I'll Show You Insanity

Chapter 23

"Sensei, your hand!" Sakura said, rushing forward.

"I'm fine," Kakashi said dully, snapping his wrist back into place and staring intensely at the fight as he cradled his hand.

Zabuza swung, Yuma dodged. Yuma slashed, Zabuza blocked. A jutsu, a counter. Back and forth, back and forth the pattern went for nearly an hour, and neither had so much as a scratch as their stamina steadily fell.

A swing, Yuma jumped back to dodge. Her footing faltered, she fell.

Zabuza appeared over her.

The sword fell.

"NO!"

It never hit Yuma, yet blood flowed.

Yuma stared, stunned, at Kakashi as he crouched over her, his arm stopping the blade.

He had rushed forward, and blocked the blade with the metal plate on the back of his glove. It slowed the blade, which still slide and cut into into his flesh with much less force.

Blood dripped down and hit Yuma's cheek, snapping her from her daze. "K-Kakashi, what-"

"Are you... Okay?" He grunted, struggling to keep the blade at bay. "Yuma... Are you hurt?"

Zabuza removed the pressure and stepped back. "Move, Hatake. Do not interfere."

"No." Kakashi looked up, hovering protectively over Yuma, and glared at him. "I'll never let you hurt Yuma."

"Kakashi, you moron! Move!" Yuma yelled frantically, terrified that he'd be killed protecting her. "Just let him kill me! It won't matter! Just-"

"Yuma! Shut up!" Kakashi yelled at her. She fell silent, staring at him in shock. "I'll kill you myself if you ever say that again!"

"Why don't you?!" Yuma cried, tears jumping from her eyes. "Why do you refuse to stop pretending?! Why do you keep lying?!"

"I'm not pretending or lying!" Kakashi yelled back. "I don't want you to die, just like I don't want the others to die!"

"Bull SHIT!" Yuma screamed, trembling. "STOP! STOP IT, STOP IT, STOP IT!"

"No! Believe me, Yuma!" Kakashi yelled. "If I really didn't care, I wouldn't let him kill you! Why don't

You get that?!"

"W-WHY ARE YOU RISKING YOUR LIFE FOR MINE?!" Yuma screamed, weakly hitting her small fists against his chest.

Zabuza grew annoyed with this, and raised his sword, yet many of Kakashi's clones appeared and engaged him in combat. He was low on chakra and stamina from his fight with Yuma, so he had trouble keeping up.

"WHY?! WHY?! WHY?! WHY?! WHY?! WHY?! WHY?!" Yuma sobbed, still beating on Kakashi's chest with what little strength she had left. "WHY WON'T YOU JUST LET ME DIE?!"

Kakashi said nothing, but he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her up, holding her tightly.

"LET GO!" Yuma screamed, pushing pathetically against him. "LET ME GO!"

"No," Kakashi said resolutely. "I won't."

"WHY?!"

"Because I care. I don't want you to die. You don't deserve to die."

"LIAR!"

Kakashi just held her tighter, and eventually Yuma stopped struggling and just cried until she couldn't do anything else as her appearance returned to normal.

Meanwhile, Kakashi's clones had Zabuza pinned to a tree. Suddenly, two silver streaks pierced Zabuza's neck and he went limp. A masked boy appeared and took the body, then the only sound left was Yuma's crying.

"I'm so sorry, Kashi," Yuma whimpered. "I hurt you, I'm sorry."

"It's okay, Yuma," Kakashi assured. "It's okay."

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry."

Kakashi rocked the sobbing girl until she went silent and her tremors stopped. She had fallen unconscious, too weak to stay awake.

Kakashi looked at her tear streaked face sadly as he picked her up, cradling her to his chest.

"I can't believe she broke sensei's hand," Naruto muttered.

"Team," Kakashi said suddenly. "Don't blame her. So many people have tried to murderer her in her life, including her parents, and she's always been told she's a monster, who doesn't deserve life or love. She thinks its so impossible for someone to care about her, that she can't tell when it actually happens. She thinks everyone who actually cares is really just lying, waiting to try and kill her. It's what she's grown accustomed to. You can't resent her..."

He wasn't sure what else to say, but when he looked up, his team nodded.

"Lets get her to my house," Tazuna said softly. "You all can rest safely there."

"Thank you," Kakashi said, holding Yuma more securely as she whimpered and curled into his chest.