Chapter 1
Kakashi watched as the girl collapsed in front of him before slowly lowering his kunai, but his grip around it still remained tight. He heard Obito's sound of disapproval from behind him, and before he could say another word the hyperactive Uchiha rushed in front of him and lifted the girl up off the floor.
"You were supposed to catch her," Obito scolded as he brushed the hair from the girl's messy face so he could feel her pulse.
"Why?" Kakashi asked, and heard Rin's scoff next.
"Way to be a gentleman," Rin stated in a deadpan as she rushed to the fallen girl's side. Her state was completely distraught, and she was covered in blood to the point where Kakashi couldn't really see what color her hair even was; and her feet looked like it had been dragged in glass. Her robes were ripped and filthy, and when Obito turn her body upright in his lap, Kakashi saw that her skin was covered in blotches of dirt. It was smeared in black, the same blackness that came from running through fires and smoke.
"She's still alive," Obito told Rin as the girl sat adjacent to him and began to heal her.
"Barely..." Rin's brows furrowed as she inspected the girl's state while her glowing green hands stayed in place to heal. "Kakashi, get some water."
Kakashi obeyed, and grabbed the canteen of water and knelt down next to the girl. He sat next to the girl's head, and gently placed his hand on the back of her neck to hold her up and prevent choking, before he put the canteen's opening in between her lips. The girl's hand twitched as the liquid rushed in between her dry lips and ran down to her ears. Her eyes slightly twitched open, unfocused as they met Kakashi's patient gaze.
"You're going to be alright," he whispered, and Rin looked up surprised as the girl began to slightly wake.
"What happened? Is there anyone else that was with you?" Obito asked in a hasty whisper, the girl seemed to slowly process him as her fingers twitched and her tongue desperately clang to the water coming in.
She didn't answer as her hands fell, weakly back to her side while Rin grabbed the water from Kakashi's hand and used it to wash the blood from the girl's feet.
"Kakashi..." Rin began as she began to disinfect the wounds. Kakashi instantly snapped his head up to his teammate's commanding voice. "Follow her trail...she was running from something...find out what that something is before it catches us."
Kakashi nodded, placing the girl's head back onto the ground before standing up. He wasted no time summoning his ninja dog and rushing into the cover of the trees.
"I could go with him," Obito whined, and Rin let out a gentle smile to her teammate as she unrolled a bit of her bandage supply.
"I need you to get more water. I have a feeling she'll need more," Rin said, tossing him the empty bottle that he instinctively caught.
"You'll be okay?" Obito asked as Rin began bandaging the girl's feet.
"I'll be fine. It's not like she's in any state for a surprise attack," Rin joked, half-heartedly as Obito grinned and nodded. His body disappeared in a fast barrage of leaves that flooded the air from his speed, obviously eager to get back quickly.
The girl's eyes were still lightly cracked open by the time Rin met her gaze. Now that Rin got the boy away, she inspected the trail of blood that ran up her inner thigh. She immediately noticed the odd way her kimono was wrapped around the girl's body, with the obi tied around the front and the layers of clothing that dangled beneath her shoulders.
"I'm going to pull up your robes a bit," Rin warned, looking to the girl for confirmation, but when she saw apparent indifference in the girl's eyes, Rin pulled up the kimono's ripped cloth to inspect the trail of blood, finding it led straight to the girl's panties. Rin was hoping that it had been a cut of some sort, and felt her heart slightly tug when she saw that it was not as such.
The girl's eyes still looked indifferent by the time Rin's gaze connected with hers again, before Rin began dabbing her towel with the disinfectant and wiping away the blood.
"What's your name?" Rin asked, and the girl blinked for the first time since opening her eyes. "Can you speak?"
"Ano...mie..." The girl's lips moved slowly, and her voice was hoarse, cracked, and dehydrated.
"Nice to meet you Anomie, I'm Rin. And I'm going to help you get better," Rin said, feeling a sudden surge of protectiveness erupt inside her chest as she stared into the nearly dead eyes of the girl laying in the grass. The light of the fire warmed the girl's considerably pale skin, and Rin parted the girl's bangs from her forehead in order to feel for heat. The girl's skin was cold as ice and she didn't seem to have enough body heat to even catch a fever. Rin rushed to pick up one of her sealing scrolls attached to her waist, and undid the seal and watched as a blanket was summoned in a small cloud of smoke. She grabbed the material and placed it over the girl's frame.
Anomie's gaze moved, almost suspiciously, watching Rin's every action and the moment the blanket covered her frame, Obito returned with three full canteens of water.
"Are you alright? Has anyone attacked? Is she alright? Has she spoken?" Obito instantly asked, his concerned tone slightly surprising Rin.
"Her name is Anomie, and she appears to be barely conscious." Rin murmured as she grabbed one of the bottles of water from her teammate's hand and pouring it over one of her cloths. She rushed back to the injured girl's form and began using the damp cloth to wipe the blood from the girl's face. Her eyes were now closed, as if she lost the energy to keep them open. Rin felt her heart tug as she gently pressed the cloth to her face, wiping away dried blood from her lips before pressing it over her neck.
After the dirt and blood was gone from her face, Rin began healing the cuts and scars that decorated her skin. Obito stood over her shoulder and watched, knowing better than to talk when Rin was healing someone, and as much as he enjoyed hearing Rin speak, his head could only be smacked so many times.
"She's kinda pretty," Obito muttered without thinking and heard Rin's annoyed scoff.
"Of course that's what you'd notice," she murmured and Obito let out a sheepish laugh as he scratched the back of his head.
"But she is~" Obito commented, finally sitting down, using the tree to rest his back against it. His happy tone disappeared. "Kakashi's still not back..."
Rin frowned, but shook her head. "He's strong. I'm sure he'll be fine and he knows when to engage in combat and when to hide..." Rin's eyes slightly hardened in disdain as they met Obito's gaze. "I wish I could say the same about everyone in our team."
Obito let out a sheepish laugh once more.
»»⎯⎯⎯¤⎯⎯⎯««
It wasn't until the first trickle of sunlight wept through the smoggy sky that Kakashi returned. The crunching of leaves under his footsteps signified his tired posture and sleepless, baggy eyed gaze. He didn't look too pleased, and this much was visible even through the dark blue mask that covered his lower face. His form instantly slumped, exhausted, against the bark of the tree, causing Rin's slowly closing eyes to snap open, wide awake.
"Kakashi!" She exclaimed, jumping up and accidentally kicking Obito in the head. The Uchiha let out a whining complaint, rolling onto his tummy as Rin rushed to her silver haired teammate's side. "What did you find? Are you alright?"
Kakashi sighed; exasperated as his eyes rested on the sleeping girl whose face he could finally see past the once visible grim and darkness of night. Her hair was pale white, died with pink tips, a look he'd only ever seen on street performers and entertainers. She had the body of a performer, as it was long and her hips were wide and her arms were strong. The whiteness of her hair matched well with the pale color of her complexion. Her lips had a tinge of blue, causing him to stand up and throw more wood in the fire she slept next to.
"Her tracks weren't difficult to follow, even in the darkness," Kakashi said, as he lay against the ground and closed his eyes. "Her scent and blood was everywhere that even Pakkun managed to follow it easily and I followed him." Rin was glad that the canine was finally able to be reliable, as she had already dealt with the two months of him sniffing out nothing but its own ass, and not the target. "About 30 kilometers west of here is Kemurigakure, or what's left of it anyway. It's been burned to the ground. By the time I got there, this was nothing left but, ironically, smoke (because Kemuri means smoke), fire, ash...and bodies." Kakashi sighed, his eyes still closed. "I didn't find anyone still alive, at least not out in the open, and many Kumo Nin still occupied the roads. I couldn't engage while being so outnumbered."
"Kumo ninja again," Rin sat down, her butt roughly slammed against the ground. "Kemuri is always the first to get attacked, but this is the first time it's been openly raided...Minato-sensei's not going to be happy about this."
"I'm not happy either," Kakashi muttered. "This mission is practically pointless now, and we lost sight of Minato-sensei for nothing."
Rin sighed, leaning her head back against the tree, but her eyes darted to the corner to stare at Anomie.
"We saved a life. That's not pointless," Obito said with a grim smile, but Kakashi made a low sound of annoyance before turning his back to all of them and resting on his side.
"Rest, Kakashi, and then we'll head out. Obito and I will scout out the area and check for any survivors." Rin said, and took Kakashi's silence as a 'whatever' and turned to Obito. "Come on."
"If she wakes up...don't be...well...you." Obito said with a grin, causing a rock to come flying at his head from the once still as stone Kakashi. "Okay! Okay! White flag! I give~"
"Come on stupid," Rin ordered, grabbing Obito by the sleeve and dragging him into the woods. She did glance back towards Kakashi one last time, a look of worry jogging her expression. "Be careful, okay."
"Don't miss me too much, Kakashi-kun!" Obito shouted back jokingly, and a rock sped through the trees before hitting its mark with a loud, "OW!"
"Idiot." Kakashi muttered, closing his eyes as the fire warmed up his once freezing body.
Konoha's weather was fairly hot, but the closer north he got, the weather chilled considerably. The ground was frosty and cold, and he knew it would probably be snowing if it weren't for the smoggy grey sky. The further west Rin and Obito went, the harder it would be to breath past the fumes. They no doubt knew that, so he didn't bother to mention it.
He barely got 50 minutes of sleep before the sound of weak coughs caught his attention and forced his eyes to open. He turned around and watched the nameless girl hack from her still position. Her breath was short, making it come out as a pained wheeze. Her eyes were clenched closed, and Kakashi mused on the thought of just going back to sleep, but looking at her near broken form and remember the dead bodies back at the village caused his body to jolt up.
She ran, barefoot, all-night and fought for every breath. He didn't have it in him to see any more death this week when he could stop it. He lazily reached for one of the bottles Rin left by the girl's head, and opened the cap. He lifted her head, gently on his lap and slowly pressed the opening of the bottle in between her lips, and her hands twitched at her side, when the moisture erupted around her tongue. Her hand slowly moved up, eyes still closed, while Kakashi watched it move.
She didn't seem to be ready to open her eyes, but her hand weakly cupped his from around the bottle. Her bare fingers didn't fully touch his hand, as his fingerless gloves cut off most of the contact, but the tips of her fingers touched the opening of his skin and he noticed instantly that her fingers were freezing. He used his other hand, still free from contact, to lightly brush against her bangs so he could feel her forehead. It was hot when he touched her skin and he reached for the cloth that Rin left behind, and placed it on his free knee, before he slowly grabbed the bottle back from her lips and poured it on the cloth. She didn't open her eyes, but her brows furrowed when the water stopped flowing to her mouth.
He slightly smiled at her expression as her hand that once cupped his dropped to her chest. He noticed it was nearly bare, and he would have seen more if the blanket didn't cover it. He cut out the perverted thoughts from his head, and his face would be slightly red if the mask didn't cover it.
He folded the cloth, and placed it on her forehead. Her once furrowed brows, slowly ceased creasing and her head turned towards him she rested on her side. His eyes widened as she cuddled into his waist, forcing him to hold the cloth over her head so it didn't fall.
But her cheek now rested...intimately on his crotch.
"Oh no." Kakashi muttered as he tried to shift his position, but the moment he moved he saw her let out a small whine, resembling a weak sound of pain. "You have got to be kidding me." He was just trying to be nice, but if Rin or Obito came back, he knew that he'd be forever thought of as a pervert. He'd never get away from the stain on his name.
He tried to gently lift her face off him, but her grip proved stronger than he expected and he knew using any more strength on her would prove to only add more pain to her already injured body.
"Come on," he hissed, using his free hand that wasn't holding the cloth to her head, to press his face into his palm. "I should have just went back to sleep."
"Kakashi, we have to go, this land is riddled with Kumo ni-" Rin's voice made Kakashi's eyes widen, and his hands instantly raised in surrender, causing the cloth to fall off the girl's head as Rin's voice cut off and her eyes narrowed.
»»⎯⎯⎯¤⎯⎯⎯««
Kakashi still felt her glare on his back as they ran through the forest and he sighed for the tenth time. Obito was the one to carry the girl on his back, since Rin officially lost trust in her innocent teammate. He was maybe not innocent in everything, but he was innocent in this.
Obito sniggered out, "Pervert," causing Kakashi's eyes to narrow in anger.
"I wasn't doing anything," Kakashi found himself repeating, for the fifth time that morning.
"The day I believe you is the day you become Hokage," Obito said in return, his goggled face scowling towards Kakashi's back.
"You just watch, I might just become Hokage to spite you. You're so weak, you'll still be a Genin by the time I do," Kakashi retorted and he heard Obito's growl.
"You bastard!"
"That's enough!" Rin shouted, and Obito scoffed, but complied. "We have to find Minato-sensei, I'm worried."
"He'll be fine," Obito said, his voice still sounding annoyed. "Sure, our meet up place is now up in ash but-"
"We could meet him at the village. He'll realize the attack is brought on by Kumo and he'll know that we couldn't stay in this area without suffering attack of enemy nin's reinforcements," Kakashi said, hopping off one branch to land on another with Rin and Obito shortly behind him.
"I'm just worried she won't make the journey..." Rin murmured, glancing at Anomie.
"I say we leave her behind. She's not part of the mission and we have no obligation to save her. I said what we could do, but what we should do is leave her behind and find Minato-sensei. I could attempt to track his scent and we could salvage what's left of this mission," Kakashi said in a deadpan, but the moment the words left his lips, he could feel the deepening scowls on his back.
"Leave her to die?" Obito snapped, and Kakashi sighed.
"You don't know if she'll die. Maybe if we force her to wake up she could make her own way through the forest or wait for us to come back for her. We could give her directions to the Leaf or Rin could accompany her," Kakashi suggested.
"You're a real heartless bastard," Obito growled out, causing Kakashi to scowl.
"The mission is what's important, not some half dead girl. What if we do abandon it all and head back, and she dies on the way? And if, by some miracle, she survives the journey, but dies when we get there, then this is all pointless," Kakashi explained, but in the next moment Obito opened his mouth to retort.
"Rules may be important, but not at the expense of innocent lives," Obito retorted.
"Who knows if this is an innocent life? Her hands were covered in blood and I found a body in the forest that proves it's not her own." Kakashi snapped.
"That's enough. I'm all for completing the mission, but Obito's right, we don't abandon people if they need it," Rin finally interrupted, and her tone of voice silenced all opposition. "Konoha is only a couple hours away, so for the time being of our time together, stop arguing."
"I wasn't arguing," Obito muttered, scowling when Kakashi snorted. He opened his mouth to say something, but a soft, musical voice stopped him.
"S..top," Anomie murmured, tightening her arms slightly across Obito's neck as her eyes slowly cracked open. Obito came to a complete stop on a nearby branch, Kakashi and Rin following suit. Her eyes drifted over Obito's sideways goggled gaze, then to Rin's worried expression, and lastly to Kakashi's crossed armed deadpan.
"Are you alright?" Rin asked and Anomie squeezed her eyes shut, weakly pressing her palm into her eye while keeping the other firmly wrapped around Obito's neck.
What kind of stupid question was that? She didn't voice her obvious snap, as the girl did save her life. Anomie yawned, her throat hurting as she did before finding her arm was stiff and bandaged, causing her to vaguely remember the kodachi of some Kumo jackass, cutting into it.
"Who are...you?" She asked, finding that speaking was very difficult, and her throat felt all the more dry and sore. She found herself coughing as soon as she tried to speak, and she attempted to not cough on the man carrying her since she could do without being dropped to the ground below.
"You shouldn't speak," Rin stated, jumping onto the branch so she could be next to her, and Obito turned to give her more room while Kakashi leaned against his own tree and sighed. "I'm Nohara Rin, that's Uchiha Obito, and that's Hatake Kakashi..." Rin introduced, pointing to each individual teammate. "We're ninja from Konoha...you're safe now."
Anomie hid her disdain at the mention of the word 'ninja' and slowly closed her eyes, leaning her head on Obito's shoulder. "S...afe?" She whispered, squeezing her eyes shut.
"We're going to get you back to Konoha and properly treat your wounds, okay, Anomie-san?" Rin felt the girl's forehead with her palm, and frowned, turning to Kakashi. "And we have to hurry."
"Whatever," came the boy's response as he watched the girl lose consciousness once more.
Author's Note
I tried to make this flow smoothly and keep up with the underlying theme of the story, which will be smoke and flowers.
The title of each chapter will be a flower in Japanese, each one having its own unique meaning.
芍薬 (shakuyaku) (Peony) - symbolizes compassion, bashfulness and shame