Silent Conversations
By: Meg Glancy
12/7/2006
Disclaimer: Kakashi and any relevance to the anime and manga "Naruto" is not of my creation.
He came in late. Later than he usually would on these missions. Plus he was quiet. Which was not exactly nothing out of the normal but even his breathing was quiet and his eye seemed more distant this time. He had told me that he was going on another "S" ranked mission so I knew it would be dangerous. Something had happened. Maybe it did not go as planned and something had happened that he tried to avoid. Either way, there were no "hellos" or even an acknowledgement to my existence. That was fine as well.
Dinner was just about ready but I knew he was not going to eat. Not with that look on his face. Not with that wall he had built up. To eat my food would mean that he acknowledged me and meant he wanted comfort. When it was things like this, I understood. Ice blue eyes watched him from across the table; studying him as he would other people before pulling her scarf up over her nose. I do not care how many times people said she was a little clone of me… She acted just like her father. I would have told Rin to go into her room and play for a while until dinner was officially ready but she was not asking questions. Not this time. It was like she was in tuned with him. That was never so unusual.
But he did not acknowledge her either. Just stare at some spot on the table. He was also tired and probably had a few bruises with maybe even a few cuts I will need to tend to. At least none of his team was killed. That mattered most. In the time we had been together that had only happened once. He waited until Rin was asleep in her bed before coming home even when I saw other members of the ANBU walking down the street. There were just some things he did not want her to know. I knew he did not want her to see him like he was. He did not want her to see him, to know he had failed.
I set a glass and a bottle of sake next to him. It took awhile but he looked over to it. Then a little while longer he moved to pour it into his glass. Now it seemed like the world around him existed because he then looked across the table at those blue eyes, matching his one, and gave a faint smile. She gave one in return. But his smile faded and so did Rin's. Reaching over, he took the glass, and then with his free hand he hooked his index finger on the fabric before pulling it down. Bringing her hand up at the same time, Rin pulled down the fabric of her scarf. He brought up his glass to his lips and she brought up her own to her lips. It was a hesitant moment as the glass touched his lips, looking to it as if to see if I was trying to poison him, and once again Rin had done the same. Finally he took a long gulp, Rin followed suit, and then placed the half-empty glass back down on the table. She was moving just his speed. As if she had her own Sharingan to mock his movements.
As he poured more sake into his glass, she poured more juice into her cup, and then waited for the next move. Switching hands to lift the glass, Rin once again followed him, and rather closely so she would not be a few moments behind in their actions. He knew. He knew all too well of this game. He was the only one to ever beat her at this game for her face could be just as serious. It went on like this for awhile before he then crossed his eye. She giggled. A short giggle but enough to fill the room. Whatever happened out there I knew was cured because he then smiled to her in turn.