—-01—
Kakashi was standing with the rest of the Shinobi, waiting to greet the Avatar. Two of them were delegated to be the Avatar's personal guard during his stay. Kakashi was specifically assigned to shadow The Avatar's wife while she was in town. He was looking forward to this day. Not necessarily to the job he was assigned, but to finally meet the Avatar in person, someone who's skill and strength he admired. When they arrived, Kakashi caught a glimpse of the Avatar's wife, who was walking slightly behind him, and then abruptly left the scene.
"KAKASHI!" yelled the Hokage.
But it was no use, he was already gone.
"Sano, find him."
"Sir." said Sano, bowing his head and departing immediately.
Kakashi was standing in an ally with his back against the wall. His chest was heaving. His heart was pounding.
How could it be?
There was no mistake. It was Kyla. He would recognize her anywhere. Out of all the women in the world, it had to be the one he loved and then abandoned 5 years ago, on the other side of the world.
Sano had found him.
"Kakashi! What's gotten into you? The Hokage demands you return at once."
"I don't have time to explain. Tell Lord Hokage to send the Avatar's wife to the tea room, alone. I'll be waiting there for her."
"The Hokage will never agree. That's a disrespectful request of a newly arrived guest, especially when it involves a woman. You should know that, even if you are her guard."
"Just do it." Kakashi said, before disappearing.
"But—" Sano sighed and quickly returned to the Hokage's side.
—-
After being introduced to the long line of Shinobi, Kyla had fallen back, while Aang engaged in a conversation with the Hokage. She sighed and looked around. She was tired from the long journey, but excited to be here. She had never been to the Hidden Leaf Village before. It's said that their forests were unmatched. She loved the outdoors.
Sano had approached her from behind.
"Ma'am, if you could come with me, one of our Shinobi has requested to meet with you privately."
Kyla turned around, taken aback. "Hm? Is everything okay?"
"i can't reveal the reason for this meeting, but I'm afraid it needs to happen immediately."
She looked in Aang's direction.
"Could I just tell Aang where I'm—"
"I'll inform the Avatar of the reason for your absence."
"Well, alright,"
I guess.
She wasn't afraid, but she knew this couldn't be the usual customary greeting. Something was up.
Sano stepped aside with his arm open, signaling for her to head in that direction.
"This way," he said.
She went on.
After walking for several minutes, they arrived at beautiful red wooden building. It was the Shinobi headquarters, according to Sano. He led her up a few flights of stairs, and through a long hallway, before stopping in front of a sliding paper door.
He bowed to her and walked away without saying a word.
How strange, she thought. I wonder what this Shinobi wants with me?
She took a deep breath.
I guess I'm about to find out.
She slid open the door to find a tall figure, with his back to her, leaning his elbows on a bamboo railing that looked out over a koi pond. She knew the shape of that body, the silver white hair. She gasped.
"Sukea?" she whispered in disbelief, taking a step forward.
He turned around to face her, putting his hands in his pockets.
"Ky." he said, grinning. "It's been a long time."
Her head spun at the sound of his voice.
How? What was going on?
Her ears were ringing, as if she had just suffered a blow to the head. She wavered a bit.
"Kyla, are you alright?" Kakashi asked, approaching her.
She held out her hand to keep him away. She felt scared all of a sudden.
"I'm fine. I just… need a minute."
She closed her eyes.
Is this a dream? Or some sort of magic?
She felt completely dismantled.
Maybe it's an imposter? But that's his voice, I'm sure of it.
She opened her eyes and darted them across his body.
Could this be a trap?
She quickly regained her composure with the thought. It wouldn't be the first time someone tried to fool her. Being the Avatar's wife came with it's own set of precautions, one of them being attempts at her life. She flicked her eyes back up to his face again.
Why is he hiding his face?
She felt uncomfortable about that. She needed to see it. She stepped closer to him and slowly reached up to remove the black mask that hid the lower half of his face.
If this is really Sukea, she thought, he will let me.
His hand darted to hers, quick as lightening, and gripped it tight. No one had seen Kakashi's face. Not since he left the Mountain Under the Moon five years ago.
She looked at him with wide eyes.
"Is this how it's going to be then?" she asked, fiercely.
There was a fire in her eyes. He held her stare for a few moments before loosening his grip, and finally letting go. Kyla took the mask gently within her fingers and peeled it down past his nose, his mouth, and then to rest at the base of his neck.
"So it's really you." she said, stepping back, relieved.
He's as handsome as ever.
He lifted his headband off his left eye, revealing the red of the Sharingan. He wanted to see her with both his eyes. She had grown even more beautiful than she already was.
"It's really me." he said.
She came at him in a rush, kissing him hard on the mouth. He returned the kiss with the same enthusiasm. Her mouth felt so familiar to him; the shape of her lips, the little gem that pierced through her skin below her bottom lip, that he had run his tongue over so many times in the past, bumped against his chin now. A sudden desperation mixed with a hint of aggression overcame them both. He placed both hands in her hair, and pushed his tongue inside her mouth. Once it hit hers, he let out a soft moan. She pulled at his vest, grazing an injury that was still healing along his abdomen. The pain seemed to shake him out of the moment. If he wasn't a trained ninja, he would have grimaced or cried out. He broke the kiss and rested his forehead against hers.
"Fuck" he said. "I can't do this."
She stroked his hair.
"I can't either."
He brought his head back up and stepped away from her. They stared at each other, both of them breathing heavily still. Kakashi laughed. Kyla couldn't help but laugh too.
"I thought you'd kick my ass when you saw me." he said, running a hand through his hair. "I'm pleasantly surprised."
"You disappeared, Sukea. I thought you were dead." she said, seriously.
It made his heart skip every time she said 'Sukea.' It provoked a flood of memories to come rushing forth. Only she called him that, and for good reason. It wasn't his real name. He felt a pang of guilt in his gut. It was one of the many lies he had told her.
"I'm sorry. I thought if I didn't say anything, you'd be less likely to look for me." he said.
"Because I'd be too heartbroken at your apparent lack of love for me? And spite you because of it?" she said, angrily,
When she said it, he realized the obvious flaw in that plan, but he was young then. He didn't think he was so readable.
"As if I'd be fooled by that. I'd never believe that you didn't care for me. I knew you loved me. It would have been infinitely better if you told me the truth, whatever it was, even if it meant leaving me behind. The fact that you didn't say anything, is the reason I came looking for you."
"You searched for me?" he asked with wide eyes.
She looked at the floor, tightening her fists.
"For over a year," she said.
He gasped. His chest was racked with pain, making it difficult to pull in a breath.
"Of course I knew you weren't from my village, but I searched every inch of it anyway. When we met, I knew that you had run away from something, even though you never told me what, and I assumed that that something or someone had caught up to you. There was no trace of you anywhere. And nobody I asked had ever heard of someone named Sukea. People thought I was crazy. I didn't know where you were from, but I went as far as Lotus Lake Village before I concluded you must have been abducted or killed."
She paused to catch her breath. She continued, slower now.
"I stumbled into the fruit forests of the Northern Air Temple, which jut up against Lotus Lake. I was starving, exhausted, and somewhat delusional. I didn't know where else to look, so I gave up, right there. I just collapsed. That's where Aang found me. And the rest, well.." she shrugged her shoulders.
Kakashi didn't know what to say. The thought of Kyla frantically searching the world for him was enough to make him hate himself. But, there was no use in that. It was in the past and right now, she was standing in front of him. She deserved the truth, but the truth would take time, and right now, they had very little of it.
"Kyla.. I.." he began, "I.. have a heavy past. I didn't want you to get buried beneath it."
She looked at him incredulously.
He grimmaced. He knew that was nowhere near a good enough explanation. He took in a deep breath and pinched the bridge of his nose.
"You're right," he said, dropping his hand. "I was on the run and I had every intention to keep running but then I met you and well.… all thoughts of running vanished. You were the most beautiful person I had ever seen. I fell in love with you so fast. Quicker than I led you to believe." he said with a faint smile. "After thinking it over, I knew I'd be safe in your village for a while. Almost nobody has heard of it, let alone knows how to get there from the Leaf. It's the least likely place for a ninja from our village to take refuge, and I knew how to cover my tracks extremely well. Before I knew it, three and a half years went by. Those three years with you were the best of my life. I knew I had lingered in the same place for too long, not wanting to give you up. I started to feel as if I was being watched. Subtle shifts in energy were happening. I knew they were close to finding me. I wanted to leave before they found your house and connected you to me. I needed to protect your identity. So, I left."
"Why was it so important to protect my identity?" Kyla asked. still not happy with this response.
"On top of my own village searching for me, I had strong enemies in others. I've seen too many ninjas lose everyone they've loved. Our loved ones become targets, Kyla. People who wanted to get to me, would most certainly seek you out if they knew. I couldn't risk putting you in that situation. It was the hardest decision I've ever made."
Kakashi paused.
"Ninjas who abandoned their village either went rogue and gained the protection of the new village or organization they worked for, or were tracked down and killed in order to protect their own village's secrets. I could never betray my village by going rogue."
"So you chose to die?" Kyla asked, in disbelief.
"No. Not really." Kakashi said, walking back to the bamboo railing he was leaning on earlier. He rested his hands on it, and stared into the koi pond.
"I decided to return and explain myself. If I made it back before they caught me, I stood a chance. But my head was clouded by a… broken heart, and this made me careless. I made a mistake and they found me."
"Obviously they didn't kill you." Kyla said, point blank.
"It's incredible that they didn't. But, I'm a really valuable asset. At the time, I was bound to be one of the most powerful Shinobi the Leaf has ever had, so they made an exception. My life was spared. Though, they made it perfectly clear to me that if I ever abandoned again, there would be no more exceptions."
Kyla walked over to stand next to him.
"I've thought about you everyday. I talk to you in my head all the time, as if you're right next to me, imaging how you'd respond. Sometimes it makes me question my sanity." he laughed. "But it helps me figure things out." He paused for a long moment, watching the movements of the koi fish a few feet below.
He turned to look at her. "I never thought I'd see you again."
Kyla put her hand on top of his.
"I still love you." he said.
"I know." Kyla replied. She could feel it when he looked at her.
"But you should have told me. I would have understood. I loved all of you without exception. If you had told me you were a Ninja, I would have loved you for that too, because it was a part of who you were, no matter what came with it."
"I know," he said, believing every word she said. "It's my biggest regret."
"It took me so long to forgive you."
"I'm surprised you did." he said. "I still haven't forgiven me."
"Well, you should. Even though it was terrible judgment, you did what you thought was right at the time." She placed a hand on his cheek and ran her thumb along the bottom of his scar.
"It's okay, Sukea," she said.
A lump formed in his throat. He attempted to clear it before saying, "You're the only person who knows me by that name. That's why nobody knew who you were looking for. The world knows me as Kakashi. If you would have asked after him, the response would have been very different."
She was quiet for a moment, contemplating that. There was so much she wanted to ask him but she knew now wasn't the time.
"So, Kakashi." she emphasized. "You hide your face now. Why?"
He shrugged and smiled at her. "Maybe one day I'll tell you."
She eyed him suspiciously, causing him to laugh.
"I've been assigned as your personal guard while you're here."
It was her turn to laugh.
"Was that your request?"
"No. It was purely coincidental, if you can believe it. I had no idea who you were. They never mentioned your name."
Kyla thought that was weird. Why wouldn't they have told him the name of the woman he was going to protect for the next two weeks?
"I was standing with the rest of the Shinobi when you arrived, but the second I caught a glimpse of your face, I ran for it." he laughed. "I didn't think that'd be the most ideal way to see each other again for the first time."
"You're right." she said. "Thank you… for this."
"Kyla." he began, dreading what he was about to say next. "I need you to pretend like we don't know each other."
"Ok." she said, even though she didn't agree with that strategy.
I see he hasn't changed, she thought.
"As long as I can tell Aang." she added.
Kakashi sighed and then nodded.
"And… refer to me as Kakashi only."
She sighed, but then gave him a small smile to signal she'd comply.
He returned her smile. He already missed her.
"We should rejoin everyone." he said, folding the black mask back up his face and securing the headband over his left eye once again.
"You leave first."
She walked away without a word. When she placed her hand on the door, she turned around.
"Did you ever think that the decision to leave me wasn't yours alone to make?" she asked him.
He looked at her, surprised. It never occurred to him.
Tears fell down her cheeks.
"For you, I would have taken the risk." she said.
Kakashi felt a sharp pain in his chest but shook his head.
"You don't know the risks, Kyla. They're too great. I'm not talking about some small time game here." Kakashi responded.
"Don't you think I know that?!" she asked angrily.
"How could you? You've lived your whole life in a small, peaceful village, with no real threats. You barely have a police force. I know because I lived there, remember? Be realistic, Kyla!" Kakashi said loudly.
"Don't you dare talk down to me, Kakashi." Kyla retorted.
This stung Kakashi hard. He wasn't intending to do that, but his emotions had gotten the better of him.
"Take a good look at who my husband is. I've had a target on my back for YEARS. The difference between Aang and you is that he trusted in my ability to make my own decision."
She slid the paper door open with a crash.
"My love for you would have conquered any fear I felt for my own life." she said strongly, with her back to him. She stood there for a moment to let her anger dissipate. She didn't want to leave him like this. She softened her voice and turned to look at him with one hand on the doorframe.
"I love you. I will always love you."
With that, she walked out.
Kakashi felt his body heat up in response to her words. Sweat beaded beneath his arms. He felt like a fool.
A minute later her face came around the corner again.
"By the way, before I forget, you should really have someone take care of that wound. It seems serious." she left, and this time for good.
Kakashi stood rooted to the spot.
How did she know?
He brought a hand to the wound on his abdomen. Apparently, he wasn't the only perceptive one. There was more than meets the eye with Kyla, but then again, there always was. He loved that about her. She was hard to predict, even for a master of the Sharingan.