Kazuo opened his eyes from his slumber and looked at the alarm clock next to his bed. The bright red numbers said 2:30 in the morning and he sighed in disappointment when he saw that. It meant that he'd have to get up now. His mission would start at 3.
He climbed out of his bed and walked to his closet. Sliding open the door, he pulled out his jonin uniform and shrugged it on. He stifled a yawn with his hand and shuffled towards his kitchen. Kazuo figured he would have enough time to eat a decent breakfast and put together his lunch.
He ran his hand along the wall, searching for the light switch. Upon finding it, he flipped it on. What he saw in the room shocked him. On his table lay a bento box, wrapped up already in a piece of cloth and a plate with breakfast food on it. The food was covered by a clear plastic container, keeping the food warm and on the other side of the table, sleeping while drooling a little on the table, was his student, Izanami.
Kazuo smiled in amusement, then went and grabbed a blanket from his sofa. He tucked to blanket around Izanami's sleeping form, trying not to awake her. But he should have known his student better than that. She stirred and opening her bleary eyes.
"Huh? What?" She mumbled, trying to rub the sleep out of her eyes.
"Thanks for breakfast." He said, taking a seat in front of the plate.
She grinned, "You're welcome, Sensei."
"Itadakimasu!" He yelled, taking off the plastic and holding his chopsticks in his hands. He dug into the food and Izanami just watched, a sleepy smile on her face.
"Gochisosama." He said when he was done and then slapped his chopsticks on his plate and looked at the clock hanging on the wall. He only had about five more minutes. He had to leave now.
Izanami had drifted back off into a slight sleep, though her breathing had not started to space out more and slow down yet. Kazuo ran back to his room and grabbed his backpack from where he had thrown it the previous day. He put the bento box into the backpack, careful not to wake her up as he slid it off the table, and made his way to the door.
He turned the knob slowly and exited. Creeping down the stairs, he broke into a run, jumping onto the buildings in order to get to his destination faster. The cool night air felt heavenly as he soared from roof to roof. Upon reaching where he was supposed to depart from the city, a small path that led out of the back of Konaha, he landed.
Kazuo kept jogging forward but stopped when he heard someone land behind him. He swiveled, his hand in his kunai pouch, wondering if it was an intruder. To his shock he found Izanami standing there, her white hair illuminating like the very moon that was shining down upon her.
"You should have woken me up." She accused stubbornly.
"But you looked so calm sleeping, I didn't want to disturb you." He replied, walking towards her to reduce the distance between them.
"Excuses, excuses." She stuck her tongue out and him, then ran forward, throwing her arms around him. He hugged her back, resting his chin on the top of her head.
"You'll come back, right?" She mumbled into his shirt.
"Of course I will. I'm not that weak am I?" He joked, pulling her away so he could look her in the eyes and tell her that everything was going to be alright.
She smiled and then got on her tiptoes, giving him a peck on the cheek. Izanami lowered herself back down and backed away, as though she was letting him know he could go now. He knew he was supposed to go. Heck, he was supposed to have left the city far behind by now. But he stayed where he was.
She looked at him in confusion, wondering why he wasn't leaving.
"Is that the best you can give me?" He whispered, pulling her towards him again. He placed his lips on hers. It was a sweet, light kiss, but they stayed like that for nearly a minute before they both pulled away from each other.
"I love you, Sensei." She murmured, her face flushed from the kiss.
"I love you too, Izanami."
He squeezed her hands in his before, finally, they both backed away and Kazuo leapt onto the nearest tree branch, jumping away to finally begin his mission. Izanami turned back the way she had come from and brought her fingers to her lips. She could still feel his lips on hers, she could still taste him, she could still feel his warmth.
Izanami smiled and closed her eyes, holding that kiss in her heart and memory because she knew that even though he said he'd be back, you never knew. But as long as you let them know you love them, that there's someone back home to greet them, to love them, to tend to them, they'll try as hard as they can to return to your arms once again.