Author's Note: You know, I really wish this site let me insert gifs into these fics so I can just put in that one of Neil Patrick Harris and Cobie Smulders popping that bottle of champagne while jumping up and down because 1,436 followers, 1,022 favorites, 600 fucking reviews, and almost 73,000 views, people. Um, holy shit? Let me just take a moment to wipe the tears from my eyes before my mascara smears and thank each and every one of you guys. Especially in how supportive everyone was after that one not-so-appreciated reviewer. You all are, quite frankly, wonderful and I appreciate each of you. Thank you.

And then thank you for your patience in the updates. It's been a crazy year and...well, it's about to get crazy all over again.

But first, answer to last chapter's question: I feel like I cheated because I honestly...don't know what my element would be. I go back and forth all the time between fire and water (especially ice). It's hard to say for sure because I recognize parts of my personality in both.

As for Takara, I want to give a quick shout out to StarOfTime who made an amazing case for Takara's chakra affinity being lightning. Initially, I was a little reluctant (still am to a small extent) because lightning is also Kakashi's but StarOfTime made some good points. To quote my favorite part: "She has patience and lines in the sand and when someone crosses those lines, she wields her intellect like a lightning bolt, striking hard and fast with little warning and leaving chaos and carnage in her wake." I never thought I'd hear anyone use the words chaos or carnage when describing Takara (as she appears now) but I am most definitely not arguing against it, especially as I look over what I have outlined for Takara's own character arc for way, waaaay in the future. If I ever get to that part...（；￣︶￣）

Now...to what y'all have been waiting freaking months for.

Curiosity and the Copycat

...a Naruto fanfiction story...

Curiosity and the Copycat © Mx. Irony

Naruto © Masashi Kishimoto

Takara is a Bisexual Badass

chapter 9

Neighborly Concern: Part II

"Stress is nothing more than a socially acceptable form of mental illness."

Don't Sweat the Small Stuff and It's All Small Stuff: Simple Ways to Keep the Little Things from Taking Over Your Life
by Richard Carlson

Since moving to Konoha in mid May, Takara had fallen into a routine of her own. The lack of a job was no excuse for idleness, so she kept herself productive. Takara woke up early everyday, sometimes as early as four in the morning but never later than six, and started the day with a walk. Then there was breakfast which usually included perusing the "Help Wanted" section of the local paper with a red pen in hand. After finishing her morning meal and cleaning up, Takara would go to those places and attempt to apply. As of recently, however, this often involved immediate denials of any "Help Wanted" ad and the frustrating process of proving otherwise by waving said ad in people's faces. Her lunches were now almost solely instant ramen when Amano didn't invite her to lunch; Takara took to completing simple chores for the older woman to compensate for the meals despite Amano's fervent denials.

Afternoons were often when Naruto found her as the boy got out of school, having quickly learned not to get caught skipping morning classes by Takara. These afternoons with Naruto became ingrained into her everyday life and were a favorite part of the day, even as she noticed the refusals for work became harsher and more brusque the next day as she spent more and more time with Naruto. It wasn't hard to see the connection from the beginning. Now it was blatantly obvious.

Sometimes, Gai would find her and they would walk around Konoha when the youthful man wasn't on a mission of his own. The two grew closer as he turned into the only non-neighbor Takara had consistent positive social interactions with. While Ikeda's offer of company still stood, Takara decided against approaching him for fear her new "untouchable" status would affect him, another "outsider", and hinder his own career. Other days, Takara wandered the village by herself and discovered new places within Konoha. Evenings were quiet: Takara preferred being on the roof to watch the sun set or writing letters home, even reading novels Akiyama suggested before the librarian suddenly turned cold (again, shortly after Takara met Naruto). All in all, Takara settled in fine at the ninja village...well, until the recent letter from the leasing office she'd received the night before.

But that wasn't the most disconcerting thing to happen in that week. Oh, no. That had to go to her anti-social neighbor being...almost social.

As in, not actively avoiding her like the social pariah she had recently become.

"Good morning, Hinamori-chan."

"Waaah!" Takara jumped back and pressed against her door, clutching her heart. "H-Ha - Hatake-san?"

The man was the picture of ease, hands in pockets, complete with his usual terrible posture as he regarded her patiently. He was also gracious enough to pretend she did not just shriek like Hotaka did whenever he saw a spider.

"Yo."

Takara stared at the man as though he'd just announced his engagement to Taniguchi Saeko and not like he had greeted her like a normal human being. First. Without prompting. "Uh...good morning?"

Hatake nodded. She noticed he didn't have his book out.

Weird... And probably not a good sign.

"How...nice to see you again."

"You, too."

Takara wondered if she was in some alternate universe.

"What have you been up to, Hinamori-chan?"

She squinted at him, skeptical. "What have I been...up to?"

"That is what I asked, yes."

Her right eyebrow twitched. Still a rude jerk, so it really is Hatake. "...Nothing much. Same old, same old."

"Huh."

"Uh-huh." Takara eyed the strange man suspiciously. "Is...everything okay?" She wondered if Hatake had hit his head on something and if she needed to drag his sorry self to the hospital again - which she would definitely do if she had to but she didn't exactly have time for whatever new weirdness this was. His sudden - dare she say pleasantness? - change in demeanor was not only out-of-character but a complete reverse of how other Konoha citizens had been treating her as of late.

He wanted something.

"Fine, fine." Hatake waved a hand. "Just checking in. That is what neighbors are for, right?"

"...right." Without removing her eyes from him, Takara started edging down the hallways. "I'll just be going now."

"Later, Hinamori-chan." Hatake waved, his visible eye crinkling in an unseen smile. It gave Takara actual chills.

"...Good-bye, Hatake-san."

Watching her departure, Kakashi heard her mutter under her breath as she walked down the steps: "Creepy."

While he was loathed to admit it, Kakashi had a thing or two in common with his younger neighbor. Despite his apathetic appearance, he himself was prone to curiosity from time to time. It just took a little prompting to gain his interest. In this case: Hinamori's newfound friendship with his deceased sensei's orphan, who also happened to be the container of the Nine-Tailed Fox,.

Which happened to make said boy Konoha's greatest weapon and its biggest threat.

Which was also why the Third Hokage instilled strict laws that ensured the secrecy of the jinchuuriki's existence.

While no laws necessarily specified such, that also meant any outside ninja or civilians were forbidden interaction with the boy. There was a reason after one of the boy's pranks, chunin sensei deliberately chased him away from the Hokage Mansion during meetings. It was also why the boy wasn't ever permitted outside of the village gates even where other Konoha citizens would travel to outlying villages for business or local festivals and he never would be until the day he earned a hitai-ate from the Academy. Such a day was a longtime coming from the rumors Kakashi heard. (He pitied the poor bastard that would end up as the hyperactive blond's jounin sensei.) For the jinchuuriki's first ten years of life, this was successful.

Then Hinamori Takara came along.

Kakashi supposed it was a coincidence or even in a village this small, it was inevitable that they met. He heard the story (or at least various accounts of the story, some even suggesting the girl's bright hair caught on fire in her rage at the grocer). Kakashi wasn't sure how he felt about the whole encounter except unsurprised. It was an unfortunate habit of Hinamori's, butting in like that. Now her newfound acquaintanceship had made the chatty girl a national security threat.

Where before Kakashi was slightly - slightly - curious about Hinamori, now he had a bit of...ah, what did she call it? "Neighborly concern". He sort of owed her that much ar least. After all, it was her bullheaded regard for his well-being that inadvertently saved his life - though he would never tell her that. It was this (small, very small) concern that led Kakashi sneaking into records and reading her new file.

It was disappointingly thin, offering little new information on Hinamori: 20 years old (whom he'd mistook for 17 or 18; turns out she was only two and a half years younger than him). Born on the Hinamori family farm. Three brothers, an unnamed sibling who died shortly after birth. Mother dead when she was 12 but details were sparse. Hinamori Kikue immigrated to the Land of Fire from the Land of Fields but no records show Takara herself ever leaving the country. Her passport only had the residential Konoha Visa on it, privy only to citizens of the Land of Fire and rare few foreigner seeking asylum. The only item of interest Kakashi found was that her family - and by extension, the Hinamori clan - was heavily involved with the farmers' union and other labor-focused movements up north.

There still remained many things he didn't know about Hinamori and as Kakashi found in his career, the best way to find the underneath of the underneath was to look at the person in question and learn about them before determining motives.

So, after his brief morning greeting, Kakashi casually broke into Hinamori's apartment.

(Which really meant simply walking because again, the stupid girl didn't lock her door on the way out.)

Dear Rima-chan,

Things have taken a sudden turn...I don't want to say for the worst because things could always be worse, you know? I could be a seriously sick or have a disability or without any person in the whole world. But I am healthy. I have full use of my body, every part of it. I have food, a place to rest, enough in savings to keep me for a while, and there are people who love me. I have a lot to be grateful for.

But something's happened.

I told you about the little boy I met at the supermarket. I better not go into anymore details except to say that there's been a backlash over it. I have no idea why or who this little boy is to get this kind of reaction. I don't understand what's going on or why I'm being treated the way I have been. But you know that I don't let those kind of things bother me. Sticks and stones. I don't care if people here in Konoha shun me or try to make me feel ashamed. I won't let them. I know I did the right thing and I will never regret that. Ever. No matter what they do or say or how they look at me. Even if my landlady goes through with the eviction.

That's the thing, though. I can't get evicted. I know if this one evicts me, I won't find another willing to lease to me in Konoha. No one would. So I can't - I can't be evicted! If I am, that's it for living in Konoha. And now I have a reason to stay - a good reason. One outside my own selfish ambitions. Or maybe I'm using this as some excuse for my selfishness?

I have been selfish. Very selfish. I'm a selfish person, Rima-chan.

I miss you so much but I can't go back to before. Thank you for being so understanding of that, Rima. I don't know what I would have done without you.

This will be the last letter I send for a little bit. I only have a few stamps left and I need to save money, so I won't be buying anymore for a bit. I'll try to call when I can. I'll still be writing letters, though. When things are better, you'll find a lot of them in your mail box.

Please don't tell anyone about the eviction letter. I don't want anyone to worry - and that includes you, too. Don't worry about me. I promise I'm figuring things out.

Love,

Kara

Takara knew how to be patient. It came with being a farmer where half the job was waiting: waiting for rain, waiting for the crops to grow, waiting for hens to lay the eggs, waiting for the cow to be ready for a milking. From the age of twelve, when responsibilities compounded, she practically raised her two younger brothers. She tolerated aunts' snide comments and bore uncles' long, boring stories when no one else would listen. She talked Hotaka through anxiety attacks. She had to be very patient with her father years after their mother's death. Four years of careful planning and savings brought her to Konoha.

Yes, Takara knew how to be patient.

But this was pushing it.

Back straight, hands folded in her laps, Takara sat in the leasing office. Her placid smile remained intact as the secretary kept himself busy at the front desk, pointedly not looking at her. She had been sitting in the leasing office since it opened at 8:30 that morning, had waited outside of it before the office even opened for ten minutes. When the secretary unlocked the door earlier, he had shot her a particularly disdainful look which Takara met with a cool smile.

"Have a seat," he had told her at opening. "Ogino-san has some meetings today but maybe she can squeeze you in."

Opening was two and a half hours ago.

Takara wanted to scream.

"Hm." So Hinamori was already in more trouble than he anticipated.

Kakashi gently dropped the letter where it was on the chubudai and stood up from his kneeling position.

The man looked around the rest of her apartment, so similar to his own in design yet so different. Where his was plain with few traces of his personality, bits and pieces of Hinamori were everywhere. It was an apartment that looked lived in. Her bed was a simple futon, rolled up and neatly tucked into a corner along with folded blankets and a pillow. Entire stacks of books lined what little shelf space the apartment offered, entire volumes squeezed between thinner books. Reading the titles, Kakashi saw a boring selection on tax laws and finance. No novels. Already there were framed pictures all of the wall, some pieces of artwork and others clearly family photographs.

Kakashi leaned closer to examine one such photo. Absent of Hinamori herself, everyone else in the photo looked like her in one way or another. There were two men and then two younger boys. The older man wore glasses and a warm, friendly smile; he recognized the dimple on his right cheek. His hands rested on the shoulders of the youngest in the picture, a small brown-haired boy with the same animated expression Hinamori often wore when she got herself excited about something. The boy wasn't even looking at the camera, hazel eyes focused on something behind the photographer. The slightly older boy had a sheepish grin of his own, clearly uncomfortable in front of a camera. He had slightly messy hair and the awkward demeanor of a boy just entering his preteen years.

It was the eldest one that caught Kakashi's attention, a young man rather than a boy. He was the only one unsmiling, staring straight into the camera with a serious expression. His hair was more bronze than brown like the others, the sunlight hitting it giving it a reddish coloring. His green eyes were bright, piercing even in a photo. They seemed to stare straight through him. This must have been Hinamori Hotaka, the older brother.

All four were found in other photographs, most of them candids and few serious family portaits. A few other family members Kakashi didn't have names for appeared among the frames, usually with one brother or two. Looking at the various women in these photographs, Kakashi couldn't pinpoint which one could be Hinamori's mother or otherwise. Hinamori herself was in only two photographs: one with two other women, all three wearing kimono, standing in front of an unfamiliar school building and the other where a younger Hinamori sat with a slightly older girl on a porch somewhere, barefoot, head resting on the brunette's shoulders.

Kakashi swept through the rest of the apartment, flipping through books. He found lists, a lot of lists full of tasks and to-dos. He found some notebooks with notes on statistics and business terms. There were a few on Konoha specifically and as he looked through those, he found only information anyone would find by observing the village. No security risks. Tucked between one shelf, there was a map of Konoha where the business districts were highlighted and nothing remotely close to the Hokage's office or any hidden facilities few were privy to. The strangest thing he found, though, were the workbooks full of mostly completed math problems.

Two things Kakashi learned about Hinamori: one, she was intelligent - extremely so - and didn't show it off. Two, her hobbies and interests were consequently very boring.

The ninja stood by the window which lead out into the roof, left partially open (another safety risk) enough to let a breeze in. A glass wind bell hanging from the sill chimed, the strip of paper beneath fluttering it as he left.

Takara really, really wanted to scream.

No, she wanted flip off every villager that walked by her. Slap the nasty looks off their disdainful faces.

She wanted to cuss someone out, using every name in the book and then some. Enough to make even her uncle Noburo and all his poker buddies blush.

She wanted punch something. Hard. Again and again until her knuckles bled. She wanted to fight someone. No, multiple someones. She wanted to fight the entire village, one at a time until she passed out.

She wanted a damn drink.

Hours. They kept her waiting in that office for hours and she didn't even get to see Ogino. The old woman kept to the back the whole time, refusing to face her. Her secretary - who had been there the whole time - barely spared her a glance until closing, offering only a snide suggestion that she make an appointment next time. Oh, and because the office was closing, she would have to come in another time to make said appointment.

An entire day - her time - wasted.

Seething, Takara surveyed the darkening street for a bar. It had been weeks since she last indulged in a good drink and now was a time as any. She caught another nasty look from an older woman who briefly caught her eye. Bite me, she wanted to snap. Instead Takara sucked in a breath through her teeth, making a sharp clicking noise. She promptly turned her nose up and kept moving.

Never mind the drink, she decided. With how "hospitable" the people of Konoha had been as of late, she wouldn't put it past anyone to poison perfectly good saké.

Glowering at the ground, she marched straight into someone's chest. Takara sharply recoiled, glare shooting up, and opened her mouth. She froze.

"Oh. Hello, Hinamori-chan."

"Ha..." She couldn't even get his name out.

Again with the crinkled eye. His voice was smooth, too smooth. "Cat got your tongue?"

She didn't like it.

Curiosity killed the cat, Takara.

She kept randomly remembering things Hotaka told her their entire lives. Why? Why now?

Head feeling foggy, Takara muttered, "Hi, Hatake-san."

Then she quickly stepped around him and darted away, letting herself get lost in the crowd. She found herself running. She could still feel his eyes (eye?) on his back. (No, eyes. She definitely felt eyes. She had felt like someone - more than one actually - watching her. Watching her for days.)

Pretty sure I had tails for a good six months when I finally got started. Maybe I still do. I wouldn't put it past them.

Takara stopped in the middle of the crowd, a thought occurring to her.

When did she ever run into Hatake in public? Public as in around other people in the main streets of Konoha where really, she was easy to avoid?

To say the least, things were getting a little...

"Weird, right?" Takara asked Amano and Taniguchi later that evening in the midst of a game of cards. Lately, she had been too stressed to even waste time doing something so trivial but then Amano offered dinner as well. Takara wasn't in any place to deny a free meal at this point. "I mean, not weird but - uh, not normal? Wait, that's not what I meant - ."

"It's weird for him," Amano agreed, brow furrowed. She pulled another card from the deck.

"Right!" Takara hissed. So it wasn't just her paranoia! She looked to the resident kunoichi. "Taniguchi-san?"

Glaring at her own cards, Taniguchi acknowledged Takara with a grunt.

"What do you think?" she asked, as though expecting a translation for Hatake's most recent weird shinobi antics.

"Hell if I know."

Her lips pursed at Taniguchi's crude reply. "You've known him the longest."

"Yeah, and he's always been weird. Now are ya going to fold or what?"

Takara pouted slightly but threw in another three coins into the pot.

Taniguchi cursed under her breath.

Amano groaned. "Fold."

Taniguchi looked up from her cards and glowered at Takara. "You're bluffing," she said flatly.

The farm girl looked back at Taniguchi with big, innocent eyes. She dropped in another coin.

Narrowing her eyes, Taniguchi added four of her own. Takara didn't even bat an eyelash.

"Oh, dear..." Amano mumbled.

"Ya sure you wanna play this game with me, little girl?"

"Saeko," her girlfriend said warningly.

Takara's expression didn't waver, oblivious smile intact. "Ne...I thought this was a game, Taniguchi-san?"

Damn. Taniguchi really thought the "little girl" taunt would have gotten her. She tapped the table impatiently with her cards. The kid must have a really good hand this round.

"..." Taniguchi dropped her cards face down, folding. "Alright, kid. Show me whatcha got."

Takara laid her cards down facing upwards: a couple of two's, a three, and one five.

Deadpanned, Taniguchi stared. As if checking, she tilted her own cards slightly where the kings and queens smirked back up at her. Her right eyebrow twitched.

"Is this good?" Takara asked.

"You little shit."

"Saeko!"

The game ended shortly thereafter when Takara won the third round and Taniguchi threw a fit. That was Takara and Amano's cue to finish up dishes while the retired but still volatile kunoichi sulked in her and Amano's bedroom.

"That...was a little much," Takara said quietly, rinsing a plate. She briefly admired the delicate, vine-like designs painted on the edges before passing it to Amano.

"A little," Amano agreed as she wiped the plate down. There was still a smile along her berry-colored lips, Takara noticed from the corner of her eye. "Saeko's always been really competitive and she takes pride in her ability to detect bluffs. Losing to you - " a civilian without any ninja background, Takara read between the lines " - was a blow."

"Still, though..."

"Flipping the table was just extra," Amano finished.

"Yep."

"I know."

Sponging a bowl, Takara thought carefully before she started, "How are you and Taniguchi-san..."

Amano looked at her from the corner of her eyes.

"You two just don't seem, uh..."

"Gay?" Amano deadpanned.

"No!" Takara frantically waved her arms, bubbles flying everywhere. "That's not what I meant at all! Of course I know how you're - " She cleared her throat, blushing. "Gay. You're just born like that. It's not - it's not something anyone can help. Trust me, I know. I just wanted to ask how you and Taniguchi-san - "

"Wait."

Takara instantly stopped, red-faced.

Amano stared at her, face lighting up. "Takara-chan, are you a lesbian?"

"Kind of," she mumbled, suddenly scrubbing furiously at another plate.

"Bi?"

"What does it matter what I am?" Takara snapped. "I'm me. Isn't that enough?"

"Of course it is," Amano said quickly. "That's more than enough."

Takara didn't respond, focused on both the washing and the drying now. It was something she was always good at - working. Losing herself in a task or project.

"...Takara-chan?"

"Yes, Amano-san?"

"Is this why you left home?"

Takara switched off the faucet, wiping down the sink. "No."

The older woman regarded her with dark, concerned eyes. "Then why?"

She neatly folded the the towel and placed it next to the sink.

"Takara-chan."

Straightening, Takara turned around to face Amano. She braced herself against the counter behind her. "Amano-san. There are many, many reasons I left Aomori. Me liking girls is one of the very last reasons why."

"What are the other reasons?"

Without making eye contact, Takara touched her left shoulder. "Let's just say... It was like when other people looked at me, they didn't see 'me'. They always saw someone or something else."

Amano's expression softened.

"And since Konohagakure is legally an independent state government, that means I can claim a foreign earned income exclusion when tax season rolls around."

Amano deadpanned.

Takara's right cheek dimpled when she laughed.

She rolled her eyes. "What was your original question?"

"Oh. I just wanted to know how you and Taniguchi-san managed when you're so cool and she's..." Takara glanced in direction of the silent bedroom. She whispered, "Crazy."

Amano burst out laughing. "Well, that's a whole other topic."

They talked for awhile after that, mood shifting into something lighter. Takara's ribs hurt from laughing so much after Amano told her stories from when she and Taniguchi first started dating seven years ago. Before it got too late, though, she had to leave. Her host walked her to the door.

Amano stopped her before she left the apartment with a warm hand on her arm.

"You know that if ever you need to talk, you can come to me."

"Thank you, Amano-san," Takara said sincerely.

When the girl left, Kaori went to her bedroom and peered through the door. "Saaaeeeko~. Are you done pouting yet?"

"Hmph." The other woman rolled to her side on the bed, turning her back to Kaori.

"Still mad, I see." Kaori crawled onto the mattress next to her, taking her spot as the big spoon. The only surefire way to a sulking Saeko's forgiveness. It took a few minutes of cuddling and frequent kisses before Saeko softened enough to face her. This earned her another, longer kiss on the lips.

"Did you hear?" Kaori asked softly.

Saeko buried her face in Kaori's shoulder. "Yeah..."

They laid there, quiet.

"It was pretty obvious," Saeko said dryly.

Scandalized, Kaori pulled back to look at Saeko. "You knew?"

"Your gaydar is literally the worst. Do you not see the way that girl looks at you?" Saeko rolled onto her back, arm behind her head. "She has such a puppy crush on you."

"She does not." Kaori paused. "...oh, my god. She totally does."

Saeko snorted. "Obviously."

"I can't believe I missed that."

"And I'm not crazy," her girlfriend added petulantly.

Oh. That's why she was still pissed when Kaori came in.

"Of course not," Kaori cooed, stroking her cheek.

Not so easy to forgive, Saeko bit her fingers. Kaori yelped and snatched her hand away, shooting Saeko an offended look to which Saeko only raised her eyebrows. An unspoken challenge: Whatcha gonna do?

One wrestling match and another bite or two later, the two women were back in their original position. Kaori held onto Saeko from behind, arms wrapped tightly around her. She held onto Saeko's remaining hand in front of her chest, thumbing over slender fingers.

"She's a good kid," Saeko said eventually.

"Yeah. She really is..."

Saeko's brown eyes stared at the ceiling contemplatively. "There's something else she's not telling us."

"I know."

"It's getting bad, Kaori. Real bad. Since she met with the Nine-Tails - "

"I know, Saeko. I know." Kaori's tone turned soothing.

"They're doing an investigation, Kao. A full on investigation. She's got the 24/7 surveillance. I was called on by fucking Ibiki to answer questions about her. It's only a matter of time before she's brought in. God knows by who."

Kaori's hold tightened.

"She's just a kid. A stupid little farm girl who doesn't know anything." Her voice cracked slightly.

"She'll be fine."

"How do you know that?"

"Takara-chan is made of tougher stuff than she lets on. She doesn't talk about her life before all that much but...I can tell she's seen some shit."

Saeko scoffed. "Like what?'

"I don't know. Whatever it was, it's enough to make her fit in here. Other villagers might not be ready to accept her but she fits. She has that look in her eye. You know the one every civilian here has that civilians from outside of the village don't."

"...yeah, I guess she does."

"Besides," Kaori added, "it's not like she did anything wrong. Technically. Once the Hokage determines she's no threat to the village, things should let up."

"Tell that to the villagers."

Arms crossed behind his head, Kakashi laid in bed. It was his first night in bed since returning to Konoha after the mission, having spent the previous one reading Hinamori's file and reports of her interactions with Naruto. Now in his home, he heard the girl in question move around the apartment next door. He could easily picture her rolling out the futon, folding blankets over it neatly as she prepared to settle down beneath family photographs she was barely in.

I'm a selfish person.

He had a hard to time pairing the word with his own perception of Hinamori, the girl who gave and gave and apologized for taking up anyone's time.

He glanced at the door. What else don't I know about you?

The following morning found Takara at the leasing office again. This time, she arrived fifteen minutes before it opened. The secretary took his time unlocking the front door, opening five minutes after the scheduled time. Her first question was if there was room for any "appointment time".

"Ogino-san is booked full today," the man said sourly.

"Maybe something will clear up."

"Doubtful."

"Well, when's the next available space Ogino-san has in her schedule then?"

"August twenty-second."

The same week the eviction notice said she needed to be out. Takara wasn't stupid. "Aren't there ever any cancellations or postponements? There has to be something."

He gave her disdainful stare. "If there ever are any, they would be very last minute. You'd have to be here day of to fill in - that is if there are any cancellations. And you can't expect to wait in the office everyday."

Takara smiled wide, showing teeth. "I'm a very patient person, Motegi-san."

She waited in the office until closing. The next day, Takara brought a sizable stack of books. It was her time, and none of it would be wasted.

A week. Takara had been sitting in her office every. Single. Day. For a week.

Ogino Kameko rubbed at her temples, eyes closed. She sighed. There was only so much she could do to hold Takara off before they eventually ran into each other. Motegi was doing a valiant job of fending the stubborn girl but it was inevitable. If only she could hold it off until August 28th. Just until August 28th. Three more weeks. She can do three more weeks hidden away, crammed in her office...having Motegi bring her her lunch instead of going out to her usual tea house for her lunch break.

Shuffling to the window that separated her personal office from the main one, Ogino peered through the blinds and cursed at the sight of Hinamori Takara knitting. As if sensing her stare, the girl immediately glanced up and seemed to look directly into Ogino's eyes. The old woman recoiled, pulling away from the blinds.

This was getting ridiculous. She was being held hostage - in her own office!

The phone suddenly rang. Fearful of the girl hearing it outside, Ogino snatched it up.

"Hello. Maruyamacho Leasing Office," she said flatly.

"Good morning, ma'am." A slow, easy accent spoke on the phone. "Would this happen to be Ogino Kameko-san?"

Ogino's gray eyes narrowed. "This is she."

"Ah. Hello, Ogino-san. How are you today?" The man's accent had a drawling quality to it, extending the vowels. A "too-da-ay" instead of a simple, straightfoward "to-day", wasting time to say one simple word.

A curt response: "Fine."

"Oh, good. I'm glad to hear that."

"And to whom am I speaking?" Ogino asked, brusque.

"Ah, excuse me for not introducing myself, ma'am. My name is Hinamori Hotaka. My younger sister happens to be one of your tenants. From what I understand, there seems to be some sort of problem."

Author's Note: Me, create a heterosexual character? I think bloody well not. But no, honestly, I didn't mean to have Takara come out in this chapter. I've left hints in previous chapters but wanted readers to pick up on it before the reveal. But then it just...happened? The characters really did get away from which is amazing because that's never happened to me while writing before. Have I leveled up as a writer?

But yeah, Saeko and Kaori are now full-time queer moms and they are going to fight tooth ferociously to protect their new bisexual baby. Konoha, look out.

So because Kakashi is a stereotypical ninja and a very awkward man if we're being honest here, he does surveillance, reads files, and literally breaks into Takara's apartment...instead just asking her what's up. What a loser. Sorry for the lack of interaction between these two but you know how Kakashi is and Takara has bigger things to contend with right now than being remotely bothered by her weird neighbor right now.

No Naruto. :( Ironic, given all that is happening in Takara's life right now is because that little terd and he is the actual protagonist of the series. But he'll pop up soon. Having befriended him, Takara's now stuck with him. Forever.

Okay, folks. Here's the life update: A mere two weeks ago, I finished the AmeriCorps program I was working with for the past 10 months and am still resting from the intense service stint. That's why updates have been so bleh over the past year since moving. All of my energy went into my work and the rest of my time was spent sleeping. But it was well worth it. If anyone American citizens or permanent residents are interested in AmeriCorps, shoot me a message and I can tell you more. And now I'm moving. Again. This time about...oh, 1,800 miles to a new city on the West Coast. Yep. That's kind of happening and I am kind of screaming on the inside 24/7. I'm going to live in an amazing city that I've been wanting to live in for years, doing another service year program that I've been eyeing since I was 19. I have a good summer job. Might have a date later this week. Life is good.

Which brings to chapter nine's question: What is the one place you dream of living at?

Love you, guys. Stay safe. Follow your dreams relentlessly. And go out and do some good for the world.