The darkest times of Kakashi Hatake's life were in his youth. The time which many advise you not to waste were tossed in the throes of war for Kakashi. He was bitter. So bitter for so many years and often wondered what the point of living was. However, he swore to himself since he was a little boy that suicide was not an option. Suicide was for cop outs like his father was when the man had left his son that one brutal night. So, Kakashi contemplated to the best way or any acceptable way for a shinobi to die.
By twenty-three, Kakashi was already a well established ninja in Konoha. He had climbed the ranks quickly and by the time he was sixteen, he had already become an ANBU captain. Here he was. Nine years and still an ANBU. Seven years and still a captain. Kakashi had stopped caring for rankings the moment he understood the burden that came with excellence.
"It's settled then!" his "eternal rival" Gai yelled fiercely. "Kakashi, you're coming out with us tonight!"
Gai hadn't changed much in Karachi's eyes. He was still annoying and much too intense, but Gai was perhaps the only person Kakashi found some comfort in. However, Gai's attempts to get Kakashi to socialize was starting to get on his nerves.
"Tonight," Gai continued, "you and I will battle over and over again! We'll see who the best drinker is! We will see who can get the most girls! We will see-"
"You can stop," Kakashi denied cooly. "I won't be going out."
"I think you misunderstand," Gai almost growled. "This is no request nor is it a simple invitation. It is a challenge!"
Kakashi sighed. Had he said no to Gai's demand…well…no wouldn't have been an acceptable answer. It was Kakashi's fault in the first place for telling the man he was given a day off the very next day.
Gai had come to visit Kakashi who was getting treated at the hospital for some injuries and a checkup from his previous mission. Although Kakashi hated being in the hospital, it was routine to go and Kakashi liked having routines.
Kakashi let the sounds of Gai drown out as he looked up at the ceiling wondering what he'd gotten into. The two walked down the hall way towards the lobby of the hospital when a girl walked by. Neither of the ninjas noticed her. She was just a patient wearing clothes provided by the hospital. She seemed rather happy and walked with a smile on her face that is until she tripped over seemingly nothing and fell fatefully right in front of two ninjas.
"Are you okay?" Kakashi asked offering a hand to help her up.
"I'm fine!" she replied obviously flustered. She ignored the hand that Kakashi held out and rushed past the two before they could get a glimpse of her face.
"She looked a little young to be in the hospital," Gai noted out loud.
"Yeah," Kakashi concurred. "But you never know what happens in someone's life. Look at me, I come here all the time."
The bushy browed man merely blinked unsure if Kakashi was being serious or had told a joke.
Night came in almost no time. The sun had gown down and the village lights turned on. There were no kids out on the streets during this hour unless they were trying to sneak into bars to get their first tastes of alcohol with some thrill on the side. Honestly, Kakashi could spot those kids in the farthest corner of the bar from over a mile away without the help of his Sharingan. They were visibly attempting to contain their excitement and attempting to ignore the fact that they stuck out like a sore probably didn't realize that he was glaring at the boys, but Kakashi's friends surely did.
"Hey," Asuma called out to Kakashi. "Just let them be. They're just having fun."
"Yeah!" Genma jokingly snapped all too stoic man. "The party's here, Kakashi!"
In Kakashi's mind, he was thinking about how ungrateful those kids were acting. People like him from a young age put their lives on the line so that people like them could be safe and away from war. But that's the thing, isn't it? They didn't know war because people like Kakashi had made it so they wouldn't need to know war. Finally caving into his friends' desires, he rejoined the group with a shot of sake which was met with a round of cheers from the other four men.
"Oh, Raido!" Genma drunkenly whispered to his friend sitting beside him. "Look at that lady who just walked in. Isn't she pretty?"
Genma's drunk whisper reached everyone's ears, and certainly at the door was a very pretty woman with blonde hair that looked almost white and a pair of gray eyes. She wore a tight black dress with long lace sleeves and a pair of black heels. Talk immediately began circulating around the bar. Some speculated, she might have been a model although she looked a little short to be a model. Others theorized the girl was an actress, however, no one had seen her in any sort of production before.
Whoever she was, she seemed to be alone. Kakashi noticed that she had the same light of excitement and innocence in her eyes as the underage fellows who thought that they had beat the system. A naive girl at a bar alone only screamed danger. As predicted, a rugged man with a red flush spread across his cheeks approached the woman.
"Do we stop him?" Raido asks the group.
"I don't know," Asuma added.
"Did she not come with anyone?" Genma inquired further.
"If no one's going to to take this chance, then I-" Gai stopped abruptly as Kakashi got up from his seat towards the girl who was clearly about to be harassed.
"Oh," Asuma said surprised, "I guess even Kakashi can't resist a beautiful damsel in distress."
In truth, Kakashi just about had it with being surrounded by such annoying people. He slowly walked over watching as the drunk man flirted with the girl who looked unsure of what to do.
"Are you new here?" the man slurred. "If you are, I'll buy you a drink and I could show you around the village tonight."
"Uh," she stammered, "no. I was actually born and raised here. Also, I don't drink."
"Eh? No way. A pretty face like your's is something no one could forget!"
The stranger leaned closer and placed a hand on the woman's knee. His face was right beside her ear when a shadow casted over his back. The woman looked up to see Kakashi with a dark glare in his eyes. It honestly frightened her too.
"If you don't want any trouble," Kakashi started to advise, "you'll go back to your seat."
"And who do you think you-" the man cut himself off as turned around. "K-K-Kakashi-san! What a surprise!"
The woman watched as the man stuttered like a baby before Kakashi.
"P-Please," he got up and bowed, "excuse me!"
Kakashi glared down the man as he cowered and rushed away bumping into various chairs on his way back. He heard the woman sigh in relief. When he turned his glare to the woman, she jumped. He noticed that all the girl had her table was a cup of water. Kakashi recalled that the woman had claimed that she doesn't drink.
"Oi," Kakashi called out to who seemed like the dumbest woman alive, "are you stupid?"
"Excuse me?" she asked taken aback.
"Hey," Gai rushed over to his friend, "calm down. You have to excuse him, he's been really tense lately! Let us take you home. You can trust us, we're noble shinobi of Konoha!"
"You heard me," Kakashi ignored Gai. "Are you stupid?"
The woman pouted. Gai could see the flames blaring between the two intense stares.
"Well, who are you to interfere in someone else's business?" she exclaimed in disbelief at the man's audacity.
Before Gai could mitigate the situation any father, Kakashi and Gai saw the woman's expression change from one of annoyance to surprise. As if on cue, another woman barged in.
"Tsuru nee-san!" she screamed angrily.
"Oh!" cried out the woman named Tsuru. "If it isn't my little sister! Fancy seeing you here, Hyo-chan!"
Then a sound like the crack of lightning made the whole bar still. Hyo slapped Tsuru right across her face. This shocked even Kakashi because he was intending on reprimanding the dimwitted girl, however, this other woman with dark hair stepped in.
The two, who had claimed to be sisters, seemed to be related in only subtle ways. While Tsuru's hair was light and long, Hyo's hair was dark and short. Tsuru was much prettier than Hyo who's appearance looked to be no more than average. However, the two had the same pale complexion and the same shade of gray eyes. Both were also rather short.
Another striking difference between the two was the existence of a Konoha hitae-ate around Hyo's forehead. She wore the standard shinobi outfit. Judging by what he could see, Karachi deducted that Hyo was probably someone who was less invested in how she looked as opposed to her older sister.
"Wait outside for me, nee-san," Hyo's voice was quiet and demanding. It sent cold air throughout the silently stunned bar.
Without complaint, the older sister did as she was told.
"Wasn't that a little too far?" Gai questioned Hyo. "You shouldn't disrespect those who are older than you."
Hyo glowered at the bushy browed jonin, "If she were your sister, you'd want to slap some sense into her too. The bitch keeps sneaking out of the hospital."
For a moment, Kakashi noticed Hyo's eyes grow grim before returning back to its original intensity.
The hospital? Kakashi realized that Tsuru was the girl he had tried to help up earlier that day.
"But still…" Gai's voiced trailed off.
"I apologize," Hyo bowed to the two men. "I hope my sister didn't cause too much trouble for my seniors. I'll be going now."
Once the dark haired girl was gone, Kakashi said, "Gai."
"Yeah," Gai started, "I know. That Tsuru girl is the girl from the hospital."
"Yes, but there's something more than that."
"Hm? What might that be?"
"She doesn't seem to be a ninja, but she sensed her sister coming."
"You're right!"
"Oi!" Asuma called out to the two. "If you're done making a ruckus, come join us for Kings' Game!"
Gai marched happily back to the table amongst their friends. Kakashi too headed back, but with Tsuru in the back of his mind.
To put the facts together, Tsuru was undeniably beautiful; however, Kakashi had never seen her around before. She probably had some sort of condition that keeps her in the hospital. And it seemed that although she didn't appear to be a kunoichi like her sister, she showed signs that she was a sensory type ninja which was a rare talent to have and develop. A spy maybe?
In the end, the group of inebriated and rowdy men certainly provided as a much needed distraction for Kakashi. While Kakashi didn't really laugh or smile that night, he had to admit that he was rather entertained. Perhaps he was too accustomed in reading into things. Things aren't always as they seem; but as one of Konoha's elite shinobi he couldn't help but think of all possible scenarios from the best to the worst.
Nonetheless, Kakashi woke up with a raging hangover the next morning. Probably from all the thinking.