Gracie Abrams is eking out a solitary existence, fighting day-in, day-out against the drain of working customer service and nursing two newborn kittens in her off time. Out on her own ever since her sister moved in with her boyfriend, the burden of...
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The kunai dipped down. I saw white, or maybe it was just Kakashi's silvery hair, but before I could think about whether I should close my eyes, the kunai hit the carpet next to my head.
I let out a giant breath. Each one of my veins released that oxygen all at once, leaving my body with an emptiness that made my head feel fuzzy. I couldn't see the darkness of his eyes at this angle, but I did take notice of the weird crouch he held over me. Like a giant, inverted spider with several of its limbs chopped off. The stance looked awkward, but the energy singing off his frame was anything but funny.
There was nothing familiar in that energy. It wasn't just cold—it was hostile. Something electric, something that reminded me of violent men who threw their weight around expecting to be feared. Something that wasn't Kakashi.
Whatever hold Patty had over him, it was serious. Had she made me out to be some kind of enemy in his mind? Was I witnessing the full Anbu black ops ninja for the first time?
I remember his nightmare. I remember the panic, the bleakness. His sadness, coiled into a muscular frame that could do damage. But then, he had been in the throes of a terrible dream.
What was Kakashi stuck in right now?
"Kakashi?" I called, voice like cottony air. "Do you...recognize me?"
The headband gleamed as the shinobi repositioned. Now, the kunai was at my throat. Somewhere in the waiting room, I heard noise from Sam, from Talia. Maybe they were begging, pleading with that monster to end this farce. To stop. Maybe they were offering themselves as sacrifices.
How had this gone so terribly wrong, I found myself wondering. If there was fear, it wasn't making itself known. I looked up into a face still and hazy. His fringe covered his forehead, and the mask helped absorb more shadows. It was impossible to see him, though he was right in front of me.
Was it really so wrong to want to send them home? Was it really so wrong to go up against a witch?
Of course. Of course it was. I had known it the entire time, but hell if I'd let myself believe it. This was no shonen anime. Things don't work out so easily. They just don't.
The kunai dipped toward me. I could hear it scratching the carpet, rippling holes in its surface like a shark swimming through the water. I grabbed his hand, helplessly, uselessly. I don't think I blinked even once.
In our hands, the kunai should have been warm, but it wasn't. It was metal. Cold metal. His hands, too, were freezing. He only wore his green jacket, which should have been enough to keep him warm. The heat in the building was most certainly on, so the fact that he was so cold was shiver inducing.
"Gracie!" Talia appeared over Kakashi's shoulder, and she climbed straight on top of him. Now, three hands met against the kunai, each one moving in opposite force. "Sam, help us! Come here!"
