living in death

Chapter 3: Remorse and Losing

War meant death; it was a fact. Yet, Saori, after seeing death infinite times, believed that there could exist a world where death was not because of war. At some point, her ideology started to falter, though. After all, she started to become the reason for so many deaths, and she would write it off, saying it was for the good of humanity.

Today, in front of her were the consequences of her actions: her comrades, friends, the only people she could truly trust, were all lying dead in their own cold blood, killed by the Anbu of Konoha. This was not the world she wanted to live in; this was not the world she wanted to create.

"Do not make it harder than it already is. Come with us silently, and we will not kill you." Spoke a voice, the Konoha Anbu. She was honestly just flabbergasted at their audacity to nonchalantly order her after the vile murders they had committed. She was such a hypocrite; if she killed, it was for the good, but if anyone else killed, they were bad.

Oh well, she was Saori, a hypocrite.

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Ridiculous. Kakashi was done with this girl. It was a task to track her, and then she put up a big fight before they could capture her. He honestly respected her efficiency in hiding and her wonderful stance in fighting. But she was the enemy, and his respect for her skills would not get her caught.

He was frustrated now because she had found yet another way to escape her fate. He could easily find her, especially considering the fact that he had stabbed her; she would be unable to travel a very far distance. It's just a matter of time.

Yet, out of the seven Anbu members, she had managed to severely injure three of them. "Stay here, I'll go alone." He announced to his teammates. One of them immediately stood up in objection, but before any words left his mouth, Kakashi said, "I am the captain and you are to listen. I'm going alone, that is final." His voice was sharp; no arguments could be made.

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Saori was no longer able to move; the wound was on her left leg, more specifically, it was affecting an important nerve, which meant her left leg was paralyzed. She knew the chances of her being caught by Konoha again were extremely high, but that did not mean she would stop fighting.

Unfortunately for Saori, she had no supplies to cover the wound, and it was bleeding profusely. She needed help, or she would die.

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Kakashi enjoyed nature; he felt a sense of freedom while jumping from branch to branch. However, it was not complete freedom; he had a task at hand, as always, so he never truly felt free. He always felt like he was merely surviving, never truly living, except for the time before his father's death.

He could sense her (there was a trail of blood, Baka Kakashi wasting time using senses instead of brain); she was nearby, to the right. A few meters to the right, and he found her sitting there with her legs outstretched, one all bloodied because of him. She was acutely aware that he had found her, Konoha had found her, again.

"Anbu," she remarked in a very uninterested tone. Kakashi mentally sighed at her response; she was not going to cooperate with him. His only choice was to strike a deal with her, which was not going to be easy either.

She's fatally injured. Excessive blood loss could lead to her death; he could use that. "I can help you with that injury if you come to Konoha silently." He was already reaching out for a gauze roll and gauze pads when she scoffed. She rejected his offer, and she was dying (so rude and the ego, kids these days).

"I reject your most humble offer." Her sarcasm, unfortunately, did not diffuse the tension in the atmosphere. He kneeled down to be at face level with her, outstretching his arms, which were holding the supplies she needed to cover her bleeding.

"You must be a fool, not carrying the basic supplies and entering a battlefield."

"Got a problem with my ways?" He was going to reply, but she spoke again, "Actually, do not answer the question, because I do not care." There was a scornful, egoistic smile on her face, and it frustrated him to no end. "Now, on what conditions are you giving these to me?" She pointed at the gauze pads and roll.

"Ahhh, so you do need help?" It had been a while since Kakashi spoke in such a tone; he usually had a harsh, strict, monotonous voice, but that was not the case right now.

"You know what I need? You to shut up." She took what was in his hand and placed a single pad on the stab wound; it immediately turned red, the bleeding was very bad.

"Seems like I ruptured a nerve." She chuckled at his attempt to speak to her; it was clear that a nerve was cut. "I have some food pills; might help?" Kakashi was unsure of what to do. She would certainly not let him help her, so the least he could do was offer the resources he had.

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By the time her wound was well covered, there were many blood-stained cottons. "Now what? I am in no state to fight, and you will evidently not let me leave." She was right; after all this, he could not let her leave. She was his mission, and his mission was above everything else, right?

Kakashi was contemplating his choices. She seemed nice; yes, she killed, but even he had killed, so he couldn't say she deserved jail while he did not. But in the end, she was a killer, whatever her reason. Considering the fact that this girl was a nobody to him, it should be easy to force her to come with him, not that she would have much of a choice.

He did not feel like taking her to Konoha. Something in him was telling him that she would not be fine there, and he did not let her use his resources just for her to die. "What if... I go back to my camp and say that you erased your traces and I was unable to locate you at all?" It was a risky gamble, a gamble Kakashi was willing to take.

"And, what if I ask why?" It made no sense. First, he got her to the brink of death, then he helped her, and now he was willing to let her go free? Saori could make no logical sense of the actions of this person, a complete stranger to her whose name she did not even know.

"Then I will say, I am not obliged to answer you and leave." That drew a laugh from her.
He really did not know if he made the right choice, a part of him believes he did make the correct choice. But then again, he knew only his life, his hardships, and he had no guarantee that Fujioka did whatever she did with good intentions.

"Take the offer, Fujioka. I'll figure out my plan of action. And keep the food pills." Before she could announce her decision, he made it for her. He would go to the Anbu camp, but only he would go.

"Oi, oi, tell me your name before you go, at least." He did not turn back at her voice but did halt in his place.

He took a second and a deep breath. "Kakashi, Hatake Kakashi." And he left before she could speak.

"Thank you, Hatake Kakashi." She softly whispered, her eyes looking at his distant form while she clutched the tiny box of food pills.

She would haunt him for years—regret, guilt, remorse, upset—but he could not blame her. He chose to walk away, and the mission's failure was on him.

Once again, Hatake Kakashi was back to being Hatake Kakashi, a remorse-filled living organism.

And once again, Fujioka Saori was what she had always been, a lost soul, not knowing where she belonged.