Kakashi's own heart ached for his friend. In the darkness of the room, his body shaking with Yamato's anguish, he didn't fight the few silent tears that slipped from his eyes. He remembered the pain and guilt after Obito... after Rin... the type of guilt that lasts a lifetime.

"Kakashi... I should've known better..." Yamato gasped, finally pulling away and wiping at the hot tears on his stinging cheeks. He took in a shuddering breath. "If I would've avoided capture... If I had fought harder...I-I should've done better." his voice trembled with each word. "With everything I've been used for..." he hung his head, heavy tears sitting on the rims of his thick-lashed eyes. "I should've died out there..."

"Maa... chances are you would've died out there!"

Yamato looked up at Kakashi but Kakashi was focused on the moon, massive and brilliant, it's radiance powerful and far-reaching.

Kakashi sighed, "We were mere men fighting a god..." His eyes snapped to focus on Yamato. "You didn't stand a chance Yamato. None of us did... not against them." He touched Yamato's cheek and wiped a few freshly formed tears from Yamato's lashes. Yamato closed his eyes as his face reddened.

"Senpai..."

"What we faced out there... only Naruto could've stopped them. As far as your mission goes, you kept safe the only one who could've saved us. I'd say you were successful in your mission."

He swiped his thumb along Yamato's cheek and cradled his face before pulling Yamato to his chest. Yamato gasped when he felt Kakashi press a kiss onto the top of his head. "Don't speak so lightly of your death..." Kakashi breathed against his hair, "I would've deeply regretted losing you."

Yamato's eyes widened in surprise. "Kakashi-Senpai..." With Kakashi's lips pressed against his soft, dark hair, Yamato's heart ached in a new way. 'This is where I belong...' he thought, remembering the dream he had while under the Infinite Tsukuyomi. 'Where ever Kakashi is... that's where I belong.'

Kakashi wasn't sure what it was that had possessed him to press a kiss to his Kohai. The end of the war- the closure it had provided for Kakashi- had softened his heart. The adoration he had received for so many years from Tenzo, the adulation without equivocation was finally something Kakashi could acknowledge the validity of. He pressed another lingering kiss against Yamato's hair and felt the hitch of Yamato's breath.

"K-Kakashi" Yamato's voice trembled, barely a whisper. The heat that pooled in his belly sent shivers up his spine. He licked his drying lips, trying to control his clipped breaths. In his emotional state he didn't want to mistake the cascading moonlight as romantic. Maybe the warmth, the inescapable heat, radiating from Kakashi's body was simply the effects of the Sake. He didn't want to mistake the compassion for more than friendship. And he didn't want to mislabel the kiss- lingering and warm, Kakashi's arms wrapped around him, holding their bodies together- as anything more than a placating gesture.

Yamato sat up, a deep blush heavy on his cheeks. "Thank you." He inhaled deeply and swallowed the remainder of his Sake, trying to ignore the heated stare Kakashi was directing at him. "Can I, uh, use your restroom?"

"Down the hall." Kakashi replied, his gaze still focused on Yamato's sullen features.

Yamato studied his face in the mirror. His eyes were red-rimmed and swollen. Red splotches marked his cheeks and nose. "Embarrassing." he mumbled to himself. He splashed his face with cool water, washing away the dust, and salt, and rising heat from his cheeks. He steadied his trembling hands on the counter and tried to slow down his racing heart, but warmth surged in his chest as he thought about Kakashi's words.

'I would've deeply regretted losing you.'

"Fuck..." Yamato sighed as he suppressed a wave of longing. He raked a hand through his damp hair and rested his fingers on where Kakashi had placed the two kisses. Without his face guard on, scrutinizing himself in the mirror, he suddenly felt very vulnerable. The years he spent in Anbu should've rid him of this excess emotion- it did- but as with so many other things, Kakashi was the exception to the rule. And Kakashi had his heart from the day he had decided not to kill Yamato, from the moment he had called him friend. That would never change...


When Yamato returned, Kakashi was leaning against the kitchen counter and had poured them both a fresh cup of Sake.

"Ah, thank you Kakashi-Senpai. Hmmm, festive." he said, nodding to the few newly lit lanterns.

"Well, it is technically Christmas eve now." Kakashi replied.

Yamato smiled, reaching for his drink. Kakashi smiled back, handing him the cup, and as their fingertips brushed, Kakashi found himself staring at Yamato's face. A soft blush dusted Yamato's cheeks, just as it always did anytime he paid Yamato any excess attention. Yamato blushed a deeper hue as Kakashi's heated gaze lingered.

Just above a whisper, Yamato questioned "Uh... Senpai?"

"Why do you still refer to me as Senpai?" Kakashi asked, eyes still focused on Yamato's blushing face.

"You'll always be my Senpai..." he replied softly, "Why do you still call me Tenzo?"

"Because you deserve a name that's more than just a code name. And that name, Tenzo, was important to you...and-" Kakashi took a heavy gulp from his cup, and then locked eyes with Yamato before finishing "-you'll always be my Tenzo."

Heat rushed through Yamato's body, flaring up his neck and making him dizzy. "Kakashi... I-" He touched his lips to the Sake to drink, trying to mask his rising desire. The cup trembled in his hand so he set it down on the counter. He looked over to Kakashi who was watching him again with the same heated stare. In a moment of sudden bravery, Yamato closed the distance between them, his hands cupped Kakashi's face and he brought them together until their lips were a breath apart.

"If I'm overstepping my boundaries... If I've misread you..." his large expressive eyes darting between Kakashi's. The warmth of his breath ghosted across Kakashi's lips. "Please, tell me if I'm wrong."

"No." Kakashi said, and Yamato began to lose his nerve. He sighed shakily. "No."

Kakashi studied Yamato's face, saw the sincere desperation and desire. It wasn't the first time Yamato had expressed his feelings for Kakashi. 'I should've known better.' Kakashi thought. He knew those dark stares wouldn't go unnoticed, and yet Kakashi couldn't help himself. He had always turned his Kohai down. He didn't have the desire to string anyone along, nor did he need another heartache to deal with when a mission proved fatal. But now, with the end of the war, with everything that had transpired... the capture and presumed death of Tenzo, only to discover he had survived the war...

For the majority of his life Kakashi truly believed he didn't deserve love. And yet, here Tenzo was, still willing to give Kakashi his heart. With a surge of hope and long-standing desire, Kakashi decided to finally allow himself to be loved. The realization clenched at his heart and tightened his throat, and although he wanted to be witty in his reply, he found he could only say 'no'. When Yamato's eyes widened with sadness of the expected rejection, Kakashi felt his heart clench painfully.

"No." Kakashi repeated the word softer than a whisper as he closed the space between them.