Coming Home

by chibihinachan

When a decommissioned Konoha shinobi returns after a long hiatus, what will happen when she meets the Copy Nin on the way home? Why do each feel a pull towards each other, yet both resist the urge to be together?What is her story, and will Kakashi be the one to teach her to let go?A story of lost love, and finding it again. angst, no tragedy

14. Feelings Emerge

Something I wanted to mention, just cuz it's somewhat relevant to the story: right after the Tsuchigumo Kinjutsu Arc in the anime, the Pain arc starts. Now, I personally want to develop more of the Lina/Kakashi/rest of the gang's relationships, so I'm stretching the time frame just a bit. Pain invasion won't come for a few chapters.

As always, please review, comment, write something! I'm dying to know what you guys think. Ja ne! ;)

Disclaimer: As always, I don't own Naruto or any of it's characters. I do, however, own any original ideas or characters (such as Sasaki Lina) that I have created.

Oh and one more thing to note: Kakashi is 31, the rookie nine are 17, and team Gai are 18. Sasaki Lina is 29. Please don't dispute the numbers, I got them from Naruto wikia, and just added the differences. Also: the Pain arc is still going to happen, I'm making Sasuke come back too, but Shinobi Alliance arc is still going to happen, as well as anything that didn't directly involve him in the anime/manga. I'll make the necessary changes to story line, but whoever dies/gets injured in the original will remain so in my story (except the OC character cuz...well, she's OC, what do you expect?) Enjoy!

A special shout-out to all my readers, people who favourited/followed both the story and myself, thank you all very, very much. I appreciate it so much, it's so satisfying as a writer to know that your work is being recognized, so thank you. To all the reviews and comments, people who PM'd me, thank you for your kind words. You guys are incredible, and what drives me to write more and faster, so thank you.

PLEASE REVIEW! COMMENT, ANYTHING! THANKS :D

Chapter 14

When the team arrived back in Konoha, they immediately went to the Hokage's office, intent on giving their report and gaining more information as soon as possible. Lina awkwardly knocked on the front door with her hand that was connected to her burned shoulder.

"Come in." Lina looked at Raidou for help, and he helped her open the door. As Lina had been injured in both arms, she was slightly incapacitated, even if her dislocated arm was now only throbbing instead of piercing with pain. The team walked into the Hokage's office, bowing before Tsunade. Shizune and Tonton happened to be in the room, as was Sakura. Pakkun sat beside Tonton at the foot of the desk.

"How was it?" Tsunade got right to the point, but before she said anything, Lina held up a hand. Looking around the room, Lina wanted to be absolutely sure that no one was listening in, considering their tail while on the mission, the spy equipment in the inn, and the attack on her when they were coming home. Of course, she didn't expect there to be any, considering it was the Hokage's office and of course she would know if there were any extra ears, but to be safe, Lina took a quick scan of the room. Meanwhile, she began rambling on, faking her way through a report, to not rouse any suspicion.

"Oh, it was fine. The target was…" She continued on and on, making up some yarn as she paced around the room, ignoring the looks everyone was giving her. She had almost concluded that it was all clear when she felt a microscopic shift in the air slightly to her right, at one end of the windows placed behind the Hokage's desk. Reaching up, she silently released the tiny genjutsu that seemed to have been placed, only to find a listening device placed on the wall. She heard a gasp and whirled around, pressing her finger to her lips to motion silence. Turning back, Lina removed and disabled the earpiece, but then she felt two more shifts in the air from two separate points across the room. Turning back to the group, she awkwardly made 2 Water Clones and dispatched them to the shifts, where they disabled the genjutsus at the same time, revealing two more listening devices. Immediately after, Lina felt four more shifts, and created two more clones to diffuse them. When the final four shifts had been completely disabled, she felt no more differences in the air or anything in the room. Taking one final scan, Lina probed every corner of the room, all surfaces and crevices, motioning the Hokage to 'please' step away from the desk so that she may examine it, and found that the room was clear. Letting out a breath she hadn't known she was holding, Lina finally spoke normally.

"Sorry, Hokage-sama. I hope you know that my 'report' just now was completely fake, and only used to give me time to disable these things here." She and her clones held up seven listening devices that had been placed in various parts of the room. The group looked at her, dumfounded.

"How did you know they were there? I didn't even know!" Tsunade was beyond shocked, but really it wasn't that big of a deal. Lina told her so.

"Oh, it was actually relatively lucky of me. See, the genjutsus that were placed seemed to be layered on top of each other. So, the first one I dismantled led to two more, which would only reveal the last four if they were disabled at the same time. So, if I hadn't made those two water clones, we would not have found the last four. Also, I think these genjutsus must have been made so that the person would need to come back and re-do them every once in a while, because the strength of each time seemed slightly stronger than the last. The first one was probably due to be re-done today, because the hold of the genjutsu was weakening. If the jutsu hadn't been dying, I never would have felt it, no matter how paranoid I was being." Lina concluded her explanation.

Looking down, she wondered…."Would you like me to put them back? You might be able to figure out who's being planting them there."

Tsunade shook her head. "I have a pretty good idea who's put them there." Tsunade slammed her fist against the desk, eliciting a shriek from Shizune, which she ignored. Honestly, the woman had been travelling with her for years! Tsunade calmed down and tried to think. Of course, it would be one of the council elders, or Danzo. Most likely both, considering Danzo had a way of persuading those old bats to do just about anything if it was 'for the sake of the village'. Idiots. Putting her head in her hands, she desperately wanted a drink. But there were 4 shinobi standing in front of her, waiting to give her their report, not to mention Shizune and Sakura would never allow it.

"Well, go on. How was the mission, really."

Lina launched into her mission report, giving a brief but much more detailed analysis of all that had happened. She took out the three scrolls she'd placed all the evidence she could find in, and placed them on the desk. Since the scrolls kept all items in suspense, there was no chance that they would be decayed. Finally, she pulled out a map and pointed out where Daisuke and Pakkun had tracked Kabuto to, although there was no saying whether he would still be there by the time the next team arrived. When she was finished, she stood in front of the desk, unsure of what to do.

"Wow." Sakura said unconsciously, before slapping her hand over her mouth. 'This little girl did all that? That's incredible!' She was starting to see the girl in front of her in a new light. As she glanced over to Kakashi, she saw something change in his eyes, a softness as he looked at his captain. And why wouldn't he? She'd found evidence that could potentially lead to more answers and a plan to attack Kabuto, found his possible next location, and gotten no one else injured except herself. She'd even helped bring the children who'd been kidnapped back to their families, and rounded up several of the kidnappers to boot! Why she was still only a chuunin was beyond Sakura's comprehension, because she certainly deserved jounin status. And it seemed Tsunade was thinking on a similar plane.

"Genma, Raidou, Kakashi. Report. How was Sasaki Lina as a leader while on this mission?" The three stiffened, and Lina bowed her head slightly in embarrassment. 'She's going to ask them while I'm in the room? Urgh, talk about awkward!'

"She was a good leader at times, but an uncertain one in others. She was incapable of making decisions for herself, always asking us for our opinion. She became panicked towards the end and rushed into decisions without thinking them through. Overall, I'd say she needs more experience." Genma gave his report, being blunt but truthful. Lina cringed at his words, knowing he was telling the truth, but still unwilling to hear them. Raidou was next.

"She was a good leader. Sure, she had some uncertain moments, but she kept us all alive, finished the mission, got extra information that none of us would have been able to gather, and even managed to not let us get injured. The only injuries received on the mission were her own."

"Yes, but that was because of her own recklessness. If she hadn't left for so long, she wouldn't have been caught by the masked person, and she wouldn't have been injured." "But she couldn't have known that, and in all honesty it could have happened to any of us! Plus, she was already injured to begin with from the fight with those men in the hideout." Raidou and Genma argued back and forth before Tsunade raised her hand to silence them.

"Kakashi?" He stepped forward. "She was a good leader, but she could be better. I'd recommend you give her more missions to give her experience before you decide." Lina looked at him and then back at Tsunade.

"Wait, decide what?" Tsunade clasped her hands together, overlapping fingers, and rested her chin on top of them, appraising her.

"This mission was also a way to see if you could be promoted to jounin status. Considering your extensive abilities, and your comprehensive knowledge for the outside world, I was hoping you could be a jounin without having to take the exams. But it seems you're not ready." Lina's eyes very nearly bulged at this. As elated as she was to hear that the Hokage actually believed she had the abilities to become a jounin, she was equally disappointed to hear that she had failed the unknown test. But in her heart, she knew she wasn't ready anyway. How could she be, when she was so lacking in teamwork skills, considering the last team she'd worked on had been over a decade ago? Lina bit her lip in disappointment, but nodded.

Tsunade sighed and lifted her chin off her fingers. "Well, there's no rush. It's not like we're at war, so you can take the extra time to train and work on your team work and leadership skills." Lina raised her head and smiled, nodding once more. "Yes!"

"Oh, and one more thing. You said you felt you were being followed throughout the mission, and Lina you were attacked by a masked person. Can you describe them?" Lina shook her head. "No, the mask seemed like ANBU, but there were no markings or anything that might distinguish them. It looked like an incomplete mask. And the clothing was all covered up by a travelling cloak, but I could see that it was black. And whoever it was who attacked me was definitely the same person who was following us, or at least he was one of them, since we only felt one signature throughout, but we were almost sure that there was more than one." Lina began rambling as she got more into the tale, but Tsunade held up her hand once more.

"Alright, I guess that's all for now. There really isn't any way to definitively figure out who the shinobi was, short of summoning every single one to this office to see if you recognise the chakra, but we can't do that. Don't discuss this with anyone, understood?" Lina nodded her head, as did her three accompanying shinobi. Tsunade looked at Sakura and Shizune, ensuring they agreed as well. "Good, now go to the hospital. You need to get your injuries checked out. I'll have the Konoha forensic lab look at the stuff in the scrolls. Don't bother handing in your mission report, since this mission was top-secret." Lina nodded and she and her (now former) teammates bowed and showed themselves out, Pakkun following his summoner.

Lina turned to the three shinobi and tiredly smiled. "Well, it's over. I'm going to go to the hospital to get checked, you three be sure to go home and rest. Ahhh but here's your extra luggage, I nearly forgot!" She pulled out her summoning scrolls and summoned the extra clothes and stuff the team had stored throughout their mission. Most of it was dirty laundry now, but it didn't reek too much considering it was all in suspension from the scroll. Each member took their clothes and packs. "That's it then. Thank you for working so well and bearing with my lack of experience. It was fun." As she spoke, she slowly walked backwards, waving at them. Before she could turn around, Raidou stepped forward.

"Um, Lina-san. Do you want to go out sometime? For coffee or lunch or something?" Lina stopped, surprised, but then smiled widely. "Sure, Raidou-san. I'd like that. But not now, ok? I think I'll take a few days off to rest up first. But we'll see each other around, so I'm sure we'll meet up eventually." Raidou smiled back and nodded. "Of course. Feel better, Lina-san." "Thanks!" Waving towards the other guys, she turned back around and headed to the Konoha hospital.

After being treated and thoroughly scolded by the medic-nins for re-locating her shoulder by herself AS WELL AS leaving her burn injury in bandages to the point that it got all pus-filled, Lina was finally healed and sent on her way home. Walking out of the hospital, Lina wasn't paying much mind to her surroundings, simply enjoying the freedom, until she heard a cough come from right behind her. Turning around, she saw Kakashi leaning against the hospital walls, looking as lazy as ever. She noticed that he had gone home to drop off his extra baggage before coming to see her.

"Kakashi-san, what are you doing here?"

"I happened to be passing by. How's your arm? Or well, arms." He walked up beside her and they started walking together.

"Much better, thanks for asking. The medic-nins were great, although I could've done without the lecture on not properly caring for myself, ahaha." Kakashi laughed, knowing full well what she meant. Sakura, Shizune, and Tsunade always made a point of complaining about how easily Kakashi got injured, and it seemed the medic-nins were learning to do the same under Tsunade's rule.

"Oh I know exactly what you mean. It's not like we shinobi MEAN to hurt ourselves. It's just a hazard of the job."

"Exactly!" They fell into a comfortable silence, walking slowly and taking in the village. They hadn't spoken about what had happened that first day on their way back home, and nothing like that had happened afterwards, seeing as Raidou had taken over the duty to look out for Lina, but there was still some tension between them. Sexual or not, they both felt something towards each other.

"Umm, sorry about not telling you about the unofficial jounin test." Lina looked towards Kakashi before shaking her head. "Don't worry about it. It's better that you didn't tell me, because this way you were able to see how I really am, versus how I'd act if I'd known. It would be terrible if you'd told me, and I'd passed, and then I'd gotten my first team as a jounin killed because of my inabilities, you know?" Kakashi nodded, glad she understood.

For a little while, neither of them spoke. Then, "So, where are you headed?" Lina asked curiously. She noticed that Kakashi was walking with her instead of going home, which was in the opposite direction.

"I'm going home with you." Lina sputtered after hearing Kakashi say this in such a matter-of-fact way, as if it was the most natural thing in the world.

"Wh-what?"

"What? I want to see Kurenai." Kakashi looked down at her, quirking an eyebrow. "What, did you expect something...else?" He leered at her, almost willing her to take the bait.

"N-no! Of course not! I'm just surprised, I didn't realise you two were so close." Lina wasn't sure whether to feel relieved or disappointed. 'Wait, disappointed? Why?' She tried not to think too much about it.

The duo arrived at the apartment and walked in.

"Kurenai-san? I'm back." Lina called out, motioning Kakashi to enter. They heard clanking coming from the kitchen and made their way in. Kurenai poked her head out of the kitchen and greeted them.

"Oh, you're back! Welcome back, how was the mission? Oh hey, Kakashi, what are you doing here?" She seemed surprised that he'd come, which wasn't too odd considering he'd never really been an overtly social person. Kakashi raised his hand in acknowledgement.

"Yo. How are you?"

"Good good. Um...are you staying for dinner?" Kurenai inquired politely. She seemed unsure of what to do. Lina looked between them, wondering why they seemed so awkward with each other if Kakashi had said he was close to Kurenai.

"Oh, uhh..sure. That is, if Lina-san doesn't mind. After all, you've been with me for three weeks straight, I wouldn't blame you for being tired of me." Kakashi massaged his neck awkwardly. Lina shook her head and smiled.

"Of course not! You're welcome to stay. Or, you could go home and change and stuff. It should be a couple of hours until dinner is ready, you can come back closer to that time." Kakashi shook his head. "I think I'll stay."

Lina shrugged. "Kurenai-san, how are you doing? You should be nearly in your 6-7th month now, right? You sure you should be up and about so much?"

Kurenai shook her head. "I'm fine, Shikamaru's been taking good care of me. And besides, I can't stay in bed all day, I'd go crazy!" As a kunoichi, she was used to being on active duty, and not being able to train or do anything was really wearing thin on her patience.

Lina nodded. "Well, Kakashi-san, why don't you have a seat, you and Kurenai-san can catch up while I go take a shower. I need to re-bandage my shoulder anyway." As soon as the words left her mouth, Lina blushed, remembering the incident at the stream. Immediately looking away, she didn't notice Kakashi's face also burn up slightly, although Kurenai certainly didn't miss it. 'Ooooh, more dirt. Yum!'

XXX

While Lina as in the shower, Kurenai took the time to talk to Kakashi, starting out with the mission. After they had exhausted the topic, which didn't take long considering the secrecy of it, she moved in for the kill.

"So, what was that just now between you and Lina-san?" Kurenai smirked as she watched Kakashi stiffen slightly. If she hadn't been looking for it, she never would have noticed, but being a genjutsu expert, she was well aware of body movements.

"What do you mean?" Kakashi stalled as he tried to think of an excuse. Damn Kurenai and her keen eyes! He tried not to move too much, but also not stay too still.

"Oh don't give me that! She said something about having to redress her bandages and you both turned into tomatoes! What happened?" Kurenai was full-on grinning now, as she watched Kakashi some more. True, she and him had never been close, that was more Asuma, but she still considered him close enough that she could get juicy information from him.

"It's nothing. Really." But Kakashi was remaining tight-lipped on the subject, much to Kurenai's disapproval.

"Yeah, right. Well, whatever. I'll get it out of her, even if I can't get it out of you."

"And what makes you think there's anything to get out of her?" Kakashi countered.

"Your faces." Kurenai replied smoothly. She leaned back against the sofa and rubbed her abdomen slowly. "But seriously. I'm surprised you're giving her the time of day. She doesn't seem your type. Tall, beautiful, big-breasted. Well, maybe she has you on that last one, I dunno, but still." Kakashi didn't say anything for a moment. 'I don't understand it either' he thought.

But he knew that she was definitely different from the other girls he'd been with. Of course, those girls had only been useful for a release, and none of them had lasted very long. But Lina, he was starting to consider her a friend. He wasn't fully trusting of her yet, not when he had so many walls up from all the losses he'd carried as burdens throughout his years. But she was...different. Real. But before he could think any further, Lina had come out of the bathroom, her hair back into the messy low side bun she'd worn throughout the mission and even before. Kakashi distinctly remembered how she'd left her hair out before arriving in Konoha, that first time they'd met, and he was somewhat disappointed that he didn't get to see it again. He did prefer his women to have their hair down.

"Hey, I'll get started on dinner now. What would you like, Kakashi-san?"

"Oh, anything is fine. You're the cook."

"Right, but you're the guest." Kakashi smiled at that. Ignoring Kurenai's pointed stare and grin, he said, "Broiled saury?" Lina nodded, remembering. "And let me guess, eggplant?" Kakashi gave her an eye crinkled smiled. "That sounds delicious." Lina laughed through her nose and looked at Kurenai. "And you, Kurenai-san?"

"Oh, there's some leftover stir-fry I made for lunch that I can finish. Do you mind heating it up for me?"

"You got it." Lina padded into the kitchen and began the preparations. The saury would take a while, so she worked on that first, heating up the oven. Then, after placing it in the oven to broil and soak in the sauces she'd mixed, Lina set to work on the eggplant, humming softly.

"Need some help?" Lina turned around to see Kakashi walking in.

"That's really not necessary, I'm nearly done. Just got the eggplant left. Go relax, sit with Kurenai."

"She's actually gone to her room to rest, it seems the baby's acting up a bit." Lina knit her eyebrows together, and Kakashi hastily back-pedalled. "I'm sure it's nothing."

"No, you're probably right. Um, you're more than welcome to keep me company in here, but I feel I should warn you. I'm not feeling up to much talking at the moment, so you may have to carry the conversation a little."

"Maa, don't worry about that, we don't have to talk. But are you alright?" Kakashi settled down on a chair at the small wooden two-seater table placed at one end of the kitchen, watching Lina work.

"No, no, nothing like that. I guess I'm just a little tired." Lina coated the chopped eggplant with the sauce she had made and placed them on a sheet in the oven, next to the saury. Then, she put several cups of rice in the rice cooker to steam. Wiping her hands, she was finished. Now it was just time to wait.

"There, done. Now, just gotta wait for 45 minutes and then another 15, and we're good to go." Lina sat down across from Kakashi with a sigh.

"Thanks. By the way, you've made food for me, and Kurenai's got her leftovers, but what are YOU going to eat?" Lina looked up and smiled. "Ramen." Kakashi raised an eyebrow. "Ramen?" Lina nodded her head. "Yup." Kakashi stared at her for a moment before shaking his head. "You know that's not healthy right?" Lina shrugged. "I missed it! You have no idea how badly I had a craving for ramen while on the mission. But nooo, as your mother I had to eat healthy. It was horrible!" Lina fake-sighed as Kakashi laughed, thinking of Naruto. They sat like that, appreciating the other's company, and slowly the smell of food filled the kitchen. When Lina had said she wasn't up to talking much, she had meant it. She just sat there, resting her chin on her crossed fingers which created a bridge under her face. Kakashi didn't mind, preferring to watch Lina's face while she allowed her mind to wander. Soon, though, she realized she was being a horrible host and gave him a guilty smile.

"Sorry, I told you I'd be terrible company. Um, you can read Icha Icha if you want, I don't mind." Kakashi was about to answer when they both heard a gasp. Looking towards the entrance to the kitchen, they saw Kurenai standing there, watching them.

"Lina-san, you know that he reads Icha Icha?"

Lina nodded her head. "Of course. Why, is it some sort of secret or something?" She looked between the two.

Kurenai shook her head. "Well, no, but I'm surprising you're ok with him reading it. I mean, there aren't many women who would accept a man reading porn in public." Lina laughed at that. "Maybe, but I'm not most women, especially considering I read it too. Maybe not in public, though. And it's not just porn! The romance stuff in there is kind of sweet! Jiraiya-sama is really a great author."

Kurenai raised an eyebrow and shook her head. "Not you too…"

Lina laughed. "Yup, me too." Kurenai shook her head once more and padded back to her room to rest. Turning back to the table, Lina looked at the time, and noticed there was only about a half hour left until the food would be ready. She got up and said, "Well, I'm going down to Ichiraku's to get takeout. Want to come?" Kakashi stood up.

"You're buying rather than cooking?" Lina nodded. "I can't make ramen nearly as delicious as Teuchi-san does." Kakashi watched her walk up to Kurenai's door and knock.

"Kurenai-san? I'm going to Ichiraku's with Kakashi. We'll be back in about 20 minutes, but in case we're late, could you come out and turn off the stove in 30? I put your food in the oven to heat up too, to save electricity, and it should be ready soon." They heard a muffled 'ok' and set out together.

When they arrived in Ichiraku Ramen Kakashi wasn't the least bit surprised to see his former student and current teammate slurping down what looked to be his fourth bowl of pork ramen. The young man looked up, noodles hanging from his mouth, as he sensed his former teacher enter the restaurant.

"Kaka-sensei!" Kakashi smiled and raised his hand "Yo" before pulling open the curtain to allow Lina to step in. Naruto gulped down the rest of his mouthful and warily looked at the girl, remembering how she'd twisted his finger that one time in the baa-chan's office.

Lina smiled, remembering her encounter with the Kyuubi only a few short months ago. Kakashi didn't say much about him, other than that he was much stronger than he looked, but even Lina could tell that. After all, who better to judge an underestimated person than herself? Luckily for him, he seemed to also remember the encounter, which stopped him from making any inappropriate comments. For now, anyway.

"Hi there. Uzumaki Naruto-kun, right?"

"Yeah. Erm….uh.." Naruto searched his memory for her name, but he couldn't remember any more about her.

"Lina. Sasaki Lina." She supplied helpfully, and he bobbed his head. "Right. So, Kakashi-sensei. What are you doing with her?"

"I'm having dinner with Lina-san and Kurenai. We're just picking up food."

"Ooooh ramen? You like ramen?!" Naruto finally gave Lina his full attention. After all, no one who liked ramen could be a bad person, right? Lina cheerfully nodded, having finished ordering her meal. "Of course! But not just any ramen. I'm sort of picky, and definitely spoiled, having come from Konoha. I can't seem to finish as much of any other type of ramen except Ichiraku's. Teuchi-san and Ayame-chan are truly magicians with food." Naruto nodded and grinned. "Yeah! They're awesome!" He turned back to find his next bowl readily sitting in front of him and he dug in. Lina smiled as she watched him eat so care freely. She found it hard to believe that such a sweet boy, if somewhat dopey, was actually the Jinchuriki. Kakashi, on the other hand, had to turn away, slightly sickened, after seeing the boy chow down many, many times before. Before long, the food was ready, and Lina and Kakashi bid Teuchi, Ayame, and Naruto goodbye.

XXX

Ayame looked at Lina and Kakashi's retreating backs, her mind whirring. After working in the restaurant for years, she and her father had developed the knack for reading underneath the underneath, similar to Kakashi's teachings (if Naruto was to be trusted, which of course he was), and she could smell something different about those two. It was rare for Kakashi to come into the restaurant with anyone but his team. Normally, when he was in here, he was alone, and only came to pick up take out. She decided to get more information.

"Naruto-kun? Who's that girl Kakashi-san was with?" Naruto looked up from his food, sucking on his chopsticks as he thought. "Mmmm…I don't really know her. She's a chuunin, and she's really strong even though she looks so small. Ummmm that's all I know." 'Well, that was a bust.' But Ayame was not one to give up so easily. She remembered the girl had come to eat several months ago with the rest of the rookie 11, and had told stories about travelling around the world for years. But that wasn't what she was interested it. What she was interested in, was the reason why Kakashi seemed to be sticking close to her. Even if it was subtle, and even if it WAS the Copy Ninja, Ayame could tell that he was acting differently.

XXX

"We're back." Lina called out. She heard a moan come from the bedrooms and panicked. Shoving the takeout bags into Kakashi's hands, she ran towards Kurenai's room, forgetting to take off her shoes in the process.

"Kurenai-san? Are you alright?" Lina pressed herself against the door, listening. She only got a moan in response, so she shoved the door open. Sitting on the bed, gripping the edges tightly, was Kurenai, her face scrunched up in pain. Lina and Kakashi rushed to her side.

"What happened?"

"The baby's kicking really hard today. It hurts so much." Lina searched through her memory for something that would help with the pain, thankful that it was only kicking. Thinking of nothing, she softly placed her hand on the bulge that represented the baby's home.

"Kakashi-san, could you get Sakura-san? Or Shizune-san, either would work. Kurenai-san, I know you said it's nothing, but it's better to be safe, right?" Kurenai nodded, her face still contorted. Lina distantly felt Kakashi put down the takeout and run out the door. Turning her attention back to Kurenai, she tried to make her as comfortable as possible.

"Why don't you try lying down, maybe the change in position will shift the baby and calm it down?" Lina support Kurenai as she slowly made her way back to the head of the bed.

"I'll be right back. Gonna get more pillows." Lina left and came back with two pillows from her room. She created two water clones, who helped support Kurenai on each side while she placed the pillows underneath her back as support. When Kurenai laid back down, she sighed in relief and gave Lina a grateful smile.

"Thanks, that's better. I think the baby's calmed down a bit, I don't feel her kicking." Lina looked up and smiled. "Her? It's a girl?" Kurenai nodded and smiled back. Tiredly, she closed her eyes, and Lina took that as her cue to leave. She closed the door behind her, leaving only a slight crack open .

Minutes later, Kakashi and Sakura walked into the apartment, Shikamaru in tow. Apparently he'd met them along the way, and being Asuma's old student, had been obviously distressed to hear that Kurenai was in pain. Lina quickly told them to be quiet.

"She's sleeping right now. I put more pillows under her, which seemed to change the baby's position and calm it down. Sorry, Sakura-san. It seems that I sent Kakashi-san to get you for nothing. You too, Shikamaru-san, Kakashi-san."

"It's alright, we were all worried. Kurenai-sensei is part of our little shinobi family, we're always available for her." Sakura was relieved that Kurenai was alright, but she felt the medic-nin in her nagging her to check for herself. "Umm, do you mind if I check on her anyway? I don't want to wake her, but she shouldn't be feeling this much pain from a baby kicking her." Lina nodded and led the way, Shikamaru shadowing them, as was Kakashi.

"Kurenai-san. I know you're tired, and I'm really sorry to wake you, but Sakura-san is here to check on the baby alright? We're going to make sure everything's ok in there." Kurenai opened her eyes briefly before nodding and closing them again, tired. Sakura nodded and began performing the exam. Lina led the two males out of the room, allowing Kurenai some privacy.

"Tea for either of you?" Lina asked as she shut off the oven. Looking at the saury and eggplant slices, as well as Kurenai's food, it seemed that everything was still intact, and ready to eat. Shikamaru and Kakashi shook their heads, Shikamaru sitting down on the couch as Kakashi opted for his original seat at the table in the kitchen.

Sakura walked out of Kurenai's room a short while later and gave Shikamaru a reassuring smile. "Everything's fine. The baby was kicking at Kurenai's ribcage, so she felt a little more pain than usual, but it's all good now." Shikamaru let out a sigh and ran his hand over his face. He hadn't said a word since he'd gotten here, but he hadn't needed to. Thanking Lina for caring for Kurenai, Sakura and Shikamaru left, but not before asking Kakashi if he was coming too.

"You coming, Kakashi sensei?" Sakura asked. Kakashi shook his head. "I'm staying to have dinner with Lina-san. At least, if that's still alright with you." Lina nodded her head. "Of course. Why wouldn't it be?" Sakura and Shikamaru looked between the two, puzzled. But if they were thinking anything, they certainly didn't say it.

Soon, it was just Lina and Kakashi. She looked at him and said, "Well, shall we?" Kakashi nodded and they walked into the kitchen. Lina served Kakashi's food and unpacked her own.

"Itadakimasu!" Lina dug in, remembering to keep her eyes down to allow Kakashi to eat without having to shovel everything in at once. Kakashi let down his mask and ate, savoring the feeling of Lina's cooking.

"Mmm, this is delicious!" Lina smiled into her food. "Thanks! Enough seasoning for you?" She joked, remembering Genma's complaints while on the mission. Kakashi laughed. "It's perfect." They stayed like that, eating in silence, a comfortable feeling between the two...friends? Lina wasn't sure what they were. She felt like his friend, but then again, when she thought about it, she really didn't know much about him, nor he about her. He was still a mystery, except now, he was a familiar one. Lina certainly enjoyed the company that he gave her, but she wasn't sure how she felt about allowing him to get so close to her when she knew nothing about him.

Meanwhile, Kakashi was wondering when was the last time he'd eating a home-cooked meal that was cooked by someone other than himself. The last one he could remember was one his father had cooked. Kakashi couldn't remember the food, but he did remember the satisfaction he'd felt, sitting down with his father. That had all been before 'that mission'. The one that had ended up slowly eating away at his father, until it had driven him to kill himself. But before that mission, Kakashi had remembered warmth. After, nothing. Even his sensei's attempts to get him to open up, no matter how probing, hadn't made Kakashi felt the same way. Maybe because, deep down, he had known that he didn't belong, not in Sensei and Kushina-san's life, at least. But he felt safe here, with Lina. He felt, home. Of course, he also felt the pull of being an outsider, but the welcoming feeling of home coupled with Lina's smile as she joked with him casually, brought out emotions Kakashi had thought were long gone.

"Umm, Kakashi-san?" Lina's voice brought Kakashi back to the present and he looked at her, who still had her head bent down towards her plate.

"Yes?"

"I asked if you were done. Is everything alright?" Even with her head down, Kakashi could see the frown on her face. He shook his head slightly and smiled, pulling up his mask.

"I was just thinking that I need to get the recipe of this meal of yours." Lina smiled and blushed a little. It had been a long time since she'd cooked for anyone other than family. Even cooking for Kurenai was different from this.

"Thanks, that's an amazing compliment. But I can't take full credit for the sauce at least. See, when I was travelling around the nations, I stayed in the land of Noodles for a while. As you can imagine from the name, their noodles are amazing. Well, while I was there, I met this family who owned a small shop, and they taught me how to make their soups and sauces and stuff. Of course, I felt bad for mooching off of them, so I tried to make my own version of them, and this is one of the ones I came up with. It's actually because of them that I started really getting into cooking. Before that, I was only a mediocre cook, only making food that was just barely on par. Well, I don't want to say that I'm an amazing chef now, or anything, but I'm definitely better than I was." Lina cleared the table as she talked. Kakashi watched her, and she could see his mask stretching, showing that he was smiling. As he watched her, Kakashi noticed how Lina's eyes danced with life as she talked about the family she'd studied with in the land of Noodles, and he couldn't help but smile. He listened some more as she continued.

"You know, I can't honestly remember everything I put in the sauce. It's always been more of an intuition thing than rule-based for me. So if you want to know the exact recipe I think you'll have to watch me cook with your Sharingan next time, so you can memorize it." Kakashi's eyebrows shot up at this.

"Next time?" Lina looked up, confused. "Huh?"

"You said, 'next time'. So, does that mean you'll be cooking for me again?" He watched Lina's face burn up slightly as she fumbled over what to say. "Oh! Uhhh….well umm, I mean- I didn't mean to assume anything. But you know, if you want to know the recipe, I will need to cook it again." Lina bent her head in embarrassment, and Kakashi almost laughed. He'd only been teasing, but he loved how he could get her so shy with a few words.

"Well, I hope there will be a next time, because this was really great." He looked straight at her as Lina's head shot back up, her eyes wide. Slowly a smile formed on her lips, that turned into a grin, and she nodded her head. "Yeah, it was." Kakashi smiled back. Getting up, he walked up beside her.

"Here, I'll do the dishes, you go have a seat."

"Oh, that's really not necessary!"

"Nonsense, you cooked. I'll wash up."

"No way I can let you do that. My mom always taught me, a woman must always do the housework and never let a man do it for her. 'It gives her a bit of the control in the house', she'd say. While I don't necessarily believe in that women need to stay so traditional, I've gotten it ingrained in my head, so I can't seem to help it anymore."

"Well, I'm glad you don't agree with your mother, because I'm helping no matter what." Lina looked up at Kakashi, who smiled down at her. Pursing her lips in a mock-annoyed way, she placed her hands on her hips.

"Fine, We'll split the work. I'll wash, you dry."

"Deal." Kakashi flashed her a wink and helped her flip on the water. Rolling her eyes, she set to work. They washed and dried in companionable silence, knocking elbows or touching fingers every once in a while. Finally, they were done. Lina turned from the sink and leaned against it and sighed. "There, we're done." Kakashi imitated her form and slouched, crossing his arms. Then, Lina stood up straight.

"So, what now? Coffee? Tea? I think I saw some juice in the fridge." Kakashi shook his head.

"No thanks, I'm quite full as it is. Thank you for the meal, it was really good." Kakashi almost wanted to invite Lina over to his house one day, but he still didn't feel comfortable enough to let her cook in his kitchen. Sure, she'd come over that one time when she'd first arrived in the village, but she hadn't stayed very long and was only in the living room.

"You're very welcome, I'm glad you enjoyed it. Sorry I made you run all the way over to get Sakura-san for nothing." They had moved towards the door and were now standing in front of it.

"Don't worry about it. We were all worried for Kurenai, and I would have gone to get her even if you hadn't told me to."

Lina reached around him to open the door, pausing ever so slightly to prolong the moment of closeness before she gave him one last smile, which he returned.

"Well, I guess this is good night. I'll see you around."

"Good night, Kakashi-san. Be careful on your way home." After saying that, Lina almost wanted to smack herself. 'Be careful on your way home? It's the Copy Ninja, of course he'll be fine! Jeez Lina, how stupid can you be?' Her disappointment in herself must have shown on her face because Kakashi gave a low chuckle and said in a teasing tone, "Thanks." He seemed to want to say something more, but was hesitant. Or maybe it was Lina's own imagination, she wasn't sure. Either way, both waved at each other and Lina shut the door.

Pressing her back against the door, Lina sighed. She reflected on how the evening had gone. She hadn't felt up to talking much at first, but it seemed that as the evening wore on, Kakashi had made her more and more comfortable just with his presence. She looked down at her hands, remembering the camaraderie and friendship she'd felt when eating with him, the closeness between them as they washed dishes together. And then suddenly, there was a knock on the door. Surprised, Lina opened it and poked her head out.

"Kakashi-san! What are you still doing here?" Kakashi stood in front of the door, his hands stuck in his pocket and he gave an embarrassed laugh. "Ahaha, I was wondering if you would feel up to training with me tomorrow." Lina's jaw slackened. 'Train? With THE Hatake Kakashi?!' Kakashi must have mis-read her face, because he immediately retracted his offer, saying, "But if you don't want to, it's fine. I just thought it would be nice, but it's fine if you're busy."

"N-no! No! I'd love to! I-I mean, I'd like that. Say 10am? Give me some extra time to sleep in." Lina stammered, half-smiling. Kakashi smiled and nodded. "Sure, training ground 4?" It was the same training ground he'd tested her in with the bell test, and he knew she recognized it immediately as such. Lina gave a knowing smile and nodded. "Training ground 4. 10am. Don't be late this time?" Kakashi started and pretended to be offended. "I wasn't late last time!"

"Yes you were! You arrived after me, and I was running late, which automatically made you late too." Lina teased, her eyes twinkling with mischief. "Not to mention you were late for the start of the mission! I had to get my water clones to drag you all the way to the gates!" Kakashi shook his head and let it go. "Whatever. Tomorrow at 10am in training ground 4." Lina's gaze softened as she nodded. "Right. Well, good night Kakashi-san." "Good night, Lina-san."

Lina shut the door once more, and bit her lip to hold back a sigh. The way he'd said her name that last time had struck something in her, causing her heart to pound so strongly that when she looked down she could actually see her chest bobbing up and down in time with the beats. Lina silently walked to Kurenai's room to check in on her before turning in herself. As she lay in bed, she unconsciously put her fingers to her lips as she thought about Kakashi's mask stretching, indicating his smile. 'What would it be like to touch him…?' Before the thought could get too out of hand though, Lina twisted onto her front and screamed into her two remaining pillows, smiling ridiculously wide. Tomorrow couldn't come quickly enough for her.

At the same time, Kakashi was envisioning Lina's eyes and smile as she'd teased him about being late. No, she wasn't beautiful in the traditional sense, but she was pretty when she smiled and looked so alive, and he still hesitated outside her door, wracking his head over if there was anything else he could come up with as an excuse to knock on the door again and see her face. Finally concluding that there was nothing more he could say without looking completely mental, Kakashi silently teleported back to his apartment. It was only after he'd arrived that he remember what Lina had said the first time she'd said goodbye. 'Be careful on my way home, eh? That's cute.' Smiling to himself, Kakashi padded into his bedroom and threw himself on his bed, looking up at the ceiling. He couldn't wait till tomorrow.

XXX

The next morning Lina awoke to the sound of birds chirping outside her window. As she slowly adjusted to the light streaming into the room from the edges of her blinds and curtains, Lina remembered what she was supposed to do in the morning. Immediately, she hopped out of bed, hissing loudly but not slowing down in the slightest when she stubbed her toe against her drawer corner. Lina grabbed some comfortable pants and a loose shirt and hopped in the shower. While in there, she made sure to scrub every portion of her body, despite constantly reminding herself that it was 'only training' and there was no need to be so careful. After all, they were friends right? If he couldn't handle a little sweat, he didn't deserve her. Not that she wanted him to deserve her. No way. Not at all. Well ok, maybe a little. But just a microscopic amount. That's it.

In the Hatake apartment, things were, well, silent. Like, dead silent. Kakashi was still asleep. Of course he would be, considering it was 8am.

As Lina rushed to get ready, and then paced around her bedroom nervously willing time to go by faster, and Kakashi lay in bed for an hour before drowsily getting up to shower and get dressed, the rest of the village was also getting ready for a busy day. The sun was shining, the birds were chirping, there was a beautifully warm yet cool breeze going, it seemed like the start of a perfect spring day.

Lina walked down to Training ground 4 , arriving slightly early. She was surprised to see Kakashi leaning against one of several wooden poles standing staggered around the fields. Now that Lina could take a look at the training ground, she saw that it was split up into three sections: the wide stream the ran between it and the next training field served as a water arena, the staggered wooden poles helped training shinobi learn to weave around objects to get to their destination, and the forest in which she'd taken the bell test with Kakashi served as an area of cover, perfect for practice in spy-work or hide-and-seek battles. Other training fields had the same three arenas, but were laid out in different ways. For example, the training field 2, in which team Kurenai and Lina had used as practice grounds, had the forest directly against the stream, making training shinobi practice walking on water (chakra control) to hide-and-seek to weaving and dodging, one after the other.

Lina walked towards Kakashi, smiling when he pushed off his pole and waved.

"Yo." Kakashi gave a cheery smile.

"Good morning." They stood there, unsure of where to go from there.

"Umm, so how about some stretches before we start? I'm assuming we'll be sparring." Lina suggested.

"Sure, sounds good." They stood apart from each other, not exactly facing each other because that always felt weird. No one liked spectators while they were doing something so obviously unflattering. Yet, as they stretched, each person couldn't help but glance at the other though the corner of their eye, watching them move their body, twisting, turning, unlocking, releasing muscles, until they were thoroughly stretched. Done, they looked at each other.

"So, sparring. Rules?" Lina asked. Kakashi looked at Lina and thought.

"To start off, how about only a taijutsu spar? No ninjutsu or genjutsu for now, to get the muscles going." Lina nodded at this. It was common knowledge that in a spar all the punches were pulled, so there was no need to mention that. But, "How about ninja tools?" Lina broke out in a wide grin. "Use 'em if you got 'em." 'Hehehe, I can use my summoning scrolls!' But Kakashi caught her train of thought and wagged his index finger. "Uh uh. No summoning scrolls, that's cheating." Lina pouted. "How?! It's not my fault you weren't prepared enough to pack some of your own!" Kakashi shook his head. "No way. Summoning scrolls require chakra to release, and if this is purely taijutsu then that isn't fair." He crossing his arms and closed his eyes, despite loving the way Lina pouted and bemoaned the loss.

Finally, he heard "Fine. But I'm still gonna beat your ass, even if it's only with my tools in my bag." Kakashi looked at her, grinning, and he had to smile.

"You know, you shouldn't get too cocky. Just because you beat me ONCE, doesn't mean you'll beat me always."

"Oh, I'm not cocky. I'm healthily confident! And there's no way I'm giving up till I win, so...so there!" Lina ran out of steam halfway through her trash-talk and ended off lamely, making Kakashi laugh as her face shone brightly like a freshly polished ruby.

"Alright, if you say so. How about we get started? And I'm not going easy on you just because you were injured, because I know for a fact that those medic-nins fixed you up fine yesterday."

"Good, I wouldn't want you to."

Kakashi dropped down into his stance, unveiling his Sharingan, and Lina did the same, mirroring him. She was flattered that he felt the need to use his special eye on her, so she didn't protest the unbidden 'chakra use'. They crouched like that , bouncing from one foot to the next, trying to discern what the other was going to do. Then, in a blink of an eye, Kakashi ran forwards, aiming directly for Lina's head. Lina barely had time to block her head before she had to use her other hand to block a knee to her stomach. 'Damn, he's fast.' She feigned a right hook and aimed for the gut with her left hand, but Kakashi's sharingan caught on to her actions and he immediately blocked both, making a wide sweeping gesture with his feet to collapse Lina from the legs up. She jumped just in time, but he had already managed to aim for her jaw. As she jumped up, she tried to block the elbow to her jaw, but was too slow, causing her to somersault backwards a couple of times. Landing on her back with a groan, she barely had time to feel the pain when she saw Kakashi coming from above, trying to land in a kick. She rolled aside, just barely dodging the kick, and got up quickly. 'Oh, it's on!' She thought.

Getting up, Lina began punching, kicking, trying to land a hit. After not being able to hit any part of Kakashi, she decided to use her height to her advantage. Usually, she hated using her height, as it only served to draw the opponent's attention to how short she was, but desperate times called for desperate measure. She allowed Kakashi to kick and punch as she blocked, waiting for her time. Finally, it came Kakashi punched with his right hand, and Lina stepped to the side, making him hit a wall of air, before she ducked und his arm with little effort and tried to sweep Kakashi off his feet. But it seemed that Kakashi was still too fast for her, as he was able to do a reverse sweep on her, making her land on the ground for the second time in 15 minutes. The difference this time, was that Kakashi had landed on top of her, crouching on all fours above her, one knee on each side of her hip and his hands holding her arms down firmly to stop her movements. Lina looked from hand to hand, down to her torso, and then up at Kakashi. She was stuck. Panting hard, she stared up at Kakashi, noticing sweat slightly glistening from his brows. She could feel her hair all over the place down her neck, and she knew the low side bun she'd gotten used to pulling her hair in must have gotten loose somewhere along the line. As she watched Kakashi watch her, both trying to regain their breath, she thought she saw something flicker in Kakashi's eyes. And then she heard it.

"I win." A low, breathy, sentence, just barely above a whisper, from the person leaning down from above, his face hovering just above hers. And she snapped. Pulling herself together, Lina took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and pretended to give up. Only for a moment. After that moment, she opened her eyes and smashed her forehead against Kakashi, hitai ate clashing together, making him reel back in surprise. And she pounced on him, mirroring the actions he had done to her, with her own variation. Crouching with both knees at his hips, Lina sat down on Kakashi's hips to prevent him from flipping himself up, and kept a firm grasp on both his hands. Kakashi stilled as he began to realize the similarities of the pose from the one he'd used and looked up at Lina. "No fair." Kakashi whined, and Lina grinning, panting. "What are you talking about? I'm just doing what you did."

"I didn't sit on you!"

"No, but you're stronger than me, and a lot faster, which is why I need to do this." As Lina looked down, she kind of wanted to quote the Icha Icha Violence line 'We really need to stop landing in this position' from when Ryu and Manami were somehow tricked into fighting each other. Of course, in THAT scene, those two had ended up having sex, which was not something she thought was going to happen in this particular situation. Little did she know that Kakashi was thinking about the exact same scene. Both Kakashi and Lina slowly regained their breaths, and as the seconds ticked on, their bodies loosened and conformed to each other. They stayed like that, staring at each other, each feeling a rush of emotions come from the other, and wanting to react but also not wanting to ruin the moment, in case they were wrong. Out of nowhere, two birds flew out of the forest directly beside them, singing and flying together as if in a sort of dance. Lina and Kakashi instinctively looked up at the sudden noise, watching the birds until they disappeared into the forest again. When they looked back at each other, Lina was halfway off of Kakashi, and he was leaning up on his elbows. They stared at each other for a moment before breaking out into wide smiles. Lina got up and dusted herself off before reaching out to help Kakashi up. He took her hand and tried to get up, but it seemed that Lina didn't have a good standing position, because as soon as Kakashi pulled, Lina came tumbling down on top of him with a surprised shriek.

"Ahh!" After landing, Lina rolled off of Kakashi, clutching her stomach while breaking out in peals of laughter. Kakashi sat up and stared at her before going into a fit of chuckles himself. After they had calmed down, Kakashi ended up being the one stand up reaching down to help her up.

"How about we try that again?"

Lina, still giggling, reached up and grabbed his hand. This time, there were no mishaps, and they both ended up standing upright. Lina dusted herself off for the second time, fixed her hair back into the low side bun, and looked at Kakashi. "Whew! Alright, now what? Ninjutsu?" Kakashi looked down at her and shrugged. He was disappointed that she'd put her hair up again after undoing it, but he didn't let it show. "Sure, we could do that. But I think working on taijutsu would be more beneficial. While we were sparring just now, I found several things you could work on. If you like, I could help you work on your weaknesses in taijutsu." Lina nodded. "That's actually a good idea. I am weaker in taijutsu than ninjutsu, and since I'm more of a mid- to long-range attacker, I'm always going to be at a disadvantage if the enemy gets close to me." Kakashi nodded. "And that makes me a good sparring partner for you, since I'm good in close combat. Of course, Gai would be an even better instructor, considering he specializes in taijutsu, but he's a little intense."

Lina giggled at this. "Oh come on, Gai can't be that bad!"

Kakashi raised his eyebrows at her. "Have you MET Gai?" Lina laughed harder. "Alright, alright, I'll admit he's a little...different. But he's really sweet!" Kakashi shook his head. "Sure, sure. Now, we'll start with your strength and work our way up to speed."

They both dropped down to the their stances, and Kakashi began correcting and helping Lina. Kakashi used the wooden poles to explain much of his teachings. They soon found that Lina was much more likely to disarm the enemy from the feet up rather than the head down, considering her considerable size difference, and so Kakashi had to adjust his method to accommodate that, but he didn't complain or comment whatsoever. Lina, on the other hand, tried not to think about it, but was extremely embarrassed about her height being such a huge factor. Eventually, they worked out a method in which Lina used the enemy's weight against them, attacking from the floor up. It required the enemy to punch out, which Lina would catch with her hand, pull the enemy so that their top half was bent at the waist, and then she would kick the enemy up and away while kneeling on the ground under them. After using this method, they tried creating variations to work for different scenarios, and Kakashi began coming at her from different angles, and from different stances, to test out her new skills. By the end of the training session, several hours later, she was slowly getting the hang of using the lower body to her advantage. Somewhere along the line, Kakashi's jounin vest had been taken off, and his shirt now clung to his body from all the sweat, showing off his muscles. Not that Lina was any better. Even though she'd worn a loose t-shirt to allow herself to move, it now clung to her body, accentuating her own figure.

Finally, they both collapsed on the ground, panting. It was now just past 1pm, and both shinobi were starving, not to mention exhausted. Even without chakra exhaustion, the physical part of being a shinobi was still demanding as ever. As Lina reached to take a gulp of her water, she found the bottle unsatisfyingly empty. Looking around, she noticed that her other water bottles were littered around her, also empty. Exhausted, she was too tired to complain, but Kakashi didn't need to hear her complaints to know what she needed. Finishing drinking from his own water bottle, he tossed it over. "Here." Lina caught it and looked at him blankly. "What?" Kakashi looked back and pointed to it. "Drink." Lina looked down and then back up at him, a smile crossing her face. "Thanks." Neither thought much of the indirect kiss that would result. It was as normal to a shinobi as fighting. And besides, it was an unwritten rule: If you are training with someone, and they don't have water and you do, share. Nobody wanted to be the cause of a comrade's dehydration. Lina took a long swig from the bottle and tossed it back to Kakashi, laying down on the ground to look up at the sky. She felt Kakashi come lay down beside her and do the same. Neither spoke for a while, just soaking in the sun and feeling the breeze. But eventually, their hunger caught up with them. Lina's stomach gave a loud grumble as it complained at the lack of food inside itself. At the sound, both Lina and Kakashi started, sitting up together. Lina looked down at herself and covered her stomach area, her face burning up as Kakashi laughed. "Why is it always only me who's stomach makes noises? Aren't you hungry?" Kakashi continued laughing, until his own stomach gave an answering growl. At this, Lina burst into a fit of laughter while Kakashi massaged the back of his neck. "Maa, I guess that's your answer. O-oi! Stop laughing!" Which of course only made Lina laugh harder.

When she had finally calmed down, she got up. "Well, how about we go have lunch? It sounds like we're both starving." Kakashi got up as well and nodded. "Sounds good."

"Great. Where to?"

"How about that tea shop we went to after the test?" Kakashi suggested. Lina broke into a smile. If she remembered correctly, the food there had been superb. "That sounds great." They walked there quickly, since their stomachs were both starting to protest quite loudly and frequently. When they got there, Kakashi and Lina sat at a window seat, watching the villagers, civilians and shinobi, go about their day. Smiling lightly, Lina sipped her citrus tea. It was lucky no one complained about two shinobi sitting in their dried up sweat in the tea house.

Kakashi watched Lina looking outside the window, enjoying the view. As a furrow crossed her brow, Kakashi asked, "What?" Lina looked at him and then back at the window. Pointing out, she asked, "Who's that?" Kakashi looked out towards the direction she was pointing at, and saw none other than Shimura Danzo, hobbling down the street with his cane.

Not sure if he was the one she was talking about, Kakashi asked. "The man with the cane and bandages?" Lina nodded.

"That's Shimura Danzo. He's one of the few older shinobi still left from the Sandaime's time. Why, do you know him?" Kakashi watched Lina's face scrunch up further as she tried to figure out where she knew him from.

"I'm not sure. I feel like he's familiar somehow, but I can't figure out how." By now, Danzo had disappeared into the crowd, so they both turned back to their meals, which had finally arrived. Digging in, neither said a word for some time, too intent on filling their stomachs. After some time, Lina lifted her head up to look at Kakashi, knowing that he was already finished eating. Just as she suspected, Kakashi was done, and was currently stuck nose-deep in Icha Icha Tactics, volume 1.

"So, um, do you want to make training like this a regular thing? I mean, if you're free, because I know you have your team and everything." Kakashi looked up from his book and nodded, giving his usual eye-crinkled smile. "Sure. I'll let you know if I have a mission, but how about we say twice a week? What's the day today?"

"Um, I think it's Thursday. So how about Mondays and Thursdays?" Kakashi nodded in agreement. He trained with Team Kakashi on Tuesdays and Fridays, and one-on-one with Yamato on weekends, so that worked. And then he got an idea. Putting his book down, he said, "You know, you could come train with us on Tuesdays and Fridays."

"Us?" Lina asked, and Kakashi nodded. "Me and the rest of the team. Sakura, Naruto, Sai, Tenz-Yamato." He watched Lina think before she remembered the group she'd met briefly. Of course, she remembered Naruto from just yesterday, the same with Sakura, but it took her some time to recall the other two.

"Ahh them! Ooh I'd love to, but I can't. See, I train with my own team on Tuesdays and Fridays."

"Oh, that's fine then. If you ever change your mind, you're always welcome." Lina smiled at that. "Thanks." By now, she had finished eating, and so the two paid (well, more accurately, Lina paid for them both, again!) and walked out of the tea house. It was now mid-afternoon, and the village was bustling with people going about their day. Lina decided she'd like to take a shower before she spent the rest of the day relaxing.

"Well, thank you for the training, I really did appreciate it."

"You're welcome. Remember that you need to be faster with that second kick when you're getting them from behind. But we can work on that more next time." Kakashi reminded. Lina nodded. "Got it. So I'll see you Monday? Find me if you have a mission, and I'll do the same."

"Will do. Bye, Lina-san." "Later!" They walked away from each other and went home separately, each smiling slightly after spending practically the whole day together.

XXX

In the early evening, Lina opened her front door to find Tenten waiting impatiently at her door.

"Tenten, hey!" Lina hugged the girl and ushered her in.

"Lina nee-chan! Thank God you're back! You have no idea how BORING it's been without you in the village for the last month! Honestly, I don't think I can stand staying home another night."

"Oh? What about your friends? Neji-kun?" Lina wiggled her eyebrows, teasing her adopted little sister. Tenten blushed madly. "Nee-chan! It's not like that!" Lina laughed and steered her into the living room, where Kurenai sat watching tv.

"Hi, Kurenai-sensei. How are you?" Tenten felt slightly awkward talking to her, consider neither really had much to say to each other. Kurenai smiled kindly and waved her over. "I'm good. Have a seat." Tenten looked at Lina.

"Ohh, well actually...I was hoping I could get you to come with me to the club down the street tonight? The rest of the gang is coming too. It's Thursday, so women get in free. What do you say?" Lina looked back at Kurenai, unsure. She felt bad for leaving her all alone at home right when she had just come back, but at the same time, a drink did sound good. Kurenai waved her off. "Don't worry about me, you go have fun. After-mission drinks is kind of a tradition in this village." Lina smiled back at her and nodded.

"Alright then! Tenten, why don't you go home for now, and we'll meet up later." Tenten nodded and said, "The group's going out to eat dinner first, if you want to join us." Lina shook her head. "No thanks. I'll stay home with Kurenai-san, I already ate take out last night, so I should eat healthy." Tenten laughed and waved goodbye.

XXX

As Lina got ready to go out, she looked through her closet. What to wear, what to wear. She wasn't sure if she wanted to pick up a guy, not when Tenten and Hinata would be there to watch, but she wanted to show off her more feminine side. Besides, she was still fairly sure that no one would look at her that way, considering how plain she was, even with makeup. But she decided to give it a try anyway. It was always nice to dress up once in a while. Picking out a pair of dark skinny jeans that would accentuate her toned legs, Lina paired it with a dark green kimono-style top that had elbow-length flow-y sleeves, and dipped down in front to show off a little cleavage, all while having a light spring green flower pattern lining the lower region of the shirt as well as the ends of the sleeves. Keeping her hair in the usual low side bun, Lina accessorized with her simple silver rose necklace that Souta had given her that she never took off, silver flower stud earrings to match, and 5" green wedges to give her a bit of a lift. As for makeup, seeing as she never felt comfortable wearing it unless she was in henge, Lina opted to only wear a little lip gloss. Coming out of her room, she walked into the living room, where Kurenai sat, still watching TV.

"How do I look?" Kurenai looked over at her roommate, and almost did a double take. Gone were the sweaty t-shirt and track pants, and in their place were clothes that were definitely not slutty, or even clubbing material, but certainly a nice change from the usual beige or black dress that she so often saw Lina in.

"Nice, very cute. But why don't you let your hair down? I think it would frame your face well, and look good with the top." Of course, being Lina's roommate, Kurenai had seen Lina with her hair down many times while in the apartment, but she noticed that she always put it up before leaving. She watched Lina shake her head. "I don't know. I just don't feel comfortable leaving my hair down, I guess." Kurenai shrugged and turned back to the TV. "Okay. But why are you so dressed up? I doubt Kakashi cares how you dress." She fought the urge to snicker and look back at Lina, but she could tell that the girl was getting fidgety.

"I-it's not like I dressed like this for him! This is for me! I-I just fe-felt like looking pretty, that's all!" Lina's neck and face were now bright red as she tried to defend herself, and Kurenai finally allowed herself to look back at the girl. Giving her a smirk, Kurenai said, "Whatever you say. Tell Kakashi I say hi." Lina's eyes widened as she realized Kurenai didn't believe a word of it, and she blushed even harder.

"He's not going to be there! A-anyway! I'm going now, so you be careful. I'll be home a little late, so I'll try and keep it down." Lina grabbed her black satin clutch, opened the door and walked outside.

"Bye, have fun. Don't do anything I wouldn't do!" Lina laughed shakily and closed the door behind her. She walked out of the apartment and made her way to the address Tenten had given her. It didn't take long for her to get there, and even less time to find the group she was looking for, once she walked in. After all, with Naruto being the loud shinobi he was, and Lee's enthusiasm, it was difficult NOT to notice them. Smiling lightly, Lina made her way over to them, weaving through some already dancing couples.

"Hey." The group turned towards her, and she had to smile in her head when she felt Kiba look her up and down, and Naruto and Choji's stares. But she kept her eyes on Tenten and Hinata, who were both standing with their teammates.

"Nee-chan!" "Lina nee-chan!" They both ran up to her, hugging her tight. Laughing, Lina hugged back before pulling away to look at the two. The girls had changed into their civilian clothes, and were now in casual wear, similar to Lina. Tenten wore a pink flowery spaghetti strap dress that was shaped to fit her body wonderfully, with her hair still in the two buns beside her head. Hinata, on the other hand, had decided to wear a dark purple maxi skirt paired with a lavender frilled short sleeve top that tightened at the waist and wrists. They both looked beautiful and as Lina looked over at Ino and Sakura, she found that those two had also changed into clubbinig-style outfits, although Ino seemed the least conservative, with her mid drift showing, and a matching mini-skirt. The boys had stayed in their normal shinobi clothing, but Shikamaru left his chuunin vest at home.

"Wow, you guys look amazing." "Us?! Look at you! You're so pretty! But why didn't you let your hair down?" Tenten exclaimed, dragging her over to sit down as the rest of the group settled down. Looking around, Lina saw that the club was a shinobi club, seeing as there were no civilians around. After ordering a drink, Lina said, "I don't know. I'm used to having my hair like this. Why didn't you let your hair down?" Tenten nodded in understanding. "Same, I guess." "But it's a shame, you'd look much better with it down, right guys?" Ino butted in, asking the males of the group to respond. Of course, being males, their responses varied from, "Oh, uh, yeah." to "Sure". Except for Lee.

"Oh of course, Lina-san, oh beautiful lotus flower of Konoha, you would look so beautiful with your hair down. But you look so dazzling right now that I cannot imagine you looking more splendid, but having your hair down would certainly increase your beauty!"

Lina laughed and was about to respond when she felt a hand on her shoulder. Turning around in her seat in the booth the group had chosen to relax in, Lina looked up to see Raidou, followed by Genma, who was yelling something over his shoulder at several other shinobi who were situated a few tables away. "Lina-san?"

"Raidou-san! Hey, oh and it looks like you have Genma-san too. How are you?"

"Good good. Umm, wow, you look really pretty today." Raidou stumbled through the compliment, blushing slightly as he and Lina both remembered the first time they'd met.

"Thanks, Raidou-san. Do you want to sit?"

"Oh, no, we just came to say hi. We actually have to get back over there, but you're welcome to come over and say hi. Hey Genma, look, it's Lina-san!" Genma looked at her and his eyebrows raised. Lina was slightly disappointed she wasn't able to make him drop his damned senbon, which he'd taken to chewing on again after the mission. "Hey." Lina was about to respond when Tenten cut in. "Nee-chan, I really think you should put your hair down. Pleeeeeaaaaase?" She clapped her hands together once, giving Lina puppy-dog eyes. Ino nodded her head in agreement, but Lina shook her head once more.

"No, I can't. I really don't think-" "Oh come ON!" Ino apparently had had enough, and promptly dragged the woman into the bathroom, Tenten hot on their tails, Hinata and Sakura following while asking if this was a good idea. Right before entering the female bathroom, Lina caught a glimpse of silver hair as she brushed past a male too fast to see his face. On the other hand, Kakashi certainly saw hers, and had no time to do anything but stare before she was pulled into the washroom. 'Was that…?' They both thought.

"Guys, are you sure about this? Lina-san doesn't want to…"

"Oh stop being a baby, Forehead. We'll just give it a try in here. If it really is that big of a deal, we'll let her put it up again." Ino said distractedly as she pulled Lina towards the mirror. Noticing the other girls inside, Ino looked straight at them and pointed to the door. "Out!" The girls scurried away, knowing Yamanaka Ino as the one girl you didn't want to piss off in a club. She was liable to spread nasty rumors about you the next day if you did! Turning back to Lina, she placed her hands on her hip, and smiled. "Well? Take your hair down, and let's have a look." "Come on, nee-chan! I'm sure you'll look beautiful. And if Ino thinks it, there's no way she's wrong." Lina looked at from Ino to Tenten, to Hinata and finally at Sakura before she turned and looked into the mirror. Sighing, she looked at the girls once more through the mirror. "You guys really have no respect for your elders, do you?" She teased, smiling when they rolled their eyes and motioned her to hurry up. So she did.

Since she'd tied her hair up in a bun immediately after towel-drying her hair, and hadn't bothered to dry it, plus the fact that her hair had a natural tendency to be wavy, when Lina let down her long black hair it was like one of those hair commercials, hair spinning out of a bun as she shook it out by swaying her head. Placing the hair tie into her clutch, Lina lightly tousled the roots of her hair, letting the curls that had formed naturally come together and cascade down her shoulders and down her back. Finished, she pulled a few strands from the side and let them fall in front of her shoulders to frame her face a little better. Finally, she looked to the girls in the mirror, and raised an eyebrow. "Well?"

The girls stared at her. Of course, Tenten had seen her with her hair down that first time they'd met back in the Curry of Life shop, but this time, the hair was actually curled perfectly because of the bun it had been held up in, rather than slightly limp from being day-old. The other girls had never seen Lina with her hair down, seeing as Ino and Sakura didn't know her that well, and even Hinata hadn't since Lina was usually surrounded by Hyuuga's while doing her babysitting missions and hadn't felt comfortable enough. So when Lina asked them how it was, all they could do was stare before Ino broke the silence among them (because of course they could hear the clubbing music thumping in the background).

"And you keep you hair up WHY?" Lina looked at Ino. "Huh?"

"You. You can't keep your hair up. It's a crime against fashion! It's, it's, it's-" "I think what Ino-Pig is TRYING to say, is that you look really pretty, and we all think you should keep it down. At least for tonight. Right guys?" Sakura supplied helpfully after Ino had been reduced to 'it's, it's, it's'. Lina looked around the bathroom, facing the girls rather than the mirror, and when each girl nodded her head, Lina smiled. She hadn't had this type of girl-talk in so long that she'd almost forgotten how great it was. So, she relented. "Fine. But only for tonight. It's back to the bun tomorrow, because I don't think I can function with it down all the time." Ino and Tenten whooped, Hinata clapped her hands, and Sakura gave an exasperated smile to Ino. They filed out of the bathroom and made their way to their table.

"Hey guys. Look!" Ino called, getting the boys' attention, as well as a few newcomers. On the way over, Lina had suddenly been overcome with a bout of shyness, and began staring at the ground. After all, it was one thing for girls to think you were pretty. How on earth would the guys react? Not that she really cared, since they were just boys, but still. Kiba and Shino were on her team, and the rest of them were friends of the girls. So when she arrived at the table and heard Ino call all the boys' attention, Lina was desperately trying not to fidget. When she didn't hear anyone say anything, she lifted her face to take a peek. What she saw shocked her.

The boys were all there, Naruto, Kiba, Shino, Neji, Lee, Shikamaru, Choji, Sai, but with them were Raidou, Genma, several other shinobi she didn't recognize, Sakura's second captain who Lina thought was named Yamato, and most importantly, Kakashi. All staring at her. The small group (well, ok, medium group) had turned into quite a crowd. It seems that Genma had been in the process of beating up Naruto for something, with Yamato in the middle of them trying to break it up, but Lina barely had time to think about it before the boys started stumbling over themselves.

"Lina-san?! Whoa, you look HOT! I mean, well I'd recommend some mascara and a little eyeliner, but wow!" Lina wasn't sure whether to take that as a compliment or an insult, so she shot Kiba a confused look. Shino, she found, had only looked at her for a moment longer than normal before returning to his drink, making her smile. At least he wasn't acting like an idiot. And she'd expect nothing less from the Aburame clan. From the two months she'd trained with him, she'd found his silence comforting at times, even if it was a little disconcerting at others. As she looked at the other boys, Lina found Naruto with his jaw hanging open slightly, to which Lina felt very guilty about. She could tell Hinata felt something towards the boy, so she hated that she was the one to make the boy feel that way. But moving on. Shikamaru had already turned away, and Choji was now back to chomping on chips, albeit while staring at her, and with a slightly slower pace. While she was examining the boys, the men of the group began to speak.

"W-wow Lina-san. You look…amazing." Raidou stammered out a compliment, and Lina awarded him with a very sweet smile, making him blush, which of course made her smile wider.

"Lina-san? Whoa, talk about a makeover." Lina glared at Genma, and walked right up to him. "Oh? So, I look good?" Genma looked back at her, surprised. "Well, yeah." "But not as good as Hana did."

"WHAT?!" He nearly fell out of his seat at the mention of the pseudonym she'd used. Quickly, Lina henge'd into 'Hana', deciding it was finally time for him to know the truth. The look on his face was priceless. Pure unadulterated shock.

"Y-y-you! Sh-she!" Genma whipped his head around at Raidou, who of course wasn't the least bit surprised, having know for nearly a month now. "YOU KNEW?!" Genma stormed as he realized, and Lina smirked.

"Now you know too." Turning away, Lina ignored him, only to catch Kakashi's gaze, which was fixated on her rather intensely. And suddenly, Lina felt shy all over again. Fighting the urge to bite her lower lip and ruin the lip gloss still clinging to her lips, Lina gave a small smile, unconsciously fluttering her eyelashes in the way that all women do without knowing it. "Hi." Kakashi took in a small but deep breath at that first syllable. Who knew the word 'hi' could be so profound? He stood up and walked towards her, no longer having 3 other shinobi in their way. When he arrived, he looked down at her, and said with equal intensity, "Hi. You...you look good." He had to exercise an extreme amount of restraint to not go further and said, 'you look amazing'. Better to play it cool for now.

Lina's smile faltered for a moment when she heard that ('I look 'good'? What does that mean?') but she didn't let it slip too far before she'd pulled it up again. Smiling brightly, she said "Thanks" before moving to have a seat, leaving Kakashi feeling stupid. He'd noticed her smile fade, of course he had, and he felt ridiculous at how guilty it made him. But there was no time to think about it, as Lina was now being introduced to Yamashiro Aoba, another tokubetsu jounin like Genma and Raidou, and Kotetsu and Izumo. As Lina talked about why this was the first time they were all meeting her, Kakashi couldn't help but feel disappointed in her lack of attention going to him. He listened distantly to the conversation, taking down several shots when no one was looking.

A short while later, the DJ of the club announced that it was now karaoke time, apparently something new that they were implementing to give the DJ a break and the bands time to set up. Several kunoichi and shinobi got up on stage or took mics to sing in their own little corner, one after the other. As Lina and the rest of the group clapped and cheered, Hinata suddenly had an idea. But, she wasn't sure Lina would go for it.

Leaning in, Hinata semi-shouted into Lina's ear, "Why don't you go up there and sing? If I remember correctly, you had a beautiful voice. You should share it." The look she received confirmed her suspicions. Lina shook her head vehemently. "No way! I can't! And by the way, I do NOT. You were a kid back then, and I'm sure your memories have become distorted with the years." "But-"

"What are you guys talking about?" Kiba asked, having noticed the exchange, at the same time alerting the rest of the group who wasn't already in a conversation. As everyone except Kotetsu, Izumo, Genma (who was already off with some girl), Yamato (who had excused himself after only a few drinks) and Ino (who was chatting up some guy who'd come over to her)turned around, Lina took a quick sip of her drink. Unfortunately, Hinata took this time to mention to everyone what she had suggested.

"I was just saying that Lina nee-chan should go up there and sing. She used to sing to me while babysitting, and she had a beautiful voice. Tenten, did she sing for you?"

"You know, now that you mention it, she did! Oh Nee-chan, please go up there! Please!" Tenten once again began pleading, but Lina was adamant.

"No. No, no, no, no , no. I can't! I have incredible stage fright, no way." "But it's just us! Please, you really did have a beautiful voice, you should show everyone!" The boys started adding in their own opinions, trying to encourage Lina to go up, but she stood firm.

"How about if you sing from here?" Sakura asked innocently, and everyone turned towards her.

"YEAH! Come on, you say you get stage fright, so if you sing from here, it's just like you're just singing for us!" Naruto interjected when Lina tried to refuse once more. Not hearing another word, he bounded off to get a microphone and the book of songs. Meanwhile, Lina was face-palming herself, shaking her head. Moments later, he was back with a wide grin on his face as he shoved the book into her lap.

"There, now pick."

"But-"

"Nee-chan, just pick already!" Tenten said, practically bouncing on her seat with excitement. She and Hinata exchanged wide smiles. Neither had heard Lina sing since they were kids, and they couldn't wait to hear it now. Finally, Lina picked a song. It was a bit of an older song, one that she'd heard several years ago, but it was fun. Pointing it out, Lina passed the binder over to Naruto. "This one." He looked down and nodded. "I love that song! Be right back." He went up to the DJ and placed the order. After several other songs had been sung, Lina was now deeply regretting her decision. She had never sung for a large audience before, or even an audience at that. Her singing to Tenten and Hinata didn't count, as they had been children, and she had used singing as a calming device for them. Goodness knows she hadn't even sung for Souta! But it was too late to change her mind now, she thought, as the DJ announced the song.

"Well folks, it looks like we have a newcomer in town! Please welcome Sasaki Lina singing Haven't Met You Yet!" The DJ's voice boomed from the speakers and the music started. Lina picked up the microphone and began playing with it, waiting to begin. When she did, she kept her eyes down, singing more towards the drinks on the table in front of her than at the people surrounding her.

I'm not surprised, not everything lasts

I've broken my heart so many times I stopped keeping track

Talk myself in, I talk myself out

I get all worked up then I let myself down

Slowly, Lina had begun raising her eyes, until she was now looking at her group of friends. Nearly sighing in relief, she saw that each of them was smiling or encouraging her in some way, with Hinata and Tenten now clinging onto her arms. Lina smiled slightly and continued singing, gaining more confidence now.

I tried so very hard not to loose it

I came up with a million excuses

I thought, I thought of every possibility

Now reaching the chorus, Lina took the plunge and looked straight into Kakashi's eyes for the first two lines. She saw a softness in it, or maybe she was imagining it, considering the club lights were moving above them. As she moved on, she felt Kakashi's gaze on her, and that gave her even more confidence. Soon, she was swaying from side to side, although that might have been partly due to Tenten convincing Hinata to help nudge her from side to side.

And I know that we can be so amazin'

And baby your love is gonna change me

And now I can see every possibility

They say all's fair in love and war

But I won't need to fight it

We'll get it right and we'll be united

Finally reaching the end of the song, Lina's face was now adorned with a bright wide smile as she was given a standing ovation from her group of friends, of course led by Naruto, who had been grinning throughout the song. Rolling her eyes, Lina blushed and stared into her lap before using her drink as an excuse to hide her face.

"That was so good! See, nee-chan? I told you, you were a good singer! Look around, everyone's clapping!" Tenten shouted in her ears, and Lina couldn't help but laugh. Throwing an arm around both her girls, Lina brought them close and said, "Thanks.". Both girls looked at her and smiled, knowing it was not just for the compliment. As the clapping died down and the other singers began their turn, Raidou took Hinata's spot while she opted to sit beside Kiba, who was sitting beside Naruto.

"That was really good, Lina-san." Lina turned and looked at Raidou and smiled. "Thanks! I was super-nervous." "But you were still really good." They listened to the other singers, and soon, the bands were finished setting up. As the loud music began to play once more, Ino grabbed Sakura's and Tenten's hand, and motioned to Lina. "Come on girls, let's dance!" Lina shook her head and raised her hands up in defense.

"No way, I don't dance."

"That's not what I remember. In fact, if I remember correctly, you danced quite well with Raidou over here." Somehow, Genma had appeared out of nowhere, girl in tow. Looking him up and down, Lina saw that his hair was slightly mussed and his mouth a little swollen, not to mention his pants were bunched up oddly. Showing her disgust, Lina still shook her head. "That was as Hana. That's different."

"How?" Genma countered, despite his girl tugging at his shirt, cooing. Lina looked her up and down, and thought, 'How on earth did she become a kunoichi?' before answering his question.

"Well, for one, I was taller. And prettier. I don't think they want a short average-looking girl out there dancing." Lina said it so matter-of fact-ly that Genma, who had been about to walk away with the girl, stopped abruptly and stared at her. Not that he was the only one. Raidou had fully turned around, spitting out his drink into his glass after hearing Lina say that. And Kakashi's gaze suddenly seemed so much harder to Lina, even if it was only with one eye. Looking at them, she blankly asked, "What?"

"You're not ugly." Genma said, and Lina had to smile.

"Thanks, but I never said I was. But it's good to know that you think so too." She joked, but apparently that was the wrong thing to do.

"You know what I mean."

"I do. Thanks." Lina had to laugh a little. So, it turned out that Genma wasn't a total jerk.

Not to be outdone, Raidou spoke his two cents as well. "Lina-san, I think you're pretty. A-and, you're not THAT short." At the last part, Lina really had to laugh. Raising an eyebrow, she said incredulously, "Thanks. Not true, but thanks." When Raidou tried to protest, Lina simply waved him off. "No, no, don't even bother. Anyways, I can't dance. Sure, I can slow dance, but not club-dancing." Genma shrugged and let himself be towed away by a (by the looks of it very horny) kunoichi, and Raidou turned back to watch them leave. Lina couldn't bear to look up at Kakashi, worried as to what she would find. After what she'd said, how would he feel? Would he see the truth in her words and immediately friend-zone her? Or worse, would he pity her? Now that she'd said it, Lina wanted to kick herself for letting him hear. While she hadn't thought she had a chance with him, she now realized that, even if it was only in the smallest, darkest recesses of her mind, Lina had hoped for that chance. And now she was almost positive that she had ruined any and all chances.

But Kakashi was not at all feeling what Lina thought he was. In fact, if anything, he was perplexed. Why on earth would she think that she wasn't pretty? Hadn't she seen herself in the mirror? As for her being short, Kakashi could care less about her height, considering everything else he knew about her. But, he also knew that self-loathing was a part of being human. Who didn't have a part of themselves they'd rather change? He certainly had many, probably more than most. As he watched Lina for the rest of the night while at the same time making small conversation around the group, he noticed that she never once looked back at him again, which led him to be even more confused. 'Did I do something?'

XXX

All too soon, it was time to leave, as signalled by Ino, Tenten, and Kiba's increasing volume of speech as they got more and more drunk. The group broke up, the older shinobi waving the younger generation goodbye as they each helped carry the three drunks home. As Lina turned to leave, she saw Raidou standing around, awkwardly, as if he was waiting for her. Seeing her walk toward him, he smiled. Through the course of the evening, he'd become more and more open with her, and Lina was starting to see just how sweet he could really be.

"Hey, Lina-san. So, umm, how about we have that lunch tomorrow?" Lina smiled and nodded. "Sure. I have training with Kiba-kun, Shino-kun, and Hina, but how about after that? You might want to eat a later breakfast though, because training will probably run past noon. Pick me up at 1?"

"Sure, that's fine. Where?"

"Oh, umm training ground 2."

"Got it. Would you like me to walk you home?" Lina was about to say yes when she caught sight of Kakashi hanging around, looking at her. Thinking he was waiting for her, Lina shook her head. "Thanks, Raidou-san, but I think I'll be fine. You have a good night." She watched Raidou walk away before turning to walk towards Kakashi. She hadn't looked at him for the rest of the evening, since her little confession about dancing and her height, and so she wondered what he wanted with her. Of course, she didn't think of the possibility that he wasn't looking for her at all.

"Hi."

"Hi." They stood like that for a moment, Lina waiting for Kakashi to say something. When he didn't, Lina hesitantly said, "Well, I guess I'll see you around. Good night." She walked away, feeling dejected. But no sooner had she gone a few steps, she felt his presence right behind her, and smiled. 'He wants to play it like that? Fine, I'll let him be my shadow.' One thing that wasn't normally shown to others, was Lina's undying patience when she had the determination to wait. So, completely ignoring Kakashi, Lina made it all the way home, knowing full well that he was walking just a few steps behind her. She ignored the odd looks she received and simply walked in a straight line towards home. Finally arrived, Lina got out her keys to open the door. Kakashi was still right behind her, but silent as a mouse, so she received quite a shock when she felt his hand on her shoulder.

"Hey." Lina turned around and looked up at Kakashi, immediately noticing his intense stare. Of course, now that it was directly in front of her instead of facing her back, Lina finally felt the full force of it.

"Hi." Aaaand they were back to this again. How many times did they need to say hi?! Lina stood in front of her door, looking up at Kakashi, and he down at her. He could see the confusion in her eyes, and he unconsciously took a step forward, making her step back, which only made him step forward again. They kept moving until Lina hit the apartment door with a low thud. The sound seemed to make Kakashi step even more forward, because the next thing Lina knew, she was staring up at him while he towered over her. The smoldering look in his eyes, almost as if he was just barely controlling himself, sent shock waves down her spine, making her grip her clutch even tighter. Maybe it was the moonlight, maybe it was the drinks already in their system. Whatever it was, both Kakashi and Lina could feel the moment so intensely that neither could bear to tear their eyes away, but at the same time were afraid to look at the other any more than they already had. And when Kakashi spoke, his voice so low and soft that Lina had to strain to hear, it was like the moment was finally reaching it's climax.

"You're not average-looking. You're…" Lina waited to hear the rest of the sentence, but when the moment passed, she asked, "What?" Lina's response seemed to clear Kakashi's head, as the smoldering look in his eye immediately cleared, and he stepped back. Clearing his throat, he said, "Nothing. You should go inside. Good night." He teleported away without waiting for a response, leaving Lina confused and disappointed. Quietly opening the door so as not to disturb Kurenai, Lina walked into her room and flopped onto her bed for the second time in two days. 'What was he trying to say? I'm what?' Lina flung an arm over her eyes and lay there, waiting for sleep to come. She knew she should get out of her clothes to not let them wrinkle but she was too distracted to think about that now. She dreamt of many things that night, but nothing more than that low, incredibly sultry voice. Each time Lina dreamt of it, she heard it in her ears, softly whispering other things as Kakashi did things to her that would have made Jiraiya's nose bleed. By the time morning came, Lina had come to the conclusion that Kurenai had already figured out 2 weeks after Lina had come back to the village. She was definitely feeling something for Kakashi. 'Oh no.'

Meanwhile, after Kakashi had teleported home, he'd found himself banging his head against the wall. Why, why, why was he acting like a scared little boy? It certainly wasn't his first trip to the rodeo, so why did he feel so, so, NEW?! He let out a growl at his own ridiculous-ness, but then he thought about it. Of course he would be acting different. Lina was completely different from the women he normally picked up. She actually had a brain, for one thing. Kakashi had made it a rule of his to not go out with kunoichi, as the death rates on both their jobs just led to heartbreak. Not that he wanted to fall in love or anything. No, he was much too cynical for that now. After losing his father, Obito, Rin, Minato-sensei, and countless other friends, how could he still believe in love? But, he knew he felt something towards Lina. And whatever that something was, it was driving him insane. He slowly drifted off to sleep, dreaming confusing dreams, in which Obito seemed to make fun of him as he told him about his problem, with Rin trying to play referee as she had always done, and Minato-sensei just watching and smiling, like the good old days. But in the morning, Kakashi awoke with a severe case of confusion. His genius brain had analysed everything, and come to a conclusion, one that his heart seemed to whole-heartedly support, but still he refused to believe it. He couldn't be falling in love. No matter what Obito and Rin said. There was no way. Right?

-end

As a special acknowledgement, I'd like to thank Anuxamurane, a reviewer on . I was feeling a little insecure as to whether I should put in that last 'outside the front door' scene, so I asked for her opinion, and she gave me some great ideas that may be featured in later chapters, not to mention that she helped convince me to keep that scene! So thank you very much, I love talking with readers. If any of you want to PM me, feel free!

Author's Note: So! How was this chapter? Lots more fluff eh? XD This was waaaaay easier to write, now that the damned mission was over. To be honest, I hated writing the mission, but I knew that they had to have SOME sort of contact before things really started heating up. From here on out (I hope) there will be more drama. By the way, do you approve of the ending? I feel like it was a little fast, and I'm somehow not satisfied with it…but at the same time I don't know how I'd change it to make it better. I dunno, maybe I'm just being hard to please LOL

By the way: The anime makes it a point to mention several times that Naruto isn't allowed to drink or do anything because he isn't 20. Well, since I made them go to a bar, assume that the age cut off is now changed to 16.

Also: lyrics to the club song do not belong to me at ALL. They are from Michael Buble's (YAY CANADIAN!) song Haven't Met You Yet. Adorable music video, I highly recommend Youtube-ing it, he's so cute XD

On a random side note: have any of you ever given yourself a hickey? I was hanging out with friends (and please keep in mind that I'm in my 20s) and we were playing truth or dare (yes, I know, super immature, but whatever), and I got dared to give myself a hickey. Awkwardest times EVER! After trying to do one on the back of my hand, the inside of my wrist, one of my friends (after laughing their asses off) suggested I try on my shoulder. So here I am, turning my face to a hard right to try and give myself a hickey on my shoulder (because if I didn't the punishment was going out and randomly singing Greased Lightning really loudly on the side walk, WITH DANCE MOVES!). Anyways, in the end I finally did it, and now that I'm at home, I keep looking down at my shoulder, where there's a giant red bloody-looking bruise, thinking, "What the fuck was I thinking?!" So yeah, that's a little bit about me. I just had to tell you guys that story, I needed to let it out. XD Next chapter will be out in a few days! Ja ne!