Title; Fading

Disclaimer; Nope I don't own any of the Naruto characters.

FallenRaindrops- Ah I admit I'm keeping her a little under thumb at the moment but it's really more to do with the situations she's got a knack for getting caught up in, she did help Kakashi out of a tight spot so give the poor thing some props ;) I do plan on giving her some power boosts but I want to make sure they're well earned. As for Sasuke, yeah the way I intended it was very much rabid dog right up until the blood and dead body, I figure that's more than enough to shell shock the guy.

Maxium- I wrote it with the intention that the girl was his daughter, the man's state would only give away his abilities to someone with the right knowledge, I don't think it's too hard to imagine the man managing to sneak out at night and attack his victims without the girls knowledge and it seems fair that if her father suddenly fell into a catatonic state and a monster appears she'd assume he was attacked by it not the one summoning it. Obviously some of it also has to be chalked up to the girl assuming her father's innocence even if he's being damn creepy. Though if it seems like I'm reaching with that explaination let's just say it was a spell designed to offer a human shield Sasuke or Kakashi wouldn't cut their way through; I left it open to allow for fun interpretations so I'd love to hear yours if you're willing to share.

Chapter - 12

Devils are completely resistant to mortal man's regular weaponry, iron wood and stone don't pose any threat to a being from a foreign realm, it takes magick's to destroy such a creature- or it's physical manifestation in this world anyway- weapons with a God's blessing or touch.

Daemons too possess some of this phenomenon though not as perfected, regular weaponry wears far quicker than natural leading to most Raiders having an invested attachment to bulkier weaponry, naturally acquiring an enchanted weapon isn't a viable option to the expendable warriors.

The Saints are all armed with enchanted blades as a rule, similarly Guards of a high enough tier to be trusted with protecting nobles are equiped to handle Devils.

Against creatures of water and fire iron tends to become twisted and warp bending in on itself, monsters of shadow, wind and storms often cause weapons to shatter and explode, earth and decay cause steel to crumple away; the reaction is however never exactly the same even for identical Devils, the only certainly is that a natural weapon will do nothing more than fail and aggravate the Devil.

The Shadow lunged forward knife raised and suddenly in that moment there was a faint crackle and the odd energy I'd felt in the courtyard returned warming my stomach...and then I was free- the ice shattering around me as the Shadow lurched and stumbled against some unknown force.

"The hand!" I heard the shout from behind us somewhere and reacted, I saw my target- the still outstretched hand of the assassin monarch- and forced my numb body forward in attack; the half blunt blade dug into the hand half severing it before with a shout- or they might have shouted, I wasn't sure- I retched the blade free and finished the messy task with another strike.

The Shadow had fallen to its knees pressing it's new stump against its stomach, impotent insults spilled forth as the Shadow glared furiously first at me and then at the approaching Kakashi- the silver haired warrior looked more than a little worse for wear, blood leaked from his shoulder wounds and his left arm hung loosely in its socket, two more nasty wounds decorated his torso near his left hip and his right ribs.

"Get him out of here." Ordered the Guard Captain lofting his blade up onto his right shoulder with a grunt, I didn't like the idea, even devoid of a Gift this was still a God possessed man and Kakashi seemed to have precious little reserves in stock.

I moved closer to Sasuke on my shaky legs- I was thankful that my body was still near completely numb, I was unable to feel the ghastly wounds that had been cut into me- I stumbled a little and crashed against the Uchiha wrapping an arm clumsily around him to keep from falling over; his scarlet eyes stared at me for a moment as he blinked slowly coming out of his stupor and I felt one of his arms wrap around me in turn as he shook his head in confusion.

"Disengage yourself Cistus, I wish to speak with your host." Ordered Kakashi in an impressive display of bravado.

"The worm believes itself the wolf?" snarled the Shadow with a disjointed vicious grin.

"Guard Captain of the Holy Citadel Naru, a place you are not welcome." Announced the warrior, the silent 'so get out' spoken through his threatening body language.

"And just what does the worm-wolf wish to ask the Shell?" probed Cistus in a not quite convincing dawdle, the God had that same look though, the one it had when it had attempted to recruit Sasuke and I; Kakashi had caught Cistus' attention.

"The shell is Namu Hiroki, former assassin for Naru, he retired after the loss of his arm to settle down with his wife and two daughters on his savings. As it was one of the few pleasant stories out of the corps I'd like to know…how it became this monstrosity." Answered the Hatake taking a long glance at the dead girl's body as he spoke, Sasuke I noticed was pointedly avoiding looking at the body, he'd regained something of his composer but his pallor was still much too pale for my liking.

"The Shell became violent, trashed the bitch and pups, took it too far…thought to make a deal with Miasma to change the past, found Shadows instead." Answered the God possessed body with a serene smile.

"You're lying." Kakashi shot back without so much as a blink.

"True." Agreed the Shadow breaking into crackles of manic laughter.

"Sasuke, Gin, thank you for your assistance today but I'll ask you to leave the rest to me." Neither of us moved, I didn't think we had been of much use whatsoever, all I'd done was brake my sword on a Devil and sever a man's hand- which would have been impossible without Kakashi's intervention, assistance and instruction- Sasuke had been too shaken by the sight of blood in his family home to do much of anything; in retrospect this whole plan seemed crafted for trapping Sasuke and shaking his guard.

"Stay if you must then. Namu, whatever grief has lead you here and whatever further pain this day has brought, leave it behind you when you leave this world; leave it to me and I'll carry it." There was only a snarl and a curse from the possessed man before Kakashi's blade sank through his flesh, shadows spilled from the wound and I felt a chill attack my soul as the God left this plain and a man's life parted from his body.

Sasuke had released his grip on my shoulders earlier but I still held tight to him and realised with a blush how that might look to the Guard Captain.

I didn't have to worry about Kakashi making any tangled conclusions, the silver haired warrior had yet to look up from where his weapon pierced through Hiroki's back, his expression was blank but not unreadable, it was the mask of a man trying desperately to repress some ugly emotion.

Our Raiding squad went out into the field three days later but we were left behind on the request of Kakashi, it seemed reasonable enough as I was designated to stay in bed until my legs healed, the damage done to my nerves had required magical healing but as a lowly Raider all I earned was the bare minimum to keep me from being crippled- the slashes themselves were left to heal naturally once the bare minimum was done; similarly my hands had required magical healing to remove the iron shards of my former sword from my hands and forearms but the entry wounds themselves had been left to heal naturally.

This was how I found myself lying in my bed enjoying having Sasuke act as awkward nurse, he'd brought me my lunch of a warm bowl of some reddish sweet spelling soup and a relatively fresh piece of bread and set about changing my leg bandages; it made me more than a little thankful for Sasuke's focus on his task as it kept him from noticing the furious blush lighting up my features.

"Too tight?" Sasuke asked slight concern in his voice as he pulled a bandage a little too taunt drawing a grimace and a sharp hiss from me in response.

"A little." I answered blushing deeper when his fingertips brushed against my bare skin as he pulled loose the bandage, I tried to ignore how different my legs appeared when compared to the likes of Sakura; smooth skin versus jagged scars and scrapped knees, soft curves to toned hard muscle.

"Sorry." He whispered back finishing on the right leg and moving onto my stronger leg, it had taken heavier damage since I tended to keep most of my weight on the limb, I hissed at the contact and he apologised again softly.

"And I thought it was always you who got beat up." I quipped lightly, well I should amend that it was usually him who got the most beat up.

"Guess your luck's turned sour." He returned, it was about as close as Sasuke came to cracking a joke and I appreciated the attempt.

There was a couple of moments of silence between us as Sasuke worked carefully and I stirred my soup dejectedly trying to find my appetite.

"What's your ambition Gin? You've got a dream right?" Asked Sasuke suddenly stopping in his task to raise his gaze to meet mine, something had me drawn in by the look suddenly in his fiery stare.

"What if I don't have one? Most Raiders don't, past living another day." I returned in a voice just above a whisper, which was rather unnecessary, we were on our own here.

"You do. I've been thinking, why I like you when nobody else ever…it's because you and I are alike, we've got a reason to live more than drinking and fighting." He responded going back to his work just as gently as before, he was right, but there was more to it; on my side at least.

I felt my hand ghost towards his and had to force the urge down, he might be able to see into my soul at a glance but he still couldn't see through the physical disguise I wore, if I acted on what I felt he'd be repulsed…maybe he would be even if he knew the truth.

"There's someone I need to find, someone I owe a dept." I answered too easily for my own liking, not long ago I wouldn't have told anyone that, how much could this man get out of me if he wanted.

"There's someone I need to find too, in a manner of speaking I also owe him a dept. One I'll repay in full." The deathly promise in his voice set off a fear I was starting to relate intimately with Sasuke and his inner demons.

"He's like you isn't he?" I asked, the Uchiha's eyebrows tightened almost in a pained grimace and I immediately regretted my question.

"No, he's got the same eyes as I do but…we're nothing alike." He answered me tensely finishing the bandaging a little tightly but I didn't comment on it.

"Sorry, I just…I only meant he's a Wraith too." I amended gently, some of the harshness vanished from his eyes and after another couple of tense moments the rest of it disappeared too.

"Who is it you're searching for?" he asked tidying away the ointment and used bandages, I pulled my ragged blanket over the sorry sight that was my legs as I considered just how to answer his question.

"My sister, she disappeared a few years ago, when she was working for the Nara family." I answered honestly, I trusted Sasuke more than I liked to admit and maybe I was a little shaken up; before I'd been a Raider death had seemed like an abstract concept, something that crept up slowly on you if you were too stupid or weak to survive in the lower dredges of humanity; after becoming a Raider death became so much more, it was something that could claim you on a whim outside these walls with little to no effort, maybe you could survive with strength but as I am now I knew it's got a lot more to do with luck; after this encounter with in Naru's own walls I don't think I'll ever feel truly safe again.

"We both came close to leaving our depts unpaid huh." I found myself adding unconsciously, more it was the feeling that I'd fucked up, I should know a lot more about how magic worked by now, that a Mystic can lay down defensive spells like that ahead of time; had I not had this experience I wouldn't have known that the upper levels of the castle were protected by similar defences, and that left me with a slimy feeling- knowing that in a way I owed the Shadow for the lesson.

"That reminds me, Kakashi gave me something for you." Grunted the Uchiha before after a quick trip to his own bed he returned with a loose bundle in his arms.

"That Hatake's pretty damn sly, you could have requested a replacement weapon since it was destroyed on official business but you would have only been given a Raiders weapon; since you were technically on a Guard corps mission Kakashi put in the request on your behalf for a replacement for someone in the Captains private Guard." Sasuke explained pulling the cloth off the weapon.

"It's not an enchanted weapon but it was made in the Guards forge, the water for the quenching process and the forges fire are both blessed. This sword won't shatter against Shadow or any other Gods minions, it will cut." Continued Sasuke passing the blade to me, holding it I could barely believe such a thing was mine.

From only a glance at the sheathe and the hilt I could tell it was a whole other class of weapon than those I'd used until now, the sapphire blue sheathe was embroidered with images of golden birds with long tails in flight, the hilt was perfectly smooth and the steal possessed a stunning silver sheen to it; as I drew the straight blade I saw that the polished effect ran the entire span of the blade.

It seemed a little shorter than my old weapon but far lighter too, light enough that- albeit rather clumsily- I could swing it with just my left arm; which was good given the second item in the bundle.

"Given its weight I thought you could use this." Sasuke mentioned passing me the small buckler, it didn't have the same regal appearance but- and maybe just as it was the first gift I could ever remember receiving- it seemed just as beautiful to me, the shield was perhaps eighteen inches in diameter with one side filed to a sharp edge to be used offensively; twin straps flanked the handle I assumed to allow me to strap the buckler to my forearm and be free to use my main weapon dual handed.

"Wow, now I just gotta get back on my feet." I half muttered with a laugh sending Sasuke what I hoped was a ballsy grin and not the grimace I suspected it was, as touching as these gifts were I was beginning to develop an aversion to swinging a sword…well maybe not precisely that, I felt both drawn and repulsed by the idea of fighting again.; I found myself nervously twisting my blanket in my numb bandaged hands, it prevented me from acting on the urge to reach out for his hand again.

"I like you too, it's weird but you make me afraid to die, to achieve my ambition, just because I want to see what happens with us; to keep living like we are here." I glanced back up expecting to see a confused Sasuke but instead I was met with nothing but an empty space by the foot of my bed.

"Oh." When had that happened?

A week and a half later I was back on my feet, I still had to keep most of my weight on my less injured right leg but I was well enough to hobble down to Sakura's bar for a class with Sasuke.

I was having a damn tough time learning to draw the symbols Sasuke showed me, I recognised several of them from my sisters earlier lessons but I was having more than a little trouble copying them; compared to Sasuke's elegant scripting my own hand looked ridiculous- and illegible for at least the first hundred couple of times.

"So is this how you learned too?" I asked on one of my allowed breaks, the writing was cramping my hand up and I was needing more and more breaks as the lesson went on, I wondered if Sasuke had been taught in the same sadistic manner of constant drilling.

"Pretty much, Kakashi used to take us to places like this for our lessons, we'd continue until he was too far gone to teach us properly." I raised an eyebrow but didn't comment, was there any element of the man's past that was just normal; he'd probably had normal lessons as a child but I guess the memories of learning in a dingy bar with Kakashi were less painful than those of his happier early days.

"Us?" I asked massaging my hand and trying not to look too curious.

"He taught a few of us, an old noble friend of mine Naruto and Sakura when the mood took her." Sasuke answered leaning back in his seat and taking a sip from his glass of water, I was happy to see he hadn't decided to follow in his own teachers exact method, Sakura hadn't mentioned she'd had first-hand experience with Kakashi the Drunken Lout.

"Who's Naruto?" I asked hopping to stall my break for another couple of minutes by getting the Uchiha talking- not an easy task but worth a try.

"An old friend, he's in the Guard corps. He's stationed on the farmlands to the East, I hear he's making quite the name for himself in the current Reylass conflict." Answered the stoic man sliding a fresh sheet of paper and more charcoal toward me, on the top were a list of my new practice words.

I'd only heard whispers about Reylass myself, mostly about their soldiers due to my conversations being with other Raiders; they were rumoured to prefer much heavier equipment than Naru troops, thicker armour- some fashioned from the bones of slain Daemons- and heavy weaponry typically war hammers and large double headed axes with the occasional bastard sword or halberd dotting a battle field; a direct contrast to Naru where a shield and sword coupled with lighter armour were the standard, though Naru soldiers tended to vary a lot more with heavier weapons and armour appearing regularly enough especially in the lower corps where standards weren't strict.

Despite what most Raiders told me I knew that the current situation with Reylass was somewhat dire, the rains had been lighter out on Naru's barracks too; since Naru relied on lighter faster infantry they also depended on the rains to make the battle grounds softer- a heavy infantry has a tough time on wet terrain- with the still solid terrain Naru's troops were forced to switch their tactics from the traditional hit and run to more experimental untested ones.

That Sasuke's friend was making a name for himself could be a good thing or a really bad thing; I didn't ask for clarification.

"Do you want to practice with your new weapon later?" asked the Uchiha as he slid another sheet of parchment towards me, I nodded my reluctant agreement to the idea, I was still more than a little torn up but I needed the practice; I now had a sword capable of cutting a Devil, I just needed the skills to match.

There was a soft clank as Sakura set another pair of drinks down at our table and with a big grin pointed to my sheet of parchment and added her own critic, I tried not to pout as I corrected my technique.

I sipped the drink unsure exactly what it was, the sweet thick liquid settled heavily in my stomach and gave me a pleasant tingle; Sasuke didn't seem to appreciate the taste as much as I did though, the grimace on his face drew a laugh out of both myself and the still lingering Sakura- who I noticed still wore her new but plain bangle and somewhat gaudy necklace as if they were caste from solid gold.

The pink haired woman returned to her place at the bar and I was happy to notice she did so with quite the cheerful bounce in her step.

It hadn't even been two weeks since the latest horror show I'd witnessed upon joining the Raiders but here with these two strange- severely damaged- people it already felt like a lifetime ago, these things always did when I was here.

"Your sister, is she younger or older?" asked Sasuke suddenly, I felt my heart skip a beat.

That's it for chapter 12, hope you all are still enjoying my little tale, as ever any questions are readily accepted and will be answered as well as possible.

If you'd like to pm me with your vote on that last question of Sasuke's please do; is 'Gin' the younger or older sibling?

R&R