Fear and Love Part I (Kakashi X oc Story)

The Woman in the Woods

Her straight brown hair was matted and glued to her forehead with sweat as she desperately sprinted through the woods. She ran as fast as she could despite feeling like she was wading waist deep through the raging rapids of an unforgiving river.

As Orochimaru's snake venom continued to corrode her body from the inside out, she realized she had definitely built up a tolerance over the years of torture and experiments. But she was nearing her third day without an antidote and she knew her body couldn't take much more of this. She was approaching her end.

But still, she persisted as her hope for freedom from the evil snake man's captivity empowered her legs to press on despite their undeniable desire to give up.

Her once soft pale skin was fatigued. She licked her lips in a hopeless attempt to soothe the cracked and bloodied skin as the harsh wind unrelentingly slapped her face, her throat pleading for water and nourishment. Her once shimmering ocean blue eyes were bloodshot, unable to even produce soothing tears in response to the pain caused by the terrible condition she was in.

Her bandage wrapped body was going numb and she was losing voluntary control over her limbs. Her vision became cloudy as a white cast hazed over the scenery of the forest she was running through.

This was it.

She tried her best to reach the Leaf, but this was the end.

'Thanks for the help anyway, Sasuke' She managed to muster up enough energy to spare a passing thought of gratitude to the Uchiha.

Moonlight broke through the edge of the forest as she mustered through her final steps. But alas, it was too late. Her resolve had vanished, taking with it the small flame of hope that barely flickered inside of her. She thought when her final moment of death was upon her, she would think of something... anything really. Her parents? Her clan? Her life back in her home village? She thought maybe her life would flash before her eyes and she could symbolically experience it once again just before it ended. But nothing came to mind. With no energy left, her vision blackened, feeling nothing but strong arms catch her as she collapsed to the ground.

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'I can't believe Naruto and Sakura managed to take the bells from me. They've progressed so much and I couldn't be more proud of the shinobi they're growing up to be.' Kakashi looked over to his former students after having completed the bell test with them for the second time now.

"HA HA, we took the bells from you Kakashi-sensei! You know what that means, right? You owe us a delicious bowl of Ichiraku Ramen!" Naruto gloated.

"Yeah, Kakashi-sensei! And you're footing the bill!" Sakura egged him on.

Shizune chuckled, Lady Tsunade rolled her eyes,"While it's true you have definitely improved Naruto, you still have a long way to go if you're going to fully control the nine tails chakra." Tsunade said in a serious tone, causing Naruto to grunt and pout in response.

Kakashi stood facing the edge of the forest and sighed, ready to give into Naruto's request,"Ahh, okay Naruto, I guess I can buy you some ram-"

His voice stopped in his tracks as he, Shizune, and Lady Tsunade stood up straighter at the sudden presence of a foreign chakra approaching.

"What's wrong Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto asked.

"Shh." Kakashi put up his index finger atop his masked lips, signaling Naruto to stay quiet.

'That couldn't be Master Jiraiya, he left already' Kakashi scanned the forest with his Sharingan. He spotted a weakening ball of chakra making its way out of the woods. Reflexively grasping at a kunai in his pouch, Kakashi and the group of ninja sprinted towards the unknown entity.

A small figure emerged from the dense forest and upon closer examination, Kakashi saw a woman, a very sick looking woman at that, stumbling her way towards them.

Lady Tsunade gasped,"Wait! Don't attack! I know her!"

"H-help....me" the mystery woman asked weakly. Her legs gave out from underneath her and Kakashi was able to catch her just before she hit the ground.

He scanned her body and saw that she was clad in mere bandages that covered her torso and ragged shorts that were practically torn to shreds. She was pale and clammy and her breathing was so shallow that he could barely detect the subtle rise and fall of her chest with the sharpened vision of his Sharingan. Her skin was riddled with snake bite patterned scars and she had a very familiar curse mark on the crook of her neck, it was the same one Sasuke had.

Shizune gasped,"This looks like the work of Orochimaru."

"You know this woman, Lady Tsunade?" Kakashi inquired.

"Yes, her name is Tsuki Kuraku from the village of Godai in the Land of Fire." Tsunade pulled out a syringe and stabbed what he presumed was to be some type of anti-venom into the woman's thigh,"Let's go Kakashi! We need to get her to the hospital!"

Kakashi picked her up rapidly deteriorating body and they began sprinting towards the hospital, leaving Naruto and Sakura behind.

As they ran, Lady Tsunade quickly explained her relationship,"Her clan possesses a powerful kekkei genkai. A few years ago, I had asked her to join the ANBU, but she declined. Soon after, Orochimaru attacked her village and slaughtered the entire clan for reasons unknown. Her body was never found, so we assumed she had just died. But now it looks to me like Orochimaru placed a curse mark on her and took her captive!"

They arrived at the hospital where Lady Tsunade and Shizune got to work on this woman from the woods. They worked on reviving her for hours and after receiving countless medicines and fluids, and after some much-needed rest, she finally opened her eyes.

She focused at the foot of her bed and lunged to attack the figure standing there,"OROCHIMARU!" She screamed.