Kakashi absentmindedly walked through the thick forest, nose buried in his book. Sakura, Sasuke, and Naruto followed behind a ways. They were bickering with each other so he quickened his pace for some peace and quiet. There was no point in stopping them. A new argument would arise 5 minutes later anyway. Its been two years since he first met them and they havent changed one bit. Minus the raging hormones of 14- year -old teenagers. *cough cough PMSing Sakura cough cough* Had to add that.
He flipped the page and stared at the book, his half lidded eye scanning the page. Despite what people said about him, he enjoyed his Icha Icha Paradise series romance novels. They were a sort of release for him. Not only from training his students but also from the terrible missions the Hokage sends him on. They were his escape from the nightmares that resulted from those missions. Without them, he would have cracked long ago. Unfortunately, many people took him for a pervert because of it. But what does he care?
"Kakashi-sensei!"
A voice called out to him. He looked back. It was Sakura. She was running towards him while Naruto and Sasuke stayed behind. Naruto was yelling out in frustration at Sasuke, who replied in his cool, collected manner. Figures. Wait, why was Sakura approaching him? Usually she would be back there with the other two bakas, bickering away.
"Kakashi Sensei, how can you stand him? He wont SHUT UP!" She exclaimed, her face flushed with anger. She was obviously talking about Naruto.
Kakashi simply shrugged and returned to his book. He knew pretending to ignore her would make her angry but he found that prospect amusing. He was right about the angry part. He could sense how mad she was. Like a volcano about to erupt.
"You can never be serious, can you?" She snapped, eyes blazing.
He chuckled. Bad move. The volcano proceeded to erupt.
"Argh! You MEN are all the SAME!" She yelled. Before he could stop her, she leapt into the trees and took off into the forest, seething.
"Sakura, wait-- dammit!" Kakashi put away his book. Stupid girl. he thought. This was no place for a lower rank ninja to go off on her own. The forest was too dangerous. Many people from all different villages have entered the forest and never returned.
"Naruto, Sasuke!" He called. The two appeared at his side. Despite how hopeless they seem at times, when it comes down to it, you really can depend on them.sometimes er.okay, maybe not. But at the moment they were okay. Eheh. Okay, moving on.
"Whats up?" Naruto asked, glaring at Sasuke.
"Sakura just took off into the forest. I want you two to stick together and try to find her on foot. Ill look in the trees." With that said, Kakashi leapt into the thick branches of the trees and was gone. Naruto stared at the place he vanished, not quite registering what the jounin said. It hit him like a semi truck.
"Dont just stand there! Sakura's in trouble-hey! Wait for me!"
Sasuke, who was already leaving the trail and entering the trees, shook his head, a sweat drop forming at his temple. He's HOPELESS he thought.
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Sakura stormed through the thick branches of the trees looking livid and she couldnt even remember what she was angry about! Figures. All that ran through her mind was that she wanted to get as far away from that particular group as possible. Shed had enough ofWhat the-- She froze and gasped when she came across a dead body. NoTWO dead bodies-three-four What the HELL? She entered a forest clearing that had bodies littering the ground in all directions. Most of them looked like normal people minus a ninja here and there. They were all armed, weather it be kitchen knives or Kunai. they were armed. Yeah did I mention they were dead?
"Sa-ku-ra!"
She heard her name being called but was in too much shock to respond. What could have happened here? Was all that was going through her mind as she stared at the carnage.
"Sakura! Where are you!"
The voice was closer now. It sounded like Naruto. An instant later, nearby bushes rustled followed by two people, Naruto and Sasuke, emerging from them.
"Yay! Sakuras okay!" Naruto cheered.
"Yeah, no shit, Sherlock. Where were you? We were worr-- whoa! What did you DO?" Sasuke said, staring at all the corpses.
"I didnt do anything, you brainless idiot. They were already dead when I got here." She replied savagely.
"Well, you didnt have to be mean about it."
"Wheres Kakashi?"
No sooner had she asked that then he leapt from the tree and landed near her. You could always count on Kakashi to make dramatic entrances. He was about to say something to Sakura when the smell of blood greeted his nostrils. He then noticed the dead bodies. He stared in silence. Naruto and Sasuke were quiet too.
"What happened here?" He asked in his usual have-all-the-time-in-the-world drawl.
Hed have to admit that this little incident surprised him but not so much that he had to lose his cool. Nope, not at all. It wasnt so much the fact they were dead that surprised him. What shocked him was that most of these people were completely normal and innocent civilians.which meant that there had to be a town nearby. But that cant be! he thought. There isnt a village mapped for this area unless... His visible eye widened considerably as a thought entered his mind. Before the three young genin could do or say anything to stop him, their sensei had leapt into the trees again without a word.
Sasuke, on the other hand, didnt even look fazed at the sight of all the dead bodies. On the contrary, he was calmly inspecting one of the ninjas. He finally spoke.
"This is odd."
"Whats odd?" asked Sakura, kneeling next to him. She liked being close to him. Even if he felt nothing for her.
"They all look to have been torn apart be a wild animal. But..."
"What kind of animal could have done this to a ninja?" She finished the sentence for him. A brooding look formed on his face. They sat in silence for a while. Well not really. They would have if Narutos voice hadnt pierced through the silence.
"Hey, guys! Over here!" The kitsune called from a little ways off. He must have wandered off on his own. He never was one for common sense
"Ugh. NOW what?" Sakura mumbled. Despite herself, her curiosity drove her to following Sasuke towards Narutos voice. The blonde haired genin came into view. He was bent over the form of another body, this time it was a girls. She looked to be in about her mid twenties. She didnt look that much older than them so she was probably 21 at most. She had long, dark brown hair in a high ponytail tied by a blue ribbon. She was definitely a ninja, for she had shuriken and kunai on her. Neither of the three genin could figure out what village she could be from. They didnt recognize the symbol on her forehead protector.
"Whats wrong?" asked Sasuke.
"Shes alive!" The smiling kitsune exclaimed. Sakura knelt down next to her.
"Shes in bad shape..." Sakura said, referring to the deep cuts and bruises all over her body. There was a large bruise on her temple area that must have been the source of her unconsciousness. "but she wont die. What should we do? We cant just leave her here."
"We should just wait for Kakashi to return." Sasuke replied, sitting on the ground and leaning on a tree trunk. "Just think of this as an opportunity to rest and get our strength back up. Weve been traveling for a while."
Not wanting to argue with the Uchiha anymore, Naruto sat on the ground smiling. Gotta hand it to him, he sure can stay cheerful in any situation. He looked at the unconscious girl on the ground and his cheeks tinted pink. He couldnt help but notice how pretty she was-whoa, there, Naruto. Shes too old for you anyway. Well, on with the story.
Narutos thoughts were interrupted as a puff of smoke signaled Kakashis return. He had a brief look on his face that was a mixture between confusion and disappointment. It was quickly replaced, however, by his usual lazy cheeriness.
"Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto and Sakura said in unison. Sasuke merely stood up from his sitting position on the ground. Kakashis one-eyed gaze briefly passed over each of their faces before falling upon the unconscious girl where it lingered.
"Shes alive." The jounin said. Eye curved upward in a grin, he approached the girl and knelt beside her, which earned a few dubious stares from his students. Her forehead protector caught his eye and he removed it from her head before staring at it curiously. He tucked it into his shirt pocket before hoisting the girl onto his back, her head resting on his shoulder. "I suppose we should bring her along then. Shall we go?" he said, walking in the opposite direction from where they were headed earlier.
"Kakashi-sensei, what about the mission!" Sasuke exclaimed.
"This mission will have to be postponed. I need to speak with the Hokage." Kakashi replied. The three genin could only follow him dumfounded.
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"And your sure of it?" The hokage asked, her eyes piercing into his with utmost seriousness. "After all, this was a pretty serious matter."
In reply, Kakashi reached into his pocket and pulled out the forehead protector he took from the girl. When they finally arrived at the village, Kakashi ordered his pupils to take her to the hospital for treatment. He, himself, refused to accompany them. The jounin refuses to enter a hospital unless absolutely necessary. So he proceeded to talk to the hokage, thus, landing him here. Okay, enough babbling. Back to the present. The hokage blinked and looked at the cloth in Kakashis hand. The symbol on the metal part was different then any she had ever seen before. Finally, she spoke.
"You will have to question her when she regains consciousness." She said, tearing her gaze away from the head band. She resumed reading what seemed to be an important document from the hidden mist village. They were causing trouble again as usual.
Kakashi blinked. "I have to?"
"Yes. You and I are the only ones who know of this."
"Well, why cant you do it?" The lazy jounin asked, smirking.
The hokage allowed a brief smile to cross her features before saying, "Because she is bound to want some answers as well and since you and your students are the one who found her, who better to give them to her? That, and I know how much you hate hospitals so Im sending you there as punishment for postponing you mission." She said this in a business-like tone. Kakashi started chuckling and scratched the back of his head.
"Youre a shrewd woman, you know that?"
"I try." she replied. "Oh, and be sure to report back to me once speaking with her."
"Hai."
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