"So," Asuma said. "You two seem comfortable with each other."

Kakashi scratched his chin. "Who, me and Chiisai?"

Kurenai nodded, studying his cool dream or as she added, "I've never seen you so relaxed around someone."

There was a small smile on her lips, and Kakashi tapped his fingers on the table, frustrated by his predicament.

"Oh," Kakashi said, "she's not as easy to get along with as you might think."

Asuma drank his beer and replied, "You have us fooled, then." He stretched his arm, resting it behind Kurenai, who didn't seem to mind one bit.

Kakashi smiled, feigning ignorance. "What about you two? Do you both usually go on walks and split dinners?"

They both glanced away, and Asuma scratched the back of his head, bringing his arm back. There was a few minutes of awkward silence, and no one would look at each other.

Good, that distracted them from he and Chiisai, at least.

He wanted to give her some space, to let her have room to breathe. She, of course, had chosen to come here, but he'd likely have to cancel their order with the way things were going.

Chiisai must have seen a dream, or a nightmare. The question was, what sort of dream must it have been to have her bolt so suddenly? Her skin had been flushed, her pulse quick, and he was starting to think it had something to do with the two people in front of him.

Another two minutes passed, and Kakashi frowned, glancing back at the bathroom. His gut instinct told him something was wrong.

Kakashi said, "Kurenai, could you check on Chiisai?"

"Is she alright?" Kurenai asked.

"She's been prone to pass out," he replied. "Low blood sugar."

"Is that why she spaces out?" Asuma asked. He stood, allowing Kurenai to move. "

"Ah, so you noticed," Kakashi replied. He rubbed the back of his neck and added, "She has a...medical condition, you could say. It tends to hit her at inconvenient times."

Asuma raised his eyebrow. Kurenai exited the booth and headed back. He sat back down, saying, "That must be difficult for her."

"Yes, well," he said, "she makes due how she can."

The voices in the building dropped to a whisper suddenly as he heard the bathroom door open.

Asuma's expression dropped, and he nodded toward the back. "You made a good call," he said.

Kakashi turned his head. Chiisai lay unconscious in Kurenai's arms. Kakashi quickly got to his feet and stepped towards them.

He had hoped they'd have another day before her chakra tried anything. His anxiety spiked, and his mind filtered through all the scenarios they had played out yesterday.

Passing out in a restaurant hadn't been one.

"I'll take it from here," Kakashi said.

She handed Chiisai over to Kakashi, and he fought the curse rising in his throat at the red lines of skin around Chiisai's wrists.

She must be in the dream world at the mercy of her chakra. His grip tightened around her. There was no way he could help her, unless-

"Are you alright?" Kurenai asked.

Kakashi blinked. Kurenai watched him with a careful gaze. How much emotion had he shown in his eye, his posture? Too much, for Kurenai to be looking at him like that.

He said tightly,  "Cancel our order, will you?"

She nodded, and Kakashi adjusted Chiisai in his arms before leaving the restaurant.

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Chiisai had thought about a lot of things in her life. Dying had been a major subject in her teenage years and now, staring at her seal, being tied down by her own chakra- she thought about it again.

The cords held fast around her wrists and ankles, ensuring that if she used her chakra, it would channel into the seal. She was a hostage in her own mind, ironically, and she wondered how long before she'd break.

She hunched her shoulders, squeezing her eyes shut, as nightmares hovered over her. No, not nightmares, but memories— hers. Questioning reality, cutting her torso, the fear of her father returning home from a mission.

Over and over, they played in her head. These memories were meant for punishment, for pain and sorrow, but the more Chiisai listened, and saw, the more she grew angry, and saddened at the sight of her younger self locked in the prison she once called home.

Maybe Kakashi was right, after all. Parents were supposed to protect, to love, and with her memories exposed, she wondered if she had ever been loved at all.

She blinked, pulled out of her thoughts, as the seal buzzed with energy.

Her chakra leaked out of the seal like water in ink and took the form of a man. The image was hazy, and the voice sounded like a multitude at once. Once your seal breaks, your village will fall, and the world will be thrust into war once more.

"And you'd do all of this just to see me suffer?" She asked. An underlying fear had began manifesting itself inside of her at the posture her chakra took. She recognized the widened stance, the gait of its walk, and the shock of it coursed through her like a bolt of electricity.

The chakra cords vibrated with energy, and Chiisai bit down on her bottom lip as a wave of hot needle-like pain racked over her.

Of course. After all, you've taken everything from me. I'm simply returning the favor.

The figure came into focus, and he stepped forward.

Her father looked the same the last time he saw her- the dark hair pulled back, the brown eyes, the hard set of his jaw, even the wrinkles of his jonin uniform-

Her father, Kuroi Kasaru, alive and intact.

This...this couldn't be real. She had guessed this, of course, but seeing him now-

"I- you should be dead," she said. "I killed you."

He gestured to himself before saying, And yet here I am. You didn't do a very good job, did you?

"How-how are you here?" She pulled at the binds and twisted her wrists, but the chakra rope only tightened its hold. Her voice had failed her, and she hated the weakness she was showing him.

You should know how your abilities work, how...influential you can be with your own chakra. But what am I, without a body? Perhaps I am truly dead, and only a ghost locked behind this cursed seal.

The words fumbled out of her lips. "So you've been trapped, all this time? That doesn't make sense- I would have recognized you."

He chuckled and said, I was lost for some time in your plethora of chakra. And by the time I found myself, and took root in your network, I was locked away. And maybe you did recognize me- but you can't remember, can you?

She paused. He knew about her missing memories, and he was here, inside her head, and gods, this was crazy- she was going crazy. "She couldn't stop herself from asking, "What do know?"

More than you do. So many memories, but you can't find the ones you need, can you?

He stepped forward, crouching down to meet her gaze. He brought his hand to her face, and she flinched as his calloused fingers trailed down the side of her cheek.

Your jaw- I dislocated it once, didn't I?

He pressed his fingers to the side of her face and squeezed. Her eyes widened as he pressed down, feeling the limits of her delicate muscles and tendons.

She knew it happened before she felt it- the snap of cartilage, her jaw sliding out of its normal position.

Then came the pressure, the pain, and all the time, the thing in front of her smiled. And she was left defenseless as he pressed his hand to the crown of her head. Panic rose in her chest, and fought to control her breathing, to fight this autonomic response her brain was producing. She needed to fight, to act, not sit in her shock.

You have no idea the atrocities you've committed, or the power you truly possess. He leaned in and asked, Would you like a taste?

He pressed his nails into her scalp before she could respond.

Memories are lies.

Images flashed, of red eyes and dark hair, and quickly, she grabbed onto the lines of the chakra holding her in place.

Because if she could expel chakra, she could also absorb it. And she was done waiting for answers.

Energy flared into her as images flashed of red eyes- hundreds of them, all staring at her, all crying out as one body. It weighed her down, and as the voices swelled, their despair seeped into her bones.

What the hell was this? The agony was like a hundred nightmares, and it fought against her clarity.

She opened her eyes and saw a rising tide of red.

Her father drew back and smiled. I've finally drawn him out. Good.

The cords of chakra fizzled out, absorbed into her, and she lunged towards him. She drew her hand back, made a fist, and punched him in the gut with chakra-infused strength.

He flew back, and Chiisai staggered, clutching her head as the emotions swept into her.

He rose, and she narrowed her eyes, flickering behind him. This time, she made several hand signs, and lightning flickered to life in her hand. She plunged it into his chest, and he smiled as he dissolved into a bolt of chakra.

It won't be that easy, Small Crow. Enjoy your reunion.

Her chakra flew back into the crack of her seal. She set her jaw back into place and took a deep breath. Red eyes continued to appear behind her closed eyes, and she struggled to gain control as she turned to the new threat her father had unleashed.

Her father couldn't be killed like a regular human- that much she knew. And he had information, which was something she greatly needed.

Her father had retreated, but it wasn't because of her. He had summoned something, and she only knew of one other person's chakra who lurked inside of her.

Crimson liquid bubbled and rose before her and took the shape of a young man. The crimson turned to black, to red, to light tan skin.

He was young, and his hair ran like ink down his back. His eyes were as red as blood, and his face was set with a look of indifference. The lightning in her hand dissolved, and she took a step back, knowing this threat, she couldn't win against.

Itachi Uchiha smiled and said, "You've been busy, Chiisai."