Iruka woke in a panic, convinced someone was pounding on his door. He lurched out of bed and his feet tangled in the blanket. He barely caught himself with his chakra before he could plant himself face first into the floor. It wasn't until he was standing at his door, staring out into the cool darkness, that he began to wake up. So much for his solo missions making the phantom knocks go away. Some part of him was still afraid of being woken to the news that something horrific had happened. He stared at the dark roof across the street, but instead of being reassured by the silence he was suddenly convinced something was out there, watching him. He closed and locked the door, snatched the kunai he kept secreted under the edge of his couch, and then began firmly talking himself down.

Of course there was something out there. There was always someone out there, watching everything, especially at night. Anbu, Root, the Police Force. They were certainly dangerous, but not to him. He hadn't done anything wrong.

Movement in the corner of his eye had him whirling and launching the kunai. Kakashi caught it smoothly and stared back at him. Iruka wasn't awake enough, wasn't thinking rationally enough, to handle the conflicting emotions that ran through him. He was shocked to have thrown a kunai at him and relieved he had caught it. He was also fully convinced that it wasn't the real Kakashi, that it was some imposter pretending to be him. Or maybe he was still dreaming. That would be the best option, really. In that case he might forget all about this before he woke up. But if he was dreaming then this was a nightmare and he didn't want Kakashi playing any part in his nightmares.

"You sent this through the scroll," Kakashi said quietly.

Iruka frowned at the blanket Kakashi was holding up. That was his blanket. The same blanket that had tried to break his face when he had jumped out of bed. Because he had left the scroll open beside the bed. He must have slipped on the scroll. So it wasn't just the blanket's fault. The blanket had had an accomplice. Relief and amusement flooded his system until his lips twitched. Kakashi was watching him carefully, as if concerned he might throw something else at him. It was so absurd Iruka burst into laughter.

"I'm sorry," Iruka laughed. "It was-" Ridiculous and silly and such a relief. Kakashi had joked about random shinobi playing matchmaker with him and here Iruka's blanket had joined forces with the scroll in order to get them together. Even the most paranoid of shinobi couldn't have predicted that.

He marched over to Kakashi and snatched the sneaky blanket up with a wide grin. "It was an accident. I didn't mean to send it through. I thought someone was pounding on my door and the only reason anyone would do that at this hour is if something awful had happened. I panicked. I slid on the scroll and this sneaky thing," he waved the blanket, "tangled me up so I had to catch myself with chakra to keep my face from getting far too acquainted with the floor. So now you know one of my secrets. I get a bit squirrelly at times. I'm glad you have good reflexes."

Kakashi turned to watch Iruka toss the blanket onto his bed. Iruka's sudden amusement was certainly better than how scared he had looked, standing in his livingroom and staring at the door as if he fully expected some enemy to come crashing in. He looked closely at Iruka's eyes, seeing nothing but warm amusement and relief. "Squirrelly?"

"Like a silly panicked squirrel," Iruka explained, with another laugh. "Thankfully it doesn't happen very often. I am very sorry for throwing that at you."

Kakashi handed him the kunai and followed him when he went over to lay it on the kitchen table. His eye flicked to the door. "Was someone knocking?"

"No," Iruka said quickly. "Well, someone might have knocked on a neighbor's door, but I doubt it." He would rather not talk about it, but Kakashi had a right to ask. He had thrown a kunai at him, after all. "I call them phantom knocks. I used to wake up like that a lot when I first got my own place. There is never anyone there."

"Mind if I check?" Kakashi asked on his way to the window.

Iruka jumped. "Someone might see you!"

"Only if someone is out there."

Someone was always out there, Iruka thought, a coldness creeping over the back of his neck. That was supposed to be reassuring. He wished it could be. Kakashi stopped with his hand on the edge of the curtain and looked back at him. Iruka sighed and turned off the kitchen light. "Go ahead." It wasn't as if anyone doing routine patrols would notice someone peeking out the window. They weren't likely to care even if they did notice.

Iruka lived in a busy part of the village. There were chakra traces all over the place and few areas for anyone to hide. Kakashi eyed the two most likely spots closely with the sharingan. Someone had been in one of them, but there was no way to tell how recently, or if it had anything to do with Iruka's 'phantom' knocks. It was likely just what Iruka thought, a bad dream that had left him in a slightly unstable state. Squirrelly? That was a cute term, and rather fitting. He also sometimes found himself waking a bit squirrelly, though in his case it was a rabid squirrel with an exploding tag on its back set to go off if anyone came near him or looked at him or exhaled in his general direction. Just part of being a shinobi.

"Well?" asked Iruka.

"Nothing that I can see," said Kakashi. He dropped the curtain back into place.

"I figured as much." Iruka turned the light back on.

Kakashi turned and was pulling the forehead protector down when he noticed the seals. He sent a sharp look around the room and then stared at the unfinished sensor on the door. Iruka wouldn't have to wonder about 'phantom knocks' once that was complete. He took a long slow breath that didn't help. It took most of his control to keep his tone casual as he joined Iruka in the kitchen. "You have some serious wards. Did you set those up yourself?"

Iruka winced. Anko's changes really did make his wards overkill, as if he were hiding something valuable, or hiding something illicit that would get him into very deep trouble if anyone found out. "The base work is mine, but a friend showed me a few things I could change to make it better. I figure since I'm in the village for training I might as well get a bit of seal work in. It can only help on missions."

"And the chakra sensor?"

"I just started on that. I'm waiting for my friend to help me finish setting it up." Anko's instructions were fairly clear, but her warnings about what would happen if he messed the last part up had made him stop right there. She was going to have to supervise that part herself. He needed his hands intact. "I'm not comfortable doing the rest on my own. That chakra sensor is very different from the one I learned as a genin."

Kakashi glanced back at the door so Iruka wouldn't see the look in his eye. Of course it was different. It was a chakra draining trap as well as a sensor, and not something a chunin should even be messing with. He wanted to ask who Iruka's friend was and how they had gotten their hands on that technique. And who the hell was that friend trying to protect Iruka from? A rogue Anbu? It was none of his business. Telling himself that was not helping at all. On the other hand, maybe he should be glad that Iruka had a skilled friend eager to teach him how to be safer. A trap like that could definitely have taken out the second pursuit team during Iruka's last mission. But Iruka shouldn't be doing missions like that to begin with. Three months as a chunin with the academy as his goal? He should be leading assorted genin on team missions, joining other chunin on jounin-led teams, proving how well he worked with and led others, not doing solo runs through hostile territory.

"Anyway," Iruka said awkwardly, "I know neither of us meant to contact the other, but since your scroll was open that means your time is mine. Right?"

"Yes, of course." Kakashi turned quickly. Iruka's tentative smile was enough to help him focus. The man was painfully endearing when he was flustered. "Do you have something in mind?"

A thousand things, each as perverted as the last. Iruka felt himself blush, but he grinned anyway. "There are a few things that come to mind, but first I thought since we were discussing seals, maybe you could sit down with me and tell me about some of the ones on your scroll? If you have the time? If you don't have that much time then we can go right to your place."

"I have all night," Kakashi assured him. And Iruka was in the village to train, not just to be sexually available to him. Besides, he had asked Iruka to wait until they were together before attempting some of the techniques on that scroll he had given him. If he didn't help then Iruka might decide to ask that 'friend' of his. That was his scroll. If anyone was going to help Iruka with the things on that scroll it was going to be him. Possessive? Yep. And it seemed to be getting worse by the second. He was in serious trouble.

Iruka beamed. "Have a seat and I'll grab the scroll. Oh! Would you like a drink? Coffee? Tea? You can drink in front of me. I promise not to look."

"Anything is fine." Kakashi sat and watched in amusement as Iruka fluttered over to the counter. Did Iruka not get much company or was he the one making him so flustered? He had served Iruka dinner their second night together, so this was a line they had already crossed. No sense getting worked up over that. He certainly wasn't worried about Iruka trying to peek at his face. In fact, now that he thought about it, he was a little disappointed that Iruka wasn't the slightest bit curious about what was under his mask. He could be horribly disfigured for all Iruka knew. "Do you ever wonder what I look like?"

Iruka sent him a startled look over his shoulder. "Of course I've wondered. But you hide it for a reason." He smiled at him. "I understand and respect that. I hide things, too."

Curiosity rose in a burning rush and Kakashi stomped it down firmly. Of course Iruka hid things. Everyone did. Even a seemingly open book had things hidden in the cracks between pages. He had just learned one of Iruka's secrets, the fact that he occasionally went squirrelly. Although, in retrospect, he had seen a glimpse of that in the shower that first night, along with the strange humor that had followed that fear. The fear was none of his business, but Iruka's sense of humor was a safe thing to be curious about. "Do you think I should take your sneaky blanket home with me so it can't ambush you again?" Iruka let out something close to a giggle before smothering it with a cough and flashing him a grin. Kakashi grinned back. Yes, Iruka's sense of humor was something he'd like to see more of.

"Thank you for the offer," Iruka joked, "but if it's going to team up with the scroll in order to play matchmaker, I should probably keep it. After all, together they accomplished what I didn't have the courage to do myself. And here you are."

"Yes," Kakashi agreed. "Here I am." Right where he wanted to be.

.-.

Once again, Iruka woke to the sound of someone knocking on his door. Except this time it was a quiet knock and it was daylight. And he wasn't alone. He scrambled out of the bed as if the person outside might somehow guess he had company. "I'm sorry," he whispered to Kakashi.

"Don't be," Kakashi murmured back. "I'm the one who stayed." He dressed as quickly as Iruka and stopped him before he could bolt out the door, handing him his hair tie. Did Iruka regularly answer his door with his hair down? His hair had been down last night. Bad enough to think someone might have been watching him without knowing they had seen him rumpled, half asleep, with his hair down. Kakashi gave him a quick hug and then made to leave. But he didn't leave.

He had fallen asleep in Iruka's bed, in Iruka's arms. The line hadn't just been crossed, it had been obliterated. He couldn't fool himself into believing he would able to reestablish that line. There was no going back now. He would simply have to deal with this, whatever this was. He waited until he heard Iruka open the door and the other person spoke. Shizune? Now she was a good friend for Iruka to have, safe and dedicated and loyal. She certainly wasn't the sort to teach him a forbidden technique that would mutilate him if he messed it up. Kakashi would have to decide how he felt about that, and quickly. But for now he was late for his visit to the memorial stone and would be even later in reporting to duty, late enough that Minato might question him. And in his currently unstable mood he might do something insane like fidget or blush. That was simply unacceptable. He would control himself, pay his respects, and give away nothing whatsoever. He was a shinobi, after all. But maybe he would wear his anbu mask all day today, just to be safe.

.-.

Shizune met him outside the mission room and rushed him to the back. "I'm sorry again for showing up at your door like that," she said. "I was shocked to realize we had nothing on file for you, no number or address or anything. You should register your address and get a telephone hooked up."

"I don't expect to be at that apartment for long," Iruka admitted. "I'm planning to upgrade as soon as I'm able to." He didn't need a telephone because he had no one to call, and no one who might want to call him. Death notices were delivered in person, so if anything happened to him or Mizuki the other would be getting that dreaded knock on the door because they had put each other down as next of kin the moment they graduated from the academy. He didn't need to register his address for that. That was generally handled by Anbu and they had their own ways of finding people.

"Still," Shizune winced, "it would have saved me from having to ask Genma where you live. I'm sure he jumped to the wrong conclusion. I'm so sorry for that!"

"I wouldn't hold you responsible for anything Genma says or does," Iruka assured her. He was curious how Genma had known where he lived, though. Iruka hadn't told anyone where he had moved except Mizuki. Anko had likely gotten the address from Mizuki or one of his friends. Genma didn't associate with those people, as far as he knew.

"I really appreciate this," she smiled. Her smile faded when they entered the room. "Every morning. Every single morning it's like this. It shouldn't be like this!"

"I had no idea," Iruka murmured. "My shifts were always in the afternoon." There were reports on the floor. The one right in front of him had a footprint on it. There was no excuse for that. "Who was on shift last night?"

"It's not their fault," Shizune said quickly. "It can't be, because it's always like this even when our best people are out front. They have all they can do just keeping fights from breaking out. It's the system that's at fault. The system is broken and I don't know how to fix it. All I can do is clean it up, and then clean it up again the next day, and the next day, and I can't be doing this right now. I need to be at the hospital. Tsunade-sama is coming back and the hospital records room is almost as bad as this! If she sees that, well," she grimaced, "she won't blame me personally, she never does, but she should. I'm a very organized person. Very. Chaos like this makes me downright flaky. I'm a medic-nin. I can't afford to be flaky. But I can't be in two places at once. Unless I used a clone, and I do that when I can, but I need to save my chakra in case the other medics need assistance, especially when Tsunade-sama is away."

"I'm glad to help for now," said Iruka, "but I can't afford to do it fulltime. Once I apply at the academy I was hoping to put in night shifts here, so then I'd be able to help prevent mornings like this. But all I can do right now is put in a few hours now and then."

"I know. Any time you can put in will be greatly appreciated. I'll set you up as a confirmed part-time worker. Then you won't have to get an official mission scroll the day before. Any time you have a few hours, or even just an hour, all you'll have to do is come in and sign the log so you get credit for your time."

That was very atypical and proved how desperate she was. He sighed and picked up the desecrated report. He did his best to brush the footprint off without marring the ink. "It's a shame you can't get more genin help in here. Some of them would jump at the chance to get D-rank mission pay without getting filthy."

"They would have to be supervised, otherwise they might read the reports."

"There are many who could be trusted," Iruka said firmly. "You'd just have to screen them first. But if that's the primary concern, the reports could be placed in folders with just the person's name and rank, and maybe the date. They could even be sealed so you would know if anyone tampered with them. You should consider doing that, anyway. Then even if they get stepped on it would be the folder getting stained, not the report." The footprint was still clearly visible. It was a big foot, too, that of a grown man who should definitely know better.

Shizune beamed at him. "I knew you were the one to ask. Write your suggestions down, anything you think might help, even if it's something that will never happen for budget reasons. Brainstorming is more than welcome. At this point I'm thinking we should have two rooms, one for genin and chunin, and one for the higher ranks. We could convert one of the conference rooms. But then we'd need an extra person to cover the extra room or else the people out front would be doing even more running and that'll just make things worse. I'm getting push-back for even suggesting an expansion, but something has to be done." She looked around the room with a pained expression. "This is just unacceptable."

Yes, it was. Iruka smiled warmly at her. "I'll take care of this mess today."

"And I can get back to the hospital," she said quickly. "Thank you! Just sign out on the log when you have to leave. And come back the first chance you get!"

Iruka watched her teleport away. It did feel good to be needed and appreciated. But, his eyes dropped to the report in his hand, it was also very frustrating. He didn't have time to provide the help she really needed. It was a shame he couldn't use a clone to be in two places at once. He was rather good with water clones, but they couldn't go far and he didn't have the chakra to maintain one for long. Well, even if it wasn't useful in this situation that was something else to add to his to-do list while he was on a training break. If Mizuki was working on a chakra boost he should be doing the same. That was even more tedious than building upper body strength, but at least the results were permanent.

He started collecting the papers off the floor and set his mind to devising a list of what he would do if he were in charge of this area. He would start by increasing the budget because this was the last part of the village that should be feeling a pinch. There would be no income generated without the workers, and payment delays made for very unhappy workers. The fact that those unhappy workers were heavily armed shinobi who had been trained to kill should count for something. In the meantime, he knew a few genin who had given up on passing the chunin exam and who would jump at the chance to have regular D-Rank pay that didn't involve manual labor or risking their lives. Two of them were desperate enough to submit themselves directly to Ibiki for a full psychological evaluation if it meant getting a fulltime position. That was something they should definitely consider. Anything was better than having one of their best medics driving herself flaky over filing paperwork, of all things.

.-.

Minato smoothed his robes as he settled in the seat behind his desk. He always went in full dress when meeting with Danzou. It was a small gesture, but an important one. He waited until the door was closed and the room was secure before speaking. Kakashi and Tenzou took up positions to either side of him. He looked from one to the other and then stared at his folded hands. "He isn't wrong."

"He rarely is," said Tenzou. That was the problem.

"It's his methods that are wrong," said Kakashi, "not his facts."

Kakashi knew only the seal prevented Tenzou from agreeing vocally. Danzou had been forbidden from applying that seal to new members, but there was no freeing those who had already been marked. The only way to get rid of their seal was to get rid of Danzou himself and the man valued his own hide far too much to give any legitimate cause for that. It was infuriating. He was just an old man, a freshly one-armed man due to what they suspected was an attempt to experiment on himself after being prohibited from experimenting on Konoha's shinobi. No one believed he had lost the arm in a training exercise. A forbidden technique gone badly, perhaps, but even that was unlikely. He wasn't the sort to risk his own life. He had Root members for that. He was a black stain on the village, the other half of the snake, with a biased militaristic mindset that wasn't fit for the current world. The other two elders were of the same generation and mindset, but at least they accepted they were ultimately powerless when the Hokage had the clans on his side. And he did have them on his side, no matter what Danzou implied.

"Ask the clan heads directly," said Kakashi. "If it comes to that."

"If it comes to that," Minato agreed. "He isn't wrong. Many of the children Naruto's age are clan members. A class comprised of all of them would be a prime target, a chance to wipe out an entire generation in addition to Naruto."

Had Danzou succeeded in scaring him, then? Surely not. The man wasn't wrong about the danger, but he also wasn't pointing out the benefit. It was unusual for so many of the clans to have children at the same time. The InoShikaCho trio planned their births in advance to ensure their children were the same age so they could be placed on the same team, but the Aburame clan rarely had children and the Hyuuga clan currently had two kids close in age, including the clan heir. Putting all of them together would give Naruto just the sort of peers he would need to push him and support him in the future.

"There are ways around that," said Tenzou. "Naruto's protection can be extended to include those near him."

"Yes," Minato agreed. "I'll be considering the options. In the meantime, I want a Hyuuga monitoring everyone who enters and leaves Danzou's compound. From a discreet distance. Just to ensure no one is sneaking about who might put our self-proclaimed shadow-kage in danger."

Tenzou gave a sharp nod and excused himself. Kakashi lectured himself for doubting his former teacher.

"What do you suspect?" asked Kakashi.

"I suspect we need to have proof the next time he or one of his men slips out of the village without authorization so that we can ensure that person never comes back in. Did you notice his eye?"

"Yes." It was still bandaged, but there was nothing but an empty socket behind the cloth now. That didn't bode well.

Minato turned to give him a pointed look. "We can't let him get another one."

"He won't be getting mine," Kakashi scoffed. That conned a faint smile from Minato, which was better than nothing. "Will you send a warning to Sand?"

"Yes, for all the good that will do. I can't imagine what the Kazekage is thinking, if he really is giving Orochimaru access to the Uchiha clan."

That one was easy. Kakashi shrugged, "He probably wants the same thing as everyone else who deals with Orochimaru. Money, power, test subjects, forbidden techniques, maybe some experimental body part transplants, some Hashirama DNA, potential immortality. The usual."

Minato gave him a quelling look, but when he turned back to his desk he was wearing a small smile. "I think I'll invite his son to visit Konoha. He's also Naruto's age. It's past time the two of them get to know each other as peers."

"Are you serious?" Kakashi blurted. Unlike Naruto, Sand's demon host was reported to be an uncontrolled psychopath who especially enjoyed slaughtering children. "Surely the Kazekage wouldn't agree to that."

"Of course not," Minato smiled. "But the invitation will scare the hell out of him. Best to catch his attention with a strong opening if I want him to take my warning seriously."

"What if he does agree?"

Minato's smile widened. "Don't worry, I'll make sure you, Jiraiya, Tsunade, Tenzou, and myself are all on hand to ensure the boys don't fight too much while getting to know each other."

Kakashi honestly couldn't tell if the man was joking or not. He could only hope he was.

.-.

Iruka lingered longer than he had intended to. He kept expecting one of the special jounin dropping off scrolls to spot him and shoo him away, but none of them did. Shizune must have known he would agree to this. He was very predictable. He really needed to put in an evening shift so he could see for himself how the back room got so messy. What were they doing, tossing the reports through the door as fast as they came in and hoping someone else would stick around after hours to put things away? Well, that was another thing he could add to his list of suggestions, an after-hours worker to do clean up so the morning shift could start fresh. That would just be a bandaid rather than a solution to the real problem, but it was better than nothing.

He headed for the training grounds, hoping to catch someone he knew. If not he would go back to the apartment and work on the seals he and Kakashi had discussed last night. The thought of that had him slowing his pace, amusement dancing in his eyes. He had seen a new side of Kakashi. The man did not work well with others. And Kakashi had actually seemed surprised to realize that, as if he had never tried to explain techniques to someone who didn't think the same way he did. He had been determinedly patient, though, even when he was obviously gritting his teeth. He meant well, he was just completely out of his element. After a few times of Kakashi insisting through his teeth, 'That's just how it works, trust me,' Iruka had stopped asking why the techniques worked the way they did. Okay, he had asked why ten times. But by the last few times Kakashi had caught on that Iruka was teasing him. Kakashi didn't fluster easily, but once he was in that state Iruka had no trouble keeping him there. And Kakashi had let him. Kakashi might even have been encouraging him, which was downright sweet. It had made him feel so much better about having had Kakashi show up and catch him panicked half out of his mind like that.

That now came back to worry him. Why was that happening again? He had thought the solo missions were getting him used to being alone, teaching him to react to what was really going on outside him rather than whatever internal dreams and fears he had. He had certainly never had any phantom knocks while sleeping outdoors away from the village. He was afraid that was the answer, that he was having those dreams again simply because he was staying in the village. And if it had only taken a few days for that to start up again, how was he going to handle his temp period? There had to be a way to fix this. With an irrational fear one simply had to accept that it was irrational and face it directly. But his fear wasn't irrational. He was afraid of the unknown, because that couldn't be predicted or protected against. And he was afraid of death, not his own death, but the deaths of people he cared about, particularly Mizuki because there would be so much guilt tied up in that.

It wasn't as if he hadn't spent years trying to influence him. No one could tell Mizuki what to do and the harder he had tried the more spiteful and rebellious Mizuki had gotten. Iruka had stayed with him a year longer than he had wanted to because he had been convinced the moment he left Mizuki would do something to get himself killed and he would never be able to forgive himself for letting it happen. That was irrational. He couldn't save Mizuki from himself and it was nothing but egotistical of him to think otherwise. Once they had made chunin he had accepted it was time to get on with his dream and leave Mizuki free to find a dream of his own.

Maybe that particular fear was irrational. Mizuki wasn't even taking missions at the moment. Even during that last year Iruka had basically been living alone, doing enough missions to pay the rent so Mizuki had a place to store his things, a bed to crash in, and a warm body to fuck and then complain about afterward. Mizuki had claimed he was doing it for him. Iruka had believed him because why else would he complain so much? After having real sex with Kakashi he could no longer believe that. Maybe in the beginning Mizuki had honestly thought he was doing it for him. By the end he had clearly been doing it to hurt him, whether Mizuki realized that or not. Why? Was it to punish him for wanting to leave him behind? Had Mizuki seen him wanting to move out on his own as a betrayal? Iruka hadn't meant it that way. He knew how it felt to be betrayed by the one person who was supposed to believe in him.

Iruka still believed in him. No matter how bad things were between them at the moment, Mizuki was still the furious boy who had threatened to throw his brand new hitai-ate in Ibiki's face if Iruka didn't get his. He was still the terrified genin who had squeezed in beside him to peek out the shattered window of the abandoned house in the Uchiha district they had been squatting in, watching the shadowy figures go by and wondering who they were, Anbu, Root, The Police, and not knowing which would be worse if they were caught. Mizuki was the still the one, the only one who had been there when he needed support. Iruka had supported him in return until they were both skilled enough to stand on their own. They were chunin now. It was time for them to get on with their own lives. Iruka hadn't betrayed him. He had accepted that their paths were different, because despite everything they had been through together they were different. If that toxic sex was a result of Mizuki feeling betrayed then Iruka had absolutely done the right thing by leaving him. He should have done it sooner. That poison had been destroying what little remained of their bond. Was there anything left of it now? Were they even still friends?

He stopped in his tracks and teleported back to his apartment. He was in no state of mind to speak to anyone. All he wanted to do was curl up in his bed and cry. Or, even better, curl up in his bed and pretend Kakashi was holding him while he cried. He wasn't alone. He might have lost his best friend but there was still someone in this village he could turn to and be himself with, someone who might even miss him if he died. He wiped his eyes with a bitter grin. He being pathetic. He hadn't even talked to Mizuki. Their friendship might not be as hopeless as it seemed. And Kakashi wasn't his friend, he was his partner of convenience, someone to have mind-blowing sex with, comforting human contact, and enjoyable company when Kakashi wasn't angry with him. He snorted at that, his smile widening. No sense being pathetic. There were too many good things in life for that. Like Kakashi. He was glad he and Kakashi weren't friends. He could never have been himself if they had met under different circumstances. He would always be watching his every step, his every word, and wishing he could be somewhere else. Kakashi was the sort he avoided at all costs for fear of doing the wrong thing and having a powerful jounin with a grudge against him, an apparently famous jounin who might even have the ear of the Hokage himself. He would never have risked making friends with someone like Kakashi. What he had with Kakashi was much better than friendship because what they had was safe.

.-.
TBC