Ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Tenzou and Kakashi did not have a chance to be together for a while after their heated confessions. Tenzou was instantly assigned another mission, this time with one other shinobi he did not know, and Kakashi was ordered to rest for a week before being reassigned. The mission Tenzou shared with the ANBU called Niina was the most war-like he'd been on yet. Konoha refused to be part of any missions that would directly injure the security and health of the general public of Stone (as wars tended to do) so they rejected any blockade missions, or anything to do with civilians. However, what was apparently fair game was jeopardizing military supplies. Tenzou and Niina's mission was to wipe out an entire, supposed to be secret, convoy of weapons. It seemed like a tall order for a mere two ANBU, but apparently Tenzou had been severely underestimating his own abilities, and the abilities of his new partner, in thinking so.

When they reached the very well disguised convoy, they found it to be teeming with Stone shinobi. Instead of using conspicuous carts and the like to carry their cargo, they merely used other ninja. There were maybe six Stone-nin equipped with large backpacks running in a straight line, with four others weaving in and out of formation, obviously the guards. Tenzou assumed some of the packs had to be fakes, and at least a couple, if not all, of the actual weapon bearers had to be hidden amongst the leaves. Stone-nin did not generally fare well in forests, which happened to be Tenzou's speciality.

"Niina, I can find the rest of the ninja, if they are indeed hiding. Do you think you can keep an eye on the convoy?"

A light, airy chuckle answered him. "Of course I can, Tenzou-san."

Slightly embarrassed, Tenzou merely nodded and signalled that he was leaving. He had been SORT OF debriefed as to what Niina's specialities were, but mostly, he was in the dark. He hoped he hadn't offended her; this was his first mission with someone other than his team mates, after all.

After a mere twenty minutes, Tenzou had full confirmation that he'd been right; there were three Stone-nin, artfully for people of the rocks, weaving in between the trees carrying packs of weapons. A couple of guards were also hidden amongst the leaves, barely disguising themselves as they tagged along. He took a moment to formulate a plan before sending a wood clone into a tree to inform his teammate.

"Niina" his clone whispered, its face morphing from the trunk she was perched on. "I'm going for our hidden targets, be prepared to wipe out the fake convoy if they discover my presence."

Despite his inner turmoil at assigning her such a large task, she merely nodded curtly and poised herself on the branch she was perched on, ready to strike. The urge to ask her if she could handle herself was barely thwarted, despite how desperately he wanted to know how she intended to take out such a large number of ninja on her lonesome. However, he figured if there was trouble, it wouldn't take him long to get back to her. He just needed them to be distracted and kept at bay while he dealt with the real issue of actual weapon bearers.

His clone forced itself back into the tree and to the originals side, giving him a thumbs up to initiate their plan. Tenzou wasted no time, and he and his clone melded into the trees to take their targets out by surprise.

To say that the mokuton user was shocked to see a 30 foot Niina barrelling through the trees, crushing all her enemies under her gigantic feet was a colossal (no pun intended) understatement. He had successfully taken out three of his targets before one of the guards had noticed they were missing and sounded the alarm. Despite disposing of the guard in a timely fashion, the original convoy was now alerted to his presence. He made it back to his monster sized teammate in time to help her dispose of their enemies, however, and with only three days taken up out of their allotted week, they headed back to the village with a mission success.

Not before he utterly humiliated himself, though.

When the fighting ended, Tenzou walked up to his new partner with obvious shock radiating from his body language. "Niina! How were you able to do that?"

Again, her light laughter accompanied his words. "I suppose no one told you my family name; Akimichi."

Tenzou blinked. Why did that sound familiar?

OH!

"Wow! I never would have guessed. You aren't fat at all!"

As soon as the words left his mouth, he wondered why anyone ever let him leave the base. His entire face inflamed so brightly he was sure it was visible through his mask.

"U-uh...I mean...no, I'm sorry, that's not what I meant...I meant that..."

His arms flailed to try and prove his point that he didn't even know what it was and ugh you know blah.

"I just meant usually, people of your clan...tend to be...you know...I mean...ugh."

To his utter astonishment, Niina merely laughed her light, twinkling laugh again. "People said you were awkward, and they sure weren't kidding."

Oh God.

UGGHHHHHHH.

"I...yah. Yah I am..." he sighed, so utterly embarrassed for himself that he could hardly stand up straight. Had he been coddled this entire time by his close friends? Had he actually learned NOTHING about interacting with other humans, and could only hold a decent conversation with his original team? Perhaps being separated from them was actually a good thing. He couldn't believe he'd just said that.

"Ha ha ha! Come on, Tenzou-san. Don't feel too bad. I get that ALL the time, trust me. And, to be fair, I really AM the only slender member of my clan at the moment. We get a lot of slack for our size, so at least your comment was in earnest."

Well. That...kind of made him feel better.

Not really, but he'd take it.

After apologizing another thirty times or so, the two shinobi headed back to the village in high spirits. Or, at least, Niina was in a good mood. Tenzou was still brooding over how much of an idiot he was.

Oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

After filling out their reports and saying their goodbyes, Tenzou left his temporary partner and returned to his room. Upon finding it cold and empty, he felt his heart drop when he realized Genma was definitely on a mission; the space had the feeling like it hadn't been occupied in a while.

Needing to be in the company of people who understood him, Tenzou tried the next room in the hopes that someone would be there.

To his delight, Gai was sitting on his cot, reading some kind of book on taijutsu. Upon Tenzou's arrival, Gai immediately perked up, tossed his book and attacked him with overzealous affection. Once Tenzou's breath had returned and his chest and decompressed, they sat down on Gai's bed together to talk about their time apart.

"So, another mission success, my friend?"

"Yes. Although, I want to give Niina the credit for that. She really took care of business."

"Ah! Yes, Niina. I do know of her. She is very well respected in ANBU."

UUGGHHHH. Great...

Wincing, afraid of what he would hear, Tenzou ventured to address his concerns with his friend. "Ah...Gai? Am I...well, am I weird?"

Gai looked at him like he'd sprouted a new head. "Of course you are weird, Tenzou. You are one of the weirdest people I have ever met. Were you not aware of that?"

...

...

Even Tenzou's subconsciousness could not think of any kind of response to that.

Gai seemed to notice him struggling. He laughed loudly and smashed Tenzou's back in his friendly, over the top, especially Gai way that sent Tenzou reeling forward and some of his breakfast coming up to meet his tonsils.

"HA HA HA! You make me laugh, my adorable friend. Do not look so put out; we are ALL weird. I, especially, am weird. BUT! It is the way of youth! Your youth is meant to be an awkward time, a time to discover yourself, make mistakes, and build a strong character!"

Well.

He supposed Gai was kind of right, in his own way.

"Okay. But am I...too weird?"

A confused blink was his response. "What do you mean, too weird?"

Ugh. "I mean, am I so weird that I'm hard to get along with?"

Now Gai looked really confused. "Whatever are you going on about, Tenzou? You have me, Genma and even Kakashi, despite his idiocies. If you have friends, how could you be too weird to get along with?"

Huh.

Gai did ramble on, but when he made a point, he really made a point.

"Well. I guess you're right." he murmured, truly thinking on it. "I just...I know it was only one small mistake, but Niina mentioned that she heard I was awkward before meeting me. I'm worried that I'm not going to be cut out for working with other ANBU. If people already think I'm abnormal, what are they going to think when more of them start working with me?"

Now, Gai smiled warmly at Tenzou. Leaning forward, he gently ruffled his fingers through Tenzou's hair, his eyes curving up with amusement. "Tenzou. You are only ever going to be 'awkward' if that is all you think about. Take it from a person who is constantly being called 'weird', 'abnormal', 'drop out', 'hopeless', and the like. If you are yourself, your true self, you will naturally be surrounded by people who respect and care about you for who you are. That is all that really matters."

Tenzou's smile brightened the entire room. Not only was Gai right, but his words came from his own personal experiences, and his own inner strengths. To think that Tenzou had just asked GAI, probably one of the (if not THE) weirdest people in the entire village if he was 'too weird'. It was absurd, and yet, Gai had helped him without pitying himself. Come to think of it, Gai never pitied anyone, especially himself. He held every single man and woman he came into contact with the same regard, as if they were all equals.

After shining his grateful smile on Gai for a few moments, Tenzou leaned over and rested his head and shoulders against his very good friend. He wanted to tell him that he accepted Gai for who he was, and wouldn't change a thing about him. But, he had a feeling Gai was wise enough to know that already. The way his friend hugged him back was a welcomed confirmation.

Oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Two days later, Tenzou was assigned another mission, just as Genma came back from his. The two had but a few hours to talk before Tenzou was required at the mission debriefing. To the mokuton users horror, Genma was actually in pretty rough shape. The missions were starting to get more intense, and his friend had actually been involved in one that required a head on battle side by side Sand-nin against the Stone. He had no serious injuries, but he would have been crushed by a particularly nasty Stone jutsu had his teammate not saved him.

"It was pretty shitty." Genma grumbled, cradling his broken arm. "I like to think I'm damn quick, but I don't really have a lot of experience going head to head against a ton of loose rock. I did a lot of deep woods work in the last war, so I managed to avoid the Stone altogether. Had a nasty run in with Mist, though..." his words trailed off and something in his eyes seemed to die as he reminisced about the Third Shinobi War. It not only made Tenzou sad, but put a slight pin prick of terror in his heart at what was to come.

Perhaps...Kakashi had not been totally wrong after all.

Damn him.

Oooooooooooooooooooooooo

Tenzou went on his mission just a day before Kakashi returned from his. The copy-nin was alright, but he was chakra exhausted again. It put him out of commission just long enough for Tenzou to come back from his mission, and for his and Tenzou's downtime to over lap by a day. It was all they really needed.

Tenzou was resting in his room, trying not to think about the specs of his last mission despite its success. He was starting to get tired of assassinating people, but unfortunately, his mokuton was widely known for its origins in Konoha. No one who saw it was allowed to live, so he had to come into contact with as few people as possible. When he heard the knock, the last person he expected to enter upon his greeting was Kakashi.

He almost leaped out of bed, but managed to control himself enough to play it cool. He couldn't stop the longing from streaking across his face, however.

"Kakashi..."

With a light smile, Kakashi turned and closed the door behind him. He slowly walked up to Tenzou's bed, sitting fluidly on the edge across from him.

"Good to see you, Tenzou. And in good shape, too."

"Ah..." he blushed, scratching his nose absently. "I have gotten very lucky, indeed."

"Yes...have you seen Genma?"

Tenzou frowned. "I visited him in the hospital as soon as I got back. He's fine, just getting the approval for his mission status. The only serious injury he had was his arm, and its fine now."

Kakashi nodded, his eyes going distant. Tenzou slid forward a bit on the bed so he could be closer to the other jounin. "How was your mission?"

"Maaaa...long." Kakashi sighed dramatically and rubbed at the back of his neck as he was akin to do when he was feeling sorry for himself. "I keep getting the lengthy missions because I'm "heartless" and can "handle it". Thanks, Hiruzen."

Tenzou was completely torn as to how to respond to Kakashi's statement. Not uncommonly, he had no idea if his captain was being serious or not. He didn't know if he was being baited to give Kakashi attention. The way their relationship was, he refused to fall for that kind of baiting.

"Well. I mean, he's not totally wrong..." Tenzou answered with obvious fake airiness. Regardless, Kakashi turned to him with a pouty, hurt expression.

"Oi..."

"You should get a new nick name, just for these missions: "Kakashi the Mountain". "Kakashi the Lone Army.""

Tenzou laughed as the older jounin pouted at him so glaringly that it was amazing he hadn't whimpered yet.

"I'm kidding, Kakashi. Of course you're not heartless. It's exists; it's just that getting inside requires an exclusive membership that most of the population will never attain."

A sly smirk greeted him. "Isn't that usually how hearts work?"

"Are you really trying to justify your social aloofness?" Tenzou deadpanned.

"Maaa...you can really justify anything if you're smart enough."

Tenzou breathed hard out of his nose and Kakashi just grinned at him wordlessly. It didn't seem like the copy-nin was in the mood to go any deeper into his withdrawn subconsciousness, so Tenzou changed the subject.

"The mission's haven't stopped coming. I just came back from one, and was informed when I handed in my report that I have two days to prepare for another solo run."

Far more interested in the new direction their conversation had taken, Kakashi made himself a bit more comfortable by sliding all the way back on the bed so his back pressed against the wall. Something in Tenzou's heart clenched at the familiarity of talking so easily with Kakashi, and it nearly made him sick with longing.

"What was your mission?"

"Take out a weapons convoy heading to Stone." he grinned wolfishly. "I'm not the great Hatake Kakashi, though, so I had a partner; Niina."

"Oh." Kakashi chimed. "I've worked with her. She's nice."

Tenzou couldn't help the expression on his face, and naturally Kakashi picked up on it. His expression instantly turned mischievous. "What happened?"

"Nothing important..." Tenzou tried to say flippantly, but it was obvious he was through talking about whatever it was that had transpired. "No one died."

"Then why do you look like you just swallowed sour milk?"

"...That is an exaggeration..."

"Your entire face twisted up like a cork screw."

"I was just thinking of how much laundry I have to do, Senpai..."

"You love doing laundry."

"What? I...okay, I do. I like the smell of soap, alright?"

"I'm not judging you for liking laundry."

"Then why did you say it like that?"

"How did I say it?"

"Like you'd just drank sour milk." Tenzou taunted.

"Now you're just being childish."

"What!?"

"Why don't you just tell me what happened?"

"FINE. I blurted out that I didn't think she was part of the Akimichi clan because she wasn't fat. That's it. Pretty much..."

Now. Kakashi was the kind of man who was in whatever mood he chose to be. He could shut himself up like a cardboard box, or be as quirky, silly and outrageous as the next young adult. However, Kakashi had admitted to Tenzou that he had this ability to evoke whatever emotion out of Kakashi that came naturally to him despite how much he liked to control himself. This was one of those times.

Kakashi's eyes flew open, and instantly, he snorted so loudly Tenzou actually jerked to the side in surprise. He looked like he was going to start laughing hysterically, but JUST managed to school himself into some semblance of cool calm.

"You told a girl she was fat?"

"I-no! I said she WASN'T fat."

"You said she SHOULD be fat."

"NO, I said...well, I said I couldn't believe she wasn't..."

"Tenzou!"

"Damnit! I'm...not the greatest social butterfly out there, okay? I know that! I was so humiliated I could barely look at her. She took it really well, because like EVERYONE has been saying, she's NICE. But...ugh." Tenzou buried his face in his hands and Kakashi just laughed loudly at his misery.

"Tenzou."

"Mmph..."

"Tenzou..."

"..."

"..Teeeenzou..."

Finally, the mokuton user peeked out from between his fingers. The way Kakashi was smiling at him made him feel confident in completely revealing himself.

"It's not that big of a deal." Kakashi said softly, his smile widening. "She took it well because not only is she nice, but she's a sensible adult."

"...Really?"

Kakashi's smile didn't waver. "Really."

The broad, warm, genuinely happy smile that spread across Tenzou's face was almost enough to break all of Kakashi's hard earned control over himself. He ached for Tenzou just as badly as Tenzou ached for him, but he would not go back on his word, and he would not undo all the hard work he had put in to keeping them apart and relatively platonic. He could see from the little time they had to spend together, and the nature of both of their missions, that his decision had been the right one. It was only going to get worse before it got better, and the chances of them seeing each other more often before the conflict was over was nearly impossible. They would have to do with a few hours every couple of weeks, and that was not the right circumstances for the kind of relationship they would have if they still had one.

Instead, he leaned forward, grasped the back of Tenzou's head, and placed a soft kiss to his forehead. The strong, magnetic pull he always felt around his kouhai kept them locked in place for so long Kakashi almost pressed their mouths together. But, finally, he slowly backed away. Both of their eyes stayed closed for a few more seconds before they fluttered open. Their gazes locked, and the emotion that flew between them nearly broke Kakashi's heart.

"Your social skills are fine." He finally said, his voice cracking slightly. With a little, low clearing of his throat, he continued with his original smile. "Don't worry so much."

Tenzou's large eyes were wide and bright.

"Thank you." he whispered, and then something in Kakashi cracked. He grabbed Tenzou and pulled him against his chest, gripping him hard around his shoulders with one arm, his other hand holding the back of Tenzou's head again so that his mouth was pressed to his ear.

"You know I would do anything for you." he hissed, his chest clenching with the power of exactly how much he meant those words.

Kakashi felt strong arms shove him back, and then they were kissing, and he didn't care. They opened their mouths wide, moaning loudly against each others lips, dragging their nails down each others arms. Kakashi pushed hard against Tenzou, twisting him back, so that the mokuton user was balancing completely on his bent knees. They pushed, pulled, and kissed so vehemently Kakashi heard himself growling low in his throat. Finally Tenzou fell backwards and Kakashi crawled on top of him, their hips crashing together and grinding, grinding and pushing and rolling so hard Tenzou cried out repeatedly. It was almost painful how badly he yearned, ached, wanted, craved. He felt Kakashi drag his nails down his back so rough and hard he knew it must have drawn blood. Tenzou threw his head back and moaned with everything he had.

His pants were gone, almost instantly. Whipping up, he made quick work of Kakashi's shirt. Rip, his shirt as well. Kakashi's pants. Bindings, underwear, shoes, gone. They were naked and pressed together and rolling their hips and moaning and then Tenzou was begging. Begging and panting and grinding. His legs were spread and he felt Kakashi's fingers and he almost laughed. They were wet though, wet with whatever, wet and ready and inside of him. He did laugh, harsh, then he groaned and rocked his hips against Kakashi's fingers and heard a load moan from above him. He smiled to himself, knowing Kakashi liked it, and did it again. He felt lips on his chest, his thighs, his abdomen. Kakashi placed small, almost worshipping kisses all over his cock and he keened loudly.

The fingers were gone, and he shivered, he shivered so hard his teeth clacked because he knew what was next, he knew what was next and he wanted it SO BAD.

"Oh fuck Kakashi, fuck me, fuck me fuck me fuck me-AHH!"

His whole body rocked back with the force of Kakashi entering him, and he cried out, he cried out at how good it was and how badly he wanted it and how he had it now. Craning up, he pressed his face into Kakashi's neck, gripped his thick, strong shoulders with the tips of his fingers and begged and begged and begged.

"PLEASEHARDKAKASHIFUCKFUCKFUCK."

And he did, he did, Tenzou had to brace himself against the wall to keep from smashing into it he did it so good. Their bodies together, his legs thrown wide, his hips held high, his head thrown back, Kakashi over and over and over inside of him. Hard, fast, the way Tenzou wanted it, he wanted pain and force and everything raw and primal. Tenzou could barely hear him because Kakashi could barely breathe, could not see, could not anything but Tenzou and Tenzou's body and his wet, hot insides and his screaming. Oh his screaming.

"KAKASHI, KAKASHI, KAKASHI KAKASHI YES YES OH YES!" he panted, he cried, he grit his teeth with the force of his want and how good so good it was so, so good.

Kakashi bit Tenzou hard on his collar bone, sucked at his flesh, groaned into his body, raked at his skin with his nails. Owned him, owned him.

"Tenzou, oh, fuck...fuck I miss you...take it, take it, take it..." he chanted, chanted as he pounded him, twisted him, pulled him, pierced him.

Both of them cried out, cried out loud and came, came as violently as they made love. The room spun, turned black, and both collapsed. The only sounds in the room was deep, long, hard panting. Somewhere in the back of Kakashi's mind, something was telling him that was the opposite of what was supposed to happen. But he could not remember the last time he felt so fucking good. His entire body, his heart, his soul felt good. A heavy, hard burden in his heart was lifted -temporarily, but it was gone. He could feel Tenzou under him, Tenzou and his hard, round muscles and his soft, round eyes. Tenzou and his skin, his breath, his lips. Tenzou.

When he felt he could move, Kakashi slowly rolled off of his kouhai and landed on his back beside him. He glanced over, curious, and Tenzou turned to look at him at the same time. His eyes were glazed over, his hair was damp with sweat, his lips red and teased. Kakashi could not describe with the words of his language what it felt like to see his lover like that again, and he had done it. He had made Tenzou scream, beg, moan, come. They had both lost complete control and it had been incredible.

Slowly, Tenzou inched over until he could lay his head against Kakashi's chest. They both closed their eyes and naturally, easily and gently, they both fell asleep.

Oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

The feeling of lips on his temple woke him up, but a hand on his eyes told him it would have been better if he'd slept forever. He felt the heat from Kakashi's face transfer as he moved, and then his lips were at his ear.

"I love you. Be safe, Tenzou."

And he was gone.

Oooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Tee hee :D I figured you guys had dealt with enough angst and needed a little break. Thanks for reading! 3