safety [Kakashi Hatake x OC]

thirty-one

Eri looked up at Kakashi with wide, dark eyes. He could see the abysmal hurt that welled inside of them. She wasn't just frustrated with Tomiichi; Tomiichi was just one of the many she had to fight off, and there was a deep-rooted anger from the many that she managed to release on the one. It was also the first time that Kakashi began to see the life that she came from - the life that brought her to Konoha and into his home.

He wanted to see the anger and the hurt go away. He wanted to see her happy, safe, and trusting, and he wanted her to know that he would never hurt her, and that he would always be with her. 

"It's over." The gentle man stated calmly. Tomiichi didn't put up much of a fight outside of his genjutsu, so it was easy enough to subdue him. 

The tension faded from Eri's body. Her limbs fell limply as the stranger had no strength to fight back.

"What do you want to do?" Kakashi asked. His voice was low and tender, doing nothing but assuring her. 

She sighed, stifling tears as the anger dissipated and the remaining emotion churned within her. "What do you think I should do?"

"I can't answer that for you. This is your fight."

The mauve-haired girl stood and turned her back to the disabled man; a direct sign of disrespect. "Let him go." She growled. "Let him go back to Kirigakure and show them not to mess with me."

"Okay." He called on four of his larger dog summons and Eri went into the bathroom, shutting the door behind her. He took this chance to grab Tomiichi by his collar and glare down upon him. The three black dots swirling in his red eye spun into a windmill as he bitterly declared, "You, or anyone else, better not come anywhere near Eri or this village."

Kakashi's ice cold, Sharingan glare was one of the most terrifying experiences for Tomiichi as he had no strength to even cower in fear.

"I think she needs to send you back with a stronger message." The Leaf shinobi quietly bellowed, then flicked his pupils to the intruder's right arm.

A few silent, tense seconds passed before the air around Tomiichi's arm began to swirl, catching his sleeve within its coils and sucking it into another dimension. Terror was in his brown eyes as the white-haired man covered his mouth to muffle his screams. 

His arm wasn't only ripped from his body, but it dissolved into thin air, disappearing entirely. There was no blood and no more pain, it was just gone.

Then, Kakashi sent him off on the back of his largest ninken, through the window which he came in from. The dogs took him to the edge of the village where they watched and threatened until he left.

Once they were gone, he covered the glass on the floor with a towel, preparing to clean it the next day. He then knocked on the bathroom door, noticing it was quiet inside, and warmly asked, "Do you need help with the glass and scratches?"

It took Eri a moment to answer, but she eventually pulled the door open. She was in her shorts and held a towel over the front of her torso. Her cheeks were dusted with red as she nodded but couldn't meet his eyes. She needed help, but she was shy to admit it.

She sat on the edge of the bath tub as he pulled up a stool behind her. He took the shower head and wet a smaller towel with warm water, then proceeded to gently clean the wounds from the glass on her back, shoulders, and arms, pulling out small shards that were still embedded in her flesh as considerately at possible.

He tried not to pay attention to the fact that she was half naked with only a white towel covering her chest. She was allowing him to touch every curve of her exposed skin and get so close that she could feel his breath tickling her skin. 

Once the pain was slowly relieved, the sensation of him being so close, feeling his fingers on her bare skin and his breathing on her smooth, unscathed flesh caused chills to cover her. She was starting to realize just how safe she felt with him. She held back tears as she realized she had a home in Konoha, and it was much less a place, but rather, a person who was assigned to look after her.