Kindred Spirits
Floating on the periphery of each other's lives, they had known each other for years. Not as close friends, not even acquaintances, just colleagues who barely registered on each other's radar. The kind of silent acknowledgement that said, I know you exist, nothing else, but I don't actually care to find out more.
There were many ANBU under the Hokage, after all.
Kakashi was four years older than her, and when she joined the ANBU, fresh and eager to serve, it wasn't long before he left it, tired and jaded. They never went on more than two missions together.
She knew of his past—it wasn't a huge secret, despite his reluctance to speak of it—and his habitual visits to the memorial stone. Sometimes, on the rare occasions it crossed her mind, she felt he was being unreasonable. Others had lost loved ones as well, but the sentimental value of visiting their grave more than once a month wore off after a few years.
But that was before Hayate died.
She visited the memorial stone often now, as much as her schedule allowed. There, she would allow the memories to overwhelm her for a few moments—love, grief, anger, loss, longing. Then she would harden her heart and leave, her heart cold and her face stiff, to face whatever life still had in store for her.
Sometimes, Kakashi would be there too, and they would nod to each other, a silent acknowledgment. The kind that said, I know what you're going through. Because of that, they rarely spoke, and never asked trivial questions of each other—they didn't need to know how the other was feeling, or how the other's life had been. That wasn't the important bit.
Actions spoke louder than words, after all.
At first, when they had yet to become close friends, they spoke through their eyes of understanding and empathy. Later, it would be the occasional touch on the upper arm or shoulder, because that was how a friend offered support after the deepest grief. When they made love, every touch was careful and solemn, because their delicate relationship was created in guilt and heartbreak.
He threw himself into repairing his shattered team and she took pride in her bloody missions, but together they were a tragedy, brought together and held together by memories of those who had gone before them.