It Didn't Start Here

by KRenee

The duty of a Yurei is to guide and heal restless spirits so that they may pass on to the afterlife, satisfied and peaceful, but Kaisuki's life has been anything but healing or peaceful. She's an outcast, seen as a dangerous threat to the village... but the real threats are lurking in the shadows nearby. It takes a monster to kill a monster, but it helps to have two. OC-centric.

3. Chapter 3

The weather had cooled as the months approached autumn but it was still too warm for coats. The leaves on the trees were just starting to change color. Kaisuki had never been outside the village in her life. She understood why, she had been informed and educated on the dangers. Her parents had taught her from a young age that going beyond the walls was dangerous. The sweatiness of her hands and her slightly quickened heart rate were reminders of those lessons.

They were miles and miles from the village by that point, nearing halfway to their destination. She knew Saeka would keep watch and warn her of danger (or at least she was reasonably certain the girl would), but it was still frightening after all the stories she'd heard and read about young kids with kekkai genkai disappearing in the night. She knew she was strong, strong enough to fight and defend herself, but it was still terrifying to consider. She was still multiple years behind in her lessons – it took years to build up proficiency with chakra and she had missed all of those lessons.

Frankly, the Hokage probably should've sent me back to the academy first.

She heard Khrai chuckle in her head, a response to her unspoken (but loud) thoughts. "Aye, 'e's a fuckin' madman if not'ing else."

"You could say that and a lot more," Kaisuki replied with a long, tired sigh in the external world.

"Tired, eh?" Their client, Tazuna, sneered at her from the other side of Sasuke. "Try bein' my age!"

"Hopefully I won't live that long," Kaisuki replied to him coolly.

The man was a drunk among drunks. Even though they'd already been travelling for two days, the man had barely eaten during mealtimes, didn't consume any water, and only drank from his flask. Kaisuki wasn't even sure how it was lasting him so long until she spotted him refilling it with a large bottle from his own backpack. The man had only a change of clothes and a huge bottle of whiskey. According to the person paying for them to escort him home, he'd gotten drunk at a local bar and gone on a bender, and had been missing for over two months. The team had been excited and happy to get to travel so far just to bring the old man home... until they met him, of course.

Tazuna wasn't exactly a mean drunk but he was one of those people who simply had nothing constructive or kind to say. Anytime he opened his mouth it was to offer a snide comment about something. Once or twice he'd hit a nerve, sure...

"Y'know girlie, you'd look cuter if ya losht some weight," he had leered at Sakura. Kaisuki saw something like pain flash in her friend's eyes, the way she stiffened and cringed back from the gaze, the way she avoided eye contact immediately. She found herself moving in tandem with Sasuke and Naruto and the three of them stepped between Sakura and Tazuna, blocking her from his sight and staring him down aggressively.

"Don't talk to her like that," Kaisuki had enunciated threateningly.

At first, the old man seemed like he wanted to become belligerent but he didn't in the end. He didn't apologize, but he didn't speak to Sakura again at all. Kaisuki didn't care what he said to her, and the boys were equally thick-skinned. Sakura, on the other hand, was off-limits as a target entirely.

"You'd probably look better if you lost weight too, yknow," Tazuna had uttered to her only a few minutes later.

"And you'd probably be happier if you weren't a drunk," she had quietly replied, tone carefully kept neutral and even polite.

She got the feeling that Tazuna hadn't expected such a snarky response, because he continued to make those snide comments regardless. As a result of it, Kakashi had decided that Sakura would stay with Naruto and himself at the back of the group, whereas Tazuna would walk between Kaisuki and Sasuke. Since she and Sasuke were so well-practiced at verbal battles, they would serve as the defense for the rest of the team... from their client.

"I'm not human. I'm an Elf."

It had taken her a few days for it to really sink in but as Khrai became a regular part of her daily life, it became clear quickly just how much of a difference there was. As a part of private training with her, Kakashi was helping Kaisuki push her limits as safely as possible and teaching her spirits her limits so they didn't go beyond them thoughtlessly and hurt her. After Khrai had broken her arm that first day, the next morning at training Kakashi had had an earful for her.

To her surprise, the Elf had patiently and understandingly taken the discipline. She had even agreed with him.

"Nah, you're right on t'at one. It's hard to work wit'in the limits of a human body."

During their missions and outside of them, Kakashi encouraged them to work together, using their senses together, communicating quickly and efficiently. Saeka had been stubborn at first but after Khrai had started putting in real effort, Saeka followed closely. Kaisuki was learning her chakra control over time, Khrai was learning the limits of a human teenager, and Saeka was working on her communication skills and her own chakra control.

She still remembered the energy that Khrai had used in that bunker, during the memory-dream she'd witnessed. That energy that had ripped her flesh apart. It was definitely imperative that they found a way to fight without Khrai having to use energy that would likely kill her. The Elf seemed to be learning pretty well though. They started with Naruto's kage bunshins as punching bags, and Khrai practiced hitting them just hard enough that they didn't actually dispel.

They hadn't perfected it, certainly, but she learned quickly and seemed to be very focused on making sure she and Saeka and Kaisuki could work together in fight. Saeka still seemed a bit put off by the displays of teamwork and connecting, but she did her part regardless.

Kaisuki felt like something was off between them that she didn't know how to express. She just hoped, even at that point, that Saeka would maintain her rationality and that the teamwork they'd built up wouldn't be wrecked if something happened. Saeka had agreed to warn her if something was coming, Khrai had promised to be there to back her up if they needed her. Kaisuki was determined to fight herself, but she knew she could rely on her spirits if she needed them. They had practiced and practiced and drilled and drilled. She trusted them, and she was sure they trusted her by that point.

She heard something from the inside that sounded like whispering but made a point to not pay attention. It still bothered her when they were discussing things without her. What were they talking about? Should she know? Were they withholding information from her? Were they making decisions without her?

There was no reason for them to hold truly ill intentions. If she died, they just died again and went back to being vengeful wandering spirits. That was enough to keep them from wanting to try to kill her, surely. It wasn't like there was anything positive waiting for them if she died – they wouldn't go to the Afterlife until they were healed. Obviously they weren't, so they wouldn't let her die, they would work together and keep each other safe and alive.

Right?

"Kaisuki, something's coming," Saeka's voice suddenly spoke in her head. She faltered a little in her steps but continued walking.

"What's coming? From where?"

"From behind you, there's no – Kaisuki, just let me take over!"

"Wha-..."

She blinked and found herself within her mind again, Saeka standing where she had been. Unlike previous times, the younger spirit didn't transform into her own body (which Kaisuki still didn't know how to do). The girl hadn't even moved yet. What was she waiting for if there was such an imminent threat? She couldn't take five seconds to explain what the threat was?

"Why did you shove me!? If you'd just talk to me, we could-..."

She felt a heavy hand on her shoulder and knew it was Khrai before the Elf even spoken. She shook the woman's hand off and stepped away from her, closer to Saeka. Kaisuki reached for the younger spirit and put a hand on her shoulder, intending to pull her back and take back control again. Saeka didn't budge though and, instead, Kaisuki found herself drawn up "next to" Saeka, where she could experience everything clear and up-close, but she still couldn't control her body. Saeka refused to release the reins and let her Hostess take control again. Why was it that Khrai and Saeka had no issue with taking over by force, but Kaisuki herself couldn't? What was the secret? It was her body, so why!?

"Kaisuki, I know you don't like when I do this," Saeka ground out to her in their shared mind. "But I won't have time to answer all your questions every time something..."

Saeka abruptly came to a stop, the group behind her slowing to a stop as well. In a flurry of movement that Kaisuki couldn't follow, Saeka moved. The Yurei felt and heard blood spray from a wound before she could even see what they had been ambushed by. Her mouth went dry as she stared at the thing that had come from seemingly nowhere to attack them. Human features that didn't match, mixed with limbs from animals and large insects, the body of a crocodile with the legs of a tiger... what kind of monster was it? Where had it come from? Something like that couldn't be a naturally-occurring part of nature. That had to be something man-made.

Can people make things like that?

Beside Saeka, Kaisuki's mouth was open in shock and horror. It had already collapsed to the ground in an oozing puddle of smelly fluids. Saeka had turned away and offered a hand to Kakashi, who she had shoved to the ground to defend.

"Are you alright?" Saeka's voice sounded different from Kaisuki's, but it sounded like she was trying to mask it.

"I'm alright," Kakashi was answering. He took her hand and Saeka pulled him to his feet, giving him a swift once-over with her keen eye for detail. He appeared to be uninjured though. They had successfully protected him.

"Saeka successfully protected him," Khrai spoke up behind them. "Kaisuki, you have to learn to trust her. She's not dangerous."

Easier said than done, Khrai. You haven't been here for the past eight years.

Saeka withdrew very abruptly and Kaisuki found herself blinking into the sunlight again. Her body felt warm, but not hot like usual. Clearly the girl had held back, hadn't used her chakra the way she had in the past. Despite Kaisuki's fear, Saeka was changing. She looked at her hand and found a kunai there. Saeka didn't use kunai – she had ten-inch-long talons instead of fingers. She wasn't used to being able to make a fist, let alone hold a kunai.

"I'm glad you're okay," Kaisuki responded to Kakashi. She looked back at the monstrous thing that had attacked them.

Sasuke cleared his throat, having walked towards them. There was a strange expression on his face. "This thing... was going straight for you, wasn't it, sensei?"

There was a stiff pause among them all. "Yea," their mentor replied. "It definitely was."

"W-what is that thing?" Sakura asked shakily, her face white and ashen. Kaisuki looked towards her, wishing she had an answer.

"It's called a homunculus," Khrai supplied.

"A homunculus... a chimera, more specifically," Kakashi replied, which Kaisuki was grateful for. It wouldn't be very covert-Yurei of her to answer a question she shouldn't know the answer to as one of the Genin in a team.

"I've never heard of something like that," Sasuke joined the conversation, staring at the bizarre corpse. "What the hell is a chimera?"

Next Naruto interrupted, "Oh! A chimera is an experimental form of artificial life, where they take different parts of different creatures and stitch them together!" He excitedly explained, his eye undeniably attracted to the corpse. "There's never been one that survived more than a few hours, definitely none that had been combat testable. This is an incredible discove-...!"

"Naruto," Kaisuki loved him for his love of weird information, but her stomach was churning with anxiety. "Please." Saeka had taken that thing out, not Kaisuki herself. She could see how deep the wound the girl had made was, she could feel the ache in her bones and joints from the force Saeka had had to use to make that killing blow.

"We should move on," Kakashi stated, looking over all their faces. When his eyes landed on Kaisuki, his gaze lingered knowingly on her. A silent cue to Saeka that made Kaisuki immediately feel a bit guilty for how she'd reacted. "I know you're excited, Naruto, but that was not a wild animal attack. That was a planned ambush."

Naruto blinked, the severity of the situation immediately hitting him. His expression sobered immediately. Their mentor gestured for them to regroup and they did, back in their original positions. Kaisuki glanced to her right to check on Sasuke, but found herself looking into the eyes of their client. There was something about the way he was looking at her that felt off.

"Yer a pretty lil thang," he slurred at her with a smile that didn't really look drunk. "N' yer strooong, too, huh?"

Kaisuki felt bile rise up her throat from the stench of whiskey on the man's breath and made a disgusted face.

"Strong enough," she muttered back. She felt more uncomfortable with him now than she had the entire trip. They had been told it would be a simple escort mission. Why were they under attack? For the old man? How could he be worth anything at all? The lingering unease of the knowledge that Saeka and Khrai could take over and do whatever they wanted, whenever they wanted, and that Kaisuki wouldn't be able to prevent it...

Ino screamed in terror and pain, stumbling away and clutching her arm. Kaisuki was sobbing and crying and yelling, but Saeka wouldn't stop. She wouldn't stop. She just kept attacking anyone who came near, lashing out at anyone who tried to help.

"Just stop! Stop Saeka!" She shouted, spiraling in her own tempest of fear and anger and hurt. The violent, vicious spirit didn't even seem to hear her. Why was she like this? Why was Kaisuki stuck with her!? It wasn't fair! She wanted to be normal, she wanted to have friends! She didn't want people to be afraid of her! Why couldn't Saeka just stop!?

"You're making everything worse, Saeka! You ruin everything! You destroy everything!"

A stone seemed to drop in her belly, heavy with guilt and shame that she didn't want to acknowledge.

"I know yer still struggling wit' all t'is, Kai," Khrai sighed, sounding sadder than Kaisuki had ever heard her. "But Saeka really is tryin' to do better by you and herself. We're not gonna hurt you or yer friends."

Kaisuki swallowed the lump in her throat but it wouldn't go away. A planned attack? From where? By whom? Why didn't Kakashi pick up on its approach? He was such a skilled ninja, he'd been ANBU! How could he not have sensed it when it was such a massive monster? How fast would it have to have been travelling for Kakashi to not be able to react in time? How fast did Saeka have to move to defend him? Was that young spirit really the only and best defense they had?

If Saeka hadn't been here... if I wasn't a Yurei, would that thing have... killed us all that easily?

"Yea," Saeka's voice returned. She sounded heated, frustrated, and upset. "It would have. Kakashi-san can't pick up on something moving that fast in time to react to it. It would've have taken him out in a single blow, leaving you four barely-trained Genin to fend for yourselves!"

They were already walking again, Kakashi pushing them to pick up the pace a bit for at least a couple of hours, until they were far away. Her throat was tight and her eyes felt hot with shame. She was upset and she didn't know how to explain it. She wanted Saeka and Khrai to be there to help her and support her. She was happy that they were willing to defend her and her friends in the first place. She was glad that Saeka and she could talk, even if it was strained often and misunderstandings were frequent.

They had made so much progress. Kaisuki truly wanted to believe that they could work together to protect the people they cared about... but she just couldn't escape the images of her terrified peers, some injured, running from her like she was a monster after she'd attacked her classmates.

"What's wrong with you? You're like a monster!" Sakura had shouted at her with wide, horrified eyes at the damage she'd wrought upon their peers to protect her friends.

She was glad that things were different now, but... were they really different? Her spirits were still taking over her body without telling her or consulting her. They were hiding things from her – she just knew they were. It sometimes felt like Khrai was working with Saeka and Kaisuki separately rather than the three of them working together. Saeka didn't like to work on her issues with Kaisuki; she preferred to learn from Khrai and Kakashi directly and wait until she'd mastered the skill or behavior before trying it out with Kaisuki.

She hated that it was like that between them. She knew that it wasn't something that could be blamed on either of them. She knew she needed to learn to just shut up and trust Saeka, but she could barely do that with herself!

…

"They don't have to ask me, but I can't force them either. If they're in control, I can't pull them back but they can pull me back, and..." Kaisuki told Kakashi quietly. "Like, they have the power to take over and never let me out again, but I don't have the same ability. It feels like they're letting me live my life when they want to."

It was so difficult to explain, and no matter how many times she reworded it, it still didn't feel right and she knew it was irrational. Kakashi occasionally hummed in thoughtful acknowledgment as she unloaded to him about how she'd been feeling, but she couldn't tell if he really understood what she was saying. Kaisuki had asked to speak with him privately, so while Naruto and Sakura cooked up dinner that evening and Sasuke kept a strict supervision over their client, she and Kakashi went out for the perimeter check.

She kicked a rock at her feet and it bounced under a bush. "Like, I... I don't know, it just... it's... Like is this really my life?" Kaisuki sighed out in defeat. "Or... I don't know but, like, as a Yurei, am I supposed to just take the backseat on my own life? Because that's... that's just bullshit. I don't even know how else to explain it."

The young Kunoichi didn't really even know why she was talking to Kakashi about it. Usually she would speak to Naruto about it because he seemed to understand her plight, but that didn't seem right. She had thought about it but in the end she decided to speak to her mentor. She knew Kakashi couldn't really understand what she was going through but she felt like she had to talk to someone who had the life experience to offer an objective reply. She couldn't get that from Saeka, Khrai, or any of her peers. What her spirits had been telling her the entire time was no longer sufficing and she needed a second opinion, even if that opinion was ignorant of the reality she was experiencing.

"It sounds unfair," Kakashi replied to her calmly after a few seconds pause. She nodded at the ground, kicking another rock towards another bush and watching it disappear from her sight. "I would say it is unfair."

Kaisuki sighed softly. "Yea, but I..." she closed her mouth before speaking further and looked over at him, a bit surprised. "Wait, what?"

Kakashi chuckled lightheartedly. "What? Did you think your issues were so niche they'd be incomprehensible?"

Kaisuki felt her cheeks heat up rapidly. She had, actually, just been thinking that. In fairness to herself though, she'd met very few people she could talk with candidly who actually understood her. Flustered, she began sheepishly, "Well, I mean..."

"It's alright," Kakashi's hand landed gently on the top of her head, silencing her as he spoke to her. "That's normal teenager stuff. It's hard to imagine someone being able to get it. All your experiences are so intense and profound at your age. It feels like nothing you say really puts it into words, right? Like no one can understand because you don't know how to say it yet?"

Kaisuki blinked at him a few times, his words sinking in. "Right," she agreed slowly, nodding in acknowledgment. "Yea."

Kakashi patted her head a few more times before lowering his arm again. "What you're describing is very simple, really: you don't like feeling out of control," he summed it up so easily and concisely that Kaisuki couldn't help feeling extremely over-dramatic and stupid. "You've spent your whole childhood so far in this power struggle with Saeka; she's put you in a lot of really sucky situations that were out of your control, but in the end it was still you who had to shoulder the consequences, right?"

As he continued talking, his words resonated with her more and more. Her eyes stung and her throat felt tight, a sense of relief washing over her that she hadn't expected. He understands. It was almost mind-boggling but she was thankful nonetheless.

"That is unfair," Kakashi continued. "I don't have a Saeka, but I did used to have pretty bad anger issues of my own, believe it or not, and at least to a small degree I can understand what it's like to be afraid of losing control and hurting people you don't want to hurt - even if it felt justified in the moment."

It was shockingly silent in her head. She wondered off-handedly if Saeka and Khrai were listening in.

"As you grow up, it gets easier to put things into perspective. The emotions you're experiencing are fear and frustration," Kakashi concluded. "Everyone experiences those emotions, it's just that they're easier to handle and manage as an adult with more experience."

"When can I have that experience?" Kaisuki grumbled a little indignantly. Kakashi laughed, the sound warm and whole-hearted. He didn't usually laugh so openly – typically he reserved himself to a chuckle at most.

"You'll notice it eventually," he replied to her with a playful glint in his one visible eye. "You'll have a moment in your mid-twenties where you become self-aware and then you get to have your mid-life crisis for the next forty years."

Kaisuki couldn't help but laugh, even knowing he was only half-joking. Just listening to him talk and put words to her thoughts and feelings had helped tremendously. Maybe it'd be easier for her to have those conversations with the involved parties in the future. Hopefully Saeka and Khrai had been listening too. She didn't think she'd be able to repeat what her mentor had taught her adequately enough to do it justice. She was glad she had decided to talk to him. Normally she just bottled those things up or vented to Naruto. Venting was nice and she felt validated when she spoke about it to Naruto, but he couldn't offer her the life lessons that Kakashi could.

I guess that's why we get Jounin instructors.

.

After dinner, everyone turned in for the night pretty quickly. Kaisuki was exhausted and laid down before she'd even finished chewing her last bite. After talking to Kakashi, it was like a weight had come off her shoulders. Now that she had the language, she felt more in control already. There was more work to do, of course, but at least she felt a lot better.

Kaisuki drifted into her internal world, looking around the darkness. Was it supposed to be so dark in a Yurei's internal landscape? Her mind and spirit were still wide-awake but she could lay her body down and put it to sleep separately. It was one of a few bonuses to her... condition.

"Hey, Kai," Khrai greeted her with a wave and a lopsided smile. Internally, Khrai was able to make herself smaller and she usually did so. Kaisuki didn't mind the woman towering over her but perhaps it was awkward for Khrai. She had to kneel down to look her Hostess in the eye at her full height.

Kaisuki smiled at her and walked over. "Hey," she responded. Then, curiously, she asked, "did you listen to me and Kakashi's conversation?"

The Elf closed her eyes and nodded, looking a bit apologetic. "Aye, I did. Will ye join me in t'e Kotatsu Room?"

"The what...?"

Khrai reached out and took her hand and suddenly, they were in the aforementioned "Kotatsu Room". It was a small space, just large enough for three or four people to sit around the table and chat. On the floor there were four pillows already situated at each side of the square table. Kaisuki sat across from Khrai on a pale purple cushion that she felt just had to be for her.

"I didn't know this was in here," she stated the obvious, looking around the room in wonder. It sort of reminded her of her family's dining room. Though she was certain the real one was probably less cramped. "What the hell?"

Khrai chuckled, "T'ere's all kinds of 'places' in here from when ye were growing up. Itachi and Sasuke's bedrooms're somewhere towards t'e back, too."

"That's wild," the Hostess replied with a chuckle.

"Anyway," Khrai cleared her throat. "I heard yer conversation wit' Kakashi. It got me t'inking, certainly. I 'ave been real dismissive of yer and Saeka's history. I'm not too good wit' people, and t'at's on me. Sorry for bein' a dunce about it."

Kaisuki smiled at her gratefully. "Yea, I appreciate that..." she began, but Khrai interrupted her with a finger held up to silence her.

"I ain't done yet. I also admit, I didn't realize just how afraid ye were about bein' a Yurei at all," the Elf continued seriously. "T'e loss o' control, t'e harm we can cause, t'e fear of losing your life to our whims – yea, of course! I can see where t'at fear comes from. Ye don't know what's expected of ya, nor do ya gots a clue what t'e future will look like."

Kaisuki nodded with an emphatic, "Yes! Thank you for understanding."

Khrai smiled reassuringly at her. "I'm doin' my best, alright? I'm really pullin' out all t'e stops wit' my social skills right now."

They both laughed at that, before Khrai reached across the table to take Kaisuki's hand. "I don't want ya to be t'inkin' and feelin' t'at way forever. Is t'ere anyt'ing I can do to help or somethin'?"

Kaisuki squeezed her hand back and nodded. "I... that's a good question, um..." She began before making a face as she pondered a few seconds longer. "I think... I think I'd feel better if I knew more about what's going on with you two," she began, staring at their intertwined hands. "I mean, I heard you talking to Kakashi and the Hokage about the... demons. It didn't really sink in until that thing attacked us yesterday. That part I understand. I guess what I'm stuck on is … how or, I guess, why you and Saeka are so involved with it?"

Khrai nodded sagely at her. "I can tell ya my piece, but I'll be truthful wit' ya right now, Kaisuki – I don't know much about Saeka. She seems ta know a lot and sometimes she'll just answer a question about t'ings wit'out promptin', but she's real cagey about 'er past."

Kaisuki nodded. "It seems like she had a pretty rough life."

"Aye," Khrai agreed. "I don't know what went on, but she's not ready t' talk about it. I jus' hope she gets ready 'fore it's too late to tell us. Anyways, ye wanted to know my bit, at least. I don' know how involved I'd say I am, but I've been in many Yurei over t'e past few t'ousands years. T'ey've witnessed t'ings t'at informed what I know now.

"Back then, t'ose t'ings were specifically huntin' Yurei, boy Yurei to be exact. Boys had a chance o' being a very specific type o' Yurei, t'at can draw in spirits but ain't born wit' 'em." Khrai explained, staring at their hands instead of looking at Kaisuki. "A few 'undred years ago, because I wanted to stop 'em from it, I cursed t'e Tsubaki family – t'ere would be no more boy Yurei born. I'm not too good at curses, but when I'm upset t'ey tend to stick."

Kaisuki was very still, taking in Khrai's words and mulling it all over. "I don' know what's been goin' on t'e last hundred or so years because t'ere's been no Yurei born." Khrai concluded. "Now, all I know is, t'ey're after someone in yer village. T'ey're probably after one of your teammates, or even you yerself. Maybe t'ey know you have Saeka, maybe t'ey somehow know ya have me. Maybe t'ey want Kurama, maybe t'ey want t'e Sharingan. T'ere's no tellin' until t'ey make t'e big move."

"Kurama?"

There was a short pause. "Ah, ye only know 'im as the Nine-tails, or t'e Kyuubi, right?"

"Oh! Yea." Kaisuki blinked, her eyebrows coming together. "He has a name? And why do you know it?"

"Ah, well... ye could say we're ol' pals or somethin'." She replied dodgily, which Kaisuki couldn't help giggling at. "I'm not even sure he knows I'm 'ere yet. He's pretty oblivious, honestly."

Kaisuki winced suddenly, feeling her body rising. What? Khrai was looking right back at her, alarmed. "Let's-..."

"Kaisuki!" They both heard Saeka yelling. "Khrai! I need help!"

In all the time she'd known Saeka, she had never heard the young spirit cry for help so directly. Khrai and Kaisuki rose in unison, the latter nearly tripping over the pillow she'd been seated on. A blink later and they were back in the white spotlight. The moment they arrived, Saeka released her hold on the body, allowing Kaisuki to be automatically pulled in.

"What's going on, Sae?" Khrai was quick to ask. Kaisuki blinked herself back into reality, realizing that Saeka had been in the middle of waking everyone up. Naruto was blearily crawling out of the tent he'd shared with Tazuna, looking more fatigued that he normally would in such an emergency. Something was off.

"There's a horde!" Saeka was panicking to Khrai, breathless and terrified. "I-I... I can fight things stronger than me, even multiple, but that's... Khrai, I can't take on that many-... w-what if they realized I'm here and-..."

Kaisuki forced her focus into the present moment before her. A horde of demons, she presumed. She grabbed Naruto by the arm and yanked, pulling him to his feet. She then turned to inventory everyone. Tazuna was leaned up against a tree a couple feet away, barely conscious. Sasuke was awake, Sakura was holding his hand with a pale face.

"Kaisuki, what did she say?" Kakashi asked her pointedly. Kaisuki met his gaze.

"She said there's a horde coming." She heard Tazuna cough a little, seemingly coming back to life. A cursory glance his way allowed her to catch sight of a glint in his eyes that could not possibly be the innocent old man. She was frozen, staring at him. If she said something, would he-...?

She saw a glint of metal and her vision went black for just a second. She found herself pushed to the side, but still full present in reality. Khrai had taken her place and jumped in front of Sasuke, but their mentor, Kakashi, acted before she really had to. The Jounin was standing between her and the old man for a moment before she saw the corpse fall to the ground, a kunai deep in his chest.

Her heart was hammering. "This whole mission was a set up," she said it out loud without meaning to, but it was the truth nonetheless. She swallowed hard, fearful. What could they do?

"Kaisuki, can I speak?" Khrai asked her. "Will ye trust us t'is time?"

She stared inward at the Elf. Something in her mind was telling her it wasn't a good idea, that she couldn't trust them, but...

I don't have a choice here.

"Go for it."

.

Kakashi turned around to face the Genin behind him, his expression deathly serious. Kaisuki was right; it was a setup from the moment the village accepted the mission. He had four Genin he had to protect. A horde of demons? What exactly did that entail? What did that mean? How many was a horde? How could they fight? How could they defend themselves?

"Aye, listen up," Khrai's accent was enough to signal her arrival on its own. Kakashi looked at his student, finding a pair of bright blue eyes looking back at him. She turned so she could see all of their faces. "What ye heard is right. T'ere's a horde coming, and a big'un at t'at. We can stop 'em and protect ye all, but ya have to stay out of our way, alright?"

His pale-faced students look at him for his response. "What's your plan, Khrai?"

Khrai chuckled darkly. "'S not much of a plan; my energy will melt 'em into not'ing."

Kakashi's stomach sank like a rock, immediately knowing what energy she was talking about. Naruto and Sasuke and Sakura hadn't seen the aftermath of Khrai using that white not-chakra of hers. It had ripped Kaisuki's arm apart. If she used more, how bad would the damage be?

"Khrai, are you sure that-..."

"Aye, I'm sure. We're sure. Listen," she implored, looking Naruto in the eye in particular. "Kaisuki might not survive t'is. I- no, shut it, listen. She might not survive. If she does, she'll need medical care right away, and she won't be able to get t'at if ye all die. Aye?"

There was a loud sound filling the air. An indescribable din that built up slowly, louder and louder. Like some kind of huge mechanism that was ripping through the forest. The sun was barely rising in the sky and there was just enough light that Kakashi could see the dark cloud rolling towards them like an omen of death. His mouth was dry. Was it really alright to leave something like this to his student? A million-year-old spirit or not, that was still the body of a child, his student, who he was supposed to protect.

"Fuck, we're outta time," he heard Khrai grunt with a tone that only served to make him more anxious. "Jus' get behind me! Now!"

She stepped in front of them, all of them, and extended her hands out in both directions. Kakashi had stepped in front of his three students and he ushered them backwards, as close to the nearest trees as possible. They didn't want to be flung too far from what would likely be an earth-shattering blast if the raised hairs on Kakashi's neck were to be at all trusted.

He looked behind himself at the trio of Genin and shouted over the din - "GRAB ON TO EACH OTHER!" Sakura and Sasuke were frozen in shock and fear, but Naruto jumped into action, stepping in front of them and turning to face them and grab their wrists. The boy had been present for so many of Kaisuki's "incidents", he had an impressive tolerance for crises.

Kakashi could see the muscle in Naruto's forearm twitching from the tightness of his grip. Ensuring to the best of his ability that they wouldn't be separated. Good job, kid. Safety of the team comes first. The blond wasn't looking at him, but Kakashi did his best to offer an encouraging nod to Sakura and Sasuke before he looked back at what was unfolding in front of him.

All he saw was a blinding white light, Kaisuki's small silhouette against it, and the rim of darkness that seemed to arch like a wave over them.

Please survive, Kaisuki.

.

"It's unfair for Elves to fight for the humans, Khrai," a young man had told her a long, long, long time ago. He had been drafted into the war and she knew for what purpose. "Don't try to help me or anything. If I die, I die using my own strength."

They had sat together in a bottomless cell. "I'd rather die and let you be reincarnated during peaceful times," he had stated decisively. Khrai didn't know how someone could be accepting of their own death and fate. She had done... unimaginable things to resist the hand fate had dealt her.

Well, 'nd look where t'at got me...

"I doubt t'ere could ever be peaceful days among 'umans, child."

She sang a spell within Kaisuki's mind to put her into a deep, deep sleep – so deep she wouldn't feel a thing. If she survived, it would be a miracle alongside the magic Khrai was deploying with her energy. She was no Warlock, but magic was an intergral part of Elven society and there were some things Warriors learned to do on the battlefield.

Saeka had been in a panic before but, since Khrai had taken over, she stood resolutely by the Elf's side. Silent but unwavering, somehow bolstering Khrai's focus.

The spell was simple. She would deploy the maximum wave of chi she could generate through Kaisuki's body, and the moment that energy left her body it would trigger another spell that she had put on the young girl months ago. It was a barbaric version of the Renewal spell that Priestesses would use to heal the sick and wounded. The version Khrai knew was reserved for battlefield emergencies and plenty of Elves died from the pain. She had put Kaisuki into what humans might've considered a death coma so the girl wouldn't feel it but there was still no guarantee her spirit wouldn't give out.

The spell would rip her apart and then put her back together the way she had been immediately before. It likely wouldn't work perfectly, and there was still the issue of any lasting damage. After using her chi a few times in smaller blasts, Kaisuki had developed pain and tenderness in her left arm that seemed to be permanent. It could be the girl's last day on earth and she was in a coma.

Yer friends'll remember ya for yer 'eroism... She thought, nerves steeled against the worst.

She opened her mouth and her voice carried the echo of a haunting vocalization through the air, a deafening sound that her people, the Elves', had called the Valkyrie's Cry.

The ground beneath her feet crumbled like building blocks.

"Saeka... ye don't have to stay..."

"It's fine, Khrai. I'll be fine."

How is it yer all calm now, child?

"Pain... is... easy enough … for me..."

.

Naruto had read every available form of text documents in the pathetic excuse for the Central Library of Konoha. A surprising number of them were personal and official records of the Nine-Tails attack 13 or so years ago. He knew that he had been a newborn infant and he knew that the fox was inside of him. The Hokage had allegedly never intended for Naruto to find out but the Kyuubi had made himself known to Naruto because of Saeka, who he seemed to have developed a soft spot for.

The official records of the Nine-Tails attack focused largely on numbers, measurements, death tolls and injuries, and so on. They were official and therefore more trustworthy sources, but it was the personal accounts that truly painted the picture. The death toll in the hundreds coupled with the graphic descriptions of the carnage witnessed by civilians. The names of the dead alongside the stories from the family that was left behind.

With a swipe of one of his nine tails, the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox could flatten mountains. With a swipe of his massive paw, he smashed and battered dozens of Jounin. He had killed the Fourth Hokage, the beloved hero of the people. He had nearly annihilated the entire village. Naruto couldn't truly imagine something that powerful. Flatten an entire mountain? What would that even look like? How big was he, truly? Even within Naruto's mind, the Kyuubi didn't seem that big.

Was something like that really possible? Was it really a mountain that he had flattened? Naruto had read all of those documents twice or more and he still felt like he didn't truly understand. He wanted to, though – he definitely wanted to.

That was what he had believed – he wanted to know what that kind of crisis looked like.

He didn't know what he had been thinking but, when he saw what was happening, he had positioned himself in front of his friends. He had turned around just as the light exploded from Kaisuki's body and as a result had managed to shield his friends. Now, he lay on top of them, some kind of heavy weight crushing them all together. At least they hadn't been separated, right?

"Sakura? Sasuke?" He whisper-yelled into the dark space. He wasn't sure if he ought to be worrying about another threat. "You guys okay?"

He pushed against the ground as hard he could, trying to move the weight that was crushing them into one another. What was that, a tree? He pushed harder, pushing chakra into his muscles and managed to lift it a little. It had to be a tree half-buried in the dirt or something. A small amount light peered through at them. He could see Sakura's pink hair and he thought for a moment he was looking at her red dress – until he saw the way it glistened.

Sakura took in a breath, gasping and spluttering, "W-we're here," she managed to say. He was lucky he hadn't passed out. By the sound of it, she might've suffocated. Was Sasuke breathing beneath her...?! He could see her to trying to shift but couldn't get very far.

"Can you see anything?" She muttered hoarsely to him between her wheezing breaths. "I can't really move."

"Are you hurt?" Naruto reiterated in a serious tone, noticing how silent Sasuke had been the whole time. His throat tightened. They needed Sasuke.

There was a very brief pause before Sakura replied, "N-no, I'm not hurt, nothing hurts."

"Sakura," Naruto said, feeling the weight of something other than the tree on his back. "I think Sasuke's hurt. He's underneath you. Don't move."

"S-Sasuke-kun's...?"

He heard the Uchiha groan weakly and a desperation nearly overwhelmed him until, without being asked, he felt a surge angry red chakra fill him – assistance from the Nine-Tails himself. He was surprised that the demon fox would do such a thing, but nevertheless Naruto gritted his teeth and braced himself against the dirt, pushing with all his strength and breathing like a woman in labor until the burden on his back gave way and rolled off to the side. It was indeed a tree, and it had been partially buried.

He took a cursory glance around and his heart dropped into his stomach. He couldn't see Kaisuki, or Kakashi, or anyone else. The records of the Kyuubi attack were rolling in his mind as he stared at the destruction. There were trees and boulders and chunks of the ground scattered everywhere.

He, Sakura, and Sasuke had wound up on a sandy beach and right in front of him was the river they'd been heading to. That particular river was the best way to get to the Wave Country from Konoha. They had to take small boats to cross the river to get there. Those boats ought to be nearby if they were at the river now... but they'd been nearly a mile away from that water source just a few seconds ago!

"Naruto!" Sakura called his name and he was snapped out of his thoughts. She had a very serious look on her face. "Do you know who was carrying the medical supplies?"

"Oh! I was!" he recalled immediately, reaching for his kunai pouch. They were still there, right? Please be there, please... his hand wrapped around a scroll that he knew was the one. He smiled and was about to pull it out when Sakura gasped.

Before he could even look up, she screamed in terror: "NARUTO!" Red chakra rushed through him again and he swung out with a kunai he'd pulled from the same pouch as the medical supplies. He felt contact but not from the blade. Whoever it was that had struck out at him wasn't where he thought they'd been. They caught his wrist, pulling him away from his friends with his own momentum being used against him and kicking him hard in the gut, sending him flying several feet away.

He rolled into a handspring, stumbling a bit when he found the ground again. There was some distance between them, so he took a just couple of seconds to properly assess the situation the way Kakashi-sensei was always drilling into his head.

"You're not an idiot or an airhead, Naruto. Let go of your wounded ego and acknowledge yourself as a Shinobi. No one else can do that for you."

Sakura was holding Sasuke against herself, trying to push herself backwards while pulling him along. The man standing over her was tall, muscular, and looked like a mercenary that Naruto was sure he'd seen before. His heart was hammering in his chest. What could he do? He wasn't a prodigy like Sasuke, or a genius like Sakura, and it wasn't like he had a spirit within him who could share energy with him... Oh, wait... hang on a second!

"Kyuubi!" He called out into his mind, directly addressing the Nine-Tailed Fox. It wasn't something he did often – the Fox seemed to find him obnoxious, boring, and tedious to interact with. However, this time, he had offered some assistance without being asked. So maybe...

"Oh, did you finally get the memo?" The fox snickered at him. "Yes, I'll share some power with you, child. Let's kill him together, shall we?"

That was the other reason Naruto didn't interact with fox much. He was a weirdo.

"Yea, let's!" Naruto replied as hot chakra poured into him. The Kyuubi wasn't usually interested in helping Naruto in any situation, but in that moment it felt like every drop of the fox's chakra was filling Naruto to the brim and then some. He felt his mouth open and heard an inhuman howl that he couldn't believe was his own voice. His body rushed towards the middle-aged man who now held a sword pointed at Sakura's face in a silent threat. Sakura looked terrified, tears streaming down her flushed face, blood on her hand from Sasuke's bleeding wound...

His skin felt impossibly hot. His mind was going blank and his vision was fading to gray. He wondered faintly if that was how Kaisuki felt when Saeka took over. If it was, he understood a bit better why it terrified her so much.

.

Kakashi let out a strained, agonized groan as he unearthed himself from the mess of shrubbery and rocks and parts of trees and dirt that had all but buried him when Khrai...

What did she even do? Kakashi knew very little about Khrai. She had expressed that they shouldn't try to fight with her because of her sheer destructive capability. She was strong enough that she would be a threat to allies on the battlefield. He had seen the energy she used, he had seen the way it affected Kaisuki's body. Yet, he had no idea how he could even begin to describe what had just happened.

He couldn't hear anything. It was painfully quiet, in fact. Even the animal life was completely silent. Most of it was likely dead, if the aftermath of disaster around him was any indication. He didn't see anyone walking around, he didn't see any threats. He also didn't see anyone on his team. Where were they? How far back could they have been blasted? Where had he been thrown to? He had to find them quickly but...

How much can I move without passing out myself?

He already knew he was bleeding internally. There was a hot, angry pain in his side, in the lower right quadrant. He gingerly lifted his shirt to inspect the damage to find some swelling and a small, narrow wound.

Oh, shit...

That was a projectile wound. Something sharp and small had hit him hard enough to pierce into his flesh. It was possible that important organs had been hit. He hadn't lost consciousness yet, so perhaps it wasn't that bad, but any kind of internal injury from an external projectile was far more dangerous than a closed injury with no entrance or exit wound. It would likely worsen quickly with time, but for now he could move and he was conscious. The closest thing they had to a medic on the team was Sakura, who had been teaching herself privately over the last few months.

Where was she though? I just hope they're all still together.

He picked his way around the ripped up trees and bushes around him, moving slowly. He was in a lot of pain but he was most worried about making a bad injury worse before he located his team. It felt like someone was watching him but when he inconspicuously scanned his surroundings, he didn't pick up on anything. He lifted his headband and revealed his Sharingan, sending chakra to it to activate it. The movement of his chakra was a bit painful but he could endure it.

He scanned around, searching for sources of chakra. He didn't use his Sharingan for much else, if he was honest. He scanned, pushing more chakra to his eye to amplify the effect. With his maximum range, he spotted a trio of colorful chakra signatures he recognized. Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke. Thank the gods that they were all together. It looked like Naruto and Sakura were moving, but Sasuke wasn't... likely he was injured. He would have to treat Naruto to some ramen when they got home. They were at the very edge of his range, which was about a quarter mile, so they were actually quite close.

He let out a soft sigh of relief that immediately alerted him to the fact that he was becoming breathless. His stomach felt queasy as well. He was running out of time. Where was Kaisuki? Kakashi stumbled over to a fallen tree, using it to hold himself up as he scanned his surroundings in every direction. He felt dizzy and unsteady but he forced himself to lock his joints in place and stay standing long enough to...

There! He spotted her pale purple chakra, which had been reduced to a dangerously low level that was almost too faint to even see. His stomach lurched. She was lying down, writhing a little and occasionally twitching. She was in critical condition. He had to get to her. He tried to walk along the fallen tree, using it as a crutch, but after about fifteen feet his knees gave out because of his dizziness. He barely managed to catch himself and even so, he still hit the ground pretty hard.

He forced his head up, spotting Kaisuki's motionless form again and extending his left hand in that direction, pointing to where she was. Hopefully the rest of the team would understand when they found him. Will they be able to find me?

"You're no idiot or airhead, Naruto."

He wanted to trust them and believe in the growth he'd seen during their training, but he couldn't help being fearful. They were just children. How had this trap gone through so smoothly for the enemy without being caught by the sector responsible for reviewing and approving missions? There was a specific subsection of that sector that solely dealt with Genin missions; it had state of the art technology and so many layers of security and re-checking systems. How could someone even bypass that much security?

"They can infect human chakra circulatory systems 'nd control yer every t'ought and action."

How deep did the demonic corruption really go? Would they be able to figure it out in time to protect the village? Was protecting the village even possible? Were they already too late? His eyes slipped shut and his body went lax, his muscles too weak to hold him up any longer. The last thoughts running through Kakashi's mind before he blacked out were of fear for his students.

I didn't want to raise a team in a world like the one I grew up in...

.

He felt himself moving before he woke up to the sound of someone calling his name.

"Naruto! Naruto, please, please," he quickly recognized the voice of Sakura and realized she was the one trying to shake him awake. Why was he sleeping in the first placed? She sounded very worried too. Had something happened, or something? Why was she so upset?

"Get up, boy," the Kyuubi's voice echoed loudly in his head and he sat straight up with eyes suddenly wide open. He gasped, looking around as he recalled what was going on. They were under attack. Where was Sasuke? Where was Kaisuki? Where was Kakashi?

"Naruto, oh thank gods!" He hadn't quite finished processing the reality around him when a weeping Sakura threw her arms around his neck and started crying. Naruto felt his cheeks heat up rapidly and he cleared his throat, patting Sakura on the back.

"Where's Sa..." he hugged her back, but then she started crying much harder about how he was an idiot. "I-... okay, I'm sorry, I didn't mean, I... uh, Sakura, is... I know but..." he could barely even understand her but he tried to respond anyway.

"There, there," he sheepishly tried to console her once he had given up trying to get a word in edgewise, rubbing her back soothingly. He could hardly understand her sobbed mumbles but he caught on to a few things.

Finally, she pulled back to draw a shaky breath and aggressively snapped at him; "and you're a fucking idiot for trying to fight that guy on your own!" He hadn't seen her quite so angry in a long time. The many times she had gotten angry with him, it hadn't been out of concern for his wellbeing and safety. She was genuinely concerned about him? She had been afraid for his life while he protected her and Sasuke from danger?

Speaking of which, where was that guy?

"Where'd that big dude go, Sakura?" Naruto asked as his teammate angrily wiped the ears from her eyes and cheeks. She paused for a second in her ministrations at his question. Naruto had never seen her so carelessly rough with her own skin. She was pretty cute with her face flushed pink and her brow scrunched together in distress, though.

Sakura lowered her hands, sniffling and still looking at him as though he had grown another head. "You... killed him, Naruto," she spoke slowly and with uncertainty. "Don't you remember?"

Naruto didn't remember at all, but at least the guy was dead and no longer a threat. Sakura continued, pointing behind him; "he's over there."

Naruto turned to look upon the corpse he had created and immediately regretted it. Once again, he had longed to see the carnage of war but the reality of what it looked like and what it would feel like was beyond anything his imagination could've come up with. The man had been butchered and torn apart. His flesh was shredded but clearly not from any kind of claws.

Naruto looked down at his hands, seeing blood underneath his own nails. He knew from Kaisuki's and Kakashi's descriptions that he grew claws and fangs when the Kyuubi was sharing chakra with him.

I did that with my bare hands?

He clenched his abs as tightly as he could as a wave of nausea hit him, taking several steps back from the corpse. He didn't want to think about what it looked like, he didn't want to stare at it, he didn't want to be near it. His brain was already at work, though, thinking of a realistic comparison to the sight before him. He couldn't help but realize that the ribbons of torn up flesh reminded him of...

Oh no, no, don't compare it to ramen... no, gods, please...not ramen...

... ramen noodles that had been left to soak as a soup for hours and hours, until all that remained was a gelatinous noodle-y goo.

Vomit rose rapidly up Naruto's throat, the exact image his brain was describing immediately available to him because he had literally done that with ramen before. He put a hand up to his mouth, working his jaw and swallowing repeatedly. He forced himself to turn away and look away with every ounce of willpower he had available to him and smiled (more likely grimaced) at Sakura. She made a face back at him that was likely an equivalent to his own. She sure looked like he felt.

Sakura turned with him to follow. "What should we... do?" She gestured a few feet away, where Sasuke was sat up against a fallen tree. His friend's face was white and he was breathing like he'd just run a marathon, his expression twisted with pain.

They started approaching their fallen comrade and Naruto was already thinking about more than just Sasuke. Kakashi was out there somewhere and hadn't come to find them – it was likely he was injured, right? He knew that Kaisuki was injured because Khrai had warned them beforehand. He had to find them, find a way home, find a way to protect themselves. What could he do to accomplish all that? Was he really suited to be a leader? Why was Sakura asking him to lead when she was the brainiac who knew everything?!

Sakura knelt down beside Sasuke, her hands glowing a gentle green as she placed them on the Uchiha's belly. The pained look on Sasuke face faded a little. He looked extremely unwell. They had to get out of the area and find a way back to Konoha and fast. If that was the shape Sasuke was in, Kakashi and Kaisuki were probably...

"I..." Naruto started and stop, staring down at Sasuke. What should they do?

Sasuke's eyes cracked open and he spotted Naruto behind Sakura. "What are you... looking at?" The Uchiha grumbled weakly. At least he was in good enough shape to be like that.

"Nice to see you're still alive, jackass," Naruto replied but he couldn't put any energy behind it. Grumpy jerk or not, that was his friend and he was injured badly. He was possibly bleeding to death or something. Naruto wasn't even sure where the blood had come from.

"It's a slow bleed in his intestines but his spleen is also really swollen... I'm worried it could rupture." Sakura answered his thought without him even speaking, though he wasn't totally sure he understood what she was saying. "We have to get out of here."

He nodded stiffly, his mouth set in a frown. "What about Kaisuki and Kakashi? We have to find them..."

Sakura stared at her hands, still hovering over Sasuke's abdomen. She was deep in thought; he knew by the way her shoulders had lowered and her body had stilled. If he could see her face, he knew he would be able to watch her eyes dart back at forth as she considered her options.

He was chewing his lip. If only there was a way for him to stay with Sakura and Sasuke while also looking for Kaisuki and Kakashi. He had to stay where he was to watch over them, but it seemed likely that neither Kakashi nor Kaisuki were in any shape to come find them. What could he...?

Oh, right.

"Nevermind, Sakura!" Naruto exclaimed, his hand moving through a few hand seals. "Kage bunshin no jutsu!"

With a puff of chakra-loaded smoke, twenty clones of him appeared. He didn't really think he would need ten to carry Kaisuki or Kakashi, but it was best to have spares to send back information.

"Kakashi and Kaisuki are somewhere back that way," he commanded his troops of himself. "They're probably really injured so be careful with them when you're bringing them back. If anything happens..."

One of his clones interrupted him - "We know!" it said, offering a grin and a thumbs up that was surprisingly reassuring. Was that how it felt to other people when he smiled like that? If so, he felt he ought to smile more.

"Thanks." He said softly as they dispersed and started running. It was only when he watched them go that he realized the magnitude of Khrai's power. The three of them had wound up on the beach probably a mile away. He truly didn't understand why he and Sakura had managed to come out unscathed.

The direction they had come from wasn't just smashed up, it was cleaved out. The ground was ripped up and flattened out for probably two miles that he could see. No trees, no shrubs, not even the grass was left – just a pummeled, dirt landscape. The trees that had been ripped out of the ground had been thrown in every direction, mostly in pieces. He could see huge chunks of splintered wood resting among the boughs of the trees they'd landed in.

How could anyone – or anything do that much damage? Saeka was a deadly weapon; that was a well-known fact even to Naruto. She had foot-long, sharp talons that were as hard as steel instead of normal fingers, an inhuman amount of chakra, and he knew she had more up her sleeve that she refused to talk about.

This was far, far beyond that. It looked like a megatornado had come through the area. If they'd been in Konoha, there would be nothing left of the village.

They were surrounded by debris on all sides that could be used as cover in case another threat came along, but he really didn't want that to happen. It was also unlikely that the village knew what had happened to them. Even if the village had already dispatched a rescue team, it would be days before they got there, right? They couldn't afford to wait that long.

"We've got the search team going," Naruto said to Sakura, his eyes lingering on Sasuke's closed eyes. What was Sakura doing? Was she healing him? "But how do we get out of here with three critically wounded?"

Sakura twisted around to look at him with wide eyes and slightly parted lips. Her hands had stopped glowing. Was she done or had he interrupted her process? He watched as she looked at Sasuke, then out at the area around them, and then back to Sasuke, and then finally to Naruto.

"I..." She began with a tense, anxious voice. "We... I..." But nothing of substance came out.

Before Naruto could jump into action to console and calm Sakura, Sasuke cracked an eye open again and Naruto saw his mouth move. No sound came out though.

"What, Sasuke? Speak up!" He clapped his hands, hoping the sound would jar his friend awake at least long enough to say what he needed to say.

His injured comrade directed a one-eyed murderous glare towards him. "Water," Sasuke wheezed out weakly. What kind of half-baked idea was that? "The... river." The Uchiha added after he finished catching his breath for a few seconds.

The moment he said it, the lightbulb clicked. "The river!" He and Sakura exclaimed in unison. They made eye contact and Naruto glanced towards the river.

"I don't see any boats..." he muttered, carefully picking his way around a few things to get a better view of the waterway. He didn't know the geography off the top of his head. He knew there were boats somewhere along the river but... where? How far?

"It's okay, Naruto," Sakura's voice spoke from behind him. She had come towards him a bit and was looking at the river as well. "I know where the boats are and I can navigate us back to a Fire Country port."

Naruto could've cried but he held it together and just nodded and let out a soft sigh of relief. "Thanks, I was worried." His eyes strayed to the mop of black hair just over the tree he'd stepped over. "Can Sasuke walk that far though...?"

"No," Sakura let out a shaky sigh. "Make another clone and I'll bring him with me to the boats. We can bring them over here and hopefully by then your other clones will be back. Then we can just carry them. How's that sound?"

Naruto swallowed a lump that had suddenly formed in his throat. Sakura was relying on him a lot more than he would've expected in such a situation. He moved his hands through the relevant hand seals and summoned another two clones – just in case.

"Okay, take these two with you," he told her. "That way you have backup."

"Just in case," Sakura nodded, half of her lower lip trapped unforgivingly between her teeth. "Okay. I'll be back as fast as possible."

She beckoned the two clones and stared jogging, then running towards the water. Leaping over obstacles and disappeared along the riverside. Naruto licked his lips and crouched down next to Sasuke. He had been bleeding internally, but had Sakura stopped it? Had she healed the bleed? Or just temporarily stopped it?

His stomach was doing aerobics in his gut. He was going to be solely responsible for defending the entire team, wasn't he? If he was right about Kakashi and Kaisuki being too injured to rejoin them, hence their absence, then... it would be Naruto and Sakura in charge of the three of them. Naruto in particular would be responsible for their safety against danger. Sakura could fight, she was skilled, but from what he'd seen thus far, she truly wasn't made for that kind of battle. She'd do well at many things but she just wasn't strong at combat. She had the chakra control but not enough chakra to use it the way the rest of the team could.

His eyes were stinging a bit. He was terrified, honestly. He was the bottom of the class. Kaisuki had dropped out due to behavioral issues, not due to a lack of talent. She was talented. He wasn't. He was strong and stubborn and he had more stamina and chakra than he could ever use, but he wasn't talented. He was no leader. He was no prodigy or genius...

"You're not an airhead or an idiot, Naruto."

Could he successfully protect the team like that? Was he even strong enough to do that? Against such a terribly powerful threat? Would they be followed? If they were attacked on the water, would he be able to defend them? They hadn't learned to walk on water properly yet. He could do it only for a couple of seconds. How could he possibly protect everyone? Sasuke always made things look so effortless, Kakashi was so experienced, Kaisuki had the support of her guests, but what did Naruto have? He had a bad-tempered fox demon that may or may not choose to help at his own discretion! That was hardly a reliable person.

Was Naruto, the most obnoxious dropout in their class, really enough for a task like this?

"Naruto," Sasuke's raspy voice drew him from his spiraling thoughts. Naruto looked at him, realizing belatedly that there were tears rolling down his cheeks. His teammate stared at him for a moment before he spoke again and said:

"You're... a lot cooler... than you give yourself credit for."

"Let go of your wounded ego and acknowledge yourself."

"Thanks, Sasuke," Naruto replied, forcing himself to smile reassuringly. "Don't worry, I'll keep you all safe. You can believe that."

"I know you will," The Uchiha imparted softly as he began to rapidly lose consciousness.

.

It could have been minutes or it could have been hours. Khrai's spell was slowly wearing off and Kaisuki, within her mind, drifted gently towards consciousness. She still couldn't feel anything and it felt as though she were still dreaming, but she was awake.

As she arrived at the area where she would normally take control of her body, she was surprised that Khrai wasn't there.

"You're awake?" She drifted closer and Saeka came into view. Hot pink eyes seemed to nearly glow in the dark. "You should stay back there, in the subconscious for now, Kaisuki."

Why? She couldn't remember how to speak.

The young spirit looked at her for a while longer before returning her attention to the outside world. Kaisuki drifted closer and as she did, little needles of pain began to pierce through her numbed awareness. It seemed to be miles away, but she could feel the intensity of it. It seemed to slowly ebb closer and then drift further away again but with every wave she felt it more clearly.

She tried to get closer but Saeka kept pushing her away. "Kaisuki, you can't be here. If you wake up you'll go into shock. Stay back."

I'm already... I can't get back to sleep at ths point, Saeka...

"Khrai!" Saeka called out into the darkness. "Put her back to sleep!"

The Elf didn't appear and Saeka huffed in annoyance. Kaisuki watched Saeka moving the body around. It felt like they were lying on the ground and occasionally she would feel piercing pains when Saeka shifted. She was starting to feel the nausea faintly alongside it and she realized that Saeka was rolling to the side to vomit so she didn't aspirate on it. Beyond that, could they move at all? How bad was the damage?

Saeka twitched internally and Kaisuki heard it too – the sound of approaching footsteps. The sensations from her body were starting to get clearer and it was hard to pull back enough to not feel. It likely wouldn't be long before she fully woke up. Fear simmered within her – would she go into shock? As the spell Khrai had cast over her continued to fade away, her thoughts became clearer and more panicked.

Saeka had fully rolled onto her side and lay there, coughing and retching onto the ground. She could feel the wetness on her face. She could faintly smell it. The footsteps they heard came closer and closer until she felt their presence around her. Saeka was still holding reign and her eyes were closed.

She felt a hand gingerly touch her shoulder and it felt like someone driving a sledgehammer into it. The whimper rose out of her throat unintentionally and Saeka shifted away from the contact. She heard a sigh.

"She'll get killed if we leave her here," one of the people spoke. Their voice sounded so familiar. She watched Saeka's tense shoulders relax somewhat – so, not an enemy, but why couldn't she remember that voice? "Will you stay here for now? I'll find someone to lure this way."

It wasn't one of her teammates but who else could it be? Perhaps a rescue team had arrived? What had he meant about "luring" someone over? If they were a rescue team they just needed to yell for help, right?

Kaisuki moved closer. She was waking up and it really couldn't be helped. The pain was nearly paralyzing, but she gritted her teeth and stayed put. It was harder to keep her head clear, but she wanted to see who it was. She forced her burning eyes open a crack, but she could barely see. Her vision was dark and the colors muddy. What was wrong with her vision? Had Khrai damaged it?

"They're not damaged, Kaisuki," Saeka muttered to her internally. That was good news, at least.

They squinted into the darkness together, letting out a shaky breath that turned into a weak, wheezing cough. She retched again but nothing came up. There was nothing left to come up. She heard the sound of the second person moving next to her in some way, letting out a deep, somewhat forlorn sigh.

She tried to move her head, hoping to get a better angle but gasped in shocked agony as it sent a wave of acidic, burning pain up and down her spine. Her mouth opened and no sound came out at first, until her throat relaxed enough for a rather loud, agonized wail of pain. She wheezed and coughed, sobbing miserably in agony. Saeka was still right beside her but pain was pain. The young spirit was stiff and trembling beside her internally, making her own small, pained sounds.

"Hey, are you okay?" That voice she didn't know, but it sounded kind and genuinely concerned. She felt him move again. "Kaisuki, is it?"

How did he know her name? Had he learned from the other, familiar person? Who was that, anyway!? She felt something touch her face and winced, another shockwave of agony running through her.

He sighed softly again, and the touch returned. With a warm cloth, he gently and carefully wiped the vomit off her neck and face. "Relax, this might hurt but I'm not trying to hurt you," he told her gently. "Let's move you away from this puddle of ick."

He carefully scooped her up and lifted her. Her joints and bones screamed in pain for what seemed like an eternity, until he gingerly placed her back down. A flatter surface, but it felt softer. Had he laid her in some grass or soft dirt? That was very considerate of him.

"...chi-san will find your teammates and bring them to you." What? She missed what he had said, too busy breathing through the pain of being moved. "Just try to rest for now, okay?"

"U-uh-hu..." she wheezed out an attempt at acknowledgment. Her stomach felt like it was full of fluids again and she was beginning to feel nauseous once more. Kaisuki pitched to her side, her elbow digging against the ground in a weak attempt to catch herself as she spit out more mouthfuls of tasteless fluid. She felt a large hand grip her shoulder to help support her, the other hand carefully pulling her hair away from her mouth.

Was it water? She didn't know but it didn't feel good coming up. The man helped her lay back down, humming concernedly. A breeze blew through right then that sent needles of chill through her, and she started shivering. Why was it so cold?

"You really don't look well, huh," the man said softly. "I hope you survive this, kiddo."

She made her own weak, throaty moan in reply. He chuckled lightly. Hurried footsteps came running up from seemingly nowhere. She could hear them panting to catch their breath.

"Are you-...?"

"Let's go, they're coming," he breathlessly interrupted. They lingered for a couple of seconds and she felt like she was being stared at. Kaisuki leaned her head back and opened her eyes again, ignoring the pain. Her vision still wasn't clear, but she could just make out a pair of black splotches moving away quickly. Cloaks?

A new set of noises was approaching, this time much louder. Someone was tearing through the area, making a lot of noise. Was that her name they were calling? She weakly tried to lift an arm to wave, to alert them as to where she was, but she couldn't lift her hand more than an inch. Would they be able to see her? Was that her team? Her head was so hard to hold up. Whatever that man had laid her down upon had been soft at first but now felt like a crushing pressure against her back. She was afraid. Was that her teammates or an enemy? Was she really safe?

"It's okay, Kaisuki," Saeka's voice was so soft and her presence was hard to focus on. Still, the young spirit had remained right by her Hostess' side. "That's Naruto."

She moaned in pain, her stomach lurching again. Saeka rolled them to the side again, heaving onto the ground again. When she laid back once more, she couldn't help but groan and whimper noisily. Maybe Naruto would hear her.

Sure enough, the noise was rapidly approaching her. "Kaisu-... Kaisuki!?" It sounded like a group of people coming towards her – had he sent out shadow clones to look for her?

That's so smart, Naruto...

Kaisuki kept her eyes closed. After trying to get a look at the two men who had just been there, her eyes felt dry and painful. She just wanted to go back to sleep.

"Oh, gods, Kai," Naruto's clone whispered. "Okay, let's get her up and carry her, carefully!"

Several bodies were around her and clones of her friend's careful hands checked her for major injuries, finding none. She could hear them chatting but she didn't have the energy to process what they were saying. Now that she felt safe, her consciousness was fading again. She felt herself move, the clones lifting her up with the utmost care that they could manage. Two of them held her up and they started moving at a steady pace.

So tired...

"Kai, I know you're really tired but... ah, fuck, man, why am I bothering?" One of the Narutos holding her was speaking gently to her. "Just sleep, Kai. Tell Khrai we said thank you; let her know everyone is alive."

Somewhere deep within, she heard an echoing wail of despair.

"I'm sorry...! I'm sorry...! I'm so sorry...!"

.

"What's wrong with her?" Saeka asked in a panic. Kaisuki was lying on the floor of the kotatsu room, half under the table, her head resting on the pillow she normally sat on. Her skin was paler than normal, her expression twisted in agony even while she was unconscious. They had very little idea what was going on outside the body. Not even Saeka was able to take control of it. It was as though her body was refusing to allow them to use it until she recovered.

They had never seen Kaisuki in such a state and the only things going through Khrai's mind were hopeless apologetics that meant nothing at that point. They didn't have the expertise to understand Kaisuki's condition. They didn't know if the village hospital would be able to help her. They didn't know if she would survive the trip back. She had thrown up so many times blood had started coming up.

Even though she had survived the initial disaster, she likely still wouldn't make it home.

"She's..." Khrai began but her voice caught in her throat. She swallowed the lump of emotion down, her chin twitching with restrained emotion. What a mess she had made. What a failure she was. What was her use as a Warrior if she broke and killed the people she was trying to protect? Was she even capable of protecting anyone from within a Yurei? She kept questioning it over and over, the decisions she made, the times she had chosen to fight and not fight. There was never a correct answer and whatever she chose always led to the death of her Host and often the people around them.

Either she didn't interfere and they died, or she did interfere and kill them herself by accident. Why did nothing work? Why was she unable to help?

Why am I still here? What purpose is there for me to even exist at this point?

"I hurt her," the Elf finally managed to force out. "I don' know what t' do either, Saeka. I..." Her brow furrowed and her frown deepened. Speaking of hurting her... "I honestly don' understand how she's alive in t' first place. T'at spell... has never spared a human life." She stated plainly. "I don't know why her body is-..."

She stopped, looking up in surprise as the door to the kotatsu room eased open. Through it, a dark-haired woman with piercing green eyes gazed at them. She looked annoyed and frustrated as she stepped into the room and knelt down beside Kaisuki, touching her face gently. Khrai and Saeka had felt her presence approach slowly over the past few days. They hadn't mentioned it to Kaisuki, but she would know when she woke up... if she woke up.

After the woman had finished looking over their Hostess, she directed a cold glare towards Khrai.

They knew her name without her having to say it – Izumi.

"You filled her chakra circulatory system with your chi but, as it's not chakra, her body can't process and release that energy normally." Izumi spoke with a slight accent that Khrai recognized right away as being from Tsuki no Kuni, or the Moon Country. It was an isolationist island that had no dealings with the greater Shinobi Nations.

Beside her, she could feel Saeka starting to tremble with anxiety. She gently placed a hand on the younger spirit's head, hoping to calm her and keep her grounded. They couldn't afford to panic or overreact. Anything they did that could impact Kaisuki's body had to be carefully restrained and Saeka's emotive chakra was one of those things.

"Her body is doing everything it can to get that energy out of her, because it's a foreign substance that's hurting her for every second it stays in her body." The newcomer stood up and took a few steps towards Khrai and Saeka, though her gaze remained trained on just Khrai. "The only way her body can get rid of your chi, is by evacuating it via fluids. That's why she's sweating and vomiting so much."

Izumi's voice was even and steady when she spoke, but it was also laced with barely restrained fury. Her brow was wrinkled with tension, her mouth set in a frown, but it was the piercing look in her eyes that seemed to hit Khrai the hardest. The newcomer's tone felt like a slap across the face on its own.

"I-..."

"No, please," Izumi held up a hand. Why did it feel like she was being chastised by a long dead mother that Khrai hardly even remembered? "There is no point in apologizing to me. This isn't my body or my life. It's our Hostess you'll have to be accountable to."

The Elf lowered her gaze to the ground between them. She couldn't bear to see that expression of disappointment that felt so personal. Her throat was tight and her eyes and nose burned. She wished she could just pass on. She hated her own existence. Why wouldn't Limbo just let her go?

"What can we do?" Khrai asked, her voice subdued behind her clenched jaw.

"Nothing right now." Izumi spoke slowly, in measured words that she considered before she said. "Perhaps I can try pushing my healing chakra through her system, but..."

"But what?" Saeka pressed when Khrai didn't want to ask. The Elf's chest tightened and she felt sick.

"She's sick. You've made her sick, Khrai." Izumi said it so pointedly and harshly, Khrai felt it in her chest. She was already ashamed, and bitter resentment was rising up her throat. "The effort her body will need to make to push out your chi, coupled with the damage it'll do to her just by sitting in her system for even the couple hours it's been there... I'm sure I don't have to tell you that your chi behaves like acid when it comes into contact with living flesh. You ought to know that better than anyone, which is why I'm so disappointed."

"Ye weren't even here," Khrai snapped back at her, anger rising as she went on the defensive. She knew she had screwed up. "I can deal wit' being told what I've done, but don't act like ye were doin' anything helpful when it was me, Saeka, and Kaisuki against t'at fuckin' horde! Next time, you can deal wit' it. I know I fucked up, I know 'ow bad I fucked up. I don't need yer blasted fuckin' lectures, kid."

Izumi looked genuinely shocked at her reply but Khrai just shook her head and stalked out of the kotatsu room, losing herself in Kaisuki's subconscious. She knew how bad things were. She knew she was an idiot. She knew she had broken their Hostess, likely beyond repair. She knew it already because she'd done it already, time and time again! She had ruined Kaisuki's life and the girl was just that. A child. She had ruined a child's life. She didn't need to be reminded or told off or chastised by someone who hadn't even been there to help in the first place.

I just want to give up. Let me give up.

Nothing ever changed.