Work Text:
You were humming a song that played on the vinyl earlier in the restaurant, back when it was booming and crowded. Every day was a busy day, but now at 11 pm all official motion died down and you were cleaning behind the counter.
It was when you turned, still being occupied by today's encounters until you realize who was sitting at the counter. This is what made you jumped, and feeling a bit embarrassed. You see Kakashi reading his godforsaken novel at the counter, not even minding you. All anger came forward as he had forgotten to ring the bell at the top of the door head to alert his presence.
How embarrassing. You thought because you don't know how long he has been here, but surely long enough that he has heard your attempts at singing and trying to make up lyrics to the instrumental you were listening to earlier. You looked visibly red, embarrassed and you were quick to blame it on the ninja in front of you.
"Kakashi! I told you to ring the bell whenever you're here!" You lightly scolded at him, he doesn't take his eyes off of you, too busy reading his porn novel. He takes a short moment until he replied.
"Sorry sorry." You could tell he was subtly grinning. "Your tone is good though." He slyly compliments, only to spite you.
"Don't!"
"I think you're just hard on me because I caught you singing with your made up lyrics." He chuckles, making eye contact with you. You look away, not wanting to entertain him, you walk closer to him which he goes back to reading. You let out a sigh.
"Today was busy." You topic switch, letting out another deep sigh that you held in for the longest time. "I mean like all other days…But this one in particular weighed down on me." Your attempt to chuckle was a sad one and you didn't bother to chuckle again. "But I shouldn't complain, I mean especially in front of a jonin ninja." You correct yourself, looking down at your hands. You were right, you shouldn't complain especially in front of Kakashi who has the harder job. His whole job is to scariface his life in order to protect the village and all its citizens and higher ups.
"Well it was still hard for you no? I think you shouldn't invalidate yourself just because people have it harder." Kakashi replies, still looking down at his book.
"Hmm, yeah. I guess. Anyway! Umm, do you want anything? Food? We have an extra bento box of sushi if you'd like." You change your mood, switching the topic yet again. You don't give Kakashi time to reply as you crouch behind the counter to give the last bento box to him. The one which you purposely saved for because you knew that he would be visiting today. By the way the hanging bell outside your bedroom window rang early this morning. Signalling that he would be visiting you, which he hadn't in about a month. You and Kakashi's relationship could be odd to others. Since you guys were pre-teens, you guys knew each other but even then you two weren't consistent, often would meet up everyday for a week and then a month would go by without any word to each other. Even now it continued into adult hood. You stand back up, giving the bento box to Kakashi with a pair of wooden chopsticks. You walked back to give him a small bowl for soy sauce and napkins.
You watched him as he closed his book, breaking the wooden chopsticks apart and saying a little prayer before digging in. You turned around before you could see him eat, going back into the kitchen to get the broom.
You come back to find Kakashi eating peacefully with his mask down while reading his book. Nobody but you two were here, when you two would go out to eat together he would always finish his food with a swift move, not even showing anyone his face. But when you saw him just take time to eat, it warmed your heart inside. It made you feel like a good person that Kakashi is able to trust you by the way he puts his mask down in front of you, and only you.
"Do you like it?" You ask, eyeing his food. On your break you only ate a salad when you were really fiening for a sushi box.
"Do you want a bite?"
"What?! Uh no, no, it just looks good that's all." You lie through your teeth, which Kakashi can easily tell.
"Have a bite why don't you?" He offers.
"Nah, I'm alright. I'm on a diet that's all." You reply, which he suspiciously looks at you, perhaps confused.
"Diet? I find that hard to believe you'd go on that."
"Well," You look down at your breasts then look up. Kakashi hums in understanding but he still remained confused. "Um, well—never mind." You blush in embarrassment, looking away and sighing. Kakashi continues to eat, not paying attention to anything in mind. "I've been on blind dates and the men I go out with always recommends for me to lose weight. They're quite blunt about it…" You confess, feeling a little bit of the weight on your shoulders lift.
"Pathetic men then. I don't think you should waste time thinking about what they said." Kakashi adds, which you nod to, trying to soothe yourself.
"Hmm, yeah. You're right." You break a pair of chopsticks before digging in his food without asking. He looks surprised, but you don't pay attention to it and enjoy the sushi.
"Ahh, well." He smiles, but he doesn't fight you, he just maneuvers around it and eats with you. You lean against the counter while you eat, thinking about your day. You do want to go on a walk, but it's too late, but you haven't been on a walk for a long time.
Kakashi notices the conflict you have, as it is clearly visible on your face.
"What's up? You look well conflicted."
"You're probably tired."
"What is it anyway?"
"I want to take a late night stroll. Just to exercise, all I've been doing is work. Would you please accompany me?" You plead, which you know with that sigh he'd say yes. Even if he wasn't in the mood for it, you'd know he'd say yes anyway. That was just the kind of guy Kakashi is to you.
"Okay."
"Not right now though! I want to eat this with you." You say, continuing to snack on Kakashi's food with no care in mind. You smile, closing your eyes as you nom on the food. You lightly squeal at just the taste of the sushi.
"I thought you were on a diet."
"Yeah, me too, but maybe next time." You said in defeat, which you did not care to mourn about. Besides, you weren't going on blind dates anymore, you already figured since the last time you went, where he totally looked down upon you the whole time. He completely humiliated you, and your ego was crushed for days. Kakashi chuckled in response to you, letting out an entertained hum.
"Don't you have work tomorrow? It's late, are you sure you want to go on a walk?"
"No, the restaurant is closed tomorrow. I have somewhere to be tomorrow, only in the afternoon, it's quite far."
"Don't you need to rest?"
"It's okay. I'm going to be like you and attend late." You poke a joke, only to be the one laughing. "But yeah, I'm going to be gone, maybe I will come back around this time or maybe stay a night there. I'm meeting my relatives—my mom passed away and I got invited to the funeral, I mean of course I did." You explain, you tense up mentioning your moms name. You look down and let out a sigh. Kakashi looked up to you, staring at you, trying to read you, it made you nervous. "Well, anyway—I'm full! I'm going to go in the back, so yeah." You completely dismiss yourself, wanting to sway the awkwardness in your throat. You didn't want Kakashi to feel bad for you. In truth, you didn't feel anything when you received a phone call from your brother, whom you hadn't spoken to in years, telling you that your mom who you also hadn't spoken to in years passed away. Nothing inside of you broke, nothing shattered, everything was fine—and for a moment, something uplifted from the heavy burden off your shoulders.
__
It was around 9 pm, the restaurant was closing soon, and you kept getting orders. After you tended your last customers of the night, the phone at the back was ringing. You thought it was just another pick-up order, which you were fine with, as long as you weren't getting any new customers in person. You walked behind the curtain doors, and picked up the hanging phone from the wall.
"Hello, this is—"
"[Name]," a familiar voice said your name, your old name, the one you haven't used in so long and exactly how they said it years ago. Every voice in you died right away, just realizing who you were talking to. "Are you there? Goodness, I've tried finding you, but you're just so hard to find. Well, I heard about you now, I know you don't want to see me but—"
"What is it? I'm working—" You interrupted, right away, feeling annoyed and bitter towards how much your brother talked. You wanted him to get to the point already, to stop wasting your time because it was limited. A spark of remembrance of how your relatives never took your time and effort seriously. Your fist clenched, you wanted to shout at your brother, tell him to leave you alone and never call again, otherwise you would put a restraining order against him somehow.
"Mom died." He shared, and when he said that, all arrogance, ignorance, and everything that made his voice infuriating disappeared. It vanished, and he sounded vulnerable and serious—for once. Your breathing hitched, your body tensed up, realizing that this was serious. That you both needed to be, not for your mom, but for your brother as well. Even though you carried a deep hatred for both of them, death wasn't something to be plausible, especially in blood-related circumstances. You needed to be mature, to show your sympathy, and respect. You couldn't look like a jerk, you were the older sister. "Can you come to the funeral? Please?" Your brother pleaded, sounding like he was about to cry which brought you an ache in your chest.
"When?" You asked, but your voice didn't show any feelings of hurt, but only of question. You opened your mouth to speak, but you quickly bite down on your tongue because you knew it wasn't the time to be rude.
"Next week, Sunday. Please come. At 12 pm. You don't have to bring anything, just please come." Your brother's voice cracked, and it sounded like he covered his mouth to silently cry. You heard the muffled crying from the other side. You didn't know what to say. You couldn't. You felt bad, but you were way before this—you shouldn't compare the pain, but because of it you just couldn't feel anything sad about all this.
"Okay." You said, and for a moment you heard his muffled cries. You stood there, just hearing him, but not saying anything, and then you hung up.
_____
You went to the back of your restaurant, to the storage room to get your hat and bag. You locked it up, and made sure the doors in the back were also locked. You came back to Kakashi, bento box empty and the counter looked neatly cleaned. You took the bento box, and crouched down, storing it into a plastic container of dirty bento boxes to clean later. Kakashi looked at you, always with his book in his hands opened while reading.
"Okay. I'm ready." You say, standing up. Kakashi nods his head, you both head out the doors after turning off all the lights.
You and Kakashi walked in silence, under the street lights and it seemed like many people were out, either clubbing or buying food from the food vendors or trinket shops. You and Kakashi subconsciously swayed away from there, somewhere secluded and more quiet. The distance grew closer, you were practically hitting his arm every time you walked but Kakashi didn't say anything, he walked with his head down while reading. Even though you had the eyes looking out, Kakashi was more alertive than you. Still, you looked everywhere in the dark as you guys strayed away from the light as if you were on the look out for anything that might come your way. You were nervous, Kakashi could sense it.
"Are you alright?" He questioned, you didn't look at him. "Don't worry, if someone is watching us I would know." He said with an air of nonchalance while reading. You already knew that, but tomorrow's plans really worried you. You looked everywhere, as if you were trying to find a way to run away from the plans you agreed to.
"I know." You say, still looking around. You sigh, realizing there is no need to stress. "I think I just can't run away this time. I mean I could, but I'd suffer repercussions." Kakashi raises his eyebrow at you.
"The funeral?"
"Yeah. I'm surprised they even want me there." You say, shivering at just the thought of seeing their faces again. Memories back when you and Kakashi were younger resurfaced, how he always ogled your bruised arm, or how you sometimes had to call work off because you didn't want people to see your black eye, yet Kakashi would find you with one anyway. Or how when you were tending the plants and your co-worker raised their hand to help you, but you flinched and knocked down the tray of plants instead because you thought she was going to hit you. Kakashi all witnessed it. And you were still denying it, that your family did not hurt you, even though evidence showed they did. One day Kakashi had enough of you defending your family, and you so badly wanted to tell him off, that he didn't understand any of it because he had no family to look out for him instead, but you couldn't, you ran away like you always did. Before you took the initiative, you told him off and to disappear from your life so you wouldn't have to see him again. You were emotional, and you hated that he knew that you were in the wrong for defending your family. But you held onto them for hope, because you didn't want to feel alone. That same day, your mom came home and the second she slammed that door and yelled your name in a different tone of hate, you felt as if you knew the end, and that was that moment. Your mother screamed at you, pulled your hair, but she refused to hit you—it was weird, she hated you but she couldn't ever slap you or hit you in the way your brother and other relatives did. And when they did, she would always comfort you, crying with you and apologising for their actions. You were gullible, to believe that they would stop soon so you wouldn't endure the pain anymore. But you knew that you needed to get away from there, but you couldn't afford to be alone.
Your mom was holding onto your face, demanding you for answers that couldn't be answered because you didn't even know, or could speak, she wouldn't let you by the way she kept screaming at you. You had to do something, you couldn't take it anymore, so you slapped her. You gasped at yourself, realizing the cost of your mistake would lead to. You saw your mom's face slowly turned towards you while she laughed, the octaves became louder and she looked so scary. She stood up from her knees, and grabbed a thick hard cover book to hit you and gradually walked slower to you. You were crawling backwards, and stopped when you realized that no one was coming to save you. It was then when your mom got closer, you embraced yourself from the impact, ready to be hit only to realize your mom was struggling to. You looked up, opening your eyes to see Kakashi effortlessly holding your mom back. He looked at you with a sad look before turning your mom down. She let go and you rushed to Kakashi at his side. You wanted to cry, but you couldn't let your mom see.
Your mom went on a rampage, shouting at you, calling you nasty things, but Kakashi took your hand and just a blink of an eye you were in his bedroom. You dropped to your knees and cried, holding onto him, just crying and not saying anything.
"Hmm?" Kakashi questioned, taking his eyes off of his book just to look at you. He knew you were thinking, thinking about the past he assumed. "Do you want me to pick you up from the place afterwards?" You turned your head towards him and nodded.
"Yeah. I'd like that. It's going to be far, at the edge of the village." You say. "How's your group of genin been?" You ask, changing the topic. You were wondering how he and his team were doing. You already knew all three of the kids, which you had history of giving free food to. Especially to Naruto, who you had many conversations with in the past when he was a young boy, he was a funny and witty kid. You always had such a smile on whenever he talked. Since time passed, you hadn't heard from him in a long time, but you'd always see him. You hoped he remembered you, but it wouldn't matter if he didn't. Seeing the kids you used to see, all become ninjas warmed your heart and you hoped for a good future for them.
"They're alright. I mean they could get some getting along but they're brilliant." Kakashi replies, even though he gave short answers, you could tell he cared for them.
"Aww, well maybe when you guys are done missions you guys can have something to eat, for free too." You offer.
"Well sure, but mind you they might bicker the whole time causing disturbance in your restaurant." Kakashi warns which you laugh at the thought of them.
"I don't mind," you chuckle. "As long as they are eating." You add.
The rest of the walk was silent, a comfortable one.
You two walked back to your restaurant, walking up the stairs to where you lived. You turned the lights off and Kakashi locked the door behind.
"Thanks Kakashi," you thanked. Kakashi hummed in response. "Here's a box of tea I picked up from the store the other day. It's good, it helps with insomnia and other sleeping problems. I want you to have it." You crouch down at your pantry, taking the box of tea out and a plastic bag. You put it in and close the pantry door and stand up, you walk to him, looking up at him where he has to look down at you. "I hope you like it."
"What flavour is it?"
"Umm, it's chamomile tea mixed in with other flavours. It's really good." You respond with, giving him the bag. He takes it and looks inside, analyzing it. He responds with a satisfied hum.
"Okay, well I will be drinking this tonight. Thanks." He gives you an eye smile. He walks towards the window, where you follow him. You watch as he opens it, and before he climbs out you give him a long pat on the back. He climbs out, crouching in front of the window entrance, you look up, smiling at him.
"Well take care." You say. "See you when I will."
"Tomorrow."
"Okay, well sleep good tonight okay?" You respond tiredly with a smile. In contrast, Kakashi was wide awake, and he looked like he wasn't going to be sleeping but you hoped he did.
"Yeah, will try." He responds with. "I'd probably be up from reading still." He said with his eye smile, sounding amused. You grinned at just the thought, and you giggled out loud.
"See you tomorrow evening Kakashi."
"You could just say tomorrow." He slyly comments, which you chuckle at. "Okay, well goodnight." He says, taking his leave. You look at the clock, 12:45 am it read, you smile at it, just noticing how late it was, by the time you wanted to say it back, Kakashi vanished. You looked outside the window, trying to find him, but he wasn't found.
"Goodnight too Kakashi!" You lightly yell outside, knowing he had already left but you still wanted to send the message out. You smile at your action and closed the window right after, looking at the bell one last time before getting ready for the night.
Kakashi closed his book, taking his back off the wall of the balcony with a light smile. He walked on your roof, not leaving any sound like the skilled ninja he is. He looked back at your window, and then faced forward looking at the sky. He decided to ring the bell again before really leaving.
You were folding laundry while sitting on the floor, the room was dimmed as your only light source was a salt lamp. You were humming the song earlier, only wondering what to do tomorrow. You sighed, only to snap out of mind when you heard the bell ring again.
You turned your head towards your window, and an another smile creeped up and formed from your lips.
Goodnight.