After their dinner (which none of them enjoyed much due to Nami's change of mood), Iruka decided to bring the future queen to a stroll around Konoha. The chuunin pointed the new and improved buildings, including the new Academy to her.
Sadly, none of those attracted her attention at all as Nami still looked lost and confused with everything.
Iruka finally snapped.
"Nami." Iruka had never used his stern voice on her. Hence when he suddenly used it to address her, she immediately turned to look at him.
"Get a grip of yourself! Kakashi loves you too much to actually swerve at that new warden." Massaging his nose, Iruka continued to rant again. "I told him that if he ever broke your heart I will snap his body into half- Hokage or not." Apparently Iruka's little rant did the trick; the princess was finally giggling.
"You're such an overprotective brother." Nami's giggles were endless. The sight of her laughing as quiet as she could made Iruka's heart flutter a little. 'No, she's already with Kakashi. No.' He pushed his thoughts to the back of his mind. His battle had long ended before he could even try his luck.
"Come on, I have something I really want to show you."
Iruka pulled her away from Konoha's buzzing streets to the outskirts of the town. Memories of her first date with Kakashi appeared as they entered the dark streets in front of them. 'They seemed familiar.' Thought the ice queen when she looked at a particular tree. "Oh-"
"Do you remember it too?" Iruka held her hand tightly. Knowing that this could be the last time he could hold these cold hands with confidence and no death glares, he savour this moment completely. The tree stood as majestic as it used to be. Somehow, it was a miracle this tree survived Pein's attack a few months ago.
It's been months since Pein attack... and months since Iruka had lost his heart.
"Of course I remember. This is where we first... met." She approached the tree and took a closer look. The tree was long dead, but the icicles that hung on the branches still remained and twinkled under the moonlight.
It was this tree that Nami actually froze with mistake when she was just a young child.
"Remember what Sandaime said about the icicles?" Her words were soft but loud enough for the Umino to listen.
"This tree must have had a mixture of DNA to suddenly have icicles on its branches." Iruka laughed at his own imitation of Sandaime. "But now I know who the real culprit was."
Nami only let out a heartwarming laugh. The laugh was so pure and sincere, he could not believe that it came out from the same kunoichi who had killed thousands of enemies. Iruka couldn't hold himself no more.
He hugged her.
It's no big deal about the hug. They've always did it back then. But somehow, it felt awkward yet still right at that moment. Nami was too stunned to react.
She missed the moments where they would just hug and talk about their day under this tree. How Iruka would first tell her about the Academy and all the classes she would take. The test that would be her first step as a shinobi. The moments when Iruka would tell her about the Nine Tailed Fox's attack and how he was proud of his parents. Iruka promising to protect her until the world ends.
Nami didn't realise tears were rolling down her cheeks. They were all grown up now, why did she not appreciate those childhood memories from before? Her sobs became louder until Iruka had to stop embracing her. "Come on Nami.. you're almost 23."
She had never opened this side of her to anyone for so long. A side that just wanted to be protected. Yes, she lets down her guard when she is with her dear friends and loved ones. But this, this child side of her.... she had kept it hidden for so long.
"I'm scared of growing up." She confessed. More tears continued to roll down her face. "I'm scared of becoming queen. I'm scared I won't live to expectation. I'm scared of losing everyone I loved. I-" Kami, she was finally breaking down.
Iruka hushed her. He realised that this was her breaking point. All the stress and negative thoughts were finally at its peak. "There, there.. little wildflower." He patted her back.
"Did you forgot our promise when we first met here?" He pointed to the brightest star above them, his smile wider than Nami had ever seen in her lifetime.
"I promise, Sandaime that I'll take care of Fuyu just like the sister I never had. And-"
"Until the last of the brightest stars die, I will always stay by her side no matter what she becomes."
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Kakashi looked at the stars. One of them shone the brightest among them all. That star really stood out, a rare and fragile object waiting for its time to die.
He couldn't help himself but think of Nami here at Hozuki Castle. They haven't had time for each other at all with their tasks at hand. Especially with Nami's coronation coming soon.
Strange, even if they were together for a few years now, not many people knew about their relationship. Yes they were both very secretive of it, but the fact that the public only knows that the Hokage had someone he was fond of wasn't very satisfying for him.
It was also not satisfying when they were news that Kahyo was his girlfriend. Where did they even get that theory???
"Hokage-sama." The snow haired turned around to see the said person behind him. "It's getting late, shouldn't you be sleeping?"
"Shouldn't you be on duty?" He didn't realise his answer had sounded quite harsh. "Sorry. I was thinking about things."
"What things?" Kahyo slowly approached him.
"Just... personal things. It's none of your business."
"Ah, but some rumours are of my business." The Rokudaime choked on his saliva. Did Kahyo knew about those?
"It may not be my place to question, Rokudaime.. But when you said you wanted to protect the people you loved back at the ship, who did you refer to?"
"Konoha, of course." He answered briefly.
"That would be an answer as the Hokage." The distance between their faces were getting closer, Kakashi could feel the cold breathe of Kahyo. She was so similar to Nami..
'Snap yourself out of this, Hatake.' He mentally slap himself.
"But what about... as a man?"
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ooh i like how this turned out.
oh oh oh i cant wait to finish this ;---; i need to tend to my other babies too~