I led Kakashi to the tower in the middle of the Forest. He followed obediently, like a puppy. Just like the one that had fallen asleep in the middle of my bra. Thankfully, the dog hadn't pressed that cold, wet nose to my...chest padding...in quite a while. I sighed. I knew I was screwed.
I had one last trick up my sleeve and I knew it was a long shot. The best part of my strategy was that I had no idea how to pull off the vague plan that was sluggishly forming in my mind.
Actually, with a Sharingan Shinobi, that might not have been such a bad thing.
In my extensive and slightly disturbing arsenal, I had several pieces of equipment that not even my team had laid eyes on. One of them was an old-fashioned grappling hook. Crude, yes. But very effective. The other was a specialty tripping wire, with counterweights on either end, joined by a chain fashioned out of purest steel, hand-soldered (by me) link by link. It was as close to ninja-proof as it gets.
Then, I saw what I had been looking for--sort of. It was a loose tile on the roof of the Tower. As I ran past the dangling tile, I threw my grappling hook and let it catch, instinctively giving myself to the thrill of flight as it jerked me upward. I controlled my trajectory to land on the roof with a gentle thump. Without hesitation, almost thoughtlessly, I pulled two of my trip wires from my pack and threw them. Borne of training, the shot was perfect.
And, better yet, unexpected.
The wires wrapped around Kakashi's ankles and wrists, throwing him to the ground. I leapt from the pinnacle of the tower gracefully, to land heavily beside the jonin.
Then, I heard two words that I had never expected to hear: "You win."
The first thought that went through my head, I admit, was: It WORKED??!! The second thought was: HOLY SHIT I JUST BEAT KAKASHI HATAKE OF THE SHARINGAN EYE OH MY GAWD!!!!!!!! Then, after my brain caught up to reality, I knelt and untangled the elite ninja.
"Wow." We both spoke in unison.
"You're good." The copy nin admitted without batting, well...an eye.
"Thanks. I never really expected that to work." I smiled at him and laughed. "Especially not that well. No offense, Kakashi-sensei."
"Please, just 'Kakashi.' And maybe the reason that it went so well is the fact that you DIDN'T think. You just acted. Just like a ninja should. And the whole time, you kept the gauge of the battle in mind. I can't say as much. Actually, there were quite a few times I was striking to kill. I just didn't want to overuse my Sharingan..." He trailed off. "Let's head back now, okay? It's starting to get dark. And, actually, I think I really would like an escort. My chakra's pretty low right now." Then, he was behind me...with a kunai held to my neck. "I could have done this a few times, but I didn't want to take a chance on killing you when you didn't have the heart to kill me."
"You're my comrade. I couldn't forget that." I dropped my gaze as the kunai pulled away from my flesh. "You are a legend. And I think that if we got to know each other, we could be friends, maybe."
He chuckled. "An idealist. So the ANBU finally got stuck with an idealist. What has the world come to....?"
"Well, sometimes. I can be quite cynical." I laughed. "Ask Cat or Jiraiya-sensei. Well, you could just ask Zhen. Just don't ask her about romance. Don't EVER ask her anything about anything like that, actually, because she is about a million times worse than the Pervy Sage, in just about all ways you could possibly think of..."
"Really?" Kakashi's interested look set me off balance. "Interesting. A girl who could make Jiraiya turn green. Makes for some good books."
I blanched.
Before we knew it, we were back at the edge of Konoha.
"Good night, Chessy-sama." The respectful tone of Kakashi's voice made me start. "I guess I might see you soon."
With a poof of smoke, he vanished.