Been going through the throes of depression lately although I'm not sure why. School started up again, but I'm actually excited about that… Anyway, had to re-write this chapter six times (instead of my usual two) because I kept on doing stupid things that would screw up the plot to come. I mean, I actually killed Kakashi and Hinata! Finished the chapter, started re-reading it, and thought to myself "What am I doing? I can't kill Kakashi! He's Kakashi! Plus that's like the most pathetic death ever!" So I had to re-write the chapter. Then I had to save Hinata because I realized that my killing streak had nothing to do with the plot of the story and Hinata would probably be useful later on. So I killed Kajika instead. (Why? I don't like her…) Then I saved her, killed the golden man, needed a villain, saved the golden man, and started to research horses. Why?
…
I don't know why. Stress relief? Well, at least I have something extra super cool to visualize when I'm thinking of Kajika in fox mode. (Findings are at the end of the chapter) So two days later after nearly pulling my hair out while trying to design my own language (it sounds too much like English. I want it to sound more like Japanese) I returned to this story, finished it and now you have to suffer the consequences.
Chapter 12: The Abyss1
Salve for all the burn victims, surgery for the ones caught up in the bomb blasts, oxygen for the ones who'd collapsed from the smoke, sedatives for the children who couldn't find their parents, sedatives for the parents who couldn't find their children, orders for every capable ninja to go out and find more of the injured, orders for ANBU to go out and find who the hell had done this, migraine medicine for Tsunade…
Shizune sighed. The list went on and on. This was supposed to be a holiday, not a disaster!
She handed Tsunade a cup as the older woman left the surgery room, noting the grave look on the older woman's face. Tsunade accepted the cup silently and drank its contents. "Do we have a death count yet?" she asked tossing the cup aside.
"No, Tsunade-sama."
Tsunade shook her head sadly. "One."
The count would reach 100 half an hour later.
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"Aren't we going to bring Kakashi-sensei to the hospital?" Naruto asked, following Kajika outside of the village gates.
Kajika shook her head, blood dripping from a wound to her shoulder. "No," she said shortly, scanning the dark path ahead of them. She sniffed the wind. A few squirrels, a rabbit or two… nothing dangerous. "We need to get to the Kappa."
"But Mitsuki-chan said he was hibernating for the winter and shouldn't be disturbed."
Kajika snarled, glaring at the boy. "Screw that! We need that bastard's help and by kami we're going to get it even if I have to bite his stupid arm off!"
"Naruto-kun!" a soft voice called from behind them. They both whirled around to see Hinata running out of the village gates, dressed in her usual ninja wear. "Naruto-kun, where are you going?"
"Hinata!"
Kajika growled, smacking both Naruto and Hinata with her free tail and stalking off towards the forest. "Talk and walk!" she growled, still testing the air for enemies. Whoever had attacked Konoha had never appeared besides to send the kitsune after her and to attack Kakashi. Who knew if they were lurking in the woods or not… It was better to assume that they were there and waiting for them to show up. "Quiet!" she hissed back at the two talking genin. She sniffed the air again. Was that blood? The wind wasn't coming from Konoha… Who was bleeding?
"What is it, Kajika-chan?" Naruto asked, pulling out a kunai and standing at the kitsune's shoulder.
"There's someone out here," Kajika growled, waiting for the wind to change so she could pick up that scent again. "Someone injured."
"Which direction?" Hinata asked, activating her Byakugan and looking around.
Kajika glanced down at the girl before looking to the right. "One o'clock."
Hinata looked in that direction, focusing her sight. "It's Mitsuki-san! She's talking to something in a pond…"
Kajika nodded, digging her claws into the soft soil. "We go there." With a flick of her free tail she ran towards the kappa's pond, Naruto and Hinata following at her ankles. She shifted Kakashi slightly so he wouldn't be jarred as badly, listening for the quiet sound of his breathing and heartbeat. She had managed to slow the bleeding to a manageable rate with her tail but he was still fading. They needed to get him to the kappa and Mitsuki quickly or…
A shrill scream echoed through the night and all three of them doubled their running speed. "What's going on?" Kajika demanded. The wind was coming from Konoha, she couldn't smell a thing from up ahead.
Hinata focused and looked. "Someone's attacking!"
"Who?"
"…A-A man! Gold coloured hair with a big fur coat!"
Kajika broke away from the two genin, growling deeply in her throat. "Bastard!" she roared, bursting into the clearing. She dropped Kakashi, leaving Hinata and Naruto to catch him, and dived for the nearest man. Knocking him to the ground, she bit the man on the back of the neck, severing his spine. The man screamed once and lay still. Growling, the kitsune looked up. Four more men, one of them the golden one.
"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" Naruto shouted, leaving one clone to protect Kakashi with Hinata while the others raced to go help Kajika.
"How rude," the golden man said pleasantly, wiping thick red blood off of his sword. Smiling smugly he looked over to Mitsuki who was kneeling by the pond, a lost look on her face. "Aren't they rude, dearest? Bursting in and killing one of my men just as we were starting our conversation…"
Mitsuki slowly looked up at him, cradling a severed, beaked head. Sniffing once she rubbed at an eye, wiping red all over her face, before turning to Kajika and Naruto. Raising a red stained hand she pointed to the golden man. "Kajika… Kill him."
Kajika roared and raced forward, ignoring her wounds as she tore through the man who attempted to stop her. At her side Naruto and his clones pounced on the remaining two men, stopping them from getting in the fox's way.
The golden man smirked as the kitsune rushed towards him, drawing his sword. The kitsune may be a full ton of anger, muscle, and teeth but he had greater forces on his side. Raising his blade he easily caught the creature's sharp claws. They stood still for a moment before he threw her back, tossing her easily in a way that crushed most of Naruto's clones and came very near to flattening Hinata and Kakashi as well.
Hinata gasped as the kitsune landed near them, abandoning Kakashi for a moment to help the dazed Kajika to her feet. "Are you alright?"
Kajika glanced at Hinata before nodding shortly. "I've got 'im," she growled, cautiously walking forward and beginning to circle the man. Crouching close to the ground, she tensed preparing to leap at him again.
The golden man smiled at her, preparing himself. Suddenly, he felt many sets of arms wrap around him, grabbing him and holding him still as the fox leaped at him. Glancing over his shoulder he saw the blond boy that had arrived with the fox. Mentally shrugging he threw the clones away and into the kitsune's path. Unsure if any of the clones was the real Naruto the kitsune stopped short, nearly falling over her own feet to stop herself from trampling a few of the boys. The golden man smirked, turning away from the kitsune and the clones. They were no longer of any interest to him. Instead he turned, looking for Mitsuki.
She had abandoned the kappa's headless body, leaving it to rest at the pond's edge although she had brought the head with her, carrying it like it was an infant. Currently she was kneeling next to a pretty girl as they both studied a badly wounded man. Was that the Copy Ninja? He smiled. How perfectly terrible. The man hadn't died yet. Well, he could always rectify that when he claimed Mitsuki... Maybe he should take the pretty girl as well? She was quite lovely and he hadn't arranged for anyone to be with him tonight... Her face would probably light up beautifully as she died...
"Don't turn your back to me!" Kajika roared, diving for the man. Five of Naruto's clones flanked her, calling a battle cry as they dived for the man.
He smiled, raising his sword again. Since they insisted he'd be sure to kill them too...
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He didn't understand it? Where was he? Stretching out in front of him, as far as he could see, was a winding, twisting path. Dead trees and barren bushed were scattered about, many of their branches down and decaying on the ground. Above him the sky was a sick looking green, dark grey clouds swirling through it. And behind him...
"It's someone new," a small voice said.
"Don't look back," an identical voice said.
Kakashi glanced down, staring at the two wraith-like creatures. Dressed in what was nothing more then shreds, the two creatures looked up at him with immense, empty black eyes. Thinning black hair covered their heads and their stomachs were grotesquely huge He frowned, kneeling down so he was eye level with them and gazed deeply into their eyes. They were human? Slightly startled he studied them again, were these two children? Could there be children in such a bleak place?
Smiling brightly at the two, he stuck a hand out. "Hi there!" he said with false cheerfulness. "I'm Hatake Kakashi, who are your names?"
The identical looking creatures glanced at each other before looking back at him. "We can't remember," one said.
"The Abyss swallowed it," said the other.
"Just like everything else."
Kakashi frowned. "The abyss? What's that?"
"It's behind you."
"Don't look behind you."
"If you look behind you..."
"...The Abyss will swallow you."
Kakashi's frown deepened. He looked out of the corner of his eye as far as he could see. He couldn't see anything dangerous... but... then again... He had no desire to turn around and look behind him either. In fact, now that he thought about it, there was a strange pulsing feeling coming from behind him, as if there was something very much alive waiting for him. He had to get away from it...
He straightened up and smiled kindly down at the children. "Maa... Where are your parents?" he asked.
"They were swallowed."
"The Abyss swallowed them."
"If you turn around.."
"...The Abyss will swallow you too..."
Kakashi nodded, absently. "Got it. Don't turn around, ne? Well, we better get going then."
The children looked up at him, confused. "Go?"
"There's no where to go."
Kakashi pointed to the path in front of him. "We can go there."
"That leads to nothing."
"The Abyss is nothing."
"If you turn around..."
"The abyss will swallow me, I get it, I get it," Kakashi beamed at the two. "Well, we'll be following the path anyway. Is that all right with you two?"
The children glanced at each other. "We?"
"Sure! Can't leave you two alone, now can I? That reminds me..." he glanced at them, their hanging bellies and the bones barely covered by skin. "You two hungry?"
The two children stared up at him, uncomprehending. "Hungry?"
Reaching into his jacket pocket he pulled out two energy bars, offering them to the children. "Maa.. These taste like shit but if you're hungry you can-" He blinked as the two children suddenly moved, reaching up and grabbing the bars as if he'd change his mind at any moment and take them away. He smiled at them. "So, you were hungry..."
The children stared at the food as if they couldn't believe their eyes, holding them tightly to their chests. "Thank you," they whispered softly.
"Not a problem!" Kakashi said brightly. He glanced up at the strange green sky, the pulsing feeling getting stronger. He needed to know how he got here and, more importantly, how he could get out. Reaching out, he took one child by the hand, the other one going to his side and grabbing hold of his pant leg.
The children glanced up at Kakashi as they started down the path. "There's nothing down there," one said slowly opening up their energy bar and taking a small bite.
Kakashi nodded, continuing down the path anyway. "You've mentioned that."
The other child nodded. "You're gonna be disappointed..."
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"We can stop here for now," Kakashi said flopping onto the ground at the base of a dead tree. He glanced over at the children. They didn't seem tired, but they had been walking for what seemed like hours. He frowned, thinking over what had happened so far. The landscape had been unchanging, flat, dead land was all around and while the path had appeared twisting it was actually straight so he still didn't know what had been behind him at the beginning of the journey. Plus the pulsing feeling was getting stronger. What could it be that was behind him?
"Look," one of the children said, pointing into the distance.
Kakashi looked, seeing shapes in the distance. "What's that?" he asked, standing again, a hand on a kunai.
"It's the other Empty Ones."
"Empty ones?"
"The ones too scared to turn around."
"So the Abyss took what it could..."
"...and made them Empty..."
They glanced at each other. "Like us."
Kakashi glanced down at them, frowning. Whenever he'd asked a question the reply was always something about the Abyss and how it had devoured something. The children's voices were so bleak... They seemed to have given up hope long ago... He knelt down putting a hand on each child's head. "You two aren't empty," he said in what he hoped was a soothing manner. "You've got some food in you now... And..." He smiled at them. "You have me now, and each other."
The two glanced at each other. "We've looked into the Abyss..."
"...You can't look into the Abyss..."
"...When you look into the Abyss..."
"...And you're not swallowed..."
"...You're Empty."
Kakashi shook his head. "Not empty. Here, I've got an idea. You two can't remember your names, right?" There was a nod of confirmation. "Well, from now on... err.. Are you two boys or girls?"
"I'm a boy."
"Girl..."
"Then you'll be Botan, and you'll be Akina. Feel less empty?"
The newly christened Botan and Akina stared up at Kakashi with wide eyes full of wonder. Slowly, the two nodded, tears coming to their eyes. The boy, Botan, suddenly grinned, twirling around. "I'm Botan! That's a strong name!"
Kakashi nodded encouragingly. He wouldn't tell the kid that it meant peony... Not now at least.
The girl, Akina, looked quietly off into the distance. Smiling softly, she looked back at Kakashi. "I have a pretty name..." she sighed. "I finally have a name aga..." She trailed off, her eyes fixing on something behind Kakashi's shoulder. Eyes widening in horror, she took a step back before turning and running. "The Abyss!" she shrieked.
Botan also looked, giving a cry of alarm before running. "It can see us!" he shrieked.
Kakashi leaped to his feet, then froze. The wind was picking up and there was a roaring sound coming from far away. Every instinct of his was screaming at him to abandon the children and run away. He hadn't looked yet, the abyss would only get the children... He could run away... Find a way to escape this place... He hadn't looked....
Hadn't looked at what? Body protesting, Kakashi slowly turned to face whatever it was that he hadn't been able to look at before now...
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The golden man turned before Kajika could reach him, he sword connecting with one of her paws and cutting the flesh down to the bone. Roaring in pain Kajika leaped away, screaming and crying as she bit down on the wound in an attempt to keep her paw from falling off altogether. With another swing, all the Naruto clones were destroyed, the true Naruto falling back, a deep wound across his chest.
Hinata's eyes widened as the two warriors fell. Standing shakily, she ran up to the golden man, activating her Byakugan and taking a fighting stance. She didn't know what she had gotten into. She had been looking for people to help from the fire when she'd spotted Naruto leaving the village with a giant Kitsune... Blindly, she had followed and now...
If Naruto and Kajika had fallen to defeat this man she would do the same. She didn't know who he was, she didn't know why he had to be stopped, she just knew she had to stop him. Glancing behind her briefly, she shouted for Mitsuki to go and get help. Kakashi-sensei was dying, Naruto had collapsed with a pale look on his face, Kajika was still roaring in pain... Mitsuki had to get out of here! She needed to get to the village and...
But Mitsuki didn't even glance up as Hinata called her name. Instead, she was dipping her fingers into the strange head full of water she'd been carrying. Hinata turned to face her enemy, but if she had watched a moment longer she would have seen Mitsuki drip some of this water into Kakashi's wound.
"What a pretty girl," the man cooed as he came towards her. He reached out a hand as if to stroke her face."Would you like to come with me, darling? I'll be good to you if you come..."
Hinata glared at him, slapping the hand away and going into her attack. This man's chakra was strange. It spun and danced much more then any she had ever seen, but most of the pressure points were still the same. She hit most of the vital ones before the man suddenly roared and knocked her away, murder in his eyes.
"Darling, that hurt!" he shouted, waving his sword in the air. Hinata blinked as roots suddenly shot up out of the ground, surrounding her and stopping her from moving. The golden man glared at her. "You shall wish you hadn't done that," he threatened, before ignoring her and continuing on towards Mitsuki.
Mitsuki looked up as he approached, a strange look in her eyes. "Stay away from me," she muttered, grabbing onto the fabric of Kakashi's sleeve and holding on tightly.
The golden man smiled at her charmingly. "There's no river like last time, dearest. It's a new moon... They can't help you."
"Stay away."
"You're coming with me, dearest. Don't worry... Beloved and I will take good care of you..."
"I said STAY AWAY!"
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Kakashi turned around. There, not far away now was The End. His eyes widened as the wind suddenly picked up, seemingly drawing him towards it. It was truly The End. There was no afterlife. No Heaven or Hell. Simply nothing. He'd be swallowed up and simply cease to be. His whole life would be gone forever. It would leave no effect. No one would remember him. He'd simply be... gone... It can see me... The Abyss, Kakashi thought to himself, his eyes closing of their own accord. Capital A.
He was falling forward now, the wind picking him up and hurtling him towards the Nothing. Briefly, he thought about fighting it, but it wouldn't matter in a moment... He'd be swallowed and then there would be no more pain, no more feelings, no more... Obito...
Kakashi's eyes snapped open and he heard shrieks, the children being dragged closer to him. Twisting, he instinctively grabbed the two flying children out of the air, plunging a kunai in the ground and grabbing hold to stop them from being devoured.
Akina was crying, Kakashi noted absently, focusing on not losing his grip. Botan was staring at him with pleading eyes. This was his fault, he realized suddenly. He'd given the children names, he'd fed them, made them less empty... Now the Abyss could see them. Before... Before they'd been too empty to catch the Abyss's attention.
Kakashi smiled warily, the wind was pulling stronger now. The Abyss was less then a foot away, but it had ceased to move closer, the wind picking up instead to drag them in. The kunai cut through the rock, sending them an inch closer to the portal. Akina shrieked as Botan held onto Kakashi tightly. "Don't let us go..."
Focusing entirely on keeping his grip, Kakashi frowned as the wind once again got stronger. If this kept up he'd... He'd promised Obito hadn't he? Obito had been going to heaven. Rin was already there. So was his teacher, so was everyone he'd ever really cared about. When he had to die, he was going to follow them, not be sucked into nothingness...
The wind picked up again, the suction becoming greater. He winced as the pain in his arm became more intense. At this rate his shoulder was going to become dislocated. He wouldn't be able to hold on after that...
"Darling, that hurt!" the voice was harsh, slightly familiar. Kakashi glanced at the two terrified children. Neither of them had spoken then who...
"Stay away from me."
Mitsuki?
"There's no river like last time, dearest." Who was speaking? Where was this coming from?
Kakashi's eyes widened as a silver rope appeared out of nowhere in front of his eyes. The wind picked up again and he winced. The rope looked like it reached out beyond the wind's pull. Could he grab on and pull himself to safety?
"Stay away."
Maybe. He might be able pull himself and the two children away. It would be difficult, but he couldn't hold onto this kunai forever. Now how to grab on? One arm was stopping the children from being swept away from him while the other was stopping them from being devoured.
"Don't worry... Beloved and I will take good care of you..."
The rope was short, but it he let go of the kunai and grabbed onto the rope an instant later... He glanced back at the Abyss. He had the sudden desire to let go, after all it was all so pointless... He shook his head, staring deeply into the Abyss's depths.
It's glaring at me, he realized with a start. It's alive...
"Hold on."
"I said STAY AWAY!"
He let go of the kunai.
Akina and Botan screamed.
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Somebody was hovering over him, sword drawn. Instinctively, Kakashi's hand went to his holster, grabbing a kunai and shoving it into the person's thigh. The man screamed, dropping his sword and collapsing, to clutch at his leg.
"Kakashi-san!"
He was instantly on his feet, pulling out more kunai and shurikens. He remembered this man. This guy had stabbed him through the stomach... Bastard... He took aim, threw, and blinked as the man suddenly vanished, none of the weapons connecting.
"Beloved!" the wail echoed through the trees, it's source unknown. Kakashi stood for a moment more before relaxing and looking around. The man had fled...
Kakashi glanced around the clearing, freezing at what he saw. Naruto was lying in a small pool of blood, his face pale and still bleeding from a cut at his chest. A female form was held still by a net of roots, only their feet visible. A headless body was lying on the edge of the pond... A headless... Oh kami... His team...
He ran to the girl first, ripping the roots away. Naruto should be fine for a few minutes longer, the kitsune's healing powers helping him and Sasuke... If the headless body was Sasuke then he was beyond help. Pulling the last root away he helped a coughing Hinata out of the hole, mentally sighing in relief. This meant Sakura might be fine...
"Daijoubu?" he asked, pulling Hinata a foot or two away from the roots and plopping her down on the ground.
Still coughing, Hinata nodded.
An instant later, Kakashi was at Naruto's side, Mitsuki already there and dripping something onto the boy's wound. "He needs a hospital?" Kakashi asked, eyeing his student warily. There wasn't many major blood vessels where Naruto had been cut, but he could see the white bone of ribs where the blood was thinner.
Mitsuki allowed another drop to fall, before shaking her head. "He'll be fine," she said softly, sitting down with something in her arms. "Give him a moment."
Kakashi paused for a moment, thinking of going to the headless body, but studying the object in Mitsuki's arms instead. Reaching down, he gently took it from her, gazing into the kappa's lifeless eyes. So Sasuke wasn't dead then...
Mitsuki buried her face in her knees, a lost look on her face. "Help Kajika," she said after a moment. "Two drops, maybe three..."
Kakashi blinked before noticing the liquid that filled the bowl of the kappa's head. She wanted him to... Whatever... Standing, he made his way to the whimpering kitsune, wincing at what he saw. He hadn't noticed her earlier since he's been so worried about his team but...
Kajika was a wreck. With a slightly frantic look in her eyes, she was licking her wounded paw as if that would help it go back together. The cut was clean, about two thirds of the way through the limb with blood steaming out of the cut artery. Slowly, Kakashi approached her, kneeling down despite the pools of blood. Dipping his fingers into the water, Kakashi reached over and dropped three drops into the wound.
Kajika laughed, her voice on edge. "Yeah, like that's going to help," she giggled nervously, going back to lick the wound.
Kakashi patted her on the shoulder before going back to where Hinata was hovering over a suddenly concious and sitting up Naruto. "Ne, Naruto lay down," he scolded, setting the kappa's head down in a way that the water wouldn't spill out. "You got cut down to the bone."
Naruto stared up at his teacher with wide eyes. "Kakashi-sensei! You're alive!" he shouted, leaping to his feet and tightly hugging his teacher. "That guy stabbed you through the stomach and we couldn't get the bleeding to stop and Kajika got all serious and-"
"That's enough," Kakashi said firmly, pushing Naruto away. He studied the gash in Naruto's jacket, seeing only unbroken skin underneath. The kitsune had been able to heal Naruto that quickly?
"Oi! Miki!" Kajika shouted, coming forward, her paw fully healed. "Gimmie some more of that stuff. I got more wounds to heal."
Mitsuki shook her head, picking the head up. "No, Kajika-chan. Those wounds aren't life threatening, they can heal on their own."
"But they hurt..."
"No," Mitsuki snapped, a sudden, fierce look on her face. "You already healed your paw. You're fine, understand me!?" she shouted at the kitsune, clutching the head to her chest.
Kajika shrank back a step, looking guilty. "Yes..."
"Good! Now if you'll excuse me, I should get this to Tsunade-sama to help everyone who's hurt." Giving them a curt nod, she turned and started to stalk back towards the village, a blank look on her face.
Kajika waited until she was out of earshot before complaining. "What crawled up her ass and died!?" she spat, glaring at the ground and pawing at it angrily.
Kakashi blinked. Mitsuki was acting very odd. If she was truly upset about the kappa dying then she should be crying, right? Was something else bothering her to make her so angry? "Back to the village," Kakashi ordered, gathering his weapons and sticking them back into their proper places. "Help put out the fire and..." he trailed off seeing two small shapes laying by the tree line. Rushing to the two fallen children he recognized the drawn and almost identical faces of Botan and Akina before picking them up.
Kajika was at his side an instant later, her nose wrinkling as she sniffed them. "They smell funny," she growled, glaring at the unconcious children. "Leave 'em."
Kakashi glared at her, cuffing the giant fox. "Hinata, Naruto, will you take these two to the hospital?"
Naruto and Hinata nodded, stepping forward to collect the children. Kajika stopped them with her tail, growling harder. "Kashi, these two smell real funny. They're not of this world... Just leave them."
"No."
"You can't take them if you don't know where they come from," Kajika growled, ready to pounce on Kakashi and forcefully take the children from him. "They could be dangerous. Leave them here and I'll deal with them."
Kakashi shook his head. "I know where they come from..." The memories were already become hazy, as if it was a bad nightmare fading away. "The Abyss."
Kajika's eyes widened as she stared at him. "You went to the Abyss?"
There was a fuzzy memory of dead trees and a green sky. "Yes."
"Damn..." Kajika muttered. However, she moved away allowing Naruto and Hinata to collect the children before rushing off to the hospital with them. Awkwardly, she stared at Kakashi as if seeing him for the first time.
Kakashi noticed her staring at him and turned to look at the giant fox. "Will you go with me to help me dig out the rest of the victims?"
Kajika sniffed the air. Most of the fires were out, although the smell of blood was still strong. She shrugged. "Lead me."
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Kajika sat at the edge of the chair, playing with the frayed edges of what had been her fine kimono. She sighed. Kumo-baba was going to be pissed. Here she had spent all that time making her a fine, festive kimono and she'd wrecked it in less then a day... Well, Mitsuki had wrecked hers too... This way she was in trouble with someone else.
Leaning back in the chair, Kajika sighed again, staring up at the ceiling. She hated this hospital.. The smell of blood and antiseptic was overpowering and the sounds off loud sobbing hurt her ears. She would so be out of here if everyone she knew wasn't here... Well, everyone important at least...
Kakashi was a few floors up sharing a room with Naruto. While Tsunade had admitted that they both looked fine, she couldn't accept their wounds had been healed in minutes and locked them into a room for observation. Sasuke, Sakura, and Hinata were with them and if Kajika saw Hinata cooing at Naruto's bedside a moment longer she was going to... Human. Hinata was a human. Fifty years max. She could wait fifty years...
Well, at least being around Kakashi was interesting. The jounin was constantly trying to escape, bringing Tsunade's wrath down upon him every time. His excuse was that he wanted to check up on Mitsuki and the children but Tsunade didn't care. Mitsuki was sleeping and the children's visiting hours were over so...
Kajika sighed, resting her chin on her hand. She was board. To escape seeing Hinata fawn over Naruto she had offered to sit by Mitsuki and well... Boring... After coming into the hospital wearing a blank expression and carrying the head of the kappa, Tsunade had locked the girl up into this room and heavily sedated her. While Tsunade had been grateful for the kappa's elixir, she'd been concerned over how Mitsuki had gotten the head of the kappa. After hearing the full story from Naruto and Kajika she's become even more concerned. Mitsuki was staring off into space like a zombie, not grieving. She'd been under the assumption that Mitsuki and the kappa were friends, maybe Mitsuki's lack of emotions was coming from taking the creature's death so hard?
In any case, Tsunade had given Mitsuki a sedative, injecting two more when she had begun to doze off. She'd be sleeping for two days at least... Maybe when she woke up they could tell if she was alright or not? Tsunade really didn't have the time to assess her patient's mental health and all her other psychologists were busy with grief counseling. Mitsuki would have to wait a moment.
Kicking her feet in the air, Kajika hummed for a bit before stopping to stare at the wall. She was on the same floor as the children's ward... She could go and see the two brats Kakashi had brought in, see if they really were from the Abyss.
She shivered. The Abyss had always been a sort of horror story to her, the thing her mother had always threatened her with when she was a pup. If you were bad and didn't do what your parents said you'd go to the Abyss and cease to exist. To a human that was probably scary... to a spirit such as herself it was terrifying.
She didn't know what happened to humans when they died, but with earth spirits they returned to the life of the world, becoming one with nature. Then, after some time, they reformed, entering the physical plane anew to live again. To go to the Abyss... and cease to exist... It was worse then any hell she could imagine. But only the truly evil were supposed to go there. Kakashi wasn't that bad... was he?
Making up her mind, Kajika jumped out of her seat, stealthily making her way towards the children's ward. She needed to find out if those kids really were from the Abyss or not. If they were... we'll, she'd deal with that later...
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1. First off... About this chapter... The Abyss is not a part of Japanese mythology. In fact, I don't know where my ideas about the Abyss even came from. I know I've been thinking about that sort of bleak and dangerous place before that, but I'd never given much thought about it until I read a quote a few days ago. The person's name was Nietzsche and the quote was (in effect) "When you look into the Abyss, the Abyss looks into you." I haven't been able to get the Abyss out of my head ever since... So, I included it in the story in hopes it was more interesting then the usual near-death experiences. Fanfic writers rights I guess...
Did you know that draft horses (the ones that I always think of when I think of Mitsuki's fox size) can weigh up to and over 2,000 lbs? That's 900kg for our international readers (if any). The ones that I researched (British Shire Horses) usually stand at 17 hands (a hand is four inches so it's about 68 in (5 ft 8 inches) or 170 cm). Plus, when you measure horses you're only measuring up to their shoulder….
That's a huge horse. Taller then I am, able to swish me without a single thought…
No wonder knights used them to carry them into battle…
Decided to do the review thing again? Why? ………. Let me think on that.
Sky Spade: I posted more
Cool: Thank you for the encouragement and the wonderful praise. Besides that I must say that I really like your screen name. It's very… cool.
Jen-beyblade-fan: If you're a fan of Beyblade then why are you reading Naruto fanfics? (Thinks on that) …Sparkles? Anyway, it's people like you who are really going to make my head swell, I'm sure of it.
Monkey Shoes: What do you mean, finally? Just for that I'll think about dedicating an entire chapter to tea ceremony and why you have to drink three cups of tea… Or maybe I'll realize that I don't know enough about tea ceremony and instead write about something else... Go something else!
xkuroxshinobix: Don't worry, I will not stop writing this particular story. Once it's online I'm doomed… I mean you're doomed… Whatever. For the record (and to be evil and nitpicky) your screen-name needs an 'i' at the end of 'kuro.' Why? (sighs) The way your screen-name reads now is 'Black Shinobi.' No big deal in English right? However, in Japanese it's like saying 'Black. Shinobi.' Still don't see the difference? I don't either. All I know, is that according to Japanese grammar (and the sensei who was a bitch about it) is that to make the noun 'kuro' into the adjective 'kuro' you need to add an i at the end and make it 'kuroi.' It's not a big deal or anything, just proper grammar. A Japanese person would get what you're trying to say, but would have to think about it for awhile.
Sky Spade: Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Is this soon enough for you?
Dragon Man 180: No they won't. They certainly tried, unfortunately (as you saw) that plan was foiled, but it ended happily. I'm glad too. Kajika is really starting to grate on my nerves. Every scene she's in she takes over and she just keeps on whining and whining for more attention. Little sarcastic brat… As for the rest, I alluded to it in this chapter, Master, but you'll have to wait a bit to get the full answer out.
Kadia midori: Thank you for your support. If by any chance could you tell me what your screen name means? I know that 'midori' means green, but I can't figure out what 'Kadia' means. Enlighten me! Please!
Trash Can Fu: My dearest Trash Can… I'm not sure what is more horrifying, your spelling, your grammar, or your face. I have added a three page long rant in my livejournal about you using the largest words I know. I'll give you a cookie if you can figure out what they are. (P.S. I am so going to T's party. There I will use my mad 1337 fencing skills on your raw pansy ass.)