safety [Kakashi Hatake x OC]

forty-seven

Through bouts of tears, Eri told Kakashi everything that had happened with the unnamed ninja that haunted her, and through her emotion, he understood just how terrible it was for her to confront him and what he did. He understood her anger, fear, and insecurity.

Kakashi listened and held her. Maybe he'd restore her faith in the shinobi world, and if not in men, then in him, at least.

After a few moments of quietness, the man placed a gentle kiss on her forehead, his mask keeping him from actually touching her skin directly. The kind, genuine act - no matter how much courage it took for him to do so - made her feel like all the horror that the enemy had instilled in her washed away.

He cupped her cheek and wiped away the last of her tears with his thumb. His forehead rested on hers as he kept his eye closed, peacefully and warmly.

The girl focused on him with wide, watery eyes. He made her feel so comforted and was now doing everything physically and emotionally he could to heal her trauma, and she was aware of that. She matched her breathing to his and slowly blinked, allowing herself to relax under his touch.

She leaned closer to him, their noses nearly touching. With half-lidded, heavy eyes she looked him in the eye, which he opened when he realized she was calming down. She flicked her gaze from his eyes to his covered mouth.

There was something about the moment when she felt so safe, yet so vulnerable; she felt the urge to peel down the navy blue veil and replace all the hurt and betrayal over the years with his lips.

She didn't know that he was battling with a similar desire since the moment she woke up in the hospital.

He kept his hands firm at her back and waist, knowing if they moved, he would be done for and would succumb to his carnal impulses. But she tenderly ran her fingers from his shoulder blade, down his side, and to his lower back. Every breath, every flutter of her eyelashes, every flicker of her dark eyes in the dim light seemed to take hours to pass, not the seconds that had actually ticked by.

As much as he craved her and what the moment was leading to, he knew it was not the time. She was not in the emotional frame of mind.

"Eri." His low voice broke the haze that they both seemed to be engulfed within. The girl suddenly allowed for some space between them, then dropped her head on his shoulder.

"Thank you, Kakashi." She whispered, hiding her flushed face and trying to comprehend the weight of the emotion she was feeling; and also, what exactly she was feeling.

Kakashi held her as she fell asleep, and once he felt all of her muscles ease as she melted in his arms, he comfortingly kissed her forehead again and in the quietest voice he could muster, said, "I love you."

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The next day, they received a knock at their door while Kakashi was in the shower, so Eri answered it.

"Kotetsu!" She gasped, not expecting him to be the person on the other side.

But there he was, smiling cheekily as he always did, holding some flowers wrapped in decorative paper. "Yeah, sorry for showing up like this." He laughed casually. "Kurenai told me where you lived." What he didn't clarify was that she had told him that she lived with his superior.

"Oh." She blinked.

The dark-haired man held the flowers out to her. "I'm sorry I didn't see you right after you were released, but I really hope you're feeling better."

"Thank you." She smiled brightly and took the flowers, closing the apartment door behind her to more comfortably talk to her friend.

He flicked his narrow gaze to the window, making sure no one was there to eavesdrop. "You know, I don't mind that you live with Kakashi."

The girl dropped her head to the side, confused. "What?"

"Kurenai told me that, too. You didn't have to keep it a secret."

"Oh, I didn't really intend to." It hadn't crossed her mind that Kotetsu would think one way or another about her situation. "Living with Kakashi was the condition on which I could stay here in the Leaf Village."

"Tsunade-sama has a way of making weird stipulations like that." He reasoned with a light-hearted laugh, but there was a seriousness in his eyes.

She matched his chuckle, and said, "Turns out he's not as scary as he makes himself out to be."

"Eri," the dark-haired man released a sigh and leaned over her, pressing the palm of his hand against the door frame, taking her free hand in his fingers, "I'm really glad you're okay."

"Thank you," again, she smiled innocently.

She must have been oblivious because she was completely taken aback when he confessed, "I really like you, Eri."