Nestled on the floor beside his death panther, Kakashi had fallen asleep almost immediately. He had no other worries except for one. Is Hana ok? 

What he would give to see her alive right now. What he would give to touch her, to feel her once more. To smell that scent of lavender and vanilla washing over him as he kisses her soft plush lips. Running his hand through her crimson strands of hair. But that can't happen...not anytime soon....

He isn't one to show his emotions, and has been keeping them at bay for quite some time, but there are moments in his day where he can barely keep a level head. He is on the verge of a breakdown but can't let it go yet. Not until he is safe in his home out of the watchful eyes of his peers. Kakashi is angry, more so at himself rather than the big asshole cat that took her place beside him. He blames himself for everything. It is his fault, if he had just denied her....then again how could he?

She would have begged for him relentlessly until he cracked, and she did. Too beautiful to turn down, and with that playful tongue she has, he was hooked from the moment she outwitted him the first time.

Now he lies on the floor, with her replacement curled around him. Her large toothy head wafting hot air over his forehead. He looks between her shoulders at the spiraling stone protruding from her chest and places a hand on it. Just to feel the familiar energy Hana used to have. He replays everytime they made love in his head while he slips into his dreams.....

The air feels heavy, thick with moisture that bears a viscous warmth to it. A smell of damp earth and decomposing plants fill his nostrils. He breathes in deeply before opening his eyes to a world he has never seen before.

The jungle...

He gasps in shock as he sits up to look around. Vibrant green palm trees and foliage surround him, home to fauna he has never seen before. Birds that sing in sweet voices, chirping Melodie's that are foreign to him. To his right is a deep pool of water, glowing with a bright blue ring on its outer rim.

More confusion sets in as he comes to his feet.

Is he dreaming??....

This place seems so real....

Hana suddenly comes to mind.

Is this where her connection with her cohort resides?...in the land of jungles?

His heart picks up its pace as he thinks on this. If this is the vision Hana and the panther have together then how in the hell did he get here?

The only thing he can come up with is that he has somehow been influenced by the stone inside the panthers chest, maybe it has connected to his subconscious? If he is truly in the land of jungles then there may be a possibility Hana is here too.

He approaches the pool staring at his reflection rippling in its waters, trying to piece it all together. As he contemplates the thought of Hana being in the same place as he is right this very minute, something in the pool catches his eye. Something gold...

He stares at it, watching it flicker in the hot sun that peeks through the breadth of the trees. Quickly he realizes it isn't just an anomaly created by the water, it is in fact an object. He draws closer to the edge of the pool and crouches down squinting his eyes to see past the transverse waves. Another flicker of light reveals the object.

His heart leaps into his throat and he throws himself into the water tearing after it. Waist deep he reaches down into the water snatching it up in his grasp.

He knows exactly what this is...and it confirms his theories. In his palm, dripping with water and algae, rests the very pendant he had given Hana. He breathes out a shaky breath, sighing in relief that it wasn't lost in the land of frost.

"Thank you..." He whispers to the gods and secures the necklace around his neck then climbs out of the pool.

Looking around he begins to wonder what to do next. With his newfound hope that Hana is here, what is the next step?

The obvious one is to look for her, but where to start?

He scans the area once again, this time honing in on sounds in the distance. But hears nothing out of the ordinary, although he is not entirely sure what ordinary is in this land. It was time to think back to his Anbu days and training in tracking ninja outside of his own land.

The first step would be to find foot tracks or partial foot tracks. If Hana had started here in this very spot, then he would most likely find something if he looked to the jungle floor. As he scans the area he finds more than just human tracks. Close to the pool there are scrapes and gouges carved into the grassy mud. He looks closer, analyzing what looks like some sort of scuffle amongst two individuals. One being an animal, a large cat, and the other being human, which he assumes to be Hana.

The animal tracks do not seem to leave this area. Yet the human feet fade into the bushes just north of his location. He looks up at the sky to determine the sun's position and where he is according to it. She did in fact run northeast further into the thick of the jungle.

He curses his luck. Why can't things just be easy...

Onwards into the thick of the jungle...

Meanwhile....

You have found your place of refuge nestled into the middle of the bamboo grove. It took much longer than you had expected and wasn't an easy journey there as you had encountered more thorny shrubs that scraped at your naked body than you were used to. It must be due to your age and size. When you were here last, you were only six years old. Just a tiny little human. Overly confident and fearless.

Now, you are twice the size and feeling far less confident than before. Being naked doesn't help any of that. So you decide to make your own clothes to feel more protected in this land.

From what you remember, wild cotton, strips of bark, and a sharp split rock are the tools you would need. It took you quite some time to gather those materials. Luckily you had found enough cotton to make a long loin cloth and halter top. You begin the process of spinning wild cotton.

With your shard of lava rock you had discovered you construct a stand to dread the cotton in long strands. Next is creating twine from the bark you had gathered.

You had successfully made a long loin cloth that covers your front and back. With the leftover strands you had woven a halter top that ties on the neck and around your back. You secured leaves over any holes and painted lines on your face, arms and legs in dark clay for camouflage. In the jungle, it is wise to stay hidden. Especially when hunting food or staying out of any predator's way.

Your stomach begins to rumble as you think of hunting for food. It has been two days since you have eaten something other than ground up insects and berries. You cringe at the thought of eating another squirming six legged beetle. It was time to visit the emerald falls you had stumbled across so many years ago.

A tranquil place of flowing falls, staggered across platforms of emerald stone. You had spent a lot of time there, feeling the energy resonating from its large pool. It wouldn't be a bad place to practice the use of your chakra either and from what you remember the fish there are large and easy to catch.

Pleased with your next plan you clean up your workshop and grab your makeshift spear. You had found it resting inside your bamboo hutch, leaning up against the wall just where you left it. It was obvious no one else had ventured this far into the jungle since you were here last and who would?

There is nothing here but deadly predators and loneliness.

You grip your spear in your hand reminiscing on the feeling of its weathered shaft and weight. You can't help but praise your six year old self for constructing such a sturdy weapon.

As you walk out into the grove, you pick up on a strange sound in the distance and swear you hear someone call your name. Then a parrot sweeps by, ruffling a palm to your left and you brush it off as just another bird singing its song.

You highly doubt anyone would be out here, especially someone who knows your name. You step into the wild and are hit with loneliness you had forgotten a long time ago with only one person set in mind....

What you would give to be wrapped up in his arms again. To be surrounded by his lovely scent and soothed by his calm and cool voice. You wished he was here with you more than words can explain.

As confident as you are to get out of this place and back to Kakashi, there is a small piece of doubt that festers in the back of your mind. For it was your cohort who got you out of this jungle and back into civilization the first time. Without her, you have no idea where you are in this land and with her taking control, the odds are against you in so many ways.

Sadly you sweep the tears from your cheeks and carry on into the thick of the bamboo grove.

—————————————-

He had been tracking her footsteps for quite some time. Praising the jungle floor for being so damp and preserving the soles of her feet perfectly. At this point it was obvious she was on the run. Her steps are dug into the soil spread apart in leaps and bounds. He couldn't imagine what was happening at that time. He is thankful he hasn't come across any blood, or he may have that breakdown that has been trying so hard to keep buried.

The palm trees seem to be thinning out in the distance which means terrain will change soon and the possibility of more challenges ahead. He pauses for a moment to gather in his surroundings making predictions and analyzing his situation. Just like he always does. That is how he stays five steps ahead, always making those predictions, always thinking of the best and worst situations then coming to a resolve in the middle. He has always been ready for what is to come... that is until he met Hana.

A crimson cat who threw him off his game so badly he nearly knocked himself out with a bottle of shampoo...Baka....

He laughs at himself as he replays that event. Kneeled down in prayer, begging the gods to give him some self control and to keep his raging hard on a secret . Her naked body does wild things to him and turns his brain to mush almost instantly. Not only does he turn to mush over the sight of her, that tight little pussy of hers and shocks of stone energy make him dizzy. He is addicted to that high she gives him and can't get enough. But if he doesn't stop working himself up like he is, he may have to do something about the restriction growing in his pants....and this isn't exactly the ideal place to do that in.

So he shifts his focus back to the task at hand. Finding the love of his life lost deep in the land of jungles. If he could find a tree big enough to scale, he could sit atop of it and figure out his location much better than scouring the forest floor.

And just as that thought crosses his mine he notices a large palm shooting up into the sky, much larger than all the rest. Using his chakra and pooling it into his feet, he scales the tree with ease and perches himself at the very top. He looks around at the vast landscape and gasps at its beauty. He has never seen such a mixture of colors in nature before. It is a beautiful land that is for certain. He realizes now that he is near the peak of a cliff side and the terrain slopes down from here. Which isn't a bad thing. Going up is much harder.

Off in the distance, northeast, he hears the sound of waterfalls echoing into the valley and a heavy mist wafting up above a cliff side. He spends some time watching that mist as he figures out where he is to go next. Then something brings him out of thought instantly. A crack of Thunder absent from lightning, a blast of blue chakra flashes inside the mist.

"Hana...." He whispers and takes off down the cliffs and into the valley in the direction of the falls....

————————————————

You had made it to your destination, stopping at the edge of the water to bask in its energy and beauty. Several waterfalls spill from staggered sections of emerald rock, giving the illusion of green glitter flashing in the mist like tinsel. You had already taken a dip in the pristine waters. Getting your fill of it and washing out your hair.

Using your water walking technique Kakashi had taught you, fishing came much more easily. You were able to walk into the deeper area of the large pool and spot the much bigger fish. Unlike your prior attempts when you were a child which limited you to the shoreline mostly due to your fear of falling in and drowning....oh how you've grown....

You had staked your arm sized fish onto your spear and left it standing straight up on the side of the pool in the softer soil. With two of your tasks taken care of you are left with one.

Jutsu practice.....

And what better jutsu to practice in this pool than with water release.

Now you stand in the center of the pool, above the water drawing in chakra. It was far more challenging without the use of your stone. Your stone would take some of the power surge from your Kekkei Genkai so your chakra wouldn't go haywire when triggered. But now, your surges are much worse. Without the split between the two your Kekkei Genkai is only focussed on one energy and once you triggered your chakra, filling up your chakra pools, it exploded from you. Sending out a wave of energy that shook the valley and blinded the area in a blue light.

You kneel down before the falls catching your breath, sweeping the now dry hair from your face. That energy hurt... but nothing like your stone. It was like being zapped by one thousand volts of electricity....and quite honestly you sort of liked the feeling. It made you feel...alive...like the very essence of life had just coarsed through your body...

You grin wildly, thinking of how fucking crazy you are. You really are some kind of wild animal...an animal with some messed up kinks...

You wonder what Kakashi would think of you if he found out this new secret. Maybe he would play along with it...or maybe that kink would just push things too far... .

A rustling in the bushes behind you perks your ears. Although you can barely hear it over the rushing waters it is still distinct. Your ears twitch at the sound and your eyes dart back and forth following the shifts left and right. Something was coming towards you fast. You sit still in your position as you have the upper hand situated in the middle of the pool. Not all predators here can swim well, and the ones that can aren't as fast as what is coming towards you.

You hear the cracking of footsteps approaching the pool's edge then silence....

You wait for the entity to make the first move and you draw in chakra preparing for an attack. But that attack never comes.

Only that same silence lingers on. Then you hear his voice.

"Hana?..." He says.

You lose your breath completely. Slowly you rise to your feet, fearful of what you may see. Fearful that you may just be hallucinating. There is no possible way Kakashi can be here with you in this world....there is just no way...

"Hana!" He says much louder, and you tense at the sound. You turn towards him, and set your eyes on his handsome self.

He stands at the edge of the pool staring at you with the same disbelief you have.

Then his eyes sadden, they begin to glisten in the sunlight. He stumbles forward sloshing into the shallow edge of the pool. Before you both can register your movements you are barreling towards each other in desperation.

You beg for this moment to be real and not just a figment of your imagination. You haven't lost your mind yet...have you?

As you both close the distance he reaches a hand out to you calling your name one more time.

The tips of your fingers touch, washing away your doubts. He is real. He is here.

You push off the water and leap into his arms. Just as his arms wrap around your waist a roar shatters your connection and Kakashi disappears.... just like that...he is gone....

And you plunge into the water screaming for him......