Chapter 9 Nostalgia

I arrived at my apartment as the sun was going down. I put the key in and turned to unlock the door. I opened the door where it was very dark, I couldn't see much. I made my way to a light switch to turn the main light on in the small living area. The light turned on and my eyes began to adjust. I realized nothing has been touched since I left! There was dust and dirt everywhere! It covered everything... the table, the couch, the counters, and even the few picture frames I had on the wall.

"There is no way I am going to be able to sleep with all this dust and dirt everywhere!"

I started to sneeze as I went through a cupboard to find a dust rag to start wiping and cleaning everything down. I got the rag and pulled my hair back in a high ponytail. I put a covering over my mouth and nose. I began to dust everything and then went to wipe down all the tables, chairs, counters, and cupboards. I was in the zone...working hard, I could feel sweat coming down my forehead. I was on my knees scrubbing the kitchen floor when suddenly, I heard a knock on my front door.

I sat back on my knees looking at the clock then back to the door.

"It's nine at night who could be at my door? I don't think anyone knew I was back except for Kakashi and Iruka…"

I stood up and put my face cloth down as I walked to the door. I dusted my lap off before opening the door to see who was there. I opened it and I was incredibly surprised and I felt my stomach drop.

"Hello Kakashi."

I saw him standing there with his hands in his pockets having a tough time making eye contact with me.

"Isamu."

I looked at him for a moment, since he was not saying anything I decided to speak up.

"What are you doing here so late?"

He shrugged a little as he looked up at me with concern in his eye.

"I wanted to come by and check in…see if you were settling all right."

I looked behind me as I wiped the sweat off my forehead.

"Well…to be honest 8 years of dust and dirt really put me to work."

He laughed as he gave me that closed-eye smile I missed. When we were kids, I barely saw him smile. Especially after Obito and Rin, I never saw any kind of smile or hint of happiness on his face. The site of him smiling at me made my cheeks flush and gave me butterflies in my stomach. It was so nice to see him, being grown up and all. He has changed so much but in a good way. He was tall, fit, and his silver hair laid against his tilted headband. He had a deeper voice which was still cold, but it had some warmth in it when he spoke to me just now. He grew up, and at this moment I realized how much I missed him.

"I'm sure…no attention for that long hard work is needed."

I smiled as I opened the door a little wider and put my hand on my hip. I gestured to the kitchen.

"Did you want to come in for a few minutes? Have a cup of tea?"

He looked at me with a wide eye in surprise as he did a small nod.

"Sure…that would be great."

I smiled holding the door open as he walked in. When he was fully in my apartment, I closed the door behind him and walked towards the kitchen. I pulled a teapot out and started to fill it with water. I was preparing the tea leaves and placed the teapot on the stove for it to start to warm up. I caught some side glances of Kakashi sitting at my kitchen table. He had his chin rested on one of his palms, his arm resting on the table watching me very closely. I caught him staring so I shot my focus back on the tea as my face got warm. The water started bloiling so I took it off and placed it on a placeholder in the middle of the kitchen table. I placed a cup in front of Kakashi and then in front of me as I sat down.

I sighed in relief, it felt nice to be off my feet for a moment. As I situated myself in my chair about to pour our tea, I saw Kakashi already doing it. He took the tea pot and filled my cup and then he filled his, putting the pot back down.

"Thank you, Kakashi."

He looked at me and smiled.

"You don't have to thank me; you made the tea the least I could do is pour it."

I took my cup and blew it a little to ensure it was not too hot to drink and right before I took a sip, I closed my eyes.

"I didn't mean you pouring the tea…"

I took a sip as I opened my eyes and locked them with Kakashi's. He was staring at me with his head tilted.

"Then why did you thank me?"

I set my cup down and I smiled looking down at my tea trying to think of the right thing to say.

"I meant…thank you for coming to see me. Being back home I didn't know who was still here from when we were kids. I feared being…well…alone again. You coming here to check in made me feel like I have someone here for me."

I was too scared to look up at him, I was scared to see his reaction. I was ready for him to say something like he would when we were kids. Something like, "You Idiot" or "You're so childish" or something like that. When I did not hear a comeback, I lifted my gaze to meet his. He was smiling, at least from what I could see since most of his face was covered. He was staring at me with a soft caring eye.

I looked down at his teacup trying to find something else to say to change the subject.

"You haven't touched your tea."

He looked down and laughed

"Oh…yes. Probably should drink it before it gets too cold."

I saw him lower his mask down as he put the teacup up to take a sip. I couldn't help myself, I started staring at him. It was so long since I had seen him without his mask. Seeing it now with him being older I realized, how handsome of a man he turned out to be. It gave me such bad butterflies, I felt the burning sensation in my throat and felt my face heat up. I started to drink the rest of my tea hopefully hiding my face so he wouldn't see. The way he giggled as he pulled his mask back up... he noticed. Oh great, I am being such a girl... why can't I just have a normal conversation and tea? I started looking around, my eye caught a picture of me and my old team hanging on the wall. A picture of Minato, Rin, Obito, Kakashi, and me. I smiled, I could feel tears welling up in my eyes. It made me think back to those days, when we were doing missions together, spending our days training together. Just always together, all the conversations and company we gave each other. It made me miss them, even more now that everything was starting to come back to me.

Kakashi looked up and followed my gaze to the picture. He stared at it for a moment too, the difference with him though was I didn't see any emotion on his face. It was a very deadpan look and it made me wonder.

"So, you are a Jonin leader to your team now? That is impressive."

He snapped back and looked at me smiling.

"Oh yes, my team... I have Naruto Uzumaki, Sauske Uchiha, and Sakura Haruno. They are an interesting bunch. I will be sure to introduce them to you tomorrow."

I giggled thinking about being Kakashi's peer, helping to lead his team. I won't lie I was kind of excited.

"Naruto Uzumaki huh? Is that Minato's son? Sauske Uchiha, from the Uchiha clan?"

Kakashi crossed his arms as he leaned back in his chair and nodded.

"Yup…you got it."

I smiled as I stood up and started to take the empty cups into the kitchen. I left the teacups in the sink to clean later. I turned around resting my lower back on the counter as I crossed my arms and smiled at him.

"I think this should be interesting, don't you?

He looked up with confusion.

"Hmm?"

"You know…being Senseis' together, working side by side again but this time we are teaching genin. I think it will be fun… interesting to say the least."

I laughed as a yawn came across and I put my hand up to my mouth to try to cover it. I looked at the clock, it was already 10pm. Oh man, where did the time go! If I don't go to bed soon, I will never be able to get up and present myself well. First impressions are always the most important.

Kakashi stood up, he took my yawn as a sign so he started walking towards the front door. I followed behind him as he opened the door. He walked out asI stood in the doorway.

"Thank you for letting me in and thank you for the tea. It was nice to talk again."

I nodded and smiled in agreeance.

"Yes, it was. Have a good night and see you tomorrow Sensei…"

I winked at him, his face went so red as he rubbed the back of his neck and gave an embarrassed smile.

I closed the door and locked it after he started walking away. I went to the table to pick up the teapot and place it in the sink. I looked around and after deciding I did a decent job of cleaning up, I went to my bedroom. I took my clothes off, got into my pjs, and laid on my futon. I covered myself with a blanket and got comfortable. I smiled as I closed my eyes and drifted off to sleep.