[IC] Inside the Hidden Leaf Village. |Shifter_Master & EasilyAmused|

[EasilyAmused]

Airi’s hands slowly moved away from her face as Kakashi came to her ad about the fact that they weren’t dating. It was sad that they had to say that… wait… sad? Why sad? Her brow crunched together slightly when she realized she was almost disappointed over the fact that they weren’t dating, or at least progressing towards it. That was a sudden and unexpected change of feelings. But for now, it wasn’t the time to sit and dwell on it.

Shaking her head slightly, she returned back to the conversation to hear him use the reasoning of having her as a second set of eyes. Her cheeks calmed down and she lowered her hands to her side as she gave them a nod. Good idea Kakashi. She thought, though had she known they were going to take this route, she would have brought a book and a pen with her to make it seem like she was actually here for this. But it was too late for that.

Her blue gaze moved back to Kakashi for a moment, her eyes twinkling with a sense of anticipating and thankfulness that she gets to watched. He had a valid point of why it would be beneficial for her to watch but at the same time, watching him teach them would give her the motivation and skills to return to her former glory or… something close. Gaze flicking back to the students before she began to speak. “It may not seem like it but this guy,” She pointed directly at Kakashi without hesitation, “Is one of the best ninjas in the world and he can overlook some things because he does it naturally that he doesn’t think to share it. That’s where I come in; I think Kakashi would agree with me that the basics are the stability to become the best ninja.”

“Aw man! I want a challenge!”

A laugh left Airi as she nodded. “And you’ll get a challenge, the basics aren’t easy but they are done so naturally that most people forget them. Master the basics for they are the true base of all ninjutsu.” Sliding her hands behind her back she leaned up against the last unoccupied post with a grin.

“I look forward to see your progress and Kakashi’s methods.” Her gaze moved to Kakashi again with a nod. “You should probably begin considering how long they’ve been waiting.” And as their training begin, Airi mentally took notes.

[Shifter_Master]

“And that is where I think I will start off this training session, with the basics” Kakashi spoke up as Airi took a step back. Already glad to see that his impulsive choice to add her in to his training was paying off. ”But not with what the academy considers basics” he added seeing the looks of disappointment and outrage across all of his genin. “The basics I’m going to cover are what I consider the basics” He said with an eye smile.

And over the next six hours he lectured his team on his six basic tenets of being a ninja. Three were easily guessed; Ninjutsu, Genjutsu and Taijutsu, but he also talked about Awareness, Planning, and Stealth. In addition he broke down each tenet further in to what he considered the core principles of each basic tenet.

He started with Stealth, which he broke down in to three parts; hiding movement, hiding objects and hiding emotions. Hiding movement was obvious, moving from point A to point B without being seen. Hiding objects covered all manner of sleight of hand, with drawing tools from pouches unseen or pickpocketing being a focus. Hiding emotions was also self-explanatory, but he stressed the difference between hiding emotions and discarding them.

Awareness was next which he broke down in to internal and external awareness. Internal awareness was having a good feel for what went on inside, the feel of ones heartbeat, what kind of thoughts you tended to have and context for one’s own emotions. External awareness was paying attention to the world around you with all the senses you had at your disposal.

Planning came next which he broke down in to short term long term and predictive planning. Short term planning, he also dubbed improvisation, dealt with patching together a plan with little to no information, or when you suddenly find yourself in an unexpected situation. Long term planning is self-explanatory, but predictive planning was the art of getting in to an opponent’s mindset and predicting what they were going to do, and how to work that in to your plans and fights.

He then moved on to Taijutsu, which he split in to weapons, unarmed, and physical health. It was a rather straight forward segment in which he talked about the various ways one can fight both with and without a weapon, and the various benefits and drawbacks associated with each. He also talked about the need to keep in optimal shape, and various exercises and dietary methods to achieve such.

He then moved on to Genjutsu in which he coved distractions, imagination, and mental health. Distractions could be used to aid every and all actions and talked about the pros and cons of various techniques that could be used. Imagination was the key to keeping people from being able to predict you easily as well as opening up new avenues to use what you had in unexpected way. Mental health he talked about the importance of stress management, and knowing your own limits.

Lastly he covered Ninjutsu which covered control and adaptability. Control was using the right amount of effort to achieve the maximum result you were aiming for. With adaptability he covered the benefits of keeping ones skill set flexible and able to change to fit every situation.

Throughout all of this Kakashi was having his students exercising, be it jogging laps, sprints, pushups, sit ups, basic chakra control, accuracy, weapon drill, unarmed drills, or anything else he could think of that would be beneficial. Much of the time he would just be supervising them as he continued to inform them about his thoughts about the basic requirements to be an efficient ninja. Occasionally he would correct their posture, and near the end of each segment he would allow them to ask questions that had about what he had talked about, and twice he gave them a thirty minuet break to rest, get some water, and eat something while he talked about the more nuanced topics of predictive planning and mental health.

The question that Kakashi deemed the most important was “What about Chakra?” to which he answered “Nothing I have said, nor will say exclude Chakra. Chakra is simply a tool for a ninja, and all of the basics apply to it as much as anything else. And if you are asking about advanced Chakra techniques, will get to those later for now we are talking about the basics.”

To wind down he made three clones and sent each of the students off with one to a different side of the training area, explaining that the next hour was to be for more personalized training. This was to give each of them a chance to ask more questions if they wanted, as well as to get some idea about what each student wanted to learn more of.

---

The original let out a breath as his clones lead the genin off. It had been a long, long time since he had talked so much, but hopefully it would pay off. He was also surprised just how painful it had been training them, everyone but Sakura remained him about his past in painful way, Naruto was the spitting image of his dad but his personality was a mix of Obito and Kushina. Sauske reminded the masked nin of himself when he was much younger and Sakura was nearly an insult to the title of kunoichi.

“So any observations for me so far Airi?” He asked as he leaned up against one of the post as he watched his students from afar. He attempted to sound like his normal self but a little bit of his mental exhaustion still bleed in to his voice.

[EasilyAmused]

While the little Genin listened to the lectures, Airi paid attention as well. Kakashi’s way of teaching was very… well Kakashi; straight forward, to the point and wavier. At least when it comes to battle, he is far less Kakashi like when it comes to his timeliness but that is not a mystery. His information was top notch and the kids seemed to be soaking it in as much as she was. In fact, at one point she seemed to be leaning forward in interest like Naruto but caught herself and pulled herself back in an attempt not to look like a fool… good luck Airi…

His methods went on, touching the key factors of being a Ninja and covering the basics. She was a bit disappointed she didn’t see this coming as she would have worn some pants and participated in some of the sparing but alas, she didn’t think anything like this would happen at the given time. The kids each had their individuals struggles but with their own strengths as well. It was interesting to see how each of them reacted to the information and how Kakashi seemed to tailor his answers to meet the needs of his students.

Then the question of Chakra came about. Balancing Chakra is something ninja’s do so naturally that it becomes habit. It is needed to complete any and all missions of a ninja both in and out of their daily lives; an example being how Kakashi carried her without using his hands; merely using Chakra to hold her in place. The more he spoke, the more she was able to narrow down the single thing she would focus on and that was her awareness. She had a pretty good grasp on internal awareness as she knew what was going on inside of her but her external awareness proved to be lacking more than she had originally thought. Take him showing up to catch her before she fell, anyone should have been able to spot him standing in the doorway but she… she was not aware he was even there! She had realized lost her touch and that needed to change.

At some point, Airi had placed herself on the ground enjoying the feel of the grass against her legs as she watched the group work. That was until they parted for individual training session with the Kakashi clones and she was left with the original. Getting to her feet she dusted off her dress and leaned against the post next to his facing him. “I must say, I’m impressed you can slow down your training to a Genin level.” She said with a cheeky smile on her face before a small shrug rose and fell her shoulders. “I think as a whole they’re able to keep up with you but when it comes to splitting them up, Sasuke will want to move forward when he’s not ready, Naruto will forget a lot and Sakura…” Her eyebrows pushed together in thought.

“Sakura’s fighting her own battle inside.” The side-eye towards Sasuke was obvious and something she could relate to as Airi’s blue gaze shifted to the ground and she crossed her arms under her chest. “That isn’t something you can train out of her, it’s something she’s got to realize on her own.” Love was both a help and a hindrance when it came to being a Ninja. Simply because Love can make you do crazy things, good and bad. The worst is one sided love, where you’re willing to give everything for someone and they still won’t return your feelings. “She’ll grow out of it.” She stated as her gaze turned back up to look at him, “But it will never go away.” Boy… could she speak from experience…

A nod rose and fell her head. “Honestly, a lot of it is going to come down to your individual training with the kids when you pair off like this. You’ll learn a lot about their personalities and goals but… they’re a team and teamwork is highly important.” With a small wave of her hand she grinned. “That reminds me, I should probably go put in that D-Ranked mission.” A smirk appeared lightly on her face as she turned and started back towards the village with a wave. “Oh.” Looking over her shoulder, she gave him a bright and happy grin, “Thanks for letting me watch, I learned a lot. See you around Kakashi, don’t be a stranger.

------------

A few days had past and Airi’s D-Rank request was paid for and she even received a report that, true to his word, Team 7 would be the ones coming to help. It was 10:30am and the restaurant was closed for the day, expect the blonde leaning up against the doorway watching the group arrive.

“Hello everyone!”

“Alright! Are we taste testing new sweets? Beating up some people who are taking your recipes?” Naturo’s excitement was building as he seemed to list off more reasons when they were at Delicious Delights and Airi just smiled.

Turning around she gestured for them to follow her inside the store. The store was a cute little sit down restaurant at the front with the display stand protected by glass at the back with a cashier counter. She proceeded to go around the corner and through the double doors into the back. The back was a LARGE kitchen area with islands for laying out dough and molding/shaping the delights people enjoyed so much. The back smelled of freshly baked goods and recently retrieved goods sat out on display in cute packages ready for delivery. The Genin took notice and began to nearly drool at the sight of them.

Airi paused in the kitchen and she could feel Naruto’s excitement but she was just adjusting her tank top before picking back up her stride and heading to the back doors into the backyard. The backyard was beautiful; a garden sprawled along the back filled with growing fruits, vegetables and herbs. In the past three years she had made an honest attempt to better her cooking skills and so far she hadn’t killed herself! Plus it was a good excuse to get into gardening.

“Are we helping you garden?!” Sakura asked with a twinkle in her eyes as she approached the garden.

“Nope.” Airi said with a small laugh as she pointed to the side of the building where there was a pile of tools and shingles. “You are replacing my roof as it is in need for replacement.”

[Shifter_Master]

Kakashi was, as he more often than not, found leading his team from the back. Ostensibly it was because since they were in the village he would be the best rearguard, in truth it was because he wanted to read as his team walked to their missions. In fact he found himself with a lot more time to read. The reason was that his team was just, soooooo slow! He hadn’t complained about it yet as all of their missions had been D ranks.

So it was with book in hand that the masked ninja took stock of Airi’s store with muted interest. The store front hadn’t really changed from what he could recall, and the kitchen was a fair bit larger then he would have imagined it to have been. He too had noticed the fresh goods, but chose instead to chuckle at his students actions rather than indulge in the smells. After all he knew the reason they were here likely had little to do with any of the food.

Sure enough they had been taken out of the kitchen and in to the back, and there was honest surprise on Kakashi’s face when he saw the garden. He hadn’t realized just how much of a green thumb that Airi had. ‘Risks of trying her home grown cooking?’ he wondered as Sakura asked about helping garden.

Kakashi was unsuprised at the looks of disappointment that all of his students had when they realized it was once again menial chores that they had been hired to do, what was surprising was the longing look Naruto had tossed the garden.

“Alright team, time to get to work” Kakashi said as he put his book away for later.

“Umm Kakashi-sensei…” Sakura said after looking over the tools “There is no ladder, how are we going to get up to the roof?”

“We climb” Kakashi said with an eye smile as he walked over to the tools and grabbed what would be needed to start their task.

“Climb?” Asked Sasuke with a disbelieving tone as he took another look at the building, trying to but, not really seeing any easy way to get to the roof since they weren’t going to use a ladder.

Naruto on the other hand seemed to take that information in stride and started gathering up his own supplies to start working, though he was grumbling about the fact that it was a chore once again.

“Yup” Kakashi answered as he started walking towards the building. All of the genin stopped for a moment to watch how their sensei would go about it, and collectively they were stunned in to silence as Kakashi just keep walking up the building, seemingly completely disregarding gravity as he did.

Once Kakashi reached the roof he turned around to face his students “Like that. Any questions?” he asked, his tone stating he knew full well that he was about to be grilled on how he did that.

[EasilyAmused]

It came as no surprise to the blonde that the kids were bummed that they were doing manual labor. Well… that was kind of the job of the Genin when they were still learning the ropes of being a Ninja. So the group groan made her giggle softly behind her small hand before she turned her gaze to Kakashi as the question was brought to him of how they were going to get to the roof.

Crossing her small arms over her chest she watched as he grabbed some supplies and left the kids in shock as he walked up the side of the building and to the roof. Sounds of surprise and shock moved from the lips of the students as Airi went passed them. Disbelief continued as she uncrossed her arms and placed her hands on her hips. “Hey, you have a paper I need.” With that she took some steps and walked up the side of the building herself with ease. When she reached the top, she stuck out her hand and took the receipt from him. “Great. Thanks.” With that she walked back down the side of the building and looked at the kids with disbelief.

“Have you been meditating and working on your Chakra control? Pretty sure Kakashi-Sensei made it clear that nothing excludes Chakra.” With that she nodded and gave them a little wave with her free hand and disappeared inside of the building. At the back of the kitchen were two doors. One led downstairs into the basement for additional storage and the other went upstairs. The second floor of the bakery was Airi’s personal home.

Inside was a cutely designed two bedroom flat with an open living room and dining room area along with a small kitchen. She went into the second bedroom and opened the door to reveal a well-kept and organized office with papers in filing cabinets and binders. She had been in business for a long time and kept her records well and now she needed to document this ‘expense’, but the kids were making money and so was Kakashi so why not?

It took about an hour for the young girl to finish her documentation for the expense and other things for her shop before she stood up and stretched above her head and let out a sigh. She had deliveries to make and took the time that Kakashi was teaching the kids to do so.

About an hour later than young girl returned and featured back into the shop and into the kitchen. The work on her roof had been in process and she could hear the banging of the hammers. “Perfect.” She said with a sneaky grin. It was now time to put her plan into action.

After about 20 minutes of her arrival back home, smoke began to slowly float from the chimney as the sweet smell of confections filled the air, and from the open window of the first floor, the sounds of oil being ready to use for frying could be heard popping in indication that it was read to receive the treats to be fried and boy… did it ever!

The scent of Karintos soon came from the window, the crystalizing of brown sugar floating up into the air in a tempting proportion. Oh yes, you make Airi pay, she makes you hungry.

[Shifter_Master]

Kakashi just chuckled at the utterly gob smacked expressions on the rest of Team seven as Airi ventured back in to her business/home. “I did tell you she used to be a Chunin” he said as he set the supplies he had brought down before he jumped down.

“How?”

“Are you going to teach us that?”

“That was soo cool!”

“Yes I am, we will start with the basics now and practice with it as we work and after the mission” Kakashi answered before he gave them the tutorial on using chakra to walk on surfaces. He made sure not to have them attempt it on the wall of the building first, as it wouldn’t be good form to fix the roof while leaving a bunch of holes all along the back walls. While this was happening he made sure to have a Shadow clone ferrying supplies up to the roof in the meantime.

After a few attempts only Sakura was given the go ahead to practice using the building proper, and she showed flawless technique and was easily able to make it up. Naruto and Sasuke were both given one shot but neither was able to make it all the way up to the roof before they lost adhesion.

“Well, we will have more time to work on this afterwards. In the meantime try using the same principle to adhere the hammers and shingles to your arms or legs while you work.” He explained before returning to the roof to start the preliminary work on the roof.

Eventually they settled in to a easy routine, each of the students would rotate heading down to pick up more supplies, with Sakura being the only one would could go the easy route of walking up and down the wall. Naruto and Sasuke were forced to go the long way around of hopping down, picking up the supplies then jogging down the street to a roof they could jump up too then roof hopping back.

Kakashi was the first to notice Airi’s revenge, and was the only one to know that it was in fact revenge, as he noticed the scent of bread shortly after the chimney started to smoke. The rest of the team all noticed before too long, and soon after the grumbling of stomachs could be heard from the kids

“Keep on task” Kakashi said as Naruto got lost in the smell for a moment “You can always come back and purchase some after we get paid” He offered simply as he kept up the work on reroofing the building.

He had to remind his students several more times, as the smells of freshly baked confections just kept growing and they kept getting more distracted, but for the most part he was able to keep them on task. As they were nearly done, Kakashi swore he heard something. Looking around he heard it again, but this time he could make it out better.

Glancing down the street he saw Guy and his team heading in this direction. Guy and Lee were loudly declaring… something or the other. It had grabbed Kakashi’s attention mainly because they kept shouting Youth.

[EasilyAmused]

As they were getting closer to being done, Airi was as well. Her confections placed sweetly inside little to go containers with small notes on top. The notes were to each member of Team Seven thanking them for their hard work and helping her keep her business up and running. Kakashi’s folded note, however, was a smiling face with a tongue sticking out; indicating that she knew just how much of a pain in a butt she was being. Placing the small boxes on the open window ceil she cleaned up her mess and put out the fire in the oven.

That was until she heard the bell ring on the front door of the bakery despite the ‘closed’ sign being up. Her attention moved to the front door as her brows pushed together in confusion. Why would someone ring the doorbell when the sign said she was closed? Leaving the kitchen she ventured through the shop to hear voices outside, young voices, saying that the bakery was closed and they didn’t understand why they were here.

Pulling open the door she was instantly pulled into the arms of a burly man and spun around in a couple circles. Upon her feet returning to the ground she placed a hand on her head as her consciousness stopped spinning.

“Airi, these are my students!” Might Guy said excitedly to her with his traditional sparkling smile as he pointed to each child. “Rock Lee, Tenten, and Neji Hyuga.”

“Hello.” Tenten responded with a smile while Neji just nodded his stone-faced greeting.

“You’re the owner of Delicious Delights!” Lee expressed, his excitement matching his Sensei.

It was kinda cute, he looked like a mini version of Guy and to that she gave him a tender smile. He had someone to look up to and troubled children needed someone like that. However, her smile was misinterpreted as Lee blurted at her.

“You’re Guy-Sensei’s fiancé!” Airi’s face reddened in embarrassment as Lee shouted at the top of his lungs in excitement. “The best Ninja in the village is going to marry the best baker in the village!”

“That’s right. Work hard and it will pay off.” Guy said with a sparkling smile and his arm around a red-faced Airi’s shoulder who pushed a smile onto her face. “I even received the blessing from her parents!” And there was no doubt her parents were just as happy as Guy was.

[Shifter_Master]

Kakashi would be the first to admit that he could be insufferably nosy, the reason most people were willing to put up with it was the simple fact that most of them were blissfully unaware just how often the masked nin would poke his nose in their affiars. It was how he knew about his student’s habits while off duty, it was how he knew that Kurenai and Asuma were both thinking about dating each other.

It was why Kakashi was moving to eavesdrop on Gai and Airi.

The work on the roof was nearly finished; Naruto was hammering in the last few bits while Sasuke cleaned up the discarded shingles and Saukra collected the tools. Kakashi for the most part hadn’t done much other than supervise, as Naruto seemed to have some experience in repairing a roof. Thus Kakashi offered to go collect the paper work to signify the completed mission while the three cleaned up.

After his team acknowledged the plan Kakashi quietly dropped down from the roof. He landed just off the side of the front door, and was just in time to hear Lee yell out ”You’re Guy-Sensei’s fiancé!” That stopped the silver haired ninja cold.

He stayed just out of sight as he listened in to the next few moments of conversation. His thoughts were a buzz of activity as he dealt with the sudden sense of loss that was brought about by Guy’s affirmation. A few things started to become much clearer to the Ex-Anbu however, some of the ‘factors’ that were hindering his friend from returning to the corps seemed to be coming to light. This didn’t calm his thoughts however, it made them more confusing.

Thus he closed his eye and took a silent breath forcing his thoughts to calm. As he released his breath he reopened his eye, unseen by all was the fact that he had also opened his covered eye at the same time. Since it was still covered it wasn’t drawing any Chakra from Kakashi, but the simple fact that he had opened it had sharpened his focus.

‘Too many questions, not enough answers’ He told himself calmly ‘Emotions come third, mission comes second, The Pack comes first.’ He waited a heartbeat before he resumed moving in to Delicious Delights. He knew Guy well enough to know that the boisterous man wasn’t lying about the engagement, but the fact that Airi hadn’t said anything in response was also very telling. There was also the fact that neither of them had told him about it. From Guy, Kakashi could understand; it had nothing to do with their rivalry.

Air not telling him, however, it hurt. Or it would hurt, if Kakashi didn’t have a suspicion that she wasn’t as enthused about it as her current fiancé, but as he told himself before, too many questions not enough answers. He would deal with his own rolling ball of emotions later, for the moment he had answers to gleam.

---

The jingle of the door signaled Kakashi’s lazy entrance in to Airi’s establishment, he had the same bored look on his face that he always seemed to wear, though it was mixed with a faint hint of curiosity as he took in Team Guy. Each of the Genin in turn, turned to regard the newcomer each much more apparent with their curiosity.

There was a moment of silence as everyone took stock of each other, alas it was never to last as Guy began ”Ahh my Eternal Rival wha-"

“We are done fixing the roof Airi, anything else you needed?” Kakashi asked both cutting off and completely ignoring Guy for a moment before he turned to the man seeming to only just now notice him dispite the fact he was still holding Airi “Hmm? Oh Guy, fancy meeting you here.” he said with slight cheer and an eye smile.

”You and your hip attitude Kakashi!” Guy called out in despair.

[EasilyAmused]

Ugh this was uncomfortable… anyone who knew Airi well knew that she was forcing a smile. And it had been so long since Guy and Airi had been together hanging out so he didn’t catch her little changes but… there were little changes. Her tone of voice was higher, her body seemed a bit stiff and her smile looked a little forced.

The question on anyone’s mind would likely be why she agreed to marry Guy. And there were a few factors to this. One was the idea of her parents; her finding a man and settling down seemed rather important despite the fact that Airi had no drive to settle down at her current state. But it also rolled around that if she was at least engaged, individuals could come forward and begin to ask for Ana’s hand. With Ana and her personality/talent she was highly sought after in town as a potential wife but her parents wouldn’t let her date until Airi was situated… and with her lack of dating it made things difficult for Ana so maybe… just maybe accepting Guy’s proposal can help Ana move forward.

The only problem with that theory is that Ana wanted ---

“Guy, I placed a request to have some Genin help replace my roof.” She said with a nod to Guy before turning her attention to the bored looking Kakashi. “I’ll go get the paperwork you need.” Her response was followed a nod and an indication that she would be right back.

With that she hurried towards the back into the kitchen and up the stairs to her apartment before letting out a long heavy sigh. It was hard to look Kakashi in the face, how much did he hear---wait, it’s Kakashi, he probably heard it all! A groan left her as her head hung and her small hands ran through her blonde hair. Fan-freaking-tastic. After taking a moment to compose herself and realizing… well leaving them along probably wouldn’t be a good idea she collected the papers he needed and signed the proper locations before coming back down the stairs and looking over at the window ceil. All boxes were taken except for one, the one for Kakashi.

A small groan left her before she went to the window. She didn’t want to awkwardness of giving it to Kakashi when she didn’t have anything for Guy but… she wanted to make sure he got them too… that was until a pink head bounced by the window. “Sakura!” She called out, stopping the young girl. “That’s for you Sensei will you make sure he gets it?”

“Oh! Yes ma’am.” Sakura replied politely as she took the second box and followed her teammates to the front of the building around the side.

Her head jerked back in surprise. “Ma’am?!” She repeated in a startled tone as she reached up and touched her face. “Oh god no, I’m not that old.” Reassuring herself, she hurried back into the front and to the group. “Here we are.” She said brightly with an honest smile, “All signed and ready for you. And I saw the bouncing head of the Genin making their way to the front. Don’t give them too hard of a time, but don’t slack either.” Her voice was playful and fun and half of her wanted Kakashi to leave since she wasn’t sure what the conversation happened when she left but at the same time she wanted him to stay… she missed him.

[Shifter_Master]

Airi’s discomfort was easy to pick up; just it was easy to see that Guy was oblivious to this. Not that Kakashi blamed Guy, the man was a fantastic jonin and easily the best Taijutsu specialist that Konoha had. That being said Guy had always been more of a front line combatant than anything else, thus when off the field he tended to let his situational awareness wonder. Kakashi had over ten years of Black Ops experience that drilled in to him never to let his situational awareness drop.

Kakashi just gave Airi an eye smile as she stepped away to get the paperwork he was after, glad to give her a moment to regain her equilibrium. “So..” the masked nin drawled as he turned to Guy “You’re engaged?” he asked casually as he pulled out his book.

“Indeed I am my rival” was the proud response

“When did that happen?”

“Last month. I asked her parents for her hand in marriage.”

That had Kakashi looking up from his book, with a mild look of surprise on his face. He had figured that it had happened more recently then that, if for no other reason than he was only now hearing about it. Guy just had a large easy going grin on his face as the two men looked at each other and Kakashi did have to reevaluate his earlier assumption. Guy not telling him did hurt, if only because it didn’t seem as if the green clad ninja had any regrets about keeping it a secret from Kakashi.

‘When were going to tell me?’ Was the unspoken question that hung in the air between the two.

‘When you got the invite’ seemed to be the response.

Before the tension between the two could start building up Airi returned and handed over the required paperwork. “Wouldn’t dream about” Was Kakashi’s reply as he gave a slight wave before he departed. He would have preferred if he could stay, both to try and snoop without being obvious and because they were his closest friends, but the mission had to be completed.

---

Team seven was about half way back to the mission desk when Sakura piped up “Oh, Miss Mae made this for you” interrupting the conversation about wall walking that had been going on, as she pulled out the treat that Airi had made for Kakashi and handed it to him.

The ninja in question just chuckled lightly at the attached note before he stowed it away “Thank you Sakura, now where were we”

---

“No missions tomorrow, team” Kakashi informed them as they walked out from the mission hall “We will be working on perfecting the tree climbing technique. If you can progress to the point where I feel it is sufficient we will apply for a C rank deal?” after getting a chorus of yeses Team seven split up to go their separate ways.

Kakashi himself was going snooping, he had resolved not to bug Airi about what it was that had been disturbing her a few days ago, and he was going to stick to that unless things got bad. That didn’t mean he couldn’t go and bug her family about it instead.

He had thought about going and asking her parents, but discarded that idea almost as soon as he had thought about it. Parents know alot about their kids but rarely do they know everything. Siblings on the other hand, tend to know more than most people would expect. It was this thought that had him blurring in to focus atop one of the houses in the civilian district.

He knew who he was looking for, though he hadn’t had much contact with them in years, Ana, Airi’s sister. If he had been a civilian, it would have next to impossible; even some jonin would have difficulty trying to find one person in the city with only the memory of their target to go off of. But Kakashi wasn’t a normal jonin, and he liked to poke his nose in to his friends’ lives without them knowing about it. Thus he already knew which neighborhood he was looking for, and from there it was a simple task to narrow it down to the right house.

Not even five minutes later Kakashi was knocking on Ana’s door. Not that many people would recognize him at the moment; He looked to be dressed in a simple gray long sleeve shirt and black pants, his headband had been swapped out for a black strip of cloth and his trademark mask wasn’t visible.

This wasn’t to say that Kakashi had dressed in civilian clothes for this trip, the man didn’t own any such clothes, and instead he was under a basic transformation jutsu to alter his appearance. The face he was wearing was a default one Kakashi used when he had to go unnoticed; it wasn’t how he actually looked.

The reason for the change of look was simple; most civilians didn’t react well to a jonin showing up at their front door, regardless of how innocent the reason for them being there was. Plus he didn’t want it getting back to either Airi or Guy that he had went snooping and the gossip that a silver haired ninja had visited a civilian would tip them off.

Now he just had to hope that Ana was home at the moment.

[EasilyAmused]

After Team Seven left, Airi invited Team Guy to sit down and the five individuals chatted. A lot of the questions mixed around her work at the shop and the discussion of the engagement. When the topic of the wedding arrived neither Guy nor Airi had an answer. Guy played it off like it was in the plan stages but Airi wasn’t so sure about the whole ‘planning’ stage. Who was planning it? She certainly wasn’t and no one has mentioned to her about things she needed to do or prepare. If anything she’d be the one to bake the cake but they’d have to order her dress, prepare flowers, find an area, get a portrait do…

“Ana!” Airi jumped to her feet in the middle of their conversation causing them all to jerk to look at her in surprise. “Oh, I’m sorry! I just remembered I need to visit Ana.”

“Oh yes your sister. She’s a fine girl!”

“Yes she is, I’m very sorry but I need to finish up what I’m doing and go to her house right away.” Airi said as she pushed the team out of the building. As she shut the door, she heard something about asking Ana to paint their wedding portrait and she placed her forehead against the door. “Oh if you only knew how much she wanted to be in the one in the painting.” Her small fist balled up against the door. The man didn’t understand who actually wanted him and Ana couldn’t get herself to breathe a word in the direction of arguing about the proposal.

Poor Ana… Airi hurried to gather the bread she had promised her sister before locking the bakery behind her and hurried through town. Soon she was at the front door of her sisters quant little house and knocked on the door. A loud stumbling noise came from inside followed by a couple shouts of pain and curse words until the door unlashed and open.

The door revealed a rather disgruntled brunette version of Airi, a bit taller with brown eyes and looking exhausted.

“What?” Was the first words the brunette said to the blonde.

Smiling as bright as she could, Airi chimed, “Hello sis!” SLAM the door nearly hit her face. “Ana! No. Open this door!”

“MAKE ME!” A disgruntled yell came from the other side of the door.

“I have lemon poppy seed bread.” She called out. A pause sat between the two sisters before the door opened and Ana’s hand snatched out to take the bread in a desperate attempt to get it… only to have Airi’s hand wrapped around her sister’s wrist. “Ana, you need to get some light.”

“I need bread!” She called out as her fingers wiggled towards the bread.

“Open the door you shut-in.” Airi called out with a laugh as she let go of her little sister’s wrist and the door flung open.

Getting inside it was… a mess. A groan left her as she arrived inside, “Ugh, Ana; what happened?”

“I didn’t get a chance to clean.” Ana said in distress as she fell down onto the nearby couch face first.

“So, you’re telling me going out of town didn’t help?”

”Mmm fmfmm mmf mmffm mfff mfm mmm MMFFFF.”

“Take your face off the couch, I can’t understand you.” Airi said as she placed down the bread and began to pick up the living room.

The brunette pulled her face from couch pillow and wined. “It did help but now my house is a MESS!”

Jumping into big-sister mode, the blonde shoved her sister into her bathroom and said to not come out until she had a proper bath. Her poor sister just got back from visiting the Sand Village and it obviously did not do well for. So while her sister relaxed, the elder sister tied her hair up and began to clean. After being gone for a couple weeks, and not cleaning before she left the poor girls house was a mess but… there was no denying her sister’s talent.

The artworks from her time there were incredible and it was no surprise that when Airi was done cleaning she pulled out her hair and admired the new artwork displayed on the stands in her house.

Ana treated her house as a consulting location in the front room and the back as her living quarters. “I love new work.” She called out with excitement as she looked over the desert themed pieces.

“I’m really glad I went.” Ana said coming out dressed in a brown knee length dress as she dried her hair with a towel. “I was able to do a couple pieces that turned out better than I expected. Not much inspiration to be found around here these days so going away really helped.”

“It was a good call. I can’t wait to see you travel more and the more things you come back with but don’t forget your home.” Airi said with a smile and a hug to her sister before explaining she had to go.

Ana saw her sister to the door, thanking her for her help before shutting it. Finishing her hair she tied it up into a ribbon and sighed. She loved her sister but she was also jealous… Airi was marrying the man she wanted, at least a chance at. She couldn’t stay mad at her beloved sister but she couldn’t overlook the fact that her sister was with the man she wanted to be with. With her parents stupid rules… they were stuck.

A knock echoed through her house a few minutes after Airi left and Ana ventured to the door, a freshly cut piece of bread in her palm. She pulled open the door with her free hand and smiled softly at the guy, “Hello, can I help you?”

[Shifter_Master]

The moment that Ana opened the door Kakashi picked up on some of the fresher scents that were in the house. There was a hint of soap that was floating about the house and it also came from Ana that told him she had taken a bath recently. The bread she had was fresh, made within a day or so he would guess. Put that together with Airi’s scent that was, both detectable both on the porch where he was and, wafting from inside made him think that he had arrived just after his friend had left.

Then there were the heaver scents of paint and sand, the paint was old and somewhat baked in to the house. ’So she was successful at becoming a painter’ was the thought that came from that smell, but he couldn’t place why the sand. He had a few guesses, she had taken a trip recently or had a delivery brought from wind but there just wasn’t enough for him to be able to say for sure from just the smell.

“Hello, can I help you?”

“Hi, you must be Ana. I’m a friend of Airi’s, she doesn’t know I’m here and I was wondering if you could help me understand something” Kakashi replied with abashed sincerity, half of which was just an act. He was sincere about wanting the help, but he was by no means embarrassed by his snooping, most people were just more willing to help someone who looked as if they were.

“Why did she agree to marry Guy?” he asked letting his honest confusion be plainly apparent in his voice.

---

Unknown to Kakashi, or the rest of team seven, one of his students had decided to take a break from his normal after missions routine. There was a few questions that had been bugging the kid for a while now, and he figured that he might as well try and get them answered alongside the questions that had popped up today.

He went straight home after being dismissed by Kakashi-sensei, and made himself a small snack to go along with the treat he had received from Airi earlier. It wasn’t the same as his normal after mission meal but he didn’t want to spend too much time at his favorite restaurant today as he would miss out on being able to ask his question, or at least that was the young boy’s thoughts on the matter. Afterwards he switched out his normal black shirt for a simple white long sleeved one and just tied his jacket around his waist; he watered his plants and then set off.

His destination was oddly enough where he had come from earlier in the day Delicious Delights. He had a few questions, and a request for Airi, and he was reasonably sure she would actually listen to him unlike most of the other civilians in the village.

Eventually the blond ninja found himself at the back door of Delicious Delights, he chose the back door for two reasons, first was it meant less people glaring at him while he waited for someone to answer and two his request had to do with the garden.

Taking a calming breath Naruto knocked on the back door and waited and hopped. He figured that Airi was a good person like Iruka-sensei or Jiji as she didn’t feel prickly as most of the village did, but it was always good to be on the safe side.

[EasilyAmused]

Ana stared blankly at the man who stood at her doorstep; why was a friend of Airi’s visiting her? Did he want a consulting on a painting? Or worse… was he the way that Airi was going to ask her to paint Guy and Airi’s wedding portrait. She opened her mouth to almost yell at him that she didn’t want to talk to him, her young mind mixing together her emotions and almost the information that the man before her wanted to know with something she was just going to… well scream at him. The poor girl hadn’t been on her proper rocker since she found out Airi was going to marry the same she wanted a shot at.

However she found herself swallowing her sorrow when he asked why Airi agreed to marry Guy. A small sigh left her as she pulled open her door and gestured for him to come inside. “Please come in. I’d rather not say it to the neighborhood.”

Once he was inside, she shut the door behind him and lead him into her consultation area where she sat down at the table and gestured for him to have a seat across from her. “Please sit down.” Taking in a deep breathe she began. “First of all, you need to know it’s not Airi’s fault, or more or less, her choice. My parents have always wanted Airi to be the first to get married, or at least engaged so… being the close minded individuals they are…” She muttered that last part harshly under her breathe, “Anyone who came to my parents expressing interest in me were turned away because no one had expressed interest in Airi. Turning away any suitors for me was probably hard for my parents, thinking they’d never get the opportunity to see me happy if they couldn’t find Airi someone. Then… Guy came along…”

Ana gently poke a nail at the table. “I honestly thought he was coming to ask about me. Something I had… hoped would happen for a long time. But, he asked for Airi’s hand and seeing no one else coming to ask for a chance with Airi, they agreed to let Guy marry her and when they asked her about it…” She took in a deep breath and let out a long sigh. “Her only question was if she accepted the proposal would I be able to date, in the eyes of my parents of course. And they told her yes. So she agreed.”

Another sigh rose and fell her shoulders as she followed with a gentle shrug. “She did it for me, but if our parents weren’t so closed minded then maybe things would be different. It would just figure it would be Guy…” Her muttering made her pull her hand from the table and prop up her elbow on the table while resting her chin in her hand. “Does that answer your question?”

----

Humming a tone to herself, the blonde finished up her grocery shopping and with her arms full of bags she rounded the corner to the back of Delicious Delights. It had been a good day despite the awkward encounter between Kakashi and Guy. That seemed… uncomfortable to say the least but outside of that it was water under the bridge.

Around the corner she found none other than Naruto standing and staring at the back door to her shop. She paused for a moment to look at him. The poor boy had no one and most of the town hated him because of what was inside of him. He had no control over it, literally, and yet people take out their negative feelings towards a young innocent boy who is just trying to find himself. Stupid, horrible people! He’s just a child with goals and dreams; but he had a team now, he wasn’t alone and… and she didn’t want him to be alone when he didn’t have to be.

“Hello Naruto, you just caught me coming back from shopping…” Reaching into her pocket through the struggle of the bag she tossed him the keys. “Be a dear and open the door for me so I can get the stuff into the kitchen. Third key from the right.”

Once they were inside and she had her things set down and her keys back, she began to unpack and put things away. “Did you like the treats?” She asked with a bright smile as she pulled open the large fridge and deposited the milk inside. “What’s brought you here?”

[Shifter_Master]

Naruto jumped slightly when he heard Airi from behind him but quickly moved to help when she tossed him the key to her house. The smile that slid on to his face as he opened the door was a soft one that very few in the village had ever seen, as it was not lost on the young ninja how willing Airi was in trusting him. It reminded him a lot of Teuchi and Ayame.

Without being prompted Naruto assisted with putting the recently gotten goods away “Oh I was wondering if you could answer somethings for me and the snacks were awesome” he replied with his normal enthusiastic grin as he placed the eggs next to her so she could put them away.

“I was wondering if you knew why Kakashi-sensei is always down” The genin asked without any preamble as he kept putting things away “It’s only when you’ve been around that he feels normal, all the other times he sounds the same but it’s like something heavy is pushing down on him” he explained as best he could, but it was tricky to put in to words. “I was also wondering if I could borrow part of your garden so I could grow some herbs, everyone is telling me I need to eat better so I figured I could stare with smaller green things first.” He continued on not realizing just how bizarre it was that he was able to get a read on Kakashi at all.

---

Kakashi just nodded as he stepped inside the house and followed her in to the front room. He quietly inspected the various art pieces that were scattered here and there, and was rather impressed. He wasn’t much for the art it’s self but could easily tell the skill involved in each of the pieces. Some of the newer ones, if the smell was anything to go by, reminded him of Suna and he wondered if they explained the sandy scent that was lurking in the background.

He pulled his attention back to Ana as she started to explain why Airi had agreed to the marriage, he muttering not going unnoticed by the skilled ninja. Afterwards Kakashi sat there with a look of confusion on his face as tried to fit everything together. He understood all the individual parts that were being told to him, the parent’s weird requirement, the desire to help family, the frankly terrible luck of who. It was just when it was all put together it didn’t make as much sense to the silver haired man.

“That does answer my question, thank you.” He said after a moment of processing what was told to him “I have another question, if you don’t mind, and I apologize if this comes off as rude but why not go out and date people despite your parents?” It was the only other question that he couldn’t wrap his head around. Maybe it was to do with having parents? Or maybe it was a civilian thing, Kakashi was honestly not sure. Raised in a ninja house hold and then orphaned at a young age due to suicide and bad luck meant that he was unaware about how the ‘normal’ world worked.

[EasilyAmused]

The presence of the young blonde in her shop during closed hours was a nice one. It wasn’t often that she had visitors, so it was nice to have someone to talk to, much less help her with the groceries. The companionship of having a visitor was nice and the room itself seemed to fill with an unseen happiness as the young man bounced around helping her with her much needed tasks. Maybe this was what it was like to have company… maybe she should get a cat.

“Questions? Sure! I’ll do what I can.” She responded in a bright and cheery tone matching Naruto as she began to load the eggs in the proper storage area in the fridge. However, his question about Kakashi nearly made her drop the egg she was holding. Kakashi? Down? He always seemed so happy and relaxed, almost bored with everything around his life yet… he was ‘down’ or being pushed down by an unseen force of stress. It came as a complete and utter surprise to her that he would notice such a little thing on someone who was as unreadable as Kakashi. \

Realizing that her pause was probably longer than it should have been she broke from her surprised expression into a smile. “I’m afraid I don’t have much of an answer for you about Kakashi, but I can tell you about the garden.” She responded innocently as she leaned against the counter. “I’ll tell you what. Why don’t you and I work on the garden together? When you have free time between missions and training you can come over here and we’ll plant, water and weed together. You help with the work and I’ll give you half of what grows. And don’t worry, if it’s time to harvest and you’re gone I’ll save a box of what grows for you and you can pick it up at any time. Okay… as long as it’s not in the middle of the night that might not be the best time. But any other time would work okay. If the shops open come in through the front and if it’s not just come around the back and ring the bell.”

“How… how does Kakashi seem different when I’m around?” She questioned softly as she wrapped up putting the rest of the groceries. She… she had to ask, could you blame her?

----

His question was an honest one. However it was enough to make her laugh, as a matter of fact, her laughter was loud enough that it rang like bells throughout her house. “Honestly, that’s your question?” She asked in a cheeky fashion as she tucked her hand under her chin and watched him closely. “I’ve been on plenty of dates. But none as important as the one person I would like to go out with. But… he recently came off the market.” She expressed with a rather tired sounding sigh.

“As for Airi, it’s to my understanding that she’s been out on a few dates not arranged by our parents but not many. She’s mentioned maybe two but said they were either awkward or they just didn’t click. As a matter of fact I don’t think she’s been on one since about a year after she open the shop so… four years ago.” A shrug rose and fell a single shoulder as she seemed rather bored with the conversation.

Pulling her head from her hand and leaning back in her chair she stared down the man across the table. “So. Friend-Of-Airi, why do you ask?”

[Shifter_Master]

Kakashi was relieved that his question had been received well, though that relief was masked with curiosity at her laughter, her answer didn’t do much to alleviate him of his confusion however. It seemed that both Airi and Ana were willing to disregard their parents rules when it came to dating, but it was due to following those rules that they now found themselves in a lose-lose situation. It seemed rather cyclical to the silver haired man, but he was planning on just chalking it up to a civilian thing, after all it wasn’t making any more sense to him.

“Three years, eight months and six days” Kakashi muttered off handedly, supplying just how long ago it had been since Airi had opened her shop, as he resisted the urge to face palm “Must be irritating for her, as I’m sure she had her reasons, especially because her and Guy don’t click in that way” he expanded though it was somewhat apparent that Kakashi was speaking to himself as much as he was speaking to Ana.

He was glad that he came to talk with Ana; it helped clear some of the ambiguity of the situation around Airi. He could also tell that he might have to do more than snoop in this instance as it was plain as day to Kakashi that Airi was effectively trapped by her own good nature, and while he knew Guy wouldn’t have intentionally done that to Airi, it didn’t stop the spike of cold anger that came from the realization.

“I ask” Kakashi started as he pulled himself out of his thought “Because I ran in to the two of them today, and could not help but notice that Airi looked very uncomfortable. It was also the first time that I had heard the news” He replied with a casual shrug “I try to stay up to date with my friends, so this one caught my somewhat flat footed, and it would be rather rude to have asked her when Guy was not three feet from me at the time.”

“Another question if I may, why didn’t you ask Guy out?”

---

Naruto was too busy tracking down the right place to put away the groceries to notice Airi’s surprised silence, and was honestly tempted to just make a few clones to sort through everything quicker, as her kitchen was the size of his apartment. He didn’t, but it was a near thing.

“That would be awesome” Naruto replied with a huge grin upon hearing the proposed deal. He was looking forward to working in the garden even more now, he had wanted to when he first saw it as he had something of a green thumb but was limited to the few plants he had at his apartment. Now he had been given permission to work on the garden and would even get some groceries out of the deal. “I can do that, no problem”

His enthusiasm was tempered slightly at Airi’s next question however because it was really hard for him to explain the feelings he got. He had tried a few times with Iruka but, while the Chunin believed him, it wasn’t something that got brought up because of the difficulty Naruto had in describing things pertaining to it. Still, he was asked.

“It’s hard to say exactly, like he doesn’t act much different. More lazy really, he has his book out a lot more often, stuff like that.” He crossed his arms as he started explaining and was tilting his head side to side as he tried to find the right way to put it “The biggest thing is that… it just.. He kinda feels like he is wearing drenched clothing… Sorta… or like he is underwater? Everything he does just seems to need more effort than it should. Then when you are there, he doesn’t lose that weight so much as it just doesn’t seem to bother him anymore, like whatever is weighing him down is forgotten about or is no longer as heavy?” The frustration of trying to put in to words the feelings he was getting was easily apparent as he stumbled through his explanation. “Does that make sense?”

[EasilyAmused]

A confused look moved over Ana’s face as the man expressed that Airi was uncomfortable around Guy. This was a concept she didn’t quite understand as she would find herself happy to be around him. But… she wasn’t Airi. But one of the things she had in common with her sister was that they both wore their emotions on their sleeves. Airi had a better control over hiding them but the look on Ana’s face said shew as confused and surprised at the knowledge that her sister was uncomfortable around her fiancé.

Then her expression changed to one of instant embarrassment as she awkwardly looked everywhere else but towards the man she shared the table with. He caught her on her feelings towards Guy. How embarrassing!! That embarrassment quickly turned into annoyance as she pushed herself to her feet. “You’ll find that Airi and I don’t have the same outlook on our parent’s beliefs but one thing we both have in common is that we believe the guy should ask the girl out. If we didn’t I would have asked Guy and she’d have asked that dumb copy ninja but we’re both old fashioned that way.”

“And with that I feel like I’ve answered all the questions I’m willing to do on that topic.” She practically pushed Kakashi out of her front door. “If you’ll excuse me, I just returned to from a trip and have a large amount of unpacking to do. So Mr. ‘friend of Guy and Airi’ I wish you a wonderful evening.” With that she slammed the door on her face. While she wasn’t the best hostess or came across as the nicest person on the planet, she had a good heart and you couldn’t argue with her talents.

SLAM

----

Airi’s face scrunched together as she attempted to understand what Naruto was saying. So Kakashi was going through… something, or had something that was always weighing on him but, when she was around, he seemed to feel less burdened or it wasn’t as much of his primary focus. Interesting. The idea of asking Naruto if he knew what was on Kakashi’s mind crossed her thoughts but she pushed it away. The kid seemed bothered enough that he couldn’t get out the entire explanation, she didn’t want to pressure him for any more.

Her face softened into a kind smile as she placed a hand on his head and ruffled his messy hair. “I won’t say it makes complete sense because you seem to be more in tune with people’s emotions than others but it does answer a lot of questions and shed some light on something that’s dark. You have a real talent for reading between the lines Naruto, that’s a rare thing. And it’s a good thing too.” A bright smile moved across her face before the two arranged a loosely based schedule for helping with the garden and she bid him farewell.

Once he was gone, she finished up the last few things she had to do before throwing on a jacket and leaving her house, locking the door behind her. Her stomach called out to her to find something to eat and instead of cooking, she decided to find something outside to eat. Sliding her hands into her pockets, she ventured down the road debating on where to eat tonight.

[Shifter_Master]

The slam of Ana’s front door drew a few glances from those who were walking past, but the empty porch didn’t hold much attention and they quickly forgot the incident as they went about their day.

Kakashi was off a ways on a distant roof, he was gazing upwards at the clouds and his disguise had been dropped. For the casual observer he seemed his normal laid back self, but that was decisively untrue. The conversation that he was replaying in his mind or more specifically the last part was stuck on repeat.

He had asked his last question partially out of curiosity and partly out of annoyance. He knew that it would most likely wear out his welcome when he did and he was fine with that as he had gotten the information that he had come for. It was Ana’s parting shot at Airi that he wasn’t expecting.

“she’d have asked that dumb copy ninja”

It was such an innocuous set of words, which had rattled said ‘dumb copy ninja’. The part of him that had been depressed by having to correct Naruto days earlier was dancing with joy. It was overshadowed by the rest of the emotions that were whirling around in him, skepticism, depression and a notable amount of fear.

“I need a drink” Kakashi said softly as he pulled his attention back to his surroundings. This day had been emotionally trying for him, the fact that most of it had blindsided him just added to the trying nature of it all. He wanted to go to the memorial stone or perhaps to Rin’s grave and just be alone with his thoughts for a while(The rest of the day). It was with one of those destinations in mind that he turned to start roof hopping away when his stomach grumbled softly.

‘Food first’ he decided as he set off back to the commerce district of Konoha, his plan was to get something to go then perhaps go deal with his revelations elsewhere, with that in mind he just followed his nose to what ever smelt the best. Still his attention was more inward then normal, so while he wouldn't be caught off guard by an attack or something similar. He could easily walk past someone he knows with out noticing them.

[EasilyAmused]

It didn’t take long before Airi’s stomach pulled her towards a local tavern where she found herself poking at her food. Today wasn’t the best of days. She did get to see her sister, made a new little blonde haired friend and got her roof re-done but…

Her thoughts moved back to Kakashi, he was kind enough to give her an out and away from the conversation by asking her if there was anything else he needed before they left but this was not the way she wanted to tell him about her engagement. In fact, she’d rather not have to address the topic at all but… that was a long lost feeble dream of a mad woman. He knew now and there was no erasing that information. A small sigh left her as she picked up the last bit of her meal and popped it into her mouth. There was always a chance he didn’t hear it… no, even that’s a false hope. It’s safer to think Kakashi knows something even if he doesn’t because…well he’ll find out sooner or later.

Something inside of her said she had to talk to him about it but… what was there to be said? ‘Hey sorry I didn’t tell you I’m engaged to your ninja rival. But you know now, want some cake?’ Sure… Her small hands wrapped into her blonde hair as she gave it a small pull of stress. What was wrong with her!? Why was it stressing her out to possibly talk with him? Just talk! Uuuggghhh!!!

Rising from her seat she left her payment on the table and disappeared into the bathroom. About ten minutes later she came out to catch a glimpse of the last person she expected to see, exiting the bar with food in his hand. Before he mind could argue with her body, she instantly followed him, hurrying to keep him with his less than normal speed. He had food with him and seemed to be heading in an off direction.

Where is he going? She mused to herself as she took cover behind a nearby tree when he finally arrived to the destination and what she saw as she spied behind the tree left her in complete surprise.

[Shifter_Master]

It was a testament to how rough the day had been that Kakashi reached his destination without ever noticing that he had a tail since he had gotten food. No one else bothered to follow him other than Airi, everyone else just assumed that things were normal with the masked nin, had they followed they would have easily learned that was not the case.

Kakashi was at the graveyard, not a place he was commonly seen. He had slowed to a walk once he passed through the archway that stood at the entrance; it had been a while since he had come here last, a few years in fact. He still knew where he was heading with ease however. In no time at all he found himself standing in front of an old grave. It was well maintained as all of the graves were, but it lacked any flowers from friends or family.

Rin Nohara

That was the name inscribed on the flat stone, a name that always took Kakashi back to his younger years. He let out a weary sigh as he slowly sat down. “Hey Rin, it’s been a while.” His voice was strangely open to those who knew Kakashi. He was a man of masks, always hiding things behind either a physical one or an emotional one. Now however the emotional mask was lowered, and he wasn’t bothering to project an image he was just being himself, and right now he was tired.

“Sorry about that been busy. Got kicked out of Anbu, they have me as a jonin instructor right now if you can believe that.” He carefully opened his meal as he filled the air with a brief summary of what had happened to him recently the food was just the first thing on the menu that looked alright “Granted I’ve not been the kindest of instructors, considering that I was failing anyone that couldn’t pass the Bell test.” It was without ceremony that Kakashi started eating, but the thing was different was him eating like a normal person. His mask was down and he was eating at a sedated pace not causing his food to vanish from its container as he normally would. “Yeah I know just how difficult that is for fresh recruits to piece together, but that’s the point. Doesn’t matter anyway, I have a team that past. Team seven. Yeah, I’ve got the old team number and more than that I’ve got Sasuke Uchiha, last of his clan and he reminds me of me back when… I was still an idiot.” He grimaced at the apt comparison and for a moment Kakashi drifted off in to the past as the ‘What ifs’ sounding out in his mind as they always would.

Eventually Kakashi would speak up again chuckling softly “All skill no heart, Obito would be ashamed.” but his smile would seem hollow “There isn’t much to say about Sakura Haruno, she is a Civilian, good mind but terrible application. Then there is Naruto Uzumaki” The was pain in his voice was just as clear on face as he brought up the blond genin of his team “He looks so much like his father and acts just like his mother that it hurts to be near him, but he will do great things one day of that I am sure. I just hope that I’ll be helpful in him getting there.”

He fell silent again for a bit as he picked at his meal before he gave a weak laugh “You would have been a better sensei. You would have become the mother the boys don’t have and the role model that Sakura needs, you would get close to your team. But they got stuck with me; A scarecrow that brings nothing but ruin.”

He remained silent as he finished his meal, plagued by dark thoughts, ‘what ifs’ and old wounds that never truly healed. As he started to put away his trash he gave one last look at the headstone of one of his first friends “If you could do me a favor? Try and make sure I’m the one who dies next? I only have one good friend left and Airi would be fine after a bit, plus someone better would step in for my students”

A few moments later, Kakashi would be gone and there would be next to no trace that he had been there save for a single flower resting on the grave he had sat in front of.

---

Later the next day

---

“Relax Naruto, and focus on your breathing for a moment” Kakashi was currently helping his most rambunctious student when it came to tree climbing, his other two students had gone home already when Naruto had asked him to stay to help a bit more.

Naruto for his part was doing his best to follow along with Kakashi instructions, but was beginning to get more and more antsy; he was forgetting something but couldn’t quite tell what.

“Feel the flow of your chakra and try and match it with the ebb and flow of the tree” He instructed while he was currently standing at a ninety degree angle with the ground due to walking on said tree. “Try and-“

“OH crap! I’m late!” Naruto nearly shouted as he turned and started sprinting back towards the village, he had remembered that he was going to be helping Airi out with her garden today. She was nice to him, so he didn’t want to be rude by just blowing her off.

The fact that he was blowing of Kakashi to help her didn’t register to the young ninja.

Kakashi just looked on at his fleeing student in curiosity, as far as he knew Naruto didn’t have any plans on this day, which meant that it was a new occurrence for the boy. The masked ninja didn’t have anything planned for the rest of the day so decided to follow after the orange missile to find out what the new thing would cause such a reaction from him.

His surprise at following Naruto to Delicious Delights was photography worthy, just a shame that no one was around to see it.