Chapter 9:
Present Day
"Konohamaru, I can't stay with him long."
"Why not, Kakashi?"
"He's. . ." The silver haired man glanced around the younger man's office, tucking his hands away in his pockets. "He's too much like me." He concluded, his eyes falling on his Hokage.
"And this is a bad thing because. . .?"
Kakashi frowned. "He reminds me of all the things I've tried to get rid of in my life. He's still in shock, I think, and that's what is killing him. He can't get passed the moment Naruto died."
"He seems to be doing perfectly fine, if you ask me."
Kakashi's frown deepened to the point where his eyebrows drew downward. "You. . .you have never really looked at Sasuke, then."
"If you think he is unstable, I will have a doctor check his mental health."
"No, Konohamaru. He isn't insane; yet."
The young Hokage barely refrained from rolling his eyes. "Uchiha Sasuke was never quite sane, if you ask me. What man would allow themselves to--"
"Is that what this is about? His choices?" The older man closed his eyes to keep his anger from being visible.
". . .no. What is done is done."
"Then why do you choose to punish him? It will not be good for anyone."
". . .punish him?" Konohamaru asked with the smallest of frowns. His hands itched to get back to his long overdue paperwork.
"By sending Sakura to the Academy, you will destroy what is left of him. He has been asking--no, begging you since you became Hokage not to make her enter."
"Fire and water, Kakashi. We cannot allow her talent to go to waste. She has her fathers strength. . .and she most definitely has the power of the Uchiha clan in her blood."
"That's what it is about? What village has the most power?"
". . .not necessarily."
"Konohamaru. . ." Kakashi growled menacingly.
The younger man lifted an eyebrow. "You dare to use that tone of voice?"
Kakashi slowly lowered his eyes, his jaw set tightly. "No, Hokage-sama."
"That sounds much better."
"You wish for me to continue to watch Sasuke?" The silver haired man ground out.
"Yes."
"Very well." Kakashi disappeared in a cloud of chakra smoke, leaving Konohamaru to glance around his office. His eyes landed once again on the photo on the wall that contained the Rookie Nine. He glared for a moment before turning his eyes back toward his desk and his ever-present pile of papers.
"Fire and water. . .I still think it never should have happened, no matter how much it can help the village in the future."
Review? I live off of them. . .
