Afloat in the Water

Chapter Seven

"Sakura, Naruto; wake up." Kakashi called softly to the two teens lying in front of him on the bed. Sakura's eyes opened first, her hand reaching up and rubbing her forehead. She groaned, waking Naruto beside her. As they came to, Kakashi gave a sigh of relief, happy to see they were truly alive. Naruto looked over to him and for a moment, his eyes were empty. The sensei smiled under his mask. "Naruto, are you hurt?" The boy's eyes widened at the sound of his voice and without warming, his arms were around Kakashi's neck painfully tight.

"SENSEI! YOU'RE ALIVE! I CAN'T BELIEVE IT…BELIEVE IT!" He cried out as Kakashi did his best to pry him off from his throat. Sakura had sat up on the bed and was grinning from ear to ear, color returning to her cheeks.

"Kakashi-sensei!" She exclaimed. He had succeeded in removing Naruto and setting him down onto his feet as she came crashing into him, making him lose his balance. He chuckled at their glee as they calmed down a little. Sakura looked up into his eye. "We've been searching everywhere for you ever since we escaped from the village." Kakashi put a hand on each of their shoulders.

"The village. Has there been any word from anyone?" The teens both shook their heads, silent as they thought of the home that had been destroyed before their eyes. But a loud growl filled the air as Naruto clutched at his stomach, his face becoming pale.

"I'm…really hungry." Sakura bonked him on the head with as much strength she could muster.

"You twerp! We finally find Kakashi-sensei and all you can think about is food?"

"I can't help it! We haven't eaten in days!" The two bickered, leaving their teacher standing over them with a bead of sweat running down his brow. He turned towards Ronin, who had been watching them from the doorway the entire time.

"I'm really sorry about this." He laughed nervously and held his arms up in a shrug. She smiled.

"I can fix that for you." She offered, making Kisuke quiver behind her as he walked up to the room to see what had come of the ninjas. He opened his mouth to intervene, but she put her hands on her hips and bellowed, "SHUT THE HELL UP!"

Naruto and Sakura both jumped up, speechless at the woman hovering above them. She smiled at them and Kakashi's bead of sweat became larger. "Guys, why don't you stop bickering and introduce yourselves." He suggested to them, hoping Ronin would say nothing more to scare them.

"Uzumaki, Naruto at your service!"

"Haruno, Sakura. Nice to meet you." Ronin stood up straight and crossed her arms over her chest.

"I'm Ronin. Nice to meet you both as well." Naruto blinked, a dumbfounded expression crossing his face.

"Wait, isn't Ronin a-"

"Kid, you should stop right now while you still breathe." Ichigo suddenly intervened as he burst into the room to stop the blond from making a grave mistake, Ronin twitching as she eyed him. "Hat and clogs, we need to figure out how to get these ninja away from the Soul Society." The Urahara's face grew dark under his green and white striped hat.

"Well that would be why we're here. We're sending them home tomorrow night. All we need is a way to do so. The biggest issue will be remaining undetected." Kisuke spun his cane in his hand as Ronin looked between Naruto, Sakura, and Kakashi. Kakashi's eye was glazed over, lost in thought. Ichigo was staring at Ronin, his eyes holding a question towards her. She looked away from everyone and let out a breath of air. She glared at her hands and tried to suppress her trembling.

"What do we do about Kuchiki and Abarai?" Ichigo flinched at the mentioning of Renji.

"I'll take Renji. He's mine." Her eyes darkened at his answer.

"It's not them in particular I'm worried about. It's the reapers they inform. Surely they will be crawling everywhere day and night."

"Then we fight." Ichigo countered, clenching his zanpakto tightly. She shook her head.

"No. We need to have stealth. Sakura and Naruto's path is probably already marked by spiritual energy. So that leaves us one path back to Konoha." She looked at Kakashi and he caught on to what she was getting at.

"The river." She nodded.

"The water is cleansing. It will make our footprints untraceable. It's why you weren't found by them when you were afloat. It's our best chance to your freedom." Kisuke put his hand under his chin and stroked his whiskers, his eyebrow raising. Kakashi avoided eye contact with his comrades and Ronin found herself doing the same, but everyone's eyes were upon them. Hat and Clogs finally nodded.

"This could actually work. But one with powers of the enemy will have to tag along with the shinobi. Ronin, you are the one with the most qualifications for such a task. You know that river like the back of your hand and could take them straight home." Ronin looked at her father a moment before meeting Kakashi's gaze. He looked back at her and saw concern in her oceanic blues as her fists clenched. He tensed.

"Something's coming." He gave her another glance and felt his face lose color. She looked at Kisuke.

"There's no time. We cannot wait for tomorrow, we have to start moving now."

"…Alright. Get ready and quickly. Ichigo, you hold off our little guests. I'll join you as soon as I can. Ronin, help them move along and conjure Ken for guidance." The order made Ronin twitch. Conjuring half of her zanpakto was dangerous. It meant giving up her human body and losing the advantage of strength if a fight were to break out. She had no choice but to conjure Kasai as well to ensure better protection. I will have to fully dissolve my body this time. What a drag… She sucked in some air and ran a hand through her hair.

"Kakashi, Naruto, Sakura, follow me to the river. It's time to go." Ronin began to move as fast as her legs could carry her, gaining the feeling that leading the nins home would not be as easy as all were planning.

. . .

Kakashi watched as Ronin faced the cold water with her eyes closed and her thoughts racing. Her face was twisted with conflicting emotions; worry, sadness, anger. He took in a breath and stepped forward, putting a hand on her shoulder, ignoring the fact that his students were watching him. Ronin opened her eyes and turned her head to look up at him. "You don't have to do this." He said with a low voice. She narrowed her eyes.

"Who said I had to? I want to." She admitted, glancing down at his hand resting against her skin. She reached up to his mask and pulled it down, managing a quick smile. "I promise you that you and your team will return safe to Konohagakure."

"Ronin…" She silenced him then, leaning up and brushing her lips on his. He kissed her back, wishing the world could just disappear and leave them be, but she broke their compassion and pulled his mask up, caressing his face before allowing her hand to drop to her side. She faced the river again and pulled out her sword.

"Kasai-Ken." She whispered, running her hand over the blade. Kakashi stepped back and joined Naruto and Sakura as they watched her body dissolve, in her place the woman and the dragon perched on her shoulder. Naruto jumped back in surprise, while Sakura stared amazed.

"That wasn't a jutsu…was it?" Kakashi shook his head.

"This is a whole other realm of energy." He replied as Kasai smiled at them all, her eyes reflecting determination.

"We meet again, Hatake, Kakashi. And this time I have the privilege to meet your team as well." She nodded at each of them. Naruto blinked.

"You look just like Ronin!"

"I am a part of Ronin. Now, are we ready?"

"Yes." The three said in unison. She nodded again.

"Beware of reapers. They will stop at nothing to obtain your ways of the shinobi. They cannot have it." Sakura stuck out her upper lip.

"I thought they wouldn't be able to find us."

"The water will throw them off, but they will figure it out soon enough. That is how Ronin was able to sense Kakashi in the river weeks ago. The water was adapting his energies and combining with it." She patted Ken on the head, making the dragon chirp. "There is no more time to waste. Let's go." With that, she began to run a top of the water, Kakashi, Naruto, and Sakura following behind. They paced themselves, wanting to keep their strength saved. Kakashi dropped back behind his cell members, wanting to protect them from any possible danger. Kasai led them, Ken flying above. He stared at the dragon and back to Kasai. I wonder how strong they really are…

"We hold the same strength as Ronin, but our agility is increased in this form." She answered his thoughts. He shuddered, feeling the breeze sweep up around them. The water was growing colder.

"If you hold the same power, why take another form?"

"Once the soul is freed from the body, powers become endless. Spiritual energy is our greatest tool…Kakashi, you're growing pale." She said suddenly, making an alarm go off inside of him. They had been running for just an hour and already something was terribly wrong. He heard a slight trickle of water that didn't match their splashing footsteps and he lunged forward, grabbing Sakura and dodging a body that sprung up from the water. He winced, feeling something snag his shoulder and drawing blood. The group stopped running and Kasai cursed, colliding with the newcomer. "Rukia!" She shouted, dragging the reaper down into the water away from her new friends. Catch her in the stomach, it's her weak spot, came Ronin's voice in her head. Kasai inwardly nodded and followed her soul's words.

Kasai watched as Rukia was suddenly blown back by Kakashi, whom was clutching his shoulder. She swam to him, grabbing him by the collar and dragging him to the surface. Breaking it, they climbed back on top of the water's surface, Rukia nowhere in sight. She ran a hand through her hair, watching as Sakura and Naruto held kunai in their hands and eyed the waters cautiously. "How did she find us so soon?" Kakashi stumbled forward slightly, but caught himself. He shook his head and looked at their path ahead.

"We have to keep going." He said gruffly. She looked at him, Ronin's concern beginning to fill her mind. He looked at her and waited. She began to run again, faster this time and they followed, their eyes searching for the woman responsible for the chaos. Kasai furrowed her brows. If she's here, than something happened at the shop.

Let us hope everyone's alright. Ronin spoke in her mind. Kasai, you must heal Kakashi's shoulder. He;s hiding the damage.

There is no time to stop. He should be alright for a while.

Kasai!

Enough, Ronin! Kasai looked up at the dragon above her head. "Ken, do you mind drying us off while we run?" The dragon swooped down in front of the group and blew a fierce rush of warm air at them, drying them all instantly. She smiled. "Thank you." She glanced back at Kakashi and watched as he clutched at his new wound, his hand trembling. Not good.

. . .

Rukia ran back to the Urahara Shop, a vial of blood clenched in her fist. She smiled maliciously. "We will have him soon enough, dead or alive."

. . .

End of Chapter Seven! I hope the suspense is good for a while. I will be updating sooner than this last time. I haven't been home in about a month, but now that I'm back in the swing of things, more writing can get done. Review!