I mumbled something incoherent, and rolled over, ending up on the floor.
"Blearg..." I pushed myself up, stretching.
I glanced over at the bed, realizing Kakashi wasn't there...
I stood up and looked around, finding a note on his pillow:
Had to go on a quick mission. I'll be back tomorrow...probably. I'm sorry, but it was unavoidable. If it's any consolation, I'm stuck with Gai (a.k.a. Caterpillar Man). He thinks he's a better fighter than me. Ha! ...If you get bored, go see one of the Star-Siblings (Gia, etc.). Take care of Mr. Ukki for me. Oh, and watch out for Uzamaki. He and Ringer have been terrorizing an old-folks' home... Yeah...
Home soon... Love you?
Kakashi
I rolled my eyes, smiling. Tucking the note into my bag, I quickly walked into the bathroom, closing the door behind me and quickly going through my morning routine (A/N: you should know it now!).
Walking back out in some jeans and a long-sleeved white t-shirt, I searched around in his kitchenette for food. I found another note in the tiny ice-box.
Note to self:
Buy food.
Kakashi
I groaned.
How could he?
I started going through the little desk/table that was beneath the window where Mr. Ukki sat, searching for the money we had been paid yesterday. I opened a drawer and almost grinned in triumph!
I picked out one of the sacks of money and closed the drawer. When I turned around, I squealed bending down to the little puppy in front of me!
"Hi there, little guy," I crooned.
"How's it hangin'?" he replied simply.
"So-so... Wait... How can you talk?"
"I dunno. How can you talk?"
"Touche... What are you doing in here?" I asked.
"The Boss asked me to watch you. Seemed to think you'd get lost..." he explained gruffly, scratching at his ear.
I blushed lightly at that, rubbing the back of my head.
"Yeah... Probably would..."
"Huh. Well, where ya headed?" he asked, sounding bored.
"Um...Well I need to get some food. There's nothing edible in here."
"Great... Although, those old sandals look kinda appetizing, if I do say so myself."
"Um.... No. Bad dog..." I said, picking up the sandals and dropping them into Kakashi's closet, scrunching up my nose from the smell. "I should grab some cleaning supplies too, while I'm at it."
"Okay then. Sounds like the market. Follow me," the dog ordered, heading over to the door.
"I can't believe this...Taking orders from a dog... I'm part cat, for heaven's sake," I mumbled to myself.
"Hey, would ya mind opening the door? And, don't worry about the cat thing. Boss-man likes you, so I won't chase you," he grunted.
"Oh... Thanks... What's your name?" I asked, opening the door for him.
"Pakkun, and you're Whisper, the girl Boss has the 'hots' for."
"Uh... What?" I queried, confused.
"...Are you not Whisper, the girl Boss has the hots for?" he replied sharply, coming to an abrupt halt and eyeing me suspiciously.
"My name is Whisper Nakurama, I am currently living with Kakashi, age 22, female, and ...I don't really know... He has the 'hots' for me?"
"...Hmm." He sniffed at my feet. "Yeah, pretty sure. He was all worried and stuff... He said you were pretty, for a cat," Pakkun said. "Don't tell anyone this, but I gotta agree..."
I was stunned...
Sure, everyone's told me he likes me, but they were never actually TOLD. This dog was though... so... Oh... My... God...
"Uh... Whisper? Ya there?" he asked gruffly, slightly concerned, looking up at me.
I smiled, "...He likes me...."
"Uh, yeah. Ya think? He spent the chakra to summon me to watch over you, didn't he? Now let's move. I need to find a tree," the dog barked, trotting off down the hallway.
I skipped happily after him, grinning like a mad-man.
"If you're going to keep smiling like that, I'm not going to work with you." His pace didn't slacken; indeed, he sped up, leaping to the top of the railing and then down onto the road.
"I'll try," I said, toning down the smile a couple degrees as I jumped down after him.
He paused at the first tree we came to, walking behind it for a moment before re-emerging.
"That's better," he grunted, leading me over to a small market area. "There's your food place. Have fun."
"Umm... Will you be waiting for me here, then?" I asked uncertainly.
"Yup. I'll keep an eye on you, don't worry." Pakkun sat, looking over at a dainty-looking poodle prancing alongside her not-so-dainty owner. "Hey babe."
The poodle sniffed at him, turning up her nose as she pranced away.
"You know, I don't understand. You're pretty good looking for a dog," I said, examining his slightly wrinkled face and muscular little body.
"Yeah, the dames don't usually like a dog in uniform, though," he grunted. He squinted up at me. "Don't you have shopping to do?"
"Oh... Yeah. By the way, do you like bacon?" I posed.
"Lady, I'm a dog. I love bacon," Pakkun replied. "Kakashi usually doesn't let us have it, though."
"Oh... Well then, I'll just get the treats..."
"Aw, come on... Just get a few strips then. I won't rat on you," he pleaded.
"You're the one that's going to have to work it off. You decide," I said, amused.
"Just one. Following you around will let me work that off," he decided.
"...Okay then..." I turned away, wondering how I was going to convince the butcher to give me one strip of bacon.
Twenty minutes later, Pakkun had his bacon and I had my food.
"You wanna take that back or get the cleaning stuff first?" Pakkun asked, licking the last bits of bacon from around his muzzle.
"Let's get the cleaning stuff." I rolled my eyes. "Milk won't go bad that fast."
"You should know," he muttered, taking off down a side street and leading me to a small hardware store. "Cleaning stuff," he barked.
"Thanks." I patted his head and pulled out an extra piece of bacon.
"Ya know, you're not so bad, for a cat," he growled as the bacon disappeared into his mouth.
"You're not too bad yourself...for a dog," I stated as I walked away.
I ducked into the cleaning store.
Well, Kakashi had no cleaning supplies... so...
I got all of the necessities, including a few extras that I don't care to list.
I walked up to the register, and set down my load.
"Will this be all?" A guy with black hair behind the counter asked, not looking up as he scanned the cleaning supplies.
"Yep." I muttered, looking through the small selection of magazines next to the counter.
"That'll be thirty-five... Hey. You new in town?" he asked suddenly, giving a winning smile as he looked at me.
"Um. Yeah." I rummaged around in the small bag for the right amount of money.
"Where ya staying?" he queried as he took the money, suddenly quite friendly.
"Um. Rooming with a fellow ninja." I reached for the receipt, but he didn't hand it over.
"You got plans for dinner with said fellow ninja, or are you free?" he asked.
"Um... Let me see... Nope, he's out on a mission, but we do have plans when he gets back," I told him sweetly, taking the receipt. "Besides, why would I downgrade from the copy-nin?" With that said, I picked up my things and swaggered out of the store, sniggering.
"What's so funny?" Pakkun asked me gruffly.
"Oh, the clerk in there just asked me out, so I told him 'Why would I want to downgrade from the copy-nin?' and let me tell you, his face was priceless."
"Mm... Be careful waving that information around. I'm not sure the Boss is ready for publicity like that yet," Pakkun cautioned, though there was an amused twinkle in his dark eyes. "Though, I have to agree; his face was priceless."
"Yeah, I will. He was just bugging me. I mean, did you see him?! He was looking at me as if I were a piece of meat!" I complained, trudging after him.
"Yeah. You had about two seconds before I came in there and made him useless for that kind of socializing," Pakkun enlightened, growling something under his breath.
"What was that?" I asked glancing down at him curiously.
"Not for ladies' ears," he muttered.
"Ha! I've had a life that no one should, I believe I've heard many unlady-like things!" I snorted indignantly.
"That's not what I meant," Pakkun said. "If you really wanna know, I said, 'Oughtta rip his-"
"Okay!" I cut in. "I get the picture. Nevermind..." I muttered another bit under my breath.
"What was that?" he glanced up at me.
I scrunched my face up, "I've ruined... that for many men... A guy randomly pops up behind me and-"
"HEY-"
There goes my instincts...
I turned around, eyes wide. "Oh my god! Naruto, I'm soooo sorry!" I bent down next to the quivering boy, who was holding his... area.
"Well... I see what you mean about your 'instincts'..." Pakkun commented beside me, eyes wide.
"Whyyyyyyy?" Naruto sobbed. "I thought we were friends..."
I sighed heavily, "You can't sneak up on me, cause that happens! You baka!" I pulled some water from the gutters and quickly froze it, handing it to the boy as I turned away.
"What's this I heard about you and my coon terrorizing the old folks' home?"
"Meh? W-we weren't. Ahhhh..." he sighed, apparently having placed the ice. "Ringer-kun ran into the old ladies' quarters after a dog barked at him, and well...You can guess the rest. People usually like to make it seem like it's my fault when these things happen..." He staggered to his feet, leaning on me heavily.
I sighed, "Pakkun... can you take these home?" I set down the groceries. "I'm going to help him home."
He nodded, "Okay, but stay out of trouble."
I nodded, and Naruto gave me directions as we walked to his place.
"I like your ears!" he suddenly beamed at me.
"I like your whiskers," I responded, ruffling his hair.
We chatted easily, and time flew by as we arrived at his home.
"Well, bye Naruto. It was nice hanging with ya," I ruffled his hair.
"Bye, Lady," he grinned at me, and hobbled into his home.
I sighed, and teleported myself back to the apartment.
"Everything good?" Pakkun questioned from a spot on Kakashi's couch.
"Yeah. Naruto's home safe and sound," I replied, flopping down next to him. I crinkled my nose, "Is that you or the house?"
"Probably both. The Boss is a guy, after all," Pakkun pointed out.
"Hn." Pushing up off the couch, I asked him, "You put groceries in the fridge?"
"Yep. Wasn't easy..." I glanced back at him.
He had his eyes closed.
I rolled my eyes, and quickly sitfted through the cleaning supplies. I pulled out a dust-cloth and some window cleaning solution and got to work, opening the window once I cleaned it.
Pakkun wandered around, dragging the dust-cloth after him, looking faintly disgusted at the prospect of 'cleaning'.
"Oh, get over it," I called to him after a while. "I gave you bacon. And, if you're good, maybe I'll give you another treat."
"This is degrading... Being treated like a common puppy," the dog grumbled, worming his way behind the bed.
"Common puppy? What kind of common puppy does housework?" I asked, bemused.
"Not that. I mean being bribed with treats and stuff..." he called from beneath the headboard as I wiped the dust from the shelves it comprised of.
"Hm." I picked up a framed picture of four people standing together in front of the camera. It was the only thing (besides his books and Mr. Ukki) that didn't have a layer of dust on it. "Is that Kakashi in this picture?" I asked Pakkun as he re-emerged, shaking dust from his fur and the cloth.
"Huh?" He jumped up on the bed. "Oh, yeah. That's the boss a few days after he got assigned to his original squad."
"Oh... What happened?" I asked cautiously, not sure tha I wanted to know.
"That's something for the boss to tell you when he's ready. Not me," he explained, and hopped back down. "What's next?"
"Well... I'm going to start some laundry. You can chill for a bit." I set the picture back carefully.
I gathered up my clothes, and as a last thought, grabbed Kakashi's as well.
"Man... I feel like a house wife..." I grumbled, finding a tub and a washing board.
Someone knocked on the door just as I filled the tub.
"Now what?" I muttered, drying my hands.
Pakkun beat me to the door, glaring at it suspiciously.
"...Pakkun?" I looked down at him curiously.
"Just be careful. You wouldn't believe how many assassins just knock on their targets' doors," he cautioned.
"Okaayy.... I doubt it's an assassin, though," I muttered, amused, walking forward and pulling the door open.
"Um. Hi. Kakashi asked me to check in on you," Gerilynn greeted me awkwardly, Irishi standing behind her.
Face-palming, I sighed. "Does he really think I'm that incapable? First he sends a dog, and now he sends you," I grumbled.
"Uh. He said you'd probably say something like that, and to tell you that he was worried about some green-haired lady," she explained, shifting from foot to foot uncomfortably.
My face paled a little bit.
Oh God... Forgot all about her...
"But she's locked up, isn't she?" I demanded, somewhat shrilly.
The kunoichi exchanged a glance with her companion.
"Uh... About that... We had to let her go... Your ex-village was making threats, and they have friends in the Sound..." she explained. "You mind if we come in?"
"Not at all." My voice was still high, my face very pale, as I moved aside to let them in.
"So... If you don't mind me asking, who is this woman?"
"She... She was supposedly my cousin, til she disowned me. She was pretty much all I had left..." I trailed, quickly distracting myself with the wash tub. "The Kage of my clan... he's my uncle, though he disowned me too... He sent her to kill me. I don't know why, probably afraid I'll tell on them," I scrubbed furiously at the clothing.
"Tell what?" she asked quickly.
"Them and the Sound have been working on an underground tunnel between them so that they can transport weapons and trade easier. Not to mention faster contact. But it has failed them and I'm the one who figured out how to make it work, though I never told them."
"Hmm. That sounds...irritating," Irishi commented, leaning against the counter.
"Hn. I can understand the family issues..." Gerilynn said, frowning. "My brothers would understand better, though..."
"What happened to your parents?" Irishi asked me gently.
I froze. "...They were... um..."
"I got ya. You don't have to explain if you don't want to," he backed off.
"They were murdered... They tried to persuade the people to rebel against the idea of joining the Sound. So... They were killed. I came home and found them, after slipping and falling in their...blood..." I mumbled, continuing to wash.
"...You okay?" he questioned. "I'm sorry I brought it up..."
"No... It's fine, really. It's what happened after that that was the worst... I was blamed for it," I shrugged, wringing out the clothing I had in my hands. "I've learned to block out the memories pretty quickly, along with emotions, so I'm fine."
"...I won't say I'm sorry for you, because I get the feeling you don't want pity. But... If there's ever anything I can do..."
"...You could wash Pakkun," I told him, smiling.
"You're kidding, right?" Pakkun complained. "I hate baths..."
"Nope. Not at all. And, you'll be good, or I'll tell Kakashi on you," I said sweetly.
"Dang... You're devious... Stupid cats.." he mumbled, following Irishi into the bathroom, the boy looking amused.
I chuckled, and continued to wash.
"So... Do you really wanna wash all that by hand?" Gerilynn asked suddenly.
"No... You got a better idea?" I looked up at her, pausing in my washing.
"Hells to the yeah. Stand back and watch the master at work," she said, cracking her knuckles.
She closed her eyes, her hands outstretched towards the clothes, a look of intense concentration on her face. Silver light flashed, and then the clothes started washing themselves.
"I like this. I like this a lot," I remarked appreciatively.
"Yeah, pretty handy, huh?"
"Now I don't have to touch his boxers," I crinkled my nose in disgust.
She laughed.
"Yeah... The boys and I have a strict 'no underwear touching' policy. Let's just say that they messed with my bra one time, and it didn't end well... for them..." she smirked.
"Oh God, I don't even wanna know." I heard a sudden yelp from the bathroom.
"What are ya doin'? For God's sake, don't touch me there," Pakkun's voice drifted out to us.
"Look, I'm not happy about it either, but if you still smell bad, she'll claw both our ears off," Irishi argued, sounding uncomfortable.
We looked at each other and burst into a fit of laughter.
"We can hear you!" Gerilynn managed to get out between bouts of laughter.
"...Shit..."
"Now look what you did, Pakkun!" Irishi grumbled.
"Well if your hand hadn't touched me, I wouldn't have said anything."
"Just shut up and hold still," the boy ordered.
I glanced over at Gerilynn. "Soda?"
"Sure."
We cracked open a couple, sitting back and watching the clothes washing themselves.
Ten minutes later, a very wet Irishi walked out of the bedroom, a very dry and clean Pakkun behind him.
"Here, let me fix that," I said apologetically, moving the water into the sink.
"Thanks." He sat down next to Gerilynn, picking up her soda and taking a swig.
"...It's yours," she said, giving the can a distasteful look.
"Cool," he answered, ducking as she slapped at his head.
"Oh look. The clothes are done," I pointed out, averting an argument.
"Oh. Right. Uh, here, I'll dump that water out for you," Irishi muttered, downing the last of the soda and tossing the can as he stood.
"Thanks." I pulled the water off the clothes quickly, before he dumped the tub.
I carried the pile into the bedroom, dumping them on the bed.
I walked back out and faced them, "Well, I'm done, so if you guys are too, you can hang here or leave."
"I've got to scout out the apartment building, but other than that I've got nothing else to do, surprisingly..." she trailed off.
"Kakashi's orders," Irishi tagged on.
"Course, I'll probably have a pile of reports to go through, but... I have grunts for that work..." she mused, more to herself than anyone.
Leaving her to her own world, I turned to Irishi.
"She takes orders from Kakashi?"
He smirked.
"Yeah. After he threatened her with his dogs," he said, rolling his eyes. "Seriously, though, she respects him. He helped her out a lot a while ago, so she does pretty much whatever he wants."
"Hm... That's good to know..." I trailed off, a devious look in my eyes.
"Oh God... It wasn't me who told you, okay?"
"Sure." I laughed.
"Well, I gotta go take care of some stuff... See you around." He stood, tapping Gerilynn's shoulder lightly as he left.
Pakkun lifted his head and growled as he walked past and out the door.
"I don't like that kid..." he muttered.
"'Kay," I shrugged, silently agreeing, even if he was helpful...
"I'll go scout out the apartment now," Gerilynn sighed, getting up and stretching. "I may be back," she warned me playfully, and strode out the door, closing it behind her.
I sighed, and walked back to the bedroom, hating the silence.
"Pakkun, do you mind if I sing?" I asked him, even if I was going to whether he wanted me to or not.
"Are you bad?" he asked gruffly.
"I don't know," I shrugged, but started to sing anyways, folding the clothes.
"Mr. know it all, well ya think ya know it all..."
The door opened a while later, after the clothes were replaced in their drawers; I took over one of the empty ones in the small dresser.
"Whisper?" Gerilynn called, sounding alarmed. "You there?"
"Yeah... What's wrong?"
"...What were our codenames on the last mission we went on?" she asked sharply, walking into the room.
"Uhh. Shane was Peggy, I was Whiskers, you were Eagle-"
"Okay. Nevermind," she said, cutting me off with a sigh of relief. "I've been knocking on the door for like five minutes and you didn't answer... You scared me."
"Oops..." I said meekly.
"She was singing," Pakkun explained.
"...Oh..." She furrowed her eyebrows, tilting her head to one side slightly. "Try to be a bit more alert next time, mmkay?"
"Sure," I replied, blushing as I realized exactly what article of Kakashi's clothing I was holding.
She looked down at the cloth and immediately blushed along with me.
I hurriedly stuffed it in a drawer and stood, brushing off the knees of my pants.
"So now what?" I asked, bored.
"Um. I don't know," she said. "What you want to talk about?"
I glanced at Pakkun, "What is said by us, stays with us. Get the pic?"
"Yes." He trotted out to the living room, us following.
He jumped up on the couch, rolling over and giving us the puppy eyes.
We sat down and scratched his tummy. "Well..." I started a bit excitedly.
"Well?" she asked, becoming much more attentive.
"Pakkun here confirmed all of your suspicions. He told me this morning that I was the girl Kakashi had the 'hots' for!"
She leapt up, fist pumping, "You finally accept it!"
"...Uh... What?"
"Nothing... That's great. Not unexpected, but great, I guess," she commented, straightening her clothes and sitting back down.
"Oookaaayy..."
"...You like him, don't you?" she prompted.
"...Maybe a little..." I mumbled, blushing.
She smirked.
"I may not be too socially suave, but I do pick up a lot of things. You do like him, more than a little," she stated smugly, crossing her arms.
I blushed even harder.
"Ha! See, I was right! I love being right. If I could marry 'being right', I'd already be engaged," she said jubilantly.
"...That's not weird..."
"My strangeness is not important. What is important is that you both like each other. And that means Shane and Lord Hokage's plans are going to- I mean... I'm hungry. You got any food?" she asked suddenly.
"Yeah, what do- wait a second! What plan?!" I growled, pouncing on her, pinning her to the couch.
"Nothing! We had plans for dinner! Nothing that concerns you," she wheezed, lifting me off and depositing me on the floor with relative ease.
I gave her a disbelieving look, but let it go. "What do you like?"
"Uh... Got any fruit?" she asked.
"Bananas..." I replied from the fridge.
"Meh... Nevermind," she called.
I rolled my eyes, tossing her a green apple, "You didn't really think I only bought bananas?"
"...No?" she replied, biting into the apple.
I rolled my eyes, closing the fridge and laying down on the carpet.
"I don't bite much ya know..."
"Yeah, but I do." I smirked to myself, storing that one away for future uses.
For the rest of the day, we pretty much just chatted away, talking about things from Kakashi to shurikan to Pakkun's shampoo. Don't ask...
"I'll make dinner if you want to stay," I offered Gerilynn, getting up and rumaging around.
"Um, I guess so," she replied, watching me.
"Mac-n-cheese?" I asked her, holding up a box of it.
"Sure," she replied.
I quickly made the mac-n-cheese, using my kekki genkai to speed it up.
I dished some out and handed Gerilynn a plate, "Grab whatever you want to drink."
We sat down and ate at the couch, Pakkun looking up at us with puppy eyes.
"There's one last piece of bacon in the fridge..." I trailed.
He perked up and trotted over to the fridge.
I continued to eat, and soon finished.
Gerilynn fiished her first plate in record time and went back for more.
I watched her amusedly... "I suppose being small doesn't let you eat that much either..."
She glanced up at me, a cheeky smile on her face, though she looked a lot like a chipmunk...
"Yeah; it gives us big people more food," she smirked, shoveling the last few bits of macaroni off her plate and into her mouth before standing and going back over to the pot. "You want anymore?"
"All yours... Couldn't eat it if I tried."
"Cool." She studied the setup for a moment, then dropped her plate in the sink and picked up the pot, carrying it with her back to the couch.
I stared at her.
"What?" she mumbled around a mouthful of pasta.
"Nothing... You just eat... a lot...for someone so skinny," I explained, watching her eat, a vaguely disgusted look on my face.
"Yeah, well, my body uses a lot of calories."
"Are you implying something?" I smirked, teasing her.
"Wh-what?" she sputtered.
"Relax, I'm kidding," I laughed.
"Hm. Good." She continued devouring the food, scraping the last of the cheese out with a contented sigh a few moments later. "You make good mac."
"Thank you. I'm glad you enjoyed it... Now you can help me clean up," I said, pulling her up and to the sink.
"Whatever." She started washing the dishes, handing them to me to be dried and put away.
"Thanks for dinner. It was nice just hanging out for the day, I suppose..."
"Yeah, it was nice to hang out with you." I smiiled.
"Um.... This will probably sound babyish, but could you... um...check again?" I mumbled, hanging my head a bit.
"Not a problem. And, don't worry too much. We'll be keeping an eye or two on you," she reassured me, holding up a hand as I made to protest weakly. "Don't worry about it. We have plenty of people, and it's our job."
"...Kay... Thanks," I mumbled.
"Not necessary," she smiled, heading out the door. "Oh, and Kakashi told me to tell you to 'get some sleep'. Night."
"Good night, Gerilynn. Thank you," I called after her, closing and locking the door.
"...You mind rubbing my belly for me?" Pakkun asked suddenly, looking up at me with his tongue hanging out.
"Only if you spend the night in the bed with me," I compromised, bending down.
"Deal," He rolled over, his tail wagging as I scratched his tummy.
After a bit, Pakkun settled onto the bed while I changed into some p-jamas in the bathroom, and brushed my teeth.
I walked back out, and crawled into the bed, grabbing Kakashi's pillow to my chest as I laid down, Pakkun curling up against my leg. Slowly I drifted off, falling asleep.
The sound of movement in the other room woke me very early the next morning. Pakkun was gone, and Kakashi's pillow had slipped off the bed.
Eyes wide with fear, I grabbed the kunai I had left on the bedside table, sneaking carefully over to the doorway. A tall shape moved stealthily through it, glancing around.
I lunged, my blade stopping a millimeter from the intruder's face as my hand was caught.
"Are you trying to kill me?"
I gasped in relief, wrapping my arms around him and burying my face in his shoulder...his oddly bulky shoulder.
He winced.
"Do you mind not hugging me so tightly?" he murmured, gently prying me off.
"What did you do?!" I demanded, cocking a hip to the side.
"Don't worry about it. I've had much worse. And, no, I'm not allowed to tell you what the mission was," he headed me off.
"Hmph."
He shook his head.
"How was your day?" he asked quietly, easing to his feet and walking over to the dresser. "This place smells weird..."
"You mean clean. Pakkun and I cleaned up the place... It really stunk... literally," I scrunched my nose up, sitting back down on the bed.
"You didn't have to do that," he mumbled, crossing the room to get to the bathroom.
"Oh yes I did; you wouldn't, and I couldn't take the smell any longer," I argued lightly.
"Hm. Maybe you're right..."
He re-emerged a moment later, wearing a pair of sweats and an old t-shirt.
"I thought shirts were over-rated?" I pouted slightly.
"...I didn't think you'd want to stare at my battle wounds all night... Squeamish as you are..."
"...I'm not squeamish... I just don't like it."
I could practically hear his eye roll.
"Whatever you say..." he muttered, laying down carefully.
I picked up his pillow and handed it to him, "It fell..."
"What were you doing to it?"
"...Clingin'..." I muttered back, embarassed.
He snorted softly. "Well, I need the pillow, but you can have me if you want."
I crawled up next to him, curled carefully into his side, and closed my eyes, sighing happily.
The shinobi chuckled softly.
"Good to see you, too," he murmured, wrapping an arm around me.
"Yeah..." I sighed, smiling.
He shifted slightly.
"I'm not quite sleepy yet. You feel like talking, or do you want me to leave you alone?"
"I'm wide awake..."
"Hm. You take care of my plant?"
"Yeps. Gerilynn watered it while I cleaned..."
"She did check in on you, then?"
"Yeah. She hung out with me too. Speaking of which..."
I sat up and gave him a glare, "Note to self, Buy food?"
"...How else was I supposed to remember?"
"But, you didn't. I had to go out and get it. And I had to find cleaning supplies. And got hit on by the clerk... an ugly one at that..." I muttered the last part, my nose wrinkling in distaste.
"...Which clerk?" he growled suddenly, tensing.
I shrugged, "I am not telling you. You might kill him."
"...Only a little bit...Do anything else today?"
"Hm... I opened up a little to Gerilynn and Irishi... He, in return, bathed Pakkun."
"...Good. That dog is impossible... And I'm glad you talked. That usually helps, or so I'm told anyway....Never helped me much," he mumbled that last.
"Maybe you were telling the wrong person... If you want to feel better, you need to talk with someone who can relate, like Gerilynn could with me," I explained, running my hand through my hair.
"Hmph. That's what they tell me," he grumbled. "Doesn't change much."
"Then maybe you need to just... let it go," I mumbled, knowing that he probably couldn't, if what I think happened did in fact.
"..."
"You there?"
"... .... ................"
I sighed quietly, laying back down, "Forget I even mentioned it. Night."
"...It just feels so much like it was my fault..."
I turned over, "Knowing you, it probably wasn't. But then again, I don't know what you're talking about."
"But it was... I was an arrogant fool, and if I hadn't rushed in blindly, things might have gone differently... My best friend died..."
I moved closer to him, gently pressing my face into his neck, "What happened?"
"...One of my teammates, Rin, was kidnapped just as we were starting our mission, which was of huge importance to the village in the Third Shinobi World War....Obito wanted to go after her, but I refused, because it would distract us from the mission... I went back to help him, and we rescued Rin, but...he died in the process... saving me..."
I felt something warm drip onto my cheek, and wrapped my arms around his neck, "It wasn't your fault. You thought you were doing what was best. He made the choice to save you."
"That doesn't make it any easier. Nor does it detract from my mistakes..."
"You're human. We make mistakes and learn from them. And I never said it would make it easier," I mumbled, running my hand through his soft hair.
He sighed deeply.
"He gave me this eye, you know." His hand lifted, touching his left eye through his headband. "He lay there dying, and ordered Rin to give it to me...because mine was blinded."
"He wanted you to be able to protect yourself and Rin. Besides... you probably wouldn't be here if he didn't. You wouldn't be here at all if he didn't save you," I sighed, tightening my grip slightly. "In all honesty, it seems I owe him a lot..."
"...That makes two of us..." he was quiet for a long time, simply hugging me to him tightly. "Do you know what happened to the Uchiha clan?"
"Um... no. I wouldn't, though..."
"Mm. They were wiped out when one of their own went rogue. The only on left is the rogue himself and his little brother... I hear he's quite talented for his age, as to be expected..."
"Hm... How has he taken the news?" I asked, remembering how I'd reacted to my parents' deaths.
"As you might expect. He's very solitary, prefers to keep to himself. Iruka says that he spends most of his free time training... I wouldn't mind teaching him, someday...It's the least I can do... Obito was an Uchiha, you see..."
I smiled slightly, yawning a bit, "I bet he'd like that..."
"Hm. I hope so... Course, I have to have the kid assigned to my squad when he graduates first..." he trailed off, mumbling to himself sleepily.
"Good night, Kakashi," I murmured, drifting off.
He kissed my forehead as he had the night before. "Night.... Thank you..."
I smiled, mumbling a slightly coherent 'welcomes' and fell to sleep, his chest rumbling as he chuckled.
Wow. This chapter got deep. I don't know about in-characterness, but from how I understand Kakashi, it's fairly close. If you disagree, please tell us! We want to make this a great story, but we can't if you don't help us. Enjoy reading, thanks for everything, etc, etc. -(a very tired) Prodigious ^.^
Yeah... This one did go deep.... Let us know what you think, because without some feedback, we can't improve! Thnx for reading and please comment! Vote if you want, but I'm pleading you to comment! -Saphy ;P