My other half! Sasukex oc. [Slow updates] (under editing)

He knows🔴

It had been a week of complete silence from Sasuke. He had practically made it his mission to avoid the others; he couldn't bear to see them—not after their invasion of Misaki's journal, and definitely not after his own outburst. He had emotionally shut down, donning a mask of indifference to protect both himself and his wounded heart.

It wasn't until a rainy day, while he was buying groceries in the market, that he ran into Kakashi and had no choice but to interact.

"Sasuke... how have you been holding up?"

Sasuke wanted to scoff and be snarky, but he simply nodded instead. He tried to move past him to buy some tomatoes for his lunch. Kakashi understood the indifferent response, yet he didn't back off. He referred to Misaki as a valuable teammate and a friend to his students, but then he made the mistake of calling her an asset to the only one who truly saw who she was.

He then shifted the conversation to ask about Sasuke's training. Sasuke huffed. "Fine," he muttered, still not looking away from the tomato stand.

"Are you nervous about the battle with Gaara?" Kakashi barely finished the sentence before he caught Sasuke's sharp glare. Kakashi sighed, pivoting quickly to ask if he was up for learning a new jutsu.

Sasuke raised a brow, unimpressed. "Look, I'm not interested if this is just your way of saying sorry."

Kakashi shook his head. He admitted that no amount of apologizing could fix what he had done; he simply wanted to help prepare his student.

Sasuke let out a long, irritated sigh and paid for his tomatoes. As he turned to leave, he called back over his shoulder.

"You won't leave me be even if I say no. I'll meet you tomorrow morning."

Kakashi sighed in relief as he watched Sasuke leave. He turned, paid for his own items, and left the market. As he walked, however, he was summoned to the Hokage Tower.

Kakashi internally groaned, the brief moment of relief from the market evaporating instantly. He flickered to his apartment first, just long enough to drop off his groceries before heading towards the Hokage Tower. The summon was too urgent, the timing too out of place for a normal debrief.

He mentally reviewed every possibility as he ran. Was this about Misaki? Or worse, was there a danger to the exams?

He knocked and entered, and the immediate silence was oppressive. Guy, Kurenai, and Asuma were already there, seated in chairs facing the desk—an unusual configuration for a standard mission report. The Third Hokage sat in his usual chair, his expression unreadable. With a subtle gesture, Hiruzen indicated a fifth empty seat, waiting for Kakashi to sit as well.

A long, suffocating moment of silence stretched. The atmosphere was curated to be intimidating, and the Jonin held their breath, waiting for the axe to fall.

Hiruzen was the one to break it. "How long," he asked, his voice low and heavy with a cold, smooth disappointment, "were you planning to deceive me?"

For a fractured second, the room held its breath. Kakashi played dumb, though the sweat prickling on his neck betrayed him. "Lord Hokage? I'm not sure what you mean."

Hiruzen didn't blink. He just reached into his desk and placed the leather-bound book on the table with a soft, final thwack. Misaki's journal.

Kakashi's heart stopped. He was in horror that the man they had tried to keep this journal from now had it. The information—the same abuse and primal fear that Sasuke, the other genin and the Jonin had read—was now in the Hokage's hands. The conspiracy they had been nurturing, the quiet operation "off the grid" that Kurenai had outlined, was entirely compromised.