the ice queen | hatake kakashi

05 ; the cruel reality

"Iruka-sensei is really buying all of us ramen?" Sakura asked as the whole Team 7 walked towards the shop. Naruto nodded gleefully and walked faster than his teammates. "Hurry up will you!! I can't wait to tell him about our mission!!!" Kakashi smiled watching his students being excited. Their mission to the Land of Waves had been a success. The bridge was complete and named in honour of Naruto, but two strong ninjas had been killed during the process. Kakashi remembered the shrine they had made for both Haku and Zabuza, silently wishing they had a peaceful life now.

"Iruka-sensei!!" Naruto hugged his sensei the moment he entered the shop. Iruka smiled and patted Naruto's head. "How was the mission?" He asked. But apparently, Naruto wasn't focusing on him. In fact, he and the other members of Team 7 were focused on the lady beside Iruka. Iruka turned to his right, sighing as he nudged the latter's shoulder. "Yah, they're all looking at you, you know."

"Well, who's idea was it to ask me to untie my hair the day they returned from their mission??" Fuyu turned around and looked at Iruka with a death look in her eyes. "Certainly wasn't me." She also gave Naruto a death glance while playing with a thread of her hair behind her ear. "So it's not my fault." She looked at Kakashi before turning back to her ramen, hiding the faint red appearing on her cheeks. Naruto laughed. "Ah, I remembered our little game now! I thought you wouldn't do it since... well, it's you." Naruto stopped talking when he noticed Fuyu had shown a really dark aura around her. Fuyu pointed her chopstick towards Iruka. "This guy made me do it." Iruka slowly distanced himself from Fuyu.

"You have really pretty hair!!! Tell me your secrets, please?" Sakura admired Fuyu's appearance. She's so pretty. She must have a boyfriend at the least. "You must have a boyfriend already, right?" Fuyu shook her head while Iruka snorted. "I'll be sorry for her boyfriend for having a really scary girlfriend like- ek." Iruka further their distance more.

Kakashi chuckled as he watched the scenario. This Fuyu was definitely different from the one in their mission. And the one during their fight. He continued to look at Fuyu. He had to admit, she does look beautiful with her long hair just flowing down like that. Naruto caught Kakashi looking at Fuyu. "So.. Fuyu! This is Kakashi-sensei!!!" He pushed Kakashi forward, almost clashing with Fuyu herself, much to his displeasure and embarassment.

"We already met." They both said at the same time, surprising each other. Naruto squealed loudly. "Oh, so you two have met, hmmm? May I ask wh-OUCH!!!" Fuyu slapped him. Naruto moaned in pain. Ignoring Fuyu, Naruto turned to Iruka once more. "Well, Iruka you should hear our story at the Land of Waves." So Naruto told the tale of how they met Haku and Zabuza. How they had fought with them and ended up finishing the bridge.

"That Haku guy had this ability to use Ice Release!! And he made a lot of mirrors around us!! It was scary but quite cool!! If we weren't the target at that time." Fuyu stopped eating, ears listening to Naruto's story. "It's quite sad that he sacrificed himself to save Zabuza from Kakashi-sensei's Lightning Blade-" Fuyu stood up and left the bill on the counter. Ignoring everyone else, she left the shop quickly, stopping when she felt someone trailing behind her.

Kakashi.

"Are you training again tonight?" He asked softly, preventing his students from eavesdropping them. Fuyu nodded, trying to hold the slight anger she had within her. She bit her lips, before leaving as soon as she could. Kakashi thought of chasing her but decided not to. He'll have to wait until tonight.

"Say, Iruka-sensei." Naruto looked at Kakashi as he left the shop. "Do you think Kakashi-sensei and Fuyu make a great pair?" Iruka, Sasuke, and Sakura nearly spilled their ramen at Naruto's comment. "Well... I don't know. Like I say..." Iruka watched Kakashi walk the opposite direction from Fuyu.

" I'll be sorry for her boyfriend for having a really scary girlfriend like her." He joked.

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She kneeled on the training ground. Tears ran through her porcelain face, mourning the Haku's death. 'Another one lost.' She remained still, silent as the night. Naruto's news hit her hard in the heart. She continued crying, and with a loud scream, she hit the ground hard, causing snow to suddenly fall in the training grounds. She felt her tears freezing themselves, but she couldn't care less.

Haku was gone.

Kakashi watched from a tree far from Fuyu. He watched the snow fall. from the blank skies. It was exactly the same as the day Zabuza had died. Were they from the same clan for her to grief this much? He slowly jumped from the tree, approaching the white-haired girl. "Go away," Fuyu mumbled, her head still facing the ground. "Fuyu, we all had lost someone dear in our li-"

"This is different." She sniffled. "Unlike Konoha, the Kirigakure people are scared of the Kekkei Genkai wielders. Especially the Ice Release users. We aren't great in numbers, with the recent killings in Kirigakure decreasing us more. " Kakashi slowly approached her. "And I did knew Haku.. personally." She wiped her tears as she stood up.

"I'm sorry. For killing the boy." He stood next to Fuyu, watching the snow decorate the night skies. Fuyu kept silent, she haven't shown someone this side of hers in a long time. They continued to stare the dark sky together, each of them wandering through their own thoughts.

After meeting Fuyu, he returned to his apartment only to spent the rest of his night rereading the book the Sandaime had given him. He ended up sleeping with his head on the book.

Meanwhile, in her own apartment, Fuyu continued to watch the stars. She held a small picture in her hand. Smiling, she looked at a picture of her 12-year-old self with a younger Haku. "I hope you're happy now, Haku." She hugged the picture dearly and finally fell asleep on the rooftop of her apartment.