Falling for my Sensei •• Kakashi Hatake x OC

What Matters Now

Kakashi's POV:

The sound of an agonized shriek echos through the forest.

"Was that..." Sakura stops herself.

We all know who that was.

Tears fill my eyes as pure terror completely overtakes my body.

I push myself even harder, zipping from branch to branch at high speeds.

"Kakashi Sensei, maybe we should go ahead of you-" I cut Naruto off before he can finish.

"No." I snap.

I see a clearing up ahead and scan the area quickly.

"And I will fucking end you." I hear the familiar voice of Hidan just ahead of us as I jump down from the trees and out into the clearing.

"We're going to find Sasuke and Kakuzu." Izumo says from somewhere behind me as him and Genma take off in the direction of where I can hear Sasuke's Chidori.

The first thing I see is blood. Everywhere. On the ground and splattered on the trees around them.

I don't recognize her at first. Her back is facing me and her left arm and right leg appear as if they had been painted completely in an angry red.

More blood.

I look at the gaping wounds in Akari's arm and my eyes flicker over to Hidan's Scythe that lays on the ground next to him.

"I need to heal her Kakashi Sensei, fast." Sakura whispers next to me as I start to run towards her.

Just then, Akari raises her katana high above her head, ready to slice down on the man in front of her.

"Akari!" My voice comes out wild and panicked. I need to get her away from him.

Her arm freezes and she turns around, startled by the sound of my voice.

Wait. No.

"Kakash-" she tries to yell out. But she stops at the horrific sound of the blunt force of Hidan's scythe.

I watch, frozen in place as her face turns sickly white, her eyes widen in shock and her mouth parts open slightly.

"Oh my god." Sakura whimpers.

I look on in agony as Akari looks down to where Hidan's scythe has stabbed through the side of her stomach.

In a single moment, my heart has been torn from my body and crushed into millions of pieces.

There's been many times in my life where I've wondered if the life of a shinobi is worth it.

I used to tell myself that despite all of the pain, the heartache, the senseless loss of life, it was all worth it in order to protect the village from evil like this.

As I fall to my knees in the middle of the clearing, I realize now that I have always been wrong.

Very wrong.

None of this was worth it. Nothing is worth losing her.

I see Sakura yelling something but I cannot hear a single sound. Naruto begins running towards Akari but I can't move.

I try moving my legs, I try to get up, go to her, but my body doesn't belong to me in this moment.

I watch, useless, as he yanks the blade out of her, blood immediately saturating the front of her body.

The mere seconds feel like hours as I struggle to find air through the torment enveloping my every nerve.

A sharp crack that ripples through the air is the only thing that pulls me out of my fog.