y[14]

Almost two weeks had passed since they had reconciled and Naruto grew increasingly restless. Kakashi noticed it even though the blonde tried to hide the fact that he needed something more than the occasional spars with Lee or Sasuke. Unlike himself, Naruto was incapable of entertaining himself with a book and sitting for hours. The older man had an idea of something that he could do to spend some of that accumulated energy, but unfortunately for him, Naruto had stayed more than loyal to his word. Although the blonde would very likely promptly deny that fact, whenever Kakashi had… tried to initiate something, either he would change the subject or leave in the middle. Honestly it was a little more than frustrating, but admittedly he couldn't bring himself to complain to the blonde out of embarrassment.

It had reached a point where he actively worried if he had done something wrong, or if it was just his body that had become lewder thanks to that idiot.

"Kakashi-sensei?" He turned his attention to his pink student, not actually his student anymore, and met her confused face.

"You spaced out… again."

"Ah. Gomen, gomen." He scratched his head, habit he had picked up from Naruto and apologized.

"Is something wrong? You don't usually visit me in the hospital, and you're also not so much of an airhead."

Kakashi actually went red under his mask and sighed. What do I tell her? I want to have sex with my student but his brilliant stubborn caring self won't let me and I'm far too embarrassed to ask for it while I'm not drugged? Yes. That seemed like the way to go.

"Did you guys have another discussion? Is everything alright?" Sakura was getting increasingly worried as he didn't answer.

He waved his head "don't worry. That wasn't it."

Her eyes twinkled "so there is something." She smiled. Damn that women intuition.

Kakashi closed his book and softly put it on the desk.

"I can't… I mean this sort of thing… I…" He stuttered with his words making his student more than confused.

"I'm not getting it… You don't know how to explain it? You can't explain it?" Kakashi waved his head "You can't talk about it?- ooh." Her eyes widened in surprise and her cheeks turned pink "I see. It's one of those issues."

"Ah… I mean, if it's a problem of physical nature, I can help" Kakashi choked on his own saliva "Kami! I meant as a medic!" she quickly added waving her hands in the air.

Embarrassed to death to be discussing this with Sakura, Kakashi spoke on a low tone since they were in public "it… it isn't any physical problem as far as I know."

"Mmm…" Sakura seemed to be thinking of what else to say.

Oh, to hell with it.

"He's stubborn and he doesn't want to… because he's afraid my body hasn't recovered." He rubbed his temples, just saying it out loud to Sakura was hard enough.

"That's really stupid, there shouldn't be any physical damage left in your body… and your chakra loss doesn't affect it." Kakashi threw her an unsurprised roll of eyes "Well… I don't… know how he is… in those things." She blushed and waved her hands in the air "And believe me I don't want to know. But he is madly in love with you." Kakashi cheeks were burning against his mask "Just tell him what you want."

Sakura gave a sudden surprised gasp and clicked her fingers in the air "or…" that looked scared Kakashi to no end, what was the pink haired girl thinking of?

"Sakura…"

"Don't worry sensei! I have some that can help! Trust me!"

Good God, what had he done?

«x»«x»«x»«x»«x»«x»«x»«x»«x»

"So…the two of them are in a relationship-"

"Yes."

"But Naruto isn't…."

"Exactly."

"Ah…" The blonde girl got a contemplating look while her friend ate the food on the table "Are you sure there are really no physical problems?" Sakura nodded.

"As far as I'm aware, no physical problems, yes."

"That's weird then." She slurped her noodles and Sakura caught the glint in her eyes when she leaned in closer "Hey… remember those manga we used to read?"

"Are you thinking what I think you're-"

"Yes! If he says Naruto won't touch him then we force the occasion! We create a mood!" Ino stood up suddenly making everyone in the restaurant look at her "I have the best plan! You came to the right person!"

Sakura smiled at her and kept eating until she choked on her food "We will need Tsunade-sama's help though."

«x»«x»«x»«x»«x»«x»«x»«x»«x»

"So, Sakura, what do you need my help with?" Tsunade was finally free from the piles of paperwork Shizune had forced her to look through. Sakura was no idiot, and after dealing with Tsunade for years she knew not to ask for something after a load of paperwork like that without bringing anything. She also knew Tsunade was much more lenient than ever when she was drunk, and that was the reason she was carrying bottles of warm sake in her medics bag.

Sakura slowly put the bottles on Tsunade's desk and smiled "It's such a nice night and we haven't had a drink in a while!" Tsunade's lips merged into a smile and she let go of a deep laugh.

"You were always my favorite!" Tsunade grabbed one of the bottles and directly drank from there. Sakura took a big gulp and prepared herself for a challenging night.

After three hours Sakura recognized the perfect timing for her request when Tsunade began slurring her words beyond literary comprehension. Thankfully she had been sneakily throwing her drink back into one of the bottles that had been emptied by Tsunade, and the woman was in such a bad state she just thought the bottle kept filling up magically.

"Lady Tsunade… I was wondering if I could ask you something?" she began, very carefully of her words.

"Wat iz ut?" Sakura winced at the state of drunk-ness she had let Tsunade get to, she would definitely get a scolding from Shizune later on.

She hesitated when Tsunade nearly fell of her chair but when an enthusiastic order of Tsunade for her to blurt it out, she decided to just go ahead.

"Lady Tsunade, do you remember that house you obtained last year? Near the hot springs in the land of rivers?"

"Oh! That! Yesh, I dooo! Boootiful pla- pa-la-ce!"

"I was wondering if we could get Naruto and Kakashi-sensei to go there, for a week, maybe?"

"Yesh- of c-course! Jus- cuz yu are ma fa-fav'rite!" Tsunade stood up and hugged Sakura who winced in pain at the strength Tsunade was using.

"Tsunade-sama I have your papers for tomorrow-"Shizune looked at the scene in front of her, Sakura trying desperately to get out of Tsunade's grip while her face turned redder each second "I really shouldn't help you." She said, sighing with a blank face before she raised her arm and quickly brought it down just behind Tsunade's neck.

Finally able to breathe, Sakura quickly thanked Shizune "Wow, Shizune you're amazing. But won't she-?"

"She won't remember next morning." Shizune picked a few sake bottles and held them in her arms "What was all of this for?" she asked confused.

"She agreed to lend the hot springs house to Naruto and Kakashi-sensei for a week." Sakura helped with the bottles, quickly gathering the rest.

"Ah, I see, truly a dangerous quest, that's one of her favorites." She chuckled "Shall I send those two a letter?"

"If you could, send one to Naruto and inform him it's a mission. S rank would be too suspicious, please make it A or B ranked." She sighed "with everything that's going on with Sutomu he won't get out of the village unless he has to."

Shizune nodded and headed for the door "- I almost forgot something. Please don't tell anyone of this. It might be dangerous if anyone gets this information. As of now, only you, Ino, Kakashi-sensei and I will know of this."

"Don't worry, no one will know."

"Thank you, Shizune." Sakura bowed her head.

«x»«x»«x»«x»«x»«x»«x»«x»«x»

Kakashi looked at the two girls in front of him and mentally wondered when his life had gone this way. Taking dating advice from two girls more than a decade younger than him. Then again, as his brain had so generously supplied him, he too, was also dating a man a decade younger than him, a man that he had, in fact not that long ago, thought of as a kid.

The two of them had come by early in the morning to inform them of their newest plan, a week alone in a house by the hot springs, completely isolated in the forest of the Land of the Rivers. Although Naruto and him had had quite a few times alone, he realized there had not been a time where they were so completely shut off from other people, and more than that, alone and not worrying about any missions or Sutomu. That's when he realized, Sutomu was a big issue here, even if he wasn't dating the brat, he knew Naruto would never leave the village with such a danger, he was solely focused on finding Sutomu and making sure he'd never live to see the light of the sun again. Naruto would never accept a week's vacation at the current moment. Not only that but he also seemed rather adamant to ignore Kakashi's advances, a week alone in some isolated place would not help his plan. With all of that in mind, he wondered how the hell their plan would work.

"Maa… Naruto won't accept this." He told them.

Ino's lips formed in a smirk "We know, that's why we devised this brilliant plan to make you two have a pleasurable week together and … alone." She giggled in a slightly scary tone. Kakashi had never known the girl could be so tactical when it came to love, but… then again she had managed to make Sai fall in love with her and Kakashi always thought that kid was an empty box, pretty much dead inside when it came to any sort of feelings.

"We? You thought of this!" Sakura shot back.

"So Tsunade-sama got drunk on her own? Is that what you're saying?"

Sakura grimaced and shook her head "Tsk… don't mention that, I got the biggest scolding the morning after when she woke up with a huge hangover."

Ino smiled maliciously and turned to Kakashi again "Anyway, Naruto won't know of this, tomorrow he'll receive a letter from Shizune saying he has been ordered by Lady Tsunade to go on a mission. Rank B, standard mission to meet the client at his place and escort him safely to another location."

Ino pulled a paper from her bag and spread it out on top of the table. Kakashi examined the map in front of him.

"The house itself is in a very remote place, but we have already sent word to the caretaker in the small village nearby to accompany you to it, so that shouldn't be a problem." Kakashi wondered, again, if he should just be surprised or really scared at this side of Ino, the blonde girl was, in a lack of other words that would describe it well enough, a tactical female version of Shikamaru when it came to love and sneaky plans "You will travel to the Hidden Valley Village, taking into consideration how immensely Naruto is worried about your body, I'm thinking you'll take a few days to get there, all payments are already taken care of-"

"Everything ended up being free, Lady Tsunade is truly frightening." Sakura smiled awkwardly.

"Yes, you two don't need to worry about any sort of payment, in fact, before you get there the house will be cleaned and fresh food will be supplied, and since the house isn't that far away from the village, you can just come down if you need something, if you talk with the innkeeper he'll arrange things."

Kakashi nodded, he wasn't a fan of lying to Naruto, especially since he knew firsthand how rocky their relationship was around the subject of lies, but he was desperate to get the blonde to stop thinking about Sutomu for even the least bit. He also wanted their relationship to go back a bit in time, Naruto had been treating him like a porcelain doll since he had found the regular chakra checkups, it seemed while the blonde's words had showed him that he really didn't find Kakashi weak in the least, the practical side of Naruto wasn't such a big fan of that idea, it's not that he found him weak, but it always seemed like Naruto didn't want to push limits. Kakashi felt pushed into a corner in that situation, and he had never been able to reveal his feelings to the blonde, and if things kept on going like that, he wouldn't be for a long time.

"Sensei? The last word is yours. If you don't want this, we can just retrieve the message to the caretaker. But if you agree, you have to tell us." Sakura told him gently while she took his hand and smiled.

"A-alright." Kakashi agreed.

"Great!" Ino cheered loudly "you'll be there for a week, the day you two arrive is not included. Also, this has not been shared with anyone other than you, Sakura and I, Shizune and Lady Tsunade, I would keep it that way in order to avoid any trouble. To anyone else you two are going to the land of rivers to escort a big business owner." He nodded "Now… when you two get there, you'll have to tell Naruto the truth…"

"So I'm left to deal with the angry fox?"

"Well, he is your boyfriend." Ino answered annoyingly before she flashed him a smirk "But lucky for you, we have this-" she gave him a letter decorated with the official Hokage signature "that's an official order of Lady Tsunade for him to sit his ass there for a week. We figured it that would work better if he was already there. Furthermore, if that doesn't work, since his blonde ass is in fact very stubborn… we have a few ideas…" she smiled.

"Oh no, I have nothing to do with this." Sakura crossed her arms and shook her head "this is all on you Ino." The blonde smiled to Sakura and Kakashi, and somewhat Kakashi knew that he would probably hate whatever the blonde had to tell him.

"Look, sensei, the truth is that, no matter Naruto's choice of partner, he is a man." Ino explained, as if doing a brief introduction into a whole other subject "and… like every other man, there are some things he… reacts to." Kakashi could feel his cheeks starting to get warm, what kind of chat were they having? He was sure he didn't need to know any intimate details on the kind of stuff that worked on Sai!

"Look, you're a man, and I'm sure you're thinking you already know everything I'm talking off, but you two are men and I'm sure you've been going at this relationship like a ninja goes at a practice dummy. Sometimes relationships need a little work, and even a small- push" she popped the word out of her lips and smiled "to work well again. So here's what I'm suggesting you do…" she leaned in closer and dropped about half a dozen of books on the table "let's proceed to some lessons on Kunoichi seduction."

"Ino-san, I'm-I'm not a Kunoichi."

"Same thing! Now listen up sensei, lesson number one!"

Kakashi's cheeks burned for the rest of the day, even long after he had already left their company.

«x»«x»«x»«x»«x»«x»«x»«x»«x»

The morning after, Kakashi came by Naruto's place, he quickly jumped on the blonde's balcony and made his way inside. Naruto was still calmly sleeping in his bed. Usually he'd already be up and training with Sasuke in the fields, but since today was a Saturday and even Sasuke refused to woke up early on a Saturday, the blonde was still snoring in the warmth of his sheets. He made his way to the bed and gently laid down next to Naruto. The familiar warmth was unbearable given his need to be closer to the blonde, he could still feel his hot touches as if they had been given just now and not two weeks ago. He raised his hand and took one loose strand of hair away from Naruto's eyes. The blonde, usually a very heavy sleeper, opened his eyes and smiled.

"What are you doing here sensei?" He lazily pulled Kakashi to himself while throwing one of the blankets on top of him "there, all covered up now." Ignoring the blonde's warmth and the increasing will to tell him the truth of the events that were going to happen that day, Kakashi smiled and proceeded to lie like it depended on his life.

"It's a Saturday, you're only training in the afternoon." He pushed closer to the blonde's neck "I thought we could have some time for-"

"Uzumaki Naruto?" Naruto quickly stood up from the bed, having a chance to untangle the mess they were soon to become if he didn't ignore the inviting smell of Kakashi's body, and headed for his door, following the knocking sound. He opened the door and found one of Shizune's messengers.

"Here's a mission request from Lady Tsunade for you." He opened it, giving it a general glance and faced the messenger again.

"Is there also one for Hatake Kakashi?"

"Yes, I was on my way to his house next."

"No need to, he's right here, I'll take that letter if you don't mind."

"Yes, thank you." He took another letter from his bag and handed it to Naruto "Good luck on the mission Uzumaki-san."

"Thanks." With that he closed the door and he headed back to his room, throwing the letter on the bed, next to Kakashi.

"We've been request for a mission."

Throwing his most surprised façade, Kakashi opened the letter and read it. Nice work, he would never suspect it was a fake if he didn't know it. Shizune had a talent.

"One entire week? That's such a long time for this kind of mission, this is going to be so boring." Kakashi nearly let go of a smirk, but avoided it at the last moment when the blonde turned to face him and just nodded instead.

"We leave in the afternoon Naruto. We should pack our stuff now and report to Lady Tsunade before we leave."

The blonde nodded, folding the letter back.

«x»«x»«x»«x»«x»«x»«x»«x»«x»

"It's a standard escorting mission, you'll met the client in his house and make sure he arrives safe and sound to Kusagakure." Tsunade told Naruto.

"That's such a long and boring trip, why didn't he hire anyone else?" Naruto seemed annoyed at the prospect of the trip and kept complaining during the whole meeting.

"Listen up kid, this man is a major business owner, we should be thankful he chose us and gave us quite a good payment" she slammed her hands on the desk "you're going to go there and escort him back to wherever the hell he wants and make sure there's not even one scratch on his face."

Sighing, Naruto gave up "hai…"

"Great." She smiled angrily "now you two can leave, Shizune is bringing me another stack of piles of paperwork and I have to clear them or else she won't let me leave."

Naruto and Kakashi headed for the gates of the village before they were stopped by Sakura.

"Sensei!" she caught up with them before leaning on her knees with one arm and breathing deeply, after she caught her breath she raised her other arm with a neatly folded package in it "here." She leaned in closer and whispered "since you're going to the hot springs I figured this might help you a bit, keep it a secret."

"Thank you Sakura." He smiled and put the item in one of his bags "I'll see you in a week."

"Good luck!" Sakura told them with a knowing smile.

Naruto thanked her and this time Kakashi couldn't help but to chuckle at the naïve kid.

They walked out of the gates and Naruto began complaining immediately.

"The first mission I get to go on after weeks and it's an escorting mission for some snob, we really have no luck."

Kakashi showed him an apologetic smile "I've gotten used to this kind of mission recently… I'm certain that no other kind of missions await me, I'm sorry to drag you on one of them, Naruto-kun."

Naruto looked at him surprised "that again? I'm sure you'll have better missions once everything clears out nicely and Sutomu has been dealed with. And you have no foundation for those thoughts, I'm the strongest ninja in the village and I've been ordered on an escorting mission." The blonde sighed "I always hated these."

«x»«x»«x»«x»«x»«x»«x»«x»«x»

"We should stop here." Naruto announced. They were currently in a village located maybe a third of their way to the Hidden Valley Village.

"Here? We could make a good distance if we kept going and camped somewhere." Kakashi answered back.

"They have inns here, with comfortable beds and we wouldn't have to sleep on the ground. Besides, I'm exhausted." The blonde yawned.

Kakashi knew for a fact that was a lie, not only had the blonde slept until later during the day, but he also took much more than this to get tired thanks to Kurama's chakra. Which meant this was only one of the blonde's tricks to get him to rest. And Kakashi would've been annoyed if it wasn't for the fact that he was indeed tired. He had to admit that travelling longer distances without the aid of his chakra was exhausting, and obviously, he'd never ask Naruto for help with a matter like this. Even if the blonde would promptly give it, this was more a matter of pride.

Naruto returned to Kakashi and pulled him by his hand "C'mon, I've booked us a room in that inn. All expenses are covered by Obaa-chan so tonight we're sleeping in luxury." He grinned jokingly.

When they entered their room, Kakashi realized Naruto wasn't kidding. The bed was enormous, and the space in the room easily matched the size of his living room plus probably his kitchen as well. He was left with his mouth opened and Naruto headed inside the room.

"This is bigger than my first apartment." He said with a scoff, he headed towards a door and opened it "the bathroom too." Kakashi laughed and headed towards the bathroom. A small pool awaited them instead of a normal shower. He couldn't even think about how much that must have cost.

"We should get to sleep. We'll wake up early tomorrow to resume the trip." Naruto said, dropping his bags on the floor next to the bed.

"Lesson number one, create temptation, don't just go up to him, you have to show him something he can't resist, that's what temptation is, show him the forbidden fruit and he'll be running to grab it."

Ino's so called love lessons came to his mind. Even remembering their content got him red. Kakashi remembered once seeing the blonde fresh out of a shower, how the little water drops went down his tanned chest, how the strands of his hair stuck to his face and neck, how flushed his skin had been. He remembered being insanely attracted to the image, he wondered if that would work on Naruto?

Kakashi looked between Naruto and the bathroom and made a decision "I'm going to take a shower. It would be a waste not to do so." He headed towards the bathroom, not missing the worried look in the blonde's face.

After maybe fifteen minutes Kakashi found himself more than clean enough, but wondering what he should do after he left the bathroom. Should he just leave naked? His ears burned and he discarded the idea, besides it was quite cold in the room.

"Lesson number two! Less is more, but more is also more! There will be times when showing more will be the right decision, and seeing all of you will leave him nowhere to run when it comes to desire, but there will also be times when leaving him to imagine what you're hiding will be the best decision. It's up to you to recognize each of these situations sensei!"

"More is more, right?" He wrapped a towel around his waist and got out of the bathroom before the warm air turned cold. Immediately he felt a pair of blue eyes on him. His skin burnt with the potent stare, it was the strongest gaze he had received since Naruto had instituted this stupid strike.

Kakashi came near the bed and instead of sitting down, the grey haired ninja just bent down to grab a few items of clothing. He was being malicious and he knew it. The towel rose up enough to show the very inside of his thighs, but nothing more than that. His view promised an ultimate desire that would never come true. Behind him he heard a huge gulp, but he still wouldn't turn around and give Naruto the pleasure of his tinted red cheeks. He ran his hand over his hair and felt the water drops, still lukewarm, falling on his shoulder blades and dropping slowly, doing their gentle way into the dimples of his lower back.

He knew how big of a tease he was being, and the shift in the weight distribution of the bed told him he was maybe near of getting what he wanted. He raised his waist a bit and dragged his towel from beneath him, swiftly throwing it away, securely in the sight of the blonde. Almost immediately he felt a warm presence accompanied by erratic warm breath near his shoulder.

"Sensei." Kakashi shuddered with the words being whispered into his ear, he heard a big intake of air before Naruto talked again "it's really cold here. You should take your clothes to the bathroom with you when you take a shower." He dropped his big jersey over Kakashi's back, managing to cover his entire back "Please take better care of your body and dress quickly." The blonde kissed the back of Kakashi's neck and returned to his side of the bed.

Kakashi's skin flushed on that one spot and he quickly dressed himself again, before returning Naruto's jersey to the owner and joining him in bed.

The next morning Kakashi woke up, the warmth still present in the bed but lacking the owner of said warmth. He felt around for Naruto before he opened his eyes and jumped out of the bed worried.

"I'm still here, don't worry." Naruto was by the door of the bathroom, bare-chested, toothbrush inside of his mouth while he grinned "I've already eaten and showered. But I asked them to bring you breakfast up. It should be here in a few."

Something about this scene felt so domestic to Kakashi. If only the previous night had been slightly familiar, he could just imagine this scene playing back at their home, with a different continuation.

"Thank you." The blonde smiled at him and went back inside the bathroom.

«x»«x»«x»«x»«x»«x»«x»«x»«x»

After two days, and numerous stops offered by Naruto, the two of them had finally arrived to the Hidden Valley Village. Now they just had to find the caretaker of the house to guide them there and they'd be done with trips for now. At least that was if Kakashi could successfully convince Naruto not to return to the village as soon as he heard the truth.

"The inn should be around here, right…?" Naruto carried the letter in his hands "I don't understand Shizune's directions at all.

"Here, give it to me." Kakashi took the letter in his hands and had to admit the directions were rather lacking, if it wasn't for the fact he had been told the instructions three or four times by different people, he too wouldn't have found the inn.

They headed inside and found a short large man dressed in a yukata attending to customers.

"Takashi-san?" Kakashi asked and the man smiled gently at both of them.

"You are Uzumaki and Hatake-san? Sent by Lady Tsunade?" They both nodded and the man pulled them both outside the inn "I'll take you both to the house now, without any doubts you two must be tired from the trip and wish to rest in the hot springs! Here follow me! The house is very remote but after you know the way, it's very easy to return to the village."

Naruto threw Kakashi a confused look and whispered to the older ninja "what does he mean by resting in the hot springs? Doesn't he know of our mission?"

Alarmed Kakashi decided to keep the lie, just for now "Maybe Lady Tsunade didn't inform him what type of visit this is." Naruto frowned but kept following the man.

Eventually they reached a small clearing in the woods and there stood a medium sized wooden house with beautiful endings and decorations, seeming very cozy and warm and beautifully calming.

"Everything has been cleaned and food has been stocked and will be supplied if you need. You should take a visit to the hot springs, even though it is cold, the hot springs are very good to the body and mind, not to mention they are very warm and pleasurable!" he smiled kindly to both of them.

"I will take my leave as I'm sure you both want to be alone!" The man walked off, quickly disappearing in the dense woods.

"What just happened? Food has been stocked? House has been cleaned?" Naruto walked inside the house and yelled "there's no one here."

"Naruto…" Kakashi called after him.

"Did we come here and the asshole isn't home?" The blonde answered angrily "we traveled for three days!"

"Naruto… he's not coming." Kakashi said calmly.

"What?" The blonde gave him a confused look "how do you know that?"

"Because this isn't a real mission." Kakashi walked towards Naruto and handed him Tsunade's letter. The blonde read it over and his shoulders seemed to ease off some tension.

"This really isn't the time to be on vacation." The blonde sighed.

"You're not angry at me?" Kakashi asked. Naruto smiled and pulled Kakashi by his arm.

"You could have told me during the trip. I wouldn't have just gone back and dragged you home." He complained "But I'm not mad." The blonde pulled him to his arms and kissed him lightly.

"Lesson number three, make the first step! Everyone likes to receive the first step of their loved ones once in a while, even if they are majorly used to doing all the work! Don't be shy and act first!"

Kakashi inhaled deeply, gathering all his courage and pulled Naruto by the arm, dragging him around until he found the back door of the house.

"Kakashi? What are you doing-" When he finally found the spread out warm lakes, he knew just what to do, he came right to their limits, turned them both around, and without thinking twice, threw Naruto in "WHAT THE-" the blonde fell in with a splash.

Naruto fell in the hot springs and immediately came up to the surface, rubbing his eyes from the sudden contact with the water "what the hell Kakashi? What's wrong with-" Kakashi sat, by the edge of the water, removing and discarding his clothes to the sides, staring at him through half lidded eyes and an incredibly lusty gaze.

"Oh" was the only answered Naruto managed to form.