Love Song

Chapter 9: Trouble on the Rise

Hanare lay on the couch reading, the chunin exams had been going for a few days now. She was thankful that so far Team 7 had passed the first stage of the exam. Now Team 7 had to deal with the Forest of Death, a very dangerous sounding name. Last time she had gotten together with Anko, the other woman had explained what that place was and the name was fitting. But Hanare had faith in those three and she hoped they passed it as well.

In fact, today was the last day for the elimination. She checked the calendar on the wall and saw she was correct. She wondered how well they did, she smiled to herself. Maybe they had done better than expected. She wished she could have watched but she wasn't a jonin sensei or part of the exam so she couldn't. She would have to wait for Kakashi to get home so he could tell her all about it.

Thing were much more busy lately in the village with the exam going on. People were getting ready for the amount of people that would be coming in a month for the finals. There were all kinds of officials from all over the known world would show up to watch. More trade would come in for that time as well apparently. She wondered what the village would be like so full of life?

Hanare also hoped she could watch the matches if Team 7 went on, she wanted to cheer for those kids to do their best. A part of her mind thought of her sitting next to Kakashi watching together. She felt herself smile at that. It could almost seem like a date, she blushed at the thought and shook her head and sighed. Lately it had gotten harder and harder to stop thinking of herself with Kakashi in those kinds of scenes.

Reading these books of Kakashi certainly weren't helping but she found that she couldn't but them down. She had already finished the first book off and wanted to see what happened next. Plus dreams like she had with Kakashi coming up behind her, wrapping his strong arms around her and pulling her close, those were very hard to ignore.

Putting the book down she sighed, yes she knew her feelings for Kakashi were more than just friendship. Her feelings had always been more than that, ever since she had been a child. Now as an adult woman it was harder to ignore. But she couldn't bring herself to do anything about it, this was her first friendship and she wasn't sure how to handle things if they went wrong. It was why she was looking around for a new place, just in case she couldn't hold her feelings back and ruined thing. It would be too awkward to be around each other all the time if things got weird.

But she didn't want to leave, she loved living with him. Her life had been so lonely before, she loved waking up to someone there, sharing meals with them, sharing their days together. She had never had a relationship with anyone else like this before, actually she had never had relationships period. So she wasn't sure how to go about certain things, she had never dated or anything. Well she had been asked out and because of a mission she had done the little song and dance to get information. But those weren't real, they weren't really her but just the part she was playing.

Sometimes she felt like those fake lives she had led held more of an actual life than her own, even though they had all been illusions. As Hanare of the Leaf, she had no 'real' experiences with actually living her life before now.

She had never done any of the things young girls did growing up, no playing with friends, the secret school crushes, confessing to the boy she liked, going home to parents to show them her work as they would praise her. Never just going out and hanging with friends or playing in parks. It did make her sad thinking of all the things she missed out on, but that's why her life now held so much meaning to her.

Hanare was finally living her life for the first time instead of just existing as a tool for her old village. So maybe that was the reason she was having a hard time sorting out her emotions about Kakashi. She had no real experiences with actually having these feelings, she could fake them and had, but actually having them was so much different. She sighed wishing she could talk to Anko or Kurenai about it but they were all so busy lately.

Looking at the clock she wondered how much longer Kakashi was going to take, he said he would be home today but didn't give a time. She found that she missed him when he was gone and looked forward to seeing him return home each day. She could almost imagine them as an actual couple sometimes, which of course now made her blush.

She groaned as she took the pillow from behind her head and placed it on her face groaning into it. It was getting worse, her feelings for Kakashi were obviously getting harder and harder for her to control.

-Konoha Streets-

Kakashi walked home as the whole weight of the day seemed to be crushing down on him. He felt both physically and mentally tired as well as extremely worried. The day sure had taken one hell of a turn that was for sure. He was proud how well his students had done. Both Naruto and Sasuke passed, and although Sakura hadn't, she hadn't been defeated either as her match came to a draw. She had fought her heart out and came out with a draw with her long time rival. That was something to be proud of and he hoped this helped to show her she could do more than she thought if she really pushed herself.

Then Orochimaru had happened and things just turn a turn for the worse. He had taken Sasuke to try and seal away the curse seal that man had placed on Sasuke. Kakashi wasn't sure just how well it would work, it would be up to Sasuke to fight the urge to use it. But that wasn't what had rattled him, when Orochimaru had shown up, Kakashi had prepared for a fight he knew he would lose.

He knew that if he had tried anything, he would have died today, it was only because Orochimaru was amused that he had survived. Kakashi had been in fights, he had been nearly killed more times than he could count, but in all of that he had never felt so overly matched than with Orochimaru. If that man had wanted Sasuke, there would have been nothing Kakashi could have done to stop him, but apparently that wasn't part of whatever sick and twisted plan that man had up his sleeve.

'He will seek me out.'

Those words echoed in Kakashi's mind, he knew that Sasuke graved the power to take on Itachi, to avenge all the murders under his brother's hand. But did that mean that Sasuke would turn down a dark path in order to get it? At first Kakashi wasn't sure, Sasuke had slowly been showing sighs of starting to being close to his teammates, in his own way of course. But now he was worried, Sasuke's ambitions were great and not only that, the boy's first challenge in a month might end up killing him.

Gaara wasn't going to go easy, the match with Lee proved that. If given the chance that boy from Suna would kill each person he fought against. Naruto he had less to worry about, Neji Hyuga although a genius like Sasuke, wasn't out for blood. Well, not out for anyone other than his cousin apparently, that had been some unsettling information when he learned about that. That boy had some deep issues about something, but Kakashi wasn't up to date on Huyga clan politics, in fact he preferred to stay out of politics, they only gave him a headache.

He had met genjutu users in battle that were more up front in their illusions attacks than some politics.

He sighed as he neared home, he had already made the choices on how to help Naruto and Sasuke but he was still worried. So far he had the battles for his students and Orochimaru to plan for as well. The closer he got to home the more eager he was to get there, mainly because he expected Hanare to be home. Thinking of her smiling face welcoming him home made him feel calmer already. He had to admit, having a pretty woman welcoming you home did brighten your day.

He smiled at that, oh sure he knew that Hanare was beautiful, he might be technically 'half-blind' most of the time but even with his normal eye he could see that. Even in the early morning with bed hair she somehow looked beautiful to him. He sighed, lately this was becoming an issue for him. He kept noticing himself looking at her when she wasn't looking, thinking more about her when she was gone, missing her when they were apart. He knew where this was leading to but a part of him didn't want to admit it, the part that was scared that if he did admit it, something bad would happen. Something bad usually did happen to those closest to him.

It was one of the reasons he had made up his mind to train Sasuke personally, he didn't want to see one of his students die in front of him. Too many had died and although he knew he couldn't prevent death, he could delay it as long as he could.

Reaching the doorknob he unlocked the door and walked in, "I'm home." He said.

"Welcome back," Hanare smiled at him from her spot on the couch.

Kakashi couldn't help but smile back; her smiles were infectious at times. He unzipped his jacket and placed it on a sturdy chair he would get to it later as he unclipped other pouches and weapons.

Hanare watched as he did so and noticed something, he seemed different. Normally he would be in his usual lazy stance and relaxed. Now he looked stiff as a board and deep in thought. Something had happened, that much she was sure of. Although Kakashi was great at hiding his emotions, after all this time, Hanare had picked up the subtle changes he had about him. Normally someone wouldn't be able to pick them up but she could tell. Getting up she walked over to him and lightly touched his arm to get his attention.

"Kakashi, is something wrong? Did something happen?" Hanare asked worried about him.

Kakashi paused for a moment, her large brown eyes filled with worry. He had to admit she was sharp, he wasn't even aware that he was showing any sighs of today. But he couldn't lie to her, oh sure he could make something believable up, but something inside of him just wanted to tell her everything. With a heavy sigh he nodded his head as he led her to the couch.

He first told her about the results of the exam so far, she was happy to hear that Naruto and Sasuke had passed but was a little saddened that Sakura wouldn't go with them. He then went on what was really bothering him. What had happened with Sasuke, his concerns for his match as well as Orochimaru showing up. That was what really shocked Hanare, like most nations, she had heard about Orochimaru. In fact her village prized itself on gathering information and she had learned several things about the rogue ninja.

He was labelled an S-class renegade from the Leaf, highly skilled and extremely dangerous. She remembered her teachers telling her time and time again, when she was ever confronted with an S-class ninja she was to hide and/or run before being noticed. If she was noticed she would die. She listened to Kakashi tell how he had faced Orochimaru but although he didn't say the words, she could feel how it had shook him slightly.

Getting up, Kakashi walked to the window as he looked out over the village through it. "I don't know why he's suddenly returned or why he wants Sasuke so badly, but there has to be more to it. He has no love for his former village and he wouldn't show up again for just a genin. I think he's up to something bigger but what…I have no idea."

"Is he really that bad?" Hanare asked him as she stepped up behind him. She loved this village, so the thought of someone that had been raised and lived here, turn against it was nearly alien. At least for her, she had no attachments to her old village, she had never even seen it before so it was easy for her to cut her ties. But hadn't Orochimaru grown up here? Plus just how strong was he?

"Yes," Kakashi said still looking out the window. "What's worse is that he has the power and skills to back it up. If I had gone up against him he would have killed me, I have no doubt about that."

Hanare felt like a vise had gripped her chest. She knew in her mind that as a ninja, either of them could die tomorrow. But the thought of it had nearly happened today, that was something she was surprised to feel that she wasn't ready for. She had only just started her new life here, gaining friends, forming bonds and loving life like never before. Kakashi was a huge part of her life, he had shaped her life in so many ways that the thought of losing him again, for good, it was horrible to her.

She felt like she would have lost a major part of her world if he had died today. Without thinking she placed her hands on his back and rested her head there. He had such a nice back she noticed as she closed her eyes and tried to calm herself. "I'm glad you didn't try it then. It might be selfish of me but, I would hate to lose you."

Kakashi didn't know what to say to her actions, thinking about it, Hanare had never lost anyone in her life because she had been denied forming bonds with others by her village. Slowly he turned around and gently placed his hand on her cheek making her look up at him. He could see the worry in her eyes and decided he didn't like her like this. Those large brown eyes should always be shining with the light she always seemed to have in her.

"I can't promise you that I'll always be in your life, no one can do that," He told her seriously. "All I can promise you is that I'll fight until I can't fight anymore. It's all I've ever done in my life."

A small smile appeared on her face, "I can accept that and I'm glad. My life is better with you in it."

They stood there starting into each other's eyes for a moment neither of them moved or said anything. Until they both noticed what they were doing and Hanare slightly blushed as she broke eye contact, Kakashi did the same as they both felt a bit awkward about what had just happened. Hanare couldn't believe she had just said that, that was too personal and showed too much of her true feelings for Kakashi.

Although for Kakashi he was slightly touched by her words, he couldn't remember anyone ever saying that to him. For a long time he felt that his life had been cursed, that all those close to him would die when he was a younger man. He had gotten over that of course but he had never felt like his life was improving others until Team 7 was formed. But it would seem that his actions had touched Hanare's life more personally than he thought, and some part of him was pleased to hear it.

Thankfully Hanare thought to change the subject before the awkward silence that had started to grow in this moment, got even more awkward. "So, what will happen next in the exam?"

Kakashi nearly sighed in relief about the change in subject. "Well I decided to train Sasuke personally for the month. I'd like to train both but unfortunately for what I have in mind for Sasuke to survive his match, it will require my complete attention."

Hanare asked what he meant so Kakashi filled her in about Gaara, from the sounds of things Sasuke-kun was in a lot of trouble. "Are you sure you can help him win against a genin like that?"

"Well I have a pretty good idea of what could work," Kakashi said looking up at the ceiling in thought. "It won't be easy but I think he can pull it off, if he can't finish the training I'm going to pull him out. He'll be angry about that but I won't send my genins into certain death for no real reason."

Hanare was thankful to hear that, "So what about Naruto-kun?"

"I've got a teacher lined up for him," Kakashi smiled, it hadn't been easy to convince Ebisu at first but for some reason as soon as Kakashi had brought up Naruto, the man seemed interested. "Naruto lacks a lot of the basics, he'll need work on that as it's one of his major weaknesses. The person I got is an expert in teaching basic to advanced techniques. Hopefully Naruto will take the lessons well."

Hanare nodded it sounded like a sound plan to her but there was one person missing. "What about Sakura-chan? She may not have passed but won't she fall behind the others?"

Kakashi sighed as he crossed his arms, "That did accrue to me as well but the problem is, I can't find anyone that could help out. All the other team senseis are either training their students or those teams that didn't go into the exams are already busy with their own work. Everyone else is also busy with the exams, it was pure luck I was able to track down a teacher for Naruto."

Which was true, he had gotten lucky for Naruto. There was no one else he could think of that could do him a favour either, he even tried to call in a few markers but everyone had given him the same response. 'Sorry, I got too much work with the exams and everything' was heard all the time. He didn't like letting Sakura's training slide, especially all the heart she had just shown in her match.

"Well why don't I train her?" Hanare asked him as he looked at her surprised.

"You'll do that? I thought you might be busy," Kakashi asked her honestly.

She smiled and shook her head, "No I'm fine. I'm on light duty with the exam at the moment as they want more senior ninja for security detail. I would be honoured to help her out, plus with you gone for a full month, well…" She wanted to say that she would be lonely and miss him but stopped herself. It sounded a little too personal and in truth it would be lonely here.

Kakashi nodded his head, although he would be busy with Sasuke he would miss seeing her every day in the apartment. Not only that, his training might force him and Sasuke to spend the entire month training nonstop to the point of just sleeping outside under the stars. Plus he needed to keep an eye on Sasuke, he had no idea if Orochimaru would try again plus Gaara was a wild card too. The way he had his eye on Sasuke, the boy might not wait until the exams.

The idea of Hanare helping out with training Sakura was a great idea, "Well I'm thankful for it, I know she'll appreciate it. I think Sakura has grown to look up to you lately."

Hanare giggled, it felt odd but in a nice way to have someone looking up to her. "Then I won't disappoint her or you."

"I know you won't" Kakashi chuckled with his own smile. "Do you want me to tell her tomorrow?"

Hanare nodded, "Yes, we'll use the Team 7 training grounds so you can tell her to meet me there the day after at the usual time. I'll need to prepare for what to train her in and hopefully we'll have some fun while we're at it."

Hanare was suddenly looking forward to this, with Kurenai most likely with her own students and Anko part of the exams, she wasn't sure she would see any of her adult female friends. So spending time with Sakura would be nice, the young girl was very intelligent and seemed eager to learn. First up, Hanare figured she would help Sakura in her physical training as well as her fighting abilities. She seemed behind Naruto and Sasuke in those respects so maybe she could work on that. She could think about it in more detail tomorrow.

"About the final part of the exam, it's my day off that day so I want to see how they all do," Hanare told him.

"Shouldn't be a problem, you can get a seat arrangement from the Hokage Tower, they usually set aside seats for ninja of the village, so if you go tomorrow you should get on easily enough," Kakashi said.

"Thank you I wasn't sure how it would work," Hanare was a bit excited to see this. She thought about getting a seat with Sakura so they would sit together and cheer on Team 7. She would ask the girl when she saw her, maybe get a seating ticket for her as well just in case.

"Well now that's all settled, since I won't be seeing you for awhile I'm going to make an extra special meal for tonight," she smiled at him as she went into the kitchen.

Kakashi chuckled as he watched her happily go. He would miss her and her cooking. A month of field rations and cooking by himself was going to be hard. It wasn't like he was a bad cook, he had just gotten used to her cooking all the time. It was going to be a very long month of training he suddenly felt as he went to clean up and put his gear away.

Next up Chapter 10: Girl Time

A little Hanare/Sakura building, with special guests Kurenai and Anko at the end.