Pieces

A Kakashi Romance

Chapter 10: The Hardest Things

Emiri had waged war on the cowlick that refused to go down on Isamu's head. Though, after five minutes and Isamu starting to fuss, she admitted defeat and ruffled his messy black hair. "So much for looking well cared for."

"I am cared for," Isamu insisted as he ran a hand over his hair, smoothing down the rumpled parts caused by Emiri. Isamu looked at Emiri who sat on the edge of the tub so she could be eye level with him.

Quietly, Isamu hugged Emiri, and Emiri put her arms tightly around him.

"Why are you sad, nee-chan?"

"I'm not." Emiri held the boy arms length and gave him a close-eyed smile.

Isamu wasn't convinced. "You're swallowing a lot. Like I do when I don't want to cry. Do you want to cry nee-chan?"

"You, Isamu, are incredibly observant," Emiri smiled and stood. She glanced at her reflection in the mirror before she reached for her lipstick tube on the bathroom counter and swiped the brilliant red across her lips.

"Ready to go, Isamu? Will you get Kakashi?"

Isamu, dressed in his red shirt and cargo pants, adjusted the straps of his tiger backpack and nodded before pulling open the second bedroom door without a knock.

"Kakashi! Are you ready?"

Emiri sighed at the five-year-old. Sometimes he was profound beyond words, and other times, he was absolutely indiscreet. "Knock, next time Isamu," Emiri cautioned.

"Oops, sorry." Isamu rubbed the back of his head and chuckled, and Emiri, once again, couldn't stay mad.

Kakashi's masked face appeared around the corner of the door and his eyes searched for Emiri. "I'm ready," he said. "Are you?"

"As ready as I'll ever be," Emiri answered before she nudged Isamu out of the bathroom so the three of them could go to the hospital.

X

They met in one of the conference rooms in the hospital. Isamu was set up at one end of the long conference table with a juice box, rice cakes, and his coloring supplies. His very important mission was to draw pictures of the meeting as the honorary scribe.

Emiri sat across from Mei and Sano, and Kakashi sat beside her.

Sano smiled at both Emiri and Kakashi, and Emiri nodded in response, though the uneasiness returned to her stomach whenever Sano looked at her. "Let's get started then," said Emiri, her tone cool, professional.

Sano slid two manila folders across the table to Kakashi and Emiri and kept one for himself and passed one to Mei. "This is the plan I drew up last night. Emiri has the original, and the rest of us have copies to follow along with."

Emiri flipped open the folder and glanced at the first page of a fifteen-page contract. She blew out a breath—this was going to be a long meeting. Quickly she glanced at Isamu who watched her carefully. Isamu noticed Emiri's look and grinned at her, giving her a thumbs up of encouragement.

Emiri smiled and quickly glanced away quickly—it was better to start avoiding him now so maybe when they parted ways it would be easier.

"Okay. Page one…"

o

An hour and a half later, Emiri turned the last page of the contract. Sano looked slightly irritable, while Kakashi and Mei looked bored.

"Overall," Emiri folded her hands beneath her chin as she glanced at Sano, her green eyes unwavering. "This is a good plan, however, I do have requirements that I will not negotiate."

"I can tell," Sano said drily as he glanced disdainfully at every sticky note Emiri had put on the contact—she had taken at least thirty notes on his contract.

"Don't worry," Emiri said with a smile, "you repeated yourself several times in this contact, so I had to flag every repetitive portion as well."

"Your non-negotiables, Emiri-san," Sano prompted, as a tick worked in his jaw.

"A medical specialist from Konoha will spend time here working along side your specialists until I feel that Kirigakure's mental health hospital is up to my standards. And I will choose the candidate who will transfer here."

"So you can spy on us?!" Sano's voice raised, and from the corner of her eye, Emiri saw Isamu flinch and stop his coloring.

"Mizukage-sama, you cannot allow this," Sano continued, appealing to Mei beside him. "She is demonstrating a lack of trust in Kirigakure!"

"Emiri has every right to be on edge, Sano-san," Kakashi interjected, carefully watching the man. "On our way here, our ward Isamu was kidnapped and we were attacked by Kirigakure shinobi who wished to counter everything Mei-sama has worked hard to instate."

"It's true, Sano," Mei agreed, glancing at the man beside her. "I can understand the Leaf's anxieties."

"I will not be sending a specialist here to spy, and forgive me if I came across as making such a proposal. Instead, I want a specialist here to make sure the children's behavioral and mental health unit runs as smoothly as possible. That is my sole concern regarding this contract."

"The children's clinic in Suna doesn't have a Konoha shinobi there at all times," Sano countered.

"No," Emiri agreed, "However, Haruno Sakura has a strong relationship with Sunagakure and has spent a considerable amount of time training staff there. Due to this, they have a more similar medical approach to mental health treatment that requires less supervision."

"A fair point," Sano finally agreed once he realized everyone in the room did not agree with him. "Fine. You may select a shinobi to supervise."

"Thank you," Emiri inclined her head once. "Moving on, the second point I wish to address is on pages three, seven, and eleven—again, that repetitive habit. You mention that you will start an adult behavioral and mental health clinic six months after the launch of the children's clinic. I ask that you wait a year to begin the process of addressing adult needs after launching the children's clinic."

"A year?" Mei raised a brunette eyebrow at Emiri, intrigued by her request.

"Yes, Mizukage-sama, a year. I can speak better for children's mental health than adult mental health, however, I would feel comfortable knowing that you have a strong grasp on children's behavioral health before you continue your aspirations. I know it is asking a lot, however, I believe it is important to me in partnering with Konohagakure. I cannot allow my name on a partnership if I know something will go wrong."

"I'm unsure if we can accommodate this, Emiri," Mei said slowly as she pursed her lips in thought.

"I don't think we can agree to a year," Sano answered. "However, we can agree to nine months after the launch of the children's clinic."

All eyes turned to Emiri as they awaited her answer. Emiri chewed the inside of her lip, surprised by Sano's offer, even if it did nothing to alleviate her suspicions of the man. Finally, she nodded. "Fine, nine months."

"Perfect," Sano smiled at her as he scratched a note across his copy. "It will take me an hour to revise this contract and then it will be ready to be signed and we can attend to other business."

Emiri felt her hands start to shake and she folded them on her lap, under the table to hide them, unaware that Kakashi caught her movements. "That sounds perfect," said Emiri.

The adults rose from their seats and Emiri walked over to Isamu. "How about we get some lunch?"

"Sure, let me put everything away!" The boy speedily packed up his belongings before he jumped from his seat and took Emiri's hand.

"Is Kakashi coming too?"

"Oh I don't know." Emiri glanced at Kakashi who had begun to walk out of the room.

Isamu let go of Emiri's hand long enough to run after him. "Kakashi!" Isamu tugged on the back of Kakashi's grey flak jacket. "Do you want to get lunch with Emiri and me? It'll be like a team meeting!"

"Ah…" Emiri thought about making an excuse as to why Kakashi couldn't join them when she saw the hope in Isamu's eyes. Her shoulders sagged as she breathed out a sigh. "It'll be fun," she said, offering the Sixth Hokage a genuine smile.

"I could eat," answered Kakashi, his dark eyes on Emiri; he chuckled when Isamu cheered excitedly as they walked to the closest store to buy sandwiches.

Kakashi carried the plastic bag that held their sandwiches while Emiri held Isamu's hand as they walked to a park near the hospital to have lunch.

"Oh, can we sit by the playground," asked Isamu, tugging on Emiri's hand to walk faster.

"After you eat some of your sandwich," she answered as they sat on a bench that looked at the jungle gym. Emiri began to reach for the plastic back when she heard the crinkle of a wrapper. She glanced at Kakashi to see him crumpling the his sandwich paper into a ball.

"H-how did you manage to eat so fast," Emiri asked, her eye twitched slightly. "We literally just sat down…"

"I'm done too!"

"Seriously?" Emiri's eyebrows shot high up her forehead as she looked at Isamu's lunch, and sure enough he was done, leaving a few trace crumbs on his empty sandwich wrapper. Isamu didn't wait for an answer as he ran forward to climb the monkey bars.

"I don't know whether to be impressed or worried," Emiri murmured as she pulled out her own sandwich to enjoy at a normal pace. As she chewed, Kakashi sat beside her quietly, this silence comforting, as they watched the little boy race around the jungle gym, fighting off imaginary shinobi foe.

"Are you ready for what happens when we return to the hospital," asked Kakashi once Emiri finished her lunch.

Emiri crumpled her sandwich wrapper and from her seat, tossed it into the nearby trashcan, proud of herself when it went in. "Ready to sign the papers? Yes. Ready to leave without Isamu…." Emiri bit her bottom lip, watching the boy. She didn't trust herself to speak; instead she simply shook her head once.

"I hope I'm doing the right thing," she murmured. "I really hope so." Emiri held her hands firmly in her lap to stop them from shaking.

X

After lunch, they made their way back to the hospital in slow succession. Every step felt heavier and heavier.

"You're so slow today, Nee-chan," Isamu said, running behind Emiri to push at her back to make her walk faster.

"Sorry, Isamu," Emiri sighed. Outside of the hospital, she gave Kakashi a look, and Kakashi understood because he quietly slipped into the double doors while Emiri remained outside with Isamu.

Kneeling on the ground, Emiri put her hands on Isamu's shoulders and smiled.

"Emiri-nee-chan," Isamu said. He moved forward, as if sensing Emiri's sadness and put his arms around her neck. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing, Isamu. I just want you to know that no matter what, you are a wonderful little boy and you are never far from my heart." I love you, Emiri thought. I love you so much. But professionalism told her to keep that love to herself.

"I love you, nee-chan," Isamu murmured before he pulled away from Emiri and smiled at her, as if he smiled hard enough he could chase away all her sad feelings.

"You too, Isamu," Emiri said, her heart breaking because all she wanted to do was hold the boy close for a while longer. "Now, let's go, they're waiting for us."

They reconvened in the conference room from earlier. This time, Emiri sat at Kakashi's right hand, and Isamu sat on her right—the three of them across the table from Mei and Sano.

Sano slid the documents over to Emiri as well as a fountain pen. "I rebuilt the contract as you asked. Read it over and sign it if you're ready."

Emiri did just that, carefully checking all clauses and sentence structures. She nodded along, agreeing with the contract. Finally, she took the pen in her shaky hand and signed her name on the dotted line under Sano's signature. Kakashi and Mei signed next as witnesses. Wordlessly, she slipped the contract back to Sano who filed it into a manila folder.

The pregnant pause in the room was palpable. Finally, Sano cleared his throat. "As for the next order of business."

Emiri blinked at the word "business". Isamu was not business, he was a sweet, energetic boy with so much potential. Emiri took a breath and looked at Isamu who colored beside her.

"Isamu."

The boy looked up, pausing from his tiger coloring sheet.

"Do you remember when I told you that your records show that your father was from Kirigakure and your mother from Konoha."

"Yeah."

"So, where we are not is part of your heritage. This village is where half of your blood is from." Emiri took a deep breath; she paused and looked back at Kakashi, wondering if he could see how much she was shaking. "Do you remember Ryo-san and I spending a lot of time looking for your family so you didn't have to live at the hospital?"

"I remember, and I don't have family," Isamu answered, his young face falling into a frown.

"It turns out you do, and I found out about this recently too."

"Who?!"

"The man sitting across from you." All eyes in the room turned to Sano. "Sano-san is a your father's cousin, and he would like to adopt you."

Isamu stared hard at Sano. Sano offered a smile. Isamu then looked down at his tiger drawing, gripping his orange crayon tightly and he swung his legs that didn't quite reach the ground. Finally he looked up at all the adults in the room and smiled brightly at Isamu. "No thank you."

Emiri passed a hand over her face, when she did so, she felt Kakashi's gloved hand on her shoulder. He leaned over to look at the little boy.

"Isamu, what I think Emiri is trying to tell you is that you don't have much of a choice. The laws state that you must go to a living relative."

Kakashi's hand lingered a moment longer and Emiri noticed when he withdrew, and she wished he didn't. "Kakashi is right, Isamu. By law, I have to give you to Sano, and he will take care of you from now on. Here in Kirigakure."

"I don't want to! I want to stay with you!"

"Isamu, living in a hospital is not what you deserve. You need to be with your family—"

"You're my family! You and the other kids, and Ryo-san! And you, me, and Kakshi are a team, remember?! I said no thank you!" In his anger, Isamu began to cry.

"Isamu…" Emiri reached out to touched the boy's shoulder.

The sound of him slapping her hand seemed to echo in the room as everyone stared.

"No! I hate you! You don't want my anymore and I hate you!" Suddenly, Isamu rose from his seat and bolted from the room.

"Isamu!" Emiri dashed after him, and grabbed the boy's arm tightly before he made it to the lobby.

"NO! Let me go!" Isamu struggled and kicked when Emiri wrapped her arms around him, keeping him in place. His struggles eventually stopped and he clung to her tightly, sobbing snot and tears onto her top, and Emiri didn't care—she simply held the boy, feeling his confusion, his hurt, his anger.

"It won't be so bad," Emiri tried to soothe. "Ryo-san will be here, so you can see him all the time, and I'll visit often, so I'll still see you and…"

"But I want to l-live with you in K-K-Konoha," Isamu sniffed.

"I want you to stay in Konoha too," Emiri murmured into Isamu's hair. "But a law is a law. And the best thing I can do for you as your teammate is give you your best chance with your family. Even if it hurts me too."

"I d-don't want f-family. I want y-you."

She held him a while longer, rocking him gently in the hallway. Eventually, Emiri did get up and carried Isamu with her, back into the conference room and put the boy in his chair. She was unable to meet anyone's stare.

"I will have Ryo send Isamu's file to you by the end of today. At this time, I've been the one who has worked closely with Isamu for the past two years, and if you have any questions Sano-san, please don't hesitate to contact me."

"Of course, Emiri-san."

Emiri looked at Isamu, his dark eyes round and red-rimmed with tears and hurt.

"Isamu, be a good boy, okay? I think, if you decide to go to the Ninja Academy here, you'll be a very good shinobi. And if you want to, you can write letters to me, okay? I would look forward to those very much."

"Emri-nee-chan…" Isamu's eyes filled with tears again and Emiri ruffled his hair.

"This isn't goodbye, Isamu, so you don't have to cry too hard. I'll see you later, only if you want to see me too, because I understand that you're mad at me right now."

Emiri looked at Sano, Kakashi, and Mei, and as she was standing, she offered them a bow. "If we're done here, I'm going to leave. Thank you, Mei-sama, Sano-san, Kakashi-sama."

Emiri quickly left the conference room and was out of the hospital as quickly as possible. If it wasn't unprofessional, she would have run as far as she could.

"Emiri-nee-chan!" Emiri's knees buckled as Isamu scooped his arms around her legs, hugging her fiercely.

"Nee-chan I don't hate you. So can I go home with you?"

"Isamu, this is your home." Emiri knelt, and adjusted Isamu's backpack straps—the boy looked ready to run away with her.

"Konoha is home."

"It is. But so is Kirigakure for you." Isamu did not look convinced. Emiri smiled at him, and she felt tears prick the corners of her eyes. Outside of the presence of her Hokage and Sano and Mei, Emiri allowed herself to cry a couple tears.

"Think of this as a mission, Isamu. And I want you to successfully complete your mission. Be good, make friends, and be happy. As your teammate I'm counting on you, Isamu."

Isamu was silent. Finally he launched himself into Emiri's arms one last time. When he pulled away, his bright, teary eyes were hard as he stood up straight. "I'm going to be the best shinobi ever and I'm going to make you proud on this mission."

"That's my boy," Emiri said, her vision blurry from her tears when she smiled at him. Gently, she turned the boy around to face the hospital and patted his shoulder. "Now go, Sano-san is waiting for you."

Isamu's fists bunched into little balls before he marched himself back into the hospital, and finally, Emiri turned and left, Munashi Isamu's adorable face forever etched on her heart—just like Neji.

X

It was dark when he heard a knock on his door that came from the bathroom. Quietly, Kakashi put his book aside and got out of bed to open the door.

Emiri stood quietly, dressed in her black compression shorts and a clean, black t-shirt. Her face was washed clean, and of course, Kakashi thought she was gorgeous, admiring the way her dark brown hair fell over her shoulder, stopping at her breasts.

But she looked wrong. Her serene green eyes looked blank and devoid of all emotion.

"Emiri?"

"Can we leave first thing in the morning? I just want to go home now that the mission is over."

"Of course," Kakashi answered, watching as Emiri nodded once, lifelessly.

"So, do I pass? Will the Elders stop being suspicious of me now that I successfully completed this mission?"

"Yes," answered Kakashi. "I will inform them of our success once we're home."

"Thank you." Emiri's beautiful lips tried to curl into a smile, and they did, but it looked wrong on her face.

"Good night, Kakashi." Emiri turned and silently padded back to her room, closing her bedroom door behind her with a soft click.

Kakashi closed his door and returned to bed as well. He dog-eared his book and put it on the nightstand before shutting off the bedside lamp.

Kakashi propped his arms behind his head and stared at the ceiling, listening to the breeze outside and thought of Emiri.

Kakashi was never one to physically comfort someone, and he could count the few times on his fingers when he did so. But for the second time that day, he wanted to wrap his arms around Emiri and keep her close to protect her from her own feelings that he could see threaten to eat her alive from the inside out.

He wondered if it was a mistake wanting her in his arms as much as he did in that moment, if she would even accept the touch he wanted to offer her—nothing sexual for now, just protective.

He wondered if it was a mistake for not holding her.

Author's Note:

Thanks for reading!

Your reviews are love!

x