My Next Door Neighbour (Kakashi x OC)

12 // The Moonlight Garden

I wake up in the middle of the night. I sit up slowly, blinking as my eyes adjust to the darkness. As I look around I notice Hiro asleep on a tatami mat beside me. Next to him is a tray which I assume must be food, covered with a delicate tea towel. I am hungry, I think to myself as I slip out of the sheets and crawl around Hiro to reach the tray.

I lift up the tea towel but to my dismay, the bowl on it is empty, all that remains is a small, untouched bread roll. I snatch it and begin eating, shoving it quickly into my mouth with no regard for cleanliness or manners.

I hear a soft giggle that frightens me and turn sharply towards the sound. Hiro is awake and lounging propped up on his elbow as he rubs his sleepy eyes.

"It's funny to watch you eat like a famished hamster," he states still laughing lightly to himself. In the dark, my red cheeks can't give away my embarrassment. "Come with me, I'll take you to the kitchens."

We get up and silently slide open the door, peering down both sides of the hallway before continuing. Hiro goes first and beckons me to follow leaving his hand out for me to take. I grab it and he looks down at me putting a finger to his lips indicating to remain silent. We shuffle along the wooden floor boards through what feels like the longest corridor in the entire world. How many rooms could a house possibly need? Eventually, we turn to the left and head towards a more rustic and regular looking part of the house where we find a rather large kitchen.

Hiro turns on the light and closes the door revealing the pink marble counter tops and gold decorum. Rustic was the wrong word to use to describe this place. He opens the fridge and takes out a similar tray to the one in the bedroom.

"The cooks prepared this for you but no one was sure when you'd wake up," he says. "We can heat it up on the wood stove." I jump up onto the counter to seat myself as he places it on the stove top.

"I don't think we had a chance to tell you before but Saki and Jourin are here as well, they decided to send a messenger pigeon after we fell off the bridge but had to continue on to deliver the package. They received a reply from Konoha, but we arrived only an hour after they had begun to pack to head out and search for us."

The smell of food begins to waft through the room and Hiro kindly hands me a warm bowl of noodles with peanut sauce. It tastes amazing.

"Have you found out how much longer I'll have to stay here?" I question. He nods.

"About three days," he replies leaning against the counter opposite me. "Saki sent another pigeon to update Konoha on the situation."

"Are you sure it's alright if I stay here for so long? I don't wanna be a burden to anyone here..." I begin saying but Hiro quickly affirms that I should stay.

"You need to regain strength before leaving again and no one here wants to send you off before that, certainly not me." I smile at his words.

"Thank you again, in that case." I keep my reply short and look down at my food to avoid giving anything away with eye contact.

"Hey, listen, if you're up for it I can give you a little tour of the estate during your stay, we have some nice gardens..." he suggests. I glance up and notice Hiro seems a bit awkward, he's looking away from me and seems slightly flustered.

"Sounds great!" I reply looking back up and at him as I finish the bowl.

Hiro flicks off the light in the kitchen as I open the door and peer out into the hallway. He comes up behind me and places his hands lightly on my shoulders.

"Careful not to wake up anyone," he whispers, "especially not the night ghouls..." At the mention of ghouls, a shiver goes down my spine and I shudder.