Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Masashi Kishimoto does.

Chapter 12

When Kakashi woke up the next morning, he was still feeling kind of sore. He looked to see if Mayu was still sitting by his bed. But was disappointed to see Iruka standing there, which made him glad that his mask and headband were back on.

"How ya doing?" Iruka asked.

"I've been through worse." responded Kakashi. "By the way, where's Mayu?"

"She went to go tell your team that you won't be able to train them for a while." Iruka told him. "Say, was she that konoichi you went to the movies with a couple nights ago?"

"How do you know about that?" asked Kakashi.

"It's the latest rumor flying around the village." Iruka explained. "But look at the bright side, at least no one thinks you're queer anymore."

"Oh good." said Kakashi. Then he realized what Iruka just said. "What? Who said I was queer? Oow!" (He kind of hurt himself with the outburst.)

"Um…everybody." Iruka said nervously.

"Who's everybody?"

"Well, you see…um…it's just that…you're never been seen flirting with woman…and, uh…the fact you're never been on a date with one…so it's natural that…um, one would assume…"

But from looking at Kakashi's one eye, Iruka could tell that he wasn't helping himself. Just then Mayu came in with Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura in tow.

"Thanks for keeping an eye on him, Iruka." said Mayu.

"Don't mention it.", said Iruka, who was glad that for an excuse to leave. He casually walked out, and as soon was out the door, he ran as fast as he could out of there.

"What were you guys talking about?" Mayu asked Kakashi, who just noticed that the blood stains on Mayu's clothes were gone.

"Oh nothing." he told her, and then he thought, 'Note to self: When I'm well again, beat some answers out of Iruka.'

Then Kakashi's students started bombarding him with questions. Like, if he was alright, what happened to him, who did it, and why. Kakashi tried to answer their questions the best he could, because Mayu was giving him a look telling him not to tell them too much.

The night before, Mayu had finally told him everything about why she was on her journey. Kakashi even came to trust her enough to tell her about his Shaningan, how he got it, and why he never used it against her. But they couldn't figure out why Daaku tried to kill him.

After Kakashi answered all of his students' questions, Mayu shooed them out.

"All right, visiting hours are over. Your sensei needs to rest. Now shoo."

As his students left, Kakashi was glad that they didn't ask any questions about his relation with Mayu. So far it looked like nobody knew about the kiss they shared last night. Now that he and Mayu were alone, he wondered if he should talk to her about it. But, he couldn't bring himself to say anything.

Over the course of the week, Mayu stayed to look after Kakashi while he recovered. But, that was mainly because he refused to go to a hospital. As much as he wanted to, Kakashi just couldn't bring himself to bring up the kiss, and even though she saw him without his mask, he didn't give her a lot of opportunities to see him with it off.

After a week, Kakashi was able to move on his own, with the aid of crutches, without every move hurting like hell. He was sitting on the couch reading his book, but he really wasn't concentrating on the story. He was trying to figure out how to talk to Mayu about the kiss. Right then Mayu just came out and asked him, "So, how long have you been holding it back?"

"Holding what back?" he asked in confusion.

"You know your burning desire to kiss me." Mayu said somewhat jokingly."

"Oh, um…" Kakashi tried to think of something to say. He wondered if he should say it was an impulse because if the near brush with death, or that he wasn't thinking clearly because of the blood lost. But Kakashi knew he had to face the truth, he had fallen for this konoichi of the Hidden Light Village. Mayu sat down on the couch next to him.

"Come on you can tell me.", she said. "Is it because you really like me? If it will make it easier on you, I must really like you too, considering I kissed you back." Mayu began to blush thinking about the kiss and what he looked like with his mask off.

"Are you sure it not because of…you know." he said pointing to his masked face.

"I think I liked you before that. Besides, why do you think I worked hard to save your life? Heck, I even patched your mask up and everything." Mayu said as she ran her finger across the stitched up part of the mask, and then she lowered the mask. She ran her hand down the cheek with his new scar.

"Maybe it's a good thing you wear that mask." she said. "You'd probably have as many fangirls as Sasuke." Then she kissed him on the lips. Kakashi returned the kiss and wrapped his arms around her. After a few minutes of passionate kissing, they pulled away and looked into each other's eyes. Mayu felt a feeling she never felt before. She cared so much for Kakashi; she never wanted to see him hurt like he was last week ever again.

Another week later, Kakashi was recovered enough to move without crutches. So Mayu knew it was time for her to go. So before Kakashi awoke that morning, she left a note by his alarm clock, lightly kissed him on the forehead and left.