Chapter Six: Aftermath
Shelby looked up at the floor she had just exited. Fire raged freely, licking at the windows and spreading upward. Remembering some of the things she had seen the silver-haired nin do, Shelby found it entirely possible that he was battling Itachi there. After several minutes had passed, the fire quit growing so quickly and just burned steadily. Shelby looked at the building's entrance, hoping that meant Kakashi had won and would be coming out any time now. Suddenly one of her more feminine coworkers screamed in fear. Looking up, Shelby saw that the window had burst, raining glass around the two shinobi who were fighting hand-to-hand while falling. At about the seventh floor the two men slid to a stop on the side of the building, suprising Shelby just as much as everybody else that was watching. Some people, thinking that this was an elaborate stunt for some movie, began cheering on the fighters, who unexpectedly they stopped their battle, standing off in what strangely resembled a classic showdown. Shelby's heart sank. She had seen this before.
Sure enough Kakashi fell off the wall, his body thumping loudly on the concrete below. Her concern getting the better of the need for secrecy, Shelby rushed toward the fallen nin. Reaching him, she discovered that he was uninjured, merely stunned. After a moment, Kakashi groaned and sat up. Realizing that his eye was uncovered, Shelby located the black sweatband and handed it to him. "Thanks," he said wearily, cursing himself for his weakness. By that time he looked up, Itachi had disappeared.
---
Supporting Kakashi the best she could on her own, Shelby called to Jeff, irritated at his lack of usefulness in the situation. "Jeff! Get over here and help me carry him!"
Startled into action, Jeff obeyed without protest. With his help Shelby was able to carry the now-unconscious nin to the car, and she then drove him back to the apartment, Jeff in the back seat to keep watch over him.
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Noon was even less happy than when Shelby had first found Kakashi and brought him back with her. "So he collapsed while fighting yet again and you bring yet another strange man to this apartment!" Jeff glanced over at Shelby, who blushed. Apparently he had noticed to slight inconsistency of their stories. Just then Pakkun came over. Kakashi had neglected to release him from the summoning jutsu. "So he fought Itachi again, neh? Well, he should have known better than to fight him so soon; he's barely recovered from the first attack."
Although it was Japanese, it was still talking, so Jeff was scared out of his wits. "Aaah! The dog talked!!"
Ignoring him, Pakkun continued his inspection of Kakashi. "It looks like he'll be fine. He just needs rest." Glancing meaningfully at Jeff, the nin-dog whispered to Shelby, "Good luck with the explanations," and disappeared in a small cloud of smoke.
As Pakkun had predicted, Jeff soon recovered from his shock and turned to Shelby, stating in a firmly, "You've got a lot of explaining to do."
Shelby smiled weakly. She was not looking forward to this.
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Kakashi woke up with a groan, once again suprised not to see a white ceiling. He just had the weirdest dream, but for some reason he couldn't remember anything about it except that someone had been trying to tell him something important.
Sighting an unfamiliar face, Kakashi imstantly leapt up, reaching for a kunai that wasn't there. It was then he realized that the man was Shelby's coworker from yesterday. Well at least he hadn't killed him, the nin thought to himself darkly. A wave of dizzyness suddenly forced Kakashi back down to the now-familiar couch. Catching sight of Jeff's startled reaction, he almost laughed. Unfortunately he was still too dizzy to enjoy much of anything right then.
"So, what did I miss?" Kakashi asked, wryly rubbing his head.
Glancing toward Shelby, Jeff said calmly, "She told me how she met you." Kakashi looked at Shelby in suprise.
"What else should I have told him?" she defended. "After all, he did help me get you back here." Still skeptical af the wisdom of her decision, Kakashi accepted it for now.
Carefully sitting up, Kakashi offered, "If you tell me what she told you so far, maybe I can fill in the gaps." Jeff thought for a moment. "She didn't tell me much. All I know is that you're a ninja named Kakashi who suddenly appeared, and now Shelby's taking care of you at this apartment. Also, some guy named Isatchie - "
"Itachi," Kakashi and Shelby interrupted.
"Yeah, that, is a ninja who wants to kill you for some reason. And that's about it," he finished.
Kakashi spoke then. "Itachi has acquired the Mangekyou, a powerful doujutsu with a technique that traps an opponent in an illusion which is often fatal."
Shelby blanched. So that's what had happened in the alley and Kessler Laboratories. Jeff, too, looked pale.
"Okay, so now what do we do?" Shelby asked the silver-haired nin. Kakashi held out his hands in a gesture somewhat resembling a shrug. "Fight him when he comes back, of course. Until then I should probably plan a counterattack and start looking for a way to return to Konoha."
Shelby piped up. "Do you have any idea how to go about doing that?" Kakashi was trying to think of a suitable answer when suddenly the room went dark. As Kakashi looked around in suprise, a disembodied voice reached his ears. "The gate will soon reopen. Be ready."
Once its message had been delivered, the voice faded, taking the darkness with it. Kakashi awoke from his trance to find Shelby standing over him with a concerned look on her face. "Are you okay? You seemed a little spaced out for a few moments." Deciding not to concern them with the strange things he had been experiencing lately, Kakashi decided not to tell her what happened. Smiling under his mask, Kakashi reassured Shelby that everything was fine, but Shelby didn't seem convinced.
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Later, Kakashi mentioned to Shelby that he didn't approve of her returning to work with only Jeff as protection. After all, Itachi was still out there. Jeff looked a little miffed at this putdown, but Shelby spoke before he could voice his objections. "Maybe if you taght me a little self-defense I could manage to escape him on my own." Kakashi turned down that idea instantly. "The only thing you could possibly learn that would be of any use, is how to run with the Fourth's speed. Since that's impossible, it would be best if I was there."
"But you're still injured!" Shelby protested.
Kakashi braced himself against the couch and stood up. "It's nothing too serious. Besides, I'm not very good at taking things lying down." Shelby sighed in frustration. "Can't be helped, I guess," she muttered. Kakashi grinned. "Now you've got the right idea."
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That night Kakashi patrolled the streets, searching for any trace of chakra that Itachi might have left behimd, purposefully or not. Shelby insisted on accompanying him.
"So what's so great about Itachi anyway?" She asked, curious. "I mean, why is he so dangerous?"
Kakashi's step slowed for an instant. "He murdered his entire clan."
Shelby's reaction was far more violent than Kakashi's. She choked on her words, tripping over a small stone on the sidewalk and sprawled face-first on the unyielding concrete. "I wasn't expecting that," she muttered painfully, righting herself. She turned to Kakashi. "He really killed his entire family?"
Kakashi held his hand under his chin in a thoughtful pose. "Well, not his entire family, I guess, since he did leave Sasuke alive," the white-haired nin mused. Then he shrugged. "But I suppose one person out of that many won't make much difference. In answer to your question: yes, he did."
Shelby thought over what Kakashi had said. "Sasuke..."
Kakashi froze. She sounded uncannily like Sakura just then.
Shelby noticed his reaction. It was kind of hard to miss. "I take it Sasuke is a student of yours?"
Kakashi no longer stood frozen in place, but his movements had become oddly stiff. "He was."
Uh-oh, there's that invisible line again! Shelby realized. As she desperately racked her brain for some other topic to talk about, Kakashi began walking again. Shelby had to rush to keep up with him. "I'm sorry, for - whatever happened to him. I didn't realize - "
Kakashi spoke evenly. "He made his choice to seek revenge at any cost. One day he'll have to face its consequences." The two of them walked on in silence for a long time after that. Shelby was about to speak again when a shout echoed throught the night.
"That's the man, Officer! Arrest him!"