little-scarecrow:

{ϟ};; — Her blood… It was everywhere. On his hands, his face, his clothes - there was no end to the vast sea of red. He was bathing in the glory of his kill. It was sick. Twisted. He’d killed her! Oh, and her voice… it was so weak but so strong at the same time. The tone itself - hoarse, trembling, gurgling and choking on its own insides. But the underlying strength was there, bold and courageous - she was saving the village. Sacrificing her own precious life for her people. He wanted to tell her don’t talk. Please, don’t talk. It’s going to be okay. You’re going to be fine. I’m going to get you home, alright? Alright. But those were all lies. Lie after lie after lie. And no matter how much he wanted to - no matter how much he wanted to believe those words - he couldn’t lie to her. He couldn’t let her cling to false hope. It wasn’t right.

          “Rin….”

Her skin was too pale and her grip on his arm was too fragile. When her frail fingers began forming signs, he wanted to tell her to just please stop. Don’t use anymore energy. You can’t afford it so just stop. Instead of using words, he set his free hand upon her shoulder, gently holding her and steadying her. She was still fighting. The glimmer in her eyes said that she was not going to give up. Not today. Where had this determination come from? The answer was far beyond him, for he could only gaze on with wounded eyes in wonder and astonishment. Tears still cascaded down his masked face, but his grip on her shoulder tightened. Not to bring her pain or suffering, but instead, comfort. A sturdy rock to lean upon. Something that said if you aren’t going to give up, neither am I.

It was up to him now. She’d done her job. She’d done more than anyone could ever ask for. Now, she would have to focus on keeping herself alive, and that was a task she would fully have to dedicate her concentration upon. Their enemies had to have been just paces behind them, if not already surrounding them. They needed to get moving. Quick.

Kakashi was trembling. Before they could do anything, he’d have to remove his arm. And that could act as the final trigger to Rin’s death. She’d already started healing the surrounding area so she knew what had to be done. She was prepared, just as she was prepared to sacrifice herself. With a shaky breath, he slowly, ever so slowly and carefully, pulled his arm back. Gore covered his entire limb and the world was spinning spinning spinning god was he exhausted. Black crept up from the sides of his vision but he held his ground, dismissing it with a will that tore his fatigue to shreds.

The boy bundled his teammate up in his arms with a care that he hadn’t even known he possessed anymore. His steps faltered at first and he swayed, but gradually he regained the balance and agile footing that he was so familiar with. No words were exchanged because they weren’t needed. He communicated what needed to be said through actions - we’re going home.

And they pressed forward, two wounded souls, one fighting to survive, and one fighting for their survival.

It was a small mercy that she hadn’t bled out already. Rin sensed the bijuu’s hand in this, the genuine assistance loaned from the tailed beast was from a sense of self-preservation not altruism, but it still worked out in her favour regardless of the motivation. What little she could feel of the rest of her body felt heavy, leaden and sluggish but she did her best to blot that out along with the sensation of her own blood cooling and becoming sticky on her skin.

Kakashi’s arm was still inhabiting the hole it had pierced through her torso, though they could no longer remain anchored together in this way, not when surrounded by so many Kiri nin. His free hand on her shoulder was trembling before Rin felt the muscles tense, giving her a split second of warning before the limb was retracted. His hand lightly brushed the inside of the wound on its way out, sending another burning jolt through her chest and Rin would have hissed with the pain had she been capable.

Without the support to hold her up Rin’s knees buckled, legs beginning to crumple under her own weight but Kakashi caught her before she fully collapsed to the ground.

Her chakra was different, still maintaining the healing technique that was slowly knitting flesh together at a greatly accelerated rate, cells dividing in an artificially enhanced way that would leave unavoidable and extensive scarring if she lived, and the medic quickly realized that the difference was the three-tails’ chakra mingling with her own. A freely offered substitute to prolong their survival and she accepted it gratefully. In a small corner of her mind she sent thanks to the beast. It stirred uneasily in response, their alliance as fragile as her own broken body.

Rin’s hands clasped over the wound more fully, covering the hole and lighting their faces with an eerie glow as Kakashi carried her. His own exhaustion would have been apparent to her if she had been able to spare any focus for her teammate’s plight. Another observation that would have bothered the medic if she were not occupied with staying on the right side of survival’s fine edge, was that their enemies did not appear to be in pursuit.

A glance was spared in Kakashi’s direction. Even through the tear-stained mask she could discern the determined set of his jaw, and in that moment there was no-one else Rin would have trusted more to get them out of the mess she’d inadvertently created.

Not even Minato-sensei. Kakashi had always been the one to save her, and it was Minato’s absence that was indirectly responsible for the chain of events that led to losing Obito. Not that she resented her sensei for any of it for no-one could have known what would happen that day at the bridge. Merely it was here, nestled against Kakashi’s chest, while she clung to life that Rin realized he cared for her in his own way. Not quite the blind devotion that Obito had held, few things could compete with an Uchiha’s level of dedication even though she’d done nothing to deserve it other than show the compassion that came naturally. No, Kakashi’s emotions had always been of a quieter brand even though he never hesitated to speak up when it came to criticism. She was his teammate, they’d shed blood and tears together, that was a form of closeness in its own way and if they lived through today, that would be enough. 

via/source ♥ 12 notes