CHAPTER ONE
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KAKASHI WATCHED AS THE GIRL COLLAPSED IN FRONT OF HIM BEFORE SLOWLY lowering his kunai, but his grip around it still remained tight. He heard Obito's sound of disapproval from behind him, and before he could say another word the hyperactive Uchiha rushed in front of him and lifted the girl up off the floor.
"You were supposed to catch her," Obito scolded as he brushed the hair from the girl's messy face so he could feel her pulse.
"Why?" Kakashi asked, and heard Rin's scoff next.
"You were obviously the closest," Obito said with a frown.
"She could be an enemy," Kakashi said with a sigh. "Waiting for us to drop our guard."
All three looked at her, broken, bleeding, and barely breathing, before Obito and Rin both looked towards Kakashi with mirrored scowls. "You can be a real jerk sometimes," Rin said with a frown, rushing to the fallen girl's side.
As their early assessment concluded, the unknown girl was not just covered in blood, but suffering from blood-loss. Rin noticed that her feet were one of the many things still oozing, covered in shards of class and small rocks, embedded in flesh. Rin could barely tell what shade her hair was from the ash and blood and dirt. Her robes were ripped and filthy, and when Obito turned her body upright in his lap, Kakashi saw that her skin was covered in blotches of dirt. It was smeared in black, the same blackness that came from running through fires and smoke. Both boys looked away when they finally noticed her kimono had been ripped open, revealing the remnants of a Hadajyuban, stained with splotches of blood.
"She's still alive," Obito told Rin as the girl sat adjacent to him and began to clean her shoulder wound. For a moment, Rin didn't even know where to start, feeling overwhelmed and panicked. Obito must have picked up on that, and she stiffened as he touched her shoulder. "It's okay, Rin. You can only do what you can, but I'm here too." Rin felt the ghost of a smile on her lips, nodding even though it felt as if her heart was moments from giving out.
"Only just..." Rin's brows furrowed as she inspected the girl's outer appearance, assessing what to do next. "It's going to be okay," she whispered, taking another deep breath. She had to stop the bleeding on the shoulder. Rin hovered her hands over the area, and performed the appropriate symbols, watching them glow green. The girl winced, her lips dry and cracked, causing a pain to echo throughout Rin's heart. "Kakashi, get some water. Please."
Kakashi obeyed, grabbing the canteen of water and kneeling down next to the girl. He sat next to the girl's head, and gently placing his hand on the back of her neck to hold her up and prevent choking before he put the canteen's opening in between her lips. The girl's hand began to twitch as the liquid began to slowly drip in between her dry lips and ran down to her ears. When he noticed it fall out of her mouth, he tilted the canteen less, slowing the flow and giving her a chance to drink it all. Her eyes began to twitch open, unfocused as they met Kakashi's patient gaze.
"You're going to be alright," he whispered, and Rin looked up surprised as the girl began to slightly wake.
"What happened? Is there anyone else that was with you?" Obito asked in a hasty whisper, the girl didn't seem to truly hear him, her eyes blank, expression unreadable. Her fingers twitched at her side as if she wanted to move her entire arm, but could not. Her tongue desperately clung to the water coming into her mouth, but none of it looked like it was enough.
She didn't answer as her hands fell stiff, weakly back to her side while Rin grabbed the water from Kakashi's hand and used it to wash the blood from the girl's feet.
"Kakashi..." Rin began as she began to disinfect the wounds. Kakashi instantly snapped his head up to his teammate's commanding voice. "You noticed didn't you. She was running from something." They made eye contact, and the understanding passed between them without her having to say more. If he was as afraid as Rin, he didn't show it in his face.
Kakashi nodded, placing the girl's head back onto the ground before standing up. He wasted no time summoning his ninja dog and rushing into the cover of the trees.
"I could go with him," Obito suggested, but his reluctance to leave Rin alone was obvious. Rin only forced out a gentle smile to him, unrolling some of her bandage supply.
"We can't be selfish. We need more water," Rin said, tossing him the empty bottle that he instinctively caught. She forced another smile, careful not to show her own fear and uncertainty. "She won't last without."
"You'll be okay?" Obito asked as Rin began cleaning and bandaging the girl's feet. Rin didn't want to look up, didn't want him to know how much she wanted to cry. She felt underprepared and worthless, but if he knew, he wouldn't leave. If she didn't look up and reassure him, he'd stay by her side and she'd feel pathetic and weak.
"I'll be fine. It's not like she's in any state for a surprise attack," Rin joked, half-heartedly, finally meeting his gaze. Obito slowly grinned, and nodded.
"I'll be back, okay," he told her, and she nodded.
"I'll be fine. Go already, you're being embarrassing," Rin said with another smile, and he nodded reluctantly, but left, running off towards the creek they passed not far from where they made camp. Judging by his speed, he was eager to get back quickly, but she could only pray that he came back safely.
The girl's eyes were still lightly cracked open by the time Rin met her gaze. Now that Rin got the boy away, she inspected the trail of blood that ran up her inner thigh. She immediately noticed the odd way her kimono was wrapped around the girl's body, with the obi tied around the front and the layers of clothing that dangled beneath her shoulders.
"I'm going to pull up your robes a bit," Rin warned, looking to the girl for confirmation, but all she saw was apparent indifference in the girl's eyes. "I," Rin stuttered, uncertain. "I need your consent." The girl's eyes were hauntingly blank, and Rin almost felt as if she were staring at a corpse. Slowly, she nodded. Rin pulled up the kimono's ripped cloth to inspect the trail of blood, and was horrified to see that it led straight to the girl's pelvic region. Rin was hoping that it had been a cut of some sort and Rin wanted to cry when she saw the undergarments had been ripped, hanging on by threads.
Rin slapped her palm against her mouth, her brows furrowed together as her heart burned with pain. She took another deep breath, biting her tongue and remembering her training. She had to keep calm, her teachers would say. Medicine wasn't just about the healing, it was about putting your patients at ease while you do it. Rin took another deep breath, remembering that she wasn't the one hurting here.
Yet, the girl's eyes looked indifferent by the time Rin's gaze connected with hers again, as if life had completely drained away from her. Rin wanted to grip onto her spirit, and place it in this girl's body, just to see her smile. The oddly protective emotion was overpowering, but Rin had no idea what to do. Emotional wounds would have to come later, Rin decided before she began dabbing her towel with the disinfectant and wiping away the blood.
"What's your name?" Rin asked, and the girl blinked for the first time since opening her eyes. "Can you speak?"
"Ano...mie..." The girl's lips moved slowly, and her voice was hoarse, cracked, and dehydrated.
"Nice to meet you Anomie, I'm Rin. And I'm going to help you get better," Rin said, a saddness creep up on her again, filling her chest like hot air. She couldn't hide her own tears, peeking at the corners of her eyes as she stared into the empty eyes of the girl laying in the grass. The light of the fire warmed the girl's considerably pale skin, and Rin parted the girl's bangs from her forehead in order to feel for heat. The girl's skin was cold as ice and she didn't seem to have enough body heat to even catch a fever. Rin rushed to pick up one of her sealing scrolls attached to her waist, undoing the seal. She watched as a blanket was summoned in a small cloud of smoke. She grabbed the material and placed it over the girl's body.
Anomie's gaze moved, almost suspiciously, watching Rin's every action and the moment the blanket covered her, Obito returned with three full canteens of water.
"Are you alright? Has anyone attacked? Is she alright? Has she spoken?" Obito instantly asked, his concerned tone slightly surprising Rin.
"Her name is Anomie, and she's," Rin said, her voice breaking as she took another deep breath. Obito saw Rin's hands trembling. "Barely concious," Rin murmured as she grabbed one of the bottles of water from her teammate's hand and carefully pouring it over a clean cloth. She left out the suspicion of rape this girl likely suffered, but she couldn't hide the tears that escaped her eyes every once in a while. She rushed back to the injured girl and began using the damp cloth to wipe the blood from the girl's face. Anomie's eyes were now closed as if she lost the energy to keep them open. Rin felt her heart tug again as she gently pressed the cloth to her face, wiping away the dried blood from her lips before pressing it over her neck.
After the dirt and blood were gone from her face, Rin began healing the cuts and scars that decorated her skin. Obito stood over her shoulder and watched, knowing better than to talk when Rin was healing someone. As much as he enjoyed hearing Rin speak, his head could only be smacked so many times. He wanted to strip the expression on Rin's face, as every tear he saw fall from her eyes made his entire being burn. Obito didn't know what to do, but he couldn't watch Rin cry.
"She's kinda pretty," Obito said with a forced smile and heard Rin's annoyed scoff.
"Of course, that's what you'd notice," she murmured and Obito let out a sheepish laugh as he scratched the back of his head.
"A really pretty girl. And look at her nose," Obito said, pointing it at, causing Rin's brows to furrow.
"What are you talking about?" Rin asked with an incredious frown.
"My grandmother says that people with noses like that, the button like look of it, are super strong. Like stone," Obito said, and Rin looked at him now, forcing her eyes from Anomie's nose, of all things, to Obito.
"You're insane," Rin said, her voice slow.
"I'm not making it up, you can ask her. She calls it the resilient nose," Obito assured her, and slowly, he saw Rin unable to hide the fond smile.
"You're absoltely insane," Rin said, and Obito patted her shoulder awkwardly, but she grabbed his hand. He stared down at it, watching her squeeze it tight.
"It's going to be okay," Obito assured her. "I'm here too. And Kakashi's..." Obito broke off, brows furrowing. "Should be back soon."
Rin frowned, but shook her head. "He's strong. I'm sure he'll be fine and he knows when to engage in combat and when to hide..." Rin's eyes slightly hardened in a fond reprimanding expression as she met Obito's gaze. "I wish I could say the same about everyone in our team."
Obito let out a sheepish laugh once more. The laughter sounded forced, and slowly it died when the both of them lost the strength for the pretenses.
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It wasn't until the first trickle of sunlight wept through the smoggy sky that Kakashi returned. The crunching of leaves under his footsteps signified his tired posture and sleepless, baggy-eyed gaze. He didn't look to be in any sort of calm mood, and this much was visible even through the dark blue mask that covered his lower face. His body instantly slumped, exhausted, against the bark of the tree, causing Rin's slowly closing eyes to snap open, wide awake.
"Kakashi!" Rin exclaimed, jumping up and accidentally kicking Obito in the head. The Uchiha let out a whining complaint, rolling onto his tummy as Rin rushed to her silver-haired teammate's side. "What did you find? Are you alright?"
Kakashi sighed; exasperated as his eye rested on the sleeping girl whose face he could finally see past the once visible grim and darkness of night. Her hair was pale white, in an intricate bun that was now mostly loose, a look he'd only ever seen on street performers and entertainers. She had the body of a performer, as it was long and her hips were wide and her arms were strong. He could see muscle in her arms and muscle in her legs. The whiteness of her hair matched well with the pale color of her complexion. Her lips had a tinge of blue, causing him to stand up and throw more wood in the fire she slept next to.
"Her tracks weren't difficult to follow, even in the darkness, so if she's a Shinobi she's a terrible one," Kakashi said, as he lay against the ground and closed his eyes. "Her scent and blood were everywhere so Pakkun tracking her wasn't hard." Rin was glad that the canine was finally able to be reliable, as she had already dealt with the two months of him sniffing out nothing but its own ass, and not the target. Kakashi had raised the puppy well. "About 30 kilometers west of here is Kemurigakure, or what's left of it anyway. It's been burned to the ground. By the time I got there, there was nothing left." Kakashi sighed, his eyes still closed. "I didn't find anyone still alive, at least not out in the open, and many Kumo Nin still occupied the roads. I couldn't engage while being so outnumbered. If anyone escaped, we can't help them."
"Kumo ninja again," Rin sat down, her butt roughly slammed against the ground. "Kemuri is lost," Rin said, running her fingers through her hair. "What are we going to do? Kemuri has stood strong since before the warring states. It's a trading center, how could it fall?"
Often, Kemuri was raided, a center for not just trade, but slave trades as well. It homed some of the richest in the Fire country, meaning that those rich should have had defenses on standby. What could have happened to the militia? Could everyone be dead? Rin didn't know the answer to any of those questions.
"What about Minato?" Obito said, voicing the concern they all left unsaid. Minato, who had gone again to cut off enemies shinobi in the east. Minato, who had left to save Kemuri from falling. Had it all been planned out? Two armies at once from different directions? Rin thought with a shaking breath.
"Everything was for nothing," Kakashi said, placing his head into his hands. "Pointless."
Rin sighed, leaning her head back against the tree, but her eyes darted to the corner to stare at Anomie.
"We saved a life. That's not pointless," Obito said with a grim smile, but Kakashi made a low sound, almost a grunt, before turning his back to all of them and resting on his side.
"Rest, Kakashi, and then we'll head out. Obito and I will scout out the area and check for any survivors." Rin said, taking Kakashi's silence as a 'whatever' and turned to Obito. "Come on."
"If she wakes up...don't be...well...you," Obito said with a grin, attempting to get a reaction, to lighten the mood. Instead of appreciation for his attempt, he got a rock, flying at his head from the once still as stone Kakashi. "Okay! Okay! White flag! I give~"
"Come on, stupid," Rin ordered, grabbing Obito by the sleeve and dragging him into the woods. She did glance back towards Kakashi one last time, a look of worry jogging her expression. "Be careful, okay."
"Don't miss me too much, Kakashi-kun!" Obito shouted back jokingly, and a rock sped through the trees before hitting its mark with a loud, "OW!"
"Idiot," Kakashi muttered, closing his eyes as the fire warmed up his once freezing body.
Konoha's weather was fairly hot, but the closer north he got, the weather chilled considerably. The ground was frosty and cold, and he knew it would probably be snowing if it weren't for the smoggy grey sky. The further west Rin and Obito went, the harder it would be to breathe past the fumes. They no doubt knew that, so he didn't bother to mention it.
He barely got a few minutes of sleep before the sound of weak coughs caught his attention and forced his eyes to open. He turned around and watched the nameless girl hack from her frozen position. Her breath was short, making it come out as a pained wheeze. Her eyes were clenched closed, and Kakashi mused on the thought of just going back to sleep, but looking at her near broken form and remembering the dead bodies back at the village caused his body to jolt up.
She ran, barefoot, all night and fought for every breath. He didn't have it in him to see any more death this week when he could stop it. He lazily reached for one of the bottles Rin left by the girl's head and opened the cap. He lifted her head, gently on his lap, and slowly pressed the opening of the bottle in between her lips, and her hands twitched at her side when the moisture erupted around her tongue. Her hand slowly moved up, eyes still closed, while Kakashi watched it move.
She didn't look to be able to open her eyes, but her hand weakly cupped his from around the bottle. Her bare fingers didn't fully touch his hand, as his fingerless gloves cut off most of the contact, but the tips of her fingers touched the opening of his skin and he noticed instantly that her fingers were freezing. He used his other hand, still free from contact, to lightly brush against her bangs so he could feel her forehead. It was hot when he touched her skin and he reached for the cloth that Rin left behind, and placed it on his free knee before he slowly grabbed the bottle back from her lips and poured it on the cloth. She didn't open her eyes, but her brows furrowed when the water stopped flowing to her mouth.
He slightly smiled at her expression as her hand that once cupped his dropped to her chest. He noticed it was nearly bare, and he would have seen more if the blanket didn't cover it. In a panic, he pushed up the blanket and his face would be slightly red if the mask didn't cover it.
He folded the cloth and placed it on her forehead. Her once furrowed brows slowly ceased creasing and her head turned towards him as she rested on her side. His eyes widened as she curled into his waist, forcing him to hold the cloth over her head so it didn't fall. She looked to be in pain as she drew closer to him for warmth.
But her cheek now rested...intimately on his crotch.
"Oh no," Kakashi muttered as he tried to shift his position, but the moment he moved he saw her let out a small whine, resembling a weak sound of pain. "You have got to be kidding me." He was just trying to be nice, but if Rin or Obito came back, he knew that he'd be forever thought of as a pervert. He'd never get away from the stain on his name.
He tried to gently lift her face off him, but her grip proved stronger than he expected and he knew using any more strength on her would prove to only add more pain to her already injured body.
"Come on," he hissed, using his free hand that wasn't holding the cloth to her head, to press his face into his palm. "I should have just gone back to sleep."
"Kakashi, we have to go, this land is riddled with Kumo ni-" Rin's voice made Kakashi's eyes widen, and his hands instantly raised in surrender, causing the cloth to fall off the girl's head as Rin's voice cut off and her eyes narrowed.
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Kakashi still felt her glare on his back as they ran through the forest and he sighed for the tenth time. Obito was the one to carry the girl on his back since Rin officially lost trust in her innocent teammate. He was maybe not innocent in everything, but he was innocent in this.
Obito sniggered out, "Pervert," causing Kakashi's eyes to narrow in anger.
"I wasn't doing anything," Kakashi found himself repeating, for the fifth time that morning.
"The day I believe you is the day you become Hokage," Obito said in return, his goggled face scowling towards Kakashi's back.
"You just watch, I might just become Hokage to spite you. You're so weak, you'll still be a Genin by the time I do," Kakashi retorted and he heard Obito's growl.
"You bastard!"
"That's enough!" Rin shouted, and Obito scoffed, but complied. "We have to find Minato-sensei, I'm worried."
"He'll be fine," Obito said, his voice still sounding annoyed. "Sure, our meet up place is now up in ash but-"
"We could meet him at the village. He'll realize the attack is brought on by Kumo and he'll know that we couldn't stay in this area without suffering an attack of enemy nin's reinforcements," Kakashi said, hopping off one branch to land on another with Rin and Obito shortly behind him.
"I'm just worried she won't make the journey..." Rin murmured, glancing at Anomie.
"I say we leave her behind. She's not part of the mission and we have no obligation to save her. I said what we could do, but what we should do is leave her behind and find Minato-sensei. I could attempt to track his scent and we could salvage what's left of this mission," Kakashi said in a deadpan, but the moment the words left his lips, he could feel the deepening scowls on his back. "We can cut off some of Kumo's forces. Join with the other teams."
"Leave her to die?" Obito snapped, and Kakashi sighed.
"You don't know if she'll die. Maybe if we force her to wake up she could make her own way through the forest or wait for us to come back for her. We could give her directions to the Leaf or Rin could accompany her," Kakashi suggested.
"You're a real heartless bastard," Obito growled out, causing Kakashi to scowl.
"The mission is what's important, not some half-dead girl. What if we do abandon it all and head back, and she dies on the way? And if by some miracle, she survives the journey, but dies when we get there, then this is all pointless," Kakashi explained, but in the next moment, Obito opened his mouth to retort.
"Rules may be important, but not at the expense of innocent lives," Obito retorted.
"Who knows if this is an innocent life? Her hands were covered in blood and I found a body in the forest that proves it's not her own," Kakashi snapped.
"That's enough. I'm all for completing the mission, but Obito's right, we don't abandon people if they need it," Rin finally interrupted, and her tone of voice silenced all opposition. "Konoha is only a couple hours away, so for the time being of our time together, stop arguing."
"I wasn't arguing," Obito muttered, scowling when Kakashi snorted. He opened his mouth to say something, but a soft, musical voice stopped him.
"St...stop," Anomie murmured, tightening her arms slightly across Obito's neck as her eyes slowly cracked open. Obito came to a complete stop on a nearby branch, Kakashi and Rin following suit. Her eyes drifted over Obito's sideways goggled gaze, then to Rin's worried expression, and lastly to Kakashi's crossed armed deadpan.
"Are you alright?" Rin asked and Anomie squeezed her eyes shut, weakly pressing her palm into her eyes while keeping the other firmly wrapped around Obito's neck.
What kind of stupid question was that? She didn't voice her obvious snap, as the girl did save her life. Anomie yawned, her throat burning as she did before finding her arm was stiff and bandaged, causing her to vaguely remember the kodachi of some Kumo jackass, cutting into it.
"Who are...you?" Anomie asked, noticing speaking was very difficult, and her throat felt all the more dry and sore. Soon she was coughing as she tried to talk, and she attempted to not cough on the man carrying her since she could do without being dropped to the ground below.
"You shouldn't speak," Rin stated, jumping onto the branch so she could be next to her, and Obito turned to give her more room while Kakashi leaned against his own tree and sighed. "I'm Nohara Rin, that's Uchiha Obito, and that's Hatake Kakashi..." Rin introduced, pointing to each individual teammate. "We're ninja from Konoha...you're safe now."
Anomie hid her disdain at the mention of the word 'ninja' and slowly closed her eyes, leaning her head on Obito's shoulder. "S...afe?" Anomie whispered, squeezing her eyes shut. There is no safe. No safe. Anomie's eyes felt heavy, her body shaking, but she would not cry. She would not cry. She would not cry. It's only flesh, remember?
Anomie's expression fell away as if she blew on a dandelion.
"We're going to get you back to Konoha and properly treat your wounds, okay, Anomie-san?" Rin felt the girl's forehead with her palm, and frowned, turning to Kakashi. "And we have to hurry."
"Whatever," Kakashi said, slowly. She had done well with keeping her voice and expression calm, but Kakashi felt how her body shook. A well of pity stirred in him, and he hated it, but it wasn't something he could just ignore. "Back to Konoha, then." The girl's head fell back against his shoulder, but with her being so close, he heard her barely audible whisper.
"It's only," she mumbled into his neck, and the well of pity began to swallow him. "Only flesh."
Author's Note
I tried to make this flow smoothly and keep up with the underlying theme of the story, which will be smoke and flowers.
The title of each chapter will be a flower in Japanese, each one having its own unique meaning.
芍薬 (shakuyaku) (Peony) - symbolizes compassion, bashfulness and shame
