✔️Heal My Heart {Kakashi Hatake}

16 | no no no no no why

This picture is Miyoshi and Naruto. I got lazy with the colouring again :P

I walked into the ANBU headquarters the next day only to be headed off by Kakashi before I even reached the locker rooms.

"The two of us have been given a mission," he told me.

"Wait, just the two of us? Like, alone? Together?" I checked.

"Yes." Kakashi looked like he was getting impatient with my childishness. Couldn't say I blamed him, but I decided that since we'd been making such good progress recently, I'd be mature about it.

"Okay then. What's the brief?"

"S-Rank, kind of a typical one to be honest. Big criminal shows up in our land, we track him down and kill him."

"Wait, how long did you say we were going to be gone for?" I interrupted. I wasn't particularly fond of the idea of having to spend too long away from Naruto with only Salty with a Chance of Attitude for company.

"Estimated time is about a week," Kakashi replied.

"And it's only the two of us because...?" I prompted. Kakashi rolled his eyes.

"Because it would normally be a single assassin going after him, and I'm the best assassin available, but Lord Third insisted that I take a medic with me."

"Give me thirty minutes, I'll meet you at the gate," I told him.

"Thirty minutes?" His single visible eyebrow rose.

"I'll need to let Naruto know that I'm gone, or he'll worry," I explained.

"Wait, Naruto as in-"

"Naruto Uzumaki, orphaned five-year-old left behind by Minato-sensei and Kushina. The very same." I nodded. "He's the most adorable little thing in the world, and he recently started calling me his sister. I'm weak for little children who do adorable things."

Kakashi watched me for a moment. It wasn't a stare, or even a gaze. Just a passive viewing of my expression. "Thirty minutes. No longer."

I thanked him and hurried back out of the ANBU headquarters, heading to Naruto's little apartment. I knocked on the door that bore the Uzumaki clan crest.

"Naruto? Are you there?" I called, and a few seconds later heard the thundering of footsteps and Naruto opened the door with a wide grin.

"Hi, sis! I'm having ramen right now, d'you want some?"

"I'm afraid I can't, I only came by for a quick stop. I'm about to go out on a mission, so I'm gonna be gone a while, 'Kay?" I rested one hand on his fluffy yellow hair with a little smile.

"Aww! But we were gonna train tomorrow! And who am I gonna play with?" He pouted. I sighed.

"Sorry, Naruto. It's only a week, I'll be back before you know it."

"Pinky promise?" Naruto held out his pinky finger.

"Pinky promise." I linked mine with his. He didn't seem any happier, but he grudgingly agreed to practice by himself while I was away.

After visiting Naruto, I raced back to the ANBU headquarters to get ready. I kept all my armour in my locker, so I had to stop there to get it all out. I just threw it on over my normal clothes, and put on my mask. My twin blades, Hokori and Yorokobi, were strapped to my back.

My thirty minute deadline was nearly up. I grabbed a bag of food pills and stashed them away in my ninja pack, then raced out to the gate to meet Kakashi. I was a couple of minutes late, so I ran the whole way there whilst formulating excuses.

To my great confusion, Kakashi was nowhere to be seen. Wasn't he the one that had insisted on being punctual?

I sighed and sat down on the road to wait. If he wasn't going to be on time, I may as well use these spare moments to catch my breath before we left.

It was a further fifteen minutes before Kakashi finally showed up, walking casually down the path with his hands in his pockets. He looked perfectly calm, as if he wasn't even aware that he was late.

"What took you so long?" I asked irritably. "I've been here for at least fifteen minutes!"

"Oh, sorry. Got a little lost on the path of life."

I sweatdropped. If he was going to make an excuse, it could at least be believable...

"Let's just go. You can brief me on the way." I stood up and brushed off the dirt that had gathered on my trousers.

"Okay," Kakashi responded impassively. "Well, it's like I said before. Pretty typical. An S-rank criminal popped up near a small village in the Land of Fire, we've been sent to kill."

He didn't elaborate, so I had to push him. "Yes, but what are the details? What's their name, where are they from, where specifically are we going?"

"Actually, the guy's originally from Konoha." I stiffened, but Kakashi didn't notice and continued. "He was banished by Lord Third himself, a long time ago. Apparently he was only sixteen, but he was listed as S-rank anyway. The file didn't say what he was actually banished for, though."

"What is his name?" My mouth was dry, and I forced myself to keep my voice steady.

"Hajimaru."

My ears were ringing. Suddenly I was watching from outside my body. I felt trapped. Kakashi was saying how there wasn't a given family name, but I wasn't hearing. Not that I wasn't listening - I was trying to rationalise, trying to tell myself that it wasn't him.

Who was I kidding? It couldn't be anyone else.

So the time had finally come... I was going to face my brother.

"Are you okay?" Kakashi asked, and the back of his hand on my forehead snapped me out of my thoughts. "You seem a little out of it."

"I'm fine." I pushed his hand away. "Let's go. Where was it we were going, again?"

"I just told you. We're going to the Tree Village."

"That's where he was spotted, right?" I guessed, with an effort at a smile.

Kakashi frowned. "Look, if you're still ill, you can always stay back at Konoha. I told Lord Third it wasn't a good idea to bring you, but he insisted. Any idea why?"

"He has a sick sense of humour," I said grimly. "But I would have insisted on taking this mission anyway."

"Are you sure you're okay?" Kakashi asked again.

"Yes, I'm fine." I rolled my eyes. "I'm the medic here, not you. Trust me. I'll let you know if I don't feel well."

"Okay." Kakashi still sounded uneasy, but he led the way through the forest nonetheless. I followed, but my mind did not.