The Balancing Act (Kakashi x OC)

Chapter 8

For the first twenty minutes, Kakashi and Akari walked in complete silence. Neither of them knew what to say to the other. They both had infinite questions.

"I'm sorry Itachi brought up Rin and Obito," Akari started softly, and Kakashi said nothing except a small nod.

"Do you have any idea what Itachi needs me for? I mean he said he wanted to say hello before I finally realize what he needs me alive for, and I have no clue what he's talking about," Akari thought out loud. Kakashi looked ahead thoughtfully until he spoke up.

"Maybe you have hidden powers he needs?" He offered, but Akari shook her head.

"I'd know if I had hidden powers. I think," she said, her voice etched with confusion. Kakashi let out a small laugh at her face and continued on. That was, until Akari remembered how Itachi used her to make Kakashi upset. Why had he gotten so upset?

"Why were you so upset when Itachi was holding me against him?" Akari blurted out the question before she even realized she had asked it. She looked down in embarrassment and failed to notice his small blush.

"Beats me. You're annoying. I just couldn't let you get killed on an important mission," he said in a monotone voice.

"I'm less annoying than you are grandpa," she replied, and he looked at her with an annoyed expression on his face.

"That's wrong, you're way more annoying. You tried to steal my book," he said, looking ahead and focusing on the path in front of them.

"You mean this one?" She said, holding up the book between her pointer finger and thumb. He looked at her, his eyes widening as he felt his kunai pouch and realized it was his copy. He lunged straight at her, which she side stepped easily, then ran into the forrest to try and escape him, laughing as she went. She went to open the book and start reading when she felt an arm snake around her waist and yank her back into a very muscular chest. Akari's face turned bright red as she felt Kakashi's hand resting tightly on her hip. She clutched the book to her chest, but he managed to yank it out of her hands before she could cover it completely with her arms.

"How'd you get my book Tanaka?" He asked lowly in her ear, which immediately sent chills up her spine.

"When we were walking you were so focused on the road you didn't realize I sent a clone to go get your book out of your pouch. Looks like I'm more sneaky than you are," she said, trying to get a rise out of him. He whipped her around to face him and pushed her into a tree in front of him as he stood before her, furious. Her arm throbbed as it hit the tree, but she ignored it at she stared at him.

"THIS is what I mean when I say you don't respect me. You keep trying to take my shit whenever possible just to try and piss me off. You were snarky and sarcastic in front of the prince which doesn't reflect well on the village. You consistently get distracted and your focus isn't on the mission. You may be smart Akari, but you are NOT responsible, and you sure as hell don't respect me!" He yelled at her, her eyes wide as she heard him raise his voice at her. She gulped and stared at him as he put his book back in his pouch and turned around.

"When we get back to the village, I'm giving the necklace to the Hokage and telling him about our interaction with Itachi. Maybe afterwards you can learn to respect your fucking elders," he said finally, then walked off back to the road. When you were finally left alone, a rogue tear left her eye, and then many others followed. She suppressed a sob as she tried to stem the flow of her tears.

"You couldn't have fucking waited until I was alone Itachi? Or maybe even before this mission? Maybe then I could have dealt with it on my own instead of having to deal with it with Kakashi, or even gone on this mission with him. Fuck you," she said quietly to herself. She then wiped away her tears, fixed her hair, and walked back out to the path, where Kakashi stood reading his book. She walked directly past him, ignoring him completely as she started the long walk home.