Lightning In The Hidden Leaf

21 - The Host And The Parasite

"I know I have been away from home for a long time, but this doesn't look like the Hidden Lightning," says Calista.

She and Kakashi finally made it to their destination. It was a quiet journey so Calista figured she would know when they arrived to the village. Every village she has been to is lively, the sounds of chatter and laughter a sure sign of civilization. Calista is insisting this is her village but it's as quiet here as what it was on their travels. The isolation of the forests continues into this desolate "village", if you can even call it that. 

"Something must have happened since you left. There is no way this place is inhabited," says Kakashi looking at a rickety old door as it hits the side of the house whenever the wind picks up.

"You're a high ranked shinobi of one of the five great nations. You sure you haven't heard of something happening here?" she says, her eyes still on the seemingly abandoned home.

Kakashi approaches one of the opened doors and peers into the house, watching and listening for a sign of life.

"Kakashi?" says Calista, wanting to fill the quietness with dialogue. She has felt uneasy since they got here. 

He shakes his head. "No, I haven't heard anything. And what's unusual about that is the Lightning is a great nation too. Between the five nations, we are always in close communication. If something happened, Lady Hokkage would know."

"How am I going to get a lead now? And more importantly, what happened to everyone? My parents, my brother, my clan," she whimpers.

Kakashi grins, but Calista doesn't pay attention. She has bonded and connected with the man who has shown her compassion and concern. She doesn't even notice that he has a smile plastered across his face while she is distraught. 

"I don't think you're at a loss," he says.

"If you have an idea, please share," she says, her voice unamused. 

"Just because the Hidden Leaf doesn't know what happened, doesn't mean that I don't know."

She gives him a side glance. "I am not in the mood to decipher cryptic riddles. We're talking about my clan here."

"You're right about one thing," says Kakashi, "if  something happened here, the Leaf would know about it. The only thing that would prevent communication is if the Lightning didn't want to communicate. They're a powerful nation too, in case you forgot."

"The Hidden Lightning would never deny help if they needed it."

Kakashi raises his eyebrows, encouraging Calista to think this through a little more.

"You're saying the Lightning doesn't want people to know because... they're trying to keep a secret. They're the enemy?"

"Now you're thinking."

"It doesn't make sense. If the Lightning closed communications, how the hell would you kn--"

Calista's brain works faster than her mouth as she puts the story together. Not all of it, but enough to know that Kakashi is not who she thought he was. She leaps into the sky and stands back from Kakashi, feet hip width apart, planted firmly on the ground, Kunai hiked to get chest, much like their first interaction.

"Kakashi," she whispers. "How could you?"

"Oh darling. You really do have feelings for him, don't you?"

"Huh? What the hell are you talking about?"

She watches as Kakashi takes his kunai, and to Calista's confusion, holds it to the bottom of his neck. He makes a clean incision all the way down his chest and stomach. Calista gasps at the horrific sight in front of her, as a bloody, mucus covered arm appears from the cavity of Kakashi's stomach. Then another arm. Then a head. Eventually the cavity gives birth to an entire body and both Kakashi and this parasite fall to the ground. 

"Yu... Yuri?" she says when she gets a look at the face.

"Surprised to see me, Calista?" he says, still on the ground. "I would have continued on with the act a little longer. It's kind of nice getting attention from you. Even if it's for Kakashi."

"Kakashi. Is he--"

"Oh Calista, you're so naïve. He has been dead the moment I got inside his body."

"How did this even happen, Yuri?" she says, her vacant eyes on Kakashi. 

"In terms of being here right now?" he says as he retrieved a robe from Kakashi's backpack and puts it around his naked body. "It started the day you betrayed our clan. That mark on your neck, the one close to your brain? I planted that there. It enabled me to not only track you but to get inside your head and into your deepest desires. There is no easier way to get a hold of someone by honing into their emotions."

With those words, Calista has flashbacks of the day she left her clan. The memories aren't in motion. Rather, it's like she is looking through a photo album in her mind, one still picture following another. Her mind stops flicking when she recalls one particular memory. It was when she met Yuri at the gates. She handed him her key and he pulled her in for a hug, placing his palm on the back of her neck, the very spot that damned marking is. 

"You have been manipulating my emotions all this time?!"

"Not really. I have been learning about your emotions all this time. Then I manipulated your emotions by making you feel the need to be vulnerable with Kakashi. That increased feelings between you too and then, well, the rest was like shooting a sitting duck." He shrugs in response to her icy glare. "You can't entirely blame me. Bosses orders."

"Kakashi did not deserve to get caught up in this," she says, her tone sharp.

"All I know is that Kakashi Hatake is not the shinobi everyone thinks he is. At some point along his travels, he let his guard down and made it easy for me to use him as my host. I hope he knows how pathetic it is that this happened to him. At the end of the day, it's ok he's dead because I'm sure he would rather that than to face the embarrassing mistake that caused his demise."

Calista bites down hard on her lip. She has something she has to say but her emotions are getting the best of her. She bites down until the stinging in her eyes pass. By then, she can taste the iron in her mouth. That, along with the site of the decaying mass of body that was the man she loved (at least, thought she loved) makes her want to vomit. She swallows it down.

"You're wrong. Everything you said about Kakashi is wrong. Our skills and ability is only a small portion of what makes us a decent shinobi. What gets us all the way there is our comradery not just towards our clan, but to outsiders as well. Kakashi opened his heart, his home and his life to me, a stranger. In the short amount of time I have known him, he gave me a taste of what the light looks like. He has no reason to be ashamed for he did not die in vein," she says, spitting every word in a blubbery mess. "I would be happy to become an avenger for someone like him."

"So you want to try to kill me? That's going to be hard because the boss wanted me to bring you back alive. Let's just hope you have more skill than your lover here," says Yuri putting his foot on what was once Kakashi's head.

Calista makes the first move, running after Yuri with lightning speed she inherited from her village. Yuri runs towards her as well but before their weapons are able to make their first clash, before they are given a chance to make even one hand sign, there is a crash, a jolt and then sweet, sweet relief.