Daybreak | Kakashi Hatake

5

Mare followed the kid as he skipped through the village. She struggled to keep up with him as he zipped between the crowds of people before he abruptly stopped at a ramen shop and turned on his heel to face Mare, those big blue eyes raising to her pitifully. He pleaded with a growing blush on his face, "Do you think we could stop for ramen first?"

"Ramen?" she asked incredulously, narrowing her eyes at the kid.

"Mhmm," he affirmed, swaying back and forth with a dumb grin on his face.

She put her hands on her hips and sighed as she shook her head, "Ramen isn't part of finding Kakashi."

"But we can't find Kakashi Sensei on an empty stomach," he pleaded, twiddling his fingers together as he gave Mare puppy dog eyes.

"I don't have time for you to be messing around," she countered him, raising an eyebrow. Mare kept a straight face, although she was close to smiling. The whiskered kid in front of her had a certain charm about him that she immediately liked. She couldn't explain it exactly; however, he did remind her of her younger brother Jiro.

His eyes widened at her and he made a sour face as he shouted animatedly, "I'd never joke around about ramen, Kakashi Sensei's Girlfriend!"

Mare's face went red as she snapped back, "What did you just call me, kid?!"

He thrust his hands into his orange tracksuit pockets and huffed, "You heard me, Kakashi Sensei's Girlfriend! Now, can we please get ramen?!"

Mare pinched the bridge of her nose and groaned before rolling her eyes and agreeing on the condition that he would help her find Kakashi afterwards. The kid's face blossomed with happiness and he ran into the shop and jumped onto a stool.

Mare took a seat beside him and looked over the menu for a moment before the kid ordered two bowls of ramen with miso and extra pork. He then grinned up to her and said, "Don't worry about looking over the menu, I ordered you the best thing here."

"What if I don't like pork?" she questioned, glancing down to the cute kid with a bit of a grin.

"Uhh," he scratched his head for a moment, "Do you like pork?"

The young woman laughed gently and nodded, affirming that she did, before asking, "What's your name anyway, kid? I'm Mare Nakagawa."

"I'm Naruto Uzumaki and I'm gonna be Hokage one day!" he shouted with a proud smile on his face.

"Hokage, huh? That's a lofty goal you got there."

Naruto bounced on his stool as he answered, "You bet it is, but I'm gonna work harder than anyone! Then everyone will respect me!"

She nodded slowly, then asked quizzically, "Do they not respect you now?"

He snorted, "Not at all. They all treat me like an outcast, like I'm some kind of burden, but just you wait, Kakashi Sensei's Girlfriend! One day, they're all gonna look up to me."

A sad smile formed on Mare's face as she listened to Naruto's words. They treat him as an outcast? Like some sort of burden? Is this kid the Nine Tails' Jinchuriki? She thought to herself, gazing over the hyperactive little shinobi as he slurped down the ramen in front of him.

"So what about you, Kakashi Sensei's Girlfriend?" he asked through bites of his food. "What's your story?"

She sipped the miso from her bowl and shrugged, "It's nothing special. Oh, and stop calling me that. My name is Mare."

"Sure thing, Kakashi Sensei's Girlfriend," Naruto chriped, not missing a beat.

Mare paused and cut her eyes down to the kid, who was in his own world as he enjoyed his ramen. She whistled softly and shook her head a bit. If this kid is one of Kakashi's students, he sure has his hands full. She thought before looking over at Naruto again. But then again, although he's a knucklehead, he is a little sweetheart also.