AN: Again, thanks for the reviews... I don't think the story would be as decent as it is if it weren't for you guys supporting me through reviews. I might have just left it as half-assed as the first draft was, but every time I go to publish a new chapter, I always wind up re-reading and editing, adding and subtracting until I get something better than what I had before. So thank you - and it's all for you guys that it is what it is!
This is the part in the story where it starts to get a little weird, I guess, so I'm hoping that you guys bear with me and enjoy it regardless. Just know that it's not over yet and it won't be for a while. I'm thinking something like thirteen chapters or so, depending on how I decide to end it (and yes, if you give me a review with an idea for a happy or sad ending, I will consider it, since I'm still holding off on planning the final chapters... I have a rough idea, but I'm not sure yet if I want it to end sadly or happily - so tell me what you want, if you'll die without a certain kind of ending!). Anyway, here it is, and sorry about the wait... school got in the way... stupid school... even avoiding classes it gets in the way...
Oh... and hopefully that one scene isn't too terribly awkward... old maid over here, so tell me if it seems unrealistic or entirely stupid and horrible and should just be taken out completely... I'm going to have to trust your judgement here!
Team 7
He didn't know why he'd never even considered it a possibility. It was stupid of him not to think that it could have happened like this, that Kakashi could wind up being his sensei. He supposed it must have been because Kakashi kept telling Hisoka how he'd fail his team and then go back to doing missions. Naruto didn't know if Hisoka had convinced the man to give Naruto's team a chance or if the Hokage had ordered him to take on the team because Sasuke was in it. Furthermore, he wasn't sure if the Hokage having him fail the exam didn't have something to do with putting him on Sasuke's team – because there wasn't a sensei who wouldn't have taken on Sasuke, even if they had to take Naruto on, too. Except perhaps Kakashi, who would have no doubt failed the team if it hadn't been for either Hisoka or the Hokage. It was utter bullshit when Kakashi had said that they'd passed because Sasuke gave Naruto half of his bento. Kakashi never would have given them another chance to pass unless he'd had an ulterior motive – something like the Hokage breathing down his neck and Hisoka's telling him to give his team a chance. So Naruto felt like shit because he was sure that Kakashi wanted nothing to do with his team. He almost forgot about meeting Kakashi as Hisoka by the oak tree, he was so upset, and she wound up being fifteen minutes late.
"I've never known you to be late," Kakashi said in surprise.
"Eh, sorry, Kakashi, I just got back from a mission."
"Oh. We could skip the running then and just eat, if you'd like? You're probably tired. Why didn't you tell me you'd have a mission? I would have rescheduled."
Kakashi looked so pathetically upset that Hisoka didn't have the heart to keep her anger from her time as Naruto. "It's fine, Kakashi. It was a sucky mission, but I got through it with energy to spare. Besides, I always feel great after running. And we were supposed to do twenty laps today!"
He smiled happily at her, his shoulders losing their slump, and then they were off. They ran at double the speed from when they'd started out and finished in the same amount of time it'd taken them to do ten before. Their race ended with a tie, both of them feeling a bit tired from the run and from their earlier engagement with Team 7. They collapsed to the ground with a contented sigh and Kakashi broke the silence: "You know, I think I might beat Gai when he challenges me to a race next time. I've never focused so much on running before in my life!"
They laughed at the thought and Hisoka teased him, "I don't know, he's pretty fast. Maybe you should stick to Rock, Paper, Scissors."
Kakashi cried out in indignation and rolled onto her, trying to pin her. They switched places a few times and eventually Hisoka pinned him down with her chakra. "That's cheating," Kakashi pouted.
"Mm, it is, isn't it?"
He gave her that half-smile she loved so much and leaned forward to capture her lips. They kissed gently for a while before Kakashi broke away. Hisoka stared in shock when he pulled down his mask and smiled beatifically at her. She'd never really thought about it, which was a little odd, but he was very handsome. His lips were a soft peach colour and his tongue darted out to moisten them when he realized she was staring at them. She decided that this revelation required no words and swooped down to meet his lips with hers once more. The kiss turned heated as they tasted each other for the first time. Hisoka's breath hitched when his tongue swept along her bottom lip and she opened her mouth to let it in. Their tongues twined and fought for dominance until Hisoka finally let Kakashi take control. He rolled her over onto her back and trailed kisses along her face and down to her neck. She gasped at the contact and moaned when his mouth reached the junction between her throat and her shoulders. Her legs fell open and Kakashi settled between them, a heavy but comforting weight. Their mouths met once more and Hisoka's hands buried themselves in Kakashi's slightly rough but mostly soft hair. Kakashi's hands glided down her neck and toward her hips, his thumbs drawing maddening circles on her skin beneath her shirt. Then his hands slowly, hesitantly, slid up and cupped her breasts. Hisoka's head fell back at the contact and she bit her lip at the feeling.
She knew she was getting aroused, and this was the first time it wasn't just an embarrassing morning occurrence; it was voluntary. Her skin tingled and her toes curled and she could feel heat building in her stomach and darting toward her pelvis. Doubtlessly and embarrassingly her underwear was wet from more than just sweat now. "Kakashi!" she groaned when his thumbs and index fingers pinched her nipples through the fabric of her sweaty bra. He smirked against her lips and rolled the buds between his fingers, earning him another moan and a thrust of hips. They froze when their groins connected and then it was violent and animalistic as they rut against one another shamelessly, sweating and moaning and biting and scratching. Hisoka pulled roughly on Kakashi's hair and Kakashi's nails dug into her hips as he pulled her harshly against himself. She came first, gasping out his name, and he followed not long after, shuddering silently and pressing his face into her neck.
They laid there for a while, not moving and silent but for their gasping breaths. Hisoka's hands finally released their death grip on Kakashi's hair and she slumped down, boneless, onto the grass. She giggled when Kakashi licked his dry lips against her throat and then she gently ran her hands through his hair. Her heart slowly regained its usual rhythm and she sighed contentedly then asked, "So, dinner?"
Kakashi laughed against her throat and she joined him, feeling at peace once more.
Balancing her two faces was precarious at best and dangerous at worst. Naruto had to forget about changing, about being more mature. If he were to act more mature, he would doubtlessly act like Hisoka and then Kakashi would figure it out. So Naruto acted like an idiot and was scolded by Kakashi, called an idiot by Sakura, and called a dead last by Sasuke. No one on his team liked him. Iruka was a bit disappointed in him, that he hadn't begun to act more responsible now that he was a ninja. The Hokage was becoming suspicious since Naruto had mentioned before maybe becoming more like Hisoka and now he was suddenly furiously against it, claiming that he needed to leave her behind entirely and not act a thing like her.
But he wasn't leaving her behind. In fact, he was starting to spend too much time as her again because she and Kakashi had begun spending hours together every day she didn't have a "mission". They'd made out several times now and he'd even convinced her to read Icha Icha Paradise on her own just so she'd stop complaining about it without really knowing what the hentai novel was about. She'd put her foot down when he asked her in an innocent voice if she'd like to read it aloud to him, though. It hadn't been as awful as she'd thought it would be, but it was definitely not to be considered literature; she told him it was a step up from trash, but that was about it.
Actually reading Icha Icha just because he wanted her to... Hisoka really liked Kakashi, there was no doubt about it. She liked him more than she'd ever liked anybody before in her life. And that scared her. She was terrified because... because she was starting to think that she loved him. And she hated lying to him. She hated having to earn his scorn as Naruto and then hear about how stupid Naruto acted while she was Hisoka. The only good that came of it was that she'd managed to make him stop favouring Sasuke and start teaching them more than just teamwork exercises. They learned to walk on trees and on water (though Naruto obviously already knew about this because Hisoka had learned a long time ago). They'd learned several techniques that were must-know on and off the battlefield. Naruto knew that if Hisoka hadn't talked to him about it then Team 7 wouldn't have even learned tree walking. Kakashi hated being a sensei, he told her. There were days when he enjoyed it, but for the most part he found it frustrating having to deal with people who were so clearly below him in skill.
She was starting to think she should break up with him. It was awful because she'd never been so happy in her entire life. Nothing could lift her mood easier than Kakashi knocking on her door with flowers. Or watching a movie with Kakashi. Or running laps with Kakashi. Or talking to Kakashi. Or kissing Kakashi. Basically everything about Kakashi made her ridiculously happy – except for when he spoke about his team. He knew she closed off when he spoke about Team 7 so he usually didn't do so unless there was some great success or failure or something hilarious had happened, like Naruto being dragged by the leash of an enormous dog. The problem in their relationship was Naruto. And the problem in Naruto's relationship with his team was Hisoka. The only way to solve the problem was to get rid of one of them – and the only one who could legally leave was Hisoka. The Hokage wouldn't stand for him to become someone else, no matter how much Hisoka desired it.
So when they met for their run three months after Team 7 had formed, Hisoka met Kakashi's eager gaze with a sober one. He knew immediately that something was wrong and demanded to know what. "Do you have a mission?" he wondered. "I haven't seen you look so unhappy since those jounin attacked you. Did something happen? Are you alright?"
"I'm fine, Kakashi."
"Then why do you look so miserable? I know the rice was a little off last night, but you said it was okay even though I didn't use my Sharingan to cook it."
She smiled sadly but fondly, "Your rice was fine, and you really should learn to cook without that Sharingan of yours."
"Then what is it?"
"I... I don't think we should see each other anymore."
"Sorry, I think I misheard you." Kakashi said with his voice a little louder than usual.
"I'm sorry, Kakashi," she said piteously, "it's over."
"It can't be," he said, hands grasping her shoulders. "There's nothing wrong! We're happy – I haven't been this happy since before Obito died! You can't... you can't mean it."
She swallowed heavily and shook her head, "I'm sorry..."
"Is there someone else?" he wondered, heartbreak written across his face. "Or maybe you don't like the way I look? I knew I shouldn't have taken off my mask!"
"No! No, Kakashi, there's no one else and you're very handsome. There's nothing wrong with you. I just... I can't do this anymore."
"But why? I don't understand. I thought we were happy?"
"I'm sorry," she repeated, not wanting to tell him why she was doing this.
"Weren't you happy? I thought you were happy. You said you were!"
"I was. I've never been happier in my entire life."
"But—"
"Kakashi, I'm sorry, but I have to go," she said, pulling herself out of his grasp and running away.
He caught up to her in seconds and pulled her back, tugging her harshly by her arm and forcing her to look at him, "Tell me you don't love me. Tell me!"
"I don't," she said. She forced her eyes to meet his single grey eye and repeated: "I don't love you, Kakashi."
His hand released her and he fell onto his knees, staring at her in confusion. "You're not dead, so why are you leaving me?"
She grimaced as her heart clenched at his words, remembering how he'd told her that everyone he'd loved in his youth had died. She couldn't respond. She wanted to tell him the truth, but that was impossible. He would hate her. So she turned around and used her chakra to sprint as fast as she could away from him. She dropped her Henge when she landed outside the forest, after making sure he wasn't following her. Then she took a deep breath and headed over to the Hokage's Tower.
"Hokage-sama," Naruto said when he entered, earning a shocked glance from his grandfatherly leader.
"What is it, Naruto?"
"If anyone asks, tell them that Hisoka has gone on a mission and will be absent until further notice."
"You're letting her go?" he wondered. "Naruto, is something wrong?"
"I've decided that being a good ninja is more important than being Hisoka," he told his mentor quietly, eyebrows twitching downward.
"I'm proud of you, Naruto. I know how difficult this decision must have been for you to make."
No you don't, Naruto thought. And I hope to Kami you never will.
