Willing Sacrifices

Part Three: Kannabi Bridge I

two years have passed since the end of part two

"You do understand that this promotion means that you will have to fix your habit of tardiness, don't you, Kakashi?"

Kakashi tilted his head slightly and looked blankly at the Hokage, as if not understanding what the man was talking about.

"Tardiness, Lord Hokage?"

He could practically feel Minato-sensei's blood pressure rising in embarrassment and exasperation, and he wasn't even in the room.

"Yes, Kakashi," the Hokage sounded slightly exasperated himself. "Jonin are required to attend to time-sensitive matters. You cannot be late."

Kakashi frowned slightly. "I'm always on time though?"

"Kakashi," the Hokage sighed. "You were two and a half hours late to this meeting."

"Really?"

Kakashi was thoroughly enjoying this, and the Hokage knew it. He saw a vein twitch in the Hokage's forehead and was glad he had a mask on so no one could see his smile.

"Maybe the messenger was late," Kakashi mused.

"Or, maybe you were late," the Hokage said.

"It doesn't really sound like me though," Kakashi replied easily.

The Hokage finally sighed in defeat. "No, of course not," he said tiredly. "Congratulations on your promotion to Jonin, Kakashi."

"Thanks. I feel like you're lacking some enthusiasm about it though," Kakashi replied, taking his new jacket from the Hokage.

Lord Third's eye twitched, and Kakashi gave a small, lazy wave and left quickly before he pushed the Hokage too far. He was aware of his limits as a thirteen-year-old compared to a thirty-year-old, there was only so much he could get away with at the moment. Faintly he wondered as he walked back to his house if Obito would get him a gift this time around - one that wasn't on his death bed or a body part.

Kakashi felt a spike of anxiety within him. The closer that they all came to thirteen, the more his dreams started turning dark and pain-filled. He knew it was illogical for him to be so anxious. They all knew what would happen and they were prepared, and maybe they wouldn't even be assigned the same mission. No matter the rationale and logic he used, it didn't seem to matter to his psyche. As he walked, Kakashi clutched more tightly at the green jacket with a racing heart, careful to keep his expression neutral to any observers.

Everything's going to be fine, he told himself, keeping his thoughts from edging into the hysteria that threatened. They had nothing to worry about. Nothing at all. Obito was going to be fine. His throat closed up a little and Kakashi forced himself to walk calmly to his house, and not break into a sprint there, even though his entire body was crawling with the need to get out of public view.

The moment Kakashi reached his apartment, he threw open his door and ran to the bathroom, ripping down his mask and gagging into his toilet. Nothing came out as he retched. After a moment, he felt back on his hind and leaned against the cool bathroom wall, knees drawn up to his chest, and head back against the wall. Kakashi closed his eyes and breathed deeply, in and out, steady and slow. Being named a jonin again, on the same day, at the same time... things were happening in the same way they did before. Something things will be the same. He couldn't...Kakashi couldn't lose them again.

He stared at his hand, which was trembling, and recalled the blood that soaked it after it pierced Rin. Kakashi's Chidori was incomplete still, just like before he had Obito's Sharingan. He was working to perfect it, but it was proving a difficult task. Still, despite the fact that it had been what killed Rin, the Chidori was a part of what made Kakashi Kakashi.. he felt this desperation to regain it like it had attached itself to his insides and wouldn't let go.