Pairings: Kaka/Naru

Rating: R.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. Satisfied?

Author's Notes: Hm. Wow. A chapter three. I wonder what will happen next? Lovely!
And yes, most of you are rather disappointed in how I update, but I do apologize. I'm a horrible person who doesn't update much! But my muse's had...left. And I was sitting here, in front of my computer without writing a damn thing 'cause I could think of none. Please forgive me and enjoy this rather short, but piece of the story I have written for you. And once again, thank you for all of your reviews!

Chapter Three: "As I Lay Me Down To Sleep..."

Naruto blinked slowly as he awakened from his restless sleep. Once again he was having dreams of what he really "was". The dreams of before his time, or, in all actuality, memories of what the Kyuubi had done to his village; his home.

And in a sense, he hated himself for it. He had come to the realization that he, himself was not the actually demon fox, as everyone else chose to believe, but just the carrier. He was the fall guy. The one to take all the blame because the villagers could not look into the eyes of a demon and tell it how much they hated it.

His eyes narrowed. No, the villagers had to look into the eyes of a small unknowing boy and tell him how much they hated him to make themselves feel better, and live without worry. Cowards. All of them. He loved them and at the same time...He despised them. How could they be so cruel to a little child?

Naruto sneered silently as he rolled over onto his side; he had had enough thinking about the past for one night. Glancing up he noticed that Kakashi slept by his side and his eyes widened.

What the hell...?

He sat up slowly, in hopes not to wake the man as his thoughts floated back to the previous hours. He and Kakashi sat up all night drinking sake before finally heading for bed. He smiled after a moment watching his face. He tilted his head curiously, when he noticed the mask still on his face. He even slept with it on? Weird...

What was he hiding, that he had to hide his face at all times? Some horrible deformity? What was he scared of everyone finding out...?

Naruto muddled the thought of slipping off Kakashi's facemask in his head for a few moments as he continued to stare at the older man. He could take it of, theoretically without him knowing. But...Kakashi also was the type to probably wake up the exact moment he was touched, he just seemed like that type of shinobi...

Of course, this was Naruto we're talking about here; he may be a little older and a little wiser, but not less courageous.

Taking a small, deep breath, he reached out and hooked a finger in-between the mask and Kakashi's cheek, he pulled downward softly. Slipping it gently off his nose Naruto's chest tightened as he grew even more excited. He was going to get to see Kakashi's face!

Suddenly, he felt a warm hand grasp his wrist and hold him tightly in place.

"Baka. Don't touch someone like that while they're sleeping. You could get hurt that way." Kakashi's tired yet firm voice rang out beneath his mask.

Naruto had been right of course, in knowing that he would wake up. Oh well. He tried.

"Sorry sensei-"

"Kakashi." The older man corrected.

"-Kakashi. I was just curious. I mean, we've never seen you without your mask at all. Beginning to wonder if you have some type of deformity and what not."

"No, I don't." Kakashi sighed, "Just something I felt like doing at the time."

Naruto sat up, sliding up to sit with his back resting against the headboard as he glanced down at his companion. "What do you mean?"

"Well...It's a long story."

"I've got the time."

Kakashi laughed. "Alright...I'll try to make this short then." Settling back, Naruto watched the older man as he began his story. "Well, when I was a kid, I was kind of like you, you could say. They never really looked at me and saw who I was, only what I could be. Or, the women, they only saw a pretty face, not me.
They didn't know me and they professed their love to me all the time." He sighed, and the blond nodded for him to go on, "They never saw Kakashi. I was really tired of it, people knew me by face and face alone, so I donned this mask one day and it was like...magic. After a while, people stopped treating me so different, women stopped chasing me to the ends of the earth. I was just Kakashi. And I felt better for that. The mask kind of stuck, became part of me and I accepted it as just part of me; my personality and such. That's about it really..."

Naruto started wide-eyed as the silver haired shin obi finished. "All of that made you wear that mask?"

He nodded, "Yeah. All that."

"Oh..." Naruto internally chastised himself for his earlier actions; he had not expected such a deep emotional story to go along with why Kakashi wore that mask. He was upset with himself for not considering the others feelings and being selfish for trying to see him under what he kept so dear to him.

"I'll show you if you really want to see what it is I have under here." Kakashi said, interrupting his thoughts.

The blond shook his head slightly, "No. If you want to show me when you're ready, then is when I'll see. Until then, then no, I don't want to."

Kakashi smiled, "Naruto, you've grown." Said boy looked at him, opening his mouth to say something when: "Oi. It's late, we should be heading back to bed now." With that, the eldest of the two laid down, pulling the blankets snugly to his chin, his back facing the other and was fast asleep before Naruto could continue his query.

Naruto smiled softly, for what reason, he did not know, as he felt more content. He knew something about Kakashi that most likely, no one else knew. For that he felt privileged and special; as if he alone had a place in the older man's heart.

Slowly slipping down back beneath the covers, Naruto snuggled a bit closer to the man who laid beside him, in an attempt to fall back to sleep. Even if he did not fall asleep, he would still be content to lie here next to him. That thought alone made him happy.

He closed his eyes, a small smile gracing his lips as he slipped his arm around his former sensei's waist.

So, tell me what you think. I'm sorry about the wait. I'm awful fanfiction writer. I take so long. But it also wasn't too much of my fault. I had to wipe my hard drive and stuff. And I've been really busy. But here you are. Sorry its so short. Enjoy.