Chapter 10

Two days had passed since her disappearance. Aki was deep in the forest, sitting on the ground leaning against a tree. Her legs sprawled out in front of her, hair covering her face, eyes closed. Takamori appeared in front of her.

"Took you long enough." She whispered. She was uneasy, however, not afraid. She felt too defeated to feel afraid. She was ready, ready to give in. She didn't want to fight anymore. She couldn't run anymore. She was too tired. She wanted it all to end. She was waiting for him to end it.

"Before…before you finish this, tell me…what it is you want from me? I have already lost everything…twice now. What is it I have that you want?" She asks quietly. Takamori just looked at her with black, sad eyes. He wasn't going to answer.

"If you want to kill me, now is the right time. All I am doing is waiting to die anyway…" she trailed off turning her head to the side.

"I will never hurt you." He stated in a deep voice, squinting his eyes at her assumption, yet completely understanding why she made it. He looked her over while her eyes were looking elsewhere. She looked weak, tired. She probably hadn't slept or eaten for a couple of days.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" she asked never returning his gaze.

"You should get back to the village."

"Why? Worried about me?" she bated him.

"…Ah" She quickly glared at him, angrily. Him stating that he was worried about her made her angry. After all he had done! Suddenly, there was an explosion above him. Without looking up, he quickly stepped back before a tree branch fell on him.

"I do not want to fight you. Calm yourself. You are too weak to fight." He stated. He reached into his jacket and pulled out a water canister and held it in front of himself toward her.

"Too weak to fight…" she repeated, now livid at how casually he, too, was speaking about her. Slowly she stood and faced him. Standing there, she raised the level of Chakra flowing within her body. Rising higher and higher until golden tendrils of light whipped around her. She looked at him, smiling.

"Aki…" he started, but was unable to finish his sentence. There were explosions all around him. He dodged them quickly. He had to fight…or he was going to be killed.

Back in the Hokage's Office.

They were all giving their updates on their progress in locating Aki and Takamori. Nevins leaned against a wall with his arms crossed, just listening with his eyes closed.

Kakashi stared out the window wondering where she could be, wishing he were with her. He had searched everyplace within the village. He was angry with himself, and worried for her. He hadn't slept for the two days that she had been missing. He spent every spare moment searching for her, not believing for one minute that she would 'snap' and destroy everything. Could she? Maybe. But would she? No, he wouldn't even begin to accept that.

"Why would she run? Even if she heard everything we were talking about, it isn't really reason enough to run like that. She looked…afraid of us." Asuma contemplated out loud.

"Oh, I don't know," Hayate started angrily. "Hearing, from someone she is supposed to trust, that she is 'dangerous' and to have Kakashi speak of her in a manner so 'casual'…is reason enough. Jesus, what must be going through her head right now…"

"Kakashi speaking of her so casually? I don't understand." Said the Hokage.

"I think she left because of how 'matter of fact' Kakashi was talking about her" Hayate explained.

"I don't understand, please explain what you mean."

"Kakashi…and Aki…how to put it…like each other."

"Is this true?" the Hokage asked, raising his eyebrows looking to the depressed and fatigued ninja standing by the window.

"…Ah," Kakashi replied, sounding defeated.

Hayate continued his explanation, only more calmly. "I think Kakashi didn't want to say anything until he knew everything was going to be alright. He didn't want to create any more problems with it being known that he was involved with her." Asuma just nodded his head in agreement with Hayate.

"It isn't a problem. Never has been and it never will be." The Hokage informed. "If you thought that it would create a problem, I am sorry for making you think that. Even though you're a Ninja, you're still human…"

Kakashi, closing his eyes and slightly bowing his head, whispered: "Arigatou."

"Has anyone seen Jin?" Nevins asked, not opening his eyes. They all shrugged. They had been too busy searching for Aki that they weren't paying much attention to the fact that Jin had been keeping a low profile.

"Would Takamori have him?" Asuma asked.

"…"

"Send out a separate search team for Jin. He could be captured and used against Aki, which in turn, could be used against us." The Hokage said tiredly. He rubbed his forehead before continuing.

"We need to find her. She's out there someplace and Takamori is out there too. If they happen to meet, I am afraid of what the consequences will be, not only for her, but also for this village. Widen the search. Get more help looking outside the village and in neighboring villages."

"HOKAGE-SAMA!" a ninja suddenly stated loudly, urgently, appearing before them all. "There are explosions in the forest outside the village!"

"Nani?" Nevins yelled. Kakashi was gone, not waiting for anyone, heading toward the forest.

Asuma, Hayate and Nevins quickly caught up with Kakashi. The surrounding area in the forest where the explosions had been was destroyed. Trees were snapped in half, there were craters in the ground and the air was filled with dust.

Kakashi could feel her. She was close. Very close. Having to run on the ground from not being able to use the trees, he hurried to her hoping that she would be all right, hoping that she could fight long enough for him to get there.

"Suiton Suishouha (Water Element: Water Wave)" he heard her yell from a distance. 'Nani? That technique…was used by the Second…' he thought to himself, panicking. He started to run faster, not caring about any traps that could have been set around him.

They all stopped dead in their tracks staring up at a huge wave of water, eyes widening. Realizing that it was heading straight for them and that they were about to be washed away, they grabbed onto the trunks of broken trees and held on for their lives. They were instantly pounded by the wave, pushing and pulling them in all directions. After a few wet, fearful seconds, the water calmed, leaving only pools in the craters.

Kakashi couldn't feel her presence anymore. Frantically, he looked around for her thinking that she had been washed away. He saw something, and quickly leapt to it. He turned the person over onto his back and gasped. 'Takamori' he said to himself. He was still alive, but unconscious.

Nevins withdrew a Kunai from his pouch and started toward Takamori, but was cut off by Hayate.

"Why are you stopping me? Kill him while we have the chance to!" Nevins yelled trying to push Hayate out from his way.

"We will bring him back to the village. Leave him with Ibiki for a while. I am sure he will talk after a few hours," Asuma said pulling the man over his shoulder. "Aki isn't around here anymore, anyway." Reluctantly, Nevins gave in.

In agreement with Asuma's statement, Kakashi started back toward the village when a glitter caught his eye. He walked over to it and picked it up. It was a bell. One of the bells that she had taken from him during their 'sparring session'. He clasped it in his hand, closing his eyes. The three left quickly, leaving Kakashi behind.

'Please…come back to me." he prayed to himself, standing in the broken forest, alone.