28.
Inari paused. She stared at the wood of Kakashi's door and breathed in deep. Inari had never made the habit of house calls. She shuffled the bag of take-away boxes and re-evaluated her decision. Kurenai had made it all too clear a week ago that Inari was being unfair to Kakashi without her knowledge, she had agreed as he had that they had changed and would have to once again learn the other, that and she did still owe him a meal. Nodding calmly Inari scanned the hallway for any sign of Guy before knocking on Kakashi's door.
There was the sound of muffled noise inside before it swung open. Inari looked patiently into empty space before the clearing of a throat redirected her attention downwards. A Pug dog sat near her feet, face creased under heavy layers of wrinkles and a bored droop about the eyes. Bandages wrapped around its legs, some thin material jacket at its back and Konoha headband between brown limp ears. A nin dog.
"Yes?" he drawled in a voice that was surprisingly deep considering his tiny frame.
Inari blinked then presented the food.
"Kakashi-san, the food you ordered is here," the Pug called into the apartment.
"I'm not a delivery girl," Inari said, shifting the bag to allow the Pug a clear view of the Konoha headband tied to her Obi, "I owe Kakashi-chan a meal."
The Pug looked her up and down for a moment before sighing as if Inari had done some massive inconvenient injustice.
"He's in the shower, wait here and I'll go get him," he said, "who should I say is here?"
"Inari," she replied in her usual clear and calm tone, "but if he's busy I'll just leave the food."
"Pakkun," the Pug, now identified as Pakkun, replied then eyed the bag of food clearly debating Inari's offer, "just wait here I'll be back in a minute."
Inari nodded and Pakkun disappeared into a door on the left. Inari found it odd being in an apartment that had the same layout as her own yet managed to appear almost completely different. Kakashi's decorations were scarce but modest and homely all the same, the furniture wasn't expensive, the paint wasn't flashy and everything just oozed something so lived-in that Inari found it's cosiness soothing. She didn't snoop, only shut the door gently behind her and waited by the shoe rack for Pakkun to return. The sound of the shower's drone cut off then the shuffling of feet before drawers were opening and the shuffling continued.
Pakkun trotted lazily into view.
"He says he'll be out in a minute," he sat near Inari's feet again; "you might as well come in."
Inari nodded and removed her shinobi sandals before carefully placing them in the shoe rack. She had forgone her chest guard today only stopping as she was in the process of latching the moulded material about her waist when she realised she wouldn't be needing it.
"What did you buy?" Pakkun asked as Inari calmly followed him towards the table at the centre of Kakashi's living room. In reply she gently placed the bag on the pine wood and began pulling boxes free. Pakkun sniffed at each box individually before passing judgment with either a nod of praise or a grimace. Inari felt as though she was meeting a fiancée's parent for the first time which was beyond bizarre considering it was Kakashi she was calling on and Kakashi's nin dog she was being scrutinised by. Despite this Inari still maintained her habitual sense of tranquil silence even as Pakkun sat back on his haunches and stared at her.
"I haven't met you before," he stated.
Inari nodded but offered no further information.
"Kakashi-san doesn't get many visitors," Pakkun said suspiciously eyeing Inari.
"He doesn't?" Inari's eyebrows creased. She knew Kakashi was still a very private person but had expected that his laid-back attitude would earn him at least a couple of followers. Then again after speaking with Takana (who at the moment seemed intent on marrying her off to his restaurant owning grandson and therefore steering her away from anything else that even vaguely resembled male) Kakashi was viewed as a bit of an oddball, a well-liked and well respected oddball but an oddball nonetheless. Inari supposed that Kakashi's taste for socially grey zoned fiction, the blunt way in which he spoke regarding sensitive matters and his insistence for covering his face were likely causes without even taking into account his unusual sense of humour. 'Then again Kakashi is very han-'Inari's train of thought broke as Kakashi emerged from the door Pakkun had disappeared into earlier.
"Yo Inari-chan," Kakashi's eyes crinkled up into crescents. Both his eyes. Inari' eyes lingered on the vertical scar running through his right eye and the crimson pool of the sharigan. She had heard of everything years before, Kakashi's new title the Copy Nin couldn't be explained without the circumstances behind it but she had never voiced her knowledge of Obito and Rin's deaths to Kakashi. They were his tragedies and he could speak of them as he willed. After eight years of separation from her former teammates Inari knew only an ounce of how their absence could bite; but to look in the mirror every day and see the eyes of a lost friend looking back at you...
Inari diverted her gaze. She noted Kakashi's interpretation of casual wear consisted of a sleeveless black, tightfitting garment that included mask that he usually wore and loose, billowy trousers. The upper garment insured that Kakashi's lean muscled arms were on display and as Inari watched the round bulge of one shoulder dip and curve into the smooth muscle underneath she wondered if Pakkun was correct about Kakashi not receiving many visitors.
"Hello, Kakashi-chan," Inari smiled.
Kakashi made his way over to the table laden with takeaway boxes where Inari and Pakkun sat before folding himself down opposite Inari.
"I believe I owed you a meal," Inari smiled, nodding towards the now open steaming boxes.
"And I believe I owed you your innocence," Kaskashi winked.
Inari sighed, "alas I am destined to be a, what did Guy call it? A hip and trendy predator with ridiculous and stylish hair?"
"Yeah," Kakashi nodded, smiling to himself, "that was it."
Kakashi reached over towards one of the takeaway boxes and placed it in front of him. He and Inari said their thanks then Kakashi paused.
"You can take off your mask," Inari said sipping at her soup, "I promise I won't look."
Kakashi glanced up from the box of chow mien he'd been peering into. This was why he generally avoided people eating at his home, he couldn't remember the last time he had removed his mask in front of company and others watching him eat waiting for a peek at whatever he covered was generally amusing but sometimes he just wanted to eat.
"You can take off your mask," Inari said then sipped delicately at her bowl of soup, "I promise I won't look."
Kakashi had never known Inari to break a promise. Her almost religious sanctity on the bonds meant that you had to be careful to not only remember what you'd promised her but also keep it too lest you face the wrath of a completely furious Inari. And no one wanted to deal with that, even Kakashi admitted Inari was daunting when she really lost it. If Inari promised she would not look he was secure in the belief that she would not look. But…Kakashi's finger's brushed against the top of his mask. He kept his eyes trained on Inari, head bowed over her food and that ever present tranquil silence surrounding her. Her shields were down, Kakashi noted, the taut pull of her shoulders no longer present and her impression of the food flickering across the soft features of her face as if she had voiced them. She trusted him with this; he should trust her in return. Slowly Kakashi pulled his mask down but kept a grip on it prepared to yank it back up should Inari raise her head. Five minutes passed and Inari continued to quietly eat her meal across from him. Kakashi relaxed his fingers and set about eating his.
"I have a fanclub," Inari said, eyes still trained on her food not even flickering towards his unmasked face.
"Hrmmm?" Kakashi looked lazily across at her but then remembered she was being careful not to look at him.
Inari seemed to receive his message all the same and nodded, "it only has two members but Guy made T-shirts and key rings regardless. He seems to be quite skilled at felt crafts," Inari's face lapsed into a thoughtful expression, "I don't know whether to be flattered or disturbing."
"I think a bit of both his healthy," Kakashi answered in his lackadaisical tone, "considering Guy's enthusiasm I wouldn't put kidnapping and forced makeovers past him."
Inari's eyes widened in fear and Kakashi chuckled.
"You'll be Little Miss Might Guy," his eyes crinkled into crescents, teeth eased into show as he smiled and Inari paled. The image of herself with the identical haircut and outfight as the magnificent green beast of Konoha or more disturbingly Guy , the magnificent green beast himself, squeezed into a frilly Lolita dress was enough to seriously distress anyone.
There was something so mundane about sitting here with her eating a meal and talking about everyday things (well, everyday things when you lived in the same apartment building as Might Guy) that put Kakashi at a strange sense of ease. As a shinobi your world is constantly teetering on the thin line, never settling, never relaxing and never stopping until you've pulled in those last gasping breaths on a battlefield somewhere. But this little bubble that Inari had enveloped about him was so refreshingly…normal. She was still speaking to him about the recipes she'd tried, techniques she'd seen or heard of, the cinema they were building five streets from where they lived and the people they both cared for and Kakashi appreciated that she never spoke so much and so freely when she was with the others, not even Kurenai. It had only been when they were in the library together and now, right this moment after erecting an impassive wall between her and him for months she was speaking freely to him again. Something inside Kakashi felt so calm, a peace he hadn't experienced in years. He smiled, he couldn't help himself.
"Kakashi-chan, are you okay? You've gone quiet." Inari asked.
"Yeah, I'm fine," Kakashi scratched at the back of his head nervously and was thankful that Inari was continuing to keep her gaze away from his naked face since her catching him smiling at her seemed embarrassing. Pakkun raised one brow then rolled his eyes but Inari obviously missed both gestures. Kakashi gave him one blank faced stare and Pakkun leaned back as if to say 'this is your business'.
"Er, I was thinking that maybe…" Inari grew quiet before pulling a small book bound in indigo leather, the pages yellowing slightly from age and the title inscribed in silver along the spine. She slid it across the table and Kakashi reached out to catch it. The leather was warm in his hands from where Inari had smuggled it away in her Obi.
"It's the first of those books I told you about," Inari spoke, her voice losing that clear, crispness ever so slightly and something softer and more hesitating edging in, "there's nothing Itcha Itcha in it but.."
"Thanks," Kakashi answered as Inari lulled in silence.
"No, Itcha Itcha huh?" Kakashi sighed heavily, "but I bet there's plenty of hair sniffing."
"Just don't lose it," Inari chuckled.
"I promise I won't."
a/n:
Ah, sorry this update is later than usual there's a problem at work that's caused a massive headache and I'm at fault so needless to say, not a good morning. Once again hope Kakashi isn't OOC and this manages to make someone feel good. After watching the Hanare episode and just reading through some Kakashi scenes I don't know why but I just thought something cosy and comforting might appeal to him since being a ninja is a life and death occupation and well...that's just my opinion. Sorry, don't really know what to say I'd go into detail but I feel really bummed at the moment.
Thanks for reading
