This chapter follows the same storyline as the previous one, just from Naruto's point of view instead of Kakashi's, so they can be read separately.

I also made a few very small changes to the previous chapter, and the ending is a little longer.

This was not going to be fun.

Actually it was going to be fun. He could hardly keep from jumping up and down in excitement. After all, he'd just heard from baa-chan that he'd be going on a super awesome S-rank mission! But there was a definite downside to it, as well. That downside was currently about twenty meters away, his nose buried in a green book—a present given to him by Naruto himself.

He'd wanted to go on S-rank missions ever since he'd become a ninja and he'd learned that there was such a thing. But he'd always imagined that Kakashi-sensei would be there alongside him. And in the past couple of months he'd realized that he didn't just want Kakashi-sensei along because he would make a good addition to the team, but more because he liked having the jonin around.

When he said like, Naruto wished he could mean it in the way he liked Shikamaru or Gaara, or in the way he'd admired Ero-sennin or the Third Hokage, but he'd passed that stage a long time ago.

At first it had been the simple admiration a student might feel for a teacher. That phase had started almost from the first day he met him—when he had been bound to a tree trunk and Kakashi had told him and his other team members those famous words:

"In the ninja world those who break the rules are regarded as scum, but those who abandon their comrades are worse than scum." One day he'd have to ask Kakashi-sensei where he'd gotten that from.

And he'd kept on admiring him, even when Kakashi-sensei constantly favored Sasuke, even when he chose to train Sasuke for the Chunin-exams and abandoned Naruto to the 'care' of Ebisu-sensei. Although, looking back, he had been rather lucky that time. He wouldn't have met Ero-sennin otherwise, or been able to convince baa-chan to come back to the village.

It was probably still only admiration when he left with Ero-sennin to train for three years. At the time he'd been hung up on the idea of dating Sakura, and that had blindsided him.

But during the trip he'd realized something. Whenever he remembered the village the first one to pop into his head was always Kakashi-sensei. Not Sakura-chan, or Iruka-sensei, or baa-chan, or any of his friends or even Ichiraku ramen, but Kakashi-sensei. At first he'd just written it off. He was training to become the best, and Kakashi-sensei was definitely a good example of that.

But as time went by, and he grew older, he wasn't able to deny it anymore. He liked Kakashi-sensei. Naruto just didn't know exactly how much until they met again in the village, almost three years later.

He'd given Kakashi-sensei his present, and when other man smiled happily, he was struck by a powerful urge to hug him. That definitely hadn't happened with any other guy. This time, he became aware of the fact that he didn't just like Kakashi-sensei, but that he was attracted to him. Bother.

Then somebody brushed him as they walked past and Naruto realized he was standing in the middle of the street staring after his teacher. Not weird at all. He was lucky he'd become the village 'hero', or he would have gotten a lot worse than the strange looks he was getting now.

He blushed slightly, shook himself and ran after his teacher, yelling, "Kakashi-sensei! Wait for me!"

He didn't seem to hear him at first, completely absorbed by the book, even though he must have read it at least five times by now. At last, he managed to get his teacher's attention and he adopted the enthusiasm everyone knew him for.

"Ne, Kakashi-sensei, ne, ne, it's great isn't it? I finally get my very own S-rank mission. Of course, Yamato-taichou and Gai-sensei are gonna be there and some other guy I don't know―Aoi or something―but baa-chan said I was the only one who could do this!"

"It's great, Naruto. I knew you'd get one soon." When Kakashi-sensei rustled his hair, Naruto perked up and wished he could lean into the motion.

Kakashi-sensei gave his famous eye-smile and asked when he would be leaving.

"I'm not sure. Yamato-taichou said he'll decide on a date tomorrow." Suddenly an idea occurred to him and he scrunched his eyebrows. Who knew exactly how long this mission would take or how dangerous it would be. And something was definitely up with that Madara-guy. He wouldn't be surprised if the guy started a war… And if a war started, he might get killed, or even worse, Kakashi-sensei might die.

Either way, he would never be able to tell Kakashi-sensei how he felt or know how the jonin felt about him. It might seem silly to care more about is love life than about his actual life, but at the moment that was exactly the case.

So he came up with an idea. He would just have to tell Kakashi-sensei how he felt before he left on his super awesome S-rank mission.

He looked up at his teacher and said, "Ano sa, ano sa, Kakashi-sensei, will you come see me off?"

"If I'm not on a mission, sure."

That wasn't exactly the enthusiastic answer he'd been hoping for, but it would have to do. He kept his smile bright as he said, "Thanks, Kakashi-sensei! I'm going to tell everyone else. Hehe, I'll bet they'll be really jealous."

At that, he ran off. But just before he turned the corner, he stopped and looked back. His teacher was still standing were he'd left him, seeming strangely downcast. So he yelled his teacher's name and started waving to him with all his might. "I'll see you tomorrow!" and with that he left to set his plan in motion.

The next morning, Yamato-taichou told him they'd be leaving on Saturday at noon. That would give him a couple of days to perfect his plan, but probably not enough time for him to chicken out.

First, he had to be sure that Kakashi-sensei wouldn't be on a mission. He couldn't very well ask his teacher outright—he could only imagine how easily he'd be seen through—so he did the next best thing he could think of and headed towards the Hokage's office.

Subtlety was required. He couldn't let anyone catch on to his feelings. Village hero or not, most people didn't look kindly towards students dating their teachers, especially if both are male. Even he knew that.

He entered the Hokage's office as nonchalantly as possible, trying not to show how nervous he was. Luckily, Shizuka was talking to—scolding—baa-chan, so he had a couple of minutes to prepare himself.

Suddenly he heard something. He looked up to see that he and baa-chan were now alone and that she had just asked him a question.

"Uh… What?"

"I said 'Hey' and asked what you were doing here."

"Oh, right."

"Are you okay?" She looked both worried and amused.

"Yeah, I'm fine, I just, uh—" He tried to think of an acceptable reason as to why he might have been spacing out. "I was just thinking about my mission. Y'know, my super awesome S-rank mission?"

She smiled. "You sure are excited."

"Of course. And everyone was really jealous!" Yes, the perfect intro. "So, uh, how about the others? Anyone got a mission coming up?"

"Like who?" Did he imagine it, or did her eyes narrow slightly.

"Y'know, Sakura, Shikamaru, Kakashi-sensei?" So far for his attempt at subtlety. His voice had definitely gone up a notch or two when he said Kakashi-sensei's name, and from the look on her face, baa-chan hadn't missed that either. "Or, you know, someone like that…"

She stared at him for a moment, causing him to shift around a little, uncomfortable. Then she looked away, shuffling through some papers on her desk.

"Kakashi won't be going on any missions this week."

Hmm, he wasn't sure he liked how this was progressing. Baa-chan was definitely giving him a calculated look. He decided retreat was the best course of action right now, after all, he got the information he came for.

"Oh. I see. How nice. Well. Think I'll be going. You know, have to... pack and… stuff." At that, he ran out of the room as fast as he could, missing the Fifth Hokage's mouth curve into a secret smile.

Once he was out of sight of the Hokage's tower, he stopped and sat down on a nearby bench. He couldn't say that phase one of his plan had been a complete success, but at least he knew Kakashi would definitely be able to see him off. If he cared enough, that was.

Time for step two. Naruto figured he'd tell Kakashi-sensei to meet him about an hour earlier than when they'd be leaving, so he'd be able to confess his feelings.

Just when he was about satisfied with that plan, he remembered his teacher's unfortunate habit of being perpetually late—the man would be late at his own funeral. That definitely wouldn't do. What if he was late enough that Naruto wouldn't have time to confess, or even worse, if he was so late that they'd have left already?

With that in mind, he decided he would tell Kakashi-sensei to meet him Friday at dawn. That would give Kakashi-sensei plenty of time to arrive, Naruto to confess and in case the older man felt the same way, for them to spend some time together. On the other hand, if he were to be rejected—which seemed a more likely outcome at the moment—it would be easy enough to avoid him for a day.

Proud he'd been able to come up with something like that, he hopped up and took off in search of Kakashi-sensei.

He finally found him at Ichiraku's. Naruto grinned. His two favourite things were together.

He sat down on the stool next to his teacher, momentarily side-tracked wondering about how Kakashi could eat with his mask like that. Come to think of it, it was kinda weird that he was in love with him when he hadn't even seen his face…

He realized Kakashi-sensei was staring at him expectantly and forced himself to focus on the task at hand.

"Hey, Kakashi-sensei! How's your ramen?"

"It's good, as always," he answered, with a smile directed at Ichiraku. "Do you know when you'll leave yet?

"Yeah, Yamato-taichou told me this morning. It's this S- uh, Friday at dawn." That was close.

"I see." Eye-smile. "Well, I'll certainly try to be there."

He didn't have a mission, so he'd better come.

"But, I, uh, I have plans, so I… need to go now. Bye, Naruto." He quickly paid Ichiraku and left.

Naruto stared a bit confusedly at the still full and steaming bowl of ramen that Kakashi had left behind. He frowned. Who could leave behind an uneaten bowl of ramen? Weird.

When Ichiraku told him that Kakashi-sensei hadn't touched his food yet, and that since it was paid for, Naruto might as well eat it, he dug in happily.

Phase two was definitely a huge success.

Phase three of his plan would be the most difficult. This would be the first time he confessed—he didn't count the twenty thousand times he'd confessed to Sakura-chan, since he figured he'd never really loved her. He wasn't sure what Should he be direct and just say 'I like you' or should he try to be a little more subtle? On one hand he didn't want to be misunderstand and maybe miss his chance, but on the other hand he definitely didn't want to scare him off either.

In the end he just decided to do what he did best: improvise.

The next couple of days he spent between being a nervous wreck, packing, being a nervous wreck, telling some friends who miraculously hadn't heard yet about his super awesome mission, and oh, being a nervous wreck.

When it was finally Friday, he was so worried he couldn't even eat cup ramen before he left to meet Kakashi-sensei.

He was almost at the gates, idly wondering how long he might have to wait for Kakashi-sensei, when he noticed a lone figure standing in the middle of the plaza in front of the gates. His heart sped up.

This was bad. He had expected to have a little more time to rehearse what he'd say. Yet, at the same time, he was so happy that he was already there. The man who was perpetually late was actually early.

Naruto took a deep breath and smiled.

"Yo, Kakashi-sensei!"

Kakashi-sensei smiled in return. "Naruto. Where is everyone?"

If he wanted to tell Kakashi-sensei, the time was now. He laughed uncomfortably and raked his hand through his hair.

...

He couldn't bring himself to say it. He tried taking another deep breath.

"Well, you see…" That was about as far as he got. He was scolding himself for being such a coward when suddenly the other man sighed. Naruto's heart dropped.

"It's tomorrow, isn't it? The day you're leaving?"

Huh? "How did you know?"

"It's not really hard to figure out, seeing as how nervous you are." He smiled. "It's fine. I needed to get up early anyway. I have an appointment with the Hokage later on."

Wait a minute.

This was not how things were supposed to go. As Kakashi-sensei walked towards him, Naruto felt panic rising. He knew that if he didn't tell him now, he never would. And he would always regret that.

Naruto felt his teacher pat his head and saw him make the seal for teleportation.

No.

Gathering every scrap of courage he had left, he threw himself forward and wrapped his arms around Kakashi-sensei's waist.

When the jonin didn't shake him off in disgust, Naruto took that as a good sign. When the silence stretched on for a few minutes, he wasn't quite so confident anymore.

Then he heard a whisper. "Naruto?"

Reacting as if he'd shouted, Naruto flinched and let go immediately. He tried gathering his thoughts, something that seemed even more impossible than usual. What had he been thinking?! Of course he would be rejected! How could someone like Kakashi-sensei ever like someone like him. A blockhead.

So he tried to smile—although he wasn't sure he was entirely convincing. "Oh. Sorry, Kakashi-sensei, don't know what came over me." He laughed. "I guess I just, um, I just…" He trailed off and he couldn't pretend anymore. He felt tears threatening.

Suddenly Kakashi-sensei called him an idiot and then threw one arm around him in a hug. If he hadn't been so happy—and really, really confused—by the hug, he might have gotten angry at the insult.

While he wanted to hug the other man back, he was kind of scared to. What if he somehow misinterpreted things, and everything became really awkward? Then again, Kakashi-sensei was hugging him, so he might as well return the gesture.

Slowly, carefully, he grabbed the back of Kakashi-sensei's vest. When the jonin didn't move, he took it as a good sign and pulled him closer until there wasn't an inch between them. He didn't think either of them was breathing right now.

After a little while, Naruto managed to relax in the embrace and simply enjoy the feeling and scent of the other.

Another whisper. "Naruto."

Slightly reluctantly, he lifted his head from the other man's chest and looked up. "Kakashi-sensei?"

"Have I ever told you that I love you?"

Hope surged through him, making him feel as if his heart was going to burst any second. But then that small, insecure part of him—something that had grown from being ignored and hated all those years—held him back. For once Konoha's number one unpredictable ninja decided to err on the side of caution.

"Well, yeah, once. You know, during training. I really like you, too, sensei. You're a great teacher and shinobi."

Naruto was already preparing to release his hold on Kakashi's vest, until he heard the other speak in what he decided was mock disappointment.

"Naruto, Naruto. That wasn't how I meant it. I love you. I love you the way a man would love a woman, though I suppose that wouldn't exactly apply to us."

Well.

Despite everything, he hadn't been expecting this particular outcome. Because even though he'd hoped with everything he had that Kakashi might accept him, that same stupid insecure part of him had kept reminding him it would be impossible. That at the very most Kakashi might say that they could remain friends. Huh. Guess he showed his insecurity.

"You know, an answer might be nice. Idiot."

Mentally slapping himself, he pushed away, and tried to explain. How incredibly happy he was right now, but that at the same he felt stupid because he hadn't risked this any sooner. Because now he'd be leaving on an S-rank mission! And the war! Who knew how much time they'd have together before that started!?

But even in half-panic mode, he noticed Kakashi's grin and managed to calm himself down enough to catch his next words.

"Maa, Naruto. It'll be just fine. I don't want to brag―" Naruto snorted, but put his arms around Kakashi again and tried to relax. "―but I like to think of myself as somewhat strong and I know you're pretty powerful yourself. So we won't have any trouble coming through this war in one piece―well, at the very least we'll be alive."

"You know, I couldn't stand it if I lost you now. I finally know that you love me, too," Naruto mumbled. Then a moment of silence before he remembered his brilliant plan hadn't gone exactly the way he'd expected it to. "I was planning to confess today, too. You beat me to it."

"Actually I'd decided not to say anything, but after you hugged me, I found I didn't care whether you rejected me or not. I simply had to tell you,' Kakashi said with a laugh.

"Bet you're glad you did, huh?" Naruto grinned.

A squeeze. "Of course."

They just stood there for a few minutes, enjoying each other's company. Until Kakashi-sensei managed to spoil the moment by reminding him where they were. Naruto shuddered. It would be pretty bad if baa-chan or Iruka-sensei found out about the two of them like this. They would have to be told very, very carefully.

Naruto thought for a moment, then decided he'd leave everything to Kakashi-sensei. Knowing himself, he'd only make things worse. Another grin. It was kind of funny to imagine Kakashi-sensei being chased by the Hokage and Iruka-sensei. It would definitely make up for all the times he'd left Team 7 waiting for hours and hours.

"Ne, Naruto, how about we relocate? I don't think you've ever seen my apartment."

Before he could say anything else, they were standing in a kitchen. After Naruto got over the fact that he'd just teleported—the sensation was rather like being sucked through a straw and definitely very unpleasant—he focused his attention on his surroundings.

He slowly walked around, which was really quite admirable of him since he wanted to do nothing more than to run around the flat and look through all of Kakashi-sensei's stuff. Something told him that the jonin might not exactly like that.

There wasn't much in the way of decoration, except for a few things here and there—a photograph, some books, an old ANBU-mask—just enough to remind him of the owner of this place. He told Kakashi-sensei as much and the other man walked towards him and wrapped his arms around him.

Suddenly he felt a finger tip his chin up and then the feeling of cloth pressed to his lips. It took him about two seconds to figure out that Kakashi-sensei was kissing him. As if that wasn't shocking enough, in the next few seconds the cloth was replaced with two decidedly warm lips.

Kakashi-sensei had taken off his mask!

But that astonishing realisation was pushed to the back of his mind by the other realisation that Kakashi-sensei was, in fact, kissing him and that he liked that very, very much. In order to get closer to the older man, Naruto wrapped his arms around his waist and pressed closer.

When Kakashi pulled away, he only resisted for a moment then leaned back a little so he could look at his teacher's face—that was undeniably handsome. But as he did that, he was also aware of the other's insecurity. So he did the only thing he could think of. He smiled and kissed Kakashi again. It was kind of annoying that he had to stand on his toes to be able to reach him, though. He wasn't that small.

Quite sincerely he said, "Thank you." After all it wasn't every day somebody got to see Kakashi's face. Though Naruto hoped that he'd be allowed to do so for a long time to come. Then he decided to lighten the moment. Patting Kakashi-sensei's shoulder—he couldn't quite reach his head—he said "You're pretty handsome, you know. I'm not surprised you decided to wear a mask. Bet you had to beat off the girls with a stick when you were young. Must have been tough on you."

"But of course. I still have to. There are a lot of beautiful women in Konoha. You better hope none of them seduce me away from you."

Even though he wasn't really hurt by what Kakashi said—the man obviously didn't mean it—for a moment insecurity burst through him. But at the same time he reminded himself that he did in fact have friends, and a village that thought he was a hero and now he'd even found someone who loved him. So he pushed the insecurity away. It would surely rear its head from time to time, but he would face it head on. He had enough people that cared about him to be able to do so.

"Naruto. I'm sorry. I didn't mean it like that," Kakashi said, embracing him more strongly. "You have no idea how long I've wanted you. Do you really think I could or would ever give you up? I love you and I know now that you love me, too. If you even knew half of how happy that makes me… I love you, Uzumaki Naruto, son of Namikaze Minato and Uzumaki Kushina, godson of Jiraiya, favourite of the current Hokage, and future Hokage. Only you."

Naruto smiled, and leaned his head against the jonin's chest, his own arms tightening around the other man.

After a minute or so of companionable silence, Kakashi spoke lightly, "It's a damn shame you need to leave tomorrow. I really should have gathered my courage earlier."

Naruto laughed. "You know, it actually makes me feel a little better that you weren't able to confess easily, either. It's pretty hard to guess what you're thinking through that mask. Sometimes it seemed like you were so far away, even when you were standing right next to me. I cover it up by acting the way I do, but on the inside… Let's just say I'm not always naturally bouncy." He paused. "So it's kind of a relief that you're not all-confident. It makes me feel closer to you."

"Guess we both misinterpreted each other. You would think I'd be better at sensing emotions after all my years as an ANBU. Hell, it was pretty much part of the job to know what others were thinking. But when it comes to you, Naruto, I can't think straight. You don't know what you do to me."

Then Kakashi kissed him again. When he got used to the feeling, Kakashi deepened the kiss and he groaned. He almost moaned in protest when Kakashi pulled away, but before he could react, Kakashi had scooped him up and carried him into his bedroom. The only thing he noticed before Kakashi dropped him unceremoniously on his bed were two framed pictures—one of Team 7 and the other of Kakashi-sensei in his own team.

Kakashi leaned over him and gently started kissing him again. Naruto could sense that Kakashi was trying to hold back, to give him time to adapt and decide for himself what he wanted. He would have none of that. So he leaned up and pressed his lips to Kakashi's more forcefully. After that, Kakashi didn't need any more convincing.

Since Naruto had been completely new to the experience, he hadn't known what to expect. But he could safely say that it exceeded any expectations he might have had. Of course, there was some pain. Still, that was nothing compared to how good he felt. He also discovered that he had underestimated Kakashi's stamina quite a bit and between having sex and talking about everything and nothing, they only fell asleep just before dawn. Of course, Kakashi had to make several trips to the kitchen so Naruto didn't starve of hunger.

When he woke up early the next morning—because of his rumbling stomach—he was given a little more time to examine Kakashi's face. Judging by Ayame's reaction that one day, he probably hadn't really been exaggerating when he'd said that Kakashi might have to beat women away with a stick if they ever saw his face.

After another few minutes, Kakashi opened his eyes, smiled and kissed him.

"Good morning."

"Morning," he said, a little embarrassed.

At that moment, his stomach rumbled again and Kakashi laughed before rolling out of bed and putting on some pants. Naruto almost pouted at Kakashi covering himself up. Then he did groan. He was becoming as bad as Ero-sennin.

When the jonin looked at him inquiringly, he just blamed it on being hungry. Kakashi seemed to accept that without question and headed to the kitchen. A few minutes later he came back with a cup of instant ramen in one hand and a cup of coffee in the other.

"I saved the best for last."

Naruto raised his eyebrows. "Didn't think you'd have that."

"Please. I don't only eat healthy food, you know." At Naruto's disbelieving look, he added, "Just most of the time."

He handed Naruto his ramen and climbed back into bed with him. The rest of the morning was spent alternating between companionable silence, some more talking and a continuation of yesterday's activities.

When there were only three hours left before noon, Naruto knew he should start getting ready for his super awesome S-rank mission. He smiled to himself. He loved calling it that. Still, he couldn't quite make himself leave the bed. Not that part of him didn't want to. The excitement he felt at the mission was getting harder and harder to contain. He knew he could have hopped up and down all through the apartment with excitement and that Kakashi wouldn't have minded. That much. Instead, he lay down more comfortably next to Kakashi, threw one arm around his waist and closed his eyes again.

He wanted to enjoy this peace for just a little longer.

Hope you enjoyed this. Reviews are always welcome. :)