Kakashi’s POV:
Ai walked back to her apartment after telling us she had a mission that she had to go on, and wasn’t sure when she’d be back. Everyone looked at me, but I just followed her. As soon as she went down a side road and I was sure no one was in sighed, I pushed her against the wall and kissed her. I pulled away and pulled her into my arms.
“Um…hi?”
“Ai, please…don’t go.”
She sighed. “Kakashi, you can relax, you know,” she said.
“No, I can’t. You might not come back. I don’t know if I can handle losing you twice,” I said, pulling her closer.
“Well then, I guess you won’t mind at all if I tell you that I’m allowed to take on person. And I’ve picked you.”
“Really?” she nodded, and I sighed in relief. “Well, uh…mind if I stay over tonight? Just so you can wake me up and I won’t be late and therefore you won’t be tempted to leave without me?”
She sighed. “Sure, why not? But you…”
“What?”
She looked down for a second, then looked back at me. “You better not try anything,” she warned, and we walked back to my apartment.
I chuckled. “Don’t worry about that, Ai. Like I said, I don’t like you that way, anyways.”
Ai only shrugged and opened the door. She immediately started making dinner. “Make yourself at home,” she said, tossing some veggies into the bowl.
I sat down at her desk. “So…what’s this mission about?”
“That’s for me to know, and you to find out. But on the way, you’re still going to train.”
“Figured…You may be more of a slave driver than Tsunade…,” I said under my breath.
“I heard that,” she said, and finished dinner. She walked into the room and started packing her things. “And I am not. I just know how to get things done. And besides, you want the Mangekyo, don’t you?” I just shrugged. “Ok, then. So I’ll send a clone to go get your things, then?”
“Uh…sure.”
She nodded, and created a simple shadow clone, which left the apartment. Then she lay down on the bed on her back and stared at the ceiling…kind of, rubbing her forehead.
“We’re going to find Jiraiya and Naruto, and tell them that I’m alive and that they have a three year deadline.”
“Ok. A simple enough mission.”
“Yep.”
I looked around, and realized that the apartment was very quiet. “Where are Kai and Sora?” I asked.
“Kai’s over at Konohamaru’s, and Sora is over at Moegi’s,” she said. I nodded. “Why did you ask?”
“Just curious.”
She nodded and stood, walked to the kitchen, and then came back with a bowl of miso soup with eggplant. I smiled and ate the soup, while she lay down again, tossing a kunai. As soon as I was done, I washed the dish and walked back into the room. Ai was sitting on the bed with her head in her hands, though she wasn’t acting like she still had a headache. She took a deep, shaky breath and shook her head. Concerned, I quickly walked over and sat next to her, wrapping my arms around her. I expected her to stand and walk away, but instead, she turned into my arms and wrapped her arms around my neck, burying her head in my chest. I ran my fingers through her hair.
