Fighting the flames
This is a story that takes place after Weaving Silk and before Part the Second :)
Falling. Falling. FALLLING!
All she could see was his partially masked face. Eyes filled with a determination that would not falter. After living with him secretly for a year, she also saw in those eyes that if he could not save her he would go with her. Tears blurred her vision. As they left her eyes, falling upward, the tears battered Kakashi's mask, wetting the fabric darker where they struck.
Hours before…
"Crap!" escaped Yuu Nane' s lips before she could stop it.
"Well you can see why they are in trouble. That is a bad place to put a town." Nara Shikamaru said bluntly as he scratched the back of his head.
The whole place was a logistic nightmare.
From their vantage on the edge of the valley, the Konoha rescue team could see that the entire town was set down in a valley, a crater almost, with only one entrance in or out. For a capable person, one could scale the sides of the bowl, but for children, injured and the elderly… not a chance in hell. That one entrance was closed off by a fall of rock that would not be moved easily.
Hatake Kakashi shook his white haired head. This would not be easy.
What made this an emergency was the village's main industry, a coal mine. That coal mine was now uncontrollably aflame below the very village itself, eating at the structure of the ground as the fire consumed the fuel. A portion of the mine had been on fire for years, but they were able to access another vein and work it in relative safety. Months ago that vein reached critical temperatures and ignited.
Konoha was called to assist in this emergency two days ago when the rock slide occurred. It was obvious to the leaders of the village that things were finally out of hand and that they needed help.
Evacuations had started to a secondary village when the second mining site ignited. This new village was several hours walking distance in an effort to get away from the noxious fumes and smoke. However, many did not want to leave. Prior to the slide, half of the population had refused to be the first out of the village. Now they had no choice, but their exit was closed off. Fumes, smoke and flaming sink holes added to their plight as well as the increasing heat within the natural bowl of the valley.
"It was a good idea at the time. It kept us close to the mine to work it." Kanna, the elderly village headwoman shrugged her shoulders. Beside her, the tall and bearded Sarutobi Asuma closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. His dark haired girlfriend Kurenai squeezed his free hand, hoping to remind him to keep his temper.
Suddenly, the ground trembled slightly as the group felt an underground explosion of built up gas. The nin easily kept to their feet, but the headwoman fell into the huge dog Akamaru and his rider Kiba. She scrambled for purchase by grabbing handfuls of the dogs white fur. Akamaru glanced over his shoulder and snorted. In the village below them, a sink hole opened and a house vanished into its fiery depths. The gaping hole seemed to pull a quantity of smoke down with it only to have it replaced by a geyser like emissions of more of the same lethal gases. Villagers screamed and more panic was added to the already desperate situation.
Their leader Tsunade had put Kakashi in charge of the ten man group. Its members consisted of Asuma and two of his squad Shikamaru and Chouji, Kurenai and her three, Shino, Hinata, and Kiba with Akamaru, Nane for her medical expertise, and Anbu member Tenzou who had been on loan for his wood jutsu specialty.
With a critical eye Kakashi took in the situation and quickly made plans.
"Tenzou, you and Chouji get to that slide. Clear it as best as you can so we can get everyone out. Kurenai, take Nane and Hinata and set up a triage station as close as you can to the exit. I want the injured out first if possible. Kiba go with Kurenai and keep an eye on them. The rest, get to the villagers. Get them to where the ladies have set up. Be certain to check any structures you come across. I am sure that there could be people in them hiding and thinking that they are safe." As he spoke another house on the edge of a sink hole groaned and fell into the maw punctuating his commands. "Get going!"
The three teams split and sped to their assigned points and tasks.
Nane tried to breathe under the sulfur ridden smoke, but still found herself coughing constantly. The others fared no better. This would be very bad for anyone who had breathing problems before all of the smoke and fumes.
"This looks like a stable enough spot. Set up here." Kurenai set her pack down and began to open it. Hinata and Nane followed suit. Nane also pulled out her leather pouch of medical tags and attached them to her hip for easy access. Then an idea hit her. Rummaging in her pack she found a kerchief. Using the water from her canteen she soaked the square of cloth, folded it into a triangle and tied it around her head, the bulk of the kerchief covering her nose and mouth. Experimentally Nane took a deep breath and was rewarded with no coughing and relatively clean air.
"Nane-chan?" Hinata's tentative voice was heard as the girl watched the red-haired woman's actions. Nane nodded for her to do the same.
"It helps a lot, Hinata." Nane said and saw Kurenai was already wetting her own face mask.
"Kiba, get over here." Kurenai handed the young man a kerchief. "Wet this and wrap it around your face. Akamaru's too if you can rig it. The combination will act as a bit of a barrier to the smoke and fumes."
"Good thinking. Akamaru was about to go nuts with all of the intense odors and smoke." Beside Kiba, Akamaru sneezed wetly and whined. Kiba reached out a hand and stroked his friend reassuringly.
"What about the others?" Nane looked worriedly into the village. People were starting to filter towards them, some signally, others in groups helping the less able. She was concerned for the others on the team that were in the thick of the smoke.
"As they come this way we will clue them in." Kurenai was worried as well, but knew that they had to worry about the civilians first. "Kiba."
The young man looked up from where he was tying a wet scarf around the huge dog's nose.
"Get these to Chouji and Tenzou. At least we can help those two breathe easier." The crimson eyed kunoichi tossed several kerchiefs to Kiba. He was gone in a flash riding Akamaru through the smoke to find the exit team.
It was taking Tenzou and Chouji longer than anticipated to clear the slide. The debris was so unstable that as soon as they cleared a portion another slide would block more. Eventually they would accomplish their task, but it would take more time. Kakashi arrived just as another slide occurred.
"Damn." Cursed Tenzou as sweat dripped down his face. "Kakashi, this is really going to take time. To make matters worse the water level in this area is decreasing quickly. The fires are turning it to steam. Soon I won't be able to generate wood to make a corridor."
Kakashi's jaw tightened as he ran through ideas at lightning speed.
"Tunnel it. Make wooden tunnels." Tenzou smiled behind his own mask at the idea and nodded.
"At least you are good for something, Hatake."
"Stow it and get to work. Do you need Kiba or do you and Chouji have this?" Kakashi looked up at the Amamichi boy.
"We got this." Chouji said in agreement to Tenzou's nod.
The white haired nin turned and raced back to the triage point.
He was relieved to find the women and Kiba safe and up to their eyes in villagers. Burns, bones and inhalation injuries were the majority of the infirmed. He did notice several draped bodies off to the side. A few were very small.
All around people's faces were covered. He smiled at that. Masks were useful indeed and currently fashionable.
Villagers were huddled as close to the rock walls as they could and nervously watched the ground for any signs of instability. Several had barely missed being killed by the random sink holes and rightly feared the silent killer below their feet.
"Kurenai, report."
Finishing the binding on a broken arm, Kurenai stood, brushing the soot and dirt off her knees.
"There are many injured, a few dead from either respiratory or mechanical injuries, and several that should not be moved. Nane is using her med tags to at least stabilize those enough so they won't die when we do move. The uninjured are either helping or clinging to the walls better than any genin I know. How much longer till we can get these people out?"
"Hopefully, not much. Tenzou is trying to get a tunnel going, but he is running out of water."
"We all are. The heat is leaching out whatever is in the ground and our canteens are only so full. Most of it is being used on the masks. These fumes are toxic and substantial. Everyone is starting to feel lightheaded, nauseated or just unable to breathe." Kakashi nodded.
"Soon people will start passing out."
"Some already have."
"Have you seen any of the others?" Kakashi scanned the grouped villagers.
Kurenai nodded.
"They have all dropped off villagers at one point or another. I made sure to get them masks, but that will only help for so long. We need to get out of here."
"Agreed." He turned to where Hinata worked on a small child. "Hinata, can you see into the village and give me an update on how many villagers are left?"
The dark haired heiress turned her head to look into the village. Her lavender eyes took on the odd look of the family eye trait. Her head turned slightly as she scanned what was becoming a caldera.
"Fifty or so are left. Many are moving in this direction on their own. I see our team guiding several others in this direction."
The ground rumbled and nearby a house disappeared from the skyline. Villagers screamed and hugged each other in fear and sadness.
Kakashi gaze found Nane who was so focused that she barely noticed what was going on around her. He could see her eyes were glowing green above her mask as she looked at her patient, ascertaining what she needed to do. Of anyone in the team she was closest to a physician. With a deep breath she closed her eyes. When she opened them they were back to their normal blue green. She looked over her shoulder at the family that hovered beside her.
"He is better for now. Jin may need surgery once we get to safety." Nane pulled out a pain tag, ignited it with a flare of chakra, and placed it under the young man's soot covered shirt directly onto his chest. "That will help with the pain. Stay with him."
Standing, Nane looked around for other untreated villagers. Kakashi walked up as she turned. She bumped into him but managed to keep to feet.
"Will you stop doing that." Her voice held only a mild scold in reference to past collisions.
He could tell she was exhausted already. Kakashi also noted that Nane had taken off one of the chakra siphons from her wrist. They were there to control her out of control chakra production. Without them she could become very sick herself. For her to have remove one meant that she was using enormous amounts of chakra in treating the villagers. Nane may hate being a trained medical person, but she did it very well. The number of dead were fewer because of her. Hinata's skills in healing were simple things and Kurenai was more of a fighter, but knew basic medical as did any nin.
"You doing ok?" Kakashi's voice was low and for her only. Few knew that they were together, especially the Chunin that were assigned to the team. He wanted to keep it that way, for now. It was safer for her because of his high profile accomplishments as well as professional standing. He still wanted to be sure she was okay. Nane nodded and winked at her lover.
"Get back to work, Hatake."
Just then another group of villagers came around the corner of the closest house and several in the group collapsed. Nane saw them over Kakashi's shoulder and rushed passed past him to tend to them.
"Kurenai!" Yelled the redhead.
The other kunoichi also blew by Kakashi to help Nane.
Satisfied that the situation here was under control, Kakashi unsheathed his Kusarigama and entered the village to check on the retrieval teams.
When Kakashi returned it was with the last of the villagers and several members of their team, Nane was still tending the group by a nearby house. He was carrying an elderly woman pig a back. There were another eleven that his team herded to the amassed group of villagers. As he arrived Chouji came running from the pass.
"Kakashi-taichio, we have the tunnel done!"
Kakashi carefully deposited the granny on the ground. She was thanking him profusely.
"Good work, Chouji. Take granny-chan for me." The teen nodded and bent to pick up the elderly woman.
Making his voice louder, Kakashi gave the order. "Get these people moving, team."
Once it was heard that their escape route was secured, the villagers that could started running for the tunnel. Others stayed to help family and friends that were too injured to make it on their own. Seeing that the movement was toward the tunnel in a somewhat orderly fashion, Kakashi looked back to where Nane was working.
She was gone. The villagers she tended were moving in the direction of their kin. Kakashi quickly scanned the people around him. As the villagers passed he stopped one of the men.
"Where is the woman that was helping you?" A young woman behind the man quickly answered him.
"The red haired one went to find my daughter. In the confusion she got separated from us. The kunoichi got a strange look on her face, then she said knew where Dala was."
"Which direction did she go?" The woman pointed behind her. "Asuma! Take over!" Bellowed the Copy Nin. He could not see the tall man through the smoke, but he definitely heard the response.
"Understood!"
Without another word Kakashi took off at a run in the direction the mother had indicated. "Damn, woman." He cursed under his breath.
Nane followed the glittering line of bond that she saw from the young mother to her daughter. Ever since Orochimaru kidnapped her and forced her to a overload of epic levels she had been able to see the actual bonds that people had to one another.
Lightly she leapt from roof top to roof top using her chakra enhanced muscles, following the trail only she could see. The child was moving as well.
"Stay still, little one, we don't have the time to play hide and seek."
Nane was so focused on finding the wayward child that she stepped on a fire rotted roof falling through. When the debris stopped falling she got up and found herself on the first floor of the burned out house. In the process of her fall she jarred her shoulder and scuffed her face. Exasperated at her klutziness, she used the back of her gloved hand to wipe away the blood. Her kerchief was lost somewhere above.
"No time to search for that now." Talking to herself she left the house.
There was debris everywhere at street level, half collapsed buildings, glass, and other homey objects of daily life that would never be used again. Closing her eyes again, Nane searched for the bond line she had been following. Opening her blue green eyes she smiled.
"Gotcha."
The little girl was actually making her way towards the kunoichi. Nane met up with the child just around the corner. The brown haired girl was perhaps four years old. Her dirty and tear streaked face held the ultimate terror of the lost in hell.
Nane ran over and scooped Dala up into her arms.
"Hey, Dala, I am Nane. I know where you mummy is."
Dala threw her arms around Nane and cried harder.
"It will be alright, baby. Let's go."
The two got as far as the middle of the town square before Kakashi caught up. He saw them from one of the roof tops that ringed the square. He was relieved that all seemed well in the midst of this disaster, and that the child was found.
"Nane!"
Both girls looked upward at the white haired man's voice. At that same moment the ground below shook as another explosion erupted. Spiderwebbing fractures appeared all around Nane and Dala to the very edges of the square. The ground joltingly dropped several inches. Nane knew instantly that the entire square was about to go down. She grabbed up the girl to jump out of the way, but all of the chakra that she had expended left her as strong as a normal person. Grabbing at her wrist Nane pulled at the other siphon in hopes that she could get some chakra flow. The ground broke apart before she could remove the siphon.
"Sink hole!" Yelled Nane, throwing Dala as hard as she could without the help of chakra, towards the edge of the opening maw. Houses teetered inward to fall into the hole with her. It was happening so quickly that there was barely any time to think let alone act. Dala was on the ground, in shock and relatively safe when Nane disappeared into the fiery maw.
As Nane yelled, Kakashi was already diving after her. Why hadn't she jumped out of the square?
As he passed the edge he threw the sickle end of the Kusarigama he had been using to break into buildings and pry wood apart deep into the solid earth at the lip of the sink hole. Kakashi sent out a brief prayer that it would hold, knowing in his heart that if he could not reach Nane it would not matter.
Nane struggled to get a hold of something, anything that she could use to change the direction of her fall. Nothing. The rocks fell away faster than she could get her feet onto, but in her chakra depleted state would she be able to even stick to the rock. At least Dala was safe. Kakashi would get her out.
Then the white haired legend was above her, falling as she was. The man was crazy! He needed to get the baby out! That was the mission, save the civilians. Mission members were technically expendable.
She then spotted the Kusarigama and the chain of hope that trailed behind him.
Nane stretched to catch his hand that reached for her as well. Tears filled her eyes as she knew that he would not reach her and would probably die trying to save her. A nice thought, but not one that she wanted to take to the heavens with her.
Just then a cantaloupe sized clump of earth streaked by Kakashi and smashed into her shoulder, spinning her away from her savior's grasp.
Kakashi was desperate. He could see the flames and the ground below and just could not get her hand. Then opportunity struck…Literally.
Back in Konoha, at their favorite table, Gai listened raptly to the tale of the coal town. He was on the edge of his seat over the fate of poor Nane and the heroic Kakashi. Obviously she was fine because there she sat between himself and Kakashi with her head on her arms and face covered. Every now and again a pained groan could be heard. She knew what was coming at the end of the story.
Kurenai reached across Gai and patted Nane's elbow in sympathy. The genjutsu expert already knew the climax of the story as well.
"So what happened, my great rival, how did you save the sweet Nane from a certain fiery doom?"
Nane answered, but from her current position all that was heard was muffled sounds. Kakashi patted her on the back.
"What?" Gai was almost frantic in anticipation.
"That chunk of ground that hit her knocked Nane into a spin. Her leg came up and I caught her by the ankle just as the Kusarigama chain tightened, and tossed her out. When I climbed out of the sink hole, both girls were on their butts. Nane still looked quite stunned, and I have to say smoking a little. The little one ran up to me and claimed me their savior."
"That is the way to do it, Hatake." Genma said around the senbon held between his teeth.
Nane picked up her head and glared at the brown haired specialist who spoke.
"If it weren't for me the little brat would not have been found at all. Mr. Hero Copy Nin here," and she jerked a thumb at the man beside her, "swoops in and takes all of the credit."
Stopping for a moment in thought, Nane gazed at Kakashi with a look of epiphany, her embarrassment momentarily forgotten.
"That is how you do it, Hatake. How you have gained your fame and status. You stole it! Swooping in with your good looks and ninja godlikeness." Nane was poking her chakra enhanced finger painfully into his chest. He felt the attack thru his flak vest.
Snatching the potentially life ending digit and hand, Kakashi brought her fingers gently up to his masked lips and kissed them in a chaste and gentlemanly manner. Nane ire was quenched at the loverly action. He seemed to know what would calm her down. Around them, the rest of the team had diverted the conversation away from the couple. It was their turn to tell their own stories of the Mining Town mission, leaving the two to talk.
Nane averted her blue green eyes from his one visible grey eye and took back her hand. Her mouth formed a grimace of self depreciation. He could tell that she had been examining the whole situation and was not happy with herself.
"Kakashi, why is it I am at my klutziest around you? If you weren't there it would have been fine. We would have been past that square before it collapsed."
"It is my wit and charm?" She made a rude noise, and folding her arms across her chest she scoot closer to Gai, because at this moment he was the better alternative.
Kakashi went on, his voice lower and for her alone to hear, "Had I not been there to lend a hand, my favorite red head would be cooked. Your chakra levels were so low from healing that you would not have made it. That is something that I would not be able to live with. If we can't be there to save each other when it counts why are we together?"
"But why are you the one doing all of the saving?" Nane looked up at Kakashi's face. She could see the shape of a smile under the mask.
"Have I ever told you that you save me every day that you are with me?"
Nane's face brightened and the doubt left her.
"Are we done here?"
"Aren't you hungry?"
"Not for what is on the menu." Taking his hand, Nane stood and the two excused themselves and headed for home to start a fire of their own.