A/N: Well, not much to say here, I'm not sorry if you guys hated me for the last two chapters, it needed more action than what it was giving, I'm only able to make these chapters because there are days between the missions in these filler episodes, so I'm making some of my own.
Tell me what you think!
Groaning, I moved my head to the right, trying to open my eyes. I felt a slight pressure on my hand and I fought the darkness that was so welcoming to stay awake and find out what it was.
"She's waking up."
"Hey, Naruto!" Someone called, once my mind registered that Naruto was running into the room I wanted nothing more than to hide myself. I curled towards the person that was holding my hand and heard a slight chuckle. The door slid open, quickly, causing my eyes to open just as quickly only to find Kakashi the person holding my hand. I shoved my eyes to the floor, then to the curtain separating me from another patient, only there wasn't another patient in this room. It was only me.
"Is she awake?" Naruto yelled, someone hushed him,
"Not so loud." That's Sakura's voice... Everything that had happened before suddenly blew into my mind, making it want to burst. Tears began to sting my eyes as the others kept talking. Kakashi's voice was the only one I didn't hear, I looked up at him and saw him watching me. His soft onyx eye showing me that he wants nothing more than to get me out of the pain I'm in. Kakashi... I held his hand tighter and brought it up to my face and cried, my sniffling became louder, so it was audible to the others in the room.
"Why..." I managed to stutter out, Kakashi's hand caressed my cheek softly and he moved his chair closer to where his hand laid.
"Whaddya mean, why?" Naruto questioned, his voice soft in a way I hadn't heard it before. Staying where I was, I knew I wouldn't be able to face him after what I had done. Letting Okami out, even if it was an accident, it was dangerous. Okami wouldn't hurt anyone or anything, but people are fearful.
"Why did you go after me?" Tears streamed down my face and into Kakashi's gloved hand and my breathing came in hiccups. I curled myself tighter into the ball I wanted to hide into. A hand fell onto my side and I stiffened,
"Kasai... Do you really not know?" It was Kiba's voice that I heard next, it only made me cry harder and shake more. Almost everyone of those annoying Genin came after me... Why... No one's ever been so nice to me except to gain something. The fight flashed through my mind and I flinched,
"Is she even listening?" Is that Neji? I quieted down, controlling my breathing so I could listen in more,
"I don't blame her... She's like me... She's been alone most of her life. Grandma Tsunade told me that Kasai moves around, cutting herself off from ever finding a home and keeping friends." My ears twitched at the sound of Naruto's fists clenching, "Her own family attempted an assassination on her. Then the Akatsuki came into the picture," Naruto knew my whole history, I didn't want everyone else to know. So I sucked it up and grasped Kakashi's hand in mine as I sat up,
"That's enough, Naruto." My voice was raspy and my throat hurt from lack of use and crying so hard. Should I open my eyes? I took a deep breath and let it out slowly to open my eyes just as slowly, when they were opened, my eyes fluttered at the light in the room. When my eyes came into focus I noticed how many people were in my room, the beds were crowded with people sitting on them and chatting. It slowly began to quiet down when everyone realized that I was awake. I flinched and fell forward slightly, but Kakashi caught me,
"Careful. Your back wounds were brutal. I'm surprised you can sit up now after all that damage to the muscles and skin." I remembered being stabbed with medical needles and scalples. Kabuto attempting to heal me while the others continued to attack. I took on Kiba's fang over fang. Looking back up again with my arm in a sling, I stared into a pair of blue eyes,
"You ever try something like that again-"
"Sasuke says 'hey.'" Him and the others looked at me with surprise, shock, and a hint of anger and regret. "Thanks to him, and that shadow clone I made, Orochimaru and Kabuto now think I'm dead." I stared dead into Naruto's eyes, my own will unrelenting and I refused to back down anymore. I won't let myself be anymore trouble for these people.
"Good." Naruto smiled and looked up at me, "It means that Sasuke still has a heart. Even if it's nearly gone now, it's still reachable." I looked at Sakura and she was biting her lip, I smiled at her. Sakura seemed taken back by the genuine smile that I gave her. Shino stepped forward,
"What happened, back at the training hall? Why did your tailed beast come out like that?" A few of them glared at him for asking a question and I leaned into Kakashi for support,
"It's simple. My beast doesn't get to come out often, Naruto told you that- yes I'm aware that you know my history, Naruto. Whenever I go into an unnatural sleep, passing out against my will, drug induced sleep, anything like that and my beast is released. I'm still working on that kind of control." They all listened and it was nice to tell people, but I didn't plan on doing it too much.
"You asked us 'why' earlier. You want to know why we all fought to come after you?" Lee asked, sensing that I wanted the answer to that question since it had yet to be talked about. Neji sat down next to my bed on the right side and looked at me,
"It's because, even though you bug the hell out of most of us."
"Neji..." Tenten sighed,
"We care about you. You're a Leaf Shinobi, even if you weren't a Ninja we'd go after you. You're family now." Neji explained, I blinked, confused for a moment before smiling.
"So you do care?" He turned red at my tease, but it was both a tease and a serious question,
"Of course!" Sakura exclaimed with a smile, everyone else replied with similar things. It hadn't been just the Genin and a few Jounin like when they came after me, there were dozens of people here to see if I'd wake up. A smile that had appeared earlier wouldn't go away, it wouldn't any time soon either. I lifted my left hand over to the sling and took it off and broke the plaster around my arm and moved it around,
"That's better."
"Kasai! You need that on your arm!" Ino shrieked, terrified of what I had just done. I laughed at her,
"I'll be fine. I just have to take it easy with my back." I began to unwrap my hand when I saw Hinata, "Oh, Hinata, are you alright? I wasn't concious much longer after protecting you..." She seemed to look down, ashamed, then she looked up with steady eyes.
"Thank you!" She squeaked, doing the best to her abilities to be bold, she bowed her head. Eyes softening, guard down, body relaxed, I was becoming soft. I gave her a soft smile, looking at all the others,
"I'm sure you all have something better to be doing than watching me recover, hn." I nodded my head as they all laughed at me, folding my arms I realized that I had said 'hn'. I was using Deidara's habit of speech, I had always made fun of him for it. Guess they rubbed off on me. My nose started twitching and I reared my head back, "ACHOO!" I shrieked, making everyone jump, "Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, owwww!" I squirmed, holding my back. Everyone seemed to pause for a moment, taking in what had happened and began to laugh at me. Even Kakashi had doubled over laughing at me, Asuma smiled, lighting a cigarette, Kuranai was next to him- so they're dating, huh? Cute. Shikamaru seemed to crack a smile and then Tsunade walked in,
"Alright, anyone lower than a Chunin rank out." Naruto was about to complain when she held up a hand, "Naruto and Sakura stay." Kiba growled and left Akamaru for me on my bed. Akamaru's soft white body crawled up and laid in my lap, I smiled gently and gave him a smile as well while he walked out, grumbling to himself. Tsunade looked down at me then sat on my bed edge, putting a hand on my own,
"I'm glad you're alright, Kasai. I'm sure the entire village can breath a sigh of relief."
"I'm not that important." I shook my head, not believing the woman who kicked me out so easily,
"Never say that." Naruto growled, looking at me, "You're one of my friends now, you mean a lot to the entire village. Do you realize how many people went to Grandma Tsunade's office to fight her to go after you? Every single person who had heard of what had happened!" He swished his arm out and stood leaning over the bed frame, "We laid our lives down for you! How could you say-"
"That's enough, Naruto." Tsunade said in a low voice, it wasn't in an angry way, but it shut him up just the same, "We need to know where the hideout is. Do you think you could tell us all their hideouts?" I shook my head,
"I may have them all memorized, but I couldn't tell you by looking at a map. I only know them by traveling."
"Then how do you know which hideout they're at?" Tsunade questioned, her brow furrowed in confusion,
"Sasuke or Kabuto would send a messenger owl to me. It'd always be in the dead of night when they would move around, after I'd get a letter, I'd go meet up with them. It's usually every month. Kabuto doesn't know I'm alive, neither does Orochimaru, but Sasuke will most likely continue this process." I reported with a sigh, gripping my fists together in anger,
"Kasai, calm down. You're starting to act like Naruto." Kakashi warned me, he was making me laugh and smile. I bit my lip to try and keep from smiling but all it did was make me smile bigger.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Naruto blazed,
"Wait, does this mean you have contact with Sasuke? Constantly?" Sakura asked, her eyes were wide and her arms put together in front of her. She looked at me with a new hope that I hadn't ever seen from anyone, mainly because hope didn't exist where I was from. I looked away form her, my eyes darting to the floor as quickly as I had seen that expression,
"Not always. He tries to keep in touch, but the message takes a few days to get to me. The bird that they decide to use has to find me first." I continued to spill information that could get me killed, once Orochimaru gets wind of this information being spilt, he'll definitely send someone to gather me up. Then comes the slow torture like before. My body stiffened but I refused to be consumed by my past anymore. Sakura's eyes lit up,
"Will you keep me informed? Will you send letters for me?" She got in my face and I fell against Kakashi, backing away. Kakashi's arms held me up, I didn't know how to respond with someone so forward like this for Sasuke,
"Sakura, calm down!" Tsunade ordered, I had nearly forgotten she was here. "Now, Kasai, do you think you could tell us when they reach their next destination?"
"I'll try. But Sasuke's going to have to be more tricky than before, Orochimaru never knew that they were sending out his information. He just assumed my tracking skills were that good. I used Iku a lot, so it was partly my tracking skills." I swayed, my eyes going in and out of focus,
"Kasai!" Kakashi gasped, catching me before I fell off the bed, my eyes stayed out of focus and I couldn't tell what was going on. It felt like my entire body was covered in some dense sand. I know this feeling, but the one from before was different, so it must just be my body. My head lolled to the side as I looked at Naruto,
"Thank you..." Naruto's eyes softened and he walked over, adjusting the pillows on my bed and then backing away so Kakashi could set me back down. Naruto looked at Tsunade,
"When do you think she can leave the hospital? I think team Kakashi could use a new addition." My eyes flew open, really? I looked at Naruto, amazed,
"I just tried to leave the village to Orochimaru and you want me on your team?" I just couldn't get a hold of how this kid acts, Naruto smiled and nodded,
"Uhuh. You're strong, and I have a feeling we'd do great training together! After all, you're our friend! How else are we supposed to keep you from doing stupid stuff like that again?"
"Stupid stuff, huh? Who used to be the class clown always getting into trouble?" Sakura stated, looking at her friend,
"Eeeeuhh..." Naruto pushed two fingers together and looked like Hinata while doing so, I laughed at them then winced, gasping at the pain and slowly laid back down.
"Even with my advanced healing medical ninjutsu, you'll be here for a few days." I gaped, a few days?! I can't sit around for a few days! I have to get stronger so I can withstand more. I need to be able to fight Orochimaru... I don't have the know how yet... "Even with your tailed beast helping you out, you'll be here for another day or two, three tops." I whimpered like a dog, hanging my head as I heard this news.
"She's just like Naruto." Kakashi chuckled,
"Is she?" Tsunade asked,
"She'll try to sneak out of the hospital before then. Just like Naruto and Lee did. She can't stand staying still too long, it's part of the reason she moved from village to village." Kakashi explained, he knew me too well. I elbowed Kakashi in the stomach and he gripped himself, "What was that for?"
"Snitching on me before I even did it." I folded my arms and puffed out my cheeks, making everyone laugh. I blushed lightly, hiding my face behind my hair, which I noticed was out of it's tight braid. Great, it's going to be SO tangled... I looked at Sakura as Tsunade left with a few parting words,
"S-sakura?" I stammered, unsure of how she'd react to my request, she turned around,
"Yes?"
"Can... well... Can you get me a brush?" I blushed, scratching my cheek with a finger as she smiled at me,
"Yeah, I know how long hair gets easily tangled. I'll bring you one in no time!" She gave me a smile that I had only seen on Naruto and Kiba until now. I smiled softly, I think I'll like it here.
"Oh, wait! Tsunade?" I called and she popped her head back in,
"Yes, Kasai? What is it?"
"Am I... um... Am I allowed to stay in the Leaf?" She looked at me with soft topaz eyes,
"Of course. But don't go broadcasting the fact that we have two Jinjuuriki. Okay?" I nodded and held my hand up to stop her from leaving once more,
"And um... Naruto's request?" She smiled once more, nodding only once to answer my question. Naruto jumped to my side and hugged me, forgetting momentarily about my wounds,
"Ow, Naruto!" I yelled, he let go and put his hands up,
"I'm sorry!"
"Should've thought about that!" He closed his eyes, ready to get punched, but the punch he was waiting for never came. I hugged him, tightly. I couldn't see his expression because my head was next to his and I was crying. He gently put his arms around me and hugged me back, "Thank you, Naruto. For showing me what ties I still have, and what ties I can make." I hugged him tighter and he just stood there while I did it. He waited until my crying had died down and then laid me back down in the hospital bed.
"I'll come visit as much as I can, okay?" He whispered, smiling. I nodded, biting my lip as he walked out.
"Bark, bark!"
"Oh, Akamaru! I forgot about you!" He growled at me, like he was asking me 'how dare you?' I giggled and held him to my cheek, rubbing our heads together, he yapped happily. "Hello, puppy~." I smiled and nuzzled him, then laid back down with him curled into me in a snuggle. Kakashi stood up,
"Well, I guess I should get going to." He seemed like he didn't want to leave me here alone,
"There aren't any other patients here. I have one of the make out tactics in my bag if you wanna read it..." He seemed a little surprised that I had one, considering he showed it to me a few years back and I threw it in his face calling him a perv. I just giggled at him and he turned red, he walked over to my bag and tossed it to me. It smashed me in the nose,
"Ow~, Kakashi!" I griped, rubbing my nose and wrinkling it until it felt normal again, he laughed,
"Sorry, guess you weren't expecting that?"
"Not in this state. I can't move worth crap." He pushed a bed over near mine so that we could stay up and talk like we used to. It's going to be a nice night. I'm home, Minato, Third. I'm home.
Next Day
I snuggled towards the warmth in my bed and sighed, I remembered I was in the hospital, but I had to get moving and get training again. I wasn't nearly strong enough to keep myself from Orochimaru if I was even at my best with Okami. I felt a warmth in front of me and a warmth on my back, which was relaxing since the skin was still tender from being healed and regrown thanks to Tsunade's medical ninjutsu. She really has outdone herself. Finally, I opened my eyes, only to see Kakashi's chest in front of my face. My face was turning a new shade of red as I looked up and saw that he had even removed his mask to sleep. Our beds had been pushed together last night so we could sit next to each other and catch up, talk about what I missed while I was away. He told me everything, about Naruto, the other Genin, even Tsunade and Jiriyah. I looked at the shirtless Kakashi in front of me and saw all the scars left from previous missions. I just couldn't help myself, I began to lightly trace the scars all over his chest and some on his abdomen, his muscles would twitch and then I knew he was awake.
"How many missions have you nearly died from?" I whispered, not daring to look up, because I know I'd get stuck in his eyes.
"Too many to remember." He replied, just as softly, and I could tell he was looking down at me, watching me. The reason why I wasn't freaking the fuck out was because we had done this on missions we did together in the Black Ops, plus I lived with him every time I would come to the village. We're easy going around each other and we always have each others backs. You could say we fall into a routine that never went away. Finally, after running out of scars to trace I looked up and saw Kakashi's eyes on me and started going red and hid my face under his chin. His arms were around my waist and they slowly released me, he was slow because he didn't want to get up, it was the only problem when we would sleep in the same bed. Waiting a few moments for my redness to go down, I sat up and looked at Kakashi as he slid his shirt back on, placing his mask back over his face. I grinned,
"So, when did I fall asleep?" I asked, moving the covers and stretching, testing my muscles and tendons in my back. He sat on his side of the makeshift double bed and stared me down, I suddenly felt very self conscious. Looking away, I played with my hair, realizing that there was a dog in the mix of my hair and sheets.
"Sometime between two and three. I fell asleep not long after you did." He seemed to notice my fidgeting and chuckled, "I haven't seen you like that since we first joined the Anbu."
"Only because you would stare at me then too. That eye of yours is tricky." I stuck my tongue out at him and he appeared right in front of me,
"Stick it out again and I'll bite it off."
I turned bright red at the statement and shoved a pillow into his face, he started laughing to himself and moved to tickle me but ended up on top of me. The pillow landing just to the right of us, one of Kakashi's legs were in between my own. Silver strands of my hair lay everywhere, sprawled out, only one section was grouped together, and it was the section around Akamaru. My heart threatened to break out of my ribcage from how fast it was beating, I could feel my face heating up, my arms had fallen just beside my shoulders and head.
"Ka..ka...shi?" I breathed, we had frozen in place, both of us terrified of making a move without knowing what the other was thinking. I'm not sure what he was thinking, but... I think I like him... With that thought in my head, my heart beat faster, my pulse rushing through my veins, my head pounding, and my throat dried up immediately. I chewed on my lip, conflicted now. Kakashi is my life long friend, how do I respond to this? He slowly moved away from me, crawling back to his own bed, then helping me sit up on my own,
"Uh, sorry, Kas. I- uh..." He was so bashful, I've never seen him like this... Only with.. I couldn't... My internal conflict showed on my face apparently because he moved his mask and kissed my forehead, leaning over ever so slightly. I began to blush again and he was his usual self as he continued to get dressed,
"I've been assigned to watch over you while you're recovering at the hospital."
"Damn it."
"Yeah, no escaping for you." He looked back at me and covered his Sharingan and I smiled, laughing. "Did you enjoy our talk last night?" I nodded and held my shins, rolling onto my side,
"Mhm, it was great getting to catch up again. Although waking up was an experience I forgot about." He stopped putting on his green jacket and looked at me,
"Well, we're gonna be here for a few days." I could feel my face heating up again,
"Plan on doing a redo?"
"Maybe."
I laughed and rolled onto my back looking up at the ceiling tiles,
"Going on a food run?" He chuckled and came over once more, pulling his mask and kissed my forehead,
"Don't worry, I'll be back."
"Who said I was worried?" He just laughed and jumped out through the window, his bed was made and put back just as someone walked in.
"Good morning, Miss Kasai! You slept in late, didn't you?" A brunette nurse walked in, it looked like she had a stick shoved up her ass the way she walked all stiffly in her uniform.
"Mhm." I replied, bored and going into my shell that I always go into when I'm alone,
"Mind if I check your vitals?"
"Go crazy." I stated, petting Akamaru and waiting for the smell of Kakashi to lessen in the room since the windows were open and the wind was rushing around on the second floor of the hospital. She stuck a needle in me to take a blood sample, I ignored the slight sting like a bee and continued to cuddle Akamaru. Wonder what Kakashi's going to get us to eat... He does know how to cook, so he better bring good food. Looking down at the soft pet, the nurse bandaged my arm and checked things off on a clipboard,
"Alright, there will be a nurse in by the evening time to do the same check ups. Have a nice day."
"Thanks." She left the room, "Akamaru, go back to Kiba. Tell him I'm fine." I kissed Akamaru's head before tossing him as he yapped and bolted out, excited to get back to his master, my hand sat beneath my chin, letting me lean on it as I remembered something,
"Kasai Fujimoto?" I turned around to look at the man who had asked my name,
"Yes?" Being only four years old, I hadn't had much training. The man pulled out a kunai and readied to attack. I screamed bloody murder, but no one came to my aid, I knew no one would. My family were the ones who had hired this person. My parents even kept me in a separate part of the house to care for myself with a maid who did next to nothing. I was watering the plants when the man had approached me,
"Prepare to die." He stated, leaping at me,
"No!" I shrieked, the sound sending the man back in shockwaves, I stared at him in surprise, tears streaming down my cheeks. He began to get up and I dropped the watering can, it smashed into pieces as I began to cry. "Why? Why is it always me?" Dashing from the rooftop and trying to jump to the next, the man realized what I had planned and jumped up to go after me. I leapt, but I hadn't the training to make it all the way-
"Are you alright?" A soft voice asks me, and I look to see a kid, only about five years older than me carrying me bridal style. I looked confusingly from him to the rooftops above us,
"Huh? What? Who-"
"A friend. Our Hokage knows about your situation, so he sent a team out to get you." I heard explosions in the background and flinched, curling into the silver haired boy that had saved me, clinging to him for dear life. I didn't know how I knew to trust him, it was a feeling that me and my inner self agreed on. Only later I realized that my inner self was my tailed beast. Tears were streaming down my cheeks as I cried into him, feeling like I could show my fears to him. He held me tighter, this stranger, and growled under his breath. After a few minutes, we had reached a cabin in the woods where I would be held until the Hokage could figure out what to do with me and my situation,
"T-thank you!" I bowed my head, my hair just past my shoulders, I looked at the four man squad and saw one, the one who had carried me all the way here had gray hair like I did. His teammate was a brown haired girl with red rectangles tattooed onto her face, and the other one wore goggles and had black hair. The elder man had yellow hair, he smiled at me and bent down to my level, putting a hand on my head.
"Just stay here until we come back for you, alright, Kasai?" I stiffened my lip and nodded,
"Okay!" I hadn't ever experienced a ninja fight, and the one with the grey hair had taken me away before I could have. But these were real ninjas, and I wanted to be just like them. The three of them smiled at me, the one in the middle with the goggles had his arms behind his head,
"Minato Sensei, can we go back to the village now?"
"Obito, be calm. We just took this girl from her home. Give her some time before we leave, okay?" He nodded and the girl walked over, holding a flower from one of my plants in a pot out to me,
"I managed to save this one, sorry if it's a little banged up." I smiled and hugged my potted plant, the only thing from my now previous life. I nodded, chewing on my lower lip to keep from crying again. I had to be strong, the girl hugged me tightly, "I'm sorry, Kasai. We'll be back before you know it, okay?" I nodded, watching them smile and wave at me as they left me alone, in a cabin, in the middle of the woods, only a mile away from my village.
I never saw them again after that because that's when Orochimaru attacked my village and took twenty people of my clan hostage, including me. He was with the Akatsuki at the time so I was pulled into that mess somehow. There weren't many children left after Orochimaru massacred my village, so Pain and Konan had pity on me because they could relate to their whole village being destroyed. Looking out the window, I sighed.
"It's been a while since I remembered that memory..."
"Remembered what memory?" I jumped, throwing the thing closest to me at the person who owned the voice, which was a pillow. The person? Kakashi. The pillow hit him square in the head as he had poked it through the window, probably to see if I was decent. Then I remembered something-
"Where the hell are my clothes? Who put me in this friggin' hospital gown!?" I began to have a spaz attack as Kakashi calmly walked in and set down the food on another bed and walked over to me,
"Kas." That was all it took for me to look up at him, "Tsunade changed you, your clothes are in the drawer there. I also went out and..." his ears turned red, "I got you a new shirt that looked like the one before, that way you have something other than your ninja gear to wear..." I blinked, letting it sink in, Kakashi... bought me clothes?
"Did you use your own money?" I asked, he seemed to blink out of confusion then nodded slowly, not knowing where I was going with this conversation, "I owe you now." He hung his head and I bit my lip to keep from giggling,
"Kas... I got you out of that village, you're living with us now. That's payment enough, knowing you grew up to be such a great ninja." I swear he would've stuck his tongue out had he been more playful and didn't have that mask on all the time. Well, I shouldn't complain, I do that too. Annoys the hell out of Naruto for some reason. I looked over at the clothes he had set on the bedside table, I reached for the shirt and saw that it was the exact same style as the one I had worn while I left the village. Minus the music notes.
"So you do pay attention?" I teased, smiling at him. He rubbed the back of his head and his eye looked anywhere but at me,
"Well, you always wore this type of dress as a shirt... Even when we first met." Kakashi replied, pulling the curtain in front of him shut so I could change. When I didn't argue he released a breath I didn't notice he'd been holding, I smiled softly. Thanks Kakashi... The material of the dress was sturdy but soft to the touch, it was a pale green- spring green I guess- and the sleeves had sections that were blocked off in a different color- light blue. The pants he got me were baggy, and it was safe to assume that these were a pair of his pants that he was letting me use. He probably spent most of the money he saved up from previous missions on the groceries he just got, plus my shirt. He isn't used to feeding two. I slid off the hospital gown and stretched in my chest bindings, my muscles sore from not being used and from excessive healing. I stretched like a dog would waking up from a nap then slid the material over my head, noticing that it hugged my torso just as well, if not better, than the previous one I had. What a perv. I smiled nonetheless, he was being helpful and I wouldn't accept this help from anyone else. A knock sounded at the door and I looked up,
"Yes?"
"Kasai, it's Sakura. I came by to drop off the brush then go on a mission." She reported, opening the door and walking over to my bed, "Can I open the curtains?"
"Yeah, I'm decent." I stated, sitting crosslegged in my dress, the dress that only came up to my thighs. I didn't like the feel of the dress, so I would always wear pants underneath. Even if they were just shorts. Sakura opened the curtain to my left instead of the one in front of me where Kakashi was hiding. He apparently didn't want Sakura to know he was here,
"Here it is. I hope your hair isn't too tangled already." She smiled, closing her emerald eyes as she did so, holding out the brush. I grabbed it and smiled back,
"Thanks, Sakura." I opened my eyes, "Hey... Didn't you say you understood how long hair got tangled so easily? What happened to yours? It looks a little uneven in the back..." She gasped and put one hand on the back of her head,
"No way, are you serious?" I laughed at her, and Kakashi told me she's changed, how petty was she before? I motioned for her to sit on my bed and she did as she was told,
"I'll even it out. Is that okay?" She nodded,
"Yeah, thanks, Kasai." I smiled at her and pulled out a Kunai, I sprayed her hair with a water bottle spray that had been put here to water the plants that people had left for me. I gently started cutting off the excess hair and thinned it out for her.
"How did it end up like this?" I wasn't able to see her face, so I didn't know what I had asked was bad,
"I cut my hair in the Chunin exams to protect Sasuke and Naruto..." My hand faltered, but I continued to force myself to move, it isn't my business. I finished just moments later,
"I'm sorry, Sakura." She turned to look at me,
"For what?"
"I can't help much with Sasuke... But it seems that you and Naruto are hell bent on finding him and bringing him home... So..." I bit my lip, it trembled slightly, I wasn't used to helping people much. I'd always been on my own after Kakashi saved me that one day. Minato as well.
"It's okay." I blinked, looking at her, "Sasuke chose to go, sure. But it was only because he wanted the power Orochimaru was offering..." I bowed my head, knowing how Sasuke felt, "What I don't understand is..." Her face was suddenly inches from mine as she glared up into my face, "Why...! Why does he keep in touch with you!?" I jolted back a bit from the force in her voice, I smiled at her, and I knew the smile was slightly sadistic.
"Would you like to know why Sasuke associates with me still?" She nodded vigorously, wanting the answer she didn't know would come. I chuckled softly at her then looked her in the eyes, "It's because I wanted to kill my family. My entire clan tried to assassinate me one night. Every. Single. One of them." Her emerald eyes seemed to widen in shock and she backed away slightly, "That's right. Everyone in my village, my clan, the people that were supposedly going to love me unconditionally. Love? I didn't know family love, not until a certain leaf team had come and rescued me the night they had hired their own Assassin from the land of waterfalls. He had green eyes just like yours. Kakuzu was his name. Later did I realize that he was in the Akatsuki. I was four years old at the time, I had learned enough to keep me alive, but my town kept me at armslength. They sent people to leave food and things at the door, my maid took care of me until I learned to take care of myself. I thought 'everyone's childhood is like this'." I shook my head with a smile I hadn't worn in a long time and lifted my hands up, "Eventually, after the Akatsuki eliminated my village in search for our Jinjuuriki, Orochimaru was coming to kill me next. I was hiding in a cabin in the woods near my village, I awoke hearing their screams. I didn't make a move to help them. What could a four year old do with little to no training?" Sakura seemed to grow grim upon hearing my story,
"I..." She tried to find the right words, I just sighed,
"There aren't any words. Don't worry. After Orochimaru found me, he was stopped by the leader of the Akatsuki," or the supposed leader anyways, "Pain and Konan. They were once Jiriyah's pupils during the great Ninja war. They knew how it was to have your entire village killed in one fair swoop. So they took me in, unaware that I was the Jinjuuriki they were looking for. The Akatsuki, all except Orochimaru, they were nice." Sakura grew surprised, listening intently to see if she had heard correctly, "That's right. They treated me as family, even Itachi. Sasori taught me how to master the puppet jutsu, Deidara taught me how to use detonating clay, Itachi my sharingan, Hidan taught me about all the different religions in the world. Pain and Konan taught me about the world. Kisame taught me how to use many different types of swords and fighting styles. Zetsu was always quite and watchful, he taught me how to fight with my inner conflicts and how to meditate. Kakuzu, the one who was told to assassinate me, he apologized and showed me how to be a proper bounty hunter. We went on countless missions together, Hidan, Kakuzu, and I. They told me to stay away from Orochimaru, who at the time had captured a number of my clan and did experiments on them for their Kekke Genkai, they were all unsuccessful." My eyes showed no emotion when I mentioned Orochimaru, Sakura looked at me the entire time, expecting me to break down, but I was tired of crying. I usually didn't do it, so it took so much out of me.
"How did you... end up with Orochimaru then?" Sakura dared to venture further, she wanted to understand me better, I guess. I looked down at her,
"He stole me from the Akatsuki the day he left the orginization. They fought him, it was the biggest fight I had ever seen. It could've been it's own little war. But in the end, somehow, Orochimaru got away from them. The stupid snake escaped from my family and took me along with him. He was going to do the same thing he wants to do to Sasuke to me. I wanted revenge on first, but who was there to take revenge on? I was angry after he took me from the Akatsuki, so I fought him every step of the way. I broke out countless times, but he always managed to find me. Once Kabuto joined us, I was constantly sedated so I couldn't move, but he'd feed me and I'd get a chance once in a while to bathe myself. Those are memories I choose not to reminisce on." I looked at her once more, she seemed to be crying for me.
"I'm sorry..." she whimpered, I sighed and hugged her, holding her to me while she cried for me.
"Sakura, you don't have to cry for me. I'm here now, aren't I? I'm still in once piece." I softly told her, rubbing her back, she was shaking. I was trying to comfort her, but she seemed to have been holding this in for quite some time, so instead of trying to comfort her... I just held her to me, letting her cry, she just clung to me as she cried. Eventually, I lifted her back up to a sitting position and wiped her eyes with my sleeves,
"Sakura, feel better?" I asked, looking her in the eyes, she smiled at me and I gave her the same smile back.
"Thank you."
"You seemed like you needed it. Now you said something about a mission earlier..?" She jolted up,
"Oh, crap!" She yelled, grabbing her bag and running out the door, "Thanks, Kasai!" I heard from the hallway as she ran off. Of the few people I ever tell my story to, a genin that would squeal like a pig if someone interrigated her knows it. What was I thinking? I shook my head and finished getting dressed,
"How did you deal with her?" I asked softly, binding my shins and ankles like I do everyday. There was a soft chuckle on the other side of the curtain in front of me,
"She surprises you. She's stronger than she looks. Both physically and emotionally." He explained, moving the curtain to bring me whatever he had cooked for lunch, I gladly accepted it and broke the chopsticks so I could eat. He sat down next to me and we looked out my window at the village.
"So, I'm home." I sighed, he looked at me and grinned, moving his mask so he could eat.
"I think Konoha has been waiting for you for quite some time, Kas." He stated, looking out to the Hokage Mountain faces. I noticed Minato's face and grinned,
"Minato was a great person."
"Even better Hokage."
"Would've probably been a better Father."
We both grew quite, thinking about different memories, we continued to eat. Eventually we started talking again, reminiscing about how we grew up. Talking about our times in the Black Ops. He had reheard my life's story when he was listening to Sakura. He lived most of it with me, visiting me when I could get a hold of him, he knew me better than anyone else ever could.
I'm home, Minato Sensei.
A/N: Well, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, it was my special gift to you guys. I wanted to do some Kakashi time since it's constantly hinted at that they've been together more than just once so I explained a bunch. This long chapter was a gift! Hope you loved it! Shout out to Waterwip65, Aoi Kitsune12, and xXToraChanXx for helping me work on future chapters ;)
Until next time!
-Kasai
