This is for you, Shadowfax
She was sleeping soundly in her bed. The summer heat had cooled off in the boughs of the maple trees that covered her window. Thin slivers of moonlight trespassed the leaves and through her window, creeping upon her innocent face. She sighed slightly in her sleep, turning over.
A silhouetted figure slowly pushed open her bedroom door, and locked it behind him. Carefully sneaking up to her sleeping form, he planned for where her wrists were and when he should strike. He waited, then pounced on top of her like a cat and mouse. He quickly snatched and pinned both wrists to the bed, while covering her mouth with the other.
She struggled, trying to scream behind his large hand.
"No one can hear you now, girl…" She could see that he was grinning.
She tossed and turned, but his heavy knees pinned her shins to the bed.
"Shut up, bitch…" He cackled softly in her ear.
With his elbow on her mouth, a hand slowly went for the zipper on his pants.
"AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Aki's eyes shot open.
She jerked upwards, but found herself pinned to the bed. In her post delirium, she struggled, screaming for her parents. She tugged at her wrists, and tried to move her legs, but they wouldn't budge.
"HELPHELP!!! LET ME GOOOOO!!! PLEASE, NOOO!!!! MOOOOOM!!! DAAAAD!!!!! HEEEEEEEEEELLLLP!!!!!" Tears streaked her face as she breathed hysterically.
"Aki?!" The voice snapped her into reality.
The cardiac monitor was bleeping off the walls, dials and numbers going up.
"Ka- Kakashi?!" Her eyes welled up again.
"Please…let me go. I'll do anything; just let me go. Please, I hate being tied down, please, let me go, please please…"She choked on her tears.
"Aki? What's wrong?" Kakashi placed his hands on her shoulders.
"LET ME GO!!" She was starting to lose her voice.
"I'm sorry, but I can't."
When Aki had been unconscious, she had been strapped down to her bed for precautionary reasons. Her wrists were shackled to the metal frame with thick leather manacles while thick belts strapped her legs down.
"Pleasepleasepleasepleaseplease, let me go, LET ME GOOOO!!!" Aki tugged on the manacles like a wild animal, trying to tear them from the frame.
"Aki, please! You must calm down! Why are you screaming for your parents? CALM DOWN!" Kakashi slid a hand onto Aki's forehead, coaxing her to calm down.
Aki's sobs stifled as she slowly lay back against her pillows. Tears still relentlessly fell from her face as she tried to regain control over her breathing. Kakashi pulled a chair over to her weeping mess.
"Aki." His voice was concerned.
She shivered in fear, trying to lean away from him.
"Aki, what's wrong?"
"Everything…" she whispered.
"Hmm?"
"I said, everything." She glowered at him.
He backed down slightly. What was wrong with her?! She never acted like this before. Why the sudden change?
Aki's eyes fluttered, her breath suddenly reduced to panting. Her face flushed, and she passed out.
"Aki?!"
"Oh dear, not again…" The nurse outside walked in.
Kakashi looked up at the entering nurse, a flicker of worry in his eye.
"What's wrong with her?"
"She's been having fainting spells since yesterday." The nurse pulled back Aki's sheets, tiding her up from the mess.
She glanced at Aki before leaving, but Kakashi caught her look. It was a sense of foreboding. A sense of dread.
…………
He should have been training Sasuke. He should have hoped Aki would get better. He should have waited. But he didn't.
He stood in C13, staring at what was once a lively, chipper and somewhat aloof teenager. Now, he was staring at a living corpse.
"-She doesn't have long to live-"
"-Will she die-"
"-In an hour or-"
"-Her heart is weak from the de-"
"-Chakra is pitifully low from-"
Kakashi had heard all this as he pretended to pass by, and froze. He had to see her now. And so he did. They had removed the shackles from her for they saw that she could not even move her head around at this point.
…………
Her skin was a cemetery white, her veins showing through her as though she was a window for them. Her face was gaunt and matted with sweat, her cheekbones jutting out like spikes. If Kakashi could have seen under the sheets, Aki was now just skin and bones.
Her frail eyelids fluttered open, her weak eyes trying to focus on a blurred silver, black and green image talking softly in front of her.
"Ka……..kashi?" She tried to smile, but only her lips twitched.
"Aki, you shouldn't talk." She twitched a fragile grin.
Kakashi gently opened one of her windows, Sakura blossoms gently blowing into her room.
"Why aren't you with-"
"Aki, please. We want you to get better." Kakashi smoothed out her sheets and sat beside her thighs.
She coughed a guffaw.
"Kakashi, don't lie to yourself."
"Aki." What was visible of his face went up in shock, "Don't talk like that.""Kakashi…" Her voice, though weak, was condescending.
"No! You're going to get better!"
"I'm dying, you baka scarecrow!" Aki showed no sign of emotion to those words, "I'm on flippin' Life Support, for cryin' out loud!"
"I literally have no chakra left in me, my heart's about to collapse, and I have lost all will to live!"
"AKI, STOP IT!"
"I'm DY- ING!!" Her sudden shout caused her to cough violently.
Red sprayed against her mask like spray paint, flecks starting to come together to drip down the tube.
"Besides…" Aki slowly removed the mask from her face.
"Aki, what are you-?!" She put a hand on his mouth to silence him.
Blood steadily dripped down the corners of her mouth as she smiled. Aki's eyes seemed to glitter more in the light. Her fingers slipped around the fabric that shielded his face, Kakashi not knowing what to do or say.
"If I'm going to die…" She gently pulled at his head, telling him to come closer.
"I want my last moments to remain with me forever…"
"Aki, I…" He couldn't stop himself.
None of this looked right…and yet it did. His mind and body were at war with himself; one side telling him to stop while the other say, (Go for it! What are you waiting for?! DON'T STOP!!)
All of the clutter in his mind led him to forget what was going on and where he was. When his sense of awareness came to, he found himself staring into closed eyes, lips touching each other.
The monitors went dead, showing a simple green line across the screen. Kakashi ignored the noise, but his mind had caught it.
(Am I…kissing a dead person?!) Something was happening inside of him.
A sudden…drainage from within him. What was going on?! He felt so tired, but he forced himself to stay awake. And as he was slowly deteriorating, the cardiac monitor started to go up again. Color started to enter Aki's face as it left his, her cheekbones vanishing within the replacing layers of muscle and skin. Something was flickering white from below Aki's nose, but with his body so heavy to him and his senses becoming slow, he could care less.
Now it was starting to get internally hectic. Kakashi had to fight for a full breath, and his vision started to blur. He couldn't feel his legs, and he could only flex his fingers slightly. He tried to break away; he could have easily done it. But something inside of him told him not to cut the bond. Don't stop.
Aki's eyes slowly opened, her irises glowing a deep mahogany brown. Tears gingerly covered her eyes, some silently escaping her eye.
(I'm so sorry, Kakashi…) She squeezed her eyes shut, continuing the jutsu.
Her cheeks dripped blood from every pore. She suddenly felt Kakashi's chakra ratio, and broke off. Both gasped for breath, coughing slightly from the change in motion. Aki fell back against her pillows, a calm darkness taking her vision. The blood on her cheeks dripped off, but two marks were left behind. Something was different in her eyes.
A ring of red was leashed around her pupils.
"Thank you…" She blacked out, smiling.
Kakashi had a hand to his mouth, his tiring mind trying to calculate what exactly had just happened within the last three minutes. The monitors were beeping placidly now, telling Kakashi that Aki was going to be alright. Kakashi had enough strength to pull up his mask again, then his torso buckled over, and he passed out on the floor.
A blossom flew from the open window, and gently landed in Kakashi's outstretched hand. His fingers slightly closed around it.
…………
"-Is he coming round?-"
"-His chakra should be fine in a day or-"
"-What exactly hap-"
"-Shh! He's waking-"
Kakashi moaned slightly before opening his right eye.
"Where…?"
"Kakashi! Are you feeling alright now?" He sat up in bed.
"Huh?" He rubbed his forehead.
"What……happened?" The doctors gave each other sideways glances.
"We found you passed out on the floor in C13. You were still breathing, so that gave us no cause that you were dying. But we noticed a sudden fatigue in your system." The one who was speaking chuckled airily, "Lucky you were already in a hospital!"
Kakashi carefully stitched up what had happened back in C13. His eyes widen.
"What happened to Aki?! Is she gonna be okay?! What is her-"
"Whoa whoa whoa! Calm down, now. You looked like you had a rough time back there. Aki is fine. She'll been making a comeback recovery, and probably be out in four/five days."
Kakashi inhaled slowly, and exhaled in relief.
"For now, Kakashi, save your strength. We'll release you tomorrow." Kakashi nodded, and lay back down.
The doctors left him alone as he started to go back to sleep when something jumped onto the bed.
"Huh?" He opened his eye again, looking for what had jumped up.
He was staring straight into a small pair of beryl yellow eyes.
"Mrow?"
…………
"Kabuto- san, did you really have to go that faaar?" Orochimaru sat up in his chair.
"I had to escape."
"No, I meant the curse tag. Sure, she held promise, but she nearly died." Kabuto shrugged.
"We needed to know what she was capable of."
"And so you took your chance when you shot down her glider?"
Kabuto nodded.
"She is scarred forever." Orochimaru glowered at the floor.
"Orochimaru- sama, she is still alive and still possesses the demon."
"But now it's sealed! Did you not see the marks on her cheeks now?!"
Kabuto bowed his head.
"Her eyes are different now, though."
"Oh?" His eyes glimmered in dim light.
"They're redder this time, a ring of crimson circling her pupils. I think he is coming through." Kabuto gave a smug grin.
"Sikuliah could prove to be a powerful asset to the Sound."
"But we must tame him. I saw what he can do." Orochimaru grinned, his immaculate fangs resting on his lower lip.
"That's why I placed the Curse tag inside of her." Orochimaru slammed his fist on the table.
"Dammit, Kabuto-san! I told you evasive action only! ONLY! You disobeyed my orders with the tag! All we needed right now was information! You had to take it a step further! Suspicion is now fluttering around Konoha because of your stupid move and my encounter with Anko!" He clenched and unclenched his fist, "You're lucky she is still alive! Otherwise, I'd probably let Kimimaru tear you to pieces, since he wishes to prove himself to me!"
He exhaled a frustrated sigh, and leaned back in his chair.
"But then, I'd lose my physician." Kabuto grinned, his large round glasses gleaming in the light.
"Tell Tsukaji to keep an eye on Akiosu. She doesn't suspect him yet."
"Orochimaru- sama. We should act soon. We have already confiscated him from the Sand."
"Well, do not forget about meeting with him in four days time, understand? We need to keep this up before we can get our hands on Sasuke." Orochimaru grinned.
"Akiosu and Sasuke, one is an arrogant genius and the other is an angst genius who doesn't know she holds the birth of a new clan in her hands." He chuckled darkly to himself.
"We'll see who beat each other to become my heir…though, I've never been in a girl before…"