Chapter 12
"So, tell me about yourself," Gai asked.
Ryusuke turned away and gazed at the glass of wine in his hand, "Myself? What would you like to know?"
"Umm, you must have tons of courageous stories," he commented like Yukiko had told him to and quickly flashed a sparkling smile.
"You want to listen to courageous stories of mine?" he turned his attention back to Gai as the Chuunin felt an arm around his shoulder. He didn't exactly know what was going on, but he had got to stay calm. The long-haired man leaned close and whispered to his ear, "You don't wanna know."
The Chuunin insisted, "Oh, I think I do!" He really needed to get some information out of this man and pass the exam.
"Such an eager child," Ryusuke touched Gai's chin with a smirk. He then placed his glass down on the table and stood up. "Well then, I suppose we'll need a more private place."
"Right," Gai stood up and followed the other man toward the back door, not catching the hidden meaning behind his words. The long- haired man had told his bodyguards to allow them some private time alone. Yukiko, Kakashi and Ibiki all quickly and silently tailed them.
Past a back door of the club, the two found themselves in a dark alley. Ryusuke gently pushed Gai against the wall and leaned close. Several strands of hair fell before his eyes. The Chuunin could feel a hot breath against his face.
"So you wanna know about me," he said seductively. "You gotta explore me yourself then."
Kakashi, who was about 50 feet away in the shadow, almost burst out laughing. His hands were tightly pressed against his mask, preventing himself from laughing out loud. Seeing his rival in a situation like this was priceless. The Jounin mentally added this to the blackmailing list. Yukiko debated whether she should act or leave her partner to be molested.
"Huh? Explore? How?" Gai blinked innocently in confusion.
The older man smiled and pressed himself against the Chuunin's body, while sniffing his hair.
'What kind of jutsu is this? It feels strange. Have I been found out?' Gai struggled furiously, and finally gave a hard kick in the man's stomach and leaped out of his range of reach. Instantly, five Chuunin-ranked bodyguards appeared in a defensive position in order to protect their boss.
Gai, in response, also stood in alert.
"That kick," Ryusuke spoke, hands rubbing where it was kicked and raising his head slowly until his eyes met Gai's. "was not that of an amateur."
The Chuunin gulped heavily as he was now sure his cover had been blown. He scanned the enemy in front of him. There were six of them including Ryusuke himself. The chance of winning with two against six was slim. He figured that looking for an escape in the current situation would be better than fighting head on. However, escaping would not be easy either.
Within a split second, Gai threw a smoke bomb in order to create confusion, and turned to run. But not quite quick enough. He could already feel the presence of two ninjas in front of him. They had anticipated his move.
Gai jumped up and sent a Matrix-style kick against the ninja on the left, who blocked it with his arms, but took a few steps back due to the impact. Before the bowl-head had a chance to land, the other ninja stabbed a shuriken in his ribs. The Chuunin let out a painful shriek as blood rushed out from the wound. The rest of the enemy noticed the injury and relaxed their stances slightly.
Yukiko saw the chance. She leaped down in a flash, activating her Sharingan. Gai saw her blurry image sped behind Ryusuke's back. She had headlocked him. "Run!" she yelled her teammate.
Gai was reluctant to leave her behind, but he knew that he would become a burden to her with his injury still bleeding continuously. He hesitated a bit and was about to jump away when he noticed another Ryusuke in front of him.
The Leaf Chuunins widened their eyes as the Ryusuke in Yukiko's arm disappeared into a puff of smoke. "A clone," she muttered to herself, breathing heavily. They were surrounded. It was a dead end.
"Capture them," the long-haired boss ordered calmly with a slight tone of amusement, brushing his hair back with his hand gracefully. All five ninjas instantly rushed toward the two with weapons in their hands.
A chaos of stabbing, fighting, and blocking went on for about twenty minutes. Gai threw a final kick at his collapsing enemy and looked around. There were two other people standing: Kakashi and Ibiki. "Kakashi," he muttered, panting. They had joined in to help them.
His eyes widened as he wondered where Yukiko was. He spun around and yelled, "Yukiko!!!!"
The other two Leaf ninjas diverted their attention immediately toward his direction upon hearing his yell. Kakashi's heart had never beat so fast and so hard before that it hurt painfully. She was on the ground beside the passed-out Ryusuke, blood pouring out of her wound in her abdomens.
Kakashi rushed to his lover's side immediately, trembling arms holding her. "Yu-Yukiko!" His voice shook and his eyes watered. She was still concious, but her face was very pale.
"Kakashi," she whispered through her lips, which were purpling due to the loss of blood. She smiled weakly, "I'm sorry. I-"
"No, I'm sorry!! It was all my fault. I shouldn't have been so inconsiderate. I shouldn't made every moment we spent together a happy memory. I-" His voice trailed off into a sob.
"I love you," her red eyes stared into his. At this point, Gai finally realized that they were in love.
The Jounin looked at her fearfully, "Shut up! Don't make it sound like you are about to die! You can't die on me!!!" He held her tightly. "Deactivate your Sharingan! You are wasting your chakra!"
She shook her head slightly. "Yukiko," he did not understand what she was shaking her head for.
"If I die with Sharingan activated, it'll be activated permanently," she explained with a small voice.
"You are NOT dying, damn it!" he grinded his teeth as if trying to hold his tears back. Nevertheless, droplets still fell gravely onto the Chuunin face.
"I want you to have my eyes," she stated her wish.
"Stop joking around, Yukiko!" He blinked quickly to clear his blurry vision caused by his flowing tear. "I'm not taking your eyes!"
"Kakashi," she begged him seriously. "Please. I want you to be with you forever. I want to be...forever yours."
The genius boy hesitated, but could not turn her down. "Forever mine," he promised reluctantly. She smiled at his words and closed her eyes peacefully, grateful that she could die in his arms.
Kakashi stared at her lifeless body for a prolong period as though he was expecting her to wake up any moment. Finally, he felt a comforting hand on his shoulder. It was Ibiki's, "I'm sorry, Kakashi."
The truth had finally sunk in. He pulled down his mask and kissed her lightly on the lips. Then he whispered, "I love you too."
Epilogue
Due to the enormous amount of chakra needed to use an activated Sharingan, it has to be covered when it is not in use. Alas, only one eye could be implanted. It was also the first time in history for someone not in a clan to have its advanced bloodline, as the Uchiha clan had strongly expressed their disapproval. However, when his body and Yukiko's Sharingan did not reject each other (although Kakashi had always known that they wouldn't), they had wordlessly accepted the miracle.
Kakashi flips another page of his all-time favourite series. His eye scans the page thoroughly, enjoying every word he reads. His face remains expressionless as he reads on a branch that provides cool shades on a hot day like this, while his three students work their butts off to finish some D-ranked labour in the sun.
"Arg! Kakashi-sensei is reading that perverted book again!" Sakura complains, a hand shading her eyes as she looks up.
Sasuke glances at his sensei for a moment and grunts as he returns his attention to the grass-picking mission.
"YA! Kakashi-sensei is a pervert! He's slacking on the job!!" Naruto agrees with the girl loudly and eagerly.
"Shut up, dobe. He beat us while reading that in Survival Training, remember?" Sasuke speaks in a low calm voice.
"You shut up! Don't tell me to shut up! And don't call me 'dobe', dobe!" the blond throws some grass at his rival. Sakura then yells at Naruto angrily.
Up on the branch, although expression remains unchanged, Kakashi has been listening to the whole conversation. He flips another page. On that particular page, a line is highlighted: She is wearing the 1990 limited edition black translucent thong with lace.
The Jounin traced his finger across the highlighted line slowly. The series, Come Come Paradise, is the very reason that has allowed him to meet Uchiha Yukiko. This very line reminds him of the time they had spent together, even though he never had a chance to return the piece of lingerie to her. He smiles sadly as memories flood his mind. Every kiss. Every touch. He remembers the time when they fought on the roof the first time they met. And the time when she pulled down his mask by force. The time when they got into an argument. And finally the time when she had asked him to take this -- Kakashi touches his forehead protector, under where Yukiko's Sharingan is located.
Carrying the book dearly with him twenty-four seven, he may be seen as evidently perverted. And perhaps, only no one will ever know the real reason to why he loves the series so much.
@/ The End @/
A/N: Sorry! I know I'm two months late! I don't know how to write fight scenes and I struggled sooo sooo much. I had the most humongous writer's block, and managed to spit out two lines every weekend. I hope you enjoyed the story enough to add it/me to your favourite list! Check out my other stories too! I'm planning to write a sequel to "Another Reason to be Late".