"You didn't tell me." Kakashi's tone was almost accusing.
Their roles were reversed now. She was the one sitting on the bench of the locker room as he stood next to her.
You didn't tell me you were going to be a jinchūriki. You didn't tell me you were chosen.
Of course, that never happened. She was too late to do anything.
Akira looked up, her voice just as cold as his, almost menacing. "I didn't think you should know."
A deafening silence engulfed the two.
"He's dead." She breathed in conclusion. A silence fell over the two as their reality sank in. Minato was gone and so was Kushina. Kakashi knows they were an important figure in her life especially after her mother left the village.
Kakashi sat down next to her and placed a hand on her shoulder.
They didn't talk much for the next three years. He threw himself at work to relieve his pain and she did exactly the same to relieve her guilt but every now and then, Kakashi would find a neatly wrapped bento box placed on his front door and he would know it came from her because she was the only one he told about how much he hated eating his own cooking.
She remembered.
—
He just turned seventeen the first time he walked her home. Their friends threw him a small party ( against his will) in the dango shop for his birthday. Everyone in their class were invited and Kakashi actually had a good time himself.
Akira was not her usual self that night.
She had just returned from a mission from the Land of the Waves when Kurenai knocked on her door and dragged her to the shop. She was never the one for the parties but she sure does enjoy the company of her friends but she was just dead tired at the moment. The adrenaline cursing through her veins for the past week had died down and fatigue has taken its place instead.
It was half past one when the celebration wrapped. Everyone bid their goodbyes outside the shop and parted ways.
She headed west and him to the east.
However, Kakashi couldn't get Akira's unusual behaviour out of his head. He just turned into the first corner when he found himself running back, past the dango shop, and to the opposite direction of his apartment at full speed.
He found her walking on third street on the way to her house. Akira immediately noticed the familiar chakra signature and stopped on her tracks.
"Kakashi?"
He gave her a smile, his eyes crinkling in the process. "I thought you shouldn't walk alone at this time of the night." He shrugged.
Of course, that was a lie. She was more than capable of taking care of both of them but it was all Kakashi could come up in the short time he had before he was able to catch up with her.
She lived on the far west side of the village, in one of the quieter neighbourhoods. She had too much chaos in her life that she just wanted to have a little bit of serenity in the rare times she was actually home and she figured that the best place to get that was to be away from the center of the village and in a neighbourhood full of civilians. In here, she could just be a normal person just like every body else.
Their walk back to her apartment was quiet, peaceful, even. The two of them basked in the calmness that surrounded them and the presence of one another. There were no words that needed to be spoken, they both knew how nice it was not to walk home alone for once.
Kakashi was at a war with himself the whole way to her place. He didn't know what got to him and he did this. He was not typically the one who acts based on impulse. He was a shinobi, the kind who plans his every move and analyzes the situation he was in.
But this, right now. Walking next to her, Kakashi couldn't put his finger to what he was feeling but somehow...it felt right.
"This is me." She said, stopping in front of a moss-colored door.
He bid his goodbyes and left. But Kakashi lingered in her street a little bit more. He hid behind the shadow of a street lamp and stayed until he heard the click from her door as it locked and the first light in her home burst into life.
On his way home, he concluded that he was just being a good friend and it really was just late. He made himself believe that it was just a lapse of judgement on his side and it would never happen again but ever since that night, they sat a little closer to each other, sometimes their shoulders would brush and although Akira seemed oblivious about it, Kakashi was hyperaware of her skin brushing against his and he couldn't be more thankful for the mask he wore.
Kakashi tried his best to fight against his own instinct. It was no easy task especially for a shinobi who relies on his instincts the most, but for her sake, he did.
He knew he was bad for her and she was too good for him. Everyone he had ever loved died. His parents, his team and most recently, his sensei. He couldn't do that to her. He would rather suffer for the rest of his life knowing she cannot be his than bring her down with him.
He can't live with that. So he did. He did his best to do what he believed was right and ignored his feelings knowing she deserved someone better. Someone who could protect her more that he can. There were no labels between them and he settled on the privilege of walking her home when he had the chance. Every time, he would tell himself that it would be the last time he was going to walk with her only to fail again the next time.
Kakashi knew he was in too deep. He didn't know when he started falling. All he knew was that when he walked next to her for the first time nearly two years ago, deep inside, he wanted to be by her side for a very long time.
She made him feel safe, she didn't treat him any differently when people were calling him names and their friends looked at him with pity in their eyes. She has just always been there. She was his one constant since his days in the academy to his time as an ANBU. She understood his pain when he lost Minato and respected his space when she too was grieving and needed someone but most of all, he fell for her genuine kindness, her bravery and how she always puts others before herself.
It was during the time when Kakashi found himself meddling with Root Division business, a stern warning came from her. She said he may no longer recognize himself if he continued to deal with the division. She said it was made for people specifically like him. But when Lord Third was negotiating with Danzo, she volunteered herself to be in exchange for another wood style user, Kinoe. His abilities were only half of what she can do and yet she willingly went back into the dark so he could find the light. The Third strongly disagreed with this, but like before, Akira did not listen and she was back in the Root Division. She shrugged nonchalantly saying she needed more training anyway.
Kakashi asked if Kinoe knew Akira. He said yes. She was really powerful when they trained together and they became good friends since they were the same age.
When the Root Division was disbanded, Akira was back on the Hokage's ANBU. She was in the hospital for weeks, and when she came back, she was still wincing in pain.
This made Kakashi want to put her first for once. He felt like she had no regards for her life, like she didn't care about it. He knew what that feeling is like and he wanted her to know that she was so more than just another pawn in the war.
She was slowly becoming his world.
She made him feel things that he didn't even know existed, she made him do things he thought he would never do. She made him see the beauty of life once again.
She saved him.
For two years Kakashi kept himself at bay, wondering if Akira felt the same way as he did. A part of him hoped she only saw him as a friend and nothing more, he hoped that the meals she left on his door were just random acts of kindness on her part, he hoped it was just him making up stupid scenarios in his head because he knew wasn't strong enough to stop himself from caving in if she does.
Their friends eventually noticed Kakashi's odd behaviour. He looked for her as he passed through the sushi restaurant where she's mostly seen these days, it was her face he first searches in a crowded room, the one he hoped to see when he tagged along for dinners and the others eventually noticed.
They didn't really confront the two about what was going on (except for Gai which Kakashi outright denied) but they always had their suspicions that there was something more than what meets the eye.
He ran into her in the locker room the night he first held her hand. She just came from a week long solo mission in the Land of the Snow and though he wouldn't admit it, he missed her.
"How did it go?" He had asked her. .
"It went well." She replied as she strapped her shoe into place.
She stood up from the bench the same time he sat down. Before she reached the door she called his name and told him she was going to report in to the Hokage and eat dinner after. She was out of the door before Kakashi could ask her if she wanted him to join her for dinner. He stared at the door, perplexed and unsure of what she meant.
He ate next to her anyway. That night when he walked her home on the now familiar streets that led to her house, their hands lightly brushed against each other. Kakashi's heart almost stopped when he felt her hand take his own.
It was warm. So warm that the heat radiating from their tangled hands traveled through his whole body.
She wanted him.
Akira held Kakashi's hand just as tight as he did with hers. They didn't have to exchange words to know how each felt. Their eyes already said a million words. It was just how it's always been with the two of them.
When they reached her house, Kakashi walked her up to her front door. He watched in amusement as she fumbled with her keys before finally abled to unlock the bolt and switched the first light on.
They stood in her doorway, both unsure of what to do next but when her green orbs met his dark ones, Kakashi knew there was no stopping them now. Whatever the consequence may be, there was no turning back. They were both in too deep that the world would just have to deal with them being together.
Kakashi leaned in and kissed her forehead. She smelt like oakmoss, like the forest after the rain. It eased Kakashi's nervousness.
"I'll see you tomorrow."
Everything fell into place soon after that. As the months passed by, the began to fall in love with each other, know each other, it was slow and gentle, like the flowers blooming in the spring.
They became familiar with each other's presence, their small quirks and habits, like how Kakashi likes his miso soup with eggplants in them or how Akira can't go to bed without a cup of warm tea and the way he would stay up late at night just to watch her sleep, wondering how he had gotten so lucky only to discover that Akira talks in her sleep. She mumbled words in a language Kakashi never understood but once in a while, his name would leave her lips and Kakashi swore he could feel himself falling in love with her all over again.
Kakashi never thought he could love someone this much. love. He was in love with Akira. He thought he loved her enough before, but now, having her in his arms, knowing her the way he was the only one allowed to, Kakashi asked himself what he could have possibly done to deserve her.
None of their friends knew. In fact, no one besides the two of them knew about their relationship for an entire year. It was the first time for the both of them and they wanted their relationship to be theirs for the time being. They knew the others would find out soon enough but for now, they wanted to relish the feeling of finally having each other after years of holding back.
It was a little after Kakashi had moved in to her apartment when the news broke out. He had been sleeping in her house for months and didn't do much "moving in" anymore since most of his things were already in her house anyway. In fact, her apartment has been looking more and more like theirs for a while. She had neatly folded her clothes to make space for his growing number of shirts left in her place months ago and the window sill that contained her worn-out books now has his as well.
Their relationship finally became public when Genma had caught Kakashi leaving Akira's apartment early one morning. It would have been harmless and easily dodged if Akira hadn't bolted out of the door to give Kakashi a kiss goodbye on his masked lips. Genma initially kept their secret for weeks but accidentally slipped up during a conversation which Kurenai and Gai immediately picked up. It wasn't long after that when the pats on the back were given followed with congratulations for the couple. Their former classmates weren't really surprised by the news, they always knew it was going to lead to this but what took them by surprised was how they were able to keep it a secret for a long time.
The answer was simple. They were both ANBU members after all.
Kakashi cherished their long walks together the most. After all, it was where everything started. They walked along the streets of Konoha, hand in hand with the moon shining brightly above them. No one could touch the way they laughed in the dark, talking about their future or the way they would spend hours on wrapped in each other's arms, watching the sun go down. He loved how the world seemed to fade away when he looks at her. All he could see was this woman who chose him despite his flaws and accepted him wholeheartedly.
They were no longer two seperate beings, they were two souls merged into one. This time, they will have each other to lean on for the rest of their lives.
That was the plan.
Life doesn't always go according to plan.
—
A/N: Sorry for keeping you guys waiting! I was put during the whole weekend and wasn't able to finish up this chapter. Hoping you enjoyed this one and again, thank you so much for all the support on the previous chapters!
Next Up: Tsunade and Akira meets again.