Chapter Seven
Burning
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Sakura dreamed.
She was twelve again, and weary, her feet sinking into the sandy ground of the arena. It was the chuunin exam; Ino stood opposite, looking just as exhausted as Sakura felt. She remembered they were fighting and tried to rack her brain for a useful technique, some jutsu that could get his over and done with, but her mind was as tired as her body and moved too sluggishly to help.
"So, Forehead Girl," Ino taunted, her voice carrying easily to both Sakura and the stands, "what are you going to do?"
Sweat dripped down into Sakura's eyes and she rubbed at them impatiently. When she looked up again, she knew that something had changed but it took a moment for her to figure it out.
They were still in the arena but young Ino had been replaced by her present self, five years older and even more beautiful, more confident. Sakura felt a rush of affection at the sight of her best friend and started running towards her, wanting to tell her everything that had happened in the time she'd been gone.
And then she stopped, frozen in mid-step, unable to go either forwards or backwards. Through staring eyes she saw Ino smirk in triumph even as she crumpled, falling down across from her as the Shintenshin no Jutsu took effect. Sakura's mind prickled, shifting to accommodate a third consciousness.
"Hello, Sakura," Ino said, poking at her private thoughts and rummaging through her memories. "You didn't answer me before, you know."
Sakura felt faint. Even Inner Sakura had withdrawn, unable to cope with this intimate attack on her self.
"What question?" she managed to reply, dimly aware that her physical body had sunk to its knees, blood leaking out from its nose.
"You know what question," Ino returned, mind-fingers coming to rest on Sakura's secret, half-formed thought of the night before. She held it up, letting it sit between them. "What are you going to do?"
Ino's grasp tightened. Panicked, fearful, Sakura lunged for her treasure, ripping it from Ino's hold. Momentum carried her forward and suddenly she was falling through her own mind, toppling over the edge into nothingness, the dark rushing past and through her as she fell and fell and fell.
She came to rest at the bottom of an abyss. Blackness surrounded her, a dim light the only thing reassuring her that she was here and in one piece. She looked down. The glow came from her precious thought, still gripped tightly in the palm of one hand. Bringing it closer to her face she wondered at its opacity, its tangible nature...but above all, its very existence. Last night she hadn't let herself discover what it was - what it meant - but maybe now was the time. She could open it here, in the cold depths of the abyss where no one could find her and tell her what she was thinking, what she was feeling was wrong.
Because only in her dreams did she feel safe enough to face this innermost thought. She was a master at locking away what she really felt, and the differences between her emotions and what she said had always been so extreme she'd developed another personality. Both Sakuras were curious now, and they held their breath as she brought the other shaking hand across until the thought hovered in midair, floating between her palms.
"Sakura."
She jumped, the thought slipping from her fingers and rolling across the inky floor. It stopped next to a sandalled foot, and a hand reached out, scooping it up, before bringing it close to dark eyes in a familiar face.
She forgot how to breathe.
He looked the same, but different. Always handsome, the years had made him beautiful, allowing him to finally grow into the fine Uchiha features. His blue-black hair had grown out and was bound behind him; the customary almost-smirk replaced by an intense and serious stare.
"Sasuke-kun," she whispered, but it wrenched from her like a moan, and her heart beat a staccato rhythm against her ribcage, its prison.
He moved closer. The glow of her thought flickered unsteadily in his hand, as if his appearance had weakened its intensity. Dazed, she hardly noticed, but then his hand clenched, near extinguishing the light.
"Don't!" she cried, and he relaxed his grip, a frown marring that perfect, beautiful face.
"Why?" he asked, and she didn't know herself.
"Because if you do, I can't see you."
Was that really what she wanted? Powerful emotions, long buried and near-forgotten, came rushing back inside of her, turning her to ice.
Funny, she mused. Shouldn't I be warm and tingly? Love was always hot, before
Sasuke moved even closer. Now, if she wanted to, she could reach out and touch him, and once, she would have...but this time something stopped her, something stayed her hand. She didn't know why but suddenly she knew she was missing something very important, if she could only remember then everything would work out and she'd be warm again.
In his hand, the thought sputtered. Distracted, she looked down at it, and under her gaze the faint glow grew brighter, the sphere of light expanding until it was too big for Sasuke's palm.
He thrust it from him as if it pained him, and perhaps it did. Larger now, it had acquired a tinge of red, an edge of flames, and she stared at it as if entranced.
"Don't!" he said sharply, but she couldn't look away. The sphere grew even bigger and more radiant. She sensed Sasuke throwing his hands up to shield his eyes but the light seemed to welcome her and she took a step forward, reaching out.
"I must..." she whispered, almost to herself. "I need to go back to--"
The light enveloped her. Warmth returned. And when she opened her eyes it was to see Kakashi's worried face peering down at her, the ridiculous eyepatch slung too high across his forehead.
She felt a lazy smile spread across her face, and lifted a heavy hand, stroking over his lips and cheeks before sliding the eyepatch into place.
"So you're the reason I had to leave," she murmured, moving her hand up to rest upon his hair. Then, with a gentle sigh, her hand slipped down and her eyes closed once more, falling this time into a deep and dreamless sleep.
----
What the hell was that all about?
Shocked at her touch, Kakashi stared down at Sakura, distantly relieved that this time, she was just asleep.
When he'd awoken back in their room, she'd already inhaled so much smoke he had feared his dream had been a portentous one. Scooping her up, he made his way across the room, ignoring the flames that licked at the walls. He balanced her awkwardly and fumbled with the doorjamb, hissing when the hot metal seared his flesh. Steadying his burden, he kicked down the door, bruising his bare foot but succeeding nonetheless.
As the door blew outwards smoke poured in, taking advantage of the vacuum that followed in its wake. Kakashi coughed, missing his mask, and moved out into the hallway. Fire blocked his path. The stairs were impassable - a beam above them had been eaten through by the flames and threatened to fall at any moment. Looking behind him, he spotted a window at the end of the hall, and sprinting past the other doors, elbowed it open. Peering out, he calculated the drop and judged it to be nothing challenging.
He climbed out, and holding Sakura tight, leaped from the fire out of the second floor.
The road was an unforgiving surface, and he winced as his feet met the hard-packed dirt. He'd be sore tomorrow but at least they were out of danger. Glancing down, he reassured himself that Sakura was still breathing, and she was, albeit shallowly. He turned with her still in his arms, and regarded the inn.
The heat washed out over the road like a physical thing, leeching the moisture from the exposed skin of his face and chest. Flames danced at the windows but it was the sound of the blaze that really hit him, a staticky, ominous crackling that near deafened him, this close.
People from neighbouring homes had spilled out onto the street and stood in their night-things, pointing and murmuring amongst themselves. It was only then that the greater implications of this fire occurred to him.
What had happened to the other people inside?
Wishing he'd given the registry scroll more than a cursory glance, Kakashi remained where he was, torn. If he put Sakura down, what was to stop the enemy-nin from darting out of the shadows and kidnapping her? But then, if he didn't do anything to save the guests still trapped inside, how could he proudly call himself a shinobi ever again?
Obito's words washed over him once more, and he sighed, his decision made for him. Thanks, conscience. Moving slowly, so as not to attract attention, he made his way through the crowd and slipped down a side street. He stopped near the fruiterer he'd noticed on their way in and freed up a hand, using it to pull the tarpaulin off one of the empty display barrels.
About to slip Sakura in, he paused when she stirred in his arms. He glanced down just as she looked up, gazing at him through heavy-lidded eyes. Her lips turned up into a beatific smile and then her fingers were moving, tracing over his face, heat greater than that of the fire burning him in their wake.
"So you're the reason I had to leave," she whispered, and he wondered cruelly who she saw in that moment, suspended as she was between reality and dreams. Then her hand ghosted over his hair and she was sleeping once more, a rest less worrying than her unconscious state from before.
Remembering that time was of the essence, he eased her gently into the barrel, arranging her slack limbs in as comfortable position as he could manage. He replaced the tarp, leaving it slightly undone at one side, then vanished, back to the inn.
He only hoped he wasn't too late.
----
Sakura awoke inside a barrel.
She didn't know it was a barrel until after she'd panicked and punched her way out of it, and even then she had a hard time figuring it out since it had been reduced to so many splinters. Fortunately the fruit stand she'd been left in front of had other intact barrels sitting outside, so she was able to confirm that yes, she had been inside a barrel, and no, she didn't know why.
She didn't like dark, confined spaces, and waking up in one had sent her into a cold sweat. Wiping the moisture from her brow with the back of her hand, she stood shakily and tried to work out the events leading up to these strange circumstances. They'd reached the village, found the inn, gone to sleep - had she dreamed? she wasn't sure - and then woken up here. Alone.
Kakashi.
Suddenly her pulse had gone from racing to idling, her heartbeats slowing as her mind tried to work out the possible reasons for their separation. Nothing it offered was able to calm her sudden, icy fear. If they were apart, it could mean only one thing.
He was in danger.
Okay, calm yourself. Do this right, first things first. Now, where am I? Even though every fibre of her body wanted nothing more than to race off in a random direction and hope for the best Sakura knew that it would be pointless to do anything without first taking her bearings. She turned in a wide circle, thinking her surroundings looked familiar, although it was hard to tell now they were inked with the greyish, predawn light. Hmm...maybe they'd passed this place on the way in, but she couldn't be sure. All the buildings looked the same, really.
And then she was distracted from her task by the acrid smell of smoke. A dark cloud of it was drifting over from above the shop roofs - it looked ominous and heavy and she wondered how she could have missed the distinctive tang in the air. Then something occurred to her, a vague recollection she couldn't fully recall. Bringing a hand up to her face, she gave it a tentative sniff.
Uh-oh.
Disregarding her abortive planning from before, she took a few steps back, then leapt up onto a nearby roof. New plan, she thought, grimly jumping towards the inn. Follow the smoke.
----
It registered on his second trip inside that this probably wasn't the smartest thing he'd ever done. Selfless, certainly. Foolhardy, definitely. But clever? Not really.
The first two rooms had been empty, and he'd wasted time by checking under the beds and behind the curtains. The third room held a single man, elderly and frail; he was awake but apparently had thought himself done for, and been sitting on his bed seemingly waiting for death when Kakashi arrived.
"Can you walk?" he asked, having to shout over the noise of the fire. The older man nodded doubtfully but Kakashi picked him up anyway, depositing him outside in a swirl of leaves. He reappeared in the hallway, cursing the Shunshin no Jutsu. While it was useful and worked to save time, he had to know exactly where he was going in order to appear there. Whoever had developed the technique showed a remarkable lack of foresight and Kakashi wished his old sensei had told him more of his own techniques back when they were still a team.
The door to the room he'd shared with Sakura beckoned, but he ignored its lure and continued, their possessions markedly less important than other people's lives. Another empty room and then a double, a couple, still and barely breathing, just as Sakura had been close to dawn. With no time for niceties and no patience either, he strode across the floor and slapped them both awake.
The woman screamed and was up in an instant; her husband only blinked owlishly and rolled over. Kakashi gritted his teeth and ripped the man from the bed, flinging him to the ground.
"Get up!" he ordered and the man obliged, rising hastily. His wife rushed to his side and they clung fearfully to each other as he grabbed them, transporting them all out to the road.
He left them swaying on the street and returned to the fire. The rest of the rooms were empty as well, and he was about to leave when well-trained ears picked up a faint sound above the fire's roar. He looked at the blazing staircase, hoping he'd been mistaken. But then it came again, thin and high and he knew it had not been a figment of his imagination.
A child's cry.
Shit. Possible ways to get downstairs flew through his mind and he evaluated them, considering then dismissing them all. Using a jutsu could land him anywhere and there was no guarantee the floor would hold. There was no helping it - he'd have to do this the old-fashioned way.
He traced his path back to their room, and pulled the sheet from the bed, dunking it in the water that hissed in the washbasin. While it soaked, he grabbed their packs from the floor - his was singed a bit, on the bottom - then raced back out into the hallway, pitching them through the still open window.
Returning to the room, he retrieved the sheet and slung it, still dripping, over and around his head and shoulders. He rescued his sandals from where they'd stayed, miraculously untouched under the chair. Donning them, he went back out to the hallway suitably prepared and with no more time for thinking, ran straight down the stairs.
The foyer was the worst affected part of the inferno he'd seen so far. The walls were sheets of fire; lines of flames made a neat pattern on the floor where they followed the lie of the floorboards. The registry desk was unrecognisable now, a shapeless bonfire on one side of the room.
"Hello?" Kakashi called. No answer. Pulling his makeshift cloak tighter around himself, he picked his way across the room and shoved hard against the door the innkeeper had used. The wood groaned under the force of his shoulder and with a heaving shudder the hinges gave way.
He was in a small dining room. Tables and chairs made blazing obstacles in front of him; he scanned the room but it too was empty. He was thinking that he really had made it up when the cry came again, louder and closer. This time he could hear a second voice - he recognised it as the innkeeper's - and using that as a guide Kakashi made his way through the flaming dining sets and pushed open yet another door.
He found himself in the kitchen. Pots and pans lined the walls and stacks of plates had been neatly set on counters around the room. The innkeeper lay on the ground, his legs twisted beneath him, trapped under a frame for cookware that had presumably hung from the ceiling. The heat of the fire had made the screws that kept it in place expand, and it had come loose from the roof and knocked the hapless man to the ground.
A small child of indeterminate gender raised a tearstained face towards him, and seconds later it had stumbled over and clutched at Kakashi's leg, wailing pitiably for him to "Save Papa". He removed the damp sheet, tucking it carefully around the child's thin shoulders. Crying eyes met his serious one, and he nodded, extricating himself from the clinging fingers before moving to the innkeeper's side.
The man greeted him with a pained chuckle. "Ah, ain't it funny how things work out?" He paused to give a dry cough. "Always knew it'd be the drink that got me in the end, but I didn't think it'd be like this."
Heart pounding, Kakashi leaned closer. "What do you mean, the drink?"
Hacking laughter from the innkeeper now. Spittle dribbled out over his lips and dried quickly upon his jowls. "Tipped over a sake bottle too close to the range." He flicked his eyes across to the stove. "Nearly took my head off. Musta blacked out, 'cause when I woke up here I was, and then Masa-chan found me."
Kakashi wasn't sure what to do with the sudden relief that filled him. The fire had come from the innkeeper's drunken ineptitude; it wasn't an attack on him or Sakura after all. Years of being coveted for the secrets of the Sharingan had made him suspicious of most circumstances; that was in addition to the inborn paranoia being a ninja seemed to need. It was almost refreshing to learn there might be such a thing as a coincidence.
But now was not the time for an epiphany. Gathering chakra in the palms of his hands, he coated his arms from shoulder to fingertip with a very thin layter before reaching out and lifting the frame from the fallen man. He levered it up and shoved it across the room, where it crashed into the oven and nearly disintegrated upon impact. He knelt and picked up the innkeeper, slinging his ample weight carefully over his shoulder so as to keep his hands free. He beckoned to the child, who had sought shelter behind a cabinet after being unstuck from his leg.
"Come here, Masa-chan," Kakashi said, and the child obeyed, inching over before flinging itself at him and reattaching itself to his leg. He was about to get them out when a tap set into the wall caught his eye and an idea came to mind.
"Sorry, Innkeeper-san, but is that tap connected to a nearby water supply, by any chance?"
The man moved weakly against Kakashi's back and slurred a reply, wits dulled from the pain. "Yeah...the inn has...had...its own rainwater tank. We put piping in to the kitchen...tank's outside..." he trailed off, limbs loosening in Kakashi's hold as he finally passed out.
Closing his eyes, Kakashi brought his hands up and started a complicated seal chain. The air beat around him, thrumming with such power that even the flames seemed to hesitate, pausing to take stock of this new and as yet unknown force.
"Suiryudan no Jutsu!"
He tensed and shifted, reappearing outside just as his water dragon burst from the pipe. It raced through the kitchen and dining room, then spiralled up the staircase, jets of water streaming from its nostrils and dousing the flames. It sped along the hallway and passed through each room, and when the entire building had been soaked to Kakashi's satisfaction he motioned swiftly with a flick of the wrist. The creature vanished, exploding into a sprinkle of droplets that made a short and sudden rain, splashing down onto the faces of those who had gathered to watch.
Or perhaps do more than watch. Looking across, he could see some had arranged themselves into a passing line of buckets, moving water down the chain at what seemed to have been a good pace. They deserted the process now that the fire was out, and crowded around him, curious to see this ninja saviour.
Well, so much for staying out of trouble.
"Here," he said abruptly, passing the innkeeper to a burly man nearby. Reaching down, he unwound Masa-chan's clinging fingers and moved to push it away.
"Wah!" The kid had a pretty good set of lungs, he was forced to admit. It was handy back inside, but now...
"Masa-chan," he said seriously, kneeling in front of the limpet-child, "you have to let go of me because I need to go and find my friend."
Masa-chan shook its androgynous head. "Don't go! Papa needs you to look after him!"
"Let me have a look," someone's brisk and business-like tone interrupted, and when he turned in their direction he was surprised to discover Sakura as its source. She was striding towards them, her face set, and he felt a rush of relief to see she hadn't been spirited away by enemy-nin unknown.
"You woke up then?" he grinned tiredly and felt his burnt face crack. Ow.
"Yes, I did," she snapped, pushing past him and making her way to the innkeeper's side. He was probably the only one who picked up on it as she added under her breath, "in a barrel."
Hey, he had an excuse for that one. There had been nothing else that would have sufficed in the short time he had to hide her and he was about to tell her that when he saw she was already deep in concentration, having commenced healing on the other man's badly mangled legs.
He moved back to give her space and was approached by a sheepish looking man who rubbed the back of his head before giving an embarrassed laugh. "Hey, um. Yeah. Thanks for that," he said, and Kakashi realised belatedly he had been the young husband from before.
"You're welcome," he replied. The younger man lingered, shifting from foot to foot awkwardly, as if he had something further to say. He was saved from his apparent dilemma by a tearful young woman racing over and gathering him up, covering his face with kisses.
"Darling!" she cried, dragging him away, "what on earth were you doing in this ghastly place? I've said time and time again I really don't mind if you come home late and wake me up after a business trip..." Her voice faded and Kakashi suppressed a smirk, since that had been a completely different lady to the one he'd rescued from the room earlier on.
He returned his attention to Sakura, who was still working on the innkeeper's legs. He was coming to, and she broke from the operation to speak with him in low tones. The man listened, nodded a few times, then gave her a wan smile as she went back to her task.
"What's your name?" A tug of his pants leg reminded him of his little burden and he looked down, considering.
"I'll tell you if you tell me something." This lack of discernible gender disturbed him.
The child pouted. "No fair, you know my name." A valid point. Something he would not be admitting to someone who only reached his thigh.
"And you'll know mine in just a moment." He squatted down until he was eye level with Masa-chan, and gave a level stare. "Are you--"
"Kakashi!"
Damn. There went his only leverege. He sighed and stood back up, acknowledging Sakura's return. "Yo."
"So," she said, and despite having just completed what he assumed was an intense and difficult medical jutsu her voice was hard and firm. Her eyes sparked dangerously. Tsunade, truly she is your legacy. "Let's talk about barrels."
Not this again. He smiled carefully and rubbed his temple. "Well, you see, Sakura --"
"Ah!"
He was saved an inspired explanation as Sakura moved past him to where Masa-chan still stood, small lips wrapped around a thumb. She smiled warmly and crouched onto the ground, asking no one in particular, "And who's this cute little girl?"
He blinked. How was that even possible? The child had no obvious gender characteristics at all, yet Sakura had managed to identify it as a girl.
Removing the sticky thumb from her mouth, she gave Sakura a shy smile. "Masa-chan."
Sakura brushed a strand of hair behind the little girl's ear, before rising and offering her hand. "Masa-chan, would you like to come over and see your Papa? He's doing much better now; he was very brave, wasn't he?"
"Un!" She nodded and reached out, clasping Sakura's hand with the innocence reserved for the very young; the kind of naivete that let them believe every older person was capable and strong, able to be trusted just because. He watched them cross to the innkeeper's side, Sakura hanging back as the little girl flew into her father's arms.
The sun took this opportunity to rise at last, the first cheery rays of the morning spreading out over the town, coming to rest on the blackened, steaming shell of what had once been the inn. The golden cast of dawn made the scene seem unreal and separate, and he could almost have passed it off as a dream, had his skin not stung with a hot dryness while his lungs struggled for a clean breath instead of one that was shallow, or racking.
He was considering asking Sakura for a quick once-over, at least to soothe his reddened flesh, when a voice sounded from behind him, officious and austere.
"Excuse me, sir."
He looked over his shoulder to find a man locked into a formal bow, head held stiffly, arm across his chest. The pose was held for a strict three seconds before the man straightened, and Kakashi could see he wore a neat uniform garnished with buckles and braids. Epaulettes winked from his shoulders; a hat with the same design was tucked carefully under one arm.
Serious brown eyes met his own as the man introduced himself. "I am Akio Yasuo, an officer of the Ontou Police Force." Ah, Ontou. So that's where they'd ended up. "I require you and your companion to accompany me to the station for questioning."
So much for staying out of trouble, indeed.
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Notes on Jutsus:
Shintenshin no Jutsu: Mind Body Switch Technique. Ino's family's special technique that allows her to enter an opponent's mind and take control of their body. She used it against Sakura in the chuunin exams but found it difficult to work due to Sakura's split personality.
Shunshin no Jutsu: Body Flicker Technique. Allows the user to get from one place to another REALLY FAST.
Suiryudan no Jutsu: Water Dragon Bullet Technique. This technique moulds water into the shape of a dragon and uses it as a powerful water attack. Kakashi copied this off Zabuza right at the beginning of the manga.
Yay, another chapter down! Thanks to everyone who's still following the story - I hope you're liking where it's going. Mad props to my posse (DS, Magus, IcarusT), I coudn't do this without you; and a shoutout to my mutual stalker Nushi, who loves Kakasaku but writes a very convincing Hayasaku. Mmmm. Please review and let me know what you think!