Disclaimer: I dun own anything.
Songs that got this chapter done faster: Blackeyed Peas- My Humps
Stabilo Boss- Doesn't anybody know
Masia One- Split second time
RECAP OF LAST CHAPTER
"Women." Kakashi muttered before he disappeared into a cloud of smoke.
"Well gotta go. See you around Pervert Sensei. And please for the sake of my sanity DON'T follow us. Bye." With that she disappeared in a cloud of smoke as well.
"She's gotten stronger after all of these years." He said to himself rubbing his chin in contemplation.
Chapter 2: Arrival
"Tanto-Sama!" Shiori said running up to her giving her a hug. "Gino-Sama is furious about you knowing ninja techniques and Cho-Sama is unsuccessfully trying to calm him down." She whispered.
SIGH "Great. Well thanks for the warning Shiori-Chan."
"TANTO!" Gino yelled to her.
"Yes?" She answered her voice coated with fake innocence.
Gino tried to subside his anger for the time being, "When did you become a ninja?"
"Hmm…I didn't." She answered dumbly.
He blew up just like in their home when he was about to attack Shiori; "I will give you one more chance girl before I do something that I WON'T regret." He seethed.
"Again, I. Did. Not." She said more slowly. That was his last straw he unsheathed his sword and charged at Tanto blade at the ready. She did some fast hand seals, "Kaze no Yaiba!"
He jumped into the air avoiding the deadly blast. "That won't work twice on me." He told her from his position in the air. When he landed Gino continued his frontal assault as he thrusted the sword she nearly missed the blade only getting a small slash wound in her side. Knowing that this was now a serious battle she took out her two long bladed daggers from each of their holsters on her calf parrying each of Gino's deadly attacks. "Tanto you can stop this if you only answer my questions." He said continuing to blindly attack her.
"Feh. Over my dead body." She said taking a chance and swiping the dagger at his face with a successful hit below the eye.
"That may very well be the case my dear." He noted taking more concentrated and faster swipes with his Kanta one hitting her across the chest making a deep wound. He then jumped into the air while making some seals he yelled loudly, "Ryuuza no Yaiba!" (A/N: 1) He swung his Kanta down in the air making the sky go temporarily dark and stars connected making what everyone knew as the dragon constellation. The dragon flew towards her with amazing speed. Widening her eyes as the dragon approached with gaining speed, she made some quick seals right before the dragon hit her… or what SHOULD have been her, for all the dragon hit was a log making it combust into flames. "Heh, Kawarimi no Jutsu. Tiered already Tanto? Or have you come to par with the fact that you cannot beat me." Gino boasted cockily.
In a tree a little ways away Tanto sat on a branch trying, with futile attempts, to stop the blood from flowing. She took in more air with each passing second while getting her heart back to it's normal speed. 'That was too close for comfort. If that jutsu had hit me I would most likely not be standing now.' She tried to get up but found that it was near impossible, 'But I see that that's the case anyway.' She groaned in pain, 'It feels as if he broke some ribs.'
xXx
" Is this normal?" Sakura asked.
" Well sadly… yeas." Cho said apologetically, "Though Gino does seem a little more perturbed then usual." She paused and then added to herself, "And more violent." SIGH "Alas they are going to continue this until one of them quits." She shook her head. "They can be so think headed sometimes. Never thinking about anyone but themselves when in a fight." She sighed again.
Kakashi looked into the forest then back at Gino, "Gino-Sama I think that we should start to head to The Hidden Leaf. The farther we get today the less walking we have to do tomorrow." Kakashi said lazily.
Gino gave a loud sigh obviously still mad at the fact that this would count as a loss on his part, "Fine." Was all he said before walking the way they were going before any of the attacking happened. Tanto appeared beside Kakashi right after her father passed him. He turned back to her and told her, "Watch yourself. You will not always have Kakashi to protect you." He then turned and walked away.
Tanto clutched her chest in pain before passing out in Kakashi's arms.
His eye widened in shock as she fainted in his arms and the blood flowing freely from her chest. 'She must have taken more damage then I thought.'
" Heh. That'll teach the little ingrate who to respect around here." The low voice came from Gino who had witnessed the entire thing only ten meters ahead of Kakashi. "I told her that you would not always be there to protect her. Pitiful." Gino said before walking away to wash the blood from his Kanta in a nearby stream.
Her brother came running up behind him, "KWA! Is Tanto going to be OK?" Kuroi asked pulling on her Kimono sleeve.
" I'm sure that she'll be fine." Kakashi said to the little boy, 'I hope. Wait what? Am I starting to have feelings for her? … Nah my mind is just overreacting… that's it.' "Shiori is there a town near by?"
" Huh? Oh! Yes, there is one about…" Shiori thought for a moment, "Twenty kilometers from here. They'll have a hospital there I'm sure."
" Alright I'll meet you all there soon. She has lost a lot of blood she needs to be checked on by a doctor." With that he and the unconscious Tanto disappeared.
xXx
There was a loud noise coming from one of the rooms in the small hospital."Ugh. I fell like I just got mauled by a rush of bulls." A girl said slowly opening her eyes."So your awake." Kakashi said sitting down in the chair beside the bed.
She tried to sit up but the pain in her chest made her fall back down, "Ouch… That wasn't too smart." She coughed and wheezed in pain as she spoke those few words to herself,"Man what did he do to me?"
The 'he' that she was referring to was most likely Gino; "He broke two of your ribs and made a nice deep cut for you. You'll most likely to have a scar there." He said watching her facial movements, "Don't."
She looked at him with a quizzical face, "Don't what Kakashi-San?"
"Don't try to kill him again. If you do then he WILL kill you. You were lucky that your seals are fast or else all the doctors in the world couldn't save you." He told her with a strong hint of superiority in his voice.
"Hmm… I suppose that you're right." Tanto thought for a little while before smirking at him, "No porno book? I'm surprised Kakashi-San." She said letting out a small laugh as he just shrugged of her comment, "Um… Kakashi-San?"
"Hmm?"
"Where is Shiori-Chan, Kuroi-Chan and Cho-San?"
"Coming."
"From where? Didn't we come here as a group?" He shook his head, "So…then you… you must have…" He nodded cutting her short by only a few words, "Thank you Kakashi-San."
His eye crinkled up in a smile, "No problem. Now I believe that you should get some rest Tanto."
"No –Sama?" She tsked at him, "I thought that you saw me as equal as Cho-San."
"Hn."
SIGH "Well it was worth a try." She said flashing him a smile.
"Get some rest." He said bluntly.
"Not tired. 'Sides I don't need it." It was Kakashi's turn to sigh. He raised the forehead protector that covered his left eye she gasped, "Sharingan." She tried to look away but it was too late, the Sharingan had caught her. Her body went numb she was completely under his control.
"Rest." Was all he said looking her straight in the eyes. Her eyes slowly closed signaling to him that the Sharingan had worked so he pulled the forehead protector down over his eye. Suddenly the door burst open and Cho ran over to the bed.
"Is she OK? Has she woken up? What did Gino do to her? WILL she be OK? Has the doctors taken good care of her? What is her damage? Is anything broken?" Cho asked bombarding him with questions.
"Yes she's OK just tired… no she has not woken up yet." He decided to lie about that part, "Gino made a large slash in her chest, which will probably make a scar. Yes she will be OK in the long and short run, yes the doctors have taken the best care of her. Her damage is just two slash marks and bruises around them."
"Good. But is anything broken?"
"Yes." Her eyes went as large as saucers, "Just two ribs though. Considering the damage she took that is a very good way to come out." He said coolly.
Kakashi got up out of the chair letting Cho into it. She brushed Tanto's forehead from some stray bangs, "My poor little girl." She said holding the girl's hand squeezing it lightly as Cho did not want to add to Tanto's bruises.
A nurse came in, "Here I will show you all to your rooms." Everyone nodded and left.
xXx
It was nearly five hours later before Tanto awoke. 'Kakashi…' She thought unhappily, 'Him and his Sharingan. I can't believe I fell for that. Stupid, stupid Tanto.' She slowly got out of the hospital bed. 'Hmm it's dark outside. But the stars are so beautiful tonight. I haven't seen such a star filled in so long.' She slowly left the room making sure that no one was outside in the halls.
She walked around for a little not knowing how far she had gone from the hospital until a hand attached it's self to her shoulder she jumped up in alarm, "WHA-!" She spun around to see who it was, "Ow…" She said squatting on the ground. Tanto looked up and noticed Kakashi staring at her. "What?" She asked impatiently.
" You were wandering too far." He shrugged his shoulders.
" Humph. Well that doesn't mean that you can scare me." She shot back, "Well I suppose that you've come here to drag me back." She sighed out.
"… Maybe…" He continued to read his book, she slowly got up from her squatting position, "What are you doing?"
She lowered the book and read some of it upside down, "Nothing. Just seeing what's so good about this book." She was blushing furiously after the second paragraph, "Pervert." She mumbled before continuing her walk away from the hospital when Kakashi appeared in front of her, "What now?"
Through the mask you could tell that he was slightly smirking, "Did you just call me a pervert?"
" Yes. You're reading that porno book." She said pointing to the book still in his hand. "Now could you let me by?"
" No." He told her simply.
" Why?" She asked impatiently.
" Your quite alike. You and your father." He said completely changing the subject.
She slapped him hard across the face; "You're a dead man Hatake." If looks could kill then Kakashi would be dead and revived three times over. She then pushed past him in a huff. Her walk soon led her to a river, Tanto looked at her reflection in the water, "Am I really like him? Like the man who has tried to hurt everyone I care about on numerous occasions?" A single tear slid down her face. Sure Kakashi had been joking but to her it was all too serious. "But there is a big difference…he is stronger and…I…I'm just the stubborn, spoiled little girl I've always been… maybe I should just agree to the marriage, it would clear so much up…with my family." Another tear fell.
SNAP A twig snapped behind her but when she turned around there was no one there. When she looked back to the river she gasped and fell back from her squatting position, "Hn. Don't tell me that I made you cry?"
Tanto wiped her tears away, "No way. There was just something in my eye…why would I cry over something so stupid?" In all truthfulness the question was directed more at her then Kakashi. They just sat at the waters edge for a while neither of them talking, "Kakashi-San?"
" Hmm?"
" Why did you decide to go on this mission? I mean it's hardly a mission for a Jounin, all your doing is escorting us."
" And what about the attack earlier? If I hadn't deflected that Kunai then you would most likely be dead. But then again I didn't do that much to stop your bout with Gino-Sama."
" That… wasn't your fault. It was my own." More silence, "But I never did…thank you for saving me from that Kunai and for that …thanks Kakashi-…Sempai." The last part made her blush; "I should be getting back to the hospital. To get some sleep before we continue on tomorrow…I suppose that you're going to stay out here longer?" He nodded, "'Kay just…don't freeze." Once again he nodded. She slowly got up with a little struggle from her wounds.
An hour later Kakashi rose from his place on the ground and started walking back to the hospital with a realization, "She called me old." 'Or she actually respects you.' One part of his brain argued, but Kakashi just decided to ignore that part of his brain…for now. When he arrived he saw that she was sitting up in her bed reading what looked like a hospital book, 'She probably found it in one of the drawers.' "Yo." He said nonchalantly taking the seat next to her bed.
Her eyes were half-closed obviously not really reading the book, "Hm." Was the simple answer. They sat in silence for some time when she finally made eye contact with him she noticed he was shivering slightly. 'Idiot. He forgot a blanket. He's not too bright for a Jounin.' She unwrapped the quilt from her body and threw it over to him, making it drape over most of the startled ninja's body, "Here. You need it more then me." Tanto was just about to cover herself with the sheet and settle in for a good night's rest when Kakashi grabbed her wrist. He stood up and told her to move over with his hands. When she had he crawled in the bed with her. Tanto was blushing so bad that she could not speak.
"Don't freeze." Tanto recognized this as the words she said to him before she came back here. Knowing that he would not let her go she made herself warm and closed her eyes for the first time that night.
xXx
"Mmm…" A beam of light hit her eyes, "Errmmf too early." She said. Tanto was about to go close the window when she felt something hold her back. "Huh?" Tanto turned her aching body over to see that Kakashi was shirtless beside her with his arm tightly around her waist, 'He looks kind of cute when he's sleeping.' She shook her head, which in turn hurt her chest, 'Wait… did I just say that he looked 'CUTE'? There must have been something in the water.' "Kakashi-San?" She shook him harder. She saw his eyeball move under his eyelid signaling that he was awake. She reached up to his face and began to tug a little on the top of the mask. She got as far as one centimeter before his hand came up and gently took hers away from his face.
"Not a chance." He said in a smirking tone.
"Hm. Well it was worth a shot."
"No it wasn't. It was practically pointless." He turned his attention to her chest; "Do you think you can walk today?"
She blushed again at the way he was looking at her, "Of course!" She said as if it was the simplest thing in the world, "I'm not that weak Kakashi-San. All I need is one day to heal and I'm back on my feet." She took in a breath of cold morning air, "Granted that I may not be fighting fit but I can walk without crutches."
He smiled again; no matter if he had his mask on you always had ways of telling, "What happened to 'Kakashi-Sempai'?" Tanto turned a deeper shade of red; "I kinda miss it." He said with mock sadness in his voice. She hit him upside the head; "I was kidding."
"You had better been… Now I don't mean to be rude but I think you should get out of the bed before people come in and start making a ruckus about the position we are both in." He thought of it for a moment and agreed. People would start to talk about this if they found them, him with no shirt on and her with only her bandages and his loose shirt as cover for the top of her body. The bandages under the shirt pretty thin and easy to cut if desired to. Tanto took off his shirt and threw it to him; "Thanks for letting me borrow it." Then a thought crossed her mind, 'I didn't borrow it last night when we went to sleep then how? …' "K-Ka-Ka-Kakashi-San…did you… put it on in the night? I mean the shirt."
He closed his eye as a supposed wink, "Maybe… but just to let you know everyone's coming. Bye." He was gone in a poof of smoke and like he said everyone came in and started fussing over her… well except for Gino he just stood in a corner silently smirking to himself. It was soon time to depart to The Hidden Leaf, despite her mothers protests for her health.
"Maybe we should stay here an extra day Tanto-Sama. Cho-Sama is right."
"But then we won't get there on time. Besides Shiori-Chan," She added 'Chan' to the end because she knew tat Gino was listening in, "I'm fine. I can walk so let's go!" She said full of energy.
There were more pleas until Gino silenced them, "Let the stubborn girl do what she likes and let's go." He sounded impatient while he glared at me.
Kakashi came through the door, "Sorry I'm late. I had to save a woman's piano from her burning home."
(-.-;) 'Man if comes up with any more lame excuses I don't know what I'll do.' Tanto thought.
"LIAR!" Sakura and Naruto yelled in unison.
He grinned sheepishly, "Well I suppose we had better get going then. The Hidden Leaf is only a little ways away from here." Everyone nodded and started to file out of the room one on their way.
xXx
"Um… Kakashi-San…" She said not meeting his eyes.
Kakashi was confused, "Hm?"
"Um…Thanks."
"What for?"
"You've taken care of me all through this trip and haven't complained. I mean even Shiori complains about how stubborn and demanding and accident-prone I am. So thank you for…staying with me…in the…hospital…with you. And from serious injury from Gino in our bout and well everything. So for that Kakashi-San…Thank you."
Kakashi nodded, "Now that, that's cleared up did you actually call me…" He lowered his voice, "Kakashi-Sempai?"
She blushed, 'I didn't think that he would bring that up… again. I mean I DID hit him on the head the last time but then again he was being… oh… I don't know…mockful…' "Uh…yes."
He returned to his book, "Alright."
"But-"
Naruto saw The Hidden Leaf gates, "Come on Tanto-Baba." He said with a smirk on his face.
TWITCH, TWITCH Tanto was on the verge of a meltdown. Kuroi turned to him, "Uh... Naruto-Chan run." Was all he said.
She drew her own Kanta from god knows where charging at him with flames in her eyes, "DIE!"
"Eep!" Tanto ran straight into an ANBU guard.
"Watch yourself Suibi-Sama." The ANBU with a wolf mask said.
"Yeah, yeah. Now where's that little brat?"
"Who?"
"Naruto."
"Why would you need to know?" He made a defensive position.
"Uh…" Tanto looked frightened, 'Oh dear lord! He's going to attack me! Eep! HELP!' She yelled in her mind praying that someone would help her.
"Stand down. She's with me." Tanto looked over her shoulder and found Kakashi. Well at least someone answered her…thankfully. The ANBU did as was asked, standing down, "Could you open the gates?" Sooner then the words were spoken the gates swung open and an orange blur ran into them.
"NARUTO! YOUR DEAD!" She ran after him but soon stopped when she saw a figure directly in front of the gate opening.
Gino smirked, "He's here. Punctuality the one thing that I love about people." Making the last part more for Kakashi to hear.
Tanto heard Kakashi groan behind her, "You've gotta be kidding. HE'S your future husband?"
xXx
(A/N: 1): I made my own Jutsu. Yay me I have creativity! Anyway it translates into Dragon Blade (I think)
And that's where I end it. Evil ne? Well anywho this was 3,419 words and about six pages. And once again I'm VERY sorry if I make any stupid mistakes in the translations. YAY TEACHER STRIKE! I'm SOO happy about it. I have so much time to catch up on my sleep, ah, so much fun… almost like a second holiday but I do hope that they don't go over four weeks because then I'll have to RE-take grade nine. And that won't be fun because then everyone else that I know in other Provinces will be ahead of me! I may be back to school on Monday but who knows. Well anyway READ AND REVIEW PLEASE!
Oh and I still need a beta reader.