After getting his check-up, Kakashi walked straight back to the hallway he had been waiting in before. The red light was still burning and the hallway was empty. He had his book in his hands, having half in mind to read in order to distract himself, but every sound that broke the silence had him on edge, and after a while, he just stopped reading, since it felt more like he was pretending to read anyways at that point.

They had given him some new medication and had told him to go home and sleep it off, but he had stubbornly refused. He could sit around and do nothing in this hallway just as well as he could do it at home. Here, at least, there was the added benefit of knowing what was happening that much sooner.

Time was crawling by, and Kakashi was less and less able to keep himself calm. He was agitated to a point he didn't know what to do with himself any more, yet at the same time, he was feeling particularly sleepy. Not tired, but he felt like he just needed to sleep. Guessing it was the medication, he ignored it as much he could.

Suddenly Tsunade was stood in front of him. He hadn't even heard her footsteps. She had her hands in her side and she was almost glaring at him. "I know you care for the kid, but tormenting yourself like this isn't going to help either of you. Neither is it acceptable for the hospital to allow a patient to sleep in such a place, but since you're not an admitted patient, the only option I see is for you to go home and get some sleep." She said in a stern voice.

Kakashi opened his mouth to protest, but she spoke again. "I don't want to hear it, go home. You'll be a lot more use to Shizuka if you get at least a few hours of sleep. You look dead on your feet as it is." Kakashi gave her an anguished look, so Tsunade sighed and dropped her hands. "He'll be fine, Kakashi. He's already healing faster than expected and he'll be asleep for a long while. Go home, get some sleep and wait for him there. I'm sure he'll go to you as soon as he's able." She smiled at Kakashi, and all Kakashi could do was sigh. He knew she wasn't the type to argue with, so he reluctantly stood up, and made his way to Shizuka's apartment. He wished he'd been able to tell Shizuka he would be waiting there, but Kakashi figured he would take a short nap and be back in the hospital before Shizuka woke up again.

At first, he sat down on the couch. The room looked as devoid of personal effects as it had always done, but there was a little more life to it. A lone plant stood in the window. It seemed to have trouble hanging on to life, but still, it was something Shizuka chose to bring home, possible cherished, and that made it a beautiful thing to Kakashi. A sign that after all this time Shizuka was somewhat settling and accepting Konoha as his home.

Kakashi stood up with a stretch. Sleep was still calling him, loudly, and the couch was not as comfortable as Shizuka made it seem sometimes. He meandered over to the bedroom and curled up underneath the sheets. The familiar scent that lingered in the bed engulfed him and made it all the easier to surrender to the darkness of dreamless sleep.

When he woke up it was already getting dark. With a start, he realised Shizuka would have been awake long ago. He threw the blankets off of him and hurried to get out of the bed, but as he did so his legs tangled with something, sending him crashing to the floor, landing on his hands and knees. For a moment he needed to collect his thoughts. His landing had been surprisingly soft and he blinked down on the form lying on his back underneath him looking up at him. "Shizuka!" He said surprised.

Shizuka gave a small smile, but then grimaced and continued to rub the back of his head. "I'm so sorry! Are you okay? Were you asleep next to me?" Kakashi asked. Shizuka nodded and smiled again, showing off his teeth and looking excited and happy. Kakashi continued to apologise and check him over. After a while, Shizuka stopped Kakashi's fussing by placing his hands in Kakashi's neck. He pulled Kakashi down until their lips were pressed against each other.

Kakashi obliged by leaning on his elbows and relaxing his body. His hands dug into Shizuka's hair. It wasn't a long kiss, but it was sweet and kind.

After breaking the kiss, Kakashi looked down on Shizuka and stroked his cheek. "How did it go? Is everything alright?" Kakashi asked worriedly. His eyes wandered to Shizuka's neck. It was neatly wrapped in bandages. Shizuka nodded and bit his lip. "Did it work?" Kakashi asked. He felt his heartrate rise a bit. He had waited a long time for this. He even went through a lot of pain because of it, although him being captured didn't directly have anything to do with getting Tsunade to Shizuka.

Shizuka nodded and smiled. "So..?" Kakashi asked. He didn't want to sound impatient, but he kind of was. Shizuka gave a nervous smile to Kakashi and dropped his hands. For the first time in his new life, he was able to say something, and he didn't even know what to say. The thought of him disappointing Kakashi was also chipping away at his nerves, combined with the fear he just wouldn't know how to anymore, even if his voice was fixed. 'I'm nervous.'

"About what?" Kakashi asked, running his fingers through Shizuka's hair.

'What if it didn't work?'

Kakashi shook his head. "Then we can go back to Tsunade, or leave it as it is. It would be amazing to hear your voice, but I love you just as you are."

Shizuka's brow furrowed and he bit his lip again. 'What if it isn't as you imagined it to be? What if you don't like it?'

"Who says I imagined what you sound like?" Kakashi asked, a slight blush on his cheeks.

Shizuka grinned. 'You talk in your sleep... You get very detailed sometimes, too.' Kakashi's blush grew intensely, the kind of dreams he had where Shizuka's voice came into play big-time were... embarrassing, to say the least. He felt caught in the act.

Shizuka had a smug smile on his face. 'We should try some of it sometime.' Shizuka wrapped his arms around Kakashi's neck again and drew him in for another kiss before Kakashi had the chance to respond. It didn't take long for Kakashi to get over the shock and make the kiss heated, the images of his dreams strong on his mind, almost strong enough to forget the issue at hand. Now was sometime too, right? Shizuka kept up with Kakashi perfectly, returning the intensity at every move.

A soft moan that escaped Shizuka made Kakashi freeze and sit back up. It had been a careful and gentle sound, but a sound nonetheless. It was gorgeous. It left Kakashi almost breathless as he looked at Shizuka wide-eyed.

Shizuka looked a little dazed and grinned up at Kakashi. He swallowed a few times, trying to feel if everything was still fine after the first sound he made in a long time. He was actually feeling a little giddy over it. The first chance he got, he was going to stand on top of the Hokage monument in the middle of a storm and scream at the top of his lungs, but this small and intimate sound was a good start.

Kakashi was still looking at him expectantly and the pressure from it was almost a bit too much. Shizuka swallowed again, opened his mouth and drew in a breath. There was an attempt, but no sound, and Shizuka repeated the action a few times before deflating a bit. 'What do I even say?'

"Maybe something you've wanted to say for a while?" Kakashi asked. Shizuka nodded and licked his lips. Hit mouth and throat felt so dry, but that wasn't going to stop him. For a moment Shizuka thought about it. He felt unprepared. Kakashi had known for a while. He has had time to imagine this moment in so many ways and Shizuka really didn't want to disappoint. Something he had been wanting to say for a while? There was one thing...

He swallowed again. "Kakashi..." His voice came out hoarse, crude and wavery and the effort left his throat a little sore and itchy and he was sure he sounded horrible, but now that he had thought of what to say, he didn't want to stop. "I love you." Finally, he was able to voice his feelings... He reached out to cup Kakashi's cheeks. "Thank you for loving me." There was so much to say... He gave Kakashi a chaste kiss. "Thank you for showing me the way home." And this was just a small start... He smiled at Kakashi. "Thank you for being my home."

Kakashi sat back, effectively straddling Shizuka and pressed a hand over his mouth. He was blushing profusely and was trying to hide it. His eyes were glued to Shizuka and his mind was running a mile a minute. He was trying to implant the moment into his mind so he'd never forget it.

Shizuka leaned up on his elbows cocking his head. He didn't know what to make of Kakashi reaction. "Does it sound that bad? It's not what you expected, is it?" He asked worriedly, afraid Kakashi really didn't like it.

Kakashi shook his head. "No, it really isn't. It's lighter, more coarse and a lot more gentle. There is a sharp edge to it I didn't expect and I imagined it to be more melodious." He took a breath. "It's so much better than anything I could have ever imagined. It's perfect. I love it. I love you." Kakashi started kissing his throat as Shizuka let out a sigh of relief.

It didn't take long for Kakashi to trail his kisses to Shizuka's mouth, his hands wandering wherever they could, finding skin contact wherever they could and Shizuka did the same to him. The sweet and gentle moans escaping Shizuka just added fuel to the fire, riling both of them to go further than they ever had.

"I'm not going to stop." Kakashi breathed out.

"Who said you needed to?" Shizuka answered, shifting slightly so their bodies where flushed together and they drowned themselves in another deep kiss.