CHAPTER SEVEN
Another day, another mission. Kakashi woke as usual, minutes before his alarm and in a cold sweat. The nightmares from the few hours sleep he'd had were already fading.
Except they weren't exactly nightmares. They were memories, his memories, and they would be back again the very next time he closed his eyes. Unless today he was lucky enough to get a mission worth exhausting both his mind and body. He was sure the Anbu would be obliging in that regard.
Preparing himself for the day, he tried to remember the last time he'd slept without fear and panic but the thought was disturbed. Guy's face appearing at his window.
"Yo! Lord Fourth is summoning you!"
At least the day was promising to be interesting. Though he always felt a little trepidation whenever he approached Minato sensei - Lord Fourth. Like his teacher could see through his mask to the failure that he'd become, the friend killer. The mask of the Anbu didn't hide everything.
"You wanted to see me?""Yes, I have a mission for you.""WIll this be part of my regular Anbu duties sir?"
Minato moved from the window to his seat.
"Not exactly. You've been in the Anbu for about a year now right? Well, this mission is top secret, even from the Anbu, and you're the only one I can trust to do it. Normally I would go on this mission personally, but something else has come up and I won't be able to go this time."
"What is this mission sensei?"
"It would be better if you were both here for that part, you can show yourself now."
Kakashi was almost surprised when in a flash, another person appeared next to him. Also in Anbu gear.
"You called Lord Fourth?""Yes, it's time. You may remove your masks, both of you."
Kakashi obliged, though at the sound of her voice he already knew who the other shinobi was.
"Kakashi, you are to accompany Asuna to the Land of Earth in my stead, to complete the final stages of the avatar's training ritual. Protect her and watch over her, and above all else be cautious. This is not an enemy to be taken lightly. That's all." Kakashi gave a sliding glance to Asuna, he noted the slight surprise on her face, she even made a noise to argue with the Hokage himself.
"But, sensei…""It'll be fine Asuna. The Land of Earth is far enough that our enemies may not have reached it yet. But you need to leave now, and you may not be back for sometime. Fill Kakashi in on the details on your way, he's my right hand man so tell him all that he needs to know." They were already walking out of the village before she said anything to him. And it was only because he'd grown impatient and frustrated with the situation. They were old friends, supposedly, so the fact that she had not been so keen to be on this mission with him specifically was bothersome. Kakashi tried not to let it get to him, but his mind had no other distraction at present. Which was also bothering. Usually when something tangible was bothering him, he made it stop.
"We don't normally go on assignments together huh…"
He didn't blame her for not answering, it wasn't even a question after all, simple fact. Asuna was silent as the gates to the village became more distant behind them. This was going to be one hell of a long mission if she wasn't going to say anything, and knowing her, she would likely be silent most of the time.
"I get that you usually go it solo and your missions are top secret, but you're going to have to give me some details sooner or later."
Still silence. He was growing more and more frustrated.
"You don't trust me then?"
The accusation appeared to genuinely hurt her and she finally snapped back.
"Of course I trust you, idiot."
Instead of putting him at ease all it seemed to do was annoy him further. He had thought that Asuna, of all people, was someone he could unconditionally count on.
"What is it then, am I not strong enough?"
She didn't speak, just shook her head.
Another, more disturbing, thought crossed Kakashi's mind against his will. A sudden image of the nightmare he'd tried to forget flashed in his mind's eye, fuelling his anger and morphing it into despair.
"You think I can't protect you. Can't say I blame you, but I thought we were... different, you can at least trust…"
This time he'd struck a nerve in her. Obvious by the way she just simply stopped walking and interrupted him.
"It's not that. Not at all."
She'd said it sternly enough to make him stop mid sentence. It was akin to being told off by a teacher. But she looked so downcast as she faced him, what he'd assumed was displeasure at being lumped on a mission with him was something else entirely.
Suddenly he felt sad for different reasons altogether.
"I promise, that's not true. And as I've said before, apart from Kushina, you're all the family I have…. We are, as you put it, different."
Kakashi had forgotten, she had said that before, and he couldn't help but feel a little guilty. He looked down at his feet. Since Obito and Rin he must have been a pretty useless friend to Asuna, she obviously had her own problems. And she'd even been taking care of him on top of all that.
It was only the feeling of her hand in his that brought his attention back to her face. When Asuna spoke she finally met his eye and he understood.
"It's bad enough that Minato sensei got himself involved in this, now he's roped you into it. There's a reason I go it solo Kakashi, there are… people after me, terrible people. You can't even imagine the extent of what they're capable of. And if they ever got to you…"
He took a tighter hold of her hand. Asuna seemed to respond to the contact.
"I admit, I have no idea what's going on with you. I've been a pretty terrible friend lately. But listen, this isn't the first mission we've been on together. I wonder if you remember what you said to me on the very first assignment we got." Asuna was never a very big talker, she remained silent but there was a gleam of recognition in her eyes now. So he finished it for her.
"We protect each other. Always. You said it because I thought you needed protecting, and I let it get in the way of the mission, but I was wrong, you were far stronger than me. So you don't need to worry yourself about anyone getting to me, when I have you to back me up. I think I lost sight of it for a while... I won't let anyone get to you either, no matter who these terrible people are. Trust me?"
He felt her hand ease in his, and watched as she became less tense.
"Always."
"Good. Now let's get moving, you can tell me what I need to know on the way."
Maybe she did still trust him a little bit. Maybe she would hear out what he had to say.
Four weeks it had taken to complete that last assignment together and if he had to pinpoint the moment when he realized just how significant she was in his life, that mission would be it. He'd been a fool not to see it earlier. Assuming it had something to do with Naruto's endless stories about his own first missions, Kakashi had succumbed to nostalgia again.
It wasn't that he hadn't trusted Asuna or her strength during their very first mission together as genin. It was his father's words that were etched into his brain that had clouded his judgment and made working with her impossible.
'You'll need to watch over that girl, son.'
That's what he had said. Except Kakashi had misunderstood his meaning entirely. As usual Asuna had been the one to show him what his father had really meant. After that, every subsequent mission with her had been easy. Too easy.
"Is that where we're staying sensei?"
Kakashi may have had to shake his head a little to snap out of it completely.
"Yeah that's it. We got here before dark too, good timing."
In the orange dusk the inn was still clearly visible a ways down the road.
"Last one there's a rotten egg!" With that Naruto took off leaving them in the dust.
"So much energy…"
As soon as Naruto was well ahead of them Asuna's expression slowly faded to one Kakashi could not fathom. Even her voice dulled when she had spoken. Luckily his brain wasn't completely clouded.
"Sakura…"
As soon as he said it Asuna slowed and faltered in her step. It was also lucky he was walking at her right side, and able to keep her upright as she stumbled.
"It's okay, lean on me for a bit." Kakashi said quietly, though he wasn't sure Asuna could hear him.
Sakura was just in time to see Asuna's eyes roll back into her head as she passed out with a smile still playing about her lips. Seamlessly Sakura assumed the role of a medical ninja, assessing Asuna as she slumped against Kakashi. He couldn't help but feel, what he assumed to be akin to, fatherly pride at her exceptional ability.
"She's exhausted. I'll take her injured side sensei."
Sai appeared to have continued after Naruto, in the distance Kakashi could even make out Guy's frantic waving as the blond haired boy arrived outside the inn ahead of them.
"What happened? She seemed fine a while ago."
Yamato asked as he looked back confused.
"I think she may have been deliberately hiding it until we got off the road, that right sensei?"
The way Sakura grasped the situation with very little information was also impressive. He gave her a curt nod.
"Yeah, let's get off the road."
At that moment something began troubling Kakashi, call it a hunch. It was just unfortunate that his hunches were usually correct. As they reached the entrance the noise of Naruto's reunion with Guy's squad roused Asuna momentarily.
She got a good glimpse of Guy rushing toward them.
"It's her! It's really her! What a sight for sore eyes you are old friend, and still as beautiful as the last time I saw you…"
"Wow, she really is beautiful Guy sensei!"
Lee and Naruto appeared next to Guy wearing the same smile.
"Of course she's beautiful, she's my aunt y'know!"
Kakashi watched Asuna blink a few times and smirk. Faintly he heard her speak, though he was sure no one else had.
"Y'know, huh…"
With that her eyes closed.
"Pakkun wasn't kidding, he said she might be injured but I wasn't expecting this."
"Yeah, let's get her seen to, we can talk later." Kakashi's patience faltered with his reply, made worse by Naruto.
"What are you guys talking about? Aunty Asuna is just sleeping isn't she? I thought she looked a bit tired but she seemed fine on the way here…."
"Don't be an idiot Naruto, just look at her. And get out of the way, we need to get her inside so I can heal her."
It wasn't an ideal situation, but it would suffice. Rushing into one of their vacant rooms, and with a little help from a very confused Tenten, Sakura was finally able to get to work. The main challenge being shooing all of the others away. That being said Kakashi still stood just outside the sliding door in the adjoining room, listening to her every move.
As soon as Asuna's trench coat was removed Sakura was able to see the extent of the damage. That was the point where she'd kicked Kakashi out. Now alone with her patient, for the most part, Sakura could not believe herself the level of injuries to the small woman lying before her.
It wasn't the obvious wounds that had her the most concerned. There were just too many to list. First call of action had been Asuna's left shoulder, there was a deep wound that seemed to be infected, it had been tightly bandaged, probably by Asuna herself. Though Sakura was stunned that the avatar had managed to even stop the bleeding in the first place. If that wound were any deeper the arm would have needed to be reattached to her body.
Sakura guessed that perhaps an hour had passed while she redressed and treated the shoulder wound. It was then that she could hear the impatient shuffling of Kakashi sensei in the next room. Perhaps it would be best to brief them for the moment before she started on the next course of treatment. For a minute she cast her eyes to Asuna's resting face, it was so peaceful that there was no way you would know that she was in pain, though she had to be.
Sakura shook her head and slid the partition door open a little, some of the others were noisily preparing for the baths, others were patrolling the grounds. With a nod to Kakashi he followed her back into the room, Guy and Yamato in tow.
Sakura had been careful to place blankets back over Asuna for her own modesty but the toll her body had sustained was wholly visible to the room.
"What are we dealing with here Sakura?"
Kakashi spoke as he folded his arms and stood at the foot of the bed she was resting in.
"The long version or the short…"
At her words the jonin all reacted similarly.
"Seriously, it's that bad…"
"Just look at her Guy…" Yamato said while scratching his head.
Kakashi quelled the others, he appeared to still be in the same dreadful mood as before.
"Give us the short version for now, what do you need?"
As usual that big brain of his had worked out exactly why Sakura had needed to consult with them.
"Apart from the physical damage to her body, the biggest concern is the amount of blood Asuna has lost. She needs a transfusion as soon as possible, I've ascertained her blood type, so if I can manage to find someone among us with the same then there won't be any problems. But she needs this immediately. Frankly I'm amazed she was able to move at all in this condition."
"And if none of us have the same blood type?" Yamato's words seemed to hang in the air until she answered.
"We'll need to get her to the hospital as soon as possible. I can test blood types with this litmus paper, but I don't want to leave her side so could…."
"Leave it to me." Yamato took the papers and left quickly.
"Sakura, while we wait, give us the long version…"
"But Kakashi…" Guy interjected but it was simply ignored as Kakashi spoke louder.
"Once we have all the information laid before us we can start making plans, it's about all we'll be able to do here while you're treating Asuna."
Sakura wondered at what Guy was about to say, but didn't want to anger her sensei any further, he seemed tense enough as it was.
"Well there's the blood loss. Muscle abrasions, contusions, a few cracked ribs, as well as some permanent organ damage. Then there's the business of this left shoulder, it looks almost as though someone tried to hack the arm off from the joint, she would have very nearly lost the limb entirely. I don't quite know how she managed it, but the arm is still attached, though the wound is infected…"
"Asuna has her own kind of healing powers, though they were very limited from memory." Guy said while folding his arms and casting an eye over Asuna's resting form.
"Well that explains a little bit I guess…" Sakura mumbled.
"I'll go help Yamato speed it up, you alright there Kakashi?"
Kakashi nodded to him before Guy left the room, Sakura hadn't noticed it before but the expression on her sensei's face had completely changed, and the way he was squeezing the arms he had folded across his chest.
"You weren't finished were you Sakura?"
Even his voice had become different.
"No, I wasn't. There's also evidence of severe dehydration and malnutrition, signs of torture but I can't be certain. The pictures I've seen of Asuna were only of her face so I'm not sure exactly if she's always been this small or not, I wish I could tell if…"
That was when she thought she saw him noticeably shaking, it was interrupted as Yamato returned in a huff.
"Naruto is a match…" he caught his breath, "he was in the hot spring, he's on his way."
Sakura sighed.
"Thank goodness." She turned to smile at Kakashi sensei, perhaps to put him at ease for some unknown reason, and was disgusted to see him pull out that wretched pervy book. "Now's not the time for that…!"
She began to yell but was cut short as he held out something for her to take which had been removed from the book itself. Kakashi wouldn't look her in the eye.
"Here."
"What is this, a bookmark?"
"Turn it over."
In her hands she held a small discoloured picture of a smiling girl awkwardly holding hands with the boy standing next to her, who was looking thoroughly unimpressed himself. Even when he was younger, Kakashi bore that same look behind the mask.
"It's a little faded, but that's the most recent picture of Asuna you'll find."
Sakura suddenly realised with clarity exactly why Kakashi had been acting strangely. She blinked at the photo a few times, looking at the beautiful blonde haired, healthy, girl. Sakura guessed that she might've been the same age as her when it was taken. She looked up to see Kakashi watching Asuna while she slept, and understood the odd expression on his face she'd seen earlier. Recognizing a look she had portrayed herself a few times in the past at the bedside of a teammate...
When Yamato began looking over her shoulder at the photo, there was just a split second where she must have blinked and Kakashi had taken the picture back with great speed. He held it up with two fingers before depositing it back into the book.
"I can't believe you still carry that round with you…" Yamato was cut short by a stampeding Naruto bursting through the doors.
By this stage Sakura was still staring dumbfounded. But now there was work to be done, everything else would have to wait until afterward. And now she knew at least that Asuna was always a little on the small side. Sakura needn't panic for the meantime.
"What's going on here? You need to take my blood Sakura?"
"Yes. Sit down, we can't afford to dawdle right now."
Immediately she began setting up the IV to Naruto's arm, mentally congratulating herself for packing all that she had. Kakashi began to shuffle Yamato out of the room, before he was out the door she called to him.
"Kakashi sensei…"
"Hmm?"
It was the same bored tone as always but at least now she understood a little better.
"Thank you for showing that to me."
His mask wrinkled in what she presumed was a smile before he left, closing the door behind him.
Naruto was eyeing Asuna's resting form with what Sakura knew to be worry.
"She's so tiny."
"Yeah. No need to worry though Naruto, leave her to me, I'll get her up and healthy in no time."
"Thanks Sakura. I know you will. I just have about a million more things to tell her y'know, and I wanna ask her some stuff too. Talking to her today made me so happy, I wasn't expecting it at all."
She didn't have the heart to tell him that he may be waiting a little while. Though she suspected she'd have to drum it into him later when he started to pester her.
"That reminds me, what did Kakashi sensei show you? Is it an awesome new jutsu or something?"
Sakura paused in her work to glance at Asuna, to make sure she wasn't listening. There was no way she could be conscious yet.
"He showed me his bookmark."
"What? Bookmark? That's lame."
"Naruto…"
Her tone was not to be trifled with, a mixture of seriousness and sadness that she usually reserved for the topic of Sasuke.
"Yeah."
"What do you know about your Aunt and Kakashi sensei?"
He seemed confused but answered.
"They were neighbors, I know they're friends, I mean he even chased after her when she left. But I don't know what you mean Sakura?"
"Seriously? He went after her?"
"Yeah, he told me so himself. Said he wanted to save her. You gonna tell me what you're going on about now?"
She paused.
"You remember, ages ago, what Kakashi sensei said to that spy lady from the Lock Village? Back when the three of us tried to set them up."
The nostalgia in remembering their misadventure when Sasuke was still with them was a little depressing.
"Sort of. Maybe, I guess. What are you getting at?"
"And you heard what Captain Yamato said, about Kakashi sensei being completely different when she was around…"
A glimmer of understanding crossed Naruto's features.
"Come to think of it, Guy sensei said something similar when we first got here. About seeing the two of them together again… Wait a minute, you don't think…" He seemed a little perturbed at the very idea of it.
"When Kakashi sensei told that spy lady that he had given his heart to someone else, I think it could be your Aunt he was talking about."
"What? Seriously?" Naruto's tone turned serious. "Poor Kakashi sensei…"
"What do you mean?"
"Well, it makes me sad for the both of them really. But just imagine, finding the person you love, and then not knowing if they're alive or dead for fifteen years."
It was a feeling Sakura knew all too well. Though she did her utmost to hide that from her teammate.
"We don't know if it's true yet Naruto, don't jump to conclusions before we have all the facts…. Just… next time you're able, get a look at that bookmark."