Chapter 28

"He's gone."

Naome turned to glare at the owner of the deep voice. The man merely looked down upon her desperate and shaking body. "There's no use in crying. That's where you, and everyone else will be going. He saved you once, but what are you going to do now? He can't save you again."

Naome moved to stand in front of Kakashi's body despite the fact that her body was so tired, so broken, and so numb in fear and heartbreak. "How could you do this? What is it that you want anyways? Even if you get Naruto, what is that supposed to do?!"

"You know nothing young girl. Nothing about the world of pain."

Tears brimmed Naome's eyes as she glared deeply at the purple ones in front of her. She had nothing now. No weapons to help defend her. No teammates here to help her. But for some reason, she still had the courage to stand here.

"I know nothing about pain? How can you be so sure?"

"Tell me then, girl. What do you know about pain?"

Naome shook as she stood there. She could feel the weather changing around them as her emotions began to lose control. Rain poured, the wind began to swirl, but there she stood, strong as ever against the most dangerous shinobi she knew.

"I grew up in the Hidden Rain Village. My parents died because of war when I was 5. I was orphaned and forced to live on the streets because the orphanage could not support us. I travelled alone my whole life, and learned everything on my own. I was starved, assaulted, raped, and everything in between! And yet, I never found the excuse to do what you're doing now. Tell me I don't know pain!"

To her surprise, the shinobi paused for a moment to think of a reply. His eyes closed for a minute, and she could have sworn his body relaxed. "So we are one in the same...Well then, you ask me why I am doing what I am doing. My goal is to take away the weapons used by these oppressive nations. I will bring peace to the world, but first, I must let everyone know what is pain. So that they too can feel our pain."

"Do you know what real pain is though?" She challenged him. "How can you know what real pain is if you have never loved? As war orphans we've lost everything from the beginning. But have you lost something you loved? Someone you loved?"

"Yes I have-"

"Then HOW? How can you think of bringing the same pain to other people? If you've truly loved and truly lost, you would never wish that feeling upon anyone!"

The purple eyes scanned hers before landing on the lifeless body behind her. "So did you love him then?"

"Yes. I still do. More than ever." Naome replied. Realization hit her then that she had never told those exact words to Kakashi. He died without hearing it, he died without knowing. He deserved to know. With all the darkness in his life, even the things that he refused to tell her, Naome felt the utmost regret. Of all people, he should have known that he was loved, cherished, and never alone. Now she would never have a chance to tell him. Now he was gone.

The elements around her intensified and she could feel it already, the water turning into hail around her, and some, into ice. She watched as those ice shards swirled in a cyclone-like pattern, creating minor cuts in Pein's cloak and body. It did the same to her as well, although she never once flinched at the stinging feeling surrounding her.

"So what are you going to do now that he's dead then? Avenge him? By killing me? Does pain not lead to more hatred? And hatred lead to pain? This is a never ending cycle. So once I become the leader of this world and rid it of pain, finally the fighting can all stop."

Naome scoffed. "Do you really think everyone will just stand still so that you can kill them and take over? It's because we love that we choose to protect closest to us!"

"He chose to protect you." Pein nodded to the man behind her. "And look at him now. Even love leads to more death. In order to protect the ones we love, we kill others. What makes you think your love is more righteous than another person's life."

"Kakashi didn't just fight to protect me. He fought to protect his village! To me, that's a hell lot more righteous than your damned life. Think about all the innocent people you've killed today!" Naome was becoming more frustrated. Her anger fueled her power. All together, she stopped the ice shards, and pointed them all in Pein's direction.

"Think about what these large villages have done to our home." Pein replied. "They've used it as a battlefield, trampled all over it. What about the innocent lives lost there? Your parents?"

Naome clenched her fists. As she stared down the enemy, she could see the images in her mind. The war torn, broken city. Trash, pollution, rubble, toxic gas, explosions, dead bodies, all littered everywhere. She had hated them at first too: every shinobi that stepped foot into her village, every shinobi that didn't belong there.

Then she thought of her travels. The teachers that taught her and housed her along the way. She thought about the friends she made here, her new family that she found in Shikaku and Yoshino, Shikamaru, Kakashi….

"That's not my home." Her gaze refocused, almost like lasers pointing at the purple eyes in front of her. "Don't you dare say another word about this village. This is my home now."

"Then I guess I have no choice." Pein raised a palm again. Widening her eyes, Naome braced herself on the ground and held onto Kakashi's body in her arms. With all the focus she could manage, her ice daggers remained suspended in place. If she could just withstand this one pull or push, she could finish him in seconds.

To her surprise, the enemy lowered his palm again. The solemn look still remained on his face as he stared down at her. "I changed my mind. I will keep you alive so that you can understand what I mean. You will see pain. You will see it for yourself and believe what I said once the world you know and love becomes nothing but rubble."

"W-What are you talking about?" Naome stuttered. "What do you mean rubble? What are you trying to do?"

"You will see for yourself." Pain turned to leave the vicinity, reflecting all the ice daggers that Naome had released away from him.

"Pain wait...I know what happened to the Hidden Rain Village hurt you. And it probably hurt the people around you too, but destroying a whole village and other villages is not the answer here." Naome tried to reason when all else failed. Her goal now, even if it wasn't to defeat him, was to at least stall him otherwise. God Dammit, Naruto, where are you?

"Then give me a better answer. Give me an answer to all this pain and all this fighting."

Naome watched the back of the shinobi who had suffered, just as much, or maybe even more than her. At least for her, she learned to love, and she found a place to call home, and a meaning to live.

"I don't know….I don't know how to stop all this fighting and all these wars. But what you're doing right now...it's just not right."

"Neither is what they did."

With that, the shinobi disappeared.

Taking a deep breath in momentary relief that she was no longer being stared down by the intimidating Rinnegan, Naome turned to Kakashi. She finally got a good glimpse of the man's body before her as it slumped over. The permanent tense creases in his forehead were gone and for once, he looked at peace.

She fell to her knees so that she was face to face with Kakashi. Pulling his mask down, her eyes desperately scanned his features through blurry eyes for any signs of life left in his body. Using her one good arm, she raised it caressing the side of his face and tracing her thumb along the scar.

"Kakashi...wake up. Please…." Her breathing started getting heavy, and the world faded around her as her tears flowed. The aching in her chest was making it hard to breathe, and it overwhelmed her, so much so that she felt numb in all other parts of her body.

"Baby...please...come back to me. Come on." She tapped the side of his face, trying to at least to get some kind of reaction.

It was all too surreal. He couldn't be dead. He was Kakashi Hatake afterall. He always told her not to worry about him, to save herself. He was always strong, strong enough for the both of them. He was always the one to protect her.

She was half expecting the body to disappear under her palm, as if it were another shadow clone. She expected to turn around, and Kakashi would once again appear from the rubble or the shadows and let her know that this was his plan all along, and that everything would be alright.

Desperately, she dug at the ground, releasing his body from the mound that surrounded it. Finally, she garnered as much strength as she could to pull his body into her lap. She watched as his chest no longer moved, his eyelids no longer fluttered, and the full weight of his body weighed heavily on her legs.

This was it. She knew it then, Kakashi was gone.

Grabbing his body tightly in her arms, and burying her head in his chest as she always did before, she cried. She wept with loud enough cries that those who were nearby could probably hear her over the commotion in the village. She cried so hard that she could barely catch her breath in between. Her head pounded as she held the lifeless body in her arms.

She thought about when they first met, the wink that he sent her. She remembered their first training days followed by all of the playful bantering that they had throughout their time together. Her memories replayed like a film of every mission they went on, every time he saved her, and lastly, every kiss and intimate moment they shared together. The last time he held her in his arms, it was so loving, so pure, and almost as if she finally understood him and finally saw the real Kakashi Hatake. Now...he was gone.

She wasn't sure how much time had passed with her out in the open, weeping over the passing of her lover. An enemy could have easily found her and finished her off. She knew she was in a much too vulnerable state to be breaking down emotionally in a large clearing. But alas, she didn't care. Perhaps now wouldn't be a bad time to die, afterall, it meant that she could follow after him. She shivered at her own dark and irresponsible thoughts, but she couldn't help it. Grief overwhelmed her to the point where she couldn't and didn't want to move anymore. She just wanted to stay there and hold him.

She was vaguely aware of Tsunade's white slug that had attached itself to her left shoulder and upper arm where it had been stabbed. The healing stung a bit, but Naome barely noticed. Her eyes laid emotionlessly on the man in front of her.

Shortly after, she felt another presence. This time, it was a warmth that surrounded her, holding her numb and shivering body. She leaned into the warm body as she continued to weep. She wanted to pull herself together, but she couldn't. It hurt. Everything hurt. All she wanted was to be with him. She should have been dead, not him. Her screams of agony echoed in the air as her tears flowed and soaked the cloth next to her face. The whole world was lost to her now. She just wanted him...she just wanted Kakashi back.

Shikamaru remembered the exact moment he heard the news. He had just managed to bring Kurenai-sensei to safety and joined his father and the Cryptanalysis Team, when he was joined by Tsunade's summon, Katsuyu.

He remembered fighting off some of the summoned beasts with wild purple eyes and finally being free when Katsuyu spoke up.

"Oh no…something is very wrong."

Shikamaru turned to the white slug. His usual nonchalant attitude was gone for the day. So now, he was more on edge than ever when the news hit. "

"Kakashi has been...he's been..." Dread filled the pit of Shikamaru's stomach when he heard the name. He was worried since the alarms sounded, of course, for the safety of Naome, but he knew that she was in good hands under Kakashi's watch. Now that he heard Kakashi's name being mentioned, he couldn't help but grow more alert.

"What is it Lady Katsuyu?! Please! I need to know!"

"Shikamaru...Kakashi, Naome, Choji, and Choza had engaged with two of the Peins. They took one down but the other….Kakashi has been killed by one of the Peins."

Shikamaru shot to his feet. "What about the others? What about Naome?"

"Choji and Choza have just been knocked unconscious. They will survive. Naome is grieving right now. She's been injured in her left shoulder as well." Katsuyu explained.

"I'm going to find her." Shikamaru began running off, but his father called him back.

"Shikamaru, you don't know where the enemy could be. He could still be lurking around that area." Shikaku said, "I am just as worried as you are, believe me, but you can't just dash in there like that without a team."

Shikamaru dropped his head and continued his steps forward. His hands were clenched into fists from fear of what could be there waiting for him, but he still had to go see her for himself. "I'm sorry dad, I'm going to find her. I promise you, I'll bring her out alive. Both of us will come back home. So you worry about yourself."

Before his father could protest, he ran off again, with a fragment of Katsuyu attached at his shoulder.

It didn't take long for him to find her in the giant clearing or fallen buildings. He had heard her screams from at least a kilometer away which made him hurt just knowing how she was suffering alone at that moment. He quickened his pace after that.

When he arrived, she was kneeling on the ground, hunched over Kakashi's body. Shikamaru couldn't see the entire body from afar, but the familiar silver hair of his sensei confirmed that it was indeed him. He dropped his head, giving himself a moment to mourn a strong shinobi, a great sensei, and even though he was his rival, a faithful comrade.

It wasn't about himself though. He was there because he knew he had to be strong for both him and Naome, especially Naome. His heart shattered when he took in the distraught cries and whimpering coming from her. It hurt, not because the situation only confirmed how much Naome loved the jonin - that, he already knew - but because of the way his sensei's death had broken her completely.

Shikamaru realized she was barely hanging on to her consciousness when he crouched down next to her. She hadn't responded at all, not even flinching when he reached out and pulled her tired body into his torso. It took a moment, but she gave in, fully burying her face into his green vest as she cried her sorrows out.

He held her securely, trying to hide tears of his own as each cry from Naome threw a dagger deeper into his heart. He had tried. He tried everything he could to protect her. Here he was now, holding her, as the village was under attack. He knew they were positioned irresponsibly. Everything in his logical mind told him he had to get out of here, but he couldn't, not with the way she sunk into his body.

It took a few moments before he put his foot down. "Let's go." He told her. He repositioned to try to help him up, but she shook his head despite her half-conscious state.

"Kakashi...we can't leave him here…"

He's dead, he wanted to tell her. I care more about your safety. We can come back for his body later. But he didn't have it in his heart to vocalize it out loud. He knew how hard it would be for her to come to the realization that Kakashi would be gone forever. At least it was for him to admit that Asuma was no longer here.

A few more minutes, he told himself. A few more minutes for her to mourn and then I'll take her away.

"Shikamaru…" Lady Katsuyu said from Naome's shoulder. She had been watching the scene unfolding the entire time in silence as reports filed into her head from events happening from around the village. "We need to get going. Pein has spoken to Lady Tsunade. She's afraid he's planning something. Everyone needs to evacuate."

Shikamaru turned to look at his love in his arms. He gritted his teeth together knowing what he would be doing next. With one last final glance at his sensei's body, he peeled Naome's hands off of the jonin's face one at a time. Her cries became heavier, when he forcibly pulled her away from the man.

She wailed and thrashed when he pulled her body into his arms and stood up. Her fists meeting his chest in protest. "No...Kakashi...Let me see him!"

"I'm sorry," Shikamaru mumbled one last time. He pulled her tighter against him and placed a kiss on each of her tear-filled eyelids. "I'm sorry. We have to go."

With a heavy heart, he ran off to the outskirts of town without looking back. Along the way, her body fell limp in his arms as exhaustion finally overtook her. He had just barely made it out when a sudden earthquake shook the entire area around him. With wide eyes, he turned back to the epicenter: the village, only to see that the entire land had been flattened.

He forced himself to look away and keep going, for the safety of himself and Naome. If an enemy had followed them, both of them would be murdered. When he was finally convinced he had gone far enough, he collapsed to the ground and gripped her body as tight as possible. He was grateful that at least, she was still safe in his arms.

Grief overcame him when flashbacks came of the village. He focused on the now soft breathing of the girl in his arms as he listened to the news of what was happening and prayed for the wellbeing of all those in the village.