safety [Kakashi Hatake x OC]

thirty-nine

"Eri!" Kakashi called for the girl as she frantically packed her things. "We need to go." He said for the third time.

"I'm coming!" She huffed dramatically, then grumbled under her breath, "As if you should be the one to say anything." Typically, she was always dragging him through the door whenever they needed to go anywhere. But this was different. She felt so much pressure to do everything right and meet the expectations of both the Leaf Village and, more importantly, Kakashi.

It had been a year since Sasuke left, and an additional few months since Eri arrived at Konoha to seek refuge. Since the night that her roommate came home raw and emotional from the loss of his student, she knew she was meant to stay in the village for good. He became more of a home to her than she had ever experienced.

So, she made that known. Her formal intentions were to stay in Konoha and become a kunoichi deserving of their emblem. Thanks to her roommate's highly regarded word, she was sent straight to the chunin examination. While it offered some difficulty - Konoha was producing some particularly skilled young ninjas - she passed and was rewarded a forehead protector, which she wore tied around her upper arm. She had no desire to ascend the ranks any further. She was happy and proud to be a Leaf shinobi, and that's all that mattered.

She still lived with Kakashi, however, and Tsunade never spoke of allowing her to move out on her own anytime soon.

And now, he was pushing her out of the door to embark on her first mission, in which she was being accompanied by him. They had lived together so long that they were extremely comfortable around each other, almost expecting each other's presence wherever they went, even more so with Sasuke having left the village, Sakura training with Tsunade, and Naruto's absence while training with Kakashi's favorite author.

They're mission entailed scouting, stopping, and potentially capturing an elusive and questionable group of outlaws in the unnamed territory south of the Land of Fire and west of Kirigakure. Not much was known about this group, and if they were deemed to be too dangerous for Kakashi and Eri to handle alone, then they would quickly gather reinforcements, but their targets weren't expected to be very strong.

Thus, they set off for Eri's first mission as a proud kunoichi of Konoha with Kakashi tagging along because he honestly didn't want anyone else to go with her instead. She and Kotetsu were still suspiciously friends after all, even though he had no idea that she lived with the intimidating jonin.

Two-and-a-half days of traveling - with a hammock that the woman remembered to pack this time - brought them to the end of the Land of Fire, yet not within the boundaries of the Mist Village. They were close to sea, but not quite at the cliffs and beaches. It was an hour from sunset, and they were quiet, knowing they were in the territory of their targets.

Before long they started to hear distant, hushed words, so the Konoha ninjas took to the trees and were careful to hide their presence. These kinds of secretive groups were, ironically, never too hard to find, so they weren't surprised when they saw smoke rising from a recently-quenched fire behind an abandoned house.

Eri inched forward to get a better view of the situation, still hiding in the leaves. When she went a little too far and movement was heard, Kakashi grabbed her waist and drew her back in, bringing her back to his chest. "Careful," he whispered in a very low tone only she could hear, "Don't get yourself caught."

"I was fine." She grumbled. "You just wanted to hold me."

He hummed in amusement. "Perhaps."

"Rude."

"I can't help it. You're the perfect size." He squeezed her a bit more tightly.

"You're just a pervert."

"We both know this already."

"I don't think I'll ever get used to it."

"Good. Keeps things interesting."

"You're awful."

He chuckled lowly. He was still aware of the mission, but he had never been so emotionally distracted from their purpose as shinobi. She was always so exciting to him, and as time progressed, he had little reservation for acting on impulses.

He teased further, "You love me."

"If that makes you feel better." She rolled her eyes and pat the top of his particularly fluffy head. "But I'm pretty sure you love me."

Changing the subject but relishing in the moment of holding Eri, he nonchalantly stated, "Oh? Look who it is," directing their attention to the not-so-abandoned house below.