Crimson Stained

Chapter 48

Hell


Kakashi and Nikushimi didn't stop or slow down at all for a good few hours. They were tailing the team that took Rin but the further they ran the larger the distance between the teams got. Kakashi was carrying Nikushimi for at least half of their run and Kakashi didn't have the same developed coils or body that their adult enemies had. Eventually Kakashi and Nikushimi stopped at a stream while Kakashi's ninken continued onward to keep the scent of the enemies.

"We need to keep moving." Kakashi said as he cupped his hands and brought the water to his mouth. He drank greedily while Nikushimi tried to trick her body with her weights so that Kakashi could have a break from carrying her.

Nikushimi agreed, "We do. There's no telling how far they're going to go and it would be a bad idea to pursue them if they leave the Land of Fire."

Kakashi stood up at that and gestured for them to keep moving. Nikushimi stretched out her legs before she took off and took the lead with her new burst of energy. A little below two kilometers behind them Moyasu was running low on chakra. He was spending chakra to keep his sensory range longer than it naturally was and he was being slowed considerably. Moyasu, after all, was a front line fighter. He wasn't a sensor and had large enough reserves where he could expend a good amount of chakra on jutsu. He would never be able to have the control for Medical Ninjutsu and he was no stranger to chakra exhaustion.

'They're going strong for two kids,' Moyasu was thinking as his body instinctively moved through the trees without a single misstep, 'This is going to do some damage on Kakashi's chakra and Nikushimi's body though. They won't be able to hold out a good fight.' Moyasu filtered more chakra into his muscles at the thought and picked up his speed. He needed to catch up to Nikushimi and Kakashi before they ended up in a tough situation.

Kakashi only had about a third of his chakra left when they reached his ninken. Nikushimi and Kakashi silently crouched in the brush while one of his dogs explained the situation they had just run into, "They took her into that cave and there's been a lot of chakra in the air since then."

Nikushimi and Kakashi nodded before peering towards the mouth of the cave. No light was emanating from it but Nikushimi knew better than to judge by that. With whispered tones Nikushimi and Kakashi began to debate their plan of action.

"We can sneak in and try and sneak Rin out." Nikushimi offered while Kakashi scoffed at the idea, "They'd sense us immediately."

Nikushimi glowered at him, "You they would, but I'm a different story."

"We can't risk that. Two hostages is worse than one. Especially since we're outnumbered and outranked." Kakashi denied, "We can't go in fighting either for the same reasons."

"Then what can we do?" Nikushimi questioned, biting her lip nervously. Kakashi opened his mouth to speak when suddenly, all of his ninken sunk to the ground and whined and Kakashi's head swiveled around to the cave so fast Nikushimi heard a crack in his neck. She went to question what happened when she stopped. She could feel nearly palpable chakra in the air around them. It was alive and moving, like there was an angry cloud around them trying to suffocate them. It was trying to pull them in and Nikushimi grabbed onto Kakashi's arm for support. Slowly the feeling started to subside as it was pulled into the cave. When the feeling was almost completely gone Kakashi's ninken were long gone from canceling their summons and Kakashi was tense and still.

When all seemed fine, suddenly the enemy was upon them. Nikushimi and Kakashi, only from trained reflexes, were able to scramble out of the way of a devastating stream of water that took out several trees around them. Nikushimi and Kakashi, separated by the enemy, began their fight. Nikushimi dove into the mouth of the cave while the enemies focused on Kakashi. She ducked under an attempt at taking off her head and grabbed her attackers neck while shoving a handful of senbon into his abdomen between his armor plates. Nikushimi moved onward and stepped around a body on the floor to find Rin, ghastly white and eyes wide. Nikushimi brought one of Rin's unresponsive arms around her neck and began to hobble towards the exit.

After sliding out of the cave Nikushimi tried to get them to the brush on the side of the clearing but had to drop Rin and block a short sword and out of the corner of her eye she found a flash of purple. So it was the ANBU again, then. Nikushimi was at a disadvantage, having to protect Rin as well, but Nikushimi was far too stubborn to give in. She spun and the ANBU dodged her spinning backwards hook kick but Nikushimi's flexibility and size allowed that kick to hide her roundhouse kick with the other leg. The ANBU figured he could take a kick from a girl that size.

Then Nikushimi's leg made contact with his mask. The mask immediately cracked into several pieces and the ANBU jumped back while blood splattered from several cuts on his face the mask had caused. Nikushimi grinned, one of her limited jutsus had allowed that to happen. With the man's face now in view Nikushimi found he was definitely a native of Kiri, with light purple skin and matching eyes and hair. Kiri was known for their odd skin colors and physical appearances.

The man, his mask gone, made quick hand signs and unleashed a cloud of poisonous gas from his mouth. Nikushimi swore and dove into the cloud towards the man but with a look around her Nikushimi found there were far more enemies than when they had started. Backup must have arrived.

"Shit shit shit." Nikushimi wheezed under her breath as she stopped abruptly and looked between Rin and tried to catch a glimpse of Kakashi. Among the enemies she caught a flash of silver but it easily could have been an enemy's armor flashing. Nikushimi turned to help Rin but Rin was slowly making her way to her feet while looking around with distressed eyes. Suddenly Nikushimi was against the cave and quite drenched from a hard stream of hot water. Nikushimi flipped to her feet after she reoriented herself and she found Rin was gone.

"Nikushimi hurry!" she heard Kakashi call and Nikushimi jumped in the direction of the voice. But it was too late as she landed beside Kakashi. They were completely surrounded by many Kiri ninja. Nikushimi allowed red chakra to creep down her senbon and Kakashi held Rin tight to his body. Nikushimi was breathing heavily as anxiety started to crawl through her mind. Her body urged to flee but she couldn't leave Kakashi and Rin behind. So, with a look to Kakashi and Rin, Nikushimi smiled.

Kakashi's eyes widened-he was using Obito's Sharingan- and he yelled, "Nikushimi no!"

But it was too late. Nikushimi was already cleaving away as best she could at their enemies. Some enemies fell, others were far too skilled to be taken down by a small girl desperately trying to kill whoever she could. Nikushimi was taking hits but her body was numb to the pain as her heart ached for her to kill all the enemies. To save her friends. Nikushimi was scalded by another water jutsu and she had to break down poison in her blood every time black dots began to cloud across her vision. Blood was dribbling from various cuts across her body but Nikushimi was strategically using the scalding water that occasionally was directed at her to cauterize the wounds. With Nikushimi's medical abilities and the heat of the water it was possible but not nearly as efficient as fire would have been.

Nikushimi took a hit to the back of her head and she rolled forward as she fell. She was on her back only for a moment before she rolled to the side with her arms already on guard and senbon sliding up through her fingers. Her attacker received a senbon through his eye and into his brain while several ninja she had grazed were left on the ground, ripping at their wounds that still had traces of red chakra seeping into their bodies.

Then her fight nearly ended.

Nikushimi felt the sword enter her bad knee at the joint and she looked down with wide eyes as suddenly, that leg ended at her knee. There was a vicious spray of blood and Nikushimi's shock kept her body from rolling when she fell. The ninja tried to descend upon her weakened form but Nikushimi kept them at bay with senbon. Soon though, there was a slight click and no senbon came when Nikushimi called upon them. She was out of senbon. Nikushimi took a kunai in each hand and started to defend while crawling backwards towards where Kakashi was defending himself and Rin. The enemies circled around them and they were left at the center of everything. One ninja tried to pull Nikushimi into grappling but with a snarl Nikushimi bit through his arm with her sharp teeth and he disengaged. After that bestial display they all pulled back a few feet and Nikushimi scuttled backwards until she was at Rin's feet.

"N-Niku-shimi..." Rin gasped in horror, "Your... your leg!"

Nikushimi looked down at her halved appendage and reached forward and clamped both her hands over the bleeding mess. She had left a good trail of blood and now that she thought about it, she could possibly be seeing spots from blood loss. Nikushimi's chakra began to pull out of her bloodied limbs and it surged around the stump that was once her knee. Nikushimi suddenly felt the world surge and all her balance was gone. She fell to her side and gripped at her stub and continued to pour whatever she had into it. Nikushimi had never felt chakra exhaustion before but she had read about it. Certainly she was nearing that point as well.

Nikushimi was feeling quite out of reality. She tried to bring herself back and managed to pull bits and pieces of Rin and Kakashi's conversation to her.

"-shi, kill me!"

Or perhaps not. Nikushimi wanted to scream. Hallucinating was certainly not a good sign. Her world darkened for a few moments and she strained her neck to look at Kakashi and Rin. She caught a glimpse of Rin smiling down at Nikushimi as Kakashi rushed to pick up the fight. Rin put a hand to Nikushimi's forehead and Nikushimi wondered why she looked so happy. Rin's eyes were muted but they were the warm brown Nikushimi associated with her friend. Suddenly liquid dripped onto Nikushimi's cheek and Nikushimi wondered what it was. Rin's eyes were sparkling, that was quite pretty, Nikushimi thought. Suddenly her friend stood and the warmth that Rin's hand had made on Nikushimi's forehead lingered. Nikushimi's eyes followed her friend as Kakashi leaped back from the fray and the sound of birds cut through the air.

Birds were nice, but they were kind of out of place here weren't they? Nikushimi was a bit confused but watched Kakashi's hand light up with a choppy spark that grew into a mass of spikes. Nikushimi thought. Kakashi's affinity was lightning, right? That made sense. It was quite nice to finally have an inkling of something making sense. Suddenly through her numbness Nikushimi felt something. Suddenly Kakashi was charging at her with his bright hand and Nikushimi somehow registered there was a sword in her side.

"I'm... sorry... Shinobi-san..." Nikushimi heard, though a bit muffled by the pounding in her ears. Was that her heart, pounding so loudly?

Oh, the purple man was above her. That wasn't good, but Nikushimi was so very tired. Kakashi was coming to help though, right? Then, suddenly, something warm hit Nikushimi's face and the birds sizzled out. It took a good few moments for Nikushimi to register what had just happened. Rin had thrown herself in Kakashi's way and Nikushimi was able to see three things. She saw Kakashi's horrified face, Rin's back, and an oddly misplaced hand. That hand was Kakashi's and it was oh so very bloody. The hand was misplaced because it was in the middle of Rin's back. It took a few more moments for Nikushimi's mind to formulate what had actually happened.

Nikushimi's eyes widened dramatically as her mind suddenly became too clear. Far too clear for her liking.

Kakashi's attack had gone through Rin's chest after Rin had dove in front of it. Nikushimi struggled to get up, she could heal Rin. She could scrounge up the chakra for it, right? Nikushimi tried to use her fingers to drag herself through the dirt but she couldn't move. Oh, that was right. There was a sword pinning her to the ground. What organs was that sword rupturing? Quite a few, Nikushimi thought grimly. And she was about to destroy a few more by ripping herself off said sword. The purple man was left stunned, as was mostly everyone in the clearing, as they watched their hard work kill herself on her friends attack.

The purple man found it kind of funny, actually. The kid had been running at him to try and save the red eyed girl he was killing on on his sword. But the purple man felt he was really giving the poor dying girl mercy. One of her legs had been cut off at the knee so she would never walk again and his poison was certainly wrecking her systems. She was out of chakra from trying to salvage her leg and she didn't even respond to his sword entering her body. The purple man knew he was giving this poor child mercy by killing her instead of letting her suffer.

He was broken from his shock when he heard the ripping of flesh and there was a tug at his sword. He looked down at found the red eyed girl was dragging herself. It was admirable, her willpower and ability to drag herself even though she had lost probably half of her blood already. As she dragged she left a trail of blood behind her and she probably didn't even notice that she had reopened what she had healed on what was left of her leg. The man debated on spearing that leg with his sword and pinning her down again but looking at her, he found he couldn't. She was just a child on her death bed who was trying to get to her equally dying friend.

The boy who had accidentally speared his friend had an agonized look to him, as if he were locked in a scream beneath his mask. His left eye suddenly changed with its design coming into what looked to him like a three spiked fan pattern before the boy collapsed after murmuring one of the girls names. All three were down and the man found the scene to be depressing. The red eyed girl reached the brunette girl and put her hands into the gaping hole in her friends chest.

Then the purple man's attention went to a scream and found an oddly dressed man. Backup for these kids? Done with this ridiculous fight they jumped at the man. Soon, the fight was shown to be very one sided in the man's favor and the purple man looked between the fallen kids and their backup. This just wasn't worth it, and so he left as the rest of his allies were slaughtered.

Nikushimi was sobbing as she leaned up on one arm and tried to call out to her chakra to heal Rin. Nikushimi was reaching into her body and was so closely searching that she ignored the carnage that was her own insides. Bloody tears dribbled down from her eyes and suddenly a wave of nausea hit her and her world spun again. She collapsed off her arm and withdrew the hand that had been trying to salvage Rin. Nikushimi looked into Rin's eyes and found that it didn't matter anyway. The warmth in the eyes was gone and they were no longer sparkling with tears. They were empty and dead.

Nikushimi made a fist and rolled herself onto her back to stare up at the dark sky. She couldn't tell at this point what was her vision beginning to fail or the sky. Suddenly a shadow overcame her from the light of the moon and Nikushimi found a familiar face staring down at her. While this face was half covered in scars and only a single eye was open and staring down at her, Nikushimi knew it was Obito. An odd Sharingan was staring down at her and Nikushimi stopped her sobbing to choke out a laugh.

"How cruel..." Nikushimi murmured, "For my hallucinations to give you to me on my death bed."

"You're not going to die." Obito replied as he knelt down. He was wearing something funny, Nikushimi thought. Odd white spikes and his hair was pretty long now.

Nikushimi leaned her head back as her hallucination seemingly lifted her from the ground. Nikushimi sighed deeply, "I was right, there is no god out there. No fate nor destiny. Nothing could be so cruel as to give you to me like this."

"Don't talk as if you're going to die, Nikushimi." Obito told her, "I'm going to save you."

"Tch, even as a hallucination you're optimistic." Nikushimi scoffed weakly. She gestured down at herself as best she could, "Look at me. I'm missing a leg, my entire right side has been torn out and I've lost too much blood."

"I know someone who can save you-"

Nikushimi cut him off, "I get it. I get it now."

She smiled and the sight of the broken toothy grin nearly made Obito drop her, "You're here to carry me off to the other side with you."

Obito protested, "No-"

But it was no use. Nikushimi let out a relieved laugh, "I'm glad that I can die in your arms, even if I'm just hallucinating you."

Nikushimi closed her eyes. Obito shook her head to keep her awake. She murmured, "Look behind us, Obito."

And he did so. He nearly dropped her again. For a small girl, Nikushimi had a lot of blood. He hadn't even reached the edge of the clearing but a thick trail of blood was following them. And... was that an organ?! Obito put a hand to Nikushimi's side and found that the wound was far too big. Something was falling out of her. Obito let her gently to the ground with tears in his eyes.

"Heal yourself!" he ordered, "Heal yourself! You've survived hell before, now survive it again!"

"I've never felt chakra exhaustion before but surely this is it. I can't heal myself, Obito. I can't bullshit death for the billionth time." Nikushimi closed her eyes, "Please, just let me die in your arms."

Nikushimi felt tears hit her face and she was confused. How was a hallucination getting her wet? Perhaps it was raining. Yes, perhaps the sky was crying for her and Rin.

"Obito-kun, there's a chakra signature coming this way." an unfamiliar voice to Nikushimi spoke up, "It feels like fire."

"Fuck, that might be Moyasu. Hopefully it is." Obito sighed and she felt something warm and wet on her forehead. Then her lips. She could taste through the blood that had crusted over her lips a familiar taste.

Nikushimi's eyes fluttered open as the warmth started to leave her and she watched as white spiraled up over the dark hair of her hallucination. But... was it truly a hallucination?

"O-Obito!" Nikushimi called. He looked over his shoulder at her and from the dark hole of the white spiral the single Sharingan stared at her, "Are you real?"

And he didn't answer her question. Rather, he looked up at the moon and let out a desperate laugh, "I get it... I'm in Hell, aren't I?"

Then he was gone. But that was a rather good way of putting it.

Nikushimi agreed.

"I too, must be in Hell, Obito."


AN

DUN DUN DUN. Literally I wrote this in one go after struggling with the first few paragraphs forever.

Fun Fact- Nikushimi doesn't believe in god, destiny, or fate. She would not get along with young Neji.

Thanks to the following for reviewing:

Jennku (Times like, thirty. Thank you so much for your long messages and feedback 3)
Halie
Nandeenah