Tears Of The Innocent
I was carrying Kari bridal style as Sakura and Naruto carried Kakashi a few yards in front. They had one of Kakashi's arms over each of their shoulders and looked incredible peculiar lugging a grown man along. Tazuna walked in front, proudly leading the way. We'd been walking for well over an hour and I ached all over. Though Kari wasn't particularly heavy, I doubted I could carry her much longer. It took most of my will power not to just drop her and fall unconscious myself.
"How much further!" Naruto whined, clearly he was just as exhausted as I, he had been blown around quite viciously by those waves and all those clones must have drained a fair amount of chakra.
"We're here!" Tazuna cried victoriously stopping in front of a small, yet decent house, similar to most we'd passed. "Go through that door and give your arms a rest" he said to me, gesturing a door to his right. I layed Kari on a bed in the room, I pulled the cover over her form and was surprised to feel a slight tremor in her body. Placing a hand on her forehead I noticed that she was burning up. My brows furrowed slightly as I scowled.
Uchiha have naturally slightly higher body temperatures as they are known for fire techniques. The fact she feels hot to me means she'd be burning compared to Naruto or Sakura.
I took a seat next to her. I heard the creak of floorboards and Naruto's voice crying 'Finally!' immediately followed by an oomph noise and Sakura's scolding. Seems Kakashi was also layed down in another room. Looking back at Kari she seemed to be having a nightmare. That or she was feeling the pain from her wounds. I took her hand in mine and gave it a gentle squeeze letting her know I was there. It was what my Mom did whenever I had a nightmare when I was little and it always made me feel better.
I owe this girl my life... If she hadn't stopped Zabuza when she did... My lungs would've collapsed or something. But why, why would she help me when she barely knows me?
A soft sigh heaved from my lungs as a sharp pain hit my ribs. Shimatta… Without thinking, I layed down to ease the horrible pain. But when my head hit the pillow, I fell asleep.
I was surprised however when I woke up. A lady stood off to the side with a first aid kit on the floor. She seemed to be in thought as she looked at the assortment of medical supplies.
"You're awake, huh?" she said looking round. She was reasonably young, thirties I'm guessing. "Take your shirt off and sit still, I'll bandage you up." I did as I was told, not in the mood to argue with her.
"How's your friend?" she asked, speaking about Kari.
"I don't know" I said grumpily. The woman was taking too long and it was getting on my nerves. My chest throbbed in pain and she only seemed to make it worse.
"Are you worried about her?" she asked.
"No" I mumbled, knowing she was getting the wrong idea.
"You seemed to be." How did I know she was going to say that? Baka. "I sorted her out while you were asleep, I guess you were tired." Why would I want to know that? I scowled as a slight blush came to my cheeks. Why are all of the female species so annoying? "Well, you're all done. Your sensei woke up a minute ago, why don't you go see him?" I muttered a 'thanks' before walking out the room.
I heard footsteps leaving. After a few minutes of silence I heard lighter footsteps and the creak of floor boards as someone sat down. I opened my eyes. I wondered where I was but remained silent. I looked round to see a boy around eight, he had a hat shoved over his messy brown hair, and dark eyes filled with pain and suffering. I smiled at him. He looked at me surprised.
"Thanks for being here" I said softly. Ow my chest freaking hurts! He smiled, but I still saw the sadness in his eyes. A deep sorrow from an emotional scar that still burned.
"I'm Kari" I said softly. It hurt to talk but I was only quiet when I wanted to be. Now was not one of those times.
"Inari" the boy replied. He seemed a little shy, but then again I was a stranger to him. I sat up scowling at the burning, stinging sensation in my torso. I placed a hand on the boys head, slightly squishing his hat.
"You're a sweet kid" I said. Inari looked up and his smile seemed to widen slightly. It was crooked somewhat, as though he had long forgotten how to smile.
I heard Kakashi's voice coming through the wall and turned to face it. Inari on the other hand turned away, getting up and walking out the room. I dragged myself to my feet. I winced in pain holding my ribs as I fell against the wall. Holy shit did they hurt. I walked over to the door, using the wall to support my jelly-like legs. I stayed behind the piece of wall next to the door that led to their room wondering whether to go in. I decided to just stay in the hall and listen; I didn't want to put up with Kakashi scolding me for being out of bed.
"Look Sensei, your Sharingan is amazing and everything, but if it puts that much strain on you maybe it's not worth it" Sakura said sounding concerned.
"Gomen" Kakashi mumbled.
"Well you did take down one of the most powerful ninja assassin's so we'll be safe for a while" said Tazuna. He sounded like he was trying to lighten the mood and was drunk again. With a slight pout I remembered his promise to let me have some alcohol. My Mom and Dad were never against me having a bit, as long as I didn't get plastered. They both drank alcohol and saw no trouble in me having some. I bit my lip as my eyes burned. Mom… Dad…
"Kari? You shouldn't be up in your condition" said Kakashi. I jumped out of my skin.
"Kari-chan? Where?" Naruto asked. He's so lovably dense. I sighed and walked in to the room to save dearest Naruto from further confusion and to get my mind off… my thoughts…. "KARI!!" Naruto squealed glomping me. He hugged me happily and very, very, painfully.
"Careful usuratonkashi, you'll end up hurting her even more" said Sasuke. I took a seat between the two arguing boys and glanced at Sasuke questioningly.
"Dumb ass" he said, noticing my look.
"Right, but you know that boy with the mask, what about him?" Sakura said, getting back to the conversation. That boy... When I… When I looked at him I... I looked down my eyes in shadow as I fought the tightness in my throat and the prickling in the corners of my eyes. You are not going to cry! No way! You are not that pathetic!
"He's from the elite tracking unit from Kirigakure no Sato, those masks are only worn by the most elite shinobi" said Kakashi. Naruto's eyes warmed and he immediately put his arm round me and pulled me closer to him as if sensing my sadness. He didn't say anything which I was grateful for. I just accepted the comfort, needing it at the moment. I noticed Sasuke give me a funny look and Sakura glance from me to Naruto with raised eyebrows.
"What do they do?" Sakura asked, once again shaking off my distraction.
"The ANBU Black Ops, also known as the inferno squad, erase all traces of a rogue ninja's corpse. The shinobi's body contains many secrets in jutsu's, chakra, special medicine's used on his body, these are the secrets of his village. If his enemies find them, his people will be in grave danger" said Kakashi. "For example, if I were to die at the hands of an enemy, he would try and analyse my Sharingan, in the worst case, all my jutsu could be stolen and used against our home village. It is the sacred duty of the shinobi trackers to prevent this to keep the village secrets safe. If a ninja betrays his village, the Oinin or trackers track him down, eliminate him and obliterate every trace of his existence. That's their specialty..." Kakashi trailed off looking thoughtful.
"Hey? Are you ok? Sensei?" asked Naruto, interested at our sensei's more spaced-out than usual expression.
"Hm? Oh yeah, to finish what I was saying, tracker ninja deal with the body immediately, on the spot so there's no room for error." said Kakashi. My eyes widened as I sensed something. Zabuza is still alive… But that's impossible! Isn't it? He's dead you little voice, I saw him die!
Talking to yourself is the first sign of madness. I'm losing my marbles…
"Is that really important?" Sakura asked.
"Think about it. Do you remember what that tracker did with Zabuza's body?" Kakashi asked.
"We don't know what he did, I guess he took it away somewhere" said Sakura looking at him curiously.
"Exactly, but why? He should have worked on Zabuza right there as quickly as possible, think of the weapons he used for the take down. Do you remember what they were?" Kakashi asked.
"Throwing needles" said Sasuke. Comprehension dawned on his face. "No way..."
"Exactly, none of it adds up" said Kakashi.
"What are you all yammering about? You demolished that assassin" Tazuna said, waving the idea away with his hand.
"No..." I said quietly. He's alive.
"Here's the truth, Zabuza's still alive" said Kakashi. Sakura, Naruto and Tazuna gasped.
"SHIKASHI WAREWAREHA KARENO ITAI! DATTEBAYO!!" Naruto cried, releasing me so he could wave his arms around dramatically. I looked at Sasuke for an explanation but he was too engrossed in his own thoughts. But we saw his body. This voice in my head is a complete know it all…
"Kakashi-Sensei you checked him yourself you said that his heart stopped!" Sakura cried her hands clasped together, her eyes wide.
"His heart DID stop, but that was just a temporary state to simulate death. The weapons that tracker used are called senbon, they can pierce deeply, but rarely kill unless they hit a vital organ. NOT in the neck. Their modified for medical treatments such as acupuncture. Trackers are trained to know every detail of the human body. Stopping the heart while keeping the body alive is an easy matter for them. First he carried Zabuza's body away, even though it's much heavier than he is. Second he used senbon that are precise and rarely fail. From these two factors we can conclude that the tractor wasn't trying to destroy Zabuza, he was trying to save him" said Kakashi.
I was amazed at the intelligence of our sensei. It was as though he really could see into the future and knew everything about everything.
"C'mon you're over thinking this aren't you" said Tazuna. It was obvious he wanted to believe his troubles were over. Unfortunately, life is rarely simple, especially in anime.
"Shinobi no utagaide sugu ni hasseisuru jixyunbiha tamerau koto naku daisanji ni tsunagaru." Encountering suspicion the ninja prepares quickly. Hesitation leads to disaster. "Every shinobi knows this saying" said Kakashi. Naruto grinned holding his right hand in a fist.
"Sensei, you said 'prepare quickly' how can we do that when you can barely move and Kari's so injured?" Sakura asked worriedly. She looked over at me and the concern caused my heart to throb and my eyes to become downcast once again. Kakashi chuckled waving her worries aside.
"I can still train you!"
"HOLD ON! A little last minute training won't make us strong enough to beat Zabuza! You could barely beat him with your Sharingan! We have to be reasonable about this!" Sakura cried, obviously finding the whole thing preposterous.
"Sakura, why was I able to defeat Zabuza? Because you all helped me. You've all grown. Naruto, you've grown the most and the Hokage was right about you Kari; you do show a lot of potential." said Kakashi. I lifted my head and managed a small shaky smile.
"So you noticed Kakashi-sensei?! Things are gonna get better dattebayo!" Naruto cried with pride.
"Nothings gonna be good!" cried a small voice from the door.
"Inari?" I said following everyone's gaze to look at the boy, shaking with rage.
"OI! ANATA HA DAREDESU KA!!" Naruto cried pointing rudely at Inari, who stood in the doorframe glaring at him, and completely ignoring Naruto's rude demand to know who he was.
"Inari! Where've you been?" cried Tazuna.
"Welcome back Ojiichan!" Inari cried, running up to Tazuna and hugging him. I'm guessing Jeechan means Grandpa?
"Inari that was very rude! These ninja helped your grandpa and brought him here safely!" the lady scolded hands on hips and she looked at Inari disapprovingly. I hadn't noticed her until now, she had dark blue hair and Inari's black eyes. Must be his mother.
"It's ok, it's ok, I'm rude to them too!" Tazuna said grinning. The lady gave Tazuna the same scolding look.
"Otousan, you should be a better example!" she said, looking pointedly at Inari.
"Ah gomen, Tsunami" Tazuna chuckled.
"Okaachan don't you see these people are gonna die! Gato's men will come back and find them and wipe them out!" Inari cried desperately.
"YAA!
NANITE ITTA NO WAN PAKU?!" Naruto cried his short temper
snapping. What did you say brat? Thank you weird voice!
"Listen up, you know what a super ninja is? That's me
and I'm a lot better, I'm gonna be Hokage! This Gato or Blato
or whatever, he's no match for me!" Naruto
cried. Hero... My friends and family are my heroes...
"Hn,
there's no such thing as heroes... You're just full of stupid ideas!"
Inari cried tears brimming his eyes.
"NANITE ITTA NO?!" Naruto shouted. What did you say?!
"NARUTO OCHITSUKEYO!" calm down Sakura shouted holding him back.
"If you wanna stay alive you should go back where you came from" said Inari coldly as he turned away.
"Inari! Wait, where are you going?" Tazuna asked.
"To look out at the ocean, I wanna be alone" Inari said.
"Sorry about that" said Tazuna. "Kari he seemed to quite like you, I noticed he saw you after we left" Tazuna said smiling. I returned the smile shakily, trying to think of an excuse to leave. My heart was aching without mercy and I needed to be alone to think and possibly cry. Kakashi looked at me.
"Tazuna-san, could we have a moment?" Kakashi asked.
"Uh, yeah, of course" the old man shuffled out the room leaving me with the Konoha ninja. I noticed the look of seriousness in Kakashi's beetle black eye and felt nerves stir in my stomach. I looked down at my hands folded in my lap trying to ignore the burning of my team mate's gaze.
"Kari listen, I want you to answer me truthfully. This may sound crazy, but... are you from another world?"
My head snapped up my eyes wide. Everyone in the room gasped and looked at me.
"When you looked at that tracker ninja, you went fuzzy and began to fade away. I've never seen that before but I remember reading somewhere of people who come from a different world. It's very rare and only happens in times of great need. Well, so the legend goes. It might sound insane, but I can't rule out anything and from what I could tell, the Oinin used no jutsu on you. So Kari, when you blacked out, what did you see?" Kakashi asked. I looked down my eyes in shadow once more. Don't cry you weak idiot! What will crying do for you except embarrass you?!.
"Y-yes, I am… from another world. When I… blacked out, I remember... It was black and my eyes were really heavy, so I guess my eyes were closed. I… I could hear beeping that sounded like a weird machine. It smelt like a hospital so I guess… that's where I was. I... I heard Gemma's voice, she's… she's my closest friend, and she… she sounded like… she had been crying. I… I felt something wet hit my face… I felt her squeeze my hand. Then she… she said... she said..."
"What did she say Kari-chan?" Sakura asked softly, noticing my distress. She placed a comforting hand over mine and willed me to continue.
"Please wake up, please, you randomly collapsed and you're in a coma, everyone's really worried, your Mom, Dad, Michael, me, Sam, all your friends, p- please wake up… please…" I couldn't hold it in anymore and I buried my face in my hands. Whenever my friends cried, I cried too. I'm empathic and can easily feel someone's pain.
"Don't cry Kari-chan!" Naruto said softly. Naruto put his arms round me. I hated crying in front of people, I felt so pathetic. This was no exception. Sakura looked at me with sympathy, while Sasuke just seemed awkward. Naruto glared at the door.
"I have to go give that Inari kid a piece of my mind! Are you gonna be ok Kari-chan?" Naruto asked. I nodded, wiping my sore, itching eyes and mentally scolding myself for being so pathetic. Naruto walked out the room. My head was pounding from the many tears to still fall. I sniffed and coughed. I clenched my hands into fists. I might never see my friends and family again. Sasuke placed his hand on my shoulder.
"They wouldn't want you to cry" he mumbled, not looking at me. I was shocked Sasuke would do this and so was Sakura. She seemed torn between sympathy for me and a burning love of her Sasuke. I welcomed the comfort. I just wanted to feel close to someone at the moment...
"Honestly, who does that brat think he is I'm gonna put him in his place right now!" I said annoyed. How dare he insult and belittle me! Me! The future Hokage of all people! Damn brat should learn some goddamn respect! "Ne… I hope Kari-chan's ok though, she was pretty upset" she looks too pretty when she smiles, pretty people shouldn't cry. I told that to Sakura-chan once and she stormed off but hey, it wasn't my fault that stuck-up Sasuke wouldn't go out with her. She's too good for that dickhead. Speaking of crying, there were crying noises coming from nearby. Peeking through the crack of the doorI saw that it was Inari.
"Iie otousan, iie..." he sobbed, he was clutching a framed picture of a smiling man, his tears falling onto the glass and shattering on impact. I looked down sadly. So that's why he's so cold…