Taylor
テイラー
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Chapter Thirty Eight
Back Into The Past
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Taylor reached up and touched Dalzen's injured hand, gently touching the bandages and realizing something had attacked him. It smelled a lot like a dog bite, but she had to ignore it at the moment. Right now, she had to figure out what the hell they were going to do now that they were surrounded. "Uncle Dalzen? What do we do now?"
Dalzen gently took her hand and shook his head, "I don't know, kiddo. I really don't know."
Taylor winced heavily at the pain in her side and her own broken hand, but she did not move and did not give into the uncomfortable feeling of pain — possibly broken ribs. She gently held his hand comfortingly.
"Bit by a dog?" she asked.
"Yeah, how'd you know?" Dalzen asked.
"I can smell it," Taylor said.
Dalzen nodded. Of course she could, she was a Hatake. He looked around again and gave himself a curt nod. He had an idea. "Alright, I have an idea." He closed his eyes and thought about what he was about to do.
"Dalzen?" Taylor looked at him.
"I'm going to try out a move Kakashi showed me awhile ago," Dalzen told her. "Let's see if I can do it right." It's an Uchiha move, but personally I think anyone could do it, Kakashi told him. Really, it's pretty bad ass. Hell, I even thought this one to Taylor but it was the second jutsu I taught her— the first being Raikiri, the third being Chidori. This one is...
Dalzen quickly did the hand signs, following in his mind how Kakashi had performed the jutsu. He'd practiced it a few times with Kakashi, but he still had to picture how to do it in his mind.
"Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!" Dalzen managed to succeed with the jutsu. It wasn't a giant fireball, but it wasn't a weak flame either. It was enough to injure the guards while leaving time for Dalzen to grab Taylor's hand and run past the guards while they all groaned. Dalzen took off while holding Taylor's hand, leading her to another location in the building. Taylor was wincing heavily as she ran but she had to keep running. Dalzen noticed how heavily she was breathing and how painful it sounded but he couldn't stop running to make sure she was okay. They just had to make it out of the building and then maybe another fifty feet before they could stop. They just had to make it out...
Suddenly, there was a voice behind them, "Biological Style: Body Switch no Jutsu!" and then a clapping sound.
"Eh?!" Before Dalzen and Taylor could turn around to see, they both fell over themselves as they seemed to have...switched bodies. Dalzen, now in Taylor's body, fell down and Taylor in Dalzen's body fell hard on the floor because for just a moment, they had stopped running unintentionally. Taylor accidentally landed on Dalzen's injured hand and the pain from the dog bites made Taylor cry out in pain.
"Ow!" she yelped in a voice that was not her own. "Whoa...That's not my voice..." She opened her eyes and looked down at her hands as she tried to get up to her feet. "Ah! I'm so dizzy..." She reached a shaky hand up to her forehead and held her face.
Dalzen sat up and looked around, trying to figure out what just happened. He groaned and scratched his head, then realized he was kinda small. He looked down suddenly and gasped, "Oh my..." He looked at what was his body, but had Taylor in it. "Oh my God...T-Taylor...?"
Taylor suddenly realized she didn't have any weight to her chest and that there was something in between her legs. She made as high-pitched an 'eep' as she could make with Dalzen's own voice, then covered it with her hands. "Oh my goddess... Oh my goddess, no way!" Her face turned completely red as she slowly turned around to look at Dalzen. She made a small whimpering sound as she saw Dalzen there in her body.
"D-Dalzen...?" she willed herself to say. "Uncle Dalzen?"
Dalzen's mouth fell open in shock but even more so in horror. Dalzen was more horrified than anything, but he gave a soft nod. Taylor looked down at her hands, and then at him.
"I'm...you...holy shit!" she whispered.
"And...I'm you," Dalzen blinked in disbelief. It's hard not to see the silver hair that framed her cheeks and he could tell for a fact that he was her. They stared at each other for a long few minutes until they heard a voice behind them crack up in laughter at their confusion. Both of them turned their heads and looked at what appeared to be Ishimaki. Taylor trembled with panic as he approached with his sadistic grin and awful laugh.
"I-Ishimaki," she muttered. "H-How did you know we'd escape?"
"No, the better question is: what the hell did you do to us?!" Dalzen cried out in anger, then he put a hand on Taylor's side as he cringed with pain. Taylor reached over to him and held his hand on her shoulder.
"To answer your question, Taylor, sound echoes in this building," Ishimaki told her. "And you, sir, you know what I did? I switched your bodies so that it could be a hell of a lot harder to fight and harder to escape."
"How is it harder to escape?" Taylor asked. "All we have to do is get up and run."
"You're not leaving like that," Ishimaki pointed out. "You'd have to defeat me first, but as you both currently are...neither of you can fight me! Haha! You can't do ninjutsu like that unless you had the same nature types."
Taylor and Dalzen looked at each other.
"Fire and earth," Dalzen said.
"Lightning, water, air..." Taylor sighed.
"See? You guys can't perform ninjutsu," Ishimaki laughed. "Isn't that just delightful?!"
"Just because we can't perform ninjutsu doesn't mean we can't kick your ass!" Taylor balled up Dalzen's hands. "Dalzen and I both can use our hands and feet."
"Not to mention we both know genjutsu," Dalzen smirked. "I taught the child myself."
"Nice try but why don't you two try moving about first?" Ishimaki hoped they'd be as clumsy as he'd hoped.
Neither Dalzen nor Taylor were fooled.
"I'm not buying it. Are you, Uncle Dalzen?" Taylor glanced over his shoulder at Dalzen.
"Absolutely not," Dalzen glared at Ishimaki.
Taylor rose to her feet with Dalzen, who limped heavily on one side. He reached to her hand and grabbed it and held on to her. She clutched his hand back and together, they stood up to Ishimaki.
"Dalzen, my father taught you the same move he taught me when I was four. It's the same exact one," Taylor glanced at Dalzen, having to look down because he was in her body.
"He did..." Dalzen nodded.
"So, you want to use it with me?" Taylor asked.
"You're in my body, I'm not as good as you are," Dalzen argued.
"You seemed to have used it pretty well earlier," Taylor responded. "C'mon, Dalzen. We're not backing down from this imbecile," Taylor nodded at Ishimaki in irritation.
"Hey! I can hear you!" Ishimaki hissed.
"Good, I was hoping you would," Taylor waved him off. "Such an idiot. Anyways, as I was saying..."
Ishimaki clasped his hands together, "No way I'm letting you go. I know a bit about you, Taylor Hatake. And guess what? I know that you've been sent into the past before and that you were traumatized by suddenly being torn away from your father, that's why you have anxiety now. I know you take medicine for it too."
"You take medicine for anxiety?" Dalzen asked.
Taylor watched Ishimaki's hands, "How...how do you know I take anxiety medicine? I've never told a single person except my grandfather. He's the one who recommended I get checked out in the first place."
"You mean...you never told Kakashi?" Ishimaki stepped closer. "I thought you were close to him— that you told him everything."
"I was recently put on anti-anxiety meds," Taylor told him. "About a week ago, I haven't had a chance to tell my father. I don't want to tell him until I'm certain I'll be on them for awhile. Why does it concern you?"
"T-Taylor," Dalzen clutched his hand tightly. "I think I know what he's about to do! Don't let him—"
Taylor smiled at Dalzen and she gave him a thumbs up, "Hey, I've got this. You know I do. I'm gonna stand up for the both of us, I'm not gonna be bullied by this idiot."
"Taylor..."
She stepped forward and glared at Ishimaki like Dalzen, because she was Dalzen.
"What're you going to do with your knowledge of my past incidents, huh?" she growled. "What can you do with your knowledge of my excursions into the past? My anxiety meds?"
"When's the last time you took your meds?" Ishimaki asked.
"I'm not telling you," Taylor spat. "I'm not telling you anything else."
"Taylor, I think he—"
"It should be easy to induce an anxiety attack if you haven't taken your meds in over a day," Ishimaki started doing hand signs. "100 years into the past, in the heart of Country 14. Time Travel no Jutsu!"
"Wait, wha—"
"Oh shit!" Dalzen covered Taylor's mouth with her hands and watched in horror as she was sent away into a time not of her own and in the wrong body, nonetheless. "...You bastard! Bring her back!"
"I can't do that till I get what I want. With her in the past, no one can get her. And with you in her body, you're weak. With her in your body, well she's as weak as you are."
"Bring her back!" Dalzen yelled.
"Or what?!" Ishimaki mocked. "What can you do as that stupid little girl?"
Dalzen clenched Taylor's teeth and then her fists.
"First off...she is not a stupid little girl. Second...I will do whatever it takes to bring her back," Dalzen looked up with furious eyes.
"Sure, give it a shot," Ishimaki shrugged. "You're in a lot of pain, I wouldn't try—"
Dalzen did some hand signs, "I don't care!" he made Taylor's hands burst into flame. "Flaming Hand Jutsu!"
Ishimaki had to dodge but Dalzen nailed him before he could move.
"Bring her back now and switch us back!" Dalzen cried out. "There is going to be hell if she's seen in the old Country 14 because I look like my father!"
Ishimaki winced as he began to feel pain in his side, "Should'a thought about it before you came here."
"How could we have thought about this?" Dalzen asked, punching him. "How?!"
Ishimaki grabbed him by the head and pushed him away.
"Fight me, kid."
"I damn will!" Dalzen hissed.
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Taylor appeared in an older Country 14. She could smell fire and smoke, ash, and maybe burning flesh — maybe someone's house was set on fire or something — and she covered Dalzen's nose with his hands and coughed. Goddess bless, where am I? She looked up at a dark, hazy night sky. It's night already? No...I think I was just sent into the past against my will...again! She clenched Dalzen's hands and looked at them.
"I'm still Dalzen," she sighed sadly. "Man...I gotta hide...I'm in the heart of Country 14, Dalzen'd kill me if I got seen like this and attacked. Oh goodness." She looked up suddenly as she heard some commotion. What's that...? She walked towards a crowd of people and saw people attacking what appeared to be Korzenei and his wife. But where was Dalzen? Wait, he had an uncle. He might be really small so maybe he's with his uncle. They looked like they were being beaten on heavily and Taylor watched in horror. Oh my god...those two are Dalzen's parents, and they're being beaten. I can't sit here and do nothing! Oh my god, but what if that damages the timeline? ...But I can't leave them! Taylor just couldn't make herself leave, she felt obligated to save them. She transformed into her own self as disguise and without a second thought, Taylor fought her way through the crowd to stop the Country 14 policemen from hurting Dalzen's parents too bad.
"Hey!" she yelled. "Leave them alone!"
Everyone looked at Taylor as she put Dalzen's hands on his waist, standing bravely in defiance of the Country 14 police-state. She glared angrily at the people beating up Dalzen's parents, and suddenly she saw a baby Dalzen in their arms as they protected him from being hurt. Dalzen was crying and screaming as he was being held tightly and protectively. Taylor watched him in awe until she was snapped out of her thoughts by the policemen yelling at her.
"Who the hell do you think you are, stopping policemen from punishing rebels? Eh?! You wanna be punished too, young lady?!" one man asked her.
"Wait, she isn't from around here," one person said. "Her vest...she's a Fire shinobi!"
"Oh no..." Taylor thought quickly and created a wind vortex that was aimed at the policemen and she blew them away — quite literally too. "You two, go now! Protect your son!"
"What are you doing, stranger?" Hitomi, Dalzen's mother, asked Taylor. "You are far too young —"
"I'm saving you guys from those jerks," Taylor said. "Just go, now! Let me take care of this."
"I-If you say so," Hitomi gave Taylor a concerned look.
Taylor smiled, "If you protect your son, I bet he'll grow up to be a good man. Go on, now. I'm helping you guys out."
"Alright," Korzenei bowed deeply to Taylor. "Thank you, stranger. We'll be in your debt for ever."
"Call me Saru," Taylor smiled. "And your only payment to me is living and standing up for what you believe in." I know your son, Dalzen, from the future. He's a great man... "Go!"
Korzenei and Hitomi ran off as fast as they could with their son and a policeman tackled Taylor to the ground, causing the jutsu to become undone. Taylor winced, "Shit!"
"Oh my— she isn't a she...she's a he," someone said.
"Who awfully looks like Korzenei," the policeman said.
"He's a Morino!"
"He's a revolutionist!" someone yelled.
"He looks like the Morinos' son as an adult!"
Taylor tensed as she sat up and realized she was surrounded.
"Fuck," she muttered. "I'm surrounded. Well, that leaves me no choice..." She stood up and punched Dalzen's fist into his palm and glared at the Country 14 police. "Come at me!"
They started attacking Taylor, but she quickly knocked them out with a couple of hits and then she looked around. Blessed goddess, I have got to run, she thought. She thought for a moment and did some hand signs as more police shinobi came running at her. I know an earth jutsu because I made it for "Legend of Inarora". Let's try that out..."Earth Shatter Jutsu!" She slammed Dalzen's hands into the earth and made the ground break up. The Country 14 police were now preoccupied with the attack, so Taylor took the chance and dashed off. She wished she was in her own body, that way she could attack them better and not have to run.
She ran away from the scene, trying to escape the police. She ran as far away as she could and once she was safe, she hid behind some bushes and stayed still. She could hear people shouting behind her, but as far as she knew no one saw her hiding in the bushes. She panted and coughed, trying to muffle the coughs in Dalzen's mouth. Oh, Dalzen, are you okay in my body? she wondered. She placed Dalzen's hand over his heart and she could feel it beating hard against his chest. Inhaling deeply, she gradually brought her breathing back down to normal. Once calm, Taylor slid Dalzen's backpack off his shoulders and looked through it feeling pretty hungry.
Damn Dalzen, when is the last time you ate? she wondered when his stomach growled. She reached in and grabbed a granola bar, tearing into the package and slowly eating the granola. Oh damn this is good. Wait...I don't even like raisins...but this is so good...Damn it! This is so confusing, goddess bless!
She ate slowly, looking around and before she knew it, a panic attack crept up on her and she felt Dalzen's heart racing and she didn't want to eat anymore. Oh no! Panic attack. Why am I having a panic attack? Shit, shit, shit! God dang it. Taylor, you have got to remember the jutsu! You have got to remember the jutsu. Her thoughts ran rampant through her mind and she tried to sort them all out but she couldn't. Ahh! These thoughts need to go away! She blinked away tears. But...there was one thought that didn't leave entirely. She must know the jutsu to get back, she memorized that thing by heart. Wait...I know the jutsu...I know how to get back! Oh my...I know the jutsu! Holy shit! I know the jutsu! Shaking, Taylor got on Dalzen's knees and tried to perform the jutsu. If anything, Dalzen should be able to do this jutsu. She just knew it was possible. And she tried.
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Dalzen hugged Taylor's sides in agony. "My god...what did you do to this child?!" He was in a transformation jutsu back to himself but he still could feel the internal injuries of Taylor.
"What did I do to her?" Ishimaki asked. "Isn't it obvious? I've had my guards beat her to hell and back."
"Let me rephrase: why did you do this to her?!" Dalzen asked.
"I did it so she would stop fighting back," Ishimaki said. "She's one hell of a fighter, but she has one weakness for certain. She's a good punching bag and that's because she allows it. She allows it because she thinks it's better for her to be hurt than someone she loves. Tsk tsk, what a naïve little girl. She can't keep letting this happen, one day she might just...you know...DIE!"
"It only happened because you wanted it to happen!" Dalzen yelled. "She only let herself get hut because she's so used to authority that she will do a lot to keep that authority happy with her. She hates telling people who are authority 'no'. She doesn't know how to stand up for herself."
"And that's why she's such a good punching bag!" Ishimaki laughed. "She can't stand up for herself! How pitiful, coming from a family of such strong men and she's such a travesty to her family name."
"Shut the hell up!" Dalzen yelled. "Don't you ever say that about Taylor! She is among the best female shinobi I have ever met, and she is the strongest kid I've met. Don't you dare say such things." He clenched Taylor's hands in anger and glared angrily at Ishimaki. "You don't even know Taylor, so you have no right to judge her. Just because she has a hard time standing up for herself doesn't mean she isn't strong enough. Scumbags like you is what's wrong with this world. Preying on those who have a hard time standing up for themselves... It's been like this for ages and I should know. I'm old enough to be your grandfather or even great-grandfather."
"No you're not," Ishimaki shrugged. "You look like you're 30."
"I'm 101," Dalzen growled. "You wanna try that again? I can tell you every damn thing about this God-forsaken country. I went through a hell no child should ever live through and at the time you sent Taylor to is in the midst of that hell. All out war. I could give you a history lesson or three on this bloody place, all from memory! My parents were both revolutionists, God knows that will happen if they find her in my body as an adult."
"You're lying."
"Prove it," Dalzen crossed Taylor's arms and stood straight. "Does it look like I'm lying?"
"You seriously cannot be that old," Ishimaki said.
"My father is Korzenei Morino! You really think I'm lying?!" Dalzen exclaimed, beyond irritated now. "I am well over 100, so don't you tell me I'm not as old as I say." Being in a teen girl's body made him feel even more overwhelmed than normal because now he was on the verge of tears. "You need to bring Taylor back, now. Her presence in the past there as me. So much could go wrong..."
"Ishimaki stared at Dalzen and then shook his head, "No. You can forget it."
"Then I have no choice but to hurt you," Dalzen quickly did some hand signs, "Fire Style: Fire Breath Jutsu!"
Ishimaki dove down, but it was no use. He still got burned in the face and shoulders and Dalzen gave a satisfied smirk.
"Are you going to give in?" Dalzen asked.
Before Ishimaki could think about responding, Taylor suddenly appeared before them and she looked up in surprise.
"Holy shit..." she muttered. "It worked!"
"Taylor..." Dalzen muttered in surprise. "Taylor!"
"How the hell?!" Ishimaki blinked in disbelief.
"I've been in the past twice, the second time I memorized a jutsu to get my ass out," Taylor told him. "I'm not like my dad who can just copy a jutsu, I have to memorize it. Sometimes it works out in my favor, just as it did right now. You didn't do the research you thought you had done. If you did, you wouldn't have sent me into the past because you would've know I'd find a way back. It is pretty obvious you didn't so now I'm here and I'm back to kick your ass into next week!" Taylor clenched both of Dalzen's hands. "But first, you are going to change us back."
"Or what?" Ishimaki spat.
"I will take this kunai here," Taylor began one of her favorite tricks as she pulled out a kunai from Dalzen's weapon's pouch. "And I will take it and cut your balls off."
"Taylor!" Dalzen exclaimed.
"F-Fine!" Ishimaki gave in quickly.
Taylor turned to Dalzen and gave a thumbs up, "It's a trick I developed. No man wants his balls cut off so they almost always give in."
Ishimaki put his hands together and did a reversal jutsu, "Here, I'm changing you two back... There! You two should be back to normal, alright?!"
They immediately switched and Taylor and Dalzen were themselves. They both laughed, "Haha! Yes!"
"Better?" Ishimaki asked in irritation.
"You have no idea," Dalzen said. "You try being trapped in the body of an 18-year-old girl who is seriously shorter than you."
"Heheh, now I can fight," Taylor held out both her hands.
"And so can I," Dalzen glared at Ishimaki.
"C'mon Dalzen," Taylor grinned. "Let's fight!"
Dalzen nodded and together, they went at Ishimaki.
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Ibiki threw a guard down on the ground and growled, "How many more of these bastards do I need to beat the hell out of?"
"I don't know," Kakashi answered.
"It's like they're coming from everywhere," Jiraiya responded. "There's no telling how much we have left!"
"Damn!" Ibiki hissed.
Kakashi elbowed an enemy behind him in the ribs and spun around and snapped their necks.
"You know, if my dad was here he could've just taken a katana to these guys," he said. "I don't have a katana anymore so I can't entirely use it."
"I don't think my grandfather thought to bring Taylor's katana," Ibiki said.
"Speaking of them, I hope Dalzen got Taylor out safely," Kakashi said.
"I have a feeling they're still here," Jiraiya said. "We haven't seen the boss guy...whatever he is...yet."
"You're right, we haven't..." Ibiki realized. "That doesn't bode too well."
"No, it doesn't," Kakashi agreed.
Jiraiya knocked down the last guard, "Okay, great. Let's go find them then."
"My grandfather went down this hallway," Ibiki gestured them to follow.
All three men started running down the hall in search of Taylor and Dalzen. The halls were difficult to navigated, but with Kakashi's help they happened across a damaged cell and broken floor tiles.
"Dalzen and Taylor were here," Jiraiya noted. "Dalzen does earth ninjutsu, he prolly broke her out of jail with a earth jutsu attack."
Ibiki walked over the rubble and into the cell, crouching down on the floor.
"I see blood," Ibiki said. "Prolly Taylor's...Kakashi, you want to verify it?"
"Yeah, sure," Kakashi climbed in and crouched beside Ibiki and dipped two fingers in the blood and brought them up to his nose to sniff. He gave a nod.
"That's my daughter's blood," he said with a grim expression, imagining that someone must've cut her or something.
"It's not...period blood, is it?" Jiraiya asked.
"Jiraiya!" both Ibiki and Kakashi exclaimed.
"What? Just asking," Jiraiya shrugged. "Could mean she's okay if it's just that."
"It's not that kind of blood," Kakashi verified hotly. "I don't notice any hormones or anything, it's just blood from a cut."
"Okay," Jiraiya shrugged.
"That means she's been hurt," Ibiki said. "But Grandpa might be handling that right now."
"If they weren't attacked," Kakashi frowned.
"Yeah," Jiraiya agreed.
"Let's see if we can find them," Ibiki stood up and walked out.
Kakashi stood up as well and followed Ibiki down the hall with Jiraiya.
"Fire jutsu, Dalzen must've taken charge to protect Taylor," Ibiki said. "He would protect her for sure."
"He did a good job of injuring these guards," Jiraiya said. "I mean, look, they are all pretty burned up. They're not dead...yet...but he definitely got the job done."
"I smell them," Kakashi said. "C'mon!"
Kakashi started running and Ibiki and Jiraiya followed closely. They soon heard voices and Kakashi suddenly stopped, Jiraiya and Ibiki stopping behind him.
"I hear them," he said.
"What are they saying?" Ibiki asked.
Kakashi listened closely and tried to tell them what they were saying in a hushed voice.
"There's no point in this madness," Taylor said. "Just give up, Ishimaki."
"He's not gonna give up," Dalzen pointed out. "We're just gonna have to force him to give up."
"Well, I don't entirely think we should kill him," Taylor said. "Can we just knock him out and arrest him?"
"I suppose," Dalzen sighed.
"Sounds like they're about to fight someone," Ibiki said.
"It does, indeed," Jiraiya agreed.
"Or, they already are," Kakashi walked forwards until he came to a corner. He looked to the side and saw Taylor and Dalzen with their backs to Kakashi, Jiraiya and Ibiki. Kakashi gasped softly at the sight of Taylor limping heavily on her left side, clinging to Dalzen just to keep standing. Her right hand had bloody scabs on her knuckles and as far as he could tell, she was hurt. Suddenly, she let go as she began hand signs for a jutsu.
"Lightning Knock Out!" Taylor exclaimed.
Ibiki and Jiraiya and Kakashi all watched as a bolt of lightning struck the teal-haired man, Ishimaki, and immediately knock him out.
"Uhm...wow..." Taylor remarked. "That was easy."
"Way too easy..." Dalzen agreed. "Okay, let's—"
Taylor suddenly turned and saw her father and her eyes widened.
"Daddy!" she cried out.
"Huh?!" Dalzen looked behind him. "Kakashi! Jiraiya! Ibiki!"
Ibiki grinned and Kakashi held out his arms for Taylor. Taylor ran up to him and she hugged him. Dalzen gave an amused chuckle as she hugged her father, and he watched Kakashi hug her back.
"Ah, I'm so glad you're safe and alive," he said.
"Ow...ow..." Taylor winced. "Dad, stop...that really hurts me...Daddy..."
"Sorry!" Kakashi quickly apologized as he loosened his grip.
"She's got a few cracked ribs," Dalzen informed Kakashi.
"Oh..." Kakashi nodded as he gently held Taylor in his arms.
Dalzen and Ibiki smiled in awe as both Taylor and Kakashi refused to let go of each other for a few long minutes.
"Aw, how sweet," Ibiki awed. "Who knew Kakashi could ever be this sweet?"
"Yeah, really," Jiraiya agreed with a grin. Suddenly, his grin faded, "Guys, do you hear that?"
"Huh?" Ibiki and Dalzen looked around quickly.
"Sounds like someone laughing," Dalzen muttered.
Taylor and Kakashi both inhaled a new scent.
"Uhm, I think we have another fight...it seems," Taylor said.
"Dalzen, take Taylor out. We'll take care of this," Kakashi ordered quickly. "Get her to a medic."
"Dad!" Taylor exclaimed.
"No!" Kakashi hissed. "It is not safe, sweetheart."
"Dad!" Taylor repeated. "I am an adult and a jounin I—"
"And I am your father," Kakashi growled. "I don't want you hurt anymore than you already have been."
Dalzen grabbed Taylor by her arm, "Taylor, don't argue with him. I really should get you out of here before you get hurt."
"I'm even going to come," Ibiki assured.
Taylor frowned but Kakashi gently placed a kiss on her head.
"You've saved me before, now it's my turn," he said. "After all, that's what I am supposed to do."
"Dad..." Taylor's eyes welled up.
"Taylor, you act like I'm gonna get myself killed," Kakashi said. "I'm not. Whoever is left is most likely weak, alright? I'm not going to allow myself to die, Taylor. I promise."
Dalzen tugged on Taylor's arm, "Taylor, c'mon! Let's go. I really don't want to meet the next opponent."
Before Taylor could protest, Dalzen and Ibiki started dragging her away and just as they got to the exit, they heard a woman's voice laugh.
"You three think you can escape?!" the voice bellowed.
"Go! Now!" Kakashi yelled.
Ibiki kicked the door open and ushered Dalzen and Taylor out as fast as he could and then following behind them, they were finally out. Taylor blinked and Dalzen took her hand again.
"We've gotta keep running," Dalzen said. "Can you keep up?"
"I-I think so," Taylor blinked away tears.
"C'mon, no tears Taylor," Dalzen wiped them away as fast as he could. "Alright? Ibiki and I need to get you to a hospital, preferably not the one here, but a hospital.
"I wanted to fight with Daddy," Taylor whined. "And Uncle Jiraiya."
"They're fine, Taylor. You are not doing any fighting right now in your condition," Ibiki told her. "If I were as hurt as you were, Dalzen would've wanted me taken to a hospital too."
"Heck, Kakashi would've made Taylor take me to the hospital if I were hurt like she was," Dalzen grinned.
"Come on," Ibiki said. "We have gotta go, Taylor."
"Okay..." Taylor sighed.
Dalzen took Taylor and they ran with Ibiki from the jail. Taylor ran with Dalzen's help and Ibiki in the lead. Ibiki scanned their surroundings for a hospital.
"We're not going to the one here, just in case..." Dalzen told Ibiki.
"Dalzen, we have to," Ibiki hissed. "Taylor isn't going to make it out of this village."
Dalzen sighed; Ibiki was right. Dalzen realized he was letting his serious aversion to Country 14 get in the way of proper judgement. He could hear Taylor panting and wheezing in pain behind him with tiny whimpers. She usually could bear the pain, but it was too much for her; she would likely pass out any moment now.
"Do we need to stop?" Dalzen asked Taylor.
"N-No, I'm fine," she whimpered. "I-I'm fine."
"If you say so," Dalzen disagreed, but if Taylor was okay running for another mile or so then fine.
Taylor whimpered even more and clutched his hand tightly as she tried to keep running.
"I don't think she can keep up," Ibiki realized, coming to a complete stop. "Grandpa, make Taylor sit down by that tree."
"Yeah," Dalzen agreed, stopping and quickly turning around as Taylor fell into him. He caught her and she clutched his jacket. "Okay, I've got you. Just sit down and catch your breath, alright?"
As much as Taylor wished they would stop babying her at the moment, they really couldn't because in her current condition she was very weak. Broken ribs, barely eating anything for over a day (With the exception of the couple of pieces of sushi Michiko brought her— such a kind owl.) and other possible injuries, she really was in no state to fight. Taylor gave them a sad nod and Dalzen made her sit down. Then, Ibiki and Dalzen turned and started whispering to each other.
"She looks so weak," Ibiki said. "I"m surprised she had enough energy to run as far as we did."
"I doubt she's eaten much," Dalzen said. "And her ribs are broken and I have a feeling she may actually be sick."
"Yeah, we need to either get a medic here or carry her to the hospital," Ibiki told him.
"I don't want to hurt her any more than she already is," Dalzen admitted. "Maybe we should get a medic and bring them here to heal Taylor before we try getting her to the hospital."
"I concur," Ibiki nodded. "I believe that may be the best option for the moment."
"I-I'll go find someone," Dalzen offered, putting his hands together in a hand sign. He transformed back into Saru and looked at Taylor, "I'll be back in a few. Ibiki will stay with you to make sure you're safe, alright?"
Taylor gave a weak nod and Dalzen took off as Saru. Ibiki sighed heavily and sat down on the ground beside Taylor with his back against the tree. Silence fell over them and neither one chose to speak for awhile.
.
.