Under the Surface II
Life outside of school wasn't always difficult for Kakashi. No. It wasn't until recently when all of the responsibility that he should have burdened came crashing down on his shoulders. It felt as if it was yesterday when he had the traditional upper class nuclear family and free lifestyle.
He was the child of Sakumo Hatake and Sachi Masomoto – esteemed employees in their respectable fields. His father was the vice president of the infamous Ramen brand, Icharaku's; his mother was a lawyer in a multi-billion firm. Suffice to say, Kakashi was the Golden Egg of the family; the spoilt boy who got his way and everything he wanted.
Life was great. Truly great. That was until his father was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. While the demyelinating disease was said to be mild, it seemed that Fate cursed the Hatake family because his father became progressively worse. His motor skills deteriorated to the point he couldn't feed himself, let alone walk. The doctors told them that 1% of those diagnosed with this disease can experience severe symptoms. By the looks of it, his father's circumstance fit this 1%.
Little by little, Kakashi noticed his utopia shatter before his eyes. His mother grew distant to him and his father, often arriving late or in the middle of the night. She claimed that it was because of the case she was devoting her career on – that they needed this break.
Months of snooping cost Kakashi to see the lies and deceit his mother tried to conceal from the family. In the midst of his father's fading quality of life, Kakashi walked in his mother having the classic affair with her co-worker (once claimed to be the "gay bestfriend"), all coiled around each other in her car outside of her workplace.
One social chaos rolled to another, and Kakashi found himself in the middle of his parent's divorce settlement. For obvious reasons, he pleaded to be placed in the custody of his father; being under the legal age of being considered an adult meant that in the eyes of the Law, he was still a child. And, in a way, he was. He didn't know the hardships of life until the umbrella his parents covered him with, crumbled.
Now, with his father quite literally on his death bed, Kakashi tried his best to sustain an independent life. Of course, he still depended on his father's wealth for their livelihoods. But for his father's ongoing medicines, that couldn't be covered by his health insurance, Kakashi made sure to take care of it. After all, his father's wealth can only take them so far before running out. Sure, his mother would pitch in, but he never gracefully took her up on her offers.
As far as he was concerned, she was the Devil Incarnate who turned on her vows when things became difficult. She said things like "Forgive me, darling" or "It just happened! I wasn't intending for it to happen" as if it would make him magically jump to her side.
Today was no different: she called him for the tenth time and pleaded to talk to him or his father, but he deleted all of her voice messages before Sakumo could hear them. He was sure that his father still loved his mother, despite her infidelity during their toughest times as a family, and would gladly take her back. But he was in charge now. Not his father.
As Kakashi worked to cook Sakumo's favourite dish, Okonomiyaki, he attentively listened to the soft footsteps at the top of the stairs, knowing that it was their hired caretaker quietly shifting to their door. He looked over his shoulder. "Thank you for today again, Yatsumi-san."
The middle-aged woman smiled, wrinkled and tired. She never complained, but Kakashi could tell that she was incredibly fatigued. "It's no big deal, Kakashi-kun," she said sweetly as she slipped into her shoes.
Kakashi hurriedly wrapped her bento box with a soft cloth and intercepted her at the door. "Here." He offered gently. "I-I know that it'll be a long journey to your home. So, please, have this on the way."
She looked at it, deeply embarrassed. But after being swayed by the teen's silent prompts, she gratefully accepted his gift with a beaming smile. "You're a sweet child, Kakashi-kun."
He scratched the back of his head, feeling flabbergasted and left grasping for words. "Haha. Th-Thank you."
"I've made sure that all of your father's medications are ready. Remember, he must take another set at midnight." She instructed as she tucked in a lock of fading brown hair behind her ear.
"Right." Kakashi mentally took note of the time.
"A-Are you working tonight?" she asked.
"I-I-I am, yes. I will be back before midnight, thankfully."
"Take care of yourself, okay?" She turned to the door.
"You too, Yatsumi-san." He waved when she exited their gates and kept that cheery façade until she had her back turned at him. He sighed, weary and prolonged, as his form slumped into a slouch. His half-dead emotion suddenly snapped when the boiling of his cooking began to become more violent.
He jolted back and made haste to the kitchen.
Hours later…
"Your shift is nearly over, Kakashi," his boss declared. "Can you just take out some of the bins before you call it a night?"
"I still have an hour to go… sir." Kakashi timidly reminded as he worked to clear the table of eight, careful that his white dress shirt would not be ruined by the blackcurrant spillages the children did before leaving.
"Don't worry, I'll still be paying you for that hour. It's just that you look like you need the extra hour for yourself." He reached out and placed his hand firmly on his shoulder. "You're still in highschool, aren't you?"
"Y-Yes, sir."
"Then you'll need some time to focus on your education, too."
"T-Thank you, Tobirama-sama." Kakashi tried to bow in respect but was just ushered by the boss. He wore a quizzical look but ultimately did what his superior silently told him to and back off from his chores and headed to the staff room.
After he collected his winter coat from his locker, he rushed out and threw the garbage into the large bins outside of the restaurant. He then made his way back inside where he sheepishly thanked Tobirama and said goodnight to the entire staff team.
Kakashi quickly hopped onto his bicycle and cycled his way home through the chilly night of October. As he was about to pass their local convenience store, he skidded to a stop and quickly dropped by.
Upon entering, he picked his father's favourite juice – Guava, sugar free – and headed to the counter. Much to his surprise, the clerk was none other than Asuma Sarutobi – the headteacher's rebellious son. "You're on nightshift?" he asked, pulling his hand out of his glove.
"Yeah. I broke Old Man's precious golf clubs, so I need extra hours to pay it off." He replied candidly, as his teeth chewed onto an unlit cigarette. "What about you? Did your old man send you off to an errand?"
"No, I was working at Rossini's." Kakashi said, sliding his payment to Asuma. He then nodded at his cigarette that was hanging from his lips. "Does Kurenai know that you smoke?"
Asuma snorted, as if to say that he was stupid to even ask such a question. But when Kakashi continued to gawk at him, he stopped chuckling and cleared his throat. "Obviously not," he clarified. "She won't even let me have a sip of beer at parties. Do you honestly think she'll get on the boat of me smoking?"
"So why are you smoking?"
"Stress relief. Being the headmaster's son isn't exactly freeing, you know. It's like being in school 24/7. I mean, at least your dad doesn't nag you anym-" His eyes suddenly widened upon realisation, quickly having an expression between a dear caught in the headlights and being horrified by a murderer.
Surprisingly, Kakashi shook it off by remaining quiet.
"I-I'm sorry, man. I-I didn't mean to…. I…" He rubbed the back of his head in agitation. "Fuck…" he whispered before lighting his cigarette. "Listen, I-"
"Don't worry about it." Kakashi took the brown bag and held it at his side. "Just don't smoke excessively. They can kill you, you know."
"I won't," Asuma promised. "J-Just don't tell Kurenai, alright?"
Kakashi gave a slanted smirk. "I don't want to meddle between you lovers."
"H-Hey. By the way, how are you and Rin?" He managed to say just as his classmate was heading to the doors.
Kakashi stopped and slowly turned. "Huh?"
"D-Didn't she… yanno… um.."
"What the hell are you talking about?" Kakashi pressed with a scrunched-up face of confusion.
"Oh." Sudden realisation fell onto the young man's lap once more, and he became a bubbling mess. "I-It's no-nothing. I was thinking of another girl. Hahaha."
"Those cigarettes are killing your brain cells," the silver-haired teen muttered before waving goodbye. "I'll see you tomorrow."
"You sure will!" Asuma saluted before melting into a pitiful mess behind the counter.
Upon arriving at 11:35, Kakashi took a short shower before he decided to monitor Sakumo's progress. By the looks of it, Sakumo was in a deep slumber since he didn't notice his presence in the room. Kakashi sat himself down on the adjacent couch in the master bedroom, and waited for the time to tick to 12:00, so he could give him his medication.
Almost absent-mindedly, Kakashi started to thrum his fingers on the leather furniture to occupy himself in the dark solitude of his father's room. His thrumming took a halt when he heard the bed sheets shift, indicating that he had disturbed Sakumo from his rest.
"What are you doing here, Kakashi?" Sakumo croaked in the dark.
Kakashi was quick on his feet to turn on the lampshade he knew his father would attempt to reach out to. Once the soft golden light gave the room more colour, Kakashi took a seat on the bed and gave a saddened smile. "How are you, father?"
Sakumo sat up and leaned against the oak headboard of his bed. "I would like to think that I'm not too bad…" he raised his hand and showed how he could now clench his hand. "The medication and programme I've been given is quite effective."
"T-That's great! Does that mean you'll continue to go there with Yatsumi-san?"
"I wouldn't go that far, but I am interested in furthering this progress. After all, what else is there for me apart from death?
"Father…." Kakashi said, low and sharp.
"It's an ill joke, I'm sorry. But I do have the right to humour myself sometimes. Being sick doesn't mean that I don't get to make fun of things, anymore." His eyes glinted childishly as his cracked lips arched into a grin. "One can never live without their wits."
"So you say, father…"
"Don't look so down, Kakashi. I just told you that I'm making progress; you should be thrilled about this."
"Oh… I-I'm sorry, I've just got a lot of things in my mind right now."
"School?"
"You can say that."
"You'll do great, son. You always did have a knack with academics. I don't see why my medical condition should incapacitate you to do otherwise." Sakumo moved on the bed again, to shift to a more comfortable position. "Have I told you that your headmaster came to visit the other day?"
"Oh, I knew…"
"Well, then, you should know how valuable your future is. Don't let anything get in your way, you hear me? Not your mother, not my condition, and certainly not by you overworking yourself." He huffed before he palmed his face. "I know that you're still trying to adjust with things, Kakashi. But don't feel that you have to overburden yourself. At the end of the day, I am still your parent. I am still the provider of this house."
"Not in your condition, you're not." Kakashi answered back, sharper than he intended. "While you're resting, I am the one in charge of this household. Mother left us….. so it's up to me to uphold this family." He looked at the family photo Sakumo adamantly fought to preserve in his bedroom. His mother was clutching at his father's arm, smiling so cheerily at the camera, whilst he was in the middle of his parents, oblivious to the storm that was about to hit his family.
Mother looked so happy here. Kakashi thought before subsequently musing about when she stopped being happy with them. Was it when Sakumo was diagnosed with the condition, or was it when she realised that he would never be the same again as he became a ticking timebomb for his own destruction.
"Kakashi!" Sakumo suddenly shook him from his inner thoughts. Kakashi blinked, still unaware as of why. "It's midnight. I need my medication," he finally elaborated.
"R-Right…."
Kakashi stayed up until 4:00am that night, half of the time revising some chapters he slept through and the other half pondering as of how his family became so dysfunctional so quickly. He threw himself from side to side on his bed, but couldn't find sleep.
It wasn't until the sunrays started peeking through his blinds that sleep held him down by the throat. He slept that morning, but ultimately had to wake up at 6:00am where he prepared his father breakfast and waited for his caretaker to arrive.
By 7:00am Kakashi was running to the train station with the limited energy he had. As per usual, there weren't any seats left for him, so he was cornered against the sliding doors of the train. On a normal day, he wouldn't be antsy about being late, but with his previous experience with that tyrant of a teacher from yesterday, he feared that what she was going to throw would be worse than a book.
He ran through the train station and to school, carefully jostling past individuals without an ounce of care in the world. 7:15 ticked and Kakashi narrowly slipped through the closing gates, startling the teacher to death.
"S-Sorry!" Kakashi immediately said without looking back.
It was 7:25 when Kakashi barged into his homeroom, wet from the rain, panting for his life. He looked up and saw Tsunade casually looking at him. But her neutral expression became akin to worry as his vision blurred.
Before he could step into the classroom, he lost his balance, causing him to stumble backwards. Tsunade was quick to react, quickly grabbing him by his arm and steadying him on his feet. "He-Hey," she softly spoke as she placed her hand on his cheek. "Are you alright?"
Kakashi leaned against the wall and nodded. "Y-Yeah.. just… tired."
"You don't look well, Kakashi-san."
By now, the entire class were up on their feet and were trying to see what was happening. But, just as they were about to poke their heads through, Tsunade slammed the door shut and isolated them from the entire class. A handful of groans were heard from the other side, causing the blonde to roll her eyes. They were a nosy bunch.
"We need to go to the infirmary. I'll do a check up on you there." She touched his forehead and quickly eliminated the possibility of a fever causing him to be this pale. When his body slumped against the wall, she held him by his broad shoulders and pressured him against the wall. "Have you had anything to eat?"
"I'm fine, Senju-sama. I just lost my balance, that's all." Kakashi shallowly breathed, trying to shuffle past her.
However, he was suddenly pushed against the wall. "Don't mock my medical degree; I know a chronically fatigued person when I see one. I've dealt with many patients like you back in my under-grad. To make things worse, you're not supplying your body with the amount of nutrients it needs. You're literally enslaving your body, Kakashi-san."
"You're really going to lecture me out here?"
"Well, unless you give me a reason not to, I will lecture you out here." Her hand that pressured against his chest retreated to her side, and she sighed when she saw Hiruzen stare from the end of the hall. "Come into class, Kakashi-san."
He obliged and headed to his seat, ignoring the glances he received from his peers. Just as he was contemplating about falling into hibernation, Tsunade slammed a bento box on his desk and pushed a pair of cutleries at his face. "I-I'm sorry?" he asked in bemusement. What was she doing now?
"Eat." She ordered, but soft enough for him to know that she wasn't exactly forcing him to. "You can't function on an empty stomach. And we'll have a talk after second period." She left the cutleries on his desk and when about talking to the class as if nothing happened.
At his peripheral, he could see Rin gaping at him, but he didn't dare make eye contact with her. Instead, he opened the bento box and came to an icy realisation – Tsunade had given him her lunch.
A/N: Let's just say a Christmas miracle happened, and I managed to whip up a couple of chapters in one day. I haven't written like this in years, and it feels good to have the steam for it again. :P (Don't expect me to maintain it, though. Haahah).