Hi everyone! This chapter will be a bit longer than the first one. Feel free to review. As I'm not born with English coming out of my mouth, tell me if there are any mistakes or things that are unclear. Ideas and comments are welcome as well. I'll stop here for now or you're going to think I'm begging you to review (well, maybe I am a little bit ;)). Hope you 'll enjoy!
Chapter 2 – Ready, steady, go!
Kakashi had been running at full speed for some time now. Well, at the speed he could muster given that his energy was slowly but surely declining. Nevertheless, he couldn't take the risk to slow down, even for a few minutes, as the Rain girl's body was getting colder against his. He hoped his own warmth helped her a little bit. For the moment, that was all he could do for her, that and run.
"Hold on", he whispered, as much to her as to himself. "We're almost there."
A few minutes later, minutes that felt much longer to him, he caught sight of Konoha's gates.
It was another long long day for Izumo, one of the two guards keeping the Leaf village's gates. At least, it wasn't raining like it had been for a couple of days. It was windy though and the wind kept inviting itself in their wooden cabin and would turn the pages of the book he was discretely trying to read. He had to be discrete in case Shizune or Tsunade-sama would show up. That was hardly probable since they spent most of the day in the Hokage tower but, if they suddenly decided to stroll by, he knew he would be done for. The Fifth would certainly burst into a sermon about duty and how they were crucial to Konoha's safety but would probably forget about it all after a bottle of sake and a good night's sleep. No, the worse of the two would definitely be Shizune. Yeah, Shizune never forgot. He knew it too well for having played a trick on her once when they were kids and the truth was he was still paying for it. If she caught him, she would appear as calm as ever but would be inwardly boiling and she would be on his back forever after, making sure he was doing his job properly... He tried to get rid of this mental image of Shizune actually on his back, slapping him each time he was trying to read a line from his book. Anyway, life would be boring if one didn't take risks from time to time, wouldn't it? , he thought to himself.
"Now where was I again?" he asked himself, eyeing his book.
"Talking to yourself again", Kotetsu asked in a sarcastic tone. "You know you can talk to me as well if you want. That's what people usually do: they talk to each other, you know. Of course, I may not be as interesting as your book... But, that way you could concentrate more on the gates instead of having your eyes – well, the one not hidden behind your hair – constantly on your book."
"It's not like there's a lot to concentrate on, anyway. And if ever something came up, you have all my trust", Izumo retorted, a hint of irony in his voice.
"You're just useless," Kotetsu sighed.
"Okay then. Let me just finish that book and I'll promise I'll make an effort", he conceded, his eyes still glued to the book.
"Hey", Kotetsu exclaimed, "wasn't that Kakashi? Seems like he's in a hurry. That's not really like him. Wasn't he holding someone in his arms? I could have sworn I saw long black hair flying by... I thought he was on a solo mission this time." He paused, looking at his fellow guard who was still reading greedily. "Maybe he met some hot girl on the way and he just can't wait to get to his flat. What do you think?"
"Hmpf" was Izumo's answer and the proof to Kotetsu that he really didn't listen to a single word he had just said.
Well, Izumo had actually caught some of his words. Kakashi, huh? he thought. I should think of borrowing some of his books some day. I've heard he has a quite impressive private library...
Kakashi was now running through Konoha's streets and he could feel people's interrogative gaze as he was passing by. He guessed it was not so much directed at him and at the fact that he was running like mad but rather at the pale Rain kunoichi covered in blood he was holding in his arms.
"Here we are", he said as he burst into the hospital. It seemed he was lucky since Sakura was talking to a nurse in the hall. She spotted him right away.
"Kakashi-sensei, what happened?" she asked as she directed her full attention to him and the stranger in his arms.
"Found this Rain nin while coming back from a mission. She's unconscious, her pulse and her breathing are low. She needs your help."
"I need a team in operating room 2 right now" Sakura ordered at the top of her lungs. "Follow me" she directed her sensei.
"Ayane!" Sakura exclaimed after Kakashi had gently laid the unconscious nin down on the operating table. She could now fully see the girl's face.
"Do you know her?"Kakashi asked as Sakura was already checking on her patient.
"Usuzumi, Ayane. She used to be with us at the academy before suddenly leaving just before we were made genins" Sakura informed him, still shocked.
Kakashi's gaze finally laid on the hem of the nin's dress which had been spared by blood: the Usuzumi's symbol. So she was a relative of Aneko's.
"Kakashi-sensei", Sakura said getting him out of his musing, 'you'd better go report to Tsunade-sama". At the same moment, the medical team entered the room and Sakura began to give orders, her mind fully back on the ex-schoolmate who was now her patient.
"According to Sakura, the survivor is Usuzumi, Ayane and I recognized one of the dead nins as Usuzumi, Aneko, a former Konoha ANBU" Kakashi informed Tsunade.
At the mention of the first name, Tsunade stared wide-eyed and, when she heard the second one, a decomposed look settled on her face.
"Hell no" Tsunade muttered under her breath before getting up and rushing for the door.
Kakashi had never seen the Godaime letting go of her emotions so easily, well maybe except when she was drunk or angry, which was quite often actually... In fact, he had never seen her look sad.
"Tsunade-sama, are you all right?" he asked with concern.
"Get an ANBU team and bring these bodies back to Konoha, Kakashi." Tsunade was now running and Kakashi obediently disappeared in a puff of smoke.