A/N - Weeeeelllll, this is just how it had to go. Try not to kill me yet ;) I do have a plan again though! Chapter 11 for your pleasure this evening (or morning ;)!

For several seconds neither man seemed inclined to move, they were both shocked that their lips had happened to connect, but then all too soon and not soon enough, one set of lips started to move.

The response of the other set was immediate and in no time at all, their mere physical connection turned into a surprisingly chaste kiss, until Minato allowed his mouth to open just enough to slip his tongue out.

Kakashi practically moaned at the sensation of Minato's tongue tracing his lips. Minato, in turn, took the opportunity to delve his tongue into the other's mouth. Their tongues met softly, dancing, playing hesitantly around each other, someone gasped breathlessly. Minato groaned as he realized there were fingers weaved into his hair, tugging just enough that it added to his arousal rather than feeling as though it was cliché and playacted. He felt his own hands move to trace the outline of taut muscles through a skin tight shirt, and as his fingers touched the velvet skin of Kakashi's shoulders he felt a noise come from his throat that he wasn't sure had ever been defined.

In response, Kakashi's hands pushed into his hair more fiercely, a deep growl reverberating through his chest. They were too close together for the small awkward space they were, in between the coffee table and the couch, but nowhere near close enough to what either of them wanted. Somehow, they maneuvered their bodies to stand up, hands on each other, tongues tangled together, and then their chests lay flush against each other, lining up the rest of their torsos. As soon as a certain part of their anatomy pressed together in such a way that had both men make unintelligible noises, they sprang apart.

From opposite sides of the room, Kakashi and Minato stared at each other. Both were panting, both their faces flushed, both barely concealing their arousal, and both seemed entirely uncertain where they were supposed to go from here.

"I…" Kakashi started, his voice almost cracking as he tried to make a coherent thought.

Minato just held up a single hand and shook his head. He bent over and put both hands on his knees, breathing deeply, as though he were trying to ward off a panic attack. Within seconds, Kakashi was next to him.

"Are you alright?" Kakashi asked softly, having been far more personally familiar with anxiety issues than he'd like to admit.

"Fine," Minato breathed out, voice sounding tight and constricted. Kakashi pressed a hand onto his back, rubbing soothing circles into it, as Minato had done so many times for him. After a few long moments, Minato straightened up again and turned slightly so he could face Kakashi; he reached a hand up to caress the copy nin's face.

"Kakashi –"

"Hokage-sama!" A loud knock reverberated through the house from the front door. The spell was broken between the two men immediately, though reluctantly. Kakashi backed away from Minato's contact and disappeared wordlessly from the living room. Minato instead used his hand to drag it through his hair, mussing it slightly to get himself more presentable to do his never-ending duty.

"ANBU-san, what happened?" Minato pulled the door open, shocked to see the two main executives of ANBU operations standing on his doorstep.

"We regret intruding on your evening, Hokage-sama, however, a matter of most importance has just come up." One of them spoke, a deep male voice through his mask.

"Yes, of course, let's go to my office," Minato responded, knowing that no true ANBU would have any sort of discussion in such a personal setting. Plus, the Hokage's office was specifically designed for transmission of sensitive information.

As the ANBU disappeared from his doorway, he quickly scribbled a note for Kakashi, despite the fact that he knew the man could have heard everything that just happened.

Going to my office, probably be a while. Don't wait up. We'll talk in the morning.

~Minato

There was so much more he wanted to say to that silver-haired jounin, but he knew most of that conversation would need to be in person, might as well just let him know he could get some sleep. ANBU problems generally consumed a great deal of time.

He arrived at his office just seconds after the ANBU senior managers did and ushered them inside immediately.

"What happened?" He asked, seating himself behind his desk.

"The guards in the watch tower noted something in the forest, Rat was ANBU on duty, so he went to investigate. He sent a bird to us with this message," one of the ANBU handed Minato a note. "By the time Tiger got to him, Rat was dead."

Minato glanced down at the note

S-rank missing nin, page 32 Bingo Book, lat. 158 E, long. 16 N. Will attempt take-down, send back up.

A short, efficient message, outlining exactly where the missing nin could be found and clearly understanding he could not handle the man on his own, which is very important for any ninja to be able to acknowledge. Unfortunately, he couldn't have held the rogue ninja just a little while longer until that help arrived.

Minato sighed, frustrated, why couldn't these rogue missing nin just leave Konoha alone? What was this guy's business here anyway? He picked the Bingo Book out of his desk drawer to see exactly who they were dealing with. As soon as he flipped to page 32, he groaned internally. Tarou Kenta. A large, dangerous rogue nin with a strong earth affinity and an especially deadly earthquake jutsu which allowed him to control exactly how and where tectonic plates moved.

"I assume he's being watched presently?" Minato asked of the ANBU as soon as he'd finished reading.

"Hai, Hokage-sama, Lion and Tiger are on him now, Snake and Lizard on alert as backup, though at the moment he seems to be more working on a plan than heading in for an attack."

"We best head him off from the beginning then, without making a scene. If he's active now, our best chance to strike him with the least amount of mess is just after sunrise."

"Who will be sent?" One the ANBU asked. Minato frowned, he knew exactly who needed to be sent on this mission, who would make the most sense, but he desperately wished there was another option.

"Who would you recommend, ANBU-san?" He asked of both ANBU officials.

"Hound and Cat have successfully teamed against him in the past. They are both off-duty tonight. This time tell them to take care that he never make another reappearance."

"That's what I was thinking," Minato responded. "Have them both sent to me an hour before sunrise as long as the current ANBU on him maintain control of the situation. If it escalates in any way, send Hound and Cat to me sooner."

"Hai, Hokage-sama," both ANBU bowed and teleported away.

Left alone in his office, Minato folded his arms across his desk and dropped his head onto them, he really needed to drink some water, adrenaline only sobered him up so much.

Kakashi had felt Minato's chakra disappear along with the two ANBU managers at least an hour before he decided to venture back downstairs. He could hardly believe what had happened between the two of them and could only imagine what Minato had been about to say to him. He barely glanced at the note Minato left scribbled on the counter. We'll talk in the morning. That part haunted him. He wasn't entirely sure he wanted to remember all this in the morning if it was going to be a difficult talk. A part of him, though, mainly his lips and various parts of his body that Minato had touched, told him that the man had responded to the kiss and damn well at that.

Kakashi sighed and ran his hands through his hair one more time before deciding he might as well heed the command in Minato's note and not bother to wait for the man to return that night. Kakashi, of all people, knew how consuming normal ANBU missions could be, never mind how much ANBU emergencies were. So, he took his time drinking some water (so as not to be hungover for the inevitable talk that was to come), taking a shower, and finally climbing into bed, falling asleep faster than he would have thought possible based on the events that had transpired earlier in the evening.

It seemed like mere minutes later that Kakashi felt the inescapable tug of his ANBU tattoo, summoning him to the Hokage's office just an hour before sunrise.

Minato sat behind his desk with two ANBU operatives, in full uniforms, masks in place, standing at attention in front of him, while the rest of the world was still dark and sleeping.

"Hound-taicho, Cat, last night we had an incident with the missing nin Tarou Kenta and we lost a member of ANBU. I need you both to lure him as far from any village as possible so as to minimize his potential destruction while you assassinate him. Hound-taicho, send one of your summons to me directly should the two of you need back-up. The rest of your mission details are outlined in this scroll. You both have faced him before and won, please make sure you do the same this time."

"Hai, Hokage-sama!" Both of the ANBU responded, bowing. The shorter ANBU with the cat mask and long brown hair teleported away immediately. The taller ANBU with a shock of silver hair, mismatched eyes, and a dog mask simply stood from his bow, and gave the Hokage an empty, desolate stare.

Minato opened his mouth to say something more, try to apologize, tell Kakashi he would have sent someone else if he'd had another choice, but he couldn't seem to find the words. All he wanted was to wrap his arms around that lanky, well-muscled body and whisper softly in his ear that he better take care to come home alive. He searched desperately for the words, anything to say that would make their situation seem alright, hopeful even.

Kakashi teleported away.