The morning after my father disappeared, Kakashi was the first to discover what had happened. He came to our house to ask Mako why he didn't show up for their mission, but instead he found me pinned underneath my brother's corpse. I was still unconscious until late in the evening. I woke up in the hospital; I wasn't injured but I was severely traumatised.
I refused to eat, drink, or speak to anyone for three days. Kakashi visited me everyday, but I barely noticed. I felt empty, and everything around me seemed dull and hazy. Then one day I snapped out if it suddenly, but when I did, the weight of everything that had happened came crashing down on me. A wave of panic rushed over me and suddenly I started sobbing and screaming. Luckily, Kakashi was in the room and managed to calm me down before I could do anything reckless.
Eventually I explained everything to Kakashi. He reported the news to the Hokage and my father was officially listed as a rogue ninja. I stayed in the hospital for a few more days and after I checked out I moved in with Kakashi. He was the closest thing to family I had left. Once all my stuff was moved to his apartment, I decided it was time for me to start attending the academy.
"Ume, are you sure you want to start this soon? With everything that's happened it would be perfectly okay for you to wait a little." Kakashi was worried that I wouldn't be able to handle going to the academy. My life had just taken a turn for the worst and he warned me that adding new stress to it could be seriously bad. I appreciated him looking out for me, but I had made up my mind. "No. I'm not waiting. I have to do this." Kakashi sighed quietly. I could tell that deep down, he was hoping I would give up being a ninja all together. My family's death had hurt him almost as much as it hurt me. If I became a ninja then I'd be in constant danger and he didn't want that for me. "Kakashi, I promise I'll be fine. But you know I have to do this. My father is coming back someday, and when he does I have to kill him... But... More importantly, I have to be strong enough to protect myself, so no one has to die for me again..." Thinking of Mako made me want to cry, but I had no more tears left. "And not just that, but I want to be strong enough to protect you and everyone else I care about. I have to." Kakashi sighed again. He had a small smile behind his mask but the look in his eye was slightly sad. "Well then, in that case, it's time for bed. You have school tomorrow, and you don't want to be tired on your first day."
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Author's Note:
Wow, this chapter is short compared to the other two. Sorry about that... Anyway, I just wanted to let you guys know that the next chapter will take place after a seven year time skip, and that we'll finally be getting to the main story! Yay!
