Chapter 12 - Date

Kakashi was sitting behind his desk when his door was violently thrown open. He calmly looked up to meet the gaze of the furious blonde woman. He wasn't surprised, in fact, he expected a visit from her.

"You perverted bastard." Tsunade spat. "What the hell do you think you're doing asking her out on a date?" Kakashi sighed and placed the document he was viewing on his desk.

"I was thinking I would have a nice dinner with her to get to know her better." He answered plainly. Apparently that was a bad answer because Tsunade stormed up to his desk and slammed her fists on the surface. Kakashi warily watched as cracks appeared around the area of impact and continued to run down the center; he gulped discreetly. Although he was the Hokage and a very skilled shinobi, the sheer raw strength that Tsunade possessed, especially when angry, was terrifying.

"Don't give me that smart ass answer, Hatake." She bellowed. "I won't stop you from having dinner with her, but if I hear anything bad from her I'll break you." She cracked her knuckles threateningly. Kakashi raised his hands in front of him and laughed awkwardly. "I promise nothing bad will happen to her." Tsunade sent him one last glare before leaving his office. When she walked through the door, he let out a relieved sigh and allowed himself to slouch into his chair.

"Kakashi?" A voice called from the entrance. He looked up to see Mai standing at the broken door and eyeing his desk warily. "Um...is everything okay? I just saw Lady Tsunade leave...she broke the front door." She muttered.

Kakashi dragged his hands over his face. "Everything is okay, Mai. She just came to talk to me about something."

Mai looked at him unbelievingly, there was no way that Lady Tsunade would've left such a path of destruction if she came to simply 'talk.' Mai opened her mouth to ask him a question but a loud creak and crash interrupted her. She bit her tongue and looked at her boss who looked just about done with everything.

"Could you please order me a new desk and get the doors replaced." Kakashi groaned, looking at all the documents that now covered the floor.

Mizuki was pacing around her living room anxiously waiting for Kakashi to arrive. He was supposed to be here in 10 minutes to pick her up for their date. She had been feeling good up until now. What started as excitement slowly gave way to nervousness as her thoughts started to wander to all the things that could go wrong that night. He hadn't exactly told her where they were going so she didn't know what to expect. She didn't even know if she was dressed appropriately!

She decided to wear a pair of black skinny jeans with a cream colored top and a pair black low heeled boots. She thought she looked fine but what if he was taking her to some fancy restaurant in town? She wouldn't look appropriate at all and would probably embarrass the both of them!

She fiddled with her clammy hands. She vaguely considered the idea of cancelling on him by telling him she was sick. Being a medic nin was pretty advantageous as it allowed her to put on a more convincing performance. But the knock on her door didn't allow her to consider the idea further. She quickly walked to the door but slowed down when she got closer. Her hand slowly reached for the doorknob. Before she could let her nerves take complete control of her, she yanked the door open. Her breath caught in her throat when she saw him. His attire wasn't too different from what he normally wore but for some reason she just thought he looked extra handsome tonight.

"Good evening." He greeted with a smiling gleam in his eyes.

"Hi." She answered with a smile.

"These are for you." he said, handing her a small bouquet of flowers that she hadn't noticed earlier. She took the colourful arrangement from him and brought it to her nose. The delicate scent of the beautiful blooms enveloped her.

"Thank you." She said. "Would you like to come in for a bit?"

Kakashi nodded and stepped into her apartment. He closed the door behind him while she walked to the kitchen in search of a vase. He followed her and set the picnic basket he carried with him on her kitchen counter.

While she was busy caring for the flowers, he took that time to really look at her. When she opened the door he was floored by how pretty she looked. Now that he had the opportunity to look at her he knew his early assessment of her was incorrect. She wasn't pretty, she was gorgeous. The jeans accentuated her shapely legs and he could see the supple swell of her breasts beneath her top.

Kakashi sighed quietly and briefly closed his eyes. 'Maybe she was right.' He thought, thinking back to what Tsunade had called him yesterday. He opened his eyes when he heard her speak.

"Sorry about that." She said, placing the newly arranged vase on her dining room table. "I'm ready to go whenever you are."

Kakashi nodded and picked up the basket. Mizuki wordlessly followed him out of her apartment and into the night.

"So where are we going?" She asked, eyeing the basket with curiosity.

"I thought we'd have a picnic." He said, lifting the basket for emphasis. "There is a spot I think you'll like a lot."

Mizuki smiled up at him. "That sounds exciting. What's so special about that place?"

"You'll see." He answered vaguely. She pouted at his poor answer which earned her a chuckle. "I don't want to ruin the surprise."

They walked through the quiet forest chatting lightly amongst themselves about their day. Mizuki was properly embarrassed when Kakashi told her what happened in his office yesterday.

"I am so sorry. I knew I shouldn't have told her! I don't even know what possessed her to have that kind of reaction." She groaned into her hands. Even though it was dark at night, her blush was bright enough that Kakashi could see it. Kakashi reassured her that it was okay, he was glad that the building took more of a beating from her than the employees.

Kakashi wasn't surprised by her actions because it was very evident to him how important Mizuki was to Tsunade. He had seen the way Tsunade treated Sakura who she saw as a prodigy but the way that she treated Mizuki was even more special. Tsunade acted as though Mizuki was her family, so knowing that made him understand her aggressively protective behaviour.

Kakashi came to a sudden stop in the middle of a small clearing. Mizuki was so lost in her embarrassment that she didn't notice he had stopped until she crashed into his back.

"We're here." He announced, glancing over his shoulder at her. Mizuki looked around where they stopped. It didn't look special to her, it was a small area of grass in the middle of the large forest. There were a group of tree stumps off to the side arranged in a little picnic seating area.

She watched him kneel on the grass and pull a blanket from the basket. "Is this like the cave you showed me? A normal looking place that's hiding something magically?" She asked, taking a seat on the blanket he laid out.

Kakashi shook his head in amusement. "You're not very patient are you?"

Mizuki pouted. "Well it's not my fault you made me excited about this place but tell me nothing about it!" Kakashi laughed.

"Are you hungry?" He asked, ignoring her excuse. Mizuki's pout intensified when she failed to get any clues from him.

"A little." She answered eventually. She curiously watched him pull what looked like a lantern from the basket as well. He flipped a switch and a soft glow emanated from the center. Although it was a small light, in contrast to the dark night it illuminated the area.

"I'm not a very good cook so I took the liberty of getting take out from a local restaurant. I hope that's okay." He said, taking out containers of food. Mizuki laughed at his confession, she wouldn't hold it against him. A lot of her nin friends couldn't cook to save their life. With their busy schedule it was much easier to get takeout from a place or learn to cook super simple food like instant ramen or oatmeal.

"This looks delicious, which restaurant is it from?"

"It's from a place called Hibiki, they do most of the catering for the office." He said, handing her a plate and some utensils. Mizuki happily took them and dug into the hot food.

She moaned when she took a bite of the food. "This is really good."

"I'm glad you like it." He replied.

Mizuki smiled happily into her food. "How was your day?" She asked when they lapped into silence.

"Good. Do you remember that cave I took you to?" He asked. She nodded. "We have put together a team to research the new areas, they started today."

"Really? That's so exciting. I must say, I'm pretty jealous of them. I think I'd much rather spend all day in that place than at the hospital." She chuckled softly.

"Well, I did promise you early access to the documents once they were done."

"True, I am looking forward to that a lot but it's just not the same. Don't get me wrong I'm not being ungrateful or anything, I'm just jealous." She laughed.

Kakashi nodded, he could somewhat relate to her. In the last several years he had stumbled upon many hidden gems that the grand forest hid. There were many days where he would sneak out of the office just to revisit some places or, hopefully, find new ones.

"If you would like, I could take you to more places when we are both free." He offered casually. Mizuki vigorously nodded her head in excitement. She really hoped he wasn't fibbing because that sounded like a dream come true for her.

"Yes, please! I don't seem to be having any luck myself finding these places." She pouted.

"Don't feel too bad." He said. "I think living here for as long as I have has given me an advantage."

Mizuki took another bite of her, ready to replying when the light suddenly went out. Her eyes blurred as they tried to adjust to the sudden change in lighting.

"Look behind you." She heard Kakashi say in the dark. Her jaw dropped in astonishment at the beautiful sight before her. The trees were encased in a yellow glow from hundreds of fireflies!

Kakashi chuckled at her reaction. Even in the dark night, he could catch the gleam of excitement and wonderment in her eyes. He leaned back against a tree stump and watched Mizuki get up and approach the fireflies in a trance-like state. It astounded him how easily impressed she was by the simple beauty of nature.

He was content to just eat his food and watch Mizuki happily run among the fireflies. He placed his plate of food on the blanket and stretched out his legs. He bent one leg at the knee and rested his arm on it. It was not even 40 minutes into the date and he already found it to be enjoyable and much nicer than any dates he previously had. Her calm aura did wonders for him and he appreciated the fact that he didn't need to force any conversations with her.

He often found that with other women there was a need to fill in the silence with meaningless conversation otherwise things felt too awkward to bear. With Mizuki, that was never needed because both would be content to entertain themselves with their own thoughts. On their walk here they only talked when there was something to be said. They had spent a decent amount of time together and both were shocked that they shared many things in common. He was grateful for that because it provided a strong base for their conversations.

Kakashi glanced at Mizuki one last time before letting his eyes close. A combination of the warm breeze, a long day at the office, and the quietness of the forest lulled him into a sleepy state. Meanwhile, Mizuki was having the time of her life chasing after fireflies. It felt like such a childish thing to do but she didn't care, she was having too much fun. Back in the forests of Kiri she had seen fireflies but not as many as she was seeing now and they were different colours. A few landed on the palm of her hands and she took her time admiring each one.

She didn't know how much time had passed before her rumbling stomach interrupted her fun. She hadn't eaten much before getting distracted by the surprise. Knowing that the fireflies would be around for several more hours, she decided to stop for now and finish the rest of her food. As she walked away from the glow of the fireflies, she noticed Kakashi in a very laxed position with his eyes closed. She immediately felt guilty for being such an awful date! He had gone through all the effort to bring good food and take them to such a nice place only for her to neglect and bore him. She lowered herself onto the blanket and debated whether she should wake him or let him continue sleeping.

"Why are you so sad? I thought you were enjoying yourself?." Mizuki looked up, startled. She rapidly blinked when Kakashi flicked the switch on the lamp. When her eyes adjusted she looked at Kakashi who was now wide awake.

"I am, it's just I feel so bad. You went through all the effort to plan this and I just up and left you." She admitted sadly.

Kakashi sat up straighter and shook his head. "Don't feel bad about that, I'm enjoying myself more than you think and I'm glad you're enjoying yourself too."

"Are you sure?" She asked, unconvincingly. Kakashi nodded. "I didn't bring you here for you to ignore that spectacle. It's beautiful, isn't it?"

She nodded her head. "It really is, thank you for showing me. There is a similar place back in Kiri but they were a different colour and there weren't too many of them. It was still really nice to see them though. My grandpa and I would go camping once a week just to see them." She reminisced with a fond smile on her face.

"Do you miss Kiri?" Kakashi asked.

"Definitely. That month I spent in Kiri reminded me just how much I missed home, especially my grandparents. While I was there they tried to take me to all the places we usually go to. It was nice to spend some more time with them, but they're still very happy that I'm doing well here."

"How about your friends?"

"I only managed to catch up with a few, most of them were busy and so was I so it was hard to find time." She answered, continuing to eat her dinner. "How were things when we were gone? Nothing bad happened, I hope?"

"No, thankfully, our teams returned safely from their missions. They had some minor injuries but nothing too overwhelming."

They continued to chat and eat for the next couple hours. On their way back to the village, Kakashi had taken her on a longer route for a scenic stroll in the night. When they arrived at her apartment, Mizuki was disappointed that their date had come to an end. She honestly found herself enjoying every moment of it. Kakashi had been so considerate in taking her to see things that he knew would interest her. It warmed her heart to think about how much he actually helped her feel as though she was at home in Konoha. He had taken it upon himself to get her well acquainted with her new home and it made her feel more confident in her decision to move here.

"Thank you for the wonderful night, I had a lot of fun." She said, with a shy smile.

"It was my pleasure. I'm glad you enjoyed yourself."

An awkward silence enveloped the two as neither knew how to conclude their night together. Mizuki didn't think it was appropriate to invite him into her apartment considering it was so late and it would've given him the wrong idea.

"Um...i-if it's okay with you, I would love to go on a-another date...maybe." She admitted timidly.

Kakashi looked down at the shy woman. A light blush dusted her cheeks, her eyes darted everywhere but him. It didn't take him long to give her an answer because it was obviously a no-brainer.

"I would love to. Perhaps your next day off?" He suggested. He enjoyed tonight just as much as she did and he saw no reason why they should stop at one date. He might have his fears and worries about pursuing a relationship, but right now he was fond of their time together. He couldn't see why he should put a stop to things when there was no reason to right now.

Mizuki's eyes widened a tad when she heard Kakashi's answer. She didn't think he would agree so quickly but her heart fluttered with joy. "S-sure. Uhh...I'll...I'll let you know when my next day off is."

Before she could change her mind, she slyly surged upwards to plant a chaste kiss to his masked cheek. Kakashi was so taken aback by her actions that he didn't have the chance to react before she promptly shut her door in his face. It astounded him that this woman he had known for not too long had managed to make him blush. Twice.

He pressed his hand to the cheek that she kissed. He stood in front of her door like a dumbfounded schoolboy who had received his very first kiss from their crush. It took him a few minutes to recompose him. He left her apartment and walked through the dark streets of Konoha, his mind filled with images of a beautiful and alluring blonde.