Chapter 9: Alone again
Rain was desperately gasping for breath. He dared to look at his hand that was clutching his mutilated and burned side. The sight of blood enraged him. Kin tried to come to his aid. "Stay there!" commanded Rain, but Kin ignored him. Rain nearly collapsed again. Kin picked him up on his uninjured side and was dragging him through the forest now. She could hear Zaku and Dosu following them. She was also sure that Saito was with them too. Rain was wheezing now and his expression was absent. He was fading away from his terrible injury. "Water…take me to water…" said Rain quickly. Kin remembered that near their special spot was a small pond and they were following the stream leading to a waterfall. Kin remembered that Rain demonstrated his ability to manipulate water. Perhaps he could turn the tide if he could do use his water attacks. They reached the rapids leading to the waterfall. "We are here Rain. Don't worry. I won't let them get you" she said as she dragged Rain. But no sooner then the words left her lips that she felt a stabbing pain in her calf. The pain made her drop Rain right into the rapids. She looked back and saw the shuriken sticking out of her leg. She also noticed the three ninja now approaching her. Zaku and Dosu held up their hands. "Enough Kin. You did enough. Just let us take you home already. This is between Lord Orochimaru, Rain and Saito." "You…you didn't even care about me!" yelled Kin. "Shut up! It's your fault. You're lucky that's all that happened to you after you nearly betrayed the village" scolded Dosu. "You should be kissing Orochimaru's feet for sparing you" Kin wanted to argue back, but she knew it was no good. After all, she knew that what she did was wrong. Whether she wanted to admit it or not, she did aid an enemy ninja. She was about to get up when she heard bubbling water behind her. She looked back and saw Rain jump out of the water and stand on it. "WATER DRAGON JUTSU!" he cried. He did some complicated hand signs and with a brilliant show of skill, a water dragon came up from the rapids and crashed right into Zaku and Dosu. They tried to stop it with sound attacks but to no avail. The force of the attack knocked them out. By this time, the winds were picking up. With it being windy and having a good source of water nearby, Rain would have his water and wind techniques at the ready. However, there was the problem of his still injured side. He was about to wrap it up when he saw the pale silhouette sneaking up on him. Rain ducked the blow aimed at his neck and gave the assailant one strong attack to his ribs. It was Saito. He tried to use invisibility to sneak up on Rain. Saito must have been counting on Rain being distracted by Kin and his injuries. Rain tried to continue the attacks but he was much too slow. Saito struck Rain's injured side again and a disturbing look of pain appeared on Rain's face. That single blow was too much. Saito then grabbed Rain by his shirt and grabbed his eyes. "Veil of Darkness!" announced Saito. Kin took note of black waves transferring from Saito's hands and going onto Rain's eyes, who was crying in more pain. When it was finished, Rain was covering his eyes as if they were injured. Saito took this opportunity to beat Rain down. Kin was tired of this. She had to do something. She tried to attack Saito but he punched her hard in the stomach. "You were told to stay out of this" said Saito as he lifted Kin and cruelly slapped her hard. Kin's interference was enough. Despite his pain, Rain made one last hand sign. "Dragon's Rage jutsu!" The winds picked up immensely and made a twister over water. Using his chakra, wind, and water, Rain made a water twister. Saito was caught in it. Although he only saw darkness Rain knew the attack hit its mark. He couldn't see at all, but based on the scuffle between Saito and Kin, he had an idea of who was where. Kin did avoid the attack. Saito was thrown against a tree and he grunted in pain. He was down for now. Kin was overjoyed. Rain had done it. She looked back and saw him fall down and sink below the water. Without thinking, Kin ran to him and jumped into the water. She was wearing her pajamas so the icy water was already stinging her. She saw Rain sinking and swam hard to reach him, but the water was moving too fast. It was hard for her to even control her own swimming. She saw that Rain was caught by a root and was stuck under water. He appeared unconscious. She pulled herself out of the water using a rough rock and ran over to Rain as fast as she could. She grabbed him and tried to pull but he was stuck. She couldn't get him out. Kin was getting desperate at this point. She went underwater again and unloosed his caught leg. With all her might she pulled Rain's waterlogged and limp body out. He wasn't breathing. "Wake up! What are you doing? Wake up! Please wake up!" Kin pounded Rain's chest in an attempt to wake him up. Kin refused to let it end like this. She continued first aid. When Rain came to and coughed up water, Kin finally exhaled. Rain weakly lifted up an arm. Kin grasped it and led it to her face. "You are so cold. You fool. You'll get sick" scolded Rain. "You idiot! I just saved you and that's all you have to say!" yelled Kin, genuinely angry. Rain let go of her face and while his hand dropped, it trekked down her body, feeling up her figure. "What happened to your eyes?!" exclaimed Kin. Rain's eyes were opened, but they were pitch black. They were litterly like black marbles in his eye sockets. "My brother…I can't see a thing. He has taken away my sight." Rain sighed. "Come on! I will be your eyes. We can make it." Kin said as she attempted to lift Rain up again. "Give it up" commanded Rain as he pushed her away. "What? What are you saying?" asked Kin angrily. "We are being watched. It's most likely Orochimaru himself. He most likely knows that my blindness is permanent and that I will refuse to join him. There's only one thing left to do." "What is it? Just spit it out!" replied Kin. "Throw me off the cliff. I am going to pretend to try to run away. You have to throw me off the cliff. Hopefully that would convince him that you killed me and you will be spared further punishment. "No! I won't do it." "Too bad. I'm not leaving you much of a choice. I will attack you Kin! I can still hear any sound you make and can still smell you. I can still find you, so do it" said Rain in a hushed yell. It took a lot of effort, but he picked himself up and stumbled away. Kin was dumbfounded. There was no other way. She had to do it. She pursued Rain to the nearby edge of the cliff and with a round house kick; she caused him to fall off the edge. Rain caught the edge of the cliff and was dangling off the side. Kin joined him at the edge and saw him inches from his watery grave. "I…I love you Kin. Be a good girl and grow strong" said Rain while a tear crept out of his ebony eyes. He reached into his satchel and handed Kin a soggy piece of paper. He then lost his grip and he fell down the waterfall. Kin knew that there were sharp rocks at the bottom. Rain would surely die. For what seemed like forever she just stared at the waterfall watching him drop. Even when he disappeared, she couldn't look away. Orochimaru and Saito came by her and looked down. "You think he survived?" asked Orochimaru to Saito. "I won't be satisfied until I have his head as a trophy!" growled Saito. "I'm going to look for his body!" "We'll leave that until later. I'm feeling quite tired and I'm sure our star is too" said Orochimaru as he turned around. He patted Kin's head and beckoned her to return. Kin looked into his eyes as he passed her. They were so passive. Rain's death didn't faze him at all. Kin was too tired, too sad, to be angry. In the morning, things would be back to normal. Orochimaru would likely not do anything to her. He already knew Kin was tortured enough. Dosu and Zaku came to also and joined Saito and Orochimaru on the trip back to the village. Kin took a moment to look at the paper Rain gave her. It was a pencil drawing. Most of it had been destroyed but Kin could still make out the picture. It was a picture of Rain and Kin sitting together in each other's arms looking at the moonlight. It was the same scene just a couple of days before all of this happened. Just like her, Rain was a decent artist. Kin held the sketch close to her and wept further. She felt that familiar hole in her heart returning and Rain's memories were not nearly enough to fill it.
