♡♡♡
Your feet shoot pain up your back with every step you take but you don't even feel it. The rage that is pulsing throughout your body masks the pain and turns it into urging passion— passion to get revenge for Mai and the others.
You're headed towards Aiko's village. The last place Mai was seen alive, so they'll know which way Zankoku went. Nothing can get in your-
"Shit."
You come to a halt just before you fall into the ravine that stands before you.
You lean over and look inside, not even being able to see the bottom. It's extremely deep. The whole crack being pitch black, not allowing even a sliver of moonlight inside.
The only sound that you hear is the ominous wind coming from the crack in the earth below you.
You grab a medium-sized rock and toss it into the gaping hole, waiting for the sound of it hitting below you. "One... two... three... four..." You count the seconds it takes to hit the ground. "...Twenty-eight... twenty-nine... thir-" It finally hits.
You stand back up and groan. "1,470 fucking meters. Great." You slightly start regretting your choice for the shortcut, but there's no turning back now. No more time can be wasted.
There are two options, going around or going through. You can't exactly go across the top because there are no bridges and it's 2 miles wide, far too big for you to jump across. But your first option isn't exactly liable either, the ravine is a good 10 miles long on both sides of you.
And so, you take a breath and climb over the edge, deciding your only way across is through. And the worst part about this is that you've already used too much of your chakra using your eyes nonstop as well as also shooting some to your legs, moving faster.
So, you dig your toes into the side of the cliff, creating small crevices so you can hold yourself steady while you grip onto rocks with your hands.
As you continue to climb down, it isn't long until you start getting into the groove of it. It becomes a lot easier. You keep kicking in the wall as you lower yourself down, giving yourself small shelves for your feet.
Suddenly, when you're close-ish to the ground, the gods above seem to hate you and hope you die— it starts absolutely pouring. The clouds didn't even give you a warning with a single drop, just straight, harsh rain beating down on you.
"YOU'VE GOT TO BE FUCKING KIDDING ME! FUCK YOU!" You scream and flip off the clouds, never having been so angry at an inanimate object before.
You pull off your hood so the water can hit your face and you look down into the gaping hole that is now filling with water. Quick too.
"Fuck- fuck- bitch- shit- fuck- shit- shit- bitch-" You let your mouth run and attempt to scramble up the side of the dirt wall that you're already halfway down.
Now you really start wondering how your I.Q is apparently so high after you just decided to go into a death trap right before a thunderstorm.
You're climbing up as quickly as you can, slightly slipping on the wet rocks and the walls that are now mushy and slick due to the water. It's barely even allowing you to hold on.
Then, as if the night couldn't get any worse, you grab the top of the cliff and the dirt gives way, causing you to fall into the rough, rushing water below you.
Almost immediately your body is thrown around in the cold, rough water and you hit a ridged rock. This causes the hood of your jacket to get caught on one of the sharp edges and you start choking as it strangles your neck. Being underwater doesn't exactly help the situation.
You claw at the collar of your jacket, attempting to relieve even some of the pressure but it's no use and instead, the skin of your neck gets cut by your nails.
A couple of minutes go by and your head is pounding, every cell in your body is screaming for oxygen. You've held your breath before obviously, but this isn't the same. This is like having a gun held to your head telling you that you can't breathe.
Red and black spots dance in front of your eyes. You've forgotten if your eyes are open or closed anymore and your body is begging for you to take a breath.
But you can't.
Yet, just as you think you're in your final moments, the deities seem to forgive you.
An extremely strong surge of water hits your body and the whole back of your top, including your hood, is ripped off, finally releasing you from the rock.
Almost immediately you pop back to the top of the water, gasping for the air you most desperately needed. But again, you're pulled back under, flailing your arms and kicking your feet against the extremely rough water.
As you bob between the surface you see a fallen tree trunk coming directly toward you. You reach for your katana so that you can shove it into the wood and stop yourself. But when you grab it, you grab nothing.
"No, no, no, no, no, no-" You babble and look in all directions, looking for the sword that means more than the world to you.
You spot a reflection of light and you immediately know it's what you're looking for. So you somehow muster up the strength to swim after it, going against the current.
Your legs kick harder than ever before moving your tired body. When you finally reach the sword you reach your arm out as far as you can, grabbing it blade-first and cutting your palm open in the process. You wince in pain at the edge being carved into your skin but you can't afford to lose time.
Yet, just as you try to puncture the wood to stop yourself, you hit your head on a rock and everything goes black. No noise. No feeling. Nothing.
✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧
"She's waking up!" A woman's voice yells.
You hold back a groan and roll onto your stomach, coughing up blood and water. The way your throat feels like somebody is rubbing sandpaper against your vocal cords makes you wince in pain.
"Here, have some water miss." The same voice says. You turn to your side and see an older lady with a kind smile, holding a canteen for you.
You hesitantly take the flask and down the water, the cold liquid feeling amazing running down your throat. "Thank you." Your voice sounds raspy and pathetic, barely making any noise.
"Would you like a blanket? You must be cold." She says again, digging in a bag.
You look down and see you're only in your shorts, bra, and fishnet shirt. You also have bandages around your torso under the fishnet. But the hot sun feels amazing against your skin, so you politely decline.
"Who are you?" A sudden voice demands. It definitely doesn't belong to the sweet old lady next to you.
You look up and see a man a few years older than you. "Y/N Sakai." You lie about your last name since you aren't sure if they know about your clan or your eyes. It isn't worth the risk to lose the only help you're getting.
The old lady gasps slightly and starts chuckling. "I knew a young child with that first name, she was quite the handful to get to bed. Always restless and never wanting to sleep."
You laugh at the lady's odd statement but it quickly stops when the man suddenly grabs your jaw and gets in your face. "What are you doing here all alone in the woods? Were you trying to hunt us down?"
The lady grabs his hand away and points her finger at him. "Mitsue! Quit manhandling her!" She scolds and rubs your face with both of her hands.
Her smooth, old hands feel extremely soothing on your skin. "She's a shinobi of the Leaf Village, I already showed you her protector." She holds up your headband which she grabbed from her bag.
When you see that she took your headband, it's shocking that she took it away from you. That isn't exactly a normal thing to do, but you brush it off. She is helping you after all.
"Do you mind if I get that back? I don't mean to be rude. It's just... that was a gift from... somebody important to me." You sheepishly ask. She happily obliges and hands you your protector.
Meanwhile, the guy whose name is apparently Mitsue scoffs. "That's one hell of a lie. You get those when you finish training. It's not a gift if everyone receives one." He says and rolls his eyes.
You already don't like him. Not one bit.
But, he is aiding you so you hold back a dirty look and give him a small smile. "I understand what you mean, but it's still important to me."
"It's just a headband." Mitsue says and runs his hand through his brown hair. This time you just give him a sweet smile. "I know."
"Stop giving the poor girl such a hard time. She clearly has no intent to hurt us." The old lady says, placing a hand on your knee. She gives you massive grandma vibes and you love her already.
"Well, then why was she carrying this with her." The male then pulls out Hisashi's katana and you immediately attempt to stand to your feet but fail.
You look at the brunette with desperate eyes. "I-I'm really sorry, can I have that back too? It's really important to me." You hold your hand out with an open palm but retreat it as the wound opens up under bandages.
He just looks at you as if you're stupid. "Is everything important to you or something?" He snarks and tosses the sword on the ground beside you.
You mentally curse him out for being such a bitch but keep a straight face. "These two items are precious to me. I'm sure you have something like that too, right?"
He looks at you for a minute but then lets out a huff and walks away. Meanwhile, the old lady sadly smiles and places a hand on your shoulder. "I apologize for my grandson, he lost someone of great importance to him long ago and hasn't been the same since."
The frown you were giving Mitsue fades away and turned to a look of pity.
The two of you are similar. Very similar.
"Don't worry about it. Thank you for everything but I should probably get going." You start to stand up but your knees give out again and you let out a small whimper at the pain you are in.
The old woman places a hand on your shoulder again. "Oh baby, you're not in good shape. Even when I attempted to heal you, your injuries are far too bad." She tells you.
You shake your head and your throat tightens, knowing you have to get going ASAP. "I-I can't stay here. I need to complete my mission as soon as I can." You grab your katana and use it to stand up, leaning on it for support.
Mitsue's grandmother stands up and looks at you with sympathy. "Your mission is not more valuable than your life. You need to rest up, I cannot let you leave alone in such condition."
You ignore her compassion and once again shake your head. "This mission is far more important than my life. Thank you for everything but I really need to do what I was assigned."
You really are thankful for everything they gave you, but Mai's life is gone and you can't let Zankoku get away with that.
"In that case. We will be coming with you." She suddenly says.
You and Mitsue both turn around and look at her with wide eyes. "I- oh, you really don't-"
"Nope. We will be coming with you and helping you with this mission of yours. Now come on, Mitsue, put her on your back and let us get going." Without waiting for a response she darts into the woods and leaves the two of you there.
You turn to Mitsue and give him an uncomfortable smile. He already doesn't like you, so now this?
"You guys don't have to. I'll be just fine." You try to say but he shoves his hands in his pockets and shakes his head. "There's no way to change her mind anymore, she's a part of this now." He sighs.
You nod your head and get on his back, only being able to hope the best for the situation you are in.
✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧
"That's weird. I've never heard of this Zankoku." Mitsue says as the three of you make your way through the thick trees.
You keep your arms around his neck and shake your head. "I hadn't until recently either. But I don't care how dangerous he is, I'm going to be the one to kill him."
Even with the state you're in, you still have heavy determination pulsing through your veins. No way would you let this demon get away with his crimes.
Mitsue adjusts his hold on your legs and continues jumping from branch to branch. "You said you'd never been on any S-rank missions before. So why'd they send you out on one? Especially alone." He suddenly asks.
You can't help but laugh at his observation because you thought the same thing. "Well, if I complete this mission I get to be promoted to Jōnin again. I'll also probably go back into the ANBU." You explain.
He looks back at you and raises his eyebrows. "The ANBU Black Ops? Wow, I've heard of them before. That's so cool. I wish I was strong enough to be in a secret force." He has a hint of disappointment in his voice, but you aren't sure why.
"Yeah, but I'm not sure I'll take it. My so-called sensei would probably shit his pants, he was super pissed that I was even assigned this mission." You tell him as you recall Kakashi saying comments about you being immature.
Mitsue lets out a loud laugh at your comment. "Why was he so upset? Shouldn't he be the one who's most proud? That's how my sensei was at least." You cock your head back at what he said and your eyes widen. "That's literally what I said! You know, you're not so bad once you aren't being a bitch." You say and smile at the boy carrying you.
You're definitely warming up to him, and he seems to be doing the same.
He returns your smile and lightly chuckles. "Do you not like him? I've met a ton of people who hate their teachers." He says, finding comfort in your company.
You lean back and look ahead of you, your face heating up a little bit. "Well, I have nothing against the man. He just has a lot of attitude... more than me even. And he's not my teacher. But if you ask Kakashi, he'll be real quick to say he's my superior. Definitely some type of superiority complex in his head or something."
The running suddenly stops and you get off of Mitsue's back, seeing them both look at you with huge eyes. "Did you just say Kakashi? As in Sakumo Hatake's son?" His grandmother asks and places her hands on your shoulders.
You glance over at Mitsue and see he looks just as eager as the old lady to hear your answer.
"Yes, Kakashi Hatake." You assure.
Mitsue's face lights up and he takes a couple of steps closer to you. "You know the Copycat Ninja!? That's so awesome! I've heard about him in my own village and all of..." He starts going on and on about just how cool Kakashi is.
It's kind of adorable watching him idolize Kakashi like a superhero. It makes you smile and you make a mental note to tell Kakashi about this.
He continues to talk about Kakashi for a few minutes until his grandmother cuts him off. "You're actually the pupil of Kakashi?" She cups your face in her old hands and desperately looks at you.
You tighten your lips and nod your head side to side. "Well~ I'm not his pupil. But yes, he and I are close."
Unexpectedly, she pulls you into a hug and squeezes you. "Bless his soul." She says and pulls back, revealing tears in her eyes and a huge smile.
What the hell?
You simply smile at her and watch as she turns to her grandson.
"We're completing this mission with Ms... Sakai. As a favor to both Sakumo and Kakashi."
Meanwhile, you're blatantly confused as to why the Hatake's are so important to her.