I do not own Naruto.
"Signing"
Thoughts and Actions
"Regular speech"
"As part of her training I-N-O will be helping me with speech therapy."
"That's great. I'm glad Yamanaka-chan was able to take some time out of her schedule. Oh, right- I am happy she can help."
Kazumi and Kakashi sat in the grass just outside one of the training grounds. Kakashi had the morning off and so the two took the opportunity to spend some time together away from the commotion that was Konohagakure.
"I start next week, two-hour days, three-day weeks." Kazumi signed to Kakashi.
"Hmm... You're very busy now. No time f-o-r me." The ninja signed back with his broken grammar and limited knowledge.
Kazumi gave a silent chuckle. "Silly, I will always have time f-o-r you." She teased him knowing full well that Kakashi was still in the learning process. A few months after the accident when Kazumi had made a full recovery, she jumped at the opportunity to learn a different way of communicating. Since then the two had studied vigorously for over a year and were both now fairly efficient in their sign language. Kazumi was grateful for him and his efforts to learn the language when he already had so much to do.
It had been almost two years since.
Kakashi gave a small smile from underneath his mask. She returned it but the look on her face fell when she saw his demeanor change.
The ninja looked passed his dark-haired lover and saw the anbu soldier in the distance. Seemed like his free time was up. His eyes flitted to Kazumi when he caught the movement of her hands.
"Time already?"
His gaze softened as he nodded his head. "Tomorrow night?"
Her amber eyes blinked as she nodded a silent yes. Standing up, Kakashi gently cupped her cheek allowing his hand to linger a moment on her soft skin before walking away.
Kazumi sat a short while still feeling the warm brush of skin on her cheek. When she finally glanced back he was gone. The young woman gave a heavy sigh and got up to make her way back into the village.
"Fresh apples straight from Rumi's orchard! Fresh apples delivered just this morning! Get 'em while they're still here!"
Kazumi stopped at a small cart filled to the brim with lush, red apples. I could make a good apple pastry with these.
"Young miss, may I interest you in some of our most beautiful apples? This is the first batch of the season! Huh, young miss?"
The young woman was unaware of the man talking to her. She picked one up and felt around it for any soft spots.
"Beautiful isn't it?" The man stood out from behind the cart and walked into Kazumi's view. "Is there anything I can help you with?"
Kazumi looked up startled. She saw his lips moved and assumed he must've had a thick accent because she didn't have a clue to what he was saying. Making an educated guess, she decided that he was asking if she needed help so, dark-haired woman nodded her head, placed the apple down and flashed ten fingers.
"Wha- Oh! I see. Yes, of course! Ten apples coming right up!" The man whom Kazumi found to be quite elderly fumbled behind his cart for a bag. She watched as he carefully picked out apples from the top of the pile and gently placed them in the bag. By the time he was done the plastic handles were stretched to the point of tearing. The old man scuffled behind his cart again to place them in a second bag and after checking to make sure the handles wouldn't rip he handed it to the woman. "I might've slipped an extra apple or two in there so be sure to make something delicious."
Kazumi paused in slight panic. She saw his lips moved again but still couldn't make it out. Quickly, she fished out a bill in hopes of finishing up the transaction. The old man frowned when he didn't receive any thanks and handed her the change.
Stuffing the money into her pocket Kazumi gave the old man her warmest smile accompanied with a polite nod of her head and left. Though she did not see nor hear him the old salesman gave an annoyed huff and mumbled under his breath. "How rude. Not even a thank you."
Kazumi stopped at a few more stands for her groceries and each encounter was just as awkward as the last. The owners would give her strange looks whenever she would clumsily sign with her hands or when she left without so much as a thank you.
With each stop Kazumi found it more disheartening and soon began to loath one of her favorite past times. With arms full of groceries, she made her way through the crowd and out of the busy market street.
"Watch out! Coming through! Make way! Rush delivery coming your way! Move, people!" A middle-aged man sped his way through the crowd pulling along a cart of cabbages. The crowd before him had moved to the sides allowing him to passage the wheels of the cart picking up dust as he ran by. "Cart full of cabbages coming in fast! Move, people, MOVE!"
Gasps and cries of surprise rang through the sea of people with mother's pulling their children away from the street and grandmas shaking their heads in disapproval. "Hey, watch where you're going!" An elderly man yelled, shaking his cane at the delivery man.
"Sorry, grandpa!" he cried over his shoulder. He sped through fast on his feet with the overflowing cart of bright green cabbages. He turned back around to face the front just as he was exiting the market street only to find one more stray pedestrian in his way. "Hey, miss! Out of the way!"
The young woman did not seem to hear him for she barely flinched and instead continued to ruffle through the contents of her bag. "Hey lady!" he shouted once more.
Realizing that she wasn't going to budge the man quickly put on the breaks by digging his heels into the ground. Clouds of dust rose into the air as he desperately tried to stop but the force of the cart kept him going until he finally crashed right into her.
Kazumi choked on dirt trying to get the air back into her lungs. A searing pain shot down all along the right side of her body as she tried to sit up. She saw her beautiful apples, scattered and mushed, before she saw the angry face of a screaming man.
"My cabbages! Oh, my cabbages! Look at what you've done!"
Kazumi watched in confused horror at the frantic man who waving his arms wildly, gesturing to the broken cart behind him. His cabbages were in disarray and scattered all over the dirt road and some rolling underneath vender stalls nearby.
"Hey, you! What do you plan to do about this?"
Kazumi blinked a few times at the man completely dumbstruck. His lips were moving so fast she couldn't pick out anything he was saying. Her bottom lip started to tremble as he stood up, looming threateningly over her body with his wild movements.
"The restaurant owner is gonna have my head for this! You just ruined the most important meal of the season!"
Is this my fault? What happened? Why is he yelling so much? They're just cabbages!
"I'm so-" Kazumi began with her extremely slurred tongue. A gentle hand rested on her shoulder stopping her in the middle of her apology. The young woman looked up to find the old man she had bought her apples from. He balanced on a cane with one hand and used his other to gently lift her elbow to get her back on her feet. He gave a once over before snapping a vicious glare to the cabbage man.
"What do you think you're doing running in a crowded place like this?" he snapped.
"Wha-what-" the cabbage man stuttered in surprise.
"You've caused a ruckus, made a mess, and injured this poor woman!"
"I told her to move! She-"
WHACK!
"Ow!"
The old man had whipped the cabbage man's side with his cane. "Excuses! You will apologize to her this instant!"
"But I- OW!"
"Apologize!" Whack!
"I'm sorry!" Whack! "What?!"
"Now clean this up! Go back to your manager and tell him this was your fault. And pick up those apples, too!"
"Yes granp- OW! Yes sir!"
Cabbage man went to pick up his fallen cabbages and placed them in his cart. Kazumi saw him reach for a smashed apple on the ground and was about to reach down to help but the bottom of the old man's cane stopped her. "You," he pointed, "come with me." She saw him wave her over to follow and did so without hesitation not wanting to get a whacking from his cane.
By the time he led her back to his cart of apples the crowd dispersed, and the market street was back to its busy splendor. Kazumi watched his balding head disappear behind the pile of apples for a few seconds before coming up with another bag. He walked around and began picking out apples to put in the bag. Without pausing he looked up at the now ruffled appearance of the young woman. "You're deaf, ain't you?"
He saw her eyes alight with attention but instead of a reply he saw the color on her cheeks turn pink with a tilt of her head. He gave a heavy sigh and continued to fill the bag. "Youngsters these days are always on the run. Never have any time to stop and smell the roses," he said more to himself. He shoved the bag of apples into her arms. "Here ya go, sweetheart."
Kazumi looked in the bag and found twice the number of the red fruit. Frantically shaking her head no, Kazumi went to hand back the bag but he stopped her with a firm hand. "Take 'em. Better you use 'em than have 'em sit out here." With one final, stern look he grabbed her elbow and lightly pushed her away from the cart.
Kazumi looked over her shoulder with furrowed brows stumbling her way into the crowd but stopped short with wide eyes at what she saw next. With both index fingers pointed outward the old man swept them to the side as if shooing her away. He then gave her an unamused look before returning to his cart of apples. She blinked away a tear and started navigating through the crowd.
Back at home Kazumi practically let the bag fall from her arms onto the dining table. She leaned back against the side with an apple in hand deciding what to do with them, but thought it better to leave them for tomorrow. Her body had begun to ache from the accident earlier and she was in desperate need of a bath.
Letting the hot water fill the tub Kazumi slowly and stiffly lifted her shirt over her head. She turned sideways in front of the mirror to inspect her side and saw a bit if discoloring near her hip bone. Frowning at the thought of what it might look like later after the bruises settled in she stripped the rest of her clothing and stepped into the tub.
The rest of her day like most was spent inside tending to things around the apartment or simply reading till she fell asleep. Whenever Kakashi went away for missions she would always hole herself back up at home and wouldn't venture five feet away from her house. Having not yet developed a backbone she was still uncertain with how to face life in her newest condition. Often times Kazumi would worry that she was being to clingy with Kakashi, having to rely on him for a lot of things since the accident but he always reassured her that it was never the case. And with what she could assume was a chuckle, he would leave a feather light kiss to her forehead.
As she sat in the tub going over those same worries for what could be the millionth time Kazumi began to feel a tremble in her hands. It started out slight but soon shook with a force that was clearly visible. Water splashed onto the walls as she clasped her hands together and brought them tightly to her chest, imitating the way Kakashi would do to calm her tremors. She held them there until they finally stopped to just a twitching of her fingers. Taking three deep breaths and then hastily getting out of the tub Kazumi decided she would turn in early for the night.
By the time Kakashi had returned to the village it had been well into the night. It was only two full days since he left and while that was nothing compared to his week-long missions he couldn't help but feel a longing for a certain warm body to nestle into. And so, with renewed vigor Kakashi set pace for Kazumi's home.
Living just minutes from the gate, Kazumi's home was an ideal location for Kakashi whenever he needed to depart early in the mornings for his missions. When finally fed up with the consistent knocking on her window , Kazumi handed him a spare key and told him there weren't any more excuses for him to not use the door. Though entirely capable of entering without one Kakashi thanked her and tucked the key into his breast pocket for safe keeping.
Just inside the patio door he could already smell the sweet aroma of baked goods. And while his empty stomached growled at the thought of food he was much too tired and headed straight for the bathroom.
Having visited countless times and now practically living in Kazumi's little house he became quite acquainted with every nook and cranny the shabby little two-bedroom home had to offer. He knew every squeaky spot in the hardwood floors and the tacky wall paint they had gone over with a fresh eggshell white. He knew it took about a minute and fourteen seconds, give or take, for running hot water as well. And it was a minute and twelve seconds that he waited under the shower head for the hot water to wash himself clean of the dirt and grime of his mission; he was eager to get to bed.
Dressed in only a pair of pajama bottoms Kakashi walked into the bedroom to find Kazumi already asleep. Quietly, he walked across the floor and slipped under the covers. Happy to have her back in his arms he drifted off to sleep to the steady sounds of her breathing.
A whine that sounded not unlike one of his ninken woke him up. Kakashi blinked his eyes into focus as Kazumi turned away from him. His hand that had been resting on her belly slid to her side, the bottom of her shirt rose slightly revealing milky white skin with a dash of purple. What?
Kakashi slid his hand up her side pulling the hem of her shirt. Dark bruises littered her side like ink blotches on fresh rice paper. His eyes trailed the spotted mess down to the band of her pants. He took his now shaky hand and lifted the band to see a couple more angry, purple bruises the size of his fist. His body shot straight up perturbed by the sight before him and shook her with an unsteady hand.
"Kazumi. Kazumi, wake up."
She groaned once into her pillow before peaking an eye at him. Kazumi turned onto her back and looked at him with tired eyes. "Uhn?"
"What ha- What happened?"
Kazumi blinked trying to get her out of her sleepy haze and when Kakashi saw that she wasn't registering he asked again, "What happened?" He pointed a finger to her mid drift in emphasis.
Looking down at his finger and then to her stomach, Kazumi gasped when her eyes came into focus on her bruised hip. Swiping her shirt higher she found that the bruises trailed up to just underneath her rib cage. Kakashi slid a hand on the waist band of her pants and pulled them down a bit to reveal more on the side of her upper thigh.
Kakashi watched her sigh with a look of disappointment on her face, waiting for his lover to explain her injuries. He kept his eyes up and away from the bruises, the mere look of them sending his blood into a simmer. "Explain," he signed, beginning to lose patience.
Sitting up slowly Kazumi let her shirt fall back down and twisted her body slowly so that she was facing him. "I visited one of the market streets once you left. There was an accident and I fell."
Kakashi squinted his eyes at her explanation. "That doesn't look like you just fell. Wait," Kakashi leaned over to flick on the bed side lamp. Though he could see her gestures clear enough with the cast of the glowing moon he figured it wasn't the same for her.
Kazumi gripped her hands together in her lap wondering how she should explain without making it seem like it was completely the cabbage man's fault. "I was exiting the street when amancamerunningwithacartfullofcabbagesandranrightintome! But I wasn't paying attention and-"
"Slow down, I can't-" Kakashi grabbed her hands with one and lifted her chin with the other. When he had her focused on his face he slowly spoke. "Too fast. I can't understand. Slow down."
Kazumi bit the bottom of her lip knowing that he wasn't going to like the explanation. She could only guess the fate of the poor cabbage man's life once Kakashi found out.
"A man pulling a cart full of cabbages ran into me. I was being careless and was not paying attention to my surroundings so I missed his warnings." Kazumi saw the squint in his eyes and looked down to see his hand fisted in the sheets and quickly added, "It wasn't entirely his fault! I should have been more attentive."
Kakashi looked at her in disbelief. "You can't be serious? Why are you defending him? Look at you." He gestured to her body and Kazumi looked down at the purple skin peeking out from her pajamas. She played with the hem of her shirt and gave him an open stare. Kakashi wiped a hand down his face gave a big sigh.
"How are you feeling?"
Kazumi gave a quick motion of her hands that read, "Stiff."
"I have a meeting with T-S-U-N-A-D-E tomorrow morning. Get this checked and I will come pick you up afterwards."
With a dejected look on her face Kazumi nodded her head and laid back down.
Hours into the night and well into the morning Kakashi laid wide awake and deep in thought. Though it didn't show, he had been in a silent rage all night since discovering Kazumi's injuries. He had many urges to get up and find this 'cabbage man' but a heavy weight resting on his arm kept him at bay. Kazumi slept like a rock and he couldn't find it in himself to disrupt her sleep in any manner and so suffered the lack of circulation from his arm to the rest of his body.
Kakashi looked over his shoulder at the clock and saw it was time to start his day. Stealthily, he pulled his arm out from underneath Kazumi's head and wiped the drool from his bicep. Kazumi was far from the sleeping beauty and he chuckled amused at the thought.
The heat of the morning sun rested on the skin of her eyelids. Kazumi blinked away the sleep from her eyes and looked to her right to see that the shades were drawn, no doubt having been Kakashi's doing. A cool breeze drifted in from the cracked window and she took a moment to take in the scent of the beautiful summer morning. Now wide awake and ready to start her day Kazumi made to get up from bed but immediately flopped back down in pain. Her joints were stiff, and she felt a slight throb against her side. The young woman groaned in annoyance. Today was going to be quite bothersome and she wasn't looking forward to it.
After 2 hard, debatable minutes Kazumi rolled off the bed to get dressed for the day. Her first stop, the hospital.
"Alright, Kazumi-san just remember to rest well and to ice whatever areas you can. Try to massage it lightly to encourage blood flow but stop immediately if it starts to hurt."
Kazumi gave her pink haired medic an enthusiastic nod of her head and was about to wave goodbye before Sakura interrupted.
"Oh, that's right. Don't forget you have an appointment scheduled next week for your-" Kazumi waved her hands in the air to get Sakura to stop talking. She grabbed the young medic's hand and patted it gently to show that she knew and understood. Hastily, Kazumi waved goodbye and walked out the front doors.
Taking in a deep breath the young dark-haired civilian contemplated what to do for the rest of her day when a head full of grey hair caught her eye in the distance. As if he felt her eyes land on him Kakashi turned around and greeted her with a crinkle of eye, his hand held in the air in 'hello.'
Quickened footsteps brought her near her lover and she brushed strands of hair from her face before signing, "What are you doing here?"
"I finished with my report and came to pick you up remember?"
Kakashi felt his heart skip when she gave him a warm smile. He could never get use to that, the way Kazumi showered him with affection with no regards. As much as he enjoyed it he couldn't help the way his body stuttered whenever she looked at him as if shocked that out of all the people in the world she noticed him.
"How did the appointment go?" Kakashi rested a hand on her waist and weaved them through crowds as she signed, most of her focus on her hand movements rather than where she was walking.
"Well. Lots of rest, ice, and massages. Maybe you can help me with that last one."
The joinin gave a breathy laugh and squeezed his hand on Kazumi's waist to pull her closer. His hand left her side to sign a quick, "I'd love to."
The rest of the walk went in comfortable silence. Kakashi led them further away from the bustling village and more towards the open spaces near one of the various training grounds. Kazumi picked a spot on the ground generously shaded by a large oak tree. She patted the ground next to her and instead Kakashi laid in the grass with his head propped on her lap.
It was completely natural when Kazumi rested her hands on his shoulders once he settled and looked out into the vast field of green. A small gust of wind blew through them and left behind the sound of rustling leaves. Kakashi opened an eye to look up only to find her thoughtful gaze focused on nothing. He closed his eye once more and the two of them remained there in quiet content.
It must have been some time later when he was brought back from his nap. Light, feathery touches traced down his jaw line and then back up to smooth over his brow. Without opening his eye Kakashi lifted his hands and lazily signed out a few words.
"I was worried you know."
He felt her huff out a puff of air.
"I'm fine, I promise." She spoke in her slurred speech.
Kakashi rose from her lap and pulled his mask down for her to see what he was trying to say.
"That isn't what I mean."
Kakashi saw the light in her eyes fade, and he almost regretted bringing up the topic but knew this was something they had to do. Since hearing about her literal run in at the market Kakashi was concerned with how she took in the incident and tried to blame herself for her handicap. He had to start at the root if he had any intentions on helping her move on.
The young woman turned her head away not liking the confrontation, "I-I don't- "
Kakashi grabbed her chin and gently turned her face forward. "We need to."
A feeling deep in the pit of her being seemed to hollow out as memories and scars began to resurface. Careful not to shed any tears Kazumi took a deep breath and nodded her head.
Finding that her hands wouldn't stop shaking she decided to speak with her voice, "When I saw you like that during the invasion it as if time had stopped. I didn't know what to do, what to say, or what to think except that I had died for the first time in that moment." Kazumi started tapping her fingers on her leg to distract herself from falling apart. Images of Kakashi's still body in the rubble flashed to the forefront of her mind. "Everything, including the blow, was so quick after that and the next thing I know…"
She gripped onto her skirt to steady her hands.
"The next thing I know is waking up in the hospital." Her faced turned solemn, devoid of any emotion as she recollected the moment she found out the love of her life was gone. "It was chaos and I hardly recognized where I was with the amount of injured people."
Kakashi glanced down to find her hands bunched in the fabric, her knuckles a boney white.
"I was told that as the days go by I would make a full recovery, eventually. First, it was the soreness in my chest, then the pain in my neck, my back, arms, legs… My hands. Everything started to come back to me except, except my hearing."
Kazumi choked down a sob and took a couple breaths before continuing. "Not until when things finally calmed down were they able to do a further examination. They informed me a few days later to tell me whatever it was that happened had caused irreversible damage making me deaf. I-hic,"
Kazumi took a moment of pause to gather herself. "What I felt then was exactly how I felt when I saw you. I died a second time that day.
"The third time was when the medics said they couldn't do anything about my hands. I would live the rest of my life with the trauma and would have to learn to adapt to a change in life style.
"Sakura stopped me from my fourth as you well know. I was so consumed in grief that I hadn't realized how selfish I was being. Not once did I visit you or even think to see you let alone the others. I had become my worst person and I didn't know how to come back from it. And so, I tried the first thing that came to mind in my grief-stricken state. I- "
As the pain became too much Kazumi broke out in tears. Her garbled sobs mixed in with her speech and Kakashi couldn't make a word of it. He sat patiently, waiting to see if there was any more she felt she had to tell him.
"Before this, I could never have imagine how much despair one could know in such a short time. But I feel like I've come a long way since then.
"Kakashi, despite your best efforts you have in a way become an outstanding role model. I should know because I would not be here talking to you if I hadn't followed your example." The young woman looked up with affection in her eyes and a small smile. "I honestly don't know what I'd do without you." Kazumi reach out to intertwine her hands with his. "And though I can no longer hear the world that I love so much I know it will always be within arm's reach."
In that moment, Kakashi felt a surge of emotion rise in his chest. He wasn't quite able to decipher each feeling but he would figure that out later. Now, he just wanted to be surrounded and engulfed in every thing that was Kazumi.
Not waiting a moment longer, Kakashi picked up his lover and shunshined them back to her home.