Chapter Note: Kakashi seems to be feeling better! That's a good thing, right?
That night, she made the rabbit stew in silence, still drinking sake to drown the previous events of the night as Kakashi read one of her books at the table. He didn't ask any further questions, he'd actually put her things, including the headband, back into the kunai pouch and returned it to the spot under the floorboard where he'd found it. She was content to pretend he'd never found it, but she knew it wouldn't be that easy.
"So, did you train or learn anything new over the last ten years?" he casually asked as she stirred the stew. She put the ladle down and looked at him over her shoulder. His face was still buried in the book.
"I've kept up my training but no, I haven't learned anything new. I'm on my own out here, there isn't anyone to learn from and I don't want to learn anything new. I'm not a shinobi anymore." She hoped that got the message across. She didn't want to talk about training.
"Mah, don't be upset. I was just curious. I do need to get out and stretch soon to make sure I can make it home without pulling something. I was thinking about some light training in the morning to assess my health before I start the journey home. Easier to do with a partner, though." Her eye twitched and she turned back to the stew.
"Do your stretches on your own. There's a clearing behind the house. No jutsu unless you go out further. You do anything to my home, I will hurt you all over again and pay someone to take you back to Konoha on the back of a cart." she threatened, waving the ladle at him. He put the book down quickly, his palms up towards her in defense.
"No need for that! I'll go into the woods so I don't ruin your quaint little cottage." he laughed, picking the book back up off of the table. The room returned to a comfortable silence as Avurin finished the stew. Pouring it into two bowls, she brought dinner to the table along with the bottle of sake she had been drinking from. She could feel the heat in her cheeks from the alcohol.
"Eat. You still need to drink more fluids. You did lose a lot of blood not even a week ago. I'll check your injuries after dinner and we'll see if the bandages can come off. And before you ask, I have no medical ninjutsu experience so no, I would not have been able to heal you that way regardless of my secret. I've been using homemade salves and ointments for your injuries." She grumbled, sitting down to start eating her food. Kakashi put his hands together saying thank you for the food before eating. She had noticed he wasn't quite as secretive about his face anymore but she wasn't going to ask about it. He did still keep it mostly covered and she tended to look away when he reached for the mask. She hadn't really seen much of his features.
"You know, I do appreciate your hospitality, medical ninjutsu or not. I would've died in that creek if you hadn't taken me in. That was a rough battle and the guy had caught me by surprise with some stabs before throwing me into the currents upstream. Those were easily fatal. So, thank you." He had a glint in his eye as he thanked her and she felt her cheeks redden further.
"Like I said, I was too damn soft. Don't thank me until you're back in Konoha, safe. That's the real test to see if my patchwork was enough to get you back on your own two feet. I'm not carrying you again." she mumbled. Kakashi laughed softly and ate a spoonful of the stew.
"I can't imagine you carrying me here but I'm thankful you did. You'll have to show me the creek you found me in tomorrow before I leave. Also, I don't know what I'm going to do without your cooking after this. Maybe I'll just stick around for the homemade dinners." he joked. Her face grew even warmer. She ate another bite of the stew.
"It's simple woodland food prepared by a hermit, Kakashi. There are plenty of restaurants in Konoha that cook better than this."
"Oh I don't believe so. There's something special about a homemade meal."
"Well, in that case you should learn how to cook. You have plenty of resources back home."
"But nothing compares to a dinner made by a beautiful woman who knows her way around the kitchen!"
"Oh, that's it! It's time for bed! I'm going to sleep and you're going to shut your mouth before I shut it for you!" she snapped. She was not entertaining his ridiculous logic, especially if this was some sort of backwards proposition. She collected her bowl and put it in the sink, sulking off to her room. He was insufferable.
Throwing herself into the bed, she pulled the blanket over herself and huffed. She was tired and was not looking forward to the mental gymnastics a healthy, overly comfortable Kakashi was going to throw at her the next day. As she was falling asleep, she realized she'd forgotten to check his wounds before she had fled and groaned as she rolled over. She'd check in the morning.
She woke up to the sound of a pan hitting the floor in the kitchen and groaned. Her head was pounding. She hadn't drank alcohol in at least a year and she'd pretty much finished the bottle last night. Sulking, she rolled out of her bed and changed into a fresh set of clothes, this time opting for gray cargo pants and a black tank top. She had a feeling she'd either be doing some heavy lifting today or getting dragged into something she didn't want to do, likely training.
She walked down the hall rubbing her temples, wondering what Kakashi could be doing that involved one of her pans. The smell of eggs and fish cooking hit her as she walked into the living room area. In the kitchen, Kakashi was cooking. He had on a shirt which she didn't even know he had since he'd been shirtless the last few days. He was also in dark gray Jonin pants with tape around his ankles. Her eyes narrowed. Had he been lounging around her home shirtless and in dirty pants on purpose this entire time?
"Good morning. Eggs and whatever fish was in your cooling box thing will be ready soon." he happily chirped.
"Have you had clothes with you this entire time?" she spat. He rubbed the back of his head and laughed.
"Yeah, they were in a storage scroll. I wanted to wait until my wounds were healed so I wouldn't ruin the one spare shirt I had before using it. I checked the wounds earlier and they look mostly healed so I went ahead and pulled the stitches and got dressed. Sorry!" He didn't look the least bit sorry.
"Let me see. I need to make sure you didn't screw something up." she ground out. He shrugged and pulled up his shirt, the pink lines on his torso in full view. They were still fresh, but closed. The ointments had done their job. She nodded and he put his shirt back down.
"If you wanted to undress me, all you'd have to do is ask." She felt her cheeks burn and she took a few steps back.
"Shut up and focus on cooking since you couldn't wait for me to wake up." she snapped, walking away to look out of the window. It was a nice day and she was looking forward to visiting the creek today. A few minutes later, she heard plates being set down on the table and took a seat.
"Thank you for the food," she mumbled before taking a bite of the fish. Humming at the taste, she started eating in earnest. So, the man could cook something at least.
"Better slow down or you'll get stomach cramps," he said with a soft laugh, eating his own food at a leisurely pace. She glared at him but slowed down.
After they were finished, she grabbed her longbow from beside the door as well as a katana she'd trained with since she was a child. Kakashi followed her out and closed the door behind him. He seemed to take a deep breath, appreciating the fresh air of the forest.
"Head that direction if you want to train. I'm going to the creek. I'll check on you in an hour or so if I don't see you at the cabin when I get back." She pointed in the direction he was supposed to go before turning around to follow the path to the creek. She heard footsteps following her and her eye twitched.
"You're not training at the creek. Anbu-level jutsu will destroy my favorite spot and I'll have to kill you for it."
"Mah, relax. I just wanted to visit the creek before training. I may need a babysitter to make sure I don't overdo it. You shouldn't send me off to do things by myself while I'm still healing." He winked at her and she growled. They walked in silence to the creek and she immediately went to the bank, taking out her sifter. She could hear him walking around behind her, moving further upstream to take in the sight.
"This really is a beautiful place. I should've brought a book." he commented as he sat on a large, flat rock just outside the reach of the water.
"I don't really like to distract myself too much when I come here. It's always best to just observe and enjoy the nature. If you're curious about where I found you, you're sitting right in front of the spot." she replied calmly, sifting some shells out of the silt. One was larger than the others with brown banding. She put it in her pouch for safekeeping.
"I know. I can smell the blood. Always had a good sense of smell with things like this." he commented as he tapped his nose. She scrunched her own nose. How could he smell that when it had been a week ago?
"Well now you see the lengths I had to go to carry you out of here."
"I still don't know how you managed it but thank you again."
"I'm stronger than I look." She continued to sift, putting shells that caught her eye into the pouch. She sifted one last time for the day and pulled out a large, gray and white clam shell. It was unusual for the size and color and she was interested to know where it came from.
"Do you always dig through the mud here to find pretty things to take home?" his voice suddenly appeared right next to her ear. She jumped lightly, clutching the shell in her hand as she tried not to fall over.
"Hey! Don't sneak around like that! Yes, I do dig through the mud for shells and other things. It's interesting. I didn't take you for someone that judged other people's hobbies." She looked down at the shell and rubbed her thumb against the smooth underside.
"It's just interesting. What do you do with what you find?" he asked. She shrugged.
"Sometimes I use them for small decorations but most of them are kept in a box. Here, have this one. Start your own collection." She handed him the shell with a smirk. "Don't break it. They're fragile!" With that, she started walking back to the path that would take them to the cabin. Why had she given him a shell? She actually really liked that one.
"I'll keep it safe," she heard from behind her in a soft voice. The sound of a zipper, likely one of his pouches he had hidden in his clothes, told her he'd put it somewhere on his person. It would probably end up broken if he was too rough during training. She rolled her eyes.
"Alright. Let's go this way. There's a clearing over here that you can use for your training. No fire jutsu though. There's some dry wood around here and the last thing we need is a fire out here." She led him through the trees off the path they'd been on and after a few minutes of walking, they reached the clearing. She took a seat at the base of one of the trees as he started stretching, hiding a wince when some of his muscles protested.
Surprisingly, he didn't ask her to join him as he went through his katas and fought an imaginary enemy in the clearing. She could barely track his movements as he flashed through the area, throwing kicks and punches, occasionally unleashing jutsu that could easily kill a person. As promised, he kept his chakra limited and avoided large-scale jutsu that could disturb the forest. She felt her eyes starting to close and she slumped against the tree, falling asleep to the sounds of the forest and the light sounds of Kakashi breathing through his training.
She felt herself waking to the sound of nothing but the wind rustling the leaves of the trees around her and the sun starting to set. She was about to shoot up from her spot when she realized that she was laying down against something warm. Looking up, Kakashi was asleep with his arms crossed, back against the tree with her head in his lap. When had they ended up like this? She lifted her head slightly and heard a quiet rumbling noise come from the man she was currently laying on. Cocking an eyebrow, she laid her head back down and looked up at his face. Was that a growl? His eyes were still closed but his eyebrows were scrunched together.
She lay there for a few minutes just watching as the sky changed colors from a bright orange to a dark purple, the sun setting somewhere past the forest. She had to admit, she was comfortable. Closer to Kakashi than she wanted, but comfortable. As the clearing was getting darker, she felt a shift under her head and looked back up at Kakashi. His eyes opened slowly, the Sharingan almost glowing as he realized where he was and what the weight in his lap was. She smiled up at him nervously and lifted her head off of his lap, sitting up and stretching her arms above her head.
"You could have woken me up sooner," he groaned, rubbing a hand over his eyes. She laughed lightly.
"You growled at me when I tried to get up. So I decided to just let you wake up on your own." She could see his cheeks color slightly.
"Oh. I must have been dreaming. Sorry about that. Let's get back to your adorable cottage and make dinner." He avoided eye contact with her as he gently took her hand and tugged her back in the direction of the cottage. She felt her own blush covering her cheeks as his warm, calloused hand held her firmly and pulled her through the trees. She had blushed so many times around this man that she was embarrassed by the concept at this point.
They reached the cabin and they both took their shoes off at the front door, dropping their bags and weapons by the door as well. Dinner was casual and quick, she made fried fish with eggplant from the garden and set the plates down at the table where Kakashi was waiting.
"Thank you for the food," he muttered quietly. She could tell something was bothering him but didn't want to ask. He answered the unspoken question anyway after taking his first bite of the food, humming from the taste.
"I think I'll be getting out of your hair tomorrow morning. I'm well enough to train without hurting myself and I know I can make it home without any problems. I'll pack my things tonight and leave when the sun's up tomorrow." She felt a small pang in her chest but she hid her reaction and just sighed.
"Well, I'm glad I was able to get you fixed up. Just remember what we talked about. No one needs to know I'm here. If you find yourself in the area again though, don't be a stranger. It does... get lonely out here." she admitted. She heard a scoff and looked up from her food.
"You know where to go if it gets to be too much. Despite what you think, you'll always have a home in Konoha. I won't drag you back there but I know-" She cut him off.
"You know the answer to that, Kakashi. I don't mind you dropping in but it's different to go back and you know that. I'll be fine." she grumbled, stabbing at the fish in front of her. He sighed and she heard him continue eating.
They ate in an almost awkward silence until they were finished. She picked up both of their dishes and put them in the sink, not having the will to wash them immediately.
"Get to bed, you'll need your rest before leaving. Wake me up before you head out. I can give you some ointments and supplies." she mumbled, walking slowly down the hall and not looking in his direction. When she got to her room and closed the door behind her, she felt all of her energy leave her immediately and her shoulders slumped. She fell down onto the bed and hugged her pillow tightly, closing her eyes. Things would not be changing. She was happy with the peace she found here and was happy Kakashi would keep her secret, protecting the slice of peace she had. She reassured herself of this a couple times before she fell asleep.
When she woke up the next day, he was gone. And so was her copy of Icha Icha Paradise.