My Next Door Neighbour (Kakashi x OC)

11 // The Adventures of Hiro and Mariko

As evening sets in, Hiro and I begin getting quite hungry.

"Tea can't suppress true hunger for this long..." I groan, my stomach rumbling. Hiro nods weakly in agreement.

"We're gonna have to find our own food," he states. "You can stay here while I scavenge for food."

I look at him quizzically. "My injuries don't make me useless, you know." He seems taken aback by my response and hurries to reassure me.

"Oh no! I didn't mean it like that, I just don't want you to worsen it. We can go together in the shallow water to catch some fish if you'd like." At his response, I start to feel bad about acting defensively.

"Yeah okay, and don't worry I won't strain myself too much," I reply.

I grab a small knife from my pack before taking off my shoes and rolling up the bottom of my pants. Hiro does the same and together we tread onto the bank and ease into the chilly water.

There are a few smaller fish making their way through the river and around our legs. I watch as Hiro bends over and tries catching the slippery fish with his bare hands. He catches one or two, using the teapot as a water bucket and putting them inside.

I take my knife and try stabbing at the fish in the water, with only slightly more success than Hiro. As I catch my 4th fish, I spot Hiro struggling with a rather large fish violently flip-flopping between his hands. He loses balance and falls backwards into the water, getting soaked almost head to toe. I laugh at him before heading over to help him up.

"Oh my goodness, are you alright?" I ask. He nods and smiles up at me, taking my hand to get up.

"Ahaha yeah, it was just a small fall," he answers, "and I'm pretty sure we've got enough fish here for a good meal." I agree with him but not before adding that he should dry off so that he doesn't catch cold.

We get out of the water and sit next to the fire. I put the food around the fire to cook and start another pot of tea as well. Hiro grabs an extra pair of clothes from my bag, a big t-shirt and some sweatpants and starts to get changed a bit further off. As I'm adding the tea leaves to the hot water, I see him in the corner of my eye pulling off his wet top and pulling on the t-shirt. I immediately look away and pretend to not have seen what I just saw.

But of course I can't help thinking to myself, that Hiro looks good. He's a lot better built than I thought for a rich merchant's son.

"Oh shush..." I speak out loud to myself, blushing ever so slightly.

"Shush what?" Repeats Hiro behind me, and I jump as he steps into direct view drying off his tousled hair. He's laid his robes out on the flat rock to dry.

"Nothing, sorry," I start, "I was talking to myself."

"No worries," he laughs, sitting down next to me. I pour us each a cup of tea as we wait for the fish to cook.

When it finishes grilling, we both reach for the same stick and my hand brushes against his. I pull away a bit quickly and look down.

"Sorry, go ahead," I state. He smiles at me as he takes it and I grab the fish next to it. I feel my cheeks burning with embarrassment.

As we finish eating and the sun slides down behind the horizon, I find myself sharing good conversation with Hiro into the night time. And with the darkness comes the chilly night air.

"You said before that you understood what it's like to lose a parent..." he inquires, his eyes wide and innocently questioning. The question doesn't phase me too much.

"Yeah," I begin, "it's been nearly five years now since my parents died. They were both Jonins and died together on a mission."

"I'm so sorry..." he empathizes. "It was hard to lose my mother, and I can't imagine if I lost my father too. He's taught me and my siblings everything about the trade."