Love Song

Chapter 4: Life as a Leaf Ninja

Hanare looked at herself in the mirror, after the shopping trip and lunch with Kakashi they had went their separate ways. He had gone off to meet his students while she had to put everything away. It took some time to make a place for her clothing in Kakashi's closet and dresser. Thankfully there was a good amount of room to work with. After she had gone to the Hokage's tower to finish registering herself as a Leaf ninja, given her new headband and had gotten a few pairs of her new uniform.

It was the same style as Kakashi's only not as baggy in some places like his uniform. Hers was pretty close to her body kind of like her old one only with the deep blue in color. Hanare had kept her ninja mesh from her old uniform was hidden under her current clothing. It would be nice to have the extra protection even if it was just a bit. Thanks to her status as a special jonin, she was given the vest that Konoha ninja wore. It wasn't as slim as her old one but with the extra bulk did come added protection and the pockets on the front were handy. Now she just needed to figure out what to place in them. She needed to get some more gear but that could come later. She did place her pouches on the belt and thigh holder just right. Hanare finished it off by adjusting the small blade she liked to wear at the small of her back and place her new headband on.

Looking at herself in the mirror in Kakashi's living room she turned around a bit. It was a bit different but she found that she liked it. Although it would take time to get used to the combat vest, thankfully whoever designed it had to have been a ninja them self as it moved well with her. She had placed her long green hair in a ponytail, it felt nice on her body and although she wasn't one to be vain, she thought she looked nice.

She heard the front door open and guessed that Kakashi was back. She walked into the living room area as she saw him holding a bundle of clothing as well as her musical instrument that she had came with in the guise as the musician. She had forgotten about that and by the looks he was carrying her old clothing with it as well. That would help her from having to buy a new set if she needed to pass herself off as a musician again.

Kakashi looked up at her as he smiled at the sight of her, "Well now you look like a Konoha ninja."

"I think I'm starting to feel like one," She told him as she looked at what he was carrying. "You went to get that?"

He looked down and nodded, "I came to me that you might not have gotten this back yet and after I was done with my team I thought to check. I figured you might want this stuff back anyway."

She smiled at his generosity as she took them, "I do, thank you for thinking about it. I was so busy getting my new uniform and filling out all the paperwork to fully register I had forgotten about them." She ran her hands over the dress as memories of the first time she got it came to mind.

She had just finished her musical training when she was being taught how to act like a traveling musician, how to act, how to move and most importantly how to work the crowd. A musician was the center of attention, someone that could grab hold of a group of people and captivate them. The dress had been wonderful when she got it, Hanare had thought it very pretty and it felt wonderful to her.

She placed it on the couch as she looked over her instrument, she tested out the strings a bit worried that it might not have been taken care of when she was gone. But the notes sounds well and there were no marks or damage that she could see. She tested out a bit of a song she loved and the sounds came out perfectly.

Hanare suddenly was very aware of Kakashi watching her and felt a bit self conscious, it was odd she knew. She had played in front of many people but that was different. When she took on a role she tried to become someone else. As the Musician persona she was could feel so free, like the world was her home and she went wherever the wind blew. Maybe that was one of the reasons it was her favorite disguise, it was also a way for her to hide from her own life.

"Don't stop on my account," Kakashi grinned as he sat down in a chair across from her. "I'm curious about what you like to play."

Hanare felt a small blush but smiled anyway, she had never really played for just one person before. The only time she had played while not on a mission was in practice. She used to love playing outside and watching the clouds go by, feeling like the music was making her fly among the sky.

She sat down on the couch as she slowly started up again as Kakashi watched and listened.

To Kakashi the music was gentle at first, the musical tones almost flying from the instrument. Then she started singing and he had never heard her sing, but was amazed by it. Her voice was amazing, it was so soft and yet powerful that drew you in.

"I had lost my way during my journey," Hanare started. "My soul was wondering while I stood still. But right now, I'm walking to a distant place. That's right, ever since I met you on this road"

The song slightly picked up a little now. "The travellers witnessed the song, the forbidden song, and I became attached to it as I heard it alone with you~."

Now the song was getting more intense as Hanare was putting more and more of her own feelings into the song. "If the world I saw in my dreams exists somewhere, let's go search for it, beyond the winds. Whether it's a freezing dawn, a dry midday, a shivering night, or the ends of the earth, let's go see it."

She ended her song and looked to Kakashi it took a moment for the masked man to snap out of it. He knew that Hanare had trained to play and sing but she actually had very good natural talent. She had such a beautiful voice that he found himself wanting to hear more. He didn't know much about music but that had been amazing. She smiled at her as he thought about what to say to her.

"I think you'll fit in very well if you sing like that among the village, I'm sure you'll have plenty of people asking for you to sing."

She smiled as she gave a small bow of her head. "Thank you, I really enjoy singing and playing."

"Oh really?" he really didn't know much about her, in fact he was learning something new every day. Since they were living together for who knew how long, he might as well get to know this girl.

"I would practice all the time outside, I loved doing it on sunny days with the clouds as I played and sang my mind would picture what a home would look like. I would even do it while walking from place to place on the long lonely journeys through other countries."

"My mind would run free and I could be anywhere and all the things I wanted in life I could have. That song just now was my favorite."

"Why is that?" He asked honestly.

She blushed as she wasn't sure what to say, in all honesty, the song reminded her of her life and the day she met him but she couldn't bring herself to say that to his face. So she made up something else, she was good at that, a professional spy had to be quick on her feet and even prepare lies in advance that seemed like the truth.

"It was the first song I learned to play so I know it like the back of my hand," this was true it was the first real song she learned by heart. Thankfully the perfect lies were the ones when you mixed in a bit of truth. Sometimes a person could tell a lie and a truth so mixing them caused it to become hard to tell where the lie started and the truth ended. She didn't like lying to him but she couldn't tell him how it reminded her of the day that she met a certain young boy that shaped her whole life.

"Well it's a nice song and you do it well," He smiled at her.

Hanare felt her cheeks burn, she always felt happy when people enjoyed the songs. Sometimes she wondered that if she had never become a ninja she would have become a musician.

"So did you get any assignments while getting the new uniform?" Kakashi asked having a feeling he would know what she would be tasked with.

"Oh yes," Hanare thought back to it. "Tomorrow I start with a patrol around the area, to get a better lay of the land I was told, I would also be put onto watch duty long the walls as well as maybe duty at the main gate with a partner."

Kakashi nodded, he had figured as much, they were pretty much grade C missions for the village, usually put to chunins but the real reason was to help evaluate her.

Hanare played with the instrument a bit, "I know that it will take time before I'm trusted with a more important mission but I understand. I was originally from another village, it wouldn't make sense to just trust a new ninja, especially one that is a professional spy."

Kakashi wasn't surprised that she noticed it as well.

"But I don't mind," She smiled up at him, "I have the rest of my life to prove myself to my home. Plus it will let me get to know more people that I will work with."

Kakashi was happy to hear that she was okay with this, "Well you'll most likely also be asked to test your skills so you can show what you can do at some point. Also you'll have an ANBU shadowing you for awhile."

Hanare looked at him as he cast a quick glance out the window to his right. She didn't turn her head but slowly moved her eye slightly towards it. She wasn't sure but she was sure she caught movement in a tree across from them. That was impressive that he had already seen that person, she figured that she would have a shadow but he had actually picked it out without looking like he was trying. She had heard of the stories of 'Sharingan' Kakashi, although she hadn't known it was the same person she had met. Now she saw a bit more as to why he was considered a great ninja.

"Well at any rate," Kakashi got up at that moment. "Might as well start dinner."

"Oh that's right," Hanare suddenly stood up as she placed the instrument gently against an empty place against a wall. She unzipped the front of her new jacket as she placed it next to it. "I was going to make us dinner, I better get started then."

"Oh that's right, you did say that," Kakashi thought about it. "You sure? I don't mind cooking."

Hanare shook her head, "You did breakfast so it's only fair that I repay some of the generosity that you've shown me."

Kakashi smiled as he went to put his own stuff away. He had to admit, things felt a lot different with her living here now. Usually things were so quiet around here, but he could hear her starting to cook something in the little kitchen area and he couldn't help but smile. From the doorway he couldn't help but watch her as she hummed and started to work. It was strange seeing someone making a meal in his kitchen but yet, he enjoyed it. He couldn't remember the last time anyone cooked for him.

He wasn't a bad cook himself, living on his own for most of his life he had learned pretty fast if he wanted to eat well. Restaurants didn't count either, he couldn't even remember if his father had ever done it. Kakashi couldn't even remember the face of his mother anymore, she had died when he was so young that the only memories were some old pictures his father kept. Even now he wasn't sure what happened to those pictures, a lot of his father's stuff was most likely still in storage somewhere.

For so long he had been alone, not totally by choice, it was just that fate always seemed to take away those precious to him. First was a mother he didn't remember, a father who had taken his own life, one teammate that had died, another that had disappeared while on a mission who was presumed dead, his sensei...the list was a very painful one.

So Kakashi had basically learned to live with being alone, sure he made friends but when he came home to his empty apartment there was no hiding from the emptiness he felt at times. He had learned to live with it for so long it had basically become natural for him. But with Hanare things seemed different, the place felt more alive. It was kind of fun coming home to someone there, it actually was something to look forward to.

Usually when he got home he would read for a bit, maybe watch something or just catch up on any work he needed. Mainly filling out paperwork on missions he just never gotten around to it, sometimes he wouldn't even go home until later. After he was finished with his team he would train by himself to keep his skills sharp, again read, spend some time at the memorial stone. Coming home was just something he did when he had nothing left to do for the day.

Now it was different and he kind of liked it.

Hanare hummed to herself as she started preparing the meal. She had never cooked for anyone like this before. She had trained to pretend to be a chef, so she had cooked and had her teachers taste it, served food when she had been a chef in Suna once. But this was something different, this was her cooking for just herself and Kakashi. It was more…special.

Hanare's life had been a very lonely one, all the time she was out on missions seeing people together, it made a slight pain in her chest, this empty feeling that she was missing out on life. As far back as she could remember, she had been raised away from the village, never knowing family or even friends. Her teachers were strict but fair, but they weren't friendly to her. She couldn't remember anyone smiling at her unless it was something she preformed well during training.

Back in her old home, she had only one room to herself and would only leave to train or go out on missions. That was all her life had, nothing but the mission. Yes she was a true ninja in that way but it was an empty life. Being here now, she felt like you could be a ninja and still have a life of your own. Every day she felt more at home here and the empty spot in her chest was slowly being filled.

She couldn't remember being so happy, even just cooking at this moment made her feel happy because she wasn't cooking as a cover, for training, for praise, she was cooking for someone important to her. Someone who she felt was the closest thing to a friend she had ever had in her life. She just hoped that he would like it, Hanare also wondered if she would see his face or not tonight.

As it turned out, she was half right. Kakashi loved her cooking, he was impressed as he had no idea that she was so skilled in it. She even used the spices he had in ways he never considered before. He was tempted to use his sharingan to copy her cooking skills, he would miss this when she found her own place. And of course she didn't see his face, Hanare soon found that Kakashi was a master at keeping his face hidden. She wasn't going to give up on that though, she could learn to be patient and besides it was kind of fun.

And so things went on like that. They would get up, Kakashi would make breakfast, they would leave for work (or in Kakashi's case waste some time before showing up late for work), Hanare did some light patrolling or guard duty. She noticed that a few people were weary of her but everyone was very warm and kind too. She felt that she could fit right in with this village some day soon.

She did meet a few interesting new people such as an older man named Genma who for some reason kept a senbon needle in his mouth, she was afraid one day he was going to hurt himself like that. The duo of Izumo and Kotetsu who she met while helping guarding the gate were very informative about the village as well.

For the next two weeks they lived like this, sometimes Hanare would get home late from a long patrol or even had to spent a day or two away. Kakashi would use this time to retake his bed of course. She was used to being away on missions like this as well but she always felt a deep sense of joy when she returned home to the village. It was just so nice to have a real home she could always return to. Then there were times when Kakashi got back to the apartment late or when his genin team had to leave the village for a couple of days for a D rank mission as well.

She would usually see them off when they left the village. Hanare was quickly learning to love his genins, they were fun to watch. In fact a couple of times while on the wall she would see them painting a fence or trying to catch a cat of all things. She would smile and laugh to herself at the antics of Naruto and the team interactions. That was something she had never had growing up. She could see the bond growing there and it made her smile. Even if a small part of her was sad that she had never had friendships like that growing up.

When they were gone and she had the place to herself she did admit that it felt a bit too much like her old home at times. Just the emptiness of just herself there was a reminder of times she was soon wanting to forget. So she would play her music to pass the time and even look out the window if it was a cloudy day thinking of Kakashi and when he would return.

Sometimes, just sometimes when she knew he would be arriving late, she would break open one of those books she had been caught reading. This time from the start and going through the first book, she didn't know why she kept reading but she could tell that whoever wrote it was trying to convey their feelings into the book. Although some of those feelings obviously came from a very perverted mind. She would get to these scenes and sometimes would need to take a break from them. Although not naïve, she had never experienced something so…intense, in real life.

She had to take breaks and allow her flushed face and body time to cool down. She was starting to see the appeal of such reading material.

One day when Kakashi was away, she didn't feel like being stuck inside on such a beautiful day. So while in civilian clothing, she took her favourite instrument and decided to go play it in the park. Now this was an amazing place for Hanare. So full of life and filled with so many people, it was a beautiful area in the village were couples went, some who liked to enjoy the day and laze around or just children playing.

She loved the park so much.

She took a spot by a bench and starting to play as she looked up at the sky, she was just testing it out at first but soon got into her songs. Sometimes she would close her eyes and the images of her mind seemed to transfer into her fingers. It was almost like she was painting with her music and she loved the way her notes flew into the air. She noticed that she was soon getting a bit of people noticing her, she didn't mind she was used to people watching her.

Then she started to sing with her music and soon others started to notice it as well. Little children stopped playing as they saw the unfamiliar pretty lady singing and playing. A few actually sat down around her enjoying the songs. A few of the adults also started to pay attention and smiled at the happy songs she was singing and playing.

Hanare always enjoyed making others smile, she was never sure why but seeing little faces light up when she started playing a new song fulfilled her in a way that few things did. Eventually though her voice needed a rest much to the disappointment of the children. She promised that she would play again as the kids went off to play some more. She found a fountain to get a drink and decided to take a spot on the grass and just watched the clouds roll by.

Soon it was time to return home but she felt happy, today had been a good day for her.

To her surprise she found Kakashi there reading one of his books on the couch.

"I thought you were supposed to be on a two day mission to a farmer's village not far from here?" Hanare stated happy to see him home.

"Oh we were but we finished a bit more quickly. Having a genin that can use lots of shadow clones can be helpful, when he's being calm and thinks things through that is," Kakashi chuckled as he looked up from his book to answer her. He had gotten a bit more comfortable with reading them in front of her in the past few weeks. Mainly because he was sure that she was reading them while he was away. She thought she was being clever but Kakashi knew when his precious books were touched.

Not that he minded, if she liked them it would give him someone to talk about them with so he let it go.

Hanare giggled at his replay, "He would have so much more potential if he wasn't so quick to jump into things without looking."

"Yes I would work on that but I'm not sure how to get him to sit still long enough to listen," Kakashi chuckled himself. Although he liked his team (despite the first comment he made to them on their first day) he had high hopes for Naruto. After all, he never told Hanare what he knew about Naruto, he couldn't really, but he was glad that he was put on Naruto's team. He just hoped to get the boy to listen to instructions and to calm down. If he could learn to do that, then Naruto's progress would start to take off, the boy had so much raw potential.

Although that wasn't the only problems he was struggling with, Sakura had self confident issues at times and had only done the minimum work in the academy. He was trying to fill in her physical holes within her but she really needed something to show her that she needed to train more seriously. Sasuke, well that was obvious to anyone with even a slight understanding of the village's history of a few years ago. Sasuke was very motivated and focused but maybe a bit too much. The boy just reminded Kakashi too much of how he himself used to be at one time.

They all needed something to solidify them not only as a team but as individuals. They needed to gain some real experiences, the Wave mission had built on that but they needed something more, something to open their eyes to what they would face in the near future.

"Kakashi?" Hanare asked snapping him out of his thoughts.

"Hmm?"

"You were in deep thought again." Hanare told him sitting down. "Your genin team again?" She had noticed that at times he would go into deep thinking, although it looked like he was reading she had learned to notice the difference. The book was just another 'mask' he used to hide what he was really doing at times.

Kakashi nodded his head.

"It must be hard being a teacher to a genin team."

Kakashi sighed, "I'll admit it is a bit harder than I thought, then again this is my first time teaching anyway. Put me in a mission with trained ninja and I can do anything but with genins who have no experience in being a real ninja…it's just harder as I have to shape them for their future. If I don't do a good enough job…"

He trailed off as Hanare knew all too well the kinds of fate a ninja could land in. She looked up and placed a comforting hand on his arm. "I'm sure you'll do fine and I can tell that you worry about them, even if you don't show it."

Kakashi smiled and was thankful, it was nice having someone around he felt that he could talk to. He could talk to others like Asuma but it felt a bit awkward for him. With Hanare it was different, maybe because he had gotten to know her better or maybe it was her warm and open personality. Well whatever the case he enjoyed having her living here.

Thinking back to that day on the cliff, he was thankful that Naruto and the others had shown up when they had. He knew that he would have let her go and she would have disappeared, most likely never to have been seen again. He watched as Hanare got up and went to start dinner for them.

He sat there hearing the soft singing as was her habit in the kitchen and he just sat there and listened. It was soothing and warm and for the life of him Kakashi for that moment, he felt content with his life for the first time in a long time.

Next up Chapter 5: Friendships

The song in this is from the opening of the first season of Spice and Wolf, I don't own this song nor do I make a profit from it either. So if you want an idea of the song you can easily see it on youtube. Trust me it's a really nice song and I felt it could capture the feelings of Hanare perfectly.