Naruto looked at his sensei and nodded once before sitting back down. It dawned on him then that Kakashi actually wanted to speak to him instead of ignore him. Naruto felt like cheering.
"Is something wrong sensei?"
Kakashi seemed to hesitate for a while, rearranging his thoughts. "Actually yes. I've recently noticed your change in behaviour Naruto. You seem a lot less... How can I put it? Um... Hyperactive? Enthusiastic?... Happy?"
Naruto could tell this was an awkward conversation for the copy nin. Hell it was awkward for Naruto...
"Um I mean, you seem down Naruto. Really down and as your sensei I have cause to be concerned. I won't take action since you seem to be doing well enough in your missions and training but if I see any deterioration in either of these things or see that you could be a danger to yourself or others I have no choice but to report it."
Naruto frowned, almost glared at Kakashi. How the hell did he know anything about Naruto's training? He was never around for it! On top of that Naruto felt like a complete idiot. He thought he was doing well trying not to show his other, more depressing side. Had Sasuke and Sakura noticed? If Kakashi had and he was barely around then it must be obvious for anyone who had known his past self.
Another scary thought; did Kakashi know about his obsession over him? Did he know he watched his sensei from afar every chance he got? Naruto paled.
"It's not something I want to do Naruto, truly. But this seems to have been going on a while now and I've seen no improvement. It's none of my business what your personal life entails but may I ask if you're getting help?" Kakashi looked sheepish.
Naruto looked away, feeling quite dizzy all of a sudden. For a long while he just stared at the floor, not even bothering to answer. Of-course he wasn't getting any help, he couldn't let anyone know about how he felt. He felt ashamed about how he felt. Plus he didn't trust anyone enough to know his most private thoughts and feelings.
He felt Kakashi lean over and place a warm hand on his shoulder. It was only then that he realised he had been shaking as he felt himself calm at the gentle touch.
"Naruto, if there's ever anything you need to talk about I'm here for you. I'll always be here and please don't hesitate to confide in me if you ever need to. I'll be happy to help with anything," the hand on his shoulder tightened a fraction.
For the first time in months Naruto felt something warm and happy bubble up to spread through his entire body. Kakashi did care about him. He was offering his support and help that Naruto so desperately needed. It was a shame his sensei couldn't help with everything but Naruto was just happy that his sensei actually cared.
He cared! It was such a relief after the months of avoidance. He was getting somewhere finally.
Naruto beamed a smile at his sensei that could have lit up the whole tent. He flung himself across the distance between them and latched his arms around Kakashi's body, hugging him tightly.
"Thank you sensei," he sniffed, tears stinging his eyes.
They stayed like that a long while but Naruto soon unlatched himself when he felt Kakashi tense under his arms. He was clearly uncomfortable with the invasion of his personal space. It was probably a good thing he had let go otherwise Naruto wasn't sure what he would do since his body had started to betray him and the hell was he going to be rutting up against his teacher like that one incident not long ago. Naruto still felt embarrassed about that. But being in close proximity to Kakashi always did this to him, let alone the thoughts of what Kakashi had been doing earlier weren't helping atall...
'Now is not the time Naruto!'
Naruto was almost taken aback when he felt overwhelming tiredness consume him in that moment. He stifled a yawn, he still wanted to ask his teacher one last thing.
"Kakashi-sensei? Y'know if... If like..." Naruto didn't really know how to word it.
"Hmm?" Kakashi tilted his head with a questioning look.
"Like, if there was someone you liked, like really liked... But you knew it could never work or it just wasn't appropriate... Um what-" he gulped, "what would you do? What shou-"
'What should I do?' He wanted to say. The blonde shook his head.
Kakashi hadn't expected Naruto to ask that. He felt like laughing really... How ironic that he had just told Naruto he would help him with anything and he had to go and ask that of all things.
If Kakashi knew the answer to that then he would have put the knowledge to good use by now.
Instead he smiled at the boy and ruffled his hair - something, he realised, he hadn't done for a very long time. "Well it all depends on how much you feel for that one person I suppose."
Before the boy could reply he reached into his trouser pocket and pulled out the note that Hinata had handed him a few days ago. To be honest he had been hesitant to hand it over to Naruto, but the boy had every right to take it. It was for him anyway.
"Here you go Naruto, I was told to give this to you, I completely forgot, sorry," he lied. Kakashi held the paper out towards Naruto and gentle fingers brushed over his own as the boy took it. Kakashi almost shivered at the contact.
This whole meeting had been a test of his self control from the moment Naruto had walked in. He was still utterly aroused and having the boy hug him earlier had spiked his arousal even more.
"Thanks sensei," Naruto yawned.
Kakashi grinned. "You should probably head to bed Naruto, try and get some sleep, ne? I'm off to take over Sasuke as look out anyway."
The blonde just nodded and stood up to leave. He yawned again. "Cya later sensei, thanks for the talk."
"No problem," he whispered as Naruto unzipped the door and trudged back to his tent, stretching his arms above his head on the way.
Kakashi sighed to himself as he swept his gaze around the tent. The only reason he had even thought to have that conversation was because of the stuff he had read in Naruto's diary. He couldn't just let him suffer in silence and it was clear that he had missed the company of his sensei. He wished he could make all of Naruto's troubles vanish but it was not possible, the least he could do was be there for him, no matter how hard it was on his own self control.
It was ridiculous to keep avoiding the boy now - like he had been - after finally admitting to himself his true feelings. Sure – what he felt for the boy was less than innocent but all he wanted was to help Naruto and watch over him like Minato had asked of Kakashi. And that's exactly what he would do from now on.
Having dressed back into his usual attire, Kakashi stepped out of his tent and zipped the door up. There was a chill in the air but he shrugged it off and headed towards a shadowy figure that could be recognised as Sasuke.
"Yo Sasuke, you can go get some sleep, I'll take over for the rest of the night," he reached towards the figure in a friendly gesture but before his fingertips could brush the others shoulder the boy vanished into a puff of smoke.
Kakashi furrowed his brow as the real Sasuke stepped into the clearing behind him.
"Got you, ne sensei?" There was an amused glint in his eyes. "Shadow clones come in so helpful, don't you agree sensei?"
Sasuke stared at him, waiting for a reply. Kakashi felt extremely awkward.
"That they do Sasuke."
The Uchiha's gaze lingered on Kakashi for far too long. The raven smirked and the gaze was broken when he turned and lifted his arm in a silent farewell as he walked towards the tent Naruto had entered not long ago.
'Such a weird kid.'
Shaking the uneasy feeling off he headed for a nearby log that made a suitable bench.
His thoughts drifted to the recent entries he had read in Naruto's diary. A lot of them were about his daily activities about how Kakashi hadn't shown up for training again and the team had had to be trained by Gai that day or Asuma or some other skilled shinobi that barely even had the time for them. He had also noticed Naruto's appetite decreasing each day that he conveniently blamed on a 'stomach bug'. It clearly correlated with this worrying obsession over this man. It seemed Naruto didn't even spare the time to eat between missions, training and spying (now his new hobby). And even when he did it just made him feel sick apparently.
Kakashi frowned. Another thing that seemed to disturb the jounin was Naruto's new addiction to pain. He had said on multiple occasions how he would deliberately falter in battle or during training so that he would get wounded. Not badly enough to end up in hospital but enough to cause him quite a bit of discomfort. On the occasions when he would be confronted by rather drunk villagers he would let himself endure their beatings. Happy in the knowledge that he was rightfully being 'punished'.
It was getting worse the more Kakashi read and these entries were still over a month old. He was really worried about Naruto but he wouldn't be too hasty in his assumptions. Earlier he had asked the young shinobi if he was getting any help and by looking at his body language it was clear that he wasn't. That was one thing cleared up atleast. Fingers crossed that Naruto would come to him for help from now on.
'Yeah right, after treating the boy like a piece of shit what makes you think he'll come to you for anything anymore?' His conscience whispered to him. Kakashi pinched the bridge of his nose and groaned.
He felt like crap that he had resorted to using a shadow clone that was henged to look like Naruto. It was the first time he'd attempted it and was, in a way, glad the real Naruto had interrupted him. He would have felt pretty damn guilty if he'd let the clone relieve him, afterall it had been a replica of the thirteen year old boy. For fuck sake.
To be honest though his hand was no longer anywhere near enough to satisfy him anymore. Anything else would be better, but he knew he just couldn't bring himself to sleep with any randomer like he used to be able to. He was sexually frustrated and all he wanted to do was make Naruto his. Fuck.
He sighed and looked down at the prominent bulge in his pants. He was so close to feeling Naruto's hot, wet mouth around him early and if he had the option he would be begging for it right now. No. Not Naruto. His clone.
He tried to imagine what it would feel like to be sucked off by the real Naruto. Kakashi bought a hand down to palm his erection through his trousers. He bit his lip under his mask and closed his eyes as pleasure swept through his body. His breathing hitched as he lost himself completely within his fantasies, all the while stroking himself through the coarse material.
He thought about a particular entry in the diary that he shouldn't have read but did for his own sick pleasure. It was about Naruto pleasuring himself in great detail. How he had laid on his bed, stroking himself, two fingers sliding in and out of his tight hole. How he had accidentally found his prostate - having never done such things before. How quickly it had brought him to his release.
How there was a roughly sketched picture of Kakashi on the next page, fully dressed, reading Icha Icha and how he couldn't help himself but link the two together. He was sure that it didn't correlate in anyway but It had almost broken him seeing that. If Naruto had been anywhere near him at that moment he would have just taken the boy anyway, regardless of morals and all that bullshit. He would have fucked Naruto so hard. Shit...
He palmed his erection harder, eliciting a small moan. He was so close to his climax now. Almost...
There was a loud yawn a few metres behind him signalling that Sakura was awake and walking towards the, now very aroused, copy ninja. He ceased his actions and so very nearly growled out loud in frustration. Damn her! He needed this!
He evened his breathing out, still trembling, he could feel his cock throbbing beneath the layers of fabric. He was so close. He shifted uncomfortably as he looked over his shoulder. He crossed his legs to hide his arousal as she sat next to him, clearly still sleepy.
"Hey Kakashi-sensei," she yawned again and gave him a sweet smile.
Kakashi stared blankly back at her, still trying to calm his raging hormones.
"Hello Sakura, are you ok? You're up early," he really didn't care right now.
"Oh I'm ok thanks, you seem a bit cold though, do you want me to get you a blanket sensei?" She eyed his trembling form up.
'No Sakura I want you to piss off so I can reach my climax.' He pinched the bridge of his nose. That was harsh. He did genuinely like Sakura... Just not right now.
"Mah, no thanks Sakura, I'll be fine," he manage to conjure up a smile to keep her at ease.
His erection still refused to wilt. 'Perhaps a blanket would have been a good idea.' He ignored the thought.
"So, why are you awake so early, we still have another few hours until sunrise?"
"Oh I just couldn't sleep. I kept hearing people walk about outside, I think it was just Naruto and Sasuke but it really put me on edge. This forest kinda creeps me out a bit," she blushed.
"Well you'll be glad to hear that by tomorrow night we'll be camping a few hours from the village so we should be out of this forest by then," he reassured her.
She nodded once, seemingly content with the knowledge.
"Hey sensei, where's your book? I've not seen you read in since we started the mission."
He visibly pondered. He had actually forgotten about his beloved book having replaced it with a very personal and private diary. Like he was about tell her that. He sniffed in amusement.
"I lost it during training the day before we departed, kinda a pain, ne?" He tried his best to look visibly pained. "Why do you ask? Did you plan on borrowing it?" He hid a sly smile.
Sakura's expression turned to one of utter horror and disgust at the idea. "That's disgusting! I would never ever ever think about reading such filthy... Degrading... Horrific... PERVERTED material!" She stood up to focus all her fury at Kakashi. "Kaka-sensei you're such a pervert!"
He smirked at her reaction, it was always fun to wind her up. She blushed then at her unnecessary outburst towards her superior and promptly sat back down onto the makeshift bench. They sank in to a comfortable silence, lost in their own thoughts. Kakashi was glad that he had finally calmed down his previous urges and visibly relaxed.
The sky was no longer black but was now a dark blue, indicating sun was starting to rise. He could hear the chirping of birds ringing through the forest.
"I was talking to Kayoko earlier and I found out something interesting about her clan sensei."
"Hmm? Oh what's that then?"
"Well apparently she's not as young as she looks. She said that her clan has a bloodline limit that makes the females age five times slower than normal humans. I asked her if it was the same for males and she said that only females inherit the ability."
Kakashi thought over the interesting information that had been handed to him and stored it within his mind to look into at a later date.
"Do you believe her Sakura?" He genuinely wanted to know what she thought on the matter.
She shrugged, "I don't see why not."
He felt her hesitate, like she wanted to ask him something. She waited a few minutes before deciding that she would voice her question.
"Kakashi-sensei?"
"Yes Sakura?"
"I know its personal and I understand if you don't answer but well... What is your mum like?"
It took Kakashi by surprise really, he hadn't thought about his mother in a long time. He hated talking about his private life, especially his family but he saw no harm in telling her the truth and letting slip something about his life just this once.
"Well, I never knew my mother. She died when I was a baby, I've never even seen a picture of her," he shrugged like it was no big deal. But in truth he had always wished he had known his mother, especially in the days of his youth when he really had needed her there.
Sakura looked horrified for a moment before looking very very sad.
"But it's ok, I'm still alive right?," he gave her an eye smile. She turned her gaze to the floor.
"Right," she sighed. "I'm very sorry to hear about your mum Kakashi-sensei, I can't imagine what I'd do if I lost either of my parents."
He looked at her with concern. "It was a long time ago Sakura, I'm over it so there's nothing to worry about. There's also no point living in the past, what's happened has happened and there's nothing you can really do but move on is there?"
"No but it still hurts, even if things are left in the past, it doesn't mean we forget," she was still looking at the ground.
"It's true we never truly forget those that are left in the past," he turned his head away when thoughts of his old teammates flashed through his mind, his sensei and his dad and his fallen comrades, it still hurt but the wounds had slowly healed over time, even if there was a scar left behind. "But it's worth the struggle when you look back at what you've lost and realize what you have now is much greater and it's then that it makes you truly come to terms with the fact that bad things need to happen in order for the new, more important things to blossom."
He turned to face the pink haired kunoichi who had now shifted to look up at him. There were tears in her emerald eyes. She leant over and hugged him, he tried his best to comfort her as silent tears slid down her cheeks.
"Thank you sensei," she sniffed.
A few moments passed before Sakura pulled herself together and once again separated the distance between the two. It looked like her mood had improved after receiving that much needed comfort and let out what she had been holding inside of her.
Kakashi wondered what had affected his student but it really wasn't his place to ask. Her mood had improved by the looks of it anyway.
She gave him a curious look with a hint of a teary smile.
"Y'know Kakashi-sensei... It's probably just a coincidence but I can imagine that Kayoko would have looked a lot like your mum."
