DAY 15
Hikari woke up with a groan. She glanced at the clock. She'd have to get going soon if she wanted to get to the Training Grounds on time. She grimaced as she stumbled to her shower. She had taken an ice bath yesterday, but it seemed like it hadn't been enough. She'd have to do something about the soreness if she wanted to be able to move through training today. She turned the hot dial up. Blood rushed into her muscles. After a couple of minutes, she held her breath and started turning up the cold water and shutting off the hot. Her limbs fought through the contrast. She waited a whole minute before starting over again.
Her usual bodysuit made her arms hurt to look at. Instead, she winced through putting on a compression tank top. Then, a long-sleeved shirt with finger-less gloves. She put on the rest of her usual outfit, tightening the bandages more than usual. Hikari choked down an energy bar and was out of the door.
When she got to the Training Grounds, her teammates and Team 10 were already there. Hikari didn't bother with greetings. She plopped herself face-down beside Shikamaru, trying not to whimper. She must have made a very sorry sight because her best friend sat up. She felt his gaze studying her. She closed her eyes, trying to go back to sleep.
"Hikari?"
She wiggled her fingers at him, but didn't speak. The ground was comfortable.
"Can you sit up for me?"
She slowly rolled so she was staring at the sky. "Why?"
"Come on."
Gentle hands settled on her shoulders. She couldn't help her wince. The hands stilled but didn't move away.
"Hikari? What hurts the most?"
"Shoulders and arms," she rasped out. I should drink more water. Hydrating is important for recovery. She closed her eyes again.
"May I?"
Hikari didn't understand what he was asking, but she nodded. The hands lifted her up the rest of the way and carefully pulled her arms from her jacket's sleeves.
"Do you have anything on under?"
Hikari thought she heard Naruto spluttering somewhere behind her. There was a crash and then silence.
"Tank top."
"Arms up," came the soft order.
She tugged her hands from the shirt's thumb-holes. Hikari paused and braced herself. She slowly pulled her arms up, whimpering quietly.
She opened her eyes as cool air kissed her arms. Shikamaru was kneeling in front of her with a jar in his hands. She lifted her eyes to his in question.
"Anti-inflammatory cream. May I?" he gestured towards her arms.
She thought about it. They weren't alone, and they weren't only with friends. His sensei, who was the Hokage's son, and her teammates, who were mostly unknowns, were here too. But the Naras were allies now, and this was her person. This was Shikamaru. By that virtue alone, he had her allegiance. What does it matter if more people realize it? We aren't exactly hiding.
"Yes, Shika, you may."
Nimble fingers tugged the lid off, dipped into the jar, and gripped her wrist. She kept herself facing Shikamaru, unwilling to let anyone into this moment. Shikamaru's eyes were focused on his self-imposed task. Thumbs rubbed up to her forearms. Her skin tingled. She didn't know if it was from the cream or his touch. When his hands, now up to her shoulders, put pressure, she let herself be turned so he could get at her back.
"I think that cream is magic," she informed him.
He huffed out a laugh. "Troublesome. It's our family's recipe. I asked dad what worked best on tired muscles."
"It's magic," she repeated. She could feel her arms going lax and soft.
"Done," he announced.
She hummed and reached for her shirt. She could already feel the difference. Her arms didn't scream at her as she lifted them. It was more like a soft sniffle.
She settled down on the ground again. Shikamaru sat next to her. She thought of those who had never experienced this level of ease and comfort with another human being and felt sorry for them.
"Wake me up when my sensei gets here?" she asked him.
"Sure."
A subtle nudge woke her up. She consciously didn't stiffen when she remembered where she was. So, her sensei had finally shown up. From the sun's position, it had been more than three hours. A new record. Without letting the others know she was awake, she tensed and released her muscles. Sore, but she could move. That cream had really been magic. Shikamaru's family weren't geniuses for nothing.
A hand settled on the back of her knee and put pressure. She made her movements fluid as she sat up so she was cross-legged next to Shikamaru. She shot him a grateful smile and rested against the same trunk.
"YOU'RE LATE!" Naruto yelled at their sensei.
"Maa, Naruto. A cute girl stopped me, so I danced."
Sasuke gave a derisive snort.
Kakashi-sensei eye-smiled at them. "Hikari? Nothing to say?"
"Dancing with someone beautiful can make you lose track of time," she agreed.
"Is that what happened yesterday? Was the guy your beautiful dancing partner?"
"If you're talking about Arata, yes. He was my dance partner."
"Ahh, Hikari, and do you think he's beautiful?"
Beside her Shikamaru tensed. She did too. Why was her sensei suddenly so interested in the comings and goings of the kyokuba-dan?
"It's not a matter of opinion. Arata is a beautiful person," she dismissed. She wouldn't be giving out information about him.
Shikamaru relaxed. Hikari didn't until her sensei hummed and let it drop. She folded her hands in front of her.
"Maa, Hikari. Why haven't you warmed up?"
"You have never told us to." You told me to stick with what you told us to do. I'll do that. Let's see how you like it.
"I'm telling you now," his tone was harder.
"Of course, Kakashi-sensei," she smiled politely at him and went to her teammates. They moved so she was flanked by them. "Shall we?"
Sasuke started a warm up session. Hikari wanted to frown. Hadn't he already warmed up? And why isn't Naruto complaining? They moved through the katas. Hikari tried not to grimace whenever a move pulled at her arms. She wasn't sure how successful she was. From Naruto's concerned glances, not very. She breathed through the position, focusing on the flow of the movements.
Kakashi clapped. "Now stretch."
Sasuke lead them through a basic routine. Hikari cocked her head when she noticed it was oriented towards leg flexibility. Did they hear my conversation with Shikamaru? I knew it was a possibility, but I thought they'd be too busy sniping at each other to pay attention to me. She didn't know how she felt about it.
Kakashi came over to them as they were doing a pigeon pose. "Arch back."
Hikari bent her waist, stretching backwards, but didn't make her arms follow the movement of her upper body.
"More."
She bent further, so her back was nearly touching her leg. She kept her arms resting by her sides. Kakashi crouched next to her. When he took both her hands in one of his, she tried not to stiffen. This was training, and he was her sensei. She tried not to stiffen for a different reason as he pulled her arms up and back until they rested on her back foot. She breathed hard.
"Better," he eye-smiled at her and didn't move from her side.
From her position, she couldn't see her teammates, but she was sure they were much more comfortable and higher than her. Inhale. Exhale, and relax. Is this because of yesterday? I said he hadn't trained us. Is he trying to get me to stop this session so he can go back to not caring?
She would normally grin and take it. Hard sessions were nothing new to her, and they were an improvement over no training. But she was already sore, and he clearly knew it was her upper body that was troubling her. Inhale, exhale. There was nothing to it. Inhale. As she exhaled, she tried to relax into the position. She could do this in an over-split. If it weren't for her shoulder's screams, she wouldn't even need to be warmed up to do this.
Sasuke called out the next position. It was a cobra stretch. She breathed out, set her arms back at her sides, and moved her bent leg so both were stretched out behind her and her feet touched. Kakashi moved to stand behind her, feet flanking her knees. The rest Sasuke had offered her wasn't to be. Gloved hands took hold of her wrists and pulled. Only her sensei's hold kept her from face-planting. He moved her again so she was bent backwards. Each time she managed to relax, he leaned back further, until she could see his face upside-down and her arms were parallel to her legs. She closed her eyes. Inhale, exhale and relax. Inhale and exhale. All you need to do is breathe. He pulled back further. Her breathing stuttered as her rotator cuff cried out in pain.
"Am I doing this alright, Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto suddenly called out from beside her.
Her sensei turned and let her go. Her shoulders screamed as they were suddenly released from their position. She clenched her lower back so she wouldn't hit her face on the ground and tried to even out her breathing.
Sasuke came to stand in front of her. "Stretching is done," he announced.
She nodded and rolled onto her back.
"Let's do some conditioning exercises," Kakashi told them.
Hikari tried not to let her dismay show. Two conditioning sessions in a row would be hell in the best situation. With a sensei trying to prove a point...
It had been awful. Even with Sasuke and Naruto getting creative in trying to keep Kakashi's attention away from her, her body was aching by the time he called it a day. Still, her teammates had really given it their all. From Sasuke tripping up Naruto so Kakashi had to go and fix his posture, to Naruto plain out yelling whatever was on his mind at Kakashi to get his attention, they had tried. She didn't know why they had, but she was truly grateful. It went a long way to getting her to forgive them for letting her fall.
As Kakashi walked out, Hikari made herself put on her jacket and walk a lap around the Training Ground. Team 10 was long gone, off to a mission. Her teammates followed her.
"Hikari, are you... are you okay?" Naruto asked, hesitant.
"Everything hurts, but I didn't pull anything. Thank you. Both of you."
Sasuke nodded. "You never told him to stop, never complained. Why?"
"I think the whole point was to get us to call him off."
"So, he could tell us we didn't want to be trained after all?"
"Who knows," Hikari shrugged. She dropped to the ground to do some cooling down stretches. She closed her eyes.
"Hikari," Naruto started. She opened one eye. He was shifting his weight from one foot to another. He glanced at Sasuke and then back at her. "We shouldn't have dropped you."
"The thing is, I'm not mad about being dropped." Their head snapped towards her. She sat up. "When learning a new skill, it's almost a given that your base will fumble a catch or the flyer will wobble. It's about why you didn't catch me. You didn't even care. You weren't thinking about me. I was just another thing to fight about. Can you understand why I'd be upset? We don't have to like each other, but we need to be able to rely on one another. You showed me I couldn't."
Naruto looked down. Sasuke looked away.
"And Naruto-san," she said. One more time. If there's even a chance that this team can work... I can reach out one more time. "About Haruno-san, please listen to me." She waited for his nod and looked him in the eye. "I think you can do better than her. You deserve someone who respects you, likes you, and wants to be with you. I... don't like her because of Ino. I won't say anything about her to you again, but I won't stand by if she tries to hit you again. If you won't defend yourself, then your team will have to do it for you." She glanced at Sasuke. He didn't nod or give a verbal assent, but he didn't say he wouldn't either. She decided to take is as a win. She finished her stretches and stood up. "I need to go eat something. See you tomorrow."
DAY 16
They were currently at an apple orchard, picking the fruits from the trees. Despite being told not to shake the trunks and not to pull the apples straight away from their branches, it was the smoothest D-rank they had ever been assigned. Because it wasn't yet ripening season, they just had to pick up the stragglers and special varieties. Kakashi-sensei hadn't allowed Naruto to use his clones, but they had settled on going row by row together. One of them held the bucket and picked up the ones at ground level. Another climbed trees. And Naruto had proposed they took turns carrying Hikari for the rest. She got the apples at trees whose branches stretched too high to climb. With the farmer setting a table with refreshments outside at midday, it was a pleasant afternoon. Afterwards, they walked back to the Mission Desk and were dismissed by their sensei.
"Hikari," he stopped her. Her teammates stopped and turned, too. The masked shinobi waved them off. They hesitated but went on their ways.
"Yes, Kakashi-sensei?" She was curious. Her teacher hadn't bothered talking to any of them today.
"Do you have a training session at your compound today?"
"Yes," she said simply.
"You said mentors are respected in your compound."
She nodded.
"How much?"
"A lot." She wasn't going to explain. Someone who chose to give up their hard-won knowledge carried a lot of weight. It was how Arata and she had managed to keep on top of the favors trade, even though she was at the Academy most of the time. Since she'd never perform and they'd never perform together, every move they came up with was up for trade. And worth a lot. Her choreographies, too, were practically a luxury, since she normally took the time to throw in a new modification or two.
"Enough for me to enter the kyokuba-dan's grounds?"
She paused and pierced her sensei with her eyes.
"You said you wanted to keep my shinobi training separate from the kyokuba-dan."
He said nothing.
"It'd depend," she said.
"On what?" So, he'd caught on to it. She would answer with truth, since he was her sensei, but she wouldn't volunteer information.
"Why you'd enter, who'd accompany you, how long you would stay," she shrugged.
"Can I accompany you today to your training session?"
Her eyes widened. "Yes, of course. If it's about me and training or my safety, you have permission to come in. You won't be able to interfere with today's training, but you can observe."
He eye-smiled at her.
"Why, though?" She asked, bewildered.
"Why what?"
"Why would you want to come today? It's a ribbon lesson. Do you even know what that apparatus looks like?"
"No, but I'm sure I'll learn."
"But... it's not a shinobi skill. It's more like dance."
He shrugged, but didn't offer up his reasons.
She sighed. She didn't understand why he was so adamant about seeing her training, but he had a right to. He was her teacher. "The lesson starts in nearly two hours. I was going to eat something before. Do you wish to join me, or should we meet at the gates?"
He hesitated. She fought not to roll her eyes. Her sensei was so weird. "It'd be no trouble at all. If you'd prefer it, we can eat at my home."
"Thank you," he eye-smiled.
She nodded to him and started walking. He followed her, staying by her side with his hands on his pockets.
She put the dishes on the table on took a seat in front of her sensei. Hikari kept her eyes fixated on his bowl, only looking up whenever he put his cutlery down. Between bites, she explained what rhythmic was and its apparatuses.
"My specialties are hoop and ribbon. I prefer hoop for fun, though," she offered.
"When you say ribbon..."
"Yes, I do mean an actual ribbon. It's 6 meters long and about 5 centimeters wide. Mine are generally satin."
"And... you twirl it."
"Yes, I suppose you can say that." She smiled. She thought it was funny, how underwhelmed he was. She was done with the food. She got up, rinsed their dishes, and went to get a ribbon. "Here you go."
She handed a bright pink ribbon to him with a gleam in her eyes. "I'll go get changed."
He nodded, turning the ribbon over and rotating it between his fingers.
Hikari put on an emerald green leotard, black shorts, and black leg-warmers. Then, she pulled off her hitaiate and braids, and brushed her hair before flipping it upside down. She sectioned off the hair from the ears down into four and French braided each. She flipped her hair back to normal and gathered the rest of the strands and the four braids into a high ponytail. She added an emerald ribbon and braided the whole tail, braids and ribbon included, into one rope.
She grabbed her bag and walked back down the stairs.
Hatake Kakashi glanced up when the girl bounded down the stairs and tried not to let his surprise show. Without her hitaiate and with her hair pulled back instead of parted down the middle, his student looked completely different. And that was without taking her change of outfit into account.
Kurenai had asked him if the girl was taking after him with her choice of clothing. He hadn't understood what she meant. She'd pointed out that, except for her fingers, every part of his kunoichi was covered from the neck down. Seeing her with her arms and legs bare and without her weapon's pouch made her seem oddly vulnerable. He shook his head to dispel the protective path his thoughts were going towards.
"I thought we could go early, so I can show you first what the discipline is about."
He shrugged. To be frank, he'd expected something different, like seeing her launch herself through the air or walk the tightrope.
"Before that though, there is something you need to know about tonight's session." His gaze sharpened. His genin took a deep breath. "Today's trainer isn't from the kyokuba-dan. He agreed to teach some of his famous moves, so that's what I'll be learning. You may not like how he teaches me, but he won't touch me, and you can't interfere - with words, presence, physical, or other means. None."
He frowned but nodded. She'd given him no wiggle room, but if the trainer couldn't touch her... he shouldn't be moved to interfere.
He handed her the ribbon. She tossed it on the couch and gestured him out the door.
The same as when he'd followed her to her house, he could see a massive difference from the time he'd been here with the Sandaime. No one approached them, but the compound was alive. Only years of training and not wanting to make any offense kept him from staring. He could see the different gatherings of people. Some were supervising little kids, others were practicing their craft, and some were just taking in the sun. The air was filled with laughter and songs. The people wore a mix of colors, and some he had never before seen on clothes. Some showed skin, others were nearly as covered as himself. Some had make-up on, others went bare-faced. Some had long hair, others had none. There seemed to be no norm, no common feature between them all. And yet, they all bowed their heads in greeting as Hikari escorted him further into the compound. He followed Hikari's lead and nodded back.
They arrived to a huge but empty gymnasium. One wall held mirrors from floor to ceiling. A ballet barre spanned the opposite side. His student settled on the floor, put on what she'd told him were toe shoes but looked like half of a sock to him, and stretched. He leaned on the wall and stared. Aside from yesterday, when she was already sore, he had never seen her stretch. He fought not to cringe at how she could bend her body. It didn't take her too long before she was fishing out a ribbon from her bag. It was attached to a wooden handle.
"I'm going to do a quick routine that I choreographed some months ago, for the kids who had to choose their specialty. It's designed to show the apparatus in all its levels - air, ground, and floor. If that's alright with you."
He nodded to her and gestured her ahead. She smiled and went off to a corner of the room. Upbeat music filled the air. She went to the center of the floor, facing him, and began.
As his student leapt, pirouetted, and crossed through the room, the ribbon drew spirals and shapes around, above, and below her. He gaped. She ended the routine with one hand holding the wooden handle and the other extended, offering the ribbon to him.
"So, you twirl the ribbon." He hadn't realized how much of an understatement or insult that truly was.
"I twirl the ribbon," she agreed easily with a gleam on her eye. "The hoop is visually more impressive," she shrugged. Kakashi struggled with the concept. "So are other disciplines, like the aerial ones. They are designed to shock. Floor is mostly designed to awe you with its beauty, and for you to never realize how hard the moves are." She spoke with passion, and Kakashi could suddenly gleam why her family encouraged children to follow theirs. It was beautiful.
She offered him the handle. He took it, reluctant. She got another one from her bag.
"Hold it at the end, with the index finger extended." He shifted his grip. She smiled warmly. "Try not to knot the ribbon," she offered as she created a generous amount of space between them and made circles with her whole shoulder. He could see how the ribbon followed, flat side facing him always. She showed him her profile. The satin created perfect circles.
He straightened, a bit offended. He couldn't do pirouettes while his hands kept a ribbon moving through his legs, but he could make a circle. He moved his arms and raised his eyebrow at her. She gestured to his back. He turned to the mirror and stared. His ribbon wasn't making circles. It was making ugly ovals. "Don't worry about it hitting the ground. Finish the movement."
He followed her lead, and made a circle. She grinned. "Let's try coils. Draw a circle with your finger while you keep the stick facing down. The movement is in your wrist. Don't let it touch the floor."
He tried, facing the mirror. His circles varied in shapes and sizes.
"Try making the movement sharper and faster to draw solid figures." He did and it was better, until the ribbon tangled. He glared at it. She offered him her own while she untangled the other.
"It's less likely to tangle if the tip is downwards at all times."
He tried it again. It was better. He handed the handle back to her. She took it and didn't press.
"Today, he's probably going to teach me a different pirouette. I have pretty good control and balance, so it shouldn't be too bad. It's three hours long. Are you sure you want to stay?"
His gaze sharpened. Was this her plan? Show him the instrument, reassure him a bit, and scare him off with promised boredom. He thought not. "I'll stay," he eye-smiled at her.
"There's a bench there," she shrugged. She tried to seem unconcerned, but her glance at the clock gave her away. He settled on the seat she'd pointed out to him. His back was to the mirror, and he could easily see the rest of the room.
The door opened.
Kakashi clenched his teeth and tried not to snarl. It had started out fine, with exercises he had previously thought were only suited to ballet. The trainer - Tanaka Sota, he'd learned - then put her through a brutal stretching routine at the barre. His student had had to kick back a leg until she could hook her toes in the barre and then had been asked to straighten it. After that, in the highest over-splits had seen, she'd leant back until her head touched her back leg. Kakashi thought backs weren't meant to be bent like that, but Tanaka didn't touch her, and her student's breathing was steady and deep. So, he'd let it go.
The jumps with splits in the air had only made him raise his eyebrow at the sheer quantity, until Tanaka had told her to put weights on her ankles and start over. But Hikari hadn't said a word and her legs had still formed a straight line in the air. The stupid asshole had then started criticizing her arms in the jumps. Kakashi couldn't believe it.
But then, after that first hour, they'd started on pirouettes. And the comments had become worse and worse. He told her to stay on one foot, on her tiptoes, for ridiculous amounts of time, and then asked her why she was trembling. And the girl still didn't say anything.
They were now going into the third hour, and Tanaka finally told her to grab a ribbon. Kakashi had moved her bag so it was beside him, so Hikari came towards him. Her eyes were studiously ignoring him, and her breaths were too even not to be intentional. Kakashi decided it wouldn't do. As she gripped the handle, he intercepted her, putting his hand over hers. Wide eyes flew up to his. He'd keep his word and say nothing to her, but he nodded to her without releasing eye contact, trying to convey to her that she was doing well. She wasn't failing because she wasn't trying. She was completing what he told her to do, and trying to do it the best she could. She closed her eyes and breathed out before nodding back to him.
Kakashi didn't understand what Tanaka was telling her, and the trainer didn't demonstrate what he wanted her to do. So, he waited.
His genin went to the center of the floor. She started out hard, with a triple needle pirouette, both hands holding her back foot. The ribbon enveloped her as if she were the eye of a satin hurricane. As she came out, she kept her leg raised into a split behind her. She bent the hand holding the ribbon behind her back, the ribbon still twirling on her other side. Coils, she'd called them. She did a single-hand front walkover. She held the position, legs in a split, forming a perfect vertical line with no hands on the floor. One of her wrists still drew coils. She straightened and froze. Kakashi narrowed his eye. The ribbon had a knot. He blinked. He hadn't noticed when the loops had tangled together.
"You're always off. Why can't you get it right? Hm?!"
His student kept quiet, nimble fingers undoing the knot.
"I asked you a question! Why can't you get it right?!"
Kakashi clenched his fists. She went back to the center.
"Again!"
Hikari went at it, doing the hurricane triple turn and then the walkover. No knots this time. She straightened out fine and crossed the floor with two leaping splits. As if the whirls she had started out with weren't enough, she did four this time. Only one hand held her ankle. The other stretched out behind her at an angle, drawing pretty curls. This time, Kakashi could see how the tail tangled two of the curls together. The turns stuttered out to a halt.
"Tell me why you did it wrong. Tell me."
Kakashi had to force his fists to uncurl. It wouldn't do to punch a civilian.
"Tell me why!"
His student kept quiet and went back to the center.
"Again!"
Triple turn, walkover, split, leap again. One turn, two turns, three turns, and tangled again.
"You trembled on that turn! Why did you tremble!"
Hikari went back to the center.
"Again!"
Three turns, walkover, double leaps... four turns. Kakashi smiled. The arm holding the handle did a wide circle, like the one she'd taught him. While the ribbon circled, Hikari bowed as if thanking her audience and stepped on the ribbon with one foot. She then did a front walkover, using the momentum to launch the ribbon with her foot. It flew through the air, handle first. As it crossed the room, Hikari followed with another front walkover. As she finished, she knelt, stretched out her arm, and caught the ribbon. Kakashi's eye widened. That had been beautiful. His student wasn't done, though. She stood up and drew a circle again. This time, she caught the tail with the other hand as she stepped on the ribbon. When her hands went down, she set the tail in front of her. She did the walkover and the ribbon's handle flew again. Hikari straightened out, caught the tail, and pulled. The handle flew back to her. Her arms came out, fingers stretched. They brushed wood, and didn't manage to grasp it.
"Why did you get it wrong? Why did you tremble?! Again!"
And again, his student twirled and leapt and twirled again. She bowed and launched the ribbon. She finished the second walkover and knelt, arm outstretched. The handle clattered to the floor. Hikari closed her eyes and swallowed.
"Get up. GET UP! Get back to the center. We aren't finished."
Hikari kept her silence. Kakashi wanted to yell at the fucking asshole. This time, before starting, hazel eyes searched out his own. He tried to reassure her, even as he noticed that she looked exhausted.
Triple turn, two jumps, one turn. Two. Three - and they stuttered out. Kakashi leaned forward. The ribbon didn't have a knot.
"Why did you tremble? Why are you trembling?"
"I didn't - "
"Shut up. You trembled. Except for a single pirouette, you trembled. All the damn time. You are a coward. AGAIN!"
Three pirouettes, two leaps, four spins. A bow. Step on the ribbon, double walkovers. Kneel, and catch. Kakashi breathed out in relief. Step on the ribbon, put the tail in front, launch, catch the tail, pull... and catch the handle. 'There you go', Kakashi wanted to yell out. But Hikari was closing her eyes and controlling her breathing. He paused. What could be wrong? She'd completed the ridiculous sequence.
"Why did you do it wrong!? Can't you see the end of the stick, stupid girl!?"
He narrowed his eye. What did it matter if she'd caught it in the middle?
"I'm too tired," Hikari's voice was soft.
"You gave up. You failed."
"No, I-."
"Yes, you did. You can't even do it for yourself, can you? Again! Prove yourself!"
Hikari stood again in the center. She completed the twirls, the jumps, the twirls again. She bowed, did the walkovers, knelt, and didn't catch the handle. Kakashi stood up.
"Go to hell. You were trash. You are dirty trash today. Except for a single pirouette, you trembled. All the damn time. You are a coward."
His student wasn't getting up. He tried to stop himself from leaking killing intent into the gymnasium.
"Get up. Again!"
Hikari put pressure on her hands and stood up. Her arms were trembling. Tired eyes sought out his. He held her gaze, hoping she got what she needed from him. She went back to center. Triple turns in needle. The splits in the air were a bit lower, but still straight. One turn, two turns - and the ribbon knotted. Tanaka noticed, too. "Get out. You're wasting my time." His student's fingers paused on the knot.
"GET OUT!"
Hikari glanced at him. Kakashi gestured to her bag. She took a step towards him. He eye-smiled at her. Yes, let's go. His goal isn't to get you to learn the sequence. You have it but are too tired to do it. This is just to prove a point. Kakashi's breath caught. Exactly like him yesterday. He tried to get rid of the thought. He'd never yelled at her. He had pushed her, but he was nothing like this civilian. Right?
Hikari reached him, put shoes on, and let her rolled ribbon fall to the bag. Kakashi put a gloved hand on the top of her head. He paused. Last time, she'd rejected the gesture. He waited, but she didn't pull away. He breathed out, relieved. Maybe she was too tired to not take the comfort. He didn't care. It meant he still hadn't screwed up too badly. He gestured for her to lead them out.
Instead of leading them to her house, she led them to a small hill. She plopped down on the grass with none of her usual grace and pulled a sweatshirt from her bag. After putting it on, she started cooling down stretches. He settled next to her.
"Sorry you had to see that. I'm usually..." she swallowed hard. "I don't usually do so badly."
"No," his voice was hard and final.
She looked at him, startled, and lowered her eyes.
He grimaced behind his mask. She was too tired to read his tone.
"You didn't do anything wrong. It's his fault, not yours."
"Ribbon..." her voice trembled. "It's beautiful. Today... I didn't do it justice." Her voice was so small. He never wanted to punch someone so much. He had never heard that tone from her. Cold, polite, happy, caring, delighted, teasing when talking to the Nara... but not this. He... wasn't good with words. His hands flew through the seals. Boar. Dog. Rooster. Monkey. Ram. He put down his hand on the grass. The kunoichi glanced up at the surge of smoke. Pakkun shook his fur out and turned to him, questioningly.
He picked him up and put him in Hikari's lap. She froze, hands straightening out on the ground.
"Good evening," she said to the summon. "I'm Sakasu Hikari, part of Kakashi-sensei's team."
Kakashi nearly face-palmed. He should have expected this from his most polite, courteous, cute little genin.
"I'm Pakkun. My paws are soft and supple." He held them up.
She smiled at him but didn't move.
"You may touch them."
"Thank you." She put her hands in front of him first, offering. He sniffed at them delicately before putting a paw on top of them. Her shoulders relaxed, but she still looked confused.
"Kakashi-sensei?" she questioned.
"Maa, Hikari. I saw something beautiful today."
Hazel eyes went impossibly wide before glancing down at Pakkun. "No, you didn't. Now you'll want to train me even less," she whispered.
"Explain."
She hesitated.
"I want to know," he added.
"I told you we choose our teachers. It's an honor because someone valued your skills and asked to learn them. It's also an honor to be accepted because skills are valuable in negotiation. Like with Tanaka. For someone to accept to give them up... it's powerful to us. For someone to accept and then refuse to teach... It tells everyone that the student proved unworthy."
He froze. Pakkun came to the rescue and demanded more pets while his thoughts raced.
"I'm sorry for having been such a lousy teacher."
She shrugged. "It's within your rights." Her voice was back to being perfectly civil.
Pakkun pushed his nose against her skin. She glanced down and drew his face with great care. Kakashi breathed out.
"It had nothing to do with you."
"If you say so."
Right, he had screwed up.
"Hikari," he waited until she met his gaze. "I'll do better." It was a promise. "I need you to tell me about Tanaka." Shikaku had told him that the compound supported her. Why were they doing nothing?
She stroked down Pakkun's back. "Nothing to tell. It's being handled."
She smiled at him. If he hadn't seen the real thing, he would have swallowed it - hook, line, and sinker. He wasn't sure how he felt about that.
"You won't tell me anything else, will you?" he sighed.
Her smile widened. "Should I walk you back?"
"Sure." He picked up Pakkun and stood up before holding out his hand to hers.
She regarded it for a long moment and then closed her own around his. He pulled her up.
"Tomorrow, be on time and warm up."
She nodded.
They walked in silence to the gates.