Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ The Shinobi and The Miko ❯ Fear ( Chapter 26 )

A/N: Still not mine.

 

Kaguya ignored the lancing pain that made its way up her legs each time they made contact with another branch and continued onwards. Not that she really knew where “onwards” was. She had simply chosen a direction away from Madara's home and run without stopping. Gripped by a fear that clouded her senses, she was convinced that the undetectable fiend was behind every next tree or always on her heels, just waiting for the moment when she would drop her guard.

 

Of course, the rational part of her knew such a thing was unlikely at best and protested vehemently, but to no avail. The animal instinct for survival that she had suppressed so long for Sasuke's sake was in full control of her body now. It was the same fear that had gripped her on the night the temple had burned. Her logical side called her a coward, a fool, but she was too afraid to listen.

 

Gradually, however, these arguments began to carry more weight in her internal monologue. Kaguya came to the realization that the hours- or was it days?- of running had brought her body to its limits. She could run no more.

 

When her legs at last gave out, Kaguya toppled unceremoniously out of a tree and to the forest floor beneath. Too exhausted to do more than curl her aching body into a fetal position, she was asleep within moments, Sasuke's voice ringing still in her ears.

 

***

 

Kakashi Hatake was frustrated. Not that he'd ever let it show, mind. If he frowned somewhat at the direction events were taking, well, it mattered not. The mask was good about making sure that other people wouldn't know.

 

Truth be told, however, he was concerned about Sakura's mental state. Of course, he had seen the possibility of something like this happening. Since he and Anko had agreed not to reveal the circumstances of Sasuke and Kaguya's disappearance to the other students (the less they knew, the better at this point) they had known that the application of logic would lead anyone to believe that Sasuke had run away a second time. That, and the fact that he actually did seem to be doing Madara's dirty work, was enough to convince even the most densely loyal that he had truly fallen victim to his own darkness.

 

“No way.”

 

Well, okay. Maybe not the most densely loyal. Kakashi watched the conversation between Naruto and Sai with the sort of detached interest that he usually displayed when other people were coming to the same conclusions he had reached long ago. Part of it was probably due to the information he had that they did not, but he was pretty sure it was mostly his talent. Not that his ego was that large, mind you. It was simply a matter of needing to be better than everyone else at observation. He had a kekkei-genkai that wasn't really his, but aside from that, it was really his intellect that won him his battles. Not so for this lot.

 

“She probably intends to kill him herself,” he offered when he decided it was taking the others too long to reach the point. Not that he would ever let that happen, of course. He knew better. As much as Sasuke may appear to be on Madara's side, Kakashi knew that this would not be the case. Once, it would have been a very real possibility. Even now, it was impossible to deny that his former- No. He is still my student. Virtually my apprentice at this point. It was impossible to deny that Sasuke was guilty of crimes, both as Orochimaru's apprentice and likely even as an arm of the Akatsuki, but Kakashi had been in the world too long to view it in terms of black and white. There was merely a distinction between those acts that were necessary to achieve better things and those that were gratuitously heinous. Hn. Wonder when I lost my idealism.

 

Not that it worried him. Naruto had enough idealism for the whole world. Kakashi couldn't help but find it somewhat ironic that in this at least, Konoha's number one knuckleheaded ninja was right where the more pragmatic Sakura was dead wrong.

 

Frankly, this whole thing was becoming one big headache. He needed to talk to Anko about letting the younger ones in on what was actually happening. It might put them at risk, but with Danzo disappeared, it might be more dangerous for them not to know. And he was pretty sure he just heard Yamato told him he was now the acting Hokage. Oh for the love of-

 

“Well, I can't say I've ever been into the Hokage thing, but if I have to…” He tried to make his discomfort with the idea evident, but Yamato wasn't having any of it. Which was a problem. He needed to be able to act more or less autonomously, not to be tied down by paperwork and international politics. The former could probably be avoided until Tsunade woke up and took her job back, but he could not deny that one false step could be disastrous for the latter. Especially at such a critical juncture as this. A full-scale war was looming, for goodness' sake.

 

***

 

“What should we do, bro? She don't look too much like a ninja, you know?”

 

The Raikage folded his arms across his chest. “She was definitely there when we met Madara. She was taking care of Uchiha Sasuke,” he rumbled.

 

Bee looked down at the sleeping girl, then back up at his brother.

 

What do you think? He asked his partner.

 

Taking care of him doesn't look good, but neither does it make her guilty herself. You know that, Bee. The Hachibi's tone was measured as he replied.

 

Yeah. He shrugged. “It's your call, bro, but it's not like she was there when he attacked me. Plus, she's definitely not with him now.”

 

The Raikage turned to his sensor, who was regarding the girl with a curious frown. “Well?”

 

He shook his head. “Her chakra's weird, but beyond that, I can't say.”

 

“Well I guess we just leave her then. I'm not going to kill someone I don't know, but that doesn't mean I'll help Uchiha's allies.” The Raikage turned away and motioned for the others to follow him.

 

“Don't you want to wake her up? She might know where Madara's hideout is.”

 

“No. If we defeat Madara, it won't be with the help of any of that traitor's friends. We do this the right way.”

 

Bee paused, and briefly considered what would happen if he woke her up anyway, just to see if she was okay. But at his brother's insistence, he hastened after him instead, leaving the strange girl to her forest slumber.

 

***

 

When Kaguya awoke, her entire head felt fuzzy. She massaged her temples, trying to remember why she was in a forest, and was hit by a rather vivid recollection of the last few days. Sasuke… her thought was interrupted when her beleaguered mind finally processed the smell that had accosted her nose with her first deep breath. It was a lingering scent of…fish.

 

She strained her ears, but could not make out the sound of any running water nearby. A still pond, then? With effort, she rose to her knees, only to collapse back against the nearest tree when her body protested violently against the action. Settling into a seated position, she slowly drew energy from the surrounding area and used it to loosen her stiff joints and un-cramp her muscles. This done, she slowly worked through the stretches Anko had made her do as a daily warm-up, and was pleased with the relative ease that characterized their completion. Her powers seemed to come more easily with every passing day, though she would most certainly be cautious about using them over long distances. She had learned the hard way that her limits were very real, and very dangerous indeed.

 

Kaguya pulled herself up from the crouch she had ended in and straightened her form smoothly. Now, to figure out where she was. The smell of fish was till present, but fainter. Might as well follow my nose. She smiled wryly. I'm turning into one of Kakashi-sensei's ninja hounds. At that thought, she paused. Should she find Kakashi and explain everything? Or would it be better to try and work from a different angle? Part of her wanted to just leave it all behind and go into hiding somewhere, but she would never allow that to happen. She may have abandoned her life as a miko, but she wasn't about to do that a second time. People needed her. Or, at the very least, she could help, which meant she should.

 

Her legs had been carrying her forward almost without her direction, and she found herself in a clearing. Dampness was seeping into her shoes, though she didn't remember it having rained on her journey to this area. What was more, there were still faint tinges of chakra in the water. A jutsu then. She followed the chakra trail to the center of the field, but found no sign of life. Wait. There was a faint residual life force there. Whoever it belonged to was almost certainly dead, but was definitely the one who used the massive water jutsu. And apparently smelled of fish.

 

And then it hit her. She had noticed this smell before, on Itachi's friend. Kisame. She hastened her steps and reached the center of the field. Sure enough, there were no signs of life, just indications that he had died recently. She bit her lower lip. Whether he had been a bad person or not was hard for her to say, but he had been very loyal to Itachi, and she knew that in the latter's final moments, she had felt nothing but regret and a love for his younger brother. Surely someone loyal to a person like that couldn't have been all that bad? She certainly knew that doing Madara's bidding alone was not enough to put one in the “bad person” category.

 

Still, there was nothing she could do for him now. The power to bring back the dead was not one the likes of her could command. Nor was it one she wanted. Nobody deserves to be left like this… The thought stewed in her mind for a while, and she turned to walk away several times, only to turn back. The fourth time thus, an idea came to her. I wonder… She formed a hand seal. It was only a basic earth-element jutsu, one that Anko had mentioned in one of her early lessons, but it would do. Kaguya felt the chakra leave her body and flow into the ground, moving aside a piece of the ground about six feet long and four feet deep. Shallow. Still, it was the best she could manage, tired as she still was.

 

She hesitated before moving the body. This is no time to be squeamish. That said, he was still dead, and she held her breath as she gradually moved Kisame towards his unfortunate grave. After a bit of a struggle with the weight, she managed to arrange him with his arms folded across his chest. Oh no. It was at this point that she discovered he had been decapitated by his killer. She seriously considered just leaving then and there, but found that she couldn't. This was something she could do for someone, even if he wasn't alive to appreciate it. Hadn't she just decided she wouldn't run away from these things anymore? War brought death, and death wasn't pretty or comfortable. But that didn't mean she could pretend it didn't happen.

 

It was with a roiling stomach that she made her way over to where Kisame's head had fallen, and with trembling hands that she picked it up, careful not to touch the area where it had been severed. She hastened back to the makeshift grave, but managed to place it in with some measure of ceremony. Releasing a breath, she made a few more hand signs and the mound of dirt that she had displaced moved back to fill the space it had once occupied. A small hill formed over the space, and she cast about for something to mark the grave with. Finding that his sword was not present, she settled for a fallen branch, thrusting it into the ground at the near where she had placed his head.

 

Kaguya wasn't sure she held with the beliefs of the temple she had been raised in anymore. She offered a prayer all the same. “Goddess,” she intoned, folding her hands together in the absence of proper prayer beads. “Please take this child of the earth into your arms and grant him peace. We are all sinners, but, I hope that you are merciful enough to know that we do what we think we must. Forgive us.”

 

Her panic was gone, but her heart was heavy in her chest when she at last turned for the final time from Kisame's grave.

 

Now what do I do?

 

******

Kiku's Corner~

 

Hey everyone! Sorry it took so long to get this chapter to you; I had finals all week and my poor Beta was sick! But it's here now, and I sincerely hope you enjoyed it.

 

I got four reviews for the last chapter! I was really excited because I think that's a tie for the most reviews on a single chapter ever for me. (I post this on multiple sites, too.) So, can we make it five this time? I'm not gonna withhold the next one if I don't or anything, because I think that's mean, but more reviews would make my day. Whaddya say?

 

This chapter is for Beth, who is way too awesome for the likes of me (she was still ill when she Beta'd this). You rock, lady! And thanks to the reviewers: GreyPhoenix, crazykittylover, Leo-chan, and avonda.

 

~Kiku~