"Fine! Get up, Konoha!" Atsui walked up to Kakashi, kicking him in the chest. Kakashi moaned in response, holding onto the painful wound in his side.
"Stop that!" Mabui moved between Atsui's foot and the boy on the ground. Leaning over Kakashi, she spoke to him softly, noting his eyes were open. "You have a wound in your left side, and you've lost a lot of blood. I've patched you up a bit –but my medical ninjutsu isn't great."
"We're going to get you back to your village as quickly as possible... but you have to help us."
Kakashi reached his hand up to Mabui's face. Falling back into delirium, he could not see her face clearly. "Rin? Is that you?"
"No. I'm Mabui."
"Help me!" She yelled at her teammate. She grabbed hold of Kakashi's arm, pulling him up with the help of Atsui.
They moved as fast as they could with a delirious Kakashi in tow. Atsui complained most of the way and then demanded that they stop for the night.
"I don't think it's a good idea for us to stop this close to Konohagakure with a half dead leaf ninja in tow." Mabui protested.
"We haven't seen anyone else all day. And if we don't stop, he really will die." Atsui looked at Kakashi, who had completely passed out again. His bandage was soaked all the way through with blood.
"Fine." Mabui relented. Atsui was not moving, and she could not carry the boy by herself. She lay Kakashi down on the ground carefully. "I'll change his bandages and work on the wound again."
Annoyed Atsui rolled his eyes and sat down to keep watch at the edge of the clearing. Mabui worked on Kakashi, giving him a bit of water when he finally woke up again.
"Why would you help me?" Kakashi asked weakly, looking up at the girl who was dressing his wound again. "Your teammate is right. I was going to kill both of you."
Mabui eyed him cautiously. "Your death could complicate things for Kumo and our Lord Fourth. All the other villages are suspicious enough of Kumo. Our mission was just to recover one of our citizens and then leave without being seen. Leaving a dead ANBU behind was definitely not part of the plan."
"...And it doesn't matter what your intentions were. I was never going to let you kill us."
"Right. You're confident." Kakashi scoffed with a croak. He passed and silently examined her before starting again. "But maybe it's justified.."
"I saw you blow yourselves up. With that many paper bombs, you should be in several pieces." Kakashi frowned at her curiously. "How am I the only one who got injured?"
Mabui gave him a sly look. "Wouldn't you like to know?"
She pulled him up and against her shoulder while wrapping the bandage carefully around his torso.
Still weak, he lay his head forward and against her shoulder. He collapsed it her. She smelled of flowers and the wild things of the forest. He could feel her heart beating against his own. It felt unexpectedly good to finally make physical contact with another human being again. Besides to kill or to maim, Kakashi had not touched another person in a couple of years now. Not since before his friend Rin died by his own hands. He barely mumbled, still taken in by the girls presence, "Yeah I would... You must be very powerful."
Mabui turned her head slightly towards the boy laying on her shoulder. "Not really. All my jutsu are defensive. You're the one who is truly powerful Kakashi of the leaf. And infamous. We knew who you were even before you removed that cat mask."
Done wrapping the bandage, Mabui helped Kakashi lean back against the tree and then helped him pull the torn and bloody body suit down over the bandage. She examined the small cuts over the visible portions of his face. The mask that covered his mouth and nose was partially torn and covered with a small amount of blood.
Exploits of An Ex-Hokage
Start from the beginning
