A/N: I mention Obito and Rin in this chapter. There's a lot of speculation about the ages of Kakashi and his teammates. Some say they're the same age, some say Kakashi was four years younger than Obito and Rin. Either way, I've been trying to look it up and there has been no solid evidence for either claim. So for the sake of this story, they're all the same age.

Also, this chapter is mainly to give you a little insight on Arya and Kakashi's past, so there isn't much plot development. Even so, this is the longest chapter I've written so far, and I hope you enjoy it. Please excuse any mistakes, it's three in the morning, lol.

It took a long moment for Arya to even register that Kakashi's warm lips were actually pressed up against hers. That she wasn't just imagining it, that it was really happening.

He was kissing her.

And once that detail had finally registered, she had a choice to make; either to push him off or kiss him back. And as his lips gently coaxed hers, she cursed inwardly and squeezed her eyes shut. Oh, who was she kidding? She didn't have much of a choice at all.

Four years of convincing herself that she was over Kakashi Hatake's charms flew out the window as she leaned into the kiss, returning it despite the protesting voice in her head. She was only human after all, though she didn't act like it sometimes. And though she'd much rather be apathetic about everything and feel absolutely nothing, she couldn't help it.

She couldn't help feeling something after all that time.

Reaching up, she softly drifted her fingertips over the curve of his jaw. At her obvious acceptance of the affection, Kakashi closed the distance between their bodies, wrapping his arms around her.

As he deepened the kiss, she couldn't help but think that it still felt the same. That they still felt the same. That she still felt that familiar tingle up her spine whenever he touched her. And that realization caused a sudden pang in her chest. That pang was enough for her to ease back. Kakashi didn't try to press her, instead he simply rested his forehead against hers, arms still wrapped securely around her.

Keeping her eyes closed, she let her hands drop to rest on his broad chest. She could feel his eyes on her face just as well as she could feel his thumbs rubbing gently at her lower back. She should really push him off or move away or tell him to fuck off, but instead she stood there in silence.

With a quiet sigh, he pulled her in closer so they were embracing with her head resting on his shoulder. His head dipped down so his lips brushed her ear. The gentle movement was enough to send goosebumps racing up her spine. She knew that coming back to Konoha would mean that she'd encounter Kakashi, but she didn't quite see this coming. And definitely not this soon after her return.

"Arya…" he started gently. She could tell that he had more to say, but she felt his body tense suddenly. Raising her head from his shoulder, she looked up at him for a second before looking over her shoulder at the spot where the older man was glaring. When she saw the smirking ninja perched on her windowsill, she nearly jumped out of her skin.

"It's nice to see that the two of you didn't kill one another on that mission," said Enta before landing soundlessly on her floor. Arya sputtered for a moment, unable to say anything, before shoving Kakashi away from her and stalking across the room. With her back to the two Jonin, she didn't see the hard look Enta gave Kakashi.

"What do you want?" she heard Kakashi ask as Arya took a drink from the water bottle resting on the counter. She stubbornly stayed as far from the pair as she could in her tiny apartment as she waited for Enta's response.

"Just delivering a message," said her sensei, and she looked over her shoulder at him then. "Lady Hokage wants to see you, Kakashi."

The silver haired ninja was silent for a moment, regarding his friend coolly. He spared Arya a glance then, and the message in his eyes was clear. We're not done here.

She didn't bother to give him a response, simply shifting her gaze to Enta instead. From the corner of her eyes, she watched Kakashi shrug lightly before sticking his hands into his pockets. His image blurred for a second and then he was gone from her room, the forehead protector on her counter gone with him.

In the moments that followed, the two ninja stood in relative silence, and it was beginning to piss Arya off. Moving to her bed, she dropped down onto it, glaring at the ceiling.

"Is there something else you needed?" she snapped, well aware that she was starting to sound like a petulant child.

"Nope, just came to deliver that message."

"And yet you're still standing there, looking at me like that."

"Like what?" he asked innocently, and she could hear the smirk in his voice.

"Forget it," she muttered, crossing her arms. They lapsed into silence again, but eventually Enta sighed.

"Well, I'm supposed to be present at the meeting with the Hokage myself, so I should be off. We're training in the morning. Eight am, sharp."

"Who's we?" she asked just as Enta climbed onto her windowsill again. He looked back at her, his eyes twinkling in a way that didn't bode well for her.

"Our squad…And Kakashi's. As well as a couple others, perhaps."

Arya didn't bother to contain the deepening of the scowl on her face. Rising to brace herself on her elbows, she gave her Sensei a hard look. "Why can't we just train alone?" she demanded. "These people are annoying."

And all at once the playful twinkle left Enta's eyes as he gave her a stern look. "We left our village for a reason Arya. The whole point of being here is to expand our horizons, learn new things and so on. Training alone all the time would defeat that purpose, don't you think?"

"Yea, yea, yea," she mumbled under her breath, rolling her eyes again.

"I'll see you tomorrow," said Enta, and before she could reply, he was gone.

Left on her own, Arya sighed heavily before rolling over onto her stomach. Nuzzling into her pillow, she tried very hard not to think about Kakashi and that kiss or what it could have meant. But alas, it seemed that her self-control was taking a day off.

Though thinking about the kiss gave her a warm, fluttery sort of feeling, it also made her heart clench. Gnawing on her bottom lip, she did something she rarely allowed herself to do.

She thought about their past.

He was just a kid himself when he had saved her. In a time when she was betrayed by the very people who were supposed to protect her, he, a complete stranger, took her under his wing. Of course he was quite reluctant to do so at first, trying to foist her off on anyone else because he had better things to do, like train.

Though he was only eleven at the time, he acted more like an adult, a very serious one. All he did was train and go on missions and train some more. She couldn't blame him, not then and not now, for not wanting to play babysitter to a wounded little bird such as herself. But for some reason, she had latched onto him, refusing to talk to or interact with anyone else. And for some reason, he kept coming back to check up on her, though he kept up that apathetic persona of his.

As time went on, and she was released from the hospital and into the foster care of one of the nurses, he came to see her more and more often. Pretty soon they'd developed a sort of a routine. He'd come to pick her up at the house she was staying at in the morning, and she'd spend the rest of the day shadowing him. She'd sit in on training sessions, private ones and those with his team, and when he ran errands around the village, she was right there running along behind him. Of course having her tag along everywhere meant that he couldn't move at ninja speed like he could have if he were alone, but even then, he moved at a reasonable pace, making it easier for her to keep up.

In a matter of months, they were together more often than not. In fact, the only instances where they were separated for long periods of time were when he had to go away on missions. She really hated those times. But he'd come see her as soon as he came back.

Almost a year later, Kakashi had put in a request to the Hokage to have her moved into the apartment next to his. He would have requested she move into his own, but the ninja apartments were designed to fit only one occupant at a time. His reasoning, as he told the Hokage, was that it was a waste of his time to have to travel to Arya's temporary residence to pick her up and drop her off, especially since she rarely spent any time there anyway. The Third had his doubts, of course. Kakashi had just turned twelve at the time, well on his way to achieving all sorts of great things. The Hokage didn't know if it would be a good idea to put a six year old in the hands of the promising young ninja, simply because he had other things to focus on.

But for reasons she didn't quite understand even now, Kakashi was insistent, and eventually the Hokage agreed to the request. Arya had suspected that he was lonely. He didn't seem to have parents, and he wasn't really the social type. Of course he interacted with his teammates and colleagues, but it just wasn't the same as joking around with close friends. Then again, Kakashi wasn't the type to be overtly enthusiastic about anything.

Since she followed Kakashi around day in and day out, she slowly began to open up to the people who surrounded him. Rin, Obito, Minato, Guy, Asuma, Enta. They were just a few of the people she'd come to interact with on the daily. They thought she was an adorable little thing. Naturally.

Rin would coo over her, pinch her cheeks, and insist on braiding up her long dark hair. She'd often chastise Kakashi playfully for not helping Arya with such tasks, but she stepped in to compensate for it without a complaint. The guys mostly just goofed around with her, since Kakashi wasn't inclined to that sort of thing himself.

It was almost a year and a half after they first met that Kakashi encountered her kekkei genkai. Well, one of them.

The young ninja had been summoned to see the Hokage, for a mission debriefing if she remembered correctly. And where he went, she was sure to follow. The Hokage, being aware of this, usually let her loiter in some of the other part of the tower, under supervision, while she waited for Kakashi. But on that particular day, the weather was nice enough that she insisted on sitting on a bench outside to watch the butterflies.

Kakashi didn't protest, he rarely did when it came to what she wanted. Rin once told her that it was because he, for some reason, had developed a soft spot for her. Regardless, the young boy had nodded and wordlessly disappeared into the building. A couple moments later she was giggling and running after a butterfly when she ran headlong into something.

Well that something turned out to be a someone. A trio of someone's to be exact, and they didn't seem too happy to see her. Three girls, all with Konoha forehead protectors glared disdainfully at her. They looked to be around Kakashi's age, perhaps former classmates of his.

Jealousy wasn't exactly something Arya was acquainted with at the age of six. In fact, there were lots of mannerisms and social graces she wasn't aware of as a kid. Her parents were to blame for that, the way they treated and raised her, simply because they didn't think she'd live long enough to have a need for any of those things.

She had her first run in with jealousy that day. She wasn't aware at the time, but Kakashi was considered to be very…desirable in the village. Though he didn't seem to acknowledge it, he had quite a few admirers. Of course, at the time, Kakashi had no interest in pursuing anyone. This was made clear by the indifference he treated his 'fangirls' with. The only girls he really interacted with were Rin and Arya.

With Rin, the girls were jealous, but they could brush it off as him only being around her because they were teammates. With Arya it was different. Kakashi had no reason to be around her. He had no reason to devote his time to her or to allow her to follow him around all day, not to mention the fact that she was living with him too. And because of that, unbeknownst to her at the time, she had garnered the hatred of quite a few girls in the village. It didn't seem to matter to them that she was literally just a child and had no romantic interest in him at that point. They hated her all the same.

It was a fact made clear to her when the three girls began to harass her. They made snide remarks, commenting on how much of a runt she was (her growth spurt didn't come until much later), about how eerily pale her eyes were, about her missing teeth, about how she was some lowly cast-away who didn't deserve to be around Kakashi.

Their words hurt, but at the tender age of six, Arya unfortunately already knew all too well how to internalize her pain and take it silently. She simply stood there, her too-long black hair whipping around her in the breeze. Her lack of a reaction must have angered the girls because they became physical.

One girl reached out to jab her with a long finger, just under her collarbone. She did it hard enough to leave a bruise and make her take a step back. They laughed about how weak she was, and the leader of the group made to shove her onto the ground. The girl reached out, intent on placing her hands on Arya's tiny shoulders to push her down.

Except her hands never made contact with her shoulders.

Arya watched the girls' eyes widen as her hands went through her shoulders. The momentum of the action caused her body to continue careening forward without the resistance of another body to stop the motion. The girl continued to fall straight through Arya, a cloud of black smoke drifting around them as she finally hit the ground in a startled heap of limbs. When the smoke cleared, Arya's body was in one solid piece, the three girls around her were gapping, and Kakashi was standing by her side.

At the sight of him, Arya gave him a dimpled smile, completely unaware of the gravity of what had just transpired. Kakashi was watching her intently, a hint of surprise in his eyes. It wasn't until one of the girls spoke that he looked away from her.

"Y-you freak," stuttered one girl as the other helped the one on the ground get to her feet. Arya frowned, not knowing what she had done to receive such a comment. Kakashi stepped partially in front of her then, and she reached out to clutch at his pant leg.

"You will not bother her again," he had stated, and thought he didn't say it, the 'or else' was evident in his voice. Wordlessly, the trio of girls scrambled away. After a moment, Kakashi turned, looking down at her. She had glanced up at him, a little pout on her face before staring off in the direction the girls were running off in.

"Did I do something wrong?" she asked softly, her little hand still clutching at Kakashi's pant leg. He watched her silently for a long moment.

"No."

After the one word response, he had reached down to grab the hand she had clasping his clothing and used it to swing her onto his back. As soon as he had her settled piggyback style, he took off into the forest at ninja speed. He didn't do it often, he wasn't exactly one for prolonged physical contact, but she secretly loved it. She loved going fast. Feeling like the world had melted away into a blur of nothingness. She wished she could do it herself, but she had never asked him to teach her how. She learned from her parents to never ask for anything.

So she had wrapped her arms around his neck, resting her chin on his shoulder as her hair whipped out behind them and the trees blurred into one constant haze of green.

"Where are we going?" she had asked with childish curiosity, and a moment later they came to an abrupt stop that made her head spin. Kakashi set her down on her feet, keeping a hand on her shoulder until the dizziness passed, after which he stuck his hands in his pockets and walked towards the building they were standing outside of.

Arya had paused, looking around at kids running around, adults in green flak jackets shouting things at them.

"Arya."

At the sound of her voice, she returned her attention to Kakashi to see that he was at the entrance already. Tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, she ran towards him just as he continued to walk into the building.

"What is this place? Why are we here? Did the Kage man tell you to come here?"

In her preoccupation with her questioning, she failed to notice that Kakashi had come to a stop. She slammed into his still form, and would have toppled to the floor if he hadn't reached down to grab her wrist.

"No, the Hokage did not send me here," he said with the kind of patience no twelve year old should be able to possess.

"So why are we here?" she asked as he tugged her through a doorway.

"You're going to be enrolled into the Academy."

Subconsciously, Arya smiled at the memory. The thought of a twelve year old boy enrolling his six year old ward in the Academy like a parent would their child was pretty amusing. Of course, at the time, she hadn't found it too fun at all. Unfortunately for her, the Academy year had just begun, so she wasn't so late that she'd have to wait for the following year to enroll. Though Kakashi was her guardian, since he was under age, it was Minato who signed her application forms, with the Third's blessing. Kakashi's Sensei had thought it was a good idea for her to join the Academy too. He'd remarked a couple of times, after watching her play with Kakashi's friends, that she had something about her. Perhaps it was her agility or her sharp eye, but he thought that she'd make a wonderful shinobi.

Arya wanted none of it though.

Not because she didn't think being a ninja wasn't cool, but because it meant that she was put in a room full of kids she didn't know, forced to do things she didn't know anything about, and most of all, it meant that she wouldn't be with Kakashi all the time.

Her first day at the Academy was a pitiful sight indeed. Thinking back on it now could make her blush in horror and embarrassment at the way she acted.

Kakashi dropped her off at the school in the morning, or at least he tried to. She had latched onto his leg and refused to let go. Of course he was more than strong enough to forcefully pry her off, but that would have meant hurting her. And perhaps he didn't want her to leave so bad either, or so she hoped. Eventually a couple Sensei from the Academy had to come and haul her off, fighting all the way. After being thrown over someone's shoulder, she watched tearfully as Kakashi's figure began to get smaller and smaller as she was escorted away from him.

Class that day was a complete horror.

Parts of her body kept disappearing in puffs of black smoke, since she hadn't quite gotten the hang of controlling her unique kekkei genkai, effectively terrifying some of the kids. And then there were her other kekkei genkai. All day, students and Sensei who made the mistake of approaching her ended up with spontaneous nosebleeds or inabilities to activate or control chakra in certain parts of their bodies.

Kids were crying, the classroom was in an uproar. The Sensei couldn't stop his nosebleed and control the class at the same time, so he had to call reinforcements.

Utter chaos.

Eventually someone had the bright idea to summon Kakashi to come calm her down. He was either close by or ran at super speed, because he was there in a flash. He walked into the chaotic classroom as calm as ever, as though nothing was amiss. Hands in his pockets, he slowly made his way through frantic student to seat himself next to a teary little Arya. She had sniffled and looked up at him, one tiny fist rubbing at her eye. And just like that, nosebleeds stopped, chakra points were restored and her previously missing left foot reformed itself.

Her Sensei had Kakashi take her home after all that, and Arya had truly thought that it would be the last time she'd see that Academy. But she should have known better. Kakashi marched her ass straight back to the Academy the next morning, much to the horror of the students in her class. She'd inadvertently caused another scene, and Kakashi had to come pick her up again.

And he brought her back the next day.

At the time, everyone thought Kakashi was crazy for doing so, and she did too, but it wasn't until she was older that she understood why he did it.

He was teaching her how to not be so attached to him that it'd cause a meltdown every time she was away from him. He was teaching her to open up to people she didn't know. He was teaching her to step out of her comfort zone. To make her stronger. Because he too saw something promising in her. Perhaps that was why he 'took her in' in the first place.

And over time, she did get better. She could go to class and not terrify her classmates and Sensei. She still caused the occasional nosebleed here and there, but the more she became engrossed in her studies, the better she got at controlling herself and reigning in her abilities. All her Sensei were astounded at her complete change in attitude. With her natural affinity and by training with Kakashi after school, she became top of all her classes.

No one would have guessed that the orphaned little runt who had been tossed carelessly at the gates of the Hidden Leaf would have graduated in just a year, top of her class too.

Kakashi, Rin, Obito, Enta, Asuma, Guy and even Minato all came to witness her graduation ceremony. They all cheered for her, well, Kakashi didn't do so as boisterously as the others, but she could sense the hint of pride in his eyes as he watched her graduate with kids much older and with more experience than her.

It was one of the happiest moments of her life.

A couple of months later, Kakashi, then thirteen, was promoted to Jonin. Everything seemed to be going great. At seven years old, Arya was happier than she had ever remembered being in all her young life.

But then it all came crashing back down again.

The third shinobi war was upon them. Kakashi and his team were always away doing their part as Konoha ninja. Her own team was stationed within the village, something she resented very much. She wanted to be with Kakashi. To fight alongside him and all her friends. Despite having a squad of her own, she was still closer to Kakashi's rookie group. They were all off carrying out important missions while she was stuck running errands and helping the villagers.

There was one time where she had snuck away from her assigned duty to attempt to tail Kakashi, who had been sent out on a short, solo scouting mission. Though she graduated in only a year and at the top of her class, she should have known better than to think she could sneak past Kakashi. Even in her full body smoke conversion technique, he had caught her just outside the Konoha gates.

He was not amused.

At all.

He called out to her, telling her to reform. The second she did, he had her pinned to a tree, lecturing her about how reckless she was. And then in the middle of that stern lecture, he suddenly tossed her to the ground just as two kunai thudded into the tree where her face had been moments ago.

Iwa ninja.

Kakashi had snapped at her to take cover, telling her that he'd handle it. There were only a couple of them, probably scouts. He definitely could have handled it himself. But of course, Arya had a bad habit of not listening to orders. She could still picture the horrified look on Kakashi's face as she lunged at the much older shinobi. He'd started to go after her, probably to knock her out and then deal with the ninja before hauling her ass back to the village to lock her up for the rest of the war. But when she took down the first two ninja within a couple moments with her smoke possession technique, he had paused. She then reformed her previously missing arms and took out the final ninja before promptly passing out from exertion.

She had woken up in the hospital a couple hours later. Chakra exhaustion, apparently, was something she hadn't thought about when she had rushed out after Kakashi. The young ninja was there when she woke, staring at her through narrowed eyes as the rising sun filtered in through the window. She could only give him a sheepish little smile, hoping her dimples would lessen the blow that was sure to come.

But he didn't chastise her. He wasn't happy with her, but he wasn't exactly mad either. He lectured her on the importance of following the rules, but he followed it up with praising her quick mastery of her most prominent kekkei genkai. Rin and Obito came to see her a little while later, and Kakashi had to threaten to bodily toss Obito out the window a couple hours later when the pair refused to leave. Apparently the three of them, along with Minato, had an important mission in a couple hours. It would be the first mission Kakashi led as a Jonin. Ninja protocol prevented them from giving her any details, but she was excited for them nonetheless.

Finally, they filed out of her room. First Rin with a kiss to her forehead, followed by Obito who gave her a wide grin as he ruffled her hair. Kakashi had left last, with a nod and a little pat on the top of her head.

That was the last time she saw Obito.

Sighing, Arya rolled to her side as she stared blankly at the wall. Things sort of spiraled out of control after that. Obito's death hit Kakashi hard. Well, it hit everyone hard, but him especially. He put all the blame for the incident on his own shoulders, though no one else did so. It was then that Arya had noticed that he was slowly withdrawing into himself. He'd always been a stoic hard-ass, but this was different.

And then Rin was kidnapped.

And then she died.

At Kakashi's hand.

Arya didn't think things could get much worse after Obito's death, but clearly she was wrong. Rin's death only added to Kakashi's grief. He blamed himself for everything. She saw a lot less of him after the deaths of his teammates. He had completely stopped interacting with his other classmates at this point. The only person he saw was her, and even that was sparse.

Everyone knew something was wrong with Kakashi, but no one knew what to do about it. He was hurting, and so naturally, she was too. Not only was she hurting for the loss of Obito and Rin, but she was hurting for him. For Kakashi. She hated seeing him so withdrawn and obviously upset, despite outwardly seeming more apathetic than ever.

She wanted to help, but she had no experience dealing with something like that. And so she just tried to act like her usual self. She'd badger him with questions, attempt to cook for him even though she just ended up burning things, show him the new technique she learned. And though he never told her to stop or leave him alone, she could see that he wasn't his usual self.

There was one night that he came to her room. She couldn't sleep, so she'd been up. When her door opened, she tensed for a moment before relaxing when she noticed Kakashi's chakra. Dressed in his bedclothes, he had stumbled into her room looking haggard and older than his thirteen years.

When he took two steps forward before crumbling to the floor, she wasted no time in jumping out of bed and hurrying to him. She hesitated for a moment, unsure of what to do, but then she remembered the way Rin had once embraced her after she'd managed to slice her leg with her shuriken. She remembered the comfort and safety she had felt in the arms of the older girl. Without another moment's hesitation, Arya had reached out to wrap her little arms around Kakashi's shoulders. Sitting cross-legged on the floor, he had pulled her into his lap and held her while his entire body shook like a leaf.

Trying to channel Rin, she had rubbed his back, squeezing him as tight as she could.

"It's okay, 'Kashi," she remembered her soft seven year old voice saying, using the nicknamed she'd given him when they first met. "I'm here."

They didn't talk about that incident after that night. He never brought it up, and neither did she. Minato became Hokage soon after and had Kakashi enlisted into the ANBU Black Ops.

He became cold. Ruthless. Hard. She didn't like it, but it seemed to help him cope. At the very least, it helped him excel at his new job. He rose in rank pretty fast. He was a force to be reckoned with. But even then, some of the villagers decided to paint him in a bad light. 'Friend Killer Kakashi' they had called him. Even now, the title made her blood boil. He didn't kill Rin on purpose. It was an accident. He didn't mean to.

There was that time when Kakashi had a rare day off, only because Minato ordered him to do so, and they were in the market. She had overheard some of the villagers whispering as they walked around. She was doing a pretty good job of controlling herself, until some man mentioned 'friend killer'. She sort of lost it then. Her eyes went completely black and pupil-less, her entire demeanor changing. Black mist seemed to appear from nowhere and swirled around her.

She had lunged at the terrified villager, but Kakashi caught her and held her back. But of course, she didn't need to physically touch someone to hurt them. As various onlookers watched, the man's nose began to bleed, followed by his mouth and then his ears. He had dropped to his knees, screaming in agony. She could faintly hear Kakashi telling her to stop, but she couldn't seem to help it. It was like she was being possessed.

"Say it again," she had taunted in a voice that was much too deep to belong to a seven year old girl. That pathetic old man probably would have bled to death if Kakashi hadn't knocked her out.

Safe to say that no one dared to badmouth Kakashi when she was within earshot ever again.

The following years were…tense. Kakashi continued to be ruthless, and Arya pushed herself to become stronger. She figured that she needed to be strong to protect Kakashi. Of course it was a stupid thought in hindsight. Kakashi was feared by many, he didn't need protecting, especially from a little girl. But still, she felt this urge to protect him. To return the favor.

It was also during this time that they had found out a lot about her and her…abilities. There became lots of things about her that only Kakashi, the Hokage, and select ANBU members knew. As a result, Kakashi seemed to warm back up to her some.

When he wasn't away on ANBU business, he was with her. They usually trained together, but sometimes they'd just lie in the grass and watch the clouds. They became quite the duo. Kakashi was, well, Kakashi, and she was quickly becoming one of the most powerful Kunoichi in not only Konoha, but across the Fire nation.

She didn't know when it happened. When the platonic feelings between them had changed into…something else. Kakashi was hell-bent on ignoring whatever it was that was going on between them, but with each passing day, Arya was finding it harder and harder to do so. She knew she was in love with him at twelve. But he was eighteen, six years her senior. And while she was a whole lot more mature than most others her age, she was still just a kid. Technically at least. She was sure that he still saw her as a kid sister or something. So she watched Kakashi become more and more handsome as he grew into a man, and she noticed how the girls in not only her own village but others as well also began to take notice of him.

And it pissed her off.

With the way she'd darken ominously around any of his fangirls, it wasn't a surprise that the entire village knew she had a crush on her childhood savior. Everyone but him of course. He remained stubbornly oblivious to her feelings.

She was fourteen when she decided that it'd be a good idea to eavesdrop on a conversation between Kakashi, Enta and Asuma. It was Enta who brought her up, making a joke about her crush on him. He then asked the silver haired ninja how he felt about her. She had held her breath, waiting for Kakashi's response. There was a slight pause before she heard his monotonous voice.

Even now, the words he spoke were engrained into her memory.

"Don't be stupid," he had said. "She's just a kid who latched onto me because I saved her. Why would I like her?"

She had been crushed.

Her feet faltered on the branch she was on, and she saw Kakashi tense for a split second before a kunai was sent sailing her way. She'd jumped out of the way before it could hit her, of course, but tears were gathering in her eyes, making it harder to see. If he threw something again, she probably wouldn't see it. Deciding to make her exit, she ran, just barely catching Kakashi's firm 'who's there?' in the wind.

She went home and cried her heart out. A part of her always knew that this would happen, but to actually hear it? It was devastating. She knew he'd be leaving for a mission that night, and she was grateful that she wouldn't have to see him for a couple days.

Unfortunately for her, Kakashi being Kakashi, he finished the mission early and was back in the village sooner than he was supposed to be. She avoided him like the plague, which was hard to do considering that they were neighbors. But she just couldn't face him. She couldn't face the fact that she was in love with someone who thought of her as a little brat. She may have been physically strong, but she wasn't emotionally strong enough to deal with that.

It seemed that luck was on her side. Between her missions and his and strategic planning on her part, it'd been almost a month since she last saw him.

Her luck ran out one night thought.

She was at one of the training grounds in the middle of the night, knowing that Kakashi would be home that particular night. She was vigorously hurling shuriken at various targets placed around her. It helped relieve some of her pent up frustration to hear the steady thwack of metal against wood as she hit the bulls-eye time and time again.

She had worked up a sweat, panting with exertion. The constant grueling training she had been putting herself through was catching up to her. And it was because she was so exhausted and caught up in her training that she didn't sense Kakashi approaching until it was too late. She heard a sound and she had spun around, intent on hurling a shuriken at whatever it was.

But the weapon never left her fingers.

Instead, she looked down at the piece of metal still in her grasp. Or rather, she looked at the larger hand that covered her own. Cursing herself, she looked up into Kakashi's blank, mismatched eyes and uncovered face.

"You've been avoiding me," he had stated simply.

Tugging sharply, she released herself from the older man's grasp before she turned to retrieve her weapons from the targets. "I don't know what you're talking about," she responded just as coolly. She reached to pull out another shuriken and found herself slammed up against a tree. She must've really been tired to not have seen that coming, and Kakashi must've noticed. Whatever he was going to say died on his lips as he narrowed his eyes at her.

"You're exhausted," he had stated after a moment. "Your chakra is nearly drained. Haven't you been taking care of yourself? You clearly still need someone to take care of you."

That was the wrong thing to say, because her exhaustion turning into fury. Her eyes darkened a couple shades, and she had shoved him away from her. He looked on in surprise as angry tears filled her eyes.

"Shut up!" she all but growled at him. "Shut up. I'm not some little kid that needs to be taken care of!"

Kakashi didn't say anything. He just kept watching her with those mismatched eyes as she visibly became more and more distressed.

"I apologize for having burdened you all these years. I apologize for having 'latched onto you'," she continued patronizingly.

"So it was you hiding in the trees that day," he had said after a moment, but Arya continued as if she hadn't heard him.

"But you know what? It's fine. You don't have to bother anymore. Regardless of what you may think of me Kakashi, I am not a child and I don't need you or anyone else to take care of me. So let's just drop the shit. You can go on and live your life and do your thing, I don't care. I'm not your concern anymore."

The tears were spilling down her cheeks at that point. She was miserable, and her heart hurt, and she really should have stopped talking, but she couldn't help herself. Kakashi was silent, clearly having nothing to say to her. So with one final strangled sob, she turned away, intending to leave. Instead she found herself in Kakashi's arms, her teary face pressed into his chest.

"Arya," he mumbled against her hair as she stiffened in surprise. "I know you're capable of taking care of yourself, and I shouldn't have suggested otherwise. It's just…"

He hesitated then, and Arya simply waited, relaxing a little. Kakashi wasn't exactly the type to have a heart to heart, especially not after he joined the ANBU. So instead of pressing him, she gave him time to gather his thoughts.

"I haven't spoken to you in a month. And I think it's probably been the longest time we've gone without talking in…a long while. I haven't even seen you. I've caught little glimpses of you here and there around the village before you seem to vanish. I've even sensed traces of your chakra at certain places. But I haven't actually seen you. I haven't spoken to you. And it…I just…I don't know why it bothers me…"

Heart thundering in her chest, she had to force herself not to jump to any conclusions as she waited for him to continue.

"That day in the clearing. With Asuma and Enta…I…didn't exactly mean what I said. Or well, I didn't mean what I implied."

Arya had to clear her throat twice before she could speak.

"Wh-what do you mean?" she had asked, her voice barely above a whisper. She waited for him to answer, but after a couple long moments of silence, she tried to move her head back to look up at him. Before she could move however, he raised a hand to the nape of her neck to keep her head where it was. Attempting to ignore the tingling of her skin where he touched her, she fell silent again.

After what seemed like an eternity, Kakashi sighed.

"When Obito and Rin…died, I really and truly lost all sense of myself. Everything I thought I knew about being a great ninja, it all just seemed to fade away. I couldn't even protect my own teammates, so what kind of ninja was I? What was the point in being the youngest shinobi to graduate at the Academy and become a Jonin if I couldn't protect the people I cared about?"

Frowning, Arya brought up her arms to wrap them around Kakashi's waist. She figured he brought Rin and Obito up for a reason, but she didn't know what that reason was just yet.

"You know, for a little while there, I even considered…doing what my father did."

Stifling a gasp, Arya tightened her arms around Kakashi, feeling him return the squeeze instantly. She knew about his father, and the thought of him ever wanting to do such a thing, the thought of him ceasing to exist…it was just too much to bear.

"But I didn't. And I made it past my lowest point. And I can honestly say that it was all because of you. Arya…if you hadn't been around, I can't honestly say what would have happened to me. You gave me hope. You gave me a reason to keep going. And I know that I've been a little distant at times, but I swear, you were always in my thoughts."

"I don't really know when it happened. When I stopped thinking of you as the cute little kid who'd follow me around and trip over her own feet chasing butterflies and started thinking of you as…something else. As the beautiful girl who pisses me off because she gets hit on by every damn ninja this side of Fire country. And I really shouldn't feel…this. You're fourteen. I'm twenty. And while I know that you're far from being a kid, I'm still six years older than you…"

To be completely honest, she was hardly listening to what he was saying at that point. She was still caught up in that confession, or well, as close to a confession as she was going to get. He…liked her. He liked her! Enough to get jealous when other guys hit on her too.

Her heart was soaring.

"Are you even listening to me?" he demanded suddenly, pulling back to look down at her. She caught the light teasing in his voice, and she bit her lip as she blushed.

"Um, well, yes. I just heard you admit that you like me," she had said, a cheeky grin appearing on her face. Kakashi attempted a stern look, but eventually gave up and rolled his eyes.

"Did you hear the rest of what I said? I shouldn't feel this way. It isn't right."

It was Arya's turn to roll her eyes.

"It isn't right according to what? The Kakashi Rulebook? Seriously, for such a badass ninja, you can really be such a buzz kill sometimes Kashi."

"Excuse me?" he had sputtered in indignation, and Arya almost laughed.

"Seriously. You're always about the rules and what's right and what's wrong. Everything in your world is either black or white, there's no colour. Doesn't that get boring?"

Narrowing his eyes, he leaned down slightly so their foreheads nearly brushed. "I'm a ninja. I follow the rules, that's just how it is. That doesn't mean I don't…'see colour' as you put it."

Scoffing, Arya tilted her head to the side. "Please. You're such a stick in the mud. You never take chances when it counts. You're always by the book. Live a little. You're more than just a shinobi you know."

"I'd consider shinobi duties as 'living'. Besides, my inclination to be 'by the book' has nothing to do with my hesitation to act on my feelings for someone six years my junior," he responded wryly, causing her to grin and tilt her head up so that their faces were scant inches apart.

"Think of it this way. I could go out on a mission tomorrow and die."

His eyes had darkened at that, his Sharingan spinning wildly. "Don't say things like that," he had snapped, his arms reflexively tightening around her. Smiling gently, she raised a hand to touch his cheek.

"Just hear me out. I'm a shinobi, just like you. And I go out on missions facing the very real possibility that I'll never come back. And the same applies to you. You, with the way you've been working yourself these past few years, face being put in life and death situations time and time again. And though I'm so ridiculously happy that you are still alive, you could have been killed. I could have been killed. Do you really think six years is that big of a deal if one of us was gone forever?"

He fell silent then, eyes closing as he rested his forehead on hers. Finally he sighed.

"You talk too much."

"Yea. But I make a good point."

"…"

"So."

"So?"

The beginnings of a smile were already tugging on her lips as he opened his eyes to look down at her. Cast in the light of the moon, he seemed more ethereally handsome than he usually was. She knew, beyond doubt, that she had won. She knew it. Now she just had to wait for him to realize it.

"Soooooo." she repeated, batting her eyelashes innocently at him. He huffed again, but she could detect a slight curving of his lips.

"You really do talk to much," he had mumbled before dipping his head and capturing her lips with his own.

Her heart was racing, she realized, as she flipped over onto her back to stare up at the ceiling. The sun was beginning to set, and she wondered just how long she had spent reminiscing about her past. How troublesome. Damn him for kissing her and reminding her of all that.

Damn him for being a fabulous kisser.

And damn him for looking so damn good all the fucking time.

Urg.

With a growl she covered her face with a pillow and willed herself to sleep. Just as she was about to drift off though, she remembered that she'd have to see Kakashi's stupid, handsome face in the morning. As if seeing that stupid, handsome face during her mission wasn't bad enough. She was going to have to have a nice long chat with Enta about finding other teams for them to practice with.

When she finally did drift off into a fitful sleep, she dreamed of his stupid, handsome face.

A/N; PLEASE READ

Yes, I realize that she was fourteen and he was twenty and it's technically not legal in many places and yadda yadda. I also know that I mentioned in previous chapters that they've been intimate while she was under the age of eighteen. I get that it's a sensitive topic to some, and if it's something you can't handle, perhaps this story isn't for you. I can promise that you won't be reading any underage sex scenes or anything else that's explicit, but their age gap is important. And so I do hope you stay with this story. But hey, if it's something you can't tolerate, then I understand.

Also, in her flashback, I didn't mention Naruto's birth or the nine-tails attack. Technically, since Arya and Naruto are only about two or three years apart, she should have been just a toddler when the attack happened whereas Kakashi would have been a teenager. But, as I said before, the ages were skewed for the purposes of the story, and so let's just assume there was a weird timeskip or something with that story arc. Hopefully that makes sense.

If you have any questions or comments, please, please leave me a review. I'd love to hear what you think!