Those Little Moments (Hatake Kakashi)

6

It seemed to be multiple times a week after that that I was taken out to see the sun again. That was not the purpose of my break from my cell, but that was how I thought of it. 

Every time, I would return to my cell with tear stains on my cheeks, but a smile on my lips as my eyes replayed the brief glimpses of the world I'd gotten. It still existed. There were still people, smiling people and families and things worth protecting.

Itachi showed up as the one bringing my food more often then, and I learned quickly not to ask what had made him defect from the Leaf. He spoke little, but every once in a while, he would grace me with a small smile and the meals he brought were always more pleasant.

"How is it that you still smile so widely every day?" He asked me once, not looking at me.

"Just for you." I replied teasingly, giggling to myself. Noticing him stiffen up at the words, I gave a more serious answer. "Because I get to see the sun. And I get to see smiling families in the streets, even just for a brief moment. But those people are real, and that is more freedom than you could imagine."

"Those people are real?" He questioned.

I nodded, though he wasn't looking at me. "I got into the habit of speaking with hallucinations of my dead loved ones while I was alone every day before I was brought here. I would live on their fake smiles and words, but seeing a stranger smile or having a brief conversation with you is infinitely better." I paused, looking at the ceiling. "There is no greater joy for me than reality, and knowing it continues on."

Itachi didn't speak after that, only contemplating her words.

"You're strong, Uzumaki."

"Call me Emiko. You're the only living friend I have, so I'd prefer it if you called me by my first name."

We spent many afternoons in silence, sometimes with brief conversation, and I would smile, and each time he was somehow shocked. In a way, I started to think of the teenage boy as a younger brother.

"You know, Itachi, if neither of us had ever ended up here, I would've enjoyed being on a team with you." I once murmured, almost too quietly for him to hear. As usual, he was facing away from me, but I had grown fond of him, and often wished we could have been proper friends.

I almost didn't hear his reply, but it made me smile. "I would've too."

It was years of him bringing my meals before I ever truly asked him about himself, or at least I guessed that from how much he seemed to have grown. 

"I had a younger brother, Sasuke." Was all he would say at first, then eventually, he admitted he had, apparently, killed the entirety of the Uchiha clan.

"Except your little brother." I muttered. "I was the younger sibling, so I can't say I know exactly what it is you feel for him, but I would give anything to make my sister happy, and alive. She was always my protector though, so I think she would've understood you better."

"Perhaps." is all he would say.

"What will you do if you ever see him?"

"Fight him." Any smile I'd had faded, and I scooted closer towards his place at the door of my cell.

"And who will win?" I already knew the answer even before I asked, so his silence confirmed my answer well enough. I reached my hand through the bars and grabbed his. He looked at me in shock, but didn't move his hand.

"The world can be cruel, can't it?" I whispered, the faces of all my loved ones flashing over my face, though by then I had lived longer without them than with them.

"Yes, it can." He seemed to be debating something in his mind, his eyebrows furrowed, then his hand squeezed mine. "It doesn't have to be so cruel to you, though."

"I'm alright, you don't need to worry about me." Even as I spoke, I could feel the everlasting pain between my legs and aching in my chest. My body and mind certainly hadn't been given any breaks over the year, and still I yearned to just stand in the sun, to be able to embrace it without preparing for a harsh night ahead.

The next day, Itachi dragged one of my other usual guards, not one of those who wore the cloaks, to my door. He was unconscious, though I couldn't tell whether he was alive or not, and my focus was on my now unlocked door.

"What are you doing?" I was breathless, as though I had run many miles.

"Saving you. You don't deserve this." He handed me an unsuspecting brown cloak, a bag, and some kunai, then instructed me to perform fuinjutsu on the man.

Despite being incredibly out of practice, though I had often attempted to perform jutsus in my cell subtly, I was able to summon chains which wrapped around the man's body and made it seem as though I had knocked him out instead of Itachi.

Before I ran, I wrapped my arms around Itachi and hugged him tightly, whispering, "You don't either. You're a good man, Itachi. Thank you."

I hurried out of the compound in the way I'd always been brought on those horrific days to see the outside, and this time, when I emerged into the world, I was alone, and I wasn't some commodity being sold for large sums of money.

The cool breeze brushed gently against my smile and my feet ached pleasantly from walking. My muscles burned, and I was glad for it. The air I breathed belonged to me alone, and my pains were of my own choice, not forced upon me.

By the third day, I made it to my first town and settled down in the inn for the night. For the first time since I was ten years old, I saw myself in a mirror. My red hair was brown with grease, my face was thin and streaked with dirt, my cheeks much less full than I had remembered, my body more developed and more scarred, mostly on my back. But, my eyes had stayed the same. Emerald green and wide open always, even if they were a little sadder now, and that was comforting. I was still myself, and now I was free.