Black Light (Naruto)

Chapter 9

" I was in the last war." Hikaru began cautiously. "Out on the frontlines. I didn't have a chance to eat very often."

"It didn't occur to you to start eating again?" Kakashi chirped back. "But it's none of my business."

They continued walking in silence, Kakashi's last sentance falling thickly between them. However, it was almost comforting to Hikaru. His shoulders and back straightened as civillians chattered around them, and he lifted his chin, falling into a familiar walk. 

He walked like a Hokage. 

XXX

Hikaru sighed, staring at the clock with a cup of hot tea in his hands. "Stupid sleep schedule." He muttered, feeling his henge fully slip off.

He was exhausted. It was already two in the morning, and he wasn't looking forward for later that day, when the sun actually rose. His fingers drummed against the table, creating a low, resonating sound that hummed int he air. 

Hikaru took a sip of tea, relishing the taste. It had been quite awhile since he had tea- especially this flavor. 

Hikaru tried to think back to before the war. He'd become a genin, done the Wave mission where Zabuza and Haku died, then the Chunin Exams happened. Gaara, Sasuke, and Orochimaru had been key players in this, the latter leading to Orochimaru's death. 

He took another sip of his tea. 

Then Hikaru set it down, laying his head against the cool table. His shoulder-length crimson chair brushed against his cheekbone, his eyes closing. 

He wanted to sleep. But he couldn't, even though the heaviness in his brain was enough. He knew that later today would be a chore. 

Then he sighed, sitting up fully and gulping down the rest of his tea. To hell with the Hokage's wishes. He thoght. I'm going to go and train.

Hikaru slumped as he recalled what he really needed to do. "But I need the time to plan and figure out what to do next." He whispered to himself, the words heavy in the quiet air. He stood up and pulled out a scroll, catching an idea. 

"I could think whie doing seals. Make a Kage Bunshin to set up some protection seals around the area. God knows I'll need them." He muttered, starting on his seal.

The act lulled him to do it mindlessly, the black ink soft on the stark paper. He dipped his brush back into the ink, making a few more kanji. He handed it off to the shadow clone, who placed it on a wall. The seal flashed a scarlet red before fading into the wall. 

Hikaru continued on another seal, doing it almost robotically. Seal after seal after seal. 

The brush's handle snapped in half. 

Hikaru sighed, before going to grab another brush. He dipped it into the ink. 

Three minutes later, it snapped again.

XXX

"Ready for Ichikaru's?" Hikaru asked the minute Naruto opened the door. It was right around 6 o'clock. 

"Mhm! Kakashi-sensei told us to arrive around 7! I hope he'll arrive on time today. Yesterday he was like, 3 hours late dattebayo." Naruto said grumpily. 

"Anyway, Hikaru, what happened yesterday? You were like, poof! Then you came back and fell over, dattebayo! And then Kakashi-sensei paid for us, then grabbed you, and you both disappeared." Naruto asked, blue eyes glancing at Hikaru's violet ones. 

"I was a little tired." Hikaru muttered. "But I slept pretty well last night, so I'm good."

"Okay..." Naruto said suspiciously. "Oh, and Kakashi-sensei told me to remind you that you owe him something! He stopped by yesterday, dattebayo."

"Alright. Do you know what you're going to do today, Naruto?" Hikaru asked curiously, looking at the excited blond as he walked down the street. 

"No! Kakashi-sensei refused to tell me, dattebayo! I hope we learn some cool jutsu, or take down an evil crimeboss and save an entire country! I hope I get something named after me before I'm the Hokage." Naruto said. 

"You want to be Hokage?" Hikaru asked, blinking and feigning slight surprise. 

"Oh! I suppose I haven't introduced myself fully yet, dattebayo!" Naruto spun around, eyes closing in a bright grin. "My name's Naruto Uzumaki! I'm 13, and I like miso ramen and being a shinobi! I hate when ramen gets soggy and Sasuke-teme. My dream is to be the best shinobi ever and become the Hokage!"

Hikaru froze, staring at his younger counterpart. "I see." He murmured, before ruffling Naruto's hair, bending down to his height. 

"I believe you can do it, Naruto." He said seriously, looking into Naruto's eyes for a minute, before standing back up. 

"C'mon, let's go to Ichikaru's so you aren't late for practice." Hikaru muttered. 

Something latched onto his torso, causing him to go tense, surprise filling his body. He fought the instinct of kill and attack, glancing down the street. He returned the hug that Naruto had gave him. "Let's hurry up."

Naruto wiped at his watery eyes, unlatching himself from Hikaru, sniffling. "Okay."

They headed back down the street, and Hikaru pretended not to pay attention to the suspicious looks sent his and Naruto's way. 

He'd grown strangely attached to his younger counterpart. 

Kakashi's POV

Hikaru was an Uzumaki. Anybody that looked at him could notice it. The abnormal red hair, the violet eyes, pale skin. But Kakashi was reminded of Kushina every single time he looked at him, expect it was something different. Something strange, not Kushina yet so much like her at the same time. 

The delicate jawline, high cheekbones. The always-present teasing sparkle in his purple eyes although his face was blank. 

Kakashi had been trained to never pry, but always look underneath the underneath. He noticed that whenever Hikaru looked at anything around him, there was a certain type of longing and regret attached to his violet gaze.

He'd asked Naruto- however indirectly he'd done it- what was wrong with his neighbor. After all, Naruto had recieved that wistful look the most out of everyone. 

But all he'd gotten was a quick answer and the blond's trademark response. "I don't know, dattebayo."

Kakashi deemed him entirely unhelpful in that aspect, because it left him at a dead end. And Kakashi didn't like running into dead ends, didn't like crashing into something that left him so insanely curious and not recieving a reasonable answer. Usually, he tried to stay out of the drama jonin had going on these days- and he'd gotten very good at that. Especially keeping his nose out of the relationship Kurenai and Asuma tried to keep hidden- although almost everyone knew about it. 

But the moment he saw Hikaru walking down the street, he'd known instantly that everything he worked so hard towards- mainly keeping out of the drama- would crash and burn. And he would be dragged into everything having to do with his students. 

And he'd gotten himself drawn in again. He was so utterly captivated by this strange man who looked so much like his sensei's wife. 

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Hello! This chapter is somewhat short, sorry about that! It's kinda a filler chapter to fill out some gaps in Naruto and Hikaru's relationship, as well as smoothen out some of Kakashi's aspects..? 

This chapter has 1,768 words

-Beginning_Asuka