✔️Heal My Heart {Kakashi Hatake}

55 | reanimation

"Are you going to give me a straight answer?" I demanded, one of many questions I'd pestered Kakashi with since walking away from the lake. We weren't even half way back to the village yet.

"I don't plan to, no," Kakashi responded calmly.

"You- you just-! Argh, I've had it with you!" I raged.

"Have you really?" Kakashi murmured half to himself, now taking his book from his pocket and opening it to about half way. I watched him read for a while before getting bored.

"You're no fun anymore!" I complained.

"Are you insinuating that I have been fun in the past? Because I'll admit, I've never had much of a sense of humour."

"You are unbelievable," I growled. "I don't know why I bother putting up with you."

"You put up with me?" Kakashi raised an eyebrow, finally looking me in the eye. "I was under the impression that it was me putting up with you."

I stared at him. "I have nothing to say to you." I huffed, crossed my arms, and turned away from him.

"Oh, that's a shame. I was feeling rather talkative."

"Will you answer my question?"

"Which question? You've thrown quite a lot at me over the past seven minutes."

I circled around in front of Kakashi, walking backwards so I stayed a little way in front of him. "Did you or did you not kiss me back at the lake?"

"Oh look, I've suddenly and mysteriously gone mute," Kakashi intoned, lowering his gaze to the book.

"I actually hate you," I mumbled.

"No you don't."

"I thought you'd suddenly and mysteriously gone mute?" I said sarcastically.

"I'm selectively mute."

"That's not a thing and you know it."

"What's that?"

The tone in Kakashi's voice darkened so suddenly and seriously that I followed his gaze into the forest that lined the path. Kakashi seemed tense, suddenly alert.

"I don't see anything..." I said nervously.

"There was something in the trees." Kakashi insisted. "I saw it. If I didn't know better, I'd have sworn it was... no."

"You'd've sworn it was what?" I frowned.

"Nothing." Kakashi shook his head and continued down the path. I noticed that while he still had his book out, he didn't turn any pages; he was being careful. I followed him at a slight jog, glancing into the trees on occasion, unnerved by Kakashi's sudden change in demeanour.

I had barely caught up to Kakashi when I noticed a flicker of movement in the forest. I froze in a ready position, one hand twitching towards the two swords on my back. It was a large, cloaked figure, mostly black. Kokuyōseki...?

"Miyoshi," Kakashi said slowly. "You might not want to know what that is."

"What?" I turned my head slightly to see Kakashi tensed up beside me, on the balls of his feet and knees bent. "Why not?"

Kakashi shook his head, refusing to answer. I scowled.

"Why won't you tell me anything?" I hissed.

Kakashi looked me carefully in the eye. "That was Hajimaru."

"Impossible," I said immediately. "We both watched him die. I killed him."

"I know." Kakashi touched my arm lightly, meeting my gaze evenly. Why did he have to be so freaking good at calming me down?!

"You have to be wrong," I insisted. "My brother is dead."

"I know," Kakashi repeated patiently. "But there's no mistaking that it's him. I don't know how he's here, but he is."

I took a few slow, deep breaths. "Okay. I trust you. So what do we do?"

"Wait and see if he comes out," Kakashi murmured, pulling me behind a tree. I waited, hoping that whoever was out there couldn't hear my heart thumping against my ribs as loudly as I could.

I gingerly felt the chakra of the forest. I don't have to feel far before I picked up the disturbances of human presence. It was odd, though; most humans completely push away plant chakra, and that was how I could tell they were there. This human, however, wasn't pushing it away. Instead, their chakra was slightly permeating and mingling with the plant chakra. My breath hitched. The only explanation was that this person had an affinity for plants - but the only people were the First Hokage and... the Uraka Clan.

"I'm going to attack," I whispered. "ANBU two-man stealth formation Alpha."

"As your captain, I should really take Alpha position."

"He's my brother. I'll take Alpha position," I countered. "Besides, Omega isn't totally useless."

Kakashi sighed in submission. "Be careful."

I nodded once to show I'd heard, then pushed myself backwards into the tree; my ultimate stealth technique. I travelled up and perched lightly on a high up branch.

There he was. I had a clear view of him from my vantage point, and I could not deny that it was indeed Hajimaru. I didn't know anyone else that tall, with such dark hair and the red tips. My hands curled into fists and clenched tightly. How was he here? He died, I'd seen him die!

Hajimaru turned violently and glared up at me. I knew he'd sensed my presence; so much for stealth. His eyes sent a chill through me, and I shuddered. They were black pits, glazed over with a thin film of death. His irises were still deep blue, but they were cold. Any light or warmth that he'd had in life was gone.

"Come down," he called. "There's no use hiding up there, I can sense where you are." As if to prove his point, he reached into his black cloak, and a kunai thudded into the tree next to me. I felt my pulse quicken, though it had nothing to do with the kunai.

There was nothing else for it. I pushed myself off the branch and charged him, Hokori and Yokokobi in my hands. A bramble thicket reared up and each thorny branch lashed out, catching hold of Hajimaru's cloak. My brother watched calmly as I brought my blades down towards him, and lifted an arm nonchalantly. He completely blocked the full brunt of my attack.

"How are you doing that?" I asked in a hiss. Hokori and Yorokobi could cut through anything, but he'd held up an arm and blocked them like they were common sticks. Hajimaru met my gaze, but didn't answer. Angered, I made the grass and every shrub in a five metre radius wind around Hajimaru's legs, pinning him down. I sliced down with my swords, and cut into Hajimaru's flesh like it was paper.

"What the hell..." I breathed. The cut was deep enough to have reached the bone, yet I couldn't see a drop of blood on him. Even Hokori and Yorokobi were completely unstained.

The sound of a thousand birds chirping permeated the deadly silence. In the time it took for me to blink, Kakashi appeared behind Hajimaru and plunged his Chidori into Hajimaru's back. I relaxed my shoulders. There was no way any human could survive an attack like that.

Hajimaru glanced down at the hole in his chest. "How inconvenient," he murmured. My eyes grew wider and wider as the hole healed over right in front of me. Bile rose in my throat and he stood, completely healed, as if he hadn't even been hit.

What had happened to my brother?