Maya - a Naruto Fanfic

74. All Crying Gives You Is A Headache

I cry until Kakashi's shoulder is cold and wet from my years, and streaked with snot. My eyes are puffy and my face is hot and my head is sore, but Kakashi is still petting my hair, not saying a word.

"I thought I was just a nuisance to you," I whisper, shifting only so my eyes are pressed against the top of his shoulder, away from the wet spot I made.

"Only in the beginning." I feel the tears threaten again, but I swallow them down and take deep breaths. My fingers ache when I untangle them from his shirt, but I don't pull away yet, just press my fingertips lightly against his chest as I breathe.

"You..." Kakashi starts. He sighs heavily and presses what feels like his forehead hard against the top of my head.

"You're not... I'm not going to leave you alone. Not again. I promise. As long as you're here, I'm going to protect you. So don't worry, okay?" His eye crinkles in a smile. I sniff pathetically and nod, a little sullen still, and groggy from all the tears.

"Tea's gone cold," I mutter, but he stops me as I go to get up.

"I'll make more. You need to clean your face." He moves the kitchen roll over to me.

"Where on my face?" I ask as I start tearing away sheets of kitchen roll.

"Everywhere." His finger spins in a little circle to emphasise his point.

"Seriously?" I jerk forwards to check my reflection in the window, and sure enough there's a massive trail of snot running right down the bottom of my face. Eugh.

"Oh gross, why did you let me cry like that?" I scrub hard at my chin and mouth, but there's sticky tear tracks all down my neck as well and under my collar and how did my forehead get covered in gunk?

"Don't ask me, my shirt's disgusting," Kakashi says as he swings the kettle back onto the hob and turns the gas on.

"Hey, I can say that, but you can't."

"That seems unfair. You missed a spot." He grabs a fresh piece of kitchen roll and scrubs at a spot on my cheek.

"Get off—ow!—I can do it myself—" I try to bat his hands away but he's persistent, and it takes ducking off my chair to get away.

"There. Got it." He looks smug. It's insufferable.

"Thanks," I grumble.

"You didn't actually have anything on your face," he admits as he takes two fresh cups out from the cupboard and dumps the tea into them.

"Yeah, I figured. It was to cheer me up, right? So, thanks."

"You give me too much credit." The kettle starts to scream and shiver, and he takes it off the heat, pauses, and fills the cups.

"Tell me about it, Naruto and Sakura think I'm completely insane. I keep telling them you're actually pretty competent but they don't believe me," I accept the cup he offers me and breathe in the scented steam.

"Just competent?" His eye crinkles in what might be a smile.

"Well if I called you professional I'd just be straight up lying to them."

"You've got a little—"

"Don't you dare!" I know he's smiling now, can see it under the mask. It's gotten easier to tell, which I suppose is a good thing, but there's a part of me that wishes it hadn't. Now I know how little he smiles.

"You're a good kid, Maya." Kakashi stops trying to grab my cheeks and instead drops a hand onto my hair.

"Why're you being sentimental? Stop it." He's still smiling as he strokes his thumb over my hair. Despite the smile, there's something sad in his eye, something distant.

"You... you should go see Sakura. Naruto, too. I know they've missed you." It feels like he's saying something else, or trying to. I don't know what, but it feels important.

"Okay." I nod, and he takes his hand away and takes a sip of his tea.

"Good girl."

A/N: just a short chapter this time, then I promise Maya will be happy again.

Ta-ta~