Reconsidering Bachelorhood

Avoidance

It had been two weeks since Kakashi woke up from his coma and Mizuki was, to put it simply, lost and confused. It had started on the very day he had woken up. When her co-worker notified her that he was awake she was so excited and relieved. She had the urge to rush into his room to see for herself that he was alive and well. But she knew she couldn't do that until his primary care team gave the go ahead for visitors.

After nearly an hour of them doing their check up, she was bursting with anticipation to see him. When they had deemed him to be healthy and well on his way to a full recovery, she went to his room to pay him a visit. She quietly walked in in case he was sleeping but she grinned widely when she saw that he was awake.

"Kakashi." She breathed out in relief. She closed the door behind her and slowly approached his bed side. "Y-you're awake." She said, moreso to reassure herself that what she was seeing wasn't a dream. Kakashi barely glanced in her direction, instead he kept his gaze trained on the window.

"Are you okay?" Mizuki asked gently when she noticed he wasn't saying anything or even looking at her. "Kakashi?" She asked again, now worried.

She nervously watched him slowly turn his gaze back to her with a look of indifference. "I want to be alone for now." He said with a dismissive tone.

Mizuki's eyes widened slightly at his bluntness. She did not expect that response from him so she was left speechless. She opened and closed her mouth not knowing what to say. She ended up nodding instead and wordlessly leaving the room.

A few days later he was discharged from the hospital and went back to his Hokage duties. Since then, Mizuki noticed something unpleasant. On several occasions she would see him around the village. Despite his uncharacteristic response from when he first woke up, she was still very happy to see him...but the same couldn't be said for him. Whenever she saw him and tried to say hi to him, he would always give her curt responses or hastily leave. It frustrated her to no ends and served to only make her more and more depressed.

She couldn't figure out what she did wrong to receive this silent treatment from him. She had racked her brain for days trying to find an answer to his hostile behaviour. Overtime she became more and more frustrated with his behaviour. Instead of feeling sad like she did at the beginning, she was now pissed. All she wanted were some answers and that's what she was going to get.

On her next day off she marched her way to the Hokage tower where she knew he was hiding. She had talked to Mai a little over the last couple days and learned that Kakashi had uncharacteristically locked himself in his office. Mai was rightfully shocked when she noticed that her boss was actually putting a lot of time and effort into completing his paperwork. She had no idea what caused this change in behaviour.

Mizuki made her way up to his office. She took a deep breath and pushed open the door before she could talk herself out of this. Kakashi was sitting at his desk going over a few documents. When he heard the door open, he continued to calmly go through his paperwork. Over the last couple weeks he had been on high alert to her presence. He sensed her chakra enter the building a long time ago and steeled himself for the confrontation that was inevitably to come.

Mizuki's fists clenched by her side when Kakashi didn't even bother to look up. She slammed the door shut behind her and stalked towards his desk.

"Why are you avoiding me?" She asked bluntly. Mizuki felt her frustration grow when Kakashi stayed silent. In a fit of anger she slammed her hands on his desk.

"Answer me!" She demanded. Kakashi slowly met her furious gaze with his apathetic one. She stumbled back in shock when he regarded her with a look of cold indifference. This was not the Kakashi she knew and adored.

"I have nothing to say to you. Leave." He replied in a bitter tone. Mizuki's mind went numb, this wasn't Kakashi. She refused to believe that the sweet man that had taken her on those amazing and meaningful dates was the same man in front of her.

She shook her head vehemently at him. "N-no. You don't mean that. Please, just tell me wha-"

"I said, leave." He interrupted with a raised voice. Mizuki looked at him in disbelief. She opened and closed her mouth, unable to find a response. Eventually, tears of frustration clouded her vision. Not knowing what else to do, she left his office with a heavy heart.

When Kakashi felt her chakra leave the building, he let out a heavy sigh. It pained him more than he thought to do that to her. He had nearly caved at the sight of her teary eyes. He desperately wanted to apologize to her and tell her he didn't mean what he said, but in the end it had to be done.

Mizuki rushed out of the building ignoring the troubled look on Mai's face who had nearly collided with the distraught woman on her way back from lunch. Mizuki ran all the way back home completely done with today.

When she was back in the safety of her home, she closed the door behind her and collapsed. The tears that she desperately tried to hold in finally spilled . She didn't bother holding them back as loud sobs racked her body.