Chapter 4 - 激流 (Rapids)

"What a slavedriver."

Kakashi cast a glance in the direction of that whisper. He wasn't planning to dwell on it - he had heard much worse - but the person who made the comment seemed to gag up at being caught. The young chunin's face turned red and then white, looking as if Kakashi had done an unimaginable terror on him with just a glare.

Now, the air around them turned stale.

"We haven't rested for an entire day," the chunin said, a little louder, finding courage in releasing what had been bottled up. "Not all of us are perfect machines like you that feel no fatigue. Some of our teammates are still recovering from injuries."

Just then, Kakashi raised his hand to signal a pause in their journey and halted his movement. He turned around to face his team fully and sure enough, the chunin that voiced his dissent averted his gaze - the courage finally ran out, it seemed - but nevertheless, extended a hand to help another shinobi steady himself.

Sukuzu, was it? Despite being the same age as Kakashi - and therefore likely to have gone to the Academy with him - he had no recollection of who he was aside from the mission summary.

Back then, Kakashi had no sharingan that forced every detail of his life down his throat. He was prideful and really only remembered those that had traits worthy of being remembered.

Gai was exceptional at Taijutsu. Asuma was ambidextrous and above average with weapons. Kurenai's genjutsu could put shinobi twice her age to the test. Obito was … loud, stubborn, and a sticky piece of tape that Kakashi couldn't get rid of.

Those that Kakashi didn't remember, then, were those that didn't stand out to him back in the days - those that were unremarkable in Kakashi's narrow field of vision.

"Are you injured?" Kakashi asked all of a sudden.

"N-no," Sukuzu stuttered. Kakashi thought that this was getting annoying.

"Then those that are recovering from injuries can speak for themselves," Kakashi said with a flat voice. Then, he looked around and asked, "anyone?"

Nobody said a word.

The other chunin, who was clearly Suzuku's friend, tugged on his arm and shook his head, telling him to let go. Not with Hatake Kakashi, his face seemed to say, it's useless.

"Make camps. We'll rest until sunrise, then we'll head towards the second village." Kakashi issued his order and immediately, he saw a flash of relief on quite a few of his teammates' faces.

Half a year ago, inexperienced chunin - like Sukuzu - and those that were recovering from minor injuries - like Kakashi and some of those assigned here - would be on the battlefield, fighting for their lives while battles stretched for days.

But four months ago, Iwa had agreed to a truce in defeat. They had been faltering in strength ever since the fall of Kannabi Bridge. Suna retreated from the international conflict as soon as their feud with Iwa had settled - Konoha was never its direct enemy anyway. Kiri was on its last leg, even more so now that their crazy plan had ended not in the destruction of Konoha, but the loss of their Tailed-Beast. Only Kumo still had the strength and pride left to fuel the flame at the Fire-Thunder war front.

Konoha no longer needed to ward off enemies from all directions, so it could afford to send some of its battle-capable forces - defined by the fact that one could hold a kunai and stab, really - on missions less suicidal.

So now, they had the luxury to stroll through Fire Country's forest, resting whenever they wanted, and complaining about strict leadership when they only had to deal with bandits. What a progress.

"I'm patrolling ahead," Kakashi said, catching the attention of everyone settling down while he clearly had no intention of doing so. "Well then, those that are not recovering from injuries, pull your weight and guard the camp."

Suzuku gave out a tiny shudder. Really, this was getting old.

"Wait up, Kakashi. Let me come with you." Kakashi couldn't help but raise an eyebrow when he heard Asuma calling at him, waving his hand that had two broken fingers in a cast. "Wouldn't it be more logical for more than one shinobi to handle scouting?"

Unable to find a point to reject, Kakashi nodded and let Asuma follow him out of the camp. Five minutes later, he was thinking that it might have been a mistake.

Kakashi drew blood on his thumb and slapped his hand into the ground, and two puppies, one with orange furs and another with a gray pelt appeared in front of him.

"Shiba, Guruko, please keep vigilance around the camp and notify me if anything happens," Kakashi asked and the pups shook their tails in response. Guruko, the youngest of his pack, looked at him expectedly. Kakashi gave in and rubbed his hand over the pup's head.

"Oh, if only our teammates can see what I'm seeing." Asuma let out a chuckle and Kakashi rolled his eyes. "I know you don't have to, but if you just explain a little more, maybe they'll figure out that you were planning to set up a resting point all along."

"Why do I care?" Kakashi landed on a branch, surveying his surroundings with his sharingan, letting the smell of the forest and everything in it fill his nose. "It's not like I planned it for their sake. I doubt the villagers would appreciate shinobi that arrived at the dead of the night."

"I doubt they'll appreciate our presence even when the sun is bright." Asuma let out a sigh and Kakashi wanted to do the same.

The first village they went to were fearful of them. Suspicion filled their eyes until it was replaced by tired, festering anger. When Kakashi repeated, according to his mission objective, that they really should consider relocating, one of the older villagers snapped back and asked them, "Do you think we'll still be here if we can help it?"

While Kakashi knew that this anger would have been directed at anyone that came, even if it wasn't him, he seriously doubted that his cold and impersonal demeanour helped much. For a second, he lowered his gaze and couldn't help but think that if Rin or Obito were here - hell, even Gai and his overly cheerful eyebrows - they would have done a much better job than he ever could.

But they weren't here and Kakashi would help Minato-sensei by completing whatever was assigned to him. Not a fault should ever be picked of his teacher, not at this critical time.

"You said the journey is difficult because of the danger on the road." There were many things that had stopped the villagers from leaving - whether for reallocation or just the trade for essentials and livelihood - so Kakashi picked out the one that they could help as a shinobi. "We'll make sure they're not a bother anymore, to the best of our abilities."

That led to a hunt around the region that lasted sixteen hours as they slowly moved towards the second village on their list of visits.

"So you must have been knocked real good if even you are slotted to this type of mission," Asuma commented, keeping up with Kakashi's speed as they breezed through the forest, trying to caution against any signs of life - equivalent to trouble in their book.

Kakashi wanted to disagree with that. While the chakra exhaustion still made him feel like his circuit was over-fried, preventing him from using large-scale ninjutsu, he was doing fine, well enough to make quick works of rampant bandits in the area, and certainly well enough to return to the actual battlefields.

"Rather than worrying about me, why don't you make sure that you can do more than maiming petty bandits with only one good hand," Kakashi retorted back, making Asuma bring his fist up - the good one - as if he wanted to punch him.

"You can be real haughty with your mouth, you know that?" Asuma said with a click of his tongue.

Kakashi did know that, he just never felt the need to address that - not before, and not ever. That made those who were still willing to interact with him - Rin, Gai, and to some extent, Asuma and Kurenai - quite a rare and strange species amongst his peers.

Asuma would have continued giving him a piece of his mind, but he knew that Kakashi would just turn his body away, ignoring him with no shame.

However, this time, Kakashi didn't turn to face the other way just to irk Asuma. He tugged at the fabric covering his lower face. Instinct made him want to pull it higher, but the logical shinobi in him forced him to loosen it instead, so he could better catch the faint, obnoxious scent in the forest.

Kakashi knew that burning mugwort leaves was a common practice among civilians living in this region. So despite their versatile usage, mugwort was often called the leaves of passing. Kakashi had no opinions of their superstition, but he did find their smell to be disgustingly pungent for his sensitive nose.

He wasn't sure if it was because dried leaves were only burnt along with corpses, but so many unpleasant stenches were mixed with their bitter smell. The decay of the rotten flesh, the sting of scorching fire and …

Is that the smell of blood?

"There are people burning corpses using mugwort leaves not far away," Kakashi commented. Asuma was surprised for only a moment before he shrugged it off.

"We're close to the second village, aren't we? They must be burning their deceased." Asuma looked somewhat worried, but only because death would make a village agitated and certainly less receptive to their mission.

"There's also the scent of blood floating in the forest," Kakashi added. His nose was very good - a blessing given by both his Hatake heritage and his contract with the ninkens - but not without limitations. For him to catch that whiff of metallic scent despite seeing nothing in sight, a good amount would have to be spilled.

"Oh crap, did that village get attacked by bandits?" Asuma rubbed his hair in panic. That seemed like the most obvious guess, Kakashi agreed. So immediately, he pressed his thumb into the ground and let the summoning array expand.

With a small poof, Pakkun stared at Kakashi with his droopy eyes that made the bulldog look like he was about to fall asleep anytime. "Pakkun, can you return to the camp and tell them to head for the village - scout first and don't do anything stupid. Just follow the origin of the mugwort smoke."

Pakkun took a sniff, marking the scent in his brain. Then, with a nod, he ran back in the direction they came from. Rest time was over. Kakashi seriously hoped that his teammates - however whiny they were - knew their priority and wouldn't question his order just because a dog delivered it.

"Let's go." Kakashi bolted into the distance while Asuma followed not far behind. The two of them, despite the glitchy chakra system and two broken fingers, should be more than enough to deal with a group of bandits.

Soon enough, things started to feel off.

The scent of the blood was diverging from that of the mugwort smoke. At first, it was just a small misalignment, but now it was at the point where Kakashi had to pick one to pursue in favour of the other. He chose the trail of blood, wondering what he would find - survivors, or their attackers.

"Duck." Kakashi's sharingan flashed red before he flickered down from the branch. Immediately, a wave of senbon sailed above the branch, almost taking off a patch of Asuma's hair had he not heeded Kakashi's warning.

"What was that?" Asuma pushed the words out of his teeth, but Kakashi had already seen everything he could.

Two enemies, coming at them from the same direction. Their jackets were the shades of green that would blend well in Fire Country's forest, and their headbands blatantly displayed the Konoha insignia.

Kakashi's breath halted for that moment, rather than feeling relieved at the sight of comrades, his muscle grew tenser under the strange sight.

"Hey, watch before you attack someone from the same village," Asuma said, trying to fake that tone of relief despite gripping the trench knife behind his back.

The shinobi glanced at them - at their naive and subpar performance - and the next thing that graced Kakashi's vision was a vortex of water.

They were imposters and not the origin of the bloody smell.

Kakashi escaped the pressurized waves by jumping onto a branch. His toes touched the surface for a moment before he flickered again. Barely a second later, the tree broke under the force of the water.

Catch the runaways, Kakashi managed to read the lips of one of the shinobi. Sure enough, his teammate made a sharp turn, wanting to get ahead of the point of conflict. Without wasting a beat, Kakashi brought his hand to his mouth as he sucked in a breath.

A series of wind bullets rushed out of Kakashi's mouth with a bang. Some of them aimed for the shinobi trying to get away, while others scattered all around him. With a quick reflex, the shinobi maneuvered out of the way, escaping direct hits with no more than a shallow laceration on her shoulder. Still, Kakashi's wind bullet broke apart the earth and snapped the trees on the shinobi's path, delaying her ever so slightly.

But before Kakashi could catch up, he felt the puddle beneath his sandal stir. Instinct took over and Kakashi stepped to the side, barely avoiding the tendrils of water that reached out for his ankle.

A heavy crash sounded to the side and Kakashi caught Asuma hitting the tree trunk. At least his teammate was well enough to let out a curse. The enemy shinobi also had a scorch mark near his collar, speaking of Asuma's brave - but clearly unsuccessful - attempt of using fire jutsu against an expert of Water Release.

Kakashi flickered to the shinobi's back in the blink of an eye. A kunai slid out of his arm guard as he stabbed it forward, aiming straight for the back of the shinobi's head. Clink. Metals clashed together when his enemy caught the attack with his own kunai at the last second.

Kakashi wasn't fazed. Quiet as a snake, he reached forward with his other arm, locking onto the shinobi's elbow. With a twist of his hand, the enemy's balance faltered just a bit, giving Kakashi an opening to send his knee straight toward the shinobi's stomach.

The shinobi stumbled backward, but not before he sent the kunai forward with a flick of his wrist, creating distance between them. Kakashi let the kunai fly past his face, refusing to move his gaze away from his target despite how close the blade was to his eyes.

Lightning crackled on Kakashi's kunai, wrapping the cold metal in streams of surging electricity. The flash from the lightning lit up their faces in the dark. Without staring into Kakashi's sharingan, the shinobi stomped the forest floor.

A wall of earth sprung up from the ground, raising an immovable blockade around the shinobi. But Kakashi was always bold - sometimes to the point of obstinate - with his lightning and he charged forward without a second of pause.

The blade made of lightning dug into the thick wall. Kakashi's hand gripped the hilt of the kunai tighter when his attack was met with resistance. He poured his strength in, ignoring the way his chakra system complained, and with a crack, the lightning slashed through the earth wall.

Kakashi only had the time to narrow his eyes before water burst through the crumbling stones. Layers of water reached out towards Kakashi with hunger and through the sharingan, he could see that the liquid was brimming with chakra. The waves curved around him and the tendrils latched onto each other, clearly trying to cage him in a water prison.

Out of nowhere, a pair of shuriken sliced through the air, buzzing with the noise of the wind currents clashing with each other. Wind chakra wrapped around the pair of shuriken, shredding into the water prison with deadly precision, breaking down its integrity before it could fully form. Kakashi had to duck a little to avoid a shuriken that had gone off course, but otherwise, the timing was as perfect as anyone could ask.

"Stupid aim," Asuma muttered, but that was to be expected when he was two fingers short of a proper grip. Asuma was only distracted for a second to escape the residual electricity leaking into the splashing water, and to his horror - or amazement - Kakashi was nowhere to be seen when he focused his eyes again.

Oh well, it wasn't so much Asuma's problem as it was their enemy's.

Inhale, ex— Before a breath was fully drawn, Kakashi rose from under the ground. Like a panther pouncing on its prey, Kakashi struck his kunai forward, slicing through the shinobi's right shoulder and down his back.

Blood sprayed all over Kakashi's mask as he kicked the shinobi in the knee and forced him down on the ground. The tip of his kunai pricked into the skin behind the shinobi's neck. A layer of water submerged his enemy's face as well as Kakashi's ankle. The residual electricity numbed his sensations ever so lightly, but it was tolerable.

"Who are you and what are you here for?" Kakashi tried his best, even leaving the shinobi enough breath to finish a sentence, all against his instinct. Asuma jumped down from the branch just as the shinobi drew a raspy breath.

At that second, Kakashi saw it, the cold, ruthless gaze in their opponent's eyes, as well as the glint of something shiny in the shinobi's mouth. Danger unlatched the leash Kakashi had on his instinct. He struck the shinobi's face as a senbon shot out, missing Asuma's neck by a few inches. Simultaneously, Kakashi dug his kunai deeper into the shinobi's neck.

"... What was that?" Once again, Asuma repeated what he had asked at the beginning of the fight. Unfortunately, Kakashi didn't have a better answer than before and he had just killed the person who had.

But … Kakashi whipped his head around. There was another shinobi that ran away to chase someone.

"We need to hurry." Kakashi started running, knowing that Asuma would follow not far behind. "He had a comrade that went ahead to chase the 'runaways', and that's the direction where the smell of blood is getting stronger."

-o-o-o-

'Aki' was certain that if another one of those so-called 'shinobi' came for them again, the same trick wouldn't work a second time.

First of all, only one shinobi had caught them. If there were two, they'd be as good as dead. More importantly, the shinobi underestimated how unnatural 'Aki' was, both in the mind and the body.

Lastly, it just so happened that she got all she needed to mimic a spear. There was an old saying, 'an inch longer is an inch stronger'. In the old era, spears were also called the weapon of war, not because of how many victories they guaranteed, but because of their ease of use even to untrained commoners. Its lengthy reach closed the disadvantage created by physical attributes, but only when it was within reasonable bounds.

Many coincidences needed to culminate for that 'one moment' to occur. With the way things were now, it couldn't be replicated.

The blood that was once warm and flowing now turned cold and solid as it caked on her clothes and stuck to her skin. Despite that, 'Aki' tightened her hold, hoping to grasp the only thing that mattered within her blood-stained fingers.

It was somewhat ironic, then, when Haru's hand slipped out of her palm - made clammy by all the blood that rolled down from her arm.

"Can you still run?" 'Aki' asked, turning around for the first time since she took Haru and ran - since Haru followed silently. It was only then that she saw the small patch of crimson that blended into Haru's obi. "You're injured."

Haru looked like she wanted to throw up. Sweats gathered on her forehead and her legs were shivering. Still, she placed a hand over her mouth to force nausea down and shook her head. She whispered, "let's keep going."

With a nod, 'Aki' took Haru's hand once again and pulled her along their grand escape.

"Do we even have a chance to outrun them?" This time, however, Haru didn't want to stay silent.

'Aki' didn't have a definitive answer for that, but in all likelihood, not even in their dreams. She didn't even need to say that, because immediately, they heard the explosive clashes in the distance - an effect that could only be produced by the shinobi's ninjutsu.

"We're heading towards a ravine … a cliff that drops into the river." Haru clenched her teeth to steady her shaky voice. It wasn't very successful.

A cliff … 'Aki' slowed down for a moment, before she picked up her speed again, directly towards the ravine.

"Wait, that's the cliff …" Haru opened her mouth, but 'Aki' merely squeezed her hand - slippery, wet, and disgustingly bloody - and it seemed to reassure Haru's mind as well as her body.

What 'Aki' wanted was to throw them into a grand gamble. When death seemed inevitable, that was the only path where she saw a flickering chance. Soon, 'Aki' could hear the sound of torrents splashing against rocks, getting louder and louder by the second.

It didn't look like Gods were on Haru's side, and Heaven would not have cared. 'Aki' saw the figure of a single pursuer that rushed out of the forest just when they arrived at the cliff. At least, luck had given them a small smile, and she had won the first gamble of many to come.

The kunoichi stayed still for a moment, judging the two women in front of her, eventually resting her gaze on the makeshift spear that one of them held. Clearly, she found the body of her comrade and was trying to decide what to make of 'Aki'.

The silent judgment only lasted for a second before the kunoichi flicked her hand. 'Aki' saw a fleeting shimmer and immediately, she twirled the spear like a fan. A series of light, cacophonous noises followed. In the span of a breath, the trees around them had stray needles sticking out of their bark.

Oh, and the kunoichi zoomed toward them.

'Aki' pushed Haru to the side and dug the end of her spear into the ground. With a forceful swing, the spear broke through the earth and sent a screen of debris straight at the kunoichi that reappeared in front of her.

Both the surprise factor and the visual obstruction made the kunoichi pause in her advance. Not intending to let her recover, 'Aki' turned the direction of the spear with a twist of the wrist and thrust it out again with a pivot of the body. The tip of the spear accelerated towards the kunoichi's torso like a dragon weaving through the clouds, pressuring the kunoichi to take another step back.

Another swing of the spear followed in a fraction of a second, slicing up diagonally in one smooth sweep, but this time, the kunoichi caught it with the kunai in her hand and struck it back without mercy.

'Aki' tightened the grip, her nails almost digging into the wooden shaft as she forcibly kept the spear in a defensive stance instead of letting it be swatted to the side. By now, the kunoichi had finally gotten over her surprise and started to realize that despite the skills that 'Aki' had with spears, it wasn't enough to close the gap between their raw strength and speed.

There it was again, a speed that 'Aki' couldn't fully catch with her vision. Like a lithe leopard, the kunoichi jumped up with a turn and kicked down with her leg. By sheer reflex, 'Aki' blocked the kick using the shaft of the spear, just barely.

Without stopping, the shinobi hooked her shin around the spear and brought it down with a stomp. 'Aki' could almost hear the fragility of her makeshift weapon when she pulled it against the kunoichi's hold and brought it to her chest. Then, it really wasn't a surprise when the kunai broke the shaft in half, leaving nothing between 'Aki' and the kunoichi's bloodlust.

It's all or nothing, 'Aki' thought as she dropped the broken spear and instead, thrust her palms forward. Her hands connected with the kunoichi's upper and lower arms as she pushed in the opposite direction. At the last second, 'Aki' was able to bend the shinobi's arm from the elbow, making the kunai narrowly miss her heart.

The blade dug into her lower lung, sentencing 'Aki' to a slower and more agonizing death instead of a quick release.

'Aki' was about to lunge forward while kunoichi was still debating whether she should add another strike. But suddenly, the kunoichi jolted back, releasing her weapon without any hesitation. In the blink of an eye, a flash of lightning pierced through where the kunoichi's head would be and hit the tree trunk with a sizzling crack.

Electricity flickered around the stray kunai while 'Aki' stole a glance in the direction of the intruders. Even with her senses, the visibility in the forest was pushing it. Nevertheless, she saw a mob of silver hair that popped up in the distance.

It definitely brought back unpleasant memories.

The kunoichi thought the same too, apparently. Quickly, she glanced at the fatal wound she just inflicted on 'Aki'. Then, her eyes moved to search for her second target - Haru, who was hiding near the cliff, but nevertheless, rooted in place.

The situation was changing too quickly for 'Aki' to fully understand what was going on, but at least she knew that whoever was crashing the party was not the kunoichi's ally. She didn't know if Haru's chance of survival was higher with the newcomers, but she was certain that it was zero with the kunoichi in front of them.

With a single thought, the kunoichi could catch Haru and place her at blade point. It didn't matter if she wanted to kill Haru or take her hostage, the intruders wouldn't be fast enough to stop her. At the very least, 'Aki' couldn't risk it.

The gaping hole in her lung was starting to make breathing heavy labour, but somehow, 'Aki' felt light on her feet. In the path that the kunoichi took to reach Haru, 'Aki' reached out and locked the kunoichi's arm in her grip.

The jagged rocks cracked from the edges of the cliff and the splashing water echoed louder, but none of that buried the deafening cry that sounded from above when 'Aki' jumped down from the cliff, taking the kunoichi with her.

-o-o-o-

Kakashi's hand moved without thinking when he threw the lightning-filled kunai toward the enemy shinobi.

He had his sharingan open, so he could see the contrast of chakra circuits in the scene in front of him. Compared to the bright and vigorous chakra circuit of the kunoichi that lit up like a torch in the dark, her 'preys' were dim and impoverished, close to nonexistent.

Those were the civilian villagers, the ones that got away. At least, that was Kakashi's conclusion before he took a second look.

The sharingan remembered everything, and the night when Kakashi's hand had almost carved into Rin's chest was forever etched in his memory. Like a ghost, Kakashi was haunted once more when he saw the woman's face. The blood that soaked through her chest only added to the deja vu.

"Aki!" The scream was quite a contrast to Kakashi and Asuma's silent shock when they saw one of the women pulling the kunoichi down the ravine with her.

Kakashi and Asuma glanced at each other before they flickered toward the cliff as fast as they could. Asuma grabbed the woman that was left above the cliff, making sure that she wouldn't slip down the ravine. Kakashi leaned over the edge, trying to catch any signs of life that had yet to be swept away and drowned out by the raging waves.

He saw nothing but the turbulent river. But before he had the sharingan, he had his nose.

"Asuma, watch the victim and get her to the rest of the team," Kakashi ordered, ignoring the way Asuma opened his eyes wide in disbelief, all the while signalling to the woman that was borderline hysteria. "I'll be back."

Kakashi needed answers, both for why the hell were enemy shinobi doing near a civilian village in Fire Country and for that day under the rain, where a tragedy was somehow derailed by an unexpected stroke of fate. Even if all he found were smashed-up remains, he needed to see for himself.

In truth, the unknown consequence of that mercy scared Kakashi.

-o-o-o-

'... Unnatural …'

'... Foreign to us …'

'... Intrusion ... Does not belong here …'

'Aki' gasped and immediately choked on a mouthful of water.

Slowly, she pushed herself up from the shallow water bank. Strength and warmth were starting to return to her, and along with that, a reminder. The marking of black chains also rippled into existence on her skin. This time, she was certain that a few more cracks appeared on the chain links. For the first time in eons, the Heavenly bindings around her left arm looked … shaky.

'Aki' raised a hand to her head, wanting to massage her skull but fished out nothing but clots of blood stuck to her hair. Yeah, she probably died by a smashed skull this time, when the current slapped them into the jagged rocks.

Ouch, she wondered if that was why she was hearing things - whispers that didn't sound like whispers, messages that didn't make sense.

'Aki' stood up from the chilly water, wondering where she was going this time. Now that she thought about it, she would soon have to discard the name 'Aki' as well.

"I'm sorry," she whispered an apology to Haru, who wasn't here and whom she didn't plan to meet again. If there was any other way, she hoped that the last memory she had left the woman wasn't the one where she jumped off a cliff.

But more than that, she hoped Haru would have a chance at living a full life, to see the end of the war and find a new beginning. Haru hadn't given up yet when fate took everything away from her. That strength was in her blood.

A gaze latched into 'Aki' and she whipped her body around in alert. The branch fluttered up and down when the boy dropped onto the forest floor. The symbol of tomoe swirled in his left eye that glowed like the red moon.

The boy was panting slightly, clearly the result of having to chase against the rapids. The moment the boy laid his eyes on her, 'Aki' knew that he remembered.

"Shit."