My suspicions were confirmed when Hatake came into the shop the next week.

"Kiko." He greeted me with a jauntily mocking wave of his porn. "Why has Naruto been trying to sabotage me at every turn for 'doing something' to his 'Kiko-nee'?"

Not in the mood for head games, I decided to get straight to the point in the hope it would make the jonin leave faster. "I told him to leave me alone and he reached his own conclusions. No, I am not trying to set him against you. No, this is not some sort of ploy. I just wanted to stop associating with the jinchuriki so that I'd draw less suspicion from people like you. Unfortunately it seems to have backfired." I look him over and then glance pointedly at the door.

Kakashi looked uncomfortable and strangely wilted, his book lowering from in front of his face to be tucked away in his pack. "I never meant to… I wasn't trying to threaten you to stay away from him."

"No. You just provided me a reality check." I sniped.

"He says he won't return here until I give you my apologies."

"Good. Then don't apologize."

"You don't have to do this."

"Don't I? It's funny; you ninja face death at every turn, yet I am the one most aware of my own mortality. I'm not innocent, you know. I'm well aware how easy it would be for you to kill me. And if not you, then someone else. Don't even try to deny it. That's the reality of this world. Learn to hurt or get hurt in turn. But I refuse to inflict pain on others. My only defense is to be beyond notice, and so I have lived that way my whole life. It was only a temporary loss of judgment that allowed Naruto in my life. It was foolish to believe I could associate with him and still escape attention. It's just not realistic."