The Routine

Kakashi sat quietly watching Moiya straighten around the kitchen, the living room, disappearing a few times to do the laundry. Enjoying the way things were between them when she wasn’t putting him back together, calm and comfortable. They spent a lot of quiet time together when they weren’t both away on a mission, just reading or playing shogi. Knowing each other since she was ten and he was thirteen had advantages, neither of them ever felt the pressure to say anything unless they wanted to. Moiya tried not to look at him even though she could feel his eyes following her, his head resting on the palm of his hand. She had decided she would enjoy the company while she had him to herself instead of suspiciously wondering why he had changed the rules of their routine and hadn’t left that morning. After a while, Kakashi washed his dishes and went back to the bedroom, Moiya watching him curiously.

When he didn’t return she set the books she had been putting away back on the table and went to see what he was up to. Kakashi was sitting in the bed, blankets covering his legs, pillows behind his head, reading. Beginning to worry that his concussion was worse than she had original thought, she walked around and sat on the bed next to him until he looked up at her. She felt his forehead, looked into his eyes then stood over him examining the gash on his head. “What are you doing?” he asked casually. “Looking for signs of brain damage.” she responded a hint of sarcasm in her voice. Kakashi simply smiled and went back to his book. Moiya eyed him suspiciously again before shrugging and going back to the housecleaning. Watching her conducting a normal days housework, Kakashi had made a list in his head, more like an argument with himself, that compared the reasons he should have left with the reasons he should stay. In the end he decided that staying would be much more enjoyable than going back to his empty apartment alone waiting for his next assignment. His best friend and lifelong companion was here, in the house where he had spent the last ten years learning to be human again, Yondaime and Moiya his teachers and confidants.

After his father had died, Kakashi didn’t let anyone touch him, hold him, comfort him, or love him. A shinobi didn’t need emotions that could get you killed in battle or worse, die a slow agonizing death of mental and emotional torture like his father had suffered before killing himself. Controlling his emotions and committing himself to being an excellent shinobi was his world. But then Moiya came crashing into that world and he had trusted her, the only person other than Yondaime whom he had allowed to touch him, see his face whenever they were alone, joke with him, make him smile, listen to his thoughts, or simply just sit quietly together. Everything good friends share with each other, except that deep down inside they knew they meant more to each other than just friends and it was this part of their relationship they never shared with other. Kakashi watched her leave, knowing his odd behavior was probably driving her crazy with curiosity, he smiled smugly and went back to reading his book. A few hours later, when he had been much too quiet for far too long in her opinion, Moiya stood in the doorway to the bedroom grinning to herself, he was asleep again, book still in hand on his chest and his arm draped over his face.


When he woke again it was dark and quiet, the door was cracked slightly where a beam of light traveled through and up the wall. Kakashi made another attempt at standing feeling less nauseous and head only slightly stinging this time. He paused at the door when he heard voices ”I thought he might be here. Stubborn brat.” Moiya refilled Jiraiya’s cup with fresh tea “I bet he came here straight from Anbu headquarters right after his last mission.” the older man grunted almost laughing. Moiya didn’t say anything, she never talked to anyone about Kakashi’s post mission visits. Jiraiya glanced over at the uniform folded up on the shelf, vest white again, a half grin on his face, before taking a long drink of his tea. “When I didn’t find him at his apartment, I actually got worried. He doesn’t usually stay here this long.” he paused glancing up at Moiya “He must have been hurt bad enough to keep him in bed.” Jiraiya continued to gently prod Moiya for information and was surprised when she dropped the tea pot in response to his comment. She was usually very calm and collected in front of other people, Jiraiya raised his eyebrow studying Moiya for a moment as she picked up the broken pieces of the second tea pot she had broken that day, thankful neither of them had been her fathers favorite.

When she reached for another piece Kakashi grabbed it instead looking up at her surprised expression with a warm smile, Moiya watched him clean up the rest of the mess before standing and looking at Jiraiya. “What are you doing here so late old man?” he smirked before throwing the broken pieces in the garbage and sitting at the table across from Yondaime’s old sensei. “I could ask you the same thing.” Jiraiya glanced at Moiya again before glaring at Kakashi, Moiya pulled out yet another pot and began filling it with hot water from the stove. “I asked him to stay” she turned setting a cup of hot tea in front of Kakashi who didn’t take his eyes off of Jiraiya watching the expression on his face, trying hard not to let the Sannin see anything in his own. ‘Liar’ Jiraiya thought to himself shaking his head. He knew Moiya would protect Kakashi, from the rumors, from the truth, from himself, even from Jiraiya if she had to. “What can I say. She threatened me with bodily harm.” Kakashi grinned across the table before taking a drink of his herbal tea, secretly wishing he could have ignored the old mans voice and gone back to sleep but not wanting to leave Moiya alone with him, being the nosey bastard that he was. Jiraiya eyed Kakashi carefully, he wasn’t wearing his mask or forehead protector, the sharingan shut tightly, he was dressed in casual clothes and making jokes. He wasn’t sure when the last time he had seen Kakashi this comfortable with himself.


Moiya busied herself making a snack for them then left the kitchen, she stood in the bathroom for a few minutes splashing cold water on her face, it had been a long day and she had little sleep the night before, she was exhausted. “How do you think Yondaime would react if he knew you two were sleeping together?” Kakashi choked on his tea, Jiraiya laughed “I meant sleeping in the same room.” Kakashi glared at him, more pissed off at himself for reacting, falling right into the old mans little game. “Sure you did.” he grabbed the towel off the counter and wiped up his mess not looking at Jiraiya. Moiya could hear the laughter all the way down the hall, grinning to herself before climbing in the shower, she closed her eyes stepping under the hot water. A little relieved that the old man was there checking up on ‘his favorite brat’, something he had been doing since Yondaime’s death. Kakashi glanced up at the hallway, he could hear the water running and wondered how long Jiraiya was planning on visiting, only half-listening to the old mans story.

When Moiya returned to the kitchen to make more tea for herself Jiraiya didn’t take his eyes off Kakashi, Moiya standing at the sink rinsing out her cup “So should I just look for you here from now on when I need to find you?” he asked not looking up from the paper he had been making notes on for the last half hour of their conversation. Kakashi steadied himself, thinking about his answer carefully “Yes. That is until Moiya gets tired of having me around.” he smiled before gulping down the last of his tea trying to ignore his heart pounding in his chest. Moiya’s breath caught in her throat, had she heard him say that? Her hands shaking slightly she almost dropped the cup she had been rinsing. Jiraiya raised an eyebrow studying Kakashi intensely “Well then. Next time Ill supply the drinks. Moiya thank you for the tea.” he walked around the table and kissed her on the head and left without another word. “Goodnight.” she tried to sound like her normal bright self. Moiya almost wished he hadn’t left, she wasn’t sure what to do, what to say, should she say anything?


Suddenly being alone with Kakashi made her very nervous. When had he decided to stay? How long was he really intending to stay? Moiya had so many thoughts and questions running through her mind she didn’t realize the water was still running over her cup until Kakashi pulled it out of her hand and turned the water off. He was standing behind her, his body pressing gently against hers. It was no use, she couldn’t hold back the tear slowly falling down her cheek as he reached around her pulling her into his arms, his face nuzzling her neck, smelling her hair. She could feel his heart pounding in his chest against her back. She was shaking, why was she shaking? He had hugged her before. Although, now that she thought about it, it had been a long time. He tightened his grip feeling her body trembling “Tell me to stop if this isn’t what you want.” he whispered. Kakashi was fighting against the fear, the nervousness, the uncertainty of what he was doing, but he had argued all day about this with himself.

Moiya couldn’t hold back the flood of tears, she was shaking uncontrollably placing her hands over her face trying to muffle the sobs escaping her throat. Kakashi continued to whisper in her ear “I wont leave unless you tell me to.” she could feel his heart pounding, hear the nervous tension in his voice. Moiya pushed gently against his arms until he released her, turning to face him, still crying. Kakashi held his breath waiting, watching her, not daring to touch her again unless she asked him to, terrified she would push him away and all the arguing with himself and courage he had been working on all day would be wasted. The few seconds that had passed seemed like an eternity in his mind as he closed his eyes unable to look at her for another moment, holding back the panic as best he could under the circumstances. ‘Why the hell am I doing this? Am I so insane that I am willing to ruin my friendship with her because of a few wet dreams? Baka, you’ve had other dreams about her that weren’t just sex. What about the one where you two.........’