Fascination: Sequel

Fascination: Sequel: Part 17

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Fascination: Sequel

Part 17

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It had taken a lot longer than Oriko anticipated to catch-up to Kyokyou – her leg had slowed her down significantly and the uneven and occasionally marsh-like terrain would have slowed progress even if she weren’t injured.  He had been given an escort apparently, although they weren’t very skilled or on guard – almost as though they hadn’t anticipated anyone following them.

Oriko had never been quite so thankful for her fan and chakra threads as she had done then, allowing her to take out her opponent from a distance and so massively reduced the chances of her being injured, again. 

She’d killed and erased all traces of the men before she started back the way she’d come; but she hadn’t escaped completely unscathed (though it was only a scratch) it still added to the enormous blood loss she’d already suffered – so much so that she’d been forced to steal some of the other men’s clothes to use as extra bandages. 

It took nearly the entire day to catch up to and Kyokyou and then make it halfway back to where she’d stared, where Kakashi had battled Kichirou.  Night had fallen again by the time she’d returned to the clearing and where the battle had taken place; Oriko desperately tried to reach out for her chakra, but she had little to be found. 

The kuniochi wasn’t sure what to do next, her chakra took a while to replenish and ideally, sleep was the best thing for it, deciding that she didn’t have much of an option (she couldn’t even summon Pakkun in this state) she climbed high into a tree and settled herself for some brief, but much needed sleep. 

The remaining scent of Kakashi on his flak-jacket was incredibly faint and almost entirely masked by a damp, rainy smell, but whatever lingered of him was, indeed, a comfort – more of one than she’d thought she needed.

…

When she awoke hours later, a new day had already begun and she reached, experimentally for her charka and was relieved to find some present.  She was grateful too, that it hadn’t rained, so that as she formed the hands seals for the kuchiyose no jutsu, Pakkun would be able to follow what little scent was left;

“Oriko?” He was, initially, going to complain about being summoned so early, but the harsh stench of blood, both fresh and dried, on her and hanging in the surrounding air, prompted a different question, “What happened? Are you injured?”

“That doesn’t matter now, I need you to find and follow Kakashi’s scent, he was captured,” The pug looked visibly surprised, although he tried to hide it, rising to his paws, he sniffed close to the ground,

“I’ve got it…but there are a lot of other scents mixed with it, it isn’t clear,”

“He was unconscious I think and was carried away,” Pakkun couldn’t hide his surprise at that one,

“Kakashi? Unconscious?”

“Yes, hurry, Pakkun,” The pug would have clenched his jaw, were he able, but instead gathered himself and leapt away, Oriko struggled to keep up, her leg now feeling a deep, dull ache, that protested with every muscle clench, let alone stride. Pakkun was worried, it wasn’t like Kakashi to allow himself to get into a state where was completely at another’s mercy and the fact Oriko was severely injured and chakra depleted, didn’t bode well.

Still, the pug checked his speed to make sure the injured kuniochi could keep up with him, whilst his nose strained to detect the faint trace of his master’s scent – it wasn’t too old – 24 hours at least, but still, since Kakashi hadn’t actually come into contact with the ground, it meant a great deal of potential residual scent was lost. He could, at least, pick up the other scents he’d detected where Kakashi’s scent had been strongest,