Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ The Curative Career of Kaori the Ninja Nurse ❯ Kakashi and Kaori ( Chapter 32 )

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

Kakashi and Kaori

Tracking down the three escaped felons and bringing them to justice took a bit longer than Kakashi had expected. Half a day going, half a day coming back, a few hours of tracking and another hour to capture all three. In his younger days, it would've taken no more than twenty minutes to capture them, and with less tracking time. Maybe it was because he planned more than he used to. Maybe it was because after so many battles he was in no rush to fight. Maybe it was because his heart was just not into another mission so soon after a failed one.

He had gone over the past year over and over in his mind. Where did he go wrong? He knew from day one that Sasuke's one and only goal was to get strong enough to take vengeance on his brother. Didn't he do enough to show him the importance of his comrades? He had spent a month training with him one-on-one. Didn't he listen to anything he said? What else could he have done? Should he have been like Iruka and taken Sasuke out for ramen every week as Iruka did with Naruto? After all, Naruto had developed bonds with his teammates and village - and he had had no one while growing up.

It was now dusk and the cold black stone, engraved with a multitude of names, shone ever so slightly in the dying light. Kakashi stopped by the shinobi memorial before he made his way home. Although the Obito voice was always with him, he knew his friend was long dead and all he was doing was talking to himself when the Obito voice answered. But here at the shinobi memorial, it seemed more real, that Obito was truly answering him from beyond the grave.

He fixed his gaze on Obito's name, and recalled his friend's funny face and whiny voice. "You know, I now have comrades that I'm responsible for, that are important to me. But like before, I'm still full of regret. I couldn't do anything. Even with this eye, I couldn't see what was going to happen. If you were alive, what would you say to me now, eh, Obito?" angsty Kakashi said to the cold black stone.

“I would say: 'You're pathetic!' Moping around for days. Are you just gonna give up on that poor excuse for a Uchiha? I can't believe my clan produced two such idiots. And you're not much better.”

“Sasuke made his decision, despite my advice. We can't track him any further without entering enemy territory and Konoha has other problems.”

“Excuses, excuses, since when did you have so many? That was my area of expertise. So you're just giving up?”

“No, there's still time. We have a couple of years. Time to prepare, and get stronger.” That was his goal - train, get stronger so that he could bring back Sasuke, protect Konoha, protect his precious ones. Except, when you came down to it, there were no more precious ones to protect. Naruto would soon be leaving with Jiraiya. Sakura would be training with Tsunade. And he would be alone again.

But he was used to that. After all, it was years before he passed a genin team. And they were together for only one short year. What was that compared to all the time he spent alone? Still, he knew he was going to miss them, all three of them, very badly.

During this time, the sun had disappeared and the moon made its full appearance. Kakashi slowly sauntered home. There was no need to check on Naruto. Two days had already passed since he found Naruto. In all likelihood, the nine-tail fox demon's power had already healed him. Naruto would be fine. And Kakashi was not up to facing his genin, or the nurse who had such faith in him.

Upon his return to his small empty apartment, he removed his shinobi gear and stripped off his dirty shinobi uniform, haphazardly leaving it all on the floor. He quickly stepped into the hot shower with steam obscuring the soap and shampoo. He stood there a long time, allowing the water to wash away the dust from traveling and the blood from battle, before he soaped up and made the effort to scrub his body clean. The shampoo made his scalp tingle in a refreshing way. He stayed in the shower for an extra long time, enjoying the cleansing feeling.

When he finally felt completely relaxed, he grabbed a towel to dry off, but frowned when he realized that it was not a fresh towel and he would have to do laundry soon. Kakashi sighed and wished he had someone to do his laundry and all his household chores for him. Being away so much of the time made it difficult. And during what little time he had for himself, he preferred to spend it reading and resting, not cleaning or cooking. And he was too cheap/liked his privacy too much to hire someone.

It was already very late, past the usual time for dinner for civilians, but not for shinobi who ate at irregular hours, or whenever they could, or often not at all. This appeared to be one of those times; there was nothing edible in his refrigerator. He had not been home for days. He had gone on that mission to escort the museum exhibition, then to track Sasuke, then this one. No break at all. And no real food. There was still a box of shinobi rations left, but after days of that, he could not stomach another bar. With a sigh, he rummaged through the kitchen cabinets, looking for something in a can that he might have forgotten about. The last thing he wanted was to go out in public to get takeout, subjecting himself to accusatory eyes, reminding him of his failure.

With great glee he came upon a can of tuna and some crackers. That would have to do for now. Fortunately, Tsunade gave him the next day off so he could run his errands. Actually, it was more like half a day. He promised to return for an assignment later in the afternoon. No rest for the weary.

Just when he was about to cut into the can with his can opener, the doorbell rang. Kakashi rarely received visitors. He thought it was probably one of his neighbors checking up on him to ask for the most recent news about Orochimaru or the Akatsuki. He almost decided not to answer the door, but then realized if he told his story to one person, he, or she, would most likely spread it around to everyone else, thereby leaving him in peace in the future.

But he wasn't dressed except for the towel around his waist. He quickly ditched the towel, grabbed a dark blue robe from his bed, and slipped it on his nude body. He pulled the robe together so that the lower half of his face was still somewhat covered, then tightly tied it at the waist. He was finally ready to open the door after the third ring.

There she was again, looking exactly like she always did: the same white uniform that she wore at the hospital; her hair in its perfect bun without a stray strand; her pretty face with its serious visage.

The full moon shone behind her. A halo seemed to frame her. A heavenly glow emanated from her. An angel, she was a perfect angel, an angel of mercy and forgiveness, an angel of bounty and sustenance. Kakashi observed hungrily that she had food with her. From the bag and takeout containers, it was Ichiraku ramen for two.

Kaori seemed to be surprised he was home, either that or she was uncomfortable being in his presence, for she stammered, “K… Ka… Kakashi-san, I just wanted to see if you were back from your mission. I wanted to let you know that Naruto-san's still sleeping, but his wounds have already healed and he's out of any danger.” The truth was she had dropped by last night as well, hoping he'd be home, hoping for the chance to see him again, to offer him more words of comfort. And she did not expect to see him without his mask.

“Thank you for watching over him,” Kakashi replied, while eying her bag. He wondered if one of the containers was for him, and if not, could he buy it from her.

“Food? You're still thinking about food? You should be hungry for something else!” ranted the Obito voice.

“He was lucky you got to him in time,” Kaori continued, unaware of Kakashi's unseen imaginary friend.

That struck a discordant chord within the veteran shinobi. Luck? Kakashi shook his head and gave her a small ironic smile. “My genin tried to kill each other, again. And I was too late to stop them. And Sasuke's...I'm afraid luck is a relative term.”

“You did all you could. That's all anyone can do,” she insisted, bravely looking into his eyes, willing him to accept her words.

“I knew. Orochimaru knew. I knew Sasuke wanted to leave, but instead of watching over him, I chose to go on a mission. Another damn mission. I should have taken him with me. He was my responsibility.” Why was he saying this to her? These thoughts that had been dwelling in his mind for days, that he could not voice aloud to anyone but Obito. Maybe he needed to talk to someone real for once, someone who would understand him.

But what could she say? She knew platitudes meant nothing. She knew that he was not looking for absolution or any words that would alleviate his guilt. So the little nurse did the only thing she could do. She placed her bag on the floor, stepped toward him, wrapped her arms around him, and gave him a comforting hug. A hug not from love or obsession, a simple passionless hug that she would have given to any of her patients. To her surprise, he wrapped his arms around her and held her tightly, a bit too tightly. Kaori held her breath, afraid that the slightest movement would cause him to release her from this fantasy.

She could hear her heart racing and the slow steady beating of his heart, calm as usual. She could smell the shampoo in his hair (a nice rainforest scent) and the soap on his skin (a manly pine scent) where the robe slipped open at the throat, while she smelled like hospital disinfectant. She could feel his plush robe against her starched uniform and his sharp chin uncomfortably on her thin shoulder.

They stood like that in the doorway for a long while, until Kaori could hold her breath no longer. She felt lightheaded from the lack of oxygen and from the closeness of the man she had wanted for so long. Her exhalation broke his trance. Embarrassed, he released her.

“It's getting late. I should go,” Kaori started to say, even though there was no place else she'd rather be. "Unless…you'd like me to stay...for a little while…I have dinner for two." She held up the bag which trembled in her hand. She was afraid he'd take the food and close the door on her as he did months ago.

But this time, the man of her dreams reached out and grabbed her by the other wrist. "Stay," he said as he pulled her through the entrance.

That little while lasted all night.

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