A/N: Wrote this at 3am.

Don't mind any mistakes cause I wont.

Might edit later --

Alternate Universe (modern world, no ninjas)

You Left Me

Part 1

The wind slithered into the bandages, stinging bleeding flesh, as if reminding them of their alive state. Their alone state. A single dark ebony eye bore a stale gaze out over the multitude of city night lights. Wondering. Freezing thoughts to an ice block then letting it melt to crash over him like a tidal wave until his hands shook with the flood of thoughts and emotions. He had been left before but this time it mattered little to him. It was the reminder that tore at his mental gashes. A pulse of a need so dark the man had stopped fighting it years ago thrummed just underneath his skin at the memory.

There was a balm for it.

Somewhere down below in the surface glorified cement city.

I will find you.

A soft 'clack' of something hitting the floor drew the man's attention away from the window view. Board body of years honed muscles and gained height turned toward the innards of the dark barren room to land upon the object. It was nothing but plastic. Some piece of wear that had become an extension of the man's very own flesh. A mask. The wind's gust knocked the face covering off its tossed placement from the bedside table. He stared down at it as he approached. Crouched in front of it, taking in the hard yet well worn bland inside, then picked it up with an almost tangible mixture of distaste and muddled glee.

This was a warped comfort as it was a loathsome barrier.

"Fifteen years." The man muttered to himself while turning the mask over, revealing the spiral orange design, and stretched the elastic band before slipping it on over black hair. He adjusted its placement upon his face at its somewhat angled curve at the bottom. "And five since I've found you."

Low rumbles of a humorless laugh echoed in the now completely empty room.

The pavement was wet underneath his boots upon landing from the taken window exit. He drew up the hood of his black jacket revealing the image of a red cloud that had been partly hidden underneath the hanging cloth. The hood's overhanging brim shadowed the top half of the mask creating a more daunting sight to those walking along the same streets. Some looked while most stayed clear. A barrier indeed. Not that the man cared either way. None of these people mattered to him. Their corpses collapsing before his feet might have given him some incline to be interested in their presences but currently even that was vague. He had a task that needed to be done.

One he had put off due to the limitation of bodily healing.

However there was nothing to stop him from looking. From hunting down the very person whose very life breathed into his own and yet choked it to an almost withering state. The thought of the other man pulled hidden lips upward into a half tight smile. Scars shifting along the right side of the masked man's face. The reason for the barrier. The spiral mask obtained once facial flesh had been reconstructed and healed to a functional level of normality along with the majority of the right side of the body. He had never experienced such intense deep pain before then, having just been a kid at that time, but time had dulled the severe pain into a cold weather induced ache. One the man welcomed as a reminder of being alive; alive on the same plane as the one he hunted for.

He reached the coordinates previously gathered by those he had loosely become acquainted with. They were an odd bunch but served a few purposes that could not be done by a single being alone. One of which was the task at hand; although the blonde who had assisted in tracking down his prey knew neither of his plans nor the reasoning. And it was going to be kept that way. He had no reason to delve such information to mere expendable underlings. He smothered the distracting thoughts as he focused upon the apartment complex just at the end of the street. It had taken some time and an annoying extra time to travel to via public trains and police avoidance but here he was.

Finally here.

The mask tilted upward to one of the top windows. Inside that very apartment was his hunted prey of five years. They'll be meeting again. This would make it the fourth time they'd be nearly face to face as he planned to step closer this time. Usually watching from afar or a spaced distance was enough to tame the urges but this time it wouldn't do. Wouldn't be enough after the last way the other man had slipped away from the town. Away from him. He could feel the dark rush spread throughout his limbs in anticipation. Part of him had previously wondered if he had taken a blade to his veins when he felt like this would his blood drip black or red. It was a silly thought for sure but stable mental workings had long been circuited out from his brain. The only thing that kept his mind together was that man. The drive to see them. To hurt them. To fully envelope them until they were entirely his; his alone.

"No time like the present."

Lights in the apartment turned off.

Bare feet walked almost sluggishly across the smooth wooden floor toward the bedroom from a switch flicked dark living room. The bedroom was done in a modern style of white, blue-grays, and black. It fit the owner's style as one who preferred the easier access of simple comforts. More so after taking up a job as a substitute college professor for a friend in need of a favor. He normally wouldn't have taken such an exposing position but it had been months since his arrival into his big city and nothing short of dull was to be felt. Stir crazy was not something he expected to ever feel since he enjoyed the quiet peace of indoor reading, jazz music on the speaker, and perfectly temperature coffee with cream and sugar.

A real homebody beyond the picked up gym routine he had slotted into his daily life five years ago.

A phone rang bringing the attention of coal black eyes onto the device. Its small screen's light added its own hue to the lit room where it had been left face up on the charger. He moved toward the device after turning off the overhead light and picked up the call with a brush of pale fingers through silver hair. "Hello, Kakashi speaking."

"Hey! Glad I got you before you retired for the night."

Kakashi put the phone on speaker before tossing it back onto the bed as he removed his sweater and sleep pants getting ready for bed. Using the dim light as a makeshift nightlight. "Guess this couldn't wait. What is it?"

"Good news, I promise."

"Tell away, Kurenai."

"You don't have to come in tomorrow!" There was an approving hum as dark eyes glanced at the newly obtained Icha-Icha Paradise book placed within reach. "Since Guy lost the bet it got approved for him to switch with you by headmaster Sarutobi."

"I can finish the book then."

There was a soft disapproving noise over the line. "You would have better luck with women if they didn't see your face buried in the pages of that smut book, you know."

"That smut book is a-"

"Oh look at the time, it's getting late." Kurenai's voice gained a bit of speed as she spoke now. "Get some sleep and enjoy your time off tomorrow. Good night Kakashi!"

Said man snorted in amusement at the abrupt hang-up.

It wasn't anything new. Kurenai couldn't probably quote his saving statement about the holy grail of books word for word now. She, her husband, Guy and Iruka have been good friends since he arrived at Kohona city. Guy, while weird in his own extra- very extra way, had been a friend of Kakashi's since he was young. It was thanks to that man he had been able to find a decent place after Guy had mentioned the idea of moving here. However despite the many years he's known Guy and how nice Kurenai and her husband are Kakashi felt closer to Iruka. The professor whose class he would substitute for when the brunette was gone.

That was a caring warm soul if he ever met one.

For some reason the heavy weight dropping his shoulders and invisibility choking him seemed to give leeway for relaxed movement. Something Kakashi hadn't been able to feel in decades. More so in the recent five years. Yet lately these past few months it has been easier. Easier to breathe, feel, and even let go of the past pain a little. At least until the unmoving body of his childhood best friend crushed under the collapsed boards of their treehouse and broken branches flashed behind his eyes. He could sometimes still feel the phantom splatters of Obito's blood on his face whenever taking a shower. The only thing to help was the feel of constant contact of cloth against his face. A suggestion given by a previously seen therapist when he was a child. He shook his head to rid the thoughts, not wanting to assist in deeper inducements of nightmares.

Nightmares of the past.

Kakashi slipped under the covers and whistled for his dog until recalling they were staying overnight at the vet. Not lingering on that fact since the good boy will be back tomorrow with Iruka as the man had to drop off cat and offered to pick up Kakashi's dog to save a trip. It was a con at times to only have a motorcycle and not a car; but payments on a bike were far cheaper than on a four wheeler. And his lifestyle choices had made obtaining and lingering on a job difficult. He decided to read his new book by phone light, figuring the battery was at full charge by now. His attention was so focused upon the words imprinted on the page that his mind conjured the scenes like a movie within his head; pushing away the bad memories swirling just underneath the surface. However good the story was, it did dull Kakashi's senses over time, bringing the tiredness of sleep more to the forefront causing the text to sometimes blur together. The phone's solo soft glow in the dark room further lulled the man toward the power's of the Sandman.

The combination blinding him to the presence just outside the window beside his bed.

At some point the phone's glow had gone out.

The city lights beyond the window applying its own assistance to dimly light the bedroom. Its cool faint hue allowed the watching man enough light to see well enough having had time to adjust to the dark depths of the room. He pulled a small sharp device from a pants pocket and used the diamond tip to cut a small space just above the window latch to unlock it. The window slid silently open thanks to its newer age of installation and with a simple bend and forward lift of a boot clad foot the masked man was inside.

It was warm inside the apartment compared to outside. A sharp welcoming contrast to the cold streets and boarded up abandoned loft he had taken temporary residence within. His dark eye slid to the side to make sure the slumbering form remained before he started to move more promptly. Seeing the silver haired man give a faint shiver had the dark haired one closing the window softly and sticking a discarded sock into the freshly made gap in the glass. He paused upon realizing what he had done then shrugged it off. Minor comforts or discomforts mattered little right now.

His prey was right before him.

The masked man removed the jacket knowing the dampness of the light rain would alert the sleeping man to his presence sooner than he wanted. It had been quite the amount of time since they had last seen each other and he wanted to make this last. Prolong it for better savoring. A tasteful memory to add to the metaphoric album within his head and this time he was going to take it slow as the other was completely unaware of his presence this time around. It wasn't just the healing of his own body that kept him at bay from their line of sight but the need to put forth a false sense of lulling to better catch the prey unaware. And it worked. He was here mere inches away from the target of his hunt. The closest he's ever been to the other man since years prior.

Kakashi Hatake remained asleep under the heavy gaze underneath the mask. A knee was pressed into the mattress after shoes were slipped off quietly so the dark haired hunter could lean in closer to that blissful face. Their eye narrowed at the peaceful face. No hints of discomforted sleep, tormented dreams, or even a shudder of subconscious breath intake to his mere presence. His previous plan for the night had to be shifted as it was clear it had been too long since caution seemed to have faded from the man.

This wouldn't do.

There was no rest for the wicked.

It was a light weight upon the stomach that awoke the silver haired man. A tired hand came up to pet the dog in a barely awake state only to feel a different type of soft texture. Kakashi froze. The pressure shifted upward causing cool air to bite at the previously covered skin. That definitely wasn't his dog. Let alone a paw. Coal eyes shot open in full alert only to be met with an orange mask barely an inch away he had seen at a distance far too many times and up-close a handful of times too many. The single visible eye beyond that mask felt as it was slithering into his own eye and staining his insides with a black inkiness that seemed to curl around every negative emotion he ever felt and pull it forward.

The deep voice soothed his ears unwillingly as much as it rattled his bones.

"Evening, Kakashi."