Chapter 16
It takes me a few minutes to process the implications of what he's said. "Wh-what?"
"I'm your brother. You're my baby sister."
"No!" I scream my denial. "It's not true. How can that be? I don't look anything like you!"
"That just means you resemble your mother more than our father." I'm surprised at how calm he is about this whole situation. It's like he's already made up his mind that I'm his sister. He stands with his hands in his pockets in a lazy stance, keeping his eye on me. But in his eye I can read his wariness.
"Kakashi Sensei? I think she's about to pass out." Naruto's voice warns him.
I think Naruto's right. All of a sudden I feel tired and weak. My ears are filled with a hollow ringing. I can feel the strength go out of my legs, and my knees hit the ground. Almost instantly, they're both at my side. I cringe instinctively away from Kakashi as he reaches out to me, grabbing onto Naruto's arm.
"She's really scared; I've never seen her freak out like this."
"She's been travelling for a long time. She just recently defeated an enemy that terrified her. Also, she's discovered a lot about herself in a short time. It's little wonder that this is such a harsh shock for her."
It irks me that they're talking about me like I'm not around. I grind my teeth and pull some inner strength out of thin air and rise to my feet. "I'm fine." I take a deep calming breath. "I just can't blindly believe you're my brother, what proof do you have?"
"Come with me." Kakashi rises and walks away, leaving the ball in my court. I could follow and see his proof, and end up walking into a trap. I could stay here with Naruto, stay safe. Or lose the chance to know my brother. It's Naruto that finally settles me. "Go on, Red!" He encourages me. "You don't know how lucky you are. Kakashi is an awesome ninja. I bet he'll teach you all kinds of cool stuff." He sounds more excited than I feel, but I trust him. I know he would never lead me wrong.
"If I don't come to you, when morning breaks come find me." I whisper in his ear before taking off. Just in case.
I chase after Kakashi's footprints. He moves fast, I think ruefully. I reflect on how quickly he was able to disappear, literally in the blink of an eye. He's very dangerous. I can't figure out what advantage he gains by claiming me as his sister. He must want me to follow, because he's made his foot prints obvious. I don't know if it's meant to lure me into a false feeling of security, or if he truly does not want to lose me. Either way, I throw caution to the wind and follow every step, right up to a door of a house.
The house has two stories, but is small; about what I would expect of a man who lives alone. Before I can knock on the door it flies open, and Kakashi stands in the door way looking down at me. "So Red, you decided to follow?"
"I need to know." I say honestly.
He steps aside to let me enter. The door leads directly into his kitchen. I can see that this room is rarely used. It's not dirty, but isn't exactly sparkling clean either. After all, he is a single man living alone who is working away from the home. He leads me into his living room. A small, comfortable room with bare walls, three long couches, and a medium sized TV, and a coffee table. From where I stand, I can see this room ends into a hall way that leads to a stair case. I assume his bedroom is upstairs. Without waiting to be told, I take a seat on one of the couches. I try my best to relax, but my heart thrums nervously when he picks a seat on the same couch, though on the opposite end. His quietness unnerves me, and soon I can stand the anxiety no more.
"What makes you think you're my brother?" I ask again for what feels like the millionth time.
"I came home a few evenings ago to a letter on my door. Do you want to see it?" He hands me an envelope that I accept with shaking hands.
As I unfold the note within, a picture drops of my lap. I pick it up as I read.
"Kakashi,
You don't know me, and I won't pretend to know you. But I knew your father. He was my lover for a while and I miss him every day with every beat of my heart. My name is Taiyo and I bore your father a baby girl soon after his death, a daughter named Luna. Just as you take after your father, she takes after me. Because of whom I am, what I am, it is not safe for me to be in her life. She is well past the age to be training to become a great ninja like you and your father. I know deep down, that your father would trust only you to undertake this task. She needs you, her blood brother, to help her. I am sorry I did not allow you to know of me or her until now.
She and I are both enchantresses. This makes her rare and very powerful, and do not forget she also has the Hatake blood in her, so there is no telling what she can do. Kakashi, I am sending Luna to you, to be cared for and protected by you, Saskue Uchiha, and the Fox Child. Please Kakashi Hatake, care of me and your father's baby.
Taiyo the Enchantress.
Next, I look at the picture she tucked in with the note. It's my mother, heavy with child, smiling up adoringly at a man that could be Kakashi's brother. The man smiles at the camera, one hand placed on Taiyo's belly. On the back a note is scrawled. "So you know what she looks like."
Tears crash down my cheeks. "They look like us." I choke out.
He just nods.
"Is our father…?"
"Dead." He confirms.
I nod, trying to take everything in calmly and rationally. "So you believe this letter?"
"When our father died, he left me a note. It asked me to find my sister, to ensure she was safe and trained properly. I did not speak of this note to anyone ever, and burned it as soon as I read it. But I never forgot it. No one ever dreamed I even had any living family left, my mother is long dead. When I got this picture and letter, I knew it could only be the truth."
I start to sob, throwing my arms around my brother's neck, crying into his chest. His body stiffens under my unexpected touch, but after a few minutes he relaxes and a hand pets my back. He lets me cry for a while. I cry sorrow for my unknown father's death. Tears of sympathy for my mother, for having to make the hard decision to let me go. Tears of joy, for this unexpected blessing of finding my brother.
Soon, I stop my tears and wipe my eyes, feeling embarrassed. "I'm so sorry. I'm just so overwhelmed."
He waves off my apologies. "Tell me who you are, where have you been all this time? "
We start our relationship with a night full of long stories. I tell him of my brining up. I sing him the lullaby, he like that. I can see the imprint of a smile behind his mask. I tell him about my ability, what I've learned to do on my own. I tell him how I killed Twin, and the other man who kidnapped me. I tell him how Naruto and the others saved me over and over again.
He tells me about our father. How he worshipped him for all the 14 years he had him. He tells me about his fall from grace, the dishonor he suffered for breaking the rules. He says that during that last year of his life he spent a lot of time away from home, this must have been when he met my mother. Kakashi thinks that he was too ashamed to bring her into his real life, and kept her a secret. He tells me how he found his body. The pain. The nightmares. The guilt. He tells me a few stories about being an Anbu Black Op. As a grand finale, he shows me his other eye. I inspect the jagged scar that cuts through it. When he opens it for me, I see the sharingan.
"But..you're…you're not a Uchiha?"
"No, I'm not. But that's another story for another time, Red." He glances out his living room window, to see the morning sun rising. "You should get some rest. Taiyo was here to arrange some things for you."
"Mother was here? When?"
"About 24 hours ago. She told me some things. She even let me see some of her abilities in action." I can see him smiling under his mask again. "Oh, and she got your room ready. I guess she figured I wouldn't have a clue how to set up a room for a teenage girl."
As we walk to the stairs, I notice a door hidden under them. "What's in there?" I ask pointing.
"Hmm? Oh weapons mostly. You're forbidden to go in there for right now."
At the top of the stairs there's a hallway that branches off into three closed doors. The one to the right is Kakashi's room. The middle door leads to the bathroom. The left door is mine. Kakashi stands behind me as I open that one up, and peer inside. The walls in here are bare as well. There's a bed, a nightstand, a desk, and drawer and a closet full of clothes. On the nightstand sits a framed picture. I pick it up and see that it's a copy of the one my mother left for Kakashi. Inside the nightstand drawer is a note from Taiyo.
Listen to your brother. Be good. I love you.
-Mom
"This is all so weird, I've never owned one before." I whisper to myself.
"Never owned one, what?" Kakashi asks.
"Anything."
Kakashi backs away, as if he can sense another tear fest coming up. "Good night, Red. Sleep well, because tomorrow I'm going to keep a promise to our father and train you."
As the door shuts behind him, I fly to my window. A huge tree sits just outside it, with the branches within easy leaping distance. I open the window up and take a running leap, landing quietly. I stand in the early morning light, grinning as I feel a gentle breeze in my hair.
"Psst! Red!"
I look down to see Naruto smiling up at me. "Naruto! It's true, Kakashi really is my brother." I smile happily.
"That's great!" Naruto starts to scramble up towards me, mischievous smile on his face until Kakashi's voice booms out. "NARUTO! I thought I told you to go home."
Naruto squawks in surprise and falls out of the tree. "Uh, Kakashi Sensei. I was just on my way there."
"You're on the wrong street."
"I was taking the long way?"
"If you think you're going to be sneaking here at all hours after my sister, I'll see to it that you're so busy you won't have the time or energy to chase her." I giggle, until he turns his attention to me. "And Red, if you think you can sneak out on me, I question your intelligence."
The tree may have been an escape route provided by my mother, but it certainly wasn't an oversight on the part of big brother Kakashi.