Author's note: I'm soooooooooooooo sooooooooooooo soooooooooooo extremely sorry about the lateness of this chapter. T.T . I know… it's been over a month since I last posted anything, but I've been swamped by schoolwork… :D
This chapter took a lot out of me. Xx… I found it somewhat irritating to write, but I pushed myself into finishing. I guess it's an ok transitory chapter… because this is all it's meant to be.
I have no idea when the next chapter will be, but it should be soon, since it's an interlude that's coming up next.
Enjoy the blood, sweat, and tears that went into this chapter. XD
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…Saikai Story- Reunion story…
Chapter eleven
Soft transitions
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"Kakashi-kun… this is for your own good."
The silver-haired adolescent barely suppressed an ironic smile. Of course he would be told that…
When he had had to leave Konoha, those words had been his only consolation for the abrupt change his life had been forced to take; Sandaime had told him that he would be leaving Konohagakure, and the Hokage's reason had been, "This is for your own good."
When Kakashi had pleaded with his father, Shiro, to allow him to come on the mission, Shiro had refused. As he had left the house, his last words had been "Kakashi-kun… this is for your own good…" That had been the last time he saw his father alive.
The former anbu captain allowed a smile to creep onto his unmasked face, ignoring the look Tomeo Haruno was giving him.
"Kakashi-kun, please, be reasonable." Tomeo said, half-pleading. "Don't you see how much danger you place us in?…" Kakashi looked piercingly at the copper-haired man, his eyes flickering, his smile still pasted on his face, superficial and painful.
"So even you would abandon me?" the Silver-haired teenager questioned, his smile fading into a weary look. Without his mask on, he looked extraordinarily vulnerable, despite the carefully arranged blank face. Tomeo looked away, agonizingly aware of how selfish his request was. He was ashamed-- ashamed to be here, asking his best friend's son this.
But it couldn't be helped.
The night threatened to overtake all.
"… He… still wants you." Tomeo swallowed, aware that his words betrayed his fear. "If any connection was to be found leading to you…" He didn't bother finishing the sentence. Both knew too well what would happen if any hint of Kakashi was left in the village he had been forced to leave. "Please… for the protection of Konoha… and… " Tomeo's voice grew distinctly smaller. "… my daughter…"
Kakashi bowed his head, hiding his face from view.
…
" 'this is for your own good…'"
…
An excuse …
That's all those words meant…
An excuse to save themselves…
But Kakashi knew his bitter thoughts to be false. Konoha had his allegiance, no matter how cruelly it treated him. And the Haruno family… they were the only living reminders he had left of his father.
He couldn't allow himself to be the cause of death of all that he held dearest.
Not after what he had suffered.
…
When Kakashi spoke, it was with his face still lowered, and a slight tremble in the voice.
"Very well… You have my permission."
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An angry thud sounded in the room as the blonde woman slammed her tea cup down on the polished wooden desk. All those gathered in the spacious room looked automatically at the surface of the desk, which was marked with old scars and indentations. Green tea sloshed over the blunt edges of the earthen-toned cup, settling into an irregular pool of liquid.
…
The Hokage ignored the greenish tinge now staining several of the officious looking documents lying on her desk.
"What!" She hissed, her brown eyes narrowing. Her sharp gaze moved from Kakashi to the dark-haired Uchiha as he shifted imperceptibly. Looking at him, his stoic face revealed as much as Hatake's face mask did. Nevertheless, she tried the chuunin, hoping he would say more than the two words the lackluster silver-haired man had uttered. "What did he mean, 'Mission failure…?'"
"They're dead," Sasuke explained shortly. Tsunade's brain dimly registered that the Uchiha had also spoken only two words.
"… They're… dead…" she repeated dumbly. The dark-haired chuunin nodded, his face as implacable as stone. "All… of them…?" she asked, her hands reaching for the tea cup, only to find the liquid had gone cold.
…
From the back of the room, Naruto let out a soft snarl of frustration. Tsunade settled for rubbing wearily at her temples.
"Ok… somebody… explain. Now," she demanded. "And try to speak actual sentences," she added as an afterthought.
Brief silence settled into the room. Seeing as how nobody was taking the initiative, the blond chuunin started speaking.
"Well… we were heading towards Earth country," he started lamely. Sasuke rolled his eyes.
"… And we split up into two groups, once we were near Earth…" He continued. "Me and Kakashi-sensei did guard duty, and Sasuke-teme…" Seeing Tsunade's raised eyebrow, he hastily changed his words. "I mean, Sasuke and Sakura-chan went ahead to the intelligence station to deliver the scroll while Kakashi-sensei and I split up to cover more ground…" Naruto explained.
"Then… I found that guy, back there." Here, the blond boy jerked his head towards the man sitting quietly beside him. Tsunade glanced at him. "And Sasuke and Sakura-chan…" His voice trailed off uncertainly.
Seeing that Naruto wasn't sure how to continue, Sasuke took over abruptly.
"Sakura and I were to deliver the scroll, and meet back at a certain point with the others within 10 minutes." Sasuke said curtly. "But when we reached the station, there were only corpses." Sasuke paused, his face contorting slightly. "The entire camp was decimated… with no survivors."
Naruto looked at the Konoha ninja next to him glumly.
"So, we just came back…" Sasuke ended, his face unreadable.
…
Tsunade observed the pale face in front of her.
"Did it look like an ambush…?" She asked quietly. Sasuke hesitated, glanced at the pink-haired girl standing slightly behind him, but Sakura dropped her eyes, and refused to meet the Uchiha's gaze. He studied her for a moment before turning back to the Hokage to answer. But it was the kunoichi's voice that overrode Sasuke's, despite the softness of her pitch.
"We have every reason to think that it was, Hokage-sama." Sakura said, in muted tones, her eyes still cast to the floor.
Kakashi's head turned slightly, as his uncovered eye regarded Sakura with slight surprise. During the return trip back home, she hadn't uttered a single word about what she and Sasuke had found at the intelligence clearing. Then again, Sasuke had been equally reticent, only answering with grunts and the occasional three or four word sentences.
Tsunade looked at her apprentice with furrowed brows.
…
…
The chances of the Hidden Village of Rock crossing the borders and happening to encounter the intelligence station had always been rather high. But the danger had been outweighed by the necessity of the position. But this information would cause more fuel to be added to the growing fire…
… It was merely a matter of predicting when the small fire would turn into a roaring blaze of flames and sparks.
…
Tsunade came back to herself with a start when she realized Sakura was speaking again.
"— was most likely an ambush by the shinobi of Rock, judging from the wounds I found on the corpses of the Konoha nins," the kunoichi said softly. Tsunade's eyebrow rose slightly. Yes, she had known the girl was a good medic nin, but the subdued attitude had led Tsunade to believe that Sakura hadn't handled the sight of an entire camp of corpses very well. She was glad that the pink-haired chuunin had mastered herself enough to perform the necessary duties.
"What kinds of wounds were they?" Tsunade prompted.
Sasuke shifted again, looked sideways at Sakura, and caught Kakashi's gaze instead. The Uchiha half-scowled and turned away. Kakashi's eyebrow rose a fractional inch.
"When I studied one… corpse," Sakura paused, her eyes moving to look at her feet, "that body contained grains of a certain type of rock found only in the Earth country." Sasuke's eyes moved towards the pink-haired kunoichi again. "The wounds of some shinobi were crusted with the remains of acidic mud…" Sakura's voice trailed away, and she finally lifted her gaze to stare directly at the Hokage.
"…Acidic mud…" Tsunade repeated, her brows lowering. "Then, you are right. It was most definitely the Shinobi of Rock."
"How can you be so sure?" Naruto asked, his eyes scrunched up in confusion. Kakashi turned slightly.
"Only certain ninjas from the Hidden Village of Rock have the ability to perform a jutsu that combines acid and mud," he answered passively. "Just like the Hidden Village of Leaf has the Sharingan or Byakugan, the Hidden Village of Rock has a clan that specializes in acid." Naruto nodded in understanding.
…
The Godaime wearily clasped her hands together and stared at the flawless skin of her hands. The momentary peace between the major ninja countries was weakening… The Earth Country had made that clear by their unwarranted attack on Konoha's intelligence station.
The Hidden Village of Snow was already at war with Konoha, but the war hadn't taxed Konohagakure too much… until recently, that is…
Clearly, Earth and Snow were now allies, just as Sand and Leaf were. The Hidden Village of Sand and Leaf had combined to keep their borders from being eaten by the Snow country, but none of the other countries had shown the inclination to join the daring Snow Country.
Tsunade's eyes narrowed. But now the news of the attack by the Hidden Village of Rock… the rumors of a growing resentment towards the powerful Sand-Leaf- Wave alliance… Then there was the Sound, which already harbored strong dislike towards Konohagakure (courtesy of that bastard Orochimaru), and to top it all off, other countries were starting to rise up…
How wonderful.
The godaime wanted to laugh at the sheer reality of it all.
…
But what was causing the sudden aggression towards the Fire Country?
…
"We'll have to wait for the results of the Analytic test being conducted by the Anbu and the Laboratory, but if what your group says is true…" The blonde woman's hands tightened, and her brown eyes lifted to face the people standing before her desk. "… We will eventually have to take measures to cut off the Snow and Earth countries from the other Shinobi countries." She said levelly. "If the other countries join them, then even the Sand-Leaf-Wave alliance might be overthrown… and our countries will go down with it." Her eyes hardened. "We can't allow that to happen… "
"……!"
Naruto bolted up from his chair, his blue eyes widening.
"You!" He gasped. "Are you saying… " He swallowed. "Outright war between all the other shinobi countries?"
"Don't speak of such things lightly, Naruto." Kakashi answered, his face turned towards the window. Sasuke snorted.
"And if you listened, dobe, you'd have known she meant we're trying to prevent war." The dark-haired Uchiha said, staring at Naruto with the slight stirrings of irritation.
…
A tinkling laugh broke the pending silence.
Sakura's green eyes regarded them all with a foreign expression; yet a smile was on her lips.
Kakashi slowly turned to face her, his dark eyes boring past her fake smile. Unperturbed, the pink-haired kunoichi stared straight back at him, her green eyes refusing to let him through into her mind.
For a moment, the two stood, staring at each other, until they both looked away at the same time. Sakura's face turned towards the Uchiha boy instead.
"There's no difference, Sasuke-kun." Sakura said softly. Sasuke's gaze fixed onto the pink-haired girl, watching her motionlessly. "We'd all like to think that this won't turn into another rewrite of history… that there won't be another Great Shinobi War…"
Kakashi's face darkened behind his mask.
"But the signs can't be ignored…" The girl's smile faded off her face, leaving behind a bitter, weary expression. "It's too late to stop the Snow and Earth countries from recruiting more shinobi from other countries, or gathering more allies. If the Earth country had enough confidence to destroy an intelligence station in the Fire Country belonging to us, then they're already more powerful than we realized."
Tsunade only gazed at her apprentice steadily.
…
She spoke the truth. Tsunade dreaded what the future might hold; she mourned for the many lives that would be inevitably lost in a war with the other countries.
And though not all would blame her for the deaths of those they held dear, she would blame herself… And she didn't know if she could bear a burden of that magnitude and weight.
The Hokage smiled wryly to herself. 'This is why I didn't want to be the Hokage…' She thought, her eyes moving to Naruto. 'Too many damn responsibilities…'
…
"If… we can't stop the war from coming…" Naruto said quietly, his face serious. "Then, we've got to at least keep the damage to a minimum." His eyes clouded. "Lots of innocent lives have been taken in the past wars. We can't keep doing that… This time, if this second Great War that Sakura-Chan is predicting really does happen, I don't think the costs of the war should be as high as they've been." He finished. His blue eyes dropped to the floor.
For once, all eyes gazed at Naruto without a hint of disdain or annoyance. Silence reverberated throughout the room, broken only by the Uchiha's soft grunt.
"Huhn, nice speech… dobe…" Sasuke smirked. Naruto glared. "But… wishful thinking isn't gonna get us anywhere." The dark-haired chuunin turned back to the Hokage. "We need to take action while we have the time."
…
Tsunade considered his words briefly, impressed despite herself. These three were far too mature for their ages… then again, all the youngsters these days were precocious, having lived in fear of war all their lives. The blonde woman's eyes moved to the immobile Sakura. Clear green eyes met brown in a silent agreement. Tsunade stared at her apprentice for a moment longer before heaving her body out of her chair with a loud sigh. Those gathered in the spacious office watched as the Godaime turned to face the open window, showing only her back to them.
It was a long time before she spoke. When she did, it was with heaviness lacing every word.
"I will need to discuss this with the council." Tsunade said quietly. Sasuke and Naruto exchanged glances. "Sakura and Sasuke will have to come back tomorrow for questioning when the Anbu arrive," Tsunade continued, her tone brisk. "I'll send someone out to retrieve you two when we need you."
"Hai." Sasuke and Sakura said in unison. Tsunade didn't turn.
"Very well. You are dismissed."
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Sakura breathed in deeply once she passed the front doors. The meeting with the Hokage had taken longer than she expected, but now that she was free to roam, little options presented themselves to her. Two strong hands descended on her shoulders, startling the kunoichi.
"Naruto!" She exclaimed. He grinned cheekily at her, his fox whisker markings winking at her.
"Who else?" Naruto replied with a wink. "Ramen, fair lady?" He offered. Sasuke passed the doors and halted, watching the two with amusement. Sakura shook her head. "No… I'm not hungry."
Naruto pouted at her words, so Sakura hastily invented an excuse.
"I think I'm gonna go home and catch some sleep… I'm dead tired…"
The blond kitsune nodded in understanding, his bright hair bouncing. Sakura wondered vaguely how the hyper-active boy could make such a good ninja, when he stood out so brightly. Her own vividly pink locks rose and fell in rhythm to the soft breeze.
She watched as Sasuke and Naruto gave her parting waves, and headed down the street to (where else?) Ichiraku.
…
The pink haired kunoichi cast a longing look towards home and adamantly shook her head after a moment. No… she didn't want to go home… not yet.
She wasn't ready to talk, ready to settle back into her old routine. Even her bed wouldn't be a safe haven from the scene etched into her mind…
Those deep, gaping, sunken eyes staring at her when she closed her eyes… withered flesh and the nauseating, cloying smell of bodies that had been left in the open too long…
…
If she thought too long, those memories inevitably returned to her.
…
…
Pathetic, really.
She was supposed to be a shinobi… and a medic-nin. If she was going to get a little queasy at the sight of a couple dead bodies, what was she going to do when she was actually needed to do an important task?
Yet… those sad vestiges of beings that had once been breathing, talking, alive like her…
… she hadn't been able to rid herself of the memory.
…
She didn't think she'd ever be able to.
…
…
Her parents were well-meaning, but the last thing she wanted was to be badgered with questions. That ruled out her home, her friend's places, and her usual haunts. Sakura sighed and headed towards the forestry visible not too far off.
It would be nice to have some peace and quiet.
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Alas, peace and quiet was not to be had.
…
Sakura breathed out a huff of annoyance, not bothering to be polite.
"Kakashi-sensei, why are you following me?" She asked, continuing down the road. In answer, said silver-haired man appeared rather suddenly right beside her, giving a nonchalant wave. Sakura spared him a minimal glance before turning her attention back onto the road. The two walked down the rather empty road in silence.
…
Kakashi glanced sidelong at her.
The kunoichi looked tired, her face was wan, and her clothes weren't in the best of conditions. He smiled to himself.
"How about some training?" The jounin suggested in a lighthearted manner. Expecting a look of disgust or annoyance, he was surprised to see her nod in assent. His eyebrow rose slightly. "Hm… alright then… shall we…?" Kakashi leapt off the ground, and was off in a matter of seconds, followed soon after by Sakura.
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"What is this…?"
Tsunade took the proffered object in the dark-haired Sharingan user's hand.
Sasuke dropped his hand, and gave a shrug. He had ditched Naruto at the ramen shop long enough to come back here, having just remembered that he had meant to give the Hokage something.
"I found it… back at the station." He answered shortly. Tsunade's eyebrows rose as she examined the hitai-ate she held in her palm. The Uchiha allowed her to continue her inspection a minute longer before clearing his throat. "Do… you recognize it…?"
"……" Tsunade shook her head, her brows drawing together to form a worried line. "No… I don't." Sasuke's eyes narrowed. "I've never seen a village with a hitai-ate like this."
…
The two stared at the inconspicuous object.
It was completely blank.
No symbols were engraved in the center. Nothing was there to signify the allegiance it belonged to.
The metal itself was extremely dark… so dark that it resembled nighttime without the moon.
…
Tsunade lifted her eyes to stare steadily at the Uchiha.
"You say you found it at the station," she repeated. "Where… in the station?" She asked in a quiet voice. Sasuke shook his head, his dark onyx eyes impenetrable.
"I didn't find it in the station itself…" he admitted. "When I was heading back towards the meeting point, I saw something glinting on the ground." His brows lowered in concentration. "This was about… one twelfth of a mile east from the intelligence station."
The blonde woman let out a sigh of frustration.
"But where the hell is this thing from?" She muttered, half to herself. Sasuke shrugged. Tsunade looked up. "I have no idea which village has a hitai-ate like this one… but the only thing I can think of…" Her voice trailed off, just as Sasuke's eyes widened in realization.
"A newly formed hidden village…?"
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Sakura gave vent to an irritated growl in the back of her throat, glaring at the man before her.
"You agreed to this… don't take it out on me," the silver-haired jounin said absentmindedly.
They had been sparring on and off for at least an hour and a half now, taking occasional breaks then starting again. There had been little idle talk during their training session; it was obvious that Sakura didn't feel like talking, and Kakashi didn't care to push her into explaining herself.
…
After all, there was really no explanation owed to him.
He knew that as well as she did.
…
Neither of the two shinobi mentioned the conversation they had held by the firelight a couple nights ago, preferring to keep concentration on the task at hand. But the tenseness, with which they observed each other revealed new suspicions.
Still, each kept their silence.
…
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What irritated Sakura was the fact that her jounin instructor had barely lifted his eyes from the pages of that damned book.
…
The kunoichi's eyebrows twitched in anger as he casually turned another page of the infamous orange book written by the legendary pervert Jiraiya.
"You going to start again anytime soon…?"
In answer, Sakura closed her eyes briefly. "Well…?" Kakashi drawled. Sakura nodded curtly, her tired eyes opening once again to focus on the jounin. She stood completely still for a moment, feeling her muscles tense as she prepared to run at him again.
Another page turned.
…
Without warning, the kunoichi disappeared.
…
Kakashi's gaze lifted fractionally.
…
The two shinobi met in a flurry of movement, Sakura appearing from beneath the ground. (Doton: Shinjuu Zanshu no Jutsu) The silver-haired jounin deftly blocked the medic-nin's barrage of taijutsu attacks with ease, still holding onto his book with one hand.
Leg met leg, fist was blocked by palm.
Sakura's eyes widened when the jounin's hand closed on her fist.
Kakashi ducked smoothly under and around the Kunoichi's outstretched arm, twisting her arm behind her back. A swift jab to the spine with his elbow caused the kunoichi to gasp aloud with pain, and collapse abruptly into a cloud of dense smoke, which cleared to reveal a log. The ex-anbu sighed and paused in the middle of the clearing to tuck his book into his back pocket. He had irritated the little kunoichi long enough… time to show he didn't underestimate her.
His eyes widened when he saw a trio of Shuriken flying through the air towards him.
The sharp pieces of metal collided with his body, impaling the soft flesh with ease. A second later, the jounin's form changed to that of another wooden log.
…
Watching from behind the cover of a tree, Sakura cursed under her breath, and was startled to hear a low voice right behind her.
"Long time no see, hmm?" Kakashi greeted.
The kunoichi spun around, kunai already in hand, and aimed unerringly towards his stomach. Kakashi's arm flashed out, and in a split second, he had grabbed both her arms and held them far out from his body to prevent her from doing anything to him.
"Hn." Kakashi's head drew closer as he inspected the pink-haired chuunin. "You seem real enough… no genjutsu today?" He questioned affably. Sakura scowled.
"I don't have as much chakra to expend as Naruto or Sasuke," she said irritably. "You should know that… you've been my teacher for quite a while now." Sakura looked away from the jounin, annoyed that he had beaten her so easily. A small portion of her mind also registered that she was currently trapped between the trunk of a large tree and the enigmatic man holding her.
Kakashi didn't let go of her wrists.
"Aa… I suppose." He considered the girl for a moment, studied her slightly sullen expression. "You know," he began casually. The pink-haired kunoichi still refused to look at him. "Those men knew the danger they were in… they had a choice." Sakura's eyes snapped back to the silver-haired man's face, focusing in on him with a clarity she hadn't experienced in days.
"A choice…"
"To go risk their lives or be stationed somewhere else," he explained. Kakashi's one visible eye gazed into hers intently. "No matter what the Shinobi rules and regulations tell you… no matter what anybody tells you, the choice of life and death is always yours. It's the way a shinobi chooses to live or die that defines the essence of being a true shinobi."
Sakura stared at him, wordless, with her face pale.
…
The silver-haired jounin's grip on her wrists lightened, but before she realized this, Kakashi leaned forward until his masked face was level with the pink-haired kunoichi's ear. Sakura shifted uncomfortably at his close proximity, but quieted once she heard his next words.
"And don't think I've forgotten our conversation…" Kakashi murmured. Sakura's eyes widened, but she only stared at the silver-haired ex-anbu with astonishment as he let go of her and patted her on the shoulder. "Well, nice training session, Sakura…" He gave a cheerful wave and started back up the road that had led them to the clearing.
"……"
"Oh, and you might want to work on your taijutsu in your spare time, Sakura… it's a little weak!" The jounin called over his shoulder.
"……"
Sakura watched in silence as the indecipherable man disappeared from her line of sight, stirring only when the sudden cry of a crow sounded behind her. The view of the sun beginning to sink below the lines of the buildings of Konoha pushed her into motion.
…
The pink-haired girl slowly started up the same road as the jounin who had just left.
…
She was dead tired, and to top it all, her body was physically exhausted to the point where she wasn't even hungry. Yet, despite her fatigue and weariness, her mind was buzzing with activity. Kakashi's words were a welcome relief from the nightmares of reality, and she grasped the distraction willingly.
…
She would have a lot to think about that night.
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(Author's notes;) crappy end, by my standards, but this is the best my tired brain can do… :D
Thanks to all those who reviewed! You guys get candy from me! Whee:D
Jemiul (and also to ArishaGinkaze): It's interesting that you liked the 20 questions part. :D… nobody seemed to notice (or care) but, technically, that wasn't how 20 questions goes. I learned a couple days later that 20 questions is different than simply asking questions. Next time, I'll call it the question game. Xx
Konoha Ninja Sasuke's Lover: Believe it. XD . I have a couple native Japanese speaking friends. :D. So yes, his name means field scarecrow. :D. Not very poetic, is it? (well, if you stretch your imagination enough, you can apply it poetically…)
And no, Iruka isn't dead… yet. XD. j/k!
Prissy: I was happy to read your review! I tried making this fic really serious. :D. I'm glad to see I succeeded… to a point. (Though I think I ruin in with my nonsense before and after each chapter. Maybe I shouldn't do Author's notes… I'm ruining my reputation. XD)
Mithua: I really liked writing this chapter myself. :D. It was a nice one to write. :D.
No, Iruka isn't one of those who dies. :D. He was not part of the intelligence group, he was sent off to the Snow country to uphold the borders of, wherever they are… - -;; and also, he does miscellaneous work up there.
SPECIAL THANKS TO MY NEW BETA (everybody, say Hi to IcarusT. :D. And also, check out her fics, which is, coincidentally, a Kakashi fic. :D XD), WHO IS WONDERFUL AT KEEPING ME ENTHUSIASTIC ABOUT THIS FIC WITH HER OWN ENTHUSIASM.
3 3 much love and kudos to IcarusT (kekeke… I'll force time into my schedule to finish the next chapter quickly, ok? 3)
eh… reviews are appreciated and delighted over. So keep me happy folks! Review:D :D :D
