The Red String of Marriage

Nightmares - Kakashi

Kakashi found himself tied up by the wrists again, dangling from the ceiling. His bare toes were barely kissing the floor as he was suspended, and he could feel warm wetness dripping on his head and rolling through his hair and down his face. It was blood from his nearly severed wrists. His body was covered in blood; it gushed from every open wound. He was naked. There was a large gash across his stomach, exposing soft organs beneath. He could feel burning bile dripping from his punctured stomach down his legs and falling into the large open wound where his genitals used to be. He was dying, but it was taking too long. His captors had finally come to finish the job. They let him sit in that cell all night, and he survived. And this was his punishment.

"Cold-Blooded Kakashi, huh? You've been a piece of shit your whole life. Nobody cares about you, and nobody will care when you're dead. What a wasted life."

His masked captor picked up a bamboo staff covered in sharp nails and approached him. He lifted his mask enough to show a toothy grin before he readied the staff on his shoulder with both hands, aiming at his face. He swung.

"AHHHHHH!"

Kakashi jolted awake in a cold sweat. The nightmare made him jump completely up, but his weak and torn legs couldn't support his weight. He toppled to the floor, lying in an agonizing, sweaty heap by the hearth. He was so weak that he couldn't let out one more scream, so he lay there making a guttural, inhuman sound, covered in blood again from his torn wounds. He heard bare feet quickly thudding across the floor, skidding back into the room.

"Kakashi?!"

He wanted to respond, but all he could do was make the same terrified sound. He felt her small frame reach under his arms and around his chest, heaving him back up onto the bed. He could see that his bandages were dripping with blood again. Mizuka was still wet; her yukata clung to her small, curvy frame.

"Oh, goodness, what happened? I shouldn't have left. I am so sorry."

He quietly tried to make eye contact with her as she hastily changed his bandages. He tried to express to her that none of this was her fault. He felt awful, not because of the pain, but because she was already covered in his blood again. She had rolled up the sleeves of her yukata, but it was already stained. There was blood on the side of her face and in her hair where she pushed her curly hair out of her face. All he wanted to do was love was love and protect her, and here she was, again, inconvenienced by him.

"There."

She soon had him bandaged again and resting as comfortably as he could. She stepped back into the bathroom for a minute and reappeared with a warm washcloth. She laid down next to him and dabbed his sweaty brow and gently stroked his hair and cheeks.

"Did you have an nightmare? It's okay, I won't let anything happen to you, I promise."

She gently kissed his forehead.

"Do you have a lot of nightmares? You look so haunted when you're sleeping sometimes. I used to have a lot of nightmares when I moved here. I had nightmares about losing the same patients over and over again. I can see if there's something I can concoct that will help with that."

Kakashi appreciated her filling the silence. She offered him some water, which he eagerly accepted. He drank it messily, barely able to make his lips sip from the rim of the cup. There was a knock at the door. Mizuka set the cup down and tenderly dried his face with a cloth.

"I'll be right back, okay?"

Mizuka was treating him like a small, scared child, but he didn't mind. He could use a little tenderness right now, as much as he didn't want to admit his momentary weakness. He accepted her kindness whole-heartedly.

"Hello, dear. May I come in?"

It sounded like an older woman.

"Of course, Sensei."

It must be Lady Suoh, he thought. A small, frail, old woman on a cane hobbled in the door, heading to the guest bedroom. She assessed him quietly from the doorway before entering, limping to his bedside and placing a cold, wrinkled hand on his.

"How are you feeling, my dear?"

Kakashi let out a whimper. Lady Suoh shushed him and tenderly stroked his cheek. In that contact, Kakashi could feel a powerful chakra emitting from her.

"Mizuka will take excellent care of you. No worries, dear."

She turned to Mizuka.

"I travelled to Konoha to speak with Hiruzen today."

"Sensei, you shouldn't be out travelling in this weather-"

"You hush."

Lady Suoh had an impish grin on her face. Kakashi could tell that back in her heyday, she was probably a lot of trouble.

"Anyway, I had a visit with Hiruzen. I went to ask about extending Kakashi's stay with us."

This old woman walked to Konoha for him?

"And? What did he say?"

"Three months."

Mizuka dropped her gauze.

"Three months?! I figured you would ask for three weeks! How did you manage that?"

"You know that I'm close with Lord Third. It didn't take much."

"Did he ask you to marry him again?"

"You know he did, Mizuka. And I, of course, said no."

"You really should consider it, Master."

"That's not important right now. Getting this young man well is all I'm worried about. You don't mind spending a few months with us, do you dear?"

Kakashi's heart was fluttering. Three whole months with Mizuka. He looked at Lady Suoh and managed a weak smile. She smiled back at him and patted his hand.

"Now, Mizuka dear, I'm taking you out of rotation for the next three months as well. I know you'll do a fine job of healing this young man. And it's especially important to me because he is especially important to Hiruzen."

Kakashi blushed at these statements; he appreciated the sentiments.

"I'll take care of him, Master."

"I know you will, dear. I'll leave you two alone. Send for me if you need anything."

Lady Suoh nodded to them both and ventured out into the snow, leaving Mizuka and Kakashi alone again. Mizuka headed toward the bathroom again, where Kakashi heard her splash water on her face before returning to his side. She nestled in beside him under the covers, gently running her fingers over his chest. He watched her, lazily taking in her every feature in the dying light of the hearth. He felt her place her head on the pillow next to his and rested her hand gently on his bruised stomach. That was the last thing he remembered before dozing off again into a peaceful sleep.