Unbreakable (Book 1) #Wattys2015

Habits- Katsu

Hey guys! This is the last chapter of this book! But don't worry! The next one is coming soon!

Katsu slowly opened her eyelids, her retinas sensitive to even the softest glow that illuminated the room around her. Carefully, she rose to her feet. Looking around, she numbly noticed that she was in a hospital room. But before that, she observed that she was not alone. Naruto, Hibiki, Erika, and Tamiko were stirring around her. As was Kakashi.

As he rose, his unscarred eye trained on her. "Katsu," he said as if the name were mesmerizing by itself. He was wearing shabby, tattered clothing, skin pale and sickly looking.

Katsu shook her head hastily, backing away to the opposite wall. She looked at him as if he were a terrifying stranger. Because that was what he was to her now.

Kakashi turned to the others who had risen around him. "Would you all please give me time alone with her?" he asked, his voice sounding pained.

Naruto gave a firm nod and swiftly ushered the children out of the room, making Katsu step towards the door as well. She froze when Kakashi stepped in front of her path, firmly shutting the door before she could reach it. She was out of weapons to raise against him.

"Katsu," he repeated, looking at her with a mix of unreadable emotions.

"Stay...Stay away from me, Hatake..." she said as he had taken a step closer.

He froze. "Alright," he said respectfully. "But please, do call me Kakashi."

"Where am I?" Katsu demanded, ignoring him.

"I would think you would recognize your own village," Kakashi responded, not unkindly.

"The Leaf?" Katsu asked in shock, glancing around. She glimpsed the Leaf's symbol on several bottles of medicine on the bed's sidetable. "But...How?"

"Erika," Kakashi said, his tone shifting to a sense of sheer pride.

"I never taught her that," Katsu said with narrowed eyes.

"Oh, I did not either," he responded. "Those children really do  just possess hundreds of secrets. It might take a long while for them all to come to light."

"She's the daughter of Orochimaru," Katsu whispered, remembering all the events that had occurred before. She had been so shocked during them that she hadn't had the time to properly register everything. She had not been expecting Kakashi to walk through those black doubledoors at all while she was training. It had been the absolute last thing she was prepared for.

"Yes," Kakashi said carefully. "And Hibiki is the brother of Kabuto. As is Tamiko the sister of that Akatsuki boy, Sasori."

Katsu shuddered, hugging herself and rocking back and forth on the balls of her feet. Fragments of her parents death flashed through her mind. "No. That can't be. Tamiko can't be related to him. He- He-"

"But she is," Kakashi said unnecessarily. "It's something we have to accept as fact, for that's what it is."

Katsu exhaled, her hands furiously rubbing at her temples. "Why were the children even there?"  she demanded, glaring at her sensei. "They could have easily  been caught, and what would you have done then? Huh? How would it feel to know that you led them to their capture? To their potential death!?"

"I didn't ask  them to come to that hideout, Katsu," Kakashi said sharply. "I was a little too busy dying."

Katsu winced. "I suppose you're going to tell me that it was all my fault again?" she asked bitterly.