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Nostalgia
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Thin, muddy ribbons of water trickled sluggishly down the dirt walls sloping into the streambed below. The wind howled shrilly as it raced through the dense line of forest fencing in either side of the shallow basin. Wet leaves flew restlessly into the air in a cacophony of harsh, stinging rain.
Hijame squinted his eyes and tilted his face into the furious onslaught. Otherwise he remained motionless, taciturn and unaffected in the face of nature's fury. At his side, shivering slightly from the cool water rushing past his knees, a gaunt man stood resolutely in the stream with him. The man's spindly arms were raised and his hands clasped together in the sign of a genjutsu.
In just a manner of minutes everything would come together.
Hijame's part of the underhanded deal he'd made with Izanami would be completed. He would capture Hatake Kakashi and deliver him to the daimyo's wife. The illustrious copy-ninja would be whisked away to the River Country's underground fighting ring. And, just like so many powerful shinobi who had been captured by Hijame before him, Kakashi would fight to the death. He would die helpless, broken-down, and alone, a mere shadow of the powerful man he had once been. A specter of the warrior who had demolished Hijame's base of operations months earlier... And people would pay to see it.
Izanami, who had founded the whole operation out of economic necessity, always gave him a share of the sums. That was how the deal went. And Hijame had gone along with it, using what little money he earned to rebuild his forces, never asking for more or showing any sign of his growing displeasure.
But this time things would go a little differently...
Hijame smirked in the face of the battering rain, a cruel lilt twisting his lips. His underhanded partnership with Izanami had arisen out of necessity-he had needed money and she had needed muscle. It had served them both well up to this point... But Hijame was never one to be satisfied with just getting by. He had greater plans, higher aspirations for the future-he'd just been waiting for the right opportunity.
And now, as he stood firmly against the muddy flow of the stream, the pounding rain lashing down at him with a sheet of cutting wind-it was clear to him that, after years of waiting, he'd finally found such an opportunity.
And it was found in the existence of one man. Hatake Kakashi.
An amused grin split Hijame's wet face and he barked out a laugh. The upper-level standing shakily at his side jumped.
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"Alright," Sakura rose to her feet, brushing her hands decisively over her muddy skirt, "You're going to lead us there."
Naruto watched curiously as their captive's hazel eyes widened and his jaw clenched shut, his spine stiffening in poorly-disguised horror. The Jinchuriki frowned, looking askance at Sai, but his teammate's face was as bland and non-inquisitive as ever beneath the sleeting rain. Was he the only one who thought something wasn't right here?
The young rogue-nin seemed to try and say something then, but all that came out was a jumbled stammer of vowels. He swallowed hard, his chest heaving slightly. A slow-building set of tremors took hold of the rogue-nin and the boy shook his head, staring at them with bright, horrified eyes.
Naruto's stomach twisted uncomfortably. This wasn't how bad guys were supposed to act... right?
"You're going to lead us to where Hijame has set up this ambush for our sensei." Sakura's green eyes narrowed and a layer of steel slid into her voice, "And you're going to do it now. Stand up."
Their captive rose dazedly to his feet and stared down at the mud sloshing between his toes. Naruto watched him, for the first time fully taking in his appearance.
The boy's hair was a mess of feathery, auburn spikes. They reached nearly to his eyes. The sides of his head were closely shaved in what was obviously intended to be a military look. But somehow, with his wide eyes and timid expression, it only served to cast him in a fragile light. His skin was the color of someone who loved the sun but had been kept in the dark for too long. Across the bridge of his nose and spreading out over one cheekbone, a constellation of freckles stood out boldly over his pale skin. Overall he seemed to have open, boyish features that leaned towards the more delicate, feminine side of the male spectrum. He was just a kid.
Naruto looked over the boy's clothes and frowned, seeing how faded and weather-beaten they were. Everything was riddled with holes and tears. Any color that might have once brightened the rogue-ninja's outfit had been long-since washed out, leaving behind a nearly indiscernible collection of dull browns, greens, and greys. He wore only a simple pair of calf-length pants, a plain t-shirt, and a scuffed imitation ANBU vest that was filled with stolen goods. No sandals, and no jacket to protect him from the elements. The boy stood quietly before them, his bony shoulders hunched and his head cowed against the rain. He seemed, despite his young face, to be about their age and perhaps a little taller than Sakura.
Was this really the guy who had somehow overpowered the famed Copy-ninja, sent him tumbling over an enormous waterfall, and injected some weird germ thing into him? Naruto's blue eyes stared at the boy doubtfully. He didn't know what to think.
"Go!" Sakura snapped, breaking Naruto out of his muddled thoughts. Her hands had curled into fists.
The rain spilled over them ceaselessly, and the Jinchuriki felt a shiver travel up his spine at the sight of the dark frown growing on his teammate's face. Thunder clapped loudly over their heads. He'd seen that look before... but on someone else.
Sakura stepped closer to the rogue-nin. Her arms shook with barely subdued strength.
"We don't have anymore time to waste." she spoke through her teeth, "You need to show us. Right. Now."
The boy flinched and staggered back a few steps. He stared at them all, his chest rising and falling visibly. Naruto's stomach twisted at the look of fear in the boy's eyes.
"NOW!" Sakura snarled.
The rogue-ninja spun round and leaped into the tossing branches. Sakura and Sai sprung after him, cutting through the spraying rain like knives. Naruto looked after them for a moment, unease building inside him.
He ran after them into the churning forest.
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"SENSEEEII!" Sakura's piercing shriek was so loud in his ears he imagined he could hear her lungs bursting within her chest. A rush of numb horror juddered through his body at the sound. Kakashi stumbled sideways into a tree, scraping his knuckles raw against the wet bark.
"Sakura!" Kakashi yelled hoarsely, his legs nearly buckling with the horror that swept through him. He shoved himself back to his feet and took off again, splashing through the undergrowth. Rain whirled around him and mud rose in waves about his feet, stinging and cold. Low-hanging vines and brambles tore at his clothes.
Naruto's rough voice joined in then, wordless howls of pure animal agony intermingling with Sakura's shrieks to form a grotesque chorus. A stunted cry spilled out of Kakashi's chest, every reverberation of Naruto's pain-drenched voice rattling his core.
"I'm coming! I'm-" his words choked off, tangling in his throat. The copy-ninja shook his head, silver hair flying, and tore quickly through the underbrush. How had this happened? The very idea that something in the world existed that could draw those noises from his team was incomprehensible. He didn't-
-A terrible scream, raw and heated and seemingly endless, burned through Kakashi. His ears thrummed with pain at the sound.
Sai. Kakashi stumbled, shaking his head. His vision was starting to blur. Naruto, Sakura, Sai. He repeated it breathlessly, their names trembling on his lips beneath his rain-soaked mask.
His sandal suddenly caught on a root and he fell, crashing, into the mud. A large, jutting rock scraped over the wet skin of his uncovered brow but he didn't feel a thing. Their screams tore through him like fire. Horror blared through him, his heartbeats blurring together in his ears. He couldn't breathe. He couldn't breathe around that noise. He-
"-Pup!"
Sharp pain sparked in his hand. Little teeth. They dug in deep and tugged, shaking his entire arm. Footsteps splashed around him.
"Snap out of it!"
A heavy weight knocked against his chest then and he was shoved roughly onto his back. The rain drummed and flowed over his face. The Copy-ninja blinked, struggling to see the world through the flinching lashes of his uncovered eye.
"Kakashi!"
There were slices of smoldering black sky, roiling and seething above him, pressing down through gaps in the crazily tossing leaves. The very curve of the sky seemed to be split, torn open and fractured with glowing blue-white lightning. Kakashi gasped roughly, lying on his back in the mud. The world slowly came into focus.
Bull was glaring down at him, his thick paws on Kakashi's chest. The rest of his dogs fretted about him, their fur matted with rainwater and leaves. Their tongues lolled and they whined anxiously. Pakkun bit his hand again.
"What in Kami's name are you doing?!" The little dog spat.
Kakashi swallowed, the clamor of his teammate's yells still clanging in his ears. He pushed himself up on his uninjured elbow.
"-when you're injured." Pakkun was saying, "What exactly are you playing at?"
The Copy-ninja shook his head groggily. He could still hear them. Screaming. He was wasting time. He jerked to his feet, swaying unsteadily.
"Pakkun, I don't-" he choked, "Can't you hear that? They're hurting Naruto, Sakura, and Sai. We have to find them." The words came out mumbled, dazed. Kakashi shook his head, his bangs flopping wetly over his headband.
"We need to split up." He said, "Bull and Urushi, you're..." he gasped, "-with me. Pakkun, you're leading Uhei and Bisuke. Cover the left flank. Akino, you'll lead Shiba and Guruko on the right. I'll come in first and then, when the enemy is distracted, you come in hard from the sides."
The dogs stepped anxiously in the mud for a moment, unwilling to leave their master. Kakashi snapped.
"MOVE!"
A rush of shaggy coats, clumped and heavy with mud, swirled frantically around him. And then they were bounding off, Bull and Urushi stepping forward to stand at his side. Their tails wagged eagerly.
Kakashi clambered onto Bull's back. It wouldn't make sense for him to use any more chakra, he couldn't afford to lose his mind in memories now. And riding Bull was sure to get him to his teammates faster. Kakashi curled his shaking fingers weakly into Bull's thick fur, ignoring the burning ache as his broken fingers moved. He'd wasted enough time.
His teammates' agonized screams pounded against his eardrums. Kakashi squeezed his eyes closed and breathed hard. He was shaking. But he could do this. He had to do this...
A lone stormy grey eye, dark with fury and wilder than any sane man's, snapped open in the falling darkness. The Copy-ninja leaned forwards, laying low over Bull's back, positioning himself for speed.
Whoever was causing those unearthly sounds to come from his teammates... they were now minutes away from their deathbed.
"Let's move."
They took off into the whirling darkness.
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"This had better work!" Izanami snapped, swiping a hand at her dripping makeup ineffectually, "I've invested more time and effort into getting him than I have for any of the others. Not to mention a week's worth of outfits; ruined."
The men around her glanced at each other uneasily, shifting their muddy feet as they kept their post above the streambed. Even though she was but a stepping stone in Hijame's plans, she had quickly proven herself to be not only more intimidating, but vastly more inconsolable than any woman the rogue-ninja had ever seen.
"My lady," one of the upper-levels grinned, the white band around his arm shining in the fading light as he stepped forward, "You should have more faith... " he grasped her hand elegantly, bowing to kiss it under the drumming rain, "We are here but to serve you."
She stared down at his dark eyes gleaming wickedly up at her and felt a shudder of revulsion. One of his eyebrows was pitted and streaked with a ropy, pink scar. She slid her hand from his blunt, rain-slicked fingers.
"What is your name?" She sniffed, glancing at the man's broad-shouldered, rugged appearance.
"Naoki," he dipped his head, revealing an expansive lacework of scars across the glistening skin of his bald head, "It means honest... Straight as a tree." A golden cap gleamed mockingly from among his row of yellowed teeth.
Izanami turned away from him then. Pretending not to be flustered, she loftily scanned the sodden foliage, her eyes tracing over the slick, wet bark of the trees. None of them looked particularly straight.
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"Why did you stop?"
"I-it's a stream bed." The boy stammered, his hands fiddling in front of his chest, "If... If you go-"
"-Why." Sakura snarled, "Did. You. Stop." The rogue-ninja flinched, and a gust of chilly air blew in through the swaying trees behind him, lifting his auburn strands. His eyes were wide. He looked like a lost little kid, standing there with his lip trembling in the rain. For some reason this only angered Sakura more. Her eyes narrowed.
"It's just-just down that way," he started again, "They've set up on both sides a-and-"
"-Did we stay stop?"
"I-"
"-No. We didn't." A heady fear and worry for Kakashi-sensei had begun to swell within her as she spoke. It made her feel panicked and rushed. She glared at the boy and said,"If you don't start running again in the next five seconds, we are going to make you run. I know things have seemed pretty peachy for you so far, us sparing your life and healing your skinny, little tooth-pick arms, but believe me, if you stand in our way of saving Kakashi-sensei one more time I'm going to-"
"-Sakura, stop it." Naruto interrupted her, "Just stop, okay." Sakura reeled back a step, shocked that Naruto would interrupt her. He sounded tired and exasperated. Her face grew hot.
"Naruto." she growled, "We don't have time for this. We have to get to Kakashi. Now!"
The Jinchuriki said nothing, but a dark shadow had begun to pass over his blue eyes as he stared at her. Sakura's heart seemed to flip in her chest, all of the barely-contained fear and guilt over Kakashi coming to the surface under the Jinchuriki's flat gaze. Does he blame me for this? Her green eyes stung with tears at the thought. She struggled to regain control.
"What are you doing!?" she struggled to recover, yelling, "Every second we spend here is another second closer to losing Kakashi-sensei! We can't just let him stop! He's wasting our time and he's-"
"-Scared." The Jinchuriki said slowly, his gaze imploring as he moved to stand firmly between her and their captive, "He's scared, Sakura. Can't you see that?" Naruto's bright blue eyes were icy, two pinpricks of effervescent blue flame piercing her through the stinging rain and darkness. Sakura faltered for a moment, panting.
"Well, what does it matter if he's scared!" she yelled, and her own voice sounded shrill to her ears, "I don't give a damn! We need to get to sensei!" But Naruto just shook his head, a saddened expression crossing over his face as he looked down at the muddy ground between them.
"Sakura... do you even know who you sound like?" The team's medic froze, a sensation like ice expanding in her veins spreading through her at his words. Sasuke...
Sakura turned away from him, jerking around to face the dark, empty forest. She squeezed her eyes closed, a heated throb building in her chest. No. Don't think about that-Don't think about him... Keep it together, she berated herself. Naruto spoke slowly from behind her, his voice soft in the falling rain.
"This isn't how Kaka-sensei would want us to do things." he paused, and then he said, "He wouldn't want us to lose who we are, Sakura-chan."
Sakura turned around slowly. She stared at him.
And it was then that she became aware of a cold emptiness growing within her, something dark and determined seeping into the spaces previously occupied by fear and uncertainty. How long this had been building up inside of her she didn't know, but finally, as she stood steadily under the pounding rain... she knew that it had taken hold of her completely. And that she was stronger for believing in it.
Sai's dark eyes glanced quickly between Naruto and her, finally recognizing the tense, strangled silence between them. The beginnings of a rift.
Sakura stepped slowly up to Naruto. Her hands were shaking. The Jinchuriki's spine stiffened and his blue eyes flickered up to meet hers, as if he already knew her thoughts. They stared at each other, the firmness of an invisible wall forming between them, and Sakura's hands curled into fists. Thick sheets of icy rain whirled around them, battering their forms, sending their hair whipping across their stony faces. Sakura leaned closer to her teammate, turning her face so she could whisper into his ear.
"We've already lost Sasuke..." Naruto's eyes snapped open wide at her words, shining with hurt, "We've lost him and it might take more than any of us have to ever get him back. So, don't you dare... Don't you dare, Naruto, get in the way of us saving Kakashi-sensei."
She leaned back then, and her face felt immeasurably hard and cold against the stinging wind. Her green eyes flitted over to where the rogue-ninja stood, watching their interaction tremulously beneath the flooding rain. Her eyes narrowed to slits.
"Sakura, you know I would do anything to have our whole team back..." Naruto's voice came out soft, broken. She turned to stare at him, her expression icy.
"There's nothing I wouldn't do."
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Small paws splashed through the slowly rising mud, leaping over tree roots and low-rising bushes. Uhei, Bisuke, and Pakkun scrabbled through the underbrush, Pakkun in the lead. A long-lasting boom of thunder exploded through the sky, making the very trunks of the trees shudder with it's raw, unbridled power. Rain spattered over them and hung heavily in their coats. Uhei whined anxiously.
"I didn't hear anything earlier, when he asked if we could 'hear that'. I didn't hear anything."
Pakkun frowned at Uhei, the wrinkles deepening on his fuzzy face. A twinge of unease traveled through him.
"I didn't hear anything either." he admitted, "But we have orders. We'll do whatever Kakashi asks of us." Bisuke yapped in sharp agreement. They continued on their path through the forest, speeding through the gnarled foliage and sweeping rain.
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"... You don't mean that." Naruto mumbled, staring at Sakura in shock.
"You don't." He rocked back on his feet, stumbling into a tree. She didn't mean that. She was just feeling stressed and anxious like the rest of them, right? This wasn't how Sakura normally acted. There was no way she had been hording up all of these feelings this whole time. Like Sasuke had...
The pink-haired girl stepped back from her teammate. She raised her hand to her forehead, looking down at the ground. Her face was pale and dull. A heated wave of concern rushed through Naruto at the sight of her, and it was all he could do to refrain from moving towards her. She scrubbed roughly at her eyes with the heel of her palm, pink bangs hanging limply over her face. Her shoulders looked thin and fragile under the pounding rain. The Jinchuriki took a halted step forwards. His arms ached to hold her.
"Sakura, what's going on?" he said, his voice coming out quiet and hurt, "It's... you're not thinking this is all your fault are you?" Her shoulders hiked up in a shuddering sob, but she caught the sound in the falling darkness, her hand flying over her mouth. Naruto stepped towards her.
"It's not." he said, "Sakura, it's not your-"
"-Naruto!" her voice cracked and the barely-contained pain in her voice stopped his feet in their tracks. Yori and Sai looked at the both of them, helpless to do anything but watch. The rain swelled over them all, mud sloshing up to their calves in waves.
"Sakura," he tried again, "I-"
-Three shapes burst out from the trees beside them, charging right into the middle of their group. The shinobi reacted furiously in the darkness, a bout of shurikan swinging down towards the intruders as Sakura and Sai leaped reflexively back into the trees. A sudden tumult of snarls and splashing footsteps erupted at the sudden attack. Naruto, kunai in hand, sprinted towards the huddled figures.
Lightning split the darkness.
"Pakkun!" Naruto had just enough time to yelp before something tackled him hard from the side, sending him rolling into a puddle. He quickly scrambled to his feet and saw that Uhei, another of Kakashi's ninken had headbutted him. The dog shifted from paw to paw anxiously as soon as their eyes met.
"What's going on?!" the dog whined in what could only be alarm, "Kakashi said that you guys were being hurt!" Bisuke, another of Kakashi's ninken trotted over to join Uhei. He growled, clearly confused. Pakkun dropped a kunai that he'd caught with his mouth and frowned, his brown eyes shifting over everyone there.
"Who's that guy?" he barked, trotting forwards to sniff at the rogue-ninja's feet. The boy's face paled.
"These dogs are talking." he said informatively.
"I've seen stranger things." the pug quipped, raising a wrinkled brow at the rogue-ninja dubiously.
"Hold on, hold on." Sakura interrupted them, "What are you guys doing here? Kakashi-sensei can't use chakra."
The three dogs shared an uncomfortable look. Thunder rumbled overhead.
"He summoned us to go rescue you guys." Bisuke growled, clearly off-put with their predicament, "Split us into three groups and gave us orders to attack your captors."
"Then what-" Naruto started, but Sai cut him off before he could ask anything.
"I should think the answer is obvious. This must be the long-distance henge being cast by one of Hijame's upper-levels. Already it is being used to draw Kakashi-taichou in."
"Hijame? A long-distance henge?" Pakkun snapped, his wrinkled brow furrowing, "What is this nonsense?"
Sakura opened her mouth to speak but Naruto answered for her.
"Oh, a long-distance henge is a henge that can work at a long distance." he explained knowledgeably, "And its made possible, it works, uh, uh because of... germs."
Everyone in the clearing possessing hands smacked themselves on the forehead.
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Wind howled in his ears, tearing at his clothes and hair as Kakashi bounded through the forest on Bull's back. Mud rose up around him sudden walls of murky water as Bull's heavy paws splashed through the undergrowth. Each step sent an agonizing jolt ringing through his body, and Kakashi was forced to bite his lip beneath his mask to keep from making noise. They were getting closer.
The raspiness of Bull's heavy breathing filled his ears, sounding feral and excited. It sent a wild thrum of adrenaline buzzing through him. In seconds they would be upon them.
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An unnatural silence seeped over the streambed, filling in the spaces between the hissing rain and booming thunder. A small bird fluttered anxiously from one low-hanging branch to another, hiding itself in the glistening leaves. Hijame's men waited, settling into their positions, all eyes trained upon the direction of the distant waterfall. Expectation hung thickly over the forest.
Hijame's steely gaze narrowed.
And then the tense silence was broken, shattered into a million barbed fragments that split the very air. The Copy-ninja blasted into the ditch, riding low atop an enormous, bristling dog. Two other canines launched themselves into the air after him, and they all landed with a stinging spray of water in the shallow stream, snarling. Hijame raised his brows, a grin spreading over his face.
"Why Kakashi," he began, "it's-"
-The razor-sharp edge of a shurikan ghosted by his face, a fiery streak of pain bursting along his temple. Hijame's eyes widened, Kakashi's own solitary grey orb catching him in it's icy stare. He saw the Copy-ninja's fingers twitch out of the corner of his eye.
The rogue-ninja leader reacted instinctively.
Swinging his head forwards and to the side in a sharp duck, Hijame dived forward into the gurgling stream. But he could not fully escape the spiraling blade that came swinging out from where his men were stationed behind him. He landed with a crash on his hands and knees, scraping them over the slippery rocks in the stream. White hot pain erupted over his back and shoulder as the blade struck him, burrowing deeply into his flesh. Hijame growled, still holding the Copy-ninja's frigid gaze. Chakra wires twitched in the shinobi's half-gloved fingers. He growled.
"You have something of mine."
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Hey everyone,
I know it's been a while and I'm sorry about that. I'll do my best to keep updating all of my stories. Thank you if you are still taking the time to read this. Also, I am fully aware that I said Yori was wearing boots in the last chapter and now for some reason he is barefoot. You're right, this is a mistake and it should be fixed. And maybe it will be. If I ever do finish this story I will be sure to go back over all of your reviews and make the suggested changes. If anyone is displeased or upset with this chapter I understand and it's up to you whether you want to keep reading or not. Like I said, all complaints will be noted and I will do my best to fix my mistakes when I have the time.
Thanks,
~Flinty