Shadow of the Night

Chapter 14

Kiddo, come on. I'm up now, so use my strength. You need to check on Kakashi, I think something is wrong. Huh? What do you mean? I don't know, I think he's injured.

I tapped Kakashi on his shoulder, and we stopped moving. He didn't look so good. He laid Asaki's body on the ground against a tree, and sat down hard. I noticed the blood. It was covering his abdomen, soaking through his jonin vest.

"God Kakashi, what did you do to yourself?"

He chuckled, removing his jacket and pulling up his shirt. The was a bloody slash right below his ribs. It looked very deep, and though we had been running for about an hour, the blood had not coagulated. Fresh rivulets of red ran down Kakashi's stomach, painting dark streaks against his skin.

Damnit Kashi. "Why were you carrying us both with this?" My voice came out with a harsh edge.

"I'm fine. But we are still about two days out from Konoha. I can be healed then."

"No idiot, you're still bleeding. If we continue like this you'll bleed to death, and I'm not carrying your corpse home. One dead loved one is enough for today. I'll heal you. Yuro is awake, and my chakra is restored, unlike yours. We'll camp here for tonight, and set out in the morning."

"I love it when you get bossy." Kakashi muttered playfully as I straddled his knees for a better angle at his wound. I was pretty bad, I wasn't wrong about that. But close up, I could see it wasn't the only injury. Kakahi was covered in scratches and bruises; most of the cuts had stopped bleeding by now.

"Kashi, you look like you were put through a blender." The joke was whispered as I run my fingers through his slightly bloodied hair.

My hand glowed green, and I placed it over his stomach, feeling the hard muscles contract under my fingertips. I smirked. "Ticklish?"

Kakashi groaned, but knew better than to smack my hand away. "Only a little..."

Soon the wound closed, and Kakashi sighed. "What about you? How is your leg? If I was put through a blender, you were put through a wood chipper."

I smiled at his concern. "Yuro has already mostly healed me, although my broken ribs, ankle, and thigh will be sore for a while." I notice blood still seeping from under his torn mask and frowned. "Take off your mask."

Kashi's eye betrayed his surprise, but much to my shock, he removed his mask and hitai-ate without complaint.

I took a moment to appreciate his face. "Why have you been hiding this under a mask?"

I trailed a glowing finger along the large cut, from his cheekbone, down his neck, and stopped at his collarbone. Then I met his burning gaze. His eyes were unreadable, but filled with emotion.

I cup his right cheek, placing a soft kiss on the now faint scar on his left. My lips lingered a bit longer than necessary. Hesitating just a moment, I slowly press my lips against his soft ones.

Kashi immediately responded to my kiss, and I felt his large hands move to cradle the back of my neck. I ran my fingers through his messy silver hair, tugging at the ends, eliciting a soft groan from Kakashi's throat. I felt his hand trail down and rest on my lower back, pulling me closer. I complied, sifting closer, into Kakashi's lap.

Our lips moved together as if we'd practiced. Kakashi pulled away, only to reattach his lips to my jaw. I arched my back for a better angle as Kakashi trailed soft kisses down my neck. His hands slid to my thighs, though he was careful not to grip my still tender injury.

My attention was drawn as Kashi licked and softly bit a spot on my neck close to my collar that had me gasping. I felt his smirk against my skin as I moaned softly. He withdrew from these torturous ministrations to place a light kiss on my cheek. Then I caught his lips with my own, gently biting his bottom lip.

We finally broke apart, and Kashi wound both arms around my waist, pulling me into his embrace. His rested his head on my shoulder, eyes closed. We were quiet for some time.

Kakashi broke the silence. "I know your hurting about Asaki. So am I."

I blinked rapidly, tangling my fingers in Kashi's hair again. "She gave me everything. She sacrificed herself for me. Hell, she gave me her eye. And now..."

We lapsed into comfortable silence.

Finally, I stood, looking around our area. "I'll look get some firewood, you see if there's a steam nearby. We're both dehydrated." He nodded, and I helped Kakashi to his feet. I walked off a bit, looking for dry wood.

Yuro decided now was a good time to make an appearance. Gold smoke forced its way out of my mouth and formed what looked like a large bear in front of me. How you doing kid? I'm sorry about your friend. I know she was important...

I brushed away a stray tear, sending a soft smile at the shadow spirit. "Thank you Yuro, and no, I'm not ok." I glanced in the direction of Asaki's body. "But this was the way she would've wanted to go. She chose this."

He nodded, and headed off, hopefully to find us some food.

Later, Kakashi and I sat together, our backs against a large tree, staring at the low orange flames in front of us. It was dark, and I could tell Kashi was tired. He had carried two dead weights while injured today.

As he started slumping a bit, I pulled his head into my lap. "Sleep Kashi. Yuro and I will keep watch." At my words, Kakashi fell into a light sleep, his face relaxed as he laid next to me, head in my lap. 

I played with his hair and watched the crackling fire.

*AN
Awe I hope that kiss scene turned out okay
Kind of a short chapter, with some long awaited fluff :)
(at least I was excited for it)
-Hanna