𝘗𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘛𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘴

17 - midnight conversation

—last chapter

It had a feeling of him in it. As if we were sharing a soft hug. I shook my head lightly, smiling to myself. You moved on from Kakashi that easily y/n? I touched the flushed cheeks of mine, feeling the warmth it had spread across.

It would be creepy of me to fall for someone to whom I am supposed to be an aunt but for being in the same age, that relationship between is rarely noticed.

He's just overly nice to me. Why am I even overthinking? My smile went away with the incoming flood of thoughts. I don't like him. I really don't..

◍

-lovelife of Ms. Namikaze-

~•━━━  🧸🍭🦋  ━━━•~

I turned the heater on and slide down onto the couch. It was past midnight and I just couldn't make myself fall asleep. The entire way home, I was occupied with Itachi and Kakashi didn't speak to me.

I got up and went to the room I don't roam around much, much like a guest room which has been empty for a very long time. Well I have no one to visit so, guess will turn it into something else.

The one thing i loved the most about this room was the spacious balcony. The rent must be high just for this, though being a high rank ninja cut it down by 15 percent.

I slide the door open to feel a familiar chakra lingering from the rooftop. It saddened me. "still awake?" He asked from up there. I went to the railings and looked up at him. His grey hair swayed from the midnight's wind, as he lowered his book down.

"is the moon enough for you to read?"

"kind of yeah,"

I couldn't help but stare into his eyes. It wasn't clear enough but I hoped where I was captivated, it was his eyes. "why did you ditch us?" he asked unexpectedly.

".. tonight's dinner?..I hope Iruka was not offended,"

"he was not but I am now that I know where you were,"

I felt guilty for spending the dinner somewhere else and lying about being sick. I shouldn't have reacted in such a way.

"I am sorry,"

"apologize to him rather than me," he said, offering his hand for me. I took it and jumped onto the roof. The view was breathtaking. The entire village fell into a darkness with street lamps lit up like candles on a birthday cake.

I sat next to him, keeping a fair distance between us. I swing my legs back and forward slowly as he stared into the sky's clouds. Stars were missing with the moon.

"why do I feel like you have something for itachi, y/n?" he spoke in a low tone, making the conversation only to be audible among us. Do I? I don't know..

"Why do you ask?"

"it seems so. During the festival when you parted ways with him, you said something. And even today, I felt something between you two," I slide my hand through my hair, unable to find answer.

"help me figure it out, please,"

"I am all ears," He kept his book away and faced me. He took his mask off and got comfortable as he sat down freely. "Say?" "oh uh right-" I scratched my temple before continuing.

"Itachi was a really good friend ever since we were young. He was even in my team when we were just Genins. He was so much talented even then and every girl had an eye on him. He was a sweetheart to everyone too but I wasn't attracted to him. You know..I was more invested in your team and why, YOU know! Ugh.." I stopped and glanced at him. He had a small smile, gestured me to continue.

"...then, everything happened so quickly during the third Ninja war..and we lost him..I was devastated for a very long time. Though he had eyes for Rin, I was still so much in love with him. That caused me enough pain to swear to never fall again in love. Now that I think about it, I should have confessed to him..But it's alright! Oh and no, I am not yearning for him anymore. It was a young y/n crush and love which has nothing to do with the present me," I took a breathe in.

Kakashi rested his face against his hand and listened quietly without interrupting, I continued,"After Minato passed away, I was in despair for a very long time. It was the same for you too. Itachi then often visited me with lessons I was missing out on during the long break. He voluntarily wanted to teach me the jutsus I wasn't able to learn for the absence. That was actually when I started noticing him and talked to him," I smiled.

"It didn't last long enough as he joined the ANBU soon afterwards. I was alone again. That's when you..decided to help me. Not only you but Iruka, Anko, Asuma, Gai and Kurenai too. Good old days. Moving on to this year beginning. And yeah after itachi joined the ANBU, we lost our touch and again started talking after Naruto's birthday. Nothing much happened among the meets in the middle until the festival night. It felt different being with him. For the first time, I got treated like a woman. Like you know, someone's woman. He was probably being overly nice to me.." I said, trying to humble myself.

"Anyways! after spending so much time with him, I thought I was in love with him by the end of the night. The next day came along and I seemed to forget everything that we had shared completely and treated him in a way I always do. Even last night, I thought I had something for him, I was thinking about him all the way back home..but liking him was not the answer," I looked up at him. He slowly bat his eyelash.

"do I like him..?"

"I can safely say you don't," I sighed in relief.

"but you did like someone in the middle. You didn't tell me everything, y/n,"