Kakashi woke up alone. Asuka… had it all been a dream? He lay on the mattress, looking at the ceiling. Her scent was all around him. Not a dream, then. Good. He glanced at the clock on the nightstand and read 10 a.m.; he still had time before the Kage summit. He sat up on the bed and looked around; Asuka was not in the apartment, he couldn't feel her chakra signature there. He noticed his clothes were neatly folded on an armchair under the window, with a note on top of them. He stood up and read it.
"Went to rehearsal for concert tonight. Feel free to take a shower, I have already put some extra towels in the bathroom for you (although I don't have any male undergarments, not my fetish, and my body wash has a delicate floral perfume, not those strong piney smells you tough guys like). I left something for you in the fridge if you're hungry. I didn't cook any of that, so you can rest assured you won't die from food poisoning." Then, at the left bottom corner of the note, an arrow warned him that her blabbering was not finished. He turned the paper. "You know where to find me, work or home, so feel free to come looking for me if you feel like it." She ended her note with a smiley face with wiggly eyebrows. The corner of his lips raised in a fond smile, as he picked up his clothes and walked to the bathroom.
Under the water jet from the shower, his thoughts inevitably ran to her, again. It was amazing how little she had changed in spite of what had happened to her. He thought back to their last conversation before her disappearance. He had felt so powerless and so guilty at the same time. It was clear she was suffering, but he had just stood there, unable to stop her. His mind replayed the events of the following morning.
Kakashi was still confused about Asuka's words from the previous night, but he was still wearing his aloof air as he strolled into the Hokage's building for his daily report. As he got closer to the door, he heard people yelling from the Third's office, but he still couldn't clearly discern sentences. Someone seemed very angry, though. After a brief moment, the door thrusted open and Asuma stormed outside. Kakashi had never seen his friend lose his temper, but that was even worse. He looked totally furious. As soon as Asuma spotted him, his hand grabbed Kakashi's neck and he pinned him to the wall. "Did you know, Kakashi?" The boy had both his hands on Asuma's hand, trying to make him loosen his grip. "What are you talking about?" He managed to splutter. Had he always been that strong? "Asuka had to leave. For good." So that was it. Kakashi frowned. "My father – her father, for God's sake! – ordered it to her," he continued, enraged. Kakashi diverted his gaze from Asuma's eyes, who understood he already knew something. "She came to say goodbye, last night." Even with his Sharingan, the punch Asuma threw at his cheek would have been impossible to block. "You knew, and you didn't stop her? Are you a fucking retard? Do you even care about my sister or is she only your fuck buddy?" It took all of Kakashi's rationality to not smash his Raikiri through Asuma's skull. His electricity-clad hand rested beside his face. "Say that again and I'll kill you,' he menaced. At that moment, he felt his lightning chakra disappear from his hand and Asuma's grip loosen around him. A tall, imposing man in an ANBU uniform was blocking Kakashi's arm with one hand and gripping Asuma's neck with the other. Sarutobi Toshiro, the Third's eldest son. "This is the Hokage building. If you want to fight, go somewhere else." Asuma wiggled free from his brother and ran to the exit, while Kakashi stood there, not moving. Toshiro eyed him gravely, then entered the Hokage's office. "Come. The Third wants to speak to you."
Kakashi entered the office and knelt down, in the usual ANBU respectful salute to their boss. As he looked at the Hokage, though, he faltered. The Third was not a young man, but he seemed to have gotten much older overnight. His stance was hunched up, his shoulders low, and the wrinkles around his face seemed deeper. Asuka… what had happened? Why did she have to leave? Asuma had said 'for good', but that couldn't be true… or could it? "Call team Ro, you'll need to carry out a crucial infiltration mission in the Sand together with their ANBU team. The target is a criminal organization that deals with human trafficking." He continued with his mission details, then dismissed the ninja. Kakashi, though, remained still, looking the Hokage in the eyes. The man sighed, closing his eyes. "What do you want to ask me, Kakashi?" He stiffened. "What happened to Asuka, Hokage-sama?" The Third looked down, as if remembering past events, before speaking. "I can't tell you, it's classified information." Kakashi took one step forward, opening his arms. "But when I saw Asuka last night, her chakra was totally messed up, she was clearly not ok! And she told me she was leaving on a long mission but… in her condition… I am worried." The Hokage looked at him gravely. "I know you two were close, Kakashi. But she had to leave even though she was not in top condition. I had to order her to do so. And my order to you is… Have some faith in her, Kakashi. She's a better shinobi than most of us." That said, the man stood up from his desk and turned towards the window. Kakashi took that as a hint to leave. It was still not right with him, he still felt as if he was betraying Obito's preaching and leaving his friend behind, but… Was he really leaving her behind? Or was it the opposite? 'She is the one who left you,' a part of him said. 'But it was the Hokage who made her…' he was starting to get angry. Not knowing things frustrated him. That's when Asuka's words came to his mind. 'The Hokage is the best shinobi among us. We must respect his decisions, even if we don't accept them. Don't forget that.' He swallowed the lump that had formed in his throat. That was her will. He would accept it, even if his chest ached that much.
After that day, the Third never uttered his daughter's name anymore. Kakashi gave up hoping she was alive three years later. Asuma left the village the day after his argument with Kakashi and would only come back seven years later as one of the Twelve Guardian Ninja.
Kakashi got out of Asuka's apartment and put her key under the doormat ("Not a very original hiding spot, I know, but practical at least," she had written on another note she had stuck to the door) and headed to the Kage's meeting place. He could literally feel a pair of inquisitive eyes on his back, so he turned around and greeted his fellow shinobi. "Good morning, Shikamaru. Did you sleep well?" The boy frowned. "I did. What about you?" Kakashi smirked. "Yup, like a log. The bed at the hotel is very comfy." Shikamaru raised an eyebrow. "Strange, I went to your bedroom to wake you up, this morning, but you weren't there. And your comfy bed seemed immaculate," he said. His speech reminded Kakashi of what a worried mother would tell his teenage son when he would not come home to sleep but sneak inside the house in the morning. But then again, Kakashi hadn't had a mother in his teenage years, so how could he know? "Oh, I just woke up very early and went to take a walk. The weather is very nice in the Land of Lighting, contrary to what I thought," he smiled as he borrowed Asuka's words from the previous night, "and since I'm a very tidy person, I like making my bed before leaving." Shikamaru wasn't buying any of his bullshit, he knew fairly well. But as his eyes reflected his thoughts, he probably determined it was too troublesome to worry about an older man's night escapades, seeing how that older man was his superior and stronger than him. The boy shrugged. "Whatever. Let's go to this meeting. I just hope you've rested enough to not fall asleep during Tsuchikage's speech."
Shikamaru didn't honestly give a damn about Kakashi's personal life. Or better, it was not like he didn't care about him, but the Hokage was a grown, intelligent and strong man, and the last thing he needed was a babysitter. But as he was his advisor, it was his duty to make sure he was not in trouble. Even against his will, Shikamaru's mind had already started speculating on what was going on. The previous night Kakashi had clearly been upset; he hadn't even sipped his beer and had left before everyone else with some silly excuse, but hadn't come back to the hotel to sleep, no matter that pitiful excuse for a lie he had tried to give him a few minutes before. 'Think… Before the meeting yesterday afternoon, he was normal. When has his behavior changed?' Shikamaru thought back to what happened at the bar: him and Temari mocking Bee for his crush on that singer, then Bee leaving them to talk to her, then Raikage, Gaara and Kakashi appearing, the latter being his usual self, then Bee introducing the singer to them. Shikamaru frowned. That moment. And it was not only Kakashi. The woman, too, seemed taken aback by seeing them. He had noticed her confused expression when she had looked at him, and her eyes widening as she looked at Kakashi, but he had dismissed that as what could be surprise at seeing Leaf shinobi in the Land of Lightning. Did they know each other? If so, why hadn't they said anything? Bee said she was from the Land of Fire, maybe she was an old acquaintance of his, someone involved in a mission he had been assigned to when they were young, maybe an old girlfriend? Too few data to come to a certain conclusion. What was certain was that Kakashi didn't seem like the playboy type, yet he was smelling like flowers this morning, and the body soap at the hotel was lemon scented. It had struck his nose the day before, as he was used to piney perfumes. Well, he clearly needed more information to come up with a theory more accurate than 'Kakashi and the singer might know each other and they might have spent the night together'. And, frankly, if that didn't hinder Kakashi's job as Hokage, it was his own business.
God, Shikamaru was right. Kakashi was having a hard time not falling asleep during Tsuchikage's speech. He glanced at Raikage, in front of him, and Mizukage, on his right. They both seemed they were fighting against their own eyelids. And he was hungry, too. Tsuchikage had actually wanted to talk before they started eating, so each Kage and advisor there had now a plate full of delicacies in front of them which were slowly getting cold. Gaara seemed the only one seriously interested in the old man's words, but then again, he had that peculiar emotionless expression that might make him seem interest even in front of a pineapple. Finally, Onoki ended his blabbering with a call for lasting co-operation and teamwork throughout the Shinobi world. Kakashi could relate with such an idea, even though he thought that could have been expressed in a lot fewer words. He sighed and sipped from his sake cup, following the Raikage's toast to unity, then started eating, careful to let his mask slip down his face only the necessary time to shove food in his mouth. Yeah, his food was already cold, he mentally complained.
They ate and talked for quite some time, and it was almost two when, suddenly, Killer Bee stood from his chair and excused himself. His older brother shot him a questioning glare. "Well, you know, I kinda have a place I need to go now, a pre-planned work meeting… sorta…" The jinchuuriki scratched the back of his neck. "Anyway, you all, Kages and lackeys, be sure to come Friday night to 'The Blue Orchid'… A big surprise will be awaiting your ears!" That said, he disappeared in a puff of smoke. The vein on the Raikage's forehead was pulsing dangerously. Shikamaru eyed the big man expecting him to suddenly punch the table and break it in half, instead he just sighed. "I would like to apologize to you all for my brother's rudeness. I'll personally make sure to knock some politeness into him," the man apologized. "Isn't 'The Blue Orchid' the bar you invited us to yesterday?" Kakashi asked. Shikamaru couldn't help but notice the playful glow in his leader's eyes. "Yes, and I bet that the surprise Bee mentioned has something to do with the little singer there and my brother's obsession with her," he explained. "Don't feel compelled to go, though. You know my brother's unnecessarily over-excited about everything." Kakashi smirked. "Oh, I'd like to see what this surprise is about, actually." "Obsession over some girl? Could a marriage be on its way?" the Mizukage asked. She seemed pretty annoyed by that scenario. The Raikage laughed out loud, but only Shikamaru noticed Kakashi snort through his nose. "Oh, whatever the surprise is, it's definitely not a wedding. Lemme tell you, Mei, you have more chances to get married before that idiot goes as far as to touch that girl!" The kunai that the woman threw at the Raikage was filled with killing intent.
"I'm so sorry I'm late, Asuka-chan!" Bee apologized, entering the hall where the woman and the band were playing. "Don't worry, Bee-san. I'm sure you were busy with your brother. We just kept on rehearsing the songs for tonight," she said, smiling. The other musicians waved at him. "So, you were telling me about this song you'd like to mash up with mine…" she started, prompting him to continue. "Yes!" He exclaimed, standing upright and producing some crumpled paper sheets from his pocket. I wrote the verses here, please take a look and tell me what you think about them. Asuka skimmed through the words, then passed the sheet to the other musicians. After a while, they nodded at Asuka and gave the sheet back to Bee, who in the meantime was quivering, awaiting a response from his crush. She smiled at him. "I like it. Let's hear them from you, shall we?"
"To be honest with you, Bee-san, I was not totally convinced that it could work out, but now I really think the song's come out pretty good," Asuka confessed to Bee, once rehearsal was over. He had offered to walk her home, and the two were now strolling leisurely, enjoying the ice creams they had bought. "I'm very honored to be able to perform with you on Friday night, Asuka-chan. I… I really think you are the best singer out there," Bee said, blushing a little. He felt he needed to confess his feelings to the girl, but he was too shy to do that. Asuka shrugged. "There are so many people out there who are better than me, but thank you anyway. So, is your brother coming to see your performance on Friday?" She asked. "I guess so, today I invited them all, all the Kage I mean, to the concert." Asuka decided to play dumb. "You mean the people you introduced me to, yesterday?" Bee gave her a thumbs-up. "Yes! Those were the copy ninja and the boy from the sand with their advisors. There are others, though," he continued, "an old man and a witch, and their lackeys. I told 'em all to come." Asuka side-glanced at Bee. "You know, Bee-san, at the time when I had to move to the Western continent the Hokage was an old man. I guess many years have passed. Both the Hokage and the Kazekage seem very young." Bee nodded. "Yeah, but don't let that fool you. Gaara is a kid but he's extremely powerful and intelligent for such a young age, and Kakashi, well, he's always been considered a genius. He has been a famous ninja for years, even though when you talk to him, he may seem a dork." Asuka chuckled, Her mind wandering to the man she had spent the night with, feeling her skin tingle. She wanted to see him. Lost in her somewhat dirty thoughts about Kakashi, Asuka missed the question Bee had asked her. Noticing the man's look, she hastened to talk. "I'm sorry, Bee-san, I spaced out a little. What did you want to know?" The man smiled. "I asked you if you're feeling happy here in the Land of Lightning." Asuka shrugged. "I feel very… welcomed by you all, Bee-san. But I really want to go to my village in the Land of Fire," she admitted. Bee sighed. "I guess there's truly no place like home, uh? Even though, I mean, there's no need to rush things… you could stay here as much as you like…" He said, 'I can do it,' he thought, 'I'm going to confess my undying love for her!' Bee ignored the laugh from the Hachibi inside his head, and focused back on the girl next to him. "Actually, I have decided that Friday will be my last concert here. I've saved enough money to end my journey, so I guess the earlier I leave, the earlier I'll get home." Bee could hear the crack forming in his heart as clearly as day.
Asuka lifted her doormat but no key was under it. Her eyebrow raised; she was sure she had left a note for Kakashi to put it there when he left. He must have left it open. 'Whatever,' she thought, 'it's not like I keep anything valuable here.' She turned the doorknob and entered, taking off her shoes. As she stepped into the living room, she almost tripped. Kakashi was on her sofa, watching TV. He cast her a questioning look. "Why so surprised? You told me I can come whenever I want." Yes, she had wrote that in her note, earlier that morning, but she didn't think that Kakashi, the Hokage, for God's sake, would ever find the time to visit her during the day. She flew to him and threw her arms around his neck, rejoicing in the feeling of his arms immediately closing around her back. "I thought you would be busy all day long," she whispered in his ear. Her warm breath against his skin sent a rush of electricity through Kakashi's body, and he tugged his mask down, slowly kissing her neck. "Luckily, I have a super-skilled and intelligent advisor who can do paperwork much better than me," he replied. She giggled. "Shikaku's son must be pretty pissed at you in this moment. I'm surprised there was no better ninja available for the Hokage position. They must have been pretty disperate in Konoha, when they chose you," she joked, then took off Kakashi's shirt. He looked her in the eye, serious. "My thoughts exactly," he said, then his serious expression broke into a smile. She laughed, smacking him on the chest, then raised her arms so that he could take off her shirt. "Anyway, I was actually planning on going training, now," she said, leaning in to kiss the man. He pulled back, smirking. "Instead you're here, topless, making out with this shitty Hokage. Talk about rresponsible ninjas," he joked, his eyes half-lidded. "Heh, shitty Hokage deserves shitty ninjas," she replied, laughing. "But I guess I can put off training for half an hour…" She whispered, trailing kisses down his jaw. "Oh, don't worry, it's not gonna take that long," she heard him saying, and laughed heartedly, as he made her lay on the couch and proceeded to take off her denim shorts. He stopped, though, as he glanced at her ankle. She looked at him questioningly, then realized what he was looking at. "Oh, that. I… told you I missed you," she whispered, looking away. He glanced at her and noticed her blush, then back at her ankle, where a scarecrow was tattooed just under the malleolus. So it was really for him? He hadn't noticed it the day before. Something swelled inside his chest, and he delicately kissed her ankle, right on the spot where the tattoo was, before throwing himself at her mouth.
Thank you all for reading this far! I hope I'll update soon.
For those who don't know, "Kakashi" means scarecrow in Japanese :)