A/N: Thanks for checking out my fic of Kakashi and the ramen girl, Ayame! I've shipped them ever since that episode where she got the heart-eyes for his face reveal. There just aren't enough fics for these two so I decided to write something. This takes place in Shippuden when Naruto goes off to train with Jiraiya for a few years.

I hope you enjoy it!


Amidst the hustle and bustle of civilians getting out of work and the occasional shinobi whizzing past them overhead, a tall, slouched figure slowly made his way through the alleys of Konoha. When he nearly reached the front of an establishment that appeared to be better suited and frequented by the upper class elites than those of the shinobi profession, Kakashi quickly released a shadow clone to scout the perimeter.

Sighing and positioning himself with his back against the wall facing the restaurant's entryway, he recalled the events that led up to his current predicament.


"Godaime-sama, you called for me?" Tsunade's head snapped up from the papers in front of her.

"Yes, now get over here," she retorted. Kakashi ambled all the way up to her desk and picked up a toad-shaped paperweight, examining it this way and that with a feigned interest. "Stop that, brat. I have a mission for you."

His posture immediately straightened at those words. Hatake Kakashi, the embodiment of a good shinobi, reacted naturally to certain keywords from the village's most respected leader.

"I really need you for this job, Kakashi. And most importantly," she paused for a second, "I think it'll be good for you to do this." Good for him? How would this mission be good for him? Perhaps she found his skills lacking in some ways and wanted him to refresh them a bit. Kakashi had no clear idea what she meant by this remark but went along with it for now.

"May I ask what rank this would be classified under?"

"S-class," Tsunade said sternly and the tension surrounding Kakashi got denser.

"But I haven't even submitted my report from the last one." He just returned from his last mission merely two days ago. Although Kakashi was never one to complain about a packed mission schedule, he mused about how difficult the times were for the village that he had to go on back-to-back missions like this, especially one with the highest rank.

"Is that a no?" Tsunade challenged him, staring sternly at him with clear brown eyes.

"Of course not." Kakashi reached out to take the mission scroll from Tsunade's outstretched hands. His eyes read through the whole report twice for good measure. His eyebrows furrowed at the bottom part of the scroll.

"Tsunade-sama, the reward is missing." He looked up incredulously.

"I'll make sure you're well compensated," Tsunade waved her hand in dismissal to his worry. His ears picked up something along the lines of "charming girl" but she was mumbling things under her breath at this point so he wasn't sure. He dropped the topic because asking anymore could land him a heavy, toad-shaped projectile to the head.


The shadow clone discreetly jumped down in front of Kakashi and poofed out of existence. After absorbing everything the shadow clone observed and finding nothing unusual, he realized that he really couldn't delay this any longer so he opened the front door and walked into the restaurant.

The mission objective was simple enough: spend an evening together and get to know the target well. But since this was an S-rank, there had to be a deeper reason why he was being set up to meet with this particular target at this location today. Well, he could uncover things slowly as the night went on.

"Welcome, sir. Do you have a reservation with us tonight?" The host by the entrance asked.

"Yes, it should be under Tsunade-sama's name," Kakashi said just loud enough for only the host to hear.

"Oh! Yes, right this way." The host's eyes grew wide at the mentioned name but quickly escorted him to a table deep inside the vast restaurant. In a discreet manner, he whispered without breaking his gait, "Your companion has been waiting for well over an hour."

This surprised Kakashi because he was only about thirty minutes late to his appointed meeting time. That meant this individual came more than thirty minutes prior to that time– but why? It could've been to take intel or plant some devious traps but in any case, he reminded himself to stay cautious.

When he approached the table– and it was hard to miss since it was the only table in a secluded back corner of the restaurant– he saw a brown-haired woman sitting there, fidgeting with her fingers. As he got closer, he could make out her features more and more through the dimly flickering candle lights. Why was it so dark in here?

"Ayame-chan?" Were his eyes deceiving him? Kakashi was absolutely shocked at seeing the ramen girl here. Surely, she wasn't who he was meant to meet.

"Kakashi-san! You're here!" She jumped up from the fancy chair and gave a bright smile, cheeks flushing while her hands busied themselves by going through the motions of unwrinkling her immaculate dress.

The host left them after bidding a good evening to them and they both looked bewildered, as if they couldn't believe what they were seeing.

"Please, have a seat," Kakashi said and gestured to her chair. She started enthusiastically plopping down but then caught herself and then gracefully maintained an upright posture in a ladylike manner as she sat. He found her corrected mannerisms odd; Ayame had always acted friendly and comfortable towards him whenever he visited her father's ramen shop but never quite so nervous.

"Ayame-chan, what are you doing here?" He went straight for the important question. From the way the host led him here without hesitation showed that he was meeting with his target, but it certainly didn't make any sense. Why would a civilian, let alone the sweet daughter of Ichiraku Ramen's owner, be involved in an S-ranked mission?

"W-What do you mean?" She appeared surprised but when faced with his frown, she started to visibly wilt. It seemed the brunette wore her heart on her sleeves, Kakashi noted– not for the first time but he was paying more attention to her now due to circumstances.

"I'm not playing here, Ayame-chan. You need to tell me honestly." He lowered his voice to the point of nearly a whisper. "Did you get yourself involved in a dangerous situation? Do you need help?"

Her confused expression grew even wider. "N-No! I don't get what you mean." Her head shook from side-to-side. "I came to meet you here." She looked at him with such earnest eyes that it caught him off guard. So she was involved in the mission after all? Well, since the mission did tell him to get to know her he would go with the flow, for now.

"Sorry I was late," he offered succinctly.

"I know your tendencies of running late, Kakashi-san. It's okay," she softly replied. Despite her words, he could see insecurities flashing through her face. He knew of her little crush on him. It was obvious in many ways, from her blushes whenever he was addressing her to her downright infatuated look when he took off his mask to eat his ramen in front of her. Knowing she was a gentle, kind soul, he was fond of her but not enough to pursue her romantically. Well, in any case, what kind of a man would he be if he just let her doubt herself because of him?

"It's nothing personal, Ayame-chan," he reassured her while giving an eye-wrinkling type of smile. Her breath caught in her throat. "You look great, by the way." His gaze traveled down her body quickly, which wasn't far since the table obscured much of the view. An even bigger breath caught in her throat this time.

"T-Thank you…" She took a big gulp of water and shyly looked up through her bangs. "I can't believe you actually came…" she sounded incredulous and breathless. Ayame then took in his entire attire as if she finally had a moment to actually notice it.

"You're wearing a suit!" She squeaked the last part, as if the idea of seeing the Copy Ninja in a suit was incredibly rare, like seeing Naruto unable to finish a bowl of Ichiraku's miso ramen. "You look really nice."

Kakashi thanked her while clearing his throat, a bit of redness surfacing on his own cheeks as well. What a strange night it was turning out to be, complimenting each other over their unusual choice of outfits.

He had indeed purchased a fine set of suits from a tailor who had customized the whole outfit to fit tightly to his muscular yet lean physique, hugging just the right places to accentuate where they needed accentuating. The tailor had suggested dark gray pants and a suit jacket with a matte black dress shirt that matched in color to his mask. He had to splurge quite a lot of ryo for this ensemble but he knew he would stick out like a sore thumb in this type of establishment if he had chosen to wear his typical, tattered shinobi gear; he just hoped that the compensation this mission paid out was of a hefty amount, as Tsunade suggested.

He saw her hands trembling, picking at the skin around her fingernails so he figured it was time to loosen up her tense shoulders and perhaps her tongue as well, in order to glean some further information.

Kakashi called over a waiter who offered them a menu. Kakashi looked at Ayame with a smile partially hidden by his mask. "What would you like to drink?"

"Oh no, I don't really need to drink…" She seemed hesitant but it didn't appear to be a complete rejection so he persisted.

"Oh, I insist."

"Okay then, um just a cocktail is fine." He noted that she hastily picked out the fruitiest drink on the menu. It wasn't all that surprising, considering her whole outfit was flowy and flowery today. It seemed like the ramen girl was hiding a major feminine side underneath her drabbish, white work robes. It seemed like her makeup was glittery as well, but that was as far as Kakashi knew about makeup– if at all anything.

His purpose in ordering the alcohol was to get her defenses down to further analyze her intentions without inhibitions. Kakashi did not partake in drinks on a normal basis since it was unbecoming of a shinobi, in his opinion, but everything was off bets for a mission; he would do whatever was necessary for its success.

The drinks, one a pink, fruity concoction and the other a whiskey on the rocks, soon arrived and they both took small sips.

As if she suddenly got a burst of liquid courage, she batted her long eyelashes and asked, "Is there anything you want to know about me?" Everything, he thought– for the sake of the mission, of course. Her eyes sparkled in anticipation of his words.

"How old are you, Ayame-chan?" He just asked the first thing that popped into his head by looking at her. She looked fairly young.

"I'm nineteen." The answer didn't surprise Kakashi all that much– he had suspected her to be young, after all– but she was indeed much younger than him. "What about you?"

"Ah, well, I'm twenty-nine actually," he stated matter-of-factly.

"Oh wow, ten years, huh. Well, I think age difference isn't all that important, really. I'm quite mature for my age, you know." Kakashi closed his eyes and took a deep breath. What in the world was she talking about? Although he never gave his age a second thought, the way she phrased her words made him feel like some sort of dirty old man. He didn't want to open his eyes because he knew she would be staring at him with those big, doe eyes, all innocent and trusting, and he would really feel like a perverted oyaji then.

He sipped his drink slowly through his mask, keeping his guard up despite the weariness permeating his being from a back-to-back mission of this caliber but Hatake Kakashi was not a ninja who took his missions with anything less than absolute seriousness.

He felt this night would age him by at least ten years. He already felt aged and the night had barely just started.

"How is your father and the business doing?" He tried to shift the focus away from him.

"Oh, father's doing alright and the business is surviving, I guess. Not too busy but enough to keep the lights on." When Kakashi looked somberly at her she quickly added, "Oh, it's fine! Since it's just father and I running the whole place, it'd be hectic if we had a line out the door!" She gave a light-hearted laugh and he could see how hard she was trying to be optimistic. Even when times were tough Ayame would never let it bring her down. He had always found her work ethic and bright personality admirable. Kakashi was permanently jaded so this level of positiveness was refreshing to be around; it was almost like having Naruto there again but far less annoying and infinitely more feminine. He forced his thoughts to dismiss that topic.

"Tell me about your hobbies! What do you do for fun?" Her eyes were shining again as she changed topics and focused her attention on him completely.

"Uh, I… read?" He reached inside his suit jacket and took out just enough of the familiar orange hued Icha Icha Paradise to peek out. This whole question and answer session was making him sweat.

"Oh," she replied with her unofficial favorite word of the night. "I knew that already. What else?" She tried to laugh it off.

He really wasn't sure why she needed to know what he did in his free time. Was this just for her personal knowledge or was there a greater motive at play here?

After some thinking, he bluntly stated, "I come up with crazy ideas I can use to torment my students the next time I see them and I keep buying houseplants but they all end up dying."

"You're not scaring me off that easily, Kakashi-san." She laughed out loud again. Scaring her off from what? The mission?

He tried to maintain a calm exterior but he was genuinely sweating inside and out. He grabbed the cup full of ice water and chugged it down while she kept her rapt attention on his mouth and the way his Adam's apple bobbed as he swallowed. Why did this feel so much like a date?

"I'm so happy you agreed to this date, Kakashi-san." She said with a voice full of sweetness. Surprised by what she had said, he choked on his drink and started hacking, drawing the attention of some of the patrons nearby. "Are you okay?" Voice sounding terribly worried, she leaned forward to check on him and he scooted back to maintain a reasonable distance between them. He cleared his throat into his fist, trying desperately to regain some semblance of control.

"I don't get what you mean, Ayame-chan. A date?" He asked for clarification. What about the mission?

"Yes? I thought Tsunade-sama set us up on this date?" She hesitantly elucidated. "I've never done this kind of thing before, you know… only with you," she said as she lowered her eyes, wanting him to know that she wasn't the kind of girl who got set up on dates on the regular by the Hokage of all people. Her choice of words affected him though; they sounded suggestive enough to make him feel like he did something dirty to her.

Kakashi was speechless as the seconds ticked by, but Hatake Kakashi, the Genius Copy Ninja, the master tactician of the Hidden Leaf Village, did not usually fall for tricks.

Usually.

"Do you not want…" He could see her mind buzzing with so many possible words to follow up with: "this", "me", or "this with me", being some examples.

"I… It's not that I don't want this, Ayame-chan…" he blurted out the first thing that came to him. However, Kakashi immediately regretted it as he saw her face light up in anticipation. It wasn't that he didn't like her but this was a strange situation they got themselves into. He needed to tread carefully so as to not hurt her in any way.

He realized that he got into this situation because he had failed to "see underneath the underneath," so to say. Kakashi cringed. His students would laugh at him if they were here.

"Let's just enjoy dinner and…" he paused to contemplate his next words before finishing, "I'll take you home." Her eyes grew wide at the doors of possibility that opened from his words. Did he mean that he will simply drop her off and be rid of her for good or did he mean that he will escort her home but this will be the start of… something? Not even Kakashi knew the answer.

They both promptly ordered food and spent the next two hours gradually warming up to each other's company, including exchanging how they ended up here tonight. Ayame felt so silly and embarrassed that Kakashi didn't even know it was a date until she had mentioned that fact and the Copy Ninja could see that she wished she was a ninja at this moment so she could crawl under the table and use a transportation jutsu to flee.

But Kakashi was enjoying her company too much to let her go quite yet.

He noticed Ayame picking at the skin around her fingertips and felt a desire to reach out and squeeze her hands but suppressed it. She seemed oblivious to her self-harming habits but his whole attention was on her every movement. Never in his life had he ever gotten a chance to simply observe the ramen girl and her idiosyncrasies, but he liked it. She was very different from him and any female ninjas he knew, being that she was a hardworking civilian girl who lived a very safe, stable life, which made him very curious about her. And it would be a lie to say her having an ongoing crush on him, made obvious by her actions tonight, did not make her more attractive in his eyes.

She barely touched her food, presumably due to nervous butterflies, but kept offering more food for him. She seemed to like watching him eat and he wasn't sure if it was because of her motherly tendencies that liked seeing others well-fed or if it was because he'd been keeping his mask down to eat; he assumed it was a bit of both. Kakashi felt that it was safe to reveal his face because they were in a fairly isolated corner of the restaurant and she had seen him without his mask on before.

He made jokes and tried to lighten the mood to get her to relax a bit more in his company. Kakashi even ordered dessert for them to share– as in allowing Ayame to devour the majority of the treat while he made the motion of partaking in the sweet delicacy with her but not much of it actually entered his mouth. His efforts paid off by the end of the night and Ayame was full on laughing and smiling from ear-to-ear simply from his words.

What was he even doing here, a psychologically damaged ninja wearing a suit peppered with dog hair eating dinner with Ayame from Ichiraku, out of all people, at a candle-lit restaurant and actually enjoying their time together for hours? It was absolutely ludicrous in Kakashi's mind.

In passing, he noticed that she looked beautiful when she stared at him with her big, inquisitive eyes and a flushed face, absorbing every word coming out of his mouth– like she really cared. As if no one else mattered to her than him at this moment. They were just two lonely people who ended up sharing parts of their lives with each other and despite how questionable the setup was for this encounter, they could both agree that they had grown considerably closer together.

After Kakashi won the battle of who gets the bill, which was not even up for debate for him in the first place, he escorted her home. Their conversation continued all throughout the slow-paced evening stroll, neither wanting the eventual end to their night. When they reached the front door of her family home and he had bid her goodnight, she surprised them both by lifting herself on her tiptoes to kiss his, albeit masked, cheek. He brought his hand up to gingerly touch his face when she suddenly turned red and ran inside the house.

Kakashi took the slow path home, not knowing Ayame stood still behind the front door for a long time, clutching at her rapidly pounding heart and reveling in her bravery.

Sleep eluded both of them that night but when the blanket of slumber settled over them eventually, they both had a peaceful smile gracing their faces.


Kakashi casually visited Ichiraku Ramen two days after their date. He wasn't sure exactly why he was there but he just followed where his feet led him and this was where he found himself.

"Hi there, Ayame-chan," he casually waved and sat at the counter.

"Kakashi-san?!" Ayame rushed out from the back of the store at his voice and beamed at him. "W-What are you doing here? Oh, I bet you came to eat. Miso chashu ramen, right? I'll bring it to you right away!" She blabbered in haste and scrambled away with a crimson-hued face that he assumed was from her suddenly remembering what she had done the last time they were together. Silly girl, it was just a cheek kiss and it wasn't like it was a complete skin-to-skin contact either. He felt like there was no need to act so abashed but he also couldn't help but find her actions endearing.

When Ayame brought over his ramen, easy conversation flowed between them as he ate and she was able to focus most of her attention on him since his visit was after the dinner rush had subsided.

Weeks passed by and Ayame and Kakashi could be frequently seen together during various times of the day around Konoha.

Kakashi came to visit Ayame regularly after that and he always seemed to be able to find her even when she wasn't at the restaurant.

"It's a nice day out. Take a walk with me," he would request one day.

"I wanted to see the cherry blossoms with you. Join me?" He prompted another day.

Ayame had also shown her affections through various means, but her strong love language was food; she had already mastered the art of cooking miso soup with eggplant and salt-broiled saury, remembering them as his favorite foods during their first date, and had been showing up at his place here and there to drop them off, piping hot and ready to eat.

He had begun to imagine a future with Ayame, but he wondered if they would even be compatible due to their large age difference and their choice of occupation. Although shinobi-civilian couples weren't a rare thing necessarily, Hatake Kakashi was considered to be one of the best in the village and even beyond these walls, so it could be a bit overwhelming for a simple ramen shop girl to handle his sometimes deadly missions that would have him back home with serious injuries sustained or in the worst case scenario, not at all.

Despite these thoughts, he still tried to see if things could work out for the two of them. Nonetheless, it seemed things just couldn't be all rainbows and glitter for a high-ranking ninja like Hatake Kakashi.

He was talking to a fellow jonin about important village news when suddenly he swore he heard Ayame's voice and he stopped in his tracks. His acquaintance also stopped but Kakashi realized he had completely misheard the voice and Ayame was in fact nowhere in sight. He, along with the guy he was with, began to question his sanity.

This type of occurrence even struck at the worst possible time, during a critical mission, in fact.

In the millisecond it took for him to blink, his mind conjured up an image of her shy smile that slowly progressed into a radiant smile that lit up her whole face and his foot missed a landing on a tree branch. He slipped off the tree but thankfully caught himself before falling on his face or any other embarrassing position unfitting a shinobi of his caliber.

"Let's take a break," he suggested when Sakura landed nearby and she nodded.

As they leaned against a thick tree trunk, Sakura broke the quietness of the night. "Kakashi-sensei, this isn't like you."

"...You're right." Sakura tilted her head slightly and looked at him through the semi-darkness but he offered no explanation.

To be honest, Kakashi was a mess. His head was swimming with thoughts of the ramen girl and he began to realize that she was a distraction– a distraction to both his personal and professional life.

That was when he decided to put a little distance between themselves. He would purposely avoid walking near Ichiraku's and put up a friendly yet indifferent front when he did see her around the village. He could tell Ayame was hurt from his change in demeanor but she had no idea how much it affected Kakashi just as much, if not more.


"Did you hear about the ramen girl and Hatake Kakashi?" A housewife emphasized the latter name.

"Oh yeah, I heard that something was going on between them but I couldn't quite believe my ears! I'll have to see it to believe it." A friend chimed in, gossiping as they went about their daily grocery shopping.

"Well, I've recently heard that she had thrown herself in front of him at first but now he's sick of her and broke up with her. It's a good thing, if true. He was far too good for the likes of her," the first lady snickered and they both walked away from the store.

Unbeknownst to them, the man of the topic's focus was lounging around on the roof within earshot of the whole conversation.

Kakashi let the book fall onto his face, which was initially held in a position that strategically blocked the sun and offered the best distance for reading. With a deep, outward breath he continued ruminating.


"She's liked you for a while now, you know," Genma said. One rainy day, Kakashi was standing by the Memorial Stone when the senbon-biting tokubetsu jonin came out of nowhere and dropped a truth bomb on him. It seemed as if most occupants of Konoha knew of Ayame's liking of him. Something stirred up inside of Kakashi at his friend's statement. It was as if he had been making excuses as to why things wouldn't work with Ayame before he even gave her a chance but he realized he was being cowardly. She had clearly relayed her feelings to him straightforwardly and he had been acting ungentlemanly, stringing her along his personal journey of mental insecurities and psychological rollercoaster. She didn't deserve this.

He made up his mind. Kakashi closed the distance between them and placed a hand on Genma's shoulder in silent gratitude before leaving him alone in a puff of smoke.


Ayame peeked out of her doorway and gasped, quickly grabbing a nearby umbrella and running towards Kakashi.

"What are you doing in the rain, Kakashi-san? You're getting soaked!" She fumbled with the umbrella, trying to get it to open so it could shield the already soaked Copy Ninja. Before she could succeed, however, he stepped closer and cupped her cheek, pressing his warm lips onto hers. In delightful shock, Ayame let go of the umbrella and it fell onto the pavement, quickly being forgotten as the pair locked lips in the drizzle of a spring shower.

Kakashi withdrew from the kiss first and Ayame stared at him with a glazed look, mesmerized by him and their sudden intimate progress.

"I was lost for a really long time but I seem to have found my purpose now. I want a life with you. Do you want to make it work with me? I'll treat you well." A hand cupped her cheek as he looked at her with such vulnerability swirling in his dark eyes, waiting for an answer.

"Silly man, of course I would love to be with you, and I know you will. You're the best man I've ever met. The best man, period!" Her eyes were shiny from unshed tears of joy.

"Really? Best man ever? Even knowing I read Icha Icha books out in public?" He reminded her.

"Hmm, yeah, maybe not the best man ever…" She put her chin in between her thumb and index finger and gently tapped in contemplation.

"Take that back," he deadpanned.

"Nuh uh," she singsonged and his hands reached out to tickle her sides.

The giggles that erupted that day were loud enough for her father and some neighbors to come out of the house to check up on her, much to her chagrin.


The next morning, a mission report was found slipped under Tsunade's door that read: "Mission successful. Thank you."

Tsunade smirked while reading the scrawled handwriting, glad her plans worked out perfectly and hoping Kakashi would just forget about the mission payment details forever. Actually, Hatake Kakashi, a cheapskate, had never forgotten things when his money was involved, but Tsunade could only hope that his new love life would keep him occupied enough so that he wouldn't demand interest on his late payment– which was definitely within the realm of possibilities for the Copy Ninja.


The three years after Naruto left to train with Jiraiya quickly went by and the yellow-haired boy returned home to the village with new moves and renewed vigor.

One day during their lunch break mid training, Kakashi opened his expertly crafted bento and was met with an outraged teen.

"Kakashi-sensei! I didn't know they served chashu-don at Ichiraku! You should've told me you were going there to get food!" Naruto complained.

"How did you know this chashu is from…" he shook his head. "You know what, I don't even need to ask." Kakashi just continued eating without further elaboration.

"Don't ignore me, Kakashi-sensei! I know the menu at Ichiraku's by heart and it certainly doesn't have chashu over rice! Don't underestimate my Ichiraku knowledge just because I was gone!"

"Yeah, yeah…" Kakashi dismissed him and kept eating.

Naruto peeked over and almost had a heart attack.

"IS THAT TAMAGOYAKI SHAPED LIKE A HEART?!" His voice crescendoed and cracked at the end.


A/N: Thank you so much for reading my fic! I hope you enjoyed it.

This story was dedicated to my dear friend, Weirdo_Lover, who wrote The Pickle Jar, the best KakaAya fic I have ever read! Go read her story and you won't be disappointed!

Thanks again and please leave a review to let me know how you liked it! :)