Author's Note: This one goes out to Talkingbirdguy and Hakazu.

Birdguy wanted Mei seeing Kakashi's face for the first time to be "a thing" (my words, not his). Here, it's "a thing".

Hakazu wanted more stories where they're younger and dating.

See? If you do a review request I make things happen…probably…someday. Reviews also just make me happy! Thanks guys!

As far as the chapter: this goes to show that no matter how old you are, you can still have awkward dates…and dates that become disastrous.

"Mei? Where exactly are we going?" Kakashi asked as they walked through the bright meadow. They were on the main island of the Land of Water a few miles outside of the Hidden Mist Village.

Mei just smiled shyly at him. "You took me to one of your natural wonders. Now I want to take you to one of ours."

"The Hokage Mountain is hardly natural," Kakashi muttered.

Mei scoffed at him as she walked through the tall grass. "It's only natural to show yourself off? Well I'm sure the mountain itself is naturally occurring anyway."

Kakashi was puzzling over what Mei possibly thought she heard him say when she cried out, "there are the rocks, not far now!" She was pointing at a mound of boulders that appeared to slowly grow larger as they approached. Their path gradually sloped downhill into the valley in which the boulders rested.

"You're taking me to see some rocks?" Kakashi was playfully unimpressed.

"And what makes you think that Fire rocks are more interesting than Water rocks?" Mei called defiantly back at him. She began to climb the mound.

"But my rocks were a mountain, your rocks are-" Kakashi froze when he crested the last boulder between himself and where Mei was standing. A chill ran through him as if a cold breeze had swept through the valley. Before them was a dip in the rock formation and a gently declining path into a large hole. His keen senses could hear the low thrum of air whispering through the depths of the cavern.

"A cave!" Mei announced excitedly.

Kakashi slowly swallowed, his mouth dry.

Mei turned to see Kakashi standing as stiff as a board, staring into the darkness as if it were going to reach out and grab him. She said his name twice before he responded. "Kakashi are you alright? You aren't claustrophobic are you?" Mei teased.

Kakashi swallowed again and replied, "not exactly."

Mei's sunny disposition began to cloud over. She frowned at the cave; what had she missed?

Kakashi caught her look. "It's fine Mei; I'm fine. Let's go." He inserted some cheer into his voice.

Kakashi began to hesitantly walk toward the enclosing space. Mei followed slowly, "we really don't have to. We could-" Mei couldn't quite put her finger on what it was that they could otherwise do. The Land of Water wasn't exactly a tourist destination. The "sights" were few and far between. Anything that came to mind would have required planning and extra travel.

Kakashi turned back and looked at her, holding out a hand to help her down. "Really, it's nothing. Let's go caving."

Mei ignored his hand and jumped down the ledge unassisted. After unsealing a lantern from a scroll, she hadn't wanted to spoil the surprise, she lit it and took the lead. "Now you need to be careful these first few steps. The path has been worn smooth over the years. We always used to dare each other to go in as kids." Mei attempted to sound bright but she couldn't help but observe Kakashi's discomfort as they stepped through the portal into the earth.

Mei continued to fill the awkward silence. "Nobody ever beat my record for distance made into the cave. A few tried to say that they did but I found their marks on my way to my old records. We'd carve a mark into the stone with our kunai.

"As we got older we'd all go exploring together."

As they walked deeper into the fissure, the temperature dropped significantly. Mei noticed Kakashi's discomfort and then laughed at herself. "Almost forgot," Mei chuckled. She pulled out a different scroll and unsealed two cloaks. She handed one to Kakashi and donned her own. Kakashi threw his over himself, clasping it absentmindedly. He didn't appear to realize that he was the reason for Mei's sudden reveal of the cloaks. His eyes were on the walls and ceiling.

"It won't cave in," Mei said misinterpreting his concern. "This cave handles the runoff from the riverbed during the spring rains every year. Any loose dirt was washed away years ago. It's all stone now."

"Even stone can be eroded away by water," Kakashi muttered absently.

"Well even if it does," Mei said. "We have earth jutsu for that." She felt uneasy. She'd never seen him like this before.

Kakashi grunted in reply. When Mei tried to get more of a response out of him, Kakashi came to himself and encouraged his date to lead on. Puzzled, Mei did as she was asked, tentatively smiling.

After several twists and turns through tunnels with larger and smaller holes leading off into who knew where, Kakashi asked, "you know where you're going?"

"Of course," Mei said brightly. "That'd be like asking if you could get lost in the forests around the Leaf."

The path started heading uphill and Kakashi broke the silence again, "are we heading out? This isn't the way we came in."

"There are two entrances that I know of," Mei said. "There's also the underground one of course but we'd never be able to hold our breath long enough to get to the ocean." Mei continued, "no, we're heading someplace special."

As the trail took them higher Kakashi began to notice stalagmites and stalactites all around them. Above his head Mei's lantern showed that the ceiling glittered like jewels. The minerals seeping down through the earth made strange formations on the ceiling such as boxes and cones.

Despite himself, Kakashi found the mineral deposits fascinating. "How do they have time to grow like that if this tunnel floods every year?"

"I said the cave drains the valley every year but this tunnel is no longer a part of the main branch and hasn't flooded in ages." With that, Mei stopped and withdrew a third scroll.

"What could this be now?" Kakashi asked. He was a little more relaxed now that there was something new to focus on.

Mei, happy to see his good humor returning, unsealed a blanket and boxes full of food for lunch. She quickly spread the blanket on the ground and invited Kakashi to sit.

"A picnic? I thought I was the copy ninja."

Mei smirked, "just pipe down and eat."

Mei seated herself and began unwrapping a roll. Kakashi grabbed a similar looking package from the basket but stopped. He glanced up at Mei and withdrew the bundle slowly, contemplative. Mei glimpsed his look and frowned.

"What's wrong?" Her scowl deepened as she looked at her own roll.

"It's nothing," Kakashi insisted. He unwrapped his own roll slowly.

Mei watched him but he didn't take a bite. Feeling a sinking in her gut, she looked down at her own roll and took another bite. She wasn't that hungry anymore but simply ate on reflex.

She sighed and glanced back up at him. A huge bite of his roll was gone and the man across from her was working his jaw contentedly, eyes closed. She blinked in confusion at him. He opened his eyes to see her, confused at her silence, and his eyes crinkled with a smile. "This is really good Mei," he said once he'd swallowed. However, even as Mei thanked him for the complement he did not take another bite.

Her face darkened once again. "What's wrong?" Mei asked defensively.

Kakashi blinked at her. Then he stared guiltily at the floor, "I um-"

"Because if it's me-"

"No," Kakashi said quickly. "It's just I don't usually eat in front of people."

Mei squinted at him in confusion, then her eyes settled on his mask. She chuckled, drawing her companion's attention. "You take that thing really seriously don't you?" She indicated his mask with a nod of her head. Her mirth decreased when Kakashi leveled a long stare at her. The silence of the cave pressed in on them. "I'm sorry," Mei spat out. She inwardly chastised herself.

Kakashi shrugged, scratching his masked cheek nervously. "At this point, the entire Leaf Village wants to see my face, especially my students, and it's kind of amusing to watch them try. I guess I just got into the habit of guarding myself while I eat."

"Well none of them are here now," Mei said. Then she pulled herself up short at the oddity of the statement. She smiled nervously and without thinking asked, "why do you wear it then?" She immediately mentally face-palmed at her own insensitivity. Despite this, her date answered.

Kakashi looked down at his roll. He continued the conversation as if speaking to the pastry. "Part of it is that every time I look in the mirror I see my father. People say we look alike even with my mask on." He paused, searching for words.

Mei waited patiently. She had to confess to herself that she too had been curious about the hidden part of his face. However, her curiosity didn't hold a candle to how some of their fellow kage felt, not to mention the everyday Fire citizen.

"Another part," he continued, "is that when people see my face they act differently. It's kind of uncomfortable." He scratched at his mask again. "It helps hide my expression from opponents, there are a lot of reasons." He finished in a rush, as if embarrassed for babbling on.

Mei, however, was fascinated. This was the most he had shared all at once…ever. She smiled encouragingly but he had said his piece. She continued to watch him therefore he continued to not eat. As the silence went on Mei chewed something over in her head. Finally she said, "I can keep my eyes down the whole meal if you want."

Kakashi looked up slowly, "really?"

Mei nodded. "It's not a big deal. I mean I am interested to see your face but it's hardly my life's ambition."

The couple looked into each other's eyes and each felt a small glow bloom inside of them. "Thank you," Kakashi said softly.

Mei smiled in return and then kept her eyes steadfastly on her food. Deprived of seeing her date, Mei focused on her other senses. The cave smelled of cool rock along with various minerals. She breathed it in through her nose and closed her eyes, remembering her schoolfellows and the hijinks they used to get up to among the caves. A pang shot through her and she stopped that train of thought in its tracks.

She focused on sound instead. Kakashi was leisurely eating his meal across from her. There was the constant drip of water throughout the cave system. The sound of the water echoed and mixed with the sound of the lowing wind that moved through the various holes and bends among the tunnels.

Then she heard Kakashi take a deep breath and say, "Mei?"

On impulse she almost looked up in response to hearing her name. She resisted the urge. Instead she kept her head down and said, "yes?"

"You can look, if you want."

Mei felt that her heart had stilled and began fluttering at the same time. Had he just? No, he couldn't possibly mean- She looked up and her breath caught in her throat. For the first time ever, they looked at each other and she could see his whole face in the flickering lantern light. She had thought it would be strange, seeing his entire face, almost as if the lower half didn't belong somehow. But it wasn't anything like that. It was whole and everything fit together perfectly.

He smiled at her, it was a small smile and kind, like a secret between them. The familiar crinkle of his eyes now had the turning up of his lips to match. Mei felt herself blush fiercely. She looked away. Pull yourself together, she strictly ordered herself.

He was so very handsome it was almost absurd. Mei felt unreasonable laughter bubbling up inside of her but she forced the giggles down. She had always thought he was good looking, even with the scar bisecting his eye, but this was something else. This was something else entirely.

Hoping that the color in her cheeks was under control, Mei looked back up and met her date's eyes. Kakashi nodded in appreciation and they continued with their meal in amiable silence. The mask remained bunched down at his throat so she observed him at her leisure.

The more Mei looked, however, the more she realized that she knew already. His face, once you'd seen it, wasn't that much of a mystery at all. The mask was skin tight so the outlines of his jaw and his lips were nothing new. There was no explanation for what made him so appealing overall. He just was and Mei blushed again in embarrassment. She was soon also focused on her lunch.

After they'd finished eating Kakashi pulled the mask back into its place. Mei regretted it. In a way he was hiding himself away from the world and she wished he wouldn't. Wished that he didn't think he had to. "Why do you keep wearing it?" Mei asked carefully. She'd worked the question over in her mind the entire time they'd eaten. "If you didn't wear it all the time then people would eventually stop making a fuss over it." She began packing their lunch away while waiting for an answer.

Kakashi looked down the cave tunnel, out of the ring of light that Mei's lantern cast. Then he shrugged and said, "at this point it's a habit. Wouldn't want the bounty hunters to be confused when they find me." When his eyes crinkled into a smile she could imagine his mouth turning up at the corners. "Besides, after all this time, my students and everyone else may be disappointed with just-" he gestured at his face.

"I think it's a lovely face," Mei said without thinking. She flinched at the bluntness of her own statement and became silent.

Kakashi scratched the back of his head and shrugged in response, ignoring the compliment. They began to walk down the tunnel.

"So, would you like a tour?" Mei asked after a time. "I can show you all of the old haunts."

Kakashi looked at the hanging stone above them warily. "Sure," he said slowly, his mind somewhere else again.

Mei smiled but wondered at his hesitation. She had been feeling much better after lunch, buoyant even, but as soon as the food was packed away it was like Kakashi was hiding himself from her again. It was more than just the mask, there was something else. She held the lantern high before her and led the way.

Mei told stories as they walked through the cave system. They ranged from silly stories about her classmates to Wave Country folk tales. Each time they reached a gorge Mei would make recommendations about which way to go. "If we walk up the wall here then we can connect to another tunnel that leads to 'the crystal room' or we can hop across and go to 'the endless echoes chamber'." She always allowed Kakashi to choose since he was relatively quiet during most of the trek. He let her go on about the time that she and her friends did this or that. For example, one day they had been drinking tea during a school break. One of them had said something funny and Mei spat her tea all over the girl sitting across from her.

"Does it bother you to talk about your classmates?" Kakashi asked suddenly, breaking his ponderous silence. He was looking at the ceiling again. Mei whirled around to face him, her face pale in the lantern light.

His question had cut straight to her heart, and not in a good way. Mei's mood shifted, all of the bubbling joy she'd felt earlier dissipated. "What do you mean by that?" Mei asked, guarded.

Kakashi tore his eyes away from the roof of the segment they were in and looked at her. "You talk about your classmates a lot," he attempted to clarify. "Does it hurt to talk about them?"

Mei bristled, anger welled up inside of her. "What, because I killed them?!"

Kakashi blinked at her, then his eyebrows drew together. His voice was a steely calm, "no, that's not what I-"

"Because I'll have you know Kakashi that I think of them every day! And what am I supposed to do, forget them? Sit at their memorials and cry? No, they were alive and they were people and I will talk about the lives they had before-" She stopped, she was breathing hard. Turning away from him she faced the wall, holding the lantern in front of her, leaving Kakashi in darkness. The temperature dropped several degrees.

This time it was Kakashi's turn to have his hackles raised. The memorial comment had stung. He swallowed the rage down, there was no way she knew how much time he spent at the memorial was there? He tried, "Mei, I was only asking-"

She whirled to face him. The lantern cast a stern glow on her angry features. "You were wondering why the murderess talks about her victims all the time!?" Mei yelled. Her voice echoed off of the walls down the corridor.

"You're not the only one who's killed a friend Mei," Kakashi protested, his voice rising. "And I wasn't-"

"'A friend', 'a friend'?" Mei shouted. "I killed dozens of friends! And you compare a single teammate to killing an entire class, practically every person I knew?!"

Something flashed in Kakashi's eyes and if she hadn't been so worked up, Mei would have been afraid. She barely heard his low voice, much less the words, as it ground out, "don't you ever marginalize Rin's death."

Mei was about to ask what he'd said but shut her mouth. She was hardly going to show weakness now, not when she was so infuriated. Instead she glanced around, remembering where they were, and said, "good luck finding your own way out. You can keep the cloak." She smiled vindictively and vanished. The cave was plunged into darkness.

Hatake Kakashi was not the kind of person who struck out and hit things when he was upset. Despite this the urge to punch the cave wall, not unlike his predecessor, welled within him. He put that thought out of his mind. There was a logical section of his brain that was already working out how to escape from a deep cave, in the dark, without using up all of his chakra. However, the emotional fallout of what had just taken place was still weighing heavily upon him. He sat where he stood and worked on controlling his breathing.

Unbeknownst to the last Hatake, Mei was doing much the same thing. With practiced ease it had taken her mere moments to exit the cave system. Upon reaching fresh air Mei had fallen to her knees. She put her arms around herself as she suppressed a shiver, the cloak offering little comfort.

During the hours in which they had been walking the sun had set. Seeing this, Mei immediately thought of the evening meal they had missed. I hope he starves.

Then a small piece of her relented. Kakashi wasn't known for his chakra reserves and without food… This consideration was shouted down by the indignant thoughts that continued to swirl within her. How dare he imply, she turned to face the cave entrance, wondering how much chakra it would take to fill the entire system with lava. Too much, she concluded. She turned on her heel and stomped away, heading back toward the village.

Emotions churned and plagued her as she headed for the village that had in turns raised her, persecuted her, and followed her. Without realizing it she'd entered the settlement and headed straight for Kaori's apartment. Said woman answered her knock and, after taking one look at Mei asked, "what happened?" Her hazel eyes appraised her critically.

"We had a fight," Mei said briskly. The brief description seemed altogether inadequate but she couldn't think of a better way of saying it. She didn't feel like talking at the moment. There was a sinking feeling in her stomach as she entered upon her friend's invitation.

"About what?" Kaori said settling onto her couch.

"I-" but Mei wasn't sure how to answer that question. She had to think, calm down. She sat down on the sofa next to her friend and held her head in her hands.

"Do you want to spar?"

Mei shook her head.

"Are you hungry?"

Another shake of the head.

"We can talk when you're ready then," the kunoichi said.

Mei nodded in response.

Despite Mei's negative answer, Kaori went into the kitchen and began pulling pots out of her cupboard. It was going to be a long night and they'd need food eventually.

Kakashi stood up. One thing was for sure, he couldn't stay there. His chakra wasn't getting any more plentiful while he moped in a cave.

The Sixth Hokage bit his thumb and put the bloodied hand to the ground. He heard a poof and then Pakkun say, "would you mind turning the lights on boss?"

Kakashi obliged with a low-scale fire jutsu. He saw Pakkun look around quickly as the cave lit up and then devolved into darkness once more.

Even though neither of them could see, Kakashi heard Pakkun's soft paws pad the floor to turn and look at him. Then the pug said, "why are we in a cave? You hate caves."

Kakashi sighed. "Mei brought me down here for a date," he explained.

"Some date," Pakkun scoffed. "You didn't tell her you hate caves, did you?"

"No."

Pakkun left that alone for the time being. "Well where is she then?"

"We argued; she left," Kakashi answered shortly.

"Why didn't you apologize before you got yourself stuck in a cave without a light?" Pakkun asked.

Kakashi clenched his teeth but said nothing. "It would be easiest to walk out the way we came," Kakashi said, steering the conversation toward business. "If we try to find another exit ourselves we could get hopelessly lost."

"Right," Pakkun responded.

"Keep chakra in your feet at all times, we jumped over a lot of ravines to get here. I don't want you falling off of the edge."

"Got it," Pakkun said. "How long did it take you two to walk down to this point?"

There was silence for a time. For a moment Pakkun thought Kakashi wasn't going to answer. Then the ninja said, "I don't know. We meandered for quite awhile."

Pakkun grunted sarcastically, "perfect. How's your chakra level?"

"Fine, but don't expect too much light."

"So let me get this straight," Pakkun said as they continued walking up the cave wall. "You asked her if it bothered her to talk about her classmates? And that didn't raise any red flags for you?"

The pug could practically visualize Kakashi shaking his head. "I was thinking about Rin, and Obito, and Minato-sensei. I have such a hard time talking about them that I was wondering how she does it."

"But you didn't think about how that comment might be taken by her?" Pakkun asked as they leveled out and continued down another tunnel. "She who grew up in the Blood-Mist Village where the graduation exam was a kill or be killed situation?"

"I know it was stupid," Kakashi said exasperated. "But she had no right to talk about Rin like that."

"You're right," Pakkun said. "But you're talking to the wrong person about that. You two need to work this out…or don't."

The idea of leaving things as they were and not seeing Mei again pained Kakashi. Pakkun's implication sat in his stomach like lead. "I don't know if she'll even want to see me," Kakashi said tiredly.

Pakkun paused, sniffing. "I know this is probably the wrong time to ask, but do you have another of those fire jutsu in you? I think we're at a crossroads over a sheer drop."

Kakashi answered by lighting up the area with a fireball. He squinted at their surroundings as the fire went out. "I think this is the way we came in."

"About time," Pakkun said.

The night sky and clear air greeted them as they exited the cave. The stars and moon made night vision a possibility. Kakashi turned to his companion, his eyes adjusting to the low light of the moon. "Thanks Pakkun."

"No problem boss," Pakkun said. As he vanished he said, "now go talk to Mei!"

Kakashi nodded in agreement to the spot where Pakkun had just been. The ninja turned and looked toward the distant village lights. He sighed in discouragement as he forced his weary body to move forward. It had been a long night and was likely to get longer.

Kaori was washing a dish when she heard it. She turned to her friend, confused, but Mei was glaring at the far wall, not looking anywhere near the window. The tapping on the glass continued and finally Kaori threw down her dish towel.

"Well if you aren't going to get it," she said.

"Tell him I don't want to see him," Mei said, frowning. After the talk she and Kaori had had, she was not entirely sure that she was in the right. However, she was still angry and hardly wanted to talk to Kakashi now.

Kaori maneuvered between the curtains and window to open the latter a crack. The kunoichi almost laughed at Kakashi's appearance. He was a little dirty and definitely tired. The overall look could be called rumpled. The expression on his face when someone answered his knock however was nothing short of thankful. Kaori felt a little bad for the Hokage.

Before she could open her mouth Kakashi said, "please Kaori, just let me see her, I know she's here." He edged his fingers forward a bit to hold the window open in case it was slammed on him but at the kunoichi's raised eyebrow he withdrew. He should have known better but he was feeling desperate.

"Nobody here wants to talk to you," Mei shouted from the room beyond.

"Now isn't really a good time Kakashi," Kaori said flatly.

"I just need to talk to her, to apologize," Kakashi said, his eyes pleading. "If I don't, I don't know what will happen. I can't live with that."

Kaori bit her tongue, weighing the consequences of what she wanted to do. Finally her mind simply said, screw it. She slid the window all the way open and somersaulted out onto the overhang where Kakashi was crouched. "Don't make me regret this Hatake," Kaori whispered. She believed, just knew in her heart, that her friend and Kakashi were perfect for each other. So with an almost spotless conscience Kaori took off, jumping from rooftop to rooftop, away from her own apartment.

Kakashi took a breath and then stepped into the flat, closing the window behind him. He drew the curtain away to see Mei seated with her back to him.

Mei turned, "Kaori you tell him-" she stopped as she saw him. Kakashi stood before her attempting to look as unassuming as possible. "What the-" Mei looked to the window and her brow furrowed. "Why that little- I should have known she'd take your side." When Kakashi didn't move she turned her back on him and said, "get out, before I throw you out. I have nothing to say to you."

"Mei, I came here to apologize. If you don't want to hear that then I'll leave." Mei didn't say anything so he continued, "I also have some explaining to do."

This made her turn back to him. "What do you have to explain?" A tension eased in Kakashi's shoulders. She was going to hear him out.

"Did you know that, when I was younger, Rin and I thought that Obito had been crushed to death in a cave?"

Mei mutely shook her head, a frown still on her face. The mental image of Kakashi constantly inspecting the ceiling of the cavern leapt to her mind.

"Rin had been captured," he summarized. "When Obito had convinced me to go back, we found her in a cave. We rescued her but one of the Stone ninja collapsed the whole thing on us. Obito threw me out of the way of a falling rock-" He trailed off and got very quiet.

Mei stood up to face him. "The cave was Kaori's idea. She thinks I need to get you out of your comfort zone more," Mei sighed, annoyed. "I just didn't know how far we were getting."

Kakashi accepted this and continued, "when I asked you what I did, I was thinking about my team. I have such a hard time talking about them that I envied your ability to memorialize them in such a way. I'm sorry. I never meant to imply-"

"I know," Mei cut him off.

Kakashi's brow furrowed, "what?"

Mei sighed. "I know you better, you'd never say that to hurt me." She hugged herself, watching the floor. "I was feeling defensive because I was sharing so many things with you all at once." Darn Kaori and her logic talks. I should have known better than to run to her for an ally. "And you're right about why I talk about my classmates; it's how I remember them," Mei muttered. After a moment Mei continued, "Kaori, thank goodness, was not in the same class as me and we have each other. However, there's no one left around to say, remember when? Thanks to me-" Mei clenched her fist angrily and reigned in her feelings.

Kakashi stepped forward. He wasn't sure what he could do but he had to do something. Mei waved him off, steel in her eyes. "It is my fault but it isn't, same as you. I spend too much time bogging my mind down in the past which I can't change or the present things that I can't control." With that thought she looked up, her tortured visage clearing. "And I never meant to say that your teammates weren't important. I'm so very sorry."

Kakashi accepted this with a solemn nod of his head. "I accept your apology."

Mei took a deep breath and said, "and I, yours." After a moment she looked around the quiet apartment. "So what do we do now?"

"To be honest," Kakashi said slowly. "I'd really like to sit down for a moment."

Mei looked up at him. His hair was ruffled, clothes were dirty, and his eyes were at half-mast with weariness from the day. She blinked, "oh of course. I'm sure Kaori wouldn't mind." She muttered the last part, "since she let you in here in the first place."

Kakashi nodded and removed his cloak. He lowered himself onto the couch, his eyes already closed, reclining gratefully. She sat next to him. When his head started a cycle of slowly tilting forward and then quickly jerking back up, Mei suggested he lay down on the couch with his head in her lap. He mutely agreed, adjusting his position as she'd said. She was surprised at how easy it was to convince him. He must really be tired.

"Did one of your summons help you out?" Mei was feeling a little guilty now about leaving him there. Most ninja, she supposed, could find their way out of the system but some couldn't. Not only that, but they had been deep underground when they'd parted ways. Mei had known a shortcut to the exit from where they'd been but she had left nothing for him to follow back to the surface but their original wandering path.

Kakashi hummed in assent. He was lying there looking so worn and it was her fault. Mei wanted to do something, anything to make him feel better.

The Mizukage worried her lip, reached over, and delicately ran her fingers through Kakashi's hair. She quickly withdrew her hand, waiting for him to protest, to flinch, to do any of the other things Kakashi usually did when she attempted anything resembling physical affection. Much to Mei's surprise, the man she'd been getting to know for weeks now, leaned into the touch.

The woman was shocked for a moment but recovered quickly. She shifted so that she was more comfortably seated. When she ran her fingers through his hair again, Kakashi moved so that his head was easily within her reach. Mei almost laughed but didn't want to jostle him. When she repeated the gesture her companion hummed contentedly. It made her grin at how easy it was. There they were, being physically affectionate for a whole minute in a row and counting!

Mei briefly considered how, years from now, this small triumph would seem ludicrous. But she quickly shuffled the thought away. For now, this was a wonderful moment to be enjoyed; until Kaori came home. Mei frowned at the window. It was her friend's apartment but still, Mei hoped that she would stay away a little longer as each minute passed.

Mei was pretty sure Kakashi had fallen asleep within minutes of lying down. There was a possibility that he'd wake up with a crick in his neck. However, that didn't matter. Not now, not right at that moment. What mattered was that she was playing with his hair and that they'd made up.

When the sun was threatening to make its appearance Kaori returned to her home. What she found was a former Mizukage and former Hokage asleep on her couch. They were slumbering and happy, as far as Kaori could tell anyway. Kakashi was laid out using Mei as a pillow. Mei was leaning into the cushions behind her, head tilted back, hand tangled in silver locks.

Kaori grinned mischievously at her success and closed all of the curtains tightly so that the sun wouldn't wake her friends. Then she whispered, "I'm going to bed. I won't wait up." She slipped off to her bedroom to sleep for what remained of the night.

Mission accomplished.