Chapter 14: Classified Intel

In which Ayame becomes a shinobi for a day.

Ayame stood in the restaurant, zoning out completely. A pot of broth on the stove was boiling over, hitting open flame with a hiss, but she didn't hear it. One week had gone by with no word from the patrols. Kakashi had given them no updates. Even Raido and Genma, who were out on the search team, had nothing to say when they returned every night.

"Ayame! Be careful!" Iruka came through the door from the stockroom. He pulled her aside and turned down the flame on the stove, taking the scalding broth off the burner and setting it aside. He was out of his typical shinobi uniform and was wearing an apron instead. While Hana's absence changed everything after Naruto's wedding, Teuchi asked him to continue coming to the restaurant for his cooking lessons, if only to keep some semblance of normalcy alive while the search for Hana continued.

Of course, the lessons weren't 'lessons' anymore…Ayame had understandably been distracted and despondent since learning about Hana's abduction. Still, Iruka came to keep her company, to help her stay positive, and to keep her from any major kitchen accidents.

Although none of those things were really working.

He'd never seen Ayame so downtrodden before.

Today, the restaurant was empty, and Ayame was trying but failing to produce her tonkotsu broth. This was her third attempt of the morning. Teuchi was out replacing a stack of bowls that Ayame had inadvertently knocked off the shelf. Iruka had cleaned up that mess himself, keeping her from cutting herself on the shards.

Iruka knew what it was like to be worried about close friends, but even he had his reservations about Hana's disappearance. It was rare for a civilian to be kidnapped. Shinobi? Sure. They carried secrets, whether through their blood or in their brains that any enemy would want to seek out. But civilians? They were casualties in war, not hostages. It was certainly very strange.

"It was supposed to be different…" Ayame muttered into the quiet of the restaurant.

Iruka's ears perked up. She'd been uncharacteristically quiet since she learned about Hana, so much so that he had yet to have a real conversation with her.

"Tell me," he said quietly.

"After the war. It was supposed to be different."

Ah. He understood. The war to end all wars, it was said. But now they were facing a crisis, the type of which should have become non-existent when the shinobi alliance held. Naruto and Team Seven saved the world, and it felt too soon to be hit with another reminder that peace was something they had to continually fight for.

"One war didn't stop all of the world's evil people," he told her. "But that doesn't mean the world didn't change. The shinobi alliance means that other villages will join the search." He was trying to strike a good balance between realism and hope.

"But…if Konoha can't find her, how could one of the lesser villages do it?" Tears pooled in Ayame's eyes.

"Ayame, they aren't lesser villages. They have powerful shinobi just like us."

"But Konoha is known for tracking. And if we can't find her trail, who can?"

"We'll find her, Ayame." Iruka took her by the shoulders and looked her straight in the eye. "Have faith in your village's shinobi. If Kakashi weren't confident, he would have called Naruto home."

"You think?" she asked, blinking back her tears.

"I know. Let's get through this shift, and then we'll check in at the Hokage's office. There has to be some sort of update, even if it's just knowing the areas they've already searched."

Ayame nodded at him, somewhat reassured by this thought. She reached out for him and hugged him tightly. "Thank you, Iruka."

He didn't know what he was doing right, but he'd take it, even if the comfort he gave was small. "Why don't you take a quick walk. It might make you feel better. You've been cooped up here all day."

"Are you sure?" she asked.

Iruka gestured to the empty restaurant. "I don't think I can mess too much up in ten minutes." At least, he hoped not.

But of course, not a minute after Ayame left the restaurant, two men walked in and took seats at the end of the bar. Iruka didn't recognize them, but that wasn't unusual given the influx of newcomers to Konoha.

Iruka brought them drinks and took their orders. A large tonkotsu and a classic shoyu. He could do the prep, but Ayame was very particular about boiling the noodles, and he hadn't gotten the hang of it yet. He glanced at the clock, hoping she wouldn't extend that ten minute walk much longer…

While he carefully cut vegetables, the two men spoke in hushed tones, as if they did not want to be overheard. This struck Iruka as rather odd…the normal customers were jovial and typically struck up conversations with him or Ayame, whether they were new faces or old.

Minutes ticked past, and Iruka started to grow nervous. He finished cutting everything needed for both dishes, and he knew how to mix the broth, but the noodles… Dare he try? Ayame would kill him if he got it wrong, but he also didn't want to be caught in the open by the customers, aimlessly doing nothing. Instead, he walked to the back, hoping he might be able to catch Ayame and herd her quickly into the kitchen.

As soon as he stepped past the threshold to the rear, however, two hands grabbed him and shoved him into a tiny nook between two shelves of pots, bowls, and other cooking implements. Ayame squeezed herself in next to him, until their bodies were pressed close together.

Iruka's cheeks turned fiery red and his heart began racing. "Ayame, what's–"

"Shh!" she said, putting her hand over his mouth to keep him from speaking. She motioned him to listen as she was doing. He noticed a vent above them that connected to the main restaurant. From this position, the whispered conversation between the two men came through loud and clear.

"We have to get into her apartment. He said he needs that blueprint."

"She's stalling."

"Maybe, but you see what he's trying to make her do…it's something no one has ever done before. Even he said it was impossible. She insists she can't work without the calculations for the elevator-thingy."

"Can't she recalculate them?"

"Beats me. It weirds me out, being in this village again, especially with everything on such high alert. Didn't realize they'd go through this trouble for a civilian."

"Me neither. We need to report back to the boss as soon as we grab those plans and get out of this place."

Ayame and Iruka stared at each other in disbelief.

"So this is how you learn all your secrets…" he whispered, both appalled and impressed by Ayame.

She smacked his chest with her hands, although not very hard since her body was already lodged tightly next to his. "That's not the point!" she whispered frantically. "What do we do?!"

Both of them understood that the only two men in Konoha who knew something about Hana's disappearance were sitting in Ichiraku Ramen right now.

Iruka's mind went to work. They needed to figure out how to subdue these men, but Iruka wasn't privy to their fighting styles. He certainly couldn't take on two jonin-level shinobi by himself, but he also wasn't sure if there was time to call for backup. At least he knew where the men were headed next. He needed to buy time.

"They need their meals," Iruka said.

"Iruka! This isn't the time to be feeding them!" Ayame whispered angrily.

"No, Ayame! We have to pretend like nothing is wrong. If they suspect us, we'll lose our advantage."

As if on cue, one of the men in the restaurant loudly proclaimed, "How slow can service be? This place came on good recommendations."

Ayame shimmied herself out of the nook and was about to take a step into the restaurant, but Iruka grabbed the back of her shirt and pulled her back with enough force that they both went crashing to the ground.

"I'll be with you in a minute!" Iruka called out as he rubbed the back of his head from where it had hit a frying pan.

"Iruka! What gives?!"

"They've already seen me. They won't recognize you. Having the element of surprise is always important. Here!" He reached into his pack and pulled out a couple of ear pieces. "Radios," he explained. He showed her how they worked. "You head to Hana's apartment and keep a lookout for them. I'll give you instructions, and I'll follow when we're done here."

Ayame hesitated. "Wait, so…I'm playing shinobi and you're playing chef?" She looked worried.

Iruka cocked his head. "That's actually a fantastic idea."

"W-what?" Ayame asked, eyes wide.

But she had given him an idea. He took his flak jacket and forehead protector from the coat rack and shoved them in her hands. "But first, you need to look the part."

Before she could protest, he walked back into the restaurant.

"Sorry gentlemen," he said with a grin. "Emergency bathroom break."

"What was the clatter back there?" One of the men asked.

"Oh, just tripped. Our assistant is constantly leaving boxes on the floor."

Ayame took off her apron and slipped on Iruka's jacket before tying the protector around her head. It all felt a little funny.

Before she left, she took one final look at Iruka and paused. He held noodles in one hand and was staring at the boiling pot. She'd never seen so much fear in the man's eyes.

She watched him throw the noodles in. He didn't stir the pot.

She smacked her head with her hands.

"Two minutes," she whispered into the radio. "Cook them for two minutes."

"Thanks, Ayame," came his voice in her ear a second later.

"And stir them or they'll stick together!" she said, leaving Ichiraku and running towards Hana's place.

She had half a mind to worry about how good the ramen would be, but she shook the thought from her head quickly. Iruka would do his best, but if anyone deserved a bad bowl of ramen, it was those two men in the restaurant who had a hand in Hana's kidnapping.

She arrived at Hana's apartment building, out of breath from running, just as she heard Iruka say, "They left without tipping."

"Those jerks," she muttered. "Even if the ramen was bad, your service is top notch."

"I don't think my ramen was THAT bad…anyway, I'm on my way. I'll try to beat them there, but stall them for me. I need to get to those blueprints before they do."

"Her balcony is on the third story of the south side of the building. You can't miss it. She has lots of potted plants, and she hardly ever locks the sliding doors."

"Got it. Thanks, Ayame."

A couple minutes later, Ayame saw Iruka jump from roof to roof, heading into the apartment complex.

Not a minute after that, the two foreign shinobi walked down the street towards her. She stiffened and felt her heart beat tick upwards.

"State your business, please," she said gruffly, planting herself in front of the doorway.

The two men gave each other a sideways glance. "We're…uh…visiting a friend."

"Since when are apartments guarded by shinobi?" The other one asked, eyeing her suspiciously.

"Since residents have gone missing," she replied, gaining a little more confidence. "Standard procedure for missing civilians. And man, if we ever catch who did it, they're in for a surprise."

The two men exchanged another look. "Why? What happens?" One of them asked.

Ayame drew her finger across her neck. "Public execution," she said simply.

She watched as the two men froze up. It was kind of fun, seeing them grow uncomfortable.

"Ahhh, we'll come back and see our friend later," they said, walking away and down the nearest alleyway.

"Public execution?" Iruka asked, his voice crackling in her ear.

"I had to do something to set them on edge. It might make them slip up."

Silence for a moment, and then, "I didn't realize you'd be so good at this."

"I'm surprising myself," she admitted, peering down the alley they'd gone. "They're heading to the window."

"I've got the blueprints. Already coming down the hallway."

Iruka popped out of the front door carrying an armful of paper rolls.

"I didn't know which ones they were after, so I took all of them," he said.

"Why are we taking-" she began to ask, but she was cut off by a loud, "HEY!" from the balcony above them.

"You're the guy from the ramen shop!" Came the next insinuation.

Iruka grabbed Ayame's hand and pulled her after him, down the opposite alleyway.

"Hold these," he commanded, and he pushed the rolls of blueprints into her arms. Then, he quickly pulled a cloak out of his bag and pressed Ayame against the wall, covering them both.

The cloak muffled much of the sound outside. For the second time that day, there was little space left between them, and she felt his body radiate heat. It took her a second to realize that it was chakra…he was using chakra to disguise them against the wall.

Ayame felt the rolls of paper slipping in her hands. She hadn't gotten a good grip on them initially, and three of them slid slowly towards the ground. She tightened her arms, trying to keep them aloft, but the rolls were at risk of hitting the ground with a loud noise. Iruka felt them shift and pressed himself against her, shoving his knee between her legs and just managing to catch the bottom of the rolls before they fell.

Ayame inhaled sharply. She could hear his breath in her ear and feel his abdomen and chest move against her as he breathed.

"Sorry," he whispered.

"I-it's okay…"

The sound of two sets of feet came down the alleyway.

"Where did they go?" The first man said.

"We can't go back empty handed! Kaede-san will kill us if we mess this up."

"Quiet! Don't speak his name! You go left, I'll take right. We'll try to head them off."

And the men kept going right past them.

Iruka stepped back, dropping the cloak, and the rolls of blueprints that Ayame no longer had a grip on clattered to the ground.

They watched each other bashfully, both beginning to blush.

"Did I hurt you?" he asked.

"No," she said quietly, reaching down for the rolls of paper. "Kaede-san…why does that name sound so familiar?"

Then it hit her, and she went paper white. "It's him, her competitor, the one who kept wanting to purchase her designs!"

"Ayame, calm down. Who is Kaede?"

"He's the one responsible for that stupid box building in the middle of Konoha!" she cried, beside herself. "We need to tell Kakashi!"

Iruka looked in the direction the two men had gone. "You go to his office, I'll put these back in Hana's apartment."

Ayame frowned. "...Why?"

"They think we have what they want now, so they'll come to us. Her apartment is the last place they'll think to look, and they'll be safest there."

"Oh," she said, looking up at him in awe. "That's a smart idea."

"It's nothing," he deflected quickly. "You still have your radio?" he asked.

Ayame nodded, and they split up again.

If there was one exercise Ayame hated, it was running. Yuna always tried to get her to go on jogs, and Ayame cursed at herself now for not doing it more regularly…if she had, maybe her body wouldn't feel like it was dying.

About three-quarters of the way to the Hokage's office, she paused and put her hands on her knees, taking a quick breather. It was an unfortunate stop.

"There she is!" came a brusque voice. Ayame looked to her left and saw the two men one street over…she'd stopped at an intersection.

"Oh no!" she squeaked, and she started off again. "Iruka?" she asked into the radio. "They found me!"

"Where are you?" his voice crackled.

"Umm, two blocks south of the Academy." She grimaced. She'd never outrun two shinobi.

"I'll find you. Keep running."

A block later, Iruka landed on the ground in front of her and threw two small balls past her. They exploded in a cloud of smoke.

He grabbed her around the waist and jumped away, moving them towards the Academy training ground at a much faster pace.

He set her on the ground while she caught her breath. She had a stitch in her side, but she was alive.

Iruka stood in front of her, watching the two men walk slowly through the smoke towards them.

"Hand over those blueprints!" One of them called as they walked closer. "You two are no match for us. Ramen boy and the slowest running kunoichi we've ever met!"

The other man laughed at the taunt.

"Not so fast…" Iruka muttered. The two men walked into the training yard just as Iruka's hands moved into a single seal. Black symbols extended across the yard, encompassing the men in a circle with crisscrossing lines.

"What kind of jutsu is that?!" Ayame asked, standing up behind Iruka.

"It's a barrier technique," he told her, stepping back. "That should hold them for the time being. Ayame, go to Kakashi and tell him–"

A sinister laugh came from inside the barrier. "You think this can stop us?" one of the men sneered. He reached for a scabbard on his back and pulled out a sword the length of his forearm. It glinted in the sunlight. He moved towards the edge of the barrier and stabbed it with the sword in his hands, twisting it. Much to Iruka's horror, it pierced through his technique, and the barrier dissolved away from the point of impact.

"That's not possible…" Iruka muttered, placing himself in a protective stance in front of Ayame.

"What do you mean that's not possible?!" Ayame squeaked.

"The only other person who has ever escaped that barrier…is Naruto."

Ayame's hands grasped the back of Iruka's shirt tightly. She considered that this was how she might die. Killed with a sword that could pierce through chakra and seals.

Pierce through chakra. Ayame took a sharp intake of breath as another realization hit her. "Iruka…It's the sword! The sword, it's one of those chakra swords!" She'd heard all about them from Yuna, how devastating in power they were. "They can shatter Namiashi steel," she told him, her voice beginning to shake.

Iruka's eyes went wide. "Ayame, run! Go find backup!"

"Not so fast." The second shinobi, now freed from the barrier, moved to box them in. "If you just give us those blueprints, you won't have anything to fear."

"You wish!" Ayame cried boldly. She stepped away from Iruka and faced the man in her path, trying to hide the fact that she was shaking with fear. "We don't have them! And besides, if we did, you're the last people we would give them to!"

The first shinobi, the one with the blade, grunted. "They've hidden them! Find out where, Shiro!" He started running towards Iruka.

"Iruka!" Ayame cried, but before she could reach out her hand to her favorite sensei, everything around her suddenly faded into a muted charcoal gray…the Academy, Iruka, even the two foreign shinobi were gone. She was completely alone.

"Alright little kunoichi," came a voice echoing around her, "it's time to tell me what you know. This should be easy…you don't seem to have a lot of chakra."

He still thinks I'm a kunoichi? she wondered, but she couldn't wonder for long. She gasped as a feeling like ants crawling through her veins hit her. Up from her feet they moved…she could feel the crawling in her legs, her hips, her stomach, her chest. Down her arms they went, and slowly up her neck.

"Let's see what that little brain of yours holds."

Ayame closed her eyes, grunting against the sheer force of the sensation. She didn't feel like she could stop it, but she was dead set against giving him the information he wanted. She struggled against him with all her might.

He laughed at her attempts. "You can't escape this genjutsu," he told her. "It enters your memories and unlocks your mind."

Genjutsu? There was no way she could withstand this man's technique, that was certain, but she could try something else…something she'd learned from Iruka-sensei.

Before the crawling sensation encompassed her head, she let herself succumb to a single memory, and she fought as hard as she could to pull this man in with her.

"Leave him alone!" Ayame yelled, her voice high-pitched and child-like. She was nine years old again, and the baker's daughter stood before her, holding a rotten tomato in her hand.

"Why would you protect a monster?" the baker's daughter leered. Her shiny strawberry blond hair was piled high on her head, making her look every bit the little queen she thought she was. Behind her, two other kids waited with hands full of garbage.

Ayame hated them.

"He's not a monster!" Ayame yelled back. She felt a tug on the back of her skirt and looked down. A little boy's blue eyes, filled with tears, peered up at her. His golden blond hair was covered in some sort of muck…he'd been hit by a couple rotten vegetables and eggs before Ayame had found him cornered in the alley beside her family's restaurant.

"Oh yeah?" the baker's daughter retorted, "That thing inside of him killed your mother. If you can't see him as a monster, maybe you're the one who is delusional!"

The baker's daughter launched the tomato, and it hit Ayame squarely in the face. Ayame's hands balled up into fists. She didn't know if what the girl was saying was true, but there was no way that Naruto had a hand in her mother's death. The boy was four years old, for crying out loud, and anyway, her father had told her so.

"You're cheap if you have to pick on a kid half your age," she said, pushing up her sleeve and stalking towards the girl.

"You think you can take me on?" the other girl asked, picking up another piece of rotten garbage from the ground. Her entire arsenal of nasty vegetables came from a series of nearby trash bins.

Ayame went to hit her, but she missed (she was always prone to be clumsy), and she was pelted by the rest of the rotten fruit in the hands of the baker's daughter and her two companions.

"Hahaha!" the girl taunted. She picked up another vegetable and stepped towards Naruto.

"Leave him alone!" Ayame cried out, standing up and wiping tomato juice from her face.

The baker's daughter paused for a minute, and then turned back to Ayame. "We'll leave him alone…but only if you eat whatever is in Ichiraku's garbage."

"W-why Ichiraku's?" Ayame asked.

"Because your family's restaurant is trash," she replied.

She reached into Ichiraku's trash can and pulled out a handful of something gray, plugging her nose with her other hand. Ayame knew exactly what it was. Her father had made them grilled fish the night before, but the trash also held a box of onions that had gone bad. Ayame's gag reflex started turning at the sight of the two unsavory things, but then she looked at Naruto, who was still standing at the entrance of the alley.

His blue eyes watched her, still wet with tears, and he started to cry as they stuffed Ayame's mouth with a piece of rotten fish.

Ayame cried, too, but she didn't care, because she knew that today at least, Naruto was safe.

Remembering the flavor of that rotten fish and onion combination almost made Ayame retch, but it had its intended effect. She opened her eyes, back in the yard with the foreign shinobi. "And I'll protect Hana the same way," she spat.

"You little brat," the shinobi called Shiro said, taking a few steps towards her, but then they both heard a 'shing' and a sword went flying through the air.

While she was under the genjutsu, Iruka had gone toe-to-toe with the first shinobi. It was a battle of kenjutsu against taijutsu, and Iruka somehow managed to disarm the man.

The sword landed in the ground at Ayame's feet.

"Ayame! Take that and RUN!" he cried.

She nearly choked up at the sight of him. Iruka was cut and bloody, still fighting the other shinobi with everything he had.

Ayame picked up the hilt of the chakra blade and pulled it from the ground just as the other shinobi was coming towards her. She slashed at him blindly, hearing two cries…her own voice and his…and then she ran.

As fast as she could, she ran. She ran through streets, alleyways, and over bridges, not bothering to apologize when she knocked other civilians as she tried to get to the Hokage's office.

"Hey!"

"Watch it!"

"Shinobi scoundrels! Why aren't you using the roof highways!"

Ayame's lungs were about to burst, she was so winded, but she didn't let up. The task in front of her was much too urgent.

She barreled into the front doors of the main building, surprising the guard at the desk, and then she was in the stairwell, racing up to the top floor where the Hokage's office was.

Down the hallway that circled the central office…she saw the door in sight. Just as she reached it, the door opened and a man stepped out, just finishing a meeting with the Hokage.

"Hey!" he cried. "What are you—!"

She knocked Shikamaru over as she pushed past him. Kakashi was behind his desk, staring out the window.

She'd made it.

Three steps into the room, she involuntarily froze, and the sword went flying from her hands and clattered across the floor, leaving long scratch marks in the wood.

"Ayame-chan…?" Kakashi's voice was light yet reproachful. He glanced at the blade. "You really shouldn't be running with weapons."

"Ayame?" Shikamaru grunted. He released the shadows that were holding her captive. "What are you doing in uniform?"

"Nevermind that!" she cried, trying to catch her breath. She nearly dry heaved. "Iruka is fighting two of Hana's kidnappers. They had that," she said, pointing to the blade on the ground. "It's one of those chakra blades!"

Shikamaru grunted. "How do you know about–" but Kakashi cut him off.

"Where is Iruka?" he asked.

"The Academy," she said. "He needs backup!"

And to her great surprise, Kakashi grabbed the mysterious blade and went himself.

"Damn it," Shikamaru said, and he picked up Ayame and chased after Kakashi.

As it turns out, Iruka did not need backup after all. By the time they all returned to the training ground by the Academy, Iruka had both ninja bound up and out of commission. He was sitting at the foot of a tree, breathing heavily and bleeding, but in one piece.

"The Sealed Binding Formation," Kakashi noted, just as two ANBU joined him, flanking him on either side.

"Iruka!" Ayame cried, landing a moment later and jumping from Shikamaru's arms. She rushed to his side.

"I've been through worse, Ayame. Don't worry about me."

"What's she doing in a shinobi uniform?" one of the ANBU asked Kakashi, pointing to Ayame.

"Ahh, I was wondering the same thing," he said, casting a lazy eye her way. "You know it's illegal for civilians to wear the shinobi uniform, don't you?"

Ayame froze up, turning bright red. "I-I d-didn't–" she started, but Kakashi just chuckled.

"I'll overlook it this time," he told her with a wink. He turned to address the ANBU. "Take these two shinobi to Ibiki-san. But treat their wounds first…I want him to have fresh bodies to start with."

This statement elicited a terrified look from the two men, and it gave Ayame great satisfaction to know that they would get their due.

Kakashi then turned his attention to Ayame and Iruka. "So…care to tell me what happened?" he asked.

Iruka struggled to stand, and Ayame helped prop him up. Together, they explained everything that happened at the restaurant, the decision to take the blueprints before the men got to them, and finally, the chase and skirmish in the Academy training yard.

"Hana's alive, somewhere," Ayame finished, feeling overwhelmed by the events of the day. She looked at the sword still in Kakashi's hand. "But that blade, what does it have to do with everything?"

"I'm not sure yet," Kakashi admitted, "but I'm certain we'll find out."

After Kakashi left them, Ayame helped Iruka hobble back to Ichiraku. She insisted he go to the hospital, but he assured her that his wounds weren't too terrible.

"Just some cuts and bruises…I'll heal quickly."

When they finally returned to the restaurant, Teuchi had a cow. He'd come back from picking up new bowls to find the restaurant deserted and pots boiling over on the stove. Money hadn't even been put away in the cash register, but was sitting out on the counter for anyone to take. He knew something had happened, but when he saw his daughter come back, dressed in shinobi attire and half-carrying a beaten up Iruka with her, he nearly lost it.

The restaurant closed early, and Ayame made Iruka sit on a stool while she tended to his wounds. She cleaned dirt and grime from his arms, treated his cuts, and helped him bandage his torso to stabilize a couple of broken ribs.

Teuchi cooked them both a warm dinner and then left them alone while they ate.

During and after dinner, Ayame was once again withdrawn, and Iruka considered that she was back to her despondent state thinking about Hana.

"You made a good kunoichi today," he said softly, trying to bring a smile to her face.

She looked at him, her lower lip quivering as she tried not to cry. She failed.

Concern filled Iruka's eyes. "What's wrong, Ayame?"

"When I left you at the Academy…" her voice faltered. "I…I…" I was so afraid of losing you. But she couldn't get the words out through her sobs.

Iruka reached his arms around her and pulled her into him, wincing as she leaned against a cracked rib. "Shhh…" he told her. "I'm not going anywhere."

She grasped tight fistfuls of his shirt as she buried her head in his chest and cried.

"Yoramzg."

"What?" Iruka asked. Ayame's face was shoved into his shirt, and Iruka couldn't make out anything she was saying.

"Yoramzg, Irka."

"Ayame, I can't hear you."

She pulled her head away from him, tears and snot running together. "You're so amazing, Iruka. I didn't know you were capable of so much j-j-jutsu…and the way you f-f-fought those shinobi…" she burst into another round of sobs. "We have the best chance of finding Hana now, and it's all thanks to you!"

Iruka chuckled softly and pulled Ayame back into him. For the third time that day, they were in close proximity, but this time it was out of choice, not necessity. "I'm not that impressive, Ayame," he said quietly. "But thank you, all the same."

After her tears were let out and she'd calmed down, she whispered, "Why can't you see what I see?" Ayame placed her ear against his chest. She closed her eyes, listening to his heartbeat. How precious his heart was, because it beat for others. She treasured this heart.

Ayame wasn't sure when her feelings for Iruka had deepened, but this day's adventure had completely and utterly anchored him to her. He'd fought for Hana. He'd protected her. He'd treated her like a partner…someone to be trusted…an equal. Not many shinobi gave civilians that much credit.

She looked up at him, met his eyes, and saw only care and maybe something a little bit like love. A pink flush had spread across his nose, and she heard his heartbeat uptick a few beats per minute. A moment later, he hesitated, leaning forward ever so slightly, and Ayame's own heart responded by beginning to race. She tilted her head back, welcoming him, telling him with her body language that she would accept his care and attention. She would show him just how much he meant to her…that he wasn't just a footnote in a chapter of her life, but that he was the whole damn book, and she wanted her story written beside his.

Ayame closed her eyes, about to revel in the touch of Iruka's lips, when Teuchi popped out from the kitchen.

Iruka abruptly pulled away from her and cleared his throat.

Ayame's eyes fluttered open again, and then she saw her father. She looked away, embarrassed.

Teuchi, fully aware he'd accidentally interrupted a moment between these two, blushed a mean shade of red. "I thought you might like a little bit of ice cream," he muttered, having a hard time meeting his daughter's eyes. "Always makes Ayame feel better."

Indeed, in his hands were three bowls and two cartons of ice cream.

Ayame's heart was still beating rapidly, but she couldn't help but laugh at the state of her father. "I hope you like strawberry, Iruka? It's my favorite flavor."

"I'm not picky when it comes to ice cream," he said, recovering himself at the sound of Ayame's laughter.

The two youngsters smiled at each other, finally having confirmed in their hearts the other's attraction. With that knowledge alone, both contented themselves with knowing that a kiss could wait.