*Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of the characters in it. I simply borrow them for my own musings and fantasies and do not get paid for their use in said musings or fantasies. –Nira

Chapter 23

Ba-bump. Ba-bump. Ba-bump.

The rhythm was steady, loud in her ear as Yuriko gradually came into consciousness. There were pressure and warmth on the top of her head and the sound of deep, steady breathing matched the slight movement she felt that wasn't her own chest rising and falling as she breathed. She was surrounded by warmth and there was a familiar clean, musky scent in her nose, and the weight she felt around her waist was unimposing. When she slowly opened her eyes, the first thing she saw was her fingers clutched tightly around the fabric of a gray t-shirt to the point that her knuckles were white. She remembered that she'd gone to Kakashi's apartment because she was afraid to be alone in the storm and that Kakashi had been wearing a gray t-shirt. As she loosened her grip hoping to regain feeling back in her fingers, she looked around more, noting that she was covered in a blanket and on the couch. When all of the information registered in her mind, Yuriko's face burned a deep shade of red at the realization that she'd fallen asleep cradled into Kakashi and that she was still securely in his arms.

Shortly after she'd had her epiphany, Kakashi stirred, lifting his head and stretching his arms over his head as he yawned. Yuriko had quickly closed her eyes and slowed her breathing, pretending to still be asleep, wondering what he would do about the situation since she had no clue, herself on how to handle it. She'd never been in such a predicament so nothing could have prepared her for it.

Kakashi's bleary eyes adjusted to the sun's brightness. It must have been sometime in the afternoon based on how the light was coming in through his window, he thought and looked down, feeling a weight against his chest. Seeing Yuriko, he tensed up momentarily having forgotten that she'd needed comforting with the storm raging and that he had gladly provided it for her. Her breathing was still slow and deep, but her body was tense and her cheeks were visibly pink above her mask so he knew that she was awake. He relaxed again and a grin pulled the corners of his mouth up at having caught her, but to spare her the embarrassment, he gently shook her shoulder to "wake" her.

Yuriko fluttered her eyes open and stretched, pretending to have just woken up herself, and looked up at Kakashi. Her wide eyes at how close he was and the blush heating her face was genuine. Kakashi stared into her violet eyes while she stared back, neither saying anything or moving away. Yuriko's blush deepened and her heart constricted realizing that she'd seen that expression before. It was somewhere between the hungry look that she got from men who found her attractive and adoration, and suddenly she was afraid and nervous. Kakashi, on the other hand, was speechless. He was right- he'd slept like the dead with her in his arms and for once, it was restful and nightmare-free. He wanted so badly to kiss her, but as their gaze remained locked, her expression quickly turned from embarrassed nervousness to fear and he knew that the moment was over and that he had to perform damage control before it got any worse. Before Yuriko could dwell on it any longer, Kakashi smiled, his eyes closing and breaking the spell that they'd had on each other.

"Good morning. Did you sleep well?" he inquired casually, trying to play everything off and Yuriko was taken aback, confused by his sudden change in demeanor and apparent nonchalance to the situation.

Yuriko couldn't find her voice for a moment so she nodded and scrambled to get off of the couch and thus, off of him, and practically tripped over the coffee table in her haste. Kakashi reached out to catch her but she reeled back, her expression flustered and afraid.

"S-Sorry. I'm so sorry. I-I-I didn't mean to-. I was just-. I-I-I couldn't-. Th-The storm a-a-and the n-nightma-nightmares a-and-"

"It's okay. I understand. There's no need for you to apologize," Kakashi cooed, his heart breaking to see her fall apart again and be so unsure of herself. "And I would do it all again," he added with a smile, hoping to lighten the mood.

"Why? I barged into your home and made a fool of myself, bawling like a child and burdening you yet again," she scoffed as she turned her gaze away and her cheeks burned as she twisted her hair around her fingers.

"It means that you trust me. I know how much of a leap it can be to reach out to someone when you're in such a low place, especially someone you hardly know. It's not easy, and I don't take it lightly."

The two sat in awkward silence for a moment, Yuriko contemplating what exactly Kakashi was saying and what it meant and Kakashi knowing full well what he meant. He just knew that he couldn't tell her. It would ruin what rapport they'd already built and he had come to really enjoy spending time with her. It was too much of a risk, he thought, so he would have to be content with being the support she needed when she needed it… for now.

"No way!" Anko gasped.

Anko, Izumo, Kotetsu, and Genma had all met up for lunch while Asuma, Guy, and Kurenai were away on a mission. They all sat at a table in the corner of an odango restaurant and their food had just been brought out by the waitress. It had been a while since they'd had a gossip session, and Kotetsu had spilled the juiciest gossip for the day.

"It's true! I filed the paperwork after Sarutobi-sama signed them," Kotetsu stated with a grin on his face before shoving a dumpling into his mouth. "Both Kakashi-senpai and Yuriko-san gave up their masks. Kakashi-senpai is going straight into teaching but Yuriko-san is going to undergo the exam before Hokage-sama decides what to do with her."

"I wonder what made them both give up their masks at the same time," Izumo pondered over his teacup raised to his lips to enjoy the warmth of the steam rolling off the top of the liquid within, his gaze distant and dreamy.

Anko rested her chin on her balled fists as she leaned over the table more, her eyes wide in excitement and a toothy grin plastered on her face as she looked around the table at each of her friends.

"Do you think they could be involved already? They couldn't see each other if they worked together. It would jeopardize missions. Also, it's like Guy said at the bar. Kakashi-senpai isn't one to fraternize, so he wouldn't have made a move or allowed anything to even remotely start between them."

"You're forgetting a major factor, Anko," Genma huffed, shifting his senbon to the other side of his mouth as he relaxed in his chair more and lifted his glass of water to take a drink.

"What's that?"

"Yuriko's crippling social anxiety. Couldn't you tell that it took everything for her to be part of any kind of conversation and she had to consciously make the effort when we were all at the bar?"

"He has a point. She doesn't say anything unless spoken to and if a question is asked about her, she avoids it altogether or gives a partial answer," Kotetsu mused with the odango stick poking out from between his lips like Genma's senbon.

It was Izumo's turn to come into the conversation with, "And if you remember anything at all from the first time we met her and played 'I Never,' which you probably don't because you were hammered, she said that she's never been in a romantic relationship before. As great of a guy and shinobi as he is, do you really think Kakashi-senpai would be the best candidate to be her first with his reputation with the ladies and his own distant personality?"

Anko refused to be deterred, though, despite everything her friends were saying. It wasn't Kakashi that she was rooting for as Yuriko's potential boyfriend, after all. Her Cheshire Cat grin returned as her eyes narrowed with mischief.

"Of course Kakashi-san wouldn't be the best candidate to be her first boyfriend. It was just a thought as to why they might have quit at the same time. Besides, if I remember correctly, there's someone else who may have caught our newest kunoichi's attention. Yuriko-san did end up spending the night at Iruka's house once, right?"

"Yeah, but probably nothing happened. He's not one to take advantage of someone regardless of the situation," Kotetsu defended while Izumo nodded in agreement.

"And that's all the more reason he would be perfect for Yuriko! He's a true gentleman and wears his heart on his sleeve. He has nothing to hide."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, hold your horses, Anko," Genma chimed in, sitting up straight to express his opinion. "Who's to say that she would be good for him? There's so much that nobody knows about her and it's not like she's an open book. It seems to me like she's got a lot of emotional baggage to deal with. If anyone knows how to handle demons like that, it's Kakashi-senpai."

Genma liked Iruka, but he'd only ever seen him and Yuriko interact once and it was their first meeting. It had been extremely awkward and when Iruka talked about their cemetery meeting afterward, that had seemed awkward, too, from the way that Iruka had described it. He had seen the development of something between Yuriko and Kakashi since day one, though, and it was definitely an evolutionary process.

"I mean, they've already gone on what, three missions together? And each time they came back, they both said how tough of a mission it was and seemed closer than they had been during the mission prior. I mean come on, he pulled her chair out for her and she bought his drinks the last time they came out, and they came out together. I'm not saying they're dating, but I'd definitely say that there's something going on between them and it seems like it might be good for both of them. Kakashi-senpai has been more social lately and it seems like he's softened since she came to the village, don't you think?"

Little did the quartet know, one of the subjects of their conversation had been at another table the whole time, just returned home from a mission of his own, his interest piqued upon hearing the name that seemed to be on everyone's lips lately: Yuriko. As the conversation had progressed, a heavy, sinking feeling had been getting heavier and heavier in the pit of Iruka's stomach. It had never crossed his mind to ask Yuriko out until he'd heard that she could possibly be interested in him, but after hearing everything else, would it really be a good idea? It sounded like he would have serious competition from a superior who also had much more experience in the romance department than he did, apparently. Would that matter in the end? Would Yuriko even care, especially since she was also new to romantic relationships if what the others had said was true? Also, he wondered when he had become romantically interested in her. He hadn't known Yuriko for long, and in fact, he hardly knew anything about her at all, just as Genma had pointed out, but... there was just something about her.

And who was this Kakashi that they kept talking about, anyway?