KAKASHI

THE THIRD'S A FREAKING BASTARD.

I am so disgusted by him, I can't even eat as much as I normally do. It's around 7:25 now. Ani's not even home yet. He said that if he was not home by 5, don't expect him to be home for dinner.

Oba cooked dinner for the two of us. Nothing special-just meat, rice, and vegetables. And it's the best chicken I've had in years! If only I had an appetite...
She finished quickly and started on the dishes.

I'm picking at the remainder of my food when she comes back in. "Hey," she says, picking up my plate, correctly assuming I'm done, "you didn't touch your carrots. I thought you liked them."

I squint at her, still resting my cheek in my hand. "You remember my GPA from the Academy when I was five and not the fact that I hate carrots?"

"And peas, black and kidney beans, yams, plums, honeydew, cantaloupe, any kind of meat with too much fat, and every type of seafood except crab. Oh, and don't forget tea unless it's sweet."

"You make me sound like I'm picky or something." I say, pouting. My eyes are rolled up to her, and it's making my head hurt.

"You are. C'mon, just try it again. Maybe you'll like it." she encourages with a smirk.

Really? I swear, she treats me like I'm younger than I look. "I'm not five." I lean back in the chair, crossing my arms. "If I don't touch it, I'm not eating it."

Oba's face drops in annoyance. "Brat."

I shrug. "Pushy."

She puts down the plate and frowns in thought. I feel a serious talk coming. Damn. "...Hey, um," she flounders, "how're you feeling? Are you okay?"

"Why are you asking?" I really hate when people ask me if I'm managing or if I'm in some kind of distress. It's just not comfortable.

Oba shifts her weight, impatiently. "Kakashi, don't do this right now-"

"I'm fine. Alright?" I fail to hide a smile. This woman is so easy to upset sometimes. I really am okay, though. I felt a little something strange in the office earlier, but overall everything's working just fine.

Plus, I don't like making my guardians worry. She starts gathering the rest of the dishes, quickly in stress. "Are you sure? Why don't you go lay down, or-"

"Oba. Stop it." I say.

She stops immediately and stares at me. "Excuse me?"

"Shit happens." Her eye twitches when that word finds its way out. I go on to avoid a lecture. "And if I'm gonna seize, you'll know before I even start."
She nods in silence. "Does this really worry you?" I ask. He nods again. "Well, next time I feel something, I'll make sure to hide from you."

"Ai-ya..." Oba groans, rolling her eyes and leaving to the kitchen sink. I pick up the cups and utensils and follow.

"You did pretty good at the office earlier, by the way." I say, placing everything in the sink while she cleans. "I was listening even after you told me to wait in the lobby. Pretty impressive."

"You haven't even seen half of it." She chuckles the way she always does. I find myself being consumed by the sight of her scarred hand.

It wouldn't be there if I wasn't such a freaking dumb-ass.

I'm startled back to reality when Oba sprinkles water in my face. It tastes like chemical and, to be blunt, shit. "Hey!"
She just laughs and continues washing as if nothing happened. This is probably her way of telling me to stop. I wipe my face with an arm. "God, you're a jerk!"

"So, anyway," she says, "what'd you think? About the Hokage?"

There's a lot of things I think about the goddamn Hokage and his poor methods. To sum it up and to simplify it, I reply, "I hope he gets impeached. I don't like the way he talks to you. Or the way he overworks Ani."

"Well..." I can see Oba's trying to think it all over. Between us, she's usually the more logical one, being an adult. "Not yet. I would say it's not too late to make things right. And...hope for forgiveness. But perhaps that's unlikely, seeing the damage."

Forgiveness? If anyone should be doing the forgiving, it should be us, the Tea. Not that bastard. "You didn't do anything wrong." I start helping her by rinsing the soapy dishes she passes to me.

Oba looks so serious right now, gazing into the sink. "I meant the Tea."

I glance at her. "You scared?"

"Hey," she disregards that question, "I'm proud of you. You spoke out for what you thought was right. That's good. Despite the profanity."

We both laugh when she flicks bubbles at me. It's funny how we can argue and fight like hell, but then joke and laugh about nothing the next minute.

Oba scrubs at residue on a tray. "Listen, honey," she clears her throat, "while I support your views and respect your opinions-"

"Because they're so much like yours and Ani's."

"Well, maybe." She smiles, still not making eye contact. "I just want you to leave that wide spectrum of political talk to me and your Ani, especially in front of the Hokage. For your sake."

Huh? "For my sake?"

"Mm-hm. It can be very stressful and complex. It's just...grown-up stuff."

"I'm almost fourteen, Oba."

"At your age, kids are supposed to be outside, playing sports, hanging out with friends, getting an education to prepare for college. Stuff like that. I just don't want you to totally get into this mess. I don't want you to...y'know."

"Okay," I nod, "no prob." A serious issue comes to my attention, making me slouch. "Wait, that ruins my excuse to curse people out."

Oba lands a hand on the top of my mine. "Yeah, well, then I'd say it's for the best."

The door rips open loudly, making us jump. It's Ani. Oba and I turn at the same time to her. "Hi baby!" she greets..

"Hi babe. 'Sup squirt?"

I nod. "'Sup."

"Another mission? Oba asks.

"Y'know it." Ani melts at the table, looking tired as hell.

Oba smiles. "That's great. When do you leave?"

"Like, in two weeks." He rubs his eyes, runs his hand through his hair. "It's just a C-rank - I just have to escort a royal merchant from here to the Rain."

"Simple enough. Even better, you get a little break beforehand." Oba gives him a plate overflowing with food.

"Are you guys gonna be okay?" he asks. "I don't want to come home to a riot."

"Mm-hm." Oba pats my head, making me literally growl in defense. I'm not a damn dog. "We'll be okay. I was thinking about taking him to the doctor."

"Like hell!" I blurt out.

Oba's hand shifts from my hair to my mouth, shutting me up. "I figured it'd be best to get this checked out."

"Oh, okay." Ani agrees. He looks at me, sympathetically. "How're you doing, boy?"
I blink and shrug, because I'm unable to talk at the moment. "Ku's gonna take you to a neurologist to make sure your brain wasn't damaged, mkay?" He reads my face. "No needles."

Thank Jesus.

-a week later-

I woke up from a nap to find my bastard teacher, Mr. Suzuki, arguing with one of my classmates about something. Idiots have been at it since the beginning of this semester.

It's been almost half an hour since, and they're still bitching like crazy. I can feel my heart pounding hard against my chest. It's humid in here, and I'm sweating. I play with my collar, stretching it out. Everything's fuzzy - almost in slow motion. I'm kind of lightheaded, come to think of it.

This isn't good.

I raise my hand and hold it for about a minute. Mr. Suzuki doesn't see me. He's still engaged in the stupid argument. "Excuse me?"

"Hatake, shut up!"

What a freaking jerk. I'll think about kicking his ass later. Now, I feel an aura. My head's starting to throb, like, there's a sharp stabbing pain in my temples. I see Erika and Sakumo behind my lids. Every time I picture their faces, the pain increases.

My pulse speeds up even more. I'm panicking, but almost falling into a trance. I can't blink without getting nauseous. This really isn't good. Screw this. I get out of my seat and dart out the door, ignoring my teacher's calls.

I run down the hall, hoping to get as far away as possible from the classroom. Now I see my aunt. Oba and Dad's faces now move with life and speak in short spurts. They're talking to one another. I can barely hear them. Whispering, glancing at me. Red engulfs the room.

Suddenly, I'm leaning against a row of lockers. My heart is making my body ache. When I slide down to sit, a trail of sweat stains the metal.

What the hell was that?! What did I just see?!

No. Y'know what, forget it. I have to calm myself, despite the impact of the second's-worth of whatever it is I'm seeing. I close my eyes, lean back a bit, and take deep breaths.

"Kakashi?"

A voice makes me jolt. I look around for the source, but I'm completely alone. Am I just hearing things again?

"You okay? What's going on?"

Oh, it's my phone. I'm gripping it in my lap and somehow it called Ani - or...I did. How did that get there?
I put it to my ear, and wipe the sweat from my forehead with the other hand. It doesn't do much justice, there's too much. "Ani?"

"Yeah, what's up?" He sounds worried as hell. Oh no...whenever he and Oba get this way, it's hard to calm them down. "You called me. Are you okay?"

"Yeah. I'm..." I stutter, collecting my thoughts and rubbing sweat from my eye. "'m fine."

"You called me, like, five minutes ago." His voice is low and serious. "It sounded like you were running from something. Almost like you were in pain."

"Oh...that's kinda embarrassing." I joke, though it sounds more exercised and lethargic. I don't want to worry him anymore than I already have. "I was just...choking..." Okay, that just sounds stupid. "...on saliva..." Ani's quiet on the other end. "Y'know when you breathe through the wrong pipe and...just forget it."

I sound like an idiot. "Alright," he does NOT sound convinced, "I'm coming to get you."

"No, no, really Ani," I hurry to speak before he hangs up, "I'm okay."

"Kakashi-"

"And I have a test next period for English. I can't miss that." I reason. I really, really don't want to go home to be hovered over. I know they're worried and all, but I think a few more hours without me around will be good for us all. Everyone just needs to chill.

"Are you sure?" I can hear Oba in the background.

"I'm sure. Look, this is part of my grade for this semester. I just barely made it to a B minus, so I want to try and keep that. I'll see you later, okay?"

There's a pause. Then a sigh. "If you think you can stick around, go ahead. But keep your phone on you so we can contact you, understand?"

"Yes sir."

"Mkay. You do your best on that exam, boy!"

"I will." There's light laughter in our voices.

"Alright. Cya at two-thirty. Love ya, kid."

Even now, after five years, that still makes me all fidgety. "Love you, too, Ani." I mumble. We hang up simultaneously.

I lean my head back against the locker. That could've been worse. Now that I'm getting older, my family allows me to make my own choices and respect my decisions. Unless I do something completely stupid like drink or smoke.
I'm just glad Ani didn't totally freak out and rush over.

Anyway, as far as that test goes...that was kind of a lie. I'll just pretend that I scored at a safe seventy-five percent.

These last two are related to 'Blinded By Fault', if you haven't figured it out by now. Sorry, I just...don't like the Third. I hold a grudge on him for not letting Kakashi help Minato and Kushina against Kurama. Even though he's young, he could've made a huge difference.

Anyway, please R&R!