By the time Chiyoko and Iruka got to his apartment the young sensei thought his head would explode. He knew all too well that the kunoichi was toying with him, but no matter how hard he tried she affected him in the worst way. Even the sound of her voice sent shivers down his spine and make his hairs stand on end. Iruka's building was three stories, him being on the third. There was two apartments on each floor, it was small but Iruka quite liked the life he had made.

"What are you thinking about Iruka-chan?" Chiyoko asked him as Iruka slid his key into the door.

"Just, well, you actually." Iruka surprised himself with his own bluntness. Even Chiyoko herself seemed to be a little taken back but she simply replied with a broad smile. The pair walked into his apartment and Chiyoko admired Iruka's simple but lovely home. The first thing she noticed was the overwhelming smell of cinnamon and burning embers, Iruka's smell. It instantly made the kunoichi feel warm and comfortable as she took in the landscape of the apartment. It was quaint, lightly decorated, but very comfortable. It reminded her so much of Iruka himself. Slipping out of her flak jacket, Chiyoko began to 'disarm' for the night while Iruka went into his bedroom to do the same. When he returned he noticed Chiyoko's signature weapon leaning against the wall while she was unclipping her equipment pouches. She seemed to undo each clasp painfully slow, the bags dropping to the ground around her with a satisfying clang. Iruka felt hot and dizzy, her slight figure even more exaggerated by the dim light of the room.

"Do you want the bedroom?"

Chiyoko scoffed, "Don't even think about it Iruka, I'm the one intruding. There's no need to spoil me." She untied the ribbon holding her thick braid and let her glossy hair cascade down her back. She was clad only in her shinobi top and a pair of navy blue shorts, Iruka could see the muscles in her legs ripple underneath her skin and it made him shiver. Collecting himself, he went to the linen closet and grabbed her blankets, a pillow, and a towel for the morning.

"Anything else I can get you?" Chiyoko smiled and shook her head while patting the seat next to her on the couch. Almost reluctantly, Iruka sat down next to her stiffly. Her silence made him even more uncomfortable, like she was plotting out his every move.

"How long do you think you'll stay?" Iruka asked to break the silence, anything to get the attention off of him.

Chiyoko thought for a moment before replying, "A day, a week, a month, a year?Who knows?"

Iruka scowled at the girl next to him, "You're really going to be that vague?" He stared into her nearly neon eyes searching for an answer.

"I wouldn't be vague if I actually knew Iruka." Chiyoko realizing the harsh tone in her voice laid her head on the man's shoulder lovingly, breathing in his sweet scent.

"Well I'm glad you came back." He blushed and nuzzled his face into her silky hair inhaling the smell of fresh pine and clean linen. Chiyoko raised her head to look up at him with an open mouth, but quickly closed it firmly, smelling the alcohol on her own lips. For the first time in years, Chiyoko felt embarrassed. She studied Iruka's kind face and wondered what he thought of her, what she had become. She recalled the last time she saw her childhood friend, that was six years ago and she still had a bit of her childish charm around her. Now what was she? A full-fledged Onigoroshi, a lethal shinobi respected wherever she went. However, her certainty in her skills and abilities left her at a loss of her personality. Who was she? Not wanting to show weakness, even to kind Iruka, she turned to him and hovered her mouth dangerously close to the soft skin of his neck. She could feel him shift uncomfortably in his seat as she breathed hotly on his neck.

"Chiyoko-chan.." His words trailed off as he bit his lip and blood pooled in his cheeks. He felt lightheaded as his once childhood friend obviously teased him. Finally Chiyoko placed a hot kiss right below the blushing chunin's earlobe, trailing one of her fanged teeth across the supple skin. Iruka couldn't bear it any longer and stood up as fast as he could, nearly knocking Chiyoko right off of the couch.

"It's really late, I, I have class in the morning-"

"Say no more, Iruka-kun." Cutting him off, and returning to her usual aloof attitude. "Sleep well." With that she began getting together the blankets Iruka had laid out for her, seemingly forgetting he was still standing there. Feeling more confused than ever, Iruka turned and walked to his bedroom still feeling her plump lips touching his skin. He closed his bedroom door and leaned against it, trying to settle his breath and his heart that was still pounding in his chest. Iruka thought of the Chiyoko he use to know when they were still children, so different from this coy and flirtatious woman that was so obviously playing with him. When they were young, she was such an adventurous girl. Always staying out too late roaming the woods or sneaking sake from unsuspecting merchants. That was one thing that hadn't changed, her drinking. Chiyoko was brash and stubborn back then, always getting the two into danger. Iruka touched his neck where she had kissed him and remembered how much she cursed her beauty when they were children. She said it was a 'curse' to never been taken seriously or seen as a threat to her opponents. However it seemed now that she had learned to take full advantage of her femininity and sinfully good looks. Fed up with his own thoughts, Iruka slipped into his bed clothes and flopped onto his bed. He fell asleep praying for the butterflies in his stomach to settle.

Kakashi lay awake underneath his shuriken patterned sheets white his mind was flooded with memories from the past. A younger more optimistic Kakashi trailing behind a dirt covered Chiyoko with scabby knees showing underneath her dress. Kakashi laughed at the thought of him following her when he was still a child when Chiyoko went out wandering. He always kept at a safe distance, but Kakashi could never tell if she knew he was following her. If she did, she never acknowledged his presence, but that's how he liked it. He blushed and shifted in his bed when he remembered watching her bathe one day in the river. He could have sworn she looked at him straight in the eyes while she waded her naked body through the water. Instead of shying away, Chiyoko stood there staring at him, as if to dare him to soak in her pale figure.

Kakashi also remembered the day Chiyoko left Konoha. It was only hours after she had completed the chunin exam, her lip was split and she had a terrible black eye. Her normal mischevious look was no where to be found as she bowed deeply to her friends and comrads. She stood next to her stoic father, the look in their faces so oddly the same, a sort of emptiness. Chiyoko had always refused to cry, so instead she stared straight ahead, her yellow eyes in an intense gaze. Adding one more curt bow to her father, he slung a heavy bag on her shoulders and handed her her weapon. She turned away from the crowd and headed out of the gates of Konoha, only ten years old. Kakashi could have sworn she looked back one more time and gave him that same look she had given him that day at the river.