Author's Note: Sorry for the Cliff hanger, and again, this may be another short chapter. But enjoy. And this picks up exactly where the previous chapter left off.

Forgiveness

"Iruka is alive, and he is healthy." Tsunade spoke with a heavy voice.

"And the baby?" Kakashi asked.

"The baby, it can go either way. It was stabbed by an unknown force, and we haven't been able to detect a heartbeat. On top of that, the two of them nearly froze. I'm sorry Kakashi_"

"There's nothing you can do?" Kakashi stood on his feet.

"I am not a miracle worker Kakashi. You can go see him now..." Her tone lightened. "I think you need to see him, just you."

Silently Kakashi stood and he advanced past Tsunade, leaving Naruto and Hinata there with worried faces. The three waited until he left to draw a long sigh of relief, and then Naruto spoke.

"Granny…" He started. "Are they going to be, okay?"

"Iruka and the baby?" Tsunade sat down in between Naruto and Hinata. "Iruka is going to be fine, but the impact the baby took. Someone stabbed Iruka with the intention of killing that child."

"He would be broken, if the baby died." Hinata softly spoke, looking at Tsunade. "Wouldn't he?"

"I'm not sure what he would do." The old Hokage crossed her legs. "He's in such an unstable condition and he's…so attached. However...some unknown force healed the baby as well, which is what surprises me. Still, we can't be sure."

There was a long silent pause and then Naruto spoke. "They're both going to survive. I know it."

Kakashi entered the room and saw Iruka sleeping in a bed. He was wearing a kimono, and there were layers of blankets on him so he could stay warm. His untied hair fell, down covering his face and his closed eyes.

Breathing lightly, Kakashi took a step forward and without really thinking about it, drew down the blankets.

He held his breath until he finally saw Iruka's stomach.

It certainly had grown. Much larger than Kakashi remembered.

It was also round, like it was supposed to be but he wondered how it felt. Was it soft, or hard? Would he be able to feel the baby on first contact? With all these thoughts lodged in his mind, Kakashi's hand made its way to Iruka's stomach.

It's hard. He thought, lightly rubbing it.

He then wondered how Iruka felt, with something alive growing inside his body. He wanted to know how Iruka felt about that something being his.

Sighing, Kakashi took his hand from Iruka's stomach and placed them in his pockets. He then sat down on the bed and closed his eyes.

"Sorry." He said quietly. "I'll make it up to you, I promise. To both of you…"

Iruka was asleep for several days after that. During that time, he was transported from the Leaf Village's hospital, to Kakashi house (not apartment), by request.

After discussing it thoroughly, Tsunade thought it would be a good idea and so did Kakashi. However, Kakashi didn't anticipate the fire he would receive when Iruka woke.

When Iruka woke up, he yawned louder than he ever had before.

He then of course sat up , and as his daily routine , waited a little while so he could hear his little one's heart beat and sure enough, he heard its beautiful rhythmic pattern. Smiling, he fell back into his pillow and closed his eyes.

But something was wrong.

Sitting up once again, he looked at his surroundings and noticed a number of things. For one, the bed was large, much larger than his own. The pillows were softer and there were more blankets. The room he resided in could fit either three or four of his rooms at least. His room could not compare to the size of this one. Large windows let in splashes of sunlight nearly blinding him, but that wasn't the strangest thing.

On the foot of his bed, sitting there and staring straight at him sat Kakashi, with a plate of food in his hands.

"Good morning." He spoke with a soft voice. "I made you breakfast."

Iruka stared at Kakashi, wide eyed in horror. Grabbing the blankets, he attempted to cover his stomach, but Kakashi shook his head. "I already know." He said.

"How?" Iruka mustered with a dry voice.

"I've known for a while now. I've come to terms that_"

"What does it matter...if you know or not? Aren't you and Hanare getting married?" Iruka was breathing pretty fast now. "That's what she told me!"

"What?! That's a lie!" Kakashi stood up, still holding the plate, and walked over to Iruka who seemed to be quite shocked at his reaction.

"Get away from me!" Iruka commanded, and Kakashi stood still.

"Sorry." He placed the plate on the edge of the bed. "But whatever Hanare told you, probably isn't true."

Iruka stared at Kakashi with an unreadable expression. At that moment, Kakashi just decided to come clean.

He told Iruka the whole story, starting from the beginning.

From when he received his mission, was forced to lie to Iruka and every other detail. At some points he fought to urge to cry, which he won at the end, but Iruka's face told it all. He knew that the younger chunnin didn't believe a word he said, and that is what hurt them the most.

After he was finished, Kakashi spoke.

"You don't have to stay..." Kakashi concluded , looking away from Iruka's eyes. "If you don't want to. But, I think it would...I'd like you to stay." And Iruka didn't say anything, he only looked at Kakashi with the same emotionless face. "I hope you believe me..." Kakashi's voice began to crack. "If you don't then, that's okay too." Iruka stood and walked over to Kakashi and then stared at him, still silent.

"Please Iruka, say something..." Kakashi begged. "Anything, I know I messed up!" He began to shake now, and his hands began to move as he spoke. "I'm sorry! I know you hate me, but please..."

"Kakashi." Iruka said so softly, Kakashi thought it was a whisper. He looked at Iruka, with tears forming in his eyes and he nodded.

"Yes..." And he noticed, that Iruka's lips were quivering.

"I don't hate you." He said with a cracked voice . "I forgive you, and I love you. I still do, I never stopped loving you." Kakashi at that moment fell to his knees with fresh tears running down his cheeks. It seemed that Iruka was the strongest one out of the two. He got on his knees and embraced Kakashi. "Don't cry." He whispered. "You'll make me cry!"

For the longest time, the two held each other. Silent emotions passed them, silent apologizes and silent resolutions. Neither one of them wanted to let go, nor did they want to step back into the binds of the reality they had to face.

"S...sorry..." Kakashi replied first, with a heavy heart. Slowly, he forced himself to stand.

"It's fine." Iruka replied, wiping his moistened eyes and he too stood.

There was silence for a while, as the two stood there but Iruka broke it. "Kakashi, if you don't want to help me, then you don't have to."

Kakashi placed his hands on Iruka's shoulders. "I really want to be apart of this Iruka. I've always wanted a family, something I could take care of...other than dogs... I'd be more than happy to help." He then slowly brought his hand to Iruka's face. "It's my responsibility."

Smiling Iruka took Kakashi's hand and held it to his cheek. He breathed quietly as he remembered the old times, when they'd do this all the time.

"It's not gonna be easy." He said.

"Still, it'll be fun and it will be life changing, in a good way." Kakashi smiled.

"Okay..." Iruka smiled still holding Kakashi's hand. "Okay."

Okay, all these other stories I've read have made Iruka be the one to break down. Well, I actually think it would be more realistic for Kakashi to break down instead. I hope this wasn't to fast paced for you or anything like that...so please review it.

And I don't own Naruto.

PS: Vote on my poll for what you think the gender should be. As of now, the gender is male.