With the last chapter, I got the "Misaki feels lonely when she's alone" point across, but I was still a tad bit unsatisfied. Then the internet and the TV went out, and Kathy came back in, looked at what I had done with the last chapter and gave me a solid roundhouse kick to the throat as she reminded me that it really is just better to wait for her because all I can do is make a fool of myself without her.

And this came. It happens immediately after the last chapter.

(Oh, I also made myself a milkshake (I make really good milkshakes) and then I spilled it on my grandma's leg. Go me!)

Misaki was jarred from the nap she had unknowingly slipped into when someone pounded at the door, making her fall from her seat as she jerked awake and slipped down, blinking at the darkened room in confusion from her place on the floor until another knock prompted her to get up.

Once she had collected herself she quickly hurried to the door, brushing herself off as she opened up the door to the greatest surprise she had had all day.

"Kado-kun!" She exclaimed, eagerly opening the door for the slightly sullen boy to enter, "How wonderful to see you!" And it was. It really, really was.

"What do you think you're doing, just opening the door like that without even checking for who it was?" Kado immediately started as he slipped past her, his fists shoved deep into the pockets of his jeans as he scowled at the older woman who just smiled happily at him, his silver eyes bright behind the curtain of curling black hair that slightly fell over them. "What if I hadn't have been me?"

"But it was you." Misaki replied chipperly, "And this really is a very nice neighborhood. Nothing would have happened."

"Misaki." Kado said slowly, as if talking to a dull child, "You cannot just open the door like that. You need to be a bit more self aware."

"I'm fine!" She said on a laugh, "And now you're here, aren't you? You can protect me if any big bad beastly men come around."

Kado blushed brightly at this and grumbled a bit, but calmed down as Misaki drew him into the kitchen to try out her newly acquired produce in a new recipe that she hoped the boy would love. She told him about her day as she cooked, and listened with a smile as he told her everything she had done wrong.

"...And you can't just go running around all over the village by yourself all day long while being so vulnerable!" He finished, and Misaki only laughed.

"Really now, what do you want me to do? I made a commitment to my students, and I really do promise that I'm not as defenseless and you believe." Misaki said confidently just as the smell of smoke and burning food hit her nose. Drawing open the oven door, they both looked in at the stuffed tomatoes Misaki had made and had apparently nearly incinerated.

Looking up, Misaki noticed something.

"How did the temperature get to 500? I could have swore that I put it on 375." She pondered this for a moment as Kado took the largely blackened foods off of the pan to put on each individual plate, rolling his eyes up to the ceiling as he tried to decide what the wisest course of action would be.

"You really cannot be left alone." He muttered, mostly to himself. "What if you had forgotten them and went to just go and take a shower? You would have burned the entire apartment complex down!"

"Then stay here with me." Misaki said before really thinking about it, but immediately after the words had passed her lips she knew that she would never take the words back. She wanted it so badly. She wanted him, and she wanted to have someone there to come home to. Someone to keep the loneliness away.

It was selfish, and it was perfect.

"What?" Kado yelped after a minute of gaping, and Misaki turned to him, absolutely determined.

"Stay here. Take one of the spare rooms, and stay with me. Lee will be gone for at least another month, and I think it is a wonderful idea. A perfectly and wonderfully amazing idea."

"But... But..." Kado gasped, and wondered where all the air had gone to.

Misaki was asking him to come live with her. To be there for her. And... His own room. His own apartment with people he cared about. People who actually liked him. And Misaki.

It was impossible.

It was so wonderful.

"You can't just borrow an orphan, Misaki." Kado finally said, and the woman stood up resolutely.

"Of course I can. Just watch me." She said as she marched over to the phone. "Oh," She said casually as she dialed, "And borrowing entails that I'll give you back, and I never said anything about that, did I?"

Kado could do nothing more than gape at her because she meant it. She wanted to keep him.

Would Lee be okay with it? He didn't think the orphanage would be.

"Hello, Eri, it's Misaki. Oh yes, I'm fine, and how are the boys doing? Did Takashi get over his cold? Oh, I bet Kiba had fun with that. Oh no, I don't have any questions about that right now, but I would like to talk to the Hokage very quickly, if that would be alright with you. It's just a tiny bit of a non-lethal emergency... Mhmm, thank you. Of course I'll watch the boys Thursday night! You and Kiba really should get out a bit more. Goodbye." There was a pause before she took a deep breath.

"Yes, how are you doing, Hokage-sama? That's good. I actually have a slight favor to ask, and I do promise to pay you back. Mhmm. Well you see, do you remember that boy Lee and I told you about? Mhmm. Well, I want him. He's at my house right now, and I really would like him to stay. Mhmm. Mhmm. Thank you very much, Hokage-sama. I'll see you at the cookout, bye-bye."

After she hung up and turned to Kado with a proud smile on her face, the boy could barely decide what to do or say. She had the Hokage on speed dial, and had just said that she had not only talked about him to the powerful man, but had also said that she was keeping him.

"Well, I'll go and fill out all of the paper work tomorrow, but you can just stay here tonight." Misaki said easily as she sat down at her seat to start eating, and Kado could only numbly do the same, not even tasting the charred remains of the food as he ate it. He didn't even notice he was crying until Misaki came over to wrap him into the surprisingly sturdy safety of her arms, brushing his tears away gently as some of her own flowed down her face, carried on a happy laugh.

All of the sudden, Misaki and Eri are pretty decent friends (Misaki watches the boys for her when Kiba has missions and Eri has work), and Naruto helped her because, while they are not close, he and Lee are friends, he knows Misaki, and he'll help anyone who needs him.

And Lee will be more than perfectly fine with this. There will even be tears.