5. Three Wishes
"Any fool knows men and women think differently at times, but the biggest difference is this. Men forget, but never forgive; women forgive, but never forget."
― Robert Jordan
April 5, 11.30
Naoko stalked into the classroom quietly, thankful for the cover the dim light brought her. After the visit to the Kirigakure embassy she had taken the chance to slip away from Konohagakure and head back home for a short visit, arriving back in the capitol just yesterday.
Injury provided a perfect excuse to slip away from any possible media attention and her inner turmoil.
Excuse wasn't the right word, opportunity was more fitting. She had wanted to visit home for a while now, and see her mother as well. Before the botched mission on Earth she had been too preoccupied with her duties to take the necessary time off.
Kakashi, the broker, Kisame, the Akatsuki – it was all too much to handle in one go and a change of scenery was in order.
Instead of dealing with the matters at hand, she banished herself to the countryside, enjoying the less polluted air and finishing up her recovery.
Now it was over and done with and she had to return to reality and the first thing on her list of problems would be the easiest to deal with.
Well, perhaps not the simplest, but locating Kakashi was much more effortless than finding the nameless information broker. At least the former followed a set schedule.
Not to mention she wanted to join forces with her partner, his experience and quick wit an important asset.
The situation with Kirigakure had died down, thankfully, and the Kirigakure diplomat hadn't pestered Naoko any further.
Tsunade released her statement about the situation and the day after the celebrations Kirigakure released a response. The usual political babble about doing everything to find the culprits and so on with no mention of hostilities or hard feelings towards Konoha.
All in all, it was a success and made the Hokage's life a lot easier.
The team leaders' recovery was progressing positively. Naoko's blood work had shown no signs of rejecting the artificial tissue and considering the fact that Kakashi was giving a lecture, it was safe to assume that he was making a hefty recovery as well.
Tsunade had given Naoko permission to start assuming her usual duties and pick off her classes where she had left off before the mission, but still warning her about putting her body under strain so no active missions or training as of yet.
She took a seat in the back row, listening to Kakashi's case study.
He was in fact giving a lecture about their mission to earth, accompanied with video material. His appearance was lax and informal as always, contrasting with Naoko's strict and pristine attire.
A trait in Kakashi that Naoko absolutely adored was his ability to admit his mistakes.
He didn't try to cover up their poor judgement in dealing with the situation – instead he pointed out every single flaw to the students to make sure they would learn something from this and refrain from committing the same errors.
In short – he wouldn't create pompous propaganda to turn his lecture into some praise of the military's skill just to save face and his reputation.
The lights turned on automatically, marking the end of the lecture and the shades were removed to flood the room with the warm spring sun.
Kakashi scanned the room, spotting Naoko's familiar red hair with ease and his eyes clouded over with some sombre emotion.
She waited patiently for the students to shuffle out; they were older than her rookie group, close to graduation. Soon many of them would resume real jobs and missions...Yet Naoko looked at them and saw children.
The woman remained rooted to her seat until the last students were done with their questions and the two team leaders were left in stifling solitude.
Kakashi stood behind the desk, shutting off the monitors and collecting his materials, leaving it up to Naoko to make the first move.
She got up from her seat and headed down the stairs, stopping at a safe distance, fumbling with her hands and straightening her skirt while trying to find the right words. They had never conflicted like this before and she wasn't sure where to start...
Or even who to blame! She wasn't sure if he was expecting an apology or was it up to her.
"I've been meaning to talk to you."
The man finished packing and finally, out of excuses to avoid Naoko, looked up to meet her gaze. A flurry of emotions whirled across his face – relief to see her, joy, hurt. He was making no effort to hide anything from her.
"I wanted to pay you a visit, but you were out of town," he replied, feeling some of the tension melt away from Naoko's face when she realised the lack of animosity in his tone.
She cracked a tiny smile, "Indeed, I went home. Mother dearest was displeased that I hadn't informed her of my accident or present state."
Kakashi chuckled, "I can only imagine Mimi's wrath…"
He had met the woman twice and she had imprinted a strong impression to his memory.
Fiercely caring and protective of her daughter, but there was a sense of duty in her as well. Probably because her late husband had been in the military and with her daughter following in his footsteps – she knew exactly what to expect from this life.
"Surprisingly tame, actually, once she got the initial whipping and lectures out of the way."
They stood in silence, with the air conditioner humming in the background and the sound of students swaggering about the academy hallways, making their way to their next lectures.
"Kakashi, would you please tell me what happened in the hospital?" she asked, finally breaching the topic that they had been tiptoeing around.
During Naoko's absence they had still distantly instructed their team with theoretical material while Guy had been working on their training, but the team leaders both knew that their youngsters were far too smart to not realise that something was amiss.
Usually they would instruct them on matters that were related, coordinating their lessons, but lately it seemed that they were following separate paths.
Personal feelings couldn't temper with their training, and perhaps they could've worked around it, but Naoko didn't want to lose the friendship of the man that she had grown so accustomed to. She missed his light jokes and apparent nonchalance towards the world while still managing to be attentive to everyone around him.
A rift caused simply because she obviously didn't know enough about her partner was something she didn't want to cloud her future. Not to mention this conflict could hinder upcoming missions as well.
They needed to truly trust one another to work efficiently.
Personal feelings and judgements had no place in the military, but Naoko knew well enough that this was often not the case and despite what Konoha believed, they were still human.
"I lost my temper and I'm sorry, it was unfair to snap at you like that," managed Kakashi, choosing his words carefully.
His apology was earnest, his one visible eye holding Naoko's gaze, hoping to patch this up.
Truthfully he had missed her presence as much as she missed him, hoping to return to the relative tranquillity they had shared. He didn't dislike her presence and she rarely pried, tactful like a politician.
Naoko shook her head, "I want to know why you got so worked up about it, it is an explanation I'm looking for – not an apology."
He sighed, lowering his gaze and rubbing the back of his head. Emotional confrontations like this made him uncomfortable and he wasn't looking forward to bearing his old wounds to the young team leader.
The exchange was luckily interrupted when the recruits for the next lecture started to drizzle into the room. Naoko glanced at them briefly before turning back to Kakashi, her gaze betraying her determination to find out the truth.
"You're not slithering away from this, Kakashi." She warned him, her hands resting on her hips.
The man held back the urge to sigh, there was no avoiding this if he truly wanted to patch things up with Naoko and resume the usual daily life that he had grown so accustomed to.
"Dinner at your place?" he offered casually. This way he could ensure that they wouldn't be overheard and the privacy might help ease his nervousness.
Kakashi was incredibly individualistic, but this confrontation was unavoidable and he accepted that there was no way around the matter – he'd have to indulge some personal information.
Actually he was glad that it was Naoko instead of anyone else. Working side by side is a brilliant way to build up trust between two individuals.
She cracked a smile, pleased that some of the tension had been defused, "I'll whip something up. Is six alright?"
Well, setting a time with Kakashi was meaningless. He'd be late anyway.
"Sure, I'll be there."
Naoko grabbed his wrist to glance at the time before nodding and offering a short wave, "Lovely, I'll see you at seven then." She said with a grin before heading out of the classroom.
Naruto was concentrating intently on the target in front of him before pulling the trigger, missing the dummy's heart by several inches. He held back a groan when he saw Sasuke firing four consecutive shots and they all hit the target perfectly.
How was he going to impress Sakura? She'd never spare a second glance to him until he became the most epic sharpshooting Hokage that Konoha had ever seen. Shooting Sasuke was out of the question…
He nearly yelped in surprise when he felt someone's hands on his shoulders. The boy looked up and a large grin spread across his face at the familiar red hair.
"Shimotsuki!" The teen exclaimed loudly, drawing the attention of his other teammates as well.
Naoko offered a sly smirk before smacking his shoulders, "I'm absent for a few weeks and this is what your form looks like? Loosen up your shoulders, and lower your right elbow!" she barked the directions, guiding Naruto into a better stance.
She nodded when his position was satisfactory enough and stepped back, "Good, now try again."
This time he hit the target right in the in centre, much to Naoko's pleasure, but there was still room for improvement. This position had to become second nature or he will never be able to fire while on the move. Not to mention that Naoko won't be there on the field to lower his elbows.
The blonde turned around, excited, earning a nod of approval from his team leader.
"Decent, Uzumaki. Try hitting the same spot again a few dozen times."
"Instructor! You've recovered!" said Sakura, who poked her head out from her shooting booth, clearly relieved.
Naoko offered the girl a warm smile, "Indeed, thanks to the Hokage. Give me another week or so and we'll resume the usual routines."
"Kakashi has been training us somewhat for the past week," the girl mumbled to herself.
Naoko snorted, rolling her eyes, "Kakashi is also a fool for ignoring the doctor's advice. They don't go through years of medical training for nothing."
Sakura, like the rest of her team, had been relieved when she heard that Naoko and Kakashi were recovering. When they first recovered them…she had never seen so much blood in her life. And the wheezy breaths and endless coughing...She was completely sure that their instructors would both die there.
Like the rest of Konoha, she had kept an eye on the news as her only source of information. Kakashi had been tight lipped about the ordeal and Naoko, after mingling with the diplomats, had left town.
She had read both of the official responses and reached the same conclusion that most of the population had - that the Military didn't really know what had transpired.
"Teacher, you looked beautiful at the Kirigakure embassy," she offered shyly. A picture of her had slipped to a fashion magazine last week, the article analysed the best and worst choices of clothing at the embassy celebrations.
Naoko smiled at the compliment, "Ah, yes, that…" she mumbled, embarrassed, "Not my usual choice of social events, but interesting enough."
Her eye caught the Uchiha reloading his gun, but the boy looked distraught.
She offered a few pointers to Sakura as well, pleased to see that the girl had improved during her absence. When she wasn't so focused on impressing Sasuke, she turned out to be quite decent soldier material, but still far from the Uchiha's level.
What was it with this team that they were so focused on impressing one another instead of personal improvement?
The instructor headed over to Sasuke, motioning him away from the other two teammates. She looked down at him good naturedly, but didn't dance around the subject and headed straight to the point.
"Speak freely, recruit Uchiha. I can see that something is troubling you."
The boy didn't avoid her gaze, "You made a mistake by sending me away, back on Earth."
Naoko held back a smirk, "You think that we underestimate your abilities?"
"That's exactly what I think."
"Our decision was purely tactical. First of all you carried no firearms, yet the enemy did. They would've gunned you down before it even came to close combat. Secondly, I trusted you to guard your teammates in case we had failed. Out of the three, you were the only one wise enough to bring a weapon with you. That was clever of you to prepare for the worst, that's why we wanted you with the rest of your teammates."
Her response was logical, and Naoko hadn't hesitated or tarried for time. Personally, she had thought that the Uchiha would realise it on his own.
Perhaps Sasuke did see the truth, but it still pained his pride. She could only imagine how much pressure there was in his family to succeed in everything and running from a conflict was far from his idea of living up to that expectation.
Naoko smiled, "Don't think that we don't pay attention to you three. As a team leader I didn't doubt your abilities, but from a tactical perspective it was unwise to keep you with Kakashi and I, and I stand by that decision."
"Understood," the boy replied, tersely.
The red haired instructor straightened up, "Splendid, and thank you for your honesty."
"Oh Sasuke," Naoko called out before the boy could escape, "I think you should switch to moving targets today. No point in hollowing the same spot in the wall."
The informality melted away from Naoko and she resumed her usual strict demeanour – offering praise where it was earned and scolding them for mistakes that were incredibly basic. She was going to whip this team to be the best rookie team of the generation.
The day had been tiring and Naoko had overworked herself a little. She was at home, pleasantly numbed by the pain medication and sprawled on her sofa, focusing on her breaths. Dinner was bubbling away, though Kakashi was depressingly late once again.
Well, it was questionable if he was even going to turn up before midnight! It was already well past eight.
His habit of tardiness will be the death of him someday. What if he's kidnapped on the way yet no one worries simply because it is Kakashi.
Naoko had passed the time looking through Intel's list of wanted criminals. It was a futile hope, but she hoped to find the broker's face there.
Knowing his alias, if not a real name, would be enough to start finding means to contact the man. The possibilities were endless; Naoko couldn't even imagine how much the man might've known about the Akatsuki. Maybe even their motive behind the nuclear explosions…
When she reached the end of the list empty handed the girl sighed.
Uchiha Itachi was someone she would've loved to have at Konoha's Intel…to seek out and successfully find the Akatsuki on his own? Just what means did he employ…
If only she could gain access to his computer…
Or maybe she could?
Was Fugaku foolish enough to keep Itachi's belongings? Was the Uchiha heir foolish enough not to clean up after himself? It was unlikely but people always make mistakes at one point or another.
This was not her usual way of handling things, but Naoko was more than tempted to take advantage of the fact that she had one Uchiha on her team. Maybe pay a house visit?
This was something to coordinate with Kakashi, but first things first – she'd have to mend their friendship again before the pair could start plotting together. There was so much she had to share with him that Naoko had kept to herself.
The broker and the cryptic hints that he had dropped were nothing substantial enough to share with the Hokage, but she had to keep on investigating and Naoko wasn't going to do it alone. Heck, it would be an outright suicide mission to take on the Akatsuki with nothing more than a pistol and the clothes on her back.
Her pondering was interrupted when someone knocked on the door. It didn't take much to figure out who this someone might be. Naoko put away her laptop before heading to the door, swinging it open with her hand resting on her hip.
"Six, we agreed?" she asked with a sugary smile to mask her displeasure.
The masked captain ruffled his silver hair, "Yes I was on my way here, but a nearby house caught fire and I helped with the rescue."
"Indeed, I can see how your clothes are burned to a crisp," she noted dryly, motioning for him to enter her modest apartment. The man's excuses got more and more imaginative each time, though the redhead admired his ability to keep coming up with them.
She moved the stew from the stove and set it on the table and hastily produced some rice. While she shuffled around, Kakashi took a moment to take in every detail in sight. A professional habit, so to say. Just as the image Naoko portrayed her apartment reflected her personality.
Every surface was clean and every item had a purpose. She didn't have a pile of clothes waiting to be washed anywhere in sight or a cold cup of coffee left there in the morning rush. All in all, the place was clean and completely practical.
His musings were interrupted when Naoko called from the kitchen, "Beer?" she asked while rummaging through the fridge.
"Yeah, thanks."
Kakashi sat down behind the table and pushed the mask down from his face and took a generous sip of the cold beer while Naoko helped herself to the stew, using this as a chance to fetch all the meat. She glanced upward for a second and almost spilled her dinner all over the table.
"Wow…" said Naoko, her voice trailing off, "You have a beauty mark…I didn't know that."
The man chuckled, forgetting about his constant masked state, "Indeed, you've seen me without my mask before, haven't you?"
"Actually, I don't think I have. The thought didn't cross my mind; it's sort of your natural state."
"Did you think I'd eat dinner through a straw?" deadpanned Kakashi, slightly amused. Well, that was one secret out of the way. Now all he had to do was explain Obito to his fellow teammate and then the night could be called an awkward success.
She had become so accustomed to seeing him wearing the mask at all times that Naoko hadn't really thought about what he might look like without it. His left eye was still covered by a headband bearing Konoha's symbol.
Actually he looked quite beautiful. She had half-expected for the man to be disfigured under his disguise with scars from his youth or something along the line, but Kakashi was just a regular handsome man.
She tried not to stare at him too blatantly, but it felt like this would be the only chance to catch a glimpse of his face.
They seemed to have formed a silent agreement not to touch any sensitive subjects until after dinner. Instead they discussed the rookies, their progress and possible future choices for the three. They even breached the subject of personal interests for a moment, just to laugh at their inability to dedicate themselves to anything else besides work.
It was a strangely pleasant affair, but they were both still a little tense. When they were done, he helped her clean up, volunteering to wash the dishes while Naoko packed the leftovers away to the fridge.
"How long are we going to dance around the subject?" she asked finally, shutting the fridge sharply, being the bravest of the two. Kakashi had his back turned towards her, but it was hard to avoid her glare in the cramped kitchen.
"Are you telling me you'd like a dance?"
The little jab earned him a slap against his back with the towel that Naoko had grabbed from a nearby counter. She started drying the dishes, masking her displeasure with boredom, "Why do you keep avoiding the subject?"
Kakashi sighed, "I'm not trying to be deliberately mysterious by avoiding talking about my past. It's just a subject that's…hard to talk about, and requires a long explanation."
He shut of the water and finally turned around to face Naoko. She was patiently waiting for Kakashi to breach the subject, after two years of being in the dark about his past.
"We have all the time in the world."
"You know of my father, I trust?"
Naoko bit her lip, "Hatake…Sakumo, if I remember correctly. A genius, both famous and invaluable."
The man smiled, nostalgic, "Indeed, until he chose his teammates over the success of the mission. It earned him the scorn of Konoha and even the disappointment of his teammates. The same ones that he chose to save."
She dreaded to hear the rest, intuitively sensing where the story was headed. No wonder she hadn't heard anything about the spy in years…There was only one outcome to this story.
"He committed suicide?" she asked.
Kakashi nodded, his eyes cast to the floor, "Indeed, and from that I learned my first lesson. The mission always comes first. Just like you, I believed this to be the absolute truth and mantra to abide by."
"What changed?" she prompted him, anxious to hear the rest of it.
"I met him, my teammate Obito Uchiha…He was quite a lot like Naruto, personality wise. Talented, in his own way…We were on a mission, tasked to blow up a bridge to hinder Iwagakure from gaining leverage. Our third teammate, Rin, was captured."
Naoko sighed, "And you decided to leave her behind, and carry out the mission instead?"
The man nodded, "Indeed. Though Obito would have none of it," he laughed humourlessly, "Obito declared I was trash for abandoning my friends and turned back to save Rin. Something in his way and persona, he changed me."
"You abandoned the mission, didn't you?"
"Indeed, I followed him, and lucky that I did. He would've been killed had I not taken the blow, losing my eye in the process. Long story short, we defeated one of the Iwagakure's soldiers, but while we were trying to save Rin the other soldiers tried to bury us all."
Iwagakure's speciality, small explosives.
"They blew up the cave."
Kakashi nodded, "Indeed. My eye was still injured and Obito pushed me out of the way to keep me from being crushed by a boulder I didn't even see coming. The same boy who had called me trash sacrificed himself to keep his friends safe."
Silence lingered and Naoko was afraid to ask about the final piece of the puzzle. This was…completely unfair. Kakashi, for her at least, had always seemed like a fearless leader who knew exactly how to behave in any situation, who never made any mistakes.
Perhaps the revelation that he was just as human as the rest of them is what made her so sad.
"The mission had been a failure, and I couldn't even keep my team intact."
Naoko shook her head frantically, "It wasn't your fault! It wasn't anyone's fault…"
Yet Kakashi seemed deaf to her words, his mind wandering deeper into his past, "Rin died later, by my hand none the less. An accident, but that's how I lost my team and broke my promise to Obito to keep her safe."
Naoko released a shuddering breath. She had the same code as Kakashi in his youth. No wonder he had lashed out at her in the hospital when she so heatedly declared that she expected for him to sacrifice her if necessary.
"You don't want me to make the same mistakes."
The silver haired man nodded, "No, I don't. Not if I can help it, and I will never choose the mission over your life. I refuse to lose another teammate."
Naoko reached out and gripped his hand in an attempt to offer him some comfort.
"Kakashi, for what it's worth…I'm sorry about your friends and thank you for sharing this with me."
This confession was quite possible one of the hardest obstacles Kakashi had faced during his friendship with Naoko.
This was the first time in years that Kakashi had truly shown just how vulnerable he was. Naoko had enough knowledge to completely destroy him yet he knew that now he had breached the imaginary wall that he had kept between him and the world.
He had let someone in, and as frightening as it seemed, he didn't regret this decision.
Kakashi did something uncharacteristic and pulled Naoko against his chest. She didn't struggle against him, returning the hurried embrace instead.
"You get only one team. Keep them safe, or you'll be a damn bitter old man like me."
Naoko bit back a smile, "I wouldn't call you that old," she mumbled, unsure if Kakashi could even make out her words while her face was all but buried in his chest.
She heard a low laugh booming in his chest, "Give me a walking stick and I could fool anyone."
"Silly man…"
They remained like that for a long while. The outside world seemed to hold little meaning while they were safely tucked away in Naoko's little kitchen with his hands still wet from the dishes, staining the back of her shirt.
"So…" he coughed, feeling healthily awkward in this situation, "Want to watch a movie?"
Naoko stepped away from him, leaning against the opposite counter with an embarrassed smile, "If you can tolerate watching it from a laptop…I don't really have a TV."
"Fair enough, you get the movie, I'll get the beers." He said airily, trying to lighten the mood to keep his own mind from wandering the usual path.
Whenever he touched the subject of his friends, Kakashi couldn't help but to fall to a delicate state and he didn't want to be alone, at least not tonight.
Sharing this with Naoko sort of made her an accomplice in his eyes. One more person to come one step closer to understanding him.
If she guessed his present state of mind or motives, she did a good job of concealing her knowledge.
Naoko responded as if nothing was amiss and grinned, "I hope you like horror…"
The redhead leapt away and onto the sofa while Kakashi reached down to the fridge and fetched two beers.
He headed to the sofa just to hear Naoko's sharp intake of breath, "Shit!" the woman cursed.
The fact that something got the otherwise uptight soldier to curse was cause of concern enough. Kakashi tried to look over her shoulder to see what had drawn such a reaction from her, but Naoko pushed the computer away and grabbed the beer from Kakashi's hand, downing it in one go.
When she was finished she stood up on the sofa and gripped Kakashi's shoulders tightly, her brown orbs peering into his visible eye.
"Okay, change of plans. There are some delicate matters I sort of haven't had the time to tell you…"
Happy new years to you my dearest readers!
I'm sorry for my long absence, but I didn't want to release something that was hastily written or forced while I was in no mood to write anything at all. Instead I've spent the last month reading fanfiction instead, quite a pleasant change.
A very Kakashi-centric chapter, but I really wanted for them to finally make up and form a unified front and I think that two years of working together is long enough. Naoko deserves to know at least something about Kakashi's personal life.
Lilyholics