The first Bakashi chapter from this book! Yay! I quite like writing in his point of view so there definitely will be more to come. Enjoy!
--------------Kakashi's POV--------------
I could see the gates of the village coming into view slowly. Ana had drifted into a state of half-sleep about two miles ago, and my arms were starting go numb with pins and needles from carrying her the entire way back. Tsunade offered to take Ana for a bit about half way through the journey, but I had turned her down. Now it was too late to go back, and I was just hoping that the two elite medical-nins with me wouldn't notice that after I'd lectured Ana about exceeding her limits, I had done the exact same thing.
Her arms were wrapped tightly around my neck, her face was nestled into my chest, and her hair was starting to fall out of the neat braid that she had woven it into. The sunlight filtering through the trees glittered off the strands, making it shine like polished walnut streaked with bits of copper and gold. Even nearly passed out with chakra drain and drooling on my vest, Ana was beautiful.
The hand that was wrapped securely around her stomach played with a few of the errant hairs as her muffled voice protested, "Put me down or I'll steal Pakkun." Her threats had been increasingly more pathetic as the journey continued, and they also happened to be becoming more adorable too.
"I don't think that will work since I can always summon him to me."
She gave an noncommittal grunt, "That's neither here nor there. Put me down or I'll... uh, kiss you."
"Ana, that wasn't really a threat."
"I haven't brushed my teeth since this morning so I think that it was," her sleepy voice made her sound much younger than she was, and I nearly laughed out loud at how petulant she had sounded.
"Can I mention that that's kind of gross?"
She yawned, "That's why it's a threat. Shouldn't you be quaking in your boots?"
"Well, I'm wearing sandals, and it'd be a little hard to shake and carry you at the same time."
"Which is why your arms are currently shaking with exhaustion, right?"
Crap. I should have known that I wouldn't be able to hide my fatigue from a ninja of her caliber.
"Hm, they're shaking? I didn't notice."
She yawned again and wiggled even deeper into my embrace in a way that reminded me strongly of a cat, "Your arms have been shaking for the last twenty minutes, and your pace has slowed considerably for the last twelve. I haven't said anything because the gates are about ten seconds away now. But just know that after I get a good night's sleep, I'm so going to lecture you about being a hypocrite."
Oddly enough, the promise of a lecture was not nearly as terrifying as it should have been. "Was that another threat?"
"Let me rephrase: put me down or I'll lecture you about being a hypocritical fool."
"See, that threat doesn't work either because we both know that you're going to lecture me whether I put you down or not."
"Meh, stop it with your logic. I'm too tired right now for logic."
I slowed down to a walk as we entered the village, giving a small smile to Izumo and Kotetsu, closing my eyes so that they could see it over my mask. Their jaws dropped as they saw the haori that I was wearing which signified that I had taken the up mantle of Hokage, finally.
Izumo stammered, "Welcome back, Ka- Lord Hokage."
I gave him another smile, "Just Kakashi still works fine for me."
He smiled some in relief that I was trying to keep our relationship unchanged despite my elevation in rank, until Ana ruined it from her half-asleep stupor.
"Heh, it's cute how embarrassed you are about all of the fuss."
I narrowed my eyes at her, "For the one millionth time, I'm not cute."
She snickered some, "Cutekage. It works so well."
Izumo and Kotetsu were turning red from trying so hard not of laugh. Less than a minute in the village as the Hokage, and I'm already losing their respect. Thanks, Ana.
"Okay, time to get you to bed because clearly you're so tired that it's making you delusional."
She started laughing even louder, "You're blushing so badly that you can see it over your mask. The lady dost protest too much, methinks! You're cute and you know it." I raised and eyebrow at her, and she mumbled under her breath, "No one knows a good Shakespeare quote when they hear one. Hamlet would be so ashamed. Makes verbal exchanges decidedly less fun. Even unread morons know that one back in my old world." I just shook my head; even after all of these years, there will always be things from her world that have no meaning to me.
But I decided to humor her, knowing full well that this could start an hour long rant, "Shakespeare?"
"Playwright and poet," she mumbled. "Absolutely brilliant in my opinion, and even more than that, his works affected lots of the literature and dramas that came afterwards."
"So what were his plays like?"
"He wrote a lot of them, well that's up for debate, but either way I don't care. Some were tragedies, some dramas, and others were comedies. I've always liked the comedies the best when you see them in theater. Everyone likes to look at his stuff like it's all erudite and fancy, but really they're all just fart and sex jokes."
"That explains why you love them so much." I looked around and noticed that Tsunade had left us a while ago as we walked through the village.
"I wouldn't say that I loved them. I mean, they were no fun to learn about in school. Hamlet's a whiny sociopath, and no one realizes that Romeo and Juliet just are an allegory for teenage romance and think that they're in actually love or something." And the rant that I had anticipated had arrived. "Does anyone even bother to read the prologue for Act II? It clearly states that they're just horny teens, well, not clearly, but it's heavily implied. I don't know about you, but that's not my definition of 'true love.'"
"Ana, you do realize that I have no idea what you're talking about, right? And why were you reading a play about horny teenagers?"
"English class! And then people totally misunderstand the meaning of Juliet's last soliloquy-"
"Ana."
"Yes?"
"As exciting as monologues from plays that I haven't seen or read are, can we please change the subject?"
"We could pick a different literary figure. What about Faulkner? Don't even get me started about Faulkner-"
"Not helping. If you want to talk about authors, what about Jiraiya? I know a lot about his books."
I started up the stairwell of our apartment complex as she lifted her head up to send me a disappointed look, "Is Icha Icha the only thing that you read?" She laughed, "'Know a lot about his books' is putting it mildly. Although, Tales of a Gutsy Ninja is a wonderful story. Definitely Jiraiya's best work."
"What about Tactics?"
"Just because you made me read those last year doesn't mean I automatically love them now. Tactics is the best of the Icha Icha series, but it lacks the emotional depth of Tales. Jiraiya wrote that one with a purpose. It was inspired by what he lived through during the Second Great Ninja War, and has greater meaning because of it."
I stopped in front of her door, "Do you have your keys? And the same goes for you. Just because you made me read Tales doesn't mean that I'll automatically love it either. I'll admit that it is a great book, but it's too preachy. Icha Icha has the same underlying themes, but they're buried deeper into the plot and made more powerful because of that. Jiraiya gets his points across through metaphor, satire, and allegory."
Ana snorted as she pulled her keys out of an inner pocket of her Shinobi Union flak jacket, "Just because you're using fancy literary terms doesn't mean that you're any more right. I'd say that the themes of world peace are almost too buried in the smut and trite plot. You've only noticed them because you've read the books about fifty million times apiece."
I sat her down at the table and went to her refrigerator where I pulled out some leftovers that I placed in the microwave before turning back to face her, "'Trite?' The plots aren't trite; they're just not heavy handed in their themes of world peace and understanding."
"No, but they are heavy handed in their sex scenes."
"We're both adults."
"Still! It took me a week before I could look at you again without blushing in embarrassment. And you read those things in public!"
It was more like a month. It took her a full month to stop turning as red as a tomato every time she saw me reading Icha Icha. Those were a difficult four weeks.
"Where I read them has nothing to do with their literary merit! And I seem to remember you telling me that the 'steamy' scenes weren't even that steamy."
"First of all, that was five years ago right after I had just moved to the village, and second of all, I know which scene I had flipped to now, since you made me read the entire series, and I was simply lucky enough to get the tamest one in the entire series. But, that's another thing that makes Tales better; it doesn't need smut to get people to read it."
"Not necessarily true." I pulled out the food and placed it on two plates, grabbed chopsticks, and made my way over to the table. "You can find Icha Icha almost anywhere, but it's almost impossible to get your hands on a copy of Tales."
"That just proves my point that everyone in your world is a pervert." She wasted no time in digging into her food as soon as I placed it in front of her.
"So there were no perverts in the entirety of your old world?"
Her chopsticks froze a half an inch from her lips, "No, I think that everyone in my old world might have been a pervert too." She winked at me, "There's just no escaping them."
I smiled at her before taking my next bite of food. "And I think that you're stuck with one."
She rolled her eyes, but there was no hiding her grin, "Lucky me."
I shook my head a little and went back to eating. Honestly, I feel like I'm the lucky one. Who else who would debate the merits of Jiraiya's books with me in a totally serious manner? No one. Who else would be okay with me coming into their house and making us a dinner of left overs in a microwave? No one. Who else understands all of my past but never pries or pities me? No one. Who else can melt all of my insides to goo with a single glance from their intelligent, ocean blue eyes? No one.
"I think that I'm luckier."
She laid down her chopsticks and pushed away her empty plate, "Oh really?"
That's when a loud pounding came from the door. Consider the moment officially ruined.
Clearly the food had recovered a lot of her energy because Ana got out of her chair and strode purposely to the door as I gathered up the plates and put them in the dishwasher.
"Udon?"
I turned and saw the young chunin standing in Ana's doorway. It was strange seeing him without his teammates, Konohamaru and Moegi, and he looked frantic.
"I know that you just got back from a mission, but you're needed at the hospital. An ANBU's been poisoned, and they need you."
Her eyes narrowed, "Aren't Lady Tsunade and Shizune there?"
"They're hoping that the knowledge from your old world might help. They think that it's an acid, but none of the standard methods for removing it are working."
With a nod, Ana started reaching for her shoes, "I'll be right there." She pulled a scroll out of her weapons pouch and removed the protection jutsu from it before plopping it in my hands. "It's from the Raikage, level one classification. Have fun reading his handwriting since you're the Hokage now." She gave me a quick hug, "I've got to run."
"Do you want me to come with you?"
"No, dinner fixed me right up. I'll probably be up late tonight so see you tomorrow."
With that, I was left standing alone her kitchen, holding a scroll, and washing her dishes. I felt almost... domestic. Just find me an apron and I'll be set. Sighing, I dropped the chopsticks on the drying rack and locked up her apartment before going one door over to the right and sitting down on the edge of my bed. We were still neighbors. Even after the village was destroyed and rebuilt.
I pulled open the message from the Raikage and realized that Ana was right; he really did have horrible handwriting. Great.
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While this may not have been the most action packed or eventful of chapters, I felt like it was necessary demonstrate how things were going from Kakashi's point of view. There was a one year time skip between the two books, and I need to lay down how things stand between everyone before I can move on with all the stuff that I have planned. Also, I have a crush on this one guy and all we do is debate the merits of different books and yeah... -////- Hi, I'm socially awkward. Well, that's all that I need to say. I'll see you at the next update!