20. Rescue Mission
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Kakashi-san,
Do you really think we wouldn't notice? You have both agitated a lot of people without being aware of it.
Guess what! Your little plaything is with us now.
She's alive, so don't worry. It would be no fun to kill her right now anyway.
Come and find us and make your decision.
Will it be her life or yours?
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He didn't have to think about it, he already knew the answer.
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The pinkette was gone and he had no idea where she was. Frightened, Kakashi as Tatsuo stormed to the hotel reception and promptly asked the receptionist: "Where is Yoko?"
The woman smiled kindly at him: "Good morning, Sir. Unfortunately I am not able to furnish particulars without any clues."
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"Yoko, a woman, she is one of your masseurs. " He sounded impatient.
"I'm afraid we do not have any employees named Yoko." She tried to be as kind as possible.
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"Brown hair, brown eyes, average build, around thirty years old. Where is she?" It didn't matter if he appeared rude, now was not the time for cordialities.
"I'm sorry, I can't remember any staff like that", she shook her head and apologized.
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"Is there a guest called Yoko? It is important, she has…" He paused and took a deep breath. "She has something that belongs to me." My dear Sakura.
The receptionist looked worried: "Sir, please take a seat. I will get the manager for your service. Just a moment."
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Kakashi knew they wouldn't know. Yoko had to have something to do with it, that he was sure of by now. He just kept standing there scrutinising.
"Is there any other thing I could do for you?" The receptionist was intimidated by that judging look. He seemed to be lost in thoughts. "Mr. Karasu no gin?"
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Kakashi contemplated for a moment. He was there incognito, if he would inform them, it would all come out eventually.
No, this is a shinobi thing. Civilians need to be protected, not involved.
He couldn't risk harming Sakura or his disguise and for the dignity of Konoha...
"No," The love of my life has been taken from me… "I want to check out immediately."
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I have to find her.
I have to rescue her.
I have to safe her.
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"I'll go and get the papers done. Just take a seat in the meanwhile." The friendly receptionist pointed at the appealing sofas nearby, then she turned around and took the deposited documents out of the shelf with the couple's room number. A minute later she handed him an envelope, "Oh, Mr. Karasu no gin! It seems like somebody left a letter for you." She smiled at him in belief that the couple had a discourse and there would be an apology in there.
His frown deepened as he took it, he sat down onto one of the sofas in the lobby and read it eagerly. His heart began racing as he studied the following words.
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You have to cross a country or two.
Follow your instincts to the bridge of life and death,
where water drops and flows onto a bank of sand.
In 4 days it will all be over.
Be quick or be dead.
One life will come to an end.
The decision is yours to make.
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"Mr. Karasu no gin!" The hotel manager greeted him friendly. "Did your lovely wife like your choice of breakfast?"
"I'm sorry, but I have to go." He looked like he was in pain.
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"Is everything alright, Mr. Karasu no gin?" The manager asked caringly.
"Yes. We are checking out. My… wife… has already left, there was an emergency. I will get our things packed and head back too." Tatsuo forced a smile.
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"I understand. There will be no disturbance and you have enough time to check out. If you need any help or you need more time than until noon, please let me know."
"Thank you." The copy-nin in disguise nodded.
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"I hope you have enjoyed your stay."
"It was pleasant." The coldness in his voice was all too palpable, but the manager did not push him. The private lives of his guests were not of his concern.
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Tatsuo went back into the cottage, there he summoned his ninken pack.
"Pakkun, find a track and then join us!"
"Yes boss." The intelligent pug knew this was serious. "You've heard him. Help me find the track and you two start cleaning up!" The other ninken nodded and started doing what Pakkun had delegated.
In the meantime Kakashi teleported back to Konoha to get the rest of team seven as soon as possible.
It all went quickly, there weren't many questions asked. Shikamaru hid the fact that they were heading out on a secret mission.
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Team seven went on a mission to rescue her teammate.
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Sakura, where are you?
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Sakura felt her body being carried somewhere, her perception was blurred. She couldn't move and had absolutely no vision. The skilled medic-nin couldn't control her chakra or even her voice. Just the feeling of being transported somehow intensified.
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What the hell happened?
Sleep, poison, captured, kidnapped.
Kakashi. I'm so sorry.
He will find you. Calm down.
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Sakura's body didn't even seem to react to her inner turmoil, which was very unusual for her. So focusing on deep breathing to calm down wouldn't help. She could vaguely remember what they teach you in shinobi academy to master such situations.
Keep yourself focussed and gather as much information as possible.
But at the moment she didn't hear nor see a thing.
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Ok, don't panic .It's just the drug and it will ebb away.
We will get through this.
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They told you to keep your mind awake. And there wasn't any other thing that she could do anyway until her senses would finally catch on something.
Her head was spinning and she tried to distract herself from getting unconscious again.
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Dashes of silver flashed in front of her inner eye and formed into memories from a mission they had together before he became hokage.
Kakashi…
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They had been far away from Konoha and had to set camp, they were both incredible tired, so Kakashi summoned his ninken to keep guard. The mission was quite simple, just deliver a secret relic to Henamanure, which was an unknown town in the north-east of Tanima no Kuni, the land of chasms. It was too risky to set a fire, therefore they put their bedrolls next to each other like they had done many times before as team seven.
During the night their bodies somehow moved together. By dawn one after the other woke up in surprising comfort, but didn't dare to move until there was a noise in the rocks nearby. In retrospect it had to be Pakkun discreetly warning them of the ninken's presence. They quickly brought safe distance in between them. The copy-nin stretched himself soundly and Sakura yawned loudly. Both had red faces, even though his was barely visible due to his ever present mask. Oh how she envied him for that hiding piece of cloth!
Without any discourse they bundled their stuff together and left the clearing. Again they were acting like nothing had happened. That night both had slept so peacefully in dreams about lying in a boat on a glinting lake. Deep inside they knew they were sleeping comfortably embraced all night.
The mission reached its peak as they got ambushed by a group of rogue-nin in a small rocky valley. The rogue-nin wanted to get the relic that had been very important for the peace in the land of chasms. Sakura and Kakashi were outnumbered, but that had never been a problem before. However, in the last moment she was able to cover his back. He had almost been hit in the back with a sharp chain sickle. The pinkette passed the chain and threw the sickle right back into the face of its wielder, who died on the spot. The other rogue-nin were frightened to death, but made clear they would rather die than give up the fight. The battle continued until the last rogue ran away. Sakura interfered when Kakashi was about to send on a blast of shuriken into his direction.
Afterwards the great copy-nin took her by the shoulders and shouted at her with anger: "Why do you have to be so careless?! You've made us future targets! That action was stupid!"
"Sometimes you have to do stupid things! Don't be so stubborn. Dammit!" He beamed powerful at her, it gave her the feeling as if his eyes were tearing her down. She gave him the look that dared him to do so. Both were still breathing hard from the fight. Kakashi kept holding her pressed to a tree.
"Don't tell me what to do!" He growled menacingly and barely audible. His eyes burned with a fire she had never seen before. With every breath her chest brushed his while his incredibly male scent seeped deeper into her core, boiling her blood until she couldn't think straight anymore. The force of the situation and his words silenced her, her cheeks turned into a deep shade of pink and her mouth fell open. The heat of the moment dizzied her senses. Kakashi's burning mismatching eyes caught sight of her lips. The way they trembled slightly was an unmistakable invitation he would all too willingly give into. His grip on her waist tightened and she could feel his inner struggle. The tension of his body told more than a thousand words.
Unconsciously she worried her lower lip once, twice and it actually seemed to have an effect on the infamous silverhead. With a ragged breath his eyes wandered higher, his tomoe slowly spinning, then he noticed the blush of excitement on her cheeks and finally found her beautiful deep emerald eyes.
All of a sudden he seemed to notice that the heat shining in her face and radiating from her body just mirrored his own... heat... want...
They were playing with fire...
But he couldn't give in. Quickly he closed his eyes like in a sudden pain, he took a few breaths and powerfully pushed away from the tree and away from her.
At that final moment Sakura knew it wasn't just her mind punishing her with these cruel imaginations.
He felt it too.
All those years she wasn't imagining things and cramping on wrong ideas. Hope flickered behind her endless green orbs and she smiled. Knowing she couldn't push him any further, not this time, so she decided to act like nothing had happened. The pinkette dusted off her clothes and kindly said: "Let's go home, Kakashi."
His ever stern teacher attitude was back in place with the forehead protector on his sharingan and he just nodded with his trademark eye-crinkle.
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It was one of her favourite moments and the last sign she had needed to keep on fighting for him to give in.
At least she had her sweet cherished memories.
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