Chapter 2:

The small amount of light that filtered through the curtain landed on a man's face. A single obsidian eye opened, taking in his surroundings. An arm was draped over his chest, soft breathing echoing his own. He blinked, the soft skin of another felt... nice. He turned his gaze towards the purple haired woman who lay next to him, her eyes closed. His lips quirked upwards.

However, there was a niggling thought in the back of his mind as he sat upwards, Anko's arm falling off his bare chest and onto the soft pillow. Kakashi looked at the clock on his bedroom wall. It read 1.00 o'clock.

He was late. Very late. A moment of panic jolted through him, but it was gone in a second. It was always acceptable being fashionably late. Especially for a cool cat such as him.

Deciding he would never say nor think the words 'cool cat' again, Kakashi carefully untangled himself from Anko's sleeping body, and quietly slipped on his mask and normal attire. Stopping before he placed his headband around his eye, he examined the blood red iris. Obito's iris. Obito's eye. Obito's power. Unconsciously lowering his head, he slipped on his headband, hiding the Sharingan with the fabric. Taking one last look at the sleeping form of Anko (whose nakedness was now visible to the world, thanks to Kakashi 'accidently' taking off the covers on her end of the bed). While the view was very appealing, he decided he really should get to the meeting. As he went to leave his bedroom, Anko groaned softly.

"-maru-sensei..." she trailed off, a nervous look crossing her face. "What're you doing?"

Kakashi frowned as Anko's face contorted into a horrified look. "N-no... please..."

His obsidian eye widening, he noticed with stunning clarity the wet tears that silently fell down her face and onto the white mattress. Kakashi watched with horrified fascination as the woman he had just slept with cried into her pillow. Finally, she stopped and lay still, soft snores echoing throughout the room.

Deciding he wasn't sure how comfortable he was staying in the room with her, Kakashi walked out. He ran a hand through his silvery grey hair. In his opinion, there were two ways to truly bare your soul to someone. Having sex, and crying in front of them. He felt even worse knowing she didn't even know he was watching.

He pushed the thoughts to the back of his head, however. He would dwell on it after the meeting and his duties had been completed. But, before he left, he had one thing left to do. Coyly looking around and flaring his chakra slightly to see if he could sense anyone, Kakashi sighed in content. Good, nobody was around. Now, to get his precious... The Copy Nin slipped out to his living room, and out the door of his apartment.

He looked around his apartment complex's balcony, taking in the dreary atmosphere. 'At least the rain has stopped.' He thought glumly as he leapt over the railing to another building's roof.

He ran across the rooftops as consistent as he would allow himself. Flipping through Icha Icha while he ran, Kakashi couldn't help the perverted giggle that escaped from his lips. Oh, how he loved Jiraiya and his pervy goodness.

Suddenly, he heard an anguished cry. Turning his head to the side, he noticed a woman, balling into a Chunnin. Sighing deeply, Kakashi continued to survey the area. The place where the woman was standing was next to a shop; or rather a half destroyed shop. Two other Chunnin were carrying a limp body of a man, who Kakashi presumed was her husband or boyfriend. He noticed she was heavily pregnant, and once again sighed.

Still, he had to press on. If he stopped and stayed for too long, he would want to help. And he was needed with the council. Yay.

And so, Kakashi moved faster than a blur over the rooftops.

Silence. And annoyance. These were the two things that above all floated around the council chambers where Kakashi Hatake was meant to meet them. That was four hours ago.

The impatience was visible to some, especially to Hiashi Hyūga. He noticed that Tsume Inuzuka was twitching. Rather violently at that. The Hyūga was too annoyed, not that he would show it of course. He knew better than to let emotions out. Just like his eldest daughter didn't-

His mind snapped away from that thought, his brow creasing. "I will not trouble myself with the failure now." He concluded.

Danzō was tapping his fingers impatiently, although inside his own mind he was grinning maliciously and triumphantly. This was the day that he would usurp that bastard Hiruzen and take control of the hidden leaf village for himself. And then, he would take control of the demon, and bend him to his will. And then the other villages would fall, and he alone would be left standing victorious. On the outside, however, he was cool and calm, a calculated stare being levelled amongst all the presences in the room. He would not stand for anybody trying to usurp his throne.

There was a sharp squeak as the huge oak door creaked open slightly. Very slowly and cautiously, a silver-haired man peeked in. "Yo."

"YO!?" Tsume roared, standing up and ready to tear Kakashi's head off. "You bastard! I'm going to-"

"Enough!" One of the two elders standing beside Danzō yelled angrily.

Tsume sat down, but that didn't stop the sadistic and malicious grin on her face that spelt out rather clearly: "When we get out of here, I'm going to tear you apart limb from limb!"

Kakashi gulped.

"And where were you Kakashi?" Hiashi questioned as Tsume finally sat down. Kakashi once again rubbed his head gingerly.

"I got lost on the path of life."

Tsume at this point was escorted out of the room. "Anyway," Danzō began sighing. "I have called you all here today for a purpose. Today, the elders have decided that I should be-"

"Actually, Danzō," the elder woman interrupted. "We have decided that you shall not be Hokage."

Danzō froze, and scowled deeply. He clenched his fists, but nodded. "Very well," he said in a monotone voice. "And who may I ask will be taking the spot of our esteemed leader?"

"We have sent Jiraya to find Tsunade, to convince her to take role of Hokage."

"But, she hasn't even been in the village for years. Why would she-"

"Because Jiraya refused to do so." The other elder stated, turning to face away from a now fuming Danzō. "I have some other news. Kakashi Hatake, I have a gift for you from the Third Hokage."

Kakashi's eye widened. The elder took a small white letter with the Hokage seal stamped on it. "This is something that he wished for you to have."

The elder threw the envelope at Kakashi who caught it with ease. It moved it around in his hand. There was definitely a letter in there, and something else. A necklace or locket maybe?

"Anyway, let us get down to other business…"

As Kakashi finally took his seat, he blocked out the droning of the elders, his mind ablaze with questions about the envelope. Something about it seemed… different. Out of place. And it troubled Kakashi.

Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Danzō looking at him madly, his usually emotionless face creased into a thick scowl that would put Sasuke to shame. He was pissed off. He wanted what was in this envelope, but Kakashi would be damned if he let the old war hawk snatch it away.

When the meeting finally ended, Kakashi left quicker than anybody else, and proceeded down to a café he knew. When he arrived at one of his favourite haunts, he was soaking wet. Once again the rain was bucketing down and such a pace that not even the Sage of the Six Paths could hope to dodge it. Opening the door and hearing the familiar chime of the bell, Kakashi took in the warming scent of fresh food and hot chocolate.

"Hello Kakashi!" an elderly voice called out.

"Greetings Urusai." Kakashi said as he walked towards the counter, looking at the foods they had available. "Could I have a hot chocolate please?" he asked, and the man nodded.

"Of course you can. My, I remember you when you were just a boy, coming in with your team." Urusai rambled as they both exchanged money and the drink. Kakashi just nodded politely and stepped away from the counter waving a goodbye and going to sit in one of the snug little corners. The café was a picturesque place, with welcoming white walls and nice wooden chairs and tables. Paintings of all sorts adorned the walls, flowers to commemorate great Shinobi battles. Kakashi had been happy that his favourite haunt when he was with his team hadn't been damaged. Still, so many painful memories…

But, Kakashi was not going to dwell on such matters as that. Not yet anyway. He lowered his mask and drank down some of the silky hot chocolate. Putting the cup down, he took the letter out of his pocket and just stared at it for a moment in silence. Cautiously, his hands slid over towards a knife that was placed on his table. He slit open the letter, turning it upside down. The contents flew out, with one thing hitting the table with a sharp bang. Kakashi frowned. It was an amulet, just as he had expected. But not just any amulet. This amulet had the mark of the Uchiha.

"Why would the Third give me a Uchiha heirloom? What about Sasuke?" The copy nin questioned. Still, as he turned over the gold pendant in hand and admired the fine craftsman work, he heard the distinctive sound of someone entering the café.

Turning his gaze upwards, he saw a sight which made him sigh.

"So, Gai-sensei, what youthful things have you been teaching my teammates?"

Gai's booming voice filled the room. "Lee, I have tried to teach them the most youthful ways of push ups, but they do not comply!"

Kakashi sighed once again. Here they were, Might Gai and his faithful sidekick Rock Lee. Maybe if he kept his head down, and stayed out of sight…

"Yosh, if it isn't my most youthful rival Kakashi!"

Crap.

As Naruto burst through the trees the first thing that he saw was a pair of white lavender eyes. With a loud oof he barrelled into the Hyūga and they both fell over with a thud. Rubbing the back of his head sheepishly, Naruto stood up. "Hehe, sorry about that Hinata."

The pale-faced Hyuga looked at the floor and blushed. "It-it's okay Naruto," she began. "I'm-I'm not hurt."

"Are you sure Hinata, you took a pretty bad fall?" Her friend and teammate Kiba Inuzuka and his faithful hound Akamaru said as they came over. Hinata nodded once again. She was fine, although her arm would bruise. But it was okay, it wasn't Naruto's fault.

Kiba meanwhile, was shooting a glare at Naruto. "Look what you did you idiot, you knocked over Hinata."

"I said I was sorry!" Naruto said crossing his arms angrily.

"It-It's okay Kiba. I thank you for your concern, I really do, but I'm fine."

Kiba shrugged. "Okay, if you say so. Do you wanna continue practicing?"

The Hyūga shook her head. "No thank you." She said quietly as she glanced at the oblivious blonde staring at the sky. A blush danced across her cheek as Kiba smirked knowingly.

"Come on then Akamaru." The dog nin said to his partner. The white dog yipped happily, nuzzling his master's side, quickly nuzzling Hinata who patted him on the back and then went to take a leak on Naruto's foot. "Get off me you damn dog!" The blonde yelled as he leapt backwards. Hinata let out a giggle and Kiba was in full hysterics.

"What's so funny?" The question came out of nowhere.

"Nothing Shino," Hinata said through her fit of giggles. The stoic genin appeared on the other side of the clearing, levelling a calculated gaze at Naruto. The blonde shivered. Shino always crept him out.

"Akamaru-tried-to-take-piss-Naruto's-shoe!" Kiba choked with laughter at the occurrence, clutching his now hurting chest.

Shino remained as stoic as ever, briskly walking forward, still levelling Naruto with that gaze. "Are you alright Hinata?" he questioned to his teammate. The Hyūga nodded, but winced as she stood up. "Perhaps you should get that checked out?" The bug genin suggested, earning another round of apologies.

Finally, Kiba stopped his laughing fit and stood up, wiping away the tears. "Hehe, anyway Naruto you don't need to apologize. You probably only sprained it or something…"

Another round of apologies.

Hinata scowled at a grinning Kiba momentarily before turning back to the blonde in front of her. "Re-really, I'm fine Naruto."

The blonde nodded, but extended his hand out. "I feel really bad Hinata. Maybe I could buy you lunch sometime to… Hinata? Hinata!"

The Hyūga had fainted, and Naruto rushed over to her red face and felt her forehead. "Oh god! She has a fever!" he exclaimed. Kiba just sighed deeply, and even Shino had a look of chagrin on his face.

"Is everything alright?"

Kurenai stepped out from the trees, dressed in her usual attire. Her red eyes surveyed the scene, but she just smiled and shook her head when she noticed the petite form of Hinata on the ground and Naruto towering over her.

"Yeah sensei," Kiba began chuckling. "Hinata's just feeling a bit light-headed."

Kurenai nodded in understanding, trying to hide a smirk. "Then maybe she should take the rest of this session to cool off. Naruto, would you stay with her and make sure that she's alright?" she asked hopefully.

Naruto saluted. "Don't worry Kurenai-sensei, I won't let you down!"

Kurenai shook her head at the blonde's insanity, before turning to face her two male students. "Kiba, Shino, spar." She ordered. Kiba froze, but before even Kurenai could register it he came back to his usual self.

"Right Sensei! Shino, be prepared to get your ass kicked!"

Shino had noticed Kiba tensing up slightly at the mention of sparring with him, and for once this had confused him to no end. "Yes Sensei." He said calmly, eyeing Kiba curiously. Said dog nin rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, and Shino could have sworn there was a light blush on his cheeks.

Still, the trio walked a ways away from the others and got into their fighting stances.

Shino was still infinitely curious as to why Kiba blushed. It baffled him to no end. "Are you ready?" he asked his teammate. Kiba just looked him up and down. Then he blushed.

"Sure!"

Shino's eyebrows rose high above his hairline. "Was-was he checking me out!?" he thought incredulously. Never; in a million years did he expect Kiba to check him out. It was… bizarre, to say the least. And yet, it did not bother him. How curious.

Kiba was having an inner turmoil with himself. Akamaru had sensed his master's discomfort and had barked reassuringly. The dog user was fighting his urges. His pack like urges to jump on Shino, rip off his clothes and-

No, he has to stop thinking like this. Kiba shook his head roughly. He shouldn't be feeling like this. Especially not for another guy! Especially not for Shino! His stoic, weird, clever, intelligent sexy…

Kiba wanted to bash his head against a wall multiple times. He was not gay! He wasn't! He wanted to screw girls. He'd had numerous dreams about Hinata, Ino and Sakura. But god dammit, ever since The Heat started he's had these dreams about everybody! Asuma-sensei, Kakashi-sensei, Naruto, Shikamaru, Neji, Sasuke and even Rock Lee! He even had one about that exam proctor Ibiki. But the main focus of all his dreams had been Shino. They always consisted with them meeting in circumstances and then screwing! Anywhere and I mean anywhere. Closets, kitchens, bathhouse, and even a freaking boat! This was getting out of control.

He mentally cursed The Heat. The Heat was apparently a period of time which occurs between the ages of sixteen and eighteen. This, like puberty, increases the amount of hormones that flow through the body. Times that by 100, and you have The Heat.

"Kiba, shall we begin?" Shino asked pushing the rim of his glasses up his nose. Kiba shakily nodded.

Gulping slightly, Kiba raced forward. With his fist drawn back, he flung it forward. Shino leapt backwards just in time as the blow landed on the hard ground. Shaking the pain off, Kiba flung forward again. Shino was making hand signs, and called out. "Ninja Art: Bug Twister Jutsu!"

Shino's bugs flew from his sleeves and created a twister, spinning straight towards Kiba. The dog user had been too busy admiring Shino, and yelped as the twister sped towards him. Akamaru bit down on his master's jacket and yanked it to the side. Narrowly avoiding the twister, Kiba began to make hand signs as he landed on the ground. "Ninja Style: Man Beast Clone!"

Akamaru transformed into another Kiba. While Shino was withdrawing his bugs back into his body, Kiba ate and threw a pill into Akamaru's mouth. With an intense spike in chakra, Kiba rushed forward and began to spin along with Akamaru, creating two spiralling vortex's of grey chakra. "Fang over Fang!" the dog nin called out as he and Akamaru sped forward in perfect synchronisation towards Shino.

However, the bug nin reacted quickly also, creating some more complex hand signs. "Ninja Art: Bug Wall Jutsu!"

The bugs from Shino's body returned, quickly forming a solid wall. Kiba and Akamaru smashed into it, trying to create a hole from which to attack Shino. But the bug fortress proved strong, and this locked the two teammates in a stalemate. With several minutes of gruelling attack and defence, both boys stopped their respective techniques when Kurenai told them to stop.

"Okay, that's enough." She called out. The two boys stopped, both panting heavily. They collapsed to their knees, the sweat pouring off their foreheads. Kiba cast a glance towards Akamaru, who had collapsed on the floor too breathing heavily.

"You did good buddy." He said patting his faithful hound on the back. Scooping him up in his arms and placing him atop his common position on his head, he turned to face Shino. This proved to be a mistake.

The bug nin was now standing, sweat dripping from his forehead. His low breaths made Kiba shiver, and that hunched over position made him want to leap over and-

Shino cast his gaze down, and eyed what he saw curiously. Kiba too looked down. There was a sizable bulge in his pants. Kiba felt like jumping off a cliff.

Hinata awoke on her back, staring up at the grey sky. Slowly rubbing her eyes and raising up, she noted that she had moved from her position before-

"Oh," she squeaked out quietly as realisation dawned on her. She glanced to the side curiously.

"Good, you're awake!" the blonde next to her smiled. She blushed and looked away.

"Nar-Naruto, you didn't have to move me. You should have just shaken me awake-"

"Nah, I couldn't, and you looked like you needed rest from all your training with Kiba and Shino." Hinata nodded, although her teammates were not all to blame for her tiredness. Her intense training sessions with her father had increased tenfold, and she barely got enough sleep as it was. Still, as embarrassing as it had been too faint right in front of her crush, it was nice to get some sleep. For a short time anyway.

"Ye-yeah. I've been training with my f-father."

Naruto nodded, scowling. He knew how the Hyūga elder treated his eldest daughter. With such disgust and disdain it made him want to rip out his cold black heart. Hinata did not seem to mind, but still…

"So, how are things with your father?" He asked curiously. Hinata sighed and shook her head, her dark wavy hair flying around in the breeze.

"F-fine." She stuttered, not meeting his gaze. Then again, when did she ever meet his gaze?

"Uh-huh." Naruto wasn't buying it. He was maybe stupid, but he wasn't blind.

"Yeah…" she trailed off as she turned to look over at her teammates. Kiba was blushing profusely, before he stormed out into the surrounding woods mentioning something about some Inuzuka clan business. Shino looked calculating, and also slightly confused. And Kurenai was trying to hide her snickers.

Whatever it was that had caused Kiba to run into the woods in embarrassment, Hinata's thoughts were cut off by a loud stomach grumbling.

Naruto laughed sheepishly. "Hehe knew there was something I forgot to do. You wouldn't happen to have any food on ya?"

Hinata nodded, and went to stand up. Naruto's warm and calloused hands pushed her down by the shoulders. "Relax, I'll get it for you. It's in your pack right?"

"Yes, the on-one with the fl-flowers…"

Naruto looked into her lavender eyes for a split second, and felt something. It was a small feeling, and yet it felt so bizarre to Naruto. He had never experienced this feeling. The tingly feeling he was getting in the pit of his stomach when he looked into her pale eyes. He had never noticed how pretty they were…

"Right, I'll go get that pack for ya!" Naruto exclaimed, running in the opposite direction to grab the her pack.

'What was that?' He thought to himself, 'I've never felt like that before. That warm feeling felt weird, but also really nice! I don't understand…'

While Naruto slung the pack over his shoulder, Hinata was gazing at the ground, her face as red as a tomato. 'Wh-what was that..?' she questioned herself. The way he held her gaze, so lovingly.

Hinata resisted the urge to faint as the blonde returned, giving a warm albeit awkward smile. "Th-thank you." She muttered to him as he handed her the pack. As he sat down she took out a small lunchbox and unpacked it.

"Wow!" Naruto exclaimed, the unusual awkwardness forgotten as he noticed the array of food.

Rolls, donuts, and ramen!

Without asking, the blonde snatched the bowl of cold ramen from the ground and began to fork it in.

Hinata watched with curiosity and slight amusement as he turned to her and gawked. "Wha?" The noise that emanated from Naruto's mouth sounded like. Hinata giggled loudly.

Naruto swallowed his mouthful and grinned sheepishly. "Hehe, sorry. Do you want some?"

Hinata shook her head. "No th-thank you. I-I've already eaten."

From a few feet away, Kurenai couldn't help but smirk at the budding romances that were blossoming all around her. Her girl's night with Anko would be much more interesting.