I hope you enjoy. R&R
Chapter oneIt hurt. Physically and emotionally for Kakashi who stood there upon the pile of rocks that were currently killing his best friend. The enemy were currently surrounding them and Kakashi calculated he had enough chakra to take them out but not if their back up comes along.
Chidori, his trusty technique, which is now complete thanks to Obito… That morning he hated him but now… His heart and chest ached because he knew this was all on him. His friend's death was on his back because before they became friends Obito spoke some sense into him.
"Those who break the rules are scum… But those who abandon their comrades are worse than scum." Kakashi muttered to himself as he pulled out his father's tanto from his back and held it at the ready.
"Kakashi… Protect Rin." Obito whispered up to him.
"Yeah…" He responded. 'I'll protect her for you as your last wish.' Anger took over Kakashi as he used it to push himself faster, the sharingan seeing things he thought was impossible to see as he brought his tanto down on the enemy who blocked, shattering the blade. No time to stop as he sped through hand seals while the enemy was still open, the Chidori charging up as he plunged it through the enemy.
No time to stop and sit with his new friend as he took his last breaths as back up arrived, caving in the rest of the structure and pulling Rin to safety to find they were surrounded.
'Kakashi… Protect Rin.' Obito's last wish played through his head as he summoned up what was left of his chakra into his palm, grimacing at the effort as he launched for the first one. The last thing Kakashi remember was a white flash of an outline of someone who looked smaller than he was as he pulled a random kunai from his pouch and threw it as his chakra and conscience faded into black.
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"Kakashi!" Rin shouted as she saw his jutsu die down and his body begin to fall. Two yellow flashes later, Minato was there with the unconscious Kakashi in his arms, crouching by Rin.
"Check him over." Minato ordered, keeping Rin's attention as she heard blades cut through bodies but who was it as there was a white flash of a silhouette before Minato grabbed her attention again. "Rin." He ordered before she blinked her attention back and hovered her hands over Kakashi, trying to forget the situation at hand.
"The enemy…"
"Is being taken care of, concentrate on Kakashi." Minato said softer as he kept watch around them. Rin flinched as a white flash passed so close by her with a rush of air before she heard a body being slammed against something as she cringed and opened her tearing eyes again, looking at Kakashi.
"The enemy is down…" A voice floated by Rin's ears. So calm, lighter than her own, a young girl perhaps but she knew in her heart it was impossible… It was like listening to wind chimes across an open field as the wind blew through the long strands of grass and she instantly felt relieved but like the wind chimes, it carried no emotion.
"I'm surprised they sent you as back up." Rin saw Minato smile but there was a harsh tone to his eyes as he kept them down on his fallen students.
"What do you order Minato-sama?" She asked again as Rin looked up and around but she couldn't sense any presence but her own, Minato and Kakashi's.
"Clean up here would you? We can finish the mission from here Shiroi." Minato said.
"Hai." The voice said as a cold wind rushed past them and Rin shivered.
"Let's go back to where we camped out before… You can tell me everything that happened on the way." Minato said softly as he picked Kakashi up in his arms and jumped down with Rin as they began walking back and Rin began to explain everything with a new round of fresh tears, holding Kakashi's limp hand.
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Minato sat on the same rock… He couldn't believe Obito was gone but he knew the information hadn't sunk in properly yet, he was still in shinobi mode because the mission wasn't complete yet.
"Minato-sama… I couldn't find Uchiha-san's body. There was some hidden tunnel that carried most of the rubble into it and I cannot dig down there without some earth style users. I apologise." The voice floated down as she landed soundlessly next to Minato.
"Why are you here?" Minato asked, watching Rin who luckily hadn't noticed her presence.
"Sent as back up by order of Sandaime-sama. It was a last resort, Iwa knew very little about my home so he deemed it safe." She spoke calmly and Minato looked at her, the red blood clashing against her white outfit.
"They put up quite a fight for you to get blood on your clothes…" Minato smiled slightly but her eyes stayed dead ahead on Rin who was gazing up at the stars.
"Unfortunately so… What are your orders now Minato-sama?" She asked. "I was sent as back up and so I must follow your commands as senior jonin."
"Go back to Konoha… We can finish our mission but please report what happened here so necessary arrangements can be made." Minato said calmly as he also watched Rin and the girl got up in one smooth movement, standing and ready to leave.
"Accomplish your mission Minato-sensei." She said, some emotion slipping into her voice with the little slip of the suffix at the end of Minato's name before she seemed to vanish, no air flow next to Minato as she left and Minato smiled slightly to himself… 'Shiroi' was an amazing shinobi.
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A voice tickled at Kakashi's sensitive ears…
"Accomplish your mission Minato-sensei."
"Looks like you're awake now." Minato said next to Kakashi as he sat up a little panicked and confused… Who was that voice, it was too soft and young to be Rin's
"Sensei, how?" Kakashi asked with confusion yet some awe.
"The jutsu on the kunai I gave you alerts me when it flies." Minato said, holding up his kunai.
"The enemies?" Kakashi asked.
"I defeated them all." Minato replied calmly.
"Rin, what about Rin!" He asked panicked. Minato pointed a finger towards her standing in the field.
"I'm sorry but I failed to make it in time Kakashi. Rin told me what happened." Minato said as they sat quietly and watched her for a while. Kakashi wondered who that voice belonged to because Rin had been over there all of the time by her chakra yet there was only Minato's who he could sense as he woke up. Her voice was too cold and soft for it to be Rin's so who was it and why was she around? Why did she say 'Minato-sensei' when he, Obito and Rin were his genin team even to now?
He peaked at Minato and he knew by the look in his sensei's eyes he wasn't going to get any answer, his mind was still sharp and in the mission, he would realise what Kakashi was doing and he'd get no information… He'd just have to bide his time because right now he had a promise and a mission to complete.
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"That was very reckless of you." Sandaime said as she walked into his office.
"You knew as much as I did that those mission details were wrong with all due respect Sandaime-sama." She replied back coolly as she stood at attention in front of his desk.
"Kalila dattebane!" A voice yelled with panic before she was she was engulfed in a bone crushing hug from one Uzumaki Kushina. "How could you go out there so recklessly deba?" She questioned, stepping out of the hug and putting her hands on her hips with a disappointed frown and Kalila just stared blankly at her.
"It wasn't your duty to go as their back up Kalila-hime." Sandaime said, puffing on his pipe.
"They lost Obito-kun." Kalila said coolly and Kushina gasped and Hiruzen raised his eyebrows. "Minato-sensei wishes for the necessary arrangements to be made, there was no body to recover."
"I will get right to it. Are they still accomplishing their mission?" Hiruzen asked and Kalila nodded.
"Hai Hokage-sama." She said like the shinobi she was.
"Very well then. Go home and get cleaned up then. Dismissed until further notice." Hiruzen said with a sigh and Kalila bowed as she turned easily and headed out the door with Kushina fumbling behind.
"I was worried when you didn't show up for practice yesterday morning hime 'ttebane." Kushina said as she caught up to the girl marching down the corridors, eyes seeming to be set somewhere further than the corridor and the walls ahead.
"I apologise for causing a panic Kushina but I was interested when I saw Obito-kun rush past me that morning on my way to training. Minato-sensei explained him a little too perfectly." Kalila said as the road seemed to divide with people for her like the great sea but she paid no attention to it or even her but their eyes were on Kushina looking panicked at the girl… Kalila just tended to blend into nothing, which is why she wore what she did. "I followed their scent after training and then I came upon the scene that I explained about earlier." Kushina's face fell.
"I'm sorry you had to see that." Kushina whispered with her eyes down. Obito was a good and pure hearted kid, rare for the Uchiha clan who take their kekkei genkai and clan seriously… But he had always been an outcast because he was twelve already and hadn't awakened his sharingan.
"And I apologise for your loss." Kalila said calmly, hair swaying across her lower back, even that had some red splatters in it of blood.
"How can you always be so calm about these things 'ttebane!" Kushina shouted at Kalila as they both stopped on the road and the crowd watched. Kalila turned around in a slow movement as her eyes stayed dead straight before they narrowed on Kushina.
"You know exactly why Kushina… It's not my fault I cannot react like you can." Kalila said, her voice a little louder than usual, taking on a harsher tone and even her eyebrows furrowed slightly like anger but her eyes still held nothing akin to the emotion that Kushina was looking for in them as her anger ebbed away, replaced by guilt as she looked down.
"Sorry… I know you didn't know him personally either which is why I got angry deba…" Kushina apologised as she walked up to Kalila and took her cold hand as they continued down the road towards Kalila's place, the conversation staying dead quiet as the dead as people forgot what happened and went back to their daily lives.
Kushina sighed sadly as she watched the steam coming out of the kettle on the stove as she leaned on the opposite counter with her hands on either sides of her hips. She shouldn't have snapped at Kalila like that for not feeling like she did, the girl didn't know him personally, then there was her whole 'predicament' she was in as well.
Kalila wasn't like any other twelve-year-old kid unfortunately. She's the last princess of Uzushio before it was destroyed the night of her birth… Kushina was there as a shinobi at the time and one of the guards for the birthing. Uzushio had been under attack for a while beforehand and Kushina had been there for those few months, protecting her king and queen.
She was a stillborn baby, Kalila was born with the traditional red hair and blue eyes but dead on birthing. Uzushio began to fall at sundown and this was close to midnight at the time. The queen had died shortly after from a broken heart and bleeding that couldn't be stopped after she saw her blue baby, not breathing or crying like she should have. The king was called to battle shortly after the news, suicidal was what Kushina would have called him at the time but she was to take orders as Uzushio's loyal Uzumaki and couldn't stop him.
She was to protect the elders who sat around the table with the stillborn girl lying dead in her blanket. The king and queen dead, they made one last decision. They took Kalila to the sacred waters of Uzushio down underground and placed her into the water and stood around the pool, chanting together for the hopes and dreams of their country to give this baby life and then the miracle happened.
The water glowed, a rainbow of colour floating around the room as Kalila's hair turned stark white as well as her skin, opening her eyes, they turned lighter, a grey blue colour, shifting shades of blue and grey depending on her emotions as she floated to the surface and began crying like a healthy baby.
Kushina was given the baby girl to protect with her life as well as an official letter to the Hokage and helped to escape with the baby. Uzushio fell, anyone left living scattered among the lands and Kushina stuck with this baby. She was only thirteen at the time but she did her duty and Kalila was taken from her until such a time Kushina was older and would train her in the arts of her home's country.
Kushina looked up from her musing at the whistle of the kettle and took it off the plate before turning the stove off. A flash of white in the corner of her eye made her look up and frown slightly, Kalila entered the kitchen wearing her usual uniform that was insisted upon by the letter left with the Hokage and Sandaime himself even if Kalila had made changes to it so it was effective for fighting.
She wore a pure white kimono with cream and silver petal decals all around, increasing in number the closer to the floor they got as they feel down throughout the kimono. She wore an inch thick sash around her tiny waist where she placed her cream colour pouch onto with all of her equipment. Up either sides of the kimono, it was slitted up to her hips where she wore white pants underneath it with wrappings around her ankles and the standard kunai and shuriken pouch around her left thigh as she was left handed and that pouch was also a cream colour.
Kalila also had multiple mechanisms up her large kimono sleeves that went over her hands like she requested and kept her hands up the opposite sleeve a lot as she walked… So much like the princess she was suppose to be which saddened Kushina sometimes. Her favourite mechanism was the one with blades coming out over her forearms, it was her favourite surprise attack against her enemies.
"I saw someone with the same mechanism as me yesterday." Kalila spoke up as she completed making the forgotten tea.
"Which one?" Kushina asked as she took her cup from the girl who looked always empty.
"The blades on the arms though his were more like permanent strap on's, those would be a hassle." Kalila said as she stared at the wall past Kushina's head and stared past it with her eerie light grey eyes, nearly the colour of the rest of her eye.
"And?" Kushina asked, sipping her tea, leaning against the counter again as Kalila leaned on the one by the stove.
"He was an armature at using them." Kalila said bluntly and Kushina's heart clenched for the girl… It was unfair the things she has had to go through because with the overload of all of the hopes and dreams in that water… She had never expressed any emotion to the point where a normal person would notice it, it was usually just glints in her eyes and voice before they were gone. Kushina knew because Sandaime never restricted her access to Kalila since she brought her back though Minato was shocked to come home to a thirteen year old Kushina trying to feed a baby but he came to love the girl as much as Kushina did.
"That must have been disappointing for you." Kushina said and Kalila hummed with no emotion or thought to it, it was a simple acknowledgement. As she sipped her tea, still staring past the boundaries of the house. "Let's go and train, you've missed a lesson because of your little adventure dattebane." Kushina grinned as she put their empty cups in the sink. Kalila just closed her eyes and nodded, an ever so slight frown of annoyance on her face as she followed Kushina to her private training ground.