Shadow (Naruto)

Chapter Twenty Five

           

Mira's POV

Age 20

               I'd been training night and day to get a handle on my new technique. It was still a work in progress and no matter how I focused my chakra I felt like my insides got scrambled up each time I used it.  Kakashi was training too, to improve his sharingan. He occasionally asked me for help wondering if Itachi had ever tried explaining anything about his sharingan to me when we trained together. Through training we discovered he could use the Mangekyo Sharingan to use a technique called Kamui and could bend time and space and send things he focused on through to a different dimension. I didn't quite understand it, but it seemed useful, though it took a lot out of him every time he tried to use it, and it worried me.

               Kakashi stepped out of his room as I was cleaning up the dining room. Sakura had stopped by late last night to look at photo albums. She missed Sasuke and Naruto too. We were up half the night reminiscing and giggling. I turned and felt my face flush as I realized he wasn't wearing his face mask. It shouldn't be possible for someone to be that attractive, he defied the laws of nature. His smile made me weak at the knees.

               "You're up early." He commented casually, "Even after you and Sakura were up late last night giggling." He teased me.

               I felt my cheeks burn at this, "Sorry, did we keep you up?"

               Kakashi chuckled, "Not really, I was catching up on some reading. It was nice to hear you two having fun."

               I looked away feeling somewhat bashful and very hyperaware of how revealing my pajamas were. My body burned as I felt his gaze sweep over me and I hurriedly picked up a stack of albums to hide my torso as best I could to conceal the amount of cleavage from view. Why didn't I change?

               "Are you alright, your face is red-."

                "I'm fine!" I squeaked and went to put the albums away, letting out a small sigh of relief as I turned my back on him.

               He was still watching me. My heart fluttered unsteadily in my chest as I focused on putting the albums away pretending I was taking my time to sort them in a specific order as I tried to get my breathing under control. Why was he watching me so intently?

               "Mira?" His voice sounded like it was getting closer and I jumped as I realized he was standing right behind me. My hand bumped the cabinet when I jumped causing the contents to shift unsteadily and one of the framed pictures on the top shelf to topple off.

               A strong arm encircled my waist and I let out a gasp as I found my back pressed against his taut torso. He caught the frame with his other hand before it could crack my skull open. My body was on fire. Why was it so hot in here?

               "Ah, sorr-."

               "Are you okay?" He still hadn't released me from his hold. I could feel his heartbeat thundering in his chest and sensed an uneasiness within him.

               "Yeah. Thanks." I managed to keep my voice steady as he helped me to my feet before leaning over me to place the picture back on the top shelf where it belonged. He was so close my heart was ready to catapult right out of my chest. "I need to go to the store!" I scrambled away in a panic.

               Kakashi stopped me as I was about to reach the door, "You're still in your pajamas..."

               I froze at the door and looked down at myself before my face burned once more. "Right." Embarrassment wormed through me as I retreated to my room to change. He stopped me again, catching my wrist in his hand.