The Sordid Tangles of Life-A Kakashi x Student OC Story

Chapter 32

Shikamaru, Sakura, Yamato, Kakashi and I entered the entrance of a deserted village. It had been home to some clan, but had to be abandoned after one of the ninja wars of the past had reached its gates. There had been enough destruction to the village that the occupants decided it would be easier to rebuild somewhere new.

Choji, Ino and Naruto were on their way back to the Hidden Leaf with Kakazu's body.

We didn't need five ninja for a rescue mission of one. I was the guide to finding Hidan's hide out and Kakashi wanted to be there for me, no  matter his condition. Guilt ridden over what could happen to this girl, Shikamaru wasn't going home until we  found her. And considering the weak, chakra drained state of the three of us, Sakura and Yamato were along for the ride in case there were any traps along the way.

"Here we are" I announced, stopping at the fence of a small two story house. It was one of the few still in decent condition. The white exterior was grayed from the soot of an explosion. The window perched flower beds were in splinters on the ground below and the last shutter was barely hanging on by a nail.

My hand shook from nerves when I reached for the door and hesitated on the knob for a moment.

Kakashi laid a gentle hand on my shoulder "Are you okay?"

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath before nodding my head and turning the handle.

The inside of the house was not a reflection of the exterior. There was no torn wall paper or broken tables. The room was set up simply, a coffee table in the corner surrounded by sitting pillows and a small kitchen to the right.

Yamato followed after Kakashi and I, and glanced around. "This place doesn't look fit for captivity" he commented, observing a lack of locks, bars or barriers to trap someone inside.

There was a flight of stairs leading up to the bedrooms just passed the kitchen. I went over to the steps, stopping before the bottom step. "It's not, that's why I've only been in this room twice. When I was put here and when I got out...well, three times" I muttered the last part, adding in this moment to the count.

I knelt and reached for that bottom step, feeling around the riser. There was an edge that could only be felt, but was difficult to see. I cracked it open and flipped it out, which created a handle just large enough for grasping. With a twist of the handle and a good tug, the bottom half of the steps started to rise up with a creak. The hinges engaged and it lifted, folding into the space of the top half of the stairs.

"If she's here, it's down there." I stood back up, taking in the secret set of stairs leading down into an underground basement. There was an opening just large enough to duck your head and walk down...but I couldn't get my legs to move. I couldn't go down there...not to the hole my life resided in for a month. I stepped back, clenching my fists to keep them from shaking. "But, I uh...I can't go down there..." I walked as fast as I could out the front door, trying to get away from that damn hole as fast as I could. 

"You should go on and take her home Kakashi," Yamato suggested as Kakashi watched her leave worriedly. "You both need to go to the hospital, and we've got this from here." 

"Are you sure?" 

"Keiko got us as far as she can. Even if the girl's not here, there's no where else she can lead us. But we'll try to use any evidence we can find here to lead us to wherever she might be. Now go on. She doesn't need to be here for this." 

Kakashi nodded. "Okay. Thank you, Yamato."

*-*-*-*-*

I looked over at Kakashi, tucked into his hospital bed in our joint room. He had managed to force his body to keep going for so long out of his worry for me, but once we were in the gates of Konoha, the exhaustion of the battle and using his sharingan took him down. Now he was in bed, the covers tucked to his nose, re-cooperating.