The scene before her played out like nothing she had ever witnessed before. The way he talked was so open and honest with no barriers up. However everything that he said held a realm of sadness to it. A sadness that someone with loss could only experience and her heart ached from the mere sight of the whole situation. He spoke of many things, things that she wanted and didn’t want to hear and as he disappeared, she took a moment to herself to process what had happened.

Picking a nearby flower from the bundle, she approached the grave. She had heard of Rin but didn’t know much about her. Taking in a deep sigh she squatted down in front of the stone. “Hello Ms. Rin, my name is Airi Mae and I’m… I’m a friend of Kakashi’s. I… I understand that life isn’t easy on him, especially right now as he’s going through a lot but… please help him keep his hope. He has more to live for then he’s realizing and he needs to see that. He’s got his team, who are going to become his family soon enough and… well I don’t know where I weigh into all of this but I’d like him to be around he… he means… he means a lot to me.” She gently placed the flower on Rin’s grave laying opposite of Kakashi’s so they created an X. “Please protect him when I’m not around, he doesn’t deserve to die next.”

At that, she left.

------

Airi was preparing for the arrival of her new friend but had a sneaking suspicion he might be late or on a mission she wasn’t aware of. Besides it wasn’t like he had to report to her, she wasn’t his mother or his teacher… His sensei…

Her thoughts drifted back to less than a day ago, seeing Kakashi so… so off his guard and so relaxed but sad really stuck with her. She wanted to talk to him and it took every ounce of her being last night not to run to him and hug him. Reminding him everything would be okay would alright and that he wasn’t alone. Not only was he not alone but there were others, plenty of others that cared about him. He was just… a little blind to it.

The sight of her in her backyard was something not many people got to see. She was in very plain clothes they looked like they had seen better days, her hair was messy and up in a bun. In her hands was a basket filled with gardening supplies and tools to make the job easier, along with a two smaller buckets that can be used to discard weeds.

“Sorry I’m late!!” Naruto came sliding around the corner due to his speed as he nearly fell over as he attempted to put the brakes on.

A laugh left Airi as he pulled to a stop in front of her and she handed him a pad for his knees. “It happens, don’t worry about it. I thought maybe you had gone on a mission and didn’t have time to let me know but I’m glad you’re here.” Her honest statement and pleasant smile was returned by one of his.

The conversations were light and cheerful until Airi decided to take advantage of the moment. “You know.” She began as she cut off one of the cucumbers and placed it in the basket. “Kakashi covered a lot of things with you the day I came to watch your training. But there’s a few things he didn’t cover that I think you should know.” This caused Naturo’s attention to turn to her but she continued her own work as she spoke.

“One is that a ninja is nothing without a sense of purpose. It is highly important that you fight for something. It could as simple as protecting the village to fighting for someone you care about to fighting to protect yourself. A since of purpose is the true motivation to go on.”

“Number two; life is nothing without hope. Hope is the one thing that never dies. Hope is what drives the world to succeed, as a hope for a better future, a hope for life, a hope for love, a hope for help; any sort of hope will make anything better and provide you with more motivation to continue onward. Hope is that one thing people hang onto until the very end and you should never lose it, ever.”

“And third, never think that you’re not important.”

“I know I’m important! I’m going to be the next Hokage!” Naruto stated excitedly.

A heartfelt laugh left Airi as she tussled the hair of the young Genin, “Yes you are important and I’m sure you’ll be Hokage someday. But if you ever get to the point that you think you’re not important or you’re worthless or you just can’t carry on because no one believes in you. Remember that I believe in you, just like I believe in all the ninja in this village.”

“Like you believe in Kakashi-Sensei?”

“Maybe not like that with everyone but yes, I believe in Kakashi as well.”

“What kind of belief do you have with Kakashi-Sensei if it’s not like everyone else?” The blonde asked, his face pressed together in confusion which became even more noticable as her face turned red.

“That’s… way more complicated then I can go into detail about right now. Besides we’re all done and the sun’s going down. Here.” She handed him the basket which was filled with half their haul for the day.

“WOW THANKS!” He squealed with joy as he took the basket.

After saying their good byes, she watched him hurry off to make a meal of his own as her hand went to her stomach which growled loudly in protest to the lack of food from her busy day of work. “Alright, put stuff in the house than off to get food. Now just to load the bas…” SHIT! She gave the basket to Naruto to stop him from asking any more questions about Kakashi and now she was going to have to make multiple trips into her house. Sighing softly she rose her feet and collected the first few things she would carry in into her arms.

Kakashi was rather intrigued at the scene that was playing out below, once he had gotten over his surprise at Naruto’s destination that is. Quietly he faded in to the background, becoming nearly unnoticeable, as he settled in and just watched the two people below.

He had to admit he the points Airi had brought up were good ones, which made him wondering what was being taught in the academy if Naruto hadn’t heard them before. He was also planning on shamelessly stealing the lesson for use with Sakura, at least the first and last points. She would need to step up soon or get left behind as Naruto and Sasuke progressed more and more.

He was still pondering how to help his female student, when Naruto’s innocent question caused Airi to start blushing. Kakashi simply smiled ruefully at the reaction, proof that Ana had been correct. There were a few questions he wanted to ask Airi in regards to that, but in the end he felt it would be better if he just pretended that he was unaware of her feelings for him. It would be safer for her that way, not to mention her engagement. He still wanted to have a ‘chat’ with Guy about that but his fellow Jonin was out on a mission at the moment.

Shaking his head to clear it of the stray thoughts, he returned his attention back to the people below. Naruto had just cleared the fence and was currently jogging back to his apartment, while Airi was looking to be cleaning up to head in for food if her grumbling stomach was any indication. He was just about to head out himself when he noticed the minor dilemma Airi had caused herself. He was moving before he could think against it.

Near silently Kakashi landed just inside Airi’s back yard, next to the gate for the fence. “Yo. Since it seems my wayward student has absconded with you basket, would you like some help?” he called out cheerfully as he looked up the street and the distant orange spot that was Naruto.

He was a good kid that Naruto… it’s too bad the rest of the town didn’t seem him for what he was, just a kid. Instead he was an outcast and that was sad. At least he had some people he could rely on now and Airi was happy to be one of those people.

As she went to turn, her body jerked in surprise finding Kakashi leaning against the fence; his comment about his student dashing off with her things made her giggle softly. “It’s not his fault; I was the one who gave it to him. But if you’re willing to take the fall for it and help me get my things inside then it’s one hundred percent his fault and you should help.” With that, the two of them put the items into her home before venturing back outside. Through the process she found herself explaining that she was about to head out to find some food to eat and invited him to join her.

The walk towards the ramen restaurant was a friendly one as they chit chatted and bantered back and forth. Unlike a lot of people, she believed in Kakashi in more ways than just his skills. She believed in his personality, she believed in his hopes, his dreams and his ability to be a caring individual not many could see. It probably helped that he was so open with her, despite the fact that she wouldn’t take any of his crap. But...

“I’m sorry…” She said softly as she turned her blue gaze towards the ground under their feet as they walked. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about my engagement. With how long it’s been since we’ve gotten a chance to see each other, it wasn’t a priority on my mind and it was something I was going to tell you when everything else was covered. Even the engagement isn’t a priority for me because…” Her voice dropped softly as she stared down at her feet, “I missed talking with you…”

It took her a moment to pull her gaze from her feet up to him where she presented an innocent smile. “I hope you’re not too mad… but that should be hard considering I’m adorable and I’m buying you food.”

“Might as well get used to taking the fall for his antics while I have the chance” Kakashi said with a chuckle as he moved to help Airi with transporting her produce inside. The invite too food was a pleasant surprise that he was more than willing to agree to.

The walk to food was, as such occasion always were for the Jonin, a rare treat. The times in his life where he was free to just simply ‘be’ were limited. His reputation and skills tended to hound him everywhere he went. Not that this was an issue to him, but the times in which they weren’t interfering with his life always carried a refreshing feeling to them. More and more often those times always seemed to involve Airi as well, but that wasn’t a line of thought he was willing to follow right now.

It was what he almost talked to Rin about, when he went to visit her grave, but he chickened out. Too afraid to confront what it might mean if he admitted that he was starting to fall for his longest friend, that she likely had fallen for him long ago didn’t help in trying to avoid such thoughts however…

“Not like I could stay mad at you… I’m quite sure that my Team would mutiny if I tried, especially as free food is at risk” he said jokingly, though it was true he could never stay mad at her for long. “Honestly I’m more upset at Guy, you have a reason as to why it slipped you mind, he doesn’t.” He added looking skyward “Me and you don’t see each other all that often, but me and Guy? He tracks me down about once a week yet he still never said anything.” He sighed softly shaking his head as he turned to look at Airi “I always knew that something like this might happen, I’m just happy that I didn’t miss your wedding” he finished with an eye smile.

Nothing he said was a lie, but that didn’t mean it was the whole truth either. He was more than just upset at Guy, he had always feared missing out on the big events of his friends’ lives, and he wasn’t happy about the upcoming wedding. If he were being honest with himself he would know the reason why as well. Still it is hard to lie to those you care about, so glimpses of the truth could be seen as Kakashi spoke. Subtle gestures, or momentarily pauses that would seem completely normal to those who didn’t know the man behind the mask, but displayed that he was choosing he responses with more care than normal.

“Just tell me it’s not coming up soon? Team 7 is likely getting a C rank in the next few days, and I really don’t want that to be the reason I’m late”

As much as she wanted to make up an excuse for Guy, she couldn’t. Guy seemed to be more excited about the marriage than she was so he she had expected him be open about the engagement so it did come as a surprise that he was not aware. The blonde shook her head with a small laugh as she gave him a gentle nudge. “I’d make sure you’d come; even if I had to send a feisty blonde boy, a loud pink haired girl and a grumpy black haired boy after you.”

Their conversations were lighthearted after the topic of the engagement came to a close and the evening was spent with chatter, laughter and playful banter before the evening drew to a close and they had to part ways.

It had been a week since Naruto informed her that the team would be going out on their first C-rank mission and he wouldn’t be able to help her with the garden. Of course, she was more than understanding, as it would be his chance to earn money and do some traveling so she simply waved her little gardening buddy good bye as he hurried to meet his teammates and his leader. Following that departure was Guy and his team before she was left to her means with her dear friends gone.

Guy’s group was due back the following day but Kakashi’s group was due back a while ago. And her nerves were getting the best of her as there was no word from the group of where they were and how they were doing. But it’s not like Kakashi would need to report to her or write her or…

A small frustrated sigh as left her as she put the tin can down harder onto the shelf then she had originally intended before jerking her hand back to herself. She had spent more time then she was willing to admit to herself as she stared at the can of soup in her hand. She missed running into Kakashi and giving him a hard time. But he was gone helping train his students and making money himself but… but…

“Ugh!” Airi’s groan was soft as she ran her hands through her blonde hair before dropping them to her side. Why was this on her mind all the time. Though, admittedly, while he was gone she had been focusing on meditating more. Even just heightening her senses a bit might help her detect Kakashi a little better, even just some form of awareness might keep her from screaming in surprise at his presence.

However, the meditation turned out to be a little better than she had expected. A small unexpected ting ting ting echoed in from the front door. It was closer to evening closing and there was about 7 women within the store counting the clerk but no one had come in. The sound of metal seemed familiar and Airi instinctively dropped to the ground covering her mouth.

POOF!

The store filled with smoke and the women inside began to fall dominos. The sound of six bodies falling landed on the ground around her as the smoke slowly dissipated.

“They’re out, let’s go” A voice called out and several pairs of feet hurried into the market. Reaching upwards, the blonde snagged nearby piece of paper and pencil before drawing a crude rendition of a birthday cake. Drawing was never her strong skill but she did so then she began to count… five, five different voices, she drew five candles on top of the cake then seven stars on the body of the cake. Scribbling “Delicious Delights” the bottom then her initials within one of the stars she slid the paper and pencil under the nearby shelves and played dead.

It wasn’t long before her body was hoisted up onto a shoulder and she was carried out the door of the shop and into the darkness.

It was late. It was late and Kakashi was tired. He had been running on half sleep the last few days of the trip home. Every time he closed his eye to get some rest he would relive the fight on the bridge but it would end with his students dead, making getting any rest very difficult, but they were finally back in Konoha. Back behind the great walls that defended this village.

That should have been enough to calm down the veteran ninja, but a sense of unease had been growing within him since Team 7 had started their way home and he didn’t know why. It had contributed to his restlessness, not that his students were aware. They all were just glad to be home and he could see that the near death experiences had brought them closer together.

They had just gotten done with the debriefing, having a C rank turn in to an A rank wasn’t unheard of unfortunately, but Team 7 was walking away alive with extra pay and time off to compensate. They would still be meeting up for regular trainings but they were barred from missions for a week to make sure the genin had recovered.

“Hey, hey let’s go tell Airi we’re back!” Exclaimed Naruto just as Team seven was starting head their separate ways. Said team took a moment to reply, partly due to exhaustion, partly due to not being sure if they heard a tremor in Naruto’s voice or not.

“You just want to spend your earnings on cake” Replied Sasuke His tone lacking the harshness it normally had when he was talking to his blond teammate. Rolling his eyes he sighed out “Fine” before bumping shoulders with Naruto to get the orange clad ninja moving.

“Will Airi still be awake this late?” Asked Sakura even as she started heading in the directions of Delicious Delights making her choice known with that act.

“She was a chunin once, I’m sure that she will understand.” Replied Kakashi with a soft chuckle, he could tell that none of them were comfortable with separating just yet despite the ways they tried to hide that fact. He could sympathize really.

--

The feeling of unease became one of deep foreboding as Team seven turned on to the street that housed Delicious Delights. As the store in question currently had Chunin standing guard in front of it, as team seven walked closer they started to learn why.
“Are you the squad sent to help with the investigation?” asked the taller of the two guards

“No” Kakashi replied as he forced himself to be calm “We just got back from a mission that went longer than expected and were just going to drop by a friend of ours.” He answered gesturing to the building they were guarding. The rest of team seven stood behind him with looks of worry plainly visable.

The two guards shared an uneasy look with each other that did nothing to help Kakashi keep his composure. Still it wasn’t these two who ended up being the bearer of bad news. It was a third member coming from inside that would fulfill that role.

“Is the Dog squad here yet? We not going to have any luck finding the kidnapped vicums if they don’t show up so…” the man trailed off as he realized his mistake as team seven stared at him in horror. Kakashi felt his blood turn to ice as the implications hit home. Outward the only thing that changed was the apathetic expression that he now was wearing. Internally Kakashi was preparing to kill someone, he didn’t know who it was yet, but they were dead.

Without another word Kakashi walked in Delicious Delights, none of the Chunin could bring themselves to stop him. His team was still too shocked to move.

Years of experience and practice helped Kakashi quickly take stock of everything, and it was due to his focus that only the things that were important stood out. Like the scent of sleeping gas that covered everything else except for Airi’s ever present scent. Like a blood hound he latched on to that smell and traced it back to where she had laid when the attack must have happened. From there he noticed the card. He knew her well enough that it took only a moment for him to piece together the hints she had left.

He had everything he needed, and it had only taken him five minutes.

“Tell whoever comes next that I’ve gone off ahead, we have seven missing with at least five collaborators. The owner was taken and all other scents are overpowered by the sleeping gas they used, so if they need a scent grab it form the living space upstairs.”

He was violating dozens of rules, and would likely get chewed out for it, but he did not care Airi was more important. Making a clone he turned to his team, “Follow the clone, it will lead you to my place. No you can’t join in, I’ll see you all when I get back” without waiting to see how they replied he blurred out of sight following Airi’s scent the entire way.
He wasn’t going to lose her, not if he had anything to say about it, not to anything or anyone.

Whoever was carrying Airi was someone carrying an additional person as well. The carrier wasn’t struggling but she could tell that the carrier was shifting her weight and the weight of another person. It took her merely a moment to understand what was happening and during the carrier’s leaps, she used their stumbling to her advantage. Her only thought, her only goal was to make sure she could leave a trail to the women kidnapped.

Shaking herself more than the actual ride, she had fallen about seven times and on the way down, she pulled some of the bark from the trees as she fell. Hopefully it was enough to show where they were heading. But they the seventh drop, she was passed off to someone else; which she was kind of grateful for considering she had fallen a good couple of stories from treetops and landing in it was thick heavy branches until she stabilized either on a branch or on the ground.

Her tactics seemed to work well enough that at some point the voices talked with one another –

“We’ve wasted a lot of time because you keep dropping the blonde.”

“Hey it’s not my fault! This is a bumpy trip and you made me carry two.”

“You’re so pathetic.” The firm voice called out at the group settled on the ground, before dropping the girls together. “You can’t even carry two girls and you’ve been at this for many years. Why is there an issue now?”

This was her moment, she had to do it, it. If she could, there’s a possibility that she could lead the men away from the unconscious girls and buy some time before reinforcements arrive. Airi took this chance and sprang to her feet before dashing off in the direction they came from.

“What?! She’s awake?! GET HER!” The man who could be best defined as the leader shouted before the men broke off to try to catch her.

Airi took off towards the village following the trail she had left, She might have to fight her way through but if she oculd get them separated, maybe she could take them out one or two at a time. Airi got her wish as one landed in front of her; she certainly needed to work on her speed but the point of this was not to get away, it was to separate them. One man landed in front of her and she was quick to defend herself, leaving him curled in a ball on the ground; dead no, injured yes.

Taking off once again, she hurried through the forest until she was circled in by four of the men two in front of her and two behind her. Taking in a deep breathe she gathered herself and rose a hand into the air, “Summing J—WHOA!” Ready to call upon help, something she hadn’t done in a long time, the man she injured before used a rope and tied it around wrist, closing her hand into a fist and hoisting her into the air as if she was a puppet. “Let me go!” She demanded; her legs kicking as she flicked them upwards, wrapping her legs around the rope she pulled herself up and began to undo the rope holding her wrist. Except the man let go of the rope and she felt to the ground with a thud.

Jumping quickly, the men were on her, holding her down while the leader, the man she had injured walked up to her. “So you woke up.” He said with a snarky tone to his voice as another man ripped the blonde’s hair back, the man leaned over with a snarky grin. “I bet you think you’re real smart hitting me and attempting to get away. But you’ve picked the wrong group to mess with.” The man brought back a large foot and kicked it square into her stomach. Her scream was loud in a mix of pain and presence. She needed to get the word to anyone who may be near where they were and more importantly, where the girls were.

Being pinned by her legs and one man holding each arm prevented her from doing hand signs. A second kick came, this time to her chest and she felt something crack. This scream came pure from pain and the volume was higher than the one before.

“Adorable… really but we can’t have a runner. Too bad, blondes fetch a heavy price as slaves. Killing you will be easy, sad but easy.” Pulling out a kunai, he rose it over his head to bring it down to strike against her neck.

Spitting out some blood, Airi turned her blue gaze upward. She was a Leaf Ninja Chunnin in that moment and she wasn’t going to look away from death. She was ready to die if it meant she bought her fellow Chunnin to find the other kidnapped girls.

Not many in Konoha are fully aware of Kakashi’s capability for speed. Yes he has the skills and capability of an Anbu captain, and as such few would consider him slow, but still his ability for high speed movement was often overshadowed by his extreme skill in all manner of ninjustu.

But one does not spend years besides the fastest ninja to have ever lived and not learn a thing or two about speed. It was these secrets, overlooked by many and forgotten by some, which was allowing Kakashi to catch up to his quarry. As he was no longer relying only on scent, as he found the start of trail that Airi had left as well as the tracks of the kidnappers.

He could tell he didn’t have much time, as the trail that Airi had left was not one that could be hidden easily, nor was it one that simple to cause. The time until her plan was discovered was likely measured in minutes at best. It was only moments later that he heard yelling from deeper in the forest, but it was hearing Airi’s pain filled scream that made him realize that he had only seconds.

But he knew where she was now, seconds was more than enough time.

In the next heartbeat he arrived above a scene from his nightmares, Airi pinned down and moments away from death. If he were dreaming he would never be able to make it in time, but he wasn’t dreaming and the four below him had no chance of living past the next few moments. Not after what they had done, knowingly or not.

There was no warning for the slavers of what was about to happen, no spike of killing intent, no threats to stall them or to make himself known. Thus the two men holding her arms died before anyone realized it, kunai lodged firmly in their throats. The leader was launched in to a nearby tree by a powerful strike with kunai and shuriken pinning him to the tree hardly a moment later, and the one holding Airi’s legs was crushed in to the ground by a lethal heel strike to the skull.

There was one still missing, but that could be dealt with in a moment. Airi was first priority; the next was the other captives. The leader was still alive, and could be taken back to the T&I division to root out the who’s, how’s and why’s. Everything else was irrelevant at the moment.

Giving one more look to the surroundings to make sure they were clear Kakashi finally turned to Airi “You okay?” He was quiet and his tone seemed even, but it was simply an act in case the fifth member was out there watching.

Normally when death is looking you this close in the face your life should ‘flash’ before your eyes. But the young blonde didn’t have that feeling. In fact she found herself staring up at the knife with only one single thought; I wish I would have told him… The Kunai began to travel downwards towards her exposed neck and she braced herself for impact.

But the impact never came and the tightly gripped hands holding her into place went limp and collapsed forward into her line of sight. She made no reaction, no flinching or even surprise; she knew for her safety she was better off not moving at all. WHOOSH a kunai and a shuriken thrown with intense force spun past her, pinning the leader to a tree. And the man holding her feet down went limp, a black boot slamming against his head and pushed him into the dirt as if he was nothing. Had she blinked she would have missed everything, but she didn’t.

In front of her stood the back of the man she had wished she would have talked to before her life came to an end. Her breathe caught in her chest. He was back? When did he get back, and how did he find… okay that last one was a stupid question. Kakashi could track the fly the bothered him three years ago if he wanted to. But when did he get back? Why was he here and where was his back up?

Rising to her feet slowly she snagged one of the kunai and turned, throwing it with an unexpected force towards a nearby bush. Inside the sound of gagging could be heard before the body of the fifth guy fell forward and out of the bushes dead. Her head fell softly as she let out a sigh of relief and turned to Kakashi hearing his question about her well-being. “I’m fine, we need to get the other girls and…” She started towards the direction of where the sleeping women were before she dropped to one knee clutching her left front rib cage with her right hand. A moan of pain left her as she gripped the dirt under her hand and her head hung, eyes pinching shut tightly.

“Where… where is… the rest of your group?”

Kakashi watched the fifth member fall out of the bushed with a small amount of surprise on his face. He wasn’t surprised to see the man dead, or that Airi had killed him or anything like that. No, the masked ninja was surprised he had over looked him despite him being so very close. A sharp pain in his left hand reminded him that he was hardly in top form at the moment, seeing as he was still healing from his last encounter with Zabuza not to mention the lack of sleep, the blind panic, and the mad rush here. ‘Face it Inu you’re not at Anbu levels anymore’ he admitted to himself silently as he turned back to Airi as she dropped to a knee hissing in pain.

Her question caught him off guard for a moment “The rest of Team seven is currently at my house.” He said with a sigh, not regretting his actions in the slightest. Still wasn’t looking forward to getting reprimanding he knew would be coming his way at some point. “We got out of debriefing less than an hour ago” he explained as he calculated how to deal with transporting everyone best. “Faulty Intel caused it to be ranked incorrectly, but we all got out alive. Naruto wanted to stop your place to let you know we were back, you can guess what was awaiting us.”

Having come up with a workable plan Kakashi quickly put it in to action. Starting off by summoning two of his Ninken, Akino and Bull “I need you two to deliver that one to T&I, he was the leader from what I could gather. If you encounter the other squad on the way tell them I’ve got it under control but help would be appreciated. And Let the pups know I’m okay when you get home.” He ordered to the two dogs

Both yipped in understanding, with Bull moving to wrench the prisoner free as he did. Akino on the other hand just looked at the surrounding and snorted “I asked the clone what happened and I’m just going to leave it at I told you” before turning to help Bull.

“Yeah yeah” Was Kakashi’s muttered response before shaking his head and moving back to Airi’s side “Lean on me, sooner we get the other the soon we can start heading home. Though it will have to be the slow way not going to have much after the clones I’m planning on.” He said offering his arm as he did.

The rest of his plan was rather straight forward, get to the other girls, make a shadow clone for each and start the walk back. With luck they would meet up with the other squad before to long.

While she wasn’t referring to Team Seven, it was surprising to hear that they were going to visit her. His words caught her by surprise so much that her eyes popped open and her head jerked upward to look at him. They were ranked incorrectly, and the kids could have been incredibly hurt. It wasn’t until that moment that she got a good look at him. He was bandaged up, wounded and there was an exhaustion written on his face. Her mouth opened to ask what had happened to him but she stopped herself. She could ask that later, that was not a priority right now.

Her gaze moved back to his actions which brought some of his Ninken in front of them. While she probably should have been surprised to some degree, she wasn’t. this was a good idea. However Akino’s snort towards Kakashi made her raise a blonde eyebrow. What was that about? Now that was something worth questioning when the time was right. The blue stare moved upwards, here he was battered, bruised, beaten and running low on chakra and yet he was willing to be a shoulder for her to lean on.

A small nod rose and fell her head as she took his arm and got to her feet. With that she started to lead the way towards where she had left the girls; judging by the sleeping smoke used, they’d easily be out for another few hours. Her gaze shifted upwards to Kakashi observing the bandages, he must of have gotten into something bad; something at least B rank bad if not A and without a skilled group with him he took most of the damage and the blunt of the attacks. “You know, I may have a busted rib or two but you look like you should be leaning on me.”

She wrapped her arm gently around Kakashi’s offering for him to use her as support as she used him. Sure she could ask about the reason he’s all bandaged up but that seemed like a talk for another time… “What did he mean by ‘I told you so’?” Kakashi being injured was a new sight but the words from Akino got her more confused than Kakashi being injured.

“The bandages make it look worse than it really is” Kakashi said with a soft chuckle “Just a bit tired really” And that was the closest he was going to get to admitting just how exhausted he was. As he was rather lightly injured considering his fights with Zabuza, with the stab wound through his hand being the worst injury. The slash on his chest had been a lighter wound by comparison, due to his vest despite what it looked like at first. Still, his grip around Airi tightened ever so slightly as he partook of her silent offer.

“That was just Akino being smug. We got in to a disagreement a bit ago; recently he was proved to be right.” Was Kakashi’s casual reply “He always was a troublesome pup” The disagreement Kakashi and Akino had delt with Airi, and the fact that the masked ninja was falling for her. Akino was of the opinion that it had taken Kakashi far too long to admit this fact and liked to state that it was fallen for not falling. Kakashi had wanted to bury the dog up to his neck and tried to disabuse him of that notion. Now he just wanted to bury the dog mainly for being right, but also for bringing it up in front of Airi, intentionally no less.

But trying to get back at his oldest dog, and avoiding the questions his vague reply had undoubtedly caused, would have to come later as at the moment there were people to start transporting back. Taking stock of the other kidnap victims, he was glad to note they were fine, if laid about haphazardly. Still he took a slow centering breath, the shadow clone was jutsu that he was always careful about using as he relied upon quality as his Chakra reserves were nothing special, and splitting it always required careful consideration. Thankfully he didn’t need perfect clones, just needed them good enough to carry people.

It was short work to make the six copies he needed, at a glance they were easily distinguishable as Kakashi but each of them was grayed out and lacking fine detail. ”It’s always surprising how useful it is knowing how to cut corners with clone techniques can be” Kakashi said looking at his barely-there-clones before directing them to pick up the still unconscious victims.

His silent lean was enough to tell her that something was wrong with him. Not wrong in a way that made her worry but it was enough to cause her a momentary pause. It wasn’t often anyone saw this kind of side of Kakashi; yet here she was, helping support him (in a literal sense) it was almost a rare sight, like seeing the first cherry blossom open during the season or being the first to discovered something no one had ever seen or found. Right now, she was experience something no one has probably ever experienced before, a tired Kakashi.

To keep her bothering about his current condition distant she playfully poked about what he and the pup were arguing about, only to be dodged more about the topic. It wasn’t something that bothered her but his distance about the topic was rather intriguing because he was playing his dodging game; was it about his mission? Was it about his training with the genin? Or was it in regards to his persona life? Her questions were as vague as his answers, a small game of cat and mouse as they found their way back to the girls.

Once at the girls, Airi slowly let him go and went to the girls to check on them. They seemed okay, all breathing and still asleep. As her gaze moved up from the final girl after checking her vitals his clones came into view and her eyes expanded, he was in bad shape and this was a clear sign. Getting to her feet, she returned to his side and supported him more, holding him around the waist and pulled his arm over her shoulders. “Don’t argue.” She said in a small but firm whisper as she held him close despite their height difference and the group began to venture towards the village again.

Again, she made a point to try and distract from the situation at hand by probing for questions until they were met by a search team that included barking dogs. The team pulled to a halt in surprise to see two rather beaten people coming back and the grayed out Kakashi clones carrying the women. Giving Kakashi a small tug, she briefly said he should hand over the girls and drop the clones.

“Miss Mae, let us take you and Kakashi back to the—“ One of the team members offered to assist in the transport of both her and Kakashi to get them safely back into town.

But she cut the ninja off by raising her hand. “I’ve got him.” Her sincere but stern tone prevented anyone from trying to take him from her; she even made a point to put the hand she raised onto Kakashi’s chest to make her point further. However, what she didn’t realize was the surprised look from the ninja wasn’t because of her desire to help Kakashi but her general protectiveness. “I’ll make sure he gets home and taken care of.”

“Alright…” He said with a bit of surprise to his voice as he hurried away from the two and towards the other women to make sure he could help.

“Come on, save your Chakra Kakashi and let’s just take it slow.” With that and not really give him much of an option, she let him towards the village. “So, about Akino; what was the disagreement about?” Yes, she was at it again.

Kakashi was more than happy to play the verbal game of cat and mouse with Airi, for no other reason that it was an affirmation that she was okay. The fact that she was willing and able to play along with such was just the icing on top. By the time they encountered the rescue squad the only facts that could be said for certain was the fact that the argument was a new one, a couple weeks old at most, had nothing to do with the mission they just got back from and that the Genin were unaware of it.

While Airi was dealing with the chunin, and as his clones helped transfer the still sleeping girls over to the active squad Kakashi was was also engaging in a conversation. His was with the Anbu shadow that was tailing the search squad. The Anbu member was there mostly to try and learn how this group of bandits had bypassed the security of Konoha and in part to monitor Kakashi, as his rapid departure hadn’t gone unnoticed by the elite defenders.

‘Targets terminated?’ signed the Anbu hidden in the trees.

‘Four terminated, one captured. T&I to receive’ Kakashi signed back ‘Bodies half click behind no jutsu useage.’

The Anbu nodded and looked off in the direction they had come from. Kakashi couldn’t be sure, but wouldn’t be surprised if there was now a clone on its way to give the place a through look over, returning their gaze to the half masked ninja below. ‘You’ve gotten slow’ they signed before disappearing.

Kakashi held back the sigh that wanted to escape at that, because he knew it was true. Before he could dwell on it he felt Airi leading him back to home. “He felt I was deluding myself about something” he answered as they picked up their conversational game of cat and mouse again.

---

Once they were safely behind the walls of Konoha, Kakashi let out a sigh of relaxation. He no longer felt the need to hold on to his battle awareness, the feeling of dread was no longer haunting him, and everyone he cared about was safe. It was almost enough to have him fall asleep on the spot, but that would leave Airi to carry him to his house. So he pushed the need for sleep to arm’s length, and kept walking, still leaning on Airi.

Neither of them noticed Ino Yamanaka staring at them as they walked down the road, nor any of the other people who would stop and watch the two as they passed by.

They were about half way to Kakashi’s home when he felt comfortable enough to talk about the mission they had just come back from. He hadn’t really meant to start talking about it, it just spilled out instead of the next vague deflection he had prepared, he would blame it on being so tired later “They really showed their mettle when we were out there, they stared down The Demon of the Bloody Mist and refused to back down. They faced danger and desperation, yet not a single one of them faltered.”

“I should probably up their training, now while the mission is still fresh, second best way to get a lesson to stick. Wouldn’t hurt for you to start it back up again as well, I’d be willing to help if you wanted” Kakashi rambled on as the exhaustion and relief finally started to settle in. His pack had gone through hell, his pups had survived an A rank on what should have been their first C, Airi had been kidnapped and nearly killed, but against the odds that seemed to define his life they were okay.

He pulled Airi slightly closer to him, just enough that he could feel it. He had lived through a week of his own nightmares, but at the end of it he still had everyone. He had come so very close to losing everyone again, and it had shaken him to his core, but they were okay.

‘When I wake up, I’ll tell her tomorrow after I wake I up’ he promised silently.

There was no need to take notice of anyone else as the most important person to her in this moment was currently leaning on her for support. The wave of relief filled her body as they entered the walls of the Leaf Village and started towards Kakashi’s home. Thank goodness they could finally rest, and with how badly Kakashi seemed to be feeling, the sooner they got him home the better.

Her head jerked upwards at the mention of The Demon of the Bloody Mist, her eyes expanding wide as she stared at the profile of the man leaning on her. WHAT?! Her mind nearly exploded and while she lacked the strength to scream out in surprise, that surprise was clearly all over her face as she scanned his. Did he take on The Demon of the Bloody Mist?! Obviously if he did he won or he wouldn’t have returned to the village and, honestly, his gennin would probably be dead. Instead here he was battered, bruised, and injured worse for wear and yet he still hurried to help her.

When prompted to move closer, their sides touching one another, she did so without any hesitation. Her free hand moved to the arm around her shoulders and placed her hand gently on top of his. Her hand squeezed his softly in response to his squeeze. They were not dead, and that was something to be thankful for. “I think I’ll take you up on that.”

Arriving at his house the door flung open and the three kids were quick to exit.

“Kakashi-sensei and Airi! You’re back.” The first verbal response was from Sakura who seemed rather surprised to see the both of them together.

Sasuke was the first to take in the situation and began to push the other two away from the door. “Move you morons.”

“What? Hey! Sasuke quit it would ya! I wanna know what happened! Let me go!” Naruto shouted in annoyance as he was pushed from blocking the doorway.

With the help from the understanding Sasuke, Airi led Kakashi inside and helped him find himself to a couch. “Sakura, can you come here please?” She called out as she stood up and started towards Kakashi’s bathroom. “I’m going to need your help. Please bring some bandage wrap.”

The girls disappeared into the bathroom and the call bathroom echoed.

“Oh my goodness Airi! You’re bruised bad!”

“I’m okay, it’s just tender…”

“What happened?” The conversation softened and the volume decreased, good ears could hear it but not many could.

“Long story short, I got kicked pretty hard in the ribs twice. I think I might have a broken rib but a wrap will help.”

“Shouldn’t you go to the hospital?”

“No I’m okay, just pin up the wrap; the sooner I have support on my ribs the sooner I can feel better.” A small hiss left Airi’s voice and a frantic apology came from Sakura. “I’m okay, it’s just tender.” Airi’s voice was sweet and reassuring as the door opened and the blonde could be seen pulling her shirt back down, the glimpses of a white bandage could be seen before she finished pulling the shirt down.

Her gaze moved to the kids, they looked battered and beaten and tired themselves but they’re not dead. A small sigh and a wave of relief moved through her as she looked at all of their faces including Kakashi’s, thank god everyone was safe. A smile moved across her face as she looked at the kids. “I’m glad you’re all okay.”

Kakashi was gald that Sasuke was quick on the uptake, as he very much wanted to sit down and finally relax. He sat for a few moments just basking in the fact that things had turned out for the better for once, but such relaxation could only last for so long in the proximity of Naruto. As the young ninja was bursting with curiosity, which only got more intense as Sakura’s exclamation drifted down the hall.

“What happened?” Naruto asked again, trying his level best not to shout at his obviously worn out teacher. Sasuke shook his head at his teammate’s actions but didn’t stop himself from look at Kakashi in curiosity afterward.

“Bandits, slavers really from what I heard. I showed up with a few moments to spare” Was the masked man’s reply “Can’t say much more than that, I’ll tell you more tomorrow after I get debriefed” he added before he shifted to sit up a bit more as Sakura and Airi returned.

“So am I” Kakashi echoed his friend’s sentiments as he gave everyone another look, before letting out a sigh of exhaustion. “I’m in need of sleep as are the rest of you I would imagine, feel free to crash here if you need.” He offered and for a moment the kids looked to protest, before deflating as they realized just how exhausting the day had been for them. Thiers was as much a mental exhaustion as Kakashi’s was, but for different reasons.

“I’ve a few spare rooms, you three can use or you can set up you bedrolls here, either is fine. Tomorrow is going to be a light day in regards to training, team building if anything.” He explained as he started to take off his unneeded equipment. The three genin shared a look for a moment before Naruto and Sasuke started to unpack their bed rolls while Sakura moved to find one of the spare bedrooms Kakashi had mentioned.

“Airi the offer is extended to you as well, I’m fine with the couch, not going to try and make the trek to my bed at the moment, too much risk I would end up sleeping against a wall if I did. So you can take my room or one of the spares if you want” All of the students seemed to think it was a good idea if Airi stayed here, if their looks of hope and worry were anything to go by as they waited for Airi to answer.

The wave of relief caused her to lean against the nearby wall. With how bad Kakashi looked, her concern for the children was high. But they looked alright for what they should have dealt with. Her head hung slightly just from happiness that everyone was okay, battered and bruised obviously but they were okay. Especially the children; nothing was simple about what they just went through but… they did it and that was impressive.

A smile moved across her faced as she watched the team choose to stay together, that was something that made a good team and Kakashi seemed to have a sense of understanding of what it was like to lead those who are inexperienced. Letting a long breathe leave her she watched everyone prepare for rest, using this as a sign she should leave she started towards the door… until the voice rang behind her. Her hand stopped at the handle. Did she want to leave? No… not really. Should she leave…?

Her face crunched into one of thought. Half of her was sure she should leave but the other half didn’t want to and… well… “I doubt they’d even let me back in my home right now. It’s considered a crime scene even if I live upstairs.” Her hand pulled away from the door and she turned back to look inside. The boys were snoring the moment they climbed into their respective sleeping bags and Sakura was gone somewhere into the house occupying one of the spare rooms as they all seemed satisfied with her response. Funny how they seemed to want to look out for her.

Shifting her blue gaze towards Kakashi as he began to slip off is unneeded equipment she wondered over and offered him her hand. “Come on you, I’ll make sure you don’t fall asleep against a wall but you do deserve rest in your own bed. The least I can do is help you to your bed.” She wiggled her fingers at him with a tender smile on her face as if to try to entice him to follow her direction. He did a lot, by himself no less, he deserved to rest in his own bed and she was willing to help him every step of the way.

Kakashi couldn’t help the small smile that graced his features as his students settled in for the night. The fact they felt comfortable to fall asleep shortly after laying down told him he made the right choice in offering to let them stay the night. He could hear Sakura also settling in; she had chosen the spare room down the hall, opting not to venture too far from the team. He sat there musing about them when Airi wondered over and surprised him with her offer, though he realized quickly that he shouldn’t have.

“You are too kind, offering to lug me up stairs after dragging me back” he joked softly as he accepted her offer. He wouldn’t have minded sleeping on the couch, but he wasn’t going to turn down the offer to sleep in his own bed, nor the chance to spend some more time with his closest friend.

The short trek to Kakashi’s room would inadvertently emphasize the Spartan nature of his furnishings. There was no paintings hung up, nor were there any tables with knickknacks or shelves of books to be seen anywhere in the house. It was also spotlessly clean. It had an almost unlived in quality to it, despite the fact that Kakashi had been living here since he was thirteen.

His room was different; it held a few things to prove that someone did in fact live here, a small book shelf that surprisingly had more on it than just the icha icha series, a desk that held a small assortment of tools and brushes on it, along with a sheathed dagger in an odd cylinder shaped sheathe, and a nightstand next to the bed that held what seemed to be the only picture in the entire house.

It was a team picture; in the back with a sheepish smile was a man instantly recognizable as the fourth Hokage. He was leaning forward slightly resting his hands on the two of the young kid’s heads that were in front of him. Kakashi was one of them, though he was nearly unrecognizable if not for his silver hair and face mask as he stood rigidly, a near scowl on his face. The boy next to him was much more relaxed an easy smile and goggles on his face with short spikey black hair. The last person in the photo was a young girl; she had shoulder length brown hair and a laughing grin on her face as she held up two peace signs to the camera.

Kakashi shuffled in to the room quietly, breathing an audible sigh of contentment at seeing his bed. He removed his headband tossed it lightly on to the desk, before moving to sit on the surprisingly large bed that was pushed up against the wall under the window. “Thank you” he said honestly one he was seated on the edge of the bed “There is a room just across the hall if you are feeling exhausted, or you can pull up the seat if you want to talk a bit.” He offered knowing from personal experience that some encounters make it hard to sleep despite the exhaustion that cause and kidnapping tended to be one of them. Besides he could put off sleep for a bit longer if needed, he had done so before for less important reasons.

The poor guy… Airi couldn’t help but feel bad for him as he pulled himself from the couch with her help. He was exhausted and it was now very visible, maybe it was because he was at his own home so he didn’t need to put on his ‘mask’ per say. Once to his feet, the two quietly exited the living room, the boys snoring echoing behind them as they climbed the stairs.

While she helped him climb the stairs, she took in the nearly empty house. Kakashi’s history was kind of a mystery but enough was known and shared from him that he had been there since he was 13. How he didn’t have more things up on his wall was a bit bewildering. Just simply because he had traveled so much, she expected to see more; a mental note was made in her mind, maybe she could convince Ana to do a painting that would be worthy of going up in his house. A closed lip smile moved across her face as she settled on the idea in her mind.

The room that was his was simple but had more than the hallway. During the venture to the bed, Airi smiled at the picture. It was a bit surprising to see something like that, a sentimental value but then again this was his private life. As she let him go she took in the room a bit more before her blue gaze moved back to him as he thanked her. A gentle smile parted her lips showing her straight white teeth. “I’m not that sleepy.” She said with a nod before she retrieved the chair and sat it next to the head of his bed.

“You, on the other hand, are tired.” A nod rose and fell her head as she placed her hands on his shoulder and gave him a gentle push. “Just lie down and rest easy. You deserve it.” When she finally got him down onto the bed she closed the gap between her chair and the bed before gently running the fingers of her right hand through his silver hair. “Thank you… for saving me Kakashi.” Her voice was soft, honest and sincere as she gently played with his hair. You were battered and bruised after fighting an incredibly dangerous assassin. Your team was mentally and physically exhausted. And yet you came. You came from me without seeking any back up; you probably didn’t even tell anyone you were going. You just… came. You were in no condition to fast travel, you were in no condition to fight and yet, you came… Her expressions said almost everything she was thinking as she stroked his head except one, You keep this up, I might get my hopes up…

Were it anyone else in the village Kakashi wouldn’t have gone along with the urging to get some rest, to finally get a full night’s sleep, but this was Airi and that made all the difference. So he didn’t stand firm against her push, instead he just fell back on to his bed, and stopped ignoring his body’s demands for rest. While Airi was grabbing his chair he just got comfortable, and was infact nearly asleep in the moment he cot under the covers.

It was Airi running a hand through his hair that kept him awake, because it was a foreign feeling for the masked ninja. He never had anyone in his life that would play with his hair, his mother passed shortly after his birth, his father was a ninja, and there had never been a person in the corp that Kakashi trusted or that trusted him for them to be close enough for such a simple act of affection and care to come about.

Kakashi decided he enjoyed the feeling.

“Wasn’t going to lose you” He mumbled as he was again on the verge of sleep “Too important” He cracked one of his eyes open as he smiled softly at her, before he finally relinquished his grip on the waking world, making her sincere and honest expression was the last this he saw before he slept and it was his gifted eye that he had unknowingly used. Thus her soft smile as he drifted off to sleep was forever etched in to his memory.

It would lead to one of the most peaceful and restful nights Kakashi had ever known.

---

~The next morning~

There is any number of things that could have led to Kakashi waking up when he did. The late night, the harsh week he had been subjected too, his injuries, the fact that his sleep had been so peaceful for once. All that and more, but in the end it was still a bit surprising to the silver haired Jonin that when he woke up it was 9:15, hours later then he would normally wake up. He gave a small shrug at that after a moment, after all it was a day off, more or less, so he was entitled to sleeping in.

‘Wonder if anyone else is awake?’ he wondered silently.