I'm Not Alone {--Kakashi Hatake--}

{Chapter 5}

I woke up what seemed a while later, slowly noticing that Kakashi was in a sleeping bag next to mine. ‘Right, Tazuna’s house.’ I soon realized that I had passed out from blood loss. I pulled my shirt up, not caring since that part of my body was under the covers, and found that my wound was already bandaged.

“Kakashi-sensei, are you all right?” I asked worriedly, looking at him.

He replied with, “No, but I will be…in about a week…what about you?”

“As expected, I suppose.” I answered with a hint of a smile on my face, and then grimaced when I tried to sit up, “But I’ve definitely been better.”

Sakura asked her sensei, “The Sharingan Eye is an incredible power…but doesn’t the strain it puts on your body make you wonder if it’s worth it?”

Tazuna chimed in, “This time, you took down your strongest foe yet…so we can probably relax for a while.”

“I can’t get my mind off that masked kid…” Sakura wondered.

“That mask is worn by the most elite and secret ninja from the Village Hidden in the Mist…” Kakashi started to explain, “The shinobi hunters all wear them…their unit is code-named the ‘Undertaker Squad’, because they dispose of corpses so thoroughly, it’s as though they never existed…even after death, a shinobi’s corpse may yield up its secrets, exposing the secrets of the skills it had mastered as well as retaining the aura of the chakras it was steeped in, in the ninja’s native lands…even the ingredients of any drugs or poisons…”

‘And this is the part where I don’t really care all that much.’ I thought, starting to ignore the silver-haired Jounin since I knew what he was talking about.

I couldn’t block out all of it when he said, “…Eliminating rogue ninja and obliterating their remains…in order to protect the secrets of their home village from the rest of the world. Silently and without a trace. That’s how ninja leave the world…”

Sakura exclaimed, the horror written on her face, “So, Zabuza’s corpse will be dismembered and destroyed? That’s so creepy--!!!”

I fell asleep soon after, and Kakashi must’ve as well, because I woke up when I heard Naruto and Sakura screaming about something, and Kakashi was up before me.

Tazuna’s daughter, Tsunami, came in, “Oh, Kakashi-sensei, are you awake?”

‘Seriously, does anybody even care about me?’ I thought bitterly, my eye twitching slightly in annoyance.

I heard Sakura yell at Naruto in a hushed voice, “You idiot! Don’t be such a klutz! We almost got to see what’s under the mask!”

I leaned over so I was a part of their little group, and whispered with a grin on my face, “Now that’s doesn’t sound like you’re being very good students…”

Sakura looked at me, and whispered, “Please don’t tell Kakashi-sensei!”

I smirked even more, “I won’t…as long as you do what I ask you to, whenever, for the next month.”

Naruto frowned, but grudgingly agreed, “All right.”

I glanced at Sakura, and she nodded her head slightly. I smiled, “Good.”

Naruto looked over my shoulder, and asked, “What’s wrong, Kakashi-sensei?” I went back to my usual position, now worried about my teacher rather than bribing a couple of kids. 

Kakashi appeared to be thinking when he said, “Hmm…of course…the shinobi hunters who manage corpse disposals are supposed to destroy the bodies of those they kill at once, right on the spot.”