Those Little Moments (Hatake Kakashi)

11

I asked Kakashi to show me Naruto's apartment first, but he insisted I get settled into my own place before obsessing over my nephew. His apartment was decent; it was clean and well-kept, if a little boring, and there was only one bedroom, though he said he would turn his office into a temporary bedroom while I stayed. 

While he worked on moving things in the office, I contented myself with looking in the fridge and, eventually, plopping myself onto his couch. Noticing the book on the table, I picked it up, reading the title Icha Icha. Chuckling to myself, I opened it, deciding to read it, though I made sure to leave his bookmark where it was.

Within two pages, my jaw had dropped and my cheeks matched my hair, and I kept glancing up from the book to the door to Kakashi's office. I was only five pages in when he finished setting up, and I stared at him, shaking my head as he exited. 

"You know, somehow, in a way, it makes sense that this is what you read in your spare time." I held up the book to him, watching his eye widen, and laughed at the failure of his deadpan expression. "You better not let any of your students see this, though. If you corrupt my precious nephew, I will destroy you."

Kakashi didn't respond at first, his cheeks flushed under his mask from what I could tell, then just tried to swipe at the book to grab it. I moved it out of the way quickly so he grabbed empty air.

"Give it, Emiko."

"What if I wanna borrow it? I mean, it—" I choked out a laugh, "it really seems like a true piece of literature." As Kakashi reached for it again, his face as deadpan as ever if it weren't for the extra colour, I jumped out of the way clutching the book to my chest. "No need to feel embarrassed, Kakashi, all men feel the urge" At that I couldn't hold it in anymore and burst out laughing, tears falling from the corners of my eyes from my laughter. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't be laughing. I shouldn't..." I interrupted myself with more giggles.

By then, Kakashi had given up on trying to get the book from me and was watching me laugh until I couldn't breathe anymore, waiting until he could get his book back.

Once I had recovered, I handed his book back to him, almost losing my composure again as I read the title again. "Sorry, I'm done." I snorted. "I swear I'm done."

"Are you sure?"

I nodded. "Mm-hmm. Now, what's next on the list for the day?"

"Do you have all the essentials? Clothes? A toothbrush?" He asked, placing the book on a shelf above my reach. 

I looked through my bag, which had toiletries and some leftover money, though not much. "Uh, if you couldn't tell by the smell, these are my only clothes, but I have toiletries, and a little bit of money left."

Kakashi nodded. "We'll go buy whatever you need first, since I have to accompany you everywhere. Then, when your room is all set up, I can take you to Naruto."

I nodded, smiling at the thought, before heading out of the apartment, my new watchdog following behind.

As we made our way into the clothes store, a woman who I think I knew before came up to Kakashi.

"Hey, what are you doing here, Kakashi? And who's this?" The woman asked, her red eyes looking me over curiously.

"Emiko is alive, and I'm supposed to watch over her until the Hokage is sure she's not a threat." Kakashi explained, as monotone as ever.

"Emiko?!" The woman exclaimed, her eyes wide. "It's great to see you alive! I'm Kurenai, by the way."

"It's nice to meet you again, Kurenai. I'm sorry I don't really remember you that well." The woman's smile seemed contagious to me and I felt again like I had when I had first seen the sun again, grateful and in awe. Here was this pretty woman genuinely seeming happy I was alive, despite not being close.

"Don't worry about it, you can get to know me now. Ne, Kakashi, how about I take care of Emiko's shopping with her, since I'm sure it's not interesting to you?" Kurenai offered, smiling gently.

"Sure. I'll grab a few things next door and meet you outside."

I grinned at the woman I considered a new potential friend and followed her eagerly as she linked arms with me. 

"So, any idea what type of clothes you want? Do you wanna just wear the standard flak jacket when on duty, or do you want a cool battle outfit?" Kurenai mused as we flipped through the racks of clothing.

"Hmm. Before, I wore a red top and it worked for daily life and work, but I think I'm happy just wearing the flak jacket, once I get re-accepted as a Leaf Shinobi. As for other clothes, comfort is most important, and it should be something I could fight in if worst comes to worst, but other than that, I don't have a preference." I replied, picking out some simple black pants and a black t-shirt to wear under my jacket.

Kurenai nodded, pulling out a few things and handing them to me. "I got you a mix of dresses and pants, but green is definitely your colour, so these should look good. There's a couple red ones there as well."

I nodded, letting her lead me to the changeroom and gladly taking off my ratty outfit. I tried on the work clothes first, determining that they fit and handing them to Kurenai so I wouldn't forget them. Then, I tried on the outfit at the top. With each outfit I put on, I would go out and Kurenai would make me do a twirl, complimenting how beautiful I looked each time. In the end, I bought two outfits in addition to multiples of the same black work outfit. The first was a bright red tunic with wide sleeves and black leggings. The second, which I wore out of the store, was emerald green, the same shade as my eyes, and was a midi length, sleeveless wrap dress over a short-sleeved white blouse.

"You look sooo good, Emiko! You'll have men falling over themselves for you wearing that!" Kurenai was saying as we left the store and headed to where Kakashi was waiting.

"Kurenai, I don't really want men falling over themselves for me. I do feel really pretty though. Now all I need is a good shower." I chuckled to myself, grateful I didn't actually smell too bad. It really was a gift to have only mild BO after wearing the same outfit multiples days in a row and training.

"Uh, you're not just pretty, you're drop dead gorgeous! Anytime you wanna hang out, let me know! I'll find a way to get Kakashi to go away and we can have a girls day!"

I grinned back at her. "That sounds so fun, I would love to!" Now, the streets didn't seem so terrifying anymore, and all the unfamiliar but familiar faces seemed much more friendly. Now, I had three people I cared about in the Leaf. Not bad for my first day back.