With autumn fast approaching, Konoha had become subjected to beautiful weather of cool breezes and nights just chilly enough to warrant a light sweater. The land of Lightning, however, had no such weather; Kana was glad to have had the foresight to bring the hooded cloak issued to her as a part of her uniform as she wrapped it tighter around her small frame.
The Suna Anbu member had no such luxuries, though, and only scooted closer to the small flame they allowed themselves in the cave they were currently camping out in for the night. She donned the standard sleeveless uniform and a Doji Noh mask that was elaborately decorated with brown swirls that matched her brown topknot; she shivered when a particularly strong gust of wind reduced the pitiful flame to a thin line of smoke that pooled at the ceiling.
Kana formed hand seals and held them to the ground to form a small barrier a couple of yards in from the mouth of the cave, causing the Sand shinobi to look up at her.
"Is that a good idea," she asked in her raspy voice that sounded almost like a wheeze, "Maintaining a barrier like that?"
She shrugged, "A single half-assed barrier like this will hardly be something to pay any mind to. I can't have you catching a cold. Just go back to sleep, I'll wake you up when it's time to go."
When Kida laid back down, Kana readjusted herself so that she was more comfortable leaning against the wall and idly scanned their immediate surroundings with her Kurogan. Intelligence gathering missions were generally simple ones, but getting to the Cloud village appeared to be taking its toll on the Suna kunoichi, who was more accustomed to the dry heat of the desert as opposed to the humid cold they were currently in. It would be best to keep as much of the wind off of her while she slept, if only to prevent her from getting sick.
Kida was skinny, not slender or strong. Maybe Kana was used to shinobi that looked… Fuller, for lack of better word, but she almost came off as just a frail woman instead of a proper shinobi. The fact that Kida wasn't adapting well to her environment was cause for concern.
'Still, no point in worrying about it now,' Kana thought to herself. If the Suna chunin began to show signs of illness, she could always just take care of the mission on her own and leave Hanako as a guard. She drew her knees up to her chest and decided to keep her attention focused on surveying the area.
The pair moved swift, fast and silently. Despite being from different lands, they worked in a harmony that rivaled what she held with her old teammates.
Unfortunately, their villages apparently used different hand signals to relay orders and information so they had to use crude signs and Morse to get their messages across silently; Kana waved her hand to the side as she ducked behind a large suit of Kabuki armor. Kida crouched behind her, mirroring her movements, and placed her hand on the Leaf kunoichi's shoulder.
Kana began tapping her fingertips into the top of her glove, "Seven Kumo ninja. Two at the end of the hall guarding the door, one patrolling, four guarding the objective."
"Stealth?" Kida tapped back.
She shook her head, "I can distract them. You sneak in after I engage the guards in the room."
"Understood."
Jumping up from her crouched position, Kana formed her chakra claws and lunged across the hall; her fingers were buried in the patrolling shinobi's throat and severing his airways and jugular before he could even register that he had been grabbed. She set his body on the floor behind another suit of armor, thankful for the dim lighting of the hideout providing enough darkness for adequate cover.
She focused chakra to her dominant hand, feeling it pool around her wrist and snake down into a black whip that hung down to the floor just before darting out from behind the armor. The whip snapped forward as she threw her arm out and shredded its way through his flak jacket and heart. He dropped to the floor without a word, the shock rendering him unconscious before he could bleed out. His teammate crumpled next to him less than a second later, and Kana had to kick her leg out before he faceplanted to the floor; their attack was relying heavily on the element of surprise so she didn't want the sound of his forehead protector clattering against the stone to alert his squad mates.
Just as she did, though, Kida sneezed.
If her teammate were a man, it wouldn't have been too much cause for concern, but there was a distinctly feminine sound to the sneeze that caused all four guards just beyond the door to whip their heads in their direction. Kana saw the small chakra flare from her teammate's alarm, and she whipped out a kunai to tap the floor as one of the guards made their way to the door.
"Camouflage. Genjutsu. Hide bodies."
As long as no one within that room wielded a dojutsu like the Byakugan or Kurogan, their plan was still applicable, so Kana quickly sprung up to the ceiling and focused her chakra so she could grip the smooth surface. All she could do was hope that Kida was well enough to pull off a genjutsu strong enough to keep the guard fooled for Kana to take him out.
Just as the double doors shut behind him, Kana released the chakra and dropped down head-first; her hands snapped his neck with a satisfying 'crunch' just moments before they both silently dropped to the floor.
The element of surprise was completely gone, that much she knew; the remaining three guards were on full alert and watching the door intently for their companion's return. Kana flung the door open and bolted across the floor with her demon arm formed, Kida hot on her heels.
All eyes were on her as the demon arm cut through her opponent before he had time to gasp in surprise, quickly transforming into the chakra whip and shooting across the room to sever the next guard's neck with a muted crack. By the time Kana began to lunge to the side to dodge the lightning-enhanced shuriken being lobbed at her, Kida was already rifling through files with her Camouflage Jutsu hiding her presence enough for their opponent to not notice the papers moving. Kana flickered across the room and threw out a kick hard and fast enough for the shinobi's skull to cave in around her boot.
"You really are the Black Demon Fox, aren't you?" Kida asked nonchalantly as she sifted through a new stack of papers.
"Is that what they call me?" Kana wiped some of the blood off of her gloves by smearing it over her flak jacket, "Kind of a mouthful, but it sounds cool."
The Suna shinobi chuckled half-heartedly and handed her a couple of files, "Here. These are some battle plans and formation descriptions," she looked back to a particular piece of paper that held her interest, "I heard the name a few years ago when I was still a genin. During our preparations for the Chunin Exams there were some tokubetsu jonin that were trying to scare us with a story about the Leaf's shinobi. Particularly, about three ninja that became Anbu as children: the Black Demon Fox, the Copy Ninja and Itachi of the Illusions. I always assumed they were stories blown out of proportion."
Kana smirked, "They probably were, but I hope I lived up to your expectations." She flipped through the files, scanning each page to memorize its contents, "Have you found the list of officials yet? We're running out of time."
"I'm pretty sure I've found it, but the code on this one is a lot more difficult to decipher. We might have to take this with us for the Cryptanalysis Team to handle. And, no, you didn't disappoint. Though I imagined you to be a little taller."
She raised an eyebrow from behind her mask and took the file that Kida handed her, "Being small has its perks," she mumbled gruffly, "Though if we're honest, I'm more of a cat person than a fox – whoa, are you okay?"
Kida had doubled over into a coughing fit, clutching the desk with both hands to prevent herself from collapsing – Kana channeled healing chakra to her hands and cupped the Suna shinobi's back. She had been right in assuming that her teammate had been having trouble with the cold, humid weather, but Kana hadn't realized that it had gotten so bad so quickly.
"There's a buildup of fluid in your lungs, caused by an advanced case of pneumonia. Why didn't you tell me you were feeling ill?" There was a sharp edge to her tone that wasn't necessarily intentional, but Kana couldn't help but feel irritated by the Anbu's failure to keep her updated on her condition.
"Sorry, I didn't think it was that bad."
It was a lousy excuse, and judging by Kida's tone Kana knew that she knew it. Still, her irritation only grew while she channeled the chakra into her lungs, "You have exudative pleural effusion and a nasty fever. It's essential for shinobi to be constantly aware of the condition of their teammates – even if it didn't feel that bad you still should have told me." She concentrated on pulling the buildup of fluid and phlegm out of the kunoichi's body, "Thankfully there isn't too much fluid. But you're going to need antibiotics, and soon. How did you get so bad in just a couple of days?"
Kida hung her head as her breathing began to normalize, "I know. I'm sorry, really. I simply don't handle wet climates like this well."
'Then why the fuck did you take a mission to a village literally in the clouds, in an oceanic country?' she thought to herself angrily. Was this really a member of the Sand's Anbu Black Ops? "There. That's the best I can do right now. Give me the rest of the files and let's go."
Sand could go fuck itself, Kana decided as another gust of wind blew a cloud of granules into her face. Even with her cloaked hood and mask hiding her body, it still seemed to find a way into her eyes and mouth and hair and it was beginning to really piss her off.
"Man, you Leaf shinobi sure do look grumpy whenever you're on our turf," a voice chuckled from behind her; Kana turned to see a teenaged boy with spiky brown hair strolling up to her with his hands stuffed into his black pants.
Narrowing her eyes, she turned to face him, "You say that as if you can actually see me."
His smug grin only expanded as she spoke, "Don't need to. The way you're practically cowering into the wall is enough to tell me that you're as miserable as you can be! What's wrong, too used to your fluffy leaves and trees?"
Kana snorted, "You know, that's tough talk coming from a Sand citizen. I took one of your Anbu for a stroll to the Land of Lightning for a week and she came back with a fever of one hundred and five and so much fluid buildup that if it weren't for me she would have drowned to death. Maybe you guys should leave your nice dry weather for-" a strong gale full of fine sand cut the kunoichi off mid-sentence as she turned her face away to avoid inhaling the grains.
Despite his arrogant attitude, the boy moved to her side as if to shield her from the strong breeze. "If you hate it so much, why don't you just head inside? Why are you hangin' around out here?" he asked, sounding both amused and concerned.
"Mission stuff. Waiting on your cryptanalysists to get back to me," Kana coughed.
"And you have to be outside of the standby station for that?"
"I don't feel welcome inside, so this was the next best place."
When the particularly long blast of wind appeared to have finally passed, Kana pushed herself off of the wall she had been curling into and faced the kid. He only looked to be maybe a year or two older than Neji and the rest of the kids, though he was a few inches taller and noticeably heavier than them. Thinking of him as a kid probably was only going to say more about herself than him, considering that probably placed him somewhere around her age.
His face twisted into that of confusion when she looked up at him, as if he was wracking his brain for something. "Hey, have we met before?" he asked, scrunching his wide nose.
"Uh… I'm not exactly from around here, so… I doubt it?"
"No, I've seen your mask before!" he suddenly exclaimed, "You were in the tower during the last Chunin Exams, right?"
Kana narrowed her eyes from behind said mask and took a step back – there were only three shinobi she had come across in the tower that day, and all three of them were key components in the Sand-Sound invasion.
Sensing her uneasiness, Kankuro held up his hands in the same way he did when his younger brother was trying to pick a fight, "Hey, look-"
"No, don't," she cut in with a sigh, "The whole reason I'm here is to solidify our nations' alliance. Don't dredge up old shit. I was… Just wondering how there was such an ugly mug underneath that cool facepaint."
The genin's jaw dropped just a second before his lips stretched into an amused smile, "Tough talk coming from someone that hides behind a mask all the time," he laughed, "You must look like a real witch."
She cracked a smile, "Trust me, I wouldn't be sweating to death in this mask if I didn't have to," Kana chuckled. Truth be told, she couldn't wait to get home to her shower and bed; there was nothing she wanted more than to snuggle up next to Raido and sleep for a week. "Do you guys even have seasons?" she added as an afterthought.
"Captain, I have a copy of the file you requested."
Kana took the envelope marked with a red "CLASSIFIED" stamp and a paper seal from the Suna shinobi that had approached them, "Thank you, Chappu. I'll be sure this gets to Lady Hokage swiftly."
The bespectacled jonin bowed with a formal smile, "Have safe travels, miss."
"Whoa, wait, you're leaving?" Kankuro asked as the cryptanalysis team member left, "I was just about to ask you to lunch!"
Kana blinked stupidly at the teenager, who suddenly looked offended at the concept of her wanting to return home. "I… What?" was all she managed to get out after a long pause.
Kankuro furrowed his eyebrows at her response for a moment before his eyes widened, "No, not like – I wanted to make it up to you for Gaara losin' his cool during the exams," he insisted with a blush tinting his tanned skin, "Damn, Foxy."
"Foxy?" she snorted, "Really? As if I'd go to lunch with some loser kid that calls me 'Foxy.'" When Kankuro frowned, Kana smiled from behind her mask and patted his shoulder, "Maybe next time… Tiger."
"Oh, a joke about my war paint and my hood. Smooth. Really, that was a good one." Despite the sarcasm dripping from his voice, the teenager looked genuinely amused. "Next time, then. You go on back to your fluffy soil and soft leaves before you choke to death out here."
Taking the hand that was held out to her, Kana nodded, "Yeah, yeah, I'll do that while you go back to your finger painting."
Kankuro laughed as she walked away.
Blood. There was so much blood.
"Wh-what… Lady Hokage, I don't understand," Kana's voice was impossibly small as she somehow found the strength to speak, "Sasuke…."
Tsunade leaned her elbows on the desk she sat behind and threaded her fingers together with a grim expression, "I understand you just got back to the village, but you're one of the only medics I can spare. We have a team from the Village Hidden in the Sand already coming in to the recovery team's aid, and I need to make sure one of our own can get out to the field to attend to their injuries."
The room spun as the Hokage spoke.
Sasuke was gone.
He left.
Kana's fingers trembled as she applied enough healing chakra to Neji's wound, desperately trying to ignore the fact that she could see straight through his body.
"I'm sending you out with Shizune and two other Anbu members. Your orders are to stabilize any of those that may be critically injured and ensure they return to Konoha safely."
Exhaustion was replaced by cold fear ripping through her consciousness as more blood spurted over her gloved fingers faster than she could close off the vessels and stitch together what muscles she could.
Lee was missing, presumably engaging an S-ranked shinobi in battle.
Sasuke abandoned the village to join Orochimaru.
Neji was dying.
"You are not to engage any enemies," Tsunade continued, "I know you're not classified as a medical ninja but you have shown nearly as much proficiency as my own apprentice, who will be leading the squad. Kakashi Hatake will be meeting with the Sand nin. You will rendezvous with them."
"I can take him from here," Shizune said, holding her hands over Kana's, "Go on ahead with the others!"
For the first time in what felt like years, Kana couldn't bring herself to obey the orders she only barely heard; she continued to focus on repairing the damage done to his chest as if nothing had happened. It wasn't into Shizune barked into her ear something about how he needed to be taken back to the village that she finally acknowledged her.
"He's… Neji's my brother," she whispered, "I can't…"
"I understand but if he doesn't get the Healing Resuscitation Regeneration Technique ASAP then he's going to die! Now go!"
With one last tearful look, Kana stood onto legs that threatened to give out beneath her weight and began running with the last remaining medic. It felt as if her heart was being slowly crushed beneath a large boulder as she robotically scanned their surroundings – she didn't even register her own voice as she told the brown-haired woman to change their direction by forty degrees west.
Lee was missing.
Sasuke betrayed their home.
Neji was dying.
It was all she could think about even as her body moved on automatic. What could have possibly possessed Lady Tsunade into thinking it was a good idea to send a group of genin, led by a wet-behind-the-ears chunin, after the Sound's elite was something Kana simply couldn't comprehend. Her own feelings for Sasuke aside, would it not make more sense to send a team of jonin to prevent Orochimaru from obtaining the Sharingan? Or she could have insisted that Danzo spare a team of his own Root members.
They dropped to the forest floor about five minutes later where two shinobi were sitting at the base of a tree, one wrapping some sort of puppet and the other holding a small puppy.
"Hey sis," the genin wheezed, "Took ya long enough."
Kana noticed that both the kid and the medic had similar cheek markings before she looked at the Sand shinobi that had been kneeling by his side. Recognition flashed across his face just as he stood up and waved, "Hey, Foxy! Fancy seeing you here."
"Do you need me?" she asked the medic, turning from the Suna genin. Even with her back completely turned to him, Kana could see the look of disappointment on Kankuro's face at her blatant disregard of him.
The medic shook her head, "No, I got this," she said, "Go on ahead and help the others."
"I'll come with you. My sister and little brother are still out there," Kankuro said firmly, lifting his wrapped puppet up off of the ground and slinging it over his shoulders while he approached the jonin. There wasn't much point in arguing, so Kana wordlessly turned and jumped up to the tree branches.
Thankfully he didn't attempt to make any conversation as they traveled; the only thing she was capable of thinking of was how cold Neji's skin was beneath hers – how she shouldn't have left his side. It took more willpower than Kana thought she had to keep herself from turning back. As much as she wanted to take care of Neji, Lee was still out there.
'Lee…'
The weight on her chest threatened to flatten the last of her spirit as images of Lee being in Neji's position flickered in front of her eyes: Large, wide eyes lifeless and blood soaking his green jumpsuit reddish-brown. Kana subconsciously added more chakra to her feet to propel her body forward faster just as they broke through the last of the intact trees; everything around them now was just one half-tree after the other with the exception of one lone tree with two shinobi standing on one of its branches.
"Temari!"
The blonde girl with four pig tails put a hand on her hip and waved at her brother, greeting the two as they landed on the branch. Kana's eyes scanned Shikaku's son, who appeared to be uninjured.
"Do you require medical attention?" she asked flatly.
Shikaku's son – Shikamaru might have been his name – shrugged and held out the hand he had been cradling to reveal a finger twisted into an unnatural position, "Just a broken finger, thankfully. If Temari didn't show up when she did, I probably woulda been toast."
She cupped his hand with her own and began to channel healing chakra, ignoring his pained grunts and complaints as Kana straightened his index finger out so it resembled a more normal state. For a moment she considered just splinting it and taking off, but figured that it would take the same amount of time and effort to just heal the bone entirely and reduce the swelling.
"Hey…" Shikamaru muttered, "That blood on your hands and vest… Did the others…"
"The dog kid is fine, his sister is taking care of him. Akimichi and Neji…" Kana kept her voice as passive as possible, but knew that it wavered enough for the three to notice, "… It's bad. I'm sorry." She didn't need to look up at his face to know the effect her substandard report had on the boy. Shikamaru's hand twitched in her own as the cracks in his finger began to seal shut. "Did you happen across Rock Lee?"
Shikamaru shook his head, causing her heart to somehow find a way to sink even lower. When his finger was healed, Kana asked him for the direction that Naruto was last seen heading in and took off in a full sprint; she could see that Kankuro followed in her wake but made no attempt to slow herself for him. Instead, she flicked the finger with Raido's ring to reveal the razor-sharp claw that was hidden within the band and nicked the pad of her thumb before forming the hand seals for the summoning jutsu.
A pack of five ninneko appeared before her in a cloud of white smoke, looking up at her with varying expressions of expectancy and concern.
"Alright, I need you fan out," she commanded, "We're looking for Rock Lee, Sasuke Uchiha and two jinchuriki. They'll have weird chakra signatures so they'll stick out like a sore thumb, and you already know Lee's and Sasuke's scents. Go!"
The ninja cats took no time to flicker outwards in a large fan formation, moving just as fast as their owner as they began to approach the part of the woods that hadn't been completely devastated by the Nara kid's fight.
It only took about ten minutes of running at full sprint before Momoko appeared by her side. "Rock Lee has been found with the Sand's jinchuruki," she said hurriedly, "Weary and injured but both are alive. Follow!"
There was no relief at the ninneko's words – there wouldn't be until Kana saw them with her own two eyes. In fact, dread only continued to build as they ran and more images of an injured Lee flashed through her mind.
What if she found him just lying on the forest floor, covered in blood, or too broken to move…
'What if he injured his spine again?'
The thought made Kana sick to her stomach – having his dream stolen away from him, just after it was given back to him, would be a fate worse than death for Lee.
A bright, blue flame snapped her out of the horrors going on in her mind; it shone like a beautiful beacon next to the bizarre brownish-red signature that sat next to it. At the sound of a familiar voice calling her name, Kana would have opened up the first gate to race across the clearing if it meant getting to him faster.
"Kana!" Lee called again with a toothy grin.
Chunks of dirt and grass flew by her face as she pushed her mask to the side, skidding to a stop at the base of the tree he was sitting against. Kana cupped the boy's face and tilted it up so that she could touch their foreheads together.
Bandaged hands covered hers, "You have come back from your mission! You are home in time for my training, just as you promised!"
"Lee, oh sweet, baby Lee," she whispered, choking back a sob, "What were you thinking? Are you hurt? What on earth made you think you were ready for battle so soon after your surgery?"
Lee's wide eyes connected with hers guiltily, "I am sorry, I know I have worried you and Guy-sensei. Please understand, I could not simply stand by and let our comrades put their lives on the line-"
"Gaara!" Kankuro dropped next to his brother, cutting Lee off mid sentence, "Gaara, are you okay?"
"Lee, tell me, are you injured? Can you move?" Kana pulled back enough to look the teenager up and down while gently patting his body for any sore spots.
His smile faltered at the sound of her panicked tone, "Kana, I am alright," he squirmed uncomfortably when she prodded his back, "A little sore, but it does not hurt very much. Please, calm down, Gaara came to my aid before my opponent was able to overpower me."
The jonin tore her bloodshot eyes away from Lee to look at the named genin, "Is that true?"
This was the Suna shinobi that crushed half of Lee's body and made an attempt to murder him in the preliminary rounds. Obviously there was no other reason for the two to be lounging in the shade, and his siblings were a part of the rescue team, but the situation seemed so bizarre.
Gaara nodded slowly, "I will never be able to truly atone for my past sins, but we are allies," he answered, "We chose to rest before heading back due to my chakra depletion."
"Kakashi has the other jinchuriki," one of her ninneko swiftly dropped down from a tree branch to pad up next to Kana, "They are on their way back to the village now. He says there is no need to rendezvous."
"Whoa, a talking cat?"
She ignored Kankuro, focusing on Pumpkin's exact wording, "And Sasuke?" she asked, hearing her already small voice shrivel up. When her ninneko said there was no trace of him past Naruto's location, Kana had to force herself to deadpan against the violent, near-insurmountable tidal wave of grief that threatened to drown her. Any relief she felt from seeing Lee alive and well completely left her body and was replaced by nausea and the thick blanket of depression.
Kana stood from her kneeling position to, "Are you well enough to travel, Gaara?"
Alarm flashed over Lee's face, "Kana-"
"My mission was to ensure everyone made it back to the village safe," she said flatly, "If you're okay to travel, we should get going."
Gaara lifted himself into a standing position, Lee and Kankuro mirroring his movements, "Let us go, then."
"Kana, wait," Lee said, voice twinged with panic, "Does this mean that Naruto failed in-"
Kana looked over at him sharply, cutting him off, before pulling her porcelain mask back over her face. Considering the Suna genin had already seen her eyes and the tops of her cheeks, covering her face was more to save him the sight of the tears that sprang to her eyes.
Sasuke was gone.
Neji was dying.
Up, down.
The door to Neji's hospital room opened.
Up, down.
Genma rolled over in his bed.
Up, down
Lee sneezed.
Up, down.
"Staring at him won't make him recover any faster, you know."
Kana didn't respond, choosing to ignore Kakashi as he made his way over to where she sat next to the teenager's bed.
Up, down.
The sound of Neji breathing through the oxygen mask strapped to his face coincided with the gentle rise and fall of his chest, but did nothing to apprise anyone listening of the way his brow furrowed and twitched with every inhale. She wanted nothing but to cover his ribs with her hands and apply medical ninjutsu until it was better, until he no longer struggled to perform a simple action such as breathing, but any more healing chakra applied to his body could begin to work against him.
Instead, Kana sat by his side and watched him sleep through the pain.
Up, down.
Raido rubbed his face.
A warm half-gloved hand found its way to rest on her shoulder, and Kana flinched at the sudden contact. Despite having her Kurogan activated, and seeing Kakashi reach out to her, the sensation of someone touching her almost felt searing.
He pulled his hand back for less than a heartbeat, but placed it back on Kana's shoulder just as gently. "Kana, you need rest."
Up, down.
Kana didn't respond; she didn't want to sleep or do anything that would require her taking her eyes off of Neji's sleeping form. Genma, Raido, Lee and Neji were all on the same hospital floor, and Kana was watching every movement they made, ready to rush to any of them that may need her.
She wasn't going anywhere.
"If you want, I can get you dad," Kakashi whispered, "Come on, let's go to his apartment and get you cleaned up." To make his point, he slid his hand down to her waist and brought his other hand to Kana's elbow, which was still covered by the soiled cloak she had worn on her mission, who only shrugged him off.
Up, down.
The hand on her elbow moved down to her hand as the older man moved to a kneeling position; his thumb stroked her clothed knuckles while the hand on her back stayed motionless. Kakashi said nothing this time, only looking up at her with one agonizingly sad eye while her own sore ones remained on Neji.
Exhaustion was making itself known, and there was a small part of Kana that knew she wouldn't be able to keep this up for much longer – she hadn't slept for over a week, since she left the village for her mission with Kida, Kana had expended a huge amount of chakra with the other medics performing the resuscitation technique and her kekkei genkai was taking an enormous toll on her after nearly seventeen hours of use. Even her willpower had begun to wane upon hearing of how Raido and Genma had been critically injured when attempting to apprehend the Sound Ninja Four.
A small croak escaped her sore throat as Kana attempted to speak. She hadn't said a word since retrieving Lee from the forest, and it sounded like an explosion in her ears against the oppressive silence that weighed down on her.
Up, down.
"Kakashi…" she mumbled hoarsely, "I... I promised… I…" A tightening in her throat kept her from forming any words, reducing Kana to raspy vowels.
There was a knowing look in Kakashi's eye as he gently tugged her from the chair she had been firmly planted in for more hours than she cared to count, pulling her to her feet. Kana instinctively curled into the jonin's body and took in the familiar scent of cinnamon and musk that was only barely tainted by the smell of the hospital. God knew how she must have smelled, having been unable to shower for over a week and being covered in blood.
Up, down.
Flicking her finger for the second time that day, Kana sliced the pad of her thumb and formed the hand seals to summon Hanako, Pumpkin and Momoko, twisting her body to the side so she could place her hand on the hospital floor.
The bakeneko nuzzled into her palm, 'Sad girl.'
'Please watch Neji for me,' she thought feebly, 'Send Pumpkin to Lee, and Momoko to room 108 with Genma and Raido.'
'Go rest with Wolf, we will keep them safe for you,' Hanako purred. Kana watched the smaller ninneko trot out of the room while the large black cat nestled into the corner closest to Neji's bed.
Kakashi kept one hand on her elbow and held her firmly against his chest with the one on her waist as he stood and turned towards the door, "We'll go to Guy's for the night," he murmured, helping her stagger towards the door.
All Kana could manage was a pathetic cough.
The next couple of hours moved by in a haze – she dimly remembered the way Guy's breathing hitched when he opened the door to see Kana sagging against his oldest friend, hardly conscious and covered in blood. At some point she thought she could remember being handed a bowl of rice and salted fish, but Kana couldn't remember the actual action of eating it; the only reason she knew that she had accepted the offer was because her stomach no longer twisted as painfully.
Kakashi provided idle chatter as he helped Kana shower, who was too exhausted to do more than sit on the shower floor and let him run the soapy washcloth over her shoulders and back. While the majority of the blood was only on the Anbu uniform still crumpled on the bathroom tile next to the stall, there was sand and dirt that had been caked into her skin by sweat and the blood that had seeped through her uniform. It rolled down her skin in varying hues of red, grey and brown in the form of rivulets, swirling around the drain in the center of the shower floor in a murky whirlpool. Kana couldn't help but wonder how much of it was Neji's.
"Kashi…" she whispered, "I almost… I almost lost… Neji died… He died twice at the hospital when… When…" A choked sound escaped her lips, "And Genma and Raido… Shizune told me… They… Almost didn't make it… And… Sasuke… He…"
Hot water rolled down pale cheeks that were tinged pink by the steam, as if mocking her for being unable to cry. Kana couldn't keep her thoughts in order, and she was too tired – both mentally and physically – to manage much more than broken segments. Thankfully there was a look of understanding in Kakashi's face when she looked up at him, craving some sort of validation from her best friend.
One of his hands, the one he had been using to scrub away at the dirt and grime, rose to cup Kana's cheek, the rough fabric of the cloth rubbing at her dirty cheek. "I know," he said, his voice low and tight, "A lot has happened, I know it hurts."
Another tired cough came out with a raspy sob, and Kana closed her eyes.
Note: Aaaand this is when the story just gets sad and unhappy. Sit tight, folks!