Always And Forever (Kakashi Hatake Love Story)

Part 16

It was evening now. Kakashi was with Asuma at the BBQ shop. He had his masked cheek resting in his gloved palm and his elbow leaned on the table, his eye staring at his book that he was finding hard to read for the first time.

"Will you tell me what's wrong already?" Asuma asked, eyeing his friend carefully.

"Hn?" Kakashi looked up from his book at the man sitting across from him. 

"You've been staring at the same page for an hour now. What's the matter? Did you take Asami for dinner last night?" Asuma asked. 

Kakashi sighed and then explained to Asuma why he couldn't take her for a dinner.

"You mean she lied to you?" Asuma asked after listening the whole matter.

"I don't know. There's something even more bothersome." Kakashi put his book away, which wasn't interesting him at the moment.

"She was with Iruka. That's bothering you. Right?"

"Yeah, but not only that," trailed off the masked jōnin, narrowing his visible eye.

"Then?" Asuma raised his brow.

"She's acting strange. She's definitely avoiding me, but I don't know why," Kakashi explained, his voice kind of depressed, as he recalled how she had pretended as if she hadn't even seen him. 

"Maybe there's some sort of misunderstanding." Asuma shrugged his shoulders.

"Misunderstanding? What kind of misunderstanding it can be?" Kakashi queried.

"There is only one way to find out. Ask her directly," Asuma advised.

Kakashi thought for a few moments before responding,

"Yeah, you are right."

*
*

The sun was setting now. Kakashi was wandering in hopes to find a certain black haired female. The streets were busier than usual today.

On the other hand, Asami was walking toward Iruka's house to tell him her answer. She had thought about it very carefully, and she understood that she would never be able to give him the love he deserved. He wouldn't be happy with her. So, she decided to tell him the truth that she didn't love him. She knew well that it would hurt him, but it was better than spending his life with a wrong person who could never love him back. It was best, for both of them.

Asami turned left on a street. To her surprise, there was the person she wanted to see the least at the moment.

Yes, it was Kakashi .. once again.

"Why? When I want to face him the least, he is appearing wherever I'm going," she thought anxiously.

Kakashi's eye landed on Asami, and he notably quickened his pace that was usually a leisurely one. Asami tensed up. He was walking right toward her. Not giving it a thought, she turned on her heels and started walking away. Kakashi narrowed his eye.

"Why did I do that? Ugh! Now, he'll be sure that I'm avoiding him," she mentally scolded herself.

Kakashi followed her. He wanted to talk to her. He couldn't take this anymore. He couldn't tolerate her running away from him like this. He wanted to ask.. to know why she was avoiding him. What was his mistake?

"Asami, listen!" Kakashi called, but she continued walking, her head bowed down. She couldn't stop even if she wanted to. Her feet wanted to take her away from him as far as they could.

He too wasn't going to give up so easily, and so began to walk faster. The streets were busy, so he had to pass by several people that were blocking his way to her.

Out of nowhere, a man bumped into him and his grocery bags fell to the ground, causing Kakashi to take his eye off Asami for a second.

"My bad, my mad," the man apologized.

"It's okay." Kakashi looked up only to find Asami already disappeared into a crowd.

"Damn it." He clenched his fist. But this wasn't going to stop him from searching for her. He wanted to clear all the misunderstandings. He wasn't going to let her run away from him like that. He couldn't bear this anymore.

*

Leaning against a wall, Asami let out the breath that she didn't know she was holding. She had made sure that she was out of his sight. 

"Now, he's sure that I'm avoiding him. He'll not let this go until he finds the reason," she thought to herself and began to walk down the empty street.

"Kakashi.." She exhaled a sigh and stared up at the clouds floating in the dark sky.

"He didn't do anything wrong, and I'm ignoring him. I'm sure he's hurt. For what deed am I punishing him? Just because he kissed someone else and not .. me? I'm so selfish. I'm ruining our friendship, destroying our precious bond. If I keep acting like this, I'll lose him. I don't want to lose the person most precious to me."

It was night now, and she needed to tell Iruka her answer. She continued her way to his house, silently praying not to run into Kakashi again.

She peeked from behind a wall. Luckily, the street that led to Iruka's house was deserted. She sighed in relief and started walking. The moon was hidden behind the clouds. Everything was dark.

"How long am I going to run away from him like this? We live in the same village and lead the same team. Sooner or later, I'll have to face him. What am I going to answer him then?"

Asami's eyes saddened, as she felt an all too familiar heaviness inside her chest, that was increasing day by day. 

She was halfway across the street when suddenly, her body tensed up. A hand grabbed her wrist from behind. She was pulled into a dark alley and was pushed against a wall.

"Wha-" She looked up to see who it was.

The clouds moved away, letting the moonlight illuminate the face of the person standing in front of her. Her eyes widened in surprise and her heart jumped into her throat. It was the person she didn't want to face.

Yes, it was him.. the silver haired masked jōnin whom she was hiding from.

"K-Kakashi."

Now, she was fully cornered.