*Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of the characters in it. I simply borrow them for my own musings and fantasies and do not get paid for their use in said musings or fantasies. –Nira

It's been a year since my last update, I know. I'm sorry. T^T I'm a bad fanfic mommy! I'd had over half of this chapter already written, but I'd gotten stuck and busy and it slipped my mind and I'm sorry to everyone who's been messaging and/or asking or waiting for an update. I've finally finished the chapter, so here it is!

Please don't forget to review and let me know what you think of the changes if you've read the original, and if you're new to the series, please let me know what you think about the story in general since you'd have no way of knowing what the original was like anyway. Thanks a million, and please enjoy this latest chapter. ^_^ - Nira

Chapter 13

Kakashi and Yuriko decided to go to a barbecue restaurant after showering to order their food to go so that they could bring it with them to Yuriko's apartment to talk there in private. Yuriko, being as stressed as she was, also requested they buy a bottle of sake to share to help take the edge off, knowing that some of the things that could come up would be out of her comfort zone to talk about without a little extra help. When they'd made it back, they'd laid the food out on the coffee table, Yuriko had made tea, and Kakashi sat sprawled comfortably on the couch while Yuriko sat cross-legged on the floor.

"So, where shall we start?" Yuriko inquired, not even bothering with her mask knowing that she wouldn't be able to hide anything from him with this conversation.

'Wherever you'd like to. I'm in no rush."

"Are you ever?" she smirked to herself under her breath before taking a shot of the sake.

The thought popped into his head, noticing that Yuriko hadn't pulled her mask over her face since they'd settled down and gotten comfortable. "I guess I've had this question for a while and haven't really gotten an answer to it, but why do you wear a mask? You didn't when you first came here, so what changed?"

"The only thing that's changed is that now I have one versus my not having one when I got here. I can actually thank you for the idea of having one to begin with."

"Why is that?"

"I never would have thought of wearing one until you passed by me at the Hokage's office the day that I asked to become a Konoha shinobi." Yuriko stopped herself from adding that she'd thought he looked cool and mysterious by taking a bite of her beef and rice.

"I'm flattered but that still doesn't answer the question as to why you wear it."

"It's a coping mechanism," she stated with a heavy sigh. "I can always hide in plain sight behind the mask… The human face betrays everything the person is thinking and feeling to someone with a trained eye and the ability to see and decode the signs. I don't know who has the talent or skill, so I protect myself as best as I can by hiding from everyone… hence, the mask."

"I can understand that completely," Kakashi huffed from behind his own mask.

"I know you do…" Yuriko said with her face downcast, staring at her food briefly. "You're just as broken as I am, but you're better at hiding it."

Kakashi was silent for a moment, taking advantage of Yuriko's distraction to shove some food in his mouth and re-cover his face before he smirked and brushed her statement off. "Apparently not if you could tell in the short time we've known each other," he chuckled and Yuriko shook her head.

"No, you are. I just notice things… little things, really."

Kakashi was taken aback. Had she really been paying enough attention to him to see it? He'd overheard her prayer to her mom one evening and he remembered her saying that she knew he'd lost a lot, but he'd kind of disregarded it as a superficial statement rather than an ongoing analysis of his character.

His curiosity to know what she'd gathered begged him to ask the question, "Like what?"

"You have nightmares, too… They often make it hard for you to get a decent night's sleep… Unless I'm incorrect and the reason you don't sleep well is less… palatable." Yuriko had raised her inflection to end the phrase as more of a question and less of a statement to query if her accusations from earlier of him being a lecher were accurate or not.

Kakashi caught the change in her voice and sighed with the understanding that she was asking if he was losing sleep to be with women instead. Since Yuriko had agreed to talk even if it was uncomfortable, the least he could do was share a bit more about himself to make it a conversation rather than an interrogation.

"Yes, I have nightmares as well, and yes, they make it difficult to get enough sleep… No, I do not intentionally forego sleep for, as you put it, 'less palatable' activities. If it means anything to you, though in complete, brutal honesty it is none of your concern, my reasons for bedding women are selfish in that they help me to relieve stress and fall asleep, especially after missions. That does not mean, however, that I am without rules, standards or morals or that I am not conscious or accommodating of my partner's needs or desires and in fact, I pride myself on being highly attentive and ensuring my partner enjoys herself as much as I enjoy mine."

Yuriko was silent. She wasn't sure how to process this new information. In explaining himself, he'd both proven and disproven her assumptions. Was it possible to sleep with a lot of people for selfish reasons without being a selfish asshole? Meanwhile, while Yuriko was contemplating whether she should hate him for his sexual lifestyle choices or not, Kakashi could see the confusion and uncertainty dominating her expression.

"How do you sleep so well?" he asked after a bit, changing the subject back to the main question at hand.

"Tea," Yuriko perked up, looking him dead in the eye with a straight face.

"Tea?"

"Yeah. I drink a cup of herbal tea before bed every night. The other night when I saw that you looked more tired than usual at the party I was going to bring some to you."

"That's nice of you. I would have appreciated it. Why didn't you?"

"After we'd been at a bar, a woman left your apartment early in the morning smelling like sweat and sex and you were half naked watching her leave…"

"Ah… I see. That explains a lot, actually," Kakashi chuckled putting two and two together as to why she'd glared at and ignored him and accused him of being a philanderer. "It's no wonder you despise me… That makes the outfit joke at the clothing store earlier that much worse, as well. Please forgive my ignorant insensitivity. It was in bad taste and I deeply apologize."

Kakashi had sat upright and bowed his head almost to his knees and Yuriko blushed, unsure of what to say or do about the situation. She hadn't expected that type of reaction or response and was pleasantly surprised that her captain was turning out to be a decent human being contrary to her prior thoughts of him being a completely selfish lecherous asshole.

"Thank you… I accept your apology, senpai," she smiled and held up her sake cup in cheers before taking it back in a single gulp.

Kakashi smiled and returned the gesture before sprawling back out. Maybe his new teammate wasn't a complete self-righteous bitch after all. "So, what else have you noticed about me?"

"I thought you wanted to know more about me? What does it matter what I've noticed about you?" Yuriko smirked, getting more comfortable, herself by extending her legs and leaning back, supporting herself on her elbows. Her head was a little lighter and she felt warm, so she figured that the sake was taking its effects on her.

"I suppose I'm more curious as to why you've been studying me. I can understand why you do when we train or in battle, but it seems you've noticed more than just my fighting style and tactics."

"You are not incorrect. I study everyone. It's another safety measure and a way for me to blend in better with my surroundings. Every village and town has various kinds of people, customs, and habits. I've been homeless for the better half of my life, so I've traveled a lot and when I stopped somewhere, I needed to find a way to not draw more attention to myself than the obvious that I was an outsider which can be enough to cause trouble in some places. I've encountered many people, civilian and ninja alike who, for one reason or other, wanted something from me or didn't want me there at all because I wasn't one of theirs. I've learned to trust only myself… but if you study your enemy and can hide your intentions, you can use them for your own devices before they use you for theirs."

"What are your intentions for coming here? You could have gone anywhere you wanted, so why Konoha?" he asked casually though his eyes scrutinized her every move, hoping to catch even the slightest sign of her malicious intent.

"I just want to live…" she sighed, staring up at the ceiling. "I want a home again, and friends… to just be like everyone else… I've been here before and everyone is so kind. I thought it'd be the best place to start over and just be."

Kakashi felt a pang of shame for expecting a malevolent answer and getting something so… human instead. He'd been placed under orders to keep an eye on her and report any suspicious behavior, not expect or make any to report if she didn't have any. She was supposed to be innocent until proven guilty and he'd been treating her as a suspect for a crime that hadn't yet been committed since she'd arrived, he realized. As he kept his gaze on her, he noticed that her expression began to darken and the life in her eyes dulled as the time passed slowly.

"Yuriko-san?"

"Hm?"

"I hear that you've been spending a lot of time with a boy named Naruto Uzumaki."

"Yeah, what about it? And why is it such a big deal? Everyone seems to be so surprised or offended by it and asks questions. Is there something that I should know about him?"

"No, nothing in particular," Kakashi lied. He knew Naruto's story. Every adult in the village did. "He's just a troublemaker and causes problems for everyone in the village with his antics."

Yuriko sat upright glaring at Kakashi, ready to defend Naruto if he had a problem with him, too. "He's just a kid and a victim of war just like so many other people. All he wants is attention that nobody seems to want to give him like he's a pariah or something. What makes his case so different from anyone else's?"

"Nothing. The only reason I ask is because Genma told me about it. He said you pleaded his case to Iruka and when you found out he was an orphan, you'd gone to the memorial to pay your respects to his parents… I just wonder why. You'd never met them before and you're not from here, so what would compel you to do it if you have no personal connection to any of the names carved into that stone?"

"No, I'd never met them, but that doesn't mean that I don't have a personal connection to them. I have a bond with their son. The least I could do is let them know that I'm doing the best I can to take care of him in their absence since nobody else around here seems to even want to be in the same space as him.

"And my life has also been molded by war. To me, that is more than enough connection for me to pay my respects at any memorial of the Third Great Ninja War regardless of whether or not I personally knew anyone whose names are there. There are names that nobody will ever see on a memorial and those are the people I feel most connected to. To the world, they were nobody, but to someone they were everything…"

It hadn't slipped Kakashi's attention that her tone of voice had gone sullen again. "You have a larger presence than you think you do, Yuriko-san," he stated and Yuriko paused in taking her third shot of sake to look at him, a slight blush rising to her cheeks. "People are curious about you. You keep doing things out of the norm and it catches their attention. Like when you threw the mask back at the vendor for being mean to Naruto… or helped him clean the Hokage monument after he'd defiled it. Or even paying your respects at the memorial. You're not the only one who notices the little things. People talk."

Yuriko downed her shot and made a sour face at the burn of it before she sighed. "Everybody talks… but nobody wants to listen."

"I'm listening… aren't I?"

"Yeah… Thanks," she smiled, her cheeks flushed with the alcohol. "You know, senpai, I like Naruto-kun. He reminds me of myself when I was younger, and I've grown fond of him in my brief time here. It breaks my heart when I see people look at him like he's the scum of the earth… he's just a kid and they treat him like he's a monster. He makes me feel… human again, I guess you could say."

"How so?" Kakashi inquired, shocked that she was talking so much about herself at all. He guessed it had something to do with the three shots that she'd had in the less than half hour that they'd been there in her living room, but he wasn't going to stop her if she was on a role. Alcohol had a way of getting people to blab the truth, he knew, so it was an effective way to get information out of her.

"He's the first person since I was a child to make me feel like I can do anything or be anyone for somebody else as long as they need me… I'm sure I'm giving myself too much credit," she let out a scoffing chuckle to herself, feeling ridiculous that she'd even admitted it aloud. "He's survived this long before I came around, so I wholeheartedly doubt that he needs me, but it's nice to feel like maybe I might matter to someone."

Kakashi eyed his teammate, a fleeting flutter of the desire to take hold of and kiss her right there on the spot darting through his mind. Where had this woman – this caring, compassionate, selfless woman been since they'd first met? He'd caught glimpses of her on their mission, but they'd been so brief that they were easily forgettable had he not been paying attention.

Yuriko looked up at her captain and blushed at the intensity that he was examining her. She wished she hadn't decided against her mask so she could hide from under his scrutiny behind it. She didn't know why, but his gaze made her feel both vulnerable and secure and she wasn't sure how to handle it. She'd never experienced anything like it before. Not knowing any other way than to run, she cleared her throat and put on a smile before using the sake as an excuse. She felt slightly off-balance and quite warm, but she was still coherent and functional and decided that she'd said more than enough for one night.

"I think the sake is hitting me pretty hard," she chuckled nervously. "It's my first time actually drinking, so…"

Kakashi smiled understanding what she was doing and not wanting to overstay his welcome or push her on the topic in fear of her shutting him out again completely. He sighed as he stood from his seat, Yuriko standing as well. "You're handling it pretty well for it being your first time. Would you like any help cleaning up?"

"No, I think I'll be okay, thank you," she smiled back.

The two walked to the door and Kakashi suggested she drink lots of water before she goes to bed to avoid getting a hangover and she thanked him for treating her to dinner and drinks. As Yuriko opened the door for him, they made eye contact once more and Yuriko felt her cheeks burn. Kakashi's smile was warm as he bid her a good night and walked to his own apartment. Yuriko couldn't help the sigh of relief as she closed the door behind him, but she couldn't shake that strange vulnerable invulnerable feeling that burned her cheeks and made her heart flutter.

"What is wrong with me?" she thought aloud before shaking her head to clear her thoughts and distracting herself with the task of cleaning up.

Kakashi had made it back to his apartment and stood, leaning against his door with a smirk across his face. She was so…

He shook his head and composed his self before lounging on the couch and opening his book, immersing himself in the storyline once again.