Yo! Considering how many queries I got for Fascination asking whether there would be a sequel, I decided to attempt to write one! The bones of this plot idea was originally meant for a separate KakashiXOC story, but it seemed also to work well for Kakashi and Oriko. I hope that you like this sequel (I never intended to write one) and that it will live up to expectations/desires of the readers etc.

Thank you very much for everyone who reviewed Fascination and wanted a sequel, you support really meant a lot and I hope, at least, that you will enjoy this story just as much!

Cheers!

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Fascination: Sequel

Part 1

Oriko landed silently on a tree branch, although it was extremely narrow and to first glance looked as though it would only just take her weight, but she executed the move with absolute precision that not a single leaf fell from the branch. She held out a dead straight hand at her (albeit crouched) waist level and the other two members of her team came to an immediate halt behind her, although their mission was officially completed and they were on the return journey, the seemed to have guests. Oriko didn't recognize either chakra signature – both were tremendously powerful but neither seemed hostile, this greatly confused Oriko, who'd long since suppressed her own chakra.

Signalling to her team to remain still, she crept forward to get a look at the company they were apparently keeping; this doesn't make sense, if they were hostile – especially for having such enormous chakras between them – the ANBU security would already have apprehended them, but if there were friendly to Konoha, so much so that ANBU knew them, why haven't I met them before? Oriko, although under no illusions about her ability or fame in Konoha, had been a resident of the hidden village for close to two years and knew (or at least recognized) every citizen or regular visitor. Most she didn't deal with (never much a fan of company) but made a point of familiarizing herself with chakra signatures or facial features – knowing it was prudent to at least recognize those of her home village, especially her fellow shinobi.

But these two men, she recognized neither the chakra signatures nor physical attributes, one was almost a giant of a man, easily over six foot and dressed in a traditional Japanese style, wearing a dark green jinbei (although giving off a more masculine sense than Oriko's own) along with matching dark green trousers and a large red, loose waist coat; he wore close fishnet shirt and trousers, by the look of it, underneath his green outer layers. He had a large bushel of while hair and a huge scroll at his back; with traditional wooden sandals. He was a curious sight indeed, for such a chakra signature, it was unusual to find a shinobi out of typical uniform (especially for a male) – although Oriko couldn't blame him, she herself prefer a more unique style to the classic uniforms.

Beside the man was a younger looking boy, a pack on his back and black trousers – looking decidedly more shinobi like, although neither in uniform, his bright blonde hair almost lit him up and although they walked at even pace, Oriko could sense an emotional tension, something akin to excitement from them. Making an elective decision, she ceased suppressing her chakra and leapt down to the path behind the pair, the elder flashing a glance over his shoulder before the boy even seemed to notice. The elder quickly span himself around, his mouth open and eyes wide momentarily, before he corrected himself and a sly smile grew on his face, Oriko wondered for the brief moment, why he had thick, black paint running down from the corners of his eyes over his cheeks;

"My, my, aren't you a pretty thing…" He commented, raising a hand to brush his chin as the boy too span around to stare at the woman now in front of him,

"Who are you two?" Oriko eyed the carefully, noting neither made a hostile move - or even gave of an inkling of malicious intent, she attempted to ignore the elder eying her appreciatively up and down, "I repeat, who are you?" The blonde frowned,

"Who're you?" He retorted, jabbing a finger towards her, as though indignant at being asked the question; Oriko sighed heavily,

"I am a Chuunin of Konoha, I must ask you to identify yourselves," She repeated again, observing the grin work its way on the white haired man's face,

"You're a feisty one, aren't you?" He closed his eyes and seemed to nod to himself, "Well, I can't refuse a beautiful woman," He stepped back, bending one knee and flashing a hand forward with it stretched open, as though trying to pull a dramatic pose; it wasn't lost on Oriko, just how much his pose reminded her of the one Raiga had pulled years ago when he kidnapped her, "I am the untamable, gallant and supremely handsome Jiraiya," He pulled what she supposed was mean to be a charming grin, but wasn't one that worked on her.

Her face falling to an unimpressed expression, she averted her eyes to the boy, noting his headband bearing the leaf insignia,

"And you?" His face seemed to light up with a gleeful grin;

"I'm Uzumaki Naruto and I'm going to be the greatest Hokage!" His grin seemed to grow even wider at his own boasts of confidence, Oriko's face looked as deeply unimpressed with the younger as it had with the elder,

"…Okay…" She waved a hand out without averted her eyes from the two in front of her, calling her team from the trees; they joined her in a matter of seconds, both of whom immediately bowed,

"Jiraiya-sama," Their voices were low and full of respected, Oriko stared at them questioningly, tempted to pull a Jutsu on them to check if they really were still her team; the young male teammate noticed her silent questions, "Ah, he is Jiraiya-sama, one of the three legendary Sennin," Oriko raised an eyebrow in obvious disbelief (although could just as easily been a symbol of how unimpressed she was with the supposed 'Sennin'),

"And..?"

"What? How can you not know ero-Sennin?" Another, albeit awfully young male voice attracted her attention, Oriko turned to see that the young blonde had spoken;

"Am I supposed to?" The 'Sennin', she noted, stood back up to full height and grinned sheepishly, obviously unused to someone not knowing who he was, although she eyed them carefully, Oriko could well sense that neither posed any sort of malicious intent. Adding to the fact that her team immediately recognized (and paid respect to) one of them, she felt sure it was alright to continue back to the village which only a few more miles away.

"Alright, let's get back to the village guys," She called out to her team, although her eyes still carefully on the two unknown men in front of her; both eyed her back equally carefully, but she could sense the difference in their gazes. The blonde eyed her suspiciously, clearly sizing her up, whilst the white haired one seemed to allow his gaze to linger over the… obviously feminine traits of her body, which immediately bristled an anger from her; Oriko shook it off however, her mind for the moment focused simply on heading home to a bed, shower and central heating for the night – and hopefully – a waiting Kakashi.

"Hai, Taichou," Her teammates called as she leapt away down the path that would soon lead them back to their welcoming home. It didn't take long as Oriko, her team and the two strangers walked through the large green gates a relatively short amount of time later, Oriko turned to dismiss her team who leave without further encouragement as she heard the 'Sennin' speak,

"Well, it's been about two and a half years…" Oriko quirked an eyebrow, although neither man saw, well that certainly explains why I haven't met them before, she observed Naruto jump up onto to some of the rooftops, steadily gaining height rather than distance. Shaking her head in mild confusion she turned and darted away, eager to shower, rest and find Kakashi.

She leapt along some of the rooftops herself, almost starting as she heard a piercing holler;

"I missed this place!" Oriko grimaced slightly "It hasn't changed one bit!" For as much as the boy looked like a shinobi, with such a strong chakra, weapons pouches and a haitai-ate, he sure wasn't one for subtlety; shaking her head she took a minor detour which would lead her over to roof of the apartment block Kakashi lived in. Her route took her close enough to his apartment for her to be able to detect his chakra signature, should he be at home or not, unfortunately the case seemed to be the latter. Sighing aloud for the first time in quite a while, she continued on to her own apartment, deciding that a shower, a hot meal and a nap would be the best plan of action for now. Knowing that she really should hand in her mission report, she thought that if nothing else, Tsunade would appreciate it if she turned up for her minor debriefing not smelling like she'd just crawled out of a swamp.

Kakashi resisted the urge to sigh, although he was on a sunny (although not too sunny) rooftop, with his favourite issue of Icha Icha (Violence), knowing that he had another day after this one before he needed to report to Tsunade for a mission, he still wasn't in the best possible mood. Oriko had been gone for almost a month on her latest mission and he had no idea when she'd be back; it got old quite quickly having to entertain himself for such a long period of time now that he'd gotten used to being able to pop over to Oriko's on an ad hoc basis (whenever the both of them were in town) and spend the evening (usually the night too) at hers, or vice versa. They both loved their privacy and time to themselves which was why, even after almost a year of being together, they still lived separately; although they both held something of an 'open door' policy with each other, allowing either one to turn up generally as they pleased. It suited not only both their personalities, but it too suited their lifestyles, which more of then than not, loudly suggested their own respective mortality. It was also the case why they still retained something of an informal air to their relationship, although mutually exclusive, they didn't take anything unnecessarily seriously nor did they advertise their relationship - as a concequence, only about five or so people knew about it.

After all, on the return from some of the more grim missions, he knew that he, at least, needed to come home to more than an empty apartment; he had never really been one for long term relationships but Oriko slotted so nicely into the blank areas of his life, that he had no cause for complaint. Other that the fact that they both had obligations which meant they spent too much time apart for his liking; he eagerly awaited her return (although, of course, very carefully hidden). So that he could be sure she was unharmed and none-the-worse for wear but also so that he could rid himself of two missions worth of tension he'd accumulated in the space of her single one.

It hadn't occurred to Kakashi, before Oriko, of the worth of a long term partner – after all, despite the fact that no-strings sex seemed far more beneficial for his lifestyle, it was something which took effort and time to find a partner. Not to mention even more difficult who could genuinely provide something of a match for himself in the bedroom – obviously only a Kuniochi would have the fitness necessary, but they were often few and far between. Either way, Kakashi generally felt that seeking regular sexual gratification was not only time and effort consuming, but also dangerous – the more time he spent scoping out women as potential temporary partners, the less he paid attention to his general surroundings. If he allowed his guard to slip and mind to wander so quickly (even within the general safety of Konoha) then how would it affect him in the field? It was the exact same reasoning that put him off a long term partner long ago, but he soon got use to Oriko and her familiar presence, looking forward to it even. It endlessly reassured him when she never made unfair demands (if-when he was late or gone for a long time) and that she simply welcomed him into her apartment with no questions asked, instead (and much to his delight) showed him precisely how much she had missed him during his absence. Just as he did exactly the same for her whenever she was the one who'd been absent for a long time on a mission.

"I missed this place!" The shrill shout of a familiar orange-clad boy snapped Kakashi out of his minor revere, "It hasn't changed one bit!" Seeing said boy stood on a large pole, just in front of the Jounin; "Huh, so they finally added Tsunade's ugly mug to the mountain, ha!" Although Naruto was speaking to himself, Kakashi suppressed a chuckle, although he'd been waiting for Oriko, Naruto certainly was one of the last people he expected to appear in front of him today;

"You've grown a lot, haven't you... Naruto," The boy turned, curiosity written all over his body language, as the Jounin felt the need to issue a small wave, "Yo!"

"Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto's face lit up with glee at setting eyes on his former sensei, as he leapt off the post he was stood on and over to Kakashi on the small roof, "Haha, you haven't changed at all! Wait! Oh yea!" Naruto turned to face Kakashi, a hand slipping into his pouch to fish around for something, Kakashi only just restraining his obvious curiosity, as Naruto drew out the item he'd been looking for Kakashi could no longer contain himself,

"Whaaat? You... H-how...Th...This is..." Finding himself unable to even form a complete sentence, instead claiming the book out of Naruto's grasp and practically quivering with excitement, not sure if he should believe that Naruto had just given him the long awaited next issue of Icha Icha after a torturously long wait of three years.

Both shinobi leapt back down to the ground, Kakashi, although with his nose already buried in the book, fell into step beside the novel's author and long-time object of Kakashi's respect: Jiraiya. Naruto himself running forward a few paces having already collected up his backpack,

"As promised, I'll leave Naruto into your care..." Kakashi, eyed the Sennin carefully over his book, "I fear Akatsuki has been growing impatient...They may make an attempt on Naruto soon...I'm going to head around and gather as much information as I can," Jiraiya's less than typical cool and serious manner was quickly overridden by ideas of a more perverse nature; "Enjoy that book... I already have an idea for another one! Even as I made my way back here, I cam across a beautiful Kuniochi who-" The Sennin's words were all too quickly interrupted by another strident exclamation from the boy,

"Ahhh! Sa-Sakura-chan?" Kakashi looked up to see that yet another of his former students was stood, looking over her shoulder at the trio of men,

"Eh? Naruto?" She looked equally surprised to see the blonde boy and old teammate, whom she hadn't set eyes on for two and a half years, right in front of her, "How do I look more like a woman now?"

"You look fine! You haven't changed at all," Kakashi chose not to involve himself with the conversation as he turned away slightly and tried to focus on his new book, although it was proving difficult. In true Naruto fashion, he couldn't help but bring distraction after distraction (along with a few interruptions thrown in) as another young boy appeared in a puff of smoke;

"Naruto Nii-chan!" Kakashi internally sighed, glad his back was to the current intrusion, before again attempting to focus on the book, but knowing that he wouldn't get a chance to read it until quite some time in the future; though he was damned if he wasn't going to at least try and read it now.

Oriko could sense the light in the room, which was bright enough to pull her from the ease of sleep and back into the world of the conscious, stretching heartily; she looked over to her bedside table to find her little clock – which claimed it was close to seven in the morning. Bolting upright, she grabbed the clock, as though thinking for some reason that it would scare the mechanical device into telling the truth (should it be lying), but closer inspection proved that it claimed the same time as before:

06.57. Giving a small hum of surprise, Oriko swivelled her feet to the floor and padded away to the bathroom, genuinely surprised that she'd slept for so long, having fallen onto her bed at just past one the afternoon previous with the intention of a nap, but it seemed her overall fatigue was much greater than she anticipated. As Oriko re-emerged from the bathroom and quickly dressed in clean clothes, she decided that her hunger overruled and she left her apartment to wander through the streets of Konoha, knowing they wouldn't be quite as quiet as she'd like, even for this time in the morning.

She pulled shut and locked her apartment door, and tucking the key into the secret and secure pocket in the back of one of her pouches (it, as it always had been, second nature to pick them up whenever she left the house, no matter what her purpose for leaving was). Stretching again, she allowed a small smile to come to her face as she fancied some ajitsukenori [seasoned, dried seaweed (usually with soy sauce)], steamed rice and some umeboshi [pickled ume plums]... maybe also some onigiri if she was still hungry, but would settle for that for now. She decided to make her way to a small, intimate sort of food-bar, where they served a great selection of foods (which definitely agreed with Oriko's more 'alternative' taste buds) and was complimented by very friendly staff, almost all of whom appreciated Oriko's strange tastes. (She assumed this to be the case because she always attempted to give them a run for their money in providing her with ever new and random combinations.)

She ambled slowly down the street, her mind again wandering to Kakashi, wondering if he was on a mission, or, if not, where he might be in the village; her mind began to create a mental list of his favourite places to be whilst with free time in Konoha.

Kakashi was again practically hidden behind his new book as he walked behind Naruto and Sakura,

"Well... You have become strong, huh? I'm amazed you were actually able to get the bells," He complimented them, sort of, still from behind his Icha Icha,

"Heh, maybe I've even surpassed you, Kakashi-sensei," One of Naruto's ever boastful claims didn't waste time in presenting itself,

"What are you saying? Such conceit..." Sakura graciously defended him,

"Haha... But anyway, I'm still young, and I've recently developed a brilliant new Jutsu,"

"Ah! Yea! We haven't gone home or to Ichiraku's ramen yet!"

"Yea, I'm a bit hungry after training yesterday too..." Sakura agreed with Naruto's interruption of Kakashi, who wasn't listening, his nose detected and discerned a very familiar, but recently missed scent from the many around him as his mind reflected on the changes of Naruto and Sakura,

"Right! It'll be Kakashi-sensei's treat!" Naruto's cheeky claim had Kakashi's mind reeling back to the here and now, quickly cooking up an excuse to leave,

"Alright sensei!"

"Sorry..." He raised a hand in a half seal to his chest, "I have to create and submit a list of formations for the new teams." As well as to see another recent returnee, "So it's goodbye for now," At the end of his sentence, Kakashi promptly disappeared in a small puff of smoke and reappeared in the next street, albeit half hidden in the entrance of an alleyway, as she walked close to him, he shot out a hand which grabbed her wrist and yanked her, gently, towards him. Before she could react, although knowing who her current invader of personal space was, she found her self with a wall at her back, Kakashi to her front, trapping her close to him and them both enveloped in a shadow.

"It's been a while, hasn't it?" His sultry voice from mere millimetres in front of her face, as well as the warm cascade of his breath over her face, told Oriko that he'd already pulled down his mask; her heart gave an involuntary flutter. Before she could even begin to form a rejoinder, Kakashi tilted his head forward, connecting their lips in what quickly became a fiery, passionate kiss. Oriko, as a matter of instinct with this man as well as her own desire, opened her mouth with the intention to find his tongue, but his found hers quicker than it could even pass her own lips. Their tongues fought each other, as Kakashi couldn't resist placing a little more weight onto her, forcing their bodies a little closer as he too pushed his hips into hers, remembering how much he'd missed being the feeling of her body against his own. Her arms quickly found their way around him and she allowed a tiny hum of satisfaction to slip out, knowing he liked them, although it was barely loud enough for him to hear, the momentary increase in pressure of his lips told her what she needed to know. As they broke the kiss, Kakashi stayed close, quickly returning their lips to briefly meet before again pulling away, allowing them to, for now at least, adequately express how glad he was to have her back.

..

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