ANSWERS TO DOUBTS: Those who asked for an explanation will find it here.
HAKU'S RETURN – This is a slightly AU fic. I needed Haku to be in this fic to make a few things work. So, during the Mist fight, remember that Kakashi was the one who 'killed' Haku using Chidori? Well, I had Kakashi 'know' Haku was going to be in the middle and had him to some sort of plan to counter it, therefore having Haku alive (probably took him some place else and left a clone behind to continue the battle). Did that make sense? Basically Kakashi didn't kill him but made it look like he killed him. Okay? Zabuza dies. He's too dangerous anyway, so he had to be take out.
NARUTO'S FURY – Naruto was part of team 7 and, if you read the previous chapter, Sasuke and Sakura did find out, but kept it from Naruto. Now, what hurts Naruto is that he was part of the team, he was there and yet no one told him. It angers him to know that they think he's weak, not able to handle such a thing. And look at Jiraiya's reasoning? I think that was enough explanation, ne? But he's mad at Kakashi, because, well, he wants to be mad at him. Like Jiraiya said, the anger is uncalled for. And it's not longer about Haku (that is just the 'cover up' reason), it's all about Kakashi. It's all about Naruto's inability to 'hate' him, no matter what. Which is why, in the beginning of the story, before he left, no matter how bitter he was at Kakashi, he still bid him good-bye and hugged him right? So, it's all about Naruto trying to hate him, but failing. Okay?
Oh and the other Uchiha is Sasuke by the way. Gaara and Haku does not know of Itachi's 'kidnapping' … yet.
And HakuGaara? Err.. no, that does not work for me. I just CANNOT see THAT happen.
Beta-read by V-chan! weeeeeee!
Anyway, enjoy.
PS – This is the non-lemon version. Details below.
BECAUSE YOU NEVER KNEW 14Naruto hopped over the last residential rooftop and began his ascend towards the roof of the Hokage administrative building. It was a rather cool night, with winter coming just around the corner. It didn't snow in Konoha, but the cold winds and rain were just as nasty. Although snow was beautiful, it was still troublesome to handle. Naruto inhaled deeply, sitting on the roof's railing and gazing at the mountain carvings. They were already working on Tsunade's, the shape of the face and hair already present. Last he heard, the statue would be completed in about four more months. Naruto felt himself smirking. His eyes drifted to the fourth's face, taking in its shape, his gaze lingering towards the eyes. Almond shaped eyes, like his. They were supposed to be blue, not the dull color of stone. His hair was supposed to be gold, like the sun, not the color of stone.
Naruto felt loneliness wash over him. In nights like these, when he let his thoughts wander, he wondered how his father sounded when he spoke, or when he laughed. He wondered how he would hold his cup when drinking his coffee or tea. He wondered how he ate his meal, or how his wrist flicked when using his chopsticks. He wondered what his shoe size could have been, or if he preferred eating oranges to grapes. He wondered if he slept on his side or on his back or maybe even on his stomach. Sometimes, he even wondered if his father was a prankster like himself when he was kid. Was he lazy? Was he always smiling? Did he like telling jokes?
Then the bitter truth would hit him.
He didn't know his father as the person that he was.
Naruto brought a hand to his face, pinching the bridge of his nose.
It was also on nights like these did he wish he could cry so freely.
"A penny for your thoughts?"
Naruto flicked his eyes to one corner, seeing Sasuke standing behind the railing. "What are you doing here?"
"It's a nice night. Went out for a walk." Sasuke said, hands in his pockets.
Naruto nodded his head. "Haven't seen you around the mission room lately."
"Yeah, well, I got discharged from the hospital a few days ago." Sasuke said, staring up at the sky. "Got injured during a mission. Hunters brought the entire squad back."
"Yeah?" Naruto said, trying not to smirk.
"Yeah." Sasuke turned to look at Naruto. "Naruto -"
"I have to go." Naruto said, turning his sitting position before hopping off the railing. "It's dinner time." He dipped his head in a form of a polite parting and began to walk the other way when Sasuke's arm shot out, his hand landing on his chest, stopping him. Naruto quirked an eyebrow as Sasuke stared into his eyes.
"Naruto, answer me honestly." Sasuke said, eyes losing its hard and cold edge for a brief moment. "Do I mean anything to you?"
Naruto looked at him for a long moment before bringing his hand up and pulling Sasuke's hand off his shirt gently, giving it a light squeeze before walking away.
Sasuke kept staring at his back, even as he hopped down towards the lower rooftops.
For now, that answer was enough.
XXX
Naruto gaped at the table. "You made all this?"
Haku smiled, pulling a chair and sitting himself. Gaara was already helping himself to some of the rice. Haku made some curry and vegetable salad. Naruto had never had such a spread on his table before and he only ate such food when he was staying over at Iruka's house and that had been a long time ago. But to find it on his table, which was normally empty, Naruto found the sight rather endearing and somewhat heart-warming. It wasn't only the food that did the trick, but the fact that Gaara was already tucking in to his plate, muttering compliments towards Haku, while Haku, in return merely laughed and turned to look at him.
"Some rice, Naruto?" Haku asked.
Naruto, for the first time in front of Gaara and Haku, grinned. Gaara had to stop in mid chew for a while to just stare. Haku continued smiling, glad that he emitted such a reaction from Naruto.
"Yeah!" Naruto said, pulling a chair and sitting. "Yes, please! No, one more, just a little bit more, yes, that's it!" Naruto said, taking his place from Haku who had been scooping rice on to it and setting it in front of him, the grin now a smile on his face, eyes twinkling like a child.
"You're smiling again." Gaara said, eyes softening as Naruto swallowed his rice.
"Why shouldn't I be?" Naruto said, then stared at his plate, eyes not leaving it as he continued to scoop some rice with his chopsticks. "I found a home in the both of you." For a long moment, there was stunned silence, before Gaara gave a small smile, and Haku looked at his own plate, a blush on his cheeks, but his face looking serene and happy. "Can I have more rice?" Naruto asked, holding his plate out, mouth stuffed with food. "This is delicious!"
Haku began to laugh and took his plate, scooping more rice on to it, while Gaara, for the first time, began to chuckle.
XXX
A few days later, Haku's papers were ready and he was officially a Konoha citizen. He was given a job in the academy as a field instructor. To say that Kakashi, Sasuke and Sakura were shocked was an understatement. They were busy ogling at the mere figure of Haku, who was now standing behind Naruto and Gaara in the mission room, looking at them with a smile.
"You - You're here!" Sakura exclaimed.
"Good afternoon, Haruno-san." Haku said, still smiling.
"When did you get here?" Sasuke asked, a smirk on his face. Obviously pleased that Haku was doing well.
"Just a few days ago, really." Haku said, rubbing the back of his neck. "Hokage-sama was kind enough to allow me to work here, seeing that I am not a registered ninja of the mist." Sakura and Sasuke nodded in understanding. "Naruto-kun was also nice enough to let me stay at his place."
"He what?" Kakashi asked, blinking and shifted his gaze to Naruto, who was now looking at him with cold and unforgiving eyes. Kakashi found himself shivering at the sight and he remembered the eventful day when Naruto nearly choked him to death. "Naruto, you're full of surprises. What else do you have up your sleeve?" He said, sounding like a joke on the outside, but he meant it. Naruto did not give him an answer but only intensified his heated glare. "So, Haku, are you going to take the chuunin exam? Or Jounin exam?" Kakashi asked, shifting his gaze away from Naruto uncomfortably.
"Neither, really. I'll be teaching at the academy, and I'm sure you've heard of it, Haruno-san." Sakura gave a happy nod, smiling. "No ninja work for me. I'd rather teach."
There was silence for a moment and only then did Sasuke and Sakura realize something. Naruto was not supposed to know that Haku was dead. Sasuke turned his eyes towards Naruto, staring at him for a long while. "Naruto, how did -"
"Thanks for not telling me." Naruto said, and turned to look at Kakashi. His teeth ground together, before Gaara's hand came to his shoulder. "I'm going for a walk. Cover for me, will you?" He said, looking at Gaara, who just nodded.
Naruto left, without saying another word to the people behind him and headed for the waterfalls towards the outskirts of the village.
XXX
Kakashi's mind was a whirl. Gaara was not pointedly looking at him, before green eyes moved towards Sasuke's figure, then back towards his.
"Don't you have something to do, Hatake-san?" Haku said, turning to look at Kakashi. "Don't want to be late again, do we?" Sasuke and Sakura turned to look at Haku with raised eyebrows. "Ah, Naruto-kun always whined about the fact that Hatake-san was always a late person when he was younger. I sincerely hope that the habit has gone. Waiting does get tiresome, don't you think?" He smiled at Sakura and Sasuke.
"Yes, in fact, there were times when we simply wanted to just leave our team's meeting point." Sakura said, rubbing her chin in thought.
Kakashi did not care to what Haku was saying. There was just one thing going through his mind at the moment.
Naruto remembered the old days!
"Well, I have things to do and places to go." Kakashi said, offering a wave before leaving the room.
Once outside, he began to look for Naruto.
He never would have thought that the day would come when he would curse the village for being huge! It took him a good two hours of searching, simply because Naruto didn't leave a trail behind him, which was another thing that puzzled him. Naruto's chakra tracks were barely even present. Even someone like Neji and Sasuke, who were expert ANBU members did not mask their trails this well. So he had to search the long way and before long, he found Naruto sitting on a large rock, overlooking the river, the roar of the waterfalls several meters to his left, as he stared at the flowing water. Kakashi decided to approach him after a minute or two, and stopped a few feet behind him.
"Anything I can help you with, Hatake-san?"
"I'm sorry. I should have told you."
"Yet you didn't."
"It was to protect you." Kakashi stated, a desperate edge present in his voice.
Naruto faced him, eyes filled with rage. "And have me thinking about him over and over again, wondering why I couldn't help him, stop him, wondering why he had to die? You call that protection? Damn you! I nearly went nuts after what happened then! Don't talk to me about protection, you bastard! Don't you fucking dare!"
Every word was a blow to him, but he stood his ground. If he had to beat the living daylights out of his thick blonde head of his, he would. Teacher's son or not, he didn't care now.
"It was my duty as a teacher to do what is best for my students." Kakashi said, trying hard not to snap.
"Of course, of course." Naruto said sarcastically, turning back to look at the water. "It's no use arguing with you. You were just doing it to protect me, after all."
Kakashi ground his teeth together. "Naruto, look at me." He said with barely-contained anger. "Look at me!" He shouted, when Naruto didn't listen the first time. Much to his surprise, Naruto did turn to look at him. "Tell me, at my face, that you hate me, and I swear to you that I will never bother you again."
Naruto continued to stare at him, before his eyes suddenly moved to a spot behind him. "I hate you." He hissed.
"Look at me! Not behind me!" Kakashi snapped. Naruto jerked at his voice, the act itself seeming like a crack on his wall of nonchalance. Kakashi felt something inside him soften at the gesture he just witnessed, before Naruto before him vanished in a poof of chakra smoke. Kakashi found himself smiling softly.
Naruto does care.
XXX
He groaned at the finger running down his spine, gently doing a detour at his hips and trailing towards his stomach, before fingers spread out and caressed his chest, hot breath beating against his exposed throat. A groan escaped his lips as he felt soft ones press against his own, a warm and very wet tongue giving his lower lip a long lick, parting his lips. As they kissed, hands rubbed the side of his arms, as they trailed down to his hips, rubbing the tanned thighs, before crawling lower. He wrapped his arms around the smooth neck, his fingers grasping the soft strands of hair, tugging at them as he groaned when the lips left his and attacked his neck, teeth nibbling at the sensitive skin.
"Hnn! More!" He breathed out, groaning. "Hnn! Kakashi!"
"Naruto." A hand came to his shoulder, and snapped his eyes open, staring at Haku's smiling face hovering above his from behind the couch. "Dinner is ready."
Naruto blinked his daze away, and felt a blush cross his cheeks. The dream had been almost so real, so intense and he was suddenly feeling very hot. Shaking his head, he got up and headed for the bathroom, washing his face before joining Gaara and Haku at the table. After eating, Gaara placed a scroll on the table.
A mission scroll.
"Target?" Naruto asked.
"Affiliates with Akatsuki." Gaara answered. "Not big, but still a dangerous one. Eight people."
"They're in the fire country." Haku added. "It says we should complete it before tomorrow."
Naruto nodded, before looking up at the clock. "We should get ready then."
"Yeah." Haku answered, and began to clear the table.
XXX
It was four AM when the three made their way back to the village, smelling of blood and sweat and feeling very tired. Naruto had a rather deep gash on his shoulder, but nothing the Kyuubi couldn't handle healing. Haku and Gaara were fine, but they were worried.
Shower fresh and clothes in the washing machine spinning with detergent soap and water, Gaara approached Naruto. "You were distracted tonight."
"I was." Naruto admitted, and it was all because of one dream. And hell, their targets didn't even put up a fight. They had full advantage of the situation and yet, he came away with a gash on his shoulder. "It's nothing I can't handle."
"Go to him." Gaara said suddenly. Naruto looked up at him and blinked. Gaara shook his head and smiled. "Just for once, throw everything away and get what you want." Gaara handed him his jacket. "Go."
So Naruto left.
XXX
Kakashi woke up to three loud knocks coming from his front door. It was all he could do to not throw the pillow at it. His house was a mere room, with a kitchen and bathroom attached to it. He didn't have any couches or a coffee table, since his bed and bookshelf took up most of the space.
"It better not be a mission." He groaned, and covered half of his face with his hair before padding towards the door. "Coming, coming." He mumbled, and fumbled with the locks, throwing the door open. He blinked in surprise at finding Naruto standing in his doorway, looking up at him with an almost soft expression, but there was still a hard edge to it.
"I don't hate you." Naruto said. In two strides he had his arms around Kakashi's neck, kissing him for all he was worth. Kakashi kicked the door shut, and bolted it with quick fluid motions of his hand before wrapping his arms around Naruto's slender frame, inhaling the barely noticeable sweet and manly scent.
Kakashi pinned Naruto against his door and stared at him, taking in the flushed cheeks and rosy parted lips. He leaned forward and gently licked the soft folds of Naruto's lips before straying to his ear. "I love you. Always have, always will."
"Kiss me." Naruto answered, and Kakashi happily obliged.
XXX
Here on forward is a Lemon Scene. You can read it by going to my web page in the Profile section and find it labeled as Because You Never Knew 14 – KN in my Deviations list.
Or if you're lazy (meh!), you can just follow the link below, minus the spaces of course.
http: www. deviantart. com/ deviation/ 11049936/
Okay, there we go! That's sorted!
PS - Okay, here be the lemon! And it's only one of the few lemon scenes that are going to be tagged to this story. I know the lemon setting is a bit OFF ... but that's the whole point. It's supposed to be OFF ... a very unlikely, spur of the moment sex that takes place between to desiring people. Anyway, things will be clear later.