Since my OC fic that I've been spending so much time on has such a blatant disregard for the integrity of the student-teacher relationship, I was inspired to write this. I hope it pleases.


Since it was a relatively simple mission, Kakashi decided to only take with him one of his students, letting the other to tend to other duties that more readily required their attention. He chose Sasuke to take with him mostly because he enjoyed the young man's silent company. He didn't speak needlessly and even when he moved, he hardly made a sound. As the young man's teacher, that fact pleased him greatly.

What he found less pleasing, however, was how apathetic his student had become in recent months. That was another reason for taking him by himself. He hoped that a little one-on-one time would be good for boosting the lonely young man's spirits. Since he had no family to speak of, Kakashi had learned to take it upon himself, from time to time, to step into a somewhat parental role in trying to shape his student's temperament

"So what exactly are we supposed to be getting?" Sasuke asked about half way through their journey to their pick-up point.

"It's an outlawed substance. Someone in one of the outlying villages created a large batch of it but the other villagers managed to gather it up before anything too serious happened. We're taking it back to our village to have it properly destroyed," he vaguely explained.

"Why can't they do it themselves?" he asked, a little irritated by the notion of such self-insufficiency.

"It is the nature of the chemical, I'm afraid. It cannot simply be dumped out because it will get into the water. They cannot burn it because of the fumes. They've tried mixing it with different things to at least dilute it but it seems nothing works," he elaborated.

Sasuke gave a slight nod. "What is this chemical anyway?"

Kakashi shot his student a careful look. "We don't need to worry about that as long as we do our job," he informed.

The young man was obviously put off by that answer but knew better than to press his luck. He knew it wouldn't get him anywhere but in the doghouse anyway so he just let it go for the time being.

The pickup went smoothly and while Sasuke wasn't surprised by how relieved the villagers were that they were taking the case of bottles containing the mysterious chemical away but it still unnerved him.

They took turns carrying the crate until nightfall, when they made camp. After dinner, Kakashi took the first watch, hoping to let his young companion get some peaceful rest.

Sasuke sighed as he slipped into his sleeping bag. The mission itself was almost childishly easy, save the apparent toxicity of the substance they were transporting, but he still couldn't really fall asleep. He managed only to relax enough to fall into a half-sleeping state that made him appear restful enough to please his sensei.

Other than that, his mind raced. At times like this, it seemed he couldn't stop the dark memories from playing back in his mind. Fortunately for him, he had been dealing with this for quite some time, though the problem seemed only to be getting worse, and was able to contain his visceral reactions to what his mind's eye recalled.

He only started a little when he felt Kakashi's hand on his shoulder, gently shaking him awake. "Hey, Sasuke," he carefully greeted. "Time for watch."

The young man gave a vague nod and sat up, rubbing his eyes. "Thank you," he formally replied as he took up his sensei's seat by the fire.

As he watched his sensei cover up and doze off for the evening, Sasuke felt a strange trembling in his stomach, like the momentary buzz of hummingbird wings. During the sensation, he found it difficult to think and when it subsided, he gave a carefully quiet sigh.

He felt a certain amount closeness with his sensei. He felt closer to him than anyone else though, he didn't really feel that terribly close to him. In spite of that closeness, he still felt very distant from the older man. Kakashi always kept a certain professional pedagogical distance from his students. All in all, it was just as disappointing as any of his relationships.

He breathed another sigh of relief when he saw that Kakashi was sound asleep. Then, he looked around. The case caught his attention. His attention was piqued and he decided to investigate. He carefully opened the crate, surprised that the hinges didn't squeak, in spite of his pre-emptive cringing at the sound.

There was a paper taped to the inside of the lid that he cautiously pealed off and read. Overall, it told him pretty much the same thing that his sensei had, with seemingly excessive warnings against consumption.

After making sure the paper was back in place, he slipped one of the little glass bottles from the crate. He held it up to the light of the fire to find that it was a rich pink color, which was only enhanced by the firelight dancing in the background. Thanks to that light, he was able to see the number nine etched into the glass.

Then, he suddenly realized that he had gone too long without at least glancing over at his sensei to make sure he was sound asleep. Fortunately, that was still the case and he turned his attention back to the bottle in his hand. He wondered if it was poison or perhaps something designed to drive a person mad. A moment later, he let his curiosity get the better of him and he unscrewed the lid.

Carefully, Sasuke took a small whiff of the thick liquid inside. It smelled almost sickeningly sweet and he felt the inside of his nose tingle as he quickly pulled away, shooting another cautious look at his sleeping sensei.

The young man slumped over as he slowly screwed the lid back on. He felt tired, not physically, but mentally and emotionally, even spiritually. After his last encounter with his older brother, he knew there was no way that he could ever stand up to him, let alone defeat him. It was a sickeningly sad fact that he was only just starting to come to terms with because with that motivation gone, he felt empty. There was nothing left for him to live for. The weeks since the incident had been hollow and meaningless, filled with unwanted pity and empty affections.

Just as the top was screwed on, Sasuke unscrewed it again, looking over his shoulder again out of paranoia. "There's nothing left," he only mouthed the words because even if his voice was functioning, he wouldn't want to hear it right now anyway. After reading all the precautions and warnings, Sasuke was sure that whatever was in his hands was poison and that enough of it would surely kill him.

The young man swallowed hard as he held the little bottle up to his face to give it another look. He had thought of ending his life before but never so seriously. Now that he had the means literally in his hands, it was almost irresistible. He turned back again, one last time to his sensei, sleeping obliviously on the ground only a few meters away. The sight of the man made his hand drop a little.

That was the real drawback. Kakashi would be blamed anything that happened to Sasuke, even if it was self-induced. Even if no one directly blamed him, he knew that his sensei would blame himself more than enough for the entire village, not that most of the rest of the village really gave a damn about him.

He swallowed hard again and whispered, "I'm sorry," to the sleeping man before quickly bringing the bottle to his lips and gulping down all that he could. The fluid was a thick oil that stuck the inside of his mouth and throat on the way down, forcing him to stop for a moment half-way through to keep from gagging.

Just the smell of the fluid was intoxicating and he immediately felt a warm flush overcome him, starting from his lips, moving down to his belly, and then spreading outward from there. He carefully set the bottle aside and stumbled over to his seat. Though he felt warm, the heat of the fire seemed to call to him, it's light enchanted him as he dizzily sat back down, cradling his head in his hands as his elbows rested on his knees.

He felt his head swimming as he wondered just how long it would take for the poison to take effect and what it would feel like when it did. Would it be painful? Or would he just drift off into a sleep that he would never wake from? The anticipation roused in him a morbid sort of excitement as he pondered his fate and he felt his heart start to beat a little faster, making him wonder if it was due to the excitement or the chemical he had just impulsively ingested.

As the minutes passed, Sasuke felt his entire body continue to grow warm and while his thoughts and muscles felt sluggish, he also felt restless and hardly realized when he stood to start pacing until he took his first few steps and stepped on a dry branch. He nearly jumped out of his skin as he whipped around to see if his small commotion was heard. If it was, it wasn't enough to wake the older man.

Sasuke breathed a sigh of relief but continued to stare at the sleeping form on the ground. As he looked, he couldn't help wondering whether or not he should leave some sort of message behind. That train of thought only lasted a moment because not only did he not want to put so much of himself down on paper but he didn't want to waste his last moments to be wasted scribbling some meaningless good-bye note that no one would understand anyway.

He realized that there was a certain liberation in knowing that one's end was near. It made him feel much more carefree than the had expected and the heady feeling of the drug he drank only added to that feeling. He felt compelled to take one last, long look at his sensei because that would be the last face he would see before the end. Unfortunately, he even slept with his mask and eye patch on, even if they did become a little askew as he slept. The idea that he would be denied his last wish, and such a simple wish it was, irked him greatly and before he realized what he was doing, he crouched down next to the older man to see if he could get a better look that way.

It was better, but not by much. He could see his sensei's one closed eye, short lashes delecately swooping away from his lids as his eye moved with the erraticism of REM sleep, and part of his nose. He had seen his sensei's face in full a few times in the past but for some reason, at the moment, he could hardly remember what the man before him looked like. The very idea made him sick to his stomach and it forced his hand into action as he reached out to pull the older man's scarf away from the lower half of his face.

He stopped himself just short when he realized that his fingers were trembling, and jerked his arm back next to his body. If he woke Kakashi, he would have to explain himself. He could, in theory, make up a good enough lie, granted his ability to deliver it would be greatly hindered by his intoxication, but he didn't want his last conversation with his sensei to be so dishonest. On the other hand, he could just tell the man what he'd done, what was going to happen, but then he would have to deal with being fretted over right up to his final moments. On top of that, he wasn't sure he'd be able to handle the wounded and disappointed, even angry tone from one of the few people he actually looked up to.

But he couldn't get over not being able to picture his sensei's face in his mind. He knew from experience that the man was a heavy sleeper so he hoped that if he was careful enough, he might not rouse him. He cautiously pinched the little tent of fabric that stretched between the tip of the sleeping man's nose and his lips, a place where the fabric didn't actually touch the man's skin, and slowly pulled it downward, praying that it had enough slack to give him what he wanted.

He almost breathed a sigh of relief when Kakashi's thin nose came into his view, but managed to hold his breath long enough to uncover his lips as well. Then, the grey-haired man started to stir. Sasuke panicked, unsure as to whether letting go or holding onto the scarf would rouse the man less. When Kakashi's head turned, the fabric was pulled from his fingers and he settled in a little better.

Sasuke thought his heart was going to leap out of his chest as he quietly scrambled a few steps backward just in case. Once the older man was still again, he slowly crawled around to see if his work had been undone. He smiled almost stupidly to himself when he saw that the majority of his sensei's face uncovered and well lit by the firelight.

He never really noticed how sharp his sensei's features were, the point of his nose and chin, even the corners of his eye. Adding to that sharpness was the portion of the facial scar that he could now see with its jagged edges and malformed curves that ended in a point on the man's shallow cheek.

Again his hand took action before consulting his brain as he crawled a little closer so he could reach out and touch the older man's face. It was a brief, whisper of a caress that didn't disturb the man in the slightest. The lack of response made him greedy and he only hesitated for a second before leaning down and pressing his lips against the older man's thin, pale lips.

Kakashi was pulled from his dreams, which he thought to be a shame because they were rather pleasant, by the sudden pressure on his lips. He blinked with surprise, and watched Sasuke's eyes grow impossibly wide as he gasped and stumbled backward, almost into the fire. "Sasuke?" was all he could manage at first because even though they were no longer in contact, the feeling of young man's lips still lingered on his own.

"S-Sensei…" Sasuke sluggishly replied, once again leaning forward but this time to put some distance between himself and their fire rather than to get closer to his teacher.

"What's going on?" the grey-haired man asked carefully.

The teen felt a momentary flash of panic but it was quickly quelled by the lulling warmth within him. He sighed. "I never kissed anybody before," he admitted bashfully.

Kakashi cocked an incredulous eyebrow but it went unseen beneath his makeshift eye patch. "So you decided to kiss me in my sleep? I'm sure Sakura-chan would have been more than happy to help you out with that," he chided sleepily.

"I-I know…but I don't have time to go see her, I don't think," he slurred a little as he spoke.

Now that Kakashi was awake enough to really look at his student, he could tell something was wrong. "Why's that? What's happened?" he pressed cautiously.

"Because I'm going to die and probably very soon," he informed with a dark sort of detachment.

"What?" Kakashi threw back his covers and moved a little closer to the young man saying such strange things to him all of a sudden.

"I'm sorry. I'm just so tired of it all. I don't want to go on anymore," he barely kept his tears in check as he spoke. The words were hard to choke out because of how bitterly genuine they were.

"What are you saying? You can't be serious! You can't possibly mean you're going to-" Kakashi raved, shaking the young man lightly only to be cut off.

"I already did. It's only a matter of time now. I would have preferred something more instantaneous but having time to think about what's going to happen has been interesting," he mused as he felt his muscles relax under the strong grip of his sensei. He didn't even realize when a heated sigh passed his lips.

"Sasuke!" Kakashi gasped in horror. "What did you do?"

"Does it matter? It's been done," the young man lazily shrugged.

The sensei took another long moment to look over his student. There was definitely something wrong with him. His skin was rosy and hot to the touch, his eyes dilated to an impossible extreme. His movements were sluggish at best and he seemed to be starting to rely on Kakashi's grip on him for support in continuing to sit upright. "At least tell me what you did," he tried to reason, hoping that it wasn't too late.

Sasuke thought for a few seconds, letting the words wash over him several times before answering. "If I tell you, will you tell me what it's going to be like for me?" he bargained.

"You mean you don't know?" Kakashi asked, a little more panicked than before.

"I just know it was poison…it didn't say what it would do," he shrugged. "It doesn't really matter what happens in the meantime anyway. I was just curious."

"How could you take something without knowing what it would do?" the older man scolded, shaking his student again.

Sasuke grew slightly pale for a moment. "Please, don't shake me like that," he pleaded while trying to wrap his arms around his sensei's enough to keep him from doing it again.

"If I can tell you, I will. Now please, what did you take?" Kakashi agreed.

The young man withdrew slightly and shot a nervous glance over at the crate a few meters away, still open with an empty, unlidded bottle sitting on the ground beside it. Kakashi felt sick to his stomach again. Before it was at the thought of suddenly losing one of his students in such of way that had caused the feeling. Now, it was something different. Now it was his turn to break so rather disturbing news and he knew the teen would not react well. He would be humiliated and even more depressed than he was before he had tried to commit suicide. "Y-You drank that?" he reluctantly pointed.

"The whole bottle," he replied assuredly.

"How do you feel?" he asked carefully.

"How am I supposed to feel?" the teen asked challengingly.

"I'll tell you in a moment. I want to see how well your symptoms line up with those I've been given first because there are a couple of different ways it might develop," he cautiously lied.

Sasuke appeared petulant for a moment. "Fine…" he agreed before considering how he was feeling. "I feel hot and slow and…kinda fuzzy," he managed. "And everything looks…kinda weird."

"I see. Well, it sounds like it's proceeding as it should," he mused darkly. "How long ago did you drink it?"

"About an hour, maybe two," he slurred.

"Before long, you should lose your mind and only you will be able to decide what will happen to you after that," he elaborated.

"So I'll go mad…" the young man hazily mused.

"You could not imagine such madness," Kakashi continued.

"I won't have to," he continued to muse with a sardonic smirk on his rosy lips.

"Sasuke…did you really kiss me because it would be your last chance?" he asked suddenly.

Sasuke's features contorted into an almost grotesque sneer. "What other reason is there?"

Kakashi sigh. "I have something to tell you that you're not going to like."

"What is it?" he demanded as forcefully as he could, but it lacked much of his usual fiery conviction.

"That stuff isn't poison," he informed.

Sasuke scoffed. "Then why is it labeled toxic?"

"So that no one would touch it!" he finally snapped.

Sasuke laughed a little and that laugher trailed off into a mindless little giggle. "You can't fool me. Lying about it isn't going to change my fate."

"I'm not lying to you," he insisted.

"Okay, if it's not going to kill me, then what's it going to do?" he incredulously questioned.

"That's the part you're really going to really hate. It's an aphrodisiac, and a dangerously powerful one."

"A…A what?" he demanded. He tried to stand but ended up just stumbling forward.

"A dangerously powerful aphrodisiac," he repeated seriously. "And it's not designed for oral consumption."

Sasuke couldn't believe what he was hearing. "You can't be serious!"

"I'm afraid I am. It's supposed to be a body oil, absorbed through the skin. I can only imagine that ingesting it will make it more potent," he informed.

Suddenly, Sasuke violently vomited.

"Well, that will certainly help," he shrugged, gathering up a large bowl for his student to use as a receptacle as he tried to clean up the original mess.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Sasuke raved between heaves.

Kakashi didn't bother answering. He simply sat back and watched the young man heave until he passed into unconsciousness. He didn't bother covering him up, only emptying and washing the bowl because he was so incredibly annoyed with his student. He had known that Sasuke was depressed but he didn't think it was that bad. When the young man started to peal off his clothes in his sleep, he forced himself to look away.

Sasuke started to stir about half an hour later to find his sensei staring thoughtfully into the fire. Even when he opened his eyes, he still didn't feel very awake. He felt even warmer than he did before, though he didn't feel nauseous anymore, at least not physically. His emotions were incredibly turbulent, so much so that he was finding it difficult to even think straight.

Without thinking, he slowly crawled over to his sensei, laying his head on his leg.

"Sasuke, you don't want to do this," the older man coolly informed.

"I'm so lonely…" he pitifully pleaded.

"That's the drug talking," he replied.

"I felt this way before…that's why I tried to…" he weakly tried to explain.

Kakashi sighed and placed a careful hand on one of the young man's slumped bare shoulders. "Why didn't you try to talk to anybody about it before trying to kill yourself?" he asked impatiently.

"I don't have anybody who'd listen," he regretfully replied.

"You're talking to me right now," the man pointed out.

Sasuke gave a heavy sigh, letting the weight of his head more fully rest on his teacher's thigh. "This is different."

"How so?" he pressed.

"I still don't feel like I can tell you what I'm thinking," he complained.

"I'm sorry to hear that…but right now it would probably be best to keep your thoughts to yourself," he muttered.

That made the hot tears well up in Sasuke's eyes again. "Sensei…" he choked out.

Kakashi gave his desperate student a carefully affectionate pat on the shoulder.

"Just kill me now," he begged.

"You know I won't do that," the older man sighed.

"Please. I tried to do it myself and I failed. I can't even do that right," he finally started to sob.

"Have you considered that you weren't supposed to die tonight?" he continued to try even though he was fairly sure it would do little to no good.

Sasuke fitfully shook his head no which not only served to convey his message but also to make him very dizzy and he had to cling to his sensei's leg to maintain any sense of balance.

"Sasuke, please," he weakly pleaded, trying to pry the young man off his leg. Even just the small taste of the potion he had gotten from the short kiss he had been given was still making his lips tingle, and now his tongue since had licked his lips, a nervous tic that he usually didn't have to worry about but now he was mentally scolding himself for.

"I can't help it," he grasped at the man's dark pants in an effort to remain attached. "Just touching you makes me feel better," he whispered.

"That's the drug talking and you know it," he stood and pushed the young man down. "Go lay down and try to rest. You should have metabolized most of the chemical by morning."

Sasuke started to tremble at the disapproving, authoritative tone. "I-If I had taken it…just out of curiosity…would you still push me away? Or is this because of what I tried to do?" he demanded.

"Regardless of your intention, I would still refuse to indulge you," Kakashi resolutely replied.

The teen gave a sullen look and crawled over to his sleeping bag, flopping gracelessly down on top of it. He was far too warm to cover himself, even just wearing his pants was oppressive but he knew better than to take them off. Of course, he couldn't rest but at least he was leaving Kakashi alone. The older man already felt stressed enough about the situation and its implications to deal with his feverish student climbing on and clinging to him.

Sasuke blacked out about twenty minutes after laying down and shortly after started to toss and turn, even writhe on his sleeping bag. Kakashi felt the deepest pity for the young man, which he knew was the exact opposite of what he would want. Having failed at suicide was one thing but then to have to suffer through uncontrollable arousal because of it, had to be more than the young man could bear. He worried that his earlier threat that Sasuke would go mad might actually hold true.

He watched the young man's face twist and contort in every expression imaginable, save those associated with calm and relaxation. He listened with unwilling attentiveness to every little sound that the teen made, gasps, moans, little whines that straddled the line between pleasure and pain. Before long, the sounds turned from heated with desire to flares of pain. When Sasuke clutched his stomach and convulse, his voice coming only in unintelligible little grunts, Kakashi regretfully decided that he had to do something.

But whatever he did, he knew he had to be very careful. As much as he would like, he knew that whatever he decided to do, he would be allowed no personal pleasure from it, aside from that derived from altruism. So, he moved over and sat on Sasuke's sleeping bag, as the young man had mostly rolled off the thing. Then, he pulled the dark-haired teen into his lap, resting his head back on his shoulder. Gently, he brushed Sasuke's hair away from his face, as it now started to stick to his forehead and cheeks with sweat.

"S-Sensei…?" the teen barely asked.

"Yes, it's me," he replied evenly.

"But you said…" he tried to argue but the feeling of his teacher's strong chest pressed against his bare back stole his words.

"I know what I said but you're in pain. I don't actually want you to go mad," he answered in a level voice.

Sasuke started to tremble again. "I don't understand," he whined. He was torn between his fight and flight instincts and it left him frozen in the larger man's lap.

"I don't really expect you to," he admitted almost regretfully as he took the young man's hands in his own.

"Wh-What do you expect then?" Sasuke tried to snap.

"To be honest, I'm not really sure what to expect from you…I just hope that whatever it is, you won't hate me for it tomorrow," he mused darkly.

That last bit made Sasuke panic and he weakly fought to get away from his sensei, in spite of how lovely the little touches he'd gotten so far had been. "Let me go," he pleaded.

Kakashi reluctantly complied, letting him go. "What's the matter?"

"I can't hate you," he insisted fitfully. Then, his brow furrowed. "Don't you hate me for what I tried to do?"

"Don't be ridiculous, I don't hate you. I'm extremely disappointed and more than a little confused by your actions but you'll get no hate from me," he assured.

"Then why would I hate you?" he nearly raved, running his fingers through his hair nervously.

Kakashi sighed and held out a friendly, welcoming hand, "Come back to me," he urged in a low voice.

Sasuke found himself nearly in the older man's lap again before he realized that he had started moving. "Sensei," he wearily murmured.

"I was hoping it wouldn't come to this but if you're in pain that means you're not metabolizing the drug fast enough. You've been through enough tonight and I don't want to watch you suffer like that," Kakashi informed somewhat reluctantly.

"Wait," Sasuke suddenly had an eerie moment of clarity and he wasn't going to let it go to waste. "What do you mean fast enough?"

"You know what can happen if a person runs a high fever for too long," Kakashi sternly replied.

The young man's eyes lit up and he pushed away from his sensei as hard as he could manage. "Don't touch me!" he suddenly ordered, scrambling further away.

"Sasuke!" Kakashi nearly shouted as he stood. Nearly all of his patience was gone and for the first time he felt a real spark of contempt for his student. "Stop this right now!"

The young man remained on the ground for a moment, in a crouching position, only the balls of his feet and the tips of his fingers actually touching the ground. He gave his sensei a very careful but still very wild look before suddenly running away.

"Damn it," Kakashi swore as he started his chase. As he ran after his delusional student, he found that the young man lacked much of his usual grace, which wasn't a surprise, and that seemed to limit him to traveling on the ground, rather than jumping through the trees. This made him a little easier to follow. However, the erratic path he was taking, nearly made up for that as he lost sight of the illusive young ninja several times before actually catching up with him.

When Sasuke bolted and as he chased him, Kakashi couldn't help thinking that his student reminded him, at least at the moment, very much of a rabbit. When conventional tactics failed, he decided to adapt to that approach and it seemed to work fairly well. There were even a few moments when he was flying through the air, leaping between branches, that he almost felt like a hawk. He had to tackle the young man to get him to stop and he still received a struggle while he pinned him face down on the ground.

"Let me go!" he screamed.

Kakashi started a little when the young man raised his voice but managed to keep his hold. "I can't do that. I won't let you do what you're trying to do," he insisted.

"It is my right! I will do as I please," he futilely struggled against the weight of the older man.

"As your sensei, I am responsible for your life. I will not let you end it now, not like this," he continued, pressing the young man's shoulder into the ground as hard as he could while still allowing him to breathe.

"If I hate you for anything, it'll be for not letting me die!" Sasuke yelled indignantly.

"If that's the case, then I'll be able to handle it," he vowed grimly as he reached around the young man's thin hips, grabbing his erection through his shorts.

"Aaagh!" Sasuke cried out in anguish. "No…"

"I'm afraid this is the only way to stop the fever," the older man reluctantly informed.

The dark-haired teen gave a grunt of reluctant satisfaction as he was groped. "Sensei…you shouldn't touch me like this anymore than you should let me die," he argued.

"I realize that but given the choice, I would rather see you live to hate me for it than to let you suffer, and maybe die, knowing I could have done something for you," he reasoned authoritatively.

Sasuke could only manage choked out groans for a long while after that. The touches of his sensei were starting to cloud his mind and he found himself, before too long, pushing back against the hands on his body rather than fighting them. "Uuugh, S-Sensei…"

"Yes, Sasuke?" he asked hopefully.

"It hurts so bad…" he whined, unable to believe that he was incapable of such a tone.

"I know…what can I do?" he carefully coaxed.

Part of Sasuke was still reluctant to let that part of himself go. However, the chemical he ingested largely shut down that part of his brain. "It's so rough…" he pleaded.

Kakashi thought he was being gentle but he didn't want to let up on his hold on the young man. He got the message when one of Sasuke's hands reached down and started to pull away his pants. Then he understood that he meant the fabric constricting his erection. "Ah, okay," he nodded and helped pull his shorts and underwear down to his knees. Then, he went back to gently fondling his student's swollen length.

"Sensei," the dark-haired teen mewled at the skin-to-skin contact.

"Shhh," he eased. The little cries of reluctant pleasure were sweet to his ears but the situation made his stomach turn.

"Aaaaaagh," he cried, digging his fingers into the soft forest floor. "This is torture. Don't do this to me!"

Kakashi just pursed his lips and continued his administrations. He knew that nothing he could say would make things better so he thought it best to say nothing.

The young ninja came with a stifled, choked out cry about a minute later and after that, everything went black. Kakashi listened to the almost sickening sound and watched with apprehension as the young man's eyes rolled back and his body slumped a little beneath him.

"Sasuke?" Kakashi carefully let up a little.

The teen's eyes were still rolling as he rolled around beneath his sensei. His hands moved up the larger man's arms until he was clutching at his chest. "Sensei," he mewled again, rolling his hips upward into the older man's

"Sasuke," Kakashi sighed as he brushed the young man's hair away from his face again. Then, he reached back down and started stroking him again. He tried not to awe at the way his students inexperienced hands groped mindlessly at his body. It seemed it didn't matter where he was touching his sensei, as long as there was physical contact.

"Tell me again that you don't hate me," the young man pleaded as his next orgasm approached.

Kakashi swallowed hard. He wanted to provide reassurance but at the same time, he didn't want to encourage the feverish young man anymore than he had to. "I don't hate you," he replied evenly.

Sasuke moaned and came again in his teacher's hand.

"Tell me you don't want me to die," he continued to plead.

"Sasuke, please, don't speak," Kakashi tried.

"See? You know you're life would be easier without me!" he accused weakly though his hips didn't stop moving.

Kakashi frowned deeply and slapped Sasuke hard on the cheek. "I don't want you to die so stop saying such foolish things. If I wanted you to die, I would have let you run out here by yourself!"

The slap caused Sasuke to cum again, this time with a loud moan that seemed to echo in the trees. "Oh, God…Do that again," he begged in a husky voice.

The older man's eyes grew wide with horror. He had been hoping to slap some sense into the younger ninja but apparently that backfired. He opted instead to stroke Sasuke even harder, hoping that would be enough.

As far as the feverish Sasuke was concerned, that was a good start but he needed more so, he leaned upward and kissed the older man again. He was indulged for a short moment, until Kakashi could taste the potion on the young man's lips and tongue. Then, the older man forcefully pulled away.

"Sensei!" he scoldingly complained.

"I-" He really wanted to keep kissing the dark-haired teen but he knew better. "I can't. I'm sorry."

"Please…it makes the pain go away," he tried to coax.

"I know but…I can taste that oil on your mouth. You're just lucky you didn't use it the right way, or I wouldn't be able to touch you without being affected as well," he informed, once again holding the young ninja to the ground forcefully.

That made Sasuke's mind race and he managed another orgasm before his erection waned and he started to lose consciousness. "Sensei," he called, disoriented as he lay prone on the forest floor.

"Yes, Sasuke?" he asked, moving off the young man but keeping him in arm's reach in case he decided to take off again, which seemed unlikely considering his state.

"Where am I?" he asked as evenly as he could manage.

"We're in the forest, several kilometers from home. Our camp's back that way," he pointed.

As Sasuke recalled the events leading up to what had just happened and felt tears start to well up in his eyes again. "Can we go back to camp?" he asked quietly.

"Sure thing." Kakashi stood and helped his student up. He hesitated, at first, at the idea of carrying him but when the young man stumbled his first few steps, he decided to do it anyway. He was pleased that Sasuke managed to fall asleep in his arms as he carried him and when they reached their camp, he redressed him as well as possible, mostly making sure his pants were on right, and tucked him into the sleeping bag.

With a heavy sigh, he knelt next to the crate, still open but undisturbed since Sasuke had opened it. Just as a precaution, because the teen had apparently consumed as much from the bottle as he possible could, he screwed the lid back on. He fell asleep sitting up near the fire a short while later. He hadn't meant to, but he was too exhausted to stay awake.

Sasuke woke again less than an hour later, his sensei's words still echoing in his mind. He slowly rolled over to find the older man sitting by the fire, chin propped up in one hand, eyes closed. Then his eyes shot over to the crate, which had been closed. He knew that he could still get what he wanted, he just hoped the crate was as quiet opening this time as it was the last.

With barely a sound, he slipped out of his sleeping bag and crawled over to the crate. He grinned greedily when it silently opened and he pulled out another bottle. He cringed at the slight scraping sound of the lid as he unscrewed it but the sleeping man a few meters away didn't seem to notice.

Then, with a deep breath to gather his conviction, Sasuke poured a large pool of the oil into his hand, which he rubbed into his chest and stomach. He knew that the heated flush that he had experienced earlier wasn't completely gone yet but it had started to fade so the sudden rush of warmth that rippled over him as he smeared the sweet smelling oil into his skin made his breath catch.

He managed to keep himself quiet until the drug started to take over again. Then, he pulled down his pants and poured some oil onto his growing erection, bringing it completely back to life. When he finally gave in and started to stroke himself, rubbing the thick fluid into his cock, he moaned rather loudly.

Kakashi awoke with a start and when he saw that the sleeping bag across the fire from him was empty, he turned to see Sasuke, now almost completely naked, his skin glistening in the firelight, and a half-empty bottle of pink liquid in one hand. "Sasuke!" Kakashi nearly screamed as he stood. "What the hell do you think you're doing?" he stormed over, snatching the bottle away.

Sasuke didn't care, he just used his free hand to continue rubbing the oil into his skin. "Now you can't touch me. You have to let me suffer, to let me die if that's what'll happen," he nearly raved.

The sensei could hardly believe his eyes or ears. "You don't know what you're saying! Stop that!" he grabbed Sasuke's wrist and pulled it away from his body.

"I know exactly what I'm saying," he retorted harshly and instead of jerking away, he just placed his other hand on his sensei's hand, easily sliding up the man's arm because of the oil.

Kakashi jerked away and Sasuke laughed idiotically.

"It's perfect…now you won't stop me," he nearly mewled, rubbing his arms, stomach, and chest.

The teacher could no longer contain his anger and he lashed out at his student, backhanding him hard enough to knock him to the ground. "You are absolutely unbelievable!"

The young ninja simply continued to writhe on the ground. He initial rush of pleasure he felt was quickly being overwhelmed by the pressure and pain building inside him.

Kakashi was pensive for a long moment after that. Then, he sighed. "Either way, you're making me do something I don't want to do," he grimly informed. "It's not right to force someone to chose between the lesser of two evils."

Sasuke forced another bout of pain-stricken laughter. "Welcome to my entire life."

At that point, Kakashi was left with a rather annoying choice. He had already decided that he was going to expose himself to the drugged oil for the sake of his student. The question then became how to go about doing that. Should he try to leave his clothes on and then have to get rid of them later? Or, should he just strip down now, exposing himself further to the chemical for the sake of his clothes? At first staying clothed seemed like the better idea but when he considered that he would have to have something to wear for the rest of their journey, preferably something not tainted like that, he reluctantly started undressing.

"Wh-What are you doing?" Sasuke asked in near horror when he saw the first flashes of the older man's fair, toned stomach.

"Choosing what I consider to be the lesser of two evils," he replied evenly, tossing his shirt and vest aside.

"Oh no you don't!" Sasuke scrambled to his feet but before he could get away, Kakashi grabbed his ankle, causing him to once again fall to the ground.

"This will be less unpleasant for both of us if you don't fight me," he informed as he kicked off his shoes. He even managed to keep a firm hold on the struggling young ninja while removing his pants with his free hand.

"What makes you think I won't?" the teen weakly tugged his leg and then gave a good jerk but to no avail.

"With the way you've been acting, I really don't know what to expect of you," he snapped, roughly pulling the young man back into his lap and wrapping a strong arm around his waist. "And I was hoping from the way you were acting earlier, you won't fight me for too long," he admitted regretfully.

"You evil pervert!" Sasuke kicked ineffectually. "Let me go right now!" Then, when his sensei started stroking him again, his hands flew to his groin. "Stop it! Don't touch me like that!"

"I suppose you'd rather I slap you again," he grumbled bitterly. "This is the only kind of touch you're going to get from me so you'd better enjoy it."

"I won't! You can't make me! Let me go!" he continued to rave as his orgasm drew closer. "Oh, god, Sensei, please, just let me go…" he gasped.

"I don't intend to let go of you until I'm sure you're not going to overheat," the older man asserted and started stroking even harder. He was rewarded with small orgasm a few moments later. He hoped that, like last time, the young man's inhibitions would take over and he wouldn't have to worry about keeping him in arm's reach. This time, that was not the case.

"No…I'll tell everyone what you're doing to me if you don't stop right now!" he threatened harshly, between jagged breaths.

"I'm going to have to explain what happened to those two bottles you opened anyway. Your actions justify my behavior," he asserted authoritatively.

Sasuke shook his head fitfully from side to side. "Why are you doing this to me?"

"At least you used it the right way this time…" he muttered offhandedly as he continued to massage the stiff length in his hand. "I can't imaging choking that down."

"It wasn't easy…but it was supposed to be worth it," Sasuke retorted.

"We'll see if we can't make up for that," Kakashi tried not to coo in to the young man's ear. Just what he had absorbed through his skin already, mostly through his hands, was starting to affect his judgment.

"Sensei…" Sasuke gasped, whipping his head around to look in at his face. The older man's fair skin was starting to show the slightest flush and his visible eye looked a little glossy. "No, you can't do this," he continued to protest. "If we're both on the drug then-" he cut himself off because he didn't want to fathom what would happen.

"Then we are both most likely going to regret what happens," he sighed. "But I'd prefer that awkwardness to losing you entirely."

That last sentiment struck a chord in Sasuke and he felt his erection start to pulse again. He didn't even realize he was so close again already and didn't manage to speak again until that was over. "I…I promise not to try to run away again," he suddenly vowed in a soft voice.

Kakashi turned the young man's face toward him again. He wanted to see the expression that accompanied those words because, at the moment, he wasn't very good at hiding his emotions. "Okay but if you break that promise, I will hog tie you and carry you back to the village as you are and let someone else deal with you. I'm sure there are some good doctors and psychiatrists who'd like to talk to you right about now," he threatened.

Sasuke gave a serious, almost stiff nod. Then, before either of them could find their words again, he closed the distance between them to kiss him.

"Sasuke, please," he placed his hands on the young man's chest, where he could feel his rapid breathing and heart rate. "Don't kiss me," he pushed him away.

"Ah, please, you're already infected. What difference does it make?" he pressed, pushing back.

"No, please…Sasuke, don't," he stammered as he felt the muscles keeping the young man away starting to fail.

"But why? I know I'm not very good but I'll try to get better," he reasoned.

"That's what I'm afraid of," the older man grumbled.

Sasuke leveled an eerie stare at his sensei. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"You know very well what it means," he snapped.

The young ninja's eyes lit up and he pounced, pinning the taller man to the ground with a kiss. He found it unfortunate that because of their height difference and how they were positioned, he couldn't press their hips together while they kissed. He opted instead to rub himself on the taller man's stomach. "Sensei…" he mewled, his vision beginning to blur around the edges.

"Stop it!" Kakashi easily rolled them over.

"But your hard too," he protested petulantly, reaching down to grab the turgid flesh that brushed against his legs.

"I said stop it!" he yelled, taking Sasuke's wrists and pinning them on either side of his head.

"But you've been touching me all night," he wiggled a little and, finding his hands secured, he decided to wrap his legs around the man above him instead.

"That's different and you know it!" Kakashi snapped.

"Not anymore it isn't. You're being affected too," he argued.

"It is still not the same," he heatedly contested. "You intentionally attempted to overdose. Being in contact with you will affect me but not to the same extreme. I shouldn't require the same sort of release to break my fever as you do."

"But what if you do?" the young man suddenly countered, raising his hips to brush their erections together.

Kakashi reeled back. He hadn't really thought of that since it didn't seem like a viable outcome. "Then I would take care of myself," he curtly replied.

"You never told me that was an option," Sasuke bitterly complained but it lacked much of is usually edge due to the relief that the minimal pleasure he was able to get from the man above him.

"You wouldn't have done that even if I had told you. You would have accused me of something perverted. If you were going to make those kinds of accusations, I wanted to at least do something for it and something I was sure would fix the problem," he informed harshly.

"You still should have at least mentioned it, given me the opportunity to-" he tried to argue but was cut off.

"Don't pretend like you would have done it! You probably would have contrived some way of using that to make your condition worse," he accused.

Sasuke laughed sardonically because he knew the man was right. "Kiss me, please," he quested upward almost blindly.

Kakashi gave an irritated grunt as he shifted his weight, moving one knee upward to upward onto the young man's chest to pin him more thoroughly. "No," he snapped.

The pinned young ninja didn't hear the single, harsh word. He was too busy awing at the engorged erection that bobbed above him. The sight of the length made butterflies dance in his stomach and he instinctively opened his mouth in a wide gasp.

The sensei's eyes grew wide as he fought the urge to shove his length into the wet chasm. "Nnngh," he groaned, moving his leg back down and capturing his student's lips in a heated kiss as he started to massage the young man's length.

Sasuke gripped the hands holding his as hard as he could as he shoved his tongue past the older man's lips and teeth. He moaned into the other's mouth when he came again. The release of pleasure also released him of much of the pain he was experiencing and he felt himself go limp as his sensei continued to kiss and stroke him. "Aah, Sensei," he gasped, breaking their kiss, when it seemed that he wasn't going to relent even though he was obviously spent.

The young man's shaky words brought Kakashi back to reality and he quickly pulled away. There was a deep flush lighting up his entire body and he panted lightly as he reeled upward, releasing his hold on his student's wrists. Then, a flash of panic, followed by an eerie moment of clarity as he looked over the body beneath him. "Go to bed," he ordered as he dismounted, moving back over to the crate.

"What about you?" Sasuke asked suspiciously.

"That is not your concern," he snapped. "And get dressed," he added coldly.

"Yes, Sensei," he gave a little bow as he squirmed back into his pants and underwear. He felt more than a little put off by the sudden withdrawal. When he realized that he felt abandoned, he knew better than to trust his initial reaction. So, he submissively obeyed, slipping back into his sleeping back and pointedly turning away from the older man.

However, he couldn't help listening as Kakashi put the bottles away and closed the crate. Then, he heard him briefly move and grow silent for a long time. When he heard the older man give a heated little gasp, he felt safe in rolling over a little. He tried to make it look like he was still asleep at first, as though the slight sound could have caused him to stir in his sleep. He discovered the effort was unnecessary a moment later when he cracked an eye to see that his sensei had sought refuge on the other side of the crate, sitting on the ground.

For the first time since his watch that evening, Sasuke felt his head starting to clear. It was an almost sickening lucidity and tried to overwhelm him with shame and guilt. It might have done so but he was so curious about what his sensei was doing that he was able to push it those thoughts out of his mind for the time being.

He stealthily uncovered himself and crawled around the fire to get a better vantage point. He could see that the grey-haired man was seated on the ground, back propped up against the crate, knees splayed, and his hand working hurriedly in his lap. He flushed silently at the heated little moan that slipped from the man's lips. He bit his lip as the display, accompanied by the minute sound, stirred something inside him that drew him a few paces closer.

When Kakashi turned his head, an involuntary movement triggered by pleasure, Sasuke flattened down to the ground to avoid being noticed. It seemed to work and it also allowed him to see the desperately bitter frown that poorly hid his clenched teeth. Somewhere, in the back of his mind, Sasuke knew that even without the remainder of the drug working through his system, he would have been interested, even fascinated by what he was seeing.

He replayed the parts of the last few hours that he could recall. He knew he had behaved foolishly and part of him was thankful that he had a sensei like Kakashi to watch his back even when he didn't want anyone to. He also appreciated the lengths that the man was willing to go to in order to save his life. He knew that although his teacher was a pervert, and that he would make the occasional innuendo, but he would never actually make a move on any of them. Even his jokes were of the nature that he would not appreciate an encounter with one of his students.

He hardly realized, except for the sound of his pants scraping on the ground, that he had started to move closer once again. He was finally spotted a few short minutes later when Kakashi shot a nervously surveying look over his shoulder.

"Sasuke! What are you doing?" he demanded, unconsciously scooting away a little.

"I…" he almost spoke his mind but thought better of it. "I was curious," he half-lied, inching closer as he spoke.

"Go back to sleep," Kakashi ordered, now consciously trying to fight the instinctive reeling back that his body seemed to want to do in the young man's presence. He almost felt stalked; if Sasuke was a rabbit before, he was very catlike now, especially with the way he was carefully crawling toward him.

"I can't sleep," he argued.

"Then stand watch…and do it over there," he angrily pointed to the other side of their camp.

"A-Are you sure you're okay?" he pressed.

Kakashi gave an exasperated grumble. "I think it's pretty obvious that I'm very much not okay at the moment but I am sure that I don't want you to interfere," he snapped, turning away, hoping that would be enough to get the young man to leave him be.

So such luck. Sasuke used the voluntary blindness toward him to his advantage and closed the distance between them. When the man's lips parted to speak but before any words actually came out, he grabbed his sensei's erection and started pumping purposefully. Sure, he wanted to see what the man he respected so much looked like in such a state but he knew that if he showed gave even the slightest sense of dawdling, he would be pushed away once and for all.

"Please, don't do this…don't put me in this position," the older man pleaded. "What I had to do for you was bad enough…this only adds insult to injury," he protested.

"C-Cause you don't really want me," he surmised grimly but didn't stop pumping.

Kakashi had been on the verge of orgasm when he noticed his student sneaking up on him, which just made it that much more difficult to concentrate on his thoughts on what he should be doing rather than what he wanted to be doing. "Our relationship isn't like that. It would be wrong of me to take advantage of you like that. I'm your sensei, you're supposed to be able to trust me not to behave that way toward you."

"What if doing it by yourself isn't enough?" Sasuke suddenly pressed.

That was when Kakashi summoned enough strength to push his student away. "Then I will find someone else to take care of it for me," he snapped.

"I'm someone else," Sasuke pointed out weakly but it seemed to do no good. "If I was Sakura, would you let me help you then?"

"No, I wouldn't do that to her either…not that she would put me in this kind of position," he grumbled.

"Then, please, let me make it up to you," he leaned forward again.

"Why are you doing this?" the demanded the older man, suddenly and evenly. He knew that evenness would only last for a moment and he was glad he was allowed to speak during that time. His whole body felt like it was on fire and it was making it really hard to think straight. He had been on the verge of orgasm for too long and the denial was actually starting to grow painful. If he didn't take care of it soon, he might actually need the young man's help to alleviate his symptoms. On top of all that, he was starting to lose his temper again, something that rarely happened and so he was unaccustomed to dealing with. "You're not helping!"

"Of course I'm not, you haven't given me the chance to help you. You just assume that I won't understand what you want and that it will compromise our relationship as sensei and pupil," he accused.

"Then why don't you realize that what you're proposing will change our relationship far more significantly than what I had to do to you?" As he argued, he felt the fever of denial start to make him want to throw caution to the wind and let the young man molest him.

"I realize that it can but I don't see why it has to," he contested petulantly.

"It has to because I am your sensei. I can't let you," he barely managed through gritted teeth.

"Then forget that for a while…pretend I'm someone else if it helps," he offered.

"Is that what you did?" Kakashi asked almost hopefully.

"Uh…" Sasuke faltered, "I wasn't really thinking about anything," he admitted.

"J-Just…Just leave me alone!" he finally shouted.

"What if I don't? I want to help you," he insisted.

Sasuke considered leaving but the apparent anxiety and pain made him stop. He decided not to let the other deter him. He pounced and took the man's erection in hand, attempting to push him over the edge.

"Damn it!" he shoved the young man away and then stood, taking a few steps backward. "Knock it off!"

The young man eyed his sensei suspiciously. The older man was obviously flustered and painfully aroused. "Where are you going?" he questioned accusingly.

"That's no concern of yours!" Kakashi snapped, snatching up a blanket to cover himself as he tried to escape their camp.

"But what if I need to find you?" he pressed.

"Just yell, I won't be that far," he grumbled.

"So…you're just gunna leave me alone here?" Sasuke questioned with a dark mischievousness in his tone.

"I'm sure you can take care of camp while I'm gone," the older man curtly replied.

The dark-haired teen cocked a curious eyebrow and placed a hand on the crate. When that didn't rouse his sensei's attention, he threw it open.

Kakashi nearly jumped out of his skin at the sound as he whipped around. "Don't you dare!"

"If you leave, you can't stop me," Sasuke bragged. "I'll be long gone before you come back. You wouldn't find me until I stopped moving and by that time I'd be beyond helping, if not just dead." Then, for the first time that evening, the look in his sensei's eyes frightened him. He was angry, desperate, aroused, and at the end of his rope. Sasuke would have scrambled backward if he hadn't been frozen in fear when Kakashi stormed toward him. "S-Sensei-" he gasped when he was pushed down onto his stomach.

"I saved your life so save my pride just a little bit, okay?" Kakashi snarled as he tore the sheet he had in his hand and used it to tie up his student. "I thought you had matured but now I can see you're still just a petulant child."

The young man gave a futile struggle against the older man's superior strength, heightened by the drug he had been exposed to. Once he was bound, he was tossed back onto his sleeping bag. He landed with a hard, "Ooph," sound. Then, he heard the crate slam shut, rattling the bottles inside as the man stormed off.

Kakashi didn't go far but he was so angry that he couldn't think straight. He had to put some physical distance between himself and the belligerent young man. He could hardly believe the audacity of his student. However, he also couldn't help keeping an eye on the dark-haired teen as he moved around the outer edge of their camp. It was mostly because he couldn't trust Sasuke for even a second anymore but as he watched, it also became, at least partly, because the young, toned, bound body by the fire was increasingly tempting.

Sasuke rolled over when he heard his sensei moaned again, this time the sound was much more distant. He squinted through the fire to better see the tall, fair man leaning with one hand against a thick tree trunk, his feet firmly planted shoulder length apart on the forest floor. Then, he squirmed a little when he saw thick white streaks shoot from the tip of the older man's length. "Sensei…" he barely whispered, feeling his length start to stir sympathetically.

Kakashi let his head droop as he felt a wave of relaxation wash over him and fell to his knees, his hand sliding down the rough bark of the tree trunk to keep himself from toppling over. Just that first release was very helpful in restoring some of his better sense, even though he could tell it wasn't exactly over yet. He sighed and sat back on his heals, taking a moment to breathe before looking over at his student again, for the first time since he had started to cum.

He could seen the young man's dark eyes, wide and seeming to dance in the firelight. He rolled his eyes when he realized that his student had watched the entire thing. "At least he wasn't attacking me…" he muttered quietly to himself.

Sasuke felt another flash of panic, this time seemingly inexplicable. He was hard again and this time he knew, even if he wouldn't admit it to himself, that this time it was because of what he had witnessed, rather than what he consumed. "Sensei…" he called a little louder but still he wasn't heard.

He wasn't heard, but Kakashi had seen the young man's lips move and that disturbed him greatly. He was a fairly competent lip reader so he thought he understood the single word but he quickly turned away to block it out of his mind.

But Sasuke called again, this time even louder. "Kakashi…it hurts again," he complained.

Kakashi gave a groan of frustration. He almost yelled, "Too bad!" but he knew better. He knew that the nature of the chemical made it all to easy to push the boundaries of what a person's body could tolerate. He stood again, brushing off his knees. "You are absolutely impossible," he grumbled.

"I'm sorry…d-don't worry about me anymore," he stammered. "I'll be fine. It's not that bad."

The older man's eyes narrowed dangerously. He couldn't tell if his student was being honest or messing with him. Either way, he had to take the threat seriously so, he closed the distance between them, sitting down at the end of the prone teen's sleeping bag. He could see plainly now, even through his shorts, that he was hard. He pursed his lips and then reached over to the young man's things, withdrawing one of his knives.

"S-Sensei…" Sasuke's eyes grew wide with horror and he flinched when the blade came toward him. He cringed until it only cut the tie keeping his legs together.

Kakashi gave a light chuckle at his student's paranoia as he pulled his pants off and tried not to awe at the look of incredulity he received as he pulled the young man into his lap, pressing their erections together. "You are impossible," he half-complained.

Sasuke nodded vaguely as the pleasure started to overwhelm him. He brought his bound hands down. Now that they weren't tied to his ankles, he was allowed a much greater range of movement. He tried to move his hands to join the one working both of their hard lengths together but was stopped by his sensei's off hand and guided around his neck instead.

With a reluctant groan, Kakashi let his head fall forward again, letting his head rest on his student's shoulder. As he panted, he felt intoxicated by the scent of flesh tempting him so thoroughly. When he came from that, a short while later, his head flew backward and he muttered the name of the one in his arms.

Sasuke's eyes danced with delight. The sight alone almost made him cum too, but not quite. "Sensei," he mewled and leaned upward, nipping at the taller man's lips.

It was the older man's turn to give a vague nod as he finally gave into the affection. Their tongues danced feverishly, almost devilishly, for dominance. He stiffened his hold around the young man's back and pumped them harder. He was so close to the end that he could almost taste it and he was willing to do just about anything to get there.

Kakashi had to break their kiss because he was about to cum again and he was starting to nibble on the young man's swollen lips. He gave another deep gasp when he had his final release, which dragged the young man with him. Although he very badly wanted to just curl up with the young man and fall asleep like that, he decided against it.

Instead, he redressed the young man and retied his ankles, took the knife and redressed. "Go to sleep," he ordered.

"Yes, Sensei," Sasuke meekly replied, forcing his eyes shut for the first time that evening.

Kakashi spent the rest of the night washing himself and redressing. He was glad that Sasuke had actually fallen asleep and when he was sure that was the case, he untied him, because the bindings were most likely rather uncomfortable.

As he cleaned everything up, he conjured up a suitable lie to give to the Hokage for the apparently damaged goods. The trick was coming up with something that Sasuke could successfully deliver. After that, came the question of what to say when he got a moment to speak to his student after their return to the village. As much as he was sure Sasuke would rather ignore the whole thing, he knew he would have to confront him about his attempted suicide.

The teen awoke early the following morning and they traveled to their village mostly in silence. It was an oddly comfortable silence because they both had a lot on their minds but nothing they were willing to speak at the moment, which made them content to travel in silence.

However, just as they were approaching the outskirts of the village, Sasuke stopped them. "Kakashi-sensei," he began carefully. "Thank you. I don't think there's a word for how foolish I was last night. I was very fortunate that you were there with me," he gave a serious bow.

Kakashi was slightly taken aback by that. "Do you remember your part of the story?"

"You never mentioned to me that the crate was damaged but I thought I heard a little crash. I assumed that if you needed my assistance, you would ask for it, and I let you be. Other than that, our mission went without incident," he repeated dully.

"Good," he paused awkwardly. "You're welcome," he curtly added. "Let's go," he hurried.