Chapter 12

I'm currently on guard duty with Kakashi. One might assume that somebody, whose purpose it is to be on the lookout for anything bad, would be alert and attentive. Guess who isn't – Kakashi. And guess who also seemingly threatened the very person they are supposed to be protecting – also Kakashi. Damn hypocrite. I don't know what he said to Tazuna. At some point, I only saw the silverette's body language change to a somewhat more aggressive one. Tazuna apparently tried to stand his ground but had absolutely no chance against an angry Jōnin. One must remember one thing – while Hatake Kakashi is always late and appears to be lazy and disinterested most of the time, one should never anger him. He can be quite scary if he wants to.

After he finishes talking to the old bridge builder, he turned and smiled at me before walking back to my side. And then he takes out that damn orange book of his. With a title like "Icha Icha Paradise" it's more than obvious that that is a piece of pornographic literature. I wonder if he reads it because he's genuinely interested in it or just to make people keep their distance from him. I do hope it's the latter, though. But to each their own. What right do I have to comment on what other people do to pass their time. I wish I had something with me that I could use to fight my own boredom with. Gotta admit, ever since I've come to this world, I was pretty miffed at the lack of technological advancement here. I miss the internet the most. If only I had my phone with me right now, I could've just played some games or read an online novel. Sigh. I glance at the cyclops in envy.

"Is there something wrong?" I hear Kakashi ask without looking up from his book. I shake my head.

"Not really. I'm just bored is all. And I was just contemplating your choice of literature," I answer.

"Ma~ Way to make me feel embarrassed, Shizu-chan," he smiles wryly, closing his book and putting it away.

"Anything to fight my boredom, I suppose," I say.

"I bet you could've found a nicer way of doing that," Kakashi complains.

"Ma~ probably. However, where is the fun in that?" I tease him. He stares at me in disbelieve. Looks like he is starting to rub off on me.

"Did I just hear that right?" He asks.

"I know and it is your fault."

"How is that my fault?"

"Because I've been spending too much time with you lately," I huff, crossing my arms in front of my chest. Suddenly, I can feel his hand land on my head before fiercely ruffling my head. He is laughing. Such a carefree and unrestricted laughter. That's a first. But I like the way it sounds.

"You should do that more often," I whisper quietly, yet he still hears it. The ruffling stops.

"What? Messing up your hair?" He smirks. As if! You're already doing that much too often!

"No, the laughing. It sounds nice."

"Well, if you give me enough reasons to," He replies, his gaze softening as he lets his hand slide down to the back of my neck where he let it rest. His hand is big, heavy, and warm. It gives me the feeling of security for some reason. I slightly lean into it, causing him to tighten his grip just a little bit, so I just close my eyes and soak up this feeling.

"Imma try," I murmur. He hums in reply and starts to massage my nape. And it feels so good! The way it loosens my strained muscles is absolutely divine. Suddenly, a very distinct sound escapes my throat. My eyes snap open in shock.

"Are you purring?" Kakashi stops and asks me teasingly and I turn to glare at him. He visibly tries to hold back his laughter.

"I do not purr," I refuse to acknowledge this. Yet, this mean, silver-haired man next to me has other plans. With just the right amount of strength in his grip, he starts kneading my neck once again. How am I supposed to hold back under these circumstances? I try really hard not to make a sound, but my efforts are in vain as another rumbling purr leaves my throat. Oh my gosh, please kill me! This is so goddamn embarrassing! Why do I have to be a sucker for massages?! And part cat?!

"You sound like a cat! So cute~," he coos. I can feel the urge to hit him over his head rise, yet it is easily washed away by this pleasure. This is just how my body works, it's out of my control. There ain't nothing I can do about that. Not that I will not have my revenge at a later date. I swear upon everything that is unholy, I shall make him suffer for this humiliation! After he's done with the massage… and after we had dinner… and maybe after taking a nap, yeah, that sounds like a plan.

"Be quiet, Bakashi," I try to growl. It doesn't work and instead comes out as a slightly deeper purr. Kakashi starts laughing again. I hate him. I have completely and utterly lost to this man.

"Ma~ At least you're doing a good job at making me laugh," He chuckles. I manage to huff at him through all the purring. I am starting to have regrets. He will definitely hold this over me for years to come just like the other thing.

This is gonna be a long, hard day…

~•°•~•°•~•°•~•°•~

Evening quickly approached and Tazuna had decided to head back a little bit earlier so he could go to the market to purchase some ingredients for dinner. As we walk down the streets, we are greeted by a rather depressing sight. The sorry state of the village has been more than visible even to us who were outsiders. Shabby houses, dirty roads, haggard-looking people of all age groups, and beggars who were mostly children. It is saddening, to say the least, when a little girl about six or so years of age, wearing nothing but dirty raggs, approaches us and asks us for something, anything, that we would be willing to give her.

Kakashi gives her a biscuit that he found in his pocket, while I give her the ration bars that I always keep on my person. Kakashi gives me a weird look but seeing as the girl runs away happily, he doesn't comment on it. I mean, what else was I supposed to give her? I had no money on me and had only packed standard mission supplies. Neither am I Naruto. I don't carry a monthly supply of instant ramen around with me wherever I go. And sure, compared to Tsunami's homecooked meals, they tasted bland if not awful, but they were better than nothing. Beggars can't be choosers, right?

When we arrive at Tazuna's house, my other teammates are nowhere to be seen. Only after Tsunami had already finished cooking, did they finally decide to grace us with their presence. And damn, they must be ravenous judging by the way Naruto and Sasuke are shoveling their food into their mouths. Is this some sort of competition? I'm not even close to being halfway done with my food when those two blockheads loudly demand for seconds. As one would assume, that doesn't go too well as both start vomiting not even a few minutes later. So gross! And how dare these heathens waste such wonderful food!

"Stop eating if you're going to end up throwing it all up anyway!" Sakura yells at the two.

"No, I'll eat," Sasuke refuses. How can one be this stubborn? Can't he see that his actions don't benefit him whatsoever and only insult Tsunami's efforts?

"I have to eat it no matter what! I have to get stronger as quickly as possible, so…" Naruto declares. I wanna hit him so bad! Like, really, really bad! I wonder – if I hit him hard enough, would whatever malfunction is currently plaguing that idiot be corrected? I used to have a rather old TV where the screen would sometimes start flickering, but once I hit it a couple of times, everything would go back to functioning as it should. Maybe this method could also be applied to Naruto? Who knows.

"Yes, yes. But vomiting is a whole different story," Kakashi says.

In the end, the two of them stop forcing themselves and finish whatever food they have left. Tsunami then proceeds to clean up the table after providing everybody with a cup of freshly brewed green tea. Sakura is the first to empty her cup. I see her looking around until her eyes stop at a certain family photo. On it are Tazuna, Tsunami, and an even tinier Inari. There seemed to have been another person at some point, however, that part had been ripped out.

"Excuse me, why is there a torn picture hanging here? Inari-kun has been looking at it all dinner long," Sakura asks. Isn't it considered to be rather insensitive to just ask about such things out loud? The person has been removed for a reason. A painful memory most likely. She should be careful not to open up old wounds, especially as a guest. And judging by how the three inhabitants of this house froze up, Sakura must have done just that. Good job sticking your nose into places where it doesn't belong, banshee.

"It's my husband…" Tsunami says quietly.

"He was a man who used to be called a hero by the people of this town..." Tazuna continues in much the same tone. Inari, however, gets up with the intention to leave, which Tsunami notices.

"Inari! Where are you going?" She asks him concerned, but he simply ignores her and leaves the room. She quickly goes after him, but when she reaches the door, she turns to look at Tazuna.

"Dad! How many times do I have to tell you not to talk about that person in front of Inari?!" She angrily yells, then continues out after her son. Silence settles in the room. I can see the pain in Tazuna's features. Then Sakura decides to continue poking at the wound. Just how ignorant can a person be?! Stop prying, for fuck's sake!

"What're you saying happened with Inari?"

"There appears to be some kind of good reason," our resident cyclops adds. Bakashi, you of all people should know not to take part in this.

"Inari had a father not related to him by blood. Still, they were as close as any other father and son could be. Maybe even closer. Inari used to laugh all the time back then…" Tazuna trails off, his entire body shaking in anger and sadness. Tears run down the old man's face, dripping onto the table. "However, ever since that incident with his father, Inari has completely changed." He then continues to tell the tale about Kaiza, who he had been, how he and Inari had met, how they became family, and how the man had become a hero. The man would also constantly fight back against Gatō. So one day the tyrant decided to execute Kaiza as a warning in front of the entire village, Inari included.

"This not only changed Inari but everybody else as well. The day he died, was the day we lost our courage," and with that, Tazuna ends his story. The atmosphere in this room has turned rather depressing as the others are probably digesting what they have just heard. I am unaffected by the mood and continue to sip on my tea. From Tazuna's description, Kaiza seemed to have been a wonderful man – so why is the brat behaving like a little shit? My parents never liked me and they would use any chance to make sure I got the message. With an alcoholic ex-military as a father and a mother that cared more about money and her appearance than anything else, there hadn't been any love to go around in that family. And my two brothers had been much too obsessed with outdoing each other, that I was basically the forgotten shadow in the corner of the room. And Inari? He got to taste the love and warmth of a family. Sure it's sad to lose a loved one, but he still has his mother and Tazuna. And instead of moping in a corner, shouldn't he treasure his memories of Kaiza, and honor his sacrifice? Or at least that's what I would've done, had I had the chance.

A sudden "Oof" brings me back to reality, only to find Naruto having fallen face-down on the floor.

"What're you doing Naruto?" Sakura asks the blonde.

"You've had enough training for today. You've built up too much chakra. Move any more than that, and you'll die," Kakashi warns him, but Naruto, with shaky limbs and rattling bones, still tries to push himself up.

"I'll prove it," he says with a strained voice.

"Prove what?" Sakura asks. Somehow Naruto manages to get on his feet and stand up, albeit extremely wobbly.

"I'll prove that there are heroes in this world!" The blonde declares with a fired-up grin splitting his face. Then he runs… or rather, waddles out of the room. Sakura and Sasuke both, too, get up and follow him, the pinkette saying that it is time to sleep. Now there are only Kakashi, Tazuna, and I left.

"Ma~ What do you say, Shizu-chan? Want to call it a day as well?" the silverette asks me, to which I nod. I admit I'm a little tired. Suddenly I feel a cold shower run down my spine. My instincts tell me to run. What is going on? I turn to look at Kakashi and am faced with a mischievous smile. I narrow my eyes in apprehension. What is he planning? However, before I can even react, he scoops me up in a bridal carry.

"Wh-?! L-let me go!" I splutter and try to remove myself from his grasp to no avail. And Bakashi even has the gall to laugh at me!

"At least you didn't squeak this time~" He lazily remarks.

"I do not squeak!" I glare at the man, but he just ignores it and turns to Tazuna whose current face is a mixture of surprise and confusion.

"Sure, sure. Anyway, good night, Tazuna-san, we'll be off now," Kakashi says and leaves with me still in his arms. He easily carries me upstairs to our room and places me on my bed.

"Why did you do that?" I ask him irritated.

"Because it's fun and you let your guard down," He says.

"Where is the fun in that?"

"Your reaction is," he drawls as he takes off any unnecessary clothes and goes into the bathroom to get ready for the night. Once he is done, he lies down next to me. I then get up, take off my equipment, and go through the same procedure, before returning and making myself comfortable underneath my blanket. Then I turn towards him and just look. With the way the moonlight falls onto his hair, it makes it seem as if it were aglow with pure silver. So beautiful. Though, I don't get much time to admire him before he puts his arms around me and brings me closer to himself. I can feel that all too familiar warmth envelop me. I snuggle closer against him and close my eyes.

"Good night," I hear him whisper.

"Yeah, you too. Sweet dreams," I reply sleepily. And not even five minutes later, I'm out like a light.