Chapter Three: Sharingan Uncovered
Shelby woke up early the next morning. What a crazy night that had been! Turning of the alarm that had yet to go off, she thought beck to Kakashi's astounding display of power. Who would have guessed what he could do just by looking at him?
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As Shelby made her way to the kitchen to make coffee for Noon, she glimpsed Kakashi sleeping fitfully of the couch. Shelby inspected him, wondering what plauged his dreams so. Curiosity overcoming her better judgement, Shelby moved toward the sleeping nin. Ever so gently pulling back his hitaiate, Shelby began to expose the eye he hid from the world. What she saw was a long, thin scar running through the cinter of his eye, deeper than she had first suspected, reaching from the middle of his forehead to the top of his cheekbone.
Suddenly his eye snapped open.
Shelby was shocked to see that it was blood-red with three swirling specks of black floating there, seeming to spiral slowly within its depths. The sight was mesmerizing, and she found herself unable to pull away.
In the next moment Kakashi sat up and pushed the hitaiate back down with practiced ease, breaking the spell. Shelby jumped up in embarrassment. "I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to invade your privacy; I have no idea what came over me!" she said, apologizing profusely. Kakashi assured her that he was fine, but his selfconsciousness showed itself nevertheless.
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By the time Shelby returned from work, the shock of her discovery wore off. Kakashi was actually a little impressed that she had enough bravery to peek at his Sharingan even though at times she was obviously intimidated by him. Kakashi resolved to try to be less overbearing - she deserved it after she had been so helpful, considering his situation, though it wasn't his fault this stuff had happened to him.
Shelby walked through the door, trepidation clearly evident on her features. Kakashi greeted her calmly from the couch where he was reading. "Yo."
"Hi," Shelby returned nervously. "Um, Kakashi..."
"Hai?"
"Look, I'm sorry about this morning. I just - "
"It's fine," he interrupted her. There was no need to go through that again.
"Right." She quickly changed the subject. "Since we have no idea when you can return to your village, you should probably havea change of clothes. If you don't mind, I can help you shop for some. I would have asked Noon to come, but she's not entirely comfortable around you, and, let's face it - her fashion sense is atrocious, if you didn't know that already."
Kakashi nodded. He did know. That afternoon he had been nearly blinded by the hot pink monstrosity she called a dress.
Shelby continued. "Because I don't know what your preferences are, I thought it best if I asked you first before buying anything."
Kakashi shrugged as if to say, "Sure, why not?" After all, it would be a good chance to brush up on his language shills.
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"Shopping," as Shelby put it, had been relatively uneventful. Kakashi tried to speak English as much as he could, but there were times when he accidentally reverted back to his natural language. Fortunately for him Shelby didn't seem to mind.
Eventually they found him about three or four extra changes of clothing, plus a blaringly green shirt that reminded so much of Gai that he just had to get it.
He now wore black pants, a white shirt, and his mask, a black sweatband temporarily replacing his hitaiate. Kakashi kept his own shoes, though - he was unable to find anything else that met his standards, and they didn't stick out too much.
Since they had some spare time, Kakashi and Shelby went to a local bookstore. By the time they left it was already getting dark. When they were only a few blocks away from Shelby's place, the car broke down. "Shoot!" she raged. "And I had this thing inspected just last week!" Kakashi opened the passenger door and stepped out. "We'll just have to walk," he said calmly, picking up the items they had purchased and carrying them effortlessly over his shoulder.
Seeing no other choice, Shelby followed, calling after him, "Wait up, would ya?"
When she she caught upwith him she pointed down the road back the way they had come. "Over there is a shortcut. About three blocks down is an alley that cuts through the jouses. It'll save us around twenty minutes of walking." Nodding assent, Kakashi set off in that direction.
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Before he entered the alley, Kakashi paused. Something wasn't right. As if to prove him right, three men jumped out of the shadows, who slowly advanced toward Shelby, obviously intending to take her money. Kakashi stepped forward, briefly wishing that he hadn't allowed Shelby to convince him to leave most of his weapons behind. Oh, well, it's not as though he needed them anyway.
One of the men grinned, swinging a club, the others similarly armed. "It's one against three, weirdo, so you're outta luck. Why don't you just back off now and nobody jets hurt," the furst theif said, smiling menacingly. Kakashi looked at the man lazily. "You never know who you're up ahainst, so why are you underestimating me? It will only result in your deaths."
Shelby started at the mention of killing them, but the robbers were unfazed. They had heard threats before.
"C'mon, old man! What can you possibly do? You can't beat us!" one of them taunted Kakashi, who sighed as if reluctant to do what he was about to. "Just as I suspected. You are weak children who hide behind masks to make yourselves look tough. You're not worth my time." He turned to walk away.
This enraged the thieves beyond measure. Two of them rushed at Kakashi, the third not far behind. Swinging his weapon at Kakashi, the man who had first taunted the nin let out an infuriated cry. However, Kakashi was no longer there. With a short series of hand signs to fast for human eyes to follow, Kakashi disappeared in a cloud of smoke. When it cleared, the three people who were attacking him were buried up to their necks while Kakashi stood behind them, carefully dusting off his hands. "It seems that you really are weak. And to think I only said that to test you."
Suddenly becoming fully aware of their plight, all three struggled futilely against the unmoving ground, shouting in rage at the ninja.
Shelby stared in astonishment. What was that? How did he do it? She had never seen anything like it! Shelby inspected Kakashi closely. This was nothing like what he did at the dojo!
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Kakashi turned to leave once more, but again he stopped. "This chakra! It can't be!" he thought in astonishment. Wheeling about, he reached up to push up the black sweatband that had replaced his hitiate. Shelby glanced at him nervously. What was so special about this eye that he had to hide it? In spite of the situation, she felt her curiosity pique. Maybe this time she would find out.
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Kakashi opened his left eye, exposing the Sharingan and causing the thieves to whimper in fear at the coming punishment. "Quiet, you idiots!" he hissed at them, straining his ears for the slightest hint that would warn him of an attack. In his anxiety he had accidentally reverted to Japanese, but they understood the message. The only sound was traffic passing by on the street at the entrance of the alley. If only I had a few shuriken! Kakashi searched all around for his chakra signature, finally locating it several feet behind them.
"Itachi."