First, I'd like to thank Badass Neko for the review and also the people who voted in the poll :) Of course, you know I don't own the Naruto characters. I hadn't made that disclaimer yet so now it's settled! Here's chapter 6: enjoy!

Chapter 6 – The jerk and the convalescent vs. the easy-going guy and the annoying princess

Konoha really is a lovely place, she thought looking out the window. Her uncle had come early that morning to say goodbye to her before going back to the Rain village.

"I talked to your aunt: you can stay here until you feel better."

She didn't want to go back to the Rain village, not without Aneko. Her family back there had always been nice to her but the people she was more deeply attached to were all in the Leaf village. After all, she had spent her whole childhood here...

Anyway, she would have to go back to sort out her sister's things at their place and to pay her respects to her teammates as well as to their families. Maybe she would be able to convince her uncle to let her go back to Konoha but then there was also the Rain village's leader... Entering and leaving the Rain territory was quite a business, and a risky one at that, with the mysterious Pain in charge.

She pushed that matter out of her mind and tried to enjoy the fresh air and the sunlight she could get from the window. She was fed up with lying in bed all day long so she was trying to walk around her room or the hospital corridor as much as she could, which wasn't really a lot. She avoided the stairs when she was on her own though: she still felt a bit fragile for this kind of exercise.

The sound of steps got her out of her musing.

"Lunch, Usuzumi-san!" the nurse said.

"Just call me Ayane, please!" The fact that she was the Hokage's niece seemed to drive people to act quite solemnly around her.

"Is it already lunch time?" she asked, surprised.

"Well, it's 11:30, Ayane-san" the nurse answered.

"Just Ayane, please!" she repeated. "There's no need to be that formal with me. I'm a 15 year-old girl and you could be my mother." Oops! I don't think that was the right thing to say... "I mean, it feels strange for someone who is a bit older to act that solemnly with a younger person."

The nurse abruptly put the tray on the table. "Enjoy your meal, Ayane!" she said curtly. "By the way, I'm 29" she added before leaving the room.

Looks like I offended her. Well, it's not my fault if all that make-up makes her look older! At least, she won't have any problem in calling me Ayane now. That is if she still agrees to look after me...

She eyed her lunch tray suspiciously. Hospital food was another thing she was fed up with. And what was Kakashi-san doing? She was positive Tsunade told her he was coming this morning... She was beginning to get hungry.

"I guess I have no choice" she sighed with resignation while sitting at the table to eat.

"I don't like hospital food either. What about having some lunch out?" a masculine voice said.

Ayane raised her head and saw Kakashi leaning against the door frame, smiling at her through his mask.

"Kakashi-san! I thought you were coming this morning."

"I haven't had lunch yet: it's still morning for me" Kakashi stated.

If that wasn't nonchalance... She was beginning to wonder whether he was a relative of Shikamaru's.

"That's a way to look at things. Another way would be to say that you are extremely late." Or that you're not really excited about making me do aerobics, she added in her mind.

"You've got a point here. But I assure you it doesn't sound like me at all" he answered in a serious tone but with a mischievous glint in his visible eye. "So what do you think of my proposition?"

"Well, I doubt I'll be able to walk to wherever you want to eat" she replied.

"I'm sure the thought of good food will help you get there!" Kakashi encouraged her.

That man was a total jerk! She almost fell a hundred times on their way to Ichiraku's and he didn't help her at all. He just walked along reading a book and not even talking to her.

"And what will you have, miss?" Ichiraku inquired, taking Ayane out of her rumination.

"Water please!" All that walking had made her dead thirsty.

"Something to eat maybe?" Ichiraku asked.

"Yes, surprise me!" she just said. She was so tired she didn't want to bother with menus or think or talk in that matter.

"See, you made it!" Kakashi said with a hint of sarcasm, breaking the silence that had preceded.

"That's not thanks to you" she replied not bothering to look at the ninja.

"You have to do that by yourself or you won't get your physical capacities back. I can't do it for you" he explained.

"Whatever" she muttered. Was he forced to use that teacherlike tone? That was so annoying! It made her feel like she was 12 and a genin again.

"My mission is to help you recover by doing physical and chakra exercises. I'm not here to be easy on you" he went on.

"What's the use if I'm not in a state to do your bloody exercises? Why not doing it more gradually instead of tiring me out right from the start?" she inquired, looking at him in the eye.

"Right now, I'm your teacher. If you want someone else to help you get better, you'll have to tell the Hokage" he calmly informed her, his eye level with hers.

"Here you are!" Ichiraku interrupted the conversation, putting down two steaming bowls and some water on the counter.

"Thank you, Ichiraku!" Kakashi's words were the last ones that were uttered during the meal.

"Now, we're heading for the training grounds" he declared after having paid for their lunch. "Do you feel like walking or would you like a piggyback ride?"

Ayane couldn't tell whether he was being serious or not: his face didn't show a lot with that mask. Either way, she chose not to answer and started to walk.

"Time for chakra exercises!" the gray-haired ninja exclaimed while sitting down against a tree. "This type of exercises requires concentration so I suggest you to sit down as well."

"You've made me walk all the way here just to sit down and do some kind of yoga?"

Gosh, that girl was annoying! Was she ever pleased with anything?

" First – there he had to resist the urge to call her "Princess"- chakra exercises and yoga are two different things. Then, if you prefer to practice in your hospital room, we can still go back there. Finally, if you don't feel like walking, standing or sitting down, you can still lay down. Just pick the position in which you feel at ease and relaxed." It was so difficult sometimes to keep one's cool... Kakashi knew that his reputation as an easy-going guy was mainly due to his mask. And, right now, he was grateful to himself for having decided one day to start wearing the piece of cloth...

Ayane didn't reply but she just laid down, slightly irritated or so it seemed to Kakashi. One point for me, he inwardly congratulated himself.

"You are first going to work on your chakra flow and see if you can control it correctly" he started to explain. "After focusing on your chakra flow, you'll have to act on it by stopping it, reversing it and concentrating it on different parts of your body."

"Isn't this genin's level?" she protested.

"Revising your basics won't do you any harm and, in your case, it's a necessity. Using your ninja techniques with damaged chakra vessels could have extremely bad consequences. Working on your chakra flow will help the vessels heal faster. So you first have to focus on this basic but essential point" Kakashi concluded wondering if he had ever talked that much during a training session before.

Once again, she didn't answer but just closed her eyes. Was she finally willing to listen to him? If so, she would certainly not admit it anyway. She seemed a very proud and stubborn girl. There she reminded him of her sister though Aneko used to be more open to discussion than Ayane.

Kakashi had been surprised to learn that Ayane and Aneko were sisters. They didn't have a lot in common as far as their appearance was concerned. There he couldn't help glancing at Ayane's cleavage... The girl was attractive but so annoying!

He took his eyes off her and his book out of his pocket.

"It's getting late. We'll stop here for today" Kakashi announced, his eyes still on the orange book.

No answer.

"Ayane?"

Still no answer.

He finally decided to look up. She was still lying there with her eyes closed... and her mouth wide open. Was she dribbling? So much for the attractive girl, he thought with a sly smile on his face.

He took her in his arms as gently as possible, not to wake her up. That's becoming a habit, he thought ironically. Better having her asleep than awake though...

Tell me if Kakashi seems out of character to you. As we never know how and what he thinks in the manga, I suppose he can't be too much OOC... I'd appreciate to know how you feel about the story so far: what you like, what you don't like... Thanks :)