Once Shinobi, Now Hero

Chapter 26: Explosive Exit

He looked well. The last time she saw him, he was pale, a broken mess of a boy fresh from battle. Stained with blood, smelling of it. But now he was with color, though pale, it wasn't sickly. And even stiff, it wasn't as if it were the cause of death. His blank, dead eye looked remained, though she couldn't fault him. If he were inside in the dark, silent room those two weeks she hadn't seen him than it was understandable. Not that she could condone the Commission's actions. Caging a human being like an animal was unethical unless they could no longer live amongst society.

Kakashi very much could. His violent outburst could be explained. She knew his very emotional reaction to that man he'd killed meant that something must've happened between them. She'd never seen him so animated before, and the more she stared at him the more she realized how different he looked than in that video.

"Miss, are you going to go in?"

That had been the guard, reminding her that she hadn't even properly stepped into the room. "Yes," she strained out, embarrassed and took a step past the door. Loudly, the door scraped closed behind her and big mechanisms locked tightly, loudly. Like big metal clangs. The noise was fading, leaving them in perpetual silence in seconds.

She had so many questions she'd wanted to ask him. Some she'd thought of while at home and some she'd thought of on her way here. But none could surface. She could only continuously open and close her mouth, like a fish out of water. Pondering on what she should say, and wondering why she couldn't speak. Not to mention what she could say since their conversation would be monitored.

"I'll assume you didn't come to stare at me, Ryuko."

Dim lights showed his eyes travel to his bed sheets.

Silently, she took a seat aside his bed. A chair that looked like it didn't belong in the room.

"Ah, no, I didn't."

"And I know you aren't here to get me out. These people are very adamant on me staying here. So, that's out of the question."

Her heartbeat picked up slightly. She wished she could tell Kakashi that he could hope to be free from this room. But that would only make things harder for her to do that in the long run.

"Why are you here? Aren't you going to speak?"

"I came to talk."

"There's nothing for us to talk about. I'm not someone you need to concern yourself with."

She couldn't help being emotional, not knowing if it were anger or sadness washing over her. "That's not true! Your my son!"

"I'm not your son. You don't know me. Whatever that paper says means nothing. I've barely known you a month."

"Time doesn't establish a relationship, Kakashi."

"And nor does a piece of paper. Leave, I'm done talking to you."

He closed up as he always did. He never spoke clearly, never understanding how genuine of her concern, and never knowing that he could be loved. She didn't understand it. She couldn't. Her being fought against the idea. What could he have been through that made him this way?

As if fighting against one another, her sadness overwhelmed her anger. Her vision began to blur.

"I need to know, Kakashi. What does family mean to you?"

It only took a mere second for his fist to tighten alongside his face. His usual expression was replaced easily with a single question. She knew the emotion was real, and his next words hit her like a truck.

"Nothing. Family means nothing to me."

...

She watched with baited breath as the door slowly shut him into darkness. She could get no more out of him like that. He truly clammed up in anger, and she hadn't gotten anywhere with him that she was supposed to get. What was she supposed to tell Tsukauchi? She'd never seen him so aggressively difficult to understand. And now that she thought about it, she never understood him. She thought he was a boy brought up on the wrong side of town, taught to kill to survive. He is more than that. He's a emotional closed off, trauma filled boy. A atomically trained killer. A boy able on a battlefield. That was where he truly came out. Only when his life is on the line is when his personality and experience show themselves.