(art from @kksright on Twitter)
Kakashi laid down next to her, and (Y/n) finally found sleep once she was holding his hand and he was holding her back. However, he wasn't there when she woke up. Although she didn't quite feel as if he had left long ago either. She wasn't quite sure how she knew, but she simply did. In fact, she didn't wake up on her own or by Kakashi leaving, she was woken up by the same servant who showed her the room last night.
"Good morning, miss," the woman said while she quickly started to set some clothes for (Y/n) "Breakfast is ready," she added, putting on the bed by (Y/n)'s feet what would be her outfit for the day. The still sleepy (h/c) girl inspected it, surprised when she didn't see Kakashi and amazed by the fact that she was about to wear clothes as traditional and expensive-looking as those. She hadn't even seen them in Konoha, so she figured they were typical from the City of the River "Lord Soo-Yun is already waiting. I believe he had planned something for the morning," she added, waking (Y/n) some more.
Again, she looked at the peach and gray outfit that looked like some type of hanbok. She inspected its material, so soft...
"C'mon, let's get you dressed," the servant spoke once more before she helped (Y/n) dress up and get ready. And hadn't she still been kind of asleep and kind of foreign to this, she would have paid her more attention and perhaps complain at being treated like that. But she didn't, and in no time she had already left the room and was now sitting in Soo-Yun's office, having breakfast with him.
"How are you finding your room?" Soo-Yun asked before he drank from his morning tea.
"It's very pretty," she said after making sure she had no breakfast in her mouth anymore "I just need to get used to it"
"If there's something I can do or change to make it more comfortable—"
"No no, it's fine! I'm just not used to it, but I will in a few days..."
Soo-Yun looked at her but both of them remained in silence. He seemed to want to ask something, but in the end decided otherwise and just drank from his tea again.
"You don't need to worry, (Y/n)" he said after a little while having noticed that she looked and sounded as troubled as yesterday. (Y/n) looked at him, at first confused about what he was talking about "I've known Kurva since I have memory. She and my father were very close friends. And never has she made a mistake with any of the girls that work for her"
"Have any of them done something like this?" (Y/n) asked, referring to something like this mission she had to take.
"Kind of, and only a few" he spoke calmly, making her feel less wrong.
"Do you..." She started, but she stuttered as she didn't know how to continue with the question without sounding out of place "use Kurva's services often?" she asked blushing anyway. But she was able to maintain a nonchalant and maybe even curious expression while holding his stare. Soo-Yun let go of an almost silent chuckle.
"I like the Land of Fire, it's a very beautiful and rich nation, even if it's led by ninjas. So every now and then, I like to go there," he said, but both him and (Y/n) knew that couldn't be it, so he continued "And my cousin (as you probably noticed) has a like towards the girls from the Land of Fire" he added with a sigh, making (Y/n) blush again although this time more slightly.
"Lina and him?" she said aloud without realizing when she remembered the way they acted. Soo-Yun nodded.
"Besides that, as I said, Kurva has many girls with bright minds; such as yourself. It is always welcomed to hear an external opinion of someone who has no personal interest" It took a little bit for (Y/n) to understand, but she finally did it "Now that I've answered your question," he talked again, standing up and rummaging somewhere farther from the office "I believe westill have a match of go to play" he said with a gentle smile, setting the board and pieces on the floor. Having finished her breakfast, (Y/n) stood up and sat next to him.
"I don't know how to play," she reminded him.
"And that ends today," he said, smiling at her and flashing her a quick glance. She ended up smiling too and nodded, suddenly confident "Okay, black starts," he started explaining. Then he handed her a cup filled with black rock-looking pieces "You can start anywhere," (Y/n) thought for a while, thinking that there must have been a spot in specific that was best to start, but having no idea she just placed it in the middle. Then Soo-Yun put its white piece near a corner, far from (Y/n)'s piece "You win if there are more of your pieces than mine. If you surround any of my pieces they disappear from the table" (Y/n) nodded thinking it sounded easy, and after his words, she put her piece next to Soo-Yun's.
He smiled and put his piece under the one he already had, ignoring (Y/n)'s piece for a while. And before (Y/n) realized, she had been so focused on surrounding him, that she ended up making blunders until her pieces there disappeared.
"Have you ever wanted to leave Konoha?" he then asked, interrupting her surprise and confusion upon being left with just one piece again. All her other pieces having been taken by him.
"I used to," she said, deciding to focus on just putting pieces next to her initial one.
"And did you try?" he asked when he placed his piece after a while of thinking.
"I did. But they didn't let me," she said, remembering with nostalgia when she lied to Kakashi saying she was a spy and he pinned her to the floor as an answer, stopping her. There was a silence for a while, but Soo-Yun talked again.
"Did you have somewhere to go? A plan?" but she chuckled lightly, embarrassed by her own past stupidity.
"Not really..." Soo-Yun chuckled as well, looking at her while she tried to think of a way not to lose any more pieces.
"And now? Is there a place you would go? Or something you would like to do?"
(Y/n) thought for a little while, slowly accepting there was no way she could win this game. She ended up slightly shaking her head in denial. And in the end, she made another move that turned useless as soon as Soo-Yun made his.
"There must be something," Soo-Yun said, amazed by the fact that she had nothing she would like to do. Especially because he knew it couldn't be that she had already done things and therefore she had nothing in mind. But she didn't say anything. It could be because she was focused on the game, but Soo-Yun knew that it wasn't exactly that, so he spoke a while after again "When my father was still alive, and I was a prince, there were so many things I wanted to do but wasn't allowed to,"
"Like what?" she seemed to finally be interested in something else than the game.
"I wanted to spend a day on the beach," he said with a smile and shine in his eyes as if he was reliving a memory of a secluded beach and a sunny sky as blue as his eyes "I wanted to visit every Land being completely ignored, not as a prince, just as another normal civilian... And I wanted to achieve peace for my country," he said, now staring at her eyes again "I'm still working on that one" he added with a sheepish smile. (Y/n) couldn't help but smile gently at his earnest words.
"It's different," she spoke "you are a Lord. You can do anything you want"
"And you will be a Lord's wife, on paper, of course" he added "Think about it and tell me next time. It can get pretty boring in the palace," he smiled "I know that first-hand," he added lower while he took all the pieces of the now finished game to start another one.
Although (Y/n) continued to not stand a chance. At least, this second time, she understood a little bit better how the game worked and how Soo-Yun was more likely to play. Even if it didn't make much of a difference and she lost spectacularly. Unluckily, something came up that Soo-Yun needed to attend to, leaving her to wander around the palace for a while.
However, she didn't quite pay much attention to her surroundings no matter how pretty and sumptuous they were. She was too deep in thought to do so. She couldn't stop thinking about her conversation with Soo-Yun. 'Does everybody has goals like that? Has something they want to do before they die?' she thought, feeling depressed for not having something like that.
For her, it had all been about how she'd get the money to buy food for the day and how she'd live through the month. She never thought much about the future, she couldn't really. But her situation had changed yet she still had nothing like that. 'Do I have so little ambition?' she thought then, disgusted by herself. 'No, it's not that. I just need to think of something' she then said, determined not to hate herself again. She had already passed that phase, or at least she was slowly doing it.
She hadn't realized her feet had taken her to her room. Perhaps she was tired of walking aimlessly through the different halls and hallways and gardens of the palace. Then, she thought of something and walked towards the window. She opened it and as soon as her head peeked out of the window someone appeared out of nowhere, standing on a branch of the tree in front of the window.
"What did I tell you yesterday? You shouldn't come out the window," he said with his usual expressionless face. And like yesterday, she completely ignored his words. Instead, an unconscious smile appeared on her face upon seeing him. She hadn't realized how much he missed him until now.
"Can I ask you something?" she said, her smile slowly disappearing when her previous questions reflooded her mind.
"You just did," he said, earning a deadpan from her "What is it?"
"Do you have anything you'd like to do?" Her ambiguous question clearly fazed Kakashi who arched his brow and stayed in silence, not getting where this was coming from or what she even meant "Like, do you have something you want to do before you die?"
"No" he answered quicker than she had expected. In fact, his answer speed made her arch both brows, unhappy with the answer.
"Nothing?" she asked to make sure, he shrugged his shoulders. Again, not understanding why she was asking and why it was so important "But you're always working, isn't there something you'd like to do if you had time?"
"When I became a ninja I made an oath to protect the village. I don't think about anything else that isn't that" he said coldly even though he still hadn't realized that since he met her that wasn't the only thing he thought about anymore. (Y/n)'s brows frowned a little and she looked right at his eyes. And although he didn't let it show, he felt somewhat wrong by the way her eyes looked at him, as if they pitied him "Why are you asking?"
"Soo-Yun asked me the same question"
"And what did you say? Do you have something you want to do before you die?" he asked back, now actually interested.
"No, I hadn't thought about it either"
"Then why were you so riled up with me?" he said loudly with a deadpan. (Y/n) smiled sheepishly while rubbing the back of her head.
"Because it's sad," she answered a little while later. And his eyes, which had been glued to her since the beginning (and like they normally were) obviously noticed the melancholic change in her smile.
He didn't say anything though. Firstly because he was too occupied looking at her, and secondly because even if he wanted to say otherwise, he knew she probably was right. But he didn't care. He had been living like that since he was too young. It almost was his natural response to things.
"You have time to think of something now. I'm sure there are many things you haven't done yet" he said. Her sad smile became a little bit more apparent.
"I know. I just can't seem to think of anything..." and again, they remained quiet. (Y/n) reaffirming her idea of how sad it was to not have anything, a will to live, and Kakashi looking at her, now actually feeling hurt. He didn't care about himself, but the same idea and question bothered him when it was about her.
"That's fine too" he spoke again "Maybe you can't think of anything right now because you're alright just the way you are" he said with soft eyes, hoping it would soothe her heart like she soothed his pretty much any time she was around "There will eventually be something. Just like one day you wanted to try photography," she looked at him and after a few seconds nodded, being convinced by him even if just for a little while "Do you have something to do now?" he asked after a long time of silence. She shook her head in denial "Perfect. I've been wanting to do something since we left Konoha. Come down to the gardens, I'll teach you some basic self-defense" he said, jumping down from the tree.
(Y/n) quickly looked down, scared as her room was on the second floor, but the height was like a 4th floor. But her fear was quickly transformed into astonishment when she saw Kakashi was as good as always. She quickly went to the gardens after that.
"Do you think it will be of any use?" she asked as soon as she was down with him "I mean, the chances of me defeating a skilled ninja are rather thin..." she admitted, thinking that no matter how many self-defense techniques Kakashi showed her, it would at most help her against a normal person like her.
"You shouldn't need to use it. I'm around you all the time. This is just in case something happens, but it doesn't mean it will happen" he explained, hoping it would ease her doubts. But she still wasn't too sure.
"I'm not a very athletic person either, I might not be able to learn anything" she added.
"You're agile, we'll take advantage of that" he quickly refuted. His words made her face transform from an insecure one to one of surprise.
"Agile? Me? I definitely am not," she made a short and self-deprecating snort.
"I meant agile in terms of movements, not your body. As in graceful" he was quick to say, feeling weird for using words of praise, and even more because of how awkward it sounded.
"You think I'm graceful?" (Y/n) asked with a cocky and now confident smile, teasing him. Kakashi looked away, feeling his skin get hotter because this is exactly what he feared would happen. He masked it by rolling his eyes.
"You have to be in order to earn a living as a thief like you did" he added, ignoring her tone, and it achieved his goal as she quickly forgot about it "So, as I was saying before someone interrupted me," he spoke again sending her a look that made her sweatdrop "I will teach you a technique for every possibility you could face"
"Aren't there like hundreds of possibilities?"
"Most common possibilities," he specified, again coldly staring at her "Since when are you so snarky?" he asked, his brows turning into a slight frown.
"I learned from you," she said with another cocky smile, finding exasperating him amusing "Besides, it's your fault for—" she began, but in a swift movement, he had turned her around and covered her mouth with one of his hands.
With his other arm, he held her close by her throat as if he was about to choke her having her back touching his body. At first, she was shocked by the sudden movement, but immediately after being in his hold she relaxed.
"Looks like you're not snarky anymore," he mumbled lowly over her ear, making her whole skin tingle and blush "Why are you so relaxed?" he then asked when he felt her body wasn't tense at all. His voice sounded normal again, and in fact, there was an almost imperceptible annoyed tone in it. But she couldn't answer as his hand was still covering her lips "I'm supposed to be an attacker," he said, letting her know she should thus act according to it.
"But I know it's you," she answered when he moved the hand off her mouth. He still held her tight with his arm by her throat, but she didn't seem to mind.
"It doesn't matter, you shouldn't trust anyone. Not even me"
"But you're the only person I trust..." she mumbled, looking up in order to look at him. He ended up letting her go, especially when her eyes managed to look at his, leaving their faces just a few inches apart.
"There are transformation jutsus. One day it might not be me" he told her so that she understood why he said what he did. She didn't seem too happy about it, but she felt better when his hand patted the top of her head "C'mon, let's start. Grab me like I just did"
She nodded and proceeded to try to choke him from behind, even if he had to crouch down a little bit for her to reach