Kakashi and his team had the honor of dining at the Kazekage's table that night. To the chagrin of Kakashi and Izumo, Gaara had planned a place for Akemi next to his. The good news was that Gaara seemed to like Akemi but for how much longer? Moreover Akemi was very amused by the reactions of her companions which encouraged her to continue in the provocation.

Succulent dishes were offered to them. Gaara seemed to enjoy their company and watched them eat more than he ate himself.

Akemi devoured everything within reach. Amazing vision given her fine constitution. Kakashi wondered how she could store all this food in such a small body. Luckily she compensated by a fast metabolism and exercise.

Izumo, for his part, had never seen her eat anything else. He preferred, however, to make no comment about it, he did know she wouldn't react well to any evocation of their past relationship. He was already struggling to describe their current relationship as friendly despite his efforts so he did not want to ruin everything.

It saddened him not being able to express the feelings he still had about her. These insolent airs she gave herself, her lack of tact with people, he knew it was only a facade. Sentimentality is a weakness, she had told him one day, and she made it a point of honor not to flaunt it. But he knew her beyond these appearances; which had undoubtedly caused them to break, and she could not bear to make even a hint of it. It did not prevent him from staring at her stealthily though.

To their relief, Akemi did not make any more unpleasant remarks than usual to the Kazekage who was apparently sensitive to her humor. At the end of the meal, Akemi had to eat half of her weight in food according to Izumo, but even so, she did not even look tired. They got up and wished goodnight to the Kazekage.

"Well, good night, we leave at dawn." Kakashi said, stretching.

"Very good, see you tomorrow!" Izumo retorted.

Akemi remained silent, which intrigued Kakashi who left them little freedom during the missions, so they did not have free quarters before going to sleep. It really angered Akemi to be treated like a kid when she was 24 years old, so she rebelled frequently; Kakashi had experienced it during this mission and another before. Only there, she seemed to have changed her strategy.

Once everyone in his room - and Kakashi checked - Akemi fled and went quietly through the window of her room. Kakashi did not lose a crumb from the edge of his own where he was reading quietly. Despite the height of the building, Akemi climbed the upper floors without blinking to reach the roof of the palace which gave an unobstructed view of the whole Village of Suna.

"Gaara was right, the village is even more beautiful at sunset ... the sun is not even lying down, but I should? Tss!" she said to herself, sitting on the edge of the roof.

She took a cigarette out of her green vest pocket and lit it to enjoy the first puff. Hours she was waiting for that but with Kakashi, no way to be quiet for two minutes.

"So that's really a disgusting habit!" exclaimed a familiar voice behind her.

Akemi cursed inwardly, lowering her head. Too bad, anyway she was no longer a kid; she could smoke if it suited her.

Kakashi reached her.

"What are you doing here?" he asked in a deliberately ironic tone.

Akemi seemed to hesitate for a moment.

"What are YOU doing here? Aren't you supposed to set an example? No wonder I disobey..." she retorted brazenly.

"You have some nerve!" said Kakashi, holding back his laugh while sitting on the ledge to face her. "It was daring to talk about the biju to the Kazekage ... you could have got us into trouble."

Akemi chuckled, shrugging. The sun had just touched the earth and its rays turned scarlet through the sandy air of the desert. Akemi for a moment appreciated the soft warmth on her face as she stared at the horizon. Soon, such blissful moments of quiet would become rare given the turn of events.

The light nimbling her flamed up the light golden color of her eyes. That's what had caught Kakashi's attention; caught off guard by the sudden softness of her face. It took her a moment to realize that Kakashi was not saying anything. She glanced at him, thinking that he too was enjoying the moment, but in fact it was her he was staring at.

"What?" she asked Kakashi abruptly with a suspicious look on her face.

"Eh?" He started, looking surprised for a split second. "...I... was wondering what Izumo could find attractive in you." he replied finally, regaining his apparent casualness.

"What?! What the fuck are you talking a... Do you have a problem with me or what?" Akemi exclaimed aggressively, bending her chest menacingly.

Kakashi raised an eyebrow.

"Oh... by all means, Akemi, go on." he said lightly, inviting her without hesitation to confront him.

She stared at him intensely for a moment, suddenly hesitant; she knew he was a formidable fighter, she finally released her shoulders.

"Are you chickening out?" he added, getting up.

At these words, Akemi slowly turned her head towards Kakashi with a defiant look. In a split second she threw away her cigarette and put herself on her feet with a roll back while executing a few quick mudras:

"Ninpô: Repulsion!"

Her technique was directed against Kakashi's headband, which was thrown back violently, head first. The violence of the attack had detached his blindfold.

He rolled on the ground and stopped a few meters away. Akemi maintained her attack position for a moment, expecting to retaliate as soon as he got up - which he would not fail to do because no one can defeat Kakashi at once, especially not a mere chunnin like her. But Kakashi did nothing; he remained face down, without any sign of conscience.

Akemi, still motionless, bit her lip, doubtful, and grimaced as she analyzed the situation.

"Fuck ... This can't be..." she mumbled.

Akemi, suspicious, advanced slowly. Having observed him in action once or twice before, she knew he was very clever. As she cautiously advanced towards him, the body suddenly disappeared in a cloud of white smoke. She did not even have the time to realize the trap she had just fallen into that a wire came out of nowhere to wrap around her shoulders, then her arms to her thighs. Kakashi soon appeared jumping over the edge of the roof.

"He, he! ..." he said, triumphantly.

Akemi was stunned for a second then, realizing the ridiculousness of her situation, had a reflex that never failed to make her angry: she blushed.

Kakashi put his hands in his pockets and, with his nonchalant gait, approached her. Akemi was boiling now to see him as phlegmatic as she was helpless. If she had had a sharingan at that moment, she would have used it without any hesitation. Only his gaze changed as he approached. He had now gone beyond the physical limit that she fixed on anyone she knew, or not.

He had just taken another step in the provocation; in addition to having totally ridiculed her for a simple curfew story that could not be more arbitrary, he was now standing close to her, so close that she could feel his weak breath through the fabric which covered almost the whole of his face.

Akemi then hesitated between outrage and confusion as he held his face above hers, looking down at her. She tried for a moment to guess in his only visible eye what the exact nature of his intentions might be, while wondering why she was wondering that; it could only be to show her who was the boss.

So he was, undoubtedly, so what was he waiting for to reprimand her? Why did he look at her like that, half-closed eye scrutinizing her face, breathing almost restrained and so damn close?

Why did she suddenly have the stupid impression that he was going to kiss her as he lowered his head slightly to her, approaching more and more of her mouth and ... everything stopped.

He remained as if frozen a few millimeters from her.

Akemi could not take her eyes off his face – is he going to... – though she felt herself dying of embarrassment, imagining her cheeks so scarlet that he himself must feel the heat that emanated from them.

The eye that scrutinized her suddenly closed, wrinkled by the smile that he emitted under his mask. She barely had time to understand – you teasing bastard! – before, in a fluid and rapid movement, he bends his knees, drawing Akemi's belly against his shoulder, and raises her like a carpet. Akemi went from troubled to hysterical.

"But ... what ... Kakashi! Let me down!" she yelled.

Kakashi did not pay any attention to her and jumped from the roof with her on his shoulder, still screaming with rage to be humiliated like that. How could she be so naive?

He easily reached the edge of the window of Akemi's room, entered it and threw her on the bed as delicately as a sack of rice. Akemi wriggled like a worm but could not make any coherent movement.

"There, I'm sure you will not move from here now!" Kakashi exclaimed.

"What? ... Are you going to leave me like this? You can't ..."

Akemi did not have time to finish her sentence; Kakashi had already left by where he had entered. He returned to his own room but could still hear Akemi's howls, whose sound volume exceeded the limits of propriety. He listened to her for a moment, pestering the whole world, and found himself smiling, thinking back to her flushed face and her vexed expression. Her face so soft in reality.

He wondered why he had never seen it that way before, or had he only really looked? A shiver shook him. Why was he thinking of that? What was he doing up there with her? Was it worthy of a team leader? Then, in a jolt of consciousness, he decided that nothing had happened on the roof anyway, nothing that could lead to confusion, no, really nothing.

At sunrise, as a pale light flooded the building and its openwork corridors, Izumo was surprised not to see Akemi join them in the hallway.

"Kakashi, where is Akemi?"

"Oh ... you'll have to wake her up, I think Izumo ..."

"Ah really?" he replied, puzzled, "Well, if I must ..."

He hesitated a moment before the closed door, no sound reached him. He hoped she would not jump on him for venturing into her space; she was far from pleasant in the morning and needed very little reason to get upset, much like the rest of the day.

Nevertheless, Izumo knocked on the door but did not get an answer. He called her but still nothing, so he entered. The room was in considerable disorder, the little furniture had been knocked down.

As for Akemi, she had visibly fallen off the bed and was asleep beside her sheet strewn on the ground. Izumo chuckled at seeing her like that, her whole body tied and a gnarled mass of orange hair as her head. He grabbed a kunaï and cut the thread. He leaned over her face:

"Akemi ..." he whispered.

She opened an eye.

"Looks like someone has finally found a way to keep you quiet..." he chuckled in front of her face.

Realizing she was free, she jumped up, regaining her spirits and frantically massaging her numb limbs. Almost immediately, the lost and sleepy air on her face gave way to an expression of cold anger.

Izumo had recognized Kakashi's technique for restraining her and, imagining what had happened the night before, he thought it best to intervene before she made a mistake.

"Well ... we're leaving ..." stammered Izumo, trying to block her exit.

She walked around him without a glance and stormed out of the room. Kakashi, with his hands in his pockets, was standing in the corridor and admiring the landscape through the window, he was hardly whistling. On seeing him, Akemi's first reflex was to rush at him, but as she lifted her foot to take the first step, she froze.

For a moment she did not understand her own hesitation, and then her poor performance of the day before came back to her mind. But there was something else that held her back, she felt it well. Kakashi turned around and faced her. His attitude was not unusual, his eyes dull, his posture nonchalant, and yet her stomach was tied at the sight of his face. The kiss ... I thought he was going to... She decided that it would be wise to disappear before her discomfort became as visible as the day before, and to the amazement of the audience, she went straight into the corridor and went down the stairs, without a word.

"Uh ... what just happened?" Izumo asked, staring down the stairs hurtled by Akemi.

"…No idea." Kakashi shrugged.

Whatever happened with Kakashi, Izumo knew that Akemi was not the type to let go when she had something to say to someone. Hence his astonishment. Another mystery as she alone had the secret; Izumo resigned himself once again to understand nothing.

"Okay, let's go," Kakashi ordered.

Kakashi and Izumo did not find Akemi until they arrived at the entrance of the village of Suna. She was out of breath, yet the Kazekage's palace was not so far away. She had had an irrepressible desire to run but stopped there when she saw the Kazekage arriving to greet them.

They left the village, but Akemi's silence was beginning to worry Izumo, while Kakashi, like her, carefully avoided her eyes. So it was in a strangely heavy silence that they set out for Konoha.

Running was what she did when she needed to think, or not to think. She was dying for it at the time, especially to avoid asking herself if she would ever talk to Kakashi again without throwing up on him.

Of all the injuries she had sustained during the fighting, none had reached this degree of seriousness for her. The embarrassment was the worst punishment, only she did not understand why she felt so. She had kissed other guys before, she had never made a fuss of it, while, technically, nothing had happened on this roof ... if not the intention. He almost kissed her and there she was waiting for it, blushing like a teenager.

Things were not supposed to get personal with Kakashi, she had never meant to even if in a corner of her mind she knew she wasn't insensitive to the man. That's what troubled her the most; she secretly wanted it to happen and it showed; now he knew of her attraction because she wasn't able to hide it properly and she would never be able to work with him again. Stupid girl...

The team headed east at a good pace. When they crossed the border of the Land of the Rivers the afternoon was already engaged. The weather was clear and sunny as it was common in the middle of the summer.

Despite the heat and hunger that began to be felt in the stomachs, neither Kakashi nor Akemi seemed inclined to stop. The most astonishing thing was that she had not shown any emotion as she approached midday, as she still put a lot of importance on her three meals a day minimum. Without blinking, she ran, concentrated on her road as if at any moment an obstacle could arise.

Kakashi did the same, and still no word exchanged, no joke, no provocation. Izumo was now sure, something was happening, or rather, had happened, between Kakashi and his teammate, but it was not easy for him to talk with either, because of a bad temper for one, and hierarchy for the other.

The day began to decline as they approached the border between the Land of the Rivers and the Land of Fire. Suddenly, a word, a phrase even, came out of Kakashi's mouth:

"We'll stop here for the night."

It was brief but intense for Izumo who was struggling to feel his legs, unlike his belly.

They stopped dead. They had reached a plain lined with bushy shrubs near a river. While Kakashi and Akemi were busy setting their bunks at a safe distance from each other, Izumo did not drag and lit a fire to prepare the meal with the provisions the Kazekage had offered them for the return.

"It's reaaady!" exclaimed Izumo, "finally, I'm so hungry!"

Izumo settled down by the fire and began to serve the bowls of a mixture of which he had the secret. Akemi and Kakashi settled in turn on both sides of Izumo. Despite all the legendary calm that Izumo could show, this situation was starting to annoy him. He grabbed a bowl and raised it in front of him. Akemi reached to grab the bowl. Without looking, Kakashi tried to grab it too.

Feeling a resistance he looked up and realized that Akemi and he were fighting over the same bowl. Izumo no longer held it and greedily emptied his while keeping an eye on the two quibbles that accompanied him.

Kakashi and Akemi finally exchanged glances. Kakashi opened a rounded eye as Akemi felt red flush again - luckily it was dark then- and his belly tied like that morning. Reflexively she withdrew her hand and Kakashi, not having ensured his grip, could not hold the bowl full that fell to the ground with a small sound of bamboo. The mixture was abundantly spread on the ground.

Akemi watched the scene as if in slow motion, then jumped up, realizing the extent of her stupidity, and went to bed without a word.

Kakashi, initially embarrassed by the situation, took a peeved expression, according to what Izumo could decipher from his expressions with three quarters of his masked face. The chunnin had not moved and while looking at his almost empty bowl of food, he said with a contrite air:

"You want me to leave you two alone maybe ..."

"What do you mean?" Kakashi replied, eyebrow raised.

"I don't know ... you tell me ..." Izumo said, a voice heavy with innuendo.

"I don't see…"

"She's mad at you I think ... it looks serious ..."

"Must be ... because of last night. She disobeyed so ..." Kakashi said evasively.

"... Ah yes ... it looks like it's more serious than just that though ..." Izumo retorted, not convinced.

"You know her well. Are you close?" Kakashi asked, insidiously trying to divert the conversation by feigning ignorance.

"Mmm ... yes, a little, well, I think ... I hope ..." he sighed. "I don't know actually, we've been together for a while but it's over now, I'm trying to keep in touch, good contact."

"It must not be easy, I guess ..." Kakashi mumbled.

"No, not much is easy with her, but ... I like her." Izumo shrugged as if revealing he couldn't help it

"Yes, I'm sure it's reciprocal ..." Kakashi said, with little conviction anyway, the important thing being to bury the subject.

"What's certain is that she's really weird today..." Izumo insisted.

"It will be better tomorrow! Goodnight Izumo." Kakashi hastily said, getting up, not wanting to leave Izumo the opportunity to continue.

He went to his improvised bed and lay down. He glanced to his right. In the dim glow of the fire he could perceive the form of Akemi, rolled in her blanket. He had agreed that nothing had happened, so why this trouble between them, why couldn't he look at her in the eyes? She had not reacted as he thought; he had expected her to take revenge, to make him live a hell all day. Instead, she seemed unable to speak to him.

Maybe they should talk about it, to break the abscess but was he ready to face his true feelings? If he was sincere with himself, he would have to confess that what didn't happen still meant something for him...and for her?

He was starting to get lost in the middle of all these questions. He was so sure of himself the day before, when he was alone. He absolutely had to empty his head otherwise sleep would never reach him. Nevertheless, the night seemed very short.