"When you said we were going to see one of the wonders of the world I thought you meant something like the Valley of the End." Sakura huffed irritably in the pitch black darkness.
"Hn." Was Kakashi's terse reply, the only type of reply he'd been giving her in fact since she'd started her irate ranting, listing every single one of the nine wonders.
He was the only one of the two who could see, thanks to his sharingan, so he had been scanning the area for the way out. The odd statue and ornamentation jutted out from the smooth walls and rectangular holes stacked here and there indicated where the dead had been laid to rest.
Being essentially blind and certain that if she moved she would walk into something nasty, Sakura had remained still and had proceeded to lay into the Copy Ninja.
"Maybe even the Kaze no Miya pyramid temple in Wind Country." She scuffed the floor with her boot, kicking up detritus into the air. Her voice had been steadily rising and she was nearing the point where she may or may not just put a crater where they stood with her fist.
"You knew we were going to Earth Country." He said finally, sighing.
His eyes drooped further than normal in weariness.
"Yes, but I thought we were going to see the Ishi Goten stone palace near Iwa. I'd get to see the beautiful architecture and landscaping, you'd buy me some sweet dango and then we'd do whatever mission stuff on the side. I did not expect the fucking Yama Hakachi necropolis!" Her voice penetrated the gloom and the sensitive ears of her silver-haired companion. She swore this would be the last time she fell victim to his manipulations. Come on Sakura,' he'd said. Its an easy mission with good pay.' And, We'll be able to see one of the nine wonders of the world. Essentially getting paid for sight seeing.' He'd said... with that deep persuasive voice of his. Damn one sided crushes. Stupid sexy sensei!
What he had forgotten to tell her was that the mission involved the ninth wonder. The sprawling ruins of Iwa's great grotesque cemetery. Begun some time ago in Earth Country before Iwa had even been formed, it had acquired catacombs and tombs beyond count. It had been built directly into and under rock and stone at the roots of a mountain range. She might have felt more charitable towards the place had it been daylight, but it was dark and a wispy fog lay on the area. Sakura swore she heard eerie noises all around her but Kakashi dismissed it as the wind wailing through the ruins. Still, she had rubbed her arms as if chilled.
They'd been trying to stealthily make their way through the tombs carved into the craggy outlying land and face of the mountain. She'd resisted peering too closely at the yawning entrances of the various stone mausoleums and crypts. The mist blanketed the ground, obscuring it, and with one small misstep both had fallen nearly fifty feet down a booby trapped pit.
When she'd regained her bearings she had of course immediately groped for him in the dark to assess his status, both to confirm by touch she hadn't been parted from him and to assure herself he was unhurt. He'd done the same using the sharingan to examine her extremities. A regular person would have been seriously injured or killed, but luckily they were shinobi and had only a few abrasions between them. Now they just needed to get out if they were ever to complete the mission.
She sensed his familiar chakra and spoke toward the comforting aura. "Tell me again, why couldn't Stone-nin have done this?"
This had all been explained already on the way there but she'd stopped listening when she found out where they were going. He pinched the bridge of his nose through the fabric of his mask as token resistance to his impending migraine.
She recognized the tenor of his voice when he began. Kakashi was in sensei lecture-mode and so she listened this time around.
"All the locals, even the ninja, seem to be hyper superstitious about this place. They won't set foot near it. There has been a series of nighttime attacks and thefts lately that they believe are originating from this place." Kakashi's feet were shuffling this way and that on the dusty stone floor as he analyzed the chamber.
"Most of them seem to think its supernatural, the population has been leaving offerings of food, trinkets and other goods outside their homes and everything is gone by morning. The Tsuchikage and the Daimyo, however, have been more apt to believe there is a gang about causing the trouble... but still they'd rather not send anyone from their own territory if it means dishonoring their ancient dead." Ending his speech he turned to her.
Seeming to have finally decided the direction which likely led out of the catacombs, Kakashi strode back to the pink-haired kunoichi and took her by the hand. She seemed to start at the unexpected contact but quickly closed her fist around his, feeling the soft half-gloves and the skin of his fingers against her. He didn't touch her often but when he did she found herself becoming taut as garroting wire around a throat. She scrunched her nose at that errant thought, what a nasty metaphor to be popping into her head. Clearly she'd been hanging around too many assassins. Like the raikiri wielder who now held her hand gently but firmly in his grasp.
She'd been thinking about Kakashi more and more lately. Less as her superior and more as a close friend she'd like to get closer to. Naturally the Sasuke-situation' had petered out over the course of her maturation but it seemed she was still a romantic at heart with a thing for emotionally unavailable men. It must be the healer in her.
"I see tunnels leading out of this vault in all directions but only one that seems to have a significant air current. This way, carefully though, the ground isn't entirely even or clear." He tugged her along gently and she gave over control to her sensei.
The man made caverns were like a labyrinth. Sakura had long since started to feel claustrophobic and more than a little disturbed by being trapped underground with what could be hundreds or thousands of corpses. She held Kakashi's hand like a lifeline. Picking his way carefully through the passages so that she didn't stumble he had determined more or less the way he should take. When the passage became narrow he pulled her in closer to his back. More open places along the walls revealed the exposed remains he was glad the girl could not see. She closed her other hand around his firmly muscled forearm when she felt something unidentified brush against her.
"Easy Sakura. I 've got you." His voice soothed. Kakashi couldn't help it, he had always felt protective of Sakura. He wanted to protect all his precious people. It might seem sexist the way he was always jumping in the way of the odd barrage of kunai and shuriken meant for her or drop kicking the nin she was in the middle of fighting, but there was just something innate inside him as a man that recognized her and compelled him to look after her. Even when he knew fully well she was now more than capable of defending herself. To him it was better to overprotect than to leave any unforseen vulnerabilities open that might put her at risk.
Sakura's breath sounded harsh to her own ears in the intense silence. When Kakashi spoke it did ease her a bit. She wondered if they would ever reach the end, this was worse than when Naruto, Yamato-taichou and she had been running through Orochimaru's base, at least that abysmal place had had torches lining the walls.
Winding and climbing through the subterranean maze Sakura had all but lost her sense of direction. Maybe when they got back she would recommend to Tsunade that all shinobi be required to carry a summoning scroll for flares in cases of emergency. She wondered not for the first time which ones Kakashi kept on his person. Rolling her eyes she thought, probably one that summons his Icha Icha collection.'
Lost in making mental notes and pondering Kakashi's porn habits she bumped into his side, not realizing he'd stopped.
"You doing all right Sakura?" He asked, steadying her after the jolt.
Her cheeks flushed at having been caught off her guard. "Yeah, yeah, its just a bit disorienting down here."
Long fingers and a gloved palm ran up her arm to curl around her bicep as if to ground her. The kunoichi's slight body trembled involuntarily. She'd never been touched this much by him in such a small period of time, which only added to her disorientation. For a moment a madness washed over her and she wanted to pull him close and touch him in return. Thankfully he patted her affectionately and disengaged just before it could rule her actions. She was certain he'd only reject her to her mortification. She smoothed her hands against her skirt, trying to alleviate the surge of longing.
"I think we've come to a dead end of sorts. This part seems to have caved in. I don't see an outlet down here, but there is a ledge above us." Kakashi moved away from her and his steps echoed into the chamber.
Sakura put a cautious hand out and felt that the wall ended not far from where she was, leading into an open space. She walked forward a few paces experimentally and was rewarded with cobwebs directly to the face. Screeching she clawed at the offending substance trying to get it out of her face and hair. At least her mouth hadn't been open, but that didn't stop her from freaking out.
The Copy Ninja spun on his heel and honed in on her. Petite arms were flailing about her face but he perceived immediately there was no real threat. Except if you'd call a cute, grossed out girl with a monstrous temper and strength to match a threat. He laughed at the sight, probably wasn't the wisest of choices, but he had inhumanly fast reflexes so he figured he'd be all right.
"Having a bad night Sakura?" He teased.
"The worst, Kakashi-sensei." Grumbling she resumed picking with disgust at her roseate locks.
In a few strides his long legs brought him beside her again. Locating the debris he began systematically removing the filth. "If it's any consolation the presence of spiders indicates we're probably close to an exit."
"The presence of spiders is never any consolation." She glared hard, knowing he could see it.
After a while his help with her personal grooming was starting to feel more like petting. A pattern was developing. He kept doing things she considered slightly out of character but ceased to do them just in time to make her unsure. She could have sworn he'd twirled a tendril of her hair around his finger before he dropped his arm back to his side.
"We're going to have to jump. Since you can't see to judge it for yourself I think I'm going to have to carry you."
Of course, carry her. What else?
"Piggy back? Well if we have to, I guess um, turn around then." Sudden unpleasant images of the time Kakashi, by force, had rode on Gai's back popped into her head.
She let out a squeak when his arms slipped under her thighs and back, hoisting her up bridal style.
"You might want to pull your body in tight, I'm not sure of the layout once we land and I don't want you to hurt yourself since you're having a clumsy streak." His tone was light and good natured but she still squawked at him for it.
Grudgingly (yeah right) she tucked her face under his chin and clutched him around the shoulders. Her humid breath tickled across his collarbone. Fighting his own response, he figured it was karma for all the goading he'd been doing.
Kakashi took a running leap, grunting as he left the ground. His sandaled feet propelled him from the few footholds he'd spotted prior to the maneuver and then they were on solid ground once again. Dim light shone around a corner and he rushed around it. An open arch wrought in the stone lay ahead and he wasted no time emerging back into the free night air.
Mist and vapor had further enveloped the area but he could tell they'd come quite a distance since this was the side of the mountain. They'd initially fallen further away from its base. But wait...there was movement. Inky black tomoe circled in the ruby depths of the sharingan, picking up shapes in the fog coming towards them. His eyes narrowed, the enemy must have known about their presence this whole time. The commotion with the booby trap likely tipped them off.
Slow, shambling forms were emerging now into Sakura's own field of vision. What relief she had felt for the light of the moon had promptly fled once the shapes were revealed.
"Ehhhh?" Bolting upright in Kakashi's arms she tightened her hold around his neck. Bottle green eyes widened in abject fear. He struggled to keep upright with her sudden movement, fingers biting into her thigh and ribcage.
"Tell me those aren't skeletons Kakashi." She begged.
Up until now her mounting terror had been held back by sheer willpower and the reassurance of Kakashi. How was she supposed to cope with effing bone monsters? She was a strong and brave shinobi, but re-animation of decayed corpses? That was beyond her ken. Well, that and spiders. Edo tensei had nothing on this shit.
Disintegrating armor and rags hung from yellowed bones. Some held the rusting weapons they'd been buried with. They advanced slowly, gaping eye sockets in their naked skulls exuding an eerie light in the gloom.
Kakashi's face and nose parted her hair, lips close to her ear. His hot breath on the lobe brought her attention away from the gruesome scene before them.
"The remains are being controlled by chakra strings. I can see where they originate. You can relax." Gently he set her on her feet again and locked eyes with her.
"They're merely puppets, not the undead." He reassured her. "Either way though, what has a shinobi of your calibre to fear from a bag of bones?"
"I know you Sakura. I know what you can do. Show them." He urged.
She nodded gratefully at Kakashi. He believed in her, she could see it in his mismatched eyes. Pulling her gloves out of her pack she shifted into a battle stance.
"Time to put the dead to rest." She muttered huskily.
The second she'd tightened her gloves she was sprinting into the midst of them. Left and right she hewed her way through brittle bone. Fists smashing, elbows crunching, legs kicking, rending the body parts from the surrounding skeletons. The sound was almost like the hollow striking of bamboo echoing in the night. Kakashi stood nearby to take in the carnage, looking laid back with his hip out and arms across his chest. It was nice not having to do anything. She clearly had this under control and damn was she magnificent.
This was the girl who'd fought and defeated the puppet-master Sasori with the help of his grandmother Chiyo. Along with Kankuro they were the best at their art. These creations of desecrated remains were a trifle.
He watched like a voyeur and wondered in passing if she knew that he'd been going out of his way to arrange these two-man missions with her. It had become an excuse to have time alone together. Truth was he'd been a goner ever since the first time she'd literally brought the earth crashing down around him. He vividly recalled how she'd said his name and declared rather seductively that she'd found him. Icha Icha had lost its allure, becoming conspicuously absent in her presence. He figured that was proof positive he had romantic inclinations towards his former student.
Kakashi followed the graceful arc she'd just taken through her foes. Actually, she was nearly through. He supposed he'd better help take down the ninja before she killed them out of hand, blaming them for this miserable creep show.
His form flickered and he was after them, following their dwindling chakra trail. They were retreating, having witnessed the massacre wrought by the deceptively petite kunoichi. Even now the last of the skeletal puppets dropped to the ground abandoned as they fled.
After a few shadow clones and a healthy dose of plain old taijutsu, Kakashi had the ninja incapacitated and bound. Sakura walked up just as he'd finished the last knot.
Her mouth drew down in a pout. "You're no fun Kakai-sensei, didn't even let me beat them up a little bit."
He rose and made his way over to her. Looking her up and down he observed she was no worse for wear. Appeared rather fetching actually with the slight flush to her cheeks and tousled hair.
"Sorry about that. We seem to have finished the mission in record time though." He rubbed the back of his head, combing through his silver spikes in a display of uncharacteristic insecurity.
"I was thinking that maybe I could make it up to you by taking you to see Iwa's famed stone palace after all? That is if you are still interested." He smiled widely down at her heart-shaped face.
Surprising them both she leapt on him. Throwing her arms around his neck and hugging him tightly. "I would love that!"
Both his eyes were wide. She felt his hands on her extreme lower back, they seemed to tense but didn't move, fingertips pressed into the skin exposed between her shirt and shorts. After embracing him just a tad overlong to be sure he was indeed aware of his hands, she finally released and blushed up at him prettily. Inner Sakura was making the customary exclamations of SHANNARO!
Hah, crush not so one-sided after all.
For his part he knew he'd be buying her that dango, followed by dinner. A scheme unfolded in his gleeful mind. Then he'd sneak her into one of the palace rooms that were off limits to the public and they could finally stop beating around the proverbial bush.
The prisoners came around in short order, grumbling and insulting them as criminals do when caught. (Interrupted from his planning, Kakashi gave them a glare with plenty of killing intent to shut them up.)
They began the return march. Iwa wouldn't take kindly to what these nin had done, especially the part about desecrating their dead. He wasn't sure they should mention they'd left the remains scattered and largely crushed to powder in the wake of Sakura's onslaught.
Kakashi led the captives while Sakura took the rearguard, which offered the perfect vantage point to ogle his rear. Screw that creepy place, she mused with a grin. Kakashi's ass is the 9th wonder of the world.