strangers again | kakashi hatake x OC

1

Saturday mornings are usually busy in the Leaf. I sit on a bench watching people bustle about trying to finish errands early so they can have the rest of the day and kids chasing each other. I lean my head back, letting my gaze drift upward. Fluffy white clouds gently float across the blue sky. My eyelids begin to lightly flutter closed.

"Tsuki!" I open my eyes and turn my head towards the sound to find my friend Kurenai's face. I smile at her as she comes into view, but she looks panicked. I stand immediately as she reaches me, anxiety clouding her. "Kakashi's in a fight!" Kurenai reveals breathlessly. "You need to come with me now."

I nod, encouraging her to show me where he is. Kurenai takes off running with me behind her. "Why is he fighting?" I ask. My mind is racing. Kakashi usually doesn't care about anything. It's so hard to get any reaction out of him. I can't imagine him fighting outside a mission.

Kurenai briefly looks at me over her shoulder before mumbling. I quicken my pace to catch up to her. "Wait, what did you say? I couldn't hear you," I say. She rolls her eyes before looking over at me again. "Tsuki," Kurenai smirks. "Kakashi's fighting over you."

My breath catches in my chest as my cheeks redden. As we continue running, I manage to stumble out a flustered response. "That doesn't - that can't be right, Kurenai," I stutter. I've had a crush on Kakashi since we were children. Because we were best friends, I kept my feelings to myself. I was never able to read his feelings, and I didn't want to risk our friendship, so I kept them secret. I was so hurt when Kakashi cast me and our friendship aside. I didn't know what to do when he began icing me out, but that's how I became friends with Kurenai and Guy.

Every time Kakashi ignored me and left me behind, they were there for me. They became the ones who listened to me, laughed with me, and watch the clouds with me. Guy was especially concerned about me. He was always doing something to make me smile. He said a radiant smile like mine should never be hidden away from a shadowed world. I truly don't know what I would do without either of them.

"Listen," Kurenai said, bringing me back to reality. "All I know is Kakashi yelled at some guy to stop talking about you. The guy kinda egged him on, then Kakashi snapped."

Before I could respond, I see a group of kids yelling and cheering. I push my way through the crowd to find Kakashi and a shinobi I don't recognize fist fighting in the middle. The other guy looks...pathetic. His left eye is swollen shut with a deep red bruise already beginning to form. His nose is angled in the wrong direction as blood spills from the nostrils. I can tell he's exhausted, but, for some reason, he's not giving up.

I finally look over at Kakashi. My heart skips a beat as I look him over. He seems perfectly fine, as if he wasn't in a fight. His knuckles are covered in blood, both his and the opponent's, but that seems to be the only injury. As always, he looks bored. His deep gray eyes are half covered by his eyelids, as if he's fighting sleep while standing. Kakashi shifts his weight from one foot to the other, waiting for his opponent to do something.

"Are you done?" Kakashi asked mockingly. His opponent's chest heaved as he tried to catch his breath. Kakashi watched as his opponent reached into his pack and grabbed a kunai. "Fuck you, Kakashi," he spat. The crowd gasped and quieted almost immediately. Uneasiness cut through the crowd as people began to murmur.

Kakashi's laugh broke through the sudden silence. "Are you threatening me with a kunai?" his eyes narrowed. "You couldn't land a single hit with just your fists. What makes you think you could get close to me with a weapon?"

Some watchers began leaving. An eerie feeling plagued the fight like a fog. Kakashi seems...wrong. This whole fight feels wrong. Someone needs to stop them.

As I take a step forward, someone grabs my wrist. "Tsuki, don't," a deep, familiar voice tells me. "I will handle this waste of youthful spirit!" I instantly feel calm as Guy drops my wrist and passes me to enter the circle. With triumphant hands on his hips, he looks at Kakashi, then to his opponent. "Why are you wasting your power of youth on such a ridiculous quarrel, Kakashi?" Guy asks jubilantly.

Kakashi's glare shifted to Guy. "Why," Kakashi snarled, "are you interrupting my fight?" I watch as his hand reaches for his own kunai, as if to threaten Guy. My stomach tightens into a knot. How could he threaten to pull a kunai on Guy? I can't allow this to continue.

Almost instantly, I'm behind Kakashi restraining his wrist just as he gripped his kunai. Small gasps trickle through the crowd. I can feel Kakashi stiffen. "Don't," I order him. I sense his pulse quicken through the veins in his wrist. "Drop the knife, Kakashi." His fingers loosen from the kunai and it drops back into his bag. Without letting go, I look to find his opponent. I scan the fighting circle, catching him with my sharingan as he sprints toward Kakashi aiming to get a cheap shot.

I pull Kakashi's wrist. He stumbles and falls to the side, eyes gaping as he watches me. "Tsuki," he says breathlessly. He seems almost shocked I'm here. As if glitching through space, I sprint forward, then slide into the opponent's knees. He falls over me, face first into the dirt. I regain my footing, pivot, and grab his wrist behind his back. With my knee in his back, I add pressure to his bent wrist, pushing him further into the dirt. His kunai clangs loudly as it drops to the ground.

I bend over close to his ear and quietly command, "When I let you go, you will stand, turn, and leave without saying a word or looking at anyone. Do you understand?" He nodded as his tears mixed with the dirt. I feel bad for hurting him, but my body moved before I realized what was happening. I just want to protect Kakashi.

I take my knee out of his back and stand. The other guy stands and leaves, exactly as I instructed. "Sook," I hear Kakashi gasp from the other side of the circle. I spin around to examine him. He hasn't changed a bit. He looks exactly the same since we were children, but I know he's different. He's no longer my Kakashi. There's a stranger in my childhood best friend's body.