Will of Fire: Kakashi Hatake

Chapter 30

Akira led the way through the forest, jumping from branch to branch. The man was still in her sensory range and was moving much slower than he had been the past couple of days. She was able to pinpoint exactly where he was.

Her throat still burned, but it was a pain that she had gotten used to. Each time she talked she was still wracked by coughs, but water from her flask was slowly chasing away the irritation from her wound. Kakashi had wrapped his arm in bandages but blood was slowly beginning to seep through them. He still refused any medical attention from Akira.

Eventually, night fell, and soon after they arrived outside a cave entrance. The man was deep inside but was alone.

"Seal the entrance after we go in," Kakashi whispered.

They stepped into the cave, kunai drawn in preparation. Akira formed a wall of quicksand behind them, cutting off any light from outside and plunging them into complete darkness. She closed her eyes and reached out with her sensory ability. She could sense their target deep in the earth below them, through tunnels and twists in the rock.

Kakashi slipped his hand into hers. "Lead the way," he said softly.

Akira calmed her nerves, then stepped forward, taking them deeper into the cave. She followed her instincts and the smell of blood deep into the cave, around bends and past junctions. Finally after what felt like forever walking, she could sense the man just around the corner ahead.

"He's just around the bend," she whispered to Kakashi.

"Block all of his escape routes. Trap him and I'll use chidori."

Akira let go of his hand to hold two fingers up in front of her chest. Quicksand silently rose behind them, forming a thick wall. Quicksand flowed up over the walls and ceiling as well, and they both funneled chakra into their feet as the ground shifted. Akira infused chakra into the ground around their target, then created tendrils from the quicksand on the walls and ceiling. She launched her attack, lashing out and catching the target's arms and legs in quicksand and freezing him in place.

"What the hell?" The man yelled.

Akira could feel the man thrashing against her quicksand. Kakashi stepped around the corner and formed a chidori. The lightning screeched loudly in the cave, echoing off the walls and lighting up the cave in flashes of bright white light. Flashes lit up the inside of her eyelids.

Her senses were carefully trained on the target, keeping track of every move he made. He clenched his fists, and something in his chakra began twisting violently.

She heard Kakashi run forward. But the man's chakra was growing immensely stronger by the second. Then the quicksand was blown apart.

"Kakashi!" Akira shouted. Rage exploded outward from the man. Akira threw a tendril of quicksand at Kakashi and was able to catch him around the waist. She yanked him backward, lightning bouncing off of the walls. His whirling chakra landed next to her. But her arm suddenly went numb, followed by a searing pain that spread from her shoulder down to her fingertips.

Akira fell backward with a shout, but managed not to lose complete control over her quicksand, though it did weaken.

The man's hollow laughter rang throughout the dark cave.

"Two puny shinobi like you can't take me down! I'll kill you!"

"Akira, are you okay?" Kakashi asked quickly.

She couldn't move her left arm. Akira pushed herself up into a sitting position with her right hand, her left hanging loosely at her side. "I'm fine," she growled through gritted teeth. But that had been a lie. Akira had been hit by Kakashi's chidori when she flung him backward away from the man, and her left arm was badly damaged.