Does anyone still read this? If you do, here's chapter 12.
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Chapter 12: Pressure
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He awoke the next morning to find that there was no longer a warm body pressed against his side, and that was concerning. The wall that he sat against was cold and unforgiving, but although there were no windows, a warm light filled the room. He forced himself to calm down, quickly finding his quarry among the beds lined against the adjacent wall.
She almost immediately sensed his eyes on her and glanced over her shoulder, giving a small smile in greeting, then returned to examining Sasuke's leg. He was sound asleep, along with the rest of their party. Kakashi wondered just how early in the morning it was.
After introductions and reunions were had the night before, they agreed to make resting their first priority and that they would contact Harry for backup in the morning. Rin had remained silent almost the entire time, signaling to Kakashi that she still wasn't entirely comfortable with receiving their help, hence his panic when she wasn't sitting next to him when he woke up. He still wouldn't put it past her to run. Then again, he knew she would never leave her patients until they were fully healed. At least, he thought so.
Last night, she had stated that she would stay by the hall entrance door (where she could also see the secret passage entrance) just in case. He offered to sit with her, but she made him lie in a bed because of his injury. So he did for a while, and then he joined her anyway. When he sat down next to her and put his good arm around her shoulders, she muttered something to the effect of, "You're impossible," and leaned into him nevertheless. He agreed, and they fell into a comfortable silence for the rest of the night. He didn't know who fell asleep first.
He was glad that she now felt, for the most part, safe with him. Safe enough to fall asleep next to him, with only an exchange of a few words. But he knew better than most that it was much easier to keep silent rather than discuss the truth. She seemed truly glad to be surrounded by friends again, but he knew it would take more time for her to really trust them. Or anyone, for that matter. He didn't mind; he understood. As long as she stuck around.
He stood up stiffly, noting that his shoulder was still fairly sore. And he was cold. Technically he still only had half a shirt on, plus some bandages. He walked over to her as she was healing Sasuke's wound. He watched, and within thirty seconds, the skin might have never been torn in the first place. Her capabilities were astounding as ever, he thought.
"How are you feeling?" she asked quietly, inspecting her handiwork.
"Fine," he replied, wondering where he could get a shirt.
"Here," she said, standing, and tossed him the white sheet at the end of Sasuke's bed, "You look cold."
"How do you do that?" he asked, wrapping the sheet around his shoulders.
"What?" she said, moving onto Neville and not particularly paying attention to the jonin.
"You read my mind. I was just thinking I was cold."
Her lips twitched up as she formed a few hand signs, "Some habits die hard, I guess."
He raised an eyebrow, "I look ridiculous."
"But you're warm and ridiculous."
Without thinking, he shrugged—and immediately regretted it. The blast of pain was so intense that he had to put a hand out to the edge of the bed to steady himself. In a second, she was there, guiding him to an empty bed and sitting him down on it.
"Don't do that," she hissed.
He blinked to clear the spots in his vision, "Won't happen again."
"It'll take me a while to heal you completely, and even then, curses are different from your average stunner, they're just really nasty, and this one was—"
"Rin," he said in a measured tone, "I'm fine, and I won't move it again. Really."
"Yeah, I'm just—" she gestured randomly and sighed, "I'll look at that now."
She took off the bandages around his shoulder, revealing the less-bloody-but-still-ripped-apart flesh beneath. He hid a wince as the air hit the wound.
"The jelly really helped," she stated, more to herself than anyone else, "I'll be able to heal it a lot more easily now."
"Sensei?"
Kakashi looked up to see Sakura sitting up on her bed, watching him with slight concern.
"Yes, Sakura," he replied, trying to retain his usual calm.
"Are you… How are you?"
That was the second time someone had asked him how he was that morning. Must be a new record.
"I'm fine. You?"
"I'm… hungry, actually."
"Right, food. I almost forgot," Rin said, glancing back at the other kunoichi, "You can wake up Hermione and Luna and go down to the kitchens. There are usually a few house elves down there—bring as much back as you can carry, and tell them that I sent you."
"Got it," Sakura replied, hopping off the bed. She caught sight of her teammates in their respective beds. "Is Sasuke okay? And Naruto?" The concern—for both of them—was evident in her voice.
"They'll both be fine," the medic replied, forming seals, "But also probably hungry. Get going."
Sakura nodded and set about her given task.
"We weren't so different, were we?" Rin asked, hovering her hands over Kakashi's shoulder. He wasn't sure if it was a rhetorical question or not.
"Team Seven," he said. She glanced up from her work in question. "I'm now the leader of Team Seven." Something flashed across her face, and she returned to healing.
"She's got good instincts for this, you know," she remarked, "Sakura. Things would not have gone nearly as smoothly as they did last night without her help."
Kakashi nodded, "She reminds me of you sometimes… Sasuke's like me. Arrogant, more stupid than he thinks, but good. And Naruto… well, Naruto's not like anyone. One second he's a complete idiot and the next… he's his father's son."
"He doesn't know then."
"No."
"Or about me?"
He noted the attempted off-handedness of the question. "I'm not sure," he replied. He might have recognized you. In Diagon Alley," Kakashi thought back on it, "He was being oddly serious. It wasn't like him."
"…I was going to run," she paused, and Kakashi silently waited for her to continue, "But then I heard him—screaming. I never could stay away when he started crying." She swallowed and said quietly, "He shouldn't know about me, Kakashi." He was about to argue when she added, "At least not yet."
"…Okay."
He looked down the row of beds at the sleeping genin. Even from his distance, Kakashi could see the tension in Naruto's face. Not the pain-filled spasm it was the previous night, but still troubled. Kakashi wondered what Naruto was seeing: did he have any hidden memory of the night he was born, the war going on around him, his parents' sacrifice? Some long-buried, pain-filled impression that was now being brought to the surface before his eyelids? He hoped not. There had to be enough memories of a lonely childhood to get through first. He sighed.
He suddenly felt a burning sensation in his shoulder and flinched. Rin's expression turned razor sharp. She quickly drew her wand and touched it to the wound, then pulled away as if drawing something out of his skin. Kakashi saw that the air seemed to shimmer for a moment in its wake, and then it vanished. She repeated this process several times, until the burning sensation disappeared. Then she continued to heal his skin and wrapped it in bandages once more. She sat down next to him heavily just as the door to the Room opened and Sakura, Hermione, and Luna entered, their arms laden with bread, fruit, pitchers of pumpkin juice and other foods.
"Just in time," Kakashi said, "You need to eat something." He gently brushed his arm against hers, noting how thin she was. He recalled her saying that she had almost forgotten about food, and he wondered how often she ate, especially when she was on the run.
She nodded, "I will, after I check on Naruto." She stood up, but her legs shook and she swayed slightly. Kakashi pulled her back down. She blinked and shook her head, about to get up again, but he extended his arm out in front of her.
"Don't even try it," he said. She sighed.
"It's been a long time since I've done anything that extensive," she looked worriedly towards Naruto.
"He'll be okay. Hey," he greeted Hermione and Luna.
"Hey yourself," Hermione smiled, "How are you two doing?"
Three times, Kakashi thought. Now this was just getting out of hand.
"Better," he replied, "The house elves were very gracious, I see."
"Yes," she said, and Kakashi knew she was biting back something about elves' rights. He couldn't hide a small grin. She continued, "They seemed to know Rin quite well, actually, and they recognized me." Kakashi raised an eyebrow. Hermione rolled her eyes, "The Prophet likes to stay updated on their 'heroes of the war' or some such nonsense. Anyway, let's get this distributed."
Kakashi nodded and took an apple from Luna, handing it to Rin.
"Start small," he said, "Your stomach won't be able to handle much right after using so much chakra."
Her lips twitched up, "I told you that." She took a small bite.
"Must be true then."
Luna cocked her head to the side, "Looks to me like you could use as much food as you can eat."
Rin just shrugged, "I do what I can. Sometimes it has to be enough."
"You did what you could," Kakashi immediately corrected. "But we're a team now. It won't be like that again."
She glanced at him, chewing slowly. "Right."
He tried to ignore the ominous feeling growing in the back of his mind.
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Within the next twenty minutes, they had all eaten (except Naruto, ironically) and Hermione sent a brief message to Harry via patronus entailing their situation. Rin was in the process of checking and healing Naruto when Kakashi called everyone's attention. Minus the medic, everyone looked to him.
"We need to get an idea of where the enemy is, if they're out there," he said. "Rokuro would have come to Hogsmeade long before now. He knows about last night's battle and probably suspects that we are in here, at the very least. That being said, he shouldn't be able to penetrate the schools defenses—"
"For now."
The group silently looked at Rin, who didn't return the gaze, focused on healing.
"It's impossible," Hermione said, "The magic surrounding Hogwarts is—"
"Voldemort did it, didn't he?" she removed her hands from Naruto's chest, looking at her.
Hermione paused before answering, glancing at Neville, "Voldemort was—"
"More powerful than Rokuro?" Rin asked sharply. "That's what I've been trying to tell all of you—Rokuro is stronger than him, stronger than anyone I've ever known. I know that's an insane thought for all of you," she gestured to the wizards, "but it's the truth."
"All the more reason to do some scouting," Kakashi said, and she found that he was staring intently at her. "We don't doubt you."
She seemed suddenly taken aback by her outburst, and returned to her patient.
Kakashi went on, slowly tearing his gaze away from her and back to the group at large, "Neville, what's the best vantage point to observe the grounds and beyond, specifically in the direction of Hogsmeade?"
He thought for a moment, "Gryffindor tower, maybe. It's hard to see Hogsmeade at all from here really."
"And you can walk?"
"Good as new," he replied, rotating his previously injured foot.
"Good. Neville, Luna, and Sasuke," the genin straightened at the mention of his name, "go to Gryffindor tower and look for anything out of the ordinary. Put those eyes to good use," he added to Sasuke, who smirked slightly but otherwise said nothing.
"Hermione," he continued, "I need to actually speak with Harry. And if I remember correctly, I think a fireplace would help with that." An image of Sirius's face outlined in embers flashed through his mind.
She nodded, "Feels like a hundred years ago, doesn't it?" She stood, "Neville, if I could get into your office, I think that would be easiest."
"Sure," Neville replied, getting to his feet.
"Sakura, stay here with Rin," Kakashi said, "We should be back in no more than a couple hours." The kunoichi looked a little put out, so he added, "She might need your assistance, Sakura. You were extremely helpful last night."
"Really?" The question seemed to come out of her mouth before she could stop it.
"Very helpful," Rin agreed. "And your sensei's right; this could be a long process. Your support would be much appreciated."
"Oh—of course, yeah," Sakura stammered, brightening. "I'll do what I can."
Kakashi pointedly didn't exchange glances with Rin on his way out.
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"So?"
Kakashi glanced at her sideways as he poked the logs in Neville's private fireplace, arranging them more efficiently. He pointed his wand at the wood and set it alight; grateful for the warmth. He finally had a shirt, borrowed from the few personal items Neville had left at school before leaving for his vacation, for which Kakashi was also grateful. It was a white button-down, but he wasn't in a position to complain. However, these new comforts did not relieve him from the uncomfortable line of questioning he knew was forthcoming. He said nothing.
"Come on, Kakashi," Hermione goaded, brushing a stray curl away from her face "You've obviously talked. Is she…?" Her voice trailed off uncertainly.
Kakashi plowed through his answer, rightfully knowing that she wouldn't stop pestering him until she had an answer.
"She's not the person I used to know. She wants to trust us, but there's still a part of her that can't help but think that this is all a dream, even if she outwardly admits that it isn't. This can't be the truth because this is too good to be true. And if it is true, then maybe that's even worse, because what if this leads to all of our deaths… The list goes on. That's what I'd be thinking, anyway."
Hermione nodded, taking it in. "And you?"
"I want this bastard dead," he replied, stony-faced.
She looked troubled, but not by his statement. "Kakashi, what Rin said about Rokuro being more powerful than Voldemort, than anyone… Is that true?"
He looked at her and wasn't surprised to find fear there, though he knew it wasn't for herself. It was the same fear he saw in parents' eyes when their children were called to fight in the Third War. He had to remind himself that the Wizarding World had been through a similar experience, and his friends in this world had been at the forefront of the horror. The prospect of having to face such a horror again, after bringing a child into a world you thought was safe…
"I don't know," he answered, mostly honest. Because he didn't, really. But again, there was that ominous feeling simmering in the back of his mind, and it wasn't about to disappear.
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A short while later, Kakashi was looking through flame into Harry Potter's office.
Harry paced in front of the fireplace while Kakashi explained what they were up against.
"So, really, you don't know what you're up against," Harry glanced at the flames mid-stride.
"Not really, not yet," Kakashi replied patiently. "I'm working on it. It would be really helpful if you could get some people over to Hogsmeade—the far edge of the village—and report back what you find there. But you have to be invisible; I don't know how unstable the area might be after last night's… scuffle." He tried to play down the fight a little, in the interest of keeping Harry from charging into Hogwarts to rescue them.
"I've already got a few scouts out there. All of you are really alright?" he added nervously, running a hand through his already messy black locks, "I think Ron's going to lose it pretty soon, Kakashi. And quite honestly I'm not really thrilled with them being there either. You, your students, Ron and I—it's our job to do this, but Hermione, Luna, and Neville? I'm not questioning their bravery, but they've all avoided death too many times for their luck not to be largely reduced by now."
"I'm working on that too," Kakashi replied. It was one thing for him to fight the Dark Lord, a powerful wizard, but still only possessing the spiritual side of chakra, magic. But the other way around? With the almost certainty that Rokuro had learned a spell or two during his captivity? It was risky at best.
Ron took this moment to enter the office.
"Harry, have you heard from—"
He stopped, noticing Kakashi's head bobbing in the fireplace. A flurry of emotions passed through his features, settling on relief briefly, followed by frustration.
"Is Hermione with you right now?" he asked with a forced calm.
"Yes," Kakashi replied.
"I'd like to speak with her."
Kakashi nodded, though he didn't know if the gesture was received in his crackling image. He withdrew from the fire.
Once he had blinked a few times and adjusted himself to his original surroundings, he looked at Hermione, who seemed to be waiting for a statement on his part.
"Ron is—" he only managed before Ron's face appeared in the flames.
"Ron! How are you; how is Rose?" Hermione knelt down in front of the fireplace.
"She's just fine, Hermione, but bloody hell! You can't just go jump in the middle of a secret rescue mission without telling me! I've been worried sick! …And Merlin, now I sound like my mum. Are you alright?" he ended with a sigh, a few sparks floating from his mouth.
"I'm fine, really. And you're absolutely right; I should have told you. I—I just knew I had to help. And now… What is the plan now?" She directed this question over her shoulder at Kakashi.
"We have to get you, Neville, and Luna out of here," Kakashi said straightforwardly.
"What?" both wizards asked simultaneously.
Kakashi sat on the edge of Neville's desk. "This is a shinobi matter, and though I haven't confirmed it yet, I think this enemy will be beyond any wizard's capability—Not for lack of skill, but for lack of chakra," he explained before Ron or Hermione could object. "A battle between shinobi is much different than a wizard's duel, especially on this scale."
"How are we going to get out?" Hermione asked, frowning, clearly trying to poke holes in this idea. Kakashi could practically hear her going through the possibilities in her head.
"Still thinking on it," Kakashi replied. Suddenly Ron's face disappeared and was replaced by Harry's.
"Kakashi, I've just heard from one of my scouts in Hogsmeade. Something is—"
Just then the ominous feeling in the back of his mind was pushed to the front, pounding on the inside of his skull. He unconsciously pressed the heel of his hand over his covered Sharingan. He had never sensed chakra this dense before.
Rokuro had arrived in Hogsmeade.
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Ugh. Yeah, it's been a long couple months. On the up side, the manga seems to be heading in some sort of direction again, after all those flashbacks. And yet, it just seems so impossible. I would love to hear your thoughts on both this chapter and the manga! Don't forget to be awesome.