Crow's feathers - Naruto fanfiction

Chapter 10 Stormcrow

Taryn slowly crawled to her knees and eyed the situation. Naruto was unconscious, Sasuke was taking him on his back. He glanced at her suspiciously. Sakura was on her feet and looked a little uncertain. Taryn ignored them and worked her muscles. She was sore all over, but she would live. She had been in worse shape. She stared sadly in the direction her siblings had disappeared to.
“Are you alright, Taryn?” a soft voice asked next to her. She looked aside.
“Pakkun,” she said, a sudden rush of emotion taking over.
“There, there, it’s alright,” his paw patted her knee, “can you walk?” She nodded. “We should go then. I don’t know what we’ll find in the village.”
“Orochimaru,” Taryn whispered.
Pakkun nodded. “I’m afraid so.”
Taryn sighed. “Let’s go then.”

***

It rained the day of the funeral. Along with many others, the Hokage had fallen. The entire village was mourning.  Konohamaru, the Hokage’s grandson, was crying openly. Iruka tried to comfort him. It was a dark day for Konoha.

Kakashi lifted his head when he heard soft footsteps behind him. “Are those for Hayate?” he asked.
Taryn walked up to him and placed the flowers in front of the Memorial Stone. She wasn’t sure what to say. “The Hokage’s funeral already started,” she said, “you’d better hurry.”
    “I’ll go in a minute,” Kakashi said. He studied the girl carefully. She hadn’t quite been herself since she came back yesterday after the attack. “It’s not your fault,” he said.
“The others may not think so,” Taryn said softly, “they were my family after all.”
Kakashi sighed and held her closely. “Don’t worry.” He let go of her. “Come on. Let’s join the others.”

***

Two unfamiliar figures headed across town. They were wearing black and red cloaks that concealed their identities. “It’s been a while since you last returned home, right?” the first one said, “shall we have some tea before starting the search?”
The second one was a solemn figure. He nodded at his comrade. “Sure.”

Taryn strolled through town. She was busy moving her things from Kakashi’s house to the Hyuuga Compound. It was better if she stayed there from now on instead of with Kakashi. She had seen Jiraya leave town this morning with Naruto. Rumor had it the elders had wanted to make him the next Hokage. He had declined and was now in search of Tsunade who would make a far better Hokage.
The town was slowly recovering from the attack and was rebuilding itself. Taryn’s thoughts turned back to Naruto. That boy had something special. He wasn’t the isolated lonely kid she remembered from long ago. And he had brought Gaara back.
‘Gaara...’ She sighed. The look in his eyes… she would never forget that. So full of pain and loneliness. She should have just taken him with her back then. But they would have been hunted down to the ends of the earth. Her head suddenly snapped up and she activated Byakugan. That flow of chakra… She hurried towards it.

On the outskirts of town, Asuma and Kurenai stood with their eyes closed, uncertain of what was going on. Not far away, Kakashi sat on his knees, one eye closed and his Sharingan open. He was holding on to his last bit of chakra. Using Sharingan always wore him down quickly and he was no match against this opponent to whom Sharingan was so natural. “You’re after the nine tailed fox,” he said, “aren’t you?”
The man with the shark face glanced at his comrade. The dark-haired younger man had a thoughtful expression. “Kisame,” he said, “change of plan. We’re taking Kakashi with us. Make the other two disappear.”
Kurenai and Asuma shivered, still afraid to open their eyes. Kakashi tensed. He knew he didn’t have strength left to fight them off. Before his opponents could make a move however, someone stepped in between them, shielding Kakashi. When he heard a gasp he knew exactly who it was and there was a tug on his heart.