I wrote the entirety of this listening to "Impossible" by Shontelle and "By Now" by Mariana's Trench. I suggest listening to them either before or after reading this. Of course, during is fine too, but I can't read and listen to music with words at the same time. XD Does that make me weird? Oh well. Please enjoy!
Warning: Language, implied sexual content?
Disclaimer: I own nothing, and I get paid nothing.
~K~*~I~
Iruka was in shock. His ears were hearing the words Kakashi was saying, but his brain wasn't processing the information being given to him. All Iruka could focus on was watching Kakashi dress himself with a calm and methodical ease. Iruka's heart was breaking. Shattering. He closed his eyes, as if trying to erect a physical barrier between him and the other man in his bedroom.
"…So, that's all. I wanted to tell you all of this last night, I really did, but… we got sidetracked. I became distracted. This sounds really shitty coming from me after the fact, but it's how it happened. I'm sorry…'Ruka…" Kakashi trailed off as he finally looked directly at Iruka. Kakashi had just tied his hitai ate on, but he still hadn't lowered it over his sharingan.
Iruka looked down. He couldn't bear to meet Kakashi's gaze. "I…suppose I understand…" Here, he had to clear his throat. "I just thought… Well. Never mind." Taking in a deep breath, he looked back up at Kakashi. He knew he wouldn't be able to lie to Kakashi directly, but if he didn't look Kakashi in the eye, then Kakashi would feel guilty about this whole situation, which isn't what he needed considering that he had just told Iruka he was leaving on a mission today. …Apparently, part of Iruka's scattered brain was indeed still processing information.
Kakashi was silent as he stared at the younger man still sitting in bed. Iruka was looking at him with an intensity that surprised the jonin, so he held his tongue and waited for the academy sensei to say what he needed to say.
"Hatake-san," Kakashi flinched at the formal address. He had thought they moved past acquaintances a long time ago, but he supposed this is what he deserved. After what he had just done, he considered this as getting off lightly.
Iruka continued, "I am glad that we were able to share some memories together. And I understand the need you have to end…whatever this was between us. Just…don't be a stranger in the future, ne?"
Kakashi's bi-colored gaze watched Iruka carefully. Iruka restrained the urge to shift uncomfortably to divert Kakashi's attention. Dammit! He was supposed to be ninja. A ninja academy sensei! He shouldn't let anything get under his skin. Especially not the man standing across the room from him.
Slowly, Kakashi nodded in agreement. "Good. Then, I'll be seeing you around, sensei." Kakashi's voice left a quiet resonance in the room and an empty hole in Iruka's heart, even after the jonin had transported himself out of there.
Curling into himself, Iruka hung his head in his hands as soon as he felt Kakashi's chakra presence fade away. Taking in a shuddering breath, he choked on a sob before breaking down completely.
~K~*~I~
Kakashi hadn't kept his promise. Iruka had known that the other man wouldn't though, so he wasn't all that surprised. It had been three months since that dreadful morning, and Iruka hadn't seen hide nor hair of the silver haired jonin. Although, to be fair to Kakashi, Iruka vaguely remembered that Kakashi had told him he would be leaving on a mission. Quite possibly, the reason why Iruka hadn't seen Kakashi yet could be that the man was still on his mission.
Iruka sighed. Of course, another possible reason that Iruka hadn't seen Kakashi could be that the man was thoroughly avoiding him. Even though Iruka had said there was no need to, he didn't quite believe that the jonin would listen to him. He was most likely avoiding Iruka to evade any awkward situations. That thought made Iruka's chest throb in a painful way that the sensei didn't want to think about.
Glancing up, Iruka realized that he was so distracted that he hadn't noticed Konohamaru walking up to his desk until the brown-haired boy had slapped his hand on it with his most recent quiz grade. "Iruka-sensei! Why am I failing? I answered all of these questions right!"
Iruka felt his eyebrow twitch in irritation. "Obviously, Konohamaru, you did not get all of those questions right. If you look carefully, I even told you what the correct answer was and why. Study what I wrote on the quiz, and you may just be able to pass the test that is coming up."
His class groaned at the mention of a test, but Iruka paid no mind to them. Standing up, he mentally shook himself to get his train of thoughts back to where they needed to be and began teaching once again.
~K~*~I~
Kakashi stared blankly at the wall in front of him. He could feel Gai's presence in the room off to his left, but he paid the Taijutsu Master no mind. His mind registered that he was sitting on his own bed, in his own room, but he didn't have any particular feelings of relief or safety. He just sat there…being: occupying space.
Kakashi knew he hadn't slept in a long time. Whenever he did sleep, nightmares plagued his senses, and he would end up not sleeping anyway. So, he avoided the added pain of nightmares and just decided to not sleep. He realized that Gai was worried about him, but he couldn't find the emotion in him that would make him care.
Well, actually, he couldn't find many emotions in him at all. It was like he was…empty. Used up. Broken, if you will.
He heard Gai talking to him, but the words didn't register. It was like Gai was talking to himself or to an inanimate object. Kakashi just resembled a person that could provide a response.
"-Iruka-sensei?"
Kakashi blinked. Iruka-sensei. He recognized that name. That name did something funny to Kakashi. It made his heart swell, but it hurt him as well. Kakashi frowned. An image of tan skin and dark eyes flashed in Kakashi's mind before fading away again.
Oh, wow. That definitely had some effect on Kakashi. That image made Kakashi want to curl up in a ball and never see the light of day again. Somehow, Kakashi knew that he had failed that man that had just flashed through his mind.
Kakashi decided that if he was going to have phantom images of people he had failed or hurt flashing through his mind when he was awake, he might as well go to sleep and try to fight off the nightmares. At least those were unrealistic enough to be counted as just dreams instead of reality.
The silver haired jonin slid further into his bed and curled up before drifting off into sleep.
~K~*~I~
Gai was watching over Kakashi. His eternal rival had an extremely difficult mission that had supposedly ended just under a month ago. Although, with the way Tsunade was hedging to see when Kakashi could go out again, Gai wondered if the mission was really over or not. Because, really, Kakashi hadn't come back in good shape. In fact, if it weren't for the man's training being so engrained into him since practically birth, Gai doubted Kakashi would have made it home at all.
Something happened on the man's mission that had broken him. Completely. Gai could only hope that he never found out what it was.
Sighing, the green clad jonin realized that with the way things were going, Kakashi's chances of becoming stable again were decreasing rapidly as time went on.
But Gai wouldn't give up hope. It's why he talked to Kakashi as if the other man was listening and responding to him. Maybe the conversational environment would get a response out of the other man. So far, nothing had worked. Gai had Tenzo, Kurenai, Genma, and Raidou (even Sakura and Naruto!) helping him to try and get a rise out of his Eternal Rival. Alas, no one had availed.
There was one other person that Gai could think of that might be able to get a response out of Kakashi, but the academy sensei hadn't stopped by once to check up on the other man, and Gai had to wonder why that was. At first, the Taijutsu Master had told himself that he wouldn't interfere. But almost a month has passed since Kakashi returned, and there was still no sign of Iruka-sensei visiting him.
Gai sighed. "Hey, Kakashi? Would you tell me if you were visited by Iruka-sensei?"
Gai watched as Kakashi's right eye finally showed some life to it. The gray iris cleared just enough that Gai knew that something he had said had gotten through to his best friend. And Gai had a feeling he knew exactly which words had set him off.
What happened next was curious though. Kakashi quietly sighed, then slumped further into his bed to lie down and go to sleep. Gai blinked. He hadn't seen Kakashi willingly sleep within the past month.
Sighing, he realized what he had to do.
~K~*~I~
Iruka's head turned toward the door where the loud knock had sounded. He was in the middle of teaching his students how to properly bind an open wound on the battlefield when the knock had been made. Frowning, Iruka went over to the door to see who was stupid enough to interrupt him right in the middle of his lesson.
As he slid the door open, he stopped himself before his temper flared. Standing in front of him was an apprehensive-looking Gai.
"Gai-sensei?" Iruka questioned hesitantly.
"Ah, Iruka-sensei. I apologize for interrupting you in the middle of your lesson, but it is urgent that I speak with you right away. Can I steal you away for a few minutes?"
Even though Gai had used a question, Iruka could clearly hear the adamant tone lacing Gai's words. He looked back into his classroom. "Moegi, you're in charge while I step out for a minute. I want everyone to have their partner's leg wrapped successfully by the time I get back." With that, he shut the door and followed Gai to a relatively private area.
"Gai-sensei, what is this about?" Iruka asked as soon as the pair had stopped in an empty corridor. Seeing Gai act somber and serious had set Iruka on edge. He knew whatever they were about to discuss was a particularly grave matter.
Gai looked nervous again but sighed as he reached a decision. "It's about Kakashi, and why you haven't visited him yet."
Iruka looked confused. "Kakashi-san is back from his mission?"
The formal suffix tacked onto Kakashi's name did not go unnoticed by Gai, but the jonin decided not to comment and just nodded his head. "My esteemed rival has been back in the village for a few weeks now, and I have yet to see you visit him."
Now Iruka was completely lost. "Weeks!? I…I didn't realize…I mean I thought he might have been avoiding me but… Wait! You asked why I haven't visited him. Is he hurt?" Concern was written on the sensei's face clear as day, and Gai suddenly realized there was more going on than he knew about.
"Excuse me, Iruka-sensei. I am confusing you further. My rival had been sent on a dire mission approximately three months ago. He returned after two months and has been residing in the village for the past month recuperating. He is not hurt in the physical sense of the word, but his psyche is another matter. You see…and you'll have to forgive me for speaking so freely, but…it seems my rival has broken or at least cracked."
Iruka blinked multiple times as he listened to Gai's words. Kakashi had been in the village for a month. Kakashi was in the village at this moment, and he was weakened in the worst possible way for a shinobi to be weakened. Tears stung at the back of Iruka's eyes, but he held them at bay.
"Gai-sensei, I assure you that I had no idea Kakashi-san was back in the village these past few weeks. Had I known he was back from his mission, and in such a fragile state, I would've been one of the first people to see him. However,…I believe that is no longer the case."
Gai looked alarmed, so Iruka continued. "Before Kakashi-san left on his mission, he clearly stated that he did not want to continue seeing me regularly. He made certain that I was aware of the fact that we were done." Here, Iruka paused and looked up at the taller man. "You're asking me to visit Kakashi-san to see if he'll start to recover, right? I won't refuse to see him; but, are you sure that he will be able to handle seeing me?"
Gai looked at Iruka with a newfound sense of insight. As all the pieces of the puzzle fell into place, Gai nodded. "My rival has been bested when he was at his most fragile. Tell me, Iruka-sensei, do you think Kakashi meant what he said before he left on his mission?"
If Iruka was surprised at the direction the conversation had taken, he did not show it. "Yes. Kakashi-san would not have said what he did had he not been serious about it. You should know better than anyone that Kakashi-san does not waste his breath on lies when dealing with such serious matters."
Gai nodded. "Just remember that, sensei. So, you will come see Kakashi after school today?"
Iruka nodded. "I'll be there around dinner time with some food for him."
With a puff of smoke and jovial thanks, Gai was gone.
~K~*~I~
Kakashi's ears heard the knock on his door, but his body made no move to answer it. Either the person would come in or go away. It didn't really matter to the Copy Nin.
Another knock resounded, a bit louder this time. Kakashi blinked but remained where he was. He was just starting to think that the knocker would leave, when his door opened. Kakashi looked in the direction of the intruder, only to stare at the phantom that had haunted his waking thoughts the entire day.
Iruka-sensei came in through the door with two bowls of something that smelled delicious. Kakashi's eye tracked the man as he carried the bowls over to Kakashi's desk and sat them down. During this time, Kakashi observed his chu…ex-chunin.
As Kakashi tracked Iruka, Kakashi couldn't help but take in the other man's appearance. It seems his mind had thought that three months without seeing Iruka had been three months too long.
He noted that Iruka's hair had grown longer. So long, in fact, that the end of the pony tail was tickling the bottom of his neck. The rest of his body was covered with the standard chunin uniform, so Kakashi's eyes found themselves returning to the sensei's face. Iruka had dark spots under his eyes and a droop to his posture that made him look worse for wear.
As if sensing Kakashi's gaze, Iruka turned to Kakashi and watched him.
Kakashi shifted uncomfortably under the other man's gaze. An unwanted memory sprang into his mind. The memory of that morning…
Kakashi blinked weary eyes open. Something was tickling his nose lightly. It was brown, and Kakashi almost thought it was one of his ninken before his nose registered the smell permeating his nostrils. The smell wasn't dog…in fact, it was pure Iruka. Kakashi felt a shit-eating grin cross his features as he closed his eyes and inhaled the scent: sandalwood, vanilla, parchment, and something that clearly labeled Iruka as Iruka. Then, he frowned at the realization of what this meant.
Shit.
He was supposed to have ended their relationship last night. Sure, they had been fooling around for quite a while, almost a year, but last night he was supposed to end it.
Shit. Shit. Shit.
This morning was going to suck.
He sighed deeply, hoping against hope that Iruka wouldn't wake up before he left. It would be easier that way. At least…that's what he told himself.
Of course, life just wanted to say fuck you to Kakashi Hatake at least once more before Kakashi left on his next assignment.
As he stood to get dressed, Iruka shivered at the loss of heat and blindly reached for him. There was so much familiarity in the action that it broke Kakashi's heart, knowing what was coming next.
"Iruka." Shit, his voice was shot. He sighed as he watched his sensei lift his head to meet Kakashi's eyes. Iruka's eyes looked content and warm and shit, Hatake! Why didn't you just end it last night!?
Kakashi gulped and forced a smile to come to his features. "I have a mission today, so I need to leave early. You have another three hours to sleep before you have to get ready to go to the academy."
Iruka nodded and leaned forward for a kiss, but Kakashi stopped Iruka's movement with a finger on his lips. Iruka's eyes flashed with confusion, and Kakashi felt a sharp stab of guilt. Regretfully, Kakashi had known last night was it. No more. So, he couldn't allow this one last kiss. It broke his heart to think about it. It shattered him to know that Iruka was going to hate him after this.
"Iruka…last night…I said I wanted to talk to you, but we never got around to it. I need to tell you this now. Before I leave…" Kakashi internally cringed. His words sounded too harsh to his own ears. He needed to do something to distract himself before he started to think too much and lose his nerve. Kakashi stood and started looking for his clothes.
"Yes, 'kashi? What do you need to tell me?" Oh hell. Iruka's voice was so full of concern and support and dammit! Iruka shouldn't be worried about Kakashi, not after what he was about to say!
Kakashi braced himself. This was it. No more stalling. "Iruka, we've been seeing each other exclusively for about a year now…but…" Kakashi worked on putting his boxers and pants on. He couldn't meet Iruka's eyes. He concentrated on getting dressed and cleared his mind of everything else.
Iruka waited patiently for Kakashi to continue. By now, he was sitting on the bed with his back leaning against the headboard. Kakashi squeezed his eyes shut. Iruka probably wouldn't be able to go back to sleep after this.
"Even though it's been fun, I've realized that this can't continue between us. Surely, you know this also, right? Last night…was great, as were all the nights previous. But, all of them didn't mean much. They were just an act between two people to relieve the tension that builds up from missions, classes, and dealing with other people." Kakashi realized that his voice had a detached tone to it. After he pulled his shirt on, he started hunting for his flak jacket and hitai ate.
"I mean, we can't build a relationship just off sex, right? It wouldn't be stable. And, I don't really have an interest in having a relationship with anyone. It's just not my style. People have started to assume that I'm attached, and I can't have that." Kakashi felt Iruka's pain with each blow he was landing with his words.
He specifically used the connotation that Iruka hated most. Saying that whatever between them was fun and not meaningful. Saying that feelings didn't matter. Saying that they were just screwing each other with no strings attached. Saying that he didn't want what they had anymore.
Each line said was piercing a hole in Kakashi's chest, as surely as it was with Iruka also. But it couldn't be helped. Kakashi had been given orders, and this was only step one. Granted, it was the hardest step, but he couldn't just ignore the first step before continuing to the others. It didn't work like that.
Taking a deep breath, Kakashi decided to end it before he broke down crying in front of Iruka.
"…So, that's all. I wanted to tell you all of this last night, I really did, but… we got sidetracked. I became distracted. This sounds really shitty coming from me after the fact, but it's how it happened. I'm sorry…" Kakashi glanced at Iruka as he pulled his flak jacket on and zipped it up. The utter look of hurt and betrayal showing through those dark orbs hurt Kakashi more than anything that had ever pierced his flesh. He couldn't help the name that slipped out any more than he could help these goddamn mission requirements. "'Ruka…"
Iruka looked at him directly, and Kakashi tied the hitai ate on to distract himself from the look Iruka was sending him. If he could have walked across the room and scooped Iruka up into his arms, he would have. But he couldn't. Not yet…probably not ever again.
Kakashi curled in on himself as the memory faded. He recognized that he still couldn't make amends to the other man in the room. Hell, he probably would never be able to if Iruka had any sense of self preservation. Even Kakashi wouldn't take himself back after what he had done.
Whimpering quietly, Kakashi drew his legs toward his chest and hugged them tightly. He hid his unmasked face from view. Taking a few deep breathes, he cleared his mind. It worked for a moment. He was normal for a second. But then, he lifted his head and saw the concern on Iruka's face. His mind couldn't take it, and he withdrew back into himself.
~K~*~I~
Iruka watched Kakashi carefully. He saw that the other man's eye flashed in recognition when he had entered the room. He had seen the surprise that had tightened the skin around Kakashi's eye. He even saw the small delight when Kakashi smelled the miso soup with eggplant that Iruka had brought. But after he set down the soup and turned back to Kakashi, he saw that the faraway look had returned to his ex-lover's eye.
Iruka sighed. He didn't know why Gai thought Iruka could help Kakashi recover, but he would try his hardest.
Hearing a small whimper, normally emitted by a distressed child, Iruka saw Kakashi curl in on himself and assume the fetal position while sitting. Iruka was worried. Kakashi wasn't being his normal self. Iruka knew that Gai said Kakashi had broken, but he didn't realize to what extent until that moment.
Kakashi looked up then; and when he saw Iruka's face, his eye hardened then went carefully blank again.
Iruka sighed. He knew that whatever had just occurred within Kakashi's mind wasn't a good thing. If anything, he might have just regressed.
Iruka looked at his ex-lover and made a decision. Come hell or high waters, Iruka would stick it out with Kakashi. Even if Kakashi had just considered their relationship to be just a long-winded fling, Iruka had developed feelings for the jonin. Feelings that hadn't gone away with the other man's betrayal or absence. Feelings that were washing over Iruka in full force now that he was in Kakashi's presence once again.
Sitting down on the bed in front of Kakashi, Iruka waited until the other man looked at him. Carefully, he wrapped his arms around the body that was as familiar to him as his own and just held the other man. He felt the muscles beneath him tense, and he couldn't help but feel a tiny bit of disappointment. Iruka reminded himself that Kakashi was not in the right frame of mind, so he shouldn't feel hurt at Kakashi's small withdrawal. Telling himself that didn't make the feeling go away though.
Slowly, without either shinobi directly acknowledging it, Iruka started to sway them. As the rocking motion calmed them both, Iruka started humming soothing melodies, and he eventually drifted off into singing quietly.
Iruka knew his voice relaxed Kakashi more than the Copy Nin would like to admit. When they had been together for that year, there wasn't one point in time where Kakashi had ever told Iruka to shut up or be quiet.
Iruka actually noticed the effect his voice had on Kakashi about three months into their…partnership. He had been singing while doing the dishes, and a certain silver haired jonin had snuck into his apartment without Iruka's knowledge. Imagine Iruka's surprise after he finished the dishes to walk into his living room and find the jonin asleep on his couch, hugging a throw pillow.
Iruka had been surprised for three reasons. One: he didn't even know Kakashi had snuck into his apartment. Two: Kakashi was unexpectedly adorable when he was asleep and hugging a decorative pillow. And three: that was the first time ever that Kakashi had fallen into a deep sleep at Iruka's place.
Before that, Kakashi was always too on edge to really fall into a deep sleep in an unfamiliar environment. It had always made Iruka a little sad, but he had come to understand and accept it. After that happened, however, Iruka always found a reason to sing when Kakashi looked tired or worn out, and they were at Iruka's apartment. Eventually, Kakashi became comfortable enough to fall asleep at Iruka's without the aid of Iruka's voice.
Now, Iruka used his vocal chords to soothe the stressed jonin once again. He wasn't aiming for Kakashi to fall asleep, but that's what ended up happening. Iruka carefully laid Kakashi back on his bed and quietly watched his ex-lover sleep.
~K~*~I~
The routine of Iruka coming to Kakashi's with dinner, only to lull Kakashi into sleep without eating first continued every day for the next month. Kakashi would awaken to find his dinner still on his desk, Iruka's dinner gone, and a note from Iruka that said something different every day.
Kakashi couldn't help but feel relaxed by the routine. He enjoyed seeing Iruka every day again. But he knew it couldn't last. Tsunade would start poking around again, seeing if he was put back together yet before sending him out on the next mission for his assignment. And Kakashi had to admit that he had let Iruka get too close again. He'd had difficult orders assigned to him before, but keeping his distance from Iruka was going to be the end of him: mentally and emotionally.
Kakashi loved Iruka. He knew he did. However, that only made things more difficult for the both of them. Kakashi wished he would never have to hurt Iruka, but if he kept letting the other man get so close, Kakashi was going to end up doing just that over and over again.
Sighing, Kakashi put down Icha Icha. He had started acting like himself again about two weeks ago. Kakashi found it somewhat amusing. Leave him with Gai 24/7 for a month, and Kakashi gets nowhere. Give Kakashi Iruka for a few hours every day for a month, and Kakashi was almost back to normal.
Normal, huh? Kakashi thought about that. What was normal though? Iruka had been his normal up until four months ago, when he got those ridiculous mission orders. Two months ago, he gets back to his village, broken and ruined, and his normal had become sitting in bed staring at his wall. Now, his normal was back to centering on Iruka.
Kakashi couldn't help but feel guilty. He monopolized so much of the other man's time. While he wouldn't normally care, Kakashi knew that this would only make things harder on the both of them for when the next mission of Kakashi's assignment came.
The Copy Nin closed his eyes and exhaled loudly. Such thoughts were meant to be saved for when Iruka was here, so the other man could chase them away with his melodious voice and tender embrace… Okay, maybe he had been reading too much Icha Icha lately. But really? Was there anything else to do?
~K~*~I~
Iruka was happy. Today was Friday, so that meant no school for two days. He needed the time off to get caught up on grading, and he'd been wanting to see Kakashi all day. He walked toward the jonin's home eagerly; and as soon as he was inside, he set about asking Kakashi how he was feeling.
"Better." Came the response. Kakashi had been improving immensely over the past week, and Iruka thought that Kakashi was almost mission-ready again. Not that he was going to tell anyone that. Let them get impatient and come find out for themselves.
Iruka was going to enjoy every single private moment he had with Kakashi.
Iruka smiled and sat dinner on Kakashi's desk. He went over to the man and hugged him tightly. Kakashi returned the gesture, before lightly pushing Iruka away.
Iruka looked at the silver haired jonin.
Kakashi just smiled. "Ne, I'm very hungry, Iruka. Maybe you can sing to me after we eat dinner?"
Iruka's smile was breathtaking. Those were the words he had wanted Kakashi to say for a while. It meant that Kakashi was ready to take care of himself. It meant that the broken pieces were back in place, if not fixed, then at least together.
"Alright. We can do that." Iruka stood and grabbed the salt broiled saury he had prepared before coming over. He handed Kakashi's to him and watched as the other man's face lit in delight.
Iruka was suddenly glad that he had prepared one of the other man's favorite dishes.
They ate in a comfortable silence. Once they both were finished, Iruka cleaned up and packed away the empty dishes. He returned to the bed and sat next to Kakashi.
Kakashi wrapped his arms around Iruka, and Iruka leaned into the warm embrace.
"Iruka?"
"Hmm?" Iruka turned his head to look up at the other man.
Kakashi looked worried, and now Iruka was worried. He pulled away and faced Kakashi fully. "Kakashi? What's wrong?"
Kakashi looked into Iruka's eyes before exhaling deeply and looking down. "What I said that morning…" Here, Kakashi swallowed thickly and still didn't meet the sensei's gaze. "It still holds true…"
Iruka's eyes widened slightly, then he too looked down and away from Kakashi. "I…understand." Foolishly, Iruka had hoped that maybe Kakashi's mind had been changed. He shouldn't have held onto that hope.
Sighing, Iruka looked back to Kakashi. "Do you want me to come back tomorrow?"
Kakashi glanced up at Iruka. "I think it'd be best if you didn't."
Nodding, Iruka stood. "I better go now then."
Kakashi didn't protest as Iruka left his room.
~K~*~I~
Kakashi had been deemed mission ready by Tsunade the day after Iruka had left without singing to him. Kakashi still wished that he had let Iruka sing to him before eating that day, but it would have been that much harder to let the chunin go.
Now, seventh months later, Kakashi was finally finished. The stream of missions that had been his assignment were finally complete. That first mission that had broken him had been the hardest to achieve, but it was the essential one to complete.
For the past year, Kakashi had worked hard to disband a ring of sex traffickers that had taken up residence in the Land of Fire. That first mission almost a year ago had been to earn the trust of the higher ups in the ring so that he could easily infiltrate and disband everything later. To gain the attention of the higher ups, he had to be a person with a lot of power and influence. Of course, power and influence came along with being the Copy Ninja.
Earning their trust had been a little harder.
That first mission began with him seeking out the ring, offering protection to them, and promising to keep silent about what was going on. The higher ups, however, had wanted something more from Kakashi. They wanted him to test their services and products. They wanted him as a customer before a protector, so that they could hold something over Kakashi's head should he decide to betray them.
Kakashi had realized that he couldn't refuse if he wanted to gain the trust of the leaders of the trafficking ring. Seeing no other way out, Kakashi was forced to choose from their "products". He had tried to pick someone who was of age and had a certain look to their eye.
After 10+ years in ANBU, Kakashi could easily pick out people who have already given up on humanity. They were the ones passed the point of no return. They didn't care what happened to them anymore, nothing could break them. These people always had a certain look in their eye. One that looked like they were already dead: they were just waiting for their body to get the hint and die already. These were the people he looked for when he was forced to choose.
The higher ups in the ring had demanded that Kakashi sample a boy, a girl, and one of his choice. When Kakashi realized he was expected to do this more than once, he tried to use the sharingan to convince the leaders of the ring that he had sampled their products, without them realizing he didn't. However, it seems like they were prepared for this possibility. They had taken measures to ensure they wouldn't be caught in any type of genjutsu.
After pulling that stunt, Kakashi had to be on his best behavior. The leaders had upped their demands that he try out five different people instead of just three. He had obeyed without qualms. After he had put on a performance (the leaders had demanded that they watched as Kakashi tested the "products"), Kakashi had an easy in. The higher ups trusted him.
Unfortunately, Kakashi almost broke that trust when one leader had suggested that Kakashi buy one of the "products". Kakashi's control had almost snapped, and he nearly attacked the man. Truly, Kakashi had never been as disgusted with the human race and himself as he had been when the leader of the ring asked him about buying one of the kids forced into this lifestyle.
Luckily, Kakashi's reputation as an alleged man-whore saved him. One of the other leaders had laughed before Kakashi could attack and said that Kakashi would just return them the next day, so why couldn't they exchange a service for payment instead?
That was how Kakashi had acquired an actual "in". In return for the use of "products" whenever he wanted, Kakashi would provide a degree of protection for the ring. Kakashi had said that he would need time to think about it, and he would return at a later date with his answer.
His answer hadn't come until two months later, after he had been healed by Iruka and cleared by Tsunade.
Since then, Kakashi hadn't been back in the village for more than a few hours at a time before having to go back out to the ring again.
And finally, seventh months later, the ring was taken down. The leaders were all dead. Kakashi had felt a great retribution at seeing the shock and disbelief on the higher ups faces before he killed them. Kakashi supposed that the thought had never crossed their minds that their "guard dog" might have actually been a wolf in disguise, waiting to attack.
Now that they were dead, Kakashi was ready to return home to Konoha. But he had to wait just a little longer. Kakashi still had to see to it that the kids and teens and young adults that were taken by the trafficking ring were returned to their parents and families. That meant he still had to track down customers that lived in and outside the Fire Country, kill them, and return the kids back to their homes.
Yes, his assigned mission was over, but he still had quite a few loose ends to tie up. Kakashi sighed. And all he wanted to do was see a certain pair of brown eyes that he hadn't once stopped dreaming about since he left the village.
~K~*~I~
Iruka looked up at the tired looking jonin in front of him. Kakashi looked like hell, and that was saying something since Iruka could only see part of his face.
Noticing the report that the other man was holding out for Iruka to take, he took it and glanced back up at Kakashi.
"You look like you need to sleep."
Kakashi simply nodded, and Iruka returned to looking at the report. Surprised, he noticed a seal on it, stating that only Tsunade was supposed to see the contents of this mission report. Which meant that Kakashi wasn't here to hand in his mission report but to see Iruka instead.
Iruka looked back up at Kakashi, trying to get a read on what the other man was thinking. When he couldn't discern anything, he put the scroll onto the pile marked as 'going to Tsunade' and spoke quietly. "My shift ends in two hours. How about you go catch up on your sleep, and we'll talk later?"
With a poof, Kakashi was gone, and Iruka was left wondering what exactly the other man might want to see Iruka for.
~K~*~I~
Kakashi awoke from his light sleep at the sound of a door being opened. That meant Iruka was back. Kakashi glanced at the clock and saw that about two and a half hours had passed since Kakashi had come to Iruka's apartment. Good, that meant Iruka had come straight here instead of going to Kakashi's first.
Kakashi stood and walked to the hallway, where Iruka would either see or sense him. Iruka turned toward him. He had just finished slipping his shoes off when he looked up at Kakashi.
"K…Kakashi…san." Kakashi didn't miss the surprise that was on Iruka's face, nor did he miss the honorific Iruka pinned to his name once again.
Kakashi only nodded and walked toward the other man. "I thought I could save you the trouble of having to go to my apartment to find me."
Iruka nodded and watched Kakashi with a careful eye. Kakashi could tell that the other man was on edge. He only hoped this would mean Iruka would take him seriously.
"Are you hungry? I was going to prepare dinner for the both of us anyway."
Kakashi nodded and followed Iruka to the kitchen. He sat down at the table and watched the sensei start the preparations for onigiri.
"Can we talk?" Iruka nodded his head at Kakashi's question and continued preparing dinner. Kakashi inwardly sighed. He supposed he wouldn't force the academy sensei to focus on him. He could do with the sensei's divided attention.
"It's about…our breakup."
Iruka grunted. "Kakashi-san, why do you want to discuss something that happened nearly a year ago? You're over it. I'm over it. Can't we just move on?"
"Have you? Moved on, that is." By the imperceptible tightening of the chunin's shoulders, Kakashi could tell that he hadn't.
Well, Kakashi hasn't either. "Iruka…I have been on a string of missions for an assignment that lasted nearly a year. The first mission for that assignment? It had started that morning I left you. You know that I can't give any details away, but I will say that I didn't leave you by choice."
Iruka scoffed. "Then why didn't you tell me that when you broke it off with me? I believe you were the one that said our relationship didn't mean anything to you, and that you were too much of a player to stay with one person for too long."
Kakashi sighed. He deserved this, and he knew it. He just had hoped he could salvage whatever was left of it. "I didn't…What I mean was that I couldn't have a relationship with you while I was working this assignment. It would have been much more stressful, and I probably would have broken a hell of a lot more than I did."
Iruka shook his head and stopped preparing dinner. He turned toward Kakashi with a look of disbelief. "If you don't recall, I was there when you broke. And it sure seemed like you were doing better when I was around."
Kakashi avoided Iruka's gaze. "That's the thing. The mission would have been compromised if I was still going out with you."
Iruka paused. Kakashi was dead serious. "What was your mission?"
"Iruka, please. You know I can't say anything about it."
"Well, Kakashi-sama, then you had better get used to sleeping alone. I'm not ready to have my heart ripped out of my chest every time you have a mission that compromises our…partnership. Or that demands for it to end."
Kakashi bit his lip. This was fair. Iruka had a point. Kakashi hated knowing that he had hurt Iruka, and he would not do it again. Hanging his head, Kakashi stood up. "Fair enough."
Iruka watched as Kakashi turned to walk out of the kitchen, and quite possibly, out of Iruka's life forever.
"I hope that we can at least remain friends, or friendly acquaintances then." Kakashi whispered, hoping Iruka would change his answer but knowing that would not be the case.
Iruka sighed and said the words that Kakashi believes to be so entirely true. "Yeah, well, not every story has a happy ending."
Kakashi walked out of Iruka's apartment, fully expecting to never interact with the man (outside of the mission room) ever again.
~K~*~I~
Iruka turned around and slammed his hands onto the counter that he had been preparing food on. Dammit! That was not how he had wanted that conversation to go! Iruka hung his head between his shoulders and tried to calm himself. It wasn't working.
Eyeing the food preparations before him, he thought screw…no, fuck it! He reached out, grabbed everything, and hurled it as hard as he could at the opposite wall. It hit with a satisfying splat, leaving a mess that Iruka was going to hate himself for later when he was cleaning it up.
He didn't care.
All he wanted was for Kakashi to come back in here, apologize, beg for forgiveness, and make Iruka see why taking the silver haired jonin back was a good decision and not a bad one.
Because Iruka sure as hell wanted the other man in his arms right now.
Iruka scrubbed his hands through his hair, loosening his ponytail in the process. Well, he knew Kakashi would never come back here after what Iruka said earlier.
Iruka thought about going to Kakashi's, but he realized he was still too angry to have a calm conversation with the jonin. Deciding that he needed to let off some steam before he snapped at someone who didn't deserve it, Iruka changed into some training clothes and went to the academy dojo to work on some katas.
He hoped no one was there because there was a high possibility that Iruka would rip their head off if they tried talking to him.
Of course, when he arrived at the dojo, there were others there. Some were his students, who looked surprised at seeing Iruka-sensei there when it wasn't a school day.
One such student was Hyuga Hanabi. She nodded at her sensei, before returning to practice on her taijutsu form. Surprisingly, Hinata was there too, and it looked like she was helping her sister with her footwork.
Hinata happened to glance up at Iruka, and she smiled a shy smile at him. Iruka had always liked Hinata. She had been one of the students who didn't shun Naruto when they were in the academy, and Iruka had a sneaking suspicion that it was because she harbored feelings for the boy Iruka had come to think of as his younger brother.
Iruka nodded at them, about to pass them by, but he changed his mind at the last second. As he approached the two Hyuga heiresses, he asked what they were doing here.
"Ah, Hanabi-chan doesn't want father to know about any extra lessons she gets from Neji-kun or me. We can't train at the compound because of this, and today she wanted to come here to practice some of the more basic taijutsu techniques."
Hanabi nodded, almost seeming ashamed. "My clan's taijutsu is easy to learn, but you know I have a hard time learning the other types of forms, Iruka-sensei."
Iruka nodded and crouched down a little, so he was at eye level with Hanabi. "That's good, Hanabi-chan. You should learn to focus and improve upon any areas that you don't think are your strongest. In fact, I'll tell you a secret." Hanabi leaned closer to hear Iruka's whisper. "I'm here to practice some katas that I can never get quite right. I always end up hurting myself because I'm not very good at them."
Hanabi smiled a little. Iruka told Hanabi about his katas because he knew that if she heard her sensei needed to train to improve upon areas that he was supposed to be good at, but wasn't; then, she would focus herself more and work to improve her own skills that needed to be bettered.
"Good luck, Iruka-sensei. Try your hardest, and I will try my hardest too." Hanabi returned to one of the taijutsu techniques Iruka had just taught his class earlier that week.
He smiled and nodded. "I will, Hanabi-chan."
Hinata watched as Iruka walked over to an empty area to start warming up before his katas. Something seemed…off about her former sensei. Earlier, she could have sworn that Iruka wasn't going to come say hi before beginning his training, but he had walked over to them at the last moment which surprised Hinata a great deal. She wondered what was troubling him…
~K~*~I~
Iruka inhaled deeply as he took the starting position for the kata he had been working on for the past half hour. He kept messing up: more due to the fact that he was distracted, and less due to the fact that this kata was difficult for him.
What was worse was that more of his students had shown up. It seemed like they all wanted to practice the new taijutsu technique he had taught them earlier that week. What was frustrating to him, however, was that less of his students were training and more were watching him train.
He wanted to yell at them to get back to work, but he didn't want to take his pent-up frustration out on them. Anyway, it would do them good to watch their sensei, maybe they would respect him just a little bit more if he managed to complete this particular kata.
That if was looking really big, though.
Taking another deep breath, Iruka gracefully sank to his knees and stabbed his kunai into the floor, checking to make sure it wouldn't wobble. Then, using his left hand to brace himself, he raised up, so he was doing an impressive one-handed hand stand. Once he had his balance, he gripped the handle of the embedded kunai with his right hand and started to put his weight onto that hand.
He transferred all of his weight, so he was balancing with his right hand gripping the embedded kunai, and his left hand free to move. In a series of motions that only lasted a few seconds, Iruka grabbed three shuriken he had hidden on his person with his left hand. Then, he tucked and rolled so his body pitched into a backward somersault. His right hand was still gripping the kunai, and he pulled it out of its stuck position as he came out of his somersault. As his momentum slowed, he came out of the roll throwing all of his weapons at the targets positioned across the room on the wall.
He barely managed to get into the end position for this kata with his left leg folded underneath him, and his right leg bent at a 90-degree angle, providing stabilization.
Iruka looked up at the targets, and a grin split across his face. Bulls-eye! Each shuriken had claimed their own target with a bulls-eye, and his kunai had imbedded itself into the open center of the shuriken that he had aimed toward the middle target, so the shuriken wasn't imbedded in the bulls-eye, but the kunai was pinning the shuriken dead center in the bullseye circle.
His students were cheering quite enthusiastically and remarking at how "cool" Iruka-sensei was.
~K~*~I~
Kakashi heard quite a commotion coming from the academy dojo. He and Gai had just finished a ridiculous challenge, and Kakashi had been looking for the perfect spot to relax after exerting himself with the antics of his rival.
Kakashi's ears perked up when they heard shouts of "Iruka-sensei being the coolest teacher in the academy!" He smiled. Kakashi already knew that, but he wondered what had happened to make Iruka's students see that.
Deciding to find out for himself, Kakashi popped into the rafters of the academy dojo. What he saw below almost made him lose his footing and fall.
Iruka was right below him, panting tiredly, and looking as if he just had the best thing in the world happen to him.
Kakashi saw that he was in the end position for a particularly tricky kata. That was when Kakashi looked across the room and saw the bulls-eyes for two shuriken and one kunai pinning a third shuriken to the middle of its board.
Kakashi smiled. Using a kunai instead of a wakizashi for that particular kata…Iruka must have been working to get his mind off of something. That thought made Kakashi frown. Kakashi had a feeling that Iruka must have been trying to get the argument they had earlier off his mind.
Sighing, Kakashi realized he should take off before anyone spotted him, particularly Iruka-sensei. With a poof, and almost no noise, the jonin was gone.
~K~*~I~
Iruka recognized a familiar chakra spike as he stood up. But he was too distracted to dwell on it as his students came running up to him.
"That was so cool, Iruka-sensei!"
"Yeah! You have to teach us that!"
"Please, Iruka-sensei? We want to be as awesome as you are!"
Iruka laughed and started lightly bonking the students who were closest to him on their heads. "Maybe, if you all train and study hard, you all will be able to do that too."
This kids eyes were all wide as they looked at Iruka with a new sense of admiration. Iruka smiled. He had a feeling his classes were going to be more attentive from now on…well, at least for the next few days.
~K~*~I~
Iruka sighed contently as he finally left the dojo. After three good hours of training, he was ready for a shower, some relaxation, and bed. The dojo had cleared out after his little demonstration, as most of his students had gone home to have dinner. He stayed longer to vent frustrations and work his muscles. It had been a while since he had a good workout. Now, he was feeling renewed. The best part of it all? Kakashi hadn't crossed his mind once…until just now.
Remembering his earlier outburst at the other man, Iruka grimaced. He had been far too harsh on Kakashi. The jonin may have approached the situation in the wrong way, but Iruka's reaction hadn't been any better. If Iruka wanted to…fix whatever was left between them, he needed to go have a talk with his ex-lover.
Iruka knew that he wanted to salvage their past relationship. After all, it's not like he ever stopped loving the silver haired idiot. He had just been…extremely frustrated at him for the past year. And most of the frustration Kakashi hadn't even earned by himself. It mostly came from Iruka's inability to get over the elite jonin. Sure, Iruka had tried, so many times, to get over the other man…but all to no avail.
Of course, Iruka would never admit to any of this out loud. He still had his pride; it was the one thing Kakashi hadn't take from him already.
Iruka shook his head to clear his thoughts. Pride shouldn't matter though. If Kakashi needs to hear what I've been doing this past year, I will tell him. Iruka nodded to himself. He didn't want more fights to develop just because he'd been worried about his pride. He would be honest, and he would tell Kakashi that he expected the same thing from the jonin.
Iruka paused as he came to a fork in the road. Left would take him further into town, where the single jonin and chunin dormitories were. Right would take him toward his apartment that he had bought after Naruto became a semi-permanent fixture in his life.
Iruka stood far too long at the fork in the road before making up his mind. He took the right path and headed on home. But the path he took didn't say goodnight to Iruka just yet.
Iruka returned to the fork in the road a mere hour later to head to Kakashi's place with some hot tea and a couple of bento boxes for a late-night dinner. He knew it was a measly offering after their argument, but he knew Kakashi would take it for what it was: a peace offering, and a chance to talk anew.
~K~*~I~
Kakashi groaned and rolled over. He had been trying to sleep, but there had been a lot of commotion going on outside his door. He hadn't ever actually fallen asleep, but he had gotten close before the knock on his door had him sitting up in bed. He knew it couldn't be that important. If it was, an ANBU would be standing in his room instead on knocking on his door, or Tsunade's bird would be tapping its beak against his window.
He wondered who was on the other side of the door, and if it was possible if he could just ignore them until they went away.
That is, until he reached out with his chakra and found out exactly who was on the other side of his door at this late hour.
Kakashi grimaced. If Iruka wanted to talk to him this late, it had to be important.
Kakashi pulled on a shirt and padded over to the door. His last thought before opening it was that he hoped Iruka hadn't come here to argue.
As he pulled the door open, he noticed an imperceptible loosening of the academy teacher's shoulders. Kakashi could only smile and open the door further, offering an invitation for Iruka to come in.
Iruka walked past Kakashi and set down the bundle he was carrying on the jonin's desk.
"Maa, good evening to you…sensei." Kakashi said as he pushed the door shut and clicked on his light.
Iruka nodded in acknowledgment. "Kakashi-san." Iruka's face shifted for a brief second before he corrected himself. "Kakashi."
Kakashi's eye widened a fraction of a centimeter. Did this mean? No. He couldn't allow himself to hope. Not this quickly.
Instead, Kakashi walked over to the bento boxes and thermos. Tilting his head to the side, he asked, "Dinner?"
"And tea. If you're hungry and…want to talk?" Kakashi looked over and into Iruka's dark eyes. He saw uneasiness and determination staring back at him.
Kakashi nodded. "I'd like that." He whispered quietly. "Do you have to work in the morning?" Tomorrow was Sunday, so most likely there wasn't any classes, but Iruka could still be working at the mission's desk.
Iruka shook his head slightly. "Not until after lunch time. We're okay to talk for a while."
Kakashi nodded again. He couldn't stand the unbearable awkwardness of it all. Iruka wanted to talk with him, but he wasn't sure how to begin. He had royally messed up their last conversation, so he didn't think it'd be a good idea for him to start this one.
Iruka must have sensed his unease, because he picked up a bento box and plopped down on Kakashi's bed. "I've missed you, you know? I don't know how much of what you've told me is true, but…I hope that what you admitted to me earlier was at least part of the truth."
Kakashi picked up the other bento box and sat down atop his desk, facing Iruka, and making sure the thermos wouldn't be knocked over. Kakashi decided that his best course of action now would be to just listen. So, he nodded an affirmative and let Iruka continue.
Iruka watched Kakashi's movements before ducking his head and picking at his food with his chopsticks. "You…You really hurt me. I know you said it was for your assignment, for those missions you had to go on to complete that assignment, but…I hadn't known that until a few hours ago. In my head, it's still as if you were just using me for stress relief.
"I've spent far too many hours trying to figure out where it all went wrong. I…" Iruka took a deep breath before continuing on. "I developed feelings for you. And before you ridicule me, don't say you didn't feel something for me too. You don't just…have that kind of intimacy for that long and not start to feel something." Iruka looked up at Kakashi again, and Kakashi saw a fire burning in the chunin's eyes. Determination, mixed with a challenge. He was challenging Kakashi to deny it, but Kakashi wouldn't. He just…didn't want to say anything yet in case he royally fucked it all up before they had gotten anywhere. So again, he nodded and let Iruka continue.
"After you left, I was a mess. Ask anyone who knows me. The only ones who I could keep it together in front of were my students. I threw myself into teaching, and secluded myself off from my friends. I don't blame you for this. I did it to myself, but…it was so damn hard to move on. I tried, and I failed. I couldn't get you out of my system or out of my head. And I realized that I'd been a fool because I didn't tell you this sooner…Kakashi…I…I love you. No past tense, no strings attached, no anything else but love."
Kakashi was frozen to his seat. Iruka…loved him? How? When? Fuck. He was an asshole.
"Kakashi?" Kakashi realized that Iruka was waiting for him to look up. Kakashi raised his head and was surprised to see Iruka standing in front of him.
Iruka's eyes softened, and he drew Kakashi's face closer to his own. "Please say something. I can't stand your silence."
Kakashi blinked a few times before slowly closing the gap between them. He paused right before his lips met Iruka's, giving the other man time to pull away. When he didn't, Kakashi moved his lips against Iruka's cautiously, still expecting him to pull back.
Kakashi was about to pull away when Iruka responded. Iruka's lips slid against his own, and soon the two found themselves in a heated kiss and a battle for dominance. Kakashi submitted, knowing that Iruka needed some control right now. Iruka, in turn, responded in kind and, after thoroughly exploring Kakashi's mouth, drew Kakashi's tongue into his own.
Kakashi was all hesitation and asking for permission. He heard Iruka's soft gasps and started to pull back from the kiss. Iruka's hand on the back of his head stopped that action.
Iruka took control of the kiss once again, and this time Kakashi was the one gasping in appreciation.
As the need for air broke the two apart, Kakashi smiled at Iruka's expression. His lips were slightly swollen and his eyes were a little unfocused. Kakashi decided it was time to tell Iruka what he wanted to say.
"Iruka, I don't know what I can say to you to have you understand why I did what I did. All I can tell you is that I went about this whole thing in the wrong way. I didn't mean to make you feel unwanted. I realize now that I had underestimated your feelings for me by a lot. And…I want you to know that you underestimated my feelings for you too.
"This past year…" Here, Kakashi took a deep breath. "My assignment wasn't easy. I thought about you constantly, and I wished that I hadn't royally screwed things up with you so many times. However, the nature of my assignment demanded that I be unattached. Part of my mission requirements were that I loosen any romantic ties I had…and you were my only romantic tie.
"I should have told you it was for an assignment that morning I left. I didn't, because I thought that having you waiting for me would be too great a distraction for me while I was on my mission. I didn't realize that you would be a distraction to me even after I broke it off, and that my actions would be for nothing except heartache.
"I want you to know, Iruka, that I love you too. As you said, you can't have that level of intimacy with someone for that long and not develop any sort of feelings toward that person. At first, my feelings were platonic, but they turned into fondness, and fondness into love.
"Iruka…if you can find it in yourself to forgive me, I'd like to take you out to dinner. I want to date you, Iruka. And I promise that I'll try my damned hardest not to make you hurt again. Not for a mission, and not for anything else."
Kakashi ended his monologue by pulling Iruka forward and embracing him in a hug. He figured if Iruka needed time, he wouldn't be able to touch the other man like this for a while. So, he might as well stem his craving for the other man while he could.
However, he was surprised to find Iruka's arms wrapping around him. He recognized there were tears in Iruka's voice as he said, "Kakashi, you idiot. If we just had this talk before you left, none of this would have happened. And of course, I forgive you. Just…give me a little time to get adjusted, okay? I'd love to go to dinner with you, but…not right away. I need time to think and get used to you being back in my life again."
Kakashi chuckled and pulled back slightly so he could look into the younger man's eyes. "Take as long as you need. I made you wait, and I'm sorry for that and everything else." Here, Kakashi leaned forward and pressed gentle kisses to the tears running down Iruka's face. "I don't deserve you, Iruka. I just hope you don't figure that out before our date."
Iruka laughed quietly in turn. "It doesn't really help your case that you've just told me that, now does it?"
Kakashi could only smile, before Iruka leaned in for a chaste kiss. "Now, eat your bento, Kakashi. I didn't go to the trouble of making you food just so it would sit out and get cold."
Kakashi obeyed, but not before pulling Iruka to the bed and sitting beside him to eat their dinner side by side.
Kakashi thought that nothing had ever tasted so good.
~K~*~I~
Wow. When I first starting writing this, I did not expect it to be this long. I also had no idea how it was going to end. There was a part in the middle where I thought that that was it. No more story. But then Kakashi had told me we were going to continue, there was more to the story. Is there going to be more than I have written? Maybe. But it depends on Iruka and Kakashi. I don't have a story if they don't want to have one.
In any case, I'm sure you all know and understand that~
For all intents and purposes right now, though, this story is complete.
I hoped you enjoyed reading this!
~VBS~