-1Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any character from that anime/manga. They are Kishimoto's.

Ch.9

"Do you mind?"

"Huh?" He turned his head up, his eyes laying upon the questioner's person. Their red scarf hung loose about their shoulders and a gloved hand trailed up to their mask to pull it up and rest it on their head. Hazel orbs peered down at him, delightful in color, almost uplifting against the grey skies. The rain was pelting down, and the tree which he had been sitting under only provided so much protection. This was the second time she came over, he had thought to himself as he quirked a brow. The first had been the day before, where she had merely came to escape the other members disputing about their favorite model, finding them immature. If only she knew the things that went through his head sometimes, would she be to willing to come over and talk to him? That made him grin like a schoolboy.

She pointed next to him, and he understood her meaning and shrugged slightly.

"…No…"

His eyes followed her as she walked a bit closer, and sat down a few feet away, legs bent, and her arms lazily draped over her knees. Funny how she reminded him of himself with that posture, aloof and lazy. As she settled down, and her eyes looked to his, he couldn't help but stare for a moment, before gently clearing his throat and looking away.

And then the silence.

It wasn't awkward, really, the sound of the rain drops hitting against the foliage above provided enough noise, along with the distant mummers of the other two group members. His eyes had slowly made their way to settle upon the person accompanying him, up her legs and to the bare skin of her toned shoulder. Her ANBU tattoo was sharp on her arm, that onyx black against her pale dermis. But, he noticed that her skin was much more than pale, slightly blue, purple and covered in little goose bumps.

His eyes finally flicked up, she looking slightly in the other direction, to she that her jaw was trembling. First reactions would have been that she was crying, but he knew all too well. It made him laugh inwardly, and he was glad her head was turned as he was sure she would question the look of admiration for her humbleness on his face, well, in his one, visible eye.

"Uh…" Her breath turned white before her, head turning quickly when she felt a great warmth against her left side. She almost jumped when she was face to face with her silver haired team member. Teeth stopped chattering for a moment as she just looked at his slate grey eye. He hadn't noticed it before, but her lips were beginning to reveal a shade of a beautiful, but deadly, cobalt blue. Glad she didn't move, something he expected her to do with their close proximity, his eye creased in a smile as he watched her still somewhat shocked look calm back to normal.

She wasn't really aware of how cold she was, until he sat beside her, shoulder pressed against her own, his body a beacon of heat of much needed warmth. The previous chattering of her teeth wasn't something she had been aware of. Lips parted as the chattering proceeded again, the whole of her body feeling quite numb, toes like they were going to fall off. Trying to say even the simplest of thanks to him, she found that nothing came out as she focused on savoring his warmth.

"ANBU needs to give better uniforms," he proposed, arm lifting as his black gloved finger moved to her face to wipe a strand of sienna bang from her eyes. Water trickled down her cheeks, caught in her long lashes like diamonds. It was then he first admired her beauty after traveling with her for the past week, and not ever really, fully noticing until that moment. Her thin and cute nose, which was slightly red from the cold, and full, glossy lips. The dimples she had when she gave him a soft smile of thanks, the way her eyes, wise and mature, almost creased shut as she did so. Eyes complemented by nicely arched brows, not thin, but not thick. A few, white scars that etched her perfect skin adorned a few places on her cheek and chin, along with a few, barely visible freckles. The largest, along her cheek, was framed with tiny white scared dots, and he figured they were from stitches. He wondered why she had gotten stitches, and not had a medic-ninja fix the cut.

His finger gently stroked it, and he felt her somewhat tense, her whole body giving a little jolt. It must have been sensitive, he figured, knowing all too well the tingle some oddly healed scars could create. She had given a soft chuckle; slightly shy, just slightly.

"That always happens when it's touched," she told, confirming his thoughts. "I did it myself a few months back on a mission… Our medic was killed…" Her eyes flickered, but her gaze remained locked with his. Shy now was her arm though, that slightly moved toward his own face. He didn't stop her, only observed her expression as she timidly moved towards his tilted hitai-ate. Her fingers brushed his clothed cheek, and she slightly drew her hand away.

"…Don't be afraid…"

With his words, her fingers gently snuck under the cloth of his headband, and slowly inched it up. Revealed, she expected another grey eye that was perhaps useless, but this one she met was closed to her. The scar that ran down his eye was quite vertical, almost like it was from a quick swipe of a blade. Her thumb rested over the scarred tissue that grazed the skin under his eye, and the expression she wore was almost sad.

That was quickly changed to awe, as she watched him almost struggle to lift the lid. Revealed was a deep, crimson orb, containing three dots, that reminded her of commas. His pupil shrunk as it was now exposed to the faint light, and she was transfixed. Mouth slightly agape, white breath trickling out from her parted lips, he almost laughed at how people become so entranced by the gift his now dead friend had given him a few years back.

"I've… heard so much about it."

"Good stuff?"

"And some bad… but not directed to you." He knew what she meant, her words directed to the Uchiha incident. It was funny to think, but he was finding this woman's company pleasant. She wasn't just beautiful, but powerful and intelligent, as she had shown over the past week. It made him chuckle to himself that he was sitting there, with a woman he barely knew, who was at the moment utterly involved with examining his sharingan, to find he wasn't the least bit uncomfortable with the situation. True, he'd never let the other members, and most likely anyone back in Konoha, do what this woman had just done; and he couldn't contemplate his behavior for letting her proceed with those actions.

Is she special? Different? Does she hold a power over me that others, others I've known for years, don't wield?

He didn't put it past her to be those, seeing how he earlier acknowledged her vast strengths. With a mental sigh, he supposed time would tell eventually. After a few minutes, she had cracked a smile and let her arm fall. No words of her many thoughts and questions were spoken as the two sat side by side, sharing their body heat; his arm now wrapped about her shoulders with her own about his back, as they waited to take off once again, watching the leaves fall heavy with water.

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It made him laugh to think he could remember all of her scars, which was a fare amount, much more than he would like to know she had. She, on the other hand, carried them like trophies, felt they made her learn from past experiences. The one he could perfectly see in his mind was the one on her cheek. Over the past four years, that self-stitched scar had healed over time much better than previously. Faint as it was, it was still there, and sometimes he'd gently stroke it as he did on that day, slightly frowning that it didn't tingle like it had before. The sight of her jolting with slight shock of the almost arousing feeling made him chuckle with delight. Yet, he had later found other, more efficient places, to cause similar effects.

A week had past since Atsuka left, and his days seemed quite bleak. It never, fully occurred to him how much he savored her company until she left for long periods of time.

I guess you really don't know how much you love something until it's gone.

At least Genma was still acting normal. He showed no signs of discomfort around Kakashi, never bringing up the subject about their talk concerning Atsuka. Yet, Kakashi wasn't stupid. He knew Atsuka had some effect on the senbon-chewing jounin, and he figured Atsuka was the best thing that had happened to him. It was sad that she couldn't change him. They did seemed quite the fit for one another, but Genma just loved his women, and Kakashi wasn't sure then if he was now sad that she didn't change him, or happy.

True he loved Atsuka dearly. But, was it the same love they shared a few years ago?

Of course it is…it always has been…

But still. He still wasn't sure if he could give her what she wanted; needed. The thought of hurting her infuriated him, but he had told her he had opened his eyes. Which he did. It was completely stupid of him to even let Genma have a straight path towards her, this he told himself over and over and over again. In the past years, they told each other they loved one another. But now, what he felt was love. Love!

Kakashi wasn't naïve or oblivious. He would do anything for that woman. Yet, anything also included not getting involved. Already establishing that he could hurt her far wore than Genma, he had to believe that letting her slip by in that area was for the best.

I'm not a comforter…I'm no hopeless romantic…And a life long commitment like that isn't in me…

During few years they were together, it was mostly passion. Fearing what the village would think if they were together, they hid their secret, and that left little time for the two to be together without suspicion. They only had the night to share each other's bed for a few hours before someone would slip away before dawn in fear of being caught. And they were even sure why they were that way. Both were adults and could have easily handled the effects their relationship might have brought if everyone had known.

With a sigh, he rubbed his temples in frustration and stared lazily about the clearing, secretly wishing she'd appear on the horizon and everything would work out.

At least I still have time to figure this out…

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"Shiro? Are you there?"

There, upon the still, icy waters, was the man's docked ferry. But as the group called, there came no answer. After a quick search on the boat and about the perimeter of the area, still, they found no signs of the gruff ferry man. They had fully expected the man to be there. Fully expected him to stay for the large sum of money.

"This isn't right," Nami whispered behind her painted mask.

"No… it's not, something happened… He must have been ambushed," Osamu gave as he was still looking about the trees surrounding the area.

"Then why is the boat still here?" Shinji commented in his cool tones. Atsuka remained quiet, but had her own suspicions. They waited for her theory, but she gave them none.

"Since we didn't not find even a trace of him, we'll have to assume something happened and that it was not in the mission to look after him," Shinji told the group, who all nodded their agreements. "We'll take the boat ourselves… and hope for the best with this fog…"

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It had been three weeks, and he fully expected her team back by that day. And so, he waited. Waited right by the gate entrance. Right where everyone could see him standing, watching the people who came in and out of the village. And he had been standing there since morning. The guards hadn't said a word, respecting him too much to speak up.

He would wait there until he saw here come into view and walk through those gates.

He told her that he had opened his eyes… and so he was going to stay true to his words.

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Konoha!

The sight of their village made all the four team members quicken their pace despite sore legs and slightly drained chakra. Cast in the late noon sun, the village looked so welcoming after being absent for three weeks of tedious information gathering and scroll exchanging. How they all wanted to get home and kick of their sandals for a long, hot shower.

It had been snowing, the ground cast in a blanket of silver, and still it fell softly from the sky. All were cold and sick of their lack of proper clothing, inwardly cursing their ANBU uniforms. Konoha had made all those thoughts dissipate, as all minds were filled with the same thought: home!

Yet, something caught Atsuka's eye, a silver and dark navy fleck just inside the gates of their village. The lazy slouch and orange book were not present, hands were hanging at his sides and not shoved deep into his pockets. Not surprised to see him there waiting, but surprised by that posture, Atsuka wondered if something was wrong.

The gate guards checked them in with nodded and 'welcome backs', and the team were officially home. Her eyes never left him from under her painted mask, and she felt his own, intense gaze upon her like that of a stalking tiger. As the team went farther in, Atsuka fully expected him to stand there and make her come all the way for their reunion, but there he was, walking towards her group with an easy pace.

She only expected a smile and him saying 'Yo' like he always had. But what he did do not only surprised her or himself, but everyone in view of the returning ANBU group. He had come toe to toe to her in what seemed in the blink of an eye, had eagerly yanked down his mask to have it pool about his neck and swiped her own painted one clear off her face. The other hand reached about into her hair and pulled her close as he crushed his rarely visible lips onto her own.

Many eye brows rose, along with a fare share of smiles and giggles.

To Atsuka, who was still bewildered beyond belief, it was as it the world had stopped and nothing, nothing, could ruin this moment, or they'd have a very pissed off woman to deal with. Her own hands snaked about the man before her; his warmth something she had been craving the past three weeks, his kiss something she had been craving for the past many months. After what seemed an eternity, but was actually only about thirty seconds, did he finally pull away, his lips still lingering near her own.

"Welcome back," he told in that deep, rich voice that had always made her knees weak. Breathing out, her lips were tugged into a smile and she couldn't help but let out a warm laugh. Just as their tender moment had begun, it was ended. And by who other than their senbon-chewing jounin.

"I knew it!"

Both heads turned to look at the caramel haired man to see a senbon at his feet and a finger pointed at the two in their embrace.

"I knew it, I knew it, I knew it!"

The couple glanced at one another while their friend quickly swiped up his senbon and walked quickly over to them. Both let their arms slip from the other, yet, Kakashi's found a comfortable position about Atsuka's waist, and waited for their friend to continue rambling.

"Knew what?" Kakashi finally asked as their friend was having trouble finding his words. But, like in most situations with the flirtatious man, his lips curled about that sliver of metal in his mouth, and he gave the pair a devious look.

"So… how long has this been going on for?"

"Longer than you think," Kakashi told him flatly, and Genma rose a brow in a curious manner.

"So much for being 'really good friends' then, eh Hatake? I always had a feeling something was going on between you two. Always had a haunch. And what do you know, I was right!"

"Shiranui… if you don't drop it, I'll take that senbon form your mouth and have Atsuka place it somewhere you cherish much more fondly than most men."

Genma blinked and looked to the woman, clad in ANBU garb and looking pretty damn sexy, Not now, Genma, give him a mischievous smile and enticing, but deadly, smirk.

"How 'bout it, Genma… up for my offer?" Kakashi asked, Atsuka's lips curving into their own devious grin.

"Heh… how 'bout some other time, eh Kakashi?" he told with a raised hand, then looked to his companion. "Atsuka," he told with a nod of farewell, and disappeared with a poof of smoke. Both could only laugh at Genma's reaction, but then they noticed the many faces watching them. Atsuka noted her team had left, and wondered if Shinji was now glad for her, or jealous of the silver haired jounin?

Thoughts of such were quickly squished as she felt a pull at her waist. Looking up, she noted the mask about his neck had moved back up to hide his face, but that one, visible eye of his looked down at her with the utmost affection she had ever witness from any Kakashi, let alone any man. Even though most couples would carry out mushy words, the two felt they were more than those sweet nothings years ago.

"I'm freezing my ass off," she told him with a grin, which changed into a smile like that off a child. "And hungry!" He laughed and offered to buy her ramen, which she hastily accepted to, and they took off down the road, hand in hand, ignoring still the snickers and whispers about them.