Sparks 10

Love all, trust a few, do wrong to none. - William Shakespeare

Never had I ever had to give a verbal report of a case quite like this. Well, there was a first time for everything. For some reason, they wanted all the details, which put me in a bind. I had quite the few options on how to handle it. I could throw Kakashi under the proverbial bus - him being far more experienced than I wouldn't look well on him vanishing. But I did also antagonize him, so part of it was my fault. I would have to make a decision. I chose - well….

"You're back fast." Koharu commented.

"Mm - a kitten wanting to be found does half the work for us." I replied quickly. I held my hands behind my back, catching Kakashi's lackadaisical attitude from the corner of my eye. He had the strangest practiced shlump I had ever seen. The poor man would have back problems if he didn't pay attention. But we had other issues to deal with. Namely, The Spanish Inquisition.

"What was your plan as a team?"

I could see Kakashi barely turn to glance at me. He still preferred to stand with his shielded eye towards me. Which was fine, to be fair. I almost felt like it was his way to keep me distant. I understood the idea. If I could, I certainly would be as well.

"I confess, I may have taken the lead on this. Hatake was kind enough to allow such frivolousness." I explained, trying to walk the fine line I put myself in. I could see Kakashi turn to regard me carefully.

"And the plan?"

"Make the target do the work. I- We went to see the client and gather intel to see the best approach. It turns out that it was a well beloved pet. We set up boxes with clothes so that the pet would catch the scent while scouring the streets to see what we could find on foot." I explained briefly.

"Were there any problems?"

"There were no problems finding the target." I clarified.

"What about between you two?" The Hokage suddenly interjected. He stared at me as if he knew what happened. I could see Kakashi beside me getting ready to say something. I didn't know what he was about to say but I decided it was time for the petty behavior between us to end. He'd barely done a thing. Had he been anyone else but the man from the poster on Maya's wall - I probably would have befriended him by now. Even with what I knew about him. He was a ninja. Each of them were characters and each of them had a past.

I went to speak but Kakashi laid a hand on my shoulder to stop me.

"We're working out the kinks. We plan on meeting up after this, right Walker-san?" He said in a chipper tone.

I turned to him, trying not to stare at him as if he just told me he enjoyed playing bongos in his spare time.
"Ah - yes." I said, my gaze darting between both the council. I turned to them with a bright smile, "Of course."

They looked satisfied, and Hiruzen's eyes danced with amusement. We were swiftly informed that we should check in tomorrow and dismissed thereafter. Kakashi put his arm around my shoulder leaning on me immediately as we left.

"Do tell, this meeting - have you plans to be a couple hours late?" I muttered to him as we left.
"Maa - Walker… And just when I was starting to like you." He sighed his complaint.

"Oh, we simply can't have that." I told him in a playful tone. He hummed, steering me from the building.

He ended up taking me to a street vendor. We got our food respectively and found a picnic table to eat our chosen late lunch.

I did my best to not even pay attention to him eating (he finished it scarily fast). He was masked and he chose it for a reason. What care did I have for what lay beneath? I would respect his wishes to remain anonymous in what way he could. After all, I understood the notion. While working under Uncle, I had a persona. Perhaps this was his. When he noticed I wasn't paying attention, his brow furrowed for a moment before it disappeared.

"So - our little pow-wow." I began, still picking at the fish before me. His lone eye focused on me. I could practically see how tired he was. Ah, that sort of talk.

"We can't continue this." He muttered.
"True." I agreed.

"We're going to have to work together."

"Agreed."

He let out a deep sigh, and rubbed the back of his neck. "I thought you would be more…"

"Argumentative? No. Not this time." I gave him a halfhearted shrug. "I'm well aware I can be… difficult at times. But this isn't going to work unless we stop this nonsense. I'm rather certain I started a good bit of it."

He hummed, his thumbs tapping an uneven beat on the table before us. He stared off into the distance, his eye unfocused. He was probably caught in a memory. I cleared my throat to get his attention.
"We'll have to work something out, ah? Preferably not trust falls, luv. The temptation to let the other fall would be rather great."

"You don't think I would catch you?" He asked, his eyebrow shooting to his hairline.
"Oh, I was talking about me. But if you think you wouldn't catch me - well, we then have our answer, mm?" I grinned at him and he rolled his eye.

"So you don't trust me?" He asked.

"Do you trust me?" I countered. I could see frustration building in his brow and I waved my hand.
"I've no choice but to trust you. You're the Diva." I said simply. "I, however, am the wimpy intern who you get to terrorize for months on end."

"Well, if you put it that way." He leaned back, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. I rolled my eyes at him this time. And people thought me cheeky. He then turned to me, "What's a Diva?"

"Without the Diva, the show doesn't go on. She, or in your case he is the star of the show. You keep the Diva happy and everything is grand." I explained.

"So I'm a Diva, a troll, a scoundrel, and Patches."

"Oh, a man of many talents you are." I agreed. He stared at me dully.

"Do you ever not flirt?" He questioned. I scoffed, quirking my brow at him.

"Luv, when I flirt - you'll know it." I said, dismissing his idea of me. Confusion flickered in his gaze before he looked away and fell quiet.

"By-the-by, I've a feeling you'll be conveniently late often enough. Fair warning - depending on how late you are, I may just wander off. Depending on the length of time, I may just find a little hiding spot and hole myself away." I told him with a grin. He heaved a great sigh.

"Maa, Walker - I told you,-"

"Do tell, what did the child who crossed your path look like?" I interrupted him swiftly.

"Well he wa-" Kakashi stopped, and turned to me. I never knew a man could glare with one eye. It was another skill he seemed to possess. I gave him a wide grin.

"Another fair warning. I read people. Mind, you're harder than most - being both masked and one eyed but I still can." I explained. He let out a groan.

"Walker, I'm not one-eyed." He said, pushing up his headband to uncover his other eye. Behind the headband lay a long vertical scar. It went down the center of his other eye. I nearly mentioned it but he then opened said eye and a red-iris stared back at me. It was the strangest thing. His eye was red with little black designs around the pupil. My mouth fell open. He seemed appeased as he placed his headband back.

"You should get that looked at." I said.

"It's fine."

"Your eye is red." I told him again.

"It's supposed to be like that."

"Having one red eye is not normal."

"Walker." He warned.

"Fine. If it falls out of your face, I promise I won't say I told you so."

"I appreciate that." Kakashi said dully.

"Mm." I continued to pick at the fish. It was the strangest thing - never had I seen something of the like. Although, I shouldn't be surprised. The show, from the glimpse I had gotten, was certainly odd to me. He should be, considering he was - well, who he was. I tried to avoid that thought. Best not dwell on it now.

"The Hokage said that I could learn things from you." He said suddenly. He turned to watch me straight on. "What would that be?"
The way he questioned me it was as if I had very little to offer our merry little band of two. I carried on picking at my food, taking the moment to think about the question. Going past the obvious knock on my skill set, he probably had a bit of a bruised ego. After all, he had been a ninja for nearly as long as he could walk; and then he was told some newbie could teach him something? Ah. Cruelty, right there.

"Probably tact." I answered suddenly, glancing at him from the corner of my eye. I could see frustration build in his gaze and I shrugged.

"Again. You're the Diva. What skills have I that you don't already possess?" I scoffed.

"And what are those skills?" He tried again. I hummed. I agreed to work with him, he might as well know. It wasn't a big problem, but he could have phrased it better.

"As I stated. I read people. On some occasions I've gotten good enough to predict what a person will do or say next. I'm good enough to be able to work things to suit me. I can often figure out what drives people, what motivates them, what makes them tick. I rarely have to go that deep, however. I'm very good at whittling people down to get to the root cause of near anything, should the need arise. In addition to this I'm good at information gathering, getting people to admit things they don't want to and overall being in other people's business. When I wish it, people don't notice me much. I'm rather good at getting lost in crowds and keeping a low profile. I've other little handy skills, but they aren't relevant to the question." I rattled off. I could see Kakashi lean back as he started to take apart what I told him. I was going to have to be careful around him. I could practically hear the gears turning in his head as he processed what I told him.

"What are those other skills?" He asked suddenly.

"Of what?"

"The handy skills."

"Being annoying, lock picking, magic tricks and some various others that need not be mentioned." There was no way I would tell that man that I could both sing and act. I would rather jump into a grave than do so. I'm rather sure these skills would be frowned upon in the Ninja world. They were neither deadly nor ninja-like.

"Why not?" He asked, his eye narrowing.

"A girl has to have her secrets, luv. What are we without our mysterious air?" I said charmingly, waving my hand delicately. He scoffed and turned away.

"What do you think of teamwork?" Kakashi asked. He kept his tone even, no inflection to give me any hint on where he stood on anything. He changed his behavior that fast to suit the information given? Ah, he was going to be rather fun to work with.

"It makes the dream work." I said, a cheeky smile played on my lips.

"I'm being serious." He said dully.

"As am I." I leaned forward, trying to catch his eye. "I'm used to working in groups of twos or larger. Each person has their part to play, and if one fails the other steps in and helps along. I almost feel like we've had this conversation before."
He fell quiet for a beat before letting out a low sigh. He leaned back, his face turned towards the sky.

"Okay." He said finally. It almost felt like he was affirming the partnership that Hiruzen assigned. Odd. But if it helped him accept this mess I was all for it. Hopefully I would be able to accept it just as easily.

We didn't stay for much longer. We were in agreement, over all. Both of us could be adults in this situation we'd found ourselves in, clearly.

Soon enough he wandered off, his nose in that book once more. He did tell me that we would meet up at the same place and same time tomorrow (I suspect that the meeting time was a fickle thing to him). I still didn't know what to make of him over all. He was interesting, to say the least. He was certainly a troll, from what interactions I've had with him. However he might not be the worst. I'm rather glad he was willing to work on being tolerable - so long as I was as well. I could handle that.

I carried on with my day to find Kurenai. Even though I was only handling simple tasks, I knew eventually I would have to deal with bigger problems. Kurenai could help with that. I found her while she was returning to her home.
"Kurenai! Luv, it's simply been too long." I greeted her cheerfully.
"Hello, Tami - oh, you have your headband! You're a Kunoichi now." Kurenai said, excitement in her voice.

"Ah - yes. I did sort of forget… Ah - mind if I tag along?" I said weakly. I had forgotten to tell her about my getting the headband. She smiled at me forgivingly.

"Sure. You have something on your mind, don't you?" She asked. I gave her a meek smile.
"I thought maybe a certain someone could perhaps get me better prepared? Perhaps with a certain someone's very specific specialty?"

Kurenai laughed. "Of course. When I'm not busy I would love to help."

"Ah, Kurenai - you're an absolute gem, luv." I gushed. She laughed and I looped my arm with hers as we went.
"There's not many Kunoichi in the first place. We have to help each other out." She said. I nodded in agreement.
"Too true." I agreed, "Let me know how I can pay you back - I certainly shall."

"I'll keep it in mind." Kurenai said with a smile. "So, whose group did you end up in?"

I made a face at her. "Guess, luv. With my rotten luck, it won't take long."

Kurenai fell quiet, her brow furrowed as she thought. She turned to me, confusion written in her eyes. "You're the one Kakashi was partnered with?"

"Bingo." I said with a sigh.
"But - why would they do that?"

"Clearly I've someone out there plotting against me, luv." I muttered. It was the truth. His name was Sarutobi Hiruzen.

"No. I'm sure that's not the case." Kurenai murmured, her fingers tapping her bottom lip. "That's so strange. I thought Guy finally wore down the Hokage."

"Ah. So that's a well known thing?"

"Well, back when Kakashi was Anbu - Guy was concerned." Kurenai said.

I hummed - figures.

"But you don't like idle gossip." She said, teasingly.

"Unfortunately, as of late I've heard nothing but gossip about that man." I muttered.

"Are you upset? That you're working with him, I mean. I know you two don't like each other." Kurenai questioned. I could see compassion in those eyes of hers. She too had a crimson gaze, but it was normal compared to Kakashi's strange one red eye.

"We're trying to figure out a way to make this work. Today was a near disaster."

"Oh?"

"He may have misunderstood me, and I may have antagonized him." I explained.

"May have?" She asked with a grin.
"Perhaps. You know how these things are." I said dismissively. I turned to her suddenly with a wide grin, "So that lovely genjutsu that I've heard so much about. Do tell."

Kurenai tossed her head, laughing at me. I gave her the cheekiest of grins and we went along our way. She was kind enough to give me an idea about her schedule. It would be a moment before I would be able to work with her but - soon I might be able to understand Genjutsu better.

Instead of talking business, over all we simply chatted. Nothing serious, but just of simple things. It was later on when I finally arrived home. Standing outside my door stood Sasuke himself, leaning against the wall with his hands in his pockets as if he were James Dean himself - without the smile, of course.

"You're late." He complained when he saw me.

"And you've a key." I said. He only scowled.

"I was taught to not enter unless invited." He continued.

"Ahh, well, come on Dracula. I thought you Sasuke as I said he was welcome any time, but you do have rules." I teased. He scowled again, and I ruffled his hair.

"Don't worry, I won't tell your adoring public you're teased by the local loony." I told him. I could have sworn he gave me the most briefest of smiles. I unlocked the door and we shuffled in. He was dedicated to the no-shoes rule in the house (I was less so, but the idea was appealing).

"How've you been?" I asked him once the door was closed. He was straightening his hair, trying to get it right. It would have been easy to think him vain without truly knowing him. He wasn't. Sasuke was simply very particular about everything around him. I figured that was why he and Naruto clashed; Naruto simply danced to the beat of his own drum, making up the tune as he went along. Sasuke, well - he would need sheet music and to know the steps.

"Fine." He muttered, staring right up at his bangs. He was trying to fix them. I stepped in and sorted it out in short order.

"The bags under your eyes say something different." I told him. He turned his face to the ground. I could see his fists clenched by his side. Sasuke, for whatever reason, despised help. I was starting to doubt it was simply because of gender. It was something far more serious.

"Have you had dinner? Those little rice-things you make, I'd love to know how."

It seemed to be what he needed as we went into the kitchen and he taught me how to make onigiri. I could see the tension melt from his shoulders. However, he wasn't a patient teacher. He showed me between sighs and repeated, "no, like this."

I may have pretended to be simple just to get him out of his darker mood. Better a frustrated Sasuke than a depressed one.

"Tami." He said in exasperation when I didn't mold the rice ball correctly.

"Well, I thought a little square might be fun." I defended playfully. He scoffed and rolled his eyes at me before taking the rice-square away to form the perfect little cone/ball shape.

"I think you're doing it on purpose." Sasuke grumbled.

"Perhaps I just simply spend too much time with Naruto. He has a unique way of doing everything." I said. He gave a little laugh at that.

"Speaking of, how is school?" I and. Sasuke shrugged, focused on the task before him.

"Easy."

"Mm…." I hummed, "You know the best way to know that you have your skills down pat is to teach someone else."

From the scowl he sent me, you would have thought I told him to drink poison. It wasn't our first conversation like this. I had hoped the two would want to work together more but Sasuke didn't exactly respect Naruto the way I hoped he would.
"Naruto is just stupid." Sasuke grumbled. "He's never going to understand how to be a ninja. He's dead last in class."

The way he glared at the rice before him, you would have thought it insulted him personally.

"Just because Naruto struggles doesn't mean he doesn't have value." I said. Sasuke shot me a look. "And, it doesn't ever mean he'll always be last. Once that boy gets his feet under him, you'll have a run for your money."
Sasuke scoffed, shaking his head.

"Lovely," I said in a firm tone. I lifted his chin to look him in the eye. "Passion always beats technical skill. Always."

"I'm not helping Naruto." Sasuke said. "If passion is better than skill, he'll have to catch up."

He said it in such a smug tone, as if Naruto were incapable.
"Mm - in a few years when Naruto finally shows you who he is, I promise I won't remind you of this conversation." I said and he scoffed.

We fell quiet as we set the table to eat. When we were done with dinner, and cleaning up. Soon enough we were sitting on the couch, talking about life before I brought Naruto up again.

I playfully bumped his side. "One would think you hated him."
"Naruto's fine." Sasuke grumbled. "He's just loud."

"Mm." I agreed, "he is indeed. Don't worry, lovely. I've my own Naruto to worry about."
"Yeah?" Sasuke asked, a small smile formed on his face.
"They partnered me with this raggedy man. We do not get along, but we must." I explained.

"What's wrong with him?"

"Oh - he's an odd one." I began, trying to find the words most accurate to describe him. "He's rather quirky. He was incredibly late, and chose to try to pretend it was some great purpose. He hides himself behind a mask."
"So he's like batman?" Sasuke asked. I had a little giggle over that, imagining Kakashi as the Dark Knight himself. I doubted he could hide that silver hair behind a cowl. He looked like he had a bush on his head on some days.

"I suppose you could say that." I said with a grin. "Though he doesn't sit on rooftops to brood."

Sasuke's eyebrow raised. It was then when I realized Sasuke had yet to see Batman himself. I leaned towards Sasuke, "Tell me - can you keep a secret?"

I could see interest grow in Sasuke's eye. When I pulled out my phone the look vanished.
"Why would you keep a brick secret?" Sasuke asked. I gave him a wink and powered it on. I saw shock flash before his eyes. I had a handful of movies on my phone and more books than I could count. Mostly for the lulls in work, or to keep frightened children distracted from the horrors of life. Batman Begins was among them. I pulled Sasuke in my lap, and turned on the subtitles for him. It was fascinating - being in a new world even affected the movies. Even the live-action movies were turned cartoonish.
"That's batman?" Sasuke asked.
"Mm - he will be. He hasn't quite figured himself out yet." I said, "I'll warn you. They show his parents death on screen."

"I'm not a baby." He scoffed and I ran a hand through his hair. This time he didn't seem to mind.
"I know." I told him softly.

Sasuke said nothing during the whole film. He asked no questions and had no comments, yet he was wide awake for the entire thing.

"I want to be like him." Sasuke said softly when the movie ended.

"Like batman? Lovely, that's a lonely road."

"He saved everyone." He said with such conviction that I didn't know how to shake him from the idea. I had thought to inspire hope in Sasuke - not give him a role model.

"He did. But he's alone more often than not. You need people. Even the Narutos." I said firmly. Sasuke only hummed before telling me he wanted to sleep. I left him to it. I hoped Sasuke would learn in time to open himself up more. With wounds as fresh as his, it was hard to say. I made sure to check up on him from time to time just to make sure he was sleeping well. He was fine for the rest of the night.

When morning came, Sasuke was already gone before I woke up. I got myself ready to not meet Kakashi at the location and time he picked. I arrived, 9am on the dot - again, he wasn't anywhere to be seen. I didn't bother waiting even five minutes more before turning around and going back to the tea shop. I picked up those intriguing blends and wandered through the streets. Today, I wondered how far I would make it before he found me. The only thing that stopped me was a little book store I found.

Well, that was nifty. I hadn't yet read anything simply for the pleasure of it. I wondered what classics I could find there. I started perusing the shelves, intent on finding a good read. I nearly picked up a book labeled Natsumi: The Lost Cause, however another title interested me more. Perhaps I would find that one later.

All in all, Kakashi was nearly two hours late. I was huddled between bookshelves, my own nose buried deep in a book when I spotted the illustrious Pakkun who had hunted me down.
"And here I thought we had an understanding." I sighed.

"I got no contract with you." Pakkun defended. I could see Kakashi giving his eye-smile again - somehow this one was less fake than I was used to. However it was still not quite right.

"True - but we both have issues with certain untimely silver haired men." I said simply.

"Speak for yourself." Pakkun huffed.

"Perhaps if we're still, he won't notice us." I continued to joke.

"You know I can hear you." Kakashi said, the eye-smile hadn't left.

"Of course. Only you and your poor timing would interrupt right at the climax of the story. Do tell, did you plan it?" I asked, closing the book.

"Maybe. You do know that it's wrong to read a book you haven't purchased?" He asked right back.
I waved the receipt in his face with a grin. "What was that, Hatake? I couldn't hear you over the sound of my being right."

He sighed, and Pakkun shared the look his boss had; exasperation.

"Luv, you're either going to have to grow a sense of humor, or buy aspirin. Your call." I stood up and made a show of dusting myself off. "Oh! What's the excuse today, ah? Another Granny in the woods?"

"A cute girl." He said suddenly in a dry tone, "The only one I've seen all day."

Oh, how rude. But not unexpected. I dramatically placed my wrist to my temple and gasped, "O' break, my heart! Poor bankrupt, break at once!"

I could see amusement dance behind that eye of his, although he tried to hide it behind a raised brow. I rolled my eyes at him and walked out. He followed behind me while Pakkun parted ways.
"Oh - I did so hope he would stay." I said when Kakashi finally caught up.
"To continue to try to turn him against me?" He asked; there was a touch of playfulness in his tone. I would like to think he let it through so I would know he was joking.

"Oh, never. Me?" I batted my eyelashes, making myself the image of innocence. He saw through my facade with a dull look. I broke character and grinned at him. I could have sworn I heard a scoff from him.

Together we went for our new case.

They gave us a few - a potential cheating boyfriend, weeding, and a simple babysitting case. As said - odd jobs. They each were blessedly simple. Kakashi, for the most part, didn't interact with either the client nor the case itself. He did the bare minimum work, telling me he was indulging my frivolities. While it was mildly annoying, I imagine to a man like him this was beneath him. The cheating boyfriend case I solved before we ever even left the woman's doorstep (she already knew he was; she was scared to break up). The weeding was simple, and while he only watched for the most part he did his half with a simple ninjitsu.

"Oh that's just not fair." I muttered, staring at the lot. He gave me an eye-smile and I rolled my eyes. This was what Hiruzen signed me up for. The man induced headaches.

And with the babysitting - well. The single mother gave Kakashi the little toddler and the poor dear burst into tears. I had to bite my tongue to avoid laughing while Kakashi looked absolutely panicked. Between his one wide eye, the tension building in his shoulders and him passing off the little girl to me as if she were a gremlin herself, it was borderline hysterical. He vanished right after, saying something about the perimeter. Sure enough he was parked outside on the wall, with his nose in his book.

"You're doing great." He said, not looking away from the pages.

"Ah. Do tell, are you doing anything else?" I asked.

"You're doing good on your own. I doubt I could do better." He insisted. I left him there, knowing it wasn't worth the fight.

I handled that case on my own. He had the gall to show up immediately before the client. She thanked us both profusely before we left. She simply needed some me time. We (meaning, I) cheerfully waved as we left.

"You owe me." I told him as soon as I could. He ignored me until a beat later.

"What was that Walker?" Kakashi asked, cleaning out his ear. Oh, that was how he wanted to play it? Well.

"Oh - you promised you would take lead on the next case." I insisted cheerfully. His eye narrowed.

"I don't remember saying that." He said firmly.

"Oh? You've been losing your memories in your old age, ah?" I teased. He continued to glare.

"I thought I was the Diva." He said.

"Mm. Even a Diva has to brave the stage and sing." I gave him a grin.
He pouted (how on earth did I know this? I've no clue. The man somehow managed to express it with one eye).

"Oh - come on. You didn't change diapers." I said and he flinched.

"Maa~ fine, fine, Walker-san." He waved me away and we returned soon enough to report the case's completion.

Thankfully it was a simple affair. We weren't questioned much while giving the brief reports. Kakashi mostly did the reporting this time. He kept it simple, which I was thankful for. We scheduled another time and he made his way off.

I went home thereafter, finding Naruto had made himself home at my kitchen table. He had two instant Ramen containers open and he was eating one of them.
"I made you dinner, Tami-chan!" Naruto chirped when he saw me. I ruffled his hair and sat down across from him.
"You did indeed. My hero." I said, earning a wide grin from Naruto. "How was your day, ah?"

Mostly Naruto came over when he was having trouble. It was often enough he came.

"It was good." He said unconvincingly while digging into his ramen. He wouldn't look me in the eye. Naruto wasn't great at lying yet.
"Oh?" I began, digging into my ramen. I hoped soon I would be able to expand Naruto's choice in food.

"Yeah."
"And school?" I asked. He fell silent. Ah, it was school that was the culprit. "Want to talk about it?"

"No." He said. However, I knew that wasn't a hard no for Naruto. He often said no when meaning yes. "I don't like school."

"But you want to be a ninja."

"Yeah." Naruto sighed, picking at his food.

"Between a rock and a hard place, there." I pointed out.

"Huh?" He squinted at me.

"It's uhm - means it's a hard time." I explained, and he nodded with a sigh. I watched the internal battle play out on his face. He finally looked up at me.

"I'm gonna get there." He said firmly. "I'm gonna be hokage!"
"You will." I smiled at him. Even without knowing what little I knew, I could see the conviction he had. He grinned at me and I suddenly placed down my chopsticks.
"Tell me, lovely - would you like to practice with me when we have time?" I offered. I shouldn't be saying this. For so many reasons but I couldn't help it. The way Naruto lit up - I couldn't say I regretted it.

Naruto didn't spend the night like I thought he would. He did leave late, however. He was absolutely thrilled by my offer. I hoped that by the time I left, we both would be able to say goodbye on good terms. I could only hope at this point.

The next morning I found the strangest of things on my doorstep. Two giant toads knocked on my door. They both were nearly as large as children! I couldn't quite believe it! I stared down at them, they had a scroll with them. I almost wanted to ask them if they were with the Housing Committee. I knew they could talk as that's all they seemed to do. I heard them bickering before I even opened the door.

"Good morning!" One said, squinting up at me. "Are you Walker Tami?"

"He said she was blonde." The other whispered.

"I can't tell if it's a she." The one whispered back.

"I am both she and Tami." I said sharply. I tried not to take offense, surely I couldn't tell what gender they were either.

"This stuff's for you." The One said, handing the papers to me.
"Jiraiya has a letter for you attached." The Other said.

"Ah. Thanks."

"Welcome!" The One chirped.

"Bye." The other grumped.

In a poof, they were gone. I stared at the spot for the longest while until I finally just shook my head and returned inside. I was near done trying to make sense of the world I was in. I closed my door firmly and set down the scroll in my living room. I found the letter and quickly opened it to read the contents.

Hello, Tami!

I bet you thought I forgot about you! Things are going good. Tsunade hasn't killed me yet. I found this while wandering around. I doubt it has any use, but it might.

Good luck,

Jiraiya

Instead of a simple signature, he used his autograph. I bit back a smile and shook my head. He kept it brief. Me knowing the kind of man Jiraiya was, I was surprised he wrote a thing at all. I was sure he would have just dropped them at my doorstep the next time he was in town. Soon, I would have to open it and pour over the contents. But now? Well, I had a Silver-Terror to deal with. He wasn't so bad now, but time would tell.

AN:/ Another chapter down! :3 I hoped you liked it, the ending was a little harder to get down and it was simple this time. Kakashi and Tami are now on the same page, and hopefully won't kill each other soon. Hopefully. Although Kakashi might seem like he's trying to next chapter ;)

So far, personally, writing them together is so much fun. They have such an interesting way of dealing with the other that I'm always unsure how much is too much.

I nearly wrote a scene showing what Kakashi found out about Tami from Inoichi and Ibiki but I tossed it. I didn't want too much in this chapter dedicated to this. Especially when things need to get rollin'.

IF you guys really wanna see a scene like that, or more from his perspective - please let me know :3