A/N: Here we are again! ^^ I changed a lot here (for the better, I hope). Enjoy!

(P.S. This chapter is one long scene, for a change. :P)

Of course he was late again. Kaede didn't care about that any more. Kakashi gave up on the excuses, as well.

"Ok," he said. "Like last time, you have to keep me away from yourself. But this time, I'm going to try to attack you. All you need to do is block my attacks. I'll go easy on you, but you have to give it your all."

Kaede nodded.

"I'm gonna show you some techniques for blocking first," said Kakashi.

He showed Kaede many ways in which he could attack her, and how Kaede could block the attacks. Like he could attack her from behind, and she could block the attack by kicking backwards. Or he could attack her from the left, and she could block it with her arm and push him away in one movement.

It took Kaede much effort to learn to do this properly. She was never trained in anything, and she had proved herself repeatedly to be too weak to defend herself. Even in front of Kakashi. Her determination not to disappoint him was what was driving her forward in this training session.

"Ok," said Kakashi after a few hours. "Let's see if you can block attacks like this!"

He tried to grab her right arm, but Kaede pushed his arm away with her left hand. Then Kakashi had the chance to grab her left arm and make her fall backwards. Kaede dropped her guard and Kakashi took her right arm, too. They fell over.

Kaede was lying on her back in the grass, squirming her way out. Kakashi, however, had no trouble keeping her still. His hands firmly pinned her wrists down on the ground.

"See?" he said. "You let me get too close, and you dropped your guard when I took your arm. Now I could do anything I want with you."

What…? Kaede looked in Kakashi's uncovered eye. She thought about the dream she had a few days ago. They were almost in the same position as they were in that dream.

She felt heat rise up in her cheeks and panic rise up in her chest. She squirmed again.

"Let go," she said. "Let me go!"

"Why don't you try and get away?" asked Kakashi. "You gave up already?"

Kaede started to panick. Her legs started kicking around incontrollably.

"Let go! Let go! Let go!"

"Kaede?"

"Let go! Let go! Let go! Let go! Let go!"

The words kept coming out like an unstoppable waterfall. All she could see was the memory of that nightmare.

The memory stopped when he released her wrists, replaced by blankness.

"Kaede!"

His voice echoed through her mind. He sounded so… worried.

Slowly, her mind turned back to reality. Kakashi was right beside her, looking intensely into her eyes. His eyebrow was cringing into a worried frown. She could feel one hand on the back of her head and the other below her chin.

"Kaede, breathe slowly," he commanded. "Calm down! It's ok! No one's gonna hurt you! Breathe slowly!"

"Ka—" Then she understood. She was hyperventilating. Forcing her breathing to slow down, she reached up to his vest, holding it in a firm grip. She felt his own hand leave her chin and landing gently on her hand. The look in his eye softened.

"Breathe slowly," repeated Kakashi, softly this time. Kaede closed her eyes, focusing on controlling her breathing.

"That's it," said Kakashi calmly. "Take it easy…"

Finally, she was breathing normally. She opened her eyes.

"Are you ok?" asked Kakashi carefully.

"I'm sorry," whispered Kaede. "I'm so sorry…"

"It's ok," whispered Kakashi.

Kaede looked away.

"You panicked," said Kakashi. "What happened?"

The picture of the nightmare flashed in Kaede's mind again. She closed her eyes firmly and clenched her teeth.

"Kaede?" asked Kakashi. "What's wrong, all of a sudden?"

"No-nothing," Kaede stuttered. "Umm… Why don't we… call it a day? I'm tired…"

When she opened her eyes, the worried frown on Kakashi's face had deepened again.

"Really, I'm… I'm fine now," said Kaede. She slowly sat straight up, Kakashi's hand leaving the back of her head. He kept looking at her with that worried face.

"Kakashi, don't look at me like that," she said, feeling awkward. "I told you, I'm fine."

"No," replied Kakashi. Kaede stared at him in surprise. For what seemed like ages, their gazes were locked to each other.

"No," said Kakashi again. "You're not. Don't lie to me, Kaede. You're not a good liar." The look in his eye softened a little. "I worry about you."

Kaede hadn't even noticed that she had been holding her breath. But after those last four words, she exhaled softly.

He's worried about me?

"I'm sorry," she whispered.

"Don't say you're sorry," said Kakashi. "I can't do anything with 'sorry'. Talk to me, Kaede. You're not alone."

Kakashi… even I don't know what I'm feeling right now. How could I possibly talk to you?

She looked away. "You wouldn't understand," she said. She stood up and walked away. A wave of dizziness had her swaying lightly for just a moment, but then she picked up her regular pace, hoping Kakashi didn't see it.

"Where are you going?" asked Kakashi while standing up.

"Nowhere," said Kaede. She walked towards the forest next to the training field.

"Kaede…" said Kakashi. "Don't go there. It's dangerous."

"Please," said Kaede, "leave me alone."

"I won't let you go in there by yourself," argued Kakashi.

Kaede stopped and turned to him. "And I won't let you…!"

No! Don't say it out loud. What am I even thinking? Kakashi wouldn't…

"… Let me… what?" asked Kakashi. His gaze suddenly seemed to burn into hers. Kaede turned away.

Stop looking at me like that…

"Kaede," said Kakashi, his voice sounding almost demanding. "Let me what?"

"Leave me alone already!" yelled Kaede to her own surprise. She could still feel his gaze on her back. Pure adrenaline taking over, she ran into the forest.

"Wait!" Kakashi called after her. He followed her. It didn't take long before he caught up with her. He grabbed her wrist, forcing her to stop.

"Like I said, it's dangerous out here," he said calmly. Kaede turned around and tried to free herself. But when Kakashi took her other wrist, she froze.

"Why won't you leave me alone?" she asked desperately, squirming.

"Because you're too vulnerable right now," said Kakashi. "I can't leave you alone when you're like this. Especially when it's my fault."

Kaede stared at him for a while. Tears were starting to fill up her eyes; how many times had it been already?

"It's not you," she said. "It's just that… all my life… I've been betrayed. People I trusted eventually betrayed me. Even the most honest looking guys betrayed me after all." She took a deep, shuddering breath. "You have no idea what it's like… To feel so weak, so vulnerable, so powerless…" She sobbed and tried to get loose. "I'm scared," she said. "I'm scared out of my mind. I just don't want to be betrayed again. Why won't you understand that?" She looked at him.

"I'm sorry," he whispered. He gently pulled her towards him, releasing one arm and putting his hand on the back of her head, which he pushed against his chest.

"W-what are you doing?" asked Kaede, scared and confused as she was. She tried to push herself away, but she couldn't. She kept struggling for a while, but eventually gave up.

"See?" whispered Kakashi after a short while. "I won't let anything or anyone harm you ever again." He released her other wrist, laying his hand carefully on her upper back.

Millions of thoughts were spinning through Kaede's mind. Her heart was pounding, yet somehow she felt safe. She leaned closer against his chest. It was so warm. She just hoped he wouldn't notice how fast her heart was beating against him.

"I believe you." The words were out before she even realized her intention to speak. They seemed to fill up the hollow feeling she had always had in her chest. Even if it was just a little.

She felt the hand on her back hold her a little more strongly. Instinctively, she moved to ease her stance a bit more. Now she could hear his heart. Holding her breath, she noticed how their heartbeats were echoing each other. A rapid, yet relaxing pace. It somehow felt right. She carefully exhaled, breathing at a steady level, her chest rising and falling against his.

It was a mere second after that when Kakashi loosened his embrace and withdrew his hands. Kaede, who was still standing against him, looked up in surprise. Kakashi took a small step back, the look in his eye unfamiliar to Kaede.

"Let's go back," he said softly. Something in his voice was different.

Maybe I'm just imagining things, thought Kaede.

He turned around and started walking back to the village, his hands sliding into his pockets. Kaede didn't move. Kakashi turned his head and asked: "You coming?" That was his usual casual tone.

"Yeah… coming," said Kaede, following him.

She couldn't help but stare at him, puzzling. What's going through his mind right now? He's acting… strange.

Kakashi briefly looked at her from the corner of his eye, but then looked back ahead of himself.

"Something the matter?" he asked.

"Eh? Ah… no," replied Kaede hesitantly. She changed her mind soon after that and stopped, taking a deep breath. "Actually…"

"Hm?" hummed Kakashi. He stopped and turned towards her.

"Umm…" The courage Kaede had collected faltered for a moment when she saw that worried look in his uncovered eye again. "I'm just… curious."

"Curious?" repeated Kakashi.

"Well, umm… that is…" Kaede started, still choosing her words. "When you found out I came back to Konoha… that I was alive… How did that make you feel?"

A blink from Kakashi told her that she was asking a strange question. But she couldn't find a better way to ask at the moment.

"I mean… For fifteen years, you've thought that I was dead," she elaborated. "And suddenly I came back into your life. Isn't it… weird?"

"Yeah," replied Kakashi. "It is weird. You stumbled back into my life, angry and sad. The Kaede I used to know, the Kaede from my memories, was a cheerful little kid. And suddenly, you're a full-grown young woman who has been through… too much. Too much for a girl your age." He paused for a few seconds. "Now you tell me," he continued in a lower voice, "what do you feel now that you're back? Do you feel safe here? Are you happy?"

"Kakashi…" Kaede whispered. He was looking so intensely into her eyes, his gaze seemed to burn into her very soul, searching. Feeling a blush rising up her cheeks again, like she had had a lot during the past week, she half-turned her head. "I don't… know. Yet." As she paused, the only sound that filled up the silence between them was the wind. She watched how maple leaves got carried away, travelling across the world.

She smiled as she continued: "I've yet to find out who I am. Who I really am. And where my place is in this world. And coming here…" She looked at him. He was listening patiently. "Meeting you… Meeting Naruto… It's like… a gap that's being refilled. I don't know how else to put it. I've always felt like an empty being… But now that I'm here… I feel like I'm not only getting to know you and Naruto, but I'm also getting to know myself."

A long silence was again covered by the sound of the wind blowing over the fields.

Kakashi finally broke the wind-filled silence with a chuckle. Kaede couldn't help feeling embarrassed.

"W-what?" she asked. "Did I say something weird?"

Kakashi picked up his pace, heading back to the village. Kaede followed him.

"Not at all," answered Kakashi. Kaede could hear the smile in his voice. "I just didn't expect an answer like that."

"Being lost… is not exactly funny," muttered Kaede.

"True," said Kakashi. "However…"

The wind blew another group of maple leaves their way. Kakashi caught one leaf without so much as looking. Kaede looked at the leaf in his hand, kind of impressed how effortless he'd caught it.

"… If you give yourself some more time, you'll find the true you. The true Kaede."

He reached the leaf out to her and she took it, staring at it as they walked.

"The true… Kaede…" she repeated. Suddenly, an unpleasant yet familiar twist in her mind made her feel dizzy.

"Oh no…" she muttered before everything went black.

A/N: Ooh, a real cliffy, nice. I'll be quick with the next chapter! .