Disclaimer: Own nada. Well….last time I checked my brain was still copyrighted to me so I might have that…..
Thax to the people who left reviews and please keep them coming. It's Fanfiction.net's currency for love…heehee
Here's the next chapter. I'm working on the third right now and should have it up in a week? We'll see if my muse Hikawa Kiyoshi agrees. ^ ^
CHAPTER 2
Kakashi's first realization as he opened his eyes to the world again was the dull ache inn his chest and Naruto's whisker marked face looking with wide eyes onto his face and one visible dark grey eye. The gennin's face split into a wide grin
"Sensei! You're finally awake!" He yelled excitably. Kakashi winced at the boy's enthusiasm but couldn't help but smile under his mask.
They were in a small cave and a fire was crackling quite sadly by the opening, Sasuke and Sakura coughing as they tried to get more fire than smoke out of the tiny pile of firewood. Little bits of charred messes lay all around the cave opening.
Sakura turned and smiled sheepishly.
"Gomen Nasai Sensei. You were out for two hours and," gesturing to the pitiful fire, "We're not that good at the small details. We've been trying to keep a fire burning for the past hour." Naruto cut in with an evil laugh.
"And we're down to no more firewood because Sasuke's first attempt with Grand Fireball No Jutsu nearly charbroiled all of us into fried Shinobi!" That explained the charred marks all around. Sasuke looked haggardly annoyed.
Kakashi gave a slight wince as he pushed himself upright. Apparently the kids had dragged him from the snow bank after the escapade with the Black Mark. He was disturbed that there were still any of these haunted areas of land around. It was essential to get the news to the Hokage as soon as possible.
He helped team seven get a decent fire started, sent Naruto and Sasuke to gather firewood and set Sakura to the side sorting out their supplies. The two boys came back, still subdued from the problems they had caused earlier; even Naruto was especially helpful in feeding the fire although he still managed to sneak in one more snick remark about the earlier failed Jutsu. Sasuke gritted his teeth and ignored him.
After they all settled down, Kakashi having changed his own bandages and had all of them eat nutritious food bars, Sakura was the first to mention the afternoon's disturbance.
"Sensei, what was that water? Why did it drag everyone down?"
Kakashi's sleepy eye didn't look up as he continued to stare into the fire.
"Years ago, a renegade ninja stumbled upon a lost forbidden spell. The Spell of Immortality. He kidnapped and kept genins and chunnins captive for experimentations. These ninjas were tortured and died horrible deaths; some had their bodies mutilated to the point where their very soul cursed the lands that have been defiled with these evil acts and the hunt for this spell. The spirits, perverted and morphed were mostly captured by the Fourth Hokage and released through a jutsu in the memorial hills at the Hidden Leaf village. But some…"
His eyes and forehead protector somberly reflected the flickering light of the fire as he continued.
"Some seeped into parts of nature. A tree, a glade."
"A spring," he finished softly.
Sasuke listened, his eyes disturbed.
Sakura had her mouth covered in horror.
"That was the spirit of a shinobi? A leaf ninja?" She asked
Kakashi nodded.
"Most likely. The renegade traitor was a Hidden Leaf of great power and preferred to keep to his familiar areas to get his victims."
Naruto's eyes were slit as he looked at their grey-haired sensei.
"That's just so…sad." He whispered huskily. Kakashi's eye drifted over but the blond took no notice of his gaze.
"To try so hard, to have finally achieved their status as a ninja, and then to just loose it all." Naruto's voice was unnaturally subdued. He dreamt of attaining the Hokage title and making everyone acknowledge his presence as more than just a vessel for the Nine-Tails. Kakashi had heard his boasts more times than he'd have liked and always felt the boy spent too much time ranting and not enough observing and learning from others, but the look of genuine sorrow for the lost shinobi made Kakashi realize again that the boy had a gentle heart.
He wondered again why the Third had felt he'd be the perfect teacher to these three misfits.
"Why'd the spirit attack us?" Sasuke asked pointedly, arms crossed.
"It is…embittered." Kakashi sought for the words to explain. He'd been quite young, even before his chunnin exam at 6 when his own master had touched on the topic and he struggled to convey the depth of the spirit behind this situation.
"The Konoha Spirit is one of protection. It is a spirit of fire just as we are the Hidden village of the Fire Country. The ninjas of the Hidden Leaf are all tied to this spirit fo protecting the special ones we care for." He looked up from the fire where he'd been sitting alone with his back to the cave opening, and his gaze fell across the fire caught each of them.
"Sasuke. Sakura. Naruto. You all have this spirit of fire as well. One day you may find that true strength comes from protecting those precious to you. But these murdered shinobi…" He gave a slight shake of his head, saddened by the memory of pain that had been in his own late teacher's eyes when he'd told him and his two teammates the story.
"They were murdered, tortured and their bodies, souls, and lives defiled for an end and meaningless purpose by one of their own. It was a total violation of the very spirit that is Konoha. This spirit of protection was destroyed, the soul perverted, and so," Kakashi shook himself out of the unusually serious mood that had overtaken him and leaned forward again with his one visible eye drooped.
"It seeks to kill out of revenge. It wants to take the lives of those it comes in contact with, especially Leaf Ninjas. It feels forsaken by the spirit and so in turn, has forsaken this spirit of protection and love." The silence that ensued was interrupted only with the crackle and pop of the fire burning and reaching into the tree branch's sap.
"But sensei, how do we get home now? We can't just leave the spring where it is. Others might come across it and they might…" Sakura spoke, picking at her empty wrapper.
"Ah, that's where we come across a minor problem," Kakashi said, hunching down and thinking. The problem of how to deal with this spring as well as contact the Hokage had actually been on his mind since he'd awoken.
"I need to stay here and deal with the spring in case of others wandering into the area. That means someone of intelligence will have to take a message and go to the village to inform the Hokage."
"Hmmm…" He raised his eyebrow as he looked at Naruto.
"Won't be Naruto because he'll probably be lost no matter how much help I give him in preparation." Naruto hmphed angrily and sat back pouting.
"Sasuke will try to not follow whatever specific orders I give and try to take matters into his own hands. Plus I don't think Kuroune won't like you." The dark haired boy glared his usual glare but refused to be goaded into making a comment.
Kakashi shrugged.
"Well, that leaves the only one on the team decently intelligent." Sakura blushed.
"Umm, Kakashi-Sensei?"
"Hmm?"
"Who's Kuroune?"
"Oh." Kakashi smiled with his eye in an arch.
"You'll find out tomorrow."
"Bet it's something stupid like his Thousand Years of Pain," Naruto hissed to Sakura out of the corner of his mouth. The pink-haired girl rolled her eyes.
"Shut up Naruto."
Kakashi clapped his hands together, ignoring the white bandage wrapped tightly around his right hand.
"Time for bed, kiddies."
The three kids starred at him with dropped jaws as the same thought popped into their heads at the same time.
"We have to sleep together?!"
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AN: Yea! Due to requests & reviews, I have continued. Same rule applies, no reviews, then I won't take the time to keep writing. Hope you enjoyed what I did write though and thax for reading! ^ ^ Doomo!