Yeah so I know I said it would be done in like a week. Welllllll I was lying… It's not that there was more than I bargained for with this chapter, it's that I went to visit my family a few days after I uploaded chapter 14 and decided to not write anything for the whole visit. Sorry about that.
9:18 a.m., 17th of June 1bNb
Nohara Rin 3rd person POV
The girl could hardly stop her hands from shaking, barely stop herself from hyperventilating. Obito's life was in her hands; how could she not freak out? Her hands were painted a sickening velvet, from applying pressure on the gaping wound. Rin wasn't unfamiliar with the sight of blood, but this much of it was almost overwhelming to the young Iryo-nin.
Obito was dying, he was dangerously close to passing on, but despite the odds and his injuries, his heart just kept beating, no matter how weak it got. His breaths, though long and drawn out, continued stubbornly. His body was rejecting death with everything it had, and Rin was eternally grateful for his willpower and strength. It was like the boy was giving her a chance to save him. Silver-lining was perhaps the wrong phrase, but the fact certainly did well to stop Rin from breaking out into a full-blown panic attack.
Kakashi's decision to abandon the pair for the mission had broken Rin's heart. If not for the fact she had better things to focus on (i.e., saving Obito's life), she would still be by that pond, sobbing her eyes out. Sobbing wasn't going to save anybody, though, so even as her chest ached with the bitter feeling of betrayal, she still ventured out with Obito. She was putting on a tough front.
A short while after separating from Kakashi, she managed to find a relatively well-hidden spot under a rock formation. It was something like a shallow cave, a place that was naturally concealed from plain sight. They were meters from a flowing river, likely the very river Kannabi bridge spanned over. The area would have to do for now: she would need to collect some water from the riverside to aid in Obito's treatment. Setting up a rudimentary genjutsu that blocked sight and scent, the smell of sweat and herb could give them away otherwise, she got to work.
Obito's wound was horrible, and its severity utterly terrified Rin. The injury spanned from one side of his abdomen to the other, threatening to spill his intestines out. The attack was ruthless, and the attacker's intention was clear: guaranteed death. Luckily, the girl had gotten started on his treatment earlier while arguing with Kakashi, but the nature of the wound meant that he had bled more than Rin would've liked. That Iwa-nin used twin-blades, meaning that the slash across his abdomen was more like two large slices that joined to make one. There were no ribs to protect the intestines, and the blades cut through muscle like nothing.
Blood performed lots of important functions, but most importantly in this circumstance was that a person's immediate immune response was almost all white blood cells. When more than half a liter of blood was missing from someone of Obito's stature, it was already dangerous, as his organs wouldn't get nutrients and oxygen as efficiently, but if his body had to fight sepsis from the bacteria that would seep into his bloodstream from his intestines, it was basically a death sentence. Sepsis as a result of a burst appendix was well documented, and even uninjured people could easily die of it, and Obito's wounds were much more severe. Extreme perforation of the intestine. Rin knew she would have to manually deal with the bacteria to aid his immune system, because in his state, his body would stand no chance of fighting it off alone.
After carefully placing him down, she made sure to first cut away heavily infected tissue to slow the bacteria's progression, and to seal the perforated intestines. The Mystical Palm could be used to close almost any wound, and along with the first-aid kit she had originally made for Kakashi, she was able to stop more bacteria from spilling out by sealing the perforation.
She then raced out of the area to gather the materials she would need. The Poison Extraction Jutsu she would use to extract the invading bacteria from his bloodstream and the surrounding tissue normally required medicinal fluid, but she didn't have that. She would have to improvise with an herbal solution, and adapt the Poison Extraction Jutsu to extract bacteria instead.
It was a monumental challenge. Poison and bacteria are fundamentally different; poisons inhibit cellular processes causing cell death, but they are not living and differ greatly in size. Bacteria, on the other hand, are persistent, living beings which reproduce and attack the body's cells through direct cellular invasion. Chakra could be used straightforwardly to catch, neutralize and transfer poison, but bacteria could hide, reproduce, or even grow to adapt to treatment. Gut-derived sepsis itself would cause an uncontrollable immune response, which was a necessary process in eliminating the bacteria but could cause widespread inflammation and damage organs and tissue.
There were people who praised Rin's talent in Iryo-ninjutsu, namely hospital workers, Sensei and Kushina, but personally, she credited most of her 'talent' to her studies. She was mostly a self-taught medic, using resources from the Konoha's extensive library religiously, whether it be a jutsu scroll for Iryo-ninjutsu, or an academic text, she was constantly reading and absorbing information like a sponge. Rin greatly enjoyed learning. None of the studying she had done ever felt like a chore, and in fact it was something of a hobby to her. Through her efforts, she hoped that with everything she was learning, it would bring her closer to her image of an ideal Iryo-nin. Someone who wouldn't falter in the face of death, who could bring hope to her peers and the people. A person who could save lives.
Well today, it seemed that all that studying was paying off. She technically had practice with the Poison Extraction Jutsu, using hospital resources and water to practice on animals, and now she had no choice but to not only try the jutsu on a person for the first time, but also adapt that jutsu on the fly to fight against infection. It was an understatement to say that her nerves were on fire.
Obito had bacteria in his bloodstream and an immune response had already likely begun, but too little time had passed for him to be in full-blown septic shock. Luckily for Rin, Obito was a shinobi and his body's health and fitness was great, meaning that even with his weakened immunity he should be able to give the invading bacteria a run for its money and stave off the worst stages of sepsis. If she could aid his body's initial immune response with bacterial extraction and her herbal solution, then the worst of his injuries would be over and his body could start properly recovering. That being said, if she failed to properly fight the infection, he would die.
She knew exactly which herbs could make a sufficiently potent solution to act as medicinal fluid; wild thyme – which contained thymol, yarrow – which possessed antimicrobial properties, and echinacea – which helped to boost one's immune system. There were other herbs that may prove more effective, but here in the Land of Grass, they were either more rare or exclusive to certain ecosystems. These were the only ones she would find in a short time. She hunted down the necessary herbs and plants, moving with great haste. Obito's life was on a timer, after all, and she didn't have enough time to rest or dawdle.
She returned to Obito with the necessary herbs after about eight minutes, and then she kneeled by the riverside. She took a summoning scroll out of her survival pack, unfolded it and produced a cooking pot alongside a few clean rags. After filling the pot with river water, she brought it back to where Obito laid, sighing in relief when she found him still breathing, she set up a fire using some dry grass, sticks and the E-ranked fire-starting jutsu Minato-sensei had taught them during their survival training. The cooking plot was placed atop the fire and she placed the herbs inside.
The solution would be ready after a few minutes of boiling, and she could use it when it cooled down to about forty to fifty degrees. The specifics of the jutsu meant it was most effective against poison, not bacteria. The main difference to take into account was that while bacteria was vastly larger than poison, bacteria would prove more difficult to extract. Extracting bacteria means first ensuring she has properly identified and isolated the bacteria without damaging the surrounding area, and it also meant taking into account their perseverance. While she is dealing with the ongoing infection in the body, she would also have to maintain his blood pressure with fluids and support any organs undergoing dysfunction as a result of the body's immune response.
The next couple of hours would be hell for Rin, but she was willing to do it if it meant Obito wouldn't die for her mistake. It was her fault, Rin knew, that Obito had received the injury in the first place. The fact filled her with regret, and yet it also filled her with the resolve to save him.
For now, she took a canteen out of her bag. Obito was definitely dehydrated. Rin tilted his head up and forced his mouth open. It was risky to force water down an unconscious person's mouth; as there was a risk of aspiration, but there was a basic Iryo-nin technique: it used chakra to guide water down someone's throat, mimicking basic Water Release, to ensure none of it got into the trachea. She carefully poured water into his mouth at a medium pace, expertly directing it into the esophagus. She took a clean rag and soaked it in some of the water from her canteen, placing it delicately on Obito's forehead.
Careful stitching of the wound would have to come later, as she couldn't be sure how far the bacterial invasion had progressed. The only saving grace was that she had already stopped the bleeding earlier, so he wouldn't bleed out while she was delivering treatment. Rin carefully covered the abdominal wound with a sterile tarp she had kept in her pack, and finally got to work. The Diagnostic Jutsu was a fundamental Iryo-ninjutsu technique, and she had used it earlier on Obito to assess his wounds, but the jutsu could also be used in conjunction with greater chakra control and focus to get a better view on parts of someone's body. It would be instrumental in getting better insight into Obito's condition in order to adapt the Poison Extraction Jutsu to extract the infection.
In the dim light of her makeshift hideout, Rin knelt closer to Obito, her hands hovering anxiously above his chest. The boy was still soundly unconscious, and she knew the treatment she was about to do was immensely painful. She would have to use another essential jutsu for Iryo-nin, the Neural Pathway Blockage Jutsu, which temporarily cuts off the body's pain signals from reaching the brain. It was a crude technique, which many considered too dangerous and risky to be used in most circumstances, but if Obito were to wake up from the pain and thrash around, his abdominal wound could be worsened, so Rin decided to trust her own judgment.
Rin closed her eyes as she drew a deep breath to center herself, focusing her chakra towards her hands. As she exhaled her shaking hands produced an azure light, flowing smoothly in circles. She pressed her fingertips on Obito's abdomen, above the wound, and she was ready to analyze his condition.
The diagnostic technique was one Rin was intimately familiar with; all Iryo-nin resources encouraged using it before healing anyone. It was a great way to practice and to ensure nothing potentially life-threatening escaped their view. Focusing down and 'zooming in' to his body took more focus, but Rin was used to worse. The technique used a person's intimacy with chakra, knowledge of anatomy and medical theory, as well as their intuition. To a normal shinobi, they would feel their chakra flowing around the person's body, but the amount of information would be overbearing and nonsensical. To an Iryo-nin like Rin, though, the technique was more akin to a detailed medical report.
Her chakra, guided by her intent, flowed through Obito's body layer-by-layer. To Rin, each pulse of her chakra was important feedback to help her interpret his condition. It flowed from his chest and around his body, and she could feel that the upper part of his body had not yet been heavily affected by the bacterial spill. He was not suffering from bacteremia, likely because of how quickly she closed the perforation earlier. She breathed a sigh of relief as she directed her chakra towards the danger zone: his abdominal cavity.
The difference was night and day. The mostly unaffected upper body, which, while overflowing with adrenaline, was relatively unharmed, but the abdominal cavity was like a maelstrom of terror. The amount of bacteria was horrifying, both in his bloodstream and around his organs. Rin's brow furrowed as she differentiated each sensation through her chakra; her hold on the jutsu recoiled as bacteria from the gut's microbiome attacked all cells in the area. She could feel his immune reaction, panicked and overzealous, causing dangerous inflammation all over, which would take away from the blood organs and cells desperately needed.
Rin perceived areas of immense heat first; a clear sign of inflammation. Her chakra collected itself in his abdominal cavity. The peritoneum, the membrane which coated abdominal organs to protect them, was suffering massive inflammation. It was peritonitis. Peritonitis, like sepsis, was deadly, as it could cause fluid build-up, dehydration and a loss in blood pressure, and that didn't even mention that it could lead to further progression of sepsis. Dealing with peritonitis was her first priority.
The deviation from expectation was a disturbance that set Rin on edge. Truthfully, she should have expected the complication. She knew there would be widespread inflammation. Rin shuddered anxiously, but panicking wouldn't do her any good. She could deal with peritonitis using basically the same procedure she had planned to do, it would simply be a more difficult endeavor, requiring more precision and control with her chakra.
Withdrawing her chakra with a light breath, she wiped sweat off her forehead. Rin focused chakra into her middle and index fingers and pressed them to the back of Obito's head, a deliberate jolt of chakra firing into a spot above his nape. The chakra would serve to forcefully block the electrical impulses that caused pain from reaching his brain. The blue light entered the back of his head and flowed towards his spine. Users of the technique were instructed to never use the technique unless they could precisely block specific pain signals, but Rin was well practiced with the technique, having used it on herself on occasion. It was a bad idea to use it in combat, or in situations where pain was an important sensation, but in a controlled setting there was little danger.
After playing closer attention to the bacteria in his body, Rin knew how she would need to extract it. Poison was not living, it was a collection of molecules that were injected into someone's body. Toxins and Poisons followed no instinct to reproduce, they were merely guided by the laws of nature and naturally underwent harmful chemical reactions that could kill someone. The Poison Extraction Jutsu simply drew poison into the bubble of medicinal fluid gently, but bacteria would resist this. To extract bacteria, she would have to scoop them up forcefully. It would be much more exhausting both chakra-wise and mentally.
Rin sterilized her hands with disinfectant gel she brought in her pack, and then dipped her fingers into the pot of herbal solution. It was still warm, but not hot enough to burn her fingers, and more importantly it wouldn't burn Obito. She focused her chakra, mentally preparing herself to adapt a technique traditionally meant to extract poison for a purpose it was never designed to serve: treating gut-derived sepsis and peritonitis.
Her breaths were unsteady and filled with anxiety. She didn't doubt herself, but then again, she wasn't Senju Tsunade-sama. She thought of Obito's bright grin, his energetic mannerisms and the determination his voice consistently held. She thought of how they had first met, before even attending the Academy. He was much clumsier and smaller, but his personality hadn't changed a bit from back then. She imagined a world without her oldest friend, and it was a duller world, void of its usual excitement and vibrant colors. Void of the joy Obito brought it.
It was an unacceptable world. It was a world she couldn't, no, wouldn't let exist.
She looked at Obito, whose flushed face showed his own internal battle. He was covered in sweat, his face scrunched in discomfort. He looked awful, his breaths deep and urgent. The boy probably wasn't quite in pain anymore due to her technique, but with his body was doing everything it could to fight off infection, the signs of struggle were obvious. Seeing him in this state was absolutely gut-wrenching.
She straightened herself with a sharp breath and picked up a bubble of the solution in her hand. The jutsu required the Iryo-nin to push the fluid into the patient's body with one hand, collect the poison (or in this case, the bacteria) into it, and use the fluid to aid in the recovery of the damaged (infected) tissue, and then the used fluid, alongside the collected bacteria, would be transferred to the Iryo-nin's other hand to be deposited elsewhere.
Rin realized that it was actually a boon that she was using herbal fluid. It was completely safe to absorb for the body, so as she treated him, she could use it to hydrate Obito by absorbing part of it into his body. It would also strengthen his body, lessening the after effects of recovery from his condition.
She pushed the bubble of the herbal solution into the wound and the surrounding area. Rin watched Obito for any indication of discomfort, but luckily he didn't even fidget or squirm. A concentrated expression etched on her face, she visualized her chakra as tens of thousands of tiny needles, sweat beading on her forehead, not from physical exertion (yet), but from the level of concentration the procedure demanded.
The peritoneum is a semi-permeable membrane, it's flexible, smooth, slippery and lubricating. It exists to not only protect the abdominal organs, but also to allow the organs to move against each other without risking damage. Because of its permeable nature, it can absorb fluids. Rin understood instinctually that while its permeability is a strength, it is also a weakness. In the case of bacterial spread, it enabled peritonitis, since it carried contaminants throughout the abdominal cavity and contributed to bacterial spread.
For Rin's current treatment, the permeability of the membrane was perfect, as she was making use of a fluid: her herbal solution. The solution easily pushed into the peritoneum and the rest of the abdominal cavity, giving her a great starting point. The chakra she had infused into the solution could be used similarly to the Diagnostic Jutsu to locate the extent of bacterial spread and as a weapon against said bacteria. She spread the tendril-like needles she had meticulously generated out of her chakra around the affected area as Rin strained with effort, focusing on her chakra's sensations.
Chakra control to this degree was on another level than what most shinobi would ever have to do, including most Iryo-nin, but here she was. Despite all the practice she had done; string exercises, water walking on river currents, and difficult exercises prescribed for Iryo-nin, it took everything she had to keep her chakra from dispersing. Rin felt as though she was balancing five medicine balls in one hand, clinging to a tree branch with the other, all the while solving a complex integral equation in her mind.
Her concentration wavered and flickered as her abilities were pushed to their limits. Retaining focus on the chakra tendrils, while also keeping her attention on her chakra sensations was pushing her to the limit of chakra control, but the moment she painstakingly tugged the tendrils to capture clumps of bacteria she located, the organisms would do its utmost to avoid it. The subsequent attempts she made to correct her failure ended in further failure, frustrating her to no end.
She hated this. It was uncomfortable, frustrating, angering and painful. Her hands stung with little needs as she exerted more and more control. Her fingers shook with restlessness, the blue sheen chakra in her hands blinking. This would be impossible for other shinobi her age, even Senju Iryo-nins, so why was she even bothering? It would be okay to give up, wouldn't it? Nobody would blame her.
When she was about to give up, she opened her eyes for a moment, ready to drop her control on the chakra, and she was immediately met with the sight of Obito's face. He was unnaturally pale, unusually still, and still very much on the verge of death. His subdued expression felt so wrong to the girl. It was uncanny and terrifying.
If Rin let him die, he would stay like this. She would never see his grin ever again.
It wasn't just about her discomfort or pain, it was about his survival. So what if her fingers stung like she stuck her hand in a thorny bush? So what if she hated the discomfort, if she couldn't stand the mental strain? They were all signs that the treatment would work. If her head felt like it was going to explode, then let it. If her joints screamed at her to stop tensing, then keep tensing. Her exhaustion clawed viciously at her, but her fires of determination wouldn't wane anymore. Her own discomfort was nothing in the face of her friend's death.
So she ignored her body's demands and dove back in once again, keeping steady hold of her chakra. Rin could perceive the bacteria that invaded the sanctity of Obito's body and attacked every cell they could perfectly, but it was the killing of these bacteria that was the hard part. She flared her chakra as the tens of thousands of needles rushed with speed Rin hadn't mustered before, each locking onto a target. She didn't have to carefully wrap the tendrils around the masses of bacteria, she could pierce through the cells themselves. After they were stabbed through, she could drag them into the herbal solution, and with each cell she drew into the heart of the solution, she used chakra to trap them before sending the freed up chakra tendrils to find a new target.
Between thousands to billions of individual bacteria cells could exist in a typical infection. In an ongoing infection like this, there were at least a few hundred million colony-forming bacteria. Her fluid did a good job of weakening and sometimes killing bacteria, but it wouldn't be enough on its own. Even if she could trap tens of thousands per second, it would take a long time to eliminate them all. It was impossible to fully sterilize or eliminate an infection, but it wasn't needed. Rin just had to do the heavy lifting and make way for Obito's body to have a fighting chance.
That being said, the heavy lifting she would have to pull off would last for hours. Rin's concentration didn't waver as she pulled the first of many batches of used solution out of his chest and emptied it a safe distance away. Her grip on her chakra, no matter how difficult it was to keep hold of, never grew weaker. Rin had found the location of each and every individual bacteria threatening Obito's body and she was destroying them at a rapid, and yet mind-numbingly slow pace.
As testament for her desire to save Obito, she wouldn't let go, even when her head was splitting apart, and when her hands were stiff from tension. Minutes felt like hours, and hours felt like days as she worked on and on, only taking a break to chuck a soldier pill into her mouth, the burning sensation in her stomach only serving to keep her concentration grounded and absolute. Rin was tiring at a steady pace, but at the rate she was going, she might even finish before fully exhausting her reserves and stamina. Her whole body ached from reduced chakra flow, and dull pains echoed through her hands, but she continued on all the same.
Time passed impossibly slow for Rin. She didn't know how long she had been at it, or how many hours she had left to go, but her dedication was unshakable, her resolve more solid than the earth beneath the two. The cave was filled with silent gasps from Obito, the soothing hum of Iryo-ninjutsu, and the splashing sounds of used herbal solution being disposed of. Rin couldn't hear any of it, though, her heart kept beating deafeningly in her ears, a constant for an amount of time Rin wouldn't dare estimate.
And after a while, the treatment was beginning to show results. Internally, the previously overwhelming quantity of bacteria was diminishing faster and faster: She visualized the battlefield within Obito, her chakra needles becoming more precise, more efficient with every passing moment. Her technique was improving. Each extraction of herbal solution extracted an exponentially larger quantity of bacteria, his chances of survival increasing with her efforts. His sweating slowed down as his fever began to fall. His reflexive and yet desperate gasps for air slowly turned into deep, controlled breaths as his skin began to regain normal color.
Over the hours, a noticeable shift occurred. The peritoneum, having been cleared of most of the invading bacteria, meant that with each extraction of used solution, it became clearer and clearer, contrasting from its previously yellow-ish green color.. It was a sign that her treatment was paying off. She was that much closer to saving Obito, and her heart swelled with relief and pride; pride in her own technique, and pride in Obito's persistance. There was still some bacteria floating around his bloodstream, but through her earlier mapping of the area, she knew the majority of the bacteria had been extracted.
And with the majority of the bacteria cleared, she allowed herself a momentary breath of relief. He was still heavily injured, but his life was practically guaranteed. Rin had given him a fighting chance and now it was only up to his body's immune system, bolstered by her intervention and his will to live, to finish the fight. Her body becoming more relaxed, she gently took the last bubble of herbal solution and lowered it into his abdomen.
Working with the peritoneum was a significantly more challenging process than simply extracting bacteria from the bloodstream. The local blood supply had a smaller total area than the entire peritoneum membrane did, and the bacteria was confined to this narrow space. With delicate control, bolstered by the desire to complete her treatment, and with the proficiency she had gained over the last couple of hours, the last of the bacteria was dealt with incredible haste.
Rin was finished, almost incredulous as she lifted her hands away from Obito's abdomen. Her hands were quivering at her sides, numb with the intensity of her exertion and the saturation of her chakra. Rising off the ground for the first time in hours, a broad grin split her lips apart, a spark of glee animated her weary face. Laughter bubbled through her exhaustion, brief and uncontrollable, each passing chuckle growing more and more hysterical until it collapsed into tears. Relief, pride, fear and exhaustion, an unbridled storm of emotions overwhelmed her.
"Obito…" she sobbed, ugly tears running down her face, "I'm so glad you're okay…" she muttered weakly.
She leaned back, her energy was spent. She was utterly tapped out, her mind and body exhausted beyond belief. Rin idly wondered if she had even consumed a soldier pill. She laid on the hard ground beneath her for a few moments, totally unmoving. She still had to stitch up the massive wound on Obito's stomach so it would heal properly, but upon inspection of her hands' shakiness, she realized that she needed a short respite, at least.
She knelt near Obito's head and poured water down his throat the same way she had done it a few hours ago. It would be important to keep him hydrated now of all times, to keep his blood pressure normalized. She mixed salt from her pack into the water, too, since he had probably lost most of his electrolytes in his sweat. The most she could do for him now was restoring his sodium levels, though. Better than nothing.
Stitching Obito's wound would take over an hour for civilian doctors, considering the disinfection process, anesthesia, and their lack of advanced Iryo-ninjutsu, but the process wasn't so tedious for proper Iryo-nin. In Obito's case, the most difficult part of the disinfection was complete, the rest could be done using some of the remaining herbal solution or with field-ready disinfectant gel. Anesthesia wouldn't be necessary as Obito's pain signals were still being blocked with the Neural Pathway Blockage jutsu. Rin would have to get the sutures in the old fashioned way, but field Iryo-nin were trained to be both quick and precise in their duties, and stitching somebody up was one of the most common jobs for them. Rin could work her way around those just fine, so long as her exhaustion didn't get in the way.
Rin stretched her joints in her arms, loosening her shoulders and elbows, and relishing in the popping sounds her hands and fingers produced. The numbness in her hands was going away bit by bit, and along with her unease fading away, the trembling began to finally die down. Sterilizing her hands once again, she reached for her sutures stowed away by the bandages and gauze.
Rin reached to uncover the tarp she had set over the wound and grimaced at the injury. The biggest threat to Obito's life, the bleeding and infection, may have been stopped, but the injury would take him out of active duty for at least several months, considering the time it would take for the wound to close up naturally and the subsequent monitoring and rehabilitation. She had only seen wounds on this level in medical textbooks, so she took a breath to prepare herself.
Rin knew she could stitch him up in about 20 minutes, give or take, even with her decreased dexterity and exhaustion. The application of sutures was almost therapeutic to Rin, a rhythmic motion that brought her some semblance of peace, especially considering her previous efforts. It was not nearly as challenging. She glided across his skin, gently and yet diligently stitching the enormous opening back together.
Despite her weariness and the slight tremble in her hands, there was a steady sureness in each move. The thread, imbued with a faint glow of her chakra, flowed effortlessly, as if it were routine for Rin to close wounds of this caliber. As she worked, Rin found herself thinking back to the previous hours she spent saving Obito's life. She recalled all of the time she took to practice Iryo-ninjutsu, all of the reading she had done, and most of all the determination which never seemed to wane. More than anything, she was eternally glad for all of it, no matter how much it all had taken out of her, she had managed to save a life today. The weight of exhaustion weighed heavily on her shoulders, but at the same time a new sense of purpose served to lighten that weight. She came to an understanding all at once, despite the swirling and contrasting emotions racing around her mind, she was sure of one thing.
Her purpose as a shinobi was to save lives.
Before today, she became an Iryo-nin in part to help Obito and in part because the subject had simply interested her. With the confirmation of Obito's survival, the pure sense of relief and accomplishment she felt was unmistakable. As Rin tied the last suture, she couldn't help but smile from a sense of accomplishment. For now, Obito's treatment was finished. The road home would be surely filled with challenges, considering the care they would have to take, but this moment of triumph fortified her spirit. She sat back on her heels, taking a deep breath once again, as she took another glob of disinfectant gel. She disinfected the area before weaving bandages around his abdomen, tight enough to keep everything together, but loose enough to allow the area to breathe and for blood flow to not be constricted.
Obito would probably wake up in a day or two, which wasn't a problem to the young medic, as she would definitely need that rest. All she had to do now was keep him hydrated until he woke up. She tapped the back of his head with her index and middle fingers again, undoing the Neural Pathway Blockage jutsu. He may feel some minor pain and dull aches, but he wouldn't be in agony. Rin made sure of that much.
…
"How impressive, girl," a voice slithered through the air, horribly distorted and dripping with an unimaginable malevolence and irritation. Its tone was terribly twisted, never stable, never predictable, an unnaturally calm present in the guttural screech of its distorted sound. An oppressive weight overwhelmed Rin and sought to crush her where she stood.
She snapped her head towards the voice, betraying the fear that threatened to freeze her solid. A disgusting smell of petrichor, blood and rot filled her nostrils. She didn't throw up, but it was a close thing, as she forced herself to hide a gag. The thing before her was a monstrosity, taking the form of a human, and yet it couldn't possibly be mistaken for one. Tree-like growths protruded from its left side, colored with an unnatural white. Its right side was black like the void, not a speck of light reflecting off of it. An orange circle resembling an eye impassively stared at her.
Its skin carried an artificial quality, like an empty husk crafted out of rotting wood, but it was undoubtedly a living being, squirming with lifeforce it shouldn't have. Rin couldn't tell if she was simply delirious with fear and exhaustion, but she noticed that the creature before her wasn't even breathing. It stood eerily still, stalking her with unblinking and unmatching eyes.
Cold dread washed over Rin, and it took her everything she had to stay standing. The creature's killing intent and her exhaustion were a potent combination, threatening to drag her to the ground. Obito was right behind her, and he was still recovering. It told her that it would take it from here, and it made its intentions crystal clear. The monster's target, it was most likely Obito. Her expression hardened into the most threatening glare she could muster as she lifted a kunai in defiance. "Don't you dare t-touch him!" she growled through her exhaustion, voice cracking in the middle. She mentally cursed herself for the show of weakness.
"Settle down," it sighed in annoyance, "I'm here to turn your existence into something of value." It shook its head before it pointed its open palm in front of him, a crunching sound from the earth splitting piercing the air as roots materialized from out of the ground and rushed towards Obito. Her perception slowed to a halt as the spokes closed in on the unconscious boy she had just healed. If Rin wasn't so exhausted, she could grab the boy and try to make a run for it, but her weary muscles denied her the luxury of movement. She had no more energy, no more chakra. She was dead weight.
Rin let her knees buckle under her weight, falling in front of Obito, and importantly in the path of the creature's attack. She raised her arms in front of herself weakly, covering her vital points. "Ho?" it taunted, a filthy smirk forming on its left side. Searing pain shot through her body from several points at once, eliciting a terrible scream from the fallen girl. The sickening sound of flesh being pierced rang inside her head before she could even realize what had happened. Roots had impaled through her shoulders and hands, effectively immobilizing her, an involuntary wail erupting out of her very soul.
A torrent of burning agony radiated from her shoulders up her neck and down to her fingertips. The roots were lodged firmly through her arms, violating their integrity. Reflexively trying to move her arms resulted in the bones, muscles and tendons of each arm to scream in protest. She could hardly move a finger before a sharp cry bellowed out from her core, stretching the muscles by her shoulder causing more anguish, making even the act of breathing painful. It lifted her into the air with the roots, her body limp with exhaustion and pain. Her body weighed down upon the roots, creating pressure and squeezing her wounds. Molten heat burned out from the holes in her arms as she thrashed in pain.
This… thing… it possessed the Mokuton – the Shodaime's Wood Release. Even through its oppressive killing intent and the pain wracking her body, she could still hear pure boredom in its voice. To the creature, attacking Obito and Rin was child's play – bothersome and irritating, sure, but ultimately a simple task. Rin was nothing in the face of this aberration. It clearly thought less than nothing of murder.
Helplessness washed over her, and it was almost as agonizing as the pain she was in. She had just healed Obito, just saved his life, just found a purpose for herself. Despair was a strong word, but today Rin understood the feeling for the first time. She was going to die, and Obito would be next, she knew, and she despised the fact to no end. This situation was all her fault. If only she hadn't been put under genjutsu back in the pond, the boy wouldn't have almost died, and this creature from nightmares wouldn't be attacking the two. The mission would have simply continued as normal.
She was too weak.
Despite the intense, blazing pain emanating out of her entire body, the undeniable helplessness that threatened to crush her spirit into nothing, and the fear of death freezing her in place, she tried to calm down. Tried to think. She drew long, harsh and yet controlled breaths, tensing her core even as it contracted her muscles and made it hard to breath. She couldn't clench her fists, she could hardly even move, but she figuratively stood her ground.
The creature binding her and threatening the pair's lives was impassive, bored, and irritated. It would have killed them already if it wanted to. It was here on some kind of obligation, maybe it was here to draw out information or to capture Rin and use her Iryo-ninjutsu. If Obito got away, maybe it wouldn't be bothered to chase him. Rin would be the only one in danger.
Somehow, Rin had to take responsibility. She steeled herself for the incoming wave of pain, "Wake up, Obito! Run!" she hacked out, the agony forcing tears out of her squinted eyes. It was a final act of defiance, the only thing she could do at this point was to wake the boy up. It was unfair to try to wake him up, and truly desperate, but if he somehow woke up, and ran away, at least he could survive. For a second, the creature turned its haunting gaze over to the boy, and smirked as nothing happened.
Obito remained unmoving, like Rin thought he would. She had hopped differently, but she knew it was impossible for him to wake up in this state. The creature narrowed its ill-shapen eyes. "Perhaps I should take both of them." it wondered seemingly to no one, before a meek voice stammered out of the same mouth, "But He only wanted one, right?" it said to itself with a frown. "He wouldn't mind having more options. He's a picky one," it spat angrily, voice ever distorted, its frown transforming into an irritated scowl.
Rin belatedly realized that the two sides were individual beings, merged together as some sort of freak of nature, and an insult to mother nature's beauty. The dark side and white side weren't one and the same. The other half hummed in agreement, as it pointed an open palm towards Obito, mirroring the stance he took just before. He was next, and there was nothing she could do to stop it. She watched in horror, tears streaming down her face, as the same roots that had immobilized her, raced towards the Chuunin's unconscious form.
Was this really her fate, to be suspended in the air, helpless, watching in horror as she is captured alongside her best friend? She tried to use the last of her chakra to do something, anything, but her chakra wouldn't move like she wanted it to. Her tenketsu in her arms were damaged by the roots that impaled her arms, restricting her chakra flow. Her arms screamed in outrage, flexion stretching the wounds she sustained.
It's over for us, she thought, I'm sorry, Sensei, Kushina-san.
Silver blitzed through her line of vision as she fell to the ground once more. The roots burrowed in her arms were cut into pieces as crisp snapping accompanied the sharp echo of a sword's slash. She cried out as pain flared through her body from the impact of falling, the relief from being freed outweighed the pain she was feeling. Raising her head cautiously, she was greeted with the back of a familiar boy with gravity-defying hair. His right hand clenched his tanto with a white-knuckled grip.
"K-Kakashi-kun!" she cried in wonder, "You came back!" she exclaimed, voice hoarse but full of relief. Relief in the fact that Kakashi hadn't abandoned them, and relief in the fact that Obito would be okay. "I'm sorry, Rin, Obito," he said, tone full with remorse, before he straightened himself. "Pakkun, the rest of the pack is under your command. Take my teammates to safety. Bull, you're with me." he ordered professionally, voice serious and undeniably full of wrath.
She winced as the group of ninken hastily hoisted her up along with Obito. "On it!" shouted Pakkun, "Oh dear, Rin-chan, let's get you two out of here." he reassured her, voice low and gruff despite his size. Kakashi had likely already identified that the monster was using Wood Release, so Rin opted to share another piece of intel, "Kakashi-kun! They are two beings, merged into one, and they each belong to a side!" she shouted in warning with the last of her strength, ignoring the flames escaping out from her wounds as she strained herself to raise her voice.
As she was carried away, her energy hit its limits. Her continued consciousness was a miracle brought about only through her determination to keep Obito safe. The girl had hit her limits long ago, and a steady flow of adrenaline and resolve could only take the girl so far, so as her world turned to black, a single desire remained. One wish resonated through her entire being, even as she collapsed onto Shiba's gray coat.
Obito, Kakashi-kun, stay safe.
—-
Hatake Kakashi 3rd person POV
Kakashi's mind was like a whirlwind, a tempest of deep disarray. Rin's words, his reflections, and his father's choice, they were all sending his thoughts into a frenzy. He was caught in a storm of emotions and questions, all boiling down to one pressing question: What now?
He stood at the fateful clearing with the pond where so much had happened. After Rin had left with Obito in tow, Kakashi was stuck, trying to make sense of what had happened. Rin had so easily made her decision, and yet Kakashi, a once in a generation genius, was stuck in place, indecisively weighing his options.
Seconds passed, the clearing filling itself with an oppressive silence, and without having made a single judgment, he took off to complete his mission. It was an automatic response – shrugging his emotions off was always the path of least resistance for the prodigy. His actions were almost mechanical: traveling at breakneck speeds, covering his tracks, and focusing on one objective: they were all skills Kakashi had honed long ago, a mindless endeavor. It was dangerous to sit still in enemy territory, and terribly inefficient to be rooted in place with indecision. Above all, the shinobi code forbade an emotional response.
The shinobi code, like a compass, had always been Kakashi's guideline. Any time the prodigy found himself stuck, his mind racked with the implications of each decision he could make, the rules had always made his decisions for him. It was simple, wasn't it? Kakashi was a shinobi, so it made sense to obey.
Well, Kakashi wasn't so sure of that anymore.
The world wasn't black and white like Kakashi had believed before. Follow the rules. Complete the mission. Leave useless burdens behind. Fulfill your duty, no matter the cost. It was the bottom line. A simple, stark philosophy that had served him well. The rules dictated the 'correct' choices, noble choices that would work out for the greater good of the village, and emotion dictated the 'wrong' choices, naive choices that would ultimately hurt the village and its citizens. All you had to do was follow the rules, and everything would be okay, right?
Passing through the quiet forests of Grass, time seemed to stretch as he wrestled through his thoughts. He couldn't keep his mind off what Rin had said. Her acts defied everything it meant to be a shinobi, and Kakashi knew he should simply forget about her and move on, but her words and decision had somehow shaken him to his core and challenged his very beliefs. Her actions may have been irrational, but it was her passion to save Obito that had brought back Kakashi's memories of his father.
His father, the famous White Fang of Konoha, had foolishly broken the rules to save his comrades. He was scum, the same as all other shinobi who broke the code, and for a second after those rebellious thoughts betrayed his logical mind, he prepared to mentally curse the man he had grown to resent, but he found himself unable to do so. Instead, an overwhelming sense of loss plagued him. He found himself mourning the very father he had rejected for so long.
This sudden wave of grief struck him with an unexpected clarity, unraveling the tightly wound threads of anger and misunderstanding that had bound his heart for years. The memories of the man who had raised him had grown distorted over years of resentment. How had he come to define Sakumo's entire legacy by one moment of mercy? Why had he allowed the village's scorn to overwrite the years of love and guidance Sakumo had provided? It was a stark, painful realization—recognizing that his fear had pushed him to a cold detachment, a safety mechanism against the pain from the loss of his father.
That same father had smiled with nothing but joy as Kakashi picked new skills, he was the one who brought the pack out when Kakashi felt sad or lonely, He was the one who had raised Kakashi all alone and yet never complained. He was a splendid father who was endlessly admired and loved by Kakashi. When that same father had died, shunned by the entire village, Kakashi seemed to forget all the love he had for the man. All the love he held for the man became void, replaced with hate.
In Kakashi's mind, Hatake Sakumo was a superhero. He was a beacon, a perfect parent, and the man he had admired.
When that superhero was suddenly crumbling away as his reliable facade turned to nothing, he had no idea what to do. The empty looks his father sported after that mission had haunted the child. He didn't know how to help his dad, hell, he didn't think his dad would ever need help. So when one day, he came back from the academy to see nothing more than a lifeless corpse that used to be his father hanging from the living room ceiling, Kakashi couldn't handle it. Sakumo, his perfect father, had killed himself?
The villagers berated him, calling him scum. Exclaiming how useless he had been. How much pain he would cause with his mistake. Don't end up like your father, they told him. The man hadn't followed the rules, and see what happened? He may have been a capable shinobi, but in the end, he was just scum.
Ninja who break the rules and regulations are scum.
And just like that, Kakashi's philosophy was born. It was terribly unfair to Sakumo, to hate him with such an intensity. Even if he was now dead, blaming a single man for everything wrong that had happened after his death was one-sided. It was what had gotten Sakumo killed, wasn't it? The entire village had blamed the man and his compassion for the start of the war, including his only son. Kakashi bet Sakumo could hardly even rest in peace, having been cursed by the very son he had cherished so much for the past few years.
Were the lives he saved truly worth more than the chance to watch Kakashi grow up? Were they worth more than the pleasure of raising his only son? Did he really have to die, and leave Kakashi behind?
In the end, it all boiled down to the absence of Sakumo. Kakashi didn't hate his father, far from it. What he hated was the fact that Hatake Sakumo had died: the fact that he had taken his own life. He hated that his father was gone forever, he hated the prospect of never seeing his father's face ever again, and he hated himself for not stopping his untimely demise.
Kakashi hating Sakumo and worshiping the rules was a coping mechanism.
And now that Kakashi realized that, the longing he had held for his father for years came back in full force, unforgiving and ruthless, keen on punishing Kakashi for his failures. His stomach was in knots, his thoughts were obstructed by fog, and his heart felt like it had been impaled by a kunai. At that moment, the boy's pursuit of the mission came to a screeching halt, as he landed on the next branch, refusing to move forward.
Hatake Sakumo's decision to save his comrades had saved two lives, but it had also been the spark that had ignited the Third Great Shinobi war. But Sakumo didn't know that, no one had that certainty. His actions just so happened to cause the war, and he was blamed for the immeasurable death toll it brought.
The shinobi world was a cruel place. It killed indiscriminately, spared few, and devastated entire regions, so why not direct the peoples' fury to a shinobi who had failed his mission? It was an easy solution to the unrest surrounding declaration of war. Scapegoats were hardly rare anywhere in the world, especially in a world that revolved so heavily around violence. A Third war would've broken out regardless of his father's actions, perhaps fueled by another incident.
And now the war might end, with the completion of their mission. Destroying the Kannabi Bridge was supposedly a mission of incredible importance, as it could end the war, but even that wasn't guaranteed. It wasn't unheard of for fronts to collapse, even if they were major. But what was stopping Iwa from simply rebuilding the bridge, taking that time to recuperate for another invasion? They were still fighting on foreign soil, so who said they were in any existential danger? The completion of their mission at Kannabi Bridge would simply buy time.
The mission could end the war? Failure would prolong the war? Sacrificing his comrades is a small price to pay for the mission's completion? They were all excuses. Even if the war were to end, ushering in an era of peace, how long would it take for another war to break out? This is the Third war, after all. A shinobi's lifestyle was dependent on violence, and what better way than war was there to create violence?
The mission was in shambles already, anyway. Kakashi wasn't sure if he could do it alone, but more importantly, he abandoned his teammates. If the team returned to the village having failed to complete the mission, maybe they would be branded as scum, perhaps Sensei would look at them with disappointment or hate. The Hokage might even punish them for it, but Kakashi had something Sakumo wasn't given – a team that would stick together.
The trio would have each other. Team 7 wouldn't be alone, as Sakumo had been. All Kakashi knew now was what his heart was telling him at that moment.
They could die, and it would be my fault.
Sakumo's decision began to make more sense to Kakashi. Once someone died, they never came back, it was a fact everyone knew, but that reality seldom dawned on a person before it was too late. Those two were still alone out there, weren't they? Rin was fighting to save Obito's life, and Kakashi stuck between his decisions, pondering a choice that should be obvious. The lives of his indispensable comrades, or the mission?
Gods, was he stupid.
Without delay, Kakashi turned around, sprinting back in the direction of the clearing which had fundamentally challenged his beliefs, convictions and sense of duty.
He had spent an unknown amount of time making his way towards Kannabi Bridge, and his earlier indecision was frustrating now quite frustrating to say the least. The only silver lining was that the speed he ran towards the mission objective at a moderate speed, as his chakra was suppressed and he was taking care to keep his tracks clean. If he chose to go at full speed, he could make it back in record time, at the risk of being intercepted.
Kakashi wasn't too worried about that, though. He was faster than most, being a small and light 13 year old Jounin, so it was unlikely he would be intercepted before he reached his team.
Time passed quickly as Kakashi's mind came to be occupied by thoughts of his teammates' safety. Was Rin hiding somewhere? Had she succeeded in healing Obito, with a wound that serious? Her face spoke volumes about her determination to save the boy, but telltale signs of uneasiness Kakashi recalled through her determined front meant she wasn't fully confident, or at the very least she was worried about her chances of success.
If Obito succumbed to his injuries, would the death be Kakashi's fault?
The scenery changed ever so slightly as he raced through the land, jumping from tree to tree. He hadn't noticed his surroundings, deep in thought as he was, and it served as a reminder of his mistakes, but he knew he was getting closer. He didn't exactly like the smell of burnt flesh, but it was a pungent one that Kakashi could smell from a fair distance away, indicating his relative distance to the fighting ground.
Rin wouldn't be far from there, he knew. She was in a hurry to get started on Obito's treatment, she likely had less than an hour to hide somewhere, and alongside his ninken, tracking her scent should be easy enough.
He dropped onto the center of the clearing not so long after, made the necessary hand seals and slammed the ground. "Summoning Jutsu!" he shouted, creating a buff of smoke as his pack of ninken appeared in front of him. "Long time no see, Boss." Pakkun greeted playfully, smirking, before seeing Kakashi's serious expression. "Whaddya need help with?" he asked after straightening himself.
"I need to track my teammates. We were," he paused, thinking of a way to put it, "... separated some time ago. The two are most likely in the open, and last time I saw him, Obito was heavily wounded. I'm… concerned about their chances of survival." He looked at the group of dogs in front of him. "Can you catch their scent?" he asked with an uncharacteristic hopefulness. Pakkun smiled fondly, " 'Concerned', huh? Alright, Boss, you've got it!" he reassured Kakashi, barking orders to the rest of the ninken.
They made their way out of the clearing with haste, following the trail Rin left as she fled in a hurry, as well as the faint scent of blood Obito had emitted. The path she left behind wasn't a linear one, which Kakashi mentally applauded her for. She had made some effort to confuse a potential enemy's attempts in tracking. The scent was becoming stronger and stronger, indicating they were getting closer.
Gradually, Rin's natural scent grew mixed with more and more adrenaline and sweat, and before they knew it, an inconspicuous riverside welcomed them. Pakkun and the pack looked up to Kakashi for orders. "She's probably hidden herself nearby, split up and signal us if yo-" he started, before being interrupted by the most ungodly scent he had ever smelled in his life. It flooded their noses, nearly forcing a gag out from Kakashi and the rest of his gag. The smell of rot and mold, weaved together so thoroughly he almost couldn't identify it. An unholy aftertaste of hold blood filled Kakashi's mouth, the tang stabbing at his gums. The closest comparison was rotting corpses or a diseased cyst popping.
It was a scent that cursed life itself, and Kakashi was scared to see what kind of creature could possess such an odor. He caught another scent that was mixed in with the rest of the horrid smells. Adrenaline, and not Rin's. It was just a hint, the smallest amount Kakashi could possibly register. Irritation, his mind echoed without thought. It was the telltale sign of frustration, the slightest bit of anger. Whatever the smell came from wasn't some kind of rotting corpse, it was something sentient. Something with consciousness.
Before he could finish the thought, a blood curdling scream came from a cliffside 15 meters to his right, just across the river. A genjutsu. Rin had placed a genjutsu over a cave opening or something of the like, and was likely treating Obito there. Something had attacked them.
And it was Kakashi's fault.
With a glance, the group of ninken rushed across the currents and with a silent Genjutsu: Kai, a wall of stone in front of them faded, revealing Rin, who held up by roots impaling her arms. The culprit was clearly not human, a being covered of black and white, with menacing roots protruding from its body. That was the source of the terrible scent, and the thick layer of killing pushing down upon Kakashi.
In an instant, he drew his tanto and chopped the roots with practiced ease, the suspended Rin falling to the ground with a gasp. The feeling in his hands was all wrong. The wood he had just chopped through, it was filled with chakra. The chakra present in the roots was malevolent, and it was all wrong. The vibrations that went through his hands almost felt like screams and wails. As unnatural as the chakra itself was, the concentration of it within the roots was reminiscent of elemental ninjutsu. The implications spoke for themselves.
Somehow, this amalgamation possessed Wood Release, a legendary Kekkei Genkai only ever used by Konoha's First Hokage.
Unease pricked at Kakashi's spine, but he pushed it away and ignored it. Wood Release or not, it was his duty as the team leader to ensure Rin and Obito survived. This sense of duty, it must have been what his father had felt. He bit down harshly, resolving to buy time for their escape. Without looking behind him at Rin, he could tell she was heavily injured. The cave area she had set up camp in was layered with the thick smell of blood, along with slight hints of sweat, adrenaline and… thyme?
He ordered the ninken to take the unconscious Obito and barely conscious Rin away, leaving Bull behind to assist him. Bull was the biggest and strongest of the pack, and Kakashi reckoned that he would need support against this thing. Before leaving his earshot, Rin shouted a piece of intel, "Kakashi-kun, they are two beings, merged into one, and they each belong to one side!"
With that information he stared at the creature, who was growing increasingly frustrated, scowling furiously at the prodigy. Sure enough, the creature's halves had distinct differences, the black side seemed to be more of a shade, with an orange eye, while the white side held its tree-like characteristics – the roots and the texture of its skin. He wasn't sure what he would do with the information, but if the opportunity to separate them came, Kakashi would take it.
"The White Fang…? No, you're just a runt." it asked before shaking its head dismissively,
"No matter. Perhaps you will suffice." it decided, more roots coming out from the ground, primed towards the boy. Kakashi had learned from the day before not to act hastily. He watched the jutsu carefully, before it thrust out sharply, cutting the wind in its advance. Its speed was fast, almost fast enough to catch Kakashi…
But his Sensei's attacks were faster.
He slipped out of the way, well-practiced in avoiding quick attacks. The attack kept continuing, seemingly endless. One root split into three, branching off to create more and more attacks. Individually, the creature's Wood Release attacks weren't very deadly, but facing off against the unpredictability of its attacks. The way it diverged, split, and swayed around Kakashi made one thing sure. The creature was more skilled than the average Jounin.
The barrage of hundreds of attacks was pushing Kakashi to his limits. Sure, Minato's attacks were faster, but the sheer number of the enemy's attacks made up for it. He rolled, swayed, and jumped around the plant-like spikes, rushing at him from every angle. Roots sprouted from behind him as he leaped backwards, they chased him as he rushed forward. Through the liberal use of his tanto to parry and slice oncoming strikes he couldn't avoid, along with Bull shoving, clawing at and biting the roots, Kakashi could just barely keep up.
The nature of the creature's assault was indeed ruthless and unforgiving, but Kakashi could tell after a short time that it wasn't aiming for vital points. He was aiming for the joints in his arms and legs, it was aiming for his shoulders, and his feet, just like where it had struck Rin. He recalled the statement the creature had made earlier, that he would 'suffice'. Its goal wasn't to kill Rin and Obito earlier, it was to capture them, otherwise Rin would have already been dead. And now that they were gone, Kakashi was the target.
Now, Kakashi had a plan. At the rate Kakashi was moving, he would eventually run out of energy and slip up, causing bad injury. Bull wasn't faring much better, either, despite not being the main target. If he was going to get pierced, it was going to be by his rules. He glanced at Bull and nodded curtly.
Stumbling briefly, a sharpened branch raced towards Kakashi's uninjured left shoulder. The boy's hand redirected the blow to barely miss the shoulder directly, instead digging into flesh right below his shoulder. Kakashi hissed in pain as the creature smirked. It had forgotten about Bull, it seems. He ignored the pain surging from his left shoulder, charging his White Light Chakra Sabre with Lightning Release chakra. With a hiss, he threw the crackling tanto, a white, electrified streak trailing behind the blade as it rushed towards the creature's chest, easily piercing through it, pushing it back and pinning to the cave wall. In the next moment, Bull burrowed out from right under the pinned monster, ripping its leg off.
Kakashi took a kunai out of his pouch and cut the root out of his chest, stepping back cautiously. The creature was stuck now, impaled through a vital point. A vital point for humans, that is. He watched the creature intently as it stood passively, looking down at the White Fang's namesake. Bull leaped back towards Kakashi, dropping its severed leg on the ground by his side.
He took a breath, "What are your motives?" Kakashi demanded sternly, six shuriken in his hand. It twitched briefly, prompting the Jounin to raise his shuriken arm in a throwing position. "Don't move," he threatened. The creature stared at Kakashi, before a malicious grin stretched across its haunting features. "Ridiculous." it remarked menacingly, before a stabilizing root replaced its severed leg. It walked through the blade, unaffected by the hole through its chest.
Kakashi clicked his tongue, throwing electrified shuriken at its face in an arc, attempting to cut its head off. "Shinobi ought to be wary of their surroundings," it said casually, roots exploding from the ground, batting the shuriken away. Kakashi widened his eyes, his gaze racing around him. No branches or roots were threatening to impale him like he thought, but the leg Bull torn off had already expanded and transformed into bulky roots, swiftly wrapping themselves around Kakashi's legs before he could get away.
Bad. This was bad news. Cutting through the thick wood keeping him in place would take Kakashi time, precious time that could be spent avoiding attacks. Now, he was wide open no matter what he did. Bull tried biting through the wood right away, but was immediately sent flying into the cave side by an effortless attack, turning into a puff of smoke as he crashed into the rock painfully. Kakashi reached for a kunai, but his pouch was stabbed through by an incoming root, grazing his leg as it was knocked away.
"Enough of that." it snarled, still walking towards Kakashi. The wood restraining his legs squeezed tighter, and he could feel his blood flow getting cut off. Now, even if he freed himself, it would be more difficult to make distance. If he didn't get out soon, the fight would be over, so his mind scrambled for a way out of his predicament. Kakashi had no more ninja tools, but his hands were still free. The creature had its guard down, so if he could just break through the wood…
Kakashi blinked in realization. The Chidori. The jutsu was Kakashi's own creation, so the creature couldn't anticipate it. The jutsu may be incomplete when it comes to offense, but Kakashi wouldn't use it to attack the creature, he would use it to free himself instead. His eyes shone with a fierce glint of defiance.
Ox, Rabbit, Monkey, he signed the hand seals resolutely, the creature's eyes widening as roots rummaged from the ground towards Kakashi. His hands sparked lazily at first; with Kakashi injuries, it was difficult to concentrate, but with an exerted grunt, his hand sparked with an unstable current, chirping with the sound of a thousand birds. He swung his hand at the incoming roots, destroying them easily, before bending down and piercing through the wood restraining his feet.
His feet stung with dozens of tiny needles, half asleep from a lack of blood flow, but he ignored the discomfort and flooded his legs with chakra. Making as much distance as he could, he leapt out of the cave. A torrent of sharp roots followed him with a vengeance, giving him little time to react. The chakra cost of the Chidori was steep, it was a jutsu he could use up to four times, and that was only if he hadn't expended any chakra. He had some time to recover earlier, sure, but using it twice in one day was already demanding. The lighting had already flickered away by the time his feet hit the ground behind him in an attempt to conserve chakra. His reserves were below half, and with that he could feel the debilitating onset of mild chakra exhaustion, inhibiting his movements. Now that his tanto and ninja tools were left behind in the cave, his only option was to avoid the roots.
He barely avoided the first wave of precise stabs, sidestepping and ducking around them in a not-so-elegant dance, dizzily stumbling and rolling at several instances, but surges of pain across his side and legs alerted him to the fact that he wasn't properly avoiding each attack. When Kakashi barely avoided a root that pierced the air where his mid chest would be, followed by two jabs to his legs from behind forcing him to nearly roll into three stationary roots, he realized it would only be a matter of time…
… Before a vine toppled his feet over, making him stumble, his equilibrium shot. He sprung himself off the ground with his hands in a desperate attempt to get away, but as his frantic eyes registered a root charging at his side, it was too late. The attack missed a vital spot, but it created a deep gash above his ribs. Kakashi growled painfully, clenching the wound with his hands, and as fire spread from the wound across his side, it easily overshadowed the dull pain from his shoulder wound.
An injury like this was terrible news for any fighter. Any movements Kakashi made would cause the already horribly painful wounds to twist and turn. Each stretch of his muscles tugging at the freshly exposed injury. Harsh movements were practically impossible, and pair that up with blood loss…
At this rate, he would probably be taken. He didn't know the creature's plans with him, but it couldn't be anything good. He glared at it as a last act of defiance, staring intently at its appearance. He hadn't noticed just how horrifying it was earlier. Nothing about it was natural, the hue of its skin white, bearing a wooden texture, squirming as if a sea of bugs crawled under its appalling skin. Its unmatching eyes held a malice that frightened even Kakashi, staring him down like an uninterested hunter who had caught a mere hare.
That's all he was to this… hellspawn. He was just prey, like an injured deer who struggled to move. "Stay put, will you?" it said, voice dripping with irritation. More roots floated above his head, ready to restrain Kakashi the same way he had seen them restrain Rin before.
Kakashi had to stop the bleeding, at least. He could cauterize the wound with his Lighting Release, but he had no idea if he could bear the pain or if it would even buy him enough time. Hesitating to release his chakra, he grit his teeth in anticipation for the creature's attack.
Suddenly, the air was pierced by a sharp, piercing hiss, a sound that sliced through the momentary silence like a blade. The high-pitched zip disappeared as fast as it had appeared, a tall, blonde-haired figure appearing in the cave, by his fallen pouch. In Kakashi's desperation, he could clearly smell the familiar scent of his mentor, Namikaze Minato.
The creature turned around apathetically, hissing in annoyance before the roots rushed at the immobile boy. Attempting to avoid the blow, he strained his muscles to move, raw agony exploding out from his wound, mercilessly immobilizing him. He fell forward, before being grabbed by a lighting fast figure.
The feeling of being teleported wasn't the greatest, light nausea bubbling inside of his stomach, but he was nonetheless grateful for it in this circumstance. They landed back at Kakashi's pouch, where the custom-made kunai laid. "Sensei! How did you…?" Kakashi asked in part wonder and part relief. "The formula engraved on the kunai I gave you sets a mark, allowing me to quickly hop to it using my transportation jutsu." the blonde explained with patience, "Speaking of which, it looks like that thing knows about my jutsu." he said, glancing at the Wood Release user, who was ripping its arm off..
"I marked it when I grabbed you, but it wasted no time in removing the limb that held the formula," he remarked to Kakashi, and stood up to stare down at the freak of nature. "What are you, and why did you attack my student?" he demanded answers fiercely, switching to the demeanor that earned him Flee-on-sight orders from multiple hidden villages. It spat out a curse, "Of all the insects to appear…" Kakashi barely picked up as it spoke to itself. Without delay, it sank into the ground to escape. Minato-sensei hopped to its discarded limb with a sharp zing, now mere meters away from it. A bright azure light swirled in his hand, forming a rotating sphere of pure chakra. The Rasengan crashed at the descending monster, ultimately missing its mark and instead creating a small spherical crater in the dirt below his hand.
Minato sighed in disappointment, standing up straight and making his way back towards Kakashi. "Sensei, that thing was using-" Kakashi started, before Minato interrupted, "Wood Release, I know. It's hard to believe, but that isn't what's important right now," he regarded Kakashi with a questioning glance, "What happened to Obito and Rin? Their chakra signatures are too weak." he asked with worry. Kakashi looked down guiltily, "We were ambushed not long after we split up. We won the battle, but the enemy severely injured Obito with a slash to the stomach," he clenched his fists as he continued, "and I… I chose to abandon him. Rin took him so she could heal him, and I…" he shook his head angrily, before he went silent.
"By the time I decided to come back, Rin had already been attacked by that Wood Release monster. It's my fault they were injured so badly, Sensei," he looked up remorsefully at his mentor, locking eyes with vulnerability he would never expose before today, "I'm sorry," he muttered softly.
Minato smiled at the boy, ruffling his hair. "You should tell that to them," he advised gently, "It's an emergency situation, so we're going back to Konoha." Kakashi flinched, Sakumo's figure appearing in his mind, but then nodded. He had come back acknowledging the mission wouldn't be completed, he knew this would happen in the end. "Stay here, I'll grab Obito and Rin and take them here. If your life is in danger, pulse your chakra through my custom kunai." Minato said before leaping off in the direction of his teammates.
What a relief, Kakashi thought. Minato-sensei coming in the nick of time was a stroke of luck and a massive coincidence, especially considering that Kakashi hadn't known about the formula on the custom kunai he had been gifted. If his teacher hadn't come when he did, not only would Kakashi have been captured, but his teammates could have died. Obito's condition was unclear to Kakashi, and Rin could have just as easily bled out with her injuries.
He wondered what that abomination's aim was. There was no sign of a headband or a symbol to signify its loyalties, meaning it likely didn't belong to any of the Elemental Nations. If its aim wasn't to capture Kakashi as a prisoner of war, then what was it? He shuddered at the thought, because even if he didn't know the first thing about it, what he did know was how inhuman it was, its lack of empathy, its ruthlessness and how objectively malicious it had been.
The thought only served to enlarge his gratitude for his Sensei's intervention. Kakashi didn't know what would happen next at the village, or how much trouble his team would land themselves in, but most of all, he was relieved none of them were killed. Now that sensei was here, even if Rin hadn't succeeded in healing Obito, they would have access to the famous Senju medics, who were renowned across all the Elemental Nations as the best medics the world had to offer.
As the adrenaline flowing through his body died down, pain pulsed through his wounds in waves, as if they were still being stabbed through all the same. Kakashi had been cut, punched, burned, and zapped during his career as a shinobi, but being impaled by roots was a first. His wounds certainly weren't fatal, but they were most definitely painful.
Kakashi wouldn't cry out, though. He wouldn't complain. The wounds he had suffered, they had all bought him time. Time for Minato to arrive, to drive the monster away, and time for the pack to take Rin and Obito away from its reach. It was hard to regret the injuries he had suffered, and if anything, he was glad he didn't have to burn himself to stop the bleeding. So he sat against a rock, applying pressure to his side to stop the bleeding, doing his best to bear the pain.
Suddenly, he could feel the pack reverse summoning themselves back to the summoning dimension. That meant that Minato had caught up to them and had the two injured Chuunin in tow. An instant later, Minato appeared in front of Kakashi with a startling swish, Rin and Obito draped over his shoulders. He stuck his hand out, "Let's go home, Kakashi," he said with a kind tone. Kakashi took his hand, and an instant later, they stood in front of the Konoha gates.
At long last.
—-
YO everyone. So yea, as stated at the first notes, i'm really sorry about the delay. I don't really have any excuses for it this time… I'll try to write faster next time but we'll see! I plan to edit chapter 4, 5 and maybe 6 before doing chapter 16, but it shouldn't take me too long to do those if I get in the swing of things. Maybe.
Anyway, as you might guess, the shinobi war arc is nearly over. Some of you might have expected a little more from the arc, considering it is war, but it didn't make sense to me to have a gritty war arc for Daisuke in his environment in Konoha, and also, I was intimidated by the idea while I was setting up the plot points for this arc a few months ago. Next chapter is likely the finale to the arc, and a fairly uneventful one (compared to the last few chapters) at that.
I think the story definitely needs a chill chapter after the last few.
Content-wise, I kind of feel like I was a little too ambitious with this chapter. I did lots of research medical wise, but everything I couldn't account for in Rin's treatment I kind of supplemented with THE WONDERS OF CHAKRA. Lol. I'm not a doctor or a med student, so if there's some whole in Rin's treatment, don't grill me.
I am very bad at doing internal monologues in my opinion, and the Kakashi/Rin thought sequences have gone through a couple of renditions, so I hope you guys like some of it at least, but once again please give me criticisms… I have a lot to learn.
ZETSU IS HERE (if it wasn't obvious). For those confused on why he turned up and why he wants to capture them, there are a few reasons (that are pretty much entirely implicit so if you didn't get it, i don't blame you). One, it is a head canon of mine that finding Obito was a big coincidence for Zetsu/Madara, meaning that he would likely be in the area. I justified it by also stating that sent Zetsu around to look for potential pawns. Two, he saw how much Rin evidently cared about Obito and thought (similarly to madara) that if they were used as pawns, they would be easy to manipulate (Could be true….), and three, he saw Rin as a potential pawn of value due to her skills in medical ninjutsu.
This encounter is more about setting up future plot points, but I thought it was an interesting fight and showcase. Zetsu was shown to be able to hold his own against quite the opponents in the 4th war, so I thought it would make sense if Kakashi wasn't capable of beating him at the moment.
Fun fact: For most of my story planning, the plan was to actually kill Rin off here, but shortly before writing chapter 14, I changed my mind. A few things stopped me:
1. I wanted to use it to give Mangekyo sharingan to obito early on, but I felt that killing rin off to give obito the MS was cheap and a waste of the growth I gave Rin
2. I was going to have Obito wake up because Rin would force him awake with a jutsu, and Obito would subconsciously use Kamui to avoid an attack before passing out, but it felt very unrealistic, as Obito has essentially undergone a surgery, and also it would leave Kakashi with very poor odds of defending the two while also holding off Zetsu.
3. After writing so much of Rin's thoughts, it felt like such a shame to kill her. And I felt really bad doing it tbh.
Anyway anyway anyway yippe back to Daisuke at last! I plan to have a bit of slice of life to cool things down, a bit off new direction for his abilities, I want to explore Daisuke's options in being more involved, and I want to move towards character arcs for a few characters! It'll be a bit of a doozy, but yea. Next arc will be pretty important overall (and be given a vague name this time :D) A few MAJOR events will be unfolding now that Obito has not been captured. (it will take some time of course).
Hope you liked the chapter and I hope it wasn't too much of a slog to read. It was a slog to write tbh. I kind of miss writing Daisuke's POV lol, it's been months. Byebye!