Reconsidering Bachelorhood

Revelations Part 1

Kakashi stood in his office looking out the window at the heavy rainfall. Villagers scrambled for cover from the unrelenting rain. This weather was befitting his sombre mood.

The reason for his awful mood all started a month ago. He was sitting in his office doing his paperwork, as usual, when Mai came in with a frown on her normally cheery face. "Several teams returned from their mission, they're currently in the hospital being treated." She explained.

He didn't quite understand why that would bring her down since it wasn't unusual for a team to have to visit the hospital even if it was just for a simple check up. "Which teams?"

"The four that were sent to the temple to guard an event. Three teams were dispatched to meet a team returning from a long term mission.

"Which team is that?"

"Asato, Hirai and...Ishii." Mai said, whispering towards the end. Mai snuck a glance at Kakashi who remained silent. She noticed the subtle tightening grip he had on his pen and the way his eyes glazed over. It had taken her a while but she finally found the reason behind his odd behaviour.

She was walking to his office with the intention of giving him some folders when his doors bursted open. Mai watched in fear as his body was thrown through the doors and collided with the wall, leaving a massive dent. She thought there was an intruder in the village and was ready to call for his guards when Tsunade walked through the doorway. Mai's mouth dropped and her eyes grew the size of saucers. She turned tail and quickly ran for the stairs. She didn't go downstairs, rather she went down a few steps so she could hide but still hear what was going on. Mai flinched when she heard Tsunade's booming voice.

"What the fuck did I tell you, Hatake? She trusted you and you broke her damn heart." Tsunade bellowed. Mai clamped her hands over her ears to protect her eardrums from suffering. Although her hands were pressed firmly against her ears, she could still make out the repeated blows Tsunade was dishing out. It puzzled her why Kakashi wasn't saying anything or attempting to escape. Tsunade was indeed a very strong kunoichi but she knew Kakashi was sly, he should've been able to escape easily.

"How can you call yourself a man when you're acting like a child? You better get your shit together before she comes back and apologize to her."

Mai gasped and stumbled down the stairs when she heard Tsunade walking in her direction. She threw herself behind her desk and opened the folder she intended to give Kakashi. She pretended to busy herself with the content of the folder so as to not draw the wrath of the legendary Sannin.

Tsunade stomped down the stairs grumbling furiously to herself, calling Kakashi every name imaginable. Mai flinched when Tsunade ripped the hinges off the door and tossed it behind her, nearly nailing her on the head had she not ducked in time.

Mai sighed. 'Two more doors that I have to replace.'

Mai gathered her wits again and slouched in her chair. Just witnessing Tsunade's display of anger was enough to tire her out. She furrowed her brows and started to think to herself, 'who were they talking about?' Slowly, realization dawned on her as her mouth formed a little 'o.' Mai nodded slowly to herself as she pieced the situation together.

Back in his office, she silently stood in front of his desk waiting for a response.

"What happened?" He asked after a long moment of silence. Mai began to recount the details of the mission. They defeated the enemies and the politicians remained mostly unharmed. They had a few scratches and bruises but nothing serious. When they realized that Mizuki and the politician's daughter had been separated from the rest of them, a few of their teammates went to search for them.

While they were searching, they noticed a little girl running through the forest and immediately recognized her as the missing girl. She hysterically told them what had happened and they rushed off to save Mizuki while one of them took the girl back to her father. They thought they had arrived too late when they saw Mizuki's lifeless body fall to the ground and get buried by the rubble. They dug her out as fast as they could and rushed her back to Konoha along with their other injured teammates.

Kakashi didn't know how but he later found himself standing outside her hospital room. He had been standing there for the last 10 minutes, much to the gossiping whispers of the hospital staff. He heard their whispered speculations about his whereabouts. The whole time he was debating with himself if he should be here. Would she even want to welcome him into her room knowing how he ended things with her? Probably not he surmised.

Kakashi bit the bullet and decided that he would be better off leaving her alone. He turned to leave but came to an abrupt stop.

"What are you doing here?" Tsunade asked, with her arms crossed and a stern look on her face. For the past month, she only greeted him with chilled expressions. Everytime he was near her, he was tense. Every chance she got, she would throw a snide sarcastic remark at him and deservedly so he thought. For the last month he kept beating himself up for the way he handled his relationship with Mizuki. It was extremely childish of him and he knew it. He allowed himself to become too emotional and it screwed over the comfortable relationship he had with her. He had decided a long time ago that when she returned he would come clean about his actions. Unfortunately for him, he got cold feet before he could just now.

Kakashi didn't know how to answer her so he just asked her plainly. "Is she okay?"

Tsunade leveled him with a steely gaze, not answering him immediately. Kakashi sighed when she walked past him, without giving him an answer. He started to walk away but her voice halted him. A cold numbing feeling washed over his body when he heard her response.

"She has amnesia, Kakashi." Came Tsunade's whispered voice.