Kakashi awoke quickly, realizing he had had the nightmare about Rin again. His arm was outstretched in front of him, as though he still hadn't pulled his arm out of her chest. The sound of chirps still rang in his ears. Rin's voice echoed through his mind. It was still dark, roughly early morning, he guessed. The memories of the day before danced in his head, reminding him of where he was. He sat up on the pit floor, looking around in the growing light. He didn't see Nayamae at first, but felt her arm around him, falling from his chest to his waist as he sat up. Her skin felt unusually warm as he carefully moved her arm to avoid waking her; however, he swore she had fallen asleep across the room from him.
He shook his head, not sure what to think about her. He realized though, that while he had been shivering almost non-stop, she slept soundly, not even bothered by the cold. Did her kitsunebi keep her from freezing? It made some sense. But still, she had slept next to him to keep him warm. She had been angry with me, he thought. Why would she sleep beside me?
He stayed awake, pacing on the floor, wondering how they were going to escape from the pit. He had already climbed up the walls to examine the net, finding someone had also put metal spikes across it. The sour smell wafting from the spikes told him they were poisonous. He sighed irritably and went back to the bottom of the pit where Nayamae had just awakened.
"Anything interesting up there?" she asked with a yawn.
"Not especially," he replied. He watched her run her fingers through her hair. "Tell me what you know about these people," he demanded after several minutes. "You said this woman Shinjou was an old colleague. A colleague in what? How do you know her?"
"You never are off the job are you?" she asked, braiding her hair over her shoulder.
"Just answer me," he said irritably. He did not feel like letting her avoid his questions again.
She paused in braiding her hair to look up at him. "You're very pushy, you know that?"
He kneeled in front of her, coming down level with her. "I'm not playing your game again, fox. You'll answer me or I'll make you talk," he threatened, lifting his headband.
She glared at him, finishing the braid. "Fine, but put that thing away," she said, pointing to his sharingan. He pulled his headband back down. "If you were wondering, Orochimaru has no connections to Shinjou, at least none that I know. She mainly deals in weapons trading, but does dabble in drug trades. She's selfish and cruel. She only cares about herself, her son, Ryu, and her profits. However, Ryu is nothing like her."
"How long have you known her?"
She thought for a moment. "Since I was eleven. My father knew her long before I came along."
Kakashi sat down in front of her. "Your father, does he do the same types of trading?"
Nayamae shook her head. "He did."
"And you learned the trade from him?"
"Everything I know."
"But he didn't teach you how to read."
She glared at him again. "There was no time. Plus, it's mostly unimportant anyway. I know what I need to and that gets me around."
Kakashi shook his head, not knowing what to think about her. He sighed heavily, turning his head up to look out. "Well, how about we get out of here? I think I have an idea on how to get out."
Her eyes widened. "How are we gonna do that? We don't know when, or if, they'll be back."
He stood still looking up at the net. "Well, I would assume they won't be back any time soon. If this woman would rather have you dead, then she's probably going to leave you here to see how long that would take." He looked down at her. "Come on. I have an idea," he said, holding out his hand to help her up.
She eyed his hand, standing up on her own. "What do you have in mind?"
He gestured to his upper body. "Put your arms around me and I'll pull us both up the side of the pit."
She crinkled her face. "What about the net?"
"I figure I can cut away enough for us to slip out. I don't know if they'll be tipped off that the net's been broken so it's probably best we go at the same time." She continued to look at him with disdain. He crossed his arms. "What? Do you have a better idea? Or do you have a problem touching me now?"
"I have no problem touching you," she growled. She sighed heavily and looked upwards. "I guess we have no other choice," she said defeatedly. "Fine. Let's go."
They both moved towards the wall, quickly discovering the trip up the wall would be more awkward than either of them wanted. Nayamae put her arms around his neck and her legs around his torso. She hated to admit she needed Kakashi's help out of the pit, so she kept her mouth shut, pressing her cheek against his neck. Kakashi was glad he was strong enough to lift both of them up the wall. She was heavier than he expected her to be from her short height.
Finally, they reached the net. "Now what?" Nayamae asked, carefully adjusting her grip. She avoided looking down.
"Well," Kakashi said with a grunt, "I think if I cut it in the right spot, it won't fall on us and poison us."
"I hope you're right," she muttered, shutting her eyes tightly.
He reached up to where the net was fastened to the wall, focusing the chakra in his hand to cut the rope. After several minutes, the hole was finally large enough for them to climb through and out to freedom. Nayamae crawled over Kakashi to reach the ground first, only turning back to help him up.
He laid down on his back, catching his breath and resting his sore arms. "That was quite the trip," he said, panting. "Nayamae, we should-" he started, sitting up. She was gone. "Nayamae?" Quickly, he jumped to his feet, looking around him. She was nowhere to be seen. Kakashi sighed irritably. "You're welcome," he muttered to the silent trees around him.
Kakashi would not see Nayamae for nearly two years. He had thought about her every so often, but had no idea what had happened to her after their escape from the pit. As far as he guessed, she had gone back to Orochimaru. As for Shinjou and any of her people, he had managed to pick up evidence of her drug trades, but never found a definite trail.
Kakashi found himself staring out over the village from the balcony of his apartment. It was nighttime, the village quiet as it slept. He heard the occasional owl hooting in the distance and the faint breath of wind blowing through the trees. All felt peaceful. He sighed, turning to go back inside, when something caught his eye.
He stood, fixed on the figure running down the street. They stopped at every door, knocking loudly. "Please, you have to help me!" called a female voice. "Someone!" Kakashi noticed she was holding her right hand to her chest. "Please, is anybody there?"
Quickly, Kakashi sped downstairs to his door, just as she was passing by. "Hey!" he called out to her. She turned around. "What's wrong?" he asked as she approached. When she came into the light of the doorway, he instantly recognized her. "Nayamae?" She stopped instantly, her eyes wide. Blood was dripping down her arm, staining her clothes. She shook her head as she turned to run away.
"Wait!" Kakashi cried as he ran after her. He caught her shoulder, being careful not to injure her any further. "Are you hurt? I can help you!"
Nayamae screamed when he touched her, the cry echoing loudly in his ears. Kakashi instantly let go of her. She was in hysterics. He could plainly see the whites of her eyes in the darkness. She suddenly curled up into a ball on the ground and softly whimpered to herself. People in nearby houses awoke, turning on the lights in their bedrooms, lightly illuminating the street. Kakashi was unsure of what to do. He didn't know if she screamed because of his touch or because she was injured, but he needed to get her inside to treat her.
He knelt down beside her. "Nayamae, I'm not going to hurt you," he told her gently. "I'm going to take you inside my home and treat your wound, okay?" After a moment, she nodded slowly. "Okay, come on." He helped her up and led her inside.
Once inside, Nayamae seemed jittery. She shuffled her feet side to side and stared wide-eyed around the small apartment. Kakashi noticed she had changed since he last saw her. She was slightly taller now, but was still much shorter than him. Her face was thinner, her eyes more hollow, but she looked more adult. Her hair was still raven black, but was terribly tangled and messy.
"Sit here," Kakashi said, pointing to a single wooden chair. He left to get his first aid kit. When he returned, she was standing in the doorway to leave. "Where do you think you're going?" he asked sternly. "Sit down and let me treat you before it gets infected."
"It'll heal," she replied quietly, staring at the floor like a child who had just been caught doing something wrong.
"Not before you'll have to have your arm amputated," he countered. "Sit." Reluctantly, Nayamae came back to the chair. "What happened to you?" he asked as she carefully removed the bloodsoaked shirt. She didn't answer him and avoided his gaze. Her whole right arm was covered in deep cuts, some still bleeding heavily.
Kakashi worked quickly, cleaning around the wounds, putting pressure to her arm to stop the bleeding, and giving them clean dressings. Just by looking them over, he deduced the wounds were self-inflicted. He went to his bedroom and grabbed another shirt for her.
"Here," he said, helping her carefully put on the shirt. She still looked down at the floor, anywhere but at his face. He couldn't help but notice how thin she was, the shirt hanging loosely off of her small figure. He also saw small pinprick dots on her inner left arm. "Nayamae," he said quietly, staring at the scabs, "what's happened to you?"
Her eyes widened in fear. "I…" her mouth stayed agape. "I was trying to stop myself from injecting any more…I don't want to do them anymore…!" Kakashi stayed silent. Nayamae began to weep. "You have to help me! Please! I'll do anything you ask!" With her non-injured arm, she grabbed at his shirt.
Kakashi stood dumbfounded. Last he knew, she hated him for no reason, now she was begging for his help? Was she up to something? His thoughts went back to her connection to Orochimaru. Was she still working for him? And if so, she would have been one of his longer experiments.
He didn't push her hand away, but gently pried her fingers from his shirt. "Listen, I know someone who can help you. It'll just take her a few days to get here." She looked up at him, her eyes surprised. "In the meantime," he said, standing up, "I'm taking you to the hospital. You need more attention for those wounds." He left her still sitting in the chair, going towards his bedroom. "I'll give my friend a call first."
Kakashi didn't trust her. He needed to contact ANBU to let them know where Nayamae was. No one had seen her in those two years and everyone who knew about her figured Orochimaru killed her in an experiment. As horrible as the thought was, most had accepted that as truth. He was serious about getting her help though.
He dialed a few numbers onto the phone and put the receiver to his ear, hearing the familiar trill of the ring. A female voice picked up. "Hello?"
"Kyrie, it's me," he answered.
"Kakashi?" Kyrie said in surprise. "Haven't heard from you in a while! What can I do for ya so late at night?"
"I've got a case for you. She needs help."
"Brought in a stray?"
Kakashi sighed, looking out his bedroom door to make sure Nayamae was still sitting in the chair. She was. "More or less. She's got some sort of drug addiction and she's hurt herself."
"Oh, dear! Sounds awful!" Kakashi heard shuffling sounds as if she had been reclining and was now hurrying to pack a bag. "I'll be over right away."
"I'm going to take her to the hospital and get her treatment there first. I know there's some people with ANBU that may want to talk to her as well."
Kyrie paused. "Kakashi, really? You've just helped a poor woman and now you're throwing her under the bus like that?"
He sighed again. "This isn't the first time I've met her. I know she's a criminal. Been missing for a couple years now."
"You don't know a thing about her!" Kyrie protested. "I'll be there by tomorrow night! Don't you dare tell anyone elsefrom ANBU about her until I say so!" She immediately hung up with a loud click.
Kakashi grimaced, putting the phone back down. He turned to look at Nayamae again. She sat quietly, still looking at her lap. Granted, he thought, it had been a few years now so maybe something has changed. But she still broke the law and had never been properly brought to justice for it.
Kakashi walked back into the main room. "Come on," he said, standing in front of her. "Let's get you to the hospital." Quietly, Nayamae obeyed, following behind him.
I know these chapters are a little slow in coming, but hey, I'm super busy now and I don't have a whole lot of free time. I would love to write more of this, but I just don't have the time TToTT
Anyway, hope you enjoyed this chapter!