"Something that you've lost a very long time ago."
"And what is it? What is this mysterious thing I'm supposed to find?" Yukie angrily asks, showing more emotion in this one moment than she has all week.
...
"Hope." Sandayu looks at her with teary eyes. "I want you to hope again."
"Ahem." I clear my throat from the doorway. "I'm not interrupting anything, am I?"
"No. Of course not." Sandayu excellently conceals his emotions as Yukie stiffly looks at me then snubs me by turning off to the side. "Did you need something?"
"Sorta." I casually walk over to Yukie and hold out a small sealing tag. "Keep this on your person at all times."
"Why?" She doesn't take it from me. "I don't need your trinkets."
"This trinket may save your life." I let a little bit of killing intent manifest around me and suddenly I have her full attention. "Let's set something straight right now, right here. I do not care about you. I do not care what you think about me. I do not give one single fuck who you are, what you've done, where you're going or what you're going to do. For the foreseeable future I have to keep your ass alive. This is not something I'm doing for Sandayu. This is not something I'm doing for you. I'm doing this because I owe a friend. So until we part ways my word is law. If I say run you run. If I say hide you hide. If I say take the fucking seal then you take the fucking seal." I wiggle the seal at her. "Are we clear?"
"Crystal." She snatches the seal out of my hands.
"And to make sure you don't do something stupid like rip it to shreds, it's not a way to track you." I let just a little bit more killing intent waft off of me. "They way I fight can get very… explosive. That trinket will make sure none of them explode next to you. If I discover that you've destroyed or thrown away that seal then I'll permanently draw it on your skin. So don't lose it."
I spin on my heel and let my killing intent fade. Then I plaster a goofy grin on my face just to fuck with them. "Toodles!"
I might as well try and have fun somehow. Not my fault if it happens to drive them to insanity.
...
Half an Hour Later, Kakashi's Cabin
Kakashi is greedily reading his book while sprawled out on his bed. He's giggling every once in awhile when he reads an extra good part. It's been a long time since he's had new reading material, especially one from Jiraiya-sama himself.
Then two sharp knocks on his door interrupt him.
"What?" He irritably barks out.
"I need thirty seconds of your time." His wayward students says from the other side of the door. "Or potentially five minutes."
"Fine. Get in here." Kakashi says just a little bit too eagerly. This will be the first time that he has been alone with me.
I meekly open the door and walk in then close it behind me.
"So… uh… hi?" I weakly attempt to open up conversation.
"Hello." He just as awkwardly says back to me. "How have you been… nevermind. That's a bad question to ask."
"Yeah…" This is terribly awkward. Alright I came here with a purpose, just do it. "Kakashi do you trust me still?"
I hold out a sealing tag to him.
"Do you trust me enough to take this seal and keep it with you? Or potentially let me draw it on your body?"
"What does it do?" He stand up and takes off his jonin vest. He still trusts me. He's going to let me place a seal on him.
"I've added an… let's say explosive surprise to my minions. This seal will make sure they don't go off near you." I pull out a brush and some ink.
"You always did take everything too far." He fondly smiles back on his memories. "When you first asked me about chakra strings I admit I was disappointed. But the things you've done with them are phenomenal. Now you've taken up fuinjutsu. I don't know whether to be excited or terrified of what you'll do with that."
"Probably best to be terrified." I admit. "Any particular spot you want it?"
"Above the right shoulder blade." He takes off his shirt next to give me access. "Just… please tell me you're not going to cause any crazy chain explosions to go off?"
"Why does everyone assume I'm going to do that?" I exasperatedly ask. "This is going to be cold."
"Won't be as cold as the Land of Snow." He points out. "And it's you. You'd have a field day with explosive tags."
"Sad thing is everyone is right. I've set up a base and a half of Orochimaru's to blow." I being to draw the seal on him. "They're going to have one hell of a boom."
"Wow. How many seals did that take?" He's impressed.
"A few thousand. No big deal." I nonchalantly reply.
He lets out an appreciative whistle. "That's a lot of seals."
"Yes it is. Best part is Orochimaru gave me all the blank sealing tags. He gave me the tools to destroy the bases."
"Orochimaru." Kakashi turns bitter. "He's not hurting you, is he?"
"Kakashi. He hurt me long before I went to him. Do you really think he'd stop? If anything it's gotten worse. He's made me do things that would get me executed on the spot in Konoha. He's warped me as a person. I've changed. I'm not the innocent genin I once was."
"Alvarcus I'm so sorry." Kakashi's head droops in shame. "You shouldn't have to do any of this. None of this is your responsibility."
"I made it my responsibility."
"What has he made you do?" Kakashi hoarsely asks.
"Are you sure you want to know?" I ask him, this is his one chance to reconsider. "You will never be able to look at me the same again. I'll give you a teaser, a mere taste of what I've done. Murder. Straight up, cold blooded murder."
"I'm so sorry." Kakashi apologizes again. "It's all my fault. If I had just been a better sensei. If I had done more then maybe I wouldn't have pushed you both away. Maybe Sakura wouldn't have died. I should have done more."
"You didn't push me away." I assure him. "I left because I didn't want Sasuke to become twisted by Orochimaru. I left because I had to protect my best friend. Sasuke is… a different story. I won't sugar coat this, you might have had a hand in him deciding to leave but by no means were you the reason he left. Orochimaru offered him the one thing he dedicated his entire life to: training to kill Itachi. Sasuke left for his own reasons. And Sakura… she's dead because of me."
"Alvarcus it wasn't your fault. We never figured out-"
"I know who killed her." I force out. "Kakashi I know everything about her death. I know who ordered it, I know why they ordered it and I know who held the blade that slit her throat. She's dead because of me. Because I didn't go to Orochimaru sooner. Did you know that on the night I left it was the third time I've been asked to go to him? I turned him down twice. He didn't like that, so he took it into his own hands to change my mind. He figured that the best way for me to go to him was to sever my ties to Konoha. Orochimaru is the reason Sakura is dead. Orochimaru is the reason my parents are dead. Because in his sick and twisted mind he thought that would push me to him."
He's stunned into silence. He can't form a single word.
"It's not you who should be apologizing to me. Kakashi I am sorry. I got one of your student's killed. I abandoned Konoha with the other one. I became everything that I thought I would stand against when I first got my headband. I've been kicked out of my home. I've become a dark and violent person. I've become everything that I was taught to hate. And when this mission is over and I've fulfilled my debt to Shikamaru, I'm going back to that place. The place where my humanity is at risk. Or what's left of it."
"You don't have to. You can come back with us." Kakashi offers. "I can convince Tsunade to go easy on you. She will listen to reason, she knows what you've done for Konoha! What you're doing for Konoha! We can get you a public trial and use that to explain everything you've done to the public! You don't have to go back there!"
"The only place in Konoha for me is a prison cell. Even if we convince every single resident of Konoha of my spying on Orochimaru I'd also have to admit everything I've done while being gone. Those acts would far outweigh the good I've done."
"I do not want to lose everyone!" Kakashi shouts and slams his fist into the mattress.
...
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The story still hasn't reached the rankings in 8 months, so every single stone really helps.
...
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