Hi everyone, here's the next chapter. Thank you so much to those of you who have PM'd/reviewed your thoughts with me. This story is very different from ToTM and it's been quite an adjustment. Hearing your thoughts and constructive feedback is a huge help as I develop this work. If you guys have any thoughts/comments/ideas for any of the content you would like to see (scenarios you would like to see the couples in, etc). Let me know. I'm always open to discuss.

Yuki pressed up against the exposed brick wall of the alley. Her breathing was ragged and sweat beads trickled in tiny rivulets from her hairline down her face and neck. The hand at her chest did nothing to quell the incessant pounding of her heart. She cursed herself, certain that between the throbbing of her heart and the panting of her breath, she would be exposed.

No one on the street had noticed Yuki yet. She wasn't behind enemy lines or in any true immediate danger. That knowledge did little to staunch the adrenaline as it coursed through her veins. She was being pursued by the one person in town who actually posed a threat to her: the Sixth Hokage. The game began an hour before when at the grocery store, Kakashi had his hands full and asked Yuki to reach into his pocket for his wallet. The small, sensible voice in her head gave a wispy scream that it was the stupidest idea she ever had but Yuki couldn't stop herself. She reached into Kakashi's pocket, fished out his wallet, and ran. She could almost hear the glare he bore into her back as she barreled out the front door of the shop.

Now Yuki was on the run in one of the most high stakes games of tag in her life. Although she knew Kakashi wouldn't sic other shinobi on her, he always had the hounds. To combat their amazing sense of smell Yuki periodically iced herself over, leaving the casing intact for several minutes before she let it melt away. This left her scent active in places she had long since abandoned and allowed her to move invisibly in terms of smell. It also allowed her to double back to places they may have already checked without consequence. For the last hour, her strategy of constantly movement through the shadows in a crowded city had been successful. She knew she would eventually lose; Yuki wasn't truly trying to escape and Kakashi was far too talented to let her slip indefinitely. For Yuki, the challenge was to see how long she could successfully evade her prestigious fiancé.

By the height of the sun in the sky, Yuki knew that the lunch rush was over. People had returned to work and the peak of human activity that had helped mask her all this time was quickly ebbing. She needed to find somewhere to hide. It needed to be somewhere Kakashi would never expect, yet at the same time was a completely reasonable place for her to go. That was the problem with him. Yuki had to both evade him physically and mentally, and she wasn't sure which was the greater challenge. For a moment, Yuki considered heading to her favorite diner and ordering for the both of them. That way, when he stormed through the door to confront her, she would have the upper hand. He would catch her but on Yuki's terms which would maintain her perception of control of the situation.

No, she thought. That's too obvious. Plus, Kakashi would have no problems dragging me out of that diner. They know us there, or rather, they know me and what kind of schemes I get up to. Not a single person would bat an eye if he spanked me on the spot. Yuki's brain went into prevention mode. After a few minutes of deliberation, an idea flashed through her mind. She smiled, cased herself in ice, and dropped into the shadows.

…

Haruka was on recess duty. It was hot for Konoha, but she was uniquely suited for the conditions. The first few weeks of school, she always circulated the yard like a hawk. The kids quickly learned that although she had zero tolerance for tattling or extreme rough housing, she was always there for a hug if someone fell and needed a hug for comfort. This far in, all Haruka had to do was watch from the shade of her tree. At least that much of her former dignity was intact: the kids could sense her imposing presence and stayed in check under her watch.

Shyer students had a tendency of hovering around her. Some days, Haruka let them hide in her shadow. Other days she kicked them out into the yard and told them they had to make friends. She had known enough introverts that she had an internal sensor for when was appropriate.

Today Haruka felt three such introverts hovering in her presence. One was a sensitive third grade boy that liked to sit and watch the other kids. He had been hovering around Haruka for a while and was almost ready to leave the nest. She noticed he watched the other boys playing tag longingly, his eyes following them as they tackled, bobbed, and weaved around each other. If he didn't go on his own by Friday, Haruka would force him to go say "hi". The second child seemed to be working on their stealth skills. She couldn't quite place where they were; it very well could have been high up in the tree or buried deep in the bushes behind it. There was no malevolence in their presence and they were working on a class skill, so Haruka decided to let them be. The third child had been hovering slightly behind her. After several minutes of shuffling around, they came up and hugged her leg. Such behavior was not uncommon. More often than not, Haruka had a child take her by the hand or cling to her leg while she was talking to other adults. As one of the only female teachers in the school she had become the default comfort provider. It was more common with the younger children, but every once in a while even the soon-to-graduate students would stop her for a hug. Part of Haruka thought she should cut them off, that the shinobi world was cruel and devoid of comfort. On that same train of thought, though, having gone through her own life crises, she was never going to turn away a child in need of comfort. A hug had saved her from the brink more than once. At least these kids were aware enough to know to seek it.

By the height of the child, it felt like a kindergartener or a first grader. Without looking, Haruka gently rested her hand on their head. After a moment, she gave them a pet and a pat on the back to let them know to release her. The arms unlocked from her leg but Haruka could sense their expectant eyes on her. She glanced down to acknowledge the kid only to jump at the piercing blue eyes staring up at her.

"I didn't realize you were so cuddly with the kids," The tone and cadence of the speech were unmistakable, but lacked the timber of the adult Haruka was used to looking at. Yukihana stood before her in what she must have appeared like as a child. The same jet black hair was pulled back in a short thick ponytail. Her features were rounder, softer, and her eyes were big and innocent. The freckles were more pronounced on her face. As an adult, Yuki's freckles dusted her nose, cheeks, and shoulders. As a child, they were densest there, but flecks of pigment splattered the entirety of her face and shoulders like stars in the sky.

"Yuki," Haruka hissed. "What are you doing?!"

Yuki gave her a big, toothy grin. Adult teeth were in a tiny child's mouth, giving her an almost comical appearance. It irritated Haruka how cute her mother was despite the usually disfiguring disproportionality of development. "Shh, it's a secret."

"You can't be here," Haruka looked away and folded her arms. "You're trespassing in disguise. This could get you in a lot of trouble."

"Look, Kakashi is trying to find me and I figured this was the best place to hide," Yuki put her hands on her hips. "I might have done something to make him angry. First of all, he wouldn't come looking for me here. Second of all, even if he did, I'm just a baby." Yuki poked her own disgustingly adorable dimples.

Almost as soon as she finished speaking, a pie tin flew at her out of nowhere. Before she could react, the tin made contact, coating her face in wet mud and splattering all of her clothes. She squealed in shock, pulling her arms in at her sides with her eyes wide in surprise. Yuki and Haruka turned to look at the source. Haruka smiled to herself. The hiding child had revealed themself.

The boy who attacked Yuki was not an academy student. It didn't take much of Haruka's brainpower to figure out who the strange child was, either. The frame may have been smaller and the hair less magnificently fluffy, but there was no mistaking the dead glare he was giving Yuki.

"Hokage sama," Haruka smirked.

Yuki was still dumbstruck. The mud dripped from her face and landed with small wet thwops on the ground at her feet. "But you…how did…?"

In two strides Kakashi crossed the space between them and snatched ahold of Yuki's ponytail with his small hand. Her mother tried to jerk away but despite his diminutive size, Kakashi's grip was iron. "Come on Yuki, we're going home to talk about this."

"No!" Yuki struggled as he dragged her towards the fence. "Beks, you're supposed to break up fights on the playground!"

"No I'm not," Haruka folded her arms. "This is a shinobi academy. Fighting is natural here. Besides, you picked a fight with Kakashi and lost. Now you have to deal with the consequences."

"Let go of my hair!" Yuki whined. "You're hurting me!"

"No I'm not," Kakashi scoffed. "Stop being such a wimp, Yuki."

"I am not a wimp!" Yuki stomped her foot. "Let me pull your hair and see how you like it!"

"Good luck," Kakashi rolled his eyes. "As if you could catch me."

It may have been the mental regression that was inevitable transforming back into her young self, the wet mud she had been splattered with, or adolescent Kakashi's attitude, but Yuki was fuming mad. It was the seething, senseless rage only a child could experience. All her earlier caution regarding their skill gap flew out the window. With one swift movement, Yuki howled and bodily flung herself on Kakashi.

Kakashi's eyes went wide at the unexpected attack. As a child, Yuki spent most of her time racing through the woods, wrestling the local boys, and climbing trees in the high-altitude environment of the shrine. That meant without Yuki's womanly assets weighing her down, she was even faster than normal. Before he could respond, Yuki was on him, tackling him to the ground with all the force her small body could muster. She even got one good tug in on his hair before he countered.

In the same way that Yuki's adult caution regressed, so did Kakashi's restraint. He pulled up his knees and took ahold of Yuki's arms, kangaroo kicking her over his head. Before she had even landed, Kakashi scrambled up onto his hands and knees and yanked her out of the air. Kakashi grabbed her by the scruff of the neck, like a kitten, and pinned her face to the ground while twisting one arm behind her back. "I don't feel like playing with you, Yuki."

"Who said we're playing?!" With her free hand, Yuki flung gravel and dirt at Kakashi's face. The second he took to look away was enough to give her an opening. Yuki broke his hold and donkey kicked backwards. Her foot connected with his chest, knocking him solidly on his rear. She jumped up and dead dropped, elbow down to pile drive him. Kakashi rolled out of the way and Yuki landed on her side with a wince. Before he could grab ahold of her, however, Yuki had hopped back up onto her feet.

The two squared off. Slowly, mechanically, they began to circle each other. Even in child form, both of their predator tendencies were on display. Kakashi watched her, standing at almost his full height and his hands ready at his sides. Yuki on the other had was dropped low into a crouch, ready to pounce at the first opening. A wolf pup and a tiger cub, their little fangs bared and tiny claws extended. Then, at the same time, they pounced.

All pretext of form was gone. What remained was a dust cloud of limbs flailing as Kakashi tried to subdue Yuki and she slipped through his grasp like a greased weasel. Punches were thrown, faces were slapped, and junk barely avoided being on the receiving end of an uppercut. The commotion fortunately was isolated from the main drag and drew almost no attention. That is, until a morally upright adult happened to stumble upon them.

He appeared beside them silently as if waiting for them to acknowledge his presence. He calmly flicked on a flashlight under his face and cleared his throat. Yuki, who was on Kakashi's back trying to bite his ear looked up and screamed. Kakashi used the opportunity to flip her onto the ground.

"Unbelievable," Yamato shook his head as he flicked off his flashlight. "Two academy students skipping school and brawling in the street-" His eyes went wide as he recognized young Kakashi. "...Senpai? Is that you?"

Kakashi released the transformation jutsu and stood before Yamato as his usual adult self, plus all the fresh wounds he had just sustained. There was a rip in his mask on the side, his hair was a mess, and his left eye was already beginning to flower into a bruise. "Why were you beating up that child...as a child?"

"I'm not a child, either," young Yuki stood up, wiping away the blood on her upper lip ferociously with the back of her hand. She released her transformation jutsu and returned to her adult size. The poof of the release was immediately followed with a ripping sound as the new asset distribution turned a cut in her blouse into an all-out tear, revealing the pale flesh beneath.

Yamato let out a small noise like air trying to escape a teakettle, went as pale as a sheet, and shot his face up towards the sky so quickly his neck made a snapping sound. Kakashi scoffed, his dark look settling into irate bear territory.

"What am I supposed to do?" Yuki threw up her hands. "Do I look like I keep a damned sewing kit on me?"

"You can't walk around like that," Kakashi glared. "I know Beki got away with it when she was younger but between her boyish figure and the fact that she caught fire people let it fly. You have no excuse!"

"We wouldn't be in this situation if you weren't such a dick!" Yuki scoffed.

"Wrong," Kakashi pointed at her accusingly. "This all starts with you, sweetheart. You don't want me to chase you down, don't lift my wallet."

Yuki rolled her eyes. "I meant the fist fight, stupid."

"I don't know what you were raised to think but men don't have to just sit and take nut shots." Kakashi stared her down. "I'm not apologizing for wrecking your shirt to avoid testicular torsion."

Yuki rolled her eyes and with a disgusted scoff yanked the rent fabric together. She held the pieces together with one hand and passed the other hand over it, freezing the entire section solid. "I basically just super glued this back together. Except it isn't glue and it'll melt in probably ten minutes." She shot the two men a dry look. "I don't care if I pop out in public but if either of you has a problem, this is your chance to do something about it."

Both of the men were staring at her: Yamato was dumbstruck with his jaw slack. Kakashi, on the other hand, appeared more annoyed by her behavior than startled. It was a standoff and, for today, Yuki had won. Kakashi sighed and turned to Yamato. "Keep her out of trouble for a few minutes." Before Yamato could reply, Kakashi clapped him on the shoulder and walked out of the alley. Yuki watched him go the way a cat watches a bird just out of reach. Once he was out of sight, she turned her attention on Yamato.

"So-" She began, but Yamato made such a strange combination of a cough and a choking sound it stopped her in her tracks. "What was-"

"Please don't," Yamato was staring directly at his feet. His face was as red as a beet and he was so rigid a good breeze would snap him in half. "I've already seen senpai's fiancé exposed. Let's not make this any worse."

"Worse?" Yuki laughed. "A quarter of this village has seen me in partial undress, Yamato. I worked as a stripper while I was undercover here. Kakashi doesn't care and I care even less."

Yamato cleared his throat again and swallowed. "Okay. I…I guess that makes sense." He slowly raised his head to look her in the eyes just as the ice holding her shirt together cracked.

When Kakashi rounded the corner with a sweatshirt he had bought, he found Yamato crouched on the ground. His head was between his knees and his arms were over his head. Yuki was standing there, awkwardly cupping her breast, while trying to convince Yamato to stand back up.

"What did you do, Yuki?" Kakashi said as he threw the sweatshirt at her.

"Nothing!" Yuki sputtered. "Honest! It's not fun to pick on guys like Yamato. We were just standing here talking and my shirt popped open again." Her eyes flashed as an idea came to her. She pulled on the sweatshirt and folded her arms haughtily. "Which is your fault because you took too long getting the shirt!"

"No, Yuki, it's your fault for not wearing a bra," Kakashi stared her down.

"This material holds me in place better than any bra in history!" Yuki stomped her foot. "If you hadn't been Teary McSlaphappy, we wouldn't be having this problem!"

"If you hadn't pickpocketed me at the grocery store we wouldn't be having this problem!" Kakashi shouted.

"Excuse me-"

"WHAT!?" They both yelled at Yamato, who had barely finished standing up.

"Can I go?"

The two looked at each other, heaved a sigh, and nodded. Yamato did his best to not break out into a full run as he escaped the scene.

…

The park was blessedly empty. It was a rather nice day but apparently there were enough enticing events going on that Friday afternoon that fresh air and open space wasn't as appealing as it usually was. Yuki wracked her brain trying to recall what the draw could be. Haruka had been babbling on about some kind of school play or science fair or some nonsense. That explained the absence of the kids and the parents in the area. She nibbled at the crepe wrapped ice cream in her hands as her gears continued to turn. The deadbeat teenagers were gone, too, though. After a few moments she shrugged to herself and let it go. There was probably some angsty, whiney rock group playing or a trashy horror movie premiering that night. Yuki had been so distracted trying to figure out the source of the vacancy that it took her several minutes to realize the silence stretching between her and Kakashi.

The Hokage was slouched on the bench staring straight ahead. The ice cream in his hand was quickly going soft, but he paid it no mind. Absent would be the way Yuki would describe the expression on his face. Not quite cold but definitely aloof. They were together but the man was alone with his thoughts. The bruise she had given him had flared into a full blown black eye, swelling the flesh slightly under the mask. She bumped his knee with hers; a gentle attempt to lure him back to the land of the living.

"Do you take anything seriously," Kakashi's voice was as distant as his gaze. "Or is everything just a joke to you?"

Yuki bit into her ice cream, her brow furrowing as she chewed. "You're going to have to explain what you mean by that."

Kakashi gesture exhaustedly in the direction of the school. "Today. All of it. Was that a game?"

"Oh. All that." Yuki shrugged. "What's a little domestic violence between shinobi now and then?"

Kakashi scoffed. "I am the Hokage. The leader of this village, the face of the strength of the Leaf," He pointed to his face. "And my fiancé gave me a black eye. What am I supposed to do with this?"

"Wear cover up?" Yuki grinned. Usually her smile was infectious. The stony look Kakashi told her it was powerless today. "Look, we were kids. We acted like kids. Now that we're adults again we're mulling over the consequences."

Kakashi watched her as she spoke. The way he looked at Yuki made her feel like he was seeing her for the first time, and not in the "my woman is just so beautiful, I'm such a lucky guy" sort of way. There was disappointment there, like a parent that found out their kid had been lying to them for months. Not necessarily betrayal but something had changed. She could feel it in the air.

"What do you want from me, Kakashi?" It was hard to hide the agitation in her voice. Maybe she had gotten a little carried away this time but it was no grounds for the "dad" treatment. He was the boss of the village, sure, but no one was Yuki's boss. Even Kaguya had no success trying to sway Yuki to her will, and she would be damned if she caved to the Hokage's whims.

"I want you to act like an adult," Kakashi sighed, throwing his uneaten and now half-liquid ice cream into the trash beside the bench, flicking his hand to try to dispel some of the sticky liquid that had dripped onto his fingers. "I've seen you do it. When it's a special occasion, you can even trick people into thinking you're charming."

"So you're saying that isn't enough?" Yuki asked, an edge to her voice.

"I'm just asking you to be cognizant of the fact that it's not just you you're representing when you wreak havoc now," Kakashi gave her a sidelong glance. "Your behavior is getting old fast."

Yuki gave him a dangerous look. "Funny, this is the first I'm hearing of it."

"All of this crap was fine when we were younger, when I wasn't Hokage," Kakashi explained. "But things have changed, Yuki. And that means you're going to have to change with them-"

"Did I ask you to become Hokage?" Yuki's tone grew short and she made no effort to conceal her agitation. "Did I ask for all this pomp and ceremony and responsibility? Hell no. I've done my best to accommodate your choices as much as I can but I'm still my own person, Kakashi. Thank you for giving me and my daughter safe harbor. That doesn't mean you can control me. I'm not another hound for you to train."

"No, you didn't get to weigh in on my decision to become Hokage because at the time you were dead," Kakashi shot back. "I recognized that I was needed after the war and had to make this sacrifice by myself. By choosing to be with me, by choosing to be a part of my life, you automatically accept a portion of that responsibility. You are literally the only person I know that has a problem with this."

"You're right, I'm not like anyone else," Yuki scoffed. "That was originally something you liked about me."

"I'm a bit older than you now, Yuki, and I have a lot on my plate," He sighed. "Sorry if I'm not as patient or tolerant of your nonsense as I used to be. I've covered for your hijinks plenty. I think it's about time you repaid the favor by showing more restraint."

She shook her head. "Then I'll leave Konoha."

"How the hell is that a solution?" He glared. "You would abandon your daughter, your grandson, throw away our relationship, for what? The right to be an immature little brat?"

"I'm not a shinobi, Kakashi, I never really was one," Yuki argued. "I get that you all were indoctrinated at a young age to be happy lemmings for your kage but I didn't. I learned that the only authority I had to worry about was my own. I don't belong to anywhere and I don't belong to anyone. If you can't accept that, I'll leave. Yes, Beki will be disappointed and I will miss out on time with Satoru, but I know that they are safe and taken care of. I can walk away and have a long distance relationship with them with a clear conscience."

Kakashi buried his face in his hands, his frustration plain in the wound-up way his body was tensed. "You aren't going to leave, Yuki."

"What are you going to do if I decide to without your permission?" Yuki scoffed. "Run me through with the Lightning Blade?"

It was one dig too far. Yuki could always feel it with people; everyone had a line that was not to be crossed. This was no different. It was already one of the worst conversations they had ever had. Both of them were used to winning. Both of them were used to being right. That was usually something that they used to come together, great minds collaborating towards a greater goal. Today was different. Today, Kakashi was her opponent. Maybe that was why she didn't feel any remorse throwing that one last verbal punch at the end.

Kakashi didn't react. He was still sitting there with his face in his hands. Yuki noticed his shoulders begin to shake and heard small, muffled noises coming from his hands. It took her a moment to realize he was laughing. He pulled his hands away, shaking his head, and looked at her with a humorless smile. "You really can't help yourself, can you?" He threw up his hands. "You know what? This was my mistake. I thought I could have an adult conversation with you. I suppose that was too much to ask."

Kakashi rose to his feet and stuck his hands in his pockets. "This has been a waste of both of our time. I'm going in to the office for a few hours to see if I can get something productive done today," He looked down at Yuki. "And I swear if you so much as throw a snowball while I'm there, I'm not protecting you. You will be dealt with just like any other person in this village."

Yuki was left sitting on the bench with nothing but the rancid smell of the trashcan to keep her company.

…

For the first few hours, Kakashi had managed to plow through almost a full day's work. In no way did he approach breaking even, let alone getting ahead of his duties, but he had made a dent. It was a form of avoidance, pure and simple, and it was amazing what could be achieved in the name of procrastination.

Yuki had hurt Kakashi. Not in a deep, wounding way. The injury would heal quickly but the memory of its delivery wouldn't. For the better part of his life, Kakashi had avoided intimate relationships for all the reasons Yuki so recently demonstrated. Romantic entanglements demanded exposing vulnerabilities: personal insecurities, details of a troubled past, etc. And due to Yuki's vicious nature, she had used all of them as ammunition against him. Normally, such a thing wouldn't phase Kakashi. First of all, he guarded himself carefully from such assaults, so if a stranger said the things she had, it wouldn't have phased him. Yuki knew it would hurt him, though. She knew it was a calculated strike against him and she took the shot anyway.

Had the argument been about something important enough, Kakashi could have brushed it off as an overemotional reaction. But when Yuki had done it, her words were in the context of describing how she would leave him. Part of him couldn't shake the feeling that the attack hadn't been unintentional. It had been a purposeful attempt to drive a wedge between them to ease the start of a separation.

Against his better judgement, Kakashi had decided to risk everything on Yuki. From the very beginning he had been captivated by the complexity and the depth of her personality. Even at her least polished, the woman had an otherworldly beauty about her that had demanded he take notice, even though normally a person's physical attractiveness would barely warrant a second glance. Their relationship had blossomed slowly, in a secure and methodical way. It was the well-laid concrete foundation that had promised to support them; there was even the possibility of a family down the line.

It had seemed like Yuki loved him. At the start of their relationship everything was in her court. She was the tortured widow of a murdered man, a woman outside of time with nowhere to go and a full grown daughter strapped to her hip. Kakashi hadn't given her entanglements a second thought. Whether he had wanted to or not, he had fallen in love with Yuki and he wasn't a quitter. Even when she was flirtatious with other people, Kakashi shrugged it off. Yuki's attention to him was special. The two had found mutual support and understanding through their pain. They managed to comfort each other in every aspect: emotionally, mentally, and physically. There was an openness, a security their companionship brought them both that Kakashi had been completely certain of. And now the doubts were creeping in.

It started with the quiet grumblings when he had to leave home early or stay at work late. Then not so quiet complaining progressed up to occasional temper tantrums; childish grabs for his attention. A distance, an almost palpable sense of two separate lives forming with only intersecting moments in time. Kakashi did his best to still support her. He tolerated her outbursts and went out of his way to spend time with her family. All he asked was that she behave, to not add to his headaches at work.

He had been so sure they were in love. When they were at home together there was no place he would rather be. Yuki was always so vibrant in her attempts to be domestic, her inevitable failures a never ending source of laughter in their house. But maybe that was the problem. Maybe Yuki wasn't made to be domesticated. Was it possible that all this time she had tried desperately to be just that, her failures building up out of sight to the point that she was miserable with him?

In less than a week, Yuki had not only told him she didn't want to marry him but also that she was considering walking away. Not in the "I'm sleeping at my relative's house" heat of the moment kind of way. Kakashi's requests were such a threat Yuki would be willing to walk away from everything, even her family. He prayed that was just an exaggeration. But she wasn't even thirty yet. Most people didn't even begin living their own lives until they were in their thirties. Kakashi was at a serious loss. The woman he loved was going through a crisis and no matter how he looked at it, he played some kind of part. He was either a rebound for her dead husband and the novelty had worn off or Yuki was crumbling under the pressure. The weight of having two generations of family under her care, a relatively new romantic relationship of her own, and the pressure of becoming a public figure pressed up against her preexisting issues. The disorientation of her low-tech time travel was always a problem, both in the dynamics of her family and her day-to-day living. Then there was the culture shock of being stuck in Konoha and the restriction of her previously free movement around the world.

Kakashi swallowed hard. The more he thought about it the more convinced he became. It hurt, considering it all. Once upon the time, the couple were a good bet. They were close in age, had the same free-spirited attitude, and a lifetime of slow mutual growth to look forward to. Now the age gap had widened and the pressure mounted. They could never travel together. His job limited their quality time. It was a mess. They were a mess. As he sat at his desk, the wood swam before his eyes. They couldn't go on like this. This fight was a wall, something they would either have to break down together or it would split them apart.

The worst part was Kakashi wasn't sure if Yuki wanted to work things out. After everything she had said, it sounded almost sure she wanted out. Kakashi was ready to fight for their relationship. Whether it would be successful depended on her and before he got started, he had to make sure. Kakashi had to know that Yuki actually loved him. Not just when it was convenient, not when there was a better deal to be had elsewhere. At last Kakashi gained some clarity as an idea formed in his head. If it worked, it would tell him everything he needed to know and then some.

…

When Kakashi returned home that evening, the house was dark. For a moment he went stiff with anxious energy but then he spied Yuki's bag sitting on the kitchen counter. He heaved a small sigh of relief, kicked off his shoes, and plodded upstairs. When he entered the bedroom, Yuki was asleep facing the window. As quietly as he could, Kakashi stripped down and pulled on his pajamas. With every ounce of shinobi prowess he could muster after such a long day, Kakashi gingerly slipped between the sheets. He settled up against Yuki's sleeping form. She always slept at the edge of the bed; there was always enough room for another head on her pillow. It worked out rather well. Kakashi's bed was barely wide enough for two pillows, let alone two people. Since Yuki had moved in the pair had slept in permanent spooning position. There was a twang of sadness through him as the thought that he would really miss that ran through his head. He breathed in the smell of her hair and draped an arm over her waist.

"I'm sorry."

The words were so sudden Kakashi almost didn't catch them.

"About today," Yuki nestled backward into him. "I was thinking about it and I guess I was...kind of...being a dick." She hesitated throughout the sentence, as if it pained her to admit.

"Well, that's big of you," Kakashi shook his head. "Is that all you have to say for yourself?"

"I mean I was thinking about it and I'm not being super fair," Yuki adjusted uncomfortably. "Maybe I can tone it down a bit. Instead of snowstorms in the middle of town square it could be a snowball fight in an alley."

"Or a backyard snowman would be fine." Kakashi nodded. "Pretend you're a kid trying not to get found out by your parents, not an upstart trying to make the front page of the newspaper. That's much more reasonable."

He rubbed her shoulder, the act relieving some of his own tension. "Yuki, why do you need to challenge me so much? How do you think that makes me feel having you attack me all the time?"

Yuki shrugged. The extent of her humility had been spent, but Kakashi wasn't finished.

"Yuki," Kakashi sighed. "I really can't imagine you gave Seiichiro this hard of a time."

"No, it isn't like that-" Yuki began but Kakashi pressed right on.

"Because, you know, I'm not asking you to reign it in as some kind of insecure masculine grab for control over you," Kakashi explained. "If anyone found out you were alive, Yuki, you would be branded a wanted ronin on the spot. Do you know what that would mean for you? What it would mean for your daughter and her family? You two would be hunted down like wild dogs."

Yuki was silent but Kakashi didn't let up. "I have had to work very hard to cover your tracks and I am putting a lot at risk for doing so. This is exactly the kind of breach of trust that could lead to another shinobi war." He let that sink in. There was no clever quip from Yuki, no well-timed retort. Kakashi could almost feel Yuki shrink in his arms as she retracted back into herself. "Sweetheart, I don't feel like I'm asking for much. I know being considerate of others isn't something you do often, but do you think, maybe, you could at least not make more work for me?"

The quiet stretched on and he ran his fingers over her arm affectionately. Kakashi kissed her shoulder, nuzzled in and fell asleep. Yuki was left lying there crawling in her own skin. She felt guilty. Yukihana never felt guilty and she felt it hard now. Yuki hated it.