the ice queen | hatake kakashi

47 ; redemption

A letter arrived three days later.

The silver envelope literally glowed in the office, as the cursive words were written in royal blue. As Kakashi opened the letter with Iruka by his side, a small note fell and landed on the Hokage's foot.

To: The Hokage and Iruka-san,

I advise you to leave as soon as you received this letter. Konoha wasn't in the guest's list. Strange- I wonder why would the queen not invite the land where she's been raised? If you managed to arrive by this week, you might escape the security checks they would be doing a week before the coronation. You might not get guest rooms, so please follow the time I've written here so that I could pick you up immediately. If you rather sleep in the dungeons, I highly recommend you ignore this letter.

Yū Kōri.

"I have a bad feeling about this, Iruka."

"Oh, but need I remind you that you started all of this?" Iruka hid no venom tone in his speech, he was obviously still pissed at his leader. "Look, the sooner we resolute with Nami the sooner you won't have to see that pretty guy again." Kakashi's figure remained stiff after his speech. How we he even apologize to Nami anyway?

"You know..." Iruka slowly approached him from behind. "I know you love Nami a lot. I still remember the tales that you snapped the second Nami 'died' during the war. What changed?"

Kakashi looked at him with eyes filled with sadness and regret. It still haunts him, Iruka realized, the fact that he screwed up his own relationship big time. "When I was at the airship, Kahyō disguised herself as a guest. She fell in front of me and I caught her. Kami, her eyes were majestic. It seemed to pull me in towards her. Then I snapped myself before letting her leave to go to the ship. It didn't happen again until I met her again during the ambush. The pull was stronger this time, I- I felt confused."

"Of course, during the span of the crisis, I became more lost with my thoughts. Nami appeared in my mind when I was falling from the sky but I yearned for Kahyō's touch more. It was crazy- as if I was in love with two different women. This trance did stop again when Nami came during my coronation and the peace lasted for a few months... until the first visit to Hozuki Castle."

"First? Kakashi-" Kakashi hushed the younger one with his finger. "We had the first meeting when she was first assigned as the new warden. There, the pull returned- only it was more intense than before. You wouldn't understand at all." Iruka was close to condemning him again, but somehow the pain in his eyes said that it was the truth. The chuunin kept his fist close to himself for now.

"It was until there was a point, I saw Nami in her. I was lost and I really did miss her since she left to the Snow Islands. God, I swear I knew what I did was wrong but it still felt so right," He said with a bittersweet tone, eyes looking at the frame on his desk. "Though I had no idea how the rumors spread around. That was weird. It was weirder when I've never heard of any when I returned back to Konoha. Don't you find it strange Iruka?" It was a bit weird, Iruka thought. Didn't everyone know that Kakashi was with Nami? The war did expose their relationship.

"Are you trying to say this was all planned?"

"I didn't say it was planned."

"... you have A LOT to explain to Kōri soon, Kakashi."

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