Chapter 10

A/N: Timeline for this chapter: Day 6 in the house. WARNING: Nudity, etc.

I woke up to the feeling of soft lips kissing their way up the back of my body.

"Mmm...if you keep doing that Kakashi I'll never make it out of this bed."

"Would that be a bad thing?"

"I have the afternoon shift at the spa today and I need a shower and food before I go."

"I can help you with both of those, kiss you and you still have plenty of time. It's not even 10 AM yet."

I felt him move off the bed and heard him walk to the bathroom. As the shower began running, I rolled onto my side and sat up with my legs hanging off the side of the bed. Kakashi came back into the bedroom wearing only his boxers and gave me a kiss.

"Stay there, I will be right back."

Sure enough he left and returned quickly with a power bar, some fruit and a glass of milk on a tray. He walked back into the bathroom, sat the tray on the counter, returned-minus his boxers, scooped me up in his arms and began kissing me as he carried me into the shower where he gently lowered my feet to the floor. He pulled back from the kiss and reached out of the shower to get something.

"Open up."

I was rewarded with a juicy strawberry. As soon as I had swallowed it, Kakashi's lips returned to mine as he moved me further under the spray of the shower, getting my hair wet. I felt one of his hands move my wet hair out of my face and heard the snap of the shampoo bottle being opened. Kakashi squeezed the shampoo onto his hand and began rubbing it into my hair, all the while still kissing me. He finally released my lips and began rinsing the shampoo out of my hair.

"I think this will go faster if I do the rest myself. If you want, you can sit on the bench over there and watch."

"How about I keep feeding you and watch from right here? You might need me to lather you up in those hard to reach areas."

"Is this what you had in mind that first time we were in the shower together?"

"Seeing you naked, wet and touching you-definitely. Feeding you is a new twist. By the way, I have some errands to take care of today. Would it be ok if I walk with you to the spa and I can stop back by around the time your shift ends?"

"By any chance does one of your errands include shopping?"

"Yes. Tenzo said something about needing a few things for dinner tonight. What do you want me to pick up?"

"Shampoo for Pakkun would be appreciated."

Kakashi sighed, "Since you used it on him he hasn't stopped yapping about how wonderful he feels. He keeps asking me to smell and touch his fur."

I couldn't help but giggle.

"Would you like me to use a different shampoo? Does it bother you that Pakkun and I use the same thing?"

"No. I love feeling and smelling your hair." he ran his hand through my wet hair, "but Pakkun asking me to do that is just creepy."

I pulled away from him and grabbed the bottle of body wash, squeezed some on my hand and returned the bottle to the shelf. I rubbed my hands together then began rubbing the soap over my body. Kakashi watched ever stroke my hand made on my body.

"I thought it would be nice to have a special bottle just for him. Who knows, maybe the rest of the pack will want to use it."

Kakashi pulled me close so that my soapy body was against his. His arms were wrapped around me and his hands slowly rubbed their way down my backside. "I doubt it. I could use dish soap on the rest of them and they wouldn't care." He gave my cheeks a playful squeeze.

"Can you do something else for me?"

His voice was filled with lust, "I'd be happy to do all kinds of things."

"Easy there. I just need nail polish. A couple of different colors should work. Nothing crazy, any colors you like will do but I also need a bottle of clear as well."

I saw a gleam appear in his eye and remembered what Pakkun had told me about Kakashi practicing on him and his desire to test his skills on me.

"At least that is something of mine you won't have to worry about Pakkun wanting to use."

Kakashi rubbed the back of his neck and gave a chuckle. "No, even he wouldn't want painted nails."

Kakashi offered me his hand and assisted me as I stepped out of the shower with a towel wrapped around my body and another wrapping my hair up on top of my head. With his other hand he pointed to the glass of milk and the power bar.

"You eat and I will get you something to wear."

He turned and walked out of the bathroom.

"Thank you. Please just lay my clothes on the bed. I'll be ready to get dressed in a minute; I just want to rub some lotion on first."

Kakashi was back at the door with a hopeful glint in his eye. "I can help you out with that as well."

"Thanks, but I have a feeling that your generous offer to help would end up with us moaning and working up a sweat which would make me considerably late as I would need to take another shower. But I'd love your help another time."

I had finished breakfast and returned the rinsed out glass on the tray. I walked past Kakashi and grabbed the lotion off the dresser. I returned to the bed, sat on the edge and began applying the lotion to my legs. Kakashi walked over to the closet and soon reappeared with one of his navy blue shirts and a pair of my jeans. He placed them on the bed next to me, turned and walked to the dresser, opened a drawer and gazed at the contents inside with a look of contemplation on his face. After a few minutes, he pulled out his selection and placed the simple white bra and panties on the bed where he had placed the other articles of clothing.

"I'm surprised at your selection. I would have thought for sure you would have gone for a thong."

"I do love the way you look in a thong, but I want you comfortable today at work."

"And the reason for this shirt?"

"I like the way you look in navy blue and realized you don't have many shirts that color so I thought you could use one of mine. Plus it's a little bit big for you and really soft so it should be very comfortable."

"And the fact that it has your family crest on it never entered your mind?"

"If you don't want to wear it, I'll pick out something else. I only though it would be comfortable."

"Sorry. I just thought with everything that happened yesterday, it was your subtle way of letting every male know to behave themselves around me."

"No need for that. Anyone who wasn't aware of our relationship before and didn't see our walk through town certainly heard about it. Kotetsu took the little chat he had with your brothers to heart and is sharing his new found wisdom with every male he comes across. So there really isn't a need for additional warnings. I know you don't know that much about my past, but I plan on answering many questions tonight. Maybe you should wait until you know more about my family before you wear it."

I rose from the bed and gave him a kiss.

"Kakashi, nothing that someone in your family did in the past will affect how I feel about you."

"What about something I did in the past? I wasn't always a nice person. In fact, I was a highly skilled genius that was a jerk the majority of the time. I was conceited, arrogant, and was solely focused on the success of my missions-not my teammates well being. What Itachi said about my sharingan, it's true. My actions led to the death of my teammate."

"Itachi said that to inflicting pain. Everyone is a jerk sometime in their life and everyone makes poor judgments, I'm just glad it was when you were younger because you learned from it and now are the highly skilled genius with perverted tendencies and someone I absolutely adore and love to spend my time with."

Kakashi smiled. He let his towel drop to the floor and was about to remove mine. I pulled back from him and walked back to the bed, removing the towel on my head with one hand and the one around my body with the other hand. I picked up and slid the shirt over my head and was just putting a leg in the jeans when he came over and placed his hand on my jeans to keep me from pulling them all the way up.

"I think you forgot to put something on."

I removed his hand from my jeans, placed my other leg in, pulled them over my hips, and zipped them.

"I didn't forget. You did say you wanted me to be comfortable today right?"

I picked up the bra and panties and handed them to Kakashi who gave me a confused look.

"No need for these. I will be more comfortable and have a more enjoyable day with you knowing what I'm NOT wearing."

I smiled as I grabbed the brush off the dresser and began running it through my hair.

"I just need to fix my hair and I will be ready to go. Maybe you should get dressed or call Pakkun so he can walk with me if you have something else you need to take care of first."

I motioned to the erection that was beginning to grow with each passing second that Kakashi thought about me going commando today.

Kakashi regained control of himself, walked to the closet to get dressed and mumbled to himself. "Evening can't get here fast enough."

Kakashi quickly dressed and was ready to go with me when I started my walk to the spa. We occasionally stopped along the route to watch people repairing buildings that had been damaged from the Chunin exam attack. We stopped to look at the destruction at a park that I use to play in when I was younger and he pulled me close to his body giving me a tight hug.

"I'm so glad you weren't here when this happened. I was able to fully concentrate knowing that no matter what happened here, you would be safe."

"I should have been here. I could have saved some of the people who were killed. My barrier would have protected people. We wouldn't have lost so many. The 3rd Hokage might still be alive."

Tears began rolling down my face and I pulled away and began walking towards the spa, turning so Kakashi didn't see me crying. Kakashi quickly caught up to me.

"Hey, you can't take responsibility for any of the deaths that happened. You can't control that barrier. You don't know for sure that you would have been able to use it to protect anyone. There were battles going on all over Konoha. You couldn't possibly protect everyone all over the city could you?"

"My body would have picked up the ill intent. At the sign of the first attack I could have focused my thoughts on protecting as many people as I thought about, no matter where they were in the city. I could have kept people from getting injured. While I couldn't protect the Hokage from the self-sacrificing jutsu he used, I could have protected others in the village so he didn't feel like he had to use it in the first place. If me and my mother were here, with the both of us using our protective barriers, I'm confident we could have kept the majority of the village safe."

"But how long could you have done that? That protective barrier wiped you out and you only used it briefly with me. You couldn't have sustained it for the several hours the battle went on."

"I only lasted a little while because I was also exerting myself with making the mental connection to you. When I'm not in someone's head, I could have lasted quite a while. Long enough for the enemy to realized nothing they did would hurt the people they were fighting against and they would have retreated quicker or been taken out by the shinobi that were fighting them. You saw how quickly Itachi got the hell out of there. After witnessing what the barrier could do, I'm positive it would have cut the battle time down considerably."

"But what physical toll would it have taken on you and your mother? Would sustaining that for an extended period of time cause harm to you? You don't have an endless reserve of chakra."

"No, but I have excellent control. True, we don't know how long we can sustain that barrier, but it doesn't matter because both my mother and I would hold it for as long as we could no matter the cost to ourselves because we would be able to keep the ones we love safe."

Kakashi stepped in front of me causing me to stop. He put his hand on my chin and lifted it so that I was looking directly at his visibly tense and upset masked face.

"I don't ever want you doing that. I want you to promise me if anything ever happens and the village is attacked that you won't use that barrier to the point of seriously hurting yourself in an effort to protect me. I'm a shinobi, I can take care of myself."

I placed my hand on his face and rubbed his cheek. His face relaxed a little.

"I love you and I will promise you many things. But that is not one of them. Don't ever ask me to not use my gifts to their fullest potential. I don't care how much you, Tenzo and Genma try to convince me otherwise, I will always protect the people I love."

I walked around him and continued on to the spa. Kakashi quickly caught up with me.

"You've got to listen to reason."

"Other than being tired, we don't know of any side effects that it might cause. I may never even be faced with doing something like that."

Kakashi clenched his fists as we walked.

"I'd feel better if you promised never to do it."

"Not going to make that promise."

"You are so frustratingly strong-willed."

"I can say the same about you. You don't think twice about putting your life on the line every day for the people of this village so don't give me any double standard."

We had finally reached the spa and Kakashi stepped in front of me again, blocking the entrance.

"It's different."

"No it isn't."

"I'm a shinobi."

I sighed, knowing this conversation was going nowhere.

"I would like to give you a kiss before I go to work. I don't want to debate this with you right now. Okay?"

"Fine, but this discussion isn't over."

"Fine."

I leaned forward, wrapped my arms around him and gave him a deep kiss.

"I hope you have a good day. I'll be finished here at 5 PM."

I could tell he was still irritated but he smiled and gave a wave before he turned around and headed down the street.

It was almost 5 PM and Micah arrived to take over the next shift. We greeted each other with a hug and sat on the couch in the lobby to chat while I waited for Kakashi to appear.

"Hey there big brother. How has your day been?"

"Interesting, here I have something for you. Hurry up and open it cause I'm dying to know what it is."

He handed me a large envelope with my name on it. The handwriting was strangely familiar.

"Who is it from?"

"Jiraiya said it was an apology for the misunderstanding yesterday."

I opened the envelope and pulled out a letter with a certificate inside. I handed the certificate to Micah while I read the note out loud.

"Dearest Leah, please accept this small token as my sincere apology for the misunderstanding yesterday. I must be getting senile to not remember the rule about proper attire when in the spa lobby. While it is true in the past I have tried on numerous occasions to see you and your sisters in various stages of undress, as you all are exceptional beauties that deserve to be worshipped for the works of art that you are, I fully understood and took Akina's warning to heart. I never intended to cause any commotion when I entered the lobby to get the lavender scent from you. Please accept my apology and enjoy an evening with Kakashi, Genma & Tenzo and anyone else you choose to join you at the exclusive private premier of Kakashi's favorite book, now turned into a movie, before it appears for public viewing in theaters. I've made all the necessary arrangements. You will have the entire theater to yourselves, including complementary concession services. My sincerest apology, Jiraiya."

"Baby sis, this is a great apology. Any chance I could attend as well? I promise to sit in the first row far away from you and never take my eyes off the screen to ensure your privacy. Please?"

"If I let you go, I'm going to have to let all of our brothers attend. Then what fun would that be for me? Do you actually think you all could sit still while you knew I was watching porn with the only three men in the world that I would allow to grope me in a movie theater? I know you all have accepted them but I'm betting that your ability to control your protective brotherly instincts can only be pushed so far. I love you but there are some things that you just can't be a part of. Though maybe I will just stay home and let all of you attend without me."

Kakashi had entered the spa and heard the end of our conversation. He leaned in and gave me a kiss on the cheek.

"What are you giving up so that who all can attend without you?"

"It's a gift of apology from Jiraiya. Here, read for yourself."

I handed the letter to Kakashi. He was nodding his head in understanding until he reached the part about the private screening. His eye shot wide open and I could see the excitement on his masked face.

"I just saw the billboard for this movie today. I was planning on getting tickets for the day it opens. This will be even better!"

He handed the letter back to me, regained his composure and turned to Micah.

"This is Leah's decision. If she doesn't want to go, I'm fine with you and whoever else she chooses attending. But I'm hoping Leah will want to attend and you can wait and see it in the theater with the public. I'll even go with you. I'm sure I will want to watch this movie more than once."

I slid the letter and certificate back into the envelope and rose from the couch.

"I'll talk it over with Genma and Tenzo and see what they want to do. I'm sure we can come to an agreement and I'll let you know Micah. Just don't say anything to anyone until I make my decision."

"Okay. Have an enjoyable evening. Feel free to call me whenever a decision has been made. I'll keep my cell phone on all night."

Kakashi wrapped his arm around me and we walked out the door. We both gave a wave goodbye to Micah and began our walk home.

Kakashi led us home on a different route from the one we took to the spa. I was glad, as I didn't want to revisit that conversation again so soon. We reached the part of town where Kakashi use to live and we stopped at the entrance to his old apartment building while Kakashi fished out his key and held open the lobby door for me.

"Why are we here?"

"I realized that you never have been inside my apartment and I thought seeing it would give you some insight."

"Okay."

I walked in and waited for him at the elevator. Kakashi pressed the button, the doors opened and we walked inside.

We rode silently in the elevator, holding hands and leaning against one another, until it reached the top floor, the doors opened and when we walked out I noticed that there was only one door on this floor. Kakashi unlocked the door and held it open for me to walk inside. As I entered the room, I wasn't surprised to see bare walls and an empty living room. It looked like it was being remodeled as there were construction supplies scattered throughout the room and blueprints on the lone table occupying the space. He directed me over to a door, which he opened, that contained his bedroom. I noticed he still had his bed with a shiriken printed comforter on it in the corner. He guided me to what I thought was one of two closets. However, when he opened the door, it revealed a staircase. We walked up the stairs and out another door that led us outside to the roof of the building.

"This is an amazing apartment Kakashi. No wonder you kept it. I bet you can see the entire village from up here."

"Yes. The view is one reason I decided on this apartment a little over 13 years ago. Walk to the center over there by the rail and take a look."

We walked over to the edge of the roof and I leaned against the rail. Kakashi wrapped his arms protectively around me and gave me a squeeze. I looked out and was surprised at the perfect view of the village gates. I could easily see Izumo and Kotetsu sitting at the gate desk talking.

"I use to come up here in the evenings when I couldn't sleep and watch people as they entered or left the village."

"Did you do that a lot-have sleepless nights?"

"Yes. I use to have nightmares about events that happened in my past. Keeping watch over the village made me feel better."

I turned around and gave him a hug. He placed his hand on my cheek and gave it a soft rub.

"If you look over to the left, you can see the most important reason why I would come up here and keep watch."

I looked over and the first thing I saw was Hokage Mountain. Before I could say anything Kakashi answered my question.

"No, it isn't Hokage Mountain that is so important to me. Look down at the buildings below it. I'm sure you will see something you recognize."

My eyes focused on the area below the mountain. As I looked at numerous buildings, I realized they were the buildings I had seen daily throughout my childhood, though never from this fantastic view. I was staring directly at my childhood home, the spa, and many of the businesses that my family ran.

"You kept watch over me?"

"At the time I bought this apartment complex I just wanted to be able to watch over the entire village. After I met you and got to know you, I began keeping a closer watch out for you and your family. Though I didn't show it outwardly, you and your family have been important to me since the day I met you. When I would leave your house during holidays, I would come up here and watch your family's interactions with each other. It made me feel like a part of a family again just by seeing the love you all expressed so openly to each other and I could rest easy those nights, hopeful that someday I would have a more interactive part in your life."

"Is this how you knew what path Tenzo and I took each day when he would walk me home from the spa? He changed routes every once in a while and still, we always saw you somewhere training."

Kakashi chuckled, "Yes. I did use this to my advantage. I think Tenzo figured it out after the umpteenth time he changed routes and finally decided there was no way of avoiding running into me."

"Wait a minute. You own this building?"

"Yes. Not many people know that and none of the tenants know it. I keep it that way because many people think I'm an old pervert but respect me because of what I do to protect the village. They view the mysterious building owner as a kind person who gave them a break when they were down on their luck. They could not afford to live in apartments like this if I didn't pro-rate their rent. All those excuses about why I'm late and that I was assisting little old ladies-I really am telling the truth, even though it doesn't appear so. The building manager keeps an ear open for people in need and when we have an opening, we meet here and figure out a strategy on how to help as many people as we can. Sometimes it takes several hours reading through all the summaries he writes on each potential tenant. Those that we can't get in here, we try to figure out other ways they can live somewhere safe. He has good relations with the other building owners in the village and many offer assistance because of their relationship with him. The blueprints you saw in the living room? We are working on remodeling the large living room area, study and kitchen into a couple of units and still keep my bedroom as a space for us to meet and give me access to the roof. Since I won't be living here, there is no need not to use the extra space for someone else in need."

"You are amazing. I always figured you left our family celebrations because it hurt being around my openly affectionate family."

"No, I just was more comfortable up here knowing that I could look out and still enjoy being a part of your family without letting my emotions be seen by anyone else. I would use my sharingan occasionally and became really good at reading lips. While you were gone, I would keep a watch over your fathers. I saw how they missed your mom, sisters and you."

"Does anyone else know about the great view of the village from up here?"

"Yes. About a year after you left I brought Genma and Tenzo up here. We all agreed whenever I was out on a mission, whoever was here would come over and keep watch over your family and for your return. By that time, Tenzo and I had pretty much come to the conclusion that we would quit trying to one-up the other for your attention. We knew our behavior was one of the reasons why you had to leave the village and we didn't want to risk you leaving again once you returned to us."

"I can only think of one reason I would ever leave this village for any extended period of time and that may never happen."

"I'm going to do everything in my power to make sure that it does. But when our daughter is ready to take her journey, I plan on going with you."

"Maybe we will get lucky and there won't be a need to leave the village until it's time to actually find her soul mates. My great grandmother was fortunate enough to be able to learn all her techniques and training and stay in Konoha. She traveled only a year and was able to find her soul mates. Each one from a different village. They all followed her back home to Konoha."

"So that is how your family acquired connections to villages like Suna?"

"Yes. By the age of 16 whether or not a girl shows any signs of needing to begin training, she starts studying from the many books my family has."

I let out a little shiver, "It's getting a bit windy up here. Do you mind if we continue our chat inside?"

"I know the perfect way to warm you up. Come on."

Kakashi took my hand and led me back down the stairs and into his bedroom. I thought I knew exactly what he had in mind on how to warm me up, but I was surprised when he continued leading me out the bedroom and into a small kitchen. He stopped when we reached one of the two stools occupying the room. He released my hand and began rummaging through the refrigerator and pulled out a small carton of milk. He noticed the concerned look on my face since he hadn't been living here in quite some while and quickly showed me the expiration date that was several weeks away. He placed the carton on the counter, reached up in a cabinet and pulled out a pan, set it on the stove, poured the milk in and turned the burner on low. While the milk began to warm up, he opened another cabinet and pulled out a box of cocoa and a container of sugar. He added the ingredients and slowly stirred it until it was ready. He turned off the stove, put the pan on a hot pad on the counter and went back to a cabinet and pulled out two mugs. He poured the hot chocolate into the mugs, returned the pan to the hot pad and picking up the mugs, turned around and handed me one. Kakashi watched me as I held the warm cup in my hands near my mouth and blew on it to cool it down a little before I took a sip.

"Mmm...It's perfect. Thank you."

"You are welcome."

He smiled and took a sip of his cocoa, leaving a chocolate mustache on his face. I let out a giggle, placed my cup on the counter, walked over to him and licked the mustache off his face before giving him several quick kisses.

"As cute as that mustache was, I prefer your naked face."

He placed his mug down on the counter and wrapped his arms around me.

"You can have any part of me naked, anytime you like."

"Really? So are you thinking of no longer wearing your mask in public?"

"No. I wear the mask to keep my emotions hidden as well as keep people from ever fully being able to identify me. I am in several bingo books and they really only get the mask and the headband over the eye correct. Sometimes they mention the color of my hair, but often they say white or grey, not my true color which is silver. I do this so that if I am lucky enough to live long enough to reach retirement, I will be able to go without a mask in public and not worry that people will be able to associate me with the pictures in the bingo books. Plus it's fun watching my team try to see what's under my mask. Today for example, all three of them tried to follow me around town without me knowing it. My favorite was seeing Sakura's reaction when she realized she had been staring at a scarecrow that I put up in front of the memorial and I hid in some nearby bushes. It was priceless."

"I bet you giggled like a little girl on the inside. Sakura told me of some of the unusual training methods you use. She thinks you are a sadist. I told her that you were just a big kid at heart and that while this was playing for you, it also was teaching her valuable skills. She agreed that she always learned something new and valuable during the sessions. She just wished you would play on your own time so that the training sessions weren't so torturous."

"They are the first team that I passed. I'm sure I have gone overboard a time or two. But I just want to make sure they realize all the things it takes being a ninja, the possible things that can go wrong, and how to get out of tight situations and still have all team members alive."

We finished our cocoa and feeling much better, I stretched my arms above my head and let out a yawn. Kakashi scooped me up and walked to the bedroom. He placed me on the bed, removed my shoes and placed them on the floor. I moved over to make room for him but he moved to the end of the bed and began rubbing my feet.

"You don't have to do that." I let out a moan, "Oh Kakashi! That feels so good."

"You have no idea how many different scenarios I've played out in my mind with you moaning out my name on this bed. Surprisingly, none of them involved a foot rub." He chuckled.

"I was running around the spa all afternoon. We were really busy. If I just rest for a few minutes I should be ready to walk home."

"I dropped off the groceries before I came to get you. Tenzo let me know that he won't be able to even start on supper for a couple of hours. He had something else he needed to take care of first and let me know he would call your cell phone when he was ready to start. So if you want to take a nap, we have the time."

"How about we just cuddle up here on the bed together. Your little foot rub made me feel so good that if you wanted to whisper a story that you want to share with me in my ear, I promise I won't fall asleep."

Kakashi climbed on the bed next to me, wrapped an arm and leg over my body and pulled me close to his body. I saw a naughty grin appear on his face before he began nuzzling my neck and ear.

"Really? You want to hear how much I want to kiss your sweet body and tease you with my mouth?"

"I meant stories about your past you silly goose."

"Mmm, I can do that. Once when I was lying on this bed after seeing you at the spa, I just couldn't keep from..."

I pushed myself away from him and kept him at arm's length.

"I don't want to hear stories about you pleasuring yourself."

"I was going to say 'writing in my journal'. I was so captured by what a kind person you were to have bandaged me up after a tough mission that I wrote about you for hours. Your mind seems to be jumping to situations involving a sexual undertone. Do you have something on your mind you want to share with me?"

"Sakura was right."

"I'm deeply wounded. Here I am trying to share memories with you and you think it is all just a way to get you naked."

"No. I just expect everything coming out of your mouth to have some sexual connotation to it when those 'I want you' looks appear on your face."

"Well I do want you, but not always in a sexual way. I sometimes forget that I am not wearing a mask around you and my face automatically reacts to things that float through my mind. Maybe I should wear my mask while we talk so you don't get distracted."

"No need to wear your mask. I'll just turn around and listen. Please continue with your story."

I rolled over and faced the wall but was still pressed against him. By the bulge I felt forming in his pants, I knew he was turned on and a naughty liar. After I was settled, Kakashi wrapped an arm around me and continued with his story.

"I had never been shown such loving kindness nor had ever heard of a connection like the one we have. It touched me deeply."

He rubbed his fingers gently in circles across the back of my hand. It sent tingles through my body. I began to stroke his arm gently.

"Yes, I remember those instances as well. My mind would let me know what you needed and it would stir a desire in me to give your body whatever it was you needed."

I placed a soft kiss on his hand and felt his crotch twitch.

"Do you still have those journals?"

"No, a few days after I wrote about it, the journal was destroyed when my team was attacked on a mission. After that, I quit writing in a journal. I felt like I was tempting fate by putting my feelings down on paper. I thought that by only keeping you in my mind, I didn't risk harm coming to you. If my enemies had ever read how I felt about you, they might have tried to harm you. I never wanted to put you in danger when you didn't even know how I felt about you. Leah, please turn around. I need to see your face."

I rolled over and was surprised to see the look of concern on his face.

"I worry all the time that by knowing me, and now that our relationship has been made public, that someone will try to hurt you to get their revenge on me. Please forgive me if I seem over protective. You are so precious to me. It eats me up inside knowing that the connection we have causes you to feel the same pain when I get injured. Is there anything we can do to prevent you from feeling that pain?"

"The actual physical pain only started when I left the village and wasn't able to see you for long periods of time. I think my body was searching you out and when you were in pain, it magnified because I wasn't around you on a routine basis. It was like now that I found a connection again, my mind wasn't going to let go, so it endured the pain just so it could be connected to you. Minor injuries didn't cause me pain but I would see your injuries in my mind. When you overused your sharingan fighting that rogue ninja from Mist, I felt some pain and physical exhaustion as a result of our connection. The only other instance was when I returned to the village. It was painful, but it didn't last long. I'm so thankful that Gai was able to find you so quickly."

"You sent Gai to help me?"

"Yes. He caught me when I collapsed."

"That explains how he knew about our connection. I never mentioned it to him for fear of being forced to listen to his endless 'embrace youth' rants. How long have you known Gai?"

"All my life. He's my cousin."

A look of disbelief wiped across Kakashi's face.

"Who in your family married into that unique gene pool?"

"He was adopted by my aunt and uncle who could never conceive a child. His mother died in childbirth and his father left him at the hospital the day he was born. You should be kinder to him. He thinks so highly of you and was one of the first people who thought you were worthy of my love. When others worried about your habit of walking around town with porn, he reassured me that you just had a deep passion for literature and that anyone who embraces his passions publicly, regardless of popular opinions, is a man he thought worthy of being with a unique person such as myself because I deserved a man who wouldn't buckle due to the pressures and opinions of others."

"Now I feel bad."

"You should. He's a sweet man that is often misunderstood."

"Not about my comment. I feel bad knowing in all likelihood, he will be at family celebrations. I may have to request special missions that take me out of the village on those occasions." Kakashi chuckled.

I frowned.

"I love you and that will never change, but how can I ever share myself fully with someone who doesn't wish to spend time with me on special occasions?"

Kakashi sweat dropped.

"I was only kidding. Of course I want to be with you on those occasions.""

"I think you know me well enough to know that family means everything to me. I realize he has some unusual traits and that sometimes he can go overboard with his enthusiasm for youth. But I look past those things because what matters is that he is a kind, loving man who always made time for me, no matter what other important things he needed to be doing. He genuinely listened to me and made me feel like everything that came out of my mouth was the most important and wisest thing he ever heard. He looked after me every Friday until I was 9 years old when all my parents were busy working at the various businesses they ran."

Kakashi was mentally kicking himself for ever trying to be funny.

"You are right. Gai gives his full attention and effort in everything he does. He and I worked together to protect all the people in the audience at the Chunin exam finals when the village was being attacked. We fought for hours and he never once faltered or gave anything less than 120%. I am lucky that he thinks so highly of me and I promise to show him the respect he deserves."

"Really? Then I hope you will be okay with something I promised him years ago."

"What did you promise him?"

"That I would allow Gai to pass on his 'springtime of youth' wisdom to my children."

"How old were you when you made this promise?"

"I don't see how that makes any difference. A promise is a promise."

"You're right. It doesn't make a difference, I was just curious."

"I was 3."

"I'm not worried about the promise you made to Gai."

I flung my arms around his neck and peppered his face with kisses.

"You've made me so happy that I'm going to let you do whatever you want with my body until Tenzo calls."

Kakashi wasted no time and began kissing his way down my neck while his hands climbed under my shirt and up my back where he gently touched my skin. It felt like electricity surged through him everywhere he touched. He paused only to pull the shirt up over my head and threw it on the floor. His hands now made their way to my chest and while one hand rubbed a gentle line up and down between my breasts the other gently brushed my skin right under my breasts. A smile crept across his face as he slowly rubbed his palms over my breasts so they were barely touching me. My nipples immediately hardened and I leaned into his hands, my body begging to be felt completely by him. He pulled his hands back.

"Ah ah, you said I could do whatever I wanted. That doesn't mean you get to do whatever you want."

"I don't want your hands on me. I NEED your hands on me. Don't be a tease Kakashi. Touch me."

"So I'm not supposed to tease you, but it is ok for you to torture me all day?"

"I think we both knew that before the day was out you would be successful at getting whatever you wanted from me. So how is that teasing?"

"If we go by that standard, you can rest assured that sometime before the night is finished I will allow your breasts to rest in my loving hands and I will rub them until you beg me to stop."

"Fine. Excuse me while I check to see if Tenzo has called."

I rolled away from him and off the bed to stand up. I reached into my pocket and took out my cell phone. I had three messages. The first was from Micah, reminding me that no time was too late tonight for me to call with the answer as to whether or not he would be going to the private screening. The second message was from my mother who was just calling to check in and see how I was doing. The third message was from Tenzo. I called home and Tenzo answered.

"Hey Woodsy. I got your message and it isn't a problem. We would be happy to pick up supper. No, we can go now if you like, it's not like we were in the middle of anything." I briefly shot Kakashi a glance. "Alright. I'll see you in about an hour. I love you too. Bye."

I put my phone back in my pocket, picked my shirt up off the floor and pulled it on over my head. Before he could ask what was going on, I picked up my shoes and left the room and began looking for the phone book. I dropped my shoes on the living room floor and made my way to the kitchen. I found it in a drawer, opened it up to the first dog eared page that listed restaurants and began browsing the listings and flipping the pages. Kakashi followed me silently to the kitchen and began cleaning up the dishes from our hot cocoa. I found the restaurant I was looking for, pulled out my phone, dialed the number, and placed the order.

"15 minutes sounds perfect. Thank you."

I closed the phone book, returned it to the drawer and put my cell phone back in my pocket. I looked up to see Kakashi had finished putting everything away. I walked out of the kitchen, slipped on my shoes and waited at the door for him silently. Kakashi followed me to the door, opened it, and I walked out into the hall and pressed the button on the elevator. Kakashi closed and locked his apartment door and arrived at the elevator as the door opened. We entered the elevator and I quickly slapped the button for the lobby. I moved away from Kakashi and leaned against the wall opposite of where he was and closed my eyes until I felt the elevator stop. When I opened my eyes Kakashi was in front of me with his hands against the wall next to my shoulders, trapping me so I couldn't move.

"Why isn't the door opening? What are you doing?"

"I stopped the elevator because I want you to talk to me. I know you are mad because you haven't said a single word in the past 10 minutes."

"Not true, I just haven't said anything to you."

"My point exactly. Did my teasing really get you this upset?"

"I know I am over reacting and most likely it's all my hormones that are making me so moody. I wanted you and when you decided to give me some of my own teasing back, my body didn't like it. I'm sorry. You are right that my teasing is the same as yours so I just didn't say anything because every time I think about it, my body gets all stirred up again. Please just get the elevator moving again and let's go pick up supper. I'm starving and that isn't helping my mood improve."

Kakashi moved over and released the elevator and it began moving again. He came back over and leaned against the wall next to me and took my hand in his. Soon the elevator reached the lobby, the doors opened, and as we walked out we were greeted by several agitated tenants who had been waiting on the elevator. Kakashi maneuvered us past the crowd and held open the door. When we were outside, I walked closer to him, gave him a small kiss on his arm to let him know that I was no longer irritated. He placed a kiss on the top of my head letting me know that he understood.

"So from which restaurant did you order?"

""It's near the ramen stand."

"The tempura place?"

"No, the bbq place. I know how much you dislike tempura and even though I was irritated with you, I never would purposely only order the one thing that I know you don't like."

We arrived outside of the restaurant and I released Kakashi's hand.

"While I am getting this could you please pick up an order of miso soup from the place across the street?."

"I'd be happy to. I'll meet you back here in a few minutes."

We parted ways and when I entered the restaurant that I hadn't seen in 7 years, I was greeted by the smiling face of a young man who I immediately recognize but was having a hard time remembering his name.

"Leah, It's been forever. Will you be dining with us tonight or are you picking up an order for that large family of yours."

"I called a little while ago. Keiko took my order."

"Ah yes, I'm just finishing bagging that order up. I should have known. Keiko just wrote a heart with an L in the middle of it for the ticket. You haven't made her dreams come true and changed your mind have you?"

"Ha ha. No, I still prefer men. How have you been? Have you found the woman of your dreams?"

"Yeah, but I doubt she even remembers my name." He gave me a sad smile.

My mind was racing to remember his name. There were three brothers in this family. Was it Tobi, Arashi...no, Takashi! I smiled and gave his hand a gentle pat.

"Well if she can't remember your name Takashi, she doesn't deserve you."

"Leah, you are so sweet to say that. Are you...?"

At that moment, Kakashi walked into the restaurant with the container of miso soup. He waited in line behind me like he was a customer. Takashi greeted him, "I'll be with you in a moment sir." then returned his attention to me as he was tying my sack closed.

"Here, it's on the house. Think of it as a welcome home present."

He handed me the order and I was getting ready to say thanks and goodbye but his hand remained on the sack while his other hand came up and rubbed mine gently.

"So were your travels successful? Did you find your soul mate?."

"Yes, I found my soul mates. But I knew them before I left. They all live here in Konoha."

He released the bag and Takashi's eyes widened. A hopeful look momentarily graced across his face but faded when Kakashi wrapped his arm around my shoulders and placed a kiss on my cheek.

"Kakashi, this is Takashi, our families have known each other for as long as I can remember. Takashi, this is Kakashi, one of the three men I'm in love with."

"Nice to meet you Takashi."

"And you as well Kakashi. You are a very lucky man to win the heart of the sweetest girl in the world. Leah, I've gotta go check on something in the back and break the sad news to Keiko."

"Bye Takashi and thank you for the welcome home present."

"I look forward to getting together with you again real soon Leah so we can talk about old times and catch up."

Takashi turned and headed to the back of the restaurant. I handed the large bag to Kakashi so that he could carry it. He in turn, placed the soup in the bag and closed it. He offered me his hand, I interlaced my fingers with his and we left the restaurant and headed for home.

I didn't notice Tenzo sitting on the porch until we were almost on top of him due to the heated discussion that I was having with Kakashi.

"You need to drop it. I told you that he was only a family friend."

"His eyes told a different story."

"Hey Tenzo, would you mind helping Kakashi set everything up for supper. I need to use the bathroom."

Tenzo having heard the last few minutes of our conversation, seeing a look of frustration on my face, and once again hearing I was making an escape to the bathroom to get away from any further questions, immediately stepped in and took a hold of Kakashi's free arm and directed him to the kitchen before he could say another word.

"We will have everything ready by the time you get in the dining room. Just use the bathroom in the hall as Genma is making a repair to the one in your bedroom."

I decided not to ask what the repair was or what had happened as I was just wanting to get somewhere to not be interrogated. I entered the bathroom and shut the door a little harder than I had mean to. The noise brought Genma from the other room and I heard him knock on the door.

"Leah, is everything okay?"

I took a deep breath and let it out slowly to calm myself down. I decided while I was in here I might as well take care of the routine business and wash my hands for supper. As I placed the towel back on the rack, I felt a sharp pain in my gut and I grabbed onto the rack for support. A gasp of pain escaped my mouth. My grip was so hard and I was exerting such weight on the tiny rack, that it broke off the wall.

"I just really had to use the bathroom and slammed the door harder than I intended. Could you come in here and help me please."

"Sure."

Genma opened the door, saw the rack in my hand, and a pained look on my face. He gently took the rack out of my hand, put the lid down on the toilet and pointed at it.

"You sit here. I'll be right back with the tools to fix this."

Within a few minutes, Genma had returned, shut the door and began re-hanging the rack on the wall. When he was finished he got on his knees in front of me, placed his hands on my waist and gave me a kiss on the cheek.

"All better. Now, do you want to talk about what has you so riled up or would you rather have me hold you and kiss you until it's all better?"

"I choose the holding and kissing option please."

He stood up, took my hand and guided me to stand up. He took a seat on the toilet, pulled me onto his lap and began showering me with soft kisses that had me soon forgetting why I was upset. We could have stayed like that for hours if it weren't for the loud growl of hunger my stomach gave that broke our lips apart.

"I think we should join Tenzo & Kakashi. That sounded like you haven't eaten in days."

"I agree, let's go."

He stood up, still holding me and gave me one last kiss as he lowered my legs and my feet touched the floor. He opened the door and allowed me to exit first. I led the way to the dining room and just as Tenzo had promised, everything was laid out and ready. He even had a little bit of everything placed on the plate in front of me so that as soon as I sat down, I could begin eating. Genma escorted me to my place and pulled out my chair. I noticed that Tenzo had placed himself strategically across from me so that when I looked up I would be able to see his calming face. I smiled. As soon as my rear hit the chair and Genma pushed it in, I began to eat. Genma took his seat and began filling his plate. Kakashi and Tenzo had begun eating as well. We sat in silence and ate our meal. I occasionally would look up and see Tenzo's sweet face or to my right and see Genma staring daggers at Kakashi. Genma did this because he quickly realized Kakashi was somehow to blame for getting me upset as he was the only person in the room that I would not make eye contact with. Seeing the impact that this caused made me realize that it would be best to get everything sorted and back to normal.

"I feel so much better now that I have food in my stomach. First, I want to apologize to you Tenzo and Genma for the weirdness that has transpired this evening. Genma, there is no need for you to keep glaring at Kakashi because he isn't entirely to blame for the tension in the air."

I finally turned and looked at Kakashi. He still had the same determined look on his face as when he was peppering me with questions about Takashi. I silently pleaded, 'please let the other two not react the same way Kakashi did.'

"Kakashi, I know you wanted answers to questions you had but sometimes you need to learn when to let it go and not interrogate me when I'm starved and moody. Now, I think it best if we catch Tenzo and Genma up to speed on what started all of this. Would you like to begin?"

Hearing that I was willing to let him share his explanation first softened the hard look on his face.

"The guy behind the counter where we picked supper up from wouldn't allow Leah to pay for the meal. He was flirting with her, touching her, and about to ask her out, if I hadn't wrapped my arms around her and given her a kiss. But even after she let him know that she had fallen in love and introduced me as one of the three men she is in love with, he still asked her out, though it was under the disguise of 'talking about old times and catching up'. That about covers it."

"Alright, now I will share my version. Takashi and I have been friends since childhood. My parents and his both started business around the same time and have always supporting each other over the years. It's not an uncommon practice for either family to provide services free of charge. Takashi was not flirting with me, he simply asked me about my journey and after I asked him if he had someone special in his life, he asked me a similar question. I told him that I had at which point Kakashi appeared in the restaurant. Takashi was getting ready to ask me a question, when Kakashi wrapped an arm around me and gave me a kiss. I introduced them to each other. He had to take care of something and let his sister know, as she has always been interested in a romantic relationship with me, that I hadn't changed my mind about returning those affections to her and was now in love with three men. He said he looked forward to getting together to catch up. No definite date was set and I never said I would meet him anywhere that would resemble a date. I do want to catch up with him, but most likely it will be at either the restaurant or when I'm working at the spa, where we have always talked to each other. As far as flirting, I can only assume he means when Takashi touched my hand. To be fair, I touched his hand first. When I am trying to comfort someone it's not unusual for me to give them a pat of support or encouragement. This was all that it was. Furthermore, I don't think Kakashi is really worried about Takashi. I think he is upset regarding a conversation we had this morning on the walk to the spa where I told him that if push came to shove, I would do whatever is necessary, regardless of the risk it may cause me, to protect the people I love."

We all sat there quietly for several minutes. Genma and Tenzo exchanged looks. Finally Tenzo spoke up.

"I know the relationship Takashi and Leah's families have. I'm certain that from Leah's point of view everything she said is true. However, I also know that Takashi has had a crush on her for a very long time. Keiko has a crush on Leah as well. Never at any point has Leah not been 100% clear in her response to any of Keiko's advances. After being introduced to you, I seriously doubt that Takashi would make advances toward Leah since he never has been bold enough to attempt it before. He probably only wanted to catch up as a friend with her since he hasn't seen her in 7 years. As for Leah doing whatever it takes to protect the ones she loves, while I don't like the idea of her putting herself in danger, I understand her need to protect the ones she loves. She has the will of fire just like the rest of her family and us as well. But she isn't the type of person that actively goes out looking to put herself in harm's way so I'm not really worried about it. Your thoughts Genma?"

"I trust Leah. If she says there is nothing to worry about, then I'm not going to worry. I find the fact that a woman is attracted to her hot. What can I say, I just do. Regarding Leah putting herself in harm's way, I share Tenzo's view."

I rose from my chair and walked over to Kakashi. I placed both my hands on his face, one on each side.

"Kakashi, I never realized Takashi had feelings for me. If I had, I would have let him know that we are friends and that is all it will ever be. I will be more aware of it now but hopefully we won't have to have that conversation. His sister having feelings for me is a running joke between the two of us. I'm sorry this day has been filled with disagreements between the two of us, but I know that we are not always going to agree on everything and that is ok."

Kakashi stood up and wrapped his arms around me.

"I guess we are still getting use to living together. I'll try to remember to hold off asking questions that seem to rile you up when you are hungry. I think you inhaled your food faster than me when I'm trying to keep everyone from seeing my face in public." He chuckled.

I turned to look at Tenzo & Genma.

"So do you two have any questions or can we drop this whole thing?"

Tenzo and Genma looked at each other and replied, "We're good."

I walked into the kitchen, put the leftovers in the refrigerator and began running the soapy water for the dishes. I was headed back to the dining room when I was met by Kakashi at the door with all the dishes. He placed each dish in the sink and I turned the water off. I washed and he rinsed and paced the dishes in the drainer to dry. I handed him the last dish and dried my hands on a towel. When Kakashi finished rinsing it, I handed the towel to him.

"Are you ready to head off to bed?"

"I'm not that tired but I do want to get out of these jeans and relax."

"After you then."

We made our way to the bedroom and were greeted by Tenzo and Genma standing in front of something hidden beneath a sheet. I turned back to Kakashi who directed me over to the bed. While I sat down, he joined Tenzo and Genma over by the mysterious thing under the sheet. Kakashi was the first to speak.

"We realized that something was missing in this room."

Then Tenzo.

"We've all been working on this since the day we moved in together."

Then Genma.

"We hope you like it."

Kakashi and Tenzo moved out of the way as Genma pulled the sheet off to reveal a beautiful mahogany desk. I stood up, walked toward the desk, and ran my hand over it.

"It's beautiful."

I turned and gave each man a hug and kiss.

"Thank you so much. When did you all find time to do this?"

"Genma and I worked on it while you were taking care of Kakashi. But it was his idea to begin with and he did the design work. He also helped us finish it up once he was cleared by Tsunade."

I turned to Kakashi and smiled, "And I'm betting you made sure that I didn't accidentally stumble across those two while working on it as well."

Kakashi smiled. "I may have had assistance with that."

After they helped me arrange the items that had been sitting in a box in the closet since we moved in, Tenzo and Genma kissed me goodnight and wished me sweet dreams. Before they left the room, I gave them the envelope from Jiraya and asked them let me know whether or not they were interested in attending and if so, whether they would prefer I go or if it would be ok to let my brothers join them. I was just standing, admiring the desk when Kakashi came up behind me, wrapped his arms around me and placed soft kisses on my neck.

"How about we get you ready for bed?"

I turned my head and gave him a kiss on the lips.

"Sounds good. I'm just going to visit the restroom first."

I took care of my nightly routine and finally removed my jeans and threw them in the hamper as I left the bathroom. Kakashi had turned off the lights, lit the candles on the nightstands, pulled back the sheets, and was waiting for me on the bed in his boxers. I crawled towards him on the bed and snuggled up next to him with my hands on his chest. He wrapped his arms around me and gave me a hug.

"You look fantastic in my shirt."

"Thank you for letting me wear it. It was like being wrapped in your arms all day."

"Glad to hear it. But since you are actually in my arms there is no need to wear it now."

I giggled as I let him pull the shirt off my body, "Are you going to tell me the material is scratchy to your sensitive skin?"

"No. I remember you saying I should just tell you what I want. I want to feel every inch of your naked body against mine please."

I pulled the covers up over our bodies and laid down close to Kakashi, his strong arms pulled me so that our skin, wherever our bodies touched, gave a warm tingle that spread throughout our bodies.

"It chases away my nightmares having you close to me like this."

"Mmm...I'm glad it helps you sleep. I think the warmth our bodies are giving off is making me sleepy."

"Just shut your eyes and go to sleep. I'm going to be asleep in a few minutes too."

The last thing I remember is feeling Kakashi's lip give me a soft kiss on each of my closed eyes and I felt him wrap a leg over mine and give me a full body squeeze.

Next Chapter – Day 7 - A Gift from Maxi.