"
His eyes tried to quickly scan the dust and he saw a little movement before it revealed itself to be a leg. He saw a flash of white hit his vision and when he came to he saw the reddish-orange sky.
Someone scoffed and then he saw a woman come into his vision, frowning. "Is that all the number one student of UA has to offer? You fought villains, right? You should know not to take your eyes off your opponent."
Anger flooded his veins and he got to his feet as fast he could, though he stumbled a small bit from the kick earlier. "Crazy bitch! Who the hell are you!"
She grinned at him, but it looked more murderous that amusement. "I'm your teacher, so show some respect, brat!"
A millisecond later and he was flat on his back once more.
XxX
"Shit, that's a lot to unpack."
Kakashi had just finished telling Pakkun everything that had happened so far and he couldn't blame the hound for those words. It was a lot to take in at once and he still wasn't used to this world yet.
Despite them leaping from building to building, from the corner of his eye he saw Pakkun send him a frown. "And you didn't come up with any plan at all."
"There's been a lot happening."
"But this isn't like you, Kakashi. You're not perfect but you plan ahead. This might be a difficult situation but that's no excuse not to have a plan to at least get back home."
"I'm not going home until Obito's killer is dead. I've already told you, Pakkun."
Pakkun suddenly skidded to a halt on the long building they'd been running on and turned around. Kakashi stopped as well, meters away, and wondered why he stopped and what he was going to say. Kakashi wasn't changing his mind about this.
"The village is still at war. Just because you're here doesn't mean time isn't still moving there. Do you still want to stay here?
Kakashi wouldn't admit that he thought of the village once since he arrived here, but it wasn't like he didn't care. A lot had happened and a lot had was on his mind. It wasn't his fault he was here in the first place. Something had happened back then. He should've already killed that man.
"I haven't been here that long. I'm sure the Third Hokage will think of something. And Minato-Sensei is still alive. None of the other villages will attack us as long as that remains a fact."
"But you have no idea if that still is a fact. They probably presumed you to be dead, and Obito is dead as well. How do you know he hasn't committed suicide because of that? Just like your fathe-"
"Don't bring my father into this!" Kakashi warned, anger quickly filling him. He had enough of hearing about the man. "Minato-Sensei-"
"Is someone who cares about his comrades." Pakkun interrupted. "It's entirely possible that he could kill himself. Then what will become of the Leaf?"
"Minato-Sensei wouldn't do that. He knows he's important. And if he does..." his fists tighten against his side. "He's no better than my the failure my father was."
Pakkun stares at him long and hard, but Kakashi no longer cares to continue the conversation. He's made up his mind about this. The Leaf Village would be fine. Besides, he knew the man was looking for a way home as well. If he finds a way before Kakashi does then he just becomes more of a threat to the leaf village.
He was helping them still.
He wasn't going awol.
Pakkun sighs and turns around. "Come on, we still got a ways away." They prepare to take off but Pakkun speaks again, turning his head. "Wait, I forgot to ask one last question. Why is one of your eyes covered up?"
Kakashi touches the wrap over his left eye. He's forgotten about it almost. He's gotten used to using one eye to see. He didn't know if that was a good thing or not. Belatedly, his attention comes back to his summon. "It's a gift. From Obito."
Pakkun looked confused but Kakashi decides that's all he was going to say at the moment. He had already had too much of a run in with Obito for one week. Even if it was his subconsciousness.
X
Forty five minutes passes and Kakashi lands seconds after Pakkun does. They stare at a traditional Japanese house, looking far to different from surrounding houses to be normal. Kakashi hates to be in places that stuck out from the surroundings but he supposes that it makes it easier to actually find the right place. He trusts his canine companions nose but it never hurt a ninja to be careful.
"This is the place." Pakkun confirms.
"Thanks. You don't have to stick around now. You can leave if you'd like."
"No, I think I'll stay. I'm not comfortable leaving you- Kakashi, the smell is very strong!"
Pakkun suddenly warning kicks his senses into overdrive. Usually, all five of his senses would kick in but since one is injured the other four are stronger. He feels a presence a couple of meter behind him and turns instantly. He spots the familiar looking man and wonders why he had snuck up on him in the first place. Then he realizes that he had been so distracted that he allowed someone to sneak up on him. He was glad he wasn't back home or he would've died then and there.
"I didn't know you had a dog." His eyes hit Pakkun and he tenses up. Not in fear, but preparation to fight. He slightly bares his teeth. Kakashi makes no move to stop him. He didn't like being snuck up on.
His calm eyes didn't change. Perhaps he couldn't tell how much of a threat Pakkun was. Kakashi didn't blame him. Pakkun was unassuming until he completely went into fight mode. When he did so he was the strongest of the pact. He could snap bones in half.
"There's no need to be so stiff. I'm not here to fight you. I'm here to train you."
Kakashi forces himself to relax and sends a small, quick flash of chakra through his hand to make sure Pakkun got the message. Instantly, the hound calms down though keeps himself poised. A practiced response.
Something akin to recognition glows through his eyes before going away and returning neutral. Kakashi barely sees it, but does and doesn't know what to make of it. A quick blast of familiar chakra reaches his body and makes him shiver as it travels his spine. It's Pakkun telling him to be careful with the way he moves and reacts and he wishes he could talk with him other than simple commands or instructions. He probably figured why that glow went through his eyes.
"Where are your bags? You'll be staying with me a couple of days."
"I have them. Show me to my room."
"Of course, but not right now. I'd rather start on your first lesson. Follow me." He disappears in a blur quite fast but Kakashi is able to see him quite easily. He looks down at Pakkun.
"I'll search the house for traps. I need time to think. Be careful." Pakkun walks around the side of the house and disappears. Kakashi watches him, the a few seconds later disappears himself, following after the hero.
X
They transversed through the city quickly, leaping from building to building so quickly that it would leave most to wonder if they had seen them in the first place. They moved at speeds faster than the eye could see, though Kakashi was limiting himself, staying just behind enough to both see the man and keep pace with him no matter where they traversed to. He wonders where he's being taken but sure that he'd be able to keep himself out of trouble. If the hero tries anything he will be ready, though he does doubt this. Ryukyu seemed to trust him.
He hopes he isn't getting soft. He didn't know much about her either.
Finally, they stop and Kakashi notices how distinct this part of the city looks. Done away we're the bright lights and busy city and instead replaced by dark alleyways, surrounded by even darker buildings and filth. Lots of filth. Kakashi can smell its stench and he scrunches his nose. He immediately hisses as pain runs through his face.
"Tell me, what do you see?"
Kakashi ignores the fading pain and takes a small glance at their surroundings. "Filth."
"I saw that you can smell it as well. Even from here." Kakashi twitches but tries his hardest to suppress it. What did Pakkun say earlier? He needed to be careful with anything he did. This hero was far more observant than most. He paid attention to everything.
Edgeshot switches his gaze back to the eerie dark below. "Look more carefully. Then, tell me what you see."
Kakashi does just that, scanning the surroundings with more care. Was he trying to see his observational skills? If so, this was quite an unorthodox method, but predictable and easy to counter. He stops his false concentrating and turns back to the hero.
"I don't get it. I see nothing."
Edgeshot hums. He hums. Kakashi doesn't know what that means. He can't tell if he's tricked the hero or not. Then he points forward and Kakashi directs his attention that way.
"If you look right there you can see people hiding in the shadows of these building. Lurking. Watching out for police and heroes. This is a town full of petty theft. Barely any heroes show here."
"Why? Is it dangerous?"
"No, it's only petty thefts. Like I said. But that's exactly the reason why most heroes won't come here. There's not a whole bunch of people to see anyone cleaning up these criminals. One would gain no notoriety fighting criminals here."
Kakashi already disliked most heroes and knowing this makes him like them even less. "Why are you telling me this?"
"Because I want to see what's your character." He turns to Kakashi with a softer gaze on his face than any time Kakashi had seen him. "Are you looking to just fight? Do you want to use any of your powers gifted by you to do good? Are you willing to let people die if it furthers personal goals? And how far are you willing to go to keep yourself safe, even by stepping over others. Those are the question that come to my mind when I think about you. You've got talent and skill. And potential to be a top hero-"
"I don't want to be a hero. I'm only in this school because I was told to. It wasn't my choice." Kakashi interrupts. He won't let anyone have the wrong idea anymore about him. His goals don't align with becoming a hero.
"You don't want to use your power and skill to help people?"
"No."
"Why?"
Kakashi goes to answer but nothing comes out. A response hadn't popped up in his head because he didn't have one. Not even an excuse. Why didn't he want to help people? He had the power to do so. He knew one of the reasons was that he didn't want to stick around. He had to get back to his world. But he couldn't say that. No one could know. He'd have to kill them otherwise.
"It's my choice. And I don't have to, so I won't."
"You don't feel responsible if someone dies and you could've saved them?"
"People die. No one helps animals when we slaughtered them for food. People are animals as well. They die just like everything else does and even if you do save them, they'll die someday."
He stares as Kakashi for a long time but Kakashi looks away from him. He's said everything he wanted to say. He doesn't regret his choices. His loyalties lied with his own world, not this one.
"I think I finally got your character down."
"Not what you expected, most likely. Did I fail this test of yours?"
When he shakes his head, Kakashi is confused. "No, you pass. You were honest, that's what I was judging. But that doesn't mean I approve of the way you act. You're a Shinobi. I can tell you are some sort of prodigy but that's in abilities only. In mindset, you are still a child. A child who has seen and been through too much. Who put you on this path?"
Once again, Kakashi feels his heart as it picks up speed in his chest. Why is everyone so concerned about him? He knows he's dangerous but he hasn't shown much power. Maybe it's because they don't understand him. He knows that people fear and are cautious of things they don't understand. He's the same way. He's been that way every since he's been in this world. Most things that's happened to him made little sense.
Kakashi is lucky that he escapes the conversation as a cellphone below then rings out, filling the quiet night sky. Another voice tells that voice to shut the phone off and the other one apologizes. Kakashi notices that Edgeshot is now looking in that direction as well, his eyes scanning the entire street.
"This area is the underground ring for drug trafficking. We're simply here to infiltrate, gather information, and get out to report what we find. I chose you because I believe that you won't slow me down as you too are a Shinobi."
"I thought you heroes couldn't bring children to places like this?"
"I know you've seen worse. And I normally don't do this, but I feel as though you are in need to see something both familiar and good for you. Isolating you from it will not help you. Now, come. We have a job to do."
Kakashi nods and prepares to leap across the street to the other surrounding buildings when Edgeshot speaks again.
"Oh, and by the way. I am the Ninja Hero: Edgeshot. Nice to meet the real you, Kakashi."
Kakashi doesn't think likewise.
XxX
Ryukyu lets herself sigh as she is finally freed from public view. She had just helped saved people from a burning building, letting them leap onto her and get carried away to safety. It was said that the fire started with a quirk but the police have yet to prove that fact. Ryukyu hopes it's false. She doesn't like the idea of someone running around setting buildings on fire.
She looks up onto the night sky, at the full moon giving off light. She wonders if Kakashi is ok. She always found herself worrying about him. She knows she has a soft spot for children, but Kakashi didn't act like one despite looking and being one. He was awkward when it came to physical contact, which made her awkward as well when she tried to show it. He had a calculating and ruthless intelligence that he demonstrated in the car. She could vividly remember his voice telling her he would with hold information.
But that didn't compare to what he did physically. When he examined that body as if it were second nature and accurately named the cause of death in seconds while it took professional examiners days still stayed with her. Till this very second, she wonders how could a child so young be the way he was. Was he abducted and trained to be a killer? Was his family killers and trained him to be one? Or maybe wherever he grew up did so? She doesn't know, she probably won't for a long time. She knows that.
Her phone rings, starling her out of her thoughts. She pulls it out and brings it to her ear.
"Hello? Who is this?"
"It's Detective Tsukauchi. Can you come in for me? I've found some bad news regarding Kakashi."
An: I do want to say that these recent events aren't in chronological order. So if anyone is confused here's how it goes. Class 1-A starts their internships, a day later Todoroki starts his while Aizawa meets with Bakugo. Then after his meeting with Aizawa, Kakashi leaves for his internship later that same day nearly the same time Bakugo leaves for his. That night, Blade meets Stain before they both meet the League of Villains and start their assault on Hosu. I think that covers it.
Hopes this helps.
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