Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ The Curative Career of Kaori the Ninja Nurse ❯ Waiting for Mr. Goodbar ( Chapter 19 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Author's Notes: Title is from the play “Waiting for Godot” and the novel/movie “Looking for Mr. Goodbar”

Waiting for Mr. Goodbar

-...-...-...-...-

Kaori shook her self out of her fantastic reverie when she realized Kakashi had asked her a question. “Excuse me?” she replied, still spacing out a bit.

“I'll probably have a mission on Sunday. Tsunade-sama's been working us around the clock, all days of the week. I'll have to meet you at your parents - if that's okay.”

“That's fine, just try to be on time. We usually have dinner around 6:30.” She went backing to watching his perfectly chiseled jaw move up and down as he chewed his dumpling. `He eats with his mouth closed - plus five points for that,' she evaluated.

Kakashi suddenly stopped and looked at her. “Aren't you going to eat too?” he inquired with his mouth full.

She frowned. `Talking with his mouth full, two point deduction.' Kaori had a bad habit of grading her dates. She started with 50 points. Most men dropped down to twenty after just one date. “Actually, I'm not that hungry right now.” She'd rather just sit there and watch his every movement.

`What?! I paid how much for all this food and she's not going to eat? Damn, I'll have to eat as much as I can. Don't want all this to go to waste,' he griped to himself. “So are you on a diet like every other woman in Konoha?” he asked.

“Diet? Not really. I will have desert later. Don't mind me, dig in.”

Kakashi did not like being under a microscope, but he didn't want to waste food either, so he continued to stuff himself.

Kaori rested her chin on the palm of her hand, looking dreamily at her date. Her eyes had that glazed look like so many others before her.

`She's got that look! She still wants you,' said the Obito voice.

`Maybe she's just tired and bored.'

`Well, you haven't been stimulating her with sparkling conversation. Come on, you can do better than that! You smooth talker, use your Lothario voice.'

`Guess I'd rather talk to her than you.'

`That's the appreciation I get for helping you. You're the one who gets lucky. All I get to do is watch, and there's been nothing exciting for a long time now.'

`That's it. You're out of here for the rest of the night!'

“Is something wrong?” Kaori asked Kakashi when she saw him make a face.

“Wrong? No, the food's good. I was just eating too fast.”

“You should chew your food twenty times before swallowing to ensure it's properly masticated for easy digestion,” Kaori lectured.

“Thanks mom.”

“Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to lecture you. It's just that I'm use to advising people because of my job,” Kaori explained while blushing.

“So you like being a nurse?”

“For the most part, yes. I enjoy helping people when I can. But it can be pretty depressing at times. I try not to let it get to me, but…now that Tsunade-sama is back, things will definitely be better.” She paused to wait for a response, but Kakashi just nodded. He was thinking how some things were going to be better, but other things were likely to be much worse. He didn't want to worry the pretty little nurse with a depressing political discussion.

“I was once a genin, you know,” she continued.

“Oh really?” he said, not that he was surprised, since most of the staff at the shinobi hospital had been at the academy.

“Well, sort of. I graduated from the academy but failed to pass the initiation test. But it all worked out for the best,” she smiled to hide her admission of failure.

He nodded thoughtfully. From her statement he gathered that she was relatively honest, but prideful.

She waited for a response but since none was forthcoming, she made an extra effort to break the awkward silence. After all, no matter how much she loved watching him eat, she realized that it probably made him feel uncomfortable. She noted that although the lower half of his face was exposed, his forehead protector still sat at a slant to cover his left eye. She remembered that eye was the sharingan and her curiosity got the better of her. “Do you mind…can I see your left eye?”

He seemed to consider it seriously for a minute, then he replied, “Only if you'll eat with me,” which seemed like a nice invitation, but he just hated seeing his hard earned money go to waste. Kaori smiled and nodded at the invitation, so he lifted his headband to expose his left eye. He opened the eye and blinked a few times before looking at his date.

It almost took her breath away. “It's so… beautiful,” she gasped in awe. It was a deep shade of red, which under her ceiling lights, seemed to sparkle like a polished ruby. The three comma shaped dots were not like flaws but like shadows that accentuated the reflections.

But then she thought of what that gem cost him. The price was the life of a friend. She thought of how he saw his friend die on a mission he commanded. Then she thought of the Uchiha clan, massacred by one of its own. She thought of Kakashi alone in the hospital with next to zero visitors. She thought of how lonely he must feel and how lonely she felt. These tragic thoughts coupled with the stress she experienced during the past twenty-four sleepless hours, now overwhelmed her. She looked sadly at this man that she wanted so badly, who barely glanced at her all this time, and knew how futile it all was. Tears forced their way through despite her resolve.

“I'm sorry,” she sniffled, pathetically blowing her nose in her too small and too thin takeout napkin.

“For what?” asked Kakashi, wondering what was the matter with this woman who was so in control a minute ago.`Maybe it's that time of the month.'

“I'm sorry about your teammates, your family, your friends…I'm sorry about lying to Gai, my family, myself (though she was not sorry about Otoha). I'm sorry about blackmailing you. I'm sorry about everything!” she bawled. “Forget about Sunday. I'll just deal with my family on my own.”

Kakashi thought about her offer for a minute, but how could he say no to a woman in tears? He then decided, “It's all right. It should be interesting.” He gave her a rare genuine smile that sent her heart into overdrive.

The rest of the dinner proceeded fairly typically with both participants mostly eating and commenting on the food. Kaori did not learn much more about Kakashi but he did discuss his genin team. He was definitely proud of them and seemed quite fond of them even when he criticized Naruto for his foolishness, Sakura for her lack of skills, and Sasuke for his arrogance.

The evening ended with Kakashi asking if she were really going to eat all those leftovers. Since Kakashi did pay for all the food, Kaori agreed to split the leftovers with him, but she couldn't help but deduct another couple of points from his score. He ended up with fifty points, same as what he started with, which was much better than all the other men she dated, but only because Kaori gave him extra, extra bonus points for his perfect looks.

-…-…-…-

Sunday night came all too soon.

Since dinner with Kakashi, Kaori thought a lot about what to wear to her family dinner. Last time she saw Kakashi, she was in her nurse's uniform and she wanted to impress him this time, but she couldn't look like she was trying to impress him, or her family would be suspicious. She decided on wearing her hair down, but with barrettes at the side so that she wouldn't be accidentally eating her hair; one and a half inch heel tan sandals, since any high than that was too skanky; simple silver, not too dangly, earrings with a matching silver pendant in the shape of Konoha's leaf symbol; and a silver charm bracelet, which would look more casual than formal, with charms in the shape of the symbols of all the countries.

The dress took extra consideration: a dress, rather than a skirt and blouse, since a blouse could become untucked from the skirt; a knee length dress when standing, which would ride up a few more inches when sitting, to expose her shapely thigh. It couldn't be a new dress, but it had to be a nice one, not too conservative or sexy, and not green. It had to be perfect. She finally decided on a rose pink dress with a subtle intricately weaved pattern, and edges embroidered with burgundy thread. It had mid length sleeves and a boat collar, showing off her collarbone and neck, but nothing below that. Of course, she changed her mind about a hundred times before she finally got dressed, and her usually neat bedroom looked as if new genin had practiced their jutsu in her room.

Kaori arrived just before 6:30 to avoid any long interrogation from her family. But as soon as she stepped foot across the threshold, her mother grabbed her, looked behind her, and asked, “So where's your date? You promised!”

“He'll be here,” Kaori said while extricating herself from her mother's grip. “He may be late since he's on a mission today.”

“Right,” mocked her bitchy sister-in-law. “There's always next time, and the time after that and the…”

“He'll be here!” Kaori insisted. She glared at her nemesis, who was allowing her bratty toddler to play with her milk bottle on top of the coffee table. It looked as if she were playing tic-tac-toe.

“Unless he gets killed,” Kaori's brother laughed.

“Don't say things like that! It's bad luck!” What if something really did happen to him? The thought horrified Kaori in more ways than one.

“Sorry, I was just kidding. I'm sure your date will be here," Akira said shamefacedly.

But 6:30 came and went with no sign of Kakashi. Her sister's and brother's families had all arrived early in anticipation of the special guest. Kaori's mother and sister had already set the table and all the food was ready. Now most of them sat waiting in the living room. The men grumbled about being hungry, but the women all insisted on waiting for the special guest.

“So who is this guy?” her sister Sumire asked after a while. She held the baby in her arms while her other two children sat by her feet drawing pictures with crayons

“You'll see,” Kaori replied evasively.

“Just tell us!” Sadako thought that Kaori must have hired someone to stand in as her date.

"Tell us! Tell us! Tell us!" Her entire family, including the kids who could barely form words, chanted over and over.

“It's…umm…Hatake Kakashi," Kaori finally admitted, folding under pressure.

“Really? Konoha's copy-nin with the sharingan?” Her father was seriously impressed. `He should have more money than Gai sensei!'

"I can't believe it! The perpetually masked shinobi? Have you seen his face?" asked her bitchy sister-in-law jealously.

"Hatake Kakashi...he's the one who tried to write off Icha Icha books as a work related expense on his taxes!" complained Kaori's brother-in-law, what's-his-name.

"He's like Konoha's number one bachelor," mused Sumire.

Her family started discussing all they knew about Kakashi amongst themselves, now ignoring Kaori - to her great relief.

“I heard he was the youngest ever to graduate from the academy - even younger than the legendary sannin!”

“I heard he was the youngest ever to be promoted to chuunin - even younger than the legendary sannin!”

“I heard he stood up to Orochimaru by himself!”

“I heard he had two genin in the last chunnin exam final - more than the other Leaf genin team!”

They were all impressed until…

“Wait a second - wasn't he in a coma for months? How could Kaori be dating him for so long?” asked the bitch.

But Kaori was prepared for that. “We were dating before he was attacked. I just didn't want to discuss it with all of you. It was too distressing.”

“Poor dear, no wonder you didn't want to talk about it. So faithful,” said Kaori's mother but then her attitude changed upon consideration. “What if he never recovered? You'd be waiting forever you know. I can understand a wife or fiancé waiting for her loved one to return, but you should have played the field while he was out. Always good to have someone as backup.” Kaori's mom was always practical when it came to relationships.

The initial excitement died down as they continued to wait. Kaori smartly refused to answer any questions until her date arrived, in case her answers didn't match Kakashi's.

An hour later, the children were whining to be fed. The baby got his milk but the older children wanted real food. The adults tried to hold them off for a while longer, but soon they gave in to the constant whining and crying.

Just when they were all about to sit down to the reheated dinner, the doorbell rang.

-...-...-...-