Disclaimer: I don't own any part of "Naruto".
Kakashi and Minato had been continuing their sprint towards the hospital at the same pace, not stopping until a loud growl blared through their ears as if someone had turned the volume up drastically. Both men were thrown to the ground, caused by a loss of balance, when the Earth shook so suddenly - so rapidly.
The Kyuubi's growl had developed so much wind that dust, debris, and other particles had been thrown their way. Kakashi was forced to shield his own eye from the unwanted dust, for that it began to irritate his eye greatly. Minato coughed violently as the dust entered his lungs. Both men said nothing and instead looked around, scanning the flattened area around them for what had been struck this time. Most of the trees that had once stood were now just debris that had been pushed yards - possibly meters away, and for once both Shinobi were highly grateful for their chakra.
Soon a distinctive smell that Kakashi could recognize anywhere came, and he stopped, already puzzled by the smell. 'Smoke? Is something on fire?'
Seeing the same puzzled look on Minato, Kakashi soon came to the conclusion that his sensei was suspicious too.
It really smelt as though something had been set a blaze. Like they were suddenly in a movie and they were the kids that were first to smell a fire. What scared Kakashi (although he would never admit it) was that it was close by, and some other villagers' lives could be at stake if they were still around. Of course they were all supposed to have been evacuated, but anyone could be stupid enough to not follow the Hokage's orders, right?
His heart didn't fully stop with fear until a near by ANBU, with the voice of a female, screeched out, "The hospital! It's on fire!"
Both men's thoughts seemed to be revolving around both women currently inside as their heads shot in the direction of the hospital immediately. The flames reflected in their eyes, both mouths open in shock and fear (although Kakashi's was hidden by his mask). There was a faint scream - whether it was from Rin or Kushina neither knew - before Minato turned and was soon barking out orders.
"Monkey!"
A black-haired figure, appearing to be a woman, turned towards the Hokage. Saluting, the figure spoke, their tone giving away that it was a female, "Yes, Hokage-sama?"
"You're in charge now." Kakashi watched with a look of amazement shining in his visible eye. Somehow the older man had always been able to control a massive amount of Shinobi with no problem, even before he had been appointed as the Hokage of this village, "All ANBU except Wolf here are to be stationed in the front lines while Jounin are behind to give back up. If you need to, bring in the higher-specialized Chuunin, but I only want to see them out if we're about to fall. No matter what, I want the Kyuubi away from that hospital!"
The woman stood still momentarily, digesting the information, before she stood straight and tall again, saluting. "Yes, Hokage-sama!" Turning back around, Kakashi could feel the glare she was giving the fellow Shinobi who were watching with interest. "Well what are you all idiots waiting for?!" She barked out, "You heard the Hokage! Now get your head in this battle and move out there!"
"You heard her! Move it!" Another voice cut through the silence that had taken place after the woman's orders. "We've got a pregnant woman and a medic in that hospital, so get moving and move that beast out of there!"
Barely remembering the man who was called 'Elk' because of his mask, Kakashi could only watch as the remaining ANBU prepared for battle again. He didn't remember much about 'Elk' and 'Monkey' besides that both were married, but he did know that together the two were almost unstoppable.
"Elk! Steer these idiots in the back!"
Turning back around, eyes fixing on the fire once more, Kakashi moved forward again, using chakra this time to move faster. 'Hang on, Rin...'
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"Rin!"
The girl forced herself back up, burns from the fire and cuts from the shattered glass covering her body. It was no use to heal herself, something unknown had gone wrong in the pregnancy and Kushina had almost bled to death. Now almost drained of chakra, Rin had managed to get the newly mother past that point, but both were now too weak to move.
Flames were evolving all around them. No way to escape. No way to survive unless using chakra that neither of them had. Screaming for help wasn't an option because no one could possibly hear them through all the racket of the Kyuubi's howls.
Rin bit her lip. How was she supposed to get her and Kushina out? The flames left no ways out except for the roof that was beginning to collapse. Maybe they had time, but only one of them could be carried...
'No! There has to be another way!'
Kushina, finally seeming to understand what options were left, closed her eyes slowly. "Take him."
Rin's eyes widened. She knew that Kushina would've chosen for her son's life to be saved, but she didn't want it to have to come this soon. "I..."
"Please, Rin-chan. I know it's what Minato would want, even if he won't admit it..."
Rin froze in place, mind seeming to split in two. Who was she supposed to take? Kushina... or her son? Nothing was going right today, just a horrible day with one tragic event after the other. If only someone could steer her now, take over her to decide...
"Please, Rin-chan."
As Rin's eyes met with Kushina's something seemed to snap. The chances of Kushina living were very slim - practically impossible, so didn't she deserve another chance at saving her own son?
Tears leaking out of her eyes no matter how much she tried to hold them back, Rin whispered softly, holding her hands out, "Alright, I'll take him."
A sad smile - one of Kushina's last - had spread across her face when Rin finally had enough courage to look up at the woman whose life was being thrown away. The child looked up at her, grinning toothlessly at her as he was silenced briefly. Kushina smiled again softly as she commented, "Naruto likes you..."
Truly shocked, Rin's eyes shot up to meet Kushina's own. "N-Naruto?"
"That idiot's always saying his future son is 'Naruto'. Plus he said something about a book he read... something about a hero." Kushina shrugged. "As long as my child doesn't turn into an idiot like his father, or throws on a cape like Super Man, I'm fine."
Not able to understand any of their words, Naruto just glanced into Rin's own eyes filled with tears.
"Can't say I'm not looking forward to my child grabbing Kakashi's hair..." Kushina added as an after thought with a smirk. If the woman wasn't going to soon be dying, Rin probably would've chuckled, but was this time left without any strength to.
"Kushina-san, I'm sorry I couldn't--"
"What could you have done, Rin-chan?" The woman pushed a strand of Rin's honey-brunette hair out of the medic's face, revealing glistening eyes. Smiling once more, yet seeming to become exhausted from blood loss, Kushina said, "You're remarkable, and brilliant. There's no other medic nin out there in the world so unique and polite as you... and I'm sure it was hard trying to deal with Kakashi and Obito at the same time. But you, no more than an ordinary girl, did it. I'm pretty sure any other girl put in your place would've given up long ago, or would've beat up Kakashi and Obito long ago..."
"Thanks, Kushina-chan, but you're pretty remarkable yourself--"
"Me? Remarkable?" The woman seemed to be trying to let out a laugh, but had no strength to. "Sure I'm the Hokage's wife, but I was only a Shinobi for a short amount of time. I didn't have good enough chakra control to become a medical ninja, and I wouldn't have had any patience to perfect it."
"But you were a great Chuunin, almost good enough to be a Jounin."
"Jounin? Talk about a hyperactive kid leading a squad for a mission!" Without any more strength to laugh at her own joke, Kushina closed her eyes. "Before you go, can I see him one last time?"
Rin felt almost numb - even though her cuts stung - as she handed over the child to its mother. As she watched Kushina study her son's face for something to imagine as she died, Rin continued to cry. By now there was no reason to hold back tears, she simply wasn't strong enough to hold her emotions in.
"Here." Kushina had to shove the child back into Rin's arms, only because Rin couldn't bear to tell herself that it was the end for her sensei's wife. "Go Rin. Get out of here before you're trapped."
Taking one last look, smiling the best that she could through her tears as a 'good-bye', Rin jumped out of the nearest window. Kushina watched the younger female's figure closely until she couldn't see it anymore, before she lay back down, closing her eyes forever.
'Good-bye... everyone...'
Author's Note: Sorry it took a while for me to update again. I got caught up in some things, and just got around to actually writing again. I'm estimating about two chapters left before I move onto Innocence. Yahoo! Thank you everyone for your generous reviews and for reading this story! I'd also like to thank In Darkness Is Light for becoming my beta for this story; I really needed one.
Rika24 - Obito's the best Uchiha, in my opinion.
In Darkness Is Light - Thank you for the reassurance and the constructive crit., like usual. Now that I look back and see my major mistake, I feel kind of dense...
YebbadebbaOnee-chan - The mood will be staying the same for the rest of this story, and through out the sequel. It'll move like a roller coaster like this one was, but at least I don't have to kill off anymore awesome characters...
Kakashifangrl1012 - If Kakashi was getting the talk, you wouldn't be safe unless you were at least in another country. XD
kakashifan9 - I'll try to tone down the Kakashi/Rin-ness, but I don't know how much I can do because it's part of the plot. I can assure you that the most in the sequel will be a hug (only occurring a few times), and there will be no kissing. I don't know what your tolerance for pairings would be, but would that be alright? I'm sorry, but I'm not sure what I can really do. I thank you for asking me, though, because I don't want readers to get bored; and thank you for your comment about my writing style.