prologue 02 - constants and rituals
Everyone has some sort of daily ritual they like to perform. A habitual event or action that takes place every day. A constant that takes place... well... constantly. The most common of the constants are breakfast, lunch, and dinner (though many of us may skip breakfast). A Shinobi is not much different. They too have daily rituals that they like to perform, just as we do. They too eat three (or two) meals a day, take showers, what have you.
Twenty-three year old Hatake Kakashi is no different. Sure, he is recognized as one of the strongest Shinobi in the village of Konoha, but really, he is not much different from the rest of us. He gets up, eats his meals, brushes his teeth, and so on. He has his own fair share of constants, like paperwork and his beloved Icha-Icha Paradise.
It had already been eight years since that Kyuubi incident, and Konoha had healed nicely. Kakashi himself had grown up to be a handsome, respectable young man (though not many could really tell with that mask in the way, much to the chagrin of much of the female population of Konoha), and was even more powerful than he was before. Many respected his name, while others feared it. He was truly a Shinobi to be reckoned with.
On this particular Friday morning, everything started as usual. He woke up, washed his face, brushed his teeth, put on his usual attire (making sure his trademark mask was on right, and his forehead protector carefully hid his left eye) and walked out the door to the new day. After visiting a certain memorial tablet and staring at it for two to three hours, he makes his way to Hokage Tower to receive his mission. Ordinarily, this is where things start to get interesting... but not in this chapter. A simple A-Rank bodyguard job is all, and he comes back to his beloved village by around 5:00. And who should be the first person he sees but a certain green-clad bowl-cut haired man?
"Ah!! My 'Eternal Rival', Hatake Kakashi!!" he cries out in his loud, booming voice. Ah yes, Maito Gai. You could never find a more... interesting Shinobi, even if you searched the world ten times over. Dressed in a skintight green jumpsuit, his forehead protecter hanging on waist like a belt, and his Jounin vest over it all, the first thought to come up in your head would be 'this is a Shinobi!?' Nonetheless, Kakashi respects Gai, despite his... odd style. The silver-haired Jounin heaved a sigh. If only that man would stop spouting something about 'the flames of youth' every five minutes.
"Gai," he greeted back, with his usual nonchalant tone. Gai nearly facefaulted at that less-than-optimistic greeting. Quickly composing himself, he closed his eyes and chuckled silently. As expected of my Eternal Rival. So hip and cool, no one is more deserving of that title! You could clearly see the sparkles popping around the odd man's head. Kakashi, who knew exactly what Gai was thinking, sweatdropped.
"Yosh!" Gai suddenly exclaimed, with his trademark 'Good Guy Pose' which really consisted of nothing more than a large thumbs up and a large, nearly blinding grin. Kakashi sweatdropped even more. "Now that I have found you, my Eternal Rival, we shall dual, to see which of us is the strongest!! You know, of course, that we are still tied twelve to twelve?" Kakashi shook his head in disbelief. Not this again. Now that he thought about it, he wasn't really sure how this whole 'Eternal Rival' business started.
---
It was a beautiful Spring day, and a 20-year-old Kakashi strolled down the street, his left hand in its pocket, and his right hand holding the latest volume of Icha-Icha Paradise. He turned a corner, and suddenly heard a chuckling noise.
'I have finally found you... Hatake Kakashi!!' Kakashi's visible eye looked around lazily. It wasn't that he was frightened or anything. Anyone who chuckled while hidden, and yelled out 'I finally found you' would hardly be considered a threat. Deciding to ignore whatever idiot was apparently stalking him, he started walking again. Only to be stopped by a man who would later become a constant (or a total pain in the ass) for our favourite silver-haired Shinobi. Kakashi, who ignored the stupid-looking jumpsuit and hair, asked the first question that popped up in his head.
'Who are you?' he asked cooly and unfazed. Gai cried comedically, his fist clenched and shaking. Kakashi sweatdropped. What the heck was up with this goofball?
'Kkkhhhh!!! As expected of my Eternal Rival!!' he cried enthusiastically. Kakashi just blinked. 'Eternal Rival'? Since when did he have an 'Eternal Rival'. He then noted the forehead protector hanging from the odd man's waist. It was a Konoha forehead protector. Ordinarily, it would be odd to think that a man would not recognize one of his colleagues, but Kakashi didn't keep his eyes (or eye as it were) long enough to remember any faces or names.
'Are you going to answer or not?' Kakashi asked calmly. His question was answered with a large thumbs-up which nearly slammed into Kakashi's face. Our favourite Jounin sweatdropped even more.
'The Beautiful Green Beast of Konoha, Maito Gai!!' the green-clad man cried enthusiastically. If Kakashi had any more space left on the back of his head, he would have sweatdropped even more now. Gai continued. 'You may be called a genius, my Eternal Rival Hatake Kakashi, but with the bright Flames of Youth by my side, I shall not lose!!' Kakashi, who was already back to reading Icha Icha Paradise, suddenly looked up again.
'Hm? Did you say something?'
---
Well that certainly had been one of Kakashi's weirder days. Since then, they had duals every now and then (Kakashi half-heartedly), and while it provided some amount of entertainment every now and then, Kakashi found it to be just a tad too troublesome. This time, however, was an eating contest (Gai paying, of course), and Kakashi, who incidently forgot to bring his wallet almost happily agreed.
"If I do not win, I shall run fifty laps around Konoha blindfolded!!" Gai roared enthusastically, a fire burning in his eyes. Kakashi sweatdropped.
Arriving at the Ichiraku Ramen, the two Jounin sat down and each ordered their ramen. Gai began eating at breakneck speed, determined to defeat his Eternal Rival. Kakashi, however, had already finished his ramen. The most fascinating thing about this was that no one had seen the mask come off. Well, that was mainly because Gai was attracting all the attention, so all the credit couldn't really go Kakashi. At this point, instead of asking for another and carry on with the contest, Kakashi merely put his chopsticks down.
"Haa... I'm full. Ma, Gai, you win today," he said nonchalantly, not really caring whether he won or lost. Gai saw this as a win over his adversary, whose 'flames of youth was dwindling'. Kakashi saw this as a free meal. Holding up his hand in farewell, he walked off.
---
It was already 7:00, and Kakashi decided to take a walk before heading up home. Passing by the Ninja Academy, his head was filled with old memories. Not that they were particularly happy memories. As a child, Kakashi was not particularly social, and spent most of his time alone, training to studying. He passed into Genin status as the age of five, and was given the title of Number-One Rookie. Kakashi never really cared much about titles or anything. He didn't really remember why he wanted to become a Shinobi in the first place. Well, at least it isn't boring.
Walking around the academy, reminiscing about the past, he suddenly heard a noise. Someone else was at that academy, though he couldn't imagine who would be there at this time of night. Thinking it may be a prankster or something, Kakashi decided to investigate. What he saw was not in the least bit what he expected. A boy, who looked no longer than eight, was continuously hitting a log, pounding it with everything he had. The Jounin noted that his hands were bleeding, as were his knees, and he was crying. He approached the boy.
---
A group of kids were playing 'Ninja' in the playground. They were all grinning happily and were having fun. A young blond ran up to them.
'Hey, can I play?' he asked hopefully. The kids looked at the boy in almost disgust. One of them pushed him back.
'No way! Can't you see we're having fun here!? Don't go ruining it!' He glared angrily at the blond, who, instead of getting angry or sad, just grinned at him, and walked away.
---
SLAM!
...why...?
SLAM!
Why?
SLAM!
Why!?
SLAM!
Why do they...
SLAM!
...why do they... hate me... so much...?
He raised his bloodied fist to hit the worn out log once again. But it wouldn't budge. Looking up, he found what had stopped him. A tall man with silver hair, a black mask, and his forehead protector tilted to hide his left eye. The boy wiped his tears away.
"Who are you?" he asked. Kakashi looked at the boy. He felt he knew him, somehow. He pulled out a hankerchief and began wiping the blood away from the hand he was holding. The child seemed surprised.
"Ma, no one in particular. My name is Hatake Kakashi." While he wiped the blood away, he noticed that the wound was already healing. Kakashi's eye widened. It can't be... He looked at the boy, tears still sliding down his face. "Who are you, and what are you doing here? Do your parents know that you're here?" Kakashi asked, calmly. The child shook a bit, but answered.
"I'm..."
---
"Uzumaki," he said softly. "Uzumaki Naruto."
---
"... Uzumaki Naruto," the boy answered. Kakashi froze. Naruto took no notice of this. "I was here training. And... I don't have any parents..." Kakashi regained his composure, and began cleaning the child's other hand.
"Hm... I'm sorry... I shouldn't have asked." Kakashi said softly. Naruto just shrugged.
"It's okay. It doesn't bother me anymore..." he replied. Kakashi decided he needed to change the subject.
"You're an academy student, are you?" he asked. Naruto nodded. "You should know then, Naruto, that training until your hands are all bloody is not the best idea in the world." Naruto shrugged again.
"No one cares anyways... and I've always been a fast healer," he said almost nonchalantly. Kakashi took his word for it. After all, the boy WAS the living cage for that Kyuubi. The silver-haired Jounin looked at the child sadly. He remembered that night, when he witness the Kyuubi attack Konoha, the Yondaime Hokage sacrifice his life to seal it, and...
Kakashi sighed. He knew the boy wouldn't have a normal childhood. But to grow up without a single friend in the world... that was too cruel. Furthermore, everyone in the village hated him. Even though the law was passed so that those in the know would never tell the younger generation about that incident, the hatred obviously passed from the parents to the children. It was inevitable. Kakashi felt a tang of guilt within his heart. He hadn't even looked at the boy since that night, for eight long years. After wiping away the blood on the small child's hands and knees, he got up.
"Hmm... hey, are you hungry?"
---
...saa... sorry about the grotesque lack of updates... school has been a pain, and i have simply been too lazy to actually get up and update. and i recently got Xenosaga episode I and Star Ocean: Till the End of Time.
ma, anyways, i deleted the second chapter and replaced it with this. the prologue is divided into three parts, and the next one will be the last. afterwards, the story will finally begin.
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