A/N: Hello my lovelies! Guess what? It's a double post! YAY! Anyway i had to post these two chapters together so get ready for some Kakashi and Rei fluffiness! (squeals in a corner). Just to let you know there's only two more chapters after this and then an epilogue... IT'S SO SAD! I know but all good things come to an end unfortunately. I just wanted to thank everyone who has found and followed this story and such, this has been my most sucessful story so far and i'll never forget all of the lovely comments i have received on this story, it makes me want to continue to write so thank you all, you are all wonderful people! Okay enough with the mushy stuff and onwards to the fluffiness!

Chapter twenty-five

Kakashi woke up swaying forwards and backwards before his 'hang over' hit him and he turned into the current heat against his body. He knew he was being carried like the damsel in distress and he knew that he was in Rei's arms but could he care right then? No. He felt like he had a hard drinking night and he felt cold and Rei was nice and warm… Warm… Rei's hands were ice cold the night before. He turned out of the heat a little and pried his eye open to look up at Rei's face focused ahead on walking.

"Morning… How are you feeling?" Rei asked, looking down at him with a slight smile.

"Like I've had a whole night of drinking contests with Guy." Kakashi whined out and Rei flinched with sympathy.

"Ouch… That bad huh?" He asked and Kakashi nodded carefully. "How about the rest of you?" He asked with concern, focusing ahead again.

"In one piece like I promised." Kakashi said with an eye smile and he saw Rei blush but he smiled. "So… How much is a lot?" Kakashi asked him and he looked down with confusion and furrowed eyebrows before shifting him carefully in his arms.

"A lot?" He asked, stopping in his steps and then his eyebrows slowly rose in realisation and his blush deepened and spread across the bridge of his nose and he avoided Kakashi's gaze but his head was still tilted to see him. "Enough to ask if you'd go out on a date with me and maybe kiss you… Properly this time." He said with apprehension and in a whisper but it was enough to make Kakashi smile and shift out of his hold carefully to stand up.

"Well I suppose I could spare my rescuer one date but about that kiss…" Kakashi began cheekily and Rei watched him carefully with a guarded expression because it sounded like his feelings were being played with. He was pleasantly surprised to see Kakashi pull down his mask and snake his arm around his waist, pulling him closer as he smirked at Rei, his other hand gently gripping his chin and he pressed his lips to Rei's and Kakashi smirked when Rei's eyes closed and he leaned against Kakashi, melting into the contact. Kakashi felt tentative hands slide up over his armoured chest, across his collarbones, around his shoulders and he shivered as blunt fingernails gently ran across the back of his neck to fist gently into his silver hair at the base of his neck.

Kakashi closed his eyes as he let his hand travel from his chin and to the nape of his neck and massaged him and Rei pressed up more against him with a slight moan into the chaste kiss and grip a little harder in his hair. Kakashi tilted his head slightly and nipped at his lip, slowly parting them with pressure until he could slip his tongue in the hot and sweet cavern and let himself give out a little moan of approval as his tongue collided with Rei's and it wrapped around his own and stroked it sensually.

Rei felt like his nerves and skin was on fire. He'd never done this with anyone before so he let Kakashi lead. His grip around him was just as gentle and strong as the time Kakashi caught him in the hospital and it made his heart skip a beat as his chest began to burn with need for air. He tilted his head forwards, reluctantly breaking the kiss and rested his forehead against Kakashi's for a second as he gained his breath back. Kakashi reluctantly opened his eyes to see an internal battle happening with Rei, his brows were furrowed almost painfully as his eyes darted behind closed lids and his mouth was in a thin line, bruised from the kiss. Kakashi's eyes travelled back up to his eyes and saw tears beginning and one fell down his face and Kakashi swallowed the panic rising in his throat, pushing the squeezing feeling in his heart out of the way as he rubbed circles on the back of his neck with his thumb.

A gasped sob came from his lips as his eyes were squeezed shut and his body began to shiver and shake against Kakashi's and it clicked for him. It was the beginning signs of a break down and all good shinobi had one every now and again or they weren't considered 'healthy' but how long had Rei been holding his in? For too long as Kakashi pulled him into a hug and held him comfortably tight and shut his eyes at the pained whimpers and cries being let out by his new obsession, his new important person… His love… Kakashi sunk into him and tried to curl around the breaking person in his arms as realisation hit him for the first time that he really and truly cared for Rei both body and soul. It was a scary thought but oddly comforting as he held him, bearing his burden with him like the shinobi code states.

Kakashi's thoughts about Rei were finally agreeing with his feelings and it made him smile slightly as he pressed a kiss against Rei's cheek and shushed him gently, rubbing his back. Rei's sobs died down after a while and his breathing evened out as he still kept his eyes hidden against the crook of Kakashi's neck and he continued to rub his back and hold him.

"Are you feeling better now?" Kakashi asked in a low voice and Rei nodded gently against his shoulder before raising his head gently, looking down but Kakashi still held him in the circle of his arms and Rei had his hands on Kakashi's shoulders tentatively.

"I… I don't know what just happened…" He mumbled hoarsely and Kakashi just rubbed under his eyes gently with his thumb.

"It's called a break down…" Kakashi explained and Rei's eye met his with confusion. "The best get them but it just shows your human and have remorse over what you do, it's perfectly normal after a situation like that, another reason that shinobi are put into teams so they can help each other emotionally." Kakashi explained and Rei nodded with a slight confused look on his face.

"I've never had one before… It was such a strange feeling and I freaked out a little after the kiss I guess…" Rei muttered with a blush peaking behind his already reddened cheeks and Kakashi laughed silently, running his hand through Rei's hair.

"You've had to ignore your feelings for so long that you probably didn't realise you could feel like this… Loosing your memory was a good thing." Kakashi said, smiling at him as he rested his forehead back against Rei's.

"We need to get back to Konoha soon before they send out reinforcements and find us like this." Rei said with a deep and shaky breath but Kakashi could see he was feeling a lot better by his eyes. Kakashi nodded and stood up straight again, pulling up his mask and straightening his uniform and saw Rei was standing there tentatively, a look of thought on his face. Kakashi eye smiled as he took Rei's hand in his and pulled him to walk with him and Rei smiled and followed with Kakashi back to Konoha.

XXXXXXXXXX

"It's good to see both of you in one piece." Minato said, not looking up from his paperwork as Kakashi and Rei entered the office.

"Thank you Minato-sama." Rei said and the man looked up smiling at them with a knowing grin and Rei blushed and looked away. Kakashi saw the look in his sensei's eye and laughed, slinging his arm over Rei's shoulders.

"So… Now that you're both here and safe, you should go to the hospital and get those wounds looked at." Minato said, eyeing Rei and Kakashi nodded with a hum of agreement.

"I'm fine, they've been treated with the pack you gave me before I left, they just need a few days to heal and it'll be fine." Rei said with little panic, trying to convince them that he truly was all right.

"I wouldn't quite call dousing them in alcohol treated properly…" Kakashi said, smirking under his mask as he flipped Rei up into his arms and held him while he tried to struggle out of Kakashi's arms, with a full on blush and Minato laughed. "If you continue to struggle, I'll throw you over my shoulder." Kakashi threatened down to him and he ended his struggling and rested in Kakashi's arms with a pout with his blush and his arms crossed like a naughty kid.

"Alright Kakashi, I'll leave you to take him to the hospital to get your wounds checked out and Rei I have your test booked for tomorrow at noon at training ground 7. Dismissed you two." Minato said, laughing as Kakashi turned around happily and began walking out his office with a grumpy Rei in his arms.

"You can put me down now Kakashi." Rei whined and Kakashi laughed.

"Just so you can run away, I don't think so. Besides, where will you run to, you don't even have a place to stay?" Kakashi asked and Rei's mood instantly dropped. "Where exactly did you stay the night before last?" Kakashi asked and Rei turned his head to looked ahead of them.

"Nowhere, don't worry about it Kakashi." Rei said defensively and Kakashi stopped walking in the middle of the crowded street where they were getting a few odd looks.

"If you didn't have somewhere, you could have asked to stay in my apartment while I went on that mission, not sleep out in the forest or somewhere." Kakashi scolded gently and Rei looked down before meeting his gaze.

"Yeah, after I kissed you, 'Oh hey I don't have a place to stay, can I loiter around in your apartment while you're not here?' Yeah, that would have worked out well." Rei said with dark sarcasm and Kakashi laughed hard, eyes closing with amusement.

"I see what you mean now… Still though, where are you planning to stay?" Kakashi asked as he carried on walking.

"I'll survive until I know my rank and get my first mission… I can't exactly stay with my ex and Naruto needs his own room now plus as I recall you saying 'You see I would do it but I only have a one bedroom apartment and not even a couch for someone to sleep on plus I'm always away.'" Rei mocked in a deep voice, trying to imitate Kakashi and Kakashi laughed sheepishly with a blush under his mask.

"Well you had no apprehension that night before you left… Sharing a bed with me." Kakashi asked down at him, raising an amused eyebrow as Rei went red.

"Yeah well I was a bit confused back then." Rei mocked and laughed with Kakashi even though he was still blushing. They reached the hospital quickly with an easy atmosphere around them and Rei sat comfortably in Kakashi's arms, giving up fighting him on it. Rei watched with confusion as some of the nurses were blushing and whispering to each other with squeals as they watched him and Kakashi pass down the hallways of the hospital and really wondered why they were acting like that. Kakashi finally set Rei on his feet when they entered the room and made sure Rei sat and waited on the bed for the medic to come and check him out even though he was all right except the usual cuts and bruises from a fight.

"So… I hear the brat's back?" Tsunade asked with a grin as she walked in with the usual clipboard in her hand and Rei smiled.

"Good to see you too Tsunade-sama." Rei greeted and let Tsunade check over his skin and heal his wounds perfectly while he watched with fascination. "I don't see why you waste your chakra on healing something that will disappear in a few days." Rei wondered out loud.

"We like to help our fellow comrades of Konoha out after a tough mission so they can enjoy their time off afterwards so just deal with it for another minute brat." Tsunade said sternly and Rei pouted.

"I was just wondering… It's odd to me in a way when in my memory I've never had such minor wounds needing to be healed before that's all Tsunade-sama, I didn't mean to insult you." Rei said just as sternly back and Tsunade smirked at his attitude.

"Apology accepted… Now go home and get some rest, I hear Minato is going to put you some tough crap tomorrow so be prepared." Tsunade said, walking back out of the room, actually smiling and Rei breathed a sigh.

"I wouldn't put it past Minato-sama to give me an impossible test tomorrow, just to see how far he can push me." Rei said, standing up and stretching appreciatively.

"That is what Sensei enjoys doing." Kakashi said distractedly, watching how Rei stretched, the muscles shifting under his skin since he lost his shirt the day before.