Too Far to Reach (Kakashi Love Story)

[27] The Search

I hope Sasuke passed on the message...

I didn't touch the headband again. I'm not going to take it off; it could come in handy later. I might as well keep it with me.

I ran up the stairs, rushing through the Hokage's building like a child running through the halls at school. My face crashed against a hard chest, and I fell back, rubbing my head. A black trench coat sweeping in my face is all I saw at first. Looking up, chills creeped down my back.

It was the scary man with the scars. The man I wanted to avoid at all costs when I first got here.

"Hey kid, what're you doing in here? There's a missing prisoner, you're supposed to be gathering with my team."

"Y--Your team?" I stuttered, only a couple seconds later realizing he called me a kid. For a moment I got panicked, looking down at my body to make sure I wasn't 12 again. Nope, 23. Maybe this dude is just really really old.

"Aren't you on the team with Ibiki Morino? My team? We're capturing a girl that escaped her prison cell who killed a whole clan and stole a precious artifact."

So this was Ibiki? He was the one that was supposed to interrogate me? Wow, I'm glad I escaped. He looked crazy scary.

I felt around in my pocket to make sure the stone wasn't visible; nope, it was concealed pretty well.

"Er, yeah, I'm with your team." I laughed nervously. "Sorry, I got a little confused there for a sec..."

"Then get with the others!" he barked, and I scrambled to my feet and started fast-walking in the opposite direction. I paused in my tracks, glancing back at him.

"Um, where am I supposed to go?" I said quietly. He grunted.

"The gates of Konoha," he grumbled, pointing in the direction of the door. I gave him a grin.

"Thanks, Ibiki!" I waved, trying not to seem too shy or scared. Shyness is a weakness, why can't I keep remembering that?

So they were deploying a team to come search for me...this outta be interesting. I wonder who all is on the team? Probably just jounin.

I jumped across rooftops, keeping my pocket zipped so no one could see the stone through my jacket. Where I was supposed to go had about seven jounin standing around, prepping their weapons and supplies. One silver head of hair caught my eye.

No way! I can't believe that jerk was going on a hunt for me!

Another person that stood out the most was a strangely-dressed man with a bowl haircut and super furry eyebrows. He wore a green jumpsuit and was doing all these weird jumps to stretch his legs. He seemed to be talking to Kakashi, but was obviously being ignored. He didn't seem to notice.

I jumped down from the rooftop, my eyes scanning the crowd. Everyone dropped what they were doing and just stared.

One man pointed. "Who are you?" His buddy next to him slapped his wrist down and seethed something in his ear. All I got was "beautiful."

"I'm a new jounin..." I murmured, hoping they'd believe me. All the men just continued to stare. The one and only woman in the group stepped forward, placing a hand on my shoulder. I recognized her as one of the genin team leaders.

"Don't worry, these men are just pigs." She glared at them. "They're only staring because of your looks."

"M--My looks?" I uttered. Since when was I attractive enough to be drooled over?

"What's your name?" the woman asked. "I'm Kurenai."

"I'm To--" I stopped suddenly, thinking of some fake names. "To...Toshimi. Yeah, Toshimi."

"Welcome to the group, Toshimi." The lady smiled. Her eyes were spectacular. "Just ignore their stares, they'll get used to having only two girls on the team soon enough."

I mentally grunted. Why do they have to stare at me like I'm from another planet? It makes it harder for me to stay secretive around them. I won't have much time to myself.

I looked over at Kakashi and the man in the green jumpsuit, who was gaping at me with his jaw dropped down to the floor. Kakashi's eye just went wide, but when he saw me staring, he turned his attention back to the ground. Gee, how cute.

Making my way over, I opened my mouth to say hi, but the green-jumpsuit man stepped in front of Kakashi and made a big cheesy smile. "Hel--lo, there pretty lady! I'm Might Gai, Konoha's Prideful Green Beast."

"Um, hi...?"

"I must say you look gorgeous." He did this weird eyebrow lift. "How about after this mission we can--"

I held a hand up. "Look, it's really awesome and all that you think I'm gorgeous, but your bushy eyebrows and bowl haircut really turn me off. You should really do something about it."

His eyes bulged, and then started spilling tears. He ran away from me; I smirked and took a few steps closer to Kakashi. His eyes held curiosity.

"May I help you?" he asked kindly yet with a suspicious tone.

"I wanted to say hey," I grinned. "I'm Toshimi, and you are?"

"Kakashi." He gave me a closed-eye smile. "Nice job with handling Gai, I've never seen someone who didn't care enough to say something like that." He stopped smiling. "Well, I know one girl who probably would've..."

Is he talking about me?

"Tomiko?" I asked quietly. He just nodded.

"Yeah. She was an interesting one."

"Don't give up hope yet." I put a hand on his shoulder, gripping his flak jacket. "I doubt this girl is really a murderer and a criminal. She doesn't seem like the type."

Kakashi looked me straight in the eye. "Did you know her at all?"

"Er, no, but I read her file...She seems like a good kid."

He squinted. "You know, you kind of look like her, in a way. But an older version."

I laughed nervously. "Heh, really? I never noticed..."

He reached up to his shoulder and took my hand, gently removing it from him. There was a moment where he kept my hand in his, and I could've sworn that I felt something. He let go quickly after realizing what he was doing.

"I'm sorry," he grumbled, looking away.

"It's fine..." What was that tingly feeling I got just now? It was like...like a spark in between us. I felt connected to Kakashi in ways that I never felt with him before.

Maybe...just maybe we have something. I always got this twist in my gut when I was around him, but being 12 just made it so I was too far to reach his heart to see who he really was. Who's the real man under that mask?

A puff of smoke came from the outside of the gate. Ibiki stood there, hands in his pockets, a scowl permanently etched into his face.

"Are we all here?" he announced, and nods were seen all throughout the group. "Good. Now, let's move out!"

With those words, everyone, including me, ran out of the gates of Konoha to come on a hunt for me. They didn't know that I was in their clutches right this very second.

~~~~~

Yay! IBIKI! I would've died if I didn't put him in this story, because I just love him too much.

I HAVE A CONTEST! I want someone to maybe write a Kakashi POV for this chapter. I really wanna see how you guys interpret what he was thinking and feeling during this chapter :D I'll post it after this chapter when I find my favorite. DEADLINE WILL BE 6/9/12!!! Send it in my PMs!