A/N: Thanks for the feedback everyone. As an aside, this is a POV story...I know it's not too common, but those are just about the only stories that I
As Intended
Kakashi's POV
I tried my best to banish the blush that was determined to adhere to my cheeks. The fact that I couldn't shake the feeling in my stomach was almost embarrassing. Waking up alone had never been a problem before...before this morning. Our previous encounters were nothing more just a temporary filling to a void, so there was no reason as to why I should feel anything more, yet my arms literally felt like they were empty. My mind wandered back to the previous night. My neck burned with the lingering memories of that brief, yet absurdly satisfying kiss that Naruto had graced me with. With a smile, my slender fingers brushed the area lightly and I could swear that I caught the faint aroma of the boy as I passed my hand near my nose.
I laid there and literally thought about nothing more than Naruto. Before I knew it, a half hour had passed; I needed to get up. I needed something to clear my mind-perhaps I'd continue on the 'Icha Icha' novel that was calling my name. Surely those magical pages would once again whisk me away to another, more peaceful state of mind.
Amazingly, the book did little to help-in fact, I would almost argue that it further agitated me. Through my thorough readings of the 'Icha Icha' series, I knew that the protagonist bore no similarities to me at all, but the further into the book that I read, the more I began to assimilate us. Of course, the protagonist's love interest began to remind me more and more of a certain blond-haired, blue-eyed boy that I knew oh too well. Now, this was a problem. My books were sacred. They were my escape from the world, but now, it seemed as though they were finding their way into reality, whether I wanted them to or not. That bastard, Naruto!
The fact that an 'Icha Icha' novel couldn't bring me back to my senses was scary, but there was one guaranteed solution: training. I forced myself to dress appropriately and then promptly set off to release the demons in my head and do some training. I shut myself off from the world. I chose training grounds that I knew for certain that Naruto was not aware of. I would not risk running into the object of my torment especially after working so hard to remove the nuisance from my mind.
My training started off rather routinely, but I figured I wouldn't get far by doing any halfway. Focusing my chakra, I began.
"Sharingan!" I grunted as I lifted the leaf headband and powered up. There was only one way for me to being to master the feared eye, and that was to push my limits with it active. Sure, training without an actual body as my opponent was unconventional, but I was not swayed. For hours, I continually teetered the boundary between training and physical exhaustion. My lungs felt as though they were containers for an unbelievable fire. My vision doubled and I literally had to force my body to stay standing. I was not yet satisfied with where I was at and decided to give it one more go.
"Raikiri!" My voice cut through the air as I charged forward. The harsh light emanating from my right palm illuminated the area surrounding me. My hand darted back behind my ear, and with all the force that I had left to muster, I thrust the chakra forward. The resulting impact was truly awesome. The damage was devastating as several trees were split in two, the lucky ones were solely up-rooted.
A smirk crossed my face before I collapsed to one knee. I cursed myself for pushing myself past the threshold without someone near to aid. If an enemy chose to attack, I'd be nothing more than a sitting duck, but I couldn't help but laugh at my helplessness. Somehow, I pushed myself up and limped back home. Never before had I welcomed the sight of my plain residence than at that moment. The moon above my head showed me that it had been some time since I initially left. The chair in my front room seemed to grab hold of my body as I finally sat down to rest. My breathing finally began to steady.
Mission accomplished. I had gotten through most of the day without thinking about you-know-who. My chakra was slowly returning, but I was surely looking forward to some time to rehabilitate. I contemplated going straight to bed; I was sure that my body would thank me at that time, and then hate me in the morning.
I'm not exactly sure how I ended up so distracted, but I suddenly felt a chakra at my door. Instinctively, I sprang into defense mode and convinced myself that I would have to bluff my opponent into thinking I still had energy left. Forcefully, I pulled the door open only to meet the glimmering eyes of...
"Naruto?!"
A/N: Yes, I know this was a boring chapter, but I had to have filler in there somewhere to connect pieces of the story together. Do not fret though, Kakashi and Naruto are reunited in the next chapter. As always, please review if you've got the time...they really keep an author focused!
