"Normal speech"
"Sign language"
Thoughts
"Kazumi sensei, why do you have so many flowers in here?"
The musician's finger dropped from the piano key and looked around the room at the array of bouquets that stood in buckets of shallow water. Ino asked Kazumi to house them while the flower shop made room for a large shipment.
"My friend Ino asked me to take care of them while she makes some room for more in her shop. Does the smell bother you?" Kazumi immediately asked, knowing that although the smells had no effect on her, the same couldn't be said for a certain ninja.
"No, I was just asking. "
The young woman caught on and smiled playfully. "Nice try, Hana-chan, but you're not getting out of this one. Did you practice as I told you to?"
The young girl's cheeks flushed in embarrassment. She stuck out her bottom lip in hopes of appealing to her teacher's soft side. "I did but I still can't get it. My fingers are all sore from the practicing." She flashed ten of her little fingers.
Kazumi tsk'd grabbed her hand to inspect it. "That won't work with me, young lady. You haven't been doing your hand exercises like I told you." She rubbed her thumb in the center of her palm and felt the little girl's hand relax a little.
"No, sensei." She looked down in shame while Kazumi gently exchanged hands.
Rubbing the fingers on the little girl's hand Kazumi took both and placed them on the keys. "Why don't we work on something a little less straining on the fingers?"
Hana's face lit up at the suggestion. "Like what, sensei?"
"We can play a game with scales! How does that sound?"
The young girl nodded her head with enthusiasm and the two continued the lesson. After a while, Hana's hands left the piano and laid them politely in her lap. Seeing this, Kazumi stopped to look at the girl expectantly. When the little girl saw that she had caught her sensei's full attention she spoke.
"Sensei, how come I haven't seen ninja-san in a while?"
"Ninja-san?" Kazumi gave her a bemused look. She chuckled at the nickname her student had given her fiancé. "Ah, ninja-san. You see, Ninja-san has a pretty sensitive nose and with all the flowers here the smells are a bit overwhelming for him."
Kazumi looked at her student with curiosity when Hana's face suddenly fell with her signature pouty lip. A dejected "oh" escaped her. Kazumi was about to question her, but Hana had returned to her cheery self, flashing a smile while placing her fingers on the piano once more.
"He'll be here next week though, right?"
Kazumi lifted her brows. Her thoughts coming together when she realized the sudden questions and mood from her little student. "Perhaps." The musician watched as her student's eyes lit with excitement, chuckling before returning to the lesson.
"It seems that I may have some competition."
Kakashi looked at Kazumi, his head tiled in silent question. "I think Hana-chan may have a little crush on you, Ninja-san."
A bit surprised, Kakashi pointed a finger to his chest and spoke without thinking, "Me?"
Kazumi laughed, the papers rustling in her movement. "She's got good taste, that one."
Kakashi smiled under his mask, watching Kazumi giggle in mirth. "It seems that my title of most eligible bachelor continues."
Kazumi snorted and playfully shoved her shoulder into his arm. "I'll see you at home, Ninja-san."
The next week Ino had come to retrieve all the flowers from Kazumi's shop and left behind a bouquet of Gladiolus, white hydrangeas, and curly willows. Kakashi stood casually against the counter waiting for Kazumi to finish up when a little girl walked up to him. The Jonin looked down to see her smiling up at him with big, round eyes.
Kakashi looked around to see if maybe her guardian may be nearby but there was no one else in the shop save for Kazumi who was somewhere in the back. He scratched his cheek and laughed awkwardly.
The little girl lit up like a Christmas tree when Ninja-san laughed. Her cheeks tinted red as she took one step closer to him.
Kakashi pressed himself further against the counter when she moved closer to him, the edge digging uncomfortably into his back. "You must be Hana-chan."
Hana's smile grew wider into a toothy one, her response filled with much enthusiasm. "Yes!" She clapped her hands together in front of her, pleased that Ninja-san knew her name.
Kakashi's eye grew wide when the little girl started to lean close to him. He slid to the side when she tried to lean in for a hug. The little girl tumbled forward when she held on to nothing but air, but that did not deter her, and the ninja started to panic when she turned to him with that same wide smile. Hana was about to attempt another hug when her sensei interrupted them.
"Hana-chan?" Kazumi looked with wide eyes at the two. Kakashi leaned almost backward over the counter, Hana standing in front of him with open arms. The musician snorted back a giggle. "Has your mother not come to pick you up yet, little one?"
The little girl dropped her hands and spun around to face her sensei. "No, Kazumi-sensei."
Kazumi walked over to the front door and peeked out the window. The sun was low in the sky and would begin to set soon. "That's strange. Well, why don't we go into the back for some snacks and tea while we wait?"
"Yes, please!" Hana-chan jumped with excitement and followed her sensei towards the back room.
Kakashi sighed in relief when the two disappeared. Rubbing the back of his neck he followed them.
Kazumi sat down on the bench with a pot of tea and scooted to the side to allow room for Hana with Kakashi sitting down across from her. Instead of sitting next to her sensei Hana flew into the spot right next to Ninja-san. The jonin stiffened at the proximity and Kazumi snorted. She had a feeling she would be doing a lot of that today.
The musician placed cookies on each of their plates and began sipping on her tea while watching closely at the two in front of her.
Kakashi grabbed his cup and immediately Hana's attention flew to his face. The faces of his three former students came to mind when he knew what the little girl was up to. He looked down to see her smiling up at him. He sighed into his cup.
"You should drink that before it gets cold," he said.
"Oh, I don't mind!"
Kakashi's brow twitched. He set his cup down and with little effort, he conjured a breeze to blow her napkin off the table. "Ah, you should probably get that."
Hana looked to see what Ninja-san was talking about. "Oh," she gasped and bent down to retrieve her napkin.
Kakashi took the opportunity to pull down his mask and down the contents of his cup. The scorching liquid burned his tongue and he made a slight noise of pain before gulping it down. Glad that his fiancé wouldn't hear the painful yelp he quickly downed his tea.
Kazumi tried to hide her smile by taking a sip but almost choked on her tea when she watched her fiancé painfully try to finish his.
Hana came up from underneath the table just as Ninja-san put his cup back on the table. She peeked over to see that it was empty and pouted in disappointment. Hana turned to her plate of cookies and her face lit up once more with another idea. She slid her plate closer to him. "Would you like some cookies?"
"Ahh…" Kakashi was sliding the plate back to her but stopped when he saw her quivering lip and quickly took the plate back. "Sure," he said and took a cookie.
Kazumi was desperately trying to hold her laughter. Her insides were dying from containing it and her face turned red. Kakashi slid a non-amused eye at her.
"Go on," his fiancé urged him.
Kakashi let out a tight smile that showed in his sole eye. "Ah, but first, Hana-chan, would you so kindly pour me another cup of tea."
The little girl gasped and jumped at the opportunity. "Of course!" She got up on his knees and reach for the kettle. It took most of her concentration to make sure she didn't spill any liquids while pouring her dear Ninja-san's tea.
Again, Kakashi took advantage of the distraction and quickly ate his cookie while Hana wasn't looking. Kazumi snorted from behind her cup, again.
"There you go- oh." Hana slouched in disappointment when she saw that Ninja-san had already finished his cookie. She sat down on her knees but smiled when Kakashi took the cup and thanked her.
Kazumi was enjoying this a little too much. She placed her cup on the table and looked at the clock on the wall. It had been about an hour since lessons ended and Hana's mother had yet to pick her up. Concern drew her face when Kazumi interrupted the little show before her. "Perhaps we should drop you off Hana-chan."
"Aww, " Hana cried and took her hands off Kakashi's sleeve. "Now?"
"Yes, it's getting late and I'd like to get you home before dark."
Kazumi watched her little student pout and Kakashi slip his mask down to finish his tea. The musician giggled, "Let's clean up."
Everyone walked back to the front of the store with Hana-chan all bundled up for the walk home.
"I think it would be best if I stayed behind in case her mother shows up. Do you mind taking Hana-chan home?"
"What?"
"Yaay!" Hana jumped up and down with glee.
"Pleeease," Kazumi grabbed his hand and squeezed tightly. "She'll be safer with you and I can walk Shiori-san back when she arrives. I wouldn't want little Hana-chan to walk in the dark." She let go of his hand to sign something in private, "I'll make it up to you tonight."
Kakashi's brow lifted in amusement. "That won't work every time you know."
Kazumi's eyes narrowed at his challenge. A mischievous smile grew on her lips then. "Hana-chan, don't forget your folder."
"Oh yeah! One sec!" The little girl hurried to the practice rooms to get her music folder.
Kazumi waited for Hana to disappear into the hallway before grabbing the Jonin by his collar and yanking him towards her. Her hand left his collar and grabbed his hand to place it firmly on one of her breasts. Her other hand pulling down his mask before she captured his lips aggressively.
Kakashi was too shocked to respond but fire struck his groin when she squeezed his hand covering her breast making her moan into his mouth. Kakashi swallowed it and was about to reciprocate her aggressive tongue dancing wildly in his mouth when she suddenly moved away.
Hana skipped back to the front. "I'm back!"
Kakashi was waiting by the front door. Hana could see that the small amount of exposed skin on his face had turned red. She walked up to him hugging her folder close. "Ninja-san, is everything alright?"
"Y-yes." He sputtered. "Time to go home now." Kakashi held the door open for the little girl to walk through. The two walked into the cold leaving behind the smirking shop owner.
The young girl skipped happily next to her escort. "I know the way home so just follow me!" She flashed him a wide grin.
Kakashi scratched his cheek in an uncomfortable gesture. "Lead the way."
Thankfully, the walk to Hana-chan's home was mostly quiet. Kakashi was beginning to think the little girl wasn't so bad after all. Sure, she snuck a few glances or two that were completely obvious but for the most part, he enjoyed the mutual silence. Kakashi began to look at his surroundings and noticed that they had walked quite a ways from the shop.
"Hana-chan, your home is pretty far from the shop. Do you and your mother walk to your lessons every week?"
"Uh huh! Mama says Kazumi sensei is the best and wants me to learn as much as I can from her."
Kakashi felt a small swell of pride in his chest, his smile hidden beneath his mask.
"I agree. Kazumi is very good at what she does."
There was a bit of silence as Hana was debating about something. Kakashi saw her look of contemplation and waited to hear what she had to say.
"Ninja-san," she asked. "Why do you call sensei Kazumi and not Kazumi-san?" Her skipping slowed down to short fast-paced strides, still trying to keep up with the long-legged ninja.
Kakashi shortened his stride both to accommodate and a little shocked at the question. "Well, you see…" he started but paused think about how much he should tell her, hopefully without hurting the young girl's feelings. "Your sensei and I are… together."
"Together?" She looked up at him with huge eyes full of innocent curiosity.
"U-uhh…" Cute, he thought but was taken aback by it and shook it off. "Kazumi and I are a couple."
"Like my mama and papa?" Hana asked this time with what looked like stars in her big blue eyes.
"Hmm, almost but not quite."
Hana's nose scrunched up in confusion. "What does that mean?"
Kakashi sighed and took a quick look around. "Hana-chan, are we still going the right way?"
The little girl broke from her musing to glance at her surroundings. "Yeah! That's Yumi-baa san's shop! We're almost home."
Kakashi looked up the street to where she was pointing to and saw a little hut with smoke coming from the back. "What kind of shop is it?" He asked in hopes of changing the subject.
"It's a yakitori shop! They make really good food. Sometimes mama and I will stop by to get some for papa after lessons."
"I see."
Although Kakashi was successful at diverting the topic of him and Kazumi he was filled with speculation about the part of town Hana lived in. The buildings they passed were worn down, some with broken glass on the windows and others boarded up with planks of wood. Small carts scattered the side of the street with people selling homemade crafts or snacks.
The area had a feeling of abandon to it, but it was quite the opposite with people walking up and down the road. Workers calling from the door of their establishments yelling out discounts to attract customers and old ladies bargaining for vegetables. The place was far from the splendor of the part of town he frequented and though Kakashi was not at all ignorant to these parts it still moved him a little to walk through them. Now he knew why Kazumi didn't want Hana walking at night.
The two came up to a dirt road that led to a small house. It looked to be about the same size as Kazumi's old home which was just roomy enough for two adults. There was a garden out front with what appears to be now dead flowers.
"Papa isn't home until later, so we can wait on the porch until mama gets here."
Hana took a seat at the edge of the engawa, swinging her legs while patting the surface next to her.
Kakashi hesitated and was about to refuse, but she patted the spot next to her again but this time a little harder.
"C'mon Ninja-san!"
The jonin sighed and took a seat a little farther from where she indicated. The little girl pouted at the distance between the two but didn't move to get closer.
"So, about you and Kazumi sensei."
Kakashi sighed again knowing where this conversation was going.
"I am so sorry, Kazumi-san!"
A woman bowed at almost a ninety-degree angle. Kazumi laughed and quickly helped the woman to stand straight, a little embarrassed by the gesture.
"Please, Shiori-san, do not worry about it. It was no trouble at all."
"Work ran a little late. We had a last minute shipment come in that wasn't supposed to till tomorrow. I am so sorry."
Kazumi patted the woman gently on the shoulder and nodded her head. She was able to make out most of what Shiori was saying but with her speaking so fast some of it flew by her.
"It's ok," Kazumi stressed. "I asked Kakashi to walk her home. We should get going before the sun sets."
Shiori looked up at the musician and gasped. "He actually did that?"
Kazumi nodded her head as the two walked out the door.
"I wonder how that went."
The musician locked up the shop and turned to hook arms with Shiori. "I guess we'll find out."
The two women giggled arm in arm.
"So, you and sensei are like my mama and papa, but you're not married, and you don't have a baby, right?"
"Right."
Kakashi took a second to blink hard before rubbing his left temple.
"So, you're dating."
"That's what I've been trying to say."
"But you didn't actually say it."
"Did I have to? I thought you would understand."
"Oh, I understood you completely fine."
"Wh-," Kakashi sat up in attention and squinted an eye at the little girl. "Then why did you- ".
"I'm 7, not 4. I've been told I catch on to things fast."
"So then why…"
Hana leaned back on her hands and began kicking her feet in the air. "I just wanted to see if you would actually say it."
Exhausted, Kakashi leaned over with his elbows resting against his legs.
"Why don't you say it? Why is it so hard for you to?"
The jonin turned a lazy eye to Hana. The young girl stopped her kicking and sat up straight while turning her body to fully face the Jonin. "Kazumi sensei is the most amazing person I've ever met besides mama, of course. I don't see why you wouldn't want to tell the whole world that you're together."
Kakashi's eyebrow lifted in peaked interest. "And if I were to, how, pray tell, do you propose I do that."
"I don't know." Hana looked down, trying to come up with an answer. "Oh! Sometimes I see people write their initials on things with a heart around it. Like K+K and then a pretty heart. That way everybody that walks by it will know."
"A pretty heart, huh."
"Yeah, I bet Kazumi sensei would love that."
"And how would you know that?"
"Because she talks about you a lot."
Kakashi perked up, interest showing in his tone of voice. "Oh? Like what?"
Hana caught on to it and smiled. "Oh, this and that."
"I know you're doing this on purpose. Just spill it."
"What's in it for me?"
"You know, you're not as angelic as Kazumi seems to think you are."
"Did you forget that Satoshi sensei is my actual instructor and Kazumi sensei is only filling in for him?"
"Ah, I didn't know that." Kakashi began to understand a little of where her boldness was starting to come from. Satoshi was pretty forward when it came to what was on his mind. "So, your crus-," he stopped before he could get ahead of himself.
"My what?" Hana asked.
"Nothing."
An awkward silence followed. The two looked out, to Kakashi's surprise, into the beautiful view of the sunset.
"Are you gonna do it?" Hana asked.
"Do what?" The jonin asked lazily.
"Write your names somewhere with hearts around them."
"Uhh, no."
"Why nooooot?"
"Because."
"Because whyyyyy?" Hana whined.
"Why are you hung up about this?" Kakashi finally asked, a bit annoyed.
"Because even though she talks about you all the time she never talks about the things you do for her. I always hear her talk about what she plans to make for dinner, or surprising you at work, or getting you new pants because you keep ripping your old ones." Kakashi flinched at the last one.
Hana had a stern look in her eye then. She crossed her arms in a way that would have been intimidating if not for her age. "I'm not stupid. I lied to Koji-san about the shipment date which caused mama to get off work late. And Kazumi sensei is too nice to let me walk home at night especially living in this part of town. I knew you would come by the shop to pick up sensei when Yamanaka-san came to pick up her flowers."
Kakashi sat completely still, shocked. "So, all this..."
"Like I said, I'm 7, not 4."
Kakashi sent a suspicious glare towards the little girl but found that it did not affect her in the least. "Who are you?"
Hana chose not to answer and turned away with a triumphant smirk.
Kakashi watched her face do a complete 180 when a wide smile replaced the mischievous one.
"Look, it's mama and sensei!"
Hana got up on her feet and jumped up and down, arms waving in the air to grab the attention of the two women.
Shiori and Kazumi walked up to the house and the former embraced her daughter while Kakashi stood to walk over to his fiancé.
"Thank you so much for walking my little Hana home," Shiori spoke.
"Don't mention it. We had uh," Kakashi looked down to Hana who stood slightly behind her mother. The little girl gave him two oblivious blinks. "An interesting time."
Shiori saw the interaction and looked down at her daughter for confirmation but Hana sent her a sweet smile. "That's… good! Oh, Kazumi is there anything I owe for the lessons? I know you teach the advanced classes but with having to sub in for Satoshi I can't help but think I should compensate for your time."
Kazumi looked a bit surprised. "Don't even think about it. It was a pleasure teaching Hana-chan again. The both of us had fun, didn't we Hana-chan?"
"Oh, yes!" the little girl shouted in delight.
"Just make sure to bring her back next week for lessons. Satoshi should be back by then."
"Of course." Shiori took Kazumi's hand and shook it earnestly. "Thank you, again."
The women let go and Kazumi turned to Kakashi. "Ready to go?"
The jonin's eye crinkled in a smile and the two turned back to the path that would lead them home.
Kakashi had not taken two steps before he felt a tug on his shirt. The Jonin looked down to see Hana look up at him.
"Remember, hearts." The little girl whispered. She let go and ran back to her mother who waited at the door.
"What was that all about?" Kazumi asked.
"Nothing." She sent him a suspicious look. Kakashi didn't respond as he bent slightly to pick up his fiancé and hold her close to his chest. " You shouldn't worry your pretty little head about it especially when you have a promise to uphold," he whispered across her lips.