Chapter 8
“Yo! If that isn’t the very Hokage himself…” A familiar voice spoke up among the heads moving about in the alleys. Immediately, Kakashi’s gaze caught a pair of beaming red orbs, half-covered by dark curly bangs curtaining the sides of a woman’s milk-white face.
A voice of surprise left Kakashi’s mouth: “Good afternoon, Kurenai.” Kurenai stopped beside the entrance of a food store; a plastic shopping bag full of mikan oranges and persimmons dangled at her arms; without the shinobi headband she used to wear, her dark bangs that were once pushed back by the metal plate of the headband now fell to cup her face and cheek…and she has cut her hair, Kakashi noticed, compared to the last time he had seen her at different celebrations hosted around Konoha: Kurenai strolling along the streets with Mirai’s sleepy head resting on the crook of her neck.
Kakashi slipped his hands out of his pockets and gave the dark-haired woman in front of him a quick wave to which Kurenai responded with a beckoning of her hand. Recognizing that the old friend would like to start a conversation while walking back home, Kakashi shuffled to the side of the street and joined Kurenai at her side.
“How’s everything going, Kakashi? Being the Hokage must be very tiring for someone like you, huh?” Kurenai smiled jokingly as her shoulders shook with suppressed laughs, “You’ve always struck me as the type that is born genius yet sighs and brawls when they see mountains of paperwork.”
Old acquaintances always start conversations by picking on you first , Kakashi cracked dryly in his mind, might be time for me to start looking for and making new ones before my reputation gets completely demolished by them.
“Yes, yes,” he nodded along Kurenai with a deflated shoulder, “it is true that the Hokage is bound to work ten times more and ten times harder than all other shinobis in the village.” At this, Kurenai glanced at him with consoling eyes and handed her heavy bag over to the Kakashi’s offering hand followed by a thankful nod of her head.
“A Hokage doesn’t usually have the time to stroll around this time of the year,” Kurenai continued skeptically then she shook her suspicion off with a shrug, “not until all the repairs and reformation works are done. It’s only a few years after the Fourth War, and some reformations are still needed to be made. I heard a group of citizens from the West end of the village a few weeks ago, claiming that there are still improvements to be made to the infrastructure, security, and communication line, particularly at the west and south borders of Konoha.”
“So what made you abandon the stacks of files sitting patiently on your desk, waiting for the stamp of approval?” Kurenai pretended to scratch her chin thoughtfully, “Sometimes I even wonder what a Hokage is meant to do with those paper works: stamp them? Mark them with a red-ink brush or categorize them into different sections?”
“Ah, ah, ah. It’s a bit like that but please don’t think of me as the type that sneaks out of their offices and avoids work all day,” Kakashi felt his forehead already dappled with sweat, “I’m still a Hokage, you know…and Hokage or not, a man still has his reputation to protect.”
“But you seem to be right about these arising issues around the village. I have seen some making their headlines on the notice boards around the bigger facilities and some underlined in the files I’ve been reading through. These will be focused on shortly, except now what’s coming up currently is the nation’s play to concentrate the growing population into one place: the road network plan has worked well over the recent months, and since all nations are now somewhat past the stage of rehabilitation and moved onto innovating their technology and strengthening the overall health and resilience of their lands…plans relating to these are dominating most of the documents I’ve been receiving. I have asked Shikamaru to manage the regional businesses whilst I continue with the national and international affairs but sometimes Shikamaru will need to get approval from higher-up authorities so things will take time.” Kakashi filled Kurenai in with the latest updates of Konoha. The friend beside him fell into contemplation at his final few sentences which Kakashi observed must mean that Kurenai had missed out on quite some information after resigning to become a housewife. “But I would like to avoid talking about serious things like this when I’m catching up with my old friends,” Kakashi dismissed Kurenai’s thoughts as soon as he saw her purse lips open with a question resting at her tongue, “How’s Mirai?”
“Mirai? Ah ha ha,” at this Kurenai laughed out again with her voice calming voice swarmed with pride, “She’s going great right now. I do feel a bit sad and guilty for not inviting you to her three-year-old birthday celebration as I thought these coming years after the war would keep you busy and too tired to be in the party spirit. Lovely kid she was and polite, it was her first time eating a cake and she was respectful too to offer the first few pieces to the elders.” Slowly, Kurenai drifted off into a tone as dreamy as the clouds that painted the violet sky of saintly glows and an expression in her eyes that almost tasted sweeter and thicker than honey. “She had Asuma’s personality, I could tell it from the moment she started interacting with people and she shared my features: the eyes, the hair…she’s an absolute angel.” Kurenai beamed at Kakashi. “Everyone that sees her says she would grow up to be a great shinobi like her parents…I trust that she will.”
“Oh and talking about everyone,” Kurenai’s far-away tone abruptly dropped back to her normal, soothing voice, “Kakashi what have you been teaching to your students when they’re still Genin?”
“Uh, huh——huh? Why suddenly ask this?” Kakashi lifted his brows; his gaze averted back to the mass of dark hair to his left.
“Ah, you really haven’t taught them any advanced combat techniques have you?” Kurenai muttered displeasingly, almost too soft for anyone to hear.
Her words were like thin sebon needles stinging Kakashi’s heart; a distorted representation of a pink-haired girl assembled before his eyes. Instantly, remorse poured out of the crack in his heart accompanied by a wave of sorrow that wept as it leafed through his mind. Yes, he had been too focused on trying to keep Naruto and Sasuke in their right tracks——he had known Sasuke would find greater powers by leaving Konoha, he had known Naruto’s ability would be alleviated by one of the Legendary Sanins, Jiraiya——but buried deep in his heart, nestled between the scars scratched on by many other experiences was the imprinted truth that he had left his most ordinary student, one without any history, any power, bloodline, attention or future, stranded with nothing: nothing to learn from, nothing to cling to, and nothing to hope for. The whole time when he was leading Team 7, he had neglected the abilities and potential of Sakura Haruno. His best and his favorite student. Kakashi’s head lolled forward, hanging off from his shoulders like a loose screw… His most mistreated student.
Why has something happened to them? Has something happened to her? Why is Kurenai suddenly talking about this? What’s been going on with my students—— Thoughts sped through Kakashi’s mind. Petrified, Kakashi tried to hold onto one that seemed reasonable to resume the conversation.
“Huh, have they been bothering you lately?” He decided to land on the most careless one and he knew he had made a decent choice when he heard Kurenai inhaling a deep breath alongside him. Kakashi prepared himself for another paragraph of Kurenai’s reprimand.
“Kakashi, I don’t know much about how well the boys are progressing in your team other than the fact that Naruto is continuing his journey to becoming the next Hokage…” Kurenai trailed off flatly then picked up her voice again, “But the girl that you had, Sakura. She did have the talent for genjutsu, do you know that? I forgot when exactly it was when she came to me——a few months after the war? And asked me if I could teach her any advanced genjutsu, she emphasized many times to me that she could wait, wait when my body got better from giving birth to and looking after Mirai in her infant years, and that she would also help me in looking after Mirai. To this day I’m still thankful for her offer, Kakashi, your student was raised well in their manners and morals. Sakura didn’t do this to convince me to give her lessons, she did it voluntarily…in fact, she was doing everything that she could ever since the war had ended.”
“But anyways, a few more months after that I decided to take her under my apprenticeship and began teaching her advanced genjutsu. She progressed far quicker and far better than most of the students that I’ve had in the past,” Kurenai paused as she and Kakashi turned left at the end of the street in silence, “she has blossomed into an amazing kunoichi——you should be proud, Kakashi——yet whenever she’s with me or with anyone, as I’ve heard from the others, she felt distant and unfamiliar…as if she was trying to avoid interactions with people——but she got better now, the last time I saw her which was a few weeks ago——”
“——Excuse me, sorry.” Footsteps rumbled in the distance as Kurenai and Kakashi dodged from a group of sprinting kids waving wooden sticks in their hands.
The entire time Kakashi listened intently with his eyes nearly piercing a hole through the pavement. “She was back to her normal self. Maybe the war has changed her a bit and she’s still recovering,” Kurenai tried to provide some compassion in her tone, “Kakashi, as a teacher, you should maybe use a bit of your spare time and interact more with your peers and students… your family . Now that Team 7 is back and is a whole again, why not use the spare time to gather around and have fun together like the old times once more?” Saying this, Kurenai halted in her tracks as Kakashi handed back to her her bag of fruits. “My house is just down the streets beneath this hill, I better be off now as Mirai might be worrying sick about why her mother is out for so long today. I might have to say goodbye to you here. Thank you, Kakashi, it’s been quite a long time since we’ve last gathered in around the tables in restaurants drinking wine and having a laugh. Thanks for helping me with the grocery bag today.” Kurenai dangled the bag in her hands then took out an orange and plopped it into Kakashi’s hands. “I enjoyed chatting with you as an old friend and wish you the best with your upcoming projects. But being the Hokage will mean that you will have to interact with your citizens as well, starting with your students Kakashi. They’ll be happy to see you.”
Then she was gone, her disappearance hidden beneath a puff of smoke. Kurenai had flickered away.
“Students, huh?” Kakashi scratched his head wearily, “these chaotic kids.” He muttered lifting his head to the sky. Around him, some idle passers-by stared at the Hokage questioningly. Strange that Kurenai held the same thought as Sakura... he mused depressingly in his mind, the past…although the pieces that construct these moments are found, the process of building and putting them together won’t be the same anymore… Kakashi remembered reading this analogy about changes from a book he picked up and threw away the next moment when he was a child.
Kakashi exhaled dejectedly. If he could, he would’ve been like his female student and avoided people too but hearing Sakura’s situation, she may have been handling things far worse than him. Why would she suddenly pick up learning an attack-based technique when everyone has agreed to an era of peace? Although they still might be learning about in Ninja Academies yet from Sakura’s position, Head of Konoha’s Hospital, strengthening one’s attack skills will be quite controversial for her role, Kakashi’s brows furrowed. He doubted if the allies wouldn’t question what such influential figure of Leaf was doing, learning all this and that. Furthermore, there was that report he had saw a few months ago, Kakashi drifted into a state of recollection, about his only non-Kekkei Genkai student being able to pick up a Kekkei Genkai ability. The origin of this issue was unknown and at that time, everyone slowly grew to accept it as the impact of the Fourth Shinobi War did sway many people’s beliefs and views on abilities a shinobi may possess. Far away, the afternoon bells chimed signaling the end of work for the day. I didn’t even get to ask her any questions , Kakashi realized as his eyes scanned the spot where Kurenai had been.
The Hokage shrugged to himself. It’s not like I don’t meet them often when I assign tasks. Yet his throbbing heart told him otherwise: he feared the very idea of seeing his most beloved student. He couldn’t afford to hurt her defense any further: during and after the Fourth Shinobi War, the boundary that dissected their relationship became murky to him and if he dared to cross the line it would be the same as adding more weight on an end of a wobbly boat…ultimately everything will sink into the riled waters.
Kakashi thought maybe he could spend the rest of the afternoon sauntering back to the Hokage office as slowly as he could.
——
Instead, his feet carried him past the Hokage office (past and under the questioning stare of Shikamaru which penetrated his soul from the window) to the front gate of Leaf’s hospital. The bells have already gone for a long time yet Kakashi firmly believed that his student would still be in the facility somewhere…and the last one to come out.
Sakura was like that, he remembered, someone who would take their responsibility seriously, help one to the fullest, and work her hardest. Her parents didn’t lie when they said she would born to be an exceptional person.
“Yo, Sakura,” Kakashi’s hands bolted from his pockets as he casually saluted to the bob of pink hair in the distance. He waited until she spotted him with her shimmering green eyes that reminded him so much of her name which was named after the scenic green fields in Spring.
Sakura was adjusting the straps of her tote bag on her shoulder when her ears caught someone calling her name. At once she knew who it’s got to be: Hatake Kakashi, the teacher of Team 7. She stopped fumbling with the keys in her hand; instantly freezing in her spot. The images and thoughts in her head collided the moment she peered at him over some brown heads and white nurses’ caps, she had been thinking too much about the mystery man that for a second she had mistaken her teacher for the one still lying unconscious in Room 16.
Kakashi watched as the little girl skipped towards him. “How’s everything going?” He pushed himself off the pillar he leaned against and motioned if he could accompany Sakura on a walk home, “I heard about your classes with Kurenai on genjutsu…You have finished them, haven’t you? Are they effective for your combat type?” He coughed awkwardly, his gaze strained onto Sakura’s face from the corner of his eyes.
“Yeah, yeah, they’re great,” Sakura tried her best to not avoid any eye contact. Behind her, her fingers crossed and uncrossed at her back. It would be best to keep the case with the look-alike confidential, she reminded herself of what Tsunade had said to her and told everything to the Hokage on the day that man awakens and tells us something.
A shy voice nudging at the back of her head was quietly whispering to her that this was one of the only times she would be together with one of Team 7 not discussing some cases or documents, therefore she should put these current thoughts aside and interact more naturally——to which Sakura agreed. “Kakashi-sensei, are you free tonight? How about we go and have some dinner at Ichiraku Ramen? Don’t worry, working as the Hokage must already be exhausting enough for you, tonight’s meal will all be on me.”
“Ah, thank you thank you, Sakura…but it’s not so dignified for a man when a woman is paying for his dinner…especially an older one too…”
“Kakashi-sensei, did you learn this from “Make-out Paradise” again?! What are you talking about?!” Sakura’s tone used often for her reprimands was back on again, “You’re my teacher and what’s more, the Hokage, consider it to be more respectful for me to pay for you…Ah!” She waved her hands dismissively, “Why are we even talking about this anyway…today is a workday…Ichiraku’s will likely be quite crowded so we better get there quickly. Come on, Kakashi-sensei!”
——
Two days have passed since the man was last brought into Konoha. And good omen or not was his sudden intrusion but it was known that tonight, the night in Konoha had felt different.
Beyond the village, the night hung heavy like a shroud, the moon veiled by a tapestry of ominous clouds. The howling wind whispered through the empty streets, a mournful lament that echoed off the silent buildings like a haunting melody. Below the soundless night sky, the streets lay deserted, a ghostly expanse where the only movement came from the occasional flutter of leaves in the biting wind; the laughter and memories being trampled into the ground by daylight were gone, swallowed by a silence so profound it seemed to stretch into eternity. The skeletal outlines of buildings loomed like sentinels in the night, their windows like vacant eyes gazing out into the void. Gusts of wind swept through deserted alleyways, rattling loose shutters and sending tumbleweeds of debris skittering across the pavement.
Beep, beep——beep——
Within the hospital in a particular ward, the rhythmic beeping of monitors echoed like a somber heartbeat, a constant reminder of fragile mortality. Inside the sterile confines of room 16, the air held a chill that seeped into bones, foreboding in its icy grip. The fluorescent lights hummed softly, casting a pallid glow that failed to dispel the encroaching darkness. Amidst the dead silence, a subtle shift occurred. A faint stirring in the bed, imperceptible at first, grew into a restless shifting of limbs. Slowly, almost imperceptibly, the man began to emerge from the depths of his unconsciousness. His eyelids fluttered as if struggling against the weight of leaden slumber. With a gasp, he surfaced from the depths of sleep, his senses assaulted by the stark reality of his surroundings.
He had awakened and along with him awakened many more that had once fallen and been forced to the same degree of torturous immobility.
The man’s lifeless eyes glowed with faint hope as he regarded the world outside the window of the ward. Beyond him, the world seemed to hold its breath, as if bracing itself for the impending storm that lurked just beyond the horizon. His heart quickened with a sense of trepidation as he beheld the desolate streets below, where the flicker of distant lights cast long, ominous shadows that seemed to reach out with clawed fingers.
Outside, the city lay veiled in an eerie stillness, a foreboding calm that belied the turmoil brewing beneath the surface.
Low on chakra, low on chakra——no detection of chakra—— the monitor beeped robotically at the bed’s side; the words flickered and split into tiny pixels on the device’s static screen. Yet the man didn’t seem to hear——for he was knocked out again by dreariness as quickly as he had awakened.