A Hole in One's Heart [Kakashi Hatake]

Chapter 10: A Numbing Rhythm

I am trying to pick up the pace a little to where the story gets more interesting. I am pretty much done with introducing the village and stuff and I am so ready to get into some intense battles!  (And some scenes from the anime!) Unfortunately, that might be in the next update, but it is getting closer.

-------------------------------------

     We were about thirty minutes late when Kakashi and I arrived at the training ground. The three impatient genin were fidgeting.

    "Kakashi-sensei, you're late!!"

    "You were even out training already, cha!"

    "Pathetic, hn."

    Kakashi just sighed at the predictable responses of his students. "We will run through standard chakra control today. Tree climbing drills and then we will practice a couple of jutsu." The genin nodded in response and we spent the rest of the day running up trees. It took me a couple of tries, but I finally got it right and by the end of the day I was lying my back panting. I hadn't been that tired since pre-season track workouts in high school. Slowly standing to my feet, I looked at my watch, it was dinner time. Walking like something out of a zombie movie, I plopped down in Ichiraku Ramen, and Naruto was already there gobbling down bowl after bowl of noodles. Kakashi and I took a seat, and I ate my bowl of ramen almost as quickly as he did. Placing the necessary money on the counter (I still had no money, but the Hokage would reimburse Kakashi for all of my expenses) the two us went back to our apartment.

    After two weeks, I was allowed to move into my own apartment. Ibiki disagreed with how quickly the Hokage was trusting me, but, fortunately for me, the Hokage's decision was final. My life entered into a numbing rhythm: every morning I would go for a run and then train with Team 7. In the afternoons, I would train with Kakashi, learning all of the ninjutsu, taijutsu, chakra control, and weapons practice that the genin had learned at the Ninja Academy.

    When I moved out, I really enjoyed decorating my new space. It was a mirror image of Kakashi's home, but I set it up slightly differently. I moved my futon to the same corner where it had rested in our shared apartment. Where Kakashi had set his bed, I had my easel up next to the window and a table covered in art supplies. I was really happy for the extra space because there was never any room in Kakashi's for me to set up my art stuff, but here I had plenty of room. My walls were a light blue and the cabinets were white; I had dark colored wood furniture and the wall next to my bed was covered in my pieces of art. There were landscapes, charcoal portraits, and many drawings of the mountains by old home, my friends, and my parents. All in all, I loved my apartment. My mother had always loved interior design and her aesthetics had rubbed off on me. However, it was my first time ever living alone and it took a while to adjust to the lonely life style.

    I will never forget the day that I moved out of Kakashi's apartment to the one next door. Kakashi had just finished helping me move all of my things into my new home when he turned to me suddenly, "Ana, the Hokage just sent me a message saying that he has completed something that I requested about two weeks ago. Would you mind coming with me?" Extremely confused, I nodded and followed him out of my new apartment. He slowly walked to the top of the Hokage monument and along the cliff a ways until the village was a little bit behind us and there was a beautiful view of the mountains. Kakashi suddenly stopped causing me to run into his back.

    He scratched the back of his head awkwardly, "So I was thinking that your parents' grave will be in your old world and that you might want a place to come and pay your respects. I talked to the Hokage about it, and he had this set up for you. You told me that your parents loved the mountains, and this place has one of the best views of the mountains behind the village." I was stunned, this was not what I had thought that Kakashi would bring me up here to see. I slowly walked forward and saw and small, unassuming piece of white stone overlooking the mountains. Inscribed there were the words: "In Loving Memory of Michael and Jennifer Koren." It was so beautiful, and I knew that they would have loved it if they could have ever seen it. I dropped down in front of the memorial and said a prayer to the god that they had believed in. Looking behind me, I saw Kakashi pull two white lilies out of god knows where (it was like a magic trick), and he handed one to me. Placing other at the foot of the stone, he walked away slowly and quietly to respect my space. I placed the small flower in front of the stone and rubbed my parents' names knowing that those words would long outlive me. I said good bye again and walked back slowly to my apartment.

    On the way, I passed the Leaf Village's large cemetery with its long and orderly lines of graves, it made death look clean and neat unlike the messy affair that it is in reality. I saw some one bend down and replace the wilting flowers from in front of a grave and take a cloth to wipe the surface clean. Their silver hair glinted in the evening light as they squatted silently in front of the headstone. I had remembered a little bit of Kakashi's back story so I knew that that must be Rin Nohara's grave, but he had not decided to tell me anything else to remind me of the events of his past. He had helped me remember many things about this world like the Sannin, all of the different villages and Kage, and many of the events of the Third Great Ninja War, but he was completely closed off about his past. I never pried, but I really wished that I could remember it more. I really wanted to thank him for thinking of me and asking for the memorial stone to be created, but I knew that it would be rude to bother him right now. So I went home and made myself a small and lonely dinner before going to sleep. It wasn't until much later that I heard my neighbor's door click open and closed.   

---------------------------

I didn't have time to get to anything too exciting, but next time :)

Edited 4/13/2016