A/N: I know I am awfully late with this update and I am very sorry for that. When I started writing this chapter I was deleting and rewriting many parts again and again - until suddenly I had a good 10,000 words. So I split it and spent another huge amount of time adding some more flow to the first part.
As always I would like to thank my great beta Be-Mindful for editing this chapter - thanks so much for your time and patience!
Last but not least: A warm thank you to those who follow and favor, you guys make my day! Seriously!
Music: "Ghosts" by Ladytron.
- Chapter 9 -
Treats and Ribbons
The mind's subconscious was an ocean of vast- and vagueness, filled with the sensual frenzy of everyday life and those seemingly insignificant memories that made the charm of one's being.All in all nothing more than a collection of keepsakes floundering around — out of reach, control and order.
Futaba preferred to think of them as a shoal of glittering fish living in this rather peculiar habitat alongside her. After all it was the one place she was forced to return to each morning. Its waves would drown the female anima along with all of her sentiments. An uncompromising force they rolled over her, prying away any clear thought before the surf finally washed her away.
The water was comfortably warm, just like the first surges of sleep. It never failed to lull her fears, her worries… and today it soothed her pain.
On any other day she would try to fight the pull but not so today. Today Futaba was looking forward to the nothingness — to the whispering undercurrents rushing her down to the muffled darkness; the deep calm waters where she would spend the hours of the sun.
A place her brother could not follow her…
And all this thanks to the seal that took over in the mornings only to free her once twilight set. It was the same seal that separated her from Fuu and only allowed their spirits to brush against each other at dusk and dawn. These were now their boundaries, regardless of any closeness Futaba might have once shared with the child.
The surface of the great oceanwasn't something Futaba could break that easily, albeit it wasn't for lack of trying. At times she would even try and carry it to new extremes just to get a hold of some of Fuu's emotions, to make sure that the girl was alright.
It wasn't like Futaba was actually able to do anything, but sometimes it would calm the storm of disenchantment once she knew that Fuu was well.
Sometimes.Just today the guardian spirit couldn't put up with the struggle, nor the pain it would bring her.So Futaba ignored the heat which the seal emitted. She ignored the way the surface of the ocean towered up in huge, angry waves.
No guilt, no sorrow, no longing… no futile fighting.
For once feeling nothing was nice.
"I don't think that it will happen again" Fuu stated, unsure whether her words would be able to address the rather persistent crease between the silver brows of her guardian.
For a moment Fuu felt her own brows knit in frustration. She had wanted to convey some assurance since she trusted Futaba. She really did. But somehow all she could think off would surely cause more lines of unhappiness to appear on her guardian's face.
Panic… Pain… that strange misery that was not hers entirely…
Fuu had experienced some nightmares. This one however had been alarmingly vivid with these foreign emotions piercing right through her dreamscape, shaking her awake to the heat searing her body. Now that the sting was no longer confounding her thoughts, Fuu started to worry what effect it might have had on her guardian spirit.
It wasn't like she could ask directly whether the female spirit was fine.
So Fuu opened her mouth to voice her trouble like Kakashi had told her to — quite a number of times.
However the words staggered on her tongue. She just could not bring herself to invade the sphere of silence Kakashi had surrounded himself with ever since dinner. So eventually pressing her lips in a thin line, Fuu decided to join him. Even if her previous statement must have gone missing in the gentle dabbling of water.
A bit crestfallen Fuu lowered her head only to be revived a second later, when Kakashi finally humored her with a reaction, "Uh-huh."
From her place on one of the kitchen counters, Fuu observed her guardian who absentmindedly busied himself with the dishes in the sink. She could easily tell that he was still exhausted, especially since the shadows under both his eyes were quite visible now that he had removed his forehead protector.
The movement of some of his hidden facial muscles stirred the outline of his eyes, implying that he was finally ready to talk, "But you do believe that… it had something to do with Futaba?"
Pondering on his question, Fuu played with the dishrag in her hands, "Futaba would never try to hurt me. She promised to protect me as well as she could and she always kept it. The promise, I mean. And I swear that something like that never happened before!"
With her last words, Fuu's gentle voice actually rose above its normal level and she immediately fixed her green orbs on her guardian, who, under her intense gaze, tried hard to pretend as if the thought of suspecting Futaba had never even once crossed his mind.
Fooled yet a bit relieved, Fuu decided to pick up where the sudden surge of panic had interrupted her, "I never actually met her but sometimes I would find a flower or a stone on my pillow. They're messages for me; her way of telling me that everything's alright. Though today I … there was no message. But Futaba promised that she would try to help you, Hatake-sama."
Kakashi, who was more than uncomfortable with the idea of this woman helping him, kept his hands occupied with the circular movement of the sponge on one of the plates. Of course he could not let Fuu in on his opinion of Futaba. It was just a hunch, but Kakashi was pretty sure that his little ward would not appreciate his view of her beloved guardian angel.
'A sneaky, … creepy, … overly secretive and manipulative woman who happens to find me quite useful' he thought to himself as he attacked the dried rice in one of the bowls with both sponge and grim determination.
Kakashi swallowed his temper before passing the bowl to Fuu.
"What was wrong with me anyway? I was wondering about it since there were only a few scratches, yet I was pretty much out of commission" Kakashi admitted unwillingly, not wanting to go into more detail — for both the sake of his pride as well as avoiding unnecessary worry on her part.
"I don't know much…" Fuu muttered hesitantly as she wrapped one of the tea cups with the towel in her hands, drying it rather roughly – unbeknownst reverting to the same mannerism as her guardian when dealing with her frustration.
Kakashi inclined his head since Fuu was sitting to his left, therefore in the dead space of his closed Sharingan. Her bare feet swayed nervously above the tiles of the kitchen floor as she bit her lip.
"But you asked your guardian spirit for help, so you must have noticed something was wrong with me" he urged, striking her with a patient yet serious note.
"When you … hugged me-" the short pause made a feature of her raising blush "-there was something off. It's hard to say but … um … it's like normally you have a very strong heart and that time it was … weak. There was something dark inside you that I did not like at all! I don't know what it was but it was nasty." Putting the mug aside to receive the next one from Kakashi, she raised her voice again for a mere whisper, "It scared me."
Seeing how she hunched her small shoulders, Kakashi knew better than to push her any further. He actually would have liked to address the issue of the man who claimed to be her father, or how exactly Futaba was connected to them both, but he bit back the questions.
He had a week and today was a start.
"Oh I was worried too" Kakashi joined her concerns rather cheerfully before he pulled the plug from the bottom of the sink. It was hardly relevant that it had not been his life he had feared for.
Kakashi exhaled through his nose. It was the closest he allowed himself to sighing. After all his ward wasn't supposed to notice that he did so quite regularly. Like most of the times, the real challenge proved to be slowly worming the little bits of information out of the little girls mouth. Pressing on the matters would only end with her shutting off.
Drying his hand with another towel, Kakashi watched as Fuu climbed alongside the counter to put away the dishes. "So now everything is back to normal? With my… heart?"
Coming out of his mouth it sounded rather if not terribly silly. Thankfully Gai could not hear him right now. Otherwise it would probably be a slow and painfully youthful end for Kakashi…
Fuu balanced back to where her guardian was standing after she had put away the last cup. Without her usual shyness, the little girl furrowed her brows in concentration before raising a hand to gently cover the spot above his heart.
To be honest, Kakashi was surprised by her comparatively bold move, which was probably why he could not find the heart to step back or push her away. Her small hand wasn't invading his personal space as much as he had expected – making him almost feel comfortable thanks to the warmth soaking the spot on his shirt.
There wasn't the least bit of ill intention. Something Kakashi wasn't quite used to.
Finally Fuu raised her emerald eyes to his sole one, an encouraging smile on her lips, "Strong. Everything's how it used to be! I am glad that Futaba was able to get rid of it."
With a sigh Kakashi ruffled her hair so that she would not see the look of exasperation on his face. In moments like these it was pretty hard to keep her at a distance — even more so without hurting her. Today Kakashi resorted to pinching her cheek, before he slowly walked out of the kitchen, telling himself that it wasn't that much of an affectionate gesture.
"Come on. We've got plans for the afternoon and I need to equip you before we start. Kami knows what that scary woman would do to me if that new dress of yours gets torn… ."
"Why would Kurenai…" Fuu quickly translated before hopping onto another trail of thoughts, " - My dress will get torn?"
Profoundly confused the four year old gripped onto the hem of said dress as her eyes rounded owlishly in surprise.
"Most likely. That's why we'll look for something to wear that's more practical" Kakashi returned unfazed, keeping his left eye closed while letting the other one droop slightly. "Now hop."
His ward stepped to the border of the counter, her toes curling around the edge while she stared down to the tiles. Wordlessly she returned his stare with a silent plea.
"It's not that high. You've jumped down from there before."
"But I fell" she felt the need to point out, her voice coming pretty close to a whine.
Kakashi only nodded, "Yup. To be exact — your face stroke up a rather casual acquaintance with the floor."
"…"
"You can't deny it. It definitely was funny. By the way, it was you who wanted to help me do the dishes. I already got you up there, now you find your own way down — probably more or rather less gracefully."
It was almost too easy to tease the girl, yet Kakashi enjoyed every bit of it. Especially so shortly after she had managed to get under his skin so skillfully. That of course put the question up for debate just who was the grown up residing under this roof.
Surely Kurenai would contribute to this by skinning the irresponsible guardian alive, should it ever reach her ears. But Fuu wasn't one to blackmail others with names — regardless of how much effect the mention of Kurenai would have on her guardian.
She rather puffed up her cheeks with that adorable pout of hers as she pulled one last time at her dress. Without even giving it another try to coax her guardian into helping her, she sat down on the edge of the counter. Gripping inside the sink with newfound determination, the girl turned around to lie on her tummy, finding the handle of one of the lower cabinets with her foot.
Kakashi watched with mild curiosity the clumsy attempts of his ward, whilst leaning against the doorframe — ready to jump in whenever she might lose balance. Since her last face-plant, he had tried to encourage her to do things on her own, so that he would feel a bit more comfortable with her wandering around the house.
A low grunt banished the amusing memory of her face with the reddened forehead, nose and chin from his mind. Fuu had decided to let herself fall since the floor was not so far away from her feet. To her great dismay her right foot hit the ground first, making her stumble and finally land on her bottom.
The scene froze for several second, before she finally turned around to reveal a sour expression, "… Ow."
Kakashi stared at her teary eyes unimpressed before he turned around to wander off without another word. Just as Fuu scrambled to her feet, her ears caught the poorly suppressed snort from the living room.
Once Hiruzen had set his first step inside the conference room, he immediately knew that this meeting would be tiresome. The two remaining council members welcomed him with a stern look in their eyes as if they were trying to push him directly to the most important point of their agenda.
'Oh, how I wish I had taken my pipe along' the Third grumbled inwardly as he walked around the sitting accommodations towards his own seat. "Good afternoon, Koharu, Homura — if you have no urgent requests, I would start with the agenda."
"Sandaime-sama" both Koharu and Homura greeted in unison while slightly inclining their heads.
Putting the scroll down on the desk before him, the Hokage caught sight of the empty chair across from him. It had now been some time since he had removed Danzo from the council, yet the vacant place still reminded him every time of how low his former friend had fallen.
His absence had shifted the tension in the room greatly. Maybe it was because Koharu and Homura were now again behind the line the Third had drawn using his authority.
Of course Hiruzen had availed himself of his veto before, as his word outweighed that of his council — but this was different. Both Homura and Koharu had accepted to be part of the council to support him as former comrades and now advisors. It was however no secret that they rather leaned towards Danzo's war hawk ideology at times — having further pushing the Uchiha Clan's Downfall.
Now that it was already too late, the Third couldn't help but wonder about their involvement.
Sadly enough, it was nothing but a thin thread of hope left, consisting of their old friendship and remnants of respect for one another. Not to mention their love for the village, which they were trying to guide to a better future — a safe and peaceful one.
"Well then…" Passing quickly through the more trivial matters that involved courtesies to strengthen the peace between the nations, the Third quickly realized that his council was surprisingly well-disposed towards his propositions. It was left for him to assume that they saved their fire for the last point on the list – waving through what they deemed minor in comparison.
Koharu finally moved slightly in her seat, stroking over the simple design of her kimono, "What about the mission in the Wind Country?"
"It's finished and I have already received the report. Both ANBU were able to gather the requested information on the merchant in question. Based upon the attest of his background he will be able to set up his trading post within Konoha. The declaration of his intention to rely on our men for the safety of his routes is quite promising for the treasury as well. So I believe that any suspicions held against him should be dropped" as Hiruzen spoke the last words he furled the agenda scroll before regarding the faces of the Konoha Council.
Homura furrowed his brows to an arch above his long face, "I take it then that the wounded ANBU is on the road to recovery? I heard that there was some kind of collision between our men and an unknown enemy?"
"The wounded ANBU has been discharged from the hospital this morning" Hiruzen offered, wondering just how much information Danzo had fed them behind his back.
"Could you tell us more about the involvement of his assigned ward? It seems that her status has been set to unconfirmed spy… I am rather curious about that." Homura turned his head towards the Hokage. His glasses reflected the afternoon sun, guarding the expression of his eyes with golden circles.
'Curious, huh? Surely you were informed by one of the Black Ops' Hiruzen thought to himself as he resisted the urge to blink away from watching the two pools of sunlight. 'Or Danzo send one of his men to make sure his interests would still be represented in this circle.'
"On their way back, the two ANBU were attacked in the Land of Rivers" the Third started with a grave voice. "To be precise, they encountered a man who caught their attention. During the following exchange it became apparent that said male individual shares a connection with the assigned ward of Hatake Kakashi. The confrontation escalated shortly afterwards, so they could not determine the worth of said assertion."
"So that mysterious man from the Land of Rivers is able to put Dog out of action? It's quite alarming that someone, who is not even in any of the Bingo Books, should able to defeat one of our strongest shinobi."
"It sure is" Hiruzen admitted, sharing for once the sentiment of discomfort with Homura. "I hope that one of our sources outside might know about this male individual. Jiraiya is due for a report anyway, maybe he heard something about a shinobi with no alliance, who is strong enough to make himself known."
Koharu however inclined her head unfazed to the news, the pendants of her hair pin clattering slightly against one another. "What are your precautionary measures, Sandaime-sama?"
"A temporary profile is in the works, both for a briefing and the bingo book. The girl is under watch. You will be able to understand from the report that this unknown individual announced his destination to be the Land of Fire. This raises suspicions if his actual destination could be Konoha since he also claimed Hatake's ward to be his own daughter. I did not plan to further enforce the number of border guards since I still have not yet withdrawn the additional men after the incident with the intruder."
"And there's still no cue on the intruder's motivation?" Homura asked as if to make sure.
To this question Hiruzen sighed, not only because it had been posed several times in this circle, "Nothing's out of place. I had a team sifting through the city and the archives for any hint, but nothing."
"But the girl appeared in the same night?" This time Koharu's voice gave away that she was only waiting for the head of the council to drop the piece of information that she needed.
The Hokage who had just allowed himself to rub at his eyes now raised his head, "Yes, she was found in the same night."
"I understand the stance you take in this matter, Hiruzen" Homura tried setting one foot on a very unsound bridge, "but you have to admit that the coincidences pile up. And every time it's with this girl in the center of a conflict. Even a four year old can pose a terrible threat."
"I know. That's why I assigned her ANBU guards."
Koharu was not at all pleased with this. She showed as much with both her stern expression as well as with her following words, "Surely the child is going to be handled by the Interrogation squad?"
"She will be at the end of the week. First I will leave it in the hands of her guardian to gather the information we require."
"A week" sounded the suddenly shrill voice of Koharu, disbelieving what she just heard. "What could the Hatake-boy possibly achieve in the time of a week? It could well be too late at that time."
The Hokage leant back in his chair so that he could rest his elbows on the armrests. Of course both of them wanted to clear the problem off their minds. He too would have liked to finally close the file on this little girl that caused him so much trouble.
'That I am going to deny to you, my Lord.'
Remembering the iron-like determination in the voice of the ANBU captain, Hiruzen felt his lips curling in amusement, "I do have faith in him."
Despite all the years Kakashi had refrained from opening that door, the hinges merely protested with the faintest of creaks after their long slumber. Cautiously he peered inside. The narrow room cowered under the pitch of the roof, preserving long lost memories covered with thick layers of dust.
With a deep breath Kakashi was able to recognize the mixture of old things forgotten, mingled with just a hint of perfume — all trapped inside this little storeroom.
Realizing that he still held the hand outstretched with which he had opened the door, Kakashi lowered it, finding soft curls to rid himself of his uneasiness. In response to the ruffling, small hands tightened their grasp onto his legs ever so slightly, reminding him that he was not alone.
Kakashi turned his head to meet Fuu's carefully contained curiosity. It was rather obvious that the little girl could sense his discomfort as she tried to reassure him with a gentle blink of her ever mindful eyes.
'Might as well get it over with' he thought to himself, taking the first step inside while carefully avoiding the slope of the roof.
Light fell through a small window. It illuminated old furniture, shelves stuffed with all sorts of weapons, tableware, old toys… in the furthest corner he found some boxes with labels — right next to the old rocking chair that had once been part of his own nursery.
His steps were accompanied by the low creaks of the floorboards as he made his way over to quickly find what he was looking for.
Kakashi traced over the black labeling, distinguishing with ease the neat handwriting of his father from that of his mother who had simply drawn the heno-heno-moheji — the face of a scarecrow — to indicate her son's belongings. In number, it came down to only three brown cartons which showed that strangely pouting hiragana visage before her presence disappeared from the containers of packed up memories.
Swallowing around the lump forming in his throat, Kakashi pushed aside his sentiments as he flipped open the box that said: Kashi-chan 3-5 years old
"Let's see" Kakashi muttered mostly to himself as he started rummaging through his old clothes. He wanted to fill the tense silence that was just as uncomfortable as anything linked to his past.
It was however then that faint squeaks announced his ward's decision to join his side. Again it was her warm presence that relieved him of the reluctance which slowed his mind as well as his fingers sorting through the shirts. Kakashi nudged Fuu to stand beside him so that he could hold a long sleeved black shirt against her small frame. "That should do."
His ward seemed a bit puzzled. Nonetheless she obediently kept the collar in place with her chubby chin, pinning it against her own chest while Kakashi compared the lengths of the sleeves and her arms.
Although Fuu had never asked about the family situation of her guardian, she knew that Kakashi was neither keen to talk about the past, nor to make alterations in his life – however small they might be. Occasionally he would bend his own rules since it would be otherwise well-nigh impossible to fit another person inside his routine.
Smiling a little to herself, Fuu easily forgot about her resolution to pout a little further over the kitchen incident. Hopefully one day she could find a way to show him her gratitude.
Oblivious to the child's happy musings, Kakashi gathered everything they might need on a pile in Fuu's arms. Muttering under his breath, Kakashi stood, dusting his pants before he turned around to regard the small girl.
"What are we going to do?" Fuu looked up questioningly.
It was almost comical, how the expression of her green gems quickly transformed to one of slight suspicion once she noticed the grin beneath her guardian's mask. She easily connected it to the moments he was annoyed with her and had flicked her forehead. Covering said part of her face with one hand while grabbing the clothes with her free arm, Fuu stumbled backwards just in case.
A second later her suspicion developed into something far worse as the silver haired shinobi bent down to her level, the bright smile barely extenuated by his mask, "Well, Fuu-chan, are you ready for some training?"
On any other day, Fuu might have answered to such a proposal with gleeful anticipation. It was rare that her guardian allowed her to tag along when he wanted to spar with other shinobi. Most of the times she would only count the push- or sit-ups during his warm up exercises before he disappeared. But somehow the clothes she was now wearing, not to mention the strangely good mood of her guardian, begged to differ. This time her role in his workout program probably wouldn't be quite as passive.
If Fuu had learned one thing during the weeks of living with her guardian, then it was that she had somehow landed herself in the soup once the Hatake combined a sweet smile with that innocent singsong voice others used to coo at her — the situation would reach the last alert stage as soon as Kakashi added chan to her name.
So Fuu's feelings right now vacillated between sheer happiness to nervous anticipation as she walked down the stairs to search for the silver head.
The outfit Kakashi had chosen for her was quite comfortable, especially the slightly too big pants that ended in bandages. Above Fuu wore the black, long-sleeved shirt they had picked out earlier. It wasn't until Fuu had pulled it over her head that she found the mask attached to it, just like those Kakashi wore all the time.
It wasn't solely out of respect that Fuu did not even suspect that Kakashi had something to hide about his physical appearance. In her mind Hatake-sama was perfect the way he was and she would not question it.
Regardless of the times he made fun of her… or even when he would not talk to her for a whole day simply because he forgot about her — she was just happy to be around him, happy that the cold darkness had disappeared.
Hearing something clatter, Fuu followed the sound back to the kitchen. The tiles received an accusing glare as she walked through the doorway arch. However the sour expression upon returning to the scene of her latest mishap was quickly banished off her face once she caught sight of the bowl on the counter.
"Stwawberrys!" Fuu exclaimed loudly before she could stop herself with a hand covering her mouth.
Kakashi only flicked her a mocking glance over his shoulder. Who would've thought that the girl's excitement over her favorite red snack could actually tease out a mispronunciation? Much to his amusement Fuu could sometimes actually act like a girl her age.
However something else caught his attention, so his teasing comment was left unsaid.
"What's… that?" Kakashi's hand indicated towards Fuu's legs while his fingers made a twirling motion to fill the dazed pause between his words.
"Bandages" Fuu offered happily since she believed to have done a decent job in tying them around her shins.
"That's what I thought. But I was wondering what's… that — at the top?"
The little girl followed his still disbelieving gaze to her knees, "Oh, I finished wrapping them and still had some left so I looped it — I thought a ribbon would look nice."
"…"
"Why is it that you ask, Hatake-sama?"
Kakashi disregarded her innocent question as he probed her common sense by repeating her own words, hoping that his incredulous intonation would sort it out, "A ribbon."
Well, apparently he had underestimated that Fuu was indeed a little girl — a pretty oblivious little girl in this moment, to be precise.
"Kurenai puts them in my hair from time to time. But I am not so good in doing so myself. You don't like ribbons?"
'Oh Kami, why me' Kakashi whined internally as he was cornered by a pair of unbelievable green puppy dog eyes.
"It's not that I don't like them" he ensured the miserable girl as he finally turned to her completely, abandoning the dog treats he had just filled into the second bowl.
"Really?"
"Yes. They look … pretty." He chocked a bit on the last word there.
Content with his answer Fuu nodded once, the previous smile reclaiming her face. For a moment Kakashi actually believed to have averted the danger but his ward proved him otherwise.
"So do you want to have a ribbon as well? I can show you how to do them!"
Kakashi found it almost painful to maintain the serious air that he had surrounded himself with. Especially since Fuu's offer was completely sincere and without any ulterior motive. Yet he could have sworn that this had grown entirely on Kurenai's soil — if this was the case, Kakashi had to congratulate her to be an evil mastermind.
"That's… um… really nice of you, Fuu, but I am afraid I have to pass this time" he declared, working a little too hard on the gratitude part, before crouching down in front of her, gently undoing the girly touch to her training outfit. "And I think that you should rather use them for other occasions. Now if you'd please take this bowl outside?"
Congratulating himself for once again defusing the situation, Kakashi passed the bowl with the dog treats to his ward. Fuu hesitated for a moment when she realized that those were not the strawberries she had spotted earlier.
With her lips pursed she rose to her toes to peer behind the silver haired shinobi, checking whether the other bowl was still on the counter. The sight of the red fruits got her sidetracked enough to have her forget about the contents of her own bowl. Slowly she made her way through the living room.
Kakashi leant back against the counter, sending a long sigh after the retreating figure of his ward, "This girl will be the end of me… ."
As he took the other bowl, scrutinizing the contents to estimate just how long they would last, there was a knock on the door.
"Hello Kuren- … nai-suma?"
"Yeah, the name's still A-suma, just in case you were wonderin'."
It was clear from the face of the bearded shinobi that he was just as much taken by surprise as the other male. Though the sarcastic remark showed that he regained his composure just as quickly as the copy ninja.
"Thanks. I needed a reminder, like badly" Kakashi rejoined unfazed, supporting himself with one arm against the doorframe. He had expected Kurenai to at least check up on Fuu once today, if not twice, so he easily connected the appearance of the Sarutobi to the red eyed kunoichi.
Asuma shifted for a second uncomfortably, making it even more obvious that this courtesy call was definitely not his idea, "What got you so worked up anyway?"
"Ribbons."
Swallowing around the impulsive ironic comeback, Asuma tried to wrap his mind around this one word, "Come again?"
"It doesn't-" Kakashi's voice got lost in the sudden ruckus of several dogs barking, accentuated by a high pitched squeal before there was a loud crash.
Asuma's eyes widened considerably as he stopped secretly fingering the cigarette package in his pocket for his loss of words. Both men stared down the entrance hallway of the house, listening as several more barks joined with the screams that came in an alarming staccato interval. Altogether it mixed to a cacophony of terror.
"Kakashi, what the hell… ?"
Returning his gaze to the caller in front of his door, Kakashi managed to look guilty beneath his mask as he sheepishly scratched the back of his head, "Ahh… the dog treats. That was probably a baaaad idea… "
So, this is the first part of the little monster I fought with over the last weeks. I am still not sure how I feel about it... Maybe it's because I've actually planned to progress further, so I hope you don't mind the little extra of Kakashi/Fuu scenes! They are so much fun to write :)
NoBirdWithintheCage: Thanks so much for this amazing review! Just wow!
As weird as it sounds, I enjoy writing grumpy old men - it's so refreshing that they don't give a damn about what others think about them and just say what comes to their minds.
I think the first part of the chapter gives you a few answers to your questions and as much I would love to give you some clues, I'll have to refrain from it. I don't want to ruin your fun of developing your theories since I enjoy them so much :D
The conversation between Kurenai and Kakashi has been so much fun to write! Kakashi would definitely not show it even if he was worried, so making fun of his ward it is :)
I always want to add bits and bits of Futaba here and there since I as well look forward to finally introducing her as a character, I don't want anyone to forget about her and that she's actually a feeling, breathing person.
Your reviews are a wonderful source of inspiration and I am always so happy once you confirm that I was able to portray characters as I've imagined them :) Thank you! I hope you enjoyed this chapter.
random girlz: Thanks again so much for your review! I really appreciate that you took the time to write one :) Hopefully you enjoyed this chapter!
BabySealLover: I am glad that I was able to keep up a half decent Kakashi, he's a bit peculiar that one - though we probably would not love him otherwise :) So thank you for your review and I agree with you wholeheartedly that this is quite a ... curious version of OC FanFiction. Frankly speaking I planned things quite differently, yet I loved writing Fuu so much (and tormenting a certain scarecrow) so things turned out to involve a strange little girl and her guardian spirit. So thanks again (also for the compliment on my writing style, never saw that one coming!) and hopefully you enjoyed this chapter! :)
I would like to thank all of you for reading this chapter! To be honest, I can't promise anything, but I hope to finish the next chapter sooner. Sorry again for the long wait... But I'll give it my best shot! :)