"You're very stubborn, Kakashi." 

"Hehe... I heard you the first time, Haru."

"Lady Tsunade specifically told you that you need to rest for at least a week."

"You're Naruto's mother, not mine."

"I can easily restrain you to this bed, you know?"

"I'd like to see you try."

"Oh, you'd love that, wouldn't you?"

I had been taking care of Kakashi for three days now, and I just walked in on him as he trying to walk around. Of course I was disappointed in him, and obviously not amused with the excuse he gave me, which was, "I thought I saw a bug on the wall and I wanted to get rid of it."

I got him back into bed and I started feeding him his food. "You're lucky it wasn't Tsunade who walked in on you." I said. "But Harrrruuuu..." He whined, dramatically. "I'm feeling better."

"I'll believe it once it's been a week," I chuckled and fed him an apple slice. "Oh, yeah. I heard there's been a new member added to Team Kakashi. Is that true?"

"Uh-huh. His name is Sai. Before, he was an Anbu from Root." Kakashi answered, once he was able to talk again. "Root? Isn't that controlled by Danzo?" I asked. 

"Yes."

"Hmm..."

"What's the matter?"

"Oh, nothing."

'Except for the fact that there's something off about that man.' I thought. "Hey, do you know who will be your temporary replacement?" I asked. "A jonin named Yamato." Kakashi answered. "Yamato?" I repeated. "I'm assuming you already ran into him." He said. 

"Yes. I accidentally punched him when he tried intimidating me with that fear face of his." I said. "You punched him in the face?" Kakashi repeated. "I said, it was an accident." I mumbled, embarrassed. "How do you "accidently" punch him?" Kakashi asked.

"In my defense, he shouldn't have scared me." I stated, making Kakashi chuckle. "Well, on the bright side, he'll think twice about intimidating you." He said, laughing a bit. I laughed with him. "Haru, are you all right?" Kakashi asked. 

"Huh? Of course I am. Why do you ask?"

"You've seem troubled lately."

"Troubled? That's crazy talk."

"Haru, talk to me. What's wrong?"

I sighed and decided to come clean. "Three years ago, Setzoku came to me and told me I had until Naruto turned sixteen to complete my assignment. I'm worried now because Naruto's sixteen now and I'm not sure if I failed or not." I explained as I looked down at my lap. 

Kakashi placed his hand over mine, making me look at him. "You're still here, so that must mean you still have time." He reassured me. I smiled and placed my hand over his.

"Thank you, Kakashi," I kissed his cheek, then stood up. "I should leave you to rest. You still have four more days of resting to do." 

"Aww, but I still haven't had my full alone time with you." Kakashi whined. I gasped when Kakashi grabbed my waist and pulled me next down so I was laying by his side.

"Come on, Kakashi. You need to rest. Tsunade's orders. And you haven't finished eating. You need to regain your strength." I reminded him. "I'll rest as long as you're with me." Kakashi said. I blushed when he  nuzzled my neck.

"Stop it, Kakashi. Someone might walk in and see us." I said. I covered my mouth and moaned when Kakashi licked my neck. 

"Kakashi, we can't right now. What if someone walks in and sees us?" I asked, nervously. "Then, I'll make up an excuse." Kakashi said before kissing me. I kissed him back for a moment before prying him off me, then sat up.

"I'll tell you what. When the week is over, I'm all yours. You think you can hold off for four more days?" I said. "Your wish is my command." Kakashi obliged. I smiled at him, then kissed his cheek. 

After I finished feeding Kakashi, I took a walk around the village until I ended up in the woods. I glanced back when I heard growling behind me. 'Strange. I don't remember wild animals being in this area.' I thought. 

I felt the wild animal pounce at me from behind, so I spun around and stabbed it in the heart with a kunai knife. But I didn't expect the animal to explode. Some dark liquid landed on my cheek as it exploded. 

I straightened myself up, touched my cheek, then looked down at my palm to examine the liquid. "This isn't blood. It's... ink?" I said. That wasn't a real animal, it was a drawing.

I looked through the trees, trying to locate whoever tried to attack me until my eyes landed on a figure standing on a branch. When I spotted them, I threw a kunai knife at them. As expected, he blocked my attack with his small sword. 

The moment he let his guard down, I leaped towards him and tackled him off the branch. We hit the ground with a small thud while I straddled his waist with a knife held against his neck. His blade was just inches from his hand, so I kicked it away in case he got any funny ideas. 

"There's two things you did wrong, young man. The first one being you attacked me, and the second is letting your guard down. But you did that on purpose. Why?" I asked. He didn't answer as he stared at me. 

"Is it true your name is Haru no Hana?" He asked after a moment of silence. "I'll answer your questions as soon as you answer mine." I stated. "Your Naruto's mother, right?" He asked.

"Perhaps you didn't hear me. I said, I'll answer your questions as soon as you answer mine." I repeated. He gave me a fake smile before putting his hands by his head in a 'I surrender' position. "You've got me." He said. 

I sweat dropped. 'Is he ever gonna tell me to why he let his guard down on purpose?' I thought. "Wait a moment, you're..." I leaned towards him a little, getting a closer look at his face. "Sai from Root, huh? Of course. I should've recognized you sooner." I said. 

I put my kunai knife away and got off Sai. I held out my hand to him, offering to help him up, in which he grabbed it and I pulled him to his feet. "I heard you attacked my son three days ago. Is there a reason for that? Or were you just trying to test him?" I asked.

"You never answered my question from earlier." Sai said in an almost playful tone.

"That's because you keep changing the subject on me," I replied. "Then again, I don't think I'm getting anywhere with you. If you attack me again, I'll possibly kill you. Now if you'll excuse me, I must be going." 

I turned around and walked away. No doubt, Sai attacked me to test me, but why? And why did he purposely let his guard down? Eh, I'm sure he has his reasons.

"Naruto, I'm home!" I called as I took off my shoes. I smelled something burning, so I entered the kitchen. "Naruto?" I said as he stood near the stove. "Welcome home!" Naruto greeted. "What are you doing?" I asked. 

"Well... I was trying to cook dinner, but I think I did something wrong." Naruto said. I went over to him and saw that the stove was a complete mess. There was some burnt food all over the stove as smoke rose from it. "Oh, my." I said, quietly.

"I'm sorry, Mom." Naruto apologized, ashamed. "Hey, don't beat yourself up over it. It was your first time, so it wasn't a wasted effort. You did your best. Plus, practice makes perfect, right?" I said, trying to cheer him up. 

"Yeah, you're right." He replied with a smile, in which I smiled back. But his smile faded when he saw something on my face. "What happened to your cheek? There's something on it." He mentioned. "Hmm?" He touched my cheek, then looked down at his palm. 

"Oh, that's just ink from when I destroyed Sai's drawings." I explained. "He attacked you?!" Naruto yelled in anger. "I'm not hurt, Naruto." I informed. 

"What the hell does he get off just attacking you like that!"

"Naruto, calm down. I'm okay. I promise." I said, placing my hands on the sides of his face. The anger slowly melted off Naruto's face as he calmed down. "Next time he attacks you, I'm gonna teach him a lesson." He threatened.

"I appreciate your protectiveness, Naruto. It just proves how much you've matured." I said. I gave him a reassuring smile and Naruto smiled back, calmly.

After the mess was cleaned up, we ate dinner, washed the dishes, then went to bed.