Impossible to Forgive

Chapter 18: Psychosomatic

We sat there for what felt like an eternity. Me crying and Kakashi silently holding onto me. It was a déjà vu moment because it was impossibly similar to all of the times that Kakashi would comfort me when I was younger and saddened by my dad's death and my mother's apathy.

When my eyes had dried and I simply had no tears left to shed, I lifted up my face. He quickly removed his arm from around me as if he was afraid that I'd yell at him for touching me. And to be honest, that was probably a well founded fear.

"Kaiyo... I'm really sorry to hear that. If there's anything that I can do to help, just let me know."

"You've already done more than enough."

He smirked, "Well you're being unusually kind right now, but I don't mind at all."

I mumbled under my breath, "I guess that I was just trying to say thank you for helping me out."

"You're welcome."

I sighed and locked eyes with him, my hazel into his grey, "I still don't forgive you, but I guess that I don't hate you anymore."

Kakashi smiled under his mask, "That's great to hear. We're all done here so let's go and get something to eat to celebrate this historical occasion."

"Keep up that salty attitude and we'll be back to square one."

"Of course. But seriously, I am hungry. Would you like to go down to Ichiraku's with me for a quick bowl of ramen?" He chuckled, "After training Naruto for all of those years, I've really come to acquire a taste for the stuff."

"Why? Does Naruto like ramen or something?"

"Like ramen? No, I'd say that it borders more on an obsession with ramen. The only thing that he's more passionate about than ramen is becoming Hokage."

I smiled, "I guess that ramen does sound pretty good. But what about all of the papers on your desk, shouldn't we clear them up first?"

"Nah, they can wait; my hunger can't."

"If you say so." I stood up and winced as I put weight on my right hip. "Damn screwed up nerves."

Kakashi looked like he was having an internal battle on whether or not he should push his luck by trying to help me again.

"Isn't there anything that they can for your hip?"

I shrugged, "I have weekly physical therapy, but it really doesn't help. Sometimes I just have fits like this that are a similar phenomenon to phantom limb pains. Because of the severe nerve damage, sometimes my mind gets tricked into thinking that there is still a sword lodged into my hip and creates the pain itself."

"Ah, so it's psychosomatic."

"Someone's using the big words that they just learned from the textbook they're reading. But yes, it is psychosomatic so it also hinges a lot on my mental state as well. My little emotional breakdown right there is probably what triggered this particular fit." I straightened out my jounin uniform, "So are we going to go and get ramen or what?"

"Sure." He held out his arm to me, linking us at the elbow.

"What are you doing?"

"Being the gentleman, of course."

"Hmph," I rolled my eyes, but I let him lead me out of the office just the same.