His fist made contact with the man's jaw. It wasn't enough force to kill him, but the impact launched the attacker into a brick wall before he slumped to the ground. Blood dribbled from the man's mouth, but he didn't rise. Kakashi turned back to Chiisai. It was dark, but he could see the gash across her cheek, and her forehead was decorated with swelling, bloody scrapes. Kakashi cursed under his breath. Blood ran down Chiisai's nose and over her lips. Her nose may be broken.
He shook his head. Sooner. If only he had gotten here sooner, had walked her home.
His blank expression slowly deepened into a scowl as he stepped toward the unconscious man, his hands now curling to fists. It was unlikely to see crimes such as this in a hidden village, but it wasn't unheard of. The man wasn't a ninja- his lack of stealth was evidence enough. But his strong build could easily take down a young woman.
Kakashi sighed, reigned in his anger, and turned back to the situation at hand.
He stepped towards her, his shoe contacting something solid. He raised his foot up and glanced down. Her book lay faced down, soaked and stained brown from the mud. Disregarding the novel, Kakashi bent down and slid an arm under Chiisai's back, lifting her upper body up. She leaned against him, her clothes already drenched from the rain. He brushed a hand against her cheek, pushing her hair back. Gently, he tapped the side of her face.
She let out a moan as her eyes gradually opened. Her black eyes had lost their luster.
"Chiisai." Kakashi's voice filled the alley, sharp and clear despite the downpour.
Chiisai blinked up at him, her long lashes fluttering. Her lips parted and her eyebrows furrowed. Suddenly, she turned out of his arm as her body heaved. Kakashi quickly adjusted, pulling her hair back as she bent over and vomited. Her body lurched again, her stomach emptying its contents on the mud surrounding them. The smell of bile filled the air. She collapsed back into him, and he carefully adjusted her to lay against his back.
"I'm taking you to the hospital," Kakashi said as he leaped onto the nearest roof.
"I guess I shouldn't've taken that shortcut," came her raspy response. Kakashi ignored her acrid breath and jumped to the next rooftop. At least she was responding. The rain pelted them now, coming down in sheets. "I should have walked you home," he said as he shook his head.
Her fingers tightened around his vest, her voice barely heard over the rain. "You real?"
"Yes," he replied. "Everything's going to be alright, okay? I just need you to stay awake."
"I'll try."
But her grip on his shoulder was already fading. Kakashi landed outside the hospital, soaked to the bone. He bolted in, leaving a trail of water behind as his shoes squeaked against the linoleum.
She was admitted at once and carried into a room.
Kakashi watched for a moment as a nurse attended Chiisai. Her face, he noticed, was still oozing blood. After a few minutes, Kaori approached him.
"We'll keep her overnight, clean her up and see how extensive the damage is. Do you know what happened?"
"Assault," Kakashi kept his voice level. "Her head was bashed into a concrete wall several times it seems," his tone hid his rising anger. "She's already vomited."
Kaori replied, "Definitely a concussion, then."
He nodded and turned away. There was still the attacker to think about. "I'll be back to check on her in the morning. Any charges can be put on my account."
And with that, he disappeared with a flick of his fingers.
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Her eyes blinked open and she immediately shut them. The white light gave her a searing pain, and her body ached all over She had no memory of the white walls she had briefly gazed upon, or how she got here. Maybe she was dreaming- no, that couldn't be, it wasn't possible. But why was she so dizzy?
"Hello," a woman's voice said. Chiisai shifted her head toward the noise.
"I need you to open your eyes, Chiisai."
She cringed at the sound but silently obeyed. A groan escaped her chapped lips. Darkness blurred her vision, followed by a blinding light in each eye.
"Hm...a bit too dilated. Can you open your mouth for me?"
Her ears popped from the movement of her jaw. She suddenly realized how thirsty she was. Maybe that was why her throat hurt too.
"White spots on the tonsils. You managed to get sick overnight." The woman sighed. "He's not going to be happy about this, is he."
Chiisai turned her head to the woman, taking in her white outfit. "Who's he?"
The nurse smiled and replied, "My name's Kaori. I'll be taking care of you for the next few hours."
Chiisai squinched her eyes shut, her facial muscles pulling on her scraped skin. She lifted a hand to her cheek, only to feel the soft gauze around her forehead. Her fingers traced her face, wincing as she came across another one. "What happened?"
Kaori was hesitant for a moment. "You were attacked last night."
"Wait, why was I attacked?" The throbbing worsened, and she winced. But with the pain came memory. It was Kaori standing in the hallway with a clipboard, but the hallway was damp and cold, and Kaori had turned to see kunai's flying towards her, and then it had gone dark. Wait, no, that wasn't a memory, not really. It was a memory of a dream. Kaori's dream. Chiisai's heart beat rapidly in her chest, and Kaori frowned at her expression. Chiisai pushed herself upright in bed and immediately regretted it when a second wave of pain came.
"I'm sorry, but I need to finish examining you before the doctor can discharge you. Do you have anyone that we can contact for you?"
"No." The world spun once more, and she shut her eyes as the nurse spoke. "No friends or family?"
Had she seen Kaori's dream? No, that didn't make sense. Chiisai laid back down and replied, "I have no one."
The nurse stood on seeing her expression. "How about you rest for awhile? I need to check your chart again."
Before she could reply, the nurse walked out the door. Chiisai sighed and slid back under the thin sheet with a shiver. She turned her head to see a book laying on the edge of the bed. Curious and still groggy, Chiisai traced its out edges. From the cover, it looked like one of those cheesy romance stories. 'Dreaming of Love,' is read.
Her brain seemed to snap in place. She had this book last night. That ninja, that guy with the farm-name, had suggested it. And then-
Her eyes slowly opened, gazing down at the book. Why did it look brand new? Wasn't it raining last night? The book should be soggy and ruined.
Chiisai's throat constricted. Her eyes squeezed shut as she hurled out a sneeze, jerking her whole body forward. She collapsed into the bed, the world spinning around her.
Nothing made sense at all.
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Kakashi and Kaori stood by the door, observing Chiisai shiver under the covers.
"She has a grade 3 concussion and strep throat. Minor lacerations, swelling...she's lucky her nose didn't break."
Kakashi nodded, watching Chiisai as her body rattled out a cough. The nurse followed his gaze. "We've done all that we've can." She sighed and continued, "She'll be discharged, with tons of medication, mind you, but she's unable to take care of herself in the state she's in. She didn't even have any emergency contacts, at least, none alive."
Kakashi asked, "Why not use a medical-nin?"
"It's stated specifically in her chart not to use one."
"Even if it was life threatening?" His tone didn't change, but his curiosity was peaked.
She shook her head and replied, "It had been authorized by the Third Hokage. There was nothing I could do."
The jonin paused, the only action to betray his concern. What did the Third Hokage have to do with Chiisai? "Can she sign a release?"
The nurse blinked at him in surprise. "Yes."
He stepped into Chiisai's room. "I'll take care of her." He smiled and added, "Shouldn't be too much trouble, eh?"
"Um, alright then."
The ninja trudged in as the nurse left. He crouched down next to the bed, coming eye level with the sleeping woman. She looked harmless. No, she was harmless. So why did she fill him with unease?
"Yo," he said as he poked her cheek.
Her body lurched again as she sneezed right in his face. This was one of the times he especially enjoyed wearing a mask.
"Sorry," her voice was full of congestion as he wiped her spit off of him. Chiisai's eyes widened on seeing him. "What are you doin' here?" She raised a hand toward him, plopping it on top of his head. "You real?"
Kakashi sighed and gently took her hand from his hair. "I'm taking you home." She blinked slowly at him, trying to take in his words. "They put me on meds, Farm Boy. I can't think." Kakashi grabbed her purse and slid his hand behind her back. "C'mon, drugged up girl."
"Hmmm," was her response. Did she even understand him? It seemed she did, because slowly but surely she collapsed against him. He curled his arms under her legs, drawing her closer to him as he stood up. "Waaaib," she called out. He halted, following the direction that her hand reached for. The ninja bent over far enough for Chiisai to grab a box of tissues and the book. "'Kay. Carry on."
He shook his head. Why did he offer to do this again? He barely knew her, and she thought he wasn't even real. Yet despite the oddities of the situation, Kakashi felt compelled to help this woman.
Maybe because, like him, all of her loved ones were gone.
Reaching the check-out window, Kakashi was handed the release. He lifted the clipboard up to Chiisai and said, "Sign this."
She blinked at the forms, noting all the checkmarks decorating it. "Wab is it?"
"Papers that let you go home."
She fumbled for the pen. Hastily, Chiisai signed her name, the chicken scratch completely missing the solid line. Satisfied, Chiisai handed it back to Kakashi. The receptionist raised an eyebrow at the two but quickly glanced away when the Jonin winked at her. After receiving her medications and address, he was off.
"This is where you live?"
"It's the only place I remember," she mumbled. "Unless you wanna go to the library." Chiisai forced the book into his hand as she shifted her weight against him. She pulled a key from her pocket, reaching for the door. Kakashi quickly took the key with his free fingers and opened the door before she could slide out of his grip.
He strolled into the dark hall as he kicked the door back closed, almost tripping over a cat in the process. Ignoring its constant cries, the jonin carried Chiisai down the hallway, locating the bedroom on the right. Her apartment was a wreck.
The cat meowed as it stepped onto the ledge above the bed. Kakashi drew the blankets back, placing the Chiisai down. It really was pitiful seeing her in this state. He took the box and the book from her, placing it next to the cat. Chiisai was almost asleep it seemed as he drew the covers over her. She let out another sneeze and groaned as she drew up into a ball. The double bed made her seem smaller.
The cat hopped unto the mattress. It meowed once more as it rubbed the side of its face over her arm. Chiisai mumbled, "Hey, Tori." The cat curled up against her, flicking its tail at her face as her arm fell back around the cat.
She named her cat bird? This woman was a bit peculiar.
Her voice caught his attention, though it was more of a groan. "Thanks."
He patted her on the head and smiled, "Just sleep."
"Just…don't dream with me." She let out a cough. "I don' want to kill no farmer."
"Hmm?"
"Don' sleep with me is all," Chiisai mumbled.
Kakashi almost smiled as he said, "You won't have to worry about that." But she was already asleep. Kakashi took advantage and walked down the hall, observing her home as he thought about Chiisai's words. Drugs did make people say odd things. And she was already quite an odd individual.
Kakashi came across the living room. A couch, coffee table, TV, and bookshelves were placed cozily on the hardwood floor but were littered with papers. Scolding her messiness, he strolled on into the kitchen and grimaced at the smell. He followed his nose to the bottom cabinets and pulled out the cat food. He went ahead and filled the cat bowl before washing the dishes. She clearly didn't receive many visitors to have her apartment in such a state. Was she never home to clean? Even he had a spotless apartment with his missions. Kakashi rummaged through the cabinets, trying to find the proper place for the now clean bowls. Sometimes it was a curse to have such a great sense of smell.
He paused as he opened the top cabinet. He wasn't sure why he opened it, Chiisai couldn't even reach it. Curious, Kakashi took one of the books out. There was no title on the cover. It seemed old, its spine worn and cracked. He opened it up and frowned at the writing.
'Mom wanted me to record my dreams, so I gess Ill start. I trie teling her how reel they are, but she just says Im just over imajnativ. But I no. These aren't my dreems.
'Last night I dreemed I was somone else. He was a boy around my age, and evrything I saw was oranj. I found out later he or me was waring gogles. He was dansing with a brown hared gurl with purpel on her face. He was so hapy, he liked her a lot. He thought he was finaly awsum. Than this other boy came walking by with silver hare and a meen look The girl stoped dancing with me and went to the boy. They both walked away togothar leeving me sad. Not mater how hard I tryed, I couldn't cacth up to them. I thouhgt she had finaly notised me, finaly saw that I was beter than that boy.
'Then the Uchihah' symbol apearred above me, coming to life. It startd yeling, "Wake up gogle face! Your a Uchiha, born to be awsum! You an awsum ninja! Wake up that Sharringun! Wake that awsum up! WAKE UP!"
'Then I awaked with anothar hedacke. That wasn't my dreem. I dont no theez peeples. Why am I dreeming somone elses dreems? My head wont stop hurting.'
Kakashi only knew of one ninja who had worn orange goggles.
Kakashi realized his hands were trembling, making the book tremble with them. He stared down at the page, not believing what he was seeing. This had to be Chiisai's. Kakashi flipped through the pages, scouring for more information. His heart was beating so fast. Chiisai dreamed Obito's dream, and she dreamed other people's dreams, if this journal was true. But that's absurd. A kekkei genkai perhaps? But no, she didn't need hand signs. An experiment?
Kakashi heard a hiss behind him. He turned to see Tori, back arched and white feet baring claws. Its eyes seemed to glow, narrowing at the jonin. It was an old cat, but it could definitely perceive human actions. Kakashi placed the journal in his pouch. He needed more information. And now that he had a release…
He lifted a hand and disappeared in a puff of smoke, leaving the cat as well as Chiisai behind.