|| [Hatake] : Fascination : [Kakashi] || [Part X] ||
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Oriko stood outside the hotel with her back to the main doors, with both arms above her head and bent at the elbow, stretching whilst she waited for Ebisu, the three Genin and Kakashi before they could leave here and go back to Konoha. She hadn't seen Kakashi nor anyone else since last night and was feeling a little on edge, unsure of how to face her teacher after they caught each other half naked in a bath the night before. As she swapped arms and finished stretching her shoulder, she heard the door open from behind her, she swiftly turned around to see Kakashi walking towards her, his visible eye raising to meet hers, was he…'looking' at me..?
"Morning," He began, the smile obvious in his eye and his tone, she nodded back,
"Where are the others?"
"Settling up the bill with Shuuichi-sama…or at least trying to, so we'll meet them at the border of the town as we're to go and get Raiga," She nodded again in understanding, as they continued in silence for a the short walk to the prison where they were greeted by an extremely pissed off Raiga,
"Finally!" He exclaimed, looking very tired, as Kakashi spoke to the guards, Oriko stared at Raiga,
"Just shut up and we'll be back in Konoha sooner,"
"Then what'll happen?" Raiga was soon with them and out of the guard's supervision; all three stood near the border waiting for Ebisu, Tsanashi, Izumi and Asano, "Oriko! What will happen then?" He stared at her, in such a way that she supposed he was going to tell her the answer, but was in a bad enough mood with him, she fixed an exasperated stare at Kakashi,
"Can't I just kill him now?" Kakashi chuckled slightly at her question,
"Unfortunately not, we'll just have to put up with him,
"'Unfortunately'?" Raiga questioned, "When I'm free again, you two are getting the slowest and most painful deaths on the list!" He exclaimed, only encouraging both Oriko and Kakashi to roll their respective eyes at him, it didn't take long for them to be joined by the rest of the group and hence the long journey resumed to return to their own peace and quiet. They remained generally silent all the way back and it wasn't too many days journey, but it seemed to take forever.
The entire group, Ebisu, Tsanashi, Izumi, Asano, Kakashi, Oriko as well as Raiga stood in front of Tsunade, who eyes the missing nin carefully, before looking over a few folders and files which Shizune had brought in,
"Well, Kakashi, take him to Ibiki and Inoichi, they'll deal with him for now-"
"What? More time in prison?" Raiga's voice was high pitched and obviously unhappy as he glared at Tsunade,
"Of course, idiot," The anger was obvious in Raiga's eyes as he glared at Oriko,
"When we fight next, I will make you take those words back!"
"Yea, yea," She waved her hand slightly, dismissing his statement, as Tsunade interrupted;
"Dismissed." She stated, as they all bowed and were out the door in a flash; they made it out of the Hokage's building quickly and Kakashi veered off but paused, as Ebisu and his team each departed in their separate directions,
"Oriko, I'll see you for training as usual tomorrow, 9 o'clock,"
"Hai, see you tomorrow," She waved gently, as she turned to walk away from them, glad to get back to her own house and her own space. As she eventually made it inside, kicking off her zori she fell onto the sofa with a soft thump, welcoming the peace.
She woke up a short time later, guessing that she must have fallen asleep, the natural light was a lot lower than when she first sat down, but it wasn't completely dark; she found her feet and decide that a quick shower before going to find something to eat would be the best option. As she left her small apartment, her mind couldn't help but drift back to Raiga and why he wanted to kidnap her; she wasn't as strong as the other shinobi in the village, so that made her an obvious target – but surely that would also mean that she was less valuable to capture….
That too, however, meant that her thoughts drifted back to her considerations of defecting. Her eyes drifted around the scenes in front of her – the peaceful ambiance of the village, the (mostly) friendly people and the sense of contentment that Konoha seemed to give her, she wouldn't easily be able to say good bye to. What would there really be for me to defect? I wouldn't have easy access to libraries and information to learn new jutsus and other general shinobi know-how…There really is very little I could possible gain from leaving…I at least need to get to a higher level, to the point where Konoha holds nothing for me other than these peaceful streets… that's when leaving will mean something to me.
Oriko still wasn't sure what part of her wanted to leave, or why, but she couldn't deny that it was there…she also wondered why Kakashi hadn't said anything to Tsunade about their conversation over it, whatever the reason, she knew that it would take some serious work to rebuild whatever trust Kakashi placed in her, if only to convince him that she wasn't about to defect.
Sighing gently to herself, she passed by a small ramen shop by the name of Ichiraku's, and decided that she may as well try some,
"Hello,"
"Ah, hello there, what can I get for you?" The old man smiled politely at her, as she took a seat,
"Uh…a miso ramen please," He smiled and turned his back to begin making the noodles,
"I don't believe we've met before, I don't recognize, you, my name is Teuchi," he smiled over his shoulder, which Oriko matched,
"Nice to meet you, Teuchi-san, my name is Oriko,"
"Are you a shinobi?" He questioned, remembering seeing the shuriken pouches on her legs,
"Uh, yes actually, though I've only been training for a short time,"
"Hmm," He nodded in understanding, "Who is your sensei?"
"Kakashi,"
"Oh ho, he is a very skilled shinobi," Although Oriko couldn't see, she could hear the smile in his voice.
"Yeah…" They remained in silence for a little while, with the occasional noise of Teuchi making her meal, but eventually set in down in front of her, she ate quickly and although ramen wasn't her favourite meal, she surprised herself at how much she enjoyed it. "Thank you Teuchi-san," She bowed politely as she set the money on the table and turned to leave his small shop, lifted the half-curtains out of the way. The moon was full and it smiled gently down on Konoha, with clouds following it closely, the brilliant while of half the clouds and the moon contrasted perfectly with the dark shadows of them as well as the inky-black sky; with the occasional beacons of light showing the positions of the stars.
"Oh! Oriko!" A sudden voice to her right attracted her attention, "How've you been haven't seen you for ages!" Anko appeared into view, waving lightly with a childish grin putting her facial features to good work,
"Hi, Anko-san,"
"Just 'Anko'," She waved her hand lightly, dismissing Oriko's politeness, "What are you up to now?"
"I've just had dinner and I suppose I was just going for a walk," Oriko, took half a step in the direction of the training grounds, as though emphasizing her point,
"Ah…do you mind if I join you?" Anko asked, her smile fading to a slightly more mature and relaxed one,
"Sure," They both turned and began walking down the street at a relaxed pace, Oriko feeling more at ease back in Konoha and now with a full stomach.
"I guess you and Kakashi have been on a mission for the past week, right?"
"Yea, we had to escort a priest,"
"Ah, they are usually okay missions…can be a little boring though," Oriko rolled her eyes, and thought internally at how she'd had plenty of things to occupy her on this particular mission, "Hey, you know Kakashi pretty well, right?"
"Uh…well…I know him a little, I guess."
"Do you reckon that he's…happy being single?"
"Eh?" Oriko didn't particularly like where this conversation was going….
"Ya, know, do you think he wants a girlfriend or not?"
"Uh…well…I have no idea to be honest…he's a pretty private guy…I dunno," Oriko eventually stumbled to an answer, Anko looked carefully at Oriko's unsure face, and could hear the honesty in her words, but wasn't the sort of girl to let something like that stop her.
"Well, do you think he'd respond if I went and asked him?" Oriko could suddenly picture and awkward looking Kakashi, with a hand scratching the back of his head and his signature closed-eye smile as he attempted to resolve the situation,
"Maybe…but I really couldn't tell you, I really don't know him well enough," Oriko couldn't help but wonder, he certainly was a man who appeared to keep his cards close to his chest. But unfortunately ruined herself by thinking back over to when they were in the bath together and she didn't waste the opportunity to look over what she could see of his body, as she turned her head away, and attempted to distract her thoughts, she wasn't looking forward to seeing him tomorrow. That too, would no doubt be extremely awkward.
"Hmm, well I'll never know by guessing, but I can still imagine him just laughing me off," She slumped a little signifying her worriment,
"Why do you think he'd do that?" Oriko asked, not sure why she was encouraging Anko to chase him,
"Well, he's pretty awkward about things like that anyway, and I reckon that he's serious and doesn't feel a need to get involved with anyone…" Oriko frowned; that does seem like Kakashi,
"Well, what if you showed him how good having a girlfriend can be…" She trailed off, feeling that her sentence was a bit weird, Anko's childish grin returned, as she elbowed Oriko in the side,
"Wow, you have a real kinky side, huh?"
"What? No, I didn't necessarily mean that by it…I just…oh, whatever," Oriko gave in, as she felt somewhat grumpy her mood now a little low at the thought of Anko's actions.
"Haha, maybe I could use a line like that on him, might get him to at least consider it," Anko continued to laugh to herself, as they were walking back into the centre of Konoha.
"What are you doing tomorrow?" Anko asked after a few minutes of silence,
"Dunno, just a day of training I guess, maybe a simple mission,"
"Well, we can meet up for a drink in a few evenings time if you like, you can met Kurenai, Asuma's girlfriend, too;" Oriko nodded at the invitation, thinking that she might as well give herself the option of spending a little time with others.
"I know you probably feel a little awkward if you come and drink with us because Kakashi supposed to be your sensei and all, but I think he's cool with it and you both seemed comfortable enough last time, right? Plus, you can help me scheme!" Anko finished brightly, half-surprising Oriko with her perceptiveness,
"Uh…well, thanks, yea…I did feel a little awkward," She mentioned, but Anko's smile was reassuring enough, "Hey, I need to head off and get some sleep before tomorrow, but please let me know when you're next heading out for drinks, ok?"
"Sure no prob, I'll see you soon," They waved a short goodbye to each other as they went their separate ways, Oriko's mind drifting to and from Kakashi all evening as she attempted to get enough rest to be on good form the next day's work.