Naruto: The Seraph Project

Chapter 86: The Nocturnal Predator

His precious Kakashi was an idiot.

Of course, Kakashi was not like the other hateful humans. Kakashi was very intelligent and thoughtful. Kakashi was the only one capable of understanding him despite his silent voice. Without saying complicated words, Naruto and Kakashi understood each other in a language that only he and Kakashi used. However, Kakashi suddenly showed stupidity; it was such that he wondered if something was wrong with Kakashi, if Kakashi's mind was sick too.

First, Naruto choked when Kakashi mutilated himself, for no apparent reason. He looked in horror at Kakashi, who had begun to pull out his still young and fresh claws. Stunned, the sapphire-eyed boy froze on the spot; he could not believe that such a thing was happening. He could only observe the macabre scene straight out of a torture session. He stopped breathing; his breath was as dull as his horrified eyes.

When Kakashi's first finger was brutalized, a phantom pain electrified Naruto's index finger in agony. Unfortunately, a vague and terrible memory resurfaced. Naruto remembered the time when his claw had broken; it was a horrible memory that he locked away in his Pandora's box, which sometimes leaked against his will. There were still fragments of his claw, an acceptable length, but the pain was odious; his finger burned, and the pain only stopped when his claw grew back. He did not dare to think about Kakashi's pain who had just ripped it out at the root.

Naruto did not understand why such a sordid idea had crossed Kakashi's mind, just as he did not understand why Kakashi listened to his sick and sadistic brain. Kakashi's face, veiled behind the frustrating fabric, expressed his pain. Naruto saw the pain hit Kakashi. This pain was a warning; a more than sufficient warning to understand that Kakashi should not do it again. Pain is a normal reaction to danger; all living beings know such a simple thing. And yet, Kakashi attacked his middle finger.

Naruto convinced himself that the warning had not immediately reached Kakashi's brain. After all, Kakashi was weakened; his physical weakness and great vulnerability surely sabotaged his judgment. A healthy mind cannot persist in health if the body is sick; one does not go without the other. Kakashi was intelligent, perhaps the smartest being in this world. Kakashi would understand the second time ... but Naruto was wrong. His precious Kakashi continued to mutilate himself, there, right before his eyes.

'Why do you do that...?' Naruto wondered abstractly.

It was inconceivable that Kakashi, blessed with intelligence superior to others of his species, could do such a thing. Was Kakashi seeking to embrace pain like a masochist? Actually... Was his precious Kakashi a masochist? Did Kakashi enjoy the pain? Naruto constantly questioned himself, stood there and watched the massacre. Normally, he would have pounced on Kakashi to stop him, to protect him from himself, to protect him from his sudden destructive stupidity out of nowhere. However, this vision of horror chained him with invisible and unbreakable bonds.

Naruto refused to imagine the even greater suffering of his precious Kakashi, who had just torn off the tips of his ten fingers. It was the same as tearing off your ten distal phalanges. Something was wrong with Kakashi. Kakashi had no reason to hurt himself. Kakashi showed no signs of mental distress that could justify this inflicted cruelty. Naruto succumbed to these self-destructive rituals because it was his only escape, his only means with which he held on and fought against hunger and despair. Despite the pain that sometimes plagued Kakashi's heart, Kakashi held on without having to resort to pain like him.

In any case, something was seriously wrong with his precious Kakashi... And the closer the ascension of the Moon approached, the more Naruto became worried.

As the Moon began her peak in the sky, Kakashi suddenly asked him to bite him. Of course, the blond did not know why Kakashi wanted his fangs in his flesh and once again, he did not understand why Kakashi was begging him to. Reluctantly, he gave in to Kakashi's strange and unnecessary whim. To get Kakashi to shut up and go to bed without a fuss, he injected a tiny amount of venom, just enough for Kakashi to feel it spreading through his veins.