*Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of the characters in it. I simply borrow them for my own musings and fantasies and do not get paid for their use in said musings or fantasies. –Nira

Hey, everyone!

It's been a while since I've written an author's note, but I think the time has come. I will be wrapping the main conflict of this story up shortly, but that doesn't mean it's coming to an end. There is still a relationship aspect that I've barely begun to explore, but what the plot will be has become... fuzzy, to say the least. Honestly, I can see the plot dissolving and this turning into shameless smut, cute scenes and one-shot spinoffs. I'm not sure if I'll keep adding them to this story or if I'll start another one. If I start another one, there will be some chapters with a bit of plot that will be a continuation of or related to the plot of this story, but others I'm 100% positive will be complete and total shameless smut. Thoughts? Shoot me a PM or write a review letting me know what you think. Thank you, and I hope you enjoy this cute and slightly steamy chapter.

Much love,

Nira

Chapter 33

When Team Seven had returned from the Land of Waves and Yuriko gave her final report she had some much needed down time to think about the events that had transpired. Oddly enough, she had a little bit of closure about the untimely deaths of her parents with Zabuza's sincere apology, but the question that still buzzed around in her mind was what she intended to do with her life. What was her dream? She'd been contemplating the idea through her shower and again as she wandered through the village until she found herself standing in front of an apartment building that looked only vaguely familiar. After a moment, she realized where exactly she was and a blush rose to her cheeks. Embarrassed and confused as to why she'd come to this particular apartment building of all the places that she frequented within the village, she turned to leave but paused when she came face to face with Iruka just returned home with his hands full of groceries.

"Yuriko-san…" His eyes were wide, mouth hung slightly ajar, and a slight tinge of pink was seen across his cheeks as he stared at her, disbelieving. Yuriko stood frozen, her eyes locked on his as her face incrementally increased in temperature as the awkward silence and staring continued.

"I… We just got back..." she muttered, finally breaking eye contact and playing with her hair.

Excitement rolled through Iruka at the realization that the first place she thought to visit when she returned to the village was his house. He guessed that it had something to do with his request when she'd initially left for her to return home safely, but the fact that she was there was more than enough of an affirmation of her feelings for him, he thought. The smile that lit up Iruka's face was blinding but warmed Yuriko through, the pink of her cheeks darkening a bit more as she chanced another glance at him from the side, refusing to meet his eyes straight on again.

"Welcome home, Yuriko-san," he beamed and Yuriko couldn't help the smile that crept onto her own lips. "Would you like to join me for dinner?"

With a bright smile of her own, Yuriko nodded and walked with him to his apartment while he asked her about the mission and she went into great detail about everything, even down to the events and her history with Zabuza. While she spoke, Iruka was enraptured in the tale, his eyes hardly ever leaving her and his mind only half there. She'd come so far in trusting people, he thought, and he was honored that he was among the people that she felt close to. His expression was soft and admiring and he found that everything about her being there, telling him about the mission, and helping him to prepare dinner felt so natural and normal. With that thought, he couldn't deny it anymore. In less than a year, she'd come into his life and turned everything on its head and now here he was, just as topsy turvy over her.

"Yuriko-san?" Iruka cooed, his expression full of wonder as he looked into her eyes.

"Hm?" she hummed, having just taken a bite of rice.

"You have no idea how amazing you are… do you?"

Yuriko's face instantly flushed crimson but she couldn't take her eyes away from his. He had the same look in his eyes that she'd caught in Kakashi's more and more often. It was that adoring captivated look that pierced straight into her soul and set her stomach aflutter. She lowered her gaze, shadowing her eyes with her bangs though he could still see the ruddiness of her cheeks and he couldn't help the adoring grin that spread across his lips.

"Iruka-san… why do you look at me like that?" she mumbled after a moment.

"Like what?"

"Like… like I'm the sun…"

Iruka was silent, blinking in confusion. "The sun? I don't understand what you mean."

Yuriko paused, fidgeting with her chopsticks as she thought about how she was going to word it. It was strange and confusing to her too, but she had to somehow make it make sense to not only herself but to Iruka as well.

"It's like my existence- my presence- is a light in the darkness, the long-awaited reprieve from a long night of cold and dark and lonely… Your mood lifts when you see or spend time with me, and you sometimes go out of your way just to be near me, almost like… like you need me around or else you'd forever be trapped in the dark."

Iruka's eyes widened. How did she know? How was she able to describe his feelings for her in such an accurate and yet elegantly poetic way? He was positive that he hadn't expressed his emotions for her to such an extent, so how were her words so true and yet just barely scraping the surface?

"The idea of you not being around is… horrifying and heartbreaking. I worry when you're away on missions, and I look forward to being able to have meals and talk and walk and spend time with you again when you return. I can't seem to stop thinking about you," he chuckled nervously. "I… I really, really like you, Yuriko-san… more than I can put into words. What you just described is extremely accurate for how I feel, but it isn't nearly enough to truly describe it. Even still, how-?"

Yuriko's heart constricted and butterflies terrorized her stomach as tears dripped onto the table and Iruka stopped mid-sentence. It wasn't Iruka's feelings for her that she'd described. It was her own feelings for him, and Kakashi, and even Naruto in a loving, older sister kind of way. For Iruka to express that the feeling meant that he cared for her deeply struck a chord of dissonance within her. She hadn't truly felt like that since Eiichi, and even that, she realized, was a pale comparison to how she felt now- child's play, really.

She thought she'd squashed that part of herself- the weak, gullible, naïve little fool that trusted and fell in love too easily, but here it was again, back with a vengeance. She'd let Kakashi and Iruka see and know too much about herself. Naruto was too young and innocent to realize the power that he now had over her, but Iruka and Kakashi were not. They would figure it out and once they did, it would be the end. She'd gone soft and ignored her teacher's lessons. She'd trusted them, and now she'd left herself completely vulnerable and unable to truly protect herself anymore. It was only a matter of time, now, before they used it all against her. It was bound to happen, she thought, but this time would be the last. She'd stupidly given them enough ammunition to completely destroy her.

And yet, no matter how she looked at it, hearing him say it aloud made her inexplicably happy.

"I see…" she choked, her lips trembling into a conflicted smile as she finally looked up at him. "You're… too kind, Iruka-san."

Kakashi had gotten home, showered, and lay sprawled out on the bed with only his mask and a pair of sleeping pants on, staring up at the ceiling and deep in thought. Just like each of the other missions that he'd gone on with Yuriko, he'd come back to the village with more information about her and his emotions and rationality fighting against each other. She'd trusted him over and over again, completely breaking down and showing her true emotions despite constantly wearing her mask to try to hide them, and each time he found it harder and harder to not think about her.

When he closed his eyes he saw her sitting beside him, tears cascading down her face as she apologized for her moment of weakness against Zabuza. Then it was the look of pride as she sent him and Sakura to guard Tazuna while she continued to oversee Naruto and Sasuke's training. The smile on her face and the chuckle in her voice as she'd called his doting cute came after that. Next was the determination in her eyes when she faced Zabuza on the bridge again. And then it was every time her hand was in his. He felt it- the warmth and weight of it, the dainty curves and slender fingers calloused from battle and years of training and yet still soft and gentle- even without her there.

He opened his eyes with a sigh. He'd made up his mind. He couldn't keep agonizing over his growing captivation with her. He needed to tell her before it tore him apart, but how? He hadn't confessed his feelings for anyone… ever. Nobody had caught his attention in any sense other than physically except for Rin. Sure, plenty of women had confessed their attraction to him but it had never been reciprocated in the same way. Even with his last girlfriend that Yuriko had asked about once, he'd simply gone along with it, telling her what she wanted to hear, not actually how he felt. That had been the real reason he hadn't shown his face to her.

His mind continued to drift until it settled on a familiar fantasy. He and Yuriko were in a clearing of the forest, a lake in the background and the sun's warmth beaming down on them. Birds twittered away, happy and minding their own business, and there was a slight breeze, a cool refreshment from the heat of the summer day. Yuriko stood before him in her bright yellow sundress with the pale purple embroidered butterflies along the bottom hem, her soul-melting violet eyes locked on his and the cutest blush across her cheeks that peeked out from above her lavender scarf. Kakashi pulled his mask down, pooling it around his neck and took a step forward, reveling in Yuriko's slight intake of breath and quickened heartbeat as his hands slid between the curtain of her hair and her cheeks.

The scent of the vanilla and lavender hair products she used wafted to meet his nose as his hands held her face tenderly, warm and soft against his rough, calloused palms, and her eyes widened before they took on a sultry, half-lidded expression, one of her own hands reaching up to hold his against her cheek. Kakashi tilted her head up, forcing the scarf to fall and expose the rest of her face- the cute button nose, soft jawline, shallow cheeks, and lips- those irresistible lips full and soft and pouty, slightly parted and waiting.

"Kakashi…" she crooned, her voice a seductive whisper as she dropped the honorifics entirely and stood on her toes to get closer, her face just centimeters away from his, her breath ghosting across his lips.

It was too much for the former ANBU. He couldn't hold himself back any longer. He wrapped one arm around her, pulling her flush against him with his other hand tangling itself in the silken tresses at the back of her head. He closed the gap between them, moaning as his lips met hers. They were everything he thought they would be- soft and sweet and needy as they moved in tandem with his own lips, greedily taking her in and drowning in the taste of her.

Kakashi's eyes shot open and he gasped, panting and in a hot sweat. He'd fallen asleep. Thinking back on the dream, he bit his lip and groaned in frustration, painfully aware of the erection pressed against the fabric of his pants. He sighed, dragging his hand over his face before he gazed at the wall that connected his apartment to Yuriko's, listening for any kind of movement. When he heard none, he looked at the clock on his bedside table to see that it was nearly three in the morning.

She was probably asleep, he thought, but there was no way he could get back to sleep now. Every time he closed his eyes and allowed his mind to travel again, he slipped back into the dream and each scene got more and more involved. At first, it was just the kiss, but then it was his lips on her neck and traveling toward her collarbone. And then it was her skin, pale and completely exposed to him, a gorgeous contrast to the vibrant green of the grass below her, her scars heartbreaking but understandable as a kunoichi. Next, it was her face contorted in ecstasy, his name a hearty moan escaping her throat and hands tangled in his hair, his head between her thighs.

Kakashi shot into a sitting position and glared at the floor, frustrated with his overactive imagination. Despite having already showered, he stripped and made his way to the bathroom, running the water as cold as he could stand it before immersing himself within it. When he'd calmed down, he got out, got fully dressed, and decided to go for a walk, but as he stepped outside, he saw Yuriko leaving her own apartment and paused.

"Yuriko-san…" he breathed, but mentally he was cursing.

"Oh… Good morning, Senpai."