CHAPTER 3 – Troubled
It was already nighttime, the group traveled slowly in the fire country. According to Kakashi, they were already around two-thirds of the whole way to Konoha, but Kaori insisted on resting for the night before traveling again. The group settled down in the woods. Naruto was unpacking his things and getting ready for sleep, only to be interrupted by Sakura. "What is it now, Sakura-chan?" He almost had tears in his eyes.
"You're not suppose to sleep, we are here to protect the priestess right? So get up!"
Naruto did as he was told and walked towards the priestess' tent with Sakura. Shikamaru, Chouji and Ino were already standing there.
Ino looked tired as Naruto walked towards them. "Naruto!! Don't you dare think of slacking off!!"
"The sky is so clear today…" Shikamaru yawned as he stared up into the dark blue sky.
Sakura was busily hitting Naruto on the head when the priestess stepped out of her tent, followed by her very own bodyguard, Kaori. "Rena-sama, you should stay inside."
"I want to take a walk, I have been sitting all day." The priestess walked on.
"But…" Kaori followed the priestess as she fastened her footsteps. "You shouldn't be so stubborn, Rena-sama. We are all here to protect you, and you are making it harder for us."
The priestess looked back at the worried Kaori, who was desperately trying to convince her to return inside of her tent. "There should be a lake around here, I am just going there for awhile." The priestess took off again.
Kaori knew that once the priestess had made her mind up, no one could change it. "But please let me accompany you to the lake, that way I can ensure your safety."
"Fine." The priestess groaned as she let Kaori accompany her towards the lake nearby.
Sakura and Ino stared at the priestess. "Ino, are you sure we should let them go alone?"
"Just let them be." Shikamaru scratched his head. "That woman is hell strong anyways."
"Who?" Naruto popped up right behind Shikamaru.
"Who… well of course it's her bodyguard. The last thing I know is that priestesses don't engage in fights."
Naruto blinked at Shikamaru's explanation. "But shouldn't we at least tell our senseis just in case?" Sakura stared off into the direction of where the priestess had gone.
"I'll go tell Asuma-sensei!" Ino nodded and ran off.
Sakura was about to do the same when she realized that she hadn't seen Kakashi even since the decided to rest there for the night. "Naruto, have you seen Kakashi-sensei?"
"Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto thought hard. "I didn't see him."
"Hmph, why is it always our sensei who gives us all these troubles?!" Sakura grunted and left the tent.
"Where are you going, Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked as he followed Sakura.
Chouji munched on his chips. "Oi Shikamaru, is it okay if we stay here?"
"Just let them be." Shikamaru sat down on the grass and stared into the sky again. "Such a clear sky…"
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Two shinobis panting as they sailed through the woods soundlessly, with several ninjas were chasing them from behind. The white-haired shinobi turned around and threw an explosive tag attached to a kunai at his pursuers. It made quite a ruckus when it exploded. "That should slow them down a little." He quickened his pace to catch up with his blue-haired partner.
Suddenly, she stopped on a branch. The male shinobi looked up and found out what had stopped her, it was a ninja that had attacked them earlier on.
"Tsk." The female kunoichi hissed under her breath. Soon after, the ninja charged in for a battle.
Drip, drop, drip, drop….
The wet and cold surface of the floor was spilled with warm, red blood. The two Konoha shinobis panted as their opponent finally dropped onto the floor. They slowly caught their breath. The ninja chuckled. The two shinobi focused their attention on the man. "Hahaha, it has been awhile since someone was able to beat me into such a state." The rain dripped off their faces as they listened to the ninja's words. "But… don't think you can just walk away with that."
Without warning, he jerked his leg upwards, causing a large knife to swing down and cut a piece of rope. A long and sharp piece of metal to shoot out from the darkness. It was heading directly at the male shinobi.
"Kakashi!" The blue-haired kunoichi shouted at her partner for him to dodge it. But he was too tired from the battle.
"Die!" The ninja shouted with a laugh before he suffocated of having too much blood flow into his lungs.
The female kunoichi ran towards Kakashi. "Make it in time!"
Drip, drop, drip, drop….
Kakashi slowly opened his eyes, the female kunoichi stood in front of him, arms spread open. She collapsed onto Kakashi. Her chest was impaled with the long and sharp object. Instantly, he knew that she had protected him from that attack. She coughed. "Yuuri! Hold on, I'll get you out of here now!" Kakashi removed the weapon stuck in Yuuri's chest, revealing a wide and deep wound. He quickly bandaged it and carried her away from the scene.
Yuuri panted as Kakashi carried her away from the enemy's territory. "Funny, isn't it?" Yuuri gave a little laugh.
"You shouldn't talk in the condition, it'll make the wound worst."
"We first met each other properly on a mission 7 years ago, very similar to this one. And now, we part because of it." Yuuri choked.
"What are you talking about? I'm going to get you out of here, safely." Kakashi hopped from one branch to another.
Yuuri sighed. "It's only a matter of time when they find you when you're carrying me. Your pace-" Yuuri coughed of blood.
"Stop talking-"
"Your pace would be much quicker if you just went alone. I'm done anyways, just leave me somewhere." Yuuri looked at Kakashi, forcing a smile at him.
Kakashi held her even tighter. "What are you talking about?"
"Are you even supposed to be doing this? I thought it went against the rules of being an ANBU…" Yuuri trailed off as she had trouble breathing.
"I don't care, some rules are made to be broken." He fastened his pace again.
They both fell silent. "Let go of me." Yuuri tried to make Kakashi loosen his grip on her.
"What-"
"I said, let go of me." Kakashi jumped down and lay Yuuri down next to a tree. She breathed hard, trying to keep as much oxygen in her as possible. Her lungs were beginning to fail her. "Leave me here and… return to the… village." Yuuri swallowed.
"I said, we are both going to get back safely to the village." Kakashi emphasized on the word "both".
"Stop… making… jokes… you idiot." Yuuri shut her eyes. Kakashi opened his mouth to contradict her, but only to be interrupted by Yuuri's voice again. "You… are one… stubborn fellow… you know? It… doesn't hurt… to follow instructions… once in awhile…" With that, Yuuri took some blood from her chest and began forming seals with her hands.
"Yuuri, what are you-"
"Kuchiyose no jutsu!" She summoned a hawk. "Please, take him back to Konoha."
The hawk nodded and grabbed Kakashi with its claws. "Yuuri! Yuuri! What are you doing?" Kakashi shouted at Yuuri, who sat leaning on the tree smiling at him.
"Thank you for everything, Kakashi… Sayonara…"
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"Hatake Kakashi." Kakashi turned around to find it was the priestess who called for him. She walked up and sat beside him.
"You sure it's okay for a priestess to sit next to me?" Kakashi raised an eyebrow towards to priestess.
The priestess stared emptily into the water, then at Kakashi. "Why not?"
Kakashi shrugged at the question. "Where's your bodyguard?" The priestess looked backwards, Kakashi followed her gaze. Kaori was standing next to a tree a few metres behind them. "Oh…"
"You look troubled, can I help?"
"Troubled… there are times when shinobis don't want to talk about their troubles to anyone. Besides, I'm not troubled." The shinobi stared a few metres into the water.
The priestess followed his gaze. "One is most troubled when one tries to hide his troubles."
Kakashi stared at the priestess. They stayed silent for a few seconds. "I've been having dreams." The priestess looked at Kakashi waiting for him to continue. "They contain some of my memories from the past, ones that I want to forget."
"Memories are supposed to be remembered, not forgotten." The priestess plucked some grass out of the ground and played with it between her fingers.
Kakashi stared at the priestess. "What if they are painful ones?"
"Painful or not painful, that is not for one to decide. Emotions are a miraculous thing, they can make one strong yet weak at the same time. That is why I thought shinobis obey the rule and kill their emotions." The priestess dropped the piece of grass she was fiddling with. "But shinobis are still human, and humans can never completely kill all their emotions, no matter how hard they try."
"You speak as if you are one yourself." Kakashi chuckled. The priestess gave a little smile and looked up into the sky. A warm breeze blew, and the priestess' hair was taken in the same direction. "Look out!" Kakashi threw his body over the priestess and they were pushed back a few feet. A few kunais landed at the spot where the priestess was sitting a few seconds ago. Kakashi helped the priestess to her feet. "Are you okay?" The priestess nodded.
Kaori quickly rushed towards them, holding out her own weapon. "Rena-sama, please stay behind me." The priestess nodded in response.
"Nii-san, what should we do now? It failed."
"What else? Let's beat the crap out of them."
"Got that." Two shadows were standing a few trees in the distance, one with an evil-looking grin on his face. The battle begins!
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Who are these people sent to assassinate the priestess?? Who would do such a thing? Tune in for the next chapter.
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A/N: Third chapter so far :D a little more dialogue in this one so it might have turned out a little boring. And yeah I know I said this was a "little Kakashi x OC story", and there's NOTHING to it so far... actually it only takes up a very little part of the whole story, so that's why I didn't put it in the Romance category. Thanks again for reading, hope you enjoyed it so far and please gimme reviews!!