This is the one-shot I wrote for my story Shadows of the Past, which at least the first two chapters are required reading to understand this. This could also be connected to another story I plan to start at some point, where Katsumi returns before Orochimaru attacks at the chūnin exams.
There may be some OCCness. I tried to keep it in character, but it's hard to know exactly how some would act in the situation.
Anyway. I hope you enjoy. This is set right after the prologues in Shadows of the Past.
Disclaimer: I own nothing from Naruto.
Music for this is Conscience in a Killer by A Skylit Drive :)
Yoshi and Ichiro were the ones assigned to the west gate that morning when Yoshi noticed a silver haired figure slowly heading their way.
"Ichiro, it looks like Kakashi-kun has returned, but I don't see Katsumi-chan with him," Yoshi said and glanced at his partner, who frowned at the news.
Both of them were fond of the K team of Konoha and always worried something would happen to them since both of them came from famous clans. As Kakashi finally drew even with the check in booth, Ichiro took one glance at the young chūnins expression and frowned, dropping his shoulders in sadness as Yoshi did the same.
Ichiro nodded as Kakashi showed them his authorized scroll from the Hokage that proved he was not an imposter. "Go and give the report," he said quietly and Kakashi continued his slow progress towards the Hokage tower, leaving the two guards in mourning.
Why? Why couldn't she have made it back with me? No enemy was supposed to be able to touch her, and that was true, but she never expected to have to defend herself from me.
Kakashi clenched his fists tightly as he keep his face turned down, not wanting anyone to see the tears he had been trying to fight off the past several days. He had completed the mission and managed to focus his mind on the task, but once that was finished he was left to his own thoughts once again, which did not help at all. He took a deep breath and winced as he bruised ribs protested.
I deserve this injury and more. The rules of shinobi are to always be on guard, even with teammates, perhaps if we had followed the rules a bit closer… No, they taught us at the academy to never expect everyone to survive a mission, but they never taught us how to deal with killing your own teammate and friend.
The eleven year old chūnin sighed and looked up to notice Gai talking to some other genins at a nearby vendor. Knowing he would have to explain Katsumi's absence, Kakashi took the cowards way out and Shunshined to outside the Sandaime's office. He would take time to give Gai the explanation he deserved once he was cleared to talk about the mission.
Kakashi braced himself and brushed his fingers against the scroll in his pocket before knocking on the door.
"Come in, Kakashi," Sarutobi said and Kakashi entered to see the older shinobi sitting behind his desk, his smoke pipe absent and a grave expression on his face, which softened ever so slightly when he saw Kakashi devastated eyes. "The ANBU reported that Katsumi didn't return with you. Tell me what happened, Kakashi."
Taking a deep breath, Kakashi willed himself not to fall apart in front on his leader and tried to force his mind back to mission mode. When he finally spoke, his voice was quiet, but even. "The mission was going as planned until three days into the journey when we were attacked by bandits. Katsumi and I managed to take out the bandits without any problems, but the next morning we were attacked by two Iwa nin. I was fighting one who had mastered Doton: Domu and I was having a hard time getting any solid blows in; that's when I decided to use my new jutsu."
Kakashi voice broke at that point and Sarutobi stepped around the desk and place a firm yet comforting hand on his shoulder.
I'm a pathetic shinobi; first I kill my own friend and now I can't even hold myself together to give a mission report.
"Show me this new jutsu so I will fully understand what happened," Sarutobi told him gently, silently dreading where the report was going, if the jutsu had backfired due to being incomplete or something similar, than Kakashi would end up being blamed for negligence and end up on the bad side of several shinobi.
Kakashi nodded and took a step back. The Hokage watched closely as the young chūnin flashed through the hand signs and then held his arm straight down as lighting chakra formed in his palm with a high pitch chirping sound.
Sarutobi immediately recognized it as an assassination technique and could see fissures forming in the floor where the edges of the lightening chakra had struck it. He looked the jutsu over carefully and could not see any faults, so he nodded for Kakashi to release it. "Tell me the rest of it," he said and sat back down.
"To strike with that jutsu, the Chidori, it requires high speed movement and it's hard to stop once it's started, because I move too fast to react to any counters. I had placed a layered genjutsu over the Iwa nin so he couldn't counter and I had started the attack and had my hand posed to strike when-" Kakashi closed his eyes and was thankful his mask absorbed his tears to keep them from being noticeable. "The jōnin Katsumi was fighting used a flash bomb to blind her and landed a strike, which sent her flying between the Chidori and the Iwa nin," he said and fell quiet, knowing the Sandaime Hokage would be able to figure it out from there.
Closing his eyes, Sarutobi sorted out his thoughts and emotions before replying. "Such a tragic accident wasn't you're fault, Kakashi," he said, but the young shinobi just nodded automatically, obviously thinking otherwise. Knowing he would not convince him otherwise for the time being, Sarutobi voiced his next question. "Did you bring her body back?"
Kakashi's breath hitched ever so slightly, but he nodded and reached into his pocket, pulling out a scroll and setting it on the Hokage's desk.
Sarutobi nodded and opened it enough to see the body storage and preservation seal before rolling it back up. "Kakashi, I know you are the last person to have wanted this to happen, but you know the other shinobi that knew Katsumi would want revenge, or at the very least hold hostility against you."
Kakashi nodded in agreement and kept his gaze focused on the floor.
And they would be right to blame me.
"So that is why we will not let the truth of what happened become public knowledge," Sarutobi said in a gentle voice, but there was no doubt it was an order, causing Kakashi's head to snap up and his black eyes stare at the Hokage in shock.
"They should-," Kakashi quickly cut himself off and focused on shoving down his emotions again. It was getting easier each time and after all, he had had plenty of practice after his father had killed himself. When he spoke again it was with the monotone tone that the ANBU always used. "Understood, Hokage-sama. It would be unwise to have hostilities within the village with the war going on."
Sarutobi mentally sighed. He had been afraid this would happen and he considered asking Kakashi to quit suppressing his emotions, but knew it would not work. "I will tell Gai the truth though, considering he was also Katsumi's closest friend, as well as Minato and Kushina, but they won't return from their missions for a few more weeks. I will also have to inform Orochimaru," he said with a frown, knowing the Snake sannin would not take the news well at all.
Kakashi knew the Hokage was right and nodded. "Would you like me to go find Gai and bring him in?" he offered.
Sarutobi shook his head. "You can just send him to me if you see him on your way to get checked out at the hospital. Don't think I didn't notice the way you're favoring your ribs. After you finish at the hospital I want you to return here," he ordered before dismissing the chūnin.
I hate the hospital, but Katsumi would always drag me there after a mission; saying someone had to look after me since I don't look after myself.
Bowing, Kakashi left the Hokage tower and headed towards the hospital at a slow pace, looking for the green clad genin out of the corner of his eye. It did not take long for him to spot Gai once again and he turned and headed towards him, forcing a nonchalant expression on his face as he held his head up and walked with his hands in his pockets.
Gai noticed Kakashi and turned towards him with a huge smile. "Kakashi! It's great to see you back from your youthful mission! Where is Katsumi, my other eternal rival?" he asked loudly, causing the bystanders to look for the source of the shouting, spot the bowl cut and green spandex, and quickly ignore it or move away.
I'm sorry Gai, but the three of us will never be a chūnin team now.
"The Hokage wants you to report to his office," Kakashi said, avoiding the question and then jumped onto the nearby roof to continue to the hospital before the exuberant genin could question him further.
…
The medic nin had just finished healing Kakashi's ribs and he was sitting on one of examining tables, waiting on them to bring his discharge papers. Sighing, he looked out the window towards the Hokage tower. A bit earlier he thought he heard a faint scream of anguish, but it might have been his imagination.
Of course it is Gai, so it could be possible. How he became such a strong genin is beyond me with his emotions out in the open all the time.
A quite voice in the back of his mind suddenly spoke up. But didn't Katsumi let her emotions out as well? Not to the extent of Gai of course, but she'd be tearing you a new one for acting like this.
Kakashi sighed and slid off the table as the nurse entered the room and handed him his discharge papers to sign. The jōnins could get away with escaping the hospital at any time, but chūnins and genins still had to do the proper paper work.
As soon as he was cleared to leave Kakashi jumped out the window and used chakra to break his fall as he landed on sidewalk. A glance to the west showed a storm forming in the distance and he wondered if it would be raining for Katsumi's funeral, knowing she would not have liked that very much.
Feeling depressed again at the thought, he shoved his emotions down again and the silver haired chūnin headed to the Hokage tower to see what more the Sandaime wanted with him.
He quickly reached the door to the Hokage office and braced himself before opening the door, only to be immediately swept up into a rib breaking hug by a sobbing green blur.
"Gai, I just had my ribs healed. Please refrain from injuring them again," Kakashi said, trying to wiggle free of the grip. After getting nowhere he just waited for the genin to get it out of his system.
"I can't believe Katsumi's youthful flames have been extinguished so soon! I will have to train twice as hard just for her!" Gai said and then finally released him and took on a more sober expression. "I do not blame you, Kakashi. It was an accident and I know you are already blaming yourself enough."
Kakashi could not stop his eyes from widening a bit at the comment, much less it coming from Gai.
I should be used to Gai's serious moments by now, but when he acts like an idiot most of the time it still throws me off.
Sarutobi cleared his throat to grab Kakashi and Gai's attention and they both stepped forward to stand respectfully in front of the desk. "What is it you wanted to speak with me about, Hokage-sama?" Kakashi asked.
He was a bit more relaxed than before thanks to Gai's presence, but still a bit too stiff for the Sandaime's liking, but Sarutobi decided it could not be helped. Reaching for a scroll on his desk, he handed it to the two grieving shinobi to read. "I'm sending the two of you on a C-ranked escort mission. You will meet you client at the gate in about an hour. It will not take more than twenty-four hours, so you will be back in time for the funeral," he said causing both shinobi to look at him questionably.
"May I ask why we are being sent on a mission at this time? This is a mission most genins could do by themselves," Kakashi asked him.
Even Gai could do this by himself; what is Sarutobi-sama playing at?
Sarutobi lit his pipe and took a deep breath from it before exhaling the smoke and looking out the window. "Orochimaru is due to be back from his mission within a few hours. I feel it is best to have you out of the village when I tell him the news. I expect him to want revenge and I do not want you close by before I can calm him down," he replied and then looked at Kakashi and Gai. "I'm sending Gai with you to keep you from falling into an emotionless state that could affect your mission," he admitted, giving Gai a look that said 'do your best'.
Why won't he just let me be alone? Maybe I'll be able to trick Gai into giving me a few minutes of peace.
"If that is all, Hokage-Sama, I need to restock some of my supplies," Kakashi said and at the Sandaime's nod, bowed and turned to leave, followed closely by Gai.
After the young shinobi had left, Sarutobi addressed the ANBU hiding around the room. "Please get a few more reinforcements in here for when Orochimaru returns. I have a feeling keeping him from leaving without causing injuries will be easier with greater numbers."
"Hai, Hokage-sama," a voice said from a corner and Sarutobi felt the faint chakra signature move away.
Leaning forward to place his elbows on the desk, Sarutobi rested his head on his overlapped hands in contemplation. He glanced out the window and noted by the position of the sun he had about two more hours before his student returned and resolved to finish some more paper work before then.
….
Thunder rumbled in the distance as a lone shinobi traveled through the forest, jumping quickly from limb to limb. Orochimaru glanced back at the storm clouds and estimated he would reach Konoha before the storm broke. He focused his silted eyes back on the trees in front of him and allowed his mind to wander while still alert for any attacks.
Katsumi should be back from her mission by now. Maybe I can ask Sensei for a few days off and spend some time with her. I have some new jutsus I want to show her. They are a bit advance for a chūnin, but I'm sure she can manage them.
He smiled a bit proudly at the thought of his cousin's achievements, even though their relationship was a mix between father/daughter and brother/sister. He had tried to get legal guardianship over her, but the council did not think it would be safe if any of his enemies found out that they were that close to each other.
I'm sure enemies will figure it out eventually though, because I plan on letting Katsumi sign the snake summoning contract as soon as she is promoted to jōnin.
Orochimaru had a feeling Katsumi would be level with the sannin by the time she was his age. Hatake and Maito could be around her level as well if they kept up their rate of progress as well. Most of the shinobi thought he did not notice them, but Orochimaru knew to keep track of the other shinobi's abilities in case they ever had to team up in battle, after all, his teamwork with Tsunade and Jiraiya is what earned them the title of sannin.
I wish I could share the results of my experiments with Katsumi, but I know she would not approve even if I'm only using enemy shinobi. Maybe once I have more beneficial information I can submit it to the council and Sensei and be considered for the Fourth Hokage when Sensei retires, which will still be awhile I expect.
Orochimaru focused on his surroundings again as he neared the gate to Konoha. He jumped down from the trees and walked towards the check in. The guards, Yoshi and Ichiro quickly noticed him and stiffened a bit, which was not unusual, but the way they kept shooting glances at each other instantly made him wary.
He held out his scroll for them to check and they did so quickly. As he wordlessly turned to head into the village, Yoshi called out to him. "The Hokage wants you to report to his office immediately upon arrival," he said Orochimaru glanced back at him and nodded.
I was hoping to find Katsumi before I did so, but it seems like Sensei has something important for me. He thought before disappearing with a Shunshin.
Orochimaru appeared in the Hokage's office. He noted that his sensei has a saddened expression on his face, but the question surrounding it was pushed to the back of his mind when he noticed something else strange. "Why do you have six ANBU guarding you, Sensei? The most you usually have is two," he said, glancing towards the areas where he could barely detect the other shinobi.
"They are just for precaution," Sarutobi said, a wary expression on his face.
Orochimaru narrowed his greenish gold eyes at his teacher and noted that he was looking older than ever and seemed to be braced for an attack. "What is going on?" he asked, a slight hiss slipping into his voice and a knot of dread started forming in his stomach.
There are very few things that would cause me lose my temper, so it must be pretty big for him to have six guards.
Sarutobi took a deep breath before replying. "Katsumi was killed during her last mission," he said, knowing there was no gentle way to break the news.
Orochimaru stiffened and the temperature in the room seemed to drop as it felt like his blood seemingly froze.
No… it can't be, but it's true. Sensei wouldn't lie to me about something like that. I truly am without family now.
Clenching his fists, a single tear ran down the side of Orochimaru's cheek as his struggled to keep his emotions in check.
I will never see her again. There isn't a jutsu to bring back the dead, but that doesn't mean I won't search for one just in case. I'm sure if there ever was on invented it would have been declared forbidden. Wait… Just the news of her death would not have sent me into a rage, Sensei knows that.
"How did she die?" Orochimaru asked, the hiss more pronounced than before and his slitted eyes seemed to darken a bit as he waited for the answer, wondering if he would have a chance to get ahold of her killer.
"She and Kakashi were fighting two Iwa jōnins. They were fighting separately and Kakashi was having trouble against his because the jōnin kept using Doton: Domu. Kakashi decided touse a jutsu he had invented to finish off the jōnin. He was going in for the strike when the jōnin Katsumi was used a flash bomb to blind her and then sent her fly with a heavy kick, right in front of Kakashi's assassination jutsu," Sarutobi quickly explained. It was a good thing he was finished or else he would have been cut off by the massive wave of killing intent that filled the room.
"Hatake… was the one to kill Katsumi?" Orochimaru said, his voice colder than ice and the ANBU appeared around him, swords drawn, but he ignored then and focused on Sarutobi's answer.
"It was an accident, but yes," the Hokage replied carefully. He was obviously getting ready to say something else, but Orochimaru was not going to listen anymore.
I'll find that brat and slowly skin him alive, yes that will work very well. Then I'll use him to test some of the experimental seals I've been working on. The death rate for them is still pretty high, but it doesn't matter for this. Afterwards I'll feed his body to Manda that way nobody will be able to find the body.
He turned to leave the office, but found his way blocked by the ANBU. Rage quickly building in him, Orochimaru spun around to face his sensei once more. "You cannot stop me from getting my revenge, now tell them to let me go," he hissed, not caring that he was bordering on insubordination.
Sarutobi shook his head slowly and sighed. "You know I cannot allow you to go and kill another Konoha shinobi, especially because of an accident. Do you not think Kakashi hasn't beaten himself up over it?"
Orochimaru just narrowed his eyes and his fingers seemed to twitch towards his kunai holster, causing two of the ANBU to place their swords against his neck. He barely glanced at them and his killing intent increased yet again. "He hasn't beaten himself up enough if he is still breathing," he growled out through clenched teeth.
Sarutobi gave him the infuriating patient, yet saddened look and spoke his next words quietly. "Do you think Katsumi would want you to kill her best friend?"
The death plots in the snake sannin's head abruptly hit a wall at those words and the killing intent slowly started receding.
Sensei is right. Katsumi would want not want her friend killed as well, much less by me. Katsumi had a kind heart; she wouldn't even kill enemies unless she absolutely had to.
Noticing the change in emotions from his student, Sarutobi dismissed the ANBU with a wave of his hand.
"You're right as always, Sensei. I will respect Katsumi's wishes and will not harm Hatake, but that doesn't mean I forgive him," Orochimaru said and then tilted his head in question. "When is the funeral?"
Sarutobi seemed to be relieved the worst part was over. "I know it is too much to ask you to forgive him. The funeral will be tomorrow at five," he replied and noticed his student glance out the window, obviously wanting to be dismissed to grieve properly. "You are dismissed."
Orochimaru nodded and Shunshined out of the office.
The ANBU reappeared in front of the Hokage as soon as the sannin left. Sarutobi nodded to them. "You may go back to your regular duties," he told them and glanced out the window to see it start raining. "That went much better than expected."
The ANBU exchanged glances and silently agreed that if that was good, then they did not want to see what would be considered bad.
….
By evening the next day the sky had cleared off after a heavy rain, leaving the grass at the cemetery wet enough to look like it was covered in morning dew. Kakashi, Gai, and Orochimaru stood near the front of the crowd of shinobi that had shown to pay their respects to Katsumi.
Kakashi's silver hair stood out against his black clothes, which made him feel like an even bigger target for Orochimaru's glare and killing intent.
Ever since Kakashi and Gai had returned from the mission, Kakashi could sense killing intent directed towards him from almost everywhere in the village. It had the civilians on edge, but Sarutobi had spoken with the snake sannin again and he had toned it down to just flaring the killing intent whenever he saw Kakashi.
Gai was standing in between Orochimaru and Kakashi and he seemed to be immune to the killing intent. Just as the speech was about to start though, Gai turned and looked up at Orochimaru. "Orochimaru-san, I know you are angry, but such killing intent should not be used around a funeral, much less Katsumi's," he said, meeting the sannin's slitted eyes without blinking.
Orochimaru raised an eyebrow at him a moment before the killing intent disappeared completely, causing the shinobi around them to slump their shoulders in relief.
Only Gai could say something like that to Orochimaru. I do deserve his rage, but like Gai said, Katsumi wouldn't want any killing intent at her funeral.
Kakashi watched the two shinobi out of the corner of his eye for a moment before focusing his attention on the Hokage, who had stepped up next the Katsumi's monument. Most of the time for fallen shinobi during the war, several memorial services would be held for groups of fallen shinobi, but enough people had turned up for Katsumi's death that it had been turned into a funeral worthy of a Kage.
It isn't surprising though. Katsumi had so many friends, and even the council members tried to stay on her good side since she was the last of the clan.
A movement at the edge of the crowd caught Kakashi's eye and he noticed that Tsunade and Jiraiya had made it back from their missions in time for the funeral. Jiraiya stood near the tree line, leaned up against a tree along with Tsunade. They caught Orochimaru's eyes and nodded to him, which he returned.
Even the snake sannin's teammate care for him, I bet they would never kill each other by accident. I wish Minato-sensei and Kushina-sensei could've made it. I know Minato-sensei could have traveled both of them here instantly, but they are too deep in reconnaissance missions to return. I doubt Sarutobi-sama was even able to send a message to them.
Sarutobi started his speech, but Kakashi ended up missing part of it because he'd just noticed the photos of Katsumi that had been placed around her monument. She was smiling in every photo, her slitted gold eyes so warm compared to her cousin's cold glares. One of the photos was of Katsumi, Kakashi, and Gai getting ready to head out on their first mission together. Katsumi had her arms thrown around Kakashi and Gai's shoulders, pulling them close for the picture while she smirked in amusement.
Kakashi smiled under his mask a bit as he remembered that moment. That was when she had started picking up Gai's speech patterns, much to Gai's happiness and Kakashi's annoyance. He quickly scanned through the rest of the pictures, noting which ones he was present for when he spotted one that caught him by surprise.
Orochimaru and Katsumi were posing together near the edge on the forest. Both of them had their arms crossed and stood back to back. In any other situation the height difference would have been comical because otherwise they seemed to be twins. Katsumi had let her hair down for the picture so that it matched Orochimaru's and had an evil smirk on her face, which was ruined by the obvious laughter in her eyes. It was apparent Orochimaru was meant to pose the same way, but he had ended up tilted his head towards her with an amused smirk and was looking at her with softened expression in his eyes that Kakashi had never seen before.
You were right, Katsumi. He would have never hurt you; I was just being prejudice from my own experiences with him.
Deciding it would be best to actually hear part of the speech, Kakashi focused his attention on what Sarutobi was saying.
"I know all of us here had many fun moments with Katsumi. She was always different from the rest of the Shisou clan and during this war Katsumi was always someone you could count on to brighten you day despite the fact that shadows were her element," Sarutobi said with a slight smile. "You all know the Katsumi hated the war as much or more than the rest of us, so as her friends and family we should try to fulfill her wish to end the war as soon as we can," he said and everyone nodded in agreement. "I shall finish speech with these words. Katsumi will be missed greatly, but she also burned with the will of fire, which is in all our hearts, so she will be as well."
Sarutobi stepped towards the monument and placed a white chrysanthemum on the grave, starting the very long line of shinobi waited to do the same as well. Orochimaru was in front of Kakashi and the chūnin stayed a respectful distance back, but he could not help but notice the tears running down the sannin's face after he placed his flower on the grave and turned away, disappearing into the crowd.
Kakashi tried to force the image out of his mind as he dropped down to one knee to place his own flower on the grave.
I will train hard as I can, Katsumi, so that I can end the fighting as you would want. From now on I will stick to the shinobi code and defend the village and its people… for the both of us.
Is it good or bad that I really enjoyed writing this? lol.
*Huggles Ochi-san*
Anyway, Thanks for reading!
Review!