Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto; all rights belong to Masashi Kishimoto and Viz Media.
Authors Note: This is a Female Naruto x Kakashi fanfiction set in an alternate universe, for a reader unfamiliar with the series you will need only minimal knowledge of the series to understand the story. I own Han Ryoshi and Kanna Hatake they are my OC.
Fallen Kings
An intriguing concept of life was how one event or action could affect a person's life and dictate their actions. It was a concept that Ryoshi Han had always been fascinated by, starting from the time he was a small child.
Growing up in a shinobi village and later becoming a shinobi himself had allowed him to witness how the death of a loved one, in particular, affected others and how that changed them.
It was like watching a metamorphosis, one day a person who had been happy and full of life loses someone important to them, and suddenly that person loses his will to live. Han found it fascinating to watch such a change in character occur, it was something he never tired of, and he would be the first to admit that, whenever he took a life, he loved watching the teammates of his victim's reactions.
The reactions were another thing Han found intriguing because they were never the same, some shinobi went straight to anger, some cried, and some didn't show any emotion at all. It was addicting to watch, and Han soon found himself starting to love the aftermath of his kills more than the actual killing itself.
Han's violent tendencies soon gained him a reputation, and in the shinobi world reputation was everything, it also gained him a title one that he wore with pride, he became known as the Shinigami of the Hidden Mist.
It wasn't enough for him, though, the title, the prestige he was given by the Mizukage and his comrades, the thrill of witnessing raw human emotion every time he took a life, it just wasn't enough, and soon killing just on missions lost their appeal.
The missions weren't teaching him what he desperately wanted to understand, which, was why. Why did humans react the way they did, why did some morn openly while others hid their emotions behind a mask, why?
What Han wanted to understand was human nature. He wanted to see how far someone would go to save someone they cared about, he wanted to see how the death of multiple loved ones affected someone over time, he wanted to see how far it took someone to break, and he wanted to see it up close and personal.
What he wanted was someone he could test and observe his fantasies on, someone he could play with from afar, without their knowledge, and see how long it took them to snap. How far would someone go out of love, how far would someone go out of grief? All these were questions Han wanted to know, and he was going to find out, one way or another.
The streets of Konoha were covered under a veil of darkness, and most of the village residents were asleep, except for the guards that protected the village from intruders. Most of the village was sleeping peacefully, however, one shinobi was having a nightmare and not his usual one of war.
The shinobi was in the familiar woodlands that surrounded the Village Hidden in the Leaves. However, he was unaware as too why he was in the woods. Suddenly, as if to answer his unspoken question, a cry broke through the forest walls; a child's cries. A cold panic gripped his heart, and he took off in the direction the cries were coming from.
The shinobi did not know who was crying, but he felt a surge of protectiveness like he'd never felt before run through his body, and a desperate need to reach and protect the child whose cries filled him with sorrow and anger. The Shinobi kept running, but as time went on and he still couldn't find the child, he became more desperate. Why couldn't he find the child?
The crying ceased, and he panicked as a feeling of emptiness filled his heart.
Kakashi Hatake shot up in bed and a sheet of sweat covered his body from head to toe. He took a few deep breaths to calm his beating heart, and once he was calm enough, he turned to make sure he hadn't disturbed the other two occupants in the bed.
Kakashi gave a sigh of relief at the sight of his wife and daughter asleep beside him. He laid back down wrapping his arms around his daughter, that nightmare had been awful and he prayed the child crying in his dream wasn't his.
As Kakashi drifted back to sleep he promised Kanna he wouldn't let anything happen to her.
At the same time, Kakashi Hatake was going back to sleep, a few miles away, Hiruzen Sarutobi, the former Third Hokage, awoke from his slumber from a noise coming from his study. The aged Hokage got up to investigate the noise, a kunai in his hand, opening the door. He was surprised to find it empty. Not taking anything at face value, he cautiously made his way into the study. He found nothing amiss until he looked down at his Shogi board.
The aged Hokage gave a gasp of surprise when he noticed one of the pieces missing, although in his sleep induced mind it did not immediately register which piece was missing. Looking around the floor to see where it might of went, he finds it beside the board. Hiruzen picks it up gently and turns it over in his hand. It takes his mind a moment to register the kanji, but when it does, a wave of shock and fear runs through his aged body, for in his hand he holds the king.
Hiruzen takes this as an omen, an ominous sign indeed.
Author's note: I plan on making a few corrections to this story. I would enjoy some corrective criticism or ideas for this story as long as they keep to my dark theme. Thank you, Nerdzone6.