A/N: I'M SO SORRY ABOUT THE RIDICULOUS DELAY ON THIS STORY. ONLY A FEW MORE DAYS UNTIL I COMPLETE THE EPILOGUE, THEN IT WILL FINALLY BE COMPLETE. THANKS SO MUCH FOR EVERYONE WHO STILL READS.
Sakura wasn't even sure Kakashi would come. After the surprisingly not-good news earlier, he had seemed too deep in his own thoughts to bother with something as irrelevant as a night out with someone he barely knew (or at least thought he barely knew). Nevertheless, Sakura was more determined to show up than ever. Her former sensei needed someone to talk to, and if tonight he decided it should be Umeko, Umeko would oblige him. Sakura could feel her chakra reserves were beginning to return to normal, so she should be able to avoid any slip-ups. After all Kakashi had been through recently, she couldn't bear the thought of his Cinderella suddenly turning into a pumpkin. She would play her role perfectly, and then Umeko would disappear. And no glass slipper would ever be able to trace her.
As Sakura approached the bridge, she saw Kakashi was already waiting. Is this the first time he's actually arrived early to something? Self-consciously straightening her dress over a body that wasn't hers, she stepped forward to greet him. She had made an effort to make Umeko look nice, telling herself it was her last night to just be a civilian and that she should enjoy it. The long dark hair she had given Umeko was swept back in a ponytail. She enjoyed its unfamiliar weight, so different from her usual spiky pink. Even though she was already very much an adult, Sakura had never felt like it more than when she was Umeko.
"Umeko. I was wondering if you'd decided against it after all," Kakashi murmured as she drew level.
Sakura smiled. "I would have felt bad leaving you out here. Besides, I do still owe you for last night. Sorry I dashed off like that."
Kakashi raised his hand in a gesture of dismissal. "No need to apologise. You looked like you had a good reason, and it's not my place to question what it was."
Sakura could tell he was sincere, but she couldn't help feeling a jab of chagrin. Did Kakashi have a good reason to protect his sharingan? Was Sakura a bad person, a bad medic even, if she continued to question what that reason was? In any case, he seemed better that evening than he had been in hospital. Putting it from her mind was the best way to enjoy her last night as Umeko.
Umeko's appearance had been a bigger relief to Kakashi than he had expected. He had been telling himself since the moment he set foot on the bridge ten minutes early, that he shouldn't expect much from the night. He had almost convinced himself she wasn't coming when she finally arrived. She looked stunning, and nervous as hell; which made Kakashi nervous despite himself.
"Shall we head off?" he asked, gesturing away from the civilian section and across the other side of the bridge. "There's a place I'd like to take you to that you might not have been to before. It's more popular with shinobi." He watched her expression closely to see if this would bother her, but she seemed oddly amused by the prospect.
"That sounds exciting. Please, lead the way."
As they meandered through the village streets, Kakashi found himself surprisingly talkative; a contrast to their near-silent walk to The Blossom.
"That's the ninja academy over there. I mean, you probably know that already. It's a fairly common landmark…" Kakashi groaned internally. He realised he didn't speak to very many civilians. Sure, he'd help the odd old lady find her cat or weed her garden or whatever, but he never really had a conversation with them. He knew he was being awkward by pointing out shinobi things like they would be foreign to a civilian, but his mouth seemed too comfortable with Umeko, even if his head was buzzing.
To her credit, Umeko seemed happy to humour him. "I mean, I've passed by the outside a couple of times, but I've never been inside. What's it like?"
"It's a pretty normal setup, I guess. I haven't been a student there in ages, so I don't see much of it either."
"Well, how was it when you were a student? What kind of student were you?" She seemed so genuinely curious about his world that Kakashi found himself both keen to impress her and paranoid that she would get too close, strip away too many layers with her questions.
"I was pretty good, yeah. Bit too aware of it, maybe…" he cocked his head in a joking smile, and Umeko smiled back.
"Really? You don't seem the type to be arrogant. I bet your classmates didn't think you were either."
Kakashi snorted. "Well, some of them though I was ok. One in particular thought I was a total jerk. I'm still not sure who was right." He felt suddenly wistful, thinking about old academy memories; but it wasn't as painful as it usually was. It felt like the past was able to flow more freely into his mind, and flow out again just as easily. It was a peaceful feeling after so much recent trauma. He turned to glance at Umeko, to make sure he looked attentive and not lost in his thoughts. She looked back, gazing into his eye with an unreadable expression.
They continued on, chatting about this and that thing that passed them by. At one point Hyuuga Hinata crossed their path and gave a small polite bow to Kakashi. Umeko watched her closely, seemingly focused on the girl's curious eyes. She had probably heard a lot about the Hyuuga clan, even as a civilian. It was perhaps his imagination, but Umeko seemed to slump slightly after the other girl disappeared around a corner, as though in relief. She was possibly just starstruck at seeing such an important person. Kakashi felt a little relieved too, but mostly because Hinata was too kind to comment on the beautiful woman by his side.
"We're here," Kakashi said at last, when Ichiraku Ramen came into sight. At the time it had seemed like a nice enough place to take Umeko; it had to be some of the best food in town, and after so long in hospital he was craving such a meal. But now, looking at the humble stand and cheery chef, the jounin felt kind of cheap. Embarrassed, he glanced at Umeko to see if he could gauge her reaction. Beautiful women like her weren't usually seen sitting down to a bowl of ramen.
But to his surprise, she burst into laughter. "This is an inspired idea, Kakashi-san," she told him, ducking under the flags and pulling up a stool in front of the chef. After a beat, Kakashi joined her. He considered himself a good judge of character, but Umeko truly perplexed him. She felt refreshingly new yet comfortingly familiar all at once. Kami, I sound like a lovesick teenager.
"Oh, Kakashi-san." The chef greeted him with his usual cheer, before turning on Umeko. "And it's a pleasure to meet you, madam. Kakashi-san is lucky to have such a beautiful girlfriend."
Umeko waved her hands hurriedly in a gesture of denial. "Oh no, I'm not-"
"KAKASHI-SENSEI, WHO'S YOUR GIRLFRIEND?" A familiar voice rang out through the ramen stand, and Kakashi didn't even have time to turn around before his vision was filled with the blond hair and whiskered face of his former student. "Ne, Kakashi-sensei? I didn't know you had a girlfriend." he turned on Umeko before Kakashi could interject. "Nice to meet you. I'm Uzumaki Naruto. Kakashi-sensei used to be my teacher and captain."
Umeko closed her eyes for a moment as though counting to three, then responded with a remarkable degree of calm. "Umeko. And I'm not Kakashi-san's girlfriend."
Naruto nodded. "That makes sense. You're way too pretty for him." He turned back to Kakashi eagerly. "So if this isn't a date, can I join you? You can treat me to a bowl of ramen, sensei, because you never get to see me anymore."
Kakashi fought the urge to flick him in the forehead. "Baka. Don't you know it's rude to interrupt people while they're at dinner, even if it isn't a date?"
"But you haven't even ordered food yet! Please sensei, just one bowl!"
"Don't you have your own money? Besides, I'm being treated myself, so I can't treat you."
"Oh." Naruto looked disappointed for a second, before seeming to have an excellent idea. "Ne, Umeko-nee-chan-"
"-Naruto, you can't beg for food from people you've only just met!" Kakashi chided him, exasperated at his shamelessness.
"It's ok." Umeko finally spoke up, after watching their interaction with apparent interest. "I don't mind paying for you both." She seemed amused by Naruto's antics; or perhaps she knew of Naruto. These days he was something of a celebrity.
Naruto grinned and sat down in the seat on the other side of Umeko. "Ji-san, tonkatsu ramen please!" Kakashi refused to feel too annoyed that Naruto was joining them. After all, it wasn't a date. It shouldn't matter that the pair had become a trio. In fact, Naruto's lively spirit might make it easier to get to know Umeko without the guards they both seemed to put up. But he did feel a twinge of jealousy despite himself. It was silly, but Umeko felt a little like a mythical creature; something rare and special that he alone seemed to know about. It was probably just due to her being a civilian, and therefore not running in any of his usual circles. There was just something about her that he found intriguing, some mystery there that he wanted to be the first to uncover. The feeling was quite new to him; he'd never had a particularly curious nature, and even if he did want to understand something or someone better, he could always just use his sharingan. But of course, that wasn't an option…
When their bowls of ramen arrived, there was a brief pause as Naruto began to eat with gusto, and Umeko grew suddenly shy. She seemed torn between looking at Kakashi and focusing on her food. In the end she took a distracted slurp of ramen and grimaced at what must have been scalding hot broth. Kakashi caused this reaction a lot. People were always curious about his mask, and what was underneath. In truth, he enjoyed the idea of showing Umeko. It wasn't like he never showed anyone, and frankly, it had to come off sometimes. Like for eating. Or kissing. But even so, he wasn't going to give away his own mysteries so freely, especially to such a person. When Umeko looked down at her bowl to fish out a piece of pork, Kakashi, quick as lightning, tugged down his mask and ate half of his meal before either of his companions could look up.
Naruto seemed to take Kakashi's speed-eating for granted, and ignored him. Instead, he asked, "so how do you know each other anyway? I've never seen you before, Umeko. You're not a ninja, are you? Unless you're from another village?"
Umeko laid down her chopsticks and paused for a second. "Well, I actually only met Kakashi-san last night. I'm a civilian and he helped me when I was in trouble." Kakashi remembered the 'trouble' as Umeko standing up to a group of suspicious men down a dark alley. He honestly wasn't sure what would have happened next if he hadn't turned up to 'help.'
"Wow, you saved her Kakashi-sensei? That's so cool!" Naruto gave Kakashi a thumbs-up of approval. Then it seemed an idea occurred to him, and he turned back to Umeko with a sly expression. "Kakashi-sensei's actually a really great guy, always saving people and stuff. He's a really powerful ninja too." It sounded like Naruto was trying to set Kakashi up with Umeko. It was a nice thought (if entirely unwarranted), but Kakashi wanted to smack him in the back of the head for being so un-subtle about his approach. He didn't need his former student acting as a wingman for him.
Umeko's face reddened at Naruto's tactics, but she did seem interested. "Is he? He seemed pretty modest about it to me."
"He's just about the most powerful ninja in the whole village, actually. Apart from me, that is."
"Really? What was it like to have such a shinobi for a teacher?" Umeko leaned in, appearing surprisingly interested.
"It was great. I mean, he was always late to stuff, and usually ignored us to read dirty books… But he was also really brave!" he added hastily. "He always protected us from the worst stuff, and helped the three of us get really strong."
Umeko's interest seemed to increase. "The three of you?"
Naruto nodded. "Yeah, the three-man team we fought in. Me and Sasuke-kun and Sakura-chan. Kakashi was our captain, and he trained us all into great ninjas." Naruto's smile grew a little wistful, and Kakashi knew he was thinking about Sasuke. Then his face brightened and he puffed his chest proudly. "And now I'm gonna be the next Hokage!"
Umeko smiled, and Kakashi sensed an inexplicable glint of sadness in her eyes. "I have no doubt, Naruto-kun."
After that they chatted for a while about Naruto's various adventures and misadventures, particularly those that included Kakashi. Umeko listened, and occasionally asked a question, but mostly let them lead the conversation. Kakashi was a little disappointed about losing the opportunity to learn more about Umeko, but it was nice to catch up with his old student. He hadn't really talked to any of Team Seven for a while. Of course he'd been on a mission with Sakura recently, and then shared a hospital room with her for a bit. But it had felt slightly distant and sad, like being together only made them both aware they shared a past, but no present or future. They had barely spoken the whole time, and Kakashi hadn't really questioned that.
Eventually he and Umeko said their goodbyes and left Naruto to indulge in another few bowls of ramen. "Can I walk you home?" Kakashi offered.
Umeko seemed to hesitate. "It's probably out of your way. Just to the bridge will be fine."
She seemed a little distracted as they walked, like at some point something had gotten her attention and had never fully let it go. Kakashi tried to make conversation, but it always fell short. Perhaps she felt a little left out after Naruto's arrival. She had been pretty quiet after the first few minutes. She didn't seem particularly upset though, just thoughtful. He decided to let her be, and try to think of the silence as companionable.
"So I guess this is where we part ways," Kakashi said as they reached the foot of the bridge. He had meant it to be a neutral statement, maybe even an opening for them to suggest a future time to meet up. But the look in Umeko's eyes made it clear those words were going to be literal.
"Kakashi-san."
"Listen, I'm sorry about Naruto," Kakashi spoke before the beautiful woman standing before him explained the reason she looked so sad, "He kind of butted in on our evening. I should have told him I'd catch up with him later."
Umeko cocked an eyebrow. "Would you have?"
Kakashi ignored the question. "Thing is, I'd like to do this again. Properly." There was more he wanted to say, but there were absolutely no words to say it with.
Unfortunately, Umeko knew exactly what she wanted to say. "I'm sorry, Kakashi-san. I told myself this would be the last time we'd meet up like this, and I think it's best I stick to that." She was unable to meet his eyes.
Kakashi wasn't sure what to say. What could he say? They barely knew each other. It shouldn't matter to him if she left. Everybody left eventually, and she had spared him the agony of getting too close before she did.
"Well, I guess… thanks. For everything. I've had fun these past few nights."
"So have I," Umeko assured him, "Really."
He wanted to ask, so why does it have to end? But he thought he understood. He was a ninja. Umeko was a civilian. It was always a risk for one to get too close to the other. Shinobi lived their whole lives in the shadow of death, and civilians who got too close to that shadow could only ever become victims.
"Well, goodbye then, Umeko."
"Goodbye, Kakashi-san. I'm sorry." She looked like she meant it.
And once again his Cinderella walked away into the shadows of the night, and Kakashi was left to wonder what fairy godmother had ever put her in his path to begin with.