3, [Sickness, 疾病]


两年后, (two years later)


11-year-old Hatake Kakashi smoothed a gloved hand over the mysterious blue envelope. A stream of observations followed. Fine grain, high-quality wax seal, ...four days old at least. Feminine handwriting, traces of floral perfume.

"Interesting," The boy muttered.

As an orphaned and antisocial child, the only mail Kakashi received were coupons from his favorite stores and, occasionally, letters of "youthful competition" from Guy.

However, he has never, ever, received a letter from a woman named Seiryū Hiroyo of Yugakure.

Highly curious, the silver-haired child made his way back inside his spacious apartment. He had no concerns for his safety, since all letters from foreign lands passed through high-level security checks before being sent to Konoha citizens. But how did this...Hiroyo get his address?

The acclaimed genius hopped on his bed and picked off the black wax seal with nimble fingers. Very carefully, he took out the delicate parchment, unfurled it, and began to read.


. . .


Fall withered into winter, winter melted into spring, spring blistered into summer.

In a blink of an eye, the cycle happened twice, and two years have passed since I became Seiryū Hidaka.

After a rather tentative birthday celebration, Hiroyo lead me on chubby legs to a spacious, beautiful suite in the East wing of the compound. In contrast to the drab furnishings of my previous room, my new living space was decorated with traditional Japanese elements, including a large scroll with my name written in beautiful kanji. To my everlasting delight, there was even a small courtyard of my own behind a pair of silk-screen sliding doors. Fancy.

What can I say? My mother spoiled me rotten, and I loved it.

In order to appear as normal as possible, I spent most of the day wandering around the compound, being avoided by other children my age, and napping in preparation for my nights; when I'd head off to either my clan's or Yugakure's library to read. I'd been quite a voracious reader before falling in love with music in my first life, and it was probably the only reason why I learned English so successfully after immigrating to the States. There was much to learn about this strange, beautifully fascinating world, after all.

One afternoon, I was napping peacefully when I heard the sliding door to my suite being flung open.

"Hidaka-chan?" He's home already? It's not even 4 o'clock yet...

Throughout the last two years, my brother continued to visit me, braving through the occasionally face-grabbing or slobbering in my earlier days. His visits, while occasionally annoying, did wonders in improving my Japanese, along with my nightly visits for knowledge.

"Hidan-nii? Is that you?" Stirring from a late afternoon nap on my deck, I rolled over on my tatami mat, giving my sweaty brother with a sleepy look.

"Yeah, 's me. Yukiko-sensei was sick, so school let out early. Sleep well, lazy imouto?"

"Mn," I closed my eyes again, letting the soft sunlight caress my face. It was a good, lazy, safe life. I liked it.

Tossing his backpack in a corner, Hidan ran over to my napping place. Gleefully, he grabbed two fistfuls of the blankets beneath me and tugged, rolling me off.

I grunted as I hit the hard wood, but refused to get up, curling into a tight ball in my sleeping robe.

"Maa. Why the hell are you so damn tired all the time?" Hidan jabbed me in the shoulder blade rather harshly for emphasis.

"Mn."

Lately, Hidan's vocabulary seemed to have taken a rather...rough edge. Probably because of-

"You're just like Raidoku in class. Hey, I want him and Yuya-chan to come over sometime. You think kaa-chan would let 'em?"

From what I could tell, Yuya and Raidoku, his new friends, were children from the poorer part of town. Unfortunately, Hidan has been soaking up a lot of their behavior and vocabulary. Gone was the sweet, bashful aniki from my early days. He was rapidly becoming a normal 8-year-old boy with healthy and slightly...violent tendencies. However, he was still my big brother, and I could only hope that Yuya and Raidoku aren't just going after his money. They were his only friends beside me, after all, and I couldn't bear to imagine what would happen if they abandoned him.

Knowing that I wouldn't be going back to sleep anytime soon, I rubbed my eyes and yawned as I sat up. "Probably. Kaa-chan wouldn't mind. Are they nice, your friends?"

"They're..." Hidan hesitated, looking very vulnerable for a second. "Nice, yeah."

I gave him a long look, though he refused to meet my gaze. Eventually I sighed, before putting up a innocent grin. "Wanna play tag, aniki?"


. . .


About a week later, my grim prediction on the trials of this life came true.

As a result, my life was nearly ended prematurely. Again.

On that chilly autumn night, I woke up in a pool of my own sweat, my breathing alarmingly shallow. Liquid fire coursed through my veins, and my skin felt like it was being peeled off. Phantom pains clawed at my legs, reminiscent of the accident that ended my previous life, and my body was irresponsive to my attempts at getting up.

Something was wrong. Very wrong.

I did the most logical thing I could think of. I screamed, over and over, as loudly as possible.

I heard people shouting my name, someone picking me up, and felt that person running before I was consumed by the abyss of my mind.


"Your daughter is experiencing the development of chakra marks.

"...come again?"

The soft tenor voice sighed. "Chakra marks. They occasionally appear in children of shinobi, but are usually extreme rare among civilians. See those faint lines on the back of her hands?" A pause. "I've never seen anything like this, though."

Voices. I tried to open my eyes- but my eyelids wouldn't budge. They were sealed shut with crusted tears, and my throat burned terribly.

"Chakra marks?" Echoed Hiroyo. She sounded strained. I reached for my mother, but I discovered that my body wouldn't move, either.

"Hai. Ever heard of the Inuzuka clan, Hiroyo-sama?"

"...Shinobi from Konohagakure, right?"

"Hai. They exhibit genetic chakra marks, in the form of two dark red triangles on their cheeks. Their marks are results of high concentrations of chakra channels that form glands, which store extra chakra that they use to enhance their sense of smell for tracking."

"Are you telling me that my daughter is becoming a dog?"

"No, no. I'm not even sure what these marks-" A finger stroked the skin on the back of my hand. "Are for, or how she got them. Your daughter hasn't been exposed to high levels of powerful chakra before, has she?"

"Not that I know of."

"How bizarre. One moment, please. Let me check her system again."

Brief silence ensued as the medic placed a hand over my chest bone. I tensed.

Then, the strangest thing happened. It was as if her hand went into my body, and began to take root and spread around my innards, sending waves of strange tingles through my chest. It was the weirdest feeling, and I spent three minutes in itchy discomfort before the strange roots were retracted and pulled out of my body.

"Well, Hiroyo-sama, I'm afraid that these-" Another tap at my hands. "Are malignant. Her chakra system...well, it's very strange to begin with. She has an unusually high amount of spiritual chakra, and that alone causes a lot of imbalances between her mind and body. But adding to that, her system seems to be disrupted, and it's sending most of her chakra to her hands to sustain these. There isn't much left for her organs, I'm afraid."

"Malignant?" Poor Hiroyo.

"Yes, and there's not much I could do, I'm afraid."

At this, Hiroyo grew frustrated. "Can't you just direct the chakra back to her organs? Away from the marks?"

The medic sighed. "Hiroyo-sama..."

"They promised to send the best shinobi medic of Yugakure. And this is what I get?"

"I'm sorry, Hiroyo-sama. It's just...it's best to let the marks finish developing first, and-"

"She could be dead by then."

The silence was even tenser this time.

"Keep her hydrated for now, and control the fever. Have someone massage the marks whenever her hands start to feel hot to the touch. I'll...I'll come in to check on her once a day. In the meantime, I heard Tsunade was spotted in a town four miles West of here a few days ago. I heard that she sometimes accepts interesting patients."

"You-!"

"It's your only chance, Hiroyo-sama. The amount of chakra control required to untangle this mess...well, I can only think of one person who has it. And that'll be Tsunade."

Silence once more.

"Leave us, medic."

There was a rustle of cloth as the medic stood and bowed.

"Thank you for your patronage, Hiroyo-sama. Good luck, Hidaka-san."


Once again, many thanks to all of those who've reviewed.

To Isolationism- money and security is better than being condemned to a life of labor, ne?

I'm afraid Hidaka and Hidan are staying in Yugakure for awhile. Yuya is also a canon character. Also, the marks isn't a kekkei genkai. Just a 'lil somethin.