ஐHatake Kakashiஐ Entangled in a Missing Memory ❧010❧

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Chapter 10: Uncertainties

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This probably wasn't a very good idea. What was she doing exactly? Oh, yeah. Rairakku stumbled as she knocked on the door of a certain apartment. Hopefully, things would be as awkward between them as they were yesterday. Then again, that was mostly her fault. He told her to come to him if she needed to talk, hadn't he? Well, she needed to talk. He probably wouldn't be happy about being woken up this late at night, but she was sure he'd get over it.

Finally the door swung open. "Rairakku?" Kakashi answered, his tone was one of surprise. Rairakku rarely ever came over to his apartment during the day, let alone during the middle of the night like this. "What are you doing here?" He noticed the woman staggering on her feet a little. She certainly seemed dazed, and it showed in the unfocused look in her eyes. It was an expression Kakashi knew fairly well. There was a period a few years ago where he found her in this state often. Now that he thought about it, that phase had taken place shortly after Rairakku's arrangement with Hideaki had ended... "Have you been drinking?"

She shook her head. "It was only a little, really," Rairakku insisted, her plum eyes half lidded. That wasn't saying much, considering a little to someone else was usually quite a bit for Rairakku. "I'm just a little woozy. Can I come in?" At least her speech wasn't very impaired.

Kakashi sighed, and moved to let her pass. If she needed to tell him something, he couldn't refuse her. Still, she should know how much alcohol affects her. She nearly fell over trying to take her sandals off at the door. He watched as she made her way to his couch. The lilac let out a groan as she flopped down on it. Yeah, she had obviously had just a little too much. But, he thought, at least she came over to his apartment instead of her former teammate's. Kakashi didn't like the idea of her being drunk around him.

"Are you okay?" the Copy Nin questioned, approaching her carefully. He remembered quite a few times where she broke into sobs while like this, and wanted to avoid that if all possible. The girl shook her head in response, but stayed silent. Her mind seemed to be drifting off somewhere. Kakashi pressed, placing a hand on her shoulder, "What's wrong?"

Rairakku sat up on the cushions and buried her face in her hands. She waited until Kakashi took a seat next to her before she began. Suddenly, her whole reason for being there felt stupid now. "I... I had that dream again tonight. But it was clearer this time. Much clearer," she murmured, turning her head away from his gaze. "I could... practically see who the person was."

So that's what this was about. Unfortunately, it appeared that this sudden clarity had only caused her to be more distressed over this. "Did you recognize them?" Kakashi asked curiously. Perhaps this was something from her past coming back to her after all this time, but why now? Rairakku shook her head despondently, so he continued, "Well, did you see what they looked like?"

Rairakku took a moment to gather her thoughts. They were all jumbled about, and she couldn't make sense of things. "It was a woman. That much I could tell" she whispered softly. All the formed in her mind were those eyes that looked so very much like her own. "And I think she looked... She had eyes like mine." As she tried to bring the image back into her mind, she was met with a sharp pain in her temple. Why was it so hard to picture her again? "It's like... She was someone I should remember, but I can't. Someone important to me." A frustrated groan left her lips and her head fell back against the couch in distain. "Why can't I remember anything, Kakashi? I'm sick of not being able to remember anything."

"I don't know," he answered truthfully, then added, "But I thought you didn't care if you remembered or not?" Kakashi noticed her silence in response to his question and angled his head towards her. The lilac's soft, plum eyes had fluttered closed, and she slowly slumped over onto his shoulder, mumbling. He pulled her petite form into his arms before lifting the both of them from the couch. It would probably be best if he put her to bed; it wouldn't be the first time he had done that. Kakashi would do the gentlemanly thing and let her take his room for the night. He could take the couch.

Rairakku made no signs of waking as he carried her into his room. He would definitely have a talk with her about the whole drinking thing when she was good and sober again, he decided as he pulled the sheets over her. He watched as she finally stirred, rolling over onto her side. "Night-night, Kakashi," she murmured, nuzzling her flushed face against his pillow in a particularly endearing manner.

A small chuckle rumbled in his throat. He let his fingers brush through her soft russet hair, pushing it away from her face. This woman had a way with him, he had to admit. He just couldn't stay angry or even disappointed at her for very long. He would have to work on that. "Sleep well, Rairakku," Kakashi whispered back, and pressed his masked lips against her cheek. Hopefully, he thought, dreams wouldn't plague her anymore tonight.

It wasn't until he started to leave the room that he realized his actions. That was an odd reaction, especially for him. He turned his head and looked back at her sleeping form, blinking in thought. Where had that come from? Kakashi finally shook his head. It was nothing, at least nothing he should be bothered with. It was probably his lack of sleep showing. At least she hadn't been awake to notice.

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Not getting up any time soon. That was Rairakku's first thought of the morning. This spot was nice, comfy, and so very warm. Why was her head throbbing? Oh, well, all the more reason to stay in bed. Unfortunately, there was an annoying light coming in from the window. This is why she had curtains over her window, why weren't they working? Rairakku definitely wasn't getting up to close it. She pulled the comforter over her head, grumbling unhappily as she gripped her pillow. Something was off, though. This didn't feel like her bed and her pillow, despite how content she felt. And the sheets had a pleasant scent to them; it was just like Kaka—

Rairakku sprung from the bed without a second thought, flailing wildly. A mistake that left her foot tangled in the sheets and she fell flat on her back, her headache now a splitting one from hitting the hard floor. But that was the least of her worries. She had been sleeping in Kakashi's room, in his bed. How did she even get here? The last thing she remembered was waking up in her apartment after that disturbing dream... Then maybe she had opened that bottle of wine in her refrigerator, but that still didn't explain how she got here.

Her thoughts were interrupted when she noticed a pair of incredibly round, dark, half-lidded eyes glaring at her in annoyance. Bisuke, one of Kakashi ninken, was sitting beside her head. "Oi! You almost landed on me!" he grumbled, his tan-brown fur bristling.

"You're a ninken. I figured you could dodge," Rairakku laughed as she rubbed the dark mark on his forehead that read "shinobi". He snorted in response. Bisuke was always one of her favorites, despite his sarcastic nature, but Rairakku was never really sure if he liked her back. Then again, she really didn't care. She had too much fun teasing him and the other dogs. Rairakku kicked her legs free from the infernal sheets and began to collect herself. "So do you know what I'm doing here? Where's Kakashi?"

Bisuke made an aloof gesture similar to a shrug beneath his blue jacket, scratching one of his brown ears with his back leg. "I don't know. He just told me to watch you until he got back," the ninken answered. The Copy Nin was probably at the memorial like he was every morning. A smirk formed on the dog's face. "And he also mentioned you'd be probably be hung over. 'Looks like he was right. What'd you do last night?"

Rairakku nudged the dog away with her leg. What did she do last night? Everything was awfully blurry. She vaguely remembered knocking on Kakashi's door, but that was just about it. Why had she come over here? She never liked being at this apartment. Wait, the dream... Is that why she had come over? Hopefully she hadn't done anything extremely stupid. A sigh left her lips. She really needed to stop drinking. Kakashi must have done her a favor and let her stay over; he had probably tucked her in and everything. Her headache worsened at the notion.

Kakashi was always taking care of her, wasn't he? Whatever she had done last night, Kakashi obviously thought she needed taking care of if he left Bisuke with her. She had pointed out the other night that she didn't need to be treated like a child anymore, and yet she was doing a poor job of living up to that. Then a sickening thought occurred to her. Was she... Was she a burden on Kakashi? Probably. And then an even worse thought hit her. Maybe the only reason Kakashi paid any attention to her was because he felt obligated to, and that hurt, especially because she had grown to... How did she feel about him exactly?

"Oi, what's the matter?" Bisuke asked, prodding her foot with his paw. He was shooting her a confused look. "You got a serious look on your face all of a sudden."

"Uh, I," the lilac stuttered as she made her way toward the door. She clutched her head; the pain was excruciating now. She had to get out of there before Kakashi came back. There was no way she could talk to him right now, especially when she was feeling this confused. Besides, she didn't want to be lectured on why she needed to stop drinking. "I've got to go. I have stuff to do today," she finally uttered. When she made for the door she noticed the ninken following at her heels. Rairakku turned her head slowly and asked, "Why are you following me?"

The small dog blinked. "Kakashi told me to watch you," he stated, as if she hadn't understood it the first time he said it. Then he shot her the "are you stupid?" look that made her want to kick him across the room, but she knew that wouldn't stop him from following her around. Curse those ninken and their unwavering loyalty.

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Where had the two of them run off to? When Kakashi had come back to an empty apartment, Rairakku and his ninken were missing. If Rairakku had left, he figured, no doubt Bisuke had followed his orders and went along with her. Kakashi sighed in frustration; he was thinking the lilac would have stayed long enough to get over her hangover. He probably could have summoned another dog to look for them, but he honestly didn't feel like complicating things more. They'd probably run into each other eventually. In fact, it wasn't long until they did.

Kakashi turned a corner and began down Tea Avenue, thinking maybe Rairakku had stop in her favorite restaurant for lunch. His eyes spotted her leaving the exact place he thought she'd be. She was arguing with Bisuke, who responded by nipping at her ankles. "Rairakku," he called, causing the young woman to freeze on the spot. Bisuke looked a little happier at the thought he wouldn't have to follow her around anymore.

"O-Oh, Kakashi! Hi," the lilac stammered as she turned his way, looking extremely jittery. She wasn't looking at him directly. The Copy nin wasn't sure why she was so anxious. Rairakku turned her attention to the tan-brown dog sitting next to her, frowning. Part of her was hoping that she wouldn't run into Kakashi for at least the rest of the day, but a tiny part was glad that she had found him. Bisuke was seriously starting to get on her last nerve. The two of them had stopped getting along an hour ago, and he even made her buy him food. "Making him watch me was unnecessary, you know." The ninken snorted at her in response.

The silver haired man shrugged. "I didn't expect you to be up and moving," he answered frankly, shoving his hands into his pockets. He hadn't expected her to be looking so well after last night, though she did look like her head was bothering her. She looked like she was slightly flushed and shaky. Hopefully, she hadn't caught a bug from last night. Either way, now that Kakashi had found her, Bisuke's presence was no longer needed. Kakashi turned to the dog. "Thank you Bisuke. You can go now." Bisuke nodded sharply and disappeared in a puff of smoke.

The second Kakashi had turn his attention away from her, Rairakku bolted for it. She just couldn't be around Kakashi right now. "I'vegottago!" Rairakku shouted, darting past him. Was that cowardly of her? Probably, but she didn't care. All she knew was that she needed to sort out her feelings before she talked to him again, and now was not the time. Besides, she didn't want to be an even bigger burden on him. There was a sharp pain in her chest that only made her run faster.

The russet haired woman's actions left Kakashi blinking and befuddled in her wake. Well, she was sure acting strangely, even more strangely than she had been. Had he done something wrong? Nothing really came to mind. Maybe she was just feeling awkward from showing up at his apartment last night. Then again... Last night he had gone so far as to kiss her cheek, for whatever reason. Kakashi shook his head; she wouldn't have remembered that. After all, she had been fast asleep... Or had she? He could practically feel the color draining from his face. God, he hoped she hadn't been awake. Though that would certainly explain her actions, considering how she avoided intimacy like the plague. What had he gotten himself into?