"Kakashi! Don't do this! Dammit, snap out of it!" Koishii begged knowing her death was eminent unless Kakashi could come to. Her eyes widened in horror as he remained silent, hurling the shuriken. Kijo smirked. By the end of the day, she would have taken out two of Konoha's very own ANBU. But her smile soon turned into a frown, though, and in the blink of an eye, she found herself pinned to the cliff side, her arms spread to either side, the shuriken each piercing through her wrists, keeping her firmly in place. She could not escape-- not without ripping her hands off. "What!? What is this!?" She growled, looking frantically between both her arms, trying to fathom her situation.

"Kakashi, you fucking bastard! You were never under her spell, were you!?" "What??" Kijo snapped her head towards the silver-haired man. "No, I'm afraid I never was," he turned to face Kijo, lowering his headband, "my Sharingan saw through your attack. Those pills turn your chakra into a hypnotic like powder, meant to be inhaled, and hypnotizing whomever you decide to target. Once I saw it coming, I simply held my breath until it passed. That's it's weakness. It's easy enough to avoid, if you see it in time." "Then why... Why would you attack your teammate?" "To fool you. I knew you'd be near impossible to defeat. I had to lower your guard. She was in on it the entire time, of course. Right from the beginning." Koishii smirked, turning her head to face Kijo as well. "You... You won't get away with this!"

The earth around Koishii cracked and crumbled, and a second Kakashi stepped out, Koishii in his arms. And for that small moment, time stood still for her. To be in his arms; to be cradled against his chest. It was calming. Rejuvenating. She inhaled deeply, allowing the emotion of peace and tranquility to flow over her. To accept it. But only a small part of it. Just enough to keep going. But she quickly came back to reality--focused. The clone set her down, vanishing in a puff of smoke. "Just one more thing."

Koishii walked onto the water, approaching Kijo. She reached for her bangles, pulling out the bottle of pills. "I wonder... What would happen if you swallowed all of these at once?" Koishii popped the lid off with her thumb, and grabbing Kijo's neck, forced her head up, and dumped the whole bottle of pills down her throat, ignoring Kijo's resistance. Kijo almost immediately began seizing, her body numb; her eyes went white, sinking into her skull, and foam started to gurgle from her mouth. She would be dead soon. Left here to whither away.

Koishii walked back to land, standing next to Kakashi as she caught her breath. The battle was much more exhausting than she had originally thought. Kakashi also breathed heavily, collapsing to the ground. "Are you alright?" Koishii asked, squatting down next to him. He got up to a sitting position. "I'm fine. My Sharingan just takes a lot out of me is all." "Well, get up. We're not finished yet," Koishii told him, standing up and offering her hand. Was it strange, wanting her hand in his? Was it strange that his touch made her stomach twist? She was confused about it all. But like she had just said, they weren't finished. She couldn't think about it all now. They had to find the missing children and adults.

Kakashi was surprised to see her offering him help. It was unlike her. But he accepted it. Was grateful for it, and didn't want to let her hand go. But she was right, after all. They still had to find the children. "Let's go." And with that, they jumped into the river.

The river was ice cold this late in the night, it's low temperatures proved unforgiving against Kakashi and Koishii's shivering bodies. They both ignored the chilling pain that pierced through them like a thousand needles as they tried to focus solely on the mission. They first checked the floor of the river where the little girl had walked in, but there was nothing. "I'll check the floor of the river down to the cliff. You go check the cliff itself," said Kakashi. Koishii nodded, pulling herself to the surface of the water and walking to the cliff with what little chakra she had left.

"It's over here!" Koishii called, beckoning Kakashi over as soon as he had come up for air. He looked towards her, relieved that they would soon be out of the frigid water. "It's about five feet under," she informed him as she dove down, and swam into a tunnel that was carved into the cliff, Kakashi following close behind.

It was not a very long swim before they came across the other end of the tunnel. They emerged at the same time, both catching their breath as they pulled themselves up onto dry land. After taking one last deep breath to fill his lungs back up, Kakashi spoke, "it appears the cave is heated." The air around them was, indeed, much warmer and quite humid. "Thank god," Koishii breathed, squeezing the water from her hair. She disliked the cold. "Looks like there's only one direction to go," Kakashi noted, pulling his ANBU mask back over his face. Koishii nodded, also pulling her mask back down and following Kakashi into the dark depths of the hideout. The walls were white, and they seemed alive with twists and curves. Like a snake after its prey. The ceiling was lined with dimmed lights throughout, and it had been quiet so far. The walls were bare of any windows or doors. "So much for our one way," Koishii stated, crossing her arms as she and Kakashi both came to a stop at a fork in the path. Formulating a plan, Kakashi asked, "Can you preform the Shadow Clone Jutsu?" Koishii nodded. Kakashi nodded back, "Good. We'll each make a clone. The clones will go left, and we will go right." Koishii nodded once more, and both ninjas created a clone, despite their chakra pool running on fumes. "Good luck," said the Kakashi clone as he and Koishii's double headed down the left end, and the originals the right.

"I'm starting to get a bad feeling about this," Koishii stated to Kakashi as they walked down yet another twist in the growingly narrow, spiraled hall. Blood stains splattered the wall, and the smell of rot grew more intense with each step. They were walking downward now, deeper and deeper into the ground. Kakashi nodded in agreement, observing what looked to be a fairly fresh pile of bones and blood, "something's definitely not right." Kakashi and Koishii stopped as their surroundings suddenly began to rumble, as if being hit by a small earthquake, causing parts of the wall and ceiling to crack and crumble. A hiss echoed down the hall, and shadows began dancing on the walls. Both their hearts seemed to skip a beat as they suddenly grew still, their breathing also quiet, and their guards even higher than before. Kakashi signaled Koishii, using both his hands and eye to communicate. She nodded, understanding the plan. Kakashi stepped onto the ceiling, and Koishii backed against the inside of the wall. They cautiously approached the end of the hall, peaking around the corner.

There, in a large, open room, was a massive white snake, resting within the rotting carcasses of the fallen men.