After The Storm *Kakashi Hatake* (Naruto Fanfiction)

Chapter 3

I drifted off after I made my decision. My unconscious mind started thinking about the skirmish in which my mother died, a nightmare that recurred often. It replayed the exact moment of the katana going through my mother, over and over. I was unable to move in my dream and just screamed out and cried as I watched in horror.

            I thrashed around in my bead and finally awoke due to being shaken awake. I was drenched in sweat, and there were tears pouring down my face, I was trembling and spasms wracked my body, my sides hurt tremendously and my mind was racing. I looked up to see a silver haired ninja with a mask sitting on the edge of the hospital bed. Only one of his eyes was showing, but there was worry pooling around in it. Without thinking I pulled him forward and started crying into his shoulder. Taken off guard he didn’t move at first, but after realizing what’d happened he slowly wrapped his arms around me lightly, his hand rubbing my back gently; trying to calm me down. 

            After a while I stopped crying and pulled away, bringing my knees to my chest. I looked up and blushed slightly, apologizing to the stranger I’d just used as a tissue.

“...It’s quite alright,” he replied in a soothing masculine voice, rubbing the back of his head with one hand.

I put my hands on my ribcage, it throbbed continuously, causing me to wince.

“Do you want me to go find one of the doctors or nurses?” he asked at seeing me in pain.

“No, it’s fine,” I told him stonily, not wanting him to have to go through all that trouble for me after he’d been soaked in my tears.

“Are you sure?” he persisted.

I nodded in reply. He sighed and gave up going back over to his chair that was against the wall, and taking out a book, the title of it being Icha Icha Paradise. I sweat dropped at remembering hearing about that book's release in a village not to far from here... so he must be somewhat of a pervert.

“Oh and by the way, my name is Kakashi, Hatake Kakashi,” he said after a little while of me staring at him reading.

“Yokina, Washi Yokina,” I replied, deciding I could trust him, not that it mattered, I was probably going to be executed soon anyways.

He looked up from his book and stared at me with slightly widened questioning eyes, “Oh, so Sode is just a fake name then?”

“Hai, it was a made up name that other ninja gave me once I became a known S-criminal, no one knows my real name, well except for you now,” I informed him, staring up at the cieling tiredly.

“Ah”, he said in understanding, slight confusion in his eye as to the reason of being told this 'secret'.

            Then we stopped conversing and he went back to his book, I just sat there staring into space. I didn’t want to go back to sleep after that nightmare, I was petrified. Finally boredom got the best of me and I couldn’t take it anymore.

“Can I read along with you?” I finally asked reluctantly.

He looked up in surprise, “Are you sure?” he said, and I think I saw a slight blush underneath his mask, “This book is a little, uh……explicit….”

“I know, I’ve heard of that series before, but I have nothing else to do, and I’m not going to be able to fall asleep again, so it’s either read along with you or die of boredom," I replied giggling at his embarrassment.

“….ok….” he finally said, then pulling up his chair right next to the bed, he placed his elbow next to my leg and leaned in so I could see.

            I started reading, and after only a few sentences I was blushing like crazy. This book really was….strange. “Wow, you really are a big perv”, I said after a couple of more paragraphs. He chuckled in embarrassment and I could tell he was blushing really hard too.

“I did warn you”, he said.

“Yeah, you’re right, I guess I can’t blame you”, I answered laughing lightly, and then halting at the ache in my torso, “stop making me laugh, it hurts”, I told him smiling and leaning back. He grinned…I think, then said quietly, “I’ll try…..you know, you should really try to get some more sleep, it will help you heal.”

“….Yeah," I said after a while, not voicing my thougths of 'i'm probably going to die anyways', and instead hunkering down into the bed. After a while I started to fall asleep again, and in a slight burst of fear my hand unconsciously snaked its way into Kakashi’s. He looked down at our hands a little startled, then to me questioningly, but by that time I was already asleep.