Through My Eyes

Author's Note: I read every single one of my reviews. I will try to gradually include your ideas into my own work. Thank you for your time! (: I hope you enjoy my story~

"Oh come on! It's Sunday! You're always supposed to eat dinner with your family on Sunday! Asuma is already out training, so who am I going to eat with?" Sarutobi said as he complained to his wife.

"Stop your pouting, I'm not hungry and I'm going to bed. Goodnight." She replied as she walked upstairs. He secretly cursed her underneath his breath. By now, it has been about three weeks since Ayane had broke down crying, and he finally let her move into the spare room on the lower floor of his house.

"Ayane! Are you busy?" Sarutobi said as he knocked and entered into her room.

"There's really nothing for me to be busy with..." She replied casually.

"Great, let's go out to dinner!" He replied with a smile.

"I love eating at this place!" Sarutobi said as he led Ayane to a local ramen shop. They sat down at a booth and were reading the menu before they were interrupted by a shouting person.

"Aye, Hokage-sama! What brings you here?" A tall man with gray hair said as he walked towards their table. With him was the boy with the spiked gray hair that she had seen earlier at the academy. Ayane could definitely tell they were father and son.

"Oh, hello Sakumo and Kakashi! How are you doing? I'm just having a little dinner with Ayane here." He stated in a friendly tone.

"Oh, I've heard about you! Welcome to the village!" Sakumo said to Ayane.

"Well, I hope they were good things at least." Ayane said with no expresion.

"Uh...I apologize. Ayane really hasn't had the greatest experiences in the village thus far." Sarutobi said as he scratched his head and laughed.

"I know you! You're that girl that entered the academy a few weeks ago," said Kakashi.

"That's great that you two know each other! You should show her around the village one day, Kakashi." Sakumo said to his son.

"I don't really know -" Kakashi was interrupted by his father tightening his grip on his shoulder.

"What he meant is that he'd love to!" Sakumo said with a smile. Ayane frowned at these random people making plans for her without her input.

"Ayane was it? It was nice meeting you. See you two later!" Sakumo left.

"Nice to meet you." Kakashi bowed then left and followed his father outside. Soon afterward, Ayane and Sarutobi had received the food they ordered. It was unusually silent and Ayane only stared down at the table.

"I'm sorry if you feel awkward eating here with me," Sarutobi said with a slightly depressing tone.

"I don't mind. You're the only one in the village paying any mind to me in the first place." She replied.

"You know, I'm not close with my family. Asuma is always out training and my wife never wants to spend any time with me. I guess I'm kind of taking advantage of your presence here" He said as he laughed.

"So...let's play a game! If you ask me a question about anything, I'll respond with the complete truth. Then, I get to ask you a question. We'll take turns!" He said with a smile, but Ayane frowned and was then again forced into doing something.

"Okay. Uh...What's your favorite color?" She asked.

"Red. Red symbolizes fire, and we reside in the Land of Fire!" He replied with a laugh.

"Typical."

"So, Ayane. What's the significance of the tattoo on your arm?" He was straight to the point. This was the real reason behind his little "game."

"Game over. I'm not playing anymore." Ayane replied with a scowl.

"Why can't you trust me?"

"It's not about trust, it's about minding your own business," She said with a frown.

"Oh, don't be that way! You need to learn respect for your elders. Especially elders with a Hokage title."

"A title is just a title. The same way my mother's title is "mother" even though she doesn't act like one! Wait till I see her, I oughta –" She started to raise her voice a little bit.

"Ayane." He said with an authoritative voice. It was the most serious tone he has ever given her, and it in fact, scared her to the very core. There was an eerie silence that followed.

"Your mother was found dead." He said solemnly.

"...W-what? When?" She choked out.

"A few weeks ago. I'm sorry I couldn't tell you sooner. I just don't know the right time to tell a child about the death of a parent..." He started.

"It's okay. I mean, like, it's partly my fault for being so stupid and believing that she was coming back for me. So stupid..." She said with tears starting to form in her eyes.

"Ayane..."

"And excuse me for having these false hopes that I wasn't alone in this world. It's okay now, because now I just have soooooo many friends in this village." Her words dripped with sarcasm.

"I'm sorry." Ayane said as she grabbed her things and left Sarutobi sitting by himself. After all, she couldn't let him see her crying again. Once was enough. When she wiped the tears out of her eyes, she lifted her head up only to see numerous villagers standing around her and staring. The whispers. Oh, the whispers she heard! Ayane looked up to see the mountains carved with the numerous Hokage's faces inside and she headed towards it.

After running through the crowds of people and climbing the rock, she finally arrived at the top and was out of breath. Not that the climb was strenuous, but because of her uncontrollable sobbing. She sat down on top of Sarutobi's rock face and buried her head in her lap.

"I'm so stupid..." Ayane said to herself.

"I don't really know you that well, but I doubt you're stupid. If you were, at least you make up for it in strength!" An unknown said from behind her. Ayane quickly whipped her head around to see the gray-haired boy from earlier.

"What are you doing here?" Ayane said as she swiftly wiped the tears from her face to avoid the young boy from seeing her crying.

"I was in the village center and I saw you crying. I was walking towards you, but you took off running. So...I followed you to see if you were okay." Kakashi sat down next to her.

"I wasn't crying." Ayane said stubbornly.

"Then why are your eyes red?"

"Shut up! No they're not!" She said as she scooted away from him.

"So you've been having hard times in the village so far?" He asked trying to change the subject. She only nodded her head in response.

"Yeah, I have no friends. Everyone's afraid of me. I haven't even done anything. They're just afraid of me based on what they heard about me and what I look like." She said frowning again.

"So they're afraid of pretty girls? How weird." He said with a smile.

"What'd you say?"

"Nothing. Well, for what it's worth, I'm not afraid of you. Although you do frown and scowl a lot."

"Thanks." She replied sarcastically.

"I take it it's not worth a lot, haha. Anyway, if you're really that desperate, I'll always be here if you need a friend." He said as he smiled at her. She finally looked up and stared at him. Was this the first time someone other than the Hokage being nice to her?

"Anyway, I have to get home soon. It's getting near my bed time and my father will kick my butt if I come home late!"

"Hey! What was your name again?" Ayane asked.

"Kakashi. Kakashi Hatake."

"...Thank you, Kakashi." She said with a smile.

"You should smile more! It suits you a lot better than a frown or a scowl! Haha, anyway, see you later, Ayane!" He performed a series of hand seals and disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

Ayane slowly descended the mountain and walked towards her house. On the doorsteps was a black box with her name on it. She picked up the box and opened it to reveal lavender-colored flower. On the top of the box was a note that read:

'Dear Ayane,

I hope that you feel better about whatever was bothering you tonight. After all, you know what they say, tomorrow is a new day! Cheer up! Oh, and I picked this for you on my way down the mountain. It reminded me of you because it's almost the same color as your eyes. Goodnight!

P.S. Maybe we could hang out tomorrow? That's what friends do. We are friends right?

Your New (Hopefully) Friend,

Kakashi Hatake.'

Although no one was outside with her, she clutched the box close to her and held the flower tightly in between her fingers.

"Yes, we definitely are friends."

Woooooooah, Friends!