Frozen Inside (a Kakashi love story)

4) Sugar, Spice, Everything Nice

Some people wake up not remembering, for a moment, where they were and what had happened. Sora had never been one of those people. She laid against what she assumed was the trunk of a tree, her defeat and capture vivid in her mind from the minute she came to. Her eyes were still closed, her breathing made to sound deep and even, as if she were still asleep. She was bound to the tree with a rather formidable binding jutsu. Deciding that trying to escape right away was not the best option, as it was obvious from the chatter that her captors were still awake and hovering, she tuned into the seemingly idle talk that the other ninjas were making, hoping to catch something useful.

“That was quite a binding technique you put on her. What’s it called?” The voice was gruff and masculine. Judging from the quality of air, they were mostly-like still outside. The wafting scent of a campfire filled the air. Light came from her left, but not from up above. She felt dirt and roots beneath her. Judging from the amount of chakra she had replenished, she guessed that about a day has passed since she last held onto consciousness. Sora’s brain buzzed, processing the overload of information that her senses brought to it while listening to their conversation. It was probable that it was night again, and a campfire seemed to have been lit to her left. The chatter also came from her left, her captors presumably gathering around the campfire for warmth.

“It’s called Binding Smoke Prison.” A nonchalant, matter-of-fact male voice answered. “I learned it from a Kirigakure ninja I was facing a few years back.”

‘That information,’ Sora thought, her mind already racing to retrieve any information she had about Kirigakure binding techniques, “will be useful.’

“Well, let’s go to sleep. We’ve got a long day ahead of us tomorrow.” A feminine voice rang out. “Here, I’ll put out the fire.”

With a sizzle, the fire went out and Sora was drenched in darkness, apart from what she assumed was the full moon that should be out that night. There was some sound of ruffling for a bit, but them all was silent. Sora closely listened to all three breaths. Soon they were all deep, slow and even. Sora waited a bit more, just in case, then opened her eyes. Her assumptions had been correct. There were still in a forest and her captors were all sleeping to her left. The dark haired man and the woman slept by the dead campfire, huddling close together, while the silver haired boy slept with his back propped against a tree.

Sora examined the binding jutsu. Tight ropes of what appeared to be some sort of chakra infused gas held her to the tree. It was indeed rather high level, although, not enough to hold an experienced Jonin level ninja. She wondered why they had been careless. Had they not assumed that her Chakra would restore itself this fast? As silently as she could, she flooded her own freezing chakra into the ropes. The spell fought back, but her own chakra was slowly winning the battle. Ice inched up the rope from where it was touching her until the gas was completely frozen into pretty miniature droplets. Still though, the bindings would not break. Taking a risk, she sent a shock of chakra through the ropes and they shattered with a small noise. She held her breath, ears pricked at attention to detect any disrupted breathing, but she found none. She set out a small breath of relief.

Sora stood up slowly, stretching out her muscles. Her injuries still hurt, but she found that they had been properly cared for and bandaged. Suddenly, she frozen. Something was wrong. Why happened they posted a guard? Even if they were an arrogant bunch, they would not be stupid enough to set camp in the middle of a forest like this and not set a guard. She heard a noise. The silver-haired ninja was up and smirking at her through his mask.