Kakashi’s POV
There were no words to describe the feeling I felt other than those three. I love her, and I have for a long time, months together are irreplaceable, and now I’ve told her I love her. I say it with all honesty. I love Kiyoko.
Kiyoko’s POV
“I love you Kakashi.”
The words fall out of my mouth before my mind even thought about it. If this is what it meant to love, then I want to feel it everyday. I want to know he’s beside me and he wants me to be besides him. I didn’t realize my tears were falling until Kakashi wiped them away. My mind still couldn’t wrap around the idea that someone loves me, I’ve never experienced it until now.
“Lets get home, I bet you have training tomorrow morning and I want to hear Sage Moriko blame me,” Kakashi says into my hair. I agree and let go. We arrive home, leaving the mess and dirty dishes for some other day, right now all I thought about were those three words.
Kakashi was right, early in the morning Tomoko summoned me to Forest Shikkotsu. Back in the Leaf Village, the leaves on the trees were beginning to turn orange and slowly fall from the branches. Here in the Forest there was no change like that, since Sage Moriko controlled the forest, she decided when season could change, and year long, it has always been green and warm. Tomoko teased me all the way to home tree. Even Sage Moriko admit spying on us late last night. She was a sucker for romance, and I don’t blame her. I bet she gets lonely living all of these years in the forest. I wonder if she’s always lived like this. Being a sage had many responsibilities.
“We should get back to mastering, we only have a few months left, before the year of starting wood style is done. I can’t believe it has been a year already. To think that you were so stubborn to not save the world. You’re becoming a wonderful ninja. We must prepare for your test,” Sage Moriko says as we stood in a thick and wide branch of the massive tree.
“The test of wood mastery? How will I be examined?” I asked her.
“Well you will be battling me of course. Your mastery of wood style must be at my level at the very least, but if can defeat me that will be a feat. It will tie nicely to sage art. SInce sage art is easier with mood mastery,” She replies. I nod, so now I have to have better mastery over a nature that she has years to practice, where I only had one. What a challenge that will be.
That day I trained on all the techniques I have learned, using my surroundings to help me. I tore down trees, and grew them. I used my hotei technique to clear large parts of forest. I practiced my defensive techniques, using a higher concentration of chakra than I usually do. My high chakra levels will definitely help me in this fight. Sage Moriko stayed around to give me tips on bettering my wood style. Telling me I was too flat footed and too stubborn like a trunk, I needed to be like a branch and be a bit more flexible. I spent it like that for the entire day, finally going home late that night.
Tomoko left me in the Leaf’s cemetery, I wondered why, but then I see Kakashi standing in front of Obito’s grave, adjusting his flowers. My tired body walked slowly to him. He squatted in front of the grave now.
“What do I get her for her birthday? Maybe another charm for her necklace, do you think she would like it? Or maybe I can buy her the sewing books she was looking at yesterday, but thats just lame,” He asks Obito.
I smile and sneak behind him, “She don’t need anything Kakashi,” I whisper. He looks around startled, believe it really was Obito speaking to him, but then he looks behind him and sees me.
“Your startled me,” He stands.
“Thats a first. I thought you would have sensed me,” I say.
“You’re chakra levels aren’t as potent as they usually are. I’m guessing it was a long day of training.”
I nod. I give my respects to Obito, and Rin, before Kakashi and I walk home. He gave me his body to lean on, with those three words we spoke yesterday, I felt like the small distance between us that existed, no longer lived between us. It was gone, and now it was him and me together. I no longer cared who saw us in public, I wanted people to know I love him. Was that so wrong? I wanted them to know he was mine, and now no one could really separate us. Even if there was some kind of artificial distance. He smelled of soap and sweat, I guessed he did a bit of training too.
“Are you hungry?” Kakashi asks me. I nod, the small breaks I had, Sage Moriko brought random nuts for me to eat. It wasn’t really enough to feed my energy back into me.
“Lets make up for that birthday dinner you planned,” He says. I smile, we walk over to our favorite ramen place, and I sit my stinky self on a booth, while I waited for the big bowl of steaming noodles to arrive.
“I haven’t seen you in here for a while missy,” Teuchi, the of the shop says.
“I have been busy training, but I can’t go too long without your ramen. Its great,” I tell her. His daughter, Ayame, servers the steaming ramen in front of me.
“Ah, yes, you did save our village from destruction not too long ago. I must thank you, or else who would have know what would have happened to my shop. Let me make it up to you, the ramen in free for tonight. You can have as many servings.”
“Thats too kind. Its too generous, you’ll run out of noodles if I take you up on that offer,” I laugh.
He laughs too, “You remind me of a young boy who could do just that. While he is gone, my business is a bit quieter.”
“Naruto?” Kakashi guesses. He slips his mask to eat his first chopstick of ramen. He must be comfortable with Ayame and Teuchi.
“Yes, I heard from Lady Tsunade that he is doing very well. I wouldn’t be surprised that he has pushing himself to train, I hope he is eating well. I growing boy needs nutrients to get stronger,” He says.
I smile, not just Naruto’s close friends miss him, the villagers notice the quiet change without him. After eating, Teuchi and I come to a compromise, we’ll pay half the price for the ramen. I feel much better with a stomach full of ramen. The autumn air was blowing, it was the beginning of a colder season, my second favorite.
After a warm shower, I sleep in Kakashi’s arms and sleep heavenly. In the weeks before my birthday were regular, train, come home, eat, shower, and sleep. Kakashi was there every night. Thankfully there weren’t any missions assigned. It wasn’t until the day before my twenty fifth birthday that I feel so grateful to spend it with Kakashi.
On the morning of my birthday, I wanted to make breakfast for Kakashi and I. But that didn’t happen, we were woken by Shizune.
“Ah, Good Morning Kiyoko, Kakashi, but Lady Tsunade has summon you two. I believe it is urgent,” She says. I feel a bit deflated, I had a feeling that we were going to be sent on a mission. But there was nothing that I could do to stop it, its a ninja life after all. Shizune leaves, as Kakashi and I get ready for a busy day.
“Kiyoko, Happy Birthday,” Kakashi at least says with a smile. He gives me a warm hug before a sweet morning kiss.
“Do you think we’ll be sent on a mission?” I ask him.
“I have that feeling, but we just have to go and find out what she wants.”
I tie my forehead protector before Kakashi and I make our way to Lady Tsunade’s office that early morning. I see Sakura and Sai waiting for us inside. They all greet us good morning, and Sakura and Sai tell me happy birthday.
“Ah yes, it is your birthday today. I am sorry to send you on a mission on your birthday, but I don’t have a full team on hand other than team Kakashi,” Lady Tsunade says.
“Well it can’t be helped. I understand my duties as a shinobi,” I tell her.
“Very well, then there has been attacks on nearby small villages. They have been completely destroyed and all of the villagers have been slaughtered. The team’s mission is to investigate the scenes and apprehend any enemy. We must find out who is doing this horrible crime,” Lady Tsunade says in a sad tone. I can’t even begin to think of who would do that. Who would kill everyone, even infants, and the elderly. I couldn’t think of anyone, anyone but the...
“Akatsuki?” Kakashi guesses.
“No, I don’t believe it is Akatsuki. For now they are low on the radar, I believe their objective is the tailed beast not the lives of innocent people,” Lady Tsunade says. I feel just a bit relieved, but still we couldn’t really know if they are out there or not. And maybe they were looking and waiting for me.
“The few survivors are reporting about a clan of ninja, not just a single person. You may be facing a large group of ninja, so Kiyoko’s shadow clones are a key player for this mission,” Lady Tsunade says.
“That is all the information I have for you, please have a safe journey,” she bids us farewell.
Kakashi leads us outside, telling Sakura and Sai to meet at the front gate in ten minutes. I follow Kakashi home, we pack our backpacks. But I wasn’t really thinking about what I was doing, I was too worried about who was killing the innocent. I couldn’t stop thinking about it, and I realized now more than ever I was afraid. I haven’t been this afraid before on other missions, but why now? It must be because of the unknown that awaits us.
“Kiyoko, hey?” Kakashi says. He waves his hand in front of my face.
“I’m sorry. Its just that the mission seems a bit intimidating,” I say.
“Its okay to be a little afraid. Fear keeps us on our toes, but it can’t control you. All we’re going to do is check out the villages. You’re strong, you’re a jounin so this mission will not be over your head. I know you can do it,” he says. I nod, feeling a bit more confident in myself. We make it to our rendezvous on time.
“This is probably the only time Kakashi-sensei hasn’t been late. I bet its because Kiyoko keeps you on your toes, right Kakashi-sensei,” Sakura smiles and nudges Kakashi in the arm.
“Sure this Sakura, lets get going quickly. Who knows where they might be targeting next, we have to find out a clue before they attack another village,” Kakashi says.
We were off in a heartbeat, Sai maintained the rear, while the rest of us followed Kakashi to the village closest to the Leaf. It was a small village, barely passing as a village rather than a clan community. Why would someone kill the villagers of a town that small? Perhaps that town has something valuable.
“Is the town targeted for valuables?” I ask Kakashi.
“As far as we know, there is nothing there that is very valuable, and there are no ninja with great skill that could be envied of. From our point of view it looks like senseless killing, but no one is that cold hearted to kill without reason. I sure hope there is no one out there without a soul. That village was just a small branch of the Hidden Leaf, I feel as though they are targeting the smaller villages first.”
“You think they are targeting the Leaf somehow?” Sakura asks.
“Who knows?” Kakashi answers. And hopefully whoever it was wasn’t going attack the Leaf. It just feels like the Leaf has so many enemies out in the society. I wonder if the other Hidden Villages have this problem too. I’m sure they are worrying about the Akatsuki as well, their jinchuuriki is being targeted just like Naruto. It took us three hours to arrive to the first village that was attacked. Even from afar I can smell the strong metallic odor of blood. It made my insides churn in disgust.
“Kiyoko, I want you to go with Sai and scan the area from above. Sakura and I will scan down at ground level,” Kakashi orders. I quickly summon Tomoko, while Sai draws on his beast scroll. Tomoko quickly enlarges for me to climb on her back. We take flight without Tomoko asking any questions. I’m sure she already heard about the mission through the crystal ball.
“Who could have done such a thing?” Tomoko whispers. The destruction looked even more horrible from above. From the sky I can see the splatter of blood everywhere, and random body parts scattered. It was truly horrifying. I was starting to believe that all of the villagers were dead.
“Sai do you see anything?” I yell over to him.
“No, there is nothing catching my eye. It seems like no one is lingering here anymore,” He says. From the clouds. I can feel the trees being soaked in blood, it was weird that I was beginning to feel more of nature. My wood style must be attracted to the pain of this village, it was sensitive to blood, it made me feel enraged and afraid. Sage Moriko said it was only natural that my senses were sharpening to nature. Soon enough I’ll be able to understand what it truly feels in sage mode.
We soar down to Kakashi and Sakura who were scanning the empty houses for an clues the killers must have left behind. I send Tomoko back to the Shikotsu forest for now.
“There is no movement in this area. I can’t sense anyone else around either.”
“Same here, its just a mass murder down here. Who ever did this knows how to keep their trail hidden. Lets go to the nest village, its twenty minutes east of here,” Kakashi says. I quickly follow him, wanting to get the smell of blood out of my head. But soon enough we arrived at the other village, but there was another smell in the air.
“Kakashi do you smell that?”
“Hmm, the smell of poisonous gas mixed with blood. They gassed this town to kill all of the villagers,” He says. Kakashi gives me the sign, and Tomoko is called once again to soar above tree tops.
“Tomoko use your wind style jutsu to push all of the poison gas from here,” I tell her. Tomoko flaps her wings quickly, and pushes the gas out of the air. Kakashi and Sakura are able to go into the village and investigate. I look down and see the fallen town, I can almost hear the crackle of burning wood and the cries of the citizens.
Tomoko lets me off her back as I feel the panic run through me. I have to lean on her body to keep me standing.
“Kiyoko? What do you feel?” Tomoko asks. I clench my fist, my heart rate has increased tremendously. I know now why I can hear the screams, it is not from this village, it is from the next village over.
“Kakashi! They are just attacking the next village,” I inform him. From the distance we can see the black smoke beginning to descend into the sky. Sai and Sakura hop onto Sai’s bird while Tomoko carries Kakashi and I to the next village.
“I can sense their fear,” I whisper to myself. For once I wish I can turn off the switch and not feel their panic, but I didn’t. I wouldn’t. I won’t run away from it anymore.
“Bring us down closer to the tree tops Tomoko,” I say. She brings us close to the tree tops, where we tried to slip into the village outskirts unnoticed. We pull into the trees, where Tomoko leaves us. I send her back to the forest, for now we have to be secretive and not be noticed by the enemy.
“Kakashi I’m going to get a closer look through the trees,” I whisper into his ear. Sai and Sakura don’t know I use wood style. He nods, and I quietly jump down to ground level, I look around once before I slip into the ground and trees. As I get closer to the scene, I feel the frantic footsteps of fleeing men, women, and children. I see the men who are doing most of the damage, they weren’t from any village, they must be mercenaries. I saw them beginning to round up all of the people of the villages. There must be fifteen of them, they surrounded the ones who didn’t manage to escape. It was a tight circle and there was a large circle in the middle where a large broad man stood. He must be the leader. He roughly grabs a toddler out of the arms of a mother. The toddler begins to cry.
“I know you are hiding her somewhere. Where is the girl?” He roughly shakes the screaming boy.
“She has long black hair, and eyes crystal like ice. She’s been hiding in this town, I can sense her presence was here. So if you all want to live, you will tell me where she is,” the leader takes out a kunai. The boy’s mother begins to wail, desperately trying to grab hold of her child. I can feel my heart break a bit by looking at the scene, I couldn’t simply watch.
“We don’t know where she is or whom you speak of. Please let the child go,” an elderly speaks. I create a shadow clone to send the message to Kakashi. For now I had to get the boy out of his hand. The leader’s big tan hand tightened around the boy’s collar. I jump out of the trees, and create a water whips to grab hold of the boy and the kunai. I flip the kunai back to the leader, who easily closes his hand around the handle. He has great reflexes. I let the boy go and he goes running to his mother.
“You’re not her. Hmm, a Leaf kunoichi. You’re unwise to have interfered,” he says. I don’t say a word, and sense my surroundings. For now the crowd has not disbursed because of the other mercenaries around them.
“Are you here alone? More foolish than I would have imagined. You are a beautiful women indeed, but you are not Miyuki.”
“Who is Miyuki?” I ask. Their purpose of killing is in search of a woman.
“ A very different and powerful woman. She must be eliminated quickly, so that her dying race will no longer exist. It has brought great pain to the Mist Village. It was rumored that a Leaf ninja has ended her brother, and now we are after her. Her soul is made of ice,” He whispers at the end.
Ice, for once I know what that woman must be feeling. The feeling of loneliness and coldness. Together its almost unbearable. She must be running from her past. I wonder if it has to do with the power they had, perhaps it was feared of and their have been murdered. Perhaps Kakashi knows something about it.
“The one you speak of isn’t here. I can’t sense an icy soul here. So you must not harm the people.”
“That may be true, and you may speak with wisdom, but I am not leaving without a little fun. After all I am being paid to end lives,” The man grins. It shows his yellow teeth aren’t the only things rotten in him.
His companions let loose, and begin to grab hold of anyone they can. The crowd is disbanded, and I create shadow clones to help with the others. The head of the mercenaries comes toward me. He moves quickly for his size. He throws two large shurikens that I manage to dodge, he comes toward me at full steam while I was still in midair. I make a water whip to grab hold of a tree trunk and swing myself out of his way. I create a water wall, and wait for him to come into contact with it. I see him running towards it like a bull, but then I sense chakra behind me. I turn to see one of his mercenaries weaving his hands. He manages to create a fireball in the small space between us. I use the water wall to shield myself from the fire. I feel the leader elbow me right in the back, pushing out all the air I had in my lungs. I land on the ground, and see him standing above me with a kunai in his hand. My head hurt from the impact, but I made a tearing torrent as quickly as I could,
“You know its gonna be fun watching the life bleed out of ya,” he smiles.
“So now is about the time I have to save an innocent life once in a while, right,” I hear a woman say. I turn to see a young women no older than seventeen standing on a branch.
The man grabs hold of my throat.
“Miyuki, so you’ve come to save lives by turning yourself in. How noble of you. Come over here, and I will release her.”
I grunt, but I won’t go without a fight. For now I grab hold of his wrist and stab water knives into his arm. It was another jutsu I made along the way. He lets go of me, his arm bleeds, as he curses me. I grab hold of him with a water tube, enabling him from moving but leaving him alive.
“Looks like I won’t die today after all. Nao, how long have you followed me, and you yet have never once gotten a hold of me. Why don’t you tell the others along with father that I’m not so easily to get rid of,” Miyuki says. I can feel the cold ice inside her. It wasn’t just her soul that is made of ice, it feels like her entire being is made of ice. She must have had a similar story with her father. We aren’t easy targets that can be killed. Her black hair was tied back, as she adjusted her top and jumped down from the tree.
I see Kakashi, Sakura and Sai, chase away the remaining mercenaries. They fled without looking back once.
“You. it would be better if you closed your eyes,” She advises me. For once I trust a stranger and close my eyes. I feel the cold wind against my sweaty face, and then I don’t feel a heartbeat or flowing chakra. I open my eyes and I don’t see the Leader, Nao, or Miyuki anymore. All that is left behind is a melting snowflake in the blazing sun.
“Kakashi- sensei, was she...” Sakura whispers.
“Ya, she was like Haku,” Kakashi says as he stares at the small snowflake.
“Who? Sai asks. I had a feeling that I might see her again in the future. For now all I can do is remember her name.
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Chapter notes: Here is another story. So this chapter is for a spin off series, in some ways its connected to this story, but just a bit. I'll start writing it after this story is over. I hope you guys like it and the new character I introduced, though it may be a while until you see her again. Thanks for reading.
Chapter end notes: Hope you guys enjoyed it. I love to hear back from reader. Thanks for reading, let me know what you guys think. Sorry I haven't updated. I've been busy and I've been fangirling over Legend of Korra season 4. Its already amazing!! Who else watches legend of korra.
Until next chapter.