Kakashi The Hunter

Part X Thirty-Six

Waking the two crazy men was a feat on my behalf. Had I not had the reflexes I do, I would have surely been impaled with one of Illumi's needles. Our mission would begin shortly, and I don't feel like discovering how wrathful Chrollo can be exactly. I made sure to supervise the two so there would be no more funny business.

Hisoka was determined to take his sweet time, claiming that his "beauty" was his first priority. All he had to do was repaint the shapes on his cheeks. How that took so much time was a mystery. Illumi, on the other hand, was very punctual. Looking at him now, his creepily big eyes weren't as intimidating now that I had seen them filled with tears as he begged.

As we finally stepped foot outside and began walking toward the abandoned Troupe base, Hisoka took every opportunity he had to slow us down.

"What the hell is your problem? We're going to be late." I glared at the magician. He pulled his eyes away from some concession stand and met mine, smiling.

"I'm simply enjoying the scenery. Its not my fault the boss set the meeting time during the busiest hour of the night."

Holding up my hand in exasperation, I rolled my eyes and walked past him. If he was so insistent to make himself late, I wouldnt bother with him.

Illumi kept pace with me, abandoning his husband as well. It must be ingrained into his mind for an assassin to be punctual. If you're too late, you'll miss your mark. I knew that from experience. One thing I will never miss about Konoha is that infamous cat, Tora.

I shook to rid myself of the goosebumps at the thought of that monster.

Walking into the abandoned church, the clock struck twelve. Right on time. I followed the mass of different Nen signatures grouped together, finding everyone loading into a van.

Chrollo glanced up, a small smile on his face. "I'm glad you made it. I was about to think that we wouldn't have enough space if Kortopi was the only asset we had."

"Blame Hisoka, he kept us waiting."

"Oh, how would I have kept you waiting if I arrived first?" Speak of the Devil. Hisoka was perched on a piece of concrete a few feet away.

"I'm not talking to you." I rolled my eyes and focused back on Chrollo. "Do you have an estimate on how many items there will be?"

"At least a hundred, if not more, do you mind me asking why?" Chrollo raised one of his black eyebrows.

"If there are that many, I will need to make a few extra storage scrolls."

"Will that be a problem?" I shook my head.

"Not at all."

I hopped into the back of the van, setting myself on the floor and pulling extra scrolls and ink from within the storage scroll. I could feel eyes on me as the rest of the Troupe gathered into the large vehicle. With a brush, I began the seal that I had learned at the ripe age of seven.

Never picking the brush up, with one single line, I traced the components of the seal, connecting them and controlling the flow of Chakra that would lead to the functioning operation of the seal. When I picked the brush up, the black lines flashed blue with the embedded Chakra. It didn't blow up, meaning I had successfully created another storage scroll. I made another, just in case there wasn't enough room in the other two.

I looked up from my completed work and met the single visible eye of Kortopi. The little creature had stars shining in his eye. He was cute, almost like a puppy. I reached out and ruffled his hair.

Some of the other members were not so starstruck. In fact, they looked almost angry. Or maybe it was confusion. To them, I'm some random nobody who has no Nen but still managed to do something almost magical.

I winked at Feitan, who looked more angry than confused, before re-sealing the ink and brushes. It was fairly quiet for the rest of the drive, the other members were keeping to themselves, concentrating on the mission. Kortopi had latched himself back onto my arm, staring off into space. I didn't mind it too much. He wasn't nearly as bad as Naruto. Naruto would latch on and talk.

Eventually, the van stopped. Chrollo, who had been driving, pulled the back door open and met my eyes. "It's time."

Quietly, the group shuffled out of the van. Chrollo had parked in an alley supposedly behind the auction house. There was a single door on the brick wall to the left.

"We are not to bring any attention to ourselves. Do you understand?" Chrollo looked around as there were various agreements. "This is an in and out operation. We will get everything, and we will do it efficiently. Phinks, Machi, and Hisoka, you're in charge of bringing the artifacts to Kortopi. Kortopi will copy them, and Kakashi will seal the originals in his scrolls. Everyone else, I want you stationed at every entrance and keeping watch. Shalnark, Nobunaga, I want you two to locate the surveillance room and take control." Everyone nodded. "Then let us begin."

I walked to the door and tried the handle. It was locked. Crouching down, I pulled a senbon from my thigh pouch and picked the lock, waiting to hear the telltale click of the mechanism unlocking. With a subtle pulse of Chakra, I felt around for a presence in the room on the other side. There was no one.

I caught Chollos' eyes and nodded once. He motioned for me to open the door, and I pushed it in. The room was full of crates stacked atop one another and in a multitude of different shapes and sizes.

The Phantom Troupe leader entered the room first, making a break for the other side of the room where another door was located. There was a surprising lack of security in the room. Or maybe the auctioneers were certain that there would be nobody bold enough to try and steal anything.

Hisoka, Machi, and Phinks spread out, opening crates and carefully pulling out items. Illumi would take them and carry them to Kortopi, who had made himself comfortable on the floor. His ability was neat. He held the item in one hand, and a carbon copy appeared in his other hand.

I sat beside him and opened a scroll, pushing Chakra into the paper and sealing the very valuable items. The entire process was fast, a constant stream of priceless artifacts entering my hands, but there were quite a few items.

It took about fifteen minutes in total. Other members were stationed around the room, each with a perfect view of the entrances. Once I had sealed the last item, Chrollo gathered the members, calling Shalnark and telling him and Nobunaga to come back.

"There is another part to this mission that I did not inform you all of before."  Chrollo began. "This mission has two parts. The first was to retrieve all of the artifacts. The second is to fake the deaths of the Phantom Troupe."

There were confused voices all around the room. "I have determined that there are far too many people who are targeting us for us to continue to work efficiently." Kurapika, for one. "We will alert the police that we are here. And we will crash the van."

"How will we fake our deaths, though?" Uvogin asked. Good question.

"I have body doubles already arranged." I raised my eyebrows. "Kakashi, we have an alternative route back to the temporary base. I trust you to carry the artifacts to safety."

I shrug, pocketing the scrolls. "Sure, meet you all back at the church?" There were various agreements. I hold my hands up in a familiar sign, performing a Shunshin and leaving a pile of leaves behind me.

I looked around the destroyed room, admiring the moonlight streaming through the stained glass windows and holes in the ceiling. It left the air feeling quite peaceful. A moment alone, something that has been very scarce as of late.

I felt a startling vibration on my ass as an annoyingly loud ringtone filled the once peaceful silence. I pull the phone from my back pocket and answer it after a bit of struggle.

"Hello?" There's a small silence before a loud voice almost deafens me. I forgot the phone was still on speaker.

"Old man! Where are you?" I roll my eyes as Killua's voice rings in my ears.

"None of your business, kid. Why?"

"Do you have Greed Island yet?"

"Not yet," I lied, "I will soon, don't worry."

"Don't get lost on your way back, grandpa."

"Kill yourself."