Shirai: Winter Well
"Kakashi, now that you know so much about our village, as the head of my clan, I have to put the cursed seal on you."
He looked at her in disbelief. I thought there is no point in keeping its secrets if it is non-existent anymore, he wanted to say and yet he found himself nodding.
"I understand," he accepted. " You do what you gotta do."
He closed his eyes waiting for the pain that comes with the sealing. He grew impatient until Shirainee let go of his hands. He opened his eyes and found Shirainee laughing silently.
"JOKE! I was just kidding."
He let her have her laugh and waited patiently for it was quite a while before her laughter ceased.
"Seriously though, I trust that you will not tell anyone."
He walked briskly to the direction he usually frequented. Kakashi was preparing to head out to the Land of Waves to gather information about the launch of the Tobishachimaru, a flying ship that would be the future of transportation. He is assigned to guard the ship. The existence of the flying vehicle is being kept as a secret. Once the other hidden villages find out, they might fight each other in stealing the technology for the right to man the skies.
There is also the problem brought by Garyo, a criminal who wants to succeed where Madara failed. Naruto and Sai were able to capture the criminal but Garyo being in the Hozuki Castle, the Blood Prison, means that security should be improved. This year, Konoha is in-charge with guarding the prison. He earlier dispatched Team Guy and Team Ten.
So many things to do. I don't even have time to go on a proper date.
He spotted someone he has been trying to avoid for weeks now. That orange jacket really announces his presence wherever he goes. With a flash, he turned to a narrow alley between two buildings and decided to jump from roof to roof.
Ever since Shirainee and he told them that they are planning to get married, Naruto was back to his old friendly self, someone who doesn't know boundaries and without filter; a disrespectful subordinate who asks him things most people consider as intrusive. He has been asking him about his inauguration ceremony. His face is already in the Hokage Monument and as Naruto repeatedly pointed out, he needs to be inaugurated so it is clear who is in charge of the village. Then he would go on and discuss politics to him.
It amazed him the first time he heard Naruto talk about the implication of his face being there but no announcement of his inauguration any time soon. Shirainee and Shikamaru must be doing a good job training him.
An involuntary smile broke his expressionless face thinking about Naruto's cousin. Sometimes, when he doesn't want to be bothered by anyone, he would sit under one of the trees in Hotate orchard. Shirainee would often find him there and invite him to have some snacks inside. They would then talk about her childhood as part of their getting-to-know each other agreement.
She rarely asks him questions about his childhood. She would welcome whatever he was willing to share. She is very perceptive and she must have known that he is uncomfortable talking about his dark past.
The other day, Shirainee talked about her training when she was a child. He was surprised to find out that she trained in a similar fashion they trained Naruto when he was trying to master his chakra nature, using clones to achieve results faster.
"It is funny how my grandparents value peace and yet none of them wanted to compromise and give way to each other. My cousins are fortunate because they have the option to choose what they want to do and focus on mastering the skills they need for their chosen specialization. I, on the other hand, must learn my parents and their parents' special techniques. As a result, I became a jack of all trades but master of none."
Recalling his childhood, he remembered that his decision to follow on his father's footsteps was not forced on him. He idolized his father so much that it was natural that he wanted to be like his father, the White Fang of Konoha.
He arrived in the orchard and opened his Icha-icha tactics book. He paused when he read a line from the page he had read hundreds of times. Kakashi came to the realization of a problem he never thought he would have. He grabbed a tiny notepad and a pencil from his pouch and started listing things. He then read them one by one to test if any of them roll off his tongue.
"Aka-chan... because you know her hair is red... Aka-chan... No, she might think I see her as a toddler. She might think I am saying akachan or that I have a weird fetish."
Kakashi crossed that off his list.
"Rai-chama... Rai-chama. It sounds masculine though. Nope! Not this one either."
He crossed that off the list as well.
"My precious Ruby... my precious Ruby... Ruby... Ruby-chan... Ruby-chama."
Someone suddenly grabbed the notepad he was holding and read the list of nicknames out loud. Without a doubt, Keiji is a ninja suitable for infiltration. He did not hear the younger guy sneaked up on him. It didn't help that he was totally immersed with coming up of a suitable and unique endearment for his fiancee. According to the masterpiece Icha-Icha Tactics, having a nickname or term of endearment is of utmost importance among couples.
"Blood of my heart? Nee-Nee? Anata? Sweet Tomato? Can you come up with other worse nicknames for nee-sama, Nii-sama?"
Keiji, Hiro siblings, and the Yu sisters have started addressing him as Onii-sama. He recently learned the collective terms for each set of twins from Shirainee. Keichi is sticking to calling him Kakashi-sama. The rest started calling him Onii-sama as a sign of respect, him being the future husband of their clan leader. Though, he could not detect any hint of respect from the way Keiji is talking to him now. His ears turned scarlet from embarrassment and anger. He skillfully retrieved his notepad and returned it in his back pouch.
"You know I can use my influence and cancel the communication system installation deal," he threatened, trying to keep his cool and cover his embarrassment.
"Gomen... gomen, Kakashi-sama. I am just joking. Keichi will kill me if that happens. You know, if you write her name and isolate each character you can come up with a suitable and meaningful endearment." the younger man turned his back at Kakashi and moved to the direction of the main building. "Your Sweet Tomato is waiting for you in greenhouse number seven," he quickly said before sprinting.
Keiji got away before he can retaliate. He sighed and followed his future cousin-in-law's advice. He took the notepad from his pouch and wrote the Kanji character for "Shi" then "Rai" at the bottom followed by "Nee".
"Shirai... Shirai... White well... Winter well."
Winter symbolizes death, loneliness, despair or end... "Well" contains water and water symbolizes purification, power or life.
That is when the scholarly side of Kakashi, the one who is rarely seen or often disregarded as he ages (because his subordinates see him as an easy going sensei) had a eureka moment.
My winter well... My source of life as the bachelor me dies resulting in my rebirth... My source of purification because my old life was full of deaths and evilness... My Shirai! My hope that I will never perish in the forever winter life as long as the well has water in it.
Kakashi's tears started falling as he carried on his dramatic internal monologue. He cannot believe he came up with a symbolic nickname. It is an affirmation that he is indeed a genius. His voice in his head cracked as he wailed. The author of the Icha-icha Tactics, Jiraiya-sama, would be proud of him.
MY SHI-RRRAAAIII! My end and my beginning! A full circle... And a circle has no point of beginning or end. Infinite! Like my feelings!
Kakashi fell on his knees, spread his arms and looked to the sky.
Aaaahhhh! My SHIII-RRAAAIII!