Settle
All Naruto characters © Masahi Kishimoto, Shounen Jump
AN-This is a little test, to see what anyone says. We'll see. I'll be revising it, or leave it be, pending upon my response. First NARUTO fic, but around the twenty-fifth, thirtieth or so fic overall.
Blood settled upon his neck, a score of ripped facial tissue falling down the sides of his cheeks. A few more blasts were issued above him, before the sound of chakra slowed and dimmed, leaving the chirping silence and the settling mist. Heart beat slowed, and the intense feeling of everything paused. Nothing would move, then nothing wouldn't. The sounds of crashing feet cut through the blood-drowned ears and into his present mind.
Fools, all of them. The steps grew closer, then veered off to the left. Stupidity incarnate encased within flesh and spillable blood. Let the world fall, they said. Mist around him kept the eternal nightmare trapped in a separate place from him. A muffled curse, followed by more pounding footsteps, came from his side again. Same person, same fool whom he had bestowed his most utter respect upon, besides the Hokage… Which might be a premonition within itself. Of course, the battle itself had proved him a worthy candidate. Well, him and those who survived, anyways.
Blonde hair fell asunder as another of the Mist's Missing-nins arose from the ashes of the others. If he didn't know better, he'd call them the Hidden Village of the Phoenix, for lack of better terms. Interesting techniques for birds, though. Focus on right arm, left leg moves, focus on shoulder, knee moves. That pretty much figured, anyhow. His life had always been…
"God, get down!" More jutsus. More. Always more. This time, though, the insatiable Missing-nin didn't move afterwards. Which of the Leaf-nins were moving was a more pressing issue, however, and the stock of blond hair through the mist tried to find such. When one's life liquid pooled upon the ground, one did question certain things. Comrades fell into that category. He was torn, and he was also second best. This did not bode well for the others.
Words wrought of pure concern shifted through the silence, eerie in contrast to the dew. One was alright, one with a feminine voice, now, the other… but the one whose blood flowed couldn't check on that. This was all left to the blonde.
That morning… was it only so long ago? Eons, decades, at least a year ago, they had yelled at each other in the fury expressed only by boys grown in the fertile soil of war. The female had stayed out of it. They were into it with every cell they possessed, and it ate away at he who cared for them. Stupid, really, that single notation. That little quirk they had found to annoy each other with, pressing it upon the other until the tide of frustration hit the dam at full force and… they flooded each other. Worse yet, they carried it to the battlefield. Had he watched the other's back just that much less? Were they that much slower? Could a plan they had agreed upon prevented this?
He was alright, though. Breathing, that other one was. He was in deep pain, though, from the wounds, and not all of which their care-taker could tend to. As their blonde comrade picked through the medic kit, he began asking what was needed, before falling into silence at the realization of the extent. His head was foggy, their was too much blood loss… which could be said of anyone involved. But… he had lost something. Something. Then, the accursed words trickled through the silence.
"Your chakra?"
"Gone." Ah. There lay the problem. He hadn't performed any ninjutsu since early on because he had no way to. Chakra was life to a ninja. With one's power depleted, one might as well retire, especially after the ripe age of thirteen. There was no hope of regaining decent chakra levels then.
The blood had stopped flowing, and the teacher of the small group finally noted the absence of the fourth member, and had jumped up to begin the search anew. Even as he was found, gray hair obscuring his eyes above the harsh scars running vertical down his face, he had already made his decision.
That was the last time he ever allowed his folly to exist at a comrade's expense.
Grey hair shone against a midnight sky, four long scars gazing back at him from the somewhat murky waters. Some of the minerals that eroded into the hot springs were said to be the best for healing scar-tissue, and Kakashi used the ones nearest the Konoha village to their full extent. His questionable book had been set aside hours ago, allowing him to immerse himself completely before relaxing into a reclined position against the rocks. The fourth scar, running from above his eyebrow to below his mask's tan-line, was as fresh as ever, while the other three had faded so that he could not see them unless he wished to. Which he did, in his own fashion. They were there when no one else was. Everyone involved in his receiving those was long gone… more than twelve years.
His body shifted, and he listened silently as the other portion of the pool, the main slot separated by bamboo, was filled with the genins and the other three jounin on the trip, and even the two chuunin and ten to twenty of the youngest ones that couldn't even be called ninja. He slid deeper, pulling the tight mask of black above his features, lest someone see through the cloud of yellow steam that encased him. Separate, but only until someone was thrown in this direction and he was discovered.
As his hand began to slide back into the water, the line between gas and liquid magnified one of his latest additions, a long, horizontal slash down to the bone from Zabuza. That, although seemingly years ago, lingered fresh upon his hand. He sunk ever lower as the minerals began soaking his flesh thoroughly, his Sharigan eye closed as the scar was being treated. Shouts could be heard, the general rough-housing of so many ninja in one place, Naruto and Sasuke, Ino throwing a rock over the fence only to miss Shikamaru and hit Gai, Lee crying his devotion to Sakura through a crack in the bamboo, eyes shut. All was as normal as it would be, then. Kakashi's eyes trailed to his hand again. They all had similar scars by now, even the laid back team of Asuma, Shikamaru, Ino, and Chouji had their share of a C rank battle, with quite a few less bumpy starts than Kakashi's team.
"Ah-ha! Kakashi! I challenge you-!" But Gai was mercifully cut off as Lee was thrown into him by Neji, who was praised gratefully from the feminine side, Kurenai included. Kakashi glided on the smooth rocks until his ears were submerged as well, and the feeling of blood running through them rammed him without mercy. Gai was up sputtering as Lee apologized energetically between throwing river rocks at Neji, who ignored them both.
Follies had become a semi-normal predicament since he first walked past the puddle containing the Demon Twins of the Mist. He hadn't expected Naruto to lock up like that. He hadn't expected to get caught. He assumed he could defeat Zabuza; assumed that their will to live would allow them to leave him behind; assumed they would all die if they fought Zabuza head-on. Assumptions, He would always assume. And, one could always remember what was said about that.
Assumptions make and ass out of u and me. Ass-u-me.
Half an assassin was just an ass.
These were just true. He had felt half-there during those fights, especially compared to the potential shown by Naruto's Kyubi, Fox Demon, and Sasuke's Sharigan; Orochimaru and Kabuto; The first two and fourth Hokage; the third Hokage and Itachi Uchiha. Skilled as he was, it was only the dashing mouse before the giants arrived.
Gai was sitting there, intent upon making Kakashi listen, with his yelling and forceful nudges in the side. Rock-Paper-Scissors, sparing, racing, diving, any sport that would come to mind. Yet, he slowed to a lengthy pause just as, totally oblivious to each other, Lee and Neji entered a duel that quickly left the hot springs.
"Fifty to forty-nine, in my favor, right Kakashi?" Gai was somewhat soft-spoken as he gazed after his battling students. Kakashi nodded mutely. Gai looked over at him suddenly, eyes twinkling. "Your amount of scars to mine, Kakashi, and the one with the least will fill the side pool by hand before midnight!"
Kakashi began praying that Gai knew enough water jutsu to finish the job before dinner, otherwise he would go hungry as well.