Scarecrow Kakashi

The Line between Reality and Fantasy

Act 5: Conflict of Interests

Kakashi slid down the rope outside of his bedroom window and landed on the ground quietly. The fourteen year old was supposed to have been working on his swordsmanship with the knightmaster Talon but had found something much better to do. He had promised to meet up with his girlfriend, Suzume for their one year anniversary. Looking down at himself, he tried to dress as best as he could without being targeted as a noble. Kakashi wore a red tunic shirt and tan leather pants. He made sure to make his boots dusty and dirt-ridden and the black mantle over his shoulder to show sign of age.

He ran into the stable and noticed that the stable boy Akira was cleaning out the horseshoes of his horse Kumi. He was certain to be found out, he thought dreadfully. "Akira..." Kakashi decided to come out into the open and offer a deal. The black haired boy dressed in rags looked up at him in surprise.

"Kakashi-dono shouldn't be here. Kakashi-dono should be inside." The boy whispered quietly, placing the horse's foot on the floor. His eyes seemed to reflect the fear of being whipped or beaten.

"I'm not going to hurt you Akira." Kakashi reassured him with a smile. "I just need Kumi right now that's all. And if anyone asks, tell them that I beat you up or something like that. In return, I'll try my best to get you out of this castle of hell."

"Honest Kakashi-dono?" the boy questioned, his eyes wide with disbelief.

"Honest. I promise. Have I ever broken a promise?"

"No Kakashi-dono you haven't." Akira covered his head as Kakashi frowned. He was afraid that the frown foreshadowed a slap, a punch or something worse.

"You don't have to keep calling me Kakashi-dono." he sighed in silent frustration. "Just call me Kakashi-san or just plain Kakashi."

Akira got up and bowed to Kakashi with a grateful smile. "Thank you Kakashi-san! Kumi is all set to go, I'll saddl-"

Kakashi took the reins of the horse and shook his head. "I'll saddle her up. Just go and relax for me all right? Don't make me make it into an order now or I'll have your head!"

Akira nodded and left that room of the stable and into another. Kakashi saddled his horse and mounted it. "Hi-yah!" Kakashi kicked Kumi softly in the flanks. The horse whinnied and took off toward the forest. He made his way to a forest clearing and saw Suzume, wearing a black dress and a white blouse. Her long black hair was tied up in a tight braid. "Suzume-chan!" he called.

"Kakashi-kun!" She got up and ran over to him as he dismounted. He caught her in his arms and kissed her lightly. Suzume smiled and hugged him tightly. "I was afraid you got caught!"

"I'll never get caught. My family is too busy worrying about the country to worry about their little black sheep." Kakashi comforted her with a smile. "I just wish I could maybe one day...just leave it all."

Suzume looked up at him, her arms still tightly wrapped around him. "Leave it all?" she asked.

"Yeah." Kakashi nodded. "Just leave all the responsibilities behind. Just leave this place and live in paradise with you, Kumi and Kimiko."

"Your younger sister? I thought you said you hated all of your family?" Suzume blinked confused. "Kakashi-kun, what makes your little sister so different?"

"She doesn't look down upon me. She doesn't have a mind to question the things that I do. In a way...She's innocent and I feel as if I want to protect it."

"Just like I want to protect you from all of those people out there who want to kill you." he added and wrapped his own arms around Suzume.

"Being a half breed...must be so hard for you Suzume-chan." He laid his head on her hair, stroking her arm slowly. "Has anything else happened?"

"The new home we built together was burned down. Are you sure Hotaka-dono hasn't found out about us? It's weird how everything we try to build together gets burned down or destroyed." Suzume pulled away from Kakashi and turned away from him. He opened his mouth to say something to console her but closed it not knowing what exactly to say.

"Someone obviously doesn't want us to be together Kakashi-kun. Maybe it's best for both of us to just seperate? My life won't be in as much danger and if we were to ever be found out, you won't disgrace your family." she explained quietly, wiping her eyes with her hand.

Kakashi's eyes widened as he reached out and turned Suzume around. He held her by the shoulders and looked at her pleadingly. "But Suzume-chan, you're the best thing that has ever happened to me! Please! We can work this out can't we?"

Suzume leaned forward and kissed Kakashi softly. She pulled away and looked at the ground. "It just doesn't look like we were meant to be Kakashi-kun. Let's hope we meet again someday...Someday in the distant future."

Before Kakashi could protest again, Suzume pulled a black feather from her hair and placed it behind his ear. She smiled weakly and ran away into the forest. Black wings sprouted from her back as she jumped and flew into the night sky. Kakashi watched helplessly as the love of his life flew away. "Suzume-chan!" he screamed out her name, trying to call her back.

Shaking terribly, Kakashi fell to his knees onto the ground. His mind raced and he could donothing but try to keep a sane mind. The most important person in his life, what he had kept himself alive for, was now gone. Suzume was the only good in his life. Someone had to pay for destroying his life, right? Who chased Suzume away? The villagers maybe? Hotaka, his older brother? His own parents?

"They will all have to pay then." Kakashi grinned to himself. He heard a sound in the forest and turned in the direction of it. The royal advisor stepped out, dressed in his richly decorated robes of red. "Advisor Shin?" he asked, confused.

The man went to open his mouth and asked.

"Nanashi-san!"

---

"Nanashi-san!"

Nanashi opened his eyes and looked around bewildered. Naoko stood above him, looking down at him in disbelief. "Nice dream?" she asked. "You had a silly grin on your face. Kissing Yumi-san in your dreams?" she asked with a sly grin.

"A silly grin?" he asked her, confused. Naoko nodded with her hands on her hips."I feel so ashamed all of a sudden." Nanashi got up and walked outside. Alexander had provided them with a ship to go about their voyage to the continent that was nickname 'Hell'. He noticed his hair was moving and that the sail was blowing but there was one thing wrong.

"I can't feel anything...I can see it...But...I can't feel it." Nanashi looked down at his hands, watching them tremble in fright. "Great...what if I were to be stuck like this forever? Things wouldn't be the same between Yumi and I now would it?"

He rubbed his arms uncomfortably as he walked up the deck to the mast of the ship. Gripping onto the rungs, he climbed swiftly up to the crow's nest. Nanashi looked out again to the continent as he held onto the mast and his hat. Above him, he heard a crow cry out and fly toward the continent.

"What's a crow doing way out here? Last I heard they were mainland birds." he wondered out loud. They were also the ones that kept trying to eat Akira's crops, he thought with amusement.

Naoko walked out and took hold of the wheel, looking up at her partner. She then looked down at her feet. Yasu and Tamuki are my family, she thought to herself, but they're enemies! They caused many deaths by reviving Shin. They made the lives lost in the Great Conflict eleven years ago irrelevant. Her pale hands gripped the wheel, lost in her thoughts. Family...Enemies! Justice...Selfishness. Was she putting herself first before anyone else?

Isn't it fair that she asked for a reason why everything happened this way? About why her mother disappeared and seperated her from her siblings? Why that mysterious man appeared to her one night and took her to the Capital Academy? Why did she start to suddenly not feel for Nanashi's cause anymore? Why was she becoming more selfish? Was it because of the distance slowly closing between Hell and herself? Would...she do the unthinkable?

"All I've ever wanted was a family..." she said to herself quietly. "Someone to hug me when I was sad...Someone to congratulate me when I scored high in an exam."

Naoko looked up at Nanashi again, and swallowed air making a small gulping noise. The air tasted foul in her mouth and she took a drink from her flask of water to get rid of the taste. It still lingered, not backing down. "Can I actually fight against Yasu and Tamuki? Does Nanashi truly deserve to have his family back at the cost of my own?"

Her eyes widened at the realization. If Nanashi had his family back together, she would lose what was left of hers! And if she got her family back, Nanashi would lose his! Who truly deserved their family back? Was it possible to bring them both back? No...she thought, it wouldn't be that easy now would it? In this world, it's kill or be killed.

Nanashi was supposed to be dead, she never died. Nanashi would never have had a family if he had just stayed dead. She would still be alive, her life in no consequence to Nanashi's and vice versa. Would she be justified by raising her sword and killing Nanashi right then and there? Or should she wait, let him kill Shin while she pulled her family members away? Then together, they could kill Nanashi for continually seperating them and live happily ever after?

But he cares about you, a voice in Naoko's head protested. He saved you in the desert storm! But you repaid the debt by leading him this far, the idiot never even knew how to navigate a boat! He's so far away from his wife that could be dead, we could marry or elope! He's far too noble and honourable to do such a deed, the voice responded, besides aren't we noble too? To an extent, yes.

"Naoko-sama?" She turned and looked at Nanashi who had climbed down the crow's nest and walked over to her. He looked at her, his eyes full of worry. "You look...exhausted. Maybe you should rest for the rest of the trip."

Naoko smiled making Nanashi raise his eyebrows in confusion. "Are you noble...Nanashi-san?" she asked blankly.

He blinked, unsure of where the conversation was going. It was weird and very unsettling. "Noble? Maybe...I really don't know the definition."

Naoko stepped closer to him, letting go of the wheel. It started to spin around wildly and the ship started to turn off course. "H-H-Hey! Naoko-sama!" He protested loudly as Naoko watched him grab the wheel and pour all of his strength into setting it back on course. "What was that for?" he yelled at her.

"Am I noble?" she asked him, ignoring his question.

"I'd like to think yes!" He looked away from her again feeling uneasy but healso felt a mix of anger and rage at her for talking so stupidly.

Naoko looked down at the deck and then over to Nanashi. She slinked closer to him, standing in front of the wheel and staring at his face. The amber eyes he has, could she possibly drown in them? And the way he weilds that scythe of his? What a warrior! Strong muscles, such unruly straw blond hair and impeccable mannerisms! And to just cinch it, his wife could die and so could his child!

"Naoko-sama, would you quit looking at me like that?" Nanashi frowned at the young knight. He remembered their conversation when they first met. 'Not looking', she had said. Then why was she looking at him like that? What if she tried something? He couldn't let go of the wheel! They would go off course or possibly capsize, he didn't know!

She smiled again. Nanashi would be hers to employ. Hers to manipulate. Hers to command. Shin was bad to her family, Nanashi would kill them. The Capital doesn't want her back for being away without leave for such a long time, Nanashi would kill them. Yumi was alive and standing between her and happiness...

Nanashi will kill her, she thought with a grin. He will kill her again and again and again until there is nothing left! Hotaru and Nanashi's friends don't like it? He will kill them tenfold the way he killed Yumi. It would be a massacre. A brilliant massacre. And Nanashi would be hers to keep. Hers to love. His strength will please her. His love will please her. He will please her!

Naoko leaned in closer to Nanashi. So close their noses almost touched. Nanashi opened his mouth to start a protest on behalf of his feelings at the moment. The young knight saw the opening and fixated her lips onto his, her tongue penetrating his mouth. Even if he lost his sense of touch he still had his ever so loyal sense of taste and as soon as he tasted her saliva, he knew what was happening. Did he stop her though? Did he remember Yumi and the wedding ring on his left hand?

Naoko screamed in pain as Nanashi bit her tongue gently but harsh enough to make her back away. "I hope you learned your lesson." he growled in warning. "I'm married...Happily married! Just because Yumi is sick and we're miles apart does not mean I'm lonesome and in need of another lover to satisfy my needs. Naoko, in the name of the Lord and Lady Dieties, I have a child! A child in unbelievable danger at that! Don't think for half a second that I'm a lost puppy wanting someone to comfort me!"

She glared at him, absorbing all the information being given to her. If she knew anything, Naoko had to be flexible in her plans of forming a family for hers to have and to command. She feigned and said "I..." and shook her head as if she was dazed. "I'm sorry Nanashi-san. I lost myself there for a second."

Did he buy it, she thought.

Nanashi looked down at her with a huge frown. "I guess in a moment of conflict that is a prequel to a decisive battle can make people into many things they usually aren't. You gave me a scare Naoko-sama." A smile plastered itself on Nanashi's face. "Care to take the wheel?"

He bought it!

"With pleasure!" she answered with an equal smile and took the wheel from Nanashi. In only a few short moments, they would be arriving at the continent.

Nanashi left Naoko at the wheel and walked down to the front of the boat. He already lost his sense of smell and touch. His sense of taste had lingered long enough to save him from horrible deceitful and sinful act. As soon as the sense of taste was gone, he had only his most reliable sense left. The senses of sight and hearing were next up on the chopping block. How could he fight if he couldn't see anything? How could he fight if he saw and heard nothing?

It went to show that with Naoko's insane scheming to have a family of her own, Shin's mysterious agenda and Nanashi's inner conflict of becoming a scarecrow again was going to meld together and create the ultimate conflict. One that could cost many their lives. One that, Nanashi would never have guessed, would tear the three continents apart like it did thousands of years ago.

A conflict to end all conflicts.

A conflict to start all conflicts.

What would be attained?

---

A/N: Long author note here people!

I'm thinking most of you faithful and loyal readers to the soon-to-be Scarecrow Kakashi Trilogy are wondering what caused Naoko to well...crack up? Ah! Elementary my dear readers and, hopefully, dedicated reviewers! Naoko had been fighting an inner conflict in her mind. Like she stated above 'If Nanashi had his family back together, she would lose what was left of hers! And if she got her family back, Nanashi would lose his!' Naoko had been searching for her family her whole life. She wanted them back more than ever and would possibly kill to do so. But she lives a noble life, you say! Naoko looks back and she may possibly wonder if it was all a lie, just to get what she wants. Then there's a part of her that insists it's true, leading to a conflict. Not to mention she does harbour some affection for Nanashi (leave that for later!) and wants to make him hers in case things don't work out with Yasu and Tamuki. Quite the plan! Oh but her noble morality comes into play! Naoko starts to go a little coo-coo for Coco Puffs! The Coco Puffs being thepoor dedicated Nanashi who wants nothing more than to piece back together his family as well! A conflict of interests? Or the case of a very suitable chapter title? Ake must sign off and have a shower now. The thought of smelling like Wednesday on Thursday is bad.

Ake must also say she does not own Coco Puffs though she may want to try them. And no Nanashi is not a Coco Puff now take that doobie out of your mouth! She also does not own the motto. Nor does she own the saying 'Elementary...' etc. etc. These days...does Ake even own herself? I better save up to buy me just in case OO!