ᴡʜᴇʀᴇ ɪ sᴇᴇ ᴍʏsᴇʟғ | ᴍᴀᴅᴀʀᴀ ᴜᴄʜɪʜᴀ x ʀᴇᴀᴅᴇʀ

⍟Kakashi's Story: Grief unimaginable⍟

[-Summer-]
[Age: 12]

Happiness has stopped for Kakashi since his father's suicide attempt, and it disintegrated after the deaths of his teammates. Sakumo sleeps in a comatose state, and for once, he seems at peace. There is some relief in seeing sorrow depart from his expression, but at this moment, Kakashi is desperate for his father's support.

After having learned the hardest of ways, he now understands Obito's mantra in choosing comrades over a mission. It makes him appreciate the decision his father made despite the consequences. However, his father is no longer awake to hear Kakashi's apology for his unfounded hatred towards him.

Instead, Kakashi sits in silence inside his apartment. The stench of blood wafts through the air despite its absence. The clock keeps ticking, a reminder that the world goes on despite the trauma that haunts him.

No teammates. No father. A good portion of his childhood has been fraught with death that he can no longer stop smelling the scent of blood. He's drowning in it that at times he forgets to breathe. 

A knock on the door serves as a temporary relief to his hell. He wonders who is brave enough to bash through his defenses as he has been rigid with his boundaries. No one is allowed in, and he barely speaks to anyone as it is. 

"Kakashi, it's me." The familiar sound of his cousin confuses him. He wipes away his tears and swallows his hiccups before walking over to the door. A part of him wants to keep the door locked due to the fear of allowing another person inside his heart; it's shattered and cannot be mended. Yet another part of him desperately wants someone to rescue him from the sea of sorrow. 

That side is stronger and he feebly unlocks the front door. His cage opens, and he witnesses the annoyed stare of his cousin. 

"Why does it take you twenty years to open the door for me?" Yurina huffs as she stomps past him. Her ability to be constantly bullheaded works in her favor since he never had the initiative to allow her inside.

"What do you want?" His voice comes out colder than he anticipated and flinches at the sound of it. He peeks at her expression to verify whether he's done enough to scare her off.

Her face scrunches up with disgust. "It smells in here. You shouldn't pass gas in a common area."

His deadpan stare does not disturb her sniffing. "Yurina..."

"I'm here to pick you up." Finally, she gives him the answer he desires, but all it does is confuse him even more.

"Why?"

"Because you're going to start living with us." Her statement gives him no room for questioning. She has already made up her mind and comes here demanding his compliance.

"You can't just make a decision like that--"

"I just did." 

"Why do you always have to meddle like this?" Kakashi growls. "You always get in the way when I try to include myself in your family. Now that I'm isolating, you ask for me back?"