"Man you guys took forever," Naruto whined as he took the bag offered to him by Hazel Marie and hurried over to the table to dig into his food.
"Early morning risers crowded the restaurant," Hazel Marie shrugged, still amused that Kakashi was covered in the remnants of her hot chocolate. "Someone was in such a rush that they spilt their drink all over Kakashi."
"I thought it was your fault with all your clumsiness," Kakashi countered with a fake frown as he glanced down at her and she felt her stomach do a flip at the intensity of his eyes.
"Well, it doesn't matter whose fault it is. The boat will be arriving at noon so we all should shower and get packed," Sakura spoke as she pulled her food out of the second bag while Naruto had already scarfed two of the four bowls of ramen that Hazel Marie had gotten for him. "It really is a good thing that this mission isn't time sensitive considering we have been gone for almost two weeks now."
"It starting to get to you too?" Hazel Marie asked as she leaned against the counter, a teriyaki chicken bento box beside her as she started to eat. Kakashi sat beside Naruto and started eating some eggplant miso soup, not even giving a glimpse of his face to the two oblivious teammates. "I honestly thought I was the only one going crazy sitting around in a random village waiting for a stupid boat."
"How long is the boat ride?" Naruto asked through a mouthful of noodles.
"It's only half a day's ride, " Kakashi spoke calmly, his food already finished and headed towards the room that she had been sleeping in. Both Naruto and Kakashi were on the couches during the night, though usually Kakashi came in and talked with her until she fell asleep. "I'm going to go clean up."
"Wait, I was going to use that shower!" Hazel Marie whined as she ran after him as he laughed and disappeared into the room.
"Did we miss something?" Hazel heard Naruto ask as she closed the bedroom door and paused in surprise. She hadn't even noticed that her behavior was changing slowly around Kakashi.
"You have a lot to learn," Sakura responded. "They are really close friends. Kakashi has been helping Haze since day one. It's only natural that they act so odd at times."
"But they act like Asuna and Kurenai at times…"
"That's silly. Asuna and Kurenai are married. It's highly inappropriate for teammates to have relationships since it conflicts missions. There's also the fact that a student-teacher relationship is taboo and if that were a thing then Lady Tsunade would have split up the team…"
"Haze?" Kakashi came out of the bathroom and she heard the shower running. She looked over at him and felt her face go red as he came out in only his pants.
"What are you doing?" Hazel Marie asked, walking over to her things and started going through them.
"Forgot my clothes in racing to the bathroom," he shrugged. "You okay?"
"Yeah, I'm good. My stomach isn't quite sure it's happy with the food," she lied easily, trying her best to not drool at Kakashi as he pulled his clothes out.
"Do you want the bathroom first?" Kakashi asked, as he put down his clothes and came over to her and touched her forehead.
"I'm fine Kashi," Hazel Marie chuckled as she tried to push him away but her hands hit his bare abs and felt him flinch under her touch. She jerked her hands away instantly, her cheeks warm and sat on the edge of the bed. "Sorry…"
"What's wrong with you?" Kakashi pulled her to her feet in front of him and took her face in his hand, making her look at him.
"Besides the fact that you're half-naked?" Hazel Marie blushed before she could stop herself. "That was inappropriate, sorry. I just feel like I need to maybe try to take a small nap. You know, sleep off the nausea…"
"Why don't you ask Sakura to help?"
"Because I don't like having to rely on chakra for everything. It's just an upset stomach. I am in a whole different culture for food, it's no surprise that my body doesn't like how some things are made," Hazel Marie spoke as she tried to step away from the half-naked silver-haired bastard that was making her entire head go blank and stomach do flips.
She really didn't understand why suddenly she felt different about him, and she couldn't explain the feelings either. She had never felt so strongly about anyone and never really learned about what most emotions felt like. She felt sick to her stomach, but it definitely was not from something she ate. She felt slightly nauseous every time these feelings occurred and he was not making it any easier to figure out what she was feeling.
"Haze," Kakashi frowned as he covered the distance between them and wrapped his arms around her.
"No!" Hazel Marie felt her entire body go cold and start shaking as she pulled away from Kakashi and dashed into the bathroom, locking the door behind her. Her body was sending her so many mixed emotions of comfort as well as fear due to memories of years ago.
"Haze?" Kakashi knocked on the door as he tried to turn the handle.
"Please don't come in," she groaned as she sat on the floor against the door in case he decided to try and pick the lock. There had been only one other time that she had come in contact with the bare skin of anyone and it had not been willing. Images that she had repressed flooded into her mind and she felt as if someone was strangling her...
Kakashi tried to turn the handle again as he could hear Hazel Marie gasping for air. He grabbed his lock pick from his bag and unlocked the door and felt resistance as he tried to open it. Realizing that she had been leaning against the door, he worked his way into the bathroom without hurting her. After her weight made the door close again, he knelt before her and assessed her.
Her hands were wrapped tightly around her waist while she laid curled up against the door, her eyes unfocused and rapidly moving as if she was having a nightmare. He made a move to touch her arm when her body convulsed and arched backwards and a broken scream escaped her slightly open lips. Not able to sit by while she seemed trapped in her own mind, he reached forward and wrapped his arms around her. Her body started to thrash against him as tears started falling down her cheeks.
He mirrored her arms with his and wrapped his hands around hers so that she wouldn't hurt herself and tucked his face against her neck. He felt her body pulsing against him as her heart raced erratically and felt his own jump as he felt her chakra start reacting to what memories she was trapped in. Her wind chakra moved around them violently but did not disturb anything in the bathroom.
He started humming a random tune that came to mind and felt her respond slightly to the vibrations against her neck. He tried to ignore the violent wind around them but felt it start slashing his bare skin and the metallic smell of blood filled his sensitive nose from the shallow cuts. Rocking her against his body, he continued the random tune while gently rubbing her hands with his own.
After close to an hour, she finally stopped fighting him and her chakra dissipated as her body went almost completely limp in his arms. He continued to hum even though the tune seemed made up and didn't really go together well, but it seemed to be having the desired effect in helping calm Hazel Marie down. Kakashi felt her hands pull against his and he let her, knowing that the worst of this episode was over, and she hugged his arms closer.
"I'm… so sorry…" her voice finally broke the silence and he stopped humming and held her as close as he could.
"It wasn't your fault," Kakashi spoke quietly. "It's okay Haze, you have nothing to apologize for."
"But…"
"You don't need to explain to me what happened. I understand some of what has happened to you in the past and I am sorry if it was my carelessness that caused this episode," Kakashi whispered, nuzzling her neck. "I've made some uncalled for comments since you first arrived about lack of contact and I am so sorry. It is not right to even joke about that kind of thing."
"I'm broken…" she whispered back, her voice breaking as if she was ready to cry.
"No." Kakashi shifted Hazel Marie around in his lap and pulled one of his hands away so that he could make her look at him. Wiping the tears away, he rested his forehead against hers and slid his hand to her neck to hold her there. "You are the strongest person I know. I made a promise to you Haze and I won't break it as long as I am able to. I won't let you fall."
"Why...?" Tears streamed down her cheeks as she started at him.
"Because I care about you Haze," he whispered honestly. "As long as you would let me, I will never leave your side. Use me as much as you need for anything and I literally mean that. Whether it's comfort, someone to hit when you're angry… anything."
"Kashi..." she started to smile despite her tears before she frowned and pulled back from him. "I smell blood."
"Don't worry about them, Haze, they are shallow."
"I hurt you..."
"It's okay," Kakashi spoke gently as he held her face in his hands. "Everything is fine Haze."
"If you say so," she sighed quiet and brought a hand up to cover his as she closed her eyes.
Kakashi smiled at this and rested his head on top of hers. He wrapped his arms around her gently and she buried her face against his neck as she wrapped her arms around him as well. He felt her arms tighten as she breathed in deeply, knowing that she was still chasing away past memories.