Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. I'm thinking of getting Masashi to let me have Kakashi, though...
A/N: This took forever to write and even longer to put up! It's all because of my stupid summer reading. Guns, Germs, and Steel...honestly, it's a miracle I made it through without putting a bullet through my brain. MAN! that book is soooooooooo boring.
This hasn't deleted itself yet, YAY! It's done that twice! But many thanks to everyone who reviewed! Of the three times this has been posted, I have about 20ish reviews! Keep reviewing!
Anyway, because of that, this might be the last chapter for awhile. For I am running out of ideas! I know the ending, but...it's always the middle part. At some point, though, Jiraiya has to show up, just because I think he's cool.
"Mister Kakashi, sir…"
Kakashi never took his eyes off the memorial stone. "Yes?"
"Daddy wants me to give you a message!"
Smiling slightly, Kakashi knelt down to look the little boy in the eyes.
"You're Uchiha Itachi, right?"
The little boy smiled. He was only about three or four, with the typical dark hair and eyes of the Uchiha clan. Kakashi guessed that, when he got older, he'd be the typical Uchiha heartbreak too, like the rest of his family.
"Daddy wants you to come see him." Itachi tugged at his hand impatiently. "Come on, Mister Kakashi!"
"Right now?" Kakashi wondered aloud. Itachi pulled harder, trying to get him to move.
"Yes, now!" the little boy cried. "Come on, let's go!"
They moved back out into the city, the little boy leading the teenager through the crowded streets at a run. People stopped what they were doing to watch, smiling at the sight.
"That's Hatake Kakashi!" somebody whispered in the crowd.
I can hear you! Kakashi felt like screaming. It seemed so foolish to him that they would talk about him like that where he could hear them—didn't they know he'd catch every word? But he didn't yell, didn't confront them. Shinobi were forbidden from showing emotion, and Itachi looked so happy and proud of himself; Kakashi didn't have the heart to spoil it for him.
"Wow, Itachi!" said one little girl. "That's so cool!"
Itachi puffed out his chest, strutting his stuff…and tripped over his own feet. His face contorted, and tears began to pour down his cheeks.
"It doesn't look that bad," Kakashi examined his foot. "It's just a twisted ankle. Do you want me to give you a piggy back ride home?"
Itachi's eyes got very wide. "Do you mean it?"
Kakashi nodded. "That way, you won't have to walk on it and hurt yourself even more."
Itachi looked thrilled. He climbed up onto Kakashi's back and beamed out at the world, no longer upset.
"So what does your father want to talk to me about?" Kakashi asked him.
"I dunno," Itachi replied. "The Sharingan, I think." He paused. "What's it like, having it?"
"Weird."
And it was. He could see the future movements of those around him, predict where they would go, see their flow of chakra. Against his normal vision, the effect was enough to make him constantly dizzy and disoriented. He took great effort to hide it, though, from everyone—especially Rin. He could never forgive himself if he caused her to worry.
"Turn right here," Itachi pointed the way with one chubby finger.
Uchiha Mikoto, Itachi's mother, was waiting for them at the gate, shielding her eyes from the sun with one long, pale hand.
"Hello, Kakashi!" she called, smiling and waving. "Are you hungry? We're about to have lunch!"
"YAY!" Itachi yelled, bouncing up and down, nearly causing Kakashi to drop him.
"No, thank you, ma'am." He set Itachi down carefully on the road, where he continued to jump around. "He twisted his ankle, so I carried him home. But it seems it got better."
"Thank you." Mikoto picked up her son. "My husband is waiting for you inside, in his office."
He followed her into the house, laughing silently at the faces Itachi made at him over Mikoto's shoulder.
"He's through there," she said, gesturing to a door to her right. "Come, Itachi, let's have a look at your foot."
The room beyond the door was a spacious office, or would have been, if not for the bookshelves crowded into every spare inch of the room. They were full of files, books, and random stacks of paper. Wedged into a corner of the room was a small desk, and behind it, the raven-haired head of the Uchiha clan, Uchiha Fugaku. Kakashi didn't know much about him, apart from the fact that he headed the police force of Konohagakure.
"You wanted to see me, sir?" he asked.
The man glanced up at him from the file in his hands. "OH! Kakashi, yes, I did. About your Sharingan."
Kakashi got the feeling that he was supposed to reply to this in some form, but he couldn't think of anything to say. An awkward silence fell in the room for a few minutes until Fugaku spoke again.
"Your Sharingan is constantly active, correct?"
Kakashi nodded.
Fugaku sighed heavily and buried his face in his hands. "I was afraid of that. Kakashi…since Obito gave you his eye, have you been getting tired more easily?"
Kakashi considered this, thinking about everything that had happened in the past couple weeks—how he had collapsed out of sheer exhaustion nearly twenty times at both the memorial stone and at home, and once in the streets. He had thought it was simply the effects of his sorrow and depression were having on his body, of containing tears and choking back sobs; he had forgotten how many times he had started awake from nightmares about that day, only to collapse once more into fitful, dream-filled sleep.
"Yes," he replied finally. "But I never thought that it had anything to with the Sharingan. I don't believe it, really."
"Like any other jutsu, the Sharingan requires chakra to power it. Without realizing, you've been continually using up your chakra and putting yourself in a constant state of near-collapse." he explained. "You'll have to start covering it up."
Kakashi gaped at him.
"Cover it up…? With what?"
Fugaku shrugged. "I don't know, Kakashi. An eyepatch? Start a new fashion trend."
Surprisingly, Kakashi was not thrilled by the suggestion. (A/N: that was sarcasm, by the way) "Isn't there anything else?" He reached up and pulled down his headband, until it covered his left eye and the Sharingan. "Will this work instead?"
The older man smiled. "That's perfect."
The walk home was easier than Kakashi had expected, but was not without its problems. He now had a very large blind spot that seemed to be constantly attacked by the people around him; he kept running into things and bumping into people without realizing.
Damn it, Obito, he thought. I know you meant well, but this is just one more problem I don't want to deal with right now.
"Kakashi."
He froze instantly at the sound of the familiar voice. His heart beat very hard, very fast without warning, while all around him the air seemed to grow hot and cold by turns. Was it panic at finally having to see her after all that had happened? Or was it something else?
"You've been avoiding me."
She fell into step at his side, gently steering him away from anything he could run into.
"I haven't."
"You're a liar, Kakashi, and not a very good one either."
He smiled ruefully. "Maybe."
She turned him forcefully to face her, her blue eyes burning with rage.
"Are we ever going to talk about it? Or are you just going to avoid the whole thing for the rest of your life?"
He swallowed hard. "Rin, I'm not avoiding anything…"
"Liar!" She shoved him hard in the chest. He stumbled, and fell over backwards hard into a puddle.
"You just don't understand, do you?" she snarled angrily. "You don't get it at all."
"I have a feeling I'm missing something here." He snapped back. "Did I do something wrong?"
"Everything!" She buried her face in her hands. "Everything's been wrong…since…since he died."
Kakashi looked down at his hands, at the ground, at anything but Rin.
"He loved you, you know."
She nodded. "Yeah."
"That's why…"
"Don't start. Please."
He pushed himself to his feet and went to her, pulling her into a hug.
"It's okay, Rin." He whispered. "I swear, it'll be okay."
She shook her head. "No, it's not. You don't understand."
"What don't I understand?"
It happened so fast that Kakashi barely understood what was going on. Somehow, his mask was off, pulled down around his chin, and she was kissing him. With all the shocking and strange things that had happened to him in his life, this topped the list. What was he supposed to do? Kiss her back? Stand here and let her get it over with? Did he want her kissing him? His brain seemed to have temporarily shut down.
Finally, she pulled away.
"That's what you don't understand." she said softly, and walked away.
Leaving him to stand there alone in the street, his heart beating hard and fast, unable to understand what had just happened to him.
Me, being evil and bored--that's this chapter. When I started writing this chapter it was Gai and not Itachi who came to get Kakashi...but I was having problems keeping Gai in character. So THAT got scratched!
I have no idea if I'm going to make this a Rin/Kakashi sort of deal...my thought it is probably not.But like I said, I'm running out of ideas and it might create some big drama for the ending (considering I have that planned, at least)
Anyone with any ideas, please send them in! So I can keep writing this story!
In the meantime, I'll go work on my new Envy story and desperately try to answer questions for Guns, Germs, and Steel...
...damn AP World History...