Chapter 15

After finishing with cleaning Kakashi' gear somewhat, Shiori walked into the kitchen once more and hastily checked if she had left anything burning before she followed her lover up into the master bedroom.

There she took the sleeping pants Kakashi always used from under his pillow and removed the first aid kit from under the bed. She had bought it not long after getting together with the silver haired Jounin and since then had bought quite a few additions and regularly stocked up on bandages, generic antidotes and salves.

Kakashi had insisted on taking over some of the household expenses for her after he realized how much money he was saving thanks to eating at her place most of the time. They, after some light arguing, had finally agreed that half of the money Kakashi was saving each month from not having to buy take out would contribute to Shiori's expenses. The groceries which were bought in bulk at the market were much cheaper than the food at the restaurants, even though Shiori now had to buy drastically increased amounts of groceries to feed Kakashi's high Jounin metabolism, there was still some money left each month.
Shiori used this money to buy the first aid kits that she distributed around the house and depending if she had to stock up further first aid supplies in the respective month she used the remaining ryo to take care of a part of the electricity bill.
At first Kakashi had still felt uneasy about the, for him comparatively, small sum. To ease his mind Shiori had collected the exact numbers she spent for some weeks on a sheet before listening them off and showing Kakashi the balance. The sheet helped the stubborn silver haired Jounin to accept that he really didn't mooch off on her and so he finally acquiesced and left the topic alone.

A side effect of showing him her skills with money was that after some careful and probably paranoid considerations on his part he gave her an estimate of the costs of a high Jounin, the pay that he received as well as his fixed expenses. It took Shiori some time to also figure in potential down time if he was injured or if there was a decrease in high ranking missions but in the end she could give him some tips that would help him keep track of his expenses more thoroughly and plan for other eventualities like injuries.

During one of their conversations the topic of investments had crept up somehow, Kakashi had only shrugged his shoulders, yes he had heard about it but he had never taking advantage of it. The silver haired Jounin had just put all of the money he had left over from his missions into a savings account and that was that.
Shiori, having the memories of Eliza who had lived in a world in which investing and playing with the stock market were somewhat of a national sport for those who could afford it, was aghast about this wastefulness. Kakashi was one of the top earners in Konoha and his money was only collecting a small percentage of interest in his saving account.
As a response she had put together a list of her own 'safe' investments distributed all over Fire country and had plainly handed it over to Kakashi the next day with explaining that he could invest into them without ever shining up as part owner. Throughout lunch she had then given him a short overview about the business side of the Fire country and the do's and don'ts she had learned about since becoming Inoue-san's housekeeper and later benefactor. To be honest Shiori quite liked that the roles of who was teaching whom were reversed for a change.
During that afternoon Kakashi showed her for the first time his prodigy side, he had picked up everything lightning fast and was hours later already implementing what he had learned on that day and thinking at least five steps ahead. He had done as she had advised him and invested in different companies before handing over the complete legal jargon to a lawyer, in this case Atsuka-san who was her own lawyer.

A few weeks after that Shiori also learned about the draw backs of a prodigy, Kakashi had picked up everything so easily and fast that he was now bored with the whole concept and just turned to other things that were more interesting. Shiori was horrified when she realized what was going on; she knew that financial matters could go spectacular wrong if left alone too long. You never ever NOT check your investments and search for better deals or jump off if you think it becomes too dangerous to keep this or that share. Thankfully she could convince the silver haired Jounin to at least give Atsuka-san authority to pull out of investments and sell shares if he felt that they were not profitable anymore and the shinobi was out of the village.

Bullet dodged.

Coming out of her memories Shiori walked into the bath of the master bathroom. Entering the humid room her eyes landed on the motionless form of the silver haired Jounin in the shower. Kakashi was just standing there under the hot water jet, leaning slightly against the tiles and staring at nothing. Now getting really concerned the black haired civilian put Kakashi's pants and the first aid kid on the sink before she removed her own clothes, opened the shower and slipped in. Shiori paused for a moment to wait for Kakashi to acknowledge her, after she was sure the shinobi had noticed her she stepped closer and her gaze trailed down his form. He hadn't washed his hair or body yet and just stood motionless under the water, letting the water ray carry away the blood.
This was the worst state she had seen Kakashi in since they had met.
Taking initiative Shiori carefully touched the Jounin's pectorals and gliding from his chest to other body parts, the civilian could feel the powerful muscles under her hands tensing and relaxing, she kept this light contact up before she reached for the shampoo and washed his hair and body without a word. The blue eyed young woman took extra care to not further irritate his partly open wound before cleaning of the last of the soap suds off both of them.
She then led Kakashi out of the shower where she hastily wrapped a towel around her body and then toweled his still nearly unresponsive form off before making him sit down on the chair beside the sink. Shiori had moved it into the bathroom for the sole purpose of serving as easy seating for her lover after more strenuous missions and was silently congratulating herself for the idea before opening the first aid kit.

In the last two months Shiori had taken classes at the hospital about first aid and dressing wounds. The black haired civilian had seen Kakashi's stubbornness concerning the hospital first hand only a week after they first started dating and so had been sure that she would need that knowledge sooner or later. Inwardly she was now thanking every deity that she hadn't delayed the course for some time later in their relationship.
Shiori cleaned and bandaged Kakashi's injuries as well as she could before said civilian cajoled the nearly puppet like shinobi into his sleeping pants and then took him to bed.

The blue eyed woman had held him the whole night; only taking small naps herself while watching over his fitful sleep and the nearly constant nightmares. She had taken more than once a, for a civilian, forceful blow to her body but refused to let go out of principle. Kakashi needed the human contact and care at that moment and she was determined to give it to him, a few bruises wouldn't deter her from her goal.

When she awoke on the next morning it was to an empty bed, Kakashi was already up.

Shiori made her way down into the kitchen and on her way she noticed that the whole house was warm unlike she had feared the night before. Kakashi must have put some more wood into the fire early on that day. The tea house owner's lover sat on one of the breakfast bar chairs and was digging into the food she had prepared the day before. He seemed to be concentrating on the food in front of him but Shiori was certain that he had probably known that she was awake the moment she got out of bed. When the seventeen year old started to cross the room in direction of the kitchen area Kakashi glanced up and attempted a smile that was more of a grimace and didn't quite reach his eyes. Shiori came to a halt slightly beside and behind her Jounin and kissed him tenderly on the cheek before her arms encased him for a moment and then she joined him in eating leftovers for breakfast.

After cleaning up behind themselves the two sat down on the couch with their respective books for the day. Since spending more time in her home Kakashi had taken to her library like a fish to water and the Jounin had even started to buy books that he thought would make good additions to it. Funnily enough most of it wasn't porn, although she was sure that she now had quite the collection of said erotica hidden on the highest corner shelf under, what she suspected was, a light Genjutsu with the way her eyes normally glided over this part of the shelf.

Not even ten minutes into reading Kakashi let the book sink into his lap and he looked somewhat forlorn out of the window while he said, "I'm sorry that you had to see this."

Shiori put her own book aside with a sigh before she turned completely to Kakashi and stared so long until he looked into her eyes. At this moment she HATED the way his face became so carefully blank even without a mask. Yesterday night had strengthened her resolve in telling him about her feelings, Shiori would make damn sure that he knew it and had no chance of pulling away from her.

"I love you, Hatake Kakashi." Shiori said simply while she took his hands into hers, "I love you and seeing you like this changes nothing."

Kakashi's visible eye had become slightly bigger before it softened and he squeezed Shiori's smaller hands in his own callused ones, "Still I should have not come to you with this baggage." the Jounin kept insisting.

Shiori snorted, "Don't be absurd, I may have no idea what happened during this mission or any of your other missions past and future but there is something that you should know. You are not alone Kakashi. I love you, do you understand me. You are the best thing that has happened to me in this life and I will support you in any way you need." the last part Shiori said while she leaned into his form and hugged him.

"You love me?" Kakashi asked incredulous and in a voice that was too close to breaking for Shiori's comfort.

She moved Kakashi a bit down the sofa and with gently guiding hands she placed his head above her heart while she soothingly combed through his hair, "Yes you pig headed man, somehow I have fallen for you and there is nothing that could change that."

Kakashi just murmured disbelieving as an answer before he closed his eyes and lost himself in her scent, he didn't pick up any irregularities,… she was telling the truth,… he couldn't wrap his head around this. This impossible intent and warm woman wanted him. The silver haired shinobi had tried to not get invested too much during the last few months but it had proven to be futile. Shiori was too genuine, too warm, too delicious to resist.

The way his life had changed so easily in the last few months was nearly frightening to the Jounin. Kakashi had made unconsciously room in his heart for the black haired nymph while she let him into her life and house. Not that everything had run completely smoothly, no. There had been arguments between them but they were easily dissolved and not worth mentioning, the two just suited each other well.
To be honest Kakashi had been waiting for the other shoe to drop. Nothing good in his life had ever lasted for long and until now he had taken this for granted but Shiori here in his arms made him want to fight the odds; she was worth the fight of that he was sure. Having made his decision Kakashi decided to risk it, what he was going to do now had the potential to completely destroy him if it went bad but for once he wouldn't be a coward concerning emotional attachment.

So he lifted his head to stare at the beautiful woman he was using as a pillow, "Shiori, I think I love you too."

His confession was somewhat unsure and lost but the words and the way he hesitantly traced a path down her neck brought tears to Shiori's eyes.

As an answer Shiori just hugged him closer while she closed her eyes, "I'm glad."