A/N: Thank you to Thereddqueen and Lovelav2 for the reviews- I really appreciate your kind words and feedback. Thank you to those who are still following along. Things are heating up between Nina and Kakashi, with the fireworks festival three nights away.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of its characters. They belong to Masashi Kishimoto. This story is purely a work of fanfiction.

Chapter 39

As he had anticipated, reducing one of her senses evoked a measure of hesitancy, her hand clamping onto his in a vicelike grip. Blindfolding his date wasn't something he had ever done or needed to however, Nina's wasn't an ordinary date, she was a shinobi, with a keen awareness of her surroundings and ability to predict outcomes with ease.

"Relax, Nina."

His voice was still low but a little lighter, giving her hand a small shake in a bid to loosen her hold.

"I…I'm sorry. I just."

She swallowed, relieving the dryness.

"This is a little different to what I'm used to."

After years of having taken the lead for missions or belting out orders in the hospital, this was certainly unconventional. Although, Kakashi was anything but conventional, and she had no reason not to entrust herself to him, she still felt anxious. She wondered if this was something he had done before, or she was the first, after all, he said he didn't date.

He changed his hold, one hand moving to her hip and the other holding her hand and carefully guided her down the stairs. Not only did he need to blindfold her, it was also important he now disorient her as to not give away the location for their date. Their earlier conversation had given him a perfect means of assisting this; compliments.

They had surveyed the area and she had an accurate recall of the layout of the village, even if she was blindfolded. Her other senses were in overdrive, compensating for her lack of sight, her nose was filled with an array of smells and she could hear the multitude of conversations going on around her.

"Thank you for wearing your hair down."

"You asked so kindly, I thought it would be rude not to."

Pulling them to a stop and letting her go completely.

He was no longer holding her, and she knew they were in the main street, two blocks up from the inn, because she could smell the stall with all the incense and the… the flower stall. There was a small weight on her head, followed by the grazing of his knuckles against her cheek. Cautiously, she reached up to feel for what had been set on her head, a flower crown.

"Pink lilies, right?"

"Sorry?"

"They're your favourite, yes?"

"Yes."

"Good."

He gently plucked a few ringlets out from under the material and let them fall loosely on her face. The vibrant shade of pink of the flowers coordinated wonderfully with her brunette hair and emerald green skirt, and the flush of her cheeks was a remarkably similar colour.

It was in the same hushed tone as the other morning, and it had caught him off guard, again.

"Thank you."

Apprehensively, she reached up to where his fingers were still entangled in her ringlets and laid her hand over the top of his. Normally she would have expected to come against the coldness of the metal plate on his fingerless gloves, instead they were bare of even bindings. The soft puffs of his breath skimmed her forehead, indicating he was standing in very close proximity so, she lifted her other hand, running her fingers over his torso to his chest, where she pressed them in deeper.

Responding to her touch, his fingertips sank into her hip.

There was minor irregularity to his usual steady pulse suddenly, he pulled back, holding her to his side and they started walking again. She had lost her sense of direction and was unsure where they were in the village. Had that been on purpose? If it had been, what was with his heart rate?

The flower crown had been somewhat of a whim. He had watched her gift it away to the little girl but, like her long her hair he had quite liked how she looked whilst wearing it and figured their date was as good as any reason to get her another one. What he hadn't expected was… well whatever that was, happening. Come to think of it, the air had become as thick as it had yesterday in the kitchen of the orphanage.

Something had changed or was changing. No, it couldn't. Tsunade had warned him, but now he was warning himself. Tonight, is just a training exercise but then there was his earlier offer. Just a whim. Just a training exercise. Just a mission.

The material fell away from her eyes, tucking it into a pocket revealing a dimly, candle lit picnic in the clearing the had sparred in earlier. He let her take it in for a moment before holding his hand out to guide her down to the rug.

"Is something wrong?"

It was simple but beautiful, and she appreciated that it was secluded. She contemplated if Kakashi had spoken to Jiraiya at some point recently, given he had been the only one Nina had discussed such details with. However, other than this afternoon they had spent all their time together, so it was likely it was just a coincidence.

Sentimental and a closet romantic, Kakashi Hatake… she realised she had been standing there silently for too long when he took a step closer.

"No, not at all. This is perfect."

He glanced at the picnic and back to her.

"We've only just arrived."

She grabbed his hand and let herself be led down to the rug where she gracefully sat.

Admittedly, he was relieved to hear her say it was perfect. It was becoming very apparent in quite several cases their preferences were similar. Regardless of her horror track record, she'd still dated, but he assumed most had taken place in the typical places like restaurants, subject to onlookers and nosy bodies. He wasn't a fan of public scrutiny although, she was well acquainted with the public due to her hospital duties, he felt she would prefer something a little more private, and simple, so he opted for a picnic, hidden away on the outskirts of the town. Of course, it was still a date and stood to reason this would be the first respectable one for Nina, so it still needed to be romantic, queue candles.

"Sake?"

"Yes please."

He gave her a cup, picking up the bottle of sake he turned to see the slight jittering of her hand. She was nervous, understandably; he was too, somewhat.

"Here."

He folded his hand over hers, instantly steadying the shaking, and he filled her cup, followed by his.

"Thanks."

He clipped his cup to hers and took a sip through his mask; something he'd become accustomed to, rather than having to constantly remove it.

Something stirred in the pit of his stomach, as his eyes traced over the woman in front of him. From the top of her head where the flower crown sat, down along her long, untamed locks of hair that fell effortlessly over her bare shoulders and stopped just before reaching her knees. She stiffened as he lent in to smooth one side of her hair behind her ear, revealing one of the gold hoop earrings, which matched the gold bangle. He dropped his hand finding hers to run his thumb over the back of her knuckles, watching the flickering candlelight reflecting in the depths of her dark brown eyes.

The silence of their moment was abruptly interrupted by Nina's growling stomach.

"Well then, I think it's time to eat."

They both gave in to the laughter as Kakashi set out a bountiful spread of foods from the basket.