Disclaimer: I do not own nor make any profits of any monetary value from this story, unless, of course, Kishimoto-sama wants to make a generous donation...
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Chapter 4: A Matter of Pride
Kakashi had arrived early. Having managed to finish his patrol early thanks to a favour he'd been owed, he had only stopped to double-check where he was headed before he made his way to the Yūhi residence.
The house itself was average in size, much like the home he and his father lived in. It had a large backyard though, with a small koi pond in one corner and a large clearing in the centre where the family no doubt practiced their jutsu or morning exercises.
Kakashi had never met anyone from the Yūhi family before, but his father seemed to have a deep respect for Kurei Yūhi – the head of the family – and seemed to consider him a friend.
He had been surprised to say the least when his father had told him that they would be having dinner at someone else's home. A home-cooked meal was definitely an opportunity for excitement. His father wasn't really much of a cook, and the last time that Kakashi had tried to buy ingredients to make dinner he'd been laughed out of the market district because apparently the prospect of a five-year-old doing the grocery shopping was just too funny to leave alone. So the Hatake family had continued their consumption of take-away and frozen meals for the entirety of their dietary needs, although Kakashi had always wished, just once, that he could come home and find his father home and a fresh home-cooked meal waiting on the dinner table.
The corners of his lips puckered down underneath his mask as he body-flickered to sit on the branch of a tree across the road from the house to wait. He'd wait until his father arrived and then they'd enter together – as father and son.
Like a real family.
But it wasn't to be, he realised, watching his father arrive at the house with a small, dark-haired girl in tow. She was short – shorter than him, at least – and a little younger than himself, also.
Kakashi didn't know who she was but he felt his insides turn cold as he watched the way his father indulgently smiled at her. Seeming to dote on her. They traded words and his father actually seemed interested in what she had to say. As if she had some wisdom to impart.
It made him angry. And hurt.
There was no way that she could be a genin – she wore no hitai-ate – so she must be an Academy student. A young Academy student, judging by her looks, but Kakashi himself had been younger when he'd been admitted into the Academy. And he was a chūnin now. What could she possibly be saying to his father that made his face darken in silent reflection?
Who was she?
His questions were answered when an older girl – quite obviously the young girls' sister – ran out of the house and began chattering excitedly to the two of them. So they were Yūhi's…
The older girl had the same basic features as her younger sister except older. They had the same pale skin, same dark hair, and – although he couldn't make out the colour from his distance – they probably had the same coloured eyes too.
He watched as the older girl led his father into their home, with the younger sister trailing after, closing the front door behind her.
So much for a united front…
He stayed in the tree for a while longer, weighing up whether or not he should actually turn up or just go home and mope. Moping sounded good. But his father had wanted him to come, he had said as much. But Kakashi certainly didn't feel welcome. He hadn't even met the family and already he felt like they wouldn't take too well to him being in their home.
He could imagine them. He could imagine his father. Talking animatedly with each other but refusing to acknowledge his presence as anything more than an inconvenience. A nuisance. He deserved more than that… didn't he?
Moping alone at home definitely seemed like a good plan.
But he'd told his father that he would go… And he hated to disobey him. To disappoint him.
Perhaps… perhaps if he just had a peek of what was happening inside then he could make his decision. Yes. That sounded okay. He would just take a quick look and if he liked what he saw he would introduce himself and – hopefully – spend a pleasant afternoon with his father.
If not… well, he'd figure it out.
Dropping down from the tree, he slipped around the side of the house to the backyard. Silently, he moved to the sliding door at the back of the house where he could hear the voices inside.
"Don't make me live with… with these people!" A high voice cried dramatically. He didn't know for sure but he was certain that it was the young girl he had watched with his father before, though it could just as easily been her sister.
"Oh, stop being such a drama queen," a woman admonished, likely the girls' mother.
He felt sick to the stomach as he heard his father's unfamiliar chuckling laugh. He never seemed to laugh when Kakashi was around… Apparently a part of himself was masochistic because he slid the door open to watch the scene unfold. It wouldn't destroy him, Kakashi told himself. It wouldn't mean that his father loved him less than he loved someone else's child.
It didn't hurt.
Most of them were gathered in the room that the door he was at opened into, except for a woman he saw through a doorway in what he recognised as a kitchen. A dark-haired man around his own father's age stood near the two dark-haired girls he had seen out the front of the house.
Kakashi watched as his father laughed and scooped the younger girl up in his arms and sat her on his shoulder.
"How's the view from up there, Ayaka-hime?" He asked, grinning broadly. Kakashi felt a knife twist into his heart. He had never seen his father act so carefree and… and fatherly. Perhaps he didn't want Kakashi for a son, but would rather prefer this Ayaka girl as a daughter.
The young girl, Ayaka, sniffed prudishly. "Adequate," she replied with temerity, looking down her nose at the people in the room. She took his fathers' gesture of affection for granted, he realised. Didn't she understand how valuable that was? Didn't she know that he desperately longed for that kind of closeness with his own father?
And as everyone in the room laughed at their antics, Kakashi found himself getting colder and angrier. His fists clenched but he made his face remain passive. How could this girl be showered with the affection from his father that he had always craved? How could she not know how special that was? Why? Wasn't he good enough? He'd always obeyed his father. He'd always admired and been in awe of him.
His father was a powerful shinobi, and Kakashi was proud to be his son. But, Kakashi wondered clenching his fists tighter, was Sakumo proud to be his father?
Father…
Everyone in the room whirled to face him; apparently he had spoken aloud.
Kakashi watched as the smiled slipped from his father's face as his gaze landed on him, and he stilled.
"Kakashi…" He muttered in quiet surprise, taking the girl off of his shoulder and placing her back on her feet.
The girl.
He could see her properly now, her and her sister. He could see the slight differences between them; the elder sister's face was sharper, with more angles, whilst Ayaka's was more rounded, smoother. But otherwise they were the same.
The younger girl shifted uncomfortably under his gaze, and her red eyes flicked downwards shyly.
Red eyes…
Uchiha?
He nearly spoke the word aloud but caught himself. They were Yūhi, not Uchiha. The "family with the demon eyes", people called them and Kakashi stared at them further, dissecting the details in his head. They were red with an additional red iris surrounding the original, making them seem to pulse a little bit like a visual illusion. Civilians treated them with a little bit of scorn because their eyes had no reason to be red; they were simply just a decorative and unique feature to their faces. The Hyūga's eyes at least made sense. They were dōjutsu and served a purpose on the battlefield. The Sharingan for the Uchiha was the same. The Yūhi eyes had no such excuse.
The sound of his father clearing his throat brought Kakashi back to reality; he kept his expression void of emotion.
"Kurei, Kagura-san." Father began, moving towards Kakashi before turning to face the family. "This is my son, Kakashi. Kakashi, this is Kurei and Kagura-san, and their daughters Kurenai-chan and Ayaka-hime." His chuckle was obviously forced and his attempt to lighten the mood was failing dismally. Kakashi was having none of it.
The younger of the two girls stepped forward nervously, eyes darting between looking at the floor and him. Pausing in front of him, she took a deep breath…
And smiled widely.
"Hi, I'm Ayaka. Sakumo-sama has told me so much about you, Kakashi-kun," she chirped, holding out her hand for him to shake. She was waiting for him to take it, waiting for him to smile and laugh and pretend that it didn't bother him that his father enjoyed talking to this girl over himself.
So he stared and waited for her to take the hint.
And waited.
And waited.
He was beginning to think that perhaps she had been frozen like that when her smile faded and her hand fell by her side.
"Kakashi!" His father scolded, frowning down at him. "What's gotten into you?"
I'm sick of being made to look like a fool.
He looked up at his father, replying evenly, "Forgive me, Father. I don't feel well. I don't want to spoil your evening so I'll go."
He'd rather be moping in his bedroom.
"Wait," the woman – Ayaka's mother – said, hurrying out of the kitchen. "You're welcome to stay. I'm making salt-broiled saury, your father tells me it's your—"
A hand clamped down on Kakashi's shoulder. "Kakashi, you're not going anywhere." His father commanded. "You're going to apologise to Ayaka here, as well as to Kagura-san and Kurei for your rudeness inside their home."
Kakashi looked to the floor, scuffing his feet slightly. He'd been perfectly polite in the phrasing of his words, so Kakashi didn't understand why he had to apologise. He had made sure his tone had been perfectly brokered – if a little clipped.
The woman – Kagura – huffed slightly. "Sakumo-san, an apology isn't—"
"—Is entirely necessary, Kagura." The dark-haired man – Ayaka's father, Kurei – cut in. He was looking down at Kakashi, and Kakashi could feel the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. Perhaps angering this man hadn't been his wisest move…
"You were invited into my house, where my wife was preparing your favourite dish for dinner, and have the audacity to insult my daughter under my own roof! I'm sorry, Sakumo, but I feel like your son does owe my family an apology for his rude behaviour in the sixty seconds that he's been on my property."
Had he really come off as being that rude? Although, it wasn't like Kakashi had made any considerable effort to be amiable. Or any effort at all. No wonder the man was angry.
"No – no. I agree Kurei. I'm sorry that your wife went to so much trouble for my son," his father said.
"Oh no, Sakumo-san! It was no trouble!" Kagura protested.
Kakashi would be lying if he'd said that he didn't feel even a little chastened by the fact that the family had actually been expecting him, even going so far as to cook his favourite dish.
Perhaps he did owe them all an apology.
"I apologise for my misconduct, everyone." He said, scuffing his shoes on the floor again, looking down. Then he stepped forward to Ayaka and held out his hand. "I'm sorry for my rudeness, Yūhi-san."
She hesitated only a moment before taking it, her grip weak. "You can just call me Ayaka," she said. Kakashi wasn't sure how to feel about that. He didn't want to remain rude, but he didn't particularly want to befriend this father-stealing little girl either.
Kurei gave Kakashi one last pointed look before turning back to face everyone. "Okay. Now that that's over, who wants to help me set the table? I'm guessing the saury is nearly finished, Kagura?"
Kagura's face fell. "The saury!" She raced back into the kitchen and the smell of burnt saury flooded the room. Kakashi's face fell slightly. It was his entire fault. He'd distracted them with his stupid behaviour.
But they seemed okay with the fact that half their dinner had been ruined, and no one brought up that he was likely responsible for it happening. No one so much as looked at him funny.
It was almost… nice.
Sakumo asked Kurei to show him what Kurenai had been learning, which soon escalated into the two Yūhi girls having a taijutsu only spar.
Kakashi watched, face impassive, next to his father as Ayaka and Kurenai faced each other. He wasn't personally invested in the match – he wasn't rooting for either girl – but he was interested to see how far two members of the same family would take a sparring match. It wasn't like Kakashi had a brother or sister of his own to spar against.
Kurei looked between the two of them. "Taijutsu only," he reiterated.
Kurenai rolled her eyes. "We know, Otou-san. We heard you the first time."
The two sisters stepped back into identical fighting stances. They stood still for only a moment, eyeing each other off before they suddenly moved.
Kurenai ran forward first. It was an eager move. Her feet landing too heavily on the ground, and she was very slow also. Her guard opened up and allowed an easy striking target that Ayaka took advantage of. Kakashi's eyes lifted as he watched the younger sister snap a kick into the other girls' chest, watching as Kurenai fell backwards.
Short of chakra-enhancing their hits, it seemed like there was going to be no hits barred.
Kurenai's leg snaked out and swept Ayaka's feet out from under her, where she landed awkwardly on her tailbone. In a flash, Kurenai was back on her feet again as her sister struggled to collect herself.
Another snap kick from Kurenai sent Ayaka flying backwards into the grass again.
Kakashi couldn't say that he was particularly impressed. He was leaps and bounds ahead of these two.
Ayaka stayed down, panting heavily. It was pitiable that she was apparently so drained already. It wouldn't be good for her shinobi career if she couldn't last long in a fight. Kurenai darted over to her prone form again; sweeping her leg upwards into an axe kick that would, at the very least, fracture bone.
Kakashi noticed from the corner of his eye that his father had started forward, intending to intervene in the spar before Ayaka could get hurt, but Kurei held his arm out in front of him, effectively halting him.
Kakashi watched on.
He didn't notice it until it had already happened, Kurenai's leg sliding through what was quite obviously a genjutsu. Ayaka stood a little while away, panting heavily. She really did have to work on her stamina, though the fact that she'd pulled off the genjutsu in such a way that not even he had noticed it showed that she perhaps wouldn't be a completely dud shinobi.
"You… you used genjutsu!" Kurenai said, seemingly delighted. Kakashi frowned. Ayaka had cheated, why would Kurenai be happy about that?
Ayaka grinned at her sister, then winced, pressing a hand to her temple as if her head hurt.
But Kurenai was moving forward again. Ayaka was hard-pressed to keep up with her sister, it was all she could do to block – not dodge or even counterattack – just block her sister's onslaught of attacks and before he knew it, Ayaka was falling backwards, hands clutching her head.
She stumbled to her feet again just as Kurenai rushed at her with a roundhouse kick.
Kakashi's skin prickled. Something suddenly felt very off. The intensity of Ayaka's chakra was all wrong, and not just wrong – different too. He wasn't a sensor-nin so he couldn't tell more than what his gut told him – and it was telling him that Ayaka's chakra was plummeting, as if feeding a jutsu. Which couldn't be right. She was just standing there, her hands clutching at her head. No hand signs. No – anything. Just a face that was bunched up in pain.
Then her face slackened. Kakashi couldn't see her eyes from where he stood but the rest of her body seemed to waver also, and for a moment he thought she was going to faint.
But then she darted forward, skimming inside the range of Kurenai's kick and pressed two fingers to Kurenai's forehead.
Kakashi couldn't breathe as Ayaka's chakra flared and Kurenai froze, her body seemingly stuck in the middle of her kick. He didn't know what to what to make of it. Beside him, his father and Kurei went still, not daring to breathe as they felt the daunting quality that Ayaka's chakra had adopted. Kakashi himself – again, not the best chakra sensor – could almost see the chakra flowing down Ayaka's arm and into Kurenai's head. It was so faint that it was almost impossible to perceive its colour – or if it had a colour at all.
Then the screaming began. First Kurenai, then Ayaka. One stuck in an off-putting and uncomfortable stance, the other clutching at her head.
Kurei ran forward, and I saw Kagura sprinting from the house towards her daughters. "Kurenai! Ayaka! What's going on?!" She cried.
Kurei ignored her and reached his daughters, catching Ayaka as her chakra emptied to a frightening level and she toppled forward.
Sakumo caught Kurenai as her body sagged.
"Kurei! What's happening? What happened?" Kagura hollered again, reaching her daughters.
"Speak to me! Ayaka!" Kurei shouted at his daughter's prone form.
She was empty, or at least close to. If she weren't taken to the hospital she could quite easily die from chakra exhaustion.
"We need to get them to the hospital," Sakumo said, lifting Kurenai into both of his arms.
"I'll clear the way and inform the Emergency Room," Kakashi informed, before racing to the hospital.
This was always a problem with having children train to use their chakra so young, Kakashi thought as he darted away to the hospital to inform them of the two new incoming patients. Children below the age of six had only a meagre supply of chakra, so little in fact that Kakashi had heard that during the Second Shinobi War, it wasn't uncommon for young children to die from chakra exhaustion from just using chakra to run to the battlefield.
It was a dangerous world out there. But, of course, he knew that.
And in the midst of all the chaos of what had happened, Kakashi found a silver lining.
At least he wasn't helpless, like she was. At least he wasn't useless.
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A/N: Hello again! Sorry for the late update, it's my first week back at uni and I've just been swamped with work and study that I need to do.
In the last chapter, some of you guys also didn't understand why Ayaka's dad got so grumpy so quickly, but that's really just because of how I view his personality. Kurei (Ayaka's dad) isn't one for politics and dramatics – he wants no part in it. So when Kakashi rocks up to his house all angst-ridden and then proceeds to be rude to his family, he essentially puts an end to it by trying to get Kakashi off his high horse. He's a bit of a hard-ass.
I hope it made sense to y'all.
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Interesting but useless information about the author and other stuff:
It sometimes rains diamonds on Uranus and Neptune (please, no Uranus jokes about this)
Men are six times more likely to be struck by lightning (that's because we're crazy attractive – or, at least, I am)
Both of actor Jack Black's parents were rocket scientists and his mother worked on the Hubble Telescope.
The scientific term for being left-handed is 'sinistrality'; for being right-handed it's 'dextrality'.
I am right-handed (which means I'm dominant).
So lnog as the fsirt and lsat lteerts ramein the smae, the haumn mnid can raed tihs stenncee.
My blood type is O positive (which means I can give all positive people – and vampires – what they want).
Charlie Chaplin once entered a Charlie Chaplin look-alike contest and lost.
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Thanks for reading this chapter! I hoped you enjoyed it. Hopefully the next chapter will be finished soon. So gimme some lovin'.
And a review would be cool too.