Blame It All on Me. Part 1

Chapter 9. Proper Motivation

Kakashi was jumping deftly between the trees, keeping a steady pace. Arina squinted habitually, pressing into the back of his head. Kakashi knew that she was afraid of heights, although she never once mentioned it, even when she was finally able to speak, until he asked himself.

At the same time, high speed, on the contrary, did not bother her – at least after she got used to this method of movement. Kakashi usually tried to choose lower branches or move on the ground, but this was not always possible. However, he didn't mind the way she snuggled up to him then.

Suddenly Kakashi stopped and tensed.

"Not a word until I say so," he said softly and froze, listening to something. For a while, he moved his head from side to side in a smooth flowing manner and occasionally moved his nose amusingly, as if sniffing. Then he whispered: "Hold on tight!" and leaped upwards. Arina let out a strangled gasp. Then there was another leap and another – until they were already very high up in the tree.

Kakashi put Arina down onto a wide branch. She instantly clung to the tree trunk, and then knelt down, looking at Kakashi with anxiety and a mute question. He crouched down next to her, noiselessly taking off his travel bag with the katana attached to it and peering intently into the seemingly impenetrable thicket below.

Then they saw them. Seven silent shadows – first four, then three more – passed below, almost where Kakashi and Arina had been before they got higher up.

Arina glanced at Kakashi again and he pressed a finger to his lips. He pulled out the mask in the shape of a fox's muzzle, as if out of nowhere, then glanced doubtfully at the katana, but did not touch it.

"Stay here. And don't fear anything," he whispered, adjusting the mask on his face. "I'll be back soon."

Arina chuckled nervously. She wanted to answer: "I wouldn't be able to go anywhere from here even if I wanted to!" – but Kakashi was already gone.

As soon as he disappeared, the girl was overcome with worry: what was he going to do alone against seven people at least? That these were hardly some friends of his, she had no doubt.

Arina began to look around anxiously. Then she stood up and stretched out her neck to try and peek behind the immense tree trunk, but immediately realized again how high up she was and backed off. She pressed her forehead against the tree, trying to calm her pounding heart down.

Suddenly, a rapidly increasing rustle reached her from behind. Arina turned around, thinking it was Kakashi, and immediately pressed her back into the tree trunk in panic, cowering slightly: an unfamiliar menacing looking man landed on her branch nearby. He froze for a moment and then rushed towards her with a roar. The girl barely had the time to freak out when Kakashi appeared literally out of nowhere between them. A stream of lightnings radiated from his right palm, emitting a sharp high-pitched sound, and the next moment he pierced the attacker's chest with his hand.

Arina clamped her mouth in horror, and Kakashi, promptly pushing away the lifeless body, made a barely perceptible spin and pierced the second attacker with the katana. When he'd managed to snatch it from the scabbard, which was still strapped to the travel bag, the girl did not notice. On the other hand, she did not notice where the second attacker had come from at all either.

Having sent the second body flying after the first, Kakashi turned to Arina, who instantly stared at the burning scarlet eye socket of the mask.

"Are you okay?" he asked hastily. His voice was distorted by the mask, but even that could not conceal the worry.

The girl could only nod, swallowing convulsively, and slid down the tree trunk completely.

"We're not done yet... I... won't be long," Kakashi said somewhat awkwardly and disappeared again. Arina desperately jerked forward and almost shouted after him.