This is a modern spin on Naruto with an original character. It was originally supposed to be a one shot but it sort of exploded all over the place. So there will be more to this series. I'm pretty excited about it but I need to give you a WARNING:
If Naruto Uzumaki is on of your favorite characters to read in Fan Fictions this is not the story for you. He isn't quite the same as in most fanfics... it was actually hard to write parts of it so please do not be upset by what you read. This is a different world which greatly affects how I think he would have developed.
Anyway you're welcome to comment as well, even if it's a flame, though I will say I have warned you. I love knowing what my readers think. Again requests are available. I hope you enjoy it 3
Yamato sighed heavily as they passed through security and Kakashi casually glanced in his direction over the cover of his book.
"Something wrong?" Kakashi asked in a nonchalant manner.
Yamato grimaced slightly as he re-holstered his gun and nodded in thanks to the security guard. "Nothing to serious." Yamato replied with a small forced smile as they continued on to the elevator.
Kakashi again casually glanced over the top of his cheap romance novel with mild interest in his co-worker's attitude.
"You've been sighing like that almost every morning for the past month."
Yamato sighed again and made a small disappointed grunt of both agreement and acknowledging that it was true. "Just. Sasaki Kaedeko."
This caused a little more interest to appear on Kakashi's expression, his eyebrows rose in surprise and his book lowered slightly. "Oh? You're new partner?"
Yamato's distaste at the word partner came with another sigh as they entered the elevator. He and Kakashi both scanned their cards and Yamato pressed the button to take them up to the eighteenth floor.
Yamato ran his fingers through his hair as the elevator began to move and Kakashi leaned back against the back wall of the elevator. He patiently waited for Yamato to explain the issue and Yamato carefully considered his words.
"She's very… young." Yamato spoke slowly and didn't turn to look at Kakashi; he kept his eyes trained on the blinking lights that represented each floor. "Aside from being too young for our department, she's disorganized, untimely, and brash…" He stuffed his hands in his pockets as he spoke, feeling uncomfortable just talking about the women. "She needs a few more years on her in the company, and she shouldn't be geared towards field work."
The girl was verbally offence in nearly every way, there honestly wasn't a lady like bone in her body. She was loud and short tempered, racy and even rude to people like Tsunade the company head.
He had thought at first it was just their personal differences, Yamato was for all intents and purposes a "simple" man. He grew up in a small town and liked things to be just so-so. He followed the same routine from day to day, he followed the rules to the letter, he did his job the way it was supposed to be done, and he liked it that way. The structure and stability of being cautious and prepared had always served him well.
Kaedeko on the other hand was… well a handful. She was a city girl through and through, constantly changing, always moving, and never thinking before she acted. She seemed to thrive on the unexpected and did however she pleased in just about every way possible.
Being around her was simply overwhelming for Yamato. She kept him constantly tense and he was always scrambling to keep up with her spontaneity. It was tiring and stressful.
"You were quite young when you joined as well if I remember correctly…" Kakashi noted.
Yamato nodded in agreement. That was true; he had come to the company right out of high school. Something they didn't allow these days it seemed. Not that it was easy by any means. The tests and training he endured had been a nightmare. Working under Kakashi for his first few years was by no means easy either.
He glanced back at the man who had given him so much trouble during his beginning at the company to find Kakashi grinning.
"What's so funny?" Yamato nearly whined and Kakashi chuckled.
"It's been months and you're still struggling to get used to the girl, it's amusing…" Kakashi chuckled as the elevator came to a stop with a loud ding. He stood to full height and left the elevator with his usual carefree manner, one hand in his pocket and the other gracefully holding the open book. Yamato stepped out after him just as the door was closing. The floor was still quiet and mostly dark.
"That's the point." Yamato said as they reached the break room. Yamato flipped on the light as Kakashi went to sit at the table, hardly looking up from his book as he did so.
"To be fair you haven't really tried." Kakashi pointed out.
Yamato glared slightly, "I have." He went for the coffeepot first and began his usual ritual: clean the pot and the machine, place filter, pour the beans in the grinder, measure the grinds, measure the water, and finally start the machine. Yamato was very particular about his coffee. Fresh and strong was the only way to go when drinking it black and he even brought his own beans and grinder to the office to make sure he could get just that.
As always had had his usual two cups at home before leaving for work, and now he would make a pot here: one cup to drink with Kakashi as they waited for the office to come to life, one to take to his office, and enough left over for a third if the day wasn't going well, which lately, it hadn't been going well at all. "We've gone on several trips together because of work, we talk every day…" Yamato struggled for a moment. It was true that outside of work they didn't talk much, nor did they spend time together or discuss personal matters. That was to be expected though with the age gap and the opposite gender. "With her being a girl it's not appropriate for us to be spending lots of time together outside of work, and the age gap makes personal conversation difficult."
Kakashi's eye brows again raised, this time in not only surprise but in amusement, "age gap? You talk like you're thirty years older than her. She's twenty-four and you're twenty-nine that's hardly a staggering distance."
Yamato struggled with this as he sat down, listening to the gurgle and hiss of the old machine coming to life. He should bring a French press. That would be easier, and he wouldn't have to worry about sharing. Cleaning it would be a pain though. He would also have to be more careful about where he left it. People who didn't know what it was might try and use it for the wrong purpose and loose some of the parts. He frowned at the idea.
"It shows though." Yamato retorted.
"It does? She's a doctorate graduate in the Kohona division of the FBI at the ripe age of twenty-one. What makes her so immature?" Kakashi asked pointedly, his eyes again scanning the pages before him.
"It's not really maturity it's just personality. She's…" he struggled for words. "Raw." He finally said.
Kakashi's dark eyes again turned to Yamato, an amused smile again playing on his lips. "Isn't that the best way to have a woman?" Kakashi teased.
Yamato frowned deeply, "she's not a lover, she's my partner."
Kakashi shrugged, "same dynamic."
Yamato nearly deadpanned, "It isn't even remotely the same!"
"But it is. Getting to know them, trying to understand them, working together, compromising, beginning to appreciate the other person, and coming truly trusting them… those are the same things you do when you get a new lover and you my friend can't even grapple with step one." Kakashi said simply.
Yamato screwed his mouth shut as he mulled over Kakashi's words. Perhaps that was true in some aspects. Yamato hadn't really done much to reach out to the girl, he was honestly uncomfortable from the first time he walked into the office to meet her. He had seen her before of course, even heard of her in both a personal and professional aspect. It was hard not to talk about someone so young making it to the eighteenth floor of Kohona without even batting an eyelash. She was also friends with Shikamaru who was another prodigy in the company, and Naruto who was one of the most ambitious knuckleheads in the entire FBI.
The ancient coffeepot sputtered to a stop and Yamato stood again, filling his cup as he spoke. "We don't even work well together." He said, trying to somehow still defend his point of the fact she was difficult. "For instance, today is the deadline for the paperwork concerning a case we're supposed to be taking on, and I doubt she's even looked at it. She's been holed up in her office all week, never leaving or arriving at the same time and she keeps saying she'll look at it..."
"What does the time she comes and goes have to do with anything?"
Yamato sat with his hand hugging the plan black coffee mug and another tired sigh, "Of course you wouldn't see the problem since you're never on time." Even though Kakashi arrived with Yamato he never seemed to get around to his actual job until far later in the day. He was always ritually late. "But it's important to how we work together. Being able to know when she's working and when I can talk to her or expect to see her."
"So she works an unorthodox schedule, she's got an office, if you know she's there, just knock on her door."
Yamato struggled yet again. He couldn't describe how uncomfortable he was in that woman's presence. Even just talking about her made him physically uneasy. He took a deep breath with the coffee cup just beneath his nose, the smell of dark roast soothing his nerves.
He took a small drink before replying again. "And what am I to do if she hasn't done the work? I'll have to go to Tsunade and ask for an extension."
"Tell her to do it, better yet; don't assume she hasn't done it. Have some trust." Kakashi again shrugged and Yamato squirmed in his seat. How could he explain it to Kakashi so that he would understand…?
His phone buzzing loudly in his pocket interrupted this train of thought and he stretched out in the chair to pull the phone from his pants and see who would be calling him this early.
His partner's name flashed across the screen and he frowned before accepting the call and putting the phone to his ear.
"Hello?"
"Hey!" Her voice was surprisingly tight and he could hear the sound of wind pushing at the phone. Was she outside? "Could you uh, do me a favor?"
Yamato frowned even more as he listened, "What kind of favor?"
"In my office, there's a small duffle hanging by the filing cabinet. Could you bring it to me?"
One brow quirked up, was she stranded somewhere? "Where are you?"
"Um, well I'm outside. I mean. The Gym entrance… I went the long way around because I was already soaked and I didn't want to drag through the front lobby. I would normally ask Naruto but last time I got shit for that because he doesn't have clearance for our floor." The more she talked the more obvious the quiver in her voice became. She was probably freezing. "You're the only other person that has the pin to my office."
Yamato was admittedly a little surprised by that statement. Surely Shikamaru or one of the girls in the Research department had it. Perhaps he was just the only one aside from Naruto who was in the building by that hour. How did she even know he would be in the building already?
"You are there right? If not that's fine. I'll override clearance. You get there at like 6:45 and it's only 6:57 and the rain might have slowed you down-"
He interrupted her, "I'm here. I'll be down in a minute."
"Sweet, thanks. I'm by the back door in the smaller gym."
Yamato nodded, "Just the duffle?"
Kaedeko paused for a moment, "Uh… yeah. I think that's got all my stuff."
Yamato hung up and stood, taking another drink of his coffee as he debated whether or not to take the cup with him. He hated to part with the cup so early… He decided to take it with him.
"Going somewhere?" Kakashi asked in a mildly curious voice.
"Kaedeko needs something from her office, she's downstairs."
Kakashi looked up at him, "Oh? Forgotten something? Well the nerve of her being forgetful before you first cup of coffee…" Kakashi teased with a growing smile. "It's really just kids these days."
Yamato frowned. "It's my third cup, actually. So I think I can stomach the trip."
Kakashi chuckled softly and turned back to his book. "Have fun. I'll stay here and watch your coffee for you."
Yamato rolled his eyes a little but nodded and left the break room for Kaedeko's office. Oddly enough her office was larger than Yamato's. Of course she had far more things than he did mainly more books and files. From what Yamato understood she did a lot of work outside of the field work she did with him. Most of her job seemed to consist of research and consultant work, thus she needed an office more than Yamato did.
He arrived at the office and slid his card through the scanner and typed in the four digit code before the pad blinked green and the quiet click of the door was heard. He pushed the door open and flicked on the light to see that the office was surprisingly clean; aside from the mess on the desk, an over flowing trash bin, and blanket tossed over the small couch. How she did anything at her computer was beyond him.
He quickly spotted the duffle and it was right where she had said it would be, he crossed the room and picked it up before heading right back out with the black bag slung over her shoulder.
He took the elevator down, taking the time to sip at his coffee and then walked to the opposite end of the building, through hallway linking the main office to the gym building, and then through the large gym to the smaller gym in the back that was basically unused. The new gym had been built on to the older one and then shortly after they built a hall from building to building.
It was much larger and had a running track on the level above as well as several smaller rooms to work out and train, it was really a rather nice gym compared to the one they had previously. He entered and glanced around the dark gym to see where she was. The skylights didn't do much for visibility because of the clouds but he was eventually able to see that she was not in the gym. Surely she wasn't still outside? In this weather?
Yamato suddenly felt a little guilty for taking his time and made large even strides across the gym to open the back door with a quick swipe of his card.
Sure enough as he pushed the door open the small women stood beside the door, soaked to the bone in head to toe black, her bright cherry red hair sticking to her face and her arms crossed over her chest.
"Thank GOD," She gushed as she saw him and squeezed between him and the open door. She stood shorter than usual, and he soon saw it was because she wasn't wearing heels today but black polka dot rain boots that reached halfway up her calves. She flashed him a small smile as she took the bag from his hands, bright strands of red clinging to her pale cheeks. She looked to be even smaller when she was wet; something like the way a cat seems to shrink three sizes. She looked like she could snap beneath the weight of the duffle.
"You could have waited inside, why are you even out in this weather?" He asked.
She shrugged, "I walk everyday. A little rain never hurt anybody," with that she turned and began to walk to the old shower room and he followed.
"Still you could have taken a taxi or something." He insisted. She walked to and from work? Every day? He hadn't known that. There had been many times where they had left work far past two or three in the morning and though she was an agent of the FBI she still shouldn't have been walking alone at that hour. Not in a city like this. She probably took taxis at night then.
"My first case was a murderous cab-driver who kidnapped his victims through a taxi ride." She replied without batting an eyelash or even pausing to look back at him. "Besides, I knew I would get wet, I just didn't think I'd get this wet. I didn't even get ready before I left this morning." She pointed out. "It was just raining a lot harder than I thought."
Yamato felt a wash of guilt. She did walk when they stayed late. He couldn't believe he'd never thought to offer her a ride home. He prided himself in being a gentleman and yet he let a young lady walk home alone in the middle of the night. "You don't have a car?"
This made her glance back in a curious manner. "I don't even have a valid license. I have one provided by the FBI if I ever need to drive for them, but I don't have a state one."
Yamato nearly tripped. She's been his partner for nearly eight months and he didn't even know something as big as her not having a license. Yamato frowned, maybe Kakashi was right. He wasn't trying.
"I hate driving, and I only learned because it's required by the FBI." She shrugged again as she rounded the corner to the shower room and tossed the duffle onto the counter before peeling off the thin black coat she had on. Underneath she had on a flimsy black t-shirt that stuck to her thin body. For as much personality as the girl had she was surprisingly small. She was hardly five foot and though physically fit she was a twig… with an ample chest that was now very apparent to him.
Yamato turned his head and leaned against the counter.
"You're here early."
"I sprinted most of the way," she said while bending over to tug off her boots. "It was also colder than I expected." She explained, "And Shika would have my ass on the line if I wasn't here on time today. He's been sending me shit to go through all week. Put an official seal on it and everything," she stumbled a little as the first boot came off with a small pop and she quickly began to struggle with the next boot. A small puddle forming around her, her teeth chattered when she wasn't talking. "Hell, he even made me have to lock the files up every night in my safe. Fucking pain in my ass." She grumbled as the next shoe came off and she was finally able to start digging through the duffle. Towel first, soap, and clothes next.
Yamato frowned as he watched her pale fingers tremble over the objects. Her vulgar speech was only half of what made him frown.
"Sorry, I forgot you don't cuss." She said seeming to notice his discomfort before turning to one of the showers, dumping all of her things on the floor, and closing the curtain. It was at this point that Yamato noticed her socks; white with little red hearts. He almost chuckled, but instead he took a sip of his coffee. Her socks quickly came off, and she then began to struggle with the dark skinny jeans she was wearing. She seemed to have to lean against the wall to tug them off before tossing them over the curtain rod with a pair of black panties that were soon followed by the black shirt and a black bra. The bright socks among the group of dark clothes continued to amuse him, but he looked away none the less as he listened to her open the shower door and start the water. Even if she wasn't concerned it wasn't appropriate for him to stare at her undergarments.
"FUCK!" The curse sounded directly after the water and was followed with a small, "fucking- I mean. The water's cold. Sorry."
Yamato didn't comment. For the most part he was used to the way she talked, he just didn't like it. For someone so well educated and highly respected to talk so much like your average raging college student was unexpected to say the least. Not to mention how unprofessional it was. He continued to sip at his coffee.
"Is that why you were holed up in your office all week?" He finally asked. He was actually beginning to feel a little awkward, wondering if he should have left.
"Yeah, he's been blowing up my phone all week 'cause he's off at some meeting in the Suna building. He always asks my opinion and sends me stuff but this time around it was ridiculous and I didn't even get it all done. I had to go ask Tsunade for an extension on our case and she got all pissy until Shika's dad called and requested to put me officially on the case which means I now have to go to the meetings and shit. Fuc- I mean it's seriously a pain. He's coming back today and wants to look at what I've got so far and so I was here till like three last night and I was gonna crash on my couch but I needed to send a few scans from books at home to the office so I went home, but then I forgot my umbrella cause I was all tired and not thinking strai-" the sound of a phone ringing.
She talked too much, but Yamato was surprised that she had already gotten an extension on their case without being asked to though. He again wondered if Kakashi was right. He should trust her a little more. He was slightly bothered though that she had failed to mention her getting an extension.
"Fu- God damn it! Fucking, answer that for me? Will you? Just put it on speaker or something. It's in my pocket, I mean the coat? It's in the inside pocket of my coat."
Yamato set down his coffee cup to fumble for the phone which he found and answered as requested.
"Tenzo, Yamato speaking."
"Oh," came the surprised response. "Yo, it's Shikamaru. Where's Kaedako?"
"She's currently unavailable."
Shika was quiet for a moment which gave Kaedeko the chance to say something
"Who is it?" Kaedeko asked loudly.
"Just put me on speaker phone. You've got white fox clearance right?"
"Yes." Yamato took the phone from his ear and put it to speaker before picking his cup back up.
"Do you always just let people answer your secure phone?"
"Yes actually. I had the guy who busts tables at Starbucks answer for me the other day while I was looking at the new winter mugs they got in." Kaedeko said sarcastically. "What the hell do you want? Our meeting isn't for another half hour at least."
"I was calling to make sure you were awake… Where are you? Your voice is echoing."
"In the shower." Kaedeko responded without hesitation and Yamato hung his head slightly. Good god this woman. Shikamaru was silent for a moment.
"Sometimes I wonder if you just forget that I'm male or something."
Kaedeko snorted, "Your sexual organs are attached to that Suna agent Temari. Plus. I didn't say anything sexual. You asked. I answered. I'm in the shower. Thanks to you I came to work early in the pouring rain and left late last night thus forgetting my umbrella. So instead of being cold and wet for the rest of the day, I'm taking a fucking shower."
Shika was again quiet, and Yamato felt as though he shouldn't be involved in this conversation.
"Are you and Yamato…?"
Yamato nearly choked on his coffee, "No." He answered for her and surprisingly got no comment from Kaedeko. "I got her bag and we were discussing something, but then she just got in the shower and the phone rang…" he rambled slightly.
"Got it. At least she didn't send Naruto again," Shikamaru responded quickly as though feeling Yamato's discomfort at the situation.
"Yeah, cause the last thing I need is you chewing me out again."
"Well, if you'd quit breaking protocol in front of me, I wouldn't have to."
"Naruto has white fox-"
"But that's case to case clearance decided by Tsunade alone and the entire eighteenth floor, scratch that, just your office has probably triple the amount of cases he's cleared on."
"He wasn't looking at cases, he was grabbing my bag."
"Still breaking the rules. Why are we arguing about this? I just need to know if you're prepared for me to drop by."
"I'm not, so don't come."
"Cool, I'll be there in thirty-four minutes."
"Right."
Yamato hung up and listened to the water shut off before seeing her small pale feet step out of the shower. He still wasn't sure if he should leave or not. He wasn't really sure why he followed exactly. It was pretty obvious she was going to at least change. Why go with her? He could have waited to ask what he did… Perhaps just the conversation beforehand with Kakashi warped his perception of the situation and that's why he decided to pursue it the way he did. Would it be rude to just leave now? He watched her feet as she got dressed. He admittedly felt guilty when he watched her step into a pair of red panties with a black lace trim, followed by a pair of skinny black work pants before seeming to put on a shirt and bra and stepping out of the curtain with a towel over her shoulders. Her cheeks were slightly flushed from the shower heat and she was wearing a cream v-neck sweater that was just tight enough that he could see the line of her bra.
He wondered idly if her bra matched her underwear.
He looked down at his coffee cup out of guilt as she dumped her soap back into the duffle and stumbled though it for a pair of black heels and a small hair dryer. She dropped the heels to floor with a clatter and awkwardly shifted them around with her feet. Her toenails were painted red, which wasn't surprising considering her fingernails were the same color. He was quite positive that red was her favorite color.
She walked back to the shower and bent over slightly to ruffle her hair with the towel, "I'll do the case we're taking on as soon as I make it through all of Shika's shit. Honestly, he's so lazy. He could have done this all himself. I guarantee you he's gonna take one look at what I've got and be like, 'I had thought that might be the case' or 'I had already figured that.' He just wanted me to have to do the paperwork for it. What a freaking jerk." Yamato had to force himself not to notice that she had a nice ass as well when she bent over with her back to him. The heels made a difference, made her body fit her personality. Depending on the heel, she would often slip them on and suddenly begin to ooze raw sex appeal. Yamato shifted his weight a little awkwardly as she tossed her towel over the curtain rod.
"I hate the way people who hardly talk to me otherwise and drop in my office, or worse, just email me with a shit ton of work and expect me to get it done. 'Oh hey, Kaedeko, I was wondering if you could take a look at this…' like I have nothing else to do. I mean, Shika's kind of different… he's a good friend and when he sends stuff it's always really important, but he hasn't talked to me in months and hasn't even seen me since before we became partners which was forever ago." She stopped talking just as she turned on the small black hair dryer and Yamato watched her out of the corner of his eye.
Her wild red hair slowly taking a familiar shape of her chin length bob with sharp bangs across her forehead, in the time that he had been her partner, she had foe-hawk which she later dyed pink and curled, she then dyed it back to brown as it was growing out and got it cut as a side bang pixie, followed by dying it black and getting this new bob style which she had dyed red not too long ago. He didn't understand why Tsunade hadn't given her what for yet. It did suit her though. The unnatural, wild, and almost offensive shade of red was very fitting.
The blow dryer clicked off and she quickly packed it back in the bag as well.
She sighed and placed a hand on her hip. "I'm gonna have to remember to restock this thing…" she took her card from the pocket of her coat and her phone from the counter before tossing the coat over the curtain rod and zipping up the bag. She tossed it over her shoulder, "They should be safe back here while they dry… Let's go, cowboy."
Yamato frowned at his nickname earned by her when he showed up the office on a Sunday wearing jeans and cowboy boots. He had always worn boots outside of work. He had a pair of old work boots, two pairs of nice boots, a pair of old sneakers, a pair of new workout sneakers, and two pairs of work shoes. The older pair of boots he'd had since high school.
He nodded all the same and with another sip of his coffee he walked back out of the bathroom, only a few steps behind her.
"I promise I'll get through our case though. I've just been so slammed. I spent the night at the office twice this week." She finally spoke again as they reached the main building. As of late she had been consistently apologizing to Yamato for one thing or the other. Nearly a month ago he had mildly stated that she cussed too much for a young lady which sparked a rather large debate. She had actually been nearly volatile and reacted almost violently in their argument. She spent a week ignoring him and then apologized and she seemed to have been apologizing ever since. He had a feeling that he'd done more than piss her off that day, but he didn't have the heart to ask about it.
He actually could have sworn she had tears in her eyes when she slammed his office door shut.
"It's fine as long as Tsunade approved it." He said simply as they entered the elevator and both swiped their cards.
Kaedeko nodded and it was in the quiet as the elevator went up that he noticed she was still shivering slightly.
"Do you have another sweater in your office?" he asked as they reached the eighteenth floor. She glanced back at him with a quizzical expression.
"No." She replied simply.
She didn't bother to see if he followed her and yet he felt compelled to do so again. "What kind of cases is he sending?" Yamato asked as they reached her office.
"Foreign Affairs nonsense, basically international gangs that have been acting up and trying to figure out which ones are really dangerous. They act as individual criminals under the same guise but they seemed to spilt up and it appears as though who was thought to be the least dangerous of them have suddenly made a rather blatant threat to the FBI as a whole. They want to know who he is and if he's really a threat. Shika wants a profile on him as well as everyone working under around him." She replied while pushing the office door open and tossing the bag onto the couch. "Shit…" she grumbled moving to her desk while Yamato took a seat on the couch. She ran her fingers though her hair with a heavy sigh and it suddenly occurred to him that she wore no make-up. She looked like she always did, and she hadn't put anything on her face after getting out of the shower. She was just naturally that stunning.
He was surprised though; when she said Shikamaru sent her something to work on he hadn't expected something that big. He supposed it wasn't surprising considering she had mentioned Shikamaru's father as well.
"He's gonna want to use that damned machine…" she grumbled while opening a drawer and pushing most everything into the drawer and then struggling to close it. She cursed a few more times quietly and finally just dumped what didn't fit into the desk chair.
He shook his head slightly, "I chatted with Shikaku the other day. I didn't realize you were on the case."
"I shouldn't be." She pointed out and he nodded. "I might have good input on criminal behavior but I'm not privy nor do I understand international affairs. I'm flying half blind and it's a pain in my ass."
"Isn't your other degree in linguistics?" Surely that involved foreign aspects.
"My other degree is a masters focused on communication as a whole, though I speak several different languages. I may be able to talk to someone overseas but understanding the political dynamics and local culture is totally different. It's bumped my average workload tenfold and that's why I haven't been able to get it all finished." She spoke while bending over to type in the code to her file cabinet and soon after she was pulling an armful of paper from the drawer and tossing it into the middle of the floor.
He raised an eye brow, she cleared off her desk but she still wasn't planning on using it?
She answered his question without him having to ask when she plopped down onto the floor and began to sort through all the papers. They sat in silence for a moment and Yamato finished off his coffee as she sorted through. He stood and she glanced up at him. "I'm going to go refill my cup, do you want some?"
She wrinkled her nose slightly and shook her head. "No thanks." He wondered idly if she didn't like coffee. He'd always imagined her to be the type that drank it black just to avoid getting the sissy stereo type. He nodded though and went straight for the break room. Kakashi still sat in the same spot, his eyes slowly dragging over the page as Yamato entered.
"You get lost or decide to have a quicky before she changed clothes?" He asked without looking up.
"NO." Yamato replied sourly. "We were talking about a case… I didn't realize she walked every day." He pointed out while refilling his cup.
"Of course, she hates driving." Kakashi responded lazily turning the page.
Yamato felt a pang of guilt again; even Kakashi knew. He turned to leave the room again and Kakashi looked up again, "You're going back?" He asked curiously.
Yamato paused for a moment; there wasn't really a reason to return back… Something just told him he should though it could have just been guilt. He should know more about his partner and Kakashi was right. He hadn't made an attempt to really be her partner or to even get to know her. He wasn't going to tell Kakashi that though.
"We've got more to discuss about the case."
"Ah," Kakashi nodded and went back to his book. "Have fun then."
Yamato nodded back and came back to her office, again using the keypad and swiping his card. Shikamaru had been right; Kaedeko's office was a treasure trove of information vital to the FBI as a whole and just to Kohona itself. He again sat on the couch once in the room and watched the girl work. She had gotten a pen in his absence and was scribbling down notes with her left hand and flipping through pages with her right. Her eyes snapping back and forth as she did so. She paused on one particular page and then rifled through a separate stack. "Could you grab a book on the top shelf nine books from the left?" She asked without looking up, simply pointing in the general direction as her eyes continued to scan over what she was reading.
Yamato stood and did as she asked, holding out the book to her which she blindly took again not bothering to look up from her notes. "Thanks." She dropped it in front of her and her fingers flickered through the pages.
"You have where they all are memorized?" He asked.
"Yes. Or else I'd have to organize them all and the only code I have memorized is the dewey decimal system and doing that for all my books would be a pain in the a-butt. So I just memorized where I put them all…" As she opened the book he saw how it was littered with book marks and overly highlighted. He almost wished he had glanced at the title as he sat down.
"What book is that?"
"It's my bible. 'The Physco's Point of View' it should honestly be a mandatory read for every FBI agent." She said, still not looking up from her neatly written notes.
He made a mental reminder to look up the book later that day, if it wasn't a lot of money he might just order it from Amazon. "I haven't heard of it."
"Most people haven't. It's by a doctor who lost his mind. He kept a diary of his decent into madness and then he continued it until the day he died. Aside from being informative and insightful, it's beautifully written. He even kept photographs and such in the dairies, and there are scans throughout this book. I own his entire set, but this one is an overview of all his dairies and was put together and commented on by his own doctor. It even has his treatment plan included and notes on how he interacted with other patients and nurses. He's a once in the life time find and though some don't find it a valid learning tool but fabricated attempt at a best seller, I've learned a lot from it. I always use it for reference, could you grab the forth records box from the bottom right shelf…?"
Yamato again stood and got the box, which was surprisingly heavier then he thought it would be, and set it down before her. "Thanks."
She opened the box with a small 'umph' and flipped before dragging her finger down the page and tapping once she reached what she needed. She pulled her phone from her pocket. She dialed and held the phone to her ear. "Yeah, it's me. Can you have file 627890 of section 788 print out over here. The surrounding files would be awesome to… yeah. Five previous and three after…. Yeah. I have a few others written down, hang on a sec…." she hunched her shoulders and held the phone to her ear that way so that she could search with both hands. "87536 and 2479300 of 458 and everything you have on someone named Uchiha Obito… Yeah. Everything and anything remotely related. Yeah. Uh-huh. Thanks babe, you're a life saver." She hung up and went back to reading as her printer began to whir to life suddenly.
"Obito?" Yamato asked wearily. That was Kakashi's first partner, what did he have to do with all this? "Wouldn't it be easier to look at all this on the computer?"
"I actually can't stand reading stuff on the computer. I'd rather have it in my hands and be able to write out my notes and highlight things that I find important." She replied, not answering his question about Obito. He frowned.
"That's Kakashi's old partner," he finally pointed out.
She nodded. "I know. Just something weird I came across. I wanted to check into it. Something to do with his eyes…" She was interrupted by a knock at the door.
"Yo, let me in."
"What's the password?" She yelled back.
"I don't know. That's why I knocked." Shikamaru replied, "Now open up."
Kaedeko laughed but didn't make any move to get up and Yamato instead stood to open the door for him. She really was serious when she said only him and Naruto knew her pass code. Shikamaru thanked him with a curt nod and Yamato returned it as he shut the door back and Shikamaru walked in holding two large to-go cups from Starbucks. "Women, where do you get off giv-" he stopped midsentence and stared down at her. "You cut your hair."
This made Kaedeko look up but she shrugged it off, "Yeah. Eight months ago."
He was quiet for a moment, watching her as she simply went back to work. "Has it really been that long since we've hung out?" He asked finally as Yamato went back to sit down. He tried to imagine Kaedeko with long hair and simply couldn't see it.
"Yes." She said shortly, sounding sort of annoyed and Yamato watched Shikamaru's face fall for a moment. He almost looked… worried?
"You haven't had it that short since highschool…" he said crouching down beside her and setting the drink next to her. "Hot Apple Cider…" he said before standing again. "That's a pretty racy color too."
Kaedeko smiled some at the apple cider but it didn't last long, she shrugged a little as she picked the drink up. "I've been liking red a lot as of recently."
He nodded but the worried look stuck as he glanced over the pages on the floor. It was becoming quickly apparent though that he was suddenly much more concerned with Kaedeko than with the case.
"I hear Naruto got that job overseas finally; he's being shipped out on this case in a week." He said carefully, his eyes trained on Kaedeko as he spoke and Yamato watched just as carefully out of curiosity. The statement seemed entirely random to him.
Kaedeko seemed unaffected, "hm."
This response seemed to bother Shikamaru all the more. "You guys talk about it yet?"
Kaedeko paused slightly, still not looking up. "What's there to talk about?"
Shikamaru frowned deeply, "I don't know, how things will work long distance?"
Kaedeko stopped entirely, "We aren't an item." She finally responded.
"Well not officially, but-"
"Not in any way. Is there a reason we're talking about this right now? I thought you'd be a little more concerned with all this work you dumped on me last minute."
"Who br…" Shikamaru paused and glanced up at Yamato. "Does he not know or something?"
Kaedeko seemed to tense at this and Yamato very quickly felt the need to leave. "It was before we were partners. So no, but that's not the issue."
"You've been partners for eight months now."
"I know. I can count."
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"You never asked."
"You guys are still talking though?"
"This isn't high school, we work together… Of course we still talk."
"After the shit he pulled? Who broke it off?"
Kaedeko set down her pencil with an annoyed slam. "He did. In case you didn't realize, the safety of the entire FBI and more is on the line with these files. Don't you think we have something more important to discuss?"
"No." Shikamaru said sharply. "I don't think there is anything more important than this right now. What happened, if you're worried about Yamato seeing Naruto in a bad light or spreading rumors… he's hardly the type-"
Yamato stood at this point, now KNOWING that it wasn't his place to be there. "I think I'll just come back later…"
"Yamato, stay." Kaedeko glanced up at him with almost pleading eyes and caught him totally off guard. He'd never noticed before that her eyes were so bright. They were hazel with a ring of vibrant green around the pupil and a light brown circling the outer edge. He stood awkwardly for a moment, but nodded and sat back down.
"It's been nine months, and since then you have sent fourty-two cases and twenty-two profiles, and that's not including the fourteen cases related to what you sent just this week. You've refused invitations and you haven't dropped by despite always being in the same building and now that you've seen my hair is short you suddenly want to know what happened? Nothing happened; we weren't together in the first place-"
"Isn't that the whole issue? Nearly four years and he never put a name to it? Just dropped by every other night?"
That seemed to make Kaedeko mad, "It was a mutual arrangement, you think it was some forced, one-sided-"
"Don't try and say it wasn't one-sided. You felt for him, he was just using you."
"No, he felt for me, that's why it ended. That's why he's taking an overseas assignment. He knows he fucked up. He apologized and…"
"Apologized for what? Breaking your heart? Or taking advantage of you?"
"Both." Kaedeko finally looked back at Shikamaru.
Yamato wasn't exactly sure what to make of all this. For one, he'd never seen Shikamaru so emotional. For two, from what he had heard it seemed Naruto had been using Kaedeko for the past four years in a sexual way. For three, Kaedeko had asked him to stay. He stayed quiet, watching the two of them in silence. He wasn't sure what he could do to keep the situation under control but he had a feeling that was why Kaedeko wanted him to stay. She had hoped a third party would keep the emotions all in check and prevent too much from being said. It was clear from how vague she was being that she didn't want to openly discuss what had actually taken place with Shikamaru
"He apologized for what he did, told me he realized what he had been doing and he didn't want it to continue. He said he was going to put up for an overseas assignment and spend a few years out of touch. He told me I could stop trying so hard, and so I cut my hair off."
Yamato recalled the super short cut she had when they had first met and felt another pang of guilt for the way he had judged her for it. He couldn't believe that he had no idea, this whole time such huge things like relationships and having a license and he was clueless. He hadn't even realized what color her eyes really were until just a few moments ago. He had been hanging onto first impressions and claiming to know her through what he read in her file.
He next registered the anger Shikamaru was displaying, the way he was trying to hide it but Yamato could see. He realized that there was far more going on than what was being said. It was hard to believe but it seemed Naruto had one downfall, one claim to a broken heart and it was Kaedeko. Yamato frowned, recalling many times he had left Kaedeko alone with Naruto in the last few months. Never once had he noticed anything, but hind sight was twenty-twenty. Sexual tension and an obvious fear of unclear boundaries was to be seen everywhere between the two of them, even an effort to act normal. He had heard her use the phrase a few times, including this morning, 'I would have asked Naruto…' and again felt a twinge of guilt. She was trying to avoid falling back into their old dynamic and he had been totally out of tune with her attempts to reach out to him.
Kaedeko had been trying far more than he was. She apologized for her language, she obviously observed him and knew his schedule because she knew what time he arrived at work, she trusted him with the pin to her office, and she was now asking for his help and he was just sitting here.
"I'm feeling sort of hungry." He said simply with a casual smile on his face and standing up as he spoke. "I think today's a good day for some 24 hour Chinese, if I had to guess we're all going to be up for a while with this mess…" He motioned to the files strewn against the floor. "Tonight we'll switch it up and have breakfast at the diner down the street. Having breakfast late at night always makes it feel like you haven't been up so long. Let's go Kaedeko." He nodded towards the door and turned to leave, "We'll be back, anything you want Shikamaru?"
The young boy glared slightly and Yamato used many years of experience in intimidation to stare right back. Shikamaru tensed, but shook his head, "I'm fine. I'll look through what you've got so far while you guys are gone." He said as Kaedeko pulled herself to her feet. Yamato held the door open for her and watched as she fumbled with a coat on the wall and just before she stepped out the door Shikamaru spoke again, "I'm sorry, Kaedeko."
She stopped with her back turned to Shikamaru but Yamato had a clear view of the pain on her face. Yamato himself had broken a few hearts, and some of them had been strong women like Kaedeko who refused to fall apart even when they were shattered. He had seen that expression before, and Yamato couldn't believe he'd missed it until now.
"I know. Don't worry about it for now though. You've got time to make it up to me." She said teased lightly, but her face wasn't in it. She then walked away without waiting for an answer.
Yamato kept his coffee cup in his hand as they walked. He would take it with them and finish it in the car. Today wasn't one of those days he could go without coffee. He would probably make several more pots that day as a result of what went on in in Kaedeko's office just moments ago.
They walked in silence to the elevator and once inside he pressed the button to the car garage level. She clung to her coat and hot apple cider, her head down.
Not a single word was said until they climbed into Yamato's Black Ford Focus Sedan, with the doors closed Yamato spoke first leaving the keys in his lap and his coffee in the cup holder.
"I'm sorry."
Kaedeko laughed a little, "What is it with guys being sorry?"
Yamato frowned. "I'm not referring to that." He said seriously. He felt like she didn't need to hear another I'm sorry in that concern, even if it was true. "I'm apologizing for my behavior as your partner; my lack of respect for you and not observing or appreciating you as a person. I've totally avoided allowing a relationship to form between us, I've disregarded your attempts to compromise, and I've neglected my duties in that regard and I'm sorry for it. From now on I will try harder."
Kaedeko watched him for a good while, and they sat in silence. She finally gave a small laugh, "You're always so formal about things." She said with a small smile, "but thank you. Thank you for admitting to it and then saying 'from now on'… it's good to know that you're not gonna quit on me."
Yamato nodded and they sat in silence for a few more moments. "Have you talked to anyone about it?"
"About what? Naruto?"
"Yes."
She seemed to shift uncomfortably. "No."
There was again silence. "Would you like to talk about it?" He finally asked.
She looked over at him with a surprised expression, "I… yeah. Yeah I would. Um, are you…? I mean are you offering to listen…?"
He smiled some, "Yes Kaedeko. I'm offering to listen."
"Kay, just double checking you weren't trying to send me to the FBI shrink or something. Um, where to start… uh. Well. You know from my file that my dad is in the Military, and I spent all of my schooling in boarding schools as a result. Because of his rank I was allowed into a boarding school that took a lot of children with parents in service to the government and such. In middle school I had a pretty big blow up with my mom and I said some things that I shouldn't have and as a result I just didn't go home any more. I stayed at the boarding school all year round and immersed myself in learning. When I moved to 'high school', there were a lot of kids who had parents in the FBI. Kids like Shika and even Naruto. Anyway they held these weekend classes for kids who were failing and I started going because I had nothing better to do. By that time I was already starting to take college courses though the school and that's where I met Naruto…" she paused for a moment. She ran her thumb over the lip of her cup and contemplated what to say next. "I didn't have many friends. I didn't have a family any more… and really nobody cared. I hardly talked to anyone at school aside from teachers and Naruto just came right up to me and sat by me. Started talking to me like he'd known me for years and pretty soon he was doing that all the time… I mean every time he saw me; he would even come looking for me it seemed. Soon after that he started dragging me to hang out with his friends and then he wanted me to join his club. FFBIM: Future FBI Members." She laughed. "I thought it was so stupid and then I realized he was serious, and before long I realized that I had a place there. That stupid club was the only place that people knew me by name. Naruto gave me a home because he knew what it was like to not have one. The club narrowed down pretty fast, most of the kids were in it but they didn't, ya know, really want to be in the FBI, but there were a few like me, Kiba, Shino, Shika ,and Naruto that were really aiming for it. Naruto had to work his ass off but by the time he graduated he had just enough credits to join the FBI academy and of course Shika and I had no trouble. Naruto was pretty bummed when Sakura decided not to join, but most of the club still hung out upon occasion. Sakura, Choji, Ino, sometimes the Hyuuga cousins still came over to hang out… Naruto has always had a thing for Sakura."
Yamato followed most of this pretty easy, he knew about her schooling and he recognized many of the names she said. Sakura and Ino were up and coming medical consultants for FBI cases, Choji was a chef at a local five star restaurant and son to Choza, Kiba and Shino were both Agents, and the Hyuuga cousin's were the heirs to the Hyuuga Weapons and Technology Inc.
"Well, one day Naruto came by my dorm room and he was acting really… weird. I mean just, weird and finally he asks me if I like anyone. I tell him no, not really, make a joke about who has time for love in the FBI academy, especially me who was working on a doctorate. He told me to be serious. I mean Naruto told me to be serious. I nearly fell off my bed…" Kaedeko seemed to be swimming in the memories. "It sounds so stupid now but he asked if we could pretend we weren't who were. At the time I had a thing for my teacher, who was a blonde, and so I said yes…" she struggled for a moment, looking physically uncomfortable. "This went on for a while and we weren't really a couple, just every so often he would make a move. Pretty soon I didn't have a crush on my teacher, but he still had a thing for Sakura… At one point I… I said his name instead of someone else's… afterwards I told him I wanted to stop and he asked why… Told me he liked hearing me say his name…" Her face was starting to turn almost as red as her hair. "Long story short it didn't stop. About ten months ago though, I got drunk and went over to his place, and I don't remember anything when I'm drunk and we did the usual only… Only Naruto…" She paused again, struggling for words. She ran a shaking hand through her hair. "He says he said my name instead of hers. He told me that then I started crying, and that I told him everything about how I felt about him and he said he realized what he had done. He avoided me for about a month and then finally he told me what happened, he apologized and told me he didn't realize what he had been doing to me until then and then he told me he was gonna leave… He then told me I was more beautiful the way I was, told me to stop trying to compare to Sakura… and so I cut off my hair and we stopped sleeping together."
Yamato sat very still, listening to each word and watching her through the rearview mirror. "Why the hair?" He asked first.
She ran her fingers through the red and tugged softly. "I stopped cutting it when I was nineteen because I knew he liked long hair. I hated it but I had it almost to the middle of my back before we became partners."
Yamato wondered if he had perhaps seen her before and just didn't know it was her. He stayed quiet for a little while longer, thinking of what to say.
"He saved my life in high school, and even though it's been bad… he gave me a purpose… a goal for life, a career. He's a good agent too… so please don't judge him by this. Shikamaru and him have kind of been at odds about it, they're still friends and all, they just don't talk about me."
Yamato nodded, "everyone makes mistakes." He said carefully.
She smiled some, and he again considered what he should say.
"I left you alone with him a few times. I didn't realize the situation but I won't be doing that again. Despite his apology what happened wasn't right and it seems as though you don't desire for it to continue. I will do what I can to help you with that."
Kaedeko gave a brief smile, and he could see the tears that were threatening to break loose. He thought about what she had said towards the end… 'he told me I was beautiful' and wondered if he should tell her that she was beautiful. Even on the verge of tears she was a captivating woman, her pale skin, flushed cheeks, her bright hazel eyes glossed over, and her lips… she had very nice lips. It was probably her most attractive feature, slightly pouty at the moment, but when they curled into a smile they were more than tempting. Even in a pout he could quiet clearly imagine running his thumb over her lower lip and pulling her lips open for a better kiss.
This time Yamato shifted awkwardly in his seat. "I don't know that it's appropriate… But I will say in the most objective way possible that you are more than beautiful. I will make a point to tell you when you are being more attractive than normal."
Kaedeko laughed at that, leaning forward slightly as she did so and brushing away tears that had yet to fall. "Alright, cowboy…" She looked over at him, giving him a lopsided smile that made his heart skip a beat. "Thank you Yamato."
Kakashi was right; raw was the best way to have a woman and Kaedeko an undeniably raw and sexy woman. Her body screamed various temptations, from her lips down to her hips and even her ever changing hair style. Her personality was even made to be loved: right down to her random cute socks, her odd habit of studying on the floor, her wild temper, her rambling way of talking, and her unpredictable behavior were all somehow frustratingly attractive.
Perhaps that was why from the very beginning she made him uncomfortable… because he didn't want her as a partner. He wanted her as a lover.