A/N: I am experiencing a great lack of affection. (Quote from Persepolis)
No seriously. Only TWO new ppl joined (FaustVIII and Shadow-The Black Queen). I felt ready to cry.
So, my amazing frend KristyKat202 (or what her name will b if she EVER makes a fanfiction account) wrote me a story based on a universe we have been drabbling around in. (see details in authors note at bottom)
Well, I had tried and failed to write Old King Cole for Hiruzen Sarutobi, so I just expanded on the short story she wrote for me (we might post it up here eventually) and came up with this in lyk 2 days. So READ! And enjoy. XD
Die, Die, Die Alone
The first time Hatake Kakashi was late, he was thirteen years old and lay for 15 minutes on the warm study floor, wondering if anyone cared to find him.
Of course, one could argue, the first time he was late was when he was twelve, too late in understanding, too late in forgiving, and, ultimately, too late to save a life.
But, no one mentions it, so we'll compromise and say the first time he was deliberately late he was not crying, "I'm sorry I'm sorry," and instead laughing, "I was lost on the road of life."
Besides, after a few years, all who remembered were dead or gone. (and there is a difference between the two, no matter what your parents' euphemistic sayings are. I could tell you about another little boy, who was not dead but merely gone, but that is another story, though the morals are really quite the same).
Soon everyone forgot the serious, by-the-book little boy; thinking he was always the always late, perverted man. And it was another mask to hide behind, just as the porn and the one-eyed smiles were.
But it is the clothes that make the man, they say, and the chrysalis never cracked, the little boy inside withering away, day by day, drop by drop of too-red blood.
And for many years he was late. Late even to Death, evading it's cold clutches for two decades. A mighty feat for a shinobi. (But I could tell you the tale of another man, a man who also hid himself behind masks piercing further than skin-deep. It's interesting, isn't it? The parallels that play throughout history. But that is for another day, don't you want to finish the tale of Hatake Kakashi?)
Ah, children these days. Used to listen in awe-struck silence the moment I opened my mouth. And- Sit down, Hizato-chan! You should pay attention, Kakashi was your father's sensei, after all. Why couldn't you have inherited your Mother's quiet tongue?
What's this? You didn't know Kakashi taught your father? Of course you wouldn't. Your father hardly speaks of it, blaming himself for not saving him. Indirectly, it was his fault that Kakashi was gone.
You got that, didn't you, Yukimaru-kun? Smart as your mother and loud as your father, (who knew red and green would make such a perfect little boy?). Your mother's sensei did not die, though the man we once knew was gone where none dare follow.
You won't be late no more,
The last time Hatake Kakashi was late, he was thirty-three years old and lay for 15 hours on the cold kitchen floor, knowing that no one cared enough to find him.
He had spent the better part of his first ten years pushing those away through icy words and colder actions.
And the latter twenty making sure they stayed far away, through familiar book jackets that covered hidden secrets just as a mask stretched across his face.
You think you know what is there, so you never look further. A brilliant boy. Scarred and broken. But brilliant.
It was the next day, when they found him. It was your father, Hizato-chan, in a moment of brilliance come far too late (perhaps they learned too well from their Sensei), who thought of checking the old Hatake estate he heard once from my old teammate.
Merrily, Merrily, Merrily, Merrily
They felt Death's hand, cold and clammy, brush across their own backs, caressing their necks and whispering toolatetoolatetoolate (for Death does have a voice, creaking wooden boards and windows rattling on a stormy evening, dry leaves crackling in a silent wind prickling the hairs on the back of your neck as a fly buzzes 'round your ears).
Disbelief, Yukimaru-kun? Just like your mother, kami rest her soul. (I could tell you how she died, of course, but that is up to your father to let you know).
But this story is not of the Great Sannin nor Demon Three, but of the forgotten ones in between. No one really forgot him, of course. Rokudaime, Copy Nin, student of the Yondaime and teacher of the Nanadaime.
But how can we remember someone we never truly knew? Oh well, enough of past regrets, your parents will arrive soon. Finish your sake as we- I see you sneaking that bottle, Shimari-chan! Don't think because I'm blind I can't tell when you're using your shadow!
Yes, this world is so much clearer now than when I had the use of my eyes. Perhaps then I could have known the truth floating through the air in flakes of blood and ashes from ancient scrolls.
Death laughs at your Door
Death molded itself to Hatake Kakashi, as if it had always been there. You could almost see his chest rising and falling, sucking in great lungfuls of decay to push blood rotten and congealed through a body still as a statue, flawless in death as he had been in life.
But I said he was gone, didn't I? Funny, that.
But if a man can bring back the dead with a wave of his hand, a woman can shatter a mountain and yet another man summon giant toads, who is too say that Hatake Kakashi was not late for Death, as well?
No Hatake ever went peacefully to his grave, after all.
* * *
A/N: Give a HUGE welcome to KristyKat202!!! (taken in direct quotes *with spelling corrections* from a chat we had)
KristyKat202: Hey PPL!!! Wassup?!?! (Annacat101: This isn't a rock concert, hun, just explain what the PerfUverse is so they won't get so confused...)
KristyKat202: sry... *whimpers*. Well, basically, I'm Kristine, and that's Annie, and we do a role-play together. not really, but kinda we write stories bak and forth. So we created the Perf uverse, which this one comes from. And it's lyk where everyone's happy... except they're not. It's kinda lyk whut the Canons totally gonna turn out to be, with like NaruxHina, LeexSakura, and ShikaxTema. (Annacat101: thats the parents of the kiddies Hizato, Yukimaru, and Shimari, respectively).
KristyKat202: *glares* ANYWAY!!! our uverse is totally nursery rhymes in an actual story. Soon as we get it all kinda put together we might publish. Annacat has a story that she's gonna put up soon about it, fricking awesome. (Annacat101: dviejkneaiviue *shush in cat-speak* they rnt supposed to kno bout that yet!)
KristyKat202: Whoops! ;-) This stories totally from Tsunade *kinda obviously if u kno our uverse, cause she's blind... dnt ask y...*. But basically it's whut happened when Annacat asked "so, WTF happened to Kakashi, he's totally dead but y?" So I wrote I little somethinsomethin for her, and she turned it into this AMAZING masterpiece.
(Annacat101: *blushes*)
And the rest of the convo degenerated from there, but that's pretty much the gist of it. Hope that answered some of your questions!
Here's a shout-out to my ppl, i hope u guys r still reading and enjoying. And if you are, please let me kno. I'm trying not to be a review-whore but I just don't feel everyone is reading anymore...
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