Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any other characters 'cept for Kumiko. Oh yea, and the story line is mine, too…
Ye Gods, it took me 9 friggin months to write this thing. I really, really, hope I did a good job. Please let me know if I did.
Chapter 6
Carnival!
Kakashi peered in the window across the street from him. At 2:30 in the morning, everybody should have been sleeping yet the kitchen light was on. Kurenai was out on a mission with her genin so Kumiko had the house to herself and there she was, playing loud music and baking.
Suddenly not feeling the least bit tired, Kakashi walked across the road, jumped up onto the overhang that hung over the front of the house and gently pried at her window. It was locked and, as he looked in, he discovered she'd stuck a piece of wood to prevent it opening more than a few inches. But Kurenai wasn't as careful, right? Quietly tiptoeing across the roof, Kakashi was sure he was being over cautious, what with the loud music and all…and yet Kumiko had an uncanny knack of observing things out of place. Such as people walking on the roof at 2:30am.
Dropping down onto the overhang that hung over the back of the house, he tested Kurenai's window and found it to be unlocked. Kumiko wouldn't be happy to hear that, but he could lock it and she'd never know.
Silently, he left Kurenai's room and made his way to the bottom of the stairs. He poked his head into the living room so he wasn't entirely visible and watched Kumiko spin around in the kitchen in time to the music. Her hair was pulled back in a half ponytail, the rest left hanging down to reveal its glorious length, and she was wearing a pair of satin pajama pants covered in little black cats and a tank top with the same cat seated in the middle of it.
He figured he should make his appearance known so she wouldn't simply discover him. He'd learned that making himself known instead of being discovered 'watching' went over much better. He coughed.
Kumiko spun, the wooden spoon and dinner fork in her hands held at ready. He smirked as batter plopped from the spoon on to her hand and she narrowed her eyes at him.
"What are you doing here?" she demanded.
"Just stopping by," he responded, while she walked over to turn down the music.
"Uh huh, and how did you get in?"
"That's for me to know and you to find out," he grinned. She narrowed her eyes some more.
He ignored her obvious 'pissed-off' signs and walked through the living room into the kitchen. "What are you baking?" he asked as she resumed her measuring.
"Chocolate chip cookies."
"I see…and where are the chocolate chips?" he asked hopefully.
She tossed him a glance, "Why, so you can eat 'em all before I can put a cup or two into the batter?"
He shrugged, "Maybe…"
She finished mixing the eggs in and then walked over to the pantry and came back with the flour, baking powder, and chocolate chips.
"Chocolate chips?" he asked optimistically.
"Not a chance."
He pouted. "Fine, I got in through Kurenai's window. It's locked now."
She tossed him the chocolate chips, and he gleefully caught them one handed. He popped a few into his mouth—how he maneuvered the mask, Kumiko couldn't truthfully say—and savored the flavor.
"Here," she said, "help me stir in the dry ingredients."
Grinning, he wandered over and took the fork from her.
"So what made you think to come over here?" she asked while she leaned against the counter.
"I couldn't sleep," he replied, "and I saw the kitchen light on. So I wandered over. You'd think that after setting up a carnival, I'd be tired, but like some people who didn't help with set up, I seem to be wide awake."
"Hmm, want some hot chocolate?" she asked, ignoring the barb.
"Sure!" he replied, insults forgotten.
She felt herself smile at his enthusiasm and went over to a cupboard to get out two mugs.
"Why can't you sleep?" he asked her.
The smile slipped off her face as she set the mugs down on the counter. "Nightmares," she said stiffly.
He looked at her. "Keep stirring," she told him and went to grab the milk from the counter.
He did as he was told but kept looking at her while he spoke. "They aren't getting any worse, are they?"
Kumiko sighed tiredly, "No, but they aren't getting better."
After placing the mugs into the microwave, she hoisted herself up onto the counter and leaned against the cabinets. "I also can't sleep cause I had a very nice nap earlier."
He smirked while turning away and stealing some of the batter with his finger.
"Hey, no eating the cookies until they're cooked!"
"Aww, come on! You can't seriously tell me that you can resist the doughy-goodness of uncooked chocolate chip cookies," he wheedled.
"It's got eggs in it," she sniffed, nose in the air.
"Just try some," he said, waving the fork towards her.
"No way! Plus, if I eat off that fork, it can't go back into the batter!"
He arched his eyebrow at her, "So use another fork?"
"But…"
He popped the end of the fork into his own mouth and she exclaimed with outrage and indignation.
Stomping over to the cutlery drawer, she retrieved a fork and sampled the batter.
Reaching past her, Kakashi grabbed another fork and took an even bigger gob.
"Hey! You can't have all of it!" Kumiko exclaimed, grabbing a table spoon.
"Watch me!" he said, going for the ice cream scoop.
Kumiko battled the ice cream scoop with a soup ladle, but because of the ladle's shape, she ended up flicking batter up at Kakashi and it stuck in his hair. There was a pregnant pause while they both considered what to do and then at the same time, Kakashi grabbed a handful of batter a lobbed it at Kumiko, while Kumiko ran to hide behind the table, grabbing the chocolate chips on the way past.
"Hiding, are you? Why, Kumiko, surely you know that hiding does not become you?"
In response, Kumiko threw a handful of chocolate chips at him and made a dash to the pantry. Taking two seconds too long, she ended up with batter on her butt as she raced back to her hiding place now armed with raisins and peanuts.
Launching a handful of made-on-the-spot trail mix, Kumiko laughed as Kakashi exclaimed when the bullets hit their mark. Kakashi pitched another dollop of dough at Kumiko when she stood again to throw raisins, and then started to worry as he realized she had a lot more ammo than he did.
Kumiko peeked around the table leg and flung raisins at Kakashi's back and when he dodged but didn't retaliate, she wondered what he was doing.
"Running out of ammo, Kakashi?" she taunted.
"Making more," he grinned back.
He turned back to his task, working as fast as he could. Kumiko, deciding the opportunity couldn't get better than this, crept behind him and then upended the chocolate chips, raisins, and peanuts on his head. Startled, because he hadn't heard her, Kakashi tossed at her what was currently in his hand: the cup of flour.
"Damnit, Kakashi!"
"Oops?"
"Don't you oops me! You did that on purpose!"
"Right, cause I timed when you'd creep up behind me."
"Oh shut up. I look like I've aged twenty years."
"It's a good look on you, Kumiko. You should consider keeping it permanently," he smirked.
"You mean, like you?" she grinned back.
"Ooh, below the belt…"
"Here, help me clean up and then we can get these in the oven," she laughed.
Kumiko swept up the floor and counter, while Kakashi finished adding the ingredients to the second batch he'd begun making. Their energy was slowly winding down and they both were feeling the weight of sleep upon them. Kakashi popped the cookies into the oven while Kumiko finished picking the batter off of her clothes and brushing off the flour, and then the two of them collapsed onto the living room couch. They sat there for a few seconds before Kakashi said, "Say…weren't you making hot chocolate?"
Kumiko groaned. "How about lukewarm milk?"
"No way. Hot chocolate or nothing."
"How about nothing?"
He rolled his eyes. She gave a martyred sigh. "Chocolate powder is in the pantry. Middle shelf."
"Huh. Some hostess you turned out to be," he huffed as he dragged himself up off the couch and back into the kitchen.
"Hey, it's not like I invited you in," she retorted as he started up the microwave again.
"Hah, like that'd keep me away."
"So I've learned," she smiled.
Neither of them said anything and Kumiko, uneasy with the silence, flipped on the TV. She channel surfed while Kakashi prepared their drinks and when he returned carrying steaming mugs of hot chocolate, the channel had ended up on a movie station.
"You like romantic comedies?" Kakashi asked as he handed her one of the mugs.
"Is that what's on?"
"Looks like it. No blood; no staggering loss; predictable romantic ending with lots of witty banter along the way; yea, I'd call that a romantic comedy."
"Happy ending?" she asked as he sat down next to her.
"Yea, those two will end up married, those three will resolve their differences…oh, and she'll get the better of her," he said, pointing at the different characters on the screen.
"Sounds nice."
"Yea. Completely unrealistic, but nice."
"Are you up to watching it?"
"Only if you don't mind me falling asleep half way through…"
Kumiko smiled and shrugged. A happy ending was nice once in a while, and while the mood was still good, she felt like that was what she most needed. "I don't mind."
They sat in silence and neither had to work hard to pick up what was going on in the story. They got up ten minutes into the movie to remove the cookies from the oven, but after being carried along by the simple tale, true to his word, Kakashi fell asleep.
Kumiko looked over at him when his posture shifted and smiled lightly as she attempted to pluck the empty mug in his hand. The hand tightened, however, so she let it be.
The story, she found, really wasn't interesting enough to hold her, but Kakashi was asleep on her couch, so she decided to tough it out. If she got really tired, she could just wake him up and send him home, right? She leaned back and nestled into the comfy couch, breathed deeply to settle herself…and then dropped off.
The first thing Kumiko noticed when she woke up was the sun, followed immediately by the blanket covering her: a thought that was connected to the blanket covering them. Kakashi was still snug on the couch, lying on his back, arm around her, and she herself was nestled half on him, half between him and the couch. Neither of them got up in the night to get the blanket, which could only mean that Kurenai had returned and seen the two of them. Following that conclusion was the thought, 'This is bad!'
And yet it didn't seem bad enough for Kumiko to want to get up and remedy the situation. To the contrary, she nestled down again and wished sleep could reclaim her. That way when Kakashi woke up, he could deal with the situation and call the shots, not her.
As her brain slowly began to tick again, she noted that Kurenai was currently in the kitchen, although what she was doing, she didn't know.
Stiffly, Kakashi's arm tightened against her as he stretched and then a moment later his eye lazily opened. He glanced down at the pretending-to-be-sleeping figure lying next to him and he gently ran his free hand through her hair to sweep it off of her face. Her hair elastic had fallen down between the cushions sometime in the night and now the silky mess was tossed around her. His gesture made her snuggle deeper into him, something he found he liked.
"So," he said, his voice thick with sleep, "this seems to have moved past the relationship of a one-night stand."
"Huh?" Kumiko groaned, her voice groggy. She raised her bleary eyes up to meet his and squinted. Clearly she'd been awake, but had desperately been trying to find sleep again.
"We've slept together, like, twice now," he smirked and stretched again.
"Ugn…" Kumiko replied inaudibly, but her cheeks flushed. She lowered her head back down, as if dismissing this, and burrowed back into him and the couch.
"Lunch is ready!" announced Kurenai, almost gleefully.
Kumiko grumbled something into the couch.
Kakashi bent his head towards her, "What was that?"
She raised her head a little bit and repeated herself. "I said, what is Kurenai so happy about?"
"Dunno," he yawned. "Kurenai, what's up?"
"Nothing," she chirruped. "It's just so nice to be home."
"Uh huh."
"And," she continued, almost as an after thought, "I can't wait to tell everyone that I found you two sleeping together!"
"Too bad nothing happened," Kakashi told her sarcastically.
Kurenai smirked at him as she placed three plates on the table, "Sure, like Gai and Asuma are going to believe that."
Kakashi groaned and moved his hands through his own hair.
"Oi," Kumiko poked him. "Quit moving around. Some of us are still trying to sleep."
"But, food…" Kakashi said longingly.
"Men…" Kumiko grumbled in reply.
She just couldn't seem to get over the fact that he was so comfortable and smelled so good. It was almost unfair, but she had to wonder why he hadn't gotten off the couch yet. Maybe he didn't mind her there? That was a comforting thought. Of course, after that thought, his stomach practically roared under the arm that was draped across it. Irritated, Kumiko gave Kakashi a shove to the floor, her parting words, "Go eat."
She tugged the blanket back around her and let her eyes slip shut, his scent sending her spiraling back down to semi-consciousness, but if she thought that Kakashi would take kindly to being shoved out from the warm blanket onto the floor, she should have thought again.
Suddenly, she was being hauled, blanket and all, over Kakashi's shoulder, only this time round she was staring at his feet instead of his derriere. He stomped into the kitchen while Kumiko's head was reeling with the blood rush.
Kurenai looked up from her sandwich in absolute delight as Kakashi stood over her with Kumiko's hair spilling onto the table.
"Honey, I'm home with supper," he said with a grin and rolled Kumiko off of his shoulder.
Instincts kicking in, Kumiko gained footing at once and attacked.
"Supper? You Neanderthal! How dare you wake me that way!"
"Neanderthal? Me? You shoved me off the couch! No warning at all!"
"Oh, you were hungry! I gave you a push in the right direction!"
"Do you know how cold the floor is?"
"What floor? The living room is carpeted!"
"It's as hard as a floor when you fall off of the couch!"
"Gee, you guys are already fighting like a married couple. Are you sure nothing happened last night?" Kurenai interrupted.
The two of them froze, Kumiko in the act of throwing knives, and Kakashi preparing to block them.
"No, no nothing happened," Kumiko said, calming herself down. She and Kakashi sat themselves at the table across from each other, Kurenai at the head, and then attempted to eat in an uneasy silence. Which Kurenai would have nothing to do with.
"So…what did happen last night?" she prodded.
"I was baking. Kakashi came over," Kumiko replied cryptically.
"So that would be why I found peanuts on the floor?"
"Uh huh."
"And chocolate chips in the sink?"
"Uh huh."
"And batter on the ceiling?"
"Uh…"
The two of them glanced at each other.
"There wasn't a cookie war or something, was there?"
"Maybe…" Kakashi mumbled, unconcerned eyes on his plate.
Kurenai looked at both of them pensively. Kakashi pointedly ignored her, but Kumiko was trying to keep a professional face and not squirm. Finally, she decided it'd be best to leave.
"I'm, uh, going to finish lunch outside, okay?" She snatched her plate up from the table and disappeared out the back door with it.
Kakashi's eyes widened marginally as she got up to leave him alone with Kurenai. His eyes followed her out until she leapt up onto the roof where he could no longer see her. Slightly irritated that she'd left him, he decided to act as though nothing was wrong.
"I suppose that there isn't much more set up for the carnival, huh?" he asked, taking a bite of the sandwich.
"Don't try to distract me from all this, Kakashi. You like her!" Kurenai accused.
"Me? She fell asleep last! She could have left the couch. Besides, when's the last time I ever liked anyone?"
Kurenai waved away his excuses, "I'm talking in general, not just the fact that you two happened to fall asleep in each others' arms."
"You are so sappy."
"I know," she said, "but regardless, the main point here is that you-like-her!"
"Prove it."
The second the words left his mouth, he wished he hadn't said them.
"Well…despite the fact that you read smut—" Kurenai began.
"—romance novels."
"Smut," she insisted, "you don't go near women with ten foot poles. The fact that you fell asleep on the couch with one says something. Actually it says a lot, but whatever. You're extremely comfortable arguing with her, something you refrain from doing unless the other person is male, and did you see the way your eyes followed her out when she left?"
"No, actually, I didn't. I was watching her, not my eyeballs."
"Ah-hah!"
Kakashi rubbed his face with his hands in mental agony wondering how on earth this managed to happen to him.
"So I happen to be comfortable around her. Big deal."
"It is a big deal! And you are so more than just 'comfortable' around her."
"What makes you think that?"
"Were you even listening to me the last two minutes?"
"No, I mean, what makes you think it's such a big deal?"
"Because you never like anyone. Ever."
"Yea, but this whole thing is probably one-way. I mean, what are the chances of her liking me back?"
Kurenai shrugged, "I don't know. She might, though."
He snorted. "Yea, and Hokage-sama is thirty."
"Well you won't know unless you talk to her," Kurenai scoffed.
'What a terrifying idea,' he thought and went out back to find her anyways.
Kumiko sat up on the roof of her house, a frown gracing her features. Kakashi knew. He must know. She'd done such a crummy job hiding her crush that she wondered if she had actually tried. Every time she was with him, her worries lessened and she just…forgot.
'This entire village has made me drop my guard,' she thought. 'I was just on a mission where people tried to kill me and I've already relaxed now that I'm back here.'
But it was so hard not to. Over half of her life she'd had to fend for herself, distrust people because she knew they'd eventually double-cross her but she never once felt those vibes here. It was as if this place was giving her a chance to live. She was finally getting her wish and she wasn't satisfied. How sad was that?
'He's out there' she thought. 'That's why I can't relax. I need to be aware of everything. I know that I can trust Kakashi…right?'
The little voice in the back of her head hit her for doubting. 'He's a good person, and if he isn't then I don't know if anybody could be.' He had a trio of screw-around kids and he'd give his life for them. How could he not be a good person?
She heard the back door open and, deciding that she didn't want to be found yet, took off.
Kakashi leapt up onto the roof and noted the empty plate that Kumiko had left there in her haste to leave. At the moment, he had absolutely no clue to what he should be thinking. She felt something for him, he was almost positive of that, and the very thought made his head light. She wasn't responding well to people finding out, however, but he wasn't sure how to respect that. He wanted to talk to her, but what do you say to someone in this kind of situation? "Hi, I kind of like you." Then what? If she liked him, she could respond with, "Me, too."
And that's where the conversation (if it could be called that) would grind to an uncomfortable halt and they could both stand there, stare at the ground, and then find lame excuses to leave. They'd be uncomfortable with each other and wouldn't know how to react when they saw each other. As a result, they'd try to avoid each other and eventually, people would begin to suspect something and would ask them what was going on. They'd both provide lame answers and then be ushered together by their 'friends with good intentions' for a date. Which they might end up enjoying. Which would lead to another date.
Talking to her right now was beginning to sound like the right way to go about things.
But that was all based off of the assumption that she liked him. If he was reading her wrong and she merely became flustered because she was accused wrongly of something, then at square one, he'd say "Hi, I kind of like you," and then she could look at him funny, become flustered, and then politely turn him down. At that point, his heart would break and he'd have to hole himself up at home and never come out until the embarrassment of being turned down blew over. Then he'd still have to deal with her in his team and they'd be embarrassed around each other, his team would ask them what was going on, to which they'd say nothing, but would both be thinking about what he'd done to upset the balance.
Talking to her sounded very bad indeed.
Undecided, Kakashi collected the plate and then walked back inside. Kurenai was washing up and she took the plate from him.
"So?"
"So what?"
"What now?"
"What do you mean, what now?"
Kurenai smirked to herself at Kakashi's obvious oblivion. "I mean, what are you going to do? Kumiko obviously doesn't know, so it's up to you."
"What do you mean, Kumiko obviously doesn't know?"
"Well, if she knew, she wouldn't have evaded you when you went outside to confront her."
What had he been thinking when he'd gone outside, anyways? "Hi, I kind of like you?" Good thing he now had the chance to think about it, otherwise, either one of the situations he'd considered could have played out without him being aware of the end results. For better or for worse.
"She wouldn't have?"
Kurenai sighed. "If you keep questioning my feminine intuition, we'll get nowhere. Just assume I'm right and we can progress."
"Um…"
"So, obviously, Kumiko doesn't know what to do," she pressed. "It's up to you to make the call."
"But so many bad things can come of me doing anything. Why can't we just do nothing and let things play out?"
Why hadn't he thought of that scenario before?
"Because someone has to do something for things to 'play out,'" Kurenai rolled her eyes.
Right.
"Why don't you take her to the carnival?" Kurenai suggested.
"I thought we were all going as a group."
"Well, yes, but exceptions can be made…"
Kakashi shook his head. "No. Let's go as a group."
"Fine, but you two are so riding the Tunnel of Love together."
Kakashi gagged. "No! Anything but that!"
"Aww, but I'm sure she'd love it!"
"I can almost guarantee that that ride is a relationship-destroyer. No."
In all of her vast knowledge, Kumiko knew just the way to handle the situation between her and Kakashi: pretend nothing happened! An act of cowardice, to be sure, but it would save face, and keep their friendship together (strained, but together).
When she got home, Kakashi had left. Kurenai was still sitting at the kitchen table, but Kumiko zipped upstairs to avoid confrontation. She was completely prepared to hole herself up in her room, except when she sank onto her bed, she realized that she would be very bored indeed. She didn't own any books, or music… in fact, her room was quite bare.
She was about to make a decision about what to do when Kurenai burst into her room.
"You are stressed!" she accused, pointing a finger. "I have just the right solution to de-stressing!"
Kumiko raised an eyebrow.
"Shopping! You're room is bare! You have nothing to do! You own practically nothing! Let's go!"
"Thank you for reminding me of my obvious state of poverty, Kurenai, but I must remind you that with poverty and lack of possessions comes lack of currency to buy possessions."
Kurenai waved her hand impatiently, "I thought of that already! You may borrow from me!"
"I detest being in someone's debt."
"Fine then, an early birthday gift—stick to small items—let's go!"
"I'm not really up for shopping…" Kumiko tried to say, but Kurenai would hear none of it.
It was hours later when the two of them returned home. Kurenai had dragged them off to a furniture store in order to fill out Kumiko's room with 'homey touches.' It had surprised Kurenai when Kumiko found herself drawn towards the abstract, colorful pieces of accessories. The light on her desk was a cherry pink frosted desk lamp that had a flexible neck in order to shift its angle; the curtains, initially white, were a complimentary color of purple frost. Kumiko found herself attracted to a fuzzy green rug, also a matching hue to the cherry red and grape purple. Kurenai insisted on buying her the bed set sheets and cover that held all of the above colors, and Kumiko agreed, but drew the line at the canopy.
Kumiko was relieved that Kurenai hadn't brought up the touchy subject of Kakashi while the two of them were out, but she suspected that either she'd already grilled Kakashi for his side of things, or something was coming up. She hoped nothing was coming up.
As she went to bed that night, she could feel her nerves prickling, a sensation she could only link to the upcoming carnival. She really couldn't believe how giddy she felt. It had been an exceptionally long time since she'd been to one.
When she woke up the next morning, she woke up happy—an experience that improved her cheerful mood even more. She got to go to a carnival today with friends and her room looked…more like a room.
'And less like a hotel,' she mused happily.
By the time Kurenai found her in the kitchen making pancakes for breakfast, Kumiko was humming softly.
Kurenai arched an eyebrow, "Sleep well?"
Kumiko shrugged and continued pouring the batter onto the sizzling frying pan. "Yea, I think I did."
"You sure seem happy," Kurenai commented as she wandered over to the phone that was ringing.
Kumiko resumed her task of making breakfast, listening with one ear as Kurenai picked up the phone.
"Hello? …oh, this is, um, Kurenai… I'm good, how are you? Okay, sure. That's fine with us—" she turned to Kumiko, "We'll meet up with the guys at two? To go to the carnival?" When Kumiko nodded, Kurenai returned back to the phone, "Yea that's fine. Uh huh, we'll see you then…"
The nervous flustering in Kurenai's voice wasn't obvious, but Kumiko noticed the change and felt a smug satisfaction knowing that she wasn't the only one trying to avoid the fact that she just might possibly like someone…a ninja…from across the road…
"Who was that?" she asked casually, flipping a pancake, as Kurenai hung up.
"Oh, um, Asuma," Kurenai responded, trying to keep her cool.
"Oh, okay," she replied simply.
Kurenai's guard went up. "Why, what's wrong?" she demanded.
"Nothing," Kumiko shrugged. "You guys aren't…involved in any way, are you?"
"No. Why?"
"No reason…" Kumiko continued her task of laying the plate of pancakes out.
Kurenai snatched one of the plates, sat down as stiffly as though she had a fork up her ass, and then slumped forward. "It's obvious, isn't it?"
Kumiko was taken completely by surprise. Kurenai was outright admitting it, something she would have never thought of. Of course, that was possibly because that wasn't something she'd do, but still, didn't Kurenai know how easy it would be for someone to take that information that she'd given away at the slightest suspicion and turn it against her? Kumiko frowned. Kurenai was scarcely a few years older than she was but was still very much naïve about the ways of the world. The ways of different parts of the world. One she, herself, had had the privilege of being raised in.
Something green and ugly constricted Kumiko's chest and she swallowed down the jealousy she suddenly felt over the innocence of some.
"No," she replied lightly, without hint of a bite in her voice, "it isn't obvious."
Kurenai looked up, dismay on her face, "You mean I just admitted that needlessly?"
Kumiko smirked, "Well yes, it was needless, but only because I figured it out."
Kurenai frowned, "I thought you said it wasn't obvious."
"Well, it isn't. I wouldn't have really noticed except that I'm extremely perceptive. Or, rather, I'd like to think I am…something has to be keeping me alive, and it can't be all of my unnatural talent on the battlefield…"
Kurenai smirked, "Or your abnormal level of modesty."
"Yea, or that either…"
Kumiko ignored Kurenai's wry grin and felt strangely relieved that the tightness in her chest had passed as quickly as it had come.
"Ugg…" Kurenai said descriptively.
"…yes?"
"You must think I'm horrible…torturing you and Kakashi yesterday at lunch up to the point that you had to leave—sorry about that, by the way—only to be going through the same thing myself…"
"Well, now that you've deprived me of saying it myself, yes I do think you're horrible."
Kurenai pouted into her pancakes.
"But never fear; these things can be made up."
Kurenai looked up, "How?"
"I don't know…paying for my entrance ticket to the carnival maybe?"
Kurenai fell about in a coughing fit and Kumiko wondered what was wrong until she heard 'convinced' and 'Kakashi' and 'paying' pop up in her string of words.
Kurenai suddenly straightened and said, "So you see, it's all taken care of, just I won't be the one paying."
Kumiko did not see, but decided to let it go. "Well, never mind then."
The two spent their morning practicing by themselves in the woods, had lunch after they showered, and then by two o'clock, were ready to meet the guys outside.
They had a minor crisis when Kurenai caught Kumiko trying to attend the carnival in her jounin uniform—a disaster that lasted only ten minutes as Kumiko only had a few other things in her wardrobe to change into, and then another shortly after when Kurenai fussed over the fact that Kumiko had no makeup and therefore would have to borrow hers.
"But I don't need makeup, do I?"
"Of course you do! This is a fun, special event, so I'm going to dress you up."
When they finally stepped out into the sunlit street, Kumiko could not help breathing a sigh of relief before she was spontaneously assaulted.
"Angel! Will you ride in the Tunnel of Love with me?"
"Gah! Wait! What? Yes! No! Um. Wait, what!"
But Gai had already moved on, having heard what he wanted, "Did you hear that? She said yes! Hah-hah! Love City, here I come!"
They walked together through the streets of Konoha comfortably and with a sense of ease. Upon arriving at the gate, the three guys walked up and bought tickets while Kumiko and Kurenai stood to the side, cheeks mildly flushed.
Kumiko watched with a soft smile as Asuma presented Kurenai her ticket and she could see, by the look in Asuma's eyes, that Kurenai's feelings were in luck.
Kakashi handed Kumiko her ticket with a smile and something about the whole situation, him handing her her ticket, coupled with the simple, happy smile on his face, made her happy. So she accepted her ticket and gifted him with a bright smile, one that managed to make his joints all momentarily stiff so that he couldn't move from the spot or take his eyes off of her.
"Oooh, let's ride that one first!" Kurenai exclaimed, jerking Kakashi out of his momentary paralysis.
They all swiveled to see where she was pointing.
They all experienced similar feelings of chill, tension, and nausea as they regarded the roller coaster.
After a moment of silence, Kumiko quietly spoke up. "How about we go on that one after our lunch, um, digests? So that it doesn't end up, you know, everywhere?"
Shoulders slumped, Kurenai nodded in accepting agreement. "Alright, I guess that makes sense."
"It most certainly does!" Gai exclaimed, stepping up. "Let's ride those instead!"
They all looked towards the bumper cars.
'Right, like that won't jerk my food out of me…' Kumiko thought dismally, but when Asuma seconded the idea, they all trekked over and stood in line for a few minutes.
Climbing into the single-seat car, Kumiko strapped herself down and waited anxiously for the cars to be powered, preparing to practice her dodging skills, rather than her smacking skills. She started out trying to avoid other cars, but as anyone who's done it will tell you, that is virtually impossible in bumper cars.
In all, she decided that it wasn't really as bad as she'd anticipated as she happily t-boned Kakashi during their fourth round. She thoroughly enjoyed her time chasing and being chased and almost felt disappointed when they decided to move on to something else.
They hopped into the go-carts next and raced each other around the track, Kurenai losing dismally, Kakashi, Asuma, and Kumiko fighting for the first three places, and Gai falling in between the two. In the end, Asuma pulled across the finish line first so Kumiko and Kakashi bickered together about who had really crossed second.
"Obviously I did; the front of my car was in front of yours," he snorted.
"What? Well, your car was longer than mine was, so obviously we must judge by whose body was fully across first. And mine was."
"Are you perceptually retarded? My car was not longer than yours! They were exactly the same length and I crossed first."
"Perceptually retarded? Excuse me, but who only uses one eye! If anybody has a perceptual disadvantage, it's you, which means that I win by default because you aren't fit to judge."
"Hey! I am just as fit to judge as you are. And even if I wasn't, how does me being able to judge or not simply dictate you as the winner? I should get a handicap advantage."
"Err…it just does! If you can't see right then you obviously aren't fit to drive regardless, so you shall have to refrain from doing so in the future." Kumiko grasped on to the last straw in an attempt to avoid defeat.
"I can drive just as well as you can!" Then he turned his nose up, "Better than you can, actually, since I won."
Kumiko opened her mouth to retaliate again but Asuma interrupted them. "Incase you both forgot, I won. Now let's ride that rollercoaster that Kurenai's bugging me about."
"You may have won, but I came in second…" Kakashi muttered.
"Oh you so did not!" Kumiko hissed back.
"I did, too!" Kakashi exclaimed loudly.
Other carnival patrons paused in their activities around them to stare.
"Err, don't…don't mind him!" Kumiko tentatively called, trying to make them go away. "He's just orally retarded."
Pause.
"Optically! Optically retarded! He can't see! Blind! One eye! Oh crap…"
Kakashi bit back his laughter at her, sniggering instead behind his hand but then joined the rest of the group in full-out laughter as she turned away from the crowd who indeed decided to go away.
"Orally retarded, Kumiko?" Asuma laughed. "And how, pray tell, do you know this?"
Kakashi didn't think it was possible for someone to look pale while still being bright red, but Kumiko was doing an excellent demonstration of it.
"Oh look, the rollercoaster!" she squeaked and hustled over to it, dragging Kurenai with her so that everybody else would follow.
Gai, catching on, decided things could go no further. "Kakashi, you knave, you've kissed her? How dare you!"
Kumiko found herself laughing with Asuma and Kurenai because she was no longer the sole cause of their amusement. Eyes bright, she laughed at Kakashi's horrified expression, but he, always one to laugh at himself, joined in.
They hopped into the roller coaster, Kakashi and Kumiko sharing a cart now that the ice between them had been more or less broken.
"Okay, I've, um, never ridden one of these before," Kumiko said, "so how do I not go flying out?"
"Strap yourself in," Kakashi instructed.
She did so, tightly.
"And hold on to the bar in front of you."
She gripped it.
When they didn't get started right away, however, she let herself relax, placing her hands in her lap. Kakashi was sitting as relaxed as he could be while sitting next to her, having ridden one of these before, and grinned in anticipation when the train of cars finally began to slowly move forward.
"I say, aren't these things supposed to be fast?" Kumiko asked curiously as the train sluggishly pulled itself up the hill.
"This whole thing runs off of momentum," Kakashi explained.
Kumiko felt as though someone had dripped ice water down her spine. "Momentum? As in once we get to the top it's going to let us go and we won't stop until friction slows us?"
"More or less."
They were only half way to the top when Kumiko was starting to have serious regrets.
'Why am I putting myself through this?' she asked herself in what she hopped was a cogent voice. 'I am about to go plummeting down a hill in a rickety cart wearing a strap across my lap to keep me in. I am going to go flying out, lose my lunch while I'm at it, and possibly break my neck. And how, I wonder, did I fail to notice that the track flips upside-down up ahead?'
The cart reached the top, let go, and Kumiko felt a scream fall out of her apparently open mouth.
Down the first hill they went and up the next, Kumiko's hands gripping the bar in front of her, her knuckles white. The bar was a mildly uncomfortable distance from her but there wasn't really anything closer to her that she could grip. Well, except for, maybe, Kakashi, but the rational part of her brain that was still somehow able to think through this thought that grabbing onto his arm might not be such a brilliant idea.
'Oh my God oh my God oh my God oh God oh God oh God oh GOD!' went flying through her mind before she realized that the swooping feeling of pulling up from a dip and then cresting a hill was exhilaratingly fun. The adrenaline kicked in and she caught herself laughing out of control, shrieking and whooping without really hearing herself.
When they all stumbled out onto the landing platform, Kumiko still felt quite giddy from the experience.
"Can we do that again?" Kurenai asked with wide, excited eyes.
"If you do," Kumiko laughed nervously, "could you grab my heart for me? I think I left it and a few other organs at the top of a hill."
Kakashi smirked and steadied her. "Not quite ready to do it again?"
His hand steadying her shoulder wasn't helping her thoughts realign themselves. "No. No, not yet. Later," she promised.
"Well, try not to laugh like a maniac next time," he said. "It's kind of frightening."
"I couldn't help it!"
"Come on, you guys, Asuma and I are riding it again!" Kurenai called.
"You guys go do that…I think I'll float around on the merry-go-round instead…" Kumiko mumbled.
"Angel! Let's ride the Tunnel of Love!"
'Ugg…'
Kakashi smirked at her, "It's a slow ride."
She sniffed, "Well alright then, let's."
It was, in a word, nauseating. More so than the rollercoaster, but for entirely different reasons. Kumiko couldn't say whether or not she'd have chosen the rollercoaster again, but she was sure she would have favored the merry-go-round.
The interior was a bright sky-blue with clouds painted across the ceiling. Tiny, naked cupids sat on the clouds, some with arrows, and some with benign expressions (the ones with the arrows didn't look so benign), and everything else was covered in hearts and was pink.
Kumiko had nothing against pink. In small quantities. But when the entire train of carts is pink, decorated in lace, and the walls are crowded with pink hearts, however, you tend to develop a grudge.
It didn't help that the couple in front of them decided that this ride gave them make-out rights and Gai kept trying to place his arm around her.
For the second time within the hour, Kumiko wondered if she was going to vomit. It was like a Valentine's Day horror movie. And it was terrifying.
When the bubbles started blowing on them, clear with pastel rainbows, Kumiko watched one of the girls up ahead squealed and then began trying to cup the bubbles in her hand, while her boyfriend beside her smiled at her. For her part, Kumiko found more enjoyment stabbing the bubbles with her finger tip and cackling softly when they popped.
"Isn't this fun, Angel?" Gai cooed at her.
"Nng…"
Clearly happy with her level of enthusiasm, Gai twisted in his seat and grabbed her hands. "Angel…will you go out with me?"
'Well, I can't say I didn't see this coming…actually, I can, but…ah, what to do, what to do…' she wondered, trying to find a diplomatic way to let him down.
"Um…Well, you see, Gai…" she mumbled hesitantly, not wanting him to cause a scene.
Automatically he backed up, though still not letting go of her hands, "I understand, you are speechless. Give this some thought; I can wait!"
"Well, actually…" she began, and then realized that he was giving her an opening and decided to take it. "Thank you," she said quietly, smiling.
When the couple in front of them started seriously getting it on, Kumiko began glancing around for things to subtly throw at them because poking them might not give her the desired result. Poking them with her finger, that is… Her knife on the other hand…
Suddenly they popped out into the sunlight again and Kumiko was one of the first people off the ride, vaulting over Gai in her haste.
"How was it?" Kakashi smirked at her when they met up.
"I'd ride that roller coaster again," she said.
He laughed and said, "Not that one again, but how about we ride that one?"
The group followed the direction he pointed at and nodded enthusiastically, trekking over to it.
It was a swing, or rather, it swung back and forth. It sat about thirty people around the circumference and it spun, too.
"The Psyclone…" Kumiko repeated its name calmly. "It makes me kind of afraid."
Kakashi feigned shock. "Afraid? You? No…I must have misheard you."
She aimed a glare at him and pointedly selected a seat.
They spent the rest of the afternoon going from ride to ride. By 5 o'clock they ran into their students and the group expanded. If it was at all possible, the euphoria buoyed them all up; it was a contagious happiness that everybody at the carnival seemed to share. Completely surrounded by laughter and the shrieks from the roller coasters, smiles were fixed on everybody's face as they made the anonymous agreement to find food for dinner.
"That," Kurenai said around her mouthful, "is the biggest Ferris wheel I've ever seen."
"Well, we haven't gone on it yet," Asuma pointed out after swallowing. "How about we finish eating and then head over?"
Kakashi seconded the idea and so the group swallowed their last bites and then made their way over to the huge, rotating wheel and stood in line.
Kumiko fidgeted. She and Kakashi were going to share a seat and unlike a rollercoaster, this ride did not prevent talking.
But she wasn't going to back down. She could, but she would not. The village may have changed her a bit in that she allowed herself to breathe a little easier but it would not make her a coward and think it okay to avoid her problems. Resolute, she held her head high and calmly followed Kakashi to her seat when it swung down and the attendant waved them on. The bar was pulled down over them and locked into place and then they were swinging upward. Leaning over the side of her seat, Kumiko watched Kurenai timidly follow Asuma onto the seat beneath hers. Smoothly, the ride would move and then stop, allowing others on, until finally it rotated continuously and Kumiko's face lit up as she watched Konoha fall away and then rise up to meet her again and again.
"It's a wonderful view," Kakashi ventured and then winced as Kumiko stiffened. She'd momentarily forgotten he was there with her, knowing there was someone beside her, but forgetting their current predicament.
Loosening her shoulders, she replied, "It is."
The silence stretched between them, both painfully aware of how close they were sitting next to each other.
Steeling himself, Kakashi decided to say something. "Kumiko…about yesterday…" Where had that come from?
"Oooh, look at all the pretty lights!" she said, pretending not to have heard him.
He sighed, mentally hitting himself. "Okay," he said, more to himself, "we don't have to talk about it."
"Good," she smiled, still looking at the village as they crested the wheel again, "I'm sorry about the couch thing, by the way. It won't happen again." Cause as soon as I get off this ride, I'm going to go curl up in a corner and die.
"Okay. Do you want to go for coffee tomorrow anyway?" Why is my mouth making executive decisions before consulting my brain?
Kumiko stopped breathing. "Wh-why…?"
'Why indeed?' Kakashi thought. "Ah, never mind…" Crap on toast, she didn't like him. His heart would have severed or done something, except his face was too busy being red.
"No really," she insisted, killing herself in the process. If this was a pity invitation, she may as well off herself now. "Why?"
"Because I want to," Kakashi blurted. "Drink coffee, I mean. With you." Where the hell has my brain gone?
"Oh, okay. That'd be nice, I guess." That'd be nice I guess? What the heck is wrong with me?
"Nine am?"
Kumiko glanced at him, "Will you be up at that hour?"
"Of course," Kakashi replied, his voice soft with a whisper of indignance.
Her lip twitched. "Nine am."
They settled back into silence and both suddenly felt that the view before them was somehow more spectacular than before.
Getting off the ride, the group split, Gai going off with the students, Kurenai and Asuma looking at another ride, and Kakashi needing to use the restrooms.
There was a bubble in Kumiko's chest, and it blossomed out of her in the form of a smile; she couldn't believe how the evening was going. It was one of those moments that she thought that if she died tomorrow, that might not be too bad because she'd had tonight.
That was, of course, before that hand had reached out and gripped her wrist. Not only did that ruin the entire evening for her, but she felt the tell-tale feeling of having her life turned upside down. Again.
Oh my gosh, I actually ended something with a cliff hanger. Nyahaha…
Yay! Another chapter done! Finally (yea, so much for finishing it over Xmas break…)! And I've got the beginning of the next chapter written and it'll be amazing! Of course, my summer is really busy and I have a life and all that, so I really can't say when I'll next update…but I've got the entire fic all planned out so, yay!
Critic time! Please let me know how you all thought the, for lack of better word, 'waff' was in the chapter. Part of the reason it took so long to update was cause I put myself under a lot of pressure trying to get it right between Kumiko and Kakashi, so please let me know if my efforts were worth it!
Oh yea, just so I know, in your reviews could you also let me know how often you look at my fanfiction home page? Cause in the Bio section I've been updating when I've written and letting you all know how it's coming along. I just want to know how many ppl have noticed and use this.
And once again I'd like to say thanks so veryulterificmuch to you, all of my supportive readers (well, to those of you who are still here with me), but most of all to my fantabulous sister/editor. If it wasn't for her, you wouldn't see this chapter for at least another six months. Hurray for loving (if violent and menacing) support!
-Kirara