Flower in the Mirror [Hatake Kakashi] [1]

❄️ Chapter 4 ❄️

When the next semester began following the spring break, Yumetsuki found that the two classes in her year had been shuffled around with some students from the other class joined them. Nohara Rin was amongst them, and a rather loud boy who always wore goggles. He was someone unique in Yumetsuki's eyes as he was always picking himself up, no matter how many times he fell.

Yumetsuki had, in fact, gotten so taken by his unrelenting eagerness to do better that she was almost compelled to find out his name – it was Uchiha Obito. But Yumetsuki could never find the courage to talk to him. And he never seemed to notice her in the classroom.

Obito appeared to be always around Nohara Rin, and Yumetsuki had tried to be more like Rin, trying to smile more but no one seemed to notice it. Yumetsuki had dropped the shtick soon after.

Academy was going on as normal and Yumetsuki was spending her time training with both Grandma Chi and the Third Hokage, finding a better control on her abilities now.

On the other hand, Yumetsuki had not talked to Hatake Kakashi in a very long time. She was always nervous around him because he always seemed to look away from her whenever she looked at him, and she wondered if he hated her for something that she had done.

But as it was always with the white-haired girl, she never asked him about it as Yumetsuki was scared that he might tell her that he hated her. She didn't want to hear that even if he did.

There were times that Yumetsuki was sure that he was glaring at her – she could always feel an intense gaze from his direction. But whenever she looked at him, he would look away.

It was how it was and Yumetsuki wished that he had offered friendship to her because the two of them always headed home in the same direction – well, until they would come across the fork that separated the outskirts of Konoha from the farming areas.

Kakashi was always alone whenever Yumetsuki saw him, which was rare in itself. He was not seen around the village very much and she always wondered if he was a solitary person like her.

However, Yumetsuki simply never asked him about it because she didn't have the courage to do so.

Yumetsuki had avoided Kakashi everywhere that she went until one evening that she found herself walking home after training with Hiruzen. She noticed Kakashi walking alone, carrying fresh fish.

This was the very first time that Yumetsuki saw him carrying fish, and she wondered if it was the first time that he had caught them. She didn't want to bother him but as she slowly walked a few yards behind him, she noticed that he had dropped fishing rod's hook.

For a moment, Yumetsuki hesitated as she stared at the glinting hook on the dusty ground and then to Kakashi's figure that had turned the corner toward his home.

It would be easy for her to just ignore the hook and continue walking on, turning to the right to head home at the orphanage. She wasn't responsible for this yet Yumetsuki found herself reaching down, picking up the silver hook from the ground and jogging after Kakashi.

If she had stopped even for a moment on this path, Yumetsuki knew she would've turned around and left but her feet kept urging the girl to continue walking.

Kakashi was nowhere to be seen anymore as Yumetsuki continued on down the path and she looked to her right when she saw a small house approaching. She was sure that this was where Kakashi lives, and it was confirmed to her when she saw the name 'Hatake' on the residence.

Of course, Hatake... farmlands...

Yumetsuki reached her hand out and pressed her finger onto the bell, moving back to wait as she nervously played with the hook in her hands. She was suddenly regretting this as she could have just given this to him at school. She didn't want to meet any adults.