Secrets (Kakashi x Reader)

Chapter 5

A few days later, Genma and I were waiting at the gates.

"He better not be late today. We have a long journey." Genma grumbled.

"Oh don't worry, I have a feeling he'll be on time today." I smirked to myself. Genma gave a questioning look but I didn't explain. Not too much later, a silver head of hair appeared.

Genma's mouth dropped open, "Kakashi...you're actually on time for once!"

Kakashi looked confused, "What? I thought we were supposed to meet an hour ago?"

I laughed, "Nope, you're right on time. I gave you an earlier meeting time knowing that you would show up late." Kakashi's eye widened when he realized he had been tricked, but he had a good sense of humor about it. We all gathered up our gear and headed out to start our mission. The journey there was going to take a few days, and we were determined to cover the distance as quickly as possible. We ran through the trees the first few hours, until we felt it was time to take a break to eat.

Once again it was Genma and I joking around and laughing while eating, and Kakashi was reading. He had gradually moved closer to Genma and I over the past few days, so it felt like he was more a part of our group, but he was still reading that stupid book that he wouldn't let me see.

I got an idea.

I turned to Genma, he groaned and laughed at the same time, having recognized the evil glint in my eyes. Over the last few days of training together, he had started to recognize when I was up to something. I had developed a tendency to pull pranks on Kakashi during training, although they were almost never successful. The only thing I was good at was sneaking up on Kakashi undetected, but he didn't fall for anything else. It never stopped me from trying though.

I quietly summoned a shadow clone and I sent her to go talk to Kakashi, while I myself slipped away. I don't know what she was saying, but she must have been annoying because I could see Kakashi sigh. She fulfilled her purpose though: to get Kakashi to put down his book to the side. I took that as my chance and snuck up behind them, before grabbing the book and taking off running as fast as I could.

I didn't dare look back because I could sense Kakashi chasing after me. Genma was shouting at me to keeping running, but Kakashi is fast and would catch up to me at any moment. I needed to start the next phase of my plan before I lose my advantage. I hid the book inside my jacket, and created a clone of it to carry.

The ground in front of me surged up, tripping me before I had a chance to avoid it, and I ended up sprawled on my stomach on the ground. Kakashi, who knew I wasn't going to run anymore, strolled up to me, "Can I have my book back?"

I put on a pouty face but handed him the clone I had made, pretending to admit defeat once again. He looked straight into my eyes, held the book up, and set it on fire. The clone book disappeared.

"My real book please." I was stunned, he had seen through my trick so easily. I thought for sure I would have gotten him this time, at least for long enough for me to peek inside the book. He sighed and picked me up off the ground, the real book pressing against him and giving away its location. He reached into my jacket and grabbed it, setting me upright again. I couldn't move, not only was I still stunned but I was deeply embarrassed by Kakashi's hand brushing against my stomach.

Genma caught up to us, and I could only watch as Kakashi picked up his pack and started walking again.

"You okay?" Genma broke me out of my stupor, and I furiously nodded my head. We both picked up our packs, and began walking as well.

We walked for the next few hours, and I tried to calm my embarrassment. It's not like I've never had any contact with Kakashi, our hands have sometimes come in contact with each other's bodies when fighting during our training sessions. But it's also been that way with Genma. It's training, none of us think twice about it. This was different though, it wasn't training, and his hand went inside my clothing. Yeah, I still had a shirt on, but that shirt might as well not have been there because it felt so intimate. I couldn't even look at Kakashi's back without feeling his fingers again.

I had gotten ahold of myself by the time we stopped to set up camp. We had wanted to cover as much distance as possible, so the sky was already dark when we ate some dinner. We didn't believe that we would run into any danger during this part of the mission, but we still decided to set up watch. We agreed on splitting the night into three shifts, and would rotate who gets what shift. We set up two tents for whoever would be the two people sleeping.

I took first watch, and Kakashi and Genma headed inside of the tents. My watch passed fairly quickly, my mind consumed with thoughts about the mission and about my team. I've worked on many different teams the past few months, and even went on several missions alone, but none felt as great as this team. I loved the guys, we worked well together and I felt I could trust them with my life.

Before I knew it, my watch was over and it was time to wake up Kakashi so he could start his watch. I crept over to his tent and slowly unzipped it, trying to not make any noise. I don't know why I was trying to be quiet since I was about to wake him anyway, but I still silently crawled inside of the tent. Kakashi was asleep, with his mask and headband still on.

I wonder if he kept those on just because Genma and I are around.

Kakashi turned slightly in his sleep, dragging his mask down the tiniest bit. The movement exposed a strip of skin on his face just under his eyes, and I caught a glimpse of what looked like a scar. Kakashi seemed to be sleeping so soundly, so maybe he wouldn't notice if I pulled down his mask just a bit more...

I caught myself with one hand extending towards his face. I pulled my hand back in, scolding myself for trying to invade Kakashi's privacy. Before I could do anything else stupid, I nudged Kakashi in the shoulder, trying to wake him up. He woke up quickly for someone who looked to be in such a deep sleep. He blinked up at me for a moment, before nodding and sitting up.

"Time for my watch?" I nodded in answer, "Alright, well get some sleep then." Kakashi exited out of the tent.

I settled down and cuddled into the pillow, pulling the blanket tight around me. I tried to drift off to sleep, but every time I was close I would catch the scent lingering on the blanket and pillow. Kakashi's scent. The intoxicating, pleasant smell would fill my nose and pull me from my sleep. I tried flipping the pillow and tossing off the blanket, but it would then get too cold to sleep that way. I began to grow restless from the lack of sleep, and thought maybe getting out of the tent and moving for a bit in the fresh air would help.

I stepped out of the tent, and stretched out my whole body. The night air had grown a bit chilly since I was last out here, and I saw a fire had been started.

"Why are you awake?" Kakashi's voice asked. There he was sitting next to the fire. I walked over to him, shrugging my shoulders in answer and sat down by the fire. It was warm over here, and I tipped my head back to look at the stars. The stars are always so beautiful out in the middle of nowhere, nothing to block your view and no city lights dimming them. There was silence between Kakashi and I, but it didn't feel uncomfortable or awkward. It felt normal, like we knew just how to be in each other's presence.

After a little while, Kakashi spoke up, "I'm glad you're a member of this team."

I smiled, "I'm happy to be on this team. You've done a great job at getting the three of us to sync together. And I know I haven't said this, but I really appreciate the extra training you've been doing with me."

"I was really impressed with you during training. You're smart, and it makes you a good fighter. I didn't mind spending the extra time training, but I didn't expect you to pick up on new techniques as quickly as you did. In just a few days' time you were using some lightning techniques like an expert."

My eyes widened at this compliment. He had been supportive during training, extremely tough but still supportive, but he had never said anything like this. Kakashi, not looking me in the eye, continued, "I've grown to trust your skills."

My hand started to reach for his, to thank him and let him know I valued him as a teammate as well, when Kakashi spoke again, "You should probably try to sleep. It'll be another long day tomorrow."

I sat for a moment, before pulling back my hand and standing up. I started walking towards my tent, and softly called over my shoulder, "Goodnight Kakashi." I got no reply and I crawled back inside the tent. Laying down again, I thought over what Kakashi had said. He trusted my skills. The skills I had shown him at least. I finally fell asleep, wondering if he would think of me the same if he knew what I could do with genjutsu, or if he would think of me as a cruel monster.