Filled with pride and bewilderment alike, Kakashi stood near the cheering crowd who were throwing Naruto in the air...who could believe that that goofy troublemaker would become the savior of the leaf village?...the one who saved it from the clutches of the Akatsuki, namely Pain
But something was amiss...only he couldn't put his finger on it, having just been resurrected from the dead makes your head a bit fuzzy
It'd been bugging him for sometime now, like he was forgetting something...something important..
And then it hit him..
He immediately left the place and made for the tents, where he was told that they kept the injured..he felt utterly horrible for forgetting something like that
He was at lady hokage's tent in no time, not bothering with formalities..he barged in to find Shizune sitting beside a comatose, old-looking lady Tsunade
Shizune jumped to her feet and looked at him with an angry expression masking her tear-streaked face
An expression that was immediately changed to that of regret when he asked her "where is Hiromi?" He said urgently
Shizune lowered her head causing his heart to drop...his fears were confirmed, and that feeling he had finally made sense
"Shizune!" He said, in a higher tone than necessary, causing her to jump
She looked at the far right corner of the tent, where a body layed unmoving, covered with bandages from head to toe..he was about to ask who it was before noticing the golden hair strands coming out from between the bandages on her head...
His eyes widened as he could recognize that hair anywhere..it was definitely her..
Not having the strength to talk for it was drained the moment he saw what became of her..all he was left to do was stare at her, eyes full of regret and sense of failure
"I'll explain everything" lady Katsuyu said, appearing from behind Shizune and snapping him out of his dull thoughts
He turned his attention from Hiromi to lady Katsuyu but not without difficulty, and she took it as a cue to start talking "I don't know what you know and don't, so I'll start from the moment I was to observe Hiromi.."
~a piece from the past~
Family..it was a word, merely a word for her..until she met him
After that day, things started looking brighter..and life started feeling warmer..she had two people, people she loved and was loved by...one silver haired ninja and a lovely old man
..
She knew at the time that something unusual was going on in the village, but she was ordered to not leave hiding, and the orders she obeyed
With all the power she had..she stayed in hiding..obeying...
Only to completely lose control over herself when she heard the ominous words "l..lord..lord Hokage..has passed away"
It was after an attack on the village by Orochimaru...of all people
Obeying the orders..that was something she regretted with every minute she spent in her three years of solitary..where she had more than enough time to rethink her decisions, to feel guilt, hurt and most of all, yearning
Yearning for when the day would finally come when she could see him again..hug him and have her hair ruffled by his free hand, for that the other one would be holding his beloved book
..
She was used to solitary..but it was much easier when she had nothing..when she didn't know what life could be outside of her prison
But now, things were different...she chose to be imprisoned..she chose to be separated from him..all for the purpose of trying to take control over her power..after seeing it going wild..she had to be shut from the world
Because for her, that was the only choice there was...with her power out of control, she could not risk being close to him, nor to anyone
And that's why she decided to be confined until she gained control over her power..
But it was definitely easier said than done..it was more enormous than ever..more twisted and dark..but keeping her goal clearly in front of her eyes, she kept going..
~a little before the present moment~
Three years had passed, three years she'd counted by the day..
It was that feeling again..that something wasn't right..
She jumped as an explosion rang..
Her heart immediately dropped..an ominous sense of déjà vu
'No...no..I have to stay here..I pose a much bigger threat than anything out there' she tried to convince herself
She was walking back and forth..both physically and mentally, not knowing what the right thing to do was
But her worry over one masked ninja was more than any other feeling she had..and so it quickly took over and drove her out of the building..
She didn't see anyone around in the building which was a bad sign, but she kept advancing..not even noticing that she was barefoot..
When she made it outside, she saw what became of the peaceful village where she'd wandered along with Kakashi
She shook her head out of the shock and looked around before sensing where Kakashi was
She ran as fast as her legs allowed, not minding her feet getting scraped or anything else..
She finally arrived..and what she saw shattered the glass inside of her..
Is wasn't like before..like when she heard about the Hokage's death..it wasn't even close..because what she felt wasn't similar to anything..because he was dead..Kakashi was dead
The ground shook beneath her feet and the clouds scattered in the sky above as her pupils widened until her eyes turned back..before she exploded into a raging flame of black chakra..
A predatory need for blood, destruction and inflicting pain to everything she saw...but to the one who did this most of all
She could see remains in the distance, remains that had traces of Kakashi's chakra along with another...she didn't waste a second before launching into an attack on anyone with the same chakra
She destroyed four of them without a trace, before coming face to face with the last one..
He had orange hair and multiple piercings like the others she killed, but unlike them he apparently could levitate and was levitating in midair, looking down at everything..
She stood at a distance from him where she too levitated..slowly gathering chakra into her hand..savoring the delicious feeling..as the black flames raged even more
It was but for a moment..it was when she looked down at where a man was helping an old lady from under the debris..it was as if all those monstrous needs were put aside for a fraction of a second
What was she doing?!, with the chakra she was gathering..she could wipeout the village..no, not again...
She didn't know how to stop the chakra she had in her hand from growing..and if it wasn't stopped..if she wasn't stopped, she'd lose it again..
She couldn't think of anything, she was the source of that power, so out of despair, she hit herself with her chakra..
Her hand penetrated her middle as she fell down from the sky..looking at the last one of those orange-haired monsters kept levitating slowly
She hit the ground hard, and felt some bones break..she laid on her back for a while, a blank expression on her face, for that all of the feelings she had could not take over her face at the same time..
It hurt..everything hurt, every movement, every thought..but she had to continue, for a little bit longer..she had to see him once more..just once
She struggled to stand up..the wound in her stomach bled more, and her bones ached more, but she stood up, swaying, and walked to where Kakashi was
Bloody footprints were left all the way..until she made it..
Seeing him, lifeless, his forehead had a streak of cold blood on it..she collapsed onto her knees, throwing up and hysterically crying
It wasn't like anytime she'd ever cried before...this time it was different, this time crying meant accepting defeat..and she knew that she was utterly and completely defeated
Fighting for as long as her memory went back...it ended now..she'd lost everything...everything
Blood, bile and tears pooled beneath her..then she stood up again..for this one last act..
She pushed the debris from around him, shots of pain running through her whole body..
She then laid his body nearby, then laid beside him, her head resting on his arm..she held his hand and was about to close her eyes before noticing something...something that made her heart ache..more
He had the ribbon tied on the metal plate on his clove..she teared up again and smiled, before taking the ribbon and tying it around both of their thumbs..then held his hand to her heart and closed her eyes
It was impulsive, she didn't even know she was doing it, but a white ora of her chakra surrounded Kakashi...protecting him from the assault that the last orange-haired man launched
It was finally..over
~the present~
"When the destructive wave hit, I protected all the shinobi with parts of my body..but I couldn't do the same to you or her..her chakra burned me when I made contact with it..
When the dust settled, it appeared that she could only protect you, leaving her open...Shiamaru came from where I had him covered and saw what I saw...he was the one to bring her in" lady Katsuyu said, then looked at Shizune to continue
"Oh, um..seeing how her body was abused, I closed the wounds and with the help of the medical core...we placed a cast on the broken bones in her left arm and right leg...they're..fractured" she said the last part quietly, looking down
Shizune looked at lady Katsuyu who nodded before continuing "honestly...I...we're not even sure weather or not she's alive...we can't feel any pulse, she's not breathing, and her body's cold, but blood still ran through her veins as for the time of the surgery..other than that, we can't get any readings on her vitals, it's as if we're being...blocked..by something.."
She looked at lady Katsuyu again before continuing "we suspect that it's that special chakra of hers form her being the target of her own attack, it could be shielding her body from the inside, but we doubt that it's for the good...since that wound from her attack isn't showing any signs of healing" she said in the lowest tone possible
Kakashi didn't have anything to say..he couldn't say anything...it was like Rin all over again
He thought that he'd changed, he never let a comrade die after Rin..but this proved him terribly wrong..
Pulling him out of his dark thoughts, a sharp inhale came from the right corner of the tent
His head immediately snapped to the side with his eyes wide open...it was Hiromi
She was struggling to breathe so Kakashi and Shizune hurried to her side, They turned her body to the side and moved the bandages from over her mouth as she immediately threw up the blood that was suffocating her
After she was done, They put her back with a relieved sigh "thank god" Shizune said, standing up
..
After the medical team checked her, it became clear that whatever was blocking them was now gone, they figured that in time it just..dissolved away
It appeared that she was alive..barely, and had sustained various injuries making her chances of survival thin
Hiromi was moved to another tent, she was still unconscious with Kakashi sitting at her side
He looked at the ribbon that Shizune tied back on her finger after wrapping her hands with bandages, the sight of the ribbon on her hand, brought back some memories..
~in the past~
Kakashi was on his way back to the leaf, jumping on tree branches on a fairly cold night, after a successful mission..
Hearing the sound of cracking branches, he immediately stopped..he doubted that it was a shinobi since they were very skilled at stealth, but on the other hand..no one in their right mind would go out on a time like this if it wasn't a shinobi and so he stood behind a tree waiting..
The footsteps were slow and small..hesitant, something unusual for a shinobi...they kept their slow approach until they were within range for an ambush..
He immediately came from behind the tree and ready to appear behind the expected enemy only to stand still, shocked, it was a little girl..
She jumped in surprise and held a..'piece of glass?' -he thought to himself- in an aggressive position, but surely it was non threatening to him and so he chanced a step forward..
The girl was surprised and took a step back, tightening her grip on the sharp glass, cutting her palm
His eyebrows raised in surprise and slight worry "hey, hey easy!" He said holding out his hands in a calming manner and causing her to flinch, take a step back, cut her palm deeper and start bleeding
"I'm not.." he said, scaring her, so noticing her reaction, he lowered his tone..he was never good with kids "I'm not gonna hurt you"
She obviously looked doubtful and gave him a suspicious look as her bleeding got worse "let go of that, you're hurting yourself!" He said and again scared her
He sighed and tried again "I'm sorry...here, let me" he said nicely, taking slow steps forward
She didn't back up but looked very scared, unconsciously holding the glass tighter "give me this" he said taking the sharp glass, she didn't let go at first but the nice look he gave her, changed her mind...he was getting better at this
"Let me see" he said taking her hand and crouching 'oh that's not good' he thought.."hold on" he said standing up
He found a small cloth in one of his pockets then opened the scrolls' pockets and took a ribbon that was tying one of them
"May I?" He said holding the cloth
Holding her hand to her chest, she looked at him then at the things he held then back at him and gave him a hesitant nod
He put the cloth on her injury and tied it around her small hand with the ribbon as she was watching him carefully as he did so..him not her hand, closing her eyes from the pain occasionally but not making a single sound
When he was done, he looked at her "what's your name?" She just stared at him
"Where are your parents?" He thought that there might have been an accident that separated them but the girl shook her head 'no'
He didn't ask what it meant so instead he asked "where are you from?"
She looked down then tilted her head and raised her shoulders after a while in an 'I don't know' motion
Kakashi looked around the dark woods..there was no way for her to make it through the night if she was to be left here..not knowing her village or anything about her, he decided to take her back to the Leaf until they've figured things out
"Will you come with me?"
She looked hesitant then looked down at her hand then back up giving him a nod "hop on" he said crouching and giving her his back
She didn't know what to do and so "just..come close" she stood right behind him "give me your foot" she did so "wrap your hands around my neck" she did so "the other foot" he held her feet with his hands since her legs were too short to wrap around his middle
And then he set on his way..
She was quiet all the way, and after a while..she raised her left, unharmed hand to touch the wet leaves as a smile spread on her face
Kakashi looked over his shoulder at her and shook his head 'kids' he thought
...
The way back was quiet and they were at the village's gate..Kakashi stepped in, only to be faced with almost all the shinobi of the village all armed and ready for battle..against him it seemed