Short side-note:
I have rewritten a short part from this chapter (the scene just before Gai comes over), because I was not satisfied with the result and could not just ignore it.
Ramen.
Kakashi had to stop himself from rolling his eyes at the irony of the situation. Of course, Naruto would want to eat ramen for lunch, the fishcakes had to have replaced his red blood cells by now. It literally was in his blood to like the dish.
The boy was skipping next to them with the green scarf the young traveller had given him wrapped around his neck and shoulders, lightly swaying with his movements.
While the jonin pushed his friend towards Ichiraku's, Venna was asking the child about his week, how school with Iruka went, and which ramen he liked the most.
With a very loud "Miso with extra pork!" and a very happy expression Naruto started a short lecture on why ramen was the food of the gods and which instant ramen to avoid.
The young woman listened attentively, silently questioning how the boy could eat so much of his favourite dish, but with the things Venna knew about the boy's parents, his background and Konoha's treatment of him, she did not have to think for long.
Naruto was beaming at the kind woman, who actually listened to his words and would not only hum at appropriate moments or tried to cut him short. She even invited him to eat with them and let him chose where to go.
The boy was so glad he had not run away again but stayed near the store entrance!
Blue eyes often wandered further up to the shinobi pushing the nice lady. Naruto did not know how to categorise the man yet. He was not as open or friendly as his female friend was, but at the same time the shinobi had only ignored him. The blonde Uzumaki placed this in the grey area between nice and mean.
The shinobi had also noticed Naruto when he started to follow the couple, but he was not chased away like everyone else always did. The man irritated him.
And he was strange looking!
Why was the man wearing a mask and his headband over his left eye? Was he trying to be mysterious?
The girls in Naruto's class always said that Sasuke was cold and mysterious, and they seemed to like that about the dark-haired boy. Even more after his clan died and Sasuke became colder and trained more.
So, did the lady like the shinobi for his cold and mysterious behaviour?
Girls were strange, Naruto once again decided with a small frown.
"Here we are," the silver-haired shinobi commented with a low voice to gain Venna's attention. The young woman had been talking with Naruto through the time they needed to reach Ichiraku's, and now she looked up at the small establishment.
Green eyes took in all the small details of the building with interest, while she allowed Kakashi to push them 'inside'.
When said eyes noticed the stools and high counter, Venna's happy expression fell of her face and she gave the furniture an unhappy glance.
"One sec'," Kakashi mumbled before he carefully picked his friend up and sat her on one of the stools. The metal vehicle was parked in the corner next to the jonin, while Naruto quickly climbed up the free seat to Venna's left and yelled: "Two miso ramen, please!"
His eyes were sparkling with joyful anticipation, when the kind, old man Teuchi welcomed his loyal customer.
"Ah, Naruto-kun! Ayame-chan already asked me when we would see you again! You have brought company, huh?"
The man gave the shinobi and woman a kind smile, but his eyes clearly sized them up.
"Uh-huh! I was asked to join them for lunch and I could even chose where to eat! Thanks again, lady!" a big grin was directed at the young woman, who replied with a soft smile of her own and an even softer pat on the boy's head, caressing his hair for a moment.
"You are very welcome, sweetheart."
Teuchi had only seen the Third and Iruka-sensei be so kind to the blonde child before, but the honest attitude pleased the ramen establishment owner.
If he remembered correctly, a few old gossip vultures had dropped the rumour about a new face in Konoha beating on of the store owners from the main street up for being rude to Naruto. Their words had been less kind in their tale, of course.
"What would you like to eat, miss, Hatake-san?"
Venna looked up at the menu, but she had no idea what a miso-flavour was, or how ramen tasted in general. Scratching her chin in thought, she glanced at Kakashi, who had already ordered his dish with eggplant.
"Kakashi, which one do you think I would like?"
Her friend let his eye wander over the menu again with a thoughtful hum.
"Try beef ramen. You should like that one, and you can try mine, too."
She gave a quick nod, before facing the man across from them again.
"Then I'd like to try the beef ramen, please."
"You never had ramen before?!"
Naruto's cry was one of horror, and round, blue eyes looked up at the young traveller as if he was seeing something that did not exist.
"Ah, not really, no?" Venna gave him a clueless look, not too sure how to react to the boy's shock. Was ramen a national dish? No, Kakashi never really mentioned it before if it wasn't in combination with Naruto's mother. Could food preferences be transmitted by DNA?
"But how? Ramen is so- It is- It is ramen!"
The blonde boy had some difficulty finding the right words to express the greatness of his most favourite food ever, wildly gesticulating with his limbs. How could you describe the heavenly flavours of ramen without having tasted them?
"How did you survive without ramen until now? No wonder you are still sick!"
Kakashi's dark eye shot to the blonde boy at his last comment. How was this the son of his sensei? Well, he might only have gotten his looks from his father, the rest was too similar to Kushina.
The light laugh of Venna redirected the shinobi's attention to his friend, who ruffled Naruto's hair affectionately with a grin.
"Well, maybe you just solved the mystery to why my recovery takes so long, hm?"
Naruto gave a strong nod, convinced this had to be it. The shinobi sighed with the light shake of his head, but he managed an eye-smile.
"I guess we will have to buy some instant ramen on our way back then since we now know which are the best brands."
This did not only gain him a big smile and the squeeze of his hand from Venna, but also an approving look from his old sensei's son. Did the boy seriously expect the copy-ninja to just overhear Naruto, when he had shared his wisdom about instant ramen? He could never be that cruel, rules or not.
Teuchi served his customers their food and with a kind smile he turned around to clean his utensils.
Naruto quickly said his prayers for his food, before he was already nose-deep in his first bowl of ramen, shovelling noodles into his mouth like a champion.
Kakashi held out a portion of his dish for Venna to try before he did his usual routine of eating at lightspeed for no one to see his face.
Then he noticed the hesitant gaze Venna threw at the chopsticks. Oh, yeah.
Before he could ask Teuchi for a spoon, Naruto beat him to a comment, though.
"Don't you want to eat?" His expression was one of irritation, clearly not understanding how others could let their noodles get soggy.
"Uhm," the young woman gave her friend a short side glance, before she faced the blonde boy. "You have noticed that I have to use a wheelchair, right?"
Naruto nodded obediently.
"Well, I was very sick, so now I have to re-learn many things. One of them is walking, because my legs are too weak to hold me up. I lack many different muscles in my body, so I am very bad at using chopsticks right now. It makes me a messy eater because I have the problem that I don't get the right grip on them."
Venna's voice was soft and clear, while she explained to the boy what was going on. Kakashi had never seen her teach before, but he was sure this had to be her teacher-voice.
"Ooh," the blonde Uzumaki said loudly at the revelation with wide eyes, which wandered over her thin frame to her legs and up her arms to her bowl of ramen.
"I can show you how to hold them if you want."
The elite shinobi was about to explain that what Venna needed was practise not a demonstration, but the lightest kick against his shin stopped him from talking.
Looking down in surprise, Kakashi observed Venna's right leg swing around. Had she just kicked him?! More importantly, she had been able to move her leg a bit more than yesterday!
"I would be very grateful for your help, Naruto," the young woman accepted his offer with a smile and she did her best to mimic his small hands, when they were excitedly pushed up at her face to show the correct hold.
With slow, unsteady movements, Venna managed to pick up a few noodles, but they slipped out of her grasp just before she could eat them.
Disappointment filled her eyes when they went down to the spilled food on the counter.
"Damn it," she muttered under her breath.
"Hm," Naruto dragged the sound out and tipped his index finger against his chin, before an imaginary lightbulb lighted up. "I got it!"
He quickly started to search through the pockets of his orange clothes until he pulled out an elastic band from between a blue button, a pretty pebble, and a few ryo.
Taking Venna's chopsticks, the boy wrapped the item around the ends of the utensils in the form of an eight.
"Here. This should help you steady them!"
The young woman accepted the wooden sticks back and tried eating once again. With the elastic band keeping the chopsticks together, she managed to eat without losing half the food on the way to her mouth.
"What a great idea, Naruto! You are such a great helper," the young woman praised the boy, whose chest clearly swelled with pride. "Where did you get this idea?"
"Oh, I often watch other people and once I saw a family eat together. The girl had the same problem you have and her father did this, so I thought I could try the same thing."
Venna smiled, but her eyes adopted a sad expression. Ruffling his hair again, she praised the boy some more for his help and genius thinking.
Hearing the boy's short explanation was just another kick to Kakashi's heart. Kami, life certainly was not fair, but could it not be a bit nicer to Naruto? The blonde boy never did anything to deserve this harsh life and simply being born was no crime.
Observing his friend interact with Naruto, the man could see where her inspiration to work with children came from: she was a natural, her personality open and making it easy to feel welcome around her.
The way she talked with the boy, not underestimating his abilities and mental development while still explaining words he did not understand with patience and great examples.
After everyone had finished their bowl(s) of ramen, Kakashi helped his friend back into her wheelchair and then paid for the three of them afterwards, which earned him an unintentional plus in Naruto's book.
The boy still kept more distance to the shinobi than to the nice lady, but he did not seem to be a bad guy either.
"Hmm, I think I crave mochi. Would you like to get some, honey?" When Naruto did not react to her words, Venna lightly nudged his side.
"Hm?" Blue eyes looked up at her, obviously caught off guard.
"I was asking if you want to get some mochi with us," the young woman repeated patiently.
"Oh. I thought you were talking with him," the boy pointed at Kakashi, who once again pushed the metal steed – Naruto did not get how the lady could tell the wheelchair to be female, though.
"Why is that?"
"You said 'honey'. Couples often give each other names like that, right?"
"Ah," the traveller made an understanding sound and rubbed the back of her neck. "Kakashi and I are not together like that. I was talking to you."
"But you only use his first name without a suffix, lady." The confused expression on the boy's face made the woman chuckle.
"She tends to do that, yes. Venna has to learn about the proper rules on how to address people, just like the ability to eat and walk," Kakashi entered the conversation suddenly.
Two pairs of eyes went up to him, blue ones not having expected him to, the other with a joyful sparkle in green eyes.
"Look who is talking. You do that, too, mister! You only call her Venna all the time. Seems to me, you don't know the rules, either!" Naruto pointed a finger at the man and called him out on his behaviour. The copy-ninja shrugged his shoulders with a bored expression.
"Kakashi knows the rules, sweetheart, he just decides to bend or ignore them to his will."
"So, I can just do that, too?" Naruto was interested now, unconsciously stepping closer to his company.
"No," the shinobi said in a flat tone, causing him to get a pointed look from his friend.
"What he is trying to say is you have to be a respected and strong ninja before you can think about forgetting your manners sometimes," Venna quickly gave a false explanation.
"You are a strong?"
The doubt in Naruto's voice caused the woman to laugh out loudly and she patted the blonde's head.
"I am," Kakashi deemed as a good-enough reply.
"Could have fooled me there." The little Uzumaki crossed his arms behind his head, clearly unimpressed. Venna snorted out another laughter at the blonde's sass.
"Now, now. Don't be rude, sweety. Kakashi is one of the best shinobi in Konoha, after all."
The words coming from the woman found more credit with Naruto than those of the jonin did.
"Not only in Konoha," Kakashi grumbled under his breath, his ego a little bit offended with the boy's behaviour towards him. A shinobi had his pride.
Soft hands caressed his for a moment and Venna looked up with a good-natured grin.
"Of course, you are one of the best shinobi all around the world, darling," she said teasingly.
"I miss the old times when you showed me some respect," the man lightly flicked his fingers against her head.
Venna gave her friend a bright smile and chuckled while rubbing her forehead.
Not only had Naruto managed to get a few words out of Kakashi, the man also managed to relax enough to interact with them how he normally did with her.
Whether or not he was aware of this fact, the young woman did not know nor did she really care for it. She just enjoyed the nice conversation and the amused giggles the blonde boy made at the verbal forth and back.
They walked through the streets to get mochi, when some people started to notice just who was making up the trio.
Most disapproving glares stayed away though, because who in their right mind would try something funny, when Hatake Kakashi was around?
Naruto was stepping closer to Venna, his fingers nervously playing with the long sleeve of the shirt she was wearing. He noticed the unusual lack of mean words and glares as soon as the civilians looked somewhere next to the boy.
Following their eyes, blue ones met a dark one with a bored expression. The shinobi, Kakashi, was looking down at him with his irritating attitude, before his eye went up towards the pedestrians again.
Was the man scaring the people off?
His mouth forming an 'o', while Naruto reminded himself of Venna's words. 'Kakashi is one of the best shinobi in Konoha' she had said.
When a warm touch engulfed his hand, the boy looked at the thin one covering his and he followed the arm up to the lady's face. Her features were more tense than before, but her eyes were just as open and affectionate as they had been the whole time.
"Let them come and try something. I have another bag with me," a light grin played around her lips when she referred to their first meeting and a mischievous gleam entered Naruto's eyes.
He had silently celebrated the scene of the mean old shop owner getting hit over and over again with her bag, while his stupid broom hadn't protected him.
"You are not beating up more people," scolded Kakashi, before they reached the shop. Another building with two steps at the entrance. A gloved index finger pointed at his companions.
"I'll go get your food, you try not to start a fight, an argument, or move from your spot. Both of you!"
"Yes, dad," Venna said with a mocking salute, which amused Naruto, but the boy did not dare to copy her. He just nodded, not keen on being shoved or hit with a broom again.
As soon as the shinobi had disappeared into the store, Venna decided to use the moment of privacy and she turned to the young boy, who still had an iron grip on her shirt.
"Naruto, listen here for a moment," the young woman said in a low voice. She tugged on the green scarf to be sure it was keeping the boy warm.
"Whenever you are alone or need someone to talk to, you are welcome to visit me, okay? Kakashi might not seem like it, but I am sure he thinks the same way."
"Really," the breathless word was asked after a moment of silence.
Huge blue eyes looked slightly up at her, disbelief slowly replaced by joyous gratitude, and Naruto dared to believe those words.
Venna might be bending the rules with her offer there, but the Hokage had not mentioned anything about Naruto seeking her out. It was only about her not actively looking for the boy.
When Kakashi came back with the desired treat, two very happy people smiled up at him, causing the man to immediately check the area and frown.
What had he missed?
Greedy hands pulled the mochi out of his hands and the shinobi watched the woman and child like he was feeding some wild animals.
Pleased sounds escaped their stuffed mouths, while Naruto even managed to resemble a hamster with one mochi in each cheek.
Not knowing how much leeway the Third could give them, Kakashi was uncertain how long Venna would be allowed to spend time with the walking ray of sunshine. The shinobi did not want to overplay their hand in this matter.
The copy-ninja allowed himself to just observe for the time it took Venna and Naruto to inhale the sweets, but when he watched the young woman clean the boy's mouth with a tissue, he had to be the bad guy.
"Venna, we have to go now. Say your farewell." Green eyes met his dark one with a sad expression, but the woman knew why he was saying those words.
A very disappointed Naruto was looking between the two adults, clearly hoping for them to have more free time for him.
Venna had to bite her lower lip not to cave in, while she ruffled his blonde locks in a loving manner.
"Take care, honey, alright? Konoha is only so big." Naruto nodded quickly while he was leaning into the kind touch.
"I'll see you, lady, believe it!" His smile was a bit wobbly, but the Uzumaki managed to swallow down his feelings for the moment.
"You, too, mister." With that, the boy turned around and quickly left the main streets behind him.
Venna's hand found the hem of her sleeve and she fiddled with the end, while she watched the child run away.
"I feel awful, Kakashi," her voice nearly broke and she took a deep breath.
The heavy hand resting on her shoulder felt like a pillar to hold her. Pressing her cheek against Kakashi's gloved hand, she intertwined their fingers for a moment.
"I know," was the soft reply of her friend and the copy-ninja started pushing her back towards their new home.
.
Venna and Kakashi spend the afternoon reading on the couch, while the small, bulky TV the shinobi owned played a videotape of some fantasy film in the background. The copy-ninja occasionally fed his friend's system some chakra to support it further.
"I'll ask Kurenai to come over tomorrow around noon. I need to get some training done and Gai is getting antsy, because we did not have a challenge in quite some time. I will be back before dinner."
The young woman looked up at him in surprise, her eyes wandering over his face while she processed his words.
"Sure, but since you are limiting yourself because of me, remember that I am twenty years old and cured from cancer now. I can survive a few hours per day without you watching over me, as will I not walk away or leave Konoha. You'd be able to collect me on Jolly Jumper three streets down sweating like a pig."
A lopsided grin supported her reply.
"Jolly Jumper?"
"A smart horse from a comic playing in the Old West. The gunslinger Lucky Luke is known as the man who shoots faster than his own shadow and he goes against villains with his wits. Jolly Jumper is Lucky Luke's equivalent to my wheelchair."
Kakashi shook his head in amusement.
"With the difference that you can't use weapons, don't fight villains, and can't ride a horse?"
The young woman rolled her eyes.
"Apropos animals, you still have to explain why your friends were flipping out when Kurenai talked about that cat."
"That was a badly executed transition," Kakashi commented with false disappointment, but the shinobi explained who Tora was and how all new genin teams had the tradition of catching the seemingly immortal beast at least once in their lives.
"Maybe you guys should try an exorcism. Or shoot it. But I can understand why Tora runs away all the time if her owner is as- uh, affectionate as you described her to be."
"Don't feel sorry for the sadistic monster. It attacks every ninja who comes too close, not even Hokage-sama is safe from its claws."
Venna snorted in amusement when she pictured the old man fight epically to the death against one house cat with a decorative bow.
The copy-ninja looked at the clock and noticed how late it was – just before dinner time. Closing his Icha Icha with a loud clap, he stood up and went to the kitchen cupboard storing Venna's caloric shakes. The woman groaned loudly when she caught on to his motive, burying her face in one of the soft couch pillows.
"Ka-ka-shiiii," her call was muffled by the pillow. "Admit it, you like to see me suffer!"
By now, Venna could not stand the supplements anymore. Consuming the same thing twice a day did that to humans!
Kakashi pulled his mask down to eat a few grapes while he shook the shake thoroughly, before slowly crossing the room towards the couch. Seeing Venna spread out on her stomach wearing the new grey shirt with the small paw prints made it look like Pakkun had walked over her and used the woman as a doormat.
The entertainment quickly vanished from the shinobi's face. Shoot, Pakkun!
Kakashi had promised his ninken to finally meet Venna. If he gave them a good excuse why it had taken their partner so long, the man might get out of this with only one steak per dog. And one gnawed sandal.
Pushing his friend slightly to the side, the copy-ninja sat down next to her.
"We both know I find amusement in your misfortune, but you won't have to drink it for the rest of your life, just a few more weeks."
There came no reaction other than a very unpleased noise, but her face stayed hidden in the pillow.
Kakashi rolled his eyes at Venna's antics and he softly nudged her side where he knew the woman to be ticklish. A loud squeak and flailing arms were the result, when the young woman tried to push the offending hand away. She still did not get up to drink the shake though.
Setting the supplement drink to the side, the shinobi decided to help out a bit. If Venna wanted to be stubborn and not just continue drinking the stuff, he'd do the work today. Getting hold of her sides, the copy-ninja planned to simply flip the woman over and get her face out of the pillow.
Laughter and desperate, high-pitched shrieks slightly muffled by the pillow filled the room, when Kakashi's fingers came in contact with her ticklish area again, but he tried to keep a hold on the wiggling woman. Not wanting to hurt her, the shinobi had to correct his hold twice - some tickles in between his struggle might have been on purpose though -, when a thin hand kept hitting his to let go.
"Kakashi. Stop! I drink that crap, okay?" Venna called out breathlessly, too busy laughing.
He let go of her sides and slightly leaned over to get the shake, but when his friend turned around, she pulled the pillow with her and whacked it over Kakashi's head. The movements caused the shinobi's forehead protector to slide up, revealing the sharingan.
Kakashi easily caught her weapon and softly hit it back into her own face before he leaned over to flick his finger against her head.
Venna whipped the tears out of her eyes to see again.
She noticed the smile and dimples on her friend's face. Kakashi was leaning over her, the mask pooled around his neck, red eye lazily spinning, and his wild hair was slightly hanging down.
The young woman was not sure if she saw such a relaxed and happy expression on his face in the last few years. It made Kakashi look younger, made him look softer, pointed out how attractive the man truly was. The woman liked it very much.
Kakashi was happy hearing his friend's laugh after the subdued mood of the quiet afternoon, and he enjoyed the light atmosphere between them. The shinobi rarely allowed himself playful acts with someone else if it wasn't to annoy his comrades from time to time.
Seeing those green eyes spark with glee, the wide smile on Venna's lips, and to hear the giggles under her breath mesmerised the copy-ninja. It felt like it has been so long since he had seen the childlike happiness on her face. Too long.
He could feel how the sharingan drained on his chakra to memorize every little detail he was seeing. It hadn't been planned, but Kakashi had no intention in stopping Obito's gift or closing his eye.
The tingling warmth was back in his chest. It spread through his veins with every heartbeat, grew stronger with every second he looked into those beautiful eyes radiating joy.
But there was something else, an expression Kakashi had not seen before. It went deeper than her amusement, was something stronger.
The hand, previously next to her face to flick a finger against her forhead, lowered slowly.
Caressing her cheek with his thumb, the man felt his smile widen for a short moment. Venna's own hand came to rest on his and her fingers stroked over his knuckles.
Before Kakashi could say or do something else, loud knocking on the front door, and an even louder "Kakashi, my eternal rival, I am here for our youthful Venna-chan and her exercises to experience the Springtime of Youth to her fullest!" interrupted them.
Rolling her eyes in amusement, Venna chuckled again and allowed her friend to pull her up into a sitting position. Before the man pulled his mask and Hitai ate back into place, he pressed his lips against her temple and shoved the shake into her hands.
"The next challenge will be for whom of us to be silent the most days," Kakashi mumbled under his breath and turned around. He went to the door to safe the poor object from the knuckles hitting it repeatedly with too much force.
Answering the door to his longest and most persistent friend, the copy-ninja had to take a calming breath. He felt like Gai had unintentionally disturbed a very personal moment. No, it had not only felt like it, Gai did interrupt such a moment.
The jumpsuit-wearing man beamed at his rival and handed a tall flask of sake over as a small present for being there once again. Together they entered the living room area where Venna was drinking the shake while her face showed the slowly developing disgust for it.
Whipping her mouth clean from imaginary spillage - or just to show how much the woman disliked the drink - she frowned at the innocent bottle.
"Hello, Gai. How are you?" Venna grinned up at the man and they fell into a light conversation, while Kakashi prepared tea, silently brooding over the scene Gai had killed like an enemy insulting the man's youthfulness.
Once again, the taijutsu master started with the exercises until the copy-ninja came back and took over under Gai's instructions. They had decided for the bowl-cut wearing jonin to teach Kakashi for when he was away on a mission.
The copy-ninja usually praised himself with the ability to memorise facts and copy everything with his sharingan, but he wanted to make sure he did the right movements, hence Gai's second 'lesson'.
The trio was delighted to notice the process Venna was showing. She managed to lift her legs out of Kakashi's hands a couple of times without help and could also push down against the man's hold for a few seconds.
Gai decided to make the tasks a bit harder now to push Venna's muscles more. 'The more pain, the more gain,' Venna had mumbled sarcastically, but the green-clad man just decided to adopt the words.
After an hour of the rehabilitation training, the woman was panting, but she had still enough air in her lungs to complain about the last two repetitions.
"I swear, you shinobi have sadism written in you job description! If you take it up a notch every time I manage to do something, I'll keep Jolly around for a bit longer," she said with a long, exhausted exhale. Kakashi brought them all something to drink.
"Do you want some take-out or should I dare to cook something with your instructions?"
Venna took a moment to weight out her choices.
"Do we even have something in the fridge except for milk, mochi, and one old cabbage?"
"No."
"Why do you ask then," the woman playfully hit the man next to her with her elbow.
"I wanted to give you the impression to have a choice." Kakashi watched Venna shake her head in amusement, before she seemed to remember something.
"Use that with kids! It's actually effective to make them believe just that while you lead the way. Mama did this with me as a child. She'd use trick questions and would ask me if I wanted three or five pieces of broccoli with my meal. I had a choice, just wasn't it one I might have made myself. Should the Hokage try to shove another genin team at you, you can use those things to appease them on days they might be a bit more difficult, or if they have a strong dislike against a certain training exercise. It might help with cooperation, too."
Gai beamed at her after listening attentively.
"Your idea is most interesting, Venna-chan! I never would have thought about such a clever yet simple method! What great proof of your ever-blossoming youthfulness! Should I some day get the opportunity and prove myself worthy as a genin sensei, please allow me to seek advice from you!"
"Sure, but I did not come up with those ideas. Don't overestimate my intelligence or ability to help," Venna chuckled.
Kakashi might not say it in front of their guest, but the man enjoyed listening to Venna's short anecdotes about her life. He always liked them for their entertaining factor, he also was gaining a few more information about his friend and how her family life had been. Especially, since the man discovered her parents to be real people.
"Now, dinner still has to come to us somehow!" The woman suddenly called out and obviously waited for the copy-ninja to suggest something.
"My dearest rival, you should not reach for take-out all the time and give the lovely Venna-chan so many mochi! She needs a strict diet for her body to recover the best and most promising way possible! Her body weight will increase naturally."
Venna pulled a face and imagined mountains of vegetables and her shakes, while Kakashi would eat all the nice things next to her.
"If you do that to me, you have to eat the same things! No way will I be the only one to eat healthily."
The silver-haired shinobi gave her a side-glance, while he rested his chin on his hand.
"Maa, I guess I could cook the cabbage then. I'll take care of the mochi. We don't want to throw food away, do we?"
He quickly dodged a light punch and stood up. This was enough to be out of Venna's range, but the woman tried pulling the wheelchair towards herself.
"Don't you dare, Kakashi! I call dips on them. You don't even like sweets."
Knowing that the young woman would need a bit to get herself into her 'Jolly' (and having Gai next to her to catch the traveller should she fall), Kakashi slowly sauntered into the kitchen with the fridge as his target. The protests and mediocre warnings Venna called out were music to his ears.
The elite shinobi pulled the door open and picked one mochi up. Most of them were flavoured with green tea, but their sweetness was still something Kakashi disliked.
Hiding his head behind the fridge door, he made a long 'aah'-sound as if he was about to eat the round ball, when something hard collided with his right leg.
Lacking the force to push the copy-ninja away, Venna still tried to make a grab for it.
"Mine," she whined, but the jonin could see the grin on her lips.
Kakashi gave her one of his faked eye-smiles when hers fixed on the treat in the man's hand. Holding it in front of Venna's mouth, he was a bit surprised when he could feel teeth and lips brush against the skin of his fingers.
The satisfaction on the woman's face when she enjoyed the mochi made the shinobi smirk, though.
"Are you some kind of wild puppy who bites," he asked and flicked her nose.
"Hey," Venna quickly shielded her lower face with her hands. "It's your own fault to be so mean."
"I only teased you about your sweets," was the deadpanned answer.
"Exactly."
Sighing loudly at the absurdity of her indignation, Kakashi gave her a second treat. Women and her sweets.
Gai still sat on the couch, but the man wore his thinking-face and his cheeks were slightly rosy.
Clearing his throat, the taijutsu master stood up and brushed imaginary dust off his jumpsuit.
"I still have to go water my jumping jacks and do a thousand plants until tomorrow morning," he said with a painfully obvious lack of his usual enthusiasm. Quickly emptying his glass of water, the man nodded at the pair.
"I will see you at noon for our spar then, my eternal rival. Have a nice evening, youthful blossom!"
And out through the door he went.
Subtle, Gai, subtle.
"Is this something like 'I'll start dieting next Monday'?" Venna gave her friend a hopeful look and to her pleasure, Kakashi took out the third and final mochi before he closed the refrigerator door.
"Tomorrow, not Monday. I'll send a clone out to get us something to eat, do you want to freshen up in the bathroom?"
"Are you saying I smell?!" Venna crossed her arms in front of her chest, but then pulled her eyebrows together and hesitantly took a sniff at herself.
The shinobi had to chuckle and patted her head.
"No, you don't, but I thought you might want to be a bit more comfortable when I introduce my ninken to you."
Having said the magic words, the woman let out a delighted sound, hugged her friend's middle and with the chorus of "I get to meet his nin-ken. I get to meet his nin-ken." Venna pushed herself out of the kitchen to get ready.
"Should have done it earlier," Kakashi mumbled to himself, created a clone with some money to buy them sushi, and quickly cleaned the used glasses while keeping an ear out should the young woman need some help.
Having a moment to himself, the man dropped the sponge into the skin with a sigh, and turned around the lean against the kitchen counter, his hands resting on the edge.
How exactly he and Venna had ended up so close on the couch earlier on, the shinobi could not tell anymore, but he clearly remembered the proximity, Venna's warmth, her face.
In a silent command, the sharingan provided the copy-ninja with the scene it had memorised for him.
Green eyes were so intense with joy, and Kakashi tried to filter out the nameless expression he had found. It was new, stronger, went deeper. Whatever this was, it excited the man and he wanted to see it in Venna's eyes again.
Her smile was beautiful, decorated by a pair of soft lips.
When Venna was truly excited or happy about something her smile would become slightly lopsided without the woman doing in on purpose. The sharingan kept spinning and Kakashi saw the left corner of her mouth draw back further than her right, just when he had caressed her cheek.
Damn, Gai had the worst timing, really.
Not half as ignorant as the jonin wanted to be, he had to admit that this memory made him feel funny, giddy even.
Would he have acted on the tingling, warm sensation in his body hadn't the self-proclaimed rival interrupted them?
Venna decided to leave the shower for the morning when the nurse would be with her again. Urgh, she just wanted to be able to walk again, four steps would be enough!
Armed with a washcloth, she quickly cleaned herself off the sweat of the training Gai had called upon her, eager to meet the dogs.
Tomorrow her muscles would protest at every little move she made. The muscles in her torso had been burning not only thanks to the green-loving man, but also her laughing. Kakashi had tickled her unintentionally but long enough for Venna to feel her muscles.
The young traveller could not remember a day where he had done something similar. Sure, they had sometimes, rarely, played together on the clearing, and the shinobi even carried her on his back to walk up a tree a few times, but he had never been playful.
Not that Venna would label it as playful when she had felt his thumb on her cheek.
Unconsciously, she had lifted a hand to stroke over the patch of skin, and the warm feeling came back. The feeling, when Kakashi had looked down to her with such an adoring expression like she had been the most precious thing he ever stumbled on.
Green eyes wandered into the mirror, noticing the red cheeks and dreamy expression in her reflection. Inhaling in surprise, Venna looked closer. She never had seen herself make such a face before.
.
The Kakashi clone had arrived back with the food just before the young woman had left the bathroom wearing a fresh shirt.
Rolling into the living room, she noticed that her friend had set the couch table for some reason. Tilting her head and stopping to try and remember if there was anything Kakashi had said for the change of location, Venna drew a blank.
Said shinobi placed the food in the middle and put the two couch pillows on the ground between both objects. He had pulled his mask back down again.
"Come here," the man said and waved her towards him.
The woman pushed herself next to the table and looked down to the pillows.
"Is this another cultural differences thing I don't know about? Every Thursday evening people sit on the floor instead of chairs?"
A huff of air escaped Kakashi's lips at her silly remark and he helped the traveller out of her vehicle onto the pillow.
"No, I just thought it would be easier for us to sit on the ground to reach my ninken. But," he quickly said to stop any reply, "At first we eat."
Venna let out a 'hmpf' and pouted for a moment, but then she grabbed the chopsticks and reached out for the nice looking food in front of them.
Kakashi's hand hit hers, and with the warning shook of his index finger the man gave a scolding look.
"Ah, ah, ah. What do we do before every meal?!"
Clapping her hands together, Venna goggled at the sushi.
"Itadakimasu," she mumbled and found the next problem: the woman still had no control over her chopsticks.
Fighting with a stubborn Maki that had the audacity to always flop back onto the plate, Venna let out a frustrated growl when she saw Kakashi eating his third piece already.
"I don't live by the pledge 'Fish are friends, not food', you little shit. Don't fight me!"
The Maki escaped from her chopsticks again, this time landing on the table. Clenching her teeth, closing her eyes, and taking a very deep breath, the young woman slowly turned to her friend who did not even try to hide his amusement.
"If you don't want to explain to your dogs why my fingers are sticky and smell of rice, you have to help me."
"I don't own elastic bands. We can buy them tomorrow," was not the answer Venna had waited for.
"Then I'll eat with my fingers," she said with a deadpanned expression, but her wrist was caught quickly.
"You were the one who decided to learn how to eat with chopsticks. Even if it takes me hours to eat, remember?"
"I hate you."
Kakashi waved his hand in a dismissive manner.
"You don't."
"You are right, but I am hungry, and we both know I am no pleasant company when I don't get to eat something quickly."
If a stranger had heard those words, they might think Venna was threatening the shinobi in some odd way, but she was, in fact, not.
"Here, I help you," the copy-ninja complied and positioned her shorter fingers, before guiding her hand like he did in the hospital. "I am starting to believe you are only pretending. You have enough muscles in your hands for other things. Chopsticks are not heavy."
Swallowing her first piece of food, Venna raised an eyebrow, while urging the man to help her with the next one.
"Maybe I am just incompetent without a fork?"
"I hope not."
With Kakashi's support, dinner was quickly over.
He gathered all the plates and utensils, while reminding his friend of some things he had once explained to her about his ninken.
"-so remember, they are ninken, no pet dogs. Equal fighting partners."
Nearly jumping up and down on her pillow in excitement, the young woman beamed up at her friend, when Kakashi crossed the room and put the table to the side before he sat back down next to her.
"Yeah, yeah. I get it. Don't cuddle the dogs too much. Just summon them already!"
A teasing grin spread on Kakashi's lips.
"What is the magic word?"
"Now?"
"Nu-huh."
"Abracadabra?"
"…"
"Open Sesame?"
"…"
"Okay. Please, Kakashi. Pleeaase!"
The man bit his thumb, performed the hand signs needed and pressed his hand against the floor. In a great poof of smoke eight dogs of different shapes, colours, and sizes appeared.
"Yo," Pakkun lifted his paw for his usual greeting, when Venna made a strangled sound between the dying cry of a guineapig and a squeak of joy.
.