Taisetsuna "Precious" - Version Two
by Aoikami Sarah
Chapter Twenty
"What do you think you're doing!" the nurse barked at Kakashi that morning. "Are you slow or something, pal? I told you you'll get shocked if you touch her!"
Kakashi looked leisurely up at the irate woman. His hand still covered Oururi's. "I've been here for three hours, and in the last two your beat-correction device hasn't fired once."
The nurse blinked, but looked to the reports. He was right. "Well I'll be…"
Kakashi raised a brow as he heard a commotion in the hallway. In moments the door burst open and the girls piled into the tiny room.
"Is Kaasan ok!" they asked in unison, red-cheeked and panting.
The nurse smiled. "It looks like I can safely send her home with you guys today."
"Wai!" they cheered. Gai poked his head around the door and smiled, softly. "Tousan! We get to all go home now!" Kakashi groaned a bit as they hugged his bruised body a bit too hard.
"Hai, Hai, Musume."
"Muh muh muh muh…" Gai stuttered. "Musume! Omaeno Musume desuka?" His jaw hung open and he pointed at his rival. "These are your daughters!"
'One-upped three times over, eh Gai?' Kakashi thought, but kept it to himself. He squeezed Oururi's hand and hugged his daughters. "Hear that, Oururi? We're going home."
.X.
Sometime around 5 AM, five days later, Oururi opened her eyes. The first thing she noticed was that her left hand throbbed like nobody's business. The second thing was a bird chirping outside a window just behind her. She looked around and took in the books on the wall to her right, the pictures and potted plant above her on the sill and Kakashi's scraggly white hair to her left. He was sleeping, sort of sitting up and leaning against the bed. His Sharingan eye was covered by a bandana-like eye patch rather than his hitai-ate and he was dressed in his pajamas. She reached over with her right hand and brushed his hair with her fingertips.
"Kakashi…"
"Hey you," he muttered and opened his blue eye.
"…are we in Konoha?"
He took her hand and kissed her fingers. "You bet."
.X.
It was naturally a few days before Kakashi returned to work. His students were very happy to have him back, as their efforts to train on their own had been futile.
It was nearly noon before he showed up on the bridge where they usually met. Just as they got to their usual training grounds, Kakashi sighed. 'What are they up to now?' he asked himself as he sensed his daughters' presence.
"Hora hora hora!" they shouted as one from the trees. Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke spun and stared at the Chuunin pre-teens. "Hey hey hey! Long time no see. We've come for your bento!"
"Their lunches?" Kakashi asked aloud.
"Hand 'em over!" Hikari shouted.
"Or suffer the consequences!" Yami added.
"Girls!" their mother's voice made them wince. "Is this why you wanted to run ahead?" Oururi glared at them and they hopped down obediently.
"Sorry, Kaasan," Yami apologized.
"We were just gonna play with them," Yume added softly.
Oururi shook her head and rolled her eyes. "I'm sorry about that," she addressed the Genin. "We wanted to bring you all lunch." She held out a rather sizable picnic basket with her right hand.
"Oururi, you shouldn't have," Kakashi scolded, thinking more about her recovery than her inconvenience. He took the basket from her.
Naruto's eyes squinted down to slits. He rubbed his chin and stared at the woman.
"Ne, Kakashi-sensei," Sakura piped up. "Didn't they say their mother was dead?"
Kakashi scratched the back of his head. "There was a bit of a misunderstanding. Guys, this is Aono Oururi. Oururi, this is Haruno Sakura, Uchiha Sasuke and Uzumaki Naruto."
Oururi smiled and bowed. "Nice to meet you," she chimed. "Kakashi's told me so much about you all. He's very proud of you." A sidelong glance to Kakashi said 'so that's the Nine-Tails kid.'
Even Sasuke blushed a little at that statement.
"Sakura-chan, can you help me set up the lunch?" Oururi asked, holding up her still bandaged hand. "I need to talk to your sensei for a moment."
"Hai," she agreed, wondering what had happened to the woman's hand. There were tendril-like marks that ran up the inside of her forearm, almost tracing the veins in a dark red.
Once Oururi and Kakashi were out of sight, the basket disappeared from Sakura's hands. "What the…?" she gasped.
Three identical laughs resounded from the tree tops. "You want lunch, you come get it!" the girls shouted and the chase began. When it was over, Sasuke, Sakura and Naruto were tied to the posts at the entrance to the training ground. Sasuke looked like he wanted to kill, Sakura looked like she wanted to die and Naruto was still screaming.
"You guys! I'm hungry! No fair!" His feet thrashed at the air.
"Ok. We'll let you go…" Yami cooed.
"…If you can guess our names," Yume finished.
"We know your names. You told us when we met," Sasuke groaned. "You're Hatake Yami, Yume and Hikari."
"Ah, ah, ah!" they shouted. "Which one is which? And we want the cute one to guess!" Sasuke and Sakura gaped as they pointed to Naruto.
'We're doomed,' Sasuke thought.
'Naruto…' Inner-Sakura thought. 'The cute one!'
