Thank you to my reviewers and BETA, the next chapter of 'The Art of Forgiveness' is up.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to the Naruto series.

The Art of Forgiveness-Part 2

The pitter patter of rain hitting his roof had already woken Kakashi up, but it was the light creak of the floorboards that made Kakashi sit straight up in bed; someone was in his house.

Kakashi's mind went through hundreds of possibilities, 'Who knows where I live?'

There was time no put on his mask or grab a weapon, he needed to act fast.

He cautiously snuck into the hallway and just barely peeked around the edge of the wall. There was definitely someone here, and they were in the middle of…raiding his refrigerator?

It was early in the morning and the sun hadn't quite rose yet, so without any lights on it was too hard to judge what the man looked like so Kakashi had to assume that he was strong. Several jutsu's flew through his mind, but he didn't use any of them. Wasting time standing around was only hurting him, soon the stranger would discover his presence; a direct on approach was the best option at this point.

He was only an inch away when the man, who Kakashi could see now was clearly a very skilled ninja, grabbed Kakashi, twisted his burnt hand behind him, and shoved his face into the wall, using his own body weight to keep him there.

Kakashi couldn't help but let out a groan of pain. Jerking out of the mans grip wasn't even an choice, he was far too strong, and struggling was only causing his injury more pain. With a regretful sigh he stopped moving and stood still.

"What's the matter? I am hurting the great Kakashi Hatake?" the stranger whispered, running a finger along the bandages. "Why am I still alive? You are a jonin, one of the highest ranks a ninja can be, and this is your home, shouldn't I be dead already?"

"What do you want?" Kakashi asked, irritated that he let himself get in this position.

Kakashi knew the outsider had a cocky expression on, he didn't just accidentally stumble into his house, this man knew exactly whose house he was invading.

"Maybe I just wanted to see you," he mumbled huskily, putting his mouth right by Kakashi's ear. Kakashi couldn't help but shiver when he ran his free hand down his side, resting it on his hip.

"I mean after all, why would I miss your birthday sensei."

Suddenly all the pieces fit together and in one simple shove he was free of the mans grip. With a shaky hand, Kakashi flipped the light switch; only confirming his suspicions .

"Sasuke?"

For a few minutes Kakashi thought that he must have been dreaming, there was no way that Sasuke Uchiha was casually standing in his kitchen, reaching for an apple.

The sixteen year old took a bite, "Who puts apples in their cabinet? Apples need to go in the crisper, that's how they stay fresh longer."

Sasuke had grown quite a bit from his 4'11 stature that Kakashi remembered and was at least a foot taller. The small amount of definition that his tiny body held had drastically increased; the new muscles in his arms, legs, and chest were easily visible in his wet clothes.

"I've never seen you without a mask on."

"I've never seen you in my kitchen."

"I always thought it was just a cover for your Sharingan but it looks like it was just a way for you to put off shaving for a couple days; sounds like a Kakashi type move."

Sasuke took one last bite before tossing it over his shoulder into the garbage can. "Oh and you should probably get used to seeing me here, I need somewhere to stay for a couple of days."

"Why?"

Sasuke smirked, "Because I'm back."

If Kakashi had casually passed him on the streets, he knew he wouldn't recognize him. It seemed like every part of him had grown and matured in one way or another, even his hair was longer and easily went past his shoulders. The only part of him that had stayed the same were his eyes; his beautiful onyx eyes still held the youthfulness that they always had, but there was also something else that Kakashi couldn't ignore…an undeniable sense of victory.

"You killed Itachi."

Sasuke slowly reached into his pocket and dropped the contents on the ground. Kakashi could only stare at the wet, bent leaf village headband with a hash mark through it.

"All I needed was to train under someone strong, someone-"

"Who wasn't me?" Kakashi interjected.

"Don't take it personally sensei," he mocked, "You were teaching me what you wanted to, not what I wanted to."

Kakashi glared at the teen, "I was teaching you what was legal, if you stuck around longer than you would have been taught everything you needed to know to defeat Itachi."

"Then tell me, why was Naruto getting stronger while I stayed the same? If I'd stuck around any longer he would easily passed me up."

Kakashi shook his head and let out a dry laugh, "So you betrayed the entire village and tried to kill Naruto for what? Just to be the strongest?"

Sasuke slowly walked up to his and was only inches away from his face, "There was no 'trying' about it, if I'd truly wanted Naruto dead he would be."

"Then why isn't he, genin?"

"Because I'm not Itachi."

"Really? Because I can't say that I see any difference."

Sasuke leaned in even further; Kakashi could feel his hot breath fan over his own lips, daring him to back down.

"If I'm just like Itachi…then why shouldn't I just kill you right now? Everyone's talking about how you quit; if you suddenly came up missing everyone would just assume you moved out early. No one would come looking for you or even care."

"You're right, go ahead. What's stopping you Sasuke?"

"Naruto and Sakura."

Kakashi's eyebrows bunched together in confusion, "What do-"

"Kakashi sensei!"

"Open the door sensei! It's raining!"

Kakashi sighed, "You heard them coming?"

Sasuke offered no answer outside of stepping away from the shaken male and putting his hand on the door knob.

"I'd get dressed if I were you, we wouldn't want these two to see you in a wet undershirt and without your mask on. It might make them lose the 'the respect and care' they have for you," Sasuke mimicked.

"You were there weren't you?"

Sasuke swung open the door.

"Happy Birthday Ka…" the two trailed off.

The awkward pause allowed Kakashi enough time to slip into something more appropriate. When he came back the three hadn't moved at all.

"Naruto and Sakura, how nice to see you two, why don't you come in?"

Sasuke moved aside and Naruto and Sakura cautiously stepped inside, two presents in their hands that Kakashi knew had been forgotten.

"Well it looks like you've got some goodbyes to say don't you Kakashi? Well I wouldn't want to interrupt that. I'm going to take a shower, I'll be out in a few minutes." Sasuke's eyes drug over his old teammates one last time before disappearing around the corner. The three of them didn't even breathe until they heard the bathroom door shut and the sound of running water.

"How long has he been here?" Naruto asked in a low voice.

"Less than an hour," Kakashi calmly answered, grabbing a towel to clean up the puddle of water from the previous night.

"And why is he here? In your house?"

Kakashi sighed, "Because he killed Itachi and needs a place to live."

"And you're just letting him?" Sakura questioned. Kakashi knew the pink haired girl would always have an emotional attachment to the Uchiha, seeing him for the first time in over 2 ½ years would probably be hard on her; but he also knew just how strong Sakura was as a person. Over the years she had learned the hard way that she didn't need Sasuke to make her life whole.

"For now," Kakashi answered in his usual even tone.

"What if he's still working for Orochimaru? How do you know he isn't planning on killing you right now?" Naruto demanded, staring off towards the bathroom defensively.

"I'm sorry Kakashi but I can't stay. I didn't think that…" Kakashi and Naruto watched helplessly as tears began to pour down Sakura's face. She quickly threw the gift in Naruto's hands and ran out.

Naruto looked towards the front door and then up at him, "I don't like this. I don't want you to be home all alone with him, what if he-"

"Naruto I'll be fine, now go comfort Sakura."

Naruto seemed torn but reluctantly handed Kakashi his presents. "We'll be back tomorrow."

Kakashi nodded and put his presents down on his counter.

"And Kakashi sensei?"

"Yes Naruto?"

"I want you to know that if so much as touches you I wouldn't hesitate in killing him. I'm not 13 years old anymore, and I'm not going to let him hurt anyone else that I care about."

Kakashi couldn't help but smile, Sakura wasn't the only one who'd matured over the years.

With one last look towards the bathroom door, Naruto was gone.

Kakashi slowly drug himself into his bedroom only to see that Sasuke had helped himself to his bed; he was already asleep and lightly snoring. Kakashi knelt down by him, his eyes traced all of a Sasuke's features.

'How can someone who looks so peaceful cause us all so much pain?'

I was going to make this just a one or two chapter story but I think a lot of important details would be left out and I don't want to rush along the storyline so I'm going to stretch it out a little longer, please review as it is the only way I know how to improve my writing! ;)