A/N: Multiple character deaths...Please leave a review and let me know what you think! Thanks :) Again, don't own Naruto!
It was winter when the Akatsuki launched their largest attack that destroyed Konoha. Kinuko had been doing tai jutsu training with Neji, Kakashi had been with Gai on a stupid race challenge, and Naruto and Sakura had been together at the ramen stand when the first explosion tore through the village. Everyone had kicked it into high gear to protect the village as multiple summons tried to destroy everything in their path. Everyone was caught off guard, none of the normal teams were working together, ANBU were scattering everywhere, and Tsunade was being kept guarded as she sent out her slugs to heal. It was a blood bath.
When Kinuko's poison attacks didn't even make the rhino summon flinch, she met her end with the tip of its horn through her midsection. She had exhausted her chakra supply on destroying the previous summons and she didn't have the energy to even dodge the attack. Kinuko remembered briefly in that moment the severe pain, the sound of Neji's voice screaming her name, and then she saw darkness.
When she opened her eyes again she knew, she knew that she had been killed on the battlefield.
She found herself standing in a green field, sunflowers blooming all around her. She looked down to her midsection and found no trace of her injury.
"Kinuko-sensei?" She froze, she knew that voice anywhere.
And then she smiled and she whirled around to where she heard the voice, finding him standing just a few feet away, an easel with paints behind him.
She ran to him and threw her arms around him, tears of joy running down her face, "Sai!"
He hugged her tightly and then pulled back to look down at her, a small frown on his face, "You shouldn't be here, it isn't your time."
She suddenly felt sad, her hands resting on Sai's forearms, "Akatsuki have destroyed Konoha. I guess I didn't make it…"
Sai cupped her cheek in his hand and kissed her forehead lovingly. "But you won't be staying. You'll have to go back to your body soon. I can feel it."
Sai grabbed her hand and brought her to the top of the hill where he ushered her to sit down next to him. She complied and held his hand, staring at his face, ignoring his words about her death for the time being. If her time with Sai was limited she didn't want to waste it.
"Sai, I've missed you so much. We all have. It was really hard without you, I felt like I'd lost a piece of my soul." Even though he was there, next to her, the tears still came at the memories of her pain.
He brushed the tears from her cheeks with his free hand, "I am sorry I caused you so much pain."
She shook her head and launched herself in his arms again, "It doesn't matter, you are here now. I'm here with you."
Sai rubbed her back as she held on to him, "Sai?"
"Yes?"
"You seem different somehow."
Sai smiled and pulled her back, brushing her hair from her face, "When I died I came here, and I was finally truly free. I feel, as if, I am now who I was always supposed to be had we lived in a perfect world."
Kinuko smiled and her heart lifted, "Oh Sai, that's all I ever wanted for you, to be happy."
He smiled, wisdom beyond his years shining behind his eyes, "You deserve the same, and sadly, that happiness is not here."
Kinuko's brow furrowed, "What do you mean?"
"I can start to hear the whispers of your body calling your soul back. You won't remain here much longer."
Kinuko frowned and Sai squeezed her hand, "Kakashi is your happiness, don't give up. The future that lies ahead will not be easy; it will be filled with much pain. But, you will both find happiness with each other, I promise."
Kinuko smiled, tears prickling her eyes again. "I got your letter, Sai, and the picture…thank you."
Sai rubbed his finger on the back of her hand, "You were my angel, Kinuko. I tried my hardest to understand my emotions for you, and I should have said it then, but now I know. Everything you selflessly did to help me, the way you stood up to the Hyuugas, all the times you were patient with me and listened, how you led me to Hinata to find a woman to fall in love with, now I know that it wasn't just gratefulness I felt but love. I wanted you to know, before you went."
Kinuko smiled warmly, "Thank you, Sai. I love you and you will always be one of my special people with a place in my heart. I am glad you are happy here."
Sai nodded, "It's time for you to go now. You can't stay any longer."
"I know. I can feel it."
Sai embraced her tightly, kissing her cheek, "As you watched over me, I'll always be watching over you. Please remember that even in the darkness and through the pain, you are not alone."
And with one last squeeze, she fell into a white light.
When Kinuko opened her eyes, the first thing she saw above her was Neji's concerned face. She blinked and he helped her sit up as she looked around. Konoha was practically flattened, but people were alive everywhere amongst the rubble.
"Neji…how am I alive?"
She saw Neji actually smile as he squeezed her shoulder, "Naruto…everyone has come back to life that fell during the battle."
She didn't need any other explanation. Naruto had somehow saved them all and brought the dead back to life.
"Do you feel alright?"
Kinuko nodded and stood, taking Neji's hand. "I need to find the others…Kakashi…Sakura…Tsunade."
Neji nodded and pointed into the distance, using his Byakugan, "Kakashi's with Choji in that direction, Tsunade is at the top of what remains of Hokage tower, and Sakura is clearing away rubble at the hospital, the only building that remains standing."
She nodded and took off towards Kakashi, "Thank you, Neji."
She ran full speed to find Choji pulling off blocks of cement from Kakashi to uncover the copy nin. Kakashi had finally stood when Kinuko barreled into him, wrapping her arms around his neck. She looked up at him, his headband long lost, his mask torn down the front, and she felt her heart swell with happiness that he was alright.
She kissed him, her lips halfway touching skin and partly touching his mask, but she didn't care. He was alive. They were both alive.
Kakashi returned the kiss with equal fervor, his arms tightening around her waist.
They pulled back and he looked to Choji and Choza, "We have to get the civilians to safety, find anyone trapped under the rubble."
The two shinobi nodded as Kinuko agreed, everyone's chakra feeling restored after being brought back to life. Kakashi bit his thumb and slammed it onto the ground as his pack of nin dogs appeared.
"Oh my...Konoha..." Pakkun was the first to speak as the dogs surveyed the area, many of them immediately whimpering in sadness.
Bull leaned into Kinuko's leg seeking comfort and she reached down to soothe him.
"We need your help to find people under the rubble. Each one of you, locate a ninja and lead them to anyone you can find that needs help. Kinuko, with me."
Everyone nodded and they were off, pulling people from under the rubble left and right. Even though everyone had been granted a new breath of life, some people had been trapped under the rubble only to find themselves alive again and in severe pain by being crushed by the destruction around them.
When Kakashi used his heightened senses to sniff out the third civilian they uncovered, they found a young woman whose leg had been crushed and broken by a large beam. Kinuko clenched her jaw as the woman cried in pain, deciding to finally put Sakura's teachings to work on her bloodline limit.
Kinuko cradled the woman in her lap, holding up her head, as Kakashi worked to wrap her leg in a bandage.
"My name is Kinuko, what's yours?"
The woman sniffled as she tried to focus, "Yu…Yuri."
"Alright Yuri, listen to me. I know you are in a great deal of pain and it's going to hurt to transport you to the hospital. But, I have a special ability as a shinobi that can help make the pain go away until we can get you some treatment. Will you let me help you?"
The woman was nodding furiously as tears streamed down her face, "Please make it stop."
Kinuko leaned forward and gently kissed the woman, utilizing her paralytic poison and focusing the poison through the bloodstream like Sakura had taught her, her left hand hovering over her body to help guide the poison, pushing the paralyzing agent towards the woman's mangled left leg.
She released the woman's lips and the tenseness in Yuri's face fell and she was breathing much calmer, "Thank you."
Kinuko smiled softly as Kakashi stood, "I'll take her to the hospital if you can keep searching." K
inuko shook her head and lay the woman down gently, "No need, I'll have my summons help us."
Kinuko bit her thumb and slammed her hand into the ground, and with a loud pop a 7 foot raccoon appeared.
"Bandit, please take this woman to the hospital immediately, it's the only building left standing in Konoha."
The raccoon nodded, "Hai, mistress," and he moved to scoop up the woman, holding her to his chest with one paw as he bounded through the rubble.
Kakashi and Kinuko continued their search, Kinuko more confidently using her bloodline limit to help ease the pain of the people that were suffering as Kakashi continued to exhaust his chakra honing his senses and keeping his pack present. Some shinobi worked to use their summons to help them clear the rubble to start cleaning up Konoha as Tenzo worked to build temporary shelter for the civilians.
All of the able bodied shinobi worked tirelessly through the night and into the next day to ensure that everyone alive was uncovered and if necessary, taken to the hospital. As the sun rose over the Hokage mountain, Kakashi, Kinuko, Naruto, and Sakura all sat outside of the hospital under a temporary tent, all exhausted and trying to force water and chakra pills down their throats to continue moving forward.
Sakura, in particular, was in a down mood as she relayed the news to her team, "Tsunade is in the hospital, and she hasn't woken up. Her reserves were completely depleted, seven years' worth of chakra build up drained to protect Konoha…"
Naruto slung his arm around Sakura and held her to his chest, Kinuko swallowing the news of her friend with a positive outlook, "But she'll be fine, her body just needs to rest. You'll see, Sakura, before you know it she'll be tossing back sake and making horrible bets."
Kinuko put her hand on Sakura's knee, giving her the best reassuring smile she could.
Naruto looked to Kakashi at the news, "Kakashi-sensei, you know what this means?"
Kakashi raised a questioning eyebrow as Naruto continued. "Baa-chan told me if anything were to ever happen and she was unable to fulfill her duties as Hokage, she wanted you to lead Konoha."
Kinuko turned to see Kakashi's reaction, watching as he swallowed and squeezed his eyes shut, "That won't be necessary, she will wake up soon, I'm sure of it."
Everyone just nodded, but Kinuko could see the weight that was resting on Kakashi's shoulders already. She reached down and grabbed his hand, squeezing lightly, and then turned to look at the rest of her teammates, "Alright, I think we've rested enough. There's lots of work to be done."
It was three days and nights before there was finally a little stability in Konoha and the ninja could catch a moment to rest. The civilians had all been built temporary homes and carpenters, farmers, and merchants came from the surrounding villages to aid everyone in need. They had also received word that Suna was sending aid as well in a few more days.
Food, clothing, and medicine were all handed out as everyone worked to rebuild the city. Kinuko wiped her forehead with the back of her arm, sweat and dirt covering her body as the ninja barely found time to sleep.
After clearing everyone from underneath the rubble, Sakura had utilized her in the hospital as they ran out of morphine quickly, using Kinuko's bloodline limit to numb patient's pains so that the nurses and doctors could set bones and perform surgeries. When she wasn't in the hospital, she was on the streets of Konoha helping to move the rubble out of the city and set up tents and cots for the ninja.
Kinuko stood before the rubble that used to be her home, arms crossed across her chest, her black spandex halter sporting quite the hole through the middle as a reminder of her death, the front and back flap of her ground length black skirt torn and fraying on the ends.
Though she had worked in the hospital, they had simply thrown a gown and gloves on top of her clothing to get her in and out of surgery rooms as quickly as possible. Her long golden brown hair was up in a high ponytail, dirt and grime smudged along her cheeks.
She picked up what used to be the door knob to her front door, her thumb rubbing against the copper metal as she let it drop back to the ground. She stared at the pile of wood, trying to spot anything at all that she could salvage.
"I think it's time you get cleaned up and get some rest."
Kinuko turned her head to the voice, meeting Kakashi's mismatched eyes and still half torn face mask. He looked as bad as she did, jonin flak jacket ripped and torn, one sleeve of his shirt completely missing, holes torn in his pants.
She snickered and looked back to what used to be their home together, "Pot calling the kettle black."
She moved towards the rubble, trying to pick up a piece of wood and toss it aside to see if anything salvageable was underneath.
She sighed in frustration, falling to her knees on the wood, undoubtedly scraping her bare legs as she whispered, "Everything's gone…"
Kakashi was behind her, hand on her shoulder and he squeezed. There was nothing that could be said.
She took another breath and then stood, "There's a river a few minutes away, we can get cleaned up."
He nodded and she finally noticed the bag slung over his shoulder.
He followed her eyes as they took off in a slow run, "I managed to find us some clean clothes and a few things to eat."
A small smile crept up on her face. In the face of destruction, fatigue, chakra exhaustion, and the news that he could potentially be acting as Hokage, Kakashi hadn't forgotten about her.
"Thank you."
They reached the spring and they both immediately started undressing, practically tearing some of their clothes in two just trying to get them off. Kakashi watched as she pulled the halter over her head, the large hole through the middle that was mirrored in the back bringing him to what he had wanted to discuss with her.
"How did it happen?"
She pulled off her skirt and the small black shorts that were underneath, ridding her body of all clothes as she pulled her hair out of its ponytail. Kakashi had undressed as well, both of them wading into the cold water as she answered with a sigh, looking off into the forest, knowing it was time they both talked about what had happened, "It was the rhino summons. Neji and I had just finished bringing down the bear summons and my chakra was low. I couldn't move in time and his horn went straight through."
She gripped her arms around herself as Kakashi moved behind her, a bar of soap in his hand as he scrubbed her back gently. "
I couldn't tell if you…"
Kakashi's hands faltered for a moment and then he answered the unspoken question, "Yes, it was the Deva path, he could control gravity. Even with the Mangekyo I couldn't bring him down. He crushed me."
Kinuko grabbed the bar of soap and turned around to scrub Kakashi as he had done to her. She faced him though as she scrubbed his chest, leaning forward to rest her forehead against his as they just shared in the moment.
They both moved to wash their hair after a few minutes had passed, using the soap to get as much grime out as they could. The cold water encouraged them to move quickly and soon they were back on the banks of the river.
Kakashi shook like a dog to get the water off, bringing a smile to Kinuko's face as he gave her a fanged grin while she rung her hair out. He did a few quick seals and fire exploded from his mouth onto a fallen log that was near them. They both stood next to it to get warm as Kakashi pulled clothing out from his bag.
He handed her a standard jonin issue top with a pair of black capris and she quickly pulled them on, noticing that he was pulling on the same clothes as well along with a new mask. The top was loose on her, but she noticed the clothes hugged him nicely. She sat against a tree near the fire as he came to sit next to her, his arms on his knees as he watched the flames.
"It was kind of like this, around a camp fire. I was with my father, and we just talked. It was…peaceful."
Kinuko realized he was talking about his after life and she leaned into his side, "Did your father seem at peace?"
"Yes, he said he was finally free."
Kinuko smiled, "Sai said the same thing."
Kakashi turned his head to look at her as she gazed at the fire, "It was a beautiful field with flowers. He was painting, he said he was finally free and happy."
Silence passed between them for a few minutes, neither knowing what to say until Kinuko spoke, "Did your father say anything to you, about the future?"
Kakashi nodded, "He told me it wasn't my time to go…But he was cryptic…he said that war was on the horizon, but to remain strong and everything would be as I would have desired when the dust settles."
Kinuko smiled, "Sai said something similar, that dark times were ahead. He said that my happiness was with you, and not to give up, that I was not alone…"
Kinuko yawned, fatigue settling into her bones. Kakashi stood, helping her up as they both put their sandals back on and Kinuko extinguished the flame
. "Come on, let's get back and get some rest."
Kinuko followed him as he brought her to a tent, two bedrolls already laid out on the ground with a water bottle and a few granola bars next to them along with a couple of kunai. They both pulled their shoes off and climbed under the blankets, making quick work of the food and water, before lying down.
They turned on their sides towards each other, Kakashi pulling Kinuko under his chin and they shut their eyes, falling into an exhausted sleep rather quickly and grateful they had each other to lean on.