***NOTES***
Annnnd the wheels start rolling...
A/N: Warning!-This chapter contains gore. I am also not a medical professional.
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, or any Naruto-related media
Chapter 4: I am your Teammate-Part 2
They parted ways with the trio of genin after an early dinner of Naruto's favorite ramen. He did promise Naruto they would celebrate the completion of their first A-rank mission together, and it seemed like they wanted to know more about the mysterious woman with him.
By the time dinner was done, all three of them were smitten with Older-Sakura:
Younger-Sakura was star struck with wonder and admiration in her eyes towards 'Chiharu' for being such a formidable kunoichi.
Naruto was attempting (and failing) at hiding the bright red flush of his cheeks every time 'Chiharu' casually touched him—the poor boy was nursing a serious crush that was growing by the minute.
And Sasuke—well, Sasuke was mildly interested in her undeniable intelligence and strength—each of these traits he no doubt saw as an ideal for his future wife.
With great reluctance, the three genin said their goodbyes.
The sun was starting to set as Sakura smiled sweetly as she watched their backs disappear further down the road until her little wave slowed down and became still.
Her henge dropped with pop! and her smile slowly disappeared right along with it.
"Are you okay? It must have been odd for you..." Kakashi began awkwardly.
"Yeah, I'm fine. It's just..." her eyes continued searching for their backs. "We're so innocent."
She turned to look at him, brows knit together in concern.
"We are so damn innocent, it hurts. All of that is ripped away from us someday. And it never quite goes back to being the same."
Her mouth trembled, and Kakashi watched her gloved hand squeeze into fists. He didn't know what to say. So he just stood there, with his hands in his pockets and kept his eye on hers. He stayed silent and let her sort her feelings out.
"You know...I'll never forget: there was a moment on the bridge with Haku and Zabuza where you told us we weren't true shinobi yet, because we weren't ready to take a life in order protect the people we love...and you were right—those three aren't shinobi yet. They don't understand that choice." She wiped her eyes although there were no tears and steeled her resolve. "I don't regret what I am today. I would do it all over again if I had to. But...some part of me wishes I could protect my younger self from it too."
"It must sound weird, right?" She smiled sadly at him, but kept her eyes downcast, keeping the depth of her feelings hidden. Her voice was thick with emotion, and her smile waivered.
"...But I have a six year old daughter waiting for me at home, and she starts the Academy later this year. She's so excited to be a kunoichi, since her parents are two well-known shinobi—she feels like it's in her blood. And...every time she tells us how excited she is, my husband and I can't help but fear for her too. One day her innocence will be gone too, and I think it's going to kill me."
Kakashi swallowed thickly. He was in awe to see it—the fear of a parent. It wasn't something Kakashi really understood, since his parents weren't there to show it to him. Something foreign. Unknown.
But to see this powerful woman—a mother, he kept forgetting—so distraught and fearful gnawed at his core.
He wanted to protect her; and her daughter—he wanted to protect her whole family. And he silently hoped Future-Kakashi was doing just that.
Without anything right to say, Kakashi instead placed a hand on her shoulder. She turned her face away from him, but her hand quickly came up and lightly rested on top of his.
She didn't let go until the sun was fully set.
***かかし ***
Kakashi woke in the middle of night to complete darkness and the sound of a trilling high-pitched ringing in his ears.
All normal—
Insomnia. Tinnitus. Sleep Apnea. Rinse. Repeat.
And nightmares—
All his old friends.
He has had many different types of nightmares in his life.
Mostly they revolved around blood—or more specifically, the placement of it—as he catches it in small images.
He seems to focus (maybe even obsess) about the places he's seen blood touch. Who the blood belongs to blurs in the dreams—maybe his mind does its best to block it out—but the blood that came from them in that moment stays stuck in his head playing over and over again.
Sometimes, it's a pool of it on a familiar tatami mat that he recognizes from his childhood home. Other times, it's slowly flowing out from under a boulder that crushes his teammate. But mostly, it's on his hands. And he's never able to get them clean again.
He wakes up from those nightmares tossing and turning, as he's panting and screaming—and immediately trying to clean what really isn't there anymore.
Today, however, he had a different type of nightmare. One he hasn't had in a long time.
It's not really a nightmare—
It's just a dream.
It's just him sitting around a table, but everyone he ever loved is there—laughing and chatting happily. His Father and Minato-sensei discuss something mundane like the weather together on one side of him as Obito, Rin, and Kushina argue about something pointless on the other side.
And just for a single moment—he can feel his mind give into the lie, and he believes it's true.
Just for a second, he thinks they are all alive and he is not alone.
...He is safe, and warm. And happy.
All is right in the world; all is perfect.
Maybe he's just hopeful by nature, but he curses that part of him. His mind is cruel, and Kakashi hates that it is trying to lie to him.
…So, he does what he does best.
The thing that they praise him for; the thing that they spite him for, too.
—He snuffs out the warm light until it smothers and dies. He chokes the sound of laughter and soft voices he can barely remember anymore with his bare hands. He ties a noose around his heart and lets it hang—
He murders the very thought of them.
...when he wakes from those nightmares he doesn't toss or scream.
All the air has left his lungs, and he's sure he stopped breathing in his sleep. He's suffocating, and stuck in the confines of his own body. Paralyzed, unable to breathe or blink. His lips lie open, and he's trying to push air in or out—it doesn't really matter—but he can't move. He can feel his eyes just staring at the ceiling above him and moisture wells up in the corner of his eyes until slow, betraying tears overflow.
And just when he thinks he'll be stuck there forever in that bed, and in this endless night—
Then, he heard her snore.
A loud, guttural, not-very-lady-like, and definitely-not-attractive snort, that sounds more like an old man than a tiny pink kunoichi.
His eyes shift from the spot on the ceiling to the lump on the floor where she lays, and he can see her shift sleepily as if the sound of her own snore woke her up. She sits up as she rubs one of her eyes sleepily just like a small child would, and luminescent green eyes flicker to him.
She yawns with a wide show of teeth and tongue, and grumbles incoherently before falling face first back into her pillow with an unattractive grunt.
And Kakashi breathes out a laugh at the ridiculous, childish, yet adorable kunoichi—
…and realizes he somehow started breathing again.
*** さくら ***
The next day passed in the same lazy fashion as the morning before. They ate breakfast and chatted casually, although their silences were also comfortable.
Sakura tried to keep herself busy–she read until she grew bored. Then, she reorganized his entire bookshelf from top to bottom. She helped him wash the dogs and brush—every single one of them. She even dusted around the apartment like a frantic maniac and his lazy ass certainly wasn't going to tell her not to clean; so, she did.
She moved on to anything and everything, as she tried to wait patiently for any sign of her quote-unquote "rescue".
And sometime around late afternoon, an ANBU showed up at his door. The Tiger mask was not one she was familiar with, but he unceremoniously tossed a scroll to Kakashi and spoke in a low masculine voice.
"The Hokage has a mission for you."
Sakura sighed. "Does that mean you're going to be my new baby-sitter?"
"You're part of the mission too, apparently," the mysterious ANBU replied.
"Oh, thank the gods—Let's go, Kakashi! I can't wait to get out of here." She grabbed Kakashi's sleeve and immediately cast a shushin. He didn't fight it; but he was smart enough to make sure his beloved orange book came along for the ride this time.
They appeared in front of the Hokage's office door only a moment later. A Chunin dressed in a standard flak vest was seated at a small desk near the door. He jumped when he registered their arrival. With wide surprised eyes he stood and knocked on the door and pushed it open for them.
"Hatake Kakashi is here, Hokage-sama," the Chunin announced.
Sakura came in as Kakashi followed behind her sluggishly. They both gave a quick, but polite bow and mumbled a quiet 'Hokage-sama' as acknowledgement.
The Sandaime was seated at his desk, his crystal ball cushioned on a purple pillow nearby. His three-lined eyes widened at the sight of them, and his pipe puffed questioningly at the two.
"My, what a rare occurrence to have you show up on time, Kakashi-kun." His gravelly voice bounced with amusement. "It seems your student's a good influence on you."
Kakashi did not reply to the jab, instead he just gave him a lazy stare with his ever-droopy eye and pressed on, "I was told you have a mission for the both of us?"
The older man nodded in thought as he pushed a few papers around on his desk until he found the ones he wanted. He held the stack out to Sakura but addressed Kakashi.
"I need you for this one, Kakashi-kun. It's politically delicate, and they asked for only the best. And since Haruno-san is still here, she will just have to go with you." He motioned for her to read it over the paper. "You are a Konoha shinobi—an ANBU at that. That tattoo ensures your dedication to the Hokage. To this village. Can I assume I can use your services?"
Hiruzen Sarutobi was certainly not her favorite Hokage, but Sakura nodded, nonetheless. "Of course, Hokage-sama. I'd be happy too."
The older man smiled around his pipe. "Good. In the meantime, I will keep my patrols on the lookout for any of your comrades and will alert you if there is any change. But for now, I need you both."
Sakura read aloud, "'By request of the Fire Daimyo: An A-Rank mission to escort and protect his five year old daughter, Hikari, from Konohagakure to the Fire Capital.' "
Sakura continued reading ahead.
"It says the girl and her mother stopped here after returning from the Land of Steam where they were on holiday. The Daimyo believes a threat was made against him that specifically mentions the girl as the intended target. Therefore, the mother and a decoy will be sent ahead with a large group to draw attention, and we will travel an alternative route behind them."
The Hokage hummed in agreement. "It's about an eight-hour run at top speed to get from here to the Fire Capital, and the mother and the decoy guard have already left. They are planning to camp out for the night along the way. The two of you and the girl will leave at first light and should arrive around the same time. Move quickly and return the girl in one piece."
His eyes met with theirs with a weighted gaze.
"I must warn you. There is a lot of unknown information on this—the Daimyo wasn't very transparent about the threat itself or the scale of danger the girl may be in. He only said to leave no survivors if attacked. I can only tell you to prepare for nothing—and everything—to go wrong."
Sakura handed the papers back to him as she cast a side glance at Kakashi. He was as aloof as always, hand in his pocket and not a worry in the world.
"Understood, Hokage-sama." The Copy-Nin replied.
He puffed silently for a few seconds and waved a hand at an ANBU that was standing in the corner of the room. The ANBU approached with a standard uniform and a porcelain mask as they handed it to her.
"Take it. When I heard you were Naruto-kun's friend I thought it might suit you." The Hokage paused, as his eyes looked away, almost ashamed. "You see no other ANBU will wear it, for they believe it is bad luck."
Sakura took the Fox mask in her arms, and traced the large ears and grinning snout of her new ANBU identity with a gentle finger. The same three whisker-like lines stretch across the mask's cheek just like Naruto's.
She thought of her friend's childhood, and the failure of the man in front of her. The isolation. The sadness. She would wear those thoughts like the greatest armor.
She smiled wryly and huffed a laugh at the Hokage. "Well, their loss then. Foxes have protected me so far; I doubt they'll stop now."
The older man gave a slight smile and his eyes grew warm with fondness. He gripped the rim of his large white Hokage hat, and pulled it down to block his eyes.
"I'll leave it to you then." His gravelly voice seemed a little bit heavier to Sakura. She felt satisfaction at his discomfort.
Good. Sakura thought to herself, I hope he's filled with regrets.
*** かかし ***
The next morning, Kakashi was trying to be firm in moving at his own pace, but Sakura was not having it.
The pink-haired menace was determined to be on time, and she set herself a personal mission to get him out of bed as fast as she could.
She tried (and failed) to rip the blanket from him. She threw several pillows at him–to which he blocked expertly even in a drowsy state. She poked and prodded him in all the ticklish areas she could find—but Kakashi was unmoving and restrained. She even threatened to remove his mask if he didn't get up—but Kakashi knew she respected his boundaries enough to where she wouldn't.
It wasn't until she coerced Bull to come and sit directly on his diaphragm which instantly restricted his breathing—did Kakashi finally sit up and start moving for the day.
They both dressed in their ANBU gear and donned their porcelain masks, leaving 'Kakashi and Sakura' at the door and becoming 'Hound and Fox'.
And she looked good.
With his tanto strapped on her back and the cunning smile of her Fox mask gleaming in mischief—she looked natural. Like this uniform was a second skin she desperately missed.
Her back was a little straighter. Her steps a little more sure. He stared at the Fox mask from the corner of his eye, and he wondered if she felt a little freer–just like him.
With a focused silence, the two shinobi were out the door and at the gates by the time the first ray of sunlight was glowing pink on the horizon. Kakashi droopily glared at the pink light with a sudden aversion to anything that resembled the color.
Minutes later, an unfamiliar looking Chunin approached with a little girl.
She was what you'd expect of a Daimyo's daughter—polite, a tad spoiled, and a little bit haughty. She was as cute as any child that age, but not overly beautiful. Despite that, it was easy to see she was 'well bred', as they say.
She was dressed in an expensive looking lavender yukata with large childish pink flowers on it that was wrapped in a darker purple obi. Her brown hair was neatly swept into two low pigtails, and little hair pins with bunny rabbits were crossed in her bangs.
She bowed politely to the Chunin and turned to face the ANBU before her. For one so young, she didn't seem intimidated or frightened by the ominous masks staring back at her. Instead, her big brown eyes smiled in an eager grin.
"You must be Hound-kun and Fox-chan!" She spoke with a small but direct voice. "Please bring me home safely!"
Sakura stifled a laugh underneath her mask. He could hear her smile in her voice, "We plan to Hikari-chan. When you're ready, Hound-kun will carry you on his back, okay?"
The little girl squealed in excitement and ran to his side with a little jump. Kakashi held a hand out with his palm up–like a prince welcoming their princess.
She took his hand with a huge grin stretching from ear to ear, and a slight blush. He hoisted her up with one hand and swung her onto his back. She instantly grabbed his shoulders tight.
"Forward march, Hound-kun!" she said with a small finger pointing past his head and her eyes gleaming.
Kakashi gave Sakura a tired glance, before motioning for her to run point. He told the girl to hold on tight, and then they were off. He and Sakura ran at full speed for several hours while Hikari happily chatted away on his back.
She spoke about anything and everything that came to her mind—sometimes questions like why they wore weird masks?—other times stories like her onsen holiday to the Land of Steam. Or his personal favorite: 'why is his hair grey when he doesn't seem like an old man?'
She contemplated, challenged, and described the whole of the universe within those few hours.
Kakashi was mildly impressed at her never-ending ability to speak, and was equally worn out by it too.
Sakura, on the other hand, seemed thoroughly amused and prompted many answers and questions from the young girl. He silently thanked the gods that Sakura was there to run interference for him—he certainly never claimed to be good with children.
By the time the sun was well into the sky, they stopped to rest near a small stream in the dense part of the forest. Despite being midday, the small clearing was shaded and covered with the growth of the trees around it.
The soft sage of trees reflected on the water of the stream, and everything smelled of foliage and dry dirt as it had not rained in days. It had been a hot and humid summer, and all three of them were sweating and could use a break.
He placed her down gently and stretched to straighten his back slowly. Maybe he was getting old?
Shaking the thought from his head, he immediately summoned his pack. With their communal poof, the group appeared and readied for orders.
"Yo, Boss! Boss La—Pink Lady! ...and a little pup?" questioned Pakkun with his head cocked.
Hikari squealed and raced towards the canines with elation. They greeted her just as enthusiastically.
"Our mission is to protect the girl. Can you run a perimeter for us?"
"No problem, Boss." The pug sat down and scratched his ear with his hind leg. The others released the small girl from their assault of licks and sniffs. With a gruff yip they all fell in order and awaited their Alpha's command. "Move out!"
He watched the pack disappear into the forest. Hikari sighed in disappointment and moved to the stream to splash her feet in the water. Kakashi noticed Sakura walk toward him.
"Let me massage your back really quick." She demanded softly while already shoving him down to the ground in a sitting position.
Her Fox mask grinned slyly back at him. The Copy-nin suddenly missed jade eyes and the easy smile. He gruffed a protest, but she held him down firmly.
"I'm fine. What's a massage going to do anyway?"
She laughed haughtily. "See these...? These are magic hands, Hound. I know you're used to slouching, but even your posture must hurt after carrying her for hours. So, either take the massage or let me carry her—which one?"
He didn't reply, so she spoke candidly with a soft voice.
"You don't have to do everything alone. You called me your teammate; so, let me be one to you—Let me help."
After a long moment of debate, Kakashi grunted in agreement. He flexed his sore shoulders under her hands, and she took this as a sign to go on. He felt her small, but firm hands began their work. She dragged them down to the base of his spine and started kneading and pinning the muscles of his back with chakra laced hands.
…Kakashi tried not to enjoy it. He really really wanted to say it was nothing special. But even he knew that lie would be too big.
He practically melted into her hands like he'd seen Pakkun melt after an overdose of tummy rubs. She must have done this for him before, because she seemed to know exactly how to touch him. And as much as he inwardly hated being read so easily, he was instead very very grateful. Her green chakra soothed and relaxed all of the tension from his back, and her scent of summer berries and jasmine wrapped around him calmly—if he was honest, he felt better than he had in years.
He was so focused on his relief; his thoroughness in his descent into relaxation—that he didn't scent the intruders that smelled of dried mud and traces of petrichor that came from somewhere foreign.
He didn't notice it—
until the sound of an exploding tag went off somewhere north of their location.
His nose twitched. It was far enough that he couldn't see the cause of it, but close enough that he knew their perimeter was breached.
Kakashi instantly jumped into action. He grabbed Hikari by the collar of her yukata and practically threw her at Sakura. Sakura (thankfully) predicted this and caught her with awaiting arms and told the girl to quietly hold on.
They started to move upstream, but it was only mere seconds later Kakashi heard a yelp and resounding thud as Pakkun flew limply across the stream and slammed into a tree.
The resounding crack! of the impact echoed in his ears. The dog wasn't moving, but he was letting out small painful whines. Kakashi felt those whimpers in his blood.
Rage flooded him. His eye pulsed beneath his mask.
His sight followed the trajectory that the dog flew to the other side of the stream.
There, stood a tall heavily built man with his leg hiked up as if he just punted a ball across a field.
His dirty boots were packed with dried mud, although no puddles were in sight. He wore standard combat pants and a loose haori with nothing underneath so that his musculature was on display. In his hands was a large double-sided spear that was smeared with blood.
On his forehead sat the symbol of Kumogakure.
Kakashi noticed several other chakra signatures moving in around them—some already in contact with his pack.
The foreign nin was much larger than Kakashi as far as pure muscle, but the Copy-Nin wasted no time in his assault. He rushed forward towards the man, and took note of Sakura splitting in the opposite direction towards Pakkun.
He trusted her to look after his pack, so he didn't spare a glance backwards.
She wanted to be his teammate? Fine.
"...You better not die then Fox," he mumbled to himself.
With his chidori already chirping readily, he pushed ahead to end this as quickly as possible.
*** さくら ***
Sakura knelt beside the injured ninken with a glowing hand.
She wasn't a veterinarian, but even she knew what broken ribs looked like on any animal. He was wheezing heavily, most likely one rib pierced a lung. The medic-nin immediately slid Hikari off her back and clasped her hands together to form her chakra.
She would have to be careful with her chakra usage—every little bit would have to be precisely divided among her tasks and used wisely.
Sakura certainly didn't have the largest chakra reserves, but she was very good at stretching it without wasting any excess.
After making two simple clones with as little of her chakra as she could, she inwardly instructed one clone to heal Pakkun just enough to ensure stability. The other, she instructed to henge into a fake Hikari.
The real Sakura turned towards the little girl who was crouching next to the injured pup. Kneeling down to her level, she placed both hands on the young girl's shoulders and waited for the girl to meet her eyes.
"Hikari-chan, things are about to get messy. I want you to stay here with Pakkun–don't touch him as he's very very hurt—but stay near him and this tree. No matter what, you must not move or make any sound. Do you understand? Stay quiet, and stay still."
She tried to sound reassuring, but she saw the girl's eyes well up in tears. Her bottom lip trembled and her shoulders were shaking slightly, but she nodded in spite of it.
"Good girl," she patted the girl's head.
Taking a paper seal out of her hip pouch, Sakura cast a simple camouflage-esque genjustu and slapped them on Hikari's and the clone's back. It would keep them hidden from sight as long as they didn't move too much.
Rough and a little clumsy. It obviously wasn't ideal, but she needed to move onto her next task.
She pulled out her White Fang tanto from the sheath on her back with one hand, its shrill of the silver-white blade made her heart rate quicken.
Sakura bent down quickly to let the Hikari-clone climb onto her back and started moving towards the ringing of a thousand birds chirping—the sound was instilled in her, she would know it anywhere.
She didn't make it far. Just enough distance to keep the group with Pakkun safe from a fight but still within sight, before three—no, four—shinobi arrived within visible range.
It seemed like they were a five-man cell with their leader engaging Kakashi. These other four seemed much weaker in comparison based on just pure chakra levels.
But then again, her chakra levels were deceiving too.
"Give us the girl." A woman with pale blonde hair that was coiled in two tight buns on top of her head, stood high on a branch in front of Sakura. Around her neck sat a Kumo hitai-ate.
"Sure," Sakura purred. "All you have to do is take her."
Taunting was always a bad habit of hers, but it helped that most people underestimated her based on her stature alone.
Her grip tightened on her tanto while eyeing the two other men circling around her threateningly.
The third man—tall, absurdly lanky—came out of the trees. He landed near the blond. The man was all limbs and smiles. He wore a creepy twisted grin that was laced with lust, and slick as oil towards his blonde counterpart. He leaned towards the woman's shoulder to give it a reverent kiss. Something about him felt slimy to Sakura.
"Oh, what a lovely Pink Fox." Sakura skin crawled at his tone. "I bet she has a bite! ...Why don't we play with her a little bit, baby?"
He cooed against the blonde's skin, but his eyes locked on Sakura.
The man's smile twisted even deeper at his taunt towards her as he licked a wet stripe from the woman's shoulder to the top of her neck, all while staring at Sakura. The blonde woman purred in a content agreement.
Sakura gagged internally but kept her eyes on him. Okay, gross.
"Close your eyes, Hikari. You don't want to see this," she said, louder than necessary. She was speaking to the clone on her back, but she quietly hoped the real Hikari heard too.
The man closest to her—one of the foot soldiers—decided to attack at her declaration.
Sakura wasted no time—she side stepped from his messy punch as she used her free hand to push his head down, while her chakra-infused knee came up to pummel his face.
A sickening crunch echoed in the clearing. The man collapsed in a heap on the floor—his face smashed in. Skull in pieces.
The clearing was eerily silent.
The remaining three shinobi watched in silent horror.
I know, she thought to herself with a smirk. The first one always tends to shock.
The second nin charged in a moment later while attempting to thrust a kunai into her left kidney. She probably could have blocked it with her open hand, but the Hikari clone was slipping off her back, so she decided to just slash with her tanto. It was much messier, but she was busy adjusting the girl on her back.
With a glint of silver-white, the nin's hand fell to the floor while still holding the incoming kunai. Blood was splattering everywhere, but Sakura paid little mind to it.
Without a second thought, she lifted the tanto again and sliced the carotid artery of his neck.
It slid silently and surely—with no resistance.
The blood sprayed around him, but she ignored it and pressed on to the two lovers in front of her.
She watched their wide eyes, and matching grimaces. They abruptly lost their laid-back attitude and prepared for a defense.
That's right, she purred internally. It's not a fluke.
Somewhere behind them, she could hear the clash of metal and sounds of another battle beyond them.
Sakura wanted to get to Kakashi quickly; just two more to go.
She kept her eyes focused on the two Kumo nin in front of her: the Creepy-thin-man had not lost his slimy grin (much to her disappointment), but the blond next to him looked thoroughly enraged.
And afraid.
"How dare you?!" the blond screeched. "You're going to pay! My fireflies will eat you alive! Raiton: Hotaru no jutsu!"
The Cloud kunoichi shook off the man's touch on her shoulder and charged at Sakura. He did not follow his lover, instead the vile man stayed back and watched with his grin.
With a series of hand signs, the blonde created small floating electrical charges that floated around her that did, in fact, look like blinking fireflies.
A few flew forward ahead of her and straight at Sakura. She dodged the first few, but as they landed on the ground a burst of electricity exploded around them, causing Sakura to jump back a little further.
It was a half-decent raiton jutsu, but Sakura had obviously seen better.
She dodged the incoming charges with ease, and threw a few senbon as distraction.
Thankfully, Sakura had an affinity from both water and earth based jutsu—and Future-Kakashi had taken the time to teach her a few, including his Headhunter jutsu. She may not be skilled enough to erect walls of earth—but oh, how she loved this one jutsu. It was a terribly useful thing.
She disappeared beneath earth and pulled the blond down under with her, until only the woman's head remained above ground.
With the senbon in her hand, she used her foot to tilt the woman's neck forward until the back of her head was exposed. The woman screamed and shrieked violently.
Sakura inserted the senbon surgically below the skull and pierced the spinal cord and into the brain.
The screams ceased. It was as merciful as Sakura could be at the moment.
Before she could turn to face the Creepy-thin-man, his hysterical laugh was already echoing in the clearing. He didn't seem all that upset.
Sakura's lips turned up in a snarl of disgust behind her Fox mask. She's had enough of the crazy people in this world.
"Oooh, what a Fox. You're not all talk after all~!" the Creepy-thin-man laughed with eyes turned upwards in thin crescents. "You know, I quite liked her—she was an easy fuck—and an even easier tool to use."
He threw a few kunai at her noncommittally. Sakura parried them off with ease. He chuckled.
"Too bad for you I don't play fair—see I have a really good nose, maybe even better than the damn Inuzuka clan you Leaf people keep bragging about—and my nose is saying there is something really sweet hiding over there!"
Sakura followed his trailing eyes to the tree behind her. Air stalled in her lungs as she watched in panic as the man lazily threw a kunai with an exploding tag tied to it in the direction of the hidden Pakkun and Hikari.
She pumped chakra into her legs and moved so fast towards the kunai, that it ended up popping the clone on her back. With the used bloody senbon still in hand, Sakura threw it as hard as she could to intercept the tag.
She watched it fly—chakra propelled.
With a silent prayer, she held her breath and watched the trajectory of her weapon.
It made contact. Oh, thank the gods.
She was pleased to see her aim was on point, and the kunai was deflected in the perpendicular direction. Sakura quietly thanked her foresight to take all those extra lessons with Genma and Tenten.
As soon as she saw it was deflected, Sakura planted her front foot with chakra—she pivoted her weight of the balls of her feet and burst forward toward the Creepy-thin-man without any wasted movement.
The exploding tag burst behind her as its boom echoed around the forest floor. She paid no attention to the sound.
Creepy-thin-man smiled, much to Sakura's disappointment.
"I want to see what's behind that lovely mask, Fox." He licked his lips. Ew.
He performed some kind of doton earth wall jutsu she had seen many times since the Fourth Shinobi War, but this wall was much softer and clay-like.
It was also much much thicker. Mud?
Without a second thought, Sakura pulled back a fist and thrust it into the wall with all her strength. She was hoping to crack it, crumble it, turn it to dust—but it ended up sort of just splattering everywhere as large chunks of mud and clay exploded around her.
Her fist didn't even make it through the wall.
So, she pushed, and she pushed—flooding her chakra into the wall to somehow make it to the other side.
And when she was able to push through it, Sakura could already see that the setback had cost her precious seconds.
He had made a doton clone with his extra time—to her absolute dismay, there were now two Creepy-thin-men (two times the disgust). Both were primed to attack her as soon as she appeared on the other side of the thick wall.
One had a kunai. The other was reaching towards her mask.
She side stepped one as his kunai grazed her arm, but she let him pass. Instead, she chose to focus on the other going for her mask: she slid forward as she brought her hand to the man's throat and crushed his windpipe with nothing but her bare strength.
The man's eyes bulged as he made a gargled sound of surprise before falling limp in her hand.
The corpse melted into mud between her fingers, she clicked her tongue in annoyance for mistakenly choosing the clone.
What a sloppy mistake, she reprimanded herself.
Sakura was already turning towards what she assumed was the real Creepy-thin-man with tanto in hand, and ready to strike...
...when she felt the air shift—
The Creepy-thin-man had his arm raised high in the air with a kunai over his head about to bring it down towards her chest.
She was in no real danger. It wouldn't have been hard to block, but—
…But then with a poof of silent smoke—there was Kakashi.
He was crouched on the man's shoulders with his feet perched on each side of the man's head. His glowing red Sharingan was swirling threateningly behind a blood splattered Hound mask.
He made no sound; there was no notion of his existence.
Except—
His killing intent.
It was wrapping around them—coiling, suffocating them menacingly.
Like someone was choking the air out of her lungs. Her body reacted without her consent, and a cold sweat was already forming on her brow. She felt her lungs burn as though she had forgotten to breathe. And her own shoulders tensed and felt heavy as if his weight was resting on her, and not on the enemy nin.
He didn't look human. He looked otherworldly—a reaper, perhaps.
A terrifyingly Grim. Reluctant. Fallen…Reeeaper.
A demonic storm of strength, power, and intelligence—and a deliverer of death.
He wore death like a cloak, a shroud of black that followed him wherever he went—unforgiving to his victims but reeking of his own regrets and remorse. A role he couldn't escape. A chain bound to his soul.
It was like his flesh melted, and only his bones remained. A skull of a face with mismatching eyes in empty sockets, and a bisecting scar that was cut to the bone.
Sakura had faced nightmares. She knew of evil monsters, and immortal ghosts.
And Kakashi—when he really wanted to be—was all of that and more.
He didn't hesitate. Sakura wondered if he was even thinking at all, or if it was just all instinct that was instilled in him after years and years of cold-hearted killing.
Maybe this is why shinobi shouldn't live too long.
She watched as Kakashi gripped the wrist of the man that was holding the kunai. The Creepy-thin-man dropped it–maybe Kakashi had simply snapped his wrist, or maybe it was the pure fear of the demon resting on his shoulders—either way, the man jolted with a guttural scream.
After successfully thwarting the man's attack, Kakashi let go of the man's wrist. With two hands he grasped his own kunai above his head…
Sakura watched in an attentive daze.
Time seemed to crawl as she admired his long, beautiful fingers as they did their work. A strange attraction. Like looking over the edge of a cliff and wanting to jump off.
…and plunged it down, piercing the man's throat in a violent thrust.
She watched the man's eyes go wide as they met her own. His blood gargled and erupted from his mouth. Blood sprayed, and she felt the warmth of it splatter on her.
A slimy grin was still planted on his face—even as the light faded from his eyes.
She silently wished she could have been the one to wipe that disgusting smile off his face.
She watched as Kakashi jumped off the man's shoulders just as the body collapsed into a heap of flesh and blood. It pooled around the toes of her sandals. She still did not move.
He immediately surveyed the clearing, and turned to her with his one red glowing eye. Sakura gulped a large breath of air and exhaled it slowly. She needed to breathe normally again. She wiped her tanto on her ANBU shirt and began to sheath it.
Adrenaline was still pumping in her body. Kakashi seemed to have the same affliction—as he was still looking tense and ready to fight. His Hound mask seemed to glower at their surroundings.
But she ignored that for now, and walked straight past him towards Pakkun.
*** かかし ***
Kakashi watched as Pakkun sat up at the pink-haired medic's approach.
The small dog still looked heavily injured, but it seemed like Sakura was able to stabilize him. What a relief. The Copy-nin would never admit it openly, but maybe Sakura was right about ANBU needing medic nin.
Several others of his pack were approaching the clearing: Bull had a net still tangled on his hind legs. Urushi had a small bear trap lodge in his front paw. But the others looked mostly okay.
Pakkun gave an affectionate lick to Sakura's hand when she walked up to check him. After a moment, she stood up and walked past the dog to face a nearby tree.
He watched the pink-haired kunoichi lift one hand and muttered a quiet 'kai'. The genjutsu seal broke—the little girl and a clone were revealed.
The clone popped. The little girl shuddered.
And there—like a small, frightened animal—cowered the small girl.
She was crouched in a ball with her face buried in her knees. One hand was covering her head, and the other was curled up in a tight fist at her mouth. Huge, wet tears were pouring from her big brown eyes, and she was shaking silently. She was biting on her knuckle to stifle her sobs.
Kakashi noticed the pierced skin and small drops of blood that welled on the girl's knuckle when she finally released it from her mouth. It must have been a last resort to keep herself quiet. Only when her mouth was finally free, did she find her voice.
She wailed loudly and honestly, as only children could do—without any reservation or shame.
Snot and drool were running down her face. Her little shoulders trembled violently, and her face contorted through a flood of tears. She gasped for breath when she could.
And Sakura did what he assumed any mother would do at the sight of a crying child; she moved to comfort her.
Despite every ANBU regulation, Sakura removed her Fox mask and quietly knelt beside the girl. Her mouth was set in a tight straight line, and her green eyes were glowing with a steady calm gaze that never wavered from the little girl's.
"It's okay, Hikari-chan. You did so good," she spoke with a slow, soothing voice. She gently patted the girl's head, and repeated herself, "You did so good. So good."
Hikari's bottom lip trembled in relief, and she attempted to stifle her sobs. She was just starting to slow her breathing down. But then her eyes shifted away from Sakura's for a moment and met his over Sakura's arm.
The effect was immediate.
Her face contorted again, and new sobs were crashing into the old ones. Sakura's emerald eyes questioningly followed her path to find him.
The pink-haired nin rolled her eyes and sighed in disbelief.
"Hey, don't worry about him," Sakura told the girl. Frustration laced her voice. "I know he looks scary, but he's not going to hurt you. I promise."
Was she talking about me? Kakashi questioned internally.
He looked down to survey himself—there was blood splattered everywhere on his body. He was still holding a stained kunai that he used only moments ago to kill with. And he had forgotten his Sharingan was still activated. His body was still tense and poised to fight, and he was sure his bloodlust was still oozing out of him.
Kakashi frowned beneath his Hound mask.
The cleaning of the blood would have to wait, but he put away his kunai and he followed Sakura's lead by removing his porcelain mask. He even kept his left eye closed and tried to curb his bloodlust.
The little girl watched him with large cautious eyes, she was still crying softly and gripping Sakura's shirt tightly. The pink kunoichi just hummed quietly, and her soft eyes met his again. She smiled at his attempt to appease the girl.
"Listen," she hissed out curtly. She turned to face the girl, but Kakashi had the strangest feeling she was also speaking to him.
"You see that blood-soaked idiot over there?" she said to the girl. She lifted the girl's chin slightly, so their eyes met. "He's...he's someone very important to me. He's been by my side when everyone else left me behind...He's fought by my side; he's bled by my side. He even died at my side one time, and he still came back to stand by me."
She paused and her lips twitched before she gave a dazzling smile. Kakashi felt a nervous flutter in his stomach. He couldn't help but watch the woman in silent astonishment.
"We have faced everything together—even defying a god together. And he has always, always had my back. He's stupidly loyal—just like the doggies he plays with. And it makes him the best teammate in the whole world."
The little girl smiled through a sniffle.
"And I trust him more than I trust anyone else in this world..." her voice quieted to a soft purr. Sakura's green eyes turned to search his, the alluring little smile still dancing on her lips. "There's nothing to worry about, because I'm going to protect you—and he's going to protect me. Do you understand?"
It was a bold assumption of his character. Kakashi did not refute it–he knew she was right. There was an innate need to protect his teammates, especially her it seemed.
He wanted to be the person she spoke of–the person to always be by her side.
The young girl gave a long look between the two shinobi, after a hiccup and sniffle the girl nodded.
Sakura ruffled her hair in response, and chuckled as she wiped the girl's face with her gloved hands. When she was done, the medic-nin stood and took a few steps towards Kakashi.
Her hand was outstretched with green glowing chakra and halfway to reaching him, when he caught the feeling of an enemy chakra signature behind him.
Her expression shifted and her eyes grew sharp at whatever was behind him...
…he heard the beginning of a scream from the girl behind Sakura.
Kakashi was about to react, but her green cloaked hand dissipated its chakra and instead, shoved him straight back. He could do very little to resist the pure strength of the push—her chakra pulsed in him and propelled him backwards.
He could see it, as he was falling back—a spear, just like the one he plunged into the Kumo-nin's stomach only minutes ago, flew straight where he was standing.
...and straight into Sakura.
It pierced through her chest plate, and into her heart.
Kakashi felt the air leave his lungs. It was like it got stuck in his throat and it burned.
He saw Rin. Then Obito. And Minato and Kushina. Even that kid Haku, that he had killed in the Land of Waves. It's like he's seen it a million times, the same image—over and over again. A hole in the chest. Blood splattering around them—or on him.
Darkness was creeping up on the edges of his vision.
By the time his back hit the ground a few feet away from her—
He was already gone to the world.
And by the time he regained any sense of self—
He was standing above a decapitated corpse, with a severed head in his hand.
*** さくら ***
Sakura could see it from the corner of her eye.
The big bulky man that had kicked Pakkun rose out of the water of the stream, like a spectre rising from the fog.
His body was mangled and tattered. He was missing one arm, and had several kunai buried in his back. In between his shoulder and neck was a large, mutilated bite mark—most likely a gift from one of Kakashi's hounds. Not to mention a gap in his torso that she was sure entrails could be seen even from her distance away.
Blood was pouring out of him and leaking into the surrounding water. It looked unreal, to see a half-living corpse taint and murk the clear water of the stream.
She could only watch as he hurled his huge spear like a javelin, with what must have been the last of his strength, as he toppled over as soon as it left his hand. It flew straight and true towards its target—so Sakura reacted as she would like to think any decent person would.
She shoved Kakashi out of the way and took a huge, gaping hole to the chest.
And—oh, gods—it hurts, Sakura thought.
The force of the spear sent her on her back, and she could feel it pierce into her heart. She only had seconds—
Okay, maybe less than a second.
So, she released her byakugou seal. She could feel the cool rush of it as it spread along some places and crossed in others in its trailing design. It always left goose bumps on her skin.
And with whatever strength Sakura could manage—she put two hands on the monstrous spear, and she pulled.
If she had any chance of healing, she couldn't do it with a foreign object in her body. The pay off, however, was that now the gaping hole was gushing out blood. And her lungs were filling with fluid.
She couldn't breathe—she tried to gasp for air, but it ended up being a gargled splutter of blood that poured from her mouth. She could feel the droplets spray back on her face since she was lying down. She was drowning in her own body, and everything burned.
Long slow tears were leaking from her eyes and down her cheeks—and she tried, really tried—to just focus on breathing.
She had never regrown part of her own heart before.
Arteries, valves, atriums, ventricles…
It was actually extraordinary, to feel the muscle fibers sew themselves together again, and start functioning again. She could feel new cells bursting into existence—bone regrowing and new skin stretching to meet the old.
Her heart reformed itself while barely managing to hold on to its beat—
And before long, a new rhythm had started and replaced the old.
She felt a moist lap of a tongue against the tears on her face. Someone was saying something, but she couldn't make it out.
The fluid in her lungs was another unfortunate problem.
She could barely move, but with a shaky hand she reached down to her med-pouch strapped to her thigh. She grabbed a senbon and small catheter tube she kept for emergencies. Without thought, she stabbed the senbon in her chest wall deep enough to where it pierced her left lung and inserted the catheter.
She sat up coughing violently, blood still oozing from her mouth, and took the other end of the tube to her mouth to provide suction. Fluid began moving through the tube and out of her lung. She spit blood out beside her and took long wheezing breaths—tears were still rolling down her cheeks without her permission.
It wasn't long after that she felt a small wet lick again on the arm that was propping her up.
"Boss-Lady...I have no idea what you did...but I'm sure glad you're not dead." Pakkun nuzzled her arm with his head. His tail was wagging beneath him. "I know you're busy tryin' not to die n' all, but you may want to do something about that one over there..." He bobbed his head over toward the stream. "It's not good."
Sakura followed his motion with exhausted, squinting eyes. Her chest was still heaving, and deep wet coughs were rasping loudly. Blood and tears still seemed to slowly drip from her mouth and eyes.
But—
Kakashi was standing over the corpse with a vacant, glazed stare. He held the head of the Kumo-nin in one hand and a bloody kunai in the other.
He looked unnaturally still, like time had frozen around him. She couldn't even tell if he was still breathing.
Sakura coughed up a little more blood, as she spit it out to try and speak.
"A-Ah,...Let...m-me..." She struggled, her voice was a strangled whisper.
Her throat and lungs were still painful despite healing well. She rolled over and pushed her way up to kneeling—and then to standing—as slow as she could manage. With a shaky walk she made her way over to Kakashi.
She didn't touch him yet; she knew enough PTSD episodes to know he'll let her know when he was ready for physical contact. So, she spoke with a low and as soothing of a voice she could conduct with her healing lungs.
"K-Ka...shi." She wheezed and closed her eyes, to try again. "...kashi."
"K-Kakashi...look at me..." He did not, but she pressed on. "I'm...fine—or I will be fine...I'm alive."
She took in a deep shaky breath. "I'm okay...I didn't die, my seal kept me alive."
He still wasn't moving, but his blank eyes shifted to the mark on her forehead. And slowly, they traveled down to the injury on her chest and back up to her eyes.
She moved slowly at first, so to not startle him–with a gentle hand she removed the kunai from his grasp, and let it drop into the water below them. And then she moved to the next hand, and uncurled his fingers from the hair of the man's head. It too dropped below.
She didn't let go of his hand this time, instead she softly brought his fingers to the newly formed scar on her chest. There was a huge hole in her shirt and chest plate now that showcased the scar nestled between her solar plexus and the inner side of her breast. Her chest was still rising steadily in shaky breaths.
His fingers traced the raised skin tenderly, and Sakura heard his breath hitch. She squeezed her eyes closed and tried to choose her words carefully.
"I know... I know—you can't afford to lose anyone else." She tried to smile up at him, but the damn tears still hadn't stopped rolling down her cheeks, even if the wheezing had finally had.
"I won't leave you," she affirmed. His eyes flickered to hers—Sakura was growing more and more fond of his mismatched eyes. Her fingers tightened on his at her chest. "You still have fifteen years of the future ahead of you, and I can't promise it's not without loss...but none of those losses will be me. I never left you through all of that, and I will never leave you now. Do you understand?"
He swallowed thickly. His hand pulled away from her scar and moved up to her cheek. With a swipe of his thumb, he brushed off a stray tear.
He leaned forward—maybe it was more of a slump forward—as it seemed like all the built up stress and fear melted away.
He was so tall, Sakura felt like he was towering over her—as he rested his forehead on the little purple diamond that was on hers. She could feel his warm breath on her face, as he let out a breathless sigh.
Sakura's heart stuttered again in her chest—and she wondered vaguely, if it was fair to do that to a brand new heart.
"Yeah," he said with a low breathy voice that made chills run up Sakura's spine. "I understand."
*** かかし ***
Kakashi felt comically exhausted.
His mental and physical physique were in shambles at the moment. He had several gashes from that obscene spear and his chakra levels were eating away with his Sharingan.
He was honestly trying not to collapse on her. But she didn't need to know that.
And to top it all off, he almost mourned another comrade. Or at least—what the future promised to be his comrade.
He watched her die, and yet...here she was...whole and alive.
Thanks to a little magic rhombus—one that Kakashi could literally kiss at the moment out of gratitude. Its black crossing lines were still running down her face and body, and Kakashi couldn't help but admire the 'Strength of a Hundred ' Seal.
It was a force of reckoning—just like her.
He didn't want to move from her yet, but she was ever the reliable combat-medic: Sakura set straight to work.
"Kakashi, I need you to help me get back to Hikari-chan. I can't heal you right now, but I can bandage you up."
With nothing but a grunt as a response, Kakashi grabbed her arm and threw it over his shoulder and placed his other arm on her hip. Together, they walked—or hobbled by supporting each other's weight—back towards the girl as they both mutually made sure each other didn't keel over.
The little girl was watching them with big watery eyes and a trembling lip, but no tears—as if she had finally run out of them.
She was grasping onto Pakkun's vest, and her tiny arms were entangled around the dog's neck in a fierce grip. To his surprise, the grumpy canine-nin allowed it with little protest.
Sakura greeted them both and checked them over with an expert eye. Kakashi zoned it out as sat down and brought a hand to a particularly nasty gash on his stomach.
It wasn't long before the pink-haired nin turned her attentiveness back towards him. She cleaned, stitched, and wrapped every gash she could find with the supplies from her med-pack. And when she was done, she smiled a worn out little smile.
She turned to him, waiting for his full attention. He gave it freely.
"Don't freak out..." she said as her eyelids fluttered weakly.
Her hand reached down and yanked out a tube that he hadn't noticed—small flecks of blood flew off it to Kakashi's alarm. He was about to protest, but the inky black lines on her skin started fading fast.
"—but the seal is about to revert. And when it does... I-I'm pretty sure I'm going...to pass ou—..." Her eyes rolled back and her whole body tilted sideways.
Kakashi was able to stop her falling over, and laid her down softly on the ground. He straightened himself and ran a frustrated hand through his silver hair.
After a long moment of internal debate, the Copy-nin looked at the little girl and Pakkun.
"We're on a timeline, Pak. Do you think I could borrow Bull?"
Fuck, he was tired.
"Sure thing, Boss. I'm sure Bull won't mind a little over-time," Pakkun panted. "Leave the rest of the pack to me. We'll head home for now." He licked the little girl's arm as a sign to release him. The girl silently obliged.
The pug limped over to Sakura's form and licked her cheek affectionately. "She did good, Boss. You should have seen her."
"I know," he said simply. "I'm not surprised in the least."
And he wasn't. At least—not by her—but instead by himself.
Kakashi took in the battle ground around him.
Three corpses that weren't his kills: A bashed in face. A slit throat. A head half submerged in the ground.
All of them were skilled kills. Precise. Efficient.
She would have been fine on her own. His gut tightened in a queasy roll. His eye lids dipped half-mast, and his jaw locked in remorse.
But he had to be in control. Because of his ego. He had to be the hero rushing in. Always rushing—even when he tried to be slow and lazy—to make sure no one else died.
The story of his life: trying to be a hero and only making things worse.
It's his fault she was hurt. Because of him.
With gentle fingers, Kakashi pushed a stray strand of bubblegum hair away from her face.
Pakkun seemed to approve the answer silently. With a gruffy bark, Bull—the biggest of the hounds—came up next to him. Pakkun barked again and was gone with a puff of smoke.
The Copy-Nin turned towards the girl, and held out an offering hand.
"I'll take care of Fox. Will you help me give Bull a walk?"
The girl nodded enthusiastically despite looking just as tired as the two of the ANBU. Kakashi picked her up, and placed her on Bull's back—she looked as if she was riding a small bear. The large dog just panted at the rider readily.
Kakashi knelt down and replaced the discarded Fox mask back on Sakura as he also replaced his own Hound mask.
He shifted her onto his back as gently as he could as he hoisted her up to where her head was laying on his shoulder gingerly.
With a nod at his companions beside him, Kakashi took off towards the Fire Capital.
(With nothing but Sakura's little puffs of air breathing against his neck as the only thing moving him forward.)
***END NOTES***
FUN FACT#1: 'Creepy-Thin-Man' is definitely stolen from Charlie's Angels (2000).
FUN FACT#2: I couldn't resist saying 'Reeeaper' as it sounds in my head like that guy in Tron: Legacy (2010) that says 'Uuuuser". (lol sorry.)
FUN FACT#3: Cloak, death, etc. was definitely me putting the Deathly Hallows somewhere in this fic. (Also, sorry).
