Shanan was raised on a small farm in the country of Florin. She was fifteen and her favorite pastime was riding her horse with her cousin Rin and her least favorite was feigning interest in whatever any boy in the village had to drone on about when they stopped her to chat.

So she rarely feigned interest.

Everyone in the world developed a special skill at some point in their lives, and so far it seemed as though all Shanan had developed was beauty.

She had long, wavy, dark brown hair and big blue eyes and she had never once experienced so much as a blemish anywhere on her perfect skin.

It was a useless skill, she thought. Nobody ever had any interest in what she had to say or the things she liked to do.

That is, until her parents, Shuji and Kumiko, hired someone to help around the farm.

Shanan and Rin were able to accomplish quite a bit on their own, but Shuji was getting older and he couldn't do as much of the heavy lifting as he once did. Even with his skill being immense strength.

Kakashi, however, was young- sixteen- and getting stronger by the day. He was a hard worker that did more than he ever needed to and was always finished with his tasks early, so often read the same book over and over again.

He didn't speak much. His eyes were a bit heavy, and Shanan and Rin often speculated as to why he always looked so broody.

Shanan speculated. Rin reminded her that she was rude.

Rin was the kindest person anyone knew. It seemed as though that were most likely her skill, which Shanan had also deemed pretty useless. She was also sixteen and had lived with the Takagis for ten years now, since her parents died of a mysterious illness.

But she was Shanan's closest friend and Shanan often pushed her to come out of her shell as they were always together.

Anytime the two would go into the village market, Kakashi would accompany them. It really bothered Shanan at first, as they hadn't invited him along.

He didn't speak to them at all. He just stayed close and went wherever they went.

The first time he'd followed them, had truly set Shanan's teeth on edge. She despised when boys threw themselves at her.

"Farm boy," she said as she spun around to look at him haughtily. "Why are you following us?" she asked sharply.

Kakashi stopped and looked up at her shyly. "Oh… because you guys shouldn't be out here alone," he said softly.

"He speaks," she teased.

"Shanan, be nice to him, he's just trying to help," Rin told her a bit meekly.

"Did my father order you to accompany us?" she continued.

He shook his head and Shanan frowned at him.

"Perfect. Another lovesick puppy," she said as she rolled her eyes. "Alright, well keep your distance then. I won't have you embarrassing me."

Kakashi looked at her a bit more coolly than she had expected. "As you wish," he said quietly as he nodded.

Once the pair started walking again, he dropped back about ten feet and kept his distance, all the while, still following them.

"You know, you really should be nice to him. He does so much to help around the farm and Uncle Shuji really likes him. Besides," Rin said as she looked back at him and then back at Shanan, "His skill might also be beauty. Have you noticed how all the girls are staring at him? And I think he's only gotten more handsome since coming here."

Shanan laughed at Rin as she looked back again. He happened to look up and meet her eyes at the same time causing her cheeks to flush as she looked away, a bit annoyed.

"I saw that," Rin said with a smirk.

"Hush!" Shanan warned playfully before glancing back quickly. Perhaps Rin had been right. He was sort of handsome under that mop of white hair. He was taller than most other boys their age and he even had a small beauty mark by his mouth. Even Shanan didn't have one of those.

The more he followed them, however, the less bothered Shanan felt by him. He still didn't speak much, but when he did, she noticed that he was quite witty and clever. And he never once gave any other indication of being the usual hopeless fool that she was used to dodging.

In fact, with Kakashi there, she seemed to have to dodge less idiots and was able to shop and meander with Rin in peace.

As the months went by, she even permitted him to walk a bit closer to them, to which he simply replied, "As you wish."

She wasn't sure why, but she found the words to be rather grating. At least for a while.

Every other weekend the King and his son would visit and the village market would be more crowded than usual, which only meant that Kakashi would follow them ever more closely. So closely in fact, he may as well have been walking with them.

Shanan no longer objected to it. She actually relished the opportunity to torment and tease him.

"Anywhere you'd like to go, Kakashi?" she asked as she completed a transaction for a few yards of fabric she'd had her eye on for weeks. It wasn't the usual brown, tan or grey they all often wore, and Kakashi thought that whatever she planned to turn it into would look perfect on her.

"There's nothing I need," he told her.

"No? Not a new book? Surely you've read that same one a thousand times. Wouldn't you agree, Rin?"

Rin was too busy standing on her toes, trying to see inside the carriage.

Rumors had spread long ago of the young Prince Obito's scars that covered half of his body. And the stories about how he got them were always more outrageous than the next. Nobody knew for sure, of course, as he stayed pretty hidden during their visits, but Rin had caught the slightest glimpse of half of his face a few visits ago and smiled happily and waved at him.

He seemed surprised at the gesture, but waved back at her, and they'd shared a quick wave every visit since then.

She figured he could use some kindness, though. Most of the time when people discussed him, they were quite vicious about it. She figured it was probably the reason he stayed hidden away.

So she smiled at him and she waved enthusiastically.

"Hmm?" she said, sounding completely lost.

"Kakashi's book. It's torn and tattered, much like his clothes. Wouldn't you say he needs a new one?"

"Oh. No. I'm sure it's fine," she said dismissing Shanan's teasing.

"Well," she turned to look at him and his very worn clothing, "at least let me make you a new tunic. I can have it done in no time. At the very least, you can wear it when we go out," she said, a bit annoyed.

"As you wish," he said gently.

Shanan raised an eyebrow at him curiously. She was really becoming intrigued by his usage of the words. They seemed so straightforward, a quiet guy with a crush, not saying no to her… But they didn't feel straightforward. They felt like they were bigger than that…

In fact, after some time, Shanan really started to look forward to hearing those words. Any chance to hear him say them, made her feel inexplicably pleased. Though, Rin had pointed out that the way she constantly ordered him around would surely, eventually, make him less inclined to say them.

"You like him. I can tell," Rin said quietly as they washed up before breakfast one morning.

Shanan was scrubbing her hands after collecting eggs and quickly looked up at Rin with a helpless frown on her face.

"It's alright. I won't tell anyone. I just thought I should tell you, in case you didn't know," Rin said with a smile.

The words hit Shanan hard, but they didn't upset her like she thought they would. She knew she no longer found him to be as annoying as she had when he'd come to work for them, but the news of her own romantic feelings had been a surprise to her. However, now that she'd been informed, she knew it to be true.

She did like him.

Almost as if his ears had been ringing, Kakashi walked into the kitchen through the back door with a small sack of potatoes and set them down before putting his hands in his pockets and turning back to leave.

"Farm boy!" Shanan said a little too quickly.

Kakashi turned his head back towards Shanan.

She almost couldn't breathe, seeing him there with the morning sun rising behind him.

Rin casually nudged her as she pretended to clean her nails with the brush in the sink.

Shanan jumped slightly, before realizing that perhaps she'd been staring. She looked around quickly to find something for Kakashi to do for her and saw a pitcher well within her reach. But this was the game they played now, and he seemed perfectly content to go along with it.

"Fetch me that pitcher?" she asked shyly.

Kakashi turned to look at Shanan and then at the pitcher and tilted his head just enough to let his hair fall in his face as he gave her the slightest, knowing smirk and walked slowly towards her.

Shanan noticed the head tilt.

She noticed the hair fall.

She knew it had been on purpose.

And his smirk hadn't escaped her attention either.

He was pretty good at this game.

He kept his eyes locked with hers the entire time and stopped just in front of her.

Even Rin had barely taken a breath as she tried to make herself as invisible as possible so as not to break their tension.

He reached slowly above her head and removed the pitcher from the hook.

Eyes still fixed.

And still with that slight smirk on the corner of his mouth, he slowly extended the pitcher to Shanan.

"As you wish," he said at barely even a whisper.

Shanan couldn't stop herself from smiling like a little girl at him.

"Wait. What's going on here?" Naruto interrupted.

Jiraiya looked at him over the book.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"Well, why are they looking at eachother like that? I thought she hated him?"

"Haven't you been listening? That's young love, Naruto. You should be taking notes."

Naruto grimaced and groaned at the word love.

"Now where was I?..." Jiraiya asked as he searched the page.

"Romantic staring or whatever…" Naruto said, sounding completely bored.

"Ah!"

"Thank you," she whispered as she hung the pitcher back onto the hook.

Kakashi lingered for a moment and then nodded his head once and left them to make breakfast with Kumiko while he and Shuji chopped wood for the day.

Rin had been having to pull Shanan away from the window quite a bit lately.

"I might have to tell that boy to put a shirt on," Kumiko teased.

Rin giggled.

Shanan glared.

After a year of working for the Takagis, Kakashi still loved Shanan as much as he had the day he'd first met her.

And, much to her surprise, she realized that not only did she like Kakashi, but she truly loved him back. Never in her life did she think that someone could make her weak in the knees, but he did. She felt completely foolish around him and even shy sometimes. She couldn't stop herself.

All she wanted to do was spend time with him. But it was still hard for her to be completely vulnerable to anyone, even though she found herself wanting to be.

Rin tried to help as much as she could, but Shanan could truly be difficult, for seemingly no reason.

The cousins had plans to visit the village market after chores, but Rin had had the bright idea to take a small tumble right outside of the house, and insisted that Shanan go ahead without her so that she could bring her back the tea that she'd been wanting.

"Rin, I can't go without you, I don't think I've ever gone without you. I can wait," Shanan told her.

"Oh… don't be silly. It might be sprained. I really wanted to try that tea. You'll be fine." She made sure not to mention that Kakashi would be there with her, because then Shanan would surely see right through the ruse. "You know they run out of that tea quickly and only have it a few times a year," she pressed. "Please go without me."

Shanan sighed and relented. She tended to be softest for Rin because she was always such a dear.

"Alright then. I'll find Mother and let her know to look in on you while I'm gone. Don't try to walk on it," Shanan ordered.

"Definitely not," Rin assured her. "I'll stay off of it until it's better. Now get going!"

Shanan stood up straight and looked down at her as she sighed. "I won't be long then."

"No, no, take your time…" Rin said nervously as Shanan gave her one last look to make sure before finally leaving.

She stepped outside and bumped right into Kakashi, almost falling backwards as she turned in the direction to find her mother. However, he caught her smoothly and set her right.

"Thank you, my apologies. I was just on my way to find Mother to have her come and stay with Rin until my return."

Kakashi gave her a half smile and tilted his head to the side.

"There's no need. I went straight away after helping Rin inside. She's finishing up with the stable and then she'll be in. She shouldn't be too long. Shall we?" He gestured with his head at the road leading to the village market and Shanan's eyes widened a bit as she realized it'd just be the two of them.

She nodded gently at him and tucked her hair behind her ear as she started walking.

Kakashi kept pace with her as they walked together. And for once he seemed to keep his head up as opposed to staring down at the ground like he normally did.

Shanan had recently come to the realization that he actually had a really calming effect on her. In situations where she would normally lose her temper, his mere presence seemed to pacify her as he stood there with his hands casually in his pockets. And it wasn't because she felt as though he judged her. No, in fact, he never came across as either disappointed or disapproving of her attitude the way some did. He was much like Rin in that way.

They didn't generally talk very much to one another when he accompanied Shanan and Rin to the market, but that was mostly because the girls spoke quietly to each other and mostly about Kakashi.

"You look taller today," Shanan teased as she smirked over at him.

Kakashi glanced over at her and smiled softly.

"I guess I just felt like being taller today," he said as a matter of fact.

"Oh. Well, I like tall Kakashi," she said confidently.

Her fearlessness had almost caught him off guard enough to look down at the ground as he blushed, but he decided to display it proudly today.

"Thank you for helping Rin today," she said suddenly softer than he'd ever heard her speak.

"Oh… well, you know. It's Rin. I think she'd carry either one of us for miles if we ever hurt ourselves and couldn't walk."

Shanan smiled softly at that and he was glad to be the one to elicit such a genuine reaction from her, though he felt like he'd been responsible for at least a few smiles from her over the last six months or so.

"Although," Shanan said thoughtfully, "I highly suspect that she was faking her injury."

Kakashi chuckled as he looked over at her. "I wondered if you'd caught on."

Shanan shot a suspecting look at him.

"No, I wasn't in on it. But she's been trying to get us to spend time alone together for awhile now, so it wasn't hard to figure out."

"No, I suppose not, but… it only took me a while because Rin is so dear to me. I couldn't bear the thought of her being hurt."

"What happened to her parents?" Kakashi asked curiously.

"They've been gone a long time. Her father was my fathers younger brother. He and his wife died of an illness. We aren't sure which. They were both too far gone to tell by the time someone found Rin," she said sadly.

"I'm sorry to hear that."

"Well, she came to live with us straight away and I was happy to have someone. She's the only girl that's never tried to pull my hair or pinch me as I walked past them."

Kakashi looked at her incredulously. "That has to be an exaggeration."

"Not at all. In fact, I'd gotten fairly used to it by the time I was seven or eight. I've never had any friends other than Rin. Even our other cousins despise my very existence. Our cousin Ino's skill is probably the most useless skill I've ever heard of, and yet she constantly tries to use it on me."

So many things made sense to him now. "Oh? What's her skill?"

"She can make one's hair fall out. She gets stage fright or something, though. I've never lost so much as a single strand in her presence and neither has Rin, and she's tried."

Kakashi looked surprised again. "Who would do such a thing to Rin?"

"A jealous, pathetic, disgusting pig, that's who. And she's not even ugly," Shanan said indifferently. "Well, what about your parents?"

His eyes suddenly turned heavy again and Shanan realized that it'd been awhile since they looked so weighed down. Months since he'd lost his intense and brooding demeanor. She suddenly understood why he'd come to work for them at such a young age.

"I shouldn't have asked, I'm sorry. Forgive me."

Kakashi shook his head dismissing any impropriety on her part.

"It's alright, I just haven't been asked about it at all. Not even by your father. He was kind to hire a kid off the street, but I know now why he did."

Shanan nodded at him, but kept listening.

"My mother died when I was young. I never knew her. But I heard she was an amazing, kind, fierce woman. My father spoke of her often. He always tried to raise me in the way that she would have wanted him to. He was always consulting her memory when it came to any choice he made as if she were there to be affected by it. He was a great man that I still look up to and he died right before I came to work on your family's farm."

"I'm so sorry, Kakashi. Was it from natural causes?" she asked tentatively with tears in her eyes.

Kakashi shook his head gently.

"Suicide."