Never say Never (Kakashi x OC)

Coming Home

"We should get you to the hospital. Your full recovery will take at least a week. This type of genjutsu is the evilest there is. I have heard about Tsukuyomi before, but I hoped I would never have to witness it myself." She said and started to think about Itachi again. Why the hell had he changed so much and what were his reasons for attacking the leaf? For all she knew, he loved his hometown just as much as she did. Kakashi looked at her from the side and saw her expression change to a worrisome and thoughtful look again. He didn't like her being unhappy and thus tried to distract her. She only had stopped crying a few minutes ago and he wanted it to stay that way.

"Your medical jutsu is excellent. Not many people would have been able to heal me that well in such a short time. Where did you learn that?" Kakashi asked.

"I was the apprentice of princess Tsunade" Hajita answered.

"That explains a lot" Kakashi nodded understandingly.

As they made their way to the hospital, Kakashi was still so weak he could not walk without support. One arm around Gai's shoulder, he tried to lean onto him as much as possible so there was not too much weight for Hajita to carry on his other side.

"So, why did you come back to Konoha? And why did you leave in the first place?" he asked her.

Gai interfered. "Oi, Kakashi! Give the lady some space! Don't question her like that. You usually aren't the type to make that much chit-chat. What is going with you? Did Itachi hurt your head that bad?"

Kakashi blushed. He hadn't even noticed that he was behaving strangely. But now that Gai had pointed it out, he had to admit he had a point. It almost seemed as if he was a different person when she was around. He shrugged it off and blamed it on the aftermath of his psychological injuries.

"No, no, it's fine." Hajita said and smiled. She wasn't used to people being so interested in her. Usually, she wasn't good at making friends since she was a shy and quiet person.

"I left because my father told me so. When the third shinobi world war broke out, my father feared for the life of his children. Since Naruto hadn't even been born yet and my mother refused to leave his side, he couldn't change much about their situation. But he decided to send me away from war and ordered Tsunade-sama to protect me and keep me as her apprentice." Hajita began to tell. Normally she wouldn't tell her story to strangers so easily, but something felt different in Kakashi's company. Hajita somehow wanted him to know her story. "The reason for my return is simple. The leaf is my home. This is where my family is. This is where my little brother Naruto is."

She's here for Naruto? Kakashi wondered. "You and Naruto don't look much alike. And as far as I can tell your personalities are also completely different" he said.

"Sounds like you know my little brother really well" Hajita replied.

"Well, as his teacher I better do, right?" Kakashi winked at her.

So he was my father's student and now is the teacher of his former sensei's son? How convenient. I bet he is a good teacher to Naruto, Hajita smiled to herself.

"Really? What is he like? How do I best approach him? Does he like sweets?" Hajita asked curiously.

She seems quite nervous about meeting Naruto, Kakashi mused and told her "Don't worry. Naruto is easy to befriend. And he loves food. There simply is no chance he won't like you, Hajita." That was the first time he had said her name. He saw her blush and felt himself blushing as well. What was going on with him? The impact of Itachi's attack must be greater than he had expected. He clearly needed a few days' rest.

"You really think so?" Hajita asked and Kakashi could hear the tone of doubt in her voice.

"Absolutely!" Gai boasted. By that point, both of them again had completely forgotten about him. "My fair lady, how about getting rid of this annoying part of our love triangle and I'll escort you to the third Hokage."

At that Hajita rolled her eyes and asked "Are you always this nice to one another?"

"Arch enemies since birth and rivals to the death." Gai proclaimed. Kakashi, who was too weak to get back at him, simply sighed. Hajita came to the conclusion that she never had met anyone so over-the-top theatrical.

In the meantime, they had walked through half the city and arrived in front of the hospital. Hajita had been so distracted by her company and their conversation that she hadn't even noticed how little the city had changed since she had left all those years ago. Very much to Gai's contempt, Hajita did not follow his suggestion to leave Kakashi at the hospital's doorsteps. On the contrary, she talked to all of his nurses and doctors about his injuries and made sure her patient was well cared for. Only then would she leave Kakashi's side not without promising him to come back the next day and have a look at his recovery.

He did not know whether it was the meds or simply his damaged brain, but the first night of his hospital stay, Kakashi had some confusing dreams in which the only reoccurring feature was a flash of bright red.