Like most things in Kakashi's life that didn't require his immediate attention in a life or death situation, he ignored and buried it. Things around the house were tense between him and Aqua, but the others hadn't noticed. Really, they avoided each other like the plague and were rarely in the same room at the same time. Thankfully, they hadn't had to go on any quests with one another the past few days, and he was perfectly fine with that.
Kakashi found himself walking along the streets of Axel, committing landmarks around the place to memory so he wouldn't need anyone in Kazuma's group to guide him.
"Hey, have you been to that shopkeeper I told you about? The one on the street over there?" A bystander asked a friend of his, pointing his finger to the street to their left.
The other man sighed heavily, "Yeah, I did. I tell you, everything in there seems like it was meant to kill a person! And some things were pretty cheap, but other stuff was ludicrously priced!"
Kakashi walked past the two, interested in such devices. Things that could kill things and some of it cheap? The one-eyed man would call that a steal. Of course, ninja tools were something he would never buy cheaply, as that would be asking for tool failure on the field which could spell your death easily, but things in this world didn't seem to need to apply to similar rules. You just had to find the right person with a decent price is all.
Once he rounded the corner, he spotted a small store with the name "Wiz's Magic Item Shop".
"Well, that seems to be the one." He walked up to the door and opened it, a cacophony of jingles ringing throughout the store as the door tickled the bells. There, he found a woman, seemingly around his age more or less tending to some items on the shelf behind the counter. He cleared his throat to catch her attention as he approached the counter.
The woman turned around in surprise. "Oh! I'm so sorry, I was so focused on these potions that I didn't even hear the bells." She bowed a bit in apology.
Kakashi merely waved her off. "Don't worry about it. Name's Kakashi, by the way." He offered her a hand to shake. "Nice to meet you, Ms...?"
She smiled at him before shaking his as she said, "My name is Wiz, the pleasure is all mine, Kakashi."
He dipped his head at her as a nod. "Likewise. I heard you sold magic items here, things that could be used to kill monsters?" Kakashi had enough tact to realize that if he didn't specify what he was killing, that might come across as odd and off-putting.
"Of course! Right this way, please." She walked to the left side of the shop, debating on which item to show him first before settling on this quaint little red liquid. "See this potion? If you drink it, all the monsters in the area will come out of hiding to approach you, making it easy to lure out rare animals."
"That sounds pretty useful-"
"The downside being that you are completely exhausted after you drink it, making you vulnerable to attacks from said rare animals."
Kakashi could hardly believe his ears. Perhaps it was meant as something you use in a group? The receptionist at the guild did mention most people went into parties to make things easier...
Still, "I see. Do you have an item that can immobilize a monster in place?"
The large breasted woman held a finger to her chin in contemplation before seemingly thinking of something. She excused herself as she went to the back of the establishment to fish something out of storage before returning with a small box in tow.
"This could be what you're looking for. With this potion, you can throw it at an enemy to completely freeze them solid!" She said proudly.
"Now this is something I could-"
"However, it is nigh impossible to break the ice. Meaning you can't kill the monster in the first place."
What the hell is wrong with the stuff in this store? Not mentioning his displeasure out loud, Kakashi smiled at her. "Um, actually, I have somewhere to be. But thanks for showing me some of what you had for sale."
Wiz looked surprised, but nodded nonetheless. "Of course sir! Please tell your friends about this store!"
Somehow feeling guilty at her lack of awareness, he looked back at her and told her he would.
Except he wouldn't.
Once Kakashi was done getting a feel of the town, he made his way to Kazuma's mansion. He had hoped that he could use some kind of potion that would have been able to help in his upcoming trip but looks like it might need to turn into a recon one. But first, he needed some information.
"Kazuma, where's the Demon King's castle located?"
The boy looked up from his place on the couch, playing with the resident black cat without a care in the world. That cat never did show Kakashi much affection at all, but considering Kakashi caught that one stupid cat as a genin all the time, he couldn't care less.
"Why do you ask?"
"I need to go over there." Kakashi stated bluntly.
"Oh." Kazuma blandly responded before the realization of what Kakashi asked dawned on him. "Wait, what?!"
"I am going to the Demon King's castle. So, where is it?"
"You can't go there! You'll die!"
"Maybe."
Baffled, Kazuma sat up as Chomosuke jumped off his stomach. "That's it?! Maybe?!"
"That's about the size of it. Anyway, it's fine. I'll ask Megumin or Darkness."
"You can't. They both left for Megumin's explosion practice."
Kakashi cocked an eyebrow, "Aren't you the one she always wants to go with?"
"I don't know what you are trying to imply with that, but I told her I didn't want to today."
"I can't imagine she was too happy about that."
"Now that you mention it, she did seem pretty disappointed. But I'm sure she's just upset that I wouldn't be there to rate her explosion."
"...right. I guess I have to ask..!" Kakashi cut himself off as he realized who that last person was. Crap.
"Knowing Aqua, she'd be the type to ask to go somewhere and not even know where the hell it is."
"No harm in asking, I suppose." Steeling himself, Kakashi decided now was as good a time as ever.
A knock at Aqua's door made her prance up to it and talk to it.
"Hey, who's knocking at the great Aqua's door? You better have brought food!"
"Uh, it's Kakashi."
"O-oh. What do you want?" She spoke through the door to him. It didn't escape Kakashi that she had yet to actually open the door, but at least she was talking.
"I was hoping you could tell me where the Demon King's castle is?"
That caught Aqua's attention. Enough that it made her open the door to Kakashi's surprise. "Why do you want to know?"
"I'll be making a trip there if I can."
"Don't tell me you're going to fight the Demon King all on your own." Aqua made a questioning gaze at him with her hands on her hips. "Even I wouldn't do that."
"Not really, I wanted to do it as more of a recon mission."
Aqua's eyes sparkled. "Like a ninja!?"
Kakashi made a deadpan expression at her. "I am a ninja, so..."
"Can I come?!" She asked like a puppy who wanted all the attention.
"I don't think you really are inclined for stealth." Kakashi wanted to turn her down gently.
Aqua clicked her tongue in disagreement. "Too bad, you owe me for being a big meanie before." She turned around and started packing a few things. "And since I won't tell you, you'll need me as your guide."
Kakashi sighed, but relented. If it earned him her forgiveness, then he supposed it was a small price to pay. Still, "Aren't you scared of me? Why would you want to go somewhere alone with me?"
"I-I wasn't scared! I was just caught off guard. Now I know not to wake you up like that. I..um.." She mumbled the rest of her sentence. Kakashi, not having his sharingan eye open, couldn't read her lips.
"Sorry, what did you say?"
"I'm sorry." Woah, she was apologizing to him? "You're a soldier, aren't you?"
"I am."
She opened another drawer with her blue signature outfits. "Then I should have known better than to wake up someone who fights for a living by touching them." She looked back at him. "I read that in a comic book once."
While she was right, it felt wrong for only her to apologize. "Then I'm sorry too. I didn't want to hurt you like that, it was just instinct taking over."
Grabbing some of her clothes, she threw them on the bed haphazardly before smiling softly at him. "It's okay."
"Then I'm glad we could get that settled-"
Aqua's stare turned into a cute glare that was likely supposed to be menacing. "But I still won't forgive you until you take me along! Hmph!" She looked away from him.
"You already twisted my hand, you can come." Kakashi was wilting on the spot.
Immediately, she dropped her attitude. "I know, I just wanted to hear you say it."
This girl was going to make Kakashi exceed his daily quota of social interaction within a single conversation.
Once they packed enough for a few days travel, they made their way to the front door.
Kazuma looked over at them lazily. "Oi, where are you two going? Kakashi, I expected more from you, taking Aqua with you of all people."
"What are you saying, Kazuma? Kakashi and I are going to be super secret ninjas and spy on the Devil King's castle!" She pulled some masks out of thin air. "Look! I even made disguises!"
Kakashi looked at the masks in confusion. When the heck did she make those? "That's nice and all Aqua, but I already wear a mask."
She stared at him as that realization dawned on her. "That's okay! You can wear this one over your normal one!" She handed him a white porcelain mask, with a seemingly male face devoid of any defining features. Completely anonymous. Unfortunately, he couldn't wear his headband with it. So he hung the mask on his hip for now. It felt like having his Anbu mask with him again, so it was a comfortable feeling.
Kazuma seemed disturbed by their masks, Aqua's being a female blank face. "Creepy, it makes me want to look away."
"Then my design is perfect!"
Kakashi had to agree, but it would have been better to have a dark mask. Still, she was happy with it so he let her have her moment. "Good job, Aqua."
She beamed at his praise. "Kazuma, Kazuma-"
"Yes, I'm Kazuma."
"-you should praise me more like Kakashi here. I think ten times a day is sufficient-"
Kazuma sneered at her. "Can you just go already? Kakashi, please escort the trash from the property."
"Why I oughta-!" Aqua lifted her fists ready to pummel the boy.
Kakashi chuckled a bit with his deep voice before stopping Aqua from assaulting Kazuma by placing a hand on her shoulder. "Let's go. The sooner we go out, the sooner we can come back."
"Hmph. You got lucky, Kazuma. Next time, Kakashi won't be here to save your sorry butt."
"Oh? You want to talk about butts? Well, I'm not the guy flaunting his ass all over town every day with those skimpy outfits of yours." He shook his head in mock disappointment. "Seriously, even Darkness dresses decently."
"Excuse me, Kakashi. This NEET wants to go to Heaven, and I'm all too happy to grant that wish."
Kazuma jumped up from the couch. "Bring it on! I'll use steal on your clothes right in front of Kakashi!" He began making odd hand movements.
"You pervert! How could you hope to defile a Goddess in such a way?!" She covered herself with her arms.
Abruptly, Kazuma lowered his hand. "Eh? Who wants to see that dirty body of yours?"
"You take that back, you pedophile!"
"You're wrong! Megumin and Yunyun are fair game! We're only two years apart! I'm in the clear legally!"
"Only a weirdo like you would have thought of such justifications! Come here so I can- wah!" Aqua was cut off by Kakashi picking her up over his shoulder. "Kakashi! Put me down!"
"Hm? I would, but you and Kazuma are gonna be at it for a while it seems. Plus, I ran out of patience. We're leaving. Kazuma, let Megumin and Darkness know about the situation. We'll be back in two days or so, I think."
Kazuma inclined his head. "Sure, but keep it as a recon mission yeah? Aqua will cry if you get into a fight with her around."
"I'll keep that in mind." Aqua pouted but could do nothing to refute it.
Once they both had secured a carriage for themselves, the two sat in an awkward silence.
"So... Kakashi, Kazuma told me how you did some cool move back on the goblin hunting quest."
"My jutsu, I'm assuming."
"Yeah, Megumin explained it and the whole chakra system thing to me and Darkness. But I wanted to ask you something."
"Oh?"
"What's with that red eye you have? Is that another jutsu of yours?"
Kakashi breathed in deeply for a moment before exhaling just as long. "It was a gift from a friend after I lost my own." He delved no deeper than that and Aqua thankfully didn't pry.
"Okay. So, how does it work? What is it?"
"It's called the sharingan. It used to be pretty common in my village. Anyway, it allows me to copy people's jutsus and trap people in illusions if I want to, among other things."
"So why do you cover it?" She asked curiously. "Wouldn't it be better to keep it uncovered?"
"It drains my stamina and chakra rapidly when I have it exposed since it isn't my eye to begin with." He tapped his headband. "Hence, I keep it covered." Kakashi shrugged. "Plus, people are scared of it, as you can attest to. Especially to civilians like yourself."
Aqua shivered in her seat. "You're right about that."
Feeling more open to conversation, Kakashi asked a question of his own.
"How did you meet Kazuma? You both seem quite comfortable with one another."
"Hmph. I've known that shut-in for months now. He's the reason I'm stuck here! I was sitting pretty in the heavenly realm before Kazuma took me down here."
If Kakashi hadn't been sent here the way he was, he would have considered the girl absolutely insane. But hey, most ninjas were at least a little crazy. What troubled him was the fact that in order for Kazuma to see Aqua, he would have had to die in his world. It shook him a bit, to imagine Naruto or the others dying that young.
Then again, Obito and Rin had died even younger than that.
"I see. I assume you've known him the longest then?"
"Mhmm! Megumin came third and Darkness not long after!"
"That's how that party of yours formed, huh? How quaint."
They continued the small talk for a little while. Aqua telling Kakashi of how Kazuma attempted sexual assault on Megumin in her room at the Crimson Demon Village multiple times and Kakashi told her bits and pieces of the Leaf Village in return. Nothing remotely substantial, but enough to keep her interested.
Soon enough, night fell and the carriage driver called for them to make camp as moving forward in such darkness was asking to run into something. Kakashi almost offered to take watch out of habit before realizing that he wasn't on a mission for the Leaf Village.
"Aqua, are there any threats to watch out for at night in this land?"
She put a finger on her chin before mentioning, "The only thing to worry about around here are maybe some bandits. Monsters don't come around this way often because they are afraid of the Demon King and his army. But bandits are rarely seen, you'd have to be super unlucky to come across them."
Kakashi considered himself pretty unlucky, or lucky, depending on how you looked at it. Lucky to constantly survive, or unlucky enough to outlive all of his friends.
"I'll keep watch for anything suspicious. Go to sleep."
"If that's what you really want to do, I won't stop you." Aqua went to sleep without any further orders. Kakashi kept watch as promised, but eventually Aqua woke up again.
She poked him in the shoulder. "Um, I'm going to go over to the forest right there. I.. need to wash my hands."
Kakashi looked at her with skepticism. "Wash your hands? Can't you create water out of thin air?"
"Gurk! I just need to take care of some things."
"You need to pee?"
"Goddesses don't go to the bathroom."
"..."
"..."
"Go ahead." He waved her off. "But be careful. We don't know what could be lurking around here."
"Yeah, yeah, I got it."
"Shout if you need me."
"Pervert."
"Sorry?"
"Nothing! Nothing! Will do!" She speed walked to the trees.
"Sigh, that girl is a trouble magnet. I can feel it in my bones." After ten minutes, Aqua had yet to return and Kakashi grew worried. She couldn't have gone that far, right? He was still contemplating going after her and being berated before he heard her shout. This awoke the carriage driver, but Kakashi told him to stay where he was. There was no need to complicate things with someone else around.
He revealed his sharingan eye for better clarity in the dark woods. He jumped in Aqua's general direction where he landed in a clearing. Behind him, he heard the signature cock of a crossbow.
"Drop your weapons and turn around, slowly."
"I don't see why I should."
Another voice joined the conversation, this one was quite nasally. "If you don't, your friend here will be toast."
"Kakashi!"
"!" The man immediately dropped his weapons, keeping his left eye closed as he channeled more chakra towards it before turning around. In the darkness, he could see Aqua on her knees, with three men around her. One had what was vaguely a sharp knife held to her throat.
"Good. Now, you're gonna hand over all you got on you, see? Then, we might let this little sexy thing walk free."
Aqua gulped in clear fear at the implications of the man's wording of her. She felt her heartbeat quicken and the tears roll down her face.
Kakashi saw that and grew furious. Not that he let that show, and he made a show of being calm. "You're making a mistake. Let her go, and we can forget any of this happened."
One of the men, the one with brass knuckles near Aqua laughed. "You hear that boys? Guy said we're making a mistake!" The other two laughed in unison.
"The real mistake is not taking this chick with us! She could fetch a hefty price once we're out of this kingdom."
It was ready. "I'll give you one last chance to let her go. This is my final warning."
"Eat shit, asshole."
Kakashi opened his left eye, revealing the Mangekyou sharingan. It took a lot out of him to use it, but he needed something instant to save Aqua. He was fast, but a mere twitch could spell the end for Aqua. No, it wasn't worth the risk. Without a moment to waste as the bandits were shocked at the sight, he yelled.
"Kamui!"
