A Rough Start to A New Beginning
Lightning flashed in the distance and after several seconds the thunder reached his ears.
Still time, he thought. Need to hold out just a little longer. Need to get to shelter. Need to.... Need to… The rest of his thoughts blurred to that one thought, Need to…
Another flash of light, this time followed much sooner by the almost deafening crash of thunder and now the rain came. A blanket of ice numbing cold that promised to turn to ice. Snow was bad, an ice storm was much worse. The rain, cold and stinging upon his face, had one good effect, like a fierce slap, it brought him back to the world and interrupted his ceaseless mantra of, Need to…
Only seconds passed before the next bolt split the near dark world, followed immediately by the clap of thunder. The narrow trail he had been running was illuminated in that brief second of lightning; a distorted world of dark purples and black shadows. His heart leapt and his strength redoubled. It was there. He could see the black gaping maw of the cave.
The cave was situated several feet above the valley floor and would require him to climb. Chakra would've helped—a lot. If he had the strength to draw it up, to focus it, but he was at his limit and he would have to make every inch of the climb without it. There was an alternative. But he wouldn't resort to that. Not yet, he said firmly in his mind, maybe never again.
Heavy drops of water pelted him and streamed down his face, into his shirt and soaked down into his clothes as he clawed the last few feet up to a small ledge that led into the cave. Staggering, teeth clenched with the cold, fingers numb with nicks and scrapes from the climb and bleeding freely, he entered the black maw.
The next flash of lightning came too late to show him the pile of rocks and debris that he pitched over. He tried tucking his shoulder and slapping out a hand, but exhaustion robbed him of his reflexes and he ended up braining himself. Points of light swam in his mind's eye as he struggled to sit upright. He couldn't pass out now. Got to stay awake. Got to get out of these clothes or I'll freeze to death. As he thought this, soothing warmth slowly traced down his forehead; he wasn't so far gone that he didn't fail to recognize it as blood. Damn, what else can go wrong?!
Anger at the events that had transpired, at the universe—anger at himself, sparked a reserve of strength he didn't know he had left. Wet, cold, and with pain in every limb, in every extremity down to his privates, whispered for him to just give it up, lie down … sleep. But that anger and his ever vigilant drive to never give up, never retreat, to never fail, got him moving again.
Survival training was one of the first things a Shinobi learns at the academy and he drew on that knowledge now. Un-slinging his soggy leather pack, he reached for a kunai and sliced down the seams to make a small covering that he used along with another kunai to anchor in the mouth of the cave. It wasn't a perfect fit, it wasn't even a good fit, but it did cut the wind down. With chattering teeth and fingers numb and hurting, he removed his wet jacket and pants and proceeded to do the same, saving his shirt for last. An eternity later he had the mouth of the cave mostly covered by his wet clothes that were pinned by every kunai and shrunken he had.
Shaking violently in his sandals, the nude boy unfolded his former pack's only content. A formal kimono—only it had remained dry. A sardonic laugh escaped his lips as he drew it around and tied it off. Figures… The irony wasn't lost on him that the damn thing he hated might end up saving his life.
With no fuel, he had abandoned thoughts for a fire, but knew that he couldn't let the floor steal all his body heat. With chattering teeth and fingers burning from the cold, he crawled along the dark floor pushing dirt, rocks, and debris into a very-very crude bed. Still feeling like he might freeze to death in the night, he slowly lowered himself to the top and wriggled about trying in vain for a modicum of comfort. Fuck it. And with that last thought sleep blissfully removed him from all the pain and all the memories of the past two weeks.
....
Meanwhile, back in Konoha, a lithe kunoichi was just returning to her home alongside a masked shinobi who wore his forehead protector across one eye. The girl walked easily, but anyone knowing her could see that she was tired. The masked shinobi, a jounin by his attire, seemed oblivious to the world as he strolled with his hands tucked into his pockets; looking for all the world as if he'd woken from a great nap.
The night had closed in hours ago and the girl thought for sure it must be closing in on the midnight hour. Far off to the north in the direction of Oto, a tiny flicker of lightning could be seen, a harmless storm that would never reach the village.
"Kakashi-Sensei?" the girl asked the masked shinobi.
"Hmmm?" he replied without glancing her direction.
"Are you really going to see the Hokage tonight? I mean, it's really late…" Secretly the kunoichi suspected that Kakashi had just been too cheap to spend money on a room and too lazy to pitch a camp. But he had said that what he had to tell the Hokage couldn't wait for the following day and so they'd trudged the last part of their way home from the River Country in darkness. It was close to winter in the Leaf Village and a cold fog had risen from the forest. It would have been easier to see at the tree top level, but shinobi know to horde their chakra for times of need and so the two had walked the entire way.
Kakashi seemed to ponder the question, scratching at his scalp as if digging for an answer. "Now that you mention it, I think maybe tomorrow morning might be better after all." The kunoichi clenched her fists and silently fumed. She'd known it.
After a few steps the tall jounin stopped and turned to the girl who was glaring at him. The usually cute and sensitive teenage girl with pinkish hair and emerald eyes had been replaced by a tired and grimy woman who's green eyes angrily bore into him. Raising a hand to the back of his neck he sheepishly asked, "Sakura, are you coming?"
Briefly she considered how much trouble she might get in if she just slugged him. If it had been Naruto, her fellow teammate off on a mission to the north, she'd have laid him out flat. With mechanical movements Sakura began to set one foot in front of the other. I want to kill him, but I want a hot bath more.
After a short while they arrived at her house. The entry light was still on, something her mother always did whenever she was away. By this time thoughts of a hot shower, food, and herown soft bed had her completely distracted from the mechanizations of Kakashi.
"Good night Sensei," she said turning away. Then she stopped and turned, a gleam coming to her eye. "What time would you like me to meet you and Hokage-sama?"
"Ah… Well… That is…" he started several times his eyebrows rising imperceptibly. But Sakura had been watching for it and a small spark of satisfaction grew as she watched him. "You really don't need to be there … and it was a long walk … why don't you just sleep in tomorrow and I'll present our report to Tsunade myself."
"Oh no Kakashi-sensei," she replied with dripping sincerity. "With such important information, I think I should be on hand to corroborate your report." She paused and added sweetly, "Don't you?"
Looking a bit sheepish he sighed and said, "Well... After thinking about it some more, I may have exaggerated the urgency a bit. I'm sure I can handle it myself."
"If you say so Kakashi-sensei," and with that she continued on inside her house pausing only long enough to add, "I'll see you at lunch tomorrow … your treat." She didn't wait to see if he had a reply.