Those Little Moments (Hatake Kakashi)

13

Kakashi:

The second I saw her, I had known who she was. Or, at least, who the imposter was trying to impersonate, in my mind. I never imagined it would actually be her, alive and well, or well enough (her mental wellness seemed to have its issues). That red hair and those green eyes were so unique, there was no one else I would have thought of other than the second friend I'd lost in the war. 

Though Emiko had only joined my team once, she had always been so obvious about competing with me. It was annoying, sure, the way Obito was annoying, but she had actually had enough talent for my young, arrogant self to acknowledge her as a rival. After so many of Minato's attempts to make us friends, I had really seen her as one, and as someone I wanted to impress, like a little sister, but not quite. It was a friendship that Emiko probably described best: frenemies.

Minato had made it clear why he wanted the two of us to be friends. He knew Emiko idolized him, and she had few friends which made her latch onto her sister and himself. He cared about Emiko, so he wanted her to have someone closer to her own age she could spend time with, and Minato wanted me to have a friend I respected as an equal, and only Emiko had had enough talent for me to respect our rivalry.

When she had been lost, I had been the first to ask to be put in charge of finding her; I had felt responsible for her fate, especially after Rin's death. My request was refused, after, apparently, a team had seen her dead body while on a mission.

Seeing her again was seeing the dead come back to life, and for the first time, I felt the weight that had been growing on my chest from each of my comrades' deaths lighten. Even after knowing she had almost had Rin's fate, and hearing the horrors she'd endured, all I knew was shock and relief. Part of me was still in denial, even after knowing it was her.

In some ways, she was exactly the same. She was quick to anger, enjoyed punching me in the face, and loved her family unconditionally. But, she was also so incredibly different.

Her eyes were just as expressive as they'd always been, but the emotions were so much deeper and heartwrenching than they'd been. When she was anxious and destroyed, I could almost witness the memories she was rewatching. When she was happy, it was in a way that was so obviously grateful and relieved that it was almost sad. 

Still, witnessing her smile again and laugh brought back all the good memories of my childhood, before everything went wrong. In a way, she seemed, despite her brokenness, to symbolize everything innocent and beautiful, and before I knew it, I had promised myself I'd protect her. To make sure she could keep smiling like that, and thinking the world is beautiful.

Even as we fought for who would take the air mattress, I watched her expressions carefully, and, when she finally won, found myself smiling under my mask at how proud of herself she seemed, though I planned to switch rooms the following night before she could complain. I succeeded the second night, and found myself laughing at her childishly angry expression. She certainly had not outgrown her competitiveness.

Every day, as she accompanied Team 7 on our missions, she would cheer Naruto on cheesily, giving him a big hug or ruffling his hair after every completed mission, even though they were only D-level. Knowing that Emiko had stopped doing D-level missions by the time she was eight years old made it all the more heart-warming how excited she got for her nephew, constantly praising him and being his own cheerleader. Whenever she was around, Naruto would stop parading around and genuinely work hard, though he was still a clown, thanks to the genuine love she was giving him, even when he did nothing. 

Most nights, I would be forced to accompany Emiko to Naruto's apartment, where she would make a new dinner every night, though if I ever complained, it would be a lie, since witnessing the way she acted around Naruto was one of the most wholesome things I'd ever seen, and I could practically taste the love in all the food she cooked. In a way, it made me feel like maybe I hadn't let Minato-sensei down.

Any night not spent with Naruto, was spent with Kurenai and all of our friends Emiko had been introduced to, getting drinks and laughing together. Most of those nights, Emiko, who never actually drank a lot, would get drunk and her cheeks would be constantly covered in an adorable blush. By the end of the night, I would have to carry her home since she was too drunk to walk, or, at least, that's what I told himself. In reality, she never got quite that drunk, but at the time, I didn't bother acknowledging that. 

It was very different from my previous solitary lifestyle, and, in a way, it felt better than any previous part of my life, which had always been overshadowed by death, whether it be my father's or my comrades'.

I knew deep down, the way I constantly wanted to overprotect her was out of guilt, and very unhealthy. Even a simple, genuine frown my way had me feeling like I failed, like I had to do better to fix what I'd let her suffer all those years. No matter what happened, I would not fail again.