AN: Trigger Warnings: There's some sexual harassment in this chapter. There's no dub-con/non-con/sexual assault.

She woke the moment her window slide open. Her body bolting upright, kunai in hand. Kakashi was fully dressed in ANBU gear although the hound mask was clipped to his belt. Moonlight reflected off his hair, giving the appearance that it glowed. She relaxed, putting the kunai back on her night stand. He only ever showed up in the middle of the night for one, well, two reasons. Either he was coming back from a mission or leaving on one.

"Do you have to leave?" She sleepily asked, settling back into the pillows.

"Yes," he said. Regret was evident in his voice. "I leave at dawn. Can I spend the night?"

It was a bittersweet way to say goodbye. Most of the time, goodbyes were hurried or left in the form of notes. Sometimes they had more warning and were able to spend the evening together.

He stripped out of his uniform, neatly folding it on the dresser. He slid into her bed, pulling her close to his chest and spooning her from behind. He planted a light kiss on the back of her neck. She knew he rarely got a proper night's sleep before a mission. His mind and body both hyper focused on the impending task. She always tried to help him settle down and relax before hand.

"Don't you need to sleep?"

"Not really," he whispered. His finger slipped under the band of her panties. He lazily traced a path inwards from the curve of her hip, pausing over her birth control seal. "I'd rather spend my time with you."

"Take me with you?"

"Not this time." There was a hard edge to his voice. She was not privy to the details of all his missions and she suspected that he left her out of the more dangerous ones. It always filled her with worry, especially when he seemed this tense before a mission.

He stopped speaking as he focused his attentions on her. He trailed kisses down the back of her neck before whispering in her ear. "I have other places I'd rather take you."

Sex tended to provide him an easy distraction. One that she was usually happy to accommodate. She purposely shifted, knowing that her ass was grinding against him, teasing him. His fingers toyed with the edge of her panties, before pulling them down. She let out a sigh of pleasure as his thumb started rubbing rough circular motions against her clit. Then he thrust one finger in and out in at an agonizingly slow pace. She whimpered as her hips bucked, wanting more, wanting him.

"Does that feel good?" She could feel the low rumble of his voice, his breath hot against the back of her neck. This time he grinded his erection against her.

He rolled her over so that he could take her from behind. There was definitely going to be bruises from the firm grip he had on her hips. There was a storm building inside of her, his hips rocking against her like waves crashing onto the store. Growing more intense with each thrust. He brought her to the peak just before backing off. He liked to tease her. Liked to deny her. His movements were slow and languid as he pushed in and out before pausing completely while inside of her. She groaned in frustration.

"I will do bad things to you," she promised.

There was a chuckle before he responded, his voice husky with lust. "Ah well, you know I enjoy when you're naughty."

He resumed his pace, soon reaching the point of no return as he allowed himself to finally give in to a primal urge. The bed frame rocked against the wall with such force that Kotori almost felt bad for her neighbour.

Almost because her thoughts were rapidly becoming an incoherent mess as she moaned, the filter between her brain and mouth entirely gone. Oh gods, don't stop, feels so good, just like that -

She fisted her sheets as she cried out, pulsing around him as she finally fell into the deep abyss.

"Oh gods, Kakashi!"

She could feel him stiffen behind her before he too was pushed over the edge.

He let out a content sigh as he pulled out and laid down next to her, once again pulling her into his strong arms.

"Thank you," he sleepily murmured.

The tension in his body was gone. She knew she could not entirely relieve him from his burdens. This was only a temporary distraction.

She rested her head against his chest, the steady beat of his heart calming as she drifted off to sleep. She was woken not long after for a second round. This time being rolled onto her back as Kakashi peppered her with kisses. Their lovemaking was softer, slower, as he held her hands and looked into her eyes and whispered into her ear.

Mostly it was incoherent mumbling but one line stood out as he came.

"Fuck, Tori-chan, I love you."

Crude and possibly just being caught up in the passion of the moment. Kakashi didn't seem to notice afterwards, drifting back into an uneasy sleep. However, her heart fluttered and she longed to hear him say them again to her.

He woke her once more at the crack of dawn to say goodbye. Once again he was dressed in his ANBU uniform. His body leaned over hers as he kissed her goodbye.

"Please be safe," she said.

His expression softened. "I will."

"I'll be waiting," she reminded him.

He gave her one last kiss before pulling the mask back in place. "I'll be home as soon as I can."

She didn't go back to sleep after he left. Her mind giving into the worry that she tried not to show. Kakashi was one of their best shinobi, but he wasn't infallible. She quickly got up and went about her morning routine. She even had time to take in a run around the village before getting to the ANBU headquarters to report in for missions.

It was part of being in a relationship as a shinobi. The long stretches of separation. The constant worry that one day your loved one would not come back. There were couples in the village who didn't see each other for months at a time. She was fortunate that she and Kakashi had similar mission schedules. As they were on the same team, their ANBU patrols and downtime often lined up.

Still, she missed him when they were apart.

Their team was currently on standby and could be called away on a mission at any time. The Commander had no missions for her when she stopped by his office, so she went to the locker rooms to change into her uniform for some training. Kotori let the quiet chatter drift in and out, not really paying much attention to it. She was still tired from the night before. The women's locker room in ANBU was always rife with village gossip. Sometimes it was helpful to listen to it, however more often than not it was just relationship drama.

"Apparently she's been fucking her captain for months."

Kotori wasn't entirely innocent and tended to overhear more than she should. However she kept her ANBU gossiping solely within her own team. Every so often, Yugao and she would lock eyes and nod. It always meant a visit after training to the Teahouse to, as Yugao put it, spill the tea.

Tea would be good right now. No, coffee. She was so very tired.

"That's why he gives her the easy missions, no wonder her record is so clean."

There was definitely a lively buzz in the locker room. Llama and Rabbit were off in the corner with their heads together. They hadn't had a good scandal since the fallout from Otter, Sable and Rabbit finding out they were all dating Weasel at the same time. Commander Monkey had been furious and had to switch around four ANBU teams to separate them all. His wife, Captain Panda, had had to have a sit down with the three girls because the women's locker room had become a war zone every time they locked eyes. Since then, ANBU had gotten stricter on their fraternization policies. All previously existing couples had been approved. Recent couples like she and Kakashi had been privately investigated by senior officers before approval. Panda had been the one to interview her shortly after Kakashi announced their relationship to the Hokage.

"I don't get it, she's not even that pretty. He could have gone for someone like Racoon or Cat."

The words clicked in her sluggish mind and she suddenly realized that she was the latest scandal.

"Cat's a bitch. Hawk's easy at least."

There was laughter at that. She felt heartsick.

"Hound's so lazy, he probably didn't have to try very hard. She was just there and throwing herself at him."

Kotori liked being liked. She tried her best to get along with everyone. To hear her name talked about in such a fashion, to hear that this is what her comrades thought about her -

She slammed her locker shut before fleeing the room. Her cheeks burned behind her hawk mask.

She choked out a cheerful good morning as she joined Yugao, Satoshi and Genma on the training grounds. The three of them were taking turns sparring with each other. Haruki and Ayumu had returned from a mission the night before and were granted the day off to recover. Tenzo was absent, so Kotori suspected he was off with Kakashi.

She paired off with Yugao, ignoring the knowing look the younger girl was giving her. After the third time she ended up flat on her back with Yugao's sword pointing at her throat, Kotori suggested taking a break. Neither her mind nor heart were into it today. Normally she put up more of a fight.

Yugao dropped next to her underneath a maple tree, the pair of them observing Genma and Satoshi's match. Satoshi was bigger and stronger, however Genma was faster and danced out of reach each time Satoshi came close.

"Not your best today," Yugao idly commented. "You alright, girl?"

"Yeah, just feeling off," she lied. "I didn't sleep well last night."

Yugao choked from the water she was drinking.

"Okay, spill. You heard Llama and Rabbit didn't you?"

It wasn't exactly news to the rest of the team that Kakashi and Kotori were together. Genma had gleefully spilled the beans before either of them could get around to telling them. So Kotori worried what exactly Yugao had overheard this morning.

Yugao looked straight ahead. Her face was oddly pink. "Um, so it turns out Mouse lives next door to you? She knows you've been hooking up with Kakashi-senpai for months and was pissed you two kept her up last night. I overheard her telling Llama, she was being pretty explicit. I think she was just being spiteful because she's off on a mission today."

"What did she say?"

"Do you want to know?"

Kotori cringed. The thought of her sex life being public knowledge made her deeply uncomfortable. It was one thing to assume, it was another to have it talked about in graphic detail among strangers. She was a lot louder than Kakashi in bed so she could only imagine what was heard. "Probably not."

"The Hokage approved the relationship, neither of you are doing anything wrong. It'll all blow over soon enough," Yugao promised.

Despite Yugao's reassurance, Kotori had a hard time believing it. The rumours got progressively worse over the next three days. Some seemed to be of the opinion that Kotori was using sex as a way to climb the ranks. Others seemed to be of the opinion that Kakashi had coerced her into it. Kotori refused to give any of them the satisfaction of seeing her upset, so she tried not to react. Never had she been more glad for the hawk mask that hid her face.

It seemed everyone forgot that she was a capable kunoichi and suddenly her worth was only what she could do in the bedroom. There was a lot of speculation on that too. Apparently people thought she must be into something straight out of Icha Icha to catch Kakashi's attention. Whatever Mouse had told Llama and Rabbit had been greatly exaggerated over time.

She carefully inspected herself in her bathroom's mirror. Kotori was not normally insecure about her appearance. Her body did what it needed to do. Idiots who expected her to be a top performing kunoichi while also looking like something off a magazine were not worth her time. Kakashi seemed to like her body type just fine. Even if it was nothing like the images of the girls on his books. Even if she heard her flaws picked apart by everyone over the last few days.

She bit her lip as she glanced down. The girls in those books always had a perfect hourglass figure. Yeah, she was not going to spiral down that trail of thought. She was cute. Even if she was on the smaller side in every possible way.

She flopped onto her bed, staring at the ceiling. Outside, one of her birds called for her. She closed her eyes to find whoever was trying to pass along a message. Kakashi was crouched in a tree, he had one of her birds perched on his index finger. "I just wanted to say goodnight."

Her heart warmed. He had found one of her birds just to say goodnight? He had no idea how much she needed to hear his voice after a terrible day. She carefully inspected him. He seemed well, unharmed. The distance meant she couldn't hold the connection for long, however she was able to sing a little at him. Her bird hopped on his shoulder and affectionately nuzzled his chin.

Kotori went in the next morning feeling better. She was a strong kunoichi. She had a loving boyfriend. She had good friends. The rest didn't matter.

It was almost enough to get her through the day. "Yo, Hawk! Do you have a moment?"

She paused as she waited for Captain Bull to catch up with her. She had sometimes been loaned out to other teams for her clan technique. Usually the request came through the Hokage or ANBU Commander. It was unusual for a captain to approach her directly.

"I'm tracking some rogue shinobi from Kumo last seen around the northern outposts. I could use a sensory type. What do you say? It would be just the two of us."

There was a suggestion in Bull's tone that she didn't like.

Kotori grimaced behind the hawk mask. Her tone was falsely cheery as she responded, "Oh, sorry, if you checked my file you'd see that I'm not actually a sensory type."

"Hm," Bull blocked her from continuing on her way. She felt uncomfortable and became suddenly conscious of that fact that they were alone. Her fight or flight instinct kicked in and she wanted to flee. "That's not what I've heard."

"I think you've been misinformed," she said. "You could try Bear."

Satoshi and Yugao were the sensory types on her team. Although she didn't want this man trying anything with her younger friend. Satoshi would play along and make things uncomfortable for Bull. She knew Satoshi wouldn't take kindly to someone making unwanted advances on one of his female teammates.

"I don't think Bear would be the right candidate here. I might need a pretty girl to seduce the target."

Seduction work was the reality of being a kunoichi. They were trained to use their bodies in any way necessary. However Kotori knew the only target he wanted seducing was himself. It was an unfortunate pickup line around the forces. Ensui had warned his team early on to turn down any requests of that nature that did not come directly from the Hokage's office. So far she had never been asked.

"No," she firmly said.

"You know, if you're interested in a captaincy. I could help you out, I've been doing it a lot longer than Captain Hound. Consider it mutually beneficial."

He wouldn't get out of her personal space. His hand rested against the wall that he had her backed up against. He was close enough that she could see into his eye holes and the way his eyes trailed down her body.

"Again, I think you've been misinformed. I have no interest in a captaincy. I'm quite happy in a supportive role on my team."

"Supportive role," Bull snorted. "I see. So you're happily supporting Hound then?"

Would he just leave already? She had had enough of him. With flight not an option, her instinct to fight was starting to kick in. So was her desire to fight. Kotori had rarely felt the need to take out her anger in such a fashion. However she had also never been slut shamed and sexually harassed in such a blatant matter before either. Her anger shimmered just beneath the surface, her control over it just as tight as her chakra. She tried to assess what she knew of Bull and his fighting style. As an ANBU captain he was surely stronger than her and would have the advantage in close quarters. He was definitely bigger than her. However she may have the element of surprise. Especially if she could make him just as angry.

Time to use her jutsu for its intended purpose. She mentally tried to find anything her birds had ever seen. A smirk formed across her face.

"Does your wife know?"

Bull faltered. "Excuse me?"

"Does your wife know about Suki? Or Namine? Or any of them? Does she know you pretend to be off on missions when you're cheating on her in the village?" Kotori asked. She crossed her arms and tried to project a casual stance as she leaned against the wall. Her chin tilted up to look at him. "If you had actually read my file, you'd know all about my technique. I have eyes and ears everywhere."

She wished she could see the look on his face. She settled for feeling satisfied at the way his shoulders tensed and his neck disappeared like a turtle retreating into its shell. He recoiled from her.

"Bitch," he hissed. "You and Hound deserve each other."

"Isn't a bitch just a female hound anyway?"

He threw the first punch. She immediately caught it in her hand as she blocked it, prepared to absorb the impact so it didn't break anything. It was generally acceptable for shinobi to resolve their issues physically. As long as there was no lasting personal or property damage. They also had to do it away from civilians. The ANBU Headquarters was a good a place as any. The only downside was that they would quickly attract a crowd. She needed to end this swiftly and painfully to make her point.

Kotori rapidly brought her knee up, enhancing it with chakra as she connected it with his groin. Bull crumbled into a ball on the ground. For the second time, she wished she could see the look on his face.

It was one of the nastier tactics she had learned from Ensui. He had taught all three of his students how to channel chakra to the knee for precisely this reason. She had never tried it before, however the result was more intense than she realized. Bull was cursing her name as he held his stomach. He looked like he might throw up.

The white cloak of an ANBU captain filled her vision as someone quickly stalked towards them. "Bull, my office now."

He was slowly pushing himself up, still hunched in on himself. "And what about Hawk? Did you see -"

Captain Panda crouched in front of Bull. Her voice was quiet, but vibrated with anger. "Yeah, I saw the whole thing. You provoked her. You blocked her in. You threw first punch. She ended it. I would be ashamed if I were you. That was pathetic. You are given a position of authority and trust in this organization and you want to abuse it? Not on my watch."

A small crowd of curious onlookers gathered at the ends of the hallway. Naturally they'd all appear in time for a fight.

Panda gave her a curt nod. "Alright Hawk? You're free to go. I'll get your statement tomorrow. You could probably use a drink after suffering this fool."

Kotori took Panda's suggestion and fled the ANBU headquarters. People made a wide berth as she raced up the steep path that led to the top of the Hokage Monument Lookout. She pulled the mask off and tossed it aside once she got to the top. Her hands gripped the railing so tightly that her knuckles went pale. Her stomach churned now that she was out of danger. Had she ever even been in danger? It's not like Bull would have been stupid enough to assault her right there in the middle of ANBU. Right? She hadn't overreacted?

No, Panda would have pulled her aside if she had been out of line.

Bull had made her uncomfortable though and he knew it. Enjoyed it even. Trying to convince her to go off with him had almost been like a sick little game.

Yugao hip checked her from the right side while Genma loosely wrapped an arm around her shoulders from the left.

"Hey," she duly greeted them. She supposed they were here to try and cheer her up.

"I'm sorry you had to deal with Bull's shit," Genma solemnly told her.

"He's been demoted for his little stunt," Yugao added.

"Good."

"Someone named Stag broke his mask in the locker room?" Genma told her. "Just walked straight up to him and punched him clean through the mask. Looks like he'll have two black eyes and a broken nose. Satoshi refused to fix him. Stag didn't say a word the entire time. Terrifying guy, where did you befriend that one?"

Oh, Ensui. She smiled despite herself. She hadn't realized he was in the village.

"We haven't decided what we're doing to him yet, but retaliation for going after you will be cruel and unusual," Yugao promised.

"Speak for yourself, I already trapped his locker. He'll be getting picked by senbon for weeks." Yugao and Genma debated what Kakashi would do to Bull when he got back.

"I'd rather he not do anything," Kotori admitted. She didn't want him to have to constantly swoop in whenever she had a problem. Kotori wanted to be able to handle her own problems and not just dump them onto Kakashi.

"He'll find out sooner or later," Yugao reminded her.

While Kotori knew she was well liked on her team, she also knew not one of them would leave Kakashi in the dark for long about what had gone down in his absence.

"It should be from me." She sighed. "Besides I already kneed Bull in the groin, you can't get much worse than that wouldn't lasting harm."

"I don't know," Genma smirked. He leaned forward on the railing, overlooking the village below. "You might have left lasting harm and taken him out of the gene pool."

"I should get a medal for that."

Genma dragged her towards the slope back down towards the village. "Come on then, I'm taking my best girls out for dinner to celebrate."

Ayumu, Haruki and Satoshi were waiting for them at the base. It seemed her entire team had shown up in a show of support. Even if the others didn't mention what had happened. She was grateful they had come and took it upon themselves to distract her from her thoughts. It was a pleasant evening as the six of them hung out at a small izakaya owned by an ex-ANBU. The place was not as busy as it was located off the main hub and a favourite for members of ANBU for its privacy.

Satoshi waved them off as he stood up some time later. "Us old folks need to get going."

"What? It's not even seven! Don't tell me you're all going to bed," Genma shock his head. "It's all downhill after you turn twenty-five."

Satoshi closed his eyes as he smiled. "I do have a bedtime to keep, you know."

Satoshi and Haruki both had younger children. Kotori knew they liked spending time with them in the evenings. Especially since they were often away on missions for weeks at a time. It was rare they came out for team dinners, although she was appreciative that they came this time.

Ayumu laughed, "Goodbye, Genma. We'll have to live vicariously through your youth." Genma gave Kotori and Yugao a challenging look. "And what about you two?"

"We're young and our boyfriends are off on missions," Yugao said. "I think we're good to stay out for a while."

"Speaking of the boyfriend, is it funny to make fun of - "

"No," Kotori quickly shot him down.

"Because Mouse - "

"More like Rat - " Kotori grumbled.

However she handled a little good natured teasing from the pair of them. And after a while, even Kotori had to admit it was a little funny to think Mouse had caught them.

"Does Kakashi purposely give me easier assignments?" Kotori asked when the conversation lulled. It had been something weighing on her mind for some time and all but confirmed this week.

Yugao arched her eyebrow in response, however she didn't say anything. Genma avoided her eye, quickly taking a drink of his beer to avoid having to answer.

"Thought so."

"Look, I've known Kakashi-senpai for a long time," Yugao said. "There's been plenty of times he's pulled me off missions and gone in my place because he thinks it's too dangerous."

"Hell, he's pulled me off missions before," Genma quietly added. "Target was this kid. I couldn't do it. I just kept staring at the fucking scroll. Kakashi took it and said don't worry about it. Everyone thinks he's this cold hearted bastard, and yeah, he can be. But I think he does it so we don't have to be. I worried about him for a long time."

"Same." Yugao softly agreed. Her gaze was pensive as she stared into her glass. "I think everyone did."

"It's not fair to him. I should be - "

Genma cut her off. "The shinobi world isn't fair. Kakashi knows that all too well. Do you honestly believe he would send you in his place?"

"He should," she stubbornly insisted. "How am I supposed to be okay with knowing he takes on everything by himself? Why does he have to be so stubborn, I just want to help him."

"You don't see it, do you?" Yugao ruefully shook her head. "You do help him. He lights up when you're in the room. I've never seen him so happy. That guy deserves a little happiness in his life. It would destroy him to make a call that lead you to your death."

Her arguments sounded stupid in her mind after that. Kakashi was stronger than her and a better tactician. It made logical sense for him to take missions that she might fail. It made emotional sense that he wouldn't want to risk her life. Her heart still felt he should be able to depend on her more. Perhaps if she were stronger.

The three of them didn't stay out long. The downside to being on standby was that they always had to be prepared to be sent on a mission on short notice. Which was a good thing because as they stepped outside into the early evening, one of Kotori's birds sang out.

Chika dee dee dee

She closed her eyes and scanned through her birds, eventually reaching one. Her blood ran cold at the sight. Kakashi was standing over Tenzo's limp body, trying to defend them both from several enemy shinobi. Chidori crackled in his hand.

No. Please no!

Kotori blinked open her eyes, Yugao had caught her when she fell and helped her back to her feet. Her heart was hammering in her chest as she spoke.

"Kakashi and Tenzo's mission was compromised. They need our help."