|| [Hatake] : Fascination : [Kakashi] || [Part XIV] ||
--
Oriko was sat next to Kakashi at Ichiraku’s Ramen place, feeling…strangely more relaxed than she expected to;
“So how are you doing, Kakashi-san? Oriko-san?” Teuchi asked kindly, to which Kakashi returned a smile,
“Not bad thank you, Teuchi-san, how’s business?”
“Oh! Very well, thank you, the village is very supportive of me…” Teuchi smiled again, seeming strangely pleased to see them, “Oriko-san, how have you been over the past few days?”
“Well, thank you; just been sparring with Lee,” She commented,
“Oh! The taijutsu-only shinobi, yes, he’s very determined,” He smiled again as Oriko was getting the feeling that he knew literally everyone in the village, “Who won?”
“Oh, err…I did” She could help feeling suddenly self-conscious, feeling that he might think that she’d only mentioned it so that she could gloat that she won to Teuchi, which wasn’t the case at all,
“Well done Oriko-san! He is a very strong Chuunin!”
“Indeed he is,” She commented as he turned back to continue stirring the soup ready for the noodles to be added.
“I was impressed with your strategy this time,” Kakashi began, turning to look at her, “The Goukakkyuu you used to mislead him was very effective,”
“Yea, thanks,” She began to twiddle with her chopsticks, “I get the feeling that it’s for diversionary tactics that those jutsus really come into their own,”
“Exactly; on their own, they’re too weak to do anything to a strong opponent…but knowing when to use it means either success or failure – which is the ultimate basis of all jutsus and frankly, the basis of all tools as well,” Oriko nodded in understanding and turned to look at him, quickly matching his smile; feeling very at ease in his company,
“Here,” Ayame spoke as she placed a bowl of ramen in front of them each, smiling gently,
“Thank you,” Oriko returned as she snapped apart her chopsticks in an obvious hunger and began stirring her noodles vigorously before taking a bite.
“Thank you,” She heard Kakashi’s smooth voice speak to Teuchi’s assistant, who smiled sweetly back at him, as he clapped his hands together, “Itadakimasu,” He whispered.
They finished their ramen quickly and Oriko felt far more satiated, as she looked over to Kakashi, she fancied that she could see a more relaxed look in his eye than before – as though his contentment relied upon a full stomach. He turned again to look at her,
“Well, we should do another mission soon, so we’ll meet at 9.30am outside the Hokage’s office tomorrow morning,” Although he looked bored, a little more life seemed to creep into his eyes,
“Yea!” Oriko responded, feeling more enthusiastic by the nano-second, remembering that she wanted to go to the library and research Kekkei-Genkais in detail, while choosing to ignore Kakashi’s confused, if not troubled expression at her response. She dug into one of her pouches in an attempt to locate some cash, but before she managed to drag some out of her small wallet, Kakashi stopped her and placed the correct money on the table,
“It’s alright, I’ll pay,” Oriko looked disbelievingly at his smile, “A treat for defeating Lee today,”
“…I.e. so you didn’t have to put up with one of Gai’s ridiculous punishments?” Kakashi’s once happy expression immediately fell as she hit the bulls-eye as to his reasons,
YOU ARE READING
Hatake Kakashi: Fascination
FanfictionKakashi thinks he's in for a nice break, free from students, after Naruto's recent departure with Jiraiya, but he hadn't counted on a beautiful stranger turning up in Konoha whom Tsunade thinks would become a powerful asset were she to be trained as...
