Learning to Live Again

By Ammie Hawk

Disclaimer: Still not mine.

AN: So this chapter has been sitting on my computer for a bit, been trying to figure out the end scene, but in the end I just decided to cut it where it is and maybe just maybe I'll be able to get around to actually figuring out how to write it at a later point, in the meantime, please just use your imagination. Anyway, here we go.

Chapter 11: Snags

Kakashi let out an inaudible sigh as he came within sight of the small outpost set up just inside the entrance of the Elemental Nations. He didn't want to be here, especially since he had just been on his way home, and was now almost two days further from the village. But alas, a summons to the Entrance was paramount to any of the kages, so he had little choice in the matter.

A frown marred his visible features as he approached the main building, as he caught a familiar scent. The message he had received said he had been the closest Konoha shinobi, but that couldn't be true if there were already Leaf shinobi here. Now his sense of smell might not be as keen as some others from his village, but even he could smell an Inuzuka and their hounds at this close a proximity.

"Tsume," he greeted the seemingly empty air. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

"Kakashi," the Head of the Inuzuka clan jumped down from her perch on the roof. "You took your sweet time getting here."

"Well," he smiled under his mask, "there was a lost kitten I had to send on its way home."

"You and your excuses," the canine shinobi huffed.

"So," the Copy Ninja shook his head, "why exactly did you call me here? Because your message was obviously a ruse, since you are here which would not make me the closest Konoha shinobi."

"True," she conceded. "I sent for you specifically because of this," she pulled a scroll from one of her flack jacket pockets and held it out for him. "The one carrying it claimed you would vouch for him."

"Is that so?" the one visible brow lowered in a frown, as he quickly read through the scroll.

"Yeah," she shrugged. "But the way I see it is if you don't vouch for him, you can take him back to the village and he can rot in a cell until Ibiki can get his hands on him."

"Very well," Kakashi sighed heavily and motioned for her to lead the way.

Tsume turned on her heel and headed into the building. The silver haired Jonin followed after her, his visible eye taking in the minimalistic surroundings. It wasn't much, just a couple of rooms for sleeping, one for cooking and eating, and another couple for keeping intruders. It was to one of the latter that she took him. Inside were two men sitting against the far wall talking in low voices.

"Kakashi!" the long haired brunet cried happily when he noticed the pair in the doorway.

Kakashi's eye narrowed dangerously as the other male scrambled to his feet. It took all his self control not to go over and tear the man who had been his brother's supposed best friend limb from limb. As it was, he was in front of the wizard in an instant and had him pinned to the wall with a kunai held at his throat.

"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't kill you where you stand, Sirius Black?" he all but snarled.

"K-Kakashi!" the third man stood and raised his hand as if to physically try and stop the shinobi but paused just short of touching him. "Please, Sirius is innocent, you have to believe me. If you would let us explain, we just want to see Harry and make sure he's safe."

"Remus," the escaped convict ground out, "stay out of this."

"But Sirius…"

"So this is Sirius Black?" the lone female spoke up from the doorway. "The dangerous escaped criminal who is to be killed on sight if he ever sets foot in the Elemental Nations?"

"Kakashi, please, you have to listen to me," grey eyes pleaded with the masked man. "I didn't betray Jirou. You have to let me explain before you let them kill me."

"Or at least according to his government," Tsume continued as if the other hadn't spoken. "I know for a fact most of the Kage would like a word with him, just to see if execution is necessary over extradition."

"Inuzuka," the silver haired Jonin glared at her from the corner of his eye, "leave."

"Fine," she waved airily, obviously taking no offense at the command. "I know when I'm not wanted. Though, Hatake, if you do end up killing him, try not to leave a big mess, you'll upset the dogs."

With that, she disappeared back down the small hallway, leaving the three men alone.

"Come on, Kakashi," Sirius begged, "I know you're smarter than this. Jirou wouldn't want you to do this, neither would Harry."

"Don't you dare bring him into this," he hissed. "It's because of you his parents are dead."

"No, no it isn't," the Animagus insisted, causing his companion to look at him in confusion. That was not what he'd said a year ago. "It was a trap. Jirou knew there was a traitor in the Order so he set up a trap."

"Misdirection?" the one visible eye narrowed in thought, but the blade never wavered.

"Yeah," the brunet nodded, though stopped immediately as the kunai bit into his throat. "We spread it around to certain parties that I was the Secret Keeper. Anyone who came to me asking about their whereabouts would be suspect. Meanwhile, they'd be perfectly safe with someone else actually filling the role."

"Who?"

"Peter Pettigrew," grey eyes lowered to the floor. "We thought it would be perfect. No one would ever consider he'd use someone like him to protect his family."

"You're right, they wouldn't," Kakashi agreed, "because Jirou never trusted Pettigrew. Unless… Jirou, no."

His hand rose to grip his forehead, finally releasing the Azkaban escapee. The two wizards shared a confused look before turning their attention back to the silver haired Jonin. After a moment, he just walked out of the room without a word.

"Tsume," he said when he found the other Konoha shinobi.

"Oh, Kakashi," the Inuzuka smirked over at him, "we're back to a first name basis now, are we? Anyway, did you kill him?"

"No," he shook his head. "In fact, I'll be taking both of them back to Konoha with me."

"Okay," she scratched her cheek. "But before you leave, answer me this: what did he supposedly do? I've known you practically your whole life, seen you in many different situations, but I've never seen you that pissed."

"You got any alcohol?"

"Who do you think you're talking to?" she scoffed.

"Right," he scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "Anyway, save me some and look me up when you get back to the village and I'll explain everything."

The canine kunoichi gave a loud growl of frustration as he turned and left the room with a lazy wave over his shoulder.

888888

Neji sighed heavily as he sank down onto his secondhand couch. This was not good. Harry and Iruka had just left, but he could still feel the younger teen's magic. It still permeated the air, and seemed to be pulsing through him in particular. And dear god, it was turning him on.

He leaned forward with his elbows on his knees and placed his head in his hands, trying to will away his growing erection. He couldn't be thinking this way, not about Harry. Not only was he Kakashi's nephew, but he was just a kid. True, he was about his age, but as a civilian, he'd seen less than the greenest Genin. While yes, Kakashi had said he was going to train him, he wasn't there yet. Though, there was a niggling in the back of his mind about the conversation they'd had before he'd offered to teach him. But as he had said, he needed more context. For all he knew it was just typical teenage angst.

With those thoughts swirling through his head, he sprang to his feet. He needed to get out and do something, find someone, anything. It had been awhile since he'd had sex and maybe that was where this was stemming from. If he got laid these inappropriate thoughts would more than likely go away. With that thought, he left the apartment and went in search of one of his usual bed partners.

Over an hour later found the long haired Jonin growing increasingly frustrated and without any prospects. Neither Genma or Raidou had been home, and he had a vague recollection of them being sent out on missions recently, and Izumo and Kotetsu were stuck on gate duty for the night. He was just about to hit up the nearest bar and find some willing shinobi, something he hadn't done in quite awhile, when he spotted a familiar head of dark hair on the other side of the street.

He couldn't do that, could he? It might hurt their friendship if he did, it was one of the reasons he tended to favor the older Chunin and Jonin. But no, it shouldn't, they were better than that, smarter than that too. Besides, he could always say no, and he'd be back to his original plan B anyway. Having come to that conclusion, he crossed the street and fell into step with the other.

"Hello, Shikamaru," he greeted after a few moments.

"Oh, hey, Neji," the lazy Chunin replied. "What's up?"

"Nothing," the Hyuga shook his head. "Just wondering if you were busy."

"Not really," he shrugged. "I was just gonna go see my folks for a bit, my mom's been bitching, and then head over to Iruka's."

"I see," the brunet nodded. "I don't want to keep you, but I find myself with some time on my hands and was looking for company. If you'd be interested?"

The dark gaze shifted as the owner began to assess him out of the corner of his eye. After a moment, in which Neji had to consciously force himself not to hold his breath, the younger male effortlessly shifted directions toward the apartment.

"So, tell me, Neji," Shikamaru stuffed his hands in his pockets, "is that the best pick up line you've got, or the only one?"

"It seemed the appropriate one for the time and setting," pale eyes narrowed slightly.

"No need to get your panties in a twist," the Chunin smirked. "I was just kidding. So what've you been up to lately?"

"Picking up your slack mostly," the Byakugan user countered. "Lady Tsunade has been shifting your assignments to me since you apparently can't be bothered to do them."

"Look, it isn't my fault she has me organizing the Chunin exams with Temari," the lazy teen scowled. "Besides, if it was really something she needed done, she should've said so."

"No need to get your panties in a twist, Shikamaru, I was just kidding," Neji didn't even try to contain his amusement. "Though, I did spend some time with Harry today."

"Oh," the raven rolled his eyes, "how's the kid doing? I haven't seen him much since this whole Chunin exam thing started."

"I think he would be offended that you call him a kid," the Jonin shook his head. "And to answer your question, he is bored."

"Not my fault," Shikamaru frowned.

"I'm not saying it is," he scoffed. "You are understandably busy with the Chunin exams, and I have my own tasks as well, but wasn't Gaara supposed to be staying at Kakashi's with the express purpose of keeping an eye on Harry, and helping him adjust, since he speaks English."

"You want to sic Gaara on the kid?" a dark brow rose incredulously. "Do you want the kid to die? I mean, don't get me wrong, Gaara seems to like the kid, but one wrong move, one slip, and the kid's a goner. And I don't think any of us would be able to stop it if it came to that."

"Harry, I believe, would be able to, if it came to that," the older teen interjected.

"Yeah, well, maybe," the lazy teen didn't look convinced. "Besides, Temari's in the village. You can't fault the guy for wanting to spend the limited time he gets with his only sister."

"I guess I didn't think about it that way," the Hyuga sighed. "Though, maybe you could take him with you and he could spend time with Gaara while you and Temari are busy with the preparations for the Chunin exam. Or perhaps we can see if Kiba would be willing to keep him company when he's not on missions."

"I'll talk to Harry in the morning, see if he wants to," the Chunin shook his head as they finally reached the other's apartment. "And maybe you can find Kiba and see about wrangling him in to help. Anyway, did you ask me here to talk about Harry, or did you have something else in mind?"

"Something else," pale eyes turned from the task of unlocking the door to rake over the lanky teen, "if you're amicable."

"It was implied in your invitation," the raven smirked, as Neji motioned him inside. "Though, word of warning: next time, don't approach me on the street like that. It makes things rather uncomfortable."

"Oh, how so?"

"Come on, Neji, you're not stupid," the lazy genius sighed. "It's pretty common knowledge that if a paramour turns you down you're gonna be blacklisted."

"My apologies," the brunet shook his head. "I had not thought about that. If you'd rather not…"

"Just shut up already," dark eyes rolled in amused annoyance. "I'm here, aren't I? So, how do you wanna do this?"

"I honestly wasn't sure if we'd get to this point," Neji chuckled. "But whatever you prefer, Shikamaru, I'm rather flexible."

"I'm sure you are," the Chunin shook his head. "Anyway, if it's my preference, I think I want you to top, unless you want me to ride you, cause that would work too."

The older teen bit his lip as he tried not to groan aloud at the reaction the suggestion brought. It had been difficult for him to picture the lazy teen as a sexual creature at all, even though he knew he'd claimed the title of paramour. But now, having him standing in his own apartment, casually talking about wanting to ride him, he could. And god, he was going to take him up on that offer, if not this time, some time in the near future. It also didn't help that as soon as he stepped into the apartment, the lingering magic hit him again and was acting like a fucking aphrodisiac.

"You don't have to keep quiet," a gentle touch urged his lip from between his teeth. "In fact, I want to hear you. But, before we get to that," his thumb began tracing the abused flesh, "there's a few ground rules we need to go over first."

"Which are?" the brunet asked breathily, refusing to give in to the teasing touch, at least for now, considering he had to pay attention to this part.

"No kissing," Shikamaru replied quietly, "at least not on the mouth. You're not my boyfriend. No marking. I may like it rough sometimes but I don't need a physical reminder of it later. No bondage. Just not my thing. And this should go without saying, but no talking about it. I don't want to see you tomorrow and hear about how good a time it was, and I definitely don't need someone else coming up and asking about my time with you. This is just between you and me. And finally, don't get jealous. Once again, you're not my boyfriend, you've got no claim. Think you can handle all that?"

"Yes," he nodded, it didn't sound that different from his usual exploits.

"Good," the Chunin smirked. "So, where do you wanna do this? Bedroom? Floor? Kitchen counter? Though, I really don't recommend that one, unless you're really into that kind of thing."

"The-the bedroom," Neji cleared his throat and motioned to the other room, hoping the magic hadn't seeped into that area as well, as he wanted a semi clear head for this.

Ammie: Okay, so there it is, it's a bit filler, bit not. And as for the ending, I have issues writing out sex scenes, but I am trying to work on it, but I got tired of sitting on the chapter waiting for it to work itself out. Anyway, please let me know what you think.