Chapter 7: A Plot Is Revealed
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The room was silent. All morning night she had sat at the window. Even though Tsunade told her to get some rest, she couldn't help but watch and wait. Now her elbows sat on the window sill. Last night's rain had made everything look so beautiful.
A breeze blew in from over the rooftops. The pink hair of the girl moved slightly to it. Sakura sighed. She hoped that Kakashi and Naruto were alright. Just last night she heard that they had left. She knew where they had gone.
Then she felt hope rise up inside. Somehow she knew they were okay. They had to be. Looking into the sky she wished they could hear her. "Please come back safe. I don't care if you don't have the cure. Just return to me."
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He could hear everything going on in the house. He skidded his chair across the floor and shut the door to the room. His work had to be secret. Even to Kuzu and Misha. These two were his most trusted companions. Kuzu and Misha Toshibo were brothers. He had found them after leaving Konoha.
At that time they were only 5. Now they stood by his side. The two looked up to Ishida as a father almost.
Ishida mixed the two powders. The cap on the cylinder had been unscrewed, and it now sat next to him. Carefuly he plucked a flower from it's pot. The minute it hit the powder it crumbled and went dry as all the life was sucked out of it. This was the affect he was trying to master.
The girl that was with Kakashi at the tree house had accidently inhaled some. He never wanted that to happen. But since it did, he figured he wouldn't have to search for him anymore. Unfortunately Naruto had followed his sensei into his search.
Ishida sat there at his working table. Once again he could feel tears jerking at his eyes. "Kakashi, I didn't mean to-" Some where in him, there was still that young boy from 15 years ago.
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Snap! Another stick broke. It was the fifth one. "Damn. I'll never find one." That's when he saw the perfect one. It was just thick enough. The shape and length was perfect for walking with. Now how much weight could it hold.
Naruto picked it up and leaned on it. So far so good. He put just a little more pressure. It wasn't breaking. If it held his weight without a problem, then maybe it could hold Kakashi's. A smile touched the blonde's ears. His feet scurried across the forest floor.
When he got to the tree, Kakashi had pulled himself up and was now sitting on a root. Naruto handed him the stick. It was forked at one end. This would make it easier for Kakashi to walk with it. The jounin placed the stick under his armpit. It didn't break. Then he stood up. The stick didn't even give way a little.
"This will do," Kakashi told Naruto. Happiness had returned to his laidback face. The forehead protector had been pulled back down. While Naruto was searching for a walking stick, Kakashi had checked his wounds. They weren't too bad. The one on his chest had spread just a little, but a crust of dried blood stopped the bleeding.
As they stood there, a low growl could be heard. Naruto looked down, he patted his stomach, "I guess I'm a little hungry." This time it didn't hold back. His stomach gave a fullfledge growl. Kakashi couldn't help but give a little chuckle. His eye wandered the woods. Surely there had to be something to eat. That's when he noticed a noise. He hadn't noticed it before. Probably because of the rain, or his thoughts taking up all his attention.
But far off in the distance he heard water. Water ususally meant fish. Plus the two would be able to quench their thirst. Kakashi's mouth had grown dry. He looked at Naruto. "Listen."
The boy stopped moving around and silence over took him. "I can hear water!"
"Right, now let's head in it's direction. Maybe we'll be able to find something to eat on the way," Kakashi looked down at the stick. Then he grasped it with a hand and shoved it towards Naruto. Naruto didn't know what to do. Last night Kakashi could barely stand.
But it was morning after all. Kakashi stood there. His legs wanted to collasp, but he wouldn't let them. 'So I can stand. Let's try walking.' Slowly at first he placed one foot on the ground. Then the next. So far so good. Naruto stood by and watched. He knew his sensei could do it. Yet last night's events had taken a greater toll on Kakashi than he thought.
With his fourth step, he felt the wound in his chest reopen. Blood stained his dark shirt. Only a little showed up on his vest. With that, Kakashi fell onto his knee. His hand gripped the wound as he kneeled there. Naruto literally leaped over to him, just as Kakashi passed out from blood loss and pain.
"We found her like this." A tall shinobi stood in the treehouse. It had been cut off from the world. The murder of Hatake Kishimono was under investigation. At that moment several groups of shinobi were out looking for Akira Ishida. Hatake Kakashi had been found, passed out and water poured all over him. Apparently he was suffering from a mild case of chakra depletion. He was taken to the hospital.
The body of Kishi had been taken away. The only thing that would let you know it was her was the silver hair on her head.
"You have to feel sorry for the boy."
"Who?" Two men stood there. Besides the taller one, there was a young shinobi. His blonde and tied back in a ponytail. He was part of the police force.
"That Hatake kid, Kakashi."
A silence of saddness fell over the younger one. "First his dad, now this. What's next for the boy?"
"Kakashi-sensei?" The soft voice was faint. It seemed off in the distance. Kakashi was begining to come to. Slowly his eyes opened to a bright light. When his vision cleared he saw that he was in a hospital room. "He's awake!" Sakura's voice shouted.
Kakashi looked over and saw Sakura sitting next to his bed. Naruto came in through the door. Tsunade close behind. Smiles spread across their faces when they saw his grey eyes looking at them. His mask was still on, but they had removed his forehead protector.
Naruto walked over and put a hand on the back of Sakura's chair. His eyes glimmered. In a joking and relieved voice he spoke to his sensei, "Lucky for us we were only 4 miles away from Konoha. Once they found out we were gone," he said, "Sakura had them send out a few teams to find us."
The jounin had a smile under his mask. He sat up. It wasn't as painful. Sakura smiled when she saw that he noticed no pain. "I stopped the bleeding. Tsunade healed the wound. We were real close to losing you." Kakashi was still speechless. But he felt the spots of both wounds. New skin had formed. It felt thin and stretched over where the cuts had been.
Kakashi smiled at the people in the room. "Thank you." Sakura nodded. Then she stood up to take her leave. Tsunade wanted her resting. But she had agreed to let her stay until he had awaken. Naruto quickly filled seat. His joy of seeing his sensei alright was almost overwhelming.
"How do you feel?"
"I'm alright, Naruto. How are you?" Kakashi was worried for the boy. He must have been worried out of his mind. What were you suspose to do if your sensei passed out before you and was bleeding to death? Naruto stared at his hands. The answer was at the tip of his tongue. He wanted to say that he was afraid. That he was happy too.
But all that came out was, "I'm okay." The two sat in silence. Kakashi needed to change things up a bit. So he asked the blonde, "Now what happened exactly?"
Naruto recognized the question. It was the same thing he had asked him, "After you passed out I started to wonder what to do. I felt my heart racing. But then I remeber you gripping your chest. So I took a look at it and saw the- the blood. What I did was tighten the bandages," he said. "Then I heard a noise in the trees. Thinking it was Ishida, I pulled you to the hallow and waited. When the sound got close enough, I jumped out to strike. It was the medical team sent out to find us. They took you and I followed. That's when you ended up here."
Kakashi smiled at him. It was amazing what Naruto was ready to do to protect his friends.
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"Almost... No!" the powder in the cylinder exploded. That was the last of his weapon. Underneath a face covered in black powder, Ishida was angry. He was trying to find an antidote to the powder. When he thought he had finally had it, the container fell into the cylinder. Making all the dangerous substance exploded. He needed a sample of it in order to do expeirments.
Now he had nothing. But one problem was solved. All of the dangerous powder was gone. He needn't worry about it spilling and getting into the air of the house. The explosion had showed that the antidote worked. A little too well.
"I was lucky not to use it on the mice. Or I might have had exploding mice running around in my house." Ishida laughed at the thought of exploding mice. Just then there was a knock on the door to his room. "Come in." The door opened to reveal the second brother. Misha. Misha and Kuzu were twins. But to tell them apart, Misha had long hair tied back in a ponytail.
In his hand, Misha carried a plate. "I made you lunch. You've been in here all night and day. I figured you needed to eat sometime soon." He hadn't Ishida the plate. On the plate was a simple sandwhich .It ended up on his desk. Then all of a sudden Ishida picked it up and tossed it in the trashcan.
Misha was stunned, he could have least waited till he got out of the room first. But that wasn't the point. Behind Ishida the trashcan exploded and the plate came flying at Misha. It ended up spinning on the floor. Ishida turned around and got back to work. "I wouldn't use the salt in the kitchen."
"Why not?"
"It's not salt."
"Oh," Misha went to leave the room. Then he turned around. "Who was it that you met last night?"
"The one who this fit of powder is about. Was about," Ishida answered. Misha shrugged. He didn't want anymore things exploding, so he left.
Ishida opened a drawer that was underneath the table he was working at. In it was a picture. Ishida smirked at it.
"Just hold still!" a silver headed boy yelled at his friend in front of him. Then a flash. Ishida rubbed his eyes as Kakashi removed the picture from the camera. "Okay, now take one of me."
Kakashi handed the camera to Ishida and then ran over to the spot he was standing. But instead scooted over a little. Ishida took the picture. "Now why are we doing this again?"
"Just watch." Kakashi set the camera on the grass. Then he sat down and pulled out a kunai. Carefully he cut a little bit off of the picture of himself. Then he put it so that it looked like he was standing next to Ishida in the picture. With a small hand seal, the picture formed into one. "See!" he handed to Ishida. The boy smiled.
"I'll keep it."
It had been a long time since he looked upon it.
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"I can't believe they're letting you out so early. You just got here a couple of hours ago!"
Kakashi stood at the hospital's front desk. The nurse at the computer confirmed his discharge and he headed for the door. Naruto was following him. Once they were outside Kakashi turned to Naruto, "I owe you, how about some ramen?" Naruto didn't even think about disagreeing. It had been nearly a day since he had tasted the delicious noodles sliding down his throat.
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The sun would be up for a few more hours. Naruto finished his full of ramen. Lucky for Kakashi he didn't keep all of his money on him, or else he would have been broke. Now they had nothing to do. Tsunade was keeping an eye on them. She even had a few ANBU memebers following them for now. She was not taking any chances of them getting out of the village.
Kakashi shrugged at this. He didn't plan to leave right then and there. If he did leave, he was going to do it without Naruto. Sakura had found a way to slow down the posion in her lungs. She had at least a week. This was more than enough time to find Ishida. Still Naruto was restless and wanted to move.
Infact twice that day he had been caught trying to sneak out of sight. Unfortunately the ANBU memebers had thrown him back in the village. Kakashi was there each time to see him come back in through the gate. His lip sticking out with his jutted jaw.
But whenever he would pass by his sensei, Kakashi's voice would say, "Better luck next time, eh?"
The two sat down on a bench in the park. Tsunade also ordered that Kakashi be with Naruto at all times until this crisis passed. Two people were easier to spot than one. Naruto sat with his arms crossed. Kakashi had his nose in an Itcha Itcha book. It was a new one Naruto hadn't seen before.
Entertainment was provided for a while as Naruto tried futile attempts to get a sneak peek at the book. Several times he landed on his butt. The last time he fell he just sat there with his arms crossed. Kakashi looked over the edge of his book at him. "Why don't we train. It's been a while since we did. Without Sakura here, you won't have to worry about getting hurt too much." Naruto couldn't help but smile at this.
So it was decided to train. Kakashi and Naruto went to a training field. Kakashi taught Naruto a new trick at sneaking up on people. Then they did several fighting exercises. After a whole hour, Kakashi had finished his book, and Naruto was covered in bruises. The score turned out to be in favor of Kakashi, 33-1.
But all of their fun would soon end. Ishida was coming towards the village. He had found what he wanted and now he had a new plan in his mind. This time he knew it would work. First order of business was to find out if Kakashi was still alive. "I hope you are." The sky was clear and but the birds were silent. The feeling of blood between his fingers had awaken a dormant determination. One Ishida had discovered the day he left Kakashi.
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Both of them were tired. But Naruto was even more so. Kakashi was going to walk the boy home. It had been a long and exciting day. Naruto felt a lot happier than he had ever in a long time. He wished to himself for it never to go away.
Their sandals slapped against the concrete steps. Naruto opened the door. Kakashi stayed outside. He wanted to make sure everything was safe. What Naruto didn't know was that his sensei planned to leave Konoha that night. Sakura's cure was still out there, and that's all he needed.
Naruto's hands flipped the light switch. The room was clear. But before shutting the door, he opened a closet door and looked inside. With a sigh of relief he returned to the door. "Everythings clear." Kakashi nodded. He began his way down the steps. The door shut behind him.
The night was silent as Kakashi headed down the road. The stars shoned above him. The sky was clear and the air cool. Fall would be settling in soon. He couldn't wait for the leaves to change color. A smile was creaping up on him. But before it reached it's full length, a disturbance in the air caused it to vanish.
Something wasn't right. A knot tightened in his stomach. 'Naruto!' He had no time to run, but instead disappeared into a puff of smoke.
In a darkened room Kakashi appeared. He had made it to Naruto's appartment. It was empty. The window was broken. It looked as if a struggle had taken place. Several sandal prints crawled the wall. They were all Naruto's. He must have used shadow clones. Then that's when Kakashi noticed a piece of paper.
It was stuck to the wall by a kunai. In beautiful handwriting, not doubt Ishida's, it read:
"Kakashi,
"I have taken the boy. I'm sorry for things to be this way, but they must. Now I'm sad to report that if you don't come to him alone, then he'll die. His blood will be spilled by my blade, but will stain your soul. Maybe you remeber what I said to you when we were kids. You have a life in Konoha. I do not. It's all because of you. Now I want it, or I'll take the boy's.
"Do I really need to sign?"
Kakashi took the note and just stood there. Naruto's life was on the line. He had no doubt that Ishida would kill him. Tonight he would leave. Tomorrow he would find Naruto. Only one problem, Ishida didn't tell him where to go. Then a place struck his mind. Where else but there!
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I hope you liked this chapter. I had doubts about it. Let me know if anything's wrong. If your wondering, then yes the next chapter is the final chapter. I never planned on having many chapters in the first place. But don't worry. Plenty will happen in the next chapter. It won't be up as fast though. So don't look for it for a while.
Next chapter of The Day I Wouldn't Forget You: A Final Farewell
Read on...