Next chapter is already up! Yay and this one is a good one. Commet on what you think about it ;)
I tapped my fingers impatiently at the wooden armrest, sitting in the vivid halls of the hokage-building. Sinking more and more into my seat and sighed deeply and impatiently. How long could it take? Kakashi had been in his serious, intimidating mood ever since that ANBU had been at our (his) apartment. I could tell that he knew what it was about, but he was good at holding a straight pokerface. But I'd gotten to know him well enough to see what he was actually feeling.
Once in a while someone would walk by, their footsteps making an awkwardly lot of noise, and no one took notice of me, sitting in a chair in front of the hokages office, like some ninja school kid, that was about to be sent to the principal's office. Sometimes I wished that I could just take off on my own, and go find Naruto or Sakura to see what they were up to. I had enough difficulties with communicating with Sasuke since he just as hard to open up as I was, and I didn't quite have any knowledge of how to open a kid like him up.
I remembered Kakashi tattoo that was the same as the ANBU's. To think that he had been a Black Ops, being quite young and already a retired Black Ops. It took a lot of discipline and self-esteem to be under direct control of one's Kage. To be responsible for carrying out assassinations, tracking, surveillance and all that stuff, would require a special ninja. I felt kind of honored to know a person who had served as an interrogator that would probe the minds of his enemy ninja to learn information valuable to the village. That was probably how they'd gotten to know about me. I felt glad that he had survived his ANBU period. I knew that any Black Ops who'd been wounded in battle were required to destroy their own bodies to prevent any information from getting into enemy hands. I was glad that I'd only seen his childhood. I didn't know if I could stand seeing his teenage-years.
I felt bored as hell, and couldn't find anything else to do than making spit-bubbles with my mouth. Just as a really big and awesome bubble popped I heard my name being called out.
"Toshi, can you come in please?" Kakashi's voice echoed in the silent hallway.
I looked from nose tip and to Kakashi who stood in the door to the hokages office and felt a bit dumb.
"Sure…" I struggled a bit to get up from my lazy position and suffocated any nervous feeling that was about to spread in my body.
"I knew it was about me! I just knew it!" I thought and looked Kakashi confused in the eyes while he sent me a serious glare that gave me all the more reason to behave in this situation.
No words were shared between me and Kakashi as I followed him into the office and was met by the old hokage's concerned expression. I bowed my head slightly to him, something I'd learned to do for my superiors (except Kakashi) in the past few weeks.
"So Setsuko. How are you doing so far? I see you have spent much time with Kakashi." The hokage's concerned face suddenly turned jolly and he smiled slightly as I bit in his pipe.
I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion and looked over at Kakashi for understanding and saw to my mortification that I was standing exactly like him, with my hands in my pocket and with a good pokerface on. Kakashi's eyes widened the slightest and he got that expression again as if he was sick.
"Funny, I've noticed that." He said a bit startled before I quickly removed my hands from my pockets and folded my arms under my chest. (only men fold their arms ON their chest)
"I'm doing well." I said and cocked an eyebrow, still feeling confused about the whole situation.
"That's good. Kakashi had reported at lot of positive progress." He said and nodded to himself while I chuckled a bit seeming to be in his own little world.
"Um… Thanks I guess." I said confused and scratched the hair in my neck, and felt a bit relieved that I wasn't going to be executed or anything. Apparently Kakashi had been writing good things about me in those reports. It didn't seem that I had much to tell the hokage. He already knew what was going on.
"So, I wanted to send Kakashi off on a mission, but was about what I should do with you in mean time.—" the hokage said. It hit my suddenly that I'd never thought about what to do or where to be when Kakashi wasn't around. He couldn't be my baby-sitter for the rest of my life.
"So I'm sending you with him. You're strong and will provide good back-up for him if anything should happen." The hokage leaned back as if relieved and chewed a bit on his pipe, waiting for me to digest the information.
"You mean with team 7?" I asked, feeling overwhelmed by what was happening. No blood, no yelling, no 'Toshi must die' which had been my past experiences with this office.
"No, just the two of you. The children aren't experienced enough." He said and looked down in some papers.
"And I'm experienced in missions?" I thought to myself, sarcasm filling the words.
"In a small but known village called Igen in the land of ice, they have found some kind of chakra source which has begun to disturb the Ice Mountains. No one knows what it is, and the village has asked us to send some help to investigate. I don't think it will be much trouble for the two of you." The hokage stopped with a sigh as if it was a bother to talk too much.
"T-the land of ice? But that's so far away." I gasped in amusement and thrilling excitement. I couldn't believe I was going so far away from the land of fire.
"Mhm." He nodded his head and threw a small scroll to Kakashi which he caught with perfection.
"And Setsuko, I'll have you sign this paper before you leave." The hokage said and turned a piece of paper on his desk and put a pencil right beside it. I looked suspiciously at Kakashi who smiled to me insuring.
I walked over and took a peep at the peace of paper.
Confirmation certificate of active duty for The Hidden Leaf Village.
Name: Toshi Setsuko
Rank: Unspecified
"What does my rank mean?" I asked after having read the document.
"It means that you don't have any specific rank. Kakashi, for an example, is of the rank; Jounin. " he said.
"Oh… right" I looked at my rank once again and wondered if I ever was going to have some kind of rank.
"So when I sign this, I will be and official Konoha ninja? Like, I can have my own apartment and stuff—" being treated as an actual human being. The hokage seemed to chew a bit on that one.
"You are an official Konoha Ninja… We can discuss the rest when you come home."
I signed the paper, and turned around with a smile and looked proudly at Kakashi. He chuckled the slightest and smiled back.
"Let's go Toshi." Kakashi walked to the window of the office and seemed to disappear around the roof just outside the window. I followed him as quick as I could, having no clue about where we were going.
"Kakashi wait." I said and walked further around the roof that twisted its way around the building. I began to run, hearing his footsteps just in front of me. While cussing under my breath I sped up carelessly and turned a weird corner around the roof and was suddenly forcefully grabbed by my color, twirled in a half circle and pressed into the wall of the building. I coughed from the clash with the wall and grabbed Kakashi's hand, confused as hell.
"What're—" I coughed again trying to relief some of the pressure he was putting into pinning me against the wall –"the meaning of this?" I hissed finally pressing his hand away with enough force. I looked at him startled and most of all confused about this.
"Do you think you can do this mission?" he stared at me with such seriousness that I felt he was towering over me, looking directly into my deepest thoughts. I gulped and lost my confidence.
"What's with you? Are you having seconds thoughts about my motives?" I hissed trying to play brave.
"This is a mission. Missions have to be taken seriously. Now that you're going with me, I have to make sure that you're into this and take this serious and don't just see it as a fin trip. Now is the time to put everything you've learn into action." He said, holding the same attitude all the way through.
"Of course I do! You don't have to be so rough! You can just talk to me you know. You don't have to scare the living shit out of me just to get your point across anymore! And stop looking at me like that. It's uncomfortable." I got more and more self-esteem as I spoke this sentence, seeing that he began to drop the serious face and looked like he genuinely regretted his way of talking this talk.
"Oh um… Do I seem intimidating?" he asked, looking suddenly lazy and straightened up at bit. I sighed knowing that I'd gotten through to him.
"I'm sorry, you're right. I guess I'm just concerned about you going to your old ways." He admitted and put a hand on my shoulder.
"Well you should have a bit more faith in me by now." I muttered and crossed my arms.
"Sorry." He said softly and put the warm palm of his hand on the spot of my throat that was a bit soar now. I was glad that I didn't blush that easy due to my skin, but damn I would've been blushing now. Especially when he got that weird soft look that I couldn't identify.
"Um… It's okay." I said, my voice suddenly weak even though I'd meant for it to be strong. I looked him in the eyes, trying to figure out what the hell was going on, but he was always hard to read and I didn't want to use my abilities on him. We shared a silent moment as if we'd both realized something new about each other. Kakashi was capable of mistakes and of saying sorry, and I was actually capable of saying something meaningful.
"So—o.. Moving on with life." I said and walked to the side leaving his touch on my throat and trying to get rid of the claustrophobic feeling I felt. Kakashi smiled.
"Yeah, let's go pack."…
"I just don't get how you make those scrolls." I said in a pondering way after having watched him make a scroll so we could summon our backpacks so we didn't have to carry them.
"If you want to learn it you can just practice it and read some books, like all the ninjas here in Konoha had to do when they were in the process of becoming ninjas." He answered still reading his book.
We'd spend most of the day preparing for the trip, and were now walking in the streets heading for the big gate even though he were required to leave tomorrow.
"Hatake Kakashi! My only and true rival, are you ready for a kick of youth?"
I'd never predicted this one coming, and turned around shocked to see a guy in a green jump-suit already in the act of a kick from high above our heads. Was the man crazy? Was he the city-loony? I strode in front of Kakashi and were just quick enough to block the city-lonny's leg which hit my arm with crushing force that only a ninja could posses. I was taken slightly back his strength and took the pain. He backflipped away from my arm and landed gracefully, further away from the both of us. Taking a small step back, trying to keep a good pokerface, I fought with my expression. He looked sorry for what he'd done beyond comparison and was clenching his fist in front of him while looking at me with an expression, that made me battle so much with my own expression. He sprinted over to me in a dancing, stiding way, swining his arms exaggerated.
"I'm so sorry!—" He took my hands up and cuffed them in his, bending in his knees like a 'gentleman'. –"Please look at me and accept my sincere apologies fair lady, and also notice my handsome, manly features."… The only thing I could notice was his thick eyebrows, green jumpsuit and the shiny bowl haircut.
"Eeh…" I had no clue about whether I should be on my guard or just relax considering that he might be serious. I felt Kakashi behind me clearing his throat. He still waited for an answer though.
"It's all right." I said and tried my best to smile to the weird guy.
"Aaaall right! What a youthful answer!" he twirled away from me like ballerina and stopped with a thumps up, and big smile and winked at me.
"Kakashi, who is this guy?" I whispered trying not to move my head backwards too much looking awkwardly at the man in front of me. Kakashi chuckled and walked to my side.
"I don't believe you've met Might Gai." He said and clapped his book together. –"Oh, did you say something Gai?" Kakashi looked back at Gai and his 'nice guy pose', lazy and indifferent.
"Gahh! Kakashi! You make me so mad! Why do you have to act so cool?" Gai shouted and ran over to the both of us again. What a hyperactive man. I was completely in shock.
"Me?" Kakashi asked indifferently and obviously playing a bit dumb.
"I see you have found a beautiful lady. Hello my beauty, I'm Might Gai, Konoha's Green Beast. And why might a beautiful lady like you do with my rival Kakashi? No! Don't tell me!... We have been competing in 100 meter dashes, wrestling, eating contests, rock paper scissors and now Kakashi has challenged me in beautiful girls! I must say Kakashi—" Gai turned to Kakashi, straightening up –" you have truly won in this round."
I felt beyond stupid, this guy was babbling away without knowing anything and I wondered what Kakashi's relationship was with this guy. But I had to admit that I felt I small blush creep into my face, when another man called me beautiful in front of Kakashi. Kakashi chuckled.
"We're not on a date Gai. This is Toshi Setsuko." Kakashi introduced and scratched his neck, completely indifferent to the fact that Gai thought he was on a date with a beautiful girl. I had to admit I felt a bit disappointed about his reaction. But I also knew he was good a hiding his feelings.
"uuuh—" Gai looked at me like I was a shiny new toy.—" So you're the infamous lioness." He took a step closer and took a peep at my face, a bit too close for my liking.
"Umm, I'm not a lioness." I said taking a step towards Kakashi to get some kind of help out of him.
"I didn't know… Fascinating." He kept studying me until I bummed into Kakashi who moved away the slightest.
"Gai, you're scaring the girl." Kakashi said and rolled his eyes with a sigh.
"My apologies! I have heard all these rumors and finally get to see you first hand!" Gai said enthusiastically and patted me once on the shoulder.
By the way; what rumors? Where people talking about me? I was being so discreet after the prison break-out. Seeing me first hand was like I was some kind of myth around here.
"I'm not scared." I muttered, but choose to stand near Kakashi just in case.
"Such a shy one." Gai muttered to himself and put a finger to his chin. I didn't like to be called shy, but on the other hand, had I never really been socializing with other people than those who wanted to come close to me. Gai seemed to snap out of it and looked to his side as someone spoke
"Going on a mission?" a man asked from our right side and came strolling up the street.
"Asuma?" Kakashi stated and looked a little bit more interested.
"I was actually looking for you Gai, and you too Kakashi. Some of the guys are meeting up for a drink and we wanted you to join. But I can see that you're occupied Kakashi." Asuma's eyes wandered to me with a teasing grin plastered across his face.
"Actually, yes we were on our way, and no I'm not occupied. This is Toshi Setsuko, who you might've heard about." Kakashi said. I felt that there was some kind of irritation hidden in his voice, but the other two didn't seem to notice. Asuma smiled to me while taking his right hand out of his pocket.
"A fellow ninja, nice to meet you Toshi." He shook my hand with a firm grip and smiled. It felt odd to be treated… like a normal person.
"Nice to meet you too… Asuma." I wasn't quite sure if I said his name right.
"So what do you guys say? A quick drink with the others?" Asuma asked.
"I guess we could do that. What do you think Toshi?" Kakashi said, looking into sky as if he was considering something else.
"Umm… Fine by me." It felt odd to have an actual opinion in the matter and it took me a bit off guard. I would've followed Kakashi whatever he'd answered.
"Well then, it's settled. Let's go." Asuma said and mentioned for all us of to come along and somehow I ended up in the background with Gai.
"Soo, if Kakashi hasn't won your heart yet, I will beat him in his own game." Gai smiled sheepishly to me and winked at me.
"Why don't we put it another way? If he can't win me heart, no one can." I said, actually believing my own words even though I'd never considered them. Kakashi was, to me, the only candidate I'd ever consider to fall in love with if I even was capable of that.
"What? You're saying that Kakashi is the closest one to stealing your youthful heart?" Gai burst out. I wished he would keep it low but he didn't seem like a man who kept anything on a low level.
"No, you're misunderstanding! He's the only guy who I'm close to." I said slightly irritated about this conversation and how it could be misinterpreted.
"I don't believe that! You're saying that no man has known you personally." He smiled sheepishly again.
One of my eyebrows began to quiver in irritation. He was being very personal and up-close for someone I'd just met.
"Yup, pretty much." It said. I was much easier to keep it simple.
"Nooo! I don't believe that. Come on tell me." He poked my shoulder playfully and I had to take in a deep breath to control my urge to slap it away. It was a lot harder to be polite and well mannered than to be rude and wild.
"I don't want to talk about my past right now." I said looking straight ahead hoping that, that the bar would soon come into sight. Gai smiled and took a finger to his chin, ready to say something 'clever'.
"Gai, I have something to ask you." It was Kakashi who spoke, saving me from an uncomfortable conversation.
I was left by my own as the guys walked in front of me Asuma laughing at Gai and Kakashi being somewhat of a moron. I enjoyed that casual sight. I'd seen so many people walk to a bar together laughing and having fun and I had always envied them and hated them for it. But now I was (somewhat) a part of it. I began to ponder about Gai and I's conversation and wondered if anyone could reach me on a higher level than friendship. Was I even capable of that?
"Here we are." I heard Asuma say, and could already hear the bar-activity from the outside. The place seemed to be buzzing.
We walked inside and I looked curiously around, feeling it strange that I was here as a costumer and not a troublemaker. It was one of those places with sofas, music and people buzzing around us. I followed closely behind Kakashi trying to make our way through to our table and 'the others', whoever they were.
When we came to what approximately was our table, we were greeted gladly with 'hey's and 'about time's… I stood in safety behind Kakashi peeping over his shoulder as Asuma and Gai took their seats in the sofa by the table. I noticed two men and a woman, and got a bit startled when Kakashi pushed me in front of him.
"Guys this is Toshi Setsuko." He said and smiled, and pushed me at the same time to sit beside Gai. I waved a 'hi' to the new strangers and felt a bit shy in the new company that was thrown in my face. Kakashi sat down beside me, his shoulder touching mine from the lack of space. It felt kind of cozy to sit this close. I jumped a bit when Kakashi had to lean close in to speak to me properly and I felt his breath on my ear. It send chills all the way down spine.
"That's Genma." Kakashi pointed to the man sitting on Kakashi's opposite with dark brown hair and eyes, and with a senbon in his mouth. Genma smiled to me and leaned over the table to talk.
"I've heard a lot about you. You're giving Kakashi quite hard time… I like that." He said and winked to me with a smirk. I felt a confused by the whole situation I was thrown into and flushed a bit red; seeming that he flirted a bit with me. I'd never been in such a friendly situation with so many people before.
"Don't listen to him—" Kakashi caught my attention quickly by talking into my ear again.—"In front of you is Iruka, teacher at the ninja school."
Iruka smiled to me and continued his conversation with Genma.
"And the woman at the end of the table is Kurenai."
I tried deeply to abstract from the Kakashi warm breath which made my body go oddly numb and hot-spring mode. I sighed and looked at the woman at the end of the table with long black untamed hair, and a very unique red eye-color. She wore make-up; red lipstick and a purple eye shadow, something I'd never been wearing.
"How are you doing Toshi? Are you keeping Kakashi on his toes?" she asked and smiled warmly at me. Immediately I felt welcome in her presence and tried my best to be social.
"I guess I am, but not on purpose." I said and scratched my neck. Gai and Asuma laughed at me and Kurenai smiled. I could guess from the question people were asking that Kakashi had told some things about me, considered that they were welcoming me this much.
I was elbowed by Kakashi who was smiling down at me looking as if he was enjoying the time. I smiled to him genuinely and shrugged. This was by far most challenging social situation I'd been in.
A young waitress came to our table, smiling widely and with confidence. She put a tray of sake on our table with a "here you go" and I could see she was enjoying the attention of the male ninjas like Genma and Iruka. She winked at Kakashi before she left the table.
"Why'd she wink at you? What'd you do? Don't tell me you did her once?" Genma asked looking deadly serious about the subject. Kakashi laughed nervously and put his hands up in defense.
"I didn't do anything, and no I haven't done her. I was just smiling politely." He said seemingly honest.
"You're wearing a mask for crying out loud." Genma said beginning to hand out the fine small shot-like cups to everyone.
"Oh no, I don't drink… um… I'll just have some tea." I said and pushed the cup away, trying to look as little tense as I could.
"What? You don't want sake?" Gai looked at me as if I was insane. His nostrils flared continuously up and down pinning me with his expression telling me to take the god damned sake!
"N-no thanks." I squeaked, really trying my best to be polite and well socialized. I could feel Kakashi look at me and felt glad that he was sitting beside me, having some kind of calming effect on me.
"Have you ever had sake before?" Asuma asked me. I caught Kurenai's eyes which looked slightly concerned as if she saw right threw me. I knew that all adults were expected to at least try Sake at some point.
"N-no." I stuttered feeling smaller and smaller around the people who I realized were at least 3 years older than me.
"For Christ sake leave the girl alone." Kurenai said and elbowed Asuma, who seemed to suddenly to be embarrassed.
"No pressure Toshi. But if you feel like trying, this is a safe environment." He said and smiled to me.
"Nothing is safe with Gai sitting next to me." I said into Kakashi's ear for Gai not to hear.
"Um… What?" Kakashi asked suddenly seeming slightly baffled.
"Never mind." I said shoving him off, not really taking notice in his behavior. I went a few excuses through in my head, but came to the conclusion that it couldn't hurt. It was just liquid for crying out loud.
"Well… Okay, then give some of that Sake." I said with confidence.
Genma handed me the bottle with a smirk plastered across his face. I noticed that there were three bottles of Sake and suddenly got confused about what to do with it. Were the waitress going to come back with more bottles so that everyone had one or…? Was I supposed to drink from the bottle or the cup? Maybe the small cup was there in case someone would want to spit out their Sake? I had no fucking idea about what to do but didn't want to seem lame. It was a fifty/fifty.
"Go on and take the first sip." Genma said still smiling at me.
"You're extra good if you can take it all in one sip!" Asuma said with a smirk. It seemed everyone was very curious about a girl's first taste of sake.
"Um, sure." I said and looked at the bottle and the cup, trying to make a quick decision.
"Okay, here we go." I muttered to myself and almost smacked the bottle to my mouth pouring down its strong, bitter content which hit my tongue like a burning chili that went all the way up my nose. I wanted to seem tough for my first time (stupid decision) and kept drinking. Meanwhile everyone around suddenly got all fired up yelling or cheering, but it all got mixed up. I closed my eyes trying to force the gawking feeling away. The bottle was snapped away from me, some of the Sake falling out of the bottle and dripping from my mouth. Unfortunately the real taste of Sake suddenly flared up in my mouth and I began to cough violently, desperately wishing for a glass of water my face contorting into disgust.
"Don't drink from the bottle you moron!" I heard Kakashi say who'd been the one to snap the bottle away from me, and I suddenly noticed that most of the guys were laughing hysterically at me, and looked up to see them all cracking up, except for Kakashi and Kurenai.
"So naïve sometimes." Kakashi said and patted my shoulder. Kurenai looked somewhat mad at the others.
"Why didn't you take it away from her!" she rolled her eyes at the laughing guys. I looked at Kakashi for understanding and he put his hand in his face to hide a laugh.
"Why would anyone drink something that tastes so bad? It's the most disgusting thing I've ever tasted." I said, trying to make some sense of the situation. Clearly I should've used the cup as a cup… thumps up Toshi. My mind was filled with sarcasm. I was so bad at social parties.
"You're supposed to drink it like this." Gai said when he'd finished laughing and poured up some sake in the cup and demonstrated carefully how you drank from a cup.
"I know that already." I said feeling like a complete failure, but was somehow not angry or sad about the laughing. It was actually quite nice.
I listened to a conversation between Kakashi and Genma after the incident with the bottle who was talking mission-stuff. Then I suddenly found myself in a conversation with Gai, talking just as much he was. I felt more careless, more open suddenly and concluded that my dizziness was because of the huge amount of Sake I'd been drinking. I found out that Gai had a self-proclaimed rivalry with Kakashi (he didn't actually tell me that), and I thought that Kakashi however, seemed indifferent to their rivalry, which annoyed Gai to no end. Gai apparently randomly challenged Kakashi to contests of skill, and had acquired a record of 50 wins and 49 losses in doing so. Given that the contests that made him are so varied (ranging from Rock, Paper, Scissors to running races), this was not much of an achievement on Gai's part nor an accurate comparison of respective combat power. Nevertheless, Gai was proud of his record. Their competitions seemed to, in part, be inevitable judging by the fact that the two apparently were polar opposites.
"Are you keeping up with the Sake?" I felt Kakashi's hot breath in my ear once again and this time it was even harder to control the shivers that went through my neck and down. I was mad at myself for not knowing what it was that I wanted when I felt his hot breath on my ear. Did I want him to continue speaking to me? Again the memories of the hot spring hit me, and I remembered his touch on my back and around my neck. I had to keep myself from shivering again, or not just lean my head against his forehead. I took in a deep breath and closed my eyes as soon as he had finished speaking, trying to get my voice under control.
"Fine I think." I said and smiled warmly to him. He looked at me at little astonished.
"I can sure see that, you're swaying, and actually smiling a very nice smile at me." He said and smiled back looking a little baffled. I hope he hadn't noticed or figured out why I'd shivered before or closed my eyes. I furrowed my eyebrows when I felt something weird in my body. It was a wild familiar chakra that suddenly lurked in the depths of my body spinning wildly.
"Are you sure you're alright?" Kakashi asked, suddenly looking concerned.
I couldn't talk. I felt my legs spin and I noticed that my arms seemed weak. My vision was slightly blurry and I couldn't think straight. At first I just thought it was funny, like when Kakashi had spoken in my ear, but now I got concerned. I grabbed the table suddenly when Eien's chakra suddenly flared in me.
"W-what's happening to me?" I asked panicking a bit and trying to sit up straight.
"Easy Toshi, it's just because you drank a lot of Sake and you aren't used to be drunk." Kakashi said, trying to comfort me.
"Yeah, you drank pretty much." Iruka said also looking slightly concerned but still entertained somehow.
I took in a deep breath trying to calm myself and looked at Kakahi. I met his concerned eyes. He made me breathless, I couldn't explain it. I couldn't figure out what it was! I tried to focus my eyes and found that I was closer to him than I thought I was.
"Toshi, maybe I should take you outside to get some fresh air." He said seeming just as confused as I felt.
"No no, you don't have to." I said stubbornly to get my point across. I was afraid if I got that feeling again that reminded me of the hot-springs.
Kakashi looked at Toshi's drunken form, her red cheeks and confused eyes. She leaned in close to him, and he wasn't sure if she really realized how close. She was much easier to read when drunk which he found kind of entertaining. He could tell that she enjoyed his presence and that she felt safe when sitting next to him and he was glad that she had come so far. He'd discovered her weakness by her neck and found lots of amusement in teasing her with it, getting extra close to her ear and he could tell that she was battling every muscle in her body to not just relax as she had done in the hot-springs. Now that was funny to mess with. Tomorrow he could tease her about it.
"You really look like you could use some calm air." He said trying to make her sit still and not sway so much. She glared at him in a tense, drunken passionate way, and suddenly remembered that he'd never considered if she got 'loving' when drunk like, Gai for an example.
"Relax Toshi, I'll just—" He was cut off by her. Suddenly he saw her temper flare in a way he hadn't seen in a long time.
"Don't boss me around." She said rushing up from her seat and swaying a bit looking at everyone around the table who seemed just as startled as he felt.
She turned around to face Kakashi again, bending over slightly, Kakashi being slightly concerned about her balance. She seemed to have difficulties with something then let out a burst of Eien's chakra which roared, blurring into the music.
"You know what?" she said pointing a finger at him and narrowing her eyes as I fit would help to see well. She leaned on the wall behind Kakashi and looked him directly in the eyes and he had to lean backwards to avoid her head which was inches from his. She looked confident, brave, and defiant in a whole other way than he had ever seen before, and suddenly felt nervous. That combined with her beauty, he found her somewhat tantalizing. He got confused suddenly and began to question her in a whole other way. He kept a calm façade, also because of all of his friends that were looking at them. Could she really dare to do something… Like kiss him? Kakashi who always was so calm, and always had the girls under control and knew where he had them suddenly became insecure and nervous. He'd never thought about the possibility of her liking him, and it gave him a weird jolt of excitement through his body that he didn't, in any way, want to have felt. She wouldn't? Would she? No, it couldn't be true that she was attracted to him. Maybe he shouldn't have teased her so much.
"I'm going to be the leader of this mission, cause I'm the bestest of the two of us, and there's nothing you can do about it." She kept her eyes at his, though she usually would've looked away. She stumbled a bit and accidentally tipped a bottle on the table. He let out a breath he'd been holding this whole time and so did the rest of the table. Kakashi was cussing himself for thinking such things about Toshi and couldn't believe what thoughts now had been put in motion in his brain. He got it together quickly and smiled to Toshi, while Iruka and Genma desperately tried to save their seats from the spilled Sake. She stood with one leg in between his and seemed to have drifted into her own zone.
"Come on Toshi, sit down again." He tried to push her down as she swayed over him. Everyone around the table seemed too afraid to deal with her, and everyone knew that he was the only one who could, according to the rumors.
"No!—" she straightened up, finally—"I'm the leader of this mission, so I decide where we shall go, and I say that we shall go on our mission now!" with a bit of a struggle she tried to get around Kakashi's legs, supporting herself by his shoulder while cussing, as Kakashi tried as much as he could to create some space for her.
When she was out she bowed dramatically to everyone and stumbled through the dancefloor and disappeared in the crowd.
"Sorry guys… I really don't know what's happening, but at least she's on her way outside now. I guess I'll see you later." He said in an apologizing way and hurried after her.
He didn't know her well enough, obviously, to predict what she could do when she was drunk. He found her just outside the bar staring at a streetlamp and wobbling a bit.
"Toshi…" Kakashi walked up behind her and she turned around so quickly that she stumbled a bit backwards before she regained her balance again. She smirked as if she had figured something out and pointed at him.
"I got you to follow me." She said taking a step backwards again and fell over her own feet. He grabbed her upper arm to stabilize her, and she seemed to sigh over something. He still felt a bit baffled about his own thoughts, and couldn't stop thinking about how it had felt when she'd looked at him like that.
"Come, Kakashi, this way." She said and smiled and turned around before he could answer. But she was a bit too fast and walked into a person who was making his way to the bar, around her! She stumbled backwards and Kakashi was too caught up in his own thoughts to grab her. She landed right on her butt whining a bit about it.
"Come on Toshi, we can't go on a mission when you're this drunk. You can barely walk." He said to her trying to sound calm and collected. He took her by her upper arm and tried to get her up, beginning to find the situation kind of funny again. She would hear for this tomorrow all day!
"It hurts." She winced, and pulled her arm away from his grasp and lay down exhausted on the street.
"You're being a baby Toshi. You can't lay here." He said to her trying to come across a bit more serious now. He rolled his eyes at her, feeling a bit insecure about what to do with her. He knew how physical contact could affect her sometimes, even though she was slowly getting over it. No one didn't like physical contact, everyone enjoyed it somehow even though they would claim otherwise.
"My head spins and my hand hurts." She said and took it up in the air.
"Here let me see it." He said trying to play along and sat down I squad position to take a look at her hand. He took it in his own hands, brushing some of the dirt carefully off of her hand. He could see immediately that it was just a superficial wound but played medical nin for her sake.
"Hmm." He said and felt her gaze on him, staring at him intensely. She sat up silently, still just looking at him, her face closer to his now. He looked at her from the corner of his eye, and saw how her eyes were gliding over every inch of his face as if she was admiring him. The thoughts from before hit him like rock and he quickly let go of her hand.
"It's just a superficial wound. Nothing to—" worry about. Kakashi was cut off guard on this one, when she embraced him in a tight warm hug. He was beyond baffled. She'd never given him a hug before, and this one was like she threw herself into his arms and held tightly around his neck, snuggling into him. He didn't know what to do and just stood there in squad position.
"Thank you." She whispered into his hair seeming to relax more into him. Kakashi snapped out of his startled state of mind, and put his one arm around her to return the hug which made her jump a bit as if she hadn't expected it. He lifted her up to stand up and temporarily enjoyed the gratitude and acknowledgement she gave him, and felt really and deeply concerned that she was maybe growing too close to him. Not just because of her own behavior, but also because of what he took himself in thinking and enjoying. He enjoyed the hug a bit too much for what two friends should and it was all because of those damned thoughts that had popped into his mind in the bar. He was becoming too aware of what was happening now between him and Toshi. So aware that he might read too much into the things she was doing.
"Now, it's no problem. Please don't do that." He forced himself to say it, even though he wouldn't want to scare her off as this approximately was her first time giving someone a hug… Yup, he concluded. He was putting way too much into this situation and was over-reading it too much. She was just drunk, and he wasn't used to her showing her mood that much. It was just as simple as that.
She pushed away though looking at him if she'd done something wrong, almost hurt.
"And I thought I was the one scared of physical contact." She muttered and stepped away.
"It's different when it gets too personal, and we're teammates now. It's not well looked upon." He said trying to smile to her to ease the mood. He could understand why she seemed disappointed as it was her first time giving a hug. Temporarily she looked a bit sad but then shrugged as she staggered a bit.
"I'm sorry. I guess it was over the edge. I just wanted to show my gratitude for everything you've done for me." She said, her words falling a bit over each other in her drunken state.
"It's okay. Don't think so much about it." He said, not really knowing what to say. He had put himself in a bit of an awkward position, but he had panicked a bit about the whole situation. She shrugged and swayed a bit.
"I know you don't get too close to anyone." She smiled sheepishly at him.
His eyes widened a bit by this statement. To think that she had noticed that. Maybe she was paying more attention to him than she thought. She might know him better than he imagined. He was silent for a moment, again having a nervous feeling spreading that she maybe knew him more than he liked. He felt a bit paranoid, but told himself that is was okay to let her be this close as she was. It was helping a lot on her progress. He shrugged the thoughts away, deciding that everything was just like before.
"No! No! Toshi don't sit down again!" he said and grabbed her just before she sat down on the ground again.
"My legs." She muttered, her speech was beginning to get very hard to understand, and he wondered if she could remember this tomorrow.
"I'm taking you home to the apartment." He stated and swooped her up in bridal style. She chuckled limply and curled up into his shoulder and put an arm around his neck.
The streets were empty at this hour of the night, and Kakashi walked in silence with Toshi in his arms, feeling her breathing into his neck. Stars were shining like glitter in the sky and the temperature was nice due to the warm afternoons. He sighed, noticing her breathing into his neck again, trying to dull that jolt that had went through him when he thought she was about to kiss him, and which now was going through him as he felt her breathing in his neck. It'd been too long he'd been with a girl, he thought as an excuse for this sudden reaction towards her. But it was like he had just realized that she was an actual woman who would get a boyfriend some day, and not some psycho criminal anymore. He got a bit mad at himself for thinking of her as a woman and not that criminal he was supposed to help, anymore. But that was the whole point of him taking care of her wasn't it? To open her up, to make her a ninja and a human. He would just have to sleep on this and tomorrow everything would be back to normal.
He arrived at his apartment and opened the door smoothly without having to put her down. She was sleeping soundlessly in his arms like he was the safest human in the world. He put her carefully down on his bed and got her a glass of water.
"Here Toshi, drinks this glass. We can't have you having a hangover tomorrow morning." He tilted her up a bit helped her drink the water, which she did in her half-asleep state. He decided to be nice, cause she had been nice him, and took off her vest, bandages and shoes and left the rest on to be polite. He didn't want to look at her for too long, she looked beautiful when she was sleeping. He then lay down (for the first time) on her bed on the floor, and fell quickly asleep, trying to forget all of his confusing thoughts.