Falling for Temptation (A Kakashi Hatake story) Naruto fanfic

Chapter 51: Knight Takes Rook

"Love is more powerful than reason.
We all know that,"
- Tyrion Lannister, Game of Thrones

The rhythmic pounding of his boots against the damp earth echoed in Kakashi's ears. He followed the faint chakra signature left by Nhira and her companions, the light of the moon his only guide through the dense forest.

The patter of paws against the damp forest floor provided the only soundtrack to Kakashi's thoughts. Pakkun, his loyal ninken, trotted silently beside him, their destination the faint trail left behind.

Kakashi's mind, however, was a battlefield of its own. Nhira's unwavering loyalty to her cause, her willingness to risk everything, mirrored a story he had seen before. Of Obito, of his father.

The only difference perhaps were that it was her and that, he couldn't trust the people she trusted.

As Kakashi crouched on a branch, his keen eyes following Nhira, Melantha, and the enigmatic Kallias, his mind drifted back to the fragmented information he'd gleaned about Nhira's past. The Elders had mentioned her father, Jiko, a man ostracized for loving a foreign woman – Nhira's mother, Ysolde.

Judgement curled Kakashi's lip. Jiko, a shinobi, had abandoned his duty, his village, all for a fleeting love. The villagers had branded him a traitor, a stain on the Leaf's honor. It was a foolish choice, a weakness Kakashi couldn't allow himself to possess.

He scoffed silently. Love. A concept he'd always considered a strength, a foundation from the unwavering loyalty a shinobi owed to their village, however his father in law Jiko, consumed by this foreign love, had thrown it all away.

The details were sketchy, gleaned from dusty archives and hushed whispers. But the core of it remained – Jiko had chosen a foreign woman over his village. A choice that had cost him everything.

Kakashi scoffed silently. A talented shinobi, had thrown it all away for a fleeting moment of happiness. Defined as a traitor, his fate became a cautionary tale, a stark reminder of the consequences of misplaced loyalty.

A wave of disapproval washed over him as he recalled the tale. Jiko, had thrown away his honor, his duty to the village, all for a woman considered an outsider, Ysolde. He'd defied the Elders, even faced accusations of treason, all to be with her.

Kakashi scoffed. Love, it seemed, was a stubbornness that ran in Nhira's family. Jiko's actions had not only ostracized him but had put the entire village at risk. How could anyone prioritize a single person over the well-being of hundreds?

It was these times he wished his friend was alive to smack some sense into him. Maybe, he thought, Obito would know what to do. The right thing to do, he always seemed to know without hesitation.

He glanced at Pakkun, who looked up with unwavering loyalty in his intelligent brown eyes. Loyalty. That was the cornerstone of a shinobi's life. Loyalty to the village, to the Hokage, to the mission. It was a bond forged in sacrifice and trust, a bond he wouldn't break for anything.

But the image that kept flickering through his thoughts was not of the village, but of a younger Nhira, eyes wide with terror, recounting the night her parents… were executed.

She told him how she watched her mother burn and the smell of her flesh as it sizzled and how her father hanged and the way his eyes bulged from their sockets.