Red Hand
Summary: In order to recover from the deaths of his teammates a young Kakashi is given a mission to hunt missing-nins in a country overseas where he will stay in a castle with one of Sandaime's old friends; an eccentric old man named Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. :.:.Naruto/HP Crossover.:.:
Genre: Drama/Angst
Rating: TAuthor's Notes: Sorry for the short chapter. It just felt like it needed to end here so end it here I did. I'm going to try and make the next chapter longer...like around the 6,000 word mark or so but we'll see how it turns out.
Please excuse grammatically and spelling errors. This is my NaNoWriMo novel...who says it has to be great? Not me, that's for sure.
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Harry Potter. They are both owned by other, much richer people, mkay?
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I'm a short-range fighter...I've always been a short-range fighter.
Okkoto is not a short-range fighter. For fuck sakes he doesn't even use Genjutsu even though it's apparently his specialty. At least, that's what the mission request said.
Yah…the mission request lied.
He doesn't use Genjutsu, he uses arrows. Big, fucking, thick, painful, arrows. That makes him a long-range fighter - a very, very far away long-range fighter.
I've never fought anyone who uses a bow and arrow before…I just never have. And I didn't really feel like finding out what it was like. Too bad I didn't have a choice.
It's dark now…and it was the middle of the afternoon when I left. It couldn't have taken me more than two hours to find Okkoto - he was ready and waiting for me. So how long does that make this fight to be? Two hours? Three hours? Four hours? I'm not quite sure. It's kind of hard for my brain to really focus.
But that's not really surprising since I have four arrows pinning me to a huge tree. One piercing my left shoulder, destroying nerves and muscles and rendering my left arm completely useless. Another pierces my right forearm, just underneath the bone. The third pierces my right thigh and the fourth my left knee. My feet aren't even touching the ground…my full body weight is pulling on the arrows in my left shoulder and right forearm.
And the fifth just pierced my right lung.
I think I can safely say that I've lost this fight.
He jumps down from the trees on the far side of the clearing and slowly limps over to me. I blink in a pitiful attempt to clear my blurring vision. I cough, blood escaping from my mouth and soaking my mask.
He stops walking, his face inches from mine. Blood stains his own shirt. After all, I might've lost the fight but he didn't get away without his own injuries.
He laughs, "So you're the White Fang's son? You're pitiful."
I make no response, I don't think I even could if I wanted too.
"You know...I'm one of the weakest members of the Red Hand. Do you really expect to defeat us alone? You should really think about getting some back-up before you come back and fight any of us."
His breath blows against my face. Black spots begin to dance around my line of vision.
"I was told to leave you alive so I shall," he smiles at me, "but it's up to you to free yourself."
He turns around and walks back to the forest. He stops right before he reaches the trees.
"Oh, by the way," his cheerful voice reaches my ears, "those arrows are poisoned."
He jumps into the branches of the forest and disappears from sight. I can feel his chakra disappears as he runs farther and farther away.
I lean my head back against the tree. The smell of blood overwhelms my senses. I know that if I don't get free soon the poison, along with the loss of blood, will kill me. But how do I get free? The arrows trap me against the tree, imprison me to my fate.
I close my eyes. How long would it take for me to die here?
What the fuck am I thinking? I'm Hatake Kakashi, Genius of Konoha, Chunin at age six, Jounin at age thirteen. I don't give up, I don't let myself die so easily.
I am a fucking fighter.
I open my eyes. Colour has fled my vision and left me with faint shades and blurry lines.
I grind my teeth together as I force my left arm to move. Muscles protest, tendons struggle to move, nerves refuse to send the message. In the end my elbow finally bends enough to allow my hand to grasp the arrow in my shoulder. I rip the barbed arrow out of my shoulder in one quick jerk.
I can't stop the scream of pain that escapes from my mouth as the left side of my body falls away from the tree. Muscles tear against the arrow in my knee as my weight pulls my body forward. I stay there, leaning forward, panting and waiting for the searing pain to reduce.
But it won't.
Faintly I hear something moving through the air and I look up to see the shaking outline of a flying arrow coming closer and closer. I lean my head to the right slightly and the arrow whizzes by my left ear.
Heat. The bark starts to burn.
The arrow was on fire.
I grab the arrow in my knee and rip it out. All my weight now rest on the arrow in my left forearm. Fire licks my face and I try to twist my body away from the burning heat but the two remaining arrows keep me trapped.
Obito's eye catches the outline of an exploding tag imbedded inside the tree I'm pinned too. How did I not notice that before? How did I not realize it was there?
Another arrow cuts through the air. I watch helplessly, to weak to move as the poison begins to destroy my body, as the arrow cuts into the trees bark.
Time seems to slow as the tip of the arrows digs farther and farther into the tree. The tips grazes the exploding tag.
The world turns black, my eyes are unable to pick up any shapes or colour. I faintly hear my own voice screaming in agony but it seems so far away. My body slams against something hard, the ground maybe? I don't know.
I don't know anything except the fact that it hurts…a lot.
I just lay still, willing the pain to go away. I don't know how long I stay here but eventually the searing pain fades slightly. I crack open my right eye, I don't even remember closing my eyes, to see a pair of boots.
The person crouches down so his face enters my line of vision.
"So you survived," Okkoto smiles, "I'm surprised."
He straightens up and walks out of my line of vision. I close my eyes, to tired to care that he's here, to tired to try and protect myself.
A sharp pain explodes from my chest as a boot connects with broken ribs and a punctured lung. I don't even bother to quiet the moan of pain that comes from my mouth as I curl into a protective ball.
"See you in hell," he whispers into my ear.
I squeeze my eyes together as tight as I can in a futile attempt to block out this painful reality. My breath comes is ragged gasp.
Every time I attempt to move my body screams in protest and searing pain rages through me.
The morning song of the forest reaches my ears; birds singing and chirping to each other. I crack open my eyes. I still can't see anything but shades and fuzzy lines. I bite my bottom lip as I push myself up to a sitting position. My left arm is completely useless, the nerves in my shoulder are destroyed. The whole right side of my body, the side closest to the exploding tag, is black, charred, and bleeding.
I stagger to my feet, using a nearby tree as leverage to help me get up.
It's morning now - I've been here all night. The poison has attacked most of my body, leaving me weak and tired. My left knee can barely take any weight and my right thigh sends shots of pain through my body whenever I step on it.
Well, at least my right leg can take most of my weight…but for how long? I guess there's only one way to find out.
I push off from the tree in the direction that I think leads back to Hogwarts. I'm not too sure though, my sense of direction has been slightly fucked up from the explosion.
For the first couple of hours I just focus on putting one foot in front of the other. The pain becomes a dull ache at the back of my mind that I can mostly ignore.
It's when I trip over a root that I should've seen that the pain comes rushing back to me. My left shoulder crashes into the ground first, taking most of my weight, and a small scream of pain escapes me.
I lay there for a few minutes, just breathing and trying to calm my nerves and racing heart.
The poison has reached my heart, I can feel it. This slow acting poison as finally attacked the one muscle that I really need to live.
I stagger back to my feet, my legs no longer have the strength to bear my full weight. I lean against the trunk of the tree and contemplate just staying here and waiting for death's icy grip to take me.
The faint outline of a castle catches my eye and I squint through the thick foliage of the forest.
Definitely Hogwarts.
I push off the tree and catch myself on the next tree. I stumble from tree to tree in a last ditch effort to get to safety. With my destination in sight my desire to live grows stronger with each step.
I reach the edge of the forest to be faced with the task of walking the rest of the way to the castle with no trees to support me, with nothing to help bear my weight.
It's just my luck that there isn't a class outside right now.
I look back the way I came. My blood stains the trees, leaves a trail for anyone to follow. How much blood have I lost? How close am I to death? And since when did I start seeing colour again? I don't remember, I can't remember.
I look back. Where am I going again? Oh yah, Hogwarts. I have to get to Hogwarts. People are there, people who can help me. I think there are anyways…there should be people there, shouldn't there?
My brain's starting to get fogging and my thoughts unfocused and confused.
I push of the tree and stumble forwards. I can't fall. If I fall now I know I won't be able to get up. Just one foot in front of the other, just put one foot in front of the other. It's not that hard, really, I do it every day. It's not difficult at all. Just one foot in front of the other.
I stumble over a rock that I should've seen. My knees crash into the ground and I let out a whimper of pain. My right hand catches my upper body so that I don't fall completely down. I stare at the charred, bleeding skin of my arm. Dirt has embedded itself in the open sores and infection has started to settle in.
I look up to Hogwarts. So close. So very, very close. I know I can't get up now, not by myself, not without something to lean on. If I throw away the last remaining thread of pride and dignity I have I then might be able to make it to the castle if I crawl. It's a last, pitiful attempt that might just work.
And so I crawl. My body screams in protest, searing pain shoots through me with every movement. Tears of pain and disgust at my weak body fall from my eyes. The salt in my tears sting the burnt skin on my face and I will myself to stop crying. I don't need to add more pain to the collection I already have.
I reach the doors and I push myself up to a standing position, leaning on the wall for support. My left leg refuses to take any weight at all and my right knee threatens to collapse underneath me at any moment. I push the doors open and enter the empty Entrance Hall.
I could collapse now, letting my body slip into unconsciousness, and just hope that someone finds me in time. Or I could struggle on and find a classroom, find a teacher that could get help.
I let the walls take the majority of my weight as I lean against them. I limp forward, unable to put any weight on my left leg. I force the Sharingan to find a classroom that is full, to find a teacher. The closes room is on the next floor.
I push myself off the wall and stumble to the stairs, catching myself on the railing before I fall. I struggle up the stairs until I reach the top. I look back, a trail of my blood has been left behind me.
How long has it been now? How many hours? How much time do I still have left? How much longer can I defy death?
My right hand grasps the doorknob and I turn it, pushing the door open.
I blink, "Severus?"
The professor turns around from examining a child's cauldron. His eyes widen in shock and surprise.
"Kakashi?" he quickly walks over to me.
My legs give out underneath me and I slide down the doorjamb to rest on my knees. I lean my head against the cold wood of the doorframe.
He kneels in front of me, "What happened?"
"Arrows," I mutter, "Poisoned, explosion, fire," I close my eyes.
"Hermione!" Snape shouts out, "Go get Madame Pomfrey!"
A chair squeaks against the ground, "Uh…uh…okay," a girl stammers and then someone runs passed me and out of the room.
I assume it's the Hermione girl but I don't bother to open my eyes and find out.
"Kakashi," I faintly hear Snape say, "You have to stay with me, okay? You can't fall asleep."
"I'm sorry," I mutter, "I'm sorry I'm not strong enough. I'm sorry that I'm never strong enough."
I let the welcoming warmth of unconsciousness take me. I no longer care if I'll ever wake up again.
