Baby of Mine ~Naruto short-story~

Chapter 5: Kakashi Breaks; Do I Know You?

It had been three months since the search had been called off and life seemed to resume in a slow and numb fashion for both Kakashi and Naruto. Naruto was slowly coming to terms with the fact that he might never see his last remaining family again. It was a hard and cruel road but it was one that he himself had decided was time to walk. In his mind, Clary was now lost forever. Kakashi, having already given up on finding her, was finding the end of the search a little easier to handle. But it didn't lessen the hallow and black feeling inside when he thought of the woman he once loved.

The Hokage had been lenient on both of them so they would have time to grieve and pick themselves up. But today he decided was the day to get them moving again. It was a simple capture or elimination mission. The team would consist of Kakashi, Naruto, Sai, and Yamato. The mission should and would only take a day to complete.

The first step, find the targets.

The group all stood in a small misshapen circle. Each one of them wore the same black hooded cloak, their faces completely hidden. One sat on the bolder at the head of the circle, long black hair spilling from under her hood and a large joyful smile the only thing that could be seen of her face. They continued to joke and laugh about the last 'reaping' as the small team watched them and readied themselves for the attack. It was a strange feeling. These 'Reapers' as they called themselves were only killing bingo book candidates, but yet they had orders to dispose of them.

What was the reason for this? 

A larger Reaper looked over to the small one on the bolder. "Hey, Yin, do you think Ruve is doing alright by himself?"

She let out a happy laugh. "Are you kidding? That little ball of awkward is just fine. He's probably having the time of his life right now."

"That guy doesn't know when to stop." Another said.

"Yeah, until he runs into a tree. Or trips over his own shoe laces." Everyone laughed.

Soon, another Reaper ran up, tripping once and hopping to regain his balance. "Well speak of the devil." The big one said.

"How'd it go kid?" Another asked.

He stood proudly and flicked his thumb across his nose. "I totally rocked it."

"That's great, Ruve! I'm so proud of you!" The woman gushed. With the entire group now there, Kakashi made a signal to the younger ninja with him to attack.

They jumped from their hiding spots and pulled weapons to attack with, but they all seemed prepared and turned, pulling their own weapons out. Each had their own personalized scythe and Kakashi noticed fairly fast that they all seemed to be trying to protect the woman. He faced off with the large reaper and locked weapons with him, trying to push through him to reach the woman who was obviously their leader. But the large reaper pushed him back.

In the split second that he had before he attacked again, Kakashi looked back to see how Naruto and Yamato were fairing. Naruto was against the young reaper, the one they called Ruve while Yamato used his wood style to incapacitate the other two reapers. Sai, Kakashi hoped, was still hidden and waiting in the tree's above.

When Kakashi went to attack again, a loud and somehow familiar yell filled the air, freezing everyone in surprise. The woman reaper stepped forward. "Why are you attacking us?" She asked, truly confused.

"It's our orders." Kakashi replied, still ready for his attack.

"But that's not right." She mused.

"Are you going to stand there asking questions, or will you face me?"

She looked up at him then and he could see her lips turn into a slick grin. "Oh? You want to fight me? Alright then."

"Yin, don't!" The big one yelled.

She looked over at him, a smile still gracing her lips. "Calm down you. I've got this. I wasn't promoted to group leader for nothing." So she is their leader. Just as Kakashi thought that, he leaped back, avoiding her scythe. It was a large split blade with a silver chain running up the length of the red staff. Charms dangled from the chain. She grinned and swung fast and hard. She was very good, fluid in her movements, almost like she was simply dancing. This style of fighting seemed very familiar to Kakashi.

He pushed away that thought as he continued to dodge her never ending swipes. Soon though he pulled out his own kunai and pushed back.

Kakashi locked weapons with the woman reaper, the one they called Yin. Her teeth were clentched and it seemed they were equally matched. But neither was giving up anytime soon. He looked deeply at her shadowed face, for the first time able to see a pair of fierce silver eyes matching the stare. But her eyes softened into a look of confusion after a short while. "You... Do I know you?" She asked suddenly.

It was a strange question and he pushed off from their deathlock. But she didn't try to go after him. She only stood there with her scythe in front of her gazing at him. Why didn't she attack? "Yin!" The young reaper, Ruve, called, seeming to snap her from her thought process. Finally she ran at him, scythe poised and ready. Before she could reach him though, a kunai knife whizzed through the air from the area Kakashi had last seen Sai. Yin saw it coming and was able to doge at the perfect moment, but not without the knife cutting open the front of her robe.

There... Kakashi and Naruto both froze as they saw what was around the woman reapers neck. Kakashi was filled with rage and charged her faster than she could react, knocking her into a tree and holding her there tightly, taking hold of the gold ring that dangled from a chain around her neck. A few of the reapers made moves toward them, but Yin stopped them. "Under no circumstances are you to intervene." She whined, sounding like a young child. They all stopped.

"Where did you get this?" Kakashi growled, glaring into her eyes still shadowed by the hood. But she was silent. He bashed her against the tree and asked again more forcefully. "Where did you get this?!"

"I don't know!" She made a sound as she was bashed again.

"Answer me!"

"I'm telling the truth! It was on my hand when I woke up nine years ago!" This made Kakashi stop and his eyes grow wide. What? Naruto came up next to them when he heard what she said.

His eyes were wide as he looked her over. "Kakashi-sensei..."

His gaze was narrowed and calculating. Could it be? He had given up hope... it had been several months since the search was called off and she was pronounced dead. Was it really possible that she was standing right in front of him alive and well? Kakashi reached for her hood but she immediately moved away from his hand. "Hands off the hood!"

"Who are you? And what do you mean by 'woke up'?" Kakashi all but breathed.

She only gazed back at him stoically. "A reaper doesn't give away their identity so easily."

Kakashi and Naruto both looked over the woman. As far as they could tell from her outward appearance, she fit the description of the missing woman. No taller than five foot three, long black hair, thin, tiny frame, and the silver eyes that Kakashi could see from under her hood. The other reapers all watched them carefully and waited for their superiors orders. But Yin's eyes narrowed.

"You know me, don't you." She stated. But both Kakashi and Naruto were silent. It only confirmed what she thought. "You know me! Can you tell me who I really am? Please?" She begged. "I woke up nine years ago in the forest with no memory, so if you know me please tell me!"

"Yin!" The big reaper yelled. She looked over at him quickly, surprise at the outburst. "What do you think you're doing?!"

When she moved so that she was facing him, Naruto quickly reached out and took hold of her hood, letting her movement pull it down. She instantly turned around when she realized what had happened and the face that was revealed sent shock waves through the two men. There, standing before them was the girl they had spent so long looking for. Kakashi collapsed to  his knees from shock and hurt, visible eye wide and misty. Naruto had streams of tears running down his face as he gazed upon the face of his one and only family, Clarissa Namikaze.