safety [Kakashi Hatake x OC]

eight

Just as Kakashi and Eri were about to leave Ichiraku Ramen - her official welcome into the Leaf Village - two other shinobi entered. They seemed to be around the same age as the white-haired man; one woman and one man, both wearing their village's emblem around their foreheads.

"Yo, Kakashi." The man raised his hand in a lazy wave, grinning through the cigarette in his teeth.

"Ah, Asuma." Kakashi hummed in a way that was just as laid-back as the said man before him.

The unfamiliar, dark-haired woman chimed in, "Is this the girl?" Her vibrant red eyes focused on Eri with a gentle smile.

"Oh, yeah. Kurenai, Asuma, this is Eri. She'll be staying in Konoha for a while." Kakashi introduced, and the young woman took note of the names.

Eri grinned humbly and met both ninjas' eyes. "Nice to meet you."

"You as well." The dark-haired woman - Kurenai - said. Her eyes were intense, but her personality was warm and inviting. "That sweater looks better on you than it did me." She released a light chuckle.

The light-haired girl pinched the hem of the sweater she wore, making the connection that this was the kunoichi that leant the shirt. "Thanks for letting me borrow it. We just picked up my clothes so I'll wash it and get it back to you soon."

"No, don't worry about it." Kurenai assured. "It's yours now."

"Really?"

She nodded.

"Thank you." Eri smiled brightly.

She then suddenly stood upright, nearly jumping and releasing a squeal of shock, which she luckily didn't, when Kakashi rested a heavy palm on her shoulder. "We should get going."

"Yeah, we're just about to eat, too." Asuma agreed in a low voice. "Glad we ran into each other."

"Likewise." The silver-haired man agreed, preparing to leave with the relatively shy young woman beside him.

However, Asuma called out to him once more with a hearty laugh, "Oh hey, don't get too carried away with your little situation now, Kakashi."

Eri was clearly lost as to what this statement meant, but the said man froze for a moment, his face remarkably pale and his eyes distant and dark with shame. This was meant as a joke; a simple teasing gesture for the friends and comrades to part on, but Kakashi seemed to be completely caught off guard.

He kept himself from cursing back at the chuckling man, and his flushed cheeks were luckily hidden behind his mask, saving himself from embarrassing himself further when the "situation" Asuma was referring to had no idea what he meant.

And he was content to keep it that way as he rushed the girl out of the canopy with a bitter click of his tongue. They headed back to his apartment-like home with little conversation.

Eri tried to take in more of the unfamiliar village. It was a beautiful place, and the air was much more pleasing than that of Kirigakure, but there was just so much for her to see, experience, and analyze that she couldn't possibly make the most of Konoha in one walk through its central district.

Kakashi's apartment was on the top floor of an apartment complex a few blocks outside of the village center. It was considerably isolated in a corner of the building, seeming to be the only one nestled within the trees.

It was also small. Eri was reminded of this as they went inside and she took in her surroundings more specifically, knowing that she may be living there for a while. There was a living space with a couch, coffee table, and small kitchen that had brown cabinets stretching over only one section of one wall. There were blankets messily strewn across the couch, as well as a few novels stacked on the table in front of it. It was clear that the man had been sleeping there while she was in his bed.

Kakashi let her bathe first, giving her plenty of towels and some clean clothes to change into. When she was done, he was grateful that he was wearing a mask covering most of his face. She wore her short spandex shorts, but they weren't seen under the over-sized t-shirt that the man let her borrow. There was something extremely attractive about this girl her barely knew and the fact that he was wearing one of his shirts that he hardly had any use for. 

So he was quick to get up and get a bath himself, careful not to spend too long looking or thinking about the woman. The first was preventable as he hid in the bathroom, but the latter would take a while to get over.

The whole "living together" thing might be a lot more difficult than he initially thought. He read too many questionable romance novels to deal with the circumstances with an innocent mind.