The Lost Princess (Kiba Love Story)

Chapter 10

Ayumi's P. O. V:

I wait with my teammates in the dining room of Tazuna's house after Naruto and Sasuke had carried Kakashi to a spare room. I'd helped tend to Kakashi's wounds and used my healing Jutsu to heal the deep gash on the back of his right hand, caused when he'd blocked the shuriken from Zabuza. As we wait for Kakashi to regain consciousness, Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke ask me questions about my past with Zabuza. When Naruto says he couldn't believe he's with a real life princess, I'd sent him a death stare even as Sakura fearfully reminds him not to call me that. Tsunami, Tazuna's daughter with long dark hair and dark eyes wearing a pink top and blue skirt, was weary and a bit fearful about having an assassin be in her house, but after telling her that Kakashi is keeping an eye on me and Naruto and Sakura add that I'm not that bad, especially since I'd protected them from my former Sensei, Zabuza Momochi, Tsunami agrees to let me stay in her house.

I read one of my fantasy books while waiting for Kakashi to wake up.

It was a few more hours before Tsunami goes in to check.

We go in just in time to see Kakashi lying awake on a futon mattress. Sakura and I go sit on the left side of him and Tsunami stands on his right, as the pinkette says, "Listen, Sensei, your Sharingan is amazing, and everything, but if it puts that much strain on you, maybe it's not worth it?"

Kakashi apologises sheepishly, "Sorry."

I say, "You made me worry. I'm glad you're doing alright."

Waving a fan, Tazuna says, "Heh. Well, you did take down one of the powerful ninja assassins, so we'll be safe for awhile."

Sakura muses, "Right. But, you know the boy with the mask, what about him?"

My face is unreadable as Kakashi explains, "He's from the elite tracking unit of the Village Hidden in the Mist. Those masks were only worn by the most elite shinobi."

Sakura asks Kakashi and I, "What exactly do they do?"

I explain for Kakashi since I learned about this from Zabuza, "The ANBU Black Ops, also known as the Inferno Squad, destroy all traces of a rogue ninja's corpse. The shinobi's body contains many secrets: Ninjutsu, chakra, special medicines used on his body. These are the secrets of his village. If his enemies find them, his people will be in grave danger."

Kakashi picks up from there, "For instance, if I were to die at the hands of an enemy, he would try to analyse my Sharingan. In the worst case, my entire Jutsu could be stolen and used against our home village. It is the sacred duty of the shinobi trackers to prevent this, to keep the village secrets safe. If a ninja betrays his village, the trackers hunt him down, eliminate him, and obliterate every trace of his existence. That's their specialty."

Despite everything Kakashi has said, I know for a fact that Zabuza is still alive. He'll come back, and next time, he'll be certain to finish us off for good.

I notice Kakashi, now sitting up, has his right hand to his face with a deep, pondering look.

Naruto calls to him, "Hey! Are you okay? Sensei!"

"Hm?" The silverette utters as he drops his hand. "To finish what I was saying, Tracker Ninja deal with the body immediately, on the spot, so there's no room for error."

Sakura questions, "Is that really important?"

Kakashi says, "Think about it. Do you remember what that Tracker did with Zabuza's body?"

Sakura says, "We don't know exactly. I guess he took it away somewhere."

"Exactly," I state.

Kakashi wonders aloud, "But, why? He should've worked on Zabuza right there, as quickly as possible."