Disclaimer: Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto. Harry Potter belongs to JK Rowling.

"And here I thought you were talking about kissing me."

The words echoed throughout her head repeatedly, until Naruko belatedly realised what Hari just said. A deep red flush began from her neck all the way to the roots of her hair, and she couldn't look Hari in the eye.

"NO!" She cleared her throat. "No, of course not. Haha."

Kami, she wanted to punt herself into the stratosphere. Maybe Sakura could help?

Hari tilted his head. "Really?" He looked a little disappointed.

Naruko hated disappointing others.

"I mean-" (she was so going to regret this) "-yes? Maybe a little? But it doesn't matter!" Aaaaah she wanted to run away. Please. PLEASE.

Hari frowned. "Why wouldn't it matter? If you do like me, I would have taken you out on a date."

Naruko's breath hitched. What the what the what the I mustbehearingthings-

"A d-d-date?"

"Yes. I hoped this would be a mutual attraction but…" Hari smiled ruefully. "I see that's not the case. Please forget-"

"NO!"

Hari twitched, looking at her in surprise.

Naruko's heart was racing so first that she couldn't her the sound of her own thoughts. Only two words were bouncing around in her head.

"mutual attraction"

"mutual ATTRACTION"

"MUTUAL ATTRACTION"

"Don't forget! It's a m-mutual attraction! So no forgetting!"

Barely managing to form some half-sentences, she stared at Hari's chin. If she dared to make eye contact with his deep emerald gaze, she would definitely go into cardiac arrest and die. Totally not how I want Hari to remember me.

Oh , spare me, Kurama muttered, We have a Kushina 2.0 on our hands.

Soft laughter rang through her ears. Shocked, she looked up at Hari, and saw a joyful smile on his face. He looked so happy that Naruko forgot she was supposed to be embarrassed and stared at him, stunned.

He's so beautiful…

He then put his arm around his back and held his other hand out, like a knight waiting for his princess. In a slight daze, Naruko gave him her hand with a mixture of nervousness and anticipation. He held her hand gently, as if her was holding something precious. Heart stinging, she pushed down the heat rushing to her eyes. Hari leaned down and kissed the back of her hand, keeping eye contact the whole time.

"I would be honoured to take you out on a date, my lady."

...

"KAKASHI-SENSEI!"

Bursting into the room, Naruko ignored the complaints of the other staff, target locked on the Hokage. Sighing, said man glared at her, unimpressed.

"What is it now, Naruko?"

"Let's spar."

"Na-"

"Let me re-phrase that," she interrupted him. Kakashi belatedly noticed her anxiety. "I need a spar. Now."

What the… surely not?

Silently acqueising, he made a shadow clone, and followed Naruko out from the window. In tacit agreement, they both headed to Training Ground 44, before immediately proceeding to a taijutsu-only spar.

Although Naruko was quite unpredictable, she was a talented ninja nonetheless. This time however, she was full of opening, her punches unnecessarily wide and forceful, wasting a lot of her energy. Kakashi hasn't seen her this rattled since Jiraiya's death.

Seriously. Why do his students all have to be similar to him in some way?

Her unregulated breathing, shaky eyes and sloppy defence… just because she fell for someone? Is her self-emotional capacity really that limited?

This is my karma, Kakashi resigned himself to being his students' love guru.

... but this is so unfair, he gave her a solid punch to the gut, causing her to cough in pain, I haven't even touched a woman yet, and here they are showing their on-going melodrama right in front of my face. Ungrateful brats.

Leaning backwards, he kicked her upwards, aiming towards the lake for good measure. He hoped that she would fall in, but a ninja is a ninja. She landed on the water, no worse for wear.

Goddammit. How annoying.

...

"Kakshi-sensei," Naruko finally broke the silence. "Why… why do I feel so scared?"

He grunted. "I don't know. You tell me, Naruko. Why are you scared?"

Naruko hugged her knees as she stared out into the distance. Kakashi felt his heart tug. In this moment, she looked so unbelievably young and lost. It was easy to forget that she was only 18 years old. At such a young age, she saved the world, but still the people are greedy. And ask too much from her, never satisfied.

If she had someone by her side, he wouldn't be as worried. Naruko seems to have everything, but she's still entrenched in this deep loneliness, and he was one of the few who could recognise that. After all, he and Naruko were cut from the same cloth.

"I feel… vulnerable when I face Hari. It's like… my heart is outside of my body and in his hands, and he could do whatever he wants with it, and I'm separated from them by an unbreakable glass window. No matter how much I try to reason myself or think, my heart doesn't listen. My own thoughts don't listen to me anymore. It's scary. I don't… recognise myself like this."

Naruko shuddered.

Kakashi stayed silent. While he has never been in love, from what he has witnessed, love can be quite a self-destructive emotion. For a lot of people, their love drove them to ruin. But…

"Naruko," Kakashi began, "Have you ever considered that Hari-san might feel the same way?"

… it can also be their greatest support.