Author's Note: Enjoy!
Chapter 6:
Miranda sat abruptly down on the edge of the bathtub. What had she done? What had she unleashed on the unsuspecting female world? She licked her lips. He'd dozed off for only a moment when the devilish thought had burst into her head, and before she'd been able to stop herself, she'd acted on it. Now the Kakashi look-a-like was glaring at himself in the mirror, looking ready to strangle someone-her.
He swung around, fist on his hips. She clutched the edge of the tub. Oh, Lord, he was even more devastating in person than on any poster. There was something... intangible, slightly dangerous about him.
"Stop staring at me," he said between tightly clenched teeth.
"Huh?" she said. The room was suddenly way too small and way too hot.
"Not you, too."
Miranda's back stiffened at his haughty tone. It matched the haughty face she just recently uncovered. "I beg your pardon?" What does that mean? Not me, too?"
"I do not need-nor wish-your attention."
"Well!" She shot off her seat and ducked under his arm, escaping to the clearer air of the living room. All her pictures rocked askew as he thumped after her. " If that isn't the most conceited comment I've ever heard. I-I-I was just checking out the wound on your chin. It's terrible."
His hand went to his head. His haughty look vaporized to one of confusion. "My chin? Then why is my beard gone!"
"It was a pretty scruffy beard plus how am I going to get a good look at the wound in question. Here." She pulled out a chair. "Sit down and let me fix your hair. If I didn't know better, I'd say you really were crossing the ice fields-without a hat."
She whipped a comb out of her purse and separated the dry, broken strands of hair at his brow. She tried to ignore the fact that he was frowning at the center of her chest again. Of course the last time he'd stared at her chest, he fallen asleep-not much of a compliment.
"So what did you want in Atlantic City? she asked to distract him, but when he looked up, her hands fumbled at her chore. His charcoal color eye was fringed with dark lashes.
"I am seeking my friend Rin," he said, interrupting her thoughts on eyelashes.
"Of course you are. Makes perfect sense." Miranda mumbled sarcastically under her breath.
Kakashi continued on without comment on Miranda tone. " She possesses a dagger I must retrieve and return to the Hokage. I would not tell you this, except that I fear that without someone's assistance, I would become lost searching for Rin."
She was lost, almost focused on the eerily red and black eye that made her think possible he really was Kakashi. But that was impossible and she shook the thought away.
"Uh, what? A dagger? What kind?" She forced her mind to focus on what he was saying. His hair was very thick and heavy in her hand, like skein of rough silk.
" A jeweled dagger. About this long." He spread his hands about a foot apart. "Tis just a trifling piece."
His board shoulders rippled as he shrugged and she almost sighed aloud. She knew the knife he wanted. Maggie her friend gave her a cryptic clue that one day someone would come looking for the dagger.
"If the dagger's is not worth much, then why do you want it?"
"That is not something I can tell an untrained woman." His eyes dropped to her chest again; his frown deepened . Despite the cold words, she did not sense that he was insulting her. Warrior rarely trusted civilians.
Whoa. He is not from Konoha. He is not really looking for a dagger. He is-- What is he?
a confused cover model sent from the agency? A wacky fan? Or.... An idea burst over her. Maybe he was payback.
Payback for inviting a gang of Naruto's cosplayers to her friends Maggie wedding. Maybe she and her husband were playing a practical joke on her-bent on making her think this guy was really from Konoha and then-zing-he'd whip out a cell phone and call them to tell them she'd been well and truly suckered.
The idea made more and more sense. Her friend had sworn vengeance. After all , the fans had been a tad disruptive at the wedding. Wondering why a Rin look-a-like was not marrying Kakashi look-a-like. So she'd forgotten to tell the group about the resemblance. So a fight broken out... Well, there was no way she was giving the Kakashi look-a-like the dagger and playing right into his practical-joking hands-not that they weren't really nice hands.
However, it might be fun to go along with the joke and somehow turn it back on Maggie and her husband.
"This knife you're seeking is it sacred?" she asked, smoothing his hair through her fingers, checking his body for a lump that might indicate a concealed cell phone. No. She'd seen him naked and taken his clothing away with her own hands.
"No, the dagger has no holy meaning."
"Okay. Don't tell me why the knife's important."
"Okay." He mouthed the word as if he were taking part in a language experiment. "What are you doing to my hair?" His eyes crossed to peer up at her hands."
"I'm trying to tame it."
"Sit still." She shoved down on his shoulders. It was like pressing on a steel girder. "There is no way I'm taking someone as messy as you to a ball."
Color heated her cheeks from her misplaced indignation. His head could have be shaved and he'd be spectacular.
Kakashi hair finally fell back into it standard place. Good old-fashioned common lust raced right through her. She bit her lip in determination. He was not going to be right. Women might fall over him, but she was not going to be one of them. Ever.
She made a decision; practical joker, agency model, or nut case, she would go along with his contention that he was Kakashi until the ball was over. Eventually he'd step out of his role, and she'd tell him she'd known what he was up to all along.
In the meantime, if she could get him to the Music Pier, her ball would go down in history as the best Naruto ball ever.
End Note: Okay this may not been the best chapter ever but I had to get a move on with the plot. Hopefully it was not to bad I promise it will get better. mnmonroe