Kiya hid a yawn as she walked down the street, having just finished a shift at the hospital. Having redone her micro box braids, they fell around her waist as she wore a pair of navy cargo joggers and a tank top. Feeling the slight tug of the Amatsu as he padded beside her, she glanced down at him.
He had grown much over the past two months and now was a couple inches below her knees, no longer needing to feed from Luna as he quickly adjusted to solids. He had rebelled against the sling being turned into a backpack so the chakra seals had been transferred to a chain collar around his neck and a thin chain wrapped around her ankle to keep the small amount of passive chakra to transfer to him.
It had been about six weeks since she had seen Kakashi or the rest of his team as missions for everyone had piled up. She had been promoted to a senior med-nin and had begun to train with ANBU as they were always in need of med-nins on missions. Amatsu, despite still being so young, was already learning about his own chakra and could keep up with her for short amount of times when running either on the ground or through the trees.
In the afternoons, when the weather was good and she was free, Kiya would find herself on Kakashi's property. All of the flowerbeds had been weeded and trimmed back at this point and she had fixed the outdoor furniture and added a fresh stain the gazebo she had found. She was now at the point of the compound itself but felt that going inside without permission was pushing too many boundaries so she left it alone and used the open land to play with Amatsu and tire him out.
Finally reaching her apartment complex, she picked up Amatsu and jumped up to the third floor before setting him down. Fishing her keys out, she unlocked her door and her ninken dashed inside with a bark. Frowning, she kicked off her shoes as she closed her door and followed him as he bolted down the hallway.
"Kashi...? Hush, Amatsu," She spoke, surprised to see Kakashi sound asleep in her bed, tucked under the covers and shirtless. Walking around the bed, she sat beside the silver haired man and ran her hand across his cheek to wake him. "What are you doing in my bed?"
"Your place was closer," he mumbled as he yawned, his eyes barely opening. "Sorry."
"The last mission that bad?"
"I could use the assistance of my personal med-nin," he groaned as he moved to sit against the headboard.
"What happened?" She frowned, jerking the covers off him, revealing him to only be in his boxer briefs and saw his bandages taped to his abdomen. "Why did you not have Sakura or someone at the hospital look you over?"
"I did, wounds were injected with foreign chakra," he muttered.
"How'd you get into that situation?" She sighed, pulling back one of the bandages carefully to see four deep stitched wounds and pressed her hand to his abdomen to push some of her chakra into him to help the healing process and reduce his pain.
"What should have been a B class mission was one that should have been for ANBU."
"Geez," she huffed before putting the bandage back as Amatsu nudged her leg with his head. "I didn't forget you, silly. Come on, let's get you dinner. Do you want some dinner, Kashi?"
"That would be nice," he nodded and made a move to sit up and she pushed his shoulder to make him lay back down.
"Rest, I'll bring some food in to you."
"Thank you," he sighed as his body slumped back against the pillows.
Standing up, she moved closer so she could kiss him softly, "I missed you."
"And I, you," he murmured against her lips before she drew back.
Leaving the bedroom, she headed into the kitchen with Amatsu at her side. Getting him food first, she worked to make a couple turkey sandwiches with lettuce, cheese, and tomato. Grabbing a couple bottles of water, she balanced the plates on her left arm and headed back to the bedroom.
"I'm running a little low on food so sorry it's nothing big," she spoke apologetically.
"No need to apologize, Kiya," he smiled and she set the plates down to help him move a couple more pillows behind him.
Sitting by his feet, she handed him a plate before digging into her own sandwich. When Amatsu had finished eating, she heard him pad into the bathroom and saw Kakashi's eyes widen. Glancing over her shoulder, she saw her ninken using the toilet and chuckled.
"Better than using a litter box. It makes things less complicated at work and I run him a lot since he rebelled against the second stage of the sling."
"He's gotten big," Kakashi mused as they watched the retriever flush before coming over and hopped up into the bed where she held out a some of the turkey from her sandwich.
"Yeah. He ended up weening himself to solids a few weeks ago and shot up. Luna still comes a three times a day to feed him though," she hummed as Amatsu curled up near her.
"How have you been? It's been a while."
"I'm a senior med-nin now," she said proudly.
"I'm not surprised. You have always learned quickly," he smirked as he finished his food.
"I've also been training with ANBU more and have done a couple missions."
"Are you sure that's something you would want?" She saw his concern as he frowned.
"I will only get assigned if a medical team is needed."
"Don't push yourself too far, okay?"
"I won't. I only do three days at the hospital now and weekends at the ANBU headquarters. Unless I'm on a mission, I only do mornings at both. Amatsu has helped me learn to slow down," she smiled as she took his plate before taking them back to the kitchen and grabbed her first aid bag from the hall closet and set it on the dresser.
"Why braid your hair again?" Kakashi inquired
"Got too hot to let it be free. The braids actually allow my head to stay cool," she mused as she pulled out some clothes so she could shower. "That and it makes it easier to deal with."
"That makes sense," he hummed and she looked at him as he slid back to lay down. "I see the appeal of your sheets."
"Told you," she grinned. "Amatsu, time to clean up."
Chuckling as Amatsu let out a snort, he hopping off the bed. Closing the door most of the way so she could still hear Kakashi, she turned on the shower and Amatsu hopped in. Stripping down, she laid down several towels and created a fire orb for Amatsu when she finished cleaning him up then hopped in as well.
She cleaned him daily to help minimize his shedding as well as remove any lingering smells. Once he was done, he shook himself to get off as much water before hopping out and laid down on the towels to dry off. Then she cleaned herself up before hopping out to dry off and pull on a pair of purple shorts that stopped at her upper thighs and white tank top over her underwear and minimal support sports bra.
Using the warmth of her fire, she quickly dried her hair completely before doing the same with Amatsu as she combed his fur out. Gathering all of her braids and twisting them into a single braid, tying them off as she stepped out of the bathroom. Kakashi's dual colored eyes immediately focus on her and she saw that he had his knee bent while she could see a flush on his face.
"You have no control, do you?" She mused as she walked over to the dresser to grab the first aid bag and carried it over to the bed.
"You are the one who didn't close the door all of the way," he spoke quietly. "You are beautiful."
"You're hopeless," she snorted, glancing at the bathroom to realize that he probably could have seen everything through the mirror.
"I know."
Carefully pulling the covers back to pile over his lower half, she pulled off the bandages from his abdomen. Allowing her mixed elements to run over his stitched wounds to clean them and the blood that leaked out, she carefully smeared ointment over each before placing new bandages. Putting the first aid bag back on the dresser, she threw away the dirtied bandages before laying on top of the covers beside Kakashi.
"When will you be leaving next?" She asked, rolling on her side towards him as Amatsu curled up near her feet.
"Tsunade has me on medical leave until I heal but the rest of the team has a mission tomorrow with Yamato."
"I never realized summers where so crazy for mission requests."
"Always has," Kakashi spoke as his arm moved closer and she slid her hand into his. "Do you work tomorrow?"
"No," she answered before there was a poof of smoke before Luna appeared. "Evening Luna."
"Evening, young one. Welcome back, pup," Luna spoke as she laid down and Amatsu curled up closer but did not start eating. "Seems he no longer wants my milk. He's maturing faster than his litter mates."
"Chosen ninken always do," Kakashi hummed and Kiya glanced at him as his exhaustion was taking over.
"Sleep, Kashi," Kiya spoke softly and he nodded, letting his eyes close before his body slowly relaxed.
"Pakkun had mentioned he had been hurt," Luna spoke softly and she nodded. "He's in good hands."
"Will you still come if he no longer needs your milk?"
"Only if you still need me to."
"What about bettering your bond with Amatsu?"
"If it concerns you that much, return him to the sanctuary for small amounts of time. I would not complain," Luna yipped softly.
"Okay," Kiya nodded as the retriever licked her pup on his head before getting to her feet and disappeared. Amatsu crawled over to curl up against her stomach and she ran her hand through his fur, "Would you like to have more time with your mom and meet your siblings, Amatsu?"
A single bark of approval answered her and she hummed before hearing a knock on her front door. Sighing quietly, she got up to go check. Frowning as she saw Tsunade through the peep hole, she opened the door and let the busty blond in.
"What can I do for you, Tsunade? You don't normally do house calls," Kiya inquired, noticing the Hokage carrying a bag that had two large bottles of sake.
"There's no point hiding the fact that Kakashi is hiding here," Tsunade spoke as she entered her kitchen and searched through the cupboards before pulling out two glasses.
"He's resting and I've already checked over his injuries," Kiya spoke as she sat at the table with the woman as she pulled one of the bottles out and poured some into both.
"Despite it being against my judgment with the relationship between you two, you are his personal med-nin. Your shifts at the hospital will be covered so you can work to get him healed up. I have a mission I need him for," Tsunade spoke as she pushed one of the drinks towards her.
"And you coming here personally allows you to drink without Shizune complaining?" Kiya snorted and got a grin from the woman as she took a drink of the bitter liquid and gasped. "How do you drink this stuff?"
"I don't drink it for its taste."
"That's obvious," she muttered but finished the drink, feeling her body flush from the alcohol as Tsunade was already on her fourth drink.
"How's your training coming with ANBU?"
"I keep up with them pretty well. Been learning how to make an armor of my two elements that protect and heal me at the same time so they've stopped holding back. I think they said that the mask they're making for me will be complete this week."
"Good, that means they think you are ready. You will be going with him. It is an infiltration mission so you need to create a transformation to blend in and your ninken will need to be left at the sanctuary."
"Tsunade..."
"Your relationship will be beneficial and you should have moments to feed Amatsu your chakra. I am leaving these two bottles here so Shizune cannot take them ," Tsunade spoke as she corked the open sake and got to her feet.
"Very well."
"When he's healed up, we'll discuss the mission in more detail."
"Okay," she nodded.
Kiya got to her feet and walked the woman to the door and locked it behind her before moving the sake to the empty cabinet above her fridge. Washing the few dishes in the sink, she went back to the bedroom. Brushing her teeth to get rid of the taste of the sake, she slid under the covers Amatsu moved to give her some room while keeping on top of the covers. Glancing at Kakashi who was still sound asleep, she let herself drift off despite it still being early.