Nishira groaned as consciousness brought her from the darkness, her head pounding relentlessly and a sizzling pain simmering in her belly. The pain in her head worsened as the first thing she heard was an impossibly loud roar, like the ocean was about to sweep her away. She opened her eyes with a grimace, expecting giants standing above her, their ethereal weapons clashing, thereby creating the deafening thunder and lightning before closing them again against the assault from the light. Nishira's eyes did fly open involuntarily when the shock of ice-cold water wrapped her up and swept her away. She struggled as water flooding her lungs with a rapturous frozen burning. The water ebbed away and Nishira was left on all fours coughing out the invading fluids. Her clothes and hair stuck to her in a cold wrapping, shaking some of the fog from her mind, leaving behind a sort of delirium.
Around her the water rose into powerful figures of dragons, their maws open to reveal jagged teeth. The trees shook in the wake of their fury. The water beasts charged each other with deadly action. Causing waves of the lake water to crash against the shore, drenching the others. Nishira watched in dazed horror, wondering what sort of plane she'd landed on. As the beasts exploded into drizzling rain, in the center of it Zabuza and Kakashi stood atop the water surface, struggling for dominance, sword to kunai knife, before pushing off of each other and running in mirroring patterns. Kakashi perfectly mimicked his foe., leaving Zabuza, unnerved at the skill of Kakashi's all-seeing eye.
He sees, all of my moves… my gestures…
"…Through them all." Kakashi spoke with deadly certainty.
What? He's reading my mind? Curse him! He's…
"Got that sickening evil look in his eye… right?"
"You're a pale imitation." Zabuza's brows furrowed, trying to conquer the tightness around his throat.
"I'm the genuine article. No mere copycat stands a chance against me."
the last phrase said simultaneously, stoked a deep rage in Zabuza.
"YOU MIMIC ME LIKE A PARROT! I'LL CLOSE YOUR BEAK FOR GOOD!"
He held his hands to sign. Only to falter when he looked at his lethal opponent and saw an ethereal copy of himself lingering over his shoulder. Before he could ponder on the implications, Kakashi finished the signing and called out.
WATER STYLE! GIANT WATERFALL!
The sharingan eye spun and pulsated, all knowing, all seeing.
The massive waterfall crashed down on Zabuza, the aftershocks splashing the spectators. Zabuza was swept up and driven across the clearing, being pinned against a tree. He looked up to see four kunai knives flying towards him, but unable to doge them, they hit their respective targets. He looked up at Kakashi, still dripping from his waterlogged clothes and hair, on the branch above him, a kunai in his hand framing a deadly glare of the sharingan, the last thing his opponent would ever see.
"What- can you see the future?" Zabuza gasped, winded from the force he'd been slammed into the tree.
"I foresee your death."
Before Kakashi could land the killing blow, a short burst of wind interrupted. Several metal needles imbedded themselves in the skin around Zabuza's neck. With a flick of blood coming from the wounds, Zabuza fell to the wet ground with a ragged thump. Above them the intruding shinobi stood with an oval ceramic mask covering his face. His body was young, wrapped in traditional clothing, he would have been around the same age as the younger team members.
"Your prediction came true."
Naruto dragged his weary body out of the water, after almost becoming a drowning casualty. He stared at the newcomer. Nishira sat resting against a tree, facing away from the group. Kakashi leapt from his perch to check the body of Zabuza, checking for a pulse. Feeling none, he turned to the stranger.
"Thank you for your help." The masked boy bowed to them from his perch above them. "I hope you don't mind my interfering, but I wanted the satisfaction of putting Zabuza out of his misery myself!"
"The mask is familiar. Correct me if I'm wrong but aren't you a shinobi hunter from the village hidden in the mist?"
The stranger bowed in acknowledgement.
"Well, aren't you the smart one. I am indeed a member of the elite tracking unit from the village hidden in the mist. It is our responsibility- and our art – to hunt down and deal with the rogues and the outlaws."
Kakashi looked at the child in awe that the boy had already achieved the rank of shinobi hunter. Naruto growled, looking from Kakashi and the masked boy.
"What's going on here?! Who are you?!"
"Relax, Naruto, he is not an enemy."
"That's not what I asked! I mean- what I mean is he killed Zabuza who wasn't exactly a pushover but still got taken out by someone who's only about my age like it was nothing?! What, do we suck or something? What's up with that?!"
"Oh, well you have my sympathy. I can see where a thing like that would be hard to accept, but it's a fact you'll have to live with." Kakashi patted Naruto's head affectionately. "This probably won't be the last time we run into a kid who's both younger than you, and stronger than me."
Naruto frowned. The stranger whirled out of sight and landed next to the corpse. He gave them one last bow of his head as he hoisted Zabuza's arm over his slender shoulders.
"Your battle is over for now and the remains must be disposed of lest they give up secrets to our foes. Well, then I must be off."
With that, he disappeared in a flurry of wind out of sight. Kakashi pulled his headband back over his sharingan eye and emitted a weary sigh.
"Now! We still have to escort Mr. Tazuna the rest of the way home. But first we will rest."
Tazuna let out a full belly laugh.
"You poor kids. You must be so humiliated! But never mind. You can lick your wounds at my house."
Kakashi took one step before falling face first into the ground. His body rigid, refusing to move at his command, the strength fleeing from his command. Exhaustion rolling like a wave through him, leaving him helpless to its demands. His students were startled.
I must have used the sharingan eye too much. He thought dumbly.
Nishira looked at her three comrades standing around in a flutter and quickly took to instructing them. She wasn't their teacher, but it seemed they would have just stood there otherwise. She instructed Naruto and Sasuke to gently rest their sensei against a tree, and she asked Sakura to grab her bag while she slumped against a nearby tree to properly check the wound on her belly.
"Kakashi sensei, are you wounded?"
"No, mostly superficial cuts, I'm fine."
Nishira nodded, pressing her lips together for what she needed to do next.
"Sakura, there's a red pouch in my bag and a compact mirror, can you grab it for me?" she looked at the two boys. "Sasuke, Naruto, please make sure Mr. Tazuna is well and after that, you three rest."
She nodded at them, before pulling off her jacket, the lining sticking to her sweat caked skin, hissing at the bite of pain, and looked her bare midriff, now covered and stained with crimson smears of blood, some of it still seeping from the clean cut wound. Kakashi couldn't help his gaze lingering over her taut skin. Her ribs still showed some signs of emaciation, they protruded and moved as she breathed. He knew it would take years to erase their presence, but the sight still shocked him to see. The wraps around her elbows remained clean and white but was temporarily darkened by the water, Nishira made no move to remove them. There was the hint of a tattoo on her back. Swirls of black ink were barely visible as she leaned forward to grab something. From the red bag Nishira pulled out some gauze and wiped some of the fresh blood away. She propped the compact on her leg so she could see the wound, but the trembling in her leg from the strain pushed the mirror out of place. Nishira let out a frustrated grunt, but her finger explored the wounds, feeling the strength of the abdominal wall, but there was a small slit in it. She breathed a sigh of relief, but she would still need sutures, but it wasn't life threatening. She huffed against the tree, groaning.
"Nishira, look at me."
Nishira obeyed his stern command almost instinctually, Kakashi's gaze meeting with hers taking in her usually bright stare dulled with pain, half lidded eyes that flicked back and forth as they looked to him.
"You'll need to heal yourself. I'm out of chakra."
"Yes, I know." She looked away and rested her head on the tree trunk.
"No, we haven't worked on this jutsu, but you're going to now."
"Now? Are you crazy?"
"I'm still your teacher, Nishira."
He could feel the doubt swelling in that clouded face, but he waited patiently until she agreed to try with a weak shake of her head.
"Use your chakra in your hand and try to heal the wound. Bend and shape it like a bandage."
She heard Nishira hold her breath as she struggled to summon chakra to her hand and press it to the wound. Her breath came out in a stuttering release, but the glow of chakra in her hands faltered and went out.
"Try again."
"Sensei, I don't think I can."
"Nishira, you can. You must."
They were too far to turn back, the only option, she knew, was to continue, which meant one thing.
"Fuck!" she said it under her breath, as sweat began to bead at her forehead. The glow in her hands was even weaker this time.
"Kakashi sensei, I don't know how to heal. Can't one of them do this?" She looked at the members of team seven.
"They don't yet have the control of their chakra needed to do this. But I know you do. Trust me."
She tried once more but this time no chakra energy glowed.
"I can't. I just, I can't."
"So, what's the alternative then?" He spoke calmly and with a gentleness needed for the situation. "If you don't do this, we're stuck."
"No."
Kakashi looked at his wayward student, saw her let out a pained and resigned sigh before rummaging in the bag. His breath started when the sunlight glinted off a thick curved needle. Nishira also pulled out a spool of stiff black thread. She rummaged some more before calling out to Sakura.
"Can you look for my flask? Not the water one, the slim metal one."
Sakura obediently looked in her bag and pulled out a metal flask that gleamed in the daylight. Nishira looked at Sakura before taking it from her.
"Sasuke, why don't you take Mr. Tazuna for a walk a little away from here, not too far, keep in sight. Sakura…" she looked down, cheeks burning. "I-I need your help."
"Huh? What can I do?" Sakura knelt beside Nishira, curiosity plain on her face as she looked at the bloody woman before her.
"I need you to hold the mirror, I can't see what I'm doing."
Sakura picked up the compact mirror. Inspected it, a silly little cartoon cat face on the outside grinned at her. Sakura resisted a smile and worked with Nishira to position the compact just right. Sakura looked at the wound as Nishira wiped away some more blood, the red slickness of the blood just kept coming, and inside, Sakura saw the sliced edges of flesh that was torn from the sword, a neat cut due to the incredible sharpness of the opponent's sword. It was an injury protecting them. Kakashi just watched wordlessly.
Naruto approached them presenting something in his hand. The delicate gold chain dangling from his closed fist told her it was the necklace she'd lost. The starched bird skull looked tiny is his hand, the worn surface glittered with water droplets.
"I found this over there." He pointed over his shoulder. "It looks like its broken."
True to his word, some of the delicate wiring had come loose and the loop that connected the skull to the necklace bent in a way that fixing would take a specialist. Nishira's brows arched in a pained expression from the heart instead of her wound, but she took both pieces with gratitude into her bloody hands, slipping the necklace into her discarded jacket pocket.
Looking up with a wistful smile she asked if he'd follow up with Sasuke. Naruto lingered, close enough to see what was happening but also seeing Sasuke awkwardly chat with the client. Nishira unscrewed the cap of the flask and took a couple large gulps of the liquid, burning as it slid neatly down her throat. Kakashi bit back the urge of scolding his student, they were, after all, on a mission, but when she poured the rest of the flask onto the wound and made a restrained cry of pain, he understood.
In the silence, Nishira used her mouth to undo a leather band that was around her wrist and wedged it in her teeth. She threaded the needle and took what looked like hooked nose tweezers, the barest color of rust shone on the handle. Instructing Sakura to hold the mirror with nods of her head, she dipped the needle into the edge of the wound. On the first stitch she cried out, chomping down on the material in her mouth. Sakura winced at the sound, her fingers shook, threatening to drop the mirror, but When Nishira gave a frustrated growl, she righted the compact as per her instructions. Nishira continued, the sounds became just grunts and groans, still muffled by the leather in her mouth. Each stitch was done in an achingly slow pace, each accompanied by a pained grunt. Nishira stopped only a couple of times, her head wobbled threateningly, her breathing laboured and eyes fluttering, hand shaking as they held the instruments. Kakashi almost called out for Sakura to catch her, but Nishira came to and continued on.
Once she was done, she released the bracelet from her mouth by simply opening her mouth from exhaustion, pocked with dozens of teeth marks from each bite. Nishira put away her bloodied tools and then wrapped gauze and long lengths of bandages around her middle. Sakura watched intently, eagerness to help making her hands tremble.
"How do you know how to do that?"
Nishira closed her eyes a couple times, the world spinning threatening. "A guy stabbed me for my shoes." Her voice came out thready. "No self-respecting doctor treats homeless people for free. So, I stole the supplies and did it myself. Medical shinobi aren't common outside the villages." She gave a weak smile to Sakura. "You do what you have to do to survive."
Sakura's face slid into a pensive look. Nishira closed her eyes and rested her head on the tree trunk, unaware of the older shinobi's curiosity, his gaze lingering on the exposed curve of her neck that bobbed slightly from exertion and tension as her breathing slowed.
True to her word, a short rest later, Nishira slowly rose to her feet with a groan, ordered the others to pack up, with extra bags for Naruto and Sasuke. But before that, she had them help lift Kakashi, and she stooped down to have them place him on her back.
"I don't know if this is a good idea."
"Relax, sensei! We're not much farther, right?" Nishira looked to Tazuna.
"Maybe another half-hour, hour?"
Nishira let out a sigh, and they started off, at a much slower place. Nishira was reminded at how much her sensei towered her as Kakashi's long limbs draped over her shoulders, and when she took a deep breath in, all she could smell was his scent, a musky deep woodsy smell with a hint of pine from the area, mixed with dried sweat. It was, to her, incredibly intoxicating. She tried not to think about his muscular body pressed on her back and was glad that he wouldn't see her burning cheeks.
The next while, there was nothing but a weary silence. Kakashi spoke to Nishira, softly in her ear.
"It occurred to me that we've never spoken about where you were before Konoha. Where did you grow up?"
"Just some shithole in the Land of Birds. A place full of gambling, whores, and gangs."
The tone had been cutting. Nishira immediately regretted it, but there was nothing but truth the words themselves. She grunted in discomfort and Kakashi didn't press the subject.
Somewhere along the way, Nishira realized that some of her stitches had torn, she let out a ragged groan, but when pressed by the others, only told them to keep moving. The hot slickness of the blood trickled down the front of her like molten lava, but her jacket and dark pants lent camouflage and hid it from the others. Nishira told herself that she only had to keep moving, one step at a time, one breath at a time. She focused on Naruto who repetitively told the story of how it was his idea that saved Kakashi sensei from the water prison.
"I'm brilliant! It was a stroke of genius to change into that super shuriken for Sasuke to throw. That idiot Zabuza had no idea what was coming!"
After the fifth retelling by the excited shinobi, everyone had had enough but Sakura threw her fist into the back of his head.
"Naruto! Quit bragging! We were all there, you idiot" Nishira was just thankful for the noise.
Soon the outskirts of the village came into view, and Nishira prayed a silent thank you. It seemed like they'd never get there, every step seemingly like an eternity expanding beyond the realm of time. Slowly they walked up to a wooden hut on a dock, the waves lapping at the posts that held the structures above. Mr. Tazuna pulled the sliding door open and called out to his family. His daughter, only a little older than Nishira, around the same age as their sensei, came forward to greet them, her hair a thick curtain of beautiful black hair. Nishira looked at her and smiled weakly, feeling her strength vanishing, her hands slipping off of Kakashi's heavy legs.
"Please help me, take him… I…I" and she collapsed onto the hard floor in an undignified thud.
