"So, Neko...or should I say Rin? Or do you prefer Hana?" Shikamaru asks with a sly grin.

"Call me Hana, please." You say, unimpressed.

"How many names do you have?" Konohamaru asks.

You huff back at him.

"Does it matter?"

He shrugs.

"I guess not...so you punted a small dog across the room of a seniors facility and caused a riot?"

Kakashi begins to laugh loudly and asks another stupid question.

"And which hokage did you try to bribe?"

You curse out loud.

"Hey! It wasn't a bribe per say..! I persuaded a hokage with something they needed in return for something I needed."

"That's called a bribe, Hana." Naruto says, raising a brow.

"I call it a gift exchange... so..." you reply casually, while shoving a dumpling into your mouth.

Kakashi chuckles.

"She had quite the list of evil doings. But our villain is now a hero!" He replies and ruffles your hair.

You scowl at him through the strands of crimson hair covering your face.

"Stop that....shouldn't you be worshipping hero's, Kakashi? Not messing up their hair?"

"Ha! I do worship a hero...I love myself very much."

Everyone rolls their eyes then Naruto gets serious with the group.

"Jokes aside...we should talk about the land of iron and the land of lightning..."

Everyone sighs.

"What a shit show...things are going to get pretty messy once Arufa finds out he can't marry who he wants." Shikamaru states.

"Yeah....I doubt he will let Hana go easily." Konohamaru replies.

Kakashi leans back in his chair, reminiscing about something.

"I don't mind beating his face in again."

You try to think back on that memory of Kakashi and Arufa, but aren't able to recall much before you transformed. There are short visions of the chaos but nothing in detail.

"I wish I could remember. It is all such a blur." You complain.

Konohamaru rests a hand on yours.

"It's probably better that you don't remember."

You notice Kakashi in your peripheral vision begin to tap his leg anxiously at Konohamaru's hand on yours. It isn't fair for him to feel like this. Why you had to situate yourself between the two was beyond you. At first you thought it was the better idea to separate them, but now you wished you had placed them together to deal with their jealous hormones on their own. Maybe they can hold each other's hand instead. You pretend to wipe your mouth with a napkin releasing your hand from Konohamaru. Then discreetly, as you place your napkin down, you slide your right hand under the table and over Kakashi's left thigh to give him some comfort . He instantly straightens up, clearing his throat. You bite your lip holding back a mischievous smile that desperately wants to plaster itself onto your face, while Naruto decides to bring your brother into the conversation.

"And maybe your brother isn't so bad. I mean he did pull you out of a lake to save your life..." Naruto says while sucking back far too many noodles from his bowl of ramen.

You think on his positive outlook. It could very well be that your brother has changed his ways. Maybe he has had some sort of realization as to who your "father" really was, and not the hero he initially thought.

You shrug in response, a little too distracted by the shift in Kakashi's legs.

"Maybe he has changed...I guess we will find out." You reply, and move your hand up his thigh letting your fingertips sink into the muscle just below his crotch. Kakashi hums nervously and leans forward placing his elbows over the table. Obviously paranoid that someone might see your inappropriate squeezes and touches.

They continue to talk about your brother, asking you all kinds of questions, right down to his cohort instinct. Kakashi grows quiet as you rub the crease of his thigh and hip.

"So what animal is he?" Naruto asks.

Your brothers seal flashes through your mind.

"He had connected with a snake. But the connection had left him disfigured. That is why he always wears a cloak." You reply and drift your last two fingers over his now bulging pants. You can feel how hard he is already. He shifts uncomfortably under your touch trying to block you with his thigh.

This is too fun....

He continues to try and remove your hand with his thigh while keeping the conversation going.

"I have a feeling your brother will...uhhh... be hanging around..." Kakashi says, making complete eye contact with you. His eyes hold a hint of disapproval in them, but the half curl of his lips tells you he's enjoying this more than he should. So you do the Hana thing and tease him further.

Thankfully Kakashi's statement sparks a louder conversation between everyone. All eyes are on Naruto right now, as he is going through possible scenarios of what could happen and what to do.

In the distraction you lean forward over the table with your left elbow and drift your hand over Kakashi's crotch. Your fingers feel out his pants until they find exactly what they are looking for and you don't hesitate to give it a good squeeze. Which he in turn curses quietly under his breath and instinctively thrusts into your grip. Thankfully everyone else is fixated on Naruto's opinions and not on you two right now.

Kakashi glares at you and shakes his head still holding that sly smile. You lean over to whisper in his ear, giving him one more squeeze and skimming your thumb over the tip.

"What are you doing later?..." you ask.

He whispers back with obvious strain.

"Hmmm....You..."

You smile picturing it. Picturing other ways to please him and new ways he can please you. Your stone begins to glow over it, catching Shikamaru's attention. Quickly you remove your hand from Kakashi's crotch and place your elbows on the table.

"You ok, Hana?" He asks, looking at your chest.

Flustered that he almost caught you and Kakashi, you flip the feeling back onto Shikamaru.

"My eyes are up here..." you say pointing to them.

He chokes and turns a lovely shade of red, glancing at all his comrades. You're such an ass...

"That's not...well...I...Sorry...your stone was glowing...I thought..."

You laugh and Kakashi nudges you, shaking his head again.

"I'm joking, Shikamaru. Here's how I see it...Arufa will try to start a war over me, the land of lightning will most likely try to convince me to join them as they don't really care about the land of iron now that they don't have my brother overseeing my control. As for my brother he will definitely try to get me to side with him as he is still with the land of iron. There is a reason he wants me alive, I'm not sure what it is but I don't think it is good."

Everyone blows out a heavy breath and leans back in their chairs thinking.

"I'm not done...None of this is my concern. What I'm concerned about is the missions I will be forced to join from the other lands. I have a feeling I will be sent on one soon despite having no control. And not all missions are going to be beneficial to Hidden Leaf, or to myself."

Kakashi places a hand on yours, just like Konohamaru, earning a sharp yet confused stare from Kono.

"I'll be there with you the whole way..." Kakashi says.

You can sense the uncomfortable shift of jealousy in Konohamaru.

"I'm going to try and be there as much as possible too." Konohamaru says, placing his hand over your other hand.

Naruto looks between the two and smiles.

"I think that's a great idea having both of you follow, Hana."

You close your eyes envisioning the tension on your travels... this is going to be hell...literal hell....

"Right." You reply, very unimpressed.

At this point you are dying to get your mind off all of this and try to relax. Your stomach has not been happy with you today. You are also dying for a large glass of wine to drown your nerves and decide that it is time to get out between the testosterone building on both sides of you before something happens. You stand releasing yourself from their grasps and push your chair in.

"Well I have a ton of drinking to do before that call comes in. I should get going..."

Naruto scoffs at you.

"Drinking? Should you be training?"

And you shut him up there with no sugar coating this time as you have literally had enough of today.

"Look Naruto, I have had enough of your...."

...That is until Kakashi quickly slaps another hand over your mouth before you can lay into him.

You growl into Kakashi's hand while he replies for you.

"What Hana was going to say is. You are right Naruto, I will head straight home and start planning my next training session."

He looks directly at you with a firm expression countering your furious glare. You are about ready to bite his hand off, then he winks at you and smiles slyly. He releases your mouth and waits for Naruto to respond, while you figure out what that smile means.

"Great! Keep me posted on the progress. And if you need help send me a text." Naruto replies, throwing down a wad of cash and everyone else stands getting ready to leave.

You blow out a short breath of frustration and pick up your bag. Konohamaru comes to your side and places a hand on your lower back leaning in far too close to your face.

"What are you doing later?" He asks.

"I umm......" you look at Kakashi who is watching you two closely. Konohamaru glances at him.

"She's training with me, Kono." Kakashi says in monotone.

"Seriously? I don't think Naruto meant getting back into it today. She's gone through enough don't you think?" He hisses.

"Our hokage would like her to continue her practices." Kakashi argues and waves a hand over Naruto.

Naruto scratches the back of his head.

"I guess taking the day off to recover is the better idea." He replies, agreeing with Konohamaru.

"See?"

Kakashi looks at you defeated and shrugs. At this point everyone has their focus on you waiting for a reply. Each shinobi are situated on either side of you making it impossible for you to leave without answering unless you climb over the damn table..... so be it.

Instead of answering you hop up onto the table and casually make your exit through the gauntlet of disapproval. You tiptoe between the dishes and cutlery then step off the table gracefully by-passing all of them. They protest your actions the entire time, except for Kakashi who is smiling wide and chuckling to himself . Then you finger them all before heading out the door.

Faintly you hear Konohamaru still battling it out with Kakashi.

"You're always such a fucking cock block Kakashi!"

"Is that so?... Well I'd like to keep it that way! She doesn't need anymore distractions" He replies back in that calm and cool voice he always has.

"I have helped her far more than you have! You're always hanging around, getting in the way...why can't you just..."

Too tired to even care about what they're saying anymore you shut the door to the restaurant behind you and get the hell out of there fast. Your destination is straight to your home with no stops as you have a lot of thinking to do...or drinking...you're not entirely sure which will come first.

You still hope Kakashi will stop by later for some fun, you could really use some love tonight...

————————————-

Four hours later you find yourself leaned over your kitchen island, flipping through pages of your Theory on Chakra Balance text book like a good girl, trying to find the section that explains the process at the vibrational level.

You had originally planned to down half a bottle of wine and sit on your roof top playing your guitar into the evening, but your anxiety has gotten the better of you as Shiro and S class missions continuously take over your thoughts.

You hum to yourself listening to pop goes rock in your head phones and finally find the chapter you are looking for.

Chakra energy and vibration:

The world around us is interpreted by physical solidarity. But, as we look closer, we find every molecule and atom that make up the universe are vibrating faster than the eye can see. These vibrations hold a large source of energy and can be tapped into with practice and focus.

The vibrational current through our physical forms must match the vibrational current of the chakra for success in jutsu. Some types of jutsu require an absolute vibrational match, which is not easy to obtain. That is why we practice....

Then a text from Kakashi comes in distracting you from your studies.

Hey 🐱, I am caught up in a meeting for another two hours at least. We need to talk about some things...

You reply a little worried.

😕 So...I guess we won't be having any fun while you're here....

Not so fast...Don't think I have forgotten about your little performance earlier....

You smile deviously and snicker out loud, remembering how much torment you have caused him.

You reply simply with only an emoji.

😜

He replies.

😑

😂

You're bad... He states.

Bad to the bone, Kakashi Hatake.

You're worse than me sometimes. Keep my side of the bed warm, I'll be coming over to correct that bad behavior soon...😛

Oh goodie! 🤩

And he leaves you all over excited, wiggling in your seat. You can't wait for your ninja to come over and play. It sparks enough excitement in you to dress up a little. He enjoyed it so much last time it would be rude if you didn't. Off to your bedroom you go.

Twenty minutes later you are dressed in a black lace up bralette, matching panties, thigh high socks, and cute cat ears you found while rummaging through the costume section of your closet. Yes you have a costume section as Halloween is one of your favorite times of the year. You thought cat ears would suit your ninja as that is what he keeps calling you all the time. Satisfied with that you throw on a silk robe and head downstairs for a snack.

You place your ingredients into your blender and turn it on whipping up a blueberry shake. Then something catches your attention. The sliding door to your living room is partially open letting in the cool evening breeze. Strange....you don't recall leaving it open, or going out onto your back porch at all.

Suddenly the hairs on the back of your neck stand on end, and a warning from your cohort instinct kicks in. Someone is in your house...

A shadow darts by....It stops in front the doorway leading up to your bedroom. In a fraction of a second you snatch a knife from your knife block and throw it at the shadow. By now you have named the shadow as your brother. It is no wonder your senses were going crazy. He steps aside dodging the blade easily, it stabs into the wall beside him and he moves forward revealing himself, his long white cloak fluttering in the breeze.

"Neko." He says and removes the hood covering his face.

He watches you cautiously waiting for your next move. Before he can think about it your attack, you are grabbing another knife from the block in the process. He moves forward as you leap over your kitchen island crashing into him taking a wide stab at his chest.

He pushes your weapon to the side and grabs your arm, using your momentum he pulls you forward spinning you around slamming your back hard into the wall, leaving a crack from the floor to the ceiling. Your landlord is going to be pissed about this.

You regain yourself gasping for air from having the wind knocked out of you. He backs up releasing your arm and raises his fists ready for another attack. You charge your stone in a fury of hatred, abandonment, and betrayal. You come at him not holding back, still gripping the knife you slice at him with epic speed.

Left, right, left...he dodges everything but not without taking the power filled punches and kicks you back your stabs with. He defends himself against you while you tear up your home using your bodies to smash anything that stands in your way.

He dodges yet another stab and with a powerful stone charged kick to the stomach, he sends you flying right through the wall of your living room and into the empty storage room you were planning on turning into a gym.

It has been a long time since you have felt strength and speed like this in a fight. The only one you can compare your brother to would be, Kakashi and possibly Naruto. You are not prepared for this fight.

You skid to a stop on the laminate floor and round your legs leaping onto your feet at the same time. Your body throbs with pain from several broken ribs and a possible fractured collar bone. However, he gives you no time to react to his next move as stone charged objects rise into the air. He pulls a substantial amount of energy and slams you back, tackling you to the ground knocking the air from your lungs again. You lose your knife in the process and take a heavy hit to the chest which harbors your brightly glowing stone.

It is a grappling battle now and he has definitely refined his skills over the years. You flip over and over on top of each other trying to gain the upper hand. He hooks onto your leg while twisting your wrist. You I gasp out in pain letting go of your own grip on him and easing up your weight giving him the advantage. He throws you to the ground cracking your head on the floor. You lie there seeing stars, and not the good kind, as the room spins around you.

"Neko stop!" He shouts at you. But that only fuels your rage, snapping you out of your daze.

You grunt up at him fighting against the weight of his body.

"Would you just give up and die already!" You snap back.

He bursts out laughing, easing up on you. That gives you enough strength to charge your stone and flip him over onto his back, in the process your hand taps against the knife you had lost and you snatch it up in your grasp. You quickly position yourself on top of him losing your robe in the process and hold the knife to his throat placing him in check mate.

"Don't fucking move Shiro!" You press the knife against his throat.

Panting he drags wide eyes over your body.

"Gods...Neko..." He whispers under his breath.

You curse back at him and in your wild rage, your stone glowing dangerously, you raise the knife above your head. Your cohort is begging for a kill, and you almost follow through with it. That is until he speaks to you in your language and says something so hurtful it makes you want to tear the entire world apart.

"Neko....I'm sorry." He says and closes his eyes, waiting for you to finish him off.

You scream through your teeth at him and slam the knife down. But you miss the target terribly. That knife buries itself into the fleshy part of his shoulder just below anything fatal.

He cries out in pain and his eyes snap open glancing at the knife. He breathes heavily as you both sit staring at each other. He looks pain stricken and scared right now. Yet his eyes hold a longing for you, as if he has been dying to catch your attention for some time. Then all at once he pushes your arm away from the knife and rises up to embrace you desperately before you can knock him unconscious. He envelopes you in thick muscular arms burying his face into the crook of your neck, pressing one hand against the back of your head deepening the connection between you.

You sit frozen unable to move. Unsure of what to do. It has been years since you have felt his arms around you. It has been years since you have been this close to him... This is too much...it is all too much...

Beaten, you slump into him releasing your rage, softening the burn of your stone as thousands of memories spill into your mind. A tidal wave of mixed emotions washes over you. It was then the tears really came. Uncontrollable sobbing and crying out. You both missed him and hated him so much all you can do is cry.

He shushes you, sweeping his hand down your back, fingers entangled into the strands of your hair.

Through sobs you yell at him.

"You fucking asshole!"

You push him away and he falls back on his elbows.

"I'm sorry Neko, I..."

"I hate you...I hate you so much..." You say quietly through puffs of breath and lower your eyes to his chest replaying all of the torment he has put you through.

"I know..." He replies shamefully.

At that your anger returns with a vengeance, and you slam your fists into his chest.

"You turned on me, like I was nothing!. And you...you just left me!....I needed you!...you said you would never leave me! You said we would be together forever! You were all I had left!"

He catches your fists in his hands and looks into your eyes.

"I know...I'm sorry..."

Does he think he can just walk in here, apologize and everything will be ok?

"Would you just shut up! You think an apology is going to fix anything?"

He continues to search your eyes.

"No."

You huff at him giving up on your anger.

"You're just....the worst..."

He blows out a breath.

"Yeah..I know...But Neko."

"It's Hana! Call me Hana damnit!"

He shakes his head.

"I can't do that. You are Neko to me and always will be."

You glare at him.

"Neko, I...fuck...I really need you to put some clothes on."

You blink at him very confused with that comment, and look down at your attire, the way you're sitting on him and how bad this looks. Your face turns a shade of red you can feel and you scold your brother for being such a creep.

"Shiro! You're my brother for god sake!" You snap and peel yourself off him to go fetch your robe.

He lies back down sighing hard, looking up at the ceiling.

"I am still a man, you know. And I haven't been your brother for a very long time! We're not even blood related, remember?" He protests.

Which you have to agree slightly. When you first saw him in the courtroom you admit his looks shocked you in many ways.

"Still!" You snap and put your robe on looking down at him. He doesn't hesitate to grab one more glance at your body before you close it up.

"Stop it!" You scold.

"Ok, ok!. What the hell are you doing wearing that outfit anyways?"

And you choke, unable to tell him the exact reason why.

"Well, ummm..." You whip up a quick excuse. Placing your hands on your hips you reply with a large amount of tone.

"If you must know. My boyfriend is on his way over."

He rises to his feet, pulling the knife from his shoulder.

"Fuck...you didn't have to stab me!"

"Oh Stop whining...you completely deserved that."

He glances up at you and grins.

"Still got that fucking mouth on you Huh?."

"It's my best weapon, Shiro! Why would I give it up?."

"Ain't that the truth. So...that old guy is gonna to be here soon?"

Your eyes widen. Is your relationship with Kakashi that obvious?

"Wh...what do you mean old guy?" You ask, trying to play it off like you have no idea what he is talking about.

"Kakashi Hatake. Isn't he in his fifties or something?"

Well doesn't that remark set you off.

"He is not even close to Fifty! And he's not my boyfriend!"

"Oh he most definitely is. It's very obvious." He argues.

You can feel your cheeks heating up again making it even more obvious. Shiro raises his brows.

You growl at your secret revealed.

"So what if he is?" You reply defeated.

He tsks.

"Shouldn't you be chasing guys your own age?"

You roll your eyes and reply, embarrassing him further.

"You mean guys like you?"

His own cheeks turn pink at that remark and he shrugs it off shaking his head.

"You're such a loud mouth."

And things get quiet from there. Both of you are unsure what to say after that as neither of you want to even cross that boundary... Or at least you don't.

"What are you doing here anyways?" You ask, changing the subject.

"I needed to talk to you. To explain everything." He replies more sincerely this time.

Then your phone begins to ring, startling you both. You recognize the ringtone as Kakashi's and begin to panic.

"Shit...That's Kakashi, he's on his way here, you need to leave or you and my house will be in a worse state than this!." You start to shove him towards the door.

He turns towards you placing his hands on your shoulders and looks you deep in the eyes.

"We really need to talk...Can I see you again?!"

You hesitate to give him the answer he wants. But give into his desperation instead, not able to say no. You are way too soft these days...

"Maybe... I don't know yet...I still want to stab you a few more times...then maybe we can talk...."

And finally a genuine smile enters the room. One you didn't know you missed so much.

He bows to you, hands pressed into prayer.

"Thank you."

"Oh Fuck off! It's not going to be a nice conversation. You have a shit ton of explaining to do, you're definitely not off the hook! Damnit...This is really messed up, Shiro!" You reply and continue to shove him out your balcony door.

"I know. I know...I am just happy you're giving me any of your time, even if half of that time is stabbing me."

You pause and look at him confused.

"Six years ago you wanted to see my head on a post, as you said it, and now you're just happy to be in my presence? How messed up is that? Did you smack your head on something?"

He shakes his head.

"No...uhhh...well sort of. Father...I mean Temujin, took over my mind for a long time. I lost myself years ago and finally found my way back. All it took was...well... you"

You scowl at him.

"You're being creepy again!"

He rolls his eyes.

"Would you get your mind out of the trash can? I'm being serious here!"

You hold yourself feeling weird all of a sudden and another call comes in on your phone. You hum nervously, glancing back at it.

"I'll get going. I don't want to cause anymore problems right now. But I will be seeing you again soon. We have a lot to discuss." He says and makes his way outside.

"Fine!. You owe me some cash for the mess you made in my house anyways."

He turns back towards you smiling.

"I'll buy you whatever you want. See you soon, Neko." And salutes you.

You shake your head and watch him leave, still hating him for all he has done despite what has just told you. Tears swell in your eyes as he slips away into the night and the minute the sliding door shuts you fall to your knees in pain and confusion. What in the hell just happened?....