Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of the characters from that anime. I do however own Arielle, Mikayo, Jiachi, Sarina, and Sanaro. Just to let you all know.

"What were you thinking?"

"Arielle, it was nothing really, just too much sake. I mean I barely know him."

"You really are that pathetic. He is practically the hottest guy in the village, and you are completely unaffected."

"Jealous, are you?"

"I'm happily engaged."

Arielle and Mikayo, though their relationship was pretty good, had met through a matchmaker. Arielle's parents had met that way, and she believed her father would deem any man she chose on her own unworthy of their family. Mikayo was a chunnin, and he would probably never advance past that level. He was thirty-one years old, and he was looking to settle down and raise a family. In his estimation, the Hakano clan was a clan that had produced generations of good ninjas. His match with Arielle was a wise economic and political move for him. Of course, it didn't hurt at all, that he found her charming and beautiful. None of this changed the fact that long ago, Arielle had harbored feelings for Kakashi.

One summer night, around the time Arielle was ten, Kakashi had spent the night at their house. He was the same age as her brother, four years older than she was. Their brothers had friends at the house all the time, so this was nothing unusual. This boy seemed quieter and more polite than the others did. Arielle found him quite handsome as well. He possessed dark intense eyes that spoke more experience than one would have expected from a boy his age; these eyes paired with his unruly silver hair made Arielle find him irresistible.

That night Arielle dragged Sarina up to their loft bedroom right above their brothers' room. "Mom told us we should sleep in the living room and give the boys their space." Sarina said.

"I just want to spy on them for a few minutes."

The boys came in from an evening's worth of hard training. They began taking off their sweaty clothes. Arielle couldn't take her eyes off of Kakashi's lean toned body.

"He is so beautiful." She gushed.

"I don't see what the big deal is. He's just a boy. It's nothing we haven't seen before, I mean we've got two brothers."

"You silly, it's different when it's not your brother."

Sarina didn't see the difference. He looked just like any other boy to her.

Arielle rolled over clutching her pillow. "I'm in love, Sarina! In Love!"

Sarina was quickly snapped back to the present by Arielle's voice.

"You know he's completely devoted to the life of a warrior. If he ever gets married, which is highly unlikely, it will be when he's 50. Then he'll hire a matchmaker because he doesn't want to interrupt his busy training schedule trying to woo someone on his own. Anything that goes on between you now is merely a dalliance."

"Who said I was looking for anything serious anyway?"

"You should be, you're 27 years old."

"Besides, even if I were looking to get married, you just said he wouldn't take a relationship between us seriously. Come to think of it, why did you say that anyway? Why would you say that about your own sister?"

"He's a jounin. He'll want to spend his life with someone on his own level."

So that's the lie Arielle had told herself all these years to keep her feelings for Kakashi at bay. She'd convinced herself she wasn't good enough for him.

"Arielle, I have to go. I'm already late."

"He'll probably tell you it was a mistake that you hooked up."

"So it doesn't matter. I barely know him anyway."

Kakashi had spent most of the afternoon wondering how he should proceed with Sarina. Was the meeting at the Ramen Restaurant tonight actually a date or merely the professional engagement he had offered? He decided he'd better play it casual, since he'd gotten no sign from her that anything more existed between them.

"Sorry, I'm late. I got caught up at closing." She'd taken the time to change clothes, he noticed. She wore a pretty red dress and a red ribbon held back her hair. "You'd think that Arielle would take it easier the week before her wedding. So what did you need to run by me?"

She was too calm, almost as if nothing had happened. He needed to know where he stood with her. When he'd gone home, he thought about the whole situation for a long time. There were no other women in his life right now. Most were scared away by his extreme devotion to ninjitsu. The ones who swooned over him were in love with the title of jounin and the privilege that came with it. They didn't know him as a person at all. Then again, neither did Sarina. He found it odd that she was neither ashamed nor apologetic about last night's events. It was something that had happened, that was all.

"Sarina, I'm sorry about last night."

"Look, it's no big deal. It happened."

"I know, but…"

"But what, you feel like you ruined my reputation. Is that what's on your conscience?" She was a little angry.

He didn't have an answer right away.

"I wish I knew you better. I'd like to go out again, but next time I'd like it to be a real date, I guess."

Arielle had been wrong about Kakashi, and Sarina couldn't believe it.