Lovers In The Shadows - Kakashi x Reader

07 | settling the score

You shut the door and returned to the center of the room to face his desk. A few moments of silence passed as you stared at the village through the windows along the wall.
Your heart started to race before you blurted out "you wanted to see me, Lord Sixth?" There it is again, the thinking before speaking. What is it about this guy?

"Yes, I did" he replied, coolly. He kept his head down, reading from an open scroll. "First things first, relax your shoulders. You have nothing to worry about" he said.

You didn't realize it until now but your shoulders were so tense they were sitting just below your ears. You relaxed and your shoulders dropped.

"Now" he started, "I wanted to ask your opinion on how things are currently being run at the gates."

"Oh, sure" you said, trying to suppress your surprise ... and to be honest, your relief.

"Honestly, it runs like a well oiled machine" you continued. "Everyone pulls their weight, helps each other, and is serious about what they do. I'm honored to be working with such people, I'm really grateful."

He nodded. "Good. Let me ask you, is there anything you'd change?" he asked.

"I'm not sure I'm qualified to answer that, to be honest" you said, scratching the back of your neck. "Our lead patrol officer-"

He set his work down and sighed. He clasped his hands together before looking up at you, beams of the morning sunlight peaking through his silver hair. "There's a reason I called you here specifically. From what I've heard, you're an experienced Jonin with great work ethic. I don't want their opinion, I want yours. Please, continue" he said.

You were a little taken aback. My opinion?

"Um, well ..." you started. "If it's possible, I'd say more man power. We unfortunately lost some of our patrollers in the war and it's been tough to recuperate. Everyone's been working hard to make up for it but it's definitely putting a strain on them."

"Ok, I'll see what I can do" he said, taking note. "Anything else?"

"No, that's all I can think of at the moment" you said, surely.

"Well if there's anything else, please feel free to come by my office. Gate patrol and border control are very important. You guys protect the village's safety on a daily basis" he said.

"Actually, I was intending on coming by your office after work today" you said, holding your hands together in front of you.

"Oh?" He inquired. He stood from his chair and rounded his desk, this time standing in front of it.

"I wanted to apologize for the other day, I didn't mean to disrespect you in any way" you said, tucking a strand of hair behind your ear.

He leaned against the front of his desk with his arms crossed, a smile starting to form under his mask.

"Ah, so that's why you're wound so tight this morning" he said, with a quiet chuckle. "You thought there were going to be some repercussions."

"Oh I didn't- well, yes but-" you started, struggling to form the right words. Kakashi held up his hand in a comforting way.

"I apologize for making you nervous" he said as he raised an eyebrow. "Now we're even."

Your brows furrowed.

"The other day you-" he continued before putting his hands in his pockets. He let out a soft chuckle. "You definitely surprised me. So, I thought it might be fun to settle the score."

You raised your eyebrows and crossed your arms. "So this is your way of getting me back?" You said, smiling.

He shrugged before leaning the base of his palms against his desk.

"You had the workplace advantage and now I do" he said.

You squinted your eyes and tilted your head. "Ok, I take back my apology. You're having a little too much fun with this" you said. He chuckled before looking at you.

Your eye contact lingered. Any sounds that could be heard slowly quieted as the tension in the room started to rise.

"Well" you finally said, a little louder than a whisper. You cleared your throat. "I should get back to work."

"Right" Kakashi said, pushing off his desk with his palms.

You bowed. "Lord Sixth" you said, respectfully.

"Thank you for coming to see me" he said with a closed eye smile. He started walking to the opposite side of his desk.

You opened the door to leave and as you looked back, he looked up: your eyes connected. It felt electric.
Instead of looking away embarrassed, like you usually would, you smiled ... and you could swear you saw a little pink appear over his mask as he returned the gesture.

~

You've never felt this way before, the feeling of excitement rising and washing over you in waves. You couldn't help but smile as you walked back to the gates. You kept playing the conversation over and over in your head. Did that really just happen?

You looked up and saw you were in front of the dumpling shop. It felt like a good day for them.

I guess this is becoming a bit of a thing.