Yo everyone! XD As you can see from the title, it's an interlude – as well as a sort of flashback, to shed more light on how Kagome and Kakashi know each other, and their relationship. I'll be doing this for other characters as well.
I figured it'll be better and less confusing than series after series of flashbacks.
Read. Enjoy. Review! XD
Disclaimer:I own nothing!
—Interlude: Kakashi's Lament I—
Growing up, Kakashi Hatake was known as a prodigal genius. With his mother dying while he was young, his father raised him the only way he knew he could – as a shinobi. So, naturally, while his impressive skills were well known, his emotional capacity was most certainly not.
For the most part, he was the epitome of indifferent and reserved - he went strictly by the books and demeaned those that didn't. There was no room for breaking the rules; no room for letting emotions out to play, even if he wasn't on a mission.
No, the rules were sacred and they could not be forsaken; he lived by them by day and dreamt of them by night.
It took a tragedy to break that. It took the death of a teammate, of the boy – who he didn't realize until it was too late, until that same teammate threw the rulebook at his face with scorn to rescue their other teammate, until he was under a boulder, dying and sacrificing his eye, his greatest gift – that was his best friend.
Still, in his late teens and serving a stint in ANBU as a Captain, he kept up his emotional façade in a different capacity – instead of a cold, arrogant frontage, he veiled his true emotions with an aloof, laidback, and somewhat lazy attitude.
Rules were treasured, but friends, comrades, were treasured even more.
And so, when the Hokage assigned him the mission, he was understandably confused and admittedly annoyed as well.
o.O.o
Shiro snickered outright at the horrified expression on his friend's face as he stared down the little girl by his feet, hands flailing in what could only be an 'up' gesture –it was mildly horrified, with just hints of fear and panic. "Awh, Kakashi-kun, she's a toddler - she isn't going to bite," he teased mercilessly.
Kakashi gave a rankled stare at the man. "That isn't what Jiraiya-sama says, Shiro-taicho," he muttered darkly.
Shiro grinned; if the young teen wasn't wearing a mask, he was sure he'd see Kakashi pouting ever so slightly. "Well, that old pervert likes to tease her and she is her mother's daughter, so what do you expect?" he murmured wryly, and went to scoop up his daughter. "Here, love, say hi to Kakashi, hm?" he said softly, handing her over to the teenager.
Kakashi swallowed thickly as he was given no choice but to tentatively grab the child, lest he drop her, and awkwardly clutch her to his chest.
The girl gave a toothy grin. "Hi 'kashi!" she chirped happily. Her eyes became shifty suddenly, and she leaned in to whisper conspiratorially. "You have pretty hair," she told him like it was the biggest secret in the world, and to further her point, she reached over to tug lightly on a silver strand.
Shiro chortled.
The silver-haired teen frowned, pinning the man with anirritated stare. "It's Ka-ka-shi," he said slowly.
Kagome was not fazed; she nodded rather resolutely, as if that's what she said. "'Kashi."
Kakashi's eyes narrowed. "Ka-kashi."
Kagome tried mimicking it, but erupted into giggles instead. "'Kashi!"
Kakashi's lips pursed, before he smirked under his mask. "Alright, fine. But I'm calling you 'Gome-chan."
Now, Kagome didn't have to mimic anyone this time; she was able to glare perfectly on her own. "Kagome."
Kakashi's smirk widened. "'Gome."
Kagome frowned. "Kagome!"
Mentally, Kakashi was snickering evilly. "'Gome."
Kagome leaned into his face, eyes narrowing. "Ka -gome."
"'Gooome," Kakashi drawled tauntingly, ignoring Shiro's mutter of wry exasperation of "Oh, dear, Kami…"
Scowling, Kagome reached over and pulled on Kakashi's hair a little harder than before. "Bah! Bad 'Kashi!" she chided, and for good measure, she batted his nose lightly.
Kakashi was so surprised that he flinched before gaping at her, stunned.
Shiro couldn't stop snickering for days.
o.O.o
When he approached the door, Kakashi pocketed the worn, orange book into the pouch clipped at his hip, knocked, and waited.
Once he heard the Hokage call out permission to enter, the nineteen year old ANBU captain entered the office.
Languidly, he strolled over before pausing in front of the desk, standing straight, yet a slight slouch to his stance could still be detected. "Hokage-sama," Kakashi demurred, head bowing.
"You're late," his Hokage commented dryly.
"My apologies, Hokage-sama," Kakashi murmured, his stance decidedly not apologetic at all. "I took a wrong turn," he continued to intone with a lazy drawl.
The Hokage shook his head, exasperated, but let it slide like always. "Well, at least it was only ten minutes this time…" he muttered, oblivious to the way Kakashi smirked behind his ANBU mask.
"You wanted to see me?"
Nodding, the Hokage gestured to the chair before his desk. Without further prompting, Kakashi took a seat.
"I have a mission for you," Hiruzen Sarutobi began, looking rather serious. It was due to this that Kakashi lost the slight slouch to his posture, becoming serious as well. "But first, if you don't mind, would you take off your mask?"
Blinking, Kakashi mentally shrugged before he palmed his ANBU masked, designed and shaped to emulate a dog, and pulled it off to reveal a half-masked face via cloth, pale skin, one charcoal eye, and a slanted Leaf hitai-ite.
Hiruzen nodded his thanks. "As I was saying - a mission." The leader of Konoha picked up a scroll from the stack atop his desk, and unrolled it. "It's a long-term mission, indefinite until you complete it, with an A-rank. It shouldn't be very dangerous though, but there's always a chance. I must warn you, though, it may seem a bit unconventional for you, but I implore you to think before you decide."
Kakashi was slightly confused, but nodded nonetheless. A long-term mission usually meant time out of the village, which he wouldn't pass up. "Of course, Hokage-sama," he murmured in deference.
"Right," Hiruzen muttered, before straightening to give off a bit more of a professional air. "Well then, your mission is, essentially, to guard and train Higurashi Kagome."
Mid-nod, Kakashi froze and stared at the Hokage in blatant shock.
Words- 1,013
Sorry for the shortness. Originally, this used to be a much longer chapter until I decided to split it up into thirds. Why? It was, I dunno, about 6k words with the way it was, and I felt it just flowed better this way, pacing it out.
So, since this one is so short, instead of waiting to post the whole interlude over the span of three weeks by just updating on Fridays like I always do, I figured I'd post a short piece today, post the longer section on Friday, as per usual, and then another short piece on Tuesday next week. So, hey, it may be short but you get more updates? Lol.
I loved writing this little interlude. But, oh gawd, it was insanely difficult to get it down (the second part of this one especially). Trying to get into the psyche that is Kakashi's is tough, mostly because I find him to be a complex person and partly because I seriously don't want to screw his character up lol. I still adore him though, which is why, despite the difficulty, I enjoyed writing this! XD
(And besides, I totally had too much fun writing that little flashback where Shiro introduces Kagome and Kakashi to each other! Tee hee! XDD)
Anyway, that's all folks! Tell me what you all think, please!
Till laters!
RainLily^^
A big huge honking thanks to all those who read, alerted, and fav'd this fic, and to these awesome reviewers!
CrescentMelody, SweetHunniiBunnii, Crystalove09, Mimiru, ForgottenOncePRomised, fierynightangel, xXCrossoverLoverXx, rooniey, Venas, Mzr90, Tenshi 'Gome, My-Broken-Destiny, Rai-No-Tenshi, Valleygoat, Nostalgic Beauty, ocean23