Reader Reviews for Chapter 22/ Recent Reviews
Kakashifangirlnumber1000: Thank you! I'm glad you liked it! I hope this one it to your liking as well!
Prescripto13: Thanks!! :D
KakashiKrazed: Thank you very much! I always worry about keeping Orochimaru in character. I'm glad it came across alright. (And I'm also glad you noticed the bit about Kakashi's dad ) Hoho! Jealousy? Of course not! Not in this story! *shifty eyes* Thanks again! And yes, I'm feeling much better!
Fallen Angel Kakashi: Ah, you do? You don't see many of those around these days, huh? I like those two, but only if he becomes good somehow again. XP If Kakashi were evil, Konoha would be pretty much dead. But I'm glad you like this story so far!
Sora Tayuya: Thank you!! I'm really glad that chapter wasn't random! :D And yeah…. Kakashi's really got it tough right now. The poor guy, I'm so mean to him! XP But I'm really glad you enjoyed it! Hope this one is to your liking as well!
MemoriesOfNobody: Oh, I know! That would be really bad, wouldn't it? *evil smile* I'm glad you caught that! :] I really hope that you like this chapter as well! Thank you for the nice review!
coali-travail: Thank you! I'm glad you think it's an interesting idea! Oh, thank you very much for bringing that up! I've been having a lot of trouble trying to put in a lot of Gai without making his thoughts too repetitive… But in this chapter, he has more page-time, and most definitely will in the future too! :D
Luinon: Thank you! I'm glad you thought it was epic! That makes me happy. :D Oh, I know, it's really a double-edged sword for poor Kakashi. I actually think I will have Kabuto in more. He IS Orochimaru's right-hand man, after all. Thanks again!
"Well? Hear anything yet?" Gai asked anxiously after a five-minute silence that had put him on edge.
Raven visibly bristled, "For the third time, no, Gai."
Gai scowled to himself, fists tightening. There hadn't been any word at all from the westbound team since they set off to investigate that explosion, and it was making him nervous.
There could be information about Kakashi there. Hell, Kakashi actually could have been there! Though the Jounin sincerely hoped that his friend and longtime rival was not at the source of the blast. That could only mean bad news. Still, any news at all would be welcome. By this point, Gai was willing to take what he could get.
Suddenly Raven threw out his arm, signaling to everyone to stop. The reaction was immediate, and soon everyone was standing on separate tree branches. Raven had one hand up to cup the ear with the earpiece in it.
"Roger that. I read you. What have you found, Panther?" He said seriously. Gay's heart jumped a little in his chest.
The green beast didn't think this was possible, but somehow Raven's expression managed to darken throughout the conversation even though he had a mask on. That… Didn't sit well with anyone on the team. Hereto threw a concerned glance over in Gai's direction, which was returned in a much more dangerous-looking way.
Raven's voice was even graver than normal when he spoke again, "… Alright. Continue on… Yes. You know what to do. Raven out."
There was an eerily still silence for about two seconds before the northbound team's leader turned to face his subordinates, "They were too late."
Gai's blood practically froze in his veins, "What does that mean?" He asked dryly.
"It means that both Orochimaru and Kakashi managed to elude us again," Raven sounded very dissatisfied.
"So, what? They ran away? Did the team find the source of the explosion?" Fang asked, crossing his arms. Kuraru sat down on the tree branch next to his master, seeming to sense that the explanation would take a while.
"They did," Raven clarified, "But, as I said, they were too late. By the time the westbound team had gotten to the source, only a large black crater remained. Panther said that when they were about a mile away from the source, another explosion occurred. We can ascertain by that that the enemy was trying to erase their tracks."
"Do we even know if L-" Hiroto blinked slowly, "Orochimaru… Was there in the first place?"
Gai's eyebrows lowered dangerously. That screw-up was just evident enough to where it began to really bug the heck out of him. His suspicion of Hiroto grew substantially, though he had more sense than to call the man out on it right then.
"We are not one-hundred percent sure, no," Raven shook his head, "But that is the highest probability. Especially since we are in Sound Country. Plus, given the shiftiness of the nature of the two explosions described, I would say that there is a rather feasible chance it has something to do with Orochimaru."
"Yeah," Fang agreed, shifting his weight to one leg, "It seems pretty convenient that the second explosion happened so soon after the first."
Raven nodded, "Exactly. The westbound team is going to move along like normal, but they'll be keeping an even tighter watch for suspicious activity," There was a short pause where the team's leader turned away from his subordinates and looked down at the grassy ground below him, "… We can't afford to lose him again."
The earnest drive in his voice was enough to startle everyone. Nevertheless, they all nodded in agreement, clearly seeing the sense in Raven's words. No one knew what Kakashi was going through, so it was important that they find him as soon as they could.
Gai only hoped that they weren't running out of time.
"Let's keep going!"
"Right!"
A series of bumps caused Kakashi's head to loll around like a damp cloth. He strained to open his eyes, feeling like they had gained an extra twenty pounds since he had last been awake. However, his body seemed to be in the mood for not listening to him, because his eyes remained shut even as his muscles were working in overtime.
Part of the Jounin's mind wanted to go back to sleep again, though a big majority of it was running around in circles telling him that it was too dangerous to sleep here.
But wait… Where was here?
BA-BUMP!
Another short series of jolts from underneath him seemed to bring Kakashi closer to full consciousness. He groaned in resistance, like a kid being woken up and told to get ready for school when he really just wanted to continue sleeping. As if in response to the silver-haired man's groan, a small shock of pain made its way through his body.
For some reason, his right arm was feeling the extent of the pain.
Kakashi clenched his teeth together and made to grip the aching arm with his good one, finding that the motion took much longer than it should have. Too bad his eyes weren't really wanting to work right now. He'd love to see what the hell was going on with his arm.
Coming a little farther back into consciousness, the Jounin tried again to open his eyes. Having a little more luck than the previous time, he managed to squint and make out blurry images and shapes around him. He was staring up at some sort of ceiling. But it was… Strangely small. Even his cell was expansive compared to this.
He noticed that he was lying down on a pillow and what felt like some bed sheets hurriedly tossed in a pile and assorted in a nest-like fashion. That was odd… Another bump from below him made his vision even blurrier for a moment.
"… The hell?" He thought with a grunt as his eyes readjusted.
Kakashi turned his neck to his left, then his right, to get a better view of his current predicament. He didn't know at first if his eyesight really was leaving him or if the dark walls surrounding him were actually moving.
He let out some breath and leaned back down into his pillow all the way, letting his mind try and make out where he was by the noises he heard. He closed his eyes again and, sure enough, found that they hadn't been lying to him. He was indeed moving.
Kakashi felt a few more slight bumps and heard the rolling of what he could only discern as wagon wheels. This didn't sit well with the man. He squinted open his eyes again.
"Great, so now they're relocating me…" He thought sourly, "Then again, that hole I made was pretty big. I doubt they would be able to repair it very quickly… The explosion probably warranted some unwanted attention too."
He stopped himself at that thought. Unwarranted attention? Kakashi's brow furrowed unhappily. Thoughts of Konoha shinobi came to mind. Most likely ANBU, he figured. Tsunade wasn't stupid. She knew Orochimaru better than anyone else but Jiraiya, and because of that, she would know not to screw around. Sending in anything less than ANBU would be suicidal.
In the deep recesses of Kakashi's mind the thought of if there actually were people coming after him came. He dismissed it quickly. Konoha had always been very good about going back to retrieve their own when it came to these things. But that was only for big numbers… And that was what confused the Copy Ninja…
Would they really send so many ninja out to find him that it made Orochimaru want to relocate? Why else would he find the need to? The wall Kakashi broke would've been hard to fix, but not totally irreparable. Besides, the snake bastard definitely wasn't afraid of a few Konoha ninja. A few.
A sour taste came into Kakashi's mouth. It just went to show how much the rogue Sannin valued his new 'prized pet'. He wanted nothing to get in the way of Kakashi becoming one of his damn henchmen.
"Even if they do come for me, though, that won't stop this damn transformation…" Kakashi thought dryly, closing his eyes and going deep in thought, "… Earth and fire already… Who's to say that the rest of the elements won't come tomorrow? Or maybe even later today?" He sighed heavily and turned his head to the right.
Two separate long pieces of cloth flapped back and forth in the slight breeze and blocked out most of the sun from the Copy Ninja's view. Luckily there was just enough for him to know that it was still daytime. A small bit of wind slid in through the open cloth and hit him in the face.
Wait, open cloth?
Kakashi studied the crème-colored objects for only a moment before turning his attention to his right arm. He attempted to move it up to his face, and instantly the pain flared up unbearably. Someone may as well have been slowly cutting it off.
He arched his back and gripped down on the bedding below him with his good hand so hard that his knuckles turned white. He bit his lip until a coppery taste began to fill his mouth to keep from shouting out in pain. The last thing he wanted to do was attract more attention to himself.
After about a minute, the pain died down to a dull ache, leaving the silver-haired man gasping (as quietly as he could) frailly. He sent his good, albeit shaking, hand up to his face to yank down his mask. Immediately after, he used the same arm to wipe the surprisingly inordinate amount of blood from his mouth.
"I guess that's what I get for breaking down an entire stone wall…" Kakashi thought with dry sarcasm, pulling his mask back up.
Still using his good arm, the Jounin tore a large chunk of the cloth covering his bad arm off. What met his fuzzy gaze was something that he had altogether expected, but didn't want to accept.
His entire arm was completely covered in dark blood. Not only that, but in the sparse spaces where there wasn't any blood, Kakashi could see purple-black bruises already beginning to form.
What bothered him the most, though, was that he couldn't feel anything. He should have been able to feel it if there was that much blood on his arm. In fact, he couldn't even move his fingers, much less feel them… That could only mean that the nerves in his right arm were shot.
And if the nerves were shot, then that arm was virtually unusable. And if one arm was unusable, he couldn't even attempt to use jutsu. Even hand-to-hand would be practically impossible.
And if it weren't treated soon enough, his arm would be stuck like that…
Kakashi let out his anger and frustration in the form of a drawn-out, heavy sigh, "Well, shit…" He mumbled.
With his good hand, he clutched the blood-stained cloth that he had removed from his unfeeling arm and held it up so that he could see it better. Things were about to get even more hellish. If not for him, than for the village. If Orochimaru was to actually able to control him, that would mean bad news for Konoha.
No one would suspect a thing if he walked in casually, even while being controlled by the rogue Sannin. They wouldn't even know… If Kakashi were to kill anyone--
He stopped himself there with a shudder. No. He refused to let that happen. If he himself couldn't stop this madman, then he would have to ask for help. He couldn't afford to mess up; to not succeed. And as Kakashi dropped his blood-soaked piece of clothing to the ground, he only hoped he wasn't too late…
He didn't know how long after that, exactly, that it took them to reach wherever they were going, but it felt too soon. Suddenly, the wagon came to a lurch, and his eyes fluttered open slowly. The Copy Ninja had hoped to get some sleep, being as he'd need all he could get, but none came. His mind was spinning with thoughts that he probably shouldn't have been thinking, and that restlessness made it quite difficult to sleep. Even though these were the best accommodations he'd had since he'd been captured…
Two voices could be heard from outside. From what Kakashi could hear, they were the ones who had been pulling the wagon.
"Do you think we should bring him in now?" The first voice asked. A slightly high-pitched, nervous sounding man.
"No, let's wait until Lady Yuuka gives the good word," The second voice answered. A lower-pitched man, who sounded almost equally as nervous as the first, "If we enter too soon, we may upset Lord Orochimaru…"
Yuuka… Kakashi knew he heard that name before. She was the woman who had treated his injuries from his fight with Masaru. And was also, according to what Orochimaru had previously told him, part of the Musashi Order. That she was there was no surprise to the Jounin, though it did make him slightly nervous…
He would really have to play his cards right if he came across her anytime soon. Kakashi had already deduced from the harsh way she treated his wounds that the woman had a fiery temper… It didn't help that he was known for being a bit of a smartass in a captive situation… In his present condition, if Kakashi said something in his usual sarcastic way and Yuuka flew off the handle, he wouldn't stand a chance.
He would try being a little less of a smartass… Try.
"You two! How is he?" Yuuka's smooth but powerful voice seemingly came out of nowhere.
Even without being able to see outside of the wagon, Kakashi could tell that the two men stood up straighter. She was definitely their superior…
"He hasn't made a sound the whole time, Lady Yuuka," The higher-pitched one said.
This relieved Kakashi in a sort of odd way. He was glad that they didn't hear his groans of pain. Primarily because he had the feeling Yuuka would enjoy hearing about it a little too much.
He hoisted himself up to a sitting position awkwardly, finding it much harder to do without two good arms. Just as he sat up, the two small doors that closed off the front of the wagon were opened, and Yuuka's unhappy scowl met Kakashi's slightly glazed-over gaze. Though immediately after she had looked at him, the man smiled broadly.
"Yes ma'am, I have been quite a good boy. Aren't you proud of me?" Well… He tried. But the smartass in him just couldn't resist.
Yuuka's scowl worsened, "I see that even with only one good arm, you're still just as much of a smartass, Hatake," She spat, glancing quickly down at his right arm.
"Yes ma'am," He thought, grinning again. He had managed to stop himself from saying it out loud, but that didn't mean he didn't want to at least think it.
She scoffed at the enormous grin he had on his face. Even though his mask was on, his emotions were ridiculously clear. She jerked her head backward and folded her arms across her chest.
"Get out," She said not too kindly, stepping aside and shoving back her subordinates to make room for him, "And don't try anything."
Kakashi knew this had been coming… There was no sarcasm in his voice as he said, "Do you really think I would?" No one could argue there. It would be suicidal to try and escape now.
Not only was the Musashi Order probably all here, but as Kakashi climbed out of the wagon (awkwardly; climbing was much harder with only one arm), he could see that people were spread in thin clumps all around the area. All Orochimaru henchmen. All fully capable of killing him if he tried to run away.
Even though it was obvious that the Copy Ninja wouldn't last fighting all of these shinobi in his current condition, the second his feet hit the ground, Yuuka's subordinates surrounded him.
"Get moving," The one with the lower voice said, a gruff edge to his voice. Kakashi felt the tip of a kunai being poked into his back and tensed, starting to walk forward behind the other man.
Yuuka was in front of the one leading Kakashi, looking back every few seconds in spite. How stupid did these people think he was?? It was almost like they wanted him to try and escape. Kakashi chuckled to himself, because that idea actually wasn't all that unbelievable.
They entered a small dark hallway very shortly. Kakashi mulled over the outside of the fortress briefly. It wasn't that impressive. Really, it just looked like half a wall that sunk into the ground, a long hallway splitting it in the middle. But he supposed that if it was big and extravagant, it wouldn't be much of a hideout…
Looking around, the Copy Ninja thought that this place was ridiculous. He hadn't thought much about the outside, but now that they were inside, it was like a giant maze. They were still going on the same long hallway, but every two feet there was another hallways opening up to their left and right. Cages of all sorts littered the torch-lit place, and Kakashi was mildly surprised to see a majority of them already filled up by strange-looking people that had more than likely been experimented on by the snake bastard.
They took several turns, and Kakashi tried to memorize where they were going so that, when the time came, he could escape without too much difficulty. But… Damn, this place was confusing! Plus, it seemed like they were going to the very back of the hideout or something, because three full minutes had already passed.
Finally, another prick at Kakashi's back told him to stop. They were here. It was the end of one of the many hallways they had turned down, and there were no other cells nearby. He supposed there wasn't supposed to be, because this cell looked like it was reserved for 'special guests' only.
It was huge. The Jounin figured that the cell he was previously in could fit in this one three times over. The bars were enormous, and it seemed to take up a whole wall. Yuuka opened the metal gate leading in with a loud squeak, and Kakashi was shoved inside by her cronies.
He turned around to glare at them spitefully just as she closed the gate. She proceeded to glare right back at him, definitely beating him in terms of spite. There was some strange emotion in her red eyes, though, that made Kakashi wonder… It almost looked like…
"Lord Orochimaru will be in to check on you shortly… Though he has other more important things to attend to first…"
Jealousy…
Kakashi scoffed. Truthfully, he wanted to spit, but he didn't feel like giving Yuuka the pleasure of seeing his face again. She was jealous of him? For what, winning the snake's favor? God, if only she knew how happy it would make him if she was the favored one…
Yuuka pivoted around with a huff and walked away briskly, followed loyally by her two subordinates. Kakashi sighed and shook his head… What a screwed up world he lived in…
Suddenly, Kakashi felt his vision blur and tip to the side. Alarmed, the man put a hand to his head and closed his eyes in an attempt to correct his vision. Unfortunately, it didn't do any good. When he opened his eyes again, Kakashi found that they were just as unhelpful as when he had closed them. Groaning in irritation, he backed up to the wall and slid down in a sitting position before he could fall over.
"Damn…" He glanced down at what he was sure was the problem: his right arm. It was bleeding very freely and, added to the fact that he had probably broken a rib and gotten a head wound from his short spat with Orochimaru, caused the Jounin to start to fade in and out of consciousness.
"I guess… The fight is… Finally catching up with me," He thought, gasping as he put his hand back up to his head.
"My, my… You don't look like you feel very well, Kakashi," An unmistakable voice cooed from in front of him.
Kakashi looked up (he hadn't even heard the gate open) and just managed to make out the blurry image of the last person he wanted to see.
The northbound team continued to run at the fastest pace they could manage, jumping on and over tree branches effortlessly, and not sparing as much as a word to one another.
After the report by Panther on the explosions, the atmosphere had definitely gotten tighter and more serious. They somehow increased their already incredible speed and hadn't stopped even once.
Gai had been spending the silent time thinking uneasily about the ex-Sound ninja that was currently accompanying them. After his little slip-up when talking about Orochimaru, the Green Beast had gotten substantially more suspicious. He was sure that Raven and Fang noticed it too. The ANBU always noticed little things like that. However, they weren't showing any visible reaction to it. They would probably only show it if worse came to worse.
Gai was not an ANBU. That was undeniable. He was not as good at hiding his reactions to things as they were, and it was made obvious here. Granted, he had been careful not to blatantly show anything in front of Hiroto face, but that didn't mean he was going to ignore the suspicion he felt. He heard what he heard and that gave him every right not to trust this man who just appeared out of nowhere.
And so help him, if Hiroto pulled anything weird, or got in their way of finding Kakashi, Gai would waste no time in showing him how honed his taijutsu skills were.
Speaking of Kakashi…
"I wonder how he's doing…" Gai thought anxiously, "I know he's probably not in the best of shape, but… I just hope he's still in one piece…"
His gaze fell to the ground and his illustrious eyebrows furrowed. It was quite out of character for him to be this somber, but just the thought of Kakashi in the hands of the rogue that had killed the Third and destroyed a good portion of the Leaf was… Unbearable.
"Huh?" Suddenly Gai's eyebrows lifted back up in curiosity. In his downward gaze, he noticed something… Something dark blue clashing with the green of the forest floor. His eyes widened, "Is that…?!"
"Everyone, stop!" He yelled out urgently, stopping in his tracks.
Raven, Fang, and Hiroto all halted immediately at the crucial tone of Gai's voice. They turned in his direction just as he jumped down from the trees and onto the ground. Surprised, they all followed suit.
Gai knelt down by the patch of dark blue cloth, his eyebrows furrowing back down. He picked it up and clenched his teeth tightly in anger. It was covered in blood… Kakashi's blood…?
"Gai, what is it?" Raven asked quickly.
Gai turned around and held out the piece of cloth to them in an almost reluctant way, "Look. This cloth is made out of the same material as the suits that most Jounin wear."
That caused the group to stiffen. Fang hurriedly held out his hand, "Gai, let me see it a sec."
As soon as the blue cloth was in his hand, Fang held it down next to Kuraru's nose. The dog only sniffed it for a moment before looking back up at his master with a sad whimper. Even with a mask on, it was obvious that Fang was frowning.
"… This is Kakashi's. And… So is the blood. I thought as much… Even I can smell it clearly…"
"It's… It's soaked…" Hiroto muttered in a horrified way. Kakashi must have been through hell.
Raven shook his head, "This was no accident. Kakashi is a smart man; he must have left this cloth here on purpose… Besides, I doubt that Orochimaru would have let him get away with it if he knew about it."
Raven held out his hand in Fang's direction, and Fang immediately understood and placed Kakashi's cloth in the man's hand. Raven looked down at it once and then clenched his fist around it. He addressed the rest of the group.
"Kakashi has left a clear trail for us to follow. Tracking him has now become much easier."
Fang nodded, "That's more than enough of his scent to allow us to track him more effectively. Aside from that, the blood is very recent. Fresh blood is quite easy to track down."
Raven nodded, "Exactly. So, before we continue, I'm going to contact the westbound and eastbound teams. I think it's time for us to group together as one team," His fist tightened slightly around the cloth, "And then make the final push to get Kakashi back."
The group nodded, and Gai couldn't help but look at the bloody fabric in Raven's hand. His fists clenched, and determination took over his features, "Don't worry Kakashi. We're coming for you!"
Author's Note:
Okay, so it has officially been almost two full months since I updated…. Wow. I'm so sorry guys!! *bows head*
In the beginning of February, my computer AND my laptop both crashed… So, suffice to say, I wasn't able to work on anything for a while. However, the computer is fixed and better than ever, and I got a brand new laptop! (Which I named Mihawk. If you watch One Piece, you'll understand the epicness that name brings. XD)
Other than that, though, I've just been having the most horrible Writer's Block! O.O This chapter was completely stumping me for a while. I started it like a week ago, but then I had no idea where to go with it… Luckily, I was on a roll today and finished the entire thing! *does happy dance*
Anyway, I hope you all enjoy this one! I'll definitely try and be more prompt about these updates!
Please review! I love to hear your thoughts! :D Thank you, and take care, everyone!