Masked Rivals /A Kakashi Fanfiction\

Chapter 19

Ibiki was now in the Hokage's office, waiting against the wall as the Third reviewed the tape he played before him.

The Third watched as I sat at the interrogation table, slowly sipping at the water Ibiki had given me.

Unknown to the Third, I had been sitting next to him perched on top of the edge of his desk under the guise of my cloak as he watched.

After the interview concluded, Ibiki and I had a more private off camera conversation. That's when he filled me in on what happened after he questioned me about Pain. He didn't want me caught off guard in an awkward position during this next part.

Ibiki had me include him in my cloak, like I had done so many times before with Kakashi when we left to head over to the Hokage's office.

"If you have severed all ties with the Akatsuki, then how did you know where Kakashi would be in the land of the waves?"

The Ibiki on the tv screen continued his interrogation.

"I followed him there."

"You followed him there...From where? Why?"

"Where...From here. Why...I thought a trip outside the village would be fun. I was starting to get a little restless."

"From here...you mean you've been inside the gates of Hidden in the Leaf Village before?"

Yukaru let out a small chuckle, knowing if it wasn't for this jutsu he wouldn't believe a word she was saying. "It's been about a month since I first entered the gates. And I've been inside them ever since. Kakashi's mission to protect Tazuna was the first time I left here since my arrival."

"And what have you been up to with your time inside the village?" He asked, eyes narrowed and calculating as he watched her expression while she spoke.

"I've been...terrorizing Kakashi..." She muttered lightly, feeling ashamed by the words.

"Kakashi reported that the bridge incident was the first interaction he'd had with you since your 'attack' on him-"

"-A month ago?" Yukaru cut him off, pointing out the matching time line. "I let my anger get the best of me after I left the Akatsuki, and I put my hot headed blame on Kakashi...so I've been utilizing some of my other 'techniques' to follow him around the village and make him believe he was hallucinating and going mad."

"What did you make him hallucinate?"

That was it. The end of Haruhi

"I was his hallucination." She said so simply, like it was obvious.

"You? How could you possibly make him hallucinate you without suspecting the truth."

Yukaru untucked the ends of the bandage from the underside of her braid and slowly began to unravel her mask. As more of the bandage lifted off her skin, her eyes started to darken from the steely gray to her natural blues. This was followed by the slow fade of the tattoos that ran down her face until finally the cool air graced her cheeks. She ran her fingers through the braid until her hair loosened and fell gently across her shoulders.

"Like I said before, I didn't want anyone to be able to associate me with the Akatsuki."

The screen froze as Ibiki paused the tape.

"For the last month, a member of the Akatsuki has been under all of our noses roaming freely within the walls of the Hidden Leaf and none of us, not even you Lord Hokage, had detected her. I can only imagine the catastrophe that could have come upon us if we hadn't had the fortune of it being her. If anyone else in the Akatsuki had done this, they could have murdered us all in their sleep if they wanted."

"You put a lot of faith into her capabilities and that jutsu of yours. How can you be so sure of your accusations?" The Hokage inquired.

It wasn't that he didn't take Ibiki's words serious, he just needed more. And that's why I was there-Ibiki had thought ahead to this moment. He nodded in my direction, which gained him a perplexed glance from the Third. His cue given, I dropped everything. Chakra unmasked and cloak disappeared, my sudden appearance perched on top of the Hokage's desk made him jump.

"Pleasure to meet you, Third Hokage." I gave him a small wave and smile as he stared at me with bewildered wide eyes. "Although, it's really more of a pleasure for you to meet me since this isn't the first time I've met you. In fact," I hopped off his desk and strode over to the window sill. I took a seat the same way I had done before and looked back at him, "It was right here that I sat while Naruto complained about that Tora cat mission until you gave in to him and gave Team 7 their first C-rank mission."

"But, I never-"

"As I said, none of us sensed her. Not even Kakashi whom she deliberately showed herself to." Ibiki answered before he could finish asking.

"By this display, I assume you have a proposal for me."

"Yes. I think we can learn and train from her. Partner her with me. Obviously I have interest in learning her jutsu's that she has been using within the village to add to my interrogation repertoire. And, together we can train our ANBU and jonin to detect any future Invaders that use the same cloaking techniques. And lastly, it'll give you a watchful eye on her as I'm sure you'll require a probational period."

The Third stared off in the distance as he considered Ibiki's proposal.

Now all of the Jonin from the Hidden Leaf Village were gathered in the Hokage's office after he had sent out one of his birds to call upon them for a meeting.

Most were gathered along the chairs set across the room. Others like Kakashi were standing or leaning restlessly, not knowing what this impromptu meeting was for.

"For those of you not yet aware, four days ago a former member of the Akatsuki was brought into our village for questioning. After much thought and consideration, I have decided to make her an official ninja of the Hidden Leaf Village." He announced.

The room was immediately filled with a mixture of gasps in shock and murmurs of outrage.

The Hokage held up his hand to silence them all. "I'm not going to waste my words explaining my decision. Just watch this and you'll see what I see and understand."

Then he hit play, starting the video of Yukaru's interview for them all to witness what happened.

"...No one has need for an alias. It's just me."

"And why do you need an alias?"

"For the same reason I wear this...I don't want my name or my face to be associated with the crimes of the Akatsuki."

"So you don't have to atone for your crimes?"

"No! I'm not like the others... I always hoped it could be possible...to live a normal life outside the Akatsuki one day...and if that day were to come, I didn't want the Akatsuki or fear to be the first thing people see when they hear my name or see my face... it's not the life I want..."

"And your victims...what about the lives they wanted?"

"I have never killed anyone under the order of the Akatsuki!"

"What about outside the Akatsuki order...Have you, Yukaru Kamori, ever killed anyone?......Yukaru, who did you kill?...."

"Self defense is not a crime."

"Who did you kill?"

"...my father..."

If their attention wasn't already on the video, it was now when that unknown voice came onto the video. It was clear by Ibiki's face he didn't know where it was coming from either.

"Did he...touch you?"

"...h-he tried, but that's when I.."

"You're right, self defense isn't a crime."

Kakashi couldn't get out of his head how small and innocent her voice had sounded when she screamed out "No, no, no" before Ibiki snapped her out of her memory. It almost sounded like the voice of a child. And her pained expression...it almost resembled Fig's when she told him about her nightmares.

"What happened with the Akatsuki that you are no longer with them? You told Kakashi that as well"

"After Kakashi got in the way of my last mission, Nagato ordered Kakuzu to kill him. But I convinced him to let me take on Kakashi instead-"

Gai who stood closest to Kakashi gave him a sideways glance. Kakashi didn't look unphased by her statement.

"If you've never killed for the Akatsuki before, why start now?"

"-I wasn't starting. That's why I took it....-...I didn't know Kakuzu had followed me...-...I was done for...I had been made...That stupid Kakashi! I was trying to save his life and he f****d it all up!"

Kakashi now watched in wonder as he thought about what she said she did for him...under normal circumstances he wouldn't believe it...but it had always bothered him the way Kakuzu knocked her out after seeing him.

"I-I was never with Kakashi!"

Now all eyes were on him. But he didn't notice as his stomach twisted in knots, realizing why Yukaru couldn't bring herself to tell him of what had been done to her to cause her to leave the Akatsuki. What made her cry so.

"P-please, d-don't! I-I'm a virgin, please!"

Finally the Third shut off the tape and for a moment the room was filled with silence.

"D-did he?..." Anko spoke up, asking the question that everyone was thinking.

"Fortunately, no. Yukaru told Ibiki that she was able to disable him and get away shortly after that moment you just saw."

Kakashi let out the breath he hadn't realized he held when Anko asked that.

"After what you've all seen, it shouldn't be difficult to believe that Yukaru has severed her ties with the Akatsuki for good reason...and if she ever did rejoin the Akatsuki it would most certainly be as a prisoner since she nearly killed their leader, Pain. I've gathered you here to ask you to respect her wishes to try and live a life outside of the Akatsuki here in the Hidden Leaf village-without malice or contempt for who she once was. Jonin, do I have your word?" The Third eyed the ninjas in front of him as he waited for each one to respond.

They mostly nodded their heads, their minds too wrapped up in what they saw to remember to speak.

"And you, Kakashi?" The Third's gaze landed on him, causing him to stand up straight from where he was leaning against the wall. "Can you put the past and differences between the two of you aside?"

"Yes, of course." Kakashi answered his Hokage swiftly, not knowing the full meaning of the Hokage's question.

"Then without further ado, it is time to introduce our newest Jonin to you all." The Hokage nodded his head towards Ibiki who had been standing on the opposite side of the room next to a door.

I don't think I had ever been so nervous in my life. I felt like every inch of my body was shaking as I waited in the hallway while the Hokage conducted his meeting with the Jonin.

I twirled a finger through my hair nervously while watching my feet shuffle back and forth where I stood.

After Ibiki's discussion with the Hokage, he had agreed to his proposal, but on one condition. Just as I said in the interview about hiding my face so know one would know who I was outside of the Akatsuki, he demanded I get rid of my bandages for good and find a new outfit so that if I ran into the Akatsuki they wouldn't know who I was anymore.

So I now waited for my cue in my new outfit while I fiddled with the hem of my tank. It had a turtleneck made optional with a zipper down the center. Below the bust, the navy material cut off to fishnet that covered my remaining torso. The pants were matching navy capris two more cut outs-one on each hip just below the black belt.

But to truly complete my outfit, I tugged on my new Jonin vest. I left it unzipped and hanging open enough to show off the cut out just below the turtle neck zipper and ending before the cleavage. I also modified the Leaf village headband and turned the plaque into my belt buckle.

A make-over should excite a girl, but it did nothing to calm the nerves over my freshly exposed face and hair hanging down and loose across my shoulders.

The door beside me creaked open after what felt like hours of waiting anxiously. Ibiki opened it just far enough to look at me, then opened it farther once I picked myself off the wall.

"Are you sure I can't wear it just for a little bit longer?" I pleaded with him, referring to my chakra bandages.

He just watched me intently, using his gaze alone to intimidate me.

"Fine." I huffed, then swallowed my fear and pushed myself to walk through the door before I could change my mind and run away.

I was afraid of to see Kakashi's reaction, but it had to happen eventually. At first he didn't really have an expression. He just looked right through me, at first just seeing me as Fig. Then he took in my new attire-the vest and the headband. I could tell the realization hit him when his one eye widened and jaw slacked under the mask.

"Hi. I'm Yakura Kamori." I nervously gave a closed eye grin with a little wave. It was only for a second, but when I opened my eyes again...he was gone.