We walk into the crowded bar and within an instant, I wish I was back at home with Kakashi.
I could still leave now and head to the bar that he's at with Guy, Asuma and the others.
I look over at Sakura who's eyes are already gleaming with delight.
Ugh, I guess I'll stay. This will be fun. Maybe if I keep telling myself that, it'll come true.
We find a table towards the back of the bar. The smell of liquor and cigarettes fills the air and honestly it makes my stomach feel a bit queasy.
Ino wastes no time in looking around for the cutest guy she can spot in order to get the poor sucker to buy her a drink.
"I'll get us some drinks! What do you guys want?" Sakura yells over the loud music and people socializing.
"I'll take a rum and coke." Temari says.
"Um, I guess I will take that too. Thank you Sakura." Hinata timidly says. That's gotta be the loudest I've ever heard her speak before.
Sakura turns to me waiting for my drink order. I still feel like I'm going to be sick.
"Could you just get me a water for now?" I ask her.
"You're not going to drink?" Sakura says, clearly disappointed.
"Maybe in a little bit. I'm not really feeling it right now." I explain.
Sakura huffs and I watch as she disappears into the crowd of people towards the bar.
_________
Several rounds later, when all the other girls are on their fourth or fifth drink, I'm on my second glass of water.
I watch as poor Hinata is being forced to wiggle uncomfortably on the dance floor with Temari.
I can't help but giggle at how out of place she looks. I should really go rescue her.
I look around the bar and spot Ino drinking with some random guy in a corner. Looks like she found someone to cling onto for the night. It's rather amusing.
From the corner of my eye I see a flash of bright pink. I turn to see Sakura, drunk and nearly falling over, talking to some guys at a table a few feet over.
Unfortunately, the men look anything but impressed with the way she sloppily leans on their table, accidentally spilling one of their beers.
"Okay, not good." I mumble and get up from the stool I'm sitting on to walk over and wrangle in my drunk friend.
"Hey Sakura. You okay?"
I put my hands on her waist, helping her stand up from the table she was harassing.
"Your friend is fucking annoying." One of the guys says to me as I try to lead her away from them.
"Fuck you." I snap back at him making him scoff as his face turns bright red.
Sure, she's annoying. But he's not going to disrespect her like that in front of me.
"Come on Sakura, let's go back to our table."
"M'kay. Bye-bye losers." She slurs, spitting her tongue out at them before I turn her around and nearly drag her back to our table.
I see Temari and Hinata sitting back down waiting for us as I help Sakura onto the bar stool making sure she's steady.
"You-you're no fun tonight Akar-Ari." She lets out a loud hiccup as she struggles to stay in her seat.
I chuckle a little, not letting her get to me.
"I know Sakura, I'm sorry. You okay though?" I ask with an amused smile on my face.
Well I definitely can't drink now. Not when she's this drunk.
"Do you even care if I'm o-okay?" She asks, dramatically frowning at me.
Oh no. We've been getting along so well. Please don't turn on me now.
"Of course I do. You're my friend." I push my glass of water towards her.
"Maybe you should try drinking some water?"
Temari snickers as she watches our exchange.
"Yes Sakura. I think Ari is right." Hinata says.
"Why the he-hell aren't you drinking Akari?" Sakura says, glaring at me with a pinched expression. She lets out a loud, exaggerated sigh.
I put my hand over my mouth so that she doesn't see me laughing.
"Are you upset? You s-seem stressed out." She sits up and tilts her head, narrowing her eyes at me as she pushes her glass of liquor towards me. "Live a little."
"No, Sakura. I told you, remember? I didn't feel that well earlier." I try to explain to her but it's like I'm speaking to a child.
"No, you're stressed. Akari." She pushes out her lower lip and reaches across the table squishing my cheeks together.
"Akari." She says again once she has my face smushed in between her hands.
Temari cackles with laughter as she watches Sakura. I'm not sure if any of us have seen her this fucked up before.
"Don't be stressed out Ari. Look, he will be okay." She slurs.
I lean away from her hands, chuckling lightly from confusion.
"Sakura, what the hell is your drunk ass talking about?" I tease.
"Kakashi Sensei! Your boyfriend." She wiggles her eyebrows at the mention of Kakashi.
"Yes, my boyfriend." I giggle. "Why do you say he will be okay?"
This girl is talking absolute nonsense at this point. As funny as it is, it may be time for us to go.
"On the mi-mission." She hiccups.
My eyebrows furrow as I cock my head to the side, wondering what the hell she's talking about.
"The. Mission." She repeats. "He will be okay. Naruto and I- oh! And Sasuke! My l-love." She rambles.
"We will take care of him." She reaches out and places her sticky hand over mine. She leans her head on her other hand, struggling to keep it up.
What the fuck is she talking about? Did Kakashi get a mission?
"Sakura, what mission?" I feel my irritation grow with the drunk girl in front of me.
She looks at me with confused, drunken eyes.
"For H-Hidan."
My body instantly stiffens in my seat. I feel my breathing catch in my throat as I stare blankly at her.
"What?"
She reaches out trying to grab my glass of water, nearly knocking it over.
I snatch her wrist in my hand and tighten my grip a bit to get her attention. I've had enough of her at this point.
"Sakura. Did you guys get a mission for Hidan and Kakuzu?"
She nods her head sluggishly.
"With Kakashi?" I ask softly. This has to be just a drunk rambling, right?
"Mhm, we leave tomorrow? The day after t-tomorrow? I can't freaking remember."
She throws her hands up in the air and slams them back down on the table.
I feel my panic start to set in as I realize what the fuck she's admitting to me right now.
Kakashi got the Hidan mission.
It all makes sense now. Why it felt like he was off today.
I quickly stand up from the stool, nearly knocking the table over. I glance at Hinata and Temari who both look like they have no idea whats going on.
"Are you guys sober enough to take care of her?" My voice is stern as I speak to them. It in no way reflects the way I feel.
I try to absorb the information that Sakura just gave me.
Kakashi. Mission. Hidan.
I grab the table, trying to steady my wobbly legs. I feel the cold sweat on the back of my neck as I try to control my breathing.
Temari nods her head.
"We're good. Are you okay?"
Before she can even get the rest of her sentence out, I've whipped around and headed for the exit of the bar.
_________
I slam open the door to the apartment and walk straight for the office.
He lied to me. I can't believe he lied to me.
I know he was probably told to. But, fuck. I don't know what the fuck to think right now.
I just have to find that scroll.
I open the door and flip on the light. "Where is it? Where the fuck is it?"
I dig through all the scrolls and piles of paper we have on the top of the desk. Finding nothing.
I empty the desk drawers onto the floor, opening and reading every damn paper I can find.
"Fucking nothing."
Maybe it really was just some drunken nonsense from Sakura.
I look down at the last drawer that has that fucking lock on it, taunting me.
"Fuck this."
I kick my foot at the drawer several times with all of my strength, until I hear the wood split.
I reach into the drawer. Thinking back to the night he put a bunch of papers in here, so that I couldn't read them.
I shuffle through them. Reading the words scribbled out on the pages.
Mission reports. Tons of them. Written by Sasuke.
About Hidan. This whole time.
Everything finally starts to make sense. I think back to the argument we had on the night before my birthday.
He knew. This is what he's been worried about.
I wipe at the angry tears that fall onto my cheek as I continue to flip through the reports.
I check the bottom of the drawer but the mission scroll isn't in here.
I sit on the floor looking around the room, wondering where the hell he would put the mission scroll.
My eyes skate over the book shelves, widening once I spot it.
There on top of his Icha Icha series, shoved to the back of the shelf is a scroll.
I stand up and walk over to the shelves. I only realize my hands are trembling when I pick it up and open it.
My eyes quickly scan over the page.
Sure as shit, right here in front of me, is the mission to assassinate Hidan and Kakuzu.
A mission exactly like the one that killed my sister, has been assigned to the love of my life.
I stare at the open scroll feeling lost.
Helplessness weighs heavily on my chest as I reread the scroll multiple times.
There's no way I can let him go. The haunting images of Kakashi in the hospital bed, Genma's blood soaked shirt come rushing back to me.
I almost didn't get him back alive the last time he went after Hidan.
Panic stirs in the pit of my stomach and I suddenly feel the bile rise in my throat.
I stand up and rush to the bathroom, barely making it on time to empty my stomach into the toilet.
I rinse my mouth out and splash a bit of water over my face in an unsuccessful attempt to calm down.
I stare at myself in the mirror.
Fear is etched onto every inch of my face. I look like a stranger.
I can't lose him.
I can't let him go, I won't. I grip onto the bathroom counter, knuckles turning white.
I'd rather put my life on the line one thousand times over than risk what could happen if he goes on this mission.
I once lost the most important person in my life to Hidan. I'm not about to lose another.
I grab my phone from my back pocket and quickly ignore the text messages I have from Kakashi and the other from Hinata.
It's 10:30. If I'm gonna go, I need to leave now. That would give me at least a few hours before anyone realizes that I took off.
I rush into the bedroom, throwing my shirt and my bra off along the way. I strip off my jeans and quickly put on some spandex shorts, a black T-shirt and my ninja vest.
I stuff my travel pack with the only things I'll need for this mission.
My weapons.
I snap my pack around my waist, securing it tightly around myself. I bend down and open the bottom drawer of my dresser, pulling out the weapon Iruka gifted me.
My katana.
My fingers trace my sisters name engraved on the handle.
My sweet sister. She would never approve of me going.
The gravity of what I'm deciding to do starts to weigh on me as my head swims. My chest tightens painfully as I push myself to keep moving.
I strap the weapon tightly to my back, feeling the cool leather of its sheath against my skin.
I take my phone out of my back pocket and shove it deep into my top dresser drawer so that there's no way that Kakashi can track me once he realizes that I've gone.
My chest aches with guilt.
I know that he's going to lose it once he realizes I'm gone. But everything will be fine. I'm strong and I won't let my feelings of my sister cloud my vision.
I know what my goal is, and I won't fail. And then I'll come home to Kakashi, where he'll be here, safe.
I place my hands on the dresser for a moment, taking a deep breath in.
The only thing that pushes me forward is knowing that Kakashi won't have to put his life on the line the way he did before.
I walk into the living room and grab a piece of paper from the magnetic pad on the fridge where we write the grocery list.
I quickly scribble out a note for Kakashi.
I just want him to understand that I'm doing this not because I'm seeking revenge but because I love him too much to let him risk his life like this again.
I struggle to blink the forming tears away.
I fold the paper in half and hold it against my chest.
Where do I put it that he will find it, but not right away?
I walk into the office and place the folded up note where I found the mission scroll. I know he'll find it there eventually.
I make my way over to the front door and pause before I walk out.
I look around our dark apartment.
My stomach tightens as my eyes take in the sight before me.
Our home.
I want nothing more than to curl up in his arms right now.
To feel safe and warm.
I hope that he understands why I have to do this. I hope that after this, he will forgive me.
His words from today replay in my head.
I would do anything for you.
He needs to know that I would do the same for him.
A/N:
I don't even have anything to say 😅 I'm just so excited we've made it to this part!
Next chapter will be posted tomorrow ❤️