Impossible to Foretell

Chapter 19: The Card

Kakashi and I had started walking back at my slow pace, and the majority of the day had already gone by. I had run out of scrolls to read while we walked and was nervously fidgeting with nothing to occupy me.

Kakashi snapped Icha Icha Violence closed, causing me to jump a little, "Done." He gave me a close-eyed smile over his mask, "Now we're both out of reading material."

"So it would seem."

"Kaiyo, I forgot to ask, but how are you doing after last night? I mean, seeing Kanaye like that must have been quite the shock."

I breathed out slowly through my nose, "Yeah, that was startling. I just can't believe that I froze up like that."

"It happens to the best of us every once in a while."

I was going to argue when something caught my eye. There was a rectangular piece of heavy paper on the ground, and Kakashi walked past it without sparing it a second glance.

I froze as the blood in my veins stopped flowing and my heart dropped to the pit of my stomach with a sickening thud.

Kakashi looked back at me, "It's okay, Kaiyo. You don't have to be that hard on yourself." But then he realized that I hadn't stopped moving because of our conversation. He walked over and looked at the piece of paper on the ground in confusion. "It's just one of those cards that people use to pretend to read the future. They're just a dumb party trick."

My heartbeat pounded in my ears as I reached down and picked it up with trembling hands, ignoring the outcries of my bad hip. There was a kunai on it that was split in two lengthwise. It dropped out of my hand, fluttering back to earth immediately after I stood back up.

"It symbolizes a life filled with regret and loss. Those who draw the Broken Kunai experience heartbreak on both sides. They both break the hearts of others and are heartbroken themselves."

My knees gave out from underneath me. Dad. Sakumo. Shikaku. And then especially Toukuro. Kanaye's prediction had come true.

Kakashi rushed to my side, "Kai, what's wrong!"

I screamed and burned the card with a fire jutsu.

"He knew! He knew along from the very start! He knew that I'd be nothing but a burden and bad luck for everyone that I love! He knew..." Tears started to flow from my eyes. "My life is nothing but a broken kunai."

"Kaiyo, you're not making any sense. Who knew what?"

"Kanaye! He told me that my life would be like the broken kunai. I'd experience heartbreak and be the cause of the heartbreak of others. He knew. Somehow he knew."

"Kaiyo, we're ninja. He could given that card to any of us, and it would have most likely come true. All of those things about telling the future are so generic that they could apply to anyone; that's how they work. It's just pure luck, nothing more."

What Kakashi said was rational and true, but somehow I knew that he was wrong. I had drawn this card for a reason all those years ago. Nothing about this felt like chance.