Author's Note: Wow, sorry this is a bit late. I was having some troubles uploading it yesterday. :(
But, this is the longest chapter yet, so hopefully that makes up for it! I've noticed that I have been writing longer chapters lately. I'm not really even making a conscious effort to do it or anything, it just kind of happens! :) Hopefully it becomes a regular habit, so I can give you guys more to look forward to with each chapter!
Thanks to invisible-gurl, Echo Uchiha, MikaUchiha666, A.W.P., ObeseOrange, NyxNightmare, and xYuzuki17x for the amazing reviews! You guys never fail to make me smile. :)
Anyway, enough with this A/N, enjoy chapter twenty-four, lovelies!
As always, reviews would be greatly appreciated! :D

Twenty-Four: No Turning Back

The sun was high in the bright blue sky, beating down on my slightly burnt skin even in my hiding spot in the shade. Sweat trickled from my brow, leaving its salty trail down my cheeks and then dripping off of my chin. There was no breeze to provide relief from the heat, only the occasional moment when the sun took refuge behind a cloud, which was a lot less often than I would have liked.

I peered out from the bush that I had retreated behind, careful not to make any noise. Where are they? I thought to myself, squinting my eyes against the bright sunlight. The field was empty, not a soul in sight. Only a sea of freshly cut green grass and a forest of trees surrounding it. My ears perked up when I had finally heard a sound permeating the silence, but I groaned in a mixture of disappointment and frustration when I recognized it to be the loud buzzing of cicadas in the distance. I had to fight the urge to tap my feet restlessly against the ground as impatience quickly settled in. Waiting. That was always the worst part.

Lifting the collar of my shirt to my face, I began wiping the sweat from my skin. The heather grey fabric became almost black by the time I had returned it to its original position, but my neck and chest were already so sweaty that I couldn't even feel a difference. Are they trying to sweat me out? I wondered.

Suddenly, a slight rustle in the leaves sounded.

I narrowed my eyes. Still no breeze…

Searching for the source of the sound, I whirled myself around and searched the vicinity. I lifted my eyes to the treetops. There!

Finally, I was face-to-face with my opponent.

I blocked the punch that came straight for my face, and I directed the momentum to my right, sending the attacker colliding into the ground. He was well-trained, however, and was able to quickly maneuver a front-handspring out of the throw. He leapt back toward me to send a powerful kick to the backs of my knees, but I skillfully jumped upward to grasp a tree branch directly above me. I flipped myself around to balance on the thin branch, and I gazed back at my opponent. His blonde bangs matted against his face, which was drenched in sweat. He held his bandaged arms up in front of his face, clenching his hands into tight fists and peering between them with determined eyes.

A split second later, I managed to pick up the very slight sound of air being sliced by, what I guessed to be, projectile weaponry. My eyes darted to the right to find two kunai speeding toward me. I managed to leap to a nearby branch in just the knick of time, leaving the knives to plunge deep into the bark of the tree's trunk. I inhaled a deep breath and then released a heavy sigh of relief. That was a close one…

Wait a minute, I suddenly thought to myself, did I smell something… burning?

I twirled myself around, sending extra chakra to my feet for balance. Stuck to the trunk of this tree was a paper bomb, and it was about ready to ignite. A jolt of surprise shot through my chest as I immediately vacated the scene, dropping to the ground just in time to avoid a massive explosion. The top half of the tree was sent crashing to the ground beside me, sending a large cloud of dust upward to obscure my vision. Damnit… now I can't see a thing…

Forming a series of hand seals, I concentrated my chakra into my hands and feet. I began spinning rapidly in tight circles as I stretched my hands out to my sides. "Wind Style: Dust Devil Jutsu!" I called out. I sent small bursts of wind chakra out of my hands as I twirled around, instantly clearing the air around me of any unwanted particles. When I stopped spinning, I was finally able to see again, but what I saw caused my eyes to widen and whatever relief that I had felt to immediately escape me.

Oh shit.

Charging towards me was not just one of my opponents, not even just two of my opponents, but three. Three sets of narrowed eyes, glaring at me with fierce determination; three sets of clenched fists, ready to attack once they were within range; and three sets of sharpened minds, willing and able to counter any challenge that I could have possibly thrown back at them. Deciding that I might as well humor them with a fight, I provoked them with a smirk as I dropped into a sturdy fighting stance. It was three against one. I liked those odds.

The blonde, being rather impulsive, lunged forward for the first attack, which I sidestepped with ease. The middle opponent, the brown-haired girl, jumped into the air, aiming a flying side kick toward my face. I figured I would duck and avoid it (it seemed like a simple solution), however, when my eyes flashed downward, I noticed that my third opponent, this one with white hair, had kneeled downward to sweep my ankles, his attack in perfect sync with that of his teammate's. I admitted to myself that this combined effort was rather intelligent, but it wasn't enough to outsmart me. I jumped to avoid the sweep, but I managed to twist my body so that I was oriented horizontally, rather than vertically. The inversion was enough to avoid both attacks, and as I came out of my spin, I had enough momentum to throw two kicks toward both of my opponents.

I landed on the ground with ease, chuckling as the two shinobi tumbled down to earth. Suddenly, however, a puff of white smoke appeared around them, and when it cleared, it revealed two small stumps that immediately fell to the ground. A substitution!

My attention was soon averted to the treetops as I, once again, heard the faint sound of rustling leaves when there was no gust of wind to accompany it. All three opponents now lunged toward me from above, each attacking from different angles. I quickly caught the brown-haired girl reaching into the weapons holster attached to her right leg, so I was able to anticipate the attack and leap backwards as soon as she sent the array of shuriken flying towards me. The blades stuck into the lush earth, slicing the grass with ease. I performed a couple of back handsprings to create even more distance, but I was soon caught off guard by a pair of hands grasping the fabric of my Jonin vest from behind me. Confused, I peered over my left shoulder to catch a glimpse of spiky white hair before I was shoved to the ground. The one in the air must have been just a clone…

I smirked. Smart boy.

By the time my back and the grass had collided, I noticed that all three of my opponents now hovered above me. The white haired boy kept a strong grip on me, preventing my escape. The girl kneeled beside me, placing a kunai against my throat, just barely allowing the sharp metal blade to graze my skin. My third opponent, the blonde, being somewhat cocky, rested his right foot on top of my stomach and crossed his arms over his chest in a triumphant pose. He looked downward and flashed me a smug grin. "Looks like we finally beat you, Kaeda Sensei!"

Smirking back at him, I concentrated my chakra as I formed a hand seal without drawing any attention towards my actions. When my jutsu was ready, I vanished into a puff of white smoke, immediately earning a chorus of dejected groans from the shinobi as I teleported out of their grasp.

I reappeared approximately ten feet away. "Damnit!" Nikko, the ever-impulsive blonde grumbled as he stomped his foot hard against the earth.

"That's enough training for today, everyone," I sighed, wiping even more sweat from my brow, "Grab some water from the cooler and let's take a rest in the shade."

My students, tired from an intense training session, did as they were told, and we immediately took refuge beneath a large tree that shielded us from the sun. They gulped down their entire water bottles in a matter of seconds, but I couldn't blame them. It was unbearably hot out, and they had worked extremely hard despite the heat.

"You showed excellent teamwork and strategic skills out there today," I told them, resting my back against the tree trunk, "You attacked intelligently, rather than simply relying on brute strength. That will serve you well during the Chunin Exams."

I had made the decision to nominate the members of Squad Thirteen for the Chunin Exams after their incredible performance during the rescue mission, which was now around two weeks into the past. I expected my students, being straight out of the Academy and not having much world experience, to be somewhat nervous and unsure when I had broken the news to them. They surprised me, however, by responding to the news with ecstatic cries of joy and never-ending thank-you's and promises that they would pass with flying colors. I was glad that they were excited, because I truly believed that they would make incredible Chunin. Plus, their eagerness made training them a lot easier. Even Nikko, who was typically over-confident and unwilling to listen to any sort of constructive criticism, looked forward to my training regimens and welcomed any sort of help that I could offer. He had grown the most dramatically out of the three.

"I do have a few pointers for you, though," I continued.

Their eyes, drooping with exhaustion, alerted toward me, eager to hear what I had to say.

"First," I said, holding up my right index finger, "You need to work on moving more quietly. I was able to find out where you were coming from just by listening to your movements. Increase your stealth and you'll increase your chances of landing a successful attack on your opponent."

Their heads nodded in approval, and I could see that they each made a mental note to be more aware the next time.

"Second," I held both my index and middle fingers upward this time, "Don't ever hold back on your final attacks. You got me pinned down, but you hesitated in actually finishing the fight. Because of that, I was able to get away."

"We won't hold back during the Chunin Exams," Nikko proclaimed, "That's for sure!"

Hana and Nikko nodded in agreement, determined looks in their bright eyes.

I smiled at my students, proud that they were taking their training so seriously. "Let's call it a day," I decided, lifting myself to my feet and immediately stretching my arms over my head, "Think about what I've told you. We'll meet here again tomorrow at seven o'clock in the morning."

My students bowed respectfully to me before turning to hurry home. I watched them as they ran. They had grown so much in these last couple of weeks. Not only were they physically stronger from the intense daily training regimens, but they also showed more mental and emotional maturity as well. They were a good team before, sure, but they were so in sync with each other now that they were able to quickly establish strategies to compliment every one of their unique talents. They were now an amazing team of well-rounded shinobi, and I was certain that they would each achieve the rank of Chunin.

When they had sprinted out of sight, I sighed and kneeled down to lift the cooler, which was now, thankfully, a lot lighter than in was this morning when it was stocked with water bottles and snacks, onto my shoulder. I began heading for home, satisfied with the day's training.

For the past two weeks, I had managed to avoid Kakashi enough to prevent the possibility of any sort of awkward conversation topic involving past events to arise. Although I realized that simply ignoring my best friend probably wasn't the most effective way of dealing with the situation, I just couldn't bring myself to confront the elephant in the room. I wanted to talk to him, and I really just wanted to pretend like nothing had ever happened, but whenever I was around him, that was nearly impossible. Whenever I saw that messy silver hair of his, I all I could think of was how flawlessly it fell over his face, his fascinating eyes gazing back at me from beneath his bangs. Whenever I saw that mask covering his face, I remembered how easy it was to slip it downward, exposing his soft pale skin and perfect lips. And when I imagined those lips of his, I found myself longing, once again, to feel them pressed against my own, to feel the shock waves of both nervousness and pleasure to shoot throughout my entire body.

I shook my head vigorously, ridding those thoughts from my mind. Why do I keep thinking about it? And… why do I want to kiss him so badly?

Ugh, why did I have to fall in love with him?

Sighing, I kicked a pebble on the ground as I passed through Konoha's gates. I shifted my eyes to the left and right, making sure that Kakashi wasn't anywhere in sight. He wasn't, sending a wave of relief over my entire body that nearly caused me to drop the cooler that I was carrying. Continuing down the road, I hastened my pace, wanting to reach the safety of my home as soon as I possibly could without drawing unwanted attention to myself.

I turned down a side street to avoid passing the bookstore, for I knew that I would only end up thinking about how adorable Kakashi looked with his nose buried in the pages of his Icha Icha novels. I couldn't risk remembering how his normally drooping right eye fixated intently on the contents of the pages, moving furiously from right to left as he took in every printed word. And I most certainly didn't want to recall the slight twitch of his nose when he was too engrossed in the story to flip the hair that tickled him out of his face.

"Shit," I cursed under my breath, realizing that I had done it once again, "What the hellis wrong with me?"

Turning onto another road, I breathed a sigh of relief when my apartment was finally within eyesight. I weaved through the throng of civilians, trying not to bump into any of them but not actually caring when I did. I just wanted to reach my home before he could spot me. When I had finally arrived, I kicked the front door open victoriously and tossed the cooler to the floor, ignoring the loud crash that it produced when colliding with the hardwood. I had done it. I had successfully avoided awkwardness once again! Pushing the door shut behind me, I stepped out of my shoes and skipped up the steps toward my bedroom. I badly needed a shower and a change of clothes.

Opening the door to my room, however, revealed an all-too-familiar face that I was not yet prepared to meet.

Kakashi.

My jaw dropped as I scrambled to come up with something to say to him. All I managed to think of was, "Hey."

"Hello, Kaeda."

His use of my full name made me cringe. Is he mad at me?

"W-What are you doing here?" I timidly asked, scratching the back of my neck nervously as I avoided eye contact with him.

"What's wrong?" He immediately asked, ignoring my inquiry.

My heart began pounding painfully within my chest. "What do you mean?" I pretended not to know what he meant, although I was almost certain that he could see right through my terrible act.

"You've been avoiding me," he said, "and I want to know why."

"I haven't been avoiding you."

"Yes, you have."

"No, I haven't."

"Kae, I'm not stupid."

"I didn't say you were."

Kakashi sighed, obviously annoyed by my responses. He surprised me by grasping my wrist and pulling me along with him as he approached my bed to take a seat. He forced me to occupy the spot beside him, and he even brought his hand to my chin, pulling my gaze to meet his. I could feel my cheeks beginning to burn. He was so close to me. Why did he have to be so close to me? And, damnit, why did his closeness have to make me so nervous?

"What's going on with you?" he asked in a softer voice this time, as if concerned for me rather than angry at me. His visible black eye stared back at me closely, begging me to provide him with a concrete answer this time. "Did I do something wrong?"

I sighed. "No, of course not," I responded in a voice just barely above a whisper.

"Then why haven't you said more than two words to me since the rescue mission?"

A pang of guilt attacked my already aching heart. I was so selfish. I was so concerned with avoiding the embarrassment of confrontation that didn't even think about how it could have affected Kakashi. I could tell that my actions had hurt him, and I hated myself for it. Its just that talking about my feelings had never been something that I particularly enjoyed, especially regarding the subject of love, something that I was completely oblivious about. I didn't even know how to begin talking about it without sounding completely ridiculous. Besides, even if I somehow managed to confess that I had fallen in love with Kakashi, there was always the chance that he didn't feel the same way, and I didn't want to risk the heartbreak that I knew would follow the realization of unreturned love. Most of all, I didn't want to risk ruining our friendship, for without Kakashi, I would be nothing. There was a lot more riding on the confession than I was prepared to handle. I figured that avoiding him would just make it all easier.

But when I really started to think about it, avoiding Kakashi wasn't actually solving any sort of problem at all. In fact, it was completely counterproductive. I was scared of losing Kakashi's friendship, but I wasn't being a friend to him at all within these past two weeks, and, in turn, I wasn't receiving any sort of friendship back from him. I had never thought about it before, and now, after realizing how foolish I was to think that I was doing the right thing, I felt both stupid and selfish.

"Kae?" Kakashi urged me once again to answer him, wrenching me from my thoughts.

I fidgeted with my fingers in my lap, trying desperately to think of the words to say. I decided that simply speaking honestly would be my best option, although I wasn't sure what exactly was going to end up coming out of my mouth. Inhaling deeply, I prepared myself for the worst. There was no turning back now. "I… I guess I was just scared."

"Scared?" Kakashi repeated, confused, "Why would you be scared to talk to me?"

"I thought it was going to be awkward… talking to you after," I couldn't bring myself to say it, so I simply shrugged and grumbled, "Well, you know."

"After what?" Kakashi asked, but he quickly came to a realization, "Oh… right."

My cheeks were getting hot, so I turned my face to hide my blush. This was what I was dreading. The awkward silence. I chewed nervously on my lip as my knees began to bounce. I tried telling myself that it was all going to be ok, that Kakashi was going to confess his love for me and I wouldn't have to worry about unreturned feelings any longer; however, I truly wasn't sure what the outcome was going to be, and that frightened me. I didn't want to lose Kakashi. I wished I never kissed him in the first place. We wouldn't have even been in this mess if I hadn't kissed him.

"I'm sorry," I finally whispered.

"For what?" Kakashi inquired.

I attempted to swallow the lump in my throat, but to no avail. Why did he have to ask so many questions? Why didn't he just know, so I wouldn't have to try to explain? My heart pounded so loudly that I wondered if Kakashi could hear it as clearly as I could. My palms were sweaty, my cheeks were burning bright red, and my breathing consisted of short, ragged breaths. In short, I was terrified for what I was about to say, but I forced the words out anyway. "I… shouldn't have kissed you."

There was a long pause. I wanted to look over at Kakashi, to see the expression on his face and determine his reaction, but I just couldn't bring myself to do it. As curious as I was, the fear was too overpowering, leaving me frozen in place with my gaze fixed on my lap. I wondered if I had made a mistake, and I quickly found myself regretting my words.

Finally, Kakashi's voice, still soft and caring, broke the silence. "Why do you say that?"

"You're my best friend," I replied, "and… the kiss probably ruined that…"

Kakashi's hand found my chin once again as he forced my eyes to find his. "Is that really what this is about?" he asked seriously, "You think that the kiss ruined our friendship?"

"I don't know," I shrugged, "I just… I didn't know how you felt about it, and I guess I was preparing myself for the worst…"

"Kae," he whispered, placing his hand on my shoulder, "I'm going to ask you a question, and I want you to answer me honestly."

Again, with the questions. Why did he have to make this so difficult? Nerves jolted throughout my entire body, but I reluctantly agreed.

"How do you feel about me?"

His question hit me like a ton of bricks, knocking the wind right out of me. How was I possibly going to answer that? Should I tell him the truth and risk rejection, or should I lie and risk disappointing him if he did actually share the same feelings for me that I had for him? It seemed like an impossible decision to make.

"Please, Kae," Kakashi pleaded, "please, just answer me."

Biting my lip and closing my eyes, I decided to just let my heart take over, trusting that the right words would find their way out into the world eventually. I threw all caution to the wind for a moment, and simply spoke. It was something that I hated doing, but it was the only thing that I could have done to provide the best answer without my emotions getting in the way. With a deep breath, I finally began, "No matter how much I fight with myself, I can't stop thinking about you," I cringed at the realization of what I had just said, but I kept going anyway, "Everything reminds me of you in some way or another. I get nervous when I'm around you, and I find myself analyzing every little thing that you do or say to me, as if it were some elaborate code to be cracked. It's been driving me insane for the past couple of weeks. I keep telling myself that I have no reason to act this way, but no matter what I do, you're always there. I'm terrified of it, but I can't fight it anymore because I'm in love with you, Kakashi."

Before I had even realized what I had said, it was already too late. It was out there.

As if on cue, my cheeks burned red, and I immediately hid my face in my hands. Shit, shit, shit, I thought frantically, Why did I just say that?

"Did you just say that you're in love with me?" Kakashi questioned, a hint of surprise in his voice.

I was humiliated, no, I was horrified. I simply nodded in response to his question, unable to force even the tiniest squeak of an answer past the giant lump in my throat. Bracing myself for what was to come, I tightly closed my eyes and waited.

A few seconds had passed when I felt my hands being pulled away from my face. I peeked my eyes open to see Kakashi's fingers intertwining with my own, and, confused, I glanced toward him to see a smile in his visible black eye. Before I could even comprehend what was happening, Kakashi's right hand found its way upward to tuck a strand of stray hair behind my ear before softly caressing my face. My heart was pounding. I still had no idea what was happening.

His left hand released its hold on mine in order to reach for the fabric of his mask. He slowly pulled the black fabric downward, exposing his smooth pale skin and his smiling lips. I was still frozen, my heart about ready to burst from my chest. When his mask had been completely removed, he used his right hand, which still cupped my face, to guide me closer and closer to him. Time was passing so slowly. Each second seemed like a minute. Although my mind was still reduced to mush, something deep within me realized what was about to happen, and I felt excitement and anxiety flow through my body like an electric current. As the gap between us gradually began to close, I let my eyelids fall close as well. My hands gripped the bed sheets as I braced myself for the sensation that I for so long denied desiring to feel once again.

But I didn't deny it this time.

Suddenly, our lips met, and like a power surge, the pleasure intensified tenfold as every nerve in my body activated in response to the connection. I couldn't stop my hands from immediately tangling in his hair and gently pulling him closer to me. For so long, I had told myself that this was wrong, that nothing good could come out of kissing my best friend, but in this moment, it felt so right. I didn't care that I had spent the last two weeks trying to convince myself that my feelings for him were irrational. I threw all those thoughts aside in this one moment of pure bliss, and, for the first time in a long while, I felt truly at peace with myself.

Placing his hands against the small of my back, Kakashi gently lowered me back onto the bed, careful not to break the kiss. He then snaked his arms out from underneath me so he could rest his elbows on either side of my head for support. When he was satisfied with the new position, he deepened the kiss by running his tongue along my bottom lip. I immediately obliged and parted my lips, meeting his tongue in the middle. Slipping my hands underneath his Jonin vest, my fingers traced up and down his back, feeling his firm muscles underneath his shirt. When his tongue massaged against my own in just the right way, I subconsciously gripped the fabric of his shirt as shock waves of pleasure coursed through my veins. Everything that he was doing felt so incredibly amazing. I only hoped that I was making him feel half as good as he was making me feel.

Kakashi broke the kiss to place light kisses up my jaw line until he reached my earlobe. He gently grazed his teeth against the skin, causing my grip on his shirt to tighten as I inhaled sharply. He moved downward to continue placing kisses on my neck, but this time they were harder, more fervent. His tongue circled the sensitive area. I had to bite my lip to keep myself from sighing in pleasure. My hands found their way back into his messy hair, but before they tangled in his silver locks, I untied his headband and threw it to the ground. Sighing as if to say, "Thank you," Kakashi continued caressing my neck with his lips, and I eagerly pulled him as close to me as possible, craving him.

When he finally pulled his lips away from my neck, I accidentally let out a tiny groan. My eyes shot open once I had realized what I had done, and I immediately noticed the smirk plastered on Kakashi's face. I blushed, but before I could say anything to him, Kakashi captured my lips in another electrifying kiss that left me breathless. Unable to focus on anything other than the current sensations that were driving my body completely crazy, I forgot about my slip up and let my eyes close once again. Our lips parted simultaneously, our tongues immediately resuming the battle that had been previously interrupted. As time passed, I found it increasingly difficult to contain myself. I let out a tiny moan when Kakashi's hand pressed against the back of my neck and pulled me into him, and I could immediately feel the smile on his lips as he continued kissing me. I was feeling too overwhelmed by pleasure to even worry about it, though. All I could focus on was how incredible Kakashi's body felt pressed against me, and how perfectly his lips fit against mine.

Finally, after becoming so engrossed in each other that we had nearly forgotten to breathe, Kakashi slowly pulled away from me. Although I was gasping for air and on the verge of passing out, I quickly decided that breathing wasn't worth having to stop kissing him. I let my eyelids open, and I couldn't help but allow my lips to stretch into a goofy, lopsided grin when I saw him. I must have looked like an idiot, but I just couldn't fight it. Kakashi rolled off of me until he was lying beside me. His hands quickly found mine, and our fingers instantly intertwined. Gazing back at me with mismatched eyes, he pressed a gentle kiss on my cheek before resting his forehead against mine.

"Kae," Kakashi finally whispered after his breathing had slowed.

"Hmm?" I simply replied, in such a state of bliss that forming actual words proved to be quite the challenge.

"I've been wanting to do that since we were teenagers."

His words shocked me. My eyes widened and my jaw dropped, breath catching in my throat. What did he just say?

"I'll never forget the moment I realized it," he continued, stroking the backs of my hands with the pads of his thumbs, "I had just returned from my first Jonin mission. I had been gone for over a month, and the situations that I had to face on the road had toughened me to the core. But when I finally saw you after all that time… It was so hard to be strong. I was so happy; I had missed you so much. I could barely keep myself from crying when we hugged. I realized in that moment that the hardest part about the mission was being away from you for so long. I've been in love with you since that day, Kae."

"Really?" was all I managed to say.

Kakashi smiled and pecked me on the lips. "Really."

I was so overwhelmed with happiness that I threw my arms around Kakashi's neck and pulled him in for a close embrace. His strong arms wrapped around my waist, holding me tightly and securely against his chest. I buried my face in his neck, kissing him softly yet eagerly while breathing in his familiar musky scent. I couldn't keep the smile from forming on my lips. After all this time spent obsessing over my own feelings, in the end, it turned out that Kakashi felt the same way. This talk turned out much differently than I had expected, but that was perfectly fine with me.

Kakashi pulled away to look into my eyes. "I love you, Kae," he said.

I placed a quick kiss to his lips. "I love you too, Kakashi."

And for the first time, I felt completely happy admitting it.

Author's Note (Again): Yay for KakashixKaeda fluff! It's about time, right? Jeez, even I was getting impatient, and I'm the writer! XD
I hope the fluff lived up to expectations. But never fear, there's much more to come with the next (and final) chapter!
Review and let me know how I did? That would be fantastic of you. :)