I would like to make one point clear about this story. It is a KakaNaru pairing, but is titling more towards how Naruto's life progresses (both up and down). Kakashi plays a vital role and even Sasuke. So, now only will there be romance but there will be several things that Naruto will go through to find his PLACE. Know what I mean? I think the story would be a bit cheesy if the two just you know? Get together and do it? But that will happen – err … I guess. I am assuming you guys want a lemon for this? But I just want to say that Naruto will have to go through so much pain to find his place – remember that the citizens of Konoha don't like him because of Kyuubi. Oh what is poor Naruto to do? :D
Anyway, enough of my talks. I do hope you guys bother to read my notes before jumping on to the story. This is where I give little hints and tips about future chapters anyway. Your loss if you don't. Bleh! :P He he!
On to the story!
WHY NOT 17
"I'm fine, as you can see", he replied (with a
shaky voice much to his complete horror - nice going dobe! You're acting
like a skittish virgin - oh wait! You are ONE!), and turned his blonde head
away. His face was redder than a tomato. Ever since that single cloth-covered
kiss Kakashi had given him, erotic dreams about him had been plaguing him every
night. It was embarrassing because sometimes, during missions when they would
camp out during the night, he'd get a big hard-on and have to resort to
water-based jutsus to get rid of his problem. He had a close call once when one
of his teammates saw him performing the common seals for cooling water and
pouring it over himself. Now, that had been embarrassing because of the knowing
smile that had spread across his teammate's face. A glare from Naruto silenced
him, but even until now, there was that I-know-something-about-you-that-you-want-to-hide
look whenever he looked at him. Naruto, personally, found an undying urge to
strangle the said teammate. And, a few days ago, he had seen this particular
teammate, who took it as his personal hobby to tease Naruto endlessly with
looks that say I-know-which-way-you-swing, so that it made Naruto develop a
hobby called imagine-deadly-scenes-for-stupid-teammates-jutsu. The irony of all
this is that this teammate happened to also swing a particularly different way
- and when Naruto found out, his former
imagine-deadly-scenes-for-stupid-teammates-jutsu quickly morphed to a
taunt-the-stupid-teammate-jutsu.
Kakashi noticed the flush on Naruto's cheek and
smiled from under his mask. He sat on the bed and brushed away a lock of the
golden hair from Naruto's face and it took all of Naruto's will power to not
react, let alone lean in to the brief touch - it was warm and so gentle and he
decided that he liked it - wait! Actually, he LOVED it and wanted MORE. "I
remember that time when you were so flustered about seeing Sasuke and Kiba
together." Naruto pouted at that memory (unconsciously) and it was all Kakashi
could do to not bend low then and there and just kiss him till kingdom come.
The urge had been growing over the years. "You were as red as you are now."
Kakashi let out a laugh.
Naruto stared in to Kakashi's visible eye and
the question just popped out without any intent. "Have you ever kissed a guy
before, sensei?" Naruto yelled at himself for letting out such a question -
what business did he have in Kakashi's love life anyway? Absolutely none! But
wait - Kakashi did kiss him. And why, of all times, did he pick now - bed
ridden, in a hospital gown with no underwear and the damn gown open all the way
at the back, bandaged, sore and definitely with a killer headache - to notice
that his former-sensei was very, very handsome? Why, oh why?, Naruto's mind
wailed. Why?!!
Kakashi's eye softened. "Yeah, once. But a few
years back, a little baby fox started this spark in me and since then I've been
itching to give it a go again."
"Then why don't you?" Naruto did not see where
the 'baby fox' fit in the situation - he just shrugged it off as another of
Kakashi's animal-excuses. After all, he remembered how Kakashi used sea
turtles, doves, eagles, and white tigers (even though not a single one exists
in Konoha) as excuses back when he had been their instructor. So what
difference was a fox?
"I'm not sure if the person I want to kiss at
the moment would approve." Kakashi answered.
"Why don't you ask him?" Naruto asked, thinking
of a list of people whom Kakashi might want to kiss. He settled for it being
either Iruka or Genma. Both seemed to be Kakashi's type of people. They got
along quite well, and he'd seen them together several times on more than one
occasion. Gai was also on the list, but he quickly crossed it out with his
mental-pen several times. No way in hell would his former instructor go with geji-mayou-senior.
Even though Gai was a nice person in general and a skilled ninja, the eyebrows
and hairdo and youth-strength-and-spring speeches just didn't seem to be
Kakashi's like or type. Hell, anyone who fell for Gai's looks seriously needed
a brain transplant and a serious trip to the nearest space-black-hole in hopes
of their minds being cleansed or renewed by whatever scientific crap that goes
on in there. So nope, Gai was not in the list. He left it as Genma or Iruka.
"Maybe when the right time comes, I will."
Kakashi said. "Have you ever kissed a guy, Naruto?"
"No." He answered, amazed that his voice was
even. Naruto stared at Kakashi for a while. He sure as hell wouldn't mind
kissing him. What would it feel like? Something as intimate and sacred as a
kiss? Especially the first kiss! And - after the kiss? Sex? Yikes! Naruto's
mind went haywire. Sex? Would be nice? Good? Hot and sticky like what he had
heard from others who seems to be an expert in that field? During sex, would he
cry out loud with passion? What would it feel like to have his handsome sensei
naked on top of him? Below him? Beside him? Naruto blanched openly at his
thoughts. WHAT THE HELL AM I THINKING? He screamed mentally. YUCK! NO! NO! I AM
SO NOT THINKING ABOUT SEX WITH KAKASHI-SENSEI! In his suddenly silent mind, a
small voice spoke. But it would be nice.
"Why not?" Kakashi blinked. He wondered why
Naruto suddenly zoned out, and noticed the debating-look reflected on the
sky-blue orbs. Oh, what would he not give to have Naruto for himself? To keep
for himself?
"Because there wasn't really a need to. Plus no
one really asked for it you know. You're forgetting what's inside of me."
Naruto answered and it just flowed out of his mouth without him even thinking
about it. It was true anyway. Who would want to kiss a demon?
There was a long silence and Kakashi did not say
anything. Naruto turned his head to face the window to look at the sky.
"If I asked you, would you give it to me?"
Kakashi asked suddenly and was another long silence.
"If you asked." Naruto said and yawned. He was
dead tired and wanted to get some sleep. He didn't take the question seriously.
Kakashi had a knack of trying his best to make his comrade/student feel better
and at the same time not damaging his macho-mysterious-look with a mother-hen
attitude. "If you asked." He repeated. He yawned again and the fatigue
overwhelmed him. Even with Kyuubi's chakra in his veins, the damage he had
received from his mission was a bit too much. But he was healing, according to
Tsunade, and the Kyuubi's chakra was playing a big role in his healing.
"Would you?" Kakashi asked, tone serious.
Naruto closed his eyes and snuggled deeper in to
the pillow. "Yeah."
Kakashi watched as Naruto fell asleep. Kakashi
pulled his mask down and allowed himself to smile openly, before briefly
placing a soft kiss on Naruto's lips and leaving the room, mask securely back
in place.
*
The next day, Naruto was allowed to go home. The
Hokage had told him to take it easy and gave him the month off after such a
long, tiring mission. Occasionally, Naruto would go and teach at the academy or
escort some genins or do gate watch. He didn't mind. He had had enough
excitement in the past mission. Raiko was awake, alive and doing well. He too
was on holiday and was grateful to Naruto for saving his life to the extent
that he invited him to his own home for dinner one evening with his wife and
daughter. His daughter, Toki, adored Naruto because he had given her a
piggy-back ride and bag of gummy-bears. His wife, Rei, was forever thankful to
him for saving Raiko's life. She was one hell of a great cook as well.
He had gate-watch duty that night and was
heading for his post. He stopped by for some ramen take-out and then headed
there at full speed. Once at his post, he sat quietly on the railing, took out
his ramen and ate it. He wasn't really hungry, he just wanted to have some
ramen. He missed the recipe. For some strange reason, he could never taste
better ramen than that of the Ichiraku. They had hygiene, a cute girl who
served, a cool guy who cooked and cracked jokes and they give him extra fish
cakes. Where would you find a place like the Ichiraku? Nowhere! Not even the
Stone Country, which was famous for its ramen recipes, could compete with the
Ichiraku.
When he finished eating, he threw the styrofoam
container into the trash bin near him. Someone appeared from behind him and he
did not need to turn to know who it was. Ever since he came back, Neji had been
persistent in spending time with him - or so he heard. Naruto decided that he
would humor him that night.
"Hey." Neji greeted.
"Hey." He greeted back.
"How you feeling?" Neji asked, and Naruto nodded
in answer. "I never got to talk to you ever since you came out of the
hospital."
"I've been busy. You know, missions and other
stuff." Naruto said, and turned to grin at him then faced the starry skies
again. "But we can talk now."
Neji nodded and leaned against the stonewall
behind him. "Why did you really leave, Naruto?" Naruto did not reply
immediately. He waited to see if Neji wanted to add anything to it. "Sakura
cried when you left."
"Really?" Naruto said, voice barely even a
whisper.
Neji smiled a bit and then joined him by sitting
on the railing next to him. "Yeah, she did." He then smirked. "She likes you,
you know? Thinks you're cute."
Naruto chuckled. "Does she?"
"Not interested?" Neji asked, raising an eyebrow
at him. "Lee told me how you used to like her."
"Used to." Naruto pointed out, but a very small
smile was on his handsome face. "Sorry, but she's wasting her time."
"Someone else got your attention?" Neji's eyes
narrowed. Who was the 'lucky' person? Ever sine Naruto's return, he'd heard
girls constantly talking about things they'd do if they were his 'woman' and
boys gossiping about what Naruto was really like on the whole. Strangely, he
found himself agreeing with them that Naruto was indeed attractive in a soft
and gentle sort of way. He had a grace in him and he could not begin to imagine
where he got that 'grace' from. But it was there, and he found out (much to his
amusement) that several jounins like Genma, Raido, and even Ebisu were thinking
the same thoughts as the majority of the women, and even some men thought of.
What was Naruto like during the night?
Naruto was surprised at the question and at the
same time, he remembered the time Kakashi gave him that kiss and all his dreams
about him. Just remembering them brought a slight flush to his cheeks, and Neji
actually raised a brow to the surprising reaction. "Maybe." Naruto said, and
stared at the sky, one star winking at him. Did he like Kakashi? "Maybe."
Maybe was a lie.
He wanted Kakashi. But discretion and good
manners held him.
Naruto cursed inwardly. He somewhat wondered how
Kato Shin got into his head and taught him grace and manners and how it
amazingly stuck. Not even Iruka's constant reminders and bantering stuck long
with him. Maybe it was the fact that Kato saw him as a son and he as his
father. It was memories like those that made it rather painful for Naruto. He
just wished he were back at the Shin estate with Kato, playing checkers or just
drinking sake with him on the porch on a cool afternoon. He closed his eyes. He
was ANBU and couldn't afford to have any connections with someone. It would be
dangerous, even with someone as skilled as the legendary copy-nin. Maybe the
feeling would just go away.
Naruto brought a hand to his chest. Why did it
suddenly hurt?
TBC