In which connections are made and mischief is managed.
Oh my Gosh, So many of you have followed and Favorited me! I decided to make this chapter a bit longer than normal to celebrate. To 50, Everybody!
Again, the walk home was short and sweet. They spent it in a peaceful silence, her jovial with her new clothes and he was just happy to be out of the toy store. She even thought she heard him humming, but that could have been the fat lazy bees in the flowers they had just walked past.
The humming was addictive, and soon she found she couldn't help herself. While she had never joined anything like band or choir, she still loved music. She couldn't read music to save her life, mind you, but she had very acute ears, that picked up a tune and could follow it note for nameless note.
She was in the middle of humming Tiny Dancer by Elton John, when felt the weight of an inquisitive gaze.
"Do you like singing?" Kakashi asked, cutting her off.
"It passes the time and it's fun!" She responded without shame, and continued humming her song.
Far off and blocked by trees, she could make out the Hokage mountain, which seemed pretty colorful for a slab of rock. It looked like someone painted stuff onto it.
He shifted balance again, and opened the front door. They were greeted to a quiet house, clean wooden floors, and mostly empty walls. Dust danced in the light streaming from outside. She was hit with the smell leftover from last night, cooking oil and fried vegetables lingering in the air. She wondered what they would have tonight.
She was surprised to find herself looking forward to it.
He slouched into the living room, leaving his shoes on for some reason, and put the bag onto the coffee table.
Looking at the bag full of furniture she asked;
"Where could we set up shop? what would be a good place to put all this?"
He glanced around.
"How about that book shelf." He stated more than asked.
She jumped off the low table, sunlight catching her hair and the soft rug catching her. Kakashi picked up the bag and placed it by the book shelf. She surveyed the books. Most of them were ninja scrolls, the recent ones bound tightly. A couple hardcover books and paperbacks were also evenly spaced behind and next to the scrolls. They were short and fat and tall and thin. Some had uneven pages and others had golden edges, and some were just normal. It was a bit dusty.
It was her dream come true. The entire shelf went up to Kakashi's hip-so relatively short. Perfect for her. It was also out of the way of the hallway, offering some semblance of privacy. Her favorite feature, however, was the sliding door. It was big enough to cover half of the book shelf at anytime, and could slide like a glass shower door to each side. It had two levels with a single wooden shelf. It was Awesome and convenient.
"That, would be amazing!" She said shrilly.
He unpacked, pulling out miniature furniture and bundled clothing. He placed the around her, in front, and on top of her!
"Hey! Not on me!"
"Sorry about that. Need a hand?" He said, leaning over and plucking it off her, not sounding at all sorry. Rather amused actually. She was too, but for the sake of comedy she acted angry.
"I can do it!" She puffed. Standing up on all fours, she stood up and tossed her hair back. He sat down on his rear, criss-cross applesauce and ready for a show. She proceeded to push around the mini-bed and chair, occasionally asking him for help, and swearing angrily when he laughed at her. She put her little space in the middle, so it was blocked by the door but still had light bouncing off the laminated book covers. If it ever bothered her, she could always move a scroll in front of it.
"Say Kakashi," She asked, wiping sweat from her brow, "Is there some sort of light I could have? Like a mini electric candle?" She wasn't sure if they had that here, but she figured it was worth a shot.
"Hm, I think so. I pick one up later."
She continued to move things around before stopping, leaning against a book.
"Phew, that was exhausting." She grinned wearily up at Kakashi, who eye smiled in response.
"Do you think that's an okay place to put it?"
"Hmm." He regarded her new place of resting with a critical eye.
"It seems fine."
"Will people be able to see it when they walk in?" This was a loaded question. She was purposely searching for information as to who could potentially find out, and to gauge if he had any friends.
"You should be fine. Not many people come over here." Well, that was depressing. He must still be smarting from ANBU.
"Wait, can people see me? Like, were you given specific orders for me not to be seen unless necessary?"
He turns the critical eye onto her. And that's when she realized he wasn't fooled by her dumb act. Not for a second. She goes in back, pretending to check on the arrangements and internally screaming. He probably caught on when she got that stupid onion out of the bag. Gah! She was so stupid! While he may not know the full extent of her knowledge, he was definitely suspicious. She had originally just wanted to help and yeah, maybe she was insecure being so small, and maybe she wanted to prove she wasn't useless.
Pulling herself together she turns around and half expects his face to be right behind her. But as she emerged from behind the door she found he was nowhere to be seen.
"Hello?" She called out, slightly worried. Kakashi had vanished, seemingly having left the room. Looking down, she noticed she could just crawl on the books. A bigger one on the lower shelf had tassel she could use to get down. Climbing down like those firefighter poles at the park, she landed on the wooden shelf before jumping off onto the carpet. She ran past the pillow from last night, all the while searching for Kakashi.
She stopped in a dead halt before her feet hit the wooden hallway, still searching for signs of Kakashi. Damn ninja. She immediately noticed the slip of light in the hallway, coming from a crack in the bathroom door. Noticing the table moved back to its originally place she gulped.
Oh.
That's what was taking him so long. He went to the bathroom and discovered the mess she left behind. Cheeks burning she jumped when he called her name.
"Yes?" She called, heart pounding.
Running up to the door, she slipped inside. The bathroom looked completely different from the floor. She couldn't see the sink for one.
Kakashi, the man the myth the legend himself, was standing and staring point blank at the sink. She jumped onto his pant leg, and being a champ at the rock wall, climbed up to sink level and jumped off.
She cringed. The sink was left to drain, but the water has left stains on the white marble. The toothpaste had been left open and a little had leaked onto the counter, while its cap was still wedged onto the latch. The string of floss was tied like a noose on the neck of the faucet, and the bottle of shampoo laid on its side, perfuming the air. The soap bottle had leaked all over itself and was leaned against the cabinet. Finally, her pants, shirt, hoodie and...other articles, were all hanging limply from the first shelf. She had been so caught up in her success she had forgot to clean up. What a genius. Her self-esteem was taking a hit.
Looking up, she found Kakashi looking down at her with amusement.
"Been busy?" He teased.
"S-sorry."
"Maa, I don't think I've ever seen you this shy." He teased."Oh, wait. In the shop, in the Hokage's office..."
"Hey! Stop making fun of me." She scowled, crossing her arms and tossing her hair over her shoulder. Suddenly remember why she went looking for him in the following silence, she looked on nervously.
"Why did you leave so suddenly?" She didn't like to admit it, but his disappearing act spooked her. She had become very dependent on him. Sensing her insecurity, he eye smiled reassuringly;
"We were working so hard, It seemed like a good idea to wash my hands and get started on dinner."
"Oh! that is a good idea!"
He just raised an eyebrow, before moving to tug off his gloves. Slowly, he pulled them off and lathered his hands with soap, righting the bottle.
He washed his hands slowly, turning over each one under the lazy, warm water. He dried them on the same towel she had parkoured on, them turned and seemed to say with his one eye 'your move'.
Pouting, she stuck her tongue out at him before slowly moving over to the soap bottle. Scooping some off the front, she turned and glanced at the streaming water before slowly wrapping her legs around the neck and scooting until the stream trickled over her feet. She leaned down and around the tip, moving her hands back and forth in the spray.
Hearing a stifled chuckle, she looked up to see Kakashi with his best innocent face on.
"You enjoy watching me struggle, don't you?" She said blandly.
An eye smile.
Figures.
Deeming her hands clean enough, she scooched back carefully until her toes touched the counter top. Holding her wet hands in front of her, she shuffled over to the towel and dried her hands. She was slightly shaking, now that she wasn't near the warm water.
Turning around, she jumped slightly, as his face was inches away from her-again.
"Chop chop." He eye smiled, probably smirking under the mask. Laying his palm flat next to her, she brought her shivering frame over to his hand and almost sighed in relief when her thigh brushed the warm thumb. Properly seated, he walked put in the hallway and towards the kitchen, having magically cleaned while she has dried her hands.
He made his way into the kitchen, wood being replaced with tile, and set her on the counter.
"What now, Mr Clean?" She joked.
He thoughtfully hummed in response, heading over to the fridge. Shuffling around in there, he pulled out a wrapped package and set it on the counter, a bit to her left.
Having not put his gloves back on, he unwrapped the paper and revealed a set of 4 raw chicken breasts.
"Are we going to make this all?"
"No." He dismissed.
"If we do, there'll be leftovers!"
He froze in realization.
"I love leftovers." He murmured gleefully.
That settled it.
He had laid them all on to one big plate, before rooting around in the fridge some more. All the while, she was happily swaying in the background. He pulled out some veggies from the fridge and spices from the cabinet. She ran along them, identifying cumin, parsley, and a bunch of others.
Bringing out the oil, He let it fall in ropes into the frying pan and turned on the stove. Carefully, he took some of the veggies and started a stir fry. He bent over and out of sight and came back into view with a giant pan. She giggled when he deliberately took spices, sprinkled the chicken and placed them around her in a circle, like a sacrifice. Good to know he had a sense of humor.
Opening the oven and sliding the pan in, he closed it, and rushed over to the stove. He picked up the spatula and moved the veggies to cook. The smell from last night had never really left, but now it was back tenfold, and filled with the smell of roasting chicken. Her mouth was watering, and it was much more appealing than the smell from when she had first got; it smelled like a hospital.
While he cooked and she read the labels she swore she could hear someone humming.
Or that could have been the sizzling vegetables cause it was pretty off-key.
Now Haruhi had a philosophy. Eating food with someone else, was a sacred thing. It was like sharing life. There's a reason why food is involved in the majority of religious rituals. Eating with someone else peacefully is an act of communion. She firmly believed it's why they got along decently last night.
It was a peaceful silence, filled with cooking and wind from the darkening outside, and her humming. She had picked up where she left off.
Eventually, the stove tinkered off and the oven lights went out, signifying the chicken was ready. The white oven door opened smoothly, and the roasted chicken smell rolled into the kitchen.
Pointedly looking away, She took a piece of potato and chicken and happily nibbled on it.
"Hamster Haruhi..." Kakashi thought out loud.
"Ha!" That was actually pretty good. With the ice broken, she reciprocated in kind.
"Koala Kakashi." She heard him choke a bit on his food. Take that! He probably didn't expect her to rebound like that.
They bantered a bit through bites of food, her being careful not to turn around. She was in the middle of telling him ones of her best punchlines, pacing furiously back and forth.
Then she tripped over the corner of the plate.
Shrieking, she fell over the edge. Her veggie piece fell on the counter and a startled gasp left her. Hair whipped around in her face, and for a second she was airborne.
Time slowed. Her heart thudded in her ears as the tile approached.
Then quick as a flash, a hand caught her.
She was shaking and her arms were pinned to her side.
"T-thanks. Thought I was a goner." She chattered.
"No problem." He seemed to be checking her over.
Placing her on the counter again, she roughly sat down next to her dropped dinner. One hand finger combing her hair, she tried to use the other to get up but failed. A fingertip appeared out of the corner of her vision.
"Ah, thanks again." Grabbing it, she pushed up and leaned on it very briefly.
"Well, it is my mission to protect you."
"Y-yeah." She was going to pretend the flush was adrenaline. It wouldn't even be a lie. She was right to believe she could count on him to catch her.
Looking up, she caught one last concerned look before he suddenly stiffened.
"What's wrong?" She asked, worried. Was it a ninja signal?
"Maa, I'm sure it's nothing. Wait here." He was gone in a flash, mask now up.
He left her! On top of the counter with no Pakkun! And with now cooling food!
She put her food down, to worried and upset to eat. What could have caused him to leave so suddenly? Well she wasn't a helpless damsel, that was for sure, so she gathered up the paper bag and despite her newfound apprehension, made sure it had no hole in it, and wrapped each handle around her fists. Then jumped.
It was a head rush for sure, and she landed heavily onto the ground. Undamaged, she ran over to the window and stared intently as if it would reveal all the answers. A hawk flew past. She knew they were used for Konoha's messaging system for important events/emergencies. And at his urgency it was probably the latter.
What emergency could have cause him to poof like that?
He suppressed a giggle, running on the balls of his feet and into the back of the library. He normally wouldn't step foot in a place like this, but times like these called for it. His sandles made dull thuds as they pattered across the carpeted floor and around tables.
He paused behind a shelf and scratched his hair.
What had Mizuki-sensei said again?
He snapped his fingers in realization. The secret room with the forbidden scroll was hidden in the back!
Mizuki-sensei said there were, uh, Jenjutsus hiding it, but if he took a left at that bookshelf and stopped at that floorboard...Ah Ha! Naruto disable the traps and slid through the formerly hidden door into the black room. He fumbled in the dark for a second, before pulling out a lighter from one of his pockets and flicking it on.
Immediately, tall shelves filled with ominous looking scrolls greeted him, stacked eight feet high to the ceiling.
He walked slowly and carefully, scanning the labels.
He just passed a withered yellow one when another pristine white scroll with a symbol appeared in his vision, dancing in the light of the flickering flame.
He scratched his cheek and squinted.
This wasn't the right scroll, so why did it capture his attention so much?
"…"
Because it had the Teme's clan symbol on it!
Naruto released a growl, and made to grab the scroll, his thoughts angrily racing with images of the Teme. He thought he was so great! He thought of Sakura-chan, and how she liked Teme instead of him.
Shouts stopped him.
Naruto pulled back as if burned. The door was still wide open, and he had a clear view of the library, the moons light streaming through windows. Ninja were standing in the middle discussing where he was. Luckily, the jenjutsus still held, and they couldn't see him. But he would have to hurry. His Sexy jutsu would only keep the old man down for so long.
He moved on. He could always come back for it.
Well maybe she could finally use her prior knowledge for something.
She slipped back into L mode.
He had left ANBU, but by the state of his house he wasn't as socially healthy as he was when he became team sevens sensei. She needed to better grasp just what time frame they were in.
Gasping, she jumped up. Running into the hallway and slipping slightly on the smooth wood, she tried to find which one was Kakashi's room. She chose a random one at the end, and wiggled under the door. Too bad she couldn't do that for the bathroom. But because this had a rugged floor on the other side, it had give and she just barely fit.
Gasping for breathe (the bottom of the door squeezed it out) She looked around. It was slightly more lived in than the rest of the house-but that wasn't much. She was having seconds thoughts about being here, as Kakashi was a man who values his privacy. Looking around quickly she didn't spot the group picture anywhere. Confirmed. But judging on his appearance and the state of Konoha, it was long after the Nine-tails attack.
Maybe she could figure what happened from the trips into town?
She remembered bumble bees. Oh, and the ramen shop. They had fantastic service at the doll store and apparently he didn't get out much. The Hokage mountain was colorful and the people walking about seemed fine, especially those academy kids. Two of the girls were talking about something and one was running ahead. It was a big day apparently.
They had a test-OH!
Was today the day Naruto and the rookie nine became ninja!?
If she was right, sundown was about half an hour ago, Naruto must've already stolen the scroll! That was why he left.
Well, now that that was cleared up, she had nothing to do. She didn't think she could sleep. Her heart was racing and her hands were shaking. Everything started today.
...Could she get to meet the rookie nine? Team seven?
Whoa, whoa, whoa, she was getting ahead of herself. She wasn't even sure how long she was going to be here, and even if it all wasn't some dream.
Wiggling back under the door, she jogged into the living room and headed over to her book shelf. She doubted she could sleep, but maybe a couple of the books would be interesting. Hopefully enough to calm her trembling hands. Even though she knew enough not to be worried, she couldn't help herself.
Looking at the available books, she strangely found a mixture of Japanese scrolls, and a strangely formal English writing. It was a gardening book. And that was cool. She herself had had a vegetable garden back at her house. Her parents had left her with a small suburban household with a big yard on the edge of a Forest preserve. Deer would sometimes come and eat her plants, so she had to put a fence up.
So she pushed it open on the floor and started reading.
She didn't know when she started, but when she stopped, the sun was peeking through the windows and Kakashi was framed by its light, leaving him in a glow. Her breath caught in her throat at the sight. He looked tired, his one eye drooping and figure slouched more than normal. He crouched down. His hair looked like silver and the rest of him was highlighted in the ray's. His eye was striking with fractured grey colors shimmering in the sunlight and dust dancing around him.
He was alright.
She breathed a sigh of relief that she didn't even know she was holding, and his eye drifted over to her. He glanced at the gardening book and then to her, a glint lighting up his formally tired eye.
"Planning on starting a garden?"
"Why not? Since you love veggies so much." She responded, relief evident in her tone. She stepped in the sunlight, in order to get a closer look at Kakashi and to make sure he was alright.
She heard a quiet gasp as she blinked the light from her eyes.
He was incredible looking up close. The light fell to reveal ruffles in his clothes, and he smelled like the air coming into the house and dinner. His posture was tired but was now shocked. He didn't tense anywhere so thankfully he wasn't hurt.
Her eyes roamed upwards, and finally connected to his wide-open, shocked ones.
He was staring directly at her, and his dilated pupils were encircled by a ring of cloud grey irises. The wide black reflected her entire body, and the morning sun made her absolutely glow, and penetrated her glasses. The rim of which, almost completely covered her more-prominent-than-usual eye bags. Her almond eyes were clearly reflected, and splashes of orange-brown were visible beneath black lashes. Her hair looked like her mothers, with tight black curls which framed her cheekbones and prominent jaw line. Dark pink lips were pulled into a relieved smile, And the sides of her tank top had risen up to reveal the sides of her hips.
She looked pretty good for someone who had stayed up the entire night.
The magic that had unknowingly descended upon them was suddenly broken when his eye darted away, a shade of pink settling on his cheek under his eye. He nervously scratched his cheek.
She blushed too, shifting on her feet.
"Is everything alright?" Are you alright? She asked quietly.
His eye darted back, and softened; sensing the real question.
"Yes. Everything's fine." He was still looking at her, and must have picked up on her other question.
"Sorry for leaving you so suddenly. I'll make it up to you."
She started, as he had correctly guessed what was bothering her. His eye then turned up into that familiar smile.
"Get some sleep. We have a lot to do later on."
And were done! With the chapter that is. I needed to set everything up so they had a stable friendship-thing going on. But now that everything's established, I can start with the plot!