A/N: First, thanks to those who favored and followed – your response makes me so happy! :)
And a big thank you to Be-Mindful for working through this chapter as a beta — you helped me a great deal, and if you still find mistakes, they're all mine! Seriously thank you!
Music: "Prayer" by Nujabes.
- Chapter 5 -
Earth, Wind and Water
The woman rose from the bed, stroking the shuriken pattern of its cover with that breathless little chuckle persistently tickling her throat. Not in her wildest dreams would she have imagined to find herself in the home of Kakashi of the Sharingan of all places — a fact that immediately prompted the young woman to conceal her presence and chakra with as many layers as she possibly could.
Only then did she give in to the almost overwhelming curiosity of hers.
Some of the furniture would have fit well into a kid's room. Like the cluttered desk covered by a pad featuring a map of the elemental nations; its bright colors making it fairly easy to summarize their geographic location.
With a disconcerting feeling settling in the pit of her empty stomach the woman's eyes moved towards the low bookshelves on the opposite side of the bed. She could easily tell by the shape of the furniture that it was put to regular use. It made her wonder, if only briefly, why a grown man would be so reluctant to let go — especially one, whose reputation preceded him.
Of course she remembered the stories about Hatake Kakashi of the Leaf; being told them so very often that they almost clung tighter to her than her own past. Yet, when producing the words from her memory, they were narrated by two different voices. The first one the whiny complaints of a little boy — one who had repeatedly told her that he would be the one to beat that smug prodigy kid. While she had learned to listen to this one with much patience and suppressed smiles, the second voice had always overshadowed the first. So much older and cold; promising to make the Hatake pay for his mistakes.
It was so hard to believe that they both actually belonged the same person and the woman briefly closed her eyes, taking a deep breath.
She needed to stay focused. Even if she was in no immediate danger, she couldn't allow that a brief moment of abstraction got her caught.
Carefully the woman set her feet to the floor, burying them in the soft rug. It had been quite some time since she'd been able to indulge in such comforts. So with a happy sigh, she detached her spirit and finally hurdled it over the barriers of her own mind. Driven by the force of her chakra, it skimmed across Konoha and its sleeping citizens.
Digging her fingers in the washed-out covers of the bed, she found herself assaying the hearts around her. The woman would touch them ever so briefly; never dwelling too long. After weeks spent away from any noteworthy civilization, it admittedly overwhelmed her a little — all those emotions suddenly crowding her. Eventually she managed to cast them aside so that she could press forward with her mind, searching, hoping that—
With the sudden shock, typical of a more dangerous turn of events, her senses picked up on another consciousness slowly awaking very close to her. She felt how his spirit tore itself from the much needed sleep and it was only a question of time until her presence would be revealed.
It was rather perceptive of the Hatake to sense her in his current state. But she couldn't allow him to discover the actual shape and form of Fuu's not so little secret.
Quickly the young woman turned and extended her fingers to touch the thin wall that separated their rooms. Closing her eyes, she focused on the sound of his heart; slowly lifting the layers of the protective chakra that covered it.
Thump… thump… thump, thump-thump.
Once the Hatake's mind registered that something was amiss, his heart rate immediately picked up — his senses already reaching out just as she send her own chakra to block them. When they collided, both of their spirits recoiled at the sudden contact — even if to the woman it felt like a mere brush of cool finger tips against the palm of her hand.
"There's no need for you to wake up just yet. Sleep" she breathed softly and accompanied her words with a low hum to guide him right back. Leaning against the wall between them, she shared some of her own exhaustion with him. When his chakra bristled against hers, roaring at the prospect of being touched, she only shook her head a little. There was a small smile on her lips when she made her blood call out to him in an attempt to soothe his chakra and push him back to sleep.
Thump-thump… thump… thump… … thump…
Taking a deep breath, the young woman blinked a few times whilst gathering herself.
The Hatake's nature had to be lightning, if her frizzed hair was any indication. It still sent electric shocks to her hands as she attempted to comb through it with her trembling fingers. Sinking back on the bed, a wave of exhaustion reminded her that she was in dire need of further rest.
Regardless of the given circumstances she still enjoyed the aftershocks of the spirit encounter. It was always special to call on someone's blood for the first time, but his had a very hollow ring to it. Strong and brave, but also very… sad.
{Don't.}
The voice in her head was faint, yet it made her freeze on the spot.
"Don't worry, there's no way I'd develop sympathetic feelings for someone like him" she reassured and the pressure in her head quickly faded to the back.
Her white skin flared like a cold flame in the moonlight as she walked over to the window and glanced at the peaceful scene before her.
The streets were empty except the civilians passing by now and then. Her eyes travelled to the outskirts of Konoha, climbing up the silhouettes of the trees that merged to one black mess right before her. The way their shadow moved, reminded her of a lurking animal — waiting for its chance to attack.
A thought that made her press one hand to the open wound on her neck.
Tearing her gaze off the woods, the young woman snuck into the little bathroom. Pulling the door closed behind her, she let her senses roam over the sleeping Hatake once more — just to be sure. But he was now buried in those deep regions of sleep und would not rouse anytime soon.
In front of the mirror she raised her head, inspecting what was left of the 'friendly reminder'. Her hands hovered just above the fading bruises, the swollen eye and busted lip…
"Now that's lovely" she remarked and winced as her fingers found the torn flesh on her neck. The wound was weeping and she decided that the purple coloring was actually something to worry about. "So he managed to develop a new poison."
{Bloody snake. It looks disgusting.}
"Well thanks" she retorted, her voice dripping with as much appreciation as her sarcasm could provide under the given circumstances.
The marks extended from her spine on the back of her throat to the collarbone and the smell of it turned her stomach. She took a deep breath, before actually addressing her greatest concern.
"Do you think, it will be fine?"
{I doubt you'll die.}
She raised one brow at her own reflection and there was a touch of wry amusement rippling the lake of her conscious. She waited, certain that he would soon fail to mask his discontent.
{I said it will be fine, just take care of that wound and try to stay away from trouble. And I mean it. Stay away from it. Do you understand me? I think, I already made myself quite clear when I advised you against coming here. Now you've gotten yourself a damn guardian! Him of all people.}
Though she pushed it quickly aside, there just for a brief slip in the control she had over emotions — anger mingled with guilt, a satisfaction she had yet to deny and the first sparks of what seemed like hope.
The owner of the voice was thankfully unaware of it. In moments such as these, she missed the times where it had been so ridiculously easy to be completely loyal to him. Only to him. Everything had been so simple — had been still black and white back then.
"It's not like I chose him" she felt the need to remind him. "It was a mere coincidence. Fuu is safe with him, for now. And by the way, who promised me that Orochimaru wouldn't find me in the Land of Lightning?"
{I underestimated the snake… But you're right, you and Fuu are safe for now. So, why don't you humor me and take care of that wound before you go back to sleep, Futaba.} His voice sounded irritated as always since he disliked to remind her to care of herself and she couldn't help, but smile. Apparently they both couldn't help it with those old habits.
"You too… Take care of yourself" she whispered in return and though her words were teasing her voice was gentle.
The moment his presence disappeared, Futaba returned her attention to the nasty bite.
It would take her some time to heal it without getting any of that poison into the rest of her system. But if she hurried now, it might not even leave a scar. Although that man would probably have loved to finally place one on her. The memory of his fangs sinking into her skin with that distinct 'tchk' made her skin crawl; the look of his inhuman eyes burned into her recollections of that night.
"Maybe I'm just pressing my luck, huh?" she whispered and reopened the wound with her fingers, clenching her teeth.
'Something is different' Kakashi decided as he comfortably buried his face in the pillow to avoid the sunlight.
The pleasant fogginess of sleep lifted itself like a curtain and his head started the merry-go-round of troubling thoughts. Though still out of tune, it tossed pictures and sensations at him and he simply waited for his senses to fully awaken.
This was a feeling that had become very foreign to him. He was well rested and peaceful. That was, until he was finally able to remember why exactly something felt so oddly off about the house.
He shot up — only to end up caught in his covers that almost send him falling to the floor. With blood pounding in his ears, Kakashi tried to keep up with the sudden blast of adrenaline. He pushed himself up, finally able to detect the girl in the next room.
She really had no more presence than a cat.
Kakashi rubbed his face before rolling out of bed. Adjusting his mask and headband, he finally opened the window to take a deep breath. Since the room still held the stale air of being unoccupied it was actually refreshing and … vitalizing.
Birds greeted the new day and Kakashi wondered just how he had managed to sleep through that racket. Despite the wakeful nights on his mission, he should not have been this exhausted. Blinking through his confusion, the jonin eventually stepped away from the window.
Yesterday Kakashi had been standing in front of the closed door to this room, thinking about just going down to the sofa and leave things the way they were.
After all, this was the room of his father and Kakashi felt like he was intruding on what little space he had reserved for that person in his life. He had argued with himself before finally opening that door. Twelve years and yet so well preserved. Anger, frustration, fear and loneliness mixed to match the strong response of his memories.
Nonetheless he had lifted the covers of the bed, releasing a long forgotten but familiar smell. And before he knew it, Kakashi had fallen into sleep. Just once a soft pressure had calmed his turmoil, inducing a dreamless sleep. It had felt almost like the influence of a person…
But there were no traces of any unfamiliar chakra around him now and Kakashi finally turned his back to the window. The dark blue sheets on the bed were now ruffled, creating an atmosphere of everyday life. It lifted the dead silence and the layer of dust covering the time span between now and then.
'It will be fine' he told himself.
Fuu needed a place to stay and though there was still another spare room it would be quite a hassle to clean it up and make it habitable. Surely there would be all kinds of… stuff and Kakashi felt rather reluctant to touch any more of the personal belongings of his father — not to mention those of his mother.
Careful footsteps approached the door to his room and Kakashi waited for the knock, before he walked over to open it.
"Good morning, Hatake-sama" Fuu greeted him and inclined her head, slightly bowing. Kakashi managed not to flinch, though somehow Kurenai's voice popped up in his head, describing an eerily similar situation. — 'Oh, I was just imaging how little Fuu runs around calling you Hatake-sama!'
He decided to intervene as soon as possible by setting up some rules — otherwise she would probably never stop calling him that.
Clearing his throat, Kakashi eyed his little ward thoughtfully. Fuu had exchanged her black yukata from yesterday to a dark blue one and he noticed her attempt at braiding her hair. The result was a rather crooked tail and a few loose curls that framed the shy smile on her face.
"Morning Fuu" he yawned, leaning against the door frame. "Did you sleep well?"
"Yes" she beamed at him and he felt a smile tucking at one side of his mouth. So much energy, so early in the morning. With a suddenness Kakashi felt wholly unprepared for, however, Fuu turned her smile upside down, "Although I feel deeply sorry for falling asleep and taking your bed in the end."
"I survived" Kakashi rejoined slightly amused and Fuu tucked at her clothes showing a sheepish grin. He raised the visible eyebrow and turned back to the room, thinking about what needed to be done before he met her expectant eyes again. "You haven't found anything edible by any chance?"
Of course Fuu had not dared to wander off alone, but she didn't need to point this out. Instead she just shook her head, dark curls dancing around her fair little face. The girl sure was adjusting just fine.
Kakashi wondered what she had been up to in his room, yet quickly discarded his suspicions of her touching any of his belongings. Fuu probably had not even set a toe on the ground before she had heard him getting up.
"Well, how about we-" Kakashi started with no actual plan in his mind as another knock interrupted him — this time, however, it was the front door.
He answered the question on Fuu's face with a slight wave of his hands and she scurried down the stairs. She send a few curious glances around the house but Kakashi, who remembered that she had already been asleep the evening before, trusted her to find the door without his help.
Another sigh passed his lips. Judging from the signature of the three people besieging his apartment at this early hour, this could, and quite possibly would, turn out to be yet another very exhausting day. That was why Kakashi chose to put off the evil hour by making a beeline for the bathroom, closing the door just as the voices of Kurenai and Gai sounded through the house.
He could tell that the girl must have made a trip here — there was the faint smell of flowers in the air. Shrugging that his earlier presumption about her staying glued to the bed must have been wrong, he stepped inside the tub.
Once under the hot water of the shower, Kakashi tried to ignore the annoying voices downstairs and enjoyed a few more moments of quiet. Though he realized that it was not very responsible of him to send the girl as cannon fodder — there was no better term for it, really — he did acknowledge Fuu's ability to at least distract Kurenai. The kunoichi must have been in exuberant spirits to gather the other two so quickly after returning from her mission.
While he got dressed, Kakashi tracked their movements in his home, quickly discovering the pattern. Kurenai and Fuu bustled between the kitchen and the living room area, setting up the breakfast table. Gai and Asuma were not inside the apartment.
For a second Kakashi outweighed his possibilities and finally decided to use his body flicker technique to simply appear on his seat at the dining table.
There was a high-pitched shriek to his left as Fuu stumbled backwards, the plate she had meant to set on the table before him, raised in defense. With one quick motion he griped the plate to prevent her from falling over and she came to a swaying halt, peeking with her green eyes just around the side.
Kakashi decided then with a smirk that though it was fun to actually have someone to properly scare, he would have to pull himself together. As if sensing his amusement, Fuu's eyes narrowed slightly at him before they wandered slowly to a point next to his own head.
Kakashi already knew who was staring at him so intently. It was the impressive red glare that always got to him. Asuma referred to it by 'The haunting glare of conscience' and was probably the only one who had found a way to actually shrug it off. But right then and there it was directed at Kakashi and he wasn't as crafty when it came to the kunoichi.
"Some fine guardian you are, Hatake Kakashi, to make your ward answer the door for you, while you scram! We even brought everything for breakfast" Kurenai huffed, though she could not completely hide the smile forming beneath the facade of her anger.
In front of her she found a scene that appeared still a bit awkward — a freshly assigned no-good guardian and his shy little ward. The kunoichi was however quite sure that very soon the two of them would become a well attuned team. Almost as if to defy Kurenai's accusation that he was slowly turning into some kind of social hermit, Kakashi just seemed to click with the four year old.
"Can I get a cup of coffee?" Kakashi asked, completely ignoring Kurenai's last words and waiting patiently for her to throw a proper fit.
If they decided to invade his home, he at least wanted to enjoy it and by far the easiest way to achieve his goal was by riling up Kurenai. He hoped that this would one day prevent them from popping up unannounced. In his personal opinion definitely her worst habit.
"No" came the clipped response from the kunoichi as she carried yet another grocery bag into the kitchen.
"Mornin'" Asuma greeted upon closing the slide door to the back porch and taking off his shoes. Seeing the expression on Kurenai's face through the service hatch of the kitchen, caused him to playfully hit Kakashi's shoulder as he went past him to take the seat opposite of him. "She was in fine mood just now. What did you say to her? And most importantly, where's the coffee?"
"That's my question exactly" Kakashi joined as Kurenai reentered with the bowls for the miso soup that currently simmered on the stove.
One of Kurenai's eyebrows twitched and though the interval was still at five-seconds, Kakashi knew just too well that once it started, it rarely ended well for them. There was however a bouncing head moving around the table and then green eyes appeared between the two men and Kurenai, just on the other side of the tabletop.
"Please stop teasing Kurenai" Fuu requested and for once her otherwise amiable expression turned to one of admonishment.
"Don't worry, Fuu-chan!" Asuma leant on the table to ruffle her hair while unable to contain his laughter as he reached with his free hand in his pocket for his cigarettes, "She secretly enjoys this."
The pack was immediately snatched out of his hands and with another swift movement, Asuma's head bent down from a light smack. "Ow! ... See? Told you so. Kurenai is just very happy that you are finally here to take care of our idiot elite ninja."
Both girls blushed.
Judging by her face, Kurenai considered whether or not it was worth hitting Asuma a second time — possibly loosing some more of her dignity. Eventually she decided that it would only unnecessarily entertain Kakashi, who was busy wiggling his eyebrows at her suggestively.
After the silver haired jonin had somehow discovered that there was something more to her feelings for Asuma, he had made remarks about it whenever he found the chance. Right now, however, Kakashi's attention shifted to Fuu, who had grabbed the edge of the table and now glanced towards him in return.
"You're an elite ninja?" It was no more than a faint whisper.
"You missed the most important addition — idiot" Kurenai reminded her sourly and Asuma chuckled at that, but Kakashi noticed the agitated frown that had reappeared on Fuu's face.
"Well… You could say so" confirmed Kakashi after a moment of hesitation and Fuu dropped her gaze before she decided to pose her next question.
"Is that the reason why you are taking care of me? Is there something I've done wrong?"
Kakashi's body moved unconsciously, as he sensed her fear, followed by a painful thud once his knee hit the table. While he pointedly ignored Asuma's snort, it gave him a moment to realize that it was rather curious.
Fuu won them over so easily — one by one. Right from the very beginning something had drawn them to her.
Kakashi himself was nobody to happily pick up strangers and allow them to live under his roof; not to mention little kids with their sticky fingers. But he could tell that it was not her actual motive to manipulate them. If he was right, and it dawned upon him that there was actually much more to it, Fuu did these things unconsciously.
The sudden tension between his shoulder blades resolved with a long sigh.
He simply needed to look into her green eyes to — …
Quickly he turned his attention to the empty plate in front of him. Just what kind of trick was this?
"I found you in a place we all thought to be a ghost town. You told us that you were hiding but it's hard to believe that you would be able to go unnoticed by a whole ANBU squad — even though you have no detectable chakra. I myself searched every house, every hideout… And yesterday I stopped by in the Uchiha district because of an-"
"What Kakashi wants to say -" interrupted Kurenai with yet again her 'haunting glare of conscience' "- is that the circumstances of your sudden appearance are quite strange and that we are still trying to figure out, how you fit into the big picture. That's why Kakashi, being the great shinobi that he undeniably is, was appointed as your guardian. Although he is so great and everything, he is completely incapable of taking care of a child."
"How opinions change" Kakashi mused thinking of what she had told him only the day before.
Of course he would never admit openly to her that it was her faith that had swayed him to accept the role of Fuu's guardian when the Hokage had offered it to him. Well, more like he had pushedhim.
The old man had been quite crafty about it, but Kakashi knew that although he was punished with one week on standby, it was actually the transition to his new and ongoing mission, which was about finding informations about Fuu. That the Third had delayed his announcement concerning Kakashi's new responsibilities had given the old Sarutobi enough time to plan ahead. Maybe now that he had a grandson, he did not want to interrogate Fuu without further evidence.
'Observe her carefully. If there's any evidence that she is connected to the incident or the intruders themselves, we will have to find out, but for now she seems innocent to me. Though you might have to push her, maybe stir up emotions to give her away. But at first you need to gain her trust.'
There was again the pang of anger that he had hit him upon hearing the words of the Hokage. Of course the old man was right about the precautions but now that Kakashi had become her guardian, he wanted to prove that she was innocent — and he wanted her to be a little more carefree.
"I… I don't know how I was able to hide when Master Yashiro told me to. I… it's just that — I don't want to be a burden to you, Hatake-sama" Fuu stammered and the thought brought tears to her eyes.
Kurenai was just about to start scolding Kakashi but he silenced her by walking past her and Asuma to the little trembling frame that clung to the table.
He crouched down in front of Fuu and made her look at him by touching her shoulder. Reluctant to let go of her support she stayed close to the table and only glanced through her dark curls. Those green eyes of hers shone with unshed tears and she tried hard not to blink.
"Oi" he said with a soft but stern voice. "Look at me."
Struggling with her embarrassment, Kakashi resorted to pulling on her braid and as they were face to face the silver haired jonin raised his hand to her forehead and flicked it — quite forceful at that.
"Kakashi!" Kurenai started but was quickly stopped by Asuma who idly watched the scene, his chin cupped in one hand.
"Rule number one: Don't question the reason I accepted you as my ward. This is for now your home and I expect you to act independently since I will be on missions soon enough. I admit I was never too fond of a roommate, let alone a kid, but now that you live here, deal with it … and me."
Another flick against her head and the genuine surprise on her features almost made him smirk, but he needed to maintain the serious air.
"Rule number two: If you are troubled, regardless of the reason, voice it. And if you don't want to talk about it with me, go to Kurenai or the others. It's just a hassle if I don't know what you're moping about. And rule number three-" he continued and raised his hand to which Fuu quickly covered her forehead and stared warily at his finger reaching out for her.
"Rule number three is more of a favor I ask of you" explained Kakashi and softened his voice as he buried his hand in the silky mess of her curls. "I wish for you to… enjoy living here. Won't do if you're afraid. So if you want something, please tell me, alright?"
Fuu's hands wandered down from her forehead to cover her eyes and Kakashi waited for her to finally accept his rules with a nod before standing up. It would take time for her to be comfortable enough around him and vice versa. "So what now?"
"I'M BA~ACK" boasted a loud voice and Gai barged inside the room without further notice, almost stepping on Fuu as he marched straight up to the table. "Oh-"
A foot collided head on with Gai's face before he was able to finish his sentence and Kakashi lowered his leg, managing a lazy yet slightly annoyed expression with just one of his eyes visible.
"How dare you just kick me for a greeting, Kakashi?! If you want to challenge me, you'd better be prepared to loose, my youthful rival!" exclaimed the body suite ninja and raised his fist, veins popping up.
The bag dangling in his other hand contained some unagi eel, judging by the smell.
"How about we go search the rice cooker, Fuu? I am pretty sure I stored it in one of the cabinets" Kakashi mused completely unfazed before strolling in the direction of the kitchen, ignoring his raging friend with practiced ease.
"What about our match? Where's your youthful spirit, Kakashi?" Gai panted, the poor eel shaking in his grip.
Kurenai slipped on the seat next to Asuma and both chose to ignore their friend; showing off their well trained composure. It was best to keep out of this one-sided rivalry and coming to the same conclusion, Fuu carefully took the bag from Gai and followed Kakashi into the kitchen.
"Interesting" Asuma observed almost nonchalantly and turned his attention to the pack of cigarettes in Kurenai's hand. "Apparently Fuu only needed a few hours under the same roof to take after him. Now she's already capable of matching that annoyed and yet awkward disbelief of his."
"Hush, don't twist the knife" Kurenai whispered though she was hardly able to suppress her smile.
In the meantime, Gai chose a seat at the head of the table, turning away from them before crossing his arms with a strangely ladylike, yet indignant huff.
In the kitchen Fuu tugged at Kakashi's pants and the shyness from just seconds ago had already been replaced by confusion. "…Is he an elite ninja too, Hatake-sama?"
"Hm, I wonder" Kakashi mumbled — sighing once he noticed that she had indeed called him Hatake-sama again and he had hardly noticed. It was probably already too late anyway…
"We followed the intruders in three different directions, they had split up soon after we took up the chase. One fled to over the border to the Land of Earth, the others to the Land of Wind and Land of Water. I was close to the last one, since he took a turn and the ninken sensed another group of ninja close by, though we kept our focus on our main targets and did not investigate any further. Upon our return we did check the borders and barrier. Nothing's amiss Lord Hokage" reported the ANBU and waited for his superior to speak up.
The animal mask might have hidden Yamato's expression, but his voice showed every bit of his frustration.
"Earth, wind and water… " the Third muttered as he bit onto the end of his pipe.
The mission had failed and his hope to retrieve one of the enemy's group for interrogation was now shattered. He had hoped to avoid involving Fuu, but sooner or later he would have to at least ascertain that she was not involved with them.
"Thanks for reporting, Yamato, a shame you lost them but invading too far into the other territories without first asking for permission would have caused unnecessary problems."
"I am deeply sorry, Lord Hokage."
Although the Hokage raised his hand to dismiss his cat masked ANBU for the evening, he noticed how the shoulders of the man tensed.
Finally Yamato raised his voice, speaking carefully, "May I inquire when Dog will return to active duty?"
"I assigned him a new mission, but he'll be back with Team Ro by the end of the week. A girl was found in the Uchiha district and now we need to keep an eye on her. She's … peculiar and I fear that she has a secret of her own."
'It's just amazing how she can manipulate people around her and I am not yet sure whether that's her natural ability or if she's …' realizing that he needed to finish what he intended to say first, Hiruzen stopped this particular trail of thoughts.
"Anyway, let's wait and see. It would be nice if everything stays calm, but we rarely get that now, don't we? Nonetheless I want you to patrol the borders, regularly, and take someone with you. Report back anything out of the ordinary — you are dismissed."
Yamato stood stiffly in the middle of the room, before finally dissolving into a cloud of smoke that mixed with the billows of the Hokage's pipe.
With the quiet of the room, Hiruzen's thoughts returned to the present problems.
He highly doubted that the Kages of those three countries should try to infiltrate Konohagakure. Not long ago, the Kazekage had been quite depended on the shinobi of the Hidden Leaf for his missions and while that was slowly changing, the Third doubted that Suna would collaborate with either Wind or Water. During the last war, the latter had only jumped at the chance since Konaha had been already fighting on two fronts. Surely they wouldn't try again so soon.
Knocking out his pipe, Hiruzen sighed.
All this could as well be a distraction and as the Hokage, he feared what kind of shadow might descend upon his village.
It was already considerably late when Kakashi remembered about Fuu. All afternoon she had been in her room, making sure not to disturb him while he had been busy writing the report for his last mission. Now he couldn't help but be angry at himself for leaving her be. Surely a child would expect something more of a guardian. Like actually exchanging words, for example.
As he entered his own room, now Fuu's, Kakashi was surprised to find her already fast asleep. Sure, he had heard her move around but with his mind focused on something else, it had merely stirred his awareness. Right in front of him the girl had curled up on the pillow just like a real cat — the cover pulled up to her nose. Like this her little body appeared even more fragile and defenseless.
There was however something else caught Kakashi attention. On the desk he discovered some old clothes of his that he had planned on throwing away, since they were torn. Now those wholes and cuts had been carefully sewn up while others were patched with bright blue fabric.
Knitting his brows, the copy ninja allowed his gaze to wander from the untouched toys to the softly breathing figure of his ward.
"So you don't like the crayons we bought for you today, huh?"
As if she wanted to answer him, there was a muffled sound and Kakashi carefully put down her sewing. Surely she would show it to him at some point and until then he would have enough time to figure out just how he was supposed to introduce her to activities better suited for a child her age.
"Then again, normal probably wouldn't work for me either. As a guardian, that is..."
Soon Kakashi would find out that a child of a servant family started to clean, sew, wash and cook without being asked too — and all this while being almost unbelievable clumsy. But then again that might have been all her.
/... / Thanks for reading and as always I would love to hear your opinion :) I appreciate every review and I'll probably post the next chapter at the end of the week!