✔️Heal My Heart {Kakashi Hatake}

35 | the geezer on the hill

Guess who got new pencils :3

It didn't take us long to find the shack on the hill where this old man supposedly lived. It couldn't really be described as anything else; it was nothing more than a run-down old hut, too small even to be called a house. I doubted there could be more than three rooms packed under the rickety ceiling.

The door was almost hanging off its hinges. It swung in the wind, creaking. On the other side, I noticed that it was covered in a variety of locking systems. It seemed that this old man valued his privacy a little more than was normal. Either that, or he had someone dangerous after him.

"What now?" I whispered to Kakashi. Despite the fact that we were in disguise, we had no cover story for being here, and it would no doubt look suspicious. If we knocked on the door, we'd need a reason for being there. If we snuck in and were caught, it would look doubly suspicious. We had to be extremely careful.

Kakashi considered the house, scanning every inch of it. I knew he was carefully analysing every little thing he picked up on.

"It doesn't look like anyone's home," he said after a while. "Those locks look like they were forcefully broken recently, and there aren't any lights on, although I can see where the lamps are through the window. Let's just go in and look around."

We approached carefully, but the door practically collapsed open. I exchanged an uneasy glance with Kakashi, and stepped uneasily into the threshold.

The first thing I noticed was the smell. It was damp and mouldy, and I wrinkled my nose in distaste. There were damp patches all over the walls and floors, and I could see in an instant that the wood was rotting. Curiously, I reached out with my Kekkei Genkai, and found nothing but death. There wasn't anything alive around here. That knowledge made the place seem eerie.

Kakashi stepped through behind me. He seemed as uncomfortable as I was.

"There's nothing living as far as the town," I told him. "We don't have to worry about being found, but still..."

"I don't like this," Kakashi mumbled.

"Me neither," I said. "Let's try through that door."

I pointed to a rotting wooden door just off to our left. Kakashi tried the handle, but it didn't budge. I pulled a senbon from a pocket on the inside of my leg and handed it to him. He pushed it into the lock and fiddled around a bit, then there was a click. Kakashi tried the handle again, and after a shove with his shoulder, the door opened.

It was completely pitch black in this room, and the sense of death was stronger. It was cold, too, and the smell was even worse. I shivered, and not just because I was wearing a summer dress.

Kakashi lit a lamp. I didn't know where he'd got the flame from, but I assumed it was a jutsu. The light was weak, and it cast long shadows. I saw the outline of a table, and a small cooking stove. Apparently this was the kitchen.

"Miyoshi." Kakashi nudged me in the side. He had the lantern up to a stain of red splattered on the floor. It was blood.

"Well, this just took a dark turn," I muttered.

"It's been there a while. It's already dried into the floor," Kakashi said.

"Look, it seems like it's been smudged. What's under the table?"

Kakashi pushed the light across the floor, following the direction of the smudged blood. The tiny flame cast a yellow light, not quite banishing the shadows, but pushing them away.

I jumped a little when I saw it. The stiffened corpse of an old man, tossed under the table. There was a strange cut in his chest; it looked like the blade that had killed him was triangular, because while the gash was wide at skin level, it got narrower as it got deeper.

Kakashi touched the body's skin. "It's like ice. He's been here a few days, at least. And that wound is very distinct. Do you know a blade that makes a mark like that?"

"I think I might, which is unfortunate for us." I replied grimly. I'd been five years old last time I'd seen a wound like that. The woman was already dead, but her husband had carried her to my mother in the hopes that she could be healed. Mama hadn't been happy that I'd seen the body, and had Hajimaru take me outside. I'd had nightmares about it for weeks afterward.

"Let's get back to the team. We were supposed to assemble at noon," Kakashi said, drawing away from the body.

Once outside, I glanced at the sky. It was definitely past noon. I sighed. I should have expected this; Kakashi hadn't been on time for anything in years.

"Have you heard anything from Yugao, Kō, or Itachi?" I asked.

"Nope. But we'll get to the meeting point. They're probably there waiting for us."

"They've probably been waiting a while," I muttered under my breath, though Kakashi undoubtedly heard.

"Let's change quickly before we join the others," Kakashi suggested.

"Only if you're quick." I scowled. We were already late, but I was practically itching to get out of the tiny dress.

Kakashi promised he'd be quick and left me with a lazy salute. I ducked behind the dangling door of the shack and changed quickly. I was back in my ANBU uniform within a minute, so all I could do was wait around for Kakashi while I tied my hair back up.

He took forever. I had long since got bored and resigned myself to sitting next to the shack and playing with a vine by the time he finally showed up in his ANBU uniform.

"Yo," he said by way of greeting.

"Are you trying to annoy me?" I demanded, standing angrily and letting the vine drop. "You took almost thirty minutes just to change! And here I thought you couldn't get any later."

"Sorry," Kakashi said, rather unapologetically. "I couldn't find my way back."

"Sure you couldn't," I grumbled, and started to walk off. When Kakashi made no move to follow, I grabbed his wrist and dragged him with me, forcing him to follow.

"Must you drag me around?" Kakashi drawled.

"Did you just drawl at me?" I snapped.

"No," Kakashi said, feigning surprise. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Hm. Sure." I yanked Kakashi's arm and he protested loudly, but the others were now in sight.

"What took you so long?" Tenzō complained. "Captain, you really have to work on your timing."

"Someone didn't bother to tell me we were supposed to be here until well past noon." I shot a glare at Kakashi.

"Yugao, anything to report?" Kakashi asked, tactfully changing the subject.

"Some civilians were spreading tales of a man dressed in black who visited the village for a short time. It seems that he somehow drained the vitality from all the plants in the village at some point before he left," Yugao reported.

Kakashi nodded. "We heard the same rumours. We also heard that before leaving, he visited a particularly bad tempered old man. We were late because we decided to visit, too, and discovered him dead in his home with a rather curious wound."

"It was like a triangular blade," I supplied, my anger momentarily forgotten. "I thought I recognised the markings, but I couldn't tell you where they come from."

"Interesting," said an unfamiliar voice.

One of the ANBU collapsed onto his front, revealing the same strange wound in his back. I was instantly on guard, and my hand flew to the handle of one of my blades. I saw the others drop into attacking crouches, preparing to spring at our unseen enemy. Why was it that they always found us before we found them?