In which awkwardness ensues and pockets are cleaned.
She was going to have to get serious.
As she stared from her position right from the glass full of water(which made her reflection look really cool), in front of the pen laid on its side, and the stack of sticky notes which might as well have been a mini pyramid, she knew she would never be able to lie or dish out half truths to this guy.
Kakashi Hatake, The Copy Nin, Son of the White Fang, etc, stared at her in shock. His one eye was impressively expressive considering he was an elite nin, and now that she thought about it, wouldn't he have better things to do than practically babysit her?
It honestly was probably because he was a elite ninja. He could keep an 'eye' on her. Besides all that, though, she still thought there was another reason for him to be here. She was missing something. Not that she didn't already know that. Maybe because he was a student of the fourth, and knew a couple things about the seal?
She started in awe right back at him before snapping to attention. With a sudden bow forward that flipped her hair over her shoulders she squeaked,
"Hello! I'm Haruhi, please take care of me!" He had come back with Jiraiya and was no doubt debriefed about her, It was still a good idea to introduce herself though.
Looking up (cutely she hoped. Normally she was stuck in an constant impression of a troll. College didn't really leave much her time, and it showed with her foregoing her skin care routine.) She saw Kakashi look at her like all his worst fears had been confirmed.
He was frozen in his normal slouch, his gravity defying hair flopped slightly to the side-making him look like a confused puppy. His visible eye widened before slightly narrowing in defeat and curiosity. Under his heavy stare, she fidgeted and blushed. This man was crucial to the plot, and incredibly good looking. She had been quite out-of-touch with the fandom, but she knew enough to see the episode with Kakashi's true face.
'Quick! Think of something else!' she frantically thought to herself. It would not bode well to start crushing on this guy when accidentally moving his pinkie finger could crush her. Not like that mattered, he would wipe the floor with her any day, even if she was big. At that thought, her throat squeezed shut. She was really outclassed here.
Behind her, someone cleared their throat.
Whipping her head around, she saw the Hokage eyeing her and Kakashi with an amused expression, Jiraiya looking on with a lewd grin.
Cackling, he said
"It seems like Kakashi was the right choice after all! I'm off!" And with that, he jumped out the window she was sure he shouldn't have been able to fit through, white hair streaming behind him like a stratus cloud. A muffled shout of 'research!' reached the office before that too was carried away by the wind.
The Hokage sighed, probably beyond used to his shinobi's antics. She pulled her gaze away from the window and the sky beyond, turning her body to face the room again, only to squeak in surprise when Kakashi's cloth covered face was inches away from her!
She squealed and jumped-probably sounding like a pig, and fell on her rump, having tripped on a corner of the pen.
This only encouraged him to lean in closer, and she shuffled away until her back bumped into the glass.
Her mind froze as did the rest of her. Her breath became shallow and slow and she tried to disappear. Swallowing she tilted her head and looked up into his eyes. A gasp escaped her.
Kakashi was now looking at her with unbridled cursorily, his one grey eye widened and not moving from her petite figure. She could see herself reflected in the pupil, the image fading out as it came to the grey iris. She looked like a startled mouse, with glasses making her eyes indistinguishable, curly hair all askew, and limbs swallowed by dark cloth. It was impossible to make out any definite features, as the lighting in the office wasn't the greatest. Chest rapidly rising and falling to boot, his face this close to her wasn't doing her any favors.
She flinched again when he slowly raised his hand and moved it towards her, skimming the Hokages papers like a motorboat on top of water. With wide eyes, she watched as it descended, the hand slowly curling into a fist until only the index finger remained out, and ruffled her hair like a dog. She was a cat person.
"Hey! what gives!" She shouted in a ridiculously small voice, swatting at his hand like an over sized fly. She bit her lip, becoming impatient. She should have been at home reading her book. She didn't expect it to take this long and Kakashi messing around with her hair did not make her happy. But before she could do anything, Hiruzen decided to make himself known, clearing his throat again, obviously annoyed at being ignored.
Kakashi backed up and off the desk, if anything, looking more curious. Slightly abashed, he rubbed his head, flopping around his hair. His one eye avoiding looking at them. She wasn't sure if he was sheepish because the Hokage called him out or if it was because of the head pat. Maybe both.
"As you know Kakashi, you are simply one of the best for the job. Both of you would benefit greatly from this arrangement."
Still looking at her out of the corner of his eye, it sharpened when he listened.
"Hmmm, I'd have to say... no."
She and The God of Shinobi simultaneously choked in shock. Him on his pipe and her on her own spit. They stared at him, as he had just pulled out an orange book with a suspicious cover.
Suddenly the room was clouded with tension. Kakashi stiffened before flicking his eye up to Hizuren. She stood up cautiously, after having fallen back down with the rejection.
"I think you misheard me, Kakashi."
"As your Hokage, you will accept the B ranked mission and take Haruhi in as your ward."
'Wow' she thought in a daze. What a badass. No wonder he was called the God of Shinobi. Yes she was very easily impressed. But still, her feelings were kinda hurt. Kakashi was awesome and a moral compass for the series, to have him flat out reject her was a blow.
'Whatever!' She thought angrily, all the while keeping her confused smile plastered on. It wasn't like she wanted to be stuck with some porn reading man child anyway.
Even if he was cute.
"That's all, you are dismissed." Kakashi put his book away and slowly walked over to her. Fighting back the creeping blush and urge to run, she awkwardly grinned, giving a small wave of her finger that mimicked tree leaves.
They gazed at each other in contemplation before he repeated his motion from before and slowly lowered his hand to lay flat on the desk. Feel a sense of Déjà vu, she padded over and gulped, not meeting his eye. She leaned forward and slowly lifted herself onto his hand. His fingers twitched, and if she hadn't been leaning on his hand she wouldn't have seen or felt it, it was so minuscule.
He slowly lifted her up to chest level, and with one salute he walked out of the office.
She was hyper aware of his every movement and she was sure he was too. The hand was as steady as a rock and she barely felt the swaying of his steps. A distant thrumming was under her folded criss-cross applesauce legs, and with a jolt she realized it to be his heartbeat. She felt a heavy gaze on her and tilted her head towards his, hair dancing over her shoulders.
He had the same look as before. The one eye staring down at her as if it didn't quite believe what he was seeing. Same, friend.
It was adorable.
She relaxed, tilted her head, and sent a beaming grin up at him. He gawked slightly but continued to stare, completely enthralled.
With the ice broken, she made her move. She stood up and started to climb his sleeve like a hyper kitten. He stopped dead in his tracks.
"W-what are you doing?" He slightly stuttered, sounding nervous.
Sizing him up, she said;
"Getting comfortable. I'll be here for awhile." And with that and a toothy grin, she scaled his frozen arms (biceps!nice!) and crossed her way across cress like jumping through tires. She shifted along the collar just below his throat, the heat from his vision being replaced with the heat from his neck as it blocked out his sight. Crossing along like she was on the edge of a cliff, she dropped into his breast pocket, directly above his heart.
It was a lot like a hammock. It wasn't completely pitch black as the top was still cracked open a bit, and small amounts of light seeped through the fabric. It was dim, comfortable, and she could seriously fall asleep.
That was before she was nearly suffocated by a stray pookie.
Harrumphing, she impatiently grabbed pieces of paper and string and started tossing like she owned the place. And, as far as she was concerned, she did. Outside her cocoon, she felt him falter in steps again-or maybe he never started walking in the first place.
"...Should I be concerned?" He said, watching her appear and disappear from his pocket, idly brushing off pocket dust from his uniform that didn't make it to the floor.
"Nope, I'm gonna take a nap!" she giggled. Bemused, he continued watching her until she was done, and slipped back down. Once again enclosed in the fabric, she sighed in relief at just how comfortable it was. Feeling like she was forgetting something, she had an 'ah ha!' moment and took off her glasses and put then in her shirt.
She started swaying with careful footsteps, and now that she was directly above it, she could hear his slow heartbeat, lazy like he was.
She drifted off to sleep, as it had been a long day.
She would sort everything out after a quick power nap.
God knows she needed it.
Mole shifted from their position on the tree branch, having just witnessed everything that had occured in the office.
It was a near failure when the Legendary Sannin jumped out the window, their position having almost been compromised, but their quick reflexes saved Mole from being caught.
Lord Danzo would be pleased to hear about this.
A mysterious summon, a kind never seen before and from one of Lord Fourths seals and meant for the jinchuriki.
While non threatening in appearance, it could pose problems for Konoha, especially with circumstances like that.
With a hand sign, Mole shunshined away.
And there we have it! sorry guys, I can only really upload on the weekends.
also many people are confused about this. Haruhi/Harper decided to use the name Haruhi while in the Naruto world so she 'fit in' more and because is sounded similar to her name.