Chapter 113: No More Paying for the Gift

A few days after the baseline testing, Ren was working in his study when a hospital runner found him. Kakashi had returned to the clinic and was ready to give his answer.

Ren crossed the shared courtyard, walked through the open back door of Kushina’s house, and found her at the kitchen table.

"Kakashi’s back," Ren said simply.

Kushina looked up from her tea. "I’ll get Mikoto."

She stood up, arranged for Naruto to stay across the path, and walked out the door with Ren.

Kakashi was already waiting in the private examination room with Tsunade and Shizune when they arrived.

Before anyone pulled out a brush or ink, Kushina stepped forward. "Kakashi. Before you give them your answer, give me a minute."

Kakashi sat on the edge of the medical bed, his forehead protector pulled straight over his left eye. He looked at her with his lone dark eye, his expression unreadable behind his mask.

"You came to see me twice after Minato died," Kushina said, her voice steady but quiet in the small room. "I made excuses both times. I wouldn’t open the door."

Kakashi didn’t pretend he had forgotten. He didn’t look away either. "You had Naruto."

"Naruto wasn’t why," Kushina cut in, refusing the easy out. "Every time I looked at you, it brought Minato back so sharply I couldn’t breathe. I handled my own grief by avoiding you, Kakashi. I’m sorry. It wasn’t fair."

Kakashi sat perfectly still for several seconds. He didn’t offer a grand, emotional speech of forgiveness. He simply gave a slight, familiar shrug of his shoulders. "I understood."

"That doesn’t make it right," Kushina said. She took a slow breath, stepping closer to the bed. "What did you decide about the eye?"

Kakashi looked down at his own gloved hands. "I still don’t like the idea of altering it. The drain... the exhaustion... it’s always been the price of carrying Obito’s gift. It felt like I was supposed to bear it."

"Obito gave you his eye so you could see with it, Kakashi," Kushina said, her voice dropping all its softness. "He didn’t give it to you so you could spend the rest of your life collapsing for him."

The words cut cleanly through the room.

Kakashi stared at her for a long moment. Then, he looked over at Tsunade.

"Do it," Kakashi said.

Tsunade moved into action immediately. "Shizune, prep the monitoring seals. Ren, let’s see the layout."

Ren unrolled his transcribed design flat on the medical counter. Tsunade performed one final check of Kakashi’s temple, her fingers flaring with diagnostic medical chakra to ensure the tissue was entirely stable.

"If anything feels wrong during the flow," Tsunade warned Kakashi, her tone brooking no argument as she dipped her brush into the specialized chakra-conductive ink. "You tell me immediately. I don’t care how tough you think you’re being."

"I don’t think I’m particularly tough," Kakashi murmured.

Ren leaned against the adjacent desk. "You willingly spend your free time training with Guy."

Kakashi considered that for a brief second. "Fair."

Tsunade dipped the brush into the prepared ink and began drawing the seal around Kakashi’s left temple. The ink dried instantly against his skin, sinking beneath the surface as she molded her medical chakra into the lines.

"Here we go," Tsunade said.

Kakashi’s jaw clenched sharply as the seal flared blue. "Ah—"

"Talk to me," Tsunade commanded, her hands pressed firmly against his shoulder to keep him anchored.

"An uncomfortable pull," Kakashi managed, his hand tightening into a fist against the bedsheet. "Like... a cold burning around the socket."

The marks on the monitoring seal jumped sharply.

Kakashi’s fist tightened against the bedsheet while Tsunade kept two fingers against his temple.

Shizune watched the readings.

A few tense seconds passed.

Then the marks began settling.

"It’s holding," Shizune said. "The drain is coming down."

Tsunade waited another full minute, monitoring the pulse at Kakashi’s throat before she finally stepped back and wiped her hands. "Keep it covered for a moment. Let the baseline settle."

"The passive drain is dropping," Shizune said. "A lot."

Tsunade checked it. "Good. Uncover the eye."

Kakashi reached up and lifted his forehead protector, opening his left eye. The three-tomoe Sharingan spun smoothly in the crimson iris.

The reading climbed sharply as soon as Kakashi started actively using the Sharingan, just as Tsunade had warned. The difference was that it was climbing from a much lower baseline now.

Tsunade nodded. "Using it still costs you. Carrying it is where we’ve made the biggest difference."

Kakashi looked around the room, focusing first on Tsunade, then Shizune, then the far wall. The constant pull he had grown used to was still there, but it had become faint enough that he had to concentrate to notice it.

"That’s much less irritating," Kakashi said dryly.

"I spent eighty thousand—"

Ren stopped.

Tsunade’s eyes narrowed.

"...Do you have any idea how expensive this was to acquire?" Ren finished.

"You weren’t charging him," Tsunade said.

"That doesn’t make it free."

Kakashi ignored the banter. He covered the crimson eye back up with his forehead protector, sitting in the quiet of his own mind for a moment.

He looked up, meeting Ren’s gaze, then Tsunade’s and Shizune’s.

"Thank you," Kakashi said quietly.

Kushina and Kakashi left the clinic together, walking down the stone path toward the main street instead of immediately going their separate ways again.

"Is Naruto doing well?" Kakashi asked, his voice low beneath his mask.

Kushina smiled, the lingering tension finally leaving her shoulders. "Come see him yourself. He’s usually trying to break something in the courtyard around noon."

"I might do that," Kakashi replied.

Inside the clinic office, Tsunade was filing the finalized medical chart while Shizune carefully cleaned the ink brushes and diagnostic equipment.

Ren stepped up behind Tsunade, sliding his arms comfortably around her waist and pulling her back against his chest. He rested his chin on her shoulder, letting out a long sigh of relief. "Everything worked."

Shizune looked over from the washbasin, a knowing smile on her face. "Now you can bother her."

Ren tilted his head, looking toward Shizune. "Only her?"

Shizune gave him a dry look, dried her hands, and walked over anyway.

Ren hooked an arm around her waist and pulled her against his side. He kissed her, then turned and kissed Tsunade before she could complain about being ignored.

"Bring him back in a month for a routine check," Tsunade said. "Unless something changes before then, that’s it."

When Ren finally left the hospital an hour later, an Academy messenger was standing by the stone archway near the entrance, holding a folded slip of paper.

"Lord Ren. Kurenai asked me to deliver this to you directly."

Ren took the note, dismissing the runner. He unfolded the small piece of paper.

Ren read it once.

He came back. East side. Tonight.

He folded the note and slipped it into his pocket.