“Guy stop fooling around. We need to be serious from the very beginning. The village that the hideout is supposed to be is a day journey away.
“Right, then lets go,” Guy says. Guy and Kakashi start with a hurry, leaving me behind, but I catch up quickly. I could just see the set determination on Kakashi’s face. I could save Sakura the heartbreak, and Naruto the worry, if I can bring him back. But in deep in my gut I knew he wasn’t going to simply come with us. He has shut his eyes from the world around him and only saw power to avenge his clan. I’m not sure a simple talk would convince him to bring him back to the Leaf. Especially if its power he craves for, I don’t think other than the hokage and the sannin are what he is looking for. And Orochimaru is a sannin, he is getting much more stronger if he follows his path.
He already knows the bond that he shares, but he wants to sever it. He’ll never know just how important these few bonds he has left. My bonds were cut, I only had the idea of Suzu that kept me from drifting off. I was able to stay grounded just barely, I was so close to giving in, but then Naruto came. And then I made new bonds.
Sasuke must be close to floating away in his own darkness. Naruto, Sakura, and Sai, and his friends he has in the Leaf won’t let him. I won’t let him.
Once we were off we didn’t stop very much. Guy had us stop once or twice because he needed to go to the bathroom.
“What are we going to do when we get there Kakashi,” Guy asks once we get on our way to the village next to Orochimaru’s suppose hideout.
“We’ll have to make sure these rumors are reliable. If it happens to be true then I’ll explain the plan once we figure things out. Now we need to get there quickly. We can’t miss them,” Kakashi says and speeds up just a bit. I stay right beside him, this was probably the most important mission I have been on. We’ve been traveling for nine hours already, covering land quicker than I imagined. We cut it down to half by reducing stops and moving very quickly. I was beginning to tire by the time we hit eleven hours of jumping from treetop to tree branch. I was depleted from training before I got home. I was already tired from practicing wood technique.
“Kiyoko, you doing alright? You look a bit tired. Don’t let your flame of youth dim just yet, put all of your will into this,” Guy says besides me. He pushed my pack, I’ve noticed that Kakashi was ahead of me. He was so focused on Sasuke right now. I didn’t want to hold him back.
“I’ll be fine, come on we can’t hold Kakashi back,” I push myself a bit harder than I already was.
There were no complains for two more hours. We’ve been traveling half a day and it was past midnight, the moon was past its full stage. It gave us very little light. My body wanted to rest, but Kakashi hasn’t spoken about stopping. My mind was tired as well it wandered off frequently now. I jump to another branch, expecting to land on the wood, but I jump to short. Damn it, I slip and feel myself falling to the ground far below us. I catch myself on the branch, the thick bark of the tree cut into my palms.
“Ow,” I say to myself, as I try to pull myself back to the branch. My hands stung, and the lack of chakra was preventing them to heal quickly. It was hard to get half of my body up, I felt much more heavier than ever.
“I got you,” I hear Kakashi say. Kakashi and Guy grab both of my hands pulling me up. I cringe in pain when their hands make contact with my palm.
“Kakashi we need to rest, if we do have to battle tomorrow we can’t go into confrontation like this,” Guy says.
“No, I’m fine. I just slipped, we need to get Sasuke. I’m all ready to go,” I stand up much to my legs refusal. Kakashi takes my hands in his, looking at the deep cuts that weren’t closing on their own. I close my fists, I didn’t want to hold him back.
“There is a small pass by village just ahead of here. We’ll stay at a hotel and leave at sunrise,” Kakashi lets go of my injured hands. We don’t jump from branch to branch anymore, we walk on the dark trail instead. He was right lights illuminated a very small town, a hotel was close by the hot springs. Kakashi checks us in while I look for bandages to wrap my slowly bleeding palms. I didn’t want to make a bloody mess while I wait for them to heal.
“Okay we got our rooms, lets go get some rest,” Kakashi waits for me to get up from my seat that was in the lobby. We make our way through the short hallways.
“Guy you’ll be in the room on the right, I’ll stay with Kiyoko,” Kakashi says and hands Guy his key. Guy lets his mouth drop.
“Wh-what? You’re staying in the same room? Are- but,” He stutters in surprise.
“Guy its a long story, get some rest. I’ll see you tomorrow at sunrise and explain it if it really bothers you,” Kakashi says, and pushes me slightly into the room.
“I’ll allow this time, just this once,” I hear Guy grumble outside. I slip off my shoes, and Kakashi sits on the floor.
“Let me see your hands,” Kakashi says and tugs me to sit in front of him. He takes some bandages from his pack, and disinfecting swabs. I bite my lip as he swabs my palms, it stung. but I felt relief of the pain. He begins to wrap my hands, blood seeped through the first layer, but he wrapped my hands with ease and care.
“I should have noticed that you’re exhausted. You were training before you got home weren’t you. That is why you’re not healing quickly, you haven’t restored your chakra. And that one sandwich isn’t enough to get it back. I’m sorry, I had my mind set on one thing, and you ended up getting hurt,” Kakashi finishes the first hand, and moves to the second one.
“Its fine. I should have been able to overcome my fatigue. Just because I am tired doesn’t mean Sasuke will wait for us. I should be the one apologizing,” I say, and watch as Kakashi’s big hand carefully held mine. Guy must be so confused about him staying in the same room, but Kakashi remembered. He remembered that I couldn’t sleep without him by my side.
“I’m going to go get a few snacks for us. Get dressed and set up the futons for us,” Kakashi says, and puts his shoes back on. I change into the robes the hotel provide us. It felt nice and soft on my tired body. I see the futons and blankets folded neatly in one corner. I struggle to pull them to the center of the room, my hands hurt, but by tomorrow they’ll be fine. After a snack and some sleep.
I’ll have to be at my best tomorrow. This is considered to be an A rank mission. This could be a very important mission that helps me to become a jounin. This is a very important mission, the most important mission I may ever have. One, Sasuke is said to be not too far from here. We can take him home, and second I need to prove myself worthy of being a jounin. I manage to get everything settled, when Kakashi opens the door with a bag.
“I’ll get changed. I bought some chips, dried meat, and drinks for a quick meal.” He hands me the bag as he grabs the robe. I turn away from his direction, and open a bag of chips, my hands already healing a bit quicker by my static body. I ate, feeling a whole lot better. Man was I hungry. Kakashi sat near me eating too. I unwrapped the dry meat digging into it with greed. I could see the fatigue in his face too.
“If Sasuke really is near, then Orochimaru will be near too. That’s what I am worried about, I’m worried that he’ll take interest in you, and wants to capture you to find out what power you hold. Just like before, if it gets too heated I want you to leave.”
“No, I’m not leaving you or Guy to fight on your own. I’ll fight to my fullest, you haven’t seen everything I got,” I smile. If it comes to the worst scenario than I would have to use my earth chakra. And if it comes to death then I’ll have to use wood technique. That was my plan, and if Sage Moriko didn’t like it than she can deal with it, because there is no way I’ll leave them.
“Stubborn. How could I forget that we are the black and white fang. You’ll be by my side right,” He takes a sip of his water. I nod. I’ll be by his side if we have to face a legendary Sannin. I’ll be by his side as we take Sasuke back home.
Kakashi and I finish the food, it felt so great to eat. It remindes me just how painful being hungry was. I was hungry a lot of my time on my own. But I wasn’t going hungry anymore.
Kakashi and begin to get ready for bed, and I didn’t know if he would simply hold my hand or hold me. I was too shy to ask. Kakashi gets into bed first, he smiles when he sees just how awkwardly I was sitting. He lifts his covers.
“Come get in here, we need to get some rest,” He says. I get under his blanket leaving my futon unattended. Kakashi must have felt my racing heartbeat, because he is the one who pulls me to him. I feel so much more at ease when I am near him. His bicep acts as my pillow just like before. I felt his legs begin to warm my cold feet. This way I began to fall into sleep without any troubles. Before I completely lose consciousness, I feel Kakashi press his lips on my forehead. I couldn’t help but smile, and try to hold onto him closer as I fell asleep.
It felt like just a few hours of sleep, but when Kakashi wakes me it is just before sunrise. My body wanted to sleep more but I was refreshed and ready for whatever I had to do. He changes first and leaves the room to wake Guy up and leave me to my privacy. Once I gather my things and fold the futons and blankets back I open the door and see Guy and Kakashi waiting for me.
“Alright lets get going,” Kakashi says. Guy lags behind a bit, mumbling to himself. We set off to the village where there has been many reports of Sasuke’s appearance. We didn’t stop, and I didn’t slip anymore. We made it there faster than we expected, just three hours. It was late morning and the small town was bustling. Kakashi stops us a few meters before the entrance.
“We’ll split up and ask around. We’ll meet up ten minutes from now to gather information. Mention Kabuto and Orochimaru. I brought pictures so you can show the citizens their faces.” Kakashi hands us pictures of Orochimaru and Kabuto. But the picture of Sasuke looked a bit outdated. I’m sure he has grown and changes, but they can get a picture of him. We walk in together and we split apart. I take the market area, Guy takes the back area, and Kakashi takes the civilian part of town. I walk over to a fruit stand, holding ripe tomatoes in my hands.
“Shall I get you a bag young lady?” The elder woman behind the stand says.
“Hmm I’ll take a few. They are nice and ripe. Have you been selling fruits all of you life?”
“Oh yes I have. I know anyone around these streets. I haven’t seen you. You must be new to town,” She smiles and holds the bag open for me to drop the two tomatoes.
“That is great. Have you seen any of these three men around here?” I show her their pictures. She adjusts her glasses. I let her take them from my hand holding it closer to her face.
“Ah yes. I have seen this man, with this young lad. But he looks a bit older than this picture.” She points at Kabuto and Sasuke. They must have been walking down this street at some point.
“Thank you very much. I’ve been searching for them for a very long time,” I smile and give her the money for the tomatoes I have bought. I don’t have use to them and hand them to a little boy who was sitting next to his elder. He thanks me and I continue to ask around for Sasuke, Kabuto and Orochimaru. I get back to our rendezvous point, Guy waits there. Kakashi must still be asking. Guy is leaning on a tree when I get there.
“Kiyoko you and Kakashi seem to be getting along real well,” He stretches real, making it sound a bit accusing.
“Well yes, he has been taking care of me. I am very grateful for everything that he has done for me,” I tell him. I was fortunate that Kakashi and I do get along, thankfully he isn’t someone who is so cold hearted. I see Guy’s face pale, and he begins to slide down the tree.
“Eh. He takes good care of you. Oh poor Kiyoko! Robbed of your innocence. I’ll never forgive that Kakashi for what he has done to you,” He wales a bit louder.
“What are you doing Guy? You can be heard a mile away,” Kakashi says.
“You, Kakashi. I know what you have done,” Guy accuses him. I couldn’t take him seriously, not when Guy had snot running down his nose.
“Guy I have done many things, but right now is not the time for this. How did your gathering information go?”
Guy recovers quickly, it makes me wonder if he was joking or serious just a bit ago.
“Everyone that I have asked have said that they have seen them. Every single person, which is what I found strange. Even small children,” Guy says.
“Yes that is the same result with me. Everyone seems to know Kabuto and Sasuke,” I agree.
“That is odd, I have asked at least ten villagers, all of them smiling and knowing exactly who they are. No one knew Orochimaru though, but that is not too unusual. He doesn’t show his face in public too much. We’re going to have to be extra careful around here. The hideout is not too far from here.” Kakashi grabs his map from his backpack. He extends it before us a clear mark on the supposed hideout. It seemed like we could be just about ten minutes away walking, but we could get there in five.
“We don’t know if this hideout is full of Orochimaru’s experiments, that is why I brought Kiyoko along. I don’t know anyone other than Naruto who can produce such a large amount of shadow clones. We’ll even out the plane with her. We don’t know the terrain inside the hideout so splitting should be a last resort. We battle our way through. If we do encounter Orochimaru, I will battle him and most likely Kabuto will be there as well. Guy will take care of him. Kiyoko you’ll keep our backs covered with your clones, but if Sasuke is in hand you will go after him. He will most likely use his sharingan but you can dispel it, you’ve done it before with Itachi, so he should be no problem. The only problem is that he is a fire user and a lightning user. You can counter his fire, but he can conduct his lightning through you so be cautious.” Kakashi instructs us.
“Try to avoid confrontation if possible. Together is the best option to get back Sasuke, if he is there,” Kakashi says. He shows us where the entrance to the hideout, it was a picture of it. It was zoomed in and not too clear, but it was better to know what we know what we are getting ourselves into. Once Kakashi had gone into greater detail of our strategy we begin to move into the hideout. Guy no longer was so sulky, we were all focused on the task in hand. It took us just three minutes to close in, Kakashi stopped meters away, no one was guarding the entrance.
“You know the plan,” Kakashi says quietly. I concentrate a bit on my surroundings, trying to read any chakra that are near, but I only felt one. Sage Moriko was helping me sense chakra for farther distances. She said it will become much more easier once I am training to become a sage.
“Kakashi I sense only once person just after the entrance, I’ve sensed this chakra before,” I say softly to him. Its powerful, but not unhandlable. Guy or Kakashi could stand against it for sure. I sense it, zoning out Guy and Kakashi’s chakra from my field of vision.
“Kabuto. That chakra is Kabuto,” I tell them. Guy clenches his fists, ready for a fight. Kakashi gives us the signal to close in. As I was appointed, I had to stay just a few inches behind Guy and Kakashi, in a triangle formation. I thought Kabuto would be by Orochimaru like Kakashi said, but I can’t sense anyone else.
“It seems like you have spotted me before I have spotted you. My how could that have happened?” I hear that voice say. Kabuto stands before the entrance of the hideout. It looked like he was expecting us.
“So glad to see you Kiyoko. You three must be here for someone isn’t that right,” He smiles. I was on my guard, this was too casual for a battle, I didn’t like it.
“Kakashi I know we are supposed to stay together, but we’re out here. I can handle him by myself. You and Kiyoko go get Sasuke,” Guy says from besides me. I see Kabuto’s grin only widen. Something was wrong, very wrong.
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Chapter notes: Sorry I made my wonderful readers wait for this chapter, but I loved writing it, and I am so stoked to write the next chapter. I hope you guys love it!
Chapter end notes: Thank you for reading!! Let me know what you guys think of this chapter. I loved writing it and I hope you guys loved reading it.
Until next chapter!