A Wave Goodbye
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Chapter One:
A Wave Goodbye
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A/N: Hey there; this is my first fic in a number of years, so I'm hoping it'll set a trend and get me writing consistently again. This little prologue isn't terribly long, but I hope it'll set the tone going forward for at least a few of the characters I'm including. Future chapters should be notably longer. Enjoy!
"Sensei, this still seems dangerous to me. Aren't we usually supposed to turn back if the mission parameters change this much?"
"Hey, hey! It's no problem Sakura. I'm here and I'll totally kick butt if anyone else decides to try and mess with us. And Kakashi-sensei is totally badass, too. We'll be fine! Uh, and I guess Sasuke's here too or something..."
"Naruto, don't count Sasuke out like that you idiot!"
"Hn."
The Jonin smiled at his students antics, his single visible eye crinkling as he waved a hand to draw attention back to him.
"Naruto's right Sakura; you're correct that we'd normally turn back, but I don't see any reason this would be beyond our team's ability to handle. Strong missing nin don't tend to stray too close to the bigger Elemental Nations with Hidden Villages; we're close enough to the Land of Fire that the Demon Brothers were about as strong as you'd expect to find." His hand dropped and he turned to look out over the water, scanning for danger and idly watching the ripples caused by their little rowboat fading into the mist.
They were just escorting an old man home. At the worst, Gato might scrounge up a few Chunin-level thugs to try and impede them. Nothing the Copy Nin couldn't handle.
No reason to worry at all...
He ran.
On Kakashi's back, Tazuna gripped the ninja's shoulders for all his worth and pressed close, weary of dropping down or being snatched away by any possible pursuers. Kakashi hunched forward as he took to the trees, hoping his student would be able to follow him even with the load currently on her own shoulders. Relief flooded him momentarily when he heard her foot stumble up onto the branches behind him and keep going.
Panic was a foreign feeling. How many years had it been since he'd last been overwhelmed by it? Since his ANBU days? The Third War? But now it swept over him, a burning tide of uncertainty and fear. Under normal circumstances he could handle damn near anything.
Except for now, when the cost was already too high and he still had so much more to lose. Sakura's footfalls on the treebark behind him were a reminder. That there wasn't the sound of two more Genin tumbling after her was a greater one.
A pained wheeze and a cough came from behind; Sasuke, finally regaining consciousness on Sakura's back long enough to clear congealed blood from his throat. The sound of fabric being rubbed heavily against fabric as he slid back down. He's back under, breath coming in shallow bursts. The smell of blood was nauseating and permeated everything.
The Jonin would be more concerned how easily a tracker could follow them from the smell alone if he wasn't more worried the boy would bleed to death before it would matter.
The group landed outside Tazuna's house and flung the door open in a flurry of movement. There wasn't enough time. They had to make time anyway. Kakashi pulled Tsunami into his arms without explaining, lifting the startled woman and turning to leave as Sakura did much the same with Inari. He worried if she can handle the added weight before crushing the thought.
She'd have to. They both would.
He didn't have enough chakra left to form a Shadow Clone, and there was no one else to take to load.
Not anymore.
"Wait. Hold on, where are we going? What's happening!?" Inari struggled, and Tsunami looked just as off-put by the turn of events. Kakashi sympathized but couldn't waste the breath it would take to calm him. The last thing they'd told the boy and his mother, was that they'd handle everything and it'd be fine. They would defend the bridge, beat the bad guys, drive off Gato, and things would be perfect. Job well done, A-rank mission in the bag. A nice little mark on his Genin's records for accomplishing a big time task for such a new team.
Except things weren't fine at all.
"Where's Naruto?!" Inari managed to yell, before Sakura knocked him out and shifted his limp body in her arms for easier carrying.
Back into the trees again, and Kakashi could just hear it as the door to the house they'd vacated is broken down behind them. He picked up the pace. Sakura stumbled, then caught herself and followed. Somewhere in the distance, long behind them and rapidly moving further away, loomed the bridge.
But it was a bridge covered in a mass of over a hundred mercenaries, each eager to strike them down, pouring into the forest after them. Gatos' money lined their pockets and directed their bloodlust. More mercenaries than Kakashi could take as injured as he was. More than Sakura, or any of his Genin, could hope to fight, even at their best. Not with Tazuna holding them back. Not with Sasuke slowly bleeding to death on his teammate's back as they frantically beat a retreat.
Not without Naruto.
He leaped again, and for a moment his mind caught on the last image he had of his wayward third student; a scrap of orange run through with needles, slowly disappearing into the waves and the mist. Battered. Silent. Deathly still.
An arm, looking incredibly small and scarred, sinking into the ocean as the tide dragged the body away.
The pull of the water had made it waver, bobbing along with the current in a wave of its own as it faded from view.
Kakashi felt his vision blur, before he was dragged back to the present, and reminded himself that he still had people relying on him. Here and now. Another leap between boughs. Another painful landing on worn-out legs. Terrified civilians clinging to him for protection and injured ninja looking to him for guidance.
Kakashi would come back. He would find his last student's body and give him the burial he deserved, finish the mission and make Gato beg for the death he deserved. Kakashi wouldn't abandon his student's corpse to this place. Even if it took the rest of his life, Kakashi would make sure the blond hadn't given his life for his friends and this place in vain.
Until then, he'd keep the memory of that sinking hand and its final wave goodbye close.
But for now Kakashi ran.
One day he'd be back, and Gato would suffer for what he'd caused.
He leaped, and his team and a promise followed.
E/N: This first chapter focuses on Kakashi pretty heavily, but we'll be switching gears next time. Rest assured, Naruto will be popping up as a focus soon enough! Feel free to ask any questions you may have in the meantime and I'll do my best to address them as they come up!
This chapter was very kindly beta'd by Sir. Poofsalot, Elysian, and Snowy over on the various fanfiction discord communities I frequent! A large thank you for the help and fixes they provided!