Mask Off, Spot On

Chapter 3.2

You sight as you leave your apartment, your wristwatch striking 5 o'clock, a.m. .

You walk through the barely empty streets of Konoha, and breathe in the morning air, thinking about what to do with your renewed free time. You were wide awake now, so going back to sleep was out of the question. You'd decided to wear casual clothing, so you didn't have any training gear on you now.

As you pass by Ichiraku's, you notice a certain blonde waiting in front of the closed ramen shop.

"...I can't believe you'd come here at this hour, Naruto." You called out.

"Of course! Ichiraku's great for any ocasion, y'know?" Naruto grins, his smile contagious for you.

"Well, it's still early. If you want, we can walk around the village to spend some time...?" You ask, eager for the friendly company of your friend.

"Well, I'll wait. If Mister sees me here so early as soon as he arrives, he might feel bad and give me one on the house, y'know? I'll search for you after a bowl... or two." Naruto laughs, as you simply nod in response.

"Alright, I'll be expecting you, then." You answer.

You leave, and continue roaming around the village, and soon enough, you were by the riverbank. You decide to sit on the grassy ground to look at the view, and check the time only to notice it was now 6 a.m. . Time seemed to be going much slower than usual today.
You lay down on the grass and close your eyes, thinking about this morning. After so much thought, even though it was a lonely conclusion, you decided that telling anyone about another world would be too much of a complicated feat and a bad idea, towards which you wouldn't want to deal with the aftermath of.

You slowly open your eyes and sit up once again, muttering:
"How did I get here in the first place...?"

"Hmm... so you don't remember that part yet, eh..."

"Hm?"

You jump when you see Kakashi-sensei sat right beside you, also enjoying the view with you. You blush at the thought of having been seen lying down on the grass by your sensei, but then again, it wasn't the first time it'd happened.

"K-Kakashi...-sensei..."

"Hm..?" In response, Kakashi turns to look your way, and you suddenly feel entranced.
Silver hair strands of his, swayed with the breeze, and his face, even though masked, shimmered by the freshly risen sun, was much too beautiful for your cheeks to remain cool.

You blush, and feel yourself staring for quite a while, and he, stared back at you as well.

'It's much too early to have a moment like this.'
You think to yourself, moving your face to look in another direction. Since always, you were aware that Hatake Kakashi was a handsome man. Perhaps that though was influenced by the fact that you'd seen pictures of him not wearing a mask before, and perhaps in this world his handsomeness wasn't so true, but still, in that very moment, he seemed lile he could win an award for 'most beautiful man in the ( /this) world.

Another moment of silence falls upon the both of you, and you feel your heart tighten. Was that perhaps... expectation and anticipation? Even though the feeling was deep, faint and small. And expectation for what, you wondered.

"You...--" Kakashi began, before he was cut off.

"[Y-N]-CHAN~!" You jump from your place with surprise and turn around abruptly to see Naruto standing behind you both, waving at you cheerfully.

"Naruto..." You sweatdrop.

You glance to the side only to notice Kakashi wasn't there anymore. You once again take a look at your watch and notice it was 6:45 already. Just how long did you lose yourself in his eyes for...?

"I already had my ramen, but I had to pay for it, y'know?! So, wanna go around the village now?" He asks.
You nod in response, reluctantly.

**************

Both you and Naruto walk around Konoha to pass time, you listening to his rumbling and dreams along the way as usual, and greeting some other friends of yours as you went by.

Gai-sensei and Lee passed by you, walking on their own two hands, with Neji and Tenten right behind them, one with a rather "this is just the usual, I'm used to it" expression, and Tenten who wore a "these guys are embarrassing" one.

Team 8 also went past you, Hinata being shy as usual, Kiba and Akamaru as energetic as always, and Shino as nonchalant as one could be.

You realized how things could be always so very unchanging and peaceful in Konoha, just like in your world, even though a war was to break out soon enough (courtsy of the Akatsuki), you felt deep wtihin you that this peace was one that you wished to protect with all your heart. You realized that with time, your feelings began to connect with the ones of the Konohagakure ninja who fought for the same purpose as you: for the village.

You realized you were making this place your home, and that scared you. But at the same time, it gave you gain peace of mind. You had been living there for years already, after all.

If one day you fell in love and grew a family with someone of this world, you definitely wouldn't hate it. You didn't hate the idea of being by Naruto's side when he became Hokage, nor when your sensei became Hokage, nor when Sakura finally conquered Sasuke's love, nor when Hinata and Naruto finally got married...

Rather, you looked foward to it...