Chapter 2:
It isn't long before Naruto is jolted, his recurring dream stunning him awake. The dream was much more vivid this time, the colours and sensations around him brighter and more intense. When he rounds the corner in the dream, Kakashi is there waiting for him as before, his arm outstretched. When they connect hands, the overwhelming crash of chakra and electricity hits him as he remembers. But the dream carries further this time. Kakashi's chakra enveloping his body, lightning element dancing across his skin. Naruto's body reacts in kind, his chakra pouring from his body, mixing with Kakashis, encompassing them both. The overwhelming rush of emotions that crash into him is what inevitably wakes him up. Longing, Desire, Fear, Love, Sadness.
Sucking in harsh breaths, Naruto shivers at the dancing of electricity he could feel still tingling within his body. His chest ached, the deep longing in him almost crushing him. He suddenly felt so empty and alone. Trying to calm himself, he sits up in his bed, settling into a meditative pose. Pulling in deep breaths, he closes his eyes and concentrates, slipping into sage mode. The humming he can still feel in his bones eventually leading him to seek out Kakashi. Sending his chakra out across the Inn, he finally feels the cold, silver chakra of the Copy Ninja. Naruto hesitates a moment longer before wrapping his chakra around the Nin, encasing him as he had in his dream. It is slow, but Naruto starts to feel Kakashi's chakra reacting, pouring for the silver haired ninja, weaving its way within his own. The rush of electricity and chakra that crashes into him is overwhelming, but instead of pulling back as he had done in his dream, he embraces it. Lowering himself back down on his bed, Naruto relaxes into the sensations rushing into him. His body starts to adjust, picking up on the feelings of comfort, bliss and wholeness, murmuring out Kakashi's name as he drifts into a euphoric sleep.
Kakashi hurriedly makes his way back to his room, slamming his door behind him and clamping his hands to his ears. Shuddering at the overwhelming emotions he is trying to push back. His mind is raging, trying to decide what to do. He hadn't expected Naruto to seek him out and wasn't prepared for the interaction they had just had. It had been months since he had last seen Naruto and he was hoping that the passage of time would make any interaction with him easier. But it didn't, not by a long shot. Having a long, hot shower, praying it will wash away some of his problems, Kakashi doesn't even bother to order dinner. Food didn't appeal to him anymore… nothing did. Shaking himself, he climbs into his bed to try and get some sleep, something that seems to be constantly evading him. Mulling over his next course of action, Kakashi decides that he will leave the Inn in the middle of the night. He had to disappear; had to get far enough away that Naruto couldn't find him. Sadness crashes over him, his chest aching with longing. Fighting back tears, Kakashi deems it is the only way.
His mind is quickly pulled from his thoughts as he feels Naruto's chakra wrap its way around his body. Kakashi is powerless, relenting as the warmth and light of Naruto encompasses him. Unable to hold back, Kakashi's chakra seeps from his body and mingles with Narutos. His eyes drift closed, he can feel Naruto's emotions through his chakra, the surprise and deep longing. Can feel as he slowly relaxes into the sensations overwhelming them both. A cool breeze drifts across his skin from Naruto's wind element, eliciting a cascade of goosebumps to rise up all over his body. He can hear Naruto murmur out his name as feelings of bliss and comfort wash over him. Kakashi feels whole for the first time in a long time, his body buzzing with life. Unwilling to pull back from Naruto, Kakashi slowly drifts off, falling into a deep restful slumber.
Kakashi is jarred awake by a light knocking on his door. He was slightly disoriented, grabbing for a robe and pulling back his suite's window shades. Early morning light spills into the room leaving Kakashi stunned. He had slept entirely through the night, something he hasn't managed in years. So much for a midnight dash from the Inn. Renewed knocking pulls him from his thoughts, "I'm coming." Kakashi cinches his robe tight, pulling a mask over his face. Hesitant to open the door, knowing full well who is waiting for him on the other side, Kakashi draws in a deep composing breath. Pulling open the door, he briefly meets Naruto's eyes before turning his back on him and walking back into his suite. "Sorry, I must have slept in… I'll go get dressed and we can go eat." Naruto awkwardly enters the suite, closing the door behind him, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to wake you up. You were always such an early riser that I assumed there would be no chance of me waking you up."
Struggling to keep his discomfort from being overly evident, Kakashi slips into the bathroom to change. "Don't worry about it. Just give me a second." Splashing cold water on his face, Kakashi's head is reeling. He could feel Naruto's emotions spilling into him from the other room. Dragging in a few deep breaths and closing his eyes, he focuses on shutting out that part of his mind. After a few moments his brain falls blissfully silent, but he knows it won't last for long. Splashing a bit more cold water on his face and drinking deeply, Kakashi pulls back up his mask and leaves the bathroom. Feigning a crinkly eyed smile, Kakashi makes for the door, "Shall we?"
The restaurant is entirely devoid of patrons, the only other person in the place, aside from them, is their server. Collecting their food orders as soon as they arrived, the server quickly ducked back into a corner out of sight. Awkward silence stretches between them, Naruto fidgeting with a napkin on the table. Kakashi braves a look at the blonde's face, his chest aching with longing. Shuddering, he clears his throat, "So…How's Hinata?" Face still downcast, Naruto replies, "She's okay. She and I are no longer together but still friends… It hurt to admit to her that I couldn't care for her the way she needed, the way she deserved. I couldn't pretend to have feelings that weren't there." Naruto finally looked up from the table, meeting Kakashi's eyes. Quick to look away, Kakashi replied, "I see." Another long stretch of silence was broken as the server brought them their breakfast. Angling himself slightly away to give Kakashi privacy to remove his mask, Naruto picked at his food, mind raging with seemingly millions of questions.
Sighing and pushing his food about his plate, Naruto finally broke their silence, "Do you think I am being selfish for not wanting to be the Hokage? Iruka, Tsuande, you… a lot of people invested time in to teach me, leading me up to this. But… I don't want it any more." Kakashi was silent for a stretch before finally responding, "No, I don't think you're being selfish. You are one of the least selfish people I know. You sacrificed a good portion of your life for the good of the village and its people. I'm curious though, what made you change your mind?" Naruto is thoughtful for a minute, finally pushing away his barely touched food. "I guess I just finally realized that I had had enough. I was despised and alone for a good portion of my childhood, the villagers needlessly cruel to me. Their opinion of me only changed when I became someone who could protect them. A tool at their disposal… I don't want to be that anymore. I want to finally have a life of my own. I want to see the world, experience new things. I don't want to be some lifeless fucking weapon in the hands of the elders, glued to Konoha because of some stupid, meaningless robe."
The wall in his mind, shutting out Naruto's emotions, was starting to slowly collapse, feelings of rage, despair, sadness, uncertainty, fear and doubt, slowly trickling into Kakashi's brain. Shuddering, he pulled up his mask and pushed away his plate, looking at Naruto. The blonde was still angled slightly away from him, his eyes pinched shut, hands balled into angry fists, slightly trembling, resting against the table. The longing in his chest was crushing him, making it hard to breathe. He wanted so badly to comfort Naruto, to hold him and tell him everything was going to be alright. Trying to push back the crushing wave of emotions spilling into him, Kakashi replied, "Then don't become Hokage. You deserve a fulfilling life. A life that brings you endless joy. Do what makes you happy, Naruto."
Those piercings azure blue eyes finally met Kakashis once more, Kakashi hurriedly looking away. He could feel Naruto staring at him, the gaze tugging at the ever present longing in his chest. After a stretch of silence, Naruto finally spoke again, "Why did you step down as Hokage and leave Konoha, Kakashi?" Staring down at his lap, Kakashi continued to struggle to hold back Naruto's emotions flooding his brain, "I… don't… I can't… talk about it." Sensing Kakashi's discomfort, Naruto sighs and tries to steer the conversation to lighter topics. "So… what have you been up to with all your free time then?" Closing his eyes, Kakashi remained silent. What could he possibly say he had been up to? He couldn't very well tell Naruto he had been locked up with his own misery, not sleeping or eating properly. Slowly deteriorating from the aching hole that seemed to be widening in his chest.
The server appeared at their table, breaking the silent tension. Depositing their bill on the table, she asked if they would like their food packed up to take with them, both of them shaking their heads no. Bidding them a quiet good morning, the server disappeared back around the corner. Thankful for the server's distraction, Kakashi reaches for the bill, still avoiding Naruto's eyes. He didn't realize the blonde was reaching for the bill at the same time, their hands briefly brushing together. Naruto audibly gasped at the electricity crashing into him, lightning buzzing and humming up his arm and to his chest. Kakashi quickly snatches his hand back. Hand visibly shaking, the Copy Nin tosses money on the table and hastily excuses himself, dashing from the room before Naruto could compose himself.
Naruto remained sat at the table, stunned by the sensations that were still crawling through his body. It was very much like his recurring dream… very much like what happened the night before. He was pulled from his thoughts by the server returning to the table to collect their bill, once again asking if he would like any of his food packed up. Standing he gave her a quick bow and a thank you before making his way back to his room.
Laying back down on his bed, Naruto sighs heavily, mulling over all the things Kakashi wouldn't talk about. What was he hiding? Why couldn't he talk about stepping down as Hokage? And what was with that unexplainable electricity between them? Frustrated that he still didn't have any of the answers to the questions he was after, Naruto shut his eyes and focused on the dull hum of electricity still flowing through his body. He could feel the sensation slowly dissipating, leaving him with a deep aching longing in his chest. Sadness swept over him, the crushing pain of emptiness making his eyes swell with tears. Murmuring out loud, "What the fuck is happening to me?" Shuddering, he was overcome with the need to seek out Kakashi. He needed to see him, talk to him… touch him. Dragging in a few deep breaths he concentrated, slipping quickly into sage mode. Stretching his chakra across the Inn, Naruto started to feel frantic when he couldn't sense Kakashi's chakra. Sitting himself up on the bed, he gets into a proper meditation pose, focusing harder on stretching out his chakra. Stretching for miles around the radius of the Inn, Naruto finally finds the faint hum of Kakashi's silver chakra, sprinting away from the Inn, heading east. Pulling back his chakra quickly, Naruto jumps from his bed and dashes down the hall out of the Inn, chasing down the Copy Ninja. Sprinting along at a breakneck pace, Naruto reaches out every so often to gauge Kakashi's location. He was closing ground on him, Kakashi was fast but not nearly as fast as he was.