Love Song
Chapter 13: The Date
Kakashi woke up to the view of green hair in his face, she smirked as he felt the form of Hanare pressed up against his chest as his arm wrapped around her waist in their bed. Ever since a week ago when they had confessed their feelings they had started to share the bed. It was nice having her in his arms as she slept. Things had been going well lately, at least in their personal life. Being a couple sure made the sexual tension between them a lot easier.
Thinking of everything that had gone on in the week brought a smile to his face. Every morning they would wake up together, sometimes just enjoying a few minutes more in the bed, the usual morning routine, then before they left she would give him either a hug or a kiss goodbye. When they had days together they would sometimes spend it either training or just enjoying their time together.
Sometimes they would spend time on the couch with her between his arms with one of his books in front of them as they read them together. Plus he had to admit she looked really cute trying to hide her blushes. But the thing that he really had been thinking about was what to do for a first date. He wanted something that Hanare would like so he had been thinking about it for some time and he finally got an idea of what to do. At least he hoped it was a good idea.
Still, he wanted to enjoy the moment a bit more with her in bed. At least now he had another reason to be late in the mornings, this was much better than reading his books.
-Konoha Streets, Later that Day-
Hanare was walking through the village she was looking for some new clothing. Now that she and Kakashi were actually dating she was thinking of getting some more clothing in case they did anything special. She couldn't believe that it had been a week ago, it seemed shorter than that. Still she caught the smile on her face in the reflection in the glass front of a store. She had been doing that more often lately, smiling. She just felt so happy at this moment, she had a true home, friends, and now she had someone very special in her life.
"Hanare-san?"
Hanare turned to see Sakura walking towards her. "Oh Sakura-chan, what are you up to?"
"Well with our team helping out with the repairs to the village and sensei busy, there isn't much for my team to do." Sakura sighed slightly. "So I thought to go out and see if there was anything I could shop for, I haven't had the chance for awhile and I could use a few things."
Hanare smiled, "I'm doing the same, actually, I'm kind of looking for something special to wear."
"Oh?" Sakura grinned, "Are you and Kakashi-sensei going out tonight?"
"Well...not tonight but I want one just in case," Hanare blushed slightly at the thought of it.
"Oh look who we have here," a familiar voice called out as the two looked to see both Kurenai and Anko. "I thought I saw you two, kind of hard to miss the pink one there."
"We were actually wondering if you were free to join us for lunch," Kurenai said to Hanare and then looked to Sakura. "That is if you two aren't busy you can join us as well."
"Oh well I wouldn't want to get in the way..." Sakura was a little uncomfortable with all the adults she didn't know too well.
Anko clamped a hand on Sakura's shoulder and smiled largely at her, "Nonsense, I want you to join us so you're going to join us and that's that."
Hanare smiled as she bent down to whisper to Sakura, "Sometimes you have to let Anko just do what she wants she can be very stubborn at times."
Sakura sighed and nodded, so the four of them ended up in a nice restaurant. So far it was a good time with the four women, they talked a bit about the village, the reconstruction, Anko complained that she was being worked to the bone on missions because the village needed funds to keep up with the repairs. Kurenai just said that at least Anko didn't also have a genin team to worry about since she was being put on a lot of missions solo or with other jonin as well.
Then the conversation was steered right to the subject of men.
"So Sakura-chan, I've been meaning to ask," Hanare looked at the young teen. "You've seem to have gotten a bit closer to Naruto-kun lately, did anything happen recently?"
Sakura blushed a bit as she thought about when things had really started to change. Maybe it was when she had started to cheer for Naruto in his fight against Neji, maybe the Forest of Death had made her grow up a little and it was enough to get to her start looking at things differently. But what really had caught her attention was Naruto's fight with Gaara.
Sasuke hadn't been able to do anything and yet Naruto had never given up. Sakura remembered the sand being thrown at her and how she had been able to dodge for a bit, eventually Gaara had caught her. It was only thanks to her training with Hanare that she had remembered how to take a hit. It had hurt and she had nearly passed out but somehow she had fought to keep conscious.
Then she had seen Naruto fight like no one else, all the clones he made, how he just kept coming back at Gaara. That huge toad that he used, all of it was the most impressive thing she had ever seen. At what point had Naruto, the weakest in their class had grown so much? That month apart training had really changed him in some way. But it was after that really stuck in her mind, after Gaara's defeat she had been freed and had gone straight to him. She had heard his words to Naruto and something inside of her just felt the weight of his words.
She knew so little about Naruto in that moment, there was so much she didn't know and he was here teammate. So she had been slowly getting to know him more, yes he was a bit of an idiot, impulsive, a bit loud and annoying. But he really cared for those precious to him and would fight tooth and nail for them. Seeing him help Konohamaru with his grief made her see his softer side. The more she had gotten to know him, the more she felt something for him. Sasuke was being colder and further away every day it would seem as well. At this moment she wasn't sure what she wanted but things weren't as certain anymore.
Anko leaned in grinning, "Oh? You started to like that loud mouthed brat? I will say he's an interesting one, heard how he beat that Gaara kid, wish I had seen it. I heard it was impressive from what a few people saw at a distance."
Hanare nodded, "I believe that Naruto-kun will be a great ninja one day, he has a good heart and works very hard."
Sakura smiled herself, before she would have denied such a thing but lately, she could see that strength in Naruto and maybe just maybe he could become Hokage one day like he always said he would.
"So Hanare," Anko asked grinning slightly. "How are things going with you and Kakashi? Everyone has seen you two act a little more like a couple lately, have things moved ahead that much?"
Hanare blushed slightly as she smiled feeling that warm feeling in her chest thinking about her time with Kakashi lately. "It's been going very well, it's nice being a couple I think this is the first real relationship either of us have been in."
"Well that's good then," Kurenai smiled happy for her friend. "I'm still surprised how fast you two went."
"Oh?" Hanare asked confused. "We thought we waited long enough before we started dating."
Sakura, Kurenai and Anko stared at her in surprised not believing what they were hearing. Anko of course was the one to break the small silence. "Waited? Jeez you two shacked up after one day, living with him and all that after just meeting him."
Now it was Hanare being confused, did Anko think that they had been dating since Hanare had joined the Leaf village? Well she better set the record straight at this point.
"We only started dating a week ago, we weren't a couple until then." She simply said.
If the three females were surprised before now they were shocked. All three eyes went as wide as saucers as all three leaned forward with shocked expressions on their face.
"EEEEEHHHHHHHH!" The collective outcry was heard by all three of them.
"But we saw you on a date with Kakashi-sensei on your first day here!" Sakura stated.
"We've all seen you on dates before with him, like shopping and eating together!" Kurenai was next to be heard.
"Yeah and what about sleeping in the same bed! You telling me you were doing that and still just 'friends' the entire time?" Anko nearly yelled out.
"W-what?" Hanare was taken aback by their surprise.
"I thought you two were sharing Kakashi's bed?" Anko asked remembering what Gai had said.
"No, I took his bed since he offered and he was sleeping on his pull out couch." Hanare said honestly not sure where they could get such an idea from. "One my first day here, Kakashi was just showing me around the village since he was told to look after me for the day."
"Oh," Sakura felt a bit embarrassed she really had thought it had been a date after all. Looking back on things she could see it all being just them being friends. It had just been so easy to see it all as actually dating. It was kind of a letdown that all this time it hadn't been what she thought it was.
"I'm going to kill Gai," Anko muttered crossing her arms they should have known to trust his judgment with such things. Then she noticed that something Hanare had just said and smiled again. "Hey...you said that 'was' sleeping on the couch, you used the past tense."
Now all three females looked to a very red Hanare as she mentally berated herself for missing that. Seeing the glee in the eyes of all three of them she knew she was going to be asked many personal questions at this moment.
-Much Later-
Hanare was feeling a little drained, at least emotionally from after her lunch. Her friends had pestered her for hours on details on what her relationship with Kakashi , trying to find out what was real and what they were up to now. Honestly, she would rather go through another session with that torturer Ibiki again, at least he wasn't as sadistic sometimes. Sighing she opened the door to her home, that brought a smile to her face finally.
This was her home now, not just the village but Kakashi's apartment was now their home and not just his. She didn't have to move out, look for a new place or anything. Walking in she noticed that the place was empty. It wasn't out of the ordinary, Kakashi might just be out. That is until she saw the flowers on the kitchen table with a note. She paused as she looked around again to be sure as she looked at them.
They were a few nice smelling lilacs she thought about the meaning and felt her cheeks heat up a bit. She wondered if he knew the meaning or just picked them because they smelled nice. Looking at the note she read it.
Hope you like the flowers, meet me at the Team 7 training grounds, wear something comfortable
That was it, simple directions on the note and she knew it was Kakashi's hand writing. Hanare wondered what this could mean but she felt a giddy sensation in her stomach. What did he have planned? At any rate she couldn't wait to find out, since there was no time on it she assumed she was to get there whenever she could. Quickly she went to put the flowers in water and then quickly took a shower. She wanted to be prepared just in case this was something special. She was so excited but she still took her time and she had an idea of what to wear.
For Kakashi, he was waiting in the Team 7 training grounds, he had thought about this for a few days and had finally figured on the perfect first date. No one really knew it but secretly he was a bit of a romantic at heart, just that he wasn't very open about it. It was funny really, he didn't care if people thought he was perverted if he read his books in public (he still thought they were good books) but if people thought he was romantic he couldn't live with that. Maybe it was because he knew his male friends might make fun of him for it.
Still, he had been waiting for ten minutes, he had everything set up and had made his way here. Thankfully he had some help in making sure that Hanare would be busy. Although he wished he hadn't ask Anko to track down and keep Hanare occupied until now. She really dug deep into his wallet, he should have asked Kurenai she at least wouldn't demand payment, maybe a favour but he could live with that. Still, he figured by now she would have been home, got ready and been here.
Was his running late starting to influence her, at least he hoped not.
"Kakashi." Hanare's voice called out to him.
He put his book away and was about to say something before he noticed her appearance. She was wearing that nice sun dress he had bought for her that first day living with him. Her hair was styled slightly and she was wearing slight makeup. It was like a cross between when she showed up as a singer and how she normally looked. Dressed up but not too much, he couldn't help but drink in the sight.
"Well I'm here," She smiled at him seeing him in loose pants and a grey shirt but with his mask still on and a small cloth covering his eye.
"So you are, glad you're here but first, I'll have to place this on you." He held out a blindfold of all things.
"You want me to put this on?" She asked even though she knew the answer. He only smiled back and so she shrugged and placed it on. Hanare figured that he wanted this to be a surprise and as soon as she made sure it was on correctly she felt herself being picked up bridal style. She yelped out in surprise.
Feeling his strong arms around her she also heard him chuckle, "You could have warmed me you were going to do this."
"But that wouldn't be as fun," He smiled seeing her puff up her cheeks in annoyance. It was cute how she was trying to look angry at him with a blind fold on. "Hang on."
She did that as he moved quickly, she wasn't sure where he was going as he was moving very fast and also seemed to be trying to go in different directions suddenly. Most likely trying to make sure she couldn't guess their destination. Although when they seemed to be going up for a long time she had a guess. At any rate she was just enjoying being in his arms at the moment anyway. It seemed all too soon that they had stopped and he gently placed her on her feet. She was about to take off the blindfold when she felt his hands gently on hers.
"Let me," He said gently.
She nodded and waited for him to take it off, he was being deliberately slow but eventually she felt it being taken off. She opened her eyes and she was surprised to see where they were. They were on top of the Hokage mountain overlooking the village as the sun was low in the sky. It cast a golden light over the village that seemed to sweep out over the view.
The village that was now her home that she had learned to love so much stood before her beautifully. She felt her eyes moisten at the sight she had never seen anything so beautiful to her in her life. She also saw a blanket on the ground with what looked like cases for carrying food, some designed to keep it warm. He had brought her up here for a dinner just the two of them with a view like this. She couldn't find the words to describe how happy she was feeling at the moment.
"So you like it?" He asked although from the expression on her face he got the feeling that she did.
She could only nod her head as she didn't trust her own voice at the moment. He led her to the blanket as they sat down. He opened up the containers and started to pull out the food and dishes. Looking at them she noticed that several of her favourites were among them. He really had gone all out it would seem, she had never seen this side of Kakashi but she was enjoying it.
"How long were you planning on setting this up?" She finally managed to ask him.
"Oh a few days," He admitted to her. "I wanted this to be something special and to find a place where we wouldn't be easily ease dropped over."
"Was that why you were changing directions all the time while running up here?"
"A bit, I wanted to make sure we weren't being followed." Kakashi could name a few people that would have been following him. At any rate he also had his dogs on look out in the area just in case. He didn't want anyone spoiling this so he had planned it out as though it was a mission. Thinking of all the tactics that someone could use and planning for them. Sometimes being a ninja came in handy.
Hanare felt a breeze go by as it moved the loose strands of her hair slightly. She looked as the sun was slowly starting to set and Kakashi had thought to bring candles as well. He really had thought of everything. "This is almost perfect." She said out loud.
"Almost?" Kakashi frowned as he thought about it. Was there something he had missed? He had read up and even asked covertly a few trusted people about their own best dates. He really had thought that he had gotten all the bases covered. Beautiful scenery that he knew she would love, just them alone, a private dinner with her favorite foods. What had he missed?
Hanare could see him thinking hard on it and thought it was kind of cute. She moved closet to him as she gently pulled the mask down and leaned in for a light kiss. It maybe had been a light kiss but she tried to put all her feelings she had into it. Pulling back she ran a hand over his cheek as she stared into his eye.
"Now it's perfect."
After that they ate and watched the sun set together. Hanare rested against his shoulder with his arm wrapped around her. It was a perfect moment in her life a moment she wanted to live in for the rest of her life. In that moment she felt that her life was full and that nothing could take away from this moment.
It was a shame that she didn't know that in a few days, she would have to go through one of the hardest times in her life.
Next up Chapter 14: Painful Wait
For those wondering:
Lilacs = first love