Kannabi Bridge
Sakura fled through the forest. She could sense many chakra signatures in the forest. The war was raging on. She suppressed her chakra to her best. She knew she could be detected by a skilled shinobi, but this was enough for now. The day was coming to an end, and she knew the journey would be getting more difficult as she was approaching the borders, where she knew serious fights would be going on.
Soon after leaving the civilian populated area, Sakura had changed into a black full sleeve top reaching upto her mid-thigh and black pants. A hooded cloak hid her conspicuous pink hair. She also had a mask covering her lips and nose and only her eyes were visible. She wanted to hide her appearance even though she knew no one would recognise her.
As she fled through the forest, Sakura expanded her senses in all directions to search for Kakashi's chakra signature. And within a few hours Sakura was able to detect Kakashi a few kilometres ahead.
She stopped. She had no idea of what to do or how to proceed. Will she be able to make everything right? Or will she just make a huge mess out of this? Should she just run away?
No. She wouldn't. This time she knew there was no Sasuke or Naruto or Kakashi to save her. She is given a chance to save them, to make things better for them. The will of fire burns inside her also. And she won't give up, as this is her only chance to make a huge difference.
She started to move cautiously towards the area where she had detected Kakashi's presence.
'BOOM!'
She saw smoke rising ahead. She increased her pace. Something's happening. May be they encountered enemy nin already. She could sense 4 other chakra signature's alongside Kakashi's. Which meant that the team is already engaging the enemy nin. She hid her signature as good as she could. Kakashi had taught her well in that. Being a medical nin meant that she needed to keep herself safe if she wanted to be of any use to her team.
She could sense the fight ahead. But suddenly, she could sense only 2 chakra signatures ahead.
'What?!'
Even if the enemy retreated, why is there only two? Could it mean that Obito's already... !
She went closer.
"Obito! Don't go after them." Was it Kakashi's voice?
"What?! Do you realise what you just said." She heard another male voice, which she assumed to be Obito's. So, the third member went missing, but she couldn't recall who it was.
"Yeah. The two of us will continue this mission." No, would Kakashi ever say like that? Her Kaka-sensei would never leave a comrade behind!
"And Rin? What about Rin?!" Obito shouted back.
Sakura could sense the anger rising in the boy's voice. It would do them no good to fight like this in the middle of enemy territory.
"Rin comes later. The enemy wants to find out what we're up to. They won't kill her right away. And luckily Rin is a medical ninja. So, even if she ends up a prisoner of war, she'll probably be treated well, on the condition that she tends to the wounded on their side. The problem is if the enemy learns about our strategy. If they obtain that information, no doubt they'll increase the security near the bridge. That will make our mission much more difficult."
How could Kakashi be so cold? What had happened to him that could make him react like this? Was this the same Kakashi who always told her that comrades came before any mission?!
"Your assumptions' on Rin's safety are all baseless. Right now, saving Rin takes priority over the mission!" Obito exclaimed.
"A ninja must sacrifice a comrade in order to carry out a mission. That is the rule. If we fail in this mission, it is possible that the war will be prolonged and many more lives will be sacrificed." Kakashi's voice was eerily calm and cold.
"Those are just assumptions, you're willing to simply abandon a comrade, who's been through life and death with you?! When we were wounded, Rin saved our lives with her Medical Ninjutsu. If she hadn't been there, we'd both be dead by now!"
"That was Rin's duty."
Kakashi got hit in the face by an angry Obito. Should she interfere? No, maybe Obito can beat some sense into this Kakashi.
"I don't like you after all!" Obito exclaimed.
"That's why we have the rule that states that the members must obey the team Captain. Obito, you're not strong, that's why I was made the Captain."
"Then why won't you try to save Rin?! As a captain, you're strong. Strong enough to save your comrades, right?!"
"If you give into your emotions even for a moment, and fail you mission, you'll regret it later. That is why our code of conduct forbids any emotional feelings. You should know that. Emotions are useless. They'll only get in the way."
"Are you serious? Do you really believe all that?!"
"Yeah, I do."
Sakura's eyes' widened. How could it be... ?
"Forget it. You and I have been like oil and water from the beginning. I'm going to rescue Rin."
Obito started walking away. No, if the team splits then..
Oh no.. Maybe that's how Obito got hurt. She'll have to follow him and help him. Kakashi could take care of himself from the looks of it.
"You don't understand what happens if you break the rules." Kakashi warned Obito.
"I believe the White Fang was a true hero. Sure in the world of ninja, those who break the rules are regarded as scum, but those who abandon their comrades are worse than scum! I'm gonna be trash anyway. So, I choose to break the rules. And if that doesn't make me a true ninja, then I'll crush this so called ninja!"
The White Fang?! Kakashi's father! Sakura clenched her fists. Sensei, is this how you learned all that?
They started walking in opposite directions. Sakura knew what she should do. She was not supposed to go and beat some sense into Kakashi. She should follow Obito and make sure that Rin is rescued. That way Kakashi will not end up regretting his past. That way Kakashi will not end up as lonely as he was in her timeline.
Sakura heard another explosion, from a distance. No, that was not her mission. Her mission is to save Rin. She cannot save everyone.
Sakura hoped Obito knew where he was going, because she had no idea where Rin would be. She didn't have the girl's chakra signature to locate her. Obito led her to a cave. Sakura quickly sensed that there were three people inside. The weakest chakra signature must belong to Rin.
She sensed presence beside Obito. Now is the chance for her to go inside and save Rin. The enemy has not detected her presence yet. Sakura quickly went inside, making sure that she isn't spotted by the Iwa nin outside.
She shouldn't use her superhuman strength here. The walls of the cave were too weak. They couldn't risk the walls falling over them. She started casting a genjutsu.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you." The enemy nin was quite surprised. He turned around to see Kakashi standing behind him.
Through the illusion she cast Sakura made her way to Rin. She started untying the ropes.
Rin was startled.
"What? Who are you? Let me go. Kakashi, help!" She exclaimed.
Sakura panicked. The man was behind her. She quickly dodged, throwing Rin to the opposite side so that she wouldn't get hurt.
To say Rin was surprised was an understatement. Who was this cloaked figure. No headband? Could it be an enemy nin.? But, she felt that whoever it was, they were trying to help her. Rin started to untie her ropes which were a bit loosened by the black figure. Obito was outside, fighting the other nin, she had to help him. Rin started to sprint towards the cave exit.
"Not so fast!"
Suddenly, the man was in front of her. She took out her kunai and slashed at him, but she missed and got kicked to the opposite side. But before she hit the cave wall, she was caught by the mysterious figure.
"Be careful, the walls are weak!" She heard the voice. It was a smooth female voice. Who could it be? Is it someone sent by Minato-sensei? She couldn't see her face. It was covered upto her nose. But her eyes, there were emerald green. She was sure she had never seen this woman before.
"Die!" The man threw a kunai at them.
"NO! It has an exploding tag!" Rin started running towards the exit. She wouldn't make it. Suddenly she felt herself being covered by that woman. Green chakra enveloped them. She knew it was some kind of medical chakra. But suddenly she saw Obito running into the collapsing cave.
"RIN! NO!"
Everything was coming down. Sakura had no time to get to Obito. But Rin, she would be safe.
Rin slowly opened her eyes. She felt the woman taking her hands off her. She was now standing in the middle of the rubble. Not even a single piece of rubble had fallen over her.
But the happiness disappeared soon enough.
"OBITO!" She exclaimed.
They both jumped out of the rubble to find Obito under huge rubble. Only his left hand and head outside.
Oh no!
Sakura rushed towards him. She could remove this rock. She must.
"Rin, you're safe." Obito said with a grin on his face.
That's when she noticed it. His eyes were Sharingan Red. Tears started to form in her eyes.
"Rin, the enemy nin are close by, but they don't know that we made it out of the cave. I want you to keep watch as I try to remove this boulder from Obito. Understood?"
This mysterious woman, knew them? Rin couldn't protest. This woman was her only hope. She must trust her.
"Rin, who is she?" Obito was confused.
He could only watch in awe as the woman started lifting the boulder. Obito could feel the weight shifting from him. Suddenly, pain erupted from everywhere. He must've been numb till now. There was too much blood.
"Well, looks like the brats made it out alive. We'll just have to finish them off now itself." The two men appeared in front of them.
But before they could do anything, Sakura threw the boulder in her hands in their direction. The ground shattered. The Iwa nin were definitely not expecting such a move and ended up getting hit by the shattered pieces of earth.
"Rin, try and hold them off for a while." She obeyed. Got ready for fight. She never usually took the frontline for fights. As a medical nin, her duty was to tend to her wounded team mates and stay out the fight. But she had no choice here. Her medical knowledge was no use in healing such a huge wound.
Sakura pushed her medical chakra into Obito's body. She knew it was gonna hurt. But there was no time to take it slow. They boy fell unconscious. Her chakra started to sink into his wounds. Green met red. Skin started growing over the open flesh. She will not get time to heal the bone damage. She'll leave it for other medics. Rin wouldn't be able to hold them off for much longer.
Meanwhile...
Rin's face flashed through Kakashi's mind. She was always there behind them. Her smile, the way she would always step in between them when their fights started to get serious.
'The White Fang was a true hero.'
'Those who abandon their team mates are worse than scum.'
Kakashi stopped in his tracks. He turned around, and headed in the direction of the explosion.
'Rin, Obito, hold on for a little longer. I'm coming.'
