Disclaimer: Again, I don't own anyone or anything except Tomoko, her family, and Nagareboshi Cafe. Note that the Author Notes will be now on be moved to the end of the chapter so that you guys can get to the story instantly. The song for this chapter is Kyle Landry's 2015 version of Dearly Beloved from Kingdom Hearts. Please enjoy!

Edit (3/5/2017): So a guest reviewer recently left some feedback, asking why Kakashi's opponent and Kakashi have a '5 centimeter' height difference despite their being 13 and 6 respectively, and I have nothing else to say except an apology. Honestly, height isn't something I pay attention to, and the mishap was a typo if anything. The detail has been corrected, so thank you lovely Guest for pointing it out!

Chapter 10: Results & Tackle-Hugs

Well, even though I had experience watching animated fights back in my old life, actually watching a fight in real life was completely different from the hand-drawn/computer-generated counterparts. Even if I was in the Naruto-verse and all.

…Adding in ninja physics, stamina, and speed, it was kinda hard just watching the whole thing with civilian eyes. It was one of those times where I wished I had access to chakra, but considering that the air was as stale as ever with tension as an extra ingredient - turns out I'm still a non-chakra user and a civilian.

…Sigh. Oh well.

Once Kakashi jumped down into the arena, he faced off with a ninja I didn't recognize from the canon verse of Naruto. If anything, he could've been a nameless mook that might have died in the future of canon.

I think his name was…um…what was it again?

"The final battle between Hatake Kakashi and Motome Musashi will now begin!"

Oh yeah — Musashi-san! I think he's a 13 year old Genin that I saw around Nagareboshi a couple times when still in training with Mom and Dad. I probably didn't think on him a lot since he only really bought take-out and left really quickly without even taking a song request.

…Then again, he looked almost like any other civilian, with brown hair, eyes, and mostly brown shinobi gear. If anything, he probably would have blended into a garden a lot better. 'Request Arms,' huh? It's still kinda symbolic considering he made it to the end of the Chunin Exams.

…Still, a 13 year old going against a 6 year old? There was at least a 12 inch height difference there! Then again, knowing Kakashi, it might be a quick match.

Not that it would stop me from cheering at the top of my lungs, waving from the spectator stands.

…Hopefully, Kakashi wouldn't take it too badly.

"YOU CAN DO IT, KAKASHI-KUN! BREAK A LEG!"

In response, my best friend lightly glanced in my direction before facing his opponent and taking a fighting stance.

And wait. Was it just me, or were his ears pink?

"…Tomoko-chan, please tell me you don't mean that literally." I looked to the side only to notice how sheepish and out of place Minato-san looked, blue eyes glinting nervously.

"Um…not really?" My hesitant, high-pitched response only made Minato-san sweat, and he gently put a palm to his face. "…By chance, was it something I said?"

Minato-san groaned. "…Just don't say those things around your dad, okay?"

I just blinked and nodded without questioning it. Is Dad really that scary or is there something else going on?

For some reason, I couldn't help but think of when Nora offered to break Cardin's legs that one time in RWBY. Was it that?

Soon enough, Minato-san's eyes narrowed to a serious expression, and he lightly nudged me in the shoulder. "Besides, the match is starting soon."

True to his words, the loud announcement of "BEGIN!" ran through the entire arena, and I had to quickly run over to the handrail in order to look down at the scene. Honestly, the entire battle played out much like an intense action scene from a movie, where Kakashi and Musashi-san were exchanging taijutsu blows. Unfortunately, I could only really follow the first few kicks and punches before they started speeding up, and by then, it was really a series of silver and brown blurs going at it.

Even the techniques weren't exempt from this since I could only make out Musashi-san attempting to use some Fire Style Techniques, including Flame Bullet and Fireball Jutsus, but it either missed Kakashi entirely or it collided with a hastily created Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall.

In the end, the match ended with a surprise attack on Kakashi's part, where after a Fire Jutsu exploded in the middle of the arena, Kakashi took the chance to hide underground and then jump Musashi-san with an Earth Release: Double Suicide Decapitation Technique to knock him out - ironically, the same move his future self used on Sasuke, another Fire Style user.

Once the announcer shouted out "WINNER: HATAKE KAKASHI!", I didn't even think of anything else.

Once my best friend walked back up the stairs to meet Minato-san and I at the spectator stands, I ended up running towards him as fast as I could, just to face him properly. In person, face-to-face, that kind of thing. And to check on his well-being.

Thankfully, even after such an intense battle like that, with fire being in everybody's faces, Kakashi was completely unscathed save for a small nick in his jersey from a stray kunai. I held back every thought of hugging him for the moment just to smile up at him.

"You did it, Kakashi-kun."

In response, he lightly smiled back through his mask. "Was there any doubt, Tomoko?"

I winced, looking to the side in a bit of shame. He caught me. "…Well, I was a bit worried, so that might count."

"…You really need to work on that worrywart tendency of yours."

At the dry remark, I just sighed, puffing my cheeks.

"I won't deny that, but I just really want to hug you right now. Do I get permission, oh great Chunin?"

Kakashi gave me a half-lidded stare in response, his expression literally screaming 'What the hell.'

I couldn't help the thought. Are my hugs really that bad?

Still, Kakashi sighed. "They haven't even announced who's been promoted to Chunin yet, Tomoko."

I glanced at him before shrugging. Whatever. It was still a victory, and victories called for something. "Eh, don't care — I'm just going to hug you now, alright?"

"…Wait, what—"

I just wrapped my arms around his torso just to shut him up, resting my head against the side of his neck.

…Hey, don't push me on this. It's been a week, and when a girl needs to hug her best friend, she's gotta do it! Doesn't matter if it's a tackle or a normal hug — either works!

And sometimes, you need to have physical affection to show that you care. At least, that's what I think.

"…Tomoko?" Apparently Kakashi was expecting the tackle hug option and was quite stiff in response — heck, even his voice sounded a bit different than usual!

Is there something wrong with him? Or does he really think I just tackle-hug people all the time?

In the end, I just ignored it. I ignored the dirty state of his shinobi gear and how it was somewhat dirtying my kimono dress, the various other ninja standing around us spectating in a mixture of surprise and shock, and even the bewildered gaze of Minato-san.

Kakashi was right here, safe and sound, and I just wanted to hug him. He was snuggly, warm, and strangely smelled of pine trees. Kakashi felt familiar, gentle, and quite honestly, safe to me. I couldn't help but breathe in his scent from his shoulder, tightening my hug around him while burying my face into his shirt. "…It's just good to have you back, Kakashi-kun."

To my surprise, hesitant arms went across my back to return the hug as a soft breath blew by my ear. I could feel Kakashi's muscles slowly relax under my hands while the hold on me tightened. "…I'm glad to be back."

In response, I just smiled against his shoulder before pulling away somewhat to stare into his silver eyes. Warm, familiar silver eyes. "Welcome back, Kakashi-kun."

He blinked before giving me a soft eye smile, hand landing on the top of my head. "I'm back, Tomoko."

In the background, Minato-san blinked. "Um…I hate to interrupt you two, but we need to head out of the tower now since it's sunset. Mind if you could let go?"

…Why is the Yellow Flash almost always late at this kind of stuff?

"So, you're a Chunin now, huh?" I couldn't help but look over the new Konoha flak jacket Kakashi was donning over his black jersey from my position at the piano bench, taking in the various pockets and contours.

In response, the new Chunin simply shrugged in his chair. "Yeah, but it doesn't really feel all that outstanding."

I just giggled into my kimono sleeve. For once, Kakashi looked to be at a loss for what he was supposed to do with the whole new promotion thing, poking parts of the jacket every now and then with a finger. "You don't have to be all that humble about it. It's a new promotion — of course it's amazing! You just made a new milestone in your life!"

"Tomoko, you really don't have to make a big deal out of it." Kakashi sighed, lightly slouching into his chair, arms crossed across his chest. "It was just expected, that's all."

Well, here's the Prodigy talking. In response, I just frowned and lightly poked the ninja's cheek through his mask. Have to curb this before Team Minato comes around. I could only hope my words stuck. "Kakashi-kun, not everything goes according to expectations, okay? Don't go thinking that all the time with ninja work."

The Chunin simply gave me a half-lidded stare, pushing away my hand. "Now you're starting to sound like Dad."

I just shrugged. "Eh, I've been a worrywart, so why not add parent to the mix?"

"…Now that just sounds weird, Tomoko. You're not my mom." Kakashi said dryly.

I just tilted my head when looking at him, grinning teasingly. "But I'm your best friend and I said I would play a whole concert for you when you became Chunin, Kakashi-kun. Just let me spoil you a little before you head out and leave me by my lonesome."

The Chunin's silver eyes simply narrowed at me in response. "...Tomoko."

"Yes, Kakashi-kun?" I hummed back, voice a bit more high-pitched than usual.

"..."

I ended up humming. "...?"

"..."

"…These silences are getting way too common between us. Just say something — anything!"

Kakashi gave me the same narrowed stare. "…Anything."

I just pouted at him.

"Ha ha ha, Kakashi-kun, my stomach is certainly giving out from laughter right now."

"…Just decide on something to play already."

"Alrighty, mister Chunin, one concert coming up~!"

"…Don't call me 'mister Chunin.'"

The melody easily flowed out from underneath my fingers. Honestly for such an occasion, I had to go back to my roots, playing the honest tale of a boy wielding a giant Key to go around saving the various worlds. I knew that Kakashi wouldn't have to deal with something of that giant scale right now, but if we were going by canon, he would be in a lot of hurt.

I just hope he does realize that there are a lot of people who consider him one of their Dearly Beloved.

And to be honest, I just missed my best friend, sassiness and sarcasm included. Might as well go back to how we first started, not talking except through music. I just hope he was enjoying the moment as much as I was.

Author Notes: Right now, I'll actually address Madam3Mayh3m's review for Chapter 9 and actually go over the timeline that I've been using so far for Civilian Pianist. So when actually starting this story and introducing Kakashi, I actually referred to the fan-moderated Narutopedia for the Academy Graduation age and Chunin Promotion age and based everything else off accordingly.

One of the things Kishimoto unfortunately failed at with the original story was that the timeline was kinda messed up for Kakashi's generation in the manga/anime when documenting everything in the databooks. I've heard things on the Internet where Sakumo died when Kakashi was still an Academy student at 4-5 years old, or where he passed 5 years before the Kannabi mission when Kakashi was 8 and already a Chunin.

Not to mention, Episode 386 of Naruto Shippuden did show quite a bit of Kakashi's first time taking the Chunin Exams, but apparently he was already in Team Minato when doing so, making him 8-9 years old at promotion, but when based on the databook, he would have already been Chunin before meeting Rin and Obito. Adding in how Anko should have been 2 in the depiction of that Chunin Exams in the anime (I remember reading this off a forum on the internet, so please correct me if I'm wrong), but she's shown in the Exams in Team Orochimaru facing off against Hayate, who would also be the same age. So in conclusion— it's just really convoluted. More so since I think Kishimoto was getting burnt out by the time Shippuden's end was rolling around.

Don't be workaholics, people!

*ahem* Anyways.

This is where I take some inspiration from previous SI fanfictions such as Catch your Breath by Lang Noi to establish the main timeline since in there, Kei (the OC) and Obito only really form Team Minato with Kakashi when they are all 9, and it's established really quickly that Kakashi is already Chunin when meeting them. So for this fanfic, I'll just end it off by saying that right now:

- Tomoko is the same age as Kakashi at 6 years old (with a 9 days difference with Kakashi's birthday being September 15th and Tomoko's being the 24th — so Kakashi is older than Tomoko technically)

- I'm assuming that Guy and Kakashi are the same age, so that's why Kakashi isn't facing off against Guy in the Chunin Exam Finals here like in the anime/manga since at this point, Guy hasn't graduated the Academy yet and will only do so at age 7 (which is a year away in the timeline).

- Obito and Rin will graduate the Academy at 9 years old, so Team Minato won't be together until about three years after this chapter (not in story publishing speed, mind you — just in the timeline)

- Kakashi did graduate the Academy at 5 years old (explaining his and Tomoko's meeting in Nagareboshi Cafe in Chapter 6) and has already become Chunin at age 6 as of this chapter, which establishes why Tomoko is seeing him at the Chunin Exams in Chapters 9-10.

- Sakumo's unfortunate mission will take place when Tomoko and Kakashi are 8 (therefore cementing Kannabi when Kakashi and Tomoko are 13), so expect some angst coming soon...