Scene 13
It was the day before the funeral for the Third Hokage.
Kaiya had been in the hospital for a week now.
She wouldn't talk to anyone, not even Kakashi.
She felt ashamed to even be alive.
Kaiya believed everyone would hate her.
She wouldn't blame them either.
The third Hokage was very kind to her throughout the years and actually respected her as a shinobi of the leaf village.
Giving her missions to go on and duties to perform.
It was when she was fifteen he offered her a headband.
"You called for me Lord Hokage?" entered Kaiya into the Hokage's office.
She always hated going in there secretly.
Memories of sitting on the floor coloring as Minato did his meetings.
Minato wanted everyone to know that Kaiya was his daughter now, and should be respected as such. So he brought her everywhere he could, so the whole village could see. Of course not everywhere and every day, but more than you'd think.
"Ah yes, Kaiya." he stood up from his desk and motioned her to follow him. "Come."
Kaiya followed the Hokage until they got to the balcony.
From the balcony, one can get a perfect view of the Hokage monument.
"If the Fourth Hokage could see you right now Princess Kaiya, he'd be so proud of you." the Third sighed leaning on the railing.
Kaiya looked up at the mountain carving of Minato.
Would he really, she wondered.
"The reason I called for you Kaiya is because you have proven yourself a great asset to the Hidden Leaf Village and I wanted to present you with this."
Kaiya gasped.
"A headband with the Hidden Leaf symbol on it, you deserve it." smiled the Hokage.
He handed it to Kaiya who stared at it intently.
A tear rolled down her cheek.
"Lord Hokage, thank you. But you know the people will never accept me, so I cannot accept this." handing it back.
"Hmm,' he chuckled, 'Keep it, you don't have to wear it Kaiya. Look at it closely though. Do those scratches mean anything to you?"
Kaiya took a deeper look.
The headband had been worn before.
Gasping.
"I remember one day it was in the Hokage office where a little girl got a hold of her Father's headband and dug her pencil on it."
Kaiya's tears fell out like a waterfall.
A small scratch of a smiling face was on it.
This was Minato's.
"You kept it?" she wiped her tears. "'Father's'" she tested the word.
Was Minato really what a father was supposed to be?
"Oh, how he wanted to scream at you so much. I remember it so well. But then you gave him a big smile and he melted." he reminisced.
Kaiya laughed, "Minato then put it on and was showing you and everyone else that day the smiley face I drew. I was so happy that day." finishing the story.
…...
Kakashi went into the hospital room Kaiya was staying in with a bouquet of flowers.
She hadn't spoken a word in days since the Third's death.
Kakashi felt like a failure.
He promised Kaiya for years she would never have to see Orochimaru again.
And that if so he'd protect her.
But he couldn't.
Kakashi wasn't able to do anything that day.
Instead, he just found a broken girl again.
What exactly happened this time he wasn't precisely sure of either.
All he knew was that the Third had died protecting Kaiya and the village.
And knowing Kaiya, she regretted every part of it.
Blaming herself.
"Kaiya?" he opened the door softly but then was shocked to see the room empty.
Kakashi asked the nurses if they had seen Kaiya leave and no one saw her since her last check-up.
In a scare, Kakashi quickly ran out to go look for Kaiya.
Scared for all the possibilities.
….
Staring at the memorial Kaiya clenched her fists.
"How can you two do that to me!" she began to yell.
Kaiya then started picking up rocks and throwing them at the memorial.
"You promised we'd be a family! You promised I'd be safe!" tears were rolling down her cheeks.
Kaiya then took her kunai and went to the memorial to the names Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzumaki and tried to carve a scratch on them but couldn't.
"Why did you adopt me? Why did you even love me? I failed! I'm a failure!"
But soon she felt a body grab her and she tried to strangle away.
Kaiya began screaming.
"Kaiya! Kaiya stop, please! It's me!" yelled Kakashi trying to calm Kaiya down.
Finally, she did.
The both panting.
On the ground.
It started to rain.
"Kakashi, you knew, didn't you. Both you and the Third Hokage knew." in a low voice.
Kakashi stared at Kaiya and then swallowed air. "Yes. We both knew." he got up to pick the rocks off of the memorial. "We wanted to protect you Kaiya. I wanted to protect you." he stopped for a second.
Kakashi couldn't look Kaiya in the eyes.
He failed her.
"I'm sorry Kaiya, I failed. I'm so sorry." going to her to hug her.
"You lied to me!" she hit his chest.
"I did. I'm sorry," he replied, not stopping her.
Kaiya kept hitting him.
"I was alone. I couldn't save the Hokage. He's dead because of me!"
Kakashi finally grabbed her wrists and then pulled her into a hug.
"Kaiya, the Hokage died for you. He died protecting you." he tried to convince her.
Kaiya couldn't stop crying. "Everyone dies or leaves me. First Minato and Ms. Kushina, then Itachi, and now the Third Hokage. Who's next Kakashi? Naruto? You? Please don't leave me. Please!"
"I'll never leave you Kaiya. I'll always come back to you," he replied.
A new promise.
If he can't always be there, he'll always come back to her.
…
The next day Kaiya checked out of the hospital in time for the funeral.
However, Kakashi and her went to pay proper respects at the memorial.
Kakashi's thoughts were all over the place.
Kaiya's thoughts were scattered to a million different places.
When they went to the funeral for the Third Hokage, whispers began.
Kaiya and Kakashi knew this would happen.
Some people were really upset at Kaiya for not dying in Lord Hokage's place.
Others couldn't believe she survived from Orochimaru.
Kaiya looked down instantly.
However, Kakashi grabbed her hand and whispered, "Look straight Kaiya. He's watching."
Kaiya then looked up and instantly saw Naruto looking at them.
They were the last to show up.
Naruto stared at Kaiya, and she saw Minato's face staring right back at her.
She wanted to cry.
But Kaiya was always crying.
Kaiya followed Kakashi, hand in hand.
And when they got to team 7 she stared at the three kids.
Their sad looks but also hopeful.
Iruka went to talk about the will of fire in the Hidden Leaf Village to the kids.
After he turned to Kaiya and patted her shoulder.
"The will of fire is within all of Kaiya." smiling.
Kaiya nodded.
If she had the will of fire then why did she feel so out of place in the Hidden Leaf Village.
The clouds started clearing up after the funeral and the kids grew smiles.
But this was only the beginning of Kaiya's dark cloud.
