I have so many random plot lines for my OC and Kakashi its ridiculous :| but nonetheless! I wrote this a long time ago and liked it as I re-read it today. So I am posting it. I hope you guys like it. Maybe I'll use this plotline for more story? Lemme know what you think. Thanks for reading guys! *hugs*

Ikumi walked down the main strip of Konoha, arms wrapped around herself as she made her way to the memorial grounds. The bustling of the village around her was distracting. With the thoughts she had had that day, it was welcome.

Two children with wooden kunai laughed and chased one another, shouting they were the best shinobi in the Hidden Leaf as they playfully jutted the toy weapons at each other. A smile came to her lips as they hurried past her.

It had been 22 years since her father passed, 25 since her mother. It was strange to look about at the parents and their children on the street and realize she had no idea what that was like.

She remembered her father more than her mother. She was three when Hurame, her mother, was taken by a fever. Her father died two years later as an officer of the Konoha Police Force. He had given her a doll made from thick linen and rice for her 5th birthday. It was dressed in a red kimono with a yellow bow in it's black hair made from yarn. She still had it, in a box with some photos from back when she was young.

The Yamanaka shop, her stop on the way to the memorial, loomed to her left in the distance. She always brought lilies, for her mother, and daisies for her father. One of the only things she knew about her mother was that she liked lilies. Another was how much she was told she looked like her.

Ikumi recognized a chunin by the name of Genma as he approached, chewing his usual piece of straw. He met her eyes and bowed his head respectfully as he passed. She did the same.

"Morning, Ikumi-senpai."

"Good morning, Genma-san," she replied with what small smile she had in her. They passed each other and continued on their way.

It was Monday. She would head to the Hokage's after she paid her respects for her mission assignment. She wanted to be away from the village, from her memories, and hoped for a mission that took her far away and for a good while.

"Ikumi-sensei," Ino greeted her as she reached the front of the flower shop, "what brings you here so early?"

"Ino-chan. Doesn't your mother usually run the shop in the morning?" Ikumi inquired.

"Yeah, but she's got a lot of deliveries this week and asked me to keep watch this morning. Are you here to buy some flowers?" Ino asked with a kind smile. "We just got a shipment of orchids in, and white lilies."

"I am," Ikumi blinked at the mention of lilies. "I actually need some lilies, and daisies as well."

"Daisies? Hmm, I'd have guessed you more of a tulip kind of woman. Or violets," Ino hurried inside as she spoke.

Ikumi did like violets, she thought silently as she followed the blond inside. "The flowers aren't for me. They're for... a friend," she quickly recovered from revealing too much. She liked to keep her personal life out of her duties as a shinobi, as it was typically required. And she knew Ino wasn't one to keep a secret, bless her teenage heart.

"Well we have daisies, and these are the lilies we just got in," Ino held out a small bouquet of lilies to Ikumi. "Aren't they lovely? Smell them," she pushed them at Ikumi.

"They do smell very nice," Ikumi sniffed the flowers. "I'll take two, and five daisies please."

Ikumi pulled her coin purse from her ninja tool bag and sifted through it. Ino wrapped up the flowers in white paper and tied them with yellow string.

"8000 yen Ikumi-sensei," Ino handed the flowers to her.

Ikumi laid 10000 yen down and took the flowers. "Thank you Ino-chan. I'll see you later," she took her change and left the girl behind the counter.

"Okay! Bye Ikumi-sensei!"

The flowers were so bright they made Ikumi smile as she looked down at them. How something so simple could invoke such a strong sense of joy, even if just for a moment, made Ikumi feel a little better about visiting her parents' graves. At least it was something tofeel, she thought to herself.

After making it through the busy streets of the village she found herself at the entrance to the grounds. She looked out through the gate at the giant fire symbol of the village behind all the gravestones before it. Asuma was here now, she recalled her fellow jonin's passing only three month's prior to that moment. As she walked down the main aisle she could see fresh flowers on his stone. Kurenai must have been by recently.

She made it past the 45th row and turned left, walking down about 17 stones before reaching her parents'. The first stone read:

Hurame Hyuga

Mother and daughter

Aug. 13th to Dec. 27

The second, her father's, read:

Kurakai Uchiha

Father and son

May he rest honorably and in peace

Jan. 21 to Sept. 12

She placed the flowers, daisies for her father and lilies for her mother, next to their respective stones and knelt between the two.

"Everything is so upside down these days mom and dad," she spoke aloud to the stones. "The village repairs are going well. Most of it is back to normal now. We're still working on the school and the library. But classes have been in session and everyone's still been going on missions. With our new-found alliances with the Sand and the Mist we've all actually been almost overwhelmed," she chuckled to herself.

She reached out and scooted the lilies on her mother's stone up a little higher. "I'm set to leave after here. I'm glad of it. It's hard to be here, after everything... even though it's been so long, and I've come here to see you so many times... it's still so hard."

Ikumi sat back on her legs as she felt her eyes well with tears for the first time in a long time.

"I can't help but feel so alone. I'm almost 30, and what have I done?" she sighed sadly and did her best to hold in her tears. She didn't want to cry, and changed the subject to something else. "My team has grown up well. I'm so proud of them, especially Hinata. She's become so strong, and confident.

"I hope I showed them how amazing they are, and will continue to become."

The wind blew a breeze over the grounds, Ikumi's deep red hair billowing across her face and shoulders. She brought a hand up to keep it from her face as she looked to the direction it came from. The leaves in the air swirled above her as they passed her by.

"Hmm. Well I suppose I should get going," she looked back down at the stones. She placed a hand on her fathers, then her mothers. "I miss you."

With that she stood and brushed the grass from her pants. Taking one last look at the graves of the only family she had that she never really got to know, her departure was interrupted by a man standing before her as she turned to leave.

"Kakashi-kun?" she asked the name of the man before her. "What are you doing here?"

"You always come to visit your parents. On the 12th," Kakashi pointed out it was the day of her fathers death.

"You noticed?" she asked, looking away from him as she hugged her arms around herself.

"I did. Are you alright?" he asked kindly.

Ikumi wanted to say no, due to the sadness she actually felt, but didn't want to talk to Kakashi about it. "Yes, I'm fine. I was just on my way to Tsunade-sama's for my assignment."

"That's actually why I'm here," he spoke quietly as he stepped closer to her. "She asked me to find you. She's sending us out to the Hidden Sand for some reconnaissance at the Kazekage's request."

"Both of us?" The quick nature of her question implied she didn't like that she was being sent out with him. Kakashi picked it up, but continued to explain what Tsunade had just explained to him.

"Kazekage-sama asked for you and I, yes."

Ikumi hid the remainder of her unrest at the mission beneath a nod. "What are the details?"

Kakashi went on to explain the point of the mission. There was a band of rogue ninja from the Sand, possibly once under the guidance of Sasori of the Red Sand, plotting an attack and insurgence on the Hidden Sand, and Gaara himself. With thing's how they were, Gaara's ANBU Black Ops and top jonin were all busy with their own missions, as well as helping Konoha rebuild. Gaara had asked simply out of sheer need, hoping Konoha had someone to spare. Ikumi and Kakashi were at the top of his list.

"When do we leave?" she asked.

Kakashi almost answered when the unrest he saw in her eyes was too much for him to ignore. "Is there a problem with me going with you, Ikumi-chan? You seem very unhappy at that part of the mission."

She tried to think of an answer, but couldn't find one. As she looked on at him, she sighed and turned away. "I was hoping to have some time to myself. I'm sorry," her eyes met his.

"I understand," he nodded. He could see, as it always seemed, that she kept so much bottled up inside of her. He could see how much her heartache hurt her as she stood there before him.

He stepped closer and placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. "Is there anything...?" he tried to console her.

"No, Kakashi. Thank you, though," she smiled a small smile. The feeling of his hand leaving her shoulder made her long for him to keep it there. "I'll be fine."

"They would understand," he spoke. He was only a foot away from her. "Your confusion, and anger at being left behind; without a home you felt you belonged too."

Her pale lavender eyes shot up to his one revealed eye. He kept going.

"I know I felt that way when my father took his own life," he admitted aloud for the first time. "But when I saw him, when I had died myself... I realized forgiveness is the strongest power one could ever possess. And you, Ikumi, are the most capable of it out of anyone I have ever met. You probably get that from them, along with the solitary life you've had to lead.

"You have the biggest heart Ikumi."

His words filled her with confusion, wondering why he was talking to her about this. About anything. They rarely spoke of anything, really, except the day to day, and their students at times. But his words filled her with hope, and an unending sensation of joy.

"Why... why are you telling me this, Kakashi?"

He smiled, his eye crinkling with it. "Because... because I really care about you Ikumi. I've learned, recently, that I need to stop acting as if I'm not affected by anything. I am, very much so. And you... you affect me greatly.

"I am 30 and I hide behind duty, and my ability to seem carefree when the situation calls for reaction. I don't want to hide from my life anymore. I want it to co-exist with my duty. I want to be all of me, all the time. I've already wasted 30 years, and lost so many important people that had no idea they were important to me.

"I would forever regret you never knowing how much I care for you."

Ikumi stood before this man, this man she had known all of her life and couldn't believe what he was saying. This was Kakashi. Copy-Nin Kakashi Hatake. Son of the White Fang of Konoha. The man who's copied over a thousand jutsu, and who read smutty romance novels every waking moment of his life. This man before her was her teammate all those years ago. She had loved him then, but he didn't love her back. At least that's what she thought, what he'd lead her to believe all these years.

"What..." she began but faltered. She wanted to shake herself. That moment, his words, his stare, how close he stood to her... none of it could have really been happening. It was so opposite of how she had always known him. How he had always been. But there he was, and there he remained, looking at her, waiting for a response.

He shifted his weight from one leg to the other as he admitted, "This is sudden. But seeing that sadness in you every time you come here... I just thought maybe I could say something. And I wanted to tell you how I felt. God, this is the worst time I could have chosen to say this to you," he realized he'd interrupted a day of mourning for her with news of a mission and the confession of his feeling's. "I have no idea how to be, well, normal," he berated himself aloud.

"Kakashi-kun, no," she insisted. She twitched closer to him, "I'm just, shocked. It's not often, as shinobi, that we hear things like this. It's not often Ihear thing's like this," she rephrased.

"Heh," he calmed from his building panic attack. "I know we were young, back when you told me how you felt. I don't expect anything. I just wish I was as brave as you were then, to confess my heart to someone. To you. I'm sorry that I wasn't."

Ikumi smiled a beautiful, happy smile up at him. "Thank you for telling me this. Now, or then, it doesn't matter. It still means very much to me."

"Ohh man," he sighed. "I'm relieved you don't think me a total ass right now," he laughed, continuing to chuckle as Ikumi joined him.

"It's never too late to start over," she reached out and squeezed his arm in her hand. "I think maybe now could be the perfect time for that."

He nodded as he looked back at her. "I agree."

They stood for a moment, happy to finally have one another know the long years of awkward silence and surface conversations could finally stop. They could get passed their emotional walls and become friends again.

"Well I suppose we should prepare for our mission, then," Kakashi broke the silence.

"Right. I need to re-supply. We can meet at the north gate in about an hour?"

"Sure. I'll see you there," he agreed.

"Okay."

With that, the two smiled at one another one last time before vanishing to their homes.