Chapter CVI

Sweet Darkness

Without further ado, I go to the Konohagakure Intelligence Division with Naruto. That's where my mark and this darkness will be examined. To say that I'm anxious would be an understatement. I'm afraid to learn more. Goosebumps take over me, and I'm sweating. I don't know if this thing will react, if it will try to take possession of my body, like Naruto's did when his mind was probed. By focusing on my mark, I feel that it's there, but nothing more.

Of course, Naruto is attentive to my moods and worries about me. His azure-blue irises scan the surroundings meticulously, as if he was trying to find out what's stressing me out in like this. I reassure him that I'm fine, but my lie doesn't work. My body language contradicts my unconvincing words… And as a result, my emotions influence Naruto, who is clinging to my arm.

Between the oppressive white corridors, my anxiety increases. The closer I get to my destination, the more my heart palpitates. The fact that I imagine the walls shrinking doesn't help at all. 'Calm down, damn it!' I order to myself. 'Everything is gonna be okay. Stop imagining doomsday scenarios all the time!'

As I focus on my breathing, I recognize Shikamaru, who is waiting for me near the doors of the room. His face is exhausted; according to the dark circles under his eyes, he hasn't slept all night. "Shikamaru? What are you doing here?"

"I'm here to watch him during your exam," he explains to me, stuffing his hands in his pockets. "Since he's too possessive of you, it's better that he waits here."

"Indeed…"

Naruto's hands tighten, clinging tighter to me. His fierce expression implies that he doesn't intend to leave me alone. I don't know how they'll proceed about this, but the risk that the blond sabotage their work is inevitable. Since I got out of this hospital, he's been way too overprotective of me. I let out a sigh as I slide a hand through my silver mane. "Naruto, you can't come with me. You have to wait here with Shikamaru."

The teenager lets out a high-pitched hiss, then curls his tail around my legs; at that, he ruffles a few hairs. He protests his obvious disagreement and has no intention of leaving me alone… I have to convince him to wait for me obediently and make sure he doesn't come in the middle of the session to cause troubles…

"Naruto, nothing will happen to me and no harm will be done to me. You must kindly wait for me to return. That said … if you smell my blood, proof that they've hurt me, you'll be entitled to join me, is that okay with you?"

His eyes fixed on the ground, Naruto considers my proposal while hissing useless sounds. He hesitates and is faced with a dilemma, since he taps his finger on my arm, and it accelerates with each tap. He sweeps his gaze over me, over Shikamaru and so on. Fortunately, after an eternity, he lets go of me, showing his acceptance. I then sketch a smile while ruffling his porcupine mane.

"That's good, Naruto. Wait patiently for my return."

Well… His angry tail cuts through the air, hits the wall, and he's sulking with a frown. The important thing is that he stops sticking to my skin. His bad mood and his eyes dulled with coldness give me an unpleasant shiver. Regarding Shikamaru, he isn't at all serene about being alone with him. I don't blame him.

As Naruto crosses his arms and leans against the wall, I finally make it to my destination. "Good luck…" I tell Shikamaru, referring to the unstable element near him.

With a trembling hand, I open the door and enter. I'm dazzled by the brightness of the neon lights that stings my retina for a breath. The room is large, vast and empty, although the immaculate white makes it gloomy and unhealthy… Uselessly, a fleeting fear of finding myself in a straitjacket crosses my mind. In the centre, there's a round, elevated surface that occupies a good part of the space. I'm very uncomfortable and bitten by anxiety. As soon as I'm inside, all eyes are riveted on me. Futilely, they try to hide their disgust towards me… Obviously, I give off damn pheromones … again. There are Lady Tsunade, Inoichi and four shinobi specialized in seals and barriers.

As a cold sweat slides down my temple, I swallow. "Hmm… I don't know what you're planning to do, but don't spill my blood," I warn darkly. "In other words, you're gonna see an enraged Naruto arrive…"

"I see," the Hokage replies curtly. "Let's not waste any more time. Take off your clothes and lie down on the platform." She hands me a surgical mask, with which I hide my face and therefore my privacy.

Unable to do anything but obey, I comply, turning my back on them. I take off my accomplished ninja jacket and my shirt. My body is no longer as thin and sick as before, although I haven't yet regained my healthy weight. Given that they will examine my black mark, in which this darkness probably lurks, I doubt that they will ask me to remove the bandages that surround my hideous arms.

"We will erect barriers and a seal to contain this thing during the inspection," Lady Tsunade explains to me. "We don't know how it will react when Inoichi probes you. It's not out of the question that it will be aggressive. This seal and these barriers will also serve to protect your mind."

I caress my neck. I sense its presence. This darkness is there … and visibly … on the lookout. Apparently, it knows that something is happening…

"The seal we'll apply will be temporary, Kakashi," she continues. "As long as we don't know what we're dealing with, it's better to be cautious and not provoke it."

I nod.

"However… We don't know if the seals will be effective since we don't know its power and the signature of its energy."

"I see…" I climb onto the icy surface. I hoist myself up to the centre and lie down on my stomach, my arms crossed on which I rest my face. The cold makes me shiver and shudder. I'm very uncomfortable. I hope this session won't drag on. I remain obediently still, ready to respond to their orders. I resign myself to the possibility of being possessed by this thing…

"I will activate the seal first," announces one of the shinobi as he approaches me. He performs a series of hand seals before placing his palm on the back of my neck. He diffuses chakra into my skin.

Immediately, I feel like time has stopped. An unknown and strange feeling takes hold of my body; I'm cold while being hot, I'm numb while not being numb. I have this strange feeling that something is under my skin. I become terribly tense and formulating complex thoughts correctly proves difficult…

I freeze with fear when I realize what's happening to me… "It… It's awake," I say, holding my breath.

A silence.

"Kakashi, are you still with us?" Godaime asks me as the shinobi removes his hand.

"I… Yes," I stammer, nodding weakly.

"How do you feel?"

"I… I don't know. I can't explain it… It's listening to us…"

A strong emotion invades me … proliferates so suddenly that I feel threatened. I convince myself that they want to harm me and that I must run away. "I don't trust you at all anymore," I admit, incredulous at what I just said.

"That thing is already possessing you," she notes, clicking her tongue in her mouth. "The seal isn't enough. Erect the barriers!"

The shinobi nod together and get into position, at the four cardinal points around me. I can't help but clench my hands and stare at them suspiciously. They unroll a scroll in front of them, perform a series of hand seals, and place their hands on the paper. Black symbols appear and encircle me before joining the seal on the back of my neck. The second the glyphs touch, I can't move. I'm incapacitated.

"Can you move, Kakashi?"

"No…"

"And this darkness?"

"I don't know…"

"I see. We'll free you once we're finished."

I notice that my emotions are mixing with this thing inside me. I'm assailed by conflicting and paradoxical feelings. Obviously, it's apprehensive and wary of what they're going to do…

Without further ado, Inoichi places a cautious palm on the back of my neck, my mark. I feel his unwanted intrusion into my psyche. As long as he doesn't probe my brain, I can tolerate his presence.

A heavy and painful silence painfully extends over time.

"I see it," he says.

We hold our breath.

"This entity isn't at all happy to see me here," he continues. "It glares at me."

"Can you describe what it is?" the Hokage asks.

"It's rather difficult to explain. It's dark, and light can't illuminate it. It has a conscience and not really a form to speak of. This darkness is like the one my daughter described to me … except that the one in Kakashi doesn't have a left eye."

I frown. What does that mean? It seems to be taking on a form similar to who I am, since I lost my original eye during the Third Shinobi World War, although it was quickly replaced by Obito's Sharingan. However, it's as if my Sharingan isn't considered…

"I see. They would indeed harbour the same thing," she sighs. "Can you communicate with it?"

"I'm trying to establish contact, but I'm not getting any response. Either it's not interested, or it can't communicate…"

I swallow. I wonder if this thing is to blame for Naruto's muteness, but I could be wrong. After all, this thing is mixing with me, and it isn't out of the question that it's the same for the blond, stripping him of his ability to speak and express himself. If this turns out to be true … will I … lose my voice too...?

"However, this entity possesses a large amount of energy and chakra. The measures we have taken will be useless if it decides to attack."

A cold sweat beads on my forehead. Do my titanic chakra reserves that it would visibly have access to provide it with its strength? Or does it have its own chakra reserve...? I'm not the only one on edge. Preventive security measures are clearly useless…

"Compared to Naruto's, Kakashi's is much more docile, and I believe it will remain so if we don't provoke it," he continues. "When Ino had entered Naruto's mind, the darkness in him immediately jumped at her throat. If she hadn't gotten out in time, this thing would have prevented her from leaving before killing her in cold blood."

Saying this, Inoichi withdraws from me, from my mind. From then on, I feel much better … like this darkness that calms down. "I prefer not to linger any longer, Lord Hokage. I don't want to make it more angry than it already is."

These revelations make my blood run cold. I understand Ino's state of shock better after this probing session. This darkness in me is gentle. Naruto's is driven by a thirst for blood… Is that why he has to fight it so fiercely to not let it take over? Is there another reason that explains why his is fuelled by great violence? Is it possible that the experiments done on him provoked it? Maybe. The two entities we harbour are the exact opposite. Why this drastic difference? Is it a question of personality? In any case, if this mark on the back of my neck protects me from it, from Naruto's, I'm very happy that it's there… Even if it gave birth to a darkness in me.

The mysteries surrounding the chakra devourers are terrifying.

"Free him," Lady Tsunade orders.

The shinobi deactivate the barrier holding me still. When the seal on my neck is erased, I sit at the edge of the surface. Little by little, the strange sensations in my body disappear. Mechanically, I caress my neck. Although this darkness has gently returned to its place, lurking in the darkness of my mind, it's alert, spies on me, and listens to us…

"This entity may be docile, but nothing tells us that it won't become a threat," she sighs. "Do you think it will be possible to—"

"It's listening!" I shout. I don't know if it can read my mind, or if it knows that we want to seal it… In any case, it won't let us do it, that's understood. "I'm sure it understands what we're saying," I continue. "In other words, it wouldn't listen to us so attentively… I can't explain it, but I feel it."

A silence settles in.

"Hmm. Inoichi, is that possible?" she asks again.

"Maybe. To find out, we have to discover the source of its energy and try. I've never seen anything like that."

"I see." Lady Tsunade sighs before looking at me. "Kakashi, how do you feel about it?"

"I can't tell you. It's rather new and strange for me. Unless I focus on my mark, it's as if it doesn't exist. It seems more dormant than anything else."

"It seems passive and dormant, indeed. Perhaps its influence on you is less great since you're still … human."

"Maybe," I mumble. "According to Sakura, it's not aggressive unless provoked."

"Indeed. It's best to leave this thing alone for now. It's lucky that we can study yours without problems."

I nod.

"It's possible that this darkness is one of the causes of Naruto's feral temperament and muteness," she supposes. "That would partly explain how these guys would have managed to instruct this thought in his mind. If it understands what we're saying, this entity is endowed with a certain level of intelligence. Therefore, we must find a way to communicate with it to clear up this whole mystery…"

That makes sense. This group must know about this darkness. They did everything in their power to have it influence Naruto and make him adopt this wild beast thought pattern. With dread, I realize that my student isn't entirely under its influence since he fights it relentlessly. I dare not imagine how feral he would be if he had succumbed to this thing, whatever it is. Moreover, it means something else: I'm also at risk of becoming … "feral." Thank goodness it's staying nicely in its corner and not interfering in any way. I have no desire to start a mental and incessant fight as well.

"We'll do some research to find the best method to … well, you know. In any case, we'll summon you when the time comes."

"Understood."