When the sun had finally risen the ninja in the house had begun to stir. Even I could hear Kiba inside laying into Naruto for losing the boy. And yet, Naruto brushed it off. He was calm about the child's disappearance in the night. The very child he had run off after sometime before sunrise. Even I thought that Naruto would be upset, yelling and screaming about going after the kid. Instead, he accepted it. All that told me was that he knew where the boy was and he was alright with it. If not happy for the kid. It was only a few minutes after Naruto had shut Kiba up that everyone was congregating outside. "Kira, you should come down here." Yamato's creepy voice calls up to me just before the building began to pull apart and sink back into the ground.
With a grunt, I jump off the roof before I would fall, and land with a small whimper amongst the others. "Kira you should be careful, you're really hurt." Sakura comes up to me and walks around behind me as if checking to make sure I didn't injure myself worse. "I'm alright." I try to assure her though as she comes back around her emerald green hues watch me closely. Knowing I am far from okay. "Alright, let's head back." Kakashi calls from the front drawing my gaze to him. The memory of last night is still heavy on my mind. My gaze lingered a moment too long as the others leap into the trees and begin their trek back to the village.
"You going to make it?" Kakashi asks as a short-lived smirk pulls at his mask. "I'll be fine." I inform him before steadying myself for the pain I was about to put my body through. Jumping into the trees I follow behind the others at a much slower pace than I am accustomed to moving. As we move from tree to tree I couldn't help but notice how some of the ninja kept glancing towards Naruto. They knew it was weird for him to just abandon the kid but it was clear they couldn't figure out why he would do it. The silence was tense amongst the ninja, a tension I wasn't used to feeling between so many of them. It was a bit unnerving.
"Kira." Kakashi's voice came from my right drawing my attention to him. He moves his gaze from me and back to the others ahead of us. As if he was mulling through his own thoughts. "Kakashi." I sigh watching him carefully. "It's not like you to want to display or acknowledge openly any feelings you have. If you aren't sure that you can trust me, then don't." I inform him quietly before looking ahead of us again. "Besides, if you were to suddenly open up completely to me I would think you have been captured under my spell. And that... is something I don't want. So don't rush it." With my words I could have sworn I heard him sigh as I see him raise his right hand and rub the back of his head from the corner of my eye. "Don't feel discouraged." I speak up again causing a quiet surprised sound to come from him. "You've done enough. I know, what you wanted to say." I knew it the moment he first took me into his arms in front of that cave. He doesn't have to say anything that would make him feel uncomfortably vulnerable.
Silence fell between us, one much more comfortable than the tension brewing ahead of us. I could hear each time his feet would land on a branch. Each intake of air as he breathes evenly. Much like his presence has always done. It accepts the silence without judgment. One of the things I liked most about him. I didn't have to talk if I didn't want to. Even as the sun rose high into the sky and my body was seriously dragging I didn't wish to break the comfortable silence. However, it was growing ever towards the late afternoon meaning we would only have a few hours before nightfall. "Kakashi." I finally spoke catching his attention again. "A lot of us are injured. A few are more severe than others. Maybe we should stop and make camp." I suggest causing him to smile behind his mask just before he picks up his pace to catch up with the other Jonin.
I watched as he paused next to Shizune and then Yamato seeing each one nod in agreement before suddenly jumping down into a small clearing amongst the trees. Obeying faithfully I watch each ninja I once knew as genin and most even as children jump down to the ground without question. As I had thought, they were pushing themselves more than they should have just to keep going. When I leap down I catch Sai seeing him stumble forward. His willpower had kept him moving so now it took him a moment to adjust to stopping. I knew this feeling all too well. I had fought Deidara before when I was training. His detonating clay even if you don't actually get hit by it still sends off a shock wave that not only disorientates his opponents but it also inflicts damage. The doves that exploded and destroyed his hawk with enough force it sent him flying. I am sure his body is screaming at him as loudly as mine is.
With a look into his empty onyx hues, I could see his fatigue even without noticing the sweat lingering on his forehead. "Thanks." He says lightly with a smile as I let go once he regains his balance. With the sound of wood clunking together my attention is pulled away from him as I watch the house form. "Don't worry about it. We're on the same team right?" I tried to brush off his gratitude even though I found myself lightly smiling in return. Once the house was completed I leap up to the roof as usual while everyone goes inside. The silent tension between them breaking free as they settle into rest. Allowing for the usual lightweight commotion to fill the building. Moving onto my stomach so I was actually laying down I found myself closing my eyes listening to the conversations below me.
All too soon I felt someone brush against me as they set down. Forcing me to open my eyes to the night. I could tell who he was even before looking in his direction. The primal almost inhuman scent hadn't escaped my senses. As my gaze falls on him I couldn't help but take in the reflection of the moonlight shining off his dark eye. The look in his gaze was soft yet with pain dwelling within its depths. "What do you think will happen when we get to the village?" I ask as I look away from him. Resting my cheek on my arms. "Lady Tsunade is understanding. I don't believe you have to worry about anything."
I found myself closing my eyes taking some comfort in his words. "If I were in her position I would have me locked up as a criminal. I did make acts against the village. It's only reasonable to hold me accountable for it. Along with crimes against other villages. I did help capture a jinjuriki along with helping Kakuzu line the Akatsuki's pockets by killing marks. My hands are as tainted as theirs."
"You can't live the life of a ninja without inevitably killing someone. We are trained to kill, simple as that." I very nearly sighed at his words. Leave it to Kakashi to try and make me feel better about taking another's life. Then again he did live through the last great shinobi war. He's shed his fair share of blood. Sitting up I look out towards the moon next to him. As I pull my legs into indian style I bite my bottom lip thinking about the words I wish to say, in case he is wrong about what will happen.
"Would you like to hear another story?" I ask into the silence avoiding meeting his gaze. He was silent a moment making me wonder if he would rather not hear what I was going to tell him. Folding my hands in my lap I keep silent. "Sure." His voice softened with that word and I could imagine his gaze matching his tone. My lips twitch as I nearly smile.
"Would you like to hear another story?" Her voice was quiet and rather unsure about what she was saying. Almost as if she was debating whether or not she wanted to be here in this moment. Yet her gaze wavers the longer he tries to decide if this will be a story she would rather not tell him. He thought his silence would give her a chance to back out of her decision. To brush her own words off like she tends to do when she nearly says something she wasn't ready to say. Yet he watches as she folds her hands in her lap waiting quietly for his answer. Silently telling him she was certain. "Sure." He finally answers her and watches as a smile pulls at the corners of her mouth threatening to break free of her hold.
"There was once a little boy whose father was more than simply respected. He was a genius in his own right. The little boy was proud of his father and looked up to him. His words outline the boy's life as they are taken to heart. The boy could hear people talking about his father. How great he is and how he was just like his father. Until one day. His father was shamed. He failed in his mission in order to save his teammates." As she speaks Kakashi's eyes widen. -How would she know this?- He wonders silently as he watches her. Her gaze deepening becoming more pained as she continues to speak. "Seeing how quickly everyone turned on his father the boy realized what his father did wrong. In a time of war and the mission as important as it was, should have come first. That it was more important to complete the mission and die than to live with the failure. Even after his father killed himself the boy lived with that resolve. On his own team, he flourished. Striving to surpass his father and no longer live in his shadow. Yet, he couldn't see what he was doing to his own team. Then to celebrate his promotion to jonin his Sensei allowed him to lead his team on an important mission." Kakashi's shock couldn't be contained making him lower his head, looking down so he was no longer openly looking in her direction. He couldn't understand how she knows any of this or even why she is telling him this story. It was becoming more than just a little unnerving to him.
"The mission went wrong. They were ambushed as they were crossing a river on their way to their destination. The girl on their team was taken captive. The loudmouth knucklehead of an Uchiha who had seemed useless to the boy before this left him so he could go save their teammate. The boy was more than willing to continue with the mission without them but the knucklehead's words stuck with him. Weighing on his shoulders. It was then he did the very thing he had cursed his father for. He abandoned the mission to save his team. When they got to where the girl was taken, things went well once they were inside. They thought they were home free until they were trapped. When the cave came down on them the knucklehead had been trapped under a rock. Believing he was dying he begged for the boy to grant his last request. To replace his damaged eye with his teammate's Sharingan before he died. In the end, the boy agreed. Yet even with the power of the Sharingan the rest of the mission didn't go smoothly at all. The girl had the three tails sealed inside of her in such a way that it would break free and threaten the village. Knowing this the boy was faced with an impossible decision. To kill his last remaining teammate or to put the village in jeopardy. With her urging him to kill her he did the only thing he could do. The boy ended her life."
She pauses as Kakashi's hands shake with his pent-up emotions. His confusion of how she could possibly know anything like this or to even this degree and pain as he watches the events replay in his mind as she speaks them. "The boy blamed himself. Honoring both of his fallen friends for what they were. But what the boy doesn't know is that the Knucklehead Uchiha had been found and helped off of under the boulder. He had witnessed his friend kill the very girl he loved. He cursed the boy, who he had given his Sharingan to and he left. Building a plan to get her back. Consumed with pain and hatred the knucklehead changed. So little does the boy know that he will see one of his friends again only this time. In a battle to the death. A battle where the world itself is at stake." With this twist in her story, Kakashi looks up in her direction. His eye widening as he stares at her in disbelief. She called this a story just as she had done last night. Her way of telling him something without outright doing it or maybe in a way she can add background to make him believe her.
"Where is the knucklehead in the story?" Kakashi hesitantly asks as his heart races in his chest. He watches as she bites at her bottom lip a moment before finally closing her eyes. "The knucklehead traveled the nations searching for a way to bring the girl he loves back. Every road was a dead end until he realized what he could do. It may not bring her back to life but he could cast a Tsukuyomi on the moon itself and capture the world in it. He would be able to bring her back in the genjutsu. But to do so he needed pawns to accomplish the necessary steps to achieve his ambition. One day he found what he was looking for. Three people trying to save their home. One with fiery orange hair, another with enchanting purple rinnegan eyes, the third a timid blue-haired girl. He watched as the orange-haired boy fell in the scuffle so he stepped in. Knowing that by losing their friend the other two would be more easily manipulated. When he found out their goal the knucklehead was wrought with joy. Their sheer desire to put an end to all wars would be easy to control. So he called himself Madara and offered to help them build an organization and lead them to peace. Claiming the rinnegan would be the leader and he would only advise them from the shadows. When in reality he is the one pulling the strings. His ultimate goal remaining the same, he explained to the two what he wanted to accomplish. Twisting his words so they would believe he wanted to end all of the death as well. The knucklehead watched in the background picking those he felt would benefit his cause and sending the two under his thumb to retrieve the ones he chose. Thus an organization of killers was born. He continues to pull the strings as he maintains his own cover. Only four people believe they know his true identity. One he never expected to truly learn who he really is. Knowing his power could outdo any of them he currently spends the majority of his time acting like a buffoon as he silently continues to spin his webs."
As Kakashi was filled with disbelief from what he had just heard. Kira got up to leave just as she had done the night before when she had finished her story. She was going to leave him again so all he could do was think about what she said instead of staying with him so he could sort out her story. Reaching up he catches her wrist before she could walk away and without thinking he gives her a tug. Pulling her down onto his lap. She gives a small whimper as her eyes widen. He watches as her cheeks darken from the position he had just put her in. "It's... Difficult to believe what you are trying to say." He speaks as he moves his gaze from her dark eyes towards her lips. She seems to have noticed where his gaze went since she bites down on her practically trembling bottom lip. "It's true. Tobi is Obito Uchiha." She speaks barely audibly. Just with her using the actual name his heart stops. Remembering as she said that Tobi was someone powerful enough she knew she stood no chance against him. Every time she stumbled on that name nearly saying his real one. All the pieces she had been trying to give him this whole time finally coming together. Obito... Is alive. Not just alive, he is using the Akatsuki to put the entire world into a genjutsu.
"How did you know?" He breathes and closes his eye a moment watching her aura with his Sharingan hidden from sight. With that one question, her cheeks pale and she looks away from him. Obviously a question she wishes he did not ask. When she begins to squirm to get away from him he tightens his hold on her to keep her from running. "Kira." He nearly flinches as his voice hardens becoming cold. He knew what he did the moment he heard it even without feeling her flinch in his arms. "Kira." He sighs lightening up his tone the image of the twelve-year-old child he had once taught on team seven coming to his mind. How vulnerable and scared she had looked when she had first told him about her immortality. The image in his mind mingles with the one in his lap. Her onyx eyes wavering as she refuses to meet his gaze. A woman that has blood on her hands. A woman who can jump into a battle without even the slightest hint of fear. Has always been afraid of revealing emotional parts of herself. Kakashi couldn't help but wonder if he was pushing her too far too fast. The last two days she has opened up more to him than she had this entire time and now. He wants answers.
"I told you last night." She speaks quietly enough he almost thought he had imagined her voice. "I explained the answer to your question in the story I told you." She continued as he watches her in pure confusion. She then sighs and looks down before he watches her close her eyes. "The girl found herself in a world that before she had watched as animated drawings on her computer. When she had finally returned to her family home she was thrown once again into a world that she had used to watch forty years prior." She breathes making him stiffen. She had only repeated parts of the story she had told him the night before but with even that much said he could hear her voice in his head as she told the entire story. "What does that mean?" He breathes and as the words leave his mouth she slouches in his grip. "It's like a book but only the characters are drawn out and move where you can watch and hear the story unfold instead of simply reading them and letting your imagination take control." She explains for him, the tone of her voice reverberating with utter defeat. "So we're in one of your... books?"
She gave only one single nod for her answer and he could feel his heart tighten as a lone tear brims against the slit of her eyelids. "My.. book. told me about your world and what will happen. I knew all of you before I even arrived. Only the book didn't have me or Aphrodite in it. It was just you, Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke when you visited the land of waves. It was just Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke to enter the chunin exams. It was only Sasuke to be marked by Orochimaru. I knew the third Hokage was going to die. I knew Sasuke was going to leave to go to Orochimaru. I already knew the Uchiha story, and yours. I know bits of Tsunade and Jiraya's past. So I know the three Obito seen that day when one had died were actually Jiraiya's students. I knew Orochimaru would try to capture the three tails. I knew that Asuma would confront Hidan and Kakuzu just as I know he was supposed to die instead of me being there to save him. I know in a few days' time Sasuke will kill Orochimaru but he won't return to the village. He'll be after Itachi if I can't get to him first and tell him the truth. Itachi will die by Sasuke's hands if I can't prevent it. Jiraiya will find the Akatsuki's main hideout and be killed by Pein. Pein will attack the village and kill nearly everyone inside only to bring everyone back inevitably putting his faith in Naruto to bring peace to the world. During that battle, Tsunade will overdo it and there will be a debate about making you the acting sixth Hokage but Danzo will step in and take over. He will meet everyone at the Kage summit and push for war. He will inform everyone that Sasuke is a rogue ninja and if seen should be killed. The actions at the Kage summit will bring about the next shinobi war where the villages will fight against the Akatsuki. I know Zetsu is actually a creation and there are so many of them that the villages will mostly be fighting against him. Many will die and Kabuto will use Orochimaru's reanimation jutsu to bring back not just the Akatsuki who have been killed but he will also reanimate people like Madara. I know everything Kakashi, and I have to pick and choose what should be changed and what shouldn't be."
She sighs and finally gets up as he is stunned into silence from everything she has told him. Instead of leaving however she stands next to him and looks up at the moon. "I couldn't stop Sasuke because he needed to train under Orochimaru for what is to come. Naruto needed to train under the perv and the third needed to die to bring Tsunade back to the village. Without her many more will die, and Sakura never would have studied under her. Those three would never become powerful enough to deal with the war. I saved Asuma due to my own weakness. I didn't want his child growing up without him. And even with my interference, this mission went exactly how it was supposed to. I didn't save the boy's chakra network. But Obito and Deidara made it before you guys could have the Anbu relieve you of your mission, so Deidara couldn't kill them." She pauses again and takes in a breath then looks down at Kakashi's awaiting gaze. "Naruto achieves his dream, he becomes Hokage but he will inevitably resort to using that jutsu and he will lose the ability to wield chakra in his arm. I even know what the future children from this generation will look like. But I don't know much more than that, I thought the Shippuden series drug out too long and I would inevitably become distracted so the Boruto series never really caught my eye. It felt like I was missing a lot of the story because I would jump... books."
"Boruto?" He asks as his brows knit together, just as he was about to fully grasp an understanding of what she is telling him, she throws something like that out. "Naruto and Hinata's son." She says so matter of factly as if it was something he should have already known. When she realizes her own tone she sighs and shakes her head. "Sorry, I got carried away." She then sits down next to him on the roof drawing his gaze more fully upon her. The moonlight paled her lightly tanning skin, reflecting like stars off of her onyx eyes. "I wanted to tell you everything for so long." She sighs slouching her shoulders as much as her injuries would allow. "More so lately, after I felt Damen in this world. I wanted to tell you everything. I wanted to avoid the war, to end this charade so I could focus on trying to protect everyone from Damen. He is a threat to this world. That much I know. but my book was destroyed." She sighs heavily. "Book?" Kakashi couldn't help but ask as he recalls seeing her sitting back on the tree in a training ground with a book on her lap writing in it. "Like a journal?" This question seems to make her chuckle lightly as she shakes her head. "I actually made it. It was a direct line to the one I made for Itachi. We could talk back and forth without the need for birds or coded messages like he does with Jiraiya."
"Itachi huh. That's his source of information on the Akatsuki." Kakashi speaks aloud as he realizes it and the smile that shows on her face was enough to make his heart flutter. The gentle smile meeting her eyes in a way he's never seen before. If he didn't know her he would think she was an innocent gentle person. The look on her face brought up emotions within him. Emotions he isn't used to. Along with the happiness of just seeing her like this came fierce jealousy for he knew this look was only because they started talking about Itachi Uchiha. "Yes, while I was with him and Fishface..." He couldn't help the laugh that escapes him from hearing what she had just called Kisame Hoshigaki. Fishface. "Anyway, while I was with those two I would help send Itachi's messages off so I guess you could say for the last three years Itachi and I were his informants."
"I see." That is all he could say in reaction to this bit of information. With his words, her smile vanishes and she looks away from him. Making him feel guilty for reasons he wasn't quite ready to openly admit. "Itachi won't find out until after Deidara and Obito take the three tales to the designated spot that the reason why they don't just go out after all of the tailed beasts right away is that they have to seal them in order otherwise the statue will crumble. They already put a strain on the statue which is how they figured it out."
"What is the point of the tailed beasts?" Kakashi asks, knowing that Kira truly believes what she is saying and he couldn't help but wonder if she told him that story about his life just to help him believe her. "He is going to summon the ten tails." She states almost sounding bored with the conversation already. He himself isn't sure if he believes everything she has told him tonight but one thing was clear to him. If she is telling him the truth then this entire time he has known her, she has kept a lot of secrets to herself. He couldn't help but feel as if she had deliberately kept silent to watch all of them chase their tails for her own amusement even though he was certain that doing as much wasn't in Kira's nature.
