Crap! Crap! Crap! Naruko hadn't realized she had been sitting in her room thinking about her old friends for so long! She ran down the street and made a quick right turn. She had to make it in time, otherwise she'd be ashamed forever.
She never ever wanted to be late, and show up later than Kakashi. Sure, here he had always showed up first here in the past, but she just couldn't help but feel shame if she showed up late, and he was there before her.
Naruko ran down the street towards the cafe where she was meeting Kakashi. She made a turn, but then walked down the street. If Kakashi saw her, she didn't want to make it seem like she had forgotten. She stopped outside of the cafe, looking at Kakashi.
"Hi!" Naruko said.
"Hey Naruko. You ready to eat?" Kakashi asked.
"Yep!" She said, giving him one of his own eye smiles.
The date went pretty smoothly. The pair figured out that they really enjoyed each others company. While most of Kakashi's fan girls that were in the cafe were glaring at them the whole time, the old couples looking on at remembrance of when they were young, and then there was all of the people that didn't really take notice of them. Kakashi and Naruko didn't pay them any attention however, they just focused on each other for the whole date. They both had a really great time, and both to their sadness, ended before they would have liked.
"Thanks for walking me home Kakashi." Naruko said. She was now standing outside of the Maini compound's main household.
"No problem, Christina really out did herself on this, didn't she?" He said.
"Yeah, she always does. Hey, I was wondering, so the rest of us are going to be entering the Chuunin Exams tomorrow, what are you gonna do?" Naruko asked.
"I'm going to take the Jounin Exams." He said.
"So we won't see you for awhile then." She stated.
"No, I suppose not." He said.
"Well, we're all gonna miss you. Me especially." She said.
"Yeah, well, I guess I'm going to head home then." He said.
"One second, I just... wanna try something first." She said, blushing a bit.
"What is it?" He asked, utterly confused why she would be blushing.
That's when Naruko leaned forward, pulled down his mask, and took his lips in hers. She loved the feeling of kissing him, he tasted like vanilla. She was blushing madly, now bearing a color that could compete with the shy Hyuga heiress's.
Saying Kakashi was surprised is an extreme understatement. At first, he thought she was just trying to de-mask him, but then she had kissed him. His eyes widened and then he quickly closed them and kissed back.
They stood there for a good minute or two, just kissing, but then they broke away, needing air.
"Wow." Naruko and Kakashi said at the same time.
They stared into each others eyes and then Naruko smiled, as well as Kakashi, but you couldn't see his smile, or so he thought.
"You've got a really handsome face 'Kashi." She said.
He froze at that, then he laughed. He touched his mask, which was now pooled around the base of his neck. He smiled at her again.
"It's a shame that you keep it hidden like that. You should really just not wear it anymore. It makes it easier to kiss you." She said.
"Well, you know the reason I keep it up. I don't think I want to keep it off, I actually kind of like the look. But I assure you, you can pull it down anytime you want if it's to kiss me." He said. "Well, I really should be getting home, we both need rest for our exams tomorrow." Then he pecked her on the lips again and pulled up his mask.
"Ja ne." She said.
"Ja ne." He replied, as he walked out of the compound.
Naruko opened up the door and was greeted by her excited son jumping on her to give her a huge hug.
"Kaa-san!" He yelled, hugging his mom tightly.
"Hey Haku-kun, sorry I didn't say goodbye to you, but I was in a bit of a hurry." She said, hugging her son back.
"Ne, where did you even go? You missed dinner, by the way." Christina said, leaning against one of the living room walls.
"Well... um... I'll tell you after I put Haku-kun to bed." Naruko said.
"Kaa-san! I don't want to go to bed now! You just got home!" Haku whined, and he put a pout on his face.
"Sorry Haku-kun, but you have to get some sleep. I'll tuck you in though, mmkay?" She said.
Naruko then picked up her son and brought him to his bedroom. Toys littered the floor and she smiled, it seemed her son liked playing in his new room. She tucked him in, kissed him on the forehead, and walked back into the living room. She walked over and sat down on one of the couches that Christina was sitting on.
"Okay Naruko, dish. Where were you?" Christina asked.
"I was on a date with 'Kashi." Naruko replied. Christina's eyes widened.
"Well... I wasn't expecting that. When you said you had something with Kakashi, I thought it would be training or something." Christina said.
"Yeah, I guess that would have been expected. I had a great time though, I really like him." Naruko said.
"So did you, ya know, kiss him." Christina said, grinning.
"Yeah." Naruko said, now blushing furiously.
"So, how was it?" Christina asked.
"It was... kind of.. sort of... amazing." She said.
Christina smiled. "So, if you're dating Kakashi... them have you come to accept what happened to Sasuke?"
"Well... there will always be a hole in my heart from when I lost Sasuke... but I know he would want me to be happy, and here, he's younger and... Kakashi makes me happy. That's what I was so deep in thought about earlier. Sure, I had already agreed to the date, but I was thinking about how it would affect me. I think... that even though it's hard... that I'll be able to accept that my Sasuke... just... isn't here anymore." Naruko said.
Christina scooted over to her friend and gave her a hug. "I'm glad." She whispered.
They parted and got up and walked down the hall. They needed their sleep for tomorrow after all.
"Ne, Christina... I was wondering... are you and Neji still engaged like before.. you uh.. died?" Naruko asked, looking down at the floor.
"Well, we didn't speak of it, but I'm kind of assuming so, I still love him the way I did in the future, and if I had to say anything about the way he loves me, it would have to be that his love has only gotten stronger, since now he refuses to let anything happen to me." She said.
"Well... too bad you guys have to wait three more years before you can get married." Naruko said.
"Yeah, I guess. But I still get to have him, the only thing that would be different is... well, yeah you get the picture." Christina said.
Naruko giggled. "Well, you two already live in the same house, I guess he would just be switching rooms then."
"Well... I kind of already share a room with him." Christina said.
Naruko grinned. "Christina, I thought dad said to get our sleep tonight." She said.
Christina smacked the back of her head. "We're not doing that Baka! We just wanted to be able to sleep near each other, I think it might help him to have me right there, since he gets those nightmares. And besides, it's always comforting to have someone else there next to you. After all, you should know, if one of us got nightmares when we were little, we would sleep in the same bed." Christina said.
Naruko sighed. "You always have to ruin my jokes with logic, don't you."
"Yep, anyways, Night! See ya in the morning." Christina said as she went into her room.
Naruko smiled and went into her room. She got changed into her pajamas and put back some pictures. She had taken them to her bed to look at them. She put back the photo of the newest team 7 and smiled at it. She then put back the picture of all of her old friends and the one from the day she had become a genin. Then she placed the final photo she had on her dresser. She smiled at it and whispered.
"I miss you Sasuke. I hope your not angry I'm moving on, I just think it's for the best, and would be what you want for me." She felt a tear drip down her face. She wiped it off and smiled, then she turned off the light and climbed into bed.