I do not own Naruto.

I will try to fix my transgressions in this chapter (ie make it a bit longer, improve my grammer, and have less oocness). Also sorry, ended up not having much S and T in this one…be patient with me, I have to set it up right.

XXX SHIKAMARUXX

"Have I ever told you about my intervillage shinobi relations?" He asked with a smirk.

Well, I have to admit I had my suspicions. While Asuma was alive, I'd occasionally catch him in conversation with Kakashi. They spoke in code but it was obvious most of the time they were talking about women, man it was completely tiresome. Although honestly I have to admit I was always curious about "Lucious" since that name inevitably resulted in furious blushing and strange giggling from the duo. Interestingly, these conversations usually ended with Asuma saying something like "well, I guess leaves just can't compare to clouds" to which Kakashi responded by gazing off into the distance. The remembrance of those comments are what ultimately got me off my back and into this room today.

XXXKAKASHIXXX

I thought I'd get more of a rise out of that statement, but he didn't really respond at all, just looked bored like he usually does. Man he's no fun. I waited before going on, trying to gauge whether or not the boy would stay awake to listen. After a minute or so, he cocked his head towards me and I took this as an invitation to continue.

"During my time in ANBU, Konoha's relationship with the other hidden villages was … strained. When visiting other villages we were often treated poorly if not outright maliciously and because of that we were told to minimize unnecessary interactions with other villages and villagers. Back then our treatment in Cloud was the worst, since we had recently miserably beaten them when they broke the peace treaty. In fact it was not uncommon for ninja to disappear without a trace when near the Cloud."

A flash of anger entered his eyes at that last statement. "We didn't have evidence to charge them for the abductions or other misdoings, and we were trying to maintain peace, so there were some things we ignored. It was a very politically charged time." I commented.

"Anyway, the third had sent me on a solo mission to capture or kill a missing nin who was selling information about our village. Tracking him brought me dangerously close to the Cloud and in my haste to neutralize him while before reaching that border, I used up more chakra than intended. After watching my target fall, I knew I was in trouble when the trees started spinning?"

Was he rolling his eyes at me? That brat… he's got ever lower chakra reserve than I do.

XXXSHIKAMARUXXX

Kakashi suddenly stopped and looked up… what's with that irritated expression.

"Do you need a break or something, are you too tired?" I replied.

"Hmmph….I do NOT need a break." He quipped glaring at me before continuing his story. "Anyway, where was I? When I finally came to, I found myself in a damp, windowless room that smelt of old blood, iodine, and bleach. I took in my surroundings, contemplating ways to escape this prison. Suddenly two burly men in white came barging in, I steeled myself for what I thought would be a major beating when suddenly they stopped and I noticed they were dragging a large metal plate on wheels behind them.

'Why are we even bothering?' asked the one with the crooked nose. 'Orders, orders…do you want to tell her you refuse?' replied the other. 'Alright, ready, one, two.' They chimed in unison.

I was abruptly hoisted into the air and dropped onto that cold metal plate. They ushered me through an empty gray hallway. I recall the ceiling was flanked with blinking fluorescent lighting … and then we entered an elevator.

When the elevator opened, I appeared to be in an entirely different place. The hallway here was a calming baby blue, and I immediately heard laughter and the chatter of a group of women. 'Where does this one go? the crooked nose asked. 'The new patient? Place him in 307' a feminine voice icily replied. "

"You were in a hospital then huh?" I commented.

XXXKAKASHIXXX

"It doesn't take a genius to figure that out…please stop interrupting me" I flatly said.

"…Sorry. Please go on." He said with that usual bored look.

"They placed me in a private room, it was small, but clean and had a large window through which I could see the tip of the kumokage's tower.

'I'm sorry about the mix-up, they placed you in the basement without telling me. I only found out you were there during this mornings medical rounds.'

I slowly turned towards the sound of that voice and found its source to be a petite kunoichi, that I gauged to be about 18 years old, wearing a white coat two sizes too big for her. Besides her size, there really wasn't anything very noticeable about her.

'They reflexively put enemy ninja in that room, but Cloud and Konoha are no longer at war so there is no reason for you to be there. Please forgive our rudeness. ' She said with a bow.

I replied to that statement with a grunt and quickly turned away. Good ninja/bad ninja was a commonly incorporated interrogation tactic and I assumed this one was the good ninja. I wasn't going to fall for it. Though it was smart of them to utilize such a weak looking ninja for that role. I heard her close the door and waited for the bad ninja.

Turns out they were all the bad ninja. Despite the move to a nice room, I was not humanely treated. Now, I wasn't straight out beaten, but the accidental expired anesthesia before a painful procedure, food with bite marks and who knows what else, dirty bedding and other similar events were their ways of telling me they didn't like, trust or care. Though in reality, I was expecting this. And yet…"

XXXSHIKAMARUXXX

He looked away for a second…I recognized that expression. It was the same far away expression he'd have when talking with Asuma.

Then he continued. "The good ninja continued to play her role very well. In truth the time I spent with her was more torturous than with any of the others. She was in fact a medical nin and I was one of her assigned patients. Thus she came frequently and employed tactics like leaving melon rolls by my bedside, and bringing new, warm blankets. She even performed tasks that weren't her responsibility like changing my bandages, and bathing me, all the while smiling at me...not that fake Sai type smile…but what seemed like a real warm and compassionate smile. I remember thinking that she was damn good at this role. That dismissive, cold front I had put up weakened in her presence. It was so frustrating to think that I could fall for such a unoriginal psychologic attack. I worked doubly hard to show her that her good ninja act wasn't working: I ignored, yelled, growled…I even spat at her once. …but all that didn't phase her and she didn't change how she treated me."

"You spat at her!" I yelled

"She was torturing me, that was my defiant act." He said so matter of factly. "Anyway, what did I say about interruptions? Right? So all the while I was slowly getting my energy back. One day she was bathing me like she always did … with such gentleness …she used to transfer some of her chakra into the sponge …I've never experienced quite a bath like that. It was like…"

He began to develop a weird look in his eyes talking about that sponge bath. "Kakashi, please it's troublesome to hear about the details of the bath." I exclaimed attempting to get him back on track.

XXXKAKASHIXXX

The boy was a bit flushed. Hmm, maybe his relationship with Temari isn't as innocent as I presumed, he's imagining things I didn't think he was familiar with yet.

I continued with "I was going to say, before you interrupted, that it was like jumping into a clear mountain stream after working in the fields after a hot sunny day. What's with that look, I did my share of D rank missions as a child Shikamaru, I know what working in a field is like. "

I was about to go on when I noticed he was snickering. I gave him an inquiring look and he responded with, "I'm sorry I just got this visual picture of you picking sweet potatoes at age three, weren't you a jonin by like age six."

I glared…"It was chunin at age six, jonin at age thirteen. Anyway, while she was finishing up the bath, I snapped, I couldn't take it anymore. I sat up and grabbed her wrist, knocking over the warm soapy water … I remember thinking that some must have splashed on my face because I could feel the warm liquid there.

' Are you in pain? I don't remember you having a wound there. Did someone here give you a new injury?' she quickly looked up with concerned eyes…. ' I'm sorry, I'll stop, so please … stop crying.' I remember being shocked by the revelation that I was crying? All I could muster in response was ' Why?'

Her expression instantly calmed. Wide eyed, I just stared at her in disbelief, and let her go. It was then that I noticed the red welt around her wrist, I hadn't realized that I had gripped her that hard. She quickly cleaned things up and headed out. Before quietly closing the door, she whispered 'Because you're human too, I value you.' "

XXXSHIKAMARUXXX

I tried to listen carefully, who knew this old guy was such a chatterbox, man this is the last time I'm coming to him for advice. I started tuning him out when he made that revelation. Tears? The great copy ninja in tears?

Because you're human…that sounded familiar. She said something similar to me the day of that fated failed mission didn't she.

I looked straight at him in sudden realization. "That's when you realized you loved her wasn't it."