Kakashi POV
"You're going on a date with her!?" Gai cried out from his wheelchair. His team looked at the duo with mild variations of curiosity. Kakashi sighed.
"Yeah. I'm meeting her at the tower in a few hours." He placed his hands in his pockets. "It's just lunch. Nothing serious." He noticed Itachi and Shisui walking up in his peripheral. "But I don't think I would mind if it did get serious..."
"Hatake." Itachi's voice reverberated in the air.
"Uchiha." Kakashi returned in a lackadaisical manner. "What brings you out this way?"
Itachi's sharingan activated. Kakashi knew almost instantly. It was to be a spar. A rough one.
"Alright then." Kakashi slipped into a defensive stance.
Shisui POV
"What is that about?" The Hyuuga kid muttered. The others nodded their curiosity.
"Kakashi totally stole Itachi's thunder yesterday." Shisui chuckled.
"Huh? How do you mean?" Tenten asked as they had to sidestep a stray fire ball.
"Kakashi asked Lady Tsunade's daughter out. Itachi has been planning to ask her out for weeks now." Shisui explained.
"Oh. Kakashi has been telling me how he always went by her training area. He's been interested in her since she first arrived." Gai murmured.
"Itachi kept running into her at His favorite tea house. They apparently took turns staring at one another." Shisui snickered. "I think that's the most he's stared at a woman without thinking them a danger."
"Wow. So they're fighting over a girl. Who'd have guessed. It just seems so out of character for the two of them." Tenten mused.
"Well, I don't know that Kakashi realizes what it's about, but more than anything, Itachi is venting his frustrations." Shisui watched his cousin speed after the copy nin. "And Kakashi is the reason for his frustration at the moment. I guess the clan isn't helping much, but right now, Kakashi is his main grievance."
"I can see how that would be a bit annoying." Neji muttered.
"What do you mean?" Lee asked.
"He's the next clan head. Right now, he's at the perfect age to be married. To settle down and start a family and manage the clan business. He probably saw her as a perfect potential wife. And then Kakashi swooped in, right under his nose. Chances are, he only thought of her as the answer, so there's no back up. That can be very stressful and frustrating." Neji explained.
"Oh..." Tenten stuttered.
"I'm lucky that the same pressures aren't on me." Neji muttered.
"You have no idea..." Shisui answered in barely a whisper. The two sparring ninja, both singed and soggy, were reduced to using kunai as they crossed blades over and over again.
Kakashi POV
"I'm afraid I'm going to have to cut this short. I've got somewhere to be." Kakashi finally backed up from their deadlock.
"Oh? Aren't you usually late? What's so important today?" Itachi lowered his weapon.
"Hmmm? Nothing too terribly important. But I do have plans for lunch, and I've already worked up an appetite." Kakashi smiled, revealing only a crinkled eye. "And I should probably clean up before meeting my date."
Kakashi tilted his head to avoid the kunai that was thrown at him. "Touchy subject, I'm guessing?"
Itachi glared at him silently. Shisui quickly walked up to his cousin in hopes to calm things down. "Hey. Didn't you say you had a few things to pick up?"
"...Hn." Itachi gave one last glare before heading in the direction of the market district.
"Wow." Tenten mumbled. "Talk about scary."
"The way you were speaking... You knew he was interested in her." Gai stared hard at his long time rival.
"I knew, I just didn't care. She's a talented young lady. And she likes dogs." Kakashi grinned behind his mask.
"How do you know that?" Lee asked in innocent curiosity.
"You didn't take her back to your home, did you?" Gai shouted in shock.
"No. We met last night at the park. She was stargazing, and I was walking the guys." Kakashi ran a hand through his soaked hair. "Bull is really looking forward to seeing her again. I really do need to get going though. Need to change."
Tsuki POV
I looked at a nearby clock. It was ten til eleven. I let my eyes flicker up to the sky. The clouds drifted lazily by, on a cool breeze. I smiled as I watched them migrate across the sky. I closed my eyes and took in a deep breath, drawing in all the healthier scents of the village. Food cooking, flowers from the shop down the road, the smell of ozone and metal and male cologne... I opened my eyes to see Kakashi standing a few feet away with a hand behind his back.
"Been waiting long?" He asked.
I glanced at the clock again to see it right at eleven. "I was told to expect you to be rather late. I came early just in case." I smiled. "But it looks like you're on time."
"Hmmm? I guess I am." He pulled a single flower from behind his back. A white camillia. "Saw this on the way, and couldn't help but think of how it would match your hair."
"Th-thank you." I was a bit flustered. You're adorable. He couldn't possibly be aware of what it meant, right? I carefully situated it into my hair elastic.
"I was right. It does suit you. Shall we?" He offered his arm to me again. My mind flashed back to last night, with the stars and street lights really throwing his clothes and hair into contrast, and adding depth to those dark grey eyes. My hand found it's way back to the crook of his arm as I felt my face flush a bright pink.
"Of course. Lead the way." I smiled. His visible eye widened and I could have sworn that I saw a faint dusting of pink.
"Right. There's a good place around here. Do you like Mongolian barbeque?" He asked.
I chuckled self concsiously.
"What?" He looked at me curiously without breaking pace.
"You may not believe me when I say this, but where I'm from, there weren't many places that sold this kind of thing... I've never had it." I rubbed my neck with my free hand. His eye widened again.
"So what kind of food did you eat?" He asked.
"Don't get me started on the kind of foods they sold around me. I would like to keep my appetite. I made my own food." I grinned.
"Sounds bad." He commented.
"You have no idea." I shuddered. "But everything here is so natural. It's amazing. The vegetables are naturally grown. There's hardly any chemicals sprayed on them. The meat is fresh, and real. It's amazing, really."
"Well hopefully you like this. I think it's pretty good, myself." He smiled through his mask. As we entered, I looked around us to see the grills in the centers of the tables. I also noticed quite a few familiar faces. "Oh my. It seems like today, everyone I know is eating here." Kakashi sounded a bit like he was already annoyed with them.
"Hello. How many will be in your party?" The hostess asked in a friendly manner.
"Just us two. Is there a more private table?" Kakashi smiled. I noticed that the hostess seemed a bit nervous.
"Please? I'm afraid I'm a bit uncomfortable with so many familiar faces around." I gave a sheepish, closed eyed grin. I opened my eyes to half mast for just an instant before opening them regularly. I noticed she had turned several shades red and had stopped breathing. I cocked my head sightly. "Are you feeling well, miss?"
"Y-yes... R-right this w-way!" She squeaked at me as she led us to a very secluded area of the restaurant. She seated us and let us know a server would be by shortly.
"That was quite interesting." Kakashi remarked. "She was highly flustered. What did you do to her, exactly?"
"Mother says I have a high amount of charisma. If I can train myself to use it properly, I could be a political asset. I decided to test her theory." I shrugged. "All I really did was smile at her. I really wish I knew what made men and women do that." I rubbed my neck in embarrassment. "It can't just be charisma."
"No, you're right. It's your looks. If you look at someone a certain way, they turn to putty in your hands. I wonder if it works on ninja as well."
"Who knows? I'll likely never have to use it to that extent." I shrugged.
"Excuse me. I am Aiko, and I'll be your server. What drinks would you like?" A young woman announced.
"Water, please.' I gave a friendly smile, while tilting my face to the side. She blushed and nodded. She turned to Kakashi.
"Water for as well." He gave a grin behind his mask. I watched her blush worsen slightly and hid a grin.
"I-I'll be right back with that." She scuttled away quickly.
"That as hardly fair." I teased. I could see the lines of a smirk under his mask.
"I'm not the only guilty party here." He bantered back.
We looked down at our menus. I noticed that they had steak for a cheap price, but I decided I ought to see about a cheaper route. I noticed a salad deal and made a mental note.
I continued to peruse the menu, my eyes roaming back to the steak every now ad again.
"Have you made any decisions?" Our server smiled as friendly as possible. I noticed our waters were right next to us.
"Yes. Two orders of steak, rice and steamed vegetables." Kakashi decided for us both. My eyebrows raised in surprise, but I didn't say anything on the matter with her there.
"Very good. I'll have that right out." She chirped cheerily and quickly made to fill our orders.
"Really?" I asked with an amused expression.
"I saw you eyeing it. It was what you wanted. And I have to admit it sounded good." He shrugged.
"You really are sweet." I quickly took a sip of my water.
Aiko was quick to bring our food, and we set to cooking our meat to our preferred degree. I tried to keep my eyes averted from his face so that he could eat his meal in peace.
"Tsuki?" I raised my eyebrows in acknowledgement as I watched my meat cook studiously. "I don't mind, you know." My eyes wandered up to see his face uncovered.
"I was warned you don't care for showing your face. I thought I'd give you a bit of privacy." I admitted as I collected the steak from the grill.
"Well, Ive seen you at your most vulnerable, so I feel it's only fair." His words struck a chord with me.
"What? I was hardly vulnerable last night." I tried to shake off the shock.
"No. I talking about before that. I didn't realize it was you. You were younger. But it was you." He looked so grave. "You were going to jump. You were high up, and you were going to jump."
"And you stopped me." I murmured.
"I had to. You had so much to live for. I couldn't just let you end it. And then about a year later, you show up. Older. Even more beautiful." He smiled.
"Thank you."
"I'm just stating a fact. Everyone can see your beauty." He continued lightheartedly.
"No. Thank you for saving me. For the longest time I called you my angels..." I trailed off in embarrassment.
"Angels? Plural?" He cocked his head.
"Yes. I attempted twice, and twice a voice stopped me. One was yours." I explained.
"Out of curiosity, whose was the others? Do you know?" He asked as he set his food on his dishes so that he could give me his full attention.
"The other voice was Itachi Uchiha."