Chapter 4: Envy Is Green

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I remember the day
Even wrote down the date,
that I fell for you
-Here's Your Perfect, Jamie Miller

Sitting on her bed, in her tiny hotel room Ai looked out of her window. Curtains were drawn and slightly agape, her elbow rested on the window sill and her chin smushed against the back of her palm, skin turning red. The lights were closed and what barely illuminated the room was the moonlight streaming through the half-opened glass. The night lights lighting up the village were reminiscent of crushed jewels sprinkled on the ground twinkling and shining like stars.

"Kakashi.." His name left her lips in utterance, Ai's long hair blown back slightly from the cold breeze. Still, she kept looking out the window wrapped in five layers of blankets. 'He's really cute... Who would've thought the great Kakashi of the Sharingan would have such a cute personality.'

She didn't mind the smile that formed on her lips so naturally and even the giggle slipping like water through her fingers. The sound of his voice exclaiming the name she had and the smile barely visible under his mask. In her mind's eye, his image appeared all handsome and cool and yet blushing and sweet all at the same time.

'This mission really sucks.'

She sighed and closed the window. The cold blowing wind on her face was finally gone and so was the lovestruck smile. Her heart felt cold and empty. 'I'm sorry Kakashi. Maybe in another life or even just under different circumstances, maybe I could've genuinely fallen in love with you. But like this, I can't even dream about you.'

What every member of the root had been trained to do. 'You have no name. No emotion. Nothing.'

That night, Kakashi had a dream. His father walked him to school when he was able to. Kakashi was five years old. The wind blew coldly, strangely with the sun high up in the sky seemingly burning hotly.

"Dad?"

"What is it?"

His father looked the same as he remembered. The inherited silver hair, long and tied like a mane, and the blade on his back.  'This is strange. I haven't had a dream about my father like this in a long time.'

He opened his mouth to ask his father something but no words left his mouth. Kakashi felt himself walking and walking endlessly and yet, they never reached their destination. The Ninja Academy buildings could be seen just farther ahead and yet no matter how far they walked, Kakashi noticed that they never seemed to even get close. "Kakashi," His father called as he slowed down and eventually stopped walking. Kakashi did too and looked up to his father.

"You deserve it."

"What?" Kakashi blurted out, brows furrowed in confusion. His father didn't make any sense. The wooden walls behind him remained as ever. Sakumo leaned his back against the wall and crossed his arms. "Obito and Rin and Minato and even me. We want you to find happiness for yourself. Don't be in a hurry to die." And this was when Kakashi realized he was truly still dreaming. There was the sense and awareness still, it felt like reality.

'I'm dreaming.'

"I know that, Dad."

And suddenly, Kakashi wasn't looking up at his father anymore. In an instant, he stood face-to-face with Sakumo. One eye covered, his borrowed sharingan. His dark mask and muscle tee-like second skin were covered by the usual green Konoha uniform.  His father gave him a look. The same look when he knew that Kakashi was lying. Eyes pointed and head tilted slightly down, with a relaxed stern face.

"Do you?"

Kakashi sighed. "What do you want me to say?" And at that point when he knew it was a dream, he felt scared and relieved at the same time. It was a surreal feeling crawling up his skin and seeping into his bones. "Son, listen to me." Kakashi swallowed, Adam's apple bobbing up and down. His breathing became shallower and faster just a bit as if in fear.

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