Concocting Chaos
"So what do you think Shizune?"
"Tsunade-sama! I don't think it is appropriate to bet over this."
The Hokage wiggled her brows at her assistant. "Let me have some fun and humor me, what do you think? Who will she marry?"
Shizune thought hard and consider all the bachelor ninjas in the village.
"In my opinion, there is a higher chance that she will choose Iruka-san. Iruka has a very strong bond with Naruto-kun. She will treat Naruto-kun's opinion with high regard and choose Iruka-san."
Tsunade was laughing inside, sure that victory is on her side this time.
"Shizune, Shizune, Shizune... You have so much more to learn. This time I will win this bet and it won't be a bad omen."
"What do you mean? Who will she marry in your opinion then?"
Before Tsunade can answer, their conversation was interrupted by someone - Shirainee herself.
He is drenched in sweat but he kept on digging. The hole is already as deep as his height but he could not stop shoveling.
"Oi!" a male voice called out from the edge of the hole he is digging. "You don't have to torture yourself, Kakashi, you idiot."
He smiled and ignored the name-calling. He wouldn't tolerate anyone calling him an idiot except his friend and teammate, who in his own opinion, is the real idiot between them two.
"Who said I am torturing myself?"
"Admit it! You are too scarred from your past that you worry too much about the future. Can't you just live and enjoy your present?"
"I don't know what you're saying."
Another voice chimed in and joined their conversation.
"Why do you keep on digging Kakashi?"
He looked up to see a female's smiling face.
He did not answer and went back to what he was doing. His shovel is gone so he continued digging using his bare hands."
"Oi! What are you looking for?"
Kakashi ignored his question and dug faster. Someone slapped his shoulder so he looked back to find out who it is.
"Go away, you are disturbing what I'm doing, Obito."
"Stop burying it."
He is holding his shovel once again but he is now putting the dirt back to the hole he just dug.
"It is easy for you to say because you are already dead."
That might have angered his teammates because they simultaneously pushed him into a hole, deeper than the one he had dug.
"Just accept your feelings and stop denying it! Don't you dare die and be our third-wheel."
Kakashi woke with a start from the recurring dream he had been having for almost a week now. He did not need to look up the meaning of this dream from the dream dictionary he bought four days ago. He bought the book the second time he had the same dream.
"Obito, why do you need to keep bothering me even after death? You even asked Rin's help in pestering me.
He read in the book that recurring dreams signifies the need to acknowledge something in his waking life that he kept on ignoring. Digging with a shovel means he needs to search for something meaningful that will complete his life. Digging with his bare hands means his immediate need to expose his emotions. Burying something means trying to hide or deny his real emotions. The only part of his dream that is confusing him is falling into a hole.
Falling into a hole can mean being confronted by issues he has not experienced or it can also mean surrendering to what is inevitable and beyond his control.
He asked himself why is he being stubborn? What is he afraid of? Rejection? Being alone again after experiencing being with someone? Failure? Being not strong enough and incapable of protecting the person he loves?
He looked at the clock on his bedside table and jumped. He will be late for his meeting with the Hokage. He received a note last night to pack for a mission and go to the Hokage's office for further details.
"I don't have to tell you things that have nothing to do with you!"
He was about to knock when he heard the Hokage screaming. There could be only two people who could be in the receiving end of this kind of tone: Naruto or Konohamaru - the two persistent ninjas in Konoha who do not know when to stop bothering the Hokage.
"What do you mean it has nothing to do with me, Baa-chan? You know, she is my cousin. Just tell me where you sent her and what mission you gave her and I will be out of your hair."
Ahh... Naruto.
"Your cousin is a trained ninja. She will be fine. Now get out of my office and go meet Sakura in the hospital! Have your arm check. Kakashi is here and I need to give him details about his mission."
He took that as his cue to enter. Naruto looked relieved to see him for whatever reason. His agitated expression shifted into surprised before finally settling to a relaxed one. That puzzled him a bit. Naruto has been very hard to read recently.
"Fine! I will stop bothering you. But you know I will never forgive you if nee-chan gets hurt!"
He knows that Naruto directed that statement to Tsunade-sama but he also felt included in his warning.
After Naruto went out of the room, the Hokage handed him a piece of paper containing the details of his mission.
"Hidden Hot Water Village? Yugakure? What am I going to do there? Isn't that a peaceful village?"
"That is exactly what this new gang of shinobi wants us to think. What I heard is that they are going to meet in that village and kidnap a lady from a prominent family. I want you to pretend like you are in Yugakure for a vacation and blend in. This is your accommodation details. You have to escort the lady safely to Konoha. "
She handed him a piece of paper confirming his booking in an inn with the room number.
"This has been already paid."
His gut feeling is telling him that there is something suspicious about this mission.
"A team of chunin can accomplish this mission, Hokage-sama. Why do I have to go?"
He saw a trickle of sweat slid from Tsunade's forehead to her brows. Tsunade's eyes narrowed.
"Are you questioning me and my authority? Why don't you just assume the position of Hokage? Then you can do whatever the hell you want."
Oh no! Not this conversation again.
Before Tsunade could indulge in the topic of him replacing her as the Hokage, he directed back the conversation to his current mission.
"Do you have a picture of this lady?"
"No. The- the lady is very shy and doesn't like being photographed. She is checked in the same inn. Her name is Shiho."
He scanned the itinerary from the hotel. "If I am just escorting the lady back here in Konoha, why am I booked to stay in the inn for two nights and three days?"
"Shiho and her attendant are staying in Yugakure to relax a little bit before heading to Konoha. I want you to use the extra days and nights to relax and reflect on what you wanna do in your life."
He resisted the urge to sigh, which is becoming a habit of late.
"If that is all, Hokage-sama, I will be off so I can reach the village late evening or tomorrow at dawn."
Tsunade did not answer and focused her attention to the stack of papers on her desk. He took that as a sign that he was dismissed.
Shiho huh? That name means "will" "resolved" "protect".
A/N: The dream interpretation in this chapter is a mix of the actual interpretation from various dream dictionaries and my intended meaning as the giver of this dream to Kakashi. ^.^