Chapter 5: Protection
After thinking over his idea, Kakashi decided to approach Shelby. "Itachi will probably come for you now that he knows I have connections with you here. It would be best if I stayed with you for your own protection." Kakashi continued humorously, "Think of me as your own personal bodyguard."
Shelby started to protest but stopped when she realized the wisdom of the his words. Nodding slowly, she accepted. "I suppose that would be the best thing, since undoubtedly I would have no chance against this guy on my own." She hesitated. "However, are you sure you're alright with this? I don't want you to feel uncomfortable with people staring at you all the time." Kakashi thought of the irony of her statement. what with ANBU, covering the Sharingan, and his ever-present facial mask, by now Kakashi was used to being stared at. "I doubt it will bother me," he stated reasonably. He wondered why she was bringing this up now.
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It turns out that Shelby was a geneticist, working at a place called Kessler Laboratories. Even with his mask on, in some of the rooms Kakashi had trouble breathing because of the smells clogging the air. Thankfully, Shelby worked mostly in research, so the air in her workplace was fairly clean. As soon as he walked in, Kakashi noticed the man sitting at the other desk. So that's why Shelby had asked him those unusual questions.
"Hi, Shelby, looks like you're back on time again," the man greeted her, his face cheerful. That is, until he spotted Kakashi standing in the doorway. "Who's that?" he asked suspiciously.
Shelby attempted to calm her coworker. "Jeff, this is Kakashi. Kakashi, meet Jeff. He's - a friend of a friend and will be staying in town for a couple days until he can catch a plane back to Japan."
Inspecting Kakashi's unusual hair color, Jeff asked pointedly, "And just how old is your friend's friend?" Kakashi sighed to himself. How many age jokes could these people make? "I'm not as old as you think I am," he commented. Jeff looked at him blankly, as if expecting him to be an alien or something else incapable of speaking plain English. Kakashi stared back, causing the man to break eye contact first.
"Yes, well, if he's staying in town for a while and you hardly know him, then why is he with you, especially while you're at work?" Jeff demanded after composing himself. Kakashi was very good at staring people down.
"Oh, he insisted on protecting me! Apparently it's some Japanese custom where he's from." The silver-haired nin nodded for Jeff's benefit. Shelby was pretty good at this for having very little experience.
Jeff held his hands up in mock surrender. "Whatever, Shelby. Your private life is not my business. I was just trying to be a good partner and look out for you, that's all." Shelby smiled her thanks but assured him once more that everything was fine. Jeff still looked doubtful, so Kakashi added his opinion. "This man is genuinely concerned for your safety. You should listen to your partner more often, Shelby-san." So saying he took up his post near the window to watch for Itachi's return.
Gaping in suprise at this sudden turn of events, Jeff stared at the pale-haired stranger. Laughing quietly to herself at Jeff's reaction, not unlike her own, Shelby commented, "He tends to do some unexpected things every now and then, especially when you're not prepared for it." Giving Jeff a sympathetic smile, Shelby went to her own desk to start the day's work.
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For hours on end Kakashi kept his vigil, aware that the entire time Jeff kept an eye on him, if not both eyes. Kakashi silently congratulated the man. After all, you shouldn't completely trust a masked stranger, not even ANBU. You never knew when the face of the enemy was the one disguising itself.
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Eventually Shelby's workday ended, and Kakashi gave a small sigh of relief that Itachi had not shown up. This place was far too crowded for a serious shinobi battle without ending in dozens of casualties.
Shelby shared the nin's sentiments. She had a feeling that she had only seen a small part of Itachi's power, and that was more thatn enough to astound her. She had no intention of ever discovering his true potential, especially if she was on the receiving end. However, Shelby doubted she and Kakashi could avoid him forever.
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Jeff watched this silent exchange with apprehention. "I knew it!" he declared to himself. "I knew something was going on. Now all I have to do is find out exactly what they're hiding."
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On the way back in Noon's car, Shelby quietly remarked to Kakashi, "I'm glad he didn't come." Secretly agreeing, Kakashi replied, "He'll be back soon enough." Glancing over to where Kakashi sat, Shelby replied, "That wasn't exactly comforting." Fixing her with an unnerving one-eyed stare, Kakashi said seriously, "It wasn't meant to be."
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Before collapsing on the couch, Kakashi summoned Pakkun, requesting that he keep an eye on things while the nin slept. Noon immediately began ranting at Kakashi for bringing a pet inside the house but fell silent in shock as Pakkun himself reassured her that he would be no trouble at all. Grinning secretly at having caught the imperturbable woman off guard, Kakashi leaned back to sleep, his waepons close at hand and senses on high alert.
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The next morning when Shelby's alarm went off, Kakashi leapt up in surprise, a kunai drawn, and ready to attack the first thing that moved. Noon came out of the kitchen and, eyebrows raised, remarked, "A little high-strung this morning, are we?" Relaxing his stance, Kakashi sheathed his kunai. "I guess so," he commented offhandedly, carefully straightening his shirt to cover his embarrassment at the uncharacteristic actions he had just displayed. It seemed he did that sort of thing alot lately.
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A few minutes later, after breakfast - which Kakashi politely declined, as he wasn't hungry anyway - they headed out again. This time, Shelby hadn't protested when Kakashi strapped on his kunai holster.
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Jeff seemed a little suprised to see Kakashi back again, but aparrently he had resigned himself to the nin's presence, though Kakashi doubted it. In any event, Jeff didn't say anything one way or another.
Everything went smoothly until around eleven o'clock, when a shrill alarm sounded in the entire building, sending a piercing pain through Kakashi's highly sensitive ears as he unsnapped the holster and had already removed a kunai before catching Shelby's unworried expression. "It's just the fire alarm, Kakashi. Every now and then we have one of these. It's completely normal, nothing to worry about," she explained to him. "All we have to do is calmly exit the building." Kakashi resheathed his weapon, aware that Jeff was watching him. Obviously kunai were rather uncommon in New York, but it wasn't easy to dampen the instinctive action of drawing your weapon. Gently blushing, Kakashi followed Shelby out the door.
Due to their slight delay, they were the last ones to leave that floor. As they made for the stairs, Kakashi felt that something was wrong. He paused in dread as realization struck him.
"Get down!" he shouted, dragging Jeff and Shelby to the floor. Jeff protested furiously, but shut up as soon as several shuriken embedded themselves in the wall where his head had just been less than a second ago. Fear tinged Shelby's voice, causing it to tremble. "Itachi?"
Nodding solemnly, Kakashi answered, "No doubt about it." As he spoke, Jeff looked at the two of them, a bewildered expression on his face. Once again drawing his kunai, Kakashi's left hand pushed back the white strands of hair that hung over his left eye and shifted the black sweatband to his forehead, just as he had done so many times before with his hitaiate.
As an explosion demolished the wall behind them, Kakashi berated himself for becoming nostalgic over a simple headband. Itachi stepped through the hole, his Sharingan activated as always and the Akatsuki cape billowing in the breeze created by the blast. Jeff could only gaze at the scene in amazement.
Holding his kunai in a ready position, Kakashi called to Shelby, "Get your friend out of here. I'll hold him off." He spoke in English because he doubted she had the mental faculties to translate Japanese at the moment. Woken from her trance, Shelby obediently followed Kakashi's orders, helping Jeff to his feet him as they stumbled down the stairs together, supporting each other.
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"I won't fail to kill you this time," Itachi stated, his voice cold as ice.
Kakashi opened his left eye. "Funny, I was about to say the same thing to you, Itachi-san."