Book 1: Broken (Kiba Inuzuka Love Story)

Chapter 11

Kimiko's P. O. V:

I wait with my teammates in the dining room of Tazuna's house after Naruto and Sasuke had carried Kakashi to a spare room. Tsunami, Tazuna's daughter, had helped tend to Kakashi's wounds, including the deep gash on the back of his right hand, caused when he'd blocked the shuriken from Zabuza. As we wait for Kakashi to regain consciousness, Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke ask me questions about my past, to which I answered vaguely to.

It was a few more hours before Tsunami goes in to check on Kakashi.

We go in just in time to see Kakashi lying awake on a futon mattress. Sakura goes to sit on the left side of him and Tsunami stands on his right, with mr leaning against the wall with my arms crossed and a foot braced in the wall, as the pinkette says, "Listen, Sensei, your Sharingan is amazing, and everything, but if it puts that much strain on you, maybe it's not worth it?"

Kakashi apologises sheepishly, "Sorry."

Waving a fan, Tazuna says, "Heh. Well, you did take down one of the powerful ninja assassins, so we'll be safe for awhile."

Sakura muses, "Right. But, you know the boy with the mask, what about him?"

Kakashi explains, "He's from the elite tracking unit of the Village Hidden in the Mist. Those masks were only worn by the most elite shinobi."

Sakura asks Kakashi, "What exactly do they do?"

Kakashi explains, "The Anbu Black Ops, also known as the Inferno Squad, destroy all traces of a rogue ninja's corpse. The shinobi's body contains many secrets: Ninjutsu, chakra, special medicines used on his body. These are the secrets of his village. If his enemies find them, his people will be in grave danger.

"For instance, if I were to die at the hands of an enemy, he would try to analyse my Sharingan. In the worst case, my entire Jutsu could be stolen and used against our home village. It is the sacred duty of the shinobi trackers to prevent this, to keep the village secrets safe. If a ninja betrays his village, the trackers hunt him down, eliminate him, and obliterate every trace of his existence. That's their specialty."

Despite everything Kakashi has said, I know for a fact that Zabuza is still alive. He'll come back, and next time, he'll be certain to finish us off for good.

I notice Kakashi, now sitting up, has his right hand to his face with a deep, pondering look.

Naruto calls to him, "Hey! Are you okay? Sensei!"

"Hm?" The silverette utters as he drops his hand. "To finish what I was saying, Tracker Ninja deal with the body immediately, on the spot, so there's no room for error."

Sakura questions, "Is that really important?"

Kakashi says, "Think about it. Do you remember what that Tracker did with Zabuza's body?"

Sakura says, "We don't know exactly. I guess he took it away somewhere."

"Exactly," I state, causing my teammates to briefly glance at me.

Kakashi wonders aloud, "But, why? He should've worked on Zabuza right there, as quickly as possible."

I say thoughtfully, "Think of the weapons he used for the takedown. Do you remember what they were?"

Sasuke says in realisation, "Throwing needles! No way!"

I remain silent as Kakashi murmurs, "Exactly. None of it adds up."

My teammates look confused.

Tazuna wants to know, "What are you all yammering about? You demolished that assassin."