A/N: More characters appear in following chapters. Will be somewhat of a series of the aftermath of the war through the eyes of mainly Kakashi and Naruto. Eventually gets more in-depth.

Enjoy!

—-

It had only been about three and half weeks since the Fourth Great Shinobi War had come to its end, and student and teacher were already taking a break from the reconstruction, cleanup, and administrative duties they had previously been assigned.

Neither were comfortable with it.

"Kakashi-sensei?"

"Mm?"

"You know, when I went with Bee-occhan to learn how to control Kurama's powers, I first had to sit in front of the waterfall of truth." Naruto stuck his hands behind his head as the two strolled through the forest.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah..." The jinchuuriki stared up into the sky, watching the clouds. He could feel Kakashi's gaze bore into him. "It was a really weird experience, but I'm glad I went through with it...even though I didn't have a choice."

"Something tells me you didn't come to this island for a vacation, Naruto," he said insightfully, raising his eyebrows dully.

Naruto controlled himself. He could still feel the intensity of the stare although a quick glance to his left confirmed that Kakashi was no longer looking at him. "Ah, well...Sakura-chan did force me to vacation time," he said rather glumly, trying to play the part well. "No doing anything for a whole week, at the least." He recalled her exact words.

"NARUTO!" Sakura bellowed. "Absolutely not! Take a week off, at least. You've done your part for this village—for the world. "

"But Sakura-chan, so has the rest of the world—"

She crossed her arms. "That's Rokudaime-sama, according to you. And the world is at least taking a break every few hours, without churning out four thousand kage bunshin everyday to help rebuild all the damaged countries. You've done months of work within weeks. That's enough."

He smiled at remembering his own approval of her recent, esteemed position. She had studied under Tsunade-baachan for 3 years after all, not only undergoing intense training, but also witnessing the Hokage's duties firsthand in the meantime. The village had been ardent to bestow the title upon the new Hokage due to her outstanding efforts in the war, especially as a lead medical ninja. She knew how to lead, and bring people together. The surviving Konoha shinobi recognized that she was a wise choice because of her intelligence, patience, and skill—all sharpened during her time under Tsunade's tutelage, and Naruto couldn't agree more. He let his thoughts slide further back in time. The Godaime's sacrifice in saving the other Kages had been a great loss, but at least her efforts were not in vain. He huffed, bringing himself back to the present.

She sighed in exasperation at his lack of acknowledgment. "Not just are you the hero of the war, you are becoming the hero of the world itself. Let everyone else pitch in and do their part, too. Believe it or not, although they appreciate the help, they want the construction of their towns to be mostly of their own doing, ok?"

Naruto winced at this realization, and wondered if Sakura knew what she had said was guaranteed to have an effect on him.

"Hai, hai, wakattebayo," he said loudly, the smile on his lips as genuine as ever, "...Rokudaime-sama." The chivalry in his voice caused her to blush a little. "But! Only if Kakashi-sensei gets to come."

Good call, kid. Half of those kage bunshins are thanks to me, and frankly, I'm tired.

Naruto scratched the back of his neck nervously.

Unable to resist smiling back, she raised an eyebrow and waved a hand in the air dismissively. "Good. I was about to send Kakashi-sensei with you, anyway. Go—take him with you. Get out of here." She tipped her head down while holding his gaze firmly. Seeing Naruto start to open his mouth, her eyebrow settled and she said in an even tone, "You just go and relax at the hot springs or whatever. I can handle things here." She looked warmly to her left, and then to her right. Shikamaru, Sai, and Shizune returned her confident expression before looking at Naruto again. "We can handle things here."

—-

"Maa, I don't really want to be here, either," Kakashi said, oblivious to Naruto's feelings, as he pulled out his favorite book from his weapons pack and flipped it open to a page whose corner had been folded one too many times.

Feeling somewhat deflated at Kakashi's expressed boredom, Naruto slouched further into his casual walk. He heard a page flip almost noiselessly.

"But I'm really glad the war is over with. That was probably the most tiring experience I will ever have needed to deal with." His eyes did not leave the page.

Naruto turned back to look at his sensei. He had not heard him admit such a thing before. He felt the bridge between teacher and friend start to diminish. This gave him the additional courage he needed to speak his mind. He scowled. "Then put that damn book away! We're here to relax—that book may be your escape when you're on active duty, but..." He threw his hands out in front of him. "We're here...far away from Konoha and any kind of work. The war is OVER...so just—look around and enjoy yourself. There's nothing to escape...anymore..." He let the last few words dangle in the air softly, and slowly let his eyes return to the one beside him.

He winced. Just one look from Kakashi put Naruto back in his place. He immediately felt foolish for speaking so rudely about the jounin's matters. Kakashi had never been open with him before, so why did he think he'd start now?

—-

A/N: Thanks for reading! I've been wanting to post this forever, but only got the motivation to clean it up just recently... I hope you like it.

Tell me what you think!