30 Kisses: Look Over Here

Kakashi suddenly began recalling his younger years, back when he was still just a chuunin with his team. In particular, he was remembering the many injuries he and his comrades sustained during missions—this meant he was remembering Rin. More specifically, he was remembering the small little things she did when patching each of them up. The way she would take such care in cleaning open wounds; the gentle strokes of medicated swabs; and the thoughtful wrap of bandages that was never too loose or too tight. These tiny, simple gestures that were preformed with such tender concern and grace were making one thing very clear to Kakashi.

Kurenai was not Rin.

"Ow!" he hissed, flinching away from her hand.

Kurenai rolled her eyes. "Oh stop being such a baby. It's only a little bump."

"I'm bleeding."

"Hardly. You've been through worse, I'm sure. A tiny scratch isn't going to kill you."

"The concussion could."

"I didn't hit you that hard!"

"It was pretty hard," he assured her.

"Well it was your own fault for sneaking up on me like that," she frowned. "Honestly, what were you even doing in my office?"

"Hiding."

"From who? Gai?"

"Shizune."

Kurenai blinked. "What are you hiding from Shizune for?" she asked, having a hard time finding someone intimidated by the kind-hearted medic.

"You know how they tell you not to eat the unmarked lunch bags in the office fridge?'

"Yes."

"They really mean that. A stressed-out medic-nin running on three hours of sleep who was looking forward to the bento you just ate all day is really not a good person to deal wi—ow." Kakashi caught the ice pack that slid down from the bruise swelling beside his right eye. "You threw that on purpose."

"I can't believe you," she deadpanned. "Here I am feeling sorry for something you well deserved in the first place."

"That was you feeling sorry?" he asked. "It was hard to pick out from your usual fun-loving sarcasm."

"I got you an ice pack, didn't I?"

"Oh yes, and that perfectly justifies the black eye."

"I can always have Shizune take a look at it…"

"Gee, it's feeling better already! I don't even need to ice it any—ah," he winced, reapplying the pack. "Okay. Maybe a few more minutes with the ice."

Kurenai sighed and leaned forward again. "Let me see it." Before he could give her a doubtful look, she took his hand and moved the pack away from his eye. "Look over here," she instructed, moving his head herself anyway in case he didn't care to comply. It was just as well since he hadn't felt so inclined. "It doesn't look so bad."

"Well it doesn't feel good."

She prodded the tender spot. "Does this hurt?"

"Yes," he said flatly, eye twitching. Definitely not Rin.

And suddenly his eye widened as Kurenai leaned into him, not missing the way she licked and pursed her lips. He'd heard of the "kiss and make it better" lore that mothers would use on their children, but he figured that's exactly where it belonged and stayed—in the kitchens of family homes. Certainly it didn't fit within the boundaries of two professional jounin sitting in an office of the administration building. No, certainly not.

So it didn't make any sense that his body should tense as he allowed her to bend in. Nor did it seem right that his heart should skip a beat in anticipation. And the unsettling feeling similar to disappointment that followed when she applied nothing to his cheek but a gentle breath.

Kakashi blinked. Kurenai pulled back from where she softly blew on his bruise, the cool air soothing the sting. "Feel better?" she asked.

"Uh…" For all of the things that supported his reputation as a genius, that response would likely never make the list.

"What? You didn't think I was actually going to kiss you, did you?"

Banter was easy for Kakashi to slide into, and he did so without missing a beat. "You did have me scared for a moment. It shocked me to think you were the type to take advantage of your victims."

"You're a jounin, aren't you? Couldn't you have dodged it in the first place?" Kurenai scowled, the topic falling fast back onto safe grounds.

"In case you forgot, you're not exactly a cadet."

"You're not exactly helpless."

He rubbed his eye with a bored pout. "You're not exactly a great medic either."

"Well I'm sure Shizune is…"

"Ah, what do you know? All better."

Threats, quips, and wit were things Kakashi was pretty sure did not get packed into a medicine bag. Rin certainly never carried them. But Kurenai was not Rin, and as Kakashi observed the faint smile she suppressed while busying herself with paperwork, he decided that was more than okay.

-owari

Authoress Notes

30kisses challenge on LJ for Kakashi/Kurenai has already been taken by Saoirse the Irish Colleen (go check her out), and I don't plan to do all 30 themes in my own time, but I've been using a few of them for inspiration. This is just an example of my style, I guess.

I've used themes from other challenges as well and put them up here. Most of them so far are from the LJ community 31days. "Arrangement in Black and Gold" and "Thoughts of a Dying Athiest" were themes from that community, so if you recognized them as lyrics or lines from songs/petry, then it's likely they probably were. I didn't know. I just use the themes for direction and inspiration.

In any case, you may see themes from other communities/challenges, but I present them in no particular order. They simply come and go! I just hope you enjoy them while they're here.