Chapter 4!
It's getting more intense, now.
Please enjoy!
Title: "Assassins and Fantasies"
Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters…
…
My heart was beating hard.
I breathed in the scent of something close to a recently rain-washed forest.
It was so familiar. The fagrance triggered familiar emotions.
I remembered the scent with feelings of admiration, amazement, respect, and desperation.
I could feel arms embracing me.
I felt nervous... but eager.
My hands ran through silver hair.
My eyes opened slightly... looked around... the partition was blocking any view of the other side of the room, I closed my eyes again.
So, it was a dream...
I grumbled lightly to myself… I hated it when I randomly emerged from good dreams feeling sleepier than ever, only to sink back into a boring dream. But I had already forgotten most of that pleasant dream... except that scent... It was still so familiar to me.
My attention was stolen from my efforts to remember that scent.
Creaking…
What's that noise?
I could hear the strong night wind, and the faint chirps of insects outside, the light flickering of the candle sitting in its torch-stand in the corner.
And creaking….
I swear that I can hear somebody walking on the mats.
Creak…
It sounds like the noise is coming towards me.
I rolled over a little, still too close to the very verge of sleep-land to really register the fact that it was a little weird to hear footsteps coming towards you during the night.
Creak…
What's that other noise?…. Chuckling?
I opened my eyes to see what exactly was going on, but I didn't have enough time to see anything before I felt a fist pound against my chest so hard that I could hear the cracking and splintering of the tatami mats underneath me.
"Ugh!" I let out a guttural noise, followed by a few coughing spurts.
My eyes watered with pain and impact.
My brain scrambled with confusion and pain as I was suddenly very awake and holding back my voice from showing just how much pain I was in. I blink my still sleep-ridden watery eyes, I could see a blurry figure right above me.
I was still so confused, the pain impaired my thoughts before I had a chance to ready myself for it like I usually did on the battlefield. I could only form a few coherent thoughts. I had no idea who this figure was. I couldn't move. I needed help. I couldn't feel my arms.
A single name came to mind.
"Ka-Kakashi-sens-" I couldn't finish my winded call for help. A strong hand clasped over my mouth.
I wanted to scream, but I couldn't breathe right, my ribs felt sore, there was an excruciatingly sharp pain in my side, and I couldn't find my voice. I wanted to fight back, to pull at the hand, bite it, anything. But my body wasn't following any of my orders right now.
I felt a deep tugging in my chest.
It was as if this person had attached some sort of chain to my heart with that punch, and was now trying to pull it out with a slow drag.
The pain grew as the tugging sensation strengthened, but before it became bad enough for tears to run down my face, it stopped.
Everything stopped. The hand left my mouth before I had had a chance to hurt it.
I didn't feel the pain, the tugging… I still couldn't feel my arms, not even my legs.
I took a second to get my breath back, to focus my eyes, but the figure responsible for all my pain was already gone. It was as if whatever happened just now didn't really happen… that the past few seconds were a dream too. That this slow, exhausting form of pain that was beginning to resurrect itself along my limbs, leading towards my heart, just happened for no reason.
I tried to lift myself off the mats that didn't feel like they had been dented by the punch, though I swear I heard the cracking and snapping….
I tried calling out… my voice refused to be any louder than a whisper. But it wasn't my larynx that was stopping my voice, my lungs weren't opening all the way. I could feel the tension in my chest as I tried to breathe deeper, my diaphragm rising, but I couldn't get any more air.
If there was one thing about my medic-nin training that I didn't like, it was the fact that you become so painfully aware of everything about your injuries that it can scare you.
I had to get my thoughts straight. Somebody did this. Somebody knew we were here. I had to tell the others.
Maybe I could crawl over to Kakashi-sensei… but I could only barely lift my head off my pillow.
My side hurt too badly to sit up any more. I hissed with the pain as I tried to move again, testing the threshold of the injury.
I fell back a few inches onto the covers of my futon again, already exhausted.
I felt so tired, like I suddenly lost all my energy.
"Ka—" I tried again… but it was worse this time. I couldn't even form a word without coughing a little.
I tasted a coppery, salty flavor in my mouth. That was too familiar. Internal bleeding.
What the hell is going on? I cursed mentally as I struggled to figure out how I was going to warn the others.
…. …. …. …. …. …. …. ….. …. …. ….. ….. ….
Kakashi turned over on his side, facing the partition. The dark beige color of the improvised wall flickering in the weak candlelight.
He had slept well for at least a couple hours, and now he was awake again.
He felt like he wasn't going to get back to sleep for a while.
Something was bothering him.
He didn't know what it was, but he just felt like he should be worrying about something.
He could guess what there was to worry about, but he'd already been worrying about it for weeks, and he had already endured nights of interrupted sleep due to those worries. Namely, the worries that originated from certain feelings for a certain girl behind a certain partition who happened to be his student… one of the few people in his world that he wasn't allowed to have those feelings for.
He was all too aware of the trouble he was in for if he lost himself to those emotions any further, let alone acted on his feelings.
God knows he tried to stifle his thoughts of her… like he had for countless other women, just so that he wouldn't have to deal with emotionally-risky relationships, since every relationship he's ever had seems to have ended in pain and death… but it was hard to push away feelings when you had no idea they were crawling up on you until they just smacked you in the face when you didn't suspect a thing. If he had known he was developing feelings for that girl, if he had had just a little head notice, he could've stopped it, distanced himself, and stopped the disaster from happening.
But here he was, an emotional mess of a man, already too far gone to try and push his emotions out of his mind, already too far gone to even want to try and push these emotions out of his mind, even though he knew he should.
It was never this difficult before, controlling his emotions. As a jounin, and ex-ANBU member, he's already been trained how to hide and nullify personal opinion and thoughts… But it was hard to throw away feelings for someone you'd seen at least every other day for years… especially when you had seen them grow from a somewhat spoiled, immature young girl into an exceedingly talented and compassionate young woman...
Another warm sigh left him as he realized, again, just what an idiot he had to be to get caught up in this.
She's Sakura.
The little girl who showed little potential, the girl who was a raving fangirl over Sasuke, the girl who'd cry too easily, the girl who memorized textbooks to make up for her lack of skill, the girl who'd succumb to fear faster than the others, the girl who'd need constant saving, the girl who'd punch first and think second….
When did she become the young woman behind that partition?
What happened during those three years that changed her so much he hadn't noticed until they formed Team Kakashi?
It couldn't have just been the Hokage's training.
She had changed on her own.
She's stronger than ever before -well on her way to becoming a second-Tsunade-, she handles herself with more grace than the average chuunin on the battlefield, she's showing more and more skill as a medic-nin, she keeps outstanding control of herself in the heat of battle, she's a fierce and competitive girl, but she still shows that easily-flustered, eager, side as well that he had always thought was a little cu-
He stopped himself before he could finish that sentence, already too aware of the fact that he'd already gone too far in his thoughts of her already… again. He sighed, again.
He noticed just how many times he's sighed in the past few months …
He's been trying to fix those tell-tales habits of his feelings. Whenever romance was ever a part of his life he'd always find himself sighing more and more often, he always found himself paying more and more attention to the girl in question, talking to them more, using their name more.
He had tried to fix this recently, using her last name... it was a little petty, and uncomfortable… but at this point he felt petty and uncomfortable for letting himself get into this trouble.
He ran a hand over his face, his hand staying over his eyes, shutting out the world and that flickering partition out of his mind.
He really felt like an idiot.
How could he let this happen?
He thought this would never happen to him.
He let himself fall victim to one of the most cliché taboos; a teacher falling for his student. And he couldn't do anything about it. In fact, the more desperate attempts of his to stop himself, the more faster he seemed to fall.
He was always so calm, so laid-back, and yet he felt like he was losing his mind thinking about this.
He felt like he was going to lose his mind every time he found himself staring at her too long, or every time he found himself wanting to reach out to her, or even when he would get a little bothered when she was talking to Naruto or Sai for too long…
He hated losing his cool this easily. Especially over someone he should never lose it over anyways.
How did this ever happen?
His aimlessly confused thoughts came to a complete halt when he felt something curl over his right side and land on his chest.
He looked down calmly, curious.
Well, that's peculiar.
A hand had slinked its way over his waist and was now resting in the middle of his chest, the lighter skin tone contrasted against the slight tan of his own.
That's what I get for reading love novels right before bed.
He dismissed it as a dream for only a moment until the hand gently moved closer to his neck, gliding over his chest lightly.
That felt too real.
And now, his attention alerted, he recognized that hand, the arm.
"Kakashi-sensei…" A familiar voice whispered against the nape of his neck.
He immediately scooted out from underneath the small arm and away from the voice, sitting up and turning over to face his visitor, the cover of his futon now in a mess as it hovered to the ground in his absence. His right eye found the owner of that arm and voice, widening in shock.
"Kakashi-sensei?" That voice, he knew it, but he'd never heard it like that.
He only stared blankly at the face of Sakura for a few seconds.
She was laying in his futon, dressed the exact same as when he had seen her a few hours ago, but she seemed so different. Maybe it was the look she was giving him.
He'd never seen that expression from her, he didn't even know that she was capable of it.
"What are you doing?" His voice found itself after only a few more seconds of hesitation. Usually he was prepared for any situation… but this wasn't something he'd have ever expected.
This isn't a dream, right?
… It's not like I've never had a dream like this… but not with her…
"I just thought you looked lonely." Her voice was thick with implication, she sat up, the cover falling to her lap. Her eyes focused on his face, half-open.
She leaned forward closer… he could smell the familiar scent of her shampoo.
Her eyes had a dangerous glint in them. "Ne, sensei… Don't tell me you've never thought about it." She moved closer.
He didn't answer her question… it hit a nerve.
This all sounded exactly like something from one of the smutty books he's read… it couldn't be real. He wasn't sure if he'd want to be real.
He looked away. He couldn't look at her for too long. It wasn't right. The look she was giving him, the way she used her voice… none of it was right, he tried not to focus on the part of him that thought differently.
He had to think through the situation. He already knew this wasn't real, whatever it was. He scanned the room for any signs of forced entry, any intruders who were performing genjutsu or even a mind-control jutsu. He didn't see anybody on this side of the partition other than the snoring Naruto and sleeping Sai, both of which seemed to be having pleasant dreams despite what was going on.
Is this some type of illusion?… I've never seen an illusion looks so real, or even have the same scent.
A gentle hand found his cloth-covered chin, turning his perspective towards her. He hadn't noticed how close she'd gotten. He grabbed the hand, snatching it away from his face.
And illusions aren't supposed to feel this real.
It took a moment for him to think of letting go of the soft hand that felt so much like hers.
His defense weakened against his will when his eyes accidentally found hers. His hand around her wrist tightened a little.
"Sakura…" he started, unable to really think of any other word besides her name for a few seconds. He tried to think of something to say to break up this… situation. Still nothing came to mind as her other hand found the side of his masked face. She scooted closer. "This isn't…" He lost the rest of the sentence as she spoke up, using Sakura's voice stangely.
"It's exactly what you want it to be." Her voice encouraged his illogical self.
She brought herself even closer, deeply breaking the usual personal boundaries. He was sitting on the floor with one knees bent, as she got closer her left knee fell between his legs.
Her familiar hand brushed up the side of his face too gently.
His shoulder's lost their tension as his eye half-closed. He found himself just staring at her face, which was approaching his slowly.
Her hand landed on his chest.
She was so close… but not even there…
He felt her thin fingers tug at his mask, gently sliding it downward.
This was enough.
He couldn't let this go any further…
Within a second, his hand found the spare kunai in his knee satchel, but his advancement was only met with a metallic clank of her own knife countering his.
This imposter really was going to be a problem.
He threw off her knife with a push, sending her back a few feet. He immediately found his feet and stood up, forgetting the fake Sakura, he turned around the corner of partition and checked for the real one.
Just as he caught a glimpse of the real Sakura writhing sluggishly as if she was running out of air, Sakura's voice interrupted him.
"You really are no fun." Her voice complained from behind him as he felt a small hand grasp his wrist. As soon as he felt it, he grabbed the fake fingers harshly, no longer afraid of hurting whatever this thing was just because it looked like…
He quickly turned around to counter her attack by grabbing her other arm.
She struggled against him.
She squirmed, he saw anger twist her face in a way that he'd never seen Sakura express.
He never wanted to see her face like that.
"Who are you?" He asked, but he got no answer as they were both falling to the ground.
She had kicked his legs out from under him, trying to faze him and regain freedom, but he kept holding on.
"What do you want?" Kakashi demanded loudly, already figuring out that whoever this was had to be a shinobi, and had to be on some sort of mission. But if it was to kill them, why didn't they take the chance when they were all asleep?
The imposter only struggled more, ignoring Kakahsi's question, using Sakura's face to make a hateful expression. He could feel something like anger bubbling in his chest.
He really shouldn't be losing his cool… it was his trademark to stay calm and collected in the heat of battle… but looking at the imposter that had stolen Sakura's form had encouraged a sort of instinctual anger he couldn't control.
"Kakashi-san?"
Another voice sounded from Kakashi's left.
He looked over to the source.
Sai stood there, his face obviously confused for a moment. Waking up to find him struggling with Sakura like this would definitely seem strange, but after mere moments, Sai's confusion seemed to wash away, and he understood the situation.
Kakashi was grateful to have an ex-ANBU member on his team who could quickly identify a situation clearly.
"Sai." Kakashi started, he definitely needed some help. He really didn't like having to deal with this fake Sakura. Everything about this intruder was causing the slow-building anger to intensify.
"K-Kakashi-sensei?" Another voice blurted out his name. He had really grown tired of that.
But that was the least of his annoyances now that the yellow-haored boy who had just called his named with audible confusion just stood there for a moment, his eyes were empty and wide with confusion.
"Naruto!" Kakashi shouted, trying to get his attention. But it seemed as if the boy was already connecting the dots of this situation wrongly as the boy's face contorted into something with anger.
Kakashi looked over the appearance of his situation.
He and Sakura were on his futon.
And he's pinning her down forcefully.
And someone like Naruto, who doesn't think about a situation… would see this as exactly what it seemed to be.
Exactly what that servant-lady would've seen…
"Naruto! Help me! Kakashi-sensei, he-" Sakura's voice pleaded from under Kakashi.
"Be quiet." Kakashi ordered the imposter with a rough tone. He really hated hearing her voice say his name like he was some sort of attacker.
But from the look on Naruto's face, it seemed that the imposter had gotten their goal reaction.
Damn it!
"Kakash-" Naruto failed to say anything for a second, just staring at the panicked imposter.
She was a really good actress… and Kakashi was visibly angry too (which he never was)…
Which would Naruto believe to be the fake?
Then his eyes flashed to Kakashi, anger rippling off of him.
"YOU!"
There he went.
Naruto was on the rampage, and heading right for Kakashi, fists raised.
Kakashi couldn't let go of this intruder to dodge Naruto's fists.
"Naruto!" Kakashi yelled. "Open your eyes! This isn't Sakura!" He explained with more patience in his words than in his voice, trying to get the hot-headed boy to help the situation, not make it worse.
Naruto hesitated, Sai grabbed him. Naruto turned to the fake Sakura who had been smiling for a few seconds already.
"Sa-Sakura?" Naruto was only beginning to understand.
"I guess my covers blown.~" A new voice came from Sakura's figure talking with a sing-song voice. It started laughing.
"What's going on!" Naruto exclaimed a question Kakashi had been wondering for a while.
But that wasn't important right now.
"Sai, go and help Sakura." He nodded his head in the direction of the partition. Sai ran over to the other side of the room. Kakashi wanted to be Sai in that moment.
The figure started talking again.
"I'm not done with you boys yet… This was only some reconnaissance … and play... we'll do something more fun next time." The imposter gave Kakashi a suggestive glance using Sakura's eyes. "See you soon."
And it was gone in a puff of smoke.
….. …. …. …. …. …. ….. …. ….
A drop of sweat trickled into my eye, blurring my sight.
I blinked erractically, matching the pace of my labored breathing.
I lifted my arm ahead of me again, trying with all my strength to drag myself forward… but the pain… that pain was worse than before. I wasn't sure if it was the shock setting in, the adrenaline running out, or the strenuous breathing that caused the pain in mu chest to fire uncomfortably.
I grunted as I tried to pull myself forward again… to say the least, my insides didn't feel right. Like things were shifting around without any structure.
The sensation made my stomach lurch.
I had been trying to crawl my way over to the other side of partition, but I'd only been able to travel a few feet from my futon covers.
Why was I so weak!
I thought I had finally been able to find my place in this team, but I'm still this weak!
What was all that training for if I can't even take care of myself!
I still have to rely on Kakashi-sensei and the guys to save me!
Why do I have to trouble them even now after so many years?
Tears of frustration mixed with pain and anger began to well up in my eyes.
"Sakura!" I heard Sai's voice from the darkness.
"S-…" I wanted to shout to him, but my voice still wasn't working right, yet.
I saw him run towards me, when I saw what I could recognize as worry in even his eyes, I knew I was really messed up… I mean, Sai wouldn't react to nothing, right.
"Sakura." He said again sounding genuinely worried, crouching down over me, gently placing his hands on my sides to twist me onto my back.
I let out a long delayed shriek of pain when his fingers closed on my ribs.
"Sakura!" I heard two voices shout my name, almost at the same time.
I recognized Naruto's usual screaming voice that I had heard many times before, but the deeper, more matured voice had reacted to my scream first. Hearing his voice calmed me a fraction, even if it did have a fearful tone I'd never heard before.
The two who called my name just now turned the corner.
It hurt to talk, but I found myself needing to call out to one of them, I cleared my throat… like that would help.
"Ka-kashi…" I stuttered with pain, trying to keep composed. The coppery taste intensified.
I reached my arm out past Sai who was sitting by my side with those concerned eyes I couldn't recognize ever seeing before.
A hand grabbed mine.
I looked, my heart seemed to beat a little faster against the rest of my jumbled insides. It felt horrible. The hand was cuffed by a familiar black and orange sleeve. My heart sank a little when I didn't see the metal-plated glove.
Kakashi was standing behind Sai and Naruto.
My eyesight was still a little groggy and blurry from the water, but I could see his face a little clearly.
I was scared by what I thought I saw.
His face was literally frozen with something of a cross between anger and fear…
I had never seen that look on his face.
Then after a mere moment, his face seemed to resort to a watered down version of concern, once again adopting the cool expression I had seen almost every other day for the past 4 years.
"Naruto. Sai." Kakashi knelt down between them. "I need you two to do exactly as I say."
They turned to him, already eager for any sort of leadership that they could follow.
My mind was whirling in and out of my situation.
Fear was clogging my thoughts.
I couldn't quite pay attention to Kakashi's words when I was desperately trying to use my medical ninjutsu to examine myself. It was difficult, but Lady Tsunade had taught me a quick way evaluate your own injuries…
Closing my eyes, inverting the chakra flow in my hands to scan my body… I searched for the damage… it wasn't hard to find.
My ribs.
At least 5 of them had been broken.
I guess the cracking and splintering sounds I thought I heard below me, were a little closer to home.
One of the jagged bones was threatening to puncture my left lung.
If I moved around too much it might actually tear a hole. The sharp pain from before made sense now.
I resurfaced from my examination with the need to toss up the expensive meal we were treated to earlier that night, a general side-effect of chakra over-sue. But I held it back with all my willpower. I didn't know I was so low on chakra.
"Kakashi…" I whispered his name again, feeling a grating sensation inside my chest with every breath.
He looked up from his meeting with Sai and Naruto exactly when I uttered the first syllable of his name.
" … the top three right lateral ribs… are fractured…. and two of my medial ribs are broken…." I spoke in little whispers, and breathed shallow breathes so that my lung wouldn't press against the bone.
I was so scared, but medical-talk always calmed me down, made things distant…. cold.
"Sakura." Kakashi was staring at me with the strangest expression.
I could feel the fear taking me over.
I was going to go into shock if I didn't calm down.
I had to even my breathing.
"One broken rib is positioned against my left lung… it could tear…" I added.
He took a moment, just staring at my body.
I had to know if I was going to go into shock, which could complicate any effort to fix me.
"Okay," He said seriously, giving me one last look before turning back to Naruto and Sai.
Sai and Naruto were just looking at me plainly. But Naruto seemed to be beyond the point of freaking out, he almost seemed catatonic…
"Sai, Naruto, set up the seal." They only looked over to him. "Now." He had to yell.
Seal?
Sai and Naruto left my sight. Kakashi sat down next to my side.
"Since we can't move you from this spot, or get back-up any time soon…we're going to have to perform a weak form of Chikatsu Saisei, it's a seal technique that I picked up a while ago. Even without a real medic-nin to perform it, it should be able to take care of most of the damage. It only requires precise chakra control." He explained coldly. Like he wasn't really there. Like he was only delivering a lecture. Like he had emotionally detached himself from this.
I guess it was his version of my 'medical-talk'.
He leaned over me. His face was only inches from me, the pain seemed to subside for a moment.
I noticed only briefly that I was staring into both of his eyes.
Why would he let his Sharingan eye show right now?
The circular patterns of his left eyes seemed to shift on their own.
"I'm afraid you can't be conscious for this jutsu."
I felt my eyelids grow heavier, my sight fading, my hearing growing muffled.
Fear engulfed me at the last moment as I realized I wasn't going to hve any control over what was going to happen.
What if I wasn't going to wake up?
What if I took too much damage for him to heal?
I'm the medic-nin here, and I let myself get hurt… how can I expect him to be able to fix this?
His voice spoke up right before I was almost too far gone to understand what he said. "Don't worry…"
Even if I hadn't caught those words, his voice was enough to tell me what he meant. It was soft, smooth… I loved it.
Just before my eyes closed, I saw the sheer conviction in his mis-matched eyes.
I'd only seen that a few times before.
But I knew that look, we all did, his students… it meant that he was willing to do anything to successfully finish whatever his goal was… even if it meant he had to die.
My fear faded with my consciousness… only a few words resonated in my thoughts.
I trust you.
Those words were so strong in my mind that I wasn't sure if I hadn't actually said them.
….