A/N: Thank you for your patience. Been a big one to work on with so many characters involved and trying to get it to the level of writing I want for the revamp. I hope you enjoy- please let me know. Happy reading x

~Chapter 45: Target Practice with a Twist~

"Hatake, get your nose out of the book and get a look at Sarutobi!"

Genma chided into his ear, slinging one arm over Kakashi's shoulders and the other pushed firmly down on the internal bindings of his book.

When it came to eluding social gatherings, second to the copy-nin, was Nina. And even if she did make an appearance, that which was standing before the group of men upon entering Shushu-ya, was exceptionally more of a rarity. Disregarding his own attachment to the medic-nin's friend whom was linked at her elbow; Nina was a fucking head-turner.

Through the cogent default of having his reading interrupted and a curious compulsion egged on by the sound of a familiar tinkling bell, Kakashi did as requested.

She was wearing a simple white linen, off the shoulder crop top. It had a wide built in banded seam for the top of the neckline and arm cuffs, with the sleeves barely the length of the middle third portion of her biceps. Below the bottom seam of the crop top, which sat snug under her bounteous breasts there was a gap, exposing a slither of her olive flesh, then another band of material, maybe a few centimetres wide. The band sat flat across her lower ribs, blended into the bottom seam of the back half of the top once it met at the side seam, and that was all held together by a single, silver zip.

There was just the precise amount of herself denuded between the two garments. The emerald green skirt, which he recognised from their picnic date, fell freely over her thighs to skim the beginning of her kneecaps, as to not give too much away and leaving the rest to the imagination. Her understated white mid-drift top offered onlookers an unobstructed view of the refined physique of her torso and neckline. The nihility of anything other than the linen top itself over her bust drew any eye, including his, into the faint outlines of her areolas and spiked nipples.

Icha Icha was a useful accessory for times like this and so, he brought the book up to block his view of anything below Nina's neckline. For all his reckoning the potentiality of events for the night he was not prepared for that.

"You're a fucking idiot, you know that right?"

He knew exactly to what Genma was referring to-the bet. "You really need to get over that."

Kakashi shuffled forward half a step and as he'd hoped, Genma's arm dropped away.

"Heh. I'm over that, but you're still an idiot. If I had a choice between 50,000 Ryo and an opportunity to fu …"

Before he could respond to the idiocy of one, he was being questioned in his other ear by Guy. Whom had swung his arm up and over his shoulders with such a force that Kakashi's line of sight dropped to Nina's bust.

"I thought you said the lotus bloomed twice?"

Being trapped between Genma and Guy was the last place Kakashi wanted to be. Shrugging in a noncommittal reply and in order to free his body of Guy, he stowed his book away and took another step forward; slightly more than the half of a step he'd taken already.

"I'll be back."

Bailing out of the conversation…not that you could call it that since behind him was Genma announcing he'd found a (and not the) prissy blonde number and Guy was being his over-emotional self over a subject he didn't know the fullness of. With hands stuffed in his pockets and heading towards the toilets, Kakashi was tactfully regardful of how close he passed by the bar. His justification was two-fold: he wanted to see her and likewise, for her to see him.

Magnetized to the appearance of the scarecrow-esque silver hair that entered into her field of vision, their eyes engaged for not but a second before she was left looking at the side of his head that was covered by his mask and hitai-ate.

In front of her was a gobsmacked Shizune, with fully dilated pupils; as if she'd seen a ghost. There was someone standing behind her; a man. Which she had deduced from the depth of their tone of voice and size of their hand that was resting uncomfortably on her waist.

"I'm… I'm just… I'll meet you back at the table."

Shizune unhooked from her, gathered the few bottles of sake against her chest and raced back to the table almost knocking into Kakashi in all her excitement. Three heads huddled together in hushed whispers that weren't hushed at all. Subtle ladies.

With a side glance to the bar Nina watched as the money that had been set down for their drinks was scrounged up and dispensed into the till. The hand that had been on her waist ghosted along the small of her back as she turned inwards to the bar and kept turning until she was face to face with…

Nina studied the man before her. His attire consisted of a green duffle coat and fawn coloured scarf which wrapped around his neck twice, knotted at the front and the fringe neatly hung almost perfectly centre to his body. His skin was pale much like Kakashi's, excepting for one small beauty spot on left side of his chin and his thin lips were pulled into a crooked smile showing a minor glimpse of his pearl white teeth. Nina's eyes skipped upwards, and half-distracted by the similarities in complexion she hadn't quite expected to see two matching light-metal grey eyes. He wore violet eyeshadow on both lids, which extended down each cheek from under each eye in stroke beginning as wide as his eye line and tapered off to about a third of their original width, stopping in line with his nostrils. She mused at his virtually flat yet, shaggy mouse-brown hair.

Often when things were out of place, like the man's ensemble, it was possibly a personality eccentricity or, for all her knowledge as a shinobi, he had something to hide.

Galled by the unwanted physical contact from a perfect stranger, she calmly removed his hand from her waist. Turning back towards the bar it allowed Nina peripheral view of all things necessary- him, the table that had grown in numbers and the hallway where Kakashi had wandered off down.

"And you are?"

"I thought it would be obvious? Well, at least for an elite kunoichi such as yourself."

There were few people who Nina would tolerate their round-about-ness form of communication, and this man was not one of them.

"You're not a fan of compliments are you?"

Be that as it may, again he still hadn't answered her question and she was growing impatient.

"Poor guy doesn't stand a chance."

Genma folded his arms behind his head and rolled his senbon to the other side of his mouth.

"Shush would you? I can't hear what they're saying."

"Doesn't matter Shizune. I know that look, and so do plenty of other guys."

But whatever, he couldn't blame the guy for trying, especially when a woman looks like Nina did.

Again he encroached on her personal space, mimicking her movements to turn towards the bar and poured them both a drink from the one bottle Shizune had left behind.

"I'm an admirer, I suppose." Showing no signs of consternation he offered up the freshly poured cup to Nina. Which of course she ignored and he simply placed it next to her left hand. "I am a travelling photojournalist."

And? Shooting a look to the right, the seven ninja bungled over one another having been caught gawking and eaves dropping. Fuck it. If this was his introduction and they hadn't even gotten to his name she was going to need a drink.

"Kenpai."

She forced a smile in return to his as their cups came together. Unsettled Nina looked away, unable to prevent the rush of heat to her cheeks. His smile so very much like Kakashi's and it made her insides twist in giddiness, but she still had reservations.

"Well, I'll be damned."

With his elbow to the table, Genma had his head cocked to the side and resting his cheek on the backs of his knuckles of one hand. "Sarutobi is blushing. Who is this guy anyway?"

And she was. Nina's cheeks were aglow and although Shizune had her assumptions as to the identity of the man beside her, she'd never seen him either.

"I think…" Shizune looked around the table, all six of them concentrating on her and what she had to say. She turned back to Nina and the mystery guy at the bar. "I think it may be…"

"My name is Sukea."

"Sukea? I've heard the name before."

"Me too, Ino. I just can't place where."

Shikamaru fiddled with the lighter in his pocket. The jonin- Kurenai, Shizune, Genma and Guy, along with Temari were flashing glances between the bar and him and Ino.

"Come to think of it, wasn't he that guy that we teamed up with to help Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke to uncover Kakashi-sensei's face?"

"Oh that's right! Yeah. That's him. The ex-ANBU."

"And?"

The table chorused together, ignoring Nina and Sukea for the time being.

"And what?"

"And they call you a genius?" Pressing her fingers to her forehead, Ino sighed. "It didn't work."

Shikamaru recalled the day, quite clearly, their plan would have worked if Neji, Tenten and Rock Lee hadn't shown up. They'd been so close and at the last moment Tenten had leapt over his head, unbalancing him and breaking his shadow possession jutsu on Kakashi-sensei.

"If his ex-ANBU, then surely Nina knows who he is?"

Shizune tilted her head towards Genma. She knew he'd served with Nina and Kakashi as a part of ANBU so, he'd have a better idea than any of them.

"Uh uh. I can't say that she does. I certainly haven't come across him or his name before. What about you guys?"

Kurenai and Guy shook their heads from left to right. "No."

"I don't think any of this is going be important…"

She'd been watching Nina while the rest of them had been preoccupied, but Temari was now cluing them all in to the shift in events unfolding at the bar. Despite not knowing the whole story, she admired Nina and her no-nonsense approach to things. And contrary to probably the rest of the table, she saw no fault in Nina's incoming reaction. If she were in her position then she would more than likely have done the same thing.

"Nina!"

There was a poof and the cup Sukea had been holding hit the wooden floor boards and shattered into jagged shards, causing some of the remaining sake to splash across Nina's toes that peeped out from her open-toed heels.

Hmpf. She clenched and unclenched her right hand loosening it of the tension she'd built before swinging and landing her fist to his jaw. Shizune had come to her side but not in time to stop her right hook connecting.

"He… he just disappeared. That means Sukea was a…"

Nina had reduced her hunches down to just three and out of those two weren't worth her acceptance to continue any further with the conversation.

"A shadow clone."

She took the dust pan and brush which was being passed over the bar to her from the owner and crouched down to clean up the mess.

"How did you know? I mean the guy went to such extravagant lengths with the flowers and…"

Scraping the last of the broken pieces into the pan she returned it to the bartender. "I didn't."

Her three hunches weren't for everyone to know. One- Sukea was either the real Kakashi in henge or possibly a shadow clone; two- her friends had outdone themselves and collaborated together to pull of this whole charade, or three- he was a complete stranger.

"But…"

"But nothing."

With her right index finger Nina pointed to each finger from her left hand she unfurled, counting the reasons she gave. "I didn't know him. He broke into my house. I'm not that desperate to fall for the first guy to buy me flowers and if I find out it was any of you so help me…"

Shizune's face was straightened with sincerity and she reached out and cupped one of Nina's hands with both of hers. "I swear none of us had anything to do with that."

Pulling her own hand away from Shizune's, Nina skulled the last of her drink and topped it up again. If that was the case then it'd been a good thing she'd pulled back on the amount of chakra she had infused her punch with. The third hunch was unlikely given no one other than Kakashi knew of her taste in flowers. The shadow clone had therefore been his.

Shadow clones were not only effective in adding numbers during a fight, but were also extremely useful for sometimes shortening training. This was because once the clone was recalled or dismissed the original would retain any knowledge learnt by the clone. However, the trade-off was that a portion of the damage and fatigue suffered by the clone would be felt by the original. For someone like Naruto, this draw back was neither here nor there because he had an abnormal rate of healing and enormous chakra reserves compared to most. Kakashi on the other hand...Ah well. He deserved it though. At least a little, considering he'd set her up to be the centre of Konoha's rumour mill.

"How about you come and join us back at the table?"

Locking the door from the inside, Kakashi tugged down on his mask to inspect his jaw in the mirror. Trailing his fingers along his left jawline he winced; the recognisable discolouration of bruising was already coming to the surface of his pale complexion. Mmpf. It wasn't broken or fractured but fuck was it tender. She'd held back. If she hadn't there would be no way he could contemplate re-joining the group.

Nina wasn't one of the girls who could be trumped by luxuriant acts and she certainly had no problems holding her own in the face of being fed to the wolves, so to speak.

Stretching his mouth out to test the limitations the injury had caused, Kakashi confirmed that he would not be doing much talking; or rather, unless absolutely necessary since he didn't usually have much to say.

The two groups had joined up and with a total of eight bodies, as Ino rushed off to help close up the flower shop, they just managed to shuffle into the booth.

"What did I miss?"

"Sarutobi clouting Sukea. At this rate, she'll be forever single."

The conversation carried on with everyone but Nina making a comment as he slid into the booth beside Genma and opposite to her.

There were many treacherous people and situations that they faced as shinobi however, the most dangerous and undoubtedly one that the Nara men would concur with, was that of a silent smiling woman. Nina seemingly unvexed from it all, poured a cup of sake and offered it up to him with such a smile.

"Come to think of it Hatake, you're the only one who hasn't been on the receiving end of her right hook."

"Maybe not Genma, but remember she did dislocate his shoulder on their last mission."

"Oh that's right. How the fuck did you manage that Sarutobi?"

"Can't say. And before you moan about it, you know that details pertaining to a mission aren't to be discussed so freely."

"Ah come off it." He tipped his head back and finished his cup, holding it out while Shizune refilled it. "We're all shinobi of the Leaf and Temari-she's one by default."

Nina crossed her legs, initially thinking she had been resting her right foot against the table leg until her toes brushed up against fabric. Flicking her eyes up to gauge the reaction of the leg's possible owner, Nina tapped the flat of her heel against the leg. Genma didn't make any movement however, there was a slight jostle to Kakashi that caused the liquid in his sake to ripple. Satisfied it was Kakashi's leg, she relaxed.

"It was an accide-"

"She forgot we were holding hands and hurled me at the enemy."

Nina scrunched her face at Kakashi's openness; she wasn't going to suffer alone. "Your stupid idea in the first place."

Their antagonistic jeering was interrupted by Genma slamming his cup to the table.

The group and night was plenty excuse enough and Genma took it upon himself to throw down a challenge. And if it meant he could recuperate some of the money he'd lost to the bet, then why the hell not?

"Let's liven this fucking night up a bit, shall we?"

All eyes were on him.

"Target practice with a twist. Partner up, one will be blind folded, the other guides them and winner is team who accumulate the most points and winner takes all. 50,000 Ryo per couple. Who's in?"

"This is just a means to…"

"So what the fuck if it is, Hatake? Afraid you'll lose?"

He couldn't give two shits if he did. Genma looked around the table.

"Temari and Shikamaru?"

Temari crossed her arms across her chest, and Shikamaru rubbed the back of his neck. "It's a drag but why not?"

"Great." Removing his senbon first, he then smashed his lips to Shizune's temple. "I'm with Shizune. Which just leaves you mismatched four."

"I'd rather be a spectator Genma."

"And I'll keep the lovely mother-to-be company." Guy gave a dramatic thumbs up.

That just left the medic-nin and copy-nin.

"A couple of days ago I could have sworn the great Kakashi of the Sharingan, was sulking over Sarutobi not being around but I couldn't have been more fucking wrong. Hatake likes his women easy and no offense Sarutobi, but you're the most complicated woman around. This will take team work and trust and sorry to say, you're both shit out of luck in those departments."

He ignored the elbow into his side from Shizune. Nina wasn't Hatake's type of woman. She presented too much work, a commitment. Which he knew Kakashi would have no fucking want to engage in. Nina knew her worth and that made her all the more dangerously intimidating. Very few men would walk into that den.

Blindfolding a person made them vulnerable and Asuma's kid-sister had proven with the bet that she was no fan of having her vulnerability tested or questioned. If they decided to team-up they were most assuredly doomed to fail.

"Anyway, there's no point just having two teams. So you either team up together or take your pick from around the bar, which is it?"

Kakashi couldn't read Nina and just this once he wished she'd give him something… anything. He knocked his calf to her foot in an attempt to elicit a response.

Genma wouldn't know what fucking teamwork was even if it came in the form of a dog like Bull biting him on the arse. She didn't know how Kakashi was able to sit next to him and allow such utter nonsense spew from his mouth without even a quirk of an eyebrow. But it came from under the table and it was all Nina needed.

"Fine. My niece or nephew is going to be well looked after at the rate you're willing to fund them."

"Hah! We'll see Sarutobi."

"Alright then. To keep things above board, Guy and Kurenai can put the blindfolds on and observe for any cheating. Looking at you Hatake and that sharingan of yours."

Nina stood toe to toe with Kakashi who was untying his hitai-ate to hold out for her to use as a blindfold for Nina. Although, she was playing an observer, Kurenai knew with certainty that Genma had underestimated this pair. There was a lot to be said for things which went unspoken, and they had that way about them. Like her and Asuma.

"I've been meaning to ask you all night, where did you get that hair pin?"

As past demons ebbed away at her bravado with the cutting off of her sense of sight, Nina tried to keep a clear mental image of his solemn face.

"It… it was a gift." Her voice stuttered as she closed her eyes and the weighty metal insignia pressed in against the bridge of her nose and brow.

The little bell that hung from the pin clawed into the top of a small bun at the base of her crown, chimed as Kurenai finished knotting the band at the back of her head. The next question to follow would be "from?", or that's what Nina had suspected.

"Good luck."

And Kurenai was gone.

Nina attempted to dissuade her mind from wandering to that night by focussing on the now however, hearing Genma's voice embittered her and she hammered her teeth together.

He'd passed off Nina's nervousness the night of the picnic as a unacquaintance but that wasn't it. She seemed distressed and discomposed, unlike what she had been prior to being blindfolded.

Shit. That night. That mission. For Nina that night had been an entirely different experience than his own, and it had scarred her physically, mentally and emotionally. Kakashi knew they were being watched and not by their competition, so he stood in behind Nina without making contact himself.

Nina could feel his heat radiating at her back and her fingers grappled into his pants as she did her best to still the world. She figured anything more than the minimal action she'd taken would be easily seen by anyone whom was looking. Blinded she had to assume that was everyone.

As soon as it was reasonable, Kakashi furthered their contact when guiding her to the target board. Her abdominal muscles spasmed under the warmth of his hands as they ghosted around her waist and one of hers soon folded over his left hand and the other wrapped around his right forearm.

There was a method to his request to go first.

"Whatever Hatake. Be our guest."

"Kakashi, we should…"

"You need to relax."

"I am."

That had been a lie. If the frustrated foot stamp hadn't given it away then the fact he needed to pry her fingers open for her to hold the shuriken they were about to throw, was more than ample justification. "Ready?"

"No. You haven't even…"

Their inelegant throw was something you'd expect from a child who hadn't entered the academy and the ninja tool imbedded into the cornice where the wall met the ceiling.

"What a fucking disgrace you pair are."

"I'd say they're taking the mickey out of us."

"Like I care, Shikamaru. If they want to throw away 50,000 Ryo that's their choice."

"We missed?"

"Yeah."

She flipped around and poked her finger hard into his chest, with her other hand on her hip.

"I should punch you for that."

His mask was hiding a lot more than just his bruised jaw. Smiling at her outrage because thankfully it had snapped her out of the remembrance of a much darker instance where she'd been blindfolded. Kakashi then grabbed her hand and spun Nina the other way to chafe his jaw against her earlobe.

"You've already done that."

Nina was grateful to find Kakashi braced her with ease when she pushed back into him. "Not nearly hard enough if you're still able to talk."

She shrieked and the bell jingled as his fingers sunk into her sides and her legs gave way under her. Bastard.

"I'm ticklish remember?"

"Oh I remember, Nina. But do you remember this?"

With her senses heightened Kakashi's velvety tone was evoking a swathe bodily reflexes, none of which she could do much about, causing her annoyance to filter through her own tone.

"What?"

"Would you two shut it?"

"Hurry up and throw it. We haven't got -"

Kakashi's breathy laugh seeped through his mask and fanned against her neck, at the same time his left thumb dipped into the waist band of her skirt and skimmed along the shoestring thin elastic band of her underwear. Once at the T-junction, his knuckles grazed the base of her spine as he coiled the band around his fingers.

How could she forget that?

"Right now that the peanut gallery have shut their traps, Shizune, we're aiming for the top left target about three…"

"Remind me again how old these guys are Shikamaru?"

"Heh. They're not so bad."

He actually enjoyed the company of the older generation. Tonight wasn't something he had experienced too often and honestly, he was looking forward to more nights like it.

"Truce Nina?"

"Fuc..."

"Careful. Kurenai and Guy are able to lip read."

Dammit. She'd almost forgotten about them. Fuck him and his damnable mask. Kakashi could find another medic-nin to heal his jaw. Wonder what excuse he'd come up with to explain his… mmpf. The last jerk of his hand that was concealed from view between their two bodies, had the small triangular piece of lace front of her underwear unforgivingly inflaming her core. Nina snapped her mouth closed to swallow the whimper that threatened to break free.

"Truce." She conceded through gritted teeth so that her lips didn't alert anyone to what she was saying and was instantly relieved of the friction between her womanhood and her underwear.

"You're up Shikamaru."

It wasn't anything flash. They'd managed to hit a target; the one below the actual one he'd been aiming for and netting them twenty-five points. Ah well, still better than Hatake and Sarutobi had done. Speaking of, what the fuck were they doing?

"Must be nice to be able to be able to throw away 50,000 Ryo."

"It's anyone's to win. Kakashi-sensei you're up."

Genma whirled around to check the board. Shit. The sand kunoichi and Nara boy had hit a target too, earning them fifty points.

"Best you get your shit together Sarutobi. Can't have a Chunin showing you up."

He wouldn't dare fucking admit it, but Nina's speechlessness and cunning grin as she walked passed blindfolded, sapped him of a fair portion of his confidence.

Kakashi was elated to find Nina much more limber as they took up their mark for the second round. A bit of shenanigans was all it had taken. Her palm was already facing up to the ceiling awaiting the shuriken

"Don't miss."

If he hadn't had a sense of deja vu by now, her reticent request certainly took him back to the fireworks festival.

"Heh, we won't."

Guy was unable to resist flashing a beaming smile of endorsement. "They've changed."

"Mhmm, yeah."

Kurenai refrained from looking at Guy and instead maintained her focus on Kakashi and Nina. Their first attempt had been anything but refined. However, presently and as Nina had stated earlier when referring to their mission- anyone looking in would be hard-pressed to believe they weren't an authentic couple. There was an effortless fluidity to them. When one moved, so did the other. Masterly complimenting each other. Nothing was out of place or without meaning and all communicated in silence. From the scuff of his foot to hers, whereby they positioned themselves in the stance needed- one foot forward, one foot behind, to the way his hand snaked down Nina's arms to glove her hands.

This is had to be what Asuma saw.

She wasn't the only one of the group benumbed by the dextrous display before them. Genma had ceased tonguing his senbon and the Shikamaru's eyes had narrowed in like they did when he was genuinely interested in something.

With his sharingan eye firmly sealed shut, Kakashi's head nestled into the left crook of Nina's neck and all Kurenai could make out was the weak ballooning of his mask, to which she assumed was a result of him giving her instructions of their intended target… no. She wiggled to the edge of the wooden bench, grasping onto the edge of the table. Targets. The light reflected off the metal blades in between Nina's fingers on both hands. One, two, three. Three in each hand, made six.

"Guy, are they…?"

Opposite to Kurenai, Guy settled back against the chair and folded his arms smugly across his chest. "Genma is about to learn why Kakashi will always be my eternal rival. You should never underestimate your opponent."

Same, same but different. Under vigilance of comrades and strangers alike, and not in the seclusion of their own apartments, Kakashi's hands sleeked over Nina's threadbare skin of her stomach and drew her securely into him to become almost an extension of himself. He was a sheath and her a sword.

Whether or not Kakashi could handle Nina, he was slaved to feel her out.

It was if Kakashi was ironing all her creases out, and she felt no infirmity in allowing him to do so. The equable glissading of one hand over her navel to grip her left hip stamped out any insecurities. His other hand continued to brush up her ribs, undulating over the strips of fabric that made up her top and regulated her breathing pattern. Nina scooted her left leg forward and dragged her right leg back on his muted command. By the time his fingers guarded her own that held the shuriken, the rate in which the blood was being pumped through her veins mellowed to a stabile rhythm. Attuned to Kakashi's that was beating from within his chest through to her back. His instructions were explicit. Six targets.

Taking a final breath inwards through her nose she was ready.

The whole of Shushu-ya and its patrons came to a deafening standstill, and all that could be heard was the clanging of blades of metal and the deep, wooden thuds as the shuriken stuck into the targets with pinpoint accuracy.

"How the actual fuck? That's against the fucking rules."

"What rules Genma? I don't recall you ever mentioning anything of the sorts. However, if you think you can do the same, knock yourself out."

Shikamaru didn't need to waste energy and untied Temari's band.

"Woah!"

"Yep. I'm happy to hand over 25,000 Ryo, you?"

"They… they didn't even miss one." Staring at their backs, Temari was in utter awe. Kakashi Hatake and Nina Sarutobi deserved their places in the Bingo Book. "Probably the only time I'll say this, Shikamaru, but I quit."

"Alright. What about you Genma?"

"Guy, Kurenai surely this is…?"

Kakashi signalled to Nina that they were done with two taps to her right hip bone and she expelled the air she'd sucked in before releasing the first of the six shuriken. Maybe she'd held onto her breath too long but her surroundings once again went on tilt. She needed fresh air; now.

They'd hit all six targets and as he leant in to inform her of their accomplishment Kakashi noticed her ragged breaths and haphazard clutching for additional support.

"Nina?" He smoothed his hand back and forth in the space between her shoulder blades.

"Outside. Fresh air."

Nursing Nina, Kakashi searched for eye contact with Guy dodging around an irate Genma. Guy gave him an acknowledging nod of his head. He then dug his fingers under the metal plate and swept the band off Nina without untying it, looped it around his wrist and then directed her towards the entrance. He stabilised her unsteady steps until they were outside and she collapsed down to the ground with her back against one of the red pillars.

Kakashi's mind was running over the events that had preceded Nina's decline and nothing lurched out to his attention. Nothing that would or could explain her current condition. What else…?

"Here Kakashi."

A panicked Guy appeared holding a glass of water that he'd fetched from the bar, however in his hurry it was only half filled. Nonetheless…

"Thank you Guy."

Kneeling down, setting the glass next to one of his feet, Kakashi gently repositioned Nina so that she was a little more upright and whispered into her ear that she needed to drink. Peeling her hair from her face, he tipped her chin and cup together.

After she'd taken in two or three mouthfuls of water, Nina pushed his hand and glass away from her mouth to offer Kakashi the reassurance that she was just fine. Before she could, Shizune barged through and was running her hands over every part of her in a flurry.

"Shizune…"

"What happened? Kakashi, what happened to…?"

"Shizune…"

Good grief. She wasn't listening.

"Shizune!"

"Sorry?"

"I'm fine. I just needed some fresh air."

"Nina…" Her friends' eyes were shaking, as were her hands.

"Shizune, really. I'm fine."

Grasping Kakashi's forearm with her left hand, their combined efforts had her standing on her feet again. Nina reached for the glass and finished off the water.

"Did you drink too much?"

"No. It's probably just my iron levels or something."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. I'm also really tired and think I should call it a night."

"But Nina."

Impossible woman.

Kakashi stepped in between Shizune and Nina. "I'll walk her home."

"Not necessary."

"Nina."

"Don't Nina me. I'm okay, really. Asuma isn't here to boss me around either. I'm more than capable to walk myself home. Okay?"

It'd come out a lot sterner than she wanted and she could see that Kakashi was wounded by her brashness and Kurenai inhaled sharply at the mention of her late partner's name. All the fuss was overwhelming. It'd been a big day and equally long night. With the whole Sukea fiasco and then the…

"Did we win?"

And there was the distinguishable pull of his mask for a smile that went along with his crinkled-eye. "Well, Genma?"

Nina followed Kakashi's turn of head.

"I'll give you your fucking money tomorrow."

She stumbled through the group and put a hand on each of his shoulders. "Keep your money. The win is suffice enough."

"Fuck you Sarutobi."

"You can keep dreaming Genma."

One by one, Nina said her farewells and eventually came to Kakashi.

"That was fun. I'll see you around."

She pat his chest twice.

"Goodnight, Nina."

She stopped and angled her head back over her shoulder.

"Goodnight, Kakashi."

Shoving his hands in his pockets after replacing his hitai-ate Kakashi waited until Nina and her tingling bell faded into the distance.

"I'm going to call it a night too. Good luck with the Chunin exams tomorrow Shikamaru and Temari."

He waved them off and headed off in the opposite direction to Nina.

Kurenai rubbed her roundish tummy, looking up at the taller man beside her and kept her voice quiet so none of the other four heard what she was about to say. "I think it best we leave them. They'll tell us when they're ready. Right Guy?"

"Right you are. Now let's get you and your little one home."

"Please."

Since Kurenai and Guy-Sensei were leaving, Shikamaru decided to do the same.

"Exams are tomorrow. We're out too. Night."

The group dispersed leaving Genma and Shizune. Needing a pick me up to his pride he scooped his girlfriend up and rushed them back to his apartment.