Speak in a roudabout way

Chapter 1: A time of loneliness, anxiety and shock

He was due two days ago.

Nothing happened, he's just late. Like always.

But what if something happened, something very bad? Kakashi said it was a S-Rank, so things could and probably will go out of control.

Could you stop worrying? He's very capable and his team will protect him.

Nevertheless the dark cloud hanging over your mind wasn't lessening one bit. Exhausted to the very core and still dirty from sleeping for weeks in trees or on the muddy ground (fall was your favorite season, but not when you had to camp outside) you let the backpack slide to the ground and stretched until some bones popped loudly in the silence.

After one year of active duty outside of Konoha the following steps were well known. First a shower to get rid of the lingering scent of earth, leaves and sweat. To your annoyance you also found some mud dried in your hair and with a little growl you let your fingers rake through the strands until the hardness vanished under your careful motions.

Then a well-deserved dinner, consisting of real food, not the dried fruits, beef jerky and other easily transported and not easily soiled snacks for a long journey you lived off for the last three weeks.

You moaned blissfully around every bite, even though it wasn't the delicious food your boyfriend would cook when he was home too. Instantly your mood dropped again and sluggishly you moved the last bits of fried rice and grilled fish over your plate before sighing deeply and dumping them in the trash bin.

Kakashi was since three weeks gone and you had accepted a mission one week into his absence. Now you were back from a scouting mission in the land of Grass and he still wasn't here. Restlessly you continued with your routine without the scarecrow, did the dishes, slipped into comfortable and clean sleeping attire and started to write the mission report, but your thoughts kept drifting to Kakashi.

"One year..." you mumbled under your breath and glanced at the catnip sitting idly at the windowsill, "already one year, huh?"

One year of relationship with him. One and a half since he was changed into a cat and sneaked into your flat, one and a half since he woke up in your bed naked and snuggled with a silly smile into you. And... You sighed once more and shook your head.

The reality was far crueler than every nightmare could be. Mission after mission leaded Kakashi out of Konoha, away from you, while you stayed behind and worried endlessly. Gone for weeks or even months, while you were alone and lonely without him. Sure, your friends were always ready to come over and cheer you up, but you missed Kakashi, not Iruka or Anko or Asuma and Kurenai (he finally realized what let the brunette blush everytime and asked her out). You wanted to talk with Kakashi about your day, about your own mission, you wanted to hug the living daylights out of him, relieved he was well and not hurt, you wanted to drag his stupid mask down and kiss him, not somebody else.

Frustrated and melancholic you dropped the pencil. Tomorrow you could finish the report just as fine as today. Tonight you only would mop a bit more and crawl into bed, where a shirt with Kakashi's unique scent waited.

Exhausted you flopped down on your bed, face forward burying yourself in the soft blankets and the increased amount of pillows (you and Kakashi more than often slept over in your flat than in his).

But just when you wanted to drift off into sleep, a hesitant knock at your door called your attention. Weak and pitiful, only a soft contact of knuckles with the hard wood, though you shot straight out of the cushions and jumped towards your entrance. The rhythm. The never changing rhythm told you who was waiting at your doorstep, the same rhythm which he used when he was a four-legged furball and when he insisted to sit on your outer side of the window.