Author's note: I'll be super busy with a project I have to hand in next week and since I don't dare send my Beta another chapter of this I thought I might as well sit down and crank out the rest of this story in one go so I can go back and focus on my studies. One more chapter to go.

To my Guest reviewer Kaelin: I'm sorry to have disappointed you with this story, and I realize you raised a valid question. If this had been a proper story and not a spur-of-the-moment idea I would have probably delved into that issue and a whole lot more of them. As it is, if I wanted to keep the chapters at a certain length I couldn't do much more than scratch the surface. If I ever write a proper Naruto story I will try to do better.

That said, I think my thumbs will fall off. Typing so much on a touch screen is hard. At least I had a keyboard for the story itself or it would never be done.


Even three years later both Sasuke and Sakura still sought him out on occasion, Sasuke when Itachi's words came back to haunt him and Sakura when her insecurities started creeping up her spine. If Kakashi wasn't as paranoid, neurotic and meticulous as he was there was no way he could have hidden it from them for over three years. But because he was that cautious, both of his former Genin, now proud Chuunin remained oblivious about the other's involvement with their teacher, and they sure as Hell didn't mention it to each other. Yet Kakashi still had to constantly assure his paranoia that he wasn't missing anything that would give him away.

Itachi was less than pleased that Sasuke decided to all but ignore his teachings, but there was a sort of strange pride in his voice when Sasuke all but screamed at him that he had no intention of turning into his brother, that he would carve his own path, one he could traverse with each of his friends on his arm and the people he cared about walking it with him.

That day, Itachi died with a smile on his face and fingers on Sasuke's forehead. It made it even harder for Sasuke to ask Tsunade to transplant his eyes into Sasuke's own. Actually, Tsunade offered it herself, but if it wasn't for Danzo's coaxing and assurances she wouldn't have dared. Kakashi knew straight away that the man had ulterior motives but held his tongue for the moment.

The day before the surgery Sasuke appeared on Kakashi's window in tears. So his teacher helped in the only way he knew how: he tied him to the bed and rendered him incapable of thinking straight, told him in no uncertain terms with both words and hands that he was doing the right thing. He had to buy a new headboard the next day but as Sasuke went to his surgery without becoming a missing nin afterwards, Kakashi felt it was a sacrifice worth making. But he had no time to revel in his victory before he had another clusterfuck to sort.

The news of Jiraya's death had reached Konoha.

Naruto, who had nothing before and therefore didn't deal well with losing what little he had, had disappeared for three days. Both Sasuke and Sakura were frantic and beside themselves with worry. They scoured every single place Naruto had ever stepped foot on, ran themselves ragged, but to no avail.

In their defense, it took two days for even Kakashi to be hit with an epiphany.

He went to the little town where Naruto and Jiraya had first gone to look for Tsunade. He found the boy, now a young man sitting on top of a high wall, petting a stray tabby and looking at nothing. Kakashi said nothing, just sat next to him in silence. He supposed it was because he smelled like Nin dogs that the cat looked at him distrustfully, rubbed against Naruto one last time, and then sauntered away.

Naruto looked like a child abandoned by his parents as he watched it leave. "That's what it all boils down to? Everyone you love will one day abandon you, one way or another."

Kakashi said nothing, just wrapped his arm around his orange shoulders and pulled him to lean on his side. At first Naruto had tensed but as Kakashi made no move to either speak or change their position he hesitantly gripped the back of his teacher's uniform, holding it so tightly Kakashi suspected he would need to sew up some tears when they got back home. It was as if he was afraid Kakashi would pull away if he did something wrong.

As he gave Naruto the comfort he so desperately craved he remembered his first impression of the young man, then a boy, back on the roof of the academy and nearly sighed out loud. Sometimes he absolutely hated being so right all the time. All his life Naruto had wanted only two things and every single goal he ever had had been merely an extension of the need for those two: love and attention.

He had sought attention with his sunny smiles, with his orange clothes, with his proclamations that he would be the next Hokage and with his generally loud and boisterous personality. It was exactly because of those things that it never occurred to Kakashi that a child who grew up without an ounce of love and affection wouldn't know how to accept it when it was offered as an adult. So instead of running to his friends in his time of mourning he ran away to a place to relieve what little good memories he cherished.

"May I ask why you are here instead of at Konoha, drinking yourself and your teammates into oblivion?" Naruto couldn't help but crack a smile at the old inside joke. Sakura had once asked Kakashi how he dealt with loss. Kakashi had stopped in the middle of the path abruptly, assumed his thinking pose, complete with a narrowed eye and with his finger on his chin. His three Genin had stopped as well and waited with baited breath for whatever wise words their teacher would impart them with.

"You take the comrades you have left, go to a bar and then you all drink yourselves into oblivion and have a drunken orgy." At the time they had collectively sweat dropped and wrote it off as their teacher being a raging pervert again, then Naruto had given them all mental scarring when he asked if Kakashi was insinuating that he had slept with Gai.

Kakashi looked at him flatly. Til' this day, nobody knew if it was true or not and nobody wanted to have nightmares enough to go ask Konoha's Green Beast.

"Even if it would help, I doubt either Sasuke or Sakura would agree." Naruto snorted. "They would sooner rip my guts out that even consider it." But there was a subtle hint of yearning in his voice, the one that assured Kakashi that if he thought for even a moment he could be that close to the people he cared about in such a way he would take that chance, hug it and never let it go.

Kakashi carefully kept his voice casual. "Oh? I'm hurt. And here I thought you considered me a comrade as well."

Kakashi already knew that Naruto was a lot smarter than people gave him credit for. They were blindsided by his straightforwardness and his conviction that anything could be solved by throwing a few Rasengans at it and they completely missed the number of gears turning in between his ears. In his defense, next to Sasuke's quiet genius and Sakura's endless knowledge it was easy to overlook his own intelect.

It took a few seconds but Kakashi knew Naruto had realized what he was offering by the way he had frozen against Kakashi's side. He let him process that for nearly a minute before Naruto looked up at him, clearly asking him if he was really offering what he thought he was. It amused the Jounin slightly that he hadn't considered the possibility that Kakashi was lying to him. On the one hand, it was never good for a ninja to be too trusting, and on the other it spoke volumes just how much of that trust Naruto placed in his teacher.

Kakashi's arm lowered from Naruto's shoulder to his hip, pressing lightly into the hollow between his hipbone and buttock. "I saw an inn with a bar on the way here." Just like with Sasuke and Sakura Kakashi made sure there wasn't even a note of pressure in his voice. He offered a choice, it was always up to them to take it or not.

And just like Sasuke and Sakura, Naruto looked at Kakashi hesitantly, measuring his offer and all it entailed. Naruto had actually taken longer to consider it that the other two, his eyes even glazing over for a few seconds as if he receded to his own head to consider it. But when he looked back into Kakashi's eye, he nodded his assent and even moved his own hand from fisting into the Jounin's uniform to around his waist.

Kakashi led them to the promised inn like that, Naruto pressed to his side and refusing to let go. They sat at the bar and while Naruto was downing every drop of alcohol he could get his hands on Kakashi prompted him to tell him about Jiraya. It didn't matter that most of what Naruto was telling him he already knew, it was the fondness with which Naruto talked about the only father figure he ever knew that counted. And while Kakashi's heart ached that his own mentor would never see the man his son had become he didn't say a word.

The blond drank far more alcohol than Sakura had, but with his heightened metabolism and the Nine-tails' chakra he was still more sober than she had been. Once Kakashi judged that had had enough he booked a room above the bar and steered him up the stairs. When the door closed behind them Naruto grabbed the hem of Kakashi's shirt and looked up at him oddly.

For a moment the scarecrow thought he was having second thoughts, and wondered if he should abort this mission before he caused a mess he couldn't fix. But Naruto wasn't looking at him in doubt, but in curiosity and almost wonder. Kakashi stood still as Naruto's fingers slowly rose to his face and gripped the edge of his mask. It was only then that Naruto hesitated and his hand froze, but Kakashi smiled lightly and gripped his wrist to guide it and pull down the black mask.

Naruto stared at him in shock. "Wow. You're actually kinda' hot." Kakashi laughed and led him to the bed.

The jounin would be hard pressed to admit it even under torture, but out of the three of his students he found sex with Naruto to be the most to his liking. The blond fucked the same way he fought: forceful, playful and with not a little amount of biting. Not to mention the kid absolutely oozed stamina. Kakashi had a feeling he had gotten to top him simply because the blond had no idea how. The scarecrow still ended up covered in bite and claw marks all over his back, neck, shoulders and chest.

The only thing that threw him for a loop was when they had finished round three Naruto had wrapped himself around Kakashi like an octopus and wordlessly demanded to be cuddled. Kakashi wasn't used to it but he wrapped his arms around his student and rested his chin atop the blond head, scratching his scalp lightly. He could have sworn Naruto had purred.

Unfortunately, it also left his body on high alert. Which left him with far too much time to think about his actions and their consequences.

He was sleeping with all three of his students now. Technically he had offered and they all accepted, and when the repeat performances occurred they were always the ones to seek him out, not the other way around. But it didn't change the fact that all three had absolutely no idea about each other and now with Naruto in the equation the chances of them finding out increased exponentially. Kakashi could just imagine how they would react if they found out: whatever trust they placed in him and each other would be broken and everything Kakashi had strived to fix by initiating things this way would be ruined.

Kakashi knew he had to find a way to break it to them slowly, preferably when they all found their significant others and no longer depended on Kakashi for stability. But unfortunately those plans had to wait. They had the beginnings of war on their hands.

Kakashi finally managed to settle down and fall asleep with the blond in his arms. Yes, it could wait.

When they returned to Konoha Sakura became nothing but a pink blur as she slammed all of her weight into Naruto and knocked him back on the ground, squeezing the living daylights out of him and yelling at him for making them worry so much.

The moment Naruto's head stopped spinning he realized he had Sakura all but on his lap hugging him tight enough to break his ribs. He grinned the sunniest grin he could and hugged her back just as tightly. Over her shoulder he could see Sasuke glaring at him in an attempt to hide that he was just as worried as Sakura was. But Naruto had seen that expression on his own face too many times to mistake it for anything else.

"What? Ya wanna join in?" Naruto asked teasingly but held out his hand in honest invitation. Sasuke's cheeks had pinked but he did take Naruto's hand, even if he only pulled the two of them to their feet.

"Are you alright?" Sasuke asked, and the concern in his voice was genuine.

"Yeah, Kakashi-sensei found me and screwed my head on straight." Naruto jabbed a finger at their teacher, who had buried his nose in Icha Icha paradise in an attempt to become invisible. Apparently it didn't work because while Sasuke took Naruto's words at face value Sakura looked at their teacher with quiet suspicion in her eyes, but eventually dismissed it in favor of asking Naruto where he had been.

Kakashi realized it would be harder breaking it to them that he had realized.


AN: Safe to say who's next.