A/N: Okay, well publishing the first chapter was a complete nightmare!!! I had major problems with my internet, which nearly sent me into a spiraling depression… Anyways, here's the second chapter, from Kakashi's POV. I sincerely hope it isn't OOC, because I hate OOC myself. So, please write me if it is, please! Oh! And sorry for the errors in the first chapter! I will be much more careful with proofreading before publishing.
The morning sun shined brightly down on Kakashi, as he groaned and turned over, burying his face into his pillow. Mornings were for the demons… Hmm, that might be a nice excuse for his teammates. Kakashi turned back over, onto his back, his face maskless, his unexpectedly handsome face exposed to the world. He thought over his past excuses, before thinking over his newest one. It could possibly convince Naruto and Sakura, but he knew it wouldn't fool Sasuke, who was as intelligent as ever. Hmm, maybe he should think of another excuse? It was always good to have a backup, after all.
After a few minutes of intense thinking, Kakashi sat up and stretched, yawning. Mornings weren't really all that bad, but if his ex-students ever found out, then he would severely deny everything - especially the real reason why he was always late. It wasn't his fault that he liked to wonder around town, aimlessly, reading his favorite Icha Icha novels. But he seriously doubted that Naruto and Sakura would let him live after finding out the truth. Those two sure had short tempers, tempers which involved Sakura's destructive fists and Naruto's whining voice. Both were a bad combination.
Kakashi got out of bed, and dressed in his Jounin outfit, before he put on his mask and his hitai-ate, pulling it down over his Sharingan eye. He quickly grabbed his favorite copy of Icha Icha Paradise and left his apartment, opening to where he left off last night. Kakashi read, as he walked through Konoha, headed nowhere really. It was nearly time for his team to meet, but for him, he still had a few good hours to get there.
After a little wandering, he paused his wandering, upon hearing someone calling his name. He peeked a lazy eye over his book, and around him, just as Shizune dropped down in front of him, standing to attention. "Ohayo, Kakashi-San!", she greeted him.
"Yo", he muttered.
"Sorry to interrupt your morning, Kakashi-San, but my mistress requires your presence in her office", Shizune informed him, kindly.
Whatever Tsunade needed him with was obviously important if she personally sent Shizune here to fetch him. He nodded to her, as he pocketed his book, reluctantly, praying to the Kami's that it would be safe, before following Shizune to the Hokage's office. Once they reached Tsunade's office, Shizune opened the door for Kakashi, and let him enter first. He walked over to stand in front of Tsunade's desk, which was practically buried under papers and sake bottles. Tsunade looked up, from a scroll she was examining, giving him a little smirk.
"Ohayo, brat. Glad you could join us so early in the day, when your teammates could only be so lucky", Tsunade mused, smirking at him.
Kakashi smiled at her, underneath his mask, while raising his visible eyebrow, in question. "Yo, Hokage-Sama. What is it that you need me for?", Kakashi asked, politely.
"What's with the rush?", Tsunade asked him, looking a little peeved.
"Nothing, really. But I really wouldn't want to be late meeting my team", Kakashi said, innocently, reminding himself that he was losing time to think of another valid excuse for his team.
Tsunade sweat-dropped anime style, before rolling her eyes, as she picked up a scroll. She held the scroll up so Kakashi could see it. "The Kazekage sent us a message, to which he needs a safe return message. He's asked Team Kakashi to handle the delivery of it, back to Suna", Tsunade informed him, as she set the scroll down.
"Can I ask why Kazekage-Sama asked for my team?", Kakashi asked, without really needing the answer. Kakashi had a sneaking suspicion that the scroll was just an excuse for Gaara to see Naruto. It was obvious to all that the red head was infatuated with the blond boy. Too bad the blond was too busy making moves on another. Kakashi scowled, beneath his mask, his visible eye glaring down at the floor, as he thought about how Naruto had been throwing himself all over a certain raven lately, while Sakura, the little pink haired sneak, had been conspiring with Naruto, helping him.
"Hey, brat! You still with us?", Tsunade asked, annoyed.
Kakashi quickly wiped the frustration from his face, and looked at Tsunade, closing his eye in a smile at the youthful looking, yet elderly woman. "Of course! So, when does our mission begin?", he asked.
"Tomorrow, as early as you can manage. The Kazekage will be pleased", Tsunade said, lifting the corners of her lips a little, in a slight smirk.
"I bet he will", Kakashi mumbled, smirking, himself. Kakashi loved it when Gaara was around. The red head always had the wonderful ability of making Naruto disappear for hours on end, leaving Kakashi happily alone with Sasuke, even if Sakura was still there. As long as Naruto was out of the picture.
"Come get the scroll in the morning, before you and your team leave", Tsunade instructed him.
Kakashi nodded, and smiled at her with his visible eye, "Understood, Hokage-Sama. Now, if that's all, I should be getting to my team"
"Your team. Right. Have fun with that", Tsunade mumbled, sarcastically.
Kakashi waved two fingers at her, before leaving her office. He returned to what he had been doing before, as he walked along through the village, pulling out his novel, enjoying his morning. Before Kakashi knew it, hours had passed since he had left the Hokage's office. He sighed, as he stopped, quickly thinking over his excuse for this one, seeing as he had forgotten again. Kakashi thought over his previous excuses, before coming up with a new one. He smirked, knowing it wouldn't full his teammates, but at least it was something.
He disappeared from the middle of the street, with a poof, before reappearing on the bridge, with another poof. Kakashi peeked over his book at his ex-students, examining them for the day. Sakura was sitting across from Naruto, looking around at the scenery, impatience faintly showing on her face. Naruto sat a few feet from Sasuke, oddly quiet, as he gazed lovingly up at the raven. Kakashi glared at the blond. If it wasn't already obvious, Kakashi was in love with the last Uchiha. He couldn't really remember exactly when he had fallen so hard, although he had realized it, roughly upon Sasuke's return to the village. It killed him just to know that Naruto had been the one to bring him back, while Kakashi wasn't able to help him.
He mentally sighed, as Naruto and Sakura both jumped and started their usual round of yelling at him, "You're late!"
"I was on my way here, when I noticed a strange rabbit. So I followed him down a hole, where -", Kakashi said, spinning his wonderful, genius tale.
"Liar!", Naruto and Sakura both yelled at him.
"Why are the two of you getting so worked up?", Kakashi asked, innocently, taunting them. He was always amused how annoyed the two got at him.
"Because! You're a liar, and you're a pervert!", Sakura shrieked at him.
"Pervert?", Kakashi asked, raising his visible eyebrow, smirking beneath his mask, "I'm sure I don't know what you mean"
"That's cause you're a liar!", Naruto yelled at him.
"Now, now. There's no reason for you to accuse me of such ridiculous ideas", Kakashi told them, smiling at them with his eye.
"Ridiculous!? You're ridiculous!", Sakura yelled at him.
Kakashi was about to bite back another remark to them, which could possibly have Sakura's fist thrown into his skull. But before he could, he looked over at Sasuke, who seemed to be off in his own world. The raven had been going off into his own world a lot lately, which was starting to worry Kakashi. One usually wouldn't think Sasuke being quiet like this and being all emo was strange, but if one looked closely, as Kakashi did, they would see how spaced out he was, how he was stressed out over something. Kakashi thought that after Itachi died Sasuke would start to relax and not stress himself, like he used to. He mentally sighed. What Sasuke needed now was something to get his mind off whatever was troubling him.
"Are you two done now?", Kakashi asked Naruto and Sakura.
Both of them growled at him, angrily, as they balled their fists up. Kakashi smiled at them with his eye, as he quickly ignored their anger. "Why don't we begin training?", he asked.
Sakura sighed, while Naruto silently seethed, as he glanced over at Sasuke. Kakashi watched Naruto, before looking at Sasuke who was still off in his own little world. "Sasuke. Do you think you could join us, please?", Kakashi said, trying to get his attention.
Sasuke didn't move or acknowledge that he had heard him, so Naruto decided to try his luck. He jumped in front of his friend, yelling at him, "Teme! Wake up!"
Sasuke blinked, obviously waking up from whatever world he had been inhabiting to look up at the blond. "Hn?", he murmured. Kakashi smiled underneath his mask at the clueless answer. Sasuke might as well have just been asleep.
"Teme! Stay out of the clouds!", Naruto yelled at him.
Sasuke glared at him, scowling. "Just tell me what you want, Dobe", he said, as calmly as he could.
Kakashi mentally sighed. Sasuke's anger made him too short with people sometimes, especially when Naruto came into question. Kakashi decided to intervene between the two, so they could actually get to do some training today. "He wants you to join the team, Sasuke", Kakashi told him, lazily, while carefully watching the raven, "Because in case you haven't noticed, we're ready to start training"
Sasuke looked shaken for a second, before he quickly returned to his stoic appearance. Kakashi watched as Sasuke looked from their other teammates, before he crossed his arms and walked off towards the training grounds without another word. Kakashi raised an eyebrow, curious as to the raven's behavior. Lately Sasuke had been avoiding Kakashi as if he were the plague. Kakashi pouted, hiding his face behind his novel, as he followed his teammates. He missed looking into Sasuke's bottomless, onyx eyes. They were so beautiful, and never failed to make his heart stop. The boy was truly evil for keeping them from him.
When they reached the training grounds, Kakashi stopped along with his ex-students. Kakashi quickly finished the sentence he had been reading before pocketing his Icha Icha book. Kakashi quickly flicked his visible eye over Naruto and Sakura, before landing on Sasuke. Sasuke quickly snapped his face away from Kakashi's view. Kakashi furrowed his eyebrows, noticing Sasuke's face flushed a little. Kakashi smirked a little. Sasuke was so cute!
Naruto asked him what they were going to do today. Kakashi mentally sighed, as Naruto called him Sensei, like he used to when they were younger. "I'm not your Sensei anymore, Naruto", Kakashi told him, lazily.
"I know. But your so old, it's hard not to call you Sensei, Sensei!", Naruto said.
Sasuke surprised Kakashi, by standing up for him, especially over something as silly as his age. Although, he didn't know why everyone thought he was so old, just because his hair was silver. It wasn't his fault he was born with silver hair!
"Don't be such a baka, Dobe. Just because he has silver hair, doesn't mean he's old. It just means he's unique", Sasuke said.
Kakashi smiled at the compliment Sasuke sent his way, as he thanked the raven. Sasuke complimented others about once in a blue moon… Actually, Kakashi wasn't really sure he had ever heard him openly compliment someone. He was touched. Although, his mood quickly went down as Naruto whined and threw his arms around Sasuke's neck, clinging to his back. Kakashi had to stop himself from growling out loud, as Naruto clung onto Sasuke like a leech.
"Sasuke! Why can't you say such nice things about me! We're friends!", Naruto whined in the raven's ear.
As Sasuke glared and growled at the blond, Kakashi walked over to the two, and put his hand on Sasuke's raven spikes. He had always wanted to run his hand through the raven's hair, just to see if it was soft or not, seeing as it was always spiked. Sasuke looked up at him, as Kakashi leaned down close to Sasuke's face, practically inhaling the boy's sweet scent, as he smiled at him with his eye. "Naruto can't help it, Sasuke. You always look so cuddly and cute", Kakashi told him, honestly.
The raven blushed like a strawberry, surprising Kakashi, before he took those wonderful eyes away from Kakashi, and glared down at the ground. "I'm not cute", Sasuke growled at him. Kakashi chuckled at the boy's hatred towards the word. He may have denied that he was cute, but Kakashi's eyes told him no lies… plus, there was at least a million fangirls out there that would stab anyone who said different.
Kakashi moved away from Sasuke, to stand before all of his teammates, as Sakura stopped giggling at Naruto and Sasuke, while Naruto still clung tightly onto Sasuke. Said raven seemed to have forgotten about the raven on his back, as he stared at the ground, looking more attentive than he had earlier.
"Before we train, I should let you know that we have a mission tomorrow. We will be traveling to Suna, to give a message to the Kazekage", Kakashi informed his team.
Naruto whined at the mission, while the others accepted it. Kakashi sighed, mentally, his fingers twitching to reach for his book. But he prevailed, without it.
"Anyways, I'll stop by the Hokage's office and retrieve the mission and meet all of you at the gates, early in the morning, alright?", Kakashi said, feigning a cheery voice.
Sakura and Naruto didn't miss their chance to growl at the mention of 'early in the morning'. "Like you'll actually be there in the morning!", Sakura and Naruto both yelled at him.
"Whatever could you mean?", Kakashi asked, taunting them with an innocent voice. He smirked beneath his mask. It was so much fun playing with them, sometimes, driving them to the point of insanity.
Out of nowhere, a loud growl sounded through the air. Kakashi raised his visible eyebrow, surprised, as he looked over the others, before looking at Sasuke, who was scowling. Naruto and Sakura both noticed that Sasuke had made the noise, and looked at him worriedly. Sakura asked him if he was alright, cautiously, trying to ascertain his sanity.
Sasuke glared at the others, avoiding looking at Kakashi again, as he sighed, wishing he could know whatever was going through the boy's head. It would be awesome if the Sharingan allowed him to read others thoughts, but that obviously wasn't going to happen. Kakashi smiled at his teammates with his eye, as he decided it was time to get to work.
"Alright! We'll just spar today, since our mission isn't until tomorrow. Naruto, you're with me and Sakura is with Sasuke", Kakashi said, cheering inside at his choices.
"What!? Why can't I spar with Sasuke!? We always spar together!", Naruto demanded to know.
Kakashi narrowed his eye slightly on Naruto, smirking at himself. After the way Naruto had been acting, Kakashi knew that given the chance, Naruto could easily use a sparring match to make a move on the Uchiha. So, being the genius self he was, he paired Sasuke with Sakura, since she wasn't hung up over him anymore. Any other day Kakashi gladly would have paired Sasuke with himself, but he figured with whatever was going through his head, he wouldn't be happy with that idea. Kakashi sighed, pouting underneath his mask. It would have been so wonderful to spar with his beloved.
"Let's get started, shall we?", Kakashi suggested, smiling with his eye.
Kakashi took a lingering glance at Sasuke, who quickly walked a little away with Sakura, scowling, again. He sighed, before he walked off too, with Naruto. Kakashi trained for a few hours with Naruto, who didn't really seem into the fight. Kakashi figured his lack of determination, was due to his disappointment of not being able to fight Sasuke.
At the end of the fight, Kakashi felt like a little kid, trying to resist the urge to stick his tongue out at the blond, in victory, seeing as he won the friendly spar. Naruto scowled, and stormed over to where Sasuke and Sakura were waiting, seeing as their fight had finished a while ago. Kakashi followed after the blond, while pulling out his copy of Icha Icha Paradise. He used his book as a cover, pretending to read it, while he actually watched his teammates.
Sasuke was standing, leaning on one foot, with his arms crossed, as he stared off into space. He was glad Sasuke was off in his world again. The boy had a critical eye, along with the Sharingan, and therefore would be able to see that he was watching them. Sakura was sitting down on the ground, leaning back on her palms, as she stared up at the sky. When Naruto stormed over to them, she looked up at him, smiling cheerfully, as he calmed his scowl, a little.
"Sorry you lost, Naruto. But you did really good, though. Right, Sasuke?", Sakura asked, prompting Naruto.
Naruto instantly cheered up, his eyes lighting up, as he looked at Sasuke, hopefully, probably praying for a compliment. But, to Kakashi's joy, Sasuke was locked in his head again, not noticing that someone was talking to him. When the raven didn't say anything, Naruto's face fell, and he pouted at Sasuke.
"Sasuke… Sasuke!", Naruto whined, as he waved his arms in front of his teammate.
Sasuke blinked, again, and turned his head to Naruto, flickering his eyes to the blond. The raven rolled his eyes, before walking away from them, not even saying a goodbye. Kakashi mentally sighed at Sasuke's anti-social tendencies.
"Sasuke! Wait! Where are you going!?", Naruto yelled at the Uchiha, before running off after him.
Kakashi glared at Naruto's back, before looking at Sakura, who was smiling at her teammates backs. "I hope that ends well", she murmured. Kakashi glared at her in turn, before he began walking off himself. His stomach was growling for something to be given to it. Usually, Kakashi would eat after team meetings and training, with his team at Ichiraku, since Naruto always insisted that they eat there. So, when Naruto didn't, he was always left wondering for hours where he would eat. Eventually, when he couldn't think of somewhere else, Kakashi would just settle for habit, and head to Ichiraku.
So, that's where Kakashi headed off to. The process of scouring to find a place for somewhere to eat was so hard, that today he just decided to save his brain the trouble. When he reached Ichiraku's, Kakashi sat down and ordered a bowl of ramen. While Kakashi waited for his food, he put his novel away, and examined the others waiting. Two shinobi he didn't know sat off to his left, while to his right, Naruto sat in a cloud of gloom and sorrow at the end of the bar. Kakashi cheered on the inside, his conscious self squealing in joy at the fact that Sasuke was able to ditch the blond.
"Yo", Kakashi said, in greeting.
Naruto glanced at him, before staring down into an untouched bowl of ramen. You had to know that the blond was pretty upset, when he wasn't eating ramen that was right in his face. Naruto whined back in greeting, not bothering with words.
Kakashi shrugged, knowing that if he helped Naruto, then he'd just end up unhappy in the long run. And as much as he didn't want to be called selfish… Well, who cared. If not helping Naruto meant that he could be a step closer to Sasuke, then lightning could hit the blond for all he cared. Kakashi smiled, dreamily, beneath his mask, as he cupped his hands together, closing his eyes. He could just see it now! Sasuke would run towards him, his onyx eyes filled with determination and need, wearing a miniskirt that the boy wore just for him (the miniskirt was a very important detail!). Kakashi would run towards his love, his arms wide open, ready to hold that lovely, slim form, for eternity. In the middle of the night, under the moon, the two would meet in blissful ecstasy!
Kakashi sighed, happily, at his award-winning fantasy. He just knew that when he and Sasuke finally came together, it would be exactly like that! It had to!
"Uhh, Kakashi?", Naruto asked.
Kakashi snapped his head to look at his ex-student, still feeling the high from his fantasy. He glared at the one trying to obstruct his beautiful fantasy, before digging into his ramen, before anyone could see his face. In no time Kakashi finished, and ripped out his novel, shoving his face in it and leaving Ichiraku's. It was a good thing that Naruto was upset… Even if it made him feel a little guilty.
Enjoy! I hope you liked it! I wasn't sure I could pull of Kakashi's POV, so if I didn't feel free to criticize. And I hope I don't disappoint those who read! Aishiteru!