He just saved me? Why?

A blade flashed out of its sheath, and with one stride forward, he slashed.

Bang!

Kakashi reached back and drew the sword from his back, blocking the blow head-on.

A flicker of surprise crossed his eyes. "What are you doing, A?"

Was he really trying to kill them?

Had Satoru called it?

His answer came in another slash, just as merciless as the first.

"Didn't your teammate already figure it out?" A pressed down with all his strength.

The conflict inside him hadn't faded, but his hands didn't waver.

"Huh? I was just kidding." Uchiha Satoru scratched the back of his head, looking utterly innocent.

"Didn't think that old bastard Danzo would actually use his position to settle a personal grudge."

He casually took a shot at Danzo.

No, that wasn't really taking a shot. More of a friendly warning.

"Should you really be standing there watching?" Kakashi was a little speechless.

Though he really didn't need Uchiha Satoru's help.

This...

Was between him and A.

"You're serious?" Kakashi dodged the flashing blade.

Had A really made up his mind? Was he prepared to kill a comrade?

Kakashi hadn't been completely unguarded before this.

But now that it was happening, his chest still felt painfully tight.

"I am." A twisted sideways and slashed, knocking Kakashi's sword away.

He immediately pressed the attack.

Wood Release burst up through the ground.

It shot straight at Kakashi.

Countless vines bound him tight in the blink of an eye.

A glanced at Uchiha Satoru out of the corner of his eye.

What was going on?

Was he still not going to act?

That momentary distraction was all it took.

The tightly bound figure vanished in a puff of white smoke.

A row of throwing weapons sank into his arm, and the point of a shuriken pressed against the back of his neck.

"A, why are you trying to kill me?"

Kakashi sighed. Even he thought the question sounded stupid once he'd asked it.

Without orders from Danzo, what reason would A have to ambush them?

Root.

Were they finally coming to settle the score with him?

When he'd exposed Danzo's schemes to the Third Hokage, he'd known this day would come.

"How do you have the nerve to ask that?"

"You killed your own teammate, and you still dare to ask 'why'?"

A shouted, spilling every bit of the truth Lord Danzo had told him.

There was a hint of unease in his voice that only he understood.

Lord Danzo surely... wouldn't lie.

All the color drained from Kakashi's face.

His entire presence froze.

Rin Nohara.

Everything from that day, that scene, came flooding back.

Uchiha Satoru, who hadn't spoken in a while, took a few steps forward.

He looked at the restrained A.

"Does Kakashi look like someone who'd turn on his teammates?"

"If he were the kind of scum you say he is, why did he protect you earlier?"

A turned his head slightly. This was the kid who'd tricked him into revealing himself.

He understood now. Uchiha Satoru had said that on purpose.

"Didn't his teammate die by his hand?"

A still refused to back down.

"Someone who betrayed Konoha and killed a teammate deserves to die."

"Lord Danzo was right."

Uchiha Satoru had a knack for picking out the key point.

"So it really was one of those rotten higher-ups running his mouth."

"Then, for this mission..."

"Did he tell you to kill me too?" Uchiha Satoru's voice suddenly turned cold.

"Do you think I deserve to die too?"

He dropped every trace of his flippant manner.

His face was deadly serious.

At that, A's expression faltered, confusion creeping into his eyes.

"I..."

Lord Danzo's reason for ordering him to kill Kakashi was that Kakashi was a traitor to Konoha.

He had killed a teammate with his own hands.

But Lord Danzo had never given him a single word of explanation for killing Uchiha Satoru.

A was just about to speak.

Three kunai with explosive tags attached whistled through the air toward them.

"Move!"

Kakashi shoved A away, then darted aside himself.

"Kakashi, you really do play favorites."

"Only got eyes for A, huh?"

Uchiha Satoru dodged the kunai with ease, still joking.

Then...

Explosions erupted inside the abandoned laboratory.

Thick smoke billowed up.

Several figures closed in under its cover.

"Do it."

Before the words had even finished ringing out...

They lunged straight at Kakashi and Uchiha Satoru.

Not one of them spared A a second glance, though he'd nearly been killed a moment ago.

A stared blankly at everything unfolding before him.

Had Kakashi just saved him?

Why?