| [Dec. 22nd, 2013|05:29 am] |
It was disturbing how easy it was to sense the smirk underneath Kakashi’s mask. Maybe Katsuko had a better read on him. Maybe his smugness just transcended all barriers.
“I won’t need to raise them for you,” Katsuko said. “Keep on meeting bare minimum standards like during our spar, and in a month you’ll be where I was at when I was nine. Maybe two months.”
"I've fought nine-year-old ninja,” Kakashi said, unruffled. “Some of them are terrifying."
“Those aren’t nine-year-olds. Those are gremlins.”
Kakashi shrugged. He’d been one of those terrifying child prodigies tearing up the battlefield. "Same difference."
Katsuko tried to imagine Kakashi as a nine-year-old. The best she could picture was a bush of grey hair with tiny hands and feet, radiating judgment like fire radiated heat. “I bet you were a short kid. Is that why you let your hair stick up like that? So you’ll get an extra inch or two?”
He looked at her. Thoughtfully, he said, "Is the reason you have no filter because it stops people from looking at you too closely?"
Surprise made Katsuko miss a step, but irritation quickly took its place. She raised an eyebrow at him. “Let’s say it is. Is the reason you push everyone’s buttons because it stops people from getting too close?”
Kakashi didn’t even bother deflecting. “And it’s fun.”
“And it’s working,” Katsuko said. “One more spar. This time I want to headbutt you.”
"That actually sounds like you want to get closer," Kakashi said, but he seemed to be considering it. "If we go again, this time we use chakra."
He was still unfairly pretty for a man with most of his face covered, his sliced-up clothes and fall of silver hair giving his appearance a honed edge. For a moment, Katsuko imagined Ryouma standing next to him. Dark hair and a rakish grin, tanned skin and broad hands. He and Kakashi were almost mirror opposites in appearance. The only thing they had in common was that they were stupidly handsome, and that made her want to kick them both in the head.
It was hard, not noticing how attractive her teammates were out loud and in her own mind. Easy enough to ignore it during missions, but downtime gave her too many opportunities to slip up.
“No Sharingan,” Katsuko said. “And I won’t use clones.”
Kakashi sighed softly. "If you insist."
“Don’t worry, my little sugar pumpkin.” Katsuko gave him an earnest look. “It’ll be fun.”
"That's one word for it,” Kakashi said, completely ignoring her pet name for him. He seemed to be making a campaign of it; maybe he thought that if he didn’t acknowledge it Katsuko would stop.
If he was serious about learning Hyoho Niten, they’d have to fit in lessons after team training. And she needed to find swords for him more suited for the style. But that could wait— right now, she wanted to see if she could get under his skin half as well as he got under hers.
“Darling,” Katsuko said, straight-faced. “Baby-face. Kitten whiskers.” She leaned in and whispered, “Sparkle-toes.”
Kakashi's visible eyebrow twitched faintly. He turned and walked away from her, towards the training field.
More potential comments about her psyche’s inner workings: averted. Likelihood of her getting a Chidori to the face: increased.
She yelled after him, because she’d never been taught self-preservation. “Bunny-butt, we can make it work! Don’t leave!”
Kakashi paused. Katsuko felt the working of chakra a millisecond before he stamped one foot; she barely managed to dodge when the ground snapped open in a four foot wide trench beneath her.
Well, now she could say he’d started it if they got in trouble for casting jutsu in the street. Katsuko whooped and leapt after him, flickering through the seals that would call fire to her hands. |
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