One Month to Live
by Lady Detia
A/N: I do not own the fabulous anime or manga of Naruto, but it sure if fun writing fanfiction based on it! Whee!
"Kakashi's POV."
"Megumi's POV."
Week 1
(Kakashi)
The day had finally come for me to leave for an S-rank mission. The whole situation seemed surreal to me. I suppose if I hadn't been holding her hitai-ate in my hand I would have convinced myself it was all just a nightmare. As I left Konoha behind and headed towards Rice Country all I could see in my mind's eye was her face. Her long raven locks, striking eyes, and elegant facial features were etched in my memory. That was how I wanted to remember her forever. I refused to imagine her face covered in blood. I tried not to think about her dying by my hand. My main focus was getting to where she was. Take one step at a time. If I didn't do that I would drive myself crazy.
I followed my Ninken who were moving quickly so they wouldn't lose Megumi's scent. At the rate we were traveling we would make it to Rice Country in about a day and a half. I didn't want to move too fast because I was given a month to fulfill my mission. I didn't see a reason to be in too much of a hurry. And yet my heart's desire was to see her right now, and the really selfish part of me wanted us to find a safe place for us to be together. I repressed that traitorous desire and pressed to keep up with Pakkun. I even took a soldier pill so I wouldn't have to stop running for a while. By sunrise the effects of the pill had worn off and I was completely exhausted. Fortunately or unfortunately, depending on how you look at it, I determined that we would be within the borders of Rice Country by the following day after I got some rest. Until then that beautiful face would haunt my dreams.
(Megumi)
It had been several days since I arrived in Oto. I don't remember much about my journey there on Kokoumori's back. I do remember weeping the whole way there because the Great Bat's fur was soaked with my tears. I couldn't believe I had left Kakashi-kun behind. I usually don't make such rash decisions, but I just couldn't pass up an opportunity to know who I really was. After that desire was satisfied I would join my mother and father. Once Kokoumori landed I was on the defense in case any Oto ninja attacked. The odd thing was they didn't attack at all. In fact a tall man with eyes like mine and hair like my mother greeted me like he was expecting me.
My first task at hand was to hand over Kabuto's remains to his wife and son as he had requested before his demise. A redheaded woman stepped forward as I removed the med nin's remains from Kokoumori's back.
"I'm Kabuto's wife, Narabi. My husband had told me that if he didn't make it...you would bring his body back to us. I don't know how he knew this but I'm glad he was right." I noticed the woman was smiling, but her eyes told the real story. Since Kabuto had been very ill I assumed she knew he would die soon, but that didn't make it hurt any less. When the little boy standing next to the woman started crying I figured he was the son Kabuto had mentioned. I felt pity for the child, but at least he didn't see his parents murdered in front of him like I did. As a couple men stepped up to take Yakushi-san's body as I thanked Kokoumori-sama for carrying me thus far. After the others left the man with eyes like mine stepped up to me. For a few moments he just stared at me. After an awkward moment he finally spoke.
"My god...you've grown even more beautiful than I could have ever imagined." He must have noticed the confusion on my face because he finally explained who he was. "Megumi-chan, I'm your uncle, Jin. You probably don't remember me, but I remember you. I can't tell you how happy I am that you're alive."
I wanted to tell him that I wouldn't be alive for too much longer, but decided not to ruin the moment. For the next few days my uncle and I had serious conversation about my parents. My parents were missing nin from Stone Country who had been recruited by Orochimaru. They were quite loyal to the Snake Senin until he started to use me for experimentation. Thank Kami-sama that I don't remember what he did to me. All I had to show for it was a scar on my neck. When my father, Sanosuke, found out about this he wasn't happy at all about it. My mother was quite upset too and begged Orochimaru to spare me the torture. Father had a different plan to put an end to Orochimaru's experiment. He taught me about a jutsu that would seem to bury me alive and also showed me how to break the jutsu so I wouldn't end up dying for real. He then took a dead animal's corpse and put it in a sack and threw it into the river to make it seem that I had drowned. When Orochimaru came to take me back to the lab Sanosuke told him that he had drowned me to spare me any more suffering. Orochimaru was definitely enraged by that news so he killed my father on the spot right in front of my mother, and unknowingly right in front of me. Although Orochimaru had ordered my mother, Ayame, to return to the lab with him, she opted to stay behind for a moment with Father's body. She took that moment to commit suicide right on top of him. Apparently my mother was uninformed about my father's plan so she opted to join her husband and daughter in death. The image of their bodies joined at the chest by a single kunai never left my memory no matter how far I buried it. Jin told me had he known I was still alive he would have fled somewhere else with me to protect me.
"Megumi-chan, how did you survive out there all alone?" Jin asked.
"Fortunately, a kunoichi from Konoha found me and brought me back to her village. I'm not sure how I made it as far as I did because by the time she found me I was about to starve to death. But I'm glad she did find me, although I had to spend the rest of my childhood in an orphanage."
My uncle spent the rest of the day sharing pictures of my family and stories about my parents. All the while my mind wandered to thoughts of Kakashi and Gaara. I didn't even bother telling Gaara about my departure because had a feeling he would offer me shelter with him in Suna. I didn't even want to face that temptation. As for Kakashi, I felt he had a right to know how I felt about him before leaving the world of the living. I only wished I had the strength to tell him face to face.
(Kakashi)
"Well, Pakkun, here we are in Rice Country," I stated as I looked down into a sloping valley sprawled before us.
"So we are," the pug replied as he sniffed the morning air. I could see signs of a small village further down the slope. "She's definitely down there, Kakashi. Do you want me to go down to pinpoint where she's staying?"
"That'll be fine. Report back to me in an hour." With a sigh I sat on the ground and slumped against the trunk of a tree. I pulled out one of my copies of Icha Icha Violence but ended up tossing it to the side. It was only making me think of her even more. My love for her was making it so hard to focus on my mission. I trembled as I thought of ways to make her death as quick and merciful as I could. The very thought of her suffering made my heart ache and my stomach turn. I retuned my book to its pouch and took out some rations. I had no appetite but I knew I needed to eat to keep up my strength. Lack of physical strength was easy enough to remedy. Winning my inner battle with my emotions was a whole other challenge.