Chapter 15!
Title: "Secrets and Slaves"
Disclaimer: I own nothing!
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I stomped my way through the thicket, trying to get as far as possible away from that Koichi-demon.
Naruto ran back over, flying right past me to get to Koichi.
I didn't care.
I didn't want anybody to bother me, right now.
I noticed somebody else walking towards me, I knew immediately who he was from the way he walked.
"Sakura…"
God, don't say my name like that right now…
It was suddenly harder to hold back those angry and fearful tears.
"Kakashi-sensei…" I answered back formally, even using that suffix he didn't like, trying to clear my face of any bad emotions.
I settled for staring at my sandals.
I could tell that he was still staring at me as I walk by him without stopping.
It was really hard to walk right past him without saying anything, or even to look at him.
I wanted to punch that demon like crazy.
"Everything's alright, Sakura?" Yamato spoke up.
"Yeah." I pulled a miraculous half-smile out of nowhere.
It was easier to lie to him.
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Kakashi resumed his gossip-conversation with Yamato after everyone settled down and gave a proper scolding to Master Kimihiro.
Kakashi noticed something strange.
As everyone rejoined the path, Naruto had held out his hand for Sakura to hold, smiling a smug grin that Kakashi wished would go away.
And it did.
Sakura refused Naruto's invitation and instead kept pace with Master Kimihiro.
A part of Kakashi was happy that their little act was over, but another part was equally worried about Sakura and Kimihiro.
He pretended to listen to Yamato, but actually eavesdropped on Naruto and Sai.
"Do you know what's wrong with Sakura?" Naruto asked the placid Sai, slowing down to match Sai's unenergetic pace.
Kakashi wondered why, of everyone is this group, Naruto would seek Sai's advice for seeing into a person's heart… let alone a girl's heart.
"She seems normal." Sai graded.
"She's supposed to be my girlfriend so that that creep won't hit on her, but she's already off with him anyways!" Naruto whispered a little too excitedly.
Kakashi's eyes narrowed at the word 'girlfriend'.
Sai was silent for a few seconds.
"Maybe she broke up with you…" He offered his perspective.
Now Naruto was silent… probably moping.
Kakashi felt a moment of juvenile smugness for a fraction of a second.
But he couldn't stop himself from worrying about her sudden decision to drop the act.
And why she had that face when he tried to talk to her before.
Kakashi stared at the back of Sakura and Kimihiro's heads.
They were too far ahead, and too quiet to hear from this distance.
What are they up to?
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I looked at his self-satisfied face for a second, already feeling that sick sensation of anger build up.
I looked back to the ground again.
"So why are with that geezer anyways?" The demon switched from lecturing me about how well-established his family name was (which I had an inkling would become less-established after this spoiled brat took over) with the most horrifying question.
"He's not a 'geezer'!" I whispered loudly, feeling insulted for Kakashi. "He's only 29!"
He snickered. "Only?" His voice slithered through the air.
I looked back to my feet feeling really awful.
Ok, he's a lot older than me… but in our world, age doesn't really mean much.
By the time you're fourteen, you're expected to be as capable, and as responsible, as an adult.
I'm already considered his equal as a shinobi, and I'm sixteen.
Kakashi's been a chunin since he was six… Jounin at twelve…
Age really doesn't matter in our world…
Then again, if that were entirely true... then me and Kakashi wouldn't have to worry about hiding all the time...
"You didn't answer my question." He interrupted my thought-process.
"I'm not going to, till you say he's not a 'geezer'." I promised him, feeling immature.
"You're really not in the position to make those kinds of orders…" He pointed out snobbishly.
I didn't say anything.
"I'm waiting for your answer."
I wanted to kick him in the face.
"Because he's smart, kind, and strong.... I've always looked up to him." I finished quickly, giving less than half the reasons why I had these feelings for him.
"Really?" He asked suddenly.
"...Really." I answered a little cautiously.... what was going on in this kid's brain.
"If he's so wonderful… then why is he with you?" He repeated a question I asked myself many times.
I couldn't say anything; I only looked at the trees to my left.
I sensed that he was trying to get that reaction, somehow.
"So how'd you two get together?" He asked further, his voice wasn't really curious, more like strangely amused.
As if he liked making me spill all of these secrets and watching me squirm as I was telling them to him.
I sighed. "It just sort of happened… after a mission." I said as vaguely as I could.
"Elaborate." He ordered.
I shot him a nasty glance before following his order.
"There… there was an assassin he was battling with. After the battle, I thought the assassin killed him, and so when I saw he was actually alive, I was so happy that I wasn't really thinking and my feelings came out. He returned them." I said, losing some of my anger for a second while looking back to that time. I realized that I was unable to say his name while talking about him behind his back like this.
"That's it?" He asked. The urge to kick him resurfaced at an all-time high.
My head whipped over to him, my eyebrow twitching.
"What'do you mean 'that's it?'?!" I whispered hoarsely.
"No scandalous after-class confessions? No weird twisted games he played on you to make you stay?"
What the hell?!
"Like this one?" I pointed out vindictively.
"Exactly." He agreed flatly, as if he already knew how twisted he was, like it was common knowledge.
"Of course he wouldn't do something like that!" I said too loudly.
I immediatley shut up.
Somebody must've heard that....
I hushed down and I peeked over my shoulder... my eyes met his for a split second.
The anger was replaced with fear and sadness….
I really didn't want to lose him because of this brat.
"Did he look like the kind of guy who'd do something like that when you saw us last night?" I asked towards my feet.
The demon didn't say anything for a long time.
"I'm tired, let's find some place to rest." He finally spoke up after a few minutes.
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"Hurry, hurry, hurry!" Naruto chanted towards his little man-made fire as it heated up a boiling pot of river-water, slowly. Naruto already had his Styrofoam ramen-cup on the ready. Chopsticks poised.
Kakashi looked away from the easily distracted boy.
He was moping all the way here…
I guess his love for ramen runs deeper than I thought…
Kakashi scanned around, looking for everyone.
Yamato was standing at the edge of the perimeter of their resting spot, chewing on a compact-meal-vitamin bar that Kakashi could still remember the bitter taste of from his ANBU days.
Sai was sitting on a log near the riverside, eating some local fruit, staring at the sky contemplatively.
Kakashi's gaze searched a little longer for the two people he was actually looking for.
The blonde-hair pretty-boy, and Sakura... both of which had been nearly inseparable since noon.
Neither of them were in sight.
Kakashi waited a few seconds, trying to convince himself he didn't have to worry about them… that they were probably sight-seeing, or talking by the river, or eating somewhere together…
...Then again, those were really good reasons to worry...
He flipped his little, recently unread, book shut. Standing up from the large stone he had been sitting on.
Kakashi was willing to accept Naruto and Sakura's little act because he trusted Naruto to be a romantically shy boy who wouldn't do much even if Sakura did lead him on.
And he trusted Sakura with his life, (with the exception of his long-lasting belief/fear that Sakura might one day fall in love with Naruto…) but he didn't trust Kimihiro to be as shy and as clumsily hopeless as a certain orange-clad boy who was currently complaining over his freshly burnt tongue.
"We should get going again, I'm going to go get Sakura and Kimihiro." Kakashi pardoned himself from the rest of his group.
Yamato nodded, Naruto slurped, Sai… stared.
Nobody seemed to share his uneasiness that those two were alone… somewhere… together.
Hopefully they're just… talking…
Or something…
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"So, do you naturally like older men?" The Koichi-demon spoke up, kneeling down to the riverside, shifting his fingers through the pebbles.
I guess it really was in his nature to asks lots of tiresome questions.
"No…" I said, a little insulted. "He's… special." I admitted a little quietly with a brief moment of embarrassment. I sat on a nearby stone, looking towards the direction I knew the rest of the team was.
I wondered what Kakashi was doing right now.
"Have you ever had any boyfriends before him?"
That struck a chord. I took a deep breath, and let it go smoothly. It didn't calm me down as much as I wished it would.
"No…" I said, trying to sound bored, but I think he could hear the annoyance.
"Has he ever had girlfriends before?"
That struck an even greater chord.
"I'm pretty sure he's had a few." I admitted with great difficulty.
"But you don't know for sure how many he's had?" His voice sounded like he was trying to make small-talk... this was defnitely not small-talk... this was a big-heavy-talk for me.
"I'm really tired of talking about this." I complained outwardly.
He didn't even acknowledge that I said anything.
"How can you tell, if he's so used to being with women, that he isn't already bored with you?"
I didn't like the way he said 'women'... like I was still only a 'girl'...
"Hey!" I shouted at him. "Stop talking about things that aren't your business."
I really couldn't have this kid trying to make me spill out my greatest personal worries.
"But it is my business." He corrected me with that oily voice. "It became my business when I saw you two making out."
"That's it!" I hated the words he was saying. I really couldn't take it anymore. I launched off of my seat, diving towards him.
My fist hit his jaw with just enough force that it would hurt like hell, but wouldn't leave a bruise that wouldn't affect the mission report.
He fell into the river with a clumsy splash, I felt on top of him.
Our clothes got soaked, but I didn't even care about anything else in that moment; I just needed to make him shut up.
I couldn't remember the last time I felt this violent...
"You're really having fun with this aren't you!? Playing with peoples' lives!" I shouted at him.
He squirmed underneath me, trying to break free.
"You broke the deal!" He shouted at me with a weak hostility. "As soon as you let me go, I'm going to go inform your captain of this weird affair your having with your teacher!" He yelled with frustration.
I lifted my fist, poised for another punch.
"If you hurt me, I can use my family's influence to bring a conflict between Konoha and the Kuni no Kawa."
For a moment, I really couldn't believe what he said…. How could this start a conflict between two great forces?!
But after a few seconds it really hit me.
This evil kid was actually going to be the Head of a very important, well-trusted, family in the Land of Earth… If it got out that a Konoha ninja abused him, it would definitely start a dispute.
I pinned his shoulders down with my hands.
I felt the water run over my legs fiercely, splashing against the side of my body.
I needed to think… I really needed to think this through…
What do I do?
He's gonna tell them!
I can't beat him up anymore or I'll get the whole team in trouble…
I can't let him get lost or anything, that'll get us in even more trouble.
If something happened to the only heir of a powerful feudal family, it would wreak havoc in the inner workings of the Land of Earth, who would blame Konoha…
This could get really serious!
I only came up with one solution… one that I hated almost as much as letting him tell Yamato and Naruto everything.
"I-I'm… sorry."
My fists clenched around the wet fabric of his shirt.
"What?" He asked, stopping his efforts to pry my hands away from him.
"I apologize for hitting you…" I tucked my head to my chest. I couldn't look at this demon while saying this, or I would really feel like he was winning. "So please… don't say anything to Yamato." I begged, feeling so horrible, so crushed that I had to beg forgiveness from this boy… this evil, spoiled, horrid cretin.
The silence was overbearing… all I could hear was the running water of the river, the wind in the trees…
Those sounds reminded me of that bridge… that sanctuary I needed right now…
I thought of Kakashi-sensei…
If it's for him, I'd do anything…
"That's not enough…" The demon's sly voice found my ears, making me forget the comforting sounds of nature around me.
I looked up to him. Trying not to punch him again.
I didn't say anything.
His blue eyes just stared at me with a leer.
"My mouth hurts…" He acknowledged out loud. "Make it better…" he ordered.
I lifted my hands from his shoulders lifelessly. I put my hands on his jaw. A green glow emanated from my fingertips.
"That's not what I meant." He said, shoving my hands away from his face. His hand left my sight for a second, I felt his fingers find the back of my head.
I felt his hand pull me to him, his face getting closer.
I really hated how his hand was smaller than what I was used to, how it wasn't warm, wasn't slightly rough with battle-experience, wasn't Kakashi's.
My stomach turned grossly with the thought of kissing anyone but him.
I felt like I was going to be sick.
I really couldn't think about this.
But what could I do?
I was stuck like this.
I had to deal with it.
I closed my eyes.
I didn't want to see anything.
I didn't want to feel anything.
I just wanted to block out the world and let whatever was going to happen, happen, and end without making me remember it.
I felt a pair of hands grab me by the waist, hoisting me up and into the air in only a single moment.
My eyes flashed open when my feet touched the ground again.
I was 30 feet away from the river and the perplexed noble laying in it.
My eyes locked with a pair of all-too-familiar, mismatched, obsidian and ruby ones.
"Kakash-" I couldn't finish his name. I lost my voice when I saw the look he was giving me.
I couldn't look at him back.
"So it's you…" The demon spoke up with a cocky attitude from the river. Kakashi-sensei's hands were on my shoulders, he wasn't looking away from me. But he wasn't saying anything. He was only giving me that tortured, confused look.
"Couldn't bear to watch your lover kiss another man?" His young voice reached our ears.
I looked over Kakashi's shoulder to get a glimpse at the demon slowly lift himself up from the water.
By the time I looked back in front of me, Kakashi already had his back to me.
"It's about 14 years too early for you to be using that word, kid." Kakashi's voice. I hadn't heard it so rough, so full of raw anger like that. No matter who the opponent was, Kakashi never hated them before.
"You don't seem shocked that I know about your screwy relationship with your student." The kid shouted back.
Kakashi just stood in front of me, his fists clenching.
"She was willing to do anything to keep that secret, but you're treating it like you don't even care if the truth got out… like you don't really care if you were forced to split up with her." The kid continued, his attitude unwavering.
In a flash Kakashi was gone.
My eyes strained for him, and in a moment he seemed to rematerialize in front of Kimihiro.
"I don't care if spoiled kids like you find out." Kakashi grabbed the demon's collar. Kakashi's free fist rose, and pulled back.
Even from this far away, I could feel the chakra in the environment shift.
What is he planning on doing?
"You can't hurt me, or my family will start a dispute with Konoha!" The noble-boy finally started to show some panic, using the same line he threatened me with. His pampered hands clawed at Kakashi's fingers.
Kakashi heaved the boy into the air before throwing him down into the shallow water with force.
I could hea the stone-cracking thud from where I stood.
Kimihiro coughed with force, sputtering into the water, dry-heaving.
"That won't work on me…" Kakashi's voice was calmer again… almost solemn.
I found myself unable to move from that spot.
I wanted to do something… but right now I felt like Kakashi was some sort of unstoppable force.
"I'm not as pure as Sakura." His voice admitted with that serious tone, crouching over the boy, who was already scrambling to get back to dry land.
The kid was obviously short-breathed by the impact from before.
Kakashi followed him calmly.
"I really don't care about this mission… I don't care about your family… I don't care about you…"
Kimihiro found a tree with his flailing arms, grabbing onto it for support, still trying to escape Kakashi, who was moving slowly towards him.
"I only care about myself."
I looked on as Kakashi's fist punched the side of the tree that Kimihiro was supporting himself on.
Splinters sprayed in every direction.
Then I heard Kakashi's voice say something faintly to himself, that I doubt Kimihiro could hear over his own panicking heartbeat.
"I guess I'm a little like my father that way."
I wondered over the meaning of that for only a moment.
The demon stumbled to the ground, staring up at Kakashi like he was staring his final judgment in the face.
I couldn't just stand there anymore… I had to do something… I had to do something.
"But, now… she means more to me than I do." His fist raised in the air, I felt a familiar chakra shift.
I was running to him without realizing it.
I didn't care about Kimihiro anymore.
I didn't care about anything other than the fact that I needed to be with him… in this moment.
I could tell he was angry, hurt, scared… and it was all because I couldn't handle this situation by myself.
I saw Kakashi's curled fist dive towards the demon's face right before I felt my arms wrap around his waist.
I opened my eyes a little.
His fist was only a few inches from Kimihiro's scared face.
Kakashi stumbled back a little from the force of my hug.
His hands found my back immediately, trying to pry me off of him.
I latched onto him tightly.
He stopped trying to seperate us....
"Sakura…" his voice was back to normal. He was soft and warm again.
I let go of a deep breath.
I felt water dripping across my face… I wonder how my hair got wet for a second before I realized I was crying.
After I realized that tears were running down my face, I suddenly felt the uproar of emotions that have been plaguing me for so long, hit me all at once.
"Kakashi-sensei!" I called out his name, knowing no other words in that moment. I said his name just like I used to, whenever I needed him, whenever I wanted him by my side, whenever I feared for his safety, I called out his name like that.
I felt sobs shake through my body.
"Sakura…" Now his voice sounded worried. I didn't want that. I wanted him to be happy.
His arms folded around me.
I huddled into his chest closer, trying to forget the world around us.
"Sakura… stay here for a couple minutes, I'll be back." He let go of me, starting to walk away.
My hands grasped the buckles on his vest, refusing to let him go.
"I promise I'll be back for you as soon I possibly can."
My eyes were blurry and looking towards the rocky ground, but I felt his hand reach around the back of my head, leaning me forward. His masked-lips pressed against my forehead deeply.
I let go of his vest. His lips didn't leave for a few more seconds.
His hand brushed back to my face, lifted it towards him.
"Everything's going to be alright… I promised you a long time ago that I wouldn't let any harm come to you."
I'm not worried about me!!
I wanted to tell him, but my breathing was still shaky.
Then he was gone.
I rubbed my eyes, looking for him.
He really was gone.
Kimihiro was gone, too.
Please keep your promise, Kakashi-sensei…
I held my arms to myself awkwardly.
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Author's Note:
(I don't like doing this too often since I'm afraid it spoils the feeling for the reader to all of a sudden remember that there's a real person writing this, but this is kinda important…)
I will try to update soon… but I have AP classes at school, so they call for many hours of homework… I'll probably have to stay up a couple more hours tonight… but I love writing for you guys, so it's all worth it! :D
But thank you soooooo much for sticking with me for 15 Chapters so far!!! ^_^