A girl from 'our' world finds herself in Narutoverse and immediately runs into a group of flesh-peddlers. She is saved by a silver-haired stranger but this merciless retribution hardly brings any relief. Will she be able to trust this cold-blooded s...
Like countless times before, Kakashi was leaning over the sink, breathing heavily. Just as he thought he was beginning to recover... Why, why did this place always awaken his inner demons? He wiped his eyes tiredly.
It was difficult to catch him off guard, but Arina managed to do it. He turned around abruptly, stared dumbfounded, both eyes wide open. Arina stared back at him equally surprised and confused — she clearly saw something she should not have.
Kakashi overcame his abashment and asked softly, closing his left eye and rubbing the scar:
"Is something wrong?"
Arina perked up.
"No, nothing, uh, I needed to... and then I heard some noise, and there you were... are you alright?"
Kakashi closed his other eye as well wearily:
"Yes, everything's fine. It's just that sometimes I have nightmares too," he chuckled wryly, then turned away and put his hands on the countertop again.
Feeling the familiar nauseous feeling rolling in again, he panted:
"Go to bed..."
Suddenly he felt her arms wrap around him from behind. Something seemed to jump in his chest. They stood like that for some time: she was hugging him from behind, pressing against his back, while he was holding one hand over hers appreciatively, trying to refrain it from trembling too much.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Finally, he turned around, gently freeing himself, and said softly, looking into her worried eyes:
"Thank you, I do feel much better."
Then he looked away and added:
"Go to bed, honestly..."
Arina felt slightly disappointed, but obeyed nonetheless. She didn't know what it was that she'd expected anyway.
While he couldn't help thinking that, probably, the saké hadn't completely worn off yet. Besides, he didn't want her to see him in such condition. But he really was feeling better — and much faster than usual.
☙ ❦ ❧
On that day, particularly vigilant residents of Konoha might have noticed that Kakashi was not behaving quite like himself.
At first, he had already almost walked past his comrades — Guy, Asuma and Kurenai — who were sitting at Dango, enjoying a well-deserved rest. He didn't like sweets anyway, and his friends were used to his mood swings, so if he just walked by, it would be more like a normal thing. However, suddenly he was blown off his usual path, and he approached the three of them. They stared at him with mild astonishment.
After an awkward greeting, Kakashi suddenly sheepishly asked Kurenai to step aside to talk, which they did under Asuma's disapproving gaze and Guy's gaze full of righteous indignation, after his usual offer to compete was hastily rejected.
