The Spaces In-Between

What Happened Kakashi?

Y/N was happy as she arrived in the open field once again.  In her waking life, they had stayed away from her Daddy for a whole month before they went home.  Her Daddy had not hit or screamed at them for the last two months.  She did not understand why he had changed but for the time she was happy that her home was quiet.  No being woken in the night by shouting.  It had been very nice.

In the distance, she could see Kakashi sitting by the river with his back to her.  His legs were drawn up to his small chest and he was staring at the water.  She ran up to him with a happy shout of his name then stopped as she saw tears on his face.  Kakashi was crying?  His little mask was wet from the tears and he did not look up at her as she sat down beside him.

"Kakashi, what's wrong?  Why are you crying?"

He didn't say anything for a long time and she kept quiet, waiting for him to answer.  Sometimes Kakashi would be quiet that way but this time it felt different.  He finally wiped at his eyes and looked away from her.

"My Dad died," he said in a ragged voice.

Y/N gasped at the words.  "What?  How, what happened?"

"He failed the village and shamed all Shinobi.  He didn't follow the rules."  Kakashi said in an angry, bitter voice.  "The village turned against him and he killed himself."

Y/N was shocked.  He killed himself?  She had never heard of such a thing.  She wrapped her arms around him and he stiffened.  He tried to push her away but she refused to budge.  She remembered how it had felt when he had held her and she was going to do the same for him, whether he liked it or not.  He finally stopped pushing her away and then she heard a small moan before he started sobbing.

"I won't be like him," he cried.  "I'm going to always follow the rules.  I won't be a failure like him!"

Y/N didn't know what to say so she just held him as he cried.  After a long time he finally stopped crying and she relinquished her hold on him.  He pulled his mask down and she blinked as she looked at his face for the first time.  It was a cute face.  Why did he hide it all the time?  He even had the most adorable little mole just below his lips.

"Thank you, Y/N," he finally said.

Y/N smiled at him feeling so sad for him.  Kakashi had adored his father.  She knew it because he talked so much about him and what a powerful Shinobi he had been.  He pulled out a headband from his pocket to show her.

"I'm a Genin now," Kakashi said.  "I'll be going on missions soon."

Y/N eyes were wide.  He had told her all about the different levels of Ninja.  They were so young so it was surprising to her that he would be going out fighting people at their age.  He offered her the headband and she looked at the symbol on the metal, tracing it with her finger.

"That sounds scary, Kakashi," she finally admitted.  "We're just little kids."

Kakashi smiled at her for the first time and she felt warmth seeing a full smile on his face.  "I'm very good, Y/N.  They wouldn't make me a Genin if I wasn't good at fighting."  He tilted his head to the side.  "You should learn how to fight, too.  That way your Daddy won't hurt you anymore."

Y/N laughed, "Me a fighter?  No way.  I'm too weak."

He reached out and touched her face, as if seeing the bruises again that had long since disappeared.  "You are strong, Y/N.  Do this for me, please?  I might not be able to come here as often as I have now that I am a Genin.  I won't get to sleep as much.  I want to know you are okay in between our visits."

Y/N could not deny the request as he was looking at her with love and deep friendship.  She gave a nod of her head.  "I will ask Mama.  Since Daddy isn't being mean right now, she might let me."