Love Song
Chapter 5: Friendships
At the North Gate, we find Izumo and his partner Kotetsu already long into their duty as watching over this entrance. Sometimes it was busy when there was a trade boom, or with a heavy mission schedule so they saw many of their fellow ninja come and go. Although they often wished they could go out on more missions. It just seemed that their careers had hit a bit of a rut, either doing this or working at the Hokage tower. They wanted to show their stuff and their dream was to attain the rank of jonin together, having been best friends since their youth.
Kotetsu tried not to yawn as he readjusted the bandage he wore on his face slightly. He noticed a figure walking towards them. "Hey looks like Genma is back."
"Oh really?" Izumo looked and saw him. They liked the older ninja as he was someone they usually hung out with. "Hey how was it?"
Genma sighed, "It was just a delivery mission, honestly with the chunin exams coming up everything slows down a bit."
"Well it is being set up here this time so everyone is gearing up for it," Izumo shrugged. "We got asked to help with the first part of the exam so that will be nice."
"Yeah I'm listed as a substitute for the final round," Genma shrugged. "Don't see the point really but oh well, so…where's that new beauty?"
"Not here today," Both men sighed in slight depression.
Genma only laughed at their matching reactions, "too bad then. I have to say that new girl is very easy on the eyes."
"No kidding," Izumo stated thinking of Hanare. She had only been assigned a few times but it was easy to fall for the girl. She was so pretty and then there was that nice and friendly aura she gave off.
"Too bad I just found out she's taken," Genma sighed.
"What!" Both men jumped up out of their chairs.
"Yeah I know, I nearly thought they were joking when I heard about it," Genma was being serious at the moment. "Well you might have heard how she was originally a ninja from another village right? Well turns out she's already dating a guy here, hell; I heard they were living together."
"Already?" Kotetsu whined.
"Who is it?" Izumo wasn't sure if he wanted to challenge the guy or wish the bastard good fortune.
"Kakashi Hatake," Genma could see their jaws drop, he had a similar reaction. He just wished he hadn't lost the senbon when he fell, those things were not cheap. "I know, man when I heard it I thought it was a joke on me but I so far heard others talking about it. In fact, I think it's quickly becoming one of the most gossiped things in the village."
"Man Kakashi huh…" Izumo slumped down with a sigh, "We got no chance against him."
"The man is practically a legend, no wonder he gets the girl," Kotetsu followed suit of his friend.
Both had to admit that Kakashi's name was one of the short list of people that you might call living legends. Kakashi's list of accomplishments was longer than most ninja's careers, how do you top a man like that? For them, a pair of chunins, that have only seen some action, their list of accomplishments and skills were nowhere near his. It was a bit intimidating actually when they thought about it.
"So what are the rumours anyway?" Izumo asked curious.
"Let's see," Genma looked up as he tried to remember it all. "I've heard that he brought her back to the village, that it was some kind of romance between them and she gave up her village to be with him. That they go shopping together and other things that couples do. People swear they've seen them on dates. The last guy that tried to touch her he used his sharingan and did something to the guy's mind. There are plans for marriage, and a bunch of other things."
"How much it true…well you know how rumours go, sometimes it'd never even close. But they are living together, got that from Asuma himself who heard it from Gai, who actually saw her in his apartment wearing his shirt and not much else from what Gai said."
"Aw man," Izumo sighed, "I was really hoping she was single, I heard her play in the park once."
"She really does that?" Genma had heard that too but figured that was one of the things that weren't true, mainly because it sounded too good to be true.
"Oh yeah and she's really good too," Izumo had just stood there watching and listening to her songs. He doubted she noticed him there with so many others listening in but it had been a very good performance.
"Well look who is it," Genma raised an eyebrow seeing none other than Hanare herself walking towards them. She was in simple civilian clothing of a long dress with a pale long sleeve top, she also seemed to be carrying a bag of something.
"She's not working here today," Izumo stated thinking about it, especially since she wasn't dressed for work.
"Hello," Hanare said to them as she smiled. "Can you two tell me if Team 7 has returned? They've been off since yesterday for a mission and Kakashi told me they might be returning near noon."
"Uh...no they haven't," Kotetsu told her looking over the log just in case. "Are you here to meet them?"
Hanare nodded, "Yes, I have the day off and I thought it would be nice if they had a nice meal for lunch when they got back." She showed the bag to illustrate it. "So I made a few bento lunches for them."
To all three men they had the same thought running through their heads, she had made Kakashi a bento. Sure it was for the genins too but the fact that she had done this sent a major message. It was usually when a girl liked a boy when she made a bento for them. It was the things couples did so if there were any lingering doubts they were gone at this point.
Hanare decided to stick with them to wait around for Team 7 for a bit. They talked and even though they knew they had no chance, it was still nice to talk to the young woman. Not much time later was when Team 7 showed up to the gate.
"Why can't we get more missions that aren't D rank Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto complained.
"The last time we did that it jumped to an A rank and a few of us nearly died," Kakashi told him lazily.
"Well...that can't happen another time can it?" The young blonde asked.
Kakashi wasn't sure to answer that, for some reason he felt that this team's luck was very strange and he wouldn't bet money on any missions going smoothly, even the D rank missions didn't always go smoothly, at least it wasn't boring.
"Huh, isn't that Hanare-san?" Sakura asked seeing the people at the North Gate guard post. They all looked and were surprised to see her there.
"Hey Hanare!" Naruto yelled out waving happily to the woman. She waved back gently as Team 7 got to them.
"This is a surprise," Kakashi stated as they meet up. "I thought you had the day off?"
"I do but I felt a bit bored and thought I'd make lunch for you all when you got back," Hanare told him honestly.
"Really? That's great! Is there any ramen in there?" Naruto asked all hyped up for a meal. It had been a long day and he was getting hungry.
A fist to the head from Sakura caused the boy to fall face down onto the ground. "Naruto! Control yourself, that's rude to Hanare-san!" She turned to bow to Hanare. "Sorry, you know how he gets worked up."
Hanare just smiled she had gotten used to the team's little quirks. Kakashi thought that any report could wait for until after lunch, besides he had grown fond of her cooking and he was hungry. So Team 7 along with Hanare left to look for a good place for a lunch, leaving the three other ninja at the gate watching the small group leave.
"Man...hate to see her go but love to see her leave," Genma remarked under his breath.
"Careful, I wouldn't want to deal with a jealous Kakashi," Kotetsu remarked hearing that.
"You know...I've never actually seen him angry have you?" His friend asked.
"No and that's why I don't want to find out what he's like." Kotetsu replied.
Genma thought about it, "Yeah good point, I'll avoid that if I could."
Not far away in the park, Team 7 had set up on the grass under one of the trees. Hanare and Kakashi sat together as the genins were sitting in front of them in a circle.
"Aww, no ramen," Naruto said with a frown looking at the box lunch.
"Naruto!" Sakura yelled at him embarrassed that he could complain the meal looked great. "You can't eat ramen all the time and this is good, Hanare-san put a lot of work into it so don't bad mouth it before you even tried it."
"Sorry Sakura-chan," Naruto felt a bit bad he liked Hanare and didn't mean to complain. He tried out something from the box and tasted it. His eyes lit up as the taste hit his mouth. "Not as good as ramen but it's still really good!"
Naruto then proceeded to eat like he usually did, fast and a bit sloppy. This led to Sakura trying to get him to eat normally, she didn't understand how he could just inhale his food like that, one of these days he was going to choke and die if he kept this up. Sasuke pretty much remained out of it enjoying his meal, like Kakashi he couldn't remember the last time someone did this for him.
Although he had an idea it had been his mother but he didn't want to go down that painful route again. So he sat quietly and ate his meal.
Hanare enjoyed the outing like this she quietly ate with Kakashi as she watched the genins and it filled her with a warm sense of belonging. She wasn't a part of their team but she felt like she was slowly becoming a part of their lives, and they were becoming a part of her life. They had been the first to accept her and made her feel like she could actually have a real home with them.
She tried to sneak a look at Kakashi's face but he pulled out his book with one hand and ate with the other. She smiled softly to herself, it would seem that if she wanted to see his face she would have to get that book away from him one day.
Although they were having fun themselves, unknown to them, many that saw them couldn't help but noticed how close Kakashi and Hanare were sitting. This only fuelled the rumors about the 'relationship' between Kakashi and Hanare. A picnic lunch together under a tree with his genins quickly started to circulate. Some would mention how it looked like a family outing, some forgot to mention the genins were there and the image took on a deeper meaning. Without knowing it, Kakashi and Hanare were becoming one of the most talked about couples in the village.
The only problem was that no one seemed to know was that they weren't a couple.
-Later that Day-
Anko and Kurenai were walking along the streets of the village, not really doing much. Kurenai had finished with her team and Anko was taking a break from looking over her part of the chunin exams. She had finally found out that she was going to be put in charge of the forest of death. She couldn't wait, she had this big entrance all lined up that she wanted to do. Plus she and a team would have to make sure that all the really nasty things weren't in full force.
It wouldn't do to have every genin team killed because the forest wasn't kept. Yes it was supposed to be dangerous but not to the point of killing everyone that went in there.
So the two of them were catching up, doing some light window shopping and just hanging out when Anko noticed someone she had been hoping to see for the past couple of weeks. She nudged Kurenai in the arm and tilted her head. "Hey look, it's Kakashi's girlfriend isn't it?"
Kurenai looked up to see the woman in civilian clothing looking a bit more prepared than that last time she had seen the woman. Being in charge of a genin team kept her busy with them so she hadn't seen her since the last time, the woman looked to be just walking around the village.
"I think so," Kurenai nodded.
"Let's go and say hi then," Anko grinned, this would be fun. She had been dying at a chance to talk to her for weeks now. But work kept in the way and other things. Plus in a village this big it was kind of hard to find someone without actively searching for them, sometimes needing a search party with all the places to hide or alleyways.
Kurenai thought about it, she knew Anko was up to something but she was curious about the woman. Plus they really should at least meet her, she was new to the village and honestly how many friends could she have made so far?
"Alright but behave." She warned her friend.
"Don't I always?" Anko grinned but stopped when she saw the look Kurenai was giving her. Anko sighed and nodded her head. The two walked over to the woman as Anko decided to take the lead.
"Hey there."
Hanare turned to see two women approaching her, one was taller in white and red garb, the other with a trench coat with mesh under it. "Oh, hello."
"So you're the new girl that we've been hearing about, the one with Kakashi?" Anko smirked as she saw a slight blush formed on Hanare's face.
"Am I really being talked about that much?" Hanare wasn't used to being the center of gossip, at least not as herself, it was a new experience for her.
Kurenai smiled warmly to the other woman, "Don't take it the wrong way, people love gossip and you're just one of the hotter issues. It will die down eventually, I think it's just a surprise about your story, with you joining and living with Kakashi."
"Yeah lots of interesting stories going on there," Anko smiled. "So what's your name anyway? I don't think I've heard it yet."
"I'm Hanare, nice to meet you," She bowed her head slightly in respect.
"I'm Kurenai and this is Anko, we just wanted to welcome you to the village and I hope things are going well." Kurenai asked her.
"Oh yes it's going very well, I love it here," Hanare smiled brightly at them looking around. "This village is so lovely, all these people living their lives together like this. There is so much life and freedom here, each day it's like I fall in love with it all over again."
"Wow…really?" Anko looked around wondering what she was missing. The place looked the same to her, nothing out of the ordinary.
"Well I'm happy to hear that you're starting to fit in," Kurenai told Hanare honestly.
"Yeah, say we were thinking of getting some tea, you want to join us?" Anko asked her she figured this would be the perfect way to get some information on the relationship and possibly even getting to know the new girl better. She seemed nice and so maybe it might not hurt to get to know her more.
Hanare thought about it, although she had started to get to know a few people, she really wasn't sure if any she could call friends. That was the one thing she never really had in life and it would be nice to finally gain some. She had never even had any other female friends either. So with her mind made up she agreed to go with them.
The three ended up in a nice shop not too far away as they got to know each other.
"So you like music?" Kurenai asked as they were into their tea for awhile now.
Hanare nodded, "It was always one of the things that I loved, I still do."
"Yeah it's nice to have a hobby or something to enjoy on time off," Anko knew the kind of stress this kind of life could bring on you. You needed something that you could unwind with or else it would just slowly rot you. "I like tea ceremonies, which surprises a lot of people. I swear it's like some people think I'm into some strange stuff."
Hanare giggled at that and looked to Kurenai.
"I like flowers," Kurenai said with a shrug. "I have some potted plants and some on my window that I like to take care of."
Hanare was enjoying this, just relaxing with fellow female ninja was a new experience for her. Even the few times she had been with other ninja of her own village they hardly ever talked to her. Most likely to keep her from knowing anything about the village she was from originally.
"So I got to ask, what's it like living with Kakashi?" Anko asked her curious. "I bet he just sits on his ass all day and reads those books the entire time."
Hanare blushed a bit, "Well not all the time, plus we share the house work as it is his place and I moved in so it's only fair I take a share. He makes breakfast every morning and I make dinner for instance."
"Really?" Kurenai asked surprised to hear that.
"Yes, in fact he's taking me out to dinner tonight as well," Hanare remembered how Kakashi said that since she made lunch it wasn't fair for her to make dinner for them that night. After the lunch Kakashi had thanked her for it and offered to take her out for dinner. He would have just gotten paid for the mission and it was his way of thanking her. She didn't refuse his offer as she wanted to see more of the village anyway and wondered what kind of places there were to eat.
"Oh so taking you out to dinner huh?" Anko smirked thinking it was a date as did Kurenai. Already ideas were going through their minds on the various types of dinners.
"Yes, in fact I should probably get home and get ready." Hanare meant only a shower and some light change of clothing. She had some grass stains on her skirt and didn't want to go out like that.
The other women took this that it was a fancy dinner however.
"Sure go ahead had have fun," Anko smirked at her.
"It was nice meeting you Hanare," Kurenai honestly told her. "If you ever want to get together again please don't hesitate."
Hanare smiled brightly as she nodded, "I will and thanks."
"Okay...I think I'm getting jealous," Anko muttered when Hanare was out of sight. Kurenai looked at her younger friend with a questioning look. "I have never had the guy make me breakfast in the morning. Of course I've only been with a handful of guys but still, not a one did that for me. How about you?"
Kurenai thought about it, like Anko she had only dated a few times. It was hard to make any kind of relationship but she had given it a try. She shook her head, so far nothing like that either.
"And he's taking her out for dinner as well so she doesn't have to cook again," Anko sighed feeling a bit envious. "Is it wrong to feel slightly jealous that they seem to have a stable relationship? I mean they're living together, sleeping together, he actually makes her breakfast and from our talk seems to take an interest in her..."
"It is a surprise," Kurenai had never once thought of Kakashi as the romantic type but he was surprising everyone lately.
"Damn it," Anko muttered crossing her arms. "If I knew he was like this I would have asked him out, don't look at me like that. You find out a guy is like that, wouldn't you date him?"
Kurenai blushed a bit after all having never had a relationship anything close to that it was something to think about. "I guess you never know someone until you give them a chance."
"Yeah..." Anko sighed feeling like she might have missed out on something but then shrugged. There were still plenty of men and maybe she just needed to widen her usual scope. "So...that mean you're going to think about Asuma more?"
"Again with this..." Kurenai sighed rubbing her temple she was starting to get a headache.
"Hey, you're fault for trying to confess to him and then chickening out at the last moment," Anko grinned as she remembered that day. It had been a few months before Asuma had left to be part of the Twelve Guardian Ninja for the daimyo.
"I was sixteen!" Kurenai told her. "I've matured since then and I've gotten over that, it was just a schoolgirl crush."
Anko shrugged, "I don't know you used to be really into him, you sure you got over it?"
"Yes it's been years," Kurenai told her honestly as she took the last sip of her tea. "besides you really think he's looking for a date? He's got a team like myself and they are a big responsibility."
"Hasn't stopped Kakashi," Anko smirked as she gave a far off look. "Well, if you're not interested in Asuma. Let's see, tall, dark, handsome and kind of looks like he might be a nice guy." She saw the dark look that Kurenai was giving her. "Oh come on I can't even think about it? Looks like you might not be over that little crush after all. You know if you don't do something another woman will come up."
"I'll...think about it," Kurenai said not wanting to get too far into this.
Anko just shrugged as she let it go at that point.
Next up chapter 6: Accident