What did I get myself into. I kinda shipped LiuShen when reading the novel, desperately waiting for a plot twist whereby they end up together but was pretty satisfied with the canon pairing. But then. B U T T H E N. I opened Ao3, read one or two LiuShen fics and I will never be able to feel that sense of satisfaction in the canon pairing ever again. Why did I do this to myself?
Also known as idea I most likely will never write: REALLY FUCKING DARK AU. {There are a lot of trigger warnings in here}
Our beloved characters are part of a secret organisation that has dubious moral obligations, let’s just say. Where they lie on the spectrum of light and dark (good vs evil) is more in the grey area
Their organisation (Konoha) completes missions that involve assassination, infiltration of criminal rings & the subsequent closure of them, as well as escorting/bodyguarding etc. whatever you want, they probably do it. As long as you pay the proper fee and know how to find them in the first place
Konoha is one of such organisations all over the world, they control mainly the Asian sectors but sometimes they have border wars with the other organisations who try to step into their jurisdiction or vice versa. It’s messy. [There were wars before, secret underground ones, 3 times in history thus far, all involve border wars.]
Many of these agents are born within the organisation and brought up, or orphans picked up from the streets. By born...I mean, mission babies (sometimes their agents get compromised in long term infiltration missions) or it’s a family business (see Hyuuga, Uchiha clan etc.). Or just two agents got together and made a kid. Kids don’t grow up with their parents, when they are born and weaned, they are taken away from their mothers before a bond can be made between the two (unless clan members but even then, there are strict rules imposed -- to prevent emotional complications).
Kakashi and Gai are as such--mission babies. People doubt the true origin of Gai because his father is just not really infiltration material but he is. People talk though.
Kakashi has ‘pretty’ features and from a young age, deemed by the upper management that he’ll do child pr*stitution and p*rnography missions. [Inspiration received from fics like: These Are All Things You Don’t Understand by Novocain]
Gai on the other hand, is an ‘ugly’ child, but strong physical attributes is prepared for child fighting rings and gambling arenas (think of Colosseum type fighting with boxing, weapons etc. fight to the death while the audience bet over the children)
Kakashi is a genius, a prodigy, like his father whom he heard whispers of. Initially in awe, and then later, in disgust. He couldn’t care because he never knew his father. He’s sent on his first mission at 5 years old, a simple one, assassination--get into this old coot’s bed and assassinate him. He starts off with these kinds of missions, one on one, simple quick execution and if required, easy to extract. He does this for 1 year until he’s ‘promoted’ at 6 years of age and is started to be dumped into child pr*stitution/p*rnography rings. [He shuts down at least 4 rings before he’s deemed too ‘old’ and also ‘recognisable’ because one does not get off unnoticed for that long and eventually is removed from such missions and dumped into other types more ‘fitting of his age’ and skill set]
Gai doesn’t start until he reaches 8 years old. The first mission he goes on, he doesn’t go all the way to the actual tournaments. It was easy, he only needed get one foot into the ‘training arenas’ and confirm the evidence already collected by Konoha so they could bust it. The second goes similarly, shutting down the criminal ring before it got to even run--nipping it in the bud really. It’s the fourth mission he goes on that he becomes immersed in the actual field. It was also his last, because it was a long infiltration, taking 2 years and by then, Gai can no longer perform such missions because he’s deemed too ‘old’.
It is on Gai’s last mission that he meets Kakashi. Gai was 10, and Kakashi 9 years of age. Kakashi was with a client, who took pleasure in young boys in bed and watching them die in the arena. Sick. Kakashi was in the stands on the 2nd floor--VIP seating. Gai was in the ring, bashing another poor kid’s head into the floor. They had met eyes for one second and they knew, that they were the same, it was all in the eyes.
They don’t meet again until Gai finishes his mission and returns to Konoha for a mission briefing and Kakashi is heading off to his next. They pass by each other in the halls of their organisation building and there’s this flicker of recognition. They don’t speak, and don’t outwardly make any movement, but deep inside, they acknowledge each other.
Kakashi is 14, and Gai 15, when Konoha nearly gets destroyed from an insider job. Their leader, Kakashi’s old mentor and handler, sacrifices himself with his wife for Konoha and they leave behind a child, who holds the secrets of the event on his body. It’s coded and only a select few can decipher it. But it doesn’t stop enemies from wanting to get it, because the knowledge can destroy Konoha completely. That child is Naruto.
Kakashi and Gai became friends and rivals along the way, doing some missions together after ‘graduating’ from their old childhood ones. Kakashi is well known for his genius and dexterity with guns and short blades but he’s a shadow, an assassin in the night. Gai...he’s a true monster, crushing skulls with his bare heads. He generates fear from his presence alone and when his nunchucks appear, well, good luck. They’re a demon duo indeed.
Gai gets his first set of students when before Kakashi. They’ve been trying to foster trainees off onto the both of them for years, because they’re some of their most skillful agents and the lives of agents are short. They have to spread their knowledge before they...kick the bucket. Hyuuga Neji, TenTen, and Lee become his trainees. TenTen is an orphan, Lee a mission baby, Neji’s a clan member.
Kakashi fails all his trainees (failed trainees don’t go back to academies like Naruto universe, they go into body bags -smile-) until Sakura (hostage, civilian parents owe money, her life for their debt and they sacrificed her to Konoha), Uchiha Sasuke (last clan member...long story), and Naruto.
KakaGai happens somewhere along the way because after their childhood missions, they’re both broken souls. Honestly. Kakashi has plenty of mental scars from r*pe (physical as well because sadistic people exist) and Gai as a lot of physical scars (but mental as well because he kills so many kids to survive for his mission). NO ONE IS A HERO IN THIS GODDAMN AU
Random Scene of Naruto:
“I’m going to be a hero, believe it!” the kid in a glaringly bright orange jumpsuit exclaims with glee. “We’re going to save the world and kick bad guys’ butts, we’re going to be the best team there is, sensei!”
Kakashi looks at his mentor’s son, his single exposed eye assessing his trainees--who the fuck decided oblivious kids and him were a good combination? He was not Gai. “There are no heroes in this life. There are only monsters, and I am going to teach you how to be one of them.”
I guess Kakashi loses his eye somewhere. He had a team, once upon a time. Maybe a group infiltration. I mean, Obito and Rin weren’t that bad on the eyes. Obito gives up his eye as a dying wish as well, Uchiha clan has weird eyes okay, they turn red in distress and have 20/20 vision even in the dark it’s weird and it’s unfair but hey, this is a modern AU and we cannot have too many special powers.
I just imagine Kakashi in a suit like typical spies and he wears a bandana like his headband in canon and he wears a black facemask (like those korean idols) over the bottom half of his face. I need a drawing of this.
Then: I’m going to trap Kakashi in Hogwarts, because I can! No plot, just cute drabbles and shorts of him being this mysterious figure in the school and the other characters’ perspective of him. It’s going to be FUN.
Now: Oh my god, wait. I can do this. I can make Kakashi do this kind of shit. I can give angst. THERE SHALL BE PLOT.
