Kakashi's blood turned to ice a thousand questions suddenly flooded into his mind, but he forced them down. The figure before them was still fully masked, but Kakashi could that the assassin had a large, bloodstained bandage wrapped around his left arm. Briefly, Kakashi considered leaving the man to die, but quickly decided against it. He was after all essentially a 'good guy.'
Stooping down, Kakashi gathered the assassin in his arms, the black cloth soaking his vest and shirt. "Naruto, get the water and return to camp immediately—we may need your help."
Naruto nodded and quickly returned to his task, but Kakashi had seen the excited glint in his eye. Sighing at Naruto's immaturity, Kakashi leapt back to the campsite with the limp body in his arms.
When Kakashi returned to camp, he found Sakura and Sauske waiting anxiously. After they caught sight of Kakashi's load, they both inhaled sharply. Carefully, Kakashi set the body down on the ground and ripped the old bandages from the assassin's arm. Instantly, Sakura was at his side and began inspecting the wound. It was fairly clean, but the flesh was tattered and red; Sakura let out a gasp and turned to Kakashi.
"He has lost too much blood; can you supplement some of the loss with your Chakra?" She asked him urgently. Kakashi stared at her incredulously.
"You want me to help bring this deadly assassin to life so he can kill us all?" he demanded. Sakura looked at him and he soon realized that she knew she would get her way in the end. "Fine." He muttered as he slipped his hand on the assassin's chest and let his chakra flow through the body. Naruto suddenly came leaping through the shrubbery with a pail of water sloshing in his hand and handed it to Sauske who brought it to a boil with a quick jutsu. Sakura quickly dipped her hands into the water for sanitization and began to clean the wound thoroughly. When she was finished, Sakura pulled a fresh bandage from her medic-kit and wrapped it around the assassin's arm. Giving a small nod to Kakashi, they all moved away from the assassin to wait and see if it worked.
Suddenly Naruto moved forward and began to inspect the assassin's veils. Cautiously, he reached forward to remove them. At that moment, a gloved hand shot up and caught the boy's hand just as it was about to remove the veils; golden eyes snapped open and looked into Naruto's intently. Sakura and Naruto screamed, Sauske jumped back, and Kakashi pulled his kunai.
Aria looked at the boy's face for a moment; it was a face she recognized. She felt awful and million questions threatened to burst from her throat, but she finally settled for the basics.
"What are you doing?" she croaked. Seeing that no one was going to answer her, she released the blonde boy's hand and sat up, bringing a hand to her head, it throbbed painfully and she just wished it to be gone. Despite her attempts not to, a feeble moan emerged from her mouth.
Arg! What's happened? Where am I? How did I get here? This headache is killing me, why can't I just get a break once in my life? Being dead would be so much better…wait I'm supposed to be dead…oh no, tell me they didn't…
Aria shook her head to clear her thoughts and glanced around her surroundings. She was in a forest near a warm fire with four people that she recognized from somewhere. Not a good situation. Memories suddenly flooded through her head, fueling new pain in her head, resulting in another moan of agony. Slowly, she shifted her eyes to the four ninjas that she had seen at the village where she had killed Rashi. Checking her veils to ensure herself that the blonde boy hadn't pulled them down, anger rushed forward, giving a small relief to the pain.
Scrambling clumsily to her feet, she narrowed her eyes at the four ninjas. "Idiots." She hissed, "Why can't you let me just die, did you think it would be fun to let me suffer as your slave? Who's bright idea to 'save the assassin?' I thought that you might have just been contented with the medicine I gave you and for saving your pathetic lives, but no you decided to come and claim my life as your property." Taking a shaky breath, Aria leaned against a nearby tree. Exhaustion had suddenly washed over her, making her even angrier.
The pink-haired girl, who she had saved from the rouge ninja, took a shaky step forward. Aria's eyes scanned her body and she determined that she was about sixteen and was not planning to attack. In a weak effort to retain her dignity, Aria narrowed her eyes at the girl and was rewarded when the girl stopped about six feet from her and turned pale.
The silver-haired man, who Aria recognized as Hatake Kakashi, the great copy ninja, put out a hand to stop the girl, but the teenager shrugged him off and addressed Aria.
"I am sorry; sir for offending you, but Naruto saw you floating in the river and pulled you out. Kakashi-sensei carried you to our camp and sustained you with his own chakra while I rewrapped your arm. In reality, it was Kakashi that saved your life—you wouldn't have made it if not for his chakra." She explained.
Aria stared at her for a moment longer and then sighed, "You don't have any idea of what you have done, do you?" she asked softly.
Confusion flickered across each ninja's face for a moment and the Uchiha member of the group stepped next to the girl and regarded Aria with a scowl. "Of course we know what we did; we just hauled your sorry butt out of the river and saved your life."
A rueful smile flickered behind Aria's veils and she fixed her gaze on the group again, taking every detail from the numbers of hairs on each one's head to the size of their shoes with her gifted eyes. Letting out an exhausted sigh, she addressed them in a wry tone, "You are extremely lucky that I was me that you hauled from the river. I am one of only seven assassins that follow the Assassin Code. In that code, it states that if an assassin is captured or rescued, his or her life is in the hands of the rescuer. That said, in saving me, my life is yours to dispose of as you wish. Furthermore, I am now bound to protect you with my life and am forbidden from killing any of you. My servitude ends when either of us dies, or, in a woman's case the rescuer tries to dishonor her."
The four ninjas looked at her in astonishment; this was the last thing that they expected her to say. Seeing their gaping mouths, Aria drew up to her full height and met their gazes with her own golden gaze. Not for the first time, Aria gave a silent thanks to her veils; they hid her exhaustion and pain.
"Wait a minute," Kakashi said, holding his hands up, "someone can't just give us his life. We saved you because that's what we do. You can say 'thank you' and then be on your way, but lives aren't something that can be owned by anyone else."
Aria's golden eyes met Kakashi's black one for the second time, for some reason, Kakashi found him unable to break away from the gaze once again. This time, however, the eyes were filled with pain and sadness that went out to Kakashi. "If you really wanted that to happen, you made a huge mistake in rescuing me. Honestly, I think I have a have a solution that will solve both of our problems; you send me on a suicide mission, I'll be gone and your neck wouldn't be on the line. I can guarantee success, so what do you say?"
"No." Kakashi said more forcefully.
Aria struggled to keep her anger from bubbling over and affecting her judgment. With the last bit of her energy, she appeared in front of Kakashi and looked him in the eye. "I'm afraid to inform you that you really don't have a say in the matter. I am bound to the Code and I will not break it no matter what."
Kakashi studied the man before him; the assassin wasn't much shorter than he and looked deadly even in his weakened state. The silver-haired ninja flipped through every possible scenario, but couldn't find a way out of the situation. Reluctantly, he nodded his consent.
Aria didn't bother to mask the look of relief of that washed over her eyes, she didn't know exactly what she would have done if the man had refused. Flashing him a smile she knew he wouldn't be able to see, Aria turned and walked over to a large tree that was exactly three feet and seven inches in diameter. Silently, she leaned against the trunk and sighed in relief.
The ninjas looked at her for a long time, each probably trying to figure out what had just transferred before nervously returning to their tasks. Aria leaned her head against the tree and closed her eyes, shutting the flood of information that constantly plagued her everywhere she looked. A few minutes passed before Aria felt a presence bending over her. Lazily, she opened a single eye only to come face-to-face with the blonde boy that had tried to take off her veils earlier. If she hadn't been a trained assassin, Aria would have screamed, instead she met the boy's gaze.
"Am I really that interesting?" she asked.
The boy before squatted before her and stared at her intently before finally answering, "Actually, you are."
Aria opened her other eye and scanned the boy, quickly memorizing every detail. "Really? So tell me who graces my presence." The boy's stare turned blank and Aria mentally sighed. "What's your name?" she clarified.
The boy grinned, "Oh! I am Naruto Uzamaki, the next Hokage!" He shouted. Aria winced as Naruto's voice seemed to drill into her throbbing head. Naruto leaned closer to Aria's face and examined the cloth intently. "Everyone says that your face is uglier than anything on this Earth, they say that it is lined with scars and is mauled beyond recognition. Anyone who sees it dies a horrible death."
Aria threw back her head and laughed, startling everyone around her. "Ah, Everyone is surly the wisest of all men. Tell me, Naruto, if anyone who sees my face dies, where do the stories come from?"
Naruto scratched the back of his head in confusion. "Well, why do you hide your face if it isn't ugly? Can we see it?" Aria stopped laughing and became aware that everyone was looking at her curiously.
"Actually, you can't." she said nonchalantly. "I hide my face for many reasons; here are just a few: one, I am hunted by dozens of ANBU agents and am one of the most wanted assassins in the world; two, I never said that I wasn't ugly; three, assassins are instructed to let go of their identity and it is especially hard for me to do that, therefore I cover my face with a veil."
"Why is it hard for you lose your identity?" Naruto asked.
The sides of Aria's crinkled as she smiled, "If I told you that, I wouldn't need to wear my veil would I?"
Despite himself, Kakashi smiled at Naruto's confusion, he took out an extra pair of pants and a shirt and tossed them to the assassin, who caught them with one hand. Once again, gold met coal as the assassin looked at him questionably.
"What are these for?" Aria asked.
Kakashi sighed, "In case you haven't noticed, you are soaked from your little dip in the river. You can change into my clothes until we get to Konoha."
At the mention of the village, Aria's heart skipped a beat. Konoha meant a Hokage and a Hokage meant death to assassins—namely her." Aria also knew that these clothes would show her not-so-manly features, rendering her veils completely pointless. Aria tossed the clothes back Kakashi and waved him off. "I'm fine; I have my reasons for the way I dress. This material dries quickly, so I'll just move closer to the fire."
Kakashi watched as the assassin moved closer to the fire, she looked to the sky and Kakashi saw the flaming colors of sunset reflect and meld with those golden eyes. All of a sudden, the golden eyes widened in shock and the assassin turned to Team 7. "Get down!" she screamed.
Instinctively, all the ninjas dropped to the ground as a silver whip whistled menacingly over their heads. When Kakashi looked up, his eyes met those of a tall man that sported a type of dress that Aria wore. This man however didn't have a veil. His eyes glittered a dark blue and he held Kakashi's gaze. No matter how hard Kakashi tried, he was unable to break away from the man's eyes. Slowly, Kakashi's own hand reached for his kunai and began to move toward his heart. Panicked that his own hand was moving on its own accord, Kakashi tried to move out the way, but his body was frozen in place.
From out of the shadows, a black figure leapt from the ground and pounced on the man with full force. The gaze broken, Kakashi stood up and watched the Golden Assassin tumbling on the ground with this strange man, he watched in horror as the assassin pulled out his golden dagger and held it to the stranger's throat.
"Stop!" Kakashi shouted. To his surprise, the Golden Assassin froze, but was still holding the dagger to the man's throat. "What are you doing?" he demanded the assassin.
"Trying to save your sorry life—it's my job if you recall. I know this man; don't look him in the eyes. Let me kill him and the world would be a better place for us all."
The stranger suddenly whipped around and faced Kakashi, trying to catch the Jounin's gaze, but Kakashi never fell for the same trick twice and quickly focused on the golden eyes of the assassin, trying to decide whether or not to let him kill the stranger.
Suddenly, the man in black began to speak. "Listen to me Hatake Kakashi. Spare me and I will tell you the information you crave—I have the pleasure of knowing the assassin behind me. We trained together many years ago. If you call her off, then I can tell you all about her."
"Don't listen to him, Kakashi." The Golden Assassin called, "Just let me kill him."
"Her?" Kakashi, Naruto, Sauske, and Sakura asked in unison.
"That's right, Kakashi. All you have to do is tell her not to kill me and I will divulge all information to you. If you don't believe me ask her—she can not tell a lie."
"Tell him the other reason that you are gracing our presence tonight, Hiyu." Aria hissed, pressing the dagger closer to the man's windpipe."
"Why, Aria, I was looking for you, of course." The man replied smoothly.
From behind Aria's eyes, a red light that only she could see flashed from Hiyu's mouth. "Liar." She hissed, "You should know better than to lie to me—I haven't lost my touch."
"Fine," Hiyu snarled, "I was sent here to assassinate you, Kakashi. Imagine my surprise to find that Aria here was traveling with you."
This time a green light erupted from Hiyu's mouth and Aria looked at Kakashi triumphantly. "He's telling the truth." She announced.
Kakashi looked from Aria to Hiyu and back again. "Don't kill him, uh, Aria." Kakashi said. Aria looked at him like he was insane, but carefully backed away, bound by the Assassin's Code, flinching at the sound of her name.
The sun behind her suddenly dipped beyond the hills, leaving the full moon as their only light.
Rubbing his neck, Hiyu looked at Kakashi and smirked. "So, my guess is that you saved my dear Aria's life and now she is bound by the Assassin's Code. Very well, I guess I can play along. Hatake Kakashi, meet Aria. She studied with me when we were very young." Seeing the astonishment on Kakashi's face, Hiyu's smirk grew wider. "Oh, don't feel bad, only thirteen people in the world know that Aria is female and of that thirteen, only two knew her name. See those absolutely gorgeous eyes? They have the incredible ability to take in every detail around her, in training, she could find a grain of sand in a dark room in seconds, and those eyes can also tell her whether food is poisoned or if someone is lying."
Kakashi was trying to absorb the information that was flooding his senses all at once. He failed to notice that Hiyu was shifting slightly until it was too late.
Aria's eyes were even sharper at night then they were in daylight. Unnoticed by the rest of the company, her eyes changed from their original gold to a deep violet as the sun disappeared beyond the hills. As soon as her name was spoken, a deep anger and a feeling of complete despair filled her. That was her most jealously guarded secret and Hiyu had just thrown it into the air like garbage. She saw the muscles in Hiyu's body shift and her mind instantly calculated the pattern of movement. She knew what was coming and her mind reeled. She was bound to Kakashi's word and she couldn't kill him, but she couldn't let Kakashi die. Hiyu obviously used this to his advantage and struck with an attack that was impossible to stop unless the attacker was killed.
She was bound to the Code. Bunching her muscles together, Aria leapt in front of Kakashi, wrapping her arms protectively around him and shut her eyes. It worked. By using her own body as a shield, Aria took the full force of the barbed whip and was immediately flung to the side, away from Kakashi. She rolled across the ground, her eyes flooded with tears, blurring her vision. The pain was worse than she had ever experienced, with the last sane thought that her mind accepted, Aria twisted around and grabbed the whip, yanking it toward her.
Caught off guard, Hiyu was pulled forward and landed on the ground near Aria. He looked up to see her staring at him with those purple eyes. "You're a fool, Aria. Your heart is too big for who you are. Assassins can't have feelings—you should know that by now."
Hiyu slowly got to his feet and raised his whip to strike Aria, but found that he couldn't. No matter what he said, he couldn't kill her. They had grown up together and they had trusted each other with their names. Despite everything, Hiyu couldn't finish the girl that he considered a sister off. He turned toward Kakashi, who was staring at Aria on the ground in astonishment and began to walk forward.
A noise behind him caused him to turn around. Aria pushed herself off the ground and was standing, shakily, poised for attack. With a graceful flick of her hands, two twin daggers appeared in her hands. "Sorry, Hiyu, I'm afraid that I've grown rather attached to these people." She said in a deadly tone. "You'll have to do better than that to finish me off."
Smiling slightly, Hiyu turned to Aria and returned the whip to his belt and produced his own pair of daggers that were stained blue. "All right, Aria. How about one more battle, for old time's sake?" Hiyu could see an emotionless smile form beneath his ex-comrade's veils. In a flash of motion, they both moved forward and met with clashing blades. Sparks showered the ground as they locked in mortal combat. Each move was critical to survival. Hiyu caught Aria's gaze and tried to gain control of her body, but he was greeted with a searing pain behind his eyes. "You should know better than that, Hiyu." Aria said between clashes, "My eyes prevent you from entering my mind unless I want you to."
"That's too bad, I so enjoyed that visit when we were six. How you stand all that information constantly flooding into your mind and not be reduced to a blithering madwoman will remain a constant mystery." Hiyu answered in ragged breaths.
Muscles strained against each other, punches fell, and kicks connected with body parts with sickening 'thuds' and 'cracks.' Aria's superior sight was matched with Hiyu's greater physical strength. Suddenly, an opening clicked in Aria's mind and she slashed the purple dagger across Hiyu's forehead. Blood poured down into his eyes and he sprung away, clutching his face.
Aria landed gracefully ten feet away, her back to Kakashi and the other members of team seven. "Get out of here, Hiyu. As long as I am protecting these people, they will not die under your hand. Stop crying like a child and go, before I decide to throw all the rules of the Code to the wind and kill you now."
Hiyu wiped the blood away from his face and looked at Aria, a deep chuckle rumbled from his throat. "You haven't changed since I last saw you, but then again, neither have I. He is still looking for you and he wants your eyes; I would watch out if I were you. Take care of yourself, we'll meet again." With a last glance at Aria, Hiyu took off at a run into the bushes. Aria watched him go for a mile, her eyesight tracking the movements of the leaves. Satisfied that they were safe for now, Aria sank to the ground and allowed the darkness to wash over her vision.
Kakashi had watched the fight with growing dread, he felt a strange sensation sprout in his gut and grow up and spread throughout his body. It was a feeling that he had never experienced before and he honestly didn't wish to try anything new at the moment. As soon as Aria had fallen, Kakashi was at her side, catching her beaten body before it landed on the hard dirt. In a moment, Sakura and Sauske were on the other side of the assassin and were examining her closely. Sakura looked up at Kakashi, a nervous glint in her eye. "Um, Kakashi-sensei?"
"Yes Sakura?"
"Um, I can't tell if she is breathing, I think we're going to have to remove her veils."
Kakashi regarded the girl thoughtfully; he was the last person to ever remove someone else's face covering, considering he never allowed anyone to see his face, but he was worried for this girl who had saved his life by sacrificing her own. Slowly, he gave Sakura a nod and in turn, she nodded to Sauske. Silently, they all leaned forward involuntarily to get a glimpse of the assassin's face. Just as Sauske's fingertips touched the top of the fabric, ice-cold water splashed on all of them.
Every member of the team screamed, even Sauske. Still clutching Aria, Kakashi jumped backwards, only to stumble on a rock and fall, sending him sprawling on the ground and Aria's limp body landing on top of him. Sauske and Sakura both had jumped to the side, clinging to each other and screaming. Only Naruto remained dry and he was laughing so hard that even that fact threatened to change. Sakura and Sauske both let go of each other and attacked Naruto.
"Ah, Naruto! What were you thinking? That water is freezing!" Sakura yelled, pounding Naruto's back with her fists. Sauske didn't say anything, but he looked a little too happy for the situation.
Kakashi was soaking wet and was considering beating Naruto into tiny pieces and secretly wondering if he could get away with it, he was, after all the Great Copy Ninja. A sputtering sound came from on top of him and Kakashi looked at the body draped over his own. Aria's eyes snapped open and glanced back and forth, taking in the situation. All of a sudden, Aria did something that Kakashi would never have expected; she began to claw at the veils around her face, ripping them to tiny shreds.
Her identity was gone. The thing she valued most in life, yet constantly tried to forget was no longer a secret. Her name was in the air and would be circulating the world by morning. They knew she was a girl; there was no point in hiding any longer.
There was something warm and soft under her, Aria looked down to find that she was on top of Kakashi. Unwilling to meet his eyes, she scrambled to her feet and looked away. Behind her, she heard him rise to his feet and begin to walk towards her.
"Are you okay?" Kakashi inwardly flinched at the universal question that just popped out his mouth. She was just mauled by a stranger's whip, had a huge hole through her arm, and various other wounds that had all been the cause of his own stupidity. Of course she wasn't 'okay.'
Aria was silent for a moment, and then addressed Kakashi without turning around. "I'm going to wash this grim off of me at the river; I have an extra set of clothes with me. If any of you decides to look at me, I will personally throw this dagger through your heart, and I never miss."
With those enlightening words, she stalked off into toward the river, not glancing back once. Kakashi's students had long since ceased fighting and were glancing at Kakashi for direction. When it became clear that he wasn't going to say anything, Naruto jumped into the air and pumped a fist into the air.
"HA!" he shouted. "I knew that water would bring her around, see you guys should have a little faith in me sometimes."
"Shut up, idiot." Sauske muttered.
"What did you just call me?" Naruto screamed and lunged at Sauske.
Kakashi watched the boys punching and kicking one another ruthlessly. He was tired and was really disappointed that he hadn't seen Aria's face; even through she had removed those veils. Sighing, he reached over and plucked the boys from their fight, holding each in one hand. "You two can maim each other later; right now we need to get some rest. Everyone set their sleeping bag near the fire so we can dry off. Try not to let anything catch on fire."
Without another word, Kakashi dropped the two boys and plopped down near the fire. As soon as his head hit the small pillow, Kakashi allowed the bliss of sleep to overtake him, praying that Aria could be trusted.
The other members of team looked at each other and shrugged. They followed Kakashi's example and were quickly asleep as well.