ROCK BOTTOM

by Annie Purrington

Elite student, successful in his job, desired by girls - Kakashi Hatake is living his dream, which gradually fades when he is confronted with the brutality of life and a maelstrom of secrets and lies that drag him to the bottom. / AU, rating for a reason - TW for sexual/physical abuse, drugs/alcohol, homophobia, explicit sex and violence

31. On the tracks of a phantom

With a fluid spin, Dai steered the fir-green Volvo, also known as the "Maitomobile", into one of the many free parking lots in front of the William Kent Crescent. The engine wasn't even off when Gai was already searching the few cars, but there was no baby-blue flashing through the shiny car roofs.

Dai pulled off the key with the dirty, orange plush ball on it and followed Gai's gaze. A short silence filled the now oppressive quiet and Dai looked at each of his children with concern. "Let's go inside."

Dai and Gai got out at the front, Kina crawled through the back door from the back seat and stretched extensively. "Mhhh, are we already taking our luggage with us?" she asked, her arms stretched over her head, her fingers crossed and her upper body swivelling left and right.

"No," Dai replied and slammed the driver's door shut. "We'll leave the bags in the trunk for now. In the end, we drag them around unnecessarily."

"He's not here," Gai said resignedly.

"His car is not here," Dai corrected his son. "Maybe it's in the workshop, you know how rusty that thing is."

Gai wanted to reply, discuss it again on cramp, but he knew it was futile. Dai's optimism was unshakable. So, he exhaled heavily, collected the empty bread bag from the footwell in which they had gotten a quick breakfast in the form of sweet pastries and lye rolls from the bakery in Hawick almost four hours ago, and followed his father and sister towards the main entrance. On the way, he threw the rubbish into one of the battered mesh baskets that stood at irregular intervals along the path.

Each of the Maitos was probably lost in their own, more or less gloomy thoughts, for they climbed the steps without a word, and Gai could not make out the faces of his family, but he imagined that they had the same worry lines on their foreheads as he did. Up on the fifth floor, they lined up in front of the Hatakes' flat door exactly like last Monday and Dai rang the bell.

Nothing.

He rang the bell again.

Again, nothing.

He pounded his fist against the wood and shouted, "Sakumo? Kakashi? Hello? Anyone at home?"

Still nothing.

A meaningful look was exchanged among the three. Gai and Kina remained standing and Dai got the spare key from their flat, which Sakumo had placed with the Maitos years ago just in case, just as he had gotten one from Dai. He unlocked the door.

Gai's heart pounded anxiously. He would have liked to push his father aside and storm the flat, but Dai went ahead, called for Sakumo and Kakashi, received no answer. He was only halfway into the hallway when he stopped and muttered in horror, "Oh my goodness.."

Kina, who could easily peek past under her father's arm due to her short body length, let out a "Holy shit.."

Gai stood on his toes and pushed Dai a little to the side and when he saw it, a quiet "What the fuck.." slipped out of his mouth.

The living room at the end of the hallway resembled a battlefield. The pane of the balcony door lay in shards on the floor, half-dried puddles had stuck dirt to the tiles. "Did a bear rage here?" asked Dai aghast, who had taken a few steps into the room.

"Here too," Kina said, sticking her head through the open door to Sakumo's bedroom. "It's all pure chaos and—FUCK!" She stormed off. Dai and Gai sprinted after her. She stopped next to the bed, on the sheets of which rust-red stains had soaked through the yellowed fabric on the used side. "That's blood!"

"But not enough for a mortal wound," Dai stated with his medical eye. He pushed Kina back a bit and picked something up from the ground. It was a piece of glass, triangular, about the size of the palm of a hand, and dry blood stuck to the long tip. The men's eyes met and Gai turned around on the spot.

The only locked door was that of Kakashi's room. He tore it open, the familiar and beloved scent of moss hit him. This room smelled like Kakashi, but he was not visible. But that wasn't all Gai noticed. Despite the fact that he had hardly ever been in here for the last few months, he noticed the changes. The poster of Vision Thing no longer hung above the bed, the wardrobe contained only individual parts, most of the cassettes were gone, the house telephone was on the floor in front of the bed, the receiver was next to it. At least that explained why no calls were put through.

"They took the clothes but left the stereo and the trophies..?" mumbled Dai's voice behind him. Gai took a step forward so that the others could also get a picture. "They should be worth at least something in terms of material."

"You think they were looting here?" Kina asked.

"At least it looks like it," Dai replied.

"And they kidnapped him?!"

"No, these weren't looters," Gai interjected. "They wouldn't take the poster or worthless cassettes." He went to the door and noticed that Erika Eleniak was no longer posing on the inside of it. This confirmed his suspicion. "Kakashi would. He took them off himself."

"So that was him?" Kina asked, looking at the empty wall panelling. "Why would he do such a thing?"

"Maybe there was a fight and he ran away," Gai said.

"But why does he leave his trophies behind?" Dai expanded on his daughter's doubt. He looked at the single shelf above the small desk, on which gold awards for first places in gymnastics or sprinting or the captain's medal of the last rugby high school championships were presented.

Gai, who looked around the room to find more clues, casually explained, "They didn't mean anything to Kakashi. When he runs away, he doesn't burden himself with those things. They are only there to flatter Sakumo's eye." He knelt on the carpet and searched under the bed. In fact, he found a box he had hoped for, pulled it out and lifted the crooked lid. Except for a few ancient porn magazines, the corners of which were already rolling up, a half-full pack of size S condoms and a soft, wrinkled cucumber with isolated notches around the middle, it was empty. No money, no joints, not even the Playboy with the photos of the Baywatch girl – if Kakashi hadn't already disposed of the magazine because of bad memories.

"Soo.. do you really think he ran away?" Kina asked after a suspiciously long pause.

The wrinkled vegetable in her hand Gai stood up. "Yes. I'm sure. Clothes are missing, valuables are no longer here, things that I know are important to him, too, his Beetle is not downstairs.. It's clear." He sounded and felt strangely relieved. He couldn't breathe a sigh of complete relief yet, after all, he still didn't know anything about Kakashi's whereabouts, but his biggest fear had been that he had died here in this hated building. But he had escaped it, and "ran away" was, in Gai's opinion, better than "slit his wrists in the bathroom". But.. If Kakashi wanted to escape from this place and the memories of his father, why hadn't he come to Hawick? This unease hurt Gai somehow and he wondered if he even meant enough to Kakashi to come to him in his grief. But he quickly dismissed the musing before he ended up thinking himself into despair.

"I understand your point of view," Dai said, his tone promising a "but" before he continued, "but that doesn't explain why Sakumo isn't here and why the flat looks like a bomb has hit."

"Maybe it was him," Gai began to formulate a wild idea. "Maybe their argument escalated, Sakumo raged in the flat and Kakashi packed his stuff."

"Sakumo is not violent," Dai said indignantly.

Kina and Gai looked at each other briefly, Kina pressed her lips together and raised her eyebrows, Gai snorted reproachfully. "Dad, are you serious? You know him, much longer and better than we do."

Dai crossed his arms and said determinedly, "That's right, I know him. He is a soldier and believes in a strict upbringing, but he is NOT violent."

Gai couldn't help it. He laughed humourlessly and looked at his father disparagingly. "You're really naïve, Dad."

"Don't you dare talk to me like that, Gai."

"Yes, because I can't seem to destroy your ideal worldview any other way. Sakumo beat Kakashi."

"No, he didn't."

"Yes! Just last week. Kina and I heard it through the wall. He insulted him and clearly hurt him. If you had seen Kakashi's condition, you would have attacked Sakumo yourself. He was completely exhausted, cried and lashed out. He behaved as if everyone wanted to attack him and he had to defend himself. And that wasn't the first time. He once told me that his father beat him up when he caught him masturbating. He was eleven, Dad, ELEVEN! I don't know if this happened more often before or later, he didn't mention any other outbursts, but that Sakumo was violent towards Kakashi IS a fact, whether you want to admit it or not."

There was sheer shock in Dai's eyes. "What..?" he breathed stunned and Gai felt a little bad because he seemed to have really destroyed his father's worldview. "I didn't know anything about that. Why didn't you tell me?"

Gai lowered his head in dismay. "Because Kakashi didn't want to. He only confided in me back then. He was ashamed of it."

"You didn't have to tell me the reason," Dai murmured, "but at least say that things are happening here that harm him. I could have done something."

"What?" Gai asked incredulously. "Would you have informed the youth welfare office?"

"For example."

"As if they are interested in children in the Crescents. Or have you already forgotten about Noriko's death? Mother murdered in front of his eyes, father in the war, he completely distraught and alone, and they just let him rot at the police station, didn't even send someone over to talk to him so that he can process this trauma. If it hadn't been for us, then—" Gai stopped himself because he had to stop himself from carrying out his own thought. He swallowed dryly. "The youth welfare office could not have helped him."

"Then I would have," Dai said resolutely. "This boy has always been like a son to me and I would never have allowed him to be mistreated. I would have found a solution, and if I had adopted him."

"Guys," Kina chimed in, "reproaches don't get us anywhere. Yes, the past sucks and all. But arguing now is pointless."

"Kina is right." Dai took a deep breath, looked at his son, and said in a firm and honest voice, "I'm sorry, Gai. I didn't want to make you feel guilty. You acted as you saw fit."

"I'm sorry too, dad. I didn't mean to hurt you with my words. I'm sure – if I had talked to you, you would have made a good decision in Kakashi's favour."

Dai nodded. "Thank you. Ok. Kids? We have to find out why this flat looks like this, where Sakumo and above all: where Kakashi is. He is our priority, because of him we are here. Gai, you know Kakashi best of us. If he really ran away, where could he be? Where could he want to go? What would be his destination?"

Anxiety spread through Gai's chest. "Well, until a year ago I knew him best. But what happened after his eighteenth birthday – I have no idea. I don't even know who beat him up like that last week."

"But I do," Kina interjected. "They were former friends from Kensington." And then Kina talked about Rin, Kakashi's expulsion from school, and the act of revenge by Obito and Asuma – names Gai had only heard a few times, in the rare moments when Kakashi had talked about his school. At some points she hesitated, and Gai suspected that Kina didn't want to unpack all the juicy details in front of her father, but at least roughly she brought the two of them up to her level of knowledge.

Now that the fight was a topic, Dai expressed the fear that Kakashi may have experienced not only physical but also some form of sexual violence, due to how Kakashi had reacted to his treatment, and whether it might have caused serious changes in him.

Kina then continued to speak out and admitted that four girls from his circle of friends had had sex with him at a small party at Obito's and that he had not been able to refuse loudly enough because of the drugs he had been under the influence.

Gai remembered that Sunday morning when he and Dai had welcomed Kina in the stairwell. He had already thought that Kakashi had looked exhausted, now he had the confirmation – and an explanation for the sperm stain on his jeans. But another conclusion stoked in him an antipathy towards his sister. He had actually thought Anko was pretty cool the few times he had met her, and the fact that Kina hung out with her only spoke for that goth-chick, but as long as this clique wasn't constantly regrouping, Anko was one of the four girls Kina had been out with before the summer holidays, and thus automatically one of the same four girls who had abused Kakashi. And then Kina kind of forced him to spend time with her..? If Gai had known that he wouldn't have allowed her to go to the kitchen with them. Just now, Gai felt the urge to hug Kakashi more than ever. But in order to be able to do that, they first had to find him.

"Okay," Dai sighed and took a deep breath. "My battle plan: The two of you take the car and check out places where you think Kakashi might be. Every little idea can be a trace, so don't leave anything out. I'll give you my pager and get on the phone to call a few contacts. As soon as we have news, you can call at home or I will inform you via the pager. Do you have enough change with you?" His children nodded in unison. "Good. I'll accompany you downstairs to talk to Hiashi. Maybe he has noticed something and shortens the search."

On the way to the flat door, Gai's attention was attracted by a small, red light on the answering machine, which flashed diligently. "Guys!" he shouted and Dai and Kina stopped next to the wardrobe. Gai flicked at the device, rewound the tape and started it. The first message was his own, when he had called here for the first time on Thursday and had left so hopefully a request for a recall, the times after that he had not even tried. The second was that of Sakumo's foreman, who informed him that he still had private belongings in his locker and that he should please pick them up in the next few days, and the third came from a woman named Yumiko Nakatani. She said that she had settled in well in Manchester and left her phone number where she could be reached.

Gai and Kina were confused. "Who is that?" he asked.

"Yumiko is Noriko's sister," Dai explained and wrote down the number in his pocket calendar.

"I didn't even know Kakashi had an aunt."

"She hasn't been here often, she has spent the last few years in Africa. But she's an excellent approach for me, maybe she knows where Sakumo and Kakashi are. But now let's go to Hiashi."

The three of the Maitos made their way to the ground floor, passed many vandalized flats in the long hallway and finally Dai rang the doorbell of the Hyuugas. It took a moment for Hiashi to open the door and frown in amazement at the unexpected visitors. "Dai? Hello. What gives me the honour?"

"Hello, Hiashi," Dai took over the speech. "I'm sorry for the disruption. Did we wake up the baby?"

"No, everything is fine. Hinata is awake anyway," Hiashi fended off. "My wife is feeding her right now."

"Very good. We don't want to disturb you for long, but I had hoped that you might be able to help us. We are looking for Kakashi Hatake, the son of Sakumo from our neighbouring flat. Have you seen him by chance the last few days?"

The gaunt man in his early forties with shoulder-length black hair stepped out of the flat and left the door behind him ajar. "Kakashi? No, it's been a while since I've seen him. Two or three weeks ago, I guess, when I met the boy in his school uniform in the hallway and he greeted me politely, as always. But after that we didn't run into each other again."

"Hm," Dai said, trying not to let his disappointment shine through. "What about Sakumo? I know you don't have too much to do with each other, but maybe you still know where he might be right now. We urgently need to talk to him."

Hiashi's rather stern face took on a heavy expression. "Haven't you heard it yet?"

"Heard? What?"

"Sakumo has passed away."

A nervous rustle went through the Maitos, the twins looked at each other in shock. "Passed.. away..?" Dai whispered. "What happened?"

"I don't know exactly, but I overheard how some paramedics were here around three on Thursday and the coroner carried out a body bag. I talked to Elizabeth from the fourth floor and she said the deployment was above her and only you and the Hatakes live there."

"Did Elizabeth mention noise?" Dai asked.

"Yes, a little later in the afternoon there was a loud rumble above her. She was afraid that they were looters and barricaded herself in her flat. She is very happy that she is about to move out, she can't stand it here anymore."

"Understandable," Dai said sympathetically.

"We'll finally be gone tomorrow, the last boxes are packed. How about you?"

"End of August," Dai answered. "Unfortunately, our new flat will not be available earlier."

"Well, then I wish you good luck outside of this miserable coffin."

"Thank you, you too. Send me your new phone number. And forgive us for the disturbance."

"I will. And no problem. There are no disturbances among good neighbours."

The men said goodbye, Hiashi disappeared back into his flat and the Maitos slowly walked towards the exit. In front of the door they stopped again and after a silent while Kina timidly murmured, "Does everyone here think what I think..?"

"No!" Dai exclaimed angrily thus confirming her question. "We don't even consider something like that!"

"And if so?" Kina complained. "I mean.. Shit, guys.."

"No," Dai repeated vehemently. "I can't, don't want to and won't believe something like that. To convince me otherwise, you would have to present me with solid evidence, a video, a journey through time, no matter what."

"And if it happened in the heat of the moment? He doesn't have to have done it intentionally. It just could.. have been an accident."

"Kina, stop it, please. Kakashi didn't do anything to Sakumo. He wouldn't be able to at all."

Kina visibly disagreed but remained silent.

"At least we save ourselves the search for Sakumo," Gai said matter-of-factly.

"Please don't be so irreverent, a person has died," Dai reprimanded, seemed much more depressed than his children. Understandable, after all, Sakumo and he had been superficial friends for almost twenty years.

"I'm sorry," Gai replied without meaning it. "But now we know why Kakashi wasn't feeling well on Thursday and that he must have been the one who vandalized the flat."

Dai nodded. "Grief and anger. I just wonder why he didn't tell me."

Gai thought he knew. Kakashi had had a complicated relationship with Sakumo and it certainly hadn't been easy for him to talk about it so soon after his father's death and to realize his feelings about it as a result. This made the fact that he had not been able to talk to Kakashi on the phone all the worse. Maybe he could have calmed him down and prevented certain things he didn't want to imagine at the moment.

"I have to admit that this makes the situation a little tricky," Dai said. "So now we assume not only that Kakashi fled from a possible argument but completely turned his back on his home without his father's presence."

"He doesn't intend to come back," Gai agreed.

Kina groaned desperately. "Shit eh. I should have recognized what was wrong with him, then maybe everything would be different now."

"Accusations don't get us anywhere," Dai repeated her own words and smiled encouragingly at his children. "We have to stick together now, then we'll find him."

"Hopefully alive," Gai mumbled before he could have stopped himself.

His father patted his shoulder. "Gai, he's alive and we'll find him."

"And if not? If he really did more to himself?" Gai finally said what he was most afraid of. In his darkest imagination, Kakashi had deliberately wrapped himself around a tree in his grief or taken his own life somewhere or somehow else. But Dai, who sensed what was going on inside him, said reassuringly, "If he had intended to kill himself, would he have taken his things with him?"

No, he certainly wouldn't. Gai twisted his mouth and shook his head.

"Well, then. Please, you two, don't hang your heads. I'll make a few phone calls and you drive off."

One last nod, Dai went back up the stairs and Gai and Kina sat back into the Volvo. When Gai inserted the key, he looked at his sister in the passenger seat. "It's all well and good that we want to stay positive, but where do we start? I don't know where he has been in the last year or who his friends were." It pained him to admit this in front of Kina and himself, because it meant that the "best" in front of the "friend" was more of a truism.

Kina punched him on the knee and made a grumpy sound. "I've told you everything I know."

"Cool, so we're just going to drive around aimlessly?"

She kneaded her lower lip absentmindedly. "Let's think about it, let's put ourselves in his shoes. We hate, and somehow also love our father who is dying, we break a few things in our flat, pack our bags and.."

„.. leave our lives behind us," Gai finished her sentence.

"But he has to go somewhere. He can't just sleep in his Beetle."

"Hotels?"

"He needs money from somewhere."

"He always put some aside."

"And if it runs out?"

Suddenly, Gai remembered something. "His work! That we didn't think of it earlier.. I mean, ok, we haven't seen him since Monday, but after that he went to work. Maybe they can tell us something."

Kina's eyes lit up. "You know, bruv, sometimes you're not that stupid."

Gai raised his middle finger, turned the key and after a quick check in a phone book they found themselves in Ardwick in front of a two-storey building, on the upper floor of which were the rooms of the radio station Village of Sound. They hurried up the stairs and entered the studio, where they initially stopped indecisively in the wide vestibule. A hallway opened to their left, from which four doors with square glass panes opened, above the front one a red "ON AIR" lamp shone. To their right was a lavatory, a kitchen, and another door marked "O. Hebikawa, Studio Manager."

"There," Gai said, pointing to the door that was pulled back at that exact moment. A handsome boy, about their age with high-styled brown hair, hinted beard growth and a well-used denim jacket, came out, shouted a "Yo, thank you, Mister Hebikawa, I appreciate that very much" and waved.

"Always with pleasure, Yamato," a man's voice came from the room. At this strange singsong, accompanied by an unpleasant rasp, Gai's neck hairs involuntarily stood up and goosebumps crept down his arms. "And don't forget our little date tomorrow, I want to give you your gift before your birthday."

Yamato laughed. "Eh, don't worry, sir. But you don't have to give me anything." He lifted a brown envelope. "I was already surprised about the additional payment. That's really more than enough, I don't want to give the impression that I'm taking advantage of you."

A hoarse laugh sounded. "You're not taking advantage of me, Yamato. I'm happy to do it for you, after all, you don't turn eighteen every day, do you?"

"You're probably right."

"Then see you tomorrow in all freshness. And thank you for making an effort on your day off."

"No problem, sir," Yamato grinned. "I was on the road anyway and a detour to the station was not a big one. Bye then."

"Bye-bye," this Hebikawa warbled buttery.

Yamato closed the door and walked towards Gai and Kina with a buoyant step, noticed the two of them and his seemingly permanent smile widened. "Hey, you. Are you new?"

"No, we're looking for Kakashi," Gai replied.

The smile faded a little. "Kakashi? Why are you looking for him here? He has not been working at VoS since the week before last."

"He hasn't? But he said on Sunday that his vacation was over," Kina said confused.

Yamato shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know, maybe he found a job somewhere else. The last time I saw him was the Monday before the summer holidays, he had a quarrel with Orochimaru and wasn't in a great mood. After that, I don't know either. It's a real shame, man, I really liked him, he was always cool. Can you tell him to get in touch with me? My parents' number is in the phone book. I'd like to chat with him and hang out with him again."

"Sure, let's tell him, and thank you," Gai said and stepped aside to let Yamato pass him, who winked and disappeared into the stairwell with a "bye boys". The twins followed him, watched him stroll leisurely towards the bus stop and got back into the car. "Fuck," Kina cursed into the loud slamming of the car door. "That was the day I called the show. Do you think he had this fight with his boss because of me?"

Sighing, Gai fastened his seatbelt. "I don't know, man. But that was a dead end. Shit, if I had received the frequency the last few days, I could have saved us the trip here."

"That's the problem with local radio stations. But do you have any idea where he started working instead? At Morrisons again? Does he clean somewhere?"

Gai thought sharply, let his chapped lips pop several times, smeared fresh Vaseline on them and finally asked, "Why did he say he was on vacation when he didn't work anymore?"

"And why does he say he can't go to Hawick because of that?" Kina added.

"That's why he refused?" Gai turned his head in surprise.

"Yes, I had invited him as discussed, but he just said his father needed him and he had to work."

"Hmmmm," Gai said thoughtfully, resting his head on the narrow strip next to the windowpane and chewing on his lower lip, although he was supposed to let it be. "Did he lie to you?"

"Because he didn't want to come with us? Because of you? Because he can't cope with your gayness?"

'Certainly not because of that,' Gai thought, but didn't say it. Furthermore, avoiding Kakashi's outing was a tightrope act that required extreme caution. "I rather think that there is something he had to do. He always liked being in Hawick and we were in the process of clarifying our thing."

"Well, just what?", Kina formulated exactly the question that made Gai rack his brain. Yes, what was it that had kept Kakashi here, what had kept him busy, what burdened him? Gai had a sense of it, there was something else that they just didn't see, something big, apart from Sakumo and him.

A sudden vibration on his belt made him cringe. He fiddled with the pager and recognized their phone number flashing on the small screen. "Dad," he just said, and they got out again, walked a few metres to the nearest phone booth and called home. "Kids?"

Pushed into the cramped, red booth, Gai with the receiver to his ear and in a hunched over position so that Kina could listen, Gai almost broke out in a sweat with excitement. "Dad, do you have anything?"

"Is Kina listening?"

"Yes."

"Very good," Dai replied, sounding almost euphoric. "I have a lead. On the one hand, we now know that he was not in the ER. I called them and they didn't treat a patient named Kakashi Hatake, so we can rule out serious physical injuries for now. I also reached Yumiko and unfortunately she knew nothing about Sakumo or Kakashi's whereabouts, but she'll get in touch if he turns up – after all, she's his last living family member. But! He was at the Winchester on Wednesday, singing Piano Man in honour of his mother. And Diana told me that he was talking to a musician who had performed there with his band that evening. She said that the two apparently got along well. When Diana closed the pub, she saw that Kakashi was still standing outside talking to the musician. She read me the band's tour dates and they're playing at Blacksmith in Leeds tonight. Kakashi met him before the whole thing, but maybe he knows something, maybe Kakashi mentioned something to him."

"Shall we go to Leeds now?" Gai asked doubtfully. "It's a distance, so we're on the road a little longer."

"Nah. Diana is well connected and she picked out the number of the Blacksmith for me. You could call there. Ask for a Zabuza Momochi from the band Seven Swordsmen."

"This is not a local call, it'll be expensive."

"Doesn't matter," Kina said, digging her pearl-studded purse out of her trouser pocket and shaking it with a jingle. "I have, don't worry."

Gai nodded. "And what are you doing in the meantime, dad?"

"I'm investigating the circumstances under which Sakumo died so that we can finally get the question off the table. I asked the police for information and they wanted to call me back right away, so unfortunately I have to keep the line clear, otherwise I would ask at Blacksmith myself."

"Okay, we'll hang up. Just give us the number."

Dai gave the phone number, Gai and Kina repeated it in chorus so as not to forget it, and Gai typed it into the keypad after inserting a new coin.

"Blacksmith Tavern, Thomas Oxford on the phone?" a man answered.

"Hello, my name is Gai Maito. I heard that the Seven Swordsmen are playing at your place today, is that right?"

"Yes, that's true."

"Is the band perhaps already present?"

"No, I'm sorry, they haven't arrived yet. But they had announced themselves for about two o'clock. You could try again in half an hour, then you'll certainly have better luck."

"Okay, that sounds fabulous, thank you very much."

"Nothing to thank. Later, Mister Maito."

"Yes, later," Gai said and hung up.

Kina moaned discouraged. "Shit maaan... Why are we so unlucky all the time? Can't someone please say, 'Hey, yes, Kakashi's here' and bam – we don't have to worry anymore."

They had stepped out of the narrow telephone booth and strolled back to the car. "Do you have any other idea where we can look?" Gai asked, also losing a good portion of confidence.

"I thought about it. Anko and he got along well that evening in the Kitchen and maybe, it's really only a narrow silver lining, but maybe they had contact again afterwards. We could go to her and ask her if she heard anything."

Gai doubted that Kakashi wanted to hang out with Anko voluntarily after this action in Obito's basement, but it was at least a small approach, and before they waited pointlessly until the half hour was up, they could try with her. They got back into the Volvo and Kina guided him to Altrincham. They got out in front of a small house on the northern edge of the suburb and Kina marched purposefully through an open garden gate to the blue-painted wooden door and rang the bell. A woman with a stern black ponytail opened the door. "Hello?"

"Hi, I'm Kina, a friend of Anko's. Is she at home by chance?"

"Ah, you're Kina?" the woman smiled. "My daughter has already told me a lot about you. She's upstairs in her room, third door on the left."

"Thank you," Kina replied kindly and the twins took two steps at a time to the upper floor. Kina knocked on the aforementioned door and pressed the handle after a "Come in".

It was not a typical girl's room, Gai could say that much right away. According to her preferred clothing style, Anko had also decorated her personal homes. She had dark purple bed linen, the light blue wallpaper plastered with depressive photos and black-and-white posters of bands, a "Private Property" metal sign screeched a rebellious note into the room and black cloths hung from the wall mirror.

On the wide bed in the corner opposite the window, three people had made themselves comfortable – Anko in a cropped, black T-shirt and striped leggings squatted cross-legged, a boy with fluffy hair lay propped up against the wall, and a girl with a smooth, brown bob, pink top and white miniskirt sat, her legs elegantly crossed, on the edge of the bed. Another boy, short, black hair, red eyes, peach-coloured polo shirt and rather arrogant charisma, leaned his butt on the top of the desk and had his arms crossed.

When Kina entered, Anko's face brightened, she jumped off the bed and hugged her stormily. "Kinaaa! Cool man, what are you doing here? I thought you were stuck on the ass of the world."

The girls kissed each other on the cheek and broke away from each other. "I just wanted to see if you were still alive."

"Bitch," Anko grinned. "Do you want to have a drink? Mum brought iced tea for us."

"No, Gai and I are just passing through," Kina waved off.

"Gay?" the black-haired boy suddenly laughed and before Gai looked at him, he noticed how Anko's smile disappeared immediately. Gai glared viciously at the guy. "No, Gai. Or do you have something on your ears?"

"Gay suits you better," the guy shrugged. "You already look like a fucking poof. Who cuts your hair? Your squeeze?"

"Hey, Obito, you fucking wanker, no one asked you for your opinion!" Kina hissed.

Gai's jaw tensed. So that was this Obito. He knew right away that he didn't like him.

Obito loosened his arms and put the heels of his hands on the edge of the table, clearly wanting to flex his muscles. "What do you want from me, you little bitch?"

"Who are you calling little here, eh?!"

"Well, you," Obito sneered. "You wouldn't even have to get down on your knees to blow me."

"Sure, otherwise I won't get to your microwinkle," Kina replied spitefully. "I can't find it even with a magnifyer."

Obito laughed. "You're confusing magnifyer with binoculars, blondie."

Kina threw a middle finger at him.

Now the unknown girl spoke up. "Anko, I thought I had expressed myself clearly. I don't want you to hang out with that brat."

"Brat?!" Kina snapped at her. "You know I'm older than you!"

"But you can't see it, as childish as you dress up." Her brown eyes glided disparagingly over Kina's outfit.

Kina plucked the flipped cap from her head, slapped it on Gai's chest, who hastily held it, and went after the girl. "You bloody godfucking bitch! I'll kill you for what you did to Kakashi!"

The girl, whose name was one hundred percent Rin, dodged backwards, but she did not escape Kina's sudden attack. Kina pulled Rin's hair and sank her fist into the puzzled face.

Obito yelled, "Eh, leave my girlfriend alone!" and was about to intervene, but Gai, passing the cap to Anko, jumped in. He grabbed this Obito by the shoulders and held him back. "You don't hurt a hair on my sister's head, get it?!"

"What do you cocksucker want from me now?! Don't touch me, or I'll get the same disease as you!"

Gai clawed at Obito's apish shirt collar and growled, "I'll only touch you if I have to, but keep your hands off Kina, or I'll hurt you a lot."

"Eh, what kind of lunatics are you?!" Rin snapped. Gai heard the two girls wrestling with each other on the bed, and after a quick glance over his shoulder, he was pleased to see that Rin was resisting Kina, but his sister had the upper hand and continued to try to punch the girl in the face. He turned his attention back to Obito, whose eyes blazed with unbridled violence. Gai just grinned. "What, are you going to beat me up, eh? Do it, then we'll see that you can't stand up to me if you don't have your buddy with you as support. Coward."

Obito tugged miserably at Gai's hands, which only gripped tighter. "Are this shitdick and you together? Is that why you go off like that?! Is this your revenge for showing this monstrosity?!"

"Oooh yes, you really showed him. Two against one, very brave. But what about now, huh?" Gai pushed Obito a little backwards, the pen cup on the desk clattered. "If you're so strong, why don't you show me?"

Visibly provoked, Obito continued to try to loosen Gai's grip, step on his feet or regain his freedom with a sling against Gai's shoulder. However, before a real brawl could ensue, Anko stamped her foot and yelled, "Damnit, stop now, EVERYONE!"

The squabbling stopped and the four looked at the angry girl, panting could be heard. Anko's sparking gaze wandered from one face to the next. "Are you daft?! Stop beating your fucking heads in MY room! If you really want to act like howler monkeys, go outside into the garden!"

"Sorry, Anko, but I just can't let Rin's mug get away unscathed," Kina defended herself.

Anko stared at her with knitted eyebrows. "I know, but as I said, not in my room!"

"What, you're just going to let me get hurt here?!" Rin asked shattered, half buried under Kina.

"Wow, shut your fucking mouth, Rin! You get on my nerves anyway, how you constantly push yourself into the victim role. No one eats that you are a poor, innocent lamb!"

"Excuse me?!"

"Yes!" Anko huffed heavily and gave the impression that she was finally getting something off her chest. "Do you really think I don't know about your constant lies, huh?! You strut through fucking Kensington as if it were your palace, take advantage of everyone to make your wishes come true, and then think that no one notices! We're not all called Obito Uchiha and stuck with our heads in your puny ass."

"Hey!" Obito chimed up, but Gai rammed him against the desk again to silence him.

"I know how you talk about me behind my back, how you call me in front of other girls, how you call me a 'whore' because, unlike you, I'm at least open about the fact that I like to have sex, how you manipulate and control me. Stop playing the innocent, Rin, that doesn't suit you. You're the biggest whore of them all. Eh, you fuck Kakashi for months and then do that shit with him – for what? He?! FOR WHAT?! For fucking Obito? For the fact that no one should see you for what you really are?!"

"Be quiet, Anko, or I—"

"Or what?" the boy, who had been lying silently on the bed and looking at everything in peace, now spoke up. He straightened up with rage-filled eyes. "What do you want to do, Rin? Say it, go on. I'd like to hear what you're trying to threaten my girlfriend with."

"Awww, are you going into protector mode now, Genma?" Obito teased.

"Unlike you, my girlfriend is important to me, you fucker," Genma replied coldly. "You two deserve each other, just as you cheat each other."

"Cheating?!" Rin shrieked, finally fighting her way away from under Kina, who in Gai's estimation deliberately had less strength in her arms, stood up and stared at Obito with red-stained cheeks and a bloody lower lip. "What does he mean by 'cheat'? Are you cheating on me?!"

Gai smelled the quarrel from afar, let go of Obito and moved out of harm's way.

"I'm not cheating on you, Rin!" Obito should really practice his lying game.

"Karui?" Genma asked from the bed. "Samui? Mei?"

The loud clapping as Rin's flat hand hit Obito's cheek made Kina, Anko, Genma, and Gai flinch. "You slept with Mei?!"

"And you slept with Kakashi!" Obito shouted.

"He raped me!" Rin howled.

"Repeat it a few more times, then you might believe it yourself at some point, you fucking whore," Obito hissed.

Rin gasped theatrically, whirled around and stormed out of the room. Obito groaned, muttered a "Fuck eh.." and hurried after her, leaving a silence behind that Genma finally broke. "Hi by the way, I'm Genma, Anko's boyfriend."

Gai bumped the fist he held out to him. "Gai, Kina's twin brother."

Genma's warm, brown eyes darted from Gai to Kina and back again. Gai grinned crookedly. "I know. No one ever believes us, but she's twenty minutes older than me and well, when you see our parents, you know."

"Sick, genetics is something fine." Now his gaze fell on Anko, who scratched her wrist grumpily. "Come here, babe," he said, spreading his arms, Anko snuggled up in them and they kissed deeply. "Hopefully she'll ignore me after the summer holidays," Anko mumbled into his T-shirt.

Genma stroked her back reassuringly. "And if not, I'll deal with her. I bring enough dirt to light to destroy her reputation."

"Mhh, my saviour in need," Anko purred and kissed him again.

Kina cleared her throat and put her cap back on. "Ahem, I'm sorry, I don't want to interrupt you lovebirdies, I don't begrudge you your intimacies, honestly, but we urgently need your help."

Anko turned around in Genma's arms, snuggled up to his chest, and Genma rested his chin on her shoulder. "What are you up to?"

"That sounds like we're about to rob a bank," Genma giggled.

"Would you come with me?" Anko asked.

"Sure, then we'll become Bonnie and Clyde, wouldn't that be great?" A smack on the cheek.

"No, it's nothing like that," Kina continued and stood up to put more distance between herself and the couple. "We are looking for Kakashi."

The two listened attentively. "Why is that?" Genma asked.

"Well, because we don't know where he is," Kina explained in a matter-of-fact tone.

Anko frowned. "Why are you coming to me? I hardly have anything to do with him, especially since he was expelled from school."

"I don't know," Kina whined. "We cling to every little straw. Did you see him again after the Kitchen?"

"Hm, sure.. But no, I didn't, and our conversation wasn't tingling either, therefore.. If I notice something, I'll let you know."

"Thank you, Anko.." Kina pouted and twirled a strand of hair between her fingers.

"Heyy, baby," Anko said sympathetically, rising from Genma's arms. "You seem hard stressed. Genma and I are flying to Tenerife tomorrow with his parents for two weeks, do you want to come with us? A little sunshine will do you good."

"I can't go to the Canary Islands just like that," Kina replied incredulously. "Ticket, hotel – I can't get the money from Takeshi, he's already given me so much pocket money that I can go big on."

"Private jet and own beach house," Genma said and when Kina and Gai looked at him disapprovingly, he raised his shoulders. "What? My dad is the managing director of BP."

Visually, Gai wouldn't have believed him to be the offspring of an energy patriarch, he actually seemed pretty casual. But well, when he went to Kensington, it wasn't too far-fetched, and Anko also didn't show her schooling when she was out and about privately, so somehow the two of them fit together quite well.

"Yeah ok, but we're still looking for Kakashi. I'd like to be sure that he's okay.." Kina murmured, although she didn't seem quite so convinced by her own words anymore. Was she seriously toying with the idea of giving up the search for Kakashi for a holiday in Tenerife?! Gai looked at his sister's profile in disgust.

"I understand," Anko said. "But if you change your mind – in Spain you can expect a white sandy beach and azure-blue sea, it's wonderful. Genma showed me pictures from last year."

"Now don't say something like that!" Kina grumbled. "I'd really like to come along, but Kakashi has disappeared. That's more important for me right now."

"All right," Anko sighed. But if you find him in time – tomorrow morning at eight o'clock the flight departures."

Kina grumbled sullenly, but the two girls hugged each other goodbye and the twins left the house. Gai watched his sister scuff along as if she had learned that it would rain for the next three years. There Takeshi's upbringing was certainly coming through; especially in the last few years she could sometimes be really stubborn and self-centred, like one of those spoiled Albion bitches. But as she had said herself: Kakashi was more important right now, at least for Gai. He looked at his wristwatch. "Now it's a quarter past two, let's try again, maybe this Zabuza guy knows where Kakashi is."