Hello!

Sorry that I haven't been able to post anything in "I Hate Everything About You" here lately. I thought of this a few days ago and had to get it done!

No, this is NOT a citrus fiction. So very sorry to disappoint everyone. But I wanted to try something different. And I think it turned out well. Please R&R, NO FLAMES!

Disclaimers in my profile.

His students had always been curious about where he spent his summers.

Kakashi had been going away for the past three summers, this summer making the fourth. He had always said that he was going on a mission, but he never carried with him any of his ninja tools. He always went in his ANBU uniform, traveling stealthily.

Naruto and Sakura, ever curious and now both Jounin themselves, decided one summer that they would follow from a distance. They were so cautious that they left Konoha a full day after Kakashi had, using all the tracking skills they could to follow him. They kept their distance throughout the whole thing.

"You really think he's hiding something?" Naruto asked as he and Sakura jumped through the trees. "There's no way he would betray the Leaf, even if we are at war."

"War is the weakest point for all of us sometimes." Sakura was blunt. All of her teammates knew that she wasn't built for warfare. She, as a medic, suffered greatly, watching her friends die left and right simply because she either hadn't made it in time, had been incapacitated, or hadn't joined on the mission.

The economy of all five Great Nations was suffering. Children were taught by their parents, as the Academy had shut down almost a year ago. Many were dead, including some of the students that Sakura had taught herself. Her own classmates were all suffering as well.

Especially Naruto. Knowing that Sasuke had been the cause of all of it.

Sasuke had declared warfare on the Leaf village almost two years ago. Everyone took his side, apparently tired of Konoha obviously being the most powerful Hidden Village. It was outrageous how they'd lost everyone, with the exceptions of Suna and Kirigakure, which wasn't much at all. They still had everyone else to deal with.

"Still… he shouldn't have to betray us. Why doesn't he tell us where he's going?"

Sakura stopped. Naruto jumped a limb ahead before stopping, turning slowly to look at her. She almost cried looking at him. They were only twenty years old, and both of them were completely different. They both wore very similar clothing; that wasn't what was different. War had changed who they were inside. Naruto's blue eyes, once so full of happiness, hope, and determination, were simply dead now. They had somehow lost their luster, lighting up only in the light of battle. He could almost control the Kyuubi, with the only issue being healing after prolonged exposure to the evil chakra that was the Nine-Tailed Fox.

"I'm not sure what he's hiding," she answered, looking ahead of Naruto to keep from crying, "but it seems like he's heading for Amegakure."

Naruto's eyes widened. "Why would he be heading that way?"

She shrugged, and then gave him a half-grin; it was all she could muster. "Let's find out, eh?"

Naruto half-grinned back, nodding, and they were off again. They both wondered why they'd decided to follow Kakashi into a foreign country, just to see what the mysterious man was up to. Sakura decided that it was so they could feel like teenagers again, before the war, trying to figure out everything that was going on in the real world.

The journey to Amegakure was a hard one. The Rain Village was known for its storms, especially during the summer. The thunderstorms here were harsh and powerful, sometimes causing hail to fall. Tonight, there was no hail, but the rain was beating down hard upon the pinkette and her blonde teammate. They watched as their former sensei and current comrade walked through the streets in a casual stride, carefully masking their chakra. They noticed that he was doing the same. His mask was on his belt, hands in his pockets. He just walked, like a zombie.

Then again, weren't they all zombies, in a way? Sakura was always focused on either training new medics or fighting, and had no thoughts about much else. It had been Shizune who had even brought up Kakashi's disappearances every summer; Sakura and Naruto had simply brushed it off before.

They silently followed Kakashi to an older-looking house, but despite the weather damage it was in very good shape. The blonde observed his environment; he'd never been to Ame before. It was more dreary than Konoha, really, what with all the rain. But his curiosity was driving him crazy. What on earth would want to make Kakashi spend his summers here, with all the thunder and rain and grossness?

The thunder rolled, echoing throughout the village. They watched from a nearby tree as Kakashi knocked on the door of the old house, a casual expression in his visible eye. He seemed to be totally off-guard, which was very unusual for him.

The door opened and Kakashi stepped inside wordlessly. The thunder rolled again. The two teammates decided to creep as close as they could to the window of one of the rooms, to find a baby's room. They moved to another window to see a king-sized bed and a small dresser. Sakura's eyebrow raised. What kind of place was this?

They finally found a window to the living room. Kakashi stood over a chair, his mask down. Naruto and Sakura both had to hold back a gasp; they had never seen their sensei without a mask before.

"This is so weird," Naruto whispered.

"You're telling me," she replied quietly, further observing the scene before her.

Kakashi was smiling. A purely happy smile that she hadn't seen on anyone since the war had started.

There was a woman in the chair, holding in her arms a silver-haired newborn child wrapped in a dark blue blanket. The man's hands were on her shoulders. She was smiling back at him, her dark blonde curls short around her face, barely reaching her chin. She was a thin woman, but still looked healthy. She looked happy as well.

Amegakure had been neutral when the war started, so at least she had a reason to smile. Her dark, chocolate eyes had no sign of pain or suffering in them.

"He… Kakashi-san has a child?" Sakura breathed.

"He… has a lover?"

She could hit Naruto over the head. A lover was no big deal. It was the child that was the surprising part.

They could only watch for so long before they cried together. They were just happy for him, but they wished he'd had told them from the beginning. It seemed as though just knowing that the child existed made the world somehow brighter.

They watched as they put the infant to bed, together, and went into their bedroom. Naruto attempted to make a dirty joke, but Sakura quickly pinched him to shut him up. She just wanted to listen and figure out what was going on.

The couple sat down on the bed, sighing in unison. Kakashi was not only exhausted from the trip, but even the rain and thunder was wearing him out.

"I always look forward to the summer thunder storms," Amaya, the woman beside him, said softly, taking his hand in her own. "You always show up on the first one, at exactly the right time."

Kakashi chuckled. "And I never leave until the last one, you know."

They sat in silence for awhile. His daughter, Chinatsu (meaning a thousand summers) slept in the room next door. It was his first time seeing her, as he'd left Amaya at the end of last summer thinking that everything was going to be fine. He'd been surprised to see the child at all, as she'd sent him no notice of her pregnancy. But that was to be expected. There was no guarantee that he would have even gotten it.

"You're going to leave again, aren't you?" she asked quietly.

"I have to. I have people to protect in Konoha."

"So your students are still alive?"

Kakashi sighed. He honestly wasn't sure of Sasuke, the student he'd had the most hopes for when he was a Genin. Naruto and Sakura were only halfway alive themselves. "They no longer put any effort into anything," he answered. "Naruto and Sakura have lost their spirits."

"And what of the Uchiha who started the war?"

"I have no idea what's going on in that bastard's head right now." He squeezed her hand. "I just know that he's too dangerous; I wish I could take you back with me to make sure you were safe."

"But you know that I won't be unless I stay here in a neutral country." She squeezed back, her knuckles paling. "No one even suspects you of coming to see me anymore. They just let you go."

Kakashi sighed. They had questioned him the first year, but not the second, or the third, or now, the fourth.

"Do you remember how we met, Kakashi?" she asked, turning toward him. "That hot summer night, when this all started…?"

"Yes, I do," he answered, smiling down at her. She was a little shorter than he was, just barely up to his mouth. Another thing he really loved about her. "You treated my wounds and treated me to a hot meal in the middle of a thunder storm, on this day five years ago, even though you were late for work."

She laughed softly. "I let you stay for a whole summer to let you heal all the way; your injuries had been pretty awful."

"Yes, they had been," he put an arm around her. He had been badly injured in a battle with the Akatsuki, being forced to retreat. Luckily she'd found him, or he would have died. And he wouldn't be sitting in this room with her right now, with their child sleeping in the room next to them.

"So, I hear that there is a local concert tomorrow night," Kakashi said, driving away from a more serious conversation. He was going to look forward to this summer, spending every day with her. "Do you want to go?"

Amaya laughed softly, her voice ringing in Kakashi's ears like bells. "It could get rained out. The storms are going to be pretty erratic this year."

He sighed. They sat in a moment of silence before he lay back on the bed, pulling his lover down with him. He put her head on his chest and held her close. It felt good to love again, after so long of watching his friends and family die in battlefield. He'd never thought he would love anyone besides his old Team Seven, even if Sasuke was gone.

He prayed a silent prayer that this woman would never leave his side. Especially now that he had a daughter, the most beautiful creature he'd ever seen in his many years of life. Who knows, maybe Chinatsu would have a thing for masks just like her father. Or maybe she could inherit the Sharingan even though he was not a natural carrier of the Kekkei Genkai himself.

The thunder rolled loudly, the rain falling harder onto the worn roof of the house. Kakashi had always been amazed how Amaya had never had any leaks, keeping the house in very good shape even though she was living alone for most of the year.

"Do you ever get tired of the thunder storms, Amaya?" he asked quietly, twisting one of her golden locks around his finger.

"No, of course not," she asked, stopping for a moment to listen to the thunder sound again. "Every time I hear the thunder of a summer storm, I think of you."

Kakashi chuckled, and she smiled up at him. "And why is that?"

"Because, you're my summer thunder, you know." She kissed his collar bone. It sent chills down his body, giving him goosebumps, even though she was actually kissing the fabric over his skin. "And if we don't get to go to the concert tomorrow, I won't mind, because your voice is the only music I need to hear all summer long."

The gesture made Kakashi's heart swell. He brought the woman up to kiss her full on the mouth. She was so perfect, so wonderful to him. In a way, he was glad he'd gotten almost killed, just so that he could find her. Otherwise, he would be miserable. Or dead from war. She was the only reason he'd kept going, just so he could spend summer after summer with her until the war was over.

He'd taken the measures of making sure he could leave his village just to make it to Amegakure by the time the first summer thunder storm hit. Until the war was over and the village didn't need him, he couldn't stay here with her.

But if they both made it through the war, or if it were to end…

Kakashi would leave Konohagakure without a second thought, so that he could spend every day for the rest of his life with this woman and his child.

He spent a few moments looking at her face, staring into her eyes. "I missed those looks," he said softly. "I missed how beautiful your eyes are when you look at me." As she blinked, he kissed her eyelids. "Your eyes are so perfect."

She stuck her tongue out playfully. That was another thing he loved about her. She still found joy even though outside of her country, people were dying in one of the bloodiest wars in history. "Don't be ridiculous," she joked. "My eyes are so dull and brown; I wish that they were grey, like yours."

Kakashi chuckled again. "Amaya, your eyes are the brightest of all the colors to me."

She kissed him then. It seemed that she'd loved the compliment. They lay together for awhile, in silence, listening to the thunder and the rain outside the house. Chinatsu was sleeping peacefully, which was strange for such a young infant.

"I'm so glad that you're here again," she said. "I wouldn't be able to listen to these storms all summer without you."

"I'm sure that you'd survive some thunder," he said almost dryly. He loved picking with her sometimes.

"I know I could survive it," she replied, her tone flat just as his had been. She loved picking back. "But I wouldn't be able to survive it without you, Kakashi."

"And why is that?" He raised an eyebrow at her. She kissed his closed, scarred eye.

"Because you are my thunder."

He pulled her into a tight embrace. The candle lighting the room went out. Sooner or later she dozed into sleep. He lay there staring at the ceiling for at least an hour before he made his decision.

He was going to stay. He couldn't be without her anymore. It was hard enough leaving when the fall came, but the wait was unbearable.

He kissed her on the top of her head before closing his other eye. He would have to send notice to the Hokage, Lady Tsunade, right away, that he was going to be leaving the village and staying in Ame for awhile, only being able to come help out every now and again. And that was alright. Tsunade would understand.

Or, Kakashi thought, she might go on a rampage and come find me just to pummel me into the ground with that inhuman strength of hers.

He laughed slightly, rolling over on his side to get Amaye off of him, keeping his arms around her body. She was so warm. Her fair skin was softer than anything he'd ever felt in his life.

He began to fall asleep, and he knew that as long as he was with her, there would be nothing to worry about again. Ever.

On the way home, Naruto and Sakura were silent, completely shocked by what they'd seen. Naturally, it was the Jinchuriki who broke the silence.

"Do you think he'll ever leave the village for that girl?"

Sakura shrugged. "If he loves her, he will."

"But what about us!" Naruto was almost emotional. He didn't want to lose another friend. The closest thing he had to a family had been Team Seven, and now Sasuke was gone. Kakashi couldn't go, too.

"We are his friends. He'll make sure that we get to see him again, Naruto." Sakura looked into the sky as they walked the path back into the ruined streets of Konoha. "And, I wish him the best of luck. He's found a place away from all the war and violence and hurt that Konoha has been suffering for years now. Even if it's just a temporary escape, he has a child in that village with that woman." She sighed. "Kakashi-san will make the best decision for his family."

"But his family is the village, believe it!"

She stopped in her tracks. Naruto hadn't said "believe it!" since he'd witnessed the death of Jaraiya almost two years ago. Was he really this worked up?

She took her best friend's hand and smiled at him. "The village will always be his family, but you know that when you love someone it's deeper than a commitment to a Shinobi society." She looked him in his blue eyes. "You know that you'd sacrifice this place to get Sasuke back, just like I would."

He didn't have much to say about it then, just incoherent nonsense. They walked back to their shelter together, ready to leave Kakashi in his own world, with his own family.

Sitting beside his lover at night and listening to the rolling of the summer thunder storms, the beating of the rain and the whistling of the summer winds. Truly happy. Away from all the destruction, and finally happy.