A/N: Hey everyone, she's back! With two chapters today: a kind short one (this one - sorry!) and a long one (fan service, ooooh!).

I hope you guys will like it. Enjoy!

Naruto and Kakashi watched from a distance as Kaede was saying goodbye to Iruka. Behind Iruka was his class, doing warm-up laps for their training. Kaede was talking to him from the outside of the high fence.

This was probably going to take a few minutes, so Naruto looked at Kakashi. He was watching the two without blinking; completely focused.

"Are you worried?" asked Naruto.

"About…?" was Kakashi's dry reply.

"Those two," teased Naruto. "That they're getting really close these days."

"No, I'm not worried," answered Kakashi seriously. "There's a fence between them."

Naruto needed a moment to get the sarcasm out of that last remark. He stared at Kakashi for a while, trying to read his mind. But there was no expression in that constantly-lazily-gazing eye of his. Though he was still watching them intensely.

"What?" he asked without looking away from them.

"What exactly is my sister to you, Sensei?" asked Naruto flat-out. "Are you two going out or what?"

"Well, that's a pretty personal matter you're asking me about," replied Kakashi.

"Are you?" insisted Naruto stubbornly.

Finally, Kakashi looked at him from the corner of his eye.

"Not really," he said.

"What kind of an answer is that?" protested Naruto. It was this vagueness that sometimes irritated him about his former teacher. Why couldn't he ever simply give a clear answer?

Naruto glanced at Kaede and Iruka. Kaede turned around briefly and smiled at him and Kakashi, then she turned back to Iruka.

He'd noticed the spark between her and Kakashi a while ago.

"You two like each other, don't you?" continued Naruto. He wouldn't rest until he found out for sure.

"Kaede," Kakashi called out. "We really should get going."

"Coming!" called Kaede back.

Now Naruto was pissed off. Asking Kakashi about his personal life had always been even more difficult than trying to see his face!

Kaede said her final goodbyes to Iruka and hurried back to them.

"Sorry for the wait," she said.

"No problem," replied Kakashi. "Let's go." He gave Iruka a short wave, laid his hand on Kaede's upper back and led her to the direction of the village gate. Naruto waved at Iruka as well, who waved back with a smile.

There's definitely something going on between those two, whether they'll admit it or not.

He gained on them, giving them a glare.

"Nee-chan," he said. "If Kakashi-sensei did something weird to you last night, just— OW!" He was interrupted by Kakashi's fist on top of his head.

"Brats shouldn't talk about things they don't know anything about," lectured Kakashi.

"I'm only worried about my only sister!" retorted Naruto, rubbing the place where Kakashi hit him.

"Naruto," interrupted Kaede. "Thank you. But I think you know Kakashi better than that."

Kakashi gave her a weird look for a brief moment, but then looked ahead of him.

"Then, then…!" Naruto ran ahead a little, turning to block their way. "At least admit you two are dating!" he said, pointing at them.

Gasps coming from all directions had him look around. All eyes were on Kakashi and Kaede now.

Oops…

Kakashi sighed, resting his palm on his forehead. Kaede looked shyly at the ground, her face lightly flushed.

People were whispering around them.

"… But isn't she the one who killed…"

"… I heard she's going to a madhouse up north…"

"… After all those women he's rejected! ..."

"… I'm… so… jealous…!"

"… Oh no, Kakashi-san…"

Naruto's irritation grew, this time with the nosy villagers.

"Let's go," said Kakashi. He took Kaede's wrist and pulled her along.

"Okay, okay, don't pull," said Kaede.

Naruto went ahead towards the main gate. He could sense that they were stared after. It wasn't until after they went through – Naruto didn't even bother greet Izumo and Kotetsu in his hurry – that people stopped staring.

As though all the stares in the village weren't enough, Kakashi could feel Naruto's gaze on him all the way so far. He was carrying Kaede on his back; she was still weakened from the excessive use of Chakra, which was two weeks ago now. Maybe that was for the best, anyways. If anything were to happen that might cause her other personality to come out again, at least she wouldn't be able to use that Jutsu again.

Let's just hope that won't happen…

Naruto was still staring at him.

"Naruto, what do I have to do to make you stop staring?" he asked. "You should focus on where we're going instead."

Naruto shook his head and finally looked in front of himself.

Kaede shifted against his back. Kakashi tried to ignore the soft feeling of her against him. Even through his vest, he could feel her breasts pressing against his upper back.

"Are you ok?" he asked in order to distract himself.

"Yeah," said Kaede. "I kind of feel bad for making you carry me, though."

"Good thing you're light," said Kakashi. "Besides, at this rate, we can move quicker." Though he wanted it to last longer. But Naruto being out of the village, they couldn't spend too much time moving out in the open.

They jumped from tree to tree in the large woods, until it was sunset.

"Naruto," said Kakashi. "Let's set up camp here."

Naruto nodded and jumped down to a small open spot. Kakashi landed next to him.

"Kaede? Are you awake?" he asked.

"Yeah," replied Kaede, though she sounded like she just woke up. He carefully let her down. Her arms slid down from his shoulders. Suddenly, his back felt cold, colder than he'd thought.

"Thank you," said Kaede. Kakashi turned around to face her, and smiled.

After a short silence, Naruto interfered again.

"Nee-chan," he said, "let's get some firewood."

Kaede looked at him and nodded.

I guess he wants to spend some alone-time with her while he still can, thought Kakashi.

"Alright, I'll set up the tents," he said.

The two blondes nodded and headed someplace ahead. As Kakashi prepared to set up the first tent, millions of thoughts were spinning through his head.

At this rate, we'll probably be there by the day after tomorrow. It's been only two months and I already can't imagine a life without her anymore. Not even if it's temporary. I can't lose her again…

Kaede watched as her brother kicked down a tree that was already in half, chopping it into pieces with his hands and feet.

"You seem to be able to do this without my help," she said with a smile. "Why did you want me to tag along?"

Naruto made one last kick, then stood still.

"I wanna ask you something," he said without looking at her.

Kaede stopped smiling. "Is it about Mom and Dad?" she asked.

"No." He turned to face her. "Are you and Kakashi-sensei dating?"

"You've certainly given the village that impression," replied Kaede dryly.

"Nee-chan," insisted Naruto, his gaze locked into hers.

"We're not exactly dating," explained Kaede. "But…" She hesitated, but quickly recovered and looked firmly at him. "I do love him."

Naruto's eyes widened.

"And he loves me," finished Kaede.

Naruto gazed at her for a full minute until Kaede spoke up: "Well, say something."

Naruto scratched the back of his head, looking a few directions. "It's not like I didn't expect it," he mumbled. "I noticed something between the two of you even before I found out you're my sis. So now I know for sure and… well…" He looked at her, and a smirk appeared on his face. "Congratulations."

Now it didn't make any sense. Kaede thought Naruto wouldn't be too happy with this. He'd asked her so seriously. Besides, she knew for sure that she would find it weird if she had an older sister showing up from out of nowhere and dating her teacher.

"You're ok with it?" asked Kaede. "Are you sure?"

"Well, yeah," replied Naruto, still smirking. "You're both really important to me, so I think it's great!"

Kaede sighed in relief. Thank goodness…

"I'm glad," she said with a smile. "Your approval means a lot, Naruto."

The smile on his face never leaving it, Naruto gathered the pieces of wood. Kaede helped him, and together they returned to the camping spot, where Kakashi had already set up the tents for the night.

A/N: Whew! That went well. ^^;

You can skip right to the next chapter, or leave a comment about this chapter and THEN skip to the next chapter. Whichever you prefer, but a comment is always welcome~ (hint, hint)