Just so you know: I pretty much have the rest of the story planned out chapter by chapter so all I have to do is write it.
DISCLAIMER: In case you were wondering, I don't own Naruto.
I shall delay you no further!
Chapter Four
-CONNECTIONS-
Kohare loved the feeling of the wind through her braided hair. It made her feel like she was free, a new concept. The silence between her and Kakashi didn't feel unusual to her – it wasn't like she had anything to say.
After about 20 minutes of nothing but the wind whooshing around them Kakashi said, "When can I have my book back?"
Kohare figured he was anxious for his porn. 'If you're asking me then I know that you aren't responsible enough for it,' she thought.
"Not now," she answered.
"You're not very professional," Kakashi mumbled under his breath, barely audible.
"Hm," Kohare decided officially that this man was a child in an adult's body. She would not let him win.
She didn't want to give him the pleasure of turning to look at him, so she kept her eyes looking forward.
Kakashi could feel the awkward silence in the air trying to suffocate him. Was Kohare feeling this awkwardness? If she was, she wasn't showing any sign of it.
He finally said - to break the silence and because he was still wondering, "When can I have my book back?"
She swiftly snapped, "Not now."
He wanted his book back badly – he missed it. This woman was evil. "You're not very professional," he said quietly.
"Hm," he heard Kohare reply, giving him a much less than satisfactory answer.
He knew he should be annoyed for the insult, but he could only think of it as entertaining.
He didn't expect her to say anything more but she said, "What's the mission?"
"Not now," he replied, exacting his revenge.
All she could say was, "Hph."
They camped out in a small clearing in the woods. It was well concealed by aspens and about 100 yards from a stream.
"I'm washing up." Kohare left without another word. She spent ten minutes washing herself and her meager clothing.
When she came back there was a small fire and Kakashi standing with his back against a tree. His eyes were staring into space, but she knew that he was aware of her.
He stood up straight and headed towards the direction she came from. "My turn. No peeking," he joked as he gave Kohare an eye smile. She did her best to ignore him.
45 minutes later Kakashi came back with his hair dripping flatly on top of his head. 'Ugh, he looks like a wet dog,' Kohare couldn't help but think. Like he was ascertaining her unsaid statement, he shook his head and water sprayed everywhere, making the fire sizzle and a vein on Kohare's forehead pop out in frustration.
"I'll take the first watch. I have to let my hair dry anyway," said Kakashi, walking over to the tree he had been sitting against before.
"Sure. Wake me up in a couple hours," she answered. She crawled into her sleeping bag. The cicadas wouldn't shut up, like they were purposefully trying to keep her an insomniac.
"You can trust me you know." Kakashi needed to hurry this trust process up. He wasn't getting any younger by letting her ignore him.
"Goodnight, Hatake-san."
'Ouch.' He let it go and eventually Kohare fell asleep.
The next week and a half was like that. He really did try his best to get on her good side, but it was like she didn't even have sides. She was just there and did her job.
They were delayed a couple of days because of wet weather and had to slow down.
Whenever she had to address him, she would call him Hatake-san, even though he told her not to.
"Kakashi. Call me Kakashi." He had said after she called him Hatake-san once again. He made sure not to look fed up, but inside, he was burning with frustration.
She just stared back at him and said, "That's alright, Hatake-san." Every time he spoke to her, it was almost as if she had to contemplate every syllable that would come out of her mouth. It was like she had never held a conversation before.
When they finally saw a village in the distance, they were getting sick of each other.
'It's like she doesn't have any feelings. She'll never trust me. All she must think about is the mission.'
'He's worse than a kid. He's an adult kid. All he cares about is his book. I can't believe anyone would wonder why I don't want to use more familiar names.'
The small buildings looked close by, but they travelled for another hour and it didn't look like they were getting much closer.
When they arrived, it was pitch black. They walked through the roads, silently scoping out the area.
"We should rest for tonight. We'll complete the mission tomorrow." It was impractical not to rest at night.
"Isn't there some sort of rule saying you have to tell me what the mission is?" She didn't understand how they could complete a mission if she didn't know what it was. She was finding it hard to withhold her ever growing frustration.
"Nope." She wanted to hurt him like there was no tomorrow.
"Isn't there a rule not to steal peoples' things?"he said, switching the accusations around. Kohare wasn't going to let him win, though.
"Yes, but not when those things happen to be porn belonging to perverts who expose it to innocent people."
"It isn't porn. It is a very popular novel, actually." It was a novel, right? It had… characters and…. words…
Kohare snorted. "Popular with perverts who buy a dozen copies each." Bulls-eye. No response there.
The rest of their little walk was silent. But it was again only awkward for Kakashi. After all, he was walking with a stranger who was keeping his Precious hostage and stabbing him with her all-knowing words.
When they came across an inn they got a room with two beds, of course, and made their way down the hall.
Kohare opened the door to reveal a small room with one little bathroom. It had a one-person shower, a miniscule sink and a toilet. Faint traces of mold were climbing up the corners of the shower and the walls but all in all, it wasn't too bad. The actual room was a bit better. Two twin sized beds had their headboards against the right wall and a desk was against the left wall. The far wall was lined with windows with streaks from being washed improperly.
Immediately, Kohare set her backpack on the near bed and went into the bathroom. She closed the door and Kakashi heard the click of her turning the lock. After a minute of silence, water was running.
Kakashi took her backpack that was innocently placed on the bed and starting looking through it. It must have been in the backpack. Kohare didn't have anywhere else to put it as far as he knew.
His excavation was cut short when he heard the click again. He silently zipped it back up, put it where it was laying before, and made himself look relaxed on his bed. Kohare stepped out of the bathroom in a towel, glaring at Kakashi suspiciously. She had a feeling that something was up.
She took the pack, went back into the bathroom, and came out clothed. It reminded him of before, when he watched her change clothes in her hotel room. He hadn't seen anything because of a certain nightstand, but still. Good times.
"I've got the first shift." Kohare was brushing her damp hair and looked like she was ready to stay up half of the night first.
"Hn." Kakashi quickly drifted into a deep sleep as he lay on top of the covers, seemingly fine with the cold. He would shower in the morning.
Kohare wanting time for her hair to dry was one reason she wanted to take the first watch. The other was to look at the book Kakashi treasured so much. She had lighting and time now, so why not? She didn't get a very good look at the thing before – she only read a couple of pages. Maybe there was more to it that she wasn't seeing.
She pulled on the zipper and started rummaging through her things. She couldn't find it. 'It must be at the bottom somewhere…' It wasn't. Her suspicion started to grow as second after second passed with no results. 'Could he have taken it?' She dropped her backpack onto the floor with a plop and stepped off of her bed. She leaned down over Kakashi and started examining him.
She lifted her left hand to poke one of the pockets on his jounin vest. She gently lowered her outstretched index finger. She almost made contact.
WHAM!
She flew, the cracking noise that came from her chest telling her that she was in no way going to come out of this unscathed. Her back slammed against the door and felt the door knob dig into her lower back. The resounding thud must have been audible throughout the entire building. She tried to regain her breath from the two impacts as quickly as possible. She landed safely and knelt where she was, steadying herself.
As a reflex, Kakashi had kneed her in the chest. Hard.
He hadn't even been fully awake when he sensed something looming over him he automatically protected himself with his knee to their chest. Instinctively, he also had boosted the attack with chakra.
His eye widened when he saw Kohare on the ground, clutching her middle and realized what had happened. He ran over to her and kneeled in front of her.
"Are you alright?" Kakashi was panicking. He just attacked a comrade and hadn't held back.
Through her bangs, she glared at him, pain momentarily replaced by conviction and winced. If looks could kill, he'd be more than dead. He'd be really dead. "Damn you, Hatake. I think you fractured one of my ribs."
"I'm sorry, I-" he starting, trying to help her up.
"I get it. Just… " She was in a very bad mood. Most people would be if they had just been kneed so hard they broke a rib, too.
He could only look on with guilt as she slowly lifted herself up and dropped herself on her bed. Wet strands of hair in her face only made her look like she was in even more pain. It made him feel useless that she was hurting and he could only watch.
He stood next to her bed and knelt over her. In an attempt to examine the damage he had done, he grabbed the edge of her shirt. He didn't want to be useless.
Then there was a hand on his face. It wasn't caressing him. It was holding him viciously.
Kohare shoved the center of her palm right on his nose and her fingers were spanned across the rest of his face. She was fiercely gripping his head, ready to flail him around the room like a ragdoll. In between two fingers his visible eye widened and he froze. She looked mad.
It finally dawned on him what it must have looked like he was doing. His fingers loosened and the little bit of fabric he had lifted touched back down to her skin.
"Be reasonable. I need to check your wound," his slightly muffled voice probably would have made his student laugh, but he was intimidatingly serious.
"Fine." Kohare understood what he was trying to convince her of but didn't write off his perverted character. She retracted her arm and pulled up her shirt to reveal the skin below her bra. He didn't have to examine closely to see the damage that had been done.
There were two bruises: one small but dark on her left lower back from the door knob and the other, huge black-purple on her right chest from his knee. It looked like a black hole and his guilt only grew as he realized that she broke her sixth left rib.
'I can't do anything right lately. I'm lucky I didn't hurt any internal organs. Who would fall for the person that broke their rib?'
He had seen plenty of broken ribs in his lifetime, and knew that this clean break would take about four to six weeks before they could get moving. They were stuck in the Land of Silk.
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