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Chapter Five [EDITED]

受諾 Judaku

"K-kashi..."

Yoru woke up about an hour before their arrival back in Konoha. She was still very weary from the wounds she had sustained on their mission and from the over usage of her chakra. That was why Kakashi, to her knowledge, refused to let her walk on her own, much to the genin's amusement. Kakashi, however, wanted to know why she said his name in her sleep. She could have been saying something else and he could have just heard her wrong. But, he was still curious.

She continued to complain for the next half an hour before Kakashi threatened to put her in a chakra induced sleep again. She grumbled some after that, saying that she should poison his food, jokingly of course. The genin's ears all perked after hearing the word food come from Yoru's mouth, they were all excited for later. She told Sasuke and Naruto that they could just go to their home while Sakura went to talk to her parents and the jounin went to give their report. Although she did make them both pinky promise not to eat any of the food for the dinner later, stating that she would break more than just their pinkies if they touched any of the food.

Kakashi was happy to see that they were all getting along so well, the genin were all laughing together, and Sasuke was sneaking smiles when he thought the others were not looking, but other than that they looked as happy as could be. Yoru smiled fondly over Kakashi's shoulder, much to his content, they liked seeing their genin happy together, and they seemed like one tightly-meshed, mitch-matched family. After being satisfied with the mood presented to her, she laid her head back down on Kakashi's shoulder, sighing in content.

She would not admit it aloud, but his shoulders were comfortable. He had just the right mix of muscle in the right places to make it a perfect pillow for Yoru. Another thing she noticed was the way his muscles would move in accordance to her. Every time she shifted herself, he would tense under her touch, or when she would move her hands and accidentally brush his collarbones, the grip he had on her thighs would tighten. She had to admit that it was interesting, she wondered why he tensed the way he did. Before she could ask, the group arrived at the gates of Konoha, with the two chuunin guards giving Kakashi a look before turning back and whispering to each other.

One of the guards bent down to write a note while the other let them in. When Kakashi passed through the gates, the guard that had been writing a note gave it to Kakashi. He raised his brow but took the note anyway. Yoru waved bye to the genin, almost throwing Kakashi off balance, telling them to be safe and not eat her food for later. Afterward, Yoru asked (read: demanded) that Kakashi put her down and told him that he had been carrying her long enough. He sighed and let her slip down, noticing the uncomfortable lack of warmth on his back.

Kakashi pulled out the note while walking to the Hokage's office, careful to avoid getting in peoples' way, but also trying to stay in Yoru's sight so she would not get lost. The note had his name in big bold letters with a short message under it. It read, "Sorry to act suspicious like that, but I thought you might have been embarrassed if we just read it aloud to you."   He was very confused, and Yoru was looking at him curiously. He opened the letter and motioned for her to come over and told her that he would read it out loud.

Kakashi,

We're having a party for our group of jounin approximately a day after you get home. I expect you to come and tell us, since we're your friends. Also, we know you have a lady friend," Kakashi paused here to look at Yoru, her face was pink, almost bordering red, "You train your kids with her all the time and Guy saw you go to her house with them once. You should bring her along; it'd be nice to meet her.

Sarutobi Asuma & Yuuhi Kurenai

"So who's this female friend of yours? I've never seen her," Yoru asked while laughing and looking around. "I hope she doesn't mind that I also train the kids with you."