Summary: He knew that if he decided on what felt right rather than what was necessary then he would destroy and shatter both his and Naruto's worlds. What he was about to do would be for Naruto's happiness.

Warnings: Yaoi, Underage, messed up timeline.

Pairings: KakaNaru

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, all rights belong to Masashi Kishimoto.


For the past month Kakashi had been silently keeping track of Naruto when he was officially off duty; it's not like he had anything better to do in his free time now. He almost convinced himself that it wasn't stalking and it wasn't in the slightest bit creepy. His attempt at keeping well away from Naruto seemed to have slipped out of his grasp and disappeared down the drain. He sighed out of disappointment for himself...so much for impeccable self control. Self control didn't seem to be a thing when Naruto was involved in his life.

He tried telling himself that Naruto wasn't involved in his life but when the blond took up 90% of his thoughts he couldn't exactly deny it; especially when he was constantly worried that Naruto had not been recovering very well from the cave incident. It was only recently that the kid had been made fit for duty again; at least to head out on missions with his team anyway. If Kakashi could observe him from afar then he didn't have the constant need to interact with the blond, it was a fair deal he'd somehow made with himself.

Crouched in a nearby tree, Kakashi watched Naruto retreat to his apartment for the night, the dim lights flickering on behind the closed curtains. At least now he was reassured that Naruto was safe at home for the night so that he didn't get the nagging feeling something was wrong through the whole of his shift. He took one last look before backing off to get ready.

The night dragged on even though he was less restless than the previous nights of constant 'what if's' that plagued his thoughts more often than not. Humming to himself he peered at the village lights surrounding him in all directions; the village had definitely grown in the years since the last shinobi war, that he was glad of but even then, the bigger the village, the more danger it attracted. Logic aside, Konoha at night brought a sort of peaceful atmosphere with it, especially with a clear night like tonight. The thousands of stars that spread out over the night sky twinkled and the full moon shone and lit the tree tops of the nearby forests. Kakashi would have said it was a very romantic setting, much like one of the scenes in his book, yet he was alone so he couldn't admit to such a thing.

"I never had a chance to thank you." A gravelly voice, just above a whisper.

Ah...not alone then. How ironic that it had to be him of all people. Kakashi didn't turn around, instead he lowered his head from looking at the stars to look at the concrete below him.

Footsteps interrupted the silence as Naruto came and sat at the edge of the roof, legs dangling over the edge. Kakashi remained standing, he focused on the soft blond hair, almost silver in the moonlight.

"I'm glad you were the one who came for me...it's taken me a long time to recover," he silently admitted. His blue eyes raised to focus on the eye holes of the Hound mask. "But I think you know that."

Kakashi was the one to look away this time. "I don't know what you mean. A mission was assigned to me and that was what I carried out; it did not matter whether it happened to be you in that cave or someone else, I would have reacted the same way and treated the situation at hand with complete professionalism. It was a mission, not a voluntary act to come and save you in particular, especially when you clearly disobeyed your team and deliberately put yourself in danger when there was no need."

Naruto glared at the man, his brow furrowed. "It was necessary to go after them! I wanted to go after them! They...they took something sacred from the village, I couldn't let them get away with it."

"And that there is your problem Naruto, what is necessary and what you want to do are two completely different things. It was not necessary to go after them, what was necessary was to remain with your team and keep the remaining villagers safe. You should have stayed with them and waited for backup so that you could give the necessary information so that more experienced shinobi could track the enemy down. It was not your mission to risk your life Naruto, there's a reason genin are not sent on anything higher than a C-rank mission."

"W-What?!" The blond shouted, jumping to his feet to stand facing Kakashi. "And it's your priority to risk your life?! How is your life any less valuable than mine or someone elses?! Don't make me laugh, sure you carried out your mission with the utmost 'professionalism' but don't pretend not to know what you've been doing since then! I know you've been following me, so don't give me all this shit about how it wouldn't be any different if it were me or not because I highly doubt you'd treat other people like this! Or was that just another mission?!" Naruto was breathing heavily now. Kakashi was dumb struck, how had Naruto known he was following him, had he really been that obvious? "A-and sometimes you need to do what your heart and gut tell you to do instead of what some writing on a scroll tells you to do. Sometimes doing what you want to do is necessary..." Naruto turned his head away and closed his eyes, his shoulders slumping almost in defeat. He muttered something under his breath.

The silence between them was tense. Kakashi didn't know how to reply to the boy in front of him, how he had been an idiot for letting slip of his emotions and potentially putting his identity at risk. And he was right...following Naruto was not professional and no he would not be doing it if it were anyone else.

"Yes, it is my priority and my job to risk my life for the protection of this village, and yes my life has less value than yours."

Naruto clenched his fists by his sides, clearly restraining the need to hit or grab the man stood so calmly, almost nonchalantly, in front of him. "GRRRR why cant you just-!" He took a deep breath in an attempt to calm his rage, managing only to lower is voice this time. "Why can't you just take that mask off..."

"You know I-"

"Oh just shut up!"

Naruto stormed off, walking briskly to the other side of the roof. "And stop following me!" Kakashi saw the kid bounce off the roof and sprint away.

The silver haired man hadn't realized he'd been biting his lip, only now noticing the blood dampening the fabric of his mask. He was internally screaming, anger at himself for being so fucking stupid. He knew he should never have even spoken to the boy again, should have asked Tsunade for a year long mission somewhere far away, anything other than getting involved with the blond again. It did neither of them any good, all he did was upset Naruto and fuck everything up. That's what Kakashi was. A fuck up; that was why every one he loved was gone or dead, he was cursed. Kakashi tried, he really tried to stop the tears falling down his cheeks.


A/N: I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who has faved/followed and reviewed this fic so far, waking up and seeing people actually interested in something I've written really makes my day. :) I'm sorry if updating is a bit slower over the next week; it's just that I'm away from home to see family so there's always someone looking over my shoulder or needing my attention but I promise I'll update when I can! Thank you again!