Scarecrow's Tiger [[*Naruto Fan Fiction*]] (On Hold: Editing)

C7 - Silent Uncertanties

Entering the house, Toralei shook lightly with the cold weather that seemed to be turning sharper and more unforgiving, which she had been hoping not to do. Rushing to the fireplace, she knelt and dropped the firewood onto the side, being as quick as she could to light fire and warm the house.

It was about five o’clock in the morning, give or take five minutes since she last checked, and she had woken with chilled face and feet, her belly was also cold, because her sweater she had been using to sleep had lifted, leaving her lower back and abdomen exposed to the cold that slipped between the sheets as she moved.

Her bones seemed to ache somewhat, with the cold that filled the room. She hoped Kakashi was sleeping well, since he was in the room that had been previously hers. It was warmer there than on the other divisions of the house.

Sighing happily as the wood started to softly crackle as the fire consumed it, Toralei sat down, wiggling her toes as she made them catch the soft glow of the fire and the heat that emanated from the bright flames, and tried to untangle her waist long hair with her fingers.

A yawn came from the hallway, Kakashi was used to being up early, but not to see his old team; Team 7. Unfortunately, it was not possible, both because of his present situation, and because his team had been broken. He sometimes wondered how Sakura and Naruto fared, but he knew they were safe.

Kakashi was normally up at this time to pray for his lost friends, giving them the moment of silence and thought he felt the need to spare for those he loved and were now departed. He had been praying, embedded in the silence of the room he had been occupying, when he had heard the woman in the house open and close doors, and moving around. Which was odd enough to have him to come out of the room that was temporarily his, and investigate the reason why this normally late-waking woman to be up and about so early.

“Its freezing in this room.” He commented quietly as he walked into the room and raising an eyebrow at the image before him.

She was in front of the fireplace; her back towards him as she combed through her long, tangled hair with her fingers, small little noises of either irritation or pain coming out as she did so, some gasps erupted as well, and her body seemed to shiver slightly from time to time. She was wearing thick looking clothes, but her petite feet were bare and her toes wiggled from time to time.

At the sound of his voice, Toralei’s head snapped to the side and up to gaze at him - seriously, this looking up action would make her neck pay dearly some day in the near future. “Yes, yes it is. I apologize if I have woken you up, Hatake-san.” She said, her cheeks flushed from the cold and embarrassment, and an almost sheepish look inhabited the warm dark brown pools of molten chocolate that were her eyes.

“It’s okay. I was already awake, Tora-chan.” He said with a slight nod, walking nearer to her and sitting at her side after she almost hurriedly scooted to the side to give him a place to seat. While he gladly warmed himself up, Kakashi wondered exactly why she was so overly polite with him, even after as close they had been just about a week ago.

After the night they had shared, of which the precedent hour had been quite strange to put it mildly, her sudden attempt at distance made him wonder why she did that. She was certainly not like most of the women he had slept with.

He wasn’t single because no woman wanted him, it was mostly his emotional unavailability that made him not want to get into any type of romantic relationship with a woman. Of course he was a man, with blood running through his veins and urges that would be stupid to say he did not have.

But she was... different from any woman he had ever met, yet so alike to one in particular... And that made him be somewhat uneasy, and readily accepting of her distance. He kept as much distance from her as she kept from him. They spoke when they had to, or when it just happened to have a dialogue between them, but luckily, Toralei seemed to be a very quiet woman, prone to observing and introspecting.

They could pass by a day without uttering a word to each other, which pleased both since the tension between them wasn’t the best. And there wasn’t much need for them, since Toralei led a life of habits and it was very organized; around the same hour, every day, she would go out of the house and into the surrounding forest, and about two hours later it was dinner time.

Kakashi had been quick to pick up on her routine, and did need to be called to the table, since he knew very well when a meal was being served. She would take a bath at the same hour, each day, and would read or draw after that for about half an hour. The only thing that seemed to be surprising or somewhat everchanging was the food.

He had once asked her if she liked to cook, since she did seem very skilled in the kitchen as he watched her, and she had replied that yes, it was one of her passions, something that kept her life from being dull. He had to admit, he had enjoyed the spark of life that fuelled her smile and made her eyes shine with the kindness he had once seen in the eyes of someone very dear to him.

As for him, as Toralei led her daily routine, Kakashi read and studied, gathering as much information about the world he was in as he could, trying to find a way to return to his. It was all so very different from his own, and he had the sole purpose of discovering how he could return.

Another reason of why the sudden distance between them was a good thing. He would be leaving, and it was more than likely that they would never see each other again. And the look in her eyes had told him her heart was more at risk than his own. He might have done a lot of things in the past that lead him to be regretful, but this time, he would try his best not to be so.

But there was a more urgent and preoccupying issue nipping at his conscience. One that would give them a lot of trouble.

“Have you had your period?” He asked out of the blue, voicing his question bluntly and to the point, as he always did.

Turning her head towards the male sitting beside her, Toralei was snapped out of her own thoughts and was left startled, her mouth gaping open and close like a fish’s as it gasps for breath after being pulled from the water and her cheeks turning a deeper shade of pink, burning at how embarrassing the question was for her.

[ “Eheh, the boy goes straight to the point, doesn’t he?” ] Akury chuckled within the depths of her mind, sounding very amused at his demeanor and at her reaction.

H-how?! How could he remain so impassive as she practically squirmed with discomfort and embarrassment. He was as indifferent as she had thought, which left her neither hot nor cold, surprisingly enough. It did leave her uncomfortable, yet she replied, silently, without uttering a single word, with a nod.

[ “Liar.” ] Akury accused, though she seemed a bit more quiet, more... respecting.

He nodded, and looked towards the blazing flames ahead of them. Toralei did the same, knowing why he had asked that question. Not that it would matter either way, but she knew. He had wanted to know if she was late, if there had been a possibility of she being pregnant with his child. And her heart did ache dully with the certainty that he had wanted to check just to know if there would be any strong strings to attach them and tie them to one another, and that, even if she wanted to have his child, Mother Nature had been ruthless enough to leave her unable to have one, to be take away the rejoice of having a child growing within her womb and the chance to be able to hold said child, flesh and blood from her own flesh and blood.

But maybe she was destined to be that way. Because, without a doubt, Kakashi would be leaving soon enough. She felt it in her bones and heart that he would probably not look behind twice before leaving.

And then?... There was only one question that plagued her thoughts and emotions, that left her dwelling in her own mind. After he left....

What would be of the love she felt for him?