a note from the desk of ethereal damsel
Renovation Part 4: Okay, so Orochimaru is now kicked out of the plot too...until the new arc. (He'll play a major role in that.) I also moved the scene where Sasuke tells Kaya to promise him a certain something to after the beach scene. And I think I compressed two chapters in to one. Other than that, things are pretty much the same.
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. The only characters I own are Kanzaki Kaya and her relations, Kirei and assorted children and adults from the Village Hidden in the Clouds, and Aoyama Kiyoshi.
About a month and a half after her parents' deaths, Kakashi (who had arrived at the village bridge late, as usual) came to his students with an unusual proposition.
"I've decided that we could all use a break." The four of them looked at each other in bewilderment.
"What do you mean, Kakashi-sensei?" queried Sakura.
"I mean a vacation. All of you could use one." He looked purposefully at Kaya as he said this. "Now, go get packed. We leave as soon as you're all ready."
"This is utterly spontaneous!" Sakura cried. "Why, there's so much to do, Kakashi-sensei! Couldn't you give us at least one day?"
"Now Sakura," said Kakashi calmly, "it is very uncommon for a ninja to get a break, especially a Jounin. We must be off as soon as possible."
"Very well, Kakashi-sensei…" Sakura said sulkily.
And so everyone left to pack, except for Kaya.
"Sensei?" she said quietly.
"Yes, Kaya?"
"You didn't have to do this, you know."
"I know."
"But is it not the way of the ninja, to face tragedy with stoicism?"
"It is…and it is not. Even talented young kunoichi have a right to weep when those they love are taken from them," answered Kakashi, after some thought.
"Thank you, Sensei. I cannot help but weep."
"Now go get your things. The others will be waiting."
Once everyone had packed and returned from their homes, the five of them set off. They walked in an easterly direction, beyond the village gates and into the land that bore no name, land that had no divisions and few towns. Towns that had no ninja to protect them.
After nearly half a day of trudging down the dusty road, Team 7 finally reached their destination. Kaya gazed in awe upon the chalky white cliffs and the foaming brine and hearkened to the echoing cry of the herring gull and the ceaseless pound of the surf.
"This is…rather magnificent, Sensei," said Kaya.
"It is indeed," Kakashi replied. After a silence, he said, "Now, you four can do as you like for the rest of the day so long as you return to this spot at nightfall. Enjoy yourselves, and please, do me a favor and try not to kill each other."
And so the four of them went off to engage themselves however they so chose.
After partially scaling the face of one of the white cliffs and coming to a small precipice, Kaya cooled her feet in the pools of water that had collected in the recesses of the chalky rock. The sun's heat made her sleepy, and the tranquil timbre of the surf lulled her to sleep.
Kaya opened her eyes and blinked owlishly; peering into the Stygian gloom that now surrounded her. There were no silhouettes, nor were there lights to guide her wandering eyes.
Am I dead? she wondered dimly. She felt strangely sluggish, as though she were drugged. Other than the sound of water dripping somewhere nearby, she was swathed in an unsettling silence.
Suddenly, she felt strong arms clasp her. She looked up into the face of her savior and met a pair of crimson, three-pupiled eyes. She almost cried out, but the pale phantasm placed a hand to her lips to silence her.
They slipped quietly out of the gloomy cavern into what appeared to be a makeshift hallway, carved from the chalky cliffs' stone. Kaya's savior gently laid her against the wall.
"Stay here, Kaya," he said. He needn't have uttered a word, for Kaya had fallen asleep again in his arms.
Upon awakening, Kaya found that the whole of Team 7 was huddled about her.
"Finally!" cried Naruto in relief. "It was like she was drugged or something…"
"She was drugged," Kakashi replied matter-of-factly, "by a pair of missing-nin. They were probably bounty hunters, but who knows what their motives were? Well, their motives are of no real importance; the truly important thing is that Kaya is safe."
"Kaya?" said Sakura curiously upon seeing Kaya's eyes open.
"What happened?" Kaya asked groggily. "I was sitting on an outcropping of one of the cliffs when…"
"You were kidnapped by bounty hunters and drugged," Kakashi finished for her.
"Oh…" replied Kaya, a look of dawning comprehension on her face now. "And I was trying to figure out where I was when someone saved me…"
"That was Sasuke," Naruto supplied.
"Ah…" She looked around at them all. "I don't know how to thank you. One of you could've died and—"
"Kaya," said Kakashi flatly. "We are a team. And we would not leave you to torment and perhaps death to save our own skins. No thanks are owed."
Since there was nothing more she could say, Kaya simply smiled at the four of them.
"Well then, time to return to the beaten path and find a place to stay for the night," Kakashi said.
Once Kakashi had decided upon a satisfactory place to set up camp, they each set about establishing themselves. After Naruto had caught some fish from a nearby stream using his Shadow Replication technique, Kakashi cooked the fish in a fire he had kindled and then they all supped.
Afterwards, Kaya decided to take a walk in the surrounding forest, for she was restless and had things on her mind. She followed a small dirt path littered with pine needles through dark, imposing trees. Soon she came to a clearing. The sky was dark that night, with hardly any stars. But the moon shone like a lost coin in a pool of black, providing ample light.
There was so much to ponder now, so many ephemeral thoughts rapidly overtaken by disquieting misgivings. What lay ahead for her in the future was unknown to Kaya, but it seemed to her that it was not bright. Though this morbid premonition was quelled somewhat by her trust in her friends, she felt fear growing in her heart, spreading black wings. And there was no one to slay it prematurely.
Kaya sat cross-legged on the springy turf of the clearing for what seemed like hours, musing silently about all she had been through, about the past she wished she could dwell in, and about the ominous shadow of the future. It was not until she truly considered the fact that she was falling into despair that she realized that she had not been alone all this time.
"Uchiha-kun? What are you doing here?"
"Kakashi sent me to get you. You ought to turn in for the night, at least until it is your turn to watch."
"Is there…any other reason you're here?" asked Kaya cautiously.
"No. Follow me back to camp." He began to walk down the pathway, Kaya following in his wake.
"Uchiha-kun, you have been very kind to me. Even when I broke down in the hospital and during practice, you respected my feelings. And now you have saved my life." Sasuke stopped abruptly and turned to face Kaya.
"Kaya…" he began uncertainly, "Promise me something. If ever I were to fall into…darkness, do not follow."
"What do you mean?"
"Promise me you will never blindly cast aside your life for the sake of someone you know is past saving."
"You speak in riddles…"
"Just promise me." His gaze was so hard upon her now, so opaque. People say that eyes are the windows to the human soul, but not Sasuke's. Kaya could liken his gaze to a stone wall, through which nothing is revealed.
"Alright…" He turned from her and said no more, and Kaya felt suddenly very alone and frightened.