Chant d'Automne

WARNING: Once again, I feel compelled to remind my dear readers that this is rated ‘M’, which is basically equivalent to an ‘R’ movie rating. Not only that, I would categorize it as a strong M/R. Just so everyone remembers. Thanks, all!
Chapter Nine: Welcome to the Jungle

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‘The sandman is late,’ Hinata thought grumpily as she tossed and turned on her sleeping pad, trying to get comfortable.

No, wait. The sandman made her think of that red-haired boy from the Sand. What was his name again? He had done such terrible things to Rock Lee during the Chuunin preliminary exams. Oh yeah—Gaara. No, she definitely didn’t want him coming to help her fall asleep anytime soon. He was scary. People said his eyes were unpleasant. They weren’t so bad, she thought, just pale like hers. He always had dark circles, though. Maybe he was the one who needed some sleep.

Frustrated and wide awake, she laid on her back and listened to the steady sound of Kakashi’s deep breathing. After their little encounter he had basically passed out, fully clothed on the bed. He was on his stomach, so she couldn’t see if there was still evidence of his physical reaction to their interactions, but suspected there was, thus the reason for falling asleep so suddenly, facedown. Praying he wouldn’t suddenly wake up, she was able to extract the rumpled bedclothes from beneath his prone form and arrange them over him. It wouldn’t do for her teacher, as awkward as things were between them, to catch cold, which would halt their progress and delay her return to Hanabi. Somehow she would have to get back before the wedding and find a way to postpone it.

In the shallow moonlight that entered the room, she ran over and over the same worries and memories in her mind. Finally, this infinite loop lulled her into a fitfull sleep.

It seemed like she had just closed her eyes, however, when she heard a faint noise coming from outside their window. She held her breath and listened closer. Yes, there was definitely someone out there Then she noticed the absence of Kakashi’s rhythmic breaths. She sat up and looked over at the low bed. It was empty, the covers thrown back and tangled. Perhaps he was going to the bathroom? No, the door was ajar. She pushed aside her own covers and went to the window.

There, his assymetrical silver-grey hair making him appear wolf-like in the moonlight, was her teacher, the Copy Ninja. His face was darkened in shadow, his back to the white crescent in the somber sky. She couldn’t make out his expression but his aggressive stance and the kunai he held at his captive’s throat told her he was displeased.

“Hinata, stay back,” he warned as she pulled back the curtains and lifted one leg out the window. He had still noticed her presence, even without looking away from the short person he held at arm’s length. She didn’t come any closer, but stepped fully outside, onto the roof, staying right by the open window to make sure it didn’t close and lock from the inside, shutting them out. In the shadows, Hinata couldn’t see what or who had been so foolish as to anger her teacher.

“Who are you?” Kakashi questioned his prisoner. “Why are you here?”

“None of your business.”

The voice that answered him was young and feminine. Hinata recognized it at once.

“Akiyo!”

After listening in foreboding silence to Hinata’s attempts to defend her new friend, and then the young thief’s offhand admission that she had, in fact, been intending to rob them that night, Kakashi said nothing. He deposited Akiyo in the alley below their window with an icy glare and then returned to the window. Hinata scrambled inside, her teacher followed and shut the window with a snap.

“S—sensei,” she stepped up to him, almost as nervous as she had been when she had once asked Naruto out for ramen. “I—I can explain…”

“Go back to bed,” he said gruffly, kicking his sandals off his feet and under the bed.

“B—but… you don’t understand--”

He tore his shirt over his head and discarded both that and his mask on a chair. “You need to be more careful who you make friends with here. You’re too trusting.” During all of this, he never once raised his voice, but his anger was strong enough to make her shrink back and make no more attempts to converse with him.

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The next morning, they both woke reasonably early and were packed and ready to go on time. Ordinarily this would have been cause for mild celebration; Kakashi would tease Hinata for taking the whole day to get ready for one outing; she would respond that he might never make it to the outing at all, if he slept in too late. This morning, however, there was a curtain of distant courtesy between them, veiling everything they did in silent interactions, or cold, necessary exchanges.

Their visit to the blacksmith did nothing to alleviate the pall. The smith asserted that he could not help them with the sword, and reccommended that they find the smith he had studied under, who currently resided in a small seaside town over 1000 kilometres away. His bumbling assumption that she was Kakashi’s daughter only blackened her teacher’s mood.

She had to giggle at that one, though. His daughter? Disregarding the age difference, they looked nothing alike. Tall, silver hair and steely eyes did not beget short, dark-haired and pale-eyes. If anything, he should have assumed they were lovers, she thought with a pang of disappointment. For once, she allowed to herself that she had some sort of attachment to the handsome, older man.

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Exactly one week had passed since the catastrophic chain of events had taken place in the hotel room.

Kakashi was still frustratingly brisk and professional, having nothing to do with Hinata other than what was required by the deal they made. For her part, Hinata could no longer muster the confidence she had a week ago, and this prevented her from attempting any reconciliation with her teacher.

The one good thing to come of this estrangement was the efficiency with which they trained. Although they no longer discussed her progress, she could feel that she had surpassed the level she had been as a chuunin, both in physical and strategic skills. Her hand-to-hand combat had become exceptionally fast and her stamina had improved as well, although her reaction times still left something to be desired. In terms of experience, Kakashi was still lightyears ahead of her.

Occassionally she wondered how she would do against Neji now. She might have a chance of beating him if she planned it carefuly and kept a cool head when he tried to intimidate her.

And so training continued as they made their way along the back roads of several small, politically insignificant countries, heading toward the seaside town in which the promised blacksmith awaited.

Hinata began to practice alternatives to the substitution jutsu as well, since anything involving chakra was off-limits for her. Most of what she had figured out so far was that there were no good alternatives, so she had sufficed with practicing setting a lot of nasty traps, quickly.

Even with her progress and innovations it was difficult to keep up with Kakashi’s expectations. He often woke her before dawn to complete two hours of warm-up exercises while he dozed off reading those stupid books. Then, looking annoyingly pleasant and rested he would create a kage bunshin to spar with her in taijutsu while he made breakfast and read more of his books.

She always tried to destroy the bunshin, as it was a therapeutic release of the inexplicable anger that consumed more and more of her energy this week, and also because it forced him to waste his time creating another one. She had managed to best the clone-Kakashi on four separate days and, despite a fleeting sense of victory, always felt guilty afterward—she disliked being so irritable all the time. It was contrary to her nature and she knew it. Anger, she understood, but spite made no sense. It felt pointless. Still, she couldn’t help it. She tried to understand how he must be feeling at the moment but couldn’t sympathize.

On the sixth morning of the Camping Trip from Hell, she snapped. He had just had to recreate the clone for a fifth time that day and had cast her a certain, rather disapproving look. (Granted, she had been more ruthless than necessary to his twin, stabbing it relentlessly with kunai before delivering a bone-shattering palm thrust to the face. It vanished in an unsatisfying poof of smoke.)

“Why can’t you just fight me yourself?” Hinata demanded loudly of his retreating form.

“I was wondering when you’d ask,” said a voice behind her.

“Ack!” She jumped and whirled around to find Kakashi’s six-foot frame looming over her.

“And that’s why.” He indicated the log she had been talking to a few seconds earlier.

“That’s not what I meant!” She shouted. Yelling and losing her temper was not her m.o., but the way he stood there, just looking at her calmly, seeming completely unphased by everything evoked in her an ire she hadn’t known to exist.

“Fight me yourself in taijutsu, no substitutions or anything!”

“Do you really think,” he asked scathingly, “if you were fighting another shinobi in a real situation, that he would politely refrain from using jutsu just because you can’t either?”

“Of course not, but--”

“Be quiet and don’t talk back. I will fight you--”

“Fine! That’s all I was asking!”

“—I will fight you,” he continued over her, raising his voice, “with everything I have, including jutsu that require chakra, and you will fight back with everything you have. Furthermore, even if you have a knife at my throat, you will address me as ‘sensei’ or ‘Kakashi-sensei’

“At least pretend you have some respect for me,” he added wryly.

Hinata nodded silently, feeling put in her place, but still incensed about something she couldn’t quite put her finger on.

“I do respect you,” was all she could think of to say.

He made no response so she continued. “I—I just… Well, after a while I didn’t think of you as ‘teacher.’ You were still my teacher, of course, but I…” She broke off, having been about to admit that she had harbored desires for him for a while now.

“Personal relationships are inappropriate between a teacher and student,” he said without emotion. “Would you like to fight now or shall we wait until you’ve managed to contain your feelings?” He twisted the word sarcastically, making it derogatory.

Finally, she felt she had license to glare at him outright, and did. The longest string of words he had deigned to speak to her in a week had been… these.

“Let’s fight now,” she said in a tone of such calm that it unnerved even herself.

Matching her unshaken demeanor, he stowed the red-covered book that had been in his hand in his kunai pouch.

“If you’re ready…” he prompted, drawing a kunai and holding it up.

She nodded and they both leapt backward at the same time, landing about ten metres apart.

“On my mark… Go!” As soon as the word left his mouth he disappeared. There was no indication of what he had done, or where he had gone, but she was prepared for this. In having the ability to do jutsu he had a major advantage over her. Anything from the simplest substitution to the most complicated genjutsu would be at his command, whereas she had crude weapons and whatever pathetically obvious traps she could fashion while avoiding him and his unfair techniques.

She breathed deeply, noticing for the first time that week that the weather was beautiful. Clear skies and a breeze that came through the trees every so often, hinting of adventure. A huge sense of impending failure came upon her unexpectedly, like a storm moving in without warning. Believing she had any sort of fighting chance against Kakashi was absolutely ridiculous. Sure, she could beat a single clone of him, but that was it. She had almost no knowledge of his fighting style besides that.

Hinata let out a heavy sigh. It would be easier just to give up now, although… an image of the self-satisfied, I-told-you-so expression that would appear on his face flashed through her mind. Fuck it. She still had a chance, if not to win, then at least to show him that she would damn well face him on her own terms.

Fortified, Hinata collected herself and got out of the field that had been their starting place. Crouching in a cluster of bushes, the young kunoichi formulated a quick strategy. Her strength was in her speed and hand-to-hand skills, so she had to lure him into confronting her. Of course, he knew this, and would prevent this from happening if he could. Additionally, while she could best a clone, the taijutsu of the real one was still superior to her own, so she would have to hold him off the best she could there while looking for some sort of weakness.

Easier said than done, she realized as a couple of shuriken zipped past her head and struck a tree. Hmph. Likely, those were just a warning, perhaps the only one he would give. Or part of a way to force her into a trap, probably. Instead of leaving her little hiding spot, however, even though he knew where she was, she scuttled over to the tree and yanked the shuriken out. They were real, as they remained solid in her hand. So, he must be near. Now, where exactly…?

There! The faint sound of bark sloughing off a tree gave his position away, a bit further into the wood. Catching a glimpse of silver, she lanced the four-pointed stars and followed them up with two kunai, before deserting her place. She trailed him for a few minutes through the foliage, relying on the contrast of his hair against the sun’s golden light at times to keep track of him. She was sure that he knew she was there, but consoled herself with the happy thought that it had taken her so little to catch up. He could have meant it that way, though, in which case she was falling right into his trap.

After a moment’s hesitation she stayed her course, figuring that he expected her to realize he was setting something up, and that she wouldn’t keep following him. Unfortunately, the element of surprise was her greatest weapon at the moment. He depended on her cautiousness and good judgement; she would have to discard those for the time being in order to take advantage of his assumptions.

Suddenly, the thick branch of a large tree to her right fell, blocking the path on foot behind her. She anticipated him making some sort of ambush move like this, but not so soon… or with so many of him! This was supposed to be Naruto’s signature move. She counted twelve Kakashi’s forming a semicircle in front of her, all wearing varying looks of displeasure.

At this moment, Hinata realized fully how completely out of her league she was. Her taijutsu was approaching jounin level and her tactics and analysis weren’t bad, but in everything else, she was a genin or below.

Still, none of the Kakashi’s had pushed up the hitae-ate to reveal the Sharingan yet—she had better take care of them before any did.

And with that she launched toward them at full speed. The greenery on either side of her blurred into a mottled background. She gave another burst of speed and a light-footed leap to appear behind him, taking a cue from Rock Lee’s style. Her first punch landed solidly in the ribs of one of them, giving her confidence. Her second blow, a spinning kick, was partially blocked, as the others reacted, realizing what she’d done. A puff of grey-white smoke on the periphery confirmed that that kick had accomplished it’s purpose. She felt a hand closing around her ankle but shook it off and leapt back. They had been about to surround her, and as quick as she had become, her speed didn’t do any good when she was unable to move.

Eleven of them now faced her; she threw three shuriken and three more of them poofed out of existence.

The eight remaining had begun to look rather cross, assuming aggressive positions. One was kneeling and glaring at her.

It was oddly pleasing that none of them made any taunts or threats. In some ways that was an assurance of the ultimate inconsequence of this little showdown. In another way it gave her hope that the rift between them was not as deep as it seemed. Or maybe he was just the silent attacker type.

His next move left her no more time to ponder this point. Her teacher times eight charged towards her with speed remarkable for someone his age.

‘And what age would that be?’ Asked her imagined voice of him. It sounded like he had used to—teasing and jaded. Hinata surprised herself in noting that she missed that part of him. But now the attack was upon her and she had no more time to contemplate.

The one in the middle reached her first, aiming a blow that could dislocate her shoulder. She parried it and returned it in kind. This too was blocked, not by him but by one who had popped up to her left. All of a sudden she was surrounded and could do nothing but deflect his attacks. A couple of hers reached their targets: one uppercut to the jaw and one very satisfying knee to the groin. But that still left her end at one against six, and he was undeniably a better fighter than her, matching her speed and outpacing her strength.

She mustered another burst of speed and jumped out of range, getting rid of one more on her way out. Instead of following her they hung back for some reason. He wouldn’t make more at this point, as that would only give away which was the real one.

Then, in one synchronized movement, they all removed their forehead protectors, some pushing them up, others untying them and stowing them in various pockets.

Shit.

With Sharingan revealed, each one of them tracked her every move, predicting where she would be and getting there before her.

After about twenty minutes she began to tire slightly, and that was all they needed to pin her down. When they had blocked each of her attacks it had been like receiving a hit to the arm or leg; her body had started to hurt even though she had taken only a few grazing blows. She had managed to destroy one more of him, though, with a vicious jab in the gut. Now, however, there was one of him on either side of her, and they had her arms and legs pinioned so she could do little more than wriggle and grit her teeth. The other three walked around and stood in front of her in a row. The one in the middle formed the ‘release’ seal and the two on either side of him disappeared in clouds of smoke.

“So,” the real one ambled toward her, his hands tucked casually in his pockets. “Do you give up?”

“Do I have a choice?”

“No,” he said cheerfully, stopping a couple feet away.

She sagged against her captors, feeling humiliated and defeated. Neither of these were new or unexpected feelings for her, but combined with Kakashi’s self-satisfied tone of voice and what she imagined to be a very smug grin under his mask, she bit out, “There’s no need to be so pleased with yourself!”

“Oh, really? Why’s that?” She could tell he was humoring her, but forged on anyway.

“All you did was win against someone weaker and less experienced than you!”

“Don’t you think that’s devaluing--”

“You used jutsu I have no chance of ever doing again in my life!” She knew she was yelling at him, even though he had reminded her just a little while ago to show respect, but she didn’t care.

“And it still felt like you were going easy on me! How am I supposed to fight someone who actually wants to kill me?! Not to mention someone stronger than you? But even when you show how much better you are than I am, you still throw it in my face! You go around like nothing affects you, you’re too arrogant to recognize that people besides yourself might have some worth, even if it’s not the same as yours. This whole week you’ve barely spoken to me, which made me think I’d done something to offend you, so I tried to find out what was wrong, and you wouldn’t give me the time of day!”

“So you’re angry because I haven’t been paying enough attention to you?” He was still annoyingly calm.

“It’s not just that! You should know how--”

“I’d like to know why you’re taking this out on me.” He said quietly. “It seems like something you should have said to Naruto a while ago.”

“This isn’t about Naruto and he wasn’t like you! And I don’t like you the way I liked him! Did you—did you ever think there was anything between us? Between you and me?”

“Don’t be ridiculous— I only ever wanted to fuck you.” He threw the words out like they meant nothing.

His coldness jolted her. He had never felt anything, not even in the hotel room. The kindness he had shown her when Hanabi’s bad news had come was meaningless too, then. ‘So why didn’t you follow through?’ She wanted to ask. Part of her wanted to know, but everything was too furious and hurt.

“L-let me go.” Her voice sounded small, which was how she felt. “Sensei, please let me go!”

His back was already turned when he waved his hand to release the two clones. When he was gone she dropped to her knees, feeling the solitude of the woods.

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Kakashi could not believe what he had just said. To her, no less, and after all his jabber about inappropriate relations between student and teacher, something so brazenly…something. He wasn’t in the mood to waste time on being articulate.

He wanted to ignore what had just happened, to forget about it. Women seemed fine, maybe even worth the effort, but then they got fussy. Worse than fussy, at times. There had been a look on her face as they had been fighting. Not malice or hatred, just intense ire. And, of course, he couldn’t keep himself from provoking her.

What must she think of him now? No doubt she believed everything she’d heard about him, all the rumors of being perverted, weird, lazy, prone to one-night stands. Rumors began in truth, but after passing through the mouths of many bored people, truth was obscured in favor of scandal.

It took him only a minute to get back to their campsite, where he retrieved Icha Icha Takutikusu and one of the red apples they had brought with them from the city. Then he left the small clearing before Hinata wandered back. He couldn’t face her, not now.

Sitting underneath a grand oak on the bank of a wide, calm river, he felt unexpectedly poetic. The tree’s long, leafy branches protected him from any direct sunlight, but some still glanced off the smooth water, making him squint.

After moving so the sun didn’t bother him, Kakashi considered each book in his possession. Icha Icha Baiorensu was in his left hand, while Icha Icha Takutikusu was in his right. How should he choose? Red or Green? If only orange were a choice. The sequels were great, but he missed the humor and light-heartedness of the first one. He would have to pick up another copy when he got a chance.

So, between violence and tactics… Baiorensu had less of a plot, but hotter sex, while Takutikusu had a gripping mystery but less action.

Hmm. In the end, violence won out, as it suited his mood, and the title seemed appropriate to what had just happened between him and his student.

Settling more comfortably at the base of the tree he opened the red-covered page one, deciding he might as well start over, as he had nothing else to do. Time was free and his eyes langorously took in, for the thousandth time, the familiar words.

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Chapter 1

“Oh, my love,” Junko sighed as she sank into Kyo’s manly, welcoming arms. “Would that my accursed father approved of our engagement!”

“Yes, kitten,” Kyo’s deep voice echoed quietly around the chamber. “I cannot think of another with whom I could bear to spend my life.”

“I love you,” Junko sighed, stroking Kyo’s soft hair. “But I am afraid…”

“What, my treasured blossom?”

They held their tongues for a moment as someone passed outside their door. Junko’s bedchamber was a good place to meet, as it provided comfort and privacy, but it was less than ideal during a festival week like this one. Soon the noise had dissipated. At that time, Junko said, “Oh, I think I’m going to lose sight of you.”

“Why?” Kyo cried. “Whatever can you be talking of, dear, sweet Junko?”

“Oh, Kyo! My father, who is cold and distant and controls my every move, has found a gentleman he deems suitable for me to marry! And it’s not you!”

“Should we be surprised? After all, I but a poor ninja, living off his wits and the land. Your father thinks this is not a suitable life for a woman of your beauty and status.”

“But it’s what I want! That should be enough for him!”

“It should—but it seems the world is set against our happiness, of late.”

“Yes. I must take my leave soon. I am to attend a banquet in honor of this man.” She laid her head on his shoulder, a single, heartbreaking tear leaking from beneath her long, curved lashes.

“My dear,” Kyo whispered in her ear, stroking her tumble of chestnut curls. “Do not sadden yourself with the thought of our parting. For we will always be together.”

For a few minutes now, Kyo’s strong hands had been stroking up and down her sides. She shivered, Kyo’s experienced hands promising delightful, mysterious sensations.

But they had not yet fully consummated their relationship, though each sorely wanted to. Kyo, though ruthless and unprincipled in his ninja dealings, refused to soil or deceive his beloved Junko in any way. Junko, for her part, was shy and inexperienced when it came to her womanhood, and though she desperately wished to lay with Kyo, her reserve would not permit it.

However, while intercourse was out of the question, neither had any problem with touching the other—often quite intimately.

“Ah!” Junko cried as Kyo’s large hands cupped her round creamy mounds. His fingers flicked the round pink nipples to attention through the sheer silk of her dressing gown. She was still reclined against his chest, and her own had started to heave in the throes of pleasure. Too quick for her to perceive, the shinobi shifted their positions on the bed. His mouth slanted eagerly over hers as his hands continued their work on her rosy peaks, still constrained within their silky confines.

Then Junko noticed a strange mark on Kyo’s neck.

“You’re hurt!” She reached up to sooth the red, irritated spot.

He looked into her concerned face. “I’m fine. It’s nothing.”

“How did you get it? What is it, if not a wound?”

“It’s… well, I suppose I owe you the truth. A witch from the village put me under a love spell and--”

“Like hell she did!” Junko pushed Kyo off of her violently. “Don’t lie to me! I know you went to her because you’re unsatisfied with me!”

“No! Junko!”

“Get out! GET OUT!”

“You don’t understand! Let me explain!”

“Don’t touch me! Take your stupid ring!” She ripped the modest gold band off and threw it at him. Pearly tears filled her emerald eyes.

There was a knock at the door.

“Is everything okay, milady?”

“I take my leave,” Kyo whispered, before disappearing out the window.

“I’m…. I’m fine, Gorou,” she answered her trusted guard, then laid down on the bed and wept.

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Chapter 2

Kyo stalked around the darkened town, furious. He loved Junko with all his heart; why wouldn’t the damned girl listen to him?

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Kakashi flipped a few pages ahead. He knew well enough what happened in the sections he skipped and wanted to get to the porn faster. Nothing else would keep his attention right now. He was restless and agitated. All that he missed in skipping ahead was Kyo wandering around the village, sporting a huge erection, debating whether or not he should visit a lady of the night. But then the handsome hero comes across a beautiful young maiden, who just so happens to be in distress…

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‘In the darkness, Kyo noticed something unusual down a darkened alley. Upon investigation he found a yound woman, whose pale, pearlescent skin looked luminous in the moonlight.’

Kakashi was forcibly reminded of Hinata—the visuals had been similar that night in the hotel room. He grouchily turned his attention back to the scene, not wanting to dwell on decisions he regretted making.

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‘She was halfway on the ground, her gown, though not fancy to begin with, was soiled beyond repair. If not for her striking beauty, she would have looked like someone who had succumbed to abject poverty.

“Are you okay, miss?” Kyo approached her. She looked up at his voice and he was taken aback by her eyes and her expression. A pair of clear, blue orbs and a tentative, grateful smile greeted him.

“I’m fine now, thank you. Some scoundrels were trying to--” her eyes teared up and she choked. “to—to…”

“Say no more,” Kyo said, kneeling beside her, worried that she might notice his arousal and be scared away. “Do you know why they fled?”

“They heard you coming. Oh, thank you so much! How can I ever repay you?”

Despite his noble intentions toward this poor girl, Kyo could not help what occurred in the next few minutes. He had walked her back to her meager lodgings, intending to see her settled safely before departing. But on the doorstep she had placed her small, delicate hand on the muscled plane of his chest and kissed him square on the mouth. It would have been a completely innocent kiss too, had she not slid her hand lower and palmed his thick, throbbing manhood through the coarse cloth of his trousers.

All thoughts of Junko wiped from his mind, he followed the girl inside. She left him for a moment and lit one lamp in the corner of the small room. Kyo closed the door behind him. However, the girl still stood by the yellow light, her eyes wide and frightened, like a deer caught unaware.

“Don’t be scared,” Kyo said, reaching her in a few steps across the small chamber. He towered above her, his shoulder even with the top of her dark-haired head.

“What’s your name?” He asked softly, raising her chin in one of his large hands.

“Manami,” she said, her eyes meeting his.

“Beautiful name,” he murmured. “I am Kyo. You said you wanted to repay me.. but I don’t want to force you into anything.”

“Oh, no! I—I don’t mind at all.” She blushed. “In fact, you’re kind of handsome.”

“Am I?” He grinned, running a hand over her long, straight dark hair.

“You’re very pretty yourself. Have you much… experience with a man?”

“Oh! No, sir. Not very much. Actually, none at all…” She sighed. “But… but I should very much like for you to teach me…”

“It would be my pleasure,” Kyo said, gazing into her captivating eyes.

“Please, touch me!” She begged, pressing her lithe, young body onto his. He felt himself reacting, his shaft hardening and lengthening even more.

He claimed her plump pink lips greedily. She whimpered in response. Kyo felt another pulse in his groin.

“Do you feel that?” He whispered, his hand on her firm, pert breast. “Do you feel what you do to me?”

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Kakashi found his hand and mind wandering, a rare occurrence when he was absorbed in reading Icha Icha. (Actually, it was rare that his mind wandered—when he was reading alone, his hand did quite often.) In his fantasy, Hinata, blushing, shy, stuttering, would come to him one evening, twiddling her thumbs and refusing to meet his eyes.

“What’s wrong?” He would ask.

And in her roundabout way, she would ask him to instruct her in the pleasures of the flesh.

“Virgin?” He would inquire, not that it mattered.

She would nod ‘yes’, blushing even more. He wanted to see if her whole body blushed.

Then they would be in a room somewhere, maybe his spare room in the apartment, and he would be lounging on the bed, while she undressed in front of him. And then, stark naked and self-consciously trying to cover herself, she would get on her knees and take his cock in her pretty little stuttering mouth.

He closed his eyes against the midday sun, stroking himself, distantly aware that he should stop in case the subject of his fantasy came looking for him. He felt vaguely guilty. Through all of this, she was still his student, and too young for him. One more mental picture of her, eyes innocently wide like the girl in the book, looking up at him with her lips closed around his erection, was enough to send him over the edge. He came with two quick strokes and sighed his release to the trees, river and sky.

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The journey to the coastal town of Tokushima took a full day of fast travel. Civility was maintained the barest minimum of necessity, and tempers grew shorter as the day wore on.

They got in just after sunset and took a closet-sized room at a family-run inn. There were no beds at all and this allowed them to set up their bedrolls on opposite sides of the room, which turned out to be not very far apart.

Kakashi left abrubtly without saying anything, leaving her in the room by herself. She took this opportunity to read more of Icha Icha Paradaisu, but threw it aside in disgust after a few minutes. Jiraiya’s depiction of women as mainly sex objects, available for men’s discerning pleasure in all shapes, colors and sizes made her slightly sick. The far-fetched plots and porn were amusing to read for a while, but once she questioned the deeper meaning of the book, she realized how truly insulting it was. There were no female characters who were both intelligent and beautiful. Or, if they were, they also had skewed morals and were out to ruin men in some way. As mad as she was at Kakashi, she had still held a high opinion of him (aside from the thing about only wanting to sleep with her.) But perhaps he hadn’t deserved her good opinion.

Kakashi returned in about ten minutes. His footsteps outside in the hall had been so quiet she had missed hearing them, and was only reminded to stash the book away again by the sound of the doorknob turning.

He carried a full plastic bag full of white containers in one hand and a jug of water in the other. The door clicked shut behind him and he set the bag and water down on the floor, kneeling beside them. She wantd to go over and see what was in it, but under the circumstances…

“Dinner,” he said shortly, taking a white styrofoam container from the bag and sliding it across the wooden plank floor to her. A pair of chopsticks wrapped in paper followed a second later. It was a simple meal of rice and vegetables and meat, but she had the feeling her complaints would be ill-received right now. Besides, the food was hot and abated her hunger.

Kakashi had seated himself cross-legged on his sleeping mat and had open in front of him one of his pervert books, the red one, it looked like. He didn’t eat anything and didn’t take his mask off, but was apparently monitoring her progress, for when she finished the rice he pushed a small plate of sliced fruit and a tray of tea over to her.

She was surprised at all these gestures, but out of spite refused to attribute them to any kindness on the part of her teacher. The only reason he’s doing this is that he needs me to keep up my strength for the blacksmith, she postulated uncharitably. Or maybe he’s trying to get in my pants.

“Tomorrow we'll visit the swordsmith,” he told her, his eye ever-fixed on the pages of his book.

She made no move to acknowledge him, but continued silently cleaning up the remains of her meal.

That night, as she was falling asleep, she realized that he hadn’t taken off his mask in front of her since yesterday.

---------------------

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Kakashi roused her early the next morning, his warm hand briefly on her shoulder and his voice low and intimate near her skin. Through bleary, half-opened eyes Hinata saw that he was already fully dressed and very chipper.

“Why so early?” She grumbled, pulling the blankets closer around her. She wasn’t disposed to be cooperative, not towards him and not on this amount of sleep.

“We have stuff to do today. Get up and get dressed.”

“Nngg…”

“Come on.” He patted her back twice, a motion that reminded her of how she used to try to wake up Hanabi, who was a late sleeper and hated to wake up before noon. Why was he being so nice to her? It was weird—not that she minded him buying her dinner. But… but… hmphf. This was making it harder to find things that bothered her about him.

Within five minutes she was up, dressed and following her teacher downstairs. He had the sword, sheathed and wrapped in white cloth, tucked under his arm. He looked, to all the world, perhaps like an eccentric art dealer or musician, but she knew better, and was not impressed.

The day was grey and overcast, though the sky didn’t feel heavy or dark. It would have felt almost warm, if not for the brisk wind. Hinata wondered if this weather was typical on the coast. She had expected it to be sunny, blue skies, palm trees, white sand lining the streets. But the streets were damp concrete and the only trees she had seen so far were evergreens and small, stunted cypress. The buildings were similar to the trees: mostly small, strangely shaped. None was quite the same as the next, hinting of a varied, colorful history.

The swordsmith’s lodgings fit the mold, in that they were as odd and ramshackle as every other edifice in the town. It stood set on a small hill on a long, rocky beach walled by cliffs. Dunes grew all around it, save for one path leading to the house. From a distance it looked like someone had started painting it, and only finished half, but when they got closer they could see that half the house was made of wooden planks and the other half red bricks and unhewn grey stone. The bricks and stones, though mortared in place, were so ill-set, however, that it was as if they had merely been dumped there in a pile and no one cared enough to set them straight. Around the wooden plank side there was a narrow wooden door, into which was set, very high up, a single grimy square of glass. Hinata couldn’t tell if there were any other windows in this odd place.

Kakashi knocked once on the door and it opened immediately.

An old man, his face filled with lines and small, strange circular scars, was glaring at them suspiciously. If not for his ease of movement, he would have seemed much older. She got the feeling he had been waiting for them.

“You have a job for me?” He nodded at the wrapped object under Kakashi’s arm. Politeness was not his main concern, then, Hinata thought wryly. Kakashi made no indication that he was offended by the man’s directness. Instead he unwound the cloth and held the contents out. The man rolled up his ragged sleeves, revealing sinewy arms decorated with more circular scars and streaks of black soot. He took the sword from the cloth and retreated inside. Evidently they were supposed to follow him.

Inside, it was dark, hazy and smelled like woodsmoke. Piles of junk (as far as she could tell) lined the walls and covered the tables. Chairs were mysteriously absent from the room and there was scarcely a place to sit or stand comfortably.

“Someone get the curtains!” He barked.

Hinata realized that the little shack actually had windows all along the wall that faced the ocean, but which they hadn’t seen, as they had approached from the opposite direction. As Kakashi still held the white wrappings, she sidled over to the windows and pulled the sack-cloth drapes aside. Clear grey light streamed in.

“That’s a good girl,” the man leered at her. “Now, to business.” He turned to Kakashi. It seemed like names weren’t important here.

The man flipped the sword over and over in his gnarled hands.

“Been in your family long?”

“My father’s. I’m not sure about before that.”

“I see.” Unhunching his shoulders, he drew the sword. The blade had been sheared off jaggedly near the hilt, the metal black and dead-looking. He turned to a sturdy workbench and tipped the sheath over it. A long, elegantly curved pice of metal slid out with a clatter.

“How long ago was it broken?”

“About fifteen years. Can you do anything?”

The smith fixed him with a look that clearly said ‘don’t screw me around.’

“Do I look stupid?” He snapped. “Of course I can. The question is, can you pay?”

In response, Kakashi drew a thick wad of bills from his kunai pouch, but held it out of reach when the smith went to take it.

“How much?”

The man eyed the bills in Kakashi’s hand, as if trying to determine how much there was.

“What you’ve got right there should be fine,” he finally said.

Kakashi narrowed his visible eye. “How much?” He repeated, his tone menacing.

The man looked at his customer for a moment, then snorted and turned away.

“I won’t know until I’ve worked on it.”

“Actually, I have a special request.”

“Yes?”

“I heard you used to be a ninja?”

“For a short time.” The smith had seated himself and poured a glass of sake without offering them anything.

“Then you’ll understand. The blade was made so it could withstand the user’s chakra to a certain extent. I want it reforged so it contains some of my chakra from the beginning.”

“Your chakra? That’s a… novel idea. I suppose you’ll need to be there while I work, then… yes…” He seemed now to be talking to himself more than to his customers.

“So, taking into account labor, a consultation fee and your special order…” He tapped his fingers together, a secretive smile coming to his lined face.

“But I think I may have a better way. Yes, I have some improvements to recommend. Chakra can become unstable if not used in a jutsu right away, you know, if it’s left sitting outside the body…” He waved his hands airily as if to emphasize some point which he needn’t bother explaining, since neither of them had any chance of understanding it.

“E-excuse me…” Hinata said quietly from her corner. This man was obviously a buffoon; she had to say something to stop him. “What you say is true, for the most part, but it’s actually a myth that it becomes unstable, in the general sense… under certain conditions--”

“What can a girl know about these matters?” The smith interrupted, sneering. “You’d better learn to control your wife, Mister,” he added with a licentious chuckle to Kakashi.

“Oh! She’s not my wife. We’re, umm…”

“Oho! Now I understand! Say no more, sir! I for one can’t blame a man for wanting a little company now and then! Well, as I was saying…”

Hinata was too embarrassed to listen very closely as the smith rattled off a few more fancy-sounding words and definitions. She recognized them as obscure theories, but they had nothing to do with practical applications.

Kakashi looked charmingly puzzled as he rubbed the back of his head. Hinata thrust aside the affection she may have felt for him for being so disarmingly cute (he probably wouldn’t like being called ‘cute’ anyway) and faced the situation at hand. This blacksmith may have known what he was doing when it came to typical swords, but she had an inkling that he was out of his league this case. And even if he did have an idea of how to comply with their requests, he was definitely overcharging them. Plus, he had insinuated that Kakashi employed her as his whore! This simply could not be tolerated.

Mad or not with Kakashi, she still had to let him know. He was her teacher and maybe there was still a chance for them to be on good terms.

“Sensei,” she caught his eye and motioned him over to stand with her by the window.

“Yes?” His expression was impassive.

“I… umm… I—well, t-that man…”

“What?” He asked, not unkindly, but not exactly nurturing either.

“H-he’s trying to cheat us,” she mumbled behind her hand.

“How do you know?” Kakashi matched her quiet tone but didn’t have to cover his mouth, as his mask was securely in place. If ever there would be sign of great change, good or bad, it would be Hatake Kakashi, mask-less in public.

“All that stuff he said about chakra…it’s—well, it’s true, but it has nothing to do with this. He’s trying to scam us—I mean, you—into paying more money. Actually, I…”

“What?”

“The things he’s suggesting, if they could even really be done, would probably damage the sword.”

“Hmm…” Kakashi sighed and folded his arms. “Are you sure?”

She nodded right away, trying to seem confident and self-assured, rather than like a little girl tattling on someone who had been mean to her. He looked like he wanted to say something else, but held back.

“Well,” he went back to the old man, looking amiable. “Thank you for your time--” he picked up the broken shard and put it in the sheath, “—but I can’t make a decision about this right now.” He sheathed the hilt as well, but Hinata was momentarily distracted, checking out his ass. Doing so made her feel even more guilty than before because she was supposed to be mad at him.

“Thank you for your time.” Kakashi held out his hand to shake; the man took it.

“The consultation fee?” He asked quickly, after making a shallow bow.

“Ah, right…” Kakashi broke the hold and pressed some coins into the man’s palm.

“Let’s go,” he motioned Hinata.

She bowed to the man from across the room. “Nice to meet you,” she threw over her shoulder on the way out.

-------------------

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“This way,” Kakashi pulled her aside when the door to the hut had closed.

“Where are we going?” She asked, but her voice was mostly carried away by the wind.

“Come on! We’ll take the scenic way back.”

She shrugged and followed him as he picked a path through the dunes. Within a minute the tall brown grasses gave way to a stretch of unimpressive grey-brown sand. The wind was even stronger out here, picking up strands of her hair and flinging them in her face. It was very annoying; perhaps Kakashi had realized that and chosen this route for that very reason.

No, as it turned out. Curse him.

“Hair tie?” He held out a very pink one. It had two little plastic flowers attached to it.

“Thank you.” She accepted it and put up her hair. No sense in being spiteful, even if it was a stupid-looking hair tie.

Her teacher set off down the beach at a leisurely pace. He looked perfectly comfortable with the wind blowing in his face, the sand getting in his sandals. How was it that he almost never seemed out of place?

They walked in silence for a while. Eventually Hinata slipped off her own sandals and carried them. The sand was surprisingly warm underneath her bare feet. She let the sounds surround her, digging her toes into the soft, yielding granules and kicking up plumed arcs behind her with each step.

All of a sudden, Kakashi broke the silence.

“I’m sorry.”

“You—I… what?”

“For… the things I said. The other day.”

She dared to look at him; her heart was pounding, for some reason.

“I… umm, uh… it’s okay,” she said honestly. “I mean, I’m sorry too…”

“Really?” He stopped walking her and faced her, his gaze scrutinizing.

“I—yeah!” She stopped too, her back to the sea. The wind blew her long ponytail over her shoulder, into her face. She impatiently flipped it away. “Do you know why the sand is warm, even though it’s overcast?”

“Some of the sun’s light still gets through the clouds and heats the sand,” he answered. “Are you sure it’s okay? You didn’t even ask if what I said was true.”

She thought about it before responding. “I’m not sure if I want to know.” She met his eyes and smiled. “It would kind of change our dynamic, you know…?”

“Yeah.” He pulled down his mask and inhaled deeply.

Gods, he was gorgeous. And he noticed she was staring. He smiled. Hinata felt herself blushing and quickly looked away.

“Hinata,” he touched her shoulder lightly.

“What?”

“I think we need to get a few things out in the open.”

“Yes,” she agreed, dreading what came next. Then, shocking both her teacher and herself, she said, “I’ll go first.

“Whatever is going on with us, you know, as a… something, can’t happen.”

“I thought we weren’t going to change the dynamic.”

“Right, we’ll just talk in euphemisms and then have week-long periods of silence whenever we slip up and get into some heavy petting."

“Is this always what it takes to get you feisty?” He smirked.

She rolled her eyes. “What’s the use, if you won’t actually follow through on anything?”

“Follow through?”

“It’s—it’s nothing…” All of her feisty-ness seemed suddenly washed out to sea.

“Follow through on what?” He pressed. Then realization dawned. “Oh… the thing I said in the forest.” His arms were crossed, displaying themselves to her in all their toned, sinewy glory. He really had great arms, not too bulky, but definitely in prime shape. She really needed to stop staring.

“It’s just… that was a stupid thing to say. I—it didn’t come out right. And besides, we can’t. It’s not possible.”

“Well, of course it’s possible. As far as I know, we each have the requisite parts…”

“Sarcasm? From the gentle Hinata?” He teased.

“Don’t try to change the subject. I don’t want to know if it was true. And I don’t think it was, but…”

“It wasn’t true,” he said quietly.

“Why? And don’t tell me it was your noble intentions.”

“Okay.”

“…w-well?”

Kakashi shrugged. “It wasn’t my noble—”

“You are so frustrating!” She burst out, half laughing.

“And now I have a question for you,” he cut in smoothly. “What happened to your crush on Naruto?”

“I—well, umm…oh. I-I guess I grew out of it. And I never really, uhh, understood much about who he was.”

Kakashi hmphf’ed. “You could come to understand most of his personality just by watching him walk down the street.”

“Yeah… he’s still, you know… kind of cute. I’m glad he’s been so successful.”

“Me too. But he missed out on a pretty good opportunity.”

“What?”

Her teacher just looked at her.

“Me? B-but… I… that’s all I am? An opportunity? And only ‘pretty good?’”

“That’s…not what I meant…”

“Yeah, I know.”

“Did you know that you punched me?” He mentioned it in such an offhanded tone, she had to laugh.

“What?”

“When we were sparring the other day, and I used kage bunshin. The very first punch you landed hit me, the real one.”

“Oh! I-I am so sorry! I d-didn’t realize…”

“Yeah.” His hand on his midsection accompanied a rather pained look on his face. “It’s okay.”

“C-can I get you anything? An icepack? …You should have said something!”

“Remember what happened last time when you helped me recover?”

She thought back to the very pleasant wake-up she had shared with Kakashi almost a week and a half ago. “It…wasn’t that, umm, bad…”

“That’s my point. We can’t have things like that happening. It’s—well, I’m not trying to rationalize what I did, but it’s things like that, they’re the reason I’ve been so distant.”

“And why you totally over-reacted, that night in the hotel room?”

“Right. Sorry about that too.”

“I think we can treat everything up till now as water under the bridge… but, umm, can I—can I ask you something too?”

“Sure.”

“Am I… do you—tell me… well, I mean to say…umm…” She pulled her jacket around her, trying to work up the courage to ask this particular question.

“Do I think you’re pretty?” He prompted.

She nodded, feeling her cheeks color.

“Yes.” He wrapped his free arm around her shoulders and turned them to face the ocean. By this time the sun had come out, and instead of dark grey-green and white, the water was flourishing, endless blue. “And there are about a thousand things I’d like to do to show you just how much I think that.”

Immediately, her mind ran away with all kinds of indecent possibilities. Unfortunately, his next words caught up with her racing ideas.

“But in our current positions, as teacher and student, the age difference, and the fact that both of us are very recognizable people…”

“I understand. But don’t take your arm away yet. I-I want to enjoy it while I can.”

“Okay.” She could tell he was smiling.

For a while they just stood there, watching the water. Somehow, the awkwardness was gone, at least for the moment. No, she wouldn’t question that now.

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Author’s Notes: Okay, time for the super long!A/N. We have a few orders of business. First, chap title comes from the song 'Welcome to the Jungle' by Guns'N'Roses. Second, I would like to strongly encourage both writers and readers who are fans of Kakashi and Hinata as a pairing to WRITE SOMETHING! Our little corner of the interwebs is awfully small compared to, say, the SasuHina or KakaSaku sections. Next order of business:

This chapter is hereby dedicated to animefreak, who left a very spirited review, chastising me for taking so long to update. Your review was oddly flattering, and I hope you don't mind being singled out like this. Your fervor is appreciated. :-)

And lastly, I stupidly forgot to include a translation of the French song lyrics that were in the last chapter, so here they are.

The original French:

Notre vie à deux s’arrete donc là

Là où les dieux ne s’aventurent pas

Moi qui aimais tellement ton sourire…

Pourquoi, pourquoi, meme quand les gens s’aiment

Il y a, il y a, toujours des problèmes?

…

Laisses moi voir venir le jour…

Il est minuit à Tokyo

Il est cinq heures au Mali

Quelle heure est-il au paradis?

--de ‘La Vie à 2’ par Manu Chao

And a rough translation, by me:

Our life for two stops just here

Here where the gods do not adventure

I, who loved your smile so much…

Why, why, even when people love each other

Are there, are there, always problems?

…

Let me see the day come…

It is midnight in Tokyo

It is five in Mali

What time is it in paradise?

-- from ‘La Vie à 2’ by Manu Chao