Teuchi charged down the street muttering every three steps or so - disjointed syllables like "smut!" "the nerve!" and "I never - !" Ayame fluttered after him wringing her hands and occasionally making vain attempts to pluck the vibrant orange book from her father's grasp. His arms pumped, his eyebrows glowered (even more than usual), and his nose twitched as if he smelled something unpleasant. He paused at the hospital entrance only to let a nurse with a wheelchair pass, then stomped in, Ayame trailing behind, biting her lip.
"Hatake Kakashi!" Teuchi barked at the girl at the reception, who looked rather startled but answered readily.
"Kakashi-san is in room 12 b, but he is not to be distur--"
"Thank you!" he boomed and moved off down the hallway, his daughter in his wake.
The ramen chef slid aside the door to room 12 b so forcefully that the glass rattled in its frame, and the vase of daisies on the bedside table teetered. The room was bright and peaceful. The patient in the bed was apparently sleeping; the nurses had removed his shinobi headband and swathed his head with gauze surrounding his great tuft of silver hair. His arms, which poked above the covers of the bed, carried an alarming number of bandages and bruises. On the whole, Kakashi looked so uncharacteristically helpless that Teuchi paused for a moment in letting loose his prepared tirade.
Taking advantage of her father's temporary silence, the girl tugged at her father's sleeve. "Father, not now, he's resting!"
For a moment, it seemed this argument would indeed stop her father. He always had been a big softie. However, at that moment, a mischievous breeze came in through the open window, stirred the vase of daisies, caught the card displayed next to them, and tossed it directly at Teuchi's face. It struck his rocky forehead with an audible slap and fell to the floor.
He squatted to retrieve the card. Rising to his feet, he examined it - and his glower deepened.
It read:
To Kakashi - best wishes for a speedy recovery. Try to be more careful on your next mission.
Your Ayame
XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX...
The hugs and kisses continued off the bottom of the little card and on to the back of it. Teuchi turned the card over, following the writing all the way to where it terminated in "...XOXOXXXOOO-X."
Glancing up at his daughter, he gave her a frosty look. "Don't you think that's a bit excessive, Ayame-chan?"
"No!" She lifted her chin in defiance. "Besides, you're the one who told me to consider him in the first place."
"When I told you to consider Kakashi, I didn't mean that you should throw yourself at a..."
A throat cleared across the room. Kakashi pulled himself up in bed and opened his right eye. The scarred left lid remained closed so that in spite of his innocent expression, he still looked a little roguish, an impression not aided by the fact that his ever-present mask was still in place. Teuchi rounded on him in an instant, strode across the room, and plunked the novel he was still carrying down into Kakashi's chest. Kakashi glanced, bemused at its cover, which depicted a voluptuous young woman, wearing little more than an apron, being caught up in the arms of a burly-looking ninja. The title read "Romance over Ramen."
"Is this your doing?"
Kakashi didn't answer the accusation – rather he plucked the book off the covers and exclaimed, "Oh, this is a good one!" He began fondly flipping through the book.
"Guh- but! smut!" Teuchi sputtered. "You're filling my daughter's head with garbage! I found that trash in my daughter's bedroom!"
"This?" Kakashi's voice was mild. "This is a finely tuned morality tale - full of bravery, and... and..."
He seemed to be searching for the proper word.
"...decency?" Ayame supplied. "fidelity?... chastity?"
"Just so," Kakashi continued. He waived the book in the air a little. "This book is just chock full of chastity."
Teuchi didn't seem to know how to respond to that outrageous claim - his mouth hung open and his jaw worked a little - as if he was chewing on a retort.
Kakashi headed him off. "Have you read the book, Teuchi-san?"
"No, I --"
"Well, you should - it's really quite good, and there's an excellent recipe on page 72."
"Really?"
Kakashi flipped to the page in question and held it out for Teuchi to examine. The older man leaned in a squinted at the page. "Hmm - ramen with bean sprouts and... raisins? That just might -" Teuchi made a move to take the book and turn the page, but Kakashi pulled back the book and placed it for safekeeping next to the flowers on the bedside table.
"Thanks for bringing it by, Ayame-chan, it does get lonely and dull here in the hospital."
Teuchi straightened and looked as if her were going to try and argue again, but Ayame intervened. Tugging on her father's arm, she said, "No problem, now we'll leave you in peace, you must be positively exhausted." She pushed Teuchi ahead of her toward the exit. As she closed the door, she gave Kakashi one last look and a wink. He responded by drawing his hand across his bandaged forehead as if wiping away perspiration. She grinned at him and turned back to her father, expecting some sort of reproof.
Instead, Teuchi was staring off into space with a pensive expression on his face.
"Raisins... hmm."