Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ The Chronicles of Kakashi & the Kunoichi from Thunder Country ❯ The Shinobi Memorial ( Chapter 18 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

The Shinobi Memorial
 
 
After the first week of the usual awkwardness that exists in every new relationship, the couple settled down into a rather comfortable understanding. Kakashi was allowed to get to second base only.
 
On a slow day, after a less rigorous training session, the apparently diametric couple lounged around by the river. Rikako was sitting and leaning against a tree with Kakashi's head in her lap. She did not like being used as a pillow but she put up with it for the greater goal. They were both reading their customary books. Hers was “The Evolution of Shinobi Weaponry” while his was “Pursuit of Paradise.” She was casually, and without thinking, playing with his hair, as she read about the aerodynamic designs of kunai through the ages, when he suddenly sat up and turned to her.
 
“I would like you to accompany me to the shinobi memorial tomorrow morning…if you're not busy.” He added the last part when she said nothing but raised her eyebrows in surprise. He always liked to be alone during his visits.
 
“Sure, what's the occasion?” she asked, knowing there must be one.
 
He shrugged as though embarrassed. “It's the anniversary of my best friend's death. I thought it would be a good time to introduce you.”
 
'How peculiar. Introducing me to a dead man.' But she smiled and nodded as if it were the sanest thing she had ever heard. “That would be nice. Should I bring something?” She had never had to buy shrine offerings. No one she knew had ever died, or rather there was no one she cared about who had, or rather there was no one she cared about.
 
He shrugged again. “Obito liked sweets,” he suggested.
 
“All right, I can get some of those sweet bean pastries. Thank you for inviting me,” she added the last part sincerely. The invitation touched her more than she was willing to admit. And his feckless charm was growing on her despite her resolve to the contrary.
 
Despite her presence at the memorial stone, Kakashi remained silent as he laid out the shrine offerings and burned the incense. She felt like an intruder. 'How strange. It's like I've been called to meet the parents,' she thought wryly. 'How loyal he is. Still mourning after two decades. When my pet parakeet died, I mourned for a week before I replaced it. But I suppose people are not as replaceable. If I died I wonder how long my parents would mourn. Maybe they would be relieved instead. Kakashi never shows much emotion. Then again it's hard to tell with that mask. He must have great depths of emotion to feel such devotion after so long. But he owes that eye to his best friend and it's a constant reminder. Still…he's a good person isn't he…and he doesn't deserve what I plan to do'
 
-…-
 
Rikako's Diary Excerpt age 5:
 
I want to be good. I like people who are genuinely good. But I just can't seem to stop from being contrary. Like mom told me not to eat any cookies and even though I didn't want any, I just had to, even knowing she'd yell at me. It's like I'm doing it just to see her reaction. And like when dad asked me not to draw on his prescription pads. I just had to, just to see the veins pop out of his head. They don't really punish me. They just give me “time-out” to think about my actions. I already thought about them and I know they're wrong, but I made the conscious decisions to do them and I can't stop myself once I make up my mind.
 
-…-
 
She stood behind and to the side of him as he silently spoke to his friend. He stood there with his head lowered for a long, long time and she started feeling restless and bored. She then walked over and placed her arms around his waist, pressing her body against his back, a comforting hug. But it was really so he couldn't see her yawn.
 
He woke from his reverie, placed his hands on hers and turned his head to say with a smile from under his mask, “I think Obito would have liked you.”
 
She blushed. 'No he wouldn't have. Not if he knew what I plan to do. Damn, he's making me feel so guilty.' She usually did feel guilty for her actions, her manipulations, but much like an obstinate child, the feeling never stopped her from current or future actions. Now she couldn't think of anything appropriate to say. Finally she answered, “I'd like to thank him...and you.”
 
“For what?” Kakashi's eyebrow arched just slightly.
 
“Well, it seems your adulation of teamwork was because of him and that's what you've tried to pass onto us. I don't think I've ever properly thanked you for that.” 'There, I can come up with something stupid and comforting to say, even if I think it's bunk.'
 
But her words touched something deep within the shinobi veteran. He silently placed his arms around her shoulders, squeezing her tightly. This was when he knew he was really falling in love with her.
 
“Tell me about him, Obito, your best friend.” 'Know thy enemy.'
 
Though he thought about Obito constantly, he rarely spoke about him. Never put his feelings and regrets into words. She had spoken of starting psychological services to counsel shell-shocked shinobi, was she analyzing him as her first patient? “He was a good person. He always tried to help others. He was often late because of that,” Kakashi finally said. He smiled a bit at the last part. Obito's pathetic excuses were even worse than his.
 
“So today is also the anniversary of your sharingan? Maybe you should celebrate that instead…”
 
“That's nothing to celebrate,” he remarked sharply.
 
“But you've saved many lives because of it. I know you feel responsible for your friend's death, but even if it were your fault, all humans make mistakes. As long as we learn from them and try to prevent others from making the same mistakes, we should be allowed to forgive ourselves.” 'Who says I won't make a good counselor?'
 
That was something he had told himself a thousand times over, but hearing it from her now irritated him. “What do you know, you're still a child.”
 
'If I'm still a child, then what the hell are you doing with me? Pervert!' “Doesn't a child's innocence provide a clearer view of the human heart and soul? Before it's tainted by hard experience.”
 
“I doubt you were ever an innocent child.” He couldn't help but smile a bit.
 
She shrugged. 'No, I was never an innocent child. Not when I know what people are really like.' '
 
In the past, others had tried to comfort him, told him that it was not his fault; others like her father blamed him, knew that it was. But she said it didn't matter and she thanked him. A simple thing perhaps, but it was something that he needed to hear. That sincere expression of gratitude, it made Obito's sacrifice more bearable. 'This girl, she's always been wise beyond her years. Is she a reincarnation of an old soul? A great sage from the past?' '
 
She would have been the first to admit that she was nothing more than a charlatan, using what she knew about human nature to project an aura of calm wisdom. But her understanding of people was based on books and the impressions she gleaned from their minds, rather than human interaction. And she knew that people did not behave in the way that you would expect from reading their minds. Even Kakashi was not what he appeared to be.
 
-…-…-…-…-
 
Rikako had not seen Kakashi's place before their non-platonic relationship, though she knew where he lived. Her genin team had followed Kakashi home on several occasions out of curiosity, wondering how their sensei lived, whom he interacted with, and if he ever took off that mask. But once he went home, he never came out, so the team's curiosity was left unsatisfied.
 
He lived simply in a one bedroom apartment. Sparse furnishings, little clutter, a few framed photographs and lots of books neatly arranged, by no apparent order that she could see, on several bookshelves.
 
Even at home Kakashi still wore his dark blue Leaf shinobi uniform (without his vest), and his forehead protector over his left eye, and the mask over the lower half of his face. He was so accustomed to covering up that he only took the mask off when he ate, slept, showered, or when he wanted to make-out.
 
Kakashi did not like eating in public so often he suggested dinner at his place, usually takeout, but today they picked up groceries.
 
'I wonder if he's a good cook. If he's been living by himself for so long, he should have developed some cooking skills.'
 
Her own cooking skills were rather abysmal. Rikako didn't understand why. She always followed the recipes exactly but they never turned out right. Her mother, who never used a cookbook, had wanted to teach her while she was growing up, but Rikako never had time for it. It was unnecessary for being a shinobi. After all, shinobi made good money and could afford to eat out all the time, and while on missions she could survive on shinobi rations. Besides, food just wasn't that important to her.
 
Her grades in home economics at the academy were rather mediocre. On the few occasions she made a serious attempt, no one encouraged her to try again. It annoyed her that something so simple as cooking, as following a simple set of directions, defeated her. Nothing ever turned out looking like the pictures. It was all just another lie perpetrated to trick the customer into buying the book. Another life disappointment. But her mother said cooking was an expression of love and perhaps that was where her deficiency lay.
 
“So what are you planning to make?” she asked.
 
“Me? I thought you were cooking. That's what women do isn't it? I just bought all the ingredients.”
 
She looked at him appraisingly. Was he teasing her? Or was he seriously a male chauvinist? She shrugged. “Sure, I'll cook, just don't complain later.”
 
He chuckled, “So there's something you're not good at.”
 
'There's lots of things I'm not good at. Putting up with idiots, holding my tongue, (she was only able to do those things passably then ranted later about them in her diary), doing dishes, laundry, any sort of housework.' She was spoiled. Her mom still took care of all that, which was why she still hadn't moved out.
 
“Don't worry, I'll help.” His cutting skills were excellent. He was able to pare and dice vegetables at lightning speed.
 
Her kunai handling was never great and even using a simple kitchen knife was clumsy. 'I can stab someone with a knife, cut their throats, perform surgery, but how the hell do you pare vegetables so finely and dice so quickly without cutting digits off?'
 
When it came down to it, he did most of the work while she just stirred. And he did it without looking at a recipe.
 
"You see," Kakashi explained, "the trick is not to add too much water. If you follow the directions exactly, the sauce will be too thin and bland. Then you'll have to add more of the curry cubes."
 
"I see," Rikako contemplated this advice seriously. "It's a ploy perpetrated by the curry manufacturers in order to fool the consumer into buying more curry."
 
"Er, I never thought of it that way before. You know, not everything is a conspiracy."
 
The conspiracy concocted chicken curry tasted quite good. 'If he can do it, so can I! I won't lose to him in something so simple!' She added cooking to her list of things to learn to do.
 
Later, as Kakashi did the dishes, Rikako made herself comfortable on his couch, browsing through one of his books, while mentally steeling herself to progress to the next stage of her plan. She had found no opening to poison him. And his sense of smell and taste were acute. He would probably be able to detect most poisons. She was still unable to defeat him with absolute certainty. It was now down to the last resort.
 
But what if she gave up her plan? What if she stopped thinking of how to invade his mind to find out her origins? Did her past really matter? What was important was the present and future, more than the past. What if she freed herself of her obsession? Was it really that bad to be with him? She looked over at the handsome older man who was washing the dishes. 'If he's willing to do all the household chores, I wouldn't mind being with him for real,' she thought with a smile. 'These past few weeks…he's actually very nice, and interesting. Not exactly considerate, still rather weird, but I think I do like him quite a bit…and I'm getting used to all that kissing and touching.'
 
But then she forced those thoughts out of her head and focused on what she needed to do.
 
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