safety [Kakashi Hatake x OC]

seventeen

Team Seven's mission was to travel all the way to Kumogakure to retrieve a package and escort it back to Konoha. There wasn't anything dangerous involved other than the traveling itself and how far Kumogakure was.

Sakura had been fawning over Sasuke the entire trip thus far after she finally dropped the suspicion of her teacher and his suggestive teasing. Naruto was trying to pick a fight every chance he'd get while Sasuke was ignoring them both.

Kakashi watched with an easy-going attitude, shifting between reading his novel and quietly chuckling at the kids. Eri was just taking in the dynamics altogether, staying close to the man who had become her friend and hanging onto the comfort of his presence.

After a while - even after being trained to be focused for long missions - the genin got antsy. They began to lose interest in each other and become curious with Eri, seen as she seemed more interesting than their notoriously oblivious teacher.

"Eri-san! Show us some more of your jutsu!" Naruto cheered eagerly.

"'Please.'" Sakura corrected with annoyance in her voice, but a shimmer in her green eyes showed that she wanted to see more of the intriguing kekkei genkai. Even the elusive Sasuke had a dark eye focused on her.

Seen as she wasn't exactly completely trusted by the Konoha shinobi, Eri looked to Kakashi for approval. He gave his iconic blissful and aloof, closed-eyed smile. So, her dark irises began to shine with a playful excitement as she formed the hand seal she used to activate her jutsu.

"My kekkei genkai is really just a ninjutsu that utilizes the wind and water chakra natures. By altering the water that's in the air - or wind - I can kind of solidify it. It kind of looks..." She trailed and jumped into the air, and then hovered there on an invisible platform. "... like I can defy gravity."

"Woah..." Sakura gasped an awe, reaching for the cloud to feel the change in atmosphere. "Can anyone just walk on your jutsu?"

"Not necessarily." Eri released her hand seal. "People of my clan have more air in their cells than most people, making us lighter and as a by-product of altering the air around us, we can also alter the air in our bodies. Anyone else would just fall right through. Although in the circumstance with Naruto the other day, my jutsu can definitely help slow down a fall."

"What is your clan, Eri-san?" The curious pinkette asked.

"The Zayaka of the Hidden Mist." Kakashi interjected suddenly. For some reason, he didn't want to dive into her past. He didn't feel like he wanted to tell his students about her complex background, why she was in Konoha, and the nature of their relationship. While he was previously amused by embarrassing her in front of others for her teasing him in private, he had a change of heart. Something in him wanted to keep her truth to himself. Something in him had him feeling a little bit possessive. "You all read about the Mist Village's history with users of kekkei genkai. I'm sure you can draw your own conclusions."

"I see." Sakura muttered, clutching at the collar of her shirt anxiously, feeling guilty for being as curious as she was.

Naruto was uncharacteristically quiet. Perhaps he had no recollection of the history he learned, or he identified with the fact that she was alone. And although Sasuke was always stoic, he seemed to be fully absent from the present, trapped in his own head.

They continued to walk until they felt they needed to stop and rest, or when Kakashi determined it was a good time to set up camp for the night. The genin set up sleeping bags and the older man pitched a hammock. He had packed Eri's bag for her, seen as he was responsible for what she could and could not have. He was very generous and certainly tried to make sure she had everything that everyone else had.

But there was no sleeping bag or hammock; no blanket or anything. He had completely forgotten any sleeping gear. She tried not to be disappointed, but she flicked her dark eyes at him with both suspicion and a look that said, "please don't tell me you forgot something for me to sleep on."

"Oh." Kakashi mumbled, realizing what she wasn't finding. He then bluntly confessed, "I forgot."