Chapter 9
Beta'd by Black Sparrow
There was a reason why Shiori always used well populated areas in the evening and tried to be home before a certain time. During the years spent in Konoha her admirers had become bolder and bolder with their affection which made Shiori incredible uncomfortable and wary. None of them were even close to what she thought her partner should be and so she kept on declining, which unfortunately made them angry, disappointed and in some cases even aggressive. So when Shiori had to leave the tea house later than normally she already had a bad feeling about the evening. The black haired young civilian tried to reach her home as fast as possible when she was halted by Sousuke-san, the apprentice of a baker that lived close to the market district.
"Shiori-chan wait!" the obviously drunk man slurred while he grabbed for her arm.
With a hasty sidestep Shiori could thankfully escape his grab attack and then the female desperately tried to find a way around the big obstacle.
To distract the man in front of her Shiori said, "Sousuke-san I told you to stop calling me in such a familiar way, it's Inoue-san to you."
"Oh come on, Shiori-chan. I know that you like me," came the indignant voice of the male in front of her.
"I certainly do not, Sousuke-san. Now good night!" Shiori said in a definite tone before she tried to walk past the drunk man.
"NO, you are not LEAVING!" the drunk shouted after Shiori's dismissal and grabbed the civilian's wrist in a painfully hard grip.
Sousuke-san man wasn't much taller than her but he sure had a lot more body mass and strength than the sixteen year old. Desperate Shiori tried to free herself from his grip and when that wasn't working she tried to call for help which was abruptly stopped by Sousuke's backhand slap to her face.
Shiori tasted blood.
"Now listen here you bitch! You are mine, I have been chasing you for three years now and I have enough of this game of cat and mouse, you will…" but he couldn't finish his sentence before he sagged together and nearly squashed Shiori under him.
The weight was nearly immediately lifted of her form and Shiori stared with tear filled eyes at Hatake Kakashi. A single whimper escaped her when Sousuke's grip around her wrist finally slackened and she could pull the hand back to her body.
"Are you alright?" the deep voice asked in a serious manner.
Shiori could only shrug her shoulders, tears were running down her face and she was fighting to keep her composure. Her mind was frantically imagining what could have happen if the shinobi in front of her hadn't stopped the now unconscious drunk and it made her want to curl up.
The silver haired shinobi in front of her took in her swollen wrist as well as the fast swelling cheek and the blood that was running down the corner of her mouth and his gaze darkened. It was one thing to injure someone in a fight but forcing oneself onto a petite civilian girl? Kakashi had to suppress the urge to kill the rat bastard, had he been anywhere else he would have killed the man and be done with it but this was his home town and so he swallowed his homicidal thoughts down and returned his attention to the shaking civilian in front of him.
"May I have your name Miss?" Kakashi asked in a non-threatening voice while cataloged her reactions.
"I-Inoue Shiori," came the somewhat reflexive answer of the black haired woman while she stared wide eyed up at him.
"Nice to meet you Inoue-san, my name is Hatake Kakashi, I am a Jounin. Do you think you can walk? The police station is only a block away." Kakashi's voice had subconsciously taken on a softer tone while he tried to reassure the clearly traumatized woman in front of him.
Dealing with scared civilian women wasn't his strength but he knew enough to not demand that she came with him and unintentionally made the situation worse than it already was.
"I-I…yes thank you Hatake-san," the black haired young woman said before she distractedly wiped her tears with the back of her uninjured hand away.
Kakashi just nodded before he flung the unconscious excuse of a man over his shoulder and started to move in the direction of the police station. The woman was lucky that he had taken this route today and had seen the bastard hit her. Kakashi halted in his thoughts when with the next breeze her scent was blown into his direction, the silver haired Jounin discreetly inhaled deeply and felt his body unconsciously react, even with the pain and fear clouding her natural scent it was appealing to him. Kakashi couldn't help but wonder how she would smell when she was happy or aroused. Immediately after thinking that the shinobi scolded himself, he had no business fantasizing about a civilian, especially not after she went through such a traumatic event.
The strange group arrived at the station only five minutes later, the working Chunins on that evening stared flabbergasted for a second at the well-known Jounin and the timid and battered looking woman in front of them before their looks hardened when they noticed the unconscious man slung over Kakashi's shoulder.
A black haired female chunin walked closer to Shiori and asked, "Miss? Would you please come with me? I would like to take a look at your injuries."
Unconsciously Shiori looked up to Kakashi to check his reaction, the older man reflexively nodded in response and waved his hand in direction of the medic-nin. Feeling reassured Shiori accompanied the older female into a side room where she was examined briefly before her injuries were photographed and then healed, Shiori watched fascinated as the woman's hands glowed in a bright green light. After her injuries were taken care of the civilian was escorted into a smaller side room where Kakashi was already waiting for her.
The Jounin took another discreet deep breath and nearly groaned; now that the pain and most of the shock was gone Inoue-san's scent was mouthwatering. He also had finally the opportunity to take a good look at her in a well lit room. Well, Kakashi thought sardonically, he certainly couldn't fault that bastard for his taste. Inoue-san had the typical delicacy of a noble's daughter. Combined with her electrifying blue eyes and midnight colored hair she probably attracted attention wherever she went. Kakashi was ripped out of his musings when the interview started.
"What is your name and occupation?" the Chunin asked in a neutral voice while he watched Shiori's reactions, his colleague on the side was writing down a protocol.
"My name is Inoue Shiori. I am the owner of a tea shop close to the stadium," Inoue-san answered honestly, her tone of voice clued the ninja's in that she was still slightly shaken after her encounter.
"What were you doing out so late?" the Chunin continued calmly. The questions were standard but Kakashi felt the irrational urge to scold the Chunin in front of him for asking in such an accusing way, Inoue-san hadn't done anything wrong after all.
"I was held back in the tea house because a supply delivery arrived very late today and the kitchen will need it tomorrow. So I checked it for faults before repacking it and closing up." Inoue-san's voice was now getting surer while she talked about her profession.
"Do you know the man that attacked you?" the Chunin asked while he carefully watched her face for any clues.
The civilian's face darkened into a scowl. "Yes, his name is Sousuke Yamato-san he is an apprentice baker in the market district and has been making advances at me for the past three year although I have told him again and again that I'm not interested," the last part was said in a clearly frustrated voice.
Kakashi scowled, men that didn't understand when a lady said no were the worst in his opinion, they were placed right after Konoha missing-nin on his mental list of people that could go and die.
"So what happened exactly?" the Chunin prompted.
"He started with calling me Shiori-chan although I have forbidden him to use my name so familiarly and tried to grab my arm. The first time I could elude his grip but when I tried to run past him he caught my wrist and squeezed hard before he pulled me closer to him. I then tried to scream for help for which he slapped me. The next thing I remember is that he was suddenly unconscious and Hatake-san lifted him off me." Inoue-san's voice had distinctly become higher while she remembered what happened, her eyes had an ominous shine to it that promised that tears were in the civilian's near future.
The chunin across from her had finally enough information and thanked Shiori for the statement before he had her sign it. She then was informed that they would wait until her attacker was sober the following day to persecute him.
Shiori just nodded at that before she turned around to Kakashi, the HATAKE KAKASHI and thanked him for his help. The Jounin in front of her had taken on a more relaxed pose and just waved aside her gratitude. He then left the police station while a chunin escorted Shiori back home and advised her to invest in better locks and to not stay out late if she could avoid it.
The next day after having recovered from the shock, Shiori was determined to thank Kakashi for his help even if he tried to refuse it, Shiori felt it was her obligation. Even more though it was her innate curiosity that was urging her to meet the person that had been one of her favorite characters in the Naruto manga, Shiori was interested in how similar the character and the real life version really were. So when she saw Izumo with some of his colleagues sometime before lunch, Shiori saw her chance and so walked over to their table.
"Is everything in order?" Shiori asked when she arrived at the table.
As an answer the young tea house owner received enthusiastic nods and smiles from the whole group.
"Yes, thank you. Inoue-san, can we help you with something?" Izumo asked curious, he was the only one that wasn't stuffing his face at the moment and that was because he had put down his fork to drink some tea.
"I… Kamizuki-san do you know Hatake Kakashi-Jounin?" Shiori asked tentatively.
Izumo looked now a bit guarded, while he replied, "Yes why?"
Around the table the other chunin now watched the interaction somewhat tense, as ninja they were naturally suspicious if somebody enquired after their colleagues, especially someone so distinguished like Hatake, on the other hand they were quite aware of the effect their comrade could have on females, though it DID bother them somewhat that Inoue-san was also susceptible to his charms.
"He saved me yesterday from a drunk civilian and I would like to thank him for his intervention," explained a somewhat embarrassed Shiori.
The shinobi around the table relaxed again, they had heard rumors about Kakashi helping a civilian woman the other night but they hadn't expected it to be Inoue-san.
"Is everything alright, are you hurt?" Izumo now asked concerned, his eyes rapidly traveled her body up and down, searching for visible signs of injuries.
Shiori just smiled and reassured the kind chunin, "Don't worry, the medic-nin on duty healed everything up...So is there a possibility that you see him today?"
"Yes, he will probably be at the Jounin room afterwards," Izumo confirmed.
Shiori bit her lip. "I hate to be a bother but could you give him something for me?"
"Of course, that won't be a problem Inoue-san," Izumo agreed readily.
Shiori sighed relieved and smiled. "Thank you," and with that said she left the chunin table.
After paying, Izumo walked over to Shiori to tell her that they were leaving; said civilian nodded and quickly made her way to the kitchen dome to retrieve a carefully wrapped Bento. Izumo's eyes went wide but he refrained from saying anything and instead carefully took the package before he nodded at her and left the tea house. The Chunin group eyed the carefully wrapped package curiously while they walked unhurried to the ninja administration building. Sometime during this walk the shinobi started to complain to each other about the unfairness that Kakashi was receiving a bento from Shiori. All of them ignored the fact that it was only meant as a thank you for her rescue.
When they arrived in the Jounin room, Kakashi was already lounging there and looked absorbed in his book. Izumo carefully put it in front of him and then waited until Kakashi finally looked up to eye the Chunin group around him that watched him intently and then the homemade bento in front of him.
"Izumo…please don't take this the wrong way but I like girls," Kakashi said nonchalantly and a tad too innocent.
"Hah bloody hah, Hatake," Izumo said while his eyebrow twitched. "We were at Mariko's today and Inoue-san gave us this for you as a thank you for yesterday evening."
"Hhm, interesting." Kakashi hummed while he made no attempt to open the Bento, he was enjoying the curious tension of his kouhais too much to give into his own curiosity just yet.
"Come on Kakashi open it, we want to know what she packed into it!" Okei finally broke down and exclaimed loudly.
"Hhm…oh well." Kakashi put his book aside before he slowly opened the cloth.
There were three containers, neatly stacked on each other and on the first was a sticky note that read, 'Thank you very much for your help.' Inside of the first were three dishes, karaage, salmon teriyaki and tempura meticulously separated from each other and arranged quite tastefully. The delicious smell that waved from the small box turned every head in the room. Kakashi grinned in his mind and made a mental happy dance. It had been a long while, if ever, since he had eaten such a delicious looking bento from a pretty girl, without her having ulterior motives. The second container was filled with two colored rice, the one side plain white, the other one silver colored just like his hair and over both sides was sesame sprinkled, it looked even artistic in its simplicity and Kakashi could practically feel the jealousy around him increase, which made this thank you gift only better for him. When he opened the last compartment he was a bit confused, he had never seen such snacks before. His musings were interrupted when Izumo and Okei made frustrated noises beside him while Hayase's eyes went wide and he shouted.
"That's…I can't believe it. Okei, Izumo look! That is not made from the cook at Mariko's, that's from Inoue-san herself, only she makes these elaborate decorations and there are even some pieces that I have never seen in the display case." Hayase eyes went even wider when he came to the only conclusion this led to and he looked frantically from container to container. "That means…"
And all three chunin shouted at the same time, "IT'S HOMEMADE!"
This time Kakashi couldn't suppress the grin that stole itself on his face before he lightning fast packed the containers together once more and had the cloth back on it.
"Ma, look at the time looks like I have to go." With a cheerful hand wave he vanished through the door.
"Hatake you bastard, SHARE!" came the frustrated shouts from the ninja room before a chuckling Kakashi shunshined away, he had a Bento to eat.