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

21. Chapter 21

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!

PLEASE REVIEW! COMMENT, ANYTHING! THANKS :D

A special thank you to all the reviewers so far! If I haven't contacted you personally, it's probably because you weren't logged in when you commented. But regardless, thank you to all of you. You are all so encouraging, and I appreciate the criticism as well!

Chapter 21

The next morning, Lina awoke to the hushed doggy-whispers of the pack, discussing whether they should leave now or not. Keeping her eyes closed, she heard Guruko whine, saying, "But I want to say goodbye to Lina-chan…" only to be hushed by Pakkun, who gruffly said, "She's asleep, and we need to get back." Another one of the dogs, she was unsure if it was Urushi or Bisuke piped in, "Shiba wants to get back to his bitches anyway." making her smile. Opening her eyes, Lina blinked the sleep out of them and looked in front of her, seeing only a creamy white wall of skin. Tilting her head upwards, she found herself face to face with Kakashi's breathtakingly handsome sleeping face, hair deliciously mussed up and his neck and shoulders spotted with love bites. She slowly regained feeling in the rest of her body, and felt Kakashi's arm wrapped loosely around her waist, his legs thrown across hers, and she realized that they'd slept exactly as they'd laid down, neither moving an inch. Closing her eyes, she snuggled in a little closer, inhaling his scent.

The small movement she'd made seemed to have alerted the pack, because they all stopped talking. Slowly, Lina raised her head, careful to not jostle Kakashi too much, and sleepily looked around the room. The ninken, including Daisuke, were all up and alert, Guruko, Bisuke, and Shiba wagging their tails at her. As the tails thumped, Lina quickly placed a finger on her lips, hushing them, and whispered, "He's still asleep." Guruko walked up to her, nuzzling her arm, and said, "Good morning. We're going to head home now, okay?" Lina fondly petted the dog, and nodded, pinning the sheets to her with her armpits before she reached out to Bisuke and Shiba. The two came and nuzzled her, and the rest of the pack said their goodbyes quietly. Lina looked over at Daisuke, and smiled, which he returned with a nod before he too 'poof'ed away.

Turning back, Lina saw that Kakashi was still asleep, so she crawled back into his chest and lay back down, cuddling in closer and closed her eyes, not falling asleep, but just laying there. She lay there for several minutes, just soaking up the wonderful feeling of safety before she decided she had a better plan. Getting up quietly, she quickly tugged on the shirt she'd discarded the night before and walked into the bathroom. Quickly brushing her teeth with her fingers again, Lina undid the barrier jutsu that protected her from getting pregnant, just like she did every 'morning after'. As the barrier dissolved, Lina quickly sat down to pee, knowing that the water barrier would fully release and run out of her within a matter of seconds. Finishing up, Lina hazily looked into the bathroom mirror and tied her hair up in a high ponytail before she walked out and into the kitchen.

As she rustled around in the kitchen, quietly opening cabinet doors and drawers, she remembered that Kakashi's apartment had an extremely limited supply of food. Unsure of what to do, she contemplated putting on her clothes from the day before and running out to get breakfast for the two of them, but she crinkled her nose as she remembered how sweaty she'd been. And then she remembered that she had a ninken. Duh! Smacking herself on the forehead, she rolled her eyes and summoned Daisuke.

"Yes, Lina?"

Lina quickly hushed him and said quietly, "Dai-chan, could you do me a huge favor? You can pick which you want to do. I wanted to make breakfast for Kakashi, but he has no food in the house, and my clothes are all gross-smelling from training, and I don't have another change of clothes. So, could you either run to my apartment and bring my regular outfit from my wardrobe, or run down to the supermarket and buy food for me? I'll give you money and everything."

Daisuke surveyed his summoner before he sighed. "I'm not buying you food. What clothes do you want, and where are they?"

Lina quickly nodded and said, "Just a dress, any one from the closet, and some underwear. If Kurenai is awake, you can get her to get them for me, she knows where everything in my room is. Thanks, Dai-chan."

Daisuke nodded back and walked out of the apartment, running away at full speed. Lina thrummed her fingers for several minutes, before she remembered that Kakashi's clothes were still strewn across the bedroom floor. She quietly walked back into the bedroom, smiling as she watched him sleep for a moment before she began picking up and folding his clothes, laying them on the corner of the bed. Daisuke soon returned with a bag of clothes in his mouth. Dropping them at Lina's feet, he said, "Kurenai picked the stuff, and told you to not forget that you had to train today."

Lina nodded and hugged him before letting him poof away again. She rushed into the bathroom and took a quick shower before she changed quickly, scribbling down a quick note and laying it on the pillow beside Kakashi in case he were to wake up before she got back. She walked out of the apartment door and placed a barrier outside his door, seeing as she didn't have a key, and quickly made her way to the supermarket.

In the supermarket, which luckily was only a block away from Kakashi's apartment, Lina strolled through the aisles, picking up bread, cheese, veggies, and fruits, and an extra carton of eggs, but laying off the meat. She picked up a few basic spices and quickly left, ready to make breakfast.

As she walked into the apartment, she quietly placed the bags of groceries on the counter before she padded into Kakashi's bedroom. Finding him still asleep, Lina picked up the note she'd written for him and walked out of the room, crumpling it after she'd closed the door. She walked back to the kitchen and began washing and preparing breakfast, making two portions of everything. Seeing as Kakashi didn't have a toaster, Lina had to change up her plans, but luckily she'd bought extras, so she was able to switch without too much trouble. Making a cheesy French toast, Lina cracked a couple of eggs into a bowl and beat them, adding in a little bit of milk and some chives. Whisking them until the combination was fully combined, Lina shredded some cheese and diced two large tomatoes, adding in a little lemon and a quarter of a small onion, creating a small salsa-like dish for later. With everything fully prepared, Lina heated up a skillet, waiting for the butter to melt to the appropriate temperature as she soaked the bread she'd bought in the egg and buttermilk mixture. When it was ready, Lina slowly lowered the bread onto the melted butter and began frying it, smiling as the delicious aroma began filling the kitchen. She continued doing this with several more slices of bread, finishing up by laying the shredded cheese on the fried bread's surface as she waited for it to cool on a separate plate, allowing the cheese to slowly melt.

Kakashi woke up to the sound of something frying, and the smell of something delicious. Immediately disoriented, he reached for Lina, remembering only that she'd been in the same bed as him when he'd fallen asleep. His hand laying on a cold and empty side of the bed, Kakashi woke up fully, finding that his ninken and Daisuke were gone. Noticing that his clothes were folded and laying on the end of the bed, Kakashi lazily got up and got dressed, intrigued at the smell of food coming from his kitchen. Last he remembered, he didn't have anything in the apartment that would warrant such a wonderful smell. He quietly walked into the entrance of the kitchen, smiling as he found Lina dipping bread and placing it in a pan. He crept up behind her, and carefully wrapped his arms around her, bending down to rest his chin in her shoulder.

Lina drew in a gasp as she felt a pair of arms wrap themselves around her, but relaxed immediately when she heard a familiar voice in her ear.

"Good morning."

Lina smiled and leaned her head against Kakashi's, and said quietly, "Good morning. Did you sleep alright?" She felt him nod, and she went back to cooking the bread.

"Breakfast's almost done. I stocked up on some basics for you, but you're still going to need to go shopping, you have almost nothing left to eat."

"You didn't have to do that, but thank you all the same. Now, I have a question for you. Why are you dressed? If I remember correctly, you were wearing my shirt last night until I took it off and had my way with you. So, why aren't you wearing the same shirt?" Kakashi spoke into her neck, slowly kissing it, loving that the heat radiating from it meant that Lina was blushing.

Lina giggled and sighed, saying, "I went shopping for you. I wasn't about to leave the apartment dressed in only your shirt, so I got Daisuke to get me clothes. What, you don't like this dress?" She felt Kakashi shake his head and continue kissing her, his voice muffled into her skin.

"I do, but I like seeing you in my shirt more."

Lina grinned and coughed embarrassedly, "Anyway, breakfast is just about done. Go sit down, I'll bring it to you."

"Do you want any help?"

Lina shook her head and shoo-ed him away, finishing up the cheese on the last slice of bread before she began slicing all of the pieces diagonally, making triangles out of the squares. Finally, she grabbed a spoon and dipped into the salsa she'd made with the tomatoes and onion and lemon zest and placed a spoonful on the middle of each triangle. Carrying the plates to Kakashi, Lina placed his plate in front of him, and hers on the other side of the table. She walked back to bring the jasmine tea to the table before she sat down.

Kakashi looked at the teapot, amused. "Jasmine tea with French toast?"

Lina shrugged, biting her lip. "I thought you might like something lighter to drink since there's cheese, egg, and milk in the French toast. If you want I can make coffee or something." She watched him shake his head and get up.

Kakashi walked over to her and picked up her hand, tugging her upwards as well. Looking deeply in her eyes, Kakashi reached behind her head and tugged lightly on her ponytail, bringing her lips up. He kissed her deeply and slowly, releasing her ponytail and wrapping both arms around her, bringing her closer to him. He felt Lina's arms around him, pressing into his back, and he hummed into her, their lips moving in unison. When he finally pulled back, Kakashi softly kissed her once more, before murmuring, "Good morning. Thanks for the food. Unfortunately, I'd prefer it if you were wearing my shirt rather than that dress, no matter how good you look in it."

Lina stared up at him, slightly dazed by the kiss before she smiled knowingly. "You want me to change, don't you?" She watched Kakashi smile down at her, and she rolled her eyes. Letting go, Lina teasingly sighed and said, "It would be so much better if you helped me, you know." She made it as far as two steps before she felt Kakashi's arms wrap around her and turned her around and lifted her up. With a yelp, she found herself flung over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.

"Your wish is my command." Kakashi smirked as he carried her back into the bedroom.

Lina giggled and squirmed on his shoulder before she was thrown on the bed, Kakashi falling on top of her. As she caught her breath, Lina reached up and pulled Kakashi into a kiss, her hands curled in his hair. As the kiss devolved into light pecks, Lina whispered, "No sex. I'm serious this time. I didn't spend all that time buying and making you food just to have it go cold."

She felt Kakashi whine and nod slowly, and she smiled, rolling on top of him and kissing him deeply again before she got up. Taking Kakashi's shirt, Lina fumbled with the zipper of her dress. Kakashi got up and went to help her, slowly undoing the zipper, lowering himself down with it, kissing his way down Lina's back. As he dropped lower and lower, he felt the dress slowly come down with him, and soon it was lying on the floor in a small right around Lina's feet. Straightening back up, Kakashi wrapped his arms around Lina once more, pulling on her ponytail again to make her tilt her head (he was growing quite fond of her hair being in that style) and kissed her soundly on the mouth. Lina twisted around to face Kakashi, her arms coming up to rest on his upper arms, and she molded her body into him. Breaking apart, Lina dropped her head into his chest, laying it down on top of his heart. She reluctantly let go after a moment and began putting on Kakashi's shirt again, keeping her lingerie on. Turning back to Kakashi, Lina grabbed his hand and led the way back into the kitchen.

Reaching the table, Lina pushed Kakashi down into his seat, bending down to kiss him softly before she went to sit in her seat. They began to eat, and Lina smiled as Kakashi hummed in satisfaction.

"This is really good. Another recipe you learned while away?"

Lina shook her head and said, "My mom used to make this for me on special occasions. Birthdays, sad days, stuff like that." She watched Kakashi look up at her in surprise.

"Oh? So, what's the special occasion today?" Kakashi watched Lina blush and bend down to take another bite.

"Last night was pretty great, at least for me. And also, I wanted to thank you for training me yesterday, and then letting me nap in the afternoon." Lina bit her lip and squirmed in her seat before she took a sip of her tea. Looking up, she saw Kakashi smiling as he regarded her. Seeing her look up, Kakashi looked back down at his plate and continued eating, saying, "Yeah, last night was pretty great. You're welcome about the training, you're using your head and past experience with water and wind styles, so it's going to be easier for you to get the hang of lightning style."

Lina smiled and nodded, continuing eating. They ate in companionable silence, not needing to say anything to the other as last night was still resonating in both of them. As Lina continued to eat, she glanced up at Kakashi, and remembered something she'd been meaning to ask him since the first time she'd seen his face, 3 days ago.

"Hey, Kakashi, do you mind if I ask you something?"

Kakashi looked up at Lina, finding her biting her lip again. Nodding, he continued eating, eyes on her.

"Your mask…" Lina started to ask, but then noticed Kakashi stiffen slightly. Raising her hands up in defense. "Oh, no, I'm not going to ask you why you wear it. I-I don't think it's really my place to ask right now, right?" She stammered, quirking up a lopsided smile as she watched Kakashi relax a little, but still wary. "You...you wear your mask all the time when you're outside, right?" Kakashi nodded, and Lina nodded back. "Okay, so, if you wear your mask all the time, and you're outside a lot, training and on missions…" Lina trailed off.

"Yeah?" Kakashi prompted.

"Well, how do you not have tan lines on your face?" Lina finished, blushing slightly. Kakashi raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Does it bother you?"

Lina blushed a little more and shook her head, her elbows now resting on the table, her hands balled into loose fists in front of her mouth as she shook her head. "No, but I was just a little curious, that's all." She watched Kakashi grin and say, "I don't tan. Never have."

"Oh." Lina wanted to say more, ask if he got that from his father or his mother, ask him what they'd looked like, but she kept her mouth shut. Even if she'd only been in one relationship before him, she knew that it was too soon to be asking such personal questions. She finished up her breakfast and glanced up at Kakashi. As she looked at him cleaning up his own plate, she quirked up a smile.

"You know, it's a very good thing you keep yourself covered."

Kakashi looked up at her, noticing her teasing tone. Looking at her quizzically he asked, "Oh? And why is that?" He watched Lina's smirk grow wider as her eyes travelled down from his face to his neck.

"I left a few reminders of last night on you, and since we're keeping things low-key, I don't think showing the world would be the best thing to do."

Kakashi stared at her, having not looked in the mirror yet, and promptly got up to go look, Lina trailing after him, growing more and more nervous with each step. 'Did I go overboard? Should I not have bitten so hard? Oh crap…'

As Lina regarded Kakashi inspecting his neck, eventually watching him take his shirt off to look at his chest in the bathroom mirror, she nervously bit her lip, stomach knots growing with each second that passed. When he continued to remain silent, Lina drew in a deep shaky breath and said, "I'm sorry Kakashi. I guess I went overboard last night." She kept her eyes down, thinking she'd just made him angry. Her past sexual partners had never minded that she'd marked them, some even liking it rougher, but in the heat of last night, she'd forgotten to ask if Kakashi minded, and just let her libido run free.

"You know, I was just thinking…"

Lina shut her eyes, now turned away from Kakashi as she waited for him to continue. She felt him come up behind her and wrap his arms around her tense stomach.

"...I don't think I marked you at all last night. Since you certainly did for me, I'd say it's time for a little payback." Kakashi murmured seductively into her ear, feeling her stomach un-tense.

"So, you're not mad?" Lina spoke, just barely above a whisper.

She felt Kakashi turn her around to face him, and she looked up at him, eyes searching his face for any amount of displeasure. Kakashi bent down to kiss her, slowly walking her backwards until she was against his small mahogany chest of drawers. As soon as she bumped into the chest, she felt Kakashi tower over her, still kissing her, his hands on top of the chest, effectively caging her under him. As Kakashi pulled away, he said, "Why would I be mad when it gives me the opportunity to repay you?"

Lina panted up at him, blushing, but smiling, eyes bright. He watched her look down at their position and then back at him, her eyes alive with mischief.

"You know, I seem to be having a déjà vu moment right now. Weren't we in this position before?" When she received a questioning look, she pressed on. "In the bookstore? This is an awful lot like that time, don't you think?" She grinned up at him as she watched Kakashi's eyes flare up with heat. Kakashi reached towards her, bending down once more, only to feel her hand on his chest, stopping him.

"Wait Kakashi, I just remembered something."

Thinking she was going to tease him and leave him hanging, Kakashi pushed into her, dropping soft kisses on her forehead and cheeks, reaching her mouth and tugging lightly on her lips.

"Mmh! Sto-mmfgh, Kakashi, wait! I released the barrier jutsu." Lina struggled against him before she felt him stop.

"Barrier jutsu?" Kakashi looked down at her, his visible eye staring intensely at her, as if he was just barely controlling his need.

'Oh my Gods.' Lina nodded up at him, blushing slightly. "The thing that keeps me from getting pregnant, remember? Unless you want to use a condom." She felt Kakashi release her slowly, and she relaxed. Pushing him away slightly, Lina closed her eyes and formed three seals: Dog, Monkey, Boar, and placed her right hand on her lower abdomen, channelling her chakra inwards. After a moment, she opened her eyes and smiled. "Done."

"Done? So…" Kakashi trailed his fingers down Lina's arms, dragging out the sentence. "I can...do this now?" He bent down and licked the shell of her ear softly, smiling as he felt her grip the front of his shirt and giggle.

"Among other things…" Lina muttered, grinning. 'Gods, he's insatiable, isn't he? Not that I'm much better, but still.' Lina turned her head and kissed Kakashi's cheek delicately, both of them slowly turning towards each other until they met at the lips once more. She felt him place his hands on the chest of drawers again, pushing down and into her as they kissed. Going apart, Lina ran her hands up Kakashi's chest, resting them on his shoulders and she gazed into his smouldering charcoal eye.

"Kakashi, one thing before we...well, you know. Don't leave any marks that will be visible when I have my clothes on, alright? My neck is fully off limits."

"No way. You bruised me everywhere, don't think I'm letting you get off that easily." Kakashi scolded teasingly, his tone growing dark, and Lina shivered yet again.

"But Kakashi, your marks are all covered up when you wear clothes!" Lina protested, blushing at the thought of what people would think when they saw her branded with hickeys all along her neck.

"Were you thinking of that when you were doing it?" Kakashi questioned, amused. Lina nodded quickly, only to blush when she found Kakashi staring at her disbelievingly. Slowly, Lina shook her head, pouting slightly.

Kakashi smirked. "Then too bad."

He swiftly bent down to capture her lips once more, drawing her into a heated kiss as he rested his palms on the chest of drawers, making Lina bend backwards slightly, resting her forearms and elbows. Kissing the corner of her mouth, Kakashi watched Lina's head loll to the side as he trailed kisses down her neck. As he began nibbling, he felt Lina sigh and melt into him. Grinning into her skin, Kakashi abruptly lifted her up and placed her on top of the chest, thankful that the chest of drawers was low enough and she was small enough that she could sit on it without him having to crane upwards. Pushing her back until her knees touched the edge of the chest, Kakashi stood between her legs, arms still caging her, and pushed her back into the wall, dropping kisses at the crook of her neck. He felt Lina wrap her arms around him, urging him closer, and he pulled her hips towards him again, creating a small gap between the wall and her back, so that only her head was leaning against it now.

"Ah, Kakashi. Bed." Lina groaned, her neck beginning to hurt. She squeaked as Kakashi lifted her up again, instinctively curling her legs against his body, and he walked backwards before falling onto the bed. Looking up at her, he said teasingly, "I like how your hair is now, it certainly has it's uses, but I still prefer it down."

Lina looked down at him, panting slightly, and smiled shyly. "Then do something about it." She watched Kakashi reach up to her hesitantly and slowly pull out her hair tie, careful to not catch any strands in the process. When he was done, she shook her hair out, and it fell in cascades down the side of her face, enveloping the two of them in their own little shadowy bubble. Smiling, Kakashi reached up to her and fisted his hand in her hair, pushing her head down as he whispered, "Much better. Now I can do this." He pushed her face down to meet his, and they kissed insistently, tongues meeting in the middle. Turning them over, Kakashi continued, soon reducing Lina to an incoherent mess on his bed, with him not far behind her.

XXX

"Wow. That was...oh my." Lina panted, the sheets just barely shielding her from the daylight. She stared up at the bedroom ceiling as she tried to calm down her heart, still slightly giddy from just moments earlier. Beside her, Kakashi lay huffing slightly, both eyes shut as he too tried to calm his heart. Reaching over to her, he trailed his fingertips up and down her arm, watching her breathe deeply through his eyelashes. Lina turned towards him, her hands coming up to rest on his chest, and she closed her eyes, feeling their hearts beat. Opening her eyes, she looked up at Kakashi, suddenly a little unsure of herself.

"You're not speaking. Was it not good for you?" Kakashi shook his head in response, his hand reaching up to trace the outline of her face. "No, it was. I'm just looking at you." Lina tucked her head down shyly, tracing random patterns into his chest as she produced a shy smile. She wiggled in closer to him and breathed in his scent deeply. "I didn't know it was possible for it to be that good." Her voice muffled into his chest, but she knew he'd heard her when she felt Kakashi's grin on the top of her head. Pulling back a bit, she gazed up at the man whose bed she was in and sarcastically said, "So, are you happy now? I haven't looked at myself, but I'm pretty sure you've marked me up pretty well."

She watched Kakashi's grin widen as his open eye swept down her body, or the parts that weren't covered, at least. Making an appreciative sound in the depths of his throat, Kakashi smirked and said, "I'd say I did a good job. Why don't you go have a look?" Lina quirked an eyebrow at him before she nodded and got up, taking the thin sheet covering her with her as she left the bed. A small cough made her turn back, and Lina's face slackened as she realized she'd just uncovered Kakashi as well. Biting her lip to stop a smile, Lina lifted a dark eyebrow and said, "Well that's a nice view." She distinctly remembered him saying the same thing to her two days ago, and she wasn't about to let the opportunity go to say it back. Deliberately sweeping her eyes down Kakashi's naked form, she couldn't help but smile as she felt some satisfaction at having bedded this beautiful man.

"Like what you see?" Kakashi knew he was good looking. It didn't take a genius to figure out why so many women seemed to immediately transform into giggling schoolgirls or seductive temptresses wherever he went. Not that he cared. None of them had ever held much of his interest, and the ones who had, had only been interested in sex, and he'd only used them to fulfill Icha Icha inspired fantasies, so it was always a symbiotic relationship. But it left a new level of satisfied smugness in him as he watched Lina enjoy herself looking at him. In the back of his mind, he began to panic as he realized that Lina was about to see what he'd done to her, but he remained relaxed in front of her, mentally preparing himself as soon as she left the room.

"Oh, you have no idea." Lina shook her head, still smiling, before she hoisted the sheet in front of her off the floor and walked out of the room into the bathroom with it trailing behind her. As she slowly unrolled the sheet from her neck and upper body, her eyes bulged. Her skin, not nearly as creamy as Kakashi's but still relatively light, was now spotted with dark purple and blood-red bruises all down her neck and shoulders, some littering her breasts, making her look like she had a nasty spotty rash or something.

"OH MY GOD! KAKASHI!" Lina shrieked, face turning red as she stared at herself. Storming into the bedroom, she glared furiously at Kakashi, who was at the moment trying to pull off a nonchalant look, Icha Icha Paradise in his hand. He put down the book and said casually, "Yes, Lina-chan?" He watched as she walked to his side of the bed and snarled, "Don't 'Lina-chan' me! What the hell did you do?!" Trying to placate her, he said, "It's just a few bruises, they'll heal eventually. Besides, you did the same thing to me, remember? And, I think you actually created a couple more just now." He looked down at himself, pretending to survey the 'damage'.

"Kakashi! That's completely different! YOUR bruises can be covered easily enough! What about mine? LOOK at this!" Lina unceremoniously dropped the sheet, pointing at her chest as the sheets exposed her upper half. She watched Kakashi look at her blankly before he smirked and reached towards her and grabbed a breast. "Mmm, the twins." She smacked his hand away, but couldn't help a smile forming on her face.

"Stop making me smile, I'm still mad at you." Lina grew more annoyed and less angry as she watched Kakashi smirk up at her and wrap his arms loosely around her waist. Sighing, she crossed a leg over his own naked ones and sat on his thighs, hands on his shoulders. Lowering her voice, Lina quietly said once more, "I'm still mad at you…"

Kakashi smiled up at her and nodded, a hand coming up to drag her face down to meet his in a long kiss. As he pulled away, he spoke quietly into her lips, "Still mad at me?" He felt her nod and mutter, "Jerk." He smiled and softly pecked her lips again before he asked, "How about now?" Lina nodded her head, eyes closed, and she smiled as she felt Kakashi kiss her cheek. She lay her head on his shoulder, nuzzling into him. 'Are relationships normally this...intimate?' Lina thought. She'd never been in a relationship with sex, so she had no experience. Her last relationship, with Souta, had made it as far as first base before the 'incident'.

As she lay there, Lina suddenly remembered that she had an outstanding lunch date with Raidou today. Getting up, Lina re-wrapped the sheet around her, looking at the time. Seeing as she only had an hour until their meeting, Lina quickly got up and began picking up her clothes.

"Where are you going?" Kakashi leaned on his elbows, looking at Lina. He watched her hunt around the bed for her clothes, grinning every time the sheet opened up slightly in the back and revealed just a sliver of her skin.

"I hate to bed and run, but I have a date with Raidou. Where's my-oh never mind, found it." Lina said distractedly, picking up her bra off the floor.

"You have a what?" Lina turned around to see Kakashi sitting up fully, staring at her, his gaze hardened. She paused from putting on his shirt she'd used the day before, her clothes in her hands.

"I have a lunch date with Raidou. We always go out for lunch, when we're not busy, that is. We said we'd meet at the Jounin Headquarters at 12:30, and I'm about to be late. Why?"

Kakashi got up, not caring that she was blushing now that he was naked and standing in front of her. Staring down at her, Kakashi said, "You do realize you're my girlfriend right?" Lina raised her eyebrows in surprise and said tartly, "So? Raidou's a good friend, and I like having lunch with him. Besides," she walked her fingers up Kakashi's chest flirtatiously, "it's not like you're going to take me out, right?" She drew in a sharp gasp as Kakashi grabbed her hand and pulled it away, his other hand coming up to force her chin up to meet his gaze.

"So, this is payback?" Kakashi's voice was now low and deep, screaming danger with every syllable, but Lina just looked up at him, unfazed.

She laughed, shaking her chin out of Kakashi's grasp. "No! We've had this day set aside for a week, so unless you're implying that I'm psychic, no, this is not payback. Besides, this way I get to tell Raidou that we're...well, a 'we'. Although...if it makes you that mad, maybe you SHOULD take me out one day?" Lina joked, her eyes clearly showing that she was kidding. She felt Kakashi relax his grip on her hand, and she gently pulled it out, binding her arms around his hips and lacing her fingers together as she tugged him closer.

"Maa, I had no idea you were the jealous type." Lina teased softly into his chest. She grinned as she felt Kakashi wrap his arms around her, his neck and chin resting over her head lightly.

"I'm not jealous." Kakashi said back, twitching slightly as he felt Lina poke his side as she giggled.

"Whatever. Now let go, I need a shower." Lina pushed Kakashi away and walked out of the bathroom, rolling her eyes as she felt Kakashi trail after her. Entering the bathroom, Lina turned to Kakashi and said, "You're staying out here."

"But Lina-chan…"

"Kakashi, I'm going to be late. I…" Lina tried to deny him, but one sweeping glance at his still-bare lithe body leaning on the side of the doorway left her speechless. Groaning, Lina threw up her hands and tried to shut the door in his face. She briefly caught his grin before the door closed, and she growled out in discontent. 'Why does he have to be so damn good looking…jeez.'

Lina quickly stripped and took a shower, determined not to think about Kakashi or how dazzling he'd looked, just standing in the doorway. Finishing up quickly, Lina tossed on her clothes again, rubbing the towel furiously through her hair and walked out of the bathroom right into his chest. Jumping back slightly, she moaned and rubbed her nose before she looked up.

"Were you there the whole time?" she asked incredulously. Kakashi shook his head and said, "No, I just came back when I heard the shower stop." He scooped her up, holding her in his arms, and carried her into the living room. Dropping her on the couch, he bent down and kissed her, hands resting on the back of the couch. Lina struggled, turning her head away, protesting.

"Kakash-mmn! Hang on, stop." Kakashi rolled his eyes and stopped, pursing his lips. "What now? You have lots of time to get to the Jounin Headquarters." He watched Lina rest her hands on his chest and shake her head.

"Not that. Sit down." Kakashi did as he was told, wondering where she was going with this. In the next second, Lina crawled onto his lap, smiling down at him. "This is more like it. I prefer being on top." She winked, shifting around slightly. Kakashi grunted as she moved on top of him, putting his hands at her hips to stop her.

"Gods, woman, again?"

Lina giggled and shook her head. "No, Kakashi, not again, although I could. No, I was thinking more along the lines of this." She bent down and poked the tip of her tongue out of her mouth and gently licked Kakashi's lower lip, enveloping it in her own and sucking gently before she tugged at it and pulled away. She smiled as she saw Kakashi's charcoal eye glow up at her, and she bent down to kiss him again. She felt Kakashi shift and turn her over so that she was the one sitting on the couch.

"I like being on top too." Kakashi's voice, low and deep, sent a shock of shivers down Lina's back. As he kissed her more insistently, he hurriedly asked, "How far?" Lina let out a questioning sound, only half paying attention.

"How far? First base," He kissed her cheek, his hands wandering, "second base," his hands trailed down to her breasts, "third," they moved even lower, "or all the way?" Lina struggled to think through the haze, but eventually sighed, "Second base. Any further and I won't be held responsible for being late."

Kakashi smirked into her neck and said slyly, "I'd love to make you late." He heard a gasp from Lina and she lightly shoved his arm. "Kakashi!" He grinned and kissed her lips once more, feeling her dissolve under him.

XXX

"Well that was nice, but now I really should go. We're training in the afternoon, right?" Lina straightened up her dress, and placed a henge on herself to cover up her bruises before turning to scowl lightly at Kakashi. Kakashi watched her, and nodded. He ran a finger along her neck, where the bruises were before she'd covered them up and asked, "Do you have to cover them all up?" Lina placed her hands on her hips and shook her head, rolling her eyes.

"Yes, Kakashi. What do you think people would think, a nearly 30 year old woman with hickeys up and down her neck and shoulders? Goodness, my parents would probably drag me home just so they could yell at me." She shuddered at the thought of her family finding out, glaring at Kakashi when he chuckled.

"Fine, fine. Yes, we have training in the afternoon, so don't eat too much at lunch." His expression darkened as he remembered that she had a 'date', but Lina smilingly dropped a sweet kiss to his lips. Pulling back, Lina groaned and said to herself, "Ugh, I really need to stop kissing you." She quickly tied her hair back up in the low side bun and walked to the front door to put on her sandals. Turning back, she smiled and said, "See you in a couple hours."

XXX

"Raidou, hey! Sorry I'm late, did you wait long?" Lina ran up to Raidou, who was standing outside of the Jounin Headquarters talking to Genma. She smiled at Genma, her attitude towards him considerably kinder after he'd recommended her to become a jounin candidate. "Hi Genma-san." She watched him snort and shake his head.

"Please, Lina. It's Genma. You've been training for the exam right? I don't want you embarrassing me when you do the exam."

Lina rolled her eyes but nodded good-naturedly. "Yeah, I've been training. Thanks again for recommending me."

"Yeah, well, getting onto the list is the easy part. Passing, that's a completely different story. Anyway, I have stuff to do. Bye, Rai', Lina." The two remaining waved him off and set off on their own.

"Lina, did you do something different with your hair or something? You look, different."

"Umm, actually, there's something I need to tell you. But I need to do it in private, and you have to promise you don't say a word to anyone." Lina said quickly, blushing slightly. Raidou glanced at her, wondering what it could be. They soon arrived at their regular traditional-style restaurant that they went to for lunch, and Lina specifically asked for a private room. Raidou raised an eyebrow, now seriously intrigued. They sat down and ordered food, Lina not giving anything away, and Raidou not asking. Settling in, Lina began fidgeting with the hem of her dress and sleeves, biting her lip.

"Lina, what is it?" Raidou's voice jolted her out of her thoughts on how to tell him, and she looked up, smiling slightly. Her eyes flitted to the door, ensuring that it was closed before she spoke.

"Raidou, you have to promise not to tell anyone, alright? Not Genma, no one." She waited for his confirmation, which he seemed to do a little hesitantly, and she nodded in return.

"Kakashi and I…we're kind of...well I don't want to say that we're a 'couple', just because we haven't been out on a date or anything yet, but he's umm, I mean, we...we finally told each other how we feel." Lina stammered, feeling the blush rising on her face. When Raidou didn't speak, she tentatively looked up to see his face, surprised.

"Oh." Raidou didn't know what to think. He'd been rejected by her, and he was fine with that, but now, he realized that he had been hoping in the back of his mind that she would come around. Most of him was happy for her, but a small part of him kept saying, 'It's alright. They just told each other their feelings. Nothing happened.'

Lina furrowed her eyebrows, but continued on. She told him about what had happened immediately after talking to the Hokage that day she'd found out about the jounin candidacy. She told him about training, and he could see the happiness glowing in her eyes.

As she finished talking, Raidou smiled and said, "Wow. So, a lot's happened since that day, huh?" He was disappointed that he'd lost her to Kakashi, but at the same time, he knew that Kakashi was a good person. If he was finally willing to start a relationship again, after years of just sleeping around, Raidou knew he would be serious about it. And hey! If he didn't, he could always get his ass whupped by Raidou if he ever hurt her.

Lina laughed liltingly and nodded. "Yeah. But remember, you can't tell anyone, alright? We're kind of keeping things low key."

"You got it. And Lina, remember what I said about him last week? Well, if he ever tries any of that shit on you, tell me and I'll kick his ass." Raidou rarely swore, so Lina looked up in surprise before she smiled and nodded.

"Thanks, Raidou." They spent the rest of lunch chatting, Lina glowing with excitement over the jounin exams. She tried to squeeze Raidou for information about what it would be like, but he remained tight-lipped, saying only that it would be different and much harder than the chuunin exams.

"Oh come on, Raidou, just a hint. Please?" Lina begged.

Raidou shook his head, eyes smiling with mirth. "Nope."

Lina pouted and crossed her arms. "Fine, I'll just ask Kakashi then."

Raidou's lips thinned and he shook his head. "Darn, I forgot about him. Fine, ask him. But I doubt he'll tell you much either, even if you two are together now.."

Lina grinned mischievously and winked. "Oh, I would think you of all people would know that a shinobi always has his or her ways of gaining information, ne?" Raidou shook his head once more, rolling his eyes, but smiled.

XXX

After lunch, Lina and Raidou set off in different directions, Lina heading to her apartment to relax and change into changing clothes for training later, while Raidou walked to the Mission room to see if he had anything outstanding. Arriving at the apartment to find it empty, Lina changed into her training clothes and read a few chapters of Icha Icha Violence volume 2, stopping just in time to make it on time to the training grounds.

When she arrived, she found the area empty, so she sat under a tree in the shade and meditated, glad to be out of the sun for now.

"Hey." Lina opened her eyes and smiled as she heard Kakashi's voice sound out from nearby. Getting up, she smiled and said, "Hi." Inwardly, they both wondered how they ended up always saying 'Hi' to each other. They quickly stretched and Lina began training again, remembering what she'd learned yesterday. Since she was still new at Lightning Style, her injuries from yesterday, while healed, immediately flared up again as the chakra ran down the same path. Soon, she was beginning to feel the strain again, much like she'd done when she'd first started working on her Water Style. Her muscles were tense, her nerves raw from the electricity, and she could feel herself losing chakra already.

Deciding to take a break, she walked over to Kakashi. "Hey, Kakashi, I was thinking about the jounin exams, and I was wondering if you could teach me some supplementary stuff? Like, the body flicker, shadow clones, that kind of stuff. I don't really have many non-battle jutsus, and I think it'd be better if I learned, don't you?" She watched Kakashi look up from his book and think.

"Sure. The body flicker really isn't that difficult, so I can show it to you now. The shadow clone is an B-ranked jutsu though, and it takes a considerably longer time to learn it, but I can teach you the lightning release shadow clone, which is like it, but a little easier. Plus, because you have an affinity for Lightning already, it'll be easier for you."

Lina nodded and smiled. "Great!" She watched Kakashi go through the motions for the body flicker, and after a few tries, was able to do it proficiently, but only in small distances. With more training, she'd be able to travel further and further. Next, Kakashi taught her the lightning styled shadow clone. This took several more tries, but after about an hour, she was able to create it properly, albeit only for a small amount of chakra. Afterwards, they resumed the Chidori training.

XXX

"Uaah! I can't do anymore…" Lina groaned, collapsing on the ground beside Kakashi, who was sitting, reading Icha Icha. She closed her eyes tiredly, arm over them as she rested. She felt Kakashi place his hands around her and carefully lift her up to a sitting position, saying softly, "There we go." Lina moaned in response and leaned against him, too tired to be coherent. She felt him chuckle and wipe some strands of hair out of her face, keeping quiet. They sat there for a while, Lina slowly gaining her breath back. The longer she rested against Kakashi, the more tired she got, and soon, she'd unknowingly dozed off, head on his shoulders as her breath evened out.

Kakashi looked down at Lina, noticing her weight grow heavier, and found her asleep beside him. Smiling to himself, Kakashi wrapped an arm around her and pulled her closer to his chest so that she could rest more comfortably, and continued reading.

XXX

"Lina, hey Lina. Wake up." Lina opened a blurry eye, blinking in the late afternoon sun, and looked up to see Kakashi looking down at her. Smiling lazily, she closed her eyes again, turning her face away from the sun.

"I don't wanna get up…" Lina whined. She felt Kakashi chuckle, the sound rumbling in his chest, and she smiled.

"Lina, you really should get up, it's not good to stay in one position for too long after training, your muscles will get all tense and bent out of shape." Kakashi chided, and Lina groaned again.

"Fine, fine. How long was I out?" Lina stretched and worked the kinks out of her joints.

"Around an hour or so. By the way, how was lunch? You were so focused on training that I forgot to ask."

Lina grinned up at Kakashi, knowing his nonchalant tone was clearly a shield. Deciding to play along, she casually said, "Oh, it was good. We went to our usual restaurant and sat in a private room." She watched Kakashi's expression, looking for any hint of jealousy. Instead, much to her dismay, she found mild surprise.

"Oh?"

Lina nodded and smiled sweetly, not saying any more. If he wanted to know more, he'd have to ask her himself. She got up and picked up her pack. She felt Kakashi's finger tap her on the shoulder and she turned around.

"Follow me." Kakashi walked away, into the forest, and Lina hid a smile as she remembered a similar situation just yesterday. As she walked, she came up with an idea. Following him into the trees, Lina grinned as Kakashi tried to push her against a tree. Swerving away, Lina ran into the forest, calling out, "Catch me if you can!" For a brief moment, she worried that Kakashi wouldn't play along, which would end up making her look stupid. Luckily, Kakashi loved a good chase. As she ran and jumped between branches, Lina took down her hair bun, letting her hair fly. She felt Kakashi grow near. Grinning wildly, she quickly turned, trying to head deeper into the forest, but Kakashi swiftly caught up to her, grabbing her by the waist and sending the two of them tumbling to the ground.

"Gotcha."

Lina shrieked loudly as she fell, just barely covering her mouth towards the end as she realized how loud she was. Rolling on the ground due to a small valley in the forest, Lina laughed as she clutched onto Kakashi's arms with him laughing along with her. They soon came to a stop at the bottom of the tiny dip in the forest, Kakashi laying on top of Lina, both of them trying to catch their breaths while laughing.

As Kakashi looked down at Lina, her hair flared out on the ground, he grinned. Pulling down his mask, he bent down to kiss her, both of them still panting. The panting soon encouraged them to deepen the kiss, each of them wrapping their arms around the other. Kakashi quietly spoke against Lina's lips, "You look beautiful like this, you know that?"

Lina quirked up an eyebrow and said, "With my hair in the grass and clothes all dirt-stained? Umm…"

Kakashi nodded, grinning. "You look like a wood nymph, or a sprite or something. Very….ethereal."

Lina pushed him back a little, snorting. "Ethereal? Have you been rereading Paradise?"

Kakashi chuckled before he bent down to kiss her once more, saying, "You know me so well."

Lina giggled into the kiss and sighed, her arms and legs wrapping around Kakashi. She didn't for one second believe what Kakashi had said about her looking 'ethereal', but she clamped down hard on the negative emotions welling in her heart and just enjoyed being near him again. It was amazing how much she could miss touching him and holding him within the span of a few hours. The closer they got, the more she felt she needed to be near him. Of course, she knew that this feeling was a side effect of entering a new relationship, or at least she'd seen it happen to her friends and in her travels, but to experience it first hand was something else entirely. It was completely different for her relationship with Souta. Back then, she'd been a girl, inexperienced and shy. They'd never gone past kissing, and she'd always felt happy just knowing that she was with him. With Kakashi, it was different. While with Souta, she'd felt giddy, happy, shy. But with Kakashi, she felt like she was flying, like he was pulling her along for a wonderful ride. And they had only discussed being in a relationship several days ago! A darker part of her mind insisted that it was all too good to be true, but for once, Lina wanted to just be happy. No complications, no darkness, just her and Kakashi. At least for now.

"You'll tell me if I'm too heavy, right?" Kakashi asked suddenly, realizing that he wasn't even bothering to bear some of the weight.

Lina shook her head and tightened her arms around him. "I don't mind the weight, you're perfect." Kakashi snorted and said, "Stop saying that unless you want me to take you right here." He heard Lina gasp and he chuckled, getting up and helping her do the same. As she straightened herself out, Kakashi picked the leaves and grass out of Lina's hair, running his fingers through it to comb out as much as he could. Finished, they began walking back his hand ghosting past hers every so often, making her shiver.

As they reached the training grounds again, Lina remembered something she had to tell him. Turning to Kakashi, she said, "Oh, I just remembered. I'm not coming over tonight, I'll be going out with Hina, Tenten, your student...Sakura? Oh and Ino, the one who fights with Sakura all the time."

Kakashi pouted through his mask, the outline of his lower lip being the only indication, and said, "Alright. You're not coming by after?" He gently tugged at Lina's sleeve, making her giggle.

Looking up at Kakashi, she said, "Maa, Kakashi, you're so playful today. No, I'm not coming by after, I think I'll be too tired. Training just now took a lot out of me, and then staying up and hanging out with those girls, I'll be too tired to do anything anyway." She steered him towards another wall of forestry that lined the training area and pulled down his mask and brought his face down to meet hers in a soft probing kiss. Breaking away, Lina said, "Yeah, that's about all I'll be able to handle when the night is over."

Kakashi cupped her face and bent down to kiss her again, their tongues dancing as he moved his hands down to her waist. Breaking away but staying millimetres apart, Kakashi murmured teasingly, "Even if I do all the work?"

Lina giggled and pecked him on the lips softly between words. "Mm, don't, tempt, me. I have to wake up early to train with Hina, Kiba, and Shino tomorrow."

Kakashi groaned into her mouth, still gently pecking her lips. "Then why go out?"

Lina smiled and pecked him once more. "Because I miss the girls."

Kakashi lifted himself up and looked directly at her chest. "But then I'm gonna miss these girls…" He smirked under his mask as he watched Lina blush and smack his arm embarrassedly.

"Kakashi!"

He laughed and nudged her back gently. "What?"

Lina shook her head smilingly and said, "Couldn't you just say you were going to miss me, rather than say you're going to miss my breasts? Which aren't even that big by the way."

Kakashi shook his head. "Now that wouldn't be very 'pervy' of me, now would it? And no, they're not huge, but they're perfect for you. And so soft."

Lina laughed and nodded, rolling her eyes. "No, you're right. Of course, you must live up to your reputation." She refused to reply to his comment about her breasts.

Kakashi gave an eye-crinkled smile. "But of course."

They laughed and walked out of the forest once more, Kakashi walking Lina home. When the arrived, Lina turned to Kakashi and shyly said, "Well, this is me. I'll see you…2 days from today for training. Oh, um...if I don't see you and you go on a mission, be careful, alright?" She blushed lightly, unsure if she was or wasn't supposed to say that.

Kakashi's gaze softened and he nodded. "You too. Send a message over if you have a mission." Lina nodded and turned away, unlocking the front door. As she closed the door, she gave Kakashi a small smile before she turned away.

"Kurenai, I'm back!"

"Hi, Lina. So, you spent the night with Kakashi, eh?" Kurenai sat in the kitchen eating a bowl of fruit, smiling. Lina grinned and nodded.

"Yeah, just came back from training and all."

"So? How are things going with you two?" Kurenai raised an eyebrow as she surveyed Lina's appearance, taking in her dirty training clothes. The two women talked for a while before Lina began getting ready to go out with the girls.

XXX

"Lina nee-san!" Tenten shouted over the noise in the club, waving frantically at Lina, who was weaving through a rather large group of dancers. Finally making it to the other side, she waved back and smiled, walking over.

"Hey girls! It's been a while." They all sat down, ordering a round of drinks.

"Lina, why don't you put your hair down?" Ino asked yet again. Lina rolled her eyes and shook her head. "No way. I'm keeping it up."

"Hey there little lady. I saw you walking through that crowd, and I thought, an angel's just come down from heaven. But now that I look at you, aren't you a little young to be in here?" An unfamiliar voice spoke up behind her, and Lina felt an arm wrap around her shoulder. Glancing down, she didn't recognize the hand, so she got up and turned to see a very drunk and very red shinobi breathing down her neck. Grimacing, Lina quickly slid out of his grasp and said, "Hands off, please and thank you."

"My my, aren't you polite?" The shinobi slurred, laughing drunkenly as he grabbed her waist and brought her closer. Lina's gaze hardened and she warned, "Get your hands off me." She was in the habit of giving people second chances when they were drunk, but she wasn't so nice as to let them touch her unwantedly.

"Aww, don't be like that. Why don't we find somewhere quiet to get to know each other better?" The shinobi apparently was too drunk to realize how stupid he was being. Taking hold of his wrists, Lina gripped them tightly and said, "I said, hands off. I won't ask again." She watched with a mixture of mild amusement and disgust as the shinobi struggled to get out of her grasp before he stumbled into her, still tittering. Finally, he gave up trying and nodded sloppily.

"Fine, I get it."

Satisfied, Lina let go and turned away from him, facing the girls again, who were all matching her with disgusted faces and rolled eyes. No sooner had she opened her mouth to talk to them, she felt two large hands on her waist again.

"Gotcha." The shinobi slurred.

Her hands clenched into fists, Lina's eyes fell upon a lopsided grey hairstyle that she knew all too well. Smirking at Kakashi, whose eye was boring into hers, she grabbed hold of the shinobi's fingers and bent them backwards painfully, making him yell out and let go of her waist. She turned back towards him and gripped his wrists again, pulling them towards her and bringing her knee up to knee him in the groin. The shinobi groaned loudly, several other shinobi turning and making pained faces as they watched.

Lina let go of the drunk shinobi's wrists and said quietly, "I told you I wouldn't ask again."

Turning back around, Lina ignored the shinobi's groans and sat back down on her seat, her eyes meeting with Kakashi's. She smiled briefly, noticing his eyes soften slightly. Turning back to the girls, she was just in time to hear Ino say, "Jeez, some men are animals."

Lina coolly said, "Oh I don't mind animalistic men. I just prefer them in the bedroom." She winked at Ino, who grinned and winked back, Tenten snorting, the three of them dissolving into giggles as Sakura and Hinata blushed. Lina suddenly felt somewhat stifled, and stood up, saying, "I'll be right back. Getting some air." She breezed through the crowd nodding to Genma and pointing out the girls to Raidou to show him where she'd be. As she walked pasted Kakashi, she briefly squeezed his hand and tugged it slightly before letting go and walking out of the club.

Kakashi watched with amusement how Lina handled the drunk idiot who'd put his paws on her. He knew she could take care of herself, which was why he hadn't bothered to help her. Of course, if she'd had any problems, he would have stepped in right away, seeing as she was his girlfriend, even if they were the only two people who knew it. He watched her get up and head in his direction, stopping to talk to Genma and Raidou before she walked right past him after a brief nod. He wondered if he should reach out to her, but in the next moment he felt her grab his hand and pull it slightly, indicating he should follow her. Looking back, he noticed Raidou staring at him with an unreadable expression. Kakashi gave him an eye-crinkled smile, revealing nothing, but Raidou just shook his head slightly and tilted his chin towards her, as if he were telling Kakashi to 'just go already'. Kakashi nodded surreptitiously and made his way towards the door, vaguely saying "I'll be back." to Genma, who was already flirting away with some random girl.

Lina walked out of the club, heading into a small side street to (hopefully) wait for Kakashi. She didn't need to wait long for Kakashi, as she soon felt his chakra signature coming her way. As soon as she saw him round the corner into the side street, Lina grabbed his arm and pulled him in, her heart racing delightfully at the thought of sneaking around. Once the two of them were enshrouded by the shadow of the two buildings surrounding the alley, Lina quietly said, "Hi."

Kakashi stared down at her, taking in her appearance now that she was out of the crowded club. It was a warm night, so she'd picked out a pair of flowery capris that accentuated her bottom and waist nicely, and kept it simple with an off-the-shoulder baggy t-shirt, wearing sandals with a bit of a heel, making her look a little taller. Simple, but with her shoulders showing, Kakashi couldn't help but remember their nights together. He heard her speak, and lowly said, "Hi", still staring down at her.

Lina shivered under Kakashi's stare, and placed her hands on his chest, her heart soaring as she felt his body through his shinobi uniform. Looking up, she said, "If I'd known you were going to be here, I would've dressed up." She heard Kakashi growl softly, as he leaned closer into her.

"I saw that guy try to feel you up. Are you alright?"

Lina smiled and nodded. "Yeah, you also saw me kick him in the boys, right?" She chuckled as she watched him wince. Reaching up, Lina cupped his face and said softly, "Kiss me."

Kakashi looked down at her and smirked, saying, "And why don't you kiss me?"

Lina raised an eyebrow and said warily, "I would, but I'm a smidge too short." She watched Kakashi bend down until he was near her height. She did not like where this was heading.

"How's this?" Kakashi teased.

Lina pursed her lips, not liking being babied. She quickly took off his hitai ate and flicked his forehead before she shoved it into his hand and turned away with a huff.

"Ow!" Kakashi rubbed his forehead, confused. He looked up just as Lina was about to leave the alley and quickly pulled her back. "Hey, what's wrong?" He tried to lift Lina's face up so he could see her, but she turned her head away, her mouth still set in a thin line. Realizing, he quickly said, "Alright, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have teased you. Forgive me?" He rubbed his hands up and down her arms, and finally she looked up. He could see her face, and she was still hurt, but she nodded and said quietly, "Don't do it again. Okay?"

Kakashi nodded and hugged her close. Pulling away, he pulled down his mask and kissed her softly, saying "I'm sorry" once more. He wanted to say more, but given where they were, he thought better of it, deciding to tell her when they were alone. Kissing her again, more deeply this time, Kakashi said, "So, are we going to stay here and make out until someone finds us, or are we going in?" He'd hoped the question would sound teasing, and he smiled as he felt Lina giggle through her nose.

Lina smiled and said against his mouth, "Hm, I suppose we should go back. We can always continue this another time." She pushed him upwards so that he was standing straight, and hugged his waist, her head on his chest. She felt Kakashi wrap his arms around her and hug her back, neither of them saying anything. Finally, Lina let go of Kakashi's waist and took hold of his hand, pushing her fingers through his and holding it in both of hers, squeezing it as a silent 'thank you'. Kakashi squeezed her hands back and used his other hand to lift her chin up so he could kiss her again, his thumb tracing her jawline. He felt her loosen her hold on his hand, and bring hers up to his face again, and he wrapped his arm around her waist, pulling her into him. After a moment, they both pulled away, Lina's hands smoothing down his sleeves.

"We'd better go before Ino or someone comes out to find me, or Genma-never mind, I forgot who I was talking about." Lina laughed, and Kakashi chuckled, pulling up his mask.

"Yeah, I doubt he'd come out to find me when there are still plenty of women he hasn't made out with still in there. Good job hiding your bruises by the way."

Lina lifted her hand to her neck and traced the pattern that was there before, and smirked. "I'd love to see everyone's faces when they see the marks, but I like keeping this private even more." They walked out of the alley and into the club, weaving through the crowded floor and meeting their friends once more. As they neared their friends, they found that the group was split in two, boys versus girls. Sharing a look, they silently said goodbye as they joined their respective genders, acting like nothing had happened.

"Hey girls, I'm back."

"Lina nee-san, where'd you go?" Hinata asked, handing her the drink she'd ordered before she left (with Kakashi). Lina sniffed it, making sure it was what she'd ordered, and took a sip. "I went outside for a bit of air, it's so loud in here!" She turned around, scanning the crowd before she took another sip. Turning back, Lina asked, "So, what'd I miss?"

"Sakura got hit on by that guy over there, poor guy." Ino said tartly, winking at a young shinobi who was making eyes at her while she waved her hand over in another direction.

"Ino! The guy was a complete moron!" Sakura growled out, flushing pink.

"I'm not arguing, I'm just saying, you didn't have to be so harsh." Ino laughed, waving her hand dismissively at the girls.

Lina leaned in, resting her chin on her palm as the elbow sat on top of the table and said, "Oooh, do tell more! I miss talking about boys." She grinned, listening to Sakura complain about some stupid line the poor soul had thought would win him the company of the pretty pinkette, with Ino interjecting every now and then to comment. By the end of the story, Lina was laughing while patting Sakura on the back.

"Oh, poor you, but poor him too! I can't believe you punched him that hard! Then again, I should expect nothing less than that from Tsunade-sama's apprentice, ne?" Lina chuckled, and the girls giggled. As the music changed, Lina suddenly found herself being dragged out of her seat onto the dance floor. Protesting, she tried to drag her hand out of Ino's grip, but the younger girl was surprisingly strong, and soon Lina was out on the floor with the rest of the girls. Since she was wearing 2 inch heels, she now stood at the same height as Hinata, the shortest of the group, although not by much.

"Come on Lina, dance!" Ino was already swaying to the music, Tenten doing the same. Lina raised an eyebrow and shook her head.

"Nope. Uh uh. No way." She walked back to the table and sat down, ordering another drink and watching the girls dance smilingly.

"Hey." Lina looked up to see Raidou standing in front of her. Giving him a warm smile, she said, "Hey yourself. Come join me?" She patted the seat of the chair next to her, and Raidou slid into it, setting his cup on the table.

"So, what's up?" Raidou asked nonchalantly.

"Training, wondering what on earth is on that jounin exam, nothing new." Lina replied teasingly. "You're still set on not telling me, right?" She watched Raidou shake his head, and she fake-pouted, nudging him in the ribs.

"So you didn't ask Kakashi?"

"No, I actually forgot until just now. So come on, just a hint!" Lina tried to wheedle, but Raidou just smiled and shook his head.

"Just a hint about what?" Lina looked up to see Genma, Gai, Yamato, and Kakashi coming up to the table. Smiling, she nodded at them, making sure not to stare at Kakashi any more than usual, and said, "Oh, the jounin exams. I got nominated by Genma and Raidou, and I'm trying to wheedle information out of Raidou here," she shot a glare at the man sitting beside her, "but he's not giving anything up."

"Oh, dearest Lina-chan! You got recommended to take the jounin exams? Such wonderful news calls for a celebration! Come, another drink, on me!" Gai proclaimed loudly, and Lina grinned. Patting the seat on her other side, Lina said, "Just for that, you get to sit next to me too." She winked at him, only to immediately regret it when he gave her a shining wink and thumbs up back. Holding in a laugh, she said, "Come on, have a seat." The rest of the men joined her.

"So how's your training going?" Raidou asked, and Lina turned to him.

"Oh no you don't! Don't try and change the subject on me. What's in the exam? What can I expect, come on! Guys, wanna help me out?" She turned her gaze to the other men. Genma, already disinterested, had his head turned away to admire the girls in the room, so he was out. Lina looked over at Yamato, whom she didn't know very well.

"Yamato-san? Could you give me a hint as to what I should expect?"

Yamato thought for a moment, and said, "Well, it's not just one exam. It's got a mental component and a physical component. How's that?" Lina's face brightened up and she nodded eagerly.

"Oh, that's great, thanks! Okay, so for the mental component, I'm guessing the Interrogation and Torture Team would be the ones testing, right? Hm, so then, Ino's father, um, Yamanaka Inoichi, and that really big and tall guy, Ibiki?" She watched the group for confirmation, receiving it when she felt Raidou shift in his seat. She turned to him and grinned cheekily.

"I'm right, aren't I?"

"I'm not saying another word."

"But Raidou, you haven't said ANYTHING!" Lina whined, making Gai laugh.

"Oh Lina, fair flower of Konoha, how correct you are in your suspicions! Come now, Raidou, what's the harm in letting her know?"

Lina grinned and said, "THANK YOU, Gai." She nudged Raidou between the ribs and chuckled. As she laughed, she caught Kakashi's gaze, and suddenly stopped, feeling the intensity go right through her. Shifting her eyes away, she smiled at Yamato and took a sip of her drink, suddenly feeling very warm.

Soon, the girls came back to the table, and pulled up chairs to sit with Lina, none of them quite as familiar with the men as she was. She quickly told the girls that she was going to take the jounin exams, and Ino, Sakura, and Tenten promptly shrieked, rushing to hug her as Hinata smiled happily and hugged her too. Lina laughed and turned to the men in the table, all staring at the girls. Pointing to the girls, she said, "Now THIS is what I'm talking about!" She laughed and hugged the girls once more and settled back into her seat.

"Oh, Lina nee-san, this is wonderful!" Hinata was chattering happily, and Lina grinned.

"Well, it's about time, don't you think? After all, I'm not getting any younger."

"Plus you have the skills." Raidou put in, and Lina smiled warmly at him.

"Almost there, but not quite. Kakashi's training me, which is why you haven't had training with him, Sakura." Lina explained, and Sakura nodded.

"Oh I know, he told us he wouldn't be around much, but I didn't know that this was why." The two girls look over at Kakashi, smiling before Sakura turned back to talk to Ino. Lina's smile softened for a second as she connected gazes with Kakashi, before she turned back to the girls.

"Hey, Tenten, where are the boys?" Tenten looked over from listening to Ino and Sakura bicker and said, "They're at the barbeque place." Lina looked around for the time and found a clock.

"This late? It's nearly 10pm! Kiba and Shino know we have training tomorrow right?" She asked Hinata, who nodded.

"Umm, Lina, you do know that you're out late too, and you have training too, right? So what's the difference?" Kakashi asked, having finally come out of a conversation with Gai. Lina turned to him and rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, but...but...but girls are much more responsible that guys! Right?" She turned to the girls for confirmation, which she got readily. Smiling, she looked back at Kakashi.

"No you're not!" Raidou pitched in, but Lina just shot him a teasingly annoyed look.

XXX

"Alright guys, I'm going home now. You girls be careful on your way home."

Lina waved the girls goodbye as she walked out of the half-empty club. Gai had headed off a while ago, citing important training he had to do with Lee tomorrow. Yamato and Raidou were still hanging around, both slightly drunk, and Genma had gone home with a girl about an hour ago. She vaguely felt Kakashi follow her out, but she kept walking until she was out of the club. Since she'd only had 3 drinks in nearly 4 hours, and water in between, she knew she wasn't drunk. She also knew, that she'd been feeling Kakashi's eye on her from the moment he sat down at her table, and she was just about to burst with the sexual tension. Turning her head, Lina waved Kakashi over and shyly said, "Walk me home?"

Kakashi trailed after Lina, and nodded at her offer to walk her home. They walked side by side, not saying much, but feeling the electricity between them. After a short while, since the club was so close to Lina's apartment, she turned to Kakashi and said, "Thanks. Good night, Kakashi." She closed her eyes and smiled as Kakashi trailed his fingers down her jawline. Opening her eyes, she quickly glanced around. Seeing no one, she pulled Kakashi down, taking off his mask and kissing him. Pulling away, she smoothed her hands down Kakashi's chest.

She felt Kakashi kiss her cheek and murmur teasingly, "Aren't you going to tell me to be careful on my way home?" Lina blushed and sank her head into Kakashi's chest, remembering the dinner they'd had before they started sleeping together.

After a moment, she nuzzled his shoulder and said softly, "Be careful on your way home." She felt Kakashi chuckle and kiss her temple before they pulled away. Entering her apartment, Lina gave Kakashi a shy smile before she closed the door, quietly going to her room, since Kurenai was already asleep.

Crawling into bed in a thick-strap pink tank top and matching boxers, Lina lay her head down and closed her eyes. But despite her exhaustion, she found that she couldn't for the life of her fall asleep. Rolling over, she tried to sleep on her side, but she still felt unsettled. After several very long minutes, Lina finally got up with a huff, blowing her hair out of her face as she rubbed the heels of her palms into her eyes. Finally, she lay on her front, face planted in the pillow, her arms under the pillow and tried to fall asleep. After 5 minutes, Lina groaned.

"Can't sleep?" Lina bolted upwards, whirling around to see Kakashi standing at the foot of her bed. Getting up, she stared up at him.

"Kakashi? What are you doing here?" She unconsciously found herself walking up to him, her hands going up his chest as she stared up at him. In the dim moonlight shining through her window, she could see that he still had his mask on, so she could only look at his eye for emotional cues.

Kakashi looked down at her, smiling under his mask, and wrapped his arms around her waist. Gods, it felt good to hold her, even if they'd just said goodbye less than an hour ago. "I had a feeling you wouldn't be able to sleep."

Lina's eyebrows rose and she let out a snort of laughter. "Oh, yeah right! Admit it, you couldn't sleep, and you came to find me." She watched Kakashi shake his head. "I'll admit no such thing." Lina giggled and walked him to the bed. Getting on it, she stood up and faced Kakashi. Since the bed was pretty high, Lina now stood several inches taller than Kakashi, his gravity-defying hair included. Smiling down at him, Lina rested her hands on his shoulders to steady herself.

"Mm, would you look at that?" She smirked down at Kakashi and tilted his face up, loving that she was now taller than him, even if it was with a little help. Slowly pulling his mask down, Lina's eyes softened as she saw his full face again. Bending down, she captured his lips in hers, still feeling the high of being taller. Pulling away, Lina was surprised when she felt Kakashi wrap his arms around her hips and bury his face in her chest, as she did to him.

"I like this." Lina grinned as she heard Kakashi's muffled voice in her chest, and she mirrored his usual response by wrapping her arms around his neck and kissing the top of his head, nuzzling his hair. "Me too."

"But…" Kakashi deliberately trailed off, making Lina pull away and look down at him, surprised.

"But?" Lina prompted." Kakashi pulled her down so that she was bending to his level and said quietly, "I prefer your normal height." before he kissed her softly. Lina's heart soared as she heard him say those words, and she ran her fingers massaging through his hair. Whispering into his lips, Lina said, "Come sleep with me? Just sleep though." She felt Kakashi nodded and she smiled, giving Kakashi a delicate peck on the lips before she dragged him onto the bed.

Reaching the head of the bed, Lina began slowly taking off Kakashi's hitai ate. Placing it on her bedside table, she leaned up and kissed his scarred eye softly, leaning her forehead to his before she began removing his jounin vest, which he for some reason was still wearing. She helped him shrug out of it and was about to get off the bed to hang it up when she felt Kakashi pull her back.

"Just put it on the floor." Lina looked back at him and nodded, moving back into his arms. Hugging him tightly, she said, "Shirt. On or off?"

"I don't care." Kakashi replied. He felt her nod and begin to pull it off. Smiling, he lifted his arms up and pulled them out of the sleeves. He watched and felt her run her hands up his chest saying, "I prefer it off." Kakashi grinned and bent down to kiss her, his hands diving under her tank top, but not getting too frisky. Lina smiled into the kiss and brought her hands to his arms, feeling the muscles beneath them.

Taking a breath, she looked down and softly asked, "Pants? On or off?" She hadn't meant for it to sound so, sexual, but immediately she and Kakashi let out a snort and laughed. Shaking her head, she said smilingly, "Not what I meant, but whatever."

Kakashi rubbed small circles into her waist and said jokingly, "Are you sure?" Lina looked up at him and rolled her eyes. "Yes, I'm sure."

Kakashi chuckled and nodded. "Well then, it's your choice again." Lina raised her eyebrows and cocked her head to the side.

Grinning, she slowly undid the button and zipper of his pants, saying, "Off it is then." Kakashi let out a laugh before Lina quickly hushed him. "Shh, Kurenai's sleeping!" She giggled, her hand covering his mouth. Kakashi nodded, still chuckling, and quickly took off his pants, now only dressed in his boxers. Pulling open the covers, they slowly fell into bed side by side, hands on each other's waists. Tiredly, Lina brought her hand up to cover her yawn, suddenly feeling sleepy now that she had Kakashi next to her.

Kakashi watched her yawn and he smiled before the tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. Softly kissing her forehead, Kakashi whispered, "Sleep." Lina nodded tiredly and closed her eyes, whispering, "Good night." Kakashi watched her sleep for a moment before he too closed his eyes, feeling calmer with her next to him. Funny how they'd only slept together for two nights, yet he missed her when he was in his own bed.

XXX

*BRIIIIIIIING!*

Lina groaned as her alarm went off at 7:30 in the morning, reaching her arm out to hit the OFF button. Opening her eyes, she smiled as she felt Kakashi groan and roll over beside her. She slowly got up and quietly said, "Good morning."

"Ugh, why do you have to get up so early?" Kakashi mumbled, his arm trying to pull her back to where her body had been keeping him warm. Lina smiled widely and crawled back into bed, cuddling up to him. She softly kissed his cheek, saying, "Because I have to train with Kiba, Hina, and Shino." She felt Kakashi pull her in tighter and she giggled, giddy with the happiness of waking up next to him. But she got up a moment later, grabbing her training clothes and softly padding out of the room.

On the way to the bathroom, she saw Kurenai emerge from her own bedroom. Smiling, Lina said, "Good morning." Kurenai smiled back, having gotten into the habit of waking up early as well. "Morning Lina. Training today?" Lina nodded and went into the bathroom before she remembered something. Poking her head out, Lina quietly said, "Kurenai, don't go in my room, okay? Kakashi's sleeping in there." She watched Kurenai's eyes light up and she grinned.

"Seriously? Wow, I didn't hear anything!"

Lina immediately shook her head, waving her hands in front of her. "No no, we just slept. Nothing happened."

Kurenai's face relaxed slightly, still smiling. "Oh, okay. Well, how long's he staying?"

Lina shrugged. "I'll ask him when I get out." Kurenai smirked and said, "You're really getting into the whole 'boyfriend/girlfriend' thing, eh?" Lina blushed and grinned, biting her lip slightly before she shut the bathroom door, but not before she heard Kurenai say, "By the way, those bruises sure are something. You may want to put a henge on before you leave, since you're keeping things quiet." Lina frowned and looked at the bathroom mirror, and then gasped and turned red as she saw the bruises Kakashi had made the day before. As she examined them, she saw that a few of them were not quite as noticeable anymore, but she shook her head at the thought of having to cover them up again.

Getting out of the shower, Lina padded into her bedroom to find Kakashi still sleeping on her bed. Grinning, she had the overwhelming urge to capture the moment, but unfortunately, she didn't have a camera. Instead, she opted for crawling onto the bed and kissing him awake. Since he was lying on his front, Lina carefully peeled the covers from his back and softly kissed the back of his neck, trailing kisses across his shoulder.

Kakashi felt a strange sensation on his back, making him awaken suddenly. As his mind adjusted, he realized the sensations were kisses. Grinning, he turned around and grabbed Lina, who he saw was dressed for training. Rolling the pair of them around, Kakashi ended up on top of her, grinning widely as he heard her giggle. "Good morning. That's a nice way to wake up."

Lina smiled up at him, her arms on his neck and nodded. "Sure beats the alarm clock, right?" She giggled as Kakashi nodded and bent down to kiss her, both of them sighing at the contact. Kakashi broke away from her, kissing her cheek and then settling into her neck, looking at his handiwork from the day before. Since Lina had dropped the henge she'd placed the day before on her bruises, Kakashi could see that they were now fading. Smiling, he quietly said, "How about I mark you up some more? It looks like some of my work is fading." Lina quickly gasped and said, "Oh my God Kakashi, don't you dare. I want to be able to wear clothes without having to henge each time!" She felt Kakashi chuckle into her neck, and she relaxed. Turning them over, Lina kissed him deeply, her fingers running through his hair, giggling as his hands began to move into her shirt. Breaking the kiss, Lina chided. "Now now, I have training. By the way, Kurenai wants to know how long you're staying." She felt Kakashi's groan rumble in his chest and she softly kissed the general spot.

"Do I have to leave now?"

Lina shook her head, her eyes coming back up to his face to look into his very sleepy eye. "Stay as long as you want, I don't mind. I'm sure Kurenai doesn't either, she's just asking." She watched Kakashi give her a lazy smile, and she softly kissed his beautiful lips. Murmuring into them, she said, "I'm going now, but I'll see you tomorrow, alright?"

Kakashi sat up at this. "Why tomorrow?" He watched Lina shrug and say, "Because we have training tomorrow?" Kakashi ran a hand through his hair and fixed Lina with a look. "You're not coming over tonight?"

Lina raised an eyebrow but smiled teasingly. "Do you want me to come over tonight?" Kakashi's mouth twitched as he fought down a smile before he crawled to her and softly ran his finger down her jawline to her neck, grasping the back and drawing her into a deep kiss.

Lina hummed into the kiss, smiling before she opened her mouth to let his tongue in. Stopping to breathe, Lina drew away and said, "You are impossible to say no to." She mock-frowned at Kakashi, who just grinned at her, his hand still on the back of her neck. She kissed him once more before pushing him down onto the bed. "I'm going to go now before I'm really late. I'll see you...well, I'll see you when I see you." She winked and waved at Kakashi, taking one last look at him laying on the bed watching her before she closed the door.

Striding into the kitchen, Lina sat down at the table, grabbing a banana and an apple. Biting into the banana hurriedly, she nodded at Kurenai, who regarded her with an almost gleeful look.

"So? How long's he staying?" Lina swallowed and said, "I told him to stay as long as he wants, but he'll probably be out by mid-morning? What?" She looked at Kurenai, who was gaping at her.

"You told him what?! You can't tell Hatake Kakashi to stay as long as he wants, he'll never leave!"

Lina stared at her before returning to her banana. "I doubt he's that bad."

Kurenai shook her head vehemently. "You don't know what he's like! Once, Asu-a friend of mine told me he told Kakashi to 'stay as long as he liked', and the bastard didn't leave for two weeks!"

Lina's eyes widened and she snickered. "Oh wow. Alright, alright I get it. I'll talk to him. I'll do it now, since I'm leaving anyway."

She walked into her bedroom and softly kissed Kakashi's temple. She didn't bother to wake him, simply writing a note for him and placing it on the bedside table next to his hitai ate.

Hey,

Kurenai says you apparently take things very literally, so I suppose this is a warning that you should leave after you wake up. Ridiculous, right? Oh well, I hope you have a good sleep.

Lina x

Finished, she softly combed her hand through his hair, smiling, before she silently left, waving goodbye to Kurenai.

XXX

Lina arrived at the training grounds, waving a hello to her teammates. She laughingly hugged and petted Akamaru as he come up and nearly bowled her over, before stopping on top of her and sniffing her, whining. Kiba ran over, hearing his ninken cry, and sniffed the air. Wrinkling his nose, Kiba asked, "Lina, why do you smell different?"

Lina stilled for a moment, remembering that her teammate had an impeccable sense of smell, much like Kakashi. 'Oh no, I smell like Kakashi.' Plastering a smile on her face, Lina quickly came up with a lie. "Oh, I was helping out an old lady on my way here, and she hugged me." Lina averted her eyes, knowing they would be the thing that gave her away. Luckily, her teammates just shrugged and let it go, and they began training.

"Hey Lina, we heard that you made the cut to take the jounin exams. Congrats!" Kiba said, Akamaru barking. Lina grinned. "Thanks! Yeah, I'm super-nervous."

"Don't be. Why? Because you must have the skills, otherwise you wouldn't be recommended." Shino quietly said, and Lina nodded. "Thank you, Shino-kun."

They began going through drills, doing their usual two vs. three sparring before they helped each other work on developing new techniques they were working on. Since Lina had managed to rein in her skills with Sound jutsus, she was now comfortable enough to train using the techniques. She was learning to swerve the sound waves and focus them on moving targets, and she had slowly learned to put a cap on the intensity to stun her opponents rather than blow their heads up. Working with her team, Lina found that she was improving exponentially, having three very different styles come at her while she trained and improved her Sound jutsus, and she knew that soon, she would be able to consider them a part of her repertoire for the jounin exams.

"Oh hey! Did you hear about the Yamanakas?" Kiba asked, panting. They were stopping for a break, and the team was sitting in the shade, resting. Lina turned to him and asked, "What about them?"

"Well, last night, apparently one of the main houses of their compound got burned down. It was a pretty big deal because apparently the flames weren't normal. They were black."

Lina gasped and sat up. "Oh my God, is everyone alright?"

Kiba nodded. "Yeah, everyone's fine. Ino was out, she was with you girls right? And her parents were with the Naras with Choji's family. You know how the three families are connected, right?"

Lina nodded, relieved. "Oh my God, I can't believe it. But black flames? That's different. A jutsu?"

"The jounin aren't saying much, but I overheard my mother talking to Hana, saying it was an Uchiha jutsu." Kiba said, his face darkening. "Kiba. You don't know what you're talking about. Stop repeating unverified facts." Shino reprimanded, and Kiba glowered.

"An Uchiha jutsu? But all the Uchihas are dead except Itachi's younger brother, and he's a missing nin. Don't you think the village alarm would have sounded or something if he were back?" Lina murmured speculatively.

Shino nodded and turned back to Kiba. "Exactly. Which is why I told you not to repeat unverified facts."

Kiba's face turned red as he looked between the two of them. Jumping up, he said, "Fine! Don't believe me!"

Lina's eyes rose up to meet his and she smiled apologetically. "No, Kiba, it's not that. Sorry, I was just talking to myself, it's not like I don't believe you. I just….hmm. But why the Yamanakas? You're right, there's no way that it was random."

"I think it would be best for us to keep training, I'm sure the jounin can handle the situation. And no one got hurt, ne, nee-chan?" Hinata said quietly, having only been listening while fidgeting in her lap.

Lina looked over to her and saw the worry in her face, and she smiled confidently, placing a hand over the girl's hands. "You're right, Hina. We'll be fine. And besides, in a few short months, I'll be tested to become one of the jounin, so I'd better get my act together, ne?" She grinned as Hinata smiled, and they set to work again.

XXX

After training and lunch, Lina said goodbye to her team, heading home to shower and change. Arriving at the apartment, she casually said, "I'm back."

"In here." Lina took off her shoes, furrowing her eyebrows when she noticed several pairs of shoes. She walked into the living room and found Genma, Raidou, Aoba, Yamato, Gai, Kakashi, and another shinobi sitting and lounging around with Kurenai on the single-seater loveseat. Her eyes flickering around, Lina's gaze rested on Kakashi's before she smiled at the group.

"Hi everyone, umm...I'm going to go change."

"Lina-chan! Welcome home, beautiful flower! Was training as fruitful as you'd hoped? Perhaps one day you will allow me the honor of training with you." Gai said loudly, and Lina grinned, shaking her head. "Gai, unless you want to kill me, I don't think that's a good idea. I don't think anyone except Kakashi and Lee can keep up with you." She chuckled along with the rest of the group before walking away. She padded into her room, very aware of the fact that she had all eyes watching her and no one speaking. Closing the door, she heard muffled sounds and immediately heightened her hearing.

"So, the black flames." 'That would be Genma.'

"It's an Uchiha technique." 'Aoba? Wait, did he say, Uchiha?'

"But they're all dead!" 'That must be Kurenai, she's the only female in there. What are they saying about the Uchihas?'

"Not all of them…" 'Wow, I've never heard Gai sound so serious…'

"Sasuke-kun?" 'Hmm, I don't recognize the voice. Must be the shinobi I don't know.'

"...Yeah." 'Kakashi...what the hell is going on?'

"Shit, Kakashi, what the hell is wrong with your teams? Obito, Rin, Sasuke-" "-Genma, shut up." There was a short pause as Lina heard someone (she was assuming Raidou) hit Genma over the head.

"But, how on earth did he get in with no one noticing?"

"He was always good at concealing himself."

"Yeah, but that good?" 'That would be Yamato-san. Hmm, he's right, how can he be THAT good?'

"Well, he was trained by Orochimaru. We can't think of him as a child anymore." Lina took in a deep breath. Orochimaru? As in, one of the Legendary Sannin, Orochimaru? This was serious. Realizing she'd been in the room far too long, Lina quickly changed and came out, plastering a smile on her face.

"Hey guys. So, what's everyone doing here?" Her eyes travelled around the group, seeing their expressions change to blank canvases as soon as she entered. All except Kakashi, whose visible eye was smiling slightly.

"Oh, nothing much. Are you back from training?" Raidou said quickly. Lina nodded and sat down on an armrest next to Kurenai. Looking at the shinobi she didn't recognize, she politely nodded her head and said, "Hi, I'm Sasaki Lina."

The shinobi nodded and smiled a little cockily. "Ebisu. So, you're the eldest Sasaki sibling. You're...different from what I imagined."

Lina smiled and cheekily said, "I know I know, I get that a lot. So-" Just then, there was a knock on the front door. Looking up, Lina frowned and looked at Kurenai. "Were you expecting someone?" Kurenai shook her head, and Lina got up to answer the door. Outside stood an ANBU shinobi.

"Sasaki Lina, you have been assigned a mission. Take this." The gruff voice behind the mask handed her a black scroll, different from her usual missions, and she immediately understood the reason. Straightening up, she nodded seriously. "Understood." She wondered why Tsunade hadn't called her into the office, but that wasn't important. This was an assassination mission. She'd done a couple of them in the short while that she'd been back, but they had been colored red, indicating a B-ranked mission. A black one meant an A-ranked assassination, jounin-level, with a white one being S-ranked, not that she'd ever gotten any.

"This is a solo mission, but because you are a chuunin, you are permitted one jounin accompaniment." The ANBU shinobi went on to say, and Lina nodded. "And why am I being assigned a jounin-mission when I'm only due to take the exam in 4 months?"

"All jounin candidates are assigned at least one jounin mission before they do their exam, to prepare them for the real thing." Lina nodded in understanding and thought. Having a jounin accompany her would certainly improve her chances of succeeding, plus it would be helpful to learn from a jounin. She opened the scroll and quickly scanned the contents of the mission.

'You have 4 days. Target: the Kuro Hebi Gang's leader Tanaka Chi. Whereabouts: Last seen in Tanzaku Quarters. Return to the village in 4 days regardless of the successfulness of the mission.'

Lina bit her lip and turned around, scanning the room. Genma, Raidou, or Kakashi would be the obvious choices, since she'd worked with them before. Out of the three, Lina found Kakashi's tracking abilities the most suitable to her own, plus she would feel much more confident with him around. Turning her gaze from Kakashi, Lina said to the ANBU, "Hatake Kakashi will be the jounin accompanying me." The ANBU nodded. Lina felt Kakashi walk over to the pair of them, and the ANBU handed him a different scroll. "These are the rules for what you can and cannot do on the mission. Read them and follow them, err, senpai." Lina's eyebrows raised and she laughed through her nose as the ANBU stumbled slightly through his words.

"Got it." Kakashi said, nodding. The ANBU turned back to Lina and said, "You are to leave tomorrow at sunrise. Follow the instructions in the mission scroll to the letter." Lina nodded and saw the ANBU leave, as she turned back to the rest of the group. Looking at Kakashi, she said, "Well, how about we discuss this in my room?" She cringed inwardly at how sexual that had sounded, and immediately heard Genma laugh.

"Lina, are you hitting on Kakashi?" Lina turned and glared at him, rolling her eyes. "No, idiot. We can't discuss this with other people around, you know that." Sighing, she stalked to her room, Kakashi trailing behind her. Entering, she quietly said, "Please shut the door. Do you know a sound-proofing jutsu?" Kakashi nodded, turning back to sound proof all four walls of her bedroom. Done, Lina sat on the bed, taking her hair down and running a hand through it. She sighed and placed her face in her hands. From her side, she felt Kakashi sit down next to her and wrap his arm around her shoulders, pulling her to him.

"Hey, are you okay?"

Lina nodded, burying her face in his chest. "I'm fine. I just hate doing these types of missions. Plus, this one is an A ranked mission, so I'm kind of nervous." Kakashi pulled his mask down and kissed her forehead. "Don't be. I'll be there the whole time. You'll be fine." Lina nodding, her arms still around him, and sighed. She softly said, "You know I didn't pick you because we're sleeping together, right?" Kakashi chuckled and nodded. "Yeah, I know. I'm glad you did though." Lina looked up at him and smiled. "Me too. Come on then, let's see what your scroll says. What are and aren't you allowed to do?" Kakashi nodded and picked up the scroll, unrolling it.

'Rules for Accompanying Jounin

Jounin must accompany the original mission-holder everywhere.

Outside of the village walls, no information gathered by you may be relayed to the original mission-holder.

Unless in dire situations, no help shall be provided during battle.'

"Seriously, that's it? You have to follow me everywhere, you can't tell me anything outside of the village walls, and you can't help me unless I'm hopelessly out of my depth. Okay, I can do this." Lina said, mentally encouraging herself. Kakashi looked down at her and smiled. "You'll be fine. Now, what's the mission?"

Lina handed him the scroll, and he quickly scanned the contents. Nodding, he said, "I've heard of the gang. They travel-" Kakashi found his voice muffled by Lina's hand as she hushed him.

"We can talk about this later, can't we? She said softly, reaching up to take off his hitai ate. "Did you get my note?" Kakashi nodded, his gaze softening as he looked down at her. Smiling, Lina pulled him down, both of them falling onto the bed, her hands reaching up to cup his face. Looking up at him, she said, "Do you have any idea how much I wanted you before I left this morning?" Kakashi grinned down at her and bent down to kiss her lips sweetly. "I'll bet not half as much as I wanted you the moment I woke up and found you gone. By the way, your panties drawer is very interesting." He chuckled as he heard her gasp and snort.

"Kakashi! You perv!" Lina teased, her hands coming to rest on his arms. She kissed him softly before pushing him away and sitting back up. "Alright, back to work. So, this mission. You said you've heard about the gang."

They began discussing the details, Kakashi gave her as much information as he could about them, but it wasn't much. Still, they had two days to kill the gang leader. It would take them a day to get there, a day to come back, so two days in between to plan and execute the assassination, possibly a brief stakeout. They discussed strategies, and soon they had come up with several scenarios for which Lina could confidently get herself out of without Kakashi's help. Of course, him being there was a great safety net, just in case.

"So, the leader, Tanaka Chi, is always surrounded by at least 4 of her best guards."

"-Right, but all of her guards are men. And none of them are shinobi, which means she's the only real problem." Lina interjected, only to be interrupted by Kakashi as well.

"-No. You can't think like that, because all of the guards are highly skilled in fighting with shinobi, since she is one. Their skills are on par with Gai's taijutsu, so you'll need to stay on your toes." Kakashi warned, and Lina frowned. On par with Gai? That would be a problem. Thank God she'd been working on taijutsu with Kakashi, but she wasn't sure it would be enough. Evidently, her misgivings were showing in her face, because Lina found herself being pulled into a deep, sensuous kiss.

"It's going to be alright. You can do this. We've trained, and you're good. Have a little confidence in yourself, okay?" Kakashi said quietly, and he smiled down at Lina when he felt her nod against him and kiss him back. Smirking, he softly pecked her lips and took the scrolls out of her hands and onto the bed. "Now, why don't we stop working and do something I know you're confident in?" He trailed his fingers up her side, gently tickling her.

Lina giggled and squirmed. "Eeks, Kakashi, your hands are so cold! How are they so cold when it's summer?" Kakashi chuckled and pushed her down on the bed. "Then how about you warm me up?" Lina smirked up at him. "Really? With everyone outside? That's...actually kinda hot." Kakashi grinned down at her and kissed her deeply, his hands wandering. Lina gasped as Kakashi's hands moved and quickly pulled away. "Oooh, okay no. Too cold. Here, give me your hands." Lina sat up and reached for Kakashi's hands. Taking one in both of hers, she softly pulled off his fingerless glove, doing the same with his other hand. Taking hold of both hands, she brought them to her lips and softly kissed them before she placed them on her neck, closing her eyes and shuddering at the sudden coldness.

As she felt his hands warm up, she relaxed, humming at the feel. Opening her eyes, Lina leaned in to kiss Kakashi, her tongue flicking out to lick his bottom lip. She brought her hands to his chest, gripping his jounin flak vest and softly touched her lips to his again. She slowly removed his hitai ate, dropping it to the floor, and he removed hers from her neck, doing the same. Kakashi's hands moved downwards to the hem of her shirt, and Lina gasped at the sensation of his fingers on her skin. Hesitating, Kakashi asked, "Cold?" Lina shook her head and smiled almost shyly. "No, I just really want to kiss you." Kakashi grinned and pushed her into the bed, crawling on top of her and kissing her, only to feel her push him away.

Looking down, he asked, "What?"

Lina looked up at him and said, "I just want to kiss you. Nothing more. I don't think I'm quite ready to do it with nearly every single jounin that I know sitting in the next room." She watched Kakashi's face fall, and she softly kissed him, rubbing her hands on his chest. Pushing him down onto the bed, Lina lay on her side, her fingers tracing random patterns into his chest. She wanted to ask him about what she'd heard, but she didn't know how to start. Finally, she took a deep breath and said quietly, "I heard what you guys were saying about the black flames. It's an Uchiha jutsu?"

She watched his face harden slightly, and she propped her head up on her hand, her elbow planted on the bed, and waited for him, wondering if he was going to respond or not. Finally, she saw him sigh and nod. She waited for him to say something, but he didn't, so she just watched him as he avoided her gaze. She wanted to ask him about what Genma had said, about his team. She'd heard names, Obito and Rin, who were they? She wanted to know more, but it wasn't the time, and she had no right to ask him.

Deciding to break the silence, Lina leaned over and softly kissed his cheek, saying, "It's a good thing no one got hurt. I can't help thinking how lucky the Yamanakas are that Ino's parents were out, and Ino was with us at the club."

Kakashi turned to look at her, noticing her voice softening, and he heard the underlying words. 'It's alright. You don't have to say anything.' Nodding, Kakashi turned his body to its side, so that he was facing her, and he placed his hand on her hip. "Yeah, they're lucky." Inwardly, he wasn't so sure. Was it luck that no one had been there, or was it a warning that had been planned because no one was there? His mind was whirring, thinking of all the possibilities, but aside from Sasuke, there were no more Uchihas alive. So then, why? As he thought, Kakashi felt Lina's hand move up to his hair, and he looked into her eyes. He watched her smile softly, her fingers carding through his hair, and he slowly relaxed and pulled her closer to him.

Lina felt Kakashi relax under her fingertips, and she smiled, not stopping her fingers, and said, "How about we move up a little?" They were still sitting at the foot of the bed, and their legs were hanging off the edge, making their position lying on their sides increasingly uncomfortable. She watched Kakashi nod and they both got up, crawling to the top of the bed and laying down again, their heads on the pillows. Lina furrowed her eyebrows as she wondered why the position felt so different.

"What?" Kakashi asked.

Lina shook her head. "I just realized why this feels so different. We've switched sides." She smiled slightly, and watched Kakashi, waiting for him to smile back. He didn't, simply saying, "Do you want to switch?"

Lina shook her head again. "No it's fine." She began running her fingers through his hair again, and wiggled closer to him, wanting to see his beautiful smile once more. Kakashi slowly relaxed again under her fingers, but he still didn't smile. Her chest hurting for him, Lina pulled Kakashi towards her, but immediately felt him resist. Instantly stopping, Lina withdrew her hands, worried that she was making things worse. As soon as he felt her hands disappear, Kakashi reached out and took her hands in his own, bringing them back to his face. He felt Lina stiffen slightly, but she soon returned to holding him, and he brought his hands around her back, binding her to him as he bent his head down to nuzzle into her neck. They lay there together, just holding each other for a long time. Slowly, Lina felt Kakashi's breathing even out, and the weight of his body began to grow, his arms growing heavy around her. She tilted her head down to look at Kakashi, pulling away slightly, and saw that his eyes were closed. Settling back into place, Lina laid her head down on the pillow and rested her eyes, making sure not to fall asleep.

Nearly an hour later, Lina felt Kakashi stir in her arms, and she pulled away, smiling tentatively down at him when she saw his unscarred eye was open.

"Hey." She said softly, kissing him softly on the forehead. Kakashi looked up at her, slightly disoriented, before he remembered what had happened. Shaking his head, he raised himself up and smiled softly, returning the kiss with one on the lips. "Hey."

Lina looked at him, relief flooding her features as she saw his smile again. Rather than ask, Lina rolled on top of him and kissed him deeply, her hands resting on his shoulders. She sighed as she felt his arms come up to wind around her body, and he turned them around so that he was on top. Kissing her soothingly, Kakashi said teasingly, "That was a good nap." Lina raised an eyebrow and smiled, happy to see his sense of humor was back. She reached up and cupped his face in her hand, and asked, "Are you okay?" She saw Kakashi's gaze darken slightly, and he smiled down at her. Nodding, he said, "I'm fine." Lina bit her lip, knowing that he was putting up a wall between them, but she didn't say anything. Taking a hold of his hand, she gently kissed his fingers, closing her eyes and pouring all her concern into the kisses. Finished, she looked up at Kakashi and smiled, pushing him off of her and getting up.

Picking up her flak vest from the floor, she walked over to the closet in her room and hung it on a hanger. Turning back, she said, "Okay. So, we have to meet tomorrow at sunrise. I guess that means training is going to be out of the question for the next four days. Hm, I should tell Hina and the boys." She rummaged through her pack, trying to stay as far away from the topic of the black fire, or the Yamanakas, or Kakashi's team mates, or Uchiha Sasuke. Muttering to herself, Lina felt Kakashi come up behind her and wrap his arms around her, kissing her temple.

Kakashi watched Lina get up and hang her flak vest in her closet. Just by the way she was moving, he could tell that she wasn't alright. As she spoke, Kakashi watched her face, seeing it remain impassive, like a mask, so unlike her. Finally, he got up and wrapped his arms around her, kissing her temple and resting his chin on her head. He felt her stiffen for a moment, and he began running his hands up and down her arms soothingly. "The Yamanakas are fine. And you will be fine on the mission tomorrow. I'll be right there if you need me, which you won't." He felt her giggle, and loosened his grip on her to let her turn around.

Lina looked up at Kakashi and said half-smilingly, "You need to stop using the word 'fine'. It's starting to sound weird." She laughed, and placed her forehead against his chest, feeling the reverberations of his chuckles. Pulling away, she looked into his face and asked more seriously, "And you?"

Kakashi looked down at her and asked, "What about me?" Lina looked back at him and said softly, "Are you okay?"" Her heart sank as she watched Kakashi's emotions slip away, a wall forming between them again. Kakashi slowly pulled away and said, "I'm fine." Lina, looking for something to lighten up the mood, immediately changed her expression and tweaked his nose, giggling. "I told you to stop saying that!" Kakashi let out a small laugh, and they wrapped their arms around each other again, even if it was now weighed down by built walls.

XXX

"You failed me. You know I don't accept failure, not when there were measures you could have used to prevent it. Take this as a warning. And the rest of you, take this as an example. I do not tolerate failure."

"Yes, Danzo-sama." A red-headed shinobi kneeled before the cane-wielding man, his insides quivering with an unknown emotion. What was this new emotion: Fear? Hatred? Worry? Fuu had no idea what to do with his newfound feelings, which had arisen when he found out he clan had been used as an example of Danzo-sama's strength. As he walked away, he felt Torune come up beside him. Neither spoke, not sure how to ask personal questions, as they'd never done so before, but somehow Fuu's emotions were shown to Torune. They glanced at each other, bewildered.

-end

Author's note: Alright, right off the bat I'd like to say one thing: yes, I know French toast isn't very Japanese, but I personally love it, and who says that the Narutoverse is Japanese, right? It's possible that they have all sorts of cuisines. After all, they have Korean barbeque, don't they? XD so yeah, please don't be mad about that inconsistency.

Secondly, about Lina's insecurities, and Kakashi apologizing, I realize that I'm making him apologize quite a bit, but she does have a lot of insecurities, as shown a bit from the last chapter. That's not to say that Kakashi doesn't have his own insecurities, because of course he does. Lina, while not apologizing, also is capable of appeasing him, as shown in the last scene with them together.

Thirdly, yes I know I could've ended it with them falling asleep together, but I really wanted to get the story moving along, not that the lovey dovey stuff isn't great, but I felt like it would get too boring eventually, better to get some action in too.

Fourthly, (goodness, so many!) I just want to mention that in my mind, Kakashi never has morning breath. He's too perfect for that. Who agrees with me? ;) (yes, I'm slightly in love with Kakashi. What else is new?)

And lastly, Fuu: he's a part of the Yamanaka clan, in case that wasn't clear. He's a canon character. Oh, and I wrote this chapter like 2 weeks ago with the idea that Fuu and Torune were close, so you can imagine how thrilled I was when I watched the latest Naruto Shippuden :D (ep 317)

Sooo, this chapter is done! XD damn, it's long too! Next chapter will probably be shorter. Ja Ne!