Chapter 3
"NO! SASUKE!" Sakura screamed and threw herself on the motionless boy lying on the floor. "YOU CAN'T DIE! YOU CAN'T, YOU CAN'T!"
"You idiot…" Naruto muttered, "Who told you to save me?" A tear traced down his cheek and he wiped it away soundlessly. "WAKE UP, IDIOT!"
"Hush, both of you." Both of the young ninjas instantly stopped. They had never heard Yani speak in that tone of voice. Crouching, Yani put a hand on Sasuke's chest and stopped moving, as if looking for something. Slowly, her eyes traveled from Sasuke to Sakura.
"Sakura, I need you to take you kunai and cut my wrist." Sakura flinched and then nodded. Taking the weapon out of her pouch, she slashed Yani's out held wrist. Yani bit her lip as the cold metal pierced her skin, but instead of blood pouring out, something that looked like liquid gold dripped out. Yani held her wrist over Sasuke's mouth as the gold blood dripped into his throat. When the flow ceased, she placed her hands on his chest and started to hum a soft, lulling tune.
It seemed like time stopped around them. A vast stillness fell like a blanket over the area. Even the lapping of water quieted. Suddenly, a blue light surrounded Sasuke and lifted him slightly off the ground. Slowly, the metal needles piercing his body pulled out and clinked onto the bloodstained earth. The puncture wounds and other lacerations started to fade. As quickly as it had begun, the blue light stopped, dropping Sasuke on the pavement. When he did not stir, Sakura launched herself at him and continued to cry.
"Sakura…? You're heavy…" Sasuke said at the sobbing figure draped over him. Sakura looked up rapidly.
"Sasuke!" Sakura started to squeeze his waist in relief as Yani rose and walked away.
It was snowing when Kakshi laid a broken Zabuza next to an equally broken Haku. Yani leaned against Kakashi, both silently looking at the two criminals lying so peacefully next to each other, who still managed to love each other despite their criminal life.
"Kakashi?" He turned his head slightly to her direction. "I think… I think this is the last mission for me. It… it… hurts… over here…" Yani clutched at her own chest and gripped her shirt. Kakashi sighed, and then stiffened at the sight of her eyes. They were pure black, not a night black, but a deep, dark, lightless black. A black that told of countless of deaths and tiredness and despair. A black that haunted the eyes men long dead on the battlefield. Kakashi nodded and took her hand gently from her heart and put it to his lips. He inhaled deeply, drawing in the scent of her palm as she held her hand to the curve of his face, trying to get the smell of blood out of his head. All of a sudden, she started to cry silent tears that stole quietly down her cheeks. When they hit the ground, they pinged and turned into black pearls.
"Yani…" Kakashi wound his arm around her waist and pulled her closer. She resisted at first but then slowly gave in and became limp in his arms.
"Don't worry. It is the last mission for you."
"Eh?" Kakashi mumbled as he felt Yani lift his blankets and snuggle in next to him. She wound her arms around his waist, laying her head on his shoulder. He cracked open one eye, saw her white shoulder, and sighed.
"Yani, if someone finds us in bed like this while you're wearing only a tank top and underwear, they're going to have some suspicions." Yani just wiggled closer to him.
"You know I hate clothes. And you're the only one who doesn't try to rape me if I wear this." She trailed a hand down his lean chest onto his hard stomach. Sighing again, he gently closed his hand over her small ones, stopping them in the process.
"You can stop testing me," he said quietly, "I will never try to take advantage of you. I actually stopped being turned on by anything you do."
"That's a mean thing to say to a girl." Her voice wavered.
"I know you were taken advantage of, Yani. Several times. You told me yourself and I know you enough." She covered his mouth with her hand, no mask to stop her from coming in contact with his lips. He removed her hand. "But I never will," he continued. "You said I didn't fit the requirements for being your soul mate. That's fine. I'm content in being someone you can love and be comforted by until you find the right person."
"Stop being such a pushover," Yani snarled and twitched her nose twice. Kakashi automatically picked up on the wolf language. [You're so annoying] she said.
"Heh," he chuckled and clicked his teeth together. [If you say so.] Unhindered by his mask, he leaned down and licked her lips. When she opened her mouth, he slipped his tongue in, kissing her until they both ran out of breath.
"Sasuke might start to fall in love with you soon if you act like that," he said mildly after awhile. Yani growled and lightly bit his throat, licking it afterwards. [He's not my type. Besides, he's shorter than me. You know how much I like tall guys.] Kakashi smiled.
"If you fall for him, I'd be fine with that, too."
"You are such a pushover."
"Nah, just so much in love that I care more about your happiness than my happiness." Yani was quiet for some time.
"I'm sorry you weren't the right one," she whispered at last.
"Did you want me to be?"
"Yes."
"Then that's good enough."
"Ready to go?" Kakashi asked Team 7, already absorbed in one of his ever-present erotica novels.
"Yeah!" Naruto shouted, already excited, "After such a hard mission with Zabuza, this mission should be a piece of cake!"
"Stop being so cocky, Naruto! You didn't improve much, after all," Sakura said bossily, then blushed heavily. "Sasuke on the other hand…"
"Are you kidding me? Sasuke didn't improve half as much as I did!" Naruto snorted. He then looked around and yawned. "Who are we waiting for Sensei?"
"For you guys to stop fighting," Kakashi replied calmly. Both of them stopped bickering and then joined against Kakashi.
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU'RE WAITING FOR US?"
"WHO SAID YOU HAD TO WAIT FOR US, HUH?"
Somebody sighed behind them. All four of them turned around to see Yani, a black bag slung over her back.
"Stop fighting guys." She looked around puzzled, not knowing what was going on. "I back up whatever Naruto said," she said, shrugging. Naruto smiled widely.
"Awww, Yani. Thanks for taking my side." She winked and turned to Kakashi. Unslinging the bag from her shoulders, she rummaged around in it for a couple of second. When she drew out her hand, she was holding a beautiful flower that was made out of what looked like ice and light.
"Here," she said, shortly, handing the flower to Kakashi, "if you need me, I'll come this time." He nodded and took the flower. She quickly moved forward, hugging him around his waist, her head barely reaching his collarbone. Surprised for just a moment, he hugged her with one arm.
"Take care of yourself, Yani," Kakashi murmured and let go.
"Are you coming, Onee-san?" Sasuke scowl when she shook her head and scowled even more vehemently when the mouths of his teammates dropped open at the sound of the endearing term.
"Come here guys." Reaching into her bag again, she drew out three more flowers, each a little bit different, and handed it out to each of them. "If you ever need me, I need you to put that flower in water. Any amount of water is fine, even a tear. If you do, I will come find you, wherever you are. I promise." They all took a closer look at the flower and put it into their pockets.
"Have fun without us, Yani!" Naruto grinned weakly, still shocked at Sasuke's use of 'onee-san'.
"Take care," Sakura said gloomily. Sasuke's more intimate with Yani than he is with me! she thought.
"Don't do anything stupid, Onee-san," Sasuke said. Although his tone was cold, the worried look in his eye betrayed him. He turned around and started to walk, making the others run to catch up with him. When they were a good length ahead, Kakashi turned around, pulled down his mask, and kissed her solidly on her mouth in one smooth movement. After they both gasped for air, he let his mouth linger hungrily over her mouth, brushing her lips. Then, sighing, he pulled up his mask and strolled leisurely after them.
After Yani couldn't see them anymore, she lowered the arm she had been waving with and looked sadly at the empty road. Finally tearing her eyes from the unbroken stretch of dirt, she walked by herself into the surrounding forest. The sunlight filtering in through the leaves left dappled pools of light on her pale skin as she trotted over tree roots, jumping streams. Following a winding trail that only she knew of, she gradually made her way into a clearing; different from the one she had met Kakashi in. She sat and settled on the ground, humming a tune. Out of her bag, she pulled out a sketchpad and color pencils. Suddenly, she stiffened and turned her head slightly. Whirling around, she threw one of her color pencils like a knife at a dark figure. The figure caught it and broke it in half, throwing its own knife at Yani in the process. She brought up her hands to block, waiting for the cold bite of metal on her forearm.
It never came.
When she smelled blood, she lowered her arms. Directly in front of her forehead, so close that she could feel the heat radiating off his skin, was a hand belonging to a male ninja. He had stopped the knife, which lay buried in the center of his palm. A drop of blood dripped onto her nose when he jerked the knife out of his hand without flinching.
"Are you okay?" His deep voice was laced with concern. "Are you hurt?"
There was a sharp, resounding crack when Yani slapped him across the cheek.
"Did I ASK you to take that knife for me?" she snarled and jerked the knife out of his hand. "You're lucky it's just a shallow wound." There was a flash of silver through the air as she slashed across her wrist. She held her wrist above his hand, her gold blood pouring directly onto the wound. Once the blood flow stopped, she wiped his hand clean with her hand. "There," she said, in a better mood now that the wound was gone. She lightly kissed the center of his hand. "All better." On the ninja's hand, there was no evidence of a cut or even a scar. His eyes widened slightly.
"Fast…" he murmured.
"Interesting thing you can do there," a different voice mused. She stiffened and looked behind the first male ninja. The second ninja grinned. "Hiya. Forgot me?" Lurching to her feet, she stumbled forward to the voice. Suddenly, the second ninja held the point of a 6-foot long sword to her throat. "I'm not as approachable as my partner here. You see—" She pushed past the sword and stood directly in front of the second ninja who was at least a foot and a half taller than her. He raised an eyebrow.
"Brave little fucker, are you?"
"Your voice sounds strange." Yani lifted both of her hands. "Can I touch your face?"
"…What?"
"Just let her," the first ninja said, still seated on the ground, flexing his hand. "She's blind, so she doesn't know what your face looks like." Yani whirled around to face the first ninja, who had finally stood up.
"How did you know that?" But before he could reply, the second ninja rolled his eyes and lifted her by her waist off the ground, just enough so that she could easily reach his face. Instantly, her curiosity returned to his face. Gently, her sensitive fingers traced his rough, scale-like skin and slits that felt like gills. "Shark?" she asked, laughing gleefully. Then, calming down, she added, with child-like wonder in her eyes, "You're beautiful."
"You're not that bad looking yourself," the ninja who was holding Yani said, amused. "Most people say fish though."
"Not with those teeth you aren't." Her hands moved along the serrated edges of his teeth, sharp enough the draw blood.
"Okay, enough." He set her down and she turned to the other ninja.
"How did you know I was blind?" she asked suspiciously.
"The color of your eyes, the way you walk, and the fact that you wanted to touch my partners face. I guess it's my turn now, isn't it?" He lightly took Yani's hands and placed them on his face.
All she could think of while tracing his face was how familiar he seemed. That sharp nose, high-cheek bones, and long lashes… Where had she felt them before? When she was done, she stepped back and had a good look at him, puzzled. The male ninja was puzzled, too.
"Hmmm…" he mused. Suddenly, he reached out and tapped underneath Yani's eye. "I could have sworn those were a bright blue a second ago." Yani was speechless.
"How… are you…?" He chuckled softly and adjusted his wide bamboo hat so that it was completely covering his face again.
"I can't see very well, myself, little girl. So with what little I see, I have to see everything." Yani glowered.
"Do not call me little, human," she said and her eyes burned a dusky purple. Then, she reached to the ground and picked up her broken color pencil. Sighing, she tossed it away.
"Hey," the shark-ninja interrupted, "I would love to stay and chat, but we have something to do."
"Wait," she called out, just as they were turning, "what are your names?"
"Kisame," the shark-ninja called out carelessly and disappeared.
"Itachi." He glanced at the ground where Yani had thrown the color pencil and was gone.