Reborn as Sakura and Hinata: Lost in the Wind (Part 2)

Disaster Strikes Twice

Sasuke and I shoved our way into the room, Sasuke's brow furrowing in blatant bemusement as we both laid eyes on... well it was something.

Kakashi seemingly wasn't in sight, that was until you dropped your gaze down to the floor to see his feet sticking out from under the bed, bottles of alcohol rolling out from underneath. I tried not to wince at the smell of it, it was hard liquor to be sure, and he'd drunk a lot of it.

Yui gave a hum of dissatisfaction, Hinata just staring at him blankly, she didn't know what to make of it apparently. Obito crouched down by the bed, dissipating his disguise and peeking under, "Kakashi, we have guests."

"No one should want to see me." came the dour reply, crawling out from under the bed with the too familiar depressed air we'd all come to know years ago. Can't say I'd missed it.

"They're here to help." Obito attempted to coax Kakashi out with that. Like that'd work, Kakashi clearly wasn't looking for help right now. The air smelled of depression; it smelled like a lack of the will to carry on. I'd have called it suffocating if I didn't already know what suffocating smelled like.

"Someone like me is beyond help." was the quiet grumble, "There is no helping me, there is no saving a man such as myself. Who would want to help me in the first place?"

"Kakashi..." Obito sighed, getting down on his knees to better look under the bed, "Please, you need to- What are you doing?"

The sound of scraping floorboards made me crouch down as well, watching as Kakashi pulled up a board to procure another bottle. He didn't even spare us a glance, "Just leave me to my death. You all were right anyway... I'm despicable, I should have never thought myself worthy to be saved." Jesus this guy was in rough shape.

"That isn't true." Yui went to sit by Obito, "You don't deserve to be killed, those two are just hot headed idiots." Oh, is that what we were? Did she even know about it?

"No, no, your sympathy is misplaced." he insisted, uncorking the bottle, "I am not deserving of it. You don't know the depths of my depravity, the twisted nature of my very being, I am abhorrent, a mistake on the mark of time that is waiting to be erased. I can only lament that I have prevented the world's attempts to do so before."

"Sensei?" I could pick up on Sasuke's mounting worry, "Did something happen? What's going on?" This was some pretty dark shit, and, while many could write it off as melodramatic, I knew better. I could feel in the air the legitimate self-loathing, and, as much as I didn't want to say I understood it, maybe even recognize it, I did.

"Sasuke?" Kakashi finally turned his head to the side to look at us, eyes full of pain, "You're seeing me this way? I suppose it was about time you found out what I was... but maybe you already knew."

"What do you mean?" frustration now slipped into Sasuke's tone, "I have no idea what's going on right now, for your information."

"Is that so?" was the hummed reply, punctuated by a swig from a bottle. It was impressive he could drink in that cramped space so comfortably, if you could call any of this impressive.

"Kakashi, this is ridiculous, you aren't helping anyone by doing this." Obito pleaded, "We're worried, we want to help, and you're the Hokage. It's been days now, and I can't do your job for you!"

'Days'... the reason for this, or at least some kind of breaking point, happened on the wedding night. I glanced over at Hinata, her brow furrowed as well pensively, her silence indicating that she's been processing every word of this interaction so far and was trying to come to the best conclusion. Sakura... also broke down on our-