1 Year BNT (Before Nine-Tails)
Raina had been placed into a team with Inaka Korumasu and Gen Hama. The first mission they had together after becoming chunin was a simple C-ranked delivery mission, transporting a package to an ally village in order to help restore what was destroyed during the Third Great Shinobi War, but they would soon find out that something was array.
Raina was tense the entire trip thus far and jumped when her sensei, Yamika Unohara, touched her shoulder.
"Relax, Raina. There's nothing to worry about."
Raina had always been able to sense things no one else could and was very perceptive. She felt the hairs standing on the back on her neck and she began to fiddle with her hair. "Sorry, Yamika-sensei. I'm just uneasy, that's all. I can't shake this feeling, like we're being hunted down, toyed with."
Yamika looked at Inaka and Gen. They laughed at an inside joke, then glanced back when they noticed their sensei and Raina had fallen a bit behind.
"Raina, are you OK?" Inaka asked.
Raina nodded. "I'll be fine." She touched the small bag of special scrolls she kept with her and made sure her weapons pouch was secured. "Just being overcautious as usual, I guess."
Gen laughed at that. "As always. What is it this time?"
"Gen, it doesn't matter." Yamika said. "Let's just continue on ahead. There's an inn not far from here, so let's try to make it before the sun sets?"
"Yes, sensei."
That was the end of it for a while, but then when the sun began to sink behind the tree tops and the sky began red and orange, an icy shiver ran down Raina's spine and she reached for her kunai.
"Raina?"
"There's something out there, Yamika-sensei… Or someone…" she said, taking a defensive stance.
"Can you use your kekkei genkai?" Inaka asked.
Raina nodded and silently activated her kekkei genkai, which allows her to see the electrical pulses that run through any living thing and follow them like the Byakugan of the Hyuga clan follows chakra. She looked around and saw the outline of twelve people's electrical pulse network. Her eyes widened when she saw how close they were.
"What is it, Raina?" Gen asked.
"There's twelve of them, not sure who- I think they're rogue Shinobi- but they're closing in…" Raina said, looking at them. "We need to keep moving, sensei. I don't think that we can afford to stop for the night. Is there a way we can mask our chakra to hide ourselves from them?"
Yamika nodded. "I know just the thing." She formed the hand signs for her trademark cloaking jutsu and nodded when she was finished. "I don't know how long it will hold, but I suggest we keep moving."
"Wait, Gen, give me the package." Raina said, pulling out one of her scrolls. "Let me store it in this scroll and I can send it on ahead to our contact."
Gen nodded and pulled out the package, handing it to her.
Raina formed the hand signs to activate the scroll jutsu. She set the package down and watched it be absorbed into the scroll. She activated the seal on it and made sure that it would only be activated by their contact's chakra. Luckily, they had met the man before and she knew his chakra well. She left a note on the scroll with the code word they had agreed on so that when the scroll arrived at its location, their contact knew it was for them. She nicked her finger and drew a transportation seal on the tree branch they rested on. She formed the signs to activate the seal and watched as it vanished. She took her finger and wiped the seal into a smudgy mess.
"Here, Raina, let me heal that for you." Inaka said, using a simple healing jutsu to heal the wound. "There."
"Thanks, Inaka." Raina said, then looked at their sensei. "Yamika-sensei, what do we do next?"
"Let's start doubling back. I know your transportation jutsu will get the package there no problem and with that seal you put on it, I know it will be safe. If we can make it back to the village, we can inform the Hokage and go from there."
The chunin nodded and followed their sensei as they doubled back and started heading home. Raina kept her kekkei genkai activated and tracked their pursuers, but they were closing in fast and they were nowhere near close to reaching their home village.
"Sensei, there's a trap up ahead." Raina said, seeing the electrical pulses flowing through the chakra seal activators. "They plan on trapping us with a barrier jutsu. The seals are ready in place."
"Is there no avoiding them?" Inaka asked.
"Not unless we go around them, but we'd have to go sixteen miles to the north, the ten to the east just to get around the barrier jutsu. Even then, though, it'll take us an extra week just to get home."
"I think it's worth the risk." Gen said.
Raina looked at their sensei. "What do you think, Yamika-sensei?"
"We need to try and get back to the Leaf as quickly as possible. The Hokage needs to know about these rogue Shinobi." Yamika said.
Her chunin nodded and followed her lead. Yamika tried to lead them through safely, following Raina's directions as she searched for openings and ways around the trap, but one of the barrier seals activated before Raina could see it and they were trapped within the barrier jutsu as the seal set off a chain reaction.
"Sensei!"
Yamika and her chunin stopped, trapped in the barrier. Raina looked around, trying to find a way out, but couldn't.
"Sensei, what do we do?" Inaka asked, but she was cut off when a kunai struck their sensei's left shoulder, piercing into her heart from the force of it being thrown. She spurted blood from her mouth and began to foam at the lips from the poison laced on the tip of the blade. She fell to the ground, seizing up as the poison spread through her body.
"Sensei!" Gen ran to her side, but he was taken down when a set of poisoned senbon pierced his neck, hitting the jugular.
"Gen!" Inaka rushed to them, trying to save at least one of them, but a barrage of shuriken were thrown at her and hit each of her pressure points.
"No..." Raina couldn't do anything to stop them from dying before her. She felt something stir in her and she released a massive surge of chakra that demolished the barrier jutsu. She ran to Inaka, who was barely alive, and dropped to her knees. "Inaka..."
"R-Raina, get back to t-the village... T-Tell the H-Hokage what happened..."
"I can't just leave you all here, Inaka!" Raina refused.
"Please, you need to go..."
Raina shook her head and glared as the rogue shinobi landed in front of her, surrounding her and the rest of her team. "The war is over! You killed them... You bastards, I'll kill all of you!"
One of them- bearing the insignia of the Hidden Grass Village- chuckled and stepped forward. "Hand over the package you carry and we'll let you live."
"I don't have it. It has already reached its destination and now it's out of your reach for good. You worthless pieces of trash... You killed my friends!"
The rogue shinobi stared at her as she began to radiate with an ice blue aura of chakra, sparks beginning to ignite around her. "What is that?" was the main question asked, but they felt that they couldn't get away, couldn't escape the trap they had gotten themselves into.
Raina didn't know it, but she came from a line of shinobi that possessed both the kekkei genkai Storm Release and Kizuna Raiko. The Kizuna Raiko she had mastered, using it like the Hyuga use their Byakugan, but she did not know that she possessed the kekkei genkai Storm Release. She felt the ice blue aura of chakra drawing in the energy from the storm clouds brewing above her and she felt the electrical currents in the lightning as they were drawn into her. She somehow saw in her mind's eye the hand signs for the Storm Release- boar, then horse- and summoned the jutsu. She found that she was able to generate a thick ring of thunderclouds and electricity around her, creating an offensive and defensive ward. She used the clouds to fire powerful blasts of lightning at her enemies, and as an electrified perimeter; effectively preventing them from getting closer to her. She felt the tears slipping down her cheeks and with Kizuna Raiko still activated, she saw the electrical pulse networks of each of the rogue shinobi disappearing as they were each electrocuted.
Panting as the lights of life flickered out of her Kizuna Raiko's sight, Raina dropped to her knees, the tears free flowing. She couldn't let them overcome her just yet, so she opened her bag and pulled out a special scroll, unrolling it in front of her. She pulled out another scroll and summoned black blankets which she then used to wrap the bodies of her sensei and teammates. Trying to be strong, she dragged the bodies to the special scroll and placed them in a line. She activated the scroll and watched them disappear within it. She rolled up the scroll and tucked it into her bag. Swallowing her sorrow, she pricked her finger and drew a transportation seal in blood, thought of home, and stepped onto the seal.
"They should have sent word by now that the package was delivered, right?" one of the Anbu said, pacing in the Hokage's office.
The Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze, looked out of the window as the rain started to really come down. "Yamika and her team may have just been caught in the rain."
"But, Lord Hokage-" the Anbu started but was interrupted when a loud crash sounded in the center of the office.
Everyone turned to look and saw a figure crumpled in a heap on the floor as the smoke began to clear.
Minato hurried over when he recognized the figure. "Get Hiruzen, now!" he ordered and knelt down. "Raina, can you hear me?"
Raina looked up, her face covered in blood and tears and dirt. "Lord Hokage... I'm sorry..." she said.
"What happened, Raina, where are the others?" Minato asked, helping her to sit up. He watched as she pulled the special scroll from her bag and spread it out, activating the jutsu and revealing the bodies of her sensei and her teammates. "Oh god..."
Raina looked down at the floor and began to weep. "I couldn't save them..." she said through her tears. "We were ambushed- rogue Grass shinobi- and they attacked with poisoned weapons..."
"What did they want?" Minato asked.
"They wanted the package, but I used a scroll to seal the package within it and placed a jutsu seal that would only activate when it reached our contact... I put the code word on the scroll so they knew it was from us... They killed everyone... And I couldn't save them..."
Minato held onto the girl as she wept, pulling her into his lap as he sat with her on the floor of his office. He waited for her father, the previous Hokage, to join them and when he finally did, he looked up at his predecessor.
"What happened, Minato?" Hiruzen asked, kneeling next to his adopted daughter.
"She was the only one to make it back." Minato said and looked over at the wrapped bodies of Yamika, Inaka, and Gen. "They were ambushed."
"Raina..." Hiruzen said, touching his daughter's shoulder.
She looked up at him. "I'm sorry, Father... I failed them..." her tears began anew as she hugged her father, letting him pull her into his arms as Minato stood.
"Oh, my dear girl..." Hiruzen held her close to him and stroked her dark silver hair. "Minato, can you see to it that their families are notified? Raina was able to bring back their bodies, so we can at least give them a proper burial."
"Of course, Hiruzen. We'll take care of everything. You should get her home." Minato said.
Hiruzen nodded and headed home, sheltering his daughter from the rain. She fell asleep as he hurried her home, tired from the whole ordeal. Hiruzen opened the door to his home and Biwako looked up when she saw them.
"Hiruzen, is she alright?" she asked, running to them.
Hiruzen shook his head. "She just returned... She lost her whole team..."
Biwako put a hand to her mouth as she gasped. "Oh, poor thing...! Here, let me take her and I will get her changed into something dry."
Hiruzen let his wife take their daughter and went to their room to change. When he came into the living room and sat by the fire, Asuma had woken up and come to see his father.
"Father, what's going on?" he asked, yawning and rubbing his eyes.
"I will explain in the morning, OK, Asuma?"
Asuma nodded. "OK, but is Raina going to be alright?"
"I hope so, my dear boy." Hiruzen answered and took his son to his son, tucking him into bed. As he closed the door to Asuma's room, Biwako came out of Raina's with the same worried expression as she had when they first took the girl into their family.
"Will she be alright, dear?" Biwako asked, a hand to her chest.
"She will need to heal. It is best that we let things take their course and just make sure that she is not alone."
Biwako nodded and they went to bed. Both of them could not sleep for they were too worried about their daughter. It would be hard to see her suffer, to see her grieve.
A few days later, the funeral arrangements had been made. Raina wore a black dress and black flats, her hair braided and tied with a black bow. Her eyes were sunken from days of crying and barely sleeping as images of her dead comrades haunting her dreams. She walked silently with the others and stood in the front of the gathered shinobi and citizens attending the funeral of Yamika Unohara, Inaka Korumasu, and Gen Hama. She could hear the whispers of some that said she failed her team, that she shouldn't have been the only one to survive, and she knew she was right. She should have died instead of them.
As she stood staring, barely listening to the prayers and funeral rites spoken as they buried her friends and sensei, Kakashi Hatake and his team stood next to her family. The Third Shinobi War had ended earlier that year and Minato had been elected as the Fourth Hokage, so naturally they stood with previous Hokage and his family.
When they covered the graves with the wet dirt and people began to offer their condolences, Raina couldn't take it anymore. She turned and ran, heading as far away from the village as she could. She stopped by her favorite tree next to the Naka River and stared down at the water. The ripples from the rain drops calmed her a bit, but she felt the pain overwhelming her heart.
She began to weep again, falling to her knees and holding herself.
"Raina?"
She looked up at the voice and saw Kakashi coming over to her. She sniffed and looked away, trying to stop the tears as she stood. "W-What do you want?"
Kakashi came to stand in front of her. "I was worried when you ran off. You scared your family; they have no idea where you are."
"So?" Raina asked, then started to walk away.
Kakashi reached out to grab her hand, trying to stop her. "Raina, wait."
She turned and wretched her hand from his grasp. "Leave me alone!" She cried, then took off running.
'Raina...' Kakashi thought and took off after her. He knew he couldn't leave her alone like this.
Raina ran, nowhere in particular in mind, trying to escape the grief and sorrow. Her hair got snagged on a thorny branch and she tripped trying to free herself, slipping down the muddy hill and landing next to the river. Kakashi finally caught up to her and looked around, not seeing her, but when he spotted the black ribbon Raina had tying her braid together. He looked around and saw the skid marks from when she fell and looked down at the river bank.
"Raina!"
She pushed herself up as Kakashi slid down to make sure she was OK.
"Raina, are you alright?" he asked, kneeling beside her. "Looks like you sprained your ankle."
"I couldn't do anything... I failed them..." she said, her tears renewed. She looked up at him. "I let them die..."
Kakashi pulled her into a hug. "No, Raina, you didn't. I know you, you did everything you could have done. There's wasn't anything that could have changed what happened."
Raina wept into his chest.
Kakashi sat with her until she calmed down a bit, stroking her back as he held her close to him. When his father committed suicide nearly six years ago, Raina was there to comfort him. When he lost his teammates just before the end of the Third Great Shinobi War earlier in the year, she was there for him again to comfort him and help him through such a hard time. He still mourned for them, still felt responsible, but now he wanted to be there for Raina instead and take care of her like she had him during this period of grieving and sorrow.
She couldn't tell how long they sat like that, but it was long enough for the storm to pass and the sun starting to break through the cloud cover. She sat back and looked at the ground, sniffling.
Kakashi managed a worried smile and lifted her chin. "You'll be OK, Raina. Let me help you through this, alright?"
Raina nodded and hugged him. "Thank you, Kakashi..."
Kakashi hugged her back and turned around. "Come on, let's get you home." he said, offering to carry her back to the village on his back.
Raina accepted, knowing she couldn't walk back on a sprained ankle. She let him hoist her onto his back and held on as her friend carried her home.
They walked in silence for a while until Kakashi remembered the news he wanted to tell her when she got back. "Hey, Raina?"
"Hmm?"
"They promoted me to jonin." he said.
"Really?" she asked, looking at his left eye as he glanced at her. "When did this happen?"
"About two weeks after you left for your mission. I wanted to tell you when you got back, but then everything happened so fast I nearly forgot."
Raina managed a small smile. "Good for you, Kakashi. You deserve it after all your hard work."
"Now we just need to work on you becoming a jonin as well. After your ankle is better, of course."
Raina rested her chin on his shoulder and leaned forward to kiss his cheek. "You're amazing, Kakashi." she said, then felt exhaustion pulling at her eyes.
Kakashi sensed that she fell asleep when she remained silent for a few moments and smiled. "So are you, Raina."
He continued back to the village and looked up when Hiruzen and Biwako opened the door as he approached their house. "I managed to find her, but she hurt her ankle. I think it's sprained." he said, letting them take her from his back. Biwako carried her daughter inside and Hiruzen looked down at the silver haired young man.
"Thank you for bringing her home, Kakashi. We were so worried when she ran off."
"Of course. I'm just glad I found her before something worse happened."
"Indeed."
"Well, I should get going. I have to make sure that Minato-sensei knows Raina's OK. He's been worried the last few days about her."
"Tell him she'll be alright and thank him for us. Minato has acted like an older brother to Raina and Asuma over the years, looking after them when we could not." Hiruzen said.
Kakashi nodded and bowed before he left. As Hiruzen went inside and Kakashi headed towards the Hokage's office to speak with his sensei, he reached up and touched his cheek. He could still feel the warmth of Raina's kiss upon the fabric of his face mask and he blushed. For a long time he had really liked Raina, but she was a couple years younger than him and they never got to see each other much anymore with all of the missions and the war going on. Now that things had settled down, maybe they could start building something.