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Original: 02/16/2020
Edited: 11/02/2020
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Hikaru slowly stood up, slight pain coursing through his body. Once he clenched his fist, every single joint inside of his body ached, and not to mention his shoulder repeatedly popping. He should really start eating a bit more often, but there was a little voice whispering inside of him that this was his punishment for sending his friends to their deaths.
It's been three days since he told Jiraiya, and he had yet to hear from the Toad Sage. Hikaru knew he needed time, but that was one thing he didn't have.
He stretched, yawning from his restless sleep on the floor in his bedroom, quickly shuffling for a new shirt while applying his henge. His chakra had alerted him to a presence in his living room- one that was quickly identified as Naruto.
So he left towards the living room, rubbing sleepily at his eyes. His red hair was in disarray, strands peeking up from the very top of his head. "Morning, Naruto. What are you doing here?" Hikaru grunted, taking care to keep his face impassive as his ankle suddenly spiked with pain. He must have landed on it oddly in the training the night before.
His younger counterpart grinned, a tanned hand rubbing at the back of the blond's neck sheepishly. "You're late for breakfast, Hikaru-sensei, so I decided to wait for you, dattebayo!"
"How'd you get in?" Hikaru asked as he forced himself to wake up a little more, although he felt like he was floating still. He ran his fingers through his hair, leaning against a nearby wall, trying his best to pretend that the world wasn't spinning.
His heartbeat pounded in his ears, the smallest sliver of pain embedding itself into his head.
"There's nothing I can't brea- I mean open! There's nothing I can't open!" Naruto grinned widely, giving him a small thumbs-up. "Anyway, I'm hungry, 'ttebayo! Let's go get breakfast."
Hikaru nodded and swiftly got ready, peering into his wallet. He had enough, but he would really need to take a mission soon. "Let's go." Hikaru muttered, following Naruto outside. He could barely concentrate enough to put one foot in front of the other, and even breathing felt like a chore.
Kami, he was really, really tired.
He focused on the ground in front of him, vaguely hearing Naruto chattering about something. His vision spun for a split-second, his balance reeling so harshly that he almost, almost stumbled. But he couldn't let himself be like this in front of Naruto, so he tried his best to straighten up although his shoulders felt like they were going to fall off.
"Eh?! Hikaru, are you okay? You look super pale, dattebayo!" Naruto exclaimed. Civillians glanced over at them, mindless eyes spinning with disgust and fear.
Always fear.
Hikaru was sick of it.
"I'm okay." Hikaru mumbles as he saw the Ichikaru sign. He walked toward the small stand, his heart pitter-pattering in his throat. "Let's go eat."
They sat on the stools, and Hikaru waved Teuchi away as the middle-aged man looked towards him. "Not hungry, Teuchi. Sorry."
"You should eat something soon, Hikaru-san. You look like you're going to pass out." Teuchi said, before turning towards Naruto. "What'll you have, Naruto?"
Hikaru barely heard Naruto's order. He was bone-tired, a fog heavy over his mind, his knuckles cracking as he leaned onto his fist. His vision blurred once more, but Hikaru forced it away although it still loitered at the corners of his eyes.
He stared softly at the counter, the sound of Naruto's quick slurping ringing in his ears. His mind wondered to Orochimaru- the mission to the Waves was coming up in a few weeks or so, he somewhat recognized the missions.
He already had a plan in mind to defeat Orchimaru, the Sound Four, and Kabuto. There was also a few ways to make sure the Cursed Seal couldn't be used, which Hikaru was already working on setting up.
The Chunin Exams were in July, and they would spend about a week or two in the Land of Waves. Then, after that disasterous mission, he would tell Kakashi to step up their training. He had originally planned to have Naruto doing seals, but Sakura was somewhat more interested in them.
Hikaru also sketched out a rough training plan for Naruto the other day- he would be gifting the blond some low-level wind jutsu for now, and have him get better on his taijutsu. He would still need to either train Sakura as well, or have Kakashi train her. Or they could both do it.
"Have you gone on any missions lately?" Naruto's loud, energetic voice brought him out of his pondering. "We've gone on a lot of d-rank missions. They suck, dattebayo!"
"I believe it." Hikaru said softly. "And, yeah. I've done a few c-ranks. Usually I'm out of the village for awhile."
"What about s-ranks? Have you done those?" Naruto curiously asked, cerulean eyes sparkling.
"I've done one or two." Hikaru said cautiously, black dots once beginning to overwhelm his vision, swimming in front of his violet eyes. He roughly closed them, desperation running through him as his thoughts fell over one another.
Not right here. Not right now.
Hikaru quietly stood up as Naruto finished his meal, bouncing up from his stool. "I'll be going now! See ya, Hikaru-sensei!" Naruto ran out of the small stand, waving goodbye to Hikaru.
More black dots. Heaviness pressed down on him, and he could barely move his numb legs. He could barely think, the entire world beginning to swim.
Maybe a day off would be good. He managed to think throughout the chaos, and shunshined to his apartment, a dull thumping in his head.
Exhaustion made his limbs fall right then, pain echoing throughout him as he landed face-first onto the living room floor.
It was ice cold.
Hikaru looked over at Shino. He vaguely noticed the way the sunglasses were cracked, the frame of them crumpled. Blood was still falling from his body tangled gruesomely in the tree, his lips stained a bright crimson with trails down his face. Although Hikaru hadn't known Shino much, he still felt grief for the chunin. Shino, like most, had fought even though he had nothing to fight for.
So cold.
Sakura's pink hair showed in his vision like a ray of hope, her green eyes gleaming as she held out a fist. "We defeated them for now!" She announced.
Hikaru, Sasuke, and Kakashi ignored the ending. Tsunade had died only a few days- or was it weeks? Months?- ago. It was good to see her proud of something.
But she had nothing to be proud of, the voice inside of him whispered.
Hikaru closed his eyes, arms spread out on the hardwood. His limbs felt so heavy, his head filled with a black cloud. He couldn't do anything.
But he didn't want to sleep. If he slept, the nightmares would haunt him over and over and over again.
Hikaru was sick and tired of the nightmares. He was sick and tired of being so weak.
Can't afford...
His eyes started to close, too heavy to keep open.
This setback.
He didn't know when he slipped into sleep, only that it happened swiftly and without pause.
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A blanket had been tugged over his shoulder, warmth pooling inside of him. A small smile on his lips, feeling completely at rest.
He hadn't had any nightmares.
He opened his amethyst-coloured eyes to the fabric of the couch. He was so close that he could see the individual stitches.
Hikaru pulled back and sat up slowly, rubbing softly at his eyes. He yawned, feeling almost content as his bones finally felt like they weren't going to break any second.
Then every single one of his nerves screamed at him, and he grabbed a kunai, not yet in this timeline. His eyes darted over the room, dark in colour, before a younger-looking and less war scarred Kakashi staring back at him.
Last Hikaru remembered, he'd been fighting Madara, Sasuke's blood on his hands- oh. New timeline.
"Awake?" The younger Kakashi muttered as he closed his book. Hikaru blinked, before his mind fully settled, his hand tucking back the kunai that he'd been prepared to throw at the jonin.
The small smile settled back on the corner of his lips. He felt so at peace that it was almost unnatural. Hikaru nodded.
"Good." Kakashi said. "It's abotu 6. Naruto came in to find you on the floor and panicked before finding me. I've been here for about half an hour."
"Sorry." Hikaru said, his voice still quiet with sleep. He cleared his throat, trying again. "Sorry. I was tired, so I took the day off."
"And passed out on the hardwood floor like you died." Kakashi said blandly.
"The bed's uncomfortable." Hikaru shrugged slightly, before remembering that he was supposed to be a little bit more guarded.
Kakashi just lifted his visible eyebrow, before standing up, meeting Hikaru's gaze with a steady black eye. "You're hungry, right?" He asked.
"N-"
"I'm getting you something anyway. Want anything in particular?"
"No." Hikaru ignored the quiet rumble of his stomach. He couldn't be hungry.
Kakashi eye-smiled, before leaving the apartment. Hikaru sighed the moment the door clicked behind the fellow jonin, leaning fully against the couch. He was still somewhat relaxed.
He could do this. He'd done it before, so he could do it again.
His mind wandered back to Orochimaru. He wasn't an easy target- but the current Hokage had ordered him to go with Kakashi. Hikaru knew that he wouldn't obey such an order, and it would be better for Hikaru to go alone, no matter how much death had been knocking on his doorstep.
He already knew how to take down Orochimaru- which he would be doing in two days. He would be gone for about two-three days, then he'd get back hopefully close to uninjured. Also, considering the fact that Orochimaru's curse mark hadn't been fully made, it would be easy.
Easier then tracking down Madara, which was for sure.
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Sorry for the kinda sporatic update schedule? I've been wondering on whether or not the all-5-days-of-the-buisness-days thing works out. Anyway, let me know what you guys think!
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