The line of ninja stretched for the length of 40-60 men... And Brook, who stood loyally next to Kakashi. Kakashi gave her a squeeze as Tsunade walked out in front of them with an older man.
"Hello." The man said, "I am the leader of the Land of Ice. And one of you lucky gentleman will become my beautiful daughter's husband." He looked at Tsunade.
She sighed and said dully, "Princess Aiyame Yokuchi."
A women walked out of the building, and Brook was immediately tense... Well, more tense. She was beautiful. Her hair was a very light blue, almost white. She had the body of a normal woman. Curvy, but not too curvy. Small, but not too short.
She stood next to her father and looked up at them with a malicious stare. Most the men took it as she was checking them out, Brook knew better. She was looking to hurt someone by taking their loves. Brook moved closer to Kakashi.
Aiyame, started at the west end of the line, picking out Genma, Sasuke, Neji, and a few others Brook new only by face. Aiyame made her way to them agonizingly slow.
When she did, Brook wished she hadn't come, although it most likely wouldn't have changed a thing.
Aiyame looked at Kakashi and smiled innocently enough. "What's your name, cutie?"
"Kakashi Hatake, Princess." He said mechanically, not looking at her.
"What's with the mask?" She asked cutely.
"Privacy." He said.
When Aiyame reached for the mask, she crossed a line she didn't know about. Brook's hand was holding her wrist before she was halfway there. Her fast was confused and looked like she had been denied access to something that was her's.
"Sorry, that's classified." Brook said sweetly.
Aiyame wrenched her hand away and motioned for Kakashi to step forward, which he did. Brook looked towards Tsunade when Aiyame had moved on. She was scowling at Brook. She motioned for Brook to come over to her.
"What?" Brook whined quietly.
Tsunade hit her in the forehead. "What was that all about?!"
"I couldn't let her see his face. I just couldn't." She shrugged and walked back to Kakashi, who placed his arm around her waist.
Aiyame picked three other ninja. Shikamaru, Kiba, and Naruto, in turn making Ino and Hinata pretty fumed.
She walked back to stand beside her father, then said, "If you aren't standing forward, you may leave." Brook looked around to notice they were already gone. She looked around to see where they were, but gave up when Aiyame started talking again.
"Okay. I'm going to follow you guys around for awhile and see what your like. You won't know when I'm watching you, so just go about your business. There will be a meeting here when I've decided." She walked back into the building with her father.
"Ladies, can I speak with you please?" Tsunade said. "Men, at ease, but don't move."
Ino, Hinata, and Brook walked up to Tsunade. Hinata looked scared, while Ino was obviously about to hit someone. Brook's face was carefully composed, but she wondered silently how many gaurds Aiyame had around her at night.
Tsunade sighed and looked at her ninja, who looked back at her solemnly. "I know that this is hard for you, girls. Losing any of my men will suck for me, but you losing them would kill. I do have to ask that none of you do anything to hurt Princess Aiyame. Understood?"
"Yes, Lady Hokage." They said in unison.
Tsunade looked past their heads to see that her men had moved to a small group together. "Dismissed." She walked into her house.
Ino and Hinata ran to their boyfriends' waiting arms, but Brook walked away from Kakashi, towards the brodge where Team 7 used to meet. Kakashi knew she wanted to be alone, so he followed in three minutes, giving her time to be alone.
Brook stared down at the small river that ran under the old bridge, mulling over a million things at once. What she would do if Kakashi was picked; How cold the floor was in her room. Things along those lines.
She was leaning on her arms, and she looked forward towards the setting sun. The sky was painted streaks of pink and red, purple and orange. She smiled, thinking of the first time Kakashi had said he loved her, one year previous, on this very bridge.
He had touched her face so lightly, told her he wanted no one else, then he had left. It had been the beginning of the war then, and Kakashi had been sent to the front lines. Brook had been asked to stay back and help strategize with Shikamaru and help at the hospital, with what basic medical skills she had.
When she felt his presence behind her, she looked back at the water. A wind blew from the north, blowing her hair across her face.
"It seemed like so long ago yesterday..." She said quietly, Kakashi standing behind her. "Now it seems like we haven't had any time." She closed her eyes against the beautiful picture that was being painted in front of her. She wasn't going to cry, she knew that as she opened her eyes and Kakashi put a gentle hand on her shoulder and tried to turn her around to no avail. She couldn't face him.
In all honesty, she wanted to yell, and hit something, and she didn't want that something to be him. She also knew she wanted it to be a year ago, and she wanted him to hold her in his arms and say that it was all a joke, that there wasn't a chance that he was going anywhere. That the war had been won, and everything was going back to normal. She knew he wouldn't, but that he wished the same.
She couldn't resist his touch. She turned around and looked at Kakashi, her sensei, the love of her life. He took a deep breath and she was surprised to hear that it was a little shaky.
He brushed her hair behind her ear, and she could see the smile under his mask touch his eyes. She smiled weakily back at him, not even trying to hide her despair.
"I adore you so much," Kakashi said, pulling her into his arms and resting his chin on her head. "I love you, Brooklyn Marie Storm."
"I love you, too," She grinned up at him, "But that's not fair."
He smiled. "Why not?"
She reached up for his mask. "I don't know your middle name." She pulled the mask down and kissed him there, in plain sight of anyone walking by, on this little bridge that held so many memories. Where he had said he wanted no one else, and she had mirrored the affection perfectly.
And as the first rain drops began to fall, Aiyame sat in the tree branch where she had perched herself and thought about how much she wanted something like that.
She had other men to watch, so she jumped down from the low branch and walked away from the perfect couple.
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Chapter notes: I don't own Naruto.
Chapter end notes: Reviews are quite nice, actually.