Nozomu

Hatake Kakashi

"Ka- Ka- Kakashi Senpai!" Iruka laughs nervously beside me. 

Kakashi looks at him and then at me with dull eyes, he looked confused. "My name is Kazama Ai. Are you Naruto's Jonin Captain?" I ask him. 

He puts the Ichiraku banner over his shoulder and come inside the shop, standing in front of me. He is so tall. "Yes." He says. 

"Why did you not untangle Naruto a week ago after training?" I ask him, trying to hide to bitterness in my voice. Iruke beside me starts sweating out of nervousness but remains silent. He could feel the tension in my voice. 

"Huh? Oh. After the ball training. Kids need to know how to escape anyways. It's one of the most basic techniques as a shinobi." He shrugs and sits beside me. I furrow my eyebrows at him as he puts the book on the table. I look back at my food and just continue eating my food, not minding the silver haired guy. "Aren't you the girl who bumped into me a long time ago?" He asks out of nowhere.

I tense up and feel my cheeks flush. He was staring at my face so I look away in order for him not to see my red face. "Uhm.. Yeah." 

Iruka looks confused. "Bumped into you Kakashi Senpai?"

"Yes. I was reading my book but after she bumped into me it fell to the ground. It took a while to find the page..." He takes a pause to sigh dramatically and look at the ceiling, both elbows on the table. "I hope I had a bookmark." He says, a hint of playfulness in his voice. 

I mentally smack myself in the head before drinking water. "A shinobi who cannot avoid bumping into people shouldn't be reading while walking in the first place." I mutter. 

"Says the shinobi who walks in a busy street while looking at the sky." I could feel his grin through his words. 

I look at him and glare while Iruka laughs nervously. "Okay come on guys... let's be nice." 

"Is that my life time rival Hatake Kakashi?!" A deep voice calls from outside the stall. The man wearing a green jumper dramatically enters the shop, a big grin showing his pearly white teeth and a stance that only a superhero would make comes in front of us. 

"Guy!" I smile. 

"Huh?" He looks at me. "Ai-san!" He laughs and comes to hug me. "I have been training hard to prepare for our battle." He hugs me. 

Iruka notices me straining. "Uh- Guy! Don't hug her too tight. She is recovering from a broken rib after a mission." Iruka stands and takes Guy off me. 

Guy looks at me with a horrified expression. "I am so sorry Ai-kun! Forgive me!"

"It's okay Guy-" He continues talking. 

"Since I hurt you, I will do 500 push-ups as punishment!" Guy rambles on about the list of things he has to do for the mistake he has done. 

I try to calm him down by saying it is okay but Kakashi speaks. "Missions? So you are a shinobi."

I feel a vain pulsating on my forehead and I look at him with a glare. "I don't wear this headband for nothing, Hatake Kakashi." I say slowly, word for word. 

Guy exchanges his looks between me and Kakashi. "I see you have made another rival, Kakashi." Guy smiles while crossing his arms.

"He is not my rival." I tell Guy.

"Oh?" Kakashi asks while standing. Even though Guy is taller than Kakashi, I still feel much shorter next to Kakashi. And my thoughts were spoken out by the devil himself, "You're shorter than I thought." He blurts. 

"Excuse you, I am 5'4." I state proudly. 

"Yeah and Kurenai is 5'6." Kakashi says simply. 

I glare at him but he doesn't seem to mind. "Guy you can have my food. Thank you Iruka Senpai for today. I'll see you tomorrow." I smile at him. He flushes and nods. "Thank you Teuchi-san and Ayame-san." I look at everyone but Kakashi with a smile and walk out of the shop after they bid me goodbye as well. 

I walk around the village to see if there was anything I needed at home. I should get Naruto something. I walk inside a stall with masks and looking at them reminded me of the times when I was still with the Anbu Ops. 

"Ohio! How much is this?" I ask the vendor. It was a mask with two red streaks on both cheeks and a red full eyeliner style. 

"Ohio! That would be 540 Yen." The man responds. 

"I would like to get that please." I say and look through my purse.

"Reminds me of when I was with the Anbu Ops." Someone speaks behind me. 

"Kakashi!" I exclaim and pull out the money and give it to the man. 

Kakashi looks down and smiles. "Hello Ai-kun." 

Ai-kun?

I bite my lips to stop myself from saying anything, instead I wait for the man to wrap up the mask. "Arigato." I bow my head to say thanks while grabbing the plastic and walk away. 

"You don't seem to like me." Kakashi comes again from beside me. 

I shake my head. "Well, seeing how you treated Naruto, I am annoyed at you." I state bluntly. 

"Hah?" He laughs. "Only because of that?" He continues to walk beside me, both hands in his pockets. I stop walking. And he stops to face me. "What's wrong?"

"Did- did you forget your book?" I ask. 

He looks confused for a moment but chuckles. "No, no I did not. It's here." He takes it out of his back pocket and shows me. 

My cheeks turn red and I look away. "Oh." 

"Thank you for checking." He smiles. My cheeks continue to redden so instead I continue walking, once again he walks beside me.

"Why are you following me?" I ask him. 

"I want to." He shrugs. "Besides, you haven't told me to go away." 

"And if I do?" I ask him, a smile plastering on my lips. 

He looks at me for a second, a little shock but clears his throat. "Ehem- Uhm- Well, I wouldn't be easily removed like that." He says smugly. 

I roll my eyes and see someone mochi on my left. "Mochi!" I squeak quietly and walk a little faster towards the store. I watch two men work together to make mochi dough and a woman fill mochi with different kinds of sweet fillings. 

"Would you like some?" I hear Kakashi speak from beside me, his eyes staring at me. 

I continue to look at the different flavored mochi and can't help but grin. The lady sees me and hands out a fresh mochi that she made. I can feel my heart melting as I grab one and bow my head to say thank you. I take a bite of it and can't help but do a little dance of happiness. It's a little sweet from the rice floor dough, but it's chewy. Then comes in the sweat and creamy red bean flavor. 

After finishing the mochi, I was about to take my money out to buy some but I was handed a bag by Kakashi. "Here you go." He says, one arm reaching out and another on his wast. He notices my confused face. "I-" His cheeks turn pink. "I got some for myself but couldn't finish it. You can have them. They're all the flavors and two pieces per flavor." He says while looking out into the street and not making any eye contact. 

I close my eyes and laugh. "Thank you Kakashi!" I grab the bag from him excitingly. "Come let's eat some of it together." I grab his empty extended hand and dragged him to one of my favorite places in Konoha.