MID LIFE CRISIS- Kakashi x OC by Mysteria Pearl

Hey, hey, hey! It's MP again! You know the old guy in his eighties down the street that bought a motorcycle? Remember that older lady who bough a red sports car for she and her cat? Know that old fuddy-duddy who suddenly became well. . . Ripped? These things are all synonymous to mid life crisis. What happens when Kakashi begins to think that he truly is getting old? Not that his team is helping. Can he handle a fairly high-awkwardness and stress mission? He better, or a former female Anbu may never speak again. . . Kakashi x OC

Read on and please review when you're finished!

0o 0o 0o 0o 0o 0o 0o 0o 0o 0o 0o 0o 0o 0o 0o 0o 0o 0o 0o 0o

It all started when the Lady Tsunade called Kakashi into her office. The blonde woman had told him that she wanted him to do "a simple task" for her.

'Simple task, my mask.' Kakashi thought as he looked up at the gate outside of the hospital.

"You mission is very important." Tsunade had said. Kakashi raised an eye from his "Icha Icha" book to the front door. A med-nin with a clipboard came out the door bringing a limping girl with her.

"There is an Anbu Black Op returning to the village." Kakashi watched the girl smile timidly at the nurse as she turned back to the building and waved to someone in a higher floor's window.

"In the past she has proved to be one of our best Anbu and it hurts us to let her go," The girl turned back to the nurse and followed her farther down the walk.

"But just recently, she has been mortally wounded and can no longer be a regular operative." Kakashi had inquired why he was needed.

"You were an Anbu, but you retired out of it at good age. This girl, however. . . " the Hokage had trailed off,

"This girl's life was completely committed to being an Anbu. But on her last mission, she was captured and brutalized. When her teammates had found her, she was almost unidentifiable. Her career as an Anbu has been cut short at barely twenty-three. Kakashi," Kakashi had looked up at Hokage's stern face

"She has been in the hospital for over a year now, and they've finally decided to release her. The only problem is, the ward fears that she could be. . ."

Kakashi watched as the girl stopped to pick a stray flower with great difficulty from the edge of the walk.

"They believe that she is. . . Worse then expected. Not only was she physically brutalized, but they believe that she was also mentally tortured. But, these are only speculations since. . ."

Kakashi bowed as the nurse greeted him and bowed again to the girl. The girl struggled to bow as best she could and the nurse handed Kakashi the clipboard and instructed him to follow the directions in making sure the patient was alright. The nurse bowed to the girl and hurried back inside. The girl watched the nurse and then took a moment to gaze up at the building.

"Since she hasn't spoken since her team dissapeared and we found her."

Kakashi read over the clipboard,

"So you're. . . Cherry Kawaii." Strange name for a Kouinichi to have here in Konoha, but whatever. The girl nodded and her long pigtails bounced up and down. Kakashi scratched his head one way conversations are hard he thought,

"I'm Kakashi Hatake. I'll be taking care of you for awhile." The girl nodded again.

"I'm going to take you back with me to meet my team. Sound good?" Cherry nodded again and Kakashi sighed to himself. He had a feeling he was biting off more than he could chew with this mission.

Naruto looked around excitedly,

"Man! This place is AWESOME!" He shouted louder than necessary as he jumped from one thing to another. Somehow, Kakashi had convinced Tsunade to give him a larger apartment that Kakashi now called the "Team base" although none of the three Chunin had ever seen inside it.

Sakura sat down on the floor. It seemed that Kakashi wasn't exactly the interior designer type. She looked around the bare apartment. The only furniture that was in there was the same as his old apartment, hence the emptiness. Against one wall was a locked bookcase that was filled with, wouldn't you guess, Icha Icha books. She could see his bed through another open door. The kitchenette was bare too, Naruto had found as he opened the fridge. All that was in there were water and some rice.

Sasuke brooded (as usual) out on the balcony and everything was pretty much quiet. . .except Naruto shouting how great something was every few seconds. He zoomed about the spacious apartment, arms and legs flailing as Sasuke and Sakura ignored him.

Suddenly, the front door opened and Kakashi walked in, followed by a timid redhead.

Naruto skidded to a stop and everything was silent as Naruto's eyes grew larger and larger by the second.

"OH MY GOSH, MASTER KAKASHI! YOU FINALLY GOT A GIRLFRIEND!" With hyper speed, Naruto leaped over to her and circled her.

"N-Naruto--" Kakashi began, putting his finger up in the air in protest,

"I MEAN, LIKE YOU'VE BEEN SINGLE FOR, LIKE, EVER!"

"Naruto-- she's not--" Kakashi was cut off again, left with his finger in the air and a vein beginning to show on the tiny bit of space on his face that wasn't covered. Naruto ran around them in circles, arms and legs flailing about again as he shouted,

"SHE'S SO CUTE! I'M SO PROUD, KAKSHI SENSEI!!!" he paused to give Kakashi a 'thumbs up'

"You sly dog, Kakashi! You got a pretty--"

"NARUTO!" Kakashi shouted, completely fuming. Naruto froze and Sakura and Sasuke even stared wide-eyed. Kakashi had never shouted before, and even his visible bedroom eye showed white around the gray iris. Kakashi stood there for a moment, actually steaming before he continued in a forced tone,

"Naruto," he said with clenched teeth,

"This is Kawaii-chan. Tsunade ordered me to look after her for a little while. Kapeesh?" Naruto nodded his head vigorously and Sasuke and Sakura came up behind him.

"Now, Apologize." Naruto bowed,

"Sorry, Lady." Cherry smiled and bowed back. Kakashi turned to Sasuke and Sakura,

"Kawaii-chan, the is Sakura Haruno and Sasuke Uchia" Sasuke grunted in acknowledgement as he bowed. Cherry struggled to bow in return

"Nice to meet you," Sakura said as she bowed. Once again, Cherry made a quick, shaking bow.

"And this" Kakashi said, motioning to Naruto,

"Is the reason for the bags under my eyes, Naruto Uzumaki." Naruto raised a peace sign,

"Yo, Lady." Kakashi's brows furrowed,

"Her name's not, 'Lady,' Naruto, now show some respect." Naruto laughed embarrassedly,

"Sorry, Kawaii-chan. Say, so what does Master Kakashi have to watch you for? And where are you from? And what are you--mmph!" Kakashi covered Naruto's large mouth with his gloved hand and smiled (for all anyone could tell) at the girl,

"My apologies, Kawaii-chan. May I have word with my team?" Cherry nodded and ventured out to the balcony, closing the sliding door behind her.

Kakashi turned his team,

"That was uncalled for, Naruto," Kakashi said, crossing his arms.

"What?!" Naruto squeaked,

"I was just making pleasant conversation, Kakashi! Geeze, EVERYTHING I do is wrong! How Come I always get scolded while Sasuke was even ruder to her than--"

"That's enough, Naruto." Kakashi said sternly. He leaned back up against a white wall,

"That girl is unstable physically and probably mentally. It's our job to make sure that she stays safe and comfortable while she's adjusting to regular life."

Sakura raised her hand,

"What is she adjusting from, Master Kakashi?" Kakashi sighed,

"She was beaten badly by an enemy on an Anbu mission. From what I read of her statistics, it's hard for her to even stand for long at this point. My job, for the time being is to help rehabilitate her. She's been an Anbu since she was younger than you, so it's not going to be easy to get her to fit in. Sakura," he said as he turned to the pink haired Kouinichi,

"Can I trust you to take care of all of her personal and female needs?" Sakura smiled,

"Yes, Master Kakashi."

Kakashi turned to Sasuke and Naruto,

"You two need to help me make her more comfortable around different kinds of people. Sasuke, try and be at least a little nice," Sasuke grunted.

"And Naruto-- Just keep being Naruto, but try and be less. . . Intimidating." Naruto grinned,

"You got it, Master Kakashi!"

Kakashi stuck his hands in his pockets,

"Can I trust you three to do one more thing for me?" He asked seriously. Sasuke, Naruto and Sakura listened intently and expectantly as Kakashi paused.

"Can you get some groceries, I'm totally out and it's rude to serve a guest water and rice." He said happily, completely shattering the mood. Sakura, Sasuke and Naruto all face faulted. Sakura laughed,

"Sure, Kakashi-sensei. Anything in particular?" she asked. Kakashi thought for a moment,

"Well, whatever normal people eat, I guess." Sakura's face fell. Kakashi couldn't make it any more obvious that he was a bachelor.

"Okay, Kakashi-sensei C'mon, guys," she said as she dragged Naruto and motioned for Sasuke to follow her out the door,

"We'll be back in. . . mmm. . . About two or three hours, okay?" Sakura called as she shoved Naruto out of the apartment.

"Alright. Thanks again, Sakura." Kakashi said as he raised his hand good-bye.

Kakashi turned to the balcony. He could see the redhead through the windows. He did a double take when he realized that birds surrounded her on all sides. On the rail, on her head, her arms, her fingers, her shoulders, birds were perched everywhere around her. Kakashi opened the sliding door, ever so slowly, terrified that the birds would see his hair with a "rooms for rent" sign sticking out.

"Kawaii-chan?" The girl turn and the birds scattered everywhere. Kakashi sighed with great relief as the birds flew off into the trees of Konoha.

"Would you like to go for a short walk?" Kakashi asked. Cherry smiled and nodded. And Kakashi led her down to the street.

It was mid evening and the air was crisp and cool. The sky was striped with pink and purple and birds' songs filled the fresh air. They walked along in silence for a while. Kakashi noticed that while she was limping, she somehow managed to keep pace with him.

"It's really beautiful out here." Cherry nodded. Kakashi sighed as he dug his hands in his pockets and stopped next to a large black stone. She stood beside him. Kakashi ran his gloved hand through his hair,

"Kawaii-chan, I just wanted to let you know that you can trust me." He motioned to the large black rock,

"I was an Anbu, too. I've seen many bad things. I know that you probably don't want to hear of it. . . But. . ." he trailed off. He noticed that Cherry stared at her feet rather sadly,

"There's really no way around it. . ." Kakashi said as he patted the rock,

"I've seen some of my closest friends die. You probably have, too. But the thing is. . ." He trailed off as he watched the lady's shoulders began to shake as her breath became shaky. Kakashi gently lifted her chin with his forefinger. He looked closely at her face for the first time. Big red-brown eyes surrounded by long eyelashes threatened to drop tears at any moment. Cherry's red lips quivered. Her pale white skin was swiveled and swirled with scars. The scars ran up and down, side to side. The thin pink lines were pure reminders of whatever had happened.

"No matter how much people tell you to forget what happened on the battleground. . . It stays with you. . ." Cherry raised her hands to her face as the tears kept coming,

"And it feels like it will never leave you. . . But. . . You need to find something to fill that hole in your heart. . . And. . ." he rested a gloved hand on her shoulder,

". . . I'm sorry, but that's the only advice I can give you. I don't know what exactly happened, or what you've been through, but just remember, you have a friend."

Suddenly, Kakashi found two arms wrapped snugly around his torso. Cherry silently wept into his green vest. Kakashi froze as the girl shook against his chest. Ever so gently, he raised his arms and lightly wrapped them around her, light enough not to hurt her and just loose enough that she could pull away if she wanted,

"I'm going to be here for you, come what will." Kakashi said as he gently ran a hand through one of her long pigtails.

"Shall we head back to Team 7's Headquarters?" Kakashi asked after Cherry had quieted and her tears had stopped. Cherry slowly pulled away and Kakashi took her hand,

"Come on. I'll be with you all the way." Cherry nodded and smiled the biggest smile she could muster as Kakashi led them back home.

0o 0o 0o 0o 0o 0o 0o 0o 0o 0o 0o0o 0o 0o 0o 0o 0o 0o 0o 0o 0o

Thank you so very much for reading! I hope you've enjoyed it so far. You may be wondering what this has to do with a mid-life crisis, but you'll understand when you read the next chapter. This is my first story that I'm not posting in one-shot form, so please bear with me. But don't worry, it's not going to be one of those incredibly long stories that are full of nonsense that isn't needed. I feel it's important to get down to the point quickly so that readers don't get bored and go do something else instead. Well, I hope you liked it!

Hope to hear from you soon. (In other words PLEASE REVIEW!!!)

Mysteria Pearl