Chapter 13: Presumptuous
(Saturday September 20 Amegakure)
~Nina~
"This i-is a small shower?" Nina asked the inn's clerk.
Outside, the rain pelted down in heavy sheets. Unable to outrun the downpour, Nina and Kakashi had taken refuge in a hollowed-out tree trunk for a while, stupidly assuming it would quickly pass over and they could be on their way. However, after waiting it out for half an hour and with no letup in the ghastly weather, they continued onwards to their destination.
Soaked and with teeth chattering, Nina used her free hand to cinch her cloak across her front, hoping to conserve lost body heat. A gust of chilly air caused an uncontrollable shiver to rip through her body, ending with another sneeze.
"Achoo!"
Nina's eyes shot up to Kakashi as he let go of her hand to grip her waist and pulled her into his side. Although he wasn't any drier than her, she welcomed whatever extra warmth she could get from him.
She half-expected him to be looking down at her with his crinkle-eyed smile, but his attention was fully on the clerk and what she was saying.
"Room 302. Third floor, second room on the right," the clerk directed, handing the room key to Kakashi. "All our rooms have self-contained laundry facilities, including a dryer."
Nina mused over the necessity for an appliance that dried clothes. It rained in Konoha, but the following day the grey clouds would be long gone, replaced with piercing blue cloudless skies and gusts of fresh air that made the stark white hospital linen snap in its wake.
(Amegakure Inn Room 302)
~Nina~
"In m-my p-pack, Hatake, i-is…" Nina's teeth chattered so harshly that it made it difficult for her to form whole words.
"Shower. Now, Sarutobi." There was no room in Kakashi's tone for argument. It was reminiscent of their ANBU days—he barked, and they followed.
Stripping out from her sodden clothes behind the closed bathroom door, Nina stepped into the steaming shower stream. The scalding temperature struck her ice-cold skin, instantly rouging her olive complexion. She undid her messy bun and let the tangled mess of her hair become water-logged.
Nina smiled when she noticed the three miniature bottles and two washcloths on the in-built shelf in the shower cubicle. The effort was a little unusual, given the village's location. Nonetheless, she was grateful for the complimentary inclusions, given she'd forgotten to grab her bag of toiletries. One by one, she picked the bottles up to read their labels.
Shower gel, shampoo, and conditioner.
~Kakashi~
Kakashi unconsciously rolled his lips in on each other. In the laundry, he stood in not but a towel staring at a yellow lace thong he'd plucked out of Nina's pack, trying to deal with the consequences of his own foolish choices.
Very foolish.
He'd been the one who'd come up with the rules and penalties, yet he was on the back foot.
She made the first move. Does that mean I am to make the second?
~Nina~
Nina flinched, hearing the door click open and closed. "Being a little forward, don't you think, Hatake?"
"No need to turn the water off. I'll be back; you need a towel."
And the Copy-Nin was gone again.
A minute later, he returned.
"I'm finished," Nina said, cautiously poking her hand out from a gap in the shower curtain. She swiped at thin air in search of a towel, wishing she'd paid attention to her surroundings more before getting into the shower.
"Here."
"You…How long did you—?" Nina inhaled deeply and wrapped the towel around her body—tightly.
She drew back the shower curtain; the simple act had her clutching at her still-tender left side. The healing process was going a lot slower than usual, unhelped by her insistence on Kakashi using her injury as a pain meter. With her head down, reflexively, she released her side and put her hand up to keep the Copy-Nin aback. "I can…" Nina forced herself to take a ragged breath. "I can take care of myself."
"Uh-huh," Kakashi said. "Just let me—"
"I don't need your help, perv—"
Nina's hand pressed against Kakashi's cold, bare chest. She pulled her hand back and clutched the part of the towel she'd tucked in on itself with both hands. The heat intended for her words pulsed in her cheeks. She'd seen Hatake up close and down to his mask and boxer briefs—medical assessments and whatnot. The thing was, she'd usually be the one wearing more clothes.
Kakashi stepped forward again, and Nina's heels thudded softly against the shower's base. He moved his hand to brush along the shell of her ear.
"Want to tell me why you're blushing, Sarutobi?"
Why?
Blushing was a natural bodily response triggered by the sympathetic nervous system. In layman's terms, a person's fight or flight response. Nina remembered reading that some scientists believed people wore the stress of a difficult or confusing situation directly on their faces in circumstances when throwing a punch or making a run for it weren't feasible reactions.
Heh.
A right hook would sit just fine by her.
But then I'll have to heal his stupid arse.
"Clothes," Nina murmured, looking up at Kakashi. "Where did you put my clothes?"
His gaze was sharp, scrutinising, and somewhat a little surprised. Kakashi cleared his throat and stepped back from her; his salacious dramatics withered. "On the table."
"Thanks," Nina said, side-stepping her way out of the bathroom.
~Kakashi~
Kakashi snuffed the steamy air, ridding himself of his mask and the towel from around his waist. If Sarutobi had swung at him, he would've understood. Instead, her response had been remarkably soft for a kunoichi capable of such violence.
Curious.
~Nina~
Sometimes Nina wondered how she got into these situations. What deity she'd angered to make their luck so bad, or what unwritten rule she'd unwittingly broken, but not this time. No, this time, she knew exactly what she'd done.
Nina wanted to believe the unannounced bathroom intrusion was innocent, but… Hatake was obnoxious.
She sighed, holding up the yellow lace g-string he'd selected for her.
Really fucking obnoxious.
This and the Copy-Nin's antics in the bathroom landed him right back into the same dirty basket as the rest of Konoha's fuckboys.
Not wanting to be caught in her underwear, Nina rushed to loop the tube top over her head, followed by…
This isn't mine.
Agonising over whether to wear the lent garment or not, Nina then spotted something else that made her rethink basketing Kakashi in with the likes of Raidō. Again.
~Kakashi~
Kakashi had more than one opportunity to debate whether his actions would help matters or make them worse. Harmless flirting was supposed to be just that—harmless.
Exiting the bathroom whilst drying his hair, he spoke without actually looking for the kunoichi. "My apologies if my actions were—," Kakashi wanted to say presumptuous, "—unprofessional."
"That dismal apology just cost you five thousand Ryo," Nina retorted. "Was it necessary? In normal circumstances, absolutely not. But for this god-forsaken mission? Who's to say."
Kakashi remained silent and wide-eyed, swiftly buried under a deep-seated discomposure.
Sarutobi sat curled up against the windowsill reading, her hair uncombed, swamped in not but his shirt and the accursed yellow underwear. In one hand, she nursed the leather-bound manuscript from Jiraiya; in the other, she held a red and white polka-dotted mug of still-steaming—presumably—green tea.
"You're staring, Hatake," Nina remarked, peeling her attention away from her book to look at him.
It couldn't be purposeful; more likely carelessness. Kakashi noted her forgone tights still folded on the square wooden table in the centre of the room.
No.
He'd never known Nina Sarutobi to be so careless.
"Not at all." Kakashi yanked on the towel hung around his neck and let it drop to his feet. "I noticed that it's stopped raining and,"—he paused to stick his head into the neck hole of a black, sleeveless undervest, followed by a black long-sleeved shirt—"I was patiently waiting for you to finish the page before discussing our plans."
"Uh-huh," Nina said, earmarking her page. She then set her book on the table and picked up her tights. "Give me a minute to change."
A small smile tugged at the corners of Kakashi's mouth, hidden beneath his mask. He'd lied, and she damn well knew it.
(Amegakure Village)
~Nina~
Nina was ravenous, but her first decent meal of the day would have to wait a while longer. With under an hour before dark out, having lost daylight hours because of the shower, they would have to thoroughly canvas the village tomorrow. For now, they needed to report their arrival in Amegakure to the Hokage.
Like the complimentary toiletries, Nina hadn't expected the place to be so busy. It was far from the leisurely stroll she'd envisioned. Most buildings were derelict, and their placings were also widely spaced, giving the village a false sense of expanse. Businesses were like the ones in Konoha; she'd seen a florist, butcher, several grocers, and a few massage parlours.
The next massage parlour had beautified girls dressed in skimpy outfits parading out of its entrance, beckoning for patronage in exchange for 'happy endings' and other erotic fantasies.
How many times has Master Jiraiya visited there? How many times had—?
"It was one time, Sarutobi."
Nina grinned at her and Hatake's ability to converse like they could read each other's minds. She'd not said anything but one side-ways look in his direction, and he was quick to spit a defence.
~Kakashi~
On the outer limits of the village, Kakashi decided to ire on the cautionary side and took advantage of the cover provided by a tall oak tree. Its bulky trunk and lowly overhanging branches provided the ideal shadowy cover. He knelt and nipped his thumb, drawing a small amount of blood.
"A bird would be faster," Nina grumbled.
"And easier for the enemy to spot," he replied, hitting his palm on the ground.
From the puff of smoke, the smallest of his ninken appeared. "Yo, Kakashi." The pug sniffed the air, "You're not alone?"
"Hi Pakkun," Nina greeted, slinking around from the other side of the tree's trunk.
"Long time no see, Nina Sarutobi," Pakkun said, seemingly unvexed by how his brow wrinkled from the head pat Nina gave him.
Kakashi cleared his throat. "Pakkun."
'Uh, sorry." The pug and the kunoichi quickly separated. "What do you need?"
"A message for Tsunade,"—Kakashi tucked a note into the white bindings on Pakkun's front right leg—"to be delivered as soon as possible."
"Got it," Pakkun acknowledged and disappeared into the dead of the night.
(Konoha Ichiraku Ramen Bar)
~Naruto~
Naruto lifted one hand from behind his head to farewell the girls from outside the ramen bar, who had set off home as they had a full day ahead of them.
"So, what's the go with you and Sakura?" Naruto asked, without bothering to turn and face Sasuke.
"It was just dinner."
'Just dinner'. Sasuke said it like he said most things. Like it was no big deal. Naruto struggled… no, he couldn't accept that attitude.
"You know, she really likes you." For what felt like his entire existence, he'd pined over the pinkette, who only ever had eyes for his rival. He'd also watched Sakura spill rivers of tears over a guy who never so much as blinked in her direction, let alone welcomed her affections. "I'll clobber you if you mess around with her feelings."
Sasuke turned his back to Naruto and scoffed. "I beat you last time we—"
"I'm serious, Sasuke." Naruto's fists clenched at his sides. "She's always liked you. Sure, it used to annoy me. It was always 'Sasuke this, and Sasuke, that' with her. She may not say that out loud anymore, but I can tell she still feels the same." He folded his arms across his chest, nodding his head, "Mhm. Yeah, I can tell. The way Sakura smiled tonight…." Naruto angled his head over his shoulder to Sasuke.
"Whatever. Mind your own business, loser."
Naruto dropped his head to the ground, smirking. He couldn't just 'mind his own business.' Sakura and Sasuke were his teammates. More than that, they were his friends, and he'd protect their bonds with his life.
*End of Chapter*
