THE SCORCHING CINDERS IX
Kakashi hopped from tree to tree absentmindedly. With Kaeri going back to hunting the Akatsuki, he was alone in their apartment again. Therefore, to not let the mushrooms grow on himself, he decided to take on a mission which would be his last mission with the Sharingan. Oddly enough, there was an A-rank asking for him specifically. Kakashi was skeptical at first, but the investigation team had made it clear that they had done their job properly before the mission scroll could reach him. Thus, as a result, he was heading to his customer's location. It was said to be somewhere between the Land of Mountain and the Land of Fields. Given that the place was near to the Land of Fire, the trip took him barely a day to arrive. Somehow, he couldn't shake off the ominous feeling he had for the mission.
Once Kakashi stopped at the river bank, he decided to stand there and waited. Obviously, it was the destination where he would meet his customer and they would head to the Land of Lightning. Yeah, this was an escort mission which was pretty easy for him but also not too boring. After a few seconds, he sensed someone was approaching him from behind and discerned they might be his customer. However, as Kakashi turned around and finally took in the stranger's appearance, he stared in disbelief. A lump formed in his throat.
"O-Obito."
Uchiha Obito who was supposed to be dead a long time ago standing right before him. Alive and breathing. That face, Kakashi could never forget it. Within a few seconds, a lot flashed through his mind. From the day Obito was crushed in half to the day Rin's chest was pierced by Chidori, those scenes were still as real as they first occurred. For a moment, he thought he was seeing a ghost, or worse, an illusion. Regardless, Obito didn't disappear no matter how many times Kakashi tried to dispel the genjutsu. Just then, Kakashi noticed the man was wearing an eyepatch on his left eye where Kakashi's Sharingan belonged. Swallowing dryly, as Kakashi was about to try to utter some words, the man scratched the back of his head and grinned at him.
"Well, long time no see, Kakashi."
::
Sasuke glanced at his companion running beside him. He had mixed feelings about the old man. Ever since he started learning under Tsurugi – Deity of the North, Sasuke had been questioning himself a lot. As a result, he eventually realized what a fool he used to be. Still, he couldn't stop hating that man no matter how much stronger he had grown. It was such a pathetic train of thought but Sasuke had been and still was a stubborn one. Therefore, he decided to ask Tsurugi in hopes the wolf would enlighten him with an answer.
"There are reasons why the cycle of hatred is said to be an eternal existence, Sasuke. And one of them is human."
It was a cryptic answer that he didn't expect from Tsurugi who had been nothing but straightforward. Then again, he could understand somewhat why humans were part of those reasons. Hence why Sasuke decided to go on this trip in the first place. It could be said he had been aware of the issue for a long time and didn't want to admit it aloud. And so, during his time under Tsurugi's tutelage, he had come to accept the truth of this world. Therefore, he didn't lose his cool when Itachi suddenly appeared before his eyes. Instead, he seethed inwardly and rested his hand on the hilt of his sword in case things went bad suddenly. As Sasuke was staring at the man, Hiruzen decided to break the silence first.
"Itachi?" The old man sounded unusually uncertain, which was enough to alert Sasuke. Something wrong was happening.
"Yes, Hokage-sama?" Gracefully, Itachi bowed at Hiruzen as though it was natural to him.
Narrowing his eyes, Sasuke found everything about the man was kind of off. Hearing Itachi's voice in the middle of somewhere in the Land of Iron was weird, especially when the man kept sneaking glances at Sasuke for no reason. Then again, having him appeared out of nowhere was weirder. After a moment of silence, Hiruzen gave out a sigh, one that Sasuke knew was from exhaustion. Beat him. There was no way he would understand why the old man acted moody all of a sudden. Somehow, Itachi was allowed to stay with no questions from Hiruzen whatsoever. Knowing the old man, Sasuke discerned he was definitely plotting something behind that harmless face again.
Well, for once, Sasuke wouldn't complain about it. Trying to ignore the burning gaze glue on his nape, Sasuke looked forward to Hiruzen's plan even more. It was the third day that Itachi, or to be exact, pseudo-Itachi decided to make a move on Sasuke. Aside from that, Hiruzen was nowhere in sight. He bet the old man was standing somewhere on the sideline and watched the fight unfold. What a sneaky monkey. Hiruzen must have known everything from the start. Because how else could the old man know to warn him about the Sharingan stealing? However, it was all thanks to his adept senses that Sasuke managed to avoid his eyes being plucked out while he was asleep. As he was looking around in search of Hiruzen, the man before him spoke up.
"Don't worry, little brother. I've finished that old man so you can rest assured now," Pseudo-Itachi said in a monotone. "Why don't we have a little chat about your eyes instead?" Pseudo-Itachi tilted his head to the side. The act looked creepy since it was done in slow motion. Not only that, the bastard just stared at him blankly with that soulless fake-Sharingan.
"You're not Itachi. Don't act like that man." Gritting those words through his teeth, Sasuke gripped the sword in his hand and charged at the man.
"Oh," Was the only sound the man made before countering numerous blows Sasuke struck. They danced around each other for a while until pseudo-Itachi inquired curiously.
"How can you know I'm not Itachi?"
"Because I know him. As much as I hate to admit it, that man will never stoop this low." Although it was true, Sasuke couldn't help but feel agitated as he spitted out every single word.
Obviously, the man lost by the time their fight finished. Otherwise, Sasuke would've been ashamed of being defeated by an impersonate-Itachi bastard despite having mastered kenjutsu. However, killing the man was proved futile since the man didn't even bleed in the first place. Anyone could tell that he was a puppet through and through but Hiruzen seemed to think differently. Out of nowhere, before Sasuke or pseudo-Itachi could react, pseudo-Itachi was sealed away into a scroll.
"What did you do?" Sheathing his sword, he glanced at Hiruzen.
"Do you know Orochimaru?" Calmly, the old man put the scroll away into his backpack.
"What about him?" Instantly, Sasuke tensed up at the mention of that snake weirdo. Till these days, he still remembered what Orochimaru had told him in the Death Forest.
"Don't you want to avenge your clan? Don't you want to gain more power to do so? Come with me. I'll grant you the power and make your wish come true, Sasuke-kun."
It was disturbing to think he had genuinely considered Orochimaru's proposal in that brief moment. Fortunately, Kaeri had arrived on time before he could make a foolish decision on his own.
"Yeah, I suspect the puppet has something to do with Orochimaru. Or worse, the Akatsuki." Hiruzen's voice dropped an octave when he said the latter.
"Whatever." Sasuke shrugged nonchalantly. He had accepted the fact that his eyes were a trouble magnet after this whole time. Thus, he spent days and nights honing his skills. It would be a shame if he couldn't protect himself properly, though.
"Be careful, Sasuke. I have a feeling we'll run into things like this more regularly from now on." Said Hiruzen seriously before turning away and walking back to his tent.
Looking at the night sky, Sasuke gave out a sigh as he sensed someone was lurking in the shadow not so far from their campsite. Estimating the time, he figured the newcomer had just arrived after Hiruzen put that damn scroll away.
"You've just jinxed it, old man." He grumbled as he beheaded the missing-nin from behind.
o0o
With the Akatsuki being back to laying low, Team 23's members had been gone on several missions separately for the last two months. Their intention was to earn money and gather information about the Akatsuki at the same time. Well, it was her suggestion in the first place but no one could argue against the fact that they were still humans, and humans needed to eat to survive. Therefore, they couldn't just sit around until the Akatsuki surfaced again. To be convenient, Team 23 was divided into two teams depending on their capacities. Kaeri and Itachi were in the same team, they would only take S-rank missions and above. Meanwhile, the other three would concentrate on A-rank and B-rank missions.
Unlike the other times, this time, they were handed an S-rank mission by Tsunade. The reason? It was because, one month ago, three jönins took the mission and never returned since then. The council had ordered an investigation team to work on it but they still couldn't find the answer. Obviously, Kaeri had heard about the mysterious mission from Ibiki and the man had guessed the Hokage would call for her soon. Just as he predicted, two days later, Team Kaeri was summoned to the Hokage's office. Seeing Tsunade's solemn expression, she knew things weren't simple. Meanwhile, the mission was the opposite. Retrieve a secret scroll from someone in the Earth. The sole reason her team was given this mission was that they suspected the Stone had something to do with the Akatsuki.
Everyone knew Tsuchikage was an ambitious old man who would do anything to achieve his goals. Recently, the Leaf's spies had reported about the Stone's third-tailed beast. Apparently, the beast had been caught and sealed in its new host secretly. Knowing what the Akatsuki's intention was, it wasn't a far stretch to assume the Stone was related to the three jönins' mysterious missing. Therefore, the mission was actually given to Team 23 but due to the council's consideration, only Kaeri and Itachi would go on this trip. Basically, from Team 23's previous encounters with the Akatsuki, the council had learned that Itachi was the only one who had fared better than the others in the team. Seeing as Yamato, Sai, and Yügao were valuable assets to the village; the council didn't want to let them go down the death path. As for Itachi, given that he had killed one of the Akatsuki's pillars and forced the other to retreat, they didn't think the Uchiha would be endangered at all. It was the same for Kaeri, she was said to be stronger than Itachi so there was nothing to worry about her.
According to the investigation team, all traces were cut off once they crossed the borders. That meant someone out there was doing it on purpose. Kaeri could tell it was bait and the person behind the scene was expecting the Leaf would bite on it. She wondered what their true intention was. Let's say they planned to lure her and Itachi to the Stone then what else? Besiege them? Don't joke. Because as humble as she was, Kaeri was aware of the power she possessed. Aside from that, Itachi could simply use his Sharingan to bail both of them out with no problems so to say they would be brought down by the Stone force was impossible. She would rather think that the Stone didn't have anything to do with all of this. From the beginning, the Akatsuki had used the conflict between the Stone and the Leaf to deceive everyone. For instance, all traces were pointed at the Land of Earth. It didn't say much about anything but it did prick at the Leaf's attention.
Eventually, without enough evidence, people could only suspect and make suppositions. Of course, things were more complicated than just some jönins going missing mysteriously. The bottomless valley between the Stone and the Leaf was made by wars and old grudges. Hence, Tsunade would think the Tsuchikage was behind all of this. Nevertheless, Shikaku thought otherwise. Since the start, the secret scroll, the missing jönins, the traces, and the investigative information all smelled fishy. There had to be a catch. Kaeri agreed with the Nara's logic, seeing as she also thought the same. Granted, the Stone ninjas were mostly aggressive and pugnacious, but it didn't mean they were stupid. They had no reason to clean all the traces on the Land of Earth and leave the rest outside the borders at all.
If they wanted to foment another war, then the Tsuchikage would have to plan it in secret just like how he did in the past. For someone like him, he would prefer to incite conflicts between the other nations around the world rather than put himself in the front. That way, he would be able to benefit from the wars while growing his forces. Then, when everyone had been weakened by each other, the Tsuchikage would step out from the shadow and struck all of them with his overwhelming manpower. That should be how the Stone wanted to establish its totalitarianism over the world. And it was probably the Tsuchikage's dream, too. Sadly, with the other three nations joining hands at the moment, the Tsuchikage would have to try harder to achieve his dream. That being said, the disappearance of those three jönins was ninety percent the Akatsuki's deeds.
Back to the present, she and Itachi were heading to the location that was written in the mission's scroll. As she predicted, the place was near to the Earth's borders which didn't add up to their theory about the Stone being the instigator at all. As soon as they passed the border, a sense of wrongness washed over Kaeri. Immediately, she swerved their direction and went to perch on a tree which Itachi followed suit. For a second, the Uchiha was left confused. Then, her hand came up and started signing to him.
"We've just passed through a veil."
Out of the corner of her eyes, the man seemed to be brought up short by her statement. Seeing as Itachi failed to detect it, she could tell the veil they had passed was probably a barrier that was made by seals or talismans instead of genjutsu.
"What should we do now, taichö?" Calmly, he signed back.
"We should wait. But things would only get complicated if we do that. So," Kaeri paused and then closed her eyes.
Taking a deep breath, she cleared out her mind and gradually slipped into her Sage mode. When she opened her eyes again, they weren't emerald anymore but deep blue. Clenching and unclenching her fists, Kaeri could feel an amount of power surged through her veins. The fact that she could take on twenty Kakashi and two jinchürikis at their full power at the moment brought a wicked smile to her face. Kaeri wanted more than that but for now, she was satisfied with what she had. Turning to Itachi who had been waiting patiently beside her, she sent him a vicious look while her lips parted.
"We'll screw them all."
It was as though the Uchiha was satisfied with her answer because his eyes mirrored the same look in return.
::
A sting sent from her ankle caught Kaeri off guard but she recovered from it quickly enough to not hinder her movement. Smacking her forehead, she couldn't believe she would forget about Zetsu and his hideout. Judging how burning her ankle was feeling, Kaeri was certain Zetsu had brought someone along with him. Fortunately, those seals she had put up were stubborn enough to keep them there for another three hours. Otherwise, Kaeri would have ground her teeth broken out of agitation because she had failed to catch her prey. Running beside her, Itachi noticed her strange action immediately.
"Täicho?" He glanced at her.
"It's nothing, keep going." She responded curtly. The man seemed to hesitate at first but he inclined his head anyway before returning his attention to the path before him.
As expected, they had run into Pain and fought with the man until they both took him down for good. Obviously, Kaeri didn't hesitate to execute the redhead once they found him stuck in a giant statue in an underground chamber taken for the Akatsuki hideout. Once the redhead died, she had sealed his head and that statue away to look into them both later. After causing quite a ruckus in the foreign territory, she decided to return to the Leaf. Unfortunately, they only managed to find one corpse out of three jönins who had gone missing in the scope of one month. Still, they sealed the body to take it home with them. On the other hand, her intent to go back to the Leaf was disrupted as Kaeri was informed that Zetsu was caught in her trap. That meant, she would have to hurry in case the creature and his companion escaped. Glancing at Itachi, she pondered whether or not she should let the Uchiha come with her. Moments later, Kaeri saw herself come to a halt while Itachi also stopped in his tracks and sent her a questioning look.
"Itachi-san, go back to the village and give Tsunade-sama a detailed report," She took out the scrolls and raised the one that sealed the statue. "Give this to Shikaku-san or Ibiki-san. Tell them don't touch it until I'm available for their questions. Also, tell them to keep this scroll locked in a safe place only they know." Then, she waved the one that sealed the head inside. "In the meantime, they can look into the head to satisfy their curiosity, I guess."
"Understood." Itachi inclined his head as he took the scrolls from her and put them away. However, the man still stood in place without any signs that he would move soon.
"What's the problem?" Arching an eyebrow, Kaeri rested most of her weight on her right leg since the burning sensation on her left ankle made her a bit uncomfortable.
"Good luck, taichö." The man patted her shoulder lightly after looking at her for a while. Then, he turned away, taking off in the direction that was opposite to her.
Blinking incredulously, Kaeri stared at his silhouette until the man disappeared from her sensing range. Shrugging lightly, she also turned away and took off in the path leading to the Mountain's Graveyard.
o0o
"So you're a genin teacher, now?" Obito gave out snickers. "It seems the table has turned."
Kakashi understood what the man was implying. He had been quite a brat to Minato back when he was still a genin. Not only Obito, but Kakashi also didn't expect to become a genin teacher and dealt with brats every day. In his point of view, the job was more a chore than a career. And oh man did Kakashi regret taking on the job whenever he had to wake up early in the morning. Though, having an early rising housemate helped him a little bit in days he didn't want to crack his eyes open. Sometimes, she would even strangle him for considering quitting his job as a genin teacher.
"Stop being stupid, Kakashi. Team 7 still needs you."
Well, it wasn't like his students needed him anymore, right? Then again, those three somehow knew about his slack-off and wrote letters to threaten him that they would burn off his Icha Icha collection if he dared to do that. Oddly enough, Kakashi was ecstatic while he went through their blackmails. He wouldn't admit that his old heart felt lonely because his students grew too quickly and abandoned him, though.
"Mah, the kids are fun. So I also benefit from them a lot." Sighing, Kakashi said that aloud as though to convince himself rather than Obito.
"Whatever you seem fit, Bakashi." Obito shrugged. Obviously, he knew what Kakashi was thinking.
Snorting, Kakashi felt nostalgic as he heard the nickname come from Obito. They used to fight a lot, like cats and dogs. However, after Obito's death, Kakashi felt nothing but regret. And wasn't it just how he lived his life? He would only miss a person when he lost them, only regret when he realized they never came back, and only see reason when it was too late. He held pride in his punctuality and scorned Obito for always being late. Yet, it was him who was too late to save Obito when the time came. How ironic.
"Say, are you really a civilian now?" Kakashi looked curiously at the man walking slightly ahead of him.
"Yeah, my chakra core is broken after I managed to survive that catastrophic accident." Obito shrugged half-heartedly then glanced over his shoulder. "Besides, I figured being a civilian isn't a bad thing at all."
"How so?" Kakashi had a feeling he knew what it was.
"'Cuz I'm free now. Don't you see it?" Obito opened his arms widely. A bright grin shone on his scarred face. "I can travel anywhere without worrying about quarrels between nations. Moreover, I won't be forced to be in the frontline should the war happen anymore. Isn't that great?"
"Mah, I'm glad you enjoy your life, Obito." Kakashi sounded genuinely happy for his friend's fortune while his only visible eye turned into a crescent moon. However, underneath the mask, his lips were set in a grim line.
"Wow! You've grown, Bakashi! I thought you would be bitter, though." Obito slowed down his steps to walk alongside the Copy Nin.
"I don't think I'd be bitter about that even when I'm a brat." Kakashi raised an eyebrow at the exclamation.
"Is that so?" Obito glanced at the man with an unreadable look. "With my Sharingan, you ought to carry a lot of weight of expectation. Let's do a count, shall we?" He tilted his head. "How many times were you thrust into a war without your say? And how many times did you want to quit but your responsibility was too much for you to simply drop it?" He paused briefly as though to give the Copy Nin some time to digest the questions. Then, Obito continued with pity laced in his words. "I bet you're really exhausted with how things are, Kakashi."
Obito seemed satisfied with his sentiment so he didn't mind when the rest of their journey to the Land of Mountain lapsed into silence. Meanwhile, Kakashi had a blank look on his face as if he was sorting out his thoughts which convinced the searching gaze directed at him that he was deeply affected by Obito's words.
By the time the sun went down, they had been in the heart of a forest where Obito said to be near the Land of Lightning's border. Considering they couldn't ignore the peril of wandering in the night forest, both men decided to call it a day and set up a camp.
"I'm going to have a normal eye replaced with the Sharingan next week." Staring at the campfire, Kakashi suddenly spoke up as he lifted his forehead protector to reveal the blood-red eye underneath.
"Huh?"
"Yeah, this is the last mission I go on with the Sharingan." He turned to smile kindly at the baffled Obito. "And thanks to you, I can finally move on."
"Uhm," Clearing his throat, Obito blinked at the Copy Nin. "Can you give it back to me after your surgery?"
"I'm afraid I can't." Kakashi shook his head regretfully. "The Sharingan will be returned to the Uchiha temple."
"Why? I'm the owner, though." Frowning, Obito leaned closer to the man as though he was genuinely curious. However, the position also allowed him to invade Kakashi's personal space. Should he go for the Sharingan, the man would hardly be able to avoid it.
"Because you're not the Leaf's resident anymore. Besides, no one knows about your existence but me." Kakashi responded calmly.
"Did you forget I'm the one who gave it to you?" This time, Obito sent the man an accusatory look.
"I didn't. I just follow the rules, that's all." Kakashi returned the look nonchalantly.
"Those who break the rules are trash," Obito narrowed his eye.
"But those who abandon their friends are worse than trash." Kakashi continued, then waved his hand lightly. "I know, and I'm not intending to abandon anyone."
"But you-"
"But it'll always be the Leaf for me if I have to choose." Kakashi looked Obito in the eye. "Because that's where my loyalty belongs."
"Ha! You disappoint me, Kakashi." Hatred quickly filled Obtio's only eye. "After all this time, I thought you've changed, but I should know a leopard can't change its spots." As he finished, his hand came up and shot toward the Sharingan before Kakashi could react. He would have plucked the eye out if the Kakashi before him didn't pop away into a puff of smoke.
A clone! Obito, or White Zetsu to be exact, discerned as his mind finally registered he had been deceived during this whole time.
"Mah, you spooked me when you came and smelled exactly like Obito even though you're not a very good actor yourself."
White Zetsu looked up to see Kakashi was perching on a branch not so far from the campsite. It irked him and his pride at how he had been deceived by the man easily. Regardless, he was even more curious how the Copy Nin could play that trick without him noticing. The thought once again agitated him immensely.
"Who are you?" Suddenly, Kakashi appeared behind him with a kunai pointed at his throat.
White Zetsu snorted at the threat. As if he would die by such a pathetic attempt. Deciding to drop his disguise, Obito's face melted and morphed back to White Zetsu's true appearance. He could already see Kakashi's terrifying expression when the man realized how powerful he was. Clamping the Copy Nin's forearm in his hand, White Zetsu burrowed both of them underground. Before they could go down completely, he turned his head around to give the man a wicked grin.
"Wanna see who I am? Then follow me."
::
Since a long time ago, Kakashi knew for a fact that his luck was always the worst. Thus, when he laid his hand on a random mission, he would make sure to check it thoroughly. Nonetheless, things still got out of hand most of the time. And so, when he took on a B-rank mission that had a customer specifically asking for him, his paranoia surfaced to expect the worst. Needless to say, he was right all along to send his shadow clone to wait for the customer. When he sighted Obito, a knot in his stomach was finally smoothed out. Even though Kaeri had given him that picture of the fake Madara, he still clung to his belief that Obito would never commit such a crime, let alone had the courage to go around and steal the tailed beasts.
However, as he observed the Obito who walked casually alongside his shadow clone, Kakashi was forced to acknowledge that the Obito he knew had been dead since the battle of Kannabi Bridge. He didn't know what had gone wrong during the time Obito was saved, though, knowing that boy, Kakashi preferred to think that Obito was manipulated into doing what he had done. For the first time, Kakashi wished he was included in Team 23. That way, he might be able to ask his unsolved questions. Nevertheless, perhaps, the questions were better to stay unanswered because Kakashi understood how disappointing the truth would sometimes be.
When he reemerged from the underground with the black humanoid creature who gripped his forearm tightly, they were both struck by malicious chakra. Quickly, his mind comprehended that it was the trap Kaeri had told him before. Closing his eyes, Kakashi felt at ease that the creature who brought him here would be sealed for good. On the other hand, he trusted Kaeri would make the right choice. He just hoped the redhead would look out for Team 7 in his place, though.
o0o
Standing outside the cave that was supposed to be Zetsu's hideout, Kaeri could feel the malicious chakra leaked out from the inside due to the cursed-seals trap being triggered. She wondered who his companion was because based on the mark on her ankle, Kaeri could say the person didn't try to escape. On the other hand, Zetsu and his warehouse of clones were struggling to get out from the binding although the attempt would get them killed sooner the more they fought back. As she was about to form the final chain of hand signs to seal them forever, Kaeri detected a familiar chakra signal the more she looked into the wave of twisted chakra. In truth, she would've missed it if she wasn't in Sage mode. Fortunately, Kaeri had always been cautious when it came to final steps. Hence, she decided to activate her Sage mode in case an unforeseen incident occurred when she least expected it. Turns out, it did happen. Pursing her lips, she frowned heavily as she recalled what Kato had told her.
"It's him this time. The consequence will depend on your choices, Kaeri."
What choices? She had only one and she was determined to make it through. Besides, she couldn't be indecisive as there wasn't much time before those cursed seals damaged Kakashi's chakra core. Inhaling deeply, her hands came up to form signs. Gradually, the letter "Kai" on her ankle faded away and appeared in her left palm instead. As she finished, her fingers curled up like claws and scratched the air in front of her. Instantly, the air twisted until a black hole materialized. The seventh form of Tiger's Claw, Laceration. On Sage level, it allowed the user to open a gateway connected to literally anywhere. Furthermore, the user could practically take anything or anyone they desired from the other side of the gate. The only drawback was that it was a one-way portal and it sucked chakra like a greedy leech considering it was a space manipulate jutsu. If not careful, one would die from chakra exhaustion the moment they attempt to summon the gate without thorough practice.
Thrusting her left hand into the portal, Kaeri started searching for her target. After a moment, Kaeri caught a familiar jacket's collar and hauled it over the gate when she made sure the owner would come along. Within seconds, an unconscious Kakashi was dragged out from the gate before it closed off. Dropping the man on the ground, Kaeri heaved out a sigh of relief. To counter the cursed chakra and the chance of Zetsu coming along, she had used the mark from her ankle to just suck all the cursed chakra inside it and chased Zetsu away should the creature come near. And now, the mark in her palm was storing a ridiculous amount of unnecessary cursed chakra. On the other hand, she decided to do a quick check-up on Kakashi and found out that a fair amount of cursed chakra had seeped into his chakra core. Narrowing her eyes, Kaeri stared at the man. Suddenly, an idea popped up in her mind. She could let the mark suck it out for him. With that in her mind, she opened his jacket then lifted his shirt to reveal his abdomen.
Pressing her left palm on the spot where his chakra core was located underneath, Kaeri could feel an average amount of malevolent chakra being sucked into the mark. A piercing pain quickly coursed up her arm but she waved it off since it was nothing she couldn't endure by this point. After Kaeri was done, she stood up and stalked toward the cave's entrance. Sighing quietly, she felt slightly dejected all of a sudden. It seemed the cursed chakra was slowly traveling up her forearm's pathway. Kaeri would have to discard the arm quickly if she didn't want her chakra core to be tainted with foreign chakra or cursed chakra in particular. Perhaps, this would be her last mission until she could get herself a new arm. Besides, after the stunt she was going to pull, her chakra core would need quite some time to be back to its peak. It could be three years, five years, or ten years. At worst, Kaeri wouldn't be able to use chakra anymore.
However, that was what she was least worried about. Kaeri was a fighter through and through. Even without chakra, she would still be able to enjoy her battles. Who knew, perhaps she would have more fun that way. Smirking, her hands came up and started forming a chain of signs. The sealing kept going until Kaeri felt her chakra pool protest against her will that it finally finished. Taking some steps back, she closed her eyes briefly to search for Zetsu's chakra signal and found none. Aside from that, the cave didn't have black chakra leaked out anymore which meant she had succeeded. Kaeri was about to turn around when her legs gave out and she was on the ground. Blinking in surprise, she took in her trembling legs and then her shaky arms. Nevertheless, Kaeri couldn't help but snigger, yet, it seemed she didn't have enough strength to even do that either. In the end, her laughter turned into a sneeze which almost sent her tumbling backward if not for a gentle hand that helped her sit upright.
"Kaeri-chan?" Kakashi's concerned voice sounded above her head.
"Hey, Kakashi." She looked up at the man. "How are you feeling?"
"Err, fine?" The Copy Nin sounded lost.
"Good. Because I need you to help me with something." Pleased with his answer, she nodded her head.
"What do I need to do?" Just as usual, Kakashi accepted her request without any questions. He went to crouch before her when it was clear she wouldn't stand up anytime soon.
"Cool, then cut it off for me." Kaeri raised her shaky left arm for him to see. "I don't think I-I have enough strength to do that." Internally, she shook her head at her stuttering. The sign was clear, she was on the edge of passing out.
"What?" His eyes widened comically.
"Just the forearm part. If you keep staring at it for another two minutes, it will be my whole arm." She shrugged indifferently as though it wasn't her business.
As expected, her words snapped Kakashi out of his hesitation given that the man quickly took out a knife and a roll of clean bandage from his backpack. Under the moonlight, he rolled her sleeve up and grimaced at her half-blackened forearm. However, the man didn't utter a word. Instead, his movement's speed picked up. A few seconds passed, after he tied up the end of her bicep tightly by a bandage, she noticed his hand was shaking as he held a sharpened knife over her elbow.
"I trust you, Kakashi. I'll be fine and you know it." Kaeri steadied her breathing as much as she could but she was cognizant that Kakashi knew she was at her limit already and he needed to hurry.
After receiving a nod from her, Kakashi inhaled once more and then disinfected the knife with a simple fire jutsu before cloaking it with his chakra. With no painkiller, Kaeri was ready for the worst considering her pain tolerance wasn't too high, much to her chagrin. There was a pause as Kakashi grabbed the unblackened part of her forearm before his knife went down on her flesh. A buzzing filled her ears as she felt a searing pain shoot through her left arm when her flesh and tendon were pierced apart. Gritting her teeth, she bit back her scream and tried all her damn might to not tense her muscle up or jerked her arm in reflex. Physical reaction brought tears to her eyes and sent her body into convulsion which she prevented from going violently. Even though Kakashi tried to make it quick, she could still feel the moment the knife came in contact with her elbow joint that connected her upper arm and forearm.
Instantly, a bone-deep pain rushed to her brain. It sent chills down her spine and soaked her in a cold sweat. As a result of stress, her blader reacted by forcing her body to spill out its non-existent content (thank fuck it was empty). For a moment, Kaeri thought she would blackout due to many black spots appearing in her vision and the dizziness plagued her head. In addition to that, a burning sensation stirred in her stomach which sent a sour pile rise to her throat. Hence, she suddenly had an urge to puke and so she did. In her haze, something soft dapped gently on her mouth while her nostril took in the sour smell of the mess she had just spewed. To think Kaeri was hurt to the point of losing control of her body was surreal. It was merely a rookie reaction in her case since Maria would never vomit because of an injury like this. Coughing harshly, she sniffed, then frowned at the annoying headaches. Everything would be endurable if her body was used to this level of pain. The problem was, it wasn't.
After all this time, her body was still like a virgin when it came to physical pain. Kaeri would still be caught off guard whenever she was injured no matter how long she trained her pain tolerance. Thus, she eventually concluded that either her tactical nerves were too sensitive or her training wasn't difficult enough. It made Kaeri wonder if that was her fortune or bad luck. There was a blur as her mind lagged behind due to her body being shocked after going through such overwhelming pain. At some point, Kaeri let out a sigh of relief when she felt her wound didn't hurt as badly as before. She didn't know how long did it pass until Kakashi hoisted her in his arms in bridal style.
"Let's go home, Kaeri-chan." The man smiled down at her.
Letting out a grunt, she leaned her temple against his chest. Somehow, her eyelids felt heavy as she listened to Kakashi's heartbeat. Gradually, Kaeri let herself drift away, knowing she deserved a decade of rest with how much she had been through.
o0o
"Thanks to you, the cut is clean and uninfected." Tsunade nodded at Kakashi after doing a quick check-up on the redhead's fresh wound. Then, she moved her glowing hand to the chakra core's spot. After a few minutes, her eyebrows twisted up in a mixture of surprise and irritation. "Her core is damaged badly right now. She should feel lucky that she's even alive. This girl…" Tsunade clicked her tongue as she frowned deeply. "Honestly, she must've been out of her mind to break her chakra core like this. A little more and she would die."
Standing beside the woman, Shizune swiftly filled out the clipboard in her hand. As Tsunade retreated her hand, she pinched the between of her brows while heaving out a sigh. Then, she turned to look at Kakashi who had been waiting patiently by the side.
"Considering her situation, there's a chance she won't be able to use chakra anymore when she wakes up."
"Then when will she wake up, Tsunade-sama?" Kakashi inquired.
"I'm not sure." Shaking her head, Tsunade shrugged. "As you can see, a broken chakra core means death. Although Kaeri has managed to avoid the worst outcome, her chakra core is still in a bad state. It will take time for her to heal, and even in that case, it will be a long time, I'm afraid."
Guy sent his eternal rival a concerned look. Of all people, he understood the man was practically going through five stages of grief and self-blame. It was only two in the morning and Guy would say it was too early for him to digest any important information. Then again, running into Kakashi who was carrying an unconscious Kaeri on his way home from a mission was a different story. They met at the village's gate as Team Guy had just been back from their mission. Guy had been terrified when he learned about Kaeri's amputated arm, to say the least. And Team Guy had been exhausted from their mission was also a fact. Regardless, the four of them still rushed to the hospital alongside Kakashi due to their concerns for the redhead. At the time, Guy had thought nothing worse than Kaeri losing an arm could happen anymore. Turns out, he was wrong. Compared to an arm, a life that was on the line was more important, apparently.
Given that Kakashi wanted to go back to his place and fetch for himself some clean clothes, they both headed outside. Somehow, the Copy Nin saw a bench in the hospital's yard and decided to collapse on it instead. The man stared ahead blankly while Guy just stood there in silence. The least he could do was to be patient with his best friend. Half an hour passed until Kakashi broke the silence.
"She would've been fine if she didn't save me." He buried his face in his hands.
"Hatake Kakashi!" Guy hissed heatedly. He couldn't believe what he had just heard. He could sympathize with the Copy Nin but what the man had uttered just crossed the line. "How can you say something like that? Kaeri-chan saved you because she cherishes you! You don't have any right to dismiss her efforts and feelings at all!" Guy hoisted the man up by the front of his shirt's collar.
"Well, I don't need her to save m-"
Without letting him finish his words, Guy's fist quickly connected with the side of Kakashi's face and left a swollen bruise on the man's cheek underneath his mask.
"Heh?" Licking the blood dripping from his cut lips, Kakashi's head lolled to the side while smirking at the Green Beast. "Wanna fight that badly?"
"Let's go." Narrowing his eyes, Guy dropped the collar in his hand and stepped back. Then, he turned and walked away, knowing the Copy Nin would follow immediately.
In a corner of the hospital yard, the three members of Team Guy, who were supposed to go home according to Guy's order, were watching everything from afar. Tenten was anxious about her teacher challenging the Copy Nin all of a sudden. She was about to come to find some help when Rock Lee and Neji each grabbed her wrists.
"What? Don't you see how tense they are? They're going to kill each other at this point!" Impatient, Tenten looked at her teammates and tried to yank her wrists from their hands. Unfortunately, of all things, they chose to be in concord on what made Tenten restless at the moment.
"Calm down, Tenten." Neji gave his teammate a reassuring squeeze.
"Yeah, calm down, Tenten-chan. They won't kill each other because this is the fight of men." Rock Lee gave her a thumbs up with a mighty grin just like what Guy would usually do.
"Can we stop it?" Still worried, Tenten looked at her teammates.
"No," Neji shook his head. "Based on how things are going between them, it ought to happen."
"Simply put, it's just like how you will knock us on the heads every time you call us stupid." Rock Lee winked at her.
"So Guy-sensei is just doing what I usually do as in knocking some sense into his friend?" Tenten's face brightened as a realization dawned on her.
"That's right!" Rock Lee gave her a thumbs up again while Neji inclined his head.
"Huh, look like I don't have to worry about them then." Tenten tilted her head then glanced at her teammates. "If so, I can go home now."
"Then let us walk you home." Neji offered kindly.
"It's not that we underestimate you, Tenten-chan!" Rock Lee added on way far too hastily. Couldn't blame him seeing as Tenten had hit him pretty hard the other days before because he had slipped up about her being weaker than him and Neji. Nevertheless, he genuinely simply wanted to make sure Tenten could go home safely.
"Alright, I'm not gonna get mad just because my teammates worry about me, though." Tenten shrugged helplessly as she looked at her wrists were still being held. Smiling, she went to stand between the guys and linked her arms with both of them. "Please escort me home, shinobi-san!"
Her words incited an eager "Yeah!" from Rock Lee and a quiet sigh from Neji.
::
"Here."
"...Thanks." Kakashi took the water glass from his best friend. Although he preferred alcohol at the moment, he knew he needed to be conscious to take care of Kaeri who was still in a coma in the hospital.
The two men had just arrived at Kakashi and Kaeri's shared apartment after they fought for an hour. Normally, they could go longer than that but both of them were dead on their feet so it was actually better than they anticipated. That also explained their ragged appearances when they left the training ground. None of them would ever admit that they had tripped several times due to their low energy and fatigue, though. Their fight was sloppy and nothing like someone at their level would perform. Then again, its purpose was to beat some sense into Kakashi and let him blow off some steam. Therefore, Guy was content to see his eternal rival finally calm down and acted rationally. For instance, stop saying nonsense.
"Kaeri-chan…" Clearing his throat, Kakashi glanced at the Green Beast's bruised face. "She saved me when I already gave up." He took a deep breath. "She even trusts me enough to ask me to cut her forearm off. I owe her a lot. I should be thankful to her. Instead, I've said something I shouldn't have. So, thank you." For beating that stupidity out of me.
Even though the latter wasn't said aloud, Guy could still hear it loud and clear. It was his job to help his friend, after all. And he was pleased to see the Copy Nin understood that it wasn't anyone's fault when things ended up like this.
"Don't blame yourself too much, Kakashi." Guy patted the man's back enthusiastically which knocked some air out of him.
Coughing into his fist lightly, Kakashi touched the Sharingan that was covered by his forehead protector. He had thought a lot about Obito and asked himself whether or not he should go against the promise he made with the Uchiha. However, after what he had witnessed and been through lately, he felt he had to at least give the Sharingan back to where it belonged. Obito could be black or white, or even gray. Because Kakashi knew the boy who was his dear friend was never the man who impersonated Madara. He knew he was being selfish, but at the same time, he felt a huge weight lifted off from him when he decided to give up the Sharingan. Just as that humanoid creature told him, bearing the Sharingan had put a lot of weight on him. Though, there was one thing different. The weight he carried wasn't from other people's expectations or demands. In reality, it was heavy because of the grief he kept himself drowned in. Thus, when Kakashi told the pseudo-Obito he could finally move on thanks to him, it was the truth.
After packing his clothes and toothbrush, Kakashi parted ways with Guy and headed to the hospital. He had made up his mind. He would ask Tsunade for eye surgery and then stay by Kaeri's side until she woke up no matter how long it took. Taking the couch in the patient's room, Kakashi soon fell asleep while listening to the steady "beep…beep…beep" sound from the heart rate monitor. That night, he dreamed about meeting his father for the last time. They talked a lot and though Kakashi didn't quite remember the context of their conversation, when he woke up again he realized the memories about his father weren't too painful anymore.
To be continued…