Too Far to Reach (Kakashi Love Story)

[16] Kakashi's Fight to the Death...with a Cow

Glancing up out of the corner of my eye, I thought I noticed a masked man standing on a tree branch. It might just have been a hallucination from the pain I got from the inpact.

I watched with blurry eyes as Cow Guy Zabuza shook off his injuries like it was nothing, although his sluggish movements showed that he was weakened greatly from the stone.

"Tomiko..." Naruto mumbled, his mouth moving up and down like a fish. "You totally...just ruined my plan!" He shook his fist in the air. "It was such a good plan!"

I smiled slightly; as best I could with how bad I felt from hitting the ground that hard. "Sorry...I thought it was the perfect opportunity to put my plan into action."

"What was that thing you did, anyway?" Sakura asked. "Was that from that purple rock you keep around your neck?"

I scratched the back of my head. "Yeah...I guess I should explain later." My attention snapped back to Cow Guy Zabuza, who was now having a battle with Kakashi. Kakashi was using the Sharingan to mimick his moves perfectly, down to the smallest detail and doing it simultaneously. They were doing water jutsu. Kakashi somehow did a move Cow Guy Zabuza was going to do before he even did it, and it flooded the whole area, whirling us all away. Tazuna, strangely enough, held onto me tightly instead of one of my teammates. This is creepy and sweet at the same time...

Cow Guy Zabuza got washed up to a tree and then hit by Kakashi's kunai, looking completely drained of energy. He stood by the tree, moaning, as Kakashi announced from the tree branch above: "You're finished."

The water receded, and I ended up washed up in the dirt, Tazuna still clinging onto my arm in hopes of saving me.

"Ugh. Thanks, Tazuna," I groaned, shaking his grip from my arm and standing up shakily, taking a step closer to Cow Guy Zabuza.

"How!?" he asked in confusion. "Can you...see into the future?"

"Yes," Kakashi replied, raising a kunai. "This is your last battle; ever."

Out of the trees, needles came whizzing out and struck Cow Guy Zabuza right in the neck; he fell over, and I gaped at where the needles came from.

"Hey, it's you!" I yelled, pointing to the masked figure standing on a tree branch that I thought was a hallucination before. "I thought I was imagining you before!"

The masked man laughed. "You were right; it was his last battle."

I snorted. "You are a guy, right? You kind of look and sound like a girl..."

The shim didn't reply. Kakashi jumped down from his tree branch and felt for Cow Guy Zabuza's pulse. He sighed. "No vital signs." Kakashi glanced up at the masked shim, who bowed.

"Thank you. I've been tracking Zabuza for a long time, waiting for this chance to finally take him down."

"By your mask, I see that you're a tracker ninja from the Village Hidden in the Mist," Kakashi stated, still crouched by Cow Guy Zabuza.

He (I at least think it's a he) looked back up. "Impressive. You're well informed."

Naruto gasped. "A tracker!"

"Naruto, you don't even know what that is!" Sakura scolded. "You missed the lesson on it as usual. Tracker ninja have a special role. Try coming to class sometime."

"Aren't tracker ninja the people that stop rogue ninja from spreading secrets of their village that they took with them when they broke away from their village?" I asked.

"That's correct," the masked stranger replied. "I'm a member of the elite tracking unit of the Village Hidden in the Mist. It was my duty to stop Zabuza."

Naruto ran up in front of the tree, looking back and forth from Cow Guy Zabuza and Shim with clenched teeth. He held his fist out. "What is this!? Who do you think you are?" he pointed. Naruto started heaving. "Did. You. Hear. Me?" he asked, a growl at the end of each word.

"Easy, Naruto." Kakashi stood up."He's not our enemy."

Naruto turned around. "That's not the point! Did you see what he did, just like that? Zabuza was huge and powerful, like some kind of monster. And this kid, who's no bigger than me, he brought down Zabuza with one move, like it was nothing. I mean, what does that make us? We're just fumbling around. We don't know anything! How can I accept that!?"

Kakashi walked up to him. "Well, even if you don't accept it, still, it did happen, Naruto." He put his hand on Naruto's head, rubbing it gently. "In this world, there are kids younger than you, and yet, stronger than me."

I looked down at my fists, which were clenched. All those little kids in my village...they were too strong to believe, and got cut down so easily. It's so hard to accept that their skills were wasted on a mass murder.

Shim disappeared from the tree branch in a whirl of leaves, then reappeared next to Zabuza, hauling him up onto his shoulders. "Your struggle is over for now. I must deal with the remains. There are many secrets in this body. They must not be allowed to get into the wrong hands. Please excuse me; farewell." Shim disappeared, along with Cow Guy Zabuza.

Naruto got extremely angry at that, and started punching the ground where Shim was just at. "I can't believe this!" he shouted in frustration. "What are we doing here!?"

Kakashi grasped one of his arms to make him stop. "As ninja, the things we encounter are never easy. Save your anger for the next enemy." He turned around. "We haven't completed our mission yet. We still need to get the bridge builder to his bridge."

Tazuna laughed and pushed his straw hat up. "Sorry I caused all this trouble for ya, but you can rest at my house when we get to the village!"

"Oh wow, why don't you offer us some hot chocolate too as we snuggle around the campfire. That'll make things sooooo much better." I rolled my eyes.

Tazuna gave me an evil side glance, and I tried not to smirk.

"Alright, let's get a move on!" Kakashi announced. He turned to me."Oh yeah, and Tomiko, we all need to have a little...chat, later. About what's really going on with that stone necklace of yours."

I frowned and sighed, hanging my head. "I guess so..."

Kakashi started to walk, but with his first step he hesitated, then collapsed onto the ground. I gasped.

"Kakashi!" We all ran over and I crouched by his side, shaking his shoulders. "Come on Kakashi, stop playing around. This isn't funny, you doofus!"

But Kakashi wasn't playing around. Something had to be wrong.

~~~~~

Lol, does anyone else love how I gave Zabuza and Haku nicknames? XD Cow Guy Zabuza and Shim...hmmm, I think I'll stick to those...

I just thought of this idea about the stone when starting this chapter, actually. I thought this was going to be boring, but I spiced it up a bit with my own personal touch! Yay! :D