Blood Oath
Author's Notes: Continuing the Sasuke/Kimi Hatake universe. Kimi belongs to Pikachu464. Point Commission on deviantART
Living with Kakashi Hatake was no easy task. He was still a ninja and had to take ninja missions. But that wasn't the hard part. The hard part was he was a young man who had no idea in how to take care of a child. Yes, he was able to take care of himself as a young child after his parents were both gone. He was a Jonin by the age of 12, lost his own Sensei to the Nine Tails attack and eventually became an ANBU blacks op member, which he now retired from it to care for a strange girl from another land.
It was maddening for Kimi to be living in a ninja village where people were going all the time. She wasn't used to the warmth of the land nor was used to the amount of people. She lived in a poor village but this village was nowhere near what she last remembered. But most of all she really didn't know many people. She did make friends with Naruto and Sasuke and most of the other class. Naruto and Sasuke both knew what it was like to have no parents. Sasuke though, she felt more connected to. He had just recently lost his entire clan like she did.
She wasn't sure what bothered her more. Living in the village with so many people or the fact her new father had enrolled her into the ninja academy. She didn't mind going to school, considering she met Naruto there. But there were two girls who did annoy her and they both made it well known she was not wanted where it was Sasuke's concern. She couldn't believe how the two would hover over Sasuke when the guy wouldn't give them the time of day but would give her.
With a day like no other, Kimi had attended her school day after having a visit from Lord Hokage. With Kakashi gone on assignment, the Hokage or someone else often would check on her to make sure everything was going well. She surely was not used to being alone for so long and often would wake in the night to dreams of watching her village be destroyed.
When the school day was over, she began to make her way out of the school yard as the other kids rushed past her, making their way down the street, heading either towards their favorite hangout spots or straight home to help their parents around the house. Sasuke, Naruto and Kimi were the only children in the class who really didn't have anyone to rush home to. Well Kimi did but currently was away.
"So Kimi," called out the loudmouth kid, Naruto. "What do you want to do?"
"I don't know," she replied, honestly.
Sasuke looked at Naruto. "Maybe to get away from you," he suggested.
"Guys," she said. "I'm not sure what I'm going to…"
"Kimi Hatake!" a voice called.
The three kids turned to the sound. "Yes?" she said.
Behind the three was an ANBU standing there. No one knew what the ANBU looked liked other than each other and the Hokage. The ANBU were the main military forces of the village. Each ninja village had the ANBU Black ops.
"What's an ANBU Black ops guy doing here?" whispered Naruto.
Sasuke rolled his eyes. "Apparently to talk to Kimi, you idiot."
"What's going on?" asked Kimi as she ignored her friends.
"I have come with urgent news," the masked man stated. "Your father, Kakashi Hatake, has been severely wounded in his last mission. He resides at the hospital. The Hokage thought it wise to find you."
Kimi gasped. "No!"
Without another word, she ran off from the school, tears tracking down her face. She didn't really know Kakashi very well and she had yet to call him 'dad' though she knew the man was now her legal guardian. But hearing the man was badly wounded; she couldn't stop thinking about him.
He had given up his life as an ANBU to take her in. He made sure she had clothes and food, though in that department he did get help from other ninja mothers. He had even enrolled her into the ninja academy to help teach her how to defend herself at least. And now he was wounded… could die. She knew what 'severely wounded' meant.
"Wait Kimi!" cried out Naruto, ignoring the ANBU. He was quick to run after his friend.
"Dummy," Sasuke muttered before he too ran off after the girl, leaving the ANBU. Without so much as a shrug, the masked man disappeared from sight, going back to his post.
After making it to the hospital, it took Kimi several minutes to calm down her tears and ask the nurses at the desk about where Kakashi was. At first they were not going to give the child any answers, at least until she decided to make a scene.
"I want to see Kakashi!" she yelled. "He's my father!"
The second the word left her mouth, she gasped. She had blurted out without even thinking. Until this moment, she had never thought of Kakashi as her father. She had one and he was killed in a fire but now she had a new one.
"Excuse me," a nurse said. "Did you just say Kakashi Hatake is your father?"
Kimi looked up to the tall woman. "Yes. He adopted me. Please," tears fell from her eyes. "I need to see him."
"Well I…"
"Let her see him."
The nurse looked up at the same time Kimi turned to see Lord Hokage walking towards them with Sasuke and Naruto on either side of him.
"Lord Hokage," the nurse greeted. "Usually you do not come."
"No," the old man said. "But I'm making this an acceptation in this case. Where is Kakashi Hatake's room?"
"Next floor up," the nurse said. "He's just been taken out of surgery."
"Wh…what does that mean?" Kimi asked.
The Hokage looked to the child, giving her a friendly smile. "Your father has been wounded bad enough, he had to have surgery and it's over now. He's unconscious and in recovery."
Kimi turned away from him. "You said he was on the second floor?" she asked the nurse.
"I did… why?"
Kimi ignored the question as she suddenly ran off, ignoring everyone around her.
"Kimi! Wait!" Naruto shouted as he bolted off after her again.
When he and Sasuke were trying to catch up to her, the two were just entering the hospital when the Hokage also arrived. The two kids nearly ran the old man over but were quick to stop just before getting to him.
The Hokage was about to ask them what their hurry was but Naruto beat him to the punch by yelling out about chasing after Kimi to there after she was told her father was hurt. Understanding the situation, the Hokage took the lead and walk straight up to the nurse.
Seeing the young boy run off, the Hokage shook his head. "Impatient as ever." He noticed Naruto wasn't the only one. The last survivor of the Uchiha clan too took off. Needing to make sure the two boys didn't do anything stupid, the Hokage followed them up to the second level where all three kids, this time, were stopped by another nurse who wouldn't let them go into Kakashi's room.
"I'm sorry but there are no visitors allowed," the nurse said.
"But I have to…" Kimi started but was yet again interrupted.
"Let the girl go in," the Hokage said as he approached the kids.
The nurse looked up, surprised. "Are you sure?"
"Yes. She is his daughter." The Hokage looked to the boys. "Unfortunately you two can't go in. You'll have to wait out here."
Naruto pouted, folding his arms. "You ain't the boss of me old man!"
"You're such a loser," Sasuke said. He looked to Kimi. "I'll be waiting here if you need me."
Hearing the bratty Uchiha speak to Kimi, Naruto glared. "And I'll be here too. Believe it!"
Kimi looked at her friends. "Thanks guys."
She then carefully slid the door to Kakashi's room and slowly entered, breath hitching in her throat. The Hokage blocked the path from the boys looking in as he too followed the girl. The door slid closed behind the Hokage, leaving the boys to glare at one another.
Inside the room, Kimi slowly approached the only occupied bed. Before her did not look like the same man who said goodbye to her the other day for a mission. His forehead protector wasn't on his head, covering his one eye, which she could clearly see there was a large scar going straight down his left eye, starting straight from his eyebrow down part of his cheek. Both eyes were closed like he was sleeping, but she could tell he wasn't.
There was an oxygen tube attached to his face, going from his nose looping around on either side of his head. His arms were laying out flat along side his body, which was bandaged up. In one hand a needle was sticking into his hand. His other arm had something black wrapped around it. Along side the bed was a machine monitoring his heart rate and blood pressure. His face was very pale, almost no life in him.
But that wasn't all Kimi got to see. With him having no mask over his face, she was clearly able to see his face and she found herself wanting to gasp. He was beautiful. She could now understand why Kakashi would tell her he would hide from the young women. Though, she had a feeling that wasn't the full reason behind the mask.
"Why don't you take his hand?" the Hokage offered in a quiet voice.
Not wanting to listen but having the overwhelming urge to touch him, Kimi stepped closer to the bed, taking his hand that didn't have the needle in it.
"Dad, please come back," she whispered before tears fell again, splashing against his hand.
If the Hokage wasn't paying attention, he would have sworn his eyes were playing tricks on him. Right before his very eyes, Kakashi's heart monitor beeped, showing his heart rate just sped up. The old man knew that was a good sign as the famous ninja's heart beat was at an irregular rate.
He smiled; getting the feeling Kakashi knew his daughter was there and just heard her call him 'dad'. Taking a step closer to the bed, the Hokage placed a comforting hand on the girl's shoulder.
"I think he can hear you," he said.
Kimi looked up. "He's all I got now. Mommy and Daddy died and he took me in. He saved me."
"I know," the Hokage replied. "Kakashi did a very noble thing."
"Lord Hokage…" she started but her voice cracked.
"Come here," the Hokage offered as he opened his arms for her.
She released Kakashi's hand, slamming her body against the old man, heavy sobs escaping from her. The sobs would have been noticeable from the hallway if she had not had her face buried in the old man's robes.
"You'll be alright," he said, wanting to assure her. He knew Kakashi would make it, though he probably was close to death's door. He had his arms wrapped around her back, holding her tight.
She held onto him for several minutes, holding on tight, crying. When her tears were spent, she slowly pulled away from the old man. She took another look at Kakashi.
"Dad…" she breathed, finally accepting him as her father, but now she was afraid to lose him.
No longer able to handle looking at him in that fashion, Kimi pulled fully out of the Hokage's embrace and bolted. She slid the door opened, startling Naruto and quickly ran down the hallway.
Naruto crashed to the floor, surprised by the reaction of the door opening, he had no time to register Kimi running or Sasuke quick at her heels, following. It wasn't until both were long gone when he realized Kimi had just zoomed past him.
"Ah man!" he whined. "And that jerk followed her. Now, I don't know where she went."
With a pout, the blond kid, who was destined for great deeds kicked his feet along the floor, making his way down the hall just as the Hokage stepped out the room with a deep sigh. He knew Kimi would be all right. She had Naruto Uzumaki and Sasuke Uchiha to keep an eye for her.
Sasuke continued running after his new friend. She ran through the village running up the Hokage mountain face until reaching the top. She wasn't at the top for five minutes when Sasuke came up beside her. He took a few deep breaths.
"Wow, you're fast. No wonder your adopted dad requested you to join the academy after the year already started," he said.
She turned surprised to see him. "You followed me?" she blinked. "Why?"
"What else am I suppose to do when you go racing down the hall of your dad's room without so much as a bye. You plowed right past Naruto, knocking him to the floor as you went too."
She gasped. "I did?" Her head lowered. "I just… I don't know what to do!" she yelled.
Sasuke stepped over to her, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Hey, it's ok. What can either one of us do? We're only kids. Orphaned kids at that." He glanced over, seeing a nice grassy spot right at the edge of the cliff. "Come on, let's go and sit down and just talk."
"Talk about what?" she muttered.
"Anything," Sasuke suggested. "The weather, our grades. How Naruto is a stupid knucklehead."
She let out a little giggle at that and allowed him to walk her over to the cliff's edge. It only took a few moments for the two to sit and get comfortable. From the view of the mountaintop, they could clearly see much of the village.
Sitting there, Kimi could remember how Kakashi protested against going on a mission. Saying he just recently adopting a child. But the Third Hokage was very adamant about Kakashi was the only one who could pull off the mission successfully. Reluctantly, he agreed to go. But he didn't want to leave Kimi alone. Since she became friends quickly with Sasuke Uchiha, he thought perhaps those two would benefit with being around the other.
Kakashi had given permission for Kimi to stay with Sasuke while he was gone. However no one was expecting for Kakashi to return beaten, battered and barely alive. Kimi was now an emotional roller coaster. The man, who rescued her from her burning village, took her away from her scarred home to give her a better one. He adopted her and protected her from idiot civilians of the village and now he laid in a hospital bed, plugged to many machines to help him to survive.
She was glad for Sasuke though. He knew exactly what she was going through. She lost her parents, her friends, her entire village. He lost his entire family and now both were orphans only main difference she had a new father.
Sasuke wrapped his small arm around her shoulders, lending his shoulder for her to cry on. "Kimi, I'm sure he will be ok. You have to believe that," he said.
"No! He's not!" She cried out. "You didn't see him in there. He's not the same man. I even got to see his face and why he wears his village symbol over his eye. I don't know that man in there, but I know it's him."
"Right now, you have to just have strength to know he'll make it. You know he's a Jonin and he even was an ANBU before meeting you. He's had tougher missions."
You don't know anything!" Kimi snapped, standing, shrugging off his arm. When she stood, she took a step back, edging too close to the edge.
"Be careful!" Sasuke yelled, but it was too late.
Kimi lost her footing and she went completely over, slipping off the edge. A squeal released from her lips as her hand gripped onto a rock.
"Kimi!" He moved to the edge, peering over, only to see her hanging with one hand on a rigid edge. "Hang on!"
"Sasuke!" she screamed. "Help!"
He scanned the area for anything he could use. He could hear Kimi below, crying for help. Soon he came up on a rope, which he assumed probably, was there from a training group. He knew people traveled to the top of Hokage Mountain to train. Taking the rope, he tied one end to a nearby tree and made sure it was good and secure. He then ran to the edge and tossed the rope over the edge.
"Sasuke!" she cried out again.
"It's ok Kimi!" he said. "I'm coming! Just hang on a little longer!"
Turning around, he began to slowly go over the edge, being sure to keep a secure grip on the rope as he climbed down. He ignored her continuous cries as he repelled down the side. Once getting to be beside her, he kept a secure hold of the rope with one hand as he held out his other hand to her.
"Grab my hand!" he yelled to her.
"I can't!" she cried.
"Yes you can," Sasuke said. "You can do it, Kimi. I know you can. Just stretch your hand over to mine and trust in me."
"I can't! I can't!"
"Kimi!" he called out. He was only a kid too, but his fear wasn't for his safety but for hers. He was an Uchiha and they were fearless. He needed to start acting like one. His brother told him to come after him when he was strong enough and had enough hate for him. "Open your eyes and look at me!"
Something in his voice stuck in her mind as she opened her eyes and did as he said. She could see his little features set in determination as his hand was held out to her.
"I'm not leaving here until you take my hand," he said. "Your dad would never forgive me."
For several seconds all Kimi could hear was the wind, which blew at her braided hair. Even Sasuke's high spikes were being pulled around by the wind. Staring into his eye, Kimi carefully held her hand out to him, which he grasped tightly. He gave her a small nod.
"Now, let go of the rock face," he said. "Trust me. I won't let you fall. But as you let go, I'm going to try and lift you up so you can grab my shoulders and then I'll lift us both up."
"We're only kids!" she squeaked.
"I'm stronger than I look. Before my parents died I watched my brother train and then later my dad taught me a few things. I can do it. I'm going to be a ninja some day and destroy that person who betrayed me. Now, let go."
He began to pull with all his might, grinding his teeth together as he began to lift her up. At the same time, she slowly let go of the rock face; trusting in Sasuke's strength. Soon enough she was close enough to grab his shoulder. The second her hand was touching around his neck, he let her go.
With her securely around his neck, the two kids began their climb back up. She kept her eyes closed the whole time, silently crying as Sasuke used both hands to climb up the rope. As the two reached the top, he had to get Kimi to get off him first before he could get back over the edge.
She crawled away from the edge until she was a good distance away and laid in the grass, heart pumping like crazy. Her heart was thumping so hard; she thought it was going to bust out her chest. She was scared, she never thought witnessing her family's death was hard to manage; this had now become the top of her list.
Sasuke crawled over as well and laid down in the grass, breathing heavy himself. This was the first time since his family's massacre that he felt like doing anything for someone but himself and it felt good.
"Are you two alright!?" called out a Jonin who was running with a medic.
Sasuke lifted his head. "Yeah…we're ok…"
"That's a relief," the Jonin said. "We saw you two over the edge and tried to get here. I guess you did well in saving her Sasuke Uchiha."
"Just at the right place, right time, I guess," Sasuke said as he flopped his head back to the ground.
"It's good to know you both are alright then," the medic said. "Oh! Kimi Hatake?"
Kimi turned her head. She still wasn't used to the new name but she did know that was her name now. "Yeah?" she asked breathlessly.
"I wanted to find you and let you know your father has woken up," the medic replied. "He's asked about you."
She carefully sat up. "He's going to be ok?" she asked.
"Yes," the medic smiled. "He's going to be just fine. Just needs lots of rest and care and he will be good as new soon."
"Do you two need any assistance?" asked the Jonin.
Sasuke looked at the man. "No. Everything will be fine." He was beginning to get his breathing under control. "Kimi was just a little upset, is all."
Giving a nod the two men turned away, leaving the kids.
"He's going to be ok," she whispered.
"I told you he would be," he said. "Kimi, you're like my rock."
She sat up and looked up him, her breathing and heart rate returning to normal. "What do you mean?"
"Until I met you, I was angry at the world. But with you around, I don't feel so lonely."
"I feel the same," she lightly blushed. "It's like we walk the same path."
"Lets make a promise, here and now." He looked at her, before pulling out a kunai he often carried around with him. He then made a cut in the palm of his hand, hissing in pain, and then held the blade out to her. He was silently asking her to do the same.
She blinked surprised by what he did. He wanted her to slice her hand.
"On this day, I shall be your rock and you shall be mine. We will stay together no matter what and if one of us must jump, we both will. Will you swear this with me?"
She gasped, shocked by what he was saying. With a gulp, she took the kunai from him and did the same. Tears sprang to her eyes, feeling the pain. She dropped the kunai quickly as he grasped her wounded hand and had her bloody palm touch his bloody one, mingling their blood together.
"I swear," she weakly said. "You will be my rock and I'll be yours."
Both felt their chakra's mingled together, creating a bond. Neither realized how strong their pact actually would become in the coming years. What the two just did was actually a rare jutsu dealing with chakra sharing.
Sasuke smiled, before pulling out something from his little pack attached on his back. He then wrapped his hand up and carefully wrapped hers.
"Now, lets go see your father. I'm sure he would love to see you." He took her unwounded hand and the two headed back to the village to see Kakashi in the hospital, which was going to be the first time Sasuke ever saw the man's face unmasked and many more times after that.
Years later he would have no idea the man would become his teacher. Though he knew what his teacher's face actually looked like, he would humor Sakura and Naruto about their questions on what the man looked like underneath the mask and he would join in on the fun, giving his own false guesses, never giving away he actually knew his teacher's face.