Hello everyone! Based on the reviews I got, I'm very happy to say that I'm so glad that you all enjoyed chapter 6! Thank you to yyh-ygo-fma, ren-hatake, jennku, and xNotUnderstood for reviewing! Remember, all you silent readers, I love reviews so please, leave them! I hope chapter 7 lives up to everyone's expectations; so please, enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or its characters; just those characters of my own design.
Chapter 7
Kakashi did a series of backflips away from Kakuzu's attack and prepared to block it when suddenly a large wall of earth rose up between them and blocked the taijutsu attack. The sharingan user used this time to put more space between him and the Akatsuki member while he looked around and saw Naruto beginning to attack one of the black thread monsters while Ino and Choji hung back and recovered from a previous attack.
Ayumi smiled as she landed next to Kakashi along with Yamato, Sai, and Sakura.
"About time you all showed up," Kakashi stated while panting.
The Earth affinity kunoichi smirked at her lover, "I couldn't let you have all the fun."
Kakashi smiled at her through his slightly ripped and bloodied mask before quickly summoning Pakkun.
"Yo! What do you need, Kaka- Woah, you look like hell," Pakkun stated.
The man smirked, "I've looked worse. Now, I need you to follow Shikamaru's scent and take Sakura and Sai to his location while the rest of us deal with this guy."
"Okie dokie, Kakashi!" Pakkun stated while saluting him before running off after Shikamaru's sent with Sakura and Sai, dodging stray attacks as they went.
Suddenly two thread creatures and Kakuzu burst through the wall and charged the three shinobi on the other side. Kakashi leapt up to meet Kakuzu and began engaging him in hand-to-hand combat while Yamato and Ayumi began attacking the two thread creatures.
Yamato used his wood release jutsu to manipulate the movement of the creature away from the battle where he attempted to kill the water affinity creature.
Ayumi smirked as she flashed through hand signs and began launching earthen spikes at the creature who quickly weaved in and out of them and began charging towards her. She smirked as she realized that the creature was an earth user who she would at least be evenly matched with. As the being grew closer, she gathered earth around her fists to strengthen her punches. Suddenly, the creature disappeared before reappearing behind her and slashed at her back. Ayumi spun around and ducked under the clawed hand before kicking upward and sending the creature flying into a tree.
When the creature stood up, its gait was more jerky and unsteady. Ayumi's eyes narrowed as she saw that its mask was slightly cracked. She smirked when she realized what she needed to do as she charged the creature. She began throwing punches rapidly, growling slightly as the creature continued to dodge them. She leapt back and, while doing so, flashed rapidly through hand signs, creating an earth wall behind the thread creature. She charged the creature once more while pulling the wall towards her, causing the creature to be trapped between her and the wall. The thread being decided to fight back and began running at her as well. The being threw a right hook, which she deftly dodged, before she punched the being directly in the mask.
The monster flew back into the wall as its mask shattered before the entire being completely disintegrated. Ayumi smirked, panting lightly as she turned around, and witnessed Naruto destroy a second thread creature with a massive wind rasengan while Yamato impaled another with his wood release. The three of them convened and began looking for Kakashi before finding him battling Kakuzu in the treetops.
"Yamato, I have a plan," Ayumi stated.
"I'm up for any ideas at the moment," the captain replied.
She turned to him and Naruto and stated, "We're long range fighters while Naruto is a short range fighter. We all need to push Kakuzu towards Kakashi. Naruto, move in between our attacks and Kakuzu. From there, begin attacking him, but not directly. Just distract him and back him towards Kakashi, got it?"
Naruto nodded and cracked his knuckles, "Right!"
The blonde shinobi leapt off and began attacking Kakuzu from behind. While the Akatsuki member was distracted, Yamato and Ayumi began flashing through hand signs. When they finished, large spikes of wood and earth, respectively, began launching themselves out at Kakuzu from his right and left.
Kakashi stared at his teammates actions in shock, wondering why they were interfering before realizing they were trying to create an opening for him to attack the Akatsuki member. He formed the proper hand signs rapidly before creating a massive chidori and running towards Kakuzu from behind, spying an opening at last.
The masked Akatsuki member didn't even realize what had hit him until it was too late. He looked down and saw a bloodied lightning filled hand piercing his chest and through his final heart. He looked back at Kakashi and stuttered:
"H-How…. How co-could someone so y-young defeat me?"
The masked Konoha shinobi smirked, "Because, the next generation always surpasses the previous one."
Kakashi pulled his hand out of Kakuzu's chest quickly, dropping the Akatsuki member to the ground. He panted heavily before looking up at his teammates. He smiled as he saw Ayumi running towards him and he grunted as she hugged him tightly.
"Oh, thank Kami! I was so scared we wouldn't get here in time," Ayumi exclaimed.
The man smiled and squeezed her gently in his arms before they released each other, "I would've been fine… but thanks for coming anyway."
She smiled back at him and moved to check his injuries before blinking as she felt several chakra sources approaching. She turned and smiled as Sai, Shikamaru, Sakura and Pakkun arrived. The dog nodded to Ayumi and Kakashi before disappearing as the teams united.
"Shikamaru… did you…?" Choji asked.
The Nara smirked and pulled his pack of cigarettes from his pouch and dropped them to the ground, crunching them beneath his right foot and looked at everyone, "Let's just say we won't be seeing that guy anymore."
The old friends smiled and cheered and celebrated with Shikamaru as the jonin watched, smiling.
Kakashi sighed, "All right everyone, we can continue this back in Konoha. Let's go."
They all nodded and began heading back to the village. As they travelled, Ayumi fell back to be even with Shikamaru. They remained silent for a few moments before Ayumi looked at him and said:
"I'm sure you already know this, Shikamaru, but Asuma would be very proud of you."
As Shikamaru looked at her, he blinked in surprise as he noticed she was holding out her fist for him to bump, just like Asuma would do. He smiled and bumped his fist against hers and replied:
"Yeah, I know."
They smiled at each other before Ayumi caught back up with Kakashi and began helping him back home.
The couple smiled as they walked out of the hospital together. Ayumi was relieved that Kakashi's injuries checked out and didn't need to stay the night while Kakashi was just relieved the he didn't have to stay the night. Silence filled the space between them as they walked through the village as the sun began to set before Kakashi suddenly stopped and looked at her, stating:
"Ayumi. I would like to show you something."
The woman blinked, "All right."
He took her hand and quickly led her to a secluded forest path after walking nearly halfway across the village. As they walked down the path, Ayumi noticed that it was surprisingly up-kept for obviously being so rarely used.
"Kakashi, where are you taking me?" Ayumi asked, very confused and not recognizing where they were.
The man didn't reply as he continued leading her down the path before finally stopping as they reached a clearing. Ayumi gasped as she saw the beautifully ornate house in the middle of the forest. The house, though empty for several years, had been well maintained so that anyone could move in at any time.
As Ayumi gazed at the house before her, she noticed that on a porch post was an aged, hand-painted sign that read:
"Hatake Residence"
She blinked and looked at her lover and asked, "Kakashi, was this where you lived when you were younger?"
The man nodded and led her up the porch steps and then unlocked the door. They entered the house and ignored the musky smell as they walked around.
"I wanted to show you this. Even though I haven't lived here since I was little, I couldn't tear it down or sell it… as strange as it seems, there's a part of me that wants my family, if I get the chance to have one, to live here… that's also why I have been paying someone to maintain it…" He stated as they moved from room to room.
"Kakashi, this house is beautiful," she stated as she took in her surroundings.
She freed her hand from Kakashi's and began exploring on her own before stopping as she stared into a large training room with a dark stain on the floor.
'They couldn't get it out…' "Was this…where…." Ayumi began to ask, but she didn't have the heart to finish.
Kakashi walked up beside her and nodded, "Yes."
She sighed, seeing the pain in his eye as he remembered the night his father committed suicide and realized how much it hurt him to be here, but it made her cherish the fact that he shared this with her more. She gripped his hand tightly and stated:
"You know, Kakashi. We could always tear down this room and I could have a nice garden here…maybe with our own private memorial to those we've lost."
Kakashi smiled and looked down at her, "You always know how to make me feel better. Thank you."
She stood on her tiptoes and removed his mask before kissing him softly on the lips then replacing his mask.
"C'mon, let's go home," she stated before gripping his hand.
He nodded and led her back out of his childhood home before heading back to their apartment.
Author's Note: While I know I am a "stick to the canon" story type, I do want to say that, although the outcome of the battle was still the same, I changed some of the events of the Kakuzu fight in order to show off more of Ayumi's strength (which I severely hope I did). Either way (*steps off soap box*), I hope you all still enjoyed it.
