Blame It All on Me. Part 2

Chapter 5. Alive

Arina stared at a pile of papers searchingly. She had been sorting through them since morning and was now mulling over how to proceed. Hiruzen at that moment was discussing something quietly with Gai, Asuma and Kurenai, but the girl had long managed to abstract herself from extraneous noise when it had nothing to do with her, and their conversation did not bother her in the least. However, the next moment she twitched lightly: she thought she heard someone say Kakashi's name, but no matter how she listened on, she did not hear anything else like that.

She must have been wishful thinking. Since they returned from that little trip, they haven't talked  anymore. Although Arina still low-key reproached herself for her actions back then, she couldn't bring herself to make the first move and finally talk to him again.

Kakashi too made no more attempts to talk to her, even when they saw each other, and his face once again had that same distant expression that had once startled Arina so much, which did not exactly encourage her to approach him. On the other hand, she hadn't even seen him at all for more than a week already: apparently, he was away on a mission again.

Sighing softly, Arina tried to focus on her work once more.

Hiruzen, after some time, finally dismissed the Jōnins, but asked Guy to stay behind – as Arina already knew, to discuss the upcoming mentoring opportunity.

Before leaving, Kurenai lingered a little, glanced at Arina with a hint of doubt, then looked at Hiruzen, and the latter nodded. Asuma also stopped, looking back at Kurenai, raising an eyebrow questioningly, but noticing her non-verbal exchange with the Hokage, said nothing and left the room.

"Rina, can I have a word with you?" Kurenai addressed the girl.

"Eh? Yeah sure," Arina put down the papers, and they also stepped outside the office so as not to interrupt the conversation between Hiruzen and Guy. "What is it?"

"Kakashi..." Kurenai began.

Arina shivered uncomfortably.

"Kurenai, I'm not..."

"He's at the hospital. Unconscious... I thought you should know about it, after all."

Arina quickly turned pale.

"What happened?"

"Mission gone wrong. Rather, the mission itself was successful, but the price..." Kurenai shook her head.

Arina nervously tugged at her sleeve. Kurenai looked at her as if debating something, but then chose to continue:

"You know that he wanted to leave Konoha?"

"What?" Arina's chest gave an unpleasant lurch: is this why he was away? "How come?"

"I think you should know better..." The girl smiled with a hint of sadness. "He applied for a long-term mission – a contract with some Shugo*. For a year or even longer."

[Author's note: Shugo is the title of a feudal lord who leads a certain region in the domain of the Daimyo (supreme feudal lord).]

"And what was the outcome?" Arina involuntarily remembered that incomprehensible remark: 'if this fighter can protect me at least half as zealously'... "Is... is this where he got hurt?"

"No... as far as I understand, Hiruzen-sama refused after all. But I suspect that after Kakashi's recent stunt he will send him anywhere just to make sure he no longer engages in outright self-harm."

Arina ran her hands through her hair.

"Shit... why... If anyone should leave, it's me..."

"But it's also in your power to make him stay," the dark-haired kunoichi looked at her pointedly.