“Why are you sitting her all by yourself?”
At the sound of Kakashi’s voice, Taryn lifted her head, but didn’t turn around. She continued looking out over the river and shrugged. “Why not? No one else cares about my company.”
“That’s not true,” Kakashi said. He sighed and sat down beside her. “I know you’re sad, but you shouldn’t isolate yourself.”
Taryn’s expression became annoyed. “Why are you here anyway?” she asked.
“I just wanted to make sure you were alright.”
“What do you care?” Taryn muttered.
“I care,” Kakashi’s voice was soft.
Taryn threw some pebbles in the water. It took some time before she responded. “Then you’re the only one,” she said.
Kakashi eyed the girl sadly, wishing he could cheer her up. “Are you worried about the curse mark?” he asked, “that the seal won’t hold?”
“No,” Taryn answered annoyed.
“I wish you would talk to me,” Kakashi said. He sighed again, “Taryn…”
Something in his voice made her look up. His hand moved and his fingers lingered on her cheek for a moment. There was sadness in his eyes as well as in his voice. “You never smile anymore.” She pulled away from him. “I know you love Itachi,” Kakashi continued, “but he’s not coming back. It’s been weeks since your return.”
Taryn stood up and walked away from him. “It’s not a feeling I can just switch off!” she shouted at him.
Kakashi had stood up too. He walked closer to her and took her hand. Taryn stared at it startled. “That’s alright,” Kakashi said, “… I can wait.”
Taryn looked up at him confused.
Neither of them noticed the silent observer in the shadows, clad in black and red, that slowly retreated.

***

Iruka gasped when another Pain blocked his path.
“Where is the nine tailed fox?” he asked, “tell me or I will kill you.”
“I will tell you nothing,” Iruka said. He was still carrying the injured girl. Her sister hid behind his back and shivered.
“Very well then,” Pain said.
Iruka braced himself for the attack, but it didn’t come. Instead he found Kakashi in front of him.
“Hurry,” Kakashi told him, “take those children to safety. Leave him to me.”
Iruka nodded seriously and took off. Pain didn’t wait and performed a round house kick which Kakashi ducked. He focused his chakra to perform Chidori and launched at Pain. He missed. Kakashi gasped. He had been certain it would hit. ‘What was that move he just did?’ he thought confused, ‘how could he deflect it?’
Pain chuckled. “Hatake Kakashi, the copy ninja. It’s an honor to meet you. Where’s the nine tailed fox?”
“That’s a stupid question,” Kakashi said, “I’m not gonna answer you that.” He tried another Chidori.
Pain narrowed his eyes. Suddenly Kakashi was thrown back. There was a large blast and he slammed into the ground. When he tried to crawl to his feet, he found himself surrounded by rocks and other objects. ‘What was that move?’ he thought, ‘I didn’t feel a shockwave, yet everything around him was blown to pieces.’  “How about this then?!” he growled and sent a lighting wolf towards Pain. It didn’t seem to affect him. ‘So it repels both physical attacks and ninja techniques… what now?’  He looked up when he noticed a movement behind him. ‘Another one huh.’ He attacked the newcomer who had his back towards him. Kakashi gasped when this Pain dodged the blow. ‘How did he know?’ Then he remembered what little information had been given.
“Their eyes are linked. They share a field of vision. The trick of fighting Pain is to  always take him one on one… Each of them has only one technique. Finding out which one is the key.”
‘Did Jiraya rally take on all six of them?’ He was already exhausted facing one. Let alone two. He had his Sharingan eye uncovered, but even that would not be enough. The first Pain raised his hand and Kakashi felt himself being pulled forward. The second Pain grew a tail with a razor sharp point and that point flew towards Kakashi. “Dammit,” he muttered and prepared for the blow. In the last second, he was able to perform a jutsu to create a lightning clone.
Then out of nowhere, two huge fists slammed the second Pain to bits. Choji and his father landed in front of Kakashi.
“One down,” Choji’s father said, “you okay Kakashi?”
“Yeah. Thanks,” Kakashi groaned. How were they ever going to defeat this guy?

***

In the catacombs beneath the village, Danzou looked out over his troops. “Luckily, thanks to this commotion, I’ve been able to escape Tsunade’s surveillance,” he said, “Akatsuki is good for something after all. Now… Tsunade’s rule is at an end. But we can’t let Akatsuki have the nine tailed beast. So I’ve removed that possibility. We’ll wait down here until things have calmed down up above.”
One of the ANBU members raised his head. “Shouldn’t we help out too?” he asked, “it will be meaningless if you’re in charge, but the village and the people are gone.”
Danzou scoffed. “the princess did become Hokage after all. She’ll be able to prevent total annihilation, but there will be some casualties. Those are a necessary sacrifice for us… in order for me to become Hokage.

***

“Why did you leave my sword behind?” Suigetsu growled at Karin.
“Shut up,” Karin bit back, “be glad we brought you back with us at all.”
“You’re one to talk,” Suigetsu retorted, “you were out cold too.”
“Yeah, cause I was protecting you guys!”
From a distance, Juugo and Sasuke were watching the two of them argue. “We all got hurt protecting each other,” Juugo cut them off, “we need each other so don’t fight.”
“Fine,” Suigetsu growled, “by the way Sasuke, are you really sure you’ll get the Eighth Tails’ power?”
Sasuke scoffed. “Heh, I have no idea, but I don’t think I’ll need to rely on it now anyway.”
“How’s that?”
Sasuke didn’t answer him. ‘I have a new power now,’ he thought to himself, ‘a power strong enough to destroy Konoha.’ He reached for a glass on a nearby table and started when it fell over.
From across the room, Karin looked over. “What is it Sasuke?”
Sasuke shook his head. “Nothing,” he muttered. ‘Again,’ he thought, ’just like before.’ He placed a hand over his eye. Slowly his vision returned to normal.

***

‘Air!’ That was the first thought that crossed her mind when she came to. All around her there was water and she couldn’t tell up from down, but she needed air. She started kicking and soon her feet touched the bottom of the river. She pushed off towards the surface and gasped for breath. Immediately she was attacked by Pain’s minions and she had to dive again. Their attacks followed her under water and she had a hard time evading them. Soon, the need for air forced her up again. It would mean her death most likely if she surfaced now, but it would mean her death if she didn’t.
Black spots appeared at the edge of her vision.
Not far from her, a shadow moved in the water and was getting closer. Instinctively she tried to get away from it and in the process she let her last breath escape. She had to take some air, regardless of the consequences.
Before she could reach the surface however, she was grabbed by the shadow and pulled back down. So that was it then? They were going to let he drown?
It was when she desperately started to struggle that she recognized him. It didn’t make her confusion any less. She was too stunned to react at first when Kisame’s mouth landed on hers. It took a few more seconds before she realized he wasn’t kissing her. He was sharing his breath with her. Of course, being Kisame, he could breathe under water. The question was, why was he helping her?
Kisame pulled away from her and pulled her with him as he swam downstream.
It didn’t take long before she ran out of breath again. This time she didn’t struggle. She wasn’t sure yet why he was helping her, but if it meant her survival, then she wouldn’t object. After the third time, Kisame motioned for her to follow him and they swam to the surface.
When Taryn tasted the sweat fresh air, she drew a few ragged breaths and looked around. There was no one in sight. They were miles away from Konoha.

***

Pain glared at the leaf shinobi that surrounded him. ‘A trap huh? So it was already set up.’
“Kakashi, what’s this one’s ability?” Choza asked. Their group had retreated behind a building for now to work out a strategy.
“He deflects all attacks,” Kakashi answered, “he has the ability to pull and push things from his center. It seems he controls gravity and repulsion forces. But there seems to be an interval before he can use it again.”
“The interval is short,” Choza said, “we can’t get close to him.”
“I have an idea,” Kakashi told them, “but I’ll need your help.”

Pain frowned when the ground below him started to crack. A second later, Kakashi broke through with a kunai dagger in his hand. Immediately he was flung back by Pain’s technique.
“You move well,” Pain complimented, “you also have an array of jutsu. Failing to kill someone like you would mean trouble for me in the long run.” Slowly he approached Kakashi. He looked up when two huge human balls rolled towards him from both sides. “Too slow,” Pain said as he cast them back. Suddenly two chains rose form the ground and wrapped tightly around him. Pain narrowed his eyes. ‘Hatake Kakashi… so you laid these chains in the ground before attacking me huh.’

Kakashi charged at him with Chidori. Right before it would hit however, something else rose from the ground and took the impact. Choji and his father gasped in shock.
‘It’s that Pain from before.. but we defeated him. How can he still move?’
A large explosion followed and Kakashi and his comrades were all thrown back.
Kakashi was the first to recover, but found himself trapped under the remains of a building. Blood was trickling down his face.
From a rooftop not far away, Pain was looking down on them. His face held no emotion. “Seems like you can’t move. Now you’ll have to die. But just in case… I’ll keep my distance.” He lifted a nail that had been stuck in a floorboard. Kakashi gasped. He knew he couldn’t dodge it.
“Know pain,” Pain said and flung the nail at Kakashi.

Slowly Choji came to. “Dad,” he whimpered.
“Choji,” a weak voice said from behind him. He turned and found Kakashi. He seemed to be holding on to his last breath. “You … can cry… later,” Kakashi breathed, “if you.. can move… find… Tsunade… Tell her about… Pain’s power. You have to… figure out a… way to fight him.”
“Kakashi,” Choji whispered.
“Hurry,” Kakashi urged him. Choji nodded and ran down the road as fast as he could.
Kakashi groaned and closed his eyes.

***

Taryn didn’t protest as Kisame started towing her to the shore. He pulled her onto the riverbank and dropped her there.
Taryn coughed up some water and drew a few ragged breaths. Her lungs hurt.
Kisame sat down beside her and waited for her to recover.
Taryn coughed again and glanced at Kisame. “Why?” she wheezed between coughs.
Kisame shook his head. “I could never figure you out,” he said, “this… thing you had with Itachi. What is it you want with Sasuke?” He eyed her curiously. “He killed Itachi after all.”
“Heh,” Taryn said while sitting up, “if you don’t know then I won’t enlighten you.”
“Hmm,” Kisame said thoughtful, “keeping secrets huh. Itachi was my partner for a long time. And you travelled with us. Doesn’t that mean anything?”
Taryn narrowed her eyes. “What makes you think we are friends? What do you want from me? Pain is your comrade too and he tried to kill me. Why would you protect me from him?” She eyed him suspiciously. “Unless someone ordered you to.”
Kisame eyed her amused. “What makes you think that?”
Taryn’s mind was racing. It was Madara himself who suggested she’d go to Konoha. He must have known about Pain’s assault on the village. He knew she was looking for Sasuke. Did he hope she would take Danzou out herself? Perhaps he had sent Kisame to make sure she wouldn’t get caught in the crossfire. But why? “What does he want from me?” Taryn muttered.
“Hn?” Kisame asked, “look, I don’t know what Itachi was about with his little brother, but I’m curious… what makes you so devoted to him?” It was something he had never understood. Yes, they had been involved, but it seemed more than that.
Taryn frowned, still thinking. Something about his words didn’t sound right. Was he stalling? “What’s going on in the village?” she asked slowly. She crawled to her feet, but was grabbed by Kisame, who held her shoulders. “Let go,” she growled.
“I’m doing you a favor, Taryn,” Kisame said. Taryn struggled against his grip, but he didn’t let go.

A large explosion made both of them jump. Taryn looked over her shoulder and grew a horrified expression. A cloud of black smoke was drifting over where Konoha should be. The explosion had been so heavy that the ground they were standing on was shaking and the river was growing wild.
She used the temporarily disruption to escape Kisame’s grip and ran back along the riverbank towards Konoha.
“Taryn!” Kisame called, “come back!” He gave a frustrated growl. “Dammit!”

***

Hesitantly, Kakashi looked around. There was nothing here, only darkness. Was this it then? Just emptiness? No… there was a fire over there. A small campfire.
It was the only light in this forsaken place.
Curiously, Kakashi made his way over.
When he came closer, he noticed a figure sitting at the fire. His steps faltered when he recognized the person, but he still made himself address the man. “Hello…” he said, making the man look up, “…dad.”
His father looked up and gave a faint smile. “Son.”
Kakashi sat down across from his father. For a while neither spoke.
“I didn’t expect to see you here so soon,” his father finally said.
Kakashi sighed. “Neither did I.”
“Will you tell me about yourself, Kakashi? Is there someone special in your life?”
Kakashi’s eyes turned sad. “Yeah,” he sighed, “but she loves another.”
His father gave him a sympathetic smile. “And this other… does he love her back?”
It was silent for a long time. Kakashi cast twigs into the fire. “He did,” he finally said, “when he was alive.” He kept his eyes on the flames, unable to look at his father.
His father nodded in understanding. “Grieve can take along time to heal,” he said.
“I know,” Kakashi said softly.
“She must be something special if you were willing to wait for her.” He watched as his son’s face became more gentle and he smiled. “I wish I could have met her.”
“You would have liked her,” Kakashi said, “she’s actually a lot like you.” He had only just now realized that. “She always puts others above herself, but she’s no weakling. She is an excellent shinobi and she has pride. She’s stubborn too… she’s the kind of person that would have herself branded a traitor to save someone she loves.” He looked at his father now, a little hesitantly. “I… understand now. Why you did what you did.” He sighed. “I was angry with you for so long. I couldn’t understand then why you abandoned the mission to save your comrades.. I was a fool.”
“You were just a child,” his father comforted him.
Kakashi sighed. “I’ve made so many mistakes.”
“Everyone makes mistakes. How you deal with them is what matters.”
“Yeah,” Kakashi nodded, “I know.”

***

It was the same place. She was sure of it. She had lived in Konoha for a long time and even before, she had visited on a regular base. So she knew the village like the back of her hand. This was the place. But there was no Konoha. There was only complete destruction. For a moment Taryn could only stare, her mouth dropping open in shock. ‘Gone… the village is gone.’ Then she started running. She wasn’t sure what had happened, but it had to do with Pain. She needed to see if there were any survivors. Her family was here. And her friends… ‘Kakashi,’  she thought. There was a chance he hadn’t been here the time of the explosion, that he had been on a mission. She didn’t dare hope.
She hadn’t been running long when she came across Choji. “Choji!” she yelled. The boy turned around and looked at her confused for a moment. Then he seemed to recognize her.
“Taryn,” he said.
Taryn supported herself on he knees. “What happened?” she gasped.
“This guy… Pain…” Choji said. His voice faltered and his eyes teared up. “He blew up the village… dad.. he…” Choji started crying, “Kakashi-sensei…everyone..”
“Kakashi?” Taryn said with a tremble in her voice, “Kakashi is in the village?”
Choji nodded. His face was pale. “Yeah. Me and my dad…”
“Where is he?!” Taryn shouted. She looked around with her Byakugan, but couldn’t locate him. “Where is he?!” she said again and shook Choji. “Take me to him!”
“Taryn-sama… I think…”
“No!” she cut him off, “take me to where he is!”

“Okay,” Choji gave in, “this way.”

She followed him across the stones and pile wood, not giving herself the time to think about which building it used to be. She scrambled over the remains of a wall and followed Choji down the road. Finally they stopped on the outskirts of town. It wasn’t even that far from where she had fought Pain earlier. She saw Choza first. Choji fell to his knees next to him and Taryn turned away from him to give him some privacy. Then she saw him. He feet moved on their own and she sunk down beside Kakashi. ‘No… this can’t be.’ Her hands became fists and she didn’t even notice the tears rolling down her cheeks. ‘No.. not you too… I can’t lose you too. Don’t leave me!’

Finally put up the drawing made by Amaterasu for this chapter. I absolutely love it. Thank you so much, thuogh I have said it a thousand times already ^_^You are awesome. Go check out her deviant art page. http://amaterasubb.deviantart.com