Kinda rushed this one out; I wanted it out at the same time as the one before it. I've got chores and work to get to, so if ya'll notice any mistakes or something along those lines, let me know and I'll fix 'em.


Chapter 43: Playing Human

Mika walked up to Kakashi's apartment, rummaging through her pocket for the extra key that he had given her. Finding it and opening the door, she looked over her shoulder at Kiba as she walked inside. "Hey, thanks again for helping me out today."

"No problem.", he huffed. She had him carrying seven full bags of groceries. Behind him was Akamaru wearing a harness that had an additional ten bags weighing him down.

"Kitchen's that way.", Mika pointed. "I'm going to go say hi to Kakashi." She smiled and walked off toward where she expected to find him; out on the balcony reading his book. The only problem was, he wasn't alone.

The shocked blonde stopped dead in her tracks, staring at that same red-haired woman that she kept seeing all over town. It had occurred to her once or twice that maybe she was stalking the her, but the idea was too self-centered to entertain.

So…… Forming coherent thoughts was fast becoming a difficult task as Mika's rational mind fought to decide what it was that she was seeing.

Son of a bitch! That bastard!, the Rokubi shouted.

Uh……wait. She…..He……They're……

He's been cheating on us, I mean you! All this time! Let's kill him! Cheating assholes like him don't deserve to live! I could do it, just--

--just shut up., Mika quietly thought in a hurt voice.

The red-haired woman had thrown herself around his neck and was staring her down.

Who is she? And why is he holding her?

I'll tell you why! She's his mistress and he's only been dragging you along for the ride! That--

--yes, I'm aware now that he is a son of a bitch. I should have expected this. He's always been the quiet, mysterious type. He only wanted me around as a nostalgic reminder of his childhood. I knew it, I wasn't paranoid. I'm really nothing to him.

Aw, sweetheart. Don't let it get to you too much. Come on, there's always another way; another place we could go.

Kakashi was still holding her when she pulled away and kissed him on the edge of his lips; not through his mask, on his actual lips.

He trusts her enough to let her pull his mask down! I-I….I can't take this anymore!

Mika rushed out of the room to the kitchen. She coughed quietly to compose her voice. "Hey, Kiba-kun."

"Oh yea, Mika. We just finished unpacking all of your groceries. Did you need help putting them away too?"

"No.", she swallowed hard. "Uh, Kiba thank you. You're such a wonderful boy. But, we need to l-leave.", she stuttered. Akamaru walked forward and whimpered looking at her heartbroken face. Mika looked away momentarily holding her breath to stop the tears.

God stop me! Why should I waste tears over this!

Sweetie.., the Rokubi tried to comfort her.

--shut up! Just shut up!

"Mika, what's wrong?" Kiba looked at her with a concerned expression.

"Nothing. Don't tell anyone about this, alright?"

"About what? What's going on?" He walked past her and waited by the front door, staring in the direction of Kakashi's room.

"Let me just leave a note." I don't want them to suspect that I saw them. Mika quickly scribbled down some nonsense about having something to do and not wanting to bother 'him', as if there was only one she saw, before taking off, pushing Kiba and Akamaru ahead of herself.

Once they were a few blocks away, Mika finally stopped walking. She leaned back against a fence in an alleyway.

"Mika, what happened?" Kiba stared at the teary-eyed woman sternly.

She looked up and half-smiled. "You're a good friend, Kiba-kun."

"Mika,", he started again but she cut him off.

"Kakashi's been cheating on me."

"…….oh." He suddenly looked around, feeling very awkward all of a sudden.

"Yea. I don't really know what else to say either." There was another quiet moment before she looked back at his face to judge his emotion. To her surprise he had a look of quiet, intense anger.

"So what are we going to do?" He asked, looking at her sternly.

"Uh…..", the despairing woman scrambled for something to say. I can't have Kiba make a big scene with this. "Well, you are going to be quiet and not tell a soul what I have told you. And I, well, I just need some time alone to figure out some things."

"No way, that bastard needs to be put in his place!" Kiba shouted and Akamaru barked in unison with him.

"NO!" Mika stood up straight and stared him down. "I will handle this in my own way. You", she grabbed his shoulder. "You are not going to do anything. O.k.?"

He pouted and sneered down the street in the direction of Kakashi's apartment. "Fine.", he mumbled.

"Good." Mika let him go and walked away. Once she was out of sight, she took off in a full sprint to hide and figure out what her next move should be.

Sitting up on top of the mountain monument of her brother, she took a few hours to figure out what needed to be done. Being out of sight and hearing range of everyone, she didn't want to stop the tears anymore. No one ever knows how to handle a situation like this, and she was no exception. The Rokubi should have been given an award for how hard it worked to comfort/influence her. Thanks to his smooth words, she had come to a definite conclusion. There was no other way, she would have to stop running around it. The truth, not just the parts she didn't mind admitting to, would have to come out. No more mysterious six year gap in her timeline. No more omitting the Akatsuki, Madara, or Itachi.

You know, you're going to have to go back and face him eventually.

"No, I can't. I-I just can't."

Well, if it would make things easier for you, I could always take control and get you back to the Hokage's office so that you can talk to her. You know, like we agreed you should.

"No. I don't want you causing trouble. That'll make this…..god, this awful situation, worse."

Nah, I promise. I'll act like you. And once we get our proof from Kakashi's apartment, I'll walk us over to the Hokage's place and then you can tell her the truth.

"Truth.", Mika mumbled to herself as she looked over the village through tear-clouded eyes. "You know that she'll have no choice but to imprison me."

You are such a child, getting so caught up in this situation. Don't you remember Itachi's promise? He'll get us outta there in no time! Plus, while we're in prison, you don't have to deal with Kakashi. It's a win-win situation!

Mika silently nodded in agreement. "I don't want to see him or hear him or anything. Do you hear me, Rokubi?"

"Loud and clear." He took over, sliding on a chic pair of sunglasses to hide her now black orbs. He headed down the mountain grinning ear to ear, fully pleased with himself for getting this opportunity. Hmmm….now off to Kakashi's to get our secret little black bag. He started to walk toward the secluded neighborhood, but was stopped by a certain loud pink-haired girl.

"Mika-chan!"

"Eh?" What the hell? I don't want to deal with this brat!

"Mika," Sakura caught up with him. "Tsunade-sama wants to see us immediately."

"Uh, well. Just tell her I had to do something right quick. I'll be there soon."

"No! She demanded that we rush over there right now!" She grabbed Mika's hand and dragged her down the streets leading to the Hokage's Mansion.

"Dear god, child! Let go!" The Rokubi screamed to no avail. She pulled him along, right up to Tsunade's desk. At which point she finally let go, allowing him to drop to the floor with a thud. "You are freakishly strong!"

"And she gets it from me." Tsunade leaned over her desk to stare at Mika on the floor. "Now stand up!"

Damn you Mika! If I didn't think you would notice I would so break this woman's neck. He stood up and realized just who all was in the room. Tsunade was behind her desk, Sakura to the left, and Naruto and Kakashi to the right. Aw, fuck me, man. This is too hard. I want out. He scratched the back of his head and avoided eye contact with the aforementioned cheating bastard.

"Where have you been?" Kakashi whispered in Mika's ear as she stood up. The Rokubi only giggled in response.

"Now then," Tsunade straightened herself out, "seeing as how we're all here now." She reached into her desk, grabbed a small scroll and handed it to the Mika.

Everyone was staring at her as she just stood there holding it. She looked around. "What?"

"Open it oba-chan!!!" Naruto shouted.

"Ugh, fine. You don't have to be so freakin' loud."

I really don't see what Mika sees in you.

"Ah, let's see…" She opened it quickly and scanned over the contents. "It's Santa's Nice or Naughty list. Oh look, Sakura and Naruto are both on the Nice side. But poor Kakashi is on the Naughty side." She turned to face the masked man. "Did you do something that you shouldn't have?"

Kakashi stared back with a knowing look. How the hell did that monster get back in control of Mika? Is she alright? Is she drunk? "It's not Santa's list." He snatched it out of the Mika's hand and read it himself. "I take it we need to leave immediately?" He asked Tsunade.

"No, I thought you could go on a quick three day vacation first." The Hokage's sarcasm went unappreciated. "Of course you need to leave now! That is, if you want even the slightest chance of catching up with him."

"Him who?! What's going on!?", Naruto shouted. He turned to face his aunt. "Oba-chan what did it say? Tell me!"

The Rokubi glared at him from behind his sunglasses. "You whine too much."

"Huh?"

"I didn't stutter. You whine about things too much, especially for a ninja. But to feed your incessant curiosity, it mentioned something about Uchtaka or Uchika or something like that." She turned to look away from the blonde ninja.

"Uchiha?" Naruto turned to look back at Tsunade.

"Yea that's right. We got a report of three unidentified ninja traveling along the outer edge of the Fire Country."

Sakura gasped at the idea of finding Sasuke before letting her mind refocus on the situation. "Wait, how do we know it's not Akatsuki?" She asked apprehensively.

"Cause Akatsuki only travel in pairs." The Rokubi broke in with Mika's voice. "If we're going, we really ought to go."

"Well aren't we in a rush?" Tsunade snapped. "How do figure I would let you even go?"

The Rokubi glared irritably at the woman, though his stare was somewhat dulled from the darkness of the sunglasses. "You wasted the time to have your lapdog fetch me in this most time-sensitive matter. Why the fuck else would you do that? Oh wait, it could be that you're just stu--" Kakashi clamped her mouth shut before the Rokubi did something that would be called 'just plain stupid'.

"She's had a long day." Kakashi offered an excuse for her actions.

Tsunade grumbled some indecipherable curses before shouting at the group. "Well go already! I want ya'll out of the village in five minutes!"

"Yes Tsunade-sama!" Sakura saluted and ran out the door with Naruto just ahead of her.

The Rokubi huffed and turned on heel to casually walk out the door. Kakashi followed closely behind, holding onto Mika's left arm. Once outside the mansion, he finally broke the silence.

"How long have you been parading around the village in control of Mika?"

"Heh, how long has it been glaringly obvious?" The Rokubi snorted a cocky reply.

"I want to talk to Mika. Is she alright?"

The Rokubi turned around quickly, jerking her left arm free from his grasp, though causing a sharp pain. "Well, that depends on who you ask. And uh, you can talk to her…..later. Right now, I believe we have a mission." He took off over the rooftops toward Kakashi's apartment to gather a few necessities for the wilderness along with the black bag that Mika took such care to save from the fire.

Kakashi followed of course, given he had the same destination. But also, he knew that he couldn't let the Rokubi get out of his sight. There's no way Mika would give that thing control willingly. What happened?, he thought to himself.

The Rokubi threw on a packed satchel and discreetly stuffed the black bag inside. Um, Mika? Are you there? He didn't receive a reply. She was too far within herself to be conscious of what was going on. Damn, you're really upset aren't you…..Hello?.... God, you better make this asshole pay for hurting you, when you get back.

"Hey!" Kakashi called out to him.

"What now? Can't you see I'm busy here!" The Rokubi shouted back.

Kakashi walked forward in a deliberate and imposing manner. "Tell me what you did to Mika."

"Aren't you some kind of genius? Shouldn't you already know what happened to her?"

"I'm not going to ask you again." He replied.

The Rokubi laughed at his sternness. "Ha! You look so serious." Kakashi slowly slid up his headband. "Ooo… I'm shaking." He mocked the Copy-Ninja and took off his sunglasses in reply.

The two stared each other down for what felt like an eternity. Though it only lasted a matter of seconds. Kakashi glared at the demon with his bright red eye and the demon, unblinking, stared right back. Neither one would dare to back down.

"Don't make me…" Kakashi quietly threatened.

"Don't make you what?" The Rokubi again scoffed at the man's determination. "If you knew anything about me or Mika, you would know that it takes a Sharingan hell of a lot more powerful than yours to even scratch the surface of us." He broke out in a fit of giggling. "I'm sorry, I just couldn't keep it up anymore.", he cried wiping the tears that fell from his solid black eyes.

"This isn't funny." Kakashi grabbed him by the shoulders.

"No… It's hilarious." The Rokubi replied in an utterly deadpan tone, while sliding his sunglasses back on. "But when you find out the truth of what's going on here…. Well, it's gonna be more than worth me keeping my mouth shut now."

I don't get it…, Kakashi thought. What is he talking about? "Let me talk to Mika."

"Geez, you make an awful lot of demands. Come on neither one of us needs other people catching on to this charade." He turned and walked to the door. "Besides, if Mika wanted to talk to you, she could. The girl has more control over me than I think she realizes."

"So what's wrong?" Kakashi kept a tight grip on Mika's left arm as the pair left the apartment.

"Like I said, the reveal is worth me not saying. Now shut up, we're outside now and we don't want to get anyone's attention."

"She saw, didn't she." He spun the Rokubi around in the middle of the street. The two stared at each other silently. Any passersby would have thought that perhaps they were just sharing a close, quiet moment, but the truth was much more sorrowful.

Boy, he's a clever one ain't he?......hn. You're really gone for now aren't you? 'sigh' Hurry up and finish your mourning! Christ, you'd think your brother died!...Again!..........wow, nothing? No response to that one? Screw it, I'll enjoy this.

The Rokubi slowly let a smirk spread across Mika's face. "Can't say." He let the words fall playfully from her mouth. It was sick how happy Mika looked, while the truth was gradually and painfully crushing both of their hearts.

"Can't or Won't?" He growled.

"Well, I know what I saw. But who's to say that Mika saw the same thing." Kakashi griped her arm tighter. "Ouch, careful sweetie. You're hurting 'her'."

Reluctantly, he let go and walked past him, mumbling for him to follow.

Obediently and in a jovial manner, the Rokubi followed. "What? You aren't going to try and explain yourself?"

"Why should I explain anything to you?"

"I do have some amount of influence over her." There was a moment of silence. "O.k. so I don't really have that much influence most of the time, but she's pretty unstable at the moment. I could probably do anything right now and she wouldn't even realize it."

Kakashi closed his eye while he walked. She's 'unstable'? How bad must it have looked? I didn't do anything. I just need to talk to her for a minute. She'll understand, I'm sure.

The Rokubi was staring at him intently as they walked. "You're thinking about how you're innocent and how Mika will understand, aren't you?"

He opened his eye and glared at the demon in disguise to his side. "What's your point?"

"Heh, for being a player, you sure don't know a lot about a women. Or Mika more specifically." Kakashi slightly raised his eyebrow at the statement. "Oh? Did you want me to tell you how Mika's been paranoid about her relationship with you? Or how her paranoia was confirmed when she saw you with that soulless ginger-chick? Or about her complete emotional breakdown when she finally came out of the shock that it sent her into?"

"Stop talking." Kakashi looked forward again.

"What? Is it getting to be too much for you to handle?"

"No. We're at the front gate. There's Naruto and Sakura. Didn't you say that you didn't want them to find out about you?"

"Hmph. Yea. Guess it's back to playing human again for me."

"Just don't talk. You suck at 'playing human'."


Review for me? Yes, yes. Review for me!

Not that I have a political message or agenda, but last night was freakin awesome! New President! Thank god!