Too important… The words rang through Airi’s head as Kakashi’s breathing evened out and he gave off that final clue he was deeply asleep. Did… did he really just say that? A small sigh left her as she leaned slightly onto the bed continuing the play with his hair. Important? How important could someone be to someone else if they are willing to risk more injury? Her head tilted to one side, the wheels turning in her head as her own mind began to drift. It had been a long day after all…

~The next morning~

As Kakashi began to wake, the bed stirred a little and a light weight suddenly dropped on his chest, a grip to his shirt… an arm. The weight shifted on the bed as a body slid up against Kakashi’s and a small happy sigh rang lighting into his ear as a head of blonde moved to rest on his chest.

It was Airi.

As Airi began to drift off in her own mind when she was by his bedside, she found herself falling sleep; doubling over onto the bed and falling asleep while sitting. At some point in the middle of the night the blonde woke up. Ugh… so sore… need to lay down… Bending at her waist did a number on her ribs and she took to the nearest bed she could find to lay down… Kakashi’s bed, with him in it!

The blonde had slowly and carefully crawled over his sleeping body to take the spot near the window. She soon sank into the bed and feel sleep before finding herself cuddling up to Kakashi in the morning.

Airi gripped onto his shirt as her small voice began to speak, “Mmmm… so happy…” Her voice muttered against his chest as she unconsciously buried her face into his chest listening to the sound of his heartbeat. “K--kakashi…”

Soft mumbling near Kakashi always served to pique his curiosity and grab his attention. That the voice was so close only served to make sure that the masked ninja would near instantly hone in on it. Once he did, he was left blinking in surprise as her wondered how it was he didn’t notice her there earlier. After a moment he decided that he didn’t really care, it was comfortable, and he was pretty sure he knew why he was waking up next to her.

The issue he was finding had much more to do with the fact that his students were still in the house. Mix in the fact that Naruto rarely seemed to be able to be quiet and Kakashi was faced with a minor dilemma. He could wake Airi up, and progress with his day as he had planned yesterday, or he could stay here and almost certainly have the rest of team seven walk in on them.

It takes him only a handful of seconds to decide his course of action. He was going to do both, stay in bed and go about his day as mostly planned, by making use of clones. His plan of action chosen he silently set about making it happen. Step one was making a single shadow clone without the normal poof of smoke and pop of sound.

Step two was switching places with it by use of the Substitution Jutsu, a technique he had long since mastered. The trick was making sure that Airi wasn’t woken up by the switch, so rather than remove her grip form his shirt he just left it behind while his clone kept his place.

Steps three and four involved Kakashi getting ready for the day as normal, albeit minus a shower and adding in fresh bandages. Then, after making another clone, which would also be ready for the day as his first was simply a clone of him from waking up, he would once again prepare for laying down, while the clone would get ready to wake up his students.

Step five was Kakashi would once again swap places with his first clone, using the Substitution Jutsu once again, before having that clone silently dispel itself. The feedback from the first clone dispelling was the sign for the second clone to set about with the original plans for the day. While the original just made himself comfortable, wrapping an arm around Airi as he did so.

All in all it took him at most five minutes to do this. And anyone who figured out would likely just stare in bafflement at the blatant misuse of a dangerous technique and deception of his team all for the sake of sleeping in and not getting caught with Airi in his bed.

Kakashi, on the other hand, would think it was a rather inspired plan. Besides it would keep him from having a clone shadow her all day, as well as make sure that they would be able to talk in private without the disruptions and distractions that the rest of team seven would cause.

Because they needed to have a private conversation, for a couple of reasons really.

In the five minutes it took Kakashi to do his transformation and exchange before changing back, the blonde never moved a muscle. Every now and then a gurgle could be heard, maybe a small snore and even a giggle or two. Something in her la-la-land of a dream world was making her giggle. There was a pure sense of happiness, joy and content as she cuddled up to Kakashi and the Kakashi clone. A smile moved across her full lips as she held onto Kakashi’s shirt and occasionally buried her face into his chest.

More than a few minutes passed as the blonde slowly came to consciousness her small body stretched across the bed moaning softly as she did so. It had been so long since she had such a pleasant night sleep that she almost didn’t know what to do with herself as she woke up. A large yawn stretched her mouth as her blue eyes flickered opened to find herself laying sideways and on… on…

Thump, thump, thump under her ear beat a heart. It was peaceful and relaxing that she almost fell back asleep with no consequence. That was until it dawned on her she didn’t have a human pillow and her face turned bright red; the chair she had fallen asleep in. Oh god… oh god… oh god…

OH GOD SHE FELL ASLEEP IN KAKASHI’S BED!!!!

Her heart slammed in her chest as she realized just who’s chest she was laying on. Shifting slightly she realized that an arm was around her. Maybe… maybe she could sneak out and he wouldn’t catch her right? RIGHT?! He was sleeping after all right…

Slowly turning her gaze upwards she found Kakashi was… as she was hoping wouldn’t be the case staring right back down at her. “Good… good morning…” She stuttered out as she started to move. “I am so sorry, I’ll get up right away.”

Kakashi enjoyed the simple relaxation he was awarded with as he waited for Airi to wake up. Her soft breathing and steady heartbeat a soothing comfort to the man, they were simple proof that she was alive. He was tempted to doze off himself as he waited but didn’t want to miss seeing her wake up.

Instead he listened to the sounds of the rest of the house hold waking up. From the the soft complaints from his students, to his clone’s explanation about Airi still being asleep, and his dogs trotting inside for some breakfast and various amounts of small talk. It was a very different sound than normally heard in the house, as he was often up and gone long before now. He wondered absently if his father’s house ever sounded like this, before he pushed the thought away before it could pull him down.

Still the peaceful morning could only last so long, and Kakashi could tell that Airi was starting to wake up. He was forced to confront the fact he might have been a bit hasty in choosing how to go about it, but he didn’t regret his actions. He suppressed a chuckle as he felt her heart rate spike and knew that she was wide awake now.

“Good morning to you as well” he replied mirthfully “No need apologize, last night was rough on all of us” he added lifting his arm slightly to allow Airi to leave if she wanted, but otherwise making no move to get up himself.

“How was your sleep?”

His mirthful nature just caused Airi’s face to deepen her shade of red. Of course he would view this as a joking moment filled with playful glee. Ugh of course she’s wake up ON him, only to find him giving her a playful tease. With a face of fire she felt his arm lift slightly as if to let her exit, however there was no force of departure for her. This felt so nice just lying in bed with him, seeing a peaceful look on his face as the pitter patter of feet echoed from downstairs.

“I slept well, sorry about crawling in your bed I—” Her words were cut off by the shout of Naruto sounding flustered about something or other before two sharp sssshhhh seemed to quiet him down. Oh no the kids are here that’s right! If they caught them in bed together they’d get the wrong idea.

The panic was apparent on Airi’s face before Kakashi’s voice echoed from outside. The panic, where she was nearly half way over him to exit the bed when she recognized his voice; this caused her gaze to shift back the Kakashi under her she was half way over. Her eyes squinted to look down at him as she pulled a hand from his chest and poked his cheek. “Did I get the real one?” Her question was more teasing than anything else; something inside of her told her that she wouldn’t be left with the clone and while she wanted to lecture him about not being with his students but…

Laying back down on him she wrapped her arms around his neck with a soft sigh as she rested her head on his collar bone. “I’m so glad you’re okay.” She muttered softly feeling the relief knowing his alright. “You looked like hell last night but you still came for me. You fought the Demon of the Bloody Mist, and yet you still came for me. Thank you.” It looks like she found the words she wanted to say last night and was able to say them. A smile moved across her face as she took in a deep breath and slowly let go of him propping herself up slightly on her chest. “How did you sleep?”

Kakashi just smiled at Airi’s embarrassment, he knew he shouldn’t, but with what he knew it was hard not to find it adorable. Still, he made a note not to chuckle too loudly for future reference, at least not until they had a chance to talk about the elephant in the room anyway. That would come soon enough at any rate.

When the soft peace in the room was disrupted, Kakashi was not in the least surprised that it was Naruto that caused it. Nor was he particularly surprised at Airi’s panic at remembering that the rest of Team seven were in the house. Thus he was just smilingly innocently when she turned to regard him after she heard his voice from outside and just nodded in reply to her question.

His arm once again wrapped around Airi as she laid back down, this time right on top of him, and he too let out a contented sigh. Last night was one for the books, but it was over now. His smile grew a little at her words of thanks, and he couldn’t help but note that he had been doing a lot of that this morning. “You’re welcome. As I said, you’re too important to me. And I had one of the better nights of sleep that I can recall having” He answered honestly.

“And there they go” he said turning to the door as outside the bedroom, down in the living room, Team seven gathered up their supplies and set out to their training ground for some light exercise, and discussion about their most recent mission. The soft click of the front door had been caught by Kakashi as they did, let him know that they no longer needed to remain as quiet. “Breakfast is now available, if you want, as is a shower” he said as he returned his attention to Airi “Or we can just stay here and talk I’m fine with any of the options” he added with a smile.

Airi’s head turned to look at the door as he turned to look. Something was being said about training from the loudmouth blonde as the door shut with a click indicating that the individuals had left. A small sigh of relief left her. The last thing she wanted was to get caught in his bed because that could easily give off the wrong impression. She had just crawled in simply because she was exhausted from the night before… right?

Her head turned back to look down at the man who had become her pillow for the time being as she folding her arms onto his chest and pouted softly. “I’m going to have to repeat the story a dozen times once I return to the shop, please don’t make me do that here.” While she was a citizen within the village, she was the only one conscious during the movements so maybe she would likely be pressed for information even though she didn’t have any.

“I bet you have everything I need to make cinnamon rolls, can I bake instead of talking about the kidnapping?” Her bottom lip stuck out in a little pout as she batted her deep blue eyes in an attempt to get her way.

Kakashi couldn’t help but chuckle at Airi “I wasn’t meaning talk about what happened, got a pretty good idea from your store front for that” Not to mention that it wasn’t a topic he wanted to revisit anytime soon, which was a shame as he was sure that he was going to be getting a messenger bird at some point today so that he could go get debriefed and then get chewed out for his actions.

Breakfast, however, sounded fantastic “That being said, if the offer of baking is available who am I to refuse?” He asked before moving to sit up. As much as he enjoyed lying about, he knew it was time to get up and stay up this time. The only thing he grabbed before leading the way to the kitchen was his headband and that was more due to habit than anything.

“I’m sure that I have everything for the dough, but can’t say I have everything for the glaze” Kakashi would explain as they rounded the last corner to the kitchen, only for them to come to face Akino who was sitting innocently near the back door, and if one was particularly capable of reading a dog’s expression it would seem as if he was smirking.

Kakashi just blinked at his oldest dog for a moment before sighing “After breakfast”

“I’ll be holding you to that” was the dog’s reply before he slipped out through the doggy door silently to find a nice spot to wait.

“So cinnamon rolls?” Kakashi asked knowing full well that Airi would have questions, but hoping to avoid them till food was ready.

A small sigh of relief left her as she relaxed above him. Thank goodness that did not sound like a fun way to start her morning. Seeing his movement, she followed suit, getting up out of the bed and standing upright stretching her arms to the sky. “You’d be crazy to refuse my baking. I might think you were sick or maybe hit on the head.” A giggle left her as she made it clear she was simply kidding before she rubbed her eyes in a sleepy fashion and let the way out of the bedroom.

Listening to his explanation about possibly not having the things in order to make the glaze she nodded as she yawned. Running a hand through her blonde hair the two rounded the corner to see the older dog in glasses sitting by the back door. “Good morning.” She greeted politely as she gave him a gentle smile and gave him a small head bow. “Thank you for your help last night. I hope the guy didn’t give you too much trouble.”

The dog responded with a simple but polite nod before Airi started towards the kitchen; however the exchange made her stop. Her head turned to watch Akino respond with a simple statement of holding him to it. A thin blonde eyebrow raised in surprise. Her gaze shot back to Kakashi as he approached her and she ventured further into the kitchen.

“Cinnamon rolls yes, but that’s going on after breakfast?” Her question seemed an innocent one, almost filled with concern. Did the messenger bird already arrive? Was he being summoned? Oh god was he going to be the one to interrogate the one left alive? Man… wouldn’t want to be anywhere near that room during that discussion. She began to go through his cabinets and gathering the supplies she needed to start making the dough.

“Same thing as last night really” Kakashi explained as he also helped get set up for baking breakfast. “Akino’s just forcing the issue, mainly because he finds it fun that he can, but partially because he thinks it’ll end in a good idea.” Kakashi wasn’t as hopeful as his dog, or at least was more realistic about the obstacles that existed. There was Gai and Airi’s family as the biggest issues, assuming that she said yes to begin with, not that he doubted the information he had gain from Ana, especially considering the sight he woke up too, it’s just once can never be sure till the words were said on some topics.

Still he was thankful in a small way, despite his intentions when he was exhausted last night, without with his dog he might have put off the issue until some nebulous later date. For such a simple reason as well, fear of losing a friend. Kakashi could count on one hand the amount of friends he had that were still alive, and add in any prior relationships he had were manufactured things for missions and it became easy to see how his first thought would be how this would all end badly.

Putting those thoughts aside, Kakashi graciously stepped aside leaving his kitchen to Airi. If there was more being made he would have assisted, but since it was only cinnamon rolls attempting to help would likely only end up a hindrance.

Elsewhere in the village, various things were arraying to disrupt the peaceful morning the two were enjoying. The Hokage was preparing to send a summons notice to Kakashi, as had been assumed. Team Gai had recently returned as was undergoing their debriefing; it wouldn’t be long before they learned of what happened last night. And Team Seven could feel how something was about to change, as the rumor mill had been in full swing last night and odd whisperings could be heard following after them.

Akino seemed to be quite a pest about whatever the situation was he wanted Kakashi to overcome. Or maybe he was just looking for something to say ‘I told you so’; this could also be a factor towards the older dog pushing for… whatever reason. A small giggle left her as she pulled out the flour she had found. “Something tells me he might not just think it’s a good idea, he might also be looking for the ability to say “I told you so”. Everyone loves the ability to do that and I’m sure he’s no exception.” A shrug rose and fell her small shoulders as she put the flour on the counter and gathered up a few more things.

“I’m sure whatever he’s trying to get you to do come from a place of caring and best intentions.” She began, obviously knowing nothing about the situation at hand as she finished getting the supplies and began to stir everything together. “I bet you’ve already thought over, whatever it is, seventeen times and thought of twenty different outcomes but, maybe Akino sees a positive outcome like a few of your twenty possibilities would be. It’s worth a shot right?” Looking over her shoulder at him as she mixed the dough by hand she shot him a bright cheery smile. “And if I can help just let me know. You’re important to me to and I want to help when and where I can.” Her earnest and true voice filled the room as she finished stirring and dropped the dough onto the floured counter top.

As skilled baker, she had the cinnamon rolls ready and slid them in a plan into the pre-heated oven before kicking the door shut with her foot. “Okay…” Her gaze moved around the kitchen as she took a step back and placed her hands on her hips… covering her shit in flour. It wasn’t until her hands made contact with her shirt and she realized what she had done. “Ugh…” She muttered softly. Her blue eyes shifted downwards to see she had, in fact, covered almost her entire sides in flour and despite her skills, she was still had splatters of flower and cinnamon. And this is why she wore an apron. “Go figure.” A small laugh left her, it wasn’t a big deal to her, in fact she seemed to find it funny.

Her attention moved back to the kitchen, the only thing she couldn’t find was the confectioner’s sugar. “Do you have any powdered sugar?” She questioned as she looked over her shoulder at Kakashi with a smile. “Or can you crush sugar into powder? That would work too.” Of course the giggle in her voice said she was joking about that.

What wasn’t a joke was Might Guy flying into a panic. “What? What do you mean Airi was kidnapped?!” His explosion of worry and stress filled the room as he nearly began to panic before the Hokage stopped him.

“Miss Mae is has been brought back to the Hidden Leaf Village and is safe.”

“I have to go see her, I have to find her, I have to make sure she’s okay!” He called out before sprinting out of the office.

“I have no doubt that is at least part of the reason; I did raise him after all” Kakashi replied with a nod as he sat down at the table to watch Airi work “And both you and him know me too well” he admitted with a soft sigh. For as much as he didn’t keep track of how often it had crossed his mind, Airi was still spot on with her guess of how he had been dealing with the situation. Hence why Akino was forcing the issue, the dog knew that when it came to normal Kakashi’s trained instincts would hinder rather than help, for Kakashi was bad at prioritizing his own happiness.

It was part of the reason why Kakashi was speechless at Airi’s offer of help; it was proof that there was once again someone else that cared for him beyond just as a comrade in arms. It was comforting, and the cynical part of Kakashi finally relented. The other reason he was struck speechless was out of a shocked amusement, as he had offered her the same help only a few weeks ago, for nearly the same issue. ‘We are hopless’ he mused silently at the turn of events.

Turning his attention back to Airi he let out a light chuckle at her appearance, it was adorable, and went a long way to explaining why her scent was always tinged with flour. “As a matter of fact, I don’t have any powdered sugar” Kakashi would state with a hit of disappointment, knowing full well that he had some with his tools, it made for a better blinding powder “But if crushed sugar works just as well” he would continue on as he walked in to the kitchen to get the needed things to try and powder sugar, it wasn’t something he had done before, and he fully expected to somehow end up covered in sugar in his attempt. But that wasn’t going to stop him; in fact he might make sure it happened just to see if he could get a laugh out of Airi.

With a short sigh Sarutobi watched Guy take off in search of his fiancée, leaving behind his students in his panic. He was glad that he had chosen to inform the man of that event at the end of the debriefing as he was worried something like this would happen. As Guy was a very passionate person. He waved the genin out of his office in silent dismissal, as he turned back to the paper work he was finishing up; it was the summons for Kakashi.

He waited until the genin had left before rolling it up he passed it off to one of the Anbu stationed in the room “Please make sure that this gets to Kakashi before Gai does.” The Hokage requested as he had a feeling that Kakashi and Guy would soon be on uneasy terms with each other, if he was correct in his belief of why Kakashi has stormed off after Miss Mae last night.

A look of disappointment didn’t have time to make it onto her face because he said he would crush the sugar. A beaming smile moved across her face as gave the countertop a quick clean and stepped back to allow him to have access to the countertop.

It may not seem like much to him but for anyone outside of his skillset, watching him do something as tedious as turning sugar into powder was like watching art happen. Half of the time she was looking at his face, watching his eye flicker back and forth as he worked and the other half of the time she watched his hands work the materials he needed in order to complete his task. He was so fluid it was almost graceful and majestic to watch him work. At one point she was actually leaning in to watch his movements before she jerked herself back upright and muttered a small embarrassed apology before she gave him a bit more room to work.

Then her gaze moved to his face once more. The conversation with Naruto played quickly through her head. Did he really seem like a ‘weight’ had be lessened when he was around her? Was what Akino pushing for the same weight? What about his time at the graveyard? That seemed pretty heavy, much less asking to die. Maybe the loss of someone is weighing so much on him that he just feels like life is better to be ended. A wave of sadness moved over her as she practically convinced herself to be sad. Shaking her head slightly she stepped around him and as he wrapped up his crushing of the sugar. The blonde stepped up behind him and wrapped her arms around his waist, a gentle hug from behind.

A small sigh left her as she rested her head against his back. She couldn’t get herself to say anything because she didn’t want to him to be sad but she always didn’t want to assume she knew what the problem was. He was a man of many mysteries and figuring him out would be impossible so if he wanted to tell her, she wanted to make it clear she would listen and that she was here for him. And the only way she could convey all of that through her hug from behind him, even as her grip tightened just a bit, a bit to say she really did care about him.

Letting him go she stepped to the oven and open it to pull out the well rounded baked cinnamon rolls. “Alright. Now for the glaze!” Her tone was back to normal and she seemed happy once again. It only took her a few minutes to get the glaze how she wanted it between her laughter over the fact that he was covered in sugar and she was covered in flower. “We are quite the pair!” Her laugh rang through the kitchen as she glazed the two cinnamon rolls and handed him his plated neatly.

“Let’s eat!”

*******

Team seven were chatting among themselves as they headed towards the training grounds for a light practice before calling it a full day and returning to their respective homes. The kids, however, continued to badger Kakashi for information of what happened when he vanished, the ‘kids’ mainly being Naruto.

“Come on Sensei just tell us what happened!” Onto his six round of begging for information, he was practically pulling on the clone in an attempt to get anything he could out of the man. “How many were there? How many did you take out? What happened? Why was she taken? Was there more than just her? Tell me tell me tell m…” His last beg was cut off as a wail seemed to echo from the road and a cloud of dust seemed to be traveling towards them. “What the…?”

As Naturo’s head tilted to the side, the cloud of dust came into view as Guy seemed to be bolting in their direction, his wail soon became words, “AIRI WHERE ARE YOU ARE YOU OKAY?!” Guy’s trail of tears seemed to cut off as he realized he nearly ran into Kakashi and his group.

“Calm down Guy-Sensei.” Sakura said softly in an attempt to calm down the now halted man. “Miss Mae is just fine.” However before she could continue…

“Yeah she’s sleeping at Kakashi-Sensei’s house right now. Probably had a rough night what with being kidnapped and all…”

Kakashi was quietly focused on his dual tasks of crushing sugar and intentionally making a mess with said sugar while Airi watched him work. If he was honest it was surprisingly relaxing, perhaps it was the mundanity of his task or perhaps it was the fact it was something so far disconnected from his normal day to day. Once again if he was honest, he would know it was because of Airi. He was just able to relax around her, he trusted her and she in return trusted him. It wasn’t something he could say about a lot of people in the village, outside of missions that is. His reputation as a fantastic team worker only barely overshadowed his past reputation from killing an ally in the field.

But none of that mattered as much while she was around; the past was kept firmly in the past and he was able to simply enjoy the moments of the present that he had while not worrying about the future. It was why when she hugged him from behind he paused in his crushing and just enjoyed the moment, glancing back at her he could gather bits of what she might have been thinking, but focused only on the message she was trying to send him. The plain honesty in her frame was humbling, and his worries about speaking up about his feelings faded away. He wasn’t sure how everything was going to play out, but that wasn’t going to stop him from repaying her honesty with his own.

He chuckled along with Airi as he took in his successful mess making, and felt it was entirely worth it just to hear her laugh. “Indeed we are” Was Kakashi’s reply as he took the offered cinnamon roll and sat down at the kitchen table.

---

The Kakashi-clone resisted the urge to face palm at Naruto’s blunt statement and wondered for a moment if this was payback for staying silent, before dismissing that idea. None of the kids were aware of Gai’s and Airi’s current relationship as far as he knew.

The other Jonin was taken aback for a moment as he processed what Naruto told him, and couldn’t help but give Kakashi a look, still getting the answer that he was so desperately seeking had Gai rearing to go ”AND YOU LEFT HER THERE ALL ALONE!? MY RIVIAL YOUR YOUTHFUL FLAMES ARE DIMMING” He shouted before taking off towards Kakahi’s house another dust cloud being kicked up in his wake.

This time the clone did let out a sigh “Well that changes things”

“How so?” asked Sasuke as she stared at the retreating dust cloud.

“Because Gai isn’t known for his patience” replied the clone “I’m going to go and make sure I still have a house to return to we can pick up training tomorrow”

“Aww man, this sucks” Whined Naruto at the prospect of losing out at the chance to try and needle out information from Kakashi.

“I’ll make it up to you three by teaching you all more about clone techniques next time” He offered before disappearing in a puff of smoke.

Both of the boys had perked up at that and didn’t think much of the disappearance of their sensei. Sakura on the other hand couldn’t help but think that the poof looked like Naruto’s clones when they were popped and resolved to ask about that later.

---

Kakashi had enjoyed breakfast quite a bit, good food and better company went a long way into making that true. “..So I ended up hiding out in the hay cart for the rest of the day all because of that one superstitious commander” The masked ninja finished explaining about one of his more humorous solo missions. It was a comedy of errors where things just kept going a little bit wrong in weird ways. It had been brought up by some of the banter the two always exchanged.

“What about you? Any-“ He stalled midway through his question and just blinked for a moment before letting out a small sigh. A little known truth about Shadow clones was that the clones returned all of their memories to the original upon the dispelling of them, it was one of the reasons it was a forbidden technique for the normal forces.

“Seems we will be having company in a bit” Kakashi said, his tone notably annoyed, “Seems someone told Gai about what happened last night and Naruto mentioned that you were here.” The silver haired Jonin was not looking forward to this confrontation but sometimes things just don’t go the way you want them too. “Which makes this perhaps the worst time to mention it but breakfast is done, and it’s now or never seemingly.” The buildup was mainly for Kakashi’s benefit as it gave him a second or two more to ready himself for what he was about to say.

“I am falling in love with you”

His story was lighthearted and fun as the blonde laughed behind her final bite of her cinnamon roll. “That’s crazy!” It was wonderful to sit and enjoy stories from him; this was something she felt like she could get used to despite that fact that it was kind of against the rules to share too much, but it was her. She was an experienced fighter and was probably one of the few people he wouldn’t get in trouble for sharing stories with.

While he started to ask her a question she took his plate and put it on hers. However he stopped as if processes new information and she stopped in her movement as well. What was going on? Not breaking her gaze from him she held incredibly still in case someone or something was coming. Airi was finally able to breathe when he explained the situation. Sure it wasn’t exactly what she wanted to hear but it wasn’t something bad. “Ah.” Was her response when he said that Gai was on his way. That was something she didn’t exactly want to deal with and the ‘Ah’ came with hints of sadness, annoyance and a lack of excitement to hear someone was on their way to them. Obviously this was not news she was hoping for. Dang it Naruto.

Taking the plates she got to her feet and started towards the sink to wash and set out his plates to dry. However she stopped mid-step hearing the words leave Kakashi’s mouth.

CRASH!

The plates hit the ground breaking into three pieces each, pure shock ran through her body and she lost control of her grip and the plates paid the price. Did… did she hear him right? No way… no way that’s just her mind playing tricks on her. Ignoring the fact that she just broke two of his plates, she turned slowly to face him. The look on her face was a mix of disbelief and excitement, “What… what did you say?” Her voice was soft, confused but hopeful and sounded breathless like she had just be surprised and once again, she held her breath as she awaited confirmation that what she heard was real.

‘Huh, those are good quality plates’ That was the understated thought that first came to the mind of Kakashi as he watched the impact of his words on Airi. Many would have sweat dropped at such a nonchalant internal reaction, as many would be panicking as they fretted over how their admittance would be received. Even if Kakshi hadn’t talked with Anna beforehand, he would still be as calm as he was now. There was no reason fretting over the reaction to an act of trust; it defeats the point of trust in the first place.

Still the masked ninja watched his guest closely as she turned around, and once again felt his lips quirking up in too a smile. It was the tiny things that always stuck out the most to him. The big gestures are the easiest to fake, the smallest happen unconsciously so most don’t even realize that they are happening.

“I. Am falling in love. With you.” He spoke slowly and cleanly, making sure not to take his eye off of Airi as he repeated himself. Which was slightly harder then it sounded as he could hear Akino quietly sniggering to himself from beyond the door, but he wanted to make sure there was no mistaking what he had said this time.

“I don’t know when it started, but last night reminded me that no one is promised tomorrow.” Kakashi explained plainly as he stayed seated. He was in uncharted territory for himself now and staying seated helped counter the want to pace around as he talked “Nothing like walking in to a nightmare for a bit of perspective” he chuckled lightly at the gallows humor, which as close to admitting he was nervous as he was going to come.

“As I said, not the best time to bring it up as ‘company’ is on the way” Kakashi said with a grimace “But that doesn’t mean it is any less true.” He shrugged afterwards but kept quiet so he didn't end up rambling on.

His repeat of the words felt like she had just got hit with a rush of cold water that shook her from her trance that the initial shock had put her into. He really did say that! He honestly just said he was falling in love with her. Her hands shot up to her mouth as she inhaled in a sharp gasp. Have you ever had a moment were you legitimately lost control of your emotions? That was Airi at this time.

The big blue eyes of the blonde blinked a few times in astonishment as she stared at him for a long… long time. Okay it was probably only a few seconds but for her it felt like an eternity. Waiting, questioning if there was any sort of falsity behind his statement but, there was none; and it was Kakashi… come on.

Her hands slowly lowered from her mouth as she scooped up the pieces of the plates and went back to the table, gently placing them on the top before sitting down in the chair. She gave the plates an apologetic glance before moving to look back at him as he continued to speak. Her face stayed rather start almost looking like she was about to cry but there was a smile on her face, a smile that said ‘wow’.

When he finally finished talking after reminding her that ‘company’ was on their way, she finally found the strength to breathe again. A small giggle left her as she spoke, “I don’t want to marry Gai.” She admitted her tone honest but almost heartbroken at the same time as she obviously didn’t want to her the man’s feelings but... “I’ve been in love with you for a long time and I…” Her eyes flickered towards the window behind Kakashi before she let out a yelp of surprise.

The delivering Anbu had appeared rather abruptly in the window and startled the poor girl who was in the middle of her confession. “Summons.” He said casually before handing over the scroll to a not-so-surprised Kakashi and disappearing from the ceil.

“Summons?” She questioned before turning her gaze back towards her tablemate. “Is it safe to assume it’s for last night? You should probably go before they get any more irritated. But can we talk more about this later?” She asked softly, her blue eyes begging him. “Please…?”

Annoyance. That was the key word to describe how Kakashi felt about how this morning was developing as he wordlessly took the summons from the Anbu and a quick check at the scroll confirmed both Airi’s and his own assumptions. “Yeah it’s about last night.” Kakashi said as he rolled the scroll back up and moved to stand up.

“It’s not listed as an immediate summons, but considering it was hand delivered it more or less is.” He continued as he started to prep himself mentally for what was coming up. “I’ll come find you when I’m released and we can talk as long as wanted.” He gave her one of his eye smiles “Promise” Sighing internally Kakashi walked out of the kitchen to go get prepared for the day, again.

Once again he skipped out on a shower, seeing as he was once again working under a time limit. He wanted to be ready and gone before Guy showed up. It wasn’t originally in his plans to avoid the boisterous Jonin, but facing him head on wasn’t preferred either. Kakashi would have to deal with it at some point, but would thankfully take any chance to get more time to think about it that was offered up.

Three minutes later Kakashi was once again down in the kitchen, this time he was dressed and prepared for a normal day of being a Jonin. As much as he wanted to stay and talk with Airi a bit more he just gave a silent wave as he exited out through the back door and vanished a moment later.

Silence fell about the house with his departure, save for the noise that Airi made, but even that wouldn’t last for long. As the sound of Guy’s cry could be heard in the distance, steadily getting louder as he came rushing towards the house.

The eye smile was reassuring, it meant that they were going to be able to talk about this more but as he walked away to excuse himself and she began to clean up the kitchen, she found herself with her face on fire once again. They were actually going to talk about it. The blonde vigorously scrubbed the remaining utensils clean and got the few left onto the drying rack before turning around and watching him return to the kitchen, dressed for his normal day.

Before he got to the door, Airi seemed to jump forward simply out of impulse. There was no arguing that they were a step further then they were before but… where did they tread now? Her jump led her to him as she gently took his bicep into her hand. “I’ll… I’ll see you tonight.” She whispered softly behind her blush, and as she let him go to receive that gentle silent wave, she returned it with a bit more enthusiasm than she had meant to give. Boy… she was a fool.

Once he was gone, she locked up the house and left through the front door stepping onto the street. Taking in a deep breath she let out a long sigh, which was instantly cut off by a loud cry and the sudden appearance of green in her vision before her feet were lifted out from under her.

“My beloved Airi I’m so glad you’re safffffffe.” A parade of tears rained from the eyes of Gai as he clung her to his chest before stumbling over words between tears and sobs of joy to find her safe.

Airi raised her hand and gave him a couple small pats before faint words of, “I… can’t… breathe…” were finally able to make their way out of her lips. Gai instantly stopped hugging her but instead scooped her up into his arms and took off in another run.

“We must get you to your parents, they need to know you’re safe!”

While he had a valid point, being with her family wasn’t exactly what she wanted right now. But soon she was at their doorstep to her parents and her sister embracing her in a tight hug. While she was brought inside and sat down, her sister was the one to keep Gai entertained. Not that she wasn’t over joyed to see her sister alive and well, but it wasn’t very often she got a chance to talk to Gai. Plus Airi gave him the perfect opening to do so as she said she didn’t want to discuss what happened and she was just glad to be home and wanting to get back to her shop soon.

The evening carried on as Gai joined the family for dinner and the group chatted happily; however, Airi kept looking outside, expecting to catch a glimpse of some silver hair but there was none that came at the time. A small left her as she got to her feet and smiled. “If you don’t mind I’m still exhausted from what I went through so I’m going to sleep in my old room. Tomorrow I’ll go back to the shop but for now I’d rather not deal with what’s waiting for me there.” Her mother helped her redress her wound and she climbed the stairs to the second floor and went to her room, a small room on the far end of the house with a balcony that over looked the forested area behind their home.

A small sigh left her as she pulled open the rarely used door and stepped out onto the balcony and stretched her hands high into the air. A gentle smile moved across her face as she leaned against the railing and turned her gaze upwards. It was already nightfall and she didn’t intend on staying at her parents’ house but it seemed like she would get pulled for questioning as soon as she got back to her shop. Just… just one day without that; tomorrow she’ll go and report what happened. Hopefully they were able to figure out something. From somewhere in the house the booming laughter of Gai could be heard, followed by her parents and her sister who seemed to almost match Gai’s volume.

The thought of her sister’s love for Gai moved through her head and she found herself pondering. Maybe… maybe she could help, and by she, she meant she and Kakashi; if he’d be willing to listen to her idea.