~Hide's pov~

No matter how angry you've gotten in the past, or how scared, the beauty of the night always soothed you like a child's lullaby sung by their mother. The stars always reminded you of the faces of angels that looked down on the earth, guiding travelers and lost souls safely home with the maps of heaven. And the moon; its face is always so soft and gentle with its tender glow. You loved the night with every ounce of your existences, until now.

Team Gai, Kakashi, and you raced through the forest as fast as your legs could carry you. You knew you were racing against the clock. The only two things you could pray for right now are that you make it in time and that Gai forgives you in the future.

~flash back~

"What do you mean, 'your daughter'?"

You ran to your closest to get your clothes on while Kakashi stayed downstairs as he waited for Gai and you.

"I don't have time to explain right now. We have to go!"

In moments, you were wearing your black sandals, black spandex pants, black tank top that showed your stomach, and your black elbow length gloves. Your hair was in a tight bun with your bangs hanging down on both sides of your face. You grabbed your black belt and double edge sword and took one last look at Gai. He was dressed, but he wouldn't look at you. He looked upset.

"Gai?"

"I'm sorry; I just can't even look at you right now."

~end flash back~

A single tear broke loose and fell behind as you jumped through the trees with lightning speed, leading the others to Akuma Caves. For five hours everyone was running at full speed. You didn't even know how exhausted your body was until you heard the faint scream of Ten Ten one mile behind. Once everyone was together again, it was easily agreed that everyone make camp for tonight.

"Alright then, I've got first watch."

"Hide, that's not a good idea. Your whole body is shaking."

"Kakashi-sensai is right. Please, Hide, get some rest."

"Kashi, Neji, this isn't a debate. I need everyone on their top game come sun light. Failure in this mission means death, for everyone."

"Don't argue with her, let her do whatever she wants."

All eyes fell on the man in green who was laying on his side, facing away from the small crowd. No one said another word. They only took glances between Gai and you. You disappeared to the highest part of the tree before anyone was able to see the flicker of emotions in your eyes. There, once you were alone, you finally allowed your silent tears emerge, not paying any attention to the shouting going on down below.

~Lee's Pov~

You saw many battles between Kakashi-sensai and Gai-sensai, but this wasn't a battle against winning or losing, nor was it a battle between trusted rivals and friends. This was a battle of anger and it was all about Hide.

"Gai, I never thought I'd say this but you need to apologize to her right now!"

"Me?"

Gai-sensai jumped to his feet with fierce determination. His face was only mere inches away from Kakashi.

"I know damn well you heard every word at the house. The woman I loved, the woman I fell in-love with Kakashi, and I entrusted my heart and soul to, withheld that fact from me that she has a daughter. I don't know about you Kakashi but, that's a big thing to swallow on the night I was planning to propose to her."

'Daughter!?'

You looked around. Ten Ten and Neji was just as shocked as I was. Hide looked so young, at least in her early 20's and she is in a relationship with Gai-sensai. How could Hide have a daughter and not tell anyone?

'Maybe,…maybe she was in a previous marriage? No, Hide is so loving and kind, if she did have a child, surely she would have brought her back to the village with her. Unless, unless Hide was not married! She could have been a victim of a horrible crime and out of shame, or even fear of not being able to take care of her baby, she gave her up to a safe and loving family in order to provide the child with a proper upbringing.'

"You know what, yes, I heard every word of the conversation and I'm more shocked than you think."

"Good, now you're seeing the path of truth."

"I'm not shocked by the fact she has a daughter. I'm shocked by the fact you pushed her away so easily the only time she has ever came to you for help!"

Everyone on Team Gai's eyes widen. Gai-sensai's fist unclenched. His eyes became soft again as his gaze lowered to the floor of the ground. Clearly, Gai-sensai has not even thought of this conclusion.

"You're right. I-I've never seen her cry before. I've never seen her look so scared."

Gai-sensai began crying as he kept wiping away his tears with the back of his sleeve.

"Oh Hide, my precious flower, what have I done?"

Kakashi-sensai put a hand on Gai-sensai's shoulder and looked at us.

"It's time for younger shinobi to go to bed. Remember, except for Neji, this is the first S-rank mission you guys were ever assigned to. Now get some rest. Me and Gai have some talking to do."

You and your team nodded and left.

~Kakashi's pov~

"Come on Gai, we got some work to do."

Your friend looked at you with those sad puppy eyes and nodded.

"Thank you, Ka-kashi."

~Hide's pov~

The night was hot and the sky was pitch black. There were no angelic faces in the sky, not even the moons. The memory of that cave, every horrible memory flashed through your mind all at once. The one thing you could never forget is the sound of your own ear piercing screams, curdling the blood of anything within a five mile radius.

Your body started to shake again as every muscle tensed. You squeezed your eyes shut as you held your knees as tight against your chest as you could manage. The endless days of such horrific, monstrous torture caused many years of sleepless night and many more nights of crying yourself back to sleep.

'It was over ten years ago. I'm not a child anymore. Get over it!'

"Are you ok?"

Your eyes snapped open as you looked toward your right.

"Kakashi?"

He slide over closer to you and wrapped his around your shoulders. Your body never loosens, not even a little.

"You're having flashbacks, aren't you?"

You finally looked away. You didn't say anything. With Kakashi, you never needed to.

"You never told me you had a daughter. Do you have a picture?"

You carefully pulled out a silver locket you always hid away in your pants pocket and handed it to Kakashi. He opened it up and looked. Inside was small girl.

'She is maybe 8 or 9. Her eyes are big and blue just like Hide's. She had the same facial structure as Hide. She was almost identical to Hide in every way except the white/silver hair. That looks more like,…'

You saw Kakashi's eyes widen in fear, shock, and panic.

"Umm,…Hide,…how long ago did you say you had a daughter?"

"I had Suki about ten years ago, actually nine years and five months."

"HUH!?"

CRASH!

"What was that!?"

"Oh that really close, loud,sound you mean? It was probably Lee taking off his weights before bed. You know how it is. Gai did train him after all."

"Good point."

At least now you finally relaxed on the tree limb.

~Meanwhile~

Gai laid a good three hundred feet below Kakashi and Hide and a bunch of broken branches on top of him. The shock of the new information was too much and made you lose your balance.

'Damn you Kakashi! I'm gonna kill you whether you like it or not with the power of love and youth, just after this mission and after some good strong therapy for my back.'

After Gai got up, he cracked his back in several places and climbed the tree once more to listen in on Kakashi and Hide talk, just as Kakashi instructed.

Kakashi looked at you, then the picture, and then his shoulders slumped as he looked up in the sky.

"Suki", he repeated. "Huh. I could never imagine."

"I know, I know. It was a surprise for me too. But when I saw her for the first time, I had to do the right thing, my mission had to come first of course but I just couldn't just leave her to die."

"Of course not! Hide, why didn't you tell me? I know we could have figured something out. I would have left the village that very day."

Now you were glaring at him.

"I did write, you ass. You never responded to any of my letters."

Kakashi was taken back. Then he slumped his shoulder down again.

"I'm so sorry Hide. I should have been there, not just for you but for Suki too."

"Relax Kakashi, it's not the end of the world."

"Yes it is, for me anyway. I lost ten years with you because of my selfish ways and now I lost ten years with my own,…"

He couldn't even finish the sentence. He held the locket against his heart as he tried to steady his nerves.

'Wait, does he think,..?'

"Kakashi, Suki isn't yours."

You saw his eyes snap open and a sweat drop run down his head.

",….Huh?"

You started laughing. It was shocking enough to now know how wonderful a father Kakashi could be one day but to think he forgot one major factor in the history you two shared, that was priceless.

"Kakashi, you knucklehead, did you forget the one thing we didn't do together?"

You then winked at him.

You knew Kakashi was then blushing at least 50 shades of red.

"I know but I thought for a second, maybe it was possible, because of the other things we did when we,.." Just then, Kakashi's 'Gai is going to horrificly and violently murder me if I finish this sentence' senses where tingling.

You laughed a little more.

"It wasn't possible then, it's not possible now. I was virgin when you and I got together but I was also a virgin when you and I broke up."

"So, when did you,…you know? I mean, who is Suki's father?"

"I don't know."

Kakashi's eyes widen again as he dumbly pointed at you. You slapped his shoulder.

"It's not like that!"

Now you were the one blushing. You let out one sigh before continuing.

"After I left the village in order to get to our nation's kingdom, I went through Fuyuko, the Snow Village. As I was passing through the streets, I heard a small cry in one of the alleys. When I went to investigate, I found Suki. She was only five at the time but she was so small, so malnourished; I could count her ribs through her tattered rags of clothes. She was crying because an older man was beating her so badly. Her whole body was black and grey. I killed him. I lost control over myself and I just,…I couldn't stop myself."

You couldn't stop the tears from flowing as you continued. The memory of first meeting Suki nearly horrified you as much as Akume Cave.

"When I picked her up, I thought she was already dead from the assault but when I found one faint pulse, I ran her to the hospital as fast as I could. If I would have been even a few minutes later, she would have died from internal bleeding. She had skull fractures, broken ribs, a broken arm; she went through so much. That sadistic fuck! He nearly made Suki lose her eye. He was kicking her eye in."

Kakashi started to rub your back and shoulders, trying to calm your body from violently shaking again. He knew your temper made you lose control of your body. If that happens, you would lose control over the body blade and risk instant death.

"I stayed with her for days. I waited for her parents to come and check in on her but the doctor told me she was a village rat. Her parents came with her one day and the next day, they left. Suki was left to die in the cold. I couldn't believe it. Suki really amazed me though. She was fully recovered by the fourth day."

"Those were some doctors."

"I wasn't the doctors. It wasn't until a year later after I took her with me, I learned that she has a very rare gift. She is what's known as a miracle healer."

"What?"

"Suki, not only does she possess the skills to heal all wounds in her own body almost intantly, she's able to use her gifts on others."

"So she has the gift of a true medical ninja."

"Not quite. Suki is able to heal what medical ninjas can't. She can stop internal bleeding, organ failure, the lame, the blind, and brain damage. She can even stop death itself."

"She can reverse death!?"

"No, once someone is dead, there is no reserving it, not even for her. However, if someone is only minutes from death, or even seconds, she can stop the injury the moment she puts her hand on them and simply reverse whatever fatal injury was inflicted."

"That's incredible!"

"Yeah, I know. That's why I told her to hide her gifts at all cost."

"So events like this couldn't happen."

"Yeah."

Not knowing that Gai was listening, you couldn't see how much he was crying. You couldn't see how much he hated himself for being so mean nor could you hear his promise to run 1500 laps around the outskirts of the village when he gets back as punishment for not being a better boyfriend and being more understanding.

"Do you mind if I ask you something?"

"What is it Kakashi?"

"Who exactly did you,…what I meant to say is,..are you still a virgin."

That was,…surprising shocking. Instead of answering, you pretended to casually look away.

"What!? When did this happen? Now I have to ask. Who was it?"

Even Gai was all ears. That was the question he was terrified to ask but he wasn't as stupid as people thought. That's why he never asked in the first place.

"W-what with all these damn questions!?"

"Come on, I've kept every single secret of yours sense childhood. I'm still your best friend, aren't I?"

You looked at Kakashi to scream at him but was taken back by his poor, pouting, puppy eyes. Damn you puppy eyes!

"I hate you Kashi-kun, you know that."

"So who was it?"

"It's Gai, damn you!"

"Gai?! Well, I never would have thought,…never mind."

"No, not 'never mind'. What is it?"

Kakashi put his hands up as defense.

"I think I should go."

You held your sword so the blade was between Kakashi's legs.

"I will cut your balls off."

Kakashi made another sweat drop and a lot more of sweat fear drops.

"Well, I just thought that Gai, (cough) I know Gai isn't like most men so I never thought he even had a,…a sexual nature."

"Oh. Yeah, I can understand that. He is a true blue,…a true green gentlemen."

You sheathed your sword to a now safer Kakashi's delight.

"Plus, I didn't know you liked acorns."

Gai slapped himself in the head, praying to Kami that his rival doesn't say what he thinks Kakashi is going to say.

"Acorns?"

Kakashi then held his pinky up. The sign of you blushing meant you got it in Kakashi's mind.

"I guess that acorn grew into a mighty oak tree because now,..wait a minute! How do you know what Gai looks like?"

Kakashi scratched the back of his head. "It's a long and some-what interesting story. You can even say it lead to a childish curiosity."

I looked at Kakashi suspiciously as he seemed to be having, somehow, a fond memory. Horrifying.

"I don't even want to know."

"Any way, it looks to me your shift is up. Since you feel a little better now, now's the best time for you to go and get some shut eye."

You found yourself yawning.

"Good idea. After everyone wakes up, we'll only have six hours to get to Suki."

"We'll make it."

You nodded at your friend and disappeared into the night.

~Kakashi's pov~

"An acorn, Kakashi!?"

You found yourself face-to-face with the furious tai-jutsu master.

"Wait! Gai, it's not what you think!"

"I'll show you acorn! Dance of the revengeful Acorns!"

Gai pelted you with thousands of mutable size acorns. There was no escape! Within seconds you was buried by nuts and bruises.

"That will teach you some respect, eh Kakashi?"

"Err, Gai I was only curious."

You stood up and leaned your damaged body against the trunk of the tree.

"Curious or no Kakashi, you should know better then to,..what are you doing!?"

It was true, you were a naturally curious person after all. That's why you asked the questions you did whenever there was a topic of high interest come up. It's alway why did the things you did to found the information you wanted. Hide and Gai having sex, that was actually a very interesting subject for you. But what many it really interesting was the oak tree comment Hide made about Gai. That's why you found yourself trying to pull Gai's spandex down.

"I'm sorry Gai, I just can't resist."

You saw the now scared and blushing Gai was backed firmly against the tree.

"Resist what? You've seen me before."

"Yes but we was only twelve at that time."

"So what, this isn't something I go around showing people!"

"Please."

"No!"

"Pretty please?"

"NO!"

*puppy dog eyes*

Gai's blush became deeper and more vivid in the empty night.

~a few moments later~

Gai had willingly pulled off his belt, jacket, and the neck of his spandex open wide enough for you to see down.

"Wow, she wasn't kidding. Gai when did this happen?"

Gai smiled from my words of approvement.

"Well Kakashi, I tell you how it happened but throughout the years of hard training,"

"Can I touch it?"

SLAP!

You held your now swollen sore cheek.

"What'd I say?"