Kakashi Hatake is known throughout the shinobi world for his visual prowess and devastating past. He's a loner, figuring it's easier to exist in solitude rather than form a bond that he knows can so easily be severed by tragedy. However, after a new...
Whenever Mare woke the next morning on the bathroom floor, she groaned immediately and rubbed her temples. Her head was pounding and she wondered what the hell had happened last night. The last thing she vaguely remembered was Asuma's toast and their final shot. After that, everything went black, but at least she woke up in the inn.
She chugged a glass of water, then took a long shower before packing her bag and getting ready to leave the village. It was going to be a long, miserable trip back, and she cursed herself for getting as drunk as she did the night before. Then again, how was she supposed to decline the request of the Hokage? Especially whenever she was the village's new diplomat. Getting in good with the citizens was a crucial part of her job.
A part that she hated that she had enjoyed. Everyone she had met in the Leaf so far had been welcoming, although a bit intrusive. She cringed at the amount she had overshared while drunk last night and figured there were more embarrassing things she had done that she just couldn't remember.
As she approached the gates of the village, a tight-lipped smile formed on her face and she sheepishly waved to Genma. He was wearing a big smile as he asked her how she was feeling this morning.
"Terrible."
"I figured. You were pretty gone when I was walking you home."
"You walked me home?"
He hummed, "Mhmm, and then we ran into Kakashi and he carried you the rest of the way. Literally."
Her stomach dropped. Her mouth hung open slightly as she asked, "Don't fuck with me, Genma. You're kidding me, right? He didn't carry me."
Genma nodded as he replied, "On his back. All the way."
"Oh, that's so embarrassing..." she sighed, before thinking to herself, Fuck. Me.
The jonin chuckled. "He didn't seem to mind too much. Kakashi's a nice guy." He paused for a moment, "What do you think of him?"
Mare shrugged, "I don't think of him."
He rolled his eyes a bit and then focused his eyes on Mare, whose face was stoic. He really couldn't tell if she was serious or not. She was as cold as ever, completely different from the girl he had spent time with last night. The walls she had constructed to protect herself were terribly thick, only let down in moments of total vulnerability or inebriation.
"You're serious?" he asked.
She gave him a nod and began walking, tossing a wave his way as she called back, "Yup. See you next time, Genma."
The longer she walked, the worse her headache grew. She stopped in at a small countryside shop and bought medication for her ailment before continuing back to Kirigakure.
I can't believe I let him physically carry me home, Mare thought to herself. That settles it... I can never speak to him again. Hell, I'll probably never be able to even look at him again.
She bounced through the forests until the trees began to thin out, signifying she was nearing the coast. As she broke through to the clearing, she felt a freeze breeze of air brush against her skin, blowing her wild black hair around in his face. She looked out at the horizon and saw the sea sparkling in the distance.
Still feeling quite under the weather and running ahead of schedule, Mare decided to slip down to the beach and walk along the shore. She dropped her bag and sword on the sand and waded into the water, feeling the wet sand slip between her toes as the salty air filled her lungs to capacity.
"Ezume!" she squealed, running through the gravelly sand as Jiro chased after her with a shower of ice and snow forming in his hands. "Make him stop!"
The little girl ran and hid behind her oldest brother, who was sitting on the sand, reading a book. She peeked over Ezume's shoulder as he chuckled lowly and asked, "Really, Jiro? Don't you think you're a little too old to still be torturing Mare?"
The youngest boy rolled his eyes, a mischievous glint still in his eye as he said, "Nope, I won't ever be."
The oldest brother closed his book and laid it on the ground before saying in a tired voice, "Just be careful using your Kekkei Genkai. Don't let anyone see. We don't know who we can trust."
"No one," Mare interjected quickly, a dark look drawing on her face. "We can't trust anyone who isn't one of us. Not anymore. We can take care of one another."
"You're right," Ezume replied. "We'll always have each other."
We'll always have each other.
Bullshit.
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