Kakashi's POV
There's a man charging straight to the enemies that just disembarked from a boat, he's fighting off the newly arrived group of shinobi, while I noticed a figure with long silver hair at the other side of the shore who's trying to run away from the place.
I was certain it's Sumire because I was able to recognize her unique chakra signature upon extending my sensing ability in the area, and I finally felt her familiar essence; the cool, calm and refreshing chakra that I've always longed to find in the past years.
She seemed startled by my action since she suddenly stopped running and scanned her eyes around the area before her gaze settled on me. Maybe she also recognized my chakra, because I fucking know hers by heart.
My necklace hung on my neck, its light blue shade now noticeably more luminous than its usual glow, so this made me more certain that the girl I love was really here and finally within my reach. I took the pendant out and directed a series of pulses toward her while I observed her reaction from a distance. She looked very undecided whether to continue running away from the commotion or head in my direction. After a while, I detected the rhythmic chakra pulses emanating from my pendant while her hands were touching her necklace and her gaze still fixated onto me.
Several of the shinobi were now closing in on her so I did my best to protect her.
My eyes were locked on her face even as I rushed to stop the people chasing her, determined to intercept and subdue her assailants before they could reach her. Sumire's beautiful face was vividly visible to me even in the dimness of the night, all thanks to the softly illuminating moonlight and the increased vision perception of the Sharingan on my left eye, so I could easily see her even from afar.
I had a short sword in my hand, trying to kill off as many of her pursuers as I could. It looked like a freaking war zone at the shore, but there were only three of us fighting against the many shinobi who were sent for Sumire.
Those people hunting her down definitely came prepared, they probably knew that many others would also be targeting Sumire judging by the numbers they sent just to capture one girl.
Amidst all the commotion happening, I still managed to reach her. I gently lifted the porcelain mask that concealed my features, revealing the upper half of my face, then enveloped her trembling figure in a heartfelt embrace. I whispered in her ear while I held her in my arms, "I missed you so much, Sumire." I wanted to say more of what I feel, but the overflowing emotions were too much for me to express out loud, so I settled for the silence that persisted between us as I held her close to me.
Her response came not in words, but in the warm embrace that she gave me in return. I felt her arms wrapping tightly around me, her silence spoke volumes that conveyed the depth of emotion that I know she feels at the moment. Her reassuring hug was all the response I needed, the affectionate gesture expressed more of what she feels than words ever could.
As people often say, "actions speak louder than words", and this popular expression describes our heartfelt reunion perfectly.
I cannot stop myself from feeling very emotional with what's happening at the moment. Finding her and holding her in my arms again were all I could dream about in the past years, but with her life being in danger at the moment, her safety is more important over my own desires and happiness.
Unwillingly, I forced myself away from her embrace and urged her to escape, "Go! I will hold them off and find you after this!" Tears were flowing from my eyes as I pushed her away gently, trying to make her move from her spot, but she was firmly holding my arm and very reluctant to leave my side. My purple-eyed girl was unable to hold her tears as well, so I hastily wiped away the liquid from her cheeks. "Please go now, we don't know how many more will come for you here. Run as far as you can and do not trust anyone easily, not even people from Konoha."
As I stood next to her, I felt two presence quickly approaching us. I turned around and saw a sword directly headed towards Sumire. I felt the surge of adrenaline coursing through my veins as the chaos unfolded in front of my eyes, with my heart pounding wildly in my chest, every instinct in my body screamed at me to protect the beautiful silver-haired girl whom I love.
I wasn't able to counter it, but I positioned my body to shield her from the attack, enabling the opponent's blade to pierce through the side of my abdomen. However, I was able to stab the other guy directly on his chest as I moved, making his heart stop as soon as my blade went through him.
Throughout the encounter, I had been accumulating lightning chakra in my other hand, and was able to swiftly deliver a Chidori strike to the attacker just before he could retract the blade that was piercing through me to initiate another attack towards me or to the girl by my side. I saw the light leave his eyes as the sound of a thousand chirping birds echoed throughout the shore, he dropped cold to the ground afterwards.
I would do whatever it takes to ensure Sumirel would make it through this chaos unscathed.
Her gaze met mine and I saw a mixture of emotions on her face as she finally realized the depth of the bond that we share. I'm willing to take every lethal blow for her if it means that I could keep her safe and unharmed. A silent understanding passed between us, and words were not necessary to convey the intense emotion that we feel for each other.
Sumire looked at me with horror as she glanced at the blade that was protruding from my abdomen. She looked very flustered as I removed the sword, with my hands and body covered with blood, and I yelped from both pain and relief as I felt the cold metal finally being extracted from me. She placed her trembling hands on the sides of my head and planted a soft kiss on my forehead, tears were continuously flowing from her beautiful lilac eyes as she examined my severe injury. The silver-haired girl began unsealing a medical kit and directed me to sit down so she could begin administering first aid to my injury. She cleaned up my wound, disinfected it with a liquid solution, and then bandaged it as best as she could afterwards.
I sensed another negative presence coming from behind me, but a blue-skinned salamander I did not notice before suddenly jumped and attacked the shinobi approaching with a poison mist. The man gasped as he inhaled the deadly vapor, his face turned blue immediately, and his body dropped to the ground in an instant.
After that, silence flooded the area, and I sensed no more enemy presence on the shore. I am also aware of Genma and the elder man watching the interaction between the silver-haired girl and myself because I could sense their gazes fixated on us despite the distance.
Sumire held both of my bloody hands and washed it with a water jutsu she was able to produce without difficulty or forming any handseals, it felt very cool and soothing as the water cleansed the gruesome red liquid on my skin, then she put one hand on my cheek while locking her gaze on mine as the tears continuously fell from her eyes. One of my hands was still clasping hers tightly, this was something I missed doing during the years that I lost her, our entwined fingers felt perfectly natural, like it had always been meant for each other. I gently cradled the back of her head with my free hand and rested my forehead against hers, everything else seemed to fade away as I held her intimately in that moment. I wrapped her around in a chakra embrace and I noticed her eyes closing as she felt my essence invade her being, she returned the favor by enveloping me with her chakra as well.
The two pendants on our necks were glowing very brightly in the darkness of the night as we stayed in that position for a long time, savoring each other's presence, and both of us being unable to let go.
The moment felt so surreal, it was like one of the dreams I had when I was missing her too much. I wish to stay like this forever, but all good things do come to an end.
Our intimate moment was shattered when I heard Genma exclaim in the distance, "Captain, another boat is approaching the shore!"
I turned towards the sea and saw the incoming boat, my hand was still holding Sumire's while Genma and the elder man promptly positioned themselves between us and the new set of assailants, ready to defend the girl from the coming onslaught once the enemy alighted and attacked us.
"Wolf, send the toad summon back to the team, and ask them to immediately follow us here upon completing the mission objective at the other island. We might need more help if these people kept on coming, that greedy male spy from earlier probably sold Sumire's whereabouts to every freaking village and organization in the elemental nations that were willing to pay for the information." I mentally cursed that spy as I recalled the words he said earlier after his encounter with the blonde woman.
The elder man told the girl beside me to escape, "You should leave now Sumire, you aren't safe here anymore since your pursuers have been coming non-stop on the island. It would be best to conceal your identity when you leave, and do something about your hair since that unique shade stands out from the crowd and it is one of your identifying characteristics." The man gave Sumire a warm smile as he encouraged the girl to leave, "We'll see each other again soon. For now, you must go and escape this island. I am confident that you can take care of yourself out there. I've taught you as best as I could and I believe in you."
The girl next to me is having second thoughts about fleeing, but we aren't sure how many more enemies would keep coming to the island in pursuit of her, so I pleaded with her to escape even if I wanted her to remain at my side. "Please, go now and save yourself." She looked very sad while I urged her to leave. "We'll hold them off and make sure nobody follows you. I'll find you after this." I squeezed her hand as I said that to reassure her that I would look for her, nothing and no one would be able to stop me from doing so.
She looked at me and the other two men with gratitude before saying goodbye, "Thank you for keeping me safe, I'll see all of you soon." Her amethyst eyes were full of sadness and tears as she glanced my way and whispered softly, "I'll wait for you, send me pulses everyday so I know you're okay."
I was glad she agreed to leave and understood the precariousness of the situation. Sumire could blend in with the civilians like how she did previously on this island. It was effective before, and if she managed to find a suitable village to hide into, everything would settle down eventually and those chasing her might lose track of her. It would be safer for her to be out in the open world since staying here or coming with me is not a viable option at the moment.
I nodded at her farewell, unable to think of what to say before she departed. I might start breaking down at the moment since she was about to disappear again, but I strengthened my resolve because her safety comes first and I still needed to protect her.
Our hands slowly slid away from each other's grasp as she moved away. The blue-skinned salamander jumped on her shoulder, then she began to run away towards the sea, distancing herself from her pursuers and from me.
I felt my heart break into a million pieces as I watched her figure slowly moving further away, loneliness crept into my chest as her very comforting presence left my side. It hurts to see her leave again after I've yearned for so long to be with her, but her life is more important than my feelings at the moment. If I was able to endure a decade without her, I could take a few more months or years just to make sure she would escape the danger she was facing at the moment.
I put back the porcelain mask on my face and focused my attention on the enemies that were on the shore approaching us. Some of the opponents tried to board the boat they were previously riding on to follow the silver-haired girl as she ran through the sea, but I won't let that happen, so I quickly formed the handseals for my attack.
"Suiton: Suigadan", the jutsu I called out was the Water Fang Bullet Technique. A large mass of pressured water targeted the boat and its rapid spinning motion added up to the force of the attack. My jutsu was able to easily destroy the water vehicle and it sank as soon as the high-powered torrent of water landed on it.
My killer intent flooded the area as I channeled all the negative emotions I felt at the moment towards Sumire's pursuers. I felt the rage in my blood, some of the shinobis were paralyzed with fear from the bloodlust coming off from me, and stood in shock as they looked at my lone crimson eye that glowed visibly despite the dimness of the night and the porcelain mask covering my face.
Some recognized the steely glare from my mismatched eyes, "That's Kakashi of the Sharingan!" I heard one of them exclaim in fear as I used the Chidori to kill the enemy that was within an arm's reach from me. The loud sound of a thousand birds and the bright streak of lightning flooded the area as I used the deadly jutsu, most of them took a step back as I continued my pace towards them.
One tried to attack me with a "Doton: Ganban Kyū", it was a high rank earth release technique that was also known as the Bedrock Coffin. The jutsu formed two gigantic sections of rock that were supposed to crush me between them, but I easily sliced through it like butter with my Raikiri. It was the improved and stronger version of Chidori and it had been classified as an S-rank technique. The group of shinobi all stared in fear and shock from seeing my technique, I couldn't blame them though since that lightning cutter was a sight to behold. I was even able to cut through a literal lightning strike with that technique that's why I named it as Raikiri or Lightning Cutter.
The clash of metals rang around the area as I attacked the opponents alongside Genma and the elder man with our blades, each strike I gave to the enemy was filled with resolve to make sure these people would not be able to harm Sumire in the future anymore. Several techniques were exchanged between our parties, firing all sorts of jutsus against each other, trying to subdue one another and see who would come out on top.
Their great numbers of our opponents did not win against our aptitude in battle though, since only the three of us were standing on the shore after the long battle that we endured with Sumire's pursuers
I felt Genma as he flickered next to me, so I turned to him and said, "Let's go, I need to make sure Sumire is safe, Wolf. I told her I'd find her after this."
Genma replied with worry in his face, "But you're severely injured, captain. You should rest for a bit while we wait for the rest of the team. Besides, we won't even know where she's headed."
I considered the wise words that Wolf just said to me. He's right though, no matter how much I wanted to rush to Sumire, I still wouldn't know where to go from here and my body might give up on me if I tried to exhaust it further.
I did find her tonight after so many years of searching, but I am back to square one again.
The adrenaline slowly washed away from my body and I finally felt the effect of the deep wound on my stomach.
Ignoring my discomfort, I reached for my amethyst necklace and sent my purple-eyed girl several chakra pulses to let her know I was fine. I felt her pulses back as my pendant instantly glowed with its light blue hue. It was very visible in the night, but it wasn't as bright as it was earlier when we were next to each other.
The elder man was observing my action intently before he spoke, "She sent back pulses, right?" He looked very worried and waited for my response. I was a bit perplexed since he knew about the communication that Sumire and I have through the necklace, but I realized he probably has some sort of close connection to Sumire if he knew about it.
"Yes, she did." I briefly replied as I tried my best to stand up straight despite my injury.
"Oh thank goodness, at least we know she is alright for now." He breathed a sigh of relief and I saw some tension leaving his body as his demeanor relaxed a little. The man offered graciously to us, "Follow me to the apothecary shop, I could give you some of our products to speed up your recovery."
The elder man guided us back to the town center and into their medicinal shop.
We decided to trust him since he seemed to genuinely care for Sumire and I can sense no evil intentions from his aura. I could also know more about what happened to her all those years ago from this man since he seemed close to her. He might be able to tell me more about her while Genma and I waited for the rest of our group to arrive.
The apothecary looked very simple, Genma and I have been here earlier but I've never noticed how the quaint shop looked. It was very rustic with all the wooden shelves and furniture as well as the earthy colors adorning its interior. Several shelves and storage were lining the walls, a countertop displaying some of the products was placed in the middle of the room, and a table with a couple of chairs were situated at one corner.
Genma helped me settle down on a chair as the man went to the back of the shop. I heard some clatter going on, followed by the sound of a kettle whistling a little later. The man emerged from the back door, carrying a tray with a teapot and a couple of teacups, and put it down on the table in front of us.
He served us a cup full of the steaming liquid before he started speaking, "My name is Kaito. My wife and I raised Sumire when I found her a decade ago."
"Sorry Kaito-san, but we couldn't formally introduce ourselves to you since we are currently on a classified mission." Genma replied respectfully to the man.
"It's fine, I know how duty is for a shinobi. However, your friend here is quite popular even with that porcelain mask on his face. He needs no introduction since those mismatched eyes and striking silver hair can be easily identified."
It was no use to cover my face with the porcelain ANBU mask since the man already recognized me so I just drank the tea offered to me. The illusion covering the lower half of my face while I drink or eat is unbreakable thanks to the Sharingan, only those with similar dojutsu will be able to see through the strong Genjutsu I created. Luckily, I have no Uchiha on my team or within the area, so I could be at ease at the moment.
"A fine use of Genjutsu, I must say." The man commented and observed me with interest before he continued speaking, "Kakashi of the Sharingan, I now realize that it was you who Sumire was referring to when she talks about a masked boy with silver hair from her memories. Most of her paintings and drawings are about you." He gestured at the big canvas displayed on the wall of the shop. "If I'd known you were Sumire's childhood friend, I would have sent her to you as soon as she started remembering her memories since I am sure you are capable of keeping her safe. You have quite a reputation even at your young age, I've been keeping tabs on what was happening in the greater nations throughout the war and afterwards."
"Since she started remembering," I repeated his words and asked confusedly, "So she forgot her memories?"
"Yes, she did. I saved her from drowning at the river when she fell off the ravine. I knew she was being targeted, so I took her away from the place and settled here at Umi no Kuni. The girl had a big wound on her head and was unconscious for a couple of weeks and she couldn't remember anything when she woke up. Sumire only started remembering little by little after she turned twelve. She badly wanted to go back to Konoha, but I was worried for her safety so I didn't let her go. There was an ongoing war and she needed to be trained so she could stand a chance against the danger that would follow her." The man narrated sadly with regret visible on his eyes.
"How did you know about her being targeted in the first place?" I asked as I became suspicious of the man.
The man took a deep breath before he answered, "Because I was supposed to end her life that day she disappeared from Hi no Kuni." He looked me in the eye as he dropped the revelation. I was about to react violently, but his next words calmed me down. "However, I couldn't do it. I had to abandon my mission and defect from my village just to save her. Why do you think I raised her and taught her how to be a shinobi? Over the years, she became more than just a responsibility. I came to view her as a part of my family, even as my own child. I was prepared to die on that shore tonight for Sumire, the same way I saw you take the blade on the gut for her."
The man took a sip from his tea cup and then glanced again at me as he spoke, "I never knew the reason why she was targeted in the first place. I was just given her first name, age, description, and the task to make sure she dies from the ambush. When I saw her about to drown, I couldn't stand there and let death claim her. Sumire reminded me so much of my deceased daughter, very young and innocent. How can I let the selfishness and evil intentions of men take away a budding life that had a full life ahead of her?"
I was speechless for a moment.
I sensed his chakra being calm and steady all throughout his explanation, it didn't falter a bit, so I knew he was telling the truth. This is another advantage of the sensing ability that I got from Sumire, it gave me the ability to know if people were lying to my face or not upon observing how their chakra behaved.
Should I be angry at the man since he was part of the group that targeted Sumire in the first place?
I think I should be.
Those of us who deeply cared for her suffered all those years because of what happened to her, and Sumire had to grow up in a far away land all these years without her family or friends. However, if he hadn't saved her that day, she would probably be dead now. This man would be sitting comfortably back in whatever village he came from instead of putting his life in danger now just to let the silver-haired girl escape from her pursuers.
My gratitude won against my anger as I thought about it, so I decided to express it sincerely to him, "Thank you for taking care of her."
"It was a privilege to raise her despite the unfortunate circumstance of how I became her guardian. She gave me a chance to become a father again, and then as her sensei as she grew up." A look of fondness was in his eyes as his hand pointed to the products displayed on the counter, "Sumire made all of these products from scratch. She built this apothecary from the ground up, the girl was talented in a lot of ways."
Sumire always liked reading and learning when we were younger, and she'd always been good in her artistic pursuits. I was glad she was able to continue doing what she liked best even though she was living in this small town, isolated from most of the world.
The man continued to explain more about the herbal concoctions that my purple-eyed girl made, "This tea I brewed will help with your recovery quickly, it will revitalize your energy and allow the body to rapidly regain chakra. That teablend is rare since only Sumire was able to make that, so we don't sell that particular blend to the public. My wife and I took over the shop operations when Sumire started her shinobi training, so she wasn't able to make more of those advanced concoctions."
I saw Genma finish his tea in one gulp as soon as he heard that, turning around away from the man's view to prevent his identity from being discovered as he drank the revitalizing liquid.
"She really has improved beyond what I could comprehend. She was only able to make simple tea blends and healing balms when we were younger." I commented as I drank the remaining tea from my cup.
Kaito-san stood up and started to gather some items from the shelves, then handed me a small bag full of herbal products. "Take these when you leave, I am sure Sumire would like for you to have some of it. There's plenty to share for your team too." The man also took a few healing balms displayed on the counter and handed one to each of us. "Those healing balms are the shop's best-seller. The cream will heal your wounds and reduce the pain."
I opened the small container and placed it close to my nose, "Smells like peppermint, tea tree, wintergreens, cloves and rosemary." I began putting the cream on the scratches and bruises that I had from the fight earlier and noticed Genma doing the same from my peripheral vision.
Kaito-san commented, "You have a good sense of smell. You can reapply the balm three times in a day to speed up the healing process."
"How much are all of these? I don't want to take advantage of your kindness." I asked the man for the price since I know this is their business and source of income.
The man replied, "No need to pay for that. Consider it as my gratitude for arriving here on time and helping me hold off Sumire's pursuers. The last two waves of shinobi who arrived here were too much for me to handle."
"Speaking of her pursuers, we were actually following a blonde-haired woman that was after her. We knew she was headed to the apothecary or at the bookshop here in your village . Have you seen her around?" Wolf asked the elderly man.
"She is dead. Sumire was able to subdue the blonde woman, and handed her to me afterwards. I decided to kill her since she poses a threat to Sumire's life, that woman had been one of the many that I needed to eliminate today before you two arrived." He took a deep breath before he continued narrating what happened, "Somehow, a spy got a knowledge of her location here. Many unfamiliar people started coming to the island the past few weeks. One group made a move earlier today and others soon followed."
"The last sets of attackers came really prepared to take her by force, judging from the number of shinobi they sent." I thought hard about what happened, then it crossed my mind how Kaito-san's group even managed to know about the purple-eyed girl all those years ago so I asked the man, "If you don't mind me asking, did you have any idea why your village targeted Sumire before?"
"That's the same thing I was wondering after all these years. My team was never informed of the reason, as a shinobi we just follow orders from our superiors, don't we all?" The man crossed his arms on his chest as he spoke again, "We were just sent to wait on that road and ambush them when they arrived. We don't even know who accompanied the girl, but she seemed very high-profile in your village judging from the guards placed with her and the carriage she was riding on. The team protecting her was able to defeat my group, mind you we were the best in the village, and if I participated in that battle I might have died there too. However, my task was only to look for Sumire and make sure she doesn't live after that ambush."
I wasn't gonna disclose Sumire's real identity to the man no matter how much he had started to care for her, it was an S-rank village secret after all.
I decided to ask as much as I can to learn more about what happened during the Senju's ambush, "Can you tell me what village you are from?"
Kaito-san thought long and hard, he seemed to be weighing his decision really well. I am a shinobi from another village so I understand his apprehension. The man finally decided to say something, "Revealing that information might help you protect her better in the future, so I'll tell you." He leaned back in his chair as he started to reveal the sensitive information, "I come from Amegakure."
That was very unexpected.
I thought the man was from one of the greater nations, and I was certain he would be from Iwa or Kiri, but I was wrong.
I did notice a salamander accompanying Sumire earlier, it was widely known that the salamander contract was with Hanzo of Amegakure and it was likely given to her by this man. So I asked him for confirmation, "I noticed Sumire has a salamander with her, you gave her a summoning contract?"
The man explained, "Yes, I was the last to sign that summoning contract from Ame and I've had it with me ever since I defected from the village. I have no one else to pass it onto but Sumire, it was my gift for her upcoming sixteenth birthday."
Shortly after, I felt Jiraiya-sama's chakra presence nearby with the remaining members of team Ro. I stood up from the chair and excused myself before heading outside the shop, flaring my chakra for a bit to let my team know where I was and waited by the door.
"I was wondering who you were waiting for, Kakashi. To my surprise, another formidable shinobi like yourself is in front of my doorstep." Kaito-san commented as he saw Team Ro with Jiraiya-sama approaching towards us.
The Toad Sage seemed to recognize the man beside me because his eyebrows raised as he looked towards the figure standing next to me, " Now that is a face I have not seen since the second shinobi war. Kaito of Amegakure, how surprising to see you in Umi no Kuni of all places."
"Likewise, Jiraiya of the Sannin. Why don't you all come inside, and join us for tea." Kaito-san gestured for everyone to go inside the apothecary shop.
I am having a feeling that this whole ordeal is far from over. Who knows how many more shinobi might go here and track her down?
There was nothing I could do but pray for her safety wherever she might end up this time. I'll find her again soon, and the next time I see her, I won't let her slip from my grasp again no matter how tough and damnable the situation gets.