You knew that Sakura cared for Sasuke, but she was oblivious to Naruto's feelings. You could see it hurt him though, his eyes gave him away every time. Once Naruto promised to bring him back, you were off. You were behind already.
"We need to know what everyone has with them," Shikamaru stated, "so weapons everyone."
You took a mental note on what everyone had.
"Kanade?"
You patted the holster on the outside of your right thigh, "25 shuriken, 14 kunai," you touched your left thigh's holster, "16 senbon needles, another 6 kunai," you turned around and pointed to your pouch, "explosive tags and smoke bombs."
He nodded, "Okay so ..."
"Oh!" you interrupted them, you lifted up your pant leg, "And 2 daggers."
"Don't you think you're a little over prepared?" Kiba asked.
"Never."
"Alright," Shikamaru commanded the attention of the group, "This is the plan, we're going to move in a line formation. Neji ..."
You listened intently as you traveled onward. This Nara kid actually had a good idea, he's smarter than he looks and he makes a pretty good leader.
"Kanade, I want you to stay hidden. I don't want any of us to be able to see you, hear you, smell you, or sense you. If anything happens to us, I want you to stay out of the way unless it's life or death. If anything goes wrong, you go on with the mission. Bring Sasuke back. Am I understood?"
"Yes," you gave a firm nod.
"Wow Kanade, you have no problem listening to him?" Naruto asked.
"Of course not, he's in charge. You'd do well to listen to him too," you turned to the rest of the group, "Alright, I'm off. I'll have my eyes on you."
And without another word you disappeared. You hid among the trees, concealing your chakra. Good thing you didn't bathe this morning or use any body spray. Hopefully Kiba and that dog of his won't be able to sniff you out.
You didn't do or say anything when they got trapped, hell you didn't do or say anything when everyone kept going and Choji stayed behind. You obeyed your leader's orders.
By the end, you were following Naruto. You left some of your weapons behind to help out. You didn't know who was advancing towards you but whoever they were had a powerful aura.
There was Sasuke, he was in view now. We could finally get him. You had no idea who the weird guy was and honestly you didn't want to find out. But he was making himself known.
You jumped out of your hiding spot.
"Kanade, I can take care of this guy. You should go," Naruto spoke up.
You really wanted to go but you knew that getting Sasuke back was important to him. You drew a kunai, "No, you should go, get your friend back."
"What about Takahiro?"
The man before us gave a sickening smile, "Takahiro? Hmm, he's the one waiting for Sasuke. Good luck taking him down, if you even get that far."
You turned and looked at Naruto, "Okay lets do this together."
"Right! Together."
You tested him out a little, just to see what you were up against. You lightly frowned, "This may be harder than I thought."
"Okay," Naruto grinned, "Multi-shadow clone jutsu!"
The man, Kimimaru (forgive the spelling error but I honestly don't care how his name is spelled), seemed unphased and unimpressed. You looked over at the mass sea of Narutos and put your hands together performing your own multi shadow clone jutsu and now for every Naruto there was a Kanade.
This guy, whatever he was, took them out no problem. Just the fact that his bones could sprout from anywhere creeped you out.
"Kanade, this isn't going to work."
"Then go, I'll stay."
"No, you go, I trust you."
"Fine, I'll hold Sasue back as long as I can for you."
"Right," he nodded, "now get going!"
You gave him a small smile before heading out. You had to move as fast as you could to catch up. It didn't take too long for you to sense Sasuke's chakra.
"There he is!" you exclaimed happily.
Now all you had to do was stop him and hold him off until Naruto could get there.
"Sasuke, hey, wait up!"
"Just go away."
"But ..." you stopped as Takahiro appeared in front of you, blocking the path to him.
He let out a menacing laugh, "Well, well, we meet again. Funny, isn't it?"
You ignored him, "Sasuke, come here, you don't want to be on the same side as him."
Sasue remained quiet. Takahiro just smiled, "Go on ahead Sasuke, I'll take care of this little problem and join you shortly."
Without another word he darted off. You grit your teeth, "Damn it."
"I thought I killed you," he spoke nonchalantly.
"I could say the same thing."
"You can't kill me, haven't you figured that out?"
"Look at you, talking like you're immortal or something. Everyone dies."
"Not me."
You shook your head, "Even you."
"Lets test that shall we?"
"Kanade!"
You turned to see Naruto, "That was fast!"
"Bushy Brow showed up!"
You waved your hands in front of him, "No time! Sasuke left from here a few minutes ago. He went that way, go get him!"
"Alright."
"Bring him home Naruto, you can do it."
He ran off in the direction you sent him in. It was all up to him now and you had faith in his ability to do it.
"You know this is useless, don't you?"
"No, it's not."
"You're still just as naive as you were when you were 14."
"I've had enough of this from you. Talk to me with your fists, not your mouth."
"If that's what you want," he balled his hands up into fists, his knuckles cracking as he did so. You both charged at each other, your fist hit his face and his hit yours.
There wasn't any time for fancy footwork or over the top techniques. All you had to do was make eye contact. You wanted to finish him off and go help Naruto if he needed it.
Takahiro's hands set firmly on your shoulders and he brought you down, kneeing you in the face. Blood trickled from your nose as you stumbled back. He came down from above you, fist ready to strike. You jumped out of the way at the last minute. After the dust settled, he stood, a large crater in the ground.
"You stupid bitch! I broke my hand!"
You wiped blood off of your face, "Well then you shouldn't have put so much strength behind it."
"I was trying to kill you."
"Then next time, make sure you can land the hit," you dashed in front of him taking him by surprise. You grabbed onto his broken hand and twisted his fingers.
He stifled a cry but you narrowed your eyes, "This is payback."
You bent his broken fingers backwards and he yelled out in pain, using his other hand to push you away.
'He still has a lot of strength left, a fight like this could go on forever.'
You let him land a hit on you, sending you back a few feet. Without missing a beat you slid towards him, your foot outstretched. He jumped to avoid you but as he came back down you flipped back, your foot meeting his chin before you landed on the ground. You charged at him, grabbing him mid-air and throwing him into a tree.
He fell down and you made your way over to him cautiously. He started to laugh as he stood back up.
"Not bad, that actually hurt," he swung at you but you dodged, his good hand came from the other side and it was too late to move.
He grabbed you by the neck and slammed you into a tree then he swung you to the other side, ramming you against a boulder. The strikes to the back of your head were intense and you felt dizzy. You blinked a few times and commanded yourself to stay concious. He clenched tighter, pulling you towards him, your feet dangling just above the ground.
"Where's the payback talk now?" he sneered.
You wrapped your legs around his waist and got a good hold on his shirt.
"What are you ..."
You closed your eyes and when you opened them your Kuragari was fully activated. His body automatically stiffened and he struggled to get you off of him. He fell backwards but you stayed on him, you had to make sure. You could feel him get weaker, his chakra draining. You could feel him die.
You quickly pulled the Kuragari back, scrambling off of him. That was the first time you used it and feeling someone die was a bit overwhelming. Tears slipped from your eyes. You didn't necessarily feel bad for killing him, it was the experience altogether.
"Kanade!"
'It can't be,' you stood looking in the direction you heard it. A moment later, that unmistakable silver hair popped into view.
"Kakashi!"
He came over to you embracing you tightly, "Thank god you're okay, where's Naruto?"
"He went after Sasuke."
"We have to follow him, lets go."
You pulled away from him and smiled. His visible eye widened and he pushed you out of the way, getting struck with a kunai.
"Kakashi!" you kneeled beside him as he pulled it out.
"I'm okay."
You turned towards Takahiro who had just thrown another weapon. You covered Kakashi, a small moan escaping as you felt metal pierce your side. You yanked out the needle and tossed it to the ground, angrily you walked over to him and kicked him in the side. He laughed as you kicked him again.
"I told you ... you can't kill me."
You stepped over him and stared down at his face, "Why won't you die?"
He laughed again and went to reply but you dropped down onto his chest, driving a kunai into him.
"It's useless, a weak girl like you can never defeat me. You're pathetic like Makoto and Ganju and your mother."
"Shut up!" you socked him hard.
He spit blood out and grinned, "My poor Kanade, you should've just died when you had the chance to go quickly."
"Shut up," you hit him again.
"Actually, you should've left with me all those years ago. Could've saved yourself a lot of trouble. Your mother would still be alive and the village intact. You do know it's all your fault right?"
"I said shut up!" you raised your fist and struck him straight on the nose, you heard it crack. He laughed more which just angered you even more. You punched him again and again, alternating fists.
"Why won't you die!? Just die," every time you brought up your fists, more blood covered them.
"Kanade."
You ignored the person calling your name and continued to hit him. The only thing on your mind was to make sure he was really dead this time, "Damn you Takahiro! I hate you!"
"Kanade!"
"Die! Don't ever come back!" your fists were now covered in a mix of blood and dirt.
"Kanade!"
Arms wrapped around you and pulled you off of him. You fought against the hold at first but relaxed a bit when you felt Kakashi's face next to yours. You were panting, trying to catch your breath but it was hard to do. Adrenaline was still kicking and your body shaking.
"Kakashi, I... I can't breathe."
"Just try to relax, it's over now," he said soothingly.
"But I can't ..." you grimaced and held onto your side.
Kakashi snatched your hand away, your palm was covered in a purplish-brown substance. He let you rest on the ground and he went back, picking up the needle, examining it.
'It's poisoned.'
"Come on Kanade," he picked you up in his arms and then dashed off following Pakkun.
The scenery passed by as a blur and then you felt rain touch your skin. Kakashi said something but you could barely make it out. Your energy had been zapped from you and it was a task just to keep your eyes open.
You felt yourself being passed into someone else's arms before losing conciousness.
-Two Days Later-
Your eyes fluttered open, taking time to adjust to the light. Shikamaru was sitting next to your bed. He gave a relieved sigh.
"Shikamaru? Where ..."
"We're back home now. Kakashi, along with some other Jounin and some of the sand ninja came to help us."
A flood of memories rushed over you, "Where are the others? Naruto? Where's Sasuke?" you sat up quickly.
"Everyone's fine, we all suffered injuries, especially Naruto."
You paused for a moment, "And Sasuke?"
He just shook his head. You hung your head and clenched the sheets.
"It's my fault."
You looked up at Shikamaru and gave him a faint smile, "Come here."
He hesitated at first but he moved over to sit on the edge of your bed.
You placed a hand on his arm, "I'm sure you've already heard a nice speech but I'll tell you that it's not your fault. You made one hell of a leader and I'd work with you again if I had the chance. we all fought hard, didn't we? We all knew what was at risk. Don't ever blame yourself for anything that happens in battle."
"I guess."
"Everyone's all right and that's all that matters. Keep your chin up, things will turn out okay, you'll see."
"I'm going to get Kakashi for you. He's been waiting to see you but I told him I wanted to see you first when you woke up," he stood.
"Okay. Hey, Shikamaru?"
"Yeah?"
"You did good."
He gave a half smile and then walked out. You leaned back in the hospital bed. You really hated this place but you've spent a nice amount of time here. You really failed to get Sasuke back after all. You didn't feel like you helped any. What purpose were you supposed to serve?
The door opened and a very relieved looking Kakashi walked in.
"You're finally awake," he hugged you, "I'm glad you're okay. We were all worried."
"What happened to me?"
"You don't remember?"
You shook your head, "I remember you showing up and that's it."
"Well, you killed Takahiro, beat him to the point where he no longer had much of a face ... or a head."
Your eyes widened, "Oh."
"But you were poisoned and it was only thanks to the Nara's medical journals that you were cured."
"Really?"
He nodded, "Listen, about what I was saying before you left. I was just ..."
"It's okay," you cut him off, "I understand. You were just worried that's all."
"Are you okay?"
"I am, I just have a lot on my mind."
"Well, I have some good news for you too."
You grinned, "Do tell."
"Tsunade wants to make you Jounin."
"What?!"
"Isn't that great? You finally made it."
"But why?"
"Why not?"
You looked down, "I failed. I was supposed to bring Sasuke back and I didn't."
"But you killed Takahiro, made sacrifices for this village. She went over your files again and again and found that you should technically be Jounin."
You thought that you'd be happy but for some reason, you weren't.
"Kanade?"
"I don't... I don't want to be Jounin."
"How come?"
"I don't feel like I've earned it. Besides, then what will I do?"
"You continue your job as a shinobi."
"But ... I've worked so hard to find my mother's killer and fulfill my promise to become Jounin. Seeing as how I've already done one of those, once I make Jounin, then what do I do? There'll be nothing else for me."
Kakashi grabbed your hand, "There's me."
You looked up at him, "What are you ..."
"Come live with me. Accept the rank of Jounin and stay by my side. At least consider it first and then tell me when you're ready. I know you have things to think about."
You smiled and closed your eyes as he kissed your forehead. He was right, you had a lot to think about
