Confluence

By Violet Garnets

Chapter Seven: Sudden Movements

o-x-o-x-o

It wasn't like what Naruto had imagined. Just one room, starkly furnished with only essentials. A small shelf housed a handful of books, most of them Jiraiya's works. It seemed to work for Kakashi, this lack of coziness. But it made him a little sad to think about it, to be honest. "It's kind of…bare," the young man finally noted.

The jounin mad a noncommittal noise as he pulled off his flak jacket to reveal the close-fitting black shirt. Naruto felt a chill soar through his body at the sight of those powerful muscles. "I only keep necessities. Anything to drink?" He motioned to the fridge.

"Whatever you have is fine, sensei," Naruto said, his mind somewhere else— specifically a set of picture frames near the window. His feet led him over and by their own accord his hands gingerly picked up the one with two sullen preteens with grey and black hair, a smiling young kunoichi, and an adult male with flashing golden hair, infinite patience in his smiling expression.

The picture, despite probably being about twenty years old, still retained most of its color and brilliance. Even the slightest fading at the corners did nothing to diminish the intensity of the photo. Uchiha Obito looked nothing like his young relative Sasuke, aside from the dark hair and fierce pout. The cheekbones were set slightly lower, the eyebrows raised just a fraction higher, enough to make a world of a difference. Naruto held back a sigh, imagining who Sasuke could have been had the massacre never happened. Rin looked nothing like Sakura, but both kunoichi held a quiet resilience and gentle heart, he could tell. Speaking of which, didn't he have a meeting with Sakura in a few days?

Kakashi's smooth voice interrupted his train of thought. "If your father were here," he said, noting it as if he were discussing the weather, "he would be proud of you."

Naruto held his hand just over the smile of the great Yondaime— his very own father. The very thought brought a tender smile to his lips. He could never meet them, but at least he knew where he came from. "Do I act like him?"

"No, not really. He was a pretty laidback man. Not the unpredictable ball of stupid you are."

Naruto stuck his tongue out, rather proud of his own ability to be a seventeen year-old and get away with such juvenile tactics.

"You act more like your mother. She was always doing something when I came to visit, running here and there, laughing so loud I think their neighbors would have complained if she wasn't the wife of the Hokage."

The boy furrowed his blonde eyebrows, trying to remember the few descriptions he had heard about his mother Kushina. He imagined a beautiful woman with long, bright red hair floating around her as she whirled about her house, a clear tinkling laugh echoing through halls he had only seen in dreams. A woman he knew would have run with him everywhere, pulling pranks on everyone from Utatane Koharu to his own father. His father. He frowned. If his father and mother were still alive, Naruto would never have suffered those first years of his life. Actually, he never would have suffered in the first place. But perhaps he never would have known Kakashi in quite the same way.

"Maybe that discussion with the elders two years ago led to one good thing. I mean, I learned about my parents," he said, breaking the silence he began.

"That's true. You should never have left in the first place though. To try and exile you…I should've done more." Kakashi pulled out two cups from a small cupboard and walked over to the sink. Naruto saw that the grey-haired man shook his head and his hands trembled, obviously from anger.

"Not quite an exile, sensei. I'm back home again, aren't I? And it's not like those years went to waste. I learned a lot of things with Tenzou— er, Yamato-taichou." A nervous laugh escaped Naruto, and it ended up sounding like an awkward guffaw. To temper his jittery legs, Naruto sat down on the bed. "I missed this place though. The people."

The rushing water stopped with a loud squeak from the faucet. "The people here missed you too."

Naruto tilted his head to the side and narrowed his eyes. "I hope they did. But anyway— Kakashi-sensei, what the hell were you thinking as a student? Look at that little bit of hair sticking out your hitai-ate. Trying to be a badass?"

"I never needed to try," the man retorted. "Besides, what about those terrible orange jumpsuits?"

"A good shinobi can still stay concealed in the most ridiculous of clothing!"

"Sure—you just admitted they looked ridiculous."

"You know I looked damn good in those, Kakashi," Naruto said with a grin, but the muscles holding that smile up quivered. Somehow even the semblances of flirting sent him into fits.

Kakashi shook his head. "I'll just say only you could pull off such a color."

"Compliment accepted." Although his tone was even, Naruto glowed all over. "And I'll admit the hair under the hitai-ate looks seriously badass."

The jounin shrugged as he handed a cup of water over to the blonde. Kakashi sat on the bed, making a little rumple in the green sheets. "I'm ridiculously attractive no matter what I do," Kakashi said smugly.

"You could be hideously ugly under that mask for all the rest of us know. Why won't you let anyone see?" Naruto groaned as he put the picture back and took a seat by his sensei.

"It's just a reminder, that's all."

"Of what?"

"My father. My best friend. Your father. Everyone who ever mattered to me."

"And isn't here anymore," Naruto added quietly.

"Yes."

Slowly, silently, Naruto reached his hand out for Kakashi's cheek. "How many people have mattered to you?"

"Too many."

"One for each thread of this mask?"

"Most likely." Their voices were hardly louder than the distant hum of the people down below. The air stilled.

"Name them." By now, the cups had been set aside by the window and both of Naruto's hands were on Kakashi's mask. They started at the bottom, taking the time to feel each and every thread, one by one, letting them catch onto his nails and then slip back off into place.

Kakashi seemed completely unperturbed and obeyed the request of his younger companion without question. One by one, the names slipped off his tongue like water off a steep precipice: "Gakusei Mai. Hatake Sakumo. Uchiha Obito. Haruki Rin. Namikaze Minato. Uzumaki Kushina. Sarutobi Hiruzen…" And so the names went as Naruto's dexterous fingers inched their way upward. His vision felt stretched apart, as if he was not particularly focusing on the mouth although he knew his eyes were looking in that area. Naruto felt himself caught up in a sort of spell, hearing the soft murmur of so many names.

Completely silent, his fingers curled over the edge of the fabric and hooked into them. He moved them down just a fraction of a centimeter. Surprisingly, he received no resistance. Concentrating to refocus his line of vision, Naruto looked up to meet one ashen eye. The dark irises seemed to catch more light than usual, so Naruto took it as an expression of amusement, perhaps curiosity. So he continued his work. His heart began to pound in a scattered, frantic rhythm. Finally. He was going to see Hatake Kakashi's face. The face of the man he loved, the man who had saved him countless times. The man who stood up for him when few believed in the truth.

First, the scars appeared. On Kakashi's left cheek, Naruto spied the rest of the scar he knew Kakashi had received along with Uchiha Obito's Sharingan. Naruto lowered the mask a little more to reveal a gently curved nose, to his surprise. The copycat ninja of Konoha always seemed to give off the air of a sharper, more defined nose. This worked too though. Worked better, actually.

By the time the upper lip showed up, Naruto had to breathe carefully through his nose to keep his hands even. Hell, this was terrifying. Moving his hands a bit quicker than before, he pulled the mask down past the chin so it rested in a folded clump at the nape of the neck. He left his hands there and his jaw dropped slightly at the sight. Seeing the face of one of Konoha's greatest and most elusive shinobi could only be described as momentous. The diagonal scar on the right cheek began at the cheekbone and ended just under the bottom lip. Other little scars crisscrossed along his jawline, but he had much less than Naruto had expected. The lips, dry and chapped, were nevertheless full and finely shaped. Kakashi had a strong, defined jawline, but that had always been evident through the mask. The hitai-ate still covered his Sharingan eye, but Naruto didn't want to cause his sensei any discomfort by having to keep it activated longer than necessity required. So it stayed.

Kakashi's lips formed a smirk and Naruto nearly choked trying to stop his spontaneous nosebleed. "Are you satisfied?" The man asked, clear amusement in his expression.

"Y-yeah," the blonde managed to utter, with great difficulty.

"I'm just going to let you process this for a moment."

"…Okay."

Kakashi stood up and walked over to the bookshelf, apparently committing himself to peruse through his collection of novels. He left the mask down. Naruto stared blankly for a good long time. It shouldn't have been this shocking, to just see someone's face, yet…

"How did you get that scar?"

"Which one?" Kakashi turned around to face Naruto.

Holy shit the man was attractive, Naruto thought quietly to himself. A strange bubbling of thoughts began in his head, but he pushed it aside. "The big one on the right side. Your right side."

"Ah. Yes." Naruto watched as a gloved hand came up to run along the length of the mark. The man's fine eyebrows relaxed into a more pensive position. Quietly Naruto watched with awe the minute muscles in the jounin's face at work. He had never noticed the intricacies of the jaw before, as odd as that sounded. "The night of the Kyuubi's attack, actually."

Naruto shuddered quite involuntarily.

Kakashi gave the boy a look but continued. "I let my guard down, watching the maternity ward. Building shook, framework came undone, flying shrapnel, and there you have it. It was my favorite set of masks too," he said softly, a light amusement to his voice. "I was actually the only one injured. A miracle you and the others weren't hurt."

"But what about my…mother?" His voice cracked and he winced at the sound.

Kakashi returned to his spot on the bed and placed a hand on Naruto's knee. "She was already gone, Naruto. I'm sorry."

The teen looped his arm underneath Kakashi's, intertwining their hands. He smiled lopsidedly, hoping it would assure the other man a little. "It's okay. Happened before I could remember shit, right?" The grin was too hard to keep up though, so he let it drop. "I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"That scar."

"You moron," Kakashi hissed. "Look at me." Naruto reluctantly obeyed. "Listen, you couldn't have caused anything. That's how little newborns in diapers are. They don't do much. You understand? And I would never trade this scar for your life. Ever. I wouldn't trade your presence in my life for anything, Naruto. I mean it."

"Would you trade it for all the lives in your mask?" the blonde asked, expecting some hesitance.

So he was taken aback by the immediacy of the response. "No. I wouldn't. Those people were in my life, they existed. I'm happy to have known them. To have them here now, but never know you in the first place? Never."

Naruto could barely breathe, could hardly see through the almost-tears slicked over his eyes. To hear such words from anyone, but especially from Hatake Kakashi. He couldn't help himself. Before he knew it, Naruto found his hand leaving Kakashi's and placing on the man's other side, and he pressed their lips together in a delicate kiss.

When he realized what he was doing, he meant to pull away. He did pull away. He was going to explain how it was just a spur of the moment thing, how it didn't mean anything.

But a large hand placed on the back of his head stopped him. Said hand also pushed his head back for a deeper, yet softer, kiss. Naruto fumbled with his hand for Kakashi's free hand. He found it and held it tightly. Kakashi squeezed back softly, but obviously more interested in the kiss. Eventually, so was Naruto. He reveled in the strength of the other man, the fragile contact of their tongues and how it contrasted with the intensity with which their lips locked. He tried to figure out what Kakashi tasted like, but scents came to mind, not tastes: the cool smell of autumn leaves, the sharp hint of evergreen in the air, crackling sparks of a smoking fire.

When they finally broke apart, Naruto stared at Kakashi openly, knowing full well the startling blue of his own eyes asked all the questions running through his mind.

"We both needed the contact," Kakashi replied simply, as if it were an everyday thing.

Naruto internally sighed with relief. As much as he wanted to follow through on the plan he had spent half a year formulating, he didn't want to do it here, not now. It didn't feel right. And something about that answer comforted him. Kakashi would never push him away because of a little kiss. It even seemed like the older man even sort of welcomed it. Naruto smiled cheekily as he asked, "So you wouldn't mind if I need contact again in the future?"

Kakashi shrugged, although Naruto could definitely see a pink staining the man's cheeks. What an interesting tidbit of information: Hatake Kakashi knew how to blush. "I doubt you'll be able to kiss me often." He tugged at the mask rolled around his neck and smirked. "So good luck with that."

Naruto grinned. He always loved a challenge. Just as he was going to say something, however, a dark tremor enveloped him. He felt a sway in his chakra levels. Something had caught the Kyuubi's attention.

"Ankoku no Ookami no Shigeru?" The demon hissed, its rumbling voice ringing in the ears of the host. "Such a face I have not seen for at least a millennium…" Then, just like that, Kyuubi returned to its dormant state.

"The hell?" Naruto muttered. He mentally prodded around, but Kyuubi had removed any trace of its presence. The chuunin teen had his mind all to himself again.

Kakashi cocked his head to the left. "What happened?"

Naruto shook his head. "I don't know. The Kyuubi just woke up for a moment and said something weird. A name or something."

"A name?"

"Yeah. Shigeru. And something about the wolves of darkness?"

"Sh-shigeru?" Then all of Kakashi's muscles stiffened and unconsciously Naruto's body imitated the movements.

"Something the matter, sensei?" Naruto frowned. After that strange episode at Ichiraku when he first returned, he had kept an eye on Kakashi to watch for any signs of mental instability. Nothing had shown up since, besides the normal quirks Kakashi had always had: perverseness, a tendency to be sadistic, and an unexpected fear of tiny toy animals (Kakashi once mentioned he had hated only one chapter of all the Icha Icha books. Naruto assumed said chapter had something to do with little plastic hippopotami.) Things seemed fine for a while, but all of a sudden he found himself alone with Kakashi in a strange trance his eyes the color of faded river pebbles.

The jounin wavered, shifting back and forth, muttering to himself. Naruto leaned in to catch the words. "Shigeru…Shigeru…Ankoku no…Ookami no…Ryuji …Akira…"

The name 'Akira' caught his attention. There was something about it. Something so familiar. Not like he knew someone by that name, but something even closer than that. His first thought was of his alias 'Amano Akira'. But he had never told Kakashi of that, had he? This was getting weird.

"Kakashi-sensei? Sensei?" He called out, his voice trembling. Naruto shook Kakashi gently, trying to displace the man's chakra flow with his, in case there was a genjutsu. It didn't help. "Come on now, if this is some kind of joke. I mean, all I said was 'Shigeru', it's just a name—"

At the mention of the name again, Kakashi's eyes changed; they still weren't the same deep, dark gaze they should be, but they weren't quite the glassy grey they were earlier either. Naruto shuddered, not quite from fear but he wasn't sure; something about this look reminded him of the Uchiha family. Where the Uchiha eyes were like the shadows of fire flickering on walls, this darkness was that of still, unending waters.

This entranced Kakashi looked up, straight into Naruto's eyes. The blonde man wanted to turn away, run away. Yet he felt a strange connection, as if they were bound together by an unbreakable string.

"Akira," the grey-haired man breathed out slowly. "I've found you."

Kakashi leaned and kissed Naruto fiercely, his hands slipping under the younger one's shirt.

Immediately a heat surged through his body from the touch. Naruto sat shivering, eyes wide, absolutely petrified. What the hell is going on?

o-x-o-x-o

Things are getting weird, ne? If a certain someone feels OOC, they're supposed to be. I'll hopefully rectify that in a future chapter.

I don't really know what else to say xD. I hope you enjoyed the chapter, and the fact that this thing averages 10 or so reviews per chapter makes me really giddy.

Hope you enjoyed, please feel free to leave some comments!

Ja ne,

Vi