Categories > Anime/Manga > Naruto > Devotion
Chapter 14: Death
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She had to keep going...for her baby...if Kakashi was there or not.
----
Sakura heaved out another sob and Sasuke turned away from her, ashamed that he should even be there. He'd have left long ago if Naruto hadn't suggested he could stay...he was sure he would upset her. And he felt partly responsible for Kakashi's death.
All those dreams...all the silent pleas that the copy ninja would just disappear...it seemed like they had come to a reality in this. And that wasn't even the most disturbing part of it.
He caught sight of a tear trickling down Naruto's face and felt more disconnected from the team than he ever had. This tragedy didn't affect him...in fact, he couldn't have wanted anything more. Sasuke had almost panicked when no cold feeling had gripped his gut when he discovered, along with the rest, that Kakashi was dead. There was no part of Sasuke that grieved for the mentor of him and his two best friends.
The only thing he could feel was guilt.
After Sakura left him when he'd met her in the woods, Sasuke had another breakdown. He'd run as far as he could, deeper and deeper into the forest and farther and farther from Konoha. He couldn't stand it...although it would be so much easier for her to choose him, she still chose Kakashi, a man sixteen years her senior! Anger boiled in his veins, scaring him and yet driving him farther and farther, wherever he was headed.
Sasuke couldn't remember what happened after that...and the thought had engrained itself in his mind that he was the person that killed Kakashi.
He jerked his head up as it seemed that Sakura was reading his mind. "But who the hell could have done it...he's gotten out of so many tough spots alive...he's got to be out there somewhere."
"I wish that were true, Sakura," Tsunade murmured, "But...we've identified the body. It's definitely him."
"Kami...no...let me see him."
"I don't think it's wise...we almost didn't recognize him because of the wounds."
That brought Sasuke a little bit of relief; if he'd killed Kakashi and wounded him so badly, he was sure to find some sign of it...clothing spattered with blood thrown in a corner...there would be something.
But what if this new and prevalent alternate personality had planned that all?
Panic clutched his heart. If he'd done this...
Sakura had calmed down a little and she now sat with her fists clenched in her lap, her hard, dull eyes cast down at the floor. "Please...I want to see him. I can do it."
They all glanced around at each other for a moment before Tsunade nodded.
"Let's go."
----
Sakura was still in denial as they walked down the dark hallways of the morgue, resolute and prepared for whatever they could throw at her. It just had to be a lie...if the body was that badly...mutilated...it could be a mistake. Even though she knew that they could test his blood easily and find out if it was him, she just didn't want to admit it. Kakashi couldn't die.
When they got to the right box Tsunade went around to the other side and put her hand on the handle, looking up at Sakura distantly. "Are you sure you're ready for this"
She nodded.
But when the table slid out, she wasn't truly ready at all.
The body was most definitely Kakashi's...because his face was still intact. Well...mostly.
The Sharingan eye was gone, completely sliced out of his eye socket, and the words "taking back what doesn't belong" were etched into his cheek and forehead. Sakura's hand flew up to her mouth as she tried to stifle a gasp...a sob...whatever was about to come out of her throat. Tsunade looked away, knowing that Sakura wouldn't want her to put the body back just yet.
Her disgust heightened when she saw that his torso - Tsunade had only pulled the body out halfway - was completely covered in bruises and cuts. They'd been cleaned by someone at the morgue...but it was still hideous. Sakura hated to see this...just a few weeks ago, this man had made love to her...she had seen how beautiful he was. And now he was dead, a disgusting corpse.
"Sakura, are you alright?" Tsunade asked, looking past the kunoichi to the other members of Team Seven standing in the doorway.
Sakura finally nodded, looking up at the old woman. "Yeah...I'm alright...but whoever did this...is going to pay."
----
Sasuke was beginning to think more and more that he had killed Kakashi.
After they'd brought Sakura home, he and Naruto had gone out for drinks. Now they sat silently at the bar, the occasional visitor offering condolences for the loss of their ex-sensei.
Everyone in Konoha had known Kakashi...even with his complete lack of social skills, he'd been very well-liked. And now...he was gone.
Naruto was starting to get emotional as he downed another drink, and Sasuke was getting very uneasy with the overly sensitive ninja. "Damn it..." Naruto suddenly growled out, slamming his glass down on the table and glaring over at Sasuke. "Who could've done this?"
It was obvious who everyone thought it was. The eye...the eye had everything to do with it. That, and Sasuke's new rivalry with the copy nin. But he didn't say anything.
"I mean...hurting him that badly...killing him. Who could've done it?"
"I know you think it was me."
Naruto was stone still, his head slowly turning to face Sasuke again as the Uchiha continued. "I know you think it was me...and you're not crazy to think so...I mean...damn it, Naruto...I don't...I don't know...I don't even know where I was."
Holy shit. Why was he even telling the blonde these things? Where did Naruto's allegiances lie...more towards Kakashi, or more towards Sasuke? Sasuke didn't know if Naruto would tell...who he would tell...what he would do. So why was he even saying anything?
Silence hung in the air.
Then Naruto chuckled quietly.
"You're joking..." he said slowly, taking another big swig of his drink."Yeah...that's it...you're just joking."
Sasuke shook his head. "No, Naruto." He put a hand on his friend's shoulder to steady him. "I'm not joking. I don't know where the hell I was...I completely lost more than two hours of time just a few days ago. I mean, it's gone. I have no memory of it."
"Well...fuck."
The Uchiha could only catch his friend, shaking his head, as Naruto's eyes rolled back in his head and he passed out.
----
Sakura contemplated suicide.
She was suddenly faced with an extremely difficult choice: death with the man she loved...or facing life with constant harassment from Sasuke and the burden of caring for her child.
Maybe she could have the baby and then kill herself, leaving Sasuke to take care of it...no...
She had considered the options carefully, and she still couldn't come up with a good answer.
Kakashi was really dead. He was really dead, and he was not coming back. And there was absolutely nothing she could do about it.
Except train.
That's when the idea hit...what she would spend the rest of her life doing: tracking down and killing the person who had killed her lover.
After the baby was born, she would train harder and harder...get to be a better ninja so that she could find whoever it was and kill them. She had to do it; there was no other way to escape the pain. It would definitely make her feel better to get rid of the person that had killed Kakashi...right? Hurt them like they had hurt her, and make sure there was no way they could recover.
----
Sasuke Uchiha watched from a chair as his friend slowly cracked his eye open and groaned from the couch, lifting a hand up to his aching head and then dropping it down again.
"Gaah...Sasuke, why the hell did I get wasted and you didn't?"
The dark-haired man shrugged. "I'm not as grief-stricken as you are, Naruto."
Naruto winced. "Kami...I don't remember what it was that I was grieving about...but I don't want to...so wait till morning to tell me...okay? Goodnight..."
"Wait a minute," Sasuke said quickly, slamming the book shut that he had been reading. Naruto had a small reaction, jumping only a little at the loud crack of the book. "Do you...do you remember anything I told you?"
Naruto tried to shake his head. "Nooo..." he slurred out, "Now I'm goin' back to ssleep."
Thank the Gods... Sasuke thought, getting up and running a hand through his tousled hair. Ignoring the burning sensation he'd had in his shoulder all day, he walked to the bathroom, looking in the mirror and glaring.
Snake eyes again. "Damn it..." he muttered, "What the hell is happening to me...and why can't the Hokage detect anything?"
Sasuke.
The name echoed around the room. He turned around to see who it was...but there was no one there. Either Naruto was playing some sort of sick joke on him...or he was imagining things again.
If something really was going on, Tsunade would've noticed it. And that's what Sasuke needed to keep telling himself. Orochimaru was in the past...that bastard had nothing to do with Sasuke now, and he needed to put that part of his life behind him if he was to recover at all...if Sakura was going to be able to forgive him. Everything hung in the balance.
Had he killed Kakashi?
That was the biggest question now.
And if he had...what had happened to those memories?
----
"When is he going to wake up?"
"I told you sister...it takes time."
"Damn it all...I want him awake!"
Light filtered in through the man's eyelashes as he squinted and looked around the room. It was bright...but the light had to be artificial, that much he could ascertain. Two shadowy silhouettes were the next things he saw; one was much taller than the other, but other than that he couldn't make out their features at all.
"See...I told you he'd be awake soon."
Well, so much for escaping detection before he'd figured out where he was...or who he was. The man cracked his eyes open to the unyielding artificial light, trying to adjust the harshness of it as the shorter figure got closer to him and leaned over him, giving him a little relief by partly blocking out the light. "Good morning."
He frowned, "Would you mind me asking...who am I?"
The shorter figure, who the man realized was a girl of about fifteen or sixteen, turned around, smirking at the other figure, who appeared to be somehow related to her. "Look at him, Seiko...he doesn't even remember who he is." When she turned back to him she still had the same sick smirk on her face. The man didn't like it at all. "Your name...is Hatake Kakashi. You are supposedly a great ninja...of course, I don't see what's so great about you, seeing as how I killed you."
The man's frown deepened as she reached out and pushed a lock of hair from his face and running her fingers over a sore spot on his forehead. "You killed me? What are you talking about?"
"Well...that's what she's going to think, anyway."
"Who...who is she?"
The girl's eyes suddenly narrowed and she turned back towards the boy, scraping her nails over the sore on the man's head as she spun around. "Seiko...he doesn't even remember...he's supposed to remember! What the hell did you do, you idiot?"
"I didn't do anything, Yuu..." Seiko growled out, "Sister, I did everything I could not to harm him...but he was too strong. I had to go a little overboard in order to...incapacitate him."
"You're a fucking fool, Seiko." The girl, Yuu, turned back towards the man. "You don't remember her? Here...look..." She reached into her pocket and pulled out a picture of a pink-haired woman, angrily shoving it into the man's face. "This is who she is? Still don't remember her? We've got lots of pictures...look..." She pulled out another picture of the same girl and an older man with a shock of silver hair. When she didn't see a look of recognition the girl made an extremely frustrated noise and threw them to the floor in aggravation. "Seiko...make him remember...tell him what he wants to know...I want him to be able to suffer when we kill her too."
----
Author's Note: Oh no...I know that was really, really bad...but there will be a lot more material when we get back to Kakashi's storyline...and honestly, I just wanted to put something out here for ya'll to go on. I felt like it was simply too cruel to keep you guessing about Kakashi being dead.
Winter break starts in the middle of next month, and hopefully I'll be able to update more often...well...I'm going to bed now...so sorry about this crappy chapter...but I hope you enjoyed the little of it there was. Hang in there! The next chapter will be better, I promise...pretty easy, since this one was so incredibly bad.
Pleeeeease review!
--Kat
----
She had to keep going...for her baby...if Kakashi was there or not.
----
Sakura heaved out another sob and Sasuke turned away from her, ashamed that he should even be there. He'd have left long ago if Naruto hadn't suggested he could stay...he was sure he would upset her. And he felt partly responsible for Kakashi's death.
All those dreams...all the silent pleas that the copy ninja would just disappear...it seemed like they had come to a reality in this. And that wasn't even the most disturbing part of it.
He caught sight of a tear trickling down Naruto's face and felt more disconnected from the team than he ever had. This tragedy didn't affect him...in fact, he couldn't have wanted anything more. Sasuke had almost panicked when no cold feeling had gripped his gut when he discovered, along with the rest, that Kakashi was dead. There was no part of Sasuke that grieved for the mentor of him and his two best friends.
The only thing he could feel was guilt.
After Sakura left him when he'd met her in the woods, Sasuke had another breakdown. He'd run as far as he could, deeper and deeper into the forest and farther and farther from Konoha. He couldn't stand it...although it would be so much easier for her to choose him, she still chose Kakashi, a man sixteen years her senior! Anger boiled in his veins, scaring him and yet driving him farther and farther, wherever he was headed.
Sasuke couldn't remember what happened after that...and the thought had engrained itself in his mind that he was the person that killed Kakashi.
He jerked his head up as it seemed that Sakura was reading his mind. "But who the hell could have done it...he's gotten out of so many tough spots alive...he's got to be out there somewhere."
"I wish that were true, Sakura," Tsunade murmured, "But...we've identified the body. It's definitely him."
"Kami...no...let me see him."
"I don't think it's wise...we almost didn't recognize him because of the wounds."
That brought Sasuke a little bit of relief; if he'd killed Kakashi and wounded him so badly, he was sure to find some sign of it...clothing spattered with blood thrown in a corner...there would be something.
But what if this new and prevalent alternate personality had planned that all?
Panic clutched his heart. If he'd done this...
Sakura had calmed down a little and she now sat with her fists clenched in her lap, her hard, dull eyes cast down at the floor. "Please...I want to see him. I can do it."
They all glanced around at each other for a moment before Tsunade nodded.
"Let's go."
----
Sakura was still in denial as they walked down the dark hallways of the morgue, resolute and prepared for whatever they could throw at her. It just had to be a lie...if the body was that badly...mutilated...it could be a mistake. Even though she knew that they could test his blood easily and find out if it was him, she just didn't want to admit it. Kakashi couldn't die.
When they got to the right box Tsunade went around to the other side and put her hand on the handle, looking up at Sakura distantly. "Are you sure you're ready for this"
She nodded.
But when the table slid out, she wasn't truly ready at all.
The body was most definitely Kakashi's...because his face was still intact. Well...mostly.
The Sharingan eye was gone, completely sliced out of his eye socket, and the words "taking back what doesn't belong" were etched into his cheek and forehead. Sakura's hand flew up to her mouth as she tried to stifle a gasp...a sob...whatever was about to come out of her throat. Tsunade looked away, knowing that Sakura wouldn't want her to put the body back just yet.
Her disgust heightened when she saw that his torso - Tsunade had only pulled the body out halfway - was completely covered in bruises and cuts. They'd been cleaned by someone at the morgue...but it was still hideous. Sakura hated to see this...just a few weeks ago, this man had made love to her...she had seen how beautiful he was. And now he was dead, a disgusting corpse.
"Sakura, are you alright?" Tsunade asked, looking past the kunoichi to the other members of Team Seven standing in the doorway.
Sakura finally nodded, looking up at the old woman. "Yeah...I'm alright...but whoever did this...is going to pay."
----
Sasuke was beginning to think more and more that he had killed Kakashi.
After they'd brought Sakura home, he and Naruto had gone out for drinks. Now they sat silently at the bar, the occasional visitor offering condolences for the loss of their ex-sensei.
Everyone in Konoha had known Kakashi...even with his complete lack of social skills, he'd been very well-liked. And now...he was gone.
Naruto was starting to get emotional as he downed another drink, and Sasuke was getting very uneasy with the overly sensitive ninja. "Damn it..." Naruto suddenly growled out, slamming his glass down on the table and glaring over at Sasuke. "Who could've done this?"
It was obvious who everyone thought it was. The eye...the eye had everything to do with it. That, and Sasuke's new rivalry with the copy nin. But he didn't say anything.
"I mean...hurting him that badly...killing him. Who could've done it?"
"I know you think it was me."
Naruto was stone still, his head slowly turning to face Sasuke again as the Uchiha continued. "I know you think it was me...and you're not crazy to think so...I mean...damn it, Naruto...I don't...I don't know...I don't even know where I was."
Holy shit. Why was he even telling the blonde these things? Where did Naruto's allegiances lie...more towards Kakashi, or more towards Sasuke? Sasuke didn't know if Naruto would tell...who he would tell...what he would do. So why was he even saying anything?
Silence hung in the air.
Then Naruto chuckled quietly.
"You're joking..." he said slowly, taking another big swig of his drink."Yeah...that's it...you're just joking."
Sasuke shook his head. "No, Naruto." He put a hand on his friend's shoulder to steady him. "I'm not joking. I don't know where the hell I was...I completely lost more than two hours of time just a few days ago. I mean, it's gone. I have no memory of it."
"Well...fuck."
The Uchiha could only catch his friend, shaking his head, as Naruto's eyes rolled back in his head and he passed out.
----
Sakura contemplated suicide.
She was suddenly faced with an extremely difficult choice: death with the man she loved...or facing life with constant harassment from Sasuke and the burden of caring for her child.
Maybe she could have the baby and then kill herself, leaving Sasuke to take care of it...no...
She had considered the options carefully, and she still couldn't come up with a good answer.
Kakashi was really dead. He was really dead, and he was not coming back. And there was absolutely nothing she could do about it.
Except train.
That's when the idea hit...what she would spend the rest of her life doing: tracking down and killing the person who had killed her lover.
After the baby was born, she would train harder and harder...get to be a better ninja so that she could find whoever it was and kill them. She had to do it; there was no other way to escape the pain. It would definitely make her feel better to get rid of the person that had killed Kakashi...right? Hurt them like they had hurt her, and make sure there was no way they could recover.
----
Sasuke Uchiha watched from a chair as his friend slowly cracked his eye open and groaned from the couch, lifting a hand up to his aching head and then dropping it down again.
"Gaah...Sasuke, why the hell did I get wasted and you didn't?"
The dark-haired man shrugged. "I'm not as grief-stricken as you are, Naruto."
Naruto winced. "Kami...I don't remember what it was that I was grieving about...but I don't want to...so wait till morning to tell me...okay? Goodnight..."
"Wait a minute," Sasuke said quickly, slamming the book shut that he had been reading. Naruto had a small reaction, jumping only a little at the loud crack of the book. "Do you...do you remember anything I told you?"
Naruto tried to shake his head. "Nooo..." he slurred out, "Now I'm goin' back to ssleep."
Thank the Gods... Sasuke thought, getting up and running a hand through his tousled hair. Ignoring the burning sensation he'd had in his shoulder all day, he walked to the bathroom, looking in the mirror and glaring.
Snake eyes again. "Damn it..." he muttered, "What the hell is happening to me...and why can't the Hokage detect anything?"
Sasuke.
The name echoed around the room. He turned around to see who it was...but there was no one there. Either Naruto was playing some sort of sick joke on him...or he was imagining things again.
If something really was going on, Tsunade would've noticed it. And that's what Sasuke needed to keep telling himself. Orochimaru was in the past...that bastard had nothing to do with Sasuke now, and he needed to put that part of his life behind him if he was to recover at all...if Sakura was going to be able to forgive him. Everything hung in the balance.
Had he killed Kakashi?
That was the biggest question now.
And if he had...what had happened to those memories?
----
"When is he going to wake up?"
"I told you sister...it takes time."
"Damn it all...I want him awake!"
Light filtered in through the man's eyelashes as he squinted and looked around the room. It was bright...but the light had to be artificial, that much he could ascertain. Two shadowy silhouettes were the next things he saw; one was much taller than the other, but other than that he couldn't make out their features at all.
"See...I told you he'd be awake soon."
Well, so much for escaping detection before he'd figured out where he was...or who he was. The man cracked his eyes open to the unyielding artificial light, trying to adjust the harshness of it as the shorter figure got closer to him and leaned over him, giving him a little relief by partly blocking out the light. "Good morning."
He frowned, "Would you mind me asking...who am I?"
The shorter figure, who the man realized was a girl of about fifteen or sixteen, turned around, smirking at the other figure, who appeared to be somehow related to her. "Look at him, Seiko...he doesn't even remember who he is." When she turned back to him she still had the same sick smirk on her face. The man didn't like it at all. "Your name...is Hatake Kakashi. You are supposedly a great ninja...of course, I don't see what's so great about you, seeing as how I killed you."
The man's frown deepened as she reached out and pushed a lock of hair from his face and running her fingers over a sore spot on his forehead. "You killed me? What are you talking about?"
"Well...that's what she's going to think, anyway."
"Who...who is she?"
The girl's eyes suddenly narrowed and she turned back towards the boy, scraping her nails over the sore on the man's head as she spun around. "Seiko...he doesn't even remember...he's supposed to remember! What the hell did you do, you idiot?"
"I didn't do anything, Yuu..." Seiko growled out, "Sister, I did everything I could not to harm him...but he was too strong. I had to go a little overboard in order to...incapacitate him."
"You're a fucking fool, Seiko." The girl, Yuu, turned back towards the man. "You don't remember her? Here...look..." She reached into her pocket and pulled out a picture of a pink-haired woman, angrily shoving it into the man's face. "This is who she is? Still don't remember her? We've got lots of pictures...look..." She pulled out another picture of the same girl and an older man with a shock of silver hair. When she didn't see a look of recognition the girl made an extremely frustrated noise and threw them to the floor in aggravation. "Seiko...make him remember...tell him what he wants to know...I want him to be able to suffer when we kill her too."
----
Author's Note: Oh no...I know that was really, really bad...but there will be a lot more material when we get back to Kakashi's storyline...and honestly, I just wanted to put something out here for ya'll to go on. I felt like it was simply too cruel to keep you guessing about Kakashi being dead.
Winter break starts in the middle of next month, and hopefully I'll be able to update more often...well...I'm going to bed now...so sorry about this crappy chapter...but I hope you enjoyed the little of it there was. Hang in there! The next chapter will be better, I promise...pretty easy, since this one was so incredibly bad.
Pleeeeease review!
--Kat
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