Fascination: Sequel

Fascination: Sequel: Part 11

--

Fascination: Sequel

Part 11

 --

 Oriko and Kakashi rose early the next day and they both went their separate ways, there was little that needed to be said and so it was left silent.  Neither bothered with breakfast, Oriko did boil some water for tea, but Kakashi seemed to be in a hurry to leave; he pulled her close to him not bothering to raise his voice above a whisper, not that it was really necessary;

“If you want to attend, the funeral its today at about ten,” She could feel his arms tighten slightly around her, as she ran hers up and down his back in slow languid movements,

“Thank you,” He released one arm and lifted it to tug down his mask; pressed two, surprisingly chaste kisses to her lips before he stepped back, “I need to head off, now, and I’m not sure when I’ll next have some free time, but I’ll catch up with you when I’m able,” Oriko nodded, sensing some form of subtext to his words,

“It’s alright, do what you need to,” Kakashi stepped back with small grin and a salute before he stepped back towards her front door,

“Thanks...I won’t be long,” Oriko shot him one more smile meant only to show her understanding and was soon gone, she allowed a small breath of a sigh to escape, a strange dread nagged at her.  Not only that her intuition was telling her that Kakashi would do something perhaps a little reckless if it meant brining Asuma’s murderers to justice, but also for the more selfish aspect to all of this: how would she cope if Kakashi never returned from a mission?

She thought the same thing over more than a year ago, but then she was really only his friend, now as his lover, how would she ever regain a sense of normality? Oriko wasn’t so dependent on the man that she couldn’t function without him, but she knew that it would be on the odd occasional days where his absence would cut her deeper than she’d be able fathom now.

She turned to head to her bathroom to ready herself for the day which didn’t take too long, but Oriko could feel her movements to be a little sluggish although she didn’t try to speed up instead allowing her body to move at a pace it was comfortable with. 

Oriko eventually left her house on a stroll, dressed in her typical outfit, although her jinbei was darker than usual, she still wasn’t sure whether she wanted to attend the funeral.  Funerals, to her, were – and should be – extremely private things, a gathering for the close friends and family who live on – but not as an open-all for everyone who merely ‘knew’ him. 

Oriko put herself in this category, she would honour Asuma’s memory today, but she was not close enough to him to intrude on the mourning of those who were.  Her absentminded wandering brought her close up to the Hokage-mountain and she decided that a good view form all the way up there would help to clear her mind. 

She nimbly made her way up, wondering how Kakashi was faring and Kurenai was...Kami, what must Kurenai be feeling? I wonder if Anko knows...shit... As Oriko arrived at the top of the monument, it was now late morning and she supposed the funeral must be underway, as the Kuniochi walked over the grass towards the stone head, her nose picked up a smell she wasn’t used to, one she hadn’t smelt in a long time lit tobacco.

Following her generally not-so-sensitive nose, she came across a young-ish boy who looked to be roughly Sakura or Neji-san’s age, he had a haitai-ate which seemed odd for the fact there was a steadily burning cigarette between his lips, his head was resting under his folded arms as his feet on the grass with knees bent and his weight on his back. 

He shifted slightly, cracking open an eye to see the Kuniochi stood above him with a playfully curious expression that – to him at least – seemed very out of place on an adult such as her, he frowned slightly and averted his eyes back to the clouds, still able to sense her eyes on him,